Nintendo, Microsoft and Edward James Olmos
By End_Boss 4 Comments
It has been nine days since my last blog post and over nineteen since I posted something that I’d consider to be a “proper blog.” For some that might seem like a relatively short time, but I try to write at least a page’s worth every day, so for me it’s been quite the hiatus. Anyway, a while back I promised I’d be posting a real update soon, so without further ado:
Oh Nintendo, You so Crazy!
Nintendo announced the “3DS” a few days ago. It’s surprising to me that they’re trying to adopt such a young technology so quickly, and if it were anyone but Nintendo I would dismiss the idea immediately, but considering their four year money printing streak after investing in the seemingly risky Wii, I’m not ruling anything out. Still, I wonder if Nintendo has simply overestimated its collective insight on this one, and I don’t think I’m the only one.Someone at Nintendo is thinking in greenbacks (or yen, or loonies or euros) because pushing this new technology to their handhelds seems like an extremely pragmatic move on the company’s part, at least from a nickels and dimes perspective; it allows first-party developers (because let’s face it, those are the only ones that will be breaking any ground in 3D for six months after the handheld’s release at least) to experiment with the new technology without a huge financial overhead (at least in comparison with shipping a 3D Wii, for example). This way, if the tech is completely unusable, its just one model on a portable platform lost, as opposed to potentially an entire console (or at least a sizeable peripheral).
Regardless, whether or not this new 3D platform becomes important to gaming enthusiasts at large is entirely dependent on Nintendo’s ability (or inability) to treat this as a justifiable evolution in game mechanics and not as another cash-cow peripheral (I’m looking at you, Motion+).
Soulless Machines
I checked out Microsoft’s new “Game Room” the other night, and that whole thing is kind of a mess. The menu navigation was convoluted and it all felt lifeless in the same way that the 1 vs. 100 programming is to me. I could go on and on about the hollow trappings of it and probably draw some comparisons between this and Home’s launch on the PS3, but the most important thing about Game Room was its catalogue of games, and all of them seem awful. Not only are they not the most appealing games, but no real effort has been put into a smooth emulation. These are the exact same games seen on freeware emulations every day, presented in the exact same way for a price.I can easily see this fizzling out and being forgotten in six months once the relatively small portion of XBOX Live-goers who thought they were interested discover that they are in fact most definitely not interested.
Splinter Cell & Edward James Olmos
I checked out the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo that recently hit XBOX Live and from what I can tell, it’s the same demo section that’s been shown at press events in the past, beginning with Fisher interrogating some poor sap in a bathroom, followed by some very familiar Splinter Cell traversal and combat.Most of it felt pretty good (in the loose kind of way that Splinter Cells tend to), but the mark and execute ability seems like a poorly conceived mechanic laid awkwardly over the game’s serviceable framework. The obligatory melee kill before an execution completely hamstrings what could otherwise be a great idea, and the handful of times the mechanic works properly feel incredibly contrived. As an example, toward the demo’s midpoint I found myself eavesdropping on three guards in an underground complex from the rafters above. While only one guard was reachable from the pipe I was hanging on, the melee kill afforded to me by dropping onto him allowed me to quickly tap the execute button, silencing the other guards (previously marked) before they could get a shot off. It was definitely a cool moment, but I can’t help but feel that these weren't vicious mercenaries I was killing but lifeless mannequins, set up to be knocked down in a very specific way. Hopefully the disturbingly linear nature of the demo is merely a poor indication of the game to follow. I’ll definitely take a look at the real deal when it hits next month.
Oh, and as a final note about Splinter Cell; I haven't had enough time with the game to tell if Michael Ironside really sounds as drunk as Jeff described on last week's podcast, but if he does I humbly submit Edward James Olmos as his voice acting replacement. Dude's voice has gravel (for those who've watched it, think Admiral Adama of Battlestar Galactica but more Sam Fisher-y).
Well, that’s about all I’ve got for now. For those interested, I’m still mulling over the next podcast and am now taking game suggestions, so if you want to get on the next episode or would like to suggest some talking material, let me know here, via PM or in an e-mail to the.irregulars@live.ca. I’m also thinking of recording some video content at some point in the near future and am planning to visit LA for this year’s E3, where I hope to get some footage of the floor and, well, anything else I can without getting tossed out!
Thanks for reading,
End_Boss.