411 Games Fact or Fiction 01.12.09: DS Saturation, UGO's Buyout of 1up.com, a New Zelda Title and Videogame Journos' Gaming Skills, More

Posted by Jacob Lopez on 01.12.2009

Will 1up.com change? Has the DS reached a saturation point? Is it ok for game journos suck at videogames? 411's Todd Vote and Chad Alan give us their input in the latest edition of Fact or Fiction: Games!

This week, Todd Vote and Chad Alan give us their opinions on the stuff that goes down in the biz.

Now let's learn a bit about the guys:

Todd Vote in his own words: I started writing for 411 and was intended to do a news report. However my computer is junk, so I have to hold off on getting started till I get it figured out. I have contributed to Fact or Fiction, in both the Wrestling Zone as well as for the Games Zone. Before the great computer crash of 2009, I had completed a series of 3 features looking at exclusive games for each of the big 3 systems for the new year.

Sorry about your computer Todd!

Chad covers some of the daily news and wears cool armor. Also, according to his 411 profile pic, he's from the internet.



1) The biggest news of the week was UGO's buyout of 1up.com. As we all know, a lot of the key staff members were let go. Reading the comments on the official page will give you a general idea of what the reader base things of the whole situation, they are pissed. This is just a minor setback and new and old readers will continue to read 1up.com as it continues with current and new staff.

Todd Vote: FACT-ish. Of course there may be some initial drop-off in terms of site viewers, but they would eventually return. the Fact-ish part comes in dependant on whether or not the new owners intend to drastically change things up or not. I don't really see to much changing about the site content wise. Perhaps a new interface, and obviously some new staff members, but to completely abandon the current format is probably not going to happen.

Chad Alan: Fact. Just because some company gets bought out doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Look at Mini Coopers getting bought by BMW years ago, those things are all the friggin' place now. I think one of two things will happen. One: nothing will change and we just see different logos all over the place. B: Ugo will try to make it more like there's or try to experiment with the site and if it fails they can always change it back and say they are going retro or something. Change is good, it keeps us on our toes paying attention. And for the people that are truly pissed, they'll go find someplace else and realise something they've been missing. What it is, I have no clue.

Score::1 for 1



2) Nintendo bossman Satoru Iwata recently responded to those saying that the Nintendo DS is reaching a saturation point with, "Some say the market for the DS is saturated, but I disagree. In Japan, a country with a population of 127 million, we've sold 23 million DS units. The United States is inhabited by over 300 million people, and there are more than 490 million people in the European Union. Sales of the product could grow further in foreign countries considering their populations." The guy is right.

Todd Vote: FACT. Absolutely, there is always room for growth. There are more and more gamers every day. With Nintendo constantly releasing great games for the system, it will continue to sell. There will obviously be some drop-off eventually, but then Nintendo will release an updated version of the DS, and all of the sudden everyone will have to have it again.


Chad Alan: FACT. The DS is a great little unit.(That's what she said.) It is an unstoppable juggarnaut. With new accessories coming out for it all the time, innovative games taking advantage of what it can do, and taking advantage of the nostalgia tendencies among fanboys such as myself; people will always want to buy these things. I think with the DSi around the corner of possibly coming state side there's not much stopping this little guy from it's growth potential. After that we'll probably see it assimilate the iPhone or something then it's over. "Game over man, game over"


Score:: 2 for 2



3) "Next year, well, it's all looking a bit dry. All the triple A titles came out this Christmas and while there is stuff in 2010 we can look forward to, off the top of my head I cannot think of anything next year that really excites me. Everyone says games are good value for home entertainment, despite the relatively high price. I'm not so sure. I think we're going to see a lot of price pressure put on games." That is Fable mastermind Peter Molyneux's view on 2009. Now, maybe he didn't get Capcom's email Monday morning. Are you inclined to agree with Mr. Molyneux?

Todd Vote: FICTION. I do not agree. The year is just getting started. There is plenty of time for more great games to be announced. Plus in the first half of the year alone we already have great titles to look forward to. Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5, God of War 3, MadWorld, The Conduit, Prototype. Those are just a few of the titles we have to look forward to in just the first half of 2009. With E3, and several other key shows on the horizon, I think we will see plenty of new exciting titles to come. In addition I think the price point of games is going to stay right where it is at for the foreseeable future.


Chad Alan: FICTION. There is a nice list of games set to come out in '09. Street Fighter 4, RE5, Prototype, Rock Band: Beatles, Guitar Hero: Metallica, just to name a few. Heck, even my dad's ears perked a bit when he heard the Beatles are getting a Rock Band game. The gaming industry may slow a bit because of the world economy right now, but we won't see games themselves drop price. It will be the systems. With recent news of Sony in the hurt we will probably see some decent price cuts on the PS3 finally. The production costs of games these days and their ability to make up costs on systems will keep the price right around where they are now with maybe a five dollar give-or-take factor. Peter should stop worrying about how this year is gonna be and go re-tool multiplayer on Fable 2. I finally got into one last night and ewwwwwww.

Score:: 3 for 3


Alright guys, switch!


4) Sony seems to say that its competitors keep throwing in add-ons. In a direct quote from the press release we read, "The Xbox 360 requires additional money, multiple upgrades and additional external devices, putting a burden on the wallet and adds clutter to the entertainment center. And the Wii's lack of enhanced features comes at the expense of a comprehensive entertainment solution. So as PS3 continues to evolve without the need for additional parts or expenses, expect the competition to continue peddling add-ons in an effort to keep up with the Jones'." Even is we were to assume that HDDVD was still a competing format, my question is this: Does the average gamer put much thought into the ‘enhanced features', or do they want the games and exclusives?


Chad Alan: Fact. The average game does not look at "enhanced features" when looking for a gaming system. Potential buyers are looking at the games that the system can play and how fun it could possibly be. The perfect example is the record breaking month of November the Nintendo Wii just had. Sure, there are quite a few add-ons that you can buy if you want to play a game a certain way. The best thing they have done is making most of the games that are released for the system playable with everything that comes in the original box. I think Sony is just looking for a scapegoat here, but no one's buying.

Todd Vote: FACT. I couldn't agree with Chris more. I would venture to say that add-ons and things of that nature are all just bonus goodies. Nobody is forced to buy the xbox camera, or the larger hard drives. It is all stuff that is put out to enhance the gamers experience. The more options a company can provide a gamer in regards to support of a system is a good thing, provided it is not in the vain in the 32X and the Sega CD, is icing on the cake.


Score:: 4 for 4



5) A few days ago, a patent owned by Shigeru Miyamoto emerged. It seems to be for a game that has several gameplay modes. Players can play through the game traditionally, watch the game play itself, or skip to different scenes. We don't know how it will be implemented, but it seems to be some way of making it accessible to everyone. Casuals can skip through parts that get too rough (but cannot save the game) and cores will be able to play through the game the way they are used to doing. The pictures in the patent seem to represent some kind of Zelda game. Could this be a hint as to where the next Zelda title is headed?


Chad Alan: Fact. Miyamoto is not one to rest on his laurels. He is always look for the next step in gaming. Sure he may use it again once or twice, but just looking at past Zelda games hey usually have some new way to play them. Twilight Princess may have played just like Ocarina but that's hard to place blame since it was implementing the Wii-mote. I could see this coming to fruition with many new people to gaming because of the Wii.


Todd Vote: FICTION. It could very well be where the next Zelda is headed. However, it could also be that Miyamoto used Zelda-esque characters so that people seeing this stuff would get a sense of familiarity from the images. It is easier to visualize how this new technology would be implemented if you can see it in action with familiar characters in a fairly familiar enviroment. As much as this could be the direction of the new Zelda game, the latter could also be true. It may be a little early to jump to conclusions.

Score:: 5 for 5



6) MTV Multiplayer's Stephan Totilo recently received some flack for sucking at Street Fighter II, some comments went so far as to say that he shouldn't be a videogames journo based on his hadoken throwing skills. As a writer for the gaming section of a website, do you feel you should be held to higher scrutiny when people see your gameplay skills? (BTW, I feel his pain. I SUCK at racing and sports games)

Chad Alan: Fiction. How many times have we seen a professional athlete cross over the announce table and just can't cut it. Just because you're good at something doesn't mean you can convey it to others well. As long as you have the "want" to play you can tell someone all about a game and how you feel about it. Sometimes the best opinions come from people that don't know anything about what they are talking about because the can see it from a different perspective and I do mean

Todd Vote: Fiction. If writing on games is based on the ability to excel no matter the genre, I think it is safe to say we are all completely screwed. Everyone has a type of game that they loathe. For me it is racing sims and RPG games. Absolutely hate them. I also agree with what Chris said about the more you hear, the better you can form your own opinion. Say you read a review of an RPG by someone who is not really good at them, or someone who is not to fond of them. If that review shows the RPG in a positive light and fun to play, well it might lead like minded gamers to give it a shot.


Final Score:: 5 for 6


The Final score is 5 for 6. You can see that our writers get along very well.




Unlike every other question we ask on Fact or Fiction, I sent this one out two both writers at the same time. Just for kicks really.

BONUS ROUND. Just cause I was bored: We are a good 2 (PS3) or 3(Xbox 360) years into this console generation. It is time to stop calling them next-gen consoles.

Chad Alan: Fact. "Why do they call it New England anyway, it's over 200 years old!! Last I checked that's not very new at all." Calling these systems "next-gen" is just like a store that opened 6 months ago and still has their Grand Opening banner still hung. I think it's time to pass the torch Wii, PS3, and I'm especially looking at you 360. You're the eldest of the siblings, you should know better.


Todd Vote: Fact. 100 times fact. I think it was still acceptable to refer to it as next-gen until all three systems hit the store shelves. After that moment, next-gen became the PS4, the Wii 2, and the XBOX 720.


Well that is is for this week's Fact or Fiction Games. Hopefully Ramon gets his candy ass back to California, so that he can once again entertain you with his witticisms. Peace!