Two years, has it been that long? I guess it has been. Two years ago today the Wii was released worldwide, because Nintendo loves you… or so we thought. What has the last two years brought Nintendo and it’s Wii? Let’s delve into the past, and see where the future lies for Nintendo.
Nintendo had a cool concept. Motion control in a game, would it be a gimmick or a novel innovation? Well, two years has passed, and honestly, the verdict is still out. There are the games that just tack it on, such as Super Monkey Ball did. Did they even play test their game? Super Monkey Ball should have been great on the Wii. Alas, it was not. Fortunately, there have been games that do make excellent use of the Wii Remote, and these games shine amongst the games that treat motion control like an afterthought. Games like No More Heroes, De Blob, Zack and Wiki, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption all make excellent use of the Wii Remote. Super Mario Galaxy was a refreshing reinvention of the platform genre. Truly there are the gems in what seems more and more like an endless pile of crap, and my, there is crap.
Why is there crap? Well, it might be because the Wii sells like hotcakes from McDonalds. It sold almost 850,000 units in North America alone last month, and quite frankly that’s impressive. It’s enough to make the Wii the clear market leader, and we’ll talk about that later. But now, let’s talk about the effects of being the market leader. See, being number one tends to bring a lot of crap to your console. Games like Target: Terror. What is that game like? Well, you know what Lethal Enforcers is, right? Well, it looks just like that, except with Terrorists. How novel for the Wii, especially when it could probably run on an N64. Great job there, Konami, you really must have been bitter after the sales of Elebits and Dewy’s Adventure. I bought Elebits! Don’t hate me! And don’t think that it’s just the third parties giving us steaming piles of shit. I see that the fourth worst ranked Wii game on Gamerankings is Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast. Now, I am sure that game is full of win, but the score speaks for the masses. And don’t forget about Wii Music! Is that even a game? You decide.
If you would have told me with a straight face that the Wii would be far and beyond the market leader right now prior to its launch I would have laughed. I was a Nintendo fanboy at one point, but just because I was a fanboy does not mean that I am not a realist. C’mon, Nintendo had a good idea, but was there really something as a casual gamer? I sure as hell didn’t think so. I guess I was wrong, because as they say… it prints money. Unfortunately, it only prints money really for Nintendo. See, the Wii third party tie-in ratio is rather poor. It seems as though the real winner in all this is Nintendo and the companies that realize shovelware. It’s sort of sad because it limits creativity. Why be creative when you can make money with a low budget piece of crap? It’s sad, and it’s true.
Well, the future, what does it hold? Being on top means that Nintendo has the most to lose. It’s quite obvious that Nintendo cares most about the casual gamer these days, and it hurts. Nintendo really, really needs to either invest in games for gamers or encourage third parties to innovate rather than defecate. Maybe it could, you know, do both? Who knows, really? I certainly hope they do, because to a certain extent Nintendo has really tried to see what the breaking point of their fanboys is. Maybe to them that’s okay, but they have to realize that you can have your hardcore faithful in addition to being super trendy. Apple does it, somehow. Isn’t that who Nintendo is trying to emulate anyways? Does that mean that we’ll soon see a super thin Iwata in jeans and a black shirt with a goatee? God I hope so. The truth is though that Nintendo needs to know that some of Nintendo’s biggest fans are becoming some very bitter people, and bitter people can bring some very negative press. Best then to keep the fans happy, I suppose. Might you start with localizing Captain Rainbow and Mother 3? Please? PLEASE?
Nintendo’s console will probably have a bright future. I know I am personally as giddy as a schoolgirl for No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle and Mad World. I guess you could say I’ve become a person to enjoy violence more as I’ve gotten older. I also know that in the future I’ll probably own a PS3 to satisfy other needs. But don’t you worry Nintendo, because you’ve already made more than enough money off of me, and chances are you’ll make more than enough money off of others. Congrats on that.
Well, what do you think? Where has Nintendo been over the last two years for you? Where will they be in the future? I know where I think they’ll be, but it’s always more interesting to find out where you guys think the future lies, so tell us, won’t you?
Happy Birthday PS3! That's right, two years ago today the PLAYSTATION 3 was released here in the states, being the second region to get the behemoth known as the PLAYSTATION 3. At the time it was the BIGGEST, BADDEST, MOST POWERFUL console to date, and well, two out of the three of those descriptors still fit. Depending on how you look at it, those descriptors can have either a positive or negative connotation associated with them.
Let's look back shall we? Well, in 2006 Sony had far and beyond the largest ego of the three developers. A cocky arrogance, so to speak. The PlayStation 2 sold like hotcakes, so obviously the PS3 would sell like hotcakes as well, right? Never mind the price differential. I know inflation occurs, but damn, you paid a premium if you bought a PS3 at launch. So, looking back, is it that surprising that the PS3 hasn't sold so well? I wouldn't think so, but I certainly didn't expect it to be as piss poor as it's been. Maybe it was branding the PLAYSTATION 3 as PLAYSTATION 3. ALL CAPS IS GREAT!!!!L0Lz0r. Seriously, why? Was it arrogance? I don't know for sure, but I am certainly inclined to believe it was.
Grand Theft Auto IV was supposed to get people to buy a PS3. To a certain extent it did, but then it dropped off like your grandmother's fine china falls off the table when your two year old son gets a hold of it. Truth be told, the massive releases haven't really had the intended effect that Sony was hoping for. It's sort of sad, don't these companies learn from history? I remember some other company being an arrogant ass and in the process watched it's market share drop from first to third over two console generations. I guess these companies just don't like to read up on history.
Of course, perhaps the future will be better for Sony. I know that I really want LittleBigPlanet, and half of Japan really wants Final Fantasy XIII. Perhaps the PS3 will be a late bloomer. Time shall tell, but in the the past things haven't been so rosy for the poor PLAYSTATION 3. After all, The PLAYSTATION 3 is now referred to as the PlayStation 3. Did the marketers get tired of holding down shift or did Sony realize their arrogance? Who knows, but it does make you wonder.
So, 2 years down, how many more to follow? Clearly the 4 year cycle should be blown to nothingness, I hope. I honestly think the PlayStation 3 will have a rosier future. It really is a powerful, powerful system, and in time production costs will hit a sweet spot where the mass public can afford it. There are good games for the PlayStation 3, and someday maybe a lot of people will be fortunate enough to play them. Sony really, really needs to knock the socks off of the gaming public. Clearly non casual gamers feel at time disenfranchised with the current market leader, why not capitalize on that? Find a sweet spot to sell the console at. Promote the third party tie-in ratio. Push the value of the console. Stop running esoteric and crazy commercials. Sell and advertise what people want. I think Sony will be able to pull it off, and in the future you might just see Sony be somewhere rosier than they currently are. Time shall tell.
Two years down, more to follow. What's your take on the PlayStation 3? What has the past and future held for the console in your opinion? What must they do in the present? Are they doomed to third place? Have the mighty fallen again? Time shall certainly tell.
So, uh, past tense. Here's what came out this past week:
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Call of Duty: World at War •Mirror's Edge •Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
•Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts •Call of Duty: World at War •Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 •Mirror's Edge •Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
•Big League Sports •Block Party •Bratz Kidz: Slumber Party •Call of Duty: World at War •Candace Kane's Candy Factory •FaceBreaker K.O. Party •Guinness World Records: The Videogame •Hasbro Family Game Night •Imagine: Party Babyz •Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors •Luxor 3 •Monkey Mischief: Party Time •Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor •Pet Pals Animal Doctor •Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
PC
•Call of Duty: World at War •CSI: New York •History Channel Civil War: Secret Missions •Petz Horsez Club •Sacred 2: Fallen Angel •Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice •World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
•Amazing Adventures: Forgotten Ruins •Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno •Call of Duty: World at War •futureU: The Prep Game for SAT •Guinness World Records: The Videogame •Hello Kitty Daily Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors •My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr •National Geographic Panda •Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia •Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition •Populous •Sally's Salon •Six Flags Fun Park •Star Wars Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance •Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff •Tropix •Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals •Winx Club: Mission Enchantix •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
•Eternal Poison (It's a FATlus RPG, go nuts fanboys) •Hasbro Family Game Night •Onimusha: The Essentials (This is NEVER coming out) •Pop Star Guitar •Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 •Think Fast •WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
One of the biggest games this week is Call of Duty: World at War, the first game in the popular series since last year's awesome Modern Warfare. This game takes the series back to its WW2 roots...and back to off-year developer Treyarch, two strikes against the game in the eyes of many fans of last year's Infinity Ward developed installment. However, don't be worried because I think the game looks great, especially since it keeps the same addictive multiplayer XP/perk system found in 4...AND BECAUSE IT HAS NAZI ZOMBIES! How can you say no to that?! Well, other than saying "I'm waiting for Left 4 Dead next week".
Next up is Mirror's Edge, the ambitious first person running game from BattleField developers, EA DICE. In case you've been living under a rock, Mirror's Edge is a first person game inspired by Parkour, or free running, in which you play as Faith, a messenger who is being pursued by the man. Based on the demo on PS3, I must say it's one of the best games I've played this year, and definitely the most original big-budget disc-based game of the year. Don't let IGN'sBSreviews fool you, Mirror's Edge is a game worth getting.
Of course the biggest game of the week is World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Litch King, the latest expansion to the wildly popular MMORPG. I really don't know much about WoW except it steals your life and turns you into a fatass basement-dwelling neckbeard nerd. Needless to say, I've never played it, but I've seen what happens to friends that get into it, and it scares me off from playing...plus the game looks boring as heck.
Also out this week is Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts (the awesome N64 platformer is back...with little platforming and lots of vehicle building), Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (360 this time, in case you missed it on the PC), Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff (The classic is back...with no NFL license), Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (moar Pokemans, hopefully moar mudkipz), and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (people like the Tales series from what I know...)
Honestly, I can't say much about this video without ruining it for you. So, just press play.
Japan never ceases to amaze me. This could rank in the top game advertisements of all-time with the Japanese ad for God Hand. Kudos SCEJ bringing us the best game related marketing rap since the infamous Zelda Rap (or All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP, take your pick).
•History Channel Civil War: Secret Mission •James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm •Resistance 2 (Also available as a collector's edition) •Tom Clancy's End War •Valkyria Chronicles
•Gears of War 2 (Also available as a collector's edition) •History Channel Civil War: Secret Mission •James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Legendary •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Namco Museum Virtual Arcade •Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice •Tom Clancy's End War
•Bratz Kidz: Slumber Party •James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Monster Lab •Movie Games (What?) •North American Hunting Extravaganza •Petz Sports (Sports totally should have ended with a z) •Pop Star Guitar •Rubik's World
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Tom Clancy's End War
PC •CSI: New York •Guitar Hero III/Aerosmith Bundle James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Operation Mania •Petz Sports •Princess Pack •Realms of Arkania Trilogy •Space Trader
•Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess •Dragonball: Origins •Exit DS •futureU: The Prep Game for SAT •Goosebumps HorrorLand •Guitar Rock Tour •Hello Kitty Daily •Imagine: Interior Designer •Imagine: Wedding Designer •Korg DS-10 •James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Monster Lab •My Baby Boy •My Baby Girl •Petz Dogz Pack •Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition •Princess on Ice •Real Soccer 2009 •Theresia (Holy shit, an M rated game on the DS!) •Tom Clancy's End War •Winx Club: Mission Enchantix (That's one x away from XXX) •Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals
•Call of Duty: World at War Final Fronts •Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World •History Channel Civil War:Secret Mission •James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace •Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa •Monster Lab •NHL 09 •Onimusha: The Essentials (I highly doubt it) •Pop Star Guitar •Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice •Think Fast
If you haven't joined the new age of gaming and don't like downloading games, you may want to check out Namco Museum Virtual Arcade since it includes many games available on the Xbox Live Arcade service on one disc including Galaga Legions, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Mr. Driller Online, Pac-Man, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious, and New Rally-X. Achievement whores will be happy to know that all the XBLA games on the disc retain their achievement points, so you can further boost your e-penis. In addition to all those (mostly) excellent XBLA games, there's the usual cross-section of classic Namco games that you've come to expect from the Namco Museum series.
This week also sees the release of the latest James Bond game, Quantum of Solace. This looks pretty good because it is based on one of the best FPS engines out there, the Call of Duty 4 engine. Reviews, however, have been a mixed bag so far, so be cautious.
Next up is the the game of the year based on just the title, Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ for the DS. It's sort of a shmup with fairy tales and zombies. Surprisingly, it's getting good reviews on the interwebs. Plus, it's only $20, so what do you have to lose? NOTHING! That's the answer!
The most unique (and sure to be rare) release of the week is the Korg DS-10 synthesizer for the DS. In case you don't know what this is, it's a full-featured Korg synthesizer for only $35. Want to learn more? Watch it in action on the June 20th episode of the 1UP Show. Want to buy the game? Chances are you'll have to order it online because almost no retailers are carrying it, including GameStop.
Also out this week are two big name exclusive shooters: Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360 and Resistance 2 for the PS3. I'm not a Gears fan, so I'll spare you my thoughts on that game (actually, horde mode in that game looks hella fun), but I did try out the "beta" (aka demo) of Resistance 2 and had quite a fun time in both competitive and co-op modes. Haven't played the single player mode, but judging by how multiplayer is and how the first game was (and my Insomniac Games fanboyism), it should be awesome.
Rounding out the week is Valkyria Chronicles (Sega's incredible PS3 exclusive RPG/Third Person Shooter combo), Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm (BELIEVE IT!), and Tom Clancy's End War (an RTS that you can control entirely using your voice, which is actually pretty fun based on the demo).
Again, I am sooooooooooo sorry for how late this is and how it doesn't live up to my usual standards. Things got in the way Sunday and Monday, and then the election was last night. Hopefully you all forgive me enough to check back next time.
The OH NOOOO! Otter is concerned! See, the OH NOOOO! Otter has a side thing he likes to do when he isn't the OH NOOOO! Otter on this here website. It turns out that Mr. Otter is a mischief maker on EA's official forums. You might call him a troll, but hey, every forum has their troll, and well, we tend to ban them. I really don't know why Mr. Otter find it's necessary to be such a not so nice member on EA's official forum. It might be because EA has historically been an evil corporation. It could just be that he is a truly malicious person. But, EA is really getting sick of his and others antics, and they are going to raise the stakes in getting banned.
See, most forums just ban you from the site. That's what we do, and I imagine other sites do that as well. But see, EA decided to be truly malicious in banning. EA happens to use a wonderful piece of DRM known as SecuROM, which causes its games to call home periodically. Additionally, these new games all have an EA ID that spans across games. Well, EA has decided to tie your game EA ID to your forum ID. Big deal, right? Well, it is.
See, if you get banned on the forum now you're going to get locked out of your games, and well, that would truly suck. You paid for the games, so shouldn't you be able to play the games even if you get banned from some measly official forum? Well, EA doesn't think so. So yeah, play nice kids, and Mr. Otter, do be careful now. You never know when EA might lock you out of your games.
UPDATE: A Red Alert 3 Mod was lying. Way to represent the corporate behemoth! Turns out this was false.
This announcement, if true, would be a HUUUUUUGE blow to Activision's Guitar Hero, since The Beatles are the best selling artist of all time. I think those of you expecting this to be a downloadable song pack for $20 or $30 are completely wrong. This is going to be MUCH bigger than that. I expect to see a full-priced game comprised of all the songs off of The Beatles' 1 greatest hits compilation, and possibly album packs as downloadable content.
So, what's your take? Would you buy Rock Band: The Beatles as a full-priced game? I know a lot of people, maybe including myself, sure as hell would. Hopefully this opens the door to The Gray Album being in Rock Band...Nahhh.
Update: Stephen Totilo of MTV's excellent Multiplayer Blog has confirmed that there is a Beatles game in development at Harmonix. It is not a Rock Band expansion, but rather a totally new game built from the ground up. Nothing else is known about the game, other than it will be out next holiday season.
•Bioshock •Disney Sing It •Eternal Sonata •Far Cry 2 •The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon •Midnight Club: Los Angeles •Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition •Rock Band 2 (Game only and as an instrument bundle) •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
•Dance Dance Revolution: Universe 3 (Game only and bundle. God I'm sucker for DDR) •Disney Sing It •Fable 2 (Also available as a limited edition) •Far Cry 2 •The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon •Midnight Club: Los Angeles •Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition •Rock Band 2 (Game only and as an instrument bundle) •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
•Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade •Backyard Football 2009 •Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp •Build a Bear Workshop: Fur Seasons •Carnival Games: Mini-Golf •Celebrity Sports Showdown •Circus Games •Dancing with the Stars: We Dance •Disney Sing It •High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE •Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 •The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon •Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition •Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 •Penny Racers Party: Turbo Q Speedway •Petz Rescue Wildlife Vet •Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band The Game •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows •SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom •Think Fast •Wii Music (God this game looks AWFUL. Do not buy this because it says Wii ____.)
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Crash: Mind Over Mutant •Midnight Club: LA Remix •Petz Saddle Club •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows •Star Ocean: First Departure
PC
•Bully: Scholarship Edition •Combat Wings: Battle of Britain •Dead Space •Deer Hunter Tournament •Europa Universalis III Collection •Far Cry 2 •Heist •Littlest Pet Shop •NBA 2K9 •NHL 09 •Petz Horsez Club •Poker for Dummies •Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band The Game •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows •Shaun White Snowboarding
•Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade •Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp •Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games •Backyard Football 2009 •Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs •Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia •Dancing with the Stars: We Dance •Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell •Ener-G: Dance Squad •Ener-G: Gym Rockets •Ener-G: Horse Rider •High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE •The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon •Lovely Lisa •Master of the Monster Lair •MechanicMaster •My Baby Girl •Pass the Pigs •Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band The Game •Smart Girls Party Games •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows •SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom •Tornado •Touchmaster II •Transformers Animated •What's Cooking? Jamie Oliver
•Backyard Football 2009 Barbie Horse Adventures: Riding Camp •Cake Mania Baker’s Challenge •Disney Sing It •The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon •Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition •Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band The Game •Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
First up: Rock Band 2! This time it's the game only for the PS3 and the bundle edition for the PS3 and 360. Sorry, but PS2 and Wii owners have to wait until next month to rock out with plastic instruments...again. Or until Guitar Hero World Tour next week. But why get that when Harmonix is so much better than Activision? Plus Rock Band 2 has one of my favorite songs of all-time, Teen Age Riot by Sonic Youth.
Next, Fable 2, the latest promise-a-thon from Peter Molyneux...and from the looks of things, it lives up to at least some of the promises he made. I have no experience with this series, so I can't say too much about it.
Far Cry 2 is also out this week. I've always wanted to play the first game, but have never got around to it. It looks pretty awesome and got some great reviews. Any insights here?
This week two former 360 exclusives make the move to PS3.First up is the critically acclaimed Bioshock. I've never played much Bioshock until the PS3 demo a few weeks ago, and it totally blew me away. I won't get this game right away, however, because I want to wait until it reaches the price level that the 360 version is at, which will probably be a month or two after Christmas. The other one is Eternal Sonata, which is actually not half bad for a JRPG (at least based on the demo).
Also coming out this week: Star Ocean: First Departure for the PSP (yet another Square remake), Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS (even more Castlevania goodness), Midnight Club: Los Angeles on PS3/360/PSP (That OTHER game Rockstar makes!), Spider-Man: Web of Shadows on PS3/360/Wii/PSP/DS/PC/PS2 (The reviews are surprisingly good so far, and the game looks pretty intriguing), DDR Universe 3 for Xbox 360 (probably another shitty 360 installment), and Dead Space on the PC (DO NOT MISS THIS GAME!!!).
Phew. Exhausting list. Check back next week for the next installment of the Holiday 08 release list season.
[img align=right width=200]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/RaCbox.jpg[/img]Just like fellow Playstation platform developer Naughty Dog did with Crash Bandicoot, Insomniac Games decided to sell their PSone franchise Spyro and start with a fresh game on the PS2. Furthermore, Ratchet & Clank (2002), too, features a main character and a side companion that stay together during most of the games. Coincidence? Not really, because both studios used to be located in the same building on a Universal Studios backlot and continue to have a close relationship.
In Ratchet & Clank, you play as Ratchet, a creature that doesn't really fall under a specific animal-category, but can be best described as a sort of cross between a lynx and a human. Ratchet lives on the planet Veldin, where he spends most of his time working on his spaceship, dreaming of leaving Veldin in search of galactic adventures. One day, a little robot named Clank crashes near Ratchet's home. Clank comes form a robot factory on the planet Quartu, where he discovered an infobot that revealed that Chairman Drek, leader of the Blarg race has decided to start building a new planet for his race, made up from pieces of other planets. When Ratchet finds Clank, Clank shows him the infobot and says he fears that Drek is going to destroy the universe. After some compromises, the odd duo sets of to rescue the galaxy from Drek's madness.
The rest of the story is brought to the player in a similar fashion: after reaching a certain point in each level, a new infobot plays another cutscene and gives the coordinates for a next planet. The game makes handful use of this concept to make each planet/level completely different in terms of environment, backgrounds and "feel", thus making the game varied from start to finish. Along the way you'll find yourself on space stations, polluted planets, tropical planets, urban-themed planets and more. As you can expect, the story is very light-hearted and the well written cutscenes are often hilarious, making the game enjoyable for both young and old.
When arriving at a new planet there's usually several directions you can go in, each leading to a different objective. Pressing start will reveal a map of the planet you're on, along with the objectives you've found so far. You can also watch the corresponding infobot again in case you missed out on anything. To keep frustrations on a low, backtracking is kept to a minimum with the ability to teleport back to your ship after reaching the end of a certain path. There's also plenty of invisible checkpoints on each planet so gamers won't have to replay most of a level because they died right before the end.
Compared to other platform games, Ratchet & Clank's focus mainly lies on the many different weapons and gadgets in the game than on jumping about from platform to platform. At the start of the game, Ratchet is equiped with his Omniwrench 3000, your main melee weapon that you can smash or throw at enemies or boxes. Still on Veldin, Ratchet receives the free Bomb Glove, a glove that, you've guessed it, throws out bombs at unsuspecting enemies. The more progress you make, the bigger your weapons assortment will become. Some weapons have to be bought at the Gadgetron vendor, which can be found at each planet, others are prizes for completing objectives. Besides the first two, you'll be able to have fun with the Blaster, Pyrociter, Devastator or the more exotic Glove of Doom, Suck Cannon and Morph-o-Ray. All weapons are fun to use, although you'll find yourself using two/three of them most of the time. To change weapons, you can display a quick-select menu on screen by pressing the triangle button. Sadly enough, the game doesn't pause when you're changing weapons, something that was only added in Ratchet & Clank 2 (= Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando in North America) Not all weapons can fit in the quick-select menu at once, but you can select which ones you want it to contain in the main menu. The Gadgetron vendors also serve as ammunition shops for the weapons you've aquired.
Despite being more combat-orientated than most games in the genre, there's still a fair bit of platforming and puzzle-solving to be done. For these puzzles you'll need to use certain Gadgets, similar in use to the weapons. Gadgets are devided into 4 subcategories: hand items include things like a Trespasser (to open sealed doors in a mini game), Hydrodisplacer (a device that can store highly compressed water) and Swingshot (a hook shot that latches on special floating balls, which you can swing from). Then there's backpacks: modifications for Clank that let you glide through the air or swim faster under water. Third are head items for Ratchet like an O2-mask or Pilot Helmet. Lastly there's foot items which include the awesome Grindboots. With these boots you can grind on rails which is something you'll have to do on several ocassions.
The gameplay itself is a lot of fun. After defeating an enemy with your weapon of choice, he'll burst out into Bolts, the game's main currency. You can also collect Bolts by smashing crates that are placed on all levels. For those who can't get enough of the game there's also a select number of Golden Bolts to be found on each planet, usually in hidden areas. These are then tradable for rare goodies. To keep the game exciting at all times, there's also mini games in which you'll have to fly in your spaceship in a 3D-style shooter or stages that you play with Clank. Those are particulary fun because you'll get to control tiny robots than will follow Clank's instructions such as "Follow", "Wait" or "Attack". The controls are good and even the camera adjustment has been done right (a rare thing in 3D Platform games) with a camera that stays where the player wants it. I do have to admit that I missed the possibility to strafe as seen in the game's sequels but then again, this never bothered me when I first played the game in 2002.
At the time of its release, Ratchet & Clank gained much praise for its fantastic graphics. Although not as good as later games for the PS2, Ratchet & Clank's graphics are still very much enjoyable. The levels are big, there's no load times (except when moving from one planet to another) and textures are detailed and colorful. There's very little glitches and the frame rate is constant at all times. Animations are very well done, especially in cutscenes. Speaking of the cutscenes, despite them being funny, some of the jokes between Ratchet and Clank are a bit lame compared to those in Jak and Daxter. The game's sound is on par with its graphics with a funky up-tempo beat on each planet, good voice acting and solid sound effects. Nothing felt out of place to me, usually a good sign that the audio is good.
With its light-hearted story and humor, wide range of weapons and gadgets and beautiful graphics and sound, I think Ratchet & Clank is what you could call a "perfect" game that'll interest a broad range of gamers, not just platform fans. Recommended to all. 9.0/10
You all know LittleBigPlanet. It's a PS3 exclusive platformer developed by Media Molecule that was slated to come out next week. Well, not so fast, because one of the songs from the game's soundtrack, Tapha Niang by Toumani Diabaté (listen to the song at his MySpace page), quotes the Qur'an, which has offended some Muslims who have managed to receive an early copy of the game.
Media Molecule responded to this concern by preparing a patch for Sony, but the Sony people decided that it would be best to just do a recall of all printed copies of the game in order to cover people who may not have internet access on their PS3.
According to a post on Sony's Playstation.Blog by Patrick Seybold and a call I received from GameStop, the game will ship to stores the week of October 27, one week later than originally planned.
While I don't want to get into my personal beliefs about religious sensitivity and censorship, I must say that given the circumstances, Sony made the right decision. Yeah, it sucks that we have to wait another week, but it's far better than having the game be attacked by the media (except Fox News) for being offensive. This is not the first time a game has come under fire for religious content. In fact, last year Capcom had a similar situation with Zack and Wiki, and Activision removed some content from Call of Duty 4. Some of you may even remember that Nintendo snipped a lot of Islamic references from the N64 classic, Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
What's your take? Let us know in the comments, but let's keep it clean. Don't get racist or intolerant.
There's so many games coming out this week that I had to switch to three (?!) rows instead of the usual two! Granted most of the games this week are shovelware crap, but there's some damned awesome releases!
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Blitz: The League II •Dead Space •FIFA Soccer 2009 •Golden Axe: Beast Rider •Rock Revolution •Saints Row 2 (Also available as a collector's edition) •SOCOM: Confrontation (Also available as a bundle with the official Sony PS3 Bluetooth headset or as a download on the Playstation Store)
•Blitz, The League II •Dead Space •FIFA Soccer 2009 •Golden Axe: Beast Rider •Rock Revolution •Saints Row 2 (Also available as a collector's edition)
•Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno •Boogie Superstar •Bratz: Girls Really Rock •Dokapon Kingdom •Littlest Pet Shop •Safecracker •Sam and Max: Season One •Tak: Guardians of Gross •Ten Pin Alley 2
•Battle of the Giants: Dinosaurs •Bratz: Girls Really Rock •Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer •FIFA Soccer 2009 •Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2 •Littlest Pet Shop: Garden •Littlest Pet Shop: Jungle •Littlest Pet Shop: Winter •Lovely Lisa •My Japanese Coach •Naruto: Path of Ninja 2 •Smart Girls Party Games •Prey the Stars •Rock Revolution •Tak: Mojo Mistake
•Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno •Bratz: Girls Really Rock •Cake Mania Baker’s Challenge •Dokapon Kingdom •FIFA Soccer 2009 •Tak: Guardians of Gross
PC
•Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade •Avatar Last Air Bender: Path Zuko •Brain Training for Dummies •Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer •Combat Wings: Battle of Britain •Dark Horizon •Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret Fairy •Etch A Sketch (AGAIN?!)
•FIFA Soccer 2009 •Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Game Only) •Hot Dish •Let's Ride: Riding Star •Littlest Pet Shop •Paws and Claws: Australian Adventure •Poker for Dummies •Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band The Game
•SAS: Secure Tomorrow •Saints Row 2 •Shaun White Snowboarding •Sniper: Art of Victory •SpongeBob Squarepants: Game of Life •Space Trader •World of Goo
The biggest game of this week is EA's sci-fi scarefest, Dead Space. If this game is not on your radar, it should be. Why? It's supposed to be an effing scary game and the reviews have been excellent so far (high 8s/low 9s). Yes, it is yet another shooter, but it does some very innovative stuff, such as strategic dismemberment. You can't just shoot a baddie in the head and move on because that would waste your ammo and anger them. What you need to do is totally tear them apart. While you are tearing them apart, they will change their approach to killing you. For example, if you take the legs out, they'll crawl towards you with their arms and try to take you out that way. In addition, there's some other cool powers like telekinesis and stasis. Based on all the footage I've seen so far, EA could have a possible game of the year contender with Dead Space.
Also out this week is indie darling child, World of Goo, on both PC (direct from 2D Boy via PayPal, on Steam, Direct2Drive, Beanstalk, Greenhouse, and in regular stores for all you disc fans) and WiiWare. Based on Tower of Goo (download it for free here, this physics-based puzzle game requires you to build structures using different types of goo in order to get balls to the exit. Sounds simple, but judging by the time I've played Tower of Goo, the end result should be a damned addictive game.
If you're a Wii owner looking for a hilarious adventure game should check out Sam and Max: Season One from Telltale Games. As you could probably infer from the title, it's a compilation of the all six episodes from the first season of the game put onto one disc on the Wii. Each episode will give you about two or three hours of gameplay, so you're looking at about 12-18 hours total to complete them all. Totally recommended if you're a Wii owner who liked Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive people and haven't played the PC version of Sam and Max: Season One.
Also out this week is SOCOM Confrontation for the PS3 (the latest installment in the popular online shooter), Saints Row 2 (the next installment in the GTAalike franchise), and Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2 (the sequel to the cult-classic 1984 arcade/NES game).
Oh yeah, Rock Revolution comes out this week too. If you buy it, I will punch you in the face.
As you probably know by now, I'm very excited for the upcoming PS3 exclusive game, LittleBigPlanet, which comes out in a little over a week. I love the happy-go-lucky atmosphere and the bright colors...however Sony has officially thrown that out the window with a newly announced guest Sackboy character...
SEPHRIOTH
Yeah, that Sephiroth. Everyone's favorite long-haired emo villain from Final Fantasy 7. The same Sephiroth that inspired many awful fanfics, fanart, and especially other games, is now coming with his trendy Hot-Topic dress style into the world of LittleBigPlanet. Along with Sephiroth, expect thousands of 15 year old otakus who think Sephy is kawaii bishie and writes long yaoi fanfics involving him and Cloud to follow.
Also coming to LBP: Old Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4.
For those of you who sort of follow gaming news, however few of you there are, probably have been following the Tokyo Game Show, which is probably the biggest show there is for gaming now that E3 is dead. Long Live E3. So, there are a lot of bombshells and great announcements to come from TGS, and if you want to know what they are I suggest you look at a website that blogs about games. Might I recommend Kotaku. See, I am not here to report all the crap that was announced at TGS. Rather, I want to start a discussion as to the things that excited us. Well, now that I got this out of the way way, let me begin.
[img align=right width=200]http://img18.yukle.tc/images/215Colin_McRae_Rally_04.jpg[/img]Colin Mcrae Rally 04 (2003) is the fourth installment in the succesful Colin McRae Rally series. Whether the title alludes to the fact the game was released in 2004 in North America or simply to the fact it's the fourth game in the series, I'm not really sure. Looking at the titles of the series there certainly has been a lack of continuity on the developer front: 2.0, 3, 04, 2005 and DiRT; it's almost as if they couldn't make up there mind how to label their games. No matter though, because I'm here to pay homage to the great Colin Mcrae by reviewing this game, not complain about at the series' titles.
I'll start of with the main menu which is kept simply, easy to navigate and straightforward. There's the championship, quick-race, single race and single rally modes. In the option menu you can make graphics and sound adjustments aswell as select what controller you'd like to use. Next to the keyboard, you can use an analog controller or a driving wheel. The last obviously being the best choice for a realistic experience but since I don't own one nor a PC controller, I have to limit myself to my keyboard.
In the championship mode there are actually six championships that can be completed. One for each of the game's difficulties (normal and advanced) and each of the different vehicle categories (three). There's the standard 4WD category with cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer or the Subaru Impreza WRX, a 2WD category with smaller cars like the Citroen Saxo or Ford RallyeSport Puma and the "B-group" category which consists of high-powered older vehicles such as a Lancia 037 or Peugeot 205 T16. B Group cars are forbidden in current-day rally because these faster, harder to control machines too often led to accidents. Luckily for us gamers, Codemasters has included these fun cars in Colin Mcrae Rally 04 for us to ride with as much as we want!
Every of these categories feel thoroughly different to drive with and even specific cars within a category handle differently. My favorite car is the 2WD Ford Puma because it is a nimble, lightweight car that can take consecutive corners rather fast. But no matter what car you choose to drive, it doesn't take long to get used to its handling and you'll be driving like a pro in no time. That's probably the most fun aspect of this game: the fact that it feels like realistic driving yet isn't too realistic so it doesn't become extremely difficult to control your car without smashing into the scenery.
The championship mode will take you to all of the game's locations which range from snowy Sweden to wet Brittain, or tropical Australia. All countries have a different dominant surface that you'll be faced with: tarmac in Spain, wet gravel in the UK, snow in Sweden, rough gravel in Greece, wet tarmac in Japan, fine gravel in the US, pea gravel in Australia and gravel in Finland. Plenty of variation in other words and just like with the cars, driving on different surfaces really feels differently.
The key to success in Colin Mcrae Rally 04 is: A. Carefully listening to your co-pilot and B. Selecting the right settings between stages. Although this might sound logical, paying attention to your co-driver's instructions really makes all the difference. Unless you'll play the game a lot, you won't be able to memorize what the different stages are like, so you're really up to his instructions. Especially in narrow sections, it's important not to get of track, because once you're between trees, it can easily cost you 10 seconds to get out again. Once every two stages you can set up your car in the service station for the next two stages. You get a little map which shows you the course layout and gives you a stats table that shows how much of a type of surface you may expect. It's important to check what surface type appears most in the next two stages combined and choose tires accordingly. Besides tire types you can also adjust your brake bias, steering speed, gear ratio, ride height, spring tension and anti-roll.
Second function of the service station is to repair damage done to your car in previous stages. Depending on how big the damage on, say, your turbo might be, it'll take anywhere from only a few minutes to almost half an hour of repair time. You get a maximum of 60 minutes at every service station so it's best not to trash your car on the way there. Besides visual damage there's also alot of internal damage that can seriously affect your car's performance. You have the option to set the car damage on "normal" or "hard" depending on your skill level. At the normal setting the occasional jump in the scenary doesn't mean catastrophy but at the hard setting it's vital to avoid crashes at all costs.
In the championship mode you'll have to drive a series of normal stages in each country and end with a special "face-off" stage where you have to drive faster than another driver in an arena-track. Between rallies, you'll be able to attempt to win new/upgraded car parts in constructor challenge mini-games. This can range from sliding enough to wear down tires on a selected course to staying within a small RPM-range while switching gears. Goal of the championship mode is to win each individual rally (obviously) aswell as having your manufacturer win the overal championship. After finishing one of the championships, you unlock a few cars.
The PC version of the game features online or LAN multiplayer for 2-8 players. Despite all players driving at the same time, you can only see ghosts of your opponents' cars instead of the actual cars. I haven't had the chance to check the multiplayer out just yet, so I can't really say anything about it.
Visually, Colin Mcrae Rally 04 is great. The PC version has improved graphics over the original Xbox version, with more detailed and sharper looking cars, roads and foliage, aswell as improved weather conditions. The game was always smooth to play, with a minimum of framedrops and glitches. Textures are generally good but some foliage and trees are rather low-res; this is especially apparent when you go of-course. the damage model looks pretty realistic with broken windows, loose bumpers and parts that completely fall of your vehicle. Colin Mcrae Rally 04 doesn't have the DX10 graphics of DiRT, but that's only natural considering the game's age.
There is no music in the game except for the random techno tune of the menus, but that doesn't mean Colin Mcrae Rally 04 sounds bad. In fact, this game sounds as realistic as I can imagine rally sounding like. Engines roar, gearboxes rattle, exhausts scream, windows shatter, ... it's all there. Derek Ringer does an excellent job as co-pilot and never bored or annoyed me at any time. Every sound gets a extra dimension when switching to the cockpit view where everything looks and sounds just a bit more dramatic. I never made much use of this view though, because it limits your view greatly.
If you happen to see Colin Mcrae Rally 04 somewhere and it isn't too expensive, get it. It's pretty much everything a good rally game should be and I had a great time playing this game. 8.0/10
Two years, has it been that long? I guess it has been. Two years ago today the Wii was released worldwide, because Nintendo loves you… or so we thought. What has the last two years brought Nintendo and it’s Wii? Let’s delve into the past, and see where the future lies for Nintendo.
Well, the future, what does it hold? Being on top means that Nintendo has the most to lose. It’s quite obvious that Nintendo cares most about the casual gamer these days, and it hurts. Nintendo really, really needs to either invest in games for gamers or encourage third parties to innovate rather than defecate. Maybe it could, you know, do both? Who knows, really? I certainly hope they do, because to a certain extent Nintendo has really tried to see what the breaking point of their fanboys is. Maybe to them that’s okay, but they have to realize that you can have your hardcore faithful in addition to being super trendy. Apple does it, somehow. Isn’t that who Nintendo is trying to emulate anyways? Does that mean that we’ll soon see a super thin Iwata in jeans and a black shirt with a goatee? God I hope so. The truth is though that Nintendo needs to know that some of Nintendo’s biggest fans are becoming some very bitter people, and bitter people can bring some very negative press. Best then to keep the fans happy, I suppose. Might you start with localizing Captain Rainbow and Mother 3? Please? PLEASE?
Happy Birthday PS3! That's right, two years ago today the PLAYSTATION 3 was released here in the states, being the second region to get the behemoth known as the PLAYSTATION 3. At the time it was the BIGGEST, BADDEST, MOST POWERFUL console to date, and well, two out of the three of those descriptors still fit. Depending on how you look at it, those descriptors can have either a positive or negative connotation associated with them.
So, 2 years down, how many more to follow? Clearly the 4 year cycle should be blown to nothingness, I hope. I honestly think the PlayStation 3 will have a rosier future. It really is a powerful, powerful system, and in time production costs will hit a sweet spot where the mass public can afford it. There are good games for the PlayStation 3, and someday maybe a lot of people will be fortunate enough to play them. Sony really, really needs to knock the socks off of the gaming public. Clearly non casual gamers feel at time disenfranchised with the current market leader, why not capitalize on that? Find a sweet spot to sell the console at. Promote the third party tie-in ratio. Push the value of the console. Stop running esoteric and crazy commercials. Sell and advertise what people want. I think Sony will be able to pull it off, and in the future you might just see Sony be somewhere rosier than they currently are. Time shall tell.
One of the biggest games this week is Call of Duty: World at War, the first game in the popular series since last year's awesome Modern Warfare. This game takes the series back to its WW2 roots...and back to off-year developer Treyarch, two strikes against the game in the eyes of many fans of last year's Infinity Ward developed installment. However, don't be worried because I think the game looks great, especially since it keeps the same addictive multiplayer XP/perk system found in 4...
If you haven't joined the new age of gaming and don't like downloading games, you may want to check out Namco Museum Virtual Arcade since it includes many games available on the Xbox Live Arcade service on one disc including Galaga Legions, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Mr. Driller Online, Pac-Man, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious, and New Rally-X. 
The OH NOOOO! Otter is concerned! See, the OH NOOOO! Otter has a side thing he likes to do when he isn't the OH NOOOO! Otter on this here website. It turns out that Mr. Otter is a mischief maker on EA's official forums. You might call him a troll, but hey, every forum has their troll, and well, we tend to ban them. I really don't know why Mr. Otter find it's necessary to be such a not so nice member on EA's official forum. It might be because EA has historically been an evil corporation. It could just be that he is a truly malicious person. But, EA is really getting sick of his and others antics, and they are going to raise the stakes in getting banned.
Yup, time to put Guitar Hero to rest because the Wall Street Journal reports that 
First up: Rock Band 2! This time it's the game only for the PS3 and the bundle edition for the PS3 and 360. Sorry, but PS2 and Wii owners have to wait until next month to rock out with plastic instruments...again. Or until Guitar Hero World Tour next week. But why get that when Harmonix is so much better than Activision? Plus Rock Band 2 has one of my favorite songs of all-time, Teen Age Riot by Sonic Youth.
You all know LittleBigPlanet. It's a PS3 exclusive platformer developed by Media Molecule that was slated to come out next week. Well, not so fast, because one of the songs from the game's soundtrack, 
The biggest game of this week is EA's sci-fi scarefest, Dead Space. If this game is not on your radar, it should be. Why? It's supposed to be an 
As you probably know by now, I'm very excited for the upcoming PS3 exclusive game, LittleBigPlanet, which comes out in a little over a week. I love the happy-go-lucky atmosphere and the bright colors...however Sony has officially thrown that out the window with a newly announced guest Sackboy character...
