Curmudgeon Gamer
30 October 2007
Hope for Sony
This is apparently from a presentation by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo:
I want to highlight this one in particular:
That jump in PS3 sales in Europe is pretty amazing. The PS3 is outselling the Xbox 360 immediately following the launch of Halo 3, if I'm reading it right. I believe that's following the launch of the 40Gb PS3, and my recollection is that European countries were getting some reasonably decent bundles (like a football game or something).
If we see anything like that when Sony introduces the 40Gb PS3 here, it might be a happy holiday for Sony after all. If they're selling 2-3 times as many PS3s after the 40Gb model was introduced into Europe, that would be comparable to selling 40,000 to 60,000 PS3s per week here. That would put Sony at 160,000 - 240,000 systems per month. During the Holiday 2007, I think you can safely double that, or even triple it.
We won't know how the 40Gb $400 model is really doing February 2008, maybe even March 2008, because Holiday sales will skew the numbers higher than usual. Regardless, it sure is going to be fun to watch.
I want to highlight this one in particular:
That jump in PS3 sales in Europe is pretty amazing. The PS3 is outselling the Xbox 360 immediately following the launch of Halo 3, if I'm reading it right. I believe that's following the launch of the 40Gb PS3, and my recollection is that European countries were getting some reasonably decent bundles (like a football game or something).
If we see anything like that when Sony introduces the 40Gb PS3 here, it might be a happy holiday for Sony after all. If they're selling 2-3 times as many PS3s after the 40Gb model was introduced into Europe, that would be comparable to selling 40,000 to 60,000 PS3s per week here. That would put Sony at 160,000 - 240,000 systems per month. During the Holiday 2007, I think you can safely double that, or even triple it.
We won't know how the 40Gb $400 model is really doing February 2008, maybe even March 2008, because Holiday sales will skew the numbers higher than usual. Regardless, it sure is going to be fun to watch.
--jvm at 23:15
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[ 2 ]
Peer pressure
This weekend I almost bought Guitar Hero III for the PS3. It was a really odd experience -- I felt like I should give the game a shot, after never really giving the first two games a chance. And it seemed like the best time to get the game would be now. After all, the Guitar Hero games never actually drop in price.
A friend, Joe, explained to me that Guitar Hero is an event game, that it's natural to want to be able to talk about the latest game while everyone is playing. I think that's right. This is certainly the first time in a long time that I've felt really pressured to get a game.
Anyway, I might still pick it up after another paycheck or two. In any event, I do need to keep my focus on paying the bills and finding nice things for my family for Christmas, so best to stay more rather than less frugal.
A friend, Joe, explained to me that Guitar Hero is an event game, that it's natural to want to be able to talk about the latest game while everyone is playing. I think that's right. This is certainly the first time in a long time that I've felt really pressured to get a game.
Anyway, I might still pick it up after another paycheck or two. In any event, I do need to keep my focus on paying the bills and finding nice things for my family for Christmas, so best to stay more rather than less frugal.
Labels: music games, peer pressure
--jvm at 23:08
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[ 2 ]
29 October 2007
We need videogame history yesterday
I'm too tired to go through it in detail right now, but the headline on this piece convinces me that most people writing about videogame companies haven't spent enough time reading their history.
--jvm at 21:28
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28 October 2007
Sony rushed the October price drop
Last week I wrote in my NPD article:
That's right -- it still shows the 80Gb PS3 at $600. If you check online or in the store, the price is actually $500.
Leaks from printed fliers were the source for rumors of the summer price drops by both Sony and Microsoft. Now we're seeing the reverse: Sony dropped its price unexpectedly and it's taking the fliers a couple of weeks to adjust.
Anecdotally, the October price drop for the 80Gb model appears to have been less well planned than its June introduction, as fliers the week after the announced drop to $500 still reflected the higher $600 price.I thought I might possibly be reading too much into the mistake, but now I think I had it right. In my local Circuit City Sunday advert:
That's right -- it still shows the 80Gb PS3 at $600. If you check online or in the store, the price is actually $500.
Leaks from printed fliers were the source for rumors of the summer price drops by both Sony and Microsoft. Now we're seeing the reverse: Sony dropped its price unexpectedly and it's taking the fliers a couple of weeks to adjust.
--jvm at 09:16
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[ 0 ]
27 October 2007
Sony fails at selling the PSP
When my God of War PSP demo finally came in, this little cardboard advertisement was packed inside the mailer. It's marketing like this that explains why the PSP isn't living up to its potential. Sony simply doesn't know how they want to sell the system:
The two main reasons this advertisement fails:
Look, Sony, the competition is outselling your PSP by at least a 2-to-1 ratio every month with its non-photo-music-video Nintendo DS. Their handheld's software actually gets in the top 10 on a regular basis, and even had the #1 spot for a while this year. Their marketing is focused on one thing: games. Wise up!
The two main reasons this advertisement fails:- Photos, Music, and Video come before Games. The PlayStation name is synonymous with games. Not photos. Not music. Not video. GAMES.
- Game shown (MLB '07 The Show) is available on other platforms, with better graphics and probably better network support. It does not sell people on the system's uniqueness.
Look, Sony, the competition is outselling your PSP by at least a 2-to-1 ratio every month with its non-photo-music-video Nintendo DS. Their handheld's software actually gets in the top 10 on a regular basis, and even had the #1 spot for a while this year. Their marketing is focused on one thing: games. Wise up!
--jvm at 15:46
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[ 2 ]
26 October 2007
Eye of Judgment ... hacking
Given that the digital camera game Eye of Judgment for the PS3 apparently isn't very discerning about the quality of the encoding on the cards, it would be neat to see someone generate all possible card combinations and see what kind of hidden things might turn up. For example, the game could contain code and graphics for cards that aren't -- or never will be -- released officially. I'm not saying that there are any, but it would be an interesting hacking exercise to root out easter eggs.
--jvm at 21:16
Comment
[ 6 ]
Seven years ago today
I stood in line at a Best Buy at 5:00AM on 26 October 2000 and hoped I'd get an opportunity to buy a PlayStation 2. My friend Todd and I chatted with the people in line with us -- teenagers, college kids, parents picking up a special Christmas present. It was a lot of fun.
The store was due to open at 10:00AM and sometime between 8:00AM and 9:00AM the manager came out and gave out numbered tickets to the people in line. I got Ticket #55, if I recall correctly. Todd and I went to the McDonald's across the street with a few of our new acquaintances and had a nice warm breakfast. The chilly morning air had made us hungry and we stayed to talk until it was time to get back in line again.
Back at the store, the staff had set up stations to handle sales. Todd and I took our tickets to the station designated for our range of ticket numbers. Along with a PlayStation 2 I bought a copy of Ridge Racer V and a remote control kit that came with a copy of The Matrix, my first DVD.
While we all waited for our turn to check out, a guy started yelling and got escorted from the store by several Best Buy employees. I asked one of the employees later what had happened and was told that the guy had showed up with a Ticket #1. The problem was that they didn't give out a Ticket #1 -- they started the numbering with #2. He'd apparently made a facsimile of someone else's ticket and decided he might as well make himself #1 while he was at it.
I didn't get to play anything until that evening because I had to head to work. Ridge Racer V was neat, but ugly. Nowadays it's just ugly. Luckily, some friends gave me Driver soon after that and eventually I got my first good PS2 game, SSX. Still, that was a fun day, and not one I'll soon forget.
The store was due to open at 10:00AM and sometime between 8:00AM and 9:00AM the manager came out and gave out numbered tickets to the people in line. I got Ticket #55, if I recall correctly. Todd and I went to the McDonald's across the street with a few of our new acquaintances and had a nice warm breakfast. The chilly morning air had made us hungry and we stayed to talk until it was time to get back in line again.
Back at the store, the staff had set up stations to handle sales. Todd and I took our tickets to the station designated for our range of ticket numbers. Along with a PlayStation 2 I bought a copy of Ridge Racer V and a remote control kit that came with a copy of The Matrix, my first DVD.
While we all waited for our turn to check out, a guy started yelling and got escorted from the store by several Best Buy employees. I asked one of the employees later what had happened and was told that the guy had showed up with a Ticket #1. The problem was that they didn't give out a Ticket #1 -- they started the numbering with #2. He'd apparently made a facsimile of someone else's ticket and decided he might as well make himself #1 while he was at it.
I didn't get to play anything until that evening because I had to head to work. Ridge Racer V was neat, but ugly. Nowadays it's just ugly. Luckily, some friends gave me Driver soon after that and eventually I got my first good PS2 game, SSX. Still, that was a fun day, and not one I'll soon forget.
Labels: game stores, ps2, sony
--jvm at 09:44
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25 October 2007
Konami hides its history too well
The new Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles should give today's PSP owners an easy means to experience some revitalized history. The game disc contains an exclusive remake of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, an emulated original Rondo of Blood (PCE CD), and an emulated Symphony of the Night (PS1). I say it should give PSP owners this oportunity, but it doesn't, really. Konami has decided to lock the history away behind a wall of secrets.
Out of the box, only the first of those three games is available to play. How do you unlock the other two?
To play Symphony of the Night you have to get to take Richter into Stage 3', an alternate stage reached by finishing Stage 2 in a special way. Then you have to pick up an axe subweapon which is hidden in a secret room. Then you take the axe to a particular room and use it to cut down a platform held up by vines. Then you take a set of platforms several screens across and break a tombstone to reveal an icon which unlocks Symphony of the Night.
If you die on Stage 3' after you get the axe but before you unlock the secret, you lose the axe. Tough luck, buster. Yo gotta do it again.
How to unlock the original Rondo of Blood? Get to and break that same tombstone playing as Maria, not Richter. Wait, you don't have Maria as a selectable character yet? Oh my. You did pick up the special key subweapon on Stage 2 and then unlock the prison door down in the dungeon, right? Well, that's how you get Maria. Then head off to Stage 3' and get the Rondo of Blood icon in the tombstone. That's right -- an easter egg within an easter egg!
What a load of crap. Instead of making historic games accessible to players in their original forms, Konami has hidden them so well that I'd've never found them if it weren't for GameFAQs.
Out of the box, only the first of those three games is available to play. How do you unlock the other two?
To play Symphony of the Night you have to get to take Richter into Stage 3', an alternate stage reached by finishing Stage 2 in a special way. Then you have to pick up an axe subweapon which is hidden in a secret room. Then you take the axe to a particular room and use it to cut down a platform held up by vines. Then you take a set of platforms several screens across and break a tombstone to reveal an icon which unlocks Symphony of the Night.
If you die on Stage 3' after you get the axe but before you unlock the secret, you lose the axe. Tough luck, buster. Yo gotta do it again.
How to unlock the original Rondo of Blood? Get to and break that same tombstone playing as Maria, not Richter. Wait, you don't have Maria as a selectable character yet? Oh my. You did pick up the special key subweapon on Stage 2 and then unlock the prison door down in the dungeon, right? Well, that's how you get Maria. Then head off to Stage 3' and get the Rondo of Blood icon in the tombstone. That's right -- an easter egg within an easter egg!
What a load of crap. Instead of making historic games accessible to players in their original forms, Konami has hidden them so well that I'd've never found them if it weren't for GameFAQs.
Labels: castlevania, konami, psp, sony
--jvm at 21:38
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[ 5 ]
Finally here! God of War PSP demo
The God of War: Chains of Olympus demo promised 9/2007 finally arrived on the 25th day of 10/2007. Way to go, Sony.
The verdict: Short. Bloody. Fun.
Now how long it will take them to finish the full thing?
The verdict: Short. Bloody. Fun.
Now how long it will take them to finish the full thing?
--jvm at 21:33
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[ 0 ]
24 October 2007
Preorder bonus? No! Preorder punishment!
I picked up Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles for the PSP over lunch. The shop only had two copies, and didn't have any preorders, so I got their little 8-bit Simon Belmont figure. Hideous, absolutely hideous.
Bad Konami!
Bad Konami!Labels: castlevania, game stores, psp, sony
--jvm at 13:48
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[ 3 ]
23 October 2007
September NPD graphs and babble
Another month, another piece about videogame sales.
I keep the official article as emotionless as possible, but I'll let go here a bit. Going over Sony's numbers is grim business. The PS2 is slowly fading. The PS3 is not growing, but shrinking. The PSP is moving hardware, but the software market for it is essentially moribund.
I've said it before -- perhaps not here -- but I don't understand why they abandoned the simple, cheap, easy-to-develop-for model that brought them such success on the PS1. With its ease-of-development, it's no surprise that developers don't mind putting their bigger games on the Xbox 360. And cheaper games find an easy home on the Wii -- although sales could be better for third party software.
Each hardware manufacturer has had its own unique hardware problem this term. Microsoft has had hardware failures. Nintendo has had supply problems. Sony has had high hardware costs.
Extended warranties appear to have fixed Microsoft's problem, for the time being. Nintendo is gradually increasing supply. Sony -- it's clear that the June price adjustments weren't enough. I'm not convinced that the new $400 model will do the trick either.
I keep the official article as emotionless as possible, but I'll let go here a bit. Going over Sony's numbers is grim business. The PS2 is slowly fading. The PS3 is not growing, but shrinking. The PSP is moving hardware, but the software market for it is essentially moribund.
I've said it before -- perhaps not here -- but I don't understand why they abandoned the simple, cheap, easy-to-develop-for model that brought them such success on the PS1. With its ease-of-development, it's no surprise that developers don't mind putting their bigger games on the Xbox 360. And cheaper games find an easy home on the Wii -- although sales could be better for third party software.
Each hardware manufacturer has had its own unique hardware problem this term. Microsoft has had hardware failures. Nintendo has had supply problems. Sony has had high hardware costs.
Extended warranties appear to have fixed Microsoft's problem, for the time being. Nintendo is gradually increasing supply. Sony -- it's clear that the June price adjustments weren't enough. I'm not convinced that the new $400 model will do the trick either.
--jvm at 10:15
Comment
[ 3 ]
19 October 2007
Even small gifts buy influence, says JAMA
This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association about relationships between academics and industry in medicine has some points that I think carry over to the videogame media and industry. (Update: Also read Kyle Orland's Media Coverage post from yesterday about gifts.) It's not a perfect, analogy, but consider this from the conclusions, with my emphasis:
Certainly journalists receive small gifts, and also larger gifts like the boxes of Halo 3 materials shown in recent videos. Are journalists somehow free of influence? How does that work?
In the Media Coverage column, Kyle says (again, my emphasis):
Maybe time to reconsider?
These findings illustrate the common misconceptions that small gifts are less influential than larger gifts and that unrestricted gifts are less influential than restricted gifts. However, research in human behavior has shown that even small gifts and ones without restrictions can influence actions without being tied to explicit demands. The belief that the benefits of unrestricted and/or small gifts tend to outweigh the detriments may unintentionally make medical school leaders less vigilant about ensuring independent unbiased curricula and research. For instance, one of the most frequent forms of IAIRs [Institutional academic-industry relationships] involved clinical departments receiving discretionary funds to purchase food and beverages. Increasingly, medical educators have recognized that even these small gifts come at the expense of real or perceived independence from industry influence. The finding that more than half of department chairs with relationships between their department as an administrative entity and industry felt that these relationships had no effect on their departmental finances, their ability to recruit or retain faculty, or to secure resources from their institution is puzzling. If the majority of IAIRs have no effect on these important functions of departments, then why do they exist? It is possible that these IAIRs have effects that we did not measure or that chairs may be unwilling to admit that industry funding exerts any effect that could be construed as influence.Again, let me stress: I know it's not a perfect analogy. Still, given what this says I think that the relationships that game companies develop with the videogame media should be examined and viewed with a skeptical eye.
Certainly journalists receive small gifts, and also larger gifts like the boxes of Halo 3 materials shown in recent videos. Are journalists somehow free of influence? How does that work?
In the Media Coverage column, Kyle says (again, my emphasis):
There's no hard and fast rule for the incidental freebies that get given out at trade shows and packaged along with review copies, but a $10 to $20 value limit is probably a good rule of thumb. So the Fallout bobble head is OK but the HDTV is not. The Assassin's Creed letter opener is OK but the World Series tickets probably are not.
Maybe time to reconsider?
Labels: media
--jvm at 11:43
Comment
[ 4 ]
18 October 2007
And now you've got 3 cents, Sony
Tonight Sony started offering David Jaffe's Calling All Cars games on PSN for only $4.99. I'd been considering buying it for a while, so I took the plunge. When it comes time to pay, I use my credit card to pay and...what's this? I can only put money on my account in round dollar amounts?
See, everything you can buy on PSN has a price that ends in 99 cents. Previously, when I'd purchased games, I'd been able to charge the exact cost. So last week I paid precisely $9.99 for Everyday Shooter. Perfect. Zero balance.
Now I've paid $5.00 into my PSN account and spent $4.99. That one penny is going to sit there and I won't be able to use it until I've bought 98 other items and the pennies add up. ARGH!
See, everything you can buy on PSN has a price that ends in 99 cents. Previously, when I'd purchased games, I'd been able to charge the exact cost. So last week I paid precisely $9.99 for Everyday Shooter. Perfect. Zero balance.
Now I've paid $5.00 into my PSN account and spent $4.99. That one penny is going to sit there and I won't be able to use it until I've bought 98 other items and the pennies add up. ARGH!
--jvm at 20:52
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16 October 2007
Interview with ESRB's Vance
I recently had an opportunity to interview Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB. Originally, I wanted to anonymously interview one of their raters, but after some consideration they declined that option. They did offer to pass similar questions on to Ms. Vance, so I reworked my stuff and they answered.
I was pleased with the result, and I think it achieves a bit of what I'd pitched to the ESRB to start with: transparency. We still don't know who the raters are, but we at least know more about the process. I think that's potentially an important step toward addressing any flaws in the system.
A few tidbits for the lazy: They have six full-time raters, five are new this year, and they can rate 150 games in the busiest month before the holidays. They are all from New York and vary in gender, background, and experience with children. Cartoon violence can be tricky to rate, as well as religion and sexuality. Raters do not get to pick the games they rate, but the system appears to be one of random assignments.
I was pleased with the result, and I think it achieves a bit of what I'd pitched to the ESRB to start with: transparency. We still don't know who the raters are, but we at least know more about the process. I think that's potentially an important step toward addressing any flaws in the system.
A few tidbits for the lazy: They have six full-time raters, five are new this year, and they can rate 150 games in the busiest month before the holidays. They are all from New York and vary in gender, background, and experience with children. Cartoon violence can be tricky to rate, as well as religion and sexuality. Raters do not get to pick the games they rate, but the system appears to be one of random assignments.
--jvm at 13:05
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[ 2 ]
15 October 2007
Hey, Sony...it's mid-October already
Earlier this year, I registered for the free demo of God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP. Since then, Sony has been sending me periodic emails telling me I'm going to get a copy in September 2007. Here's a quick tour of those emails...
5 June I received this:
28 June I received this:
1 August I received this:
5 September I received this:
And 10 days ago I received this:
Tomorrow we'll be past the midpoint of October and I still won't have my copy of the demo.
After bombarding my mailbox for months with a September 2007 release date, and even telling me I should possibly already have my copy, this kind of incompetence is inexcusable.
5 June I received this:
28 June I received this:
1 August I received this:
5 September I received this:
And 10 days ago I received this:
Tomorrow we'll be past the midpoint of October and I still won't have my copy of the demo.
After bombarding my mailbox for months with a September 2007 release date, and even telling me I should possibly already have my copy, this kind of incompetence is inexcusable.
--jvm at 22:24
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14 October 2007
Ms. Pac-man and Everyday Shooter
I've loved every minute I've played of Everyday Shooter, but I've struggled to explain the attraction to myself. Today, I think I hit upon a partial answer: it makes me feel like I feel when I play Ms. Pac-man.
No, really.
Ms. Pac-man is a maze and ghosts and power pellets. Everday Shooter is Robotron-style shooting and dodging with Every Extend Extra chain reactions set to guitar riffs. Yet, they share some important qualities.
Both open with a few unique, appealing bars of music. I listen and prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead. Playing Ms. Pac-man at a stand-up machine, I settle my stance and grip the joystick with the tips of my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. For Everday Shooter, I close my eyes and enjoy the music and enjoy a moment of peace.
The music ends and the action begins. In Ms. Pac-man, I clear the maze of dots while leaving the power pellets for later. Similarly, I dodge the first few enemies in Everday Shooter as I prepare to set up chain reactions. (Or, on the second level, I attack the first stationary enemy. Or on the third, I shoot robots and look for the first large one to begin a chain. Und so weiter.) The work is menial, but essential.
With the stage set, I begin exploiting the system. Ms. Pac-man collects four ghosts per power pellet and catches the two fruit in each maze. As ghosts pin her in, she sneaks away with some quick moves. Similarly, the dot in Everyday Shooter starts setting off chains, harvesting points, while weaving amidst danger for all it is worth. With skill, the payoffs are substantial.
And when the wheels come off, as inevitably they do, I improvise. Ms. Pac-man may have to slip through the warps on the side of the screen a couple of times to get at a particularly isolated dot with ghosts patrolling nearby. In Everday Shooter, I botch the timing and suddenly the dot is racing to gain some measure of control of the screen all over again. Take out a few enemies and work toward stability again.
Ultimately, both games are about survival. I suppose you could say that Ms. Pac-man is about points, but I don't really pay attention to the points anymore except to pick up the extra Pac at 10000 points. Instead, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of mazes I survive (second banana is good for me, as I don't play much anymore) and how often I chomp more than two ghosts at a time on later levels. In Everday Shooter, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of levels I survive, and by the efficiency of my chaining. My score weakly reflects these qualities.
No, really.
Ms. Pac-man is a maze and ghosts and power pellets. Everday Shooter is Robotron-style shooting and dodging with Every Extend Extra chain reactions set to guitar riffs. Yet, they share some important qualities.
Both open with a few unique, appealing bars of music. I listen and prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead. Playing Ms. Pac-man at a stand-up machine, I settle my stance and grip the joystick with the tips of my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. For Everday Shooter, I close my eyes and enjoy the music and enjoy a moment of peace.
The music ends and the action begins. In Ms. Pac-man, I clear the maze of dots while leaving the power pellets for later. Similarly, I dodge the first few enemies in Everday Shooter as I prepare to set up chain reactions. (Or, on the second level, I attack the first stationary enemy. Or on the third, I shoot robots and look for the first large one to begin a chain. Und so weiter.) The work is menial, but essential.
With the stage set, I begin exploiting the system. Ms. Pac-man collects four ghosts per power pellet and catches the two fruit in each maze. As ghosts pin her in, she sneaks away with some quick moves. Similarly, the dot in Everyday Shooter starts setting off chains, harvesting points, while weaving amidst danger for all it is worth. With skill, the payoffs are substantial.
And when the wheels come off, as inevitably they do, I improvise. Ms. Pac-man may have to slip through the warps on the side of the screen a couple of times to get at a particularly isolated dot with ghosts patrolling nearby. In Everday Shooter, I botch the timing and suddenly the dot is racing to gain some measure of control of the screen all over again. Take out a few enemies and work toward stability again.
Ultimately, both games are about survival. I suppose you could say that Ms. Pac-man is about points, but I don't really pay attention to the points anymore except to pick up the extra Pac at 10000 points. Instead, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of mazes I survive (second banana is good for me, as I don't play much anymore) and how often I chomp more than two ghosts at a time on later levels. In Everday Shooter, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of levels I survive, and by the efficiency of my chaining. My score weakly reflects these qualities.
Labels: classic, ms. pac-man, ps3, psn
--jvm at 00:12
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[ 0 ]
12 October 2007
Conan demo
The only redeeming feature of the demo of THQ's Conan is the saucy lady with the bow. She flirts with Conan in the opening cinema and manages to seem alluring despite being a poorly lip-synced assembly of textured polygons. Then she disappears and Conan is left to the business of chopping the limbs off waves of bad guy clones.
At one point, no kidding, the floor was littered with more than a dozen detached arms. With each step, Conan kicked at least one with his feet. If it were at least fun to cut the limbs off, I could perhaps see past the gross detail, but it just isn't. Conan feels like a lumbering Kratos with only two attacks, detach-head and detach-arms. Worst of all, the demo doesn't even reward you with one last shot of saucy bow-woman. You just get to hear her congratulate you at the end.
That said, the game is yet another in the ongoing global war on pottery. Hooray for red and green glowing icons popping out of broken pottery, crates, and armless men!
This demo is currently on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.
At one point, no kidding, the floor was littered with more than a dozen detached arms. With each step, Conan kicked at least one with his feet. If it were at least fun to cut the limbs off, I could perhaps see past the gross detail, but it just isn't. Conan feels like a lumbering Kratos with only two attacks, detach-head and detach-arms. Worst of all, the demo doesn't even reward you with one last shot of saucy bow-woman. You just get to hear her congratulate you at the end.
That said, the game is yet another in the ongoing global war on pottery. Hooray for red and green glowing icons popping out of broken pottery, crates, and armless men!
This demo is currently on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.
--jvm at 10:00
Comment
[ 1 ]
11 October 2007
Game for lunch
Kyle Orland was gracious enough to invite me to do a guest post on his blog, Games for Lunch. Lots of people more important than I did the other posts. I played Escape from Monkey Island for the PS2 -- click here to read.
Labels: guestblogging, ps2
--jvm at 11:58
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[ 0 ]
08 October 2007
PS3 faring better than PS2, forget BC
I'm not talking about sales, mind you, just my experience. I spent about the first year of my PS2 ownership playing very few really impressive PS2 games. We had SSX and...right. By the time we got Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto III in late 2001, many of us had spent a fairly barren year playing DVDs and PS1 games.
Here we are, coming up on 11 months into the PS3 life, and I've finally got a PS3. Despite what is literally a wall of unfinished PS2 games, I'm completely absorbed with PS3-specific games. Super Stardust HD is brilliant. The high score table is huge, but you can filter it to just show your friends. I've just squeaked by a friend's high score by a mere 20,000 points and he's vowed to get past me again. I presume this kind of feature is copied from Xbox Live, but it's just brilliant. Even if I don't get bested, I intend to increase the gap between my friend's score and my own, as soon as I find the time to play again.
On the other hand, flOw continues to engage me. I've discovered the third lifeform and will hopefully get another soon. I believe there are five. My elder son enjoys playing with the little creatures, even if he doesn't entirely understand the controls and lacks the fine motor skills to use the controller effectively sometimes.
I picked up Oblivion for a mere $30 and hope to grab both Warhawk and Resistance: Fall of Man before the end of the year.
And now Everyday Shooter is coming out this week.
So, I understand Josh's complaint about Sony completely dropping backward compatibility with PS2 software. I want it, and I'm glad I picked up a 60Gb model. On the other hand, I've found more than enough to keep me busy with just the PS3 parts of the system that I could have gotten a non-backward compatible model and really not have noticed very much.
That said, Sony really needs to get below $400 with their system. They're going to do ok this holiday, I suppose, but they better hope the 2008 software lineup doesn't get delayed any further and, most of all, delivers a compelling reason for Joe User to drop the money on a PS3.
Here we are, coming up on 11 months into the PS3 life, and I've finally got a PS3. Despite what is literally a wall of unfinished PS2 games, I'm completely absorbed with PS3-specific games. Super Stardust HD is brilliant. The high score table is huge, but you can filter it to just show your friends. I've just squeaked by a friend's high score by a mere 20,000 points and he's vowed to get past me again. I presume this kind of feature is copied from Xbox Live, but it's just brilliant. Even if I don't get bested, I intend to increase the gap between my friend's score and my own, as soon as I find the time to play again.
On the other hand, flOw continues to engage me. I've discovered the third lifeform and will hopefully get another soon. I believe there are five. My elder son enjoys playing with the little creatures, even if he doesn't entirely understand the controls and lacks the fine motor skills to use the controller effectively sometimes.
I picked up Oblivion for a mere $30 and hope to grab both Warhawk and Resistance: Fall of Man before the end of the year.
And now Everyday Shooter is coming out this week.
So, I understand Josh's complaint about Sony completely dropping backward compatibility with PS2 software. I want it, and I'm glad I picked up a 60Gb model. On the other hand, I've found more than enough to keep me busy with just the PS3 parts of the system that I could have gotten a non-backward compatible model and really not have noticed very much.
That said, Sony really needs to get below $400 with their system. They're going to do ok this holiday, I suppose, but they better hope the 2008 software lineup doesn't get delayed any further and, most of all, delivers a compelling reason for Joe User to drop the money on a PS3.
--jvm at 20:27
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[ 8 ]
Everyday Shooter
Last week I encouraged Sony to make good on its promise to deliver Everyday Shooter on PSN before the end of the year. Apparently someone at Sony is listening: it will be released this Thursday.
--jvm at 20:22
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Heavy Rain in the Valley
I spoke highly of the Heavy Rain trailer that Quantic Dreams was showing a while back. This is reportedly a video of the woman in that trailer. Here is the original Heavy Rain video. Side-by-side comparison:
Welcome to the uncanny valley.
Source: NeoGAF
Welcome to the uncanny valley.
Source: NeoGAF
--jvm at 19:30
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[ 2 ]
04 October 2007
The Simpsons Game: Awful
I just finished an unenjoyable demo of The Simpsons Game, one of the bigger holiday titles for EA this year. I don't recommend you spend your time on it.
Some aliasing and blocky curves kept the game from living up to my visual expectations. On the other hand, the cut scenes appear to be mostly 2D animation and are quite good.
The entire demo is a boss battle against an evil Lard Lad, the donut store mascot brought to life by Kang and Kodos with their Halloween ray. As Homer and Bart, you must hit doors on Lard Lad's back and then pull out some wires to damage him while he's stunned. Do this three times and you win.
This is easier said than done, not because the game puts fair challenges in your way but because the game doesn't give the kind of smooth control you need to pull it off. The key issue is getting up onto the doors, and I did not enjoy trying. For example, I'd put Bart in a convenient location, use Homer to lure Lard Lad nearby, and then switch back to Bart only to find that he'd left his location. By the time I got Bart back in position, Lard Lad had moved on.
Does it help that the game makes fun of boss battles in Kent Brockman's commentary? A little, but not nearly enough. There are some truly enjoyable lines of dialogue in the game and in the cut-scenes, but you'd be better off catching a rerun of the original series on television.
The demo can be found on the PlayStation Store (for PS3 owners) and will presumably be put on Xbox Live sometime in the near future.
Some aliasing and blocky curves kept the game from living up to my visual expectations. On the other hand, the cut scenes appear to be mostly 2D animation and are quite good.
The entire demo is a boss battle against an evil Lard Lad, the donut store mascot brought to life by Kang and Kodos with their Halloween ray. As Homer and Bart, you must hit doors on Lard Lad's back and then pull out some wires to damage him while he's stunned. Do this three times and you win.
This is easier said than done, not because the game puts fair challenges in your way but because the game doesn't give the kind of smooth control you need to pull it off. The key issue is getting up onto the doors, and I did not enjoy trying. For example, I'd put Bart in a convenient location, use Homer to lure Lard Lad nearby, and then switch back to Bart only to find that he'd left his location. By the time I got Bart back in position, Lard Lad had moved on.
Does it help that the game makes fun of boss battles in Kent Brockman's commentary? A little, but not nearly enough. There are some truly enjoyable lines of dialogue in the game and in the cut-scenes, but you'd be better off catching a rerun of the original series on television.
The demo can be found on the PlayStation Store (for PS3 owners) and will presumably be put on Xbox Live sometime in the near future.
--jvm at 23:31
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[ 4 ]
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