411 Games Fact or Fiction 08.23.11: PS3, NFL, Mortal Kombat and More
Posted by Adam Larck on 08.23.2011
Will Modern Warfare be able to control cheating, even with private servers in place? Is it surprising that Mortal Kombat outsold Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Super Street Fighter IV? Is the PS3 price drop surprising? 411’s Dan Watson, Mark Salmela and Stephen Randle debate these questions and more!
Welcome back to another week of 411 Games Fact or Fiction. I'm Adam Larck, and I'll hopefully be checking out Deus Ex when this goes live. I'm hoping for a game as good as the original, but we'll see.
This week, thanks to a glitch in the system, we have the trio of Stephen Randle, Mark Salmela and Dan Watson going head-to-head-to-head. Let's see how these three do. Time for banner!
1.) The PS3 price drop is surprising.
Dan Watson - Fiction: After the identity theft earlier this year and the console being out for a few years, it is not surprising at all for company to drop the price of the console. In fact, I was more surprised that at E3 there was not a price drop so this is a bit late in my mind. Also, with some of the big titles coming out this year, this gets rid of any and all excuses someone could have given before the price drop.
Stephen Randle - Fiction: Yes, they've dropped the 160 GB PS3 down to $249.99, and it is kind of without warning, but then again, they also moved the bigger, better 320 GB PS3 into the $299.99 slot. It's not so much a price drop as they are moving the older Slim model out of focus so that they can sell the newer, beefier model. And if it survives another couple years, I expect we'll be seeing something similar for the 640 GB model that they'll be developing. If Sony wants to surprise me, announce that they've figured out how to make the PS3 fully backwards compatible.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: I saw people speculating that a PS3 price drop was on the way, so I wasn't surprised it was happening this year. I was surprised it happened at Gamescom however, since I thought it would happen at TGS, but I saw a $50 price drop coming in 2011. They have to try to boost holiday sales. You know what would be really smart? Uncharted 3 and PS3 for a Christmas bundle. If they could do it for $250 that'd be a hot seller.
Score: 1 for 1 - After the PSN fiasco sales have been down for Sony, but I still figured they'd wait for a drop until closer to Christmas.
2.) The NFL Sunday Ticket on PS3 is overpriced.
Dan Watson - Fact: Why would anyone in their right mind pay over $20 a week for seventeen weeks of football. If you have Direct TV then it drops down to $50 total and is worth the price in my mind, if you don't just add it to your television package. If you don't have Direct TV or Dish network or whatever it is that offers this, just go to your local sports bar and enjoy what games are on there or just sit home and watch your local games. I'm a Vikings fan and already know that I won't be able to see many of our games because of other games in the area that will be on, you get used to it.
Stephen Randle - Fact: But I'm Canadian and don't give a damn about the NFL. I've managed to live thirty years just watching whatever 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. games get broadcast on Sunday (which means I've seen way too many Buffalo games), so Sunday Ticket is a non-entity to me. Anyway, I suppose if your favourite team wasn't a regional game, you might want this, but I can't imagine them getting away with too high of a price, since couldn't you just get Sunday Ticket on your television normally?
Mark Salmela - Fact: I consider a lot of TV service packages overpriced, so I wouldn't be happy with any price. When it comes to streaming content live, I still prefer cable, so I wouldn't want to watch the NFL through my PS3 anyways. And really, do we need to watch every game? I don't see much of a point in NFL ticket in general unless you live in a different state than your favorite team.
Score: 2 for 2 - If this deal was cheaper, it may be worth it, but the current price seems way too much.
3.) Even though Modern Warfare 3 will have private servers on PC, Infinity Ward will be able to control cheating that may happen.
Dan Watson - Fiction: As soon as a company says we can control cheating, they just issued a challenge to cheaters to find a way. Most PC games will be hacked and cheated somehow which is why I primarily stay off of PC games. Call of Duty is annoying enough at times on Xbox Live, why would I subject myself to even more cheating and annoying issues?
Stephen Randle - Fiction: Because they've been so good about controlling hacks and cheating so far? Besides, hacks on PC online games are just a fact of life, as anyone who remembers Blizzard's claims that "Closed Battle.net will prevent all hacks and dupes in Diablo II" can testify. It's a circle of life: someone finds an exploit/hack/mod that unbalances everything, the developer patches it, something else goes wrong. I don't know what else you're expecting.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: People break games, it happens. Hell, don't people hack all the time on the PS3 and 360 servers for COD games? I haven't been playing lately but I thought cheaters have always been a problem. I don't see it stopping with MW3.
Score: 3 for 3 - No matter what kind of security is used, the game will still have plenty of cheats added by PC gamers.
Stephen Randle - Fact: Concessions will be made, money will change hands, but there's no way EA stays off the most popular digital distribution system out there. I'll go a step further and say they'll be back on Steam before Christmas.
Dan Watson - Fact: The company will eventually come back but they will act like they are the savior of Steam and feel as if everyone should celebrate that EA has come back to Steam. It is almost like when the Rock comes back to WWE and instantly gets main event headline space. Is it fair? No. Is it okay because they will sell (ratings for WWE, games for EA)? Yes, and we will always do it for each of these separate entities.
Mark Salmela - Fact: Money talks, and I think Valve and EA like to make money. Well, at least I thought they did, but then EA canceled Road Rash! Grrr…. Anyways, Valve and EA used to be close business partners, I don't see any reason they can't come to an agreement on getting EA games back on Steam.
Score: 4 for 4 - I want to agree with the others here, but if Steam doesn't change their agreements then EA will stick with their own service.
5.) You're not surprised that Mortal Kombat has sold better than MvC 3 and SSFIV.
Stephen Randle - Fact: Never underestimate the power of controversy and gruesome violence. Plus, from all indications it's a good game, and oh yeah, they didn't announce "Ultimate Mortal Kombat" within a year of its release, with fifteen more special characters and other content not available in the original, so people who have seen that coming with their other franchises in the past didn't pass on it to wait for the next one to come out.
Dan Watson - Fact: There is no way I am surprised by this. Mortal Kombat is a simple fighting game with over twenty years of fans that have been waiting for a game that is amazing. This was the game. DC vs. Mortal Kombat was horrible, the previous two installments of Mortal Kombat were lackluster, and then this comes out and steals the show. I would say that this game saved the series as it was falling apart quickly and I feared there was not going to be a new game if this bombed.
Mark Salmela - Fact: Mortal Kombat has more mass appeal than an expansion pack to Street Fighter 4 and MVC3. Hell, I'd argue Mortal Kombat might edge out Street Fighter in general for mass appeal. Street Fighter is just more technical, while it's easy to see the appeal in Mortal Kombat. All 3 of these games are fantastic, but Netherealm really did make an amazing reboot in this new Mortal Kombat, and I'm not surprised it's sold very well.
Score: 5 for 5 - I'm more surprised that the game has done better than two Capcom fighters, especially considering the last entry (DC vs. MK) was a dud.
6.) You like Notch's idea of facing Bethesda in Quake 3 over the lawsuit against him.
Stephen Randle - Fact: It's a silly lawsuit, it deserves to be resolved in such a ridiculous manner, and kudos to Notch for taking this as seriously as it deserves. I realize Bethesda is in the right from a strictly legal perspective, but come on, I don't think anyone was going to confuse Scrolls with Bethesda's Elder Scrolls: Skyrim in any way that makes a difference. Let's get some perspective here, people.
Dan Watson - Fact: I wish all companies would solve their problems this way. Imagine if the guy that says he created Madden had to play a Madden game against EA for the lawsuit to go his way? Let's even take this to the real world. If you get a speeding ticket, you should have to face the police officer in some sort of safe driving course and winner has to pay the ticket. This could be the new way everything gets solved. Adam I challenge you to a typing challenge for Editor spot on 411.
Mark Salmela - Fiction: They should fight in Goldeneye 007 on N64 like true men. Let them struggle over poorly aging controls as they ponder "how is it this game used to be so amazing?". Nostalgia is a bitch and let's see who can karate chop the opposition like a boss. No Oddjob.
Score: 5 for 6 - I wish Bethesda would actually respond back to this. Sure, they'll turn it down, but I want to see the reason why.
Bonus Question) GamesCom was disappointing this year for new game news.
Stephen Randle - Fact: I don't think there were any surprises out of GamesCom, just trailers for existing stuff that's coming soon that everyone already knew about. I mean, it's not bad to keep hyping upcoming releases, and I'm pumped up for Uncharted 3 thanks to the trailer, but other than that, GamesCom had nothing new under the sun.
Dan Watson - Fact: This year it was more about more information being released on the games and not so much about new games or major breaking announcements. The biggest news I guess was PS3 price drop which really as I already stated, was long overdue.
Adam Larck - Fact: I think most of this last week mainly consisted of new trailers. Sure, that's great to see new gameplay footage, but what about big reveals and such, at least for the European crowd. GamesCom hit capacity this year on attendees, and it could have been a great time for some announcements you see at E3 or TGS. However, most companies seemed content with talking about games we've known about for months, if not years.
The trio finish this week going 5-for-6. What do you think? Agree or disagree with their answers? Let us know. See you in seven!
"They should fight in Goldeneye 007 on N64 like true men. Let them struggle over poorly aging controls as they ponder "how is it this game used to be so amazing?". Nostalgia is a bitch " I just played this for the first time in 6 years and thought it was still amazing.
Posted By: Cima (Guest) on August 22, 2011 at 11:59 PM
"Mark Salmela - Fiction: They should fight in Goldeneye 007 on N64 like true men. Let them struggle over poorly aging controls as they ponder "how is it this game used to be so amazing?". Nostalgia is a bitch and let's see who can karate chop the opposition like a boss. No Oddjob."
As opposed to Goldeneye on the Wii which is so bad it's unplayable?
Posted By: Guest#1354 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 07:38 AM
"5.) You're not surprised that Mortal Kombat has sold better than MvC 3 and SSFIV."
Fact. But only because out of the 3 bad fighters of this generation, it's only just the best
Posted By: Guest#2852 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 07:39 AM
"If you don't have Direct TV or Dish network or whatever it is that offers this, just go to your local sports bar and enjoy what games are on there or just sit home and watch your local games. I'm a Vikings fan and already know that I won't be able to see many of our games because of other games in the area that will be on, you get used to it."
Going to a bar would likely end up costing more than $20, unless you're just going to sit there for 3 hours and not eat or drink anything. And if you don't live near your team, $20 a week to watch the game isn't really that much. If your team isn't on in your area and you "get used to it" then you probably aren't that big of a fan anyway.
Posted By: Guest#3578 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 07:52 AM
yeah but sf4+ssf4+ssf4ae sold more than mk9
Posted By: Guest#8248 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 08:45 AM
As far as the Sunday Ticket goes you all do realize that the PS3 price is only 5 dollars more than the regular price on DirecTV and that the NFL sets the price? Look for people who live in apartments or don't have a line of sight to the southwestern sky and can't see their favorite team and is in a fantasy league this is a plus. There is NO contract. NO dish. NO installation. Yeah yeah I can go to a bar and watch the games...but why do I have big screen tv again?? And my lazy boy recliner?? Don't have to worry about drinking and driving. You guys all fail to see the bigger picture in this. I do agree that the price is steep...however..last seasons price was 299.00. So its not like the price is that high just for PS3 owners..its that steep for everyone.
Posted By: JP (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 11:10 AM
The Sunday Ticket package on DirecTV is the same cost as for the PS3. Basically if you can't get DirecTV(like I can't because where I live my signal is blocked) its a great idea to still get the package. However I have multiple friends that get the package so I just go to their house anyways.
Posted By: Guest#7823 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 11:23 AM
How was MK vs. DCU a dud? They shipped 1.8 million copies of the game. In what universe is that a dud?
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 11:35 AM
Its easy to understand why someone would pay for Sunday Ticket. If you live out of the broadcast area of your favorite team and want to watch in quality you have two options; buy the DirectTV package or go to a sports bar with the service. Going to the bar every week is more expensive than paying for the service. Do the math, three-four hours in a bar can easily exceed $20. In the long run this is he cheaper option for most fans not living around their favorite team.
Posted By: Justin (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 11:50 AM
As opposed to Goldeneye on the Wii which is so bad it's unplayable?
Posted By: Guest#1354 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 07:38 AM
And here I was thinking I was the only one. WTF nintendo!
Posted By: Rasher (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 11:59 AM
NFL Sunday Ticket overpriced? Well, clearly you're not a golfer. The value proposition for an apartment-dweller (…no dishes allowed) who lives in Los Angeles (…a city without ANY local NFL games) is immeasurable. Going to a bar at 10am (local start time for the early games) has been the brutal standard up until now. Finally I get to watch any game I want from the comfort of home...and can hold off on heavy drinking until the 1pm games ;-)
Posted By: iheartcrack (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 12:23 PM
I think everyone overestimates the popularity of Mortal Kombat. It's a viable property in the USA, but in Japan and Europe it hasn't done as well, or at least a capcom fighting property will sell more.
Posted By: Guest#6387 (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 12:29 PM
Am I the only one who thought Goldeneye on Wii wasn't that bad? Sure, it was basically the original Godeneye formula with COD controls, but I thought it was pretty fun. Oh, and I only played it with the classic controller. Screw motion controls (except for light gun games).
Posted By: The Salms (Registered) on August 23, 2011 at 01:26 PM
Sunday Ticket is overpriced because you have to pay $50 more than just getting it through DirecTV. You have to buy Sunday Ticket plus add $50 for using the PS3 as a receiver.
Posted By: lol (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 01:49 PM
"Am I the only one who thought Goldeneye on Wii wasn't that bad? Sure, it was basically the original Godeneye formula with COD controls, but I thought it was pretty fun. Oh, and I only played it with the classic controller. Screw motion controls (except for light gun games)."
GE Wii isn't that bad of a game. It's just it was purported to be GE64, and it wasn't. Add to that the multiplayer with rampant hacking and grenade launching, not to mention the super dark outfits that make enemies invisible. I like the game, I like it a lot, but it's got a lot of problems that could have been easily fixed if it weren't rushed out. I'll play it 'cause it's online, but if I had friends coming over, I'd plug in the N64 over it any day of the week.
Posted By: G-Walla (Guest) on August 23, 2011 at 05:22 PM
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