B3yond the Report 07.23.08
Posted by Mike Minotti on 07.23.2008
Welcome to the post-E3 world. Everyone still here? This week, MGS4 sells systems, MGO has some buggy genes, and more new PSP rumors.
Hello, and welcome to B3yond the Report. I am not Mark. My name is Mike Minotti. I used to write the Full Circle news report here, and even before that I had a brief stint as the writer of the SIXAXIS (the precursor to this news report). So this is a bit of a homecoming for me, in a sense. I'm back, and just in time to get all post-E3 on you.
Now, let's begin.
Heh. I'm just kidding. It's time to go B3yond… the Report!
I have to say, I was always a little disappointed Mark didn't just rename the report "The Dual Shock 3". It would have been logical in a very stupid sort of way.
B3yond the News of the Week~!
MGS4 moves systems.
We haven't seen very many high profile exclusives come for the PS3 yet. At the very least, MGS4 was by far the biggest yet. So it's good to see that the game managed to sell PS3s. According to NPDs, Sony sold 405,500 PS3s in the month of June. A good number that puts the system almost 200,000 sales ahead of the 360 for that month.
MGS4 took the number one spot on the software list, selling 774,600 units (though this figure doesn't count copies of the game sold with bundles). A great debut for MGS4, and a good month for the PS3. It would look like a big triple-A exclusive still has the power to move consoles, as opposed to multi-platform releases. Just look at GTA IV's inability to increase either PS3 or 360 sales, despite being a great selling game.
The bad news? This just goes to show how much losing FFXIII as an exclusive could hurt Sony down the road.
Rock Band instruments to be compatible with Guitar Hero: World Tour/Aerosmith.
Good news for those of you not looking forward to having two sets of plastic rock equipment in your living rooms. Activision has announced that Rock Band instruments (including the guitar and drums) will work in Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Also, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has been patched to allow compatibility with all Rock Band guitars. Confusingly enough, only some Rock Band guitars were working with the game before.
Personally, I'm a bit tired of all of these over the top, super expensive fake band games. But it is good to know that I can now play Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 for at least $100 cheaper.
Metal Gear Online: Gene Expansion buggy.
MGO saw its first expansion last week with the Gene Expansion. The expansion added three new maps, two new playable characters (Meryl and Johnny), a reward shop, and a lot of server crashes. A lot of server crashes. Seems Konami was not ready to deal with recent taxing on their servers.
Besides server crashes, the shop is being closed off to random IP groups every hour as a bizarre way to keep traffic low. Hopefully these bugs will be ironed out soon. Admittedly, I haven't played much MGO since I bought MGS4, but I did enjoy the beta. It's something I plan on doing, but given all these bugs, I think I'm best off to wait a couple of weeks.
PSP-3000 rumors.
It seems that rumors of the next PSP are always flying around somewhere. Now Kotaku is reporting that a Chinese PSP BBS (yes, I also find that source to be fishy) has details on the "PSP-3000". Apparently the updated handheld will have a built-in microphone. Also, the Home button is replaced with a more generic PS button (like on the Dual Shock 3). I'm not sure why that change would be necessary, unless Sony is worried that people may confuse the button with the PS3 Home service.
Also, it wouldn't be a PSP rumor without vague suggestions of a possible built in cell phone.
B3yond the Tabloids!
NCAA 09 is also having its fair share of bugs that some claim make the game near unplayable.
It seems that numerous stores have broken the street date for Soul Calibur 4, and numerous videos of lucky gamers with an early copy are appearing all over YouTube. Most videos I've seen show the 360 version, but I'm guessing at least someone's gotten their hands on the PS3 version. If you can't wait another week, you can go broken-street-date-hunting yourself.
XS Games plans on releasing their own guitar game for the PS2, named PopStar Guitar. Yeah, good luck with that.
In an interview with G4, Gary Oldman pretty much confirmed the existence of a Dark Knight game. The video has since been removed.
A BioWare representative recently went out of his way to say that they "never confirmed any plans of Mass Effect exclusivity for the trilogy". Me thinks a PS3 version is coming.
Mega Man 9 will not have the charge shot or the slide techniques. This makes the game even more similar to Mega Man 2.
B3yond the Cinema!
There can never be too much LittleBigPlanet.
Here's a little Project Origin, the sequel to F.E.A.R.
A short but sweet gameplay snippet for Quest for Booty.
A Tom Clancy Ace Combat killer?
The One Man Water Cooler~!
I'm sorry, but I think M.A.G. looks terrible. Mind you, I've never been a fan of Socom (should all of those letters be capitalized?), so maybe I'm not one to talk, but I heavily dislike FPSs with a bland modern era desert aesthetic. Absolutely nothing in that pre-rendered trailer looked appealing to me.
You know what I am looking forward to? Mega Man 9. The old NES Mega Man games were among my first video games, so the nostalgia factor is beyond (er, b3yond) describable for me. I actually just bought a used copy of the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PS2, allowing me to replay a lot of those old Mega Man games. I went through Mega Man 2 and 3 and had an absolute blast. Those two games are some of the best examples of excellent 2D level design and video game music out there. I've also been playing some Mega Man 7, which isn't quite as good, but still fun.
I wish Sonic would go the Mega Man 9 route. After seeing the terrible looking Werehog gamplay from Sonic Unleashed, I think going retro is the only hope those guys have of making a decent game anymore. Imagine if they made Sonic the Hedgehog 4, with Genesis style graphics. I would definitely dig that. At the very least, I'd prefer it to side-scrolling-brawling hybrid bullshit.
God damn it, Sonic. Stop sucking!
B3yond the Mail!
Sweet, I get to speak for Mark.
To Realist999 (Guest) : Hey, you made of a PlayStation for being a glorified movie player. Personally, I thought that got a little old in 2002.
To Drew Robbins (Guest): Hi Drew. I talked about you on the podcast this week. I may have said some unkind things, so please listen. Anyways, RPGs are great. So there.
To David Redkey (Guest): You need to beat FFXII. That's one of my favorite PS2 games. And Drew, it's a great example of why the genre can be so awesome.
To : Jones (Guest): I once heard that female hyenas have a fake penis. I thought that was pretty dumb.
As Mark said before Mark always read what you guys send him and Mark appreciates the comments, even if they're sometimes filled with hate. If you wanted a response to your comment and I didn't respond then you can go to hell.
Konami just wasn't ready for the duties involved in hosting MGO. At all. That was clear from the start of beta, so why haven't they improved that yet?
What are the problems with NCAA? I played through a season of Campus Legend without any trouble on the 360 version - is it just in online or another mode?
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on July 22, 2008 at 11:37 PM
Who the hell are you? Mike? What kind of name is that?!?!?!?!??? I won't even get into the whole Minotti-thing. I already have a migraine.
I've never been a fan of Socom. MAG isn't going to win me over. Zipper's games were never my cup of tea. Actually, I don't really like FPS. The only game that really got my attention was CoD4 (because of the online RPG elements). I didn't even finish the game.
About Mega Man 9, I'm glad that they are sticking with the Mega Man 2-style. That is vastly superior to the "updates." Ya know how the saying goes. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
One more thing, what the hell are you and your brother smoking? Project Origin is an AWESOME name. It ties into the central story and it isn't (massive belated hint) First Encounter Assault Recon 2.
It is better than crappy names like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Splinter Cell Double Agent, etc. Calling Project Origin horrible is like saying The Dark Knight was a horrible name for a movie. Both titles tie into the source material. But, it doesn't matter. You have your reasons for hating the name, and I have my reasons for enjoying the choice.
Posted By: Mega Man Forever (Registered) on July 23, 2008 at 01:36 AM
Jesus, you talked about the PSP, how could people not know it wasn't me? Good job Mike, hopefully no one notices it's Wednesday instead of Tuesday. Just kidding great job mike.
Posted By: Mark Salmela (Registered) on July 23, 2008 at 02:50 AM
After playing some Dynasty mode, I see the bugs. Holy cow...disappearing stats. Completion percentages for QBs that are totally out of whack. A huge list of faults.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on July 23, 2008 at 05:50 PM
Wikipedia says that the 360 version of GH: Aerosmith was patched for use with RB guitars, but says nothing about the PS3. If the PS3 version is compatible, I might actually buy the game. I refuse to buy another guitar.
Posted By: Steve307 (Guest) on July 24, 2008 at 12:40 AM
Hey Salmela it's me, the anime fan who bugged you about your criticisms of Anime games. the .hack// games spring to mind off the top of my head. Did you know that Devil May Cry was recently crafted into an anime. The Gundam game franchises, I personally loved Dynasty Warriors Gundam but maybe that's me. The #1 issue is that game developers despite it's popularity in the states, and trust me not all of it is for children like some assume, are hesitant to take a chance like they've done on Movie games. I enjoyed Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked which was released on the PS2 here in the US. their is also the best anime fighting game, Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament, and finally the Yu-Gi-Oh game franchise itself. now I would be remiss without mentioning Pokemon, but who cares about Nintendo nowadays. hope this partially completed list is helpful Mark.
Posted By: John (Guest) on July 25, 2008 at 05:20 AM
oh their are plenty more games on anime out there, it's just their in Japan so meh.
Posted By: John (Guest) on July 25, 2008 at 05:22 AM
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