Voice of Reason

Sony execs tend to say a lot of dumb things, Ken Kuturagi made a career out of doing so  with the confidence of a man who firmly believes that he possesses a Steve Jobs-like Reality Distortion Field, unfortunately he sounded more like a lunatic to most, Kaz Hirai, on the other hand, comes off as an awkward spin doctor, desperate to peddle his wares, and lets not even talk about Jack Tretton.

Now entering the fray, SCEA's Director of Marketing, John Koller: 

"I think it remains to be seen where Nintendo goes with 3D on a portable... Having been in the portable space for quite awhile, I think it's an interesting move but one I'd like to see where they go from a demographic standpoint. 8 and 9 year-olds playing 3D is a little bit of a stretch given where some of our research is right now." 

 As usual, Bill Harris over at Dubious Quality had an interesting rebuttal to the idea that Sony should be opening their mouths at all about this particular topic. It's recommended reading.

If there was one image to sum up the last three years, it would be every Sony executive wearing a dog collar with NINTENDO stamped into the leather, walking on a leash behind Satoru Iwata.

Bayonetted

I picked up Bayonetta on new year's eve at my local "we're not overly concerned with release dates" store and have (subtracting most of new years eve and new years day, along with the entirety of my evening tonight) logged in over 10 hours already. I'm seriously hooked on this game. Sure, the narrative is completely nonsensical and extremely eye-roll inducing, but the design is top notch and the action is genre defining.

More to Come...

Another JRPG That I Won't Finish

I took a look at some videos from Tri-Ace’s upcoming RPG, End of Eternity, I’m a sucker for games with a more sci-fi-ish ascetic, and EoE looks like it may see my “Sci-Fi” and raise me “Dystopian Future,” which is almost guaranteed to get me interested. The combat looks absolutely bizarre, focusing mainly on people jumping though the air and stylishly firing dual pistols like gravity immune anime characters who just attended a seminar on Equilibrium’s Gun Kata.

Neutered Ninja!

The past few days I’ve been playing the hell out of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, which should probably be called "Ninja Gaiden 2 for people who don't enjoy getting punched in the dick." Ninja Gaiden is legendary for being uncompromisingly difficult, but success in that game was something you earned and in a sad sort of way, could be proud of. With NGS2, the series has lost its teeth; you can slice though most of the game without really getting that deep understanding of the combat system that you would normally need in order to progress.

That said, in one day, I progressed far further then I ever did during my first Ninja Gaiden 2 experience, where i was set upon and repeatedly mutilated by angry werewolves on the third stage...

Tokyo Checklist

In two weeks, i'll be back in Japan, my goals for the trip include the following:

1. Eat at a Yakiniku resturant - Sure, the "cook it yourself" style of Korean BBQ exists in the US, but i'm very interested in having it overseas and seeing for myself what sort of twists are on it.

2. More Shaka Shaka Chicken- Hell Yeah

3. Acquire a Japanese Xbox 360 - for the purpose of playing arcade shooters. this goal also implies the purchase of region specific games for said system.

4. Dine out someplace ill-advisedly expensive - I'm no stranger to fine dining in NYC, but I haven't done it yet in Japan. Since I'll be making this trip with my girlfriend, it seems like a perfect opportunity to correct that omission.

5. Ramen - Interestingly enough, i've only had authentic ramen once, since there are as many ramen shops in Tokyo as there are people in Vermont, this should be an easy task.

6. Hachico - Two trips to Japan already and I still havent seen this damn dog.

7. High Places - Tokyo Tower, Metropolitan Government Building, and Roppongi's Mori Twer. Cheezy tourist destinations, but also awesome views. Why do all of this? In a nutshell, I want to take some pictures.

8. Yodobashi Camera - Yodobashi's a 9 story electronics store in Akihabara that looks like a football stadium from overhead. I've somehow missed out on going here during my previous trips.

Podcasts: The Giant Bombcast

Had been really stressed out at for for pretty much all of June, during which time I missed the deadline for a writing submission to get published at Gamers With Jobs and also started a writeup of Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, but that also never made it to the "Publish" button. Tonight I'm not going to try and pen some essay about Japanese gaming culture or the story about how i swore off collectable card games when i was 18 years old, this is because i've realized that recovery from being overstressed is a slow road and that I need to use some baby steps.

Tonight i'm going to keep it as irreverant and silly as I can, and thus i'm going to talk about the Giant Bombcast.

The Bombcast is Giant Bomb's weekly podcast, and about the closest thing to an humorous radio show like Opie and Anthony that you're going to find in gaming podcast circles.

Giant Bomb consists of Jeff Gerstmann, Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinnie Caravella, all ex-Gamespot employees who (with the about-to-become-obvious exception of Jeff) left the site following the controversial firing of Gerstmann. The latter having been axed after giving a negative review to a game that had advertized heavily at the site (aka: Gerstmanngate).

It would seem that the group quickly realized when they started putting that site together, that a small company like theirs can't hope to compete with massive sites like Kotaku and IGN in terms of how much content they provide or how quickly they can provide it. So what they provide is pure personality. Just like every other gaming podcast out there, they talk about the games they play, the news, and new releases, but what sets them apart is that the group is genuinely funny and has chemestry that keeps the conversation flowing.

If that flavor of humor appeals to you, then you'll feel right at home listening to the Bombcast.

Magic: The Addiction

Many years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a small collectible card game called Magic: The Gathering. I still remember his response when I asked him what it was.
"It's liquid crack, for gamers"

Like the rest of my friends, I fell for Magic hook, line, and sinker. Whatever we used to do as a group was suddenly and radically altered to fit in as much MtG as humanly possible. This trend continued until a friend went out and purhased an entire distribution box of booster packs. It was at that moment that i realized a few things, 1: I could no longer compete with my friend in this game, he got cards out of that box that were utterly ridiculous, the second thing I realized was that the object of the game is actually to purchase more cards. In a rare -oh, SO rare- moment of self control, I completely stopped playing on that day.

Flash forward a few weeks ago and I've downloaded the demo for Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers based on some positive buzz coming out of Gamers with Jobs, recommendations by friends with questionable tastes, and my own odd curiosity about a game that I stopped playing years ago.

It turns out that when you remove the massive cost of entry involved with getting a deck, the constant required investment to keep up with the latest cards, and the hours of investment needed to min/max your deck, Magic: The Gathering is actually still a fantastic game.

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

Via the Examiner:

PS3 owners and Sega fans have been waiting patiently for a Yakuza 3 announcement. With the game currently available in Japan, many gamers hoped Sony would announce a release date or a worldwide release of the title during E3. Sadly, that didn’t come to fruition. However, Sony is giving us all a small piece of advice. That advice is to tell Sega.

Jeff Rubenstein of Sony was asked a question concerning Yakuza 3 being localized. He gave a brief reply: “Talk to SEGA! I’d love the opportunity to play Yakuza 3 in English.”

If you want to see Yakuza 3 get localized in America or Europe you best bet is to email Sega and let them know. Here’s the link to the official Sega site. So email them and let your voice be heard. If that isn’t enough, you could always start a petition.

Unfortunately, there's always a chance that this might happen:

Sega will take it as confirmation that they should go ahead with a samurai-themed Sonic game.

Red Faction? Why yes, I think I will

I've been debating picking up either Prototype or Red Faction Guerilla, but then I read a few comments on Red Faction, first from Bill Harris:

Is there any way, any conceivable way, that Volition could have jammed more awesome into this game? It's like they filled the game with awesome, then pressurized the game and added more awesome until it became supersaturated.

and then Rebel FM's Arthur Gies:

Just when i thought red faction had shown me all of its awesome, it gave me a jetpack.

With reccomendations like these, you don't need to ask which one I bought.

You're Doing It Wrong

So, what was once thought to be a group religious protesters at E3 rallying against EA's upcoming "Dante's Inferno" have ended up being something slightly different...

The protesters railing against EA for the game Dante's Inferno were part of a marketing scheme, reports the Associated Press. A viral marketing agency hired by EA reportedly organized the stunt, and hired about 20 people to picket the game. After it was picked up by the blogs, several began to question whether the protest was legitimate based on an amateurish Web site and anonymous domain registration. EA spokesperson Holly Rockwood confirmed it today.
We would question the wisdom of marketing that associates your company with either religious extremists or the Antichrist, but maybe that's why we don't work in advertising.

Oh EA, don't ever change

The Old Republic Cinematic Trailer Blows Minds.

Bioware showed off a cinematic trailer for The Old Republic at the EA conference. This is the first time I've been excited about Star Wars without feeling the sequel taint in years

Trailer link here

Hyperbole Kills

Friends don't let friends read IGN previews

- The second level of the demo is when my entire face was blown off by maximum awesome.

In case you weren't sure, that's his entire face, not just a small portion. But then, I suppose the awesome would not have been "maximum" if it only took out his eyes and nose.

Note: this preview was about Sega's upcoming Bayonetta, which evidently features Maximum Awesome on the second level.

Too Many Games!

Rebel FM is really making me want to try Gun, it's too bad I'm already playing some lengthy games and am about to have June drop on me.


Maybe there's a demo...

inFAMOUS Demo Impressions

The demo for inFAMOUS dropped a few short hours after I was mentioning it here as part of my summer list and I had a chance to play it a little bit this morning. So far it looks to be exactly what it's been billed as, a lot like Crackdown, but with more of a superhero feel to it. The powers were a lot of fun to use, your character has some great freedom of movement, feeling a bit like Spider-Man with his ability to stick to surfaces on the fly and quickly move in and out of situations.

The controls feel a bit wonky, I'm not sure if this is just a result of my general (and longstanding) discomfort with the Playstation Controller's layout and analog sticks, or if the controls themselves could just use some tightening. I suppose time will tell.

I'm definately looking forward to playing some more.

Meet the Spy

In honor of the new Team Fortress 2 update released this weekend, I thought I would draw some attention to the really amusing "Meet the Team" videos that Valve's been putting out to promote the game. Their latest video, "Meet the Spy," is arguably the best so far, but they're all highly amusing.

Christmas in June

Looks like the second half of May and on into June are maddeningly full of potentially high-quality titles, I need a game plan.

UFC: I played and really enjoyed the demo for this one, but i'm not sure if a really involved sports game is the best move for me right now, since I already have a few long term games on my plate.

Verdict: Put it off or Rent

Bionic Commando: I keep hearing good things and the game is reviewing pretty well so far, but I'm big on combat, which I hear takes a bit of a back seat to the swinging action.

Verdict: Rental

Infamous: Man... I love Crackdown and I love the decent Spider-man games, everything i've seen about this game has looked like an addicting marriage of both.

Verdict: Must Buy

Prototype: This one looks a hell of a lot like Infamous, I'll have to see how it reviews.

Verdict: Wait and see

Ghostbusters: I've played it, I liked it, It's fucking Ghostbusters, I'm buying this game, period.

Verdict: Day One

Red Faction Guerrilla: RFG came out of nowhere and really shocked me. I remember playing (and quickly casting aside) the original Red Faction, which I felt was a clever gimmick in the form of destructible environments and not much else. The demo for this one showed something that feels a lot more like Grand Theft Get Your Ass to Mars. It looks like there's a lot of game here and tons of open world mars action, but much like UFC, I think this one is going to ask for a lot more time then I have to give right now.

Verdict: Pass, evaluate later.

So that's the plan, let's see how well I actually stick to it when I'm standing in Gamestop.

Podcasts: Out of the Game

I realized recently that I listen lot of Podcasts, so much so that I think I've become either an expert or an addict. To that end I decided to shed a little light on some of the shows that have been occupying so much of my time.

Out of the Game

OttG is a podcast featuring ex-game journalists (enthusiast press or whatever) Jeff Green, former Editor in Chief at Computer Gaming world, who has moved onto development at EA; Luke Smith, formally of 1up, now employed by Bungie; N'Gai Croal, once mainstream media's most prolific gaming voice, now a freelance game design consultant, Robert Ashley freelancer, musician, and creator of the fantastic internet radio show, A Life Well Wasted; and hosted by Shawn Elliot, who now hangs his hat alongside Ken Levine at 2K Boston. For those who have been following the gaming media, this is something of a dream team. With the exception of N'Gai, every one of these guys is a legend in gaming podcast circles.

On would think that getting a group like this together would lead to some sort of mega-gaming podcast, but the kicker of OttG is that they rarely discuss games at all. Instead this show's topics range spans books, movies, the internet, family, and even the occasional game, everything is open to discussion here.

Out of the Game serves to remind listeners that personalities can be far more important then topics.

Weekend Gaming

One of the major changes to my gaming habits since slowing my WoW consumption down has been the incredible variety of games that have been crossing my plate. This weekend is a perfect example.

First order of business was taking Fable II out of its Gamefly sleeve and finally getting around to popping it in. I'm not at all a fan of the original Fable, so I really wasn't expecting very much out of this experience. Much to my surprise though, I found myself mostly engrossed by the charming world Lionhead put together... even more surprising was that I found myself liking the dog... yeah, me. But it's not just the lovable pooch that has me enjoying this game. It's the feeling that even though you're given a relatively straightforward Hero's Journey to fulfill, you're dropped into a living, breathing world that has things going on in it that are completely unrelated to your quest, and they are a wonderful distraction from the guided experience that you are engaged in. From the optional quests, to the jobs, to the social interactions, to the world economy, these are things that you would normaly never see in a game like this, but here they are front and center.

Though no fault of Fable II's, I decided to take a break and dust off the old Hori stick for some Street Fighter 4. The Championship Pack they installed really reinvigorated my interest in the game. It seems that the new tiered structure goes a long way towards separating different levels of players. Now it's not at all unusual for me to face someone who I'm clearly better then in the first round, someone who is nearly an equal in the second, and then someone who, while I have a fighting chance, is still clearly my better in the third and final round. I was no longer finding myself facing insanely high ranked people playing Akuma in every single match, now I only see them in the third round of a typical tournament, it's a definite improvement.

Rounding out my 360 play this weekend was Burnout Paradise, a game I haven't played since I returned it to Gamefly, even though I've since bought it during Circuit City's Going out of Business Sale. In the interim, they went ahead and added even more content and redesigned the interface yet again, sometimes I can't believe what Criterion have done with this game, the platform they've built is just spectacular. Every time I play this game, I'm as stunned by the vastness of the city as I am of the incredible variety of things that there are to do there. In the interest of rewarding them for putting out such a great product with so much free content, I went ahead and bought the Legendary Cars pack, which features just different enough to not be infringing versions of the Back to the Future Delorian, KITT, Ecto-1, and the General Lee. Sure, they are cheesy little gimmicks, but they are damn fun cheesy little gimmicks. Unfortunately, I think this stint in Paradise City is going to come to an early end. You see, unlike its predecessors, Paradise is the kind of game that rewards you for dedication, not unlike a really good RPG. You get to a certain point where you've invested so much that you, without thinking about it, throw everything else into it. With the number of games I've been playing and the massive influx coming in June, I don't see that happening.

Giant Bombing

I have an achievement problem, sure it's not nearly as bad as some other people's achievement problems, but I still do uncharacteristic things like play games that I would rather be done with just so I can add some more achievements.

This is already a problem.

And here comes Giantbomb.com, who added a bizarre and brilliant achievement tracking system to their site. This new system assigns a letter grade for each game based not only on how many points you actually have, but which achievements you get. For example, lets say you and I both have 15 achievements in a given game, the 15 that you have are pretty much the same that most people have, you'll likely get something like a B. Now, lets assume that of my 15, 5 of them are insanely rare and very few people in Giant Bomb's database have them, i'll get a higher grade.

This is a living record, so the more people get my rare points, the less valueable they will become, and the lower my grade in that game will be.

The thing I like most about this is that it fosters competition in a whole new way, since the more the community does, the more you're pressed to do in order to keep up.

I should note that this system also allows for the inclusion of WoW achievements and someday soon, Steam... they are just getting warmed up!

The Mangod Bringith?

So I've been carefully considering picking up a Japanese Xbox 360 during my next visit to Japan for the sole purpose of getting my hands on the myriad of shmups that have been coming out for that system. Between Otomedius Gorgeous, DoDonPachi, Mushihime-sama Futari, Raiden IV, and Death Smiles, i would have a hell of a lot to play.

Enter Shane Bettenhausen, former game journalist for 1up.com and current executive at Ignition Entertainment, a publisher who's recent trend has been towards localizing japanese games for the American market. Shane was a guest on a recent 1up podcast, where he hinted that Ignition may have some announcements for E3, and that these announcements may be 360 exclusives.

The 360 really doesnt have a whole lot going on in the land of the rising sun, so it's not a big leap to think that these games (if Shane isnt just fucking with everyone) could be from the one genre the console has a lot of, shmups.

Who knows? maybe Ignition got their hands on some awesome Cave or Treasure shooters!