411 Games Fact or Fiction 07.28.06: Mortal Kombat, Price Cuts, World of Warcraft, Microsoft’s Zune, and More!

Posted by Tommy Coloma on 07.28.2006

Damian Sarcuni and Michael Joyeux take a break from their writing duties to give us a piece of their minds.

Damian Sarcuni and Michael Joyeux headline this week's Fact or Fiction. Damian gives us a piece of his mind every week with Angry Gaming while Michael shows us why video games rule with Great Moments in Video Game History. Today we will find out what they think about Mark Rein's announcement, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, 360 price cuts, Microsoft's Zune, World of Warcraft, and AMD's ATI buyout.


1. You are looking forward to next week's "BIG" Gears of War announcement.

Damian Sarcuni: FICTION. And quite frankly I'm not looking forward to Gears of War at all. I'm not trying to be cool and rebellious or anything, but the game just reminds me so much of a Tribes/Doom combo. As far as the announcement itself, I'm very against the industry hype machine, and I try not get too excited about it. Besides, looking at the site (www.gearsofwar.com) it sounds like they are just going to announce online play or clan features or something.

Michael Joyeux: FICTION. I completely agree, the industry hypes itself up way too much. I remember when I was a lad, just a couple of screen shots from Sonic 2 was enough to send the "industry" into a frenzy, the fact is that they're not going to make a "BIG" announcement on some new game play feature because then every development studio and his mother will then copy it. It's likely to be, as my colleague said, just the announcement of some banal multiplayer feature, or maybe even a concrete release date. I don't believe the hype when it comes to games, sod previews, give me a review anyway!

Score: 1 for 1


2. Mortal Kombat Armageddon will suck.

Damian Sarcuni: FACT. It doesn't sound like they are going to do anything revolutionary to the fighting system. Create-a-modes, whether detailed or really crappy, are limited in just how much appeal they have. I think the locations and the characters are just better looking versions of what we have seen in previous games and that will only attract diehard fans. The worst part is, the series that supposedly surrounds itself with death and gore has had so many resurrections of old characters its getting stale. Killing off Liu Kang and Johnny Cage were really compelling storyline ideas, but apparently in the MK universe, no matter how many times your spine is ripped out you can always come back for more. This time, though, I don't think gamers will.

Michael Joyeux: FACT. Everything since Mortal Kombat II has seemed to suck, while Street Fighter teased us like the girl next door, MK has been a real slut, hanging around dirty bars, getting drunk and getting into bed with every and any console and technological innovation. The game will have the eye candy, the create a modes, the spectacular gore and little else, with the game play depth of a puddle. I think it can be taken that all Mortal Kombats will suck, until some one realizes that you have to actually put a game into all the jazz and pomp.

Score: 2 for 2


3. Microsoft will cut the price of the 360 this winter.

Damian Sarcuni: FICTION. Tough call though, if by this winter you include the first quarter next year. Still, I think that there's enough interest in the system left to get one good Christmas out of it at full price before a nice healthy spring price drop. After all, that's when the tax rebates come in!! Either way, the original XBOX has to be completely phased out before the 360 gets a price drop and it's not quite that time yet.

Michael Joyeux: FACT. If the PS3 is released and if Microsoft cut the cost and point and say "hey, look here, these games look just as good, there's more of them, our live interface kicks ass and we're half as cheap" I think people will buy, that's the reason I'm holding off. You know they're going to drop the price to complete uber competitively with the PS3. The fact is that the original X Box, despite being in it's prime is now a dead console in terms of forward planning for Microsoft. Watch the shelves, the price is coming down!

Score: 2 for 3



4. World of Warcraft's success is hurting the PC games market.

Michael Joyeux: FICTION. World of Warcraft gamers are a very select type of person; dedicated, passionate about games and a little odd. People playing games like WOW have the inclination to play these games for massive amounts of time, the same way that some people play a game like Championship Manager, Pro Evolution Football, Madden, Tekken or Counter Strike, they find one game and stick to it because they enjoy it. I do agree that the massive success of Warcraft, means there are more people sticking to one game, but if your a guy whose dedicated to playing 25+ hours a week on a game, then how can you resist the allure of games like Black or Rise and Fall?

Damian Sarcuni: FICTION. I disagree that it's as simple as just playing one game for a long time though. The fact is that MMO's are much more than a genre, they are a social entity, an alternate reality for people who have finally realized the ultimate religious truth...meeting people in person isn't all that great anyway. But MMO's don't take away from players' game time anymore than a normal RPG. I play Final Fantasy Online, and that's exactly what it is...Final Fantasy that doesn't end with a chat room thrown in. Besides, you gotta do something while waiting for your next party or quest mission, why not another stage of God Of War 2?

Score: 3 for 4


5. Microsoft has stated that the primary focus of the Zune will be music. This focus on music is a good way to start since a direct assault on the iPod would be easier than a three-way battle between the Zune, PSP, and DS.

Michael Joyeux: FACT. Microsoft knows its got one hell of an uphill battle, the iPod is basically now defacto amongst the public as the MP3 player, like Walkman, Hoover and Tannoy are in their respective fields. And with the quality of the software and hardware, plus the vogue that comes with those shiny white headphones, Microsoft knows it's got its work cut out just to unseat Apple. Sony has proved that Nintendo is not taking any chances with the hand held market. Despite being "what people want" in terms of a movie, music and games machine, the PSP hasn't really captured people's imaginations the way the DS has. So what can Microsoft's Zune do that the Sony PSP can't? The fact is that Microsoft doesn't have the testicular fortitude or the ability to try and innovate like Nintendo and they won't risk a battle with the PSP as Sony has the "edge" in terms of branding. Aka Microsoft = Computers & Sony = Entertainment. So it is a very wise move to go after Apple, build a user base, then start introducing games... Although just trying to unseat Apple is going to be as hard as beating Contra with one life... However a Microsoft Portable X Box?

...Multiplayer Halo on the Train? *Drool* God I'm a Geek...

Damian Sarcuni: FACT. But again, I have to disagree slightly...Microsoft won't have any problem dethroning Apple. IPOD is a cult (remember that kid who killed himself cause someone stole his? CULT!!!) but Microsoft is an empire, and the only reason IPOD has dominated this long is because no other company has the name power to back a mass marketed mp3 player. As far as the DS and PSP are concerned, it's just too soon. XBOX hasn't beaten the PS2 anymore than the PSP beat the DS. I don't even expect any major titles out on the Zune, if anything they will use it to test the waters and try their hand at the portable gaming market. Give MS a chance to spread their wings, people!

Score: 4 for 5


6. AMD's acquisition of ATI will have major repercussions for the gaming industry.

Michael Joyeux: FICTION. Huh? What now? If I wasn't such a Geek I wouldn't even be aware of this. The fact is that the only people it's going to affect is PC builders. AMD won't abandon ATI cards for Intel chips because they're only shooting themselves in the foot financially, they might be able to "optimize" the chips for AMD processors, but I guess that the Intel legal team will be all over them for that. I honestly don't think that it's going to make one jot of difference to anything... The easiest fiction ever.

Damian Sarcuni: FICTION. UGH. I hate agreeing with everything and yet disagreeing with so much. I want to say that AMD will launch a massive campaign to merge their hardware for optimal performance with ATI cards. I want to say that game publishers will literally sabotage their own code during the first few releases to encourage users to buy AMD/ATI products. I want to say that AMD will manufacture ATI cards at a fraction of what they used to cost, with some really tweakable hardware. I can't say any of those things. ATI and AMD were more or less bedfellows to begin with, and for now the wiser business choice is to keep ATI as its own entity. Game designers can't really stick to their guns when it comes to hardware specific features either because so much money is at stake. By the time all the above stuff I mentioned is implemented, someone will probably buy AMD.

Score: 5 for 6


Once again…



Another score of 5 for 6. Will we ever get 6 for 6? How about 0 for 6? Let's find out next week!