yukoasho

While I wait for the PlayStation 3 release of Marvel VS Capcom 2 (great job discriminating against those of us who'd like our game to be playable while we look for a joystick, Capcom. Perfect), I must admit to a problem. For some reason, the Xbox 360 arcade-style SFIV joysticks (both HORI and Mad Catz) have been relatively plentiful, as far as arcade joysticks go, the PlayStation 3 sticks have had a rarity about equal to that of the True Cross. Here at my local Gamestop, there have been several arcade sticks shipped, all for 360, while the one for PlayStation 3 had one shipped at launch, which was picked up by a guy in another county, has not been shipped again since. Now I get that Capcom can't control another shop's inventory, but can't they make a suggestion, especially as PS3 sales edged out 360 sales for the damned game?

Well, maybe I'll try the Capcom shop after this. I just hope they still have PS3 sticks when I have some money. Rare items seem to be like that. Barring that, I could buy another HORI stick, I suppose. When does Tekken 6 come out, again?

The recent release of Ghostbusters for the major platforms has the nerd community, myself included, quite happy. However, it also brings to light the disproportionate effort that one needs to put forth on the Wii in order to make a good product and the, unfortunately, stunted rewards you'll get regardless of effort.

Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the game's not selling stupendously regardless of platform. According to VGChartz, the sales breakdown is as follows:

360: 0.22m
Wii: 0.11m
PS3:0.26m
PS2:0.06m

That the 360 and PS3 sales are the best of the bunch is not surprising. That seems to be the case almost all the time. However, what's disappointing is how much work went into the Wii version. Ars Technica has a fascinating article on the effort Red Fly Entertainment put into making Ghostbusters for Wii truly shine. From reworking the graphics into something that would look pleasing on the platform, the the fine tuning of the controls based on countless play-test hours and brainstorm sessions. Their reward? Only marginally higher sales than the PS2 version, which is itself a down-port of the Wii, and people wondering why they should bother.

How did we get here though? Going back to VGChartz, here's their stats for the three major consoles worldwide:

Wii: 51.20m
360:31.34m
PS3:22.54m

The complete and utter lack of parity in console sales is spectacular. The Wii is doing remarkably well, so why is Ghostbusters doing so much more poorly on the Wii than on the other two systems? Now, in the interests of foreclosure, the Wii's hard region lock does bar 19.14m Wii owners from playing it, as the game is PlayStation 3 exclusive in Europe (the 360 version is region free, thus allowing Europeans to import it). So that leaves us with 32.06m Wii owners with access to the game (I think, at least – has the game even been released in Japan yet? Hell, is Ghostbusters even popular in Japan?). You still have a stupidly large consumer base, and with a broader consumer demographic than the PS3 or 360, at least in theory. However, a funny thing happens with the Wii. Yes, the more casual leaning of its market is there, but the bigger culprit might just be consumer overlap.

Now I don't need to tell anyone here, but not everyone has only one console. In fact, given just how different the Wii is from the other two consoles, I'm willing to bet that there's a huge number of Wii owners who also own a PS3 and/or a 360. In fact, for all the lip service given to kids, geriatrics and casuals, the Wii could very well be #1 by virtue of being everyone else's #2, as it's far more likely for a 360 or PS3 owner to get a Wii than the other of the two major consoles. So what you have is a situation where most people are going to have to make a choice as to which version they should get. I can't speak for everyone else, but for this multi-console owner, online multi-player is more important than waggle control and cutesy graphics. Not that these are bad things, but every gamer has to look at him/herself and ask what they want in a game. This, my friends, is a classic example of why you shouldn't cross the streams. Wii exclusives may not do spectacularly, but they're more likely to do better than a port.

I agree about the controls.  I can't believe people are defending this nonsense.  At least they let you strafe this time, which they didn't do for RE4.  Still, there's no reason that you shouldn't at least have a tiptoe movement like Dead Space. Co-op is awesome, indeed, but you'll find on your solo that the AI can hack it as long as you make good use of her "cover" and "attack" modes.

With Wii Fit having officially outsold Halo 3, the usual panic across the comments section of the cesspool that is Kotaku, heralding the death of gaming.  The (incredibly flawed) logic goes as follows: Since Wii Fit and the Wii are doing so well, all companies will abandon "hardcore" gaming in favor of cheap cash-in titles.

I would like to think that the Giant Bomb audience is a bit smarter than that.  Hopefully we should all realize that gaming is not going anywhere.  In the two years that have passed since the Wii's launch, the 360 and PS3 have had a barrage of wonderful and successful games.  Indeed, 2007 and 2008 are among the best years gaming has had in a good long time.  2009 looks to be a pretty damn nice year too, with the release of sweet games like Killzone 2, Street Fighter 4, and Resident Evil 5, with more coming up, including Uncharted 2, Rock Band PSP (AKA Amplitude 2), Halo 3: ODST, and many others.  The continued profitability of 3rd party gmaes, as well as the continued successes Microsoft have had with the Xbox 360, prove that Nintendo's success has not damaged gaming one iota.

Also worth noting is the toning down of the "wii-ification" talk that surrounded the other consoles some time back.  I remember a year and a half ago the prevailing rumor around the gaming industry was that MS was going to put out a wand-like peripheral for the Xbox 360.  Those rumors are nowhere to be found now, and this without solid denial from Microsoft.  Also, remember when the PS3 first came out, and every game was trying to shoe-horn in the Sixaxis motion controls?  There were several games I bought on 360 to avoid that nonsense where it couldn't be turned off.  That practice is also gone, with Killzone 2 being the first game in a long time to require motion controls.

The fact is that both Sony and Microsoft have figured out that the Wii is a different demographic entirely, one that has proven to gravitate toward a far smaller offering of titles, usually 1st party and usually not games.  The reason many of us have been dissapointed with the Wii is that it wasn't designed with gaming in mind.  Nintendo's aims are removed from our desires, and you know what?  That's fine.  There are probably more workout DVDs sold in any one year than even the biggest of Hollywood movies, but we still get great movies.  The two markets are mutually exclusive, with perhaps some overlap, but not enough to make a huge shift.  Games are the same way.  Just because Nintendo's making money by moving out of the game industry doesn't mean that the game industry will collapse on itself or anything stupid like that.  Gaming isn't going anywhere.  Take off the tin foil hats, pick up the game pads, and enjoy.

Sweet goodies.  Curse me and my brokeness... :(

Resident Evil 5 has been quite the controversial game of late.  First, the demo being out in Japan months before everyone else got it, despite said demo having English text.  Then it was the brouhaha over the completely unaltered control scheme.  Now it's the pay-to-play VS modes.

Resident Evil versus mode.

Okay, I don't know many things, and much of the world is odd to me, but why does anyone even want a versus mode in this of all games?  I don't know about you, but it seems like something painfully stapled on at the last minute, as the very idea of death matches with controls virtually unaltered from Resident Evil 4 lacks appeal to me, especially in the face of far better shooters for multiplayer including Gears of War, Call of Duty and Killzone 2.  Not only that, but who the hell buys Resident Evil and wishes they could play against others?  The co-op I can kind of understand, certainly, but versus?  Just sounds like it'd be stupidly frustrating.

However, the reason why I'm writing this is to respond to the apparent outrage over the fact that this is going to cost five bucks (400 MS points).  It seems like a lot of money, and it most certainly is for something as tacked on as this.  However, the irrational reactions of some just strike me as curious, particularly those who say they're going to boycott Resident Evil 5 over this.  The reaction here just strikes me as wholly immature.  Why the hell would you not buy a game that, by all accounts is pretty good, simply because of a stupid piece of DLC.  That'd be like not buying Street Fighter IV because Capcom put out the costume packs.  Rather than show a dissatisfaction with the DLC, you're really showing a disinterest in the game, which serves no one.  The best way to deal with this is to pretend the DLC isn't there.  That's what I've done since this generation began.  I've bought no skins, cars, costumes, picture packs, or any other stupid items that have been thrown at the two marketplaces, simply because I don't want or need them.  And you know what?  I've never had a problem, and have enjoyed my games regardless.

In other words, spend wisely.

Unfortunately, this will not reach many people.  Hell, I doubt many people outside the gaming fans even read it.  Considering the continued child predation online, I doubt many have figured out that the internet isn't a place to let your kids be raised.

I doubt we'll see a PSP2 without a drive of any sort.  More likely there will be some internal storage in the PSP-4000.  There's no way we're going to see a new platform now that the PSP is finally entering its stride.

While there are still many, many hardships facing gays, lesbians and transgendered people nowadays, life for these people is far better than it was before the 1969 Stonewall Riots.  Indeed, the years that followed have gotten us that much closer to equality, and the open hatred that fuels discrimination today will be felt in only a few niche groups, including radical right-wing religion... And gaming communities.

Not to say that all gaming communities are homophobic, but the casual nature in which insults of sexuality and sexual identity are thrown about in the gaming community are rivaled only by men's professional athletics, a haven of cave men if there ever was one.

Of course, for examples, I could go to any gaming forum of blog and see such insults, but the forum jackasses are really only a symptom of a bigger problem - tolerance of such mindsets in the gaming media.  Of course, I'd be negligent if I didn't mention everyone's favorite troll, Yahtzee.  His recent Gears of War 2 "review" has him going out of the way to make tasteless gay jokes.

Wow, it took them long enough.  I'm glad to see the game selling, but I wonder if it's too little, too late.