B3yond the Report 06.30.09
Posted by Mark Salmela on 06.30.2009
411’s Mark Salmela returns with a vengeance as he discusses the weekly news. ID Software was recently purchased by the same company who owns Bethesda, is this a match made in heaven? Also, Warner Bros buys out Midway, Call of Juarez and BlazBlue are out this week, Square Enix is making bank off the PSN, Mobile Light Force on PSN is awesome, Activision tries to make itself feel important, and more when you go B3yond the Report.
Welcome back to another dazzling edition of B3yond the Report. I am your host Mark Salmela, and I thoroughly enjoyed my week off. Much props to Drew Robbins for stepping up to the plate to cover.
No problem Salms. Any time, any place, I'll be there.
With that said I have some sad news to report. Sunday saw the passing of pitchmen legend Billy Mays. I'm being dead serious here in that I was all prepared to debut Billy Mays as the new president of marketing for B3yond the Report Enterprises. Mays had a speech prepared and everything. But with all respect to the Mays family those plans are now off. Rest in peace Billy Mays, it looks as if God needed a new pitchman to convince those nonbelievers.
Well shit, there goes three months worth of planning. Not to mention three months worth of fund-raising, DAMN YOU GIRL SCOUTS OF AMERICA!
Hmm, time for the back-up plan! Ladies and Gentlemen, B3yond the Report's new CHIEF OF MARKETING…
Vince Offer!
You're gonna love my nuts Salms!
Ahh Vince they're so salty and full of potential. I'm gonna make fuckin' bank off this deal.
EXCUSE ME!
…What?...
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! I get traded to the fuckin' Cavs and you're here talking about Vince's salty nuts!!!!
Well uhhh…
You cracker ass piece of garbage.
I didn't fire you Shaqy, just because I've wasted the whole year's budget on Vince Offer from Shamwow doesn't mean I forgot about you.
What about the Christmas party?
Shit son you think I forgot about Santa's helpers?
Ahhh yeaaaah. That's what I'm talkin' about Salms.
It's gonna be a white Christmas my friend.
You probably didn't miss me at all, but here's B3yond the News of the Week~!
ID Software purchased
The two big stories of the week both have to do with companies being purchased. The first that I'm going to report on is the sale of ID Software to ZeniMax Media. For those unaware ZeniMax Media is the same company who owns Bethesda, the makers of games such as Oblivion and Fallout 3. This is the perfect combination in my opinion. Bethesda can't program for shit, and ID Software can't make a fun game for shit. But now that they're both owned by the same company we could see a lot of crossovers and friendly collaboration between the two companies. The end result? Awesome games. Rage looks like a technological marvel, but it looks generic as shit. Fallout 3 has an awesome premise, but it looks like it was coded by the same guys who tried to tighten up the graphics on level 3.
I generally like both ID and Bethesda, but this was a needed move in my opinion and could lead to Bethesda games living up to the title of "Game of the Year" that gets slapped on the box of every one of their games. Speaking of which, who the hell decides the official game of the year? Can anyone make a "Game of the Year" edition of their game? Because if so this is a strategy that is dying to be exploited. You can't tell me that Gamecock wouldn't have sold a few extra copies of Hail to the Chimp if it had "Game of the Year edition" slapped on the box. Hell for a few bucks they could say that I gave them the GOTY label. Yeah, I'm cheap, deal with it.
Cha-Ching Cha-Ching Cha-Ching!
Midway Games to be purchased by Warner Bros.
The other big story of the week has to do with the sale of Midway games to Warner Bros. Unfortunately things did not go the way Midway planned. Midway was hoping that there would be a bidding war between companies which would have raised their sale price. But it turns out Warner Bros. was the only company that made a serious offer for Midway, and so to the victor goes the spoils. Warner Bros. will purchase Midway and assume all of their IPs as well as their massive back-catalog of awesome games. As long as Warner Bros. doesn't screw with the development of the reportedly "ultra-violent" Mortal Kombat 9 than I don't really care. And look on the bright side, if things go really bad we could see Mortal Kombat vs Warner Bros.
Who doesn't want to see dream match-ups like Scorpion vs Bugs Bunny. Sub-Zero vs Daffy Duck. Baraka vs Scooby-Doo. Shang Tsung vs Yogi Bear. Oh wait, Warner Bros also owns DC Comics. Well shit.
Oh well, this isn't going to ruin my dreams.
FINISH HIM!
Square Enix pockets easy million
Square Enix has already made over a million dollars selling FF7 on the PSN. No big deal or anything. That's right, at the price point of $9.99 Square Enix has already sold over 100,000 copies of FF7 in America. I will say that I think part of the massive success of FF7 on PSN has to do with how hard it is to find an original copy of FF7 these days. Well, an original copy of FF7 at a decent price. I will also say that I think 100 thousand copies is honestly kind of low, considering map packs like the ones in World at War sell in the millions. But who knows FF7 could be a continuous seller on the PSN and reach that million sold status over time.
I know I beat this horse continuously but this is only more proof that porting PS1 games onto the PSN is easy money. There's no way this wasn't an extremely profitable venture for Square Enix. Hell I'd even go as far as to say this is probably the easiest million bucks Square has ever made. I mean come on, they just uploaded an iso *that's a ripped copy of a game for noobs* onto the PSN. How long or hard could it have been? Within the next two weeks we should also see the sales numbers for the original Metal Gear Solid on the PSN, and I wouldn't be surprised to see similar numbers or at least extremely high numbers.
Activision tries to make itself feel important
My little friend Drew Robbins got to go on a pretty nice rant about Activision concerning their public statement that Activision "was considering dropping the PS3 in terms of support". Yeah and I'm considering running for president. I'm going to get into a big rant but I got a great laugh out of everyone bickering back and forth about this story. Does anyone actually think Activision would consider dropping Sony? Activision doesn't do exclusives. Period. Activision puts everything it has on every console it possibly can. End of story. They don't even do Wii exclusives as far as I know. Activision is just trying to make themselves feel important. It's all a publicity move. Activision was hoping other companies would jump on board to try and make themselves feel as if they were the big leader behind this big "lower the price" movement. Well it failed as no one else said shit. Once Sony finally does drop the price of the PS3 this fall Activision will try to spin it as if they had something to do with it, thus impressing their shareholders. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Don't be fooled. If Gamestop made this quote there'd be a cause for alarm, but Activision doesn't have the balls.
PlayStation Store update for the week of June 25
This week's PlayStation Store update can be highlighted by one thing, and that's Mobile Light Force. I know it's quite possibly the dumbest name ever, but this is one of the best PS1 classics you can get. For $6 you gain access to one of the best top-down shooters ever. It plays just like Raiden and is an absolute steal for $6. I can't recommend it enough. It plays great, has incredible enemies, and the characters to choose from are different in how they handle and are overall awesome. Each of the characters has different weapons and different upgrades which add to the experience. There's a lot of replayability in this PS1 classic. Seriously it's $6, buy it. There was also Droplitz for $10, but I haven't seen or heard of this game. There was also a Bigs 2 demo, and after that there's not much of anything. Buy Mobile Light Force on the PSN.
It's like Raiden, but with wacky characters. Oh and this pic is from the sequel but to be honest they're very similar.
The retail releases for the week of June 30
This is a new headline that I plan to use as a weekly segment. While the summer definitely has its off weeks, once we hit the fall there'll be a lot of games hitting each week, and this will be a place where I'll give a short description on everything coming out that week.
Last week was pretty big with games like Fight Night Round 4 and Overlord 2 shipping, and this week is nothing to sneeze at. This week will see the release of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood by Ubisoft. For those unaware Bound in Blood is a western shooter, and you don't see a whole lot of western shooters. Hell to my knowledge this will be the first actual western shooter on the PS3 since I'm not counting the western level in the crappy Matt Hazard game. Come to think of it I'm not counting Matt Hazard as anything, so I'd be better off never bringing that game up again.
This week will also see the release of BlazBlue, a 2D fighter by the Guilty Gear team. Apparently there's a story behind why this game is called BlazBlue and not Guilty Gear but I don't have the time nor interest in looking into it. All you need to know is that BlazBlue plays like Guilty Gear and looks really good from a visual standpoint. The only problem? It costs $60. Sure you automatically get the limited edition if you buy in the first few weeks but who cares about limited editions? Besides the art book that came with the STANDARD edition of MGS4 I haven't kept anything that's come with a limited edition of a game. It's just a waste of money in my opinion. I'll probably buy BlazBlue, but I'll buy it when it's cheap. And since I would bet money that BlazBlue is going to be a huge flop I don't think I'll have to wait long to pick this game up for under $30. Sorry to sound like an ass, but there's no way BlazBlue will clean up at retail.
Finally this week will see the release of a new Harry Potter game, a new Ice Age game, and a new Punisher game for the PSN. If you think any of these three games will be good than I have land in Paraguay that I'd love to sell you.
B3yond the Cinema!
Buy Mobile Light Force for the PS1. It's $6 dammit.
Finally here's a trailer for BlazBlue. It looks good, but not $60 good.
The One Man Water Cooler~!
I don't have a whole lot to talk about this week. I'm sure I could think of something to rant about, but I'm happy with the length of this column as it is. I'd just like to point out that I'm currently gaming Snatcher on the Sega CD, and it's incredible. The majority of the game may be classified as point and click, but it's just so much more than that. Hideo Kojima is definitely one of my favorite developers ever and after playing both MGS1 on PS1 and now Snatcher over the past two weeks I must say his games hold up really well over time. I'm having a blast with both games, now if only that Policenauts translation patch would finally get released.
Oh, and in Snatcher Outer Heaven is the name of the local strip club. Not only is that +10 points in the awesome category, but the strip club is filled with classic Konami characters. The guys from Contra, Simon and Dracula from Castlevania, hell even the cute little guy from Rocket Knight Adventures on the Sega Genesis is in the strip club. I'm also pretty sure that's the last time that guy was ever seen in a video game. What a way to go out.
Sparkster is a fan of the strip clubs. Who knew?
The 411mania Empire~!
The Full Circle by Joe Roche. Joe, why don't you look at me anymore? Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser. Who the hell is Theo Fraser?
Armando Rodríguez likes boys. And that's not a reference to MJ. Armando just really likes boys. 411 Games Top 5 by Todd Vote. Good stuff, but it needs more Shaq. 411 Fact or Fiction Games by Drew Robbins. Cousin Oliver has claimed that Fact of Fiction needs a redneck from the north such as myself to stir things up. Anytime cousin, anytime… What-If by Greg Bruno. Good stuff, but it needs more Mark Salmela. Four Player Co-Op by John De Large. And the winner of "Worst Banner at 411mania" goes to…
Signing Off!
Well that's it for me everyone. Unless there's a demand for it by the readers I have no plans of bringing back the B3yond the Mail section. It takes too much time and doesn't appear to accomplish much other than starting fights or pointing out fights that occurred a week ago. With that said if you guys demand it I'll bring it back but this column drags on too long as it is in my opinion. So with that said I'll be back in 7. Oh I'd also like to take the time to thank everyone for the tremendously successful B3yond the Special: The Top Ten PlayStation 3 titles which I posted two weeks ago. It appears as if the majority of the readers agreed with my selections although some would change up the order of the top 6, which is fine with me. If you didn't read it be sure to check it out here.
I can be reached by the comments section below or by email at marksalms@gmail.com. I always read everything you guys post so don't hesitate on leaving feedback. Feel free to add me on the PSN, my PSN ID is Fester. I'll be back in 7, cya!
Any parting words Shaq?
Chris Lansdell's Mama is so fat she stopped at the curb and her belly jay-walked.
Greg Bruno's Mama is so poor when she goes to KFC, she has to lick other people's fingers.
Holy crap. I've been sitting on a gold-mine. Damn thing's been in a box since 1999 for me. I played it -- don't even think I finished it -- and off it went with my other PS games.
Crazy.
Posted By: Guest#4257 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 12:57 AM
"If Gamestop made this quote there'd be a cause for alarm, but Activision doesn't have the balls."
Umm...they already did - and I think it was before Activision did :p
So did EA and Ubisoft, for that matter.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 02:24 AM
I'm not expecting BlazBlue to shatter any records, but with the fighting game Fever that seems to be prevalent thanks to capcom reviving it with street fighter 4, I think it has a chance to have moderate success, simply by piggybacking. Also, you may not have loked into what is involved in the limited edition, but its definitely worth it. The 2 disk soundtrack alone will be worth the price of purchase. Aksys is known for having incredible music in their fighters, and from what I've seen of early footage, this game is no different. I have already gladly paid full price for the game, and cannot wait for my copy to come in.
Posted By: Duncan (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 03:02 AM
When did EA, Ubisoft, and Gamestop say they were going to drop PS3? Link? I personally do not see ANYTHING about them DROPPING the PS3. I just read that they are expecting a price drop. So, your sentence is very misleading...I do not see anything about them dropping the PS3.
So, you didn't really correct him. You provided misleading information to a statement that Mark provide to us all. Now, if you said other companies suggest that Sony would drop their price for the PS3, you would be correct. No one but Activision suggested they would drop support. So, you are incorrect.
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 04:09 AM
Gamestop's shown their displeasure towards the PS3, but I haven't seen anything nearly as flat out as Activision's statement.
And when the hell did EA and Ubisoft make those claims in a serious and public matter?
Either way there's a better chance Michael Jackson finishes his European tour than there is Activision dropping the PS3. Activision doesn't make exclusives Rod, it doesn't take much thought to figure that one out. Look at Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, ect and tell me Activision would make those exclusive.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 08:59 AM
you don't know warner brothers cartoons for shit, yogi bear and scooby doo are both Hanna Barbara cartoon characters, get it right salmela
Posted By: stronelis (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 09:56 AM
I disagree with a LOT of yoru tastes Mark, but you are right about PS1 games being basically free money for Sony. Especially series games. Besides Final Fantasy & Resident Evil, I'd love to see the Legacy of Kain games start to get released on PSN-- and if anybody hasn't yet, Medieval is an AWESOME game on there for only $6 (how many other games are there where you play as a deformed skeleton?)
Posted By: M:-X (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 10:15 AM
"411 Games Top 5 by Todd Vote. Good stuff, but it needs more Shaq."
Interesting... yet prophetic....
Everyone will love Vince's nuts!!
Look at Dave, *points and laughs*. If Dave didn't hear it, it is obviously false. Shame on you Rod for making a statement.
But for the record I think I know what Rod is referring to. It was early in the PS3's life cycle. Companies were talking about how hard it was to develop for the PS3, and would have to look into whether or not it was worth it to continue developing for the system.
No Dave, I don't have a link, basically because i don't care to prove anything to you.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 10:34 AM
I dont like boys....just ask your momma!
Anyway, I agree that Snatcher is the shit and I hope Kojima does the next-generation sequel he talked about in 2007
Posted By: Armando Rodriguez (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 10:41 AM
looks like jason vorhees is in the strip club too
Posted By: dogpound7382 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 10:54 AM
I never said Activision would ever really drop the PS3. If you read last week's Achievement Unlocked I'm pretty clear about that.
All I pointed out was that Activision is hardly alone in calling for a price drop. Dave can cry all he wants about how unfair that is, I'd hope you were smarter than that.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Well, Activision never said anything about exclusives. They said they might consider stopping development on PS3, and PSP titles. There is nothing in their statement that said they were looking to create games exclusively for one system. Even if they quit development on the PS3, they still have the Xbox 360, the Wii & DS, as well as the PC to develop on.
Personally, I don't see them quitting the PS3. I can see them possibly not developing anything from the ground up for the PS3, meaning they will develop with the 360, or the Wii in mind, then simply port the game over.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 01:02 PM
Todd,
You are just making it up. So, it is fine. I did a google search, that is why I said he was making it up. But, it is nice that you just gave up so easily.
Wait...
Do you even OWN a PS3? Why do you even care again?
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 01:43 PM
*sigh*
Are you high?
Did you have a high level of lead intake recently?
Are you injecting yourself with E. Coli O157:H7?
I do not even bother to read your Achievement Unlocked. With politics and the other news reports on this section, I would sit through your ramblings every week. I have better things to do with my time. I just responded to your comment on the B3Yond Report.
If you are going to play that game, you should cite which of your articles that caused that comment. I'm not going to go through your work. It is too time consuming. Hell, you do not even realize that a black font and a black background do not create a reader friendly atmosphere....
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 02:53 PM
"Hell, you do not even realize that a black font and a black background do not create a reader friendly atmosphere...."
You don't read it, but know that I switched formats? Okay...that makes about as much sense as you usually do.
What browser are you using that it's not displaying correctly when you're not reading it? Works fine in Firefox, Safari, and IE. It even works in OPERA, and nobody uses that browser...
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 04:04 PM
So now I have to own a PS3 to have an opinion on one of the biggest developers in the world potentially dropping the console? Yeah, I don't think ownership is necessary for an opinion. You can think I am a PS3 hater all you want Dave, some of us know the truth. You don't own Sony, but you sure do have plenty of opinions on them, don't ya?
here you go Dave, here is one article referencing what I was talking about, with EA claiming the PS3 was exotic, and hard to develop for. There is no mention in here of them contemplating abandoning the platform, but it does show that some developers do not like the system.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/ea-la-describes-exotic-tough-ps3-hardw are
Further more, it was revealed just in the last couple weeks on this site that even Valve, developers extraordinaire find it difficult to develop games on the PS3.
But for the record Dave, to answer your question about why I care... It's because I want a damn PS3, and the idea of the makers of one of my favorite series, COD, abandoning the system doesn't bode well for Sony, empty threats or not. I love God of War, and believe me, that is my sole reason for putting a little away each week for Sony's system. But I just know it is going to be one of them things were I'll go spend a buttload of cash on it, and then they will drop the price, so I am holding off as long as I can. I don't hate Sony, or the PS3, quite the contrary. That is why I care. But hey, you can believe whatever you want to. I know you will anyways.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 04:21 PM
All I was really talking about was this point:
"Activision was hoping other companies would jump on board to try and make themselves feel as if they were the big leader behind this big "lower the price" movement."
Activision is pretty much the last company to say there needs to be a price drop.
Gamestop said it in May: http://tinyurl.com/ohxfww
EA and Ubisoft were calling for it in March: http://tinyurl.com/d5syrw
That's just the 'PS3 needs a price drop' stuff from THIS year. Activision is late to the party on this one.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 05:48 PM
Just because you cant afford a new video game doesn't mean that it sucks. Blazblue is amazing.
Posted By: Guest#5476 (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 06:28 PM
Snatcher is still an awesome game and it's crying out for a re-release. Never got a english version of PoliceNaughts either - now would be a great time to release it on PSN or Live.
The guys in the strip club are all characters from other konami franchises BTW. As well as Sparkster there's Dracula, one of the Belmonts, the guys from Contra, that little ninja dude from that strange little ninja game (look, I can't remember, I'm old!), and various others. If anyone can remember the others then all the more power to you.
Posted By: RawShark (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 06:34 PM
"you don't know warner brothers cartoons for shit, yogi bear and scooby doo are both Hanna Barbara cartoon characters, get it right salmela"
Hannah Barbara is owned by Warner Bros.
Oh and Todd, by saying exclusives I mean that the next-gen version will be exclusive to the 360. I know Tony Hawk comes out on every system imaginable, but if it didn't come to the PS3 than the 360 would be the only one receiving "the true next-gen HD version" since we all know the Wii gets the psp/ps2 port with waggle.
And Rod I know everyone wants a price drop, who doesn't? My cat wants a price drop and she can't even drive *yet*. My point is that Activision is the only one who threatened to stop supporting PS3, no one else jumped on board the whole "yeah drop price or we drop support" bandwagon Activision tried to start.
And if you don't think Activision is trying to use this whole situation to appease shareholders into thinking they're a bigger player than they already are *which they're already pretty big* than you're insane. Activision just wants to raise the price of their shares.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 07:31 PM
"you don't know warner brothers cartoons for shit, yogi bear and scooby doo are both Hanna Barbara cartoon characters, get it right salmela"
Hannah Barbara is owned by Warner Bros.
Oh and I think BlazBlue will be a fine game, possibly even great, my comments just refered to the fact that I think fighting games shouldn't cost $60. 2D and 3D fighters are one of my favorite genre's, but they shouldn't cost more than $40 new.
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 08:32 PM
You honestly think they'd say something crazy to try and drive up interest? They are the LARGEST third party publisher in the world, not a kid in third grade. Investors don't throw money around based on who's tougher, they invest in companies that show positive growth signs.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on June 30, 2009 at 09:48 PM
I read it on my PS3 browser Rod. I read it while i shove a dualshock3 up my ass.
Posted By: David (Guest) on June 30, 2009 at 10:32 PM
Regardless of what that pretender is trying to prove, I think I'm going to pick up BlazBlue today. I guess I want to get the LE for free. *shrugs* I understand that you may want to wait to pick it up, but I cannot wait.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 01, 2009 at 09:06 AM
