- News
- New Games
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Reviews
PS3, X360- Dragon's Dogma
- Review
- Capcom has delivered an open-world game with tremendously fun combat, a hilariously crazy ending, and not much else.
PS3, X360, PC- Game of Thrones
- Review
- There is probably a great role-playing game to be made out of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, but Game of Thrones isn't it.
MAC, PC- Diablo III
- Review
- The first Diablo game in over a decade is also one of the most insidiously satisfying loot treadmills in almost as long.
PS3N, PS3, X360, PC- Prototype 2
- Review
- Prototype 2 gives you some interesting abilities that can be fun to use, but it doesn't give you enough good opportunities to cut loose with all that power.
| News | Here's the Tony Hawk Ride Skateboard Controller | May 14, 2009 |
| News | Neversoft Head Confirms They're Not Doing Next Tony Hawk | Jan. 11, 2009 |
| News | The Dawn of a New Day | Jan. 1, 2009 |
| News | New Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and More Announced at In-Game Ad Conference | Dec. 3, 2008 |
The Quick Looks. They're better than any review. Take the Tony Hawk : Ride Quick Look, for instance. We were all curious to see what was up with that, and our fears were confirmed. A big clunky mess of a game with a big clunky mess of a peripheral. The Quick Looks are almost like you're sitting with the Giant Bomb guys on their big Giant Bomb sofa as they play the game and comment on it. I don't really trust many reviews online, but I trust those Quick Looks.
Also Deadly Premonition. Ohmy. I think the Endurance Runs are slowly persuading me to pick that game up. Sure, it's bad at a lot of things, but it also has a sackload of character which is gleefully picked up upon.
Oh, and those quests. Lovely, lovely quests. Thank you, Giant Bomb!
Bobby Kotick, ex-head of the video game publishing company Activision, was spotted last week at his job at a car wash in Seattle, Washington yesterday. Though it seems amazing, this man once had control of what was once the biggest publishing franchise in the video game business, a position now held by mega-corporation 2K Square Enix EA Micro-Ubi-Soft Inc. How did such a high ranking official destroy a company once known for such innovative games as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty fall so far and so fast?
Activision's troubles began in the late part of 2010 (a time when people could see extremely well) when Infinity Ward, creators of the Call of Duty franchise, dissolved completely, having lost over 80% of their staff. The remaining employees went to work for Treyacrh, but their hearts just weren't in it after producing Call of Duty: Conflict at Falkland Islands. Soon after, following their lead, the once great franchise was usurped by the former Infinity Ward employees and their new studio, Respawn Entertainment, and their new game/experience/piece of art that has become so ubiquitous in our lives that naming it here is almost unnecessary. Even acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert, a long standing proponent against the "games as art" argument, wept in tears at the ending of the "game," stating, "It's so amazing, words fail me..."
Truly the firing of Inifinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West had a marked effect on Activision, but it was just one of many mistakes in the company's history. After butchering the skateboarding series with Tony Hawk Ride 2: Ride Harder, Neversoft quietly announced that it had gone bankrupt and left the video game industry completely. They now make purses in Dubuque of varying quality (it is widely held that the peaked on the third iteration, but new models keep coming out every year).
Finally, with only one annual franchise left to sustain them, Activision execs finally crossed a line when they announced Guitar Hero: Nickelback, thus causing a mass exodus not only from their Guitar Hero studios (they had 5 running at the time), but from the company as a whole. Said one secretary in a now famous YouTube clip, "F*%$ you Mr. Kotick! I'll not be filing your s&$^ anymore, nor answering your calls! " The rest of the company left much more quietly, though it is rumored that many of them left flaming bags of dog crap on Mr. Kotick's front door step for years to come. Some also egged his house, while others merely left Post Its on the window of his hover car, stating "How about Guitar Hero 9? Think we should put it out just a week after #8?"
Oh how the might have fallen. For those interested in contacting Mr. Kotick, he works 8-6 most weekends and all day on weekdays at his car wash, Kotick's Kleen Kars. His staff will clean your car fairly well once, then offer to do it again in 2 hours at a higher price.
Startling isn't it? Think it's real? Or just a meta-joke? Only time will tell how prophetic it will be...
Oh, and feel free to read this on Bitmob.com as well. Same title.
As the game industry continually gives birth to new successful I.P's , we are almost certain to see spin-off's,prequels,crossovers and even movies or books based on famous videogame, steadily allowing them to evolve into franchises. And due to the fact that these ventures generally pay off simply due to the fact that the piece of media in question is related to a commercially recognized I.P, it becomes tempting for developers and publishers to over-indulge in creating related products simply because attatching the I.P to the item in question almost garuantees a sizeable profit to be made off the back off the original game. Sometimes this products can be of a high quality, but many tend to be rushed effors with what feels to be very contrived relations to the original product. Of course we see this process not just games, but many different forms of media, although in this blog I'll be focusing centrally on the game aspect.
I believe the video game business has seen some of the worst cases when it comes to milking franchises. Due to the large choice of consoles, both handheld and home consoles often see the same characters and loosly related plots appearing across their consoles. After hearing about Sonic 4, I've been thinking about all the game franchises I think really should've called it quits back in the glory days. Seeing some of my favorite game franchises being raped as the ever dwindling torch is passed on to an even lazier developer looking to make a quick buck is disheartening at best. So below I've complied a list of games I believe have lost thier charm over the years, bearing in mind these are simply my own opinions and aren't to be taken too personally.
Crash Bandicoot: Where oh where did it all go wrong for the original playstation mascot? Well, straight after Naughty Dog left to be honest. After 3 stellar platforming outings on the ps1 and an enjoyable Mario Kart inspired racing game Crash soon went down the drain and featured in countless mediocre titles that managed to suck the charm from this once respected franchise. His first outing on the PS2, Traveller's Tales developed Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex failed to expand on the platforming seen on the last generation of consoles while adding horrendously long loading screens to accompany the uninspired gameplay. On the plus side, several gameboy iterations of the franchise were released around the same time that managed to retain the fun of the orginals on a portable console, giving a glimmer of hope to the Bandicoot. Unfortunatly this was not to last, many more poor console effors were released including Twinsanity and another racing game, Crash Nitro Cart, which was largely unchanged from it's predecessor. While not absolutely woeful in execution, these game felt stale and lifeless, although Twinsanity did attempt to reinvent the franchise in a sense, I felt it was an ultimately broken and unsatisfying experience. The worst was yet to come, as 2007 saw Crash of The Titans stumble it's way onto home and portable consoles alike. Crash and his companions recieved a needless new design that just looked like a last attempt at appearing 'cool' and the cumbersome controls and tedious gameplay only made matters worse. Subsequent games have seen the same treatment, although we have seen Crash and the gang revert back to their old style appearences. All in all, Crash's retirement has been long overdue but publishers seem set on taking every last ounce of dignity he has left before throwing in the towel. Shame.
The Tony Hawk Franchise: I remember the feeling of mastering the controls in the original Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. A great sense of accomplishment that I would feel throughout the series, but sadly that feeling dimished considerably somewhere along the line. Right up until Underground I believed the series could do no wrong. Every game had presented new and exciting challenges, greater replay value and more tricks that ensured that I'd always come back for more. The wacky nature of the series also gave the game it's own distinctive feel, all these parts cemented it as the king of skating games, even though it was a genre scarce in challengers. Underground 2 , I felt was a let down from the previous game, exchanging a plot for what seemend to be more an episode of Jackass rather than a Tony Hawk game. Still, it wasn't that bad, I just felt the shift in focus to pro skater and Jackass star/general asshole, Bam Margera was unwarrented and only looked to profit on his rising popularity. Subsequent games such as American Wasteland kept the smash this, punch that Jackass mentality and seemed to be less and less about skating. Project 8 was the first current genration outing seen from the franshise and while not changing much, was still an enjoyable experience. Skate, a new game being developed for this generation of consoles looked to snatch the skating crown that the Tony Hawk series had held for so long. This must of caused panic at Activision, because the later games began to include gimmicky features that I assume were attempts at keeping things interesting. I belive last years Ride, should've been the last nail on the coffin, featuring an awful and mandatory motion bored. The game did not win fans over at the high price and unresponsive, lackluster gameplay. It's time to skate into the sunset and let Skate reign supreme as this franchise is becoming an embarrassment to Acitivision and Hawk. That being said, an unwelcome return this year is almost inevitable.
Metal Gear Solid: Ok, I know that there will be a strong protest against this choice. But remember, this list is also including franchises I think should end, not that they've necessarily gone bad, but that they may risk turning sour if they were to continue. I love the MGS series. But the problem is, they finished it perfectly with MGS4. All loose ends were wrapped up. The gameplay was wholly satisfying and I believe it was easily the best of the series. For me, it made perfect sense to end it there. Now, if you've been following your MGS news then you'll know about the two games in the works. MGS: Rising, due for release on both the 360 and ps3, and Peace Walker for release on the PSP handheld later this year. The latter being a prequel, which could give some interesting backstory to the games. But I fear that this series will eventually become a mess of plot holes and surplus characters and stories if it continues. If they can weave this story into the saga without it feeling contrived then I'll be happy, but I fear that this may become an inevitability if the seires continues for much after. I just feel that the series was resolved and that future games may dissolve into games simply created for a source of revenue, not contributing to the series in any meaningful way. I hope I'm wrong and this doesn't happen, but I think it's time for Konami to let the series go on an all time high.
Halo: The Halo franchise is one that seems to have spawned two opposites of opinion. Some will say that the Halo franchise offers a fierce capaign, unmatched multiplayer and one of the best protagonists seen in recent gaming. Others will tell you is that it's an overhyped shooter that fails to innovate or change with each entry, includes a short and repetitive single player, and a multiplayer component that cannot stand against the likes of Modern Warfare 2. Of course those are massive generalisations, but I believe that a significant amount of people hold the aforementioned opinions. Say what you want, but this franchise has taken off and has some serious weight behind it's name. Just last Year we seen two game not even considered part of the 'main' series, Halo:ODST and Halo Wars. Both games, while not reaching the sales success of Halo 3 or recieving as warm critic reviews, they booth became substantial sources of revnue for Bungie and Microsoft. But is the fact that they have not been received as well critically as previous efforts a sign of an eventual decline into a rut for the series. I belive not, if Halo:Reach is anything to go by. Bungie promises that this will be the 'definitive' Halo experience and from what I've seen I'm inclined to believe them. What worrys me about this franchise though is what will happen after that, Bungie have already announced that this will be their last Halo game. Even without Bungie, Microsoft insist that the franchise will continue. This is what has me worried. Sure, under the right developer this franchise could keep producing high quality games for years to come but if it falls into the wrong hands, it could spell an unrecoverable blow to the series. Not in the fiscal sense, but the quality aspect. I believe that if the next Halo game after Reach is poorly recieved by critics, the game will still sell like hotcakes because of the weight of the franchise. If it continues to turn profit even if the game itself is of a poor quality, the developers will see little incentive to improve on it and just like that, Halo could be stuck in a very depressing rut. That's why I think it may be for the best to end it after Reach , and like MGS, end on a high.
That's all I'm gonna mention for now. I have more, but alas I'm tired. I'll add some more games tonight if I get the time,failing that I'll do some later this week.
I left this in the comments but I thought I'd throw it down here too:
I'm not a huge fan of game of the year awards. I find it really difficult to compare two completely different experiences and say definitively, this one is better. I much prefer category awards. That said, if my readers want me to give out a game of the year award, I will. Just leave me a comment telling me that you guys want it, and I'll oblige.This first Games of the Year post is dedicated to the worst this year has to offer.
Worst Company of the Year:
It's been a really popular thing to hate on Activision this year and I hate to appear as if I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but they really deserve this. This company really exemplifies all the negative aspects of a large gaming publisher. They abuse the properties they have, they stifle creativity and they treat their consumers like crap. I hate to say I'm happy about a game failing, but I'm so glad Tony Hawk:Ride did not perform as well as hoped.Now if only they'll stop pushing plastic crap on us every year, they might begin the road to recovery.
Runners-up: Sony (PSP Go! Pricing), Bethesda (For their lack-luster debut as a publisher)
Most Disappointing Game Released this Year:
Let's be clear here, this is for single-player only. I fully realize this is unequivocally the multiplayer game of the year. The single-player portion, though, was really underdeveloped. IW really didn't know what they wanted to do. They didn't know if they wanted a serious commentary about war or a fun gung-ho badass action game. You really can't try to do both a succeed at either. It left the game feeling really schizophrenic and empty. It's really sad too, as it didn't have to end up like this.
Runners-up: Brutal Legend. Scribblenauts.
Worst Game of the Year:
There are many ways to approach this category. I chose to go with the game I had the least fun with. To me, there is nothing worse than a mediocre game. If a game is really bad, you can at leas garner some enjoyment in it's inadequacies. Sure, Prototype isn't bad on a technical level, but it's just so boring and heartless. I rarely stop playing a game, but after a couple rounds of Prototype, I had to send it back to GameFly. It's boring, heartless and repetitive and that's why it's my worst game of 2009.
Runners-Up:Rogue Warrior. Tony Hawk:Ride.
Worst Trend of 2009:
Paying to unlock content you can unlock by playing the game.
I really hate this. Games that let you download unlock-able car parts or weapons or artificially increase your level really cheapen the experience for those of us who take the time to actually accomplish that task. If I need to purchase extra levels to avoid hours of boring grinding, it's a sign that you've failed to correctly balance your game.
Runners-Up:Different pre-order bonuses for different stores, Delaying the PC version of a game to promote console sales and stem piracy.
That's it for the dubious honors, next time I'll get into the actual positive gaming experiences of 2009.
It's like the holidays hit, and everything got warped into some type of stress induced vortex. They always do. Over time I've learned to be... not dismissive of other peoples stress, but appropriately assess other peoples stress. I'm actually kinda proud of myself this year, as there were many times that I didn't let other peoples "issues" affect me. Overall though, it was a better holiday season. A new house, a new computer coupled with family and friends resulted in a fairly eventful Christmas. I hope everyone else had a similar, if not equally enjoyable experience.
Hail to the king?
Duke Nukem Forever was announced on April 28th 1997.
I was ten years old.
And that's really all I have to say.
The level of shame that some of the long standing developers need to come into grip with, is so mind-boggling, my attempts to even begin to fathom what thoughts might have gone through some of their minds is difficult to even comprehend. Yahtzee pointed out probably summed up the most disgusting aspect of the whole situation yet: In this cut-throat industry, where small developers with great idea's are cast aside by monolithic publishers: How dare anyone could have supported this project, for this long. Take-Two apparently sued 3D Realms for their inability to deliver....anything...
If there was ever an argument against the terminology of "When it's Done", this is it.
I personally never understood why people were clamoring for this game. I understood why after Duke Nukem 3D for sure, I loved that game to death, but as the....decade....past the sheer concept of what Duke is died. He became a parody in the eye's of time, if the game had been released at this time it would have been blasted probably as too generic.
The article is a bit difficult to follow at times, not because it's a poor article but the story is just heart-wrenching at least for me. I'm currently in taking 3D modeling and animation classes, and eventually want a career somewhere in Game development. The concept that so much art assets, work and energy would never see the light of day due to a egotistical scatterbrained development lead and an irrational amount of funding is beyond me.
I get into PC gaming
I have a couple blogs that I did concerning my triumphant(?) return to PC gaming.
Blog 1
Blog 2
I'm currently blasting through Dragon Age: Origins and loving it. Like a lot of people who have it on PC, I'm a bit confused on how the game actually works on a console. The combat reminds me quite a bit of Final Fantasy XII, even down to their Tactics/Gambits system. It's neat to see that the RPG genre is diversified enough to see such complimentary adaptations of gameplay mechanics.
It was neat going back into PC gaming, and it seems my experiences struck a cord with a lot of people. I left PC gaming for reasons that I found were very relatable: I own every console/ PC gaming is generally expensive.
What's kinda funny that my first experience with something..."console-esque" on the PC was so horrible. Halo 2 PC, and apparently Xbox Live for PC in general from everyone I've talked too is something to generally avoid. It's a future of PC Gaming I want no part in.
Love Steam though. TORCHLIGHT FOR FIVE DOLLARS?! OMGZ!
Even with the minor issues, I haven't looked back though. I have named my PC, Colonel Philbright Westriverside Warehouserock XXVI, and we have tea together and you are not invited!
...
The Return of Monkey Island
I met David Grossman at PAX this year. He signed my Monkey Island poster.
When I was a kid me, and half of the class, would sit in the computer labs all screaming at one poor kid trying to navigate Guybrush Threepwood through his adventures. The DOS game was even old back then, but we generally did not care. Latter in life I would return to the series and realize how genius it truly was. Things that went over my head as a kid were more apparent.
He was very kind, another Telltale guy watching our conversation joked that they never get over the fact that they work with Grossman (He said sarcastically.) He admitted that old Lucas Arts games in general were used as teaching tools for English as a second language, a concept that blew my mind open immediately. The literal use of verbs to interact with objects, sure there was the Humongous stuff, but I never thought the original Lucas Arts games would function in the same manner.
Speaking of TellTale, I think they won my favorite developer award, or something. It's one thing to revive Monkey Island, but like the fourth game taught us: There are pitfalls in succeeding. Tales of Monkey Island was absolute pleasant surprise this year, equal to Monkey Island 2 (Personal favorite) and quite possibly the funniest in the series. I implore anyone who simply want's to have a good laugh to check it out, the remake of the first Monkey Island was emotionally gripping for me.
Wait, I actually met a bunch of people this year.
Oh, Sega
Yakuza 3 was finally announced to be released next year. I would like to see the first two games get some type of re-release in the future, but until then it's good to see Sega finally realizing that this series has interest outside of Japan. Just not in the manner that they initially foresaw, like Yakuza 2 the game will retain it's original Japanese voice track. I applaud them for accepting the obvious.
Resonance of Fate is a JRPG to be released next year made by Tri-Ace. The original name of the game in Japan is " End of Eternity", which of course makes no sense.
I mean, who in their right mind would name anything "End of Eternity"?! That's some typical Japanese to English, mismatched crap that I'm happy the localization department at Sega has corrected in some form or another. To shame anyone who has previously used that term before! Learn English dammit!
That includes you, cherished science fiction writer Issac Asimov! Someone from Sega should clean this up!
The PSPGo
With everyone clamoring for digital distribution, this year brought us a little strange device that for many has been classified as a failure: The PSPGo.
Many retailers simply refused to stock the device overseas due to it's all digital format. It's a step in the right direction, but the real problem came when the lack of any support regarding UMD came into play, resulting in rumors that a UMD like add-on is in the works: Which if released, would bring irony to a whole new level.
YOU WILL ENJOY FACEBOOK!
Watching my friends cringe after my PS3 decided to flood my status updates with trophy announcements was pretty funny. I don't understand why both Microsoft and Sony jumped for this feature, but both consoles support Facebook some way or another.
Again, I don't understand why it's better clicking on every letter individually versus sitting at a computer and typing a status comment.
You better "Like" this blog post.
GiantBomb happenings
Speaking of Sony and trophy information, it's nice to see where there screwed up priorities are regarding the sharing of information regarding their trophies. Apparently Facebook can get easy access, but when it comes to sharing trophy data with any other website, which is a basic function regarding achievement style data: consider yourself fucked.
Tony Hawk Ride gives birth to my favorite Penny Arcade comic ever.
After Tony defended his broken product, claiming that people were biased against it, the fine folks at Penny Arcade were there to point out the obvious.
Shinji Hashimoto shouldn't do interviews.
I can do an entire blog of all the stupid crap that Square has stated publicly this year, but nothing takes the cake quite like Square's vice president Shinji Hashimoto and his proclamation about the future of the Chrono Series.
I'm sorry, Symphony you wanted to say something?Why does everyone ask about Chrono Trigger? [after being told that the games are a very much loved] That's not what the sales tell me!. If people want a sequel, they should buy more! (Chrono Trigger DS)
@vidiot: Seriously, is that VP retarded? According to Wikipedia which cites two sources for this claim -
"Chrono Trigger sold more than 2.36 million copies in Japan and 290,000 abroad, reaching two million in sales in only two months. It ended 1995 as the third best-selling game of the year"
It also mentions, and cites sources - "Chrono Cross shipped 850,000 and 650,000 units in Japan and abroad respectively"
Let's compare some others that did see subsequent sequels recently -
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time - "[I]t had estimated U.S. sales of 630,000 copies, with revenues of $23 million. In Japan, the original sold 533,373 copies as of 2008."
Pretty similar sales, a bit less than Chrono Cross, and it saw a recent (albeit pretty bad) sequel...
Saga Frontier 2 - "SaGa Frontier 2 has sold over 675,000 copies in Japan as of December 2004"
No mention of sales abroad, but that warranted the release of Unlimited Saga (which was panned and labeled as terrible in the West).
Then there's their new games like Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery which are just godawful... so it's okay to basically throw away money on publishing crap games like these (okay, I'm sure they turned a profit, but still...) but not on working on a tried and true franchise that HAS the sales numbers to prove it's loved? *boggles* Shinji Hashimoto statement strikes me as that of someone who has either no concept of the franchise he's talking about or no concept of sales. Possibly both. I wouldn't be surprised if (hell, I'm willing to bet on it) his only knowledge of the game is the DS port and he's basing his sales figures off of that alone. Because a DS port of a game is definitely going to tell you how well a full-fledged console game would sell, right?
That's like guessing FFXIII's sales off of the FFIV port to the DS or a better analogy would be basing the sales of an FFVII remake off of the sales of Crisis Core on the PSP (cause we know EVERY FFVII fan bought that game (and a PSP to play it on), right?!)
*facepalm*
Edit: I should note that if the issue were that the original creators of the Chrono franchise had no desire to work on it any more, that would be another matter entirely... and it does seem like, as Yasunori Mitsuda (who showed interest in working on the score) put it, "there are a lot of politics involved [with the franchise]". So even if the sales numbers prove the game would sell, the franchise might not have the backing of the creative team that made the games so endearing in the first place.
THIS IS MY BLOG SYMPHONY! I HATE YOU! GTFO!
Guy doesn't marry his DS
Apparently, one of my favorite stories of the year did not go through, as the guy in question did not marry his DS.
Worst characters in a video game award
It's pacing at times I would argue is better than Modern Warfare 2. It has a phenomenal set pieces, the multiplayer is phenomenal, the action is dense and it's orchestral score is brilliant. Tons of time and money went into this game.
The story and characters....Oh, man.
Normally, I could honestly care less, but when a game stresses that I should be emotionally involved during key sequences due to it's superior production costs it losses me. If I learned anything this year, it's that game's that have a strong identity of what they are usually do quite well. (I'm going to plug Pepsiman's blog concerning this subject, hope no one minds and I'm sorry if they do, I can remove and edit links :P)
Killzone 2 doesn't know what it wants to be. At one point a main character dies, the orchestral music rises, the direction of the cutscene is perfect: And I don't care.
In fact, my main concern was who was going to open up doors now for me. There was a loading screen that passed by claiming the character who died was known for his "joking personality". I have no idea what the hell this loading screen was talking about. I think he said a "Your mom" joke once while playing, so I guess he appeals to the 4th grader demographic. To me he was just another faceless, cursing futuristic solider.
Initially Killzone's 2 plot generally confused me. It was my first game in the series, and there was no attempt to bring newcomers into the context of the plot. Not even a blurb in the instruction manual.
From an earlier blog a few hours into the campaign:
The back-story of the ISA and the HellGhast is very interesting.The Hellghast are bad. I know this because they have British accents and have red eyes.
I'm a good guy. People call me Sev. I'm with some other people. They tell me what to do. They also swear.
I'm on the Hellghan planet. The Hellghast don't like that.
I read it on a few websites, I don't understand why we can't integrate all that interesting context into the actual game.
Best Story: Modern Warfare 2
still not going to make a lick of sense.
Modern Warfare 2 wins my best story award.
Yes, I said in another thread that the person who wrote the plot to this game should be....*ahem*..."Fired", and that the plot was so ludicrous that it was "...a Michael Bay movie that not even Michael Bay would touch."
I've also been an adamant and staunch critic of the No Russian level, a subject matter that I have discussed to death, and I don't want to cover here. If your inclined to give your opinion, please, please, please PM me.
Overall, Modern Warfare 2 wins Best Story to how phenomenally stupid it is. Let me touch on just one small example:
Makarov, a highly publicized terrorist who goes by name and face in numerous news articles presented to you prior to the No Russian level, decides the best way to hide the identity of his ultra-nationalist Russian comrades and himself is speaking in English.
Little do people know that speaking in another language: changes your appearance.
So, the next time you want to shoplift at a grocery store, or if your in a situation where you want to commit a crime and are on camera....Like an international airport....Speak in a different language.
Crap, it doesn't have to be an actual language, speak in tongues...it's fun, I do it all the time.
Does it matter that during this same level, another terrorist not including yourself dies and is left on the runway? Nah, we don't have time think or talk about this.
Notice: Modern Warfare 2 was my favorite first person shooter this year, over ODST and Killzone 2. It's level design was great, and I am a huge fan of composer Hans Zimmer. The production values are equally amazing, and the roller-coaster like feeling it gives is great. It is perfectly acceptable to appreciate the game and the story separately.
Modern Warfare 2 is NOT my best story in the year award. I'm just pulling your leg and annoying you. :P
Game that surprised the crap out of me
Sorry X-Men Arcade. :P
What's great is that you can clearly see the developers who were making this game, loved what they were doing and had great respect over what they were doing. When you can visually identify that, it's a beautiful thing. The game's mechanics are great in that you actually feel like the caped crusader. If you haven't had the time or effort to check this game out, I strongly recommend you just run out and purchase it.
Batman also grows a beard over the course of the game. That's awesome.
Game that should have been nominated for more awards.
Infamous came out at a strange time, going head to head with the likes of Prototype. In my opinion, Infamous is the superior game by far. Sucker and Punch proved themselves as phenomenal developers with the Sly Cooper series, but Infamous and it's dark brooding Seattle WTO atmosphere takes the cake.
The character, even the powers of Cole are not exactly "new", but the game does enough from a presentation standpoint to take what is essentially a very basic comic book story and make it new. There's a ton of parkour being used in games today, throw in super powers and by the end of the game you feel invincible. It's not perfect, but it seems to have been kinda forgotten by end of this year. It's too bad.
I am a terrible, terrible person for not playing the following games.
I haven't checked out Demon Souls, which apparently won Gamespot's game of the year award. I don't know, I haven't really seen anything that has impressed me online about it. I've heard it's a game you have to play to appreciate, but I never had a hankering for old-school Kings Field like stuff, still I'm intrigued.
There's also something about a Street Fighter 4 that a ton of people are into. I guess those were pretty rad games this year.
I also have yet to play Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. That will be corrected soon :P
(Notice: I'm currently playing through Assassins Creed 2 and Dragon Age Origins, they are both not really on my list anywhere but they are both awesome.)
My Game of the year.
I played so many good games this year, but if I had to choose just one....
Uncharted 2 does so much right it almost frustrates me.
I've heard people complain about the platforming, which is still stiff like the first game. But the checkpoint system is so forgiving, I find it difficult to rally against the whole game because of it. From a presentation standpoint it blows everything out of the water. Uncharted 2 knows what it is, and we are all thankful for it.
It's one thing to say that games can rival movies, but Uncharted 2 is better than just about every goofy contemporary take on Indiana Jones that I've ever seen. Seldom do we take notice of the acting in a game, you can't avoid talking about Uncharted 2 without referencing the superb job that Nolan North does.
The gameplay is solid and the level design solid. Awkward mechanics that were noticeable in the previous game have been touched up on, making the combination between narrative/shooting/stealth/and punching dudes in the face so fluid it's quite the sight to behold.
With all the games concerning space marines, Uncharted 2's premise and style, no matter how simplistic is a breath of fresh air.
I went on about it previously in another blog, but if I want to single out my favorite game this year: This has to be it.
And Tenzin will fucking cut you.
Onward into the future
I'm worried about gaming in 2010.
I'm worried about the conflicting things I've heard regarding Final Fantasy XIII.
I'm worried about BioShock 2.
I'm worried that Mass Effect 2 won't be up to snuff.
I think revisiting the Sands of Time trilogy for Prince of Persia is strange.
I have yet to be sold on Halo: Reach.
I'm afraid Tony Hawk will release Tony Hawk Ride 2.
Yet at the same time, I have a strange sense of optimism. Not completely optimistic, but aware that my concerns can easily be flipped. Regardless what 2010 brings, I look forward to it.
Edit: User Tiwi demanded my mention of him in this blog. So here, I am mentioning him.
Yes, it's the time of the year when, in lieu of sending Christmas cards (Because sitting and writing someone's name then my name then someone's name then my name over and over and over is the kind of thing which will eventually drive me over the edge and thus cause me to go on the psychopathic rampage which the majority of you are still expecting of me), I write out a long, winding look at the year that was and what lies ahead, with characteristic sarcasm and comical faux-hipness. Because I'm "like" "with it". Er..."dawg"!
So then...To business!
Ah what a year it has been. For me, terrific. Wonderful things have happened over and over again (Green Day - the best band in the world seriously don't even argue, turning 18, the computer I'm writing this on, Disneyland which is like heaven for me and of course a certain Mr. Jenson Button winning the World Championship).
But as with any year, 2009 has had it's fair share of flaws. Yes, for every Barack Obama becoming President, there has been an unfortunate but inescapable Twilight Saga release. In the future, they will look back on years like this as the beginning of the zombie apocalypse which is still speeding on its way to destroying our world as we know it, presumably within the next 5 years.
For those of you about my age over here in the UK, this year has also probably begun your association with the most unspeakably horrific torture device known to man. Yes, I speak of UCAS, which dominates your life for months at a time stressing you out about filling in a form, getting Personal Statements & References written and all this as soon as humanly possible rush rush rush. Then it immediately turns into the most insufferable waiting game ever devised - it's like an ironic punishment in hell, it taunts you for your previous desire to slow things down by going to the other extreme.
Cruel and unusual.
If you're like me (To those very few of you, you have my sympathy) you mostly measure a year's worth on the quality of the entertainment put out that year. On that front, New Moon aside, 2009 is a standout success. We've had brilliant movies like The Hangover, Role Models & Zombieland as well as amazing TV shows making their debuts (Such as FlashForward) or re-launching (The fantastic Scrubs Season 9 (Med School)).
In more good entertainment news, word reached us this year that Channel 4 will not be buying any more seasons of Big Brother, ending its run on the channel in 2010. Every reasonable person in the country is delighted by this news. In less welcome news, ITV (Continuing its downward spiral into being the most vulgar unappealingly cheap and tacky network on Television) has ordered more seasons of The X-Factor. Which means 2010 will be another year in which the Christmas Number 1 will go largely un-contested...
Eff you ITV. You ruin everything.
In the world of video games, Killzone 2 released this year and overshadowed all other First Person Shooters. Honestly can't think of a single other significant one. None at all. Nope. Modern What 2? Never heard of it. It's the biggest entertainment release of all time? Oh that Modern Warfare 2. Why didn't you say so?
In more interesting video game news, The Beatles: Rock Band released this year, broadening the appeal of Rock Band-like games as well as of The Beatles' superb music. As if Harmonix, makers of Rock Band, hadn't done enough to make me love them, they recently announced that next year they will release another game. Green Day: Rock Band. Thereby immortalising my two favourite bands in their own games.
Less fortunate this year were those Activision guys. Tony Hawk: Ride is the punchline to every video game joke made from now until Project Natal releases.
On a more universal note, the economy has started to recover! That's good!
But VAT in the UK is going back up. That's bad.
But it's not going up to 20%! That's good!
But the Tories will probably put it up to 21% (That's bad) as soon as they get in (That's bad).
Potentially far worse news from the land of politics is that the BNP got into the European Parliament. Which is both a disgrace and nonsensical. How can a party who think anything and everyone from outside the UK is sub-human represent us in Europe? It's a logical absurdity!
And on that note, we come to "Climategate". I'm going to put tis to rest once and for all: The world is getting warmer. We're at least partly to blame through CO2 emissions. Get over it and help us start fixing it.
Jeez, is it that hard to stop burning things left and right?
So then, what lies ahead, in (As weirdos call it) The Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Ten (Or as the hipsters call it "Twenty-Ten")? Well how the hell should I know, I'm not psychic. I do however have some predictions for your amusement:
1) The Tories will win the General Election and ruin the country, but idiots will still claim things have improved.
2) A celebrity will die and the whole world will overreact.
3) Someone, somewhere, will have sex with somebody else. This will piss off a third party who will throw a hissy fit about it and/or go to the press.
4) A man will discover the Meaning of Life and start trying to ell people it. Nobody will listen.
5) Britain's Got Talent will still suck.
6) The X-Factor will suck even more.
7) Twilight Saga: Eclipse will suck even more than James Cameron's Avatar clearly does. Dan Berry will not notice due to his guy crush on Robert Pattinson/Taylor Lautner/Dan, seriously what the hell.
8) Kanye West will continue to be a douchebag.
9) Sarah Palin will, on at least 4 separate occasions in each case, fail to spell her own name or even the word "a" correctly.
10) I will write another Christmas letter.
Now, let's see how my predictions form last year did:
1) Sky will stay blue (Correct!)
2) Music will continue to dominate culture (Correct!)
3) Economy will finally begin to rebound (Correct!)
4) Summer will be hot (Correct!)
5) Spring will suck just as much as ever (Correct!)
6) Someone, somewhere, will be inappropriately offended by something they know was not meant in that way - they will proceed to destroy someone's career over it despite being aware they meant and caused no actual harm (At least half-correct!)
Wow! Maybe I am psychic! On that bombshell, I'm off to make a killing gambling on sporting events!
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and of course a Happy New Year!
Yours,
Paul "Jensonb" Douglas
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Another week and another episode of Distributed Failure is here for your listening pleasure! We have a very special guest this week: Dustin Deckard of F@#% Yeah Gaming. He was a great guest and he has the magical power to bring the gay out in all of us. It was a blast having him on the show and we'd love to have him back again. This week's "What We've Been Playing" features discussion on Tropico 3, the God of War Collection, Left 4 Dead 2, Tony Hawk: RIDE, Madden NFL Arcade, Borderlands DLC, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and plenty more. We follow that up with some gaming news including the announcement of Far Cry 3, the potential of PSN charging for online functionality, and much more. We hope you enjoy the show and don't forget to rate/review us on iTunes.
- Site: Pixelated Sausage
- Podcast: DF #84: Giving Happy Thanks
| News | Here's the Tony Hawk Ride Skateboard Controller | May 14, 2009 |
| News | Neversoft Head Confirms They're Not Doing Next Tony Hawk | Jan. 11, 2009 |
| News | The Dawn of a New Day | Jan. 1, 2009 |
| News | New Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and More Announced at In-Game Ad Conference | Dec. 3, 2008 |
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Report: 38 Studios Lays Off Entire Staff [UPDATED]
Both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games have been effectively dismantled. |
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Diablo III Sells 3.5 Million Copies In its First Day Alone
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time. |
|
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Blizzard Says Battle.Net Hasn’t Been Compromised
Reports of account "hacking" are not necessarily a sign of security issues. |
|
|
Wii U’s Controller May Have Seen Some Changes
No more Circle Pad-style analog sticks, and some swapped button placement. |
|
|
Johann Sebastian Joust Is Latest iOS Cloning Victim
Studio behind awfully similar game for iOS claims an agreement was in place. |
|
|
And Now Aliens: Colonial Marines Won't Be Coming Out This Year, Either
Gearbox's Aliens side-story slips to February. |
|
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Activision Lawsuit Has Details on Bungie’s Next Game
First game scheduled for Xbox 360, sequels on unannounced platforms. |
|
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Johann Sebastian Joust Clone Disappears, Developer Responds
Also, Die Gute Fabrik on prospects for a release of its popular motion game. |
|
|
Report: 38 Studios Lays Off Entire Staff [UPDATED]
Both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games have been effectively dismantled. |
|
|
Diablo III Sells 3.5 Million Copies In its First Day Alone
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time. |
|
|
Wii U’s Controller May Have Seen Some Changes
No more Circle Pad-style analog sticks, and some swapped button placement. |
|
|
Blizzard Says Battle.Net Hasn’t Been Compromised
Reports of account "hacking" are not necessarily a sign of security issues. |
|
|
Johann Sebastian Joust Is Latest iOS Cloning Victim
Studio behind awfully similar game for iOS claims an agreement was in place. |
|
|
And Now Aliens: Colonial Marines Won't Be Coming Out This Year, Either
Gearbox's Aliens side-story slips to February. |
|
|
Activision Lawsuit Has Details on Bungie’s Next Game
First game scheduled for Xbox 360, sequels on unannounced platforms. |
|
|
The Other XCOM Isn’t Coming Out Anytime Soon
Shooter game pushed back until at least April 1, 2013. |
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