The SIXAXIS Report 12.04.07
Posted by Mark Salmela on 12.04.2007
A jam packed SIXAXIS Report this week! News on WarHawk, the sequel to fl0w, Assassin’s Creed, GTA IV, the Activision Blizzard merger, BioShock, more whacky PS3 commercials, the upcoming Killzone 2 beta, and the beginning of the SIXAXIS Game of the Year Awards!
Well how is everyone this week? I hope everyone is knee deep with their favorite games, as almost every major 2007 release is now out *minus Unreal Tournament 3*. Let me tell you it was hard for me to take time out of my gaming schedule *gaming my ass, I've been too busy with school* to write the weekly column. I did manage on Saturday to finally finish off the rest of the Orange Box, and without spoiling it the ending to Episode 2 is really sad, and Portal is still awesome. Now that I've finished Halo 3, Orange Box, Uncharted, and COD4 I just need to finish Ratchet and unlock the rest of the songs in Rock Band and I'll be up to date with video games, that is until Unreal Tournament 3 comes out on December 11.
Also, my apologies to anyone unfortunate enough to live in the Northern part of the country like myself. I live up in Minnesota and we got a foot and a half of snow in the course of 12 hours and it's only December 1st. Let me tell you shoveling sucks, driving on snowy roads suck, and winter sucks. It's going to be one long, excruciatingly painful winter…
Almost as good as sex… it's Sony News of the Week!
Killzone 2 open beta coming early 2008
According to Sony's own Alex Armour, there will be an upcoming beta release for Killzone 2 before the game's launch in spring of 2008. The beta will be multiplayer only like Halo 3 and COD4 had, but this beta will be open to the public and only requires registration to get in. Users will also be able to send feedback on the beta directly to Sony, as they are looking to make Killzone 2 the Halo-killer they have always wanted.
You can check back here for more details on registration for the open beta, and you can bet that I'll be doing everything in my power to make sure I get into the beta. Killzone 2 has looked awesome judging by the recent video demos, and it is one of my most anticipated games for 2008 *next to MGS4*.
Well this week saw a pretty big update on the PSN, as we were finally treated to PAIN, a sandbox-type game were you try to inflict as much pain *get it?* on an individual as possible. The game retails for $9.99 and already has downloadable content in two new characters *Santa and his hooker friend* for $1 each. I haven't purchased PAIN myself but so far it seems to be a disappointment among reviewers, saying the game is shallow and gets repetitive fast. Like I said I have not gotten the game myself, so I can not make a recommendation for it.
As for other updates, another map-pack for Resistance has gone up, as well as content for Rock Band *David Bowe*, Oblivion, and Guitar Hero 3. The Oblivion update is the Shivering Isles expansion pack that was left out of the PS3 regular edition. I've been meaning to get Oblivion forever now, but with so many other awesome games for me to play I don't know if I'll ever get to it now. There's also a bunch of trailers for the PS3, but I don't ever bother downloading those, it takes too long.
Credit: Sony
New details on WarHawk expansion pack
Well PlayStation 3 hit WarHawk will launch its first expansion pack this month, as Omega Factory and the drop-ship are well on their way. The new map Omega Factory will be the first map set at night time, and will give players a different way to play the game. As you can see in the pictures, the drop-ship looks pretty powerful and it can definitely hold it's own in battle. Coming in December for a projected $7.99, the Omega Factory pack looks to be a great pick-up for fans of WarHawk.
Credit: Incognito
Will it flOw like a pretty little Flower?
I'm sorry, that was low, even for me. Any who, That Game Company, makers of the PS3 game flOw, have announced they are working on their next PS3 adventure, Flower. Once again aiming at a surreal experience, this new game will be about, you guessed it, raising a flower. The game will focus on the micro and macro moments of raising a flower, but details other than that are scarce. I found flOw to be a nice break from hardcore murdering in games like Gears of War, though the experience got boring after playing the game for more than 10 – 15 minutes at a time *though that's what they were aiming for, short, but fun bursts*. Look for Flower in the spring of 2008 exclusively on the PlayStation Network.
Credit: That Game Company
Sony Quick News!
A group of hackers have recently announced that they have discovered a way to access the 3-D contexts on the Graphics Processor Unit of the PlayStation 3 via Linux. If this is indeed true, then the doors for creating 3D homebrew applications have just been opened. It is pretty public knowledge that the PSP is a breeding ground for homebrew applications and some would say *including myself* that homebrew has been one of the major reasons the PSP has continued to sell so well. I mean come on, there are not a whole lot of good games on the PSP, and when they do come out they're all at the same time. For anyone who has tinkered around with homebrew on their PSP know it is one of the best things going on the system, so as long as people keep it legal, homebrew on the PS3 can be a real sales boost, as user created content is all the rage right now.
Once again the PS3 outsold the Wii for the month of November in Japan, as the PS3 sold 183,217 units for November compared to the Wii's 159,193 units. It's good to see the PS3 catching ground, now if only they could pull the same results in America we'd see quite the interesting console wars.
Sony and Microsoft are at dispute over who sold the most consoles on Black Friday this year. Microsoft claims the 360 outsold the PS3 2:1 on Black Friday, while Sony claims those numbers are "way off". Neither side has released official numbers so we will have to wait until the official NPD numbers are released for November on 12/13.
Ubisoft recently released a patch for the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed that looked to fix all of the bugs in the game. Well, judging from user feedback, the fix does very little and almost all pre-existing bugs still exist in the game *some say framerate was slightly improved, but still sloppy*. Way to go Ubisoft, way to go…
Midway and BlackSite director Harvey Smith have parted on bad terms after the recent disaster that was BlackSite: Area 51. I don't mean to burry the game, but as you can read from my recent review of the game here, the game isn't good by any means and Harvey Smith agrees with me. He mentions in a recent interview how the game went from alpha stages to near final completion saying "this project was so f***ed up," and mentions they had very limited recourses. Here's hoping Midway doesn't make another mistake like this in the future, I was extremely disappointed by BlackSite.
2K has further split up Irrational Games *2K Boston*, the makers of BioShock for the 360/PC. First they were split up into 2K Boston and 2K Australia, but now they have been split into a third team called 2K Marin. So now the original BioShock team has been split 3 ways. I mention the splitting because of my worry for a potential BioShock sequel, as very rarely has a sequel to a video game came off as better than the original once most of the original team is gone. 2K Boston is offering a job listing for artists on their next project for 360/PC, saying PS3 and Unreal Engine experience is a plus, so it looks like a BioShock sequel may already be in development.
In more BioShock news, look for downloadable content including news plasmids coming within the next couple of weeks. Details are scarce, but they are apparently plasmids that were originally going to be packed in the game, but were taken out due to time constraints.
Sega's new Run-and-gun third person shooter The Club has now been given a February 8 release date. Look for more details in the upcoming months.
A demo for Devil May Cry 4 will be coming before the end of 2007, and Capcom has recently denied rumors that the demo would be 360 exclusive. So PS3 and PC users rejoice, as now everyone *sorry Wii, no DMC4 for you* can now try out DMC4 for themselves before the game comes out in January 2008.
Activision and Vivendi games have recently announced plans to merge into one company called "Activision Blizzard" and will make them the largest publisher in the video game industry. The new company will have 3.7 billion in revenue for the year 2007, that's insane. This puts Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Tony Hawk, and many other popular franchises all under one brand. It looks like Vivendi will end up owning 52% of the new stock. The terms of the deal will see current Activision CEO Robert Kotick as head of the new company, with Bruce Hack, Vivendi's current CEO, to serve as Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard. Mike Morhaime will continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard Entertainment. I don't like the idea of having major corporations dominate the video game world *like EA* and so to me this merger is a bit of a disappointment, but it's getting near impossible for small, independent companies to survive on their own so I guess I can't blame them. So now, Take Two *2K Games*, EA and Activision basically own everything not already owned by Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo. I don't think there'll be any immediate changes but if there was ever time to start a World of Warcraft rumor on consoles, now that Activision is involved I guess now is the time *either that or we see more Activision games get PC ports*.
Video B3yond!
A trailer for the upcoming Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball video game. I must say it looks better then I expected, but it is a major disappointment to see that this game is coming out on disc form. The PlayStation network and XBLA were made for games like these *not to mention WiiWare is coming soon*. Anyways, look for Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball in spring of 2008 for Wii/360/PS3.
Editor's Note: Pirates vs. Ninjas is actually an Xbox Live Arcade Title
The final box art for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I like the look and will definitely pick up the game on launch *sometime spring 2008*. Also note at the end of the trailer that the next official trailer "Move up, ladies" will be coming this Thursday *12/06/07*.
WTF!!! God damn PS3 and its whacky commercials, god damn it all to hell!
The One Man Water Cooler~!
Guess what? The SIXAXIS Report will be handing out a Game of the Year award! Yes, truly anyone with a freakin' column can make some prestigious award now! Over the next month, I'll be announcing the candidates and declaring the winner for SIXAXIS GOTY. There will be 2 winners, a PlayStation GOTY covering the PS2, PSP, and PS3 *I am the Sony writer after all*, and an overall SIXAXIS GOTY covering every game to come out this year. 411 may choose to do a 411 GOTY at a later time, but until then you'll get to hear my unbiased *honestly I take every game into consideration* look at what I feel is the best game to come out this year. Besides, some of the reviewers here hand out 10/10's like they're going out of style *I read 2 10's in the past month* and no offense to them but I have a hard time taking that seriously. So keep checking back over the next few weeks, I don't think anyone will be disappointed in my nominees and choice for GOTY.
Any who, I'm going to start us off by writing about the 2006 SIXAXIS GOTY, and announce the first nominee for 2007 GOTY. I'd love to hear from you guys what you feel is GOTY; feel free to drop me an email. I may even add a 411-reader's GOTY if I get enough response. I'll be glad to hear anyone and everyone's opinion.
The 2006 SIXAXIS Game of the Year: Rainbow Six: Vegas
Honorable Mentions: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Gears of War, Resistance: Fall of Man, and The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess
In a year dominated by the launch of the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, the game that took hardcore gamers by storm was Tom Clancy's next masterpiece in the Rainbow franchise. Rainbow Six 3 was one of the best games on the Xbox, so I was surprised to see how little attention the first Rainbow game on the next-gen consoles *now current-gen* would get. Rainbow Six: Vegas took terrorism right into the dirty heart of America: Las Vegas, Nevada. The game gathered a bit of controversy for making a realistic shooter about terrorists taking over one of America's most prosperous cities.
Featuring some of the most accurate shooting detail, the guns in R6V were phenomenal. The squad based shooting worked like a charm and there was no other multiplayer game in 2006 that could hold a candle to R6V *eat your heart out Gears*. The graphics were stunning for the time, featuring some of the best lighting we've ever seen. The sound was top notch, and players could hear each individual bullet as it pierced the opposing team's skull. Zelda may have been a better single player experience, but failed to really due anything truly revolutionary, and the Wii controls felt forced and took away from the overall experience. Oblivion was truly an awesome experience but I never got to fully complete it, and from what I did play there were a lot of glitches and other technical hiccups that kept it from beating R6V. Out of all the honorable mentions, Oblivion gets the highest, as it just barely lost GOTY to R6V. Gears had a better single player, but the multiplayer was repetitive and got very boring after a few hours. Resistance was a great launch title, but the lack of vehicles and the lack of anything spectacular made it impossible for me to give it GOTY. Congratulations Ubisoft, Rainbow Six: Vegas was the best game of 2006, and I'm looking forward to R6: Vegas 2 in March of 2008.
Now, for the first nominee for the 2007 SIXAXIS Game of the Year:
Super Mario Galaxy *Nintendo Wii*
For the angry Zelda fans who may read this column, let me try to make up for it up by announcing Super Mario Galaxy was one of the best Nintendo games that I've played in years *and possibly ever*. After Super Mario Sunshine failed to live up to the awesomeness that was Super Mario 64, let me tell you that Super Mario Galaxy not only lives up to the reputation that Super Mario 64 set, but surpasses it in many ways.
I think the best relation I heard of Super Mario Galaxy was this: Super Mario 64 was like Super Mario Bros. It was revolutionary and defined the genera. Super Mario Sunshine was like Super Mario Bros 2, while a good game; it fails to live up to the original and often gets lost in the shuffle. Super Mario Galaxy my friends, is like Super Mario Bros 3, it is the best title of the set and perfected every possible aspect of the genera. I have never played a platformer as good as Super Mario Galaxy, and this is coming from someone who grew up being a Sonic man and thought Sonic was better than Mario.
Super Mario Galaxy has some of the best level design I've ever seen, there's got to be around 40 different and unique worlds, and the animations and graphics are top notch. Don't get me wrong, it's no Crysis in terms of graphical power, but it's the little details and the world that Nintendo managed to create that is simply amazing. If you don't believe me, go to levels like Toy World and tell me that isn't something that takes a true creative genius to create.
I could go on for days, but it's Mario, and Super Mario Galaxy may be perhaps the greatest Mario game ever, and for a while it took the Game Rankings spot for best rated game ever *it is now second, behind Ocarina of Time*. If that doesn't show how great of a game Galaxy is, then I don't know what does.
Where was The 411mania Empire this week?
The Exploding Barrel podcast by Mike Minotti. There was no Full Circle column this week, but the podcast is very good. Mike is afraid to talk about me though, as he's discussed every other column but The SIXAXIS Report *he's afraid I tell youz!* Oh, and Sonic CD is an amazing game! Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser. The Select and Start News by Vincent Chiucchi, who talks about Rock Band problems and the firing of the Gamespot editor. I was going to talk about both of those in News of the Week, but he basically sums up my opinion on both of them *if it turns out to be true then screw Gamestop for firing him based off his opinion*. Not to mention this column was big enough as it is with the GOTY nominations.
Signing Off
Well I hope you enjoyed this marathon of a column. Look for the next two nominations for SIXAXIS Game of the Year next week, as well as all of the news and opinions you've come to expect from me. See everyone in 7!
