411 Games Fact or Fiction 03.13.08: Fitting MGS4 into a Blu-ray disc, Disgaea on the DS, the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and More!

Posted by Tommy Coloma on 03.13.2008

411's Owain Brimfield and Mathew Sforcina give us their thoughts on Kojima’s inability to fit MGS4 into a Blu-ray disc, the viability of a buttonless handheld, Disgaea’s jump to the DS, whether the Crystal Chronicles series can be considered "real" Final Fantasy games, Earthworm Jim's relevance, and whether Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be a worthy purchase in this edition of Fact or Fiction Games.

Welcome to another filler-free edition of Fact or Fiction. This week we were able to get Mathew Sforcina and Owain Brimfield to drop what they were doing in order to give us the 411 on some of the week's most important video game-related news and issues. Before we get started, let's see what they do at 411mania -

Mathew Sforcina writes both The UnDream Match and Evolution Schematic for the Wrestling section. In his UnDream Match columns, Mathew thinks of matches that are so unique that most would never consider them when thinking about dream matches. In Evolution Schematic, he attempts to explain a character's entire development, from debut to today and beyond, in such a way that the entire run makes sense. Don't forget to check out part 1 of his look at every licensed WWF/WWE game. Mathew also participated in the latest Hidden Highlights.

Owain Brimfield writes The Flux Capacitor for the Movies section and The Wonder Years for the Games section. In The Flux Capacitor, he examines the past, present, and future of the science fiction genre. The Flux Capacitor is currently in the middle of a multi-part look at science fiction character archetypes. The Wonder Years gives you a chance to look back at the hidden gems and instant classics of the 16-bit era. The latest Wonder Years examines Super Putty for the SNES.

Let's go -


1. In a recent interview, Kojima revealed that he had to make compromises to MGS4 because he could not fit everything he wanted into a Blu-ray disc. Bullshit perfectly describes that revelation.

Owain Brimfield: Fiction

Quite frankly, if this were a lesser developer I'd be inclined to agree with those calling B.S. on Kojima, but the fact is the man has more talent and imagination than the vast majority of his colleagues. Personally, I'm inclined to believe the guy if he says he can't implement everything he wants to. Anyway, let's face it - developers have always been restricted by technological limitations, and that's not going to change just because of increasing storage space.

Mathew Sforcina: Fiction

Yeah, if it was anyone else, I'd say he was just acting tough, but I believe Kojima. Although the question "So why not put it on 2 discs?" springs to mind.

Score: 1 for 1


2. A handheld gaming platform that only allows for touch-screen and motion control interfaces (i.e. no buttons or d-pad) can be taken seriously.

Owain Brimfield: Fact

It certainly can be taken seriously, as I think the surge in original development and correspondingly satisfying sales figures for unique titles on platforms like the DS and Wii show that developers are more than willing to embrace change, and that gamers are happy to give new things a shot. Whether or not it will be taken seriously, or whether it ends up like the iPhone as a mishmash of style over substance, depends entirely upon the execution. I think that there are very few hardware manufacturers that would be able to make this conceit a success. However, Nintendo has paved the way in recent years, so it would certainly be interesting to see it given a chance.

Mathew Sforcina: Fiction

Not until touch screens become the norm in our everyday lives AND someone works out a way to make one that doesn't smudge, fog, or get damaged easily. Not saying it can't be done, but it just seems a little too gimmicky right now. Give it a few years.

Score: 1 for 2


3. It would have been better if Disgaea for the DS was an all-new adventure instead of another rehash of Hour/Afternoon of Darkness

Owain Brimfield: Fact

I must admit though that my familiarity with the Disgaea franchise is very limited, so I'm simply basing this on the fact that I'd much, much rather see an original effort than a remake, just like in the movie world. There are very few remakes, in all walks of life, that bear worthy comparison to the original, and it seems to me that retreading older glories stifles creativity. [Mind you, I should give exception to the recent Wii-makes of Resi 4 and Bully, which in my eyes are certainly improvements]

Mathew Sforcina: Fiction

At least outside of Japan. Yes, normally, making a new game > rehashing an old one. Thing is, practically no one played the old one, despite it being good and all. The franchise is still trying to get traction under it outside of Japan, and thus remaking the same game on every platform they can until they find the right one that people will play it on is not a bad strategy, as opposed to spending all that time and effort on a game no one will play. If/when the DS version finally gets noticed, THEN you start making the full new games.

Score: 1 for 3



4. The Crystal Chronicles games can be considered "real" Final Fantasy games.

Mathew Sforcina: Fact

See, you can argue that Final Fantasy is an RPG series, ergo only RPGs qualify as "real" FF games. Everything else, the Chronicles, that Chocobo racing game, the Kingdom Hearts ones, so on and so forth - they are mere spinoffs. But the thing is, the FF series is not a linear 1-2-3 progression, like Halo, nor is it a series of interwoven stories, like say the GTA series. FF has always been a collection of stories (not just games), all with similar themes but unrelated. Hence, merely sticking to one style of storytelling and saying that's the "real" FF is silly. X-2, Real or not-real? It's Final Fantasy - they ALL count!

Owain Brimfield: Fact

Let's use a Mario analogy to illustrate this - Mario Kart is a "real" Mario game, Mario Paint isn't. Paper Mario is a "real" Mario game, Mario Is Missing isn't. Crystal Chronicles falls much, much nearer to the former examples than the latter. Besides, Final Fantasy is not now, and has never been, a contiguous gaming experience. As Matthew said, it's always been a collection of unrelated stories. There's plenty of room for spin-offs and new approaches within a major gaming franchise, and Crystal Chronicles is arguably the most successful of the non-trad-RPG FF games, so it's perfectly entitled to its place in the Final Fantasy pantheon.

Score: 2 for 4


5. Earthworm Jim can still be relevant in this day and age.

Mathew Sforcina: Fact

But only if Shiny gets its hands back on it and sticks to the run and shoot/bizarre humor of the originals, and makes it an XBLA or WiiWare game. If they try to "update" it, it'll fail. Stick to nostalgia at first, then start it back up again, and everyone's favorite head whipping hero can still be relevant.

Owain Brimfield: Fact

With the right treatment, any character from the gaming days of yore can be made relevant again (with the possible exception of Cool Spot). Jim has a head start on most due to the fact that he holds a place in many gamers' hearts for being one of the few "zany" characters that actually delivered a genuinely original and funny gaming experience. Plus, the cartoon was awesome, as I think we can all agree. While I think Jim should stick to the 2D platforming genre, there's plenty of room for him to expand his talents elsewhere. Provided the execution is right, Earthworm Jim is a hard franchise to cock up.

Score: 3 for 5


6. Despite not being a complete Gran Turismo game, with 6 tracks to play on and over 60 cars to choose from, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be a worthwhile purchase when it is released next month.

Mathew Sforcina: Fiction

Look, if you're gonna buy Gran Turismo, then you like the ultra realistic style. Ergo, you're probably not looking for something to play for a few minutes, have some fun, crash, and leave. You want the deep, full experience. So it's not worthwhile, in that it'll just leave you wanting more. That's not to say that you won't get it anyway, just that it'll just make you that much hungrier for the full thing, which is probably the point.

Owain Brimfield: Fiction

Admittedly, I say that as someone who isn't a fan of the Gran Turismo franchise, but frankly, any racing game released with a paltry six tracks should feel ashamed of itself. Unless they want to pull a Kojima and claim space restrictions on Blu-ray (which, unlike what I argued earlier, wouldn't be valid in this case), there's no reason current-gen racing games should have anywhere near single-figures in circuits. Sure, the number of cars is vaguely impressive, but the tracks can make or break racing games. I'm sure no one wants to step back to the arcade days of Ridge Racer and its handful of disparate courses. "Wait for the next proper installment" is my advice.

Score: 4 for 6



And we have a final score of 4 for 6.

That's all there is for this week. We just got back to the moon after an attack on earth and for some odd reason, our allies are attacking us. If we can figure out what's going on, we'll be back next week.