Press Start: Blog for Gamers

Epic 2D

2009-10-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hey hey. Sorry I've been slow again; now that the radio show is back on (Tuesdays 5-6 PM), I should have more to post, but I've been busy with school.

In any case, by now you've probably heard about Epic Mickey. Back when the concept art was first leaked, a bit of Wikipedia looping led to me learning about a forgotten character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Based on what little I knew about the game's plot (that it was about forgotten characters rising up against Mickey), I had a hunch that Oswald was going to be the Big Bad. And Disney had just recently reobtained the rights to Oswald.

So now the game has been officially announced, and it turns out I was right: Oswald is going to be the Big Bad in Epic Mickey. To be fair, I wasn't the only person to guess this, but still, I was right. In any case, what I didn't guess is that Disney specifically reobtained the rights so they could use him in the game. That tells me they're putting a lot of effort into this game, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Recent concept art has suggested the game might be a 2D side-scroller. Whether or not that is the case, 2D games for non-handhelds have made a major comeback this generation. XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare have allowed developers to make cheaper games, many of which fit the bill. Some are completely 2D, and others use polygons but limit to 2D movement. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is sure to be a breakthrough hit in that genre. But there are also a lot of excellent 2D games, such as Wario Land: Shake It, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and Megaman 9.

It's true that the last two generations had a few excellent 2D games (Odin Sphere comes to mind), they dropped off significantly. Even in the 32/64 bit generation, there were a few excellent ones (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Yoshi's Story are good examples), but most games were switching to some form of 3D. Now, thanks to broader audiences and new methods of deployment, 2D games are cpming back for real.

We're BAAAAACK!

2009-09-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

That's right, Press Start is back for another season on KDIC 88.5 in Grinnell Iowa, the official radio station of Grinnell College. If you're in Grinnell, listen to us on the radio. Otherwise, you can hear the show on kdic.grinnell.edu, so enjoy!

Some upcoming features on the blog and the show:

-Quotes that defined generations
-Games that should have sequels
-What makes a good controller
-Updates on Cyber Heroez
-Reviews of The Beatles Rock Band, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, DIRT 2, Kingdom Hearts, Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, and more!
-Fan Reviews
-Franchise Overviews
-Commentary on the price wars, console harmony, motion controllers, and other issues
-Hidden Gems
-The coolest video game swag
-Less cool swag
-And of course, more music!

Oh, and one more thing...

About My Comparisons

2009-06-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

I've heard from a few people in my time blogging who say that I'm just as bad as a type-A fanboy, because I still make comparisons and defend companies against each other. I do understand the source of these comparisons, and that is why I want to explain my position more clearly.

Like any gamer, I have my biases. I'm a type-B fanboy; devoted to one company or series (Nintendo for me), but more than open to others. I tend to dislike Sony, but that's just an opinion, separate from other opinions.

In terms of blogging, the difference between me and a Type A fanboy is that I my opinions come out in my blog only when they're relevant. I've said plenty of bad things about Nintendo, and plenty of good things about Sony. All of my statements are backed up with evidence. I don't delete comments I disagree with; if anything, I respond to them with an explanation of my point of view. It's a blog, so it's going to have my opinions in it, but I strive to always back them up.

But I admit that sometimes my opinions get the better of me. If you think I've said something unfair in any of my posts, or that I've said something bad about someone without sufficient evidence, please let me know in a comment.

Thanks, and enjoy!

Peripherals

2009-06-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I've had some comments suggesting this post has some type A fanboy-like statements in it. That's probably true; and I apologize for that. In truth, this post was written partially out of anger in response to people who have been spreading misinformation. I'm not going to remove any content from this post, because it is all true. However, I will change a few things. This post originally compared the price of the Wii to that of the PS3, which I think contributed to the accusations. I have gone through and replaced any PS3-related comments with more generic, hypothetical versions. Similarly, I was wrong to compare Wii Sports and Killzone 2, as they are very different games. I have changed that as well. The prices and statistics listed here are fact, and they were only intended to explain the relatively low price of the Wii and its accessories, not to put down other systems. Anyway, here we go.
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I don't know why I'm bothering to write this, as it's not going to make anyone come to their senses. But I'll do it anyway.

I'm really tired of all the complaining people do about the peripherals for the wii. They act like it's some secret scheme and that you have to pay hundreds of dollars to make the system playable. So let me try to explain why that's not true. As I do, keep in mind that I'm not including features of the consoles themselves (graphics, discs, downloads) or game library, because this isn't about choosing consoles; people buying consoles know that stuff going in. This is only about what it costs to get the "full experience" of that particular console.

1. The system comes more complete than any other system of this generation, because not only does it come with a "full controller" (wii remote and nunchuk), it also comes with a game. For most people, that's enough.

2. The Wii Wheel and Wii Zapper don't have any actual functions; they're just for fun. So nobody is forced to buy those; people who buy them do so because they want to.

3. Let's say you want to play with someone else on a console. So you need to buy another wii remote and nunchuk. Cost of a Wii, another controller, and an extremely popular multiplayer game: $310. Despite people hating on it, Wii Sports is and always has been a popular game. Since it comes with the Wii, we need to add a similarly popular game to another console for them to be equal. Since Wii Sports is a small game, let's add a cheaper game: a year-old Madden title, costing about $30. On average, that brings the console's total to $490.

4. With the Wii Motion Plus coming out, people seem to think that it's necessary for every controller and every Wii owner. VERY few games will require it. And if you still think it's too expensive, consider this: to get the same experience on another console, you have to wait at least 2 years for the newly-announced motion controllers to come out, and spend a hell of a lot more than $20 to get them. Either way, to get all the possible controller versions for any console, you'll have to pay a lot.

5. Let's pretend that the Wii Motion Plus is completely necessary and use a game that requires it. Wii console + extra full controller + 2 Wii Motion Plus + Red Steel 2 = $400. That's still a lot less than you'd pay for that experience on another console, without a motion controller. Since we know the other motion controllers will be expensive, let's add that price to the multiplayer package. $60 seems like a good estimate. That brings the non-Wii total to $550. That's still $150 more than the Wii version.

Full motion-control multiplayer experience on Wii with all functional peripherals for two players: $400.
Equivalent experience on another console: $550.

6. As for the Balance Board, the only game that requires it is Wii Fit. Since no other game requires it, it's the same as a Guitar Hero controller, which only Guitar Hero requires. Thus, suggesting the Balance Board is a main controller is like saying the Rock Band instruments are main controllers.

7. Still, just for fun, let's add the balance board to the Wii set up described before. It's still only $490, less than the other version.

8. But wait, since the Wii Console comes with Wii Sports and the balance board comes with Wii Fit, we have 3 games on the Wii side (Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Red Steel 2) and only 1 on the other side (Madden). To even it out, let's add two games to the other side. Since Wii Sports and Wii Fit are low-impact games and Red Steel 2 is not, and we already added one to the other side for Wii Sports, let's add a low-impact and a high-impact game to the other side. And since Wii Sports and Wii Fit are so popular, let's make them popular games as well. The cheapest popular games are older sports games and Guitar Hero expansions. So let's add Guitar Hero Aerosmith for $30 (we'll assume our hypothetical gamer already has a guitar controller) and another major game for $60. This is especially equal because Wii Fit with the balance board is about $30 more than a typical Wii game.

So here's where we stand now:

Wii Experience: $490
Other Experience: $640

8. You may also say, "What if I don't like Wii Sports or Wii Fit"? Fine. Just to make my point even clearer. Let's take out the two cheaper non-Wii games, so that the Wii version still has more games, even though you might only play one of them. As you remember from before we added them, we get this:

Wii Experience: $490
Other Experience: $550

10. But what if you want to play Gamecube or Virtual Console games? Since a Gamecube controller works as a Classic controller, let's add two Gamecube controllers to compliment the other 2 Wii controllers. Amazon sells first party ones, brand new, for $9. Since we can assume a Wii owner will try Wii Sports, and if you buy Wii Fit you'll probably play it, let's put the equivalent non-Wii games back in too to balance it out. So...

Wii Experience: $508
Other Experience: $640

No matter how you slice it, even if you get something unnecessary like the Balance Board, the Wii gives you more for your money than another console would.

I guess the real point I'm trying to make is that people will buy the add-ons they want. It won't affect their console choice because it doesn't make the Wii any more expensive than the equivalent setup on another console.

In summation: If the "full controller" is what you need to play 99% of games, it's the Wii Remote and nunchuk, and the set costs the same as a 360 wireless controller. Since the wheel and zapper aren't needed for any games, they shouldn't be included either. Including the Balance Board is stupid, because it's the equivalent of including Guitar Hero controllers. And even if the Wii Motion Plus is necessary, it's still cheaper than you'll have to pay to get any motion control at all for another system.

2009 E3 Big 3 Wrapup

2009-06-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's my wrap-up of the big 3's press conferences for this year's E3. As usual, keep in mind that these are only my opinions. You don't have to agree, and you probably won't. I'm a type-B (devoted but level-headed and unbiased) Nintendo fanboy, and I have little love for Sony, so keep that in mind. As usual, I'll do my best to keep everything completely fair and unbiased.

The first conference, taking place yesterday, was Microsoft. And let me tell you, they really stole the show. The biggest announcement was Project Natal, a motion-sensing camera. It can track your motion in three dimensions, recognize your face and voice, and so on. It was shown with a motion-based painting game, a table tennis - like game, and most impressively, Milo. Milo is a boy you can talk to and interact with; he'll recognize you, listen to you, react to your facial expressions, and more. One journalist suggested the character commented on the color of his shirt, and looked disgusted when his creator, Peter Molyneux, was mentioned. I also read about someone trying a very fully-functional Burnout-like game with it, using realistic controls; steering, virtual pedals, etc.

The video for Project Natal certainly looked impressive, but I'm not sure it can really live up to the hype. After all, the Playstation Eye was supposed to do the same thing, and it certainly did not. Still, Project Natal looks like some powerful technology, and I hope they get it really working well.

Microsoft also had non-Natal games to show, of course. The first big one was the multiplatform Metal Gear Solid Reach, which will star Raiden. Left 4 Dead 2 will have new survivors and new melee combat, Assassin's Creed 2 looks awesome, and so on. New exclusives include Forza 3, which looks pretty much what you'd expect, and Halo Reach, a new Halo game that serves as a prequel to the trilogy. While most seem to assume it will be another FPS, I kind of doubt that they'd do another one, especially with Halo 3: ODST being almost a new game. They showed a lot of that one as well, and it looks like a very different single-player experience than playing as Master Chief. It seems more character-based, with The Rookie being a more relatable character and having flashbacks to other ODSTs. I'm looking forward to it. Crackdown 2 and Mass Effect 2 were also shown, and both look quite impressive.

Next up was Nintendo. Since the Wii already has a motion controller, and with their new hardware already known (the already-released DSi and the Wii Motion Plus), they kept their promise to focus on the games. They certainly started off with a bang: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a Wii sequel to the severely popular DS game. It's the first co-op Mario platformer; people have described it as like a Mario version of Four Swords. On the subject of Mario, another first for the series will be Super Mario Galaxy 2, the first sequel to a major Mario platformer on the same system since the series entered 3D.

They then moved up to a sequel for another bestseller, Wii Fit Plus. It will feature a more personalized workout, new exercises, and new minigames. One I'm particularly excited about is basically a balance board - controlled platformer; while you play as your Mii, it's basically putting you in Mario's shoes. And there was even more Mario to show for the DS: Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, another DS entry in the Mario and Luigi RPG series, will feature adventures inside Bowser. Yeah. I'm not sure how they'll do it, but I trust them.

Another major Nintendo character getting a new game is Samus, with the upcoming Wii game Metroid: Other M. It will feature both traditional 3rd-person Metroid platforming and the first-person action from the Prime series. It looks stunning, and I can't wait to give it a play. Sin and Punishment 2 was also shown, and it looks pretty awesome. Same goes for Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers, which doesn't look nearly as kiddie as I expected. Dead Space Extraction also looked sweet.

The Wii Motion Plus was also shown in action, with Ubisoft's Red Steel 2 and some EA Sports games. Also shown were some pretty sweet games from Wii Sports Resort, including a skydiving one. It looks like the Wii Motion Plus will be a big improvement, so I'm looking forward to it.

There was plenty more love for the DS and DSi as well. Already announced in Japan, WarioWare: DIY will let you design your own WarioWare microgames. It'll be a DSiWare download. Two big regular DS games shown were the newly-announced Golden Sun DS and the long-awaited Kindgom Hearts 358/2 Days. There was also the GTA-like "Cop: The Recruit" and the DSi flipbook-making game "Flipnote Studio".

Sony had the last word this year, and they also announced a new motion controller. Unlike Microsoft's project, the PS3 motion controller looked a lot like the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and didn't really seem to sport any better or more complex motion sensing than the Wii Motion Plus. It also requires the Playstation Eye, which didn't really get very far by itself. It would probably have been more exciting if Project Natal wasn't announced first, but we'll see which ends up being better. They showed a pretty cool sword-based tech demo, and while it didn't look any more impressive than Red Steel 2, it still looked pretty cool. Still, it's not going to make me buy a PS3 when I already have a Wii, so it doesn't do what I imagine they wanted.

Also on the hardware front, the already-known PSP Go. It's not a new console, but a redesign of the PSP. It has no UMD drive; instead, it has 16 gigabytes of on-board storage for downloaded games. From now on, all PSP games will be released on UMD and as downloads for the PSP Go. It will be priced at $250.

Before I move on to games, I'd like to express how stupid I find the PSP Go. It looks less comfortable, has a smaller screen, won't let you play PSP games you already have (thus not really allowing current PSP owners to upgrade), and doesn't add any substantial new features. Media sharing's nice, but it doesn't compare to the DSi's new features. It also costs $250, the same price as the Wii, $80 more than the PSP-3000 and DSi, and $120 more than the DS Lite.

Now that I'm done ranting, let's continue with the games. The PSP Go was primarily shown with the upcoming PSP version of Little Big Planet. There will also be a new Metal Gear game for the system, called Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, which will be a part of the main series and not a spin-off. Resident Evil Portable is coming as well, an all-new game in the series, although that's about all we know. But perhaps the biggest PSP game announcement was the PSP Gran Turismo game, which was meant to be a launch title and was long thought to be vaporware.

It will be joined by Gran Turismo 5 on the PS3, which will be bigger than Prologue. Another big Playstation name coming to the system is God of War III, which looks pretty much like the other ones but with better graphics. Uncharted 2 was also shown, and what's really impressive about that game is the draw distance; you can see a LOT. Another impressive game was MAG; although its gameplay and asthetics are pretty generic, it's an FPS that supports over 100 people playing at a time.

There's also a new PS3-exclusive Rockstar game coming, called Agent. It's spy-related, but not much was shown. Sony thinks the exclusivity will sell as many consoles as GTA 3 did, but I'm not holding my breath. Next is the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy XIV. That's right, XIII isn't even done yet and they're already working on XIV. It'll be an MMO, like XI, so it'll be interesting to see how that works on a console. The Last Guardian, by Team Ico, is another new PS3-exclusive from Team Ico, and it looks pretty sweet. I don't know much about it yet, but it looks beautiful.

So, what does this all mean? Now that the Xbox 360 and PS3 will have motion controllers, is the Wii dead? In short, no. In long: First of all, the appeal of the Wii is more than motion sensing, at least to the mass audience. It's the games, especially first-party ones, and the ease of use. It's meant to be something anyone can pick up and play; nice and simple. The other consoles don't have that; Project Natal requires getting a camera, and the PS3 one requires a camera AND a new controller. That's another thing: these new motion control tools are not part of the essential system; they're add-ons. Add-ons are great, but they never do as well as they would if they were essential to the system because not everyone will get them. See the Sega Genesis and its add-ons. Certainly the casual crowd will be weary of it. Price is also an issue; the PS3 has always been too expensive. And while the Xbox 360 Arcade is cheaper than the Wii, the camera tips it back in the Wii's favor. Then there's the fact that this late in the game, a lot of people have made their choices. Who knows, I could be wrong. But in my history of video game blogging, I'm usually right about these things. It'll be the Playstation Eye all over again.

It seems to be a theme for journalists and bloggers to pick a "winner" for E3. In that spirit, I'd have to say that if anyone "won" E3, it's clearly Nintendo. If not for what they presented, then for what their competitors presented. Sony and Microsoft, whose official stances have always been that the Wii's motion control is no big deal, coming out with their own motion controllers is the best affirmation possible of the Wii's success.

What's my name again?

2009-06-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

I've realized that in all three places I blog, I go by a different username. So I'm going to unify it now: my real name is Jake, and my traditional username is unknownwarrior33. So you can call me one of those.

Occasionally on the web I'll use the pseudonym Gryff, so that works too.

E3

2009-06-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

E3 is officially upon us, with Microsoft's press conference this evening. Once the big three have had their say, I'll be here to discuss the news, so keep watching!

Polybius

2009-05-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

With the radio show over (at least for the summer) and E3 still a month away, it's going to be a while before I have anything substantial to say. Still, I'd like to draw your attention to a really cool game.

For those who don't know, Polybius is a game from a popular urban legend. It is supposedly a Tempest-like game that causes weird mental effects and/or is a government tool to brainwash people. You can find more info on Wikipedia, but as I'm sure you can guess, it isn't real.

However, thanks to some mysterious individuals (Wikipedia suggests it's the good people at RogueSynapse), we can now get an idea of what the game would have been like. They've set up a website for Sinnesloschen (http://www.sinnesloschen.com/1.php), the fake company in the original Polybius legend. From there you can download a PC game meant to simulate the effects of the legendary Polybius game. It even features instructions and info to make your own Polybius cabinet.

For people like me, who love video games and urban legends, this is just plain awesome. I encourage you to check it out even if you never heard of Polybius before.

FFVII Hype

2009-04-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

First off, this post is NOT about whether Final Fantasy VII is a good or bad game. I'm not a fan of it, and I'm not going to deny that that fact might affect my view on the hype surrounding the game, but that's not what this is about. I'm not attacking the game, so please don't comment to "educate" me on how awesome it is.

See that disclaimer right there, which you probably read right before this sentence? That's real, it's not for demonstration purposes. At the same time, think about it. If I didn't have that disclaimer, I'd be getting emails and phone calls and whatnot about how terrible I am, and how wrong this post is. They probably still will. Would I need such a disclaimer if I was talking about other games? Not at all. Not even if I was talking about equally or more popular games, like Ocarina of Time or even Super Mario Bros.

Many (not all, but many) Final Fantasy VII fans are just way too full of righteous indignation. It's the most cosplayed, fanarted, fanfic'd, and religiously-devoted game out there. If you say one bad thing about the game, people will hunt you down. People see it as the pinnacle of gaming perfection. It's not the best-selling game ever (Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros. 3, or Pokemon R/B depending on who you ask) or even the highest reviewed (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), but FFVII worshippers insist that those stats are meaningless. The fact is, everyone has different taste in games, and you can't get angry when people disagree with you.

It is a lot like a religion. Its superiority is treated as fact without evidence, its presence is fought for, and if anyone attacks it, people get severely angry.

Again, it's not whether it's a good or a bad game. It's that it isn't as good as many act like it is. NO game is as good as these people act like FF VII is. The characters, while compelling, are stereotypical; Aeris' death, while emotional, is part of a cutscene and thus no more of a milestone as a character dying in a movie. The gameplay is pretty much the same as any other turn-based RPG. Because of the perspective used, the fact that it was 3D didn't make a significant difference. These facts don't make it a bad game, or even a worse game, but they make it just as imperfect as any other game, and doesn't deserve to be treated better than any other imperfect game. No game is immune from criticism.

"That's easy to say about a game you hate," you may say, "so why don't you point out any flaws in YOUR favorite game?" Well, I will. Even for when it came out, Ocarina of Time's graphics weren't great. The storyline was basically the same as the previous game, Link to the Past. The characters were not all that compelling. See where I'm going with this? If someone posts in a blog that the storyline in Ocarina of Time was completely unoriginal, I'm not going to go ballistic on them. If someone says it's a bad game and genuinely believes that after having actually played it, I can respectfully disagree. If they say it's a bad game in retaliation for me not liking a game they like without actually giving it a chance, it's a different story.

I say this because the obsessive FF VII fans tend to do just that. Because they're so worried about FF VII being knocked off its pedestal, they'll go on sites like metacritic and give 0 out of 10 reviews to excellent games that are often compared to FFVII. That's how a game like Ocarina of Time, posessing equal critical and fan acclaim as FFVII, can have a fan review that says it's the worst game ever.

I bring up Ocarina of Time specifically because it's the game FFVII uberfans always put down to make FFVII seem better. You may not love the game, but giving it a 0 review is just ridiculous. Games like E.T. deserve 0 reviews, not games like OoT. It's because Ocarina of Time came out around the same general time period, and was on the opposite console. Nobody can honestly say that either game deserves to be called terrible, but people will do it to put the other on a pedestal. It's ridiculous.

Some of these morons are just people who like the game a bit too much and fail to see anything wrong with it, much like a mother with her baby. Others are rabid Sony fanboys who want to believe it is proof of Sony's superiority, and in order to be proof of that, it has to be the #1 perfect game. This doesn't make a lot of sense, considering the game was made by Square-Enix, but it seems to happen anyway.

Now, I'm no psychologist; I'm not sure about the reasons I've listed here. But after a lot of observation, they seem to be correct.

Advertising Woes

2009-04-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

A rule of thumb I keep in mind when I read or see advertisements or official statements from companies: if you focus on attacking another company, it probably means you have nothing good to say about your own products. That's why Apple's pathetically inaccurate Mac commercials only make me dislike Macs even more; by telling lies to make the competition look bad, you only make yourself look bad.

But this blog isn't about computers, though I could do an entire post about why I don't like Apple if it was. This is a blog about video games, and on that note I will focus on Sony. As you may know, on the eve of the US release of the Nintendo DSi, Sony sent out a statement to developers (or possibly retailers; either way, it was an official statement) basically explaining that the DS has a terribly limited audience and just generally isn't a worthwhile system, so people should focus on the PSP instead. Like the sudden reveal of motion sensing controllers at E3 2006, shortly after Nintendo announced the exact same thing, this backfired for Sony. Gaming news sites and blogs blasted the obviously desperate, underhanded technique, and nobody fell for it.

But somehow I doubt that will stop them from doing the same thing again, given that all their statements have been about the same. Sony constantly puts out statements about how amazing their products are doing, and how bad their competitors are. Clearly, nobody is being fooled; the DS has sold over 100 million units, more than twice the PSP. As for the PS3, it has sold about 8 million units fewer than the 360, and less than half as much as the Wii. This is not an attempt to suggest that better sales = better consoles, as "better console" is a matter of opinion, but when you say that everyone prefers or should prefer your console, you better have some data to back it up.

If your products are good, people will buy them. If people aren't buying them, maybe you need to fix the product instead of trying to convince everyone that they want something they clearly don't want. You would think Sony would have learned from this by now. When the PS3 was first announced, people were angry as hell about the $600 price tag. Sony dropped the price, and people started buying it. Perhaps another price drop is in the works. Either way, stop telling people they want it and actually make them want it.

Not to say Sony and Apple are the only companies who trash talk, but they are BY FAR the worst offenders.

Gripes and Praise for Nintendo

2009-04-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's well known that I'm a Type-B Nintendo fanboy. For the record, that's more based on software than hardware, though I do love my Wii and DS. If you want to know what I think about the company and its practices, here's a brief rundown based on recent and continuing things.

GRIPES
-No Fatal Frame 4 outside Japan? (Still want confirmation from Nintendo on this one)
-New Zelda for DS, but not for Wii
-No new upcoming Mario, Star Fox, or Metroid games announced (though let's see what's at E3)

GOOD THINGS
-New Punch-Out! and Sin and Punishment games coming out (why do so many people forget these two games?)
-Not backing down from games like Madworld
-Not forcing DS owners to upgrade to Lite or DSi
-Virtual Console releases

A quick word on the issue of Fatal Frame 4. The problem here is not Nintendo, but Nintendo of America. People seem to forget that there is a difference. Nintendo in general has no problems with the game, but NOA seems to. For the record, this really pisses me off. I'm not even sure what the problem is. Many people think it's Nintendo's aversion to mature audience titles, but then what about Madworld, The Conduit, Manhunt 2, Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, etc? Others say it's because Nintendo themselves don't want to publish such games, but what about Sin and Punishment 2? While it's certainly not as mature as Fatal Frame 4, it's still a game not meant for kids. No, I think the real problem is that NOA doesn't realize the series is so popular in the US. So maybe we need to tell them that.

Most Awesome Characters

2009-04-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

Here we go, the first post of the new and improved Press Start blog. These are all characters that I consider awesome for a variety of reasons. I'll warn you now, many (although not all) of those reasons aren't particularly deep, so if you judge characters by their storylines, you probably won't agree with most of my choices. Like all of my lists, this one is not in any particular order.

1. Blanka (Street Fighter)
Despite being big and green, Blanka is 100% naturally human. But look at him, especially in SF4, and you can tell he's all sorts of awesome. He can probably beat Zangief in brute strength by the look of him, he's got orange hair (a mohawk and specific patches on his body), and he growls a lot. Plus, how many people do you know who can learn to use electricity-based attacks...just by training with electric eels? Blanka's had a hard life, growing up in the jungle alone. He made some friends (particularly my second favorite Street Fighter character, Dan), but he was pretty lonely. And his Street Fighter 2 ending is heartwarming. In Street Fighter 4, he comes across as a boy who loves his mama and wants to make her proud. Never mind that he's at least 6 feet tall, unnaturally muscular, orange-haired, and green; he's a mama's boy at heart, and that's freakin' adorable.

2. Link (Legend of Zelda)
There have been many Links in the history of Hyrule, all young heroes who come out of pretty much nowhere to save the world from evil. All his incarnations have the same basic green tunic and elf-hat look, with the traditional pointy ears. The Twilight Princess version manages to pull off blue earrings quite well. You can't look at Link, especially newer versions, and not think he just looks cool. He's got the swords, the shields, the ocarina, bombs, arrows, boomerangs, boots, armor, hookshot...he carries around a lot of stuff. He's also one of the most popular characters ever, judging by the popularity of the Zelda games and his repeated victories in GameFAQs.com's character battles.

3. Yellow LocoRocos (LocoRoco)
They're gooey, yellow, vaguely fruit-shaped balls of happiness...and they sing. They're cheerful and adorable. What exaclty is there not to like about these creatures? Sure, some of the other types are creepy, but the default yellow ones are just plain awesome.

4. Ryu Hyabusa (Ninja Gaiden)
First off, there's the whole modern day ninja thing. Ryu Hyabusa can use any weapon you hand him, and based on the Dead or Alive series, he's pretty good at hand-to-hand combat as well. In that shiny black ninja gear, you just know he's going to kick your butt. He faces any challenge with cool calmness; always important for a ninja. He'll hack people apart if they get too close, and generally get a lot of them with one slash. He's known for the Dragon Sword, but he's also used a staff with MACES AT EACH END, among other things.

5. Jack (Madworld)
I haven't finished Madworld yet, but I've done enough to know that Jack isn't quite what he seems. Still, you gotta hand it to a guy that has a chainsaw attached to his arm and continues to make short work of every other contestant in this twisted murderous game show. He only kills people in the most badass ways, from repeatedly shoving them into spikes, to throwing them into a meat grinder. His finishing moves, particularly on the bosses, are unbelievably brutal. Here's an example. The second boss is a cowboy. Jack steals his guns and shoots him over and over until there's nothing left but a skeleton. Then jacks shoots him one more time, facing backwards, and knocks his skull off (cowboy hat intact). This is a man you don't want to mess with.

6. Motaro and Kintaro(Mortal Kombat)
Motaro is a centaur with a metal tail. Who kicks people halfway across the stage. Kintaro is a four-armed tiger creature. Moving on.

7. Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear)
Psycho Mantis is so freakin' powerful, he can read into other dimensions. Which is just a fancy way of saying he uses his psychic powers to break the fourth wall. The game actually looks at your memory card so that Psycho Mantis can say things like, "I see you enjoy playing...Crash Bandicoot!" or something like that. Heck, in order to defeat him you actually have to unplug your controller and plug it in elsewhere. That's right; not only does Snake need to be smart to beat this guy, so does the player. Any character who can mess with the player's mind deserves to be on this list. Which brings us to...

8. Pious Augustus (Eternal Darkness)
Poor Pious. He was a Roman centurion, minding his own, until he was lured into the dark depths of a Cthulhu-like mythos. He became a zombie type thing, and is the main antagonist in the game. He works behind the scenes throughout centuries, putting things in place for the Ancients. He manipulates characters and tricks them into going on quests that will drive them insane, all to help his new masters.

9. Lan and Megaman (Megaman Battle Network)
When an kid in elementary school and his computerized brother save the world no fewer than 6 times, and do so using computers, they've got to be pretty awesome. They also show that brotherly love can transcend physical borders; Megaman may be a computer program now, but he's still Lan's brother, and they act like it. Considering Lan had Megaman as a net navi long before learning he was his dead brother recreated in net navi form, it would be easy for Lan to keep treating Megaman like just another program. But he doesn't, and that shows character. For his part, Megaman is just as awesome as all his other incarnations, except that this one's a cyber-robot who fights viruses and in my opinion has the coolest armor and attacks.

10. Lark (Pilotwings)
I know what you're thinking: who the heck is that? But for early adopters of the N64, as I was, this is probably a familiar character. See, only two games came out at launch for the N64 in the US (and Japan only had one more). These games were Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. Needless to say, Mario flew off the shelves and is still considered one of the best games ever made. But that made it really hard to find, so a lot of us were left with Pilotwings. Pilotwings is an awesome game, and the character I usually play as is named Lark. What makes him awesome though is his power of disguise. I'm guessing most of you who have played the game didn't know that "Lark" as he calls himself is in disguise. That's right; he fooled all of us. In reality, this "Lark" is none other than Nester, the former mascot for Nintendo Power magazine. If you look at pictures comparing them, it's easy to tell, and Nintendo has confirmed it. Nester's pretty awesome; he started off as a kid, having imagined video game adventures, and later got a bit older. Each major anniversary, Nintendo Power features a new comic starring their old mascot, trying to get used to Nintendo's latest innovations (rumble, motion-based games, etc). He also starred in "Nester's Funky Bowling" for the Virtual Boy, and the latest anniversary comic reveals that he buys a new copy of that game as a gift for his son every single year. Poor kid.

I imagine some of you are ready to chase after me with torches and pitchforks for leaving certain characters off the list. Keep in mind, this is only my opinion; it's not presented as fact. For those wondering, I didn't include Sephiroth or Kratos because honestly, I just don't find them all that cool. As for Solid Snake, I haven't played enough Metal Gear to really tell.

We're Back...Again!

2009-04-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why, but every one of my attempts to keep versions of this blog going have failed miserably. But no more! I've got a lot to say, and I'm going to say it. On the radio show (which will soon be ending until next semester, but can be listened to for now at kdic.grinnell.edu on Saturdays from 12 to 1) has returned to using custom-written content, so there's plenty of new stuff to share on this blog. You can find this same blog on PWNED (where I'm still called DJ Komali), 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5851478), and Blogger (uknownwarrior33.blogspot.com).

The point of this blog is, as always, to give you not just reviews and such, but discussion relating to deeper elements of the gamer community. So, if you're up for it, let's roll!

Also, I know my name is ever-changing, but you can call me Gryff. Hopefully it'll stick this time.

Forgot to mention...

2008-07-22T12:15:00.001-07:00

As those of you who listened to the radio show a while back might know, my nickname is now DJ Goron, not DJ Komali.

Unnecessary Trash Talk

2008-07-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Lately, Sony executives Jack Tretton and Kaz "Ridge Racer" Hirai have been bashing their competition a lot. I'm not really sure what right they have to do that, considering both their platforms are "losing" terribly in all regions (I put "losing" in quotes because even though the executives of the Big 3 and the Type-A fanboys seem to think so, it isn't a competition). Trash talk in competition is natural; all three companies are guilty of it. But Sony seems to be doing it more than the others. Microsoft is not innocent of this; I'll be talking about their offense later in this post. It's just that Sony seems to have the most to say.

It's understandable that they'd be upset about losing the exclusivity of Final Fantasy XIII, but bashing Microsoft for "currying developers" is just dumb. For one thing, Microsoft doesn't neet to "curry developers" to make the 360 an appealing platform; it's outselling the PS3 by a wide margin, and THAT'S why Square Enix made their decision.

It's also preposterous to say that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be impossible on the 360. It might be different (possibly on multiple discs, for example), but not impossible; they're making Dead Rising for Wii, after all (and no fanboys or companies seem to have any problem with that, which surprises me). And who says having multiple discs is a bad thing? I want to remind Sony and its Type-A fanboys that both the original Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII ran on multiple discs, and they did pretty well. Is Sony going to say that those games were bad? I doubt it.

And finally, there's Kaz Hirai saying in a very assholish way that just like the PS1 and PS2, the PS3 will keep selling well as its competitors die. Yeah, there's just one problem with that: the PS1 and PS2 outsold their competitors from the very beginning, while the PS3 has never been in the lead. The PS1 and PS2 didn't gain their leads at the end of their "console wars"; they just kept the leads they already had. And it's a lot easier to keep a lead than to gain one. The continued success of the PS2 is a result of its consistently large fan base, which the PS3 currently does not have. As time goes on, people aren't going to magically decide that the PS3 is for them. Whatever Sony's doing now is not working, and rather than just sitting around and saying "we're the best and you will love us," they should actually work on making that true. The PS3 won't sell well simply because it follows the PS1 and PS2; it's foolish of them to count on that.

Again, while Sony seems to be doing this bullshit the most, they're not alone. Recently Microsoft denied that Miis had any influence on its upcoming "Avatars" for the 360, and also downplayed the idea of Playstation Home, saying they're "not holding their breath". Not quite as inflammatory as what Sony said, but obviously not true. There's nothing wrong with being influenced by your competitors, as long as you just admit it.

Nintendo hasn't really said anything of this sort lately, but that doesn't mean they haven't said it. I'm too lazy to go back through archives of gaming news blogs to find examples, but I'm sure they exist. If anyone knows of any, please comment on this post so I can add them to the article.

This kind of talk is what's fueling the Type-A Fanboys and making the gamer community segmented and angry. The more I hear this kind of talk, the more I worry that these companies don't care about the wellbeing and happiness of their fans at all. All companies care more about making money than pretty much anything else; that's why they're companies. But I like to think they put the happiness of their fans as a high priority too. If they keep talking like this, I'll start to believe that they want us to fight with each other, and that's not cool.

Sharing the Love

2008-07-17T21:26:00.001-07:00

E3 is almost finished. Doesn't seem like there were any huge announcements this time around, except for 1: Final Fantasy XIII coming to the Xbox 360. Many people were excited, but many more were pissed. Why? Well, most of them were probably Type-A fanboys (see the post "Types of Fanboys" for a definition). The same goes for Bioshock coming to the PS3 with exclusive content, though not quite as strong a reaction. Still, both of these show how irrational and selfish Type-A fanboys can be.

Final Fantasy XIII coming to the Xbox 360 will not at all change the experience of playing it on the PS3, despite what some people think. Square-Enix confirmed this. Yet the Type-A Sony fanboys are still upset. They seem to think Square Enix owes them something; that putting the game on the 360 breaks the tradition of all Final Fantasy games being on Sony consoles. Obviously that's ridiculous; the first 6, and many spin-offs, were on Nintendo consoles, and XI came out for the 360. Square-Enix is smart to put their games on the consoles with the highest install base. Square-Enix, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are companies; companies exist to make money. None of them are non-profit organizations, so to say that one of them only cares about money while excusing the others is stupid. And it's not like Sony or PS3 owners have done anything for which Square-Enix owes them. Square-Enix doesn't owe anyone anything; they're making their own choices. Yes, they have created a tradition of releasing Final Fantasy games on Sony consoles, but again, they also had a tradition of releasing them on Nintendo consoles. And once again, the PS3 is still getting it, so they're not breaking that tradition anyway.

So that explains how the decision is good for the company, and that's their priority. It's also good for gamers. Type-A Sony fanboys are being selfish. That's the real problem. They don't want 360 owners to enjoy FFXIII so they can boast about how the PS3 has it. They want to have something that others don't have. That's human nature; it's understandable. But it's the kind of human nature we have to fight. Why shouldn't as many people as possible be able to enjoy the game? As we've already discussed, it doesn't hurt PS3 owners. In pushing their Type-A fanboyism, they're trying to keep other people from having fun. Type-A fanboys, think about it that way. Is it really fair for the millions of 360 owners not to be able to play the game? Just so you can say your console is better?

That's what this is all about. It's the Type-A fanboys wanting to keep millions of people from having fun so that they can feel better about their console choice. Putting themselves above millions of others when it won't hurt them either way. And that's just stupid. It's also stupid to say they're doing it for Sony. Their complaints are not going to help Sony, and Sony won't know who they are anyway. It's immature selfishness, and nothing else.

Types of Fanboys

2008-07-17T09:45:00.001-07:00

NOTE: I know that fangirls exist too, but I'm too lazy to write both every time and "fanboys" is the more recognized term.

This post is mostly just to set up my next post, as well as other posts that involve fanboys. Basically, there are two main types of fanboys. Usually the term has a negative connotation because people always think of the first type; I'll call them Type-A fanboys, because it's a good classification system, and also because they tend to exhibit Type-A personalities. These are the fanboys that I rant about; the ones who are loyal to one of the "big three" (Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft) and go on forums and blogs to complain about the other two. Any time something good happens to one of the other two companies, Type-A fanboys complain and complain, apparently thinking the companies (or other gamers for that matter) give a rat's ass about their opinions. And of course, they fiercely defend any stupid move that their preferred company makes. Nintendo sues Nyko for making a wireless nunchuk? Type-A fanboys say Nyko should have asked permission first (while also buying up the wireless ones). Microsoft creates "avatars" and claims they were not at all inspired by Nintendo? Type-A fanboys believe it (and continue to bash the concept of Miis despite even the official Xbox Magazine using them). Sony removes backwards compatibility, one of their big selling points, from the PS3? Type-A fanboys claim that nobody really cares about PS2 games (while also talking about how great it is that PS2 games are still being made). And of course, whenever representatives of the preferred company say things that are clearly not true (like the avatar/Mii example above), Type-A fanboys believe and defend it. Type-A fanboys flame and insult anyone who disagrees with them. I mentioned the hilariously named "Mr. Common Sense" in a previous post; he's a prime example.

Then there are Type-B fanboys. I admit to being a Type-B Nintendo fanboy, and I have no problem admitting to it because I have nothing against Type-B fanboys. Type-B fanboys also have a strong loyalty to one of the "big three", whether it's because that's what they've always had, or because they just like that company's products a lot. What separates them from Type-A fanboys is that they're not assholes about it. Type-B fanboys spread their opinions, sure. And they may dislike one or both of the other companies, regardless of which company they do like. But they don't insult people who disagree with them, try to look at things objectively, and don't blindly agree with everything their preferred company does. I mentioned earlier my distaste for Nintendo suing Nyko, and I'm not a fan of some of Nintendo's other choices. That doesn't mean I don't love Nintendo.

It's hard to be a Type-B fanboy. I do dislike Sony, and while that is not because I like Nintendo (it's because of their business practices and bad PR), it's hard to deny that I probably wouldn't have as much of a problem with them if I wasn't a Type-B Nintendo fanboy. But that still doesn't make me a Type-A fanboy, for two simple reasons: I'm not an asshole to others about it, and I don't blindly follow Nintendo. There are subtleties; Type-B fanboys can do Type-A things, and vice-versa. But those two factors (not being an asshole and not blindly agreeing) are the key difference.

Graphics Are Not Everything

2008-04-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Wii keeps getting put down because its graphics are not on par with its competitors. If I wanted to exhibit the console wars mentality, I would simply point you to the sales numbers and leave that as my proof that it doesn't matter. As tempting as it is to just leave it there, I am not that kind of gamer. I'm going to explain to you exactly why it doesn't matter.

Video games are an art form, yes, and graphics are a big part of that artistic aspect of video games. But great art is not determined by how smooth or realistic it looks. The Mona Lisa is not clean, smooth, or realistic. Peter and the Wolf does not depict its story nearly as realistically as, say, a movie would. One of the most artistic games I've ever played was LocoRoco, a PSP game, and contrary to what some people will tell you, the Wii is more powerful than the PSP. The Guiness Book of World Records Gamers' Edition shows the stats. Anyway, the point is that a system doesn't have to be massively powerful to be artistic. Another case is Super Mario Galaxy, the highest-rated console game of this generation, according to Metacritic. The classic Mario graphic and music style was particularly praised in this game. Another game praised for its art is Okami, which debuted on the PS2 and is now on the Wii. And system power has nothing to do with music, other than minor differences in sound quality that are barely noticed when you're just listening to music, let alone when you're gaming. So I think I've done enough to establish, at least for now, that a powerful systems doesn't equal great artistic value.

System power also does not equal fun. Wii Sports is enough to show that; it's probably the most widely-used game for social gatherings these days (or at least one of them). And LucasArts has been putting a lot of emphasis on the Wii version of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, because of the motion controls. The motion controls make the games more immersive, which helps make them more fun. True, more powerful systems can also make games more fun; something like Dead Rising would never work on the Wii. In other words, they are equal; they have different benefits over each other to make games more fun.

Probably the most important reason is that the system the game is on doesn't necessarily make any difference to the game itself. The highly-popular (especially at Grinnell) Super Smash Bros. Brawl does not use the Wii's motion controls at all, but it's still a lot of fun and very popular. Super Mario Galaxy, which is, again, the highest rated console game of this generation, makes little use of them. Bioshock, the second highest rated game of the generation, is just as fun on a PC with the lowest graphics settings as it is on an Xbox 360 or a PC with the highest graphics settings, and I know this because I play it on my PC with the lowest graphics settings, and I've played the 360 version.

Gamers and reviewers especially need to understand that graphics are not key to fun or successful games. They are one small part of many, and a system not designed around graphics should not be penalized for that if the games are fun. I'm tired of reviewers marking down Wii games for not having HD-quality graphics when it's not designed for that. Graphics that aren't as good as those on other systems doesn't necessarily make the game worse.

A hollow victory, from a gaming perspective

2008-03-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

In accordance with my previous post, this post is not about bashing Sony. It's about defending my previous statements.

Now that Blu-ray has one the format war, you might expect me to come out and say I was wrong that designing the PS3 around Blu-ray was a bad idea. But I don't think it was a bad idea. Even though we now know for sure that Blu-ray will continue to be used (at least until downloads become the norm, but we don't know how far off that is) and the PS3 is only a little bit more expensive than the 360, Sony still did irreparable damage to the console's future. The reason? The high price point originally led many early adopters to choose the Xbox 360. Also, even though the format is a success, there's little reason to believe it will replace DVD any time too soon, given how long it took DVD to replace VHS when it first came out. That's why comparing the PS3's Blu-ray player to the PS2's DVD player doesn't make sense; DVD existed long before the PS2. Maybe when more people are willing to get a new player, the PS3 will seem more attractive. That seems likely. However, there's another caveat of the argument we should look at: Sony wanted to use the Blu-ray movie functionality of the PS3 to attract more casual gamers, or at least I remember reading that; leave a comment if I'm wrong. Even if I am wrong, it seems reasonable that they wouldn't push the movies to attract hardcore gamers. But the casual gamers seem to have made their choice, and they've chosen Wii.

All that being said, though, including Blu-ray with the PS3 ended up being a worthwhile risk from a movie perspective. And I do believe that it will/has increase(d) the PS3's sales. But I also know that the PS3 is still lagging far behind its competitors, and I think Blu-ray is part of the reason. Not the main reason, by any stretch of the imagination, but a reason. As for what I think the main reason is, I've talked about that before.

Another important note: if I ever discuss Blu-ray or HD-DVD again on this blog or the radio show, it will only be for things that directly relate specifically to gaming or game consoles. I don't think the media formats themselves are inherently related to video games, which is what this blog and radio show are about.

Fanboys Return: DJ Goron's Rebellion

2008-03-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Back when this blog was called Warriors of Gaming, I talked a lot about how annoying the console wars mentality is to me. Long story short, fanboyism is not inherently a bad thing. It's when you turn it into hating other companies that it becomes a bad thing. As things heat up and I keep checking QJ.net more thoroughly to get news for the radio show, I realize that even though my hate of Sony did not come from fanboyism, and that I always tried to be rational about it, I was still exhibiting the console wars mentality. So now, as I said on the radio, I am going to work even harder to make sure the console wars mentality is not part of anything I say about Sony. I still don't like them all that much as a company, but especially when I'm on the air or writing this blog, I am rededicating myself to not letting my personal opinions get out of hand. I am dedicating myself to staying completely rational, and not automatically assuming the worst from Sony.

Because I see it all the time. People deluding themselves into thinking Nintendo is manufacturing a Wii shortage, or that the red ring of death is proof that Microsoft doesn't care about customers, or that Sony would be out of business without Square-Enix. It's ridiculous. They are businesses trying to make money, yes, and there is nothing wrong with caring about their business practices, but either be rational or keep it to yourself.

Here's an example. On QJ there's one guy who goes by the rather stuck-up and hypocritical name of "Mr. Common Sense" who jumps at every chance to bash. But he doesn't bash Nintendo the way I bash Sony (with reasoned arguments); he prefers long, angry rants about how Nintendo is evil and their fans are idiots. You don't have to like Nintendo, buddy, but insulting your fellow gamers because they have different tastes than you is not going to help anyone. Do me a favor and look at the backlogs of this blog. I've said some pretty discouraging Sony, but have I ever been an asshole about it or insulted Sony fans? No. And if I have and just forgot about it, I deeply apologize, because as I hope you can tell from everything else I'm saying here, that isn't me. Tell me where it is and I'll change it. People like Mr. Common Sense him are the pinnacle of what I'm talking about here. It's ridiculous, and it has to stop. I'm doing my part, now do yours.

You might say, "But DJ Komali, but saying that about Mr. Common Sense, aren't you also bashing your fellow gamers for their opinions?" No, and let me explain why: I'm bashing one particular person, and not for what he believes or likes, but for how he acts. That's the difference. I'm not saying don't get mad at people, I'm saying keep it civil, and get mad at people when they actually DO something to make you upset, not just when they like brand A and you like brand B.

We're back with a new name, on the radio, and as angry as ever

2008-03-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

That's right, my few readers, I'm back. I probably will not return to Dark Diamond, as I would rather not have the content of my posts edited by others, so for now I'm focusing on my own blog.

Next, this blog has a brand new name and address. The former Warriors of Gaming is now Press Start: Blog for Gamers. This is because it will now go along with Press Start: Radio for Gamers, a radio show my friends and I are doing on our college radio station. For more information about the show, and how to listen to it online, go to freewebs.com/presstartkdic and check it out. Because of this change, my co-hosts Denny and Hanna (aka DJ Lemonsmith) may drop by for some posts as well. Also, I will start calling myself by my radio name (DJ Goron) instead of my previous nickname, Unknownwarrior33. The radio show is based on the same ideas and content as Warriors of Gaming was, so the type of content in the blog is not likely to change.

I hope you enjoy, and keep reading the blog. For gamers, it's the way to go.

Online or Off?

2007-08-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick brain teaser: what's the difference between playing with your friends online and playing with your friends right next to you? Try to answer that question without just restating the question and you might have trouble...or you might not, depending on how you play online.

Here's an easier question: in terms of the actual experience, what's the difference between playing against a person and playing against bots? You can actually talk to a person, and that's it. Bots may not be quite as smart as human players, but in the middle of the game, you're not going to be thinking about that.

So for online gaming to really be worthwhile, at least in my opinion, it's got to be something like Xbox Live that lets you talk to other players. People always say gaming isn't a social experience, but it can be if we make it one.

Public Relations

2007-07-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

While I put unity over my own opinions, I do have opinions. Very strong ones. For example, I hate Sony. It wasn't always this way; I've hated Sony for only about a year now. It all started at last year's E3, when Sony announced that the PS3 controller would have motion-sensing. This announcement generated tons of backlash for Sony, because it was a clear rip-off of Nintendo's Wii Remote. Then came the comments about how you're not a true gamer if you don't work a second job to afford a PS3 and that people would buy it even without any launch games. People do not like being taken advantage of, as the negative response to these comments showed.

It's all gone downhill from there, with racist billboards and bloody sheep carcasses, among many other things. It was enough to stop me and many other people from purchasing a PS3; while I wanted one pre-E3, I wanted a 360 post-E3 (I wanted a Wii from the beginning, and it was the first of the three that I got; I got a 360 later). Sony needs to remember that a high price point and lack of games will stop someone from buying your console at first, but bad PR will stop people like me from buying your console at all.

(Price) cut, that's not a wrap

2007-07-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

It was a shock to some when Sony cut the price of the PS3; others expected it. It certainly drove up sales...at first. But Sony made two crucial errors and two non-crucial error in the price cut that I predict will keep it from making a long-term impact.

The first crucial error was that they only cut the price to 500 dollars. 500 dollars is still 100 dollars more than the Xbox 360 Premium, and with Blu-ray players becoming cheaper, that angle won't convince people much longer. It's also double the price of Wii, which is still killing the PS3 in sales and gaining on the 360. Also, the 360 and Wii are likely to get price cuts in the near future as well, so this may not make a whole lot of difference for long.

Second, they released the 80 gigabyte version at the original price of 600 bucks. That means the now-500 dollar unit has become the "gimped" version, and that may push it in the direction of the version that originally cost 500. Furthermore, Kaz Hirai said they're going to phase out the 60 GB version. If that's the case, people will once again have to pay 600 bucks for a PS3.

The first non-crucial error was bundling a game with the 80 GB version. The biggest reason why this is a problem is that Nintendo already did it; copying Nintendo the first time around made Sony look really bad. That's one aspect. The other is that looking at game sales in Japan will tell you that bundling Wii Sports with Wii probably didn't make a huge difference; they didn't bundle it in Japan and it's been one of the top selling games over there since launch.

The second non-crucial error was not extending this price cut to Europe. I say it's a non-crucial error because North America and Japan (which got a price cut right at the beginning) are bigger markets (especially combined) than Europe. That said, bundling a game with the system in Europe will not boost sales as much as a price cut would, and that was a mistake.

I say this not to incite a flame war; that's the LAST thing I want to do. I say it because I want to quell the flame wars that the price cut no doubt started; this post doesn't say that the PS3 is doomed, only that I don't believe it's in a significantly better place than it was before.

What value do my predictions hold, you ask? After last year's E3 I predicted that the high price, Sony's PR (see my last post), and focus on Blu-ray over games would hurt the PS3's sales. Now that it's out, it's trailing far behind its competitors. True, that was an obvious prediction, but not so obvious that a lot of people didn't disagree with me.
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DarkDiamond

2007-07-05T18:22:00.001-07:00

If you like my stuff, you might be interested to know that I am now blogging on darkdiamond.com, a video game and anime blog. The content will mostly be the same stuff I post here, but I will no longer be updating my 1up.com blog because 2 is enough.

PS3 and Blu-ray: A Match Made in Heaven?

2007-06-21T12:00:00.001-07:00

IMPORTANT: I have nothing against the Playstation 3 or Blu-ray. Never having played the PS3 or watched a movie on Blu-ray, I really COULDN'T have anything against them. My statements about the PS3's current sales are based on the numbers as I know them, not my opinions or any data that I can directly and personally confirm. This is purely objective, from an economic standpoint, not from a gaming standpoint.

It certainly looks like Blu-ray is winning the format wars, which is exactly what Sony's Playstation division wanted. Sony has been reasoning all along that the success of Blu-ray would help the PS3, and their reasoning was relatively sound. However, now that both have been around for a while, we see Blu-ray with strong success and the PS3 trailing its competitors. Why?

I believe Sony was hoping Blu-ray and the PS3 would help each other, but it only ended up working one way: the PS3 helped Blu-ray, but Blu-ray didn't help the PS3. I believe Sony's mistake rests in the branding: rather than calling this device the Playstation 3, they should have given it a new name to separate it from its video game-focused predecessors. Why? Well, the only way someone can know that the PS3 plays Blu-ray movies is to seek information about it, but if you're not interested in a video game console, you're probably not going to check out the details. As such, to non-gamers, the PS3 is just a 600 dollar video game console. Advertising certainly helps bring the news to some, but for everyone else, Playstation=video game console.

Can I prove my theory? Of course not; I haven't conducted a mass survey or anything like that. However, price has always been labeled as the biggest factor hurting the PS3. The price is bad for a video game console, but not for a Blu-ray player. That indicates that people are primarily looking at it as a video game console; if they weren't, the price wouldn't turn them off.

It's understandable that Sony wouldn't want to give up the Playstation brand, but if that's the case, they should have left out the Blu-ray. If they did, while Blu-ray would have slightly less support, the PS3 would have much more because it would be cheaper. It seems Sony is beginning to realize that its functionality as a Blu-ray player is not selling the PS3, given that they've released a Blu-ray player that's cheaper than the console. Now they have to find a way to make the console much cheaper. Even analysts who predict the PS3 will win the console wars tend to base that prediction on the system having a massive price cut; if Sony doesn't deliver, it will turn out very differently.

Designing their console in part to sell another product was a mistake, one from which they seem to have learned. Now they have to rectify it in order for the PS3 to be as successful as they want it to be. They can't offer an alternate model without Blu-ray, because games are also on Blu-ray discs, so they'll have to figure out something else.

Back to our Roots

2007-06-08T19:16:00.001-07:00

Let's check a trend, shall we?

Gamerankings scores by series, from old to new
Super Mario World: 96.7
Super Mario 64: 95.7
Super Mario Sunshine: 91.5

Sonic the Hedgehog 3: 97.5
Sonic Adventure: 87.2
Sonic Heroes: 74.4 (highest; xbox version)
Sonic and the Secret Rings: 70.8
Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: 46.2 (highest; xbox 360 version)

Soul Calibur: 96.4
Soul Calibur 2: 92.5 (highest; Gamecube version)
Soul Calibur 3: 86.5

Star Fox: 85.8
Star Fox 64: 89.8
Star Fox Assault: 70.8

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2: 94.9 (highest; Dreamcast version)
Tony Hawk's Underground: 90.9 (highest; PS2 version)
Tony Hawk's Project 8: 82 (highest; Xbox 360 version)

Pokemon Blue: 88.3
Pokemon Silver: 91.1
Pokemon Ruby: 83.8
Pokemon Diamond: 84.8

Notice the trend? Each new generation nets lower and lower scores for these popular franchises. Pokemon is the exception; we'll get to that later. Now think about this: New Super Mario Bros. and Sonic Rush were hailed for sticking to the roots of their franchises.

New technology creates great new opportunities. Sometimes they can be beneficial, like the jump to 3D in Super Mario 64 (one of the most popular in the series even though it didn't score as high as Super Mario World); other times it can be harmful, like touch screen control for Super Mario 64 DS. However, Super Mario 64 was a rare case. Generally, straying too far from a franchise's roots is not a good thing. On the flip side, staying too close to its roots hurt Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Still, because they didn't change drastically, the games got higher review scores than Sonic the Hedgehog, Tony Hawk's Project 8, and Star Fox Assault.

I also want to point out that Pokemon Silver and Star Fox 64 did better than their predecessors. These two games didn't add anything drastically new to their series', but they made use of new technology for strong benefits: Star Fox 64 got detailed, true 3D graphics and Pokemon Silver got color. That seems to be the best way to implement new technology.

A Gamer's Suggestions

2007-06-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not an expert in business no matter how you slice it, but I am an expert in video games. On that note, I'm going to look at the biggest problem plaguing each console maker right now and give my thoughts on them. You may think it's pointless, and it may be, but I have a pretty good track record with video game-related predictions.

Sony's problem is obvious: people do not want to pay 600 dollars for a video game console. Sony's attempts to counter this problem are certainly true; it is cheap for a Blu-ray player, and it certainly does have the potential to last a long time. The problem is that the average consumer doesn't read gaming news sites and doesn't think about these benefits. The average consumer just sees a 600 dollar video game console. If a price cut is not economically viable for Sony right now, they should bring their defense to the public somehow. If they can dissuade the average consumer from seeing nothing but a 600 dollar game console, they might be more successful.

Nintendo's problem doesn't lie with the average consumer, but with the hardcore gamers. Now, I'm a hardcore gamer and I absolutely love my Wii, so I don't really agree with these concerns, but they certainly exist. On that note, Nintendo needs more hardcore games to snag the hardcore gamers. I suggest they get a move on with Project H.A.M.M.E.R. and Metroid Prime 3. They're certainly getting started, but they need to pick it up.

Microsoft is doing great in North America, and pretty good in Europe, but it's lacking in Japan. Japanese gamers like RPGs, plain and simple. When popular Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu polled its readers to get the top 10 video games of all time just a couple years ago, the only game on the list not made by RPG giant Square-Enix (or one of its two parts) was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at number 10. So Microsoft needs more RPGs to snag Japan. Blue Dragon was good, but they need more. Microsoft, keep working with publishers.

Video Game Companies can Learn from Comic Companies

2007-06-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Competition is at the very heart of capitalism. We as gamers should be glad that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are trying to beat each other because that ensures we'll get the highest quality gaming experience. The problem is, sometimes the competition goes beyond the realm of business. Gamers are certainly more responsible for the console wars problem than the game companies, but representatives of the Big Three make comments that don't exactly help matters.

They're totally different from another well-known set of rivals: Marvel and DC Comics. Probably the two biggest comic book companies around, they are in fierce competition for readership. But there's no bad blood between them; in fact, they often publish cross-overs featuring characters owned by both companies. Now imagine the video game equivalent of that: an official, retail-sold game featuring Mario, Master Chief, and Kratos. Ok, I'll give you a second to stop laughing.

It's preposterous, of course; Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft would NEVER work together like that. But why not? Why are video game companies so different from comic companies? Why is it that Link will never meet Jak or Kameo, but Superman has met Spiderman at least twice?

Maybe crossovers are taking it a little too far; baby steps at first, right? So here's a challenge to the Big Three: try being friendlier with each other. Poke fun at each other playfully. Bungie, a second-party developer for Microsoft, has provided a good example. When Shigeru Miyamoto said he could have made a game like Halo but decided on a different path, many people, including people at Bungie, took the comment as Shiggy dismissing Halo's quality and success. I don't think that's what he meant at all; Reggie is the only guy at Nintendo who's big on the trash talk. But Bungie responded by saying they're working on a side-scrolling game featuring two brothers who are plumbers. That's a friendly jab; it's a good start.

Who knows; if the Big Three start playing nice with each other, we may see a day when the "console wars" don't matter. Who knows; we may even see Ratchet and Joanna Dark in a future Super Smash Bros. game.

Fortune Faded

2007-06-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, for those who didn't know, "Fortune Faded" is the name of a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The gaming world has, or at least its blog comments and message boards have, been filled with talk about the cover of a recent issue of Fortune magazine. The cover shows a silhouette of a hand holding a Wii Remote with the words "How Wii Won". Needless to say, many gamers are outraged, as the console wars are not over yet (in fact, they've just begun). As you know if you've been reading this blog, I'm against "console wars" anyway, but I agree that it's way too early, as far as gamers are concerned, to declare a winner.

But as far as Fortune is concerned, the timing is perfect. Gamers shouldn't get mad or excited about what Fortune says, because Fortune is not a gaming magazine. Fortune doesn't cover games, features, or variety; they cover business. And from a business standpoint, Wii certainly is the winner. That doesn't mean it will sell the most consoles or have the best games; again, Fortune doesn't care about that. They care that Wii is cheap to produce, selling well, and netting Nintendo a profit for each system sold. The way Fortune is looking at it, what they're saying is totally true.

Don't look at the Fortune cover as the magazine's view on the console wars as gamers know them, because that's not what it's saying.

Add-ons Never Win

2007-06-03T17:07:00.001-07:00

It is completely against the point of this blog for me to defend one video game company over another under normal circumstances. However, I've been hearing something a lot that is severely unfair to one such company, and unlike with most similar cases, I haven't seen a lot of defense. That's why, in the interest of balance, I'm going to present the reason why I believe the SNES Playstation would have failed.

First, a little background for those who need it. The Playstation was originally the result of Nintendo working with Sony to create a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). At some point, however, the deal fell through and Sony instead turned Playstation into a new, standalone console themselves. When the Playstation greatly outsold the Nintendo 64, people started forming the conclusion that Nintendo brought its own demise by severing the deal with Sony. They believe that if Nintendo had stuck with it, Sony would not be a competitor and Nintendo would have continued to rule the industry. Now, they reason, Nintendo is paying for its mistake.

But that belief completely contradicts what video game history has told us: add-ons never win. Sega's equivalent of the original Playstation concept, the Sega CD, is a good example. The Sega CD (or Sega Mega CD depending on your region) is known for Sonic CD and a lot of terrible FMV-based games (look up "Night Trap" if you don't know what I mean). Sony's own EyeToy, while successful by peripheral standards, did not sell all that well overall. Nintendo's 64DD, a disk-based add-on for the N64, only came out in Japan and was not even very popular there. Therefore, the odds of the SNES Playstation being a success were pretty low. If nothing else, I think everyone can agree on that point.

So if the SNES Playstation failed, would Sony just give up on video games? Not likely. There is certainly the possibility that Sony would leave the video game business, but with the industry growing at the time, it's not likely. I believe, in the face of the SNES Playstation failing, Sony would decide to make its own console anyway. Sony's a huge company; they could afford the experiment.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is not and has never been "dead." While the N64 and Gamecube didn't sell as well as Sony's counterparts, they sold considerably and crushed their Sega counterparts. With the recent success of the DS and Wii, Nintendo is doing fine. To say Nintendo was dead because Sony's products sold better would be like saying Sony's dead because the PS3 and PSP aren't doing as well as their Nintendo counterparts.

The point is, it's unfair to say that Nintendo acted stupidly in severing its deal with Sony. The deal would probably have been disastrous for Nintendo, and Sony wouldn't give up easily.

Take Reviews Lightly

2007-05-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've played a lot of games lately, most of which I've liked. Three recently-played games I enjoyed are particularly notable: Red Steel (Wii), Shadow the Hedgehog (various), and Deep Labyrinth (DS).

Why are they notable? Because they all got awful reviews. If I had let the reviews stop me from trying them, I'd be missing out on a whole lot of fun. True, Shadow and Deep Labyrinth aren't the greatest games out there, but I like them much more than reviewers seem to. As for Red Steel, I absolutely love it.

Even if you disagree with my liking those games, I hope my point is clear: don't let reviews scare you away from a game you think you'll like. If it looks good to you, try it. If you don't want to waste money on a game you might not like, I reccommend Gamefly; it's a great value. You've got very little to lose. And if you're sure you'll like a game despite what reviews say, just buy it; that's what I did with Red Steel, and I don't regret it at all.

Similarly, don't waste money on a game that doesn't appeal to you just because it gets good reviews. I never had much interest in Final Fantasy VII, but since everyone raves about it, I decided to give it a try. The result? I absolutely hated it. Don't get me wrong; it's good to try games outside your normal favorites, but don't rush out to buy a game just because it's greatly hyped.

Reviews are ultimately one person's opinion, and even if reviewers do their best to take an objective look at a game, it's impossible for them to take every gamer's tastes into account. Nobody has a better idea of what you'll like than you do, so if you think you're going to like a game, give it a try.

Here's a good example of reviews not reflecting the average gamer: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon got awful reviews from pretty much every source, but it sold extremely well. On the flip side, Psychonauts got excellent reviews but did not sell as well as one would think. I enjoyed both games (Psychonauts more than PMD), and I played them before hearing any reviews or reading any sales stats.

So clearly, reviews aren't always right. Trust yourself, and you'll get the most out of your gaming experience.

Sigh...Console Wars Again

2007-05-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long; between homework and my new job, I haven't had much time. Since my last post, I've compiled a long list of topics I'd like to cover. But after reading some comments at QJ.net, my gaming news site of choice (despite its average user base), I felt the need to revisit an old topic first. It was originally a comment to an article on QJ about the creator of Folding@Home discussing the possibility of putting the project on the Xbox 360. The article ended with a claim that the noble cause of Folding@Home is "worthy enough to break even the toughest fanboyism." Here's what I had to say:

Regarding the last sentence of this article: sadly, NOTHING is "worthy enough to break even the toughest fanboyism." Want proof? Look at the other comments to this article.

Fanboyism and its brother, the console wars, are more destructive to gamers than Jack Thompson and Uwe Boll combined. They take the fun out of gaming, as we care more about competition than enjoying our games. We as gamers must stop this competitive nonsense before it gets as ridiculous and all-encompassing as the battle between Democrats and Republicans has become to the United States government.

I want to highlight that comparison, because I think it works well. Nowadays, politicians are solely focused on beating the other party. Republicans fire attourneys for disagreeing with the President while Hilary Clinton bullsh*ts to make herself look good and Nancy Polosi is the biggest bitch since...well, since Hilary Clinton. Meanwhile, kids too young to vote who don't even follow the news talk about how the President orchestrated 9/11 while at the same time saying he's too stupid to tie his shoes (apparently harder than orchestrating a massive conspiracy, eh?) and others have the nerve to say the military hospital issue was no big deal. Nobody is using common sense in politics anymore; it's just "us vs. them".

The same thing is happening in gaming, and it has to stop. Forget which system you own and which company you have been supporting for years. Even if you dislike company A for a reason you consider justifiable (i.e., something more reasonable than disliking company A just because you like company B), express it rationally and specifically. You can like and dislike whatever you want, but don't take it to the extremes or you'll just come out sounding stupid.

All the time we spend posting these comments could better be spend playing the very games about which we comment. It's not easy; we can't just make a choice to stop caring about competition unless we have unbelievable willpower. Everybody, especially people who write for gaming media, needs to stop. Because even though I know all the stuff I'm saying is true, I still get drawn in by the artificial prospect of any company failing that this sort of nonsense creates. I posted about this at my blog (unknownwarrior33.blogspot.com) and on MyQJ, and I got some comments from people who agree, so I know there are some of you out there. Please help me spread this message.

And in case any QJ writers are reading this, you guys can have a huge impact on this. Many of your articles mention the console wars and competition, specifically how certain events may affect them, and they also make or mention unnecessary comparisons between systems. For example, in this article, the paragraph asking about why they chose the PS3 was unnecessary. And when reporting on sales charts, you don't have to comment on them. Some of your articles keep neutrality excellently, but others are greatly lacking.

I'm not asking anyone to censor themselves; I'm just asking everyone to tone it down. I'll once again pose the question I posed in my blog entry: if you didn't know anything about the other systems, would you enjoy your system more? If the answer is yes, you know what I'm getting at. It's hard to enjoy system A when comments by writers and other gamers constantly make you second-guess your choice not to support system B. Writers (at QJ and elsewhere) and game company executives (executives at all three console manufacturers have furthered the console wars), if gamers really come first, please stop all the comparisons. Let us make our own choices and enjoy what we have.

That version of my comment was for the masses. This next session is for people like many of my fellow commentors, who go on and on about why one console sucks without even using evidence or, even more basic, proper grammar. Here's what I say to those people: SHUT UP ALREADY! We don't care which console you like. We don't care what genre you prefer. We don't care about your spin on the info we've already heard. We don't care about the tricks and deceptions you think a company uses. Unless you're going to be civil and/or back it up with solid facts or reasoning, we don't want to hear what you have to say. Your comments will not make Nintendo eliminate friend codes, Sony drop the price of the PS3, or Microsoft make online play free. You can state your opinion without turning it into an exercise in mindless bashing.

That's where I ended in my QJ comment, but I'm going to go a step further here and address the people to whom I directed the previous section but who still do not get the point: NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK, YOU MORONS. PLAY THE GAMES YOU WANT TO PLAY, LET US PLAY THE GAMES WE WANT TO PLAY, AND SHUT THE F*** UP ALREADY. You're not going to change anyone's opinion with the b.s. you're spouting, so don't waste your time.

We all have a responsibility. That's why I will never make comparisons between consoles in this blog. Someone might claim I'm a hypocrite because I noted that "Sonic and the Secret Rings" for Wii got higher reviews than "SONIC the Hedgehog" for PS3/360, but those are two completely different games that just happen to be in the same series.

I will make one exception, but for the sake of balance: Wii tends to be bashed the most, but it continues to outsell its competition even despite a shortage of units, so it can't be that bad. I'm not even saying it's a better system; I'm just saying the bashing is disproportionate to the sales. Also note that I gave reasoning, and if anyone wants me to, I can cite specific evidence that it is outselling the competition. Just ask in a comment and I'll give it.

And just in case that's not enough for everyone, I'll say something in defense of the other two systems as well. The PS3 may be expensive, but that hasn't stopped a heck of a lot of people from buying it. And the Xbox Live may not be as interactive or creative as Playstation Home, but its core service is tried-and-true and already has a huge user base.

See? Balance. To all the console bashers out there, try it some time; it's not that hard.

Musical Treasures

2007-04-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

The importance of music in video games is a topic often discussed, but a less common topic is that of songs from video games that stand on their own as excellent pieces of music. I'm not referring to a game's score, although that too is a great source of music (ask any Zelda or Castlevania fan, both of which I am). I'm talking about non-repeating songs with vocals.

The "Sonic the Hedgehog" series is an excellent source of such music. Every Sonic game since "Sonic Adventure" has had a theme song and other great songs. "Open Your Heart" and "Live and Learn", the themes from the two "Sonic Adventure" titles (in that order), are excellent alternative metal-ish tracks. They, and many other Sonic songs, are by a band called Crush 40 which was formed specifically for the games. I believe Crush 40 was also behind "Seven Rings in Hand", the theme song of the recent Wii game "Sonic and the Secret Rings". That song is so excellent that I find myself playing the game more than I normally would just because I want to hear it.

Sonic games also have songs by established groups. One example is Julien-K, a side project of the two guitarists from the band Orgy. Some may know Julien-K from their remix/rendition of Linkin Park lead-singer Chester Bennington's song "The Morning After", which appeared on the soundtrack of the movie "Underworld Evolution" and had decent radio play as well. Anyway, Julien-K wrote and performed one song each for "Sonic Heroes" and "Shadow the Hedgehog". Their song from the former is the theme of Team Dark, entitled "This Machine", and it is an amazing song. If you have not heard this song, you are missing out. While it doesn't completely stand on its own because it mentions the names of the characters Rouge, E-123, and Eggman; it still works on its own. "Waking Up", Julien-K's track from "Shadow the Hedgehog", is not quite as good but still excellent.

The other example is Powerman 5000, probably best known for their song "When Worlds Collide." In addition to being a single in its own right, that song appeared in the game "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" and in the movie "Little Nicky." Powerman 5000 wrote and performed the song "Almost Dead" for "Shadow the Hedgehog", and if you're into that sort of music, you will definitely enjoy the song.

Now, I personally have never heard of the band "The Nelsons", but apparently they exist. One of the band's members, Gunnar Nelson, wrote and performed the song "Team Chaotix" (the theme for the team of the same name) for "Sonic Heroes". The lyrics are corny and have a lot to do with the characters, but it's still a very good and upbeat song.

It's not just the Sonic games, of course. Adema, a band of which I am very fond, wrote and performed a song called "Immortal" for the game "Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance" and even made a music video for the song featuring game footage. If you're into Adema's alt-metalish style, you should definitely check this song out. It's one of two songs that got me interested in the band. Also, "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland" includes exclusive covers of 80s hits by current popular bands, and some of the covers are great. The band Thursday's cover of "Ever Fallen in Love?" is particularly noteworthy. Finally, the theme songs of Kingdom Hearts ("Simple and Clean") and Kingdom Hearts 2 ("Sanctuary") are very popular, and for good reason.

Keep an ear out for good music when you're gaming; you may find some excellent tracks.

By the way, you can find all the Sonic songs I mentioned at www.soahcity.com

Gaming Violence Follow-Up

2007-04-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I noted my belief that violent video games breed violent tendencies only in people who have other, greater causes for their violence. A recent study (read about it at http://www.qj.net/Study-Violent-games-don-t-alter-normal-kids/pg/49/aid/88522) confirms this idea. To quote the QJ article: "According to Professor Grant Devilly, only children who were diagnosed to have excessive worrying, neurotic behaviour and predisposed to aggression were the ones who reacted to the violent stimuli and very few showed aggressive behavior as a result."

Look at the recently-publicized case from last September, in which a murderer claimed Grand Theft Auto San Andreas told him to kill people. This guy was a paranoid schizophrenic who was heavily stoned at the time. Now, this is an extreme case, but it's a good example of video game violence breeding violence in people who already have bigger issues. Going after video games in cases like these would be like blaming Mapquest for a murderer's ability to find his victim: it's a factor, sure, but not a deciding one.

On a related note, Florida anti-gaming lawyer Jack Thompson is currently the subject of a complaint being examined by the Florida Supreme Court. If he loses this case, he will "face professional sanctions", to quote QJ's article on the event. The complaint was issued by the judge who heard Thompson's case against Take Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar Games, attempting to block the release of the Rockstar game "Bully". Not only did Thompson lose the case, he threatened and insulted the judge, who noted in his decision that he wasn't sure Thompson should be allowed to practice law. Gamers all over are pulling for Thompson to lose his certification; an online petition for him to be disciplined or disbarred currently has 1457 signatures. I signed it; I know these never make a difference, but I had to show my support for getting rid of Jack Thompson. If you would like to sign, here's the link:http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?podjt

How to End the Console Wars

2007-03-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a blogging machine today; this is my third post in a row. I have a lot to say, so I'm saying it.

Previously I wrote about why the console wars are harmful and pointless. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. The other half is actually fighting it, and that is more difficult. We as gamers need to put an end to the console wars as they exist today, but we are not alone in our responsibility.

The first people I wish to address are the console manufacturers themselves. Competition is necessary for a business to thrive, but the big 3 console makers have been perpetuating fan competition, and that needs to stop. I don't mean to sound biased, but other than a couple low blows from Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo has been pretty good about this. That doesn't mean I'm excusing them; I'm just saying they don't do it nearly as much as Sony and Microsoft. Guys, if people want your consoles, they'll buy them. Stop attacking each other, and understand that there's no point in someone from your company saying your company's product is the best. If you really care about your customers, stop giving us reasons to get into heated arguments so we can spend more time enjoying your products.

Next, I wish to address gaming journalists. That includes both my fellow bloggers and big-name media outlets. Stop pitting systems against each other. Every time a new set of consoles comes out, gaming media outlets pick a winner. That just gets people angry, even though they usually tell people not to take their winners too seriously. Review, praise, and criticize systems all you want, but don't pit them against each other. We can make our own choices. Declaring a winner means declaring a loser, and that's what gets people angry and defensive.

Now I will address the group of gamers that lives for the console wars, intelligently declaring "PSWii suxors", "Nintendo Weenie is for babies", "Xbox 180 is for l00sers", etc. What in the world is the point of all that? Comments like those will definitely not change any minds, so quit being annoying.

And finally, to the rest of us gamers: if you're going to discuss your preferences, do it rationally and civilly. Don't bash other people's views. And more importantly, don't blindly follow one company. Keep an open mind when making your choices. If your preferences are objective, you won't drift to one side of the console wars. Now, if you happen to select one company's systems every time, that's fine. But don't be a blind follower. Remember all the things I said in my first post about the console wars, and you won't fall into the trap of fighting for a company that won't know about it anyway.

I heard a story from a friend recently, and it told me just how important this advice is. He told me that another friend of his is going to buy a Playstation 3 just to spite Nintendo. Barring medical disorders, I think anyone smart enough to read is smart enough to realize that this guy's plan is stupid. Not only will buying a Playstation 3 not hurt Nintendo, Nintendo won't even know about it. This story is an example of what people will do when the console wars get out of hand.

I don't mean to sound arrogant here; I'm just as responsible for the console wars as any other gamer. We all need to respect each other's choices and be civil. Are you with me? Awesome.

Saving Sonic

2007-03-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Sonic the Hedgehog was my first gaming hero, basically because "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" came with my very first video game console, the Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega Drive depending on where you live). Back in the 16-bit days, Sonic was a fierce rival of Nintendo's mascot, Mario.

A lot has changed since then. Not only have Sonic and Mario buried the hatchet to costar in an upcoming Wii/DS game (see my very first entry), Sonic is also no longer a highly-praised series. Sonic's first true 3-D games were the Dreamcast's "Sonic Adventure" and "Sonic Adventure 2". While they were not praised as highly as their two-dimensional predecessors, they gained very favorable reviews. Both have an average rating in the mid-80's on GameRankings (a site that combines and averages video game reviews). However, fans were unhappy with the great departure from the series' roots in levels other than those starring Sonic and Shadow. The first game had many different play styles; the second narrowed it down to the three most popular. The fan opinion was clear: Sonic should stick to his roots. This does not just apply to main games in the series; the low review scores for the Mario Party-esque "Sonic Shuffle" suggest Sonic is not as talented in spin-offs as his former rival.

Sega got the message, at least somewhat, with the first original multi-platform Sonic game entitled "Sonic Heroes". Players picked one of 4 teams of 3 Sonic characters and played through levels similar to those of Sonic and Shadow in the Adventure games. However, with the team idea came character-switching and strategizing that took away from the game's speed. Some gamers were also upset with the sheer number of characters, though I personally do not see why. As a result of these complaints, "Sonic Heroes" netted lower scores than its predecessors, averaging in the mid-70's. I should note that the GameRankings score for this game in particular seems slightly higher than fan reactions would suggest.

Not terrible scores, but not as high as previous games. However, after "Sonic Heroes", Sega really took a turn for the worse. They made a game starring fan-favorite character Shadow the Hedgehog (which was also the title of the game). All the levels played pretty much like those in "Sonic Heroes" but without the character switching. There were optional missions, creating interruptions in the action and speed, but depending on which of the many endings you wanted, you could potentially avoid them. The missions would have been forgivable, but Sega decided that anti-hero Shadow needed weapons. Swords, plasma guns, pistols; you name it. He also could drive various vehicles. As a result, combat was no longer on-the-go as it had been in previous games. Players often had to stop to shoot enemies, negating the return to classic Sonic speed. The game averaged in the low 50's.
A unique racing game, "Sonic Riders," managed to score slightly better, in the low 60s, but spin-offs are a different story. After "Shadow the Hedgehog", people seriously began to lose faith in the franchise. Sega had a big job ahead of it: bringing its flagship hero to his former glory. They completely re-envisioned Sonic, showing a breathtaking trailer at E3 2005 with realistic scenery and classic high-speed Sonic action. The second screenshot at the top of this post is from that game. People had high hopes for this game, simply titled "Sonic the Hedgehog" to reflect the rebirth of the series. Sega had the chance to save Sonic once and for all. Instead, "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 averaged even less than "Shadow the Hedgehog", scoring in the mid 40's.

But alas, the game is not over. Sonic sped his way onto all 3 current major consoles. Originally, "Sonic the Hedgehog" was to appear on Wii as well. At some point, however, Sega decided to create an original game that made full use of Wii's features. At E3 2006, they showed a brief trailer of a simple Sonic game tentatively called "Sonic Wildfire". It looked interesting and fast, but so did "Sonic the Hedgehog", so gamers were skeptical. The game, retitled "Sonic and the Secret Rings", came out for Wii this month, not long after the reviews came in for "Sonic the Hedgehog". It scored in the low 70s, higher than any Sonic game since Heroes or, depending on the source, since Sonic Adventure 2. By no means was it heralded as an amazing game, but it was good enough to be worth buying.

So what made "Secret Rings" more successful than previous games? Simply simplicity. First of all, rather than choosing between a bevy of characters with different abilities, players get one character for the main game: Sonic. Second, the missions that weren't a matter of getting to the end of the level were fairly simple, thus allowing gameplay to focus on Sonic's trademark speed. Finally, all of Sonic's attacks were all performed by movement, so he could generally keep moving. In other words, it was much more similar to Sonic's earlier games.

Also similar to Sonic's earlier games are his handheld games, which tend to score much better than their console counterparts. The first two "Sonic Advance" games for the Game Boy Advance played just like 16-bit Sonic games, but with more character choices. "Sonic Rush" for the DS also played like the classic games, with only 2 playable characters and the addition of 3D character graphics and limited 3D movement in boss battles. These games scored in the mid to low 80s. Sonic Advance 3 added a buddy system somewhat similar to (but less important to gameplay than) that in "Knuckles' Chaotix", giving it slightly lower but very close scores. On the other hand, the PSP title "Sonic Rivals" added racing to the classic sidescrolling gameplay and did not have many different levels. It scored in the mid 60s.

Sonic fans want speed and basic gameplay, and it seems like Sega is finally beginning to figure it out. "Sonic and the Secret Rings" is a good start for a Sonic console game. If they can perfect the Wii controls and bring similarly simple gameplay to other consoles, Sonic may very well see his second coming. I understand that making a game out of just levels like Sonic's in "Sonic Adventure" would not include the variety today's gamers want, but "Secret Rings" showed that variety can come from goals as opposed to characters and gameplay styles. Yuji Naka created Sonic the Hedgehog to show of the speed of the Genesis, and speed has always been the franchise's theme. Now they have to recapture that speed.

Elebits and Wii Potential

2007-03-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Konami's "Elebits" (retitled "Eledees" in PAL regions) was one of Wii's most anticipated early titles, and it does not disappoint. It is very entertaining, but more importantly, it shows the potential of Wii to really create unique play experiences. Players control a boy named Kai who uses a "capture gun" (essentially a beam one can use to move and manipulate heavy objects from a distance) to collect little electricity-giving creatures called Elebits. At first, Kai can only lift small objects that he'd be able to lift himself. However, by collecting enough Elebits to activate an appliance (which he activates by pressing a switch or performing another action with the capture gun's beam), he gains more power and can lift heavier things. In later levels, this goes as far as allowing Kai to lift houses, tankers, amusement park rides, and more.

Part of the uniqueness of "Elebits" is that you can do more than just lift or check the objects. By grasping them with the beam using the A or B button and moving or turning the Wii Remote, you can manipulate the objects in any way possible. Lift, move, rotate, flip, open, spin; you name it. There is more to the game than that, of course, but the unique gameplay style is my focus. This is the kind of game for which Wii was made; it wouldn't be the same on any other system. The sensor bar and the unique shape and setup of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk allow for precision and comfort not possible with Sony's Sixaxis controller, and playing the game simply with joysticks would be very difficult because you need to move objects fully and freely in three dimensions. True, full three-dimensional movement works fine with standard controllers in level editing features, but it would be too clumsy for a game like Elebits.

Other developers should follow Konami's example when setting out to create original IPs for Wii. Motion sensing controllers exist so players can feel like they're actually controlling the on-screen action, so developers must look beyond simple gestures and create totally immersive gameplay.

Now, this is not a review of "Elebits" and I'm not saying it is the ultimate Wii game, but I am saying that it makes the best use of Wii's unique features so far. I'm also not suggesting I don't like other uses for the Wii Remote either; I've tried 7 Wii games so far and I think all of them use the features very well. But "Elebits" is the first one I've played that creates an experience impossible on any other console. Games like that will propel Wii to even greater success.

Challenging Gaming-Inspired Violence

2007-03-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

I downloaded a controversial PC freeware game a while ago, and in my effort to tie up loose ends before spring break is over, I finally played it today. I did not get very far, but from what I have seen, this game has real merit.

For the uninitiated, "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" is a 16-bit-style role-playing game (think Chrono Trigger or 2D Final Fantasy games) created with the "RPG Maker" program. It recreates the Columbine shootings and surrounding events from the point of view of the shooters. It becomes surreal at one point, but it aims to recreate the events as accurately as possible. Other than the true storyline, it plays like any other RPG.

People have criticized the game for "trivializing" or "glorifying" the shootings. Some of these points are well taken, like the argument against the game "humorously" (in some opinions) using factors in the shootings as RPG staples. For example, you can use the PC game "Doom" or a Marilyn Manson CD as stat-boosting accessories, and battles play out much like those in the Final Fantasy series. Some people were just angry that someone would make a game based on these events, and others were concerned that it would spawn more shootings.

But the game, as the creator once stated, is a documentary of sorts. It brings players into the world and minds of the shooters, showing what led to the event. Because it is based on the true details, it shows what went into and caused the shootings. It is very educational, and when observed properly, it can teach us what leads to these shootings so we know how to prevent them in the future. I learned a lot from the small part of the game I've played so far.

It also challenges the boundaries of gaming. World War II resulted in many more deaths than the Columbine shootings, but it has become a video game cliche. True, it the span of time between the events and the games is much larger, but it doesn't make the connection any different. After all, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was partially based on the much more recent L.A. riots, but the historical context was one of few aspects of the game that did not come under fire from critics.

In a similar vein, it reminds the public that video games are no different from any other medium. The movie "Bowling for Columbine" came out significantly earlier, and what did it get for turning the tragedy into inaccurate political propaganda? An Oscar. The obvious surreal parts aside, "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" was much more accurate, sympathetic, and candid than that "documentary." I'll save my rant about how much I hate Michael Moore for another day and another blog, but the fact is that the game shouldn't have been shunned after the movie was honored. Video games are here to stay, just like movies, music, TV, and books. Demonizing them because they're more interactive than other media is like demonizing imagination. Anyone can pretend to kill someone else without a video game.

People who look at video games as a root for violence have it backwards. For example, a school shooting perpetrator listed "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!" and other, much more violent games as his favorites. Some people saw that as proof that such games lead to murder. But ask any psychologist, and he or she will tell you that it's much more likely that people play these games BECAUSE they have violent intentions than it is the other way around.

I'm not saying video games never lead to real violence. If you live in such conditions; because of your environment, your age, mental disabilities, etc.; that murder seems like a viable option, video games might just be the driving force that lead you to action. But that's a very different message than the one people like Jack Thompson are sending. These people want us to believe that video games can turn any normal, well-behaved person into a murderer, and they are always the first media target after a young person commits murder or suicide. I've played all the Grand Theft Auto games, Silent Scope, Red Steel, the Mortal Kombat series, Doom (including levels designed by one of the Columbine shooters), Quake, and even Night Trap. However, of all the kids at my high school, I am probably the LEAST likely to ever shoot anyone. You can't look at video games as a universal evil; they only factor into violence in rare, specific cases in which they are not the main culprits anyway.

If Jack Thompson and other "crusaders" want to stop youth violence, they need to stop looking at the easy target of video games and start improving living conditions. If regular citizens want to protect their kids from violence at school, they should teach their kids not to mistreat others. Getting rid of violent video games might help a little bit, but improving people's lives will stop the raw emotions that inspire the violence in the first place.

Why Console Wars Don't Matter

2007-03-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

NOTE: I originally wrote this post for my.qj.net so if you see it there, know that I didn't steal it. Gryff33 is just the name I go by there.
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First of all: my goal in this post is to be 100% neutral and bias-free.� My preferences may come out subconsciously, but this is not a psychology class, so I won't go into that.� Just trust me when I say that I am not trying to push my console preferences.

It happens every time new consoles come out: the console wars heat up and gamers take their choices in consoles very seriously.� It leads to insults (look at the comments of any console wars-related post on QJ), stress, and distraction from the entertainment of gaming.� We are all guilty of it.� You, me; even the people who repeatedly state the same kind of thing I'm saying right now are soldiers in the console wars.� But as a gamer since the 16 bit days, I can tell you that I never first picked the console that would eventually win until the DS (and that war isn't technically over yet), but I've still loved every console I ever had.� The console wars mentality is a problem, and as I hope to explain in this post, meaningless.

As long as you like the console you have, you'll always have good games.� Games make a console good, and just because something is less popular doesn't mean you should like it any less.� As long as your console doesn't fail (and I'll get into what that means in a moment), the games will keep coming and you'll have plenty to play.� The matter of what console sells best would only matter if the loser would no longer have any new games (that's what "failing" really means) because the console would become useless pretty fast.� Obviously, that is exceedingly rare for mainstream consoles (which for our purposes currently means PS3, Wii, 360, PSP, and DS).� So there's a million to one chance that you'll have new games until the next generation comes around, and maybe after.

True, the losing console's release schedule will be pretty bleak after it's been losing for a while, but does that matter as much as one might think?� Let's look at the consoles that have "lost" or are "losing" their respective console wars, shall we?� First off, the Gamecube.� While support dropped off considerably as Wii approached, I can tell you that I'm still playing Gamecube games even though I own an Xbox (not 360), PS2 (not 3), and Wii.� I still play all my old games, and it's important to remember that new games kept coming until very recently in the grand scheme of things.� To say the Gamecube "failed" is preposterous.

It's too early to say that the PS3 is losing the current console war (especially as it is not yet out it Europe), but I think it's safe to say the PSP is losing to the DS.� Whether it will end that way is anyone's guess, but that has been the case for a long time.� There are still plenty of awesome games coming, like Final Fantasy titles, Oblivion (eventually), the newly-released and under-rated (in my opinion) M.A.C.H., Full Auto, Burnout Dominator, and more.� Add homebrew and PSX downloads and you've got plenty to play.

Let's look back even farther than the Gamecube to the N64.� Check out this list: Goldeneye, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Banjo-Kazooie, Super Smash Bros, Majora's Mask, Mario Party, Donkey Kong 64, Perfect Dark (and those are just first- and second-party games), Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Quake 64, Doom 64, Chameleon Twist, Bomberman Hero, Tonic Trouble, and Extreme-G are just some of the games I still play.

None of the big 3 console makers (Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft) are likely to throw in the towel any time soon.� Each one has its own ways of staying around.

First, Nintendo: From a business and financial perspective, it doesn't matter how many consoles you sell.� It's all about profit.� Because Nintendo is making profit on every Wii sold, they can have the highest profit (and thus the lowest chance of going under) even if they don't sell the most consoles.� Also, DS-mania (I made up that term) doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon, and it will add to Nintendo's already high profits.� Of course, this only comes into play if Wii loses, and given sales records so far, that is far from the case.

Second, Sony: With the overwhelming success of the PS2, Sony's game division has an excellent track record, and the people in the company with the power to shut down a division won't go down on the game division so quickly.� Also, regardless of its current position in the console war, the PS3 seems poised for success with the likes of Final Fantasy XIII, Oblivion, and more (I don't mean to give the impression that there are only two noteworthy games coming out; it's just that I don't know many because not owning a PS3, I have no reason to).

Last, but opposite of least at the moment, Microsoft: I don't think I even need to tell you that Microsoft is not in any financial trouble.� Despite what Apple would have you believe, Windows is still by a large margin the most widely-used operating system, and Office is so popular that Apple bundles demos of it with new Mac laptops.� The Windows part affects Microsoft's gaming division as well: the success of Windows means more computer game developers will make games for it, and because of the structure similarity, a lot of those games are ending up on the 360.� Given the success of Xbox Live, on its own a reason that Microsoft has nothing to worry about, this trend will probably increase as the Live service extends to PCs.� It will allow developers of MMO games to maximize the number of players by getting PC and console gamers together.

Sega's cessation of console production inspired predictions of companies, particularly Nintendo, "going the way of Sega." I can assure you that Sega's situation was much different from any current console maker's. The Saturn and Dreamcast sold worse than the N64 and Gamecube (respectively), the Genesis lost its console war as well (giving them 3 losses in a row, to Nintendo's 2), and Sega did not have a popular handheld out. Also, despite the appeal of Sonic, Sega's exclusive titles couldn't compete with the likes of Mario, Zelda, Halo, Fable, Ratchet and Clank, and Resistance. In other words, it was a lot more than the Dreamcast coming in last place that forced Sega to stop making consoles, and no current console maker is in danger.

My point with all this is that none of the current consoles will fail, so it doesn't matter who wins; they will all succeed and they will all have good games. If nothing else convinces you, consider this: if your console of choice lost the console war and you found out only after the next generation began, would it make your time with the console any less fun? Here's another way to look at it: if you couldn't tell which console was winning, would you still care?

Mario and Sonic: Finally Together

2007-03-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Gamers have been waiting for this moment. Crudely-animated flash battles on Newgrounds.com, rumors about the Super Smash Bros games, theories when Sega became a third party developer; we've been ready for this moment for a long time: Mario and Sonic in the same game. I give you...

That's right. Mario and Sonic characters will come together to compete in events based on those included in the 2008 summer olympics. However, the game will not take place in Beijing; rather, it will include locales from the Sonic and Mario games. Confirmed playable characters so far are Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. I'm hoping for my favorite character in each series to make the final cut: Bowser Jr from Mario, and Silver from Sonic. Here's hoping the Sega/Nintendo friendship will lead to Sonic appearing in Super Smash Brothers Brawl!

"Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games" is coming out at the end of 2007 for Wii and the DS. We've got a while to wait, but it will be worth it.