411 Games Fact or Fiction 10.11.11 Alan Wake 2, Nielsen, Team Bondi and More

Posted by Adam Larck on 10.11.2011

Is Modern Warfare 3 really the most anticipated game of the holiday season? Should Alan Wake 2 aim for the current generation of Xbox? Is it disappointing that the announcement of Bloody Roar was a fake? 411’s Dan Watson and Jeremy Thomas debate these topics and more 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 finally picked up Dark Souls. Enjoying the game, even while dying a decent amount. Also, finishing up my final few quests in Rage.

This week, we have Jeremy Thomas and Dan Watson going head-to-head. Let's see how these two do. Time for banner!





1.) Nielsen's most anticipated games list for the holiday season is off.

Dan Watson - Fact: I think the order of the games is a bit off. You are telling me that Madden 12 is more wanted than Skyrim and Uncharted? Hell you are telling me that Just Dance is more wanted than those games? Something seems off here. I get Call of Duty and Gears of War, both are or will be good games, but some major titles slipped in this list and I don't agree at all. My top list would probably be similar with COD, GOW, Batman, Skyrim, Uncharted, Battlefield. I think this may have been a casual gamer survey or a survey to people who don't play games often or hear of upcoming titles.

Jeremy Thomas - Fiction: Just because I'm not looking forward to some of these doesn't mean that the list is way off. Sure, I don't play Madden and I'm more interested in Uncharted 3 than Skyward Sword, but that's me. I'm one guy, and Madden and Zelda are huge franchises. I think that there is a maddening tendency for people to go "Well, those aren't the games/movies/music that I LIKE so obviously this list is way off." I call BS on that. I like stuff that a lot of people don't and I'm willing to accept that. I don't invalidate everything just because it's not my own personal taste. In this list's case, all of these games on the top are heavily-hyped games and I have no doubt that people are looking forward to them.

Score: 0 for 1 - I just want to know which group was surveyed to make some of the choices on there as high as they were.



2.) You're content with the list of Xbox Live TV partners.

Dan Watson - Fact: I think this list will grow over time but this is a good start I think. My major concern is price and how to get the content. Also, will there be some shows blocked out? I can already see parents being outraged because somehow their kid was watching HBO during one of their adult programs. I am intrigued to see where this goes but think that the list so far is pretty solid.

Jeremy Thomas - Fact: Looks like a good, solid list to me. Everything I would be interested in is there that I can think of; I'm sure that there's something missing but nothing jumps to mind so I can't say it was something that I must be desperate for. Good on Microsoft for getting this many hookups; and I imagine that Roku is fuming over this as they've just been made more or less obsolete.

Score: 1 for 2 - The biggest make-or-break point for this will be the price some companies charge, but it looks like a solid start.



3.) Alan Wake 2 should try to release for this Xbox generation, not next.

Dan Watson - Fact: Why would you create for a generation that is a ways off. Plus, let us not forget that this game was originally a LAUNCH title back in 2006 and came out in 2011. They should be trying for now so that it can maybe make it during the next generation at their pace. The game was a nice twist in adventure horror games and I would like to see them get a sequel out soon.

Jeremy Thomas - Fiction: This game hasn't been in development for all that long yet. If people want it rushed and thus a shoddier game, then by all means clamor at Remedy to get it out quicker. Personally, I would rather that the developers take their time and make sure they're putting out the best game they can have. It's not like we're going to have a shortage of games to hold us over in the meantime.

Score: 1 for 3 - The first game took five years to release. A sequel on the next system seems to fit that timeframe.

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4.) It's no surprise that Team Bondi is being shut down.

Jeremy Thomas - Fact: Unfortunate, but not surprising. This has been coming for a while and while L.A. Noire was a huge success, you need more than a solid-selling game to keep going. The company has been plagued with internal problems and anyone who was even giving the situation an occasional, cursory look knew that things were not getting better. It's too bad, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Dan Watson - Fact: Let's see, last time we heard of Team Bondi they were going to take RockStar to court over LA Noire. How often does that work for a smaller company against these giants? Not often is the answer. The team was left wondering where to go from here after LA and probably were a bit mismanaged and misguided. Let this be a lesson to America's youth, if you have a hit on your hands, shut up and collect the money.

Score: 2 for 4 - Considering the struggles the company has had during and after the release of LA Noire, I'm not surprised by this.



5.) The newest Sony Long Live Play trailer is great.

Jeremy Thomas - Fact: Okay, call me a dork, but this was pretty damned awesome. The recreations of all the video game characters were great and the production values were pretty damn good as well. The only thing that could have made this better is getting Nathan Fillion for Drake, but what are you gonna do? Nice work by the Sony crew.

Dan Watson - Fact: This is pretty awesome having the different characters being shown off. It reminds me of the NBA, NFL, and MLB commercials in which they have different players from different teams talking to the fans. I would like to see more commercials done this way. Instead of having a human market the games, maybe the characters should be the marketing icons. Could you imagine Mario showing up on a commercial to tell us to pick up his next game. Make it happen.

Score: 3 for 5 - Kevin Butler may be good, but that trailer was amazing. Sony needs to focus on this line of trailers for a bit to continue a big hit.



6.) It's disappointing that the Bloody Roar announcement was a fake.

Jeremy Thomas - Fiction: I love my fighting games, but this was one of those games that got lost in the shuffle for me. I didn't hate it; in fact, I have no strong feelings about it one way or the other because I barely remember it. Thus, I can't say that I was hugely hyped about the possibility of a revival. I think it was stupid that people faked it, but then that's idiot internet trolls for you.

Dan Watson - Fiction: The fighting genre is dying. There isn't the same feel that there once was and I was a fan of most of the games in this genre. I am not sure what happened but this is one of the few genres out there that are going backwards. I look at the most recent Marvel vs. Street Fighter game which was a disappointment in my opinion. Mortal Kombat was great but how long can you ride on one franchise. I am okay with Bloody Roar not making a comeback. About the only fighting game I want back....Killer Instinct. That could save the genre I am sure of.

Score: 4 for 6 - I definitely don't think the genre is dying, but I actually was a bit disappointed by this. I liked this series, and would have loved to see it come back as DLC or something.



Bonus Question) Steve Jobs' death will greatly impact Apple.

Jeremy Thomas - Fiction: I went back and forth on this one. There is utterly zero doubt that without Steve Jobs, the world would have been a very different place, and for the worse. He was obviously a driving force at Apple and spearheaded some of the company's greatest innovations and products; his impact on the company cannot be overstated. It's simply not possible. However, with that being said I think that Jobs' death won't impact Apple that much because the illness already did most of the impact. Jobs' health problems necessitated his retirement a few months ago and thus the impact was already felt. His death is a morale blow for the company and it's certainly the loss of an important man in the evolution of technology, but I think any changes the company had to make were already made when he stepped down and before he did. RIP Mr. Jobs.

Dan Watson - Fiction: Let me start by saying I am not a fan of Apple. I am however, a fan of Steve Jobs and his way of business and overall life views. The man thought outside of the box a bit and created a company that can sell a computer for a thousand dollars and people think it is a great deal. I have never owned an iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. but can say that anyone that can sell a product that is overpriced compared to competitors and hold a majority market share is a genius. I don't think his passing will have a major impact as he had already resigned his position six weeks prior, but it will have some impact I am sure. I do think the products will sell like hotcakes for the next few months, especially with the new products coming out. Sadly, this will help the company in the short-term more than it hurts in my opinion.

Adam Larck - Fiction: If it wasn't for his illness already having the impact, I would have had a different answer. Jobs was a driving force behind the rebirth of Apple, but really hasn't helped out a lot since stepping down from CEO due to the cancer. Apple will have a mourning period for him to be sure, but the company will still thrive and continue to make new i-products without him.

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!