I'm Not Dead!

I've just been busy - firstly finishing up another hectic summer in QA. Then, in September, I was promoted to Associate Producer in THQ's Kids and Family group. I plan to start posting regularly soon!

Fun Friday: ESRB Makes Things Sound Even More Awesome

I love Scribblenauts. I love this descriptor from the ESRB even more.

Scribblenauts

Platform: Nintendo DS

Rating: Everyone 10+

Content descriptors: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief

Rating summary: This is a puzzle game in which players navigate a series of traps, puzzles, and enemies to collect stars scattered throughout the colorful levels. Players have the ability to summon different objects by writing/typing in the word (e.g., bike, spaceship, lion) and watching it come to life. If multiple words are entered in a sequence, different whimsical scenarios can be triggered: a bicycle can be used to jump over a baby; a bulldozer can clear away a shark; and cabbage can be fed to dinosaurs. Players can elect to summon "cartoony" versions of bats, bombs, guns, and flamethrowers. These types of items can be used to destroy objects or even other summoned items (e.g., a club can be used to hit an animal; steak can be attached to a baby to attract lions; rockets can be lobbed at a man). These triggered animations are minimally depicted and are usually accompanied by popping, musical sound effects; bright, star-shaped flashes; or small puffs of smoke. If players wish to, they may type in the word vomit, which causes a beige-colored lump to appear on the screen.

Via Kotaku and the ESRB.

Fun Friday: E3 is Over Edition

WELL BAM there it is - REMIX from jaroshbarksdale on Vimeo.

The Morning After

Well, I guess it's actually the night of the last day, but you understand where I'm going, right? This is my second time going to E3 and I think I'm detecting a pattern in how I feel about the whole thing. I think I like the "idea" of Es rather than the actual thing. The idea is that there is giant spectacle, with thumping music and booth babes. It's Christmas in June for gamers, as we get our hands on all the products that make us giddy before they're released. Then we actually get there and there are lines to play demos or to get a small piece of plastic. (Stupid Spirit Tracks stylus!) And end of it our feet hurt and you're left thinking, "That's it?" You lament all the things you didn't get to play with and what you may have missed out on. It's kind of like actual Christmas, isn't.

That being said, I can't wait for next year!

In the end, I did have a lot of fun. It's always great hanging out with a bunch of people you know in the industry and meeting new people. Speaking of meeting people; there were two people of note that I met. Firstly, I met Jeremiah Slaczka, lead designer at 5th Cell who is responsible for titles such as Drawn To Life, Lock's Quest and Scribblenauts. Secondly, I ran the man himself, Reggie Fils-Amie, president of Nintendo of America.


But the important thing is what I thought about the games I actually got my hands. Disappointingly, most of the games I was interested in were only being shown behind closed doors; Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2 and DJ Hero. I did, however get my hands on some other stuff.

I played two games that used the Wii Motion Plus, and, sadly, I think it's a useless piece of plastic and circuitry. Both Red Steel 2 and Wii Sports Resort (sword dueling game) disappointed. Neither seemed to offer the precision that they suggested they would. In both, I still felt as though I was just wildly flailing my arms. They both also try to sense that how hard the player swings the Wii Remote in order to replicate a harder in hit in game but it just led to a sore shoulder.

Tony Hawk Ride was a mixed bag. I enjoyed the skateboard controller while street skating even if I think it will take time to get used to but Vert was a pain. Pulling off grabs really forces the player to squat down, something I noticed was very hard for most gamers. I think the real reason behind the peripheral is Activision seeing how far gamers will go beyond playing a toy guitar to embarrass themselves.

I enjoyed my time with Scibblenauts, Overlord 2 and even the Aragorn Wii game at the Warner Brothers booth. The new Super Mario Bros. Wii was fun but I wish there was some cooperation elements to contrast with the competitive aspect of the game. Both God of War 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks were solid successors to their previous entries. And while the train bits of Spirit Tracks was not very fun, at least I wouldn't have to pick up a $500 dollar system to play it.

From oer peoples' shoulders I saw Brutal Legend, Prototype, Arkham Asylum, Conviction and Halo: ODST. All of these impressed visually but I will wait patiently for demos on Live before making any purchase decisions.

And so, I guess the count down to next year has already begun. In fact there have already been an announcement for what will be announced next year. I can't wait!

Forget the MMO, Just Make This A Movie

Admittedly, there are two things that I am not: a PC gamer nor a MMO player. Therefore, I may not be that excited for The Old Republic MMO. Regardless, Bioware returned the Star Wars franchise to its roots with Knights of the Old Republic on the Xbox. Now they plan to release an MMO in the same universe. Sounds cool and this trailer is all kinds of awesome, but we all know, game play will be nothing like this. So, I am suggesting to Bioware that they scrap all of this MMO nonsense, turn this story into a feature film trilogy and rake in the box office sales. It may not make as much money as a WoW but at least give yourself a chance to make back all of the money you are pouring into a potentially volatile market!

E3 2009

I'll be at E3 tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll mostly be wandering around but I might be found at the THQ booth as well. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the following:

• Mass Effect 2
• DJ Hero
• Bioshock 2
• Assassin's Creed 2
  
• The Saboteur
  
• Muramasa
• Brutal Legend
• God of War 3
  
• Whatever Nintendo/Sony announce tomorrow morning

See you there!

Grand Theft April (And A Bit of May)

Life hasn't been all work as I did find some time to finally get back into GTAIV. It may have been a year late, but better late than never. Rockstar excelled at creating another living, breathing world to play in (even if the pedestrian banter did become a bit repetitive). Liberty City steals the show in its depth, breadth and diversity. I thoroughly enjoyed the story even when it seemed to meander into no mans land, drifting from away from the heart of the story, but the climax brought it all back around to a satisfying and shocking end.

Obviously, there are issues that persist from earlier entries in the series, namely combat. At this point, the developers should just rip off gun play from someone who does it right, like Epic's Gears of War style. And hand to hand needs to be overhauled completely. Button mashing never works and trying to finesse it was to sloppy as well. It was also a shame to see that the music stations didn't play as prominently as before. I can still remember most of GTAIII original music, Vice City's 80's sound track and San Andreas's gangsta rap, but Liberty City's music was largely forgettable and too eclectic.

After spending enough time to 100% complete the game (yes, I even took the time to kill every damn pigeon), I can easily say that I enjoyed every minute of it barring the frustration from some of the more difficult achievements.

I spent some time with GTA: Chinatown Wars as well. Unfortunately, not too many people bought the game, but it was well worth every cent. The smaller screens obviously shrink the viewing area, making driving and shooting somewhat difficult, but the developers made up for this by making cars more durable and a robust lock on scheme. Also, I have seen few games that put the Touch Screen to such fantastic use. From making and throwing Molotov cocktails to car jacking to keeping someone alive with shock paddles to guiding a parade dragon, the game continued to surprise me with new ways to use the Touch Screen. And because the circumstances vary widely and rarely overlap, the actions don't become repetitive or boring. Also, about the drug dealing aspect of the game, while controversial, there is something to be said about the basic supply and demand economics that it can teach.

I have yet to be disappointed by any of the Grand Theft Auto games since the jump to 3D, even the hand held versions. I have no doubt that Rockstar will continue to push boundaries and provide immensely entertaining games for years to come.

It's Been A While

I spent the better part of my free time in May playing a 400 square foot game of Tetris as seen above. After laying about 1500 bricks, my masterpiece was complete and I had a (mostly) level, paver patio in my back yard. I think it came out quite nice and it was finished just in time for my son's first birthday. Wow, I can't believe how time flies!

Fun Friday: Cultural Differences Edition

The Japanese have some bizarre games but this one is right up there with the best of them. It's not likely that this WiiWare title will make to us in the United States but it's a shame that we don't really get a chance to experience this stuff. It's too bad that even as we move to digital distribution we won't likely to get access to the many game that aren't necessarily intended for us as an audience. One can only hope that one of the buig three see some benefit in opening the gates to worldwide distribution of niche and culturally diverse games.

Fun Friday: More Good Than Evil Edition

Kotaku has unveiled what may or may not be possible game footage from the upcoming sequel to Beyond Good and Evil. I'm guessing that it is not real-time, in-game footage but pre-rendered concept material at the very least. A lot of comparisons have been made to Mirror's Edge, which I can see, but that is probably because that title is lot more fresh in the gaming community's mind. But i think a better comparison would be to Ubisoft's own IP, Asssassin's Creed, as you can clearly see the character brushing NPC's aside and climbing in a similar manner to Altair.

Either way, it looks awesome and I would play this game in a heart beat. Hopefully, they'll release the original game in Xbox originals soon, as I have criminally never played it.

Fun Friday: I Wish I Had Minions Edition

The original Overlord was a blast and it looks like the sequel will be just as much fun, if not more so. I could have a lot of fun with my own minions. They could take out the trash, change my son, do the dishes and much more. Then, I'd have more time to fun stuff, like planning my rise to global domination.

This series is also as close as I will get to an RTS.

6 Days in "Fail"-ujah

So, after all of the controversy they stirred up, Konami has backed out of publishing 6 Days in Fallujah. Obviously, they incurred a heaping dose of wrath for what many considered insensitive and ill timed considering the conflict in Iraq continues at this very moment (my brother just returned from his second stint in Iraq, which was his third to the middle east). It is unfortunate that the very vocal minority will get their way in the short run and will have seemingly stopped the release of this game unless developer Atomic Games can find a brave new publisher.

It sad that the dichotomy of our industry is that we want the creative freedom to make "art" but can't stomach the potential financial loss if that backfires. But the scary thought of industry execs self censoring is not the only issue here.

Without knowing much more than the game existed, it's hard to say if we'll be missing anything at all. Would it have been just another shooter or would it have brought to new light what happened in those six bloody days? Would it have transcended above a "game" and deliver an experience that a documentary could not? That what the developer's proposed as they said that "games are not just toys."

I'm afraid I'm skeptical. It seems to me that they set out to create a linear, but vivid and accurate, recreation of the battle. It that sense they would most likely be very successful at telling the story they want but miss the point of what games can bring to the table. Games allow us to solve problems and make our own choices. Players are not led by a director through a scene but create their own story through play. Instead of going down the alley to the left, maybe the player leads his squad down the right and they are all ambushed and captured. Maybe the player successfully neutralizes the threat in Fallujah with minimal casualties and the skirmish is no longer as historically significant. Maybe the player decides the threat is too great (or not great enough) and never enters the city at all. These divergent paths change the course of history and take away from the developer's attempts to create "game-amentary."

There have been many, many war games. It is a popular setting as it lends itself easily to good versus evil, right versus wrong. But the Iraq war is not that black and white. Could Atomic Games create a game where there are no winners and the "good guys" die a lot? Sure, I like to think we could progress our medium to that level.

But it probably wouldn't be much fun. And it most likely wouldn't sell as well as the new Call of Duty.

Fun Friday: Epic Film Edition

The motion picture had enough to live up too based on the game alone. Now that there's this short film, it doesn't have a chance!

Unexplored Game Mechanic: Debt

Debt is clearly a problem for many people, myself included, just look at the state of our economy. Unfortunately, there aren't too many ways for people to educate themselves on the subject, especially not in games. A while back, I gave some thought to how to design a game with the player managing his debt as a major component of the game play. Obviously this would be a game about educating the public, not necessarily entertaining them.

I envisioned an RPG-style game where the player had limited income resources and needed to rely mostly on loans and credit as a means of paying for in game necessities and items. The ultimate goal was to show the player how quickly one can drown under the weight of debt in the face of shrinking income and increasing interest rates.

Well, it seems someone has beaten me to the punch as Brian Haveri, a grad student, has released Debt Ski. This flash game is simple but quite effective at showing how hard staying out of debt can be. It's a fairly simple platforming game; the player moves a pig on a jet ski from left to right collecting "income," paying for necessities like rent and trying to avoid luxuries like iPods. At the of each level the player has to be in the black to keep playing or take on debt. If the player can't afford his necessities of accrue too much debt, it's game over.

Fun Friday: Not Worth It To Me Edition

While the single player campaign turned out to be pretty darn good, I could not see how it would translate into a multiplayer experience very well. Needless to say, I skipped the $5 DLC and will continue to imagine that this is how it plays.

March Madness

I didn't spend the month of March watching college basketball. Nope, I spent it catching up on some of the games I missed in the crowded holiday season.

The first game I tackled was Dead Space. This game hit on almost every cylinder. The atmosphere was brilliant and tense, especially the audio as I played through most of the game while wearing headphones. The controls were tight, allowing the player to move and shoot (unlike some other horror game) all while managing your inventory in real time. But it was all of the little things that made this game great. For example, the character's head moved with the cursor as the player navigated his HUD and that all of the pertinent player information was built right into the character model really drove home the immersion. With the minor exceptions that many of the missions were fetch quests and the 3D map was finicky (I remember it being much more fluid and readable in Metroid Prime), this game stood out for me as one of the great experiences of this last year.

The next game I devoted my time to was Mirror's Edge. This game, mush like EA's other gamble Dead Space, was served by beautiful art direction and audio. The parkour mechanics translated rather well to the first person genre and offered some brilliant moments of free running that were both nerve-racking and exhilarating. If that was the whole game, I would place it up with Dead Space as a must play. However, the hand to hand combat was absolutely dreadful and, unfortunately, is unavoidable at set pieces throughout the game. Which leads me to my next negative point about the game - if parkour is about going anywhere, why was there really only one correct path through the game? If the level design was opened up more to allow craftier players to find paths to avoid enemy encounters while other could charge through, run and gun style, this game would have far exceeded any one's expectations. That being said, it warrants a sequel if only to see where the developers can take this and hopefully improve upon said short comings.

I then moved on to Tomb Raider: Underworld. This game was a mess, with some sketchy controls and camera; the game even crashed a few times throughout my play through. In addition, many times I felt like I had no idea what to do next and I was forced to rely far too heavily on the hint function in the menu for direction. Unfortunately, this seems par for the course for a Lara Croft adventure, but I forged ahead anyway because, graphically, it was a pleasure to look at and the story line was intriguing because of how set up Norse myth as a basis for all other mythologies and the (fictional) reality that forged those myths. In the end, I would say that I had fun playing through the game but technical issues marred the experience.

I ended the month with Resident Evil 5. I know I've been tough on the game for its unwillingness to evolve but, you know what, I ended up really enjoying it. I still stand behind the idea that the game has one of, if not the worst, first impressions of any game ever. With the controls they way they are and then to throw the player right off the bat into a confined area with a boss and numerous fast moving enemies was a recipe for disaster and I image that many people who didn't give this game a chance was because he or she didn't get past this part. It's a shame because once this section is over, the pace settles down and the player can settle into a groove that lasts through the end of the game. I ended up playing through the game several times to get some of the additional achievements but the game gave me no incentive to try the Mercenaries mode, Co-op or the dowloadable VS. mode but I imagine someone that is a huge fan of the series would dive right in to them. At the end of the day, RE5 will have to go down as a contender for game of year (so far), which is not something I expected to say after my time with the demo.

Fun Friday: This Can't Come Soon Enough Edition

When, I heard about the Big Sister a couple of weeks ago, I thought that it may have been an April Fools Joke. I was wrong and it became known that she was in fact going to be in Bioshock 2. Now that I've seen her in action, this game can't come soon enough.

Fun Friday: April Fools Edition

While I did think Volition's Ostrich Hammer was pretty funny, Microsoft's Alpine Legend announcement made me chuckle just a little bit more.

Fun Friday: Giving In Edition

I've discussed at some length why I hesitate to play Resident Evil 5. However, I broke down and started playing the game today. On one hand, this game creates an absolutely atrocious first impression with frustrating controls combined with an opening sequence that gives the player no time to come to grips with them. Even playing on the easiest difficultly so I am not punished as quickly and so I can try to enjoy the game somewhat, but that initial "boss" with the axe is still ridiculous. On the other, once I finally got past him, I started to get some of the same feelings that I remember Resident Evil 4 evoking.

Yahtzee does have a point about the inventory system; it makes absolutely no sense.

Fun Friday: Odd Mashup Edition

I like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I also like hip hop. Do I like them together? Is it like chocolate and peanut butter? Not quite, but it is pretty awesome.

8tracks | teamteamwork | The Ocarina of Rhyme

Fun Friday: Real Life Achievements Edition

Life would be some much more exciting if this were real. At the very least, I'd be more motivated. Funny thing about this video, one of the guys in the drinking coffee was an intern when I was there, 5 years ago.

Parents Just Don't Understand

Over at GameSetWatch, James Portnow has posted an essay looking at the secret language that has developed in each of the different gaming genres as a way for the player to feel unique and special. One of the groups he asked to partake in the study was the parents of gamers. The following two quotes are from different people (I think) but are hilarious when read together.

I can't keep up. He comes to the dinner table and I try to be involved, but one week it's a 'dwarf enchanter' and the next it's 'Solid Snake.'

I don't know if he's talking to his friends about doing drugs or playing a game.

As a gamer and a parent, I think the notion that I could have no idea what my son is talking about is ludicrous. Granted, I'm a life long gamer who understands this language but I still think it stems from a lack of involvement in what interests their kids. Just as my dad had to learn about soccer when I chose that over baseball, I will have to learn whatever my son is into, whether that's gaming, sports, or whatever he gets into. And this attitude that gaming is a foreign language and detrimental to society will change as my generation gets older and has more kids of our own.

So, does anyone know where I can score some "Solid Snake?" I need a fix.

Bioshock 2 to Include Big Sisters

The April 2009 cover of Game Informer has revealed what has already been rumored: Big Sisters. I really like their design, they appear sleaker, speedier, maybe even stealthier than our lumbering Big Daddies of old. One commenter I read speculated that they could be as agile as the spider splicer, which is a scary thought.

One thing that struck me is that in the original game, the Big Daddies foreshadowed what the player would become: a protector of the Little Sisters and a father figure for them, literally donning a Big Daddy suit. Does the inclusion of a Big Sister imply that the main character for Bioshock 2 will be a woman? I guess will have to wait at least for the next issue of Game Informer to find out.

Of course, this could also be an April Fools joke. If so, why, Game Informer, why?

Awesome Quote of the Week

They buy the Wii games that they buy for the same reason that people go to McDonald's. McDonald's doesn't win a lot of restaurant critic awards but they are approachable, they're consistent, and you know what they're going to serve you.

-Michael Pachter on what it takes to make a must-have Wii game

Well, since I count the number of times I've been to McDonald's in the last ten years on one hand, that explains why I have so few Wii games.

Designed Frustration

Capcom may or may not be aware that some people found the controls in the Resident Evil 5 demo to somewhat cumbersome to say the least, myself included. Either way, they are doing their best to defend it. Producer Jun Takeuchi explained,

We went in knowing that we weren't making a typical third or first person shooter; we were making a Resident Evil game. It was important for us to go with the design choices that would make the best Resident Evil game that we could. When it comes to Resident Evil, we feel that by imposing a restriction on the player you actually increase the tension that they feel while playing.

I really have to disagree here. Tension is not the same as frustration. The entire time I spent with the demo, about an hour, was spent fighting the controls. It had been a few years since I had played Resident Evil 4 but I couldn't get to grips with the controls. It wasn't even the fact that I had to stop to aim; I really think that when they brought the controls from the GameCube controls to the 360 controller, they weren't sure what to do with all of the extra buttons and made the controls overcomplicated.

The other problem I had with the scheme, and the idea that there the same as RE4 so what's the big deal, is that while they updated everything else, the controls stayed the same. There are more enemies and the enemies are smarter and faster but the player feels slow and dumb. It's not really a sound strategy to shoot a couple of zombies in the legs, run to the other side of the room, turn and repeat until they're dead. This tension, it's tedium.

Finally, I just finished plying through Dead Space. That game is tense. And guess what, you can shoot and run at the same time. Look for my thoughts on Dead Space later this week (preview: I loved it).

Fun Friday: Time to Dust off the DS Edition

While I have yet to really play through GTAIV proper, this version for the DS, Chinatown Wars, looks more and more fun every time I see a new trailer for it. I like the look and game play style these videos project, it's very "arcade-like" and looks a lot less serious. This may just be what the series needs; a little injection of that old school fun.

Reaching Another Milestone

It's been another year and a half since my first 10k, but I've done it again. Earlier today I reached a gamerscore of 20,000. Here are some of my favorite achievements earned along the way.

• Paramour (Mass Effect) - I found out what all the fuss was about, and guess what, it wasn't a big deal. But you know what was, the game. It was awesome (except the driving sections, those can go).

• Brass Balls (Bioshock) - I didn't need much encouragement to play through this game again but the challenge made it all the more sweeter.

• Defiant (The Orange Box) - The best part about this secret achievement is that I got it without knowing how to get. Take that can and shove it, buddy!

• Blade in the Crowd (Assassin's Creed) - Each and every time I stealth killed a enemy with the hidden blade, I was filled with great satisfaction. Should I see a doctor about that?

• No-one Left Behind (Left 4 Dead) - I have never had so much fun playing with my friends in an online Co-op game.

Now, the Bad News

News hit the Internet pretty fast today as one of our QA offices suffered quite a blow. As part of our company's plan to return to profitability, the vast majority of our testers in Champagne,IL will soon be out of work. Being on the Nintendo Compliance team, I had no direct contact with them as far as projects are concerned (they concentrated on PS3/360/PC testing), but it's never easy to hear that co-workers have lost their jobs.

Best of luck, guys, and we all hope that you land on your feet soon.

First, the Good News

I totally forgot about this last week, but I have to give a shout out to the folks at Blue Tongue for the success that de Blob has achieved. Since launch in September, we've sold over 700,000 copies! Not bad for a non-Nintendo title.

Now if I can just find out how Deadly Creatures is doing...

Fallout 3: Looking Back

I beat Fallout 3 last week. Wait, I need to repeat that: I beat Fallout 3 last week. We'll come back to that point latter.

Fallout 3 was at the top of my list of missed games this last Fall. I picked it up for my birthday and spent the better part of February exploring the vast wastelands of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. In the end, I spent about 120 hours with the game which is about half of what I spent in the world of Oblivion. Since I had not played any of the previous Fallout games, Oblivion was my point of reference for what to expect. This may have tainted my early experience.

Right off the bat, I was trying to play the former like the latter and it just didn't work for me. In Oblivion, my character was a brutal yet stealthy melee attacker. I struggled with this at first until I reconciled with the V.A.T.S. system. It felt like the game was forcing me to play a first-person shooter or a ranged character from Oblivion (which I hated for the most part). As I grew more accustomed to the new system, it felt more natural and lent itself to more strategy even if I couldn't sneak up on many enemies. It helped that my character quickly leveled up rather quickly as well.

But at first, locales seemed far and few between in the beginning. Traveling the vast countryside most definitely captured the essence of a barren, oppressive and bleak world, almost to game's detriment. Playing in small chunks of time, about an hour, I was struggling to get from placed to place in one sitting due to sheer distance required to be traveled. Going back to the Oblivion comparison, there were always areas to explore between story checkpoints, I didn't have this experience in Fallout 3. And again, I reached a point where I abandoned the story quest and found myself exploring the wastes with great joy, moving from place to place rather quickly.

The story was largely forgettable (but Oblivion's was as well), involving some annoying fetch quests to advance with a few rather jolting turns. Which made switching gears from saving the world to just wandering the lands so much more appealing. It really becomes an open-world adventure when the player is left to their own devices and adopt the life they want to live, hopping from place to place, inserting himself into the lives of others and changing them for the rest of their lives. On one hand, I would almost like to see a game like this drop the player in a world with no story and just let them create their own way. On the other, the story provides structure but there is no way that the game should end just because the main quest is over.

These quibbles with the game may be due to the way I played and every one's experience will be different, but it still leads me to believe that the pacing was wrong throughout the game. There are abrupt shifts between nothing to do and too much to do or struggling against the enemies to feeling like a one-man, unstoppable army. But then again, I spent 120 hours with the game. I clearly enjoyed it, right? Well, of course I did. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped due to the sheer joy and satisfaction I garnered from Oblivion. Fallout 3 was a solid experience with a few hiccups, but left me longing for the return of the Elder Scrolls series.

Fun Friday: Oh Snap Edition

Most comedians fall very flat when attempting to host game industry events, but it seems like Jay Mohr did rather well at D.I.C.E. this last week. He spouted off some humorous one-liners but my favorite regarding Grand Theft Auto IV:

“If you want to watch an awards show about thugs beating up ho’s watch the Grammys.”

Now that is funny!

Look Ma! I'm on Joystiq!

Fun Friday: Possible Reason to Finally Get a PS3

Awesome Quote of the Week

We doubt that Activision would try to sue. That would be like a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy.

-EA's response to Activision threatening to sue over the publishing rights of Brutal Legend

Street Fighter IV Lanuch Party

Last night I went to the Street Fighter IV launch party in downtown Los Angeles. We got there a bit early and it was a good thing too; they turned away about 1500 people! The event was cool all around and with many, many stations set up with the game, it was not long before I got in a match. I played it on a PS3 with the standard controller, on the 360 with one of the Madcatz's arcade sticks and I played the game on an arcade cabinet. The graphics and game play were similar all around, which is to say gorgeous and smooth. I have to admit I ended up preferring to play with the standard controller over the arcade sticks. I was having trouble pulling off moves and I found out the Madcatz's sticks have a square box inside as opposed to an octagonal which was something I wasn't used too. I'm definitely glad I had the chance to try before I bought.

The actual highlight of the night was seeing DJ Qbert up close and personal. Ever since seeing the documentary Scratch about ten yeas ago, I have been into turntablism and their abilities never cease to amaze me.

Dead Rising 2 Confirmed!

Yes! This is the best gaming news of the year so far. Dead Rising in my top five games of this generation and is up there with my favorite games of all time. I've mentioned before that I loved just about everything that game offered, even the things that most people said ruined the game. I don't want to assume anything yet but I am bummed that Frank West appears to be MIA. Hopefully we'll find out more in the near future. As long as they didn't neuter the gameplay, I will be very happy when this hits the shelves.

Back from the Dead

Well it's been a while since my last post. Let's see, what's been happening? My son has become a wild animal now that he's nearly nine months old. I played all the way through The Force Unleashed (which was better than I thought it would), I started playing Castle Crashers (which was just as good as I thought it would be) and now I'm playing Fallout 3 (which is not as good as I thought it would be; strike that, it's just not as good for me as Oblivion was). I'll go into greater detail in upcoming posts.

In the mean time, at least I still have a job, for now. So go buy Deadly Creatures this week so it stays that way. Thanks!

Fun Friday: Thrown Under the Car Edition

After reading last months cover story in Play Magazine, Ride to Hell looked very promising based on the description in the article and the accompanying concept art. Than I saw the above footage. I understand that it says "pre-alpha" in the upper corner, but it's still not a good first impression. At least, the video was funny.

Huh?

So, I just finished Braid. I am not sure what just happened, but it was well worth the effort. Every puzzle designed in this game was brilliant. Many of them made my head hurt with and caused me to question my gaming abilities but the ones I solved on my own (I had to turn to the Internet for help on some of them) left me with an overwhelming sense of pride and satisfaction.

Jonathan Blow, the designer, set out to create a beautiful game that pushed genre boundaries and encouraged people to really think about what was going on. Personally, I don't think the game offered the closure provided by completing the game, and the complementary Achievement, but the game play was absolutely solid. I look forward to getting lost in another Jonathan Blow game, whenever that may be.