AndrewGaspar

This post relates to: Solid Snake

This is definitely debatable and I'll probably get tons of pictures from Jayge that are WORSE than this, but I think this is it:
Seriously, there are like twenty people on the site all using this image for their icon. There are OTHER pictures on this site of characters besides Solid Snake, y'know...

This Giant Bomb experiment has failed. A utopian community of gamers who love games without platform discrimination... we have failed to create this. Don't believe me? Check out my last blog. It's hidden because of all the negative ratings. Why? All it does is showcase awesome games coming to PS3 next year. I don't think I discriminated against anybody... my language is clean (unless you consider "sexy" offensive)... what's the deal? Oh, that's right: fanboys.

For the first couple months of Giant Bomb, this disease was nowhere to be seen. Many of us rejoiced: finally a community where simply discussing of games could ensue. Alas, it was not to be. Fanboyism, the virus which has claimed so many game forums before it (GameSpot, Gametrailers) has proven too strong for us more enthusiastic gamers. This is disgusting.

What happened? Did Giant Bomb become too popular for its own good, attracting the scum of the internet? I mean, we could argue how illogical corporate fanboyism is, but that's not the purpose of this blog. No, I'm calling YOU guys out, you people reading this. Are you part of this infection beginning to plague the only shining utopia of Giant Bomb? If you aren't, what can we do to halt its progress? I'm asking you guys. Speak out and either join my fight, or find someway to defend your actions.

This post relates to: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Heavy Rain, Ratchet & Clank, God of War III, inFAMOUS, Killzone 2

A few days ago I was reading an article about Killzone 2 and it suddenly hit me: There are TONS of games coming out next year on the PlayStation 3. Just check this out.

Heavy Rain

Sure, it could just be a series of glorified Quick Time Events, but based on the size of the script and the budget, this is a game we should all be watching. It's an emotionally charged story with adult themes. The decisions you make drastically shape the story. For example, if you die, the story will change to take the death of that character into account. Sure, Far Cry 2 also promised this, but Heavy Rain seems that it could live up to this promise. This is just one example of a game that is super-charging 2009 for the PS3.

Ratchet and Clank Future 2

After delivering what some could argue as a somewhat mediocre game this year, Insomniac's turning around to deliver the next installment of the Ratchet and Clank Future franchise in 2009. Announced after the credits roll in their PSN release, Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Insomniac has not said anything about the game except that it's coming in 2009. With that, I do hope that they improve the weapon upgrade system and make the game much harder. Tools of Destruction was only difficult in the final planet. Also, I would love if Insomniac returned to the weapon upgrade system of Ratchet: Deadlocked. I enjoyed swapping out alpha and omega mods to max out weapons' effectiveness. Most likely coming Fall 2009.

Shocking.

inFamous

You know a game is awesome when IGN's Greg Miller spazes out on camera about it. Will you become a hero? Or will you indeed become infamous? That is your choice in inFamous. The player plays as Cole, a simple bike messenger blessed/cursed with insane electrical powers after being involved in a blast in one section of the metropolis of Empire City. However, it seems Cole is not the only one affected and the federal government quarantines the city by blowing up all of the bridges and dropping supplies for the poor city folk. Of course, Cole realizes that with great power comes great responsibility. The real question is: will you? You don't have long to decide: inFamous is coming Spring 2009.

Kratos in casual form

God of War III

It's the sequel to God of War and God of War II. That's all I can rally say about this. Most likely coming Fall 2009.

Drake don't like turtles.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

It's coming and it looks absolutely explosive. It looks like the best parts of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune are back: third-person action, Nathan Drake, the half-tuck, exotic locales, and balls to the wall action. Nathan Drake has set off to reveal the myster surrounding Marco Polo's lost fleet. Two trailers have been shown: one with Drake finding a dagger with a very distincitve South America pre-colonization look in the middle of an arctic snow field and the other with a bloodied Drake falling out of the back of an obviously run-away train. The gameplay promises to be more stealth focused and include Altair or Faith style free-climbing. Most likely coming Fall 2009.

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Killzone 2

When this game was first unveiled with what was thought to be an over-confident CGI trailer back in 2006, people were rightfully skeptical. Since then, however, we've learned that this is definitely a game to watch out for. Killzone 2 has a huge, epic campaign and 16 player multiplayer with the ability to use bots. Also, the game simply looks beautiful with most publications arguing the game even looks a little BETTER than the CGI trailer. Also, the developers have made the enemies wicked intelligent and the game difficult, a trait that many games are lacking lately. It seems that Guerilla Games has learned from their mistakes in Killzone 1 and is set to unleash the epic we all know they're capable of. Coming Spring 2009.

An in game picture of Fat Princess

Fat Princess

Fat Princess is Capture the Flag... with a twist. Instead of a flag, you are trying to reclaim your stolen princess. Princesses are pretty light, right? WRONG. By feeding the opposing team's princess endless slices of cake, this princess becomes porkier and porkier, thus making her more difficult to move. This is a class based game with archers, soldiers, etc. There's even some resource management. This game's unique art style is another success story. This one girl, who had published her cartoons on the internet, must have caught the eye of somebody, and she is largely responsible for this game's existence. This game will be released on the PSN early in 2009

So, what are you most excited for? If I missed something, let me know!

If I could only play inFamous, Uncharted 2, and Fat Princess next year, I'd be a happy man.

This post relates to: Criterion Games, Need for Speed, Burnout Paradise, EA Black Box

As Giant Bomb's resident Burnout Paradise enthusiast, I would be remiss not to discuss my thoughts on the new twist on EA's Need for Speed homelessness drama. This update to Joystiq's story cropped up this morning:

Joystiq said:

"Update: We've received a tip from someone a purported EA employ who wishes to remain anonymous. According to this source, the Need for Speed series isn't shutting down -- but EA Black Box, the development team behind recent entries into the series, "most likely" is. The source explains that EA not only scrapped their plans to open up a new studio in Vancouver, but that they also decided to close Black Box, moving the NFS and Skate teams to their much larger Burnaby studios.

The source further details the fate of Need for Speed -- he claims that one of the next entries into the series will be developed by the EA-owned Criterion Games, and will likely use the engine of their racing series, Burnout. He also claims that there are three different teams within Black Box that are responsible for developing Need for Speed titles (which is how they're able to release a new NFS title every year) -- though these three teams will likely consolidate into one, leading to less NFS releases, more continuity between said releases, and, ultimately, drastic downsizing for the NFS teams."

While I must admit that a Need for Speed developed by Criterion Games would probably rock, I'd much rather see a new Burnout than a new Need for Speed. I concede that I did find Need for Speed: Carbon's world somewhat intriguing, I have enjoyed the diverse landscape of Paradise City much more. And while many here are probably proponents of licensed cars over "fake" cars, I strongly endorse the diversity in the cars of Burnout. Since the cars are not based on real world licenses, the Criterion Games team can ultimately create a more diverse line-up of cars in both terms of look and handling. Now, I'm not totally opposed to the idea of a Need for Speed from Criterion Games and I'll probably buy it. Who knows? Maybe this can convince me that the Need for Speed universe is a world worth exploring for me. If this is true, however, we can all say good-bye to Burnout. Since Need for Speed is obviously the more widely-recognized and played franchise, EA will doubtless maintain their focus on the Need for Speed franchise and probably put Burnout to rest.

So, I say we enjoy the new DLC coming to Paradise City in 2009, because that looks like where it will end. I'm guessing we'll see the next Need for Speed come 2010. Burnout's era has ended and, somewhat regrettably, Need for Speed's will continue live on for a long time.

And of course, this is all a rumor, so maybe I'm worrying over nothing.

This post relates to: Burnout Paradise, Mario Kart Wii, Need for Speed, Need for Speed: Undercover, Mario Kart, Burnout

I posted a story on Facebook from Kotaku about how EA may be shutting down the Need for Speed series and I made the comment that I was happy because maybe EA would put some actual marketing into Burnout now. Some of my friends claimed that Burnout sucks too and that Mario Kart is the best racing franchise ever. Here is the discussion. You can decide who won. I'll update it as this conversation continues.

AS: Why the Need for Speed Hate? It's just as viable a franchise as Burnout.

Me: Have you seen the past couple games? At least Burnout is getting better. I'm hoping this will get Burnout the marketing it needs from EA since it's clearly not getting it.

ZM: All racing games are terrible.
/discussion

ZM: EDIT: Except for Mario Kart.

Me: That's just because you're a noob. And Mario Kart is totally lame. It's so SLOW.

AS: Apparently you don't know how to snake.

Me: You can't snake in Mario Kart Wii. Also, snaking is LAME.

And you shouldn't have to exploit the game to go fast. Burnout Paradise: that game is genuinely fast. Also, it feels far more rewarding when you're weaving in and out of traffic and then slamming your opponent into an oncoming van than just getting a blue shell and magically putting yourself in first place.

AS: Does Burnout Paradise have a battle mode?

I didn't think so.

Me: It has Road Rage AND Marked Man. And guess what? You're still moving fast, following your target towards an objective, and not driving in circles on top of a square, over-sized Gamecube.

ZM: Does Burnout Paradise not suck?

I didn't think so.

Me: ZM, if you aren't going to say anything intelligent, just don't post at all.

AS: The way you described Mario Kart's battle mode makes me want to play Mario Kart 64 again...

And going towards an objective? Sounds pretty linear to me, as opposed to the amazing battles you can have in Mario Kart.

Me: Well, seeing as you're playing in a huge open world, basically allowing you to use any path and tactic you want, it is far from linear. All you do in Mario Kart is give your DS a blow job, drive as fast you can towards a weapon box, spam all of the green shells/banana shells, and then rinse and repeat.

And seeing as neither of you have played the game while I have played every Mario Kart ever made and I'm the only one to ever play Burnout Paradise, I'm really the only one with a valid opinion on the subject.

AS: Actually, I have played Burnout Paradise, along with watching you play it...

Me: Metacritic for Burnout Paradise (PS3): 87. It's 88 on 360, if you must know.

Metacritic for Mario Kart Wii: 82

And the only reason it's that high is because there is barely anything decent on the Wii anyway.

AS: We're not judging Mario Kart Wii. We're judging Mario Kart games as a whole, or Mario Kart 64/Double Dash, if you want specifics.

And let me ask you... have you played Mario Kart: Super Circuit for GBA? Burnout 3: Takedown? Burnout: Revenge? You don't seem qualiified to have an opinion at all, let alone a valid one.

Me: When did you ever play it? And when you watched me play it, you even said it looked cool and you might consider getting it. I only have two beefs with the game: no split-screen (which is understandable due to the open world) and the fact that you can't just restart a race when you lose (which is coming in a patch once they get all the bugs worked out).

This is why Burnout Paradise is one of the best arcade racing games ever made:
1. It's fast. That's the most important part in any racing game, which some developers don't seem to understand. *cough* Nintendo. *cough*
2. The open world is very well designed with plenty of distinctive areas that the player can memorize pretty well in just a couple hours of play.
3. About eighty vehicles, all of which play differently. Each car isn't just a slight tweak of another car. Every car feels different when you're controlling it. This is another problem with a lot of racing games.
4. Customization. Almost every car has multiple paint jobs and a multitude of colors for each finish. (about twenty different color options for each paint job). There's no mechanical customization, but thanks the wide variety of cars and their drastic differences, this isn't a problem.
5. Probably the most extensive DLC I've ever seen for a game. Not only that, but it's all free. Also, the game will continue to be expanded in 2009 with five more game packs including some "legendary cars" (inspired by the likes of the car from Back to Future) and an entirely new island which fleshes out what Burnout Paradise is all about: Going where you want and doing what you want.
6. Intuitive online. You just tap right on the D-pad a couple times and you're online playing with people. There are 490 online challenges in the game which ask the players to work together to complete a variety of objectives like jumping through the fuselage at the airport or hitting each other mid-air or driving 1000 yards in reverse into on-coming traffic. These challenges change based on the number of players in the game and, especially when you have eight players, can end up being extremely hilarious, especially when you're trying to pack eight cars onto a small platform. Also, all of the staples of a racing game are in there. There's the standard race. You know, be the first to the finish line. But Burnout racing is unique in the fact that you can choose your own route to get to the finished line and not depend on a pre-determined course set by the game. Also, modes like Marked Man (take down a selected target before he gets to an objective) or Road Rage (take down all of the cars on the other team in a certain amount of time) are distinct Burnout game modes that work perfectly with the title. Add in online Stunt Run and the fun of just driving around Paradise City and goofing off with the people in your game, Burnout Paradise's online is simply the best online of any racing game.

I never said I played the first three Burnout games. I'm talking about Burnout Paradise.

And Mario Kart Wii is just Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart: Double Dash... and that's it. Oh, and there's motorbikes.

And yes, I did play Mario Kart GBA.

AS: I need to go buy a new TV, but I'd like to mention that you're acting overly biased against Mario Kart, especially in this statement.

And Mario Kart Wii is just Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart: Double Dash... and that's it. Oh, and there's motorbikes.

If we go like that, I can say the same thing about Burnout Paradise:

Burnout Paradise is just Need for Speed Underground and every other one up until the end of the series.... Oh, and there's motorbikes.

Me: Uh... not really at all. Need for Speed is all about feux serious stories that nobody really cares about combined with boring licensed cars that all more or less behave the same way set in an uninteresting world with people who are extremely over-obsessed with street racing. Unless you're Need for Speed: Prostreet, which is all about driving down straight roads through the boring desert. Also, Need for Speed puts no emphasis on stunts or anything. Also, all of the flag-girls are retarded for pre-pubescent kids who need something pretty to look at.

Burnout Paradise wins because it doesn't rely on a cheesy story, licensed cars, and gimmicky mechanics like being the cop or fake car damage.

Burnout Paradise shares very little with Need for Speed except that they both have cars and an open world. Mario Kart Wii is literally Mario Kart DS with some new tracks and no snaking. Which is perfectly fine for Nintendo, because fanboys are content with buying the same game over and over.

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You decide who won the debate.