411 Games Fact or Fiction 10.09.08: NBA 2K vs. Live, Nintendo DSi, God of War, & More!

Posted by Sean Garmer on 10.09.2008

411's Sean Garmer and Joe Roche talk about video games used as tutorials, NBA Live vs. 2K, cool features about the Nintendo DSi, God of War movie, Take-Two staying independent, and Wii HD!

Hello everyone and I know I'm not Tommy Coloma, but this is still 411 Games Fact or Fiction. Tommy needed someone to fill in for him this week, so I offered to help. So, come join me for some more Video Game news goodness.

This week Joe Roche From the Full Circle News Report steps into the fray. Joe also does game reviews for the Games Zone.

I, Sean Garmer will be the other person answering questions today. I write Game reviews for the Games Zone, and do various things for the Sports Zone including the Coast 2 Coast Report Podcast (but that's on hiatus right now due to some personal reasons on all of our parts) and I'm just now starting to get my school stuff in order, so hopefully my Soccer contributions will return soon.

Anyway, let's get on to the important stuff…


1. There being a gaming company (called Virtual Heroes) that makes games, as teaching tools for businesses, is a big step for the gaming industry. Using games in this form will be the wave of the future.

Joe Roche: FACT. I'm saying fact on this but I don't feel good about it. I'm not convinced that having professionals trained by video games is necessarily a giant leap forward. There are certain things that you just can't simulate in a video game. I'm a recent law school graduate, and while I think Ace Attorney is great, there are real life variables at play that you just can't account for in a video game. However, my wife is a nurse, and I have been kept awake many nights by the maddening beeps of a heart monitor in a simulated hospital emergency room. I have seen the benefits of these simulations at work, and if there is any chance that we can better prepare people for their real life responsibilities through video game technology and training then I'm not sure how I can say fiction to this question. I don't think that my neighborhood paperboy gets better at his job playing the Xbox Live Arcade. However, if the guy driving my ambulance is better equipped to deal with my breathing irregularities because of a simulation they ran through a hundred times on his computer then sign me up for that system.

Sean Garmer: FACT. For one this helps the gaming industry reach out to a different base of people. Secondly, this does help train people in certain circumstances, but like Joe said you should never use a simulation in place of the real thing. I think they mainly mean using video games as a fun tutorial on tasks that need to be performed or like America's Army; it gives you a simulated yet realistic feel of some of what a person can expect. However, nothing can replace true experience, for the most part I think people that use these understand that it is being used to help them learn, and that's good. I've read in places that medical school students do develop skills learning with Trauma Center, that help them when they have to perform tasks in real life. I believe that in the future video games will get used more and more in this medium because it can find a different way to express something that a straight up simulation can't, and if that helps better workers out there then I'm all for it.

Score: 1 for 1


2. NBA Live 09 has a good chance this year to take some NBA fans away from the 2K series.


Joe Roche: FACT. This is a tough one for me because I'm not really interested in any of the basketball games that have recently hit store shelves. I'm so apathetic towards the whole genre that this year I haven't even followed the updates that EA Sports is touting with Live 09. However, I did read Chris Lansdell's preview of the game, and I absolutely think EA Sports has taken solid steps at improving their offering. I don't know enough about what 2K is bringing to the table to really give this year completely to EA, but the NBA Live365 system is so ambitious and huge that I can't imagine 2K outdoing EA in that department. I am a bit skeptical about the system being implemented and actually pulled off – but if it's done right, then EA Sports has something on their hands that will push the entire sports video game industry forward and bring back fans that left for alternate NBA pastures in recent years. I will say that I'm a bit skeptical about the NBA Live365 system, which for those who do not know is supposed to keep the game up to date with player rankings, playing styles and ratings each morning when you start the game.

[Ed. note: Synergy Sports technology – the analytics and data provider for more than 20 NBA teams will authentically drive AI. Hundreds of data points are collected from every possession of every NBA game that will power gameplay.]

Sean Garmer: FACT. I'm always a believer that the competition can do enough to get people to at least rent their game out of interest. The NBA 2K has certainly had a stranglehold with fans on being the most realistic representation of Basketball in videogame land, where NBA Live has had a hard difficulty adjusting to life on the next-gen consoles with some lackluster efforts. So to combat that EA hopes to finally deliver something fans will enjoy with probably their most realistic gameplay improvements and the dynamic DNA and the 365 Live system. Where every day stats, injuries, lineups, ratings and other things will be updated. With all of this I could totally see fans hoping on board with NBA Live 09 this year.

Score: 2 for 2



3. You are impressed with the possibilities of the Nintendo DSi.


Joe Roche: FICTION. The DSi will have a web brower, DS Store, and increased media capabilities. These things are huge additions. I'll admit to being a PSP fan, and these inclusions really help the DSi when you hold it up against the leading competitors in the handheld gaming medium (namely the PSP and iPhone). However, is this enough to make switch over from a DS Lite, to a DSi? I mean there are already third party apps which allow you to do most of this stuff with the DS Lite in place as I understand. With that in mind the other additions that you're looking at are dual camera's which might be a nice feature, except with 640 x 480 pixel sensors in each camera you're not getting much bang for your buck. I'm pretty sure my cell phone can match strength with that, and I have a pretty crappy cell phone. You've also got bigger screens, which is a nice feature but am I going to put down the DS Lite to pick up the DSi just to get a bit more size in the monitor? When you factor in the decreased battery life, which in my opinion is the most important factor in handheld gaming, it's tough to argue that the bigger screen is even a real improvement. I admittedly think the DSi is a nice step up from what is already in place from Nintendo, but am I blown away with the additions? No. When I look at the DSi all I see is the natural progression that Nintendo has been forced to make to keep pace with the other handheld gaming options on the market. I'm not sure what features would impress me enough for this to be a fact, but from what I've seen from the DSi these new features aren't going to do it.

Sean Garmer: FACT. I'm saying fact only because this is a big step for Nintendo because they are usually all about games and not fancy stuff. They've touted the Web Browser for a while and I hope they just get a good working version of that into the DS Lite and don't make it DSi exclusive. For the rest I agree with Joe, currently you don't need all-in-one handhelds, especially since the PSP and i-phone already exist. Nintendo may be the king of handheld gaming, but when it comes to the extra media stuff, they are the N-Gage compared to Sony and Apple. Now, as long as they don't discontinue making the DS Lite I have no problem with this, because this is basically giving those media types what they want. You want a gaming system, which does more than play games? Here is a memory card slot to hold media, go on the internet if you want, take a picture of yourself or someone else, and you also have a bigger and brighter screen to do it on. That's really all Nintendo is doing they are just giving folks another option and there is nothing wrong with that. Now there is a big chance it may not sell well because of obvious reasons. Most people already have a cell phone that can do most or all of those things, or they may have a lap-top, a digital camera, and a cell phone. Again, this just seems to be an extra deal and there really isn't any harm in that, and that is a big thing for Nintendo to do. Just like Joe said, these features aren't anything to piss your pants about, but the fact that they are on a Nintendo handheld is impressive.

Score: 2 for 3


Excuse us, while we adjust your computer screen.



4. There is no way they can mess-up a God of War movie.


Sean Garmer: FACT. Maybe I should have asked this question in another form. As it stands it's obvious any movie can be messed up, and I'm not saying it has to be perfect either, but I just think that they would have to be idiots and pull a Uwe Boll and just care about getting the movie made, and not pleasing the fans. Well also, Brett Ratner is the director so he possibly could, to be fair if he had gotten X-Men 3 from the beginning it may not have been the mess it was. I think Rush Hour 3 get a little too much flak for it was supposed to be. The point is with God of War there isn't much to it, basically you just got to make Kratos kill things and beings in cool ways (almost 300 esque), use some of the story from the game, have some nudity, and oh yeah have huge boss like characters. I think a lot of it also has to do with who is casted as Kratos and Ares that is going to signify where this is headed. I think this is almost like Halo, in that if you mess this up, Brett Ratner is going to get so much hate mail that he may go insane. So I think will all the pressure from the video game industry to get this one right (especially when this is a very linear game, there is only one way you can do this movie) that they will take the time to make sure nothing gets screwed up. If Max Payne, Prince of Persia (I don't like who they casted to play the Prince, but I still have faith the story can carry it), and this movie all fail I have lost faith in the video game movie genre. To me it's sad if the only movies they can seem to get right are Silent Hill and Resident Evil. Anyway, I really hope they don't mess this up. Of course any movie can be messed up


Joe Roche: FICTION. Oh c'mon Sean. There is NO WAY they can mess up a God of War movie? I'm willing to bet that there is a way to mess up ANY movie. Look I like Brett Ratner as much as the next guy, but to think that he can't possibly find a way to mess up God of War is crazy. Just look at your list of necessary items. It all hinges on the way the movie is shot, the storyline, the cast, and the level of authenticity that they're willing to take the film adaptation of the game. Frankly the original God of War was one of my favorite games on the PS2, if not my favorite. I know I'm not alone in my love for all things Kratos and with that in mind there is absolutely no chance that they can make a perfect film, in which case the only possible answer is FICTION. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and keep my fingers crossed for a good movie but to say that there is no way that it can be screwed up, well I'm not going that far.

Score: 2 for 4


5. It's good for the gaming industry for companies like Take Two to remain independent.


Sean Garmer: FACT. As much as I really like EA (especially for their sports games), having almost a monopoly on the market is not good. Take-Two has a lot of franchises, Bioshock, GTA, 2K Sports games to name a few that don't need to go into EA. For one that means their sports games would no longer have any kind of competition, which would ruin the market just with that. No matter what anyone says it takes away the creative license from the original game makers and now they have to answer to a higher power. I even like it when small companies split away from the big ones, like Bungie from Microsoft (well they still make games for Microsoft but they still split) the more independent stuff you have, the more original games and franchises there becomes. When the gaming industry loses its originality and all games start coming from big companies the business will lose money. Video Games thrive on originality and sometimes the big companies don't have the expansive mind of one or two creative minds that just started up their own company. I'm very happy Take-Two denied the take over gaming companies need to keep from merging as much as possible, unless they are suffering losses or issues like Tecmo is. The day that Video Games come from the same sources all the time is when Video Games no longer exist.

Joe Roche: FACT. I agree 100% with you on this one Sean. I think of the video game industry the same way I think of professional wrestling. You're only as good as the guy trying to chase you. When there is no fear of someone coming up and taking your piece of the pie you have no drive to make sure you have to stay on top. The WWF/E was never better than they were during the Monday Night Wars, and video game developers are never going to be creating new experiences, new titles, and innovative technology if there isn't someone trying to take their spot on the top. I appreciate what EA has done lately, and I love the fact that they're willing to put some money up and create some new titles. However, when everyone comes under the fold the EA umbrella we're going to get into a vanilla game industry where one company determines what is hot, and what the big titles are going to be. This is the same reason that I disagree with people who push for one console, while I understand the savings argument I also think that Microsoft and Sony going to war with one another creates new opportunities, and better technology for consumers which is never a bad thing.

Score: 3 for 5


6. Nintendo waiting possibly almost three years (2011) to add HD to its system is too late.


Sean Garmer: FACT. Now this is a rumor that hasn't been confirmed yet by Nintendo but was published by a very respected gaming journalist named John Davidson., it could become truth before you know it. We all know how cryptic Nintendo is, and this is for a supposed next-gen system to be released in 2011, if it does turn out to be a Wii with HD capabilities and better graphical power that is lame, because they could have went ahead and put that in the Wii's we have now. Not to mention by then Microsoft and Sony will be doing a lot more than dealing with HD, who knows what the graphics will be like. This would just make Nintendo fall behind again in the graphics department. Yeah, they are winning right now with a system that isn't graphics heavy, but by then the whole coolness about the Wii and it's unique controller may just wear off, and if Microsoft and Sony are promising better looks with more powerful games, gamers are going to bite on the bait.

Joe Roche: FICTION. I'm a bit torn on this one. I love HD. However, if I'm going to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, part of the success behind the Wii has been its price. Obviously lately Microsoft has taken a bite out of that with their cuts, but for awhile the Wii was the least expensive of all the current gen consoles. Did it hurt the Wii sales that their console wasn't HD compatible? The fact is, Nintendo has been hugely successful with the Wii even without HD. I don't know anyone who has told me that they loved their Wii, enjoyed playing the games on it, but just couldn't support the system because it wasn't in a higher resolution on their TV. Who is to say that a similar scenario doesn't play itself out when Nintendo releases the Wii2 or whatever they're going to call it? If Microsoft and Sony spend huge money working on the "next big thing" and Nintendo comes in the backdoor with a 2011 HD console that costs $100 less than their competitors who is to say that consumers don't just forgo the Xbox720 or PS4 to stay on their 1080i televisions and play with their new waggle remote?

Score: 3 for 6


So, we end this week 3 for 6



I'm not good at doing witty banter like Tommy, so I'm just going to not try and leave it like this. I may not be the one hosting but we will see you next week.