So I finally got around to purchasing Gears of War again and beating it in preparation for the second installment this November. My first run through was on the casual difficulty and now I've started trudging through the game on hardcore.

Something very frustrating happened at the end of the game though. Apparently, the large gap between when I stopped playing earlier this year and then returning to it a few days ago caused me to not get the achievement for completing Act II. In turn, this glitch made it so that I also did not get the Mercenary achievement for completing all acts on casual. Why this happened I am not sure. However, I do remember wondering earlier in the game why I never came to the end of Act II, but I just assumed I had passed into Act III when I started the game back in February.

Well, I guess I'll get it by running through a co-op game on casual, which will probably be difficult to find. Anyone interested?

I've won several contests in my life, with the biggest being a contest sponsored by the now dead Rhino Games in which I won an original X-Box.

Well, I just received an e-mail from Microsoft informing me that I came in eighth place in their Grand Theft Auto IV sweepstakes. My prize? A year subscription to X-Box Live Gold. Which is pretty nice considering I had to let my last subscription expire and haven't been able to reinstate it due to lack of funds.

Awesome.

Nintendo is a company of scurvy traitors who have turned their filthy backs on the hardcore gaming audience.

Ever since Nintendo's rather disappointing casual-focused E3 press conference, the above idea has been grasped by a large number of hardcore gamers across the web. People are angry and sometimes even hurt by what they see as the final piece of empirical evidence proving that Nintendo, once considered the greatest gaming company on the planet, has finally completely abandoned it's hardcore audience. That they've now thrown off their mask and revealed the new Nintendo, hero of the casuals and foe to the world of hardcore gaming.

This evidence lies in the lack of hardcore titles announced at E3. As Nintendo focused their press conference on games such as WiiSports Resort and the toy-like "rhythm game", WiiMusic, gamers have begun mourning the loss of the Nintendo of old. The fact that Nintendo's head of marketing in sales came on stage and told us that Nintendo was interested in making the whole world smile (and doing so by using the word over and over)and Reggie Fils-Aime telling us that Nintendo was hardcore because they announced a new Animal Crossing was just too much for most to take.



Has Nintendo really abandoned those who made it what it is today? The answer is a bit complex or, at the least, it has two sides.

Yes, Nintendo has obviously moved their primary focus away from the hardcore gamer, but we've known this for a while. The casual market is what made the Wii the powerhouse console it is today. Sure it's also true that Nintendo loyals and curious gamers helped the Wii reach sky high sales, but it was still the casuals who gave the system its biggest push towards glory. Nintendo knows this and they also know that they must keep these people interested so that they will continue buying games and introducing new consumers at the same time.

To accomplish this they must continue putting games that are similar to WiiSports and WiiFit, games that casuals eat up, onto store shelves. By announcing the sequel to a wildly popular pack-in in Wii Sports Resort and the entirely new IP, Wii Music, Nintendo hopes to do this. Should they succeed, these two games alone should keep it's new audience happy for at least another year. Plus, they are obviously easier to develop and yield cheaper production costs than the types of games the hardcore crowd are usually interested in.

Hardcore games take time and lots of money to develop. They aren't simple games that throw a Mii into a simple landscape doing simple things. They require lots of effort on many levels and sometimes take years to complete. Throw in the fact that Nintendo is notorious for pushing back release dates for the sake of quality and you have a long cycle between big, franchise releases.

With this in mind, we must acknowledge that Nintendo has already put out several big IP's in the Wii's 1.5 year lifespan. Thus far we've already seen two Mario's, a Metroid, a Zelda, a Super Smash Brothers, and the latest MarioKart. That covers all of Nintendo's heavy hitting, enduring franchises but StarFox and Kirby. And considering that all of those games are well thought of among professionals and consumers a like, the Wii already supports a strong first party line up.

So why are we surprised that E3 lacked first party titles that cater to the hardcore audience? They take time to develop and Nintendo simply may not be ready to reveal what they are working on yet. Plus, gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto practically confirmed that the in house Mario and Zelda teams are both currently working on Wii projects and that Pikmin 3 is in development. With a great first party line up out before the Wii hits the two year mark and the confirmation that new titles are on the horizon, why are gamers shaking their pitch forks and torches at Nintendo and crying foul.

It's because they don't want Nintendo to focus on the casuals. They feel betrayed and anything that does not meet their very specific desires is a mark against the company. Simply confirming that core appealing titles are in development is not enough, they want to see them and be given a relatively specific release window. Isn't that a bit unrealistic? Nintendo has given us some great games thus far this generation, including the almost universally acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy. Shouldn't we have patience instead of pinning all our hopes on one event that is admittedly not what it used to be?



Apparently not. Patience no longer exists and gamers are turning their backs on Nintendo and looking for other options. The real question is, will these gamers swallow their pride and forgive when it becomes clear that Nintendo really does still have us on their mind? Only time will and a few more big gaming conferences will tell.

For weeks now, Bungie fans have been in a constant state of speculation as to what the Halo creator is currently working on. Would it be a brand new IP? Something that would blow our socks off as Halo did when it first came out? Or would it be a return to the Marathon series of old? Or maybe a new Halo title?

Well, Bungie canceled their announcement at E3 and it seemed that speculation would continue. Then Microsoft confirmed that the new project was indeed another game set in the Halo universe.

Really? Another Halo game?

I have long contended that the Halo games are overrated, but that does not mean they are bad games. On the contrary, they are actually quite good. This is because Bungie is a solid developer who knows how to make a great game. They put the time into fine tuning their products so that once they hit the shelf they won't be plagued with problems like so many other games that seep out of companies every year (I'm looking at you EA).

With that information in mind I think it's perfectly logical to assume that Bungie is capable of creating an exciting new IP for us gamers to enjoy. And yet, it has now been confirmed that they are working on a new Halo game, which will probably takes a couple of more years at the least. In fact, by the time it is finished I'm sure the 360 will be near the end of it's lifespan, with Microsoft's next console announced and on the verge of being released. And once it does come out, do you think they are going to want for Bungie to develop a new IP? No, they are going to want a new Halo with next generation graphics and features.

Why is this? Why do companies with talent spent time retreading over the same ground over and over again. Because big franchises sale games and as gaming companies are in the business to make money, they would rather play it safe...the only assured way of bringing home the proverbial bacon. Bungie could be dazzling us with a game set in an entirely new and interesting universe, but instead they are milking the money making Halo franchise as much as they can.

The really sad thing is, Microsoft and Bungie aren't the only ones guilty of this. Everyone is. Sequels are forever being announced in both the gaming and movie industry. There is virtually an infinite amount of untapped ideas out there and yet the most talented developers are stuck on beating their beloved franchises over and over and over again like a dead horse.

However, the real danger here is that beating that horse is still fun. Pick up Halo 3 and you'll have a great time and I'm sure the next Halo will be just as good. Blizzard is known for sticking to their well established IP's and every single sequel is just as good or better than the original. And we can't discuss franchises if we don't mention Nintendo, whose last quality new IP was Pikmin, but all of their rehashes are still solid games. Admit it, if Twilight Princess had been the first 3D Zelda game it would be praised just as much as Ocarina of Time is now.

As long as these various IP's are still making money, the publishers are going to keep churning them out, keeping talented developers from giving us a whole generation of new and interesting ones. This is a problem that seems to have no end, but simply must be addressed. If only I could make my voice be heard I would implore the gaming gods to bring forth an entire library of new games created by the publishers we most admire.

Thankfully, on the other side of the coin, there are developers out there who are bringing us new games as we speak. Brave people who aren't going to play it safe, who are risking putting out a new idea and hoping it takes hold within the gaming public. One must wonder though, if they do (and some most certainly will), will their creators be swept away down that all too familiar river that is almost completely devoid of creativity? Money says yes, sir...yes, sir.