Four Player Co-Op 08.12.09: Southpeak, Spielberg, Songs And Something Else That Starts With The Letter S

Posted by John De Large on 08.13.2009

JDL's back from vacation to ask these burning questions: What genre mash-ups do you want to play? What are your thoughts about Spielberg's involvement with the Halo movie? What songs can Rock Band do without? And what other words start with the letter S?!?! Come on in and find out!



Hey, all. Sorry for the absence last week, I took a trip to Nilbog. I dunno why all the townspeople there were so adamant that I eat their green food, that shit looked weird so I didn't touch it. If you're wondering how I survived the trip without eating their food, don't worry, in the end, I ate plenty. I simply stuffed my suitcase with Quizno's sandwiches (that's Quizno's, since Subway won't pay me nothing!) and just wore the same outfit the whole time.

Anyway, I'm back and now I have a "cool," format, thanks to Rod "What The Hell Kind Of Name Is Rod Anyway And While We're At It Why Is My Last Name So Hard To Spell?" Oracheski. Half of me wants to thank Rod for the swanky new look while the other half of me wants to punch him in the head so hard, his eyes stay closed for a week. Rod complained about how much work the Co-Op was when filling in for me, so I guess he saw fit to make make ME do even more work too, now that I have to use this format every week.

Well Rod, you're officially the master of revenge.

Onto the questions!

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John De Large has joined the game.
Sean Garmer has joined the game.
Chris Lansdell has joined the game.
Rod Oracheski has joined the game.

1. Southpeak has announced that their game, Raven Squad has gone Gold!

For those of you who don't know, Raven Squad is an AWESOME game that combines both FPS and RTS strategy! Personally, if you ask me, I think this game is going to cure cancer AND fix the economy!

Anyway, what other genre mash-ups would you enjoy?

John De Large

If you could blend a wrestling game and Mario Paint, that'd be pretty sick.

Wait, where are you going? Hear me out!

Imagine if instead of using the typical editing system within SvR games, you could simply choose what happens from a list and pause, frame by frame choosing the exact moments you want or saving entire sequences or even stringing together a whole match! Throw in a rating system (both the computer generated kind, one that understands psychology and workrate and an online, fans-vote kind) and you've got yet ANOTHER awesome mashup.

Sean Garmer

Hey, I too attest with Mr. JDL that it is a great thing that Raven Squad has gone gold. It's good to see mash-up games like these get their due. That's how the Action RPG became so popular with Kingdom Hearts and others before and after it that have made the genre a staple. The RPG/RTS combo has also been around for a while too. If I had to pick one I think I would like to see a Sports RPG, just for the hell of it. I know the Be-A-Pro modes are kinda similar to one, but I want what my entire team does to gain me levels and give them special abilities to use later. I think it be a cool concept for someone to flesh out, I don't know if it would sell, but hey a man can dream.

Chris Lansdell

I am all ABOUT the mash-ups, man! How about an RPG-fighter hybrid? Or an RPG-RTS hybrid? Or an RPG-rhythm game hybrid? Pretty much any game that lets you evolve a character and use them in your favourite genre would work for me. Oh wait, how about an RPG-Sports hybrid? Or an RTS-hack and slash hybrid with RPG elements? Oh JDL, you've created a monster, but nobody wants to see monsters no more, they want Shady, I'm chopped liver.

Rod Oracheski

First off I'd like to congratulate JDL on his new job with Southpeak's PR department...

All kidding aside, for me, it's all about the first-person shooter (FPS) or third-person shooter (TPS) + roleplaying game (RPG). It's not really a new mash-up, but it's always a favorite. Deus Ex, Mass Effect - even Call of Duty's leveling system. Having action-based combat keeps the RPG side from putting people to sleep, while having RPG elements keeps the shooting fresh even after dozens of hours have been put into the game.

I'd also love to see a wrestling game do an RPG blend really well. The Smackdown series has some RPG-lite stuff, but it could be a lot better. And why not throw in some sim stuff as well. Put out a solid wrestling game that also lets you be the booker and I'd definitely give it a shot.

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2. It's been rumored that Steven Spielberg might bring the Halo movie over to Dreamworks. Your thoughts?

John De Large

It's a video game movie, so my knee-jerk reaction is to assume that it's going to suck. But then maybe, just MAYBE Spielberg and Dreamworks' attachment means that it won't suck as hard as the usual video game flick and Drew Robbins will have to go without another bad movie.

Sean Garmer

Well, if there is anyone that knows how to make action films its Steven Speilberg. I'm sure him being at E3 and seeing the impact of HALO first hand probably had something to do with it. I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft talked to him about it while he was there as well. Dreamworks knows how to work with Animation as well, so even if they wanted to go half CG and half live action or something it could work. I think if Speilberg gets involved with the project it will be in good hands. No matter how they decide to make the film. I mean, the guy has made HOW many hit movies?

I don't think HALO fans will have much to worry about.

Chris Lansdell

Short, shameful confession: I have never played Halo. I know nothing about Halo. I will not be watching the movie of Halo, no matter who releases it. The movie could have Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon performing lewd acts on each other and...OK, I'd watch that. But still...Spielberg and Halo might be a dream combination for the FPS fans out there, and Dreamworks aren't slouches in the visual effects department, so this would appear to be good news for the fans...

Rod Oracheski

I went from thinking the movie was dead for good to thinking it might now be better than ever. Spielberg has been involved in a huge range of movies - everything from Transformers to Saving Private Ryan - so he brings a lot to the table. And hey, with him on board there would be no question it'd get the budget needed to do it right.

I liked the idea of having Neill Blomkamp do it. His live-action Halo shorts were excellent, and upcoming film District 9 looks strong. He's no Spielberg though...

While we're on the subject, I know every Halo fan out there will be howling for Marty O'Donnell to do the score but I'd love to see Clint Mansell get tapped to do it. His work has been amazing.

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3. Rock Band is about to feature songs from The Gorillaz, accompanied by Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and Who songs! Which of these bands could you do without?

John De Large

Ooh, I'll take The Who and The Gorillaz.... and Jefferson Airplane too, since it's White Rabbit that's getting added to Rock Band's track list. Hmm, come to think of it, I can't think of a SINGLE Janis Joplin song, let alone one I'd enjoy. I'll say chuck the bitch from the line-up, yo.

Sean Garmer

I already got all of these songs on Tuesday except for Gorillaz "Re-Hash" because I don't like it too much, I listened to the "Chest Fever" song and I didn't care for it too much, but The Band itself has left a great legacy on rock music, so its nice to see them included in the game. I don't really care too much for Psychadelic rock (With the exception of the Studio Beatles stuff,) So I guess I could have done without the White Rabbit song and Jefferson Airplane in general. I play all the instruments but I'm mostly on Vocals so it didn't appeal to me too much in that sense either. But it's cool that Harmonix gives us DLC on certain weeks that is just a big variety. Magic Bus, Piece of My Heart, Feel Good, Clint Eastwood, all great songs. I didn't know how Gorillaz would translate to Rock Band, and the two songs I have were nice on all instruments.

Chris Lansdell

Umm, all of them. I still think a song pack with wrestling themes would make money, but I'm biased. Really there are no bands around these days that I like enough to buy a whole album, so I'd also prefer more genre-related song packs.

Rod Oracheski

It's all about how the song plays. There are some songs that I don't really care for 'out-of-game' that I love to play, so I tend to give them a chance first then deleteit from the play list later.

That said, the day a Backstreet Boys song appears in a music game is the day that franchise is dead to me.

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4. Speaking of Rock Band, the PSP Go bundles are going to come with Rock Band Unplugged. This is probably not the game you wanted it to come with, so what game should come with it?

John De Large

Final Fantasy Tactics: War Of The Lions. End of discussion.

No, that answer won't do, eh? The Power Stone Collection would be sweet, but instead of including specific game, why not throw in a voucher for "Any one game worth X amount of money at participating retailers?" that way everyone gets what they want?

Sean Garmer

Personally, I wouldn't mind it because I played Rock Band Unplugged at E3 and very much enjoyed it. I liked Harmonix's first offerings in Frequency and Amplitude, so I knew how to play the game before i picked it up. The lack of songs on the game though can make you have to play through songs a lot of times though, so just be aware of that. It's cool that Harmonix adds to songs every week for the game, so it keeps things fresh, but they are also songs that are already on regular Rockband in some capacity. For most people it wouldn't be the game they want with it, so I would suggest maybe a Loco Roco 2, or Dissidia perhaps. I can understand why they are doing this though, cause I bet the game isn't selling all that well and they want it to get some notoriety which isn't bad business.

Chris Lansdell

Honestly? None. I hate when systems come bundled with games. Why? Because when you go into EB Games/GameStop 4 months later, the shelves are CRAMMED with no-box copies of the bundled game that got traded in. Seriously, there are more copies of Halo 3, PGR4, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Lego Indiana Jones on the preplayed shelf at my local store than the law should allow. Take out the bundled game, lower the price and offer a program where you either give a mail-in rebate on the purchase of games bought at the same time as the system, or let retailers offer the rebate. Give the purchaser the choice.

Rod Oracheski

God of War: Chains of Olympus, just because it's first party and impressive. I don't know why they'd have gone with a third-party title at all, unless they want to inflate those third-party numbers with a bundle, and I certainly can't explain choosing that one in particular. It's not a great translation of the game, though I don't imagine they could have done much better on the PSP, and hardly what I'd use as a first impression game. If they wanted to throw something in, why not do what Nintendo did with the DSi - throw in some credit in the online store and let them get what they want.

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5. Microsoft will allow you to use your Paypal account to purchase Microsoft points! Given how reliant the 360 is on an internet connection, you can't help but wonder what took so long!

John De Large

Yeah Microsoft, you know how to get the money (Cream, dollar dollar bill y'all), so what took you so long to grab that E-Cash from Reginald Q. Gamer?

I wonder what's next for Microsoft in their quest to get our money? You don't actually think they'll do trade-ins for DLC and XBLA games, do you?

(Throws hands over his mouth in horror) Forget I said anything.

Sean Garmer

I use Pay Pal to make purchases on Ebay, but I don't link my bank account to it because I try to avoid getting random purchases made. So I wouldn't use this at all, but its a neat idea for people that wanna use it.

Chris Lansdell

Absolutely. There are a ton of online payment systems out there, but PayPal is the Microsoft of the industry and a partnership seems natural. Anyone can get a PayPal account (well, almost anyone) whereas credit cards require, you know...credit. The only reason I can think of is that it keeps people out of retailers, which might piss some people off.

Rod Oracheski

I guess it makes sense to offer up whatever payment options you can, though I doubt I'll ever use it. This does open things up to people who don't have a credit card, I suppose, which is probably reason enough to add it in.

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6. There's a new device coming out that will control how long you play games. You attach said device to a console and set a duration on how long you can play games. Once that duration is up, the console powers down and becomes unplayable. Is this sort of thing going too far with controlling how long people play their games?

John De Large

I think this kind of tool is bull, people don't need a limit on how many games they can play, least of all: kids (who will come to fear and hate this machine). Kids have it pretty hard with school, work and whatever other unique problems their living situation provide, as long as they aren't complete fuck-ups, let 'em have video games.

What really grinds my gears is that the people who will use this device to limit their children's game time, the parents who call gaming evil. There's nothing evil about gaming, what's evil is sitting a kid down in front of a video game and not explaining the violence or plots to him then expecting him or her to be normal.

I also hate the parents who outlaw ANY video games at all, for fear their child/children will become violent. I can understand keeping your impressionable teenager from playing San Andreas (if not because it sucks, then because it IS a game for mature audiences) or even Gears Of War with all the chainsawing going on, but to keep a kid from playing puzzles games and RPGs is stupid. How many gangstas do you know that play Final Fantasy and Geometry Wars, huh? Let the kid have some swords and magic!

Sorry, I guess I disagree more with the people who would use this product than the product itself.

Sean Garmer

There are pros and cons to this. This is a good idea for parents that let their small kids have a television in their room and wanna make sure they don't spend all day just playing games on it. I play games more than the average casual player, but I don't think its good to just let your child play games all day long and not even breathe some fresh air. The bad thing is you are telling your kid, "I think you play too much and its hurting you," instead of letting them make their own decision about how much they wanna or should play games. I could see this causing more fights and arguments between parents and kids above the age of 10, rather than helping either. It also is just another tool parents can use to let a machine be the parent for them, and I'm never ok with that. Parents should be ok with telling their child what to do, and having something power off their machine for them, is silly. Besides, if it were me, and that machine made me have to restart a level or game over again, because it shut off in the middle of it, I would be one pissed child. Of course, I was part of the generation that constantly told their parents, "Come on, just let me beat this guy, finish this level, find this save point, or just let me play one more minute, please."

Chris Lansdell

I don't think so, simply because you don't have to buy it if you don't want. The only people who are likely to be forced to use this are children, and quite frankly they SHOULD have their gaming time restricted. It's just another tool for controlling your kids, really. And as a parent I can tell you that there aren't enough of those...

Rod Oracheski

I'm fine with that - any tool that helps parents control what their kids are allowed to view and for how long is a positive. Of course they have to learn what it does and how to use it...in most homes the kids will have the know-how to circumvent it anyway.

Of course anyone who buys this to use with a 360 is already showing their ignorance anyway. Using the Family Settings, you can already limit the number of hours your kids can play. You can also allow or deny access to Xbox Live, or let them play online but without being able to talk to (or hear, probably the more important part) anyone else. Maybe you want them to hear just their friends? That's possible too.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME....

Use the comment box or this'll happen to you, courtesy of Drew Robbins and George Lopez (yeah, I've got the hook-up)!

Peace!