The SIXAXIS Report 12.18.07

Posted by Mark Salmela on 12.18.2007

The absolutely breathtaking Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailers. You will drool onto your keyboard. Also look for news on Unreal Tournament 3, Burnout Paradise, Guitar Hero 3, the final two SIXAXIS Game of the Year nominees, and more in the SIXAXIS Report.




Hey everybody, what's shakin'? Christmas is right around the corner, and I haven't gone Christmas shopping yet. Hell I should be out shopping right now. But, video games are calling. I don't need to get a pink slip in my stocking since I decided to skip the column because I brought peace and joy to the world. Oh, it can happen *I think*.

Any who, there's not a whole lot of news *everyone's drunk off eggnog*. So kick back, hammer down a couple of your favorite beverages, and read about the final two SIXAXIS Game of the Year nominees.



Sony News of the Week

PlayStation Store update for the week of December 13



Welcome to paradise, where la policia is very lenient on what you can and cannot do. Apparently Burnout Paradise is an extension of the cars movie from last year where cars drive themselves *insert Mother Russia joke here*. There's not one person in paradise *how's that for a deep meaning?*, and apparently everyone's out for a Sunday drive and doesn't care if you fold them up into an accordion and send them flying down the highway. Buy anyways, the game is actually fun, and I like the set up. Besides two loading screens at the beginning of the game there are absolutely no menus and loading screens to be found. Hopping into an online race is as simple as pushing right on the d-pad a couple of times.

The new PSEye is also compatible with the game, and it allows you to take your picture and automatically put it in as your driver's license photo. Even better is the mug shot feature, where if you get totaled in an online game by another player your PSEye will take a picture of you and it'll pop up on the opposing players screen instantly. I really can't believe they added this, as I haven't seen one picture where someone isn't either mooning the camera or flipping me the bird *not to say that I don't do it all back*. It's pretty awesome for people who have the camera, but if you're playing with little kids it'd be nice to see a block feature, just in case *wink*…. Someone's going to try to make a porno off this, and it's going to be funny to watch.

In other news, there are some new characters for High Velocity Bowling, but they cost $1.00 each. I must say I like the game, but these little add-ons are ridiculous. These little add-on costs are exactly why I didn't purchase PAIN despite being so pumped for it. In PAIN you got 1 level and 2 only two characters, and if you wanted more you had to pay extra. I've always feared we'd fall into a micro-transaction filled 360 marketplace where you'd have to pay for the dumbest things *horse armor*, but lately I'm getting worried about the PSN. It seems every PSN game coming out now is charging a base price of around $10 with minimum features, then having all of these little dollar micro-transactions to actually make the game whole. This is not something I am going to support, and I will stop buying all of these little PSN games completely if they think they're going to put out incomplete games then charge me to unlock an alternative character that should have been included in the first place.

Credit: Sony


Them's fightin' words Jack!



Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, related his confidence for Sony's future in a recent interview. In the interview, he said:

"I guess the way that I would keep score, and you know, again, you'll have to blame my math teachers in school if this doesn't make sense, but if we have 67% growth over last year in our revenue, and if 45% of all software sold is on our three platforms, I'll take that kind of disaster all year long."

Now that's a CEO who ain't gonna take no criticism, Jack *PUNZ*… Now being optimistic is nice, but the fact is that the vast majority of that 45% comes from PS2 sales. Now whether or not they'll meet their prediction of shipping out 11 million PS3's by the end of the fiscal year *March 2008* is questionable considering I think they're only at 7 million right now, but they are still far behind the 360 and Wii even if they make 11 million. The price point of the PS3 is just fine, but they need to be doing everything in their power to get these "blockbuster" games they keep promising out on shelves if they plan on catching the 360/Wii. I've said over and over again that this generations console wars are far from over, but with recent rumors that Little Big Planet and Killzone 2 may be pushed back to fall 2008, Sony's got a lot of work to do if they want to catch up.

Credit: Mercury News


You may all pick up Unreal Tournament 3 now…



Well after everyone expect a delay into 2008, Unreal Tournament 3 has managed to sneak its way into your Christmas stocking for some insane multiplayer action. The game handles very well on the PS3, and makes a worthy addition for online users. I have yet to play through every map, but I have yet to encounter any throw away maps or any weapons that suck *the default pistol isn't very good, but finding other weapons is easier then Paris Hilton*. I am a capture the flag nut myself, and I love switching between almost strategy based normal CTF, and pot-luck crazy vehicle CTF. I sweat to god most of my flag captures on vehicle CTF come only because the enemy team is too busy fighting off an onslaught of vehicles. Speaking of the vehicles, they are also totally awesome, with the War of the Worlds type Dark Stalker being an awesome vehicle that can totally destroy every other vehicle on the map. Also the redeemer totally makes a perfect mark-out moment that will silence any Unreal hater, the thing basically sets off a mini nuclear explosion of awesomeness. I've included a video down below of some gameplay footage, but if you own a PS3, you owe it to yourself to pick up Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3.

Credit: Epic Games




Sony Quick News!

Looks like Sony has responded to PS3 users, saying they understand and are looking into adding in-game-XMB access. In game cross media bar access is where people can message their friends and load custom soundtracks in-game has been one of the most requested features for the PS3. Well it looks like you time may be coming Sony fans, just like the promise of DivX support.

The long awaited Omega Dawn expansion pack to WarHawk will finally be coming this Thursday. I plan on getting it since it's rumored to only cost $8, but I don't know how much I'll be playing it considering I've already got my hands full on Unreal Tournament 3.

Ubisoft is bragging that their hit game Assassin's Creed has sold over 2.5 million copies and is the fastest selling new IP in North America ever. Looks like becoming a 360 multiplatform game paid off pretty well for Ubisoft.

Puzzle fanatics rejoice! The new Sony exclusive Echochrome will carry a level editor. The game already looks pretty promising, and Sony is in need to a truly great puzzle game on the PS3 to boost sales.

For you importers out there, the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue came out in Japan this week. The game will cost you around $40 but it's a pretty stacked game that will definitely hold over GT nuts until the full game is released in America in late spring.

New Guitar Hero 3 content on the PSN and XBL, as Linkin Park and The Used are up for download. In addition is the long-awaited co-op quick play which people have been waiting for.

For those who didn't hear, there are rumors that Activision is blocking the update for Rock Band on the PS3 which would allow for the GH3 controller to work with Rock Band. Sony has refused to take sides on the matter, so who knows how long this pointless argument could run on for. I won't give my opinion on the matter either, since I'm too burned out by everyone else on the inter-web taking sides. I just want this all to be over already.

Just because everyone can't get enough Rock Band/Guitar Hero news, Activision is already apparently testing Guitar Hero IV. At this rate they're going to burn out the market and ware out the novelty just like Dance Dance Revolution did a couple of years ago. This would actually make me happy however, since then I wouldn't have to continue to comment on all of these stupid compatibility problems.

For anyone who's actually waiting for them, the PlayStation cards will be hitting North America in early 2008. Basically they're like the Microsoft points cards where you buy points in an actual store instead of buying them with a credit card online. The only time I ever buy these types of things are when I can get them at a sweet discount *which technically isn't allowed but occasionally people can slip through the cracks*.



Video B3yond!



The insanely awesome Final Fantasy XIII trailer. I can honestly say that I never really liked Final Fantasy games before, but this has blown my boxers right off, and I like it.



If you haven't creamed your pants enough from FF13, here's the trailer for FF Versus 13. This is equally as breath taking. I simply can't wait. This my friends, is what sells consoles.



Some Burnout: Paradise footage for you all. Feel free to download the demo, it's quite awesome. After that, buy the full game on January 28 on PS3/360, because it's actually good *unlike Burnout: Revenge*.



Here's some Unreal Tournament 3 footage on the PS3. Feel free to add "Fester" to your friends list on the PS3 and hop into an online game with me. Raping is always better in pairs.



The One Man Water Cooler~!

Alright, for those of you who have been following the SIXAXIS Report the past couple of weeks have noticed that I am doing my own Game of the Year award. I'm not beating around the bush and giving 500 different awards, I'm just giving one award. I was thinking about doing a second award for best Sony game, but screw that. One game to rule them all. So if you haven't read the past two columns here and there, my nominees so far are Super Mario Galaxy, God of War 2, and Halo 3. I also gave Rainbow Six: Vegas a special mention for being the SIXAXIS Game of the Year 2006. So anyways, that means out of The Orange Box, BioShock, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Uncharted, Motorstorm, Virtua Fighter 5, Ratchet and Clank, Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, and countless other awesome games I can only choose 2. Well I won't deny you any longer:

The next nominee for the SIXAXIS Game of the Year:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare *Xbox 360/PC/PlayStation 3*



Infinity Ward's Call of Duty series has been rated one of the best World War 2 franchises of all time. Call of Duty 2 was rated the best launch Xbox 360 game. So when it was announced after COD2 that Infinity Ward would be taking a year off from COD to work on a hidden project while Treyarch would be making COD3, fans were shocked. The surprise turned out for the best however, as Infinity Ward announced that their secret project was none other than Call of Duty 4, and it would not be another WWII shooter. Call of Duty 4 was announced to be set in modern times and involve modern style warfare. When people got their first real glimpse of COD4 at E3 2007, audiences were stunned. Quickly gathering the best showing at E3, the amount of praise COD4 received never slowed down. The BETA release at the end of the summer that many people partook in *including yours truly* only made the final release that much sweeter. Now that the game is on store shelves, all of the praise given to the game was only an understatement to how fun it is.



Featuring one of the best single players in a first person shooter in years *though the next nominee might be the single exception*, the single player in Call of Duty 4 was non-stop awesomeness from start to finish. Where Halo's single player left something to be desired, COD4 answered every question and featured a jam packed *and memorable* experience. I won't forget that nuke going off for a long time. Complimenting the amazing single player is an astonishing multiplayer. The guns handle flawlessly *as one of my friends chipped in, Infinity Ward obviously knew their guns very well* and the action never slows down. While I have a few complaints about the repetitiveness of the multiplayer, you can't deny how much fun the game is with other people in short bursts. Infinity Ward took a big step by not making another WW2 game, and it paid off in spades. Setting the bar for modern warfare, Infinity Ward has just created one of the best complete experiences on the current generation of consoles. That is why I am nominating Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for my SIXAXIS Game of the Year award.





The final nominee for the SIXAXIS Game of the Year:

BioShock *Xbox 360/PC*



Welcome to rapture. One man's trash is another man's treasure as they say. Well welcome to Andrew Ryan's masterpiece, his underwater paradise. Anyone not living in an underwater paradise should know what BioShock is all about. You are riding along when suddenly your plane crashes and you wash up ashore and are taken to the beautiful underwater city of Rapture, where you decide your own fate. Fate didn't take too kindly to Andrew Ryan's form of government however, and it is up to you to survive and figure out what went wrong with Andrew Ryan's vision of reality. Featuring perhaps the best single player experience since Half-Life 2, BioShock is like nothing you've probably ever played before *shut up System Shock fans*. Testing the boundaries of human morals, you must change your own genetics and give yourself super-human powers to survive. Besides injecting these genetic-changing plasmids, you also must decide what to do with these Little Sister and their love for ADAM *atom*. Each Little Sister is accompanied by their own personal body guard called a Big Daddy, and those bastards won't go down without a fight. But you're not the only one after ADAM, as the Splicers *people of rapture* are horribly ashamed of what has become of themselves, and they will do anything to vent their anger, even if that includes decapitating you.



The gameplay of BioShock encourages you to experiment with different combinations of plasmids and weapons. The plasmids of BioShock range from electrocution to pyro, and some situations require you to figure out which plasmid is best in order to survive. The atmosphere and graphics of BioShock are incredible, and the music only adds to the overall eeriness that is Rapture. The only major downside to the game is the story, as it's almost too smart for its own good. There was no way they could solve every plot point, and in the end the game falls flat altogether on story and turns into a sci-fi shooter. The endings as most of you know are disappointing and the last boss just requires a simple circle-strafe to defeat it without ever being hit. If it wasn't for the last 2 hours of the game, this would be a near perfect experience. The rising action of the story is incredible, it's just too bad the climax and the fallout let me down so much. That said, you can't deny the awesomeness that is BioShock, and I take my hat off to Irrational Games for making a video game that got rejected by so many different publishers for being too out there. In an industry that is going through a phase where being different is frowned upon, you strived to be different, and it paid off. That is why I am nominating BioShock as my final nominee for the SIXAXIS Game of the Year.



Who will win the SIXAXIS Game of the Year? Find out next week as I make my final decision between BioShock, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, God of War 2, and Super Mario Galaxy.



The 411mania Empire~!

The Full Circle by Mike Minotti, who somehow managed to dedicate an entire column to NPD numbers.
Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser, who won't get to drive in Paradise.
The Select and Start News by Vincent Chiucchi.
The Negative Edge by Tommy Coloma, and I remember way back when I wanted a Dreamcast 2 *yesterday*, good times. At least he agrees with me that the Spike TV VGA awards are a joke.



Signing Off

Well I hope you all enjoyed the column this week. Next week's column will land on Christmas Day. With that in mind I have a present for you all, as next week will feature the SIXAXIS Game of the Year. I took every major game into consideration, and for those of you who are mad that I didn't nominate Mass Effect or The Orange Box will be given an explanation next week as well. So make sure to spend your holidays with myself and Sony, I will be back in 7 with my GOTY. BioShock, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, God of War 2, and Super Mario Galaxy, who will win? Find out next week!