411 Fact or Fiction 12.29.08: The Final FoF of 2008!

Posted by Jacob Lopez on 12.29.2008

Jay here taking over for Ramon who decided to take a little vacation from the whole 411 thing (I guess being editor has its perks). We talk about a whole lotta crap: Game of the Year, Atari's future with Harrison and more.

Fact or Fiction is the gift that keeps on giving. Tommy had to take a break and Ramon took over, but the guy decided to do some family stuff. Now I will be taking care of the column for the next 3 weeks while Ramon roams the beaches of Mexico.

Without further ado, let me introduce the two 411 staffers manning the guns for this edition of Fact or Fiction.

On the left corner we have 411mania's Sean Garmer, he reviews games when Ramon sends them his way, and has a soccer column for the 411 sports section. Give the guy a hand.


On the right we've got Chris Vicari who covers gaming for the site and does a crap-load of news writing. Let's wish him a warm welcome.

Let's-a go!

1. A few outlets (most notably Spike TV's VGAs, which is part of the GameTrailers network) have named GTA IV Game of the Year. GTA IV deserves that title.

Sean Garmer: FACT. GTA IV did a lot of good things with the series this year. It gave us a serious storyline that was believable (and that to me was the thing that made me want to play it.) The over-the-top nature of the previous games turned me off, besides I really didn't like any of the characters either. Niko was the exception, and not to mention they added a lot of other endearing characters to the mix. They added some variety to the missions and they mixed in the same old stuff we are used to from a GTA game. It makes for a nice package. It deserves the title, would I personally say it is game of the year, no. I think that goes to Metal Gear, but it deserves to be in the running.

Chris Vicari: FICTION While I am most certainly enjoying my PC copy of GTA IV despite the obscene amount of bugs, I'm going to disagree with Sean on this one. GTA IV was a tremendous improvement over its predecessors, but if I were to shoot from the hip, I'd say Left 4 Dead deserves title because it's the most enjoyable game I've played in years. If I had to really pick one though, I'd go with Fallout 3. While it wasn't quite like the Fallouts I remember, it was a spectacular experience and it helped push the RPG genre into some newer territory.

Score: 0 for 1


2. Sony needs to drop the PS3's price by at least $100 within the coming months in order to save their console.

Sean Garmer: FICTION. Mainly because it just seems like there is no way a Sony console can just die. Look at the PSP and PS2's sales. Many thought that the PSP was about to hit the wayside not too long ago and now look at it. The PS2 is still selling units too. If Sony wants to make themselves more marketable to a larger audience I would recommend them cutting the price at least 100 bucks. Personally, until they do I'm not buying a PS3 it costs too much for me right now. I think its too far of a stretch to say that the PS3 will die if they don't cut the price, but these losses its suffering will continue if they don't. There is always going to be some IP they come out with to keep sales doing decent, but if they want the big numbers do us all a favor Sony and drop the price.

Chris Vicari: FACT When compared to the other two blockbuster consoles on the market, the PS3 is still not worth the price tag for a Blu-Ray player and meager exclusives. I believe Sony should lower the price and $100 sounds fine. The justification for the drop shouldn't be to "save" the console though, because I don't think it's going anywhere, but to draw some fresh blood in. If Sony can deliver more quality exclusive titles like Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Resistance 2, than the company and the console has nowhere to go but up. I find it odd yet hilarious at the same time that their dated PS2 console still hauls in boatloads of cash and the PS3 is struggling. An obvious sign of an issue and it's time to amend it. Drop the price. To go a step further, halt all development for the dated console, allowing you to take the financial hit of a cheaper PS3.


Score: 0 for 2


3. Now that all the major games have been released for the year, it is safe to say that 2008 was a much better year than 2007.

Sean Garmer:FACT This year we got GTA IV, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Mirror's Edge, a better version of Rockband, Guitar Hero's foray into the all band realm and much more. There are so many games I still want to buy that came out this year, I just don't have the money. Ultimately, if games this good keeping coming out year after year, the gamers are the big winners. If they are happy that is what counts.

Chris Vicari: FACT I barely remember last year's releases aside from Orange Box, Crysis, and World in Conflict, this year is definitely much better than the previous one.

Score: 1 for 3


Time for the switch, kiddos!


4. Recently, Phil Harrison, formerly of SCEA was quoted as saying, "What Bobby, perhaps unhelpfully said, was that those games were franchises which wouldn't make $100m of revenue and generate sequels. If that's his benchmark, then fine -- and we'd love to aspire to the same benchmarks. But you know what? I would love to turn Ghostbusters into a $100m franchise, just to prove him wrong." With that said, is it safe to assume that Phil Harrison will change Atari for the better.

Chris Vicari:Fact: Atari has been making good on franchises other companies have dropped for no apparent reason such as Riddick and Ghost Busters. I think it's great Harrison is giving some IPs a fighting chance even if they probably won't make $100 million, or have the potential to be "exploited," according to Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. I'm behind Atari on their decision to support Ghost Busters 100%. If it does well enough, it proves tremendous for Atari, as well as being a nice jab at Kotick.



Sean Garmer:Fact. Phil Harrison has a good track record with turning things around. I mean he ended up the head of Sony's Worldwide Studios for a reason right? So with his help I think Atari will make Ghostbusters into something very good. I mean just having the original actors in the game is plus in itself, and it already seems to give the ultimate fan service for those ghostbusters lovers. I don't know how they could go wrong with the game as is, but with the help of Harrison I would assume it could only get better, if it proves to be a success imagine what he can do with a new game started from scratch? There are endless possibilities there, and I'm glad he will be there to help such a company like Atari that is one of the industries founding fathers.

Score: 2 for 4



5. 2008, from a gamer's standpoint, was a great year for new IPs. Unfortunately, most of them (Boom Blox, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge) have had less-than-stellar sales. Activision is playing it safe and avoiding new properties this year even to the extent of ditching games that have no sequel potential. This may not send the best message to publishers. Will publishers be more reluctant in future years to put money on new Intellectual Properties?

Chris Vicari:Fact: It is my belief, due to the current economic climate, publishers have become or will become a lot less frugal with their hard-earned cash. This means going the route of what works by churning run-of-the-mill games that are guaranteed to turn a profit, rather than taking risks on potentially innovative or refreshing titles. Once the market pulls a 180, you can be sure publishers are once again willing to fork out some money on risky maneuvers. Until that happens, expect Call of Duty 7 Modern Warfare 5 sometime within the next few years.




Sean Garmer: Fact. If you want some proof, look at Midway, Activision, and THQ. They are going to stick with franchises that they know are going to make them money, because they don't want to have to be like Midway and be ruing the day they ever decided to make TNA Impact. They have to start picking and choosing what they spend money on because they are in the credit crunch just like the rest of us. One wrong move can cost them enough money to put them in serious trouble. The only company that seems to be able to make new IP's is EA. So until the country becomes financially stable again, we will have to rely on the small time publishers to make us due with those new IP's we all love.


Score still at: 3 for 5


6. Jack Thompson buying Take-Two stock is bad news for the publisher (Thanks Jack, you gave us something to write about).

Chris Vicari:Fiction: The only time Jack Thompson's stock purchase will ever prove ill for the publisher is when he holds 51% share majority, and that will never happen. While it may raise a few eyebrows, I don't believe anything negative will come of it, except for maybe Mr. Thompson himself, but the man has to be immune to criticism by now.



Sean Garmer: Fiction. This just gave Take'Two some press that could help or hinder them. Regardless, this shows that Jack Thompson has finally given in to the power of video games and bought stock in the company that he tried so hard to take down. As Chris said, as long as he does not have a holding stake in the company will be fine.

Score: 4 for 6


Well, seems like the guys see eye-to-eye on everything we asked them this time. Man, I wanted a FIGHT. Oh well, till next time, we are out.

Cheers!