June
25, 2007 - Washed Up
If someone had told me two years ago after Sony's now-infamous
2005 E3 press conference, that Nintendo's Wii would be outselling the PS3
by a large factor six months after launch, I would have looked at them
like they were crazy. However, the big race is going in Nintendo's
direction at this early stage. It looks like the company's strategy of
aiming for a more mainstream audience is paying significant dividends so
far. Add in the announcement that Manhunt 2 is being shelved, at least
temporarily due to ratings issues and you have the makings of what feels
like a change in the atmosphere of electronic games. This seems to have
happened over-night, and it seems like the entire industry is changing its
focus from focusing on mature gamers with adult themes. Even EA is
changing its focus and putting a lot of effort into Wii titles aimed at a
casual audience. The problem with this is that the Wii isn't exactly the
most powerful system and you have a completely messed up development
community that's been caught flat-footed - with expensive elaborate games
in the pipeline that the audience seemingly doesn't want any more.
It's strange to think that the old rules everyone assumed would work no
longer apply no longer apply now. This has created a situation where you
have hard-core games like Assassin's Creed and Heavenly Sword taking a
backseat to brain-testing simulators and cooking simulations in terms of
attention. You don't really need to be a genius to find the irony of the
situation - these are the kinds of games that used to populate Kentia Hall
at E3 and are now in the spotlight while the games with all the bells and
whistles, 3D engines and destructible environments, rag-doll physics and
blah, blah, blah seeming to have gone out of style. It's actually kind of
refreshing to see games resetting and returning to their roots. The
emphasis seems to have been placed back on fun, as you might have with
Super Paper Mario, instead of a science experiment with the same old FPS
play mechanics. After reading previews for Haze, BioShock and Fracture,
it's kind of hard not to feel that these types of games have become kind
of tedious and interchangeable lately. Nintendo has offered the industry a
new path, and it seems like the average gamers have chosen it, while many
developers have gone in the usual direction. It will be interesting to see
if these more elaborate games will be able to pull gaming back on its old
path or not. One key indicator will be the sales figures for Halo 3 and
GTA IV - if these games end up disappointing this fall, it will probably
cement this change in direction for this round of the current
generation.
Be sure to stay with the Laser for more information over the next few
months as we watch titles like the formerly successful Splinter Cell
franchise washed away into almost complete irrelevance under a sea of
eating mini-games and Miis.
June 21, 2007 - Old New System
Following last week's post comes an announcement that I've finally
jumped into a new world, the rarified collector's paradise known as
Neo-Geo collecting. I've been going back and forth between adding the system to my
classic arsenal, for reasons I don't want to get into, but have decided to
jump into it despite my hesitation.
Because I'm feeling sort of odd, I picked up both a standard AES and a Neo CD for decent
prices and have created a decent library of games for both. While the
cartridge-based system is obviously the one most gamers dream of owning, I
think the CD is definitely worth owning if you're budget minded and don't
mind the loading screens. Even though they have similar libraries, there
are differences between the two systems, its kind of like While the
drive's speed is a bit slow, it isn't exponentially worse than the
original PlayStation or Saturn had. The games themselves are pretty
awesome as you know, with the early favorites obviously being King of
Fighters and Samurai Spirits (I picked up multiple installments of both
series between the two systems.) There are also a number of games that
might be considered sleepers. I really enjoyed the soccer titles, Super
Sidekicks which remain surprisingly playable even these days. Of course
there's an abundance of fighters, but there's a surprising diversity
evident in games like Riding Hero and Crossed Swords. One of the cool
things is the cross-compatibility of the controllers, which means you can
interchange the standard NG joystick and the control pad, which lets you
use a joystick for the fighting games, and switch to the joypad for more
console oriented titles like Magician Lord. I've been playing a lot with
the systems lately and my only major complaint so far is the lack of
auto-loading on the Neo-Geo CD. In fact, I thought the thing was broken
initially until I figured out that you have to load the discs from its
menu. Aside from this, it's nice to finally play these legendary games on
their original hardware and not have to go by the somewhat watered down
emulations available on current consoles.
June
13, 2007 - Virtual Museum
As the summer begins to heat up and significant releases dry up, the
Laser is going to shift its focus for a short time as we start the process
of cataloging and exploring some of the classic systems and games in our
library. We've been hoarding loads of games in the background while
focusing on the newest, latest and greatest for awhile now, but with the
advent of the summer it's time once again to revisit the classics. It's a
fitting time at least, since the game industry is finally awakening to the
hidden value and timeless entertainment these supposedly 'obsolete' titles
offer. Surprisingly, these oldies are the force that seems to be driving
the traditional console makers online in a significant, mass movement for
the first time. Whether it's the recent release of Pac Man Championship
Edition on Xbox Live, Nintendo's extensive and almost weekly mining of
their extensive library on the Wii Virtual Console, or even the handful of
remastered classics on the Playstation Network. These have surprisingly
generated some of the most exciting releases on the consoles' online
stores, with the recent announcement of Street Fighter II only the latest
in a string of new announcements. Of course, you can't ignore the success
of retro themed neo-classics like Geometery Wars and Flow, which further
proves the sometimes, the best ideas can be the simplest. Of course, we at
the Laser aren't immune to these trends, so look for us to open our own
virtual museum in the near future. I don't want to spoil it, but look for
something quite cool coming in the weeks ahead.
June
7, 2007 - Reviewing Wii
One of the more interesting things
about the Wii and its new approach to gaming is how its affected reviewers
and journalists. Over the years, there's been a kind of system to how
controls and interfaces are described, but now with the advent of this new
approach from Nintendo, journalists and writers have been forced to change
the way they write and how they write about games. Instead of simply
describing the usual button presses, you now have to include
motion-sensing movements and how they've been incorporated into the games
themselves. This requires not only a new approach, but a slightly
different vocabulary as well. Old habits are hard to break, but the Wii
has at least given some writers a chance to refresh their approach and
make some new observations. A lot of this hasn't really seeped through to
reviews on those systems that use standard controllers, but it probably
won't be long before you hear things like "This game would be much
better with motion controls" or, "The controller isn't as
responsive and the game isn't as good as it could have been on the Wii."
It's definitely been interesting watching some high-profile writers
struggle to come to grips with the system, while others seem better able
to adapt to the new systems and controllers. However, at the end of the
day, the basic goal of a review, telling you what a game is about and
whether or not its entertaining hasn't changed much if you think about it.
In fact, with the Wii, reviewers are probably spending less times worrying
about technical issues such as light sourcing or frame rates and are
instead concentrating on what's really important.
You'll also probably start seeing games on other systems that are at least
influenced by the Wii's innovative controls. It probably won't happen
overnight, but we expect at least a few high-profile titles to nod to the
Wii's approach with more accessible, and probably simpler controls. Will
this approach be successful in many instances? Probably not, since there
are probably many genres where this type of interface won't work. Still,
its interesting to see how the console's success, and how much gamers have
embraced it, contrasts strongly to the indifferent reception received by
the Gamecube five years ago from the media and gamers. While the GCN was
another underpowered Nintendo system, it's me-too controllers didn't help
it much despite its lineup of stellar games from Nintendo. I'm sure many
books will be written about the Wii in the next few years - though a lot
depends what happens if and when the novelty factor wears off. At this
point, it looks more and more likely that Wii has staying power - it's
been embraced by a large cross-section of people, not just gamers, and
this should ensure it will have a longer commercial lifespan than the
Gamecube had, at least.
This brings us back to the enthusiast video game press which seems kind of
baffled by the console to a degree. There definitely seems to be at least
some resistance to the system on the part of some of the veterans, which
is a real shame. Let's be honest, electronic gaming is a technology based
hobby and those that are unwilling to keep an open mind and embrace change
are probably going to end up hurting themselves and their readers. It's a
real shame, since the Wii offers gamers and writers an exciting and
different opportunity to break new ground and explore previously uncharted
territory. There are loads of writers out there (such as Wired's Chris
Kohler) who understood the system's potential early on and predicted its
success when many thought it would be an also-ran. Of course, its not too
late for the gaming press to change their attitudes. While some writers
still seem to be in a kind of shock and seem to dragging their feet into
this new era reluctantly, its kind of sad. This is a technology business
and it's probably disorienting since the world feels like its changed
under their feet in the past few months, seemingly without warning. Nintendo
has definitely defied most mainstream predictions, thought the DS
phenomenon should have been an obvious precursor to the Wii. This round
definitely feels less predictable but more interesting than the last two
console wars and the smarter writers should be able to ride this sea
change successfully. It will be interesting to see who rises to the
challenge over the next year or two.
June
5, 2007 - Defending PS3
On the other hand, a lot of people seem to have declared the
console war over before it's even begun. Its understandable that the
so-called hardcore Nintendo fans have been falling all over themselves,
however every small mis-step Sony makes doesn't spell disaster and this
isn't over yet by a long shot. The PS3 is a bit pricey right now, but a
single hundred dollar cut puts it right in range of the Xbox 360 Elite
system - with the added advantage from a technical standpoint of
high-definition movie output at no extra cost and the ability to use Blu-Ray's
extra storage capacity - a key element that many fans seem to have
forgotten about. This is something that probably won't make much of a
difference now, but will become increasingly important over the next few
years. On the other hand, Sony's lack of significant exclusives hasn't
helped the system and it's somewhat disappointing PS Store still lags far
behind the Xbox Live service, and it looks likely to until the fall when
the Home service launches. Sony's executives deserve a lot of the blame
for the system's performance to date - they have under-delivered and
over-hyped the system. Combine this with the Wii phenomenon and the launch
period over the past few months looks even worse than it would in any
other context. Fortunately, things are looking up with some impressive
exclusives almost ready now. While it looks unlikely that Sony will repeat
the absolute dominance they held in the past two rounds, it still early
enough to salvage the system and still score a respectable market share.
There a piles of cool games coming out like Heavenly Sword, Lair and
Killzone, not to mention new versions of Ratchet & Clank and other
things. Despite what you may have heard, the PS3 really isn't that bad.
Here's a message to all the fanboys polluting the various message boards:
keep an open mind and you might actually enjoy it when you get over
yourselves and condescend to purchase one.
May
21, 2007 - Defending Wii
A lot of attention over the past few months has been focused on
the Wii, and while a lot of gamers and media out there are critical of the
system's supposed shortcomings from a technical standpoint, one of the
things that really seems to stick out is that, for the most part, the
system seems to have more than adequate processing power. Some titles that
were designed specifically for next-gen system like Far Cry and Spider-Man
3 aren't optimized for the Wii and the results are usually disappointing,
though not as bad as you might think reading some of the more picky
reviewers out there. While its textures and mapping aren't quite as smooth
as you'd expect and the lack of High Def support is annoying, the
trade-off comes with those cool controllers, which make the experience
feel unique and new. For example, while Far Cry Instincts on the Wii
doesn't differ substantially from the PC and Xbox 360 editions in terms of
gameplay, using the Wii-mote and Nunchuck definitely gives the experience
a refreshing makeover that makes it feel very different from the other
versions. Obviously, the graphics aren't as good - but its really hard to
complain where the game offers something new in other areas. On the other
hand, the PS3's much-vaunted Cell processor seems to be under-utilized as
the somehat disappointing translations of Enchanted Arms and FEAR have
demonstrated, the developers simply ported these games to the system. This
is one area where the Wii has a distinct advantage, the very nature of its
controllers forces developers to work hard and makes mindless ports fairly
difficult without making for a complete disaster. For this fact alone, the
Wii has definitely deserved its success and has solidified Nintendo's
comeback. I spoke a few entries back about the summer drought the next-gen
consoles will have to suffer through the next few months, so this would be
a good time to check out the system if you haven't been able to find one
in stores yet.
May
14, 2007 - Summer Blockbusters?
About a week ago, I made the mistake of purchasing Spiderman 3 for
the Playstation 3. Expect a full review in the next day or two. I
guess I was sucked into the hype, and even a veteran gamer like me makes
these kind of mis-steps once in awhile. The summer season is looking
particularly grim with the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek 3,
Transformers, Harry Potter and Surf's Up looking to wash up on shore this
coming season. Very little seems appealing over the next few months,
though Forza 2 and Mass Effect, along with Lair and maybe the already
released Super Paper Mario taking up some of the slack. How ironic, that
as the movie studios bring out their biggest thrill ride movies, the games
based on them are usually awful. Last summer we had the misfortune of
Superman Returns and Eragon to play and quickly forget. There's been a lot
of controversy about the whole Hollywood tie-in thing, which has been
going on for a decade - with very few exceptions, these attempts at
corporate synergy rarely work. How many games based on movies have been
successful over the years? You can count the memorable titles on one hand,
with two of the most famous examples, ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark on
the Atari 2600, being so infamous you probably don't even need us to
retell what a disaster they were. Games based on movies have been even
worse - only the two Tomb Raider films seem to stand out as anything other
than complete embarassments for both the game companies and film-makers
involved. The latest fiasco, based on the Dead or Alive games, probably
won't even be released on DVD, that's how badly it turned out. While movie
games sometimes capture a glimmer of the excitement of a summer film, they
always seem to fall short. Spider-Man 3, despite some promising moments
with its web swinging levels is another title that seems to fall flat in
its attempts to merge these two artforms into one. It never really clicks
and feels kind of lifeless, and that doesn't include the mannequin
characters in the cut-scenes, either. It's been tried so often and
comes up short so consistently, you wonder why the studios and game
companies continue to inflict these games on us players. As the weather
heats up, gamers are probably best advised to stay out of the cinemas and
be patient.
May
9, 2007 - Nights
The 'slow' season is officially underway in terms of video games, with a
slim release calendar consisting of mostly movie games and product tie ins
that looks to be a bleak summer. Of course, there are a few highlights on
the way like Forza 2 and maybe Lair, but things are kind of on hold. The
biggest 'event' this summer is likely to be E3, but given its scaled back
and diminished size, it's hard to put too much stock into it. As usual,
the big games are being held for the fall, when we'll see some of the
biggest games in the current generation yet. Halo 3 is the biggest, but
the PS3's heavy hitters like Heavenly Sword and Killzone 2 should arrive.
These two games might go a long way in quelling doubts about Sony, or they
may reinforce them, at this stage it could go either way. For the hardcore
gamer in me, these all sound great, but the single-biggest event of the
fall should be Sega's Nights: Journey Into Dreams, the long-awaited sequel
to the Saturn classic on the Wii. This game actually looks more exciting
to me, as a gamer, than Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime 3, oddly enough. My
tastes in games have changed somewhat over the years, but Nights was
actually the title that got me to purchase a Saturn way back when, instead
of the N64, so it definitely holds a special place for me. Despite all the
hype these other games are getting, this is the one I'm looking forward to
the most. It's odd, but that's the way I see things at this stage.
May
4, 2007 - Challenging Stage
As you look around electronic gaming, and what it seems to have
evolved into, a trend seems to emerge where two distinct philosophies are
battling it out, currently it's a battle between the hardcore and casual
oriented audiences, with neither side willing to give the other any
credit, its becoming an intractable situation where a pervasive narcissism
seems to have replaced a community, where constant sniping and battles
have become the expected norm. It's a sad phenomenon, and you get
the feeling that a lot of gamers have completely lost the point. Gaming is
supposed to be an enjoyable hobby - not something to sling vitriol at
those who purchased a rival system or enjoy the wrong company's
shooters.
Then again, there's definitely been
something missing over the past couple of years - a sense of community, a
sense of adventure and fun. An appreciation of games for what they are,
not how much they add to a company's bottom line. When you lose sight over
what the main thing should be - the games - and instead focus your energy
on periphery issues like weekly (soon probably daily) sales numbers,
there's something very wrong.
We're in a challenging stage, where game
journalists are becoming box office obsessed, just as what's happened in
many other entertainment industries. It seems like it's less about whether
the actual game is good or entertaining and instead the focus is on how
much money the thing made. Its a warped perspective that leads to
superficial knee-jerk judgments that mean little to the end user's
experience. Is a game better or worse because it sales didn't meet
projections or expectations? There's a massive information overload that
seems to have washed over the reason gaming was so enjoyable in the first
place. Maybe, gamers should worry about games and leave the analysis of
sales figures to the executives and accountants.
ind me and sucked some of the mystery from the hobby. There definitely
seems to be a bit too much cynicism about games lately - I think I've
gotten myself over-saturated with information over the past few years. I
guess staring at too many pie charts might make you lose sight of why you
loved the crazy things in the first place.
In other news, a lot of people have asked me what the future holds for me
and the Laser. I certainly do have a few plans in store, mostly involving
a book I'm thinking of doing, perhaps a combination of my comics and a
kind of retrospective on the laser's past and games. I don't want to give
too much away right now but I am trying to perhaps do a zine-type special
just for the fun of it again. I'm thinking of a real stapled, old
fashioned zine with stamps, not a PDF or some stupid reactionary blog.
Maybe something like this might re-energize the spark for things that
seems to have been pushed away from me in the past year or so. I am
trying, but there's some difficulty in moving forward. I definitely had
more fun when I first started the Laser 14 years ago than I am now.
Perhaps a return to my published, printed zine roots might help me get
back the enjoyment I once felt in what is now a kind of monotonous and
depressing rote of sometimes mechanical reviews about games I'm not
completely passionate about.
On the other hand, it might just be too late, in which case I'm screwed
since I don't really have a Plan B if the Laser reveals itself to be a
failure despite all the years I've put into it.
Quote: