The Full Circle: 360 News Report 06.20.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 06.20.2008

It's a Boston Celtics victory parade edition of The Full Circle. Today we're talking about the next generation of consoles, Itagaki and Tecmo continue to brawl, Gears of War the movie has a director with a hot wife, and there is a plethora of EA news including Tiger Woods golf, Commond & Conquer: Kane's Wrath, Godfather II, and even some Raiden IV news for you Japanese shooter fans. What a wonderful day in the city of Boston, and it's all inside The Full Circle.



It's Thursday morning, the sun is shining, the Duck Boats are rolling out of the TD Banknorth Garden and it's a beautiful day for a victory parade. When you combine that with the fact that tonight I'm heading to the beach to see Dierks Bentley in concert and I'd have to say that things are absolutely alright today. I was going to make a joke about the PS3 and Beyond the Report but after revealing that I'm going to a Dierks Bentley concert tonight, and later on I'll talk more about NASCAR something tells me that I don't have a foot to stand on. With that in mind let me just say that hopefully you all took my advice last week on the Celtics in Game 5 because if you had you're probably new to the Xbox 360 because you won enough money to buy yourself a new system. I wouldn't lead you down the wrong road my little kiddies and now lets get on with the show.

Tecmo Rumor Mill



I could not have been more wrong about my assumption that the Itagaki and Tecmo implosion would quiet down after a week. As a matter of fact things have gone from a relatively normal contract dispute between a valued employee and his employer to an outright mess. As you remember last week news came out that Itagaki was leaving Team Ninja and Tecmo and suing for unpaid bonus' and other earned money that he had yet to receive from as far back as four years ago. Well this week started with some rumors that 300 Tecmo employees were also leaving the company and attempting to bring a class action suit against Tecmo for their unpaid monies that they had earned over the years. Finally yesterday some papers were filed in court by Tecmo asking for an injunction against Itagaki which asked for him to be forbidden from disclosing or leaking information regarding Tecmo's game software, sales, development or any other company secrets. The injunction also forbids Itagaki from using the newspaper, internet, and magazines to criticize the company, obstruct the companies business through third party remarks and conduct interviews regarding Tecmo and their business practices.

Some people might think that this is a bit of a harsh overreaction from Tecmo but frankly I don't blame them one bit for trying to silence Itagaki to the things that he's already said. Even if they are staunch in their defense that the criticism they are receiving from the former golden boy of Team Ninja are unsubstantiated and they are not in the wrong here, the court of public opinion is all that really matters and some of the things that Itagaki has been saying is pretty harsh. I do think however that this entire situation has gotten ridiculously out of control, especially the notion that 300 Tecmo employees are quitting along with Itagaki and filing a class action lawsuit.

I respect these interwebs, and as far as unsubstantiated rumor mongering goes I love the practice more then more, however wouldn't this be one of the easiest rumors to verify in history? Just think of the place where you work, if tomorrow 300 employees up and left don't you think business might be effected somewhat? I just feel as though this rumor could be verified with one phone call – then again I don't understand any of the Japanese to English translations on Google so perhaps they have been verified or disconfirmed without my knowledge.

Make Them an Offer



EA Boss John Riccitiello earlier in the week during an investors meeting told the group that the EA's Redwood Shores studio was working on a new Godfather videogame aptly titled Godfather II: Electric Boogaloo. I must admit that while the first two Godfather movies remain some of the my favorite films of all time, I never got around to playing the first Godfather game even though I seem to remember it being reviewed rather strongly. However, I am interested in Godfather II after Riccitiello assured his investors that the game will allow you play at the street level, ala Grand Theft Auto IV and the first Godfather game, but also pull back and play the game almost as an RTS where you will run the family business throughout the boroughs of New York City.

Does anyone want to venture a guess as to what that even means? I figure that as a monkey with a keyboard I am as entitled to venture a guess as the next person so this is my theory. Remember in Grand Theft Auto III when you would get into a fight with a rival gang and the map would light up with your colors, basically telling you that you'd just taken possession of that piece of property (anyone want to tell me if that is how Saints Row worked as well, I was still last gen when that game was relevant?). Well I think Godfather II will probably work in the same vein, where you will take control of different parts of the city and then be allowed to put other people in charge, make money, and defend that turf without being physically present in that particular borough when a rival family comes around looking to make a move on your business.

Might it be something completely different from that? I am sure that it is, but the fact that a game slated for a 2009 release has already got me thinking, and talking about isn't a bad thing for EA in the least.

Raiden IV is Coming, Again



Japanese shooter fanboys might remember about a year ago when Raiden IV was confirmed for the Xbox 360…and then absolutely vanished. I'm sure most of you at this point have worn out on Ikaruga, and if that's the case you're in luck because as it turns out Raiden IV was slated for the 360 all along, it just took a bit more time to get the port up and running for all your trigger happy fans out there then initially anticipated. Raiden IV developer Moss has confirmed that the US port of the game will be available on September 11, 2009. The new port of the game will include two completely new stages, adjustable difficulty as you progress through the game, the ability to save previously played game video so you can watch where you made mistakes, and the ability to upload your scores and videos to the World Rankings to see how you stack up against the rest of the arcade shooter fans out there.

Need For Speed: Jason Statham



Remember EA CEO John Riccitiello? If you've already forgotten who he is then just scroll up about twenty lines to refresh your memory. After never writing about John once in the entire time I've done this column I'm bringing him back for a second story because he has been a busy man this week. In an interview with gamesindustry.biz Riccitiello laid down the foundation for the next installment in the Need for Speed family of games, titled Undercover. Once again I am left a bit bewildered by the information given on the game as Riccitiello has stated that the inspiration for the EA Vancouver title has been movies like "The Transporter." Now I have no idea what he means by that, or if we can even take anything from the statement, however if the Guitar Hero franchise has gotten stale and need some reinvention, the Need for Speed games has gone rotten and needs a complete overhaul. Are people still playing Need for Speed games? I will admit that I like the fact that EA split the Vancouver studio in two after the horrible ProStreet game in order to give each team a two year window to create new NFS games, basically giving us one new game per year that has been in gestation for two years (see I can add).

I used to be a huge fan of the series, and I am a pretty standard racing game fan as it is, so I hope that this new approach will be beneficial for the boys at EA, but I have no idea what they're planning by getting their inspiration from "The Transporter." Now if you told me that they have been watching "Cannonball Run" and "Smokey & the Bandit" on an endless loop at EA Vancouver then I'd go get my preorder now, but that's just me.

Aerosmith at 100 MPH



Activision and Chip Gnassi Racing have announced that on June 29 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Dario Franchitti's No. 40 Dodge will be sponsored by Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Is this story meaningful in any way? Not really, it does speak to the huge audience that NASCAR has and the appeal of getting a sponsorship on one of these cars if even for one afternoon because of all the eyeballs that are exposed to them. However, I will say that this might be a risky move by Activision because it's not cheap to put a full car sponsorship on a Sprint Cup car and by doing so at New Hampshire, on the car of a rookie driver they are putting a lot of faith in Dario to not wind up out of the race earlier. This isn't just my change to talk about my love of NASCAR, or the fact that I may very well be in attendance next weekend in New Hampshire, but short track racing doesn't seem to benefit former IndyCar drivers and I wonder if Activision will be pleased with this sponsorship deal if the only time they get the No. 40 Dodge on TV is when he spins and takes out three or four other cars, or if he's being lapped by the leaders time and time again. Frankly I enjoy Dario because he is married to Ashley Judd and it's tough to hate on a guy when he's pulling tail like that, but I am a bit worried about this investment. I mean I think everyone agrees that Stephen Tyler wouldn't agree to something that would bring down the Aerosmith name --- or something.

Facebreaker Gets Release Date



Has this been an especially EA centric edition of The Full Circle or what? I guess EA has had their news making shoes on this week as among other things we also learned that the highly anticipated arcade boxing game Facebreaker will be released on September 5, 2008. This is a game that I am actually pretty highly anticipating, developed by the same team that created the outstanding Fight Night Round 3, and similar in style to the old Ready 2 Rumble which was a fantastically fun game to play I think there is a lot of potential in Facebreaker. Of course I held out a lot of hope for Don King's Prizefighter only to have that game dropped on my doorstep like an abandoned kitten. Hopefully the Facebreaker crew remembers that even when you're making a fun, cartoony like boxing game the key to the entire experience is that the boxing has to be at least somewhat fun to play, a game point that the Prizefighter people apparently forgot about.

Gears of War Movie News



By now I'm sure everyone has heard the news that Len Wiseman has signed on to direct the upcoming Gears of War movie. Frankly I'm of two minds about this story and I am sure by now you've all determined why I even bring this story up. First and foremost I don't really care about Gears of War, I never played the first one, and the second installment looks to be much the same. I might pick it up, but when a game featuring 50 Cent is being compared to you, I just don't see how that is a good thing. On the other hand Len Wiseman has a habit of finding a way to put his wife into his movies wearing extremely tight leather outfits and when you consider the fact that he's married to Kate Beckinsale, well I have to support that artistic decision each time. How many people saw the two Underworld movies because they enjoyed the mythology and thought that the direction was top notch? Yeah all four of you, but those movies get endless play on channels like FX because Wiseman is smart enough to know what his bread and butter is, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he figured out how to get a sexy, sultry, leather wearing vampire into the story of Gears of War as well. Oh and if you any of you think this was just another shameless opportunity for me to post a picture of a good looking lady in this column you're one hundred percent right.

Tiger Woods 09 Featuring Hank Haney



At this point my EA stories are becoming a running joke I think. One of the major criticisms of most EA Sports franchises is that they don't actually advance from one year to the next, Madden is basically $60 roster update, NCAA 09 has been about the same game since I started playing it, and NASCAR 09 while improved is still cars turning left with no real gameplay changes. This year EA is trying to dispel that myth with their golf franchise named after the newly crowned US Open Champion Tiger Woods by adding Hank Haney to the mix? If you're asking yourself who in the hell is Hank Haney you're not alone, but to save you the Google search, he is Tiger Woods' swing coach.

No, seriously. I hate to be critical of any game developer, especially the one responsible for a game that I have consistently enjoyed (and appreciate not having to purchase brand new every year), but this dynamic new game addition might be the most meaningless game improvement to date. The story is a bit skin and bones with no meat but apparently Haney will be on hand to help you through the FedEx Cup and a grueling golf season. Note that there is no information about possibly having numerous coaches available, each with their own strengths and weaknesses which might be interesting so that while some might like Haney's approach to his short game, we'd rather have Coach X help us get more yards off the tee. Instead, I fear that all this addition will really be is game hints turned into real on screen persona so they become more difficult to avoid. Color me not impressed EA with this attempt to show that you're trying to push your sports franchises forward, because it seems to me that this is just another attempt to milk sixty bucks off your loyal customers who see a new date on the game box and think it's a must have improvement from last years game.

Kane's Global Wrath



At this point I might have to rename this column the EA News Report, but in some more semi related to EA news, it appears that the very popular Global Domination mode from Command & Conquer: Kane's Wrath on the PC has been removed from the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive port. According to people who know things there was some testing done on the mode and it turns out that the Global Domination mode did not really appear to be very popular across the board. Fear not though C&C fans as the Kane's Challenges mode will still be there, and some exclusive Kane videos will come packaged with the console port. In a semi-related story all of those modes have been cut from the Kane's Wrath PS3 port because the game lacked hour long cut scenes so PS3 fans would have been confused with an actual video game, over a movie with a character you could move for ten minute windows.

The NeXtbox?



Can we stop this talk right now? All week the internets have been abuzz about small pieces of information regarding Microsoft already beginning the development process on the next Xbox console. As we've all seen Microsoft loves being at the forefront of the development phase of the console wars because getting a one year head start on the next generation has been a very profitable adventure for the company up to this point. However, let's not forget that rushing through the development process to get the 360 on the shelves a year before the PS3 meant red rings of death for everyone. Right now we're only three years into the lifespan of the Xbox 360, in my mind we shouldn't even start talking about the next generation of consoles until what – 2010? I don't want Microsoft to get caught up in the early release of a console because it devalues their current generation console since people don't want to purchase something that is already 50% through its lifespan, and it leads to problems down the road. As we've seen with the PS3 even with less games, less good games, and one niche market you can still be successful just by putting out a product that works on the first try, so lets focus on that aspect first.


THE HOT BUTTON

If you read THB last week you might want to stop reading right now because I am going to at least tangentially talk about NASCAR 09 once again. When I wrote the button last week the reviews for NASCAR 09 had yet to come out so I couldn't compare my thoughts on the game to that of other people who had a chance to play through it and were given a platform to talk about the game. Since that time the reviews have come out pretty standard, average and some even below that and all of them have the same basic theme – the game is simple, it's cars turning left, if you turn off the flags it's too easy, and the game doesn't add anything to the genre.

Individually I can't even complain about some of these criticisms of the game – I actually think that the yellow and black flag system doesn't work the right way so you will wind up spinning out and crashing but no yellow flag will come out, although if you tap someone in a corner you'll get black flagged (that's a problem for another day though). However, couldn't this same review is made about every game – let's face it Tiger Woods golf is a very successful franchise even though it's nothing more then one button. Madden is all well and good but again it's just football; there hasn't been any real new innovations in years. Does anyone here play the FIFA games? Exactly.

All sports, or whatever you want to call them have their problems that people who are not fans of the genre are going to pick out, but that doesn't really create a problem that falls on the shoulders of EA and people developing the video games. A few years ago I think it was NASCAR 2005 the developers included some driver challenges on dirt roads and stuff like that – which were maddening. Why would Sprint Cup (at the time NEXTEL Cup) cars be driving on dirt? You'd get two feet and spin out every time.

I appreciate innovation in video games, I love the Sprint Cup Driver Challenges in NASCAR 09 but how much different can the actual race be made? NASCAR is when you boil it all down just turning left for the most part. If you want to turn off the penalties, and flags and win every race then call the game boring that's fine – but you should be playing Burnout and not NASCAR because all you've done is take any strategy out of the game at all. If I turn off all penalties in Madden and was allow to snap the ball while the other team was on the sidelines I'd win every game too – but that would be a useless exercise on my part.

This is often the criticism when wrestling games are released – it's a fighting game but the space is too limited, or there are not enough characters, and most matches feel repetitive. That's all well and true, but isn't that what wrestling is after all? Maybe the problem isn't the game; it's that we've got people reviewing these titles that are not fans of the genre. I don't play Civilization games, and as such if I were to pick up the new Sid Meier offering right now and try to play it I'd probably get upset at things I didn't understand where someone who was a fan of the genre would laugh at me because it was one of the intricacies that makes the game great.

Does this whole rant make me sound like a grumpy old man? Yes it does, and I accept that. However, does that make it wrong? There are obviously problems with NASCAR 09 it's impossible to make a sports game that is flawless to all people, however the lack of pit road mini games isn't one of the problems. For all of those out there who complain about the missing mini games on pit road (and there are a lot of you) let me ask you this – during halftime of a football goes does Madden let you do a mini game to rile up your team? In a game like NASCAR 09 you're simulating a Sprint Cup race, and as such you're taking on the role of a driver – not a team, that'd be a different game completely. When a driver takes his car to the pits do you know what allows him to do? Take a breather, and that's why I love that the pit road stops don't have a mini game involved. Sure if I was playing every race with 5 laps then I might not want to have breaks, but for most people who aren't just playing a demo and are racing 60-100 laps per race a nice little break in the middle of the race is nice.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to watch a victory parade because even though basketball might be more exciting if it happened outdoors, with full contact, and a football it is still a great day in the city of Boston to see the Celtics celebrate Green 17.