411 Games Fact or Fiction 04.22.08: Fallout 3's Ancestors, Bringing Down the Price of Xbox 360 Before GTA IV Drops, Another Chance to Redeem Sonic, Mortal Kombat, & More!

Posted by Tommy Coloma on 04.22.2008

The Exploding Barrel's A.J. Minotti and Mike Minotti give us their thoughts on the impact games have had on their lives, how Fallout 3's title could affect its sales, whether the 360 needs a price drop to coincide with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the Sonic game that will bring order to chaos, how Mortal Kombat vs. DC will fare, and whether cut scenes are the preferred way to get a story across in this edition of Fact or Fiction Games.

Welcome to another edition of Fact or Fiction. This week were able to get the A.J. Minotti and Mike Minotti to come in and tell us what they think about some of today's most important video game news and issues. Many of you will know them as the podcasters responsible for The Exploding Barrel Podcast (presented, of course, by 411mania). Check it out to hear the brothers discuss the latest happenings in the video game world (click on the logo below to download the show in MP3 form or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes). Mike also writes Can They Be Champ? for the Wrestling section. In it, he examines the chances different wrestlers have at winning "the big one." His latest column takes a look at the immediate future of the World Heavyweight Championship.


You know you want to listen to it!
Let's go -


1. You are better off in life because you play video games.

Mike Minotti: Fiction

Geez, this is a surprisingly complicated question. Are you sure you don't want to ask me something more cliché, like "Is Final Fantasy VII overrated?" or something? Just kidding, of course. Well, I'd love to say that playing games has made me better off. I'm just not really sure, if they did, how. Look, don't get me wrong, video games have certainly never done anything bad to me. As a hobby, it's always been a great way to relax and keep my sanity. Still, am I better because I decided to play video games instead of, let's say, play baseball? I don't think so, and not for the obvious fact that I'd be in better shape. My friends and family, my personal achievements, my failures and successes, those are all things that have made me better off in life. Gaming is great, but unless someone started paying me to write something like Fact or Fiction, I think it's a bit early to say they've had an overall positive effect on my life. I'm not really going to be able to answer this one until some time from now.

A.J. Minotti: Fact

Oh don't be so hard on yourself. I think videos games have done me good, will do me good, and I say God bless them (I love A Christmas Carol). There's the clichéd arguments of games improving hand eye coordination or the benefits of edutainment titles, but games have taught me other values such as teamwork in multiplayer games, strategy in strategy games (that was obvious), and have helped forge several online friendships that I value. Besides, were it not for video games, I probably would have just been into comics or something else entirely nerdy. At least gaming is a social experience, which prevented me from being some kid locked in his bedroom playing with action figures all day. If you were a kid with an N64 and Bond, you were instantly popular at school! Furthermore, it was my interest in games as a youth that lead to my interest in computers as an adult, allowing me to have a better understanding of all this newfangled technology.

Score: 0 for 1


2. It is a mistake for Bethesda to name the next Fallout game "Fallout 3" when most of its intended audience has never played or has never even heard of Fallout 1 and 2.

Mike Minotti: Fact

I get what Bethesda is trying to do. They want Fallout fans to feel good about this game. They want them to feel like this is a real successor to the older Fallout games. There's certainly nothing wrong with catering to your hardcore fans, but it may hurt them saleswise here. Let's assume that their intended audience is the Oblivion crowd. What the hell does the Fallout name mean to them? All they're going to know is that this is the third game in the series, immediately making anyone who hasn't played the original feel like an outsider to the series. Now, if it was called something like Fallout: *insert subtitle here*, without a number, then people would look at it, see that it's by the Oblivion guys, and be excited. Now, I may be fussing about nothing. It wouldn't be the first time that the third installment in a series is significantly more popular than its predecessors (Grand Theft Auto, anyone?). Still, I think they are taking a risk here.

A.J. Minotti: Fiction

Strangely, I think it's a good idea for all the reasons you think it's bad. This name will certainly help get the attention of all the old-school Fallout fans. The Oblivion crowd will follow when they see Bethesda on the box. And have you seen the media for this game? It sells itself! It just looks gorgeous. Besides, there was a Fallout game that tried a subtitle - 2004's Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel - and that game did miserably. The truth is, if you don't know what Fallout is, that 3 in the title will at least let you know that this game has a legacy, and may even encourage people to look up info on the previous games. Like Mike said, look at GTA.

Score: 0 for 2


3. It would be in Microsoft's best interest to drop the price of the 360 before GTA4 gets released.

Mike Minotti: Fiction

The 360 is already the cheaper of the two systems the game is going to appear on. Besides, "price" isn't the only thing all of those people who held off on buying a new system 'til GTA4 will look for. Now that Blu-ray has won the format war, I think Microsoft should seriously be concerned that people will start buying the PS3 over a 360. To the average consumer, the two systems seem equally powerful, have almost identical game libraries, and both have online support. Sure, we all know Xbox Live is better, but the average consumer may not get that message looking at the boxes. What they will see is that the PS3 has a Blu-ray drive, and knowing the vanity of the modern electronics consumer, they'll be all too eager to get a chance to show off Pirates of the Caribbean in HD to all of their friends. Screw price, Microsoft needs to find a way to compete with the PS3's HD movie playing abilities. And don't tell me it isn't a factor, because ever since the format war has ended, the PS3 has had a slight sales edge over the 360. Besides, price drops usually wait for Fall.

A.J. Minotti: Fact

Well, Europe just enjoyed a price drop, and sales figures doubled. Blu-ray may have won the format war, but compared to continuing DVD sales, Blu-ray is a drop in the bucket. Plus, the Xbox's Movie Marketplace is an attractive option if you just want to dabble in HD movies. How many people still use their PS2 as a dedicated DVD player anyway? Back to the topic of GTA, if a person who has yet to enter the next generation sees that they can play GTA for $360 (or even $410 if there is no drop), versus $560, what do you think they'll choose? With all the new chipsets reducing cost for MS, I'm sure they can afford a price drop. Now what makes more sense - drop the price to coincide with a console exclusive, or drop the price with a big multi-platform game so you can steal hardware and software sales from your competitor?

Score: 0 for 3



4. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is the game that will redeem Sonic the Hedgehog.

A.J. Minotti: Fact

Let's face it - Sonic and company have been on a steady decline since the Adventure days. Sonic Heroes showed promise, but was a buggy mess. The most recent game in the series, simply dubbed "Sonic the Hedgehog," involved pointless side quests with long load times, the same bugs, and Sonic making out with some human chick. I have always said two things about Sonic in recent years. First, Sonic Team needs to stop making Sonic games. I'm sorry, but they've lost it. They no longer know how to handle this character and franchise. Secondly, I've always felt that what holds Sonic back the most is the pointless and bloated cast of supporting characters. Off the top of my head, I can think of 20 Sonic characters. What happened to three? So now we have BioWare, one of the best (if not the best) American RPG makers, tackling the subject matter. And since it seems these characters will not go away, at least BioWare may be able to use their skill in character development and dialog interaction to make these characters interesting. It may be a fool's hope, but this is the best chance we have for redemption (Sonic Unleashed doesn't count. They lost me at werewolf.).

Mike Minotti: Fiction

Don't get me wrong, I'm still hopeful that Sonic Chronicles will be a great game. But why would a Sonic RPG developed by BioWare redeem Sonic the Hedgehog? This the most spinny-off spin-off I've ever seen. I mean, a Mario turn-based RPG is one thing. But Sonic has always been known for having zero patience. And now he's going to let his friends and enemies take turns. What? I mean, the game will probably be cool, but only because it will probably have zero semblance to a real Sonic game. Sonic will be redeemed when a great game, 2D or 3D, that embraces the original concepts of Sonic, is released. RPG spin-offs are fine, but they're nothing more than spin-offs. Yes, even when it's made by BioWare.

Score: 0 for 4


5. You are looking forward to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

A.J. Minotti: Fiction

Let's face it - Mortal Kombat was popular because of its over the top, unique, and visceral violence. The fighting was OK, but paled in comparison to games like Street Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter, and Fatal Fury. Flash forward to 2008, where games like Gears of War, Condemned 2, and God of War offer far more engaging experiences with the same sense of intense violence. This forces MK games to stand on their own merits as fighters to differentiate themselves. After the latest iteration in the series, I lost all hope for the franchise. The roster has gotten too big, and the Kreate-a-Fatality system removed the last unique and somewhat engaging system the game had to offer. This DC iteration of the series removes fatalities completely and tones down the violence. So now we have a pure MK combat experience? No thanks. Plus, I remember Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects all too well.

Mike Minotti: Fact

Hey Ajguy, how many times are you going to open with "let's face it?" Now, sure I'm disappointed there won't be any fatalities, but it's hardly all that surprising. DC wouldn't want innocent fans seeing Superman's face torn off, and then shoved up his own ass. Besides, like you said, the Kreate-A-Fatality system was lame as hell. "No system" is better than that system. Also, I think you're selling the recent MK gameplay a little short. Sure, it's no Soul Caliber, but ever since Deadly Alliance, the Mortal Kombat games have been pretty solid fighters. The whole multiple fighting stances thing made the games surprisingly unique. And now we're throwing Batman in there? Hells yes! I mean, come on - Batman is in a fighting game. That's awesome. And don't go comparing this to Rise of the Imperfects. That's hardly fair. No super hero fighting game could ever be that bad again.

Score: 0 for 5


6. EA's Dead Space will not make use of cut scenes to tell its story. Instead, it will be given "through live scripted events during gameplay, as well as video and audio logs." As cool as that sounds, you would rather have your stories fed to you through traditional cut scenes interspersed throughout.

A.J. Minotti: Fiction

In 1998, I played a little game called Half-Life that has forever altered my expectations for story presentation in games. Half-Life 2 only perfected the format, making me absolutely abhor cut scenes in an FPS and begrudgingly tolerate them in most other instances (I make exceptions for Uncharted and some JRPGs). BioShock was an incredible game. The worst part? The lame pre-rendered cut scene ending. Call of Duty 4? Not a single cut scene in the game, creating some incredible memorable moments such as the now infamous execution scene. You know what cut scenes in survival horror have given us? The master of unlocking and some dinosaurs jumping through windows. In-game scripted events such as the ones promised by EA serve to immerse you further in your games. Otherwise, you would just watch a movie. I hope they can deliver.

Mike Minotti: Fact

I agree that the Half-Life style storytelling works best for FPSs due to the whole "first person" thing, but if a game is a third person science fiction survival horror game (Christ, that's a lot of genres) like Dead Space, I think you're going to need a cut scene or two to get the plot going. Look, I know that we're all sick of games that pause the action every two minutes to show us some obvious cut scene (look at Lair for the ultimate example of this gaming sin), but getting rid of cut scenes entirely is not the answer. My god, without cut scenes there would be no Final Fantasy. No Metal Gear Solid. And let's not forget the BEST FUCKING CUT SCENE EVER:


What is a man, indeed, Dracula. Indeed.

Score: 0 for 6



And we finish our first brother vs. brother Fact or Fiction with another first - a score of 0 for 6. Don't forget to join us next time for more Fact or Fiction!

Now, it's quite silly, but we've found ourselves in a place where things we knew are now wrong. If we can figure out how to use these changes to get us to the ultimate level, we'll be back next week.