The Select and Start News Report: 11.03.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 11.03.2008
Harmonix making a Beatles game, Guitar Hero World Tour suffering perhipheral issues, and the UK comes up with a different ratings system for games. All that plus how some video game characters would fair in the world of politics in this week's Select and Start News Report.
Can't decide who the vote for tomorrow? Well you've come to the wrong place. Think all the canidates suck and would rather vote for someone else? You might be in the right place later on, but first, news about games of the video variety.
Big News
HARMONIX: BIGGER THAN JESUS? [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily, The Escapist, GameSpot]
Despite being one of the most popular musical acts of all time, The Beatles have yet to be seen in a music game such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band. That's all going to change as Rock Band developer Harmonix and publisher MTV announced that they have made a deal with Apple Corps to make a game based on the music of The Beatles. The game will not fall under the Rock Band label, and is expected to be release in Q4 2009. Ringo Starr, the band's drummer, said, "It gives me great pleasure to be part of The Beatles/Apple and Harmonix/Rock Band partnership. The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that The Beatles' legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence." Sir Paul McCarney says "The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out."
I think it's awesome that a band as popular as The Beatles finally make it into a music game. But rather then appear as bonus tracks or an expansion pack, they get their own different game which Harmonix says will be different from Rock Band. That makes me interested in what Harmonix is planning considering they always make a new innovation to the music genre every couple of years. When this Beatles game arrives in late 2009, we just might see something totally new.
ANOTHER MUSIC GAME, ANOTHER PERIPHERAL PROBLEM [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
Why is it that every time a new music game involving more peripherals comes out, those peripherals are going to suffer issues? Such is the case with the drums that come packaged with Guitar Hero: World Tour, with complaints ranging from poor sensitivity of the drum pads to issues with the accompanying kick pedal. Activision released a statement saying they are aware of the problem, citing that the controllers having problems were the ones made in the early stages of manufacturing. Activision will be offering a drum tuning kit soon and that consumers can visit the Activision Publishing customer support website at www.activision.com/support or call 310 255-2050 in the U.S. where a customer care representative will assist them.
Is it me or this console generation suffering from more hardware failures than any other generation? Next-gen technology my ass.
UPDATE: Over at Activision's customer support page, you can now download a drum tuning application that'll allow you to adjust the sensitivity yourself, and presumably get your kit in working condition without having to send them in for repair. The application is only available for Windows XP and Vista and you'll need a midi-USB cable to connect your drums to your computer. If you don't have a cable, go to http://www.redoctanegames.com/Warranty/USA/ to get one for free. [credit: 1UP]
UK USING TRAFFIC LIGHT STYLE RATINGS SYSTEM [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
In response to the Byron Report released several months ago that stated there wasn't enough consumer awareness of the PEGI rating symbols, the ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) introduced a new ratings system similar to traffic lights, much like the food manufacturers and retailers in the region. The system as seen above would have an age apporiateness number within a colored circle, with green circles being for younger audiences and red circles for older audiences. A recent poll showed that 92% of customers thought this traffic light system was easy to understand.
"The world of gaming is fast moving and it is vital that we have a clear ratings system that is up to date with consumers' needs. It has already been proven that everyone understands traffic light labeling, making it the perfect scheme for the industry to adopt," says former U.K. Culture minister Margaret Hodge. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), which has been criticized repeatedly by the ELSPA for its limited scope, however, believes that its own color-coded approach is already well-established.
I don't know much about the British ratings systems, so I can't say if it's better or worse then whatever they have now. I do believe this system could be better then the ESRB's letter system. You use 18 to replace M, 16 becomes a rating between T and M that many critics have been asking fo), 12 replaces T, and so on. Easier to figure out and identify (unless they fail at both math and driving), I hope the US takes notice and starts adopting this system. Hell we already use colors to predict terrorist attacks.
Tidbit News
-Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has announced that the Nintendo DSi will be shipping to the US sometime in Summer 2009. Over in Japan the handheld appears to be selling well, as pre-orders for the system went out quickly. [credit: Joystiq, Gamasutra]
-Only a couple weeks before Wrath of the Lich King's release, World of Warcraft has now reached the 11 million subscriber mark. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-According to the second annual census from Think Services' Game Developer Research, the North American game industry has increased in size by 13%, from 47,800 to 53,900 staffers. Looks like those ridiculous college commercials are actually working. [credit: GameDaily]
-Despite EA's revenue of $864 million, a 33% boost over last year's $650 million, EA also suffered losses reaching $310 million, as compared to $195 million last year, resulting in EA having to layoff 6% of their workforce, approximating to 600 people. Through the layoffs, the publisher hopes to gain pre-tax savings of $50 million. [credit: Gamasutra]
-It took the game an entire year, but The Witcher has officially reached the one million mark in copies sold for the PC. The announcement comes several weeks after the release of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, a free 2GB update with improvements and new content developed according to fan feedback. [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra]
-Who will be the next athlete to grace the cover of Madden and have their career be ruined? The one who pays the most. EA is coming up with the idea of having an auction where the highest bidding athlete gets to appear on the cover according to Peter Moore. All the money made in the auction would be donated to the United Way. [credit: GameSpot, GameDaily]
-The first two games in Nintendo's of "Play on Wii" Gamecube remakes are Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis, coming to North America in 2009. "Play on Wii" Pikmin hits Japan on December 5th for ¥3800 ($38). In other news, the "Play on Wii" remakes is officially the stupidest thing I've ever seen since the Xbox downloads. [credit: Joystiq]
-Speaking to the Los Angles Times, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says that production of the Wii is going up, from 1.6 million a month last year to 2.4 million a month this year. Maybe this year people can actually get one. [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
-With Activision no longer deciding to publish Ghostbusters: The Game and The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, both of these licenses have been picked up by Atari. [credit: Gamasutra, 1UP]
-A new packaging-related study conducted by analyst firm The NPD Group reveals that 11% of all households have bought games that are still shrinkwrapped. Maybe they keep that way because who knows when a game has to be recalled for some abitrary reason, then a few years later, they make a fortune off eBay. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Earlier this week it was reported that Sony had made several of their trucks carryig their merchandise going to Circuit City turn right back around over fears that struggling retailer Cicuit City would not be able to pay for the merchandise. Turns out that apparently there was a sinkhole in one of the towns and the trucks couldn't make it because of it. [credit: GamePolitics, The Morning Call.com]
-Universal and EA have officially made a deal to create an Army of Two movie. Hoo-freaking-ray, another very likely horrible video game movie. I can't wait. [credit: Gamasutra]
-Sony is canceling its plans to release a PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack, citing reports from retail partners showing significant consumer interest in the Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack. [credit: Gamasutra]
-After being rumored for a while, GH: World Tour project director Brian Bright revealed that Activision is working on a DJ Hero game. [credit: GameDaily]
Gaming Calendar
November 4th:
-Left 4 Dead (PC, X360)
-Resistance: Fall of Man 2 (PS3)
-Quantam of Solace (Multi)
-Tom Clancy's Endwar (PS3, X360, DS, PSP)
-Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World (PS2)
-Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS3)
-Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
-Dragon Ball: Origins (DS)
November 7th - Gears of War 2 (X360)
November 9th - WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 (Multi)
November 11th:
-Eternal Poison (PS2)
-Call of Duty: World at War (X360, PC)
-Mirror's Edge (X360, PS3)
-Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party (Wii)
-Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii)
November 13th - WoW: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)
November 14th - Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (X360)
November 16th - Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (PS3, X360)
November 17th - Need for Speed Undercover (Multi)
November 18th:
-Tomb Raider Underworld (Multi)
-Rock Band 2 ported to Wii and PS2
-Sonic Unleashed (PS3, PS2, Wii, X360)
November 19th - New Xbox Experience to be launched
November 24th - Chrono Trigger DS
November 25th - The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga (Wii)
December 2nd:
-Prince of Persia: The Fallen King (PS3, PC, X360)
-Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories (PS2)
Fall 2008 - MySims Kingdom (DS, Wii)
January 13th, 2009 - Lord of the Rings: Conquest (X360, PS3, PC, DS)
March 13th 2009 - Resident Evil 5 (X360)
Survivor: Gabon Watch
Fang loses and Sugar is sent to exile island? No fucking way! That's TOTALLY different then what I saw in the last four episodes. Totally.
The only thing worth mentioning about this episode was that Sugar decided to blindside Ace and get him voted off despite the alliance they've had with each other since about day one. Despite Sugar doing HORRIBLY at that reward challenge, she seems to be better mentally then nearly everybody else. I wouldn't be surprised if she actually wins. Plus based on the preview, I hope Randy is the one getting voted out. I loathe him.
Videos of the Day
Check out who's now playable in Mercenaries 2:
The Game of Politics
Tomorrow will be the big day when the voters will finally decide who gets to run the country, and quite frankly, anybody will be a better choice then the current guy. In one of my many thoughts that come from boredom, I thought what if certain video game characters decided to run for President?
I decided to take five popular video game characters and write out what I believe would be their best political strengths, weaknesses, and likeliest choice for a VP.
Sephiroth
Party: Square-Enix Republic
The one (right) winged angel is one of the most popular video game characters for killing off one of the main characters in Final Fantasy 7, even though plenty of villains in that series did the same thing before him. He may be one of the most powerful boss characters in RPG history, but how powerful of a politician would he be?
Political Strengths
Pro-Choice: Notice the way Sephiroth killed Aerith? He didn't just stab her to death. He stabbed her right through the stomach, and if she had so happened to be carrying someone's child (most likely Cloud's), that would technically count as an abortion. Therefore I believe Sephrioth would be a strong advocate for Pro-Choice, because he sure as hell isn't for Pro-Life.
Better Education: Sephiroth was just your run of the mill badass Soldier, until he suddenly learned the truth about his origins. How did he learn the truth? By reading day in and day out at the Nibelheim library and became a better person because of it (except for the whole "burn the town to the ground" part). Wouldn't this world be a better place if everyone can learn the truth by having more libraries? Sephiroth certainly thinks so.
Political Weaknesses
Environmental Issues: When it comes to protecting the environment and the planet Earth, Sephiroth waffles on the issue. He looked like he was for protecting the Earth when he killed the president of Shinra who was sapping the earth's energy to power up Midgar, but then he turns around and casts Meteor to destroy the entire fucking planet without a second thought. Either Sephiroth can't make up his mind or he's getting his advice from Marvin the Martian.
Gay Scandel: You just know that somebody on the opposite side of his ticket is going to dig up one of those FF7 doujins or fan fictions to claim that he's had a gay affair with Cloud and/or Zack. Unfortunately, looking at politicians today, I wouldn't be surprise if turned out Sephiroth was in fact gay. If he does turn out to be gay, at least he won't have to admit it while standing next to his disgruntled wife.
Vice-Presidential Pick: Seymour Guado.
Seymour is basically like Sephiroth in many ways. He thinks destroying the world will actually help it, appears in a god-like form towards the end of the game, and has terrible mommy issues. The only difference is that where Sephiroth kills Aerith, Seymour forced Yuna to marry him, although that could be viewed as a fate worse than death.
Ryu
Party: Capcommunists
Ryu is the one person everybody associates with Street Fighter. After fighting so many opponents in one on one physical competitions, he's going to fight them in one on one political debates. When Ryu score the winning KO in Political Fighter II?
Political Strengths
Alternative Energy: Many people have been trying to find the solution for an alternative energy source, and this man has the solution: Chi! If more and more people can somehow hone their chi for better uses then fireballs and SONIC BOOMS~!, he may no longer have the urge to rely on oil and put up windmills on top of our houses.
Strong Military: All Ryu does in his life is train, train, train, occasionally stop an evil organization, and train some more. This kind of ideology would be the perfect mindset for a military to have. Plus we would save a whole lot of money by not needing guns, tanks, and nuclear weapons. Just teach everyone how to shoot those Kamehameha-esque Shinku Hadoukens and our battles would be won in no time. Plus if anybody questions why you're fighting, just pull the old "we fight so we don't have to fight" preachy crap.
Political Weaknesses
Bad Foreign Policy: While Ryu may seem like a very honorable person, his foreign policy experience has got to be dreadful. This guy has been known for going around the world beating the crap out of people in his never-ending clichéd quest to test his strength. Plus even if he was nice to other people, who knows when he'll suddenly turn into his evil self and start Raging Demon other countries leaders. That kind of crap is enough to start both World War III and IV (IV would start because people had no real interest in III).
Minority Disadvantage: A Shoryuken? A Dragon Punch? A Terrorist Fist Jab? Who knows how the typical American will view this minority's strange habits even though we've seen these things a thousand times before news networks started to put exaggeration and ratings over journalistic integrity. Doesn't help that Ryu also decides to walk barefoot. Political opponents would have a field day somehow making us think that not wearing a shoe means you're un-American.
Vice-Presidential Pick: Mega Man
Ryu is a tough guy and all, but you never know when a time might come where Ryu would not be able to fulfill his duties. So who better to do the job for him then the guy who can absorb all his exact powers?
Mario
Party: Nintendo Union
Colonel Roy Campbell put it best when he said Mario had become a worldwide phenomenon and everyone knows his name. Since the world runs on a glorified popularity contest, no doubt Mario could be president if he wanted to. But could he really?
Political Strengths
Great Economy: Can you say massive surplus? Mario would guarantee it happening with all those coins just lying and floating around in the Mushroom Kingdom. Whether in secret pipe rooms or hidden blocks, Mario will search high and low to supply us with money. With a lot of coins, that means more 1-UPs, which in turns leads to better health care, which means no more pretending to be Canadian.
One of the People: A problem with a lot of politicians is that they are out of touch with the general public, not knowing what it's like to work blue-collar jobs and trying to save money to head your own business. But Mario knows. This guy used to work as a plumber...AND a referee...AND a demolition man...AND an F-1 race car driver...AND a paddle pilot (or whatever you call those guys in Alleyway)...AND a doctor! This man had to work multiple jobs to get where he is today, and that's something voters can admire.
Political Weaknesses
Bad Relationships: Looking at his past relationships, Mario isn't exactly a family man. First he used to be with Pauline, but that ended quickly over what was claimed to be "monkey business." Then he started to go out with Peach, and just when that was looking good, he goes and has an affair with his brother's girl Daisy. Despite the one night stand, Peach forgives Mario and now they stay together. But just when the controversy would be over, Baby Mario all of a sudden shows up! It was thought that Baby Mario was in fact Mario, but they appear in the same games together, so it can only mean that he must be his son! Three break-ups and an illegitimate son? How can he run a country when he can't even run a family?
Incompetent Administration: Speaking of people Mario is related to, if you look at all the other people associated with Mario over the years, there's no way you'd let these people run a country. Luigi is a coward, Wario is a thief, Yoshi eats everything in sight, and all the Mushroom People aside from Toad are outright useless. The only reason Mario and his people haven't all died yet is because the neighboring nation of Koopas is being run by someone even more incompetent.
Vice-Presidential Pick: Link
Link may not know a word of English, but he knows how to rescue princesses from great evils, which these days with a rapid growth of animé action-star wannabes, is a rarity.
Solid Snake
Party: Konamican
He's taken down Metal Gears, fought with some of the most bizarre bosses players have ever seen, and once beat the crap out of Optimus Prime. Solid Snake has been said to be the perfect soldier, but is he the perfect president?
Political Strengths
Strong Intelligence: If there's one thing people love to bash the Bush Administration for, it's faulty intelligence. Solid Snake though is guaranteed to never suffer this problem thanks to his crew. Look at in Super Smash Bros. Brawl he was able to get information on every single character. Snake will no doubt know everything and anything about everyone in the world. How he does this though might be controversial should we ever find out. Wiretapping perhaps?
War Hero: If a candidate just so happens to have fought in a war (or faked it), you're going to hear about in the election A LOT. However, sometimes that can backfire as the other sides decides to mock your accomplishments by wearing band-aids representing your medals on them. Solid Snake wouldn't have trouble with that though, considering he has fought in several different wars. Granted all of them was about stopping a powerful nuclear weapon, but he went in, did it alone for the most part, and came out a hero. Try mocking a man who single handedly stopped an opposing army using only a damn tranquilizer gun, I dare you!
Political Weaknesses
Sexual Predator: Snake is known for kicking ass, but depending on how you look at him, he can also be viewed as grabbing ass; the kind of grabbing that gets you sent to sensitivity training. First of all, he goes by the name Solid Snake. You know some woman is going to take offense to that by claiming it to be mysonginistic. Second, when he met Meryl he couldn't help but mention what a nice butt she has. Finally, have you noticed that in every Metal Gear Solid game, he uses his cigar or cigarettes for a purpose other then draining his own health? Who knows what he'll do with them when an intern shows up in his oval office.
Confusing: A good candidate should be someone you can understand about what they're saying. Solid Snake, however, makes some of the most confusing speeches I've ever heard, and to this day still do not understand.
I mean, seriously:
Vice-Presidential Pick: Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich
The guy has a lot of issues (affair with his own mother, having his step-sister die in his arms, being a heavily obsessed animé fan), but he's one of the more intelligent people Snake knows. As long as he doesn't make himself look like an idiot by trying to say Chinese proverbs, he'd be a good choice for Snake.
Sonic The Hedgehog
Party: Segacrat
Sonic was on top of the world. Then he came crashing down. Then he was starting to make a comeback. Then he hit rock bottom. The world of video games just isn't working out for Sonic these days. Could a world of politics be a better choice?
Political Strengths
Gets it done quick: Sonic has always been about speed. He doesn't wait around for other's approvals or waste time trying to straighten out the legal issues. If there's a problem that needs to be addressed, Sonic will have it solved that very day. War going on? Sonic will have all the strategies planned out in minutes. City destroyed by a hurricane? He'll send you aid right away. You'll never see Sonic just stare blankly into the space while reading a children's book.
Freedom Fighter: America loves to brag about how they're the land of the free, and nobody represents this statement better then Sonic. Back in the early 90's when the Robotnik empire was oppressing his people, his grandpa becoming one of the many unfortunate casualties. Sonic formed a group of rebels called the Freedom Fighters and fought back to protect his people, and in the end...well, actually, nobody knows how it actually ended. But odds are Sonic won, because despite have a 300 IQ, Robotnik is pretty retarded.
Political Weaknesses
Storied Past: Where was Sonic during the 32/64-bit console wars? While Mario and Crash were out there leading the charge, Sonic just stayed back and tried to brag about how great he was in the previous generation. Sonic was great at one point, and instead of continuing to grow, he just kept living in the past. Even when Sonic did decide to finally lead the way, his approval ratings kept going down. Teaming up with 11 other people to do his work didn't help, dumping it all on his doppelganger didn't help, and deciding to mate with other species definitely did not help. The Segacrat party suffered greatly for it, and are now just a shadow of how once powerful they were.
Horrible Economy: Sonic gathers 400 rings and is about to make it to the end, when suddenly he gets hit by some robotic crab coming out of nowhere. At that moment he suddenly loses all of his rings, and the best he can get back is 20. What the hell happened to the 380 other rings?! Plus there have been times when Sonic gathers 50 rings, he decides to waste it on himself just to feel super. Ridiculous pork barrel spending like that is why gas is going to cost $10 a gallon any month now.
Funny article... But can you elaborate on Snake fighting Optimus Prime? What is that all about?
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on November 03, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Snake was a character in Dream Mix Fighters TV, a Smash Bros. clone consisting of Konami, Hudson Soft, and TOMY characters. It was released only in Japan.
Posted By: Vincent Chiucchi (Registered) on November 03, 2008 at 04:21 PM
"-A new packaging-related study conducted by analyst firm The NPD Group reveals that 11% of all households have bought games that are still shrinkwrapped."
Um...aren't all new games shrinkwrapped? This sentence makes no sense. Or do you simply mean that 11% KEEP their games shrinkwrapped?
Posted By: Steve307 (Guest) on November 03, 2008 at 06:20 PM
Hey, you also hate Randy on Survivor. I would say great minds think alike but...come on now, we all know that I'm leagues above everyone else.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on November 03, 2008 at 10:20 PM
I think it meant keep their games shrinkwrapped.
Posted By: Vincent Chiucchi (Registered) on November 04, 2008 at 07:29 AM
