411 Games Fact or Fiction 12.16.08: Mad World's Gameplay, Final Fantasy XIII's Release Date, The Spike Video Game Awards Show and More

Posted by Tommy Coloma on 12.16.2008

411's John Curry and Rod Oracheski tell us what they think about Mad World's ability to deliver in the gameplay department, whether they will ever buy a new PS2 game again, what the chances are that Final Fantasy XIII will come out in 2009, whether the Spike Video Game Awards show deserves the respect of gamers, what LittleBigPlanet's modest sales figures mean, and whether Ubisoft's TMNT fighter can surpass Konami's Tournament Fighters in this edition of Fact or Fiction Games.

Welcome to another edition of Fact or Fiction. This'll be my last regular FoF as I will be stepping down so that I can focus on other projects at 411mania. Don't worry though - Ramon Aranda, our fearless leader, will be taking over after this week. Make sure that you stop by next Monday to check out his first outing with this column.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Once again, John Curry and Rod Oracheski are back to tell us what they think about some of the week's most important video game news and issues. Let's see is what they do for the Games section -

John is the former writer of The Checkpoint, a column in which he gave us his views on a wide range of topics. In his last column, he walked us through his first week in the world of Fallout 3. John currently does reviews. His latest ones are for Fallout 3 (360) and Blitz: The League II (360).

Rod puts together Achievement Unlocked every week. This week's piece takes a look at what the economic downturn is doing to the industry.

Let's go -


1. "Style over substance" is what comes to mind when you think about Mad World.

John Curry: Fact

The premise of a sort of black and white Frank Miller-inspired, Sin City-looking game that focuses on over-the-top violence and gore while still maintaining its comic book atmosphere intrigues me beyond belief. However, this game will be released on the Wii which guarantees that the violence will be subdued and the focus on gameplay will not be as important as looks. Combine this with the fact that almost any game that wants to revolutionize the graphics world tends to fall flat on its face when it comes to substance.

Rod Oracheski: Fact

The look of the game is great - really reminiscent, as CurryMan said, of Miller's work. The black and white aesthetic really draws attention to the blood so, for a violent game, that's a plus. But seeing the gameplay videos that have been posted, I'm not sure that it lives up to the art style. Instead of a hard-hitting mature title, it seems more like the gameplay was aimed at the teenage crowd - from the announcer all the way to the combat.

The game might be good in the end, but at this point, I've gone from eagerly anticipating to not expecting a whole lot.

Score: 1 for 1


2. At this point, you do not see yourself buying any newly released PS2 game ever again.

John Curry: Fact

I rank the PS2 as one of the best systems to ever hit the market. With that said, I haven't purchased a PS2 game in at least five years. I still go to the store questioning why the PS2 still exists, who buys these "new" games, and why the hell would I spend the same or close to the same amount of money on a PS2 game that I can use for my next-gen system? Sorry all of you PS2 fanboys, but it's time to upgrade to a new system. And with a certain one now costing 199 bucks, there is no longer any excuse.

Rod Oracheski: Fact

Going back to last-gen games after playing the next-gen (current gen?) version tends to be disappointing, no matter what the genre. Next-gen games look better, sound better, tend to have more depth to the gameplay (adding more realistic physics, more environmental interaction, etc...), and tend to play as well or better. Persona 4 was the last to tempt me, but I wound up leaving it on the shelf as well. There are just too many new games that I haven't gotten to play yet. It doesn't help that most of the "new" games on the PS2 aren't much more than half-assed efforts or outright shovelware.

Score: 2 for 2


3. Final Fantasy XIII will come out in 2009.

John Curry: Fact

I want to say fiction. God, I hope the Final Fantasy series dies a slow and painful death so that I can laugh at it for all times, but the truth is that there is still a group of diehard freaks out there who are as loyal to the FF series as the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering nerds and will force the release of Final Fantasy XIII in the next year. When that happens, be prepared to listen to all of them whine about why it isn't a PS3 exclusive and, more importantly, how all of those who review the game are idiots because they didn't state that the game was the greatest thing ever made.

Rod Oracheski: Fact

It seems to be on track for the Japanese release, and I can't see the localization taking all that long. They've gotten pretty good at it over the years, at least on the speed side of things (there are still the odd wonky translations here and there). Will Versus XIII make it out in 2009? That one I'm not sure I'd bet on.

Score: 3 for 3



4. The Spike Video Game Awards show is starting to become respectable.

Rod Oracheski: Fiction

Braid is up for BEST INDEPENDENT GAME FUELED BY DEW and there's a category for being a celebrity involved in a game...

The VGA's are better than they were a few years back, but respectable is another level entirely. I'm not sure they want to be respectable though, just entertaining.

John Curry: Fiction

Hard to argue with Rod here. The award show is pathetic. It is nothing more than another opportunity for some celebrities to get together and make paparazzi news. Yeah, it's a little better than what it was a couple years ago when Samuel L. Jackson starred in it, but it isn't respectable and won't be the reason any specific game does higher numbers.

Score: 4 for 4


5. You are surprised that LittleBigPlanet didn't do as well as many thought it would.

Rod Oracheski: Fiction

Sony had LBP pegged as one of its "most important" games in the holiday lineup, complete with a heavy barrage of ads, but given the PS3 install base, the game wasn't going to get blockbuster sales unless it appealed to people enough for them to drop $400-500 on a console and another $60 on the game. In today's economy that's a tough, tough sell. Platformers in general are a tough sell these days on any console not called the Wii (and only then if they star Mario), so the sales shouldn't be that surprising.

The game got a black eye early on with the recall and then the overly harsh moderation of levels, but they've been supporting it with a lot of new content, even if the pricing is a tad ridiculous, so it might have some legs. It's probably too early to call this a flop (though that hasn't stopped Nemesis), but there's no denying that it wasn't as strong through November as Sony had hoped.

John Curry: Fiction

Part of me wants to say "yes, I am surprised" because of how much hype this game received as being the future of gaming thanks to the ability to create and share new levels and all, but the fact that the game was hacked, needed a recall, and the fact that they would only allow certain levels on the market just killed any expectations for this game. Combine all of this with the economy and nothing surprises me at all. But Rod has a very good point that almost makes me forgive the fact that he's Canadian - it is still a little too early to declare this game a flop.

Score: 5 for 5


6. Despite being developed by former Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Team Ninja staff members, the rumored four-player TMNT fighting game for the Wii has no chance of surpassing 1993's Tournament Fighters in terms of gameplay.

Rod Oracheski: Fiction

This fiction should have a question mark at the end, as we really know next to nothing about the game aside from its rumored existence in early development. Still, I've never been the guy to look at past games with the "what they did at the time" goggles that many do, so it's not hard for me to imagine a new game - particularly with a developer pedigree like that - surpassing it in terms of gameplay. It'll have more moves and far more depth. The only possible drawback would be a tacked-on waggle mechanic. If they can avoid that, this one could be pretty good.

John Curry: Fiction

Only fiction because judging a game that was made 15 years ago to a game today is like comparing Top Spin 2 to Pong - not the same thing. Everyone wants to rehash some portion of their childhood memories for a simple game and in the process tend to destroy the quality we remember. Now, any other scientific answer you want belongs to the Celine Dion lover above me.

Score: 6 for 6



And we end with a score of 6 for 6.

Now, the red bar above our heads turned almost completely red and the music that's playing suddenly sped up. If we can figure out what that means, we'll be back next week.