The Full Circle: 360 News Report 10.17.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 10.17.2008

Another week has come and gone and 411mania's Joe the Plumber returns with The Full Circle. This week we're going to talk about Obama in video games, what to play this weekend, Mirror's Edge, Mortal Kombat and Superman, and that pesky rumor that just won't die.



Before I get started this week I've got some non news related items I wanted to talk about.

- Barry Goldwater and John F. Kennedy never agreed to Town Hall Debates heading into the 1964 Presidential Election. I don't care what John McCain says to try and discredit Barack Obama, this never happened. Goldwater claims they discussed the possibility but there was never any agreement, and before we could hear from the Kennedy side he took an open top car ride through the streets of Dallas. This is my biggest problem with John McCain, namely he has turned into a Karl Rove puppet. The Republican strategy is now to say as much as they can (even when it's not true) in the hopes that people believe them. Oh and Barack Obama isn't a Muslim either.

- Been playing A LOT of NHL 09 this week and let me say that it's the most fun sports video game I've played in years. I will give this game my highest compliment, which is that there is so much to do in this game that is fun; sometimes I just don't have time for all of it. If they brought back wrap around goals I'd score this game a perfect 10.

- By the time this column is posted I might be sobbing about the demise of the Boston Red Sox. I understand that they've been down 3-1 and won the World Series twice, but this team just looks defeated. I've seen this formula before though so I won't rule out a comeback completely. I just hope they win/have won Game 5 and bring it back to the Trop in St. Pete.

- Just to clear up some confusion, I am not Joe the Plumber.

Alright enough chit chat, it's Friday, you're hungry for the weekend and I'm glad to usher us there with another edition of The Full Circle.

Trilogy Before Episode One?



Next month there will be a demo of EA and DICE's Mirror's Edge released. After that the full game will hit store shelves and people will be able to run around as Faith, in what has been best described as a new way to look at the first person video game angle. I bring this up because according to Owen O'Brien, who is not related to Conan O'Brien (I don't think), there is already a plan in place for Mirror's Edge to become a trilogy.

Speaking with AusGamers, O'Brien said that the franchise is being set up for a "three story arc" that may or may not focus solely on Faith (the main character of the first game due out later this year). O'Brien also talked about the chance of creating a level editor for future Mirror's Edge games, which I'm sure excites some people (I'm not one of them). I love the enthusiasm from O'Brien, and I always credit Cliff Blezinski for supporting his product, but why don't we wait until Mirror's Edge has been played by someone before we start the trilogy talk?

Demos Galore



I write the majority of this column early in the morning on Thursday. As such I have no idea how tonight's Red Sox/Rays game will turn out but if you're heading into the weekend with not much on your plate (as I seem to be) then fire up the 360 for some demo downloading fun. This week saw the release of Tom Clancy's Endwar demo, Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway demo, and the Madagascar 2 demo. Since I've spent the entire week immersed in NHL 09 I haven't given any of these games a try, but the Endwar demo is getting pretty good reviews, and since it offers a chance to try the multiplayer functionality I suggest checking it out at some point during the weekend.

MK vs DC Dated



I am admittedly not a huge fighter fan. I think everyone here understands that, and as such I'm not too excited about Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. However, the images that I've seen from the game and the gameplay footage have all been pretty cool. I think there has been a lot of skepticism following this game around ever since it was announced and now those skeptics have a date to look forward to, November 16th. While I do not think this game is going to challenge for GOTY, I do think Midway is going to sell a lot of units, and in the end isn't that what it's all about?

Playlogic Joins the Ranks



A year ago Playlogic became a developer for the PS3 after spending some time on the obtrusive black box known as the Original Xbox. Well, for those of you who never made the switch to the glorified blu ray player but just can't get enough of – well frankly I'm not sure what Playlogic makes (Infernal? Age of Pirates 3?) then you're in luck because they have signed on to develop games for the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows. According to the company themselves "several titles are in development for the Xbox 360, including Fairy Tale Fight."

360 Still Strong in Japan



Well even though the global economy is in the toilet, the one shining beacon of hope on the horizon is that the 360 is still holding strong in Japan. After being ignored on the island for the better part of two years the 360 outsold the PS3 in September, and looks to continue the trend into October. According to EDGE Online and Media Create for the week of 9/30-10/5 the Xbox 360 sold 8,271 units, while the PS3 sold 7,232. Microsoft officials have gone so far as to raise the outlook on sales in Japan, and are seeing hardware shortages in places that they never anticipated having an issue.

When you consider the huge splash that Star Ocean 4 made at TGS, and the fact that Square still has The Last Remnant and FF13 on the horizon for the 360 there is a good chance that this uptick in sales might hold steady, or get better before we see a drop off. Perhaps what this has shown Microsoft is that instead of ignoring the international market for two years they should have been aiming at these people from launch.

Burnout: Obama



If you haven't seen that image yet I'm sad for you. It appears that Barack Obama has taken his campaign into the virtual world, and why not – he's dominating the polls here in the real world so why not try to take over the virtual world as well. Frankly I think this idea is pretty solid on the part of Obama, and my only question is whether or not Joe the Plumber is driving either of those cars pictured?

THE HOT BUTTON

Everyone seems to be talking about Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360. I didn't want to write this column, I really fought against it. For the better part of the year there have been constant rumors that Konami would release MGS4 on the Xbox 360. This rumor has been floated out there by everyone and their mother, and yet each time it comes out Konami, Kojima and everyone who has a name associated with Microsoft has denied any truth to the rumor.

That is, until the Tokyo Game Show where rumblings once again started to make the rounds that MGS4 was coming to our favorite console. I've stated my position on these rumors pretty solidly on the message boards – I don't believe them until I get confirmation the Snake is coming to Microsoft. What I've heard leads me to believe that it'd simply be too difficult to make the transition from the PS3 to the 360. Namely the problem rests with the game being on a Blu ray disc, and the 360 not having that power. Of course if someone wants to announce a 360 blu ray player then I'd be willing to listen.

But all rumors, inside of rumors aside there seem to be some legs on this latest round of speculation. Coming out of TGS it was apparently settled that the 360 simply couldn't handle Snake. Apparently our console wasn't made for hour long cut scenes. Personally I was fine to just put this one to bed and move on. I loved MGS3, and would absolutely play Guns of the Patriot but after seeing the sales figures for the game it wasn't the console mover that some people predicted and frankly I'm fine missing it – I've got too much on my plate anyway.

John Schappert though, would not let this sleeping doe lie. For those who don't know Mr. Schappert he is the corporate vice president of Live, Software, and Service and he claims that: I'm certainly in the fan club that would love to see Kojima-san's masterpiece come our way. It would be wonderful to play Metal Gear Solid on the Xbox. It could become another of the many franchises that started their life on another console that are now coming our way. I can't speak on behalf of Konami, but I can shed more light on the fact that we definitely have the power to run MGS4. There are a lot of recent examples that are in true high-def on our platform and aren't on PS3. We've got an amazing amount of horsepower and graphics power.

Well I've been holding out for someone with a name I recognized to get me interested, and now I've got it. Of course this statement by Schappert doesn't say anything about the potential for the game coming our way but it at least gives me hope that the system can handle the output. I understand that this might mean a ten disc collection, but it'd still be Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Xbox 360 and that has to be a good thing right? For those who would bash the 360 for requiring so many discs, I've played Lost Odyssey and changing disc's takes about three seconds. It never takes away from the experience and frankly I think too much is made out of having to switch discs.

So does this mean I'm changing my tune? Not really. I am still skeptical that the game will ever see the light of day on the 360. But for Konami it makes sense. Let us not forget that MGS4 started showing up in bargain bins about three months after it's release (not necessarily in the States, but in Japan especially). The game came out on fire, selling out the bundle around this country but then fell off. By all accounts it's a great game, and a fitting end to the Solid Snake story arc, so Konami would be foolish to limit themselves to one audience. This isn't Epic not bringing Gears of War 2 to the PS3 – this is an independent publisher choosing not to bring a game cross platform and thus limiting themselves to one segment (the smaller segment to boot) of gamers to approach.

What I can promise is this won't be the end of the MGS4 to Xbox rumors. I would warn you that if this were to happen I'd expect it to be another few months before we get any definite word on the final decision. As a matter of fact I'd tend to think that this would be a fitting way to close out Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference – so if I were a betting man I'd wager on not hearing any real hard evidence until that time next year.

Punching Out

Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser.

The Working Title by Jordan Williams.

The Select & Start News by Vincent Chiucchi

The 10th Hour by Rod Oracheski

Coming Attractions by Drew Robbins

Achievement Unlocked by Rod Oracheski

The PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans

The PC Spotlight by Chris Vicari