Friday, December 15, 2006

2,007 more reasons to stay indoors

Yesterday I ran through all of the new, original games hitting next year that I'm excited about. We can't ignore sequels though, the bread and butter of the industry, as unfortunate as that may be. I've tried my best to choose games that could potentially push their genres forwards, or in new directions; I fully acknowledge that all sequels are ultimately cash-ins, but there's a big difference between EA/Activision and Valve/Bungie in the way they approach profiting further off of successful ideas. We'll see how things pan out, but here's what I'm excited about right now.

10. Turok

I managed to finagle my way into the last BCD showing of Turok at E3 this year, a simple one-level playthrough with some developer commentary. And it seriously impressed me. They have a ridiculously talented group of people building the game, and the idea that we may finally see futuristic technology versus dinosaurs done correctly is thrilling. They've captured the ferocity and terror of dinosaur attacks, and should have plenty of time to build an engrossing game around it.

9. Culdcept Saga

One of the greatest things anyone has ever done for me was Al teaching me how to play Culdcept correctly. The Monopoly meets Magic the Gathering description it usually gets couldn't be more accurate, and it's as addictive and rewarding as that implies. This 360 sequel doesn't look much better than it's PS2 predecessor, but online play fits this game like a glove (unless they somehow botched it horribly). There are just so many reasons to be excited about an experience like this on a console.

8. Warhawk

There are two very good reasons why this game should wind up fantastic : Incog. doesn't make games that are anything less than ridiculously fun, and the motion control worked really well at E3 once you got used to it. The PS3 launch could have definitely used that game, but I'm glad they're getting another nine months to polish things to a sheen. The ground segments are also looking a bit like Mercenaries, which is a very good thing. I will have a PS3 by the time this game comes out.

7. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

Hey, I remember you from such places as last paragraph! Mercs was one of my favorite games last gen, a perfect fusion of sandbox structure and explosive military goodness. It looked great at E3 (sorry, I know you're getting sick of me saying that), as beautiful and destructive as ever, with co-op no less! They've also built the engine from the ground up, which is very exciting since the original one was so great and is still being used.

6. Mario Galaxy

This is what I want from the Wii. Experiences that are immediately intuitive and fun, and as response and visceral as using a traditional controller. With gorgeous art design to make up for limited graphical power (though the game does look technically beautiful as well). The Wii has proven that it can work in traditional genres, but Mario is the first example (of many, I hope) I've seen of trying to fundamentally evolve a genre. It's still the most profound fifteen minutes I've had with the system, and I can't imagine the final game will be anything less than brilliant.

5. Half-Life 2

Let's go over what you get for your (assumed) $60 here: Half-Life 2 (arguably the best game ever), Episode 1 (which everyone loves), Episode 2 (takes place in the woods!), Portal (obscenely innovative FPS puzzler), and Team Fortress 2 (sequel to the most beloved multiplayer game on the PC). Are they actually going to go through with this? I would pay like $200 for this package, and they really going to give it to me for $12 a game? Some of the best FPS experiences available anywhere, in their highest-resolution versions yet, playable from my couch. What's not to love?

4. Grand Theft Auto IV

This would probably be ranked higher if I knew what the hell to expect. But with three years, 150-person staff and I'm sure an obscene budget, the potential this game has is a little hard to wrap my head around. The experiences I've gleaned from the other GTA games are damned near enlightened, especially coming from a game where you can run over a hooker with an ice cream truck. What innovations lie in store for us in October? Running over a bear, in space, with a dinosaur? The mind boggles.

3. Earth Defense Force X

I don't quite understand why this took so long to make it over to the States. What do Americans like more than blowing up giant insects, robots and aliens? You're a tiny man, with a big gun, fighting hordes and hordes of the before-mentioned epidemics. It also happens to have the best co-op play known to man. This 360 version has less levels and no girl with a jetpack to play as, but what it lacks in those areas it makes up for by being able to be played on a goddamned US machine, and be in English. Spring, please come here now.


2. Halo 3

I was going to be cute and just write "It's Halo 3.", here, but I guess I should come up with a couple other reasons why I would tackle a porcupine to play this game for ten minutes. It has a new and improved matchmaking and party system, you can record clips of all your brilliant single and multi-player exploits and share them with your friends or in the post game lobby, and a drivable ATV. There you go. Now when do I find out for sure if I'm in the beta test, so I can stop having hourly panic attacks?

1. Burnout 5

Weird, huh? The best racing/action/puzzle/whatever game gets better, with an open world structure that sounds brilliantly thought out (go do some reading, or take my word for it), and all the graphical prowess, sense of speed and devastating crashes we're all become accustomed so being taken to the next level. Though Burnout Revenge wasn't quite as good as Burnout 3, I put an extra few dozen hours into it just trying to get gold medals everywhere I could. It's a perfect formula for fun and addiction, and everything I've read about this new one sounds like a step in the right direction. It's the only game that does a better job than Halo of making everything else in it's genre feel embarrassingly archaic and obsolete.

2,007 reasons to stay indoors

This might be a bit early, but I can't contain myself - 2007 is going to be an enormously awesome year for games. This year will ultimately be remembered for it's multiple system launches, but outside of Okami and Oblivion there weren't really any games that had any sort of profound impact on me. That's fine though, I don't need to be wowed by every title, and I still enjoyed a wide variety of random other games (which I'm sure I'll recognize in a few weeks in a year-end list of sorts). So what am I psyched for next year? Let's start with the original games, then we'll run through the exciting sequels in a day or two.

10. Shadowrun

Yeah, yeah, it's technically not a new IP. But really, an arena-based FPS as a sequel to an RPG from three hardware generations ago? It's a new game, let's just face facts. And I'm weirdly looking forward to it. The art design is beyond horrendous, but the unique movement mechanics (gliding, teleporting) and magic look like they could end up turning into worthwhile innovations. That, and the first proper party system we've seen since Halo 2. That alone is worth a spot on any list.

9. Skate

Tony Hawk peaked five games ago, and thus the exciting sport of skateboarding did a nice big faceplant in the digital realm. Activision don't seem to have any interest in changing the one-a-year, no innovation formula, so the reigns fall to EA (strangely enough). Every movement in Skate is dictated by the physics of your rider, the surface and the specifics of the board, so no two tricks are alike; that, combined with this bizarre new concept they've developed called "gravity", and we might finally be in for some welcome competition.

8. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men

Honestly, I'm just hoping this is the spiritual successor to Freedom Fighters, one of my favorite games ever (and grossly ignored by the gaming populace) since it's developed by IO too. It has co-op, seemingly simplistic squad controls (one of the things that made FF so great), and environments that seem realistic in all the right ways (destructible bits, interactive crowds). It will probably end up being more like Hitman (IO's successful franchise), and I'll probably bitch, but at of this moment I'm still psyched for the possibility.

7. The Darkness

I don't know crap about the comic, but the game looked fantastic at E3. Devious darkling creatures do you sick bidding, your weird mouthy body/trenchcoat tentacles can throw around cars and impale the unfortunate, you can watch old movies on in-game TVs, and Henry Rollins voices the main character. Should be a really fun, beautiful FPS at the least.

6. Alan Wake

The hype has worked wonders on me. They've dribbled out bits and pieces and screenshots of the game over the last few years, and though I still don't know what the hell it is, I'm too intrigued not to be excited. Looks a bit like Silent Hill in the daytime, with stunningly photo-realistic seaside vistas. The plot reminds me of Swimming Pool, though I can't imagine it will have as much high-quality nudity. Wait, what? Oh, right, yes, Alan Wake looks badass.

5. Army of Two

If this game is nothing but homosexual innuendo (like has been suggested dozens of times), I'm as gay as a three dollar bill. It was probably the best-looking game as E3 outside of GoW and Bioshock, and the fact that it's built entirely around co-op is HUGELY attractive. This is one of those checks in the "Things EA are doing that are not complete atrocities" column, and though it's still guns and military and exploitation, it's also one of the more innovative concepts around at it's core.

4. Crackdown

As of May, the game was more fun to watch someone else play who knew what they were doing than to play it yourself. I still have very high hopes though. It's GTA with superpowers and a very distinct vertical element to the game and level design. Three reasons that make any game great that will make Crackdown great:
a) RPG elements - The more you do things, the better you get at them. Hello Oblivion.
b) Co-Op - Online, through the entire campaign. With co-op achievements.
c) Throwing trucks - Throwing trucks.
If the framerate and the controls come together by release, I'll be a terribly happy beaver.

3. Mass Effect

Have you SEEN this game recently? Take a look. I'm still not entirely sold on the more action-oriented battles yet (I played KoTOR entirely turn-based and love it), but the cinematic conversation dynamic and character development both look tits. I still say this won't be out until the fall, but maybe I just can't handle the excitement of a still supposed Spring release. Yowza.

2. Assassin's Creed

I remember being excited for Project Assassin, just based on the tech behind it that they explained a few years ago. Well, the game became real, and after finally seeing gameplay I was stunned. It's Prince of Persia evolved, which is already pretty damned evolved over most other action/adventure games. Some idiot TV star recently let the overall plot secret slip, but it only makes me more excited for the final product. The game certainly seems innovative, but not just for the sake of it - there's a lot of truly progressive game design behind it, and I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

1. Bioshock

They can release all the awesome trailers they want - I can't possibly look forward to the game any more than I am. It was far and away the best at E3 this year, and every moment of the playthrough we witnessed is still ingrained on my retinas. It's atmospheric beyond description, sublimely gorgeous, in a post-apocalyptic, Atlantean sort of way, and enough gameplay promise and potential to make EVERY other FPS next year seem boring by comparison. It's one of the most fully-realized game worlds I have ever seen, and I want nothing more than to explore it's every nook and cranny.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Not quite an elephant, not quite a bit

Elebits is immediately fun, and I can't really say that for any other game on the Wii that I've played; I can appreciate a conscious learning curve, games like Zelda couldn't really be accomplished without it, but there's something to be said for instant, intuitive enjoyment. As universally successful as the system has been thus far, it's potential versus current software output is even more shameful than the PS3.

But anyhow, Elebits! Yay! It's an easy comparison, but I don't think that the Katamari aesthetic will be lost on anyone who has played both games. It's very Japanese, yes, but it's also very colorful, flourishes with sparse but memorable visual design, and revolves around a similarly simplistic but perpetually rewarding game mechanic. Ignoring the downright stupid story (replete with perhaps the most poorly acted, lazily translated dialogue since R.A.D.), you're tasked with collecting tiny Elebit creatures around your house, and eventually the world at large, with your gravity gun (of sorts). Half-Life 2 meets hide-and-go-seek.

Levels involve wandering around various parts of your house (though you do explore the world further in later stages I understand, I'm just speaking from what I've played), tearing the place to shreds looking for Elebits. They hide in drawers, under magazines, in the toilet and on the ceiling rafters. And every other goddamn place in-between, in every nook and cranny you could possibly theorize. You have to collect a certain amount within the time limit, and can keep playing until the end of the time if you finish early (remind you of anything?). Collecting them slowly turns on the power around the house, and if you activate eletronic they'll spit out powered Elebits, which increase the strength/wattage of your grabber gun, allowing you to lift heavier objects to find more Elebits to activate more electronics. Phew. It's a fun little cycle, and it makes each level perpetually rewarding.

There are lots of other little quirks beyond that basic gameplay premise too, such as specific items that need other items to function (find some laundry in the mess you've made to put in the dryer), levels with certain restrictions (keep the noise level down, don't break delicate items), and the different moods an Elebit can be in when captured (the most points being for when he's sleeping or singing, I believe). It's ultimately a very simplistic game, but these few variations and the utter gratification of the main gameplay elements (trashing a house, collecting cute lil' Elebits) keep things clipping along at a very nice pace.

My collecting hand is jittering as I type this, wanting to throw my new iMac across the room, just for the slim chance that a little green demon may be underneath. I should probably go play more now and write more later.

Sony is a sore loser and Elebits storms America

Sony really bugs the hell out of me. I realize if I say something negative about one of the Big Three it may result in much teeth gnashing and insult slinging. But I'm above such trivial concerns. I've already said the PlayStation 2 is most likely the greatest system ever made. I feel the PS3 will turn out to be the best of the current generation consoles as well. But for all the good Sony has done - they have saturated the casual gaming market so completely that Nintendo is now, rather successfully, going after non-gamers - they are some of the most arrogant, pompous asshole ever to be given the right to publicly speak their mind.

As you may have heard, the Wii is selling at a phenomenal rate right now. It is flying off of store shelves in all three territories. Not only that, but the mainstream press, the US Todays and Newsweeks of the world, are standing in line to shake Nintendo's hand and welcome them back from the virtual abyss. In short, the Wii is everything Nintendo said it could be. Is the lineup great? Not even close, but it appeals to a very powerful segment of society: everyone. The PS3, on the other hand, is an overpriced piece of new-fangled technology. The three richest kings in the world are digging the Blast Factor, but everyone else is hiring homeless Chinese people to stand in line for them so they can hawk these things on eBay. In short, Sony should have waited until March. The games aren't ready, the system isn't ready, and they underestimated the appeal of swinging one's arm. Sony's failings right now are so obvious even the mainstream press has jumped on the pile. Nothing quite like kicking someone in the teeth while they lay prone on the dirty floor.

Sony has two options right now. They could admit that things aren't going as planned. Wouldn't it be nice if Sony said, "We have obviously not gotten off to a good start. But great games are coming. Here, download this demo of Metal Gear Solid 4." That would be far too civil for Sony, though. This is a war! Blood must be spilled!

"We feel very confident that the PlayStation fan is going to wait until they can get a PlayStation 3...If they do pick up a Wii, it's as more of a novelty," says Sony spokesman Dave Karraker.

Dave Karraker's mother is ashamed of him right now.

And now, a quick word about the only game coming out this week that's actually worth a damn.

Elebits: Nintendo is making kids lazier by the second. When I was growing up, I had to ride my bike a few miles, racket slung uncomfortably across my back, just to play tennis. With the power of the Wii you can just move your hand slightly and have the same experience. They've taken away my tennis, but they can't take away my favorite pastime, can they? Not Hide 'N Go Seek! Oh yes, the looking game we all love has now found a permanent home on the Wii. Of course, you don't get to hide in this game. It's a virtual reality seeking game... with a gravity gun. I am way too excited right now.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Dragon Quest: pioneer or crazy miscreant?

I've never played Dragon Quest before. But I do know a thing or two about it. First thing: it's a very traditional RPG series. All the fancy innovations we've been seeing in RPGs for the last 20 years have completely passed over by this franchise. There is no ability to choose your own path through the game, no fancy new combat engine, there isn't even a lame Gamecube spin-off that requires several hundred dollars worth of equipment to enjoy. It's just a good ol' fashioned RPG. Second thing I know about Dragon Quest: it meets a basic need for human survival in Japan. The rumor that a national holiday is declared with each new release may not be entirely factual, but the nation does come to a crashing halt when the latest edition hits the stores. It's Halo and Grand Theft Auto rolled into one, with a healthy dash of Madden. It's the desert island game of everyone from Japanese descent. And now, it's coming to the Nintendo DS.

Portable systems have been home to various successful spin-off franchises through the years. Super Mario Land wasn't in the same ballpark as World, but it offered solid jumping entertainment for people waiting for the next "real" Mario game. Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming to next generation systems sometime next year, but GTA: Liberty City Stories has been filling a whore-killing void for gamers with a PSP. Spin-offs on portable systems happen all the time. In fact, the Nintendo DS got a spin-off version of Dragon Quest just a few months ago. But this is different. As of an announcement earlier today, Dragon Quest IX, the next installment in the main series, is headed to the Nintendo DS in just a few months. How crazy is this? I'll tell you.

It costs a ton of money to make games on the PlayStation 3. And, despite its modest specs, it costs a lot of money to make games on the Wii as well. As graphics and technology continue to advance, the margin for mistakes has been cut to the width of a baby's hair. Dragon Quest would not be a risk on any platfrom. Dragon Quest IX could come out exclusively on the Game.com and still sell several million. But the potential for massive profits is greatly increased when you develop for the NDS. There is already a massive installed base out there. Nintendo is selling more than half a million new systems every month. It dwarfs the installed base of all three next generation systems combined. Square Enix is no stranger to making money. So they will spend less money on development costs and sell more copies than if they released it for a real video game console. Seems like a brilliant business move, doesn't it?

But what does this mean for fans of TV games? Why wouldn't every company just shift development to the NDS? Why is Capcom spending a fortune making Devil May Cry 4 for the PS3 when they could just release a quirky action game for the NDS and make even more money? Honestly, I have no idea why. I think the video game landscape is quickly changing. This is a business and it simply is not a sound financial investment to make games for these next generation systems. I hope that developers don't read this column and nod their head in agreement, but I do not understand why anyone would make games for these uber-systems when the NDS is moving into unprecedented waters.

Capcom is leading the way in the console world. With Dead Rising already a huge hit and Lost Planet just a month away, they will have two of the best reviewed and best selling next generation games. And they have a sequel to all their popular franchises already in development. But what if Lost Planet only sells a million copies? What if the installed base for the PS3 isn't large enough when DMC4 comes out for Capcom to make a profit on the game? Will they shift development to the NDS as well?

The next few years are going to be very interesting. Dragon Quest is the only major franchise that has shifted to the handheld side so far. Is it an aberration or is it the start of a horrible trend?

Monday, December 11, 2006

Virtual haikus

As of today, I am officially broke. That's the bad news. Since I no longer have a job, though, I don't have to play through the entirety of role playing games while sitting on a toilet with no auditory consolation. With the reemergence of Unemployed Tom, Lunch with Tom has been buried in a dark coffin where old columns are left to rot. Unfortunately, there is no word I can use to describe the state I currently reside. No catchy column title will preface this or any of my posts in the near future. But the updates will continue, unnamed but undaunted. You may notice one major change in today's update, though. Usually, I would spend my Monday's pouring over upcoming releases. The whole concept seems antiquated to me now. Games don't even come out on Monday! What was I thinking? In their stead, I present haiku summations of the weekly Virtual Console releases. Honestly, today should be a day where I talk about the "new" content for all three consoles. Since Microsoft does not stick to a release date mere mortals such as myself can comprehend and Sony's schedule does not seem to be set in stone at this point, I will have to stick firmly to the Wii and its backlog of old hits for this week. On with the Haikus!

Should we call this game
Fat Guys on Skates Whomp Thin Men
Or just Ice Hockey?

In Gunstar Heroes
Shooting takes a backseat to
Tossing friends off cliffs

Is Alien Crush
Dating sim, baby squashing
Or TV Pinball?

Ahoy Doctor R
These Mean Beans, they hurt me so
Your Machine, she's evil

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