January
30, 2007 - NAVA
Over the weekend, I attended the NAVA
meeting at the Digital Press store in Clifton, New Jersey. Well, not
precisely, since I arrived and left before the majority of the regulars
arrived. I did meet a couple of cool people, but I'm not really able to
cope with large crowds of people lately so I left early. Still, I have to
praise owner and cool guy Joe Santulli for making one of the coolest
stores I've ever been too. It's got some of the best and deepest selection
of classics - everything from 2600 to PS3 and everything in between. Tons
of obscure games for obscure systems, a nice clean layout, fair prices and
excellent service. Basically, the DP store is everything a real gamer
would want in a store, making it the polar opposite of Gamestop. It's
definitely worth the trip, especially if you're in the area and looking
for something cool to do. I found some great Turbografx games, some 2600
boxed titles and other stuff this time around, which was awesome.
They usually have the NAVA meetings once a month, so check out the DP
website to find out when the next meeting is.
January
25, 2007 - Hatred
Looking around on internet message boards and forums, I've
detected a level of malice and hatred about certain companies and systems
that seems completely out of proportion to reality. Many system advocates
seem to feel the need to hurl endless insults and negativity at
'competing' consoles and those who make them. It seems really to be a
function of insecurity that makes gamers look juvenile and petty, while
adding very little to any 'debate' about next generation systems' merits.
Instead, we get personal insults, comments by executives blown way out of
proportion and a non-stop flow of whining and groaning about insignificant
issues that don't matter. But what's the end-game to this phenomenon? Why
is it happening in the first place? The more you look, the more you begin
to doubt that so much hatred can go in one direction. Are there really
that many people waiting to pounce seconds after any thing at all appears
about the system or companies they hate. If there are, it's really kind of
pathetic. However, you really have to think about this. Doesn't it seems a
bit strange that so much negativity and hate is directed at an inanimate
object? It seems like some people's priorities are really messed up.
Whatever happened to gamers just enjoying their hobby and not getting
caught up in all this boring discussion. I've seen so many systems come
and go over the years, it isn't even worth worrying about to me anymore.
Sadly, it seems times have changed and it's no longer enough to enjoy what
you have - you have to insult what someone else has, too. As far as the
current crop of new systems go, they all have a lot of promise and
potential - we probably haven't even tapped the start of what they
can do. It's still very early to predict the winners. More importantly, we
gamers down here in the trenches need to stop worrying about who's winning
the console wars, and just enjoy the ride. That what games are supposed to
offer - enjoyment. Remember that and you'll be fine.
January
24, 2007 - Creepy
During the holiday season, there are so many releases, there are
bound to be a few that fall through the cracks. Last year, with the
release of two new console systems, it was easy to overlook and miss a few
interesting titles. One game that didn't get a lot of attention, and has
been sitting on my shelf waiting to be played is Rumble Roses XX. This is
Konami's all-female wrestling game for the Xbox 360 - which is about as
cynical and depressing as it gets these days. Why is this not getting a
full review on the Laser and instead a short blog entry? Most likely
because it doesn't really deserve one. The moment you plug it in, you know
that this is an absolutely bizarre game where the play itself is secondary.
Most of the 'action' consists of cheese cake shots, rear shots,
chest shots and watching videos of the game's Robo-bimbos posing and
dancing on beaches while bad dance music plays in the background. The
characters are laughable and include a nurse in a plastic/rubber uniform
(her name is.... Anesthesia; deduct 5,000 points for lacking originality),
a teacher who forgot to put her clothes on, a large number of school-girls
(domestic and Japanese) not to mention the leather ladies, the cow-girls
and every other lame cliché you can think of. Yes, there are even the
obligatory French maids. No, I'm not kidding.
Playing Rumble Roses XX Its kind of like one of those Simpsons jokes where
they satirize video games, except it is a real video game with bad acting
and cheap plots. While it might be funny on one level, it's also exactly
the kind of game that give the industry such a bad reputation amongst those
who would censor games and keeps them from a mainstream audience. It might
appeal to a small group of lonely gamers, but is the damage it does to the
reputation of more traditional (ie: well-adjusted) electronic game players
worth the trouble?
Rumble Roses XX seems to act as an excuse for stereotypes that are
demeaning to women, which makes this a shameless exercise that feels as
empty as the models themselves. As you play through the game, you can win
extra items like outfits, accessories and other things like shoes. It
doesn't help that the rendering is good at modeling shiny fabrics and
g-string bikinis, but the models themselves seem expressionless and look
like glassy eyed mannequins or robots, without souls or personalities.
It's almost like someone went to E3, saw the all the air head booth babes
and decided that was the most interesting thing there. The gameplay itself
is pretty bad with stilted controls, badly timed moves and a weird
finishing system that makes you want to vomit or laugh hysterically at
some of its more extreme moves with girls' legs in the air. The slapping
technique was especially funny. It's hard to understand who the exact
target audience is for this game, though I have my theories. I'm not sure
anyone that has a real, not virtual, girlfriend would want them to see
them playing this unless they want to spend Valentine's Day evening alone
on the PC playing with their avatars.
Of course, it goes without saying, if this had been a standard wrestling
game with all-male casts who kept their clothes on, no one would care
about Rumble Roses one bit. Anyway, this is probably one of the lamest
games I've seen on a next-generation console - what a waste of technology.
While Rumble Roses XX has taken up residence in many bargain bins already,
we wouldn't be tempted to buy this again - it's just creepy and sexist
without much to make up for its shortcomings. Apparently, Rumble Roses XX
shares the same engine as DOA. Sadly, it lacks the solid gameplay elements
to make it worthwhile and ends up as a joke that seems to devolve into a
well of unintentional self-parody. It's a real shame that Konami, the same
company that brought us Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Contra, Gradius
and, Castlevania, has to resort to these creepy-old-man tactics to get
attention.
January
23, 2007 - Freelance
I guess you probably think I'm pretty stupid for carrying on with the
Laser when I could be making a lot more money as a freelancer, but there's
so much compromise and politics involved that it's pretty much not worth
it. I'd like to share one short anecdote with you as an example. Several
years ago, I was working on a then-top ranked site and my assignment was
to write previews of upcoming Dreamcast titles. Things were going along
great as I pumped out my quota of two articles a day, gradually helping
the site build up its rep with gamers and learning a lot about what goes
into the development process at the same time. I was earning a pretty
decent amount of money at the time as well. Unfortunately, things took a
turn for the worse when one of the developers that was impressed by the
depth and information my preview of their title asked for an
interview.
I set the whole thing up, emailed
questions when suddenly, out of the blue, the editor of this now-defunct
website emails me and tells me not to go forward. I didn't know what was
happening, so I asked him. Turns out, he wanted to do the interview
himself, cutting me right out of the process. I did all the work writing
and editing the preview, but he got to talk to the developers and be the
big shot. To say I was upset would be an understatement. As you might have
guessed, a few weeks later, I quit the website and left disappointed by
yet another editor who stepped on my toes when things began to go in the
right direction.
That was the last straw, I decided - I
was getting really tired of having the rug pulled out from under me, time
after time, and was absolutely determined not to be placed in that
position again. It was then that I decided, after years of frustration and
aggravation to start my own website. Of course, I had no idea where to
begin, until I looked on a shelf and saw a box of my old 'zines. The
result is what you're reading now.
January 19, 2007 - Out of Print
It's sad to see what's happened to many of the magazine stalwarts
over the past few years. Those who grew up buying magazines, its shocking
to see how the mighty have fallen. A decade ago, two of the biggest US
magazines, Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro used to dominate the
gaming scene and define the industry. Once a month, you'd tear through
endless ads and multi-hundred page issues to see what was going on. Today,
both seem a shadow of their former selves, with ugly layouts, poorly
written reviews, old information, slim page counts and not much else. Both
magazines seem to have lost their identities over the years, which is
especially sad in the case of EGM, which seems to have become almost a
complete waste of time. The editors seem to think the best strategy
against websites is to become a bad version of National Lampoon, which
sub-fratboy humor substituting for the once dominant coverage of gaming.
The previews lack depth and seem to have only the barest information, very
little of which can't be found on the game developers' websites. This is
really apparent when you look at the Japanese section, which used to be a
huge portion of EGM. Now its a single page that seems to be more an excuse
to point out how 'wacky' the Japanese are, instead of showing you cool
games months ahead of time. Gamepro has also lost much of its charm as the
layouts and covers have become increasingly bland, with the writing
seemingly without the fizz or personality that made it so much fun to
read. The sad part about this is the fact that it doesn't have to be that
way. It's probably impossible to expect print magazines to regain the
luster they once had, but with the right approach, as seen in some
magazines like Game Developer here in the US and especially, Edge and
Games TM, these books can still play an important role in gaming going
forward. Unfortunately, it looks like these magazines still haven't found
much of an identity or niche in the internet age, which is sad for many
gamers out there who grew up on them. In the meantime, the editors would
probably do well to look over their shoulders, they won't be able to coast
on their name brand and reputation forever, unless they want to go the way
of Computer Gaming World and Official Playstation Magazine. Hopefully,
someone will think up an interesting way to keep these magazines relevant
and restore their standing in gamer's eyes before it's too late.
January 18, 2007 - Ex-Xbox
Gamers and collectors accustomed to the slow fade of most gaming
systems at the end of their lifespan have probably suffered whiplash at
the speed and rapid descent that the original Xbox has taken. Even though
it's only been a year since the Xbox 360 launched, the original black
behometh has been taken out of commission much faster than expected. While
the PS1 and PS2 had long twilights that extended long into the life of
their next generation progeny, and the Gamecube continues to soldier on,
the original Microsoft console seems to have all but vanished. No major
releases have occurred in the past six months while the original hardware
seems to be almost impossible to find. Gamers are probably wondering how
MS could have managed this so badly, but there's really no secret - the
original Xbox was a very expensive machine to make and remained so until
the end. The inclusion of a hard-drive probably added to its cost and made
it extremely difficult for Microsoft to reduce the price. This means the
Microsoft has been in a hurry to get rid of what became an albatross, and
developers followed suit. While it means Xbox 360 ramped up a bit faster
than expected, the old console's fate was sealed the moment the design
specs were sealed - it wasn't meant to last. The good news for gamers is
that original Xbox software has been flooding the used market, making the
prices drop precipitously and much faster than expected. A large problem
with this is the rings most average casual gamers have to go through to
play only a limited number of original titles on their system. This lack
of demand means that games, even really good ones like Halo and Doom 3 can
now be had much cheaper than expected. Its probably not what Xbox owners
had in mind five years ago, but maybe this is a better model for gaming in
the long haul, since fewer older preowned games will clog retailer
shelves, opening up room for more innovative current software.
January 17, 2007 - Uncontrollable
When it comes to Nintendo's Wii console, many gamers and journalists
seem to think that innovation and newness automatically equates to
superiority. While this might seem obvious on the surface, a closer
examination of the system and practice with some of its titles shows the
Wii-mote doesn't always make as much of an improvement in terms of
sensitivity and control as one would expect reading the breathless,
uncritical hype spinning endlessly. The Wii-mote has been praised
endlessly in article after article, but the praise often falls short of
reality. In many games, the Wii-mote actually seems to work against a
number of titles we've tried to play with it, rendering many
uncontrollable and frustrating. Red Steel is probably the most egregious
example of this approach - the controls simply don't work as effectively
as you would think they would, making for a confusing game that is
difficult to control. Its painfully apparent that while certain games
benefit from the controller's unique motion sensing abilities, many other
titles are messed up and don't play nearly as smoothly or intuitively as
they would with a standard input device. Many of the lesser Wii titles
suffer from this problem and become almost unplayable thanks to their poor
implementation. This doesn't seem to be happening as much with Nintendo
first party games as it does with third-parties, but you get the sense
that a lot of these games would play much better with a more standard
interface. It just underlines what I think is a key point - that many are
so enamored with the new, that they confuse novelty with quality. Its an
understandable mistake, but one that needs to be corrected. I'm tired of
reviewers and bloggers making excuses for developers who haven't mastered
the Wii controller and fail to use the system properly - why should gamers
pay full retail for experiments that failed? Nintendo really needs to
address these issues or they face the prospect of Wii becoming another N64
in a year or two. Release enough mediocre games, and that's what will
happen, regardless of how clever the controller seems. There needs to be
better quality control and a better understanding of what types of games
will or won't work with it. Nintendo is off to a promising starts, but
they need to do a better job in explaining to developers how to implement
their ideas effectively. If they fail to do this, the Wii might find
itself in deep trouble over the long term, despite what some of the more
strident system advocates might have you believe.
January 16, 2007 - Soccer Practice
In an attempt to meet some new people, get some exercise and try
something new, I've been trying to play soccer in a local indoor field.
No, I'm not talking about sitting around playing PC games on a LAN, but real
soccer with real people. It's been quite fun these past few weeks trying
something new like this, something I've never tried before. It feels a bit
strange to do this, but in some weird sense it feels right. I like that
I've actually done something different, and its cool to play a game where
you can't use your hands, which is kind of ironic if you think about it.
Also, It's nice to do something a bit more masculine than I'm used to. Not
to mention the fact that I've spent to much time in front of computers and
television screens and maybe I need a little less sedentary things in my
life. I've spent too much time writing about ghostly girls in
polka-dot dresses and listening to Goldfrapp records, and it's
time for me to act more like a man for a change. This probably sounds insane to
you, but at least I'm willing to try something before I'm too old to try
anymore. Not that I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, just
stumbling through my days. This might also be useful for the Laser as
well, since when this year's editions of FIFA and Winning Eleven come out,
I can actually review them based on experience, not second hand knowledge
or watching something on television. Never let it be said that we at the
Laser won't go the extra mile to give you more accurate video game
reviews. Next week, I'm flying to the Pakistan border region and going on
a Black Ops mission with the Marine Special Forces so I can better gauge
the realism of next year's Tom Clancy titles.
January 15, 2007 - Remember when I
meant it?
I've been running around
thinking about what's going on with things lately and have come to the
conclusion that certain things probably aren't the way they should be.
It's been a strange couple of months for me, as I've tried to update the
site's look and feel without getting lost as to the original mission. It
hasn't been easy keeping things up, as it feels like a constant battle to
keep going on with this, with all that has happened in the past year, as
some of you might know. I've tried my best to be consistent and this blog
has helped me keep posting something even on the many days when even
looking at the site is hard. Another large issue I've faced is trying to
keep the site relevant - it takes a lot of money behind the scenes to stay
current - two system launches, television upgrades and other expenses far
exceeding our income have been incurred. Unlike the larger sites, we
really don't have the resources or connections that bigger sites have, but
we try and bring you a balanced cross section of what's going
on.
That said, some changes have been made.
I've noticed that the review scores have gotten a bit too high over the
past few years, the scores seemed to be getting a bit washed out and too
high on average. This is my honest assessment, and I think that now, with
the new systems, is an ideal time to make things a bit tougher on our
grading. The last few reviews we've posted might seem a bit harsher than
you're used to, but as games become more sophisticated and technology
advanced, we're demanding more from publishers and developers. This is why
a game that might have gotten a B or B+ rating from us last year is only
getting a B- or a C+ now. It's a better reflection of the current
standards, and should give you out there a better idea of what's truly
worth the money, and what are decent games that you can wait a few months
when the price drops. This isn't done to seem petty or tougher than
everyone else, more of an adjustment to make sure the grades we assign
better reflect the title's quality. This might seem a small distinction to
you, but I've decided to be a little less forgiving in the reviews in the
interest of our readers. My mission with the Laser remains, as it has for
the past dozen years or so since its inception as a fanzine, is to bring
you out there an unbiased, honest site that's written with intelligence
and passion. It's not always as easy as it seems on the surface, but we
continue our efforts since we feel it's valuable to our audience. Thanks
to all of you out there for your continued support, I very much appreciate
it.
January 14, 2007 - What do the Numbers Mean?
NPD has released the final
estimates for holiday sales and there are a few illuminating statistics
included in their report. What's really interesting about this set of
numbers is that all three hardware manufacturers can point to success.
Nintendo can claim the biggest upset, as the Wii outsold the PS3 during
the launch period, while the DS and GBA continue to claim huge sales. As a
percentage of total sales, Nitnendo sold the most hardware overall during
the holiday season. Sony also has something to be happy about, while the
PS3 wasn't able to claim the top prize, the company still claims 1 million
units sold during launch, which puts it ahead of the pace the PS2 set when
it launched. While the PSP is still second behind the DS, it still sold a
decent amount and is doing much better at retail than it's been doing on
the Internet. Microsoft still maintains the lead in next generation
console sales, with a substantial lead over both the Wii and PS3 at the
current time. After looking over the numbers, there's little doubt that
the big race will be a bit closer this time around. What this means is
that a more competitive landscape awaits gamers, which should make for
increased variety and better games. The system partisans can argue who
really won, but that's beside the point. Wasting time trying to predict
the end result is something even the best analysts will probably be little
more than a crapshoot. The good news is that the industry is firing on all
cylinders at this time, making this probably the most interesting time to
be a gamer since the SNES vs. Genesis days 15 years ago.
January
12, 2007 - Silver
This years marks the 25th Anniversary of one of gaming's most
seminal years. The influence 1982 had on many games was profound. This was
the peak of arcade gaming, and many of the titles that still hold the test
of time like Robotron, Defender, Joust, Centipede, Ms. Pac Man, Frogger
debuted at this time. Arcade gaming was at its absolute peak and seemed to
be almost on the cusp of domination. This year also represented the peak
of the first generation of console systems with the Atari 2600 and
Intellivision dominating the scene while the Vectrex, Atari 5200 and
Colecovision made their debuts this year. Younger players probably don't
remember what a huge wave this was, a complete domination of culture that
threatened other forms of entertainment. This was also the year when
developers still had plenty of freedom, long before the advent of lock out
chips, companies like Activision and Imagic were able to develop
innovative software without having manufacturers breathing down their
throats. Long before the advent of ratings, adult themed games were also
produced. Reading through the pages of the now-classic Electronic Games
magazine,
you're struck by the sense of possibility that emanated from the pages,
where nothing seemed as corporate and cynical as they do now. Today's
journalists seem to be more excited by NPD numbers, analyst reports and PR
celebrities than they do by the games themsleves. Games today seem a lot
less interesting as well. There are fewer surprises, less innovation and a
more cynical focus group mentality that reduces or elminates the
possibility of something truly new coming along. It's kind of a sad thing
to look back in a way. The innocence of that time seems lost now, and
while you can still experience some of the old gaming magic through
emulators and compilation packs, it's not likely that gamers will see
another year like 1982 again.
January
11, 2007- New Approaches
After playing a lot more of the PS3 launch titles over the past
few weeks, the thing that strikes me the most is that a lot of the
released games feel like ports of games from other platforms. Titles like
Blazing Angels, Fight Night and Marvel Ultimate Alliance are decent games,
but you get the feeling that they were rushed to capitalize on the launch
mania. The visuals don't really take advantage of the PS3's processing
power and the couple of titles that do take advantage of the Sixaxis
controller's tilt functionality feel forced and poorly executed - this is
definitely apparent in Tony Hawk's Project 8, which seems to embody the
problematic nature of this launch period more than most games released to
date. It's a real shame because these rushed ports do very little to
reassure gamers coaxed into parting with $600 or more that their
investments were worth it. It also hurts Sony's reputation with gamers and
bloggers who have raised legitimate questions about the vaunted Cell
processor's proposed abilities which don't really seem evident in these
launch games. There have been a few glimmers of the promise, most notably
in Resistance, but nothing released to date has really come close to those
concept videos that wowed E3 in 2005. Instead, what most gamers are seeing
is a system whose potential is barely being tapped, while cynical ports
and awful games mar the landscape. Things might be looking up soon, with
several key titles like Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm and Lair looking to
change these initial bad impressions.
On the Wii front, Nintendo's developers also seem to be struggling
a bit to get their heads around the console's unique controller interface.
While there have been some solid efforts, there's also been a lot of
pretty awful games. Ubisoft has supported the console quite strongly, but
their initial releases Red Steel, Double Agent and Far Cry Vengeance have
so far only managed to amplify the system's limitations - with poor
graphics, awkward controls and generally poorly executed games that don't
really manage to show off the system's potential. Instead, you have games
which try and work a somewhat standard formula into working on the console
instead of working the other way around where the developers create
something unique for the system itself. It's a problem of philosophy and
since both systems are so different in approach and style, it's probably
going to be quite difficult for cross-platform releases to succeed. While
smaller esoteric developers like Atlus and NIS will probably thrive in
this more demanding environment, the ironic fact is that larger companies
like EA and Activision seem to be having a harder time adapting their
approach to these changing times. How things play out in the next year or
two will play a large role in determining what direction gaming is going
in, and whether these experimental times are a prelude to something more
enduring or merely a diversion from the well-established path of evolution
that's been established over the past decade since the original
PlayStation launched.
January
10, 2007 - Drought
Players who purchase new systems at launch typically experience a
drought between the first and second wave of titles. This winter seems
like the one of discontent for PS3 owners, who have virtually no new
releases scheduled for January, save Sonic the Hedgehog, a title which has
already received dismal reviews on other platforms. After that it's
another month long wait until the next substantial wave of game is
released in late February and early March, when some key titles like
Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword and Lair are set to appear. The situation on
the Wii isn't as dire, with a steadier stream of games like Wario Ware
coming to help fill in the blanks. Xbox 360 owners have a solid release in
the form of Lost Planet on their immediate horizon, but not much else
until Forza 2 comes out. Fortunately, players can use this time to catch
up on the titles that they may not have caught up on. Meanwhile, there's
always the console download services, which seem to have picked up steam.
Nintendo's Virtual Console has seen many cool retro games, while XBox Live
is saturated with content and even the Playstation store has gotten cool
stuff like GripShift and Gran Turismo HD lately. Just don't get desperate
and buy something like Red Steel or Mobile Suit Gundam Crossfire just to
fill the winter blahs.
January
9, 2007 - Moratorium
Writing about video games doesn't lend itself, for the most
part, to creativity or intelligence, at lease not in the mainstream print
and online worlds. There are hundreds of examples of uninspired writing,
bad story ideas and just plain neglect. I could go on and on about reviews
of demos, downloadable games, press releases masquerading as content, live
blogging system updates, worthless interviews, cliché-ridden reviews,
reviews obviously written without playing the game, but, I'll focus on
just one thing today. I just want to point out that a lot of writers have
used this crutch over the past few weeks, and it's really getting
annoying, so now can you game writers please kindly stop using the
following phrase: "Not so much"
Thanks, your readers will appreciate it.
January
8, 2007 - Numbers
There's been a ton of press releases today from the big gaming companies,
all of which feature confusing sets of numbers. These are the first
indications on how the holiday season and launches from last year went.
Let's try and make some sense of these, though they should be taken with a
grain of salt, since there's a lot of PR spin involved. Sony
claims to have shipped one million PS3's to stores from launch to New
Years, which is a faster pace than the Xbox 360 shipped in the same period
last year during it's launch. However - Sony's original plans called for
much higher shipping numbers, while reports are widespread of PS3's
sitting on store shelves. The Xbox 360 also shipped simultaneously in
Europe at launch, while Sony's launch was concentrated in North America
and Japan, so that needs to be factored in. The numbers for Wii are all
over the map and depend on which source you use (In fact none of these
numbers we're quoting can be considered absolute, some use units sold
through to stores, while others only count consoles sold through, just to
make things more confusing.) However, the base-line says Nintendo sold at
least as many as Xbox 360 did, with probably in excess of 2 million units.
Since these numbers shift around, suffer revisions months later and are
subject to huge asterisks, you can only draw the broadest, least accurate
analysis from these preliminary figures.
No matter which set of numbers you rely
on, there's no doubt the Wii sold
much better than anyone would have expected a year ago, and the demand for
the system is still far in excess of supply. If Nintendo can keep up their
momentum, they'll definitely be in much stronger shape this time around.
Microsoft's early launch strategy seems to have paid off, since they're
sitting on a large lead. The company announced that the 360 has sold over
ten million consoles worldwide, which is an impressive benchmark. The much
hyped shooter Gears of War seems to have helped significantly, and looks
to be a huge hit. With Halo 3 lying in wait for the latter half of this
year, it looks like the 360 will be much stronger this time around. This
brings us to Sony, which hasn't had much to smile about lately. The PS3
launch has been plagued by negativity on the part of certain press since
E3 and the console's high price and small software library has been an
early stumbling block. While the 1 Million unit figure sounds impressive,
it's a small fraction of the install base of either the PS1 or PS2, so
there's still a long way to go. However, one thing you can easily see in
these numbers is the fact that Sony faces much stronger competition this
time around. Whether the PS3 can overcome the storm of negative publicity
with solid games that really deliver on the system's potential is the
biggest question of the year. There isn't much to go on yet, but these
early numbers suggest an all out battle for leadership this time around
with three contenders seemingly evenly matched.
January
5, 2007 - Blue Book
It's been out for awhile, but I wanted to give a quick review of the
Digital Press Guide Advance (AKA Blue Book) which covers most of the 16
and 32-bit eras. (I picked it up a month or so ago at the DP Store, which
is a really awesome place, well worth the trip!) Like the Red Book (which
covers the Atari 2600 to NES era) DP's Advance guide comes in at over 500
pages and includes a complete, exhaustive listing for a ton of systems
ranging from the SNES and Genesis, TurboGrafx 16 along with more obscure
systems like the NUON and Memorex VIS. It's a definitely a bargain for
$25.00 What's really cool about the book is that it's more than a price
guide, and includes a small paragraph about many games, including codes
and cheats, release dates and what ratings they received from the
magazines at the time. The guide also sets itself apart from some of the
more dry competitors by taking a more conversational, casual tone. Some of
the best parts of the book come when collectors, including editor Joe
Santulli reminisce about console launches (quite appropriate these days)
and disappointments. This should be an essential read for any classic game
collector and comes highly recommended. You can find more information,
including ordering and price by clicking
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January
3, 2007 - Collecting Dust
The start of a new year means new beginnings and this year,
especially seems like a good time for this. I've decided to sell off some
of the excess items from last year. The biggest of these is my collection
of UMD movies - which have been collecting dust since the summer. Well,
the crummy half - the ones starring Vin Diesel, the Rock and other Z-Listers,
the complete seasons of Good Times, the complete seasons of Good Times.
The documentaries about airplanes. The music video collections of bands I
personally hate. All the chaff is going but I'm keeping the good stuff (Tron,
Silent Hill, Heavy Metal, most of the anime titles, Pulp Fiction) so the
split is roughly equal. There's about a hundred I'm keeping, and about a
hundred I'm selling. Not that I hate UMD as a format, so don't confuse
this with a Sony bashing post, it's just that some of these things I'll
never watch, and have no intention of watching in any format. Not VHS, Not
DVD, Not Betamax, or even Blu-Ray. I still can't quite figure out
how or why I thought collecting these things was a good idea in the first
place. Most of any money I get for these on <AUCTION SITE> will
probably be used for games - I collect games, not movies. I keep making
the same mistakes - a couple years ago I found a Laserdisc player and some
movies, only to regret it later. I sold it for a loss. Perhaps, I should
just focus on what I enjoy the most. Suffice it to say, collecting can be
a strange beast for me sometimes. Update: I sold the UMD's,
which means more money for games and polka dot dresses.
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