Month: December 2007

Rock Band – The rant

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Ever since it was released, some folks have had it in their minds that Rock Band would destroy Guitar Hero. Their logic ranged from “It isn’t being made with greedy Activision at the helm” to “four instruments are better than two, amirite?” These wonderfully spun arguments failed to recognize important things, such as the fact that Rock Band was being published by greedy EA and that Harmonix is owned by greedy MTV. Nevermind the fact that the game would be a massive undertaking and was completed in less than a year. These warnings were not heeded by many. Caution was thrown to the wind. It was Rock Band or bust.

Congratulations; you just paid to beta test an unfinished and rushed game. Sadly, most people are doing it with a smile. →  Read the rest

DS games on the go!

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So you have a DS but you don’t have the time to sink into long playing sessions. Or in my case, you have the attention span of a seven year old on crack. The whole concept of the aging process bringing patience is a lie and I’m living proof. When I was ten I could sit for hours and rock Final Fantasy 2 on the SNES, now I can barely sit through a thirty minute session of Phantom Hourglass. I think I am turning into more of a casual gamer and I know for sure that my mind is usually elsewhere when I flip the switch on my black-as-my-soul DS.

This does not mean that I don’t enjoy games anymore; I just don’t get overly involved in most of the games I play. →  Read the rest

Music fans + stupidity + internet connection = Rock Band forums

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Certain topics you just avoid in conversation unless you want to get into an argument with someone. Religion is one–I mean, why would you believe in a zombie who will save you if you eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you love him? Politics is another: let’s not even go there. Music can be a bit safer–but against fanboys, it’s probably worse than the other two. Some of my favorite witticisms include the hipster mating call, which is “I listened to this band before they were mainstream!” I saw this shirt on threadless.com: “I listen to bands that don’t even exist yet.” At any rate, music discussions are bound to bring up vicious debates as to what bands are talented, which suck, etc etc.

Why is this pertinent to gaming? →  Read the rest

Review update – Mount&Blade

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It’s been over a year since my first article here on videolamer, in which I reviewed the PC Action/Strategy/RPG hybrid Mount & Blade. I didn’t mention it in the original review, but good old M&B is still under development. The version I reviewed was somewhere about 0.75; the current version, released just a few days ago, is 0.901.

And what changes have come! In .890, there was a major combat overhaul, the addition of three new factions in “vanilla” (the regular, un-modded game), as well as a troop tree for each faction. The game plays better than it ever has before; combat is quick without feeling unnatural, trading remains profitable, and veteran mercenaries are available early on.

For those who didn’t read my original review, a quick overview: Mount & Blade is a medieval FPS RPG. →  Read the rest

Retrospectives – Metal Gear Solid series part 2

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Continued from part 1.

My first experience with anything related to Metal Gear was the MGS cover story in Next Generation Magazine. Like any feature on the game should have, the article mentioned that this was not a new series, but the resurrection of an old one. It even gave a brief history of the past Metal Gear games, which made me feel like hot shit in my eighth grade mind, as if I knew something the unwashed masses that would eventually buy the game never would.

Oh how wrong I was. Remember the amazing boss fight with Liquid Snake in the Hind D? Or how funny and strange it was to meet Meryl in the bathroom? How about those great fights in the elevator and the stairwell? We were all blown away by what seemed to be unique moments, but the truth is that Kojima was just refining his older vision. →  Read the rest

Review – Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations

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I recently went through some effort to prove that most games are entirely about play mechanics and that story and characters are mere dressing. This concept is echoed by some great designers. In On Game Design, Chris Crawford describes interaction as the key to all games — more, deeper interactions make for a better game. Judging by his designs, Miyamoto agrees.
Don’t look at this picture. Too many spoilers.

With this in mind I face a problem. The Phoenix Wright trilogy stands among my favorite games despite their being little more than books on DS carts. And not even Choose Your Own Adventure books that create the illusion of control; there is only one correct thing to do at all points in Ace Attorney, and often you will be forced to run through all items in your inventory in hopes of showing the right someone the right something. →  Read the rest

Retrospectives – Metal Gear Solid series part 1

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Because this is a discussion of the game series there will be significant spoilers. Read and weep.

I have a strange relationship with MGS. If you take away a few enhanced releases, I have played (or am playing) just about everything MGS related, from the mainline trilogy to Twin Snakes and even the Game Boy Color game. Something tells me I’ll have finished MGS4 within four months of release, even if I have no PS3. I seem to be an absolute whore for Kojima. And yet, I’m not sure I entirely love MGS. In fact, I know I don’t.

The only game in the series that I would consider truly brilliant is 3. The rest may simply be problematic postmodern experiments. Everyone heaps praise upon the stories and storytelling present in MGS, yet it seems to me to be mostly anime fueled sci-fi schlock. →  Read the rest

Virtual Console rip offs – Stop selling us the same game

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Ghouls ‘n Ghosts and Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts are pretty similar games. Most people would probably think they’re interchangeable, but they have enough different content to both warrant a purchase for fans of the series. Nintendo was straddling the line between offering consumers more choices and ripping us off when they offered Street Fighter 2 closely followed by Street Fighter 2 Turbo. They aren’t exactly the same game but who on earth would want the original SF2 instead of one of the superior variants? It seems like a clear move to cash in on people’s urge to buy the original then realize they made a mistake and buy Turbo.

It gets worse. Dynastic Hero is Wonderboy in Monster World. Kirby’s Avalanche is Dr. Robotnics Mean Bean Machine (which is Puyo Puyo). →  Read the rest

What is a man?

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Andre Malraux was a French author who lived and died in the 20th century. He has many books and other things to his name and if I knew anything about him beyond what it says on his Wikipedia page you can be sure you’d be damned impressed.

Gamers know him from a line from Symphony of the Night:“What is man? A miserable little pile of secrets.” Or they know him because they’re European and have actually been educated.

This quote is mocked daily on game forums. It doesn’t suddenly become better or worse because someone famous wrote it, but gamers should realize that it wasn’t written by Konami’s localization team.

Do people already know this? Is it an elaborate “Malraux is an overrated writer and his work translated into English is laughable” movement amongst gamers? →  Read the rest

RIP Blogs (I wish)

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My one and only take on the Gerstman Gate fiasco lies here. Yesterday I was talking with Videolamer Ringleader Jay about games journalism, and how blogs seem to have far, far too much power. A site like Destructoid makes a cheap parody, and this is regarded as a major burn while they call it a day. The fact that we are mentioning burns in a so called area of journalism is troubling, but I digress. Blogs often give the appearance that they are reporting rumors and anonymous sources as facts, and while they do sometimes place disclaimers, it is curious that most people don’t focus on them. Either we as a nation cannot read, or the disclaimers are stealthily placed into the first rumormongering articles, so that later editions can bask in the sensationalism. →  Read the rest

Vivendi and Activision Merge (or Industry becomes The Blob)

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If you thought the whole Gerstman-gate scandal over at Gamespot was a black eye for the industry, things just got worse. Activision, who just over took EA as the biggest publisher in existence, has merged with the also massive Vivendi Games. The name of the company? Actvision Blizzard.

This is bad on so many levels. A company this large has control of many, many titles, assets and developers, and it isn’t hard to believe that they are going to get less attention and respect than they did before. A company this size can take any IP and any developer and mush them together until a product rolls out and cash rolls in. In addition, not only are they using the Blizzard name to try and trick gamers into believing this is going to be a new era of quality, but if the Shacknews article is any indication, Blizzard is completely complacent in all of this, and perhaps downright happy. →  Read the rest