G-pinions

It's tough working full time AND writing for the single sexiest (by a wide margin, I might add) gaming site around, but I do my best. There are some things I probably would have written about over the course of the last week had I had the gusto:

Electroplankton is finally coming out here on January 9th, available only online. It had better come with the headphones.

BioWare and Pandemic are joining forces, kinda. Not only does this rule, but the inevitable Destroy All Mercenaries of the Old Republic Empire is sure to be a GOTY candidate for 2007.

The new Super Mario Bros. (DS) will have wireless multiplayer, including several four-player mini-games. It will never feel perfect with the DS pad, but I do look forward to stomping Tom into the ground for a good three hours.

I refuse to write about Shadow of the Colossus, Dan, until I can have at least 10,000 words ready on the subject. Which I will try and do before the 360 arrives.

Speaking of which, while I am no longer greatly anticipating any particular launch game (which is kind of moot I suppose since we still don't know a line-up, eighteen days before), I am decently excited for several of them, and the system's multimedia/multiplayer capabilities.

Lastly, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is largely unplayable online, at least in it's current pre-patched state. Let's hope they tend to this problem.

A few months ago, after Microsoft announced the exhorbanant price for their new system, I flatly said I would pass. I have never spent more than $200 on a video game system and there certainly wasn't anything coming out that would warrant a literal doubling of my cash cap. But then, they started showing games. Rare games, to be specific. Kameo and Perfect Dark Zero, to be ever more specific. Did you know Perfect Dark is my second favorite game of all time? Do you know how weak I am? How my stomach twists and turns until it is satisfied by whatever it craves?

The point is, about a month ago, I cracked. I decided to camp outside my local Target to buy an Xbox 360 the second I was allowed. Just one system and Perfect Dark Zero. Nothing more. Though I will have to buy a controller recharger as well. Shame MS expects people to shell out more cash so they don't have to use AA batteries, but if I need to I need to. But that's all I'm going to buy. Well, maybe a warranty since my first Microsoft made system broke. And I'm going to need a new Live account as well... Hmmm, this is getting a bit pricey, eh?

But still, I wanted to play Perfect Dark Zero, no matter what the cost. But then, a $14 gift from the gods of gaming arrived at my house. It was wrapped in a plastic bag and delivered upon me by one Mr. Nick. "What is this?" I asked, my voice quieting in excitement. "The game you asked me to buy for you, douche," was the reply.

I had to wait until Monday to play Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. I figured I would mess around for an hour at the most - I was feeling ill and my plan was to sleep and watch football - but we all know how the best laid plans turn out. What? You never read Of Mice and Men? Well, the retard gets it in the head. I'm not sure how that relates to this column, though. Anyway, before I knew it, I was flipping periodically between Monday Night Football and Ratchet, lingering longer and longer on the fictitious game. On Tuesday, I promised I would ignore Up Your Arsenal until I finished all my homework. Once again, my persuasive procrastinating side won out over Mr. Studious Responsibility and Robert Browning's sick, fantastic poetry had to wait until the wee hours of the morning. Wednesday I had no plans or obligations holding me back. Aside from a quickly eaten meal or two and a minute online to brag about my successes, it was nothing but Ratchet for my waking hours. Today I woke up an hour early to get some playtime in before class. Needless to say, I arrived late. 17 hours and one play through later, I am ready to elevate Insomniac into my holy grail of video game developers.

How does this tie into what I was writing about in the beginning? Well, R&C3 is so good, I'm seriously considering not buying the Xbox 360 at all. It may seem ridiculous, especially since I just won the game, but it is perfectly logical in my mind. I own three active systems (PS2, GC and NDS). Why would I shell out $400 + who knows how much, just to play games that most likely won't even be as good as what is currently out there? Ratchet is honestly one of the best games of this generation and, depending how I feel tomorrow, one of the most fun games I have ever played. Will a few rushed launch titles really be able to match that? When you consider I just got F-Zero GX, Wave Race: Blue Storm and Castlevania DS today, and have Mario Kart DS and Shadow of the Colossus waiting in the wings, is there any wonder I am hesitant about shelling out mad cash for something I don't really need? To think, I was planning on not even buying Mario and Luigi 2: Partners in Time just so I could tinker with the latest system. For shame. Am I a fan of video games or technology?

Anyway, do what you want but know this - if you buy the Xbox 360 right away you are a fool. A fool I say! Mwa Ha Ha!

Here at G-Pinions, I am used to being trumped by other sites; but by my own co-writer? As you have already seen, Oblivion has been delayed until next year. For many gamers with a surplus of cash, this was the game to buy for the Xbox 360. Any game that promises no less than thirty two hundred hours of gameplay is a good investment for anyone who has too much time on their hands. But is this delay really a bad thing? I would say no. In fact, aside from the odd Rare game getting delayed half a decade, I would say almost every delay is worthwhile.

Looking at my calendar of upcoming games, the only problem I see with the Oblivion delay is a potential conflict with a few other games - namely Zelda and Final Fantasy XII. But wouldn't this be the case no matter when Oblivion came out? I was planning on waiting until Christmas to pick this up because Perfect Dark Zero will probably suck a hundred or so hours away from me. With Kameo also coming out, along with King Kong and Gun, I honestly don't think Oblivion will be missed too much. Sure, it's another amazing game getting delayed until next year, but if it is able to reach its potential, I have no complaints.

Now that I got that out of the way... on to Revolution news! This site interviewed Jim Merrick, some Marketing dude at Nintendo, and he revealed a few new things that are quite cool. You can click the link if you want but it's in Spanish, so only I can read it. Seriously, I invented the darn language. That and Latin. But I will translate for you.

First, a little news on Mario Kart DS. Apparently, you can chat with your opponents in the game. I have no idea if this is via the microphone (which would be awesome) or just in a Pictochat type format (which would be lame), but you can chat. This is news to me and, if it is voice communication, it could be quite exciting. Even better, you can only talk to people who give you their DS code number. This means you don't have to put up with the usual online gaming morons. Everyone who owns a DS better buy this game in two weeks. You know I'm just itching to go online and kick some butt.

More surprising news - you can play multiplayer games on the Revolution with only one copy of the game. Once again, I'm not positive about the details. He may just mean normal, four-player, split screen games. More likely, he is talking about Revolution titles via LAN or even the internet. Also, this could refer to the back library of Nintendo games. Maybe I can download Perfect Dark and play against all the cheapskates who never spent the cash to play it. Cheap bastards.

Speaking of Perfect Dark, some N64 games will run at a better framerate. Considering this is the only thing keeping PD from perfection, I think magazines should rewrite reviews based on a smoother framerate. I know that EGM only held back a perfect score because it was a little choppy. So lame, but I'm sure Nick will be quite pleased with this.

Continuing on the backwards compatibility news, you can download any game from any region. This means stuff like Earthbound (either the first or second... I forget which one) and SiN, which never came out in America, can now be downloaded and enjoyed by all. Yay!

Oblivion has officially been delayed until Q2 2006. Very upsetting indeed.