The inspiration for this bog post was the Giant Bomb quest system. I'm not some kind of Quest-whore (props to me if I'm the first person to coin the phrase) but I figured I might as well get that Quest done since I've already written several blogs.
Now this has me thinking about why I appreciate Trophies/Achievements/meta games. Is it just another instance of my mind deciding things need structure? Using the database for more than just exploration of curiosity is certainly a good thing but perusing the Mass Effect 2 credits is something I would never have been intrigued enough to do, were it not for GB Quests. Of course, that led to me finally learning who the hell Keith David is and that's something.
Maybe that's the thing. Maybe I love meta games because they vastly increase the chance that random, awesome things will happen. I remember the game of Warhawk in which I tried to drop a cluster bomb on an unsuspecting tank when suddenly an enemy Warhawk flew right under me, taking the brunt of my falling bombs. I got a Trophy for that. I would've never known about the Steel Fist maneuver in Uncharted were it not for Trophies. I guess that settles it. Meta games like Trophies and Achievements and Giant Bomb quests allow me to look further into the things I do for entertainment, and in doing so, greatly enhance those experiences. Thanks for reading my initially random blog post and joining me on my journey to what could be a significant personal revelation.
I absolutely love it. I think most of the people who will be answering this QotD do too. Most of the fighting games that made comebacks are prettier, more balanced versions of their predecessors with online play. I don't think fighting game fans were ever really looking for anything other than that. The new entries have also scratched the fighting game itch pretty well by offering deep, but refreshing gameplay and of course, online battles. It's always nice when fans of a niche genre can indulge themselves.
Fact: Wii is the dominant, definitive winner in terms of install base, console sales, and overall profit-making for this generation.
My opinions: The questions asks how have PS3 and Wii advanced after two years on the market. Wii has gone south as a console. It launched with Zelda and had Metroid Prime and Mario Galaxy not too long after. Since then, we've seen casual game after casual game, shovelware after shovelware. This generation's most popular console has undoubtedly the worst titles. In my opinion, the software library for Wii is a solid third and based on the way Nintendo has been talking, that's not going to change anytime soon. Nintendo has been criticized in the past for the gaps of time between first party games and the lackluster third party titles on previous consoles. Never before has Nintendo displayed those two stigmas like they do now.
PlayStation 3 is on fire. Sony's machine remains the cheapest and most advanced Blu Ray player on the market. The price is 3/4 what it was a year ago. The PlayStation Store has gone from getting updates twice a month to once (sometimes twice) a week. PS3 has Trophies and the in-game Cross Media Bar. Sony's added a huge video store and DivX support. It's added custom theme support to the XMB. There are features like YouTube support and custom soundtracks in a number of titles. The PSN is still free and there are still several virtually-lag free games on the market. Sony's brought back vibration.
And most importantly, the games are there.
In my opinion, PS3 now has the best software library of any console this generation. It has the most exclusives, at least three of which are genre-defining games, even though it has less total games on shelves than its competitors. The multiplatform games are no longer subpar ports of 360 titles. The days when Resistance was the only thing to play on PS3 are long, long gone. I prefer RPGs and PS3 could certainly use more of those, but the ridiculously high quality action, shooter, strategy, and adventure games available have more than justified the console's price tag. Last I checked, PS3 was the only console with an exclusive to receive perfect scores from almost all the major game review sources (see: Giant Bomb, GameSpot, Game Informer, GamePro, IGN, etc.) in MGS4.
PS3 is in third place right now (in sales) but it has equalled the number of active users on its network that the 360 has. It has sold less units and has an equal number of players online. Define "impressive".
In conclusion, I feel that Wii has become much worse than it was two years ago and PS3 has not only improved, but it has evolved in ways millions of people didn't think it would. It went from being "dead in the water" to being a major player and it shows no signs of stopping.
I used to work overnight at a McDonald's across the street from a 24-hour Walmart. Are they all open 24 hours? I don't even know. Anyway, I took an early break at about 11:50pm and headed over to get in line for the PS3 version of the first Rock Band. There were four people ahead of me and the person stocking told me they had about 20 bundles total. Midnight rolled around and he brought out all the boxes. As it turned out, they were only selling the 360 version so I ended up totally screwed. I later found out they had both the PS3 and 360 versions in stock but they wanted to drive "Black Friday" sales so they didn't release the PS3 one until the day after Thanksgiving. I got up at 4 am that morning, went there, waited in line for two hours because for some reason this Walmart didn't sell video games on "Black Friday" until a certain amount of people were in line for them, and still had to ask three different people to go in the back and get me a PS3 bundle for the game. I got the first one.
From the steady stream of superb games flowing right now, I've managed to (afford to) catch LBP, Socom, and Rock Band 2. I'm getting Resistance 2 at some point in the coming months but RB2 is definitely the one I'm playing the most and the one I'll be playing for the longest amount of time.
I'll get Valkyria Chronicles at some point in early 09 because something has to be said for what is undoubtedly the best Tactics game this generation so far.
Hello to anyone who actually decided to read my blog! I don't/didn't expect anyone to read it so if you're here, you stand out!
I've been following the adventures of Jeff, Ryan, Rich, Alex, and Brad since I first joined Gamespot the day Final Fantasy VIII came out on PS1. I've written to Alex on Burning Questions. I've seen all the episodes of Button Mashing (yes I know the song). I've seen all the episodes of The Hotspot (well at least the ones that featured games I cared about). Basically I've been around for a while. And of course, I have all the Bombcasts on my Blackberry, which I use as a poor man's iPhone.
I am, as of this writing, 19 years of age. When I was 12, I got my first taste of video game journalism via a review I wrote for Parasite Eve, an oldie (but goodie) PS1 game. I've wanted to be involved with the game industry ever since. Now I'm a college student at Michigan State University. I've written reviews for games dozens of times. I pretty much choose to write about games anytime I have a writing assignment that allows me to. A few months ago, however, I had an assignment where the instructions were to write a 7-10 page essay on a free speech conflict in the mainstream media. The title I chose for that paper was "6.0-Fired". The essay focused on what I THINK led to Jeff's termination from Gamespot, and the subsequent "leaving" of all the other Gamespot editors I cared about. I doubt this is the avenue for discussion on that topic so message me if you'd like to read the essay...or watch the hilarious Power Point presentation that accompanied it.
Anywho, I joined this site because I respect what the guys at Giant Bomb are doing. Anyone could have started a new site or created a blog about how crappy life is when you're inappropriately fired after being with a major company for over a dozen years. Instead these guys have built a new, unique site and shown everyone the gears and cogs they put together to run it. Their passion for gaming (or maybe just for game gossip and money) is admirable at the very least. If joining this site helps them in any way, I'm all for it. Maybe one day in the next 10 years, they'll be making blogs as members of my game website.
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