A Rare missed opportunity

The NXE, (New Xbox Experience), has been out for a month but it already feels old and worn in, (in a good way). As difficult as it is to gauge the success of what amounts to mandatory interface update, there appear to be more positive that negative reactions. I personally prefer the NXE, it runs faster on my Xbox 360 and despite the fact that he looks a bit generic I like my little avatar. It's just too bad that the avatars represent an opportunity that Rare and Microsoft did not take advantage of: integration of avatars into their new games.

Rare was working on Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise concurrently with the avatars for the NXE, so I can't help but wonder why they wouldn't have integrated the avatars. From a marketing perspective it couldn't have hurt to advertise that Banjo Kazooie and Viva Pinata 2 support avatars. Sales of Uno and A Kingdom for Keflings were higher than expected and a portion of those sales can be attributed to folks who wanted to see their avatars in-game. Having the avatars supported in these games would also have helped promote the NXE and the Xbox 360; Microsoft needed to show gamers why avatars matter and including them in two big-name games right out of the gate would have helped.

From a consumer's perspective, (mine specifically), it would be a blast to be able to tend my garden in Viva Pinata 2 as my avatar. Since Rare designed the avatars, they are an aesthetic match to Viva Pinata and wouldn't look out of place wandering around in-game. To take it a step further, the folks on the Xbox Live friends list could inhabit the game as shopkeepers or garden workers. In Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts it would obviously not work to be able to play as your avatar through the single player story, but they could still be worked into the game as inspirational statues in the town or as a citizen and in multiplayer there is no reason why players couldn't exist as their avatar.

Microsoft forced me to choose or create an avatar when I booted up the NXE, and now I hope they do something interesting with it. It's just a shame they didn't use Rare's games to that end.

PS2 on PS3, how might it work? (aside from how it already does)

According to an interview with GamePro, SCE's Hardware Marketing Director John Kohler mentions that Sony is "absolutely interested" in providing downloadable Playstation 2 games, which would be similar to the Xbox Originals downloads available on Xbox Live. Of course, Playstation 2 games would have to be emulated on all newer PS3 consoles, since those newer models no longer contain internal legacy hardware to run said PS2 games.

This brings up the following questions:
-If Sony were to go through with such an endeavour, would the emulation software be coded into the firmware of the Playstation 3 or will the games themselves be reworked on an individual basis to run on the PS3?
-If the emulation software for PS2 games is coded into the Playstation 3 firmware, will it allow the newer PS3 consoles to run PS2 disks, or will consumers be forced to re-purchase the games that they may already own through the PS3 online store?

None of this is certain yet as it is unclear whether or how actively Sony will pursue downloadable Playstation 2 games, but should it happen, I really don't want to be forced to download a copy of Shadow of the Colossus when I have a perfectly good copy sitting in my stack of games.


Source: GamePro (relevent information on second page)

_______ of War?

After waiting far too long for Gears of War 2 to be mailed to my home, (props to Future Shop for waiting a full week before starting the shipping process and to the Canadian postal service for not working on Saturdays), I've finally played through the single player campaign. Aside from having an absolute blast, there's something I began to notice around halfway in: Gears of War 2 has a lot in common with the God of War games.

In terms of level structure the games are quite similar, (especially once you go underground). Gears of War 2 and God of War both create breathtakingly epic environments, but put you on an ultra-linear, almost claustrophobic path through them. Both games utilize super-simple puzzles or minigames from time to time to break up the standard action gameplay. Both games involve rooms full of enemies where the exit will not open or appear until all enemies have been defeated. The civilizations represented in both Gears of War and God of War have a ridiculous fixation with switches and pressure plates.

(SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH) In Gears of War 2 the bosses also seem to draw directly from the God of War school of design. Seriously, taking down Skorge boils down to not aiming, not shooting, not moving, but just PRESS 'B' RAPIDLY. The bosses in the original Gears of War resembled classic FPS bosses, the sort you might see in Doom or Quake where you unload boatloads of ammo until you find a weak point, then unload more boatloads of ammo into the weak point while not dying, (think of RAAM or the corpser). In all honesty, while fighting the Leviathan, (though it was undeniably fun and one of the more graphically stunning enemies to date), I may as well have whipped out my blades of chaos and fell to my knees yelling "ATHENA!!!!!."

Gears of War 2

I've been unable to put the time I would like into writing about games lately, but I'm not going to do a whole post about my lack of time so I'll use what little I have to talk about a game I've been looking forward to for a long time and is hitting stores on friday: Gears of War 2.
I absolutely loved the first Gears of War. The gameplay was fresh and exciting, the graphics were simply astounding and it had the best co-op experience that I had played since Halo and Halo 2. I can't speak on behalf of Gears of War 2 yet because I haven't played it, so instead I'll leave that to the following video reviews (they both overflow a bit onto the right sidebar, my apologies):

Rekindling my love for Viva Pinata/Scene It is a good game

Well, I've been sort of lazy and busy lately and I haven't gotten the chance to really write much out. During my spare time I've become addicted to Viva Pinata... again, (that's right, the original). I've also been playing Scene It: Box Office Smash with my wife and sometimes with our friends. I have to say, if you have avoided it because you consider yourself too much of a hardcore gamer, (like I did until recently), try giving it a shot. It's a lot of fun if you can find 1-3 other people to play with you and there is currently a demo on Xbox live so check it out if you have an Xbox.

That's all you're getting out of me today!

Max Payne: the movie

Mark Wahlberg was a fantastic choice for this movie. His range of emotions covers everything necessary for such a film. If you don't believe me, just ask Max:

Max says I'm right.

How much would you pay to reduce load times on your PS3?

It's amazing how big games are getting these days. Big-budget next-gen titles can occupy up to 50Gb thanks to the Playstation 3's BluRay drive*. This allows games to include large amounts of uncompressed textures, video and audio. The downside of the Blu-Ray drive is a rather limited read speed that has led to the practice of installing large portions of games to the PS3's hard drive. Even with large portions of games installed to the hard drive, you may still have to wait for anywhere from six to ~thirty seconds.

I don't find those load times to be a big nuisance. However for those ADD-riddled gamers who can't sit still for that long, ExtremeTech has tested the effects of installing a high-performance solid-state drive, (SSD), in a Playstation 3. They find that load times are reduced quite a bit. The difference between the PS3 HDD and the SSD"anywhere from 33% to over 40%. The question is, are you willing to dish out $600-700 for such an upgrade?
Check out ExtremeTech's article here.



*Let's put 50Gb into perspective. Back in 2001 I was absolutely shocked that a full install of Baldur's Gate II was going to occupy 2Gb of my 10Gb hard drive. That's a 2,400% increase in the size of what we consider a 'big game.'

Microsoft's TGS 2008 keynote

Microsoft's keynote at the Tokyo Game Show has just ended, and with it came several announcements, including at least two major ones:

• Tekken 6 will be released on the Xbox 360. This will be the first time that a Tekken game has arrived on a non-Sony platform (not counting arcade). Release is set for fall 2009.


• The speculation is over regarding Bungie's next Halo project. Halo 3: Recon has been confirmed as a Halo 3 campaign expansion, (a "standalone-expansion" according to xbox.com), where the player plays as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper and will also include new multiplayer maps. Release is set for fall 2009. Check out the new trailer at Bungie's website here.

Other highlights of the Microsoft keynote:

• Last Remnant will premier exclusively on Xbox 360 on Nov 20, 2008.


• Star Ocean: The Last Hope will arrive on Xbox 360 February 19, 2009 in Japan and March 3, 2009 in North America.


• Ninety Nine Nights 2 was announced exclusively for Xbox 360.


• Space Invaders: Extreme, Arkanoid: Live, King of Fighters Ultimate 98, Metal Slug 7 and R-Type all were announced for Xbox Live.


• The "New Xbox Live Experience," (NXE) will launch November 19 2008 globally, (that's the new blades system and avatars, etc.)


• The Flood have been announced as a race in Halo Wars, which is set for an "early 2009" release.

Sonic Chronicles, Bionic Commando Rearmed and the Nintendo DSi

I finally beat Bionic Commando: Rearmed today and cannot stress enough; it is a fantastic game. Don't let the lack of a jump button deter you, once you get used to the swinging mechanics you will find that the control scheme allows for far more control than you might expect as well as some interesting and creative platforming puzzles and secret areas galore. I won't say it isn't tough, I only played on normal difficulty and came damn near breaking my controller on multiple occasions, but that difficulty only makes it so much more satisfying when you overcome it.

I've also started playing Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood. I'm only about forty-five minutes into the game so I can hardly comment on the game as a whole but at least I am enjoying the attitude and writing. Imagine a really well written children's cartoon. It's good, but you still won't get any adult themes or situations, (and that doesn't automatically mean sex you perv). Once again that is based on only the first forty-five minutes so... things could take a turn for the worse. Or not. My only negative comment is that I would like to tie up Amy the hedgehog in a burlap sack and drown her. That isn't to say that my dislike for her is a good reason to not include her in a game, but damn. Okay, maybe I have one other negative comment; I think the game would have benefited from not using any touch controls whatsoever. I know about a billion people are going to disagree with me and possibly hate me for saying this but I hate having to drag my character around the screen by the tits à la Phantom Hourglass. Just because the touch screen is there doesn't mean it must be used. If I find out there are any mini-games that involve blowing on the microphone I swear I'm going to murder someone.

On the news front, Nintendo announced the newest version of their little handheld that can: the Nintendo DSi. Apparently the screens are slightly bigger, but from the reports I've read the resolution is the same. Also a .3 megapixel camera will be built in and possibly the best news is that a flash SD slot will be added so that DSware, (like Wiiware), games may be downloaded directly to the system. That stuff is all well and good but honestly I don't care about any of it. I'll buy it if the console will actually support the WPA wireless encryption standard this time around. As it stands I can't utilize the Wi-Fi abilities of my Nintendo DS because my wireless network is WPA encrypted, (and hopefully so is anyone's network who has any common sense). I don't really think it's something Nintendo cares about, but let's just hope it was considered this time, (even if it means less battery time).

Of course there's at least one major problem as I see it, the GBA slot has been altogether removed from the system. I'm not sure how many people truly still play GBA games, plus the nature of the industry is to move forward and after four years of obsolescence it may be time to stop supporting the old format. However, the major problem with not including a GBA slot is that peripherals which require the GBA port will now become useless. The Guitar Hero World Tour fretboard peripheral will be unusable as will the memory cartridge for the DS version of the Opera web browser. I don't know if these products have been taken into account but this would seem to me to be a major issue. Maybe Nintendo just frankly doesn't give a shit. Sometimes I get the impression that caveat emptor is the mantra around the offices of the big N. Of course what they really want is simply for the millions of DS owners in the world to have to shell out more cash for the third iteration of the same handheld. Innovation my ass. (I should have bought a PSP, it would have been more expensive but I wouldn't have had to buy three of them).

On one last, entirely different note, I encountered a fantastic freeware game last week. It's been out for around a year so I'm a bit late to the party, but I would like to share it nonetheless. It's called "Death Worm," and it is frigging amazing. Have you ever thought "damn I wish I were one of the huge-ass sandworms from Dune?" Neither had I until I played this game. Few things are as fun as launching into the sky like some sort of freakish sand-dolphin, taking out a plane in midair, and devouring several camels and maybe a bewildered desert-dweller or two on the landing. Yeah, it's awesome. Check it out here.

is it worth 400 clams?

I'm actually beginning to entertain the idea of purchasing a Playstation 3 for myself. Previously I've never found any games or features compelling enough for me to shell out $400, (probably more... backwards compatibility is a deal breaker for me), but now there's a game that may seal the deal.

It isn't Little Big Planet, though if I were to have a PS3 already in my possession I would undoubtedly jump on it. It isn't Metal Gear Solid 4 either, (boy did the hype for that game fall off fast), nor is it Resistance 2 or Killzone 2. To tell the truth, I don't even care about BluRay and by the time I do care to watch all my movies in high definition, either BluRay players will be cheap anyway or there will be other solutions available.

The reason for my interest in Playstation 3 is my long-time love for Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Fahrenheit, (a.k.a. Indigo Prophecy). If that statement alone isn't enough to clue you in to what game I am anticipating, this should help a bit:

I guess the only other reason why I might go out and drop 400 clams on a big, black shiny paperweight is if I Warren Spector himself announced his plans to personally develop and bring Deus Ex 3 to PS3 exclusively.