411 Games Fact or Fiction 04.17.07: Ninja Gaiden, Guitar Hero II, the Guiness Book of Records, and More!
Posted by Tommy Coloma on 04.17.2007
Joshua Richey and Sean Garmer tell us what they think about the Wii's games so far, Ninja Gaiden DS, Guitar Hero II downloads, the Guinness Book of Records: Games Edition, the death of the 20 Gig PS3, and the mouse/keyboard vs. controller debate in this week's Fact or Fiction Games.
Welcome back to another edition of Fact or Fiction Games. This week we were able to convince two extra special writers to give us their thoughts on the issues that matter to you. First, we have Joshua Richey, the writer of The Digital Pulse. This week's column has a nice story about something that we all experience at one point or another - regret for not got getting something when we had a chance to. On the other side of the fence we have Sean Garmer, the man who brings us the 411 Games Roundtable every month. Don't miss your chance to read some expert opinions on upcoming games as well as find out who the biggest winners and losers over the last month were. Lets get started -
1. Except for Wario Ware and Super Paper Mario, there haven't been any significant releases for the Wii since it was launched back in November.
Joshua Richey: FICTION
Well, I'd say that Twighlight Princess was pretty significant but I see where you're going with this. The Wii still has more unique games out than its PS3 competitor. Game developers are going to have to pay extra attention to the Wii and what it is capable of. This is going to take time as they can't just port something ala the PS3/360. So, for that, I'm going to give Nintendo a pass on this one. Wii owners have Wii Sports, Twighlight Princess, Wario Ware, and Paper Mario - all those in addition to all the great content on the Virtual Console - which is actually pretty good considering the console is less than 6 months old.
Sean Garmer: FICTION
Twilight Princess was released as a launch game and I remember that being awesome, but since then everything else can either be found on another system or is a remake of a DS game. Aside from Wario Ware and Super Paper Mario, I think you have to look at a couple of games that are good, but because it's not widely accepted as great they aren't seen as significant. I think SSX Blur is a damn fine game. Sure, the controls might take a little getting used to, but it shows developers what you can do with the Wii. SEGA improved Sonic with the Secret Rings game, over the horrendous Sonic the Hedgehog game released with the XBOX 360 at launch. They also have a big lineup coming soon, and come on, in the first year of a system they are going to have a lull period. Didn't this happen with the 360 too?
Score: 1 for 1
2. Ninja Gaiden DS is going to be a must-have for DS owners.
Joshua Richey: FACT
The chances of any Ninja Gaiden game sucking are pretty slim. With that said, I'm very eager to see how this one develops in the coming months. On paper, it's a very attractive purchase for DS owners.
Sean Garmer: FACT
Tecmo likes to find new ways to innovate and you take one of their biggest franchises and put it on the DS, I don't think you can go wrong with that. There's no way they will let Ninja Gaiden suck, especially because if it succeeds they have another system they can make money on.
Score: 2 for 2
3. At about $2 per song, the download prices for the 360 version of Guitar Hero II are fair and reasonable.
Joshua Richey: FICTION
I read this last week that it would take you $97 to purchase all of the songs in Guitar Hero II. It's completely ridiculous and I really hope that this backfires all over Harmonix. If I go to the store and buy Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 for $90, that should be it. That should be all that I need to get the most out of my game. These 'microtransactions' are a pain in the ass and are going to have very adverse effects on games that take advantage of them in the way that Guitar Hero II for the 360 does.
Sean Garmer: FICTION
We are talking about extra songs here right? I think it should be a dollar per song. 2 is too much. Also, they should probably sell some in a pack for a certain amount too. That $90 dollar tag for the game and guitar are a lot of money as it is, and if the 55 songs aren't enough for you, you can spend more. I like the idea of adding new songs through XBOX Live, and I understand this is a way to help pay for the Licensing fee, and get them some extra cash, but still, they should be a $1 dollar. Harmonix knows this is extra content that actually doesn't feel petty, and people are going to want more songs, It's not wrong that they charge for it, but they need to be careful about it.
Score: 3 for 3
4. The Guinness Book of Records: Video Game Edition - it's about time!
Sean Garmer: FACT
Well, video games are somewhat mainstream now, so why shouldn't they have their own book of records? I'm sure there will be a bunch of gamers that will pick this up to see what kinds of records are being counted, and if any can be broken. These are always an interesting read when you are browsing in the store, and I'm a bit curious myself to see what stats gamers have put up in various games. If anything, this is a statement to the world saying that video games now hold an important place in our society.
Joshua Richey: FICTION
Granted, if I'm walking through Borders and happen to come across The Guinness Book of Records: Video Game Edition, I'd probably pick it up and give it a looksie. But honestly, how appealing can this be? Who really cares who completed Crazy Taxi the fastest? I don't. When I think of Guinness World Records, I think of 'number of Tarantulas in one person's mouth' or 'longest fingernails'... those things are cool. I'm not interested in knowing who completed Mario 3 in 17 minutes. Sorry.
Score: 3 for 4
5. The 20 Gig PS3 has been discontinued in America. It will not be missed.
Sean Garmer: FACT
Exactly, it won't be missed, if you bought one of these I feel bad for you actually. The best thing that could come from this is that it might mean that Sony is serious about dropping the price of the 60 Gig PS3. Honestly, that, and a slew of good exclusive titles would drive home sales for Sony. 20 Gig hard drive, how we hardly knew you.
Joshua Richey: FACT
Well my little brother has himself one of these 20 GB PS3's and I don't think that he's aware yet that it's 'the other one.' I really don't even see why Sony released this is the first place. Perhaps this was just to match Microsoft's releasing of the Premium and Core bundles for the 360. But the 20 GB was a dumbed version of 'the real deal' - at a still pretty steep price. Considering all of the functionalities that the 20 GB was missing - it will not be missed.
Score: 4 for 5
6. When Team Fortress 2 is released later this year, PC gamers will be able to play against Xbox 360 players. This may finally settle the debate on which control scheme is better - the controller or the mouse/keyboard combo. But there's no need to wait. It is obvious which one is better.
Sean Garmer: FICTION
No, because this debate will go on forever unless PC gaming totally dies which won't happen so long as there are Half-Life, The Sims, and MMOs. I don't play PC games (I'm a console gamer) but Team Fortress 2 is being labeled by it's developers as FPRTS (that means First Person Real-Time Strategy game) I've played a few RTS's in my day. I can't stand them now, but that's because I've found that the computer works a whole lot better for a RTS. All you have to do is use the mouse to point at the character you want selected and then you go through your options. With the console, it gets annoying having to use the D-Pad or Analog stick to scroll through the characters. That's why RTS's are mainly made for computers - because they are many times easier to use on the PC. However, that doesn't solve the debate because that's just one kind of game. Personally, I think that Shooters work better on consoles, but I'm sure there are many that would dispute that. So no, in my view, this debate rages on folks.
Joshua Richey: FICTION
Different strokes for different folks I guess. Myself, personally, I'm a controller guy... but I'm not going to sit here and say that that's the best way. I've never really given the keyboard and mouse the shot that it probably deserves. I'd stick with the popular belief and says that the Keyboard/Mouse probably does have the upper hand when it comes to RTS games... whereas the controller offers more immediate reaction times in action games. But whatever floats your boat.
Score: 5 for 6
A final score of 5 for 6. Don't forget to join us next Friday for more Fact or Fiction! I don't mean to sound cold but if you forget, I'll have to send Black Frost your way.
