Do you like football video games? Do you like EA Sports' Madden franchise? If you don't and you wish that NFL 2Kx would return, I've got some bad news for you. EA Sports, the NFL, and the NFL Players Association have extended the current video game exclusivity contract by three years. Now there will be no other pro football game other than the one EA makes until the end of the 2012 season, which ends in February of 2013.
Yup. The only professional football game on the market for the next five years will be Madden. Sad news for those of you who loved 2K's football series before the contract in 2005, or if you liked NFL Blitz when it had pro teams.
Peter Moore, head of EA Sports (formerly head of Microsoft's Gaming Division, and Sega), stated in a press release: "For nearly two decades, EA SPORTS has been bringing sports fans closer to the great game of football through the breakthrough interactive experiences of our videogames. Game quality is our top priority, and we're committed to pushing our gameplay innovation, connecting football fans via rich online experiences and delivering the most visually stunning sports games on the market." Yeah. Game quality is their top priority...
In that same press release, the head of NFL Ventures, Eric Grubman declared "This is all about bringing authenticity and realism to NFL videogames...EA SPORTS continually works to maintain the cutting edge for NFL products across a variety of gaming platforms. We like the fact that they never rest." You know who else never rested? 2K Sports and Sony's 989 Sports. They both had good games (in fact, 989 was reworking NFL Gameday before the EA contract), but unfortunately, the NFL license had to go to the highest bidder.
However, the most worrysome thing to arise out of this development is a quote Peter Moore said in an interview with Kotaku: "Sports has that opportunity... to have levels or different types of teams delivered digitally, but I think we are a long way away from that...The model we currently have, where we have the game on the disc and updates every few weeks and some micro-transactions works for us. We continue to look at that, but we're still away from truly episodic." Oh boy, that might mean what all of you here love so much, DOWNLOADABLE EPISODIC CONTENT! Why do I think he's alluding to a future in which you will not buy Madden at a store, but rather over the internet and bulding your own game? An interesting concept, but I don't think it would work well with a football game, nor would it go over well with many gamers.
So, are you ready for some EA controlled football?!
Valve has announced that they will be distributing Dylan Fitterer's critically acclaimed AudioSurf on its digital distribution service, Steam.
AudioSurf, for those of not in the loop, is an independently developed game that allows you to "ride your music". In essence, it's like Amplitude crossed with a puzzle game. However, you can import your own music or play songs off of a CD, it will create a chart based on the difficulty you choose. In the game, you try and match three blocks of the same color in a row, or go for combos as your ship flys along to the music. I played the game last month when it was in open beta, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Apparently other people feel the same way as I do, because the game is up for three awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, at the Independent Games Festival main competition, which will be held on February 20 at the Game Developer Conference.
AudioSurf will be released over Steam on Friday and will sell for $10, but since Valve kicks all kinds of ass, they will give you a dollar off the price if you preorder the game before Friday. BUT WAIT! With the purchase of AudioSurf, Valve will also throw in The Orange Box soundtrack, which you can use in the game! That's right, you will be able to ride through Still Alive, 9000 Degrees Kelvin, or one of the many other selections from The Orange Box in the game when you buy it from Steam! Also, the game will make use of Steamworks, allowing support for Steam Achievements that will be on your profile page.
Not convinced? There will be a demo available on Friday so you can make up your mind.
So, dear readers, fire up Steam and get your credit card out! What's that? You don't have Steam?! Well, then go make a free account over at www.steampowered.com! Or, if you have an ATI video card go here to get some free games when you sign up (Nvidia owners, you go here and get more than ATI owners...sorry). Oh and while you're at it, join the RF Generation group on Steam so we can share achievements!
Professor Layton and the Curious Village, developed by Level-5 (Dragon Quest 8 and 9, Rogue Galaxy, and Dark Cloud) and published by Nintendo, is a point and click adventure along the same lines as Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Touch Detective, and many others on the DS, but it's unlike any of them. The best way I can describe the game is Brain Age on crack with a storyline. The puzzles in this game are some of the most difficult I've ever encountered in any puzzle games and totally make this game worth getting, but there is a whole lot more to this game than just the puzzles.
However allow me to explain the puzzles in this game for a moment, because they are pretty special. The main reason this game exists is because of Level-5 President Akihiro Hino's love of Head Gymnastics, a long-running Japanese series of puzzle books. Hino wanted to turn these puzzles into a video game, so he got in touch with Akira Tigo, the 82-year old author of the series and professor at Chiba University in Japan. Together, they teamed up to create more than 30 new puzzles specifically for the game, and Professor Tago allowed the team at Level-5 to use any of his 2,000 puzzles in the game. Now, Level-5 could have just released a puzzle compilation like Professor Ryuta Kawashima and Nintendo's popular Brain Age series, but they decided to take it a step further and add a story on top of it because, in Hino's words, "Prof. Tago is one of the originators of the genre, we didn’t want to be buried amongst many other similar games." Great decision, great decision. And one that caused Japanese gamers to buy it in droves. Now, Nintendo has made the decision to bring the first game in the trilogy over to the United States.
The story is about a world renowned professor, Archeologist, and puzzle aficionado named Layton and his young apprentice, Luke. The pair is summoned to St. Mystere by the family of the recently deceased village billionaire, Baron Augustus Reinhold, who has left his whole estate to whomever can find the Golden Apple he has hidden somewhere in the village. In addition to the mystery of just where this Golden Apple is located, the townspeople are fond of puzzles and challenge each other with them. That is how most of the game's puzzles are found, by talking to citizens who talk to you and give you information about what they know...and puzzles.
I know that sounds like a minigame compilation with a story, but the thing is that Professor Layton is so much more than that. Almost every aspect of this game is a puzzle, from the various mysteries you'll have to investigate, to the collecting of painting pieces, and even decorating your hotel rooms, this game is just filled to the brim with all sorts of puzzles. As I've stated, the puzzles in this game can be very difficult at times. For example, there are typical pattern matching puzzles, but then there are ones that ask you "What is necessary for human life, appears in almost every house you've visited, and decreases in amount the longer it's around? Oh, and express your answer by moving one matchstick in a series of matches that we have laid out for you." The latter type of puzzles, while very clever and challenging, tend to stump me easily and impede my progress in the game. Damn you Level-5!
The game also is a technical masterpiece, which is surprising considering just what kind of game it is. There are many sequences of fully animated video, the cutscenes have full voice acting, and the music is just incredible, and it all sounds amazing through headphones and even on the built-in speakers. However, I really wish they would have added voice acting for all the text in the game, because it's jarring to go from an animated sequence with voice acting to a Phoenix Wright styled text adventure.
Now, this game is a puzzle game, and will probably lose its appeal once you've learned how to solve everything, but Nintendo offers you a solution to that problem: free puzzle downloads every week over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection! That's right, you'll be able to download an all-new brainteaser each week in order to keep you engaged in the game. The weekly puzzles do not offer you any bonus coins for use in the game, but will keep you amused for 20 minutes or so every week. It isn't much, but at least it will keep you thinking about the series until Nintendo brings the next game over (please?).
Overall, the game is an extremely challenging compilation of puzzles wrapped in a pretty good story with an awesome art style. However, the replayability issues may keep you from picking up the game at its current price of $30. I also have minor complaints about the small amount of video and voice acting, but I can deal with it as I'm a veteran of Hotel Dusk and Phoenix Wright. Keeping this in mind, I award the game...
9.3/10
Professor Layton officially comes out for the Nintendo DS tomorrow, but I managed to get my copy at Best Buy this past Wednesday. And guess what? I have reviewed this game before every major website on the internet!
Score one for RF Generation!
If you aren't convinced that you should get the game, try out the demo over at the official website (www.professorlaytonds.com)
Do you have an Xbox 360 Core or Arcade model? Did you expect it to be able to do what the higher end Xbox 360s can? You did? Well, guess what? You're wrong. Dead wrong.
If you buy Burnout Paradise, the latest installment in Criterion's critically acclaimed series, you'll be forced to play it offline, unless you pay $100 to Microsoft to buy a hard drive.
"Wait a minute? Are you saying what I think you're saying?! Burnout Paradise on the Xbox 360 REQUIRES a hard drive in order to play online?!" Yes. That is exactly what I said. No typos. You MUST have a hard drive in order to play this game online. "But I thought Microsoft said 'every game will work with every Xbox 360 system'?" Yeah they did, but did you see the part that said, "But just like some games will require you to have a Memory Unit to save games, some games will require you to have a Hard Drive to experience them." OH MY GOD! NO WAY!
What does this mean? It means that if you bought a 360 Core or Arcade, you just got ripped-off big time, but not by Criterion/EA, but by Microsoft.
I know, I'm a Sony fan and tend to gravitate to them, but hear me out. Games these days need a lot of space to run, especially big open-world games like Burnout Paradise. Microsoft should have had the foresight to see that this would become a problem and launched the Core model with a 20GB hard drive and the Premium one with a 40GB or so. By not doing that, they basically limited what the developers can do with the system and make them figure out other ways of caching and quick access.
This isn't the first time that the hard drive has been required on the 360 (think of all the DLC for various games, video downloads, Final Fantasy XI, and Oblivion GOTY), but it is perhaps the most notable since Burnout has huge mainstream and casual gamer popularity, and the people who buy this game might not be the ones that have the Elite Super Deluxe model with all the bells and whistles.
The 360's lack of a standard hard drive is also holding back the game industry because now it's getting to the point where the PS3 versions of games are being effected by Microsoft's boneheaded decision. Rockstar and Capcom have already expressed problems with the lack of a hard drive, and I'm sure more are to follow.
But remember, this is one (admittedly biased) guy's viewpoint. So, readers, I ask you this: what's the solution to this problem? Should devs just leave behind Core and Arcade owners? Or what should happen here?
Lately there's been somewhat of an influx of gaming news, but nothing worth writing a huge post about. What should a good little blogger such as myself to do cope with this situation? Why not write an article with brief overviews of some of the news stories that I've found interesting lately.
EA Sports announces a new arcadey boxing game called Facebreaker (developed by EA Canada) for all next-gen systems. It looks like (to steal a line from 1up) a cross between Ready 2 Rumble (one of my favorite boxing games of all-time) and Team Fortress 2 (possibly my favorite online game ever). EA Sports head honcho (and former Xbox and Sega leader), Peter Moore said "Arcade boxing takes me back to my roots in this industry, and this game signals our shift to adding more approachable fun to our product lineup." Approachable fun? Wii Sports boxing esque controls: CONFIRMED! Now, we've seen arcadey boxing games before, but have any of them had "real-time facial deformation"? I think not.
GamePro inquires: "Which system's controller has the longest battery life?" The answer: Xbox 360 at almost 57 hours. Runner up is the Wii, clocking in at 37 hours. This leaves PS3 for last place at 19 hours, which I'm not going to dispute. That seems about right from experiences with my own PS3. However I must point out that for both the Wii and 360 controllers, standard batteries were used, and that using rechargable batteries in either one of them could lead to decreased battery life. Interesting comparison, but flawed, not surprising coming from GamePro.
Who says the PS3 isn't doing well? It sold 1.5 million more units than the 360 worldwide last year. And people say the PS3 is in trouble...
Miss out on previous the Metal Gear Solid games? Now's your chance to play catch-up as Play-Asia has Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection up for pre order in the US! The collection includes the PS1 original along with the directors cuts of both Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, all for only $35! If this listing is accurate, then sign me up! I have MGS2 and MGS3, but not the later versions of them. However, what I am wondering about this package is if it includes the VR Missions for the first MGS or the Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 thing. I really hope so, but if not that's ok since the pack is still a great deal for some of the greatest games ever made.
EA has just announced a new installment of DICE's Battlefield series. It's called Battlefield Heroes, and it's yet another World War 2 first person shooter...but wait a minute, it's a cartoony game. Hmm, I wonder where EA got that brilliant idea from. Regardless of whether or not they totally ripped off Valve's style, it's pretty cool to see that they are trying something new in the WW2 FPS genre.
However, the biggest news about this game is that EA is doing something that could change the game industry as we know it. They are going to be giving the game away for free! THAT'S RIGHT! EA IS PUBLISHING A GAME FOR FREE! How will it be funded though? Well, it will make use of every gamer's favorite new gaming trends: in-game advertising and microtransactions. The exact nature of the in-game ads and the microtransactions are unknown at this time, but I wouldn't be shocked if EA charged you for bullets. Hopefully it will be at least pretty well featured without having to download or pay for any add-on content. The other huge concern I have about the game is that they are saying "Battlefield Heroes™, an all-new Play 4 Free cartoon-style shooter that will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to an all new mass audience." I just hope that advanced gamers will be able to enjoy it too.
And apparently, this is only the beginning of EA's venture into free games. In the press release announcing the game, they kept referring to this new business model they have called "Play 4 Free". No other games are known to be part of this plan, but I am very interested to see where EA takes this in the future.
Nothing else is known at this time, but more about the game will be revealed in the March issue of Games for Windows magazine.
As we know, Team Ninja, the creators of the Ninja Gaiden series, are hard at work on a new Xbox 360 entry in the series entitled Ninja Gaiden 2. But making a game isn't easy. You have to figure out the gameplay mechanics, how it plays, the story, the character abilities, and all sorts of other things, including what achievements to include. Well, Team Ninja (by way of Microsoft's Gamerscore blog) is calling on fans to create some achievements that may be considered for use in the game.
That's right! They are giving you a chance to help shape the game and offer up your input as to what kind of things should get your those ever so important gamer points. In order to suggest them an achievement, all you need to do is comment on this article at the GamerScore blog with a name for the achievement point, a description, how many points it should be worth, and possible artwork by January 24. Then all you have to do is hope that your idea doesn't get lost in the sea of submitted ideas and makes it into the final game.
Looking at the comments over there, I've found some great ones. For example:
"Avatar - Insert game disk into 360 1000GS " -DM2 "Achievement: The Master Returns - Turn the game on 50 times - 50GS" -TwilightWolf "Paint It Red - Spill over 20 gallons of blood(20G)" -Matt Jo "Go Out and buy a Shuriken already - Play for over 20 hours(45G)" -Matt Jo "Back to the Dojo (-5 GS): Die at the hands of the first enemy you encounter on Level 1. " -Whet Wurm "50G - Chuck Norris is proud: Roundhouse kick a beheaded foe." -Yagya "Red Ring of Destiny - Spill blood to make a red circle" -homez99 "Red Ring of Death: kill 8 people and one Xbox with one spin attack" -tim h
That's a few of the hundreds and hundreds of suggestions they have already. Here's a few I thought of:
Start Button Ninja: Pause the game 100 times (20G) Angel of Death: Die 100 times in one level (30G) Walk Away: Leave the game on the pause menu for 6 hours (20G)
Do you have any ideas for points Team Ninja could use in the game? Put them in the comments and we'll see who can come up with the best ideas.
Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
According to Gizmodo, the functionality will be available this year, will (most likely) be free, and will work on (almost every) Blu-ray Disc under the sun. Some specifics about the transfer process are that the movie files will be around 1GB, in standard definition, optimized for playback on the PSP, and will take about 3-5 minutes to download to the PSP's memory stick. However, the catch is that the movies will be protected by DRM (Digital Rights Managment), which is no surprise considering that you're copying a copyrighted movie onto a portable device and could easily share it with others. There's no word on what exactly the details of the DRM policy will be (one of the restraints may be that you can only copy each disc a certain number of times). My guess is that it will be just like the DRM used for PSone games downloaded from the Playstation Store.
But who knows. Knowing Sony it could be a DRM scheme that drops a rootkit on your PS3/PSP and monitors every single thing you do before dropping that rootkit in your brain and controlling you.
As many of you may know, the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show is going on in Las Vegas. At this show, the electronics manufacters gather together and show off their new products. Among the exhibitors there, one of them caught my eye, Se2 Labs and their ITC One product.
The ITC One is a strange combination of...
Microsoft Xbox 360
Your choice of a Nintendo Wii or an Xbox 360 HD DVD Player (adds $450 or $300 onto the cost of the system, respectively)
Your choice of a DirecTV, Dish Network, or Comcast High-Definition DVR
Bryston Digital Sound Processor
ICEpower D-Class Amplifiers
Internal subwoofer amplifier
Transparent Cable Power Conditioning
iPod Dock
All for the low low (base) price of $25,000!!!
Goddamn! That's some pretty high end shit in there, and it's by far the best "home theater in a box" I've ever seen, but damn, it's excessive!
What's more is that according to Siliconera, you can't remove the Wii and get access to the Gamecube ports on the top of the system. Also, I have another important question about that ITC One. What happens when you get the infamous Red Ring Of Death?
1up has just posted the world's first glimpse at actual gameplay footage of Street Fighter 4. I can't say anything about this video because I CAN'T FREAKING VIEW IT! Most likely because everyone on the internet is trying to do the same thing as well. Oh well, I've embedded the video below for you to try your luck with. I'll update this article later on with impressions and how I think the game is turning out to be. So, best of luck trying to watch this...
UPDATE: 2:39PM: I've been watching the WMV version as it's downloading from GameVideos, and I just came upon the first gameplay footage. WOW! It looks really sharp. 60 frames per second, very fast paced, and it isn't 3D styled! It's still a traditional 2D fighter. I can't say much else because I only have about 4 out of 20 minutes of the clip downloaded. Oh and be aware, it's 20 minutes long, and most of it is probably made up of developer interviews and the 1up guys acting like morons. I'll update this article again if I find a RapidShare or something with the video on it so you don't have to deal with GameVideos.
It's the end of the year, so that means that every self respecting video game site (or any site in general) must put out top 10 lists. Next-Gen.biz has done one that I thought was a pretty good read for the top 10 blunders of the year, and get this: I actually agree with the list completely! Read on for the list and my comments:
10. The Non-Elite Elite (Microsoft's release of the Xbox 360 Elite):
Makes sense that it's a blunder because Microsoft only painted the 360 black, put an HDMI port on it, and threw a larger hard drive in there for the Elite. The did nothing else with it really. No HD DVD playback or built in wireless. Far from "Elite" in my book.
9. This Heading Guaranteed 100% Free of Wii Puns (Nintendo not producing enough Wii systems to meet consumer demand)
This is definitely a bad move on Nintendo's part. It's been one year and I've only seen a Wii in stock at a store only a few times since the launch. Come on Nintendo, step your game up.
8. We've Got A SKU Just For You! (Sony's new models)
I don't know that it was exactly a blunder, but it was a boneheaded move on Sony's part. All those PS3 models confuse the consumer. Especially considering they criticiczed Microsoft for the same thing when the 360 came out two years ago (dang, has it really been that long). I also had to laugh at this quote in the article: "Given the current rate of hardware revisions and Sony's stated goal of a 10-year console cycle, there will be no fewer than 40 PlayStation 3 models by the time the platform retires. As each model cuts features, analysts expect the final version to be just a stylish, shiny black box that does nothing more than take tens and twenties in through the disc slot." Now you all know I'm a Sony fan, but that is undeniably hilarious. I also laughed at the comparison chart's bottom row.
7. Surprise! Zombies! (The VP of Microsoft Game Studios' big secret is not so secret.)
As with the article I linked to, I just need to reprint the whole exchange between Microsoft's Shane Kim and Game Informer magazine. There's really no other way to explain it:
Kim: I think one of the most important, subtle announcements at the Xbox 360 briefing is that Resident Evil is coming to Xbox 360. Yes, it's from Capcom, who's been a great supporter of us.
GI: But we knew that two years ago.
Kim: What?
GI: Resident Evil. It was shown at TGS two years ago.
Kim: No, but coming to Xbox 360.
GI: Yeah. It was at the press event.
Kim: I don't think so.
GI: I'm positive. I was there.
Kim: Really?
GI: It was shown at both press conferences.
Kim: That RE5 was coming to…?
GI: Yep.
Kim: I'm going to have to confirm that. That was supposed to be the big announcement.
Comedic GOLD! What an announcement there Shane!
6. Sony Exec Offers to Buy PS3s (Jack Tretton offers $1200 for unbought PS3s)
Basically, the story goes that current president of SCEA, Jack Tretton, said in a January interview with EGM that he would offer $1200 to anyone who can find a PS3 that has been on store shelves for more than 5 minutes. Well, the guys behind the popular webcomic Penny Arcade (in b4 WHY AM I SO BALD?!) did a little investigating and found that Sony now owes them $13,200 since they found 11 units unsold. Great move Jack, great move. The article also mentions some of his other quotes this year, in specific comparing the Wii to a lollipop, the 360 to a bad chef who you might get sick from, and the PS3 to a steak dinner. But my favorite Tretton quote has to be: "I would like my car to fly and make me breakfast, but that's an unrealistic expectation." which was referring to the backwards compatibility of the PS3. I think that Jack Tretton has become the new Ken Kutaragi as far as ridiculous comparisons go.
5. Alone Against The Empire (Sony blackballs Kotaku)
Right before the Game Developer's Conference Kotaku, a gaming blog, posted an article on a rumor that Sony had a new online service (the then unannounced Home) that they would reveal at GDC. When asking Sony for comments on the rumor, they offered no comment and demanded Kotaku take down the story. When Kotaku refused to do so, Sony gave them the middle finger and blackballed them via email (which Kotaku published as well). This was definitely a blunder on Sony's part and perhaps one of the most moronic PR decisions I've seen in my life, but at least Sony made nice with Kotaku later on that day and invited them back to all their GDC events.
4. Game Over Gerstmann (Gamespot fires Jeff Gerstmann)
I think this one could be higher, because it is perhaps the most significant blunder of the year since it exposes what is wrong with the mainstream gaming media. As we reported a few weeks ago, Gamespot fired Jeff Gerstmann over alleged pressure from Eidos over the review of their game, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. Since the firing, Gamespot Complete subscriptions have been cancelled in mass and more importantly, their credibility has suffered .
3. It's Just a Toy Guitar and Some Music (Guitar Hero and Rock Band's many problems)
Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band launched with issues. Mono sound on the Wii and failing Rock Band guitars in specific. The first one is really odd because I can't believe QA didn't pick that up! How in the heck does one not notice that unless they're playing on a tv with one speaker? I'd be disappointed to get GH3 home and see it just showing up as a mono signal on my receiver. Heck, I'm disappointed Orange Box on PS3 is just in stereo. And as far as the failing Rock Band controllers go, remember that you can get a free game from EA (aka: GET SKATE DAMMIT!) if your controller breaks...
2. We Already Bought All the Good Ones, Right? (EA buys Bioware and Pandemic, gets cocky)
I don't know about this one being on the list but it's pretty funny. So, John Riccitiello, the CEO of EA said that the industry has largely been picked for mergers after they bought Bioware and Pandemic, but then two days after he says that Activision and Vivendi Universal (publisher of World of Warcraft and owner of Blizzard) form to make Activision Blizzard. Funny ain't it? Not really.
This is definitely the blunder of the year. Why? It's made many people uncomfortable getting a 360 due to the enormous failure rate and made the 360's reputation into an unreliable piece of hardware. For Peter Moore to ignore it and brush it off when it was really a huge problem that would eventually cost the company a ton of money, not a good idea...
So, what do you think? Good list? Bad list? Let your thoughts be heard in the comments!
2007 was the year of hype in gaming. Between Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Crysis, and Assassin's Creed, this year has seen the release of some of the most talked up games of all-time. While some of them fell far short of the hype, there were plenty of other far superior games that came out, but received little to no attention from mainstream gamers. So, continuing now and on every Wednesday (or Thursday) (or sometime) until the end of the year, I will be giving you a look at two games released this year that deserve your hard-earned cash and attention. At the end of this five-part series (ending the day after Christmas), I will list them in order of the most overlooked/underrated.
This inclusion might be a little controversial since it is a fairly well known game and will be getting a sequel, but nonetheless, I think it's been overlooked by many gamers. This game would be Skate by EA Black Box and published by EA. The game has only sold less than half a million copies across both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, most likely because the 360 version came out a week before Halo 3 and the PS3 version came out on the same day as Halo 3. Damn you Halo 3 for sabotaging the sales of a great game! Halo bashing aside, Skate may look like a typical skateboarding game like the Tony Hawk series on the surface, but the game takes a completely opposite approach to the sport than the Tony Hawk games. With Skate, EA strived to make the most realistic skateboarding game ever, a goal that was met. In Skate, you can not land a 540 going off a little kicker like you can in Tony Hawk, nor can you easily land a 900 going off a half pipe. It's much more realistic compared to the crazy combos and tricks seen in the Tony Hawk games.
The best part about the game is its extremely innovative control scheme. You can kick with your right foot by pressing the A/X button, kick with your left foot by pressing X/Square (this is a first in any game, at least to my knowledge), and move around with the left analog stick. However, where Skate truly shines is in its trick controls, dubbed by EA as Flickit. With Flickit controls, all of the ollie-based (for you non skaters, an ollie is jumping into the air with your board) tricks to get you into the air are controlled by flicking the right analog sticks in various directions. For example, to do a regular ollie, pull down on the stick then flick it up. A kickflip is done by moving the right stick down then flicking it to the upper left corner. Some of them get very complicated, such as a 360 inward heelflip, which you do by moving the stick slightly below the right position, moving to the downward position, then flicking to the upper right corner. This control scheme is preferable to the typical Tony Hawk press X then press Square and a direction to do the flip because it takes a whole lot more time to master and learn and replicates how the tricks are done in real life. You can apply the same Flickit concept to tweak and setup grabs and setup grinds and transition from one grind into another without leaving the rail. This is the real beauty of Skate, its enormous attention to detail and respect for the art of skateboarding. However, like other skateboarding sims (see Thrasher Skate and Destroy on Playstation), the vert aspect of the game is flawed. The vert skating just feels very clunky at times, however you are able to get used to it with time. I just hope EA improves vert skating in Skate 2. Moving on, the music in the game is actually a pretty damn good cross section of music from artists ranging from Slayer to Sex Pistols to Nirvana to Eric B and Rakim to David Bowie to Rick Ross (EVERYDAY I'M HUSTLIN!). Still doesn't beat the classic rap soundtrack from Thrasher Skate and Destroy, but it's close.
One thing you should be aware of is that the PS3 version of the game is nowhere near as good as the Xbox 360 version. The 360 version runs much more smoothly than the PS3 version, which stutters very often. So, do yourself a favor and buy Skate because it is by far the most realistic skateboarding game ever made.
Next up on the list is Folklore (known as Folksoul in Japan), developed by Game Republic and published by Sony. Folklore is the second Japanese RPG to see release on the Playstation 3 here in the United States, and it's one of the finest RPGs I have ever played. What I like the most about the game is that it foregoes the typical turn-based menu simulation of Final Fantasy and other games of its ilk for more action-based combat. That and the story isn't about some brooding emo kid who gets pissed off and threatens to destroy the world and you're some androgynous emo kid who has to stop him. Instead the game is a mystery story revolving around two people, one named Keats, the other named Ellen (both of which are playable). Keats writes for an occult magazine named Unknown Realms, and Ellen is looking for her mother. They end up in the middle of figuring out a murder mystery and who, or what, did it. In order to solve this mystery, they must travel to the Netherworld, a place where the dead roam. In the Netherworld, they must destroy monsters and capture their souls. I won't say too much else because the story is easily one of the best I've seen in an RPG, especially a Japanese one.
The game plays like a third person action game crossed with an RPG. The combat system is really unique. At any time, you may equip up to four folks, which are souls that you have captured and can use to attack enemies. You are then able to carry out each attack by simply pressing one of the face buttons on the controller. You are able to gain more Folks by defeating enemies and capturing their soul. One of the unique things about this game are the online features. You are able to create your own custom dungeons and share them with people online. In addition to that, there are also two add-on packs up on the Playstation Store as of this writing that add 3-4 hours of gameplay with 4 quests and a new Folk in each pack. Downloadable content is not something I'm a big fan of, but it's nice to get a little bit more out of the game for $4 (or $6 for both packs on the store right now). I hope this explanation made sense because I don't know that it did. Regardless, be sure to check out Folklore if you ever get a Playstation 3.
The first glimpse at Rez HD for the Xbox 360 (distributed via Xbox Live Arcade) in action has been unleashed onto the internet by GameVideos. Rez HD looks like it will become the version of Rez to get due to its low price, and superior visuals to the PS2 and Dreamcast versions. Or, if you don't like downloadable titles or don't think they count as "having" the game, then go for the PS2 version as it runs much faster than the Dreamcast one and has better audio thanks to the PS2's optical audio output. Anyways, check out the footage of Rez HD for the Xbox 360 right here:
You can also check out these videos in high definition:
All you 360 owners out there who have never played Rez (damn near all of you I bet), you must buy this when it comes out. Rez is one of the most original and enjoyable games ever created, and your purchase may persuade Sega to make a sequel (at least I hope).
2007 was the year of hype in gaming. Between Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Crysis, and Assassin's Creed, this year has seen the release of some of the most talked up games of all-time. While some of them fell far short of the hype, there were plenty of other far superior games that came out, but received little to no attention from mainstream gamers. So, continuing now and on every Wednesday (or Thursday) (or sometime) until the end of the year, I will be giving you a look at two games released this year that deserve your hard-earned cash and attention. At the end of this five-part series (ending the day after Christmas), I will list them in order of the most overlooked/underrated.
If you followed the video game world at all this year, you'll likely know that Lair for the Playstation 3 was a massively hyped game that was often touted as one of saviors of Sony's big black monolith of a gaming console known as the Playstation 3, but that did not happen as Lair was a critical bomb. All the hype that was generated by the game blew up in Sony's face as the game got largely horrible reviews and become the butt of all video game related jokes. Did it deserve all the negative reviews? Is it really that bad of a game? The answer to that question is quite simply, no. Lair is perhaps one of the most underrated games of the year (not overlooked, mind you, underrated).
The game's story revolves around two kingdoms, Asilya and Mokai, former allies now torn apart due to their land being ravaged by volcanoes. Now the Mokai's land is depleted of resources, and the Mokai live on a resource rich land. As time goes on, the two become enemies due to religion coming in and teaching them that they are enemies and should not tolerate each other. So, the Mokai decide to launch a surprise attack against the Asylians, this is where you come in as Rohn, a member of the Asylian Sky Guard who fights off the invading Mokai using dragons. It's a good plot, especially for an action game involving dragons and burning things up and is definitely better than stuff like Eragon.
But on to the game itself. As stated, most of the game revolves around you flying around on a dragon burning things and defending your people from attack. The game's graphics are quite good and really capture a world in ruin quite well. The game does support 1080p high definition, however, I have only seen at 1080i and 720p. Both modes look incredible. The only problem is that there are some slowdowns at time, but nothing too distracting. Even more amazing than the graphics is the sound, which is among the best I've ever heard in a video game. Presented in UNCOMPRESSED 7.1 SOUND (!!!) with THX Certification, the game completely envelopes you in sound. Now, I've only played it in compressed Dolby Digital 5.1, but even in that situation, dragons swooping overhead, flames flying in all directions, and exploding ships all sounded awesome. However, what really shines in the game is the soundtrack composed John Debney, who also did the music for The Passion of the Christ and Sin City. The soundtrack is definitely the best of 2007 and rivals most film soundtracks. The music is so good that Sony is selling the whole soundtrack for the game on iTunes.
But enough about the technical side of the game, let's move onto what gets trashed the most, the gameplay. The team at Factor 5 decided to take advantage of what the PS3 offers them in graphical capability, sound, and capacity with the Blu-ray Disc, however, they also decided to take advantage of the PS3's new Sixaxis controller with motion sensing capability. This is what caused the most criticism over the game. The tilt controls were viewed as hard to use and unresponsive. To those people I say, "Pfft, spend some more time with it." Yes, it is kind of tough to get the hang of, but you must remember that you are controlling a gigantic dragon, and not an airplane which can turn on a dime. If you think of it in the sense that you are at the reins of a gigantic beast, then the controls might be a little easier to work, since it basically is like you're at the reins. Slap the reins down and you'll get a speed boost, pull them up quickly and the dragon will do a 180 and face the other way. Once you get used to the controls, you'll be burning those Mokai bastards quickly. Or, take a look at the instructional video included in the bonus material, it's a like a video version of the Lair Review Guide.
However, despite all this, I would only give the game a 7.5 at the maximum because it's slow at times, it's rather short, and the controls don't always work right. It is definitely worth checking out when it gets down to $15 or so.
This might be an odd inclusion since it never had a retail release, but this is something that I'm sure none of you have heard of by a developer you've definitely heard of. Did you know that Harmonix, the same company behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band released an iPod game this year? No, really, AN iPOD GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The game is called Phase, and it's basically just like Amplitude or Guitar Hero, but on your iPod.
Basically, the game is played by clicking the left button, the center button, or the right button in time to your music. Sometimes there will also be a wave of dots that comes up, known as a flowing sweep. When one of these flowing sweeps come up, you have to scroll the click wheel left and right, following the pattern of the dots. The game has it's own small soundtrack of seven songs (Bang Camaro - Nightlife Commando, Dealership - Dots And Dashes, Freezepop - Pop Music Is Not A Crime (YES!!! FREEZEPOP!!!), Inter:sect - Midnight Gamma, Kodomo - Spira Mirabilis, Speck - The Theme Of The Awesome, Universal Hall Pass - Dragonfly Remix), but the big feature here is that you can import ANY song you have on your iPod into the game and it will make it into a level for you to play, with different difficulties. Want to play on insane (Video is on the default difficulty, by the way)? You can do that! Want to play along to Run DMC? Sure, you can do that too. Want to play along to the I Have A Dream Speech? Uh...yeah, you can do that too. Want to play along to static? No you don't. Of course you don't. But you technically could do that in Phase!
It's a $5 download from the iTunes store, and has been described by many as the only iPod game worth having. The game requires a third-generation iPod nano or better, iPod classic, or fifth-generation iPod or better.
Check back on Wednesday or Thursday when I actually deliver this feature on-time...(at least I hope).
Do you like football video games? Do you like EA Sports' Madden franchise? If you don't and you wish that NFL 2Kx would return, I've got some bad news for you. EA Sports, the NFL, and the NFL Players Association have extended the current video game exclusivity contract by three years. Now there will be no other pro football game other than the one EA makes until the end of the 2012 season, which ends in February of 2013.
Valve has announced that they will be distributing Dylan Fitterer's critically acclaimed 
Professor Layton and the Curious Village, developed by Level-5 (Dragon Quest 8 and 9, Rogue Galaxy, and Dark Cloud) and published by Nintendo, is a point and click adventure along the same lines as Phoenix Wright, Hotel Dusk, Touch Detective, and many others on the DS, but it's unlike any of them. The best way I can describe the game is Brain Age on crack with a storyline. The puzzles in this game are some of the most difficult I've ever encountered in any puzzle games and totally make this game worth getting, but there is a whole lot more to this game than just the puzzles.
The story is about a world renowned professor, Archeologist, and puzzle aficionado named Layton and his young apprentice, Luke. The pair is summoned to St. Mystere by the family of the recently deceased village billionaire, Baron Augustus Reinhold, who has left his whole estate to whomever can find the Golden Apple he has hidden somewhere in the village. In addition to the mystery of just where this Golden Apple is located, the townspeople are fond of puzzles and challenge each other with them. That is how most of the game's puzzles are found, by talking to citizens who talk to you and give you information about what they know...and puzzles.
The game also is a technical masterpiece, which is surprising considering just what kind of game it is. There are many sequences of fully animated video, the cutscenes have full voice acting, and the music is just incredible, and it all sounds amazing through headphones and even on the built-in speakers. However, I really wish they would have added voice acting for all the text in the game, because it's jarring to go from an animated sequence with voice acting to a Phoenix Wright styled text adventure.
Do you have an Xbox 360 Core or Arcade model? Did you expect it to be able to do what the higher end Xbox 360s can? You did? Well, guess what? You're wrong. Dead wrong.
Brace yourself, EA did something great here...
" -DM2
Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
As many of you may know, the 
It's the end of the year, so that means that every self respecting video game site (or any site in general) must put out top 10 lists. 
This inclusion might be a little controversial since it is a fairly well known game and will be getting a sequel, but nonetheless, I think it's been overlooked by many gamers. This game would be 
Next up on the list is 
If you followed the video game world at all this year, you'll likely know that 
This might be an odd inclusion since it never had a retail release, but this is something that I'm sure none of you have heard of by a developer you've definitely heard of. Did you know that Harmonix, the same company behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band released an iPod game this year? No, really, AN iPOD GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The game is called 
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