November
12, 2006 - Nothing Left
After several chaotic weeks setting things up, adding new shelving and
reconfigurations, the long break we spoke about is about to end. Tomorrow
should see what will be the first of many new reviews with Juka and Scurge
on the DS and GBA beginning the flood. We're actually working hard to get
these out to you, it's just that we don't want to rush our reviews to be
first - better to be accurate than fast, that's our motto. The great
deluge of titles has begun as it always does, so here's what's in our
in-box as of today:
Singstar (PS2)
Family Guy (Xbox)
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Gears of War (Xbox 360)
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (PS2)
Ace Combat X (PSP)
Not to mention, of course, the many Playstation 3 and Wii titles that are
coming out. This week. I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed. Looks like a busy
month ahead, so stay tuned.
November
7, 2006 - Under Construction
As you might have noticed, we haven't been updating much over the past
few weeks, but this seems to be near an end. We have been involved with
some major projects which should hopefully be online soon. The biggest of
these is the creation of our new game museum center where we should be
filming some interesting things in the coming weeks. Its taken awhile to
get things together and we've put some of our writing on hold because of
it, but we hope you'll find it worth the wait. Meantime, enjoy what's
coming up in the next few weeks, which should be the busiest and most
exciting of 2006.
November
3, 2006 - On Edge
It's embarrassing. Every time you walk into your local bookstore, do
you notice something missing? I do, there isn't any US magazine that's
even remotely in the same league as Edge, the UK's long standing paragon
of journalistic integrity, good writing and honest reviews. It's not that
American magazines aren't as good, sophisticated, well-written, insightful
or intelligent, it's that they don't even try to appeal to a
sophisticated adult audience. Even the 'best' American mags seem content
with shoveling juvenile garbage down their readers' throats. A couple of
publications have tried to mimic Edge's layout and format, but the
difference in the level of writing and sophistication makes the
comparisons even more dismal. You can't put the same old tired crap in a
'minimalist' design and expect people to buy it.
There have been several attempts over the past dozen or so years to appeal
to an adult audience, with Next Generation and the Electronic Games
revival the most recent examples. However, these magazines didn't publish
as long as they should have. Sadly, by and large, every single US
publications seemed to be aimed at one of three demographics: small
children, hard-core fanboys or college frat-boys. There isn't a voice of
reason or intelligence or even good basic journalism in current American
magazines. Most professional websites are even worse, relying more on
rumor than fact while printing rushed reviews that feel more like press
releases than honest evaluations.
This is disappointing, especially considering the massive audience gaming
has in this country. Not to mention the huge footprints major American
publishers have in the industry. Still, there's no real adult gaming
magazine on the market here. Gamers have no alternative but buying import
copies of Edge. Edge is fantastic, it's amazingly well-written, and also
costs less than those horrid "official" magazines. These coast
since they include a demo disc and decide that's enough for most readers.
The actual books around these discs are less insightful than product
catalogs. It's a real shame, since there are loads of smart gamers in this
country who deserve much better than they've been getting lately.
October
31, 2006 - Before the Storm
We've been keeping a low profile and stuff for the past week or
so, mostly to conserve energy and time for what's looking like an epic
month coming up. Two brand new consoles, the long awaited Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess plus Gears of War should make this one of the most
intense gaming periods in quite some time. That's the main reason why.
We've also been going back a little and playing some of our many, many
classic games since it's always good, on the cusp of another new era, to
remember where you came from. It's strange to think just how many consoles
have come and gone over the past three decades since the advent of the
2600. The cool thing is we haven't lost our sense of excitement and
anticipation every time a new system comes out. The sense of potential and
undiscovered enjoyment still gets to us. As the stores gear up, the signs
come out and the angry mobs begin to form outside electronics, this is
definitely going to be an exciting time to be a gamer. We hope you stay
tuned next month as we begin this latest journey.
October
28, 2006 - Predictions
Once again, it seems like change is coming - irrevocable, irreversible,
unstoppable, untenable. Change in the way we play, Change in our
imagination, change in our perceptions, our expectation, our realizations.
Yet, there seems to be a sense, at least within some areas that this march
of technology, this avalanche of hype every half decade or so, that this
doesn't mean what it once did. Some elements of course will remain familiar,
but the volume and speed seems to be slowing down creating what can be
described as only a mere stepping stone, a much longer period of gestation
to wait through before a real, significant difference can be perceived.
Some seek to stop or slow down this
revolution, running seemingly sideways, content with a new twist on the
same old formula, while other defines technology and increased power as
the ultimate achievement. Neither of these approaches seems to be really
satisfying in the end. It seems more likely that a combination of both
ideals is truly representative of the future path. As it stands now, we
are most likely to get only half the picture, as the paths seem to have
diverged.
Whether these two approaches merge again down the road, or if one of them
leads nowhere remains to be seen, but the results and implications for the
next few years seems to be especially crowded this time around. For these
reasons, you won't find any major proclamations or predictions here.
Instead, a renewed focus on the smaller elements of the larger picture
will be the best we can offer until the image begins to
emerge.
Like many other gamers of a certain age, the Atari era still rings a
special bell inside of me, and what could be mere numbers, like 2600 and
5200 to most people, mean something to me as a gamer. Of course, there
have been a lot of significant numbers coming to me over the past few
months. I wonder sometimes, if these have some deeper meaning. I don't
know, it just seems like something is happening, but I don't know what
it's supposed to signify. In the midst of all the surreal, bizarre and,
strange occurrences that have happed, I received a boxed and complete copy
of Astrochase for the Atari 5200.
Two things about this strike me as weird: I completely forgot that I even
ordered this, and when it arrived, it seemed to be almost like a gift from
someone. Of course, this might seem strange to you, attaching such significance
on a video game cartridge, given the thousands of games I've played since,
but some memories stay with you, and Astrochase's music and dazzling
visuals were some of my happiest as a young gamer. The opening cinema was
amazing for its time and I still find it charming. I was definitely in
love with the Atari 5200, I liked the Colecovision, but the 5200 and Atari
in general are what truly defined my younger gaming years in ways I can't
explain.
Astrochase was always one of my favorite
games, but for many years, it seemed to elude me in boxed, complete form.
I still had the worn but loved cartridge I bought at a tag sale back in
the early 80's, but never seemed to come across or feel the need to
purchase one until now. I think what happened was that somewhere, In the
middle of the night a few weeks ago, I must have purchased the game in a
half-asleep daze and completely forgotten about it. Not that I'm unhappy,
this is definitely one of those 'sentimental' games like Blue Print and
Countermeasure that defined the 5200 for me, and having this one, and
finally getting a chance to read the actual instruction manual is quite therapeutic
for me, as bizarre as that might sound.
I know for a lot of collectors, Chase the Chuckwagon is their Holy Grail
of video game collecting, but to me, a complete copy of Astrochase is much
more meaningful and valuable as a connection to that time in my past. The
fact that it has eluded me until now, or something I've put off is
just one of those weird things I never really put together until now. It's
strangely therapeutic to own a little piece of my childhood, especially
after all the darkness and sadness I've been through over the past
year. If you've never played the game, it's brilliant and way ahead
of its time, well worth purchasing.
I still dislike rom downloads and playing classic games on PC, it can
never capture the feeling or essence of the earlier classic consoles, especially
not their controllers or that fuzzy yet warm picture quality you get from
the RF modulators. To explain to some of you younger players, this is akin
to a record collector who still prefers his scratchy old 45's to a
'flawlessly remastered' CD, pops, hisses and cracks in all. Some people
won't understand and want everything in 'perfect' quality. All of this is
likely to be lost on some of you younger gamers, but for me, it means a
lot to have a complete AstroChase in my 5200 collection.
September 29, 2006 -
Now Playing
Not too many new reviews this week on the Laser, but that doesn't mean
we've stopped gaming. Much more next week, as things begin to heat up. We
have some cool stuff in the pipeline and we want to share our impressions
of what we've been playing, consider this a preview of things to come over
the next week or two.
Test Drive Unlimited (Xbox 360) A really impressive racer, with
excellent visuals, a ton of cool sports cars and some really interesting
modes. TDU's GPS interface an interesting innovation, but the navigation
menus is a bit confusing, making it hard to know where to go next.
However, with patience, the game opens up. This should be first on the
list next week.
Okami (PS2) This looks to be one of the more interesting titles of
the year, and the unique cel-shaded graphics, expansive gameplay and
brilliant design should definitely prove that the PS2 has some life left
in it yet. Definitely lives up to the hype.
Lego Star Wars II (Xbox) Playing the first three movies is cool and
the game's sandbox levels are really loads of fun to play. This is
definitely one of the most appealing and charming titles to come from
LucasArts in some time. We want to go deeper before making a definitive judgment.
Gangs of London (PSP) This demo looks promising, taking The Getaway
portable seems to have worked well, and the driving and environments are
already impressive. While we would ordinarily jump right in with a
preview, the release date is too close to make a preview worthwhile.
Moto GP (PSP) An excellent racer from Namco, while it probably
won't win any awards for innovation, the Moto GP's presentation and solid
presentation should win praise for those looking for some two-wheeled
action. A bit iffy on the controls, however.
September 26, 2006 -
Innovative?
While everyone seems to be criticizing Sony's recent statements about
innovation, I think maybe there's too many witters missing the point.
Sure, the Wii controller is a clever diversion, but the real problem with
the console isn't its controller, it's in the processor. Let's face it,
Nintendo has chosen to release a system that will be outdated the day it
comes out, at least from a technical standpoint. System advocates can
dispute this, but this is a fact that can't be ignored. The PS3's Cell
processor and Blu-Ray format allow developers much more freedom of
movement and creativity than the constrained confines of the Wii. PS3 may
be a lot more expensive, but in the long-run, the system seems more future-proofed than
Wii does. Wii doesn't support HD in any configuration and this might end up being its Achilles' Heel over the long haul. Microsoft
also seems to have jumped the gun with the 360, saddling it with at best
an expensive HD-DVD add-on and at worst an expensive movie player that
doesn't actually help the hardware produce better games. Or it might
just be a crazy gamble that ends up working. There's no rhyme of reason to
these things sometimes.
Before you listen to the endless gloom
and doom, you might want to remember history - Any company that comes in
and dominates the industry the way Sony has for the past decade isn't run
by idiots, and I doubt that the PlayStation 3 design was thought up solely
to make a short term gain over a single holiday season. This might be a
tougher launch for Sony than what had been expected, but when the PS3
drops in price and gains market share quickly, we wonder how long
Microsoft and Nintendo will be able to keep up, especially in late-2007 and beyond.
Once the novelty of the Wii controller wears off and the 360 software
starts to look a bit dated next to the PS3's second and third generation
titles, things might change rapidly and the PS3 might actually live up to
it's potential in the longer term, rather than being judged by what
happens over the next six months.
Meanwhile, the Wii seems to be repeating Nintendo's last two failed
consoles - The N64's non-standard controller mixed with the Gamecube's
underpowered hardware. How come everyone automatically assumes combining
these two failed strategies equals success anyway? I think maybe some
writers are so enamored by their DS hand-helds, they don't realize two
very important facts. Handheld and console audiences expect different
things. Using the same approach that worked with a handheld might not be
what console gamers expect, want or need. Will third-parties be as enthusiastic for the console after
the first year, or if their will fade away, just as the Gamecube did
five years ago. The paths seem to be parallel, and this is worrying for
Nintendo, who might be falling into the same trap again.
Sure, the Nintendo faithful always fall back on the repeated line about
Nintendo's innovation, but forget it was Sony that introduced CD-Rom, DVD
and now Blu-Ray/HD technology to the market. It usually takes Nintendo a
generation or so before they catch up to their rivals. Except this time,
DVD playback has been stripped out of the Wii, making it cheaper but also
less valuable as a component. It's strange, no one complained about
Nintendo scooping the EyeToy when Wii's controller came out. Meanwhile,
Sony adds motion sensing to the PS3's controller and gamers accuses Sony
of 'stealing' Nintendo's idea. The same one that many hardware companies
have been attempting for almost a decade. On the other hand, the
length of stay at the top doesn't always translate to continued success.
Atari ruled for nearly a half-decade, and then - Poof! - suddenly one day
in November, 1983 - it was all over. These things can happen. It's what
makes the game industry so interesting to write about.
Any discussion of innovation in gaming is dishonest without acknowledging
the basic fact that all technical advances are based on one group of
designers or engineers building on the foundation of those laid before
them. For example, we would not have Nolan Bushnell, Pong or, Atari
without Ralph Baer's work at Magnavox and the original Odyssey system. We
wouldn't have Nintendo without the foundation Atari laid before the NES.
Sega wouldn't have the Dreamcast without copying the Playstation. Analog
controllers were invented in the early 80's and the Vectrex, not the
Nintendo 64, was the first console to have an analog joystick. High
Definition displays have been in development for decades and Memory Cards
are evolution of older flash memory technology. We wouldn't have today's
print magazines and websites without pioneers like Arnie Katz, Bill Kunkel
and, Joyce Worley who set the standards and many of the conventions still
being used ny some journalists even today. None of these things we enjoy
now would have been possible without someone going before and innovating
or creating something for us to build on.
You really have to wonder about the bias of some of these game journalists
who are so quick to jump down Sony's throat, yet take everything Nintendo
does as undying truth. Why does an innovative title like Loco Roco or God
of War get ignored when it comes to discussions about platform holders'
commitment to innovation, yet these same journalists fall over themselves
praising Nintendogs and Brain Age? You really have to wonder if
they're really being objective, or acting as advocates, using their
emotions more than their common sense. It's this same fraudulent
mentality that convinces people to buy Macs because this will somehow make
them more creative and different than people who choose PCs. Remember,
It's not who makes your brushes, it's the picture you paint with them.
Sony might be in trouble over the first year, but once the vision begins
to come into view, and developers really get a handle on Cell and flex
their wings with the Blu-ray, things should improve quickly. Sony will
probably end up winning again and by a large margin. This isn't a popular
call, but it's probably more realistic than thinking a cute controller
alone will win this round in of the never-ending console wars. Then again,
maybe the industry is overdue for a change. It won't be dull, at least.
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