Four Player Co-Op 09.08.10: Medal of Honor, Motion Control, XBox Live, More

Posted by Stephen Randle on 09.08.2010

Did EA make a bad move by setting the upcoming Medal of Honor in the current war in Afghanistan? Should UbiSoft really just rely on their established names like Assassin's Creed until the next generation of consoles? What about the sudden XBox Live price increase? The 411 Staff has their opinions in the latest 4PC!




Todd Vote has joined the game.
Armando Rodriguez has joined the game.
Trace Aber has joined the game.

Quizmaster

Greetings, and welcome to another edition of Four Player Co-op, where the 411 Staff debates the controversial issues that arise in gaming, and I award points and prizes to the winner, which are all meaningless and yet still competed over more fiercely than some major sporting trophies. This week, it's theoretical superhero combat, in honour of the upcoming DC Universe online game, which might hold my interest until The Old Republic comes out. Or the heat death of the universe, whichever comes first. Start the game!

QUESTION ONE: The upcoming Medal of Honor reboot, due out October 12, has been banned by the U.S. Army and Air Force and will not be sold at any American military base in the world. The game will have the ability to play as a Taliban soldier (in multiplayer), will be set in Afghanistan, and the single player story may have been based on a real life soldier. Is choosing to make the setting of a video game that of an ongoing, high-profile, and controversial war a poor decision by EA?

Todd Vote

Hell yes it was a poor decision. Look at that Fallujah game that Konami was trying to get off the ground. People were up in arms about that, so EA goes ahead and makes the next MoH game set in another current war. What, did they think it would be okay because it wasn't Iraq? I can't speak for everyone, but I have no desire to play as a Taliban soldier. Who in their right mind would? So EA is trying to win back the title of Devil's Publisher that Activision recently stole away from them. I understand it is an important title to have, but at what cost? I think it is a bad idea for anyone to set a game in a current conflict. For one, we have no idea how the conflict will play out, and it is a very sensitive matter to a lot of people. How about those of us who have family serving in the war right now? Bad idea and I for one won't be buying this game.

Armando Rodriguez

I think it is not a poor decision at all. War, this war or any other war before it, always has the same result. People die, places get destroyed and they are never the same. I understand that the war is recent and a kid playing it (not that kids are supposed to be playing!) knowing that his father or uncle or close relative died in this same war is a little bit shocking, but I guess people who play Vietnam or WWII games knowing that their grandfathers died in that war have to go through the same thing. It is no different, in every war people die and if we were going to judge the game based on how recent or high profile this particular war is, then what about WWII? That is like the highest profile war ever, right? That did not stop dozens of games based on that war from coming out

Trace Aber

I don't think it's a poor decision and actually thing it's something that should be done. Yes, the war is a touchy subject, but it's also very real. As video games inch closer and closer to reality each day, it's only realistic that we deal with current topics. How many games have featured terrorism since 9/11? Tons of them. The only difference is the new Medal of Honor game deals with the Taliban specifically, but the idea is still the same. If you don't support it, don't buy it. But, at the end of the day, it's a video game trying to serve a real purpose. If movies can do it, why not games?

---

Quizmaster

I actually don't see it ending up being a big deal, but I can see the point of view from the American military: you don't want to have your soldiers creating associations with the enemy, even if it's just in a video game, because that makes it harder if/when stuff goes down in real life. In the rest of the gaming world, I doubt it'd even get noticed if it weren't for the military banning the game. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. As such, I don't think I can award points this round.

---

QUESTION TWO: A marketing director for UbiSoft has stated that the game developer will not be focussing on any new IP's until the next generation of consoles, and will rely almost exclusively on existing franchises like Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon. Granted, it's hard to lose money by playing it safe, but isn't right now, arguably the prime of all three consoles in terms of both sales and developers mostly having figured out the limits of what they can do with processing power, the best time to try and get some potential new franchises out there, rather than risk overexposure of the same old stuff?

Todd Vote

Yes and no. I can see why Ubisoft, or any other developer would want to play it safe in this shaky economy, but at the same time, eventually people will tire of existing franchises it's inevitable. Sure you will always have the core group of fans for any given series, but if you want to keep the attention of everyone a little risk is going have to be taken. Would you have had Assassin's Creed if you hadn't taken a chance with the first game, listened to the fans and improved things for the second? All I'm saying is you never know where the next big franchise is coming from. Don't cheat yourselves and the gamers by not taking any risks

Armando Rodriguez

This is a poor decision because it means that particular franchises will get run to the ground, over-exposed and those franchises might never recover from that. Just ask Activision and Tony Hawk. Or Activision and Guitar Hero, with the Hero brand as a whole having done the lowest sales numbers ever in their last few incarnations. You just can't rely on the same thing, you always need to come up with new stuff, innovative stuff or you risk falling into a financial crisis in the future when nobody cares about X or Y brand. Plus, we all know that franchises that get a new release every year (outside of maybe Madden and FIFA) always see a reduction in sales eventually.

Trace Aber

This wouldn't be a bad idea if the plan is to finish the current franchises off in this generation, and debut strong win the next generation with multiple new IPs. Sure, it's a huge risk, but if they play it safe for too long, people are going to lose interest. Now, I'm not stupid and I doubt all of the current franchises will be dead, and they will still probably push them the hardest. So, yeah, I don't like the decision because it's lazy and really limits the possibilities of the studio.

---

Quizmaster

It's one thing to rely on established franchises, everyone does that. Hell, Blizzard relies exclusively on three franchises for all their games. The key for them is, the don't release a new game involving those franchises every other quarter. They take years and develop awesome games. There's a difference between reliance and overreliance, and one of them involves releasing new additions to franchises every year (or less) because you have nothing else, even if they're not much of an update (I'm looking at your, Guitar Hero: Same Game, Different Band). That way leads to fan apathy. Todd has the best example: Assassin's Creed didn't even exist five years ago, now it's an established franchise. That's worth 237 points.

---

QUESTION THREE: Sony will be releasing their own competition for iTunes, called Qriocity (no, I don't know what it means), for PS3 and PSP within the next year (the application already exists for Sony Bravia TVs and Blu-Ray players). Given that iTunes has a fairly large chunk of the market already, isn't this thing pretty much doomed to fail?

Todd Vote

Not necessarily, if it's to be used solely for PS3's and PSP's you can't really say it is destined to fail. It will be a tough sell though, as the PS3 has a web browser making it easy to find just about any song you want to hear on it. I'm inclined to say that it is not the best idea Sony has had, but as I stated in the previous question, it's hard to find the next big thing if you don't take any chances.

Armando Rodriguez

I guess that if they use that little thing that every company wants to use called "corporate synergy" it can work to a certain level. They need all Sony-branded TV's, laptops, phones and video game systems to use this new iTunes like app whose name I refuse to type because I am afraid of making another "Kinect-Kinetic" spelling botch. It can be "doomed to fail" only if they expect to unseat iTunes. Like Windows, I think iTunes has reached the point in which no other brand can take it out of the top spot. However, it can be a good feature to have for Sony electronics owners and it can make a decent chunk of change if it is supported and embraced. It depends on their definition of success. Is success for them being #1 or making money and having a profit out of the investment?

Trace Aber

It might not outright fail, but it shouldn't hurt iTunes. No matter what new features Sony throw in to Qriocity (uh, what?), people are already comfortable with iTunes and have everything synced up to it. Why go through the change when you're already happy?

---

Quizmaster

I only asked this because pretty much everyone associates all mp3 players with iPods, and therefore iTunes. I think it'll be very hard for Sony to get a foothold in that market, let alone compete directly against iTunes, but as long as they don't think they're going to be knocking on Apple's door right away, it seems like a harmless feature. It seems like Trace best matched my opinions, so we'll give him 1360 points.

---

QUESTION FOUR: The creator of the Resident Evil franchise thinks that motion control gaming is not mainstream, and will not be for the next ten years, which would probably be news to the makers of Move, Kinect, and the Wii. So, yeah…what the hell is he talking about?

Todd Vote

I think by mainstream he means the core gamers. If that is what he is talkin about then I am inclined to agree with him. Most of the friends on my Xbox account have no interest in Kinect, I've seen more people laughing at the design of the PSMove than I've seen interested in wanting to use the technology. The motion controls will become the norm once someone finds out how to involve all gamers with it. I was excited about Kinect, then they announced the launch lineup. My excitement went from can't wait to see it to oh who gives a shit.

Armando Rodriguez

Wow. Just....wow. Does this guy work in the same industry that we are covering? The Nintendo Wii is quite possibly the biggest "Mainstream" console right now. It has dominated in sales, so much so that eight years away from the end of this console cycle (if we are to believe Microsoft and Sony) they have already won the war. Do you guys know what type of control method the Wii uses? Oh yeah, motion controls! I guess that makes motion controls mainstream. I guess that what he tried to say is that motion controls are not "there" yet, they have not advanced technologically speaking to the point in which they can be THE control method of choice for developing games. There are still several genres that have not been done properly on motion controls and probably never will be done. In order to try to save his ass I am going to say that he meant mainstream as a "development tool of choice" and not mainstream as a gaming tool of choice. This opens up yet another can of worms......most hardcore gamers hate motion controls, so the man has a point. But if that where the case (and motion controls where not mainstream) then why and how is the Wii selling so much? It is a very confusing issue (sort of like this mini-rant I have written) so to summarize and wrap this up: From a sales point of view, motion controls are mainstream. From a gaming point of view, the issue is still an unsolved debate. From the development point of view, motion controls are not mainstream.

Trace Aber

I think he's saying that, while people are buying into motion control gaming, they're not buying motion control gaming. Well, that they won't. The Wii, much like iTunes mentioned above, has a large enough of the market and most people aren't going to want to invest in another set of peripherals and accessories, especially in the current economic setting. I don't think Move or Kinect is going to fail miserably, but I'm also not a big fan of either one of them so I kind of hope he's right.

---

Quizmaster

Armando explains it really well from all perspectives, and gets 2316 points. I have to be honest, I still think he's a little crazy to say motion control isn't mainstream given that the Wii is in every home in the world at this point, but from other perspectives, he is right. After all, nobody's really expecting big numbers out of Kinect or Move, which suggests that while customers will take what comes with a console, spending extra money for the feature is something else entirely.

---

BONUS QUESTION: By now you've probably all heard about the increase in prices for Microsoft's XBox Live service, with some comparing the situation to "holding your Friends list for ransom". You may rant at will.

Todd Vote

QM NOTE: Todd's answer is not suitable for young audiences, or older audiences who get offended too easily, so it has been hidden to protect the innocent. To see Todd's response, highlight the empty space. You've been warned, I'm no longer liable!

Why Why why why? Fuck you Bill Gates. What Sony decided to charge for a premium, version of it's online service and you take this as a sign to jack up your prices? And you claim that it is due to the additional services that are coming like Hulu+ and some ESPN bullshit? Oh did you just forget that in addition to these hiked up charges we will also have to pay $10 bucks a month for the Hulu+ service? Oh you forgot? No problem. I'm locking my Xbox membership in right now for $40. People will pay this because they have no choice, not because they think your so called extra services are worth it. Die a slow death Mr. Gates.

*Deep breath*

FUCKSHITCOCKASSTITTIESBONERBITCHMUFFPUSSYCOCKBUNGHOLEUNCLEFUCKERMARK
SALMELASHITASSTAINTLICKERBARBARASTREISAND!!

That about sums up how I feel about this.

Armando Rodriguez

I don't even know if I should rant. Do I hate the price increase? Of course I do! I don't even have an Xbox and I am outraged, so I can imagine how 360 owners feel. But at the same time......is this so different to what other companies in other businesses are doing? Direct TV, Dish Network and Cable companies do this all the time. They lure you in with an attractive price and tons of features, and then they start rising the price every year by a few bucks. 10 years later that $79.99 premium package is up to $100 (curse you Direct TV!). I see this as just another example of companies rising prices for no particular reason. The same deal is happening with food and many other things. Can we do something about it? Yeah, we could boycott the 360. Get a few thousand people to "mass trade in" their 360's for a PS3. Have everybody that wants a new console buy a PS3 or Wii or DS or whatever. Hurt Microsoft' sales! But yeah, that's a rebellious fantasy that will never happen.

Trace Aber

I have no problem paying the extra ten bucks. Well, I won't have a problem next year when I renew, since they're having a special where it's actually ten dollars cheaper than normal. I'll just say what I said in the Living LIVE News Report...

"Personally, I don't have a problem with this increase, because, ultimately, if you can't spare ten more dollars maybe a year's worth of online gaming shouldn't be your focus to begin with. Besides, gold has cost $50 since the beginning and, to be honest, there were few incentives outside of online play up until the last couple of years. While I'm not overly excited about the increase, I don't have too many problems with it. Although I would like to see better deal of the weeks.."

---

Please wait…Host is calculating scores…

HIGH SCORE



PLAYER 2 WINS
BECAUSE I SAY BATMAN WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT
COME GET ME, COMIC NERDS
COME BACK NEXT WEEK TO TRY AGAIN

411 on Twitter!

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411mma