(February 3) ExciteBike
Reborn
One of the less talked-about things
about the Wii has been the emergence of the virtual console and Wiiware as
a treasure trove for classic gamers. Last year saw some very impressive
releases including Konami's Contra and Gradius remakes, and Capcom's new
Mega Man 9, all of which retraced the series back to their 8-bit roots.
However, one of the more impressive remakes on the console was probably
ExciteBike: World Tour, a complete remake of the original NES game that
did the series proud. Coming from the same developers that make spin-offs
ExciteTruck and ExciteBots, (two of the most under-rated Wii titles),
World Tour stays quite faithful to the original. It has the same side-view
presentation as the original, similar course layouts and most of the same
mechanics. As in the first game, players have the choice of running at
slow or fast speed and can change these at will. The faster speed
increases your velocity but you have to watch out for your engine
overheating. You can perform stunts and jumps just as in the original, but
in a motion control twist, you have to shake your controller when the
vehicle overheats or face a demerit while you wait at the side of the
track. As in the classic NES ExciteBike, you battle not only the on-screen
racers, but the clock as well. There's a time limit for each track and you
have to make it to the top three in order to advance. After each race,
your time is noted and you earn a grade based on your performance. The
game has approximately 12 new tracks and each is set in a variety of
locations, making for some nice scenery along the way. The visuals aren't
terribly elaborate, but this allows you to focus on its simple,
straightforward fun.
There's a slightly more advanced
progression system in the new version, each level consists of four stages
and you have to earn at least a B grade to unlock the next series. The
first two stages are relatively easy, but the later ones prove more
difficult. One of the more impressive aspects of the new game is the
ability to create and share tracks online with other players, which is
very cool. Many of the familiar ExciteBike obstacles like ramps and hills
are present, and the new game plays very much like the original title did.
The retro feel of the game's controls and presentation were very much
appreciated. The appeal of the original game's simplicity definitely
weren't lost on the developers. It was nice to be back into the old series
again and even the familiar themes remained, which is a cool throwback to
the NES days. While it's relatively superficial gameplay mechanics and
simple presentation might be off-putting to players used to more elaborate
titles, we think ExciteBike: World Tour is one of the more enjoyable
titles released on WiiWare to date. It's retro-NES feel makes it the
perfect compliment to the enormously popular New Super Mario Bros Wii and
at only ten dollars, makes ExciteBike World Tour a great addition to your
Wiiware downloads.
(February 2) Game
over for PSP?
It's easy to get sucked into the monthly
sales figures, jump to radical conclusions and make sweeping statements
that aren't true based on closer inspection. Take for example the PSP. If
you look at the sales figures for the last few months in isolation, things
look bleak for Sony's handheld. However, a closer look proves there's more
than a little bit of life left in the system. It might be tempting to sell
it and wait for the next thing to come along. However, the more cynical
observers should realize this is a five year old console, and that second
place doesn't always mean something is a failure. The standard systems are
very solid in our experience and while sales of the PSP Go download-only
mini system haven't exactly taken off its still an interesting experiment.
The PSP Go will probably be remembered as a landmark, as the first
completely online console, not the last of its kind. Nintendo gets all the
credit, but this is an innovative approach in the gaming space which has
relied almost exclusively on packaged physical games for more than 20
years. However, because of a slow initial start and the mindless need to
bash the currently 'out' company, Sony's PSP doesn't get nearly the credit
it deserves or the buzz generated by the rival DS. However, if you take
into account the console's very good sales in Japan, things look a lot
brighter for the system. It's definitely doing good in the East, and while
it may be neglected here, the good news is that the console has plenty of
excellent games available for it that you might not have played yet or are
on the way.
In our opinion, the main reason why you
shouldn't sell your PSP yet is the coming release of Metal Gear Solid:
Peace Walker. Developed by Hideo Kojima himself, the game promises to
deliver the high quality experience that players have come to expect from
the series. While it's not exactly going to be the killer-app that saves
the console, it's definitely something worth considering. Other recent
high profile releases show a high degree of polish and execution. Jak
& Daxter: The Lost Frontier was a title that came out late last year
and received very little attention, but delivered the solid gameplay
mechanics and excellent gameplay you've come to expect from the series.
Rockstar Games also released Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, an enhanced
version of the DS title that once again wowed gamers who played it.
Namco's Tekken 6 also made a recent and highly regarded appearance on the
PSP, as did Motorstorm, Gran Turismo to name a few. That's plenty of high
profile support right there and many fine reasons why you shouldn't give
up on the system yet. There's also an extensive list of niche titles
coming out including handheld versions of Metal Slug and BlazBlue, so
that's a lot to look forward to. After you get beyond numbers that only
matter to corporate accountants and stop relying on the superficial
judgments of others, a different picture emerges. Once you actually play
the games that have been coming out, you'll find many solidly satisfying
releases and a decent value proposition that has plenty of life left in it
yet.
(February
1) A Novel Approach
Instead of our usual longer pieces, here’s some notes and comments on
recent news in the gaming world. Sony has revealed plans to launch a PSN
exclusive reality show called ‘the Tester.’ If the accusations against
other reality shows are to be believed, maybe they should call it a
‘virtual reality’ show. Many people are wondering about what’s going
on with Sony’s motion controller, and reports indicate the delayed
device might have as many as ten games when it launches. We personally
can’t wait, but we’re hoping the line-up is more imaginative than the
usual mini-games the usually plague motion control game consoles.
Speaking of motion control, we’ve seen a couple of these lame Wii
knock-offs at drug stores and a quick play test of them shows they’re
probably not worth the money. In fact, these ‘entertainment’ consoles
are something that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Sadly, it
looks like Sega is lending their name to one of these rip-off devices from
Zone, apparently in an attempt to dislodge the 32X as the worst
Sega-branded console in history. Its embarrassing to see how far the
once-proud company has fallen since the last Dreamcast game released
nearly a decade ago. This should be a lesson for other companies out
there, especially the current leaders - you never know when your reign at
the top will end.
(January 29) Magazine
Scene
One of the things that really hasn't changed with me over these many years
is my love for print magazines. It doesn't make logical sense for me to
spend so much money importing old issues from Japan when most of the
information is contained online. On the other hand, I'm probably still a
pack-rat, which dates back to when I was young. I still have virtually
every issue of every magazine I've ever bought. Most people throw these
old books out when they get too old or take up too much space, but I never
really did. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I lost a
ton of old issues of Electronic Games in a flood when I was a kid and
never wanted to have that happen to me again.
The thing these days, is that I'm actually a lot
pickier about the books I buy these days than I was in the past.
Fortunately, there aren't as many currently published books these days
which makes my task easier. So what, exactly do I read these days? I've
already spoken of my love for Japan's Arcadia magazine, and my
appreciation of the new direction Gamepro is going in. Aside from that,
there's the Official PlayStation Magazine (US) that offers a surprising
good read. Import issues of Edge and GamesTM are always a pleasure, even
though they're dated by the time they come out here. So that makes 5 mags
I buy regularly. The new EGM sounds great but I'm not going to jump for
joy until I've actually read an issue. It's pretty strange to consider how
many magazines I have. I added it up the other day, and broke 1,000 before
I was halfway through a fairly cursory inventory. This made me deeply
depressed, so I had to stop. The other statistic in my mind comes when you
count back to that very first issue of Electronic Games I bought back in
1982 at Waldenbooks, it's been almost 30 years that I've been buying video
game magazines. It's very odd and honestly, almost sad to think about how
much time has passed.
Battle
of
the Planets
There are loads of ways you can look at thing in the game industry these
days. It’s easy to drown in numbers, get into arguments, worry about
what other people are doing. I've read too many sites where the battle
between hard and casual gamers seems to be raging senselessly and
endlessly. In addition, the old PC/Mac rivalry is heating up again, which is kind of getting old after these 25 years of bickering back
and forth. Remember,
at the end of the day, we're all players. It doesn't really matter what we
play. These
game consoles and computer systems are merely gateways to our computing,
creativity and entertainment in the digital world. As an old friend told me, and something that
usually gets lost in the hustle and bustle of these stupid flame wars: it's
not what you use, it's how you use it. It's important to underline this so I will put it another way:
It's not the pencil, it's what you draw. All this nonsense worrying which pencil is better gets in the way of the
actual drawing. Don’t worry, our motto has always been “Be One With Fun.” As long as
we stay true to that, we should be all right.
(January 27) First impressions: Apple iPad
There’s really not much to elaborate on today’s announcements about
the upcoming iPad tablet computer. It definitely has some cool features
such as the iBook store and should appeal to the current Apple crowd. The
gaming aspect of the device was underwhelming and what Steve Jobs
displayed wasn’t exactly cutting edge. EA’s Need for Speed demo looked
nice, and there was an impressive demo of a FPS called Heist, but the iPad
device is clearly not designed as primarily a game machine. Apple’s lack
of gaming information can be seen as a sign that electronic gaming won’t
be a driving force behind the machine. While it’s main effect will
probably be to expand its own audience of users, we don’t think its
going to be a threat to any of the existing consoles. Here’s why:
starting at $500 for the basic model, its much more expensive than the Wii,
and isn’t marketed to the same audience. The more expensive models price
it out of range to compete with the Xbox 360 and PS3. Even most players
most likely won’t really be impressed by it’s graphics all that much,
with most observers commenting on its sub-Wii visuals.
However, if the recent past is any guide, visuals don’t matter to the
casual player. In the end, it will probably have a much bigger impact on
newspapers, magazines and books than gaming. This might mean you’ll see
the mags like Game Informer in new interactive versions on
the device, which might be cool, but don’t hold your breath. It will
probably beat other handheld devices like the Kindle but the gaming apps
will remain most likely a secondary feature. As for the iPad’s impact on
casual gaming – who really knows what will happen. Millions of iPhone
gaming apps have been sold, but they’ve never seemed like the main
reason to own the device. Stretching existing apps to appear on the new
iPad seems like a half-measure, so it seems like it won’t really break
the bank in terms of gaming innovation. It
depends on how developers take advantage of the device when native apps
start to appear in a few months. There’s no doubt that many people will
buy one and if they’ll most likely use it more as a traditional laptop
or phone, with convenient web browsing one of the key features. We think
it will sell to the existing Apple audience in this way but probably
won’t affect the current gaming platform holders significantly.
(January
26) Mass Effect
2's ripple effect
One of the really cool things about Bioware's Mass Effect 2 for the Xbox
360 is that it allows you to change the gender of the main character
at the start of the game and play them throughout without much notice.
This is definitely an idea that’s time has come. The rise of acceptance
in mainstream media and other recent moves in video game culture shows
that women are becoming more equal by the day.
Its no longer seen as strange or surprising in any way that people of
different and equally valid orientation aren’t just accepted, but
celebrated for their talents, accomplishments and abilities. The video
game industry seems to have turned the corner, and hopefully other
developers will be ready to crawl out of the dark ages, too.
It’s
definitely great news for those who want to see society liberated from the
constraints that have been put on all of us after centuries of tedious
oppression. It might seem like just another sci-fi video game on the
surface but, Mass Effect 2 is definitely on the cutting edge of these
trends. Its great to see that Bioware is actually acting progressively in
this department. Those who’ve played games for many years have noticed a
prevalence of clichéd stereotypes over the years. As you probably know,
many games fall into the traditional narrative trap of strong lead male
character ‘saving’ a helpless female. There has been some progress
over the past 15 years or so with the rise of characters like Lara Croft
and her ilk, showcasing a strong lead female character who isn’t reliant
on some machismo-moron to save her. Sega’s recent Bayonetta was also
notable for subverting this cliché in some sequences where the lead
heroine saved a hopeless guy from certain doom. Mass Effect 2 follows the
lead of Gene Rodenberry’s classic Star Trek in this regard. It’s hard
to believe, but its racially mixed cast was controversial back in the
60’s, but in a sign of how far society has come, the recent Battlestar
Galactica revival had a similarly mixed group as a matter of course.
It’s very good to see this filtering down to the game industry for a
number of reasons. First, the old cliché of the lonely guy sitting in his
basement watching VHS tapes of Sailor Moon cartoons no longer applies as
gaming culture has become more normalized and mainstream. Thanks to the
Wii and DS, plus efforts by Sony such as Singstar and Buzz, along with
Xbox Live’s casual games, players of all genders and styles are able to
enjoy gaming and it’s no longer a threatening thing where the guys drool
over posters or women, if they appear at all in games, find themselves
humiliatingly objectified as giggling Japanese school girls. Mass Effect 2
goes a long way in equalizing things, as the main character Shepard is
seen as a strong, independent and indispensable member of the team no
matter what gender you pick. Shephard is tough as nails and unstoppable no
matter what gender you pick. Its definitely a landmark in this department
no matter how you slice it. Bioware deserves a lot of credit for doing
this, what could be very controversial this days, and not making too much
of a big deal about it. At the end of the day, it’s the quiet landmarks
that you note where so much progress is being made. Just something to
celebrate as you try to save humanity once again during your long battles
with the Reapers throughout ME2’s galaxy.
(January
25) A Wii Milestone
For those players who loved last year’s excellent compilation of
Milestone shooters on the Wii, Ultimate Shooting Collection, there’s
some great news coming down the pipeline. The developers are set to
release another game next month published under the UFO brand. This one is
called Arcade Shooter Ilvelo, a strange name but one that fits in nicely
with their previous releases. Anyone who played the cel-shaded Karous or
Radio Allergy should feel right at home with the newest release. Ilvelo
was released in Japanese arcades last year and offered some fairly cool
shooting game mechanics. If you haven’t played it yet, this vertically
scrolling shooter will offer a range of cool weapons including standard
issue lock-on lasers and charging shots, along with some strange items
such as bubbles. In addition to your standard ship, you’ll also be able
to control special helpers that you can place on the stage to assist you
in battle. The levels look fairly interesting in terms of design and the
game should offer plenty of variety with some cool boss encounters.
However, the second major twist in this shmup release comes in its
branching paths. Ilvelo’s levels include secret entrances that warp you
to an alternate level. Once in these locations, players will be able to
unlock additional extra content and other achievements. More than 150 of
these should be available in the game which should increase its replay
value substantially.
The action is looking to be fairly frenetic in places and the bullet-hell
aesthetic means that there will be plenty of action on screen. Ilvelo’s
most endearing aspect is likely going to be its surreal visuals. Taking
the look of Milestone’s earlier games to another dimension, Ilvelo’s
surreal visuals are filled with colorful, odd imagery such as falling
umbrellas and strange looking bosses. All of this is going be made to look
even stranger with the cool anime-style cel-shaded visuals that were so
effective in the company’s earlier games. As usual, the game will be
presented in letterboxed form so it can be enjoyed in its traditional
arcade aspect ratio and there will be options for different difficulty
settings. While the niche shmup genre doesn’t get that much support
here, its nice to see a solid title from a consistent developer getting
released here. Gamers who like this type of game should definitely be on
the lookout for Arcade Shooter: Ilvelo in the near future.
(January
22) Tablets on tap
Another week has come to an end, and while it was nominally slow in terms
of news, there’s still plenty going on. There’s been a lot of rumors
spread about what exactly Apple will show next week, but since we (and
everyone else) have zero concrete details, we don’t want to engage in
speculation. It’s likely to be a tablet computer of some sort. Further
details are largely unknown. Speculating on what it might actually include
is a fun pursuit for many other sites, but we’d rather wait and
see what’s actually coming down the pipeline before passing judgment.
Apple is definitely a force to be reckoned with and their success with
iPhone apps means any sort of tablet device will have a huge impact on
gaming. However, precisely how this will affect the incumbent platform
holders is something we can’t really speculate on with any definitive
authority.
Not
surprisingly, there’s also been a lot of chatter about 3D gaming this
week. CES proved a great showcase for the technology, which looks to have
great potential. There are several barriers, the first of which is price.
You’ll need a new set in order to play 3D games on console, not to
mention additional hardware. Couple this with a new series of motion
controllers, and consumers who probably just upgraded to new HD technology
and the slow adoption rate for standard Blu-ray discs, and you have to
wonder whether the industry is rushing ahead into tech that very few
people are ready for and fewer can probably reasonably be expected to
afford. 3D is looking like a great idea, but its impact might not be as
great as you’d hope.
Finally, It’s now been a few weeks of our new news format, and since
we’ve actively updated for a few weeks now, we’d like to know how you
feel about it. As you may have noticed, the old news, which mostly
consisted of cut and paste news releases has been discontinued in favor of
a more analytical approach. We feel this better serves our readers, since
we'd rather post original writing than regurgitated spin. This is the
biggest change we’ve made in our approach to the Laser in many years,
and while it takes a lot longer, we think it makes the news section a much
better read. We’d like to know what you think, so please take some time
and let us know by contacting us. Have a good weekend and we’ll see you
on Monday.
(January
21) Destination: Arcadia
On the heels of all the commotion surrounding the
re-launch of Gamepro and the new EGM coming along in a few months, most
gamers are probably a little bit excited once again about game magazines.
The format seems to have been driven underground in the past few years
with the rise of blogs, gaming sites and even some cable channels.
However, the revival seems to be on track for this year and hopefully some
of these new magazines will deliver a good reading experience. We at the
Laser haven’t been immune to these trends and while we’ve been
waiting, something else has come along to fill the void. The best of these
alternate sources we’ve found lately is
Japan
’s
great
Arcadia
magazine. Devoted to the arcade scene, each issue is filled with the
latest news and information, primarily covering companies like SNK and
Capcom. These are covered extensively along with some other odd and
obscure titles that gives you an interesting exploration of gaming
culture.
Arcadia
’s
superb design and layout makes each issue a joy to look through, even if
you can’t read Japanese. We’ve been buying loads of back issues over
the past few months and while the magazine isn’t as thick or robust as
it used to be back in the early 2000’s, it’s still an incredibly
interesting book to look through. They even have a small section for
classic arcade games, where the PCB’s are shown, plus an extensive
reader-art section. Even the advertising is interesting to look through,
since it gives you a glimpse of what’s to come out in the next few
months.
One of the coolest, yet frustrating things to hear about are the cool
arcade card games like Lord of Vermillion, which is a cool idea that
probably won’t ever make it west because of the lack of arcades.
There’s also extensive coverage of games like KOF and SFIV, which are
quite popular with gamers, but are marginalized in many
US
magazines, which is a shame, but not surprising. Reading through these
issues at least allows you to see what might have been if western gamers
hadn’t abandoned arcade culture. The only drawback to reading
Arcadia
comes with the prices – recent issues are very expensive with a series
of recent tournament DVD’s making them even more so. Since there’s so
little coverage of the
Japan
scene out there now, getting information direct from the source seems like
the only choice for the serious gamer.
(January 20) Ubisoft's
overnight success
It's been a bit strange
reading high-profile bloggers and industry pundits fall over themselves
trying to explain the unexpected success of Ubisoft's Just Dance on the
Wii platform in December's NPD numbers. No one really predicted it would
hit the top 20, with so many high-profile launches like Modern Warfare 2
and New Super Mario Bros. competing for attention. Just Dance didn't have
the usual amount of hype to go along with it - but it didn't need much of
a sales pitch, a massive ad campaign or coverage from the hardcore press
anyway. There were many factors that worked with it including a huge surge
in holiday Wii sales, the game's accessible track list didn't hurt, with
many mainstream songs and a low retail price didn't hurt either. On the
contrary, our thinking is along the lines that the biggest surprise in the
Just Dance mini-phenomenon is the fact that the game didn't sell better
than it did.
Let's face it, music games
are not a fad and have become about as much a part of the game firmament
as fighting games and FPS titles. The recent decline in music game sales
more than likely represents more a leveling off than a serious fall in
interest levels. Going back over the past few years, with titles like
Guitar Hero and Rock Band, casual gaming's embrace of these titles hasn't
been anything but a huge success. A new category has been created, that
along with the Wii itself, has brought in an entirely new audience for
electronic games. There will be those who want to pit the new gamers
against the hardcore, but this is a false argument. The video game
industry has grown so vast and huge, that it can support a variety of
products aimed at different audiences.
What this results in for
the end user is that an enlarged marketplace means that there's no longer
a zero-sum game. The success of one product doesn't mean failure for
another. Both kinds of titles can happily co-exist and succeed. This is
actually a good thing in the long run, since a more diverse audience means
a more stable industry that can deliver a steady stream of games targeted
to all types of players. While many might find the success of mainstream
titles like Just Dance to be a threat to the hardcore gaming community,
it's really a matter of perception. Remember, music games have played a
big part in gaming's past, and even if you look back further than these
past few years, there were titles like Konami's Dance Dance Revolution
that attracted those outside the gaming hardcore. Hardcore gamers can
choose to get angry and punch at the wind looking at those rows of games
they personally might not be interested in, or they can be glad that
there's more than enough entertainment to go around. The choice is up to
them.
(January
19) Gaming in
Motion
One of the more interesting things that
we're looking at this year is the emergence of motion control on X360 and
PS3. Both consoles seem to be playing catch-up to the Wii in this
department at the current rate. Introducing motion-control systems to
these systems 4 years after Nintendo introduced its new interface seems
like a move to try and grab some of the new audience enamored by the Wii.
Microsoft and Sony are taking very different approaches to the phenomenon,
so it will be interesting to see which one is able to take market share
from the Wii. Sony's approach seems to be taking a little bit from the Wii
and its currently un-named device seems to very much resemble the Wiimote.
Using the existing eyetoy technology seems like a patchwork idea, though
the demos that were seen at E3 didn't really impress us all that much.
There looks like there will be at least some third-party support this
year, but it hasn't generated nearly as much excitement as it could have.
Its odd design and somewhat tepid reception might mean the motion
controller might end up as another attempt that falls short, much as the
little-used and much reviled Sixaxis controls seem to have fallen by the
wayside. With the PS3 already in a distant third-place, it doesn't seem
like the company's strategy of aping the Wii approach will really make
much of a difference.
Obviously, you've probably heard a lot
about Project Natal at this point, but there are still many questions
about this hyped-product. Microsoft is promising something revolutionary
where gamers won't have to use their hands, and a device that reads body
movement. It seems almost like something out of a science fiction movie.
The demos that have been produced to date seem impressive, but whether the
final product can live up to its promise is a huge question that hasn't
been answered. Microsoft also claims massive support for Natal, but
whether developers embrace their vision or merely produce a bunch of
me-too party games is going to determine whether or not the new interface
will take hold. If the company seems like its merely going to copy the Wii
approach, it doesn't seem likely that Project Natal will succeed. Another
key question that's yet to answered is how much the device is going to
cost. Rumors are all over the map in this department and while a low price
would make this an accessible mass-market product, the question is whether
Microsoft will subsidize the hardware, or if the early adopters are going
to pay to be the first on their block to play the device. There's little
doubt that the Project Natal technology is impressive, and it's garnered
plenty of excitement in press over the past year. However, with
Microsoft's history of rushing technology to the market before its ready,
the Xbox 360's bungled launch awash with red ring systems is a prime
example, as is Windows Vista, we're taking a wait and see attitude before
jumping to proclaim it as the next big thing.
In our opinion, it definitely seems like
both consoles are playing catch up with the Wii. While both are promising
to take a jump forward above and beyond what Nintendo is offering, it
remains to be seen whether they'll catch the motion wave, or find
themselves perceived by gamers as trying to mimic Nintendo's runaway
success with desperate half-measures.
