The Full Circle: 360 News Report 05.30.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 05.30.2008

It's Friday morning which can mean only one thing, it's time for The Full Circle. This week we've got news about the 360 making inroads in the UK thanks to our favorite Russian like immigrant, Don King and 2K Sports launch a great new website to promote Prizefighter, Saints Row 2 needs some polish, Prince of Persia will involve AI teammates who will not get in the way, and other things that I don't believe. Plus I'm willing to sacrifice my integrity after hearing what Alex Navarro said about his time at a certain gaming website. All of this and The Hot Button in another edition of The Full Circle.

It's Friday morning and trust me when I say that rash isn't a bug bite, you'll need a special shampoo and some scissors after what you did last night to get rid of that itch. Oh, and it's time for The Full Circle once again bringing you the most average, and poorly written column in the 411 Mania stable of writings which brings pride to me, and shame to my family. As you read this I am sitting through my third bar review class which has made me realize that courses which I spent a huge amount of money to attend over the past three years can successfully be summarized in three hours without a problem, damn you law school. It's been a quiet week on the news front as I have spent most of the week catching up on Grand Theft Auto IV and watching the Celtics play well and horrible during the same five minute stretch - heart attack central in the brand new Full Circle homefront. Enough rambling let us get on with the show...



Xbox 360 Takes UK Door Prize



Well it's been all sunshine and puppy dogs around here lately so lets get back to what we do best in The Full Circle, mainly taking pot shots at Mark and the Beyond the Report. What you probably haven't read in his column lately is the news that sales of the Xbox 360 in the UK are up 18% over the PS3 following the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. It's also worth noting that the 360 version of GTAIV sold 57% of all copies throughout the UK, which helped the 360 close the gap from 20% to 10% in total consoles sold in the UK market since the release of GTAIV.

Granted this means absolutely nothing as I am well aware that the PS3 is gearing up for some game about a snake to drop pretty soon I think? I'm not really sure because I don't pay attention to that glorified DVD player, but I do know that these numbers don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. So why should I even bother mentioning the numbers other then it gives Mark something to laugh about as he tries to justify the huge advertising budget given to Haze, a game that should only cost $60 if it had a fifty dollar bill taped to the inside of the package? Well because frankly I've spent the entire week playing my own copy of GTAIV and I haven't found a whole lot of news worth talking about this week.

Saints Row 2 Delayed



Well if you've been waiting around to jump back into the low rider and gang bang with all your hoodlum friends in the Saints, you're going to have to push your plans back from the late summer to mid Fall because Saints Row 2 has been delayed until October 14th. The official reason being given for the delay is that the game is finished, and it requires some "polish" as well as some roadblocks being put in place as far as the marketing of the game is concerned. The original release date was August 26th so we're talking about a delay of two whole months to polish the game up which depending on what side of the fence you're sitting on might be a good thing, a more polished game isn't something to complain about.

However, I do have some concerns about SR2 being delayed, mainly because of the massive success of Grand Theft Auto IV. Lets face it, Saints Row is almost a direct rip off of the GTA franchise, and while it does some innovative things to try and separate itself from the massive title it will always be seen in that light. With that in mind doesn't it seem likely that coming off the heels of the largest video game/entertainment release in history the guys behind Saints Row 2 might want to have had the game ready to go on time to capitalize on the huge popularity of the open world/gangster/violent and sex crazed video game revival going on right now? I fear that the game was finished but held up against GTAIV it looked like shit, so they pulled the plug on an August release date to give it some time to prepare a better launch, and give people more time to tire themselves out in Liberty City before releasing SR2 in October.

Navarro Shedding Some Light



The MTV Multiplayer Blog has an interview currently running with former GameSpot reviewer, Alex Navarro who left GameSpot after – well at this point everyone knows the story and as it concerns not 411mania I won't rehash it. Needless to say Navarro recently got a job working with Harmonix as a community team member, and in his interview he does shed a little light on how things work not only at GameSpot but throughout the world of video game press and public relations.

When tasked to review an unnamed Wii launch title, Navarro was sent a note along with his copy of the game--which he provided as evidence to Steven Totilo. The note read: If the review is 9.0 or higher you can post immediately. Lower than 9.0, could you please hold until launch day, November 19th? Thanks.

I should note that Navarro claims to have purchased the questionable Wii title himself and the review that was given to this particular launch title was panned as it rightfully deserved the treatment. However, it does shed some light on some of the questionable practices that video game companies like to employ when getting the word out on their games. Here at 411mania I am proud to say that I've never been approached with this type of offer however I am always willing to listen to reasonable offers so if you want a great score for a subpar game just send along any bribe that you think is fitting for the service, no reasonable offer will be refused.

Wait, where was I? Oh right, the little confession by Navarro is why there are certain gaming sites that I simply do not trust. I admit that most of the people who I have had conversations with from those sites seem to be on the level, but when you're running full page ads paid for and supplied by a particular game company I find it difficult to believe that you're able to be completely honest about your feelings. In this business there is so much power in exclusivity that it might be worth it to drive people to your site when you've got the firsthand review of a game that other sites which might be less inclined to receive hand outs from the companies won't have that same review until weeks later after they've purchased the game themselves and played through it at the same pace as everyone else.

Anyone Believe This?



There has been a lot of news circulating about the next installment of the Prince of Persia franchise which is heading for the console sometime around the holidays. One of the more stressed aspects of the game seems to be the inclusion of an AI character named Elika who will help you along your quest in this newly stylized vision of the Prince. The reason that I bring this up, is because according to the games creator the character will be with you the entire time, and will not get in your way. You know I didn't do that justice, I'll let him explain:

"[She's] not going to be a burden" announced Mattes. "Players are not going to be getting frustrated. She's always going to be a positive. Not only is she making the game better, she's definitely not making the game worse."

I bring this up for one simple reason – does anyone believe this? Have you ever played a game where there is an AI teammate who hasn't at some point got in your way? I think it's a noble sign that Mattes is trying to sell us on the idea that his team has worked out all of the bugs with Elika but I fear that somewhere down the road I'm going to want to throw a controller out the window because I'm sick of some little thing that she continues to do which slows me down even if it was never intended that way.

One of the great new aspects of the next Prince of Persia game revolves around the ability to slide down, and along walls with some glove that you've got. I understand that my providing this detail is ridiculous since I do not have the patience right now to open my Game Informer magazine to get the correct terminology but my greatest fear is that every time I am prepared to use this new feature Elika will be there like that little paperclip in Microsoft Office to walk me through the procedure. Hand holding might seem like a positive game addition to the developers who cater to the lowest common denominator but at some point these things begin to drive me insane. I know I'm not alone here, and I wonder if anyone thinks it's possible to create an AI teammate who will at NO point become a hindrance to your gameplay experience.

Don King = Ratings



I am when it is all said and done a simple man, and one thing that I am confident about it's that when a gaming story involves Don King, I will post it. The patriotic pugilistic prognosticator has been a staple in the world of boxing for decades. He orchestrated the Rumble in the Jungle, he coined the "Thrilla in Manilla", and he hasn't paid a fighter what was owed him in his entire career. Aside from all of that though he has now entered the virtual ring as the hype man behind 2K Sports Prizefighter, which is my most highly anticipated game of the summer season because frankly I'm a lifelong boxing fan and nothing would make me happier then something new for me to play since Fight Night Round 3 has been played to death.

Well as part of the promotion for the game which drops on June 10th, 2K Sports announced today the launch of HypeKingdom.com which is perhaps the best time wasting hype website in the history of video game entertainment. If you don't believe me head over there right now, listen to Don King tell you that he graduated super cum laude with a masters in hypology from the University of Hype and then come talk to me. If that isn't enough there is a nickname generator and while I can't sing a lick if Don King wants to call me Joe "Rock Star" Roche it's tough to argue with him. Only in America.

New RPG Coming

Deck 13, a German developer who I have been told (mainly by them) is one of the most successful game developers in all of Germany has teamed with dtp entertainment to bring about a "cryptic" role play game experience, Venetica. I have no real understanding of what is meant by a game being cryptic but as explained by those who write press releases:

In the era of Venetica, Death walks among the living as a flesh & blood being, carrying out the deeds of an ancient council known by a few as Corpus. Each generation of the Corpus is set with the task of selecting the next predecessor of the bringer of death. Unfortunately, the most recent council had unwittingly selected a crafty necromancer who is determined on bringing death and destruction to the world.

I'll admit to being mildly interested, but I would be willing to ratchet that up to highly interested if Adam Carolla provides the voice of Death. I'd absolutely buy this game if you went old school with Norm MacDonald, but as I've already made abundantly clear I'm also willing to compromise my integrity for some free stuff so keep me in mind Deck 13, I love David Hasselhoff as much as you do.

THE HOT BUTTON

At this point the Water Cooler is absolutely more important then the Hot Button but I stand by that remark only because I have no logo. If some enterprising individual would rectify that situation I believe that we can leave the talk of that Blu Ray player behind and move onto something with more substance.

As I said earlier I've been playing a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV lately because I'm trying to make up for all the lost time that finishing school took away from me after the game launch. I am about 45% through the game so I have almost no leg to stand on if I am going to make any complaints or praise for the game because I am sure that there is a lot to come that will help bring together some of the problems that I am having right now. But I want to talk about something which some people seem to love, and some people seem to hate about the game and get a gauge on where your loyalty lies. Mainly, I need to ask about the relationship system in GTAIV, as in – do you think it sucks.

Some people swear up and down that the relationship system within GTAIV is fantastic. It builds character, it adds to the depth of the storyline, and it creates a more realistic feel to Niko and Liberty City. It's fun calling up Carmen, or Packie and going to the bar, or hitting up a strip club with Roman – I'll admit that at first this was what I thought about the relationships. I understand that the point was to create a world where you felt like you were actually participating in the surroundings, as opposed to just passing through. When Brucie calls you on the cell phone to take some girls for a helicopter ride you can envision that this is something that might actually happen (note: I realize that this would never happen, but lets just move on).

On the other hand, I play Grand Theft Auto for the storyline, the violence, the missions, and the utter destruction that you can cause throughout Liberty City. You'll excuse me if I don't find Roman calling me at 2 AM to hit a strip club that appealing when all I want to do is drive the 10 minutes across Liberty City to find Derrick strung out on a park bench. I don't like that I have to continuously interact with Little Jacob and some girl I met on the internet or they will start to hate me, and I also don't like that if I do ignore them long enough – they seemingly forgive me with no real repercussions.

Also, I understand that each relationship offers you some specific benefits. Hypothetically I should be able to call Carmen during a firefight and she will revive my health. Of course, I tried this method once during a botched bank robbery with Packie and crew, and wound up getting shot in the back as I tried to use my cell phone from behind cover, because you can't fire a weapon and use the cell phone at the same time. I've also never once had Little Jacob show up with weapons, and Roman is useless with his cab rides because when I'm totally obliterated I can't use the phone anyways.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed getting the Warm Coffee achievement after a few dates with the soon to be narc Michelle, but you'll forgive me if I'm not doing an interpretive dance in the streets to show my appreciation for this relationships meter that I'm forced to worry about with Niko. Again, none of this is to suggest that I wouldn't keep the relationship building tools in the game, however there are still some problems with the background morphing at the last second which causes me to fly through the front windshield of a Comet that I'm trying to steal for one of Brucie's friends, I would have preferred that this little glitch was fixed before I was worried about whether or not Carmen would see any celebrities at the dance club.

So I'm left to wonder – how do you feel about the relationship system in Grand Theft Auto IV?