411 Games Fact or Fiction 06.29.07: Sonic RPG, Wii Original Downloadable Content, Manhunt 2, & More!
Posted by Tommy Coloma on 06.29.2007
Jay Bryant and Steve McHugh give us their thoughts on BioWare's new Sonic RPG, original downloadable content on the Wii, the ESRB's influence over how publishers advertise their games, the Wii's first online game, the red ring of death, and the whole Manhunt 2 situation in this week's edition of Fact or Fiction!
Welcome back to another edition of Fact or Fiction. This week's participants are Jay Bryant and Steve McHugh. Jay can be found doing reviews and previews for the Games section. His latest review is for Spider-Man 3 for the Wii. Steve also does game reviews. In addition, he writes Flashback, a column where he takes a close look at older games to see how well they stand up today. In this week's article he mixes things up a little by giving us his take on the recent Manhunt 2 controversy.
Let's get started -
1. BioWare's upcoming Sonic RPG is going to make the Sonic franchise relevant again.
Jay Bryant: Fiction
Ah, the little blue hedgehog that could is at it again. BioWare is really taking a chance with this one, and the risk will not pay off. The franchise is pretty much on its last leg, and in order to make it relevant publishers have to remind gamers why they fell in love with Sonic in the first place. Changing the core gameplay won't do that.
Steve McHugh: Fact
If anyone can save Sonic then it's BioWare. Everything they touch turns to gold and they've NEVER done a bad game. I don't think Sonic is quite dead. In fact, Sonic on the Wii was a damn fine step in the right direction. And handheld Sonic games have always been fantastic. However, I'll admit that I'm not sure exactly how BioWare will go about making a sonic RPG but I'm looking forward to finding out.
Score: 0 for 1
2. Despite the Wii's storage limitations, original downloadable content on the Wii will be hot!
Jay Bryant: Fact
Original downloadable content on the Wii depends more on what the content is than how much space you have. If the buzz is really high on any downloadable content, gamers will definitely find a way to make some space for it.
Steve McHugh: Fact
Original content is always good. It works well on the 360 so there's no reason to think that it won't work on the Wii. So long as it's of a high quality then I can't see there being any problems.
Score: 1 for 2
3. The ESRB should have a say in how game publishers advertise their games on the Internet.
Jay Bryant: Fiction
The only companies that should control how publishers advertise on the Internet are the companies who own the sites that the publishers are advertising on. Publishers should develop advertisements that can appeal to everyone and advertisements that only appeal to a target audience. This would allow them to present webmasters with a choice of which advertisement their visitors see. A good example of how this works would be in movies. When you see previews in movie theaters, they are usually made for "All Audiences," and the green screen you see before the preview tells you that, or warns you otherwise.
Steve McHugh: Fiction
I agree with my colleague on this one as the companies using the adverts should be the ones who decide what to, and what not to, show. The problem with advertising on the Internet is that no one knows how old the person is who is looking on any given site. But then that's more the parent's responsibility than the ESRB's.
Score: 2 for 3
4. It's good that the first online game on the Wii is Pokemon Battle Revolution.
Steve McHugh: Fiction
I have to say fiction because Mario Strikers Charged was the first online Wii game over here and that's a great little game and a lot of fun. Pokemon Battle revolution could be a lot of fun too and with the popularity of Pokemon seemingly not going anywhere it's a great choice as one of the first online games.
Jay Bryant: Fiction
Nintendo was being very selfish by making a first party title released months after the systems launch the first online game. Developers were even held back on online dev kits so that Pokemon would be the first online game. This does little to help the Big N's relationship with third party developers. Not to mention the fact that the Pokemon franchise is nothing close to what it used to be so tying a big feature, such as online gaming, to a (slowly but surely) dying franchise such as Pokemon is not a good idea.
Score: 3 for 4
5. The red ring of death is actually pretty rare and is not something that most people should be worried about.
Steve McHugh: Fiction
Rare my ass. My console broke a week ago and I'm being charged £85 ($150) and from those I've spoken to who own a 360 at least 90% seem to have had the problem pop up at some point. The first batch of 360s has a huge fault included that means it can go at any time. The problem is that Microsoft says that each fault is 'unique.' If this is that case then there are thousands of individual faults instead of a handful. Either way it's common enough that it keeps getting TV time over here with people unhappy about it.
Jay Bryant: Fiction
While I don't own a 360 I've been around enough people (from personal friends to customers at the game store I worked at) that do to know that the red ring of death is near guaranteed.
Score: 4 for 5
6. It's clear who the real bad guys are in the whole Manhunt 2 situation.
Steve McHugh: Fact
The bad guys in this situation are Rockstar. The BBFC should not have banned the game but Rockstar must have known how it would have been received when released. So I don't feel sorry for them at all. It's just one step too far for a company that likes to keep pushing the boat to see just how much they can get away with. And if anyone out there really does want to get hold of the game then I'm sure they'll find a way.
Jay Bryant: Fiction
It's clear that there are no bad guys in this situation. Ask the ESRB and they say it's Rockstar. Ask Rockstar and it's the ESRB. In all reality everyone is just trying to look out for what they think is best. The solution to all of this - release unrated games. Just like unrated DVD's, video game developers should be able to released unrated games that don't go through the ESRB, but that's just wishful thinking.
Score: 4 for 6
We have a final score of 4 for 6. Don't forget to join us next Friday for more Fact or Fiction! Rumor has it that those who hesitate are likely to get bounced by Evil Otto.
