411 Games Fact or Fiction 10.18.11 Dead Island, Mass Effect 3, Farmville and More
Posted by Adam Larck on 10.18.2011
Will Mass Effect 3's co-op just feel tacked on to the single-player game? Does Farmville really need a movie? Will we be buying Arkham City today? Is Brock Lesnar's addition to WWE '12 a surprise? 411’s Todd Vote and Stephen Randle 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 still making progress through Dark Souls. Otherwise, I'm just counting the days until Skyrim.
This week, we have Stephen Randle and Todd Vote going head-to-head. Let's see how these two do. Time for banner!
1.) You're surprised Dead Island made it to No. 3 on the September NPDs.
Todd Vote - Fiction: After fixing the day one problems on the game, we were left with a very solid RPG style zombie game. I suppose one could say it is surprising seeing a new IP amongst so many established franchises, but if you did that you would be underestimating the power of zombies. The big surprise on the September NPD list for me, is Call of Duty Black Ops… I'm really shocked to see it making an appearance almost a year after it was initially released.
Stephen Randle - Fiction: No, not really. Zombie games sell, and aside from Madden and Gears, which obviously were 1 and 2, was it really a huge month for games? Dead Island had as much chance as any game in September, and the intrigue behind the original video got it a lot of initial sales. I'd imagine the launch issues probably hurt it afterwards, but I could see it selling a lot on day one, which would have been enough to maintain their spot for the month.
Score: 1 for 1 - I really didn't figure this game would break the top 10, but I guess zombies games still sell huge.
2.) The newest Wii bundle should have kept GameCube support since it's keeping the same price.
Todd Vote - Fact: Considering that there is a bundle out that is very similar, for the same price that includes GameCube compatibility, I would definitely say this is a bone-head move by The Big N. Why would you remove that functionality? Is it a newly designed Wii? From what I read the only difference is the lack of GC support, and the fact that the console cannot stand upright now, correct? What the hell was the reason for this?
Stephen Randle - Fact: I mean, GameCube support probably isn't worth a lot anymore, but I can't imagine it added a lot of cost to the console either. The Wii's nearly a dead console anyway, if you want to catch the very last people who don't have one, it's probably a bad idea to start removing features like backwards compatibility that might tempt a holdout into a purchase.
Score: 2 for 2 - I know that Nintendo is trying to phase the Wii out for preparation of Wii U, but why not either keep GameCube support in or drop the price of the new bundle.
3.) The Mass Effect 3 co-op won't feel tacked on.
Todd Vote - Fiction: Co-op can always be added to a game, and it can feel tacked on sometimes. See Call of Duty: World at War. However, when a developer takes the time to get it right and explore the options you have with co-op, things can turn out amazing, like in the Gears of War series, or going back to The Warriors on the PS2 and Xbox. Bioware has never seemed to take shortcuts with their games. I feel that if they couldn't do something worthy with co-op, they would not have included it in the game.
Stephen Randle - Fiction: Because let's face it, it is tacked on. Mass Effect is a single player action-RPG, and they've added co-op just because there's this wave of belief going through gaming that you have to have some form of multiplayer in every game released. Which is foolishness, because some games just don't translate to multi-person play. Hey, anyone remember BioShock II multiplayer? No? That's because no one played it. If the game got to a third iteration as a single player game before now, maybe they had a good idea already. I'm not saying it'll be bad, it doesn't seem necessary.
Score: 3 for 3 - I'm interested to see how it will affect the universe, but I hope it won't feel tacked on in the end.
4.) Brock Lesnar's a surprise addition to WWE '12.
Stephen Randle - Fact: Well, yeah. There had basically been no contact of any import between Brock and WWE for years outside of vague talks of meetings with Heyman as an intermediary, and we all know that WWE and UFC don't like each other all that much. I didn't think I'd see Brock in a WWE game until he finally was forced to retire from UFC and had to go back to the other thing he was incredibly successful at for the downslope of his career.
Todd Vote - Fact: I didn't see it coming. I know Lesnar had been having talks with the WWE recently, but I just figured it was some sort of legends deal to cover a DVD for him or something like that. Lesnar in WWE '12 is an awesome addition and just gets me that much more excited to buy my first WWE game since SvR 2008.
Score: 4 for 4 - Lesnar in the newest WWE game is a big surprise, but should be good for fans to enjoy.
5.) Sonic Generations is shaping up to be better than the last few entries.
Stephen Randle - Fiction: Meh, it looks like it'll be a mish-mash of all the Sonic games you can think of, which is great from a nostalgic point of view, but then again, we are asking a question about whether this one will be better than the last few, so...let's just say the odds are not good.
Todd Vote - Fact: I have a feeling I am going to be eating crow on this one, because Sonic always seems to disappoint lately. I hope I am wrong, but I won't hold my breath. The reason I answered fact, instead of fiction is by default. They simply can't get much worse, can they?
Score: 4 for 5 - It looks better, but will the 3D sections drag the 2D ones down? Only time will tell.
6.) There doesn't need to be a Farmville movie.
Stephen Randle - Fact: Seriously. We tried to make up scripts for a potential FarmVille movie in 4PC last week and I think to call what we came up with "a mess of boring clichés" would be generous. Although someone did come up with a murder spree ending, so...that might have worked.
Todd Vote - Fact: Fact, fact, fact, a million times fact. Why the hell would you need a movie based on Farmville? How the hell can this even be entertained as an idea? I'm really just dumbfounded by the whole idea. Is it going to be in name alone or what? I just do not see any way this could work.
Score: 5 for 6 - Is the movie industry really hurting that bad for new ideas?
Bonus Question) Batman: Arkham City releases today. You're getting that day one.
Stephen Randle - Fiction: Okay, I'm being unfair, because I totally would, but I'm currently less than financially solvent and also going on vacation next week, so I'll need every penny for Disney World. When I come back, though, yeah, totally grabbing this.
Todd Vote - Fiction: I really want to, but unfortunately money is pretty tight at the moment, so I will not be investing in much this coming holiday season. So much I want to get though, and Arkham City is right at the top of the list.
Adam Larck - Fiction: I'm honestly surprised by the other responses here. Personally, money's a bit of a problem here. Plus, I'm saving up for some other games later on. As much as I'd like to, this may be put off until Black Friday for me.
The pair finish this week going 5-for-6. What do you think? Agree or disagree with their answers? Let us know. See you in seven!
Why is it that week after week it's the same thing on here. A big game releases and the question is will you get it... And the response...I would love to get it but I can't afford it! Waaawaaa wah...
Posted By: GetAJob (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 12:56 AM
release date was broken here in Australia, got it yesterday and put it in only to find that redeem codes wont work yet for the Catwoman missions which make the game more understandable or something. So will have to wait another day before I decide to start playing and the codes work!
Posted By: asylum (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 02:22 AM
Farmville film plot:
16 late '20s housewives who are dead inside move out into the country and attempt to make a farming community. They bitch at each other for not helping each other work, nothing gets done, the US gov't carpet bombs the shit out of them.
Comedy of the Year, ALL YEARS
Posted By: Cactus (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 03:11 AM
"We tried to make up scripts for a potential FarmVille movie in 4PC last week and I think to call what we came up with "a mess of boring clichés" would be generous."
Seriously? I bet if you guys were asked to write a movie about toys, it also would have been a mess of boring cliches, but Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen made that idea work. They can make Farmville work as well.
Just because a bunch of freelance writers can't come up with a good idea, doesn't mean that a pair of Oscar-nominated writers can't. There's a reason why they're Oscar-nominated, you know.
Posted By: Guest#7407 (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 05:00 AM
"Why is it that week after week it's the same thing on here. A big game releases and the question is will you get it... And the response...I would love to get it but I can't afford it! Waaawaaa wah...
Posted By: GetAJob (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 12:56 AM"
I have a job, but you know, priorities are not with purchasing every new game that comes out. Family first jackass.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
"Why is it that week after week it's the same thing on here. A big game releases and the question is will you get it... And the response...I would love to get it but I can't afford it! Waaawaaa wah...
Posted By: GetAJob (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 12:56 AM"
I have a job, but you know, priorities are not with purchasing every new game that comes out. Family first jackass.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
HAHAHAHAAHAH
Posted By: Hehehe (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 02:33 PM
I have a job, but you know, priorities are not with purchasing every new game that comes out. Family first jackass.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Todd Vote you are a douche and I never liked you... that being said... get back to work and stop writing articles so you can afford games weekly
Posted By: Guest#4466 (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 04:00 PM
Every time an AAA title comes out and yer answers are the same. Oh I"m not getting it, can't afford it at the moment! Then stop reporting on video games!
Posted By: Jimmy (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 06:14 PM
Im in love with the guy who has that farmville
Posted By: Guest#6171 (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 06:56 PM
GAMEFLY geez 30 bucks a month for 3 games. How are you guys in the gaming section?????????????????????
Posted By: Guest#3915 (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 07:10 PM
I have a job, but you know, priorities are not with purchasing every new game that comes out. Family first jackass.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Guest) on October 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
They're kids. They won't get it no matter how many times you say it. I say they're kids because i don't even wanna consider the possibility of 90% of the people who write comments on this website being over 16. That would be tragic.
Posted By: Guest#3989 (Guest) on October 19, 2011 at 07:44 AM
I just lost everything in a house fire. I was stoked to see the new Wii bundle...until I read no gamecube support. I owned more gamecube games than Wii games. And was planning on replacing more gamecube games than Wii games. I'll just have to buy an older Wii version. Along with a 360 and Fallout 3. Finally. Can't wait for the insurance check.
Posted By: Comment Board Poster (Guest) on October 19, 2011 at 10:03 AM
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