Todd Vote has joined the game.
Armando Rodriguez has joined the game.
Stephen Randle has joined the game.
Player Four can fight no longer…
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QUESTION ONE: "Mature"-rated games continue to be the big news in the gaming world, and probably will be forever. Not to get anyone in trouble, but how old were you when you played your first game that would have had Helen Lovejoy begging us to "think of the children", what game was it, and how badly did it scar your childish psyche?
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 | | Todd Vote |
Could it be anything other than Mortal Kombat? I don't think it scarred me at all. I knew the stuff happening on the game screen is no worse than things you see in movies. I honestly don't think it scarred my psyche. The game didn't feature anything new that I hadn't already learned how to do from watching bad horror movies. I do believe it is the parents who need to teach kids to differenciate between real and fantasy, but even then I find it hard to believe that someone shooting up a school or something of that nature did so because they saw someone get shot in a video game. I just can't bring myself to make that connection. Sure we,ve all said it. Games are a scapegoat, and probably always will be. At least until something new comes out for society to blame all it's problems on.
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 | | Armando Rodriguez |
I was around 6 years old when Mortal Kombat came out. I was a huge Street Fighter II gamer back then and the only thing that scarred me about MK was how kids would tease me for playing "Crap Fighter II" instead of MK. But after that, I found the violence to be awesome and I remember being the first one to discover Scorpion and Sub-Zero's Fatalities. Pulling out someone's spine is just awesome. Honestly, I have played a ton of violent games since then and I am yet to kill someone or do something stupid, which proves that good parenting beats violent games and that poor parenting is responsible for society's woes, not games as some senators would lead you to believe.
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 | | Stephen Randle |
God, I'm old. I was into my teens when Mortal Kombat 2 came out, which, of course, was pre-ESRB, so rental stores didn't care. Maybe I got desensitized early, but outside of truly gory movies (like the "torture porn" fad), I have never seen what reviewers call gore as disturbing. MK had blood flying all over the place, but it was obviously cartoonish, at least to me. The inability to actually perform moves probably did far more to damage my frail little psyche, leading to my hatred of fighting games to this day. |
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QUESTION TWO: Best Buy and Target have told Nintendo, to stop creating random third party mini-game compilations because they won't stock them. So, is it right to call it all shovelware, or are we cutting ourselves off from any potential diamonds in the rough by not even letting the products into stores?
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| "> | | Todd Vote |
Both. We may be cutting ourselves off from potential diamonds in the rough, but let's be honest, it's not like we wouldn't hear about the game and find it at a different store anyways. If Best Buy and Target are not moving these types of games, they have every right not to clutter precious shelf space with them. Shelf space that could be used to feature more types of games that they sell.
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
Finally! I hope Gamestop and other stores follow suit because something needs to be done. One of the reasons I sold my Wii was that there was way too much shovelware crap and I had to wait months at a time for a game that was worth the cash. It seems like the modus operandi for the Wii is to create random minigames, burn them on a disc and ship it to stores. That is not cutting it and the biggest proof is that in spite of being the system with the biggest install base, Wii games are rarely found in the Top 10 sales list.
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| | Stephen Randle |
I don't know, I'm pretty much the only person in North America who bought Ribbit King for the GameCube, so one person's shovelware might be another person's treasure. And maybe I just remember how Sony flooded the market with third party games to help gain dominance with their first two systems. But I can't disagree with the big stores not wanting to carry the six million or so "Licensed Property Party Game" packs that seem to be all that's coming out for the Wii, which would be less annoying if Nintendo hadn't blown off all their first party franchises in the first two years of the console. And if it's a good enough third party game, I'm sure they'd carry it eventually, or interested people would find it somewhere else. |
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QUESTION THREE: An admittedly very small study of 800 gamers showed that only about 15% took advantage of DLC, and 43% didn't even know it exists. How big a factor is DLC in your gaming budget?
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| | Todd Vote |
It has not yet become a huge factor. I've downloaded map packs, and several pre-order exclusives, but I have yet to download any of the episodic content for games. I check it all out, and consider getting some at times, but ultimately, I can't decide if what they are offering will be worth the money or not. So I wait a bit to hear some things about it from others. Next thing you know out of sight, out of mind. I have heard announcement of the first DLC that I absolutely will purchase. What's it for? Resident Evil 5.
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
I always save some cash for DLC when I believe it is worth it. The extra levels for Little Big Planet, the new boxers for Fight Night 4 and I have a few bucks saved up for the new Assassin's Creed II levels. I think that for gamers to embrace DLC, companies need to make more GOOD DLC instead of the "new skins" concept that has been done to death.
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| | Stephen Randle |
At this point, I've used DLC only to get classic PSOne and Nintendo games, plus I tried out the truly laughable Dante's Inferno demo. That's pretty much all I intend to use it for, slowly replacing my old PSOne (and hopefully one day PS2) discs, unless it becomes the only way to get expansion packs. |
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QUESTION FOUR: Netflix has announced that it will be coming to the Wii console, meaning that it will now be available for all three major console systems. Do you use/will you be using Netflix more now that it's basically a menu option on your gaming system? b>
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| | Todd Vote |
I signed up for Netflix once it became available for streaming on the Xbox 360. So yeah I have definitely used it more now that it's an option on my gaming system. I'd argue that I watch movies on Netflix almost as much as I use it to play games. Having a bad game of Call of Duty? Take a step away, go watch an episode from season 1 of The Incredible Hulk, come back and smash everything in CoD
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
Even if I still had my Wii, I would not use Netflix there. Why? I have a PS3 capable of showing me those same movies in HD quality. I think only those that don't have HD Televisions will use Netflix on Wii.
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| | Stephen Randle |
Canada doesn't have Netflix! Weep for our backwards nation! But if we did, I would definitely be using it on my PS3. At this point, I only visit brick-and-mortar rental stores to root through their used DVD bargain bins anyway. |
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QUESTION FIVE: Major film directors Peter Jackson, Neil Blomkamp, and James Cameron have all recently expressed interest in video games and possibly getting involved in creating original stories for gaming platforms. Would you trust these guys with your favourite franchise?
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| | Todd Vote |
I'm seriously doubting that any of the three creative minds above want to jump into established franchises, aside from Jackson's involvement in Halo. I've read the interviews with Blomkamp, and Cameron, and they seem to indicate original ideas that they feel would work better as video game franchises. Would I trust them with the story of my favorite franchises? Possibly, but I don't think it's anything we have to concern ourselves with. They would want to flex their creativity in games as much as they do in movies.
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| | Armando Rodriguez |
I would require them to prove themselves with a brand new IP first. If they are successful, then they can write the next Uncharted or Prince of Persia. But I don't think that having movie-making credibility is enough to give you gaming credibility. They are two different things.
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| | Stephen Randle |
While I don't think that any of those guys would jump right into an established franchise, I can't help but wonder what kind of script an A-list Hollywood director would come up with for, say, Uncharted 3. Then again, we might end up with George Lucas making the ultimate bad guys aliens or something. Anyway, the writing is only one part of how you make a great video game, so unless they know how to incorporate good gameplay into their scripts, I'm fairly neutral on the concept of Hollywood writing video game scripts. Hell, get them to write a good video game-based movie first. |
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That's all for the first Four Three Player Co-op of the new era. Tune in next week to see if they let me stick around! |
