Neversoft: All Does Not Seem Well

Today we saw some images from the most current issue of Game Informer regarding the upcoming release of Guitar Hero IV. The pictures reveal that Neversoft have been developing their own drum set to accompany vocals and bass guitar as new additions to the franchise. This move is odd and I'm concerned for a company I truly care about since first playing the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series almost ten years ago.

Previously, we heard through Activision's earnings call, that Neversoft's yearly iteration of the Tony Hawk skateboarding game was dropped. Despite being a long time fan, my interest has been waning and I'm not surprised by this decision. The series was it's absolute best around THPS3 and proceeded to pile on feature after feature until the original spirit was crushed under the weight of unnecessary features and story. Skate ollied right over the competition, crushing Tony Hawk Proving Ground's sales. It was fresh and lean, and gamers bought it up.

Now we see a similar situation where a competitor has stolen the limelight a bit with Rock Band, and forced Neversoft to react. Unfortunately, their response has been an overzealous overreaction in both cases.

Guitar Hero is about pretending to be a rock God. Tony Hawk Pro Skater is about pulling off insane tricks and combos that are impossible in the real world. Both game's motivations rely on achieving and pushing the boundaries of a high score. Adding more instruments dilutes the Guitar Hero experience and as does increasing the realism in a THPS game. I have a hard time seeing why there is not room for both types of games on the market. Guitar Hero can appease the hardcore crowd with an ever increasing line-up of rock anthems and face melting solos while Rock Band allow those who want to get together with a couple of friends and emulate their rock band karaoke fantasies all while having a few drinks. By the same token, skate can exists for purists while the Tony Hawk series can indulge those with a looser attitude towards what can and can't be done on a skateboard.

Although there may be some suits at Activision sitting back and dictating Neversoft's direction, I urge them to take a step back and return to these series' roots. If everyone integrates their competition's features by saying "we can do that too, only bigger and better," games become homogenized. We need diversity and we need competition. This is what should be driving developers, not trends and marketing focus groups. If everything is the same, what's the incentive to by any of them?

My Guilty Pleasure Resurfaces, Twice!

Viva Pinata is easily my guiltiest obsession of this current video game generation. I'm not sure if it was the cuteness of it all or the achievements or what, but I couldn't get enough of the original game. Now, with great excitement, we hear not one, but two bits of Viva Pinata news. It's enough brightly colored awesomeness to cause my head to burst forth with chocolate candy exuberance.

Firstly, there's the leaked info and screenshots for Viva Pinata 2 for the Xbox360. I expect to hear more at Microsoft's announcement later this week, but the screen shots imply some darker undertones and possible co-op(?). Plus, there's snow! Ooh, I can't wait to hear more.

Then there's the confirmation that Viva Pinata DS: Pocket Paradise (yes, that is the subtitle) is coming soon. It's not really news to me, I've been working on it for the last few months (THQ is publishing), but it's nice to finally hear about it in the press and everyone can get as excited as we are about this game. The game is a near identical recreation of the full 360 version minus a few things here and there and it works brilliantly with the DS Touch Screen. The game came in test nearly perfect, it was a dream to work with Rare. Don't tell them, but I spent a lot of time early on just playing the game. ;)

de Blob Is Coming Soon, This Time I Promise

de Blob Intro Trailer
I made some promises at last year's PAX that de Blob would be hitting stores early this year. Well the developers made me a liar, but it's for the best. In light of our struggles at THQ over the last year, the devs thought it was best to keep it in the oven a bit longer. The game is shaping up to be the best looking Wii game we have done and is set to do especially well with the gamers of all kinds. This time, I promise, de Blob is coming sooner rather than later.

Fun Friday: Graffiti Edition

I really wanted to post an awesome video I saw for this week's release of Guitar Hero: Air Guitar Rocker. Unfortunately, the video was pulled from YouTube. Fortunately, Leigh Alexander at Kotaku posted this awesome graffiti art. Not only are games art, but they continue to inspire great art as well.

Fun Friday: GTAIV Edition

Conan O'brien knocked it out of the park this week with his "lighter side" of Liberty City. Don't forget to check out part two as well. Penny Arcade showed that is isn't always east to get a good first impression in Liberty City and the Etch-A-Sketchist continued to show off how awesome he is. Oh, and don't forget, Dan Houser says "fuck off" to casual gaming. For the most part, I'm in agreement.

Why Do People Still Shop Here?

I hate GameStop and all that they stand for. They make all of their profits off of the used game markets and collecting preorder money. There is no incentive for them to carry new games and have treated walk in business as lower class for years now. Going into the store to attempt to pick up a copy of a hot, new game without a preorder is usually answered with a condescending stare and “sorry - no preorder, no availability.”

Seems all that has changed with the release of GTAIV. The higher ups are encouraging the sales staff to sell to walk in customers even if they have only preordered copies left. Now, there’s the possibility that someone who put down money months ago won’t be able to get their copy until another shipment comes in. First they train shoppers like sheep to drop cash early for a “guaranteed” copy on launch day and then they pull the rug out from under them by offering the copies to first come, first served.

In all likelihood, this won’t affect many people, but it further proves to me that GameStop cares only about making a buck. They don’t care about their customers and they definitely don’t care about the industry.

Layoffs Suck

This is too bad. It appears that Sandblast Games (formerly Cranky Pants) will be closing after massive layoffs. Evil Dead: Regeneration was my second project as a tester. The game was fun if a bit repetitive. I haven’t seen much from them since, which might explain their situation, but it still sucks.

I was talking to one of my coworkers (a test lead) about this and he commented on how it seems like there are always news stories about massive layoffs at developers but that he feels safe in QA because that thing doesn’t seem to happen to us. Maybe it does happen and we don’t hear about it as much, but since I’ve moved beyond the level of a temp three years ago, I have yet to worry about my job security. I guess I should consider myself lucky.

Unless You’ve Been Living Under A Rock...

GTA IV came out today. Here’s a reminder for those who think it's the end of the world:

Gimme a “W”, Gimme a “T”, Gimme a “F”

This is old, but it looks like our All Star Cheer game has some competition in Namco's We Cheer. I didn’t realize that there was such a demand for cheerleading games. Well, I guess they did make a forth Bring it On movie. At least our game uses the Wii Balance Board!

Fun Friday: Comics Are Cool Too

Most of my Fun Fridays are videos, and while this week's saw Zero Punctuation rip into Super Smash Brothers Brawl, this comic from Dueling Analogs really tickled my funny bone. Enjoy!