Last week I caved in and bought a PSP Go. I didn't make it as long as I expected to; as a matter of fact, I actually ended up getting one on the launch day. I think it was mostly Sony's fairly incredible bombardment of the PlayStation Network with downloadable titles, most of which I've never played.
What's Good:
Disgaea 1 & 2 - I absolutely did not expect these two games to make it onto the service. $15 is an amazing price for the first Disgaea (my used copy of the game just a couple of years ago on the PS2 was over $40).
Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero? - This great action sidescroller is a steal at $9.99, especially considering that it's still $39.99 at retail.
Brave Story - Critically aclaimed, classic-style JRPG that did not get a lot of attention when it was originally released on UMD.
God of War: Chains of Olympus - This one was expected, but not at the $15.99 price-- 20% cheaper than it currently is at retail. It's a fair price, and I much prefer not having to lug around the UMD.
What's Bad -
Loco Roco 1 & 2 - Great that these two are up on the service, but the pricing is a little strange. $15.99 is great for Loco Roco 2, but what's the deal with $22.99 for the original game, which is now over three years old?
Motorstorm/Gran Turismo/Soul Calibur - The $39.99 price is absolutely ridiculous for these titles. Sony should discount digital versions of new releases like they do for older titles.
Rock Band Unplugged: Lite: The idea of a completely "a la carte" Rock Band game is pretty smart; honestly, I'd rather have a cheaper version of the game that I can use to pick-and-choose which songs I want to play. The problem: there is no full version of Rock Band Unplugged up for download, but all of the songs are available through Rock Band Unplugged: Lite. If you want the full version of Rock Band on your PSP, expect to pay $80 for what you can get for $30 if you had the cheaper PSP 3000.
What's missing:
Lumines 1 & 2
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles
Mega Man Powered Up
Maverick Hunter X
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
FFVII: Crisis Core
Final Fantasy: Dissidia
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
PSP Go: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
You wouldn’t think it from the complete lack of marketing hype and momentum from Sony, but today’s launch of the PSP Go is actually pretty monumental for the video game industry and media in general. Sony, the ultimate parade leader for proprietary media (remember the long dead Betamax?), has taken some bold steps towards digital-only media with this new machine, having axed the clunky UMD drive (again, all proprietary) from its nearly five-year-old portable gaming system.
The move to all digital media for video games has been predicted since Microsoft included a hard drive and Ethernet port in its original Xbox back in 2001, but no one really expected the first all-digital device to hit so soon. Really, the technology has been around for a number of years, and Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all made baby steps with digital content. It seems like a no-brainer—digital content cuts out manufacturing and shipping costs associated with producing a game while also providing a direct link between the consumer and the creator; hypothetically, it would mean more money for the developers who would pass on the savings for cheaper games all around.
The problem? It’s the middleman-- big-box retailers who would lose millions in yearly sales if casual shoppers weren’t browsing the aisles for the newest space marine shooter. These retailers threaten to pull support for Sony and Microsoft’s other products if they dare to undercut the stores online; it’s cutthroat boardroom meetings that kept you from being able to download Halo 3: ODST at its midnight launch. Sure, Microsoft and Sony have both tested the waters, but retailers made sure that these have been nothing more than small splashes instead of the big waves that they should have been. Sony has launched a couple low-profile games online simultaneously with the retail releases, but at the same time pricing these games at a disadvantage over the retail packages that were always bundled with an accessory for added value. Microsoft just recently began to offer full games for download over their own online service, but all of the games are old releases that aren’t readily available in stores and are even priced significantly higher than the retail boxes.
With all of the sales politics, it’s no wonder that the PSP Go is just another half-attempt from Sony. The Go represents a series of missteps from the company, who has let retail pressures turn their would-be revolutionary machine into dead weight.
Sony has not placed the PSP Go as a replacement for the existing PSP system; the old model with still be manufactured and sold in retail stores as well as physical copies of new games. It shows Sony’s lack of faith in digital distribution, and as long as the company is printing UMDs for releases, consumers will be paying for shipping costs if they’re buying online or at a register.
Sony has priced their downloadable games on the PSP Go drastically too high. $40 for a portable game is too steep even for a complete retail package; for a downloadable game that cannot be resold and may be lost if Sony ever shuts down its servers, it’s preposterous.
Did I mention that all of your existing PSP games are useless if you upgrade to the Go? Traditionally, digital content services, like Steam on the PC, offer a method to register your existing games on to the service, allowing you to download your already purchased games over the service without having to spend any extra cash. In Europe, Sony has offered a limited program that allows previous PSP users to download up to three free games from the service for use on a new PSP Go, and the European version of the handheld comes preloaded with the new Gran Turismo game, a $40 extra download for North American users.
The games are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the system itself. When the original PSP launched in early 2005, it cost $250 and came with a copy of the newly released Spider-Man 2 movie, headphones, and a carrying case. The PSP go comes with nothing of the sort, has a smaller screen, and no UMD drive. Besides the added onboard flash memory, it’s technically a downgrade from the original model, not to mention that the hardware is now almost five years old. The price: still $250.
But even with all of these launch stutters, the PSP Go is the start of something big. As broadband penetration grows and hard drive sizes reach into the terabits, video game brick-and-mortar retailers will go the way of record stores, and Sony will be able to say that they fired the first shot.
The move to all digital media for video games has been predicted since Microsoft included a hard drive and Ethernet port in its original Xbox back in 2001, but no one really expected the first all-digital device to hit so soon. Really, the technology has been around for a number of years, and Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all made baby steps with digital content. It seems like a no-brainer—digital content cuts out manufacturing and shipping costs associated with producing a game while also providing a direct link between the consumer and the creator; hypothetically, it would mean more money for the developers who would pass on the savings for cheaper games all around.
The problem? It’s the middleman-- big-box retailers who would lose millions in yearly sales if casual shoppers weren’t browsing the aisles for the newest space marine shooter. These retailers threaten to pull support for Sony and Microsoft’s other products if they dare to undercut the stores online; it’s cutthroat boardroom meetings that kept you from being able to download Halo 3: ODST at its midnight launch. Sure, Microsoft and Sony have both tested the waters, but retailers made sure that these have been nothing more than small splashes instead of the big waves that they should have been. Sony has launched a couple low-profile games online simultaneously with the retail releases, but at the same time pricing these games at a disadvantage over the retail packages that were always bundled with an accessory for added value. Microsoft just recently began to offer full games for download over their own online service, but all of the games are old releases that aren’t readily available in stores and are even priced significantly higher than the retail boxes.
With all of the sales politics, it’s no wonder that the PSP Go is just another half-attempt from Sony. The Go represents a series of missteps from the company, who has let retail pressures turn their would-be revolutionary machine into dead weight.
Sony has not placed the PSP Go as a replacement for the existing PSP system; the old model with still be manufactured and sold in retail stores as well as physical copies of new games. It shows Sony’s lack of faith in digital distribution, and as long as the company is printing UMDs for releases, consumers will be paying for shipping costs if they’re buying online or at a register.
Sony has priced their downloadable games on the PSP Go drastically too high. $40 for a portable game is too steep even for a complete retail package; for a downloadable game that cannot be resold and may be lost if Sony ever shuts down its servers, it’s preposterous.
Did I mention that all of your existing PSP games are useless if you upgrade to the Go? Traditionally, digital content services, like Steam on the PC, offer a method to register your existing games on to the service, allowing you to download your already purchased games over the service without having to spend any extra cash. In Europe, Sony has offered a limited program that allows previous PSP users to download up to three free games from the service for use on a new PSP Go, and the European version of the handheld comes preloaded with the new Gran Turismo game, a $40 extra download for North American users.
The games are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the system itself. When the original PSP launched in early 2005, it cost $250 and came with a copy of the newly released Spider-Man 2 movie, headphones, and a carrying case. The PSP go comes with nothing of the sort, has a smaller screen, and no UMD drive. Besides the added onboard flash memory, it’s technically a downgrade from the original model, not to mention that the hardware is now almost five years old. The price: still $250.
But even with all of these launch stutters, the PSP Go is the start of something big. As broadband penetration grows and hard drive sizes reach into the terabits, video game brick-and-mortar retailers will go the way of record stores, and Sony will be able to say that they fired the first shot.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The PSP Go is One Step Forward but Two Steps Back
You wouldn’t think it from the complete lack of marketing hype and momentum from Sony, but today’s launch of the PSP Go is actually pretty monumental for the video game industry and media in general. Sony, the ultimate parade leader for proprietary media (remember the long dead Betamax?), has taken some bold steps towards digital-only media with this new machine, having axed the clunky UMD drive (again, all proprietary) from its nearly five-year-old portable gaming system.
The move to all digital media for video games has been predicted since Microsoft included a hard drive and Ethernet port in its original Xbox back in 2001, but no one really expected the first all-digital device to hit so soon. Really, the technology has been around for a number of years, and Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all made baby steps with digital content. It seems like a no-brainer—digital content cuts out manufacturing and shipping costs associated with producing a game while also providing a direct link between the consumer and the creator; hypothetically, it would mean more money for the developers who would pass on the savings for cheaper games all around.
The problem? It’s the middleman-- big-box retailers who would lose millions in yearly sales if casual shoppers weren’t browsing the aisles for the newest space marine shooter. These retailers threaten to pull support for Sony and Microsoft’s other products if they dare to undercut the stores online; it’s cutthroat boardroom meetings that kept you from being able to download Halo 3: ODST at its midnight launch. Sure, Microsoft and Sony have both tested the waters, but retailers made sure that these have been nothing more than small splashes instead of the big waves that they should have been. Sony has launched a couple low-profile games online simultaneously with the retail releases, but at the same time pricing these games at a disadvantage over the retail packages that were always bundled with an accessory for added value. Microsoft just recently began to offer full games for download over their own online service, but all of the games are old releases that aren’t readily available in stores and are even priced significantly higher than the retail boxes.
With all of the sales politics, it’s no wonder that the PSP Go is just another half-attempt from Sony. The Go represents a series of missteps from the company, who has let retail pressures turn their would-be revolutionary machine into dead weight.
Sony has not placed the PSP Go as a replacement for the existing PSP system; the old model with still be manufactured and sold in retail stores as well as physical copies of new games. It shows Sony’s lack of faith in digital distribution, and as long as the company is printing UMDs for releases, consumers will be paying for shipping costs if they’re buying online or at a register.
Sony has priced their downloadable games on the PSP Go drastically too high. $40 for a portable game is too steep even for a complete retail package; for a downloadable game that cannot be resold and may be lost if Sony ever shuts down its servers, it’s preposterous.
Did I mention that all of your existing PSP games are useless if you upgrade to the Go? Traditionally, digital content services, like Steam on the PC, offer a method to register your existing games on to the service, allowing you to download your already purchased games over the service without having to spend any extra cash. In Europe, Sony has offered a limited program that allows previous PSP users to download up to three free games from the service for use on a new PSP Go, and the European version of the handheld comes preloaded with the new Gran Turismo game, a $40 extra download for North American users.
The games are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as the system itself. When the original PSP launched in early 2005, it cost $250 and came with a copy of the newly released Spider-Man 2 movie, headphones, and a carrying case. The PSP go comes with nothing of the sort, has a smaller screen, and no UMD drive. Besides the added onboard flash memory, it’s technically a downgrade from the original model, not to mention that the hardware is now almost five years old. The price: still $250.
But even with all of these launch stutters, the PSP Go is the start of something big. As broadband penetration grows and hard drive sizes reach into the terabits, video game brick-and-mortar retailers will go the way of record stores, and Sony will be able to say that they fired the first shot.
Halo 3: ODST Review
Originally published in VSU's The Spectator
It’s debatable. Certainly, ODST is a much different game than any other Halo, but not for the reasons you might expect. As far as gameplay goes, expect ODST to play almost exactly like Halo 3; strange, considering that Bungie themselves have long preached the differences between Halo’s machine-altered-space-savior Master Chief and The Rookie, a relative weakling whose type has served as measly cannon-fodder since Halo 2. The Rookie might be a little slower and jump a little lower (and I mean just a little), but you’d be hard pressed to find any other difference; he still chunks grenades like a major league pitcher and flips jeeps like they were made of Styrofoam. Bungie definitely played it safe when it comes to Halo’s grenade and gun formula, and in a way it’s very disappointing.
Oddly enough, it’s ODST’s narrative that has received the biggest overhaul from Halo tradition. Taking the view point out of Master Chief’s helmet has allowed Bungie to do some interesting things. Gone is the overly dramatic space opera from the previous trilogy of games; instead, players are treated to a smaller scale story about a scattered squad of soldiers. The plot is typical why-were-we-sent-here war movie fare, but it remains entirely more interesting than Halo 3’s creepy Spartan/computer love story.
Another first for the Halo series is the game’s open-world hub city, New Mombasa. For the most part, your character is free to roam through the alien-infested metropolis, seeking out clues to the rest of your squad’s disappearance. New
The one new multiplayer mode is Firefight, a cooperative enemy hunt that’s nearly identical to Gear’s of War 2’s Horde mode: players’ team up with three friends to take on endless waves of ugly aliens. ODST changes it up from Gears of War’s similar mode by giving the players a communal pool of lives and resources to draw upon; it adds an extra layer of strategy and makes the game that much more interesting.
Also in the package is a second disc containing the original Halo 3’s multiplayer in its entirety, including all 24 available maps (three of which are brand new). The disc is great for Halo fans who skipped over the downloadable map packs, but a waste of space for people who paid a premium for the maps when they were first released.
Is ODST worth the $60? Yes and no—if you have two or three friends who are interested in sinking some time into Firefight with you, and you missed out on the downloadable map packs, then you’ll easily get your $60 worth out of the game. If you have no interest in the game’s co-op modes, then save your cash-- the too-short campaign can be easily finished in less than a rental.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Apple Dissapoints at iPod Conference
Republished from Valdosta State University's The Spectator
Last week’s iPod-centric conference was certainly exciting for the millions of manic Apple fans; the company has become just as good at building hype as it is at selling expensive MP3 players. Prior to the conference, internet forums and blogs were filled with speculation and rumor mongering. The event was expected to be especially important for the company, as it marked the public return of Apple co-founder (and stage personality) Steve Jobs who had been away from the company for several months due to health reasons. Fans expected Apple to pull out the big guns, like the long-rumored Apple tablet device (think a large iPod touch with Mac-like capabilities) or the “iPhone Nano” (a smaller, cheaper iPhone). Earlier in the week, Yoko Ono let slip a potential deal with Apple to bring the entire Beatles catalog on to their iTunes music service.
As usual, fans worked themselves into a fit of disappointment. Instead of tablet Macs, Apple used the time to take a look at their existing iPod line and iTunes service, an hour long pat-on-the-back with few real announcements.
What Apple did show was the newly-updated iTunes 9, a mostly unremarkable update to what’s already a great music program. Some of the updates include downloadable ringtones, which are curiously $40 more than a full song on the same service and downloadable art and liner notes for albums purchased through iTunes. Movies are getting a similar treatment—films downloaded over the service will now come with some DVD-like features like commentary tracks and deleted scenes. The service found a few cosmetic changes as well, which seem to mostly make the program more ad-friendly.
While no new iPhone related products were announced at the show, Apple’s senior vice-president of marketing, Phil Schiller, made sure to give the device’s horn a loud blow, this time focusing on the iPhone’s gaming applications. Schiller bravely compared his company’s smartphone to Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS. Schiller bragged that the iPhone is currently home to 21,178 games compared to the DS’s meager 3,680. What he didn’t mention is that iPhone app store counts cheap tech demos, Family Guy soundboards, and demo versions of software as unique games for the iPhone. It would have been far more interesting if Schiller gave us the real number of games available over iTunes.
The most interesting announcements came for Apple’s iPod Touch and iPod Nano. The touch received an expected price drop from $229 to $199 for the 8gb model. The only problem being that the cheaper model is still home to the older hardware, meaning that some programs will not run as smoothly as they will on a more expensive iPod touch or a new iPhone 3GS. Jobs presented the Nano as Apple’s best selling iPod to date, over 100 million sold. So it comes as no surprise that Apple is pushing the small MP3 player as the company’s focus. The new model, released the same day as the conference, features a relatively high-quality camera that can instantly publish videos on Youtube once they’ve been transferred back to your PC or Mac. The new Nano also has a built in FM radio (finally aped from Microsoft’s three year-old Zune) and oddly enough, a pedometer.
If Apple fans overstretched their expectations for this particular conference, then it’s only because of the company’s pedigree. Apple fanatics expect revolutionary hardware and software because that’s what they’re accustomed to from these events. The fact that consumers came away disappointed from a one hour conference filled with price drops and hardware and software releases says a lot about Apple.
Last week’s iPod-centric conference was certainly exciting for the millions of manic Apple fans; the company has become just as good at building hype as it is at selling expensive MP3 players. Prior to the conference, internet forums and blogs were filled with speculation and rumor mongering. The event was expected to be especially important for the company, as it marked the public return of Apple co-founder (and stage personality) Steve Jobs who had been away from the company for several months due to health reasons. Fans expected Apple to pull out the big guns, like the long-rumored Apple tablet device (think a large iPod touch with Mac-like capabilities) or the “iPhone Nano” (a smaller, cheaper iPhone). Earlier in the week, Yoko Ono let slip a potential deal with Apple to bring the entire Beatles catalog on to their iTunes music service.
As usual, fans worked themselves into a fit of disappointment. Instead of tablet Macs, Apple used the time to take a look at their existing iPod line and iTunes service, an hour long pat-on-the-back with few real announcements.
What Apple did show was the newly-updated iTunes 9, a mostly unremarkable update to what’s already a great music program. Some of the updates include downloadable ringtones, which are curiously $40 more than a full song on the same service and downloadable art and liner notes for albums purchased through iTunes. Movies are getting a similar treatment—films downloaded over the service will now come with some DVD-like features like commentary tracks and deleted scenes. The service found a few cosmetic changes as well, which seem to mostly make the program more ad-friendly.
While no new iPhone related products were announced at the show, Apple’s senior vice-president of marketing, Phil Schiller, made sure to give the device’s horn a loud blow, this time focusing on the iPhone’s gaming applications. Schiller bravely compared his company’s smartphone to Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS. Schiller bragged that the iPhone is currently home to 21,178 games compared to the DS’s meager 3,680. What he didn’t mention is that iPhone app store counts cheap tech demos, Family Guy soundboards, and demo versions of software as unique games for the iPhone. It would have been far more interesting if Schiller gave us the real number of games available over iTunes.
The most interesting announcements came for Apple’s iPod Touch and iPod Nano. The touch received an expected price drop from $229 to $199 for the 8gb model. The only problem being that the cheaper model is still home to the older hardware, meaning that some programs will not run as smoothly as they will on a more expensive iPod touch or a new iPhone 3GS. Jobs presented the Nano as Apple’s best selling iPod to date, over 100 million sold. So it comes as no surprise that Apple is pushing the small MP3 player as the company’s focus. The new model, released the same day as the conference, features a relatively high-quality camera that can instantly publish videos on Youtube once they’ve been transferred back to your PC or Mac. The new Nano also has a built in FM radio (finally aped from Microsoft’s three year-old Zune) and oddly enough, a pedometer.
If Apple fans overstretched their expectations for this particular conference, then it’s only because of the company’s pedigree. Apple fanatics expect revolutionary hardware and software because that’s what they’re accustomed to from these events. The fact that consumers came away disappointed from a one hour conference filled with price drops and hardware and software releases says a lot about Apple.
Beatles Mania Returns in Rock Band
Republished from Valdosta State University's The Spectator
There’s been a lot of hubbub surrounding Sept. 9, 2009, Entertainment Weekly dubbed the day as “the reinvasion of The Beatles,” a title that’s well warranted with the long-sought remastered release of the Fab Four’s entire work. These Baby Boomer-baiting sets carry a hefty price tag ($300 for the box) and an impressive amount of work—each album has been completely restored and enhanced from the original tracks, a process that took over four years. And the work hasn’t just been for show—even the most inept audiophile will have an easy time appreciating the difference between the originally muddy “Within You Without You” and the newly polished version.
But this time the interesting part of the invasion actually comes from America’s own Massachusetts, in “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Famed video game developer Harmonix landed the big one in 2008 when the company secured the rights to create a music game based on the most celebrated band of all time. It’s quite the honor, actually. Publishers EA and Activision have been scrambling for years to secure the Beatles license for their music games, and surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Star have been reluctant to attach the classic name to any product, especially something as gaudy as a video game (when a demo was first presented to McCartney a few years back, he called it “a couple of grownups looking very foolish with these little plastic guitars playing to a screen”).
Usually known for their over-the-top rock antics from the Rock Band series (think purple Mohawks and foot-long spiked jewelry), Harmonix has brought a lot of reserved class to “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Beautiful CG dreamscapes uniquely inspired by each individual song place players in a Yellow Submarine-like fantasy. Tunes like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” look absolutely influenced by whatever hallucinogenic might have been around, true to the song’s namesake (even if that particular theory has been outright denied by McCartney and company).
Unlike other single band-themed music games (“Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” and “Guitar Hero: Metallica”), “The Beatles “is more than just “Rock Band” with a robotic Lennon thrown in. All of the game’s 45 songs are remastered tracks from the titular band with no annoying, needless filler present in the Guitar Hero offerings. “Story mode” starts “The Beatles” off in cramped Liverpool pubs before taking the band on a historical world tour that stops for famous shows like 1965’s Shea Stadium concert and ends at the Beatles’ completely depressing final performance on top of the Apple Corps building in London. Little touches like the quick banter between songs make the experience truly authentic; for example, Ringo can be heard complaining about blisters after a set.
The care and respect that has been put into “The Beatles: Rock Band” is tremendous, especially when you consider the atrocities Activision has committed against their game’s famous faces. “Guitar Hero 5” features a clumsily animated Kurt Cobain, who can be set to play and sing any song on the title’s extensive catalog. If you ever dreamed of seeing the famous grunge artist sing along to Coldplay, now’s your chance. Kurt’s spinning in his grave like Nevermind in a teenager’s CD player.
Not that “The Beatles: Rock Band” is without its faults—the disc only ships with 45 songs and many Beatle’s mainstays are curiously absent, like Let it Be, Help, and Yesterday. However, the promise of future, albeit expensive, downloadable content (like Abbey Road, available next month) looks like it will fill that particular hole. Also, for understandable licensing reasons, none of the songs on the new disc is exportable to any other” Rock Band “games.
But I digress; The Beatles: Rock Band is the best music game since 2006’s Guitar Hero II—an earnest, love-filled effort that stands above the mass of musical cash-ins that have littered the past three years.
There’s been a lot of hubbub surrounding Sept. 9, 2009, Entertainment Weekly dubbed the day as “the reinvasion of The Beatles,” a title that’s well warranted with the long-sought remastered release of the Fab Four’s entire work. These Baby Boomer-baiting sets carry a hefty price tag ($300 for the box) and an impressive amount of work—each album has been completely restored and enhanced from the original tracks, a process that took over four years. And the work hasn’t just been for show—even the most inept audiophile will have an easy time appreciating the difference between the originally muddy “Within You Without You” and the newly polished version.
But this time the interesting part of the invasion actually comes from America’s own Massachusetts, in “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Famed video game developer Harmonix landed the big one in 2008 when the company secured the rights to create a music game based on the most celebrated band of all time. It’s quite the honor, actually. Publishers EA and Activision have been scrambling for years to secure the Beatles license for their music games, and surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Star have been reluctant to attach the classic name to any product, especially something as gaudy as a video game (when a demo was first presented to McCartney a few years back, he called it “a couple of grownups looking very foolish with these little plastic guitars playing to a screen”).
Usually known for their over-the-top rock antics from the Rock Band series (think purple Mohawks and foot-long spiked jewelry), Harmonix has brought a lot of reserved class to “The Beatles: Rock Band.” Beautiful CG dreamscapes uniquely inspired by each individual song place players in a Yellow Submarine-like fantasy. Tunes like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” look absolutely influenced by whatever hallucinogenic might have been around, true to the song’s namesake (even if that particular theory has been outright denied by McCartney and company).
Unlike other single band-themed music games (“Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” and “Guitar Hero: Metallica”), “The Beatles “is more than just “Rock Band” with a robotic Lennon thrown in. All of the game’s 45 songs are remastered tracks from the titular band with no annoying, needless filler present in the Guitar Hero offerings. “Story mode” starts “The Beatles” off in cramped Liverpool pubs before taking the band on a historical world tour that stops for famous shows like 1965’s Shea Stadium concert and ends at the Beatles’ completely depressing final performance on top of the Apple Corps building in London. Little touches like the quick banter between songs make the experience truly authentic; for example, Ringo can be heard complaining about blisters after a set.
The care and respect that has been put into “The Beatles: Rock Band” is tremendous, especially when you consider the atrocities Activision has committed against their game’s famous faces. “Guitar Hero 5” features a clumsily animated Kurt Cobain, who can be set to play and sing any song on the title’s extensive catalog. If you ever dreamed of seeing the famous grunge artist sing along to Coldplay, now’s your chance. Kurt’s spinning in his grave like Nevermind in a teenager’s CD player.
Not that “The Beatles: Rock Band” is without its faults—the disc only ships with 45 songs and many Beatle’s mainstays are curiously absent, like Let it Be, Help, and Yesterday. However, the promise of future, albeit expensive, downloadable content (like Abbey Road, available next month) looks like it will fill that particular hole. Also, for understandable licensing reasons, none of the songs on the new disc is exportable to any other” Rock Band “games.
But I digress; The Beatles: Rock Band is the best music game since 2006’s Guitar Hero II—an earnest, love-filled effort that stands above the mass of musical cash-ins that have littered the past three years.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum Review
Batman fans are a thick-skinned bunch. When George Clooney donned the newly nipple-adorned batsuit to fight the cliché spouting Schwarzenegger “What killed the dinosaurs? The ice age!,” they hid behind their copies of The Killing Joke. When Dark Horse Comics published Batman vs. Predator, they scrambled to have the story stricken from Batman canon. When Jim Carrey somehow managed to play The Mask playing The Riddler, they looked on the bright side, calling it “a new take on the character.” And there has been absolutely no comfort to be found in the long-running Batman line of video games, which have proudly strutted the range from sub-mediocre to downright abysmal.
So yeah, it’s no secret that Batman has been savagely exploited by any media production company looking to make an easy licensed buck. That’s why when videogame publisher Eidos announced “Arkham Asylum” last Summer, it was easy to understand why the entire fan community let out a collective sigh. After all, you’d hope that after fooling them the first dozen times, it would be harder to get the comic fans to unclench their chained wallets.
But jaded Batman fanatics are in for a surprise: “Arkham Asylum” is good. Really good, actually– successfully blending the tone of last year’s “The Dark Knight” the charm of the classic animated series with the best ideas from this generation of videogames. Not only is Arkham Asylum “good for a comic book game,” it’s also an easy contender to be the best game this year.
The game is set on Gotham City’s comic-equivalent to Alcatraz: Arkham Island, an isolated horror of a mental hospital/jail that just so happens to be currently housing some of the series’ most notoriously nasty villains (think faces like Poison Ivy, who is even more tarted-up in this version than ever before). The Joker, voiced again by Mark Hamill, conducts a typically elaborate mass-breakout, and Batman sets out to clean up. Kevin Conroy and Arleen Sorkin are also along for the ride, reprising their roles as Batman and Harley Quinn, but don’t let the old animated cast fool you—Arkham Asylum brings the murderous tone and brutality from Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and Frank Miller’s series of comics. Mark Hamill as The Joker is just as unsettling as the character has ever been, and the developer (Rocksteady Studios) did not skimp on the series’ trademark violence.
The single setting of the asylum may seem a bit restrictive, but it’s actually the game’s best feature. Rocksteady put the boot to the traditional fractured levels so common in action games of the past; instead, the island is completely realized and explorable. Like Bioshock’s underwater city, every building and room on the island feels like it has a purpose, restricted only by whatever neat bat-gadget you’ve found along the way. The highly-detailed island makes for a great playground for the Dark Knight; every ability you might expect is in there, from hanging thugs upside down from the ceiling to cape-spread gliding through the air.
In true Batman style, much of the game is spent sneaking in the rafters and shadows. However, the game’s rhythmic one-button fisticuffs are just as satisfying. Batman punches and counters with the grace of 2007’s Assassin’s Creed, and the animations remain fresh and exciting all the way through the game’s lengthy 10-12 hours.
Unfortunately, “Arkham Asylum” falls short when it comes to its fairly numerous bosses, most of whom add up to dodge- and smash-bullfights, which would actually have been fine had there only been one or two encounters, instead of the five or six that made it into the game. Whether Rocksteady ran out of ideas or just time, it’s still disappointing. Also, the highly touted detective gameplay doesn’t work out as well as it should, either. Usually, it ends with the player following a boring Pacman dot trail through previously visited rooms, looking to find wherever super villain A drugged innocent scientist B. And if you hear Batman mumble, “there must be some way out of this room,” then expect to have to rip the damn vent grate in the wall and climb on in. It doesn’t take “The World’s Greatest Detective” to figure that one out.
But in the end, these small flaws amount to little when the rest of the game is considered. To call “Arkham Asylum” the greatest comic book video game of all time would be a great understatement—Rocksteady has set a new standard for what is good or even acceptable for licensed video games.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Fifteen Years to Mother 3
It was late 1995 when I first found this building in Earthbound. Right then, at that very moment, Earthbound 2 became my most anticipated game. The teasey ending didn't help much either (THE END... ?).
When the sequel was announced for the Nintendo 64, called (surprise) Earthbound 64, I was excited but weary-- Ness, Onett, and Mr. Saturn were all nowhere to be found. I didn't know how the game would turn out, but what I did know was that I had to have a Nintendo 64.
So, I pushed my landmower all around town and saved up the cash for my console. Every month, I opened up the new issue of Nintendo Power, flipping through the pages looking for anything from a release date to a measley screenshot or piece of fan art. When my family first got internet access to our rural home, I scoured every last fansite for Earthbound 64 information and fellow obsessive preteen Earthbound fans.
Besides some choppy, short video and a couple of frail release dates, nothing ever came. The game was finally (and, evidently, mercifully) canceled in August of 1999. Of course, I joined in on the mournful song of nerdy forum posts and IRC chatrooms. I signed the 30,000-weak petition, I called the Nintendo hotline during Starmen.net's infamous "NPsiege", and, if I could draw, I would have sent in my own fan art to Nintendo Power.
Of course, nothing seemed to work. Why would it? 30,000 mostly internet signatures is relatively tiny, raspy-nerd phone calls only annoy, and the letter art only received a passing mention in the pages of Nintendo Power. For good reason, I lost hope.
The fan community started the cycle over in 2003 when a short commercial for Mother 1+2 aired in Japan. At the very end of the commercial, at no more than two seconds long, there was a short little bit of text that translated to: "We're making Mother 3 for the GBA, too!"
Again, months and months went by with absolutely no information about this new game. I half expected the game to be canceled again, especially after the release of the DS. There was no magazine coverage, no internet leaks, no press releases, not even a single screenshot. I let the game slip from my mind, determined not to be bitten again.
When the game was finally release in Japan, the fan community celebrated like they had won a decade-long war. The thing had to have set a record for imports. Faithful Earthbound nerds had their copies preordered for weeks in advance, but as faithful as I was, I resisted. Actually, I never understood why any english-speaking Earthbound fan would want to play the game in Japanese. The dialog is why the game was so good. And, after all of that effort and shouting, surely the game would get a North American release.
What a joke. I gave a little cheer when Starmen.net finally kicked the magazine rack over on their way out of Nintendo's good graces and announced a fan translation. In October, the translation was out and I played Mother 3.
Finally.
When the sequel was announced for the Nintendo 64, called (surprise) Earthbound 64, I was excited but weary-- Ness, Onett, and Mr. Saturn were all nowhere to be found. I didn't know how the game would turn out, but what I did know was that I had to have a Nintendo 64.
So, I pushed my landmower all around town and saved up the cash for my console. Every month, I opened up the new issue of Nintendo Power, flipping through the pages looking for anything from a release date to a measley screenshot or piece of fan art. When my family first got internet access to our rural home, I scoured every last fansite for Earthbound 64 information and fellow obsessive preteen Earthbound fans.
Besides some choppy, short video and a couple of frail release dates, nothing ever came. The game was finally (and, evidently, mercifully) canceled in August of 1999. Of course, I joined in on the mournful song of nerdy forum posts and IRC chatrooms. I signed the 30,000-weak petition, I called the Nintendo hotline during Starmen.net's infamous "NPsiege", and, if I could draw, I would have sent in my own fan art to Nintendo Power.
Of course, nothing seemed to work. Why would it? 30,000 mostly internet signatures is relatively tiny, raspy-nerd phone calls only annoy, and the letter art only received a passing mention in the pages of Nintendo Power. For good reason, I lost hope.
The fan community started the cycle over in 2003 when a short commercial for Mother 1+2 aired in Japan. At the very end of the commercial, at no more than two seconds long, there was a short little bit of text that translated to: "We're making Mother 3 for the GBA, too!"
Again, months and months went by with absolutely no information about this new game. I half expected the game to be canceled again, especially after the release of the DS. There was no magazine coverage, no internet leaks, no press releases, not even a single screenshot. I let the game slip from my mind, determined not to be bitten again.
When the game was finally release in Japan, the fan community celebrated like they had won a decade-long war. The thing had to have set a record for imports. Faithful Earthbound nerds had their copies preordered for weeks in advance, but as faithful as I was, I resisted. Actually, I never understood why any english-speaking Earthbound fan would want to play the game in Japanese. The dialog is why the game was so good. And, after all of that effort and shouting, surely the game would get a North American release.
What a joke. I gave a little cheer when Starmen.net finally kicked the magazine rack over on their way out of Nintendo's good graces and announced a fan translation. In October, the translation was out and I played Mother 3.
Finally.
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