411 Games Fact or Fiction 06.28.11 EA, Vita, Dead or Alive: Dimensions and More

Posted by Adam Larck on 06.28.2011

Will World of Warcraft eventually join the free-to-play MMO ranks? Will Valve bring games to the Wii U? Is EA really paying $1 billion for PopCap? Does Duke Nukem deserve all the hate it's getting? 411’s Stephen Randle and Jeffrey Harris debate these topics and more on in this week’s 411 Fact or Fiction: Games!

Welcome back to another week of 411 Games Fact or Fiction. I'm Adam Larck, and I'm back in Borderlands due to a few friends wanting to get back into it. Other than that, I'm just trying to finish up a few various games.

This week, we have Jeffrey Harris and Stephen Randle going head-to-head. Let's see how these two do. Time for banner!





1.) EA really is in the process of getting PopCap for $1 billion.

Stephen Randle - Fact: All signs point to it being them, and really, when you think of a game company that could afford a cool billion dollars to pick up another development studio for no reason other than because you can, you immediately go to EA. I'd have to suspect EA will use PopCap's library of cheap and simple but horribly addictive games to try and steal market share from Zynga, but that's just speculation on my part.

Jeffrey Harris - Fact: It wouldn't surprise me. EA could use the help right now, and PopCap are a hot online games pro-ducer.

Score: 1 for 1 - Getting PopCap would be a huge acquisition for EA.



2.) Valve will make games for the Wii U.

Stephen Randle - Fact: I don't know if there will be any original content, but it seems like Nintendo wants to make the Wii U much more "all ages" than just "family" like the Wii, and has already been advertising Batman: Arkham City and several other more "mature" franchises for around launch day. It would make sense that they'd want anything Valve, makers of awesome games, with nary a stinker, would be willing to put on their system. At the very least, courting all these big third-party developers might help save the Wii U from the same fate of the Wii once it ran out of first-party franchises to release.

Jeffrey Harris - Fact: According to the article I read on JoyStiq they are interested. And honestly why wouldn't they? Despite the criticisms that came out of E3 2011, the interest for this console will still be there. And when the holiday season comes around in 2012, people will want to get their hands on it.

Score: 2 for 2 - Considering how Valve shunned the Wii, I'll wait for judgment on this until a game is actually announced.



3.) Sony made a smart move by keeping the touch panel on Vita.

Stephen Randle - Fact: Although I'm no fan of touchpads and the like (due to a combination of big fingers and a job that leaves fingers oily more often than not), the rear touch panel on the Vita looks to be a well-received innovation and a definite selling point for the handheld. Sony needs any handhold they can set as they try to erase the PSP-related mistakes of the past and try once again to compete with Nintendo for that market, and something easily marketable like optional touch gaming in a unique configuration is definitely a good way to go.

Jeffrey Harris - Fact: I don't care for touch panels, but that is what the rage is right now with the iPhone and the Droid. I don't like touch panels and I want buttons to push.

Score: 2 for 3 - It seems to be the big selling point of the Vita, so it's a good idea for Sony to keep it.

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4.) Dead or Alive: Dimensions didn't need their rating changed from PG to M in Australia.

Jeffrey Harris - Fiction: I haven't honestly played the game so I don't know one way or the other. Besides the TnA factor, I don't find the Dead or Alive series worthy of an M rating. The violence is pretty tame and not excessively gory. There is no swearing or explicit sex and nudity. Keep it at a PG rating in Australia.

Stephen Randle - Fact: Damn you, Australia , I'm going to tell Sforcina about this and let him deal with you guys. Dead or Alive is a cartoonish fighting series that has never, ever taken itself too seriously, even before the campy direct-to-DVD movie and the volleyball games. I don't even recall there being blood in it, and if there was, it was minimal. Does Australia not even have a rating between PG and M? It's clearly too old for kids, but I don't think you need to be an adult to deal with scantily (though always fully)-clad women and cartoon-level violence. We're not talking about Mortal Kombat here, people.

Score: 3 for 4 - Once again, Australia seems to be cracking down needlessly on a game. Go figure.



5.) Gaikai partnering with WalMart is a smart move to let gamers try out games before buying.

Jeffrey Harris - Fiction: I care nothing of streaming play games or a service such as this. I don't really see the point. I would rather download or play a demo from PSN or at the store. I'm not sure how much gamers are into streaming games like Netflix, but I'm just not in that area. Plus I have no interest in buying games at WalMart or using Gaikai period.

Stephen Randle - Fact: "Try before you buy" is a business model that should have been adopted by video games retailers long before now, and I'm not just talking about the demo models at EB that are still playing Guitar Hero 2. I think being able to try a game first leads to smarter purchasing decisions than just reading reviews and released information about the game, and could lead to a truer picture of what are actually popular franchises, since it might stop some people from buying games just because of the title on the box, and also encourage people to demo games that they might not have initially looked at on the shelves underneath the "AAA" releases.

Score: 3 for 5 - Stores can only carry a limited number of demos. If this deal pays off, it could be great for WalMarts PC game sales.



6.) With more and more MMOs going free-to-play, WoW will eventually support at least one free-to-play model.

Jeffrey Harris - Fiction: I would say it is inevitable at some point. I don't think WoW will go full on with this model anytime soon. However, I do suspect there will be a test the waters or sample type of thing to come along first. Or maybe we will be surprised. Who knows.

Stephen Randle - Fiction: Hell no. Eleven million subscribers, all paying at least 15 bucks a month, with no signs of ever slowing down. That cash cow ain't never going away until Blizzard finishes Titan (their secret MMO project), which I'd bet also won't include free-to-play beyond the 30-day demos. But it's okay, because Diablo III is coming, and it and StarCraft II both use Battle.net for online play, which you might recall is…free to play! Oh, that sneaky Blizzard, they know just how to make you waste your entire lives on their games.

Score: 4 for 6 - I would love to get even a limited free to play option (like level 40 or so), but doubt it will ever happen.



Bonus Question) Duke Nukem deserved all the harsh reviews it received.

Jeffrey Harris - Ficiton: I have yet to get my hands on the final game product so I do not really know one way or the other. I played the multiplayer version of the game at E3 and I thought it was fun and decent enough. The single player campaign I'm not sure. I'm not the biggest Duke Nukem or FPS fan, but I would want to play the game first before actually confirming the game is a turd.

Stephen Randle - Fact: With nearly twenty years in development, if it didn't solve world hunger, end poverty, cure several deadly diseases, and create racial harmony among all nations, creeds, and colours, it wasn't going to get favourable reviews anyway. My opinion is that Gearbox felt their first Duke game had to be called Duke Nukem Forever, and they already had a game that was (depending on rumours) between 60 and 90% done, so once they shoved that out the door, they could make their own Duke game that hopefully won't be in development for twenty years. Sadly, in the meantime, we get a decent, but not great, FPS, that breaks no new ground and only has the claim to fame of being in development so long that it missed a great many significant events in human history before it made it onto shelves. I don't know why anyone was expecting anything else.

Adam Larck - Fact: Let's be honest, the odds were stacked against this game. It needed to raise the bar on every level to get it to get good reviews, and it wasn't going to do that. Starting development in the late ‘90s, you knew that a lot of dated mechanics would be in the game. I am disappointed that it cost a PR company their job, but the score still stands that it wasn't a good game.

Due to some late stories, we had a few extra questions this week. Check out their answers below.



E1.) Sony really will announce a price drop for the PS3 at Gamescom.

Stephen Randle - Fact: It's a good idea, and there seems to be a lot of weight behind the rumours suggesting that it's true. Up here in Canada, you can already get "free" PS3's with a phone plan (no, I'm serious), which suggests that Sony is looking to get as many units out into the market this summer in preparation for a rush of upcoming AAA titles. This is also (although probably to a much lesser extent) possibly a continuation of damage control from the PSN attacks, trying to lure more people under the Sony umbrella with great deals. Besides, it's not like they make most of their money off the console anyway, and you can't sell it as "a more affordable BluRay player" anymore either. Now, bring me my promised backwards compatibility peripheral, Sony!

Jeffrey Harris - Fact: I'm buying it. The time is there right now. It would be a nice good will move after all the hacking business. PS3 is still a great system and it doubles as a Blu-ray player. Now is the perfect time for a price drop on the slim model. I say go for it Sony, you still have my optimistic faith for now.

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Open World Gameplay Walkthrough, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

E2.) The new Saints Row: The Third video makes you more interested in the game.

Stephen Randle - Fact: I'm sure it's a popular franchise, but it's not my style of game, so my interest is low at best. The video is cool, but I wasn't going to buy Saint's Row anyway. But for hypothetical purposes, if I was on the fence about the purchase, this video would probably push me towards the "buy" side.

Jeffrey Harris - Fact: I will say I'm definitely looks interesting. The vehicles and weapon choices and everything else look crazy. I definitely want to try out that VTOL jet. The open world looks cool and it basically looks like GTA on crack. At the same time, it looks so over the top and crazy it might be too much. I mean some parts of the demo looked a little too over the top and crazy that it is almost a case of shock value for the sake of shock value which I am not a big fan of. But I definitely want to give this a look and play with the other gangs.

The pair finish this week going 4-for-6. What do you think? Agree or disagree with their answers? Let us know. See you in seven!