8-bit Jouno

Game Diary - March 2, 2011: The Nintendo 3DS

2011-03-02T06:56:00.000-08:00

Our import Nintendo 3DS finally arrived at our San Francisco office yesterday. The 3DS is Nintendo's glasses free 3-D handheld device, but what do you do if, like us, you have no 3DS games to play on the device? You'll try out the backwards compatibility of a massive DS library, of course.

We filmed a handful of DS games playing on the device with my iPhone and compiled some of them into this news story. Click to read more.

Game Diary - March 1, 2011: Welcome Back!

2011-03-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've decided to start writing here again. No, I can't tell you if it will last longer than the month of March but it feels like a good time to get some practice writing in because of my morning job. How much practice writing you ask? Well, enough to make me feel comfortable and ready for a couple of big assignments coming up this week.

Actually, this is usually my favorite time of year - it's GDC week here in San Francisco. The annual Game Developer's conference is an yearly highlight for me, full of well-made PowerPoint presentations and interesting game design discussions. It's truly remarkable to listen to some of these conversations as someone who's played games for a large portion of his life. It truncates the kind of stuff you often think about while playing games, but maybe never talk about. Small stuff, like lighting and combat choices. Interactions and quest lines or damage modifiers. I'm not sure if any of this stuff enters your head when you play games, but sometimes I see telltale signs, or reasons for things to be the way they are designed. Sometimes I question them, sometimes I don't, and every game has their own unique set: even the poorly made ones.

I've only got time for one session this GDC, and in some ways it's a bit of a letdown. I'll be attending a unique panel discussion tomorrow labeled GC Microtalks 2011, which has some pretty amazing guest speakers all firing off slides in rapid fire style and pace. It's a great talk that instantly buzzes the brain with information overload, but still manages to maintain enough balance to somehow keep you interested.

Even with GDC 2011 underway, and all the panels and attendees, and videogames discussion, I guess I'm looking forward to writing here again and getting my personal blogging time back.

Keep your eyes peeled for more posts for the month of March.

Day 2: Meet the Producers

2009-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Editors note: It's now 11:56 p.m., on the night before this post goes up on tumblr and I realized something funny - I almost forgot to write up ~~tomorrow's~~ this entry. So far, getting by on this little month of blogging just means staying ahead.

Another Editors note: You're reading a cross-post from a separate tumblr blog I started over the summer. I'm just trying to keep the two intertwined for now because this blog started in NYC and I have trouble just moving on.

I had an opportunity to attend the New Producers Orientation event hosted at a local Public Access television station (channel 29 on your local SF Comcast or Astound). The building was called SF Commons, but the stuff we heard at the start of the presentation seemed awfully grim.

It turns out the core funding that helped maintain and run the staff of 11 at SF Commons, and helped keep the resource open to the local community, was gutted this past year. My figures might be off because I can barely find the energy to reach over and check my reporters notebook (something I carry everyday since a journalism class I took almost two years ago), but a figure of close to 900,000 was used to keep the site open was cut. It resulted in a staff of 11 people getting downsized to a paltry three.

Clearly, this wasn't the way I pictured something titled a new producers orientation to be.

After the sad stuff we moved on to future. The facility is being closed and the operation will be absorbed into another site because they can't afford the rent. The moving process starts on December 18th, and none of their regular classes or services will be restored until sometime mid-January (all tentative).

Still, the crew at SF commons then moved on to the nitty gritty. They outlined all the policies and procedures to sign up and grab a weekly or bi-monthly time slot. They answered any questions regarding equipment loans and required courses/knowledge. This was the only part of the evening that felt like business as usual. Things seemed to pick up and flow naturally, as if al the bad stuff at the start of the presentation vanished.

I don't regret going to this event tonight because two things simultaneously dawned on me. The first was that the non-profit public access/media scene is getting hit just as hard as the rest of the US right now, with plenty of people getting dragged into the unemployment line (and it sucks). The second is that for some of our video projects at Beacon to really shine, we have to push our way into using these spaces and equipment while their still available to the community. Through organizations like this we could use professional grade equipment and make something special that won't cost nearly as much as acquiring the stuff ourselves.

In the end, I walked out of there with a bunch of ideas and a lot of hope. Maybe that's all I ever needed in the first place.

Free Writing: New Glasses, Grade-a-geddon, and the Big Choice

2009-11-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I used anything to actually write down what I'm thinking, which really sucks. It's like a zillion ideas go through my head from morning to night (unless I'm playing a game) and I never write any of them down. Some of things I think up are pretty interesting ideas for work, or some bizarre way to really make sense of projects I'm working on, or just weighty, personal stuff that needs to be decided and soon.

So in no particular order (other than the one at the top of this post), I'll run down what's on my mind right now (or at least recently).

One Vision

First, new glasses. That's right, guess what happened to the old ones? So, i should say a mistake led to this one. It all started last week when I accidentally fell asleep on my old glasses. I woke up and found them a mangled mess, completely unfit for wearing. Ever.

So that led to a surprisingly painless procedure at the local optometrist. I'd tell you his name, but i really can't remember it well. A co-worker convinced me to say no to an appointment at Lens Crafters, and yes to supporting locally owned businesses. I took him up on the offer only because I didn't want buying new glasses turning into buying new glasses (as in expensive and bothersome). Luckily, it seems to have worked out and I'm wearing a borrowed pair until the real ones come in on Wednesday.

Holiday Grade-a-geddon Returns

As with any teaching job, report card deadlines are far and away the worst shit to ever happen in life. Ever.

As un-eloquently put as that is, and it's pretty bad, I have to say its captures the essence of why grading sucks. I think students forget that teachers have just as much homework as their professors because, ethically speaking, you can't just wave a wand over the old grade book and PRESTO!, instant letter grades. it takes time, patience and some old fashioned hard work.

I guess this should be easier given its my fifth year teaching (and to some extent it is), but I despise the amount of time it takes to getting this task done. It's my one real complaint about the profession in general.

So, I spent Sunday grading, grading, and grading. And with all ths grading, I still managed to think up some ways to cut down other periods of downtime in my day just to get stuff done earlier than the night before.

Woefully, i think what bugs me most is that i still have to do this stuff after moving out here from NY. I don't hate my job, and I won't say anything to endanger it here because part of me still believes in this profession, but I would love to end this teaching career before its all I'll ever know.

Big Choices

Now that heading is a tad misleading, but I guess i have a choice to make as whether or not to visit back home this holiday. Okay, so its New York, right? It's big and beautiful and full of people I know and adore, but truthfully its also the same old stuff and, unfortunately, the same old drama.

I hate to sound cliche and its probably not something I will ever do on this blog again, but some ~~shit~~ stuff never changes. I can see that part of life is that adjustment, and I guess I get that part of it to an extent.

Oh, who am I kidding. I'll probably go just to see the amazing people I know there. It'll be great to have fun and relax, but only for a week. Last year I did two weeks and almost went nuts!

BTW

Thanksgiving was awesome! I had a great time with new friends, and I had an opportunity to see what an impact my choices have on people. If that sounds strange then the moment it happens, it is.

I'm grateful for great SF peeps and good Spanish food.

Bealtes Abbey Road DLC Impressions

2009-10-21T00:20:00.001-07:00

The Abbey Road downloadable album for The Beatles Rock Band hits PSN, XBL and the Wii Marketplace today, and may contain some of the priciest music content yet made.

Still, for true Beatles fans who have some coin to spare, its also some of the best music from the fab four's catalogue, culminating in a full on 16-minute rendition of the Abbey Road medley - a collection of shorter b-side songs included in the album. The medley includes: “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” “The End” and "Her Majesty."

The songs included as part of the Abbey Road medley are also playable in 1-to-3 song groups depending on how they were recorded. The playable song bundles are as follows:

"You Never Give Me Your Money”
“Sun King”/ “Mean Mr. Mustard”
“Polythene Pam”/ “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”
“Golden Slumbers”/ “Carry That Weight”/ “The End”*
“Her Majesty”

Consider these playable song packs as a great midterm, with the full 16-minute medley representing a stirring final exam. Also available as part of this playable DLC album are the following singles: “Maxwell's Silver Hammer,” “Oh! Darling,” and “Because.” These three are the only songs that can be purchased separately, so if you want the full medley or the ability to play the smaller song packs, be prepared to pay the full asking price of $16.99 or 1360 Microsoft Points. The singles mentioned above are $1.99 or 160 Microsoft Points per track, respectively. Wii owners will pay $2.00 for the single tracks, and $3.50 for the multi-track sets mentioned above. Editor's Note: The Wii does not support the full album downloads, so its the only place where Abbey Road will be available in parts.

If you're keeping count, remember that the retail version of Beatles Rock Band shipped with six songs from the original Abbey Road album, reminding us all of the high price tag involved in licensing the Beatles music for this game. Alternatively, consider the Queen 10 Pack that was also released for Rock Band/Rock Band 2 on the same day as this album. It costs $15.99 or 1280 Microsoft Points for ten full length songs.

The psychedelic visual styling used for the Abbey Road DLC album is beautiful. As a representation of the Beatles music it a strong visual package, yet none of the dreamscapes in this DLC feel as creative or timeless as the stuff included on the Sgt. Pepper's songs included in Beatles Rock Band (truthfully, one of the bands' most inspired albums). Ironically, Peppers is the next downloadable album set to grace the Beatles Rock Band Music Store, so we'll be eagerly anticipating its' arrival next month.

Remember folks, any Beatles Rock Band DLC is exclusive to Beatles Rock Band, and only functions as part of the games walled garden. None of these songs can be played in Rock Band or Rock Band 2.

A Weekend Visit to the Curious Village

2009-08-30T20:05:00.001-07:00

I've owned "Professor Layton and the Curious Village," a point and puzzle-filled adventure for Nintendo DS, for well over a year. In preparation for the sequel, I finally decided to come back and finish what I started after a sizable hiatus.

Sadly, things this happens to gamers a lot. We start a game. We get excited for the game. And then we trail off, our attention yanked in another direction by something else. Sometimes it's life that pulls us away from the games we crave to play, or often times it's another game (or even a bad game - but who buys those and is genuinely surprised). This is all part of a strange cycle that even the most devout and dedicated gamers can fall into, and it's gems like "Curious Village" that suffer.

I didn't stop playing Professor Layton's first adventure released in America (Japan already has three, I think) because it was boring. Absolutely not. In Layton's case, the opposite is true; I couldn't put it down because of how polished it all was. The puzzles, the presentation, the mystery are all well conceived and executed. And the addictive nature of solving puzzles completely reeled me in. The story seemed childish (as in Saturday morning cartoon) in tone, but it's a much deeper experience than I first thought.

The bigger reason why Layton got the boot from the game slot of my DS was... because another game came out that I wanted to play as well.

I dropped Layton for "The World Ends With You," another handheld gem from 2008 that held my interest for a few months before I moved on to something else.

It's so schizophrenic isn't it? Move from game to game and never finish what you started, never experience the ending or full charm of a game. In some ways never discovering the conclusion is like nibbling a corner of a fresh bag of Doritos and then promptly closing the bag, then putting it away.

Well, I'm done with this buy, try, and then shelve routine. It's absurd, and the wrong way to really do anything. This weekend I started by resuming my file in the "Curious Village" and I was done by Sunday afternoon. The game was amazing, and seeing (and guessing) how it all came together was a blast.

It felt so good to finish a game for change, and it's inspired me to on to more. I'll finally restart and conquer "The World Ends With You," I'll restart my adventure in Hyrule and then save it in "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," and I'll find some other great games I tossed aside over the past two to five years.

Maybe I'm making my New Year's Resolution too early, but I'll try my best to finish everything I start from this moment on.

Podcastin' It Up!

2009-08-18T01:02:00.001-07:00

Okay, it's a lame title for a post, but hopefully the content herein is not so lame. I got lucky (hooray) and was invited back on Rebel FM for Game Club, a podcast dedicated to playing an already released game as a community and discussing its' highs and lows with the each other and the fine folks who visit eat-sleep-game.com. I still remeber the last time I was on; I got to see off my good friend Sterling McGarvey.

It was such a priviledge to be a part of the discussion with such a great group of guys, epecially considering the game they picked for this Game Club - "Heavenly Sword" for the PS3 .

See, the thing is Heavenly Sword was a game I had zero interest in. As in at all. It was the subject of many arguments between a good friend and I back in then. I wasn't convinced it would deliver the cinematic goods that both Sony and Ninja Theory said it would. I could have been wrong, but at $60 in a crammed holiday release period? I couldn't justify it.

I felt the need to choose between it and "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune", a game I was much more interested in. I chose to believe in Naughty Dog's game instead.

I should make clear that I love action games. "God of War" and "The Mark of Kri" were two of my favorite games from the last console generation, and the final decision regarding a purchase between the two basically boiled down to gut reaction.

In the end, my gut chose Uncharted and I have no regrets.

Feel free to check out this week's episode and see what we thought of Heavenly Sword. And if you have feedback, leave a comment at their club site located here.

Image Courtesy of: johnsof.nl

Two Days Off, A DSi, and a Whole Lot of Clean Up

2009-08-08T00:04:00.000-07:00

It's been a very relaxing few days since the end of the Beacon summer session, and I've made it a priority to take advantage of the downtime, finally enjoying my vacation. Then again, vacation is a pretty relative term here coonsidering the amount of leisurly stuff I did while I was "working". The Beacon Summer Program went to the movies, visited the Academy of Science, walked the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and went on a pretty kick ass camping trip.

In fact, I really can't follow up that kind of experience with much of anything so far. The last few days have been alright but today was especially boring (filled with dastardly chores; the kind that haven't been done in weeks).

Still, I'll admit that the downtime was needed. No one likes to work year round, least of all me. Thursday we had an impromptu reunion of volunteer Beacon Staff at the Best Buy over on Harrison. A bunch of the cool kids (ATF!) invited me to go with them as they eagerly scouted the electronics giant for a worthwhile item to spend their prized $100 gift cards.

And I walked into Best Buy with my a mission of my own - to not buy a Nintendo DSi. And I failed miserably.

So, why wouldn't I want a Nintendo DSi, you ask? This is especially puzzling if you actually know me in real life, and know what a champion for the games industry I tend to be. The truth is, I wasn't interested in any of the little things: the smoother matte finish on the device, the smarter menu design, the bigger screens, and the (low quality) cameras were all wasted on me.

Instead, the purchase of my DSi came down to the potential of Nintendo's downloadable games. Say what you like about the format, but downloadable games are the future of the industry. Yes, they're smaller budget, and these games are no where as visually polished as currnet gen console stuff, but the focus in developing downloadable games tends to shift to just being fun and entertaining.

I did take pictures with the camera though, and there is something oddly fun to be said about manipulating photos on the device. I'd proabably have to pay to do this on my iPhone 3G, or try a series of different apps before settling on the right one.

So the greater question is, what will I do with my DS Lite? It still has a GBA slot for the old school great games of Gameboy's past. Someone I know even mentioned getting an R4 for it, but I haven't decided if I really want to take that route yet.

Besides becoming the ~~proud~~ owner of a DSi, nothing else really happened on my vacation so far besides a lot of cleaning. Oh, and I started re-playing a Japanese RPG called "The World Ends With You" on my new DSi; that and a downloadable Brain Age Math game have been keeping me pretty busy.

I can only hope the rest of my vacation turns out to be more interesting.

Splosion Saturday

2009-08-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't read it on other tumblr blogs's, the OMIE Beacon Summer Program (a.k.a. the people that I worked for) took it's staff and students on a camping trip over in Livermore, CA. Those adventures can be read right here, here, here, and here. I had a great time despite my clashes with the ATF, but you can read about what happened somewhere else (and you really should).

The only unfortunate thing from the trip was the apparent pandemic I brought back with me ( I suspect it came from the ~~shitty pool~~ lake). So, I've spent the past three days pretty much as sick as, well .... just really frigging sick. And since in my book sick comes under the heading bed rest, and luckily the bed is right next to some game systems, I spent the majority of Saturday catching up with video games.

The first game I tried I'd heard about a few weeks ago, called "Splosion Man."

In Spolsion Man, you play the role of the title character trying to escape the platforms and pitfalls of a twisted laboratory. As the name suggests, you only have one major ability - to explode. Sploding is the only way to jump, and the Splosion Man can jump up to three times before he needs to hit the ground again and recharge.

I think the thing that surprised me the most about "Splosion Man" was the consistent level of humor found in this game. Spolsion Man, himself, is a very animated character. He runs through the hallways of the lab swinging his arms like a plane and making noises, quoting the occasional Arnold film as he goes. Every once in a while you'll hear something like, "get to the chopper," "No way, Jose," or some other famous movie one-liner. And in the end, making Splosion Man such a fanboy is a brilliant way to add character depth to a platformer - even in the light hearted tone of this game.

As cool as the "Splosion Man" concept is, it's not a game for everyone. This is a really difficult game. It's so mind numbingly tough at times that you'll frequently question if some of the move combinations needed to escape a particular section are even possible. More challenging is the fact that most of the game revoles around a trial-and-error style of game, making deadly mistakes feel more like user error than anything else. As negative as this all might sound, I never really got stuck in the same space for very long. Most of the time, it just came down to being observant and hitting the jumps as best as possible.

Well, I've gone on long enough and now it's Sunday morning and I'm still sick (~~hooray~~). So, besides getting some much needed breakfast, I'll probably be home again playing more games again. Sigh.

Solid Advice: The Elements of a Good Demo

2009-05-11T09:28:00.001-07:00

It isn't the first mutiplayer beta to ever hit Xbox Live, but the "Bionic Commando Multiplayer Demo" is live, and the initial public response is mixed so far (Recently a patch went out to address some issues) . But the ongoing debate here got me thinking about multiplayer betas/demos in general, and how they can undermine the reputation developers of a soon-to-be-released game. Clearly, a well made multiplayer demo creates product evangelists, a poorly made one does not.

But what happens when a beta or demo gets the opposite attention than it was created for? How can developers temper the experience into something better? What could they have done differently and what are some of the key elements to a successful beta is the console space? Systemic examines this issue a little closer (using the Bionic Commando Beta as a guide) to give you our take.

Take the Time and Teach
A public domain beta, i.e. one that's free of exclusive access or registration, and forgoes any user buy in for the experience, still needs to be accessible. Why? Because anyone can download it for free to try it out. More importantly, if its multiplayer game that uses new mechanics to traverse a space, It needs to teach you how to play the game. The concept of teaching is fundamental because it helps users understand how they can traverse within the space. And for a lot of folks, this beta is their first exposure with the game, so why frustrate them from the start? There simply is no benefit here.

Yes, the concept behind the word 'beta' (or even demo) immediately reminds people that the game their playing isn't a final build, but there should still be a standard of what to expect if the controls deviate from traditional standards set in said game's genre. Correct manipulation if the controls is a pivotal factor to enjoyment here.

Multiplayer games are supposed to be fun, but if the player has no idea what's going on or how the game works, the experience degrades from something fresh to more of a mixed bag. Bionic Commando is a game where swinging, quick movement, and decent shooting skills are all essential skills for success, yet teaching players those skills is ignored completely.

A big reason why the Halo and Call of Duty betas were successful was
because of how synonymous the vocabulary for First Person shooters
controls are among most gamers (aside from also being pretty well
balanced games in general). The average console user is pretty well
versed in these types of controls, so they don't need hand holding to
grasp general mechanics.

The Bionic Commando Demo heaves players into a match made free-for-alls, but ignores building player skills through a short tutorial. They toss you into the wild against random opponents. And the fact is not knowing how to play makes the game that much more inaccessible.

It's Fun to Play Together
Allowing users to play together seems like simple rule, and it can lead to the most potential fun in multiplayer games. Let's face facts: after playing so many games online we know that playing with strangers isn't always fun.

Of course the natural counter argument here is that the deathmatch mode included in BC: Multiplayer beta is designed for a free-for-all play, and gamers can't be trusted to play fair if they played with friends. To counter, I'd say then why only include that mode?

One Map Just Isn't Enough
In multiplayer beta-land, most good experiences come in packs of three. Let's look at the console version of the competition for Bionic Commando Multiplayer. "Call of Duty 4: Moder Warfare" - three maps. "Halo 3" - three maps. "Call of Duty: World at War" - three maps, again.

The pattern here is obvious, and if there's any lesson to be derived it's that the more maps mean better. In Bionic Commando, a game that's clearly more geared as a single player experience than a multiplayer one, even two maps would have been fine. Ultimately, don't give gamers a single vertical slice of your game in multiplayer. Consider opening up the experience a little, instead.

One Mode Isn't Enough, Either
Yes, one mode isn't enough, but in reality this is a two-fold issue. On one had, players really throw away too many multiplayer man-hours in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, and that's okay to an extent. Deathmatch is a great place to start, but adding 5 minute games of CTF could help expose more of what the product can potentially be to the intended audience, especially when the mechanics are so different. This gives players a better, a more well
rounded playground where they can test strategies and share their
experiences, ultimately becoming product evangelists for the game.
After all, who can deny the undying power of word of mouth.

In a beta the graphics don't have to be polished or the features set super robust, but the experience still needs to be tight. As a beta, you're vying for people to pay attention to your game and it pays to make a good first impression.

A first impression is hard to make, doubly so when that its supposed to inspire users to spend $60 on a future purchase. And we're just offering our advice and hopefully you'll acknowledge our points. Otherwise don't complain when we play your game and say that you're 'doing it wrong'.

Tekken 6 Hands-On

2009-05-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

The King of Iron Fist Tournament is back... again.

"Tekken" is now up to its sixth sequel. That's right, it's sixth. The series in general has been one of the universally adored fighting franchises in recent history, moving 33 million units across multiple platform generations according to publisher Namco Bandai. At a recent Namco Bandai Editor's day event in San Francisco, we had a chance to go hands on with the new game to bring you our impressions of "Tekken 6".

The goal of the development team for "Tekken 6" is simple, yet grandiose at the same time. The mission: Make "Tekken 6" the greatest "Tekken" ever. Staring at the character select screen, you start getting the immediate feeling they're serious in that credo. A whopping 40 characters are available in the new Tekken, with 6 of them bringing fresh faces to the series. As exciting as that news is, our demo only allowed us to use 4 of them, instantly dashing our hopes of revisiting all of our favorite characters in one sitting.

The four characters included in our demo build are a mix of old school and new: Zelfina and Bob (new school) are paired with nefarious series badboy Kazuya and his son Jin (old school). Oddly enough, the best way to describe either of the new characters for us was by comparing them to characters from other fighting games, some published by Namco and some surprisingly not.

Zelfina is a sultry new female addition to the roster, a gal whose fighting style is best described as the female Voldo of the "Soulcalibur" series, another Namco Bandai game. Her fighting style is very tricky, (think deceptive) without wielding the huge claw like blades Voldo is known to carry from game to game. Zelfina's moves come at you from odd angles which makes playing against her a slightly confusing affair, a seeming advantage for players eager to bemuse their opponents with her awkward attacks.

The heavy yet bouncy Bob is more easily compared to another fighting great: Rufus of "Street Fighter IV" fame. Bob moves quick for a heavy looking guy. According to representatives for the game on hand at the event, Bob's a tough fighter that doesn't let his size discourage him from competition. To us, his moves are way less confusing than Zelfina's, but despite the immediate comparison to Rufus, he feels more like a Paul Phoenix - agile yet powerful, despite his large waistline.

It's easy to see "Tekken 6" living up to being 'the best the franchise has to offer' after our hands on time. Kazuya and Jin both feel familiar and true to their previous "Tekken 5" versions. Visually, we're impressed as the characters move at a rock-solid 60 frames a second in gorgeous fully animated 3D backdrops. One set took place in what resembled a destroyed highway tunnel where explosions bounced cars around in the distance behind the two battling contestants. A trailer they showed at the event showed that players can also knock opponents into certain sections of the ground enough times to shatter it, sending both opponents falling into a second stage beneath the arena mid-fight, but we weren't able to do so during our demo time.

Representatives of Namco Bandai said there will be features included in "Tekken 6" that are on par with prior games of the franchise, but they're not talking about any of it until E3 2009 in June. That means if you want to know about adventure mode or "Tekken" bowling (maybe even a fantasy cooking mini-game starring "Tekken" characters - I kid) you'll have to wait. Still, our impressions of the game so far are solid based on the information they've shared, and online multiplayer is confirmed so far. The biggest surprise had to be the PSP version that will ship close to the console release, but aside from those announcements the Japanese publisher is tight-lipped.

They did share that there won't be any Star Wars characters appearing in "Tekken 6", so that's a considered a plus. Look for more news regarding modes and mayhem in "Tekken 6", this June.

Revisiting the Metal Gear Solid Saga

2009-04-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Call it foolish or some version of vain anticipation for the Hideo Kojima announcement at this year's E3, but I've made a lofty decision that might be too big for me.

***

If you’re a gamer that wasn’t excited for June 12, 2008, then you weren’t a devoted fan of "Metal Gear". It can easily be said that for those who moved on from the series this day in video game history was of little significance, but for the rest of us it was special. This was the day, where everything, in the sometimes loopy fiction of Metal Gear to finally be answered. After all the teasers, the promotional materials, and the great Kojima Productions podcast series that the fans were finally ready for a grand opus.

Indeed, "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots" was glorious (depending on your perspective) and then it ended up stuffed in the game corner of my shelf with the rest of my personal collection.

This was my experience almost immediately after conquering the army of Outer Haven, after thwarting Liquid Ocelot’s nefarious plan, and after finally bearing witness to love blooming on a battlefield. The finale to MGS4 was so big that after it all settled I immediately sought a ‘much needed’ retirement from the world of tactical stealth espionage. The ending to MGS4 brought a satisfying conclusion to all the unanswered questions that the series had conjured, even if the long-form self-indulgent cut scenes were a bit pretentious. But immediately placing this game back on the shelf did something major for me. It broke an unspoken (and somewhat sacred) tradition I had with the franchise - much like movies, this is a game series that just gets better the second time through.

Only after a second play-through could I really see the wind from the trees and offer a clearer take on what MGS4 is. And rightly so. Your perspective is clearer tackling a game like this much later. The hype machine has past, and coming back to a Metal Gear the second time is a great opportunity to hunt for easter eggs, a notable series tradition that traces back to the original Metal Gear Solid.

Aside from the usual second-time-through-for-the-story approach, a greater appreciation sets in for me this time: this one focusing on advancements over the prior games in this stealth series. This is when the bigger picture comes to play (at least, for people like me it does). This playthrough becomes the a pivotal moment for feature sets, trying additional controls, or just trying the wacky shit you were too scared to try the first time through.

In this regard, MGS4 truly holds ups as the most replayable Metal Gear - the biggest proponent for this argument being the reworked control scheme. After all, there was enough evidence in MGS3: Snake Eater that the complex web of added functions and improvements to the controls needed some rethinking, a fact made evident by revisiting the older games. Only then can you witness the seemingly ridiculous system of old. Take, for example, the separate attack functions - physical attacks and CQC mapped to circle while all weapon attacks mapped to square. It’s only by looking back at a series a a whole that we can appreciate these things. It's then a wonder how we ever finished the prior Metal Gear games, or how miraculously carpal-tunnel syndrome never set in. But I've decided to use this second play through as something more than typical comparisons.

So for the past few weeks (thanks, in part because of the awesome Kojima keynote at GDC 2009), I've been replaying all the Metal Gear Solid games for the purpose of just admiring the series as a whole. Hell, I’m even considering going back even further to the original MSX "<b>Metal Gear</b>" and "<i>Metal Gear: Solid Snake</i>", simply to have a better perspective of the entire saga. The amount of discoveries factored in with the huge amount of in-game man-hours interspersed within these games should make this series replay totally worth it, right?

The Resident Evil Versus Conundrum

2009-04-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

(A while back, I promised more posts on Resident Evil 5 and then life happened. I'm happy to say I've finished the game three time and I'm currently working on the fourth. But there's always more to coverage than you expected. Below you'll find my take on the Versus multiplayer mode that hit XBL and PSN last week. The original post appeared over on Systemic.)

We sat down this weekend to spend some time with the new versus mode in Resident Evil 5 and present you with our take.

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It's a bit of an overstatement at this point but prior to the release of a new Versus mode for "Resident Evil 5", there has already been plenty of talk regarding Capcom's first RE DLC. Anger was the initial response from the fans, but then controversy transitioned to outrage over the possibility of that this content already existed on the retail disc. At this point its feels like, regardless of Capcom's intentions, its all spun utterly out of control (and this time race has nothing to do with matter), with most people having already chosen sides.

But one fundamental question remains: is the mode worth it?

"Resident Evil 5" did ship with one mode we've sunk a bunch of time into as of this writing: Co-op. Working with our partner we panicked, nefariously planned, and executed the destruction of countless enemy Majini's and other freakishly contorted creatures. The move to co-op in "Resident Evil" made sense overall, even if it slightly subtracted from the traditional atmosphere of the series, known more for it's tension filled environments and lonely corridors. But part of that very tension was produced because you played the game alone. No AI partner or human buddy could jump in to save you. Yet, it seems Capcom is looking for more ways to extend that buddy experience.

So versus is a new thing for the series. One that veterans, like me, seem to smirk at, ultimately unsure if it makes any sense. Sure, we've spent countless hours fragging Spartans and Elites, or blew away plenty of other iconic heroes and villains in competitive online multiplayer, but how does this mode work in "Resident Evil"? And, more importantly, should we care?

Playing it made slightly more sense of the new versus mode, and its really keen for people looking to get more playtime out of "Resident Evil 5". Or at least, more game for $5. Think of it as an extension of Mercenaries, except now you can shoot other humans, too. In Slayers, player's build a high score by defeating the most enemies possible within an allotted time frame. Chaining Majini and other boss kills for higher combos is the best way to get the highest score, but you can also defeat rival players as well to slow down their score. Survivors is more slayers, but this time dropping rival players is the only way to score. And each time a player is beaten in Survivors they drop a random item from their inventory, so don't get too attached to that machine gun. Every player begins survivor mode with a pistol and then finds upgrades as they play through each level - all of them based on locations from the main game.

As with any standard multiplayer these days, the matches in RE5 Versus come in two varieties: ranked and player matches, team based or free-for all, and almost obligatory leaderboard support.

The one bonus of this versus mode that seems designed to entice players to keep playing is that they use their points earned in the this mode and main campaign to unlock other playable RE5 characters. Players can unlock multiple versions of Chris, Sheva, Jill, or Albert Wesker - complete with a very deadly Magnum and triple barreled Hydra shotgun combo. Wesker sports an almost unfair combination that slightly detracts from the competitive experience found in Slayers. His powerful arsenal makes him a mainstay for any Slayer match (we've seen at least two of him in every game of versus we've played) and this seems like a foolish design choice if the designers intended to balance the game.

In fact, the balancing here in versus mode feels partly neglected. For example, the default versions of Chris and Sheva have weapons ill suited to taking out Wesker up close. He's not unbeatable, it just means that to take him down you have to use a different set of tactics. It's possibly more frustrating than the developer's may have predicted. The game does grant you other weapon drops (like the occasional magnum drop) immediately after defeating a boss character, so you have a fighting chance but the situation seems unbalanced to begin with. Basically if you're not picking Wesker and someone else did, prepare for an uphill battle since his weapons will kill Majini's (and you) a lot faster than yours.

Tactics are still present here in RE5 Versus. Plant a mine before you're retired in Team Surviors and leave a nasty surprise for careless opponents, or lead other characters into a nasty partner ambush. Better still, sneak up carefully to rivals and flank them while they're distracted by Majini's. Anyway you look at it, it can still be sort of fun in it's own I-can't-shoot-and-move-at-the-same-time sort of way, but if you're considering this DLC as a purchase that's probably a non-issue.

We'll never know what directly lead to this mode's existence, if it's already on the disc, or what Capcom's intentions were, but we do know this: You're basically looking on a tacked on mode built competitive types that enjoyed mercenaries and don't feel shackled by RE5's control set up. The focus here is on teamwork using tried-and-true RE 5 cooperative gameplay mechanics. Overall, it's a take it or leave it thing where the barrier to entry is $5.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Hands-On Preview

2009-03-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

Originally featured on systemic.gamehelper.com

The one thing every comic book fan I've ever met can agree on is the villainous rogue gallery of the Batman comics contains some of the darkest, most sinister enemies of any comic universe. These are mad men with hidden and not-so-hidden agendas, each one a twisted souls looking for more than wealth as they inflict pain and suffering on the citizens of Gotham. If there is one thing that Batman games have taught me, its that gamers can completely identify with Gothamites. We've been put through the wringer by the last trio of Batman games, each one under-delivering on the promise of playing a game featuring the Dark Knight Detective. And it's hard to undo the collective amnesia that we all seem to undergo the second a new game set in the franchise is announced.

It's with this mindset that I walked over to a demo session of "Batman: Arkham Asylum", and got a closer look at the game during the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

Three Pillars of Game Design
The developers of "Batman: Dark Asylum" were quick to inform me of the game's three pillars design philosophy (think concentration areas). These three areas of focus were: Investigation, Free Flow Combat, and Predatory Combat (think stealth). Interestingly, my reaction to this design credo was surprise because I'd never actually thought deeply on what the core essences of the character were. But when I did, I saw a lot of value to this list - they're the most important elements of his masked persona distilled to it's purest and basic idea. To showcase the three pillars concepts in action, I was given a demonstration in the Riddler's Challenge rooms.

The Riddler Challenges
The Riddler challenges are a set of rooms that are designed as an incentive for players to unlock bonus art and character profile info (the game will ship with over 200 of these). The first challenge room I'm shown showcases the game's Free Flow Combat System. Controlling Batman, I'm able to ping-pong around the room engaging different opponents quickly using strikes and kicks. Of course, combat in real-life (or comics for that matter) is rarely ever focused between two people trading blows in gentlemanly fashion and a third person enters the fray. As said goon makes his move I get a moment to try a cool feature that the developers call, a re-direct.

Re-directs in "Batman: Arkham Asylum" are used as a way to redirect Batman's attention to a separate incoming attack. Whenever the Caped Crusader's attention is diverted and an opponent is attacking from his blind side, a lighting bolt appears over the incoming attackers head. This is your prompt as the player to hit the re-direct button to intercept the attack (and look super cool) and then counter the move. Players can either redirect or dodge which leaves the system open and not feel too automatic, and if a prompt makes you feel like the sequence is too quick-time-ish, it shouldn't. Ultimately, it contributes to keeping Batman aggressive in these one-versus-many brawls, and it's satisfying when you nail them into consecutive combos (which for challenge rooms, can be recorded and then uploaded to online leaderboards).

Predatory Instincts
The second series of challenge rooms show off the predatory combat pillar of the game's design. As Batman, players are tossed into a much larger room with the goal of taking out all the goons, only now they are encouraged to use more stealthy means. Batman can crouch walk to silence his steps to sneak up behind foes, or use his grappling hook to observe his prey from above and put together a rough combat plan.

I scale to the top of the room using my grappling hook and check out the Caped Crusaders wonderful toys in "Batman: Arkham Asylum". My first assessment tool is called investigation, and by tapping a button I get a wire-frame looking heads up display that informs me of enemy positions. Using the right trigger, I can crouch walk and sneak up behind someone for a stealth take-down, one of the best ways to dispatch an opponent silently, or I can look for marked surfaces to use my explosive gel. Tagging a marked surface, you can remote detonate the get and take out an enemy using the opposite of a stealth take-down, but its still very satisfying. Two more great tools for the Dark Knight are the Bat Claw and fan favorite Batarangs. The Bat Claw pulls enemies across the room over to Batman (think Scorpion's claw from Moral Kombat), or over rails, taking them out in the process. And Batarangs are like ninja stars except shaped like .... bats.

As I systematically took out each goon in the challenge room one by one, I had another epiphany - this could be the best Batman game so far. The predatory combat felt right for the license, but the thing that sealed the deal were the enemy A.I. and there reactions. If I was too loud, all the thugs would come running to see what happened - a plus in my book. One of my favorite moments played out when I used one of the game's vertical take-downs - If an enemy passes under Batman's perch in a level, he can grapple down, scoop up the enemy, and tie him to the post while he screams for help. After I hog-tied my prey, he scream out and all the goons leveled their machine guns to fire at me. Using the grapple I was able to evade the bullets and seek a better spot while the enemies bickered amongst each other wondering where I went. This was a Batman moment and it convinced me that the game is on the right track.

There's still much to discuss when it comes to "Batman: Arkham Asylum". The game takes place over the course of one night, and with a pretty familiar comic book plot: Batman apprehends the Joker. Joker escapes and then sets all the lunatics of Arkham loose on everyone's favorite Dark Knight (all according to plan, I might add). So, while the outcome to the story could feel obvious, we're fairly excited to see how it all plays out for Batman this time. Clearly the three pillars philosophy as a key design decision means that Rocksteady Studios understands the Dark Knight, better than the developers that came before. Yet its to early to tell if this is the game that vindicates the Batman license and lifts it out of the dredge of 'bad licensed games'.

Solid Advice: Shut Off Your Phone

2009-03-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

“Please shut off your cell phone before the show begins.”

This was the robotic message that blared through the South Hall of the Moscone Center just moments before Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Japan, took the stage for his keynote session on developing games for an emerging market. This was just one of two big headline keynotes taking place this week during the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco.

I probably had the same dismissive reaction to this announcement as the countless others that were filing into the large hall for Iwata’s session.

“Shut off my phone?” I thought to myself. “Yeah, right.”

But midway through the keynote, I would come to regret this decision, after all the unthinkable always happens. In fact, this accident was something that I programmed to happen every day at 9:30 a.m.

It was my alarm clock. And at 9:30 a.m., it sounded off in the middle of Iwata’s session programmed with the same high pitched sound as the Codec noise used in the Metal Gear Solid games.

See, this alarm is usually important because it signals the end of my first period class. But today wasn’t one of those regular days.

And as I sat in the press section surrounded by high profile members of the gaming press - Stephen Totilo and Tracey John of MTV Multiplayer to my right, Seth Schiesel of the New York Times sitting in front of Stephen, and Brian Crecente and Mark McWhertor of Kotaku both sitting side-by-side in front of me, I reached into my pocket and silenced my cellphone, feeling very foolish the entire time.

Kellee Santiago Speaks on Managing Creative Talent Within Indie Studios

2009-03-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Kellee Santiago, of thatgamecompany, hosted a lecture today emphasizing the importance of managing creative talent within Indie studios at the Independent Games Festival, part of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The core team of her studio started with 3 people and steadily grew to 7 over the last three years. But despite constantly dealing with contract workers during her studio's game projects, the important piece of her discussion today was aimed towards managing full-timecreatives of an Indie studio instead.

"The focus here will be on your full-time employees, who are probably slash some of your best friends right now," Santiago said, a nudge of sorts toward a key issue for Indie teams, as they transition from creative relationships based off of their early friendships to a more organized format required for business.

Santiago went into specifics by sharing the personal growth and experience at thatgamecompany, and pointed to the creative arguments that began occurring regularly within the group at a very critical moment for the studio last year.

Following the fantastic response from critics to the first showing of their last game, "Flower" at E3 2008, and an offer from Sony aimed at giving them more time and money towards the development of the game, the team was suffering from an all-time low morale within the company and some severe growing pains.

To help the attendees understand her company's situation, Santiago gave a pop quiz to the audience with questions that switched between topics of trust, to then conflict, commitment, and lack of accountability; a laundry list of problems that were contributing to issues at her studio. As one of the the co-founders of her company, Santiago admitted to struggling with knowing when to get involved in the arguments, knowing that on many times when she did it was from being over protective of her staff.

With the help of consultants, the collective of thatgamecompany were able to sort out their issues by identifying the key problems, and then enabling solid management techniques within the company to help address them. They found that there was a growing fear of conflict or the avoidance of conflict between team members, hidden under the guise of thinking that "the game just needed to get done", Santiago said.

For any Indie studio today, Santiago's lecture could hopefully be viewed as solid advice, and she touched on a very human part of the game development process that is never talked about in the daily public relations cycles or information that is passed on to the gaming press.

Santiago closed her lecture by comparing her company's situation to a bad early relationship. "It took (us) a while to learn that its not going to get any better, and that we had to change something here," Santiago said. "But now that we are more mature agency, we can see the signs much more clearer. You can see them a mile away."

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The Night Before GDC 09'

2009-03-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

So, how did I spend the day before the Game Developers Conference in San Francsico?

I spent the night before GDC playing (and finishing) Resident Evil 5 on my Xbox 360, and then grabbing a quick nap afterward because my eyes were almost bloodshot from playing most of the day.

But napping at 6 p.m. on the night before a big industry shindig like GDC can be a bad thing. Let me explain. First, i missed a huge kick-off party at a local bar downtown. Second, I woke up restless at 12 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. So I spent the early part of this morning browsing more panel sessions and discussions and hoping that I'd make a breakthrough in cloning before 7 a.m.

Sadly, that breakthrough didn't happen, but GDC is still going on and I'll be there on Wednesday.

Maybe I'll get some sleep before then...

Fast Forward: Resident Evil 4 is Keeping Me Busier Than I Thought

2009-03-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

If there's only one thing that's difficult about being a fan of gaming, its that keeping up with the annual release schedule is tough business. Or, at least playing through each game can be.

A friend of a friend of mine said it best one day. Well, both he and his wife did; They agreed that the initial investment a person puts into a game can quickly feel like more of a burden than a benefit. Especially with the longer games that dominate our playtime.

Consider what reviewers go through. These folk are paid to play as much as possible (given embargo and other circumstances) and then write a quick yet detailed review chronicling the experience. Of course, average Joe is blind to this part of the experience since no one is making him write a detailed analysis of the game, but he/she would agree that playing game after game and investing 10, 20, or even 50 hours of anyone's time in an experience is daunting all of the time. After all, we all have lives to consider.

Except if you're one of the lucky ones and the terms rent, mortgage, jobs and or social-life are devoid human abstracts of little value to you (very lucky for you indeed).

So, back in 2005 something came up that kept me from playing the somewhat-ubiquitous Game of that Year, "Resident Evil 4". Actually, I think I remember now - that was my first year teaching high school.

A January release was radically different for consumers then given the franchise's pedigree - a bold set of survival horror games set in plague filled middle-American town of Racoon City, but we all were prepared for the revolution that RE4 promised. The new camera, great precision and aiming controls were only some of the benefits, but the game also delieverd what many considered a deep and engrossing action adventure through the spanish part of Europe.

Come to think of it. Now, I really remember what took up most of my time that year: preparing for first batch of mid-term exams. It was a really difficult task, I can assure you.

Well, a little game called "Resident Evil 5" just came out last Friday and as excited as I am for it, I can't justify jumping into the zombie filled plague lands of Africa for a reunion with Chris Redfield just yet. At least, not until I complete the last game in the series that I severly neglected despite the hype. So then I've decided to jump back in and complete RE4 on the Wii.

So far playing RE4: Wii Edition has been great, even if the visual style of the game hasn't aged well. It just doesn't look so hot on an HDTV with VGA cables. But you can blame the manufacturer LG, who only put one set of component cables on the back of the unit. Also, feel free to blame the cost of said component cables for the Wii while you're at it.

I should be done with the game this week, and as of right now I'm on chapter 5-3. Hopefully, my commentary on RE4 for the next few days won't put any of you to sleep. And if so, that's fine. I'll just drone on anyway until I start RE5 right after.

Opinion: The Negative Effects of Exclusivity

2009-03-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

The sports genre used to be my favorite genre in video games, but now this simply isn't the case.

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In 1998, I was quite different: I loved sports games (mostly baseball and football games). My friends and I would spend countless hours playing the latest "MLB" or "Triple Play Baseball" game. We'd switch between the latest "Madden NFL" title and "NFL Gameday" or play "NFL2K" on my Sega Dreamcast. Maybe we just had more time to play back then than we do now, but ever since the early sports game era of the PS One the genre was loaded with promise. Sure, most baseball games were way too homerun friendly, and a Hail Mary pass play might work one time too many, but the level of competition between all the popular franchises was inspiring new ideas and each publisher did there best to capitalize on it and cultivate innovation. New ideas were formed, titles each had a strength, and everything was right with the world.

Fast forward to December 14, 2004. This was the day that Electronic Arts announced it's five year exclusivity agreement with the NFL, giving EA the leverage in an ongoing sports-game-brawl with 2K Games and their NFL2K series.

Even back then gamers had their issues with the EA deal, but nothing could change the mark that this move made on the industry, or the subsequent moves right after: Take Two Interactive entered a similar agreement with Major League Baseball giving their 2K baseball series a jolt, but failing to secure full console exclusivity in the process (first-party published games were allowed, potentially leaving the door open for Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft to develop their own fledgling sports games).

Fast forward, again, to 2009. After dabbling in the Madden series three times and purchasing two of the 2K titled sports baseball games onXbox 360, I've decided that I'm done with the genre (mostly). Granted, my opinion is probably a minority in the realm of sports gamers, but neither series has managed to excite me about playing a virtual sport the way they used to. And blame, what I call, the roster update theory for that - the idea that year-over-year features aren't changed or lightly modified, with only the player roster being the most significant change from sequel to sequel (something that DLC might solve someday).

Sadly, my stance is ironic considering the level of graphical fidelity that this console era and the improvements to the genre it's providing. Today, we're part of an era where high-definition visuals can paint an amazingly realistic representation of a stadium, and sometimes (if we're lucky) a sportscast. Today, we truly see something remarkable during a pitcher's wind-up and delivery. These little things are becoming more and more a true to life representation, and this will only continue to improve with time. But at the end of the day, no matter how visually splendid the product has become, the name of the game isgameplay. Well, that and presentation. And that's my beef with the sports genre, today: the lack of choice.

Call me biased, but I'm tired of the loose feeling my controller gives me as I try to judge a baseball grounded up through the middle of the field. It stymies me that I never know what fielder I'm controlling on a quick play. The blatant notion of involving the right analog stick as 'do everything' feature is dizzying. The fact that no game (in any sport) is really teaching me anything for fear of being too casual is sickening. Why not offer a mode to teach people not just the controls, but what to do here and why? Clearly this is something that a competing sports title can one-day offer, but in the current state of the industry there is no room for that competition. And now there is only one multiplatform baseball game and one NFL football game released every year.

The lack of clear choices, that's my gripe. It's the reason that I've sworn off most of the sports genre, with the exception of "Fight Night: Round 2". Players knew that the running game in NFL2K was great, probably better than the Madden equivalent. But Madden had it's own strengths. Both games did.

I'll admit that some of this post is a bit of an overstatement, but I yearn for the day when the exclusive publishing agreements are over and that day might be coming according to GamePolitics (via GameSpy ). Maybe then I'll be more apt to want to try a baseball game or a football game, again. Until then, I'll hang on to my fond memories of "MVP Baseball" and my younger years playing football games. Those were the best days of the genre because of how much choice we had, and in the end having choices is what makes games great.

Required Listening

2009-03-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

(Another cross-post from systemic)

If you're the type of person that loves deep, informative podcast discussions playing in your ear during a morning commute, here's a quick list of some of the best audio on the internet.

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A Life Well Wasted - Hosted by former EGM'er Robert Ashley, this show is anything but a waste of time, and its shows plenty of potential for the future. "A Life Well Wasted" focuses on video games and the people who love them. After only two released episodes, this show has managed to infuse a strong video game soundtrack with an interesting and often unique social commentary on video games culture. Think of it as a gamers version of "This American Life".

Idle Thumbs - The perennial multiplatform video game discussion podcast hosted by Chris Remo of Gamasutra.com, Nick Brekon of Shacknews.com, and Jake Rodkin of Telltale Games.

The GameSpy Debriefings - the rag tag bunch of editors over at GameSpy.com weigh in on the weeks news, previews and reviews for console and PC. Each week, listeners are treated to the awesome personalities of Sterling McGarvey, Miguel Lopez, Will Tuttle, and others as they discuss the latest topics in the video game industry.

The Player One Podcast - Hosted weekly by former EGM writers Chris Johnston, Phil Theobauld, and guests, The Player One Podcast offers fun, detailed discussions on the hottest topics in the games industry.

The Geekbox - A podcast hosted by some of the best personalities in the business, "The Geekbox" covers a multitude of media for geeks everywhere. Each week, listen to the Geekbox team sound off on games, comics, television, movies and more.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate Hands On

2009-02-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

the following was posted on systemic.gamehelper.com after a recent demo of "Wanted: Weapons of Fate" in San Francisco.

Any fan of the "Wanted" comic book knows that there's still a whole lot of story to tell after the movie. The film version of "Wanted" set a basic foundation that was loosely based on the comic's narrative and used explosive special effects to tell the story of young Wesley Gibson, a life-long loser turned professional killer. Now that Wesley has discovered his real purpose in life and taken control, he's left wondering what's next and if he'll be pursued by secret group of super-assassins known as The Fraternity.

"Wanted: Weapons of Fate" is an extension, a game that incorporates more of the signature comic elements like the Skull suit and other family heirlooms that Wesley inherits from his father, and blends them into a framework that picks up one hour after the events of the film.

"Step Back, I Have a Gun Sir!"
If there was one thing that the 2008 movie "Wanted" absolutely nailed, it was establishing a signature visual style for the film's gun-play. By natural extension, that same focus has shifted over to the game's developers at Grin/ Vivendi Universal, as well. Control over curved bullets, focusing on enemies in and out of cover, and slowing down the on-screen action are all extended to the players' hands with a smart control scheme.

In our demo of the PS3 version, we could fire with the R2 trigger, peek out of cover with the L2, and curve bullets with a combination of L1 and the right analog stick. The controls were both tight and responsive with only a few awkward camera moments springing up as we popped out of cover. Clear on-screen feedback is also easy to read. Whenever we lined up a shot around cover, enemies would be highlighted in white, and would only die depending on where they were hit. This is a relief after a prior build we saw in December, where enemies would fall dead immediately after being hit by a curved bullet regardless of where the bullet struck them (I'll admit that its kind of funny to watch an enemy keel over after being shot in the toe).

Blind-firing over corners turns the edges of the screen white, and enables a fast cover switching mechanic. It's a focused moment where players can jump to another section of cover quickly. So quickly in fact that enemies will lose track of your position when you do it. This sets them up, opening up a moment for a quick melee knife strike using the circle button.

Of course, the natural rules of gun-play apply here: Head shots are the most important, all others are secondary. But the payoff on curved head shots is much cooler here; a slow-motion camera closeup will follow the trail of the bullet as it travels toward the enemy's skull. You can only enable slow-motion or curved bullets when you have adrenaline, represented by a small meter of bullets at the top right of the screen. Killing enemies replenishes your adrenaline, which in turns enables you to use curved bullets. Possible upgrades to the system include Assassin Time (think slow-motion ala "Max Panye", and several arsenal upgrades). One particularly cool bullet effect was done by firing multiple bullets that crisscrossed and later collided, causing a small explosion to take out enemies.

It's All About Showpiece Moments
For the developers of "Wanted", matching certain art elements from the movie is a given, but mirroring the pacing from the film was considered just as beneficial to the project. As an homage of sorts to the train sequence from the film, they've inserted their own signature moment on a passenger filled airplane. Filed with enemies and pitfalls, we maneuvered our hero deftly in and out of cover with great ease, admiring all the little graphical touches. Each section of the plane represents a new kill-box that was both satisfying and visually distinct enough to fit in any part of the film universe.

Clearly "Wanted: Weapons of Fate" is not some art house game/cinema project. It's all about brutality, violence, and thinking fast in crazy situations. To the developer's credit, those characteristics are easily distinguishable in the game, and it all fits quite well as an extension to the film. Even the same the same dark humor of the movie is here and it's still funny (the easy difficulty setting is clearly labeled: Pussy. I know, we were just as shocked as you).

We know that gamers are always openly skeptical of any film licensed game property, but both Grin and Vivendi Universal are hip to your argument, and want to change the negative aura that surrounds licensed IP. They clearly understand that and "Wanted", too. That it isn't meant to be filtered or family friendly, but be quite visceral instead. A sort of no-holds-barred sequence of events, if you will. The build we saw showed vast improvements and polish, but for a game like this pacing is everything, and it's the thing that will separate Wanted from being too much like "Max Panye", "Stranglehold", or "Dark Sector".

Look for "Wanted: Weapons of Fate" at retail in late March 2009 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Resistance Retribution Demo Impressions

2009-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to Europe, soldier
The Resistance Retribution demo kicks things off back in Europe 1951, shortly after the fall of local forces to the parasitic Chimeran invaders. After the initial invasion, the Chimerans are low on necessary raw materials needed to replenish their forces, namely more human bodies. A small team of soldiers are sent in to investigate the conversion facility in Bonn, Germany, and find out where the Chimerans are getting their supplies. As, Pvt. James Grayson, an angry, bullish type who's lost his brother to a Chimeran forces earlier in the war, players will explore more of the Resistance universe. Grayson knows the enemy conversion facilities well, and is brought in for his extensive field experience detonating alien facilities. Unfortunately, plans fall apart and a member of his squad, Raine Boushard, is captured at the outset of the demo. Time is running out to locate for Boushard before she is converted into a Chimeran Menial by enemy forces.

A Slightly Smaller Resistance Experience
If you've had a PSP, one thing is very clear: Shooters and PSP rarely play nice together. This is mainly because the system is missing a second analog stick (an integral part of the genre for the past 7 years), and that's sure to make anyone nervous about a new shooter on the system. Sure, it's a clear hardware restraint, but the team at Bend Studios seem to have figured it out. First, there is an auto-targeting system in the game. It's useful because the face buttons of triangle, square, circle and x control your view point, and the analog nub controls movement. Any target directly in your sights is highlighted with a single red reticule.

Pulling the R button fires the equipped weapon (or throws a grenade) while the L button is used as an alternate fire; a great part of all the weapons in the Resistance franchise is they dole out different damage or enhancements depending on which button you push. There are eight weapons featured in the demo, including the Auger-WS (my personal favorite), a weapon that fires through solid objects and generates a shield to protect players during tense firefights. Serious fans will have no problem finding their favorite weapons from Resistance and the demo showcases enough situations to put each of them to use.

Inventory control is pushed over to the PSP's directional pad. The right button cycles through the inventory and the left button reloads the current weapon. Pushing up enters a free-aim system that makes Grayson stationary, making it ideal only for certain situations (Note: This is only a description of the default controller layout and it can be altered in the options menu).

The smaller screen of the PSP means less real estate to showcase the large-scale vistas typical of the Resistance series. Naturally, everything has been scaled down for portable viewing, but there's still enough depth here to clearly interpret the Resistance art style, even down to the weapon models. The demo level of the Chimeran conversion center is pretty large visually and there is even an enemy encounter against two titans, gigantic two-story enemies that fire huge plasma cannons. The visual tone is set pretty well despite everything being a little too dark.

Since this is a third-person shooter, Grayson's player model is on-screen at all times and is slightly offset to the left from the center of the screen to make spotting enemies easier. This means you'll never really see anything below your torso and that's just fine since there isn't any platforming that we could see in the demo, so far.

NOTE: Don’t forget you can connect your Second or Third gen PSP to a television via the available connector! - ED

Calculated Retribution
From a technical standpoint, it seems that Bend Studios has figured out how to make third-person shooters work on the PSP. This is the studio that worked on the last few portable Syphon Filter games, so everything in the Resistance Retribution Demo seems to be carefully crafted to take advantage of the handheld tapping into their experience developing these previous titles. If that experience is any justification, Resistance Retribution looks like a solid effort that can only get better. Look for Resistance Retribution at retailers this March 2009.

Should I Really Play A Cooperative Game Alone?

2009-02-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

This a cross-post from my blog over at systemic.gamehelper.com

So, I've been repeatedly playing the Resident Evil 5 demo, for the better part of last week, with a number of friends on Xbox Live (PS3 owners sit tight, this is your week). Like any critical thinker, I've got plenty of things to ~~criticize~~ point out (both good and bad) from the experience. But this post isn't about that at all.

I've set out to ask one question here: Should I play the retail copy of RE5 alone or with a bro' on coop?

See, here's my dilemma: Whenever I think of my typical Resident Evil experience, its usually hunched over over in front of the TV, alone. That's always been the constant thing that makes sense to me about the series, and its the hardest thing to disassociate from it as well. It's you against the terrifying (or at least creepy looking) world, that and the incessant urge to keep your eyes alert for the nearest zombie/ dog/ spider creature, so you can get a quick shot at it with your pistol. Maybe its an exaggeration to call the Resident Evil universe scary, but the sense of tension (or terror) was always palpable, and the results were fun. You know, kind of like Dead Space.

You can run, but you can't hide from ugly monsters like this

That leads me to the crux of my dilemma: this Resident Evil is a cooperative adventure, with the emphasis specifically placed on gameplay being balanced for two. I love the idea in theory (an that's why I've played so much of the demo, lately) and I love coop experiences in games. I do. That's why Left 4 Dead is among my favorite games, alongside Gears of War 2, Crackdown, and Halo 3. I recognize the impact of a cooperative experience. They're fantastic because of the nature of working together to achieve a goal. Its a combined effort that demands teamwork. But for story driven games like RE 5, I can't help but want to play it alone. I want to absorb every bit of the game. The sights, the sounds, every line of dialogue ( a tad obsessive, I know). And the thought of relying on a partner driven A.I. makes my stomach crawl because as much as we want to believe they can, we know they cannot (Full disclosure: I haven't tried the demo with an A.I. partner yet, either).

The thought of idle chatter from my teammate slightly ruins RE 5 for me because it would pull me out the experience completely when all I want to do is absorb myself in that world. It's the same reason I'm more likely to play a game cooperatively online on my second play-through of a game (the obvious exception being "Left4Dead", a game completely devoid of any story elements whatsoever). Yet, I haven't heard enough anecdotal evidence to suggest if the partner A.I. here is up to snuff.

So, dear readers, how are you planning to play RE 5?

My Top 8 of 2008: #3 WipeOut HD

2009-01-13T22:28:00.000-08:00

Anyone who remembers the original Sony PlayStation can appreciate the revival of the WipeOut franchise in 2008. In 1995, Wipeout delivered on the promise of futuristic 3-D racing experiences and we were all sufficiently wowed by its beautiful urban landscape, and sleek twists and turns. WipeOut was quite the accomplishment then, and it seemingly grabbed our attention and never really let go.

Fast-forward and WipeOut HD represents a new promise to this generation of gaming: the delivery of high quality, high-definition full games via download. For only $20 gamers invested in a superior audio visual experience that combines the tracks of both previous PSP iterations of WipeOut. Yes, both portable games admiringly retained the classic WipeOut charm, but in HD the experience received a sizable high-resolution boost to full 1080p HD.

Although the controls here are tight and the online play is solid, it seems that any potential future for the series has been left to us, ironically. As of this writing, we here at Systemic have no idea how well the game has sold online (it didn't make the top 10 list, though) or when new tracks will be released online, but it would be a waste if Sony sits on their laurels and won't support this model since downloadable games are the future of this industry.

If you're a complete novice or a fan, give WipeOut HD a try. It's got friendly race assist options designed to help new players ease into the series (because no on likes running into walls the first time they play an unfamiliar racing game). The included tracks are some of the best of the last two games with more on the way (at least we hope), and Zone mode is a great way to help you hone your skills for online play. And the price barrier to entry here is a welcome one. At $20 bucks, there really wasn't an equal racing experience last year that could compete.

My Top 8 of 2008: #2 Bionic Commando Rearmed

2009-01-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

The idea of remakes has always had a negative effect on me. I mean, really, why bother recreating something that was good 10 or 20 years ago when more effort could be spent on making something new and, perhaps, more interesting. At least, that what I used to think as soon as my eyes finished rolling at the sound of the word "remakes". I guess it just always felt like cheating to me. A game idea that was good 20 years ago might not be so good today, and increased visual fidelity means other parts of the game need proper retuning and correction.

The fact that Grin, the developers of the next-gen "Bionic Commando" and "BC Rearmed", came along and changed everything I thought remakes could be needs to be noted. BCR was a treat on so many different levels. The graphics were stylized in a manner that still homages the original work of the 2-D game, and the music, composed by Simon Viklund, is a work of genius that modernizes classic 8-bit music in astounding ways. Rather than sit on their laurels, the development team at Grin added new bosses that all required skilled use with the bionic arm, and replaced the only real flaw of the original game. Extra modes like co-op, versus, and 50 + challenge rooms added to the overall value, and were solid inclusions for the game's solid swing-or-die framework.

A game that focuses on a grapple and swing mechanic certainly doesn't seem modern by today's standard, but the job done here by this studio is truly remarkable, and I can only hope that more "remakes" are treated the same with as much reverence to the source material. If you're looking for a downloadable treat from 2008, look no further than Bionic Commando Rearmed to enjoy vintage play mechanics spruced up to today's modern standards.

My Top 8 of 2008: #1 The World Ends With You

2009-01-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

I'm a big believer of personal preference, and since 2008 has ended, its high time to look back at the year and point out the games that grabbed my attention the most. Truthfully, I should be honest and say that I wasn't expecting much out of the games of 2008, but was I wrong or what. Sure, 2007 had "BioShock" and "Portal", heck it even had "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Halo 3", and these are all games that had incredible design, high production quality, and unique input to their respective genres, but 2008 was just as endearing in terms of quality, even if quite a few of my most anticipated were disappointing (more on that in a future blog, trust me).

So lets get this Top 8 of 2008 list started with Square Enix's "The World Ends With You".

"The World Ends With You" is a hip contemporary Japanese role playing game for the Nintendo DS that was released in the US on April 22, 2008. It follows a small group of kids (designed by "the main man" over at Square, Tetsuya Nomura) that are participating in a deadly game through the streets of a hyper stylized Shibuya shopping district in Tokyo. The group is given challenges they must complete over seven days by a mysterious group named the reapers. The story here is very well written and delivers enough surprising moments to keep you engaged, but the battle and equipment systems are where this game really shines..

In TWEWY players control two characters at once, which would seem like a small task except the developers chose to take advantage of the DS hardware by placing them on separate screens. The character on the bottom is controlled via the stylus while the character on the top is controlled using the D-pad. Two characters on different screens may seem like sheer chaos on a handheld (or a sad way to end up cross-eyed), but its actually quite manageable, and there is a setting to let the top screen be AI controlled, which helps. Equipping different pins gives your stylus character a variety of different attacks and abilities, from scorching pyro-kinetics, physical attacks, and projectile based ones as well. Each pin has its own leveling system and initial value for trade ins.

To TWEWY’s credit, the developers managed to add some unique zest to the often-rote formula of JRPs by allowing the player to up the stakes of enemy encounters. Yes, it means facing tougher enemies outside your level bracket, but the results are better items and currency, a plus given so much of this game is centered around buying decisions. This 'commerce' portion of the game is driven by brand names, just like in real life. Different neighborhoods of the Shibuya support different brands of clothes and equipment. Following the in-game neighborhood trends gives you a distinct advantage in combat with stronger resistance to attacks, or the ability to dole out more damage to enemies. If you chose to ignore the trendy consumers of Shibuya, that's fine too, and the game isn't too difficult on you if you don't. Instead, you'll influence the trend yourself by boosting the performance abilities of the brand that you're currently wearing over time, eventually making them stronger and more popular. On a whole, the entire experience in TWEWY is very user friendly and customizable.

Up until this point, I've almost given up on the JRPG genre. Clearly I haven't been interested in enough games of this type for portable systems like the DS: I tried playing the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance a while back and failed miserably to appreciate it. Crisis Core was the same problem again, only on the PSP. A great game should be driven by strong visuals, narrative, and a intricate battle system, that while nuanced, still manages to be engaging for the player and doesn't risk becoming a chore. TWEWY was an amazing experience for me in 2008 from a genre where I expected little change. Give it a go, and prepare for unique experience that manages to shake up the RPG formula in 2008.

What you should be playing in Little Big Planet.

2008-12-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Someone must have posted this one already considering the recent outcropping of web portals charged with sharing user levels in LBP, but I'm posting it anyway. ;)

That, and it isn't half bad for a very condensed version of a full 3-D game. If you loved "Ico", then dive in and see what this does for you.

A Brief Chat with Alex Evans Courtesy of Gamevideos.com

2008-12-16T17:52:00.000-08:00

Little Big Planet 'Spike VGAs 2008 Interview'

Sam Kennedy, site director for 1UP.com, speaks with Alex Evan regarding the future of Little Big Planet at the Spike VGAs..

Game Diary: Left 2 Rot...

2008-12-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

**This is a post from a few weeks ago that I sat on for a while, mostly because I've been focused on other stuff.**

I did a horrible thing my first night playing "Left 4 Dead".

I followed my self-preservation instincts and ditched my teammates, leaving them as fodder for the infected horde.

It should never be over stated that some choices, especially tough ones, aren't simple. Take our situation for example. We were surrounded on the hospital rooftop, engaging in the final rush, a final crescendo moment where waves of infected attacked us from all corners of the rooftop . Worse, we already failed three times before and although no one was frustrated yet, there were small bouts of in-fighting on th team.

But this time things were going much differently. We survived the first wave of zombies without a problem. The next obstacle came in the form of a Tank, a special infected that can take large amounts of damage and deal high damage as well. We took him out quickly. In fact, everything was looking great until the middle of the third wave. Special infected zombies managed to up our team, making us a group of desperate men. I managed to hold my own, dropping as many infected as I could.

And then the helicopter came, and along with it the pivotal choice: save my friends or make a run for the rescue copter.

The tension in this moment was palpable, the choices distinct and very clear. As much as it made sense to stick it out, grab more ammo, and save my friends from the horde, I chose the easier goal. I chose the copter and what would be my first level completed achievement.

So maybe my decision was influenced by outside achievement-whoring urges. Or maybe it was the feeling that I didn't want to chance restarting the level for the fourth time. Regardless of the initial factors I made my choice, and the results were exhilarating and still troubling for me all at once.

Yeah, the "Left 4 Dead" has a few flaws - not enough weapons, needs more maps, special infected could use a little more variety - but the experience as a whole is still amazing.

Simply said, Left 4 Dead is incredible (probably more worth it for PC owners than the way I played it, on 360) and worth your time. It punishes you relentlessly with infected hordes, it manages to be engrossing without a connected story-arc, and it presents you tough choices similar to the one I faced. I may have chosen to save myself, but who knows what you'll do given the same choice.

I'm Back on the Wii Fit Bandwagon!

2008-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

**REPOSTED FROM http://ghningtest.ning.com/profiles/blog/list **

A few months ago, I made an ambitious promise to myself - that I would spend at least a month or more exercising to Nintendo's self-help/feel-good game of the year, Wii Fit. But between spending way too much time reading and working a retail job (plus school), my Wii Fit time had all but diminished.
I suppose the same thing happens to anyone that joins a gym, as those ambitious fitness promises are all too slowly broken. Missing my "Wii Fit" fitness regimen still filled me the same self-loathing you feel after weeks of skipping my workout, and then realizing that 'this time' might not have been the 'right time'. Still, I'm glad Wii Fit managed to make me more conscious of my very unhealthy diet/ lifestyle, and that's something that no other game this year could do.

That's right. Regardless of how cool it felt to parkour, I'd stand little chance scaling my house and executing graceful jumps over to my neighbors' rooftops. But getting myself to get up and stand on a scale to do Yoga poses and other stuff worked like a charm. It might lack some focus and polish (like the ability to follow a set regimen of workouts to burn fat in certain areas of the body - i.e. like my gut), but its still a good experience.

Its easy to complain that Nintendo has lost focus with the people that made their products successful. And as betrayed as core gamers have felt, there is something I feel is right with products like Wii Fit. It's a different experience and one that I welcome next to all the space marine driven shooters and open world games. Something like Wii Fit or Wii Sports is unique in and of itself. Sure, those hi-def games were much more entertaining and sported higher caliber presentations than most of the stuff on Wii, but simple fun - a.k.a. most of the stuff Nintendo's put on the Wii - is still a good thing and its still manages to be just as fun.

Its what manages to make a friendly game of Boom Blox multiplayer shift into a tense free for all. And that feeling is still alive on the Wii, despite the negative sentiment out there.

So, I for one, am glad to be right back on the scale giving it another try and slowly become more invested in my physical health. I've already admitted to myself a long time ago the affects of Wii Fit are more placebo than anything else, but I still desire something to get my physical fitness ego rolling, and for a gamer like me, making it a game is a good place to start.

(Images courtesy of Gaygamer.net and multiplayer.mtv.com)

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince

2008-11-14T00:31:00.001-08:00

Prince of Persia is my most beloved franchise from last gen. The three prior Ubisoft games were true milestones of game design featuring grand storytelling, inspired art and engine design, and a great musical score (Yes, even the emo-inspried sequel to the original Sand's of Time continued the tradition). As the player, you deftly guided the nimble Prince past a series of twisting puzzles and dark foes trying desperately to save his homeland from the darkness affecting his world. And lets not forget the principle gameplay mechanic of the series, the actual Sands of Time - a system designed to reverse ill platforming and combat decisions to give players a second chance, a do-over to set poor choices right.

As amazing as those games were times have changed. It was only a matter of time before Ubisoft revived the Prince franchise for this console generation. Of course, few expected a complete series reboot, but it's happened. Thankfully, this new Prince is still quite nimble. He just isn't surrounded by the same old sand. Those powers are gone, replaced by this game's biggest addition - Elika, your adventure/ platforming/ combat partner in crime.

Elika's chief goal is to help the Prince. Think of her as sort of like Yorda, that silent girl from the Ico series, minus the tedious babysitting. The Prince can't advance without here. She's playable, in a sense - her attack moves are mapped to your controller, but that doesn't stop her from competently keeping up with the vaulting prowess of the Prince - in fact, she helps him double jump. Elika's focused attacks weaken enemies, putting the Prince in a prime attack position to defeat powerful creatures. As much as Elika's design makes her more of an assist character, she also shares an agenda with the Prince - her main purpose is to harness spirit orbs that unlock her powers to rejuvenate the corrupted land.

The inclusion of an assist character in the new Prince of Persia game represents a major shift in the series' design. The focus seems to be on making the game accessible and remove the punitive measures commonly associated with the adventure/ platforming genre. It affects this game in slightly unusual ways; there aren't many ways to die in this adventure. Miss a jump, and Elika extends a hand, saving you from a terrible demise (and putting you back on the platform you jumped from). Elika will also come to your rescue in combat, saving you from a potentially lethal blow.

As much as this makes her the opposite of a damsel in distress, the results left an uneasy feeling for me.

As impressive as this design goal might be - less frustrating platforming, seamless in-game checkpoints whenever you misstep -, but how will removing death for the player affect the final game? See, taking away penalties is fine to an extent, but the unfortunate side affect is that it makes this game feel way too easy. Yes, dying/ losing in games is an artificial consequence, but it's still a consequence or more importantly, an outcome. The penalty forces players to learn what killed them, or what not to do. It contributes to a game and adds a certain amount of risk. Miss that jump, die, and go back to the beginning. As boring as loading screens can be, this formula is something that we're used to, and removing it (while helpful) is quite jarring.

It can also be argued that using the Sands of Time removed any sort of punitive consequence, but I'd argue that while it did in some respect, the mechanic is slightly different because you controlled that system directly. If a certain amount of time passed, you'd be unable to rewind time and die. If you ran out of sand - the fuel that makes time manipulation possible -, you'd die. Maybe my whole remove-death and-game-is-easy-mode argument is invalid, but it's still worth considering.

The new Prince of Persia game really has the potential to be many things. It's again a visual graphic benchmark and the platforming mechanics are quite solid; sporting fluid animation and some great new tricks. If it can mimic the strong presentation of the last trilogy, then Ubisoft has another chart-whopping hit on their hands. But it'll be interesting to see what the fans think of the new game. After all, what happens when a game takes away the ability to lose?

Only On Xbox 360?

2008-11-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

"Gears of War 2" is finally out at retail to equal amounts of both hype and rapturous rejoicing.

Okay, so I haven't played Gears 2 yet, but plenty of evidence suggests how awesome it is. But ignore that user score, that score is bogus ;).

But the bigger take away for me is this: Now that Epic has released a proper Gears of War sequel on the Xbox 360, what will happen to the future of the intellectual property? According to Epic's deal with Microsoft, they retain intellectual property ownership after the fulfilling their contractual agreement. Will Epic take one of the most notobale franchises of this console generation multiplatform? Or will they ignore the potential multi-billion dollar sales, and submit to another exclusive agreement with the boys at Redmond?

Honestly, Epic can go either way, but the wait for their next big announcement will be tantalizing, and the end result will still undoubtedly surprise.

What Can We Learn From Little Big Planet?

2008-10-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

Sackboy is the undisputed hero of 2008
So how awesome is "Little Big Planet", really? It's fair to say that Sony's burlap-fabric-laced world is easily one of the most ambitious console games this generation. It boldly attempts a seemingly impossible mission - to inspire players to be game creators and slowly cultivate their design ambitions. Despite the launch of LBP being anything but smooth, the potential for the design platform is unprecedented in the console video gaming industry.

But can we expect much from the growth of the LBP community now that the critical darling of GDC 2007 is finally available at retail? The rather obvious answer is, yes. Each week we'll see uploaded creative content, and a metamorphosis of community as they accept their new role as judges, sifting through the sea of material to find the best stuff the community has to offer.

Despite my own reservations of ever being a successful video game creative, I can definitely admire the little things that "Little Big Planet" does so right - namely, it's charming presentation and deep tool set. In fact, it's the tool set specifically that makes the designers at Media Molecule so incredibly genius. They conquered the one thing that so many previous D.I.Y games like "Fighter Maker" and "RPG Maker" struggled with - easy access tools lumped together in simple and understandable categories. If it's mechanical, the player knows to examine the tool box portion of the "popit". If it's a scenery piece, then they look in the goodie bag. This marvelous design choice makes the tools so light and easy to use, yet the near endless tutorials in the game emphasize the importance of choosing the right part for the job.

But prior game creation tools on console made another fatal error in that they were too technical, and focused on very niche genres like fighting or RPG's. Well, to be fair, maybe fighters were more mainstream, but that doesn't make them easier to design. In fact, the average fighting game takes months of proper balancing and animation work. On the other hand, RPGs need strong narratives, character development, and battle systems. Set pieces need to be carefully orchestrated to guide the player through a world of possibilities.

The D.I.Y. model of games is not new. The PC has seen way too many mods come and go, but this genre has stumbled by failing to understand the importance of simplicity. Little Big Planet rewrites the D.I.Y. rules for a very different console audience. This is an audience that doesn't memorize dozens of hotkey combinations or menus. It's an audience that just wants to dive into simple tools and make charming and visually impressive content. Simply put, Little Big Planet is the right product at the right time, and in the coming months we'll bear witness a dearth of content, a growing community of designers, and the real start of D.I.Y. games on console.

Fast forward ten or twenty years, and we'll see the fruits of Little Big Planet's labor, a game designer who claims he got his start designing levels in Media Molecule's incredibly deep burlap world.

Inconsistencies?

2008-10-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

Did I miss something, and why is it titled "Soundtrack from the Motion Picture"? Strange, I thought the movie was still in production.

For the Love of Dead Space

2008-10-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

Although I had briefly admired some of the preview coverage for "Dead Space" - EA Games' descent into horror based survival games - I expected little from the final product. Maybe these low expectations seem harsh, but the reality is there hasn't been a new IP from EA that excited me in years (Army of Two = epic fail). Granted, "Mirror's Edge" holds some of my interest this year, I'm still not convinced its a game I really want to play - at least not lieu of the swarm of high quality games due this fall like "Gears of War 2", "Fallout 3", and "Left 4 Dead".

So how'd Dead Space managed to slip under my radar? Honestly, I don't know. But in light of everything (now that I'm nine chapters into it), it's the best game to kick off this holiday season, and the swarm of games coming into retailers.

By now you must've seen all the positive reviews filing into the internet. But the biggest question on anyone's mind is: How scary is Dead Space, really? But the answer depends on your experience with this sort of material. The beginning of the game isn't very scary at all, or it might be for a brief moment. But the overall tension doesn't rise until about mid-way through the game, where the ammo and health packs start to become real scarce. It's at these points that the suspense level truly rises, because no ammo means you're pretty much screwed. And judging from the sound of things, only God knows what's coming around the next corner.

The overall ambiance also contributes to why, in the end, Dead Space is pretty amazing. As you wander the ship, the empty halls will not only feel dead and devoid of any living thing, but occasionally you'll hear whispers and heavy things being knocked over in the distance. The incredible sound design really put me on the edge of my seat, even though the average enemies at the start of the game do very little to freak you out of your seat. Instead the designers find clever ways to mess with your head - One particular case of this happened after a quick trip to the Work Bench - a part of the game's weapon upgrade system. Right after I finished the transaction, the camera pulled back to reveal a snarling necromorph standing right over my right shoulder.

If that doesn't freak you out, I really don't know what will.

The Obligatory Halo 3: Recon Fan Post

2008-10-14T22:50:00.001-07:00

Halo 3: Recon 'Debut' trailer HD

This generation has been chock full of changes for both hardware and software manufacturers. We've now lived through the metamorphosis of console pricing, with a number of different flavors (a.k.a. SKU's) to choose from. On the software side, we see a persistence among developers to keep iterating on a working engine, rather than rebuild with each new title in development. This recent shift has also led developers to experiment with the episodic model - smaller, focused game releases promising high quality entertainment at lower prices.

This generation we've seen Burnout Paradise and Half Life 2 (and the perfect model this gen: Tell Tale Games) embrace this new theory in AAA design, with a number of studios following suit.

As the title already suggest, yes, this is a fan post about my favorite franchise, Halo 3. The Tokyo Game Show may have been the most awkward place for the announcement, but both Bungie Studios and Microsoft have decided its time too reveal the biggest secret since E3.

Some of us could guess this standalone model was coming, but what can we expect from the new Halo project, subtitled Recon? Here's a small list of thing's that has stood out to me amongst all the coverage we've seen and the trailer debut:

* This is an entirely new campaign experience in Halo 3 that focuses on a much more fragile hero, the ODST (Orbital Drop Shop Trooper). These high caliber marines fought next to the Chief briefly in Halo 2, and then again in Halo 3. But Bungie has teased that this hero won't be identical to a certain super-powered Spartan. If the gameplay of Halo 3 is any indication, these super bad marines have been just as disposable as the regular marines, their only visible advantage being ultra cool black garb. So with Halo 3: Recon, we'll finally see the ODST at work, proving once and for all why they represent Robin compared to Master Chief's Batman.

*Bungie has already cleared the air (and quickly) that this is not Ghost Recon: Halo, or Gears of Halo, or Halo Gear Solid. And they were quick to point out that the weapons of Halo 3 won't receive any major changes (so don't go hoping for that original Halo pistol to make a reappearance in Halo 3: Recon). Instead, fans can expect the same weapons currently found in the Halo 3 sandbox (for better or worse).

However, the ODST that emerges from the drop pod in the trailer is carrying what appears to be a silenced variation of the SMG. Can we expect more slight variations added to the marine class weapons of the original?

*The multiplayer component of Halo 3: Recon will be an exact copy of the multiplayer that shipped with Halo 3, last year. That means no ODST will substitute the familiar deadly hallways pf Halo 3 multiplayer. Instead, we'll see the retail disc version carry the same (and some currently unreleased) maps, with the same outcomes. There will be no separate multiplayer component added to Halo 3: Recon.

*But many websites have all agreed that this campaign could be the content players unanimously felt was missing from Halo 2 - the bulk of which was expected to take place on Earth. As such, Halo 3: Recon could plug a familiar gripe of the design team since Halo 2. And the presence of a mysterious A.I. only reinforces that we'll some interesting level design and navigation queues (hopefully, anyway).

I've been a major fan of this series, despite my gripes with Halo 2, so this announcement is huge for someone like me (and like you, if you're still reading this). It might be cool to hate on Halo these days, but one thing is certain: Halo is still one of the largest IP's this generation, and a brand extension like Recon could potentially be another blockbuster notch on Bungie's belt.

Ahead of its Time?

2008-09-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

That's right! That game is "Steel Battalion", a game that could have been three years too soon. It was an X-Box exclusive from Capcom that baffled both the press and mech fans alike, mainly because of the $199 price tag.

I still remember when I walked into Toys R' Us in Times Square, NYC to drop my well earned Christmas cash. Years later I could reminisce that the game was only okay at best. Thankfully, I'll always have a reminder courtesy of YouTube.

Incredibly Edible Contraptions, Or Things That I Read Today

2008-09-21T22:47:00.000-07:00

It's funny, I just don't read books anymore. And I bet I know what you're thinking, "Well, how is that funny." Well dear reader, it just is (or maybe a better position is ironic). Actually it's because there was a time, a very long time ago, that I did read books instead of repulsive, grammatically incorrect articles and poorly written blog post. In fact, everyday I find new subscriptions for my RSS Reader and I try, vainly, to keep up with a ridiculous amount of content.

Today, I decided to stray from my typical web surfing routine, and I started a fascinating book edited by one of my favorite writers, the one and only Clive Thompson.

Clive's been featured in many relevant science and culture compilations as one of the best technology writers in the business. He's submits stuff all the time for Wired and the New York Times. The book, titled, "The Best Technology Writing of 2008", is really a who's who of some of the most talented science writers. These diligent folks record the effects of technology on our daily live, and then feed it back to us without the tech speak that invades so much science writing.

"What can we do with our strange new powers" is an interesting position Clive takes when he describes some of the articles featured as part of the introductory chapter.

Now before you start getting antsy, I can assure you this isn't a book review or some personal critique on the book. I get to do that sort of thing at a different job. Plus, I'd never try to waste your time that way, or mine for that matter. I just like to look back at the stuff I read, or experience. Just like I do with games.

The first chapter introduced me to Dave Arnold, a master engineer that builds some of the coolest culinary gadgets in the restaurant business.

David helps master chefs experiment with new and exciting gadgets that can introduce a plethora of tasty experiences the next time you visit a fancy restaurant in New York City. He works mainly with the extraordinary Wylie Dufresne.

Check out the video below for more on the type of work David does.

Ending the Silence

2008-09-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Sadly, it's been weeks since I've posted anything on this blog.

My recent silence was for two very specific reasons: a) I've been trying to figure personal things out, and b) I moved to a much nicer (a.k.a. bigger/cleaner/incredible) space. Remember folks, I've been out here on the west coast for over a year, so it was due time for an upgrade from my previous misery-filled cubby hole of a room. Plus, my new roommates are fabulous! Even though they are all non-gamers, they've adapted to my quirky habits, eventually joining me on a few occasions.

I have to say that taking time off did me a whole lot of good. I got to enjoy "Too Human", despite the enormous amount of hate the game received two months ago. I also finished Quantic Dream's "Indigo Prophesy" - a game that sounds like a much cooler experience when you replay it, or if you share your experiences in some sort of group discussion. I've done neither, and the game's ending did disappoint like most games do, but there were still plenty of things I enjoyed in this game, particularly the character development.

I didn't expect to enjoy this game when I discovered you can control four central character's in the story. Blame other games I've played where it ended up as very cut, copy, and paste. Surprisingly, this system lead to some interesting discoveries for me. It felt like I was trying to play mental chess against myself. The game forces you would hide the evidence from yourself, and then try to find it again.

Take the opening murder sequence, as an example. You can choose to clean up the mess and hide the murder weapon, only to return an examine the crime scene later as a completely different character. You're role is transferred, as you attempt to catch yourself, if that makes any sense. I'm not sure if I'm just getting too old for this sot of thing, but I have to admit that I found this story-telling mechanic astounding, even if it felt very point-and-click-adventure-ish (an obvious influence for the design team).

I'd like to write some more about it one day, but my recent obsession with RockBand 2 stands in the way. Here are a few other notable things that happened (either to me or on the web) while I was away:

- Variety's Ben Fritz spoiled the shit out of one special enemy in the Force Unleashed. Great article, but shame on you Ben. Shame.

- I finished "Bionic Commando: Rearmed", my personal favorite downloadable game of the year (so far, anyway).

- John Davison made a critical statement about the relevance of reviews to an average consumer over on his personal blog and What They Play.

- I went to PAX 2008 and saw a lot of games and even more gamers.

- The new season of the 1UP Show has a very creative opening title segment you can't help but love. Seriously kids, you should be watching this every week. This week, the crew checks out Bionic Commando (not Rearmed, the other one), Spore, and a possible late great title from Sega, Yakuza 2.

Catching Up

2008-08-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've got a bit of catching up to do as its been a while since I posted anything in this space. It isn't for lack of trying, I've just been really busy.

But I will be posting some stuff from my hotel. Possibly a last hurrah, but I'm still uncertain (conflicted or whatever).

More information coming soon.

Trimming the Fat

2008-08-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

My video game shelf is getting a bit crowded. Maybe it's all the darn peripherals (Wii Wheel, Wii Fit, Wii Zapper, and Rock Band), but its time to weed out the crap that's slowly slipped into my collection. So this month the axe is comes down and seven games are on the chopping block (perhaps eight).

Goodbye and Good riddance!

On the Way Out:
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360) - I reviewed this controversial title last year for Gamehelper.com, back when we did reviews.
Bully: Scholarship Edition (Xbox 360) - Completely mislead by my nostalgic love of the PS2 original. Although gamers everywhere cried foul when this up-rezed port showed plenty of freezes and gameplay hiccups, the later patches Rockstar and Mad Doc released corrected those issues. The port still looked bad, with inconsistent art direction and served as proof positive that developers can't just up the resolution on a next gen game and consider their job done.
Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) Played it last fall, finished it and slowly realized I'll never play it again. The magic wore off this one pretty quick.
Timeshift (Xbox 360) Sadly, still wrapped in shrink wrap. Never played it.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)
Resident Evil masquerading as House of the Dead. Not a bad game, but not a very memorable one, either.
Frequency (PS2)
As a fan of all things Harmoix, I bought this game hoping I could revisit the magic of the 'old days'. But playing Frequency through an upscaled PS3 on an HD television was not a formula for success. Instead, the timings on the notes were impossible thanks to unfamiliar HDTV refresh rates. There's no way to fix it either.
Animal Crossing (Gamecube) I bought the DS version, and I'd rather play it on the go.
Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) Completely heinous emo-swordplay wankery at it's finest. Fun for five minutes and then it's gone. I'm only sad because I really wanted to love this one. Oh, and dice games as a prelude to the final boss equals fail.
Unreal Tournament III (PS3) The first console game to support custom user generated content. But I kept hoping I could use the Gears of War mods in single player so I could fool myself into enjoying this bloated shooter. Oh, and playing as Master Chief (thanks mod community) didn't save it for me, either.

Undecided:
Mario Kart Wii (Wii) "Mario Kart: Double Dash" was better. Really, it was.

Every few months I'll focus on making this a regular practice. Who knew spring cleaning in August was so refreshing.

Balancing Act - Or Day One of Playing with Wii Fit

2008-08-11T03:57:00.000-07:00

It's 4 a.m. in San Francisco, and while I struggle with yet another sleepless night, I can't help but marvel at today's turn of events.

As I found myself awake last night (again), I spent most of the night reading up on Nintendo's leap into the world of family fitness. This leap is something that I've always been curious about both a gamer and a guy who likes to try interesting things. But alas, it seems that the older I get, the more i become agitated with my lack of healthy habits. I don't like jogging, I hate sweating, and I've been blessed with a fast metabolism that's slowly slowing down the closer I get to 30. Instead of fruits, salads, and the occasional jogs, I wallow in my unhealthy state, blindly convinced that it will never get the best of me.

Who am I kidding? But maybe the fact that I dwell on it is proof that it's affecting me, right now. But rather than get all esoteric and bore you with some psychoanalytical thinking, I'll just get to the point - I bought "Wii Fit" today.

There, I said it.

Now before you close this browser and stamp off, convinced that I've finally lost my marbles (or the few that I had to begin with), here me out: First, I don't believe that Wii Fit is designed to make you more slender or physically fit than I do any other contraption that you see on late night television. You know, the pills, clothes, or DIY workout stations that fit in your closet, guaranteeing new ways to lose weight, or your money back (incidentally, I wonder if anyone has ever actually sacked up and confessed that one of those products didn't, demanding their refund and scowling with contempt for their delusional short-comings). Anyway,...

The reason that I bought "Wii Fit" wasn't for the promise that I'll lose weight (or get fit), but the motivation to try and be more conscious, and hopefully do something about it. Maybe this is the same thing that motivates people to sign up for the nearest gym, or read tons of books on healthy practices they can enjoy during their everyday life. Regardless if this over priced bathroom scale becomes nothing more than a $90 dust magnet, it still one step closer to me actually doing something about this gut that's growing between my chest and my mid-section (you know, the area formerly known as my stomach).

Plus, I've got bigger regrets than a measly $90 bucks. Like the time I bought "Steel Battalion", and slowly watched my geek cred rise like it was inflated stock (that thing sat in the closet for months after I played the game for a two weeks straight). Was it awesome? Yes, but was it worth it? Absolutely not.

It just feels so bizarre to me that I even own this product. I mean just read how awkward my gaming tonight was: I returned to "Soul Caliber IV" and vanquished another three floors of computer generated scum and villany. I fired up a quick session of "Halo 3" co-op campaign, and relived my favorite moment battling the four-legged Scarab Tank. Oh, and I started my first night of "Wii Fit" at 2:30 a.m.

See what I mean. It sounds so bizarre!

But even if I know the concept of Wii Fit helping me lose weight is a placebo effect at it's best, I'm still curious enough to give it a shot. Yeah, it's a lot different than the stuff I normally seek from my games, but isn't that why I play games in the first place - to try new and exciting things that I normally don't do. That could be solving mysteries as the curious Professor Layton, terrorizing the busy street of Paradise City. These are still fun things to me, and maybe I can weave Wii Fit into that gaming diet.

But what really concerns me right now is: Is anybody playing Wii Fit, right now? June sales data shows that "Wii Fit" sold half of what it did in May, that's the debut month in case that seems unreasonable. But my concern is that I hardy see any of Wii Fits impact in the stuff I read daily.

Are supply problems holding this back because the Wii system is still averaging insane numbers mother to month?

Couch Potatoe, Confirmed
Maybe a month from now I'll still be playing "Wii Fit"? Or maybe I'll just give in to real excercise and get a bike?

Game Diary - August 9, 2008

2008-08-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

Shamefully, I haven't had a single entry in this game diary for weeks. And that isn't due to a lack of playing games. I've just been a little too burned out to write about them. I'd try and play catch up, but there really isn't a point to focusing on the games I've played in the past few weeks. Instead, I'll just focus on today.

So downloadable games have my undivided attention thin month. And I'm totally fine with that considering the quality level. Last week, mentioned how infuriating it was for me to play Geometry Wars 2. But instead of seeking out anger management classes, I just took some time off and played it today for the first time since. Kyle Orland, of Joystiq, is still beating the crap out of my scores, but I'll live. And I even came close to topping him today, twice.

The mode that did manage to mess with my blood pressure wa Pacisfism - the mode that everybody is talking about these days where your object to avoid the blue diamond-shaped enemies, and fly through gates that will blow them up when they get close.

While listening to an awesome 1UP Yours, I reached my new best of 35,000,000. Kyle's 44,000,000 is just within reach, an he's my only target since no one on my Xbox friends list has bought the game yet.

"Braid" is only other game keeping me busy, and it's worthy of incredible praise. This is truly a magnificent experience that draws from every traditional platformer I've played since my Super Mario Bros. days on the NES. The water colored art, the thematic play mechanics of each level, and the carefully crafted puzzles have helped me to really appreciate smart game design.

I finished it today, collecting all the puzzle pieces (and I feel quite sheepish that I had to cheat to get one of them). I don't know what I think of the ending yet, it was... not something I understand right now (it's 5 am on a Saturday) so I'll have to dissect it in my head tomorrow when I can be more coherent.

Next week: Signing up for a second semester at Bullworth Academy for Bully: Scholarship Edition.

The Summer Crop of Downloadable Games

2008-08-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

In gaming circles, August is typically known for only one release, John Madden Football two-thuosand-and-whatever. Naturally the great gridiron simulator returns both new and improved, but this is usually the only big release we see in August, as the summer months come to an inevitable close and the rush of quality holiday titles begin to storm into the release calendar year.

Last year was more of the same, Madden was on the way. But one thing was different. 2K Boston (or Marin, whatever) and Take Two released Bioshock, a game that rocked the emotional storytelling boat like no other in the genre (or about as well as System Shock II did years prior). Wave of enthusiasm and praise swept across our industry, as more and more people the unprecedented depth of BioShock.

Both Madden and BioShock were the prelude of the incredible lineup that was released in the fall of 2007. That year will stand out as a remarkable year that included a list of marquee games including: The Orange Box, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted, and more.

But fast forward to August of 2008, and there is a much different picture in place. The release calendar for August might be missing a game as rich as BioShock, but there are a plethora of quality downladble games - a much different picture indeed from 2008's usual fare.

This month the downloadable games just keep coming, each presenting another unique take on the concept of smaller focused games with lighter financial risk. "Braid", "Bionic Commando: Rearmed", "Castle Crashers", "PixelJunk Eden", and "Geometry Wars 2" (along with Siren: Blood Curse) represent a new growing market in the game publishing buisness - the self-published downloadable games sector of the video game business. These are the projects that might not survive as a retail disc, or would become dismissed or bloated and unoriginal by the traditional standard of retail packaged games. They are lighter on content, but more focused entertainment experiences. They deserve your attention and your dollars because of their unique nature.

This year, you won't find a smarter platformer than "Braid", or a more soothing graphcal aesthetic than "PixelJunk Eden".

Ladies and Gentlemen, digitally distributed games are here, and their quality stock is only getting better.

Quick Ramblings

2008-08-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've been playing catch up with a lot of things right now, so I've got a slew of things to talk about.

iPhone games aren't living up to the quality that I hoped they would. For better or worse, more and more clone games are finding their way to the device (Like thirty versions of Sudoku); and it's makes me worry every time I browse the App Store. However not all is lost, I have been playing Aurora Feint thanks to media guru (and veteran) John Davison's recommendation on his twitter feed.

I believe John is an incredible resource for quality assessment in video games, and I trust his opinion completely. He's the founder of Whattheylike, and Whattheyplay.com - a parent's resource on gaming and online entertainment for kids.

Aurora Feint plays a lot like Panel De Pon (a.k.a. "Planet Puzzle League"). It reminds me of what "Puzzle Quest" did for traditional puzzle games like Bejeweled. The adventure aesthetic is part of the leveling system that the developers added to the already familiar gameplay (especially if you liked PPL as much as I did).

I've also got "Critter Crunch" and the abysmal "Super Moneky Ball" on my iPhone right now. Instead of being a breakout success, the mechanics Monkey ball dropped the ball big time. But it's probably not that bad for Sega. This was the number one downloaded app for weeks after the App Store launch, and at $9.99 a pop it must have made them money. I just hope they put it to use and develop better games for the platform. My crystal ball bets we'll see a Sonic game (with iPhone wankery) soon*.

I guess it just seems inevitable.

Geometry Wars 2

I liked the first "Geometry Wars" enough to purchase "Geometry Wars Galaxies" on the Nintendo DS. After all, this was the first title to really push Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360, when it launched back in the Fall of 2005.

So after all the praise on this weeks 1UP Show, and 1UP Yours, I knew it was only a matter of time before I jumped into "Geometry Wars 2". And although I'm glad I did, I'm not better for it.

Now, I should preface that I'm never easily angered by a game. I always keep my cool and just retry a level, whenever I fail. I don't throw controllers or smash stuff; That's just uncool.

I say this because "Geometry Wars 2" is bringing the opposite out of me. Now I get mad.

Maybe it's a combination of age and bad luck, but GW2 is really bringing out my bad side. The leaderboards make me uber competitive, the difficulty makes me easily agitated, and despite loving the sequel, I find myself frustrated before I hit continue.

*P.S. Sorry, I really don't have a crystal ball.

Flashback 2007: 1UP Yours Live at PAX

2008-07-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

In case you've never seen it, now you can. Can the 2008 version possibly be better?

Bittersweet Choices

2008-07-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight is an interesting night, and it's full of unique decisions (actually just one decision, really). Instead of the usual, "what game will I play tonight" routine, I've got a bigger choice to make.

Do I go to Seattle for my first ever Penny Arcade Expo?

First, let's start with why not? Well, its up north in Seattle, WA - a place I'm not even remotely familiar with, and it's expensive. The ticket is and easy $45 bucks, but the plane ticket is about $288 for a round-trip. And that's not including hotel. I'd be happy with a shack made of straw, but it's never that easy. Even if a hotel bill can inflate the price even further, I'd feel worse if I didn't go.

I mean, For all intents and purposes PAX 2007 was the shit! It was a real convention for gamers, filled with unique surprises like The Mini-boses, (and even Freezepop). Halo 3 was playable, Rock Band rocked the house, Eye of Judgment, great swag, and the halls were filled chatter about the type of stuff we gamers love to talk about: games.

Oh, and 1UP Yours Live was awesome! Heck, it's still awesome. The fans loved it, and Garnett's already confirmed that they'll be back again with another live show this year.

Photo courtesy of Doug Bonham's blog
Man, if only this decision was easy. Then again, none of them are. Hell, I remember when I boarded a plane with all my belonging and flew to San Francisco, last year. That was the ultimate one way trip. And it wasn't easy, but I'm better for it. And even if this choice isn't as challenging, it's still hard.

Spend upwards of $500 dollars and attend one of the most unique conventions left on the West Coast (since E3 = .....), or sit home and watch all the fun on my PC (or Mac)?

Man, I wish these things were easy.

So Sick With It

2008-07-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

A random search on Youtube for "Street Fighter III" led me to these videos. I really hope the SF community will turn come out with some sick videos to top these masterpieces.

Latest Gamevideos SF IV trailer (sorry for the bad voice-overs)

The Endless Days of Summer

2008-07-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's like clockwork, really. Every summer I get bored with the games on my shelf. It happens every time. I've got three Colossi left to slay, but I'm not in the mood for mountain climbing. I've started a city in "Animal Crossing" ironically called Cali, but I don't feel like paying a visit. Thwart the zombie invasion in "RE 4"? Pass. Continue my comic mishaps through "Penny Arcade's Slick Precipice of Madness"? No.

Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I hate the games of summer.

But I might be alone on this one. Madden fans will rejoice in August, and some other releases in-between will surely rouse the gaming masses (Two Human, perhaps?).

It's times like these when sifting through the pile-o'-shame feels appropriate. And what do I spy on my shelf next to Persona 3? Kingdom Hearts 2, a game that scared the bejesus out of me in the Little Mermaid level, when Ariel burst into song. I loved the original Kingdom Hearts, but I quit playing after that. It just didn't seem worth it at the time.

After my fears subsided, I started thinking about the current crop of consoles and their battle for exclusives.

"Kingdom Hearts" is a franchise that holds significant weight in the gaming business. The second installment of the Disney/Square Enix crossover sold very well two years ago. But after this E3, I wonder if Square is considering the amount of money that a cross platform Kingdom Hearts could earn? Picture it on Wii: This version would hold instant interest with Nintendo's new audience. A Disney game, cutesy characters, are irresistible and marketable, but simplified controls are a must. Making it mass market accessible could make it a massive success.

But what about PS3 and 360? Well picture this: whenever Final Fantasy XIII comes to retail (in 2012, lol). Square Enix will then likely look at the sales numbers. If the game sells better on 360 (and it very well should given the install base), what would stop the RPG titan from publishing the game across multiple platforms? This also falls in line with Microsoft's recent image shift to attract more attention from the Nintendo's audience. Microsoft has to realize the potential they have to wrestle yet another exclusive from Sony.

But Sony can't be foolish, either. Yes, they have closed their checkbooks and refuse to pay for exclusives, but look at the recent NPD. Sony outsold the 360 by a decisive margin, thanks in part to "Metal Gear Solid IV" - a great game that continues to stay exclusive, and demonstrate the retail power exclusives still maintain in the console space.

Enough with the Time Wizardry, I'll revisit "Kingdom Hearts 2" this week. 1UP FM is playing "Psychonaughts", and frankly I'm not interested. Hopefully, I can withstand the Little Mermaid level instead.

In the meantime, I'll post my final thoughts on "Shadow of the Colossus" on Friday.

Ha, looks like the genius at Square planned on the success of KH in the first game, afterall.

**Keep in mind that Square is already developing a PSP, and cell phone version of KH for release later this year. Nothing has officially been said on current console exclusivity in relation to KH III.**

The Dark Knight Awesome

2008-07-21T00:11:00.000-07:00

This will probably be the most spoiler-filled piece I have ever written. If you haven't seen "The Dark Knight", then stop reading and head to straight to your local movie theater. You won't regret it, I promise you.

"The Dark Knight" is an excellent film. There, I said it.

I'm sure there are plenty of other people saying the same thing, so it doesn't surprise anyone that I'm such a big fan. It feels like as much as people believed in the promise of Batman Begins sequel, more and more anticipation circled around Heath Ledger's last performance before his drug overdose months ago. So much could be said of his performance (or the Ledger/ Nicholson debate), but I believe the greatest strength of this film is its story, and that comparisons between the two actors, while interesting, are irrelevant.

"The criminals in this town used to believe in honor and respect."

The beginning to this story seems obvious: Now that the Batman has swept the streets of Gotham City, its criminals have turned to more demented men. But the introduction of the Joker is much better in this film than the original Batman film, and it carries though the remained of the movie. This Joker is a criminal genius, as he should be. He's a foil to the Batman, a character that is so often revered as the world's greatest detective. And that's one key specific that the Burton films missed.

"This town deserves a better class of criminal."

Sure the Burton Joker was somewhat diabolical, but it didn't hit as close to home as the current incarnation. This Joker is an urban terrorist. He creates panic and pandemonium. He uses twisted social experiments (the kill Coleman Reese bit was genius) and turns people against each other. The opening bank robbery scene sets this up nicely, and throughout the remainder of the movie its evident that this is a new kind of criminal, a demented creature who can influence others to struggle with psychotic choices. Alan Moore, the author of "The Killing Joke", would be proud of this Joker, given the writer's unique input on the character's comic book renaissance.

This Joker is out to crush men's souls, and Harvey makes the ultimate victim. He's the symbol of hope Gotham needed, an elected official that's pledging to make a difference. And the Joker tears him down, pushing the former white knight to madness.

"We're what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object"

I love the way this movie also focuses on the unique relationship between Batman and the Joker, especially in the prison scene where the Joker reveals that he doesn't want to kill Batman. He enjoys toying with, instead. Poking, and prodding the Batman, all in an effort to make him break his rules. The rules Bruce set for himself in "Batman Begins" that he isn't an executioner. These are the tenets that keep Bruce in check, and keep him sane. Its the line he won't cross. And the Joker savors every second that he can get him closer and closer to breaking one of them.

"You either die the hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Besides the incredible story, and the powerful performances by all the actors in this film (and great pacing), the thing that wrapped this movie together so well is the ending. Batman is Gotham's whipping boy. He can't be a savior, he can't serve and protect. Yes, he deserves a medal, but he's still a vigilante. A man operating outside the law, and worse: the Joker's killing spree is partly a result of his actions.

The cops hunting the vigilante know as Batman makes sense, and its a much better fit than police cooperation.

I could go on and on about this one all night. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to. Its a great summer movie, and the best ten bucks you'll spend all year.

And thank god a shitty game didn't get coupled together with this movie. It would have really made me sad.

Backlog: And Then There Were Seven...

2008-07-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

My Colossi killing streak continues now that I found number four. I quickly moved on and slayed numbers five and six, soon after.

I find the proportions and sense of scale, in "Shadow of the Colossus", simply amazing. Every Colossi feels huge, but as they get progressively bigger you really appreciate not only the way they look and move, but the way they interact with the world. I'll use Colossi number five as an example.

The deity in the great temple warned me about Colossi number 5. "Blah, Blah, He's no body's fool," he (or it) said. I rode off to find the beast, and while I expected him to be smart, I didn't expect him to be fast. This one was fast, indeed. Number 5 ran through big stone walls, about as high as his abdomen, trying to crush me. This Colossi isn't taller than the third one, but he makes his presence felt and chases me into a small crevice - a place where I can hide and wait to strike.

And strike I did, toppling the large creature despite his attempts to shake me off.

I can't help but notice how well this game immerses players with so little gameplay. The space that the developers have provided is as big as a GTA (maybe), but minus the population. This world manages to feel alive without the pedestrians or the open mission structure. Instead, Shadow of the Colossus deliberately chooses to be linear, and it retains a majority of what GTA manages to provide. The world of the Colossi might feel lonely in comparison, but it still feels alive.

It would be interesting to see Team Ico's next project now that they can develop on more powerful consoles (presumably the PS3). I'd even be interested in their next game if it were developed for PSP.

Game Diary - July 16, 2008

2008-07-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

I find that I might have given up on "Alone in the Dark". As much as I want to love this game, I just can't bring myself to play it again. The very cheap one hit deaths have made me scorn the game I was most eager for this summer.

I went looking for the fourth Colossi in "Shadow of the Colossus" today, and that's about as far as I got. The bugger was no where in sight. You think it would be easier to spot a foe the size of a skyscraper, but somehow my massive adversary managed to evade my sword. It would help if the directions to get to each lumbering adversary weren't so cryptic. I mean the whole sword glowing thing is cool, but it doesn't direct me as well as I'd like.

Spoilers contained herin, be warned!
Since I was still in the mood for some epic adventures, I returned to "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" for the first time since forever. I toppled the villain Zant with my powerful Master Sword and resumed an adventure that's been in progress since I bought my Wii back in June 2006. Unfortunately, the quest is not over and you-know-who lurks at Hyrule Castle. I barely find myself up for one more dungeon, but I'll consider returning to this one. I just might finish it before the next one comes out.

Compare the Wii version of Animal Crossing to the DS and see for yourself.

I also played some Animal Crossing: Wild World on DS and felt a vague sense of deja' vu. The presentation is very similar to the recently announced Wii version, a little too similar in fact. My gut tells me that we can expect another Nintendo title with zero innovation attached, another game that's more of the same. I only hope that I'm wrong.

The Death of the Exclusive

2008-07-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

The fight for console exclusives rages on
On Monday morning, Microsoft made the surprise announcement that "Final Fantasy XIII", formerly a Sony Playstation 3 exclusive, would be available day and date for Xbox 360 in North America and Europe.

It was possibly the biggest "surprise" announcement at the E3 Business & Media Summit in Los Angeles, but it also signifies another exclusive title shifting camps since the next generation of consoles were announced back in 2005.

"Assassin's Creed", "Grand Theft Auto IV", "Devil May Cry 4", "Ace Combat 6", "Virtua Fighter 4", "Resident Evil 5"* are all titles that Microsoft has secured over time, bringing once hyped "only-on-Playstation" franchises to their console.

Multi-platform development seems like the only answer large publishers can come up with now that budgets on their major titles are soaring to unbelieveable heights. Yet, as many were sure that Final Fantasy XIII would never jump ship and assume multi-platform status, the announcement shouldn't really surprise after the Game Developers Conference announcement that any game created using Crystal Tools could be ported easily to PC and 360.

To be fair, Sony has attempted to turn the tables and seek prior Microsoft exclusives but without the same impact. Timed exclusivity of Unreal Tournament 3 and Haze have not influenced hardware sales, instead being met with mixed reception by critics. Although "Bioshock" has recently been released from Microsoft exclusivity, it was no where to be seen during the Sony Press Conference. As last year's near unanimous Game of the Year, it would have been impressive to highlight some of the new features for the PS3 version, yet Sony didn't take the opportunity to do so.

The only major exclusive (by a third party publisher) left in the Sony bag belongs to Konami as "Metal Gear Solid 4" remains the tactical espionage action adventure of the year. But as the year continues to progress, and the final sales numbers of MGS 4 come out, we could only wonder if that exclusivity will continue.

Inspiration and Taking Risks

2008-07-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

The question Dave was asked, on his very insightful interview on "Inside the Actor's Studio", was how does "he deal with people who feel that he's crossing lines (with his comedy) that he should not necessarily be crossing?"

A Quick Note

2008-07-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

The iPhone 3G and 2.0 software update both launched today!

A brief note on the current state of the App Store on the eve of day one:

Entertainment Apps: 269
Games: 197
Utilities: 101

Games are in second place, people! Possibly the most ever on a brand new product/console/jesus-phone.

Let's just hope developers are focusing on doing this right.

Dear Nintendo, Can We Please Have Zelda: Four Swords Adventures on Wii Ware...

2008-07-12T02:02:00.000-07:00

I can get quite hysterical at times, especially regarding things that I believe in. For a while now, my foul mouthed rants and raves have centered around many different things. And I can be a very clueless joe at times, I know. But I have a bone to pick with Nintendo tonight, and it's been building for quite some time.

Of course every hardcore fanboy and fangirl out there is already concerned with the obvious point: Where are my hardcore Nintendo games, Reggie? Why aren't you giving hardcore gamers what they want. And the whaambulance continues to roll on.

For the record, I'm over that one. It's clear to me that Nintendo does what Nintendo wants. Period. But rather than piss and moan over the point everyone seems to make (and remake), I want to offer a suggestion, a possible idea. Something that I would love to see, if Nintendo would deem it fit to give.

The game idea I'd like to see is, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for Wii Ware.

Talk about a game idea that was ahead of its time. Think back and soak in those clumsy link cables (each sold separately), the mandatory multi-Gameboy setup for multiplayer, and the chance that your friends were probably too poor to play the intricate and competitive (and only console) co-op Zelda ever. If "Zelda: Four Swords Adventures" managed to sell well for the Gamecube in 2004 (Wiki guesstimates over 400,000 copies) no one has the right to complain about the recent growth in the and-you-need-this-peripheral-in-your-living-room-too market.

Zelda: Four Swords in 2004 (again, on Gamecube) may not have made much sense, but a Zelda that's supported by an online infrastructure like Wii Ware does. And you can keep the graphics the same Nintendo, really. Those sprites were just fine the way they were. But then you could spruce up the place a bit, add some 3-D, and really make it shine. A boss here, some DS support (if you must), and violla! a game that anyone in the masses can enjoy (and that hardcore types can go nuts for). Multiplayer Zelda in cute downloadable form (with decent netcode, please). A grand Hyrulean adventure, indeed.

I don't find my request unreasonable. In fact it's entirely do-able, if Nintendo is up for it.

If only E3 2008 could give me that. My decade would be set. And I'm not arguing that this is the only thing Wii Ware needs, its just the thing I'd like to see most of all. Pray, you the reader do the same.

**Yes, I realize Zelda: Four Swords Adventures was originally part of the GBA port of The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (my favorite, by the way), but I really would prefer this on home console than a DS remake.

You're protests, if any, are duly noted**

Yesterday's News

2008-07-12T00:42:00.000-07:00

There are some days where I am convinced that I live under a rock. I believe this theory since I have maintained a pretty consistent record of missing timely news stories. I didn't know when they caught (and charged) the infamous Alabama Sniper. I didn't know that the Godfather of Soul died until after my Christmas Break was over.

My record seems to be consistent at being the last to know anything in mainstream news. And that could very well be a bad thing.

Following my routine habit of browsing YouTube.com, I found an old interview with Dave Chapelle that discussed his flight from Comedy Central, despite being offered $50 million dollars to create a third season of his hit show.

I never knew why the Chapelle Show was canceled, but now I do. If you've never seen it, enjoy. And if you have: see it again. I just wish more interviews I watch felt this genuine.

Christ, I need to read the newspaper more often.

iPhone Games And What They Could Mean For You!

2008-07-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

There are certain restrictions to the things I can and can't say about Apple, and their related products. Some might take this opportunity to decry this admission as a petty sort of bias. To be quite clear, it isn't.

If you know me personally, then you know why I can't go into greater detail here (sorry). But after spending today with the latest iPhone software 2.0, I can't help but express my glee at the wonderful app store, and its amazing potential.

And quite clearly that's all the store is right now: a potential opportunity for interesting and exciting game projects (and apps, too). Take a look around the console side of gaming and you'll find mass budgets, scared publishers, and a rise in the casual games market. These three factors have hamstrung development companies, as they try to leverage projects that can pay the bills with projects that will. No publisher can afford a retail bomb these days, and who can blame them for being anything but cautious, as they plot the future of their companies into the fiscal unknown.

Everyone wants to make money, and that's a fact.

So how does iPhone fit into a publisher's future plans? Its the fastest growing smart phone competitor to R.I.M.'s Blackberry. It runs a native version of everyone's favorite operating system: Mac OS X. It's truly a remarkable lifestyle product that's both cool and hip.

Now, clearly I've never been into anything the hip crowd deems worthy. But I am impressed by their toys every so often, and today is one of those days. I sat down and browsed the App Store today, and downloaded my top five most important applications on my last gen iPhone: 1) AIM 2) Facebook 3) A sports tracking app that forgot the name to 4) Super Monkey Ball 5) NetNewsWire.

So since this is my space where I usually pass judgment on game related products, I'll reflect on my brief time with Super Monkey Ball.

I should point out that I've had very little exposure to the series. Of course, I've heard of it. I think i even played it once or twice. Super Monkey Ball, to me, has always been a sorta cool, but I'll pass thing for me. I got the challenge to it, but the franchise always stuck in my mind as a masochistic gamer's fantasy. The type that person that emphasizes perfection in all movement and is wildly driven by that sort of challenge. It's someone who can enjoy the immense pressure of a clock counting down as you quickly steer a trapped monkey wildly through a wide-open, and deadly maze.

See, even saying that much clearly helps you understand that it aint easy. And you know what, it really isn't.

An iPhone version is pretty impressive, and it earns Sega some props. The levels are fully rendered in 3-D, although the main avatars are not. The developers have a 2-D looking sprite at the center of the screen. As you tilt the phone to steer or monkey friend, the avatar rotates with the camera, to a degree. Its all using the wonderful accelerometer that's built into the iPhone. The action is amazingly responsive, but the game does a terrible job of helping you learn its balancing nuances. There is no proper training level to teach player's a neutral position for the iPhone to keep the ball from rolling.

Could an on screen indicator have helped this? Possibly.

I've spent the majority of this afternoon falling off ledges, getting visibly frustrated, and completely annoyed with my first game-related purchase. Now before I give off the wrong impression, Super Monkey Ball is not a bad game. It's average at best, even for a cell phone game (although its visibly remarkable compared to some other iPhone launch games). But this game is aimed at a market that clearly won't understand it. The consumer mass market that uses iPhone won't know what to do with Monkey Ball. They'll get frustrated and move on because its a really challenging game, even on easy mode.

I hope developers use the iPhone as more than just an opportunity to cash in and provide pretty games with bad controls. A consumers iPhone game experience could segue to other products, or even interest in games in general. Development on iPhone can introduce people to amazing innovation, it can re-introduce them to a former favorite pastime, and most importantly it can make cell phone games relevant, and inspire publishers to pursue smaller budget experiments with mass market success. it resembles the same promise that downloadable games on console seem to be pushing as well.

Game Diary: July 9, 2008

2008-07-09T23:11:00.001-07:00

After one hour, I've got three Colossi down and thirteen left to go.

The thing that strikes me most about revisiting "Shadow of the Colossus" just one week before E3 is that I'm convinced this game was only successful because of the huge marketing push that Sony put behind it. That's not to say that the game isn't art, but I recall a number of two-page ads, a commercial, and similar endorsements created to generate buzz for the obscure sounding game (and I only hope that they eventually learned this).

My first experience came with a demo sent to me in the mail (prior to that, i never knew what a Colossi was). And what a demo indeed! It captured the first battle with a Colossi (I think it ended actually before you even fought him). You look up at this lumbering creature roughly the size of a five or six story house (actually he's petite compared to his comrades) and BAM! Demo over. End Scene.

But what is it that specifically makes this game feel enormous, even by today's standards? Is it the immense proportions of scope and scale as you battle enormous creatures that can, and will, kill you if they land a blow? Is it the connection to your horse, the only character in the game you'll interact with during the eight to ten hour game? Or is it the futility of the Wander's mission, as he is fooled into believing that his sacrifice will reunite him with the woman he loves?

People on the internets continue to argue that "Shadow of the Colossus" is a sheer representation of games as art, and that's fine. But I argue that if "Shadow of the Colossus" is art, then "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" is our Mona Lisa (and forget the constant comparisons to film, as if nothing ever existed before Citizen Kain). I make this argument because as much as Shadow does so much with very little, it's really a minimalist version of the stuff Link has done for decades. The only detractor being that Zelda bosses never appeared as complex on the surface (they didn't make you feel anywhere as pathetic as some of the Colossi can).

However, Nintendo's constant refinements to the franchise (without introducing anything really new) are slowly making the series lose its luster.

Besides rolling around and cutting up some Colossi, I managed to sneak in some time in Animal Crossing. I named my town Cali (for obvious reasons), and my character doesn;t have enough money to pay the rent. I'll try to stick with this one for as long as I can, but i have a feeling its not going to last.

Maybe I should invest in the DS version instead.

Backlog: Time to Topple Mountains, Again!

2008-07-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

I’m genuinely excited to be playing old games right now, thanks in part to 1UP FM. In the segment titled “Backlog”, the editors and other media people play through older games (ahem..., Squadron of Shame caliber choices) like “Shadow of the Colossus” and other prolific titles to reminisce and ruminate about their experiences in game’s the world.

Although I tend to move from game to game pretty quickly, I admire this segment since it encourages me to revisit games that I quickly flew through years ago, and never gave a second glance. I look forward to the Backlog segment each week, and although they are one podcast away from finishing “Shadow of the Colossus”, I figured now was a good a time to join them as any. So today at Gamestop, I re-bought the game everyone dubbed “a masterpiece” back in 2005.

Clearly, I’ve returned to gaming’s well this past week since all I’ve played is a lot of “Super Stardust HD” (61,000,000 points, and growing), fragged up the place in Halo 3’s Chill Out map remake named “Cold Storage”, and enlisted for my second tour in “Call of Duty 4” campaign.

Maybe I’m just a sour puss but I’m only half excited for for the plethora of announcements that will be unveiled during next weeks E3 in Los Angeles. E3 represents so much to gamers everywhere, and even if it’s significance is slightly diminished, it’ll still be North America’s biggest gaming spectacle of 2008 (unless PAX ’08 comes along and ends up even bigger).

Still, while we all wait and ruminate over the upcoming blockbuster titles that will slowly surface next week, I’ll be slaying mountain sized monster men (if Colossi indeed have a gender - and they might not).

Oh, and I went out and picked up the original “Animal Crossing” for the Nintendo Gamecube. Now, before the where-the-fuck-have-you-been alarm goes off in your head, Animal Crossing is one of the few games that I missed last gen (and I still don’t remember why). Now that I dwell on it, i recall playing “the Sims” and getting fed up with that kind of game. I haven’t tried any simulator till I played “Viva Pinata” this year.

My problem in general with these games is the amount of tedium in managing the micro economies they provide. In “The Sims” (the console sims Get a Life mode), i had to get a job and try to grow and manage relationships, and it all bored me to tears . The whole doll house, sandbox thing was completely irrelevant to me (mind you, Doll house fever and the Sims were all the rage back then), and despite my initial attraction to the concept I grew bored of the game and moved on. Then in 2006, the 1UP Yours podcast enticed me to go out an try “Viva Pinata”, a similar title in the simulation world, but I couldn’t get past the abhorrent packaging Microsoft slapped on that game (if you haven’t seen it, you need to).
A good friend of mine in New York sent me the game for Christmas, and I’ve loved it ever since. Now I’m not sure what changed in me from 2002 to now. Logistically, I still can’t figure it out, but I try to tend my Garden of Love in Viva, whenever I can.

However, Animal Crossing wasn’t an impulse buy. It was influenced by the opinion everyone has that we’ll hear Nintendo announce a sequel on Tuesday. Oh, well. We'll find out soon enough now won't we.

Show Some Support...

2008-07-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of John Davison, former Editorial Director of 1UP.com, then shame on you. John left the Ziff crew back in September and co-founded "What They Play", a website geared at bridging the digital divide between parents and video games. John recently appeared on the Today Show this morning, and explained a variety of significant issues between kids and parents at his site. Check it out and show some support.

Also, check out this Newsweek piece by N'Gai Croal, for more information on What They Play.

You Know My Name

2008-07-08T02:11:00.000-07:00

No introduction needed.

Friendly Letters # 1

2008-07-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

This space isn't always about games...

Ok, well maybe it is, but today's post is different. It's a copy of a letter I just sent to a good friend of mine. So wait, if its personal why am I posting it? Well, because I feel like it!

(Name have been blocked to protect the innocent)

Hey Dude,

First and foremost, its great to hear from you. I think I asked J***-A**** about you two weeks ago. Congrats on successfully doing the "SMART THING" and saving your money up. Soon, all of that penny pinching will pay off, and you'll walk out of Best Buy with the only thing that matters: an Xbox 360. But what will your first game be? See me, I like to think ahead, and there are plenty of choices. I say get "Halo 3" because wouldn't you know it, today is Bungie Day!

What is Bungie Day you say? It's only the bestest day of the whole year! Today is the day that Bungie (the makers of Halo) celebrate their fans and give away free stuff. They released a new map (for FREE) on Xbox Live called "Chill out". Now you know that I love "Halo 3". Hell, I love Bungie. But instead of enjoying the Bungie Day festivities and splattering rivals all over the new map they released today, I did something... else.

I know what you're thinking. "Dude, why aren't you enjoying this fake holiday that you're all excited about?"

Well, the thing is I have a bit of an an ego, and when someone challenges me ( a friend from NY), I can't help but get a little competitive. See, my friend back home challenged my score in a PS3 game that I have called "Super Stardust HD" - - a very gay name, but a really good shooter. It's like "Shoot 'Em Up" but without Clive Owen, and in the future... in space. Okay, Okay, maybe it isn't like "Shoot 'Em Up", but I like the damn game and I'm a big sore loser. So I've been playing non-stop these past few days, trying to keep my high score before the little jerk back home tops it. And sadly, this keeps me from enjoying my Bungie Day, lol.

Other than that, I'm doing fine. I sorta miss school, and ***** sucks major supremo, but I can't complain: its a job. I recently interviewed for a job at *** ***** ***** - that ******** ******* that I would never stop talking about. Good news, they liked me. Bad news, they haven't called back yet. In the meantime, I've been trying to keep myself busy and just focus on other stuff besides my dream job.

Mercenaries is great a great game! Do you love it, or hate it? Choose a side if you dare.

P.S. Sorry I wrote a book here, but its been a while so I wanted to tell you everything that I could.

Talk to you soon,

Jose

Unbreakable!

2008-07-02T21:12:00.001-07:00

I've already explained what i think is wrong with "Alone in the Dark", but if you need proof, watch this. Props to Mike Nelson and the MyCheats crew as they flail away at the upcoming SuperGuide.

Game Diary - July 2, 2008

2008-07-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

I spent today revisting a number of games that I cast aside for some reason or another, the biggest one being "Resident Evil 4". Indeed this was Capsom's masterpiece and acclaimed GOTY for 2005, yet it still managed to sift into my mile-high pile o'shame. I decided today was the day to cast aside " and indulge in the smash hit of Capcom's internal development team. Even though I am playing the Wii version (and I have owned each version of this game, regardless of the platform it appeared on). It's a truly remarkable game packed with intense survival horror. I'd have to agreed with a friend of mine that the pacing is a bit rough, but the game build and builds to multiple climaxes, as expected. My heart was racing today, and it was during a battle that I've played at least three times before (it's the one after you save Ashley for the first time. It takes place in an old house, and you tag-team the Latino zombie invasion with Luis Serra as your teamate).

I also returned to the lush land of Mistral for more of the Frontier Developments' "Lost Winds". Little Toku and the Wind Spirit are an amazing little dynamic duo, and this particular project reminds me of "Zelda II", for in the NES, in many ways. Granted it's a much more streamlined version, with a quest subtly smaller than Link's epic endeavors, but the side scrolling levels really do evoke a Zelda-ish aesthetic. I'm impressed with the end product that Frontier has delivered, regardless of how short it is (I can tell I'm almost done after two hours or so).

My one complaint with "Lost Winds" is the design decision to exclude a map in the game. There are enough diverse locations that a map would really shave off some time from the backtracking segments. Yes, I'm aware that backtracking is unanimously declared as poor game design in today's development scene, but previous games that implemented it established the importance of having a map in the first place. Embarking on quests in "Lost Winds" will get you lost more often than not, and I find that frustrating, but not unbearable.

Alone with Bad Dialogue

2008-06-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

I seriously considered titling this post: Alone with the F'Bomb. Seriously, what up "Alone in the Dark"? Why does your dialogue sound so bad? I agree with Shane Bettenhausen, of 1UP and EGM fame, that I really want to love this game. And not because the protagonist on the box looks just like former EGM'er Mark MacDonald, and not because the lead female looks a lot like X-Play's Morgan Webb, either.

Although, I do believe this star-powered videogame duo could very well thwart the paranormal invasion of NYC, I want to love "Alone in the Dark" because its tries to involve players in their world, and its this emphasis on so much tedium where it fails miserably. Interactions with the vast devices feels clunky. I could only imagine what gestural controls could do for this game, but I'm not looking to find out.

I know I'll see this one through to the end, if only for the achievements. But I hope I'll have more reasons to remember "Alone in the Dark" besides a way to boost my gamerscore.

More MGS4

2008-06-26T10:20:00.001-07:00

Spoilers a plenty. You've been warned.

Game Diary - June 26, 2008

2008-06-26T03:33:00.000-07:00

I just finished GTA IV and even at this late hour (its 3:36 am) I can't help but admire its brilliance. This is only the second Rockstar product I have ever finished (Bully was my first despite playing all the GTA games - even the PSP ones), and I'm very satisfied with the end product. Choices are so important in this GTA, they permeate so many pieces of this game. I'm still amazed how the moral consequences behind some of the choices affected my decision making. Ironically, even though I struggled with the game for a while, I'm glad I saw this GTA through to the end.

I just started Alone in the Dark and I'm still not sure what to think. I'm very impressed by all the cinematic moments in the opening episode of the game (the graphics aren't half bad either), but so far I get the feeling that although I love the concept, there will be a lot of things I don't like about this game. I can tell there is a heavy aspect of trial and error to it, and I don't know how that makes me feel. On one hand I can respect it and on the other I despise the concept entirely.

Even though I just started the game, it seems like something is missing already. Metal Gear Solid 4 made me realize the importance of good sound effects editing (and foley work) in games and how help immerse the player in a game. Yet as the protagonist, Edward Carnby, walks around I can barely hear his footsteps. This might sound like a small complaint (and rightly so, it might be), but little things like that detract from the overall experience, plus it makes the game seem half-baked or rushed.

Spoiler warning, press start as soon as you can because the opening trailer is absolutely spoilerific.

Self Refferencial Humor in MGS4

2008-06-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Real News

2008-06-09T00:13:00.000-07:00

I wish we saw more news like this from gaming outlets. Kudos to Yahoo News for giving us something to shoot for (not that they were ever the first, but I applaud them just the same).

Click Here

Much Needed Time Off: Fun in the Sun in Monterey, CA

2008-06-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

Lately, balancing three jobs has been hard and adding school to the mix wasn't helping anything, so it made sense that I needed time off to re-energize myself. Last week, I was in NYC and it was great to see family and friends that I miss dearly. This week, I'm in Monterey, CA (and Santa Cruz on Tuesday) taking in some beautiful sunshine. Monterey is great, but this series of vacations all comes to an end on Thursday and then it's back to work.

In the meantime, I've got some great ideas that will be showing up on Gamehelper soon (I know, we're working on a lot of things right now), so stay tuned. For now just try to sit back, relax, and catch up to the NBA Finals. Go Celtics!

A Fun Way to Start Your Trip

2008-06-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

This safety film made me smile. Especially the avid gamer nun that makes a brief appearance.

Revisiting My Old Life - Day Two in NYC

2008-05-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

I really don't like using this blog for too many personal stories, but being in NYC for the next week puts me in the awkward position of kicking games to the curb and share my former experience here as a high school teacher.

First and foremost, I didn't quit teaching because I hated it. I didn't quit because I despised it, either. I never minded the endless immaturity of working at an all boys high school (and trust me, they were very, very immature somedays). Furthermore, my old job held greater significance because I was a product of this system. I grew up as a student of my school and became a young writer under the tutelage of an amazing staff.

I quit teaching, however, because it was time to move on. I finally found the career ambitions that were noticeably missing for a long time, and those ambitions lead me to wonderful things indeed.

So today, I visited my old job for the first time since I quit in August of 2007. It was semi- awkward, but reunions like this this are good because they can rekindle the soul in some cases) and remind you of the magic that kept you engaged as a proud employee. However, it was bitter sweet to walk through the halls and glimpse the life I used to have - it was a little painful to remember how much I gave of myself to that career everyday. The smiling faces, the funny conversations, and the childish antics of working there were some of the most fun and memorable moments of my adult life. The kids were great, and the combined with a phenomenal and eclectic staff made working there a great experience.

But that's all behind me now.

Of course, I still care about my alma matter and the students I taught there. Heck, I promised to return for the next two graduations, and see my former students walk the down the aisle as dignified high school graduates. So for the next two years I'll come back and remember all the standout moments and reminisce on my former career teaching the most devious of subject - high school mathematics.

I don't regret going back at all, though. It really is great to be appreciated by your peers. I was stopped at least twenty or so times in the hall, being reminded of the marvelous job I did. I almost found a small part of me wanting that back.

But I'm firm in my decision making, and my future is writing about games, and sharing the experiences as best I can. I want to learn more about my craft, as a writer, and commit to passing on information to readers in new and interesting ways. I want to be a part of a creative process that challenges me to look past the obvious, and invest my energy and time in exploring new creative possibilities. These are the things that draw me to this career. And for now, the promise of someday achieving them makes glad to be here, working as a journalist, and writing about the things I love everyday (or almost everyday).

NYC Trip and Reminiscing About GTA IV

2008-05-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

So I'll be blogging from NYC for the next week, and catch up with a lot of old friends. I bet you can't guess what I did today?

I spent the entire day sightseeing through a major part of Manhattan. Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Canal Street (near the Brooklyn Bridge) were all important stops for me on my speedy trip through the Big Apple. It's always fun getting reacquainted with such a lively city, but it becomes more interesting after experiencing hours of GTA IV. I find myself picking out signature moments from my time with GTA, and finding them in my real life.

Now, that makes me feel more like a tourist than ever.

Reminiscing on past moments in real life is what it is, but picking through moments of a surreal (and many would argue unreal) life is truly bizarre. It's filled with, 'hey, I remember that' or 'where have I seen this before' - only realistically you haven't really been to or seen anything. All in all, it makes me regret putting down the controller to sleep at night, just so I could pick apart more locations from Rockstar's amazing city simulator.

This entire experience in NYC has put a big smile on my face. Hopefully, more news on the upcoming DLC pack - so far exclusive to only Xbox 360 - keeps it that way.

So I've Been Missing for about a Week

2008-05-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

I hate missing from my own blog, but sometimes it feels inevitable. No matter how much time I try to set aside, I can never keep up with posting as frequently as I'd like to.

Well, it's time to play catch up, I guess.

First, I'm currently at SFO (San Francisco International Airport), on my way back to NYC for the first time since I left way back in August of 2007. It's funny how going back home can stir up a slew of emotions that've been missing for the past few months. I guess even the most hardened soul can get a little homesick (myself included). The trip home is all that I've been thinking about for the last three days, and seeing my friends and family is always interesting. But this trip to NY holds more significance because it's my first time back in the Big Apple as an outsider.

I grew up in NYC my whole life, never leaving the city for more than a two week period. Even when I signed up for college I made the decision to stay local and support my family, not realizing what I'd miss not going away for college. Granted, setting up shop in a dormitory isn't a huge deal, but it is an opportunity to grow socially and learn some responsibility (well, for some people). My family lives in the borough of the Bronx where I became a professional teacher, and never once did it enter my mind that I would ever leave.

But then in August, I did.

It was probably the biggest decision I ever made, but I decided it was worth the risk. I bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco, and set up shop in one of the most awkward career choices: videogames journalism. Now don't get me wrong, I mean awkward in the nicest sense of the word, and the support that I got from both parents and friends was admirable. They all believed in me, and applauded my ambition, saying it could one day lead to something great. This made me realize how much they cared about my happiness. Since then, moving to San Francisco has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

So now after nine months, I'm going back home with a new set of eyes. Since I've been out here, I've met some amazing people. I've connected to great friends in an industry that I love. Everything feels like it's going to plan, and hopefully my lucky streak continues.

So many people say, "I'd love to leave NY, move to another state, and find a career that makes me happy." Lucky for me, I'm halfway there.

To all the people reading this who supported me in the NY to SF decision, thank you. I would never be here without your help. And when I get back from SF, maybe this script will get even better, as I zero in on the type of reporter that I want to be and focus on my personal goals as a writer.

Do It Again!

2008-05-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

This is a great video my good friend Nelson showed me on Friday. It's a love letter to Apple, but that should be fine if you dig Macs.

Hopefully, I'll be back to regular postings soon.

Say It With the Power of Wind!

2008-05-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

With Wii Ware finally launching in the US, it was only a matter of time before I sat down with one of my favorite games of this year's Game Developer's Conference: Lost Winds. To me it was the highlight of the Nintendo Wii presentation back at GDC and a reason to get excited about Wii Ware - the new risk averse way to digitally distribute games on Wii.

Not that Nintendo ever wants to excite me these days.

Nintendo has often worried me by overemphasizing on a different crowd of gamers - and I'm sick and tired of hearing the "Blue Ocean" analogy in every article I read these days (Oh, no! Wait!) At times it feels like nothing can be done to dissuade the once proud gaming giant from dumbing down another popular franchise for mainstream audiences. Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros Brawl have both been prime examples of this awkward shift, empowering a new batch of gamers and that's slowly beginning to bug me.

Luckily, I have Lost Winds can keep me busy a little longer before Nintendo's strategy makes my head implode.

It's not that Lost Winds is some epic hardcore game in disguise - it's not at all. In fact, Lost Winds feels more in line with the type of games I want to experience on the Wii - games that experiment with control and find creative ways to look fascinating despite being presented on aging hardware. Aesthetically, the game is rich and vibrant with lush, pastel colors that create a soft, yet serene atmosphere for little Toku to roam - and it terrific art design. And controlling Enril the wind spirit by holding the A button and drawing the direction of the gust feels accurate, without over complicating matters with rote design techniques.

I often wonder if this game could have been cooperative. It certainly makes sense as a core feature that follows Nintendo's social gaming credo these days - well that is except online. Co-op could bolster this Lost Wind's potential as a franchise, and help it grow significantly past this first game.

After i play a little more Lost Wnds, I think after this I'll start a Game Diary like Stephen Totillo over at MTV. I genuinely like the idea of writing about the games that I play daily (and then later sobbing slowly over the little time that I have to play games nowadays).

Yep, I'll start that diary tomorrow.

Para-75% Off?

2008-05-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

When I was at Best Buy picking up Boom Blox yesterday, I noticed a small shelf as I was headed over to the register. It had a sign over it that read "75% off selected titles" across the top. I expected to find the usual batch of nothing when the Parappa the Rapper PSP game caught my eye. I figured it was a mistake at first but I checked the rack and there were a number of copies.

That's right, a new sealed copy of my favorite PS One game for a whopping $7.50. What a deal!

Somewhere Masaya Matsura cries inside ...

Now Playing: Boom Blox

2008-05-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

I think it was after E3 2006 that this picture of Shigeru Miyamoto and Steven Spielberg playing Wii Sports began quickly circulating the internet. People enjoyed the idea of their these two powerhouses conceivably working together.

Now, fast forward two years, and here I am at a local Best Buy purchasing Boom Blox, for my Nintendo Wii.

It helps to mention that buying this game is a huge departure of for me. I've never supported any Hollywood talent's involvement in videogames. Period. I'm not convinced they understand it as a media. Hollywood creatives work in a passive art form without audience participation. Naturally, they tell excellent stories and can unfurl expertly crafted narratives (well, maybe except Uwe), but I'd half expect their games to be cinematic than much anything more.

But then I saw Boom Blox at the Nintendo Gaming Summit in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and I became curious. It was this serene, peaceful,... game? How could this be? I saw a concept that, to my surprise, worked. There was no story, or overemphasis on presentation, just a ball and a stack of Blox... and it was somehow entertaining, a minimalist experience that appealed to my inner completist (especially my confounded ego that likes deftly solving puzzles and getting high scores).

Now, I'm still not sold that Hollywood talent can craft notable games, and it will take more than Boom Blox to convince me otherwise, but I am truly enjoying this game. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone as a fun palette-cleanser, an excellent distraction when causing mayhem in Liberty City or crashing little mascot driven go-karts starts to wear thin.

Why I'll Never Get a Job as Someone's Escort.

2008-05-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

My Patapon army marches forward single file towards the home of our rivals at Zigoton castle. I already feel a sense of accomplishment because even if I am playing The World Ends with You, I want to finish Patapon - this game had me excited up until this year's Game Developers Conference (I still don't know why it fizzed out, but it did).

So in my head I'm thinking this will end in glory, with my army pimp slapping a number of Zigoton heads. I mean, how could we lose. It wasn't some huge crab or another creature like that, so this should be easy.

And then it didn't. It was an escort mission where I had to guide catapult up into their castle.

I hate escort missions.

I've always dreaded any game with this type of mechanic because I can never win. I remember getting completely road blocked by them in Rogue Squadron (N64 or Gamecube, I think) because TIE fighters would swoop in and blow up all my rebel friends.

I just don't think I have what it takes to be anyone's escort. I get caught up in the moment, forget that I'm protecting someone, and before you know it, BLAM. Game over.

Maybe I'm not terrible at them. Maybe they are just flawed experiences in each game I've played them in. But whatever the case may be, I won't be escorting anyone anywhere anytime soon. I just suck at it.

This World be Banging!

2008-05-04T09:43:00.001-07:00

I'm still genuinely surprised by The World Ends with You, despite all the praise that I read about it beforehand. It's interesting that a DS game would ambitiously try to split your attention between two screens, making you control two characters at the same time. But besides mental anxiety at succumbing to the game, I'm more concerned I'll end up with carpal tunnel playing this game because of the DS's small frame, stylus, and buttons (maybe I need a DS Phat).

But there is one more thing that I never noticed until this Squenix RPG before: the very modern localization effort. Granted, I know Square does a pretty decent job these days with translating their games, but this one took me a little by surprise.

Apparently, its bangin'. No really, it is. Check the photo below, if you don't believe me.

Welcome to Liberty City!

2008-05-04T00:49:00.000-07:00

I've been playing as much Grand Theft Auto IV as I possibly can this weekend, and I have to say I love it so far. If there is one thing that I regret, its that I've never finished a Rockstar game except Bully (another excellent game, in my opinion). However GTA IV ups the ante for me, providing some of the coolest I've ever experienced in games. Granted, the controls in fights are poorly executed (I'll reverse judgment till i unlock more moves, and the car handling is much more slippery than the last couple of GTA's. Despite this I'm still running all over the city, as I hunt for new missions.

I know I've never stayed with any GTA game until the end (I came close with the third one), but this will be the first game in the series that I plan to finish. Here's some quick things that happened to me in GTA IV that stood out:

I was sent on a hit to a train station and the guy ran downstairs. He was headed straight for car, so he could take off.. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I pulled out my glock and shot him in the head through the back window on the left. The bullets went right through the side and struck him as he collapsed onto the wheel, activating the car horn. It was difficult to pull off, but equally satisfying to behold.
'Its funny how the details add up in this game. In one car chase on the highway, the guy I'm chasing (seems to be a common thing in the hitman business) clips a truck carrying a load of logs. He slams into the truck cab causing it to swerve wildly out of control, unloading the long tree logs right onto the narrow highway. Luckily, I swerve right out of the way, narrowly missing the deadly greenery, as the truck driver finally steadies the vehicle and i drive past in pursuit of my contract.

I'm planning to start playing "The World Ends With You" on the recommendation of Stephen Totilo's blog and the crew of the 1UP Yours podcast. Hopefully, I enjoy this game as much as the other handheld games that I've played this year.

Review - Gran Turismo 5: Prologue

2008-04-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Blog shouldn't be personal endorsements, but fuck it - this is my space, right. So here is my review of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue from Gamehelper.com.

No game has impacted the simulation racing genre like the Gran Turismo franchise. Since the series debut in 1998, it’s represented not only the perennial who’s who of the automotive industry, but the pinnacle of simulated driving physics in a virtual environment. While the studio has inspired a number of would be challengers, Polyphony Digital has cemented their reputation, for almost ten years now, as the premiere studio in this corner of the videogame market. The success of this series is attributed to not only meticulous research, but the fact that this team loves cars so damn much, and it shows in their attention to detail on every level.

Somehow, each sequel surpasses Polyphony’s previous benchmark thus exciting more fans and piquing the interest of non-hardcore gamers who just happen to love cars instead.

Before your expectations of this new semi-sequel shoot upward into the stratosphere, remember that Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is a prologue - an introduction, or preview of a much larger work - that ‘larger work’, in this instance, is a sequel due sometime next year

If you’re a fan of racing sims there is enough here to be excited about with an impressive list of 70 automobiles and vibrant photo-realistic graphics - but is there enough content to justify the ambitious $40 price tag? Read on dear readers and find out.

Gimp My Ride?

It seems as though every Gran Turismo release seems to reset fan expectations for simulation racers, and this title follows that credo in two very specific areas, mainly: A) the graphics and B) the realistic handling.

Polyphony Digital crafts the best car handling model on the planet, and they’ve been doing it for quite some time. However, while the visual presentation hit the typical OMG levels the series is known for, the game just doesn’t feel as inspired as other titles in the series. There are very few tweaks to the vehicles - like to aerodynamics and suspension parameters - compared to the last four games which, in the end, makes this Gran Turismo feel gimped. For a long time this series has been built on the notion that it incorporates the finest simulation model - A model so real that even professional racers and automakers have constantly praised its authenticity. But this grand experience is missing a phenomenal element that has been a part of the series success since the beginning: customizable cars that can be with a series of upgrades that you purchase. These upgrades make you appreciate your ride because it may be the only one you could afford for a while since the prices in any GT series always mimic real life.

The fact that this element missing hurts Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.

This product sports a narrowed perspective, delivering the vital visual punch and a kick-o-physics, but the rest is just a hollow museum of attractive automobiles, if nothing more. Granted, this isn’t a full sequel (making it tough job to judge) but at times I wonder why this product exists if the final game can cure all these ailments.

After all, I don’t mind getting lost in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue’s vast showroom of 70 cars, but it’s missing the core element that make me appreciate my automobiles.

Licensed to Ill (online and off)

Various modes and features do help to alleviate some of my issues with Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and, at the same time, offer some variety. A new Drifting mode was added to the arcade time trials and career races. The six courses have been designed to cultivate your inner speed demon and teaching you the best line for each course (this is on by default, but can be turned off), and it’s a welcome addition. And yes, every car still drips with authenticity that can’t be duplicated anywhere else; and the new in-cockpit view shows off the interiors so well you could practically smell the Meguiar’s on the leather.

Hopefully when the final game is released they’ll have the addressed the on-again, off-again AI that continues to plague Polyphony Digital (their Achilles heel, some would say). The AI barely intelligent and this is still Gran Turismo: Bumper Cars - where I can just slide into a pack of cars as my own personal way to beat/ cheat “the system”.

Although these tactics are employed by the lesser skilled hooligans of the Gran Turismo community, there should be a way to curtail it with damage modeling (which is confirmed for the final game) or penalties in this fifth game of the franchise.

Online racing has penetrated this Gran Turismo for the first time, but the result is a mixed bag. Racing online in GT 5: Prologue takes one step forward with integrated matchmaking but two steps back with limited online racing options (which would be fine if they were part of a wider mix of options) and the inability to race online in a room with friends is just wrong.

Outside of the above issues, the strange “ghosting” that happens during collisions in online races has to go because it causes way more issues than it solves.

The Final Spin

Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is a great entry point for folks looking to have a marquee racing title with impressive graphics and tight physics, it’s just a shame that this prologue wasn’t more. The disk has enough content to validate the $40 price tag in modes and features, which is fine,but this game is an awkward in-between that leaves this fan wanting much more than Gran Turismo: Pretty. Gran Turismo 5; Prologue is a solid title, that will remain stuck in neutral until the final sequel comes out next year.