B3yond the Report 11.11.08
Posted by Derek Robbins on 11.11.2008
This week 411's Derek Robbins brings information on Resident Evil 5, why Mirror's Edge went for the first person perspective, Activision doing good for our troops...and how could you forget the weekly PSN update? All of that and more this week on B3yond the Report
Hello and welcome to B3yond the Report! Let's see what the latest Sony news is, shall we?
New Resident Evil information
Can you believe it's been more than three years since Resident Evil 4 hit the Gamecube? A lot of more hardcore Resident Evil fans disliked the game because it sort of changed the series. It was no longer about being scared, it was almost just a straight-up action game. Everyone else looked past the name and saw perhaps one of the best games on consoles over the last generation. Unfortunately for long-time fans…it appears that the play-style from 4 will be returning to 5. There's even an option to make the control seem more Gears like…so the "Survival horror" moniker may be something that needs to be forgotten when thinking about the series.
We already knew that though, what else has been revealed about the game? In a return to form, there will be two characters at your disposal as opposed to the lone wolf that you saw in Resident Evil 4. Joining Resident Evil I and Code Veronica star Chris Redfield we have new character Sheva Alomar. The game will feature a "zapping" system similar to what you saw in Resident Evil 0, though RE 5 producer Jun Takenouchi doesn't quite see it that way:
The zapping system they had in Resident Evil Zero?that was an interesting system, but we didn't develop the system in Resident Evil 5 based on anything from that. It's based on a system that we created specifically for this game.
Well that's kind of cool. I'm wondering how much it will change from what was already established though? I assume you'll have to work together in creative ways to get things done, but the "zapping" system already allowed for that, so I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.
When you start the single player campaign, you will always be playing as Chris because this is Chris' story. I figured the zapping system would be a dead give-away that Resident Evil 5 wouldn't have multiple character campaigns, but I guess it's totally official now. Just because it's Chris' story doesn't mean if your partner dies, you live. No, both of you must live in order to progress any further. If your partner dies, it's game over because you literally can not make it through some areas without both people.
There's also been a bit of concern raised regarding the game's ability to scare you. While Jun claims that there will be levels that take place during the night-time hours…most of the game takes place during the day. Obviously, Resident Evil is a series that is trying to scare you, and if everything is out in the daylight, doesn't that make things slightly less scary? What's scarier? A maniac wielding a chainsaw in the moonlight, or the same guy brandishing the same chainsaw in the afternoon? It seems obvious to me.
Takenouchi had the following to say about that:
One of the reasons that we wanted to do it was to give ourselves a new challenge. We wanted to see if we could re-create the horror in the daytime, but one reason we set previous games at night was the limitations of the systems that we were working on at the time. Certainly one of the reasons was that when you're doing night, you don't have to worry about where the light is coming from. But when you're doing things in the daytime, it's very difficult to create the right balance between light and shadow. And you have to worry about all the effects in there as well, rather than just disguising things. So when we were designing the game on current-gen hardware...that let us do more scenes in the daytime, let us try something new. It was a new challenge and also something new that we could do in the process of developing the game -- give us something new to do there.
I suppose it's admirable that they're trying something new, but such change is quite risky…I wonder if people will be accepting of it? Well, even if they are not, I'm sure the online cooperative play will get people coming back for more. It seems like a pretty fantastic idea…the only thing more satisfying than fighting those plagued with an advanced form of Las Plagas would be doing it with your friends.
One final bit of information, and this time it's story related. Basically, why is Chris in Africa? Mr. Takenouchi has the answers!
Well, to start off with, Chris is an agent in a new organization called the BSAA -- he's an agent based there in America. So when the story begins, there's an incident that happens in Africa, and Chris is sent by the BSAA to investigate that incident. Sheva is also an agent of the BSAA, and she's in Africa.
Well, I mean, that sounds fairly generic…but there's bound to be more to it! After all, what would a Resident Evil title be without a crazy plot? Whatever the case, Resident Evil 5 is sure to be one of the biggest hits of next year. Being a sequel to the hit Resident Evil 4 and being the first online co-op Resident Evil certainly won't hurt things.
Boy oh boy, we sure do love DLC don't we? I mean, paying extra money to get content that is already on the disc is something that everyone can get behind right? No? Oh. Well then you're going to hate this bit of news. DLC of some game releases, such as Microsoft's Gears of War, prohibit DLC from rented copies of the game. You have to actually own a shiny, new copy in order to experience the content. I mean, that's not so bad really…but apparently it could get even worse.
Epic Games' President Michael Capps says that developers are talking about making endings to games DLC. That's right, you want to see how your game ends? It's downloadable content, baby! For rentals at least. That means if you didn't actually BUY your game you'll have to pay a fee to see how it ends. Don't take my word for it though, let's see what Michael Capps has to say!
I'm not sure how big it is here [Europe], but the secondary market is a huge issue in the United States. Our primary retailer makes the majority of its money off of secondary sales, and so you're starting to see games taking proactive steps toward that by... if you buy the retail version you get the unlock code.
I've talked to some developers who are saying "If you want to fight the final boss you go online and pay USD 20, but if you bought the retail version you got it for free".
We don't make any money when someone rents it, and we don't make any money when someone buys it used - way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it...
You've absolutely got to be joking me. I know you're not making any money through rentals, but isn't the purpose of a rental to see if you want to actually own the game or not? If you don't have the complete package available for rental, why the hell should someone want to buy your game? I tell ya' what, if you're going to force me to pay extra in order to see how a rental ends…there is no chance in hell that I will ever purchase your game.
I realize that you don't make money when people rent or buy used copies of games, but a lot of other businesses thrive off of it. I mean, look, even Blockbuster offers you brand new copies of the game in order for a company to make money off of it. I could even see places like EB Games boycotting companies that have these crazy policies. Considering this doesn't just affect rented titles, but also used titles. So basically if you don't buy something new, the company has you on their "shit" list and couldn't care about your enjoyment of the product.
Look, this is a terrible idea all around. On top of the fact that it's not like the game industry is dieing (For goodness sake, Nintendo is recording RECORD profits) sure it's in decline, but EVERY industry is thanks to the decline. This really hurts the people who don't have the internet yet, though. Can you see some poor sap renting a game like Bioshock and making it to the very end only to find out that they need to pay money just to see how it ends? But they don't have an internet connection that their Playstation 3 can use? It would be HORRIBLE.
I hope nothing comes of this, but be wary. The days of haphazardly renting games from Blockbuster to tool around with over a weekend could be over. Buying games on pure impulse will be forced to rise! "WHOO!"
Or, of course, you could just say: "Fuck it" and watch the ending on youtube for free. Like a real man.
- Wouldn't it suck having to pay to see how this game turns out?
Why should Mirror's Edge be 1st person?
Mirror's Edge looks to be quite the interesting title. When we think of a platformer, we usually think of something from the third-person perspective…but the first person? Come on now, that's for shooters! The Mirror's Edge folks think Cliffy B is a dumb fuck for saying what he did wanted to address why they felt it was necessary to make this game from that perspective.
Their main reason for doing it was because the company had a lot of experience working with first person titles, according to the game's producer Nick Channon. Using their experience, they wanted to do something different, more meaningful, perhaps something that has not been done before:
I think we wanted to make something that's different. You make, actually, more connection when you're controlling them in that first person, we feel.
We think it's really cool, the way you get glimpses of Faith in the game world
: You see her in reflections, you see her in shadow, and I think that gives a really nice feel to the game. Obviously, in the storytelling we do, you see Faith, but we actually show her in a different way, so it's 2D, more cartoon animation.
I like how different it feels. If you haven't played the demo you really ought to. It seems like a first person Prince of Persia. You may be thinking: "Wait, wait, Prince of Persia through the first person? I don't know if I want that…" but lose that skepticism friends, the game is quite fun. As a platformer it's rather inventive, allowing you to string various combinations together to get over obstacles. You may even need to experiment in order to find the best way across. It's nice. And as a combat source? It feels rather smooth. For me, I never got the desire to just get a gun and shoot shit. I wanted to play the game the right way, and I think that's pretty damn cool.
He also mentioned how they wanted you, the player, to feel more connected to Faith. This may seem like an odd thing for a First-Person Shooter to do but in this game your character is actually there. It's not like Half-Life where you look down and see that your legs are missing…Faith is totally there. It's apparent from reflections, it's apparent from interactions you have to make with others…and I have to be honest, it's really unique. I like!
Channon had this to say about the subject:
... [T]he fact that you're playing through the eyes of Faith; as soon as you get to third person, you would be watching Faith, whereas we want you to be connected to her.
The analogy we give is 'being in an action movie
, instead of playing it,' and I think that's more rewarding. And I think, also, we wanted to create something very fresh, and it's been a challenge, but we're really pleased with where we are.
To be totally honest, it does feel like an action movie. I've criticized EA a LOT in the past, but lately they seem to be doing good things so it's time for praise. You should try out the demo, maybe you'll be as impressed with the title as I was. It may not be the best game from the first person perspective this year (that honor most likely falls in the hands of Fallout 3, which also features a third-person perspective but who plays that?), but it's almost assuredly the most inventive.
Yeeeeah boy, it's that time again. Let's round up this shit.
Qore Episode 06: November, 2008
• $2.99 for episode / $24.99 for Annual Subscription
Add-on Game Content
• LittleBigPlanet Halloween Mask Costume (free) - Limited time offer
• LittleBigPlanet Spaceman Costume (free) - Limited time offer
• Tom Clancy's EndWar FirstWar Enlistment Pack (free)
• NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm Pack 3 (free)
• Guitar Hero World Tour
o "Waiting for the Rapture" - Oasis ($1.99)
o "The Shock of the Lightning" - Oasis ($1.99)
o "Bag It Up" - Oasis ($1.99)
o Oasis Track Pack ($5.49) - this track pack includes all of the above singles.
o "Another Way To Die" - Jack White & Alicia Keys ($1.99)
• Rock Band
o "Ladybug" - The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
• "Feather Pluckn" - The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
o "Dune Buggy" - The Presidents of the United States of America ($1.99)
o The Presidents of the United States of America Pack 01 ($5.49) - this track pack includes all of the above singles.
o "I Don't Care" - Fallout Boy ($.99 - limited time offer)
o "Use Me" - Hinder ($.99 - limited time offer) Game Demos (Free)
• Metal Gear Solid 4
NCAA Basketball 09 Game Videos (free)
Killzone 2 Helghan Trailer
MotorStorm Pacific Rift Courses & Environments
Resistance 2 TV Spot
Bayonetta TGS trailer
FIFA 09 "Inside The Game" Part 3 - Gameplay
FIFA 09 "Inside The Game" Part 4 - Be A Pro
Guitar Hero World Tour Ted Nugent Vignette
MotoGP 08 Trailer
MotoGP 08 Trailer 2
NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Storm TGS Trailer
NBA 2K9 OBF Soldiers
Tom Clancy's EndWar Infantry Strategy Video Briefing
Tom Clancy's EndWar Mission Types Video Briefing
Tomb Raider: Underworld Beneath The Surface: "What Could Lara Do" Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers
Standard Operating Procedure Trailer
Tinker Bell Trailer
Sleeping Beauty: 50 Anniversary Platinum Edition Trailer PS3 Themes
University of Alabama Theme ($1.99)
University of Wisconsin Theme ($1.99)
Bikini Fashion Show Theme ($1.49)
Sexy Ninja Girls Theme ($1.49)
Spider Webs Theme ($1.49)
Tomb Raider: Underworld Theme (free) x2
High Velocity Bowling New Characters Theme (free)
PixelJunk Monsters D Theme (free)
File size: 1.48 MB
Alright, let's see? Qore? No, no thank you. Seems like a waste of money to me still, but I mean if that's your bag…Maybe I'm missing something by not spending my money on this? Who knows.
Let's see, what about the DLC? Well, I like the fact that they are offering free LBP DLC, the only problem I really see with that is, well, these are of a Halloween theme and it's kind of past Halloween. I mean, sure, I bet there's someone who wants to use a spaceman sackboy, but it's infinitely more rewarding to bring out your random concoction as opposed to a set-piece. I still commend them for starting out free, even if it's just temporary.
The Tom Clancy DLC is also free, I'm not quite sure what it is…but if you enjoy EndWar, I guess you could do worse than a price of free. I have to be honest, I'm not at all interested in it, you could always tell me how it is though? ALSO free (man, a good week for DLC eh?) is the Naruto DLC. Naruto is a very beautiful game that is about as good as an anime fighter can get. Apparently all the DLC, which is just limited to assist characters (and not playable), is free. This is a good thing because, I mean, I'm cheap as hell! I'm not really touching on the Rockband/GH DLC this week. It's a dollar a song, usually band specific, you know what you're getting. Good? Good.
Now here we are at the game demos where they are offering the most peculiar choice. Metal Gear Solid 4? I mean seriously? Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the PS3's most successful titles and I think it's safe to say that if you own a PS3 and wanted MGS 4 you probably own it by now. Even if you want MGS 4 and don't own a PS3 yet, odds are the very first game you get with your new system will be that game. It seems like an odd move – couldn't they have released this before MGS 4 came out – but hey…if you haven't played the game yet, you can see how fun it is I suppose.
Also, fuck NCAA 09. I am so sad there won't be any more March Madness.
The videos and Blu Ray trailers are kind of pointless, like usual. I'm sure you can go to youtube and see any of these you want to right now, from the comfort of your computer. I mean, I'm sure you're just DIEING to see that Tinkerbell trailer on your couch, but I think you can hold off.
Man, the themes this week really piss me off. There are waaaaay too many for pay. I shouldn't have to pay for a background on my system, it should just be a spiffy extra feature a company throws out there to hype their game up. The ones that are being charged for this week aren't game related (Seems awfully coincidental that the University of Alabama theme comes out while they are ranked number one), but I still don't see the need to charge for them. Oh well. Just get a Pixeljunk theme and call it a day, eh?
B3yond the Tabloids
I know how much fun it is to play through created levels in Little Big Planet. I mean, there's a certain joy that can be felt when fighting Doctor Robotnik at the end of Emerald Hill 1-3 as Sackboy as opposed to Sonic…but unfortunately that time is coming to an end. LBP is moderating levels for copyright and are simply deleting levels…rendering hours of work pointless. This is kind of silly, but if it makes you feel any better in the future Media Molecule will just give you tips on altering your levels to avoid deletion. It sucks that copyright is preventing anyone else from playing that one fantastic God of War level, but at the same time I guess it also forces people to be more original when they make something. That's just grasping for straws though, I'm kind of saddened that they're really cracking down on this.
A car magazine in the UK ran an article on the custom Citroen GT. They mentioned that the game would be included in Gran Turismo 5…and say that the game will be released in Spring of 2009. Wait, wait, Spring of '09? That's earlier than most anyone expected. Could this just be a typo, could it be mis-information? Or is there something more to this? Well, we'll just have to wait and see I guess.
Age of Booty was released about a month ago on X-Box LIVE I think. Well, finally, we have a PSN release for people who were waiting for the very interesting download-only title. November 13th is the release date. The game has gotten fairly good reviews and may be worth your hard-earned nine dollars. As a fan of strategy titles, I may very well be inclined to pick this one up.
As much shit as Activision is getting, and some of it is quite well deserved, they should be mentioned when they do something good as well. Activision has teamed up with the USO to supply copies of Call of Duty: World at War and Guitar Hero: World Tour to troops over seas to provide them with something that might take their minds off of the task at hand. This is a very nice thing for Activision to do and should get a lot of press. After all, those big bad video game developers are doing something nice for once!
Square Enix Yoichi Wada talked about why remakes of classic games are so successful. The gamer market today doesn't know what they can trust necessarily, but remakes allow a player to play a more updated version of a game they are already familiar with – thus, they know it's worth the money. Plus, new gamers can experience the classics, well…at least in some way. Does this mean that Final Fantasy VII will finally get remade? I mean, the thing has been rumored since the early days of the PS2 for crying out loud. Let's do it to it already!
Active Music Distribution has teamed up with Activision Blizzard to distribute Guitar Hero World Tour at music stores across the UK. I suppose Guitar Hero's ability to make people actually want to learn how to play the real guitar has caught on. I think this is a pretty good idea, it really leads credence to the idea that Guitar Hero is actually a part of the music industry.
Atari will officially be publishing the new Ghostbusters game, which is a good thing because there was a fear that the game would just get dropped. I mean, the thing looked absolutely phenomenal and its release would have generated a ton of cash. Apparently though, this was the worst kept secret since, err…the announcement of a Street Fighter III. Everyone knew Atari would be publishing, but it's now official so I guess I can say something about it.
So wanna know how Capcom projects its big sellers in the coming months? Resident Evil 4 is predicted to sell at least 3.25 millions units. SF IV is expected to earn 1.7 million, the new Bionic Commando title ranks in next at 1.5 million…and the NINTENDO WII"S DEAD RISING finishes off the list at 500,000. Those are some pretty damn good numbers, and it's no surprise. With the exception of the Wii's Dead Rising, I am quite looking forward to all those titles. Capcom will be the company to beat next year.
A study conducted by Frank N Magid associates has revealed that gamers would be willing to accept in-game advertising if it meant lower-game costs. I think it really depended on what kind of advertising they meant before I agreed to something like that. Would my stealth missions be interrupted by a commercial? Or would it be limited to online billboard advertisements similar to what President Elect Obama ran? Generally speaking though, I'm all over cheap games. Fuck yeah. I bought Gun Grave for FIVE dollars. What a purchase!
The only reason to enjoy Guitar Hero: World Tour's create a song sharing is gone now. You're not supposed to share copy-righted songs over their service, so now you're either going to download some hack's masterpiece or just not download anything at all and just look up how to create these illegal songs online and do it for yourself. I'd just recommend leaving the feature alone. It's nice that they included it, but it's a messy system and needs to be improved upon if they want to do it again.
Remember how our version, the US version, of Joker's fatality in MK v. DC Universe was censored? Well in the European version that isn't a problem! You can watch the un-censored violence, no problem at all! BOOOOOOOO!
B3yond the Cinema
Your weekly dose of GOTC (2000-2100) candidate Street Fighter IV. This week, we have a video of the boss of the game – Seth. He's no Bison, but at least he looks cooler than SF III's boss, Gil. I seriously should stop using these trailers because it's making me even more hyped up for this game. I didn't even think that was possible!
This is very obviously the X-Box 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, but here is a trailer for it anyhow. The game looks fun, I admit, but it's STILL kind of "press-right-to-win". Well, in my opinion at least. Hopefully I'll be proven wrong, but we'll see. The Sonic Drift could be interesting though.
A Street Fighter II Turbo HD video. I was hesitant to post two Street Fighter videos in one week, but after looking at this I couldn't resist. This shows the very beautiful game in motion and also features some of the more complex combos that you can pull off. Verrrrrry interesting.
Here's a Quantum of Solace video that shows what Bond plays like when he is, well, less than sober.
Here's a look at the making of Skate 2. Enjoy.
The One Man Water Cooler
You know the drill by now.
Anyhow, this week I had a specific subject in mind for the water cooler, namely PS3/X-Box 360 ports and why the PS3 gets screwed so often, but then Drew came to me and asked if he could use the Water Cooler this week to talk about Smackdown vs. Raw. Seeing as he can't talk about it in his column, do it being an attraction that is already here, he wanted to do it here! I said: "Well, okay Drew. I let Salmela write a Warhawk preview so this can't be any worse!" Well, so, it's his cooler this week I guess…
Now introducing your special guest host for One Man Water Cooler…Drew Robbins!
In case you don't know me, I'm Derek's brother, I write the weekly column Coming Attractions, and this week only, I made an appearance on the 411 Games Podcast (which goes up soon). Now, in Coming Attractions this week, I was previewing the upcoming games for this week, and I'm going to take this time to talk about the only one of those games that is actually out at the time of writing. I may not like wrestling, but the games are something I've always had an affinity for. Which brings us to Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is yet another wrestling game in the Smackdown series which makes improvements on the last game, but at the same time creates new problems. First, I'll talk about where the game strives…
Pros
Create a Finisher: Create a Finisher is probably the most hyped new feature for the game, as it gives you a chance to give your Created superstar his own special signature. In my brief experience with the creator, I can assure you that the process is extremely simple. You can have up to 10 animations in your signature, and those animations are chose from a large list of grapples and strikes. The finishers can turn out pretty good, my youngest brother (who contrary to popular belief, will not be writing for 411Games) created an Angle-Slam transitioned into a Rock's Bottom, which looked pretty nice. Now online, that is where created finishers can get a bit annoying…
Road to Wrestlemania: The story mode in Smackdown hasn't really been great since SvR 2006, and obviously somebody at Yukes realized this, because Road to Wrestlemania is very similar to story modes of old. Sure, it is a bit linear, but sometimes linear is a good thing…and being linear is 10 times better than being "open-ended" like last year's story mode.
Multiplayer: Still awesome, but I'm not really surprised. If there is one thing I can count on for Smackdown, it is that it will be a fun local-multiplayer experience.
PS3 gets Custom Music: Last year the 360 got custom entrance music and the PS3 got…first-person entrances. Well, luckily for backers of the monolith, PS3 finally gets custom entrance music. They couldn't have picked a better time to do this, because Chris Jericho's default music is garbage.
Kofi Kingston & Brian Kendrick: Can somebody say best new characters?
Cons
No GM Mode: I'll be honest here, gameplay wise, this feels a lot like last year's Smackdown vs. Raw. Now last year's game featured GM mode, and it struggled due to a small roster which had to be divide among three brands. But this game, with around 60 superstars, drops the mode completely? Single player is not the draw for Smackdown games, but for me, GM mode was always a time sink when nobody was around to play Smackdown. Yukes dropped the ball big time on this one.
Drops Certain Create Modes: Create a belt was a fairly popular feature, because it allowed players to create a belt and defend it online, raising its prestige. Another create mode that has been in wrestling games for a lot more than just a few years, create a Pay-per-View, was also dropped. It bugs me to great extents that they would drop Create a PPV, since I highly doubt that it took too much development time. Create a Belt is a little more understandable, but not much more.
Falls Count Anywhere Weapons: Last year's Smackdown introduced fans to the weapon wheel, which was used in extreme rules matches to select from various weapons. This changed up what fans usually got, which was picking weapons by which side of the ring they are on. Hardcore was fun but, it got a little old just using the chair, barbed-wire, and sledgehammer over and over. So why doesn't the hardcore match just take the weapon wheel? I'm sure someone will say "Then what is the point of Extreme Rules?" Well, you can't pin anywhere in that match type, and also, you can only do extreme rules in one arena. ECW, and this is another problem that needs to be fixed. If I want to have an extreme rules match at Wrestlemania, I should be able to. It can't be that hard to do, I doubt it would take very much programming at all.
Create a Finisher: Online finishers: The first thing I did with create a finisher was make an absolutely ridiculous move where I brought my opponent into DDT position, raised my arm, brought him up into F-U position, spun around, lowered the F-U position just a bit, put him into Oklahoma stampede position, swing him back into F-U position, drop him back into DDT position, and then just do a normal DDT. It is funny…once. But online, I have seen several finishers that would even make Vince Russo a little annoyed. Almost every CaF I've seen has taken up all 10 animations, which is just annoying.
Lack of Legends: The large roster of current stars is nice, but I can't help but feel angry at the lack of a decent amount of legends. I would much rather have the Rock than Snitsky, but guess which one I get? Hint, it isn't the successful one.
Table Matches: These still suck, and they haven't been good since the last Day of Reckoning.
So, all in all, most of my complaints are forgivable, and haven't really detracted from my enjoyment of the game. This game will probably keep me occupied for a while, especially with the sizeable roster.
B3yond the Mail!
Whether he knows it or not, Rawshark makes a good point for me:
Seriously - leave off the PSP. It's a smart little gizmo that has a ton of uses - especially if you don't mind voiding the warranty. In terms of sales it's been nothing but a success for Sony as well - you of all people should be happy about that. Sure, it has it's issues... but it's still pretty tight.
You said "especially if you don't mind voiding the warranty", which to me means "if you hack it." The only use a PSP has is a portable pirate tool. It has some decent ports, but the stuff that was made originally for the PSP for the most part is pretty average. I love playing some PSP titles, but most of my favorites can be played elsewhere.
A Guest slams on the PS3's BLU Ray.
fanboys have been using the "it plays blu ray" before the PS3 came out or they throw in resistance. which they knew wasn't any good but it was the only game worth play so they had to say it was great.
I think I'll continue to wait and see what else Sony can come up with before I buy one
The PS3 has plenty of games worth playing. It has as many as the 360 does at the very least. I mean, this console generation is totally about cross-platform titles. When it gets down to it, the game libraries of the 360 and PS3 are like 95% similar. You only need to own one, and which one you own probably depends on which exclusive titles you enjoy the most.
As for the BLU-ray…well, it plays them well and is the best player on the market. That's not something I made up, several experts are saying that. It doesn't make it a better gaming console, but it does make it something that non-gamers can own.
Steve307 has his priorities in order.
Firstly, SF2 Turbo HD. FINALLY! Can't wait.
Secondly, I love my PSP. However, it's sad fact that, aside from a few select titles, its entire library is shovelware and inferior ports. The arcade compilations make up for it, IMO. As do the file sharing from my PS3 and PSP.
With everyone slurping the Mirror's Edge demo, and saying how revolutionary it is...doesn't anyone else see the similarities to Assassin's Creed?
Lastly, everybody hit me up for some online Rock Band sometime. Have some DLC, though!
Glad you're looking forward to the amazing SF II Turbo HD. Greatest ancient game of all time, right?
I guess I can see why you would think the PSP is good if all you get for it are ports of classics…I'm just glad you admit that its original titles are, for the most part, pretty bleah. Even the portable GTA titles are bland, and this is coming from a guy who actually appreciates the series.
I would play Rock Band online, but I don't have it for the correct system. So I guess I'll have to sit this one out. If you want a round of SvR 2009 though…
matrix1004 says what we all were thinking:
WOW! We get 1 video for the PSP! Thanks Sony! PSN ROCKS!!!
It's the highlight of my week! Gotta love the PSN updates! I don't believe there were ANY PSP updates this week. See? They agree with me that the PSP is a waste of your money unless you know how to hack it.
As always, feel free to leave me a comment, e-mail me, or add me to PSN (Croix22). Any feedback you give me is good, even if it is negative and it helps me evolve as a writer. So thank you.
AJ and Mike Minotti voice The Exploding Barrel Podcast I'm still waiting for Mike to accept my friend request on PSN!
We have a game's podcast that goes up tonight, alongside my column. This week it features the same guys as last week…except for me. My brother Drew takes my spot and challenges Mark, Ramon, Sean, and Jacob. HOW DOES HE FARE? Well you'll just have to wait and find out.
"Activision has teamed up with the USO to supply copies of Call of Duty: World at War and Guitar Hero: World Tour to troops over seas to provide them with something that might take their minds off of the task at hand."
IRONY
Posted By: Guest#5941 (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 12:24 AM
Nobody's ever going to do that "ending as DLC" thing - there aren't enough people online to make it worth it, and the backlash even if there WERE enough would be so overwhelmingly negative that it'd destroy the franchise.
It's better to go with a 'bought new bonus' like extra multiplayer maps. It still sucks for people who get it used, but at least that's something you can offer up to people to download and they'll get some value out of it.
If you make it a skin for a gun, then it's kind of pointless. They'd still be pissed they didn't get it, but not willing to pay for it.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on November 11, 2008 at 01:06 AM
Rod, I think you underestimate how greedy some companies are. I would not be surprised to see a company like Epic or Activision force people to pay for the endings if they rent it. Heck, Epic can just blame it on Microsoft like they have in the past with paid content.
Posted By: Drew Robbins (Registered) on November 11, 2008 at 10:57 AM
How do they not make money on rentals? Don't video stores and rental places have to pay fees for usage, and licensing, and stuff like that? Who gets that cash?
Personally I think the DLC ending is a very bad idea...
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 11:02 AM
It just wouldn't fly, Fake Derek. For starters there's only what - 50% if that much? - of consoles on Live. I don't see Epic being that stupid.
Activision...okay, you may have a point there.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on November 11, 2008 at 11:37 AM
I think Rod has the best idea to encourage new game purchases vs buying used. If they really pull that pay for the ending shit I will find a new hobby. And for Activision to send military people Call of Duty as a distraction redefines ignorance. As soon as I finish Dead Space, Mirror's Edge is next. What's with EA making original games?!
Posted By: Shockmaster (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Maybe they will start releasing games in greyscale or black and white and then have diff colour filters available as dlc so you have to pay extra to see the game in all its colourful joy. Id rather have to pay for something like this than pay for an ending that should be there anyways. But just to clarify what i said about the colour filter thing is just an example/speculation and not in any way what i really think or want lol.
Posted By: MoFo (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 12:36 PM
[QUOTE]"Activision has teamed up with the USO to supply copies of Call of Duty: World at War and Guitar Hero: World Tour to troops over seas to provide them with something that might take their minds off of the task at hand."
IRONY[/QUOTE]
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Great idea in principle but who the hell comes up with the idea of sending over copies of COD4 (A bloody War game!!) to a War zone, to give the troops a "Break".
I'm sorry but some of the most stupid people in the world make the big decisions these days (and get paid well to do it), while the people who actually have a few braincells to rub together get majorly overlooked because they don't know the right someone.
Posted By: Baros (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 06:15 PM
Man, what a day! And now I've gotta come home to this? DLC to finish a game, and this d-bag doesn't expect the natives to get restless. The company is still getting payed every time the game is initially sold right? It's my personal opinion that rental stores are doing this company a favor by giving out publicity for a minimal fee. Oh, and lastly on this topic...Shut the fuck up EpicMike before Blockbuster and other rental stores remove blu-ray rentals from the store 'cause your complaining your pussy hurts. I know they won't do that but I remember when Sony gave a large sum of money (bribed) Blockbuster to stock only blu-ray titles to push the PS3 sales.
Let's see, what else am I pissed about? Oh, Derek you're a fuckstick. Qore may not be worth your couch cushion collectibles, but it is for me. I've been able to get in on a few betas and hopefully many more in the future (as well as informative game previews) just by being an annual subscriber. I know I could go through the steps of going on-line and submitting myself for betas, but Qore does it for me. All the leg work is done. So for someone as busy as me it's really nice to spend my time just playing instead of all the middle man crap. I've also noticed Killzone 2 beta has been tough for some to get codes for, not me the annual subscriber guy. And apparently I'm not allowed to talk about K2 outside of their website or they will hunt me down and kill me.
Posted By: Bell (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 06:22 PM
i think that the video games might be onto something with this pay for the ending thing. instead of giving rental retailers full games they should give them glorified demos. and hell i think they should boycott gamespot in order to get royalties off used games. Im sure selling at places like best buy and walmart and not gamestop wouldnt hurt the bottomline that much.
Posted By: Jersey (Guest) on November 11, 2008 at 09:13 PM
I'm an old school RE fan however I liked RE4, Just thought it should have been its own game or a spin-off. I can't wait for RE5.
Speaking of waiting it's getting bloody annoying having to wait so many years between games now. Before you had RE1 in 96', RE2 in '98 (A 2 year gap only because they started remaking it halfway through development),RE3 in 99' and RECV in 2000, 4 main games in a 4 year period. The way it is now it would take Capcom over 10 years to do as many games. I understand they want to get it right and games take longer to produce now but couldn't they add more people to the development team or spomething? One main RE game per generation is not enough.
Posted By: aussiegamer (Guest) on November 12, 2008 at 07:58 AM
"And apparently I'm not allowed to talk about K2 outside of their website or they will hunt me down and kill me"
Is the game really that bad, or what?
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on November 12, 2008 at 05:09 PM
Hey, my pleasure - someone's got to make a good point around here, haha.
I see where you're coming from. But here's the thing... I'm seeing things relative to a time not too long ago. The fact is, going portable requires sacrifice.
Put it this way, given the choice, 15 years ago would you have taken a free SNES or a free GameBoy. Thought so.
The GameBoy's life expectancy was extended almost entirely by Pokemon. It tapped it into a zeitgeist and snapped into pop culture. But then what? The Gameboy Advance era was short lived and had little other than Advance Wars and old SNES ports. No boundaries were pushed. Until the DS tapped into Pop Culture again, there was a massive gap between the home consoles and the portable systems.
But the PSP s trying hard as it can to reduce the sacrifice involved in portable gaming. Maybe it's barking up the wrong tree, but at least its trying. Before if you wanted to watch anything through a portable game console, there was the Game Gear TV tuner - and what an abomination that was. But now you can use a PSP to watch a show you downloaded whenever. Beats the Game Gear, let me tell you.
What I'm getting at, is that while you'll always take the home versions of PSP games given the choice, we've never before dreamed of being able to play a GTA style game on the go before (and don't go on about the PSP GTA games being fairly average, I'm well aware of it - I'm talking from a technical standpoint). It's eye opening when you think about it, and you've got to believe it's only going to get better with time.
See, I'm rich and white enough to be able to afford all the consoles. I can honestly say we've never had it better - no matter what you buy you won't be unhappy. That goes for the PSP too.
Posted By: Rawshark (Guest) on November 14, 2008 at 04:56 PM
- Wouldn't it suck having to pay to see how this game turns out?
