G-pinions

So, turns out Samurai Western is tons of fun. Not in a progressive, traditional sense I suppose, but the entertainment value in there in spades. First, let's not kid ourselves - the game is repetitive, in near every sense of the word - mission, backdrops, bad guys, the whole kit and cowboy kaboodle. Thing is, all of those things are simple and satisfying, which makes it the perfect game to tear it up in for a half hour or so at a time.

So, Gojiro Kiryuu has come to America to find his brother, who has apparently gone missing in a town of good ol' fashioned cowboys. Like grandma used to date. So, let's refresh - you're a samurai, fighting cowboys. Ok, just making sure everyone is following me. Following each fairly badass cutscene, you're tasked with ended the lives of eight dozen men or so, ranging from cowboys with six shooters to cowboys with shotguns, to cowboys with machine guns. And some weird squat dudes that throw dynamite at you. Again, the gameplay is simple but fun - circle to spin forwards, deflecting incoming bullets with your sword as you go, X to jump (twice to double-jump, if your weapon grants you the ability), square to attack, and that's basically it (well, L1 to release some ridiculous power attacks, which I'll get to in a second).

The actual moves available with each sword are minimal, but the timing and pace becomes very important - as does choosing your enemy when you're being shot from eighteen different angles. So, you run a bit, jump a bit, disembowel a lot. The arterial spray is most satisfying, and these guys are walking around with a good fifteen gallons of the red stuff a piece. You dance from enemy to enemy, stringing together at many hits as you can while building up your combo meter. When you're ready, tap L1 for one of several speed/power enhancing power-ups, depending on how full your meter is. My personal favorite is the one-hit kill power-up, where the mere tap of your blade sends mens' torsos into a fit of exploding.

As for the characters and dialogue, it all might be a bit campy and extreme for Western audiences, but I ate it up. The game intro especially is incredibly stylish and well-done, actually going so far as to overshadow the actual game a bit. It's a Drakengard situation, where you wish with all of your might that the game played or looked anything like the intro. I guess when it comes down to it, giving your game such a great title that's loaded with expectations can only lead to slight disappointment. Taking it for what it is though, a fast, gory, arcadey romp to be played as such, I'm actually quite pleased and surprised with it. Playing through the same bar area three times in an hour can get lame, but if you took my advice that shouldn't be a problem. So live it up and try it out - it's really the only way we'll kill time until the inevitable sequel, Cyborg Discotheque.

So here we are, less than three months away from the 360 launch (well, we can only assume as a date STILL hasn't been announced), and they wait until now to kick our teeth in with a price. $300 for the bare-bones, must-upgrade-to-enjoy-fully version, $400 for the decent package (and don't even think about accessories beyond that unless you want to mortgage your dog).

So let's say you're a casual consumer buying a 360 for your ornery children, and want to spend as little money as possible. You walk into a store, they throw a cheaper $300 price point at you. Sure, why not, you like having money. What do you get?

An Xbox 360 (no hard drive)
A standard, wired controller
Standard A/V cables
A...detachable faceplate (sorry, I threw up in a mouth a little bit just then)

And that's it. No wireless controller, a supposed standard for next-gen - that will cost you another $50. Oh, and you can't save your games, download extra content, or take advantage of any backwards compatibility, unless you want to spend $40 for a 64mb memory unit. And just so you know, HD cables will run you another $40, an extra wired controller yet another $40. Headset? $20. Remote? $30. Hard drive later on down the line? $100. The list goes on. So, what are you getting for your $300?An Xbox with better graphics and a much smaller library of games.

So what do you get for $400, you ask through grinding, infuriated teeth. Well, actually not that bad a package:

A Xbox 360
20GB detachable hard drive
A wireless controller
A wireless Xbox Live headset
HD AV cables
An Ethernet cable
A remote control
A...detachable faceplate

I have no problem spending money for all of the essentials necessary to enjoy my next-gen system to it's fullest extent, so why even spit in my face with the cheaper package? Casual consumers will already be over the higher price point once they've picked up a memory card, headset and anything else, so why not just assume everyone wants the luxury of basic features and functionality? For Microsoft to wait this long and then expect ANYONE to find this news to their liking, well, it's insulting frankly. I'm off to work, perhaps I shall comment more later when I've thought it through.

Oh, and the Gameboy Micro is $100, to complete the trifecta of bad gaming news for the week.

The life of a Nintendo fan is rough. I know that hardly comes as news to anyone who has been playing games since the mid-90s, but sometimes I just take a step back and realize how ridiculous it has become. Ever since Sony entered the scene and lured away all the third parties Nintendo had shat on for years, Nintendo fans have had to wait for just a few releases a year to satiate their gaming needs. For the most part this hasn't been a very big problem for me. Fortunately, I do own the "other" system so, even in the darkest days of summer, I always have something to play. That really isn't making the news that Zelda: Twilight Princess has been pushed back to next year any easier to take.

Even though the industry is growing larger ever year it seems like the amount of titles I actually want to play is shrinking rapidly. Don't get me wrong, I still love playing video games. The majority of popular titles just plain don't appeal to me anymore, though, and finding hidden gems like Cookies and Cream is getting harder and harder. Time and time again Nintendo has rescued me from the swamp of mediocrity flooding the market with a new take on one of their classic franchises. Yes, Nintendo has a tendency to recycle ideas, but they are one of the few companies I can still count on.

Off the top of my head, I was only really looking forward to 4 console games for the rest of the year: Perfect Dark Zero, We Love Katamari, King Kong and Zelda. That's just about it. There are 5 - 15 Nintendo DS games thrown in there, depending on what actually comes out, and more titles I would love to play but would never actually buy (such as Ultimate Spiderman) but only four titles I was openly drooling over. That isn't very many games at all. With Zelda pushed back into God knows when and the Xbox 360 most likely being too expensive to pick up right away, that leaves me with a sequel that promises to be short though fantastic and a licensed first person shooter. That's about it for me.

What really pisses me off about this delay is that we've been crushed with hype for 18 months already, and it will be almost two years when the game finally comes out. I enjoy the anticipation of a big title as much as the next person, but sometimes you just have to draw the line. I understand why Nintendo showed footage for Zelda at E3 2004 - they needed something to draw focus away from competitors. But they knew full well they wouldn't be able to get it out that year. I would love to see companies focus their efforts at E3 to games that are actually going to come out by the end of the year. I would love for companies to show a little restraint in announcing titles too far in advance. Yes, hype can be a good thing, but it can also burn people out. I'm sure Zelda will be amazing, possibly the best game of the generation, but no game is worth waiting two years to play. How much sweeter would the debut have been if, after showing the jaw-dropping video, they had a nearly complete demo on the show floor?

Now what does Nintendo do for the rest of the year? I heard the theory that Nintendo is only pushing Zelda back to give room to the Nintendo DS, but I can't imagine Nintendo would be that arrogant. Yes, a few extra games will definitely be sold, but I think a lot more people will take a look at the Xbox 360. Perfect Dark Zero is most likely the biggest title coming out this year now, and you can be sure Microsoft will take advantage of Nintendo's blunder by finally starting the hype machine of their new uber console.

Nintendo really has to get it together in the next generation. I love Pikmin, Metroid and the rest as much as anyone, but they need a steadier flow of releases and they need to finish their titles on time.

Just wanted to add one note to this column - I am thrilled that Nintendo is willing to take a financial hit in order to deliver the best game possible. That is why Nintendo is my favorite video game company. I just wish they didn't start hyping the game so long before it came out and moved up a few titles, like Kirby, to fill Zelda's void.

Wow. Zelda is delayed until next year. The "development team" has "requested more time" to "make it an even better game", but you have got to wonder what the real reasons are. Not wanting to distract from the DS' incredible fall line-up and wifi rollout to put a final nail in the PSP's coffin is a good theory, but what of old man Gamecube? Battalion Wars and Fire Emblem will no doubt be fun, and everyone (except me) loves a new Pokemon, but that's about the extent of it. I know that plenty of people (Tom) were holding off on getting a 360 at launch to have the time to sink their teeth into Zelda, but where will that hard lied-for money go now? Well, I guess Nintendo is counting on it going towards some DS games, but I also can't imagine this won't help Microsoft sell a few thousand more units. Oh, and the Gameboy Micro comes out September 19th - if it's $50, awesome, if it's more, it'll still sell like the hottest of hotcakes.