411 Games Fact or Fiction 05.11.09: Sequels, Duke Nukem Forever, UFC vs. Fight Night and More

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.11.2009

Will Fight Night Round 4 Outsell UFC 2009 Undisputed? Are you upset that good games get snuffed while crappy ones get sequels? Should the next Mortal Kombat be in 2D? Find out what Rod Oracheski and John Curry think about these questions and more in this week's Fact or Fiction: Games.



Alright, we're back for another wee of Fact or Fiction. This time around, John Curry and Rod Oracheski enter the playing field to give us their thoughts on various topics. Now let's see what they think!

1. Regardless of the teaser we got a few months ago, you knew deep down that Duke Nukem Forever would never see the light of day.


I'm a joke, wanna fight about it?

John Curry: FACT - I say fact only because I had already forgotten that this game was supposed to come out. It seems as if every time this company needs a little backing they release or re-release the same footage or a little bit more information but no actual release date. This is their own damn fault and regardless of whether this game ever comes out or not, the pathetic mind games this company enjoyed playing has turned me off of ever wanting to play this game.

Rod Oracheski: FICTION - Call me a believer in the underdog, but I really thought they were going to ship something this year. I thought it was going to be a real disappointment, but I did think it was going to arrive on shelves. What has been released since the announcement (a slew of screenshots and video) did indeed look decent, especially the animation, so maybe it's a shame they couldn't get through whatever issues plagued them.

Score: 0 for 1 - More like 'Duke Nukem Never' I say.

2. The cooking game genre is played out now



John Curry: FACT - Seems true because no one is making this genre exciting. I have tried my hand at a couple Wii cooking games, yet there is just nothing there that makes you as an adult gamer want to continue to play. I would love to see a more advanced take on it but right now if Hell's Kitchen couldn't make a good game out of milking Gordon Ramsay, I really don't think this market has very much room to move up.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - The only thing I'd argue is the 'now' part. It was played out when they decided to release a Hell's Kitchen game without him cussing up a storm. Okay, probably before that.

Like Curryman said though, it's because nobody's doing anything different to make it interesting (he said exciting, but maybe that's a bit farther than I'd go) these days. There's got to be something they can do with the Wii controls to make it work, but I don't see a 'kick in the pants' cooking genre revamp game coming out on the 360 or PS3.

Score: 1 for 2 - Let's see if Cooking Mama 3 which is being shown at E3 this year does anything differently. And Rod, I was kind of rooting for some over the top profanity from Chef Ramsey!

3. You'd love to see Track & Field remade but for the Wii with balance board support.



John Curry: FACT - When the balance board was first announced and released there were swarms of reviewers and fans who saw this as the beginning of a great controller that would allow full body control. Unfortunately since the release, there has not been nearly anything worth noting game-wise to come to the balance board. As a result of this I cannot stress enough my desire to actually play a re-made or improved version of Nintendo's original Track & Field with the balance board. The game is limitless and can make for a great family game. Why the hell haven't they started this, too many milk the cow games out there for them to focus on??? Ahh man now I am mad at my Wii.

Rod Oracheski: FACT - : Never really thought about it until now, but that would work pretty well. The limitations of the board might make some events need some tweaking (how would you long jump when you can't really jump - run then lean forward?) but at least it'd get those fat kids active.

Score: 2 for 3 - The 100m dash would kick ass I bet.

TIME TO SWITCH IT UP!

4. The next Mortal Kombat should be in 2D (confirmed to use Unreal Engine though).



Rod Oracheski: FICTION - Hell no! After going 3D, you just don't go back. If they want to drop a 2D fighter on us, do it through XBLA or PSN - not retail. It's not like their 3D fighters are really all that '3D' anyway - you fight on a 2D plane with somewhat hobbled ability to move outside that plane, not true 3D movement. I've liked what they've done since the switch to 3D, and I'd like to see what they can do in the future. Someone needs to shake up the fighting genre, so why not a company that gave it a kick in the pants once already.

John Curry: FICTION - The game shouldn't be made at all. Mortal Kombat is a massive part of my childhood. I remember standing around in Montgomery Ward's playing on the Sega Genesis demo area for hours after school because my parents couldn't afford to buy a system playing non-stop. Since those days I have tried to like all of the next generation and the next-next generation and the next-next-next generation systems version and I've never quite enjoyed it as much as the originals for the Genesis. With that being said, if you are going to bring a somewhat successful version of a 3-D game out then you must continue to make it in 3-D. If you switch back to 2-D you are saying we don't want to spend the time money and effort to make it as good.

Score: 3 for 4 - A new MK via XBLA, PSN and WiiWare? Now we're talking!

5. Fight Night Round 4 will outsell UFC 2009 Undisputed.



Rod Oracheski: FICTION - Fight Night has big name recognition after Round 3 wowed people, but if you're talking man-on-man action, it doesn't get any bigger than Mark Salmela...oh, fighting action? Well then it's UFC. With a stellar demo already generating big buzz for them and word of dream features like 100 created fighter slots, UFC is going to generate MASSIVE sales - and it's a title that's going to have legs. Every UFC PPV, you'll be inundated with ads for it and there'll be another surge of people wanting to try it out.

EA's not going down without a fight, no pun intended, and they'll be dropping a demo of Round 4 just before UFC hits shelves...but is it too little, too late? The buzz that's surrounding UFC dwarfs that of pro boxing, even with 'Iron' Mike Tyson on EA's side, and I think we'll see that reflected in the sales numbers as well. An analyst said he thinks UFC will move two million units in the first nine months. I'd be willing to bet we see it do over two million after two. If RE5 can move 1.5 million (plus whatever sold in the Xbox 360 bundles) I'm willing to bet UFC Undisputed can do the same. The real question - is someone going to drop a UFC Undisputed console bundle onto shelves for the release? A console, the game, and two controllers would equal some pretty fun times, straight out of the box.

John Curry: FICTION - Ouch, ouch…Ouch. Brain ache. I am torn very torn between these two games as I love the direction Fight Night has taken the Sweet Science and with the inclusion of Mike Tyson and Pac-man I really can't wait to put some leather to work. However, I am also a die hard MMA freak and the demo of Undisputed has me salivating for more. This game is just extremely well done and plays right into the massive 18-35 male fan base that games are predominately made for. If the PPV numbers are any indication of how well MMA will compete with boxing then I would look to see this game outsell Fight Night by 2 to 1.

Score: 4 for 5 - Their sales figures should make for some watercooler talk.

6. You find it irritating that great games like Psychonauts and Okami can't get sequels but crap titles (aka shovelware) see sequels like there's no tomorrow.



Rod Oracheski: FICTION - Don't get me wrong, I wish games like Psychonauts, Okami, or Chromehounds sold more...but I wouldn't say I'm irritated that niche games - regardless of how good they are - don't sell millions. Psychonauts was too high-brow for the audience interested in platformers with a somewhat cartoony look. Okami had absolutely zero 'oh I get it' factor from reading the box - is there a casual gamer out there that would look at it and have a clue what it was about, much less want to play it bad enough to drop $40 or $50 on that instead of on a more familiar franchise? Chromehounds...well giant stomping robots is about as niche as it gets.

What irritates me, are the executives who push those kind of titles out with little fanfare, then act surprised when they only sell a couple hundred thousand units. If it lost money, why did you greenlight that kind of budget for a title that just about anyone could tell you wouldn't sell millions? Did anyone honestly believe Okami was going to sell 500,000 copies? Schafer has said that Psychonauts moved 400,000 units over two years time, and if that's not good enough I really don't know if it's the market that's to blame.

John Curry: FICTION - I have to agree with Rod here, as much as I loved Okami and Psychonauts to a smaller level, I do understand that the reason that many of these companies choose not to make sequels is simply because they know the higher ups will not market their products as much as a release of Halo, or the bi-yearly release of a Call of Duty. I would love to see them put just a fraction of the amount of push that they put behind these games behind some of the most enjoyable games ever, especially Okami.

Final Score: 5 for 6 - Give me some Eternal Darkness 2 and I'll be a happy camper!

Ok now that you've heard Rod and John, it's time to turn the tables on you, the readers. Fact or Fiction? Let us know!