Hycran's Gaming Life

My ps triple

2011-08-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

Most of the time i'm too busy playing video games to be writing about them and i have neglected this blog for quite some time (on purpose i might add) since the time of this last post i've played countless excellent games: Resonance of Fate, Super Street Fighter 4, Flower, the list goes on and on. But it wouldnt have been possible without the lovely ps3 i bought 3 years ago which is still going strong.

I'd always wanted a ps3, but the price was too high and it didn't have any games I wanted, let alone any i recognized. But when Metal Gear Solid 4 came out in the special 80 gig bundle, I knew i had to have that slick piece of kit. I heard that the Vancouver Future Shop was having a limited sale on the item, so I went all the way from White Rock to Vancouver and got there at 7 o' clock in the morning! I was the second person there, and I waited patiently for my chance to buy my ps3. Just before opening an employee came out and handed us the special limited edition DVD that came with the game as a token of us being allowed to purchase one. After the initial hubbub that comes with people rushing into a store looking for a ps3 to buy, i made my way to the front counter and dropped well over 600 bucks on my new ps3. I also managed to snag the limited edition dvd which was a nice bonus.

Man oh man, I still baby my ps3 like I did 3 years ago. The vents and ports are always vacuumed, everything is shut down properly at all times. Games and software are treated with the utmost love and care. I bought my ps3 because I knew I wouldn't need any other gaming device, and it has served me faithfully for 3 years and hopefully more years to come. The metal gear solid backwards compatible 80 gig model is the kind of ps3's, and so it deserves treatment fit for a king. Thanks futureshop ;)

DLC Done Right - WipEout HD: Fury

2009-09-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

As I’ve already pointed out, DLC is not the great evil some people make it out to be. It has definitely proven itself capable of unspeakable evil, but if paying for cheat codes in Skate 2 is the anti-christ, then the Fury expansion for Wipeout DLC is the return of Zeus throwing thunderbolts and transforming into ducks and raping women (trust me, that’s a good thing, unless you’re a woman =/ )

First off, let me remind everyone that WipeOut HD is on sale as of right now for a limited time only. At 15 American capitalist pig dollars, the original game by itself is more than worth the price of admission. Even at it’s original 20 dollars, Wipeout HD played and felt like a 60 dollar triple A title. The Fury expansion pack is only 10 dollars and brings just as much to the table as the original game did, if not more. Essentially, this 10 dollar DLC is worth 60 dollars. Now let that rumble around in your head a bit. If you’re ready for more, buckle up and see me after the jump.

Most notably, The Fury DLC brings 3 new game modes to the table. The Eliminator game mode pits 8 players against one another but with 2 big twists. This time around, all weapons pads have no cool-down, which means that weapons are much more easily attainable both for you and your opponents. More unexpectedly, a new 180 degree turn function has been incorporated which allows you to surprise your enemies with rockets in the face. Being able to hold onto a plasma ball and fire it headfirst into unsuspecting racers or getting a lead, turning around and unleashing a devastating earthquake that kills several opponents at once never ceases to get old.

The Zone Battle mode is a new spin on an old favorite, allowing 7 other racers to join you in the increasingly insane speed mode. In this mode however, boost pads give you access to a type of boost charge which both doubles as a means to increase your speed, but also leave zone barriers in your wake. Absorbing your Zone gauge gives you a protective shield that allows you to pass through these zone barriers but removes any chance for you to use the accumulated speed. Of course the other option is crashing into a zone barrier and dropping your speed significantly, damaging your ship horrendously and draining most of the boost charge you’ve saved up. Seeing as dying also kills your speed, it’s clear that this mode is as frustrating as it is exhilarating.
Lastly, the Detonator mode functions like a quirky arcade shooter. Your ship is given access to a machine gun as well as a track clearing EMP shock-wave which is charged by driving over boost pads. Accuracy is rewarded by increased score modifiers while crashing into the mines on the course has the genre staple effect of killing your combo and you. While not as thrilling as the other modes, the constant need to reload, charge up EMP power, avoid mines and adjust to the slowly increasing zone mode-esque acceleration makes the Detonator mode a welcome addition to the family.

As if this wasn’t enough, there are 8 new regular race tracks (4 forward/4 backwards) as well as 4 new speciality courses specifically designed with the new modes and the standard zone mode in mind. The specialty tracks are a lot less curvy and more predictable, functioning akin to Nascar tracks. No doubt a lot of people will finally get their Zone Zeus Trophies on any one of these tracks. AND ON TOP OF ALL THAT, every team gets a brand new race model added to their ranks. You can also unlock a Zone Battle Wireframe model along with the platinum racing skin for this new ship.

And oh yeah, did I forget? Oh yeah, I almost did. ONE MORE THING: A completely new campaign mode which is just as long and girthy as the original.

And all of this, for 10 bucks.

Let that seep in, one more time. The game was an outrageous blast to begin with, and now it should be practically mandatory that all PS3 owners buy this damn game. All of the new modes perfectly complement the original game and most importantly, are a treat to play. To be perfectly honest, I could go on and on about the game, but there is one more thing I would like to point out before I stop bothering you fine folk.

Everyone has different priorities when it comes to how they enjoy the vidya. Some people just like mindless fun, some people want a really gripping story or tight controls or a million other things. For me, Immersion is absolutely crucial for me to enjoy a game to its fullest. While the original Wipeout HD was excellent, the Fury expansion adds even more things that really make you feel like you are playing a futuristic racer. While the mines in Detonator mode pulse to the music just like the walls on Anulpha pass do or the ground in any zone race, the menus and backgrounds have received even more upgrades, making you truly believe the authenticity of the vision presented to you. Strange symbols and animations jump out at you while the interfaces odd style feels both accessible and foreign. As I originally pointed out, not everyone will get the same kick out of these accoutrement’s as I have, my wish however is that there are people who will experience it the way I have, because I really, REALLY, get a kick out of the whole package.

So let’s recap.

-An awesome game at half the price of the original awesome game

-3 new awesome game modesa brand new campaign mode

-A bunch of awesome new extras (Vehicles, Tracks, Great new songs, Various other accoutrements)

-The same Crisp 1080p, 60FPS display.

AND, The same heart racingly, pulse poundingly, groin-grabbingly good action you need to play to believe.

The only negative I can really find is that other platforms are denied this wonderful game and its tremendous DLC (not that I’m complaining.)

Hycran out.

Random Video Game Thoughts

2009-09-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

Whether warranted or not, we all sometimes find ourselves pondering certain elements of our favorite video games. Here are some from the desk of Hycran

who is really going to be buying all those collector’s editions down the road?

What is all that xbox live subscription money going to?

What were points ever useful for?

Why was Chun Li the only character changed in SF4?

Why Would soldiers volunteer to fight in a place called a “Kill Zone”?

How many people bought Halo Wars thinking it was a First Person Shooter?

How many grandmothers own a Wii?

How many grandmothers who own Wii’s have actually played them rather than letting them sit
and collect dust.

Speaking of collecting dust, Why does the PS3 do it so well? Seriously, My ps3 is a dust magnet.

Blizzard just announced that they are going to allow players to create characters on both factions on PVP servers. Why didn’t they let people do that from the beginning? It’s not like people on the other side didn’t immediately find out about big raids waiting outside BWL or MC or trying to kill Azuregos and try to sabotage them.

What is the fat princesses dress made out of? It expands and contracts without ripping, we need to get the Hulk some of those dresses.

Why are there so few games from the Old West to the Depression Era? Everyone likes shootan, everyone likes gruff manly men, Wild West games should be all over the place. Depression era hats? Sign me up.

Why do I have to GET OUT OF HERE S.T.A.L.K.E.R? It’s a free country!

Why doesnt Mario just call in a tactical Yoshi airstrike?

How long will it be until we get a corporate sponsored Twilight Game?

The horror…

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune 2 - Among Thieves Multiplayer Impressions

2009-09-01T23:17:00.001-07:00

With the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune 2 Multiplayer Beta coming to a close, I have composed a quick and dirty pro/con list for any of you who still visit this site and are interested in the game. For the record, I got the beta code from my purchase of infamous which I may or may not review for your viewing pleasure.

Good Stuff

Gameplay: The fundamental mechanics of the gameplay are very solid. The Guns all feel appropriately smooth with just the right amount of rattle and recoil (especially in the ak-47 which sounded like it was a suppressed mp5 in the original Uncharted). Like in real life, going full auto isn’t particularly conducive to being accurate. It is incredibly satisfying to squeeze off a couple rounds in quick succession, successfully putting an enemy to sleep, permanently. The cover mechanic functions admirably. Blindfire and quick pop-ups are necessary to be successful.

Special weapons: Fun and well balanced. Because the cover mechanic is all but necessary, Rambo antics with the portable Gatling gun, desert eagle and dragon sniper rarely pay off. Of course, this is the way it should be and this methodology is in keeping with the series. Nathan Drake and his compatriots aren’t super heroes that can grunt and bald their way to victory, they must be smart, agile and accurate. That being said, when the Rambo antics do work (such as with the grenade launcher or shotgun) the game is extremely satisfying. The only anomaly seems to be the M4A1 automatic rifle. With the increased long range stability perk the gun becomes almost unfairly accurate. Perhaps America just has really, really good weapons?

Verticality: The games adaptive parkour system helps to bring a fresh element to the third person genre not because no game has ever had you shooting up or down, but because the line between up and down gets effectively blurred. Rather than use the bricks in the plaza to ascend quickly to the second floor, it can be more effective to actually hang off the side of the building and take potshots at enemies before going in for the kill. If you are holding on to the Desert Eagle you can even find yourself getting kills from this position. It took a little while to train myself out of the level by level orientation of thinking, but once I did, I found myself getting a lot of easy and satisfying kills.

Co-op: If I was going to kill for treasure, I would want company. Co-op in DU feels even better than single player action. Smart teams can easily utilise running suppression and flanking maneuvers to outwit the AI. That being said, the AI definitely aren’t pushovers. They use cover admirably for the most part, but they sometimes tend to think they are impervious to bullets and as such leave the safety of their cover; This of course leads to a frontal labotomy with lead. The games difficulty though, as is the case with just about everything, is very, very satisfying. My biggest concern is with the preponderance of set pieces. At one point you have a steady stream of enemies trying to come from behind and flank you, unfortunately they run carelessly over the back of a bus in a set-piece. As such, they don’t return fire and are easy kills.

Boring Stuff

Menu’s are clean. Gears style map voting, fuck yeah democracy. The controls are responsive and the graphics are sharp.

Bad stuff

Characters are a bit sluggish: Because no one is on steroids, there isn’t a super speed option, unfortunately, it feels like there should be an “abandon ship” button. If a grenade lands at your feet and you aren’t moving, it’s game over. The grenades in this game are actually very good, both in the fact that they are all or nothing killers and in the fact that you cant hurl them across the map, but their power gain is mostly due to the lack of speed of the players. While this may sound hypocritical when you take my “it should be more real” justification into account, it goes without saying that it is possible to sprint in real life, something that you can’t do in Drake’s Uncharted.

Perks: Combat bonuses such as extra bullets in the clip or increased blindfire accuracy are boring as hell. Obviously the little bits of customization are always nice, but it would have been nice to see something different. I’m sure the limited options we are provided in the beta are the beginner perks, but i sure hope there are better ones down the road.

MP lacks charm: The co-op is full of the staple Drake’s charm. MP could use a lot more of it. Obviously it can’t be constant, but a few more quips would be great.

Overall, the beta for the multiplayer is better than a lot of the full products we’ve seen this generation. Even though the original Drakes was a successful single player product, the second one looks to do the same as well as add on a kick ass multiplayer and co-op. And seeing as it will cost the same amount of money, everyone wins.

White Knight Chronicles - The New Legend of Dragoon?

2009-09-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

The PS3 doesn’t have any RPG’s. The Wii and the Xbox don’t have many either, but the PS3 is truly lacking in traditional RPGS. Even though there are tons of RPG’s in the tube, none of them are here yet. The only RPG that we do have is White Knight Chronicles, and that is over in Japan. Although it’s always hard to get excited over one game, WKC could be the game many RPG fans have been waiting for, not because it is simply an RPG, but because it seems to bear a lot of things in common with one of the original darlings of the Playstation, The Legend of Dragoon. With traditional JRPG’s seemingly falling by the wayside, could WKC be the saviour of an entire genre?

I am quite adept at keeping the flaccid cock of nostalgia out of my mouth. I will go on the record as saying The Legend of Dragoon was not the best RPG i’ve ever played. It was however one of the most fun RPG’S I’ve ever played. The fact that WKC seems to have the same attributes as LoD gives me hope that it could be the LoD of this generation.

The Legend of Dragoon was a Sony developed property created in order to stimulate interest in RPGS. As such, it uses the very pedestrian plot scheme of the “Sentai” or as we know it in North America, the “Power Rangers” schema. Get a whole bunch, give them magical powers, fight evil. While WKC doesn’t follow this pattern (barring the transformation into the titular White Knight), it follows the equally underwhelming “save the princess, get a kiss” plot. Seeing as LoD was originally designed to get people interested, it makes perfect sense to not overwhelm them with plot (especially since we already have MGS4 to do that for us). While the main demographic of PS3 users is old enough to comprehend more diverse plots, a good old fashioned adventure game harkens back to the days of yore when men were men (as opposed to andorgynous boys) and dragons were to be slain (or riden, or transformed into). Essentially, it serves the dual purpose of re-introducing both knew and old.

Generic JRPG Waifu? Hell yes.

At the same time as it is similar to older titles, it also incorporates some of the newer standards that have come about as a result of this generation. WKC features Co-op internet monster slaying gameplay akin to an MMO. The battle system itself is also akin to an MMO, following in the footsteps of Final Fantasy 12. While some may object to this, the free-roaming style is practically the same as traveling in an overworld, only you can see the monsters youre going to engage as opposed to running into blocks of nothing which somehow materialize into monsters. The Legend of Dragoon incorporated “Additions” or combat combos as a means to liven up the gameplay which was apart from the traditional “stand across from each other and slash until dead” model that most of the games incorporated. WKC’s combat pallete system also seems to mirror this, where the combo cannot be fully completed until all of its precursory parts are.

Interestingly enough, Level 5’s creation of the game also smacks of the first party mentality that surrounded The Legend of Dragoon. Level 5 creates games almost solely for Sony, and has even gone on the record in saying that excellent sales of WKC would prompt them to become a 1st party developper. What kind of sales would they need? Probably somewhere around the 500,000 plus mark, which is approximately where Legend of Dragoon ended up. JRPG sales have been stagnant this generation, both due to the lack of quality as well as due to the predominantly Xbox exclusive nature of the games. That being said, White Knight Chronicles has already sold approximately 350,000 copies in Japan, which is remarkable for a new IP, especially an RPG.

Even though there are some whispers floating around about a possible Legend of Dragoon Sequel, WKC looks to be a type of spiritual successor to the game. Instead of trying to be grandiose and failing like so many RPG’s of this generation have, WKC looks to bring us back to when games didn’t need to have trophies or online play to be fun. Will WKC be the best RPG ever? Of course not. It has already received both tepid and solid reviews (once again, the same as LoD did.) But will it be fun? Undoubtedly.

Addendum: In an unexpected announcement, Level 5 recently revealed that WKC would be delayed until early 2010. While we knew that Level 5 was trying it hardest to get voice chat into the game for the online component, there was no reason the game should be delayed for 5 extra months just for that right? Turns out, the game is getting the Georama mode from the extremely awesome Dark Cloud series. For those who aren’t in the know, the Georama mode gives you access to pieces of a town which can be moved around at leisure to create unique cities and villages. Not only are they taking elements from a key PS1 RPG, they are now incorporating a kick ass mode from a key PS2 RPG.

Imagine being able to build your own city on the back of this thing.

Game of the fucking FOREVER

What Agent's Exclusivity Could Mean For the Future

2009-09-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

While Sony has made several blunders in the current gen console war one of the biggest was allowing Call of Duty 4 to go multi-platform. The game has become such a runaway success that it could have single-handedly changed the face of the war as we know it. Perhaps equally as big was allowing Grand Theft Auto 4 to go multi-platform. Although the game sold about 45/55% on the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively, there are rumblings that the next installment in the GTA series may become a Playstation exclusive by default.

Wait, what the hell are you talking about?

As has been documented, Rockstar was notably unhappy with the limitations of the DVD-9 format on the Xbox 360 and how it affected GTA 4. As we’ve all seen though, both versions of the game are practically the same. The rumblings this time around though are seem to be much more boisterous. Early rumours have Rockstar threatening to not release GTA5 on the Xbox, but that begs the question: Why? Why sacrifice all the money you would undoubtedly make by only creating the game for one console?

Although one can never account for backroom dealings and shattered business relationships, there is really only one answer.

They want their game to be good.

Was GTA4 lacking on the Xbox 360? Of course not. It was Game of the Year. It recieved rave reviews across the board. But could it have been better? WOULD it have been better if it had only been released for a single console? Of course. This applies to any game released on any console exclusively though. What makes this time around special is that the GTA developers may in fact be willing to part with the extra revenue in order to better perfect their craft which seems absolutely ludicrous in our current economic standings. It is not to say that Rockstar would be the first group to sacrifice sales for art. It is however to say that doing so now could prove to be an earth shaking event that has an indelible effect on how Video Games are made.

In a world driven by profit, and in an industry not well renowned for being bohemian, this kind of move would be as surprising as it would be dramatic. A triple-A developer openly supporting both their own art and A specific console could sway other third party developers to do the same. It would also give other developers a comfortable “out” to abandon a platform they wouldn’t want to develop on for fear of not returning enough profit. After all, in such hard economic times, it’s surprising that more companies aren’t already doing this and attributing it towards a need for the betterment of the game as opposed to monetary restrictions. Keep in mind as well, if Halo 3, Gears of War and Metal Gear Solid 4 have shown us anything, exclusive games can still sell ridiculously well regardless of being exclusive.

That being said, the whole “pursuing art” argument could simply be an excuse from Rockstar after the fact. Rockstar has a contractual obligation to produce 3 exclusive games for the PS3 as reported by the Hiphopgamer (through an interview with an industry insider) and other sources. We know one of these games is Agent, another one of these games may supposedly be the somewhat forgotten L.A. Noire, a sandbox game set in the 1930’s. GTA 5 would probably be not all that different than 4 regardless of development time and console exclusivity, and if L.A. Noire is factored in, that would mean all of the three promised exclusives would be off the table.

If one wanted to be even more pessimistic, this could be seen as also be seen as a moving away from Microsoft has the prime conduit for producing games. Take-Two openly denied Microsoft’s exclusivity bid for Bioshock 2 while EA is now releasing Dead Rising 2 on the PS3. Capcom has also recently confirmed a concurrent release of Lost Planet 2. Along with a slew of exclusives for the PS3, this could seem very dramatic, but there are still a lot of positives for the Xbox.

Don't worry cousin, beeg American teetee's will probably come to all platforms (minus Wii)

Even though EA has clearly made Dead Rising 2 multi-platform, the status of Mass Effect is still up in the air. Microsoft also has Epic, Bethesda and VALVe onboard as companies who are much more enamored with Microsoft than they are with Sony. And of course, staying with the pessimism, Microsoft has one very, very big asset. A seemingly inexhaustible amount of money. Everyone has their price, and a company as rich as Microsoft can probably name yours.

Microsoft made Rockstar rich. Rockstar took at least 30% of every sale from the GTA4 expansion pack, along with the millions of dollars they recieved from the exclusivity deal itself. Ultimately, beyond all of this industry wheeling and dealing as well as speculation, it just doesn’t seem like anyone can resist the siren song of the greenback. Perhaps that’s why I find it so interesting that the such a bohemian notion can be expressed by Rockstar. Even with evidence showing that it could be legitimate and genuine (undoubtedly in the exclusivity of Agent), I’m still not convinced that such dedication to art can even exist in our modern day industry. If it does come to pass though. it might just spur on the innovation and advancement in the industry that some believe is lacking. And if this kind of innovation can occur when times are tough, imagine how sweet it could be in times of plenty.

Why I Hate Games "Journalism"

2009-09-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

I hate video game jounalism. I used to think that it was because I was an elitist and that my University education had rendered me unable to appreciate the opinions of the proletariat. And then I realised that I am not that stuck up, video game journalism is just really, REALLY bad.

First off, there simply isn’t enough elitism. Every clown with a connection can post their opinion and have a bunch of equally retarded people follow along. Check N4G at anytime and there is guaranteed to be an article about the ps3 failing, xbox 360 hardware problems or the wii being full of shovelware. This is not news, this is a waste of space. At least the TV has different people dying every day, on the internet it’s the same shit day in and day out.

Secondly, the reason they waste this space is because there simply isnt much news to be had on a regular day. If there is a big story (which is rare) it will be “revealed” simultaneously by 80 different websites. This yields speculative articles. Unlike the interesting one’s people on this website try to write, they usually end up going back to my first point where a bunch of uneducated hicks make ridiculous claims about things they can’t possibly understand. Do you need a university education to connect the dots or make an interesting article? Of course not. Would it help if most of these people had one though so that they could actually make an article worth reading? I’ve got to think so.

Thirdly, any article that will offend someones console is pre-empted by “this isn’t a console war article” or “this isnt a fanboy rant.” Does Wolf Blitzer have to say “I’m not a democratic fanboy” every time a story is posted about Republican back room dealings? Of course not. That would be fucking ludicrous, but in this news industry, its perfectly acceptable. If you post a rational, focused and insightful article, it doesn’t matter what the topic is about. I’ve read good articles saying saying the exact opposite things about the same game. Is either one of them right? No, of course not. Is either one of them wrong? No, of course not. Well written opinions are always worth reading, especially if you don’t agree with them.

Lastly, there are very few people that can actually be trusted. Even big websites like Edge and Ign will post reviews of games that absolutely reek of payoff or bias. A famous example would be the original review of gears of war 2 on 1up which extensively talked about what a bad game it was but gave it an A+. This was later replaced with Gregory Fords much more soundly argued A score. or IGN’s infamous Godhand review where a score of 3.0 was later revealed to be based on the fact that the reviewer was terrible at the game and couldn’t finish the second level. I feel like I can trust Adam Sessler, thats it. N’gai Croal has made the wise move to get out of games journalism and for that i commend him.

Do i consider myself a games journalist? God no. I just consider myself someone who loves the vidya and wants to share an opinion or insight or two; Whether or not they are worth reading is up to those who read them.

ToV Available September 17th in Japan; Nerds Still Mad

2009-09-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

On September 17th, Tales of Vesperia will be released in Japan on the PS3. Seeing this announcement reminded me of all the nerd rage that ensued when the announcement of the ps3 port with all the extra goodies was first announced. I have acquired a time machine and decided to go back in time and write an article right at the point of the 1st announcement, here goes…

*wooshing sounds, 88MPH, etc*

The people who broke their ToV games because it’s coming to the PS3 are fucking retarded.You feel betrayed? Vesperia was always a timed exclusive. You KNEW it was going to be on PS3, especially with the xbox having mediocre jrpg sales no matter how much Microsoft tries to buy their way into Japanese hearts.

You feel duped? It’s some sort of bait and switch? No. Namco would have been falling all over themselves if ToV had done 1.5 million sales. It did 1/5th of that. What do you fucking expect? When Level 5 says that they will go Ps3 exclusive if White Knight Chronicles does good, its not because they love Sony, it’s because they love money, like any sane company does. Sales should never be the concern of the gamer, but they are always the the problem of the company making the game.

You feel like you wasted your money and got denied all the extra shit? No. For all you know, they could be giving Microsoft all the extra stuff in the ps3 version for free. Essentially, you are breaking a game undoubtedly to buy it again, giving the company you hate double the money. Smart thinking there champ.

And lastly:

The breaking of the game is not cathartic, nor does it save any face or reclaim any honor. I broke my controller in a fit of rage during SF4, It wasnt satisfying, in fact, it actually sent me into a panic attack. As funny as im sure everyone found this, this is not a good way to vent frustration. In all likelyhood, the people who bought the game thoroughly enjoyed the game before the announcement. Does such an announcement really leach all the fun you had? Does it erase the good times? I sure hope not.

While there has been no official announcement of a NA or Euro release of ToV, the coming christmas holiday and a dearth of JRPG’s on the PS3 will undoubtedly speed up the translation process over at Namco-Bandai. Now where did I put that flux capacitor?

You Can't Spell Possibility Without PSP

2009-09-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Do you want hard facts about the PSP 4000? Too bad, you’re not going to get them. As it stands right now, about the only thing we know for certain is that the PSP 4000 will be receiving a complete aesthetic overhaul.

I have, however, taken it upon myself to throw in some delicious speculation as to the specs, look and future of the PSP. Crystal ball reading after the jump.

UMD: Will it have one?
Answer: Probably. Sony has gone on the record as saying that the UMD business is big business to them. Although the UMD eats battery life and creates unwanted heat and noise, the presence of an entirely digital device is probably unlikely in the upcoming future. Although the portable system has good wi-fi abilities, not everyone has the internet necessary to operate a completely digital device. Physical Media also helps to circumvent a bit of piracy, as some people are still honour bound to actually purchase their media.

What I think might happen (which I believe will be a stroke of genius) is that Sony will release 2 versions of the new PSP. One with UMD, one without. Taking a page out of the Xbox 360’s playbook and creating a 2-tiered pricing system for the same device could be the single biggest thing to happen to the PSP in 2009. Obviously the cheaper one would have no UMD and be solely digital which would turn off consumers such as myself. But I’m willing to wager that there is a large component of people who game on their Ipods and Iphones simply because of the lack of fussing with physical media. And you better believe that Sony wants those people playing and buying games on the PSP as opposed to the Iphone.

Sliding Screen: Will it have one?
Answer: Dear god I hope so. Have you seen that picture? That thing is about as nice as handheld ANYTHING comes. It also allows the console to be more streamlined and aesthetically pleasing. Most sources have confirmed some kind of sliding screen as a means to lower the profile of the device itself. You can pretty much guarantee this one.

Games: Will it have any?
Answer: Count on It. With the resurgence in sales and the new found ability to download off the internet, Developers will have much easier access to customers and profits. It’s also simple wii-conomics. If you have 50 million owners of your device, chances are you’re going to make a big chunk of sales. Even if your game only sells to 1/100th of the people who own the device, that is still 500,000 sales, which is remarkable. If Sony adopts the 2-tiered pricing system that I documented before, it could create a massive sales boost as more people buy the console and spend the extra money they saved on games. And once LBP portable, the new Motorstorm and Rockband start raking in the cash, reluctant developers will be quick to throw themselves into the sea of money before them.

Price: Will it be costly?
Answer: Yes, but not unreasonably. Sony has already felt the pinch from an “expensive” console. Although the ps3 is still a reasonable price, the PSP-4000 will be under heavy scrutiny. It’s perceived cost will be crucial to its selling. Fortunately, it has been practically confirmed that the chipset in it will be the same. From a strictly logistical standpoint, it would make no sense to make it less expensive than 3000 or 2000, but making it anywhere more expensive than the $249 price point is risky. Look for $279, $300 max. You might also see a price drop on the older models, but come on, have you seen this thing? If it looks anything like this fan made prototype, who would want an old one?

2009 is shaping up to be a great year for Sony in general. With company restructuring saving billions of dollars, the PS3 assuming more console dominance (especially after the inevitable price cut) and the economy eventually rebounding, the PSP 4000 could become an even bigger hit than it is already sure to be. As the DS has shown us, people are more than willing to “upgrade” to a system that functions exactly the same as their old one did. And with more money hopefully being in the consumer pocket by Christmas, Sony is hoping that millions of people will pick up the PSP for both the first and second time

ADDENDUM: All 4 predictions I made were right, go me!

What It Means to be a Killer.

2009-09-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

Halo Killer. WoW killer. If you have a First Person Shooter, you want to be a Halo Killer. If you have an MMORPG, you want to be a World of Warcraft Killer. Overtaking these games becomes an end unto itself, but not for the reasons of simple sales. Of course, the games that usually must be “killed” are often not the objectively best games, but are often games that have defined themselves as the standard that all games must measure up to.

Games like Halo and World of Warcraft cannot be killed in a conventional sense. With both games around 10 million sales, the sheer logistics of trying to outsell them is laughable at best. The real power lies in their ability to extend past the realm of video games and branch out into mainstream culture. In essence, any game that kills Halo would take its place in all of the news media and high school lunchroom discussions.

Through this, it’s easy to realize that these games can only be “killed” if their place in the culture is either superseded or invalidated by another game. Age of Conan hoped to invalidate World of Warcraft’s spot with much beefier combat and graphics array. It’s goal was to highlight the fact that Warcraft’s point and click combat and cartoony graphics were not what gamers wanted. Perhaps they would have succeeded if their game was no so barren and buggy.

Killzone 2 is undoubtedly attempting to supersede Halo’s position by focusing more on class-based combat, better graphics and a less arcadey feel to combat. Rather than be confrontational like AoC, Killzone presents itself as an evolution in the genre, rather than what it should have been. Although Killzone 2 will have high sales, the chances of it being a Halo killer with Halo Wars coming around the corner is highly unlikely. When it comes to First Person Shooter’s as well, there should always be a market for both heavily realistic games as well as more arcade-oriented games.

One of the more frustrating things about games that need to be “killed” is the fact they are often the successful amalgamation of several things already established in the gaming industry. Practically none of Halo or World of Warcraft’s features are “new”, but the fact that they integrate them all so successfully helps make them rampantly popular, even to the point where people don’t even acknowledge the contributions made by the games they are borrowing from. This may lead some to wish the worst for the series as their favorite game was probably forgotten in the process, or they may feel that the game accentuates the wrong aspects of the games it is emulating.

A perfect example of this would be another Blizzard franchise: Starcraft. While I won’t name names or sling mud, it must be especially painful for fans of a certain game *COUGH* DAWN OF WAR *COUGH* to hear that their game is ripping off Starcraft when in fact the opposite is the case. This goes to show the power of a game that must be “killed”.

One must also keep in mind that the chance to “kill” a game is pretty rare seeing as killable games are so rare in and of themselves. Other than games like Halo, World of Warcraft and Starcraft, there aren’t many other games to kill. These games also tend to be within a few certain genres. After all, it’s not often one hears about a “Bejeweled” killer or a “Mechwarrior” killer. Only a few genres have the power to jump into the mainstream to such an incredible extent. This of course isn’t to say that Bejeweled or games like it aren’t popular, but the violent metaphor tends to lend itself more accurately to violent games.

Will we ever see a Halo or WoW killer? Highly likely. As times and events change, so to do tastes. That being said, it is clear that the creators of these games have been given the mandate to dictate the tastes of gamers for years to come. Ultimately, this forces both the original company and other companies to step their proverbial and literal games up in order to meet the challenge. Most games will fail, others will succeed in their own right, and maybe, just maybe, we will get a game that does finally make a killing blow. Suffice it to say, this game will probably kick ass and you should be glad the game that came before it existed in order to stimulate its arrival.

A Past; A Tradition

2009-09-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

While Goldanas has already posted a thread about the onset of age and how it affects the vidya, I would like to throw in a little parallel to his personal feelings.

One thing I am beginning to get bent out of shape over is the kind of legacy I will leave. My entire childhood and most of what I would now call my adulthood has been spent with the vidya. For better or worse, my past is tied to the vidya. One of the big apprehensions I have about one day not playing video games is the fact that I will, in essence, be killing off what has been a large part of both my history and identity.

At the same time however, because our childhoods were electronic, they can be effectively captured in our various forms of modern media storage. With the advent of emulators, all of the games of your childhood, regardless of when you were born, become available. While this is very comforting, it is also very frightening. It seems scary to me that the exact experience can be immediately transferred to someone else. Perhaps this is why I have been putting more emphasis on the tactile aspect of my childhood.

Check your garage, or closets, or attics. This is usually the final resting place of your long forgotten game consoles. You might find a gem, but due to lack of maintenance and proper storage, most of them are probably so choked with dust that they are inoperable. All of mine were in a big box in the living room. Due to my new fears of losing my identity and past, I made a trip to Wal-Mart and purchased a sturdy Sterlite container. To my delight, my Super Nintendo, PSX and Game Gear all managed to fit along with the rest of my games (be they cartridge or CD) as well as the various controllers and cables required to operate them.

While my Atari and Nintendo have been long gone, it is nice to know that my SNES and PSX are still fully functional. I cannot begin to describe the glee I experienced when i not only found out that the PSX still worked, but that i managed to locate all 4 discs to final fantasy 8, as well as Breath of Fire 3. The fact that these games are burned actually helps me to find the memories that i was seeking to per—. Back in the day, we didn’t have a lot of money. The only way we could afford games was if they were rented and then burned. Of course, this now makes me realize why I put so much emphasis on purchasing games for full price.

My ps2 is sitting faithfully beside my ps3, and my Gameboy is tucked away in a box full of pokemon memorabilia. I sincerely doubt the Gameboy will ever join the box gang, while the ps2 is destined to be moved in there when the time comes to vacate the premises. All of this originated at 2:00am, unable to asleep, so afraid I would lose what i consider something integral to my identity. Now that everything is safe (or as safe as it can be) I am afforded a peace of mind that I’ve never known before. The chances of me actually breaking out the old consoles is pretty slim. It may happen, you never know. But the knowledge that they are there, operational, complete, gives me a physical link to a past predominantly ethereal.

I don’t ever want to not like video games. If that time comes, so be it. I’d say the main reason why so many peopleaccept their dislike of video games is because there are so few ways to objectively look back on them and acknowledge the happiness and joy they brought. You have a photo album, perhaps in the same attic, closet or garage, full of your smiling face no matter where you are. Mexico, your backyard, a soccer game, wherever. Surely you wouldn’t be smiling if you weren’t happy, right? The only way I can ever imagine my happiness being proven is in the save of Final Fantasy 7 with 99:99 time played, or the Pokemon Red with all 151 (including Mew, fuck yeah game genie) or the fact that mentioning a game like Final Fight garners a “hell yes that was a good game” from your mouth. Those are really the only hard testaments to a past full of fun that you can’t remember ever happening, because you were predominantly alone, enjoying those games as the days and months tick by in a childhood you can never experience again.

In what can only be construed as a final irony, i happened to walk by the pinball machine we have in the upstairs of my house. It was given to me as a gift on my first birthday by a father that I can assure you is no longer part of my life (unless you count my lifestyle as a dichotomy to his, in which i can assure you he is there in full force). Here is a relic, still working, that ties me to my past in a way that is both uncomfortable and familiar, like video gaming. When was the last time I played? I couldn’t say. However, wherever i head off to make permanent residence in the future, you can bet your life on the fact that it will be coming with me, along with my boxes full of games, console and memories. Things that I will one day hope to pass off to my own children. I can only imagine that like those smiling pictures, I am intending to pass these off to them so that they can experience the happiness that I once did, the happiness I hope never leaves.

This Generation Doesn't Suck, Stop Complaining

2009-09-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of bullshit about this generation sucking and people waxing nostalgic about the last gen as the pinnacle of gaming. Let me just say, I’ve been around the block for a long time. I can assure you, this generation isn’t as good as the last generation; Not because this generation sucks, but because it isn’t even over yet. We are only 3/4 years into what will ultimately be an approximately a 10 year generation. Now, I’m going to field a couple of complaints about this generation and tell you why you all suck for complaining.

1: DLC: DLC is not bad in and of itself. DLC is a good way to both add features, fix bugs and continue to provide several different kinds of support to your customer. Games like LittleBigPlanet offer things as big as new levels and new creation tools as well as things as small as costumes. Games like Burnout Paradise offer free cars, levels and modes and for free no less. Not every company is out to rip you off and take your money. HOWEVER, when companies abuse this system, that is complete bull and definitely worth complaining about. Case in point: EA’s “Time is Money” DLC. 5 Dollars to unlock all of the accessories in Skate 2. 5 dollars for a cheat code is unacceptable, don’t buy that or I will come and beat the game for you to save you the money. I could also say the same thing about Capcom, who saw fit to charge 20 dollars for extra costumes that are already included on the disk, but I want the beauty pack so I won’t =/

2: BROWN AND BLOOM SHOOTERS: Team Fortress 2, Resistance 2, The Darkness (ironic, isn’t it), Halo 3, the list goes on. Yes, there is a meta-trend towards more gritty and realistic shooters, no that isn’t a bad thing. If any thing, it is a reaction to all of the arcadey shooters we had before hand or all the uber-hero World War 2 games we had before. Face it, we have trends. Trends create anti-trends. Everyone gets a game they want, everyone wins.

3: Exorbitant Waiting/Development Times: The HD era has increased development times. I won’t deny this. However, there are several mitigating facts not the least of which are tons of sweet games on the PSN or XBLA. Then of course you have the Wii which provides you with an ample amount of ROM’s to pay for, as well as the fact that there are many more quality developers and publishers out there cranking out more games than ever before. You may have to wait a long time for Final Fantasy XIII, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other good games to play.

4: Too Many Sandbox Games: Sandboxes are another meta-trend in the gaming industry. Sandboxes suck right? Wrong. If anything, they have gotten better. Games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Oblivion provided the player colossal worlds with absolutely nothing worth doing in them. Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3 reduced the size of the world (while still keeping it adequately large) and proceeded to actually populate the land with people and things with which you could interact in meaningful ways. An unfortunate bi-product of the sandbox craze is that some games which would probably be better in a linear setting get developed according to a trend rather than its strengths. However, if these developers screw up their games and end up failing? Oh well, move on with life. Yes a good game might be lost in the process, no I don’t give a damn, plenty of other good games out there.

5: THIS GENERATION DOESN’T HAVE GOOD GAMES: Stop being ignorant. If you want to be blind to the fact that there are hundreds of good games out there, be my guest. There may not be the sheer quantity of games, but that also has to do with the fact that this generation has only just started. If this generation sucks that bad, go back to playing SNES, I won’t miss your complaining. Old console games have a lot fewer moving parts in them, which makes a game that capitalizes on them seemingly perfect. Games like Megaman 2 which do everything correctly achieve godlike status, but to compare them to modern day games and say the old ones are fun is simply ridiculous. If anything, modern day games should have more of a penchant for fun. If a game with more moving parts manages to execute them all properly, shouldn’t it be better than old games? Hell, XBLA and the PSN provide us with these sort of games all the time! Good ol’ nostalgia.

I had an Atari. Most of the people playing video games don’t know what that is. I’m not saying my opinion is right because I was there, I’m saying my opinion is right because I don’t have the flaccid penis of nostalgia in my mouth. The last generation gave birth to games that I will never forget. So did the one before that, the one before that and the one before that. This one will be no different. How about instead of all this rage you just go and play the vidya, wouldn’t that be super?

Fanboys

2009-09-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

I never wanted to write an article about fanboys, but after a bit of work and a lot of painful nights on 4chan, a couple of different insights have sprung on me and i feel it necessary to share them both as a means to hopefully prevent fanboy rage but also as a means of showing how it will continue to get worse and worse as time goes on.

For those of you who weren’t around back in the day, I can assure you that there were console wars back in the day of SNES and Sega. In some ways they are similar, in regards to the blatant smearing and misinformation that corporations like to engage in, on the micro-level however, the war wasn’t nearly as bad.

The internet has been around for a long time, but back in the day, even if you had the internet, you probably didn’t use it to look up video gaming websites. Chances are however, that if you had the internet, it was as slow as the morning after your 18th birthday. The internet was slow, intolerable, and most people didn’t even have it. Simply put, the rapid improvement of the internet has now only allowed a higher rate of transmission for fanboy antics, but also allowed more people to become embroiled in the war in the first place.

With no internet, there was only one way you could figure out if a console or a game was actually good: By actually playing it. Print video game magazines were much more viable in the 90’s then they are today, but most kid’s didn’t have enough money or enough care to go out and buy them on a regular basis. I was addicted to video games, and I only had 4 or 5 of them. That being said, one of these magazines recommended Final Fantasy 3, which was good advice at the time (and is to this date as a matter of fact). If you actually took the time to play your friend’s Genesis or N64, you’d quickly realise that the console was just as good as the next, because it had good GAMES.

Console’s aren’t about games though nowadays. They are about Blu-ray, Netflix, friendcodes and a million other things. This is not to say we have lost our way, but as technology progressed, so did consoles. Sure the SNES had a better sound card and the Genesis had BLAST PROCESSING, but both consoles produced practically identical graphics (much the same way they do now). Of course, with more console adaptability comes more scrutiny from the people outside of the normal gaming world. Press, movie companies, soccer moms, what have you. Outside pressures such these tend to manifest themselves in the gaming world as the ESRB, Shitty movie-to-games and ignorant press members who do not know what trouble their words can start. The Hip-Hop Gamer said it best when addressing allegations that he was a PS3 fanboy:

“The reason I defend the PS3 more than the Xbox is because of the amount of misinformation about it. Some people don’t know any better.”

With consoles expanding to newer markets, they inevitably must appeal to people that simply don’t know much about them. This creates another fanboy mentality. They need to say why their console is better. They need to prove to the people around the world that they made the right decision. This however is the point that I believe best encapsulates the rise of the fanboy and why he is around to stay.

If you’re Canadian, chances are you hate people from the U.S. And vice versa. Canadians are lumberjacks, Americans are warmongers, the list goes on and on. If you are smart enough to realise that this kind of mentality is incredibly moronic, congratulations, chances are you’re smart enough to ignore this fanboy war. If not, you are falling into the same ideological trap that nationalists do. The reason why Canadians hate Americans, the English hate the French and Croatians hate Serbians is the same reason why Xbox 360 owners hate PS3 owners and vice versa: BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME.

As consoles steadily become more and more like computers, they steadily begin to have the same features. Online gameplay, online stores, wireless headsets, multiplatform games, internal hard drives, USB memory sticks, etc etc. The easiest way to validate your own identity is to invalidate the identity of the person closest to you. By saying Canadians love peace, you indirectly define yourself against Americans who supposedly encourage war. By talking about the PS3 being too expensive, you indirectly state that the Xbox is at a more appropriate price.
As I say I will say in a forthcoming article, gaming has become a part of my identity. Although I am smart enough not to need to validate my purchase or invalidate the purchase of others, I sometimes feel the need to fight back. Undoubtedly, this is because my identity is being challenged as an offshoot of choice of console.

While I may be cognizant of these facts, most aren’t. This problem is confounded as a new generation of adolescent gamers enter into the market; Combining their identity formation through puberty with their identity through gaming will only lead to an increase in fanboy behavior. What is the solution? Unfortunately, much like piracy, there is no solution that can prevent the problem from continuing to spread. Even if the entire gaming industry comes together to try to cutoff the head of fanboy behavior, it probably still won’t be enough.
Fanboy’s are here to stay, I hope you have comfortable ear plugs.

Why Tank Controls Are Realistic, But Still Suck.

2009-09-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever fired a gun in real life? I have. I’ll make this perfectly clear to you.

You cannot, under any circumstance imaginable, run and fire at the same time and hope to be accurate.

It does not work. Period. You arms move, your legs move, your head moves, your body moves. It does not work.

HOWEVER, Resident Evil’s tank controls also do not work. Slowly turning 180 degrees around is not how one operates in real life. If you so desired, you could slightly turn your body, turn your head and reverse your arm. POOF, you can now fire behind you while standing still. The problem with RE’s tank controls is that they create tension due not to the game, but to the crappy controls. The fear comes from knowing the limitations of the controls and knowing that you are at a severe risk of getting cut in half with a chainsaw if you don’t turn fast enough. Hell, even if you do discover the 180 turn function, it’s still not good enough. This is not good gameplay design.

Solution? It’s simple really: Meet me half way.If a guy is coming at me with a chainsaw, i’m not going to turn around, run, then turn back again, hoping he isn’t right behind me. What RE 5 needs is a limited mobility system. What is that? The ability to WALK and fire. You should be able to strafe (left to right) as well as backpeddle while firing. This gives you the ability to put a bit of distance between you and your enemies while still having a decent ability to fire. Keep in mind, I never said you can’t walk and fire, just run. Of course, this must come with a slight penalty in aiming, something I am sure most people would take the risk with, especially when being chased by a chainsaw zombie.

Unfortunately, the official word is that there is no movement whatsoever. There is strafing, but no firing while strafing. For me, this was a deal breaker. Perhaps Metal Gear Solid 4 spoiled me, or perhaps RE 5 just has terrible controls. I understand that Capcom has a need to appeal to the people who bought Resident Evil 4. Using the same bosses and enemy animations is a good start, but the clunky controls are simply unacceptable, even to someone receptive to new things such as myself. Either way, if you plan on getting it, I sure hope you enjoy it. Don’t expect to do any co-op with me anytime soon though.

Space Marines: Why You Want to Play Them

2009-09-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Admit it, you’ve noticed the plethora of space marines tromping around in your favorite vidya. They are white, bald, gritty and probably don’t wear helmets so as to improve their peripheral vision, lower their wind resistance and generally improve their bad-assery rating. Every once and a while you may get one who is vaguely ethnic, or has some hair, but for the most part, they are all the same. And for a good reason.

Simply put, space marines kick ass.

What’s that you’re saying? You like to play a character with some personality? Too bad. Space Marines are too buff and manly for personalities. If anything, games like Gears of War 2 would be infinitely better if the namby-pamby feelings were ignored. On the flipside of course, if space marines are too bad ass (ala Haze) their dialogue becomes stunted and painful to listen to.

The best space marine games will either have no dialogue or dialogue that borders on satire. The new Matt Hazard game exemplifies this with the hilarious Will Arnett channeling his inner action hero to berate the game that he himself is in. In the silent protagonist category, we have people like Nathan Hale from Resistance 2 or Master Chief from the Halo series. In both cases, the soldiers are subjected to the horrible realities of war and are being attacked on all sides by an unstoppable enemy. Nathan Hale also suffers from a disease that will render him dead before he can even save the planet. Do you hear either of them bitching about it though? No fucking way. Why? They are too busy being badass.

A popular contention is that the silent protagonist allows the player to transport themselves into the game, using the hero as their own avatar. Whether or not we have hero fantasies, we usually have asskicking fantasies. In a society where fighting is largely discouraged, it feels good and masculine to be able to be competitive and make other people feel bad about themselves. Single player campaigns allow us to save the world while an increasing emphasis on multiplayer with indepth scoreboards and stat-tracking systems allow us to display our prowess to any who would look.

Our societies as well tend to value intellect over pure brawn. There was once a time when those with the most physical strength ruled, but those times are long past. Of course, an emphasis on one thing always breeds another, which is undoubtedly what gave rise to the popularity of the UFC, and similarily, sports themed video games. And, lest we forget, you can find plenty of muscly bald white guys in the UFC, WWE, NFL or any other sporting association you can name.

Will we one day be able to get a good story in a First Person Shooter? That depends. Some would contend that Half-life has already achieved this. That being said, that seems forgiving seeing as they use the same cutscenes and set pieces that any other FPS uses. The story in these games comes at a cost. If you use a cut-scene, you put a halt to the action, which is anathema to those who want to rock. It may also force you to develop the character, which you may have no intention to do. Presenting story elements during gameplay makes little logistical sense as you should be focused on asskicking, not the history of some ancient race. One must also imagine being in the shoes of a space marine. What would you want to hear in battle, orders or the cause of the recent malhovian uprising? Needless to say, if someone was yapping my ear off, i would shoot myself in the head (so as to disable the headset, not to kill myself. My health regenerates anyways, no biggy).

Perhaps the only problem with the Space Marine is the continuity across story lines. All space marines have rifles, regenerating shields, com-systems, etc. This effectively serves to make the genre stagnant but paradoxically reliable. Space Marines in this sense are the new World War 2 allies. You fight the same nazi’s with the same garands and the same medics. Is this bad? Perhaps. Will it change? I sure hope so. The time will soon come when being a badass space marine will lose its charm. Until then, keep on buying the same game, and enjoying it.

The Input: Is Gaming a Fad?

2009-09-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

The next installment of The Input arrives with a simple question: Is gaming a fad?

Let me prefice this article with a story. Around the time when I was in grade 8, a game was released that took the world by storm. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Finally we had an accessible and fun skateboarding game. You know what came after? Skateboarding merchandise, visits to the Board Kennel (my local skateshop), constant practicing and even more iterations of the game .The reason I make these comparisons is because they seem to reflect the current state of the gaming world.

1: The Wii, not unlike the board kennel, has a license to print money. Their product is now crucial to accesing the “new” culutral group. That being said, the same thing is happening then as it is now: People access the object, and don’t use it. Legendary are the stories of unopened Wii’s, mirroring the pristine skateboards of my friends.

2: Mainstream Media outlets begin to incessantly cover the fad, proclaiming it to be a paradigm shift. Years later, it barely gets any recognition. The skatepark was packed with kids a month after Tony Hawk’s was released. In 2009, the regulars are still around with a smattering of youngsters to boot.

3: Professional leagues or organisations arise to govern the fad, only to fade into obscurity (much the same way MLG is doing right now.)

One also has to wonder about the future. What is going to happen to gaming in the future? The heavy popularity of extreme supports has helped to keep the X-Games alive years after the fad has passed, but does it do more harm than good? Is the Wii’s appeal to the casual gamer analogous to Skateboarding? or will it have a much more severe affect? If video gaming is a fad, will it finally become the paradigm shift people expect fads to be due to a longer than normal exposure to the fad as a result of the terrible market conditions we face today?

The Sage - A Tale of a Tech Demo

2009-09-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Billy: It’s no fair, Portal got a 90 on Metacritic while The Last Remnant only got a 65! It’s just a fucking tech demo! Why are reviewers such sheeple?

Dad: Watch your fucking mouth you little bastard. Just because Portal is a tech demo doesn’t mean it automatically deserves a lower score. And besides, you liked Portal, didn’t you?

Billy: It was ok, I guess. Definitely not as good as The Last Remnant, but worth playing.

Dad: Exactly, the likelihood of a tech demo being not worth playing are highly slim. Even if the story is lacking, the entire game is based around the tech being demo’d. As such, the sheer using of it is fun. You remember Assassin’s creed right?

Billy: Of course I do, stabbing people is so fun in that game, and the free climbing mechanic was the bomb.

Dad: Jesus Christ, what kind of games does your mother let you play? I need to hit her more often. Anyways, Assassin’s creed had a shitty story. So did Portal, so did Mirror’s Edge, so did Psy-ops: The MindGate Conspiracy. But all of their games had cool mechanics worth dicking around with.

Billy: Well, all of those games are based around one thing. That’s so shallow. I’m glad I take money out of mom’s purse, otherwise they wouldn’t be worth buying.

Dad: Well, how else are they supposed to develop the mechanic? It starts simple and becomes more intricate as time goes on. Wait, you take money from your mom’s purse? You ungrateful little prick.

Billy: Just wait dad, before you strangle me, I just have to say, some mechanics would be pretty cool in other games.

Dad: Of course they would be! They don’t make tech demos for fun and let them rot you abortion. You want to see the portal gun in the new Half Life? Or the Mirror’s Edge free climbing mechanics in a Battlefield series? It’s more likely than you think. Especially if they don’t fuck it up. You could turn a good game into a fantastic game!

Billy: Yeah, we might get a Star Wars game where using the force is intuitive and useful as well!

Dad: Did you get into my weed stash? Stop dreaming boy.

Billy: Fine, Fine. I know that will never happen. But what about the price? EA was crying because Mirror’s Edge didn’t sell well.

Dad: Well, the games could stand to be a bit cheaper. All I ever hear is how people WOULD have bought it if it was 20 bucks cheaper. I guess it’s up to the developers to find the sweet spot between production values and gameplay when making these games so as to finally arrive at a price wherein the consumers will eagerly buy the game despite its deficiencies and be able to make a profit. That being said, seeing as you stole mother from your mother, I’m guessing you bought it for full price, Am I correct?

Billy: *gulp* Y-yea, I did haha. Did you want to come play it with me?

Dad: Yes of course, Just let me go find my belt first.

Fin
And the moral of the story is: Don’t buy tech demos until they are cheap. Also, don’t forget to write the company a letter about how great their game is, even though you haven’t bought it yet. They will appreciate the sentiment.

The Input: True Emotions of the Vidya

2009-09-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

It’s more than a feeling. Sometimes games can take us to the highest of highs, or kick us square in the balls/vag, leaving us pain-stricken and confused. So, rather than hide our emotions, I encourage you to chip in and share some of your emotional experiences with the vidya. Enclosed are some of my favorites (or most painful memories).

Abject Joy: World of Warcraft

Event: Obtaining the Wildheart Vest. in the day, a Wildheart vest was a big fucking deal. I was the sole druid in an Upper Blackrock Spire run and I knew that if it dropped, it was mine. At the tender level of 53, the chest dropped. I slapped my hands so hard together in glee that they stung for the next ten minutes. It was some time before I could even wear the damn thing.

Confusion: Breath of Fire 3

Event: Lost in a dungeon. To this day, I still don’t know how to get out of that fucking dungeon. I clicked a chest, and for some reason, there was no exit, no entrance. I had made a perilous journey across the desert, surely a little dungeon couldn’t stop me? I rented the game 3 times, I never once made it out of that dungeon. The same thing happened in final fantasy 7, trying to get out of the gold saucer prison. I finally hugged the rail and fought against a lame boss that I was too strong to even get hurt by.

Rage: Devil May Cry 3

Event: Being consistently raped. This wasn’t the collectors edition. This was the balls to the walls, rape your face and like it version. I beat one level a day for 10 straight days, the sheer rage from playing rendering me unable to play for more than 5 minutes at a time.

Sadness: Valkyria Chronicles

Event: Death of a friend. One of the reasons I both reviewed and highly recommend Valkyria Chronicles is for the staggering emotional toll it takes on you. While I wont ruin anything (come on, it’s a war game, death is bound to happen) I will say that this was the first game to make me cry. Full on BAWWW. I didn’t even shed a tear for the big boss, so you know I’m a real man’s man.

Betrayal: Streets of Rage

Event: The Right Hand Man. Imagine playing Streets of Rage with cousin Joey. He’s so cool, damn, we are so good at this game! We get to the final boss, and he challenges us to fight to the death, the winner becoming his right hand man. I decline, why would I accept? We are a team! I am blindsided by a flying jump kick, several knees to the rib and several jabs to the face. I have lost without even throwing a punch. For his “victory”, the boss kicks Joey and myself out of his room and back a couple stages. I have still never gotten over it.

Where has Mechwarrior Gone?

2009-08-30T09:42:00.001-07:00

Have you ever played Mechwarrior? If the answer is no, don’t feel too bad, neither have most people. The cockpit has been empty for sometime now, specifically in first person mech simulation games. The last genuine mech game that allowed some 1st person viewing was Chromehounds for the Xbox 360, an early release that saw everything from perfect scores to abysmal ones. When one thinks about all of the asskickery that goes on in games today, such as ripping people in half with a chainsaw, punching someone so hard they explode or paying a stripper to take her clothes off, it would make sense that the “giant robots shooting other giant robots” genre would be flourishing, but of course, this is not the case.

Here are some possible reasons, but feel free to throw your own ideas in:
1: Lack of support in Japan: I was once told that the Japanese had a +5 racial skill to piloting mechs. Ignorance aside, the fact that no great mech games have been spawned in Japan has to be a huge factor.

2: The mech games that have been spawned are not first person: Gundam games are always a hot seller in Japan, whether it be for Psp or the Ps3, but these are always over the shoulder games, never deep inside a reinforced chassis strapped to enough plutonium to destroy a small village2b: Mecha games in Japan tend to cross the line into Anime: Quite frankly, I would trade sword dancing for LRM’S and jump jets in a heart beat. Mech enthusiasts are not interested in the flash, they are interested in grit.

3: Lack of quality in armored Core: Armored core, an over the shoulder mech game is ok. Good, not great. While it definitely has an anime feel, it still relies heavily on the customization and simulation mech enthusiasts strive for. Perhaps a definitively awesome AC game would help?

4: The decline in computer gaming vis a vis consoles vis a vis keyboards: Mech Games, may just be the most difficult games to simulate for the limited space current console controllers have. They rival MMO’s and RTS’ for sheer amount of specific actions. Imagine trying to map turret movement to a d-pad or analog, it would be a disaster.

Those are just some ideas, what are your thoughts? For those of us who have played them, why are they gone? For those who haven’t, are you interested? Or is the genre a thing better left to the past?

ADDENDUM: A new mechwarrior game is being released for the PC and 360, I hope to whatever deities exist that the game is awesome

A look at 2009 - PS3

2009-08-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Until the latter part of 2008, one of the biggest gripes with the PS3, aside from its price, was the fact that its game library pailed in comparison to that of the Wii or Xbox 360. With 2008 nearing a close and the fatigued masses finally emerging from beneath a pile of games both exclusive and multiplatform, it is time to look into the future and examine some of the heavy hitting games likely to grace the PS3 in 2009. While this list is by no means all encompassing, it does seek to point out the PS3 exclusives in 2009 that will undoubtedly have you begging for more. It also serves to show the breadth of genre across exclusives.

Heavy Rain – Adventure/Mystery

While the adventure games of old like Carmen Sandiego have seemingly passed into obscurity, The creators of Fahrenheit are looking to bring back the adventure/detective genre into its once fine form. Among this game’s impressive qualities are 60 10-20 minute scenes of dialogue, the ability for the main character to die and keep progressing in the main story line, as well as the pain-staking detail that has gone into creating the game, whether it be in faithful real world creations of city terminals or using random french people as mo-capped facial extra’s in the game. Maybe if we are lucky, Quantic will add a sex scene that isn’t painful to look at either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlWTd3puAk&feature=related – The Casting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwZ9eCRm1SM&feature=related – Gameplay Footage

Fat Princess – Strategy/Beat ‘em up

Feminine Body issues aside, this charming, 32 player online rpg beat ‘em up looks to be a real charmer, even with the surprising amount of blood and violence that has been uncovered in recent screenshots. While pugnacious pugilists will be able to slice and dice to their hearts content, morepacifistic players will be able to engage in various support roles, as well as feeding copious amounts of cake to their princess so as to make her much more difficult to abduct by the opposing team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMF4oD3E0_c – Gameplay Footage

White Knight Chronicles – RPG

Although the Playstation 2 was an RPG powerhouse, the PS3 has been lacking truly definitive titles since its inseption. Games like Folklore, Disgaea and the recently ported Eternal Sonata have sated appetites, but WKC promises to be the engrossing RPG that fills the craws of PS3 owners and detractors alike. Boasting 1080p graphics, Online multiplayer, a hefty story and the ability to create your avatar that can interact with the main game protagonists, the game promises to deliver a JRPG that will keep you coming back for more. While Famitsu recently gave the game a tepid review, it goes without saying that one review should hardly be counted on to judge a game, let alone when the reviewers give games like “Nintendogs” a perfect score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJbd2Wos6g0 – Gameplay Footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OubNHZ7Nmdg&feature=related – Cinematic Trailer

Killzone 2 – First Person Shooter

This game looks fantastic. Let me reiterate. This game looks FANTASTIC. Thankfully, it appears that there is solid gameplay to back up this visual feast. While there must always be a certain amount of trepidation about first person shooters and their seeming inability to innovate or change themselves in meaningful ways, this game promises a return to the unyielding and unflinching difficulty of old school shooters with a Team Fortress 2-esque class system. Guerrilla’s original entry into the series was not well received, but through the feedback of the original Killzone and the widespread success of their PSP entry “Killzone: Liberation”, Guerrilla seems poised to rectify the stigma of past failure once and for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6cxaCosJE – Helghan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX4vs2_SyCA – Menu’s and Early Gameplay Footage

Gran Turismo 5 – Racing/Simulation

If Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was just a taste, the full version promises to be worth savoring as the final meal before your execution. The game promises well over 500 cars, a copious amount of race tracks and modes, jaw dropping graphics as well as the ability to torch anyone foolhardy enough to challenge you online. Gran Turismo may be a late entry in 2009, but it looks to be well worth the wait.Addendum: The full version may or may not be arriving in 2009. DLC for prologue seems to be in the wings, but there may be some miscommunication between Sony and Polyphony as to when a full release will be available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcaDV80cQJA&feature=related – Early Trailer

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Action/Adventure (Shooter)

The original Uncharted played like a blockbuster action movie, and with the Naughty Dog team operating at full capacity with an extra few years under their belt, Uncharted 2 promises to be a runaway success. The terrific writing as well as tightly paced action will be back along with new stealth sections that promise to add a bit more variety into the game. Don’t expect Naughty Dog to drop the ball on the balance of stealth and combat. Considering how many times you were often droppedinto combat, there should be plenty of gunslinging action as well as solid snake-like antics for both styles of player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzy2-UuFPJg – Premiere Trailer

Flower

Flower is about a flower petal. Makes sense. Traditional gamers will undoubtedly write this game off as a dalliance similar to the interactive art of Linger in Shadows. For those of us with more open minds, the game looks to provide a stunning mix of graphics and presentation unmatched by most Triple-A titles. With the current gaming market saturated with brown and bloom shooters, it still amazes me that people are more than willing to dismiss a game that is not only different, but also offers a different kind of gaming experience. The only objective is to guide your petal around in order to make the world more radiant and beautiful; sounds a bit more fulfilling than chopping people in halfdoesn’t it? Flower looks to soothe your PTSD on the PSN this spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl_I_rmS5bo – Gameplay Footage

God of War 3 – Action/Adventure (Combat)

Feel like ripping the head’s off some harpies or impaling some soldiers? God of War 3 will undoubtedly be the game that satisfies your blood lust in 2009 (and possibly several years afterwards). While the game has always boasted collosal boss battles and bloody combat, the final installation promises to up the ante beyond all previous measure due to both the power of the PS3 and the fact that Kratos has no one left to kill but the biggest and most powerful of all gods residing on Olympus. If you have been living under a rock and missed the first 2 god of war games, this will be the perfect time to get into the game. Just make sure to find a drycleaner who does loincloths.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKtWwEmJoqI – Teaser Trailer

Infamous – Action/Adventure (Sandbox – Combat)

As if this game didn’t have enough hype, IGN has gone on the record and said that they will not follow their hallowed tradition of hyping a game and shitting all over it once it’s released. The creators of the Sly Cooper series have created a sandbox world designed around the electric powers of the protagonist Cole, as well as created a set of moral and ethical dilemmas that he will have to face in what promises to be an excellent release. With a free-climbing system akin to Assassin’s Creed and a somewhat Acradey super power system, Infamous should prove to be a shocking success. Pardon the pun, but seriously, jumping from tree to tree while throwing lightning grenades? No one with a pulse could deny how awesome that sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7-AwGxLPZQ – Free Climbing Mechanics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFkdMtnI0Gw&feature=related – Light Combat Footage

There are several games that have not much known about them or may not be making the 2009 cut off. In the former category we have MAG (Massive Action Game) which promises 256 player online combat, Demon Soul (a JRPG take on WRPG’s), A new Team Ico game and a possible Ratchet and Clank Sequel. In the latter category, we have Final Fantasy 13 and 13 versus, the former most likely making it to Japan by late 2009 and showing up in North America by 2010 with the latter being unknown.

And then of course we have my personal favorite, the wild speculation category. Contained within these walls are Jak 4, Dark Cloud 3, Zone of the Enders 3, Metal Gear Ac!d, Kingdom Hearts 3 and a possible Factor 5 game (although their recent monetary troubles all but kills off any possibility of a new game).

At the end of the day, it becomes clear that the Playstation 3 will have both a long list of excellent exclusive games to choose from. When combined with a large multiplatform catalogue, 2009 may just be the definitive year of the Playstation that Sony has been looking for.

Why a Final Fantasy 7 Remake is More Likely Than You Think

2009-08-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

While the popular game media does it’s best to avoid fanboy warfare, constant articles about the PS3 needing to be “saved” by games, movies, price drops etc. create an eternal sense of hopelessness around the console. Although it has not sold as well as the xbox 360 or the Wii, it is still doing a brisk business in its own right. With Christmas on the rise and a slew of exclusive games to be released, it seems the PS3 will see a marked success in 2009 even amidst the economic crisis. In the back of our heads however, there has always been one game that we knew could save the PS3 if its stock began falling: Final Fantasy 7.

While a remake may not be in the immediate future, a whole list of evidence shows us that a trip back to Midgar is more likely than one might think. Since no official announcement has been made, all of this remains speculation. That being said, I would like to present some of the factors that could lead to a possible remake, as well as the dangers inherent with such a venture.
The first factor is, and always will be, money. As reported by Chart Get and other gaming websites, Square Enix saw a massive drop in sales in 2008; With unit sales dropping approximately 63%. While fewer titles and a heady economy undoubtedly contributed to this slump, no one could have possibly predicted it would sink this low. Not only that, but the greater majority of their sales came from Dragon Quest V, a Nintendo DS remake. DQ V shored up 1.2 million sales for Square, an impressive number made all the more impressive when one realises that the other 9 games combined only totalled about 450,000 copies sold.

This leads to the next factor, the productions of remakes/rehashes. Rehashes are spurring on an incredibly powerful trend in gaming right now. They are easier to make than new IP as they are essentially just upgrading the old game while keeping the source material alive. More importantly though, they are appealing to the sense of nostalgia that is especially pronounced in the Japanesegaming world. As we can plainly see in through the Dragon Quest series, even a mediocre game will sell well if enough sentimental value is attached to it. This longing for the days of old is less pronounced in North America due to the more dynamic nature of our culture. Because our history is brief, our culture tends not to put too much emphasis on attributing a sense of importance on the things that happened hundreds of years ago, barring special examples such as World War 2.

Of course, in many ways, Final Fantasy 7 is unique in and of itself. It has arguably the most internet popularity, spin-off games as well as it’s own movie. Regardless of whether or not it is over-rated or under-rated, the game has one of the largest cult followings for any game ever released. By never re-making the game, Square effectively has unlimited ability to spread the characters around without tarnishing the majority of the nostalgia and mystique surrounding the game. Advent Children was a risk in that sense that it was actually taking the characters and settings and reimagining them explicitly, rather than in an end around way such as the Shinra offshoot games, Dirge of Cerebus or Crisis Core. It was a truly clever move to leave the story of FF:AC all but non-existant and comprise the movie of nothing else but fight scenes. By changing nothing, AC can become canon or non-canon at the behest of Square, something that further safeguards Final Fantasy 7’s reputation.

All of this being said, the spin-off’s and rehashes all help to reveal one thing, Square’s inability to produce new IP. The Last Remnant is the “new”est Square series, yet even it relies heavily on conventions done to death by Square. The last truly different IP was 2001’s “The Bouncer”. The Bouncer was neither a critical nor a financial success, which may have further scared Square into relying on the same gameplay mechanics and genre conventions that made them popular in the first place. When games like The Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery tank, it shouldnt be surprising to see that Square’s unofficial 2009 line up is mostly comprised of rehashes. Among the “new” games they have advertised are a handful of Dragon Quests, Final Fantasys and Kingdom Heart’s games.

These of course are all the Dragon Quests, Final Fantasy’s and Kingdom Hearts that have already been done. Which brings us to the realisation that they are running out of Final Fantasy games to remake. Since X, X-2 and XII were on the ps2, they are far too new to redo. Final Fantasy’s I, II and III (Japanese) have been remade for the DS and PSP while final fantasy’s IV, V and VI were ported to the Playstation (PS1). Since there probably isn’t a vocal outcry for remakes of V, VIII and IX (all great games in their own right) we are really left with VI and VII. A remake of Final Fantasy VI would be preferred by many to VII, but remakes of these two classic games bring up one significant question: How true to the source do we stay?

Replicating the environments and character models in meaningful ways would be difficult to be sure. But even more difficult would be resisting the urge to alter the story or add new dialogue for the characters. Seeing as Final Fantasy VII’s story can become downright incomprehensible at times, does Square go back and make slight changes in order to appease a bigger crowd while possibly displeasing the purists? Both Final Fantasy games also had foul language, exceedingly mature themes and poor characterisation of minorities, will those be changed in suit? Essentially, Square would have to exercise a masterful amount of caution so as to not stir up a collosal can of worms with the remake of either of these two games. This does not even take into account which consoles either game would ultimately release on. When one remembers the Final Fantasy 7 Tech Demo swirling around the depths of youtube while simultaneously recalling the fanboy storm that was conjured up around the multiplatform nature of Final Fantasy XIII, it becomes evident that if a Final Fantasy VII remake was to become multi-platorm (which would be a wise business decision), it would probably create the biggest shitstorm in the history of the internet. It might also create a rift between the Japanese and Sony, as the loss of another Final Fantasy would be seen as a slap in the face to the trust the Japanese have in Sony.

Square’s future looks much brighter in 2009 and 2010 with the release of many old and beloved franchises names decked out in new raiments for all to see and enjoy. Square will certainly see more financial success in 2009 as opposed to 2008, but what would happen if their games sold poorly?

Another poor sales year combined with the dire straits of the world’s economic markets may just be a blessing in disguise for those of us looking to see Final Fantasy VI or VII being resurrected. In the same way that it started with money, it must ultimately end with money. In the same way that the PS3 supposedly needs some game to save it, there may just come a time when Square Enix may need some game to save it, and I’ll bet you can guess which game would be the first one they turn too.

The Tears We Cry Are Echoes - Valkyria Chronicles: A Review

2009-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Floating amidst a sea of triple-A titles comes the small ship ”Valkryia Chronicles”. Sega’s ambitious JSRPG has been ultimately overlooked during the flood of games that saw games like Resistance 2, Prince of Persia, LittleBigPlanet and Mirror’s Edge make big splashes in the gaming market. That being said, you would be remiss to pass this game up, regardless of whether or not your proclivities steer you towards more dark and gritty shooters. With a mix of wonderfully crafted visuals, intuitive game mechanics and tumultous combat, Valkyria Chronicles is the perfect fix for those looking for a defining JRPG on the playstation 3, or any other console for that matter.

Valkyria Chronicles takes place within a reimagining of World War 2 called The Second Europan war. The small prinicipality of Gallia is caught within the crossfire between The prototypical Empire and the Atlantic Federation. Due to high amounts of a miracle resource known as Ragnite, Gallia gets invaded. Of course, this inevitably pulls the story’s protagonist, Welkin Gunther, into the fray. With his father’s tank and a bit of blind courage, he quickly rises up the rank’s in squad 7. While the plot and its devices may not be awe-inspiring in and of themselves, the superb writing and timing easily make up for any short comings. The care that went into creating such likeable characters truly becomes appreciable in the tear-jerking scenes which I dare not spoil here.

Although most of the characters fall within the typical anime conventions of being bombastic stereotypes, the realisation of their characters is far more effective and convincing than the normal anime, especially in regards to the main characters. This is shown through the sheer numbers of different soldiers you can recruit, each with their own personalities, likes and dislikes. It is a joyous experience to be able to weed out the characters who don’t seem eager to fight while making sure to recruit the homosexual character who speaks with a music note not because he is gay but because he is ready to die for his country. This seems like a small point to make, but it is the acoutrements of this game that make it so charming.

The Valkyrian Water-colour themed visuals are stunning to say the least. As was shown through the visuals of Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, the PS3 is incredibly adept at rendering anime characters almost completely faithful to their paper drawn counterparts. Every detail of the battlefield, uniforms and weapons are so well crafted that the player often feels like they are piloting an anime, albeit a more sensible one than normal. About the only skin ever presented for your viewing pleasure is when Rosie or Alicia hit the dirt to avoid gunfire, showing calves below their skirts. This kind of sensible approach to art design compliments the writing immensely to create something that is both familiar and different, endearing but not patronizing.

In the same way that the visuals,characters and story is sensible, the combat mechanics are also both sensible and intuitive. Every turn begins with a stock of command points (CP) which can be allocated towards moving and attacking, defending and special “Orders” which can do anything from bolster a units health to calling in a mortar strike on an enemy position. If CP are used on a unit, the camera drops down into a 3rd person view and allows the unit to be moved around according to a small movement bar. Lighter units can run farther and faster while bigger units such as anti-tank lancers are slow and immobile.

Once again, while none of this seems particularly outstanding, Valkyria truly shines in the intricacies of battle. While moving a unit, the enemy is free to fire on you as they please. Without careful planning and use of cover, units can often find themselves in a hail of gunfire, ultimately resulting in their death. If a unit perishes, you have 3 turns to reach them (or end the battle) in order to call a medic. Like Fire Emblem, failure to resurrect a unit or allowing the enemy to touch a downed comrade results in their permanent death. Although enemies in defensible positions can be difficult to harm sometimes, there are plenty of grenades, tank shells and sniper rifles to combat this. There are also “Potentials” that coincide with the aforementioned unique personalities of each soldier. Potentials are usually activated due to proximity to other soldiers, although the opposite is also true in the case of the “loner” and “rear guard” potentials. For example, soldiers that are extremely fond of their preferred sex will try to impress them when near a friendly unit, resulting in a potential that increases their aim. Thes potentials can be ignored for the most part, but their inclusion helps add another layer of strategy to the game that transcends the normal “move to square – attack” bent associated with traditional strategy games. Even with all of this exposition, i have still barely scratched the surface on what is a rather excellent combat system.

While the battle sounds and witty quips from soldiers who have just made a kill are robust and varied, the score is lacking in sheer quantity of songs. What is presented is top notch, yet there was obviously a clear emphasis on making the gameplay enjoyable while sacrificing other elements, which is to be understood from a company that was unsure as to how many copies their game wuold actually sell. Sega does do us the courtesy of including the original Japanese voice acting, but the english voice acting is excellent not only by itself, but also in comparison to the usual ear-ache found in any other game or movie. Minus the sometimes clumsy AI and lacking score, Valkryia excels in all other facts of its construction.

Writing a review for a game like Valkyria is difficult simply because there is so much that can be touched on that it is often hard to balance the critical aspects from summary. The Gameplay is a wonderful mix of simple and deep mechanics that appeals both to hardcore strategy guru’s as well as genre acolytes. The compelling story is told in both long cutscenes (both in and out of engine which look beautiful either way) while also being told in the glossary, character profiles and skippable side scenes. Sega has done a truly excellent job in finding the kind of hybridity between simple and complex, cutesy and serious, Engaging yet aloof that should generate into sales. Unfortunately, its release time was less than oppritune as was previously mentioned. Ultimately, Valkyria Chronicles may be relegated to a type of “that game status”, a game where 5 years from now, it will cost $200 hundred dollars to get a copy. This could also be said of another game; Okami. Like Okami before it, which utilised differing art direction and gameplay mechanics, Valkyria Chronicles may just be the best game you never play.

Debriefing:

Story: While it relies on anime conventions to power it’s characters and plot, the writing more than makes up for it by helping to tell a compelling and gripping story that will leave you scouring every glossary page and sub-scene for extra information on your favorite characters or the finer points of Gallian history.

Grade: A

Characters: This charming bunch are not only unique and affable, but they also generate a devotion to their well-being that forces the player to do anything in their power to save them from perishing forever if they fall to the enemy. Creating your own troop of handsome playboys or understated lolita’s has never been so fulfilling.

Grade: A

Visuals: The CANVAS engine is cleverly utilised in both the player models as well as the various effects seen in battle. In engine cutscenes are well done and out of engine cutscenes are even better, although do their best to be in keeping with the rest of the game’s visual presence. My only complaint would be with the non-effort to lip-synch dialogue to the characters which is extremely off-putting considering the amount of time we spend listening to the characters speak.

Grade: A-

Gameplay: While it is not completely unique, the gameplay is tight, full of depth and very well balanced. The difficulty level as well as the learning curve are, for lack of a better word, perfect. The sometimes bumbling AI can be a nuisance, but they become notably smarter and more ruthless in the unlockabale Hard Mode. Perhaps the worst part of the gameplay is the fact that even though there is a briefing for every mission, some of the finer points are left for the player to figure out (often the hard way) by themselves. This is especially painful when a mission hinges around a certain mechanic, such as equipment elevators or the use of sniper towers.

Grade: A-

Sound: The battle sounds and ambiance as well as the individuals dialogue are all extremely well done. The score on the other hand suffers from a lack of quantity that becomes painful as you often wish there was more of the good music you are currently enjoying to be found elsewhere in the game. Both the Japanese and English dialogue are very well done.
Grade: B+

Multiplayer: N/A. This game would be perfectly suited for multiplayer however. One can only hope for VC2.

Replay value / Tilt: With plenty of unlockables, a lust for achieving A-rankings on every mission as well as a bevy of secret scenes and characters, Valkyria Chronicles will definately keep you coming back for more. Lack of online or local competitive modes really prevent this game from leaving the stratosphere Grade: B+

Overall Grade: A
Not only is this the best JRPG available on the ps3, it is one of the best games available today for any console, period.