411 Games Fact or Fiction 02.02.10: The Apple iPad, BioShock 2, Command and Conquer 4, White Knight Chronicles

Posted by Mark Salmela on 02.02.2010

Will the new Apple iPad be a better gaming platform than the iPhone? Are you excited for Command and Conquer 4 and the upcoming beta? Will No More Heroes 2 and Tatsunoku vs Capcom end up being two top contenders for Wii game of the year? 411's Armando Rodriguez and Lee Price debate these topics and more in the latest edition of 411 Games Fact or Fiction!



Welcome back to another spectacular edition of Fact or Fiction. I'm your host Mark Salmela, and despite popular opinion I am not president of the Miley Cyrus fan club. Whether or not I applied for the job is nobody's business but my own, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I am not in the club. I'm sure my criminal arrest record has something to do with that. Stupid familywatchdog website...

Any who, this week we have two new competitors stepping up for Fact or Fiction. Well new in the sense that they've never done a Fact or Fiction under my embarrassing reign. First up is the writer of the Ultra Combo News Report Armando Rodriguez. Not only can I guarantee Armando has never pulled off an Ultra Combo before, but I'm pretty sure he didn't even know what game that was from before he met Todd Vote. Armando will be taking on Lee Price, who doesn't write anything worthwhile for the site. Nah I'm just messin' Lee writes the incredible awesome Retronomicon, where he talks about awesome old games. Enough small talk, let's get to the action.



1.) You want an Apple iPad



Armando Rodriguez - Fiction: Why would I want one? I mean, you are paying around $400 for a giant iPod. Really, that's all there is to it. You cannot change the hard drive, it has no USB slots, you can't change the battery….there is just way too many things where it falls behind laptops. The price point is supposed to be the big selling point when going against laptops, but today you can find relatively good laptops in the $400-$500 price range that do a lot more things (and look less awkward) than the iPad.

Lee Price - Fiction: Really what more needs to be said? I'm not sure exactly how much the price translates to in the UK, looking at the $400 mark it's going to be something like £700 over here. I can get a much better laptop at that cost, no problem.

Score: 1 for 1 -



2.) The Apple iPad will be an even better gaming platform than the iPhone.



Armando Rodriguez - Fact: If only because it has a larger screen. I was going to go with fiction here, because I believe the iPad will be a big failure, but the reality is that if we go the technical way, the iPad should be a better platform for games. However, I don't expect the iPad to take off like the iPhone did and that can contribute to developers abandoning it rather quickly. Still, I say fact if only for the larger screen. Yes, I love big screens, deal with it!

Lee Price - Fiction: I just don't see the iPad taking off like the iPhone, and with what are likely going to be higher development prices, a larger screen just isn't going to cut it. Like it or not, mobile gaming is becoming a pretty big thing right now, so a lot of developers are going to see money in that where there may not be in what is essentially a branded laptop.

Score: 1 for 2 -



3.) You had no idea White Knight Chronicles released today.



Armando Rodriguez - Fact: What? Really? One of Sony's "big exclusives" for 2010 gets released with little to no fanfare. I was following the development of this game if only because I wanted a traditional RPG for the PS3, but they kept putting it off for so long that I lost interest. Not that Sony ever did anything to promote the game and make me interested again. I think they made a big mistake releasing this game so close to Final Fantasy XIII because RPG fans are likely going to wait for the bigger game. I am still shocked that the game comes out today! Really Sony, you just screwed up right there.

Lee Price - Fact: Its news to me. Granted I don't keep up with RPG releases like I did back in the days where I really had time to play them, but I'd still be interested in the game. Then again at the same time I can't really give Sony too much of a hard time for not promoting it too well, especially in the UK. There can't be that big a market for the game over here really, it only tends to be the big hitters of the RPG world that sell well over here.

Score: 2 for 3 -






4.) You'd have more confidence in the BioShock 2 multiplayer if there had been an open beta.



Lee Price - Fact: Definitely. BioShock's complete lack of multi-player helped it stand out amongst first person shooters in general, and also helped emphasize the narrative aspect of the game, forcing the player to concentrate on what turned out to be one of the best gaming experiences of the generation. I am curious to see how they will implement multi-player in the sequel. Will it just be the usual set of games? Is it going to contend with the top dogs of the genre? If not then why bother wasting your time on it in the first place? I get the feeling that I won't be looking to BioShock 2's multi-player experience for a good time with games like Modern Warfare 2 around, but hopefully it will surprise me.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: I am not saying it will be bad, tons of games have good multiplayer modes without having an open beta, but I like having the opportunity to try something before I buy it. Plus, the open beta would have allowed the developers to get feedback from the players and get to know what works and what doesn't.

Score: 3 for 4 -



5.) You're excited for Command and Conquer 4 and the upcoming beta.



Lee Price - Fact: I must admit I have never really been a fan of strategy games in general, though a select few have managed to push my buttons. Command and Conquer was never one of them though and I am honestly not really bothered that there is a new one coming out. However I recognize that it is a classic franchise in the genre so I am sure there are plenty of people to get excited about it. I'm just not one of them.

Armando Rodriguez - Fiction: First of all, my PC is too old for this game. But even if I had a good PC, chances are I would never play it anyway. I am not much of an RTS gamer, StarCraft is the only RTS that has consumed a decent chunk of my time and my prior experience with the Command & Conquer series has not been positive. Yeah, they are good games, but I never found myself entertained by them.

Score: 3 for 5 -



6.) No More Heroes 2 and Tatsunoku vs Capcom will end up being two top contenders for Wii game of the year at the end of the year.



Lee Price - Fact: I tossed and turned on this a bit in my head. I do want to play Tatsunoku vs Capcom but I need to do some research on the Tatsunoko mythology to really get a feel for it before I get excited. Having said that, it's a fighting game from Capcom. You can go wrong. No More Heroes is one of my favorite Wii games, even if I don't hold it in the same regard as Killer7. The sequel looks to have done away with the tedious jobs of the original, which is definitely one in the win column. I hope to see this in my top 5 list by year's end.

Armando Rodriguez - Fact: To be honest, the Wii looks pretty barren when it comes to "big name" releases this year and unless Nintendo releases the new Zelda and Super Mario Galaxy 2 this year, I don't see a lot of competition for these two. No More Heroes 2 has gotten a lot of praise for being better than the original and Tatsunoku vs Capcom has a lot of positive reviews for being a *gasp* easy to play fighting game. As a matter of fact, I would love me some Tatsunoku vs Capcom for my PS3. Even if I have no clue who half the roster (The Tatsunoku side) are.

Score: 4 for 6 -



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It looks like these two ended up with a solid 4 for 6. I guess Armando and Lee agree for the most part. Do you guys agree? Disagree? Be sure to let your opinions be known below. We'll be back next week with a new set of topics to discuss along with two new writers. With that said, cya in 7!