Worst game deals ever

Ah you Americans. You think you have life so hard. PS3s are overpriced at $400? Still waiting for a price drop? You’ve just been spoiled lately. At $200 Xbox 360s are so cheap it’s crazy. Next thing you know they will giving them away with a subscription to Vanity Fair. The Wii has stayed at $250 for two and a half years? The price actually went UP in England. So whilst you sit at home chowing down your $1 burgers and browse the net on your $300 PCs, spare a thought for your fellow gaming enthusiasts in England. In America it takes effort and dedication to build a decent gaming collection. In England it takes a bank loan.
Here are a few prime examples of why English people have such a bitter, cynical sense of humor. Once you get screwed enough times you find it hard to look on the bright side of life.
(Please note that all currency conversion is based on the current economic situation which as we all know is completely up a certain creek without a certain paddle).

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (N64) 1997 – 70GBP = 115USD


That is the look of a game clearly worth $115

I had been saving up my pennies since first hearing about the Ultra 64, as it was first known. Quite a few pennies actually, because whilst it launched for $199 in America, the 250 pounds it cost in England puts it at around $410. Anyway, as we all know software was very thin on the ground around the launch period on the N64 so I was desperate to get my hands on any decent game at the time. Acclaim was clearly aware of this and slapped a hefty price tag on Turok. As the first game I owned that required a memory card you can add an extra 35GBP ($57) to that for the unofficial but large memory card that I bought with it. It promptly broke soon after and I have always bought official products since.
Worth it? – Hell no! $160 to run around in the fog? At the time I loved it, but seeing as I had spent all the money I owned in the world to get it, I think I was entitled to a bit of self-delusion. And yet people are complaining that Halo: ODST will be a full price game?

Street Fighter II: Turbo (SNES) 1994 – 70GBP = 115USD


The boxart was apparently an attempt to add insult to injury

As an avid fan of Street Fighter II there was no way I was going to pass up the Turbo edition. Faster! Four more playable characters! Slightly tweaked moves! New color costumes! I still remember the horrified look on my mother’s face when I got it home and started playing it. When she remarked that she thought I already owned this game I explained to her the differences. Which didn’t take long. For some reason she felt that $115 for what would be a patch on most games nowadays was a waste of money.
Worth it? – Every penny. I forced myself to play that game continuously for the best part of a year in order to prove my mother wrong… yay.

Samba de Amigo (Dreamcast) 2000 – 80GBP = 131USD


You would have to be in a state of mind similar to this to spend $130 on a game

Samba de Amigo was released in very limited quantities in the UK (I believe around 1000) and many of them were only available through Sega’s website. Being a stupid kid with a passion for videogames that bordered on the insane, I had to have it. The 80GBP that I paid was amazingly a 20% discount from the suggested RRP of 100GBP. It was weird, it was state of the art and most importantly it was Japanese.
Worth it? – Yes and no. I was one of an elite few who owned Samba de Amigo in the UK. However, perhaps considering its price point ‘elite’ should be substituted for ‘mentally challenged’. My excuse was that it would be a form of exercise and of course that never panned out, but it was a fixture at parties all the way through university so compared to the others in the list I guess it can almost be considered a wise purchase. In Japan I bought a second hand set for $40.

PSN


How much would you pay for this? What do you mean, nothing?

I love downloading games on PSN. It’s fast, convenient, and you don’t have to pay all those magical PAL release taxes which seem to almost double the price of anything sold in the UK. Except that sadly that isn’t true. Despite all the obvious reasons as to why all PSN stores should share identical price points, the UK store rebels against commonsense. Tragically, like their disc-based counterparts they suffer from the bastardized form of video game price-point logic; Pounds equal Dollars. Any economist would tell you that simply isn’t true, but Sony would beg to differ. The actual price isn’t necessarily that high (Big Surf Island for Burnout Paradise is about $16.50 instead on $13) but it’s still breathtakingly disrespectful. But at least that equation has some logic to it. Take the example of the Resident Versus Mode. In America it is $5, England $6.50 and in Japan a mere $2.50. Do yourself a favor, create a US account and get hold of some US point cards if you want to pay the same as they do in ‘The land of the free’.
Worth it? – Yeah… but it’s still very cheeky.

The PS3 March 23rd 2007 – 425GBP = 700USD


We miss your insanity Ken

Was $600 a crazy price for the PS3 to launch at? Probably. Yet consider yourself lucky that you didn’t have to add another $100 to that price. As if to add insult to injury the UK got it almost half a year after the US. Nonetheless people duly queued up round the block to take it home on launch day. It was a mere coincidence that they all happened to be wearing top hats, monocles and fur coats. Ken Kutaragi wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted us to get second jobs in order to buy the PS3. Thankfully the price did drop and you are only expected to pay $500. Thank you Sony.
Worth it? – I love my PS3, but I did buy it in Japan so I didn’t have to sell a kidney in order to buy it.


The average UK PS3 owner

So, what was the most extortionate amount you have spent on a game? Or even just paid too much for a game that really wasn’t worth it? I expect some people have got unopened copies of Radiant Silvergun lying around the house.

Why didn't you finish Bioshock?

Bioshock has a completion rate of around 50%. When I heard this I was pretty shocked that only half of the people who started playing it got all the way through to the end credits. But apparently this 50% completion rate is one of the highest on any Xbox 360 game to date. In my and many others’ opinion, Bioshock was an enthralling masterpiece that had a particularly interesting plot and an atmosphere to rival anything generated on the silver screen. One of the most appealing qualities was that its world seemed realistic, organic and contained its own logic to which it adhered. Of course the fascinating cast of eccentric characters were as colorful and as memorable a set of sociopaths as you could hope to see, outside of an American Idol audition. Oh, and as a side point it was a very good game. So why oh why did many people decide that it was simply not worth the effort of slugging it through to the end? I formed some theories or excuses for those cheese eating surrender monkeys too cowardly to choke down some freedom fries (that is a shockingly outdated reference but one that I still find amusing).



“It was too hard”
Implausible - No chance. Come on. It was a great game sure but the challenge all came at the beginning of the game; once you conquered your first Big Daddy you were essentially home free. Add in the generous infinite respawn and that excuse hardly carries weight. Difficult? If it were Mega Man it would be a valid reason to admit defeat, but beyond a mildly irritating sequence at the end, you know the one I mean, there are very few points of frustration in the game. By the way, if it were Mega Man then a boss would be called Daddy Man. Or Big Man.

“I got bored”
Pretty implausible - Well…I will be the first to admit that after a certain point the game seems to drag on a little unnecessarily, but if you got to that point then its hard to see how you wouldn’t be so invested in the game that you felt compared to push on to the ending. And until that point the story is so compelling that it would make most people overlook any personal misgivings to do with combat or any other elements of the game. For the 50% of us that did bother to complete the game, well perhaps it could have wrapped up a couple of hours earlier anyway, eh?



“My 360 exploded”
Plausible – Ok I will give you that one.


The casual gamer can sense the release of a new Spiderman game from 500 yards

“I was distracted by a newer, shiner game"
Bingo - Taadaa! We hit the jackpot. Gamers, both hardcore and casual, are like magpies. We can easily be enticed by ‘the next big thing’, (game with a marketing budget). Or of course, falling off the wagon and getting back into World of Warcraft. And as the age of the average gamer increases so does their disposable income but their free time to play games decreases. The upshot of this is that nowadays many gamers don’t feel the need to rinse every ounce of entertainment out of their purchase…
At least I would like that to be the scapegoat excuse, but even I can’t swallow that.

I guess I was particularly interested by the statistic because it was Bioshock. This was a beautiful and well executed game that was critically lauded, had a compelling plot, great voice acting, but was unlikely to be known by the mainstream casual gamer. By that logic it was bought by well informed consumers, aware of the amount of praise received by the game, who were hardcore gamers. Still only 50% completed it. Maybe Halo 3’s ‘Finish the fight’ slogan was a desperate plea by Bungie rather than a slick marketing slogan.

I’m stumped. Any theories would be welcome.

How inFAMOUS made Prototype famous

First off let me just say that I have yet to play either of these games. I will be starting inFAMOUS soon and will try and pick up Prototype if I can find it for relatively cheap, but I digress. This is about how these two games have been intrinsically linked with each other, and about how inFAMOUS made Prototype famous. Let’s just say that Activision should be very grateful to Sucker Punch for releasing their game around the same time period.



By now we are pretty familiar with the history of these two games. Since they first appeared the apparent similarities between the games were discussed and debated by video game journalists ad nauseam. Recently both were released and the public managed to draw their own conclusions. Now we can chew over the tiny insignificant details which our community loves to do, argue about metacritic scores and belittle the opinion of others whilst making passive aggressive and overtly aggressive attacks on anyone who doesn’t agree with us. Ah, video game culture. It’s like being stuck in a lift with Joan Rivers and Sean Hayes.

We have always needed a point of comparison with video games. After all, that’s how the term ‘Halo Killer’ came about. The original PS2 Killzone, whilst a decent game, was portrayed as Sony’s answer to Halo. It failed to live up to those lofty expectations and as such was seen as a disappointment. Due to the talented Sucker Punch team, of Sly Cooper fame, working on inFamous it was likely to be a quality product. As it was a PS3 exclusive, those who had only 360s needed a game to rally around. Luckily they had Prototype.



The strangest thing is that Prototype isn’t a 360 exclusive. Looking at the various ‘Prototype vs inFAMOUS threads around the internet you might be hard pushed to realize that as sooner or later they descend into 360 vs PS3 handbag brawls. This turn of events has been very fortuitous for developers Radical Entertainment. The rivalry that has been generated gave their game plenty of exposure and the public rallying around a console equals more sales for any game. Judging by the reviews, both games are good and personal taste will dictate which you enjoy more. inFamous will probably go onto to achieve decent sales figures, but will obviously hindered by the smaller install base of the PS3. Meanwhile Activision can expect Prototype to achieve perhaps even stronger sales than they might have anticipated, and certainly more than ‘Hulk: Ultimate Destruction’ with which Prototype owes a lot to. Again lest we forget, they will probably sell a lot on both the 360 and PS3.



The most unfortunate aspect of the ‘inFAMOUS vs Prototype’ debate is that Red Faction: Guerrilla has received less attention from the press and public. As a multiplatform release with no obvious parallels to draw to a ‘rival’ game, it doesn’t have the same fanboy draw. From what I’ve heard it’s a really entertaining and fun game. Which also happens to be an open world sandbox game. Shouldn’t it be ‘inFAMOUS vs Prototype vs Red Faction: Guerilla’? Alas no.

My point is that without inFAMOUS perhaps Prototype might not have achieved as much coverage as it did. Our innate urge to see two things in conflict brought about a concocted face off. And when Prototype gets famous, Activision gets richer. So which is the better game? Well I suppose I had better actually go out and buy all three. Gaming is certainly an expensive hobby, isn’t it?

Top five: Genres Natal will ruin

Spiderman taught us ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. He was talking about swinging around new New York kicking the crap out of other costumed nut jobs, but the same principle can be applied to Project Natal, Microsoft new full body motion sensing device. Now that developers have this new world of potential available to them, we can only pray that they decide to use this new technology in a meaningful way. The Wii has given us some valuable lessons about how motion controls can succeed, or rather how more often than not they fail. So developers out there, I beseech you not to defile these genres with unnecessary motion involved tomfoolery.

MMOs and RPGs


Personally, I blame it on the boogie

In a genre where everyone is trying to stamp their individuality on what is essentially a stock character, Natal could allow clothing or accessories to be scanned onto your avatar. And rather than be stuck with the generic dance motions in World of Warcraft, being able to bust out your own embarrassing routines could be entertaining. It should go without saying though Natal shouldn’t be involved in 99.99% of the experience. You don’t want to have to physically hack away at the screen to keep grinding those boars. You don’t want to have to actually walk hundreds of miles. It should go without saying, but seeing the hell Square-Enix put you through in FFXI, perhaps they need to be reminded of that. However if these sadists do want you to act out every action, dedicated FFXIV players (its going to come to 360 sooner or later) will not just be hardcore, they will be Spartans. Oh, and virtual sex is going to become even more horrific.

Racing games


Expect to see this a lot

When Burnout was demonstrated using Natal the response was ‘Why?’ rather than ‘Wow!’ I’m a pretty poor driver in real life (three minor crashes so far which is why I gave up) and having a controller gives me a misplaced sense of automobile competence. But my real issue is that, well, I’m a scratcher. Mainly nose but everyone needs to adjust themselves during a long play session. Whilst in most games a quick scratch wouldn’t affect you too badly, in a racing game using a virtual steering wheel it will undoubtedly result in catastrophe. I can thank of no other game in which an innocent scratch could be so grossly misinterpreted by Natal. Well, except maybe Milo.

Fighting games


Pub Fighter: A Project Natal exclusive

Initially it sounds like a perfect fit for Natal. Who wouldn’t want to kick some ninja ass without the risk of decapitation? Unfortunately this genre would rely on actual ability. Sure I can do a decent Hadouken gesture but a Hurricane kick? Not so much. Rather than the elegant fighting of Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter we would be reduced to something that represented our level; Pub Brawler. Two inebriated men going toe-to-toe/ whisky bottle to whisky bottle over a spilled pint or a ‘funny look’. Optional insults would include ‘Stitch that one Jimmy’, ‘Were you looking at my Missus?’, ‘I hate Man United’ and ‘You got a problem mate?’ Actually that does sound quite fun.

Cooking games


Those with severe self esteem issues should buy Cooking Mama

The problem which Project Natal continues to present to developers is that if they are giving the player representations of real life experiences, why not just do the thing in real life? Imagine if Cooking Mamma comes out on the 360 and is Natal compatible. First you painstakingly scan in your own utensils then proceed to simulate cooking a delicious meal. After forty minutes your virtual feast is finally complete. Satisfied, you pick up the phone and order a pizza. See anything wrong with this picture?
The experiences that Natal provides should be outside the norm. Having said that I’m not exactly sure how I would feel about milking a virtual cow in the next Harvest Moon. Unclean perhaps.

Japanese dating games


No, no, no, no, no, God no
Nothing more needs to be said.

What does your fantasy class say about you?

Nothing is accidental. When we make choices they all in some way reflect an aspect of our personality. Whether you have a Hello Kitty strap on your cell phone or like to wear a Hanson t shirt in an ‘ironic’ way, it was your decision to do so. When you are about to plough countless hours into an RPG I’m sure we all agonize over our choice. Then regret it about ten hours in. So what does your fantasy class say about you? Lets delve into the murky depths of our subconscious to uncover a few startling home truths.

The Warrior


The Warrior: brain sold separately

Ah, the Warrior. Always first on a character select list and always the easiest to have fun with. The Warrior is the choice of the thrill-seeker, the instant gratification lover, the hey-I-can-totally-smash-this-guys-head-in-with-a-giant-sword guy. Those who choose him have little need for complication in their lives, and are strong, fiercely independent types…

…or maybe not. In fact they are about as needy and co-dependant a character you will have ever seen outside of an American sitcom. Whilst they exude confidence and raw power, without a supporting character to heal, protect them and defend them from long distance attacks they end up getting picked off pretty quickly. Sure that raw display of machismo looks impressive at first, but the oiled, toned body, impractical loincloth and hilariously over-compensatory sword tells a different story. Like R Kelly they find themselves trapped in the closet.

The White Mage


Love me love me, say that you love me

I just mentioned that the Warrior was needy and co-dependant? This is his co-dependee. They need each other so much yet are so different. Can anyone else hear ‘The Odd Couple’ theme song?

White Mages are the rock of any party. They use their talents to heal, protect and resurrect all those around them. They hang back, dictating the flow of battles through authoritative commands and an assured presence. They also are desperate for acceptance, praise and affection. They live for the moment in battle when another party member is on the brink of death, then they swan in and heal them. When someone says ‘Thanks man, you really saved my ass’ they may act nonchalantly, but inside their stomach is churning with joy. A strange combination of the God complex and the need for others to acknowledge their value, they are fragile egos that need to be humored from time to time.

The Black Mage


Life hint: don't trust anyone with eyebrows like this

A figure of pure malevolence, the Black Mage is always slightly outside the group’s social circle. They just want to destroy as much as possible from a safe distance. Remember the kid in the playground who used to burn ants with a magnifying glass? Yeah, that’s what happened to him when he grew up. Nothing makes the Black Mage happier than standing atop a hill overlooking the battlefield and dropping magma megatons onto the frightened masses.

As such they are the most likely to ‘Go Steve Buscemi’ (turn crazy in a stressful situation and unleash hell). The advice of their teammates will fall on deaf ears as they continue to rain death down on defeated foes. Why should he listen to them? They are only an irritating necessity in his quest to inflict pain.

The Archer


The archer is so dull he doesn't deserve a color picture

A joyless creature to tell the truth. Lacking the visceral brutality of the Black Mage, the rampaging fun of the Warrior and the philanthropic nature of the White Mage, the archer is just…there. No one is exactly sure why every party needs one, but they also know that they should have one. It just doesn’t look quite right without an archer. The Archer is pure vanilla. The old British radio show ‘The Archers’ on the other hand is pure crap, so at least it’s better than that.

The Paladin


Mid-life crisis not pictured

Clearly the Paladin is the indecisive type. Unwilling to commit to any one style of play they end up as a ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ but master of none. The choice of the Paladin has two possible implications. You could be the loner, the self-sufficient John Wayne type who relies on no other to get by. They can heal themselves, handle a sword a bit and can spit out a few Street Fighter Dan-esque fireballs too. Of course the flip side of the coin is that the life of the Paladin is burdened with regret. You chose the safe route and are now so far along it that you can’t turn back. Did you go into an office job when your dream was to be in a rock band? Did you choose to spend you last holiday within your own country? Did you marry your childhood sweetheart because you didn’t have the guts to strike out and look for your true soul mate? I guess you chose the Paladin.

By the way, I usually play White Mage...

wtf moments: beer girls

There are so many things which sound wonderful on paper but fail to live up to expectations. Communism for example. Well you can add beer girls to that list, because whilst even the least misogynistic male would find the concept of a cute girl bringing them beer appealing, the reality is a little more painful. Yes they are very cute Japanese girls and yes they walk around baseball stadiums serving beer but they are carrying a hell of a lot of it. 2 liter bottles of water are pretty heavy and annoying to carry when you go on a picnic. Times that feeling by twenty and you might have some idea of what these girls have strapped to their backs. Oh and because they are working in baseball stadiums they are walking up and down stairs a lot. And they are shouting to draw attention to their wares. Sounds exhausting, doesn’t it? It’s no wonder then that although they begin the game perky, cheerful and cute as a button, they finish the evening looking like a crack addict trying to quit by going cold turkey. With rocks strapped to their back. Sweaty, stumbling and with a vacant look in their eyes, you want to buy beer off them out of pity, in order to momentarily lighten their load. Yet despite this Spartanesque effort, they seem to maintain their fragile, sylph-like figures. When doing so much exercise it must take quite a bit of effort not to gain muscles.

I would be remiss in my duty if I failed to mention the token beer boy that appears to be present at every stadium. They must be hired simply to fulfill quotas or stave off accusations of sexism, because like the Highlander, there can be only one. Unsurprisingly no one ever seems to buy beer from him. That may or may not have something to do with the very small shorts he is wearing.

Mascotpedia: Charmmy Kitty

Hello Kitty has a pet cat. Let that soak in for a minute. Ready? Hello Kitty has a pet cat. Still doesn’t sound strange? Well let’s delve a little deeper. Unfortunately we can’t delve too deeply because like all Sanrio mascots, complex characters and convoluted back stories are hardly their focus. Still, this thankfully leads to hilarious and ridiculous scenarios such as a cat having a pet cat.

As you can see Charmmy Kitty is far more cat-like than her owner, less into wearing human clothes and going shopping for example. She is clearly a few rungs lower on the evolutionary ladder than Ms. Hello, but far prettier. The only direct analogy that can rationally be made then is to compare this situation to Michael Jackson and his pet monkey Bubbles. Except that even Michael wasn’t straight-jacket-wearing crazy enough to call his pet Bubbles Jackson. Well, at the time anyway. Anyway, it’s hardly the most flattering comparison for Hello Kitty to be crazy enough to give her pet the same family name as herself, when even Michael resisted the temptation.

As for actual information, she is a white Persian cat that was given to Kitty by Papa, wears the key to Hello Kitty’s jewelry box around her neck, and likes bright and sparkly objects. Apparently she was born on October 31st 2004. Whether that means that she will pass away within the next decade or so has neither been confirmed or denied.

Oh, another fitting analogy would have been ‘The Planet of the Apes’ (the original version as opposed to the hideous monstrosity that was the Tim Burton re-imagining).

And Charmmy Kitty seems to have a pet hamster. Sigh.

thedogbarks vs toomanywires: SNES vs Mega Drive

This is the first in a series entitled 'thedogbarks vs toomanywires' in which I debate videogame related issues with toomanywires (whose blog can be found here). We will be tinkering with the format from time to time. We hope you enjoy these articles and feel free to chip in with your own comments.

thedogbarks - SNES



Back in the 90s it seemed to matter which was better, the SNES or the Mega Drive. Almost twenty years later we realize that, yes, it still does matter. Because like all arguments, this debate stems from the fact that you know that your opinion must be the correct one and you have no idea why any reasonable person would think otherwise. With that in mind, I invite you to read on and learn why I am right and everyone who dares to disagree with me is wrong.

Hardware



I will admit to partial ignorance when it comes to the technicality of which hardware was better than the other but it essentially boils down to this; the Mega Drive was fast but bland and the SNES was slower but more colorful. It depended on which of these two aspects was more important to you as to which console was better, but if you chose the Mega Drive you were wrong. For a few simple comparisons, the Mega Drive had a color palette of 512 colors of which it could display 62 onscreen at any one time. The SNES had 32,768 and could display 256 onscreen at once. Impressive? Of course. Meaningless numbers? That too is true. But putting aside gameplay preferences, if you ever wondered why the Streets of Rage looked like murky back alleys compared to the sparkling slums of Final Fight, it was due to the difference in the hardware capability. Yoshi’s island could never have been done on the Mega Drive and still stands up as a stunning graphical and artistic achievement.

Whilst they look primitive now, at the time the SFX chip and Mode 7, which were responsible for the birth of the Starfox and F-Zero franchises, were revolutionary and gave gamers a new perspective on games as well as some of the first in-game motion sickness experiences. Sonic was fast, sure, but there was no perspective or depth. Being hurled to the ground in Pilotwings was far more dizziness inducing. The comparison in sound quality also leans heavily in favor of the SNES. Unless you liked the grating and tinny beeps that were rung from the Mega Drive, its audio inferiority was obvious. If you were really into that kind of thing though you probably also believe that your alarm clock is an auditory treat.

The final nail in the coffin of the Mega Drive was the controller. You can argue all you want about the release of the six button controller but it didn’t come until five years after the launch of the system in 1993 to coincide with the release of Street Fighter 2. So if you wanted to be able to play the non-gimped version you had to shell out a pretty penny to get the same level of fidelity as the SNES offered. The six button controller wasn’t terrible, but the shoulder buttons that the SNES introduced are present in the PS3 and 360 controllers of the current generation. The SNES controller is the template for how we interact with videogames.

Software



Whilst the Mega Drive had a strong line up of games over its ten year lifespan, it pales in comparison to the SNES. At the time Nintendo had a chokehold on most of the major third parties which meant that the best games usually came to the SNES exclusively. Of course with the launch of the Playstation those embittered developers rightly abandoned Nintendo due to the arrogance and disdain that Nintendo had shown towards them. But at the time of the SNES it meant that the glory days kept on rolling. RPGs were particularly abundant and if you wanted to play Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire and so on, you needed a SNES. Of course the first party games were stunning as well and the likes of Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island 2, Super Metroid, Super Mario Kart, the Donkey Kong Country series, Starfox, Earthbound, Mario RPG and of course a Link to the Past simply blew away anything the Megadrive had to offer.

But lists are boring so I apologize and will get back to slamming the opposition. Let’s all be honest here; Sonic isn’t very good. Sure the first and second one weren’t that bad but from then on in it got pretty ugly. Even the ‘good’ Sonic games depend on the appeal of speed over precision, and well, you know, good level design. Instead Sonic relied on being cool, trendy and having attitude as well as bombarding coked up preteens (the drink not the drug) with the idea that speed = fun. Perhaps the idea was that if you threw a game fast enough at the consumers they wouldn’t realize that it wasn’t that good to begin with. I guess it worked.

Legacy



The sad fact is that the Mega Drive hasn’t aged well at all. Once you get old enough to see past the hype you notice that compared to the SNES it looks pretty ugly. So many of the SNES games listed above really have a timeless quality, both in terms of the game play experiences they delivered and the graphical style with which they were portrayed that playing them even today doesn’t feel awkward or tedious. Which I guess is why Nintendo feels that they can keep on milking the general public by rereleasing the games on every platform they have supported since the SNES. And we keep on eating them up. I for one have Super Mario World on the SNES, Gameboy Advance and on the Wii Virtual Console, and yet it still plays as beautifully now as the day it was released.

Back in the 90s we were dazzled by the slick marketing of Sega, who managed not only to make owning a Megadrive cool, but also made owning a SNES embarrassing. After the dust settled and we became old enough to hit puberty, have sex, drink, balance out our hormones and grow up, things became a little clearer. The SNES was better.

toomanywires - Mega Drive



“Super Nintendo, SEGA Genesis.
When I was dead broke, man I couldn’t picture this.”

When The Notorious BIG famously rapped those words, he spoke of the quality of two of the best loved video game consoles of all time. We should all aspire to own a Mega Drive (Genesis) and a Super Nintendo (Super Famicom), just like Biggie. What he forgot to say though, was that you should play your Mega Drive just that little bit more. Here is why;

Hardware



1988. The year that the 16bit Mega Drive, known as the Genesis in the US, was released. That is a full 2 years before Nintendo released the Super Famicom, to be know as the SNES in the West. The MD was the groundbreaker.

While Nintendo was still providing its customer base with 8 bit titles, SEGA was delivering heavy hitting, technologically superior titles like Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Super Thunder Blade and Revenge of Shinobi. SEGA was bringing an arcade experience into the home, whilst Nintendo owners were confined to the limitations of the NES. Yet, when Nintendo finally released their 16 bit machine in 1990, it provided no technological leap from the benchmark SEGA had set two years previous. This speaks volumes about what SEGA were able to achieve.

Unlike Nintendo, SEGA were not content to rest on their laurels, constantly reshaping consumer expectations of their 16 bit machine. In 1991, the Mega CD add-on was released in Japan, to follow elsewhere in subsequent years, and known as the SEGA CD in America. It featuring a faster CPU, more memory and better graphics and most importantly CD games had a cpacity of 5120 megabits, compared to the 8-16 megabits of a cartridge. A further add-on, the 32X, would follow a couple of years later. Although they were by and large commercial failures, they do further demonstrate SEGA’s willingness to embrace new technolgies, adding further value to their existing system. SEGA were constantly pushing things forward, and it made you feel good to be a SEGA fan.

Software



When it comes to games, there a handful of greats and a significant number of gems on the Mega Drive. Sure, the MD can’t boast some of the stone cold classics that featured on the SNES (Final Fantasy IV-IV, Chrono Trigger), but for any serious gamer there is a wealth of excellent games on the MD.

When talking about the Mega Drive you have to start with the iconic Sonic The Hedgehog. Whilst he has undoubtedly taken a turn for the worse over the last few years, he remains a cultural icon of the 90s, and was at that time every bit Mario’s equal. Why play as a plodding, childish overweight plumber, when you could take control of a blue hedgehog with attitude, whizzing through greenery at break neck speeds? To this day, I cannot comprehend the appeal of Mario as opposed to Sonic.

Sales wise, Sonic 2 would be the high water mark. An outstanding game, it was released in America and Europe on November 24th 1992, a Tuesday, dubbed as “Sonic 2’s day”. Even their marketing puns were pure gold.

At first, SEGA couldn’t get big name third party developers, as at the time Nintendo had them locked into exclusive contracts. To combat this, Sega took a new approach; licensing celebrities such as Joe Montana, Evander Holyfield and Michael Jackson to headline games with a wide appeal. Once again SEGA were ahead of their time, spearheading a trend that has continued to this day. This is a further instance of SEGA thinking outside of the box.

Sonic The Hedgehog titles, the Streets of Rage series, Shining Force games, the Phantasy Star series, Road Rash, Golden Axe, Desert Strike, Shinobi, Earthworm Jim, Mortal Kombat 2, Gunstar Heroes. Good times.

Legacy



Selling 29million units worldwide, the Mega Drive was a mixed success. A virtual non event in Japan, it achieved early success in America, initially outselling the SNES thanks to Sonic’s magic. In Europe and Brazil it dominated the competition, maintaining an impressive market share throughout its shelf life. However, its was discontinued prematurely to make way for the Sega Saturn, allowing Nintendo to cement its dominant position and having disastrous ramifications on SEGA’s future as a console maker.

However, when discussing 90’s popular culture, particularly in Europe, you have to reference the Mega Drive. It’s high speed arcade conversions were the ideal bedfellow of the prevalent dance culture, and its edgy marketing campaigns took on a life of their own.

“Does what Nintendon’t”

“Welcome to the next level”

“To be this good takes AGES, to be this good takes SEGA”

It was cool to have a Mega Drive. According to the informative MD article on Wikipedia, a Sony focus group at the time found that teenage boys would not admit to owning a Super NES rather than a Genesis. Clearly, it had all the street cred in the world, and I still enjoy telling people that I was a SEGA child. It has retained something of the counter culture even to this day, and owners past and present will never shy from letting people know about their preference.

Multiple repackaged collections of Mega Drive games speak volumes about the continued popularity of SEGA’s most successful console. From the PS3 to the Xbox 360, and yes even Nintendo’s Wii, it’s not difficult to access and play a MD classic.

Ultimately, this clash of gaming titans at their peak lead to an all out console war, with the cosumers being the true winners. With each company pushing the other, gamers were treated to quality games and the chance to pick an identity, SEGA or Nintendo. This competitive spirit continues to this day. You are afterall reading a post entitled Mega Drive vs SNES.



So, what was the Mega Drive? It was playground bragging rights. It was christmas and birthdays. It was your TV screen seemingly struggling to keep up with Sonic speeding from left to right, Axel patrolling the Streets of Rage, Alex Kid coming to terms with an unfortunate case of hand gigantism, it was knocking someone off their bike with a crowbar in Road Rash and hunting down a mad dictator in Desert Strike. It was an experience, and remains one to this day.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, especially a SNES owner.

Long live SEGA.

taken from - http://toomanywires.blog126.fc2.com/

Top five: videogame rivalries

With my friend (whose blog can be found here) I am currently planning an upcoming series of articles entitled ‘thedogbarks vs. toomanywires’ in which we debate various topics related to videogames. In anticipation of that I decided to revisit some of the industry’s greatest rivalries. Whilst there were always clear-cut lines of loyalty when it came to consoles, franchises have also produced some bitter rivalries. In this article, five of the most interesting rivalries are examined both in their prime, and where they stand now.

Mario vs. Sonic



Then: The most bitter rivalry of all time. You were either Sega or Nintendo; you had to choose. Friends were alienated, families torn apart, governments overthrown… well maybe not the last one but it was pretty big. The most iconic mascots from the respective consoles embodied and defined the kind of person you were. Your allegiance shaped your group of friends. Videogame magazines were full of fan art in which Mario was decapitating Sonic, or Sonic was gunning down Mario. It wasn’t just a rivalry; it was a war.

Now: First of all, the shockingly bitter hatred between the two factions seems fairly tame by modern comparisons. Whereas in the early 90s, images of mascots murdering each other might have been provocative, kids nowadays know far worse insults. Need proof? Go to any message board on the internet and create a thread called ‘Sony is better than Microsoft’ or vice versa. You might learn a few new words.
Sonic games haven’t been good for over ten years now so it’s clear who won the war, and mascot platformers are seen as rather passé. Instead the two old enemies have put aside their differences to appear in the same game on several occasions such as Mario and Sonic at the Olympics and Smash Bros. Brawl.

Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat



Then: Street Fighter II Turbo and Mortal Kombat II were released in the same time frame and both are arguably the best of their respective franchises. Game reviewers also found it difficult to decide which was better and as they were in the same genre they were bound to be compared directly. The anime style was so different to the motion captured look; the purity of Street Fighter clashed with the visceral nature of Mortal Kombat II’s Fatalities; and the traditional Japanese Capcom was up against the brash American Midway. So similar in many ways yet so different in many others.

Now: Street Fighter IV was released this year to massive critical acclaim and commercial success. After a series of flops with some poor decisions, the Mortal Kombat license has been somewhat devalued. The last game, Mortal Kombat vs. DC, performed decently but lost the extreme violence which epitomized the franchise in order to gain a wider audience. Midway is out of business and Mortal Kombat is looking for a new home.

Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band



Then: Speaking of similarities, you can’t get much more similar than Guitar Hero and Rock Band. In fact Rock Band was made by the creators of Guitar Hero after they broke off to make their own project. But no matter which game you prefer you are essentially getting the same thing, the only difference being slight tweaks in the interface and downloadable content. As a result the two games struggled violently against each other in a bid to become more dominant. Although they have almost identical peripherals, they made their own instruments incompatible with the other’s software. The result? The consumer was the real loser in this petty struggle, forcing them to accumulate a virtual orchestra of plastic devices in order to play both.

Now: The peripheral incompatibility has been rectified but the intensity of the struggle has only increased. As the main difference between the two is the music you can play, both have tried to sign exclusivity contracts with bands in order to prevent their songs appearing on the other’s game. This has lead to a number of band games such as Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero: Metallica and The Beatles Rock Band. This in turn has lead to an over-saturation of the band game genre and antipathy from consumers. Both companies are trying to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs before the other one, so expect this rivalry to run and run… itself into the ground.

FIFA vs. Winning 11 (PES)



Then: Of course FIFA always had the official license, and hence all of the player names, teams and stadiums were accurate. Winning 11 had to do with very similar, but legally different, players, names and stadiums. The two games played so differently that you couldn’t like both of them; either you liked the slower, simulation style of football that Fifa provided, or you preferred the fast-paced arcadey action that was Winning 11’s forte. FIFA fans were baffled as to why Winning 11 fans would be stupid enough to choose to play an unauthentic experience, and Winning 11 fans saw FIFA fans as pathetic licensee whores, willing to choose presentation over game play.

Now: Both series are still going strong and still have their dedicated fan base. The playing field has leveled somewhat now with Winning 11 gaining real players and FIFA having stolen much of Winning 11’s control scheme and pace. As a result the experiences have become a lot more similar and playing one doesn’t exclude you from playing the other. Essentially the momentum shifts every year; one game becomes more complacent and the other becomes more ambitious. Currently FIFA has the upper hand in both sales and presentation but next year’s Winning 11 is shaping up nicely. Expect whatever good features that were present in their rival’s game to appear in the other this year.

Call of Duty vs. Modern Warfare





Then: This may be a little confusing as they are in fact the same franchise, but there are two different teams working on that franchise. Infinity Ward created the critically acclaimed and successful World War II first person shooter Call of Duty and then followed it up with the equally impressive Call of Duty 2. Then, publisher Activision, who was keen to turn the series into an annual franchise, handed the reins of developing Call of Duty 3 over to Treyarch in order to give Infinity Ward a full two years to work on their next installment of Call of Duty. Call of Duty 3 wasn’t as well received as its predecessors, leading Infinity Ward to feel bitter that the reputation of a franchise they had created was being tarnished by others.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was one of the biggest video game success stories of all time with a current Metacritic ranking of 94% and having sold around 13 million copies worldwide. The next year Treyarch released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to a pretty positive reception, but it was clearly inferior to Modern Warfare.

Now: Did you manage to keep up? Well obviously the fact that the Call of Duty franchise is lumped together as a whole by the public led to frustration, and this frustration spilled out on the blog of Infinity Ward community manager Rob Bowling, angered by comparisons made by a senior producer of Call of Duty: World at War, between their game and Treyarch’s.

“WTF are you talking about?! “in previous Call of Dutys blah blah blah”. First of all, you didn’t work on “previous Call of Dutys”, so don’t talk as if you’re down with how / why things were designed the way they were. Second, you’re completely fucking wrong.”

Just one of a number of choice quotes I could have picked. The next Infinity Ward game will be known as Modern Warfare 2, ditching the Call of Duty moniker. Try as they might, for now they can’t seem to kick Treyarch off their coat-tails.

Game Recommendations: The World Ends with You

Unique is a word that is often used far too liberally to the point where it loses meaning. Yet Square-Enix’s JRPG The World Ends with You (know as It’s a Wonderful World in Japan) comes close. Whilst there are some generic elements to the game, the overall package is so fresh and engaging that it is more than the sum of its parts.

This game has style. Set in Shibuya, it recreates the atmosphere of its location despite the limitations of the hardware. The look and personality of the characters are fairly standard, but the flair with which they are portrayed makes them very appealing. So although you may begrudge the fact that the protagonist is yet another moody teenager with an inability to socialize with others, you will at least appreciate that the kid has style. As does everyone in this game. All of the characters reflect the vibe of Shibya’s diverse fashion culture and it really helps to engross the player in this alternative vision of Shibuya. Coupled with the fact that the locations within the game are all real places and anyone who has visited the heart of Tokyo’s youth movement will find a thrill from recognizing them.



The plot of the game is also a cut above many others in the genre. The protagonist has unwillingly been forced into ‘The Reapers’ game’ which the participants to survive a week in the Shibuya area fulfilling tasks and battling other participants and the mysterious ‘Noise’. Each player’s entry fee was the thing that they value the most, and this combined with the fact that each person has died in order to enter the game leads to a lot of fascinating plot twists, though many of them are somewhat predictable.

As I mentioned before the style and panache of the game is its biggest draw. This is also present in the quality of the music which few other DS games have managed to achieve. The soundtrack is perfectly suited to the atmosphere of the game, mirroring the emotional peaks and troughs as well as the culture of Shibuya’s Hip Hop and Dance music.



The combat system on the other hand is somewhat of a mess. If played properly then it requires you to control two separate characters on the two different DS screens, whilst utilizing both the stylus and face buttons. Unless you are an octopus which, due to a bizarre toxic waste induced mutation, sports an extra pair of eyes, it is nearly impossible to feel complete comfortable. To its credit, the game is aware of this flaw and has different elements of AI assistance, allowing the computer to control one of the characters to various degrees. It was brave to try to reflect the unique aesthetics of the game in the combat system, but ultimately it is too unwieldy to be comfortable. Having said that, if you do get into the flow the reward of performing well is satisfaction as well as acknowledgement in the form of in-game currency and a ranking system that inspires the player to improve.

The World Ends with You never got the commercial success that it deserved, despite the extremely positive reviews. It does appeal to a very small audience of people who love both JRPGs and are Japanophiles, and due to a lack of aggressive marketing it probably didn’t find its way into the conscious of too many of that select group either. If you want something different with an intriguing story and which is more stylish than 99% of the games out there, then this is the game you have been waiting for. No wonder it’s so popular with cosplayers.

The Red Lines Of Death: A Virtual Boy retrospective

How much would you pay for a machine which could induce migraines and potentially cause permanent retinal damage? Well back in 1995 Nintendo hoped that you would be willing to part with around 180 dollars for the privilege. For Nintendo the Virtual Boy represents perhaps the darkest chapter in their history and one of the most spectacular hardware failures of all time.

Just looking at this ‘portable’ game console should set off multiple alarms in the head of any potential consumer. It is about as portable as attempting to strap a large baby to your forehead, and just as delicate. It is fairly difficult to imagine anyone donning this piece of apparatus on the train. It is as ugly as it could possibly be which in some way is quite a feat of engineering.



Once you had awkwardly maneuvered your head into the goggle area you were finally ready to play. As it promised, the game delivers 3D game play…kind of. In fact it’s more akin to crude 2.5D with only red and black as the extent of its palette. Obviously due to putting you eyes into such an intense situation, with the display effectively surrounding you, and the stark contrast between the red and the black, it was clearly a damaging experience. Nintendo in some way acknowledged this by automatically pausing the game every twenty or thirty minutes to suggest that the player rest their eyes before continuing. Thanks for the advice Nintendo, but surely producing a device that wouldn’t batter our vision in the first place would have been more helpful?



It seems almost unnecessary to add but the software lineup was also unimpressive. The games, perhaps Wario Land excepted, were pretty terrible, but if you owned the system then you didn’t have a lot of choice. Nineteen games in Japan and fourteen in America to be precise. Nintendo only shipped 80,000 consoles worldwide, making the system one of the industry’s most spectacular failures.

The creator was Gunpei Yokoi who had also invented the original Gameboy, the Game and Watch machines and the Metroid series. Following the catastrophic reception of the Virtual Boy he was forced to leave the company. Tragically he died when hit by a car on October 4th 1997. That his final contribution to the history of the videogame industry was the Virtual Boy is sad; a rare blot on his sparkling resume.

The Virtual Boy remains a cautionary tale for console manufacturers. No matter how big the company, and how talented the creator, there is always the potential for disaster.

Game Recommendations: Viva Pinata

They say that you should never judge a book by its cover; Viva Piñata proves that this rule also applies to videogames. From a mere glance at the box art many would have dismissed it as some ridiculous kiddie game no doubt attached to an obnoxious Saturday morning cartoon. Whilst part of that statement is true, beneath the fluffy exterior of the game’s vibrant visuals lays a challenging and dark beast of a game screaming to get out.

Considering that many of you may never have even heard of this game some background information is in order. The game was made by Rare, creators of classics such as Donkey Kong Country, Goldeneye and Banjo Kazooie, in order to build a franchise that would appeal to both kids and adults. An animated series was indeed made in conjunction with the game in order to leverage some cross-promotion and hopefully to extend the franchise into other ludicrously profitable areas. Despite positive reviews, the game never achieved the success that Microsoft envisioned.



The problem is that although the game looks simplistic and casual friendly, it’s actually a fairly complex spatial-management game that shares more in common with Sim City than Spongebob. You are given an initially small garden area and you must attract different kinds of wildlife to come and live in your garden by creating an environment that appeals to them. As you manage to get more Piñatas into your garden your tools are upgraded, allowing you attract rarer and more interesting specimens. The concept itself is fairly abstract; there is no real goal other than to improve your garden and to see new Piñatas. It’s a game based around the achievement concept in that as you fulfill prerequisite challenges you are rewarded, which in turn gives you Xbox Achievement points. It’s almost a Meta idea; your desire for trophies is reflected in how much you will get out of the game.

It’s a challenging game that requires an obsessive personality. The Piñatas will fight and kill each other if you put natural enemies in the same environment. They get sick and die if they are not properly looked after. And they mate. A lot.

Which leads us to the sinister underbelly of the game. Rare are a British studio that have always liked to inject their own brand of humor into their games. Thus the mating dances that the various Piñatas perform are hilarious and at first you will want to see all the different cutscenes that are cute visual metaphors for their procreation. As you get more serious about the game though, you will discover that the best way to make money is to constantly breed the most valuable animals you have in order the sell their offspring as soon as they are hatched. As I became more engrossed in the game I found myself questioning my life priorities as I sat clutching my controller at 2am forcing my clan of Cinnamonkeys to hump each other non-stop.



The hardcore of course were put off by the sugarcoated look of the game. After all, if a loved one walked in whilst you were playing with your Buzzlegums, Horstachios or Fudgehogs it is quite difficult to convince them of the depth of the gameplay experience.

That was always the problem with the game. Its visuals appealed to one kind of audience and its gameplay appealed to another. As a result it was widely dismissed by the public. If you want a charming, insanely addictive game that will continue to shock, surprise and disturb you then there are few games that fit the bill better than Viva Piñata.

wtf moments: Japan built a full scale Gundam!

In the last of today’s trilogy of articles related to giant mechs I present you with the real deal. I direct you to Shiokaze Park in Odaiba where a full scale Gundam is currently under construction and pretty much done. Japan has finally caved to public pressure and given the people what they really want. Or at least what a small but very vocal minority of Japanese people.

But even the most skeptical of people, wondering perhaps why the hell so much money has been spent on something so monumentally useless, that will only be up for two months in these tough economics times, still even they must admit; this is pretty f****ing awesome. It stands at 18 meters tall and weighs in at 35 tons. For a pointless comparison the statue of liberty (without the base) is 43 meters. Still, any way that you look at this thing its pretty big. Definitely too large and too wonderful to be dismantled in August. We can only hope that Japan finally sees sense, gives it pride of place on Fuji-san, and give themselves a new national symbol that embodies the modern image of their country.



I fully expect there will be future news stories reporting tales of hardcore otaku who attempt to board and pilot this, sadly non-functioning Gundam. Who knows, perhaps someone will be allowed to purchase it once its purpose is served, and devote themselves to getting this thing up and running. We may only find out years from now when a crazy bearded otaku rains down destruction on Tokyo whilst straddled atop the giant mech.

Mascotpedia: Panda Z

I guess this hardly qualifies as a mascot series seeing as the very brief reign of Panda Z seems already to have fallen by the wayside, but it seems a shame to forget him so quickly. In the Johnny-come-lately world of mascots in Japan, so many disappear that we almost don’t remember that they ever were there. Like Japanese comedians. Panda Z’s flame has not yet been completely extinguished so let us bask in the glow of its flame for a little longer.

The genius of Panda Z is that he is a Panda that pilots a giant mecha Panda. If you don’t find that concept hilarious and thrillingly cute then you are unlikely to take to Panda Z. There are a series of five minutes shows in which Panda Z takes on a number of villains who are also in animal themed giant mechas. And that’s pretty much it. The opening song is pretty rocking and the show is kind of cute but its just complete fluff, rather than providing hard hitting facts like mameshiba.



So why even include Panda Z in mascotpedia? Well he is here because he is indicative of the vast majority of mascots in Japan that are too numerous to mention here. Basically a cute concept is thought of, turned into a lot of merchandise and then a short and inconsequential anime show is produced to provide some context and to give a reason for the thing actually existing. These cute but meaningless mascots make up a large part of Japanese pop culture. Should we belittle or begrudge Japan their attitudes towards these bizarre and brief fads? Certainly not. This is one of the things that define why so many of us love Japan. For that, welcome to the mascotpedia hall of fame Panda Z.

Panda Z video

Peripheral Vision: Steel Battalion

The fact that this peripheral exists at all is ridiculous. How it ever found its way to market is a mystery that may never be solved. In my mind’s eye I see one eccentric Japanese billionaire with a fetish for giant mechs pouring resources into this doomed project. Surely no one who was aware of the term ‘budget’ could ever have sanctioned this monstrosity.

The Steel Battalion controller, as you can see from the picture, is humongous. Boasting two control sticks, three foot pedals and over forty buttons it aims to recreate the experience of piloting a giant mech as accurately as possible. It does a pretty good job of doing so. Just starting up the mech requires several buttons to be pushed and switches to be flipped which are there for that specific purpose. It even has an eject button that must be pressed when prompted or death will be the result. Let’s be clear, piloting a mech in Steel Battalion is more challenging than learning to drive. Or possibly fly. And unless this game is part of a covert Japanese government initiative to unearth the most talented potential pilots for their secretly developed mech program, then this knowledge is next to useless.



Initially launched for around 20,000 yen in very limited quantities worldwide, you can now pick one up in Akihabara for around 7000 yen. I guess the fact that this thing takes up an entire apartment means that people are unable to justify keeping one. So if you have a large house in Japan, are lucky enough to find one, have 7000 yen to blow, have a Japanese Xbox and have a fetish for mechs, then pick it up. Although seeing as you are probably the creator of the game it seems a little unnecessary to do so.

Top five original games at E3

E3 2009 was widely praised as being one of the best ever and certainly a massive improvement on the farcical events of the last couple of year. A balance has finally been struck between giving the gaming press an opportunity to get hands-on time with the games, with the glitz, glamour and spectacle that attracted the attention of the mainstream media. What was also notable was the sheer quantity of potentially excellent games. In the past there have been about six stand-out games at the show, but at this E3 the number was closer to fifteen. The only issue, if it can even be called that, was that most of these games were sequels. Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Uncharted 2, Mario Galaxy 2, Left 4 Dead 2, God of War 3, Forza 3, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Metroid: Other M are just some of those incredibly promising sequels. However here are five original IPs that had strong showings at E3.

Bayonetta PS3, 360



Hideki Kamiya, the creator of the Devil May Cry series, is the director of Bayonetta and it certainly shows. The action looks to be in a very familiar style to that franchise, but it promises to be an interesting alternative in many ways. The main character is a witch who bears a remarkable facial resemblance to Sarah Palin, the difference being that Sarah Palin doesn’t have guns strapped to her toes (to the best of my knowledge). As she also carries two pistols, two shotguns and two katanas it’s safe to say she is well armed. Besides firepower, she also has the ability to morph her hair into a variety of weapons such as a giant fist, boot or even a dragon. Her clothing is also composed of her hair so when she does utilize it for special attacks she becomes temporarily naked. See? I told you that this game had potential.

Split-Second PS3, 360



An arcade racing game published by Disney doesn’t sound like the most enthralling prospect. But someone in the house of mouse clearly has an eye for games that don’t feature Hannah Montana because this game is shaping up nicely indeed. The hook of the game is that by driving well you can build up a meter that allows you to unleash special attacks. So far so Mario Kart. But these aren’t red shells you are hurling, instead you cause environmental damage. The demoed example was a race through an airport in which you could attack by causing gas stations to blow up or even bring planes crashing down to crush your opposition (hence the ‘reality TV show’ nature of the game was heavily emphasized). Not only will these attacks damage competitors, they also alter the nature of the track itself. The fact that the game looks even more beautiful than Burnout is another reason to get excited over this unknown quantity.

DJ Hero PS3, 360



Whilst it is not exactly a completely original IP (the game borrows heavily from the Guitar Hero format) the manner in which DJ Hero plays is different enough to make it worthy of note. The songs that you play are mash-ups created by DJs specifically for the game, such as DJ Shadow, so if you are a fan of the artists then that’s enough reason to get excited already. The gameplay involves switching the track between these two records, scratching, and adding sound effects. That explanation hardly does the game justice so do yourself a favor and watch the game being demoed to get an idea of how it actually works. The fact that videogame journalists burned out on the music game genre are getting very excited about DJ Hero is a testament to the potential it has. Get ready for another plastic peripheral to clog up your living room.

Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer PS3



Unfortunately Heavy Rain is somewhat indescribable, which makes it a pain to explain. The game is a narrative based detective story featuring four playable characters, but beyond that it’s difficult to really categorize it. What is clear is that besides the fact that the game looks incredible is that there are a lot of fascinating ideas going into this game. If one of the playable characters dies then rather than ending the game, play merely switches to another character. According to the developers it is possible to complete the game with all four characters dead which raises some interesting questions. The main problem I can see for Sony is just how they intend to market such a unique title.

Scribblenauts DS



Everyone who played Scribblenauts fell in love with it without even getting off the main title screen. You are presented with a series of puzzles to solve which you can do so by typing objects into the DS which then makes them appear onscreen. An example being that there is a tree in front of you with a star in it and you have to get the star out of the tree. You can type in ‘saw’ and a saw will appear with which you character can cut down the tree. Or you could type ‘ladder’ in and you would be able to climb up it to get the star. Or you could type in ‘bullfighter’ and ‘bull’ and get the bull to crash into the tree. The big appeal of this game is that the possibilities are almost limitless. The developers, 5th Cell, have worked hard on creating everything you could possibly think of typing and putting it into the game. Chubracabra and plumbob are examples of obscure words that the game recognizes. Not only can you bring the objects into the world but you can chain them together. If you get a stick, some meat and a raptor then you can ride the raptor. The objects even interact with each other in that carnivores will attack and eat other animals and objects will have elemental properties. Whether or not the actual game is good seems a moot point; it’s so impressive that it deserves to be on anyone’s most wanted list.

Peripheral Vision: Donkey Konga Bongos

Do you want your neighbors to hate you more than Satan? Get Donkey Konga!

There are some videogames that were never meant to be played in apartments. No matter how well meaning and civil a person you may usually be, some games create enough disturbance and noise that you will turn genteel and reasonable neighbors into hate spewing monsters intent on getting you evicted. Donkey Konga is one of those games.

It is astonishing to think that this was a game made in Japan. In a country where only the rich and the famous can afford to live somewhere larger than a broom cupboard a peripheral was born that could send shockwaves of noise through several layers of an apartment block. The game that came with these bongo drums was predictably a music game meaning that you will be beating the things pretty hard. Considering that unlike a stereotypical beatnik, you are going to be beating these things pretty damn hard and rhythmically it is strange that no one thought that the noise would be an issue. Well beyond the two second screen that warns you to be considerate of others.


This is what noise looks like

Even for those who want to be considerate for other and to muffle the sound by balancing them in a pillow or in your lap, it just doesn’t feel comfortable. Instead to really enjoy the experience you just have to put the bongos on the floor and beat them like hell until your landlord starts knocking on the door. Having played the game with four sets of the bongo drums functioning, I can barely imagine the ruckus it must have caused by judging by the expression on my friend’s father’s face a herd of rampage elephants might have in fact made less noise.

For those who wanted something a little different to beat your drum to, a platformer that utilized the bongos called Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was released. To defeat bosses you had to rapidly smash the bongo drums. Beside selling drugs, not paying rent and running a prostitution ring, the Gamecube bongo drum peripheral is the chief reason for eviction notices to be served.

Ninja izakaya

Where do ninjas go to eat? Well you can be pretty certain that they don’t go to a ninja themed izakaya, but for the rest of us the option is thankfully available. If you have the money and the patience to wait out a long reservation, then the ninja themed izakaya in Akasaka Mitsuke is highly recommended for a fun and memorable dining experience.

The place is set up as a kind of hideout cave, and even once you have made your reservation the journey has only just begun. As you wait expectantly in the reception area your ninja waiter will pop out of a secret door to greet you, or in my case scare the hell out of you. After the apologies and introductions you are led through a series of winding passageways and through a drawbridge (seriously) to your table. The small cove you get is dark and atmospheric but the noise of other revelers means you unlikely to feel completely secluded.

The set course menus cost from between 8,000 and 15,000 yen excluding drinks so perhaps this is more of a special occasion type of restaurant for those of us that usually dine at Yoshinoya. For your money you get around six to eight courses which are predictably miniscule but delicious nonetheless. The food itself is a fusion of traditional Japanese with French haute cuisine leading to some interesting combinations. No matter how you find the taste the presentation is bound to impress you. The egg stuffed with jellied vegetables will have you reaching for your camera, only to realize that it’s probably too dark to take pictures, as will the ice cream bonsai tree that I had for desert.

All the staff are charmingly dressed in their ninja attire and try to appear with as much mystique and finesse as they can muster whilst serving you food and certainly this is another of Tokyo’s spectacle dining experiences, but I warn you not to anticipate the promised ‘ninja magic show’ too much. It is sweet and funny but unless ninjas were armed with rubber bands and playing cards then it isn’t exactly authentic.

The ninja themed izakaya is a fun place, and judging by the other clientele, a popular place to take foreign business people that you want to impress. It is an experience that you will certainly want to tell to friends and family, just don’t expect to make it a frequent hangout unless you work in investment banking (actually in the current economic climate they are probably more likely to be found in Yoshinoya too). A shameful word of warning, after eating at the ninja izakaya I felt the need to pop to McDonalds to fill myself up completely. Just saying.

wtf moments: The first class airplane hotel room

Wouldn't you rather sleep in these than a double bed? What do you mean no?

Once again I have to pay tribute to NHK morning news for making me late to work. As I mentioned in a previous post they sometimes show some pretty extraordinary/pointless things just as I am changing to go to work and thus I always run the risk of being tardy if something especially stupid is shown. Well today was one of those days.

Forgive me if the title was somewhat misleading. Japan has not yet developed the technology to make hotels fly just yet (all their top scientists are evidently working on making Gundams a reality).
Have you ever wanted to fly first class? Sure you have, we all have, but the price barrier is astronomically high. So what can you do? Well whatever you do you shouldn’t do this. There are now first class airplane themed rooms in hotels near an airport in Japan. So what exactly does that entail? Well you get 1st class style airplane seats in your room so you too can feel trapped and slightly uncomfortable when you could just be lying in a King-sized bed. You food is also delivered to you by a hotel staff member who is dressed like an airline hostess, and as appealing as that image may be its hardly worth it when you consider that you will be eating off a tray in your room when you could be in a restaurant. Oh, and the food is airplane food which is hardly famous for being delicious. First class airplane food yes, but still inferior to being able to actually eat in a restaurant and having more options than the chicken or the seafood. Lastly if you raise the curtain blind you can look out over the airport and see the planes take off. So as well as having dull and ugly scenery to gaze out upon the sounds of those giant iron birds roaring overhead is something you can listen to all night.


A view surpassing any other that mother nature can provide

With my Japanese ability being what it is I’m afraid the finer points of this revelation may have passed me by. But rest assured, Japan are still pushing the boundaries of the sublimely ridiculous. They have created the safest and tamest way to join the mile-high club.

Mascotpedia: Mameshiba

Thank you Japan. Just when I feel like there is no magic left in the world you continue to raise the bar of what is considered unusual. In fact unusual is a rather tame expression for what should be known as absolutely gaga, crawling up the wall bat-shit crazy. On first sight mameshiba (a cross between a bean and a dog) is the sweetest thing in the world. The merchandise is splattered all across Japan like a physical form of some particularly virulent strain of cuteness. It seems like a plushy edomame but when you squeeze it out pops a little bean shaped dog.



So far so normal, but of course normal isn't enough for Japan. Mameshiba, as I recently discovered, is a kind of trivia dishing snack. Still with me? Well it doesn't stop there. The different mameshibas (edomame, peanut, natto and jellybean for example) all appear just as they are about to be consumed by people. Then they invariably give off facts which disgust the people to the point where they lose their appetite. For example a man is hooking up with a girl in a bar. He cracks open a peanut. The peanut dog pops out to inform him that 'When you kiss, 200 million germs per second are exchanged between mouths.' Thank you Mameshiba. You have made it even more difficult for Japanese people to get together. All in under 30 seconds? Just check it out on youtube, you won't regret it. Well, you will but its still funny.

mameshiba video

Sony E3 keynote

Coming after an impressive Microsoft presentation in what was destined to be a two horse race was always going to be hard. With a shocking amount of leaks revealing most of Sony's surprises they were on a hiding to nothing. Thus with this attitude going in they managed to have an excellent press conference, close to but perhaps not surpassing Microsoft's. Key to that was the fact that the games were so polished and Sony also managed to keep a couple of tricks up its sleeves. With a greater volume of potentially fantastic first party games than its competitors PS3 and PSP owners have every reason to be excited.



PSP Go!: Jack Tretton described it as the worst kept secret of E3 and he wasn't wrong. We had seen it before, we knew what it could do, the only thing we didn't know was how much it was going to cost. The $249 price point was much steeper than many expected. In fact it is $50 more expensive than the lowest price 360 unit and the same price as the Wii. So what do you get for your quarter of a grand? Well as you can see from the picture it has a sliding screen. What you can't see is the 16GB of built in memory, it is 40% lighter than the PSP 3000 and it no longer has a UMD drive. The lack of a UMD drive means that the battery should last a lot longer which was one of the big problems with the PSP. It also means that all the games you buy are going to be downloaded from the PSN store. On the plus side you never have to carry around a sack full of games. On the downside the sack full of games you own is now useless. There has been a lot of negative backlash from the online community, but they complain about everything. Sony is being incredibly forward thinking in moving towards a completely digital future and for that they should be applauded.



Uncharted 2: There were a lot of great games at the keynote but standing head and shoulders over, well almost everything else at E3, was the Uncharted demo shown at the press conference. Uncharted was already one of the best games on the PS3 years after its release but many wondered about the new direction the sequel seemed to be taking. In particular many were critical of its decision to give the game competitive multiplayer. The concern was that the single player experience would be cheapened somehow by resources being taken from it. The five minute demo made such concerns laughable. It was simply breathtaking and a huge advancement over the first game. The sight of a building collapsing, a helicopter tearing it apart with bullets as enemy soldiers toss grenades in you direction is impressive enough. The fact that it is all playable is incredible.

Motion controls... again: Sigh, here we go again. But seriously Sony did have a very impressive demonstration of their motion controller technology. Far more responsive than the Wii controller and offering accuracy that seems to have a lot of potential for future games... but then again that is just the problem. Not to be a downer but with no games that are currently supporting it, like the Playstation Eye it also has the potential to be a flop too. And looking at it... well it looks like...a like a... you know... marital aid that might be purchased from Ann Summers. Childish humor aside it hopefully will prove to be another feather in the PS3's cap. It just is not quite as interesting as Microsoft's.



XIV before XIII: Sony did have one very, very big trick up their sleeve, and although many of their fans felt betrayed by Final Fantasy XIII going to 360, Square-Enix gave them something to crow about. Final Fantasy XIV online is coming to PS3 next year (hilariously soon after XIII), but as to how exclusive it will be probably depends on the money Microsoft are willing to stump up. The previous online Final Fantasy game had so many issues that it is hard to get too excited about it, but hopefully they have learned something from all the negative feedback. If they do pull it together then Sony has a massive franchise and the subscription fees could make both them and Square very happy. And maybe us too.



Verdict: There were a lot of great things that have already been mentioned but how could I leave out God of War III, Grand Turismo 5 and PSP, The Last Guardian and Heavy Rain. Sony are really trying to resurrect the PSP by setting up a lot of its most famous franchises in miniature form, and the downloadable format is a brave idea. Whether it will work out or not is a different matter. As for the PS3 it looks very healthy for the future. As long as Sony continues to invest heavily in their own games they can continue to compete with the other two. Sadly the one thing that really could have swung the whole conference in their favor was absent. For those who are still deciding waiting for the heavily rumored price drop, they are going to have to wait a little longer. At $400 for a PS3 and $249 for a PSP Go! you need to have deep pockets to be a part of the Sony family.

Nintendo E3 keynote

Despite having an admirable position in the current console race, Nintendo haven't performed well at E3 for a while and with the debacle of last year still fresh in the minds of many it was interesting to see what their approach for this year would be. Would they go hardcore or would they go casual? Well in fact it turned out to be a bit of both. Nintendo more than the other two sees E3 for what it is in a sense, a chance to reassure stockholders. As chillingly dull as that is they at least know which way their bread is buttered. Having said that this year they did throw a coupe of juicy bones the way of loyal fans as well as provided the wtf moment of E3 2009.



It's a him!: The mustachioed plumber was back big time this year at E3 starring in two high profile Wii games that were both pleasant surprises. This isn't Mario shoehorned into a sports game or mini game collection, this is Mario at his best. The announcement of Mario Galaxy 2 means that we will be having a true Mario sequel game appear on the same console for the first time since the SNES. Skeptics could say that the lack of innovation smacks of attempting to appease the rabid fans rather than create a wonderful new experience, but the rest of us are bound to be enjoying what is guaranteed to be a great game when it is released next year. Whilst it shares the same mechanics as the first game, the introduction of Yoshi and the sheer amount of potential new gameplay possibilities that come with the space motif means that it is unlikely to disappoint.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii also gives us what we always wanted; another 2D Mario console game. The look is based on the New Super Mario Bros. DS game but the introduction of four player local cooperative play adds a new twist. You can be supportive or obstructive so let the smack talk between soccer Moms begin.



Manga Metroid: This one came as a big surprise to everyone. We all knew that Metroid needed revamping but Nintendo were already on it. Metroid with cutscenes? Metroid with an anime style? Metroid made by Team Ninja?
It is a bold new look for the franchise and after watching the trailer you can't help but be impressed by the direction they are taking. It remains to be seen how long time fans will see the new game style that seems reminiscent of Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden series. Metroid has never been so... so violent before, but no matter how the project turns out Nintendo should be applauded for taking risks by farming out established franchises. There are certainly a few other series they have they could use a fresh lick of paint.


Flashback: No not a remake of the game sadly but rather a comment on the nature of some aspects of the press conference. Nintendo spent far too long talking about Wii Sports Resort, Motion Plus and the new Wii fit. Wii Sports Resort is of course a very import game for Nintendo and certain to be a big hit, and Wii Motion Plus is an important part of the future of the Wii too, and something that they need to make the public more aware of too. But after Microsoft's Natal and later that day Sony's motion sensing device, it seemed a little dated despite not having been released yet. The new Wii fit is also important of course but it hardly makes compelling viewing at a press conference. These were all things that were highlighted to show that the Wii has upcoming software that appeals to the casual audience which in turn appeals to shareholders. Games press? Not so much



wtf: Ah Nintendo. We still love you sometimes. Despite being all serious and friendly nowadays you still remind us that you are prone to flights of fancy and folly. This year they showed off the heart rate monitoring device that attaches to you finger... cough. Bizarrely they were no games announced that would utilize this spectacular new waste of money or even hints of the directions to which it could lead. It was just there, taunting us with its presence.
Its clear that there could be applications in fitness games of course and if it could be adapted to measure several variations it could be a valuable piece of equipment to monitor health in the home. Still, its pretty hard to get get enthusiastic over.

Verdict: It was adequate, but that is my no means as lukewarm a statement as it perhaps sounds. The keynote actually veered between the divine and the ridiculous. The divine was of course the Mario and Metroid games and for the ridiculous a short trip up the page should suffice. Yet despite these high and low points the tedium did set in all too quickly. Nintendo have settled into their position as market leader and media darling all too easily and as much as we may dislike it, they need to be busting out facts and figures at their press conference. And although a few years back it was inspiring to see Nintendo go on the offensive as they were the scrappy underdog, now they are at the top they don't seem to be the creative powerhouse they once were. Perhaps in Metroid: Other M its possible to see a fresh start for stale franchises, by farming them out to talented outside development teams. One thing that is nice to know after E3 is that I have a few reasons to plug in my Wii again over the coming year.

100% of Japanese girls recommend it: a Puyo Puyo retrospective

What are round, squishy, colorful, and make Japanese girls squeal with delight? If your answer was anything other than the video game Puyo Puyo you are a pervert.

Tetris was and still is an important cultural touchstone in many countries. Even if you don’t play video games most people have played Tetris at least once or know what it is. Indeed its popularity is resurging through iphone games and free web-based browser games. The appeal is somewhat akin to a Rubik's cube and many people enjoy testing themselves. Except unlike the Rubik’s cube, Tetris is fun.



Well Puyo Puyo is the Japanese equivalent of Tetris. Everyone seemed to play this game when they were kids, and girls in particular are very good at it. Shockingly good actually. Good to the extent that I imagine there are training facilities somewhere up in the mountains of Hokkaido which all young Japanese ladies are forced to attend. If you ask a Japanese girl if she plays games, usually the answer will be no. However, if you follow that up with, ‘Not even Puyo Puyo?’ The answer will inevitably be, ‘Well of course Puyo Puyo!’ Like Tetris it is has expanded beyond the limitations of its medium to reach a wider audience.



Unlike Tetris the game is entirely competitive, in which you must defeat the opponent by stringing together powerful combos. Being a bit a gaming expert (otherwise known as a geek) I felt pretty confident taking on people. That is, until I had my ass handed to me countless times. Chastened by the experience I started practicing the game rigorously and then went back to trying to challenge Japanese people. Of course I still get thrashed every time. Even by people who look like they had never picked up a controller in their life. I guess it must be something genetic. At least that’s the best excuse I can come up with.

Game Reviews: GTA Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an excellent game, which in itself is quite a shock. The PSP has the ability to ape the visuals of the GTA PS2 franchise, but on the less powerful DS this was clearly never an option. Yet despite its limitations it manages to accurate convey everything that is synonymous with the franchise and take advantage of the opportunities that come with developing for a touch screen game.

Compared to other recent GTA games the visuals seem primitive, yet they are one of the most impressive aspects of the game. It isn’t necessarily that you will be blown away by them but they function perfectly within the game. Everything looks distinctive and is recognizable which is no mean feat when you are trying to replicate the same Liberty City from GTAIV. Even the camera angle, an isometric viewpoint but responsive enough to shift around to give you the best perspective, doesn’t cause the issues that you might assume. The cell-shaded look makes interactive elements of the environment more obvious and gives personality to the different areas of the city and its landmarks. The color palette has been thoughtfully implemented to make brands of cars, gang members and icons easier to distinguish and brightens up the beautiful yet drab city from GTA IV. Characters designs are very much in the cartoony mould, but still fit seamlessly into the world as they are reminiscent of the box art from earlier in the franchise.



These characters are also brimming with personality despite the absence of voices in the cut scenes. As a change from the silent or downtrodden protagonist, the main character, Huang Lee, is a wise-cracking rich kid. His sense of humor comes across very well even without a voice and although the story is no where near as involving as Niko’s plight, Huang’s wit carries the game past its usual cast of corrupt cops, Mafioso, Triads and drug dealers.



Which brings us nicely to the most controversial part of the game (there always has to be one in a GTA game); drug dealing. It is neither as excitingly explicit as it sounds or as boring and lightweight as it could be. Instead it’s a well implemented and satisfying solution to the issue of how manage the economy within the game. Basically by investing a little time and effort, the player can ensure they always have enough income to have the best weapons and the most property at their disposal. Rather than break the game it provides a great solution and scoring a big deal to earn a huge profit is very satisfying. Likewise there is still a risk/reward element in that if you are caught with fifty bags of coke in your bag and are arrested you stand to lose a lot.

One aspect of the game which arguably surpasses the console versions are the missions. GTA games have always suffered from the same problem of overly repetitive mission structures. Usually you have to go from point A to point B and kill C. Chinatown Wars doesn’t exactly break the mold, but the use of touch scene mini-game moments do provide a welcome break in the action. Through the course of the game you will use the touch screen to make and throw Molotov cocktails, plant bombs and tracking devices, start a boat engine and hot wire cars. None of them are difficult, and it can be a little fiddly to whip the stylus out of the DS in time but it manages to add to the immersion instead of detracting from it, and takes advantage of the touch screen.



The controls or more specifically the HUD also make good use of the touch screen functionality. There are so many menus in the game that allow you to program your GPS, order guns on the internet, receive emails and research drug prices that it needed a good method of interaction to succeed. With the lower screen basically serving that function, Chinatown Wars never forces you to spend too much time struggling through clumsy menu screens that might have plagued the game had it been on another console (the internet in GTA IV for example).

No licensed music robs the game of one of the signature aspects of the franchise but the music is impressive despite the limitations of the hardware. As previously mentioned none of the cut scenes are voiced but some of the pedestrians do get a view oft repeated lines which are pretty funny nonetheless.

This game is currently the highest ranked DS game on metacritic, which should tell you just how good it is. That this game is so fully featured is a testament to the effort that the developers put into the game. All of which makes it all the more heart-breaking that it has performed so poorly. It sold a mere 90,000 units in its two weeks when even the most conservative analysts’ estimates were expecting half a million. It isn’t to say that the game doesn’t have problems, and those who were never interested in GTA or were starting to tire of the series should probably give it a miss, but for anyone remotely interested in the game you are recommended to get your hands on it. Seeing as the game has already been discounted by up to 50% by most retailers this shouldn’t be too hard.

9/10

Learning to hug

Japan has changed a lot in recent times and for better or worse has undoubtedly become more westernized. Not completely though. There are still some cultural differences which linger and physical contact is a grey area that not all have crossed. Take anime as an example (as it does still embody many of the values of Japanese society). Romantic plotlines are rarely resolved in as direct and clear a manner as their Western counterparts. The traditional Hollywood romance is sealed with a kiss or something even more, for lack of a better word, physical. It is a moment of release and satisfaction for the audience. However in Japan holding hands can be as significant a gesture and symbolic of a journey about to begin as opposed to the resolved ‘Happily Ever After’ subtext of the American movies (ignoring the reality of the 50% divorce rate).

After this rambling tangent I bring to you the subject of hugging. Each culture has its own method of greetings and farewell and whilst a step below the European cheek kissing, the hug is seen as a friendly gesture. Most of my friends in Japan are rather into the hugging thing after initial confusion and reservations. But there are still some who are unsure how to act in such a situation. In the same way that kissing in public is seen as rather distasteful, the hug can be seen as too public a display of affection and consternation as to whether others will misinterpret the gesture. The fear in their eye and the tightening of facial features as you loom in for the hug never fails to entertain. There is also nothing quite like the feeling of someone going utterly limp in your arms, their own arms dangling useless by their sides as if you had stabbed them in the stomach. Playing dead is obviously the main method of self defense.



Equally interesting is the ‘bro hug’ when neither man is quite sure exactly what to do but inevitably ends with back slapping and arm punching in order to assert masculinity. Knowing who and how to hug is a complicated social scenario in Japan. The people offering free hugs outside Harajuku station have clearly been hired to educate the Japanese people on this most difficult of Western customs.

Microsoft E3 keynote

One thing that was made abundantly clear by the end of Microsoft’s E3 press conference is that the 360 isn’t going anywhere. Amen to that. Last year E3 was a disappointing one from all three console makers but Microsoft has already banished the fears of a similar experience this time round. They boasted that the 360 was now the complete console, and they might just be right.

Natal: Weird name but fascinating concept. Microsoft unveiled their motion sensing technology and it looks like Minority Report is here a little sooner than we expected. Requiring you to stand up to utilize it, it recognizes whole body movement and sound. The real surprise was just how well it appeared to work, and the proposition of playing a game that requires no controller at all provides so much potential to change the way in which we play games. As a note of caution, the Eye Toy was based on a similar concept and led nowhere. The huge gulf in the sophistication of the technology should ensure though that Natal has a great chance of success. Oh, and you can talk to a virtual boy called Milo.



Rising: Part of Microsoft’s strategy has been bringing brands to their console that have always been associated with other consoles. After getting Rare studios, Devil May Cry and last year Final Fantasy XIII, this year they kept up their momentum by having Hideo Kojima announce Metal Gear Solid: Rising for the 360. Whilst it wasn’t the same bombshell as FFXIII, it was an incredibly significant moment nonetheless. Details for the game were thin on the ground except that it stars the cyber ninja from 2 and 4 and will be a ‘lightning bolt action game’ as opposed to a ‘stealth action game’. Now that almost all the major 3rd party franchises have gone multiplatform, Microsoft are trying to convince customers that their console is cheaper and has a better integrated network and system interface. They might just be right.

Halo: Well, ODST isn’t even out yet but that didn’t stop them from announcing Halo: Reach, a prequel by Bungie. It had been rumored coming into E3 and as such wasn’t such a big shock but its significance shouldn’t be underestimated. Halo 3 made 170 million dollars after 24 hours of going on sale. Make no mistake; this is going to be huge.



Games: About a month ago people weren’t exactly sure what they would be playing on their 360s. Now we know. Crackdown 2, Left for Dead 2, Alan Wake, Forza 3, Modern Combat 2, Splinter Cell Conviction were all shown at the press conference and whilst none were huge surprises they are all excellent franchises and promise plenty to look forward to. Well, except Alan Wake, which has the potential to be an incredible experience if it ever comes out.

Online: Microsoft have never been ones to rest on their laurels but with their already well developed online interface it was difficult to imagine what else they could possibly add. As it turns out quite a few things. Facebook and Twitter are now being integrated into XBL, and whilst many may see this as a pointless gesture, its importance cannot be overstated. If the 360 manages to establish itself as a natural method of interacting with these services for consumers, the 360 could truly become the entertainment hub that Microsoft craves. If the social networking services could sync with the 360 to allow setting up and jumping into games via Facebook it has the potential to capture the casual consumer too. Higher quality of Netflix movies is also a welcome addition. The announcement that earlier 360 games will be available for download (Assassins Creed was mentioned as one of the launch games) could turn out to signal a significant shift in the games industry, and one that retailers are unlikely to welcome.



Verdict: Along with the announcements the appearance of Paul McCartney, Ringo Star and Steven Spielberg added the star power without trying to appear too hip, a mistake that was rectified from last year. More importantly they had Kojima and Molyneux to show that they were a part of the future of the 360. They delivered a consummate keynote that was notable not for launching new hardware, but to herald the maturing of their console into the most fully featured of the three. There is still the prospect of more announcements from Microsoft at E3 as I don’t expect them to simply allow the momentum to shift to Nintendo and Sony now that their moment in the spotlight has passed. 360 owners have every reason to feel satisfied this year. Microsoft managed to appease the hardcore whilst piquing the interest of the casuals. Over to you Nintendo and Sony.