Saturday, October 28, 2006

This hype train just isn't the same

As I'm sure everyone has noticed, the first Halo 3 info and screenshots leaked yesterday, scans from a Swedish gaming rag called Level. Beating out the EGM cover story by a few days, no less. I wouldn't feel comfortable posting anything from it here, but if you can navigate our site you're probably resourceful enough to find them for yourselves. Here's the kicker: they just didn't excite me. Not because it looks anything short of great, not because the new weapon, vehicle and gameplay info didn't sound like great additions; the genius and longevity of Halo 2 didn't come from any of those things specifically, it came from the online party and matchmaking systems, and the gameplay balance. My excitement was already maxed out, and that was only from the music in the trailer.

I played Halo 2 for almost a year straight, four to five nights a week. Same group of guys, night after night. Tom and I have written a few columns about the game, but the place in my life that it occupied was something of a significance I can't easily explain.

So what of Halo 3? Well, it is the sole reason thousands of Americans lined up overnight last November. You don't buy a 360 for the promise it holds. You don't buy it because you just can't bear to live without the next PGR. You buy it because, deep down, you know that one day you will be able to walk into a store, spend $60, go home and fire up Halo 3 with few other complications. They could have called the console "Halo(3)60" and it would have been arguably more sensible.

I'm excited about Halo 3 because I will once again have the opportunity to play regularly again with a very particular group of friends (with whom I still play various 360 games and stay in contact with on message boards and Instant Messenger), and socialize and compete together in a perfectly tuned game. There is a place in my life reserved for such an experience - lo-res screenshots aren't going to make me anticipate it any more than I do.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Lunch with Tom - No one left to Bully

Using Gamefly is like taking part in a never-ending string of One Night Stands. Most of the time, I don't care what game I am playing. I just need something to play. After a few days go by I have thoroughly exhausted all there is. The game is too shallow or similar to other stuff out there. So back it goes in the mail while I await my next package. It's a cycle I have gotten used to for the most part. I am happy to see my games off and tear open another envelope. But sometimes I find a game that I don't want to get rid of. It's only been half a day, but I miss Bully already.

Bully is the most benign game since Night Trap to garner gallons of negative media attention. Bully is not Grand Theft Auto: High School. There are no guns. There are no hookers. There isn't even any swearing. Heck, even unwritten societal laws are strictly enforced. If you pick a fight with a boy of your approximate size, you are free to punch freely until a victor is clear. Punch a girl and you will find yourself taken to the principal's office immediately. Pinch a child's butt and feel the wrath of the Christian Right. Yes, this game includes choices and it is up to you how you react to your environment. You can hit on little kids if you choose, just like you can kill hookers if that is your desire in the GTA universe. The most egregious example of these choices: being able to kiss another dude. Gross, I know, but a perfectly plausible take on reality. The game never lets you partake in real crime or extreme deviant behavior, but it does give the gamer shallow choices like this. Good times all around, eh?

There is one glaring flaw in your ability to choose, though. I found out yesterday, in my final hours with the game, that I could give a wedgie to some weakly boy. I could go up behind him, hold down one of those pesky shoulder buttons, and select the picture of tidy whities. It was not an atomic wedgie, but it got my point across. I thought I would see how far this system of wedgies could go. I found a prefect, an angry gorilla of a man patrolling the school halls like a maximum-security prison, and circled behind him. Once again, an underwear icon appeared. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased with the stain I caused, but it was worth the effort. And then I met a girl. Huh, the underwear looks different now. I guess women do wear different garments than men. So I select that and see my character, Bully, lazily reach out his hand. He clawed meekly at her butt. The screen flashed "Girls - Harassment" and I ran sheepishly away.

The final tally - you can kiss boys but you can't pinch their ass. And girls are immune to wedgies.

Other than "interacting" with my classmates, why did I get such a kick out of Bully? You may remember my frequent rants about San Andreas. The game bored me. Not many people know this but I actually got 100% in Grand Theft Auto 3. My roommate and I used to spend hours every day going through every inch of that game. We found all the unique jumps, did all the side missions, and even found all the packages. Just an endless amount of fun to be had in Liberty City. But I never got into Vice City because it was the same game in a different location. I was still stealing cars and killing hookers, but now it was sunny and I had 80s music blaring. It was fun, but I couldn't play more than a few hours. SA was the final straw for me. Undeniably great game, but I wanted some variety. I can only steal so many cars before I need something different

Bully is way different. Instead of stealing cars I was stealing bikes. Instead of standing on top of a car mowing down people with my Uzi, I was standing on a car nailing every person in sight with my slingshot. These may sound like insignificant differences, but the setting of the game made the experience ultimately feel much different. I was still running errands for people, but this time I was egging houses and stuffing people into garbage cans instead of sniping cheating boyfriends and running mafia bosses off the road. There was a level of variety lacking in the repetitive missions from San Andreas. With a combat engine that felt greatly improved (I believe it uses The Warriors fighting system) the gameplay was much more enjoyable that GTA's. In GTA, I would be bored when I had to actually use my legs. In Bully, I was having fun whether I was running and punching or cruising along in my go-kart. I'm sure I wouldn't be nearly as enthused if a new Bully appeared next year, but this game was a welcome breath of fresh air in a stale genre.

I have only two real complaints. First, it's short. I finished 83% in 18 hours. The only stuff I had left was collecting rubber bands scattered throughout the world, smash gnomes and race bikes. Whereas I could spend 20 hours in GTA just cruising around, Bully relies on its missions for fun. Obviously, they removed the taxi missions I so loved, but they didn't include anything new to replace it. Though this is still a free roaming game, it feels much more structured than GTA. You won't roam around aimlessly because it simply isn't fun. They should fix that if they are planning a Bully 2.

More importantly, and this could tie into the above complaint, the relationship feature is quite lame. Basically, when you do a mission for the nerds to hurt the jocks, you gain respect for one group and lose it with the other. That is the whole system. It doesn't matter what you do outside of missions. You can't just hang out with the jocks and make nice. They will beat you senseless whenever you come near their turf. I would have liked to make friends with people. To go on dates with girls (or boys) and gather followers. I would have liked to go around town with a gang of preppies. Or start a rebellion in Chemistry class. Basically, they need the wide-open structure of something like Fable. The ability to choose your own way through this game, instead of just following scripted missions, would have added a ton to this game. My dream Bully would have extended development for a few years.

Ok, so Bully isn't long and isn't particularly deep. But it is fun. It's really fun. I love the story. I love the mini game challenges that comprise your classes. I love breaking into lockers and running cops down on a go-kart. I really had a blast with this game. I really wish it could have lasted longer. I'm cold and lonely and may end up playing some sleazy game now. Bully, come back!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Obsoletion is not a word, but it should be

I can definitely appreciate Tom's frustrations with the 360 right now. If I wasn't neck-deep in Okami, I would probably be playing Bully. If I couldn't play that, I'd be grinning my way through God Hand. If my PS2 exploded by some divine punishment, I would maybe, possibly be playing Splinter Cell, or something like that. It's simply Sony season. I'm excited about the same two games for the remainder of the year on 360 as Tom is - Viva Pinata and Gears of War - but outside of those I worry that after Marvel Ultimate Alliance next week (it's in the mail), I'm just not seriously excited for anything on the system until Lost Planet in the spring.

This issue also touches on a much larger concern of mine: that the 360 will suffer the same software fate as its predecessor. Specifically, 95% of the best games on the system will be made obsolete, by their sequels or otherwise. As a short term example, while I'm dying to play Final Fantasy XII, I can wait. Be it a season or a year or a generation, the game will always be great, and always enjoyable. Even if there's a XII-2, it will simply expand on the original, not overshadow it. Not so for the best of the best on the Xbox, and the 360 thus far. The Rainbow Six: Vegas demo is impressive, and shockingly, fun, but because I'm not playing it at release I never will. Splinter Cell was the mostly highly-reviewed game on it's platform when it came out - do you think ANYONE is playing it now outside of some unfortunate bargain-bin welfare child in North Dakota? Its three sequels have driven its relevance into the ground, relegating it to nothing more than a side note in a future textbook about where dynamic lighting originated.

Outside of maybe Oddworld: Strangers Wrath and Phantom Dust, will a single exclusive game from the Xbox library stand up over time as something perfectly unique and refined? Even some of the other good exclusive games didn't have great mechanics to begin with (Advent Rising, KOTOR), so as good as they were at release there quality will only dip as the years drag by.

And I just can't say the same about the Playstation 2. Shadow of the Colossus, every Ratchet and Clank, Amplitude, Guitar Hero, Rez, Katamari, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy X, God of War, Ico, Klonoa, Kingdom Hearts, and dozens more, will NEVER be rendered obsolete, or cease to be fun. Even if they get next or current-gen sequels (and some are, obviously), they will always be great, playable games. It's just something I've come to accept, and it is the single reason I respect and appreciate Sony as much as I do.

The 360 is a brilliant piece of hardware with a near-perfect online network, controller and general functionality. And nearly a year into its lifespan, no classic games. Oblivion comes closest simply because it will take a generation to top such a technical feat, but nothing else on the system will be worth talking about in a year. Microsoft has so many talented, creative teams under their very expansive wings, what is it going to take to turn that creativity into something resonant and permanent?

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

G-Pinions: Gaming Radio - Season 2, Episode 6

We're regular! Just like a good menstrual cycle, we're actually doing this podcast thing with some regularity now. We actually recorded last night, but I was waiting for our awesome new intro song to show up. Alas, it will now have to start the show starting next week. Anyhow, join us this week for some Bully goodness, more general bullshit (courtesy of EA and Sony), and Tom mentions something about a reindeer sweater. Join us!

Download link.

(Or better yet, use the iTunes subscription link near the top of the page and review us!)

Lunch with Tom - Damn that Marketplace

I am really bored of the Xbox Live Marketplace. It seemed like such a great idea initially, but all my idealism has been swept away as harsh reality has set in. I may be a gamer first and foremost but I do understand the dirty under workings of our capitalist society. I understand that most everything you see, including video games, only exist because people can make money from it. Games like Okami are certainly art but it was not made as a charitable project. So you may roll your eyes when I complain about the Marketplace. It only exists as a way to make more money and companies surely are raking in big bucks because of it. This shouldn't surprise anyone. Why does it upset me so?

When Nick was first showing me the wonders of the X360 and it's online store last November, I was in awe. It felt like a major step forward for gaming. The ability to download demos and movies of games I may not have otherwise tried, of having classic and original games in the arcade, of having an online community, was so exciting to me. Video games could be vastly improved by such a system. I looked at the vibrant Halo 2 community, a game that is still being updated, and thought we would see something similar in every new release. I wanted to see tweaks to games when gamers were figuring out what worked and what didn't. I wanted to see new maps available when the old ones felt stale. I wanted to see new content for games that would have otherwise been forgotten. Instead, I see companies shamelessly milking ignorant people.

First of all, I have no problem paying money for these updates. If a game is really fun, I will gladly spend $5 for a few more maps. That is a great way to extend the life of a game. But that is not how companies are using this system. In Godfather 360 (they really should have stopped at 2. Am I right?), EA actually lets gamers buy in-game money. Seems pretty ridiculous, right? Get this: the other versions of The Godfather don't make you pay to use this cheat. You can just enter a button code in the PS2 version and get the same results. But because of the Marketplace, EA can now charge people for cheating. Do they actually think they are enriching the Godfather experience? Of course they don't. EA is deliberately leaving content out of their game, bumping the price up 20%, and then charging people real money to unlock what should be free. How is this even legal?

Lumines Live is the biggest offender thus far. For 1200 points you can download the game. Seems pretty fair, right? I would pay $15 for a puzzle game. It is little more than a remake of a two-year-old PSP game after all. If I were to sell the original PSP version on eBay without a box or instruction booklet, I would probably get around $15. It's the perfect price for Lumines Live. But it's never that easy. Though it is called the Base Pack, which seems to imply you are buying a whole game, it is actually just an extended demo. If you want to play the Vs CPU Mode or experience the full Puzzle Mode, you will have to spend another 600 points. And that's not all. There are more packs coming out next year. They have released an unfinished game on the Marketplace and are charging people for each portion of the game when they finish coding it. If you purchase the complete game you are paying just under $40. For a puzzle game. A two-year-old PSP game. And people are stupid enough to support this.

There are ways to make the Marketplace work. When your only goal is to make more money, though, you are just going to anger potential consumers. The problem is, the average X360 owner isn't intelligent enough to realize how much trouble they are causing with each micro transaction. They do not realize that, by buying a Red Shirt Wearing Tiger Woods, they are only telling EA that it is alright to charge for cheat codes. Anyone who purchased Lumines Live is telling Q Entertainment that we have no problem with them releasing unfinished games.

Well I am certainly not going to support the Marketplace. I am not going to pay $5 for a pack of Gamer Pics or $10 for an old arcade game that I can find in compilations for less than a dollar. This is a network owned and operated by Microsoft. They need to set down rules so companies do not take advantage of this system. They are hurting their own name by allowing companies to rape consumers like this. I just hope Nintendo and Sony are smart enough to stop this kind of crap before EA and UbiSoft take it over.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Lunch with Tom - I need more than frickin' Halo!

Game Informer is reporting that there is a strong chance a Halo 3 demo will hit in the early half of next year. They mark it as a rumor at this point, but the idea is not far fetched at all. Halo is the biggest franchise in America. If Microsoft has any chance of gaining ground on Sony this generation, they have to convince America that life without Halo 3 is not really a life at all. So they will bombard us with Halo 3 news/non-news from next month until Halo 3 finally comes out a year from now. Are you ready?

My question is - what is the point of all this? Yes, Halo is a fantastic franchise, but is it really going to help MS to promote this game? Anyone who is interested in gaming is already aware of Halo 3. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who are just waiting for it to come out before they finally buy an X360. But what will happen after that? The biggest problem with the Xbox was the lack of games. It was like owning an N64 with better 3rd party support. Halo and KoTOR are good enough to own a system for, and Ninja Gaiden was one game every insane hardcore gamer needs in their library, but there was little exclusive content after that. That was pretty much all the system had to offer. I fear that MS is going the same route with the X360. Halo 3 may be the best game ever made (trumping Zelda: Twilight Princess) but it is just one game.

The PS2 was great and the PS3 is going to be great because it offers a steady stream of quality titles. The PS2 is probably the best system ever made. I don't know if it is my favorite system ever, but it is impossible to look at the lineup of games and not be impressed. The thing is, I never bought any of the big name titles for it. I've never even played Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3. I owned Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec but never put it in my console. I didn't even buy GTA. But, while MS and Nintendo rely on one or two huge games a year to sell their system, Sony has a legion of willing third parties just churning out great games.

I am happy that Halo 3 is arriving, but I need something before that game hits. There are only two X360 games I am interested in for the rest of the year - Viva Pinata and Gears of War. That is disgraceful. There are twice as many NDS games (Elite Beat Agents, Castlevania, Kirby and Yoshi's Island). There are twice as many PS3 games (Resistance, flOW, Untold Legends and Blast Factor). Hell, there are even more Wii games coming out this year (Red Steel, Zelda, Excite Truck, and Trauma Center) that I actually want. MS has a year head start and some great games coming out in the future, but this first year has been a complete disgrace. One great "real" game in Oblivion, one great arcade game in Geometry Wars, and a crapload of good games that will be forgotten when their inevitable sequel hits. This is not the way to make a successful video game system.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Lunch with Tom - MULA is Money

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Have I ever mentioned how much I love Champions of Norrath? It was one of those games that was able to overcome every one of its problems because the end result was just pure candy enjoyment. Nick and I played through the campaign mode in about thirty hours and, instead of moving on to any of the games in our always-overflowing backlog, we started a new game. It wasn't until halfway through our third quest - some 80 hours after we first entered Norrath - that we finally called it quits. It has been more than three years since Nick traded five games for the right to wield an Unholy Sword of Justice and I am still looking for a proper successor. Norrath 2 was kind of boring. Nick took the cool Lion character while I was stuck with some magic casting wussy. I don't think it held our attention for even ten hours. The X-Men Legends games were even worse. None of the cool weapons and armor that Norrath is known for but the same simple combat. What's the point of playing these games without silly weapon names? I mean, it was cool being Jean Grey and using my psychic abilities for evil or teleporting around with Nightcrawler, but it wasn't the same. We played through Norrath 2.5 times; we couldn't even finish these lesser titles once.

Well, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance may just be the last gasp in the genre for me. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration. I know I'll be ready to tear through Untold Legends PS3 in a month. But Marvel is still a very important game. This is the first time I'm going to use the wonders of internet play to my advantage. No longer do I have to trudge to Nick's abode. Now I have to pester him via two different phones, anxious emails and non-stop texting until he finally logs on. Now I have to deal with lag and kickouts. But it could be worth it. Brendan is on board. And even the co-host of my favorite Podcast, Wombat from the CAGCast, is ready and willing. MULA has the makings of being another instant classic. If it can dish out even a fraction of Norrath's fun, this could be the best multiplayer game of the year. I am on pins and needles in anticipation.

Dibs on Super Man.

Touch Detective - Because touching is fun and, um, being a detective is like conjuring some celestial being (read: heavenly), I am pumped for this game. It's a shame it's arriving only a few days after I finally picked up Contact. I can't handle two different handheld games at one time. How long do you expect me to camp out in the bathroom anyway? But I still am excited. I just love my handheld adventure games. I don't actually know anything specific about it (you don't read these previews for information, do you?), but I imagine it's a little like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney without the whole attorney part. Law and Order without the Order. A Few Good Men without Jack but a lot more Demi. I like Phoenix Wright a lot. The investigations were kind of easy, but the dialog was so entertaining and the courtroom scenes so intense, I couldn't put it down. If they can capture a little of the Phoenix magic in Touch D, I will be quite pleased. Very pleased actually. It's the only big NDS title due before Elite Beat Agents finally comes out on November 8, so be prepared to read my rambling thoughts on this at some point in the near future. Oh, I just love this time of the year. Finally, more games are out than I have time to play.

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