G-pinions

The Transformers game is looking really, really cool. Who knew?

I hate to say it, but I've put a hold on playing Beyond Good & Evil. I'm about three quarters through the game, according to my little brother, but I need a break. Story is all well and good in games. In fact, I think most games could use a lot more (unlike my story-hating, story-skipping chum Toms). How it's handled is a very delicate issue though. Or, it can be. There are games like Metal Gear Solid, where the story is integral to the game, and one of the best parts of it, but you can't escape it. You spend hours talking on your Codec and have philosophical exchanges with your enemies before and while you fight them. I dig that kind of thing, but it's understandably a point of friction for a lot of people. Then there's games like Mario, where a rough plot is introduced (save the all-archetypical princess), and isn't mentioned again until the ending. Which is also fine. I don't think I'd want to know Bowser's reasons for capturing Peach. I mean, he's a dinosaur, that gives him reason enough.

So, back on topic. Beyond Good & Evil has an amazing story. And amazing characters and locations and such. Probably one of the best I've ever played. But, they are almost too amazing for there own good. The world and situations are so immersive and overbearing that it's an investment every time you sit down to play, if you want to get the most out of it. You have to catch back up with the plot, remind yourself of what's going on, and re-invest yourself in the characters and their plights and the world's plights. And it's not like an RPG, where it's all innate. It's more of a platforming/stealth adventure game, and a good story helps distinguish it from the masses. It's totally worth it if you can play for a couple hours at a time, but recently I haven't had that luxury, so I've been avoiding it. So, while I might pick it up and beat it the next full spare day I get, I'm officially on a temporary break for now.

So what did I start playing today to pick up the slack? Well, I'm glad you humored me. Ratchet and Clank 2, which I've had for a while now but haven't wanted to touch until I was ready. And now I'm ready. And my god, is it platforming gold. The sheer size and art design is insane. I'm sure I'll be writing about it plenty. And the added RPG elements kick ass. The more you use a gun, the more often it will be upgraded, etc. My Gravity Bomb already turned into a Mini-Nuke, and I'm only an hour or two in. Sweet.

And you know what's tonight? You're damn right you know what's tonight. Kill motherfucking Bill motherfucking Volume 2. Money.

Oh, and this is sweet.

I know I'm way late on this, but I finally finished Knights of the Old Republic so I'm going to write all about it, and you're going to read it and like it. I would have updated yesterday, but I spent just about all day yesterday (My Xbox can't follow me to the bathroom) finished up KOTOR. I'm back from the chair with some opinions.

This may seem like a bold statement since I have been on record saying Grand Theft Auto is the most important game released this generation and Prince of Persia is the best platform game since Super Mario 64 - but I'm going to say it anyway: Knights of the Old Republic is my favorite 1 player game this generation by far. It's not even close. I could go so far as to say it's the best game, period, released this generation, but it hardly seems fair to compare 8 player Halo or 4 player Double Dash!! to a one player RPG, so I'll leave my statement as it is.

So why is this game so bloody good? I would show you in dance form but unfortunately the internet doesn't allow for that yet, so I'll have to tell you. The game is the most engrossing game I have ever played. From games like Goldeneye that put you in Bond's head and force you to save the world to NCAA Football that makes you the coach and recruiter forced to turn Columbia College from a school that doesn't even have an athletics department to the Nation Champion, and the all mighty Final Fantasy 7 which provides an epic quest complete with a bad ass enemy and some of the most interesting characters I have ever seen - KOTOR surpasses them all.

The KOTOR difference is that it gives you complete control over every action you take in the game. This may seem like a niggling point on the surface, but just think about the ramifications of that for a second. Depending on what you chose to do you can essentially ruin the lives, or kill, everyone you meet in the game. And it's not even restricted to the small scale. Say you want to, for instance, ruin the economy of one planets by destroying the oil (it's not really oil... but it's the Star Wars equivalent) they mine. You can! And this will cripple surrounding planets as well as they rely on that fuel source.

The game is almost entirely reliant on the choices you make. It's the addicting feature that makes you feel like you have ultimate power over everything and pushes you to not only keep playing, but to talk to every creature you encounter to see if maybe you can change their lives in some small way as well. The overall story of the game, which centers around the Sith and Republic fighting, is not that different from any other Star Wars movie or game you've played, and isn't good enough to keep you going on your own. In fact, if this was a movie or standard game where you simply walk from point A to B, watch a movie unfold, and continue to Point C, it would get boring fast.

This is problem I have with most RPGs. I don't necessarily think every game should mimic KOTOR's design and allow you to be good or evil. It just wouldn't work with every game. Can you imagine stupid, messed up Cloud trying to destroy the world? Wait... maybe that isn't such a stretch.

Anyway, it really wouldn’t have to be on the scale of creating a pure good or evil character. It can just be anything. Say, for instance, Cloud and Barret, to stick with FF7, have a disagreement. Cloud wants to sit in his dark room and think about what a crazy nut he is and Barret wants to kick some ass. So you have the choice to fight - from either side - and the winner moves on, leading everyone else, and the loser dies. Think about how cool that would be if this were present in every RPG.

This is a SPOILER for those that haven't played through yet. There was one particularly emotional scene late in the game that almost made me stop playing for a bit. I already mentioned how I was going through on the Dark Side, having to commit horrible acts throughout the game to keep my evil powers up. It got hard after awhile, but never anything I couldn’t just forget about later.

Well, at one point I go back to the rest of my party on our ship and announce that I am, in fact, evil. Sorry, but you can either join me or die. So the droid and the bounty hunter are obviously fine with that. They have no feelings. The Wookie has to be with me because he swore a life debt to me. This is an ancient Wookie tradition that is more powerful than an individual Wookie - it represents the collective word of Wookies everywhere. So, since he vowed he would stay with me, and protect me, for the rest of life, he has to be with me even though I told them all I'm evil.

So that leave Mission and Carth. Carth is a goody goody Republic pilot. I was trying to insult him and mess with his head some, and he just took off running. So, I didn't actually get to kill him. Shame, too, since he was such a whiny bitch throughout and I really wanted to kill him.

But then Mission had to make a choice. She's an alien kid who has an attitude and is good at picking locks. I usually took her with me because she was the best fighter of anyone who could pick locks, plus she was pretty cool. She happened to be best friends with the Wookie also, they had been looking out for each other on the streets when I happened into them. They were pretty much inseparable.

But, when I told her I was evil she got pissed and said she could never join me. She told the Wookie he should come with her, but he said he couldn't because of the Life Debt he swore.

I'm getting a little choked up typing this now... sorry... So since she won't join me I have to kill her. Or do I? The game actually gives me the option of ordering her best friend, the Wookie, to kill her. He's like "I can't kill her, she's my best friend" in his Wookie moan. But then I'm like "Screw that, you will kill her" so she starts crying, pleading for the Wookie not to kill her. "Remember the good times? Don't be evil!" but, because I ordered him to, he has to kill her.

Man, you talk about Aeris dying; at least it was Sephiroth who did the killing. This was me forcing her best friend to kill her. That's fucking rough right there.

End Spoiler

Since this game is, after all, an RPG, combat is handled in a turn-based fashion. When you see an enemy, the game pauses you decide who you want to attack and with what move, then you can switch to your other two characters and tell them what to do as well. Then you watch the combat unfold. You are not able to manipulate the light saber on your own, or actively control Force Lighting, but it feels like you are placed right in the action anyway.

It may not seem like the most exciting combat system around, but, believe me, it is pure fun. If you chose the Dark Side you get awesome attacks like “Kill” which puts a permanent choke hold on some unlucky person, squeezing their neck until you die. Or you can shoot lighting, which hits anyone who’s nearby. And there’s crazy stuff like “Fear” which makes the other people terrified. Man, it’s fun being on the Dark Side.

The Light Side attacks aren’t nearly as cool though. They do get a “Destroy droid” command, which is obviously pretty useful, and Stasis, which freezes everyone, but not much else. Nothing as cool as “Death Field” which sucks the life of any enemy nearby and giving their health to you.

To break it down, 50% of the fun from this game comes from being able to do whatever you want to do. 25% is the fighting, which is so much fun later on in the game when you’re all pimped out. 15% comes from the Star Wars license. This is one game that really benefits from the name. It’s cool to wield a sword, but so much more fun to have two light sabers. And the final 10% of fun comes from tormenting poor Carth. Man that was great.

I could go on about this game for a long, long time so I think I’ll just stop it right here. This is it – one of the best games I’ve ever played. I wish I could go back and experience for the first time again, but I’ll have to settle for going on the Light Side. I’m going to miss tormenting Carth.

Yay! Look what I got in the mail today! So snazzy.

I just happened to run into some new photos from Metroid Prime 2. The quality is horrible and they may very well be fake... but I don't think so. They are apparently from the new Game Informer so I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Anyway, check out the whole set here and specifically this photo.

Ok, so I know it's already been confirmed that Metroid Prime 2 will have a mutliplayer mode, but I never really thought about it until looking at this photo. It seems pretty obvious now but... MORPH BALL! How great would it be to play a 4 player death match where you can turn into a ball and roll around like a nut? I can just imagine how cool it would be. Two of your friends are duking it out in some huge room, shooting pulse lasers and homing missiles at each other. Then, a tiny ball shoots out of a hole at the top of a room. The two fighters don't even notice him because they are so focused on destroying each other. The ball shoots past one player, dropping a super bomb at his feet, then disappears through a hole in another wall. Bam! One dead player and you are far away from all the mess. This sounds amazing! There could be all sorts of great attack and run away strategies with the Morphing Ball. And just think about how cool it would be to have a high speed chase through tunnels, up walls, and across ceilings. Man, I am so pumped for this game now.

I guess it does seem kind of ridiculous that it takes a $140 investment to go online with the PS2 vs. X-Box's $50/year, even if you do get FFXI whether you want it or not. But that fact, and the fact that the more powerful X-Box is selling for $30 less than the PS2 is a big compliment to Sony. In my eyes, all game systems are a steal considering the technology you're paying for. And as far as I know Microsoft still takes a loss on every X-Box sold, which is pretty amazing 3 years into it's life. Regarding the investment to play online, I think it comes down to software. A large percentage of X-Box games do have an online multiplayer component, but none of their really killer software does. Halo, KOTOR, Ninja Gaiden. You can enjoy those games without going online and without paying Microsoft for their online service. Add that to the fact that EA games are only online on PS2 (which I would bet my life changes this year), and most of their big system sellers don't have anything to do with playing online. Nevermind the fact that their hard drive is fairly underutilized. On the PS2 though, you've got Socom, you've got Amplitude, you've got all of EA's games (and EA Big), you've got Midnight Club, CO:Norrath, Resident Evil, etc. Many of their recent best selling games have a big online component, one that people are willing to invest time and, more importantly, money into. And with FFXI, they pretty much have all the killer online titles until Halo 2 comes out. Now I'm not saying which service is better, which has better games, or which I'd sooner put my money into, I'm just saying that for the time being, people would apparently still rather go online on their PS2's, even if it is more expensive. And the hard drive is certainly a luxury at this point if you're not interested in FFXI. I don't think it will succeed in the end, unless we see an influx of developers supporting it at E3.

Yes, Silicon Knights leaving Nintendo does seem like a pretty big blow. Even though they aren't necessarily going to stop making Gamecube games, they definitely are going to start developing games for the other systems. And though it blows goats for Nintendo fans, you can't really blame them. It seems ridiculous at this point in time, where we have three giant, successful videogame companies, to be making games exclusively for the one in last place. PS2 has such a huge installed base that even if a game doesn't sell that well it will still probably outsell a fairly good-selling game on GC. It's a shame, but it's a business reality. As I've said before, unless Nintendo starts embracing their second and third parties more and supporting things like online play and proves their system can sell games outside of their own, they're going to keep losing support. I don't think it's quite as drastic as "they'll be developing games for Sony and Microsoft by the next generation," but let me tell you, it's a lot less improbable of a thought than it was as recently as a year ago. But who knows, maybe we'll see some big surprises at E3, and maybe the DS will be huge and the Big N won't even need the little support is still has. I think we'll have a much clearer picture of their fate come May 15th.

In other news, Tom and I started playing Toejam and Earl III: Mission to Earth last night. We wanted to start a new co-op game (fear not, Norrath isn't going anywhere), and were apparently in the mood for some funk. Besides having the worst control and camera I've seen in ages, it actually has some crazy-enough, unique-enough gameplay to keep it compelling, so far. It's one of those situations where you just have to see what's in the next area, even if it's a massive, annoying, controller-smashing bitch to get there. If we actually get though the entire thing, you all owe us high fives a'plenty.

And in even more news, it's way too nice a day to be inside writing about video games. See you on the beach, suckas!

I always say the most important thing a system can have going for it is exclusive games. It's really the only thing that separates one system from another. I always rip Sony because they don’t really have many developers under their belt and very few franchises of any worth they can call their own. Microsoft and Nintendo seem much more intent on securing exclusive content and buying developers. Microsoft has some of the best in the world making games for their system in Rare, Bioware, Oddworld Inhabitants and Bungie. But it was the Big N who always had a lock on the exclusive department. Even after losing Rare a few years back they still have tons of talent. EAD is the greatest developer in the world with Mario and Zelda. Retro Studios only has one game to its credit, but Metroid Prime was so good you can almost place RS in the elite class already. HAL has always been more a fun little company, making hits like Mario Party and the Kirby series. And, of course, Intelligent Systems makes the all mighty Pokemon.

But, in the past year, Nintendo has already lost two of its best exclusive developers. Factor 5, who specializes in Star Wars games like Rogue Squadron, apparently is working on other systems now. Nintendo and Factor 5 have always been close - F5 is working on a PilotWings game for the new Nintendo system - so it was surprising that they would make games for other systems. They also lost Left Field, who made the great Excitebike 64. Maybe not the two greatest developers, but certainly two that focused on quality.

Now, they’ve lost another big gun: Silicon Knights. SK was bought by Nintendo before the GC launched. They burst on the scene with Blood Omen in 1996, a really cool, dark game that was extremely fun despite the wicked slowdown. Blood Omen has since spurned the hugely successful Legacy of Kain franchise. Nintendo made them a 2nd party with the hope that they would bring a little street cred to their system.

As great as all the developers Nintendo has are, none of them except for Retro make games that are geared towards an adult audience. SK was supposed to fill that void. Their first GC title was Eternal Darkness – a terrifying survival horror game with actual gameplay. Take that Resident Evil. Then they wasted a few years of development time by updating Metal Gear Solid. Sure, it got good reviews, but did they really need to update a 6-year-old game?

Now, Nintendo and SK have parted ways. They still might make Nintendo games, they haven’t been bought up by Microsoft yet, but they will no longer be exclusive. Nintendo better hurry up and secure some more talent. While its nice being able to lend your franchises to other companies, like Namco working on Star Fox 2 and Sega on F-Zero, you really need a team of your own under your belt. It will be interesting to see how Nintendo fills this void because they need to do something.

I was just rereading this and I realized that Microsoft might have pulled even with Nintendo with their amazing development team around them. Scary times we live in folks.

Penny Arcade's comic today was just making me think...

An Xbox right now is $149 and comes with a built it Ethernet port and hard drive.

A PS2 is $179. But, if you want to go online you have to buy a $40 adaptor and if you want a hard drive it will cost you another $100.

Just thought that was kind of interesting.

Some people look at video games as a form of higher learning. The ultimate goal for all the hard work and effort we put in. The main form of entertainment in some utopian society. These people are wrong! I've said it before and I'll say it again: video games are a form of mind control to keep us weak minding folks in check and let the more powerful people rule the world. Case in point: Knight of the Old Republic.

This game goes above and beyond other games in the life control department by tricking you into thinking you are actually living your life there on screen, when, in actuality, you are only playing a game. But what a life it could be. Wielding two lightsabers while I crush the souls of those weaker or stupider than I. Collecting a bounty on the head of a woman… did I mention the bounty was placed on her for defending herself from the drunk advances of a man? Releasing a grateful prisoner from his shackles only to kill him after his spilled his guts. The power! The strength! I am unstoppable!

Knights of the Old Republic is a role playing game that gives you so much control over the path you take it actually feels like you are an active participant for once. In the very beginning of the game you are a lowly soldier on a Republic ship being attacked by the 'evil' Sith. At this point you have very little skill, no reputation, and a moral standing completely in the middle of the road. You are a pushover, nonentity in a world at war. Not the most likable character. But then, you get to take control over what they become.

As you may or may not have guessed, I chose the path of the Dark Side. I know, I was warned about it. Told that it is weakness that leads to the Dark Side. Told that only the greedy, power hungry, lightning bolt wielding wackos joined the Dark Side. Join the Light Side, I was urged, like that pussy Luke will in the future (this game is, of course, set thousands of years before Episode 4). They tried to sway me with the honor of doing what's right, helping those less fortunate than I, and being able to heal myself without a huge hit in my Force powers. But, alas, the lure of the Dark Side was too strong and now I am an ugly, vengeful little lady who doesn't take "No" or even "Please, take my credits, just don't kill me!" for an answer.

Did I mention the time I was walking through town and three loud mouth drunks started yelling at me? I could have just continued on my way, letting those weaker than me live their lives as they saw fit - but I am evil. So I killed the whole lot of them in 3 swift blows. Ah, how glorious that felt.

Or the time a crying woman approached me in a hunting town. She told me, through her thick tears, that her husband had died and only left her with the hide of a dead, rotting animal. The corpse was worth a small fortune, she whimpered, but she was not licensed to sell it. Please, she bleated out, gasping for breath and trying to see if my face was evil or kind through her dirty, salty tears, sell this animal for me so I can escape this wretched planet and live my life. I laughed at her, snatched the hide from her trembling hands, and sold it at the store. Then I pocketed the credits, a mere 500, nothing compared to the thousands I owned, and left her on the streets, crying her poor, dying heart out.

Oh how I love being evil.