Three Player Co-Op 02.04.09: Week 1 - Dead Rising: Chop til You Drop, Prince of Persia DLC, More

Posted by Drew Robbins on 02.04.2009

411's Drew Robbins returns to moderate a brand new column, where he is joined by two guest writers to tackle the pressing issues of the week. This week, he is joined by Rod Oracheski and Ramon Aranda to discuss Dead Rising: Chop til You Drop, the probable death of Banjo-Kazooie, and Activision's suspicious hiring of a "bullshot" artist.



Hello, and welcome to the debut of Three Player Co-op, hosted by the man, the myth, the legend, Drew Robbins! Yes, chumps and chumpettes, I have returned from writer Hell to deliver a weekly column in which I, alongside two of 411's finest, will give our thoughts on the week's events in gaming.

The format is fairly simple (and familiar, if you have ever read the Triple Threat in 411's famed Wrestling zone); I will magically divine five of the week's stories and let the writers loose with their opinion. Stories will vary in importance, from the smallest even to a large happening that shakes the very foundation of our industry.

With formal introductions out of the way, let me introduce you to the wonderful writers which will be accompanying me in my daring journey through the horrifying depths of the gaming industry…

Player One – Drew Robbins - I've already introduced myself but, hey, this is my little description spot. Most of my various musings can be found in the reviews portion of the games zone, more recently I reviewed Lumines Supernova for the Playstation 3.

Player Two – Ramon Aranda - Ramon rules over the games section and boxing section with an iron fist, editing the various columns and reviews which are posted on a daily basis. He also chips in with the news, previews, reviews, and now even Three Player Co-Op!

Player Three – Rod Oracheski - Rod Oracheski is our weekly informer on achievements and general news regarding games available on the Xbox 360 with his column Achievement Unlocked This week Rod takes a look at the recent moves by companies in order to brace for recession.

Three Player Co-Op: Week 1

Topic #1: Activision is now hiring an alleged "Art Services Screenshot Associate." Sounds fine, right? Well, upon further investigation (i.e. clicking the job's name), the description entails a job in which you are required to doctor game screenshots in order to make them more appealing. This is more commonly referred to as "Bullshot," a term popularized by early Madden commercials for the Xbox 360. Your thoughts on this matter?

Drew Robbins - As a young man, unaware of the cruel reality of this world, the Madden commercials had me convinced that this generation of hardware was going to knock my socks off. Unfortunately, my socks are securely on my feet and this generation has looked nothing like the amazing commercials originally shown for Madden. So naturally I'm offended that someone is going to be paid to crush the dreams of young men, hopeful for an era of games that will blow their minds with realistic graphics. It is a helpful tool, however, to know that Activision is hiring for such a position. Now when I see a screenshot for the imminent Guitar Hero: Rolling Stones, I can tell that a screenshot, displaying Mick Jagger in all of his glorious wrinkles, is "bullshot."

Ramon Aranda - Well I'm not 100% sure what to make of it really. On the one hand, I've seen some pretty shitty screenshots to games that look much better so perhaps this is being done in order to prevent that so that we journalists get some decent screens for our articles. On the other hand, if this is being done to simply make the game look better than it is then it's a dirty move. If trailers have already been called out for those tactics then this is just a loophole that I hope won't be taken advantage of. Let's just hope for the latter!

Rod Oracheski - It's ridiculous, especially with how good looking games are these days. I could understand if they wanted someone who could do colour correction or other small fixes, but that description implies much more than that.

Of course we all knew that this kind of thing happened to an extent and that screenshots weren't necessarily going to reflect what we'd see during gameplay, though I believe the more trusting of us thought it was relegated to simply detaching the in-game camera and putting it at a more dramatic angle, or using replay footage for the release of screenshots. Take the Gran Turismo or Forza franchises, for example. The vast majority of screenshots you'll find for those titles are from replay mode to showcase the cars and taken from angles you'd never actually play from. Yes, in Forza you canspin the camera around to get that view - but why would you?

In any case, at that level it was okay but this is beyond that and into direct fakery. This is more on the level of the most famous EA bullshot - the half-erased NBA player seen at right. To be fair, EA has pulled back from that and hasn't pulled anything on the level of the infamous 'Madden could look like this' renders since...well since those were so widely panned after Madden didn't look like that.



Topic #2: Sales charts from Japan indicate that Nintendo's new "Play on Wii" strategy is working out to perfection. Mario Tennis Gamecube has topped the sales charts in its first week, beating out new, non-rehashed game on every console. Will the American release of "Play on Wii" games bear similar fruit?

Drew Robbins - Rehashing is great, I mean, who doesn't love a good rehash? Megaman 9, Gears of War 2, Smash Bros. Brawl, all of these were generally well-received games. Of course, these rehashes were brand new, different games which sheltered the same gameplay mechanic. "Play on Wii" is the same game with fancy motion controls (because it worked for Okami…right?). The question is though, will Americans lap up this fine plate of rehash? Undoubtedly, for a few reasons. First of all, take into account that this game is on the Wii, instantly boosting sales. Also factor in that it is a Mario game, and also pertains to Tennis, which was quite the popular sport when portrayed in Wii Sports. Heck, I'm going to guarantee that Mario Tennis sees at least a Top Ten spot in America.

Ramon Aranda - I don't think they'll be met with the same kind of overall sales but honestly, I think they're going to fare pretty well. That being said, I personally think they're a tad overpriced and I'd like to see them under $40 to be more fair.

Rod Oracheski - I have no doubt that Nintendo-published games will continue to sell when released on the Wii. How could you? Just look at the titles they've chosen to make 'Play on Wii' after all - Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Mario, Metroid - those are all "Nintendo core" titles. Nintendo faithful, the people now buying every Wii-[word] title on stands, will pick these up the day they arrive on shelves.

What I don't know is how anyone outside of Nintendo and their faithful would really celebrate this. Instead of releasing new games they're just tacking on Wiimote controls to old titles and giving them a slight graphical upgrade - and selling them for roughly $40? It's equally noxious that in the process of adding Wiimote controls they're also removing GameCube controller support - are Wiimote sales dropping off?

Don't get me wrong, it's great that they're upgrading old titles - I love it when publishers do that for XBLA and PSN titles, but am I supposed to be happy that I can buy Pikmin again - and have it be the exact same game with new controls, even if the pointer controls work well? Or that I can buy Metroid Prime again with new waggle mechanics? I've played those games - why in the world would I want to experience the same thing, with new controls but largely the same graphics and sound, for $40?

At least on XBLA and PSN, your 'retro gaming experience' gives you a sizable upgrade to the graphics, plus other bonuses like leaderboards and Achievements - plus the games only run you $5-10!

Hey Nintendo, where are the games I wanted to play again? Where's the N64's classic line of wrestling games? I know, I know - there are licensing issues, but you've sold 90 bajillion consoles - get together with the publisher and license holder and hammer something out. You don't need to 'Goldeneye' every non-Nintendo retro title.

I just don't understand how people want to pay $40 to "Play it on Wii...Again" - especially when some of those titles (rare ones excepted) can be found for $20 or less in used game stores.


- The other early release for Play on Wii, if you only buy one of these, you had better buy this one!

Topic #3: Ubisoft has confirmed a release date for the Prince of Persia DLC, coming February 26. What does this DLC entail? Three hours of new gameplay, including a new boss, more dialogue, new abilities, and a new boss. Sure to please many (including this author) who were disappointed by the game's ending, does the news of more Prince fill you with joy?

Drew Robbins - Being 411's resident Prince of Persia fan, I'd like to start this off by saying this. Heck yeah. Alright, with that out of the way, let me talk about Prince of Persia. Though an easy game, Prince was a beautiful adventure filled with excellent platforming, keeping me entertained for hours on end. Now when I say hours on end, I really mean about 10 hours because the game was fairly short. Not only that, but the ending was both confusing and disappointing. Adding in three hours is both sure to solve this problem, and has already filled me with an immense amount of joy.

Ramon Aranda - Absolutely. I think anytime a publisher can dish out quality DLC, then I'm all for it, especially when it enhances the product. It's the bogus, unnecessary 'weapons' or 'armor' DLC that I have a problem with. Give me something that will add to the experience, not something that anyone can and should do without. The PoP game was pretty good on its own, but with this new content, I think fans of the recent title will be pleased. Let's just hope it's sold at a decent price.

Rod Oracheski - I'm mixed on this one. While I like the idea of developers continuing to support a game, especially a single-player one, post-release, I just didn't care enough about Prince of Persia to even finish it.

I...well I just got bored with it. I couldn't find any challenge to the game at all, and while I talked about frustrating games in this week's Achievement Unlocked I have to admit that I'd rather be frustrated and forced to get better than coddled and growing increasingly bored.

The game was beautiful to look at, but offered up nothing else for me at all. If the DLC were to change that and add in some actual challenge then I'd give it a look. If it's three hours of the same pablum, then it's a big 'thanks, but no thanks' from this corner.

The timing on the DLC is great though as it seems like a decent window for releasing content. After two months people are going to be done with a game's single-player mode (or tiring of the multiplayer content, if applicable) and they could use a fresh injection of things to do. It helps that with a Christmas rush release, two-month DLC hits in the relatively weak post-Christmas quarter.


- No confirmation yet on whether or not Prince is still a tremendous douche.

Topic #4: With less than a month till it is unleashed upon the masses, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop has become quite the punching bag among games journalists and bloggers alike. How do you feel about this port of the 360 classic?

Drew Robbins - Much of my time and effort last generation was spent defending the Gamecube, which was fairly easy to do. Ports that came from the Xbox or Playstation 2 usually only lacked online features. The Wii is an entirely different beast. I may be past my days as a Nintendo stalwart, but there are a brave few that live to defend the Big N. It must fill them with horror with each release of a Dead Rising screenshot. Alright, so the graphics aren't that great, but surely that won't hamper the amount of zombies on screen…oh wait, only 20 on screen at a time? Gee, that kind of sucks, well at least we will still have the intense melee-focused combat of the original…oh really, focused primarily on gunplay? Look on the bright side; I suppose Frank's hair is still spiky? Honestly, the game is getting nearly impossible to defend with the release of each new screenshot. It looks like a half-assed attempt at bringing a great experience from the 360 to the Wii in order to make a quick buck. Capcom, Street Fighter IV may have you in my good graces, but I am not amused with this effort.

Ramon Aranda - Well although it may prove to be a fun diversion, the fact that so many things are being removed from the game just makes this seem so watered down. I mean the original 360 version is pretty good. Hell, I still play it from time to time for the scores and costumes but if it gets stripped down like a "randomly selected person" at the airport, then why even bother? There better be something worthwhile or it'll end up in the sale bin faster than you can say "NIIIICE".

Rod Oracheski - You know the game has PR issues when the marketing manager steps up to try and defend it, as Colin Ferris did recently. He's got a tough task ahead of him though, as the two games just aren't comparable graphically or - more importantly - in terms of how many zombies they can throw at you at one time.

At one point in his ranting, Colin says the following: "Should Capcom deny the Dead Rising game experience to a Wii owner because they do not have a 360?"

I would answer that question with another - is Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop really "the Dead Rising experience" that 360 owners had at all?

It was a blast to mow throw dozens of zombies at once in Dead Rising, but is it going to be as much fun to mow through five or six? Throwing a bowling ball in the crowded part of the mall and knocking down 10 random zombies with the wildly careening projectile was awesome, and can having to aim carefully to hit even one of the handful of zombies in the area really compare to that?

With Frank's maneuverability, his complement of kick-ass moves, and ready-at-hand arsenal of kick-ass weapons, there really wasn't much fear of a single zombie in the 360 release. Even five or six was a pack to be dispatched with a laugh. It wasn't until there were zombies coming at you from every direction that you were in trouble. That was what made the experience so fun, though - that superpack of zombies happened all the time. With the Wii unable to handle that mass of undead flesh, Capcom should have gone another way with the port.

Why put the game in the same wide-open mall if you can't fill it with zombies and let players rip into them? Make it a side story that explored another location in town, even from another person's viewpoint. Make that alternate setting have much tighter quarters so you can either pack in more zombies or at least have it appear more crowded.

It's the oldest trick in the book for concert promoters - if you can only get 10,000 people for an event, you hold it in the 11,000 seat arena and people will say it was packed, thus netting you a better second show. Put those same 10,000 people in a 30,000 seat arena and they'll go home saying it was virtually empty, dropping interest for future shows.

I don't really give a crap if you port your games to every console under the sun, Colin - but if it's a sub-par port don't act surprised and pretend disappointed people are actually mad about anything other than getting a watered down rehash instead of, as you put it, a "fun Wii game."


- Own a Wii? Want to play a game with intense zombie action? Well, might want to save up for a 360…

Topic #5: During the 2008 Holiday season, Microsoft released three games which were sure to dominate Christmas lists. Gears of War 2, Fable 2, and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. Wait, scratch that last one, numbers indicate that Banjo-Kazooie was on nobody's Christmas list, selling as few as 140,000 units. After a long hiatus, Bear and Bird have return to a shattered fan base and an uninterested 360 audience, will you be sad to see this franchise die?

Drew Robbins - I have said a lot of bad things about Nuts and Bolts, but deep down I wanted to see it succeed, if only for the Bear and Bird which had so enriched my early years. Rare did a lot wrong with Nuts and Bolts, and it all starts with the new shift towards innovation. In bringing in a new audience, Rare left its old fans in shambles. Many felt alienated by the shift from platforming, including myself, causing them to avoid buying it. Even with all of this effort, Rare failed to bring in a large new audience for Bear and Bird, and this likely marks the last time we will ever see them. Never forget…

Ramon Aranda - The original games were a blast. This latest one, not so much. I'm all for resurrecting franchises that haven't seen the light of day in years but sometimes it's best just to leave them untouched. Banjoo-Kazooie is one of them.

Rod Oracheski - I feared the game might not sell well when, upon hearing of the $40 price tag, I saw forums light up with 'What, is the game not worth $60?' threads. Couple that with the game's cutesy image and a pre-Christmas lineup that was overwhelming, and it's really no wonder the game didn't do that well - at least yet. Hopefully it will prove to be like the Viva Piñata series and have some long-term sales legs, Viva Pinata is currently somewhere over 1.5 million sold worldwide I believe, as the game really is a lot of fun and a great value for $40.

I'd compare Nuts and Bolts to Sega's Chromehounds game. Both are really underappreciated titles that didn't benefit from much in the way of marketing and were perhaps damaged by underwhelming demos. Coincidentally both demos featured limited parts, slow vehicles, and didn't really showcase how fun either game could be.

Low sales or not, the franchise isn't going anywhere. Microsoft is desperate to expand on its userbase, reaching out to the non-hardcore gamers more and more - and can you blame them? People wanted a new Banjo Kazooie game, then bitched endlessly about this one without ever trying it, even at $40. The casual gamers, though harder to reach, just have to be easier to please - for starters they don't have [reconceived notions about what a game should be before they ever hear the first word about it. Of course those are the same people who are happily buying Play on Wii titles like Mario Tennis, so maybe I shouldn't expect too much from them.

In any case, Rare's going to continue to get support to make whatever game they want, with one exception. If the next Perfect Dark game doesn't garner a significant following, I'd guess that franchise is either killed or moved to another developer, possibly even switching genres. The 360 has enough successful FPS games that Microsoft doesn't need to fund one that's not making waves on its own.


- Good night, sweet prince…


Topic #6: Sure, there may be a drought in the industry, but what game reviews are on tap from you all? Any other games occupying your free time?

Drew Robbins - As of now, my review slate is clean, though I am patiently awaiting Burnout Paradise on the PC to find its way into my home.

My spare time has been split between three games, starting with Madden 09. Something about last year's iteration just really grabbed me, and I've sunk a fair share of time into it, just yesterday I won my third Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams (this is probably the only way I'll ever see them win again). Even though I wrapped up my review for it, Rock Band 2 has kept me occupied with the best soundtrack of any game I've ever played. Seriously, it just keeps getting better, and now downloadable songs have come to the Wii! Finally we have Left 4 Dead, which I think should have gotten more of a fair shake among journalists as being one of last year's top games. I'm done with the single player, but I'm not really a fan of this versus mode, partially because I suck and…who am I kidding, it is only because I suck. This game will end up being a solely co-op affair, it seems like a safe bet for me to stick with Team Fortress 2 for my competitive multiplayer.

Ramon Aranda - Currently I'm finishing up the review for Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff. Though I had gone through a few seasons while on vacation in Mexico, I hadn't gotten a chance to dip into the online mode. The game is still pretty entertaining though there are some issues with statistics that bug me, but overall, it's a nice throwback to when football was as simple as they come.

Aside from Tecmo Bowl, I've been playing more of Fight Night Round 3 (hey, I'm the boxing editor too, remember?) as well as The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which I never got around to playing, and finally Fallout 3.

Rod Oracheski - While I keep talking about clearing out my backlog of games (and I've made a little progress, finishing Fracture and Secret Service) it's Call of Duty: World at War that's occupying my time. Like I said in Achievement Unlocked, I have a group of friends who are continually playing the game and thanks to the viral nature of Xbox Live's Friends list, that means they get me playing it as well.

I'm kind of hoping they'll move on to something else soon as I have a huge backlog that I really do want to get through. Here's a list of games that I've started, but still haven't finished: Fallout 3, The Last Remnant, Infinite Undiscovery, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Brother in Arms: Hell's Highway, Red Alert 3, Far Cry 2, Saints Row 2, Ninja Gaiden 2, TimeShift, Devil May Cry 4, Pure, Tomb Raider Underworld, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Mercenaries 2...

It's scary to see that put all in one place, and there are games missing - Sonic Unleashed is sitting on my desk, for example. It's not really one that I 'want' to play, however...

Two that I do want to play are Afro Samurai (a new release that just arrived on my desk) and Naruto: The Broken Bond (an older release that the demo inspired me to track down). Both have great art styles and that's got me hooked, despite having not seen anything else about the material.

I also liked the original Naruto game that hit the 360, though it didn't inspire me to look into the anime at all, so it'll be interesting to see if Afro Samurai can get me to check out its related work.


- If you want to get an easy win, my PSN ID is Kikind.

Until next time…

That is all for the debut of Three Player Co-Op, what are your thoughts on this week's topics? Have a question you would like to ask the 411 staff for next week's column? Leave your feedback below in the comments section or email me at [e-mail].