That title probably suggests a broader scope than this entry will actually offer. However, I couldn't resist commenting on Shigeru Miyamoto's remark that Nintendo's E3 lead balloon Wii Music is "better than a video game". Hubris is expected, if not justified, from the man who created both Mario and The Legend of Zelda, especially when his output captures the public's imagination and money in the quantities Miyamoto's recently has; but any time an artist (allow me to forgo argument for application of the term here) decides he is bigger than his medium, there is cause for concern. In this entry, I want to examine Nintendo's current audience, and the prospects of its existing after the end of this console cycle.
There is no doubt that Wii Music is a casual title, like every other game Nintendo showed during their now infamous E3 press conference. And it's tough to fault them when they've risen to dominance in the perpetual "console war" on the backs of casual gamers. This has naturally lead to spurned hardcores branding the Wii a "toy" and a "fad". But the casual market was big business long before Nintendo began testing its waters with their little white box, and while I suppose it could still turn out to be the case that the Wii really is just a fad, casual gaming most certainly is not. However, this is not to say that the casual market will always exist. One need look no further than the 1984 video game crash to see that a booming market, and one that has been around too long to be called a fad, can still disappear virtually overnight.
But while history can serve as a cautionary tale, it cannot predict the future. Therefore, the question of whether the present market for casual games will continue throughout this console generation and beyond is open to debate. My personal opinion is that we are not likely to see another crash like the one in 1984, which is across the board and more or less brings the industry to its knees. But I am starting to wonder whether there may not be a similar crash in the casual market sometime in the next few years. While the enthusiast market will never produce, by itself, the kind of revenue we're presently seeing, it is also unlikely to get overburdened with the kind of sub-par junk that causes markets to crash in the first place. When the uneducated consumer feels that she is more likely to get junk than quality for her money, she will find something else on which to spend her money. Take a look at the Wii section next time you're at a game retailer, and you'll see that the mechanism for destroying consumer trust is already being assembled. For every Wii Sports, there are at least 15 Ninja Bread Men.
The difference between 2008 and 1984 is that the hardcore market is viable now in a way it wasn't then. Therefore, when what I consider the inevitable crash of the casual market occurs, it won't spell the end of gaming as we know it. As long as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the wealth of great third-party developers continue to produce games aimed at the hardcore market, that market is not going away. Of course when Miyamoto starts talking about his latest casual endeavor being "better than a video game", there seems to be cause for concern. And there is cause for outright fear when he says, as he did in an interview with 1Up's James Mielke: "With Zelda, we have to consider how to make it accessible for new gamers to pick up and play and enjoy just as hardcore gamers have." Have? Hopefully something has been lost in translation, but one would be excused for thinking that quote points at a casual future even for Nintendo's franchise titles.
As noted before, this is all speculation. Miyamoto may prove us all wrong again, and Wii Music may turn out to actually be better than a game, ushering in the era of console edutainment. But the market is bigger even than the great Shiggy, and it will ultimately be the quality of the Wii's software library--and not a single game--that determines its longevity, and maybe even the longevity of the casual market for console games.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Nintendo E3 Press Conference Thoughts
After the internet-killing announcement that closed out Microsoft's press conference yesterday, Nintendo and Sony came into day two of E3 needing something big to steal the show. But Nintendo is in a position right now where they really don't need a "megaton" announcement, and ended up keeping things low key. No new DS, no new character-driven franchises announced, no new Mario, Zelda or Metroid games. However, the focus on casual gaming was front and center, especially with the big announcement.
Wii Games
Wii Music: The big, show-closing Miyamoto announcement was Nintendo's first party music game, which will allow players to simulate playing 50 different instruments using the Wii remote, nunchuck and balance board. Rather than trying to match button inputs to on-screen cues, you basically hold a controller and emulate the movements you would make when playing a real instrument, and the game generates a song. Sounds like Wii Fit, in that it doesn't appear to give you goals (it may not even evaluate your performances, though there is much confusion about this). I can already hear the hardcores screaming about the Wii being "just a toy", but you have to give Miyamoto credit for pushing the casual genre to its extremes. My personal interest in Wii Music entirely hinges on there being some creative input from the user. If it's just Rock Band where any old movements you make are good enough to keep the song going, I would have zero interest. If I can actually use it to make music, then it might be a different story.
Animal Crossing: City Folk: An Animal Crossing title for the Wii was the big non-surprise of Nintendo's event. What is much bigger was the related announcement of Wii Speak, a new peripheral (apparently shipping with the game) which allows in-game communication options like (limited?) voice chat, as well as game-to-cell phone messaging. It will be interesting to see whether they open the online experience up more across the board, or if they're still going to require friend codes for these features. It will be even more interesting to see how this is spun on various news sites. Obviously, it's big news for the Wii, but as the other consoles offered voice chat out of the box (at least in games that supported it), I hope nobody comes out touting this as a huge step forward for gaming in general.
Wii Sports Resort: A new Wii Sports title meant to take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral (and, of course, the massive success of the original Wii Sports). Includes frisbee and fencing games. Judging by the success of Wii Play, I would assume they plan on bundling the MotionPlus with this and selling a million billion units.
Star Wars: Clone Wars: The long-awaited Wii remote light saber fighting game. I'm sure it will fly off the shelves to Star Wars nerds, but as Red Steel and Dragon Quest Swords have shown, the Wii has a long way to go to get sword fighting right.
Call of Duty World at War: This is a bit more interesting: a Wii-port of an honest to goodness triple A title. Wii remote aiming is naturally included, but I don't see people who have access to the PS3 or 360 versions choosing this one. Nice hardcore gateway drug for casual gamers who only bought a Wii, though (assuming they can make it fun).
Shaun White Snowboarding: I have a feeling we'll see a flood of balance board extreme sports titles in the next year, but outside of Wii Ski (which isn't really extreme sports), looks like this will be the first.
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party: A party game using the balance board. Not much other info yet, as it's not coming until late 2009.
DS Games
Guitar Hero On Tour Decades: Features song-sharing between games, whatever that means. Very little info otherwise.
GTA: China Town Wars: An all new GTA game set in Liberty City and featuring a "custom game engine", which I assume means touch functionality. I have a feeling this will really give us an idea of what the DS's limits are. Coming this Winter.
Spore Creatures: Sounds like the Creature Creator for the DS, with the ability to share creatures over Wi-Fi. Again, very little info otherwise.
Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of Almia: No info given outside of the title, but it's Pokemon, so even if they don't ever tell us what the game is, it will still sell millions.
Non-Game Software
It was announced that Nintendo is working on applications that will allow the DS to do some useful things for travelers, such as displaying flight information (and maybe even the location of one's luggage!), restaurant guides and more. Cool if they can get it working.
Cooking Navi: This formerly Japan-only title is now coming to the US. It's basically a cookbook (featuring around 200 recipes) with various search options. Should do pretty well, especially with the ever-widening audience for the DS.
Hardware
Wii Motion Plus: Finally, there's Nintendo's newest peripheral, a small dongle that plugs into the Wii remote's nunchuck slot and vastly improves the precision of the remote's motion tracking. As mentioned above, it was demoed with Wii Sports Resort, and I'm willing to be there will be a bundle.
And that's it. Lots of graphs and talk about how Nintendo is outselling everyone at everything all the time. Obviously, the company's focus is more and more on casual and inclusive gaming, which is obviously a very successful business model, but one I find interests me less and less as far as the products they're really pushing. However, I'm left wondering if Nintendo is waiting to bring out their big guns at Tokyo Game Show.
Wii Games
Wii Music: The big, show-closing Miyamoto announcement was Nintendo's first party music game, which will allow players to simulate playing 50 different instruments using the Wii remote, nunchuck and balance board. Rather than trying to match button inputs to on-screen cues, you basically hold a controller and emulate the movements you would make when playing a real instrument, and the game generates a song. Sounds like Wii Fit, in that it doesn't appear to give you goals (it may not even evaluate your performances, though there is much confusion about this). I can already hear the hardcores screaming about the Wii being "just a toy", but you have to give Miyamoto credit for pushing the casual genre to its extremes. My personal interest in Wii Music entirely hinges on there being some creative input from the user. If it's just Rock Band where any old movements you make are good enough to keep the song going, I would have zero interest. If I can actually use it to make music, then it might be a different story.
Animal Crossing: City Folk: An Animal Crossing title for the Wii was the big non-surprise of Nintendo's event. What is much bigger was the related announcement of Wii Speak, a new peripheral (apparently shipping with the game) which allows in-game communication options like (limited?) voice chat, as well as game-to-cell phone messaging. It will be interesting to see whether they open the online experience up more across the board, or if they're still going to require friend codes for these features. It will be even more interesting to see how this is spun on various news sites. Obviously, it's big news for the Wii, but as the other consoles offered voice chat out of the box (at least in games that supported it), I hope nobody comes out touting this as a huge step forward for gaming in general.
Wii Sports Resort: A new Wii Sports title meant to take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral (and, of course, the massive success of the original Wii Sports). Includes frisbee and fencing games. Judging by the success of Wii Play, I would assume they plan on bundling the MotionPlus with this and selling a million billion units.
Star Wars: Clone Wars: The long-awaited Wii remote light saber fighting game. I'm sure it will fly off the shelves to Star Wars nerds, but as Red Steel and Dragon Quest Swords have shown, the Wii has a long way to go to get sword fighting right.
Call of Duty World at War: This is a bit more interesting: a Wii-port of an honest to goodness triple A title. Wii remote aiming is naturally included, but I don't see people who have access to the PS3 or 360 versions choosing this one. Nice hardcore gateway drug for casual gamers who only bought a Wii, though (assuming they can make it fun).
Shaun White Snowboarding: I have a feeling we'll see a flood of balance board extreme sports titles in the next year, but outside of Wii Ski (which isn't really extreme sports), looks like this will be the first.
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party: A party game using the balance board. Not much other info yet, as it's not coming until late 2009.
DS Games
Guitar Hero On Tour Decades: Features song-sharing between games, whatever that means. Very little info otherwise.
GTA: China Town Wars: An all new GTA game set in Liberty City and featuring a "custom game engine", which I assume means touch functionality. I have a feeling this will really give us an idea of what the DS's limits are. Coming this Winter.
Spore Creatures: Sounds like the Creature Creator for the DS, with the ability to share creatures over Wi-Fi. Again, very little info otherwise.
Pokemon Rangers: Shadows of Almia: No info given outside of the title, but it's Pokemon, so even if they don't ever tell us what the game is, it will still sell millions.
Non-Game Software
It was announced that Nintendo is working on applications that will allow the DS to do some useful things for travelers, such as displaying flight information (and maybe even the location of one's luggage!), restaurant guides and more. Cool if they can get it working.
Cooking Navi: This formerly Japan-only title is now coming to the US. It's basically a cookbook (featuring around 200 recipes) with various search options. Should do pretty well, especially with the ever-widening audience for the DS.
Hardware
Wii Motion Plus: Finally, there's Nintendo's newest peripheral, a small dongle that plugs into the Wii remote's nunchuck slot and vastly improves the precision of the remote's motion tracking. As mentioned above, it was demoed with Wii Sports Resort, and I'm willing to be there will be a bundle.
And that's it. Lots of graphs and talk about how Nintendo is outselling everyone at everything all the time. Obviously, the company's focus is more and more on casual and inclusive gaming, which is obviously a very successful business model, but one I find interests me less and less as far as the products they're really pushing. However, I'm left wondering if Nintendo is waiting to bring out their big guns at Tokyo Game Show.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Too Human Demo Impressions
E3 has more or less ensured that it's not getting covered, but the Too Human demo did show up on XBL last night, and at last the trolls at NeoGaf can play an hour of the game they've already declared a failure. Not surprisingly, the game is not as bad as the trolls would have you believe. But that's not to say it's an unqualified success. After two play-throughs, I would be interested in playing more Too Human, but the demo doesn't sell me on the game--at least not at full price.
People throw around a lot of references when discussing Too Human, but here's what I took away from it. The overall art style reminded me of Mass Effect, Halo 3 and Silver (how's that for an obscure reference?). The combat was a weird hybrid of dual stick shooters, Diablo II, Kingdom Hearts II, and the newest Alone in the Dark. The story...well, the use of Norse mythology is both goofy and pretentious, but it all ends up feeling like an early '90s comic book, and I have to admit it had its hooks in me by the end. It should already be obvious from what I've written that Too Human isn't doing anything new, and in some cases it doesn't do what it tries to do all that well. But then again, sometimes the whole experience comes together and is a mindless good time.
Of course the game has been sold as a lot more than a mindless good time, and that's the problem. Had Too Human been billed as a popcorn game from the beginning, the reaction almost certainly would not have been as negative as it has been. Whatever Denis Dyack might have hoped for Too Human to be, he should be able to tell that it's no masterpiece, and adjusted the hype accordingly. Maybe in the end Dyack will be proven right; maybe after an hour of gameplay the tide starts to turn and the true value of Too Human becomes apparent. But I doubt that's the case for the simple reason that most of the game's flaws are not of the "overly ambitious" variety, but the "feels like a last-gen game" variety.
Take the combat, for example. Attacking with the right stick is an interesting mechanic, and sometimes it's pretty fun. But aiming is spotty and frustrating, and precision targeting is nearly impossible. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the shooting is broken, but it's certainly well below average for this generation. There's something like auto lock on, but it's far too easy to randomly turn your back on battle and fire at nothing at all when trying to switch targets. It happens far too often for something that shouldn't happen at all. The moments when I had the most fun were when I was being swarmed by enemies, Drakengard style. When alien sword-fodder is all around you, it doesn't matter if the auto-aim feature randomly causes you to turn your back on the thing you're trying to shoot. And since melee attacks are acomplished with a flick of the right stick, there's no button-mashing fatigue.
Of course the fact that melee attacks are mapped to the right stick means that control of the camera is largely out of the player's hands. In 2008, I would really rather not play a 3D action game in which I don't have full camera control, and that goes double for a 3D action game with a broken camera. Remember 1997, when pre-rendered backgrounds were all the rage? Remember how, in those games, you never knew what angle the camera was going to switch to when you came around a corner? If so, then Too Human is a trip down memory lane. Worse yet, the angles are often the worst ones possible, forcing you to run blindly ahead, or constantly trying to pan away from the action, playing havoc with the already shoddy aiming. The left bumper centers the camera behind your character, but that's about the extent of useful control. If anything about Too Human is an unqualified failure, it's the camera.
The graphics also don't do much to impress. While the aesthetic is a strange and fairly likable cross between Mass Effect and high fantasy, the execution is far from cutting edge. The character designs are hit and miss (the women are much more interesting than the men, who are mostly grizzled, bald space marines, at least as far as the demo shows), but the actual models just don't look very good. The geometry is very obvious under the thin-looking skin textures, and characters look especially artificial when talking. Hair is ugly and very last-gen. Nitpicking? Perhaps, but again, when a game's developers promote it like Silicon Knights (or maybe just Dyack) has promoted Too Human, it's not unfair to expect more. The environments fare better, but I hope that more of the full game takes place in the lush outdoor environments which the game calls "cyberspace", as opposed to the dull gray hallways where all of the combat in the demo happens.
Finally there's the story, which is unintentionally ridiculous, yet successful in a way I'm sure Dyack never intended. As I said before, I couldn't shake the feeling of early '90s mainstream comics, especially Marvel's more sci-fi oriented titles. The pastiche of Norse mythology and Shakespeare (the Norns encountered in the demo are an obvious reference to the Three Witches from MacBeth) is trying so hard to prove that games can be high brow, but it really just ends up feeling like someone trying to show how smart they are by making very shallow references to classic literature. Still, absurd touches like angels coming down to take your dead squad-mates to Valhalla are undeniably entertaining, and the whole thing at least gets credit for gusto. It may sound like I'm just taking the piss out of Too Human with back-handed compliments, but I really would be interested to see how the story unfolds.
One of the big problems that Too Human is likely to encounter is that it's very easy to create a laundry list of complaints, and not nearly as easy to put into words how it succeeds. That's because, like some of the games it aspires to be--Diablo II, Mass Effect--what makes it fun is a certain intangible convergence of things that don't sound all that fun when described. Don't get me wrong--it is extremely unlikely that Too Human will be as good as any of the games it seeks to emulate. But it does appear to be worth a rental or even a used purchase for those who love the plentiful loot drops it offers enough to tolerate its occasionally overbearing flaws. Another six months or so of development wouldn't hurt it, but maybe if the already-announced sequels ever see the light of day, some of the problems can be fixed. If so, Too Human might end up doing all right for itself in the end.
People throw around a lot of references when discussing Too Human, but here's what I took away from it. The overall art style reminded me of Mass Effect, Halo 3 and Silver (how's that for an obscure reference?). The combat was a weird hybrid of dual stick shooters, Diablo II, Kingdom Hearts II, and the newest Alone in the Dark. The story...well, the use of Norse mythology is both goofy and pretentious, but it all ends up feeling like an early '90s comic book, and I have to admit it had its hooks in me by the end. It should already be obvious from what I've written that Too Human isn't doing anything new, and in some cases it doesn't do what it tries to do all that well. But then again, sometimes the whole experience comes together and is a mindless good time.
Of course the game has been sold as a lot more than a mindless good time, and that's the problem. Had Too Human been billed as a popcorn game from the beginning, the reaction almost certainly would not have been as negative as it has been. Whatever Denis Dyack might have hoped for Too Human to be, he should be able to tell that it's no masterpiece, and adjusted the hype accordingly. Maybe in the end Dyack will be proven right; maybe after an hour of gameplay the tide starts to turn and the true value of Too Human becomes apparent. But I doubt that's the case for the simple reason that most of the game's flaws are not of the "overly ambitious" variety, but the "feels like a last-gen game" variety.
Take the combat, for example. Attacking with the right stick is an interesting mechanic, and sometimes it's pretty fun. But aiming is spotty and frustrating, and precision targeting is nearly impossible. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the shooting is broken, but it's certainly well below average for this generation. There's something like auto lock on, but it's far too easy to randomly turn your back on battle and fire at nothing at all when trying to switch targets. It happens far too often for something that shouldn't happen at all. The moments when I had the most fun were when I was being swarmed by enemies, Drakengard style. When alien sword-fodder is all around you, it doesn't matter if the auto-aim feature randomly causes you to turn your back on the thing you're trying to shoot. And since melee attacks are acomplished with a flick of the right stick, there's no button-mashing fatigue.
Of course the fact that melee attacks are mapped to the right stick means that control of the camera is largely out of the player's hands. In 2008, I would really rather not play a 3D action game in which I don't have full camera control, and that goes double for a 3D action game with a broken camera. Remember 1997, when pre-rendered backgrounds were all the rage? Remember how, in those games, you never knew what angle the camera was going to switch to when you came around a corner? If so, then Too Human is a trip down memory lane. Worse yet, the angles are often the worst ones possible, forcing you to run blindly ahead, or constantly trying to pan away from the action, playing havoc with the already shoddy aiming. The left bumper centers the camera behind your character, but that's about the extent of useful control. If anything about Too Human is an unqualified failure, it's the camera.
The graphics also don't do much to impress. While the aesthetic is a strange and fairly likable cross between Mass Effect and high fantasy, the execution is far from cutting edge. The character designs are hit and miss (the women are much more interesting than the men, who are mostly grizzled, bald space marines, at least as far as the demo shows), but the actual models just don't look very good. The geometry is very obvious under the thin-looking skin textures, and characters look especially artificial when talking. Hair is ugly and very last-gen. Nitpicking? Perhaps, but again, when a game's developers promote it like Silicon Knights (or maybe just Dyack) has promoted Too Human, it's not unfair to expect more. The environments fare better, but I hope that more of the full game takes place in the lush outdoor environments which the game calls "cyberspace", as opposed to the dull gray hallways where all of the combat in the demo happens.
Finally there's the story, which is unintentionally ridiculous, yet successful in a way I'm sure Dyack never intended. As I said before, I couldn't shake the feeling of early '90s mainstream comics, especially Marvel's more sci-fi oriented titles. The pastiche of Norse mythology and Shakespeare (the Norns encountered in the demo are an obvious reference to the Three Witches from MacBeth) is trying so hard to prove that games can be high brow, but it really just ends up feeling like someone trying to show how smart they are by making very shallow references to classic literature. Still, absurd touches like angels coming down to take your dead squad-mates to Valhalla are undeniably entertaining, and the whole thing at least gets credit for gusto. It may sound like I'm just taking the piss out of Too Human with back-handed compliments, but I really would be interested to see how the story unfolds.
One of the big problems that Too Human is likely to encounter is that it's very easy to create a laundry list of complaints, and not nearly as easy to put into words how it succeeds. That's because, like some of the games it aspires to be--Diablo II, Mass Effect--what makes it fun is a certain intangible convergence of things that don't sound all that fun when described. Don't get me wrong--it is extremely unlikely that Too Human will be as good as any of the games it seeks to emulate. But it does appear to be worth a rental or even a used purchase for those who love the plentiful loot drops it offers enough to tolerate its occasionally overbearing flaws. Another six months or so of development wouldn't hurt it, but maybe if the already-announced sequels ever see the light of day, some of the problems can be fixed. If so, Too Human might end up doing all right for itself in the end.
Microsoft's E3 Press Conference Thoughts
A quick note before I jump into the Microsoft E3 goodness: I played through the Too Human demo this morning, and have some thoughts on it, but since I had one eye on E3 coverage, I wasn't paying much attention to anything but the combat. I'll probably go through it again before posting on it. Now, on with the show:
The Games
Final Fantasy XIII for 360: Fantastic. The more expensive gaming gets, the more I loathe exclusivity. Of course the game still seems to be in such early stages of development that it's unclear whether it will run as well on the 360 as on the PS3, but it's really good to see that Square Enix is really getting serious about the American and European markets, and not letting the politics of the Japanese market dominate all of their business decisions.
Fallout 3: I don't know what to say other than that this sounds like "The Next Bioshock". Since I loved Bioshock, I can't wait to get my hands on Fallout 3.
Resident Evil 5: A bit disappointed to know that you still can't move while shooting, but other than that the game still seems to be on track to be a worthy follow up to the great RE4. The March 13, 2009 release date feels like a long time to wait, but at least it's not as long as some people were predicting.
Gears of War 2: Eh. The first one never hooked me, and the addition of more testosterone to the sequel doesn't sell it to me. However, I'm sure the people who liked the first one are going to find a lot to like in this one, as well. I'll probably give it a try, but my completely non-objective viewpoint is that I don't expect to enjoy it much.
Fable II: I'm interested, but here's my issue: I'm an avid dog lover, and if your canine companion can get hurt, I won't be able to play it. I was so worried about the fate of the dog in RE4 that I could hardly watch the boss fight where he comes to help Leon. Yes, I'm totally weak, but as cool as some aspects of Fable II look, the dog is going to make it or break it for me.
Rock Band 2: As much as I love Rock Band, I won't be buying Rock Band 2. Why? The track list is awful. With the exception of songs by Lush and Interpol, everything else on the disc is either a played out hit that I never want to listen to again, or by bands I never wanted to hear in the first place, like System of a Down, The Offspring and Presidents of the United States of America. I'll buy the new instruments, and I'll keep buying DLC, but I'm putting my foot down on the disc (literally, if possible). If the disc were required to keep getting DLC, I would just sell my copy of Rock Band and move to Guitar Hero World Tour. It's that bad.
Portal: Still Alive: I'm actually glad that this will be coming to XBLA. My only fear for a Portal sequel was that the writing wasn't really suited for a full-length release. But it looks like they're going to go the DLC route, which sounds perfect. If not for FFXIII, the announcement that this is coming this fall would have been the most exciting moment of the conference for me.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts: Another one that just doesn't interest me in the least. I've never played a Banjo game becuase I hate the title, and the characters look totally unappealing to me. Maybe I'm really missing out on something big, but you know what? I don't care.
Guitar Hero World Tour: When this was announced, I had no interest in purchasing the full-band set up. I'm not a partisan to either Rock Band or Guitar Hero, but I do expect different things from them. Rock Band is the fun and easy party game with a more diverse set-list. Guitar Hero is where I go if I want a solid, guitar-based ass kicking. Both are great in their own ways. So when Red Octane announced that they were going to rip off the rock band concept, I yawned and hoped that there would be a package with just a guitar and the game. But now that Harmonix has utterly failed on the Rock Band 2 track list, I'm more open to the possibility of owning more plastic instruments. We'll have to see if Red Octane can come up with a better group of songs, though. I could very well end up sitting out this round of the music game wars.
The J-RPG fleet: Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Star Ocean...honestly, I don't know what is supposed to differentiate any of these games from one another, and now that FFXIII is coming to the 360, isn't it a moot point? My understanding was that Microsoft was bringing over this quantity of second-tier J-RPGs in hopes of distracting people from the quality of the same genre that has previously been Sony's exclusive domain. But if Square Enix is going truly multi-platform with its big releases, do these other games become superfluous? We'll see, but for now I wouldn't even be able to identify screen shots of any of these.
Lips: Call me a music game whore, but I'm fairly excited by the first game to allow me to use any song out of my own MP3 library. It remains to be seen how their vocal-removal technology will work with songs whose production techniques are off the beaten path (will I be able to sing along to My Bloody Valentine and Ulrich Schnauss?), but otherwise this is sounding very cool.
The Ton of XBLA Announcements: The game shows are going to be cool for some people, but as someone who doesn't like game shows, I'm left cold. The announcement of what people are already calling Galaga Championship Edition is far cooler. GTAIV episodic content will definitely get me to put that game back in. Otherwise, I don't remember what was announced, and don't feel like sifting through the coverage to remind myself.
Xbox Live Changes
Avatars: Yawn. I don't do anything with Miis, and I don't see myself doing anything with XBL Avatars, either. Except that, you know, now I'm going to be forced to. I'll miss the picture of the Fruit Fucker that has graced my account for as long as I've had my 360. Also, the thought of paying for customization options doesn't appeal to me, and honestly I don't see it appealing to enough of the user base to make it worthwhile.
New 3D Dashboard: 3D interfaces strike me as something people thought was a good idea a long time ago that technological limitations have kept from becoming a reality until recently, leading to the discovery of better solutions in the meantime. Case in point: would you want to replace your web-browser with Second Life? If you want to look up a word on dictionary.com, do you really want to have to walk an avatar to a virtual bookshelf and pull down a book which then opens the web site? I know I don't. At any rate, this is why I don't care if Home ever actually emerges on the PS3, and why I hope Microsoft isn't going for something similar here. I'm all for streamlining the dashboard, but they're going to have to prove that a flashy 3D interface is actually more functional than 2D, and I think that's going to be very difficult.
Netflix on XBL: This is exciting, but I'm not sure how to interpret the official line that the service will come "at no extra cost" to Gold members. That sounds to me as if they're saying that now with my Gold subscription, I can download movies from the Netflix library for free. But since XBL already has a movie download service, which does not come free with a Gold subscripition, I'm assuming that what "no extra cost" actually means is that I'll be able to pay for Netflix rentals without having to have a unique Netflix subscription. However, if the movies are truly free to Gold subscribers, this is one of the most exciting announcements of the day.
My Verdict
Despite much of this information being leaked in the Intellisponse fiasco last month, they still managed to surprise with FFXIII, which I'll go out on a limb now and predict will be the biggest announcement of E3 '08. It was at least a huge opening shot, and I'm really excited to see how Sony and Nintendo counter.
The Games
Final Fantasy XIII for 360: Fantastic. The more expensive gaming gets, the more I loathe exclusivity. Of course the game still seems to be in such early stages of development that it's unclear whether it will run as well on the 360 as on the PS3, but it's really good to see that Square Enix is really getting serious about the American and European markets, and not letting the politics of the Japanese market dominate all of their business decisions.
Fallout 3: I don't know what to say other than that this sounds like "The Next Bioshock". Since I loved Bioshock, I can't wait to get my hands on Fallout 3.
Resident Evil 5: A bit disappointed to know that you still can't move while shooting, but other than that the game still seems to be on track to be a worthy follow up to the great RE4. The March 13, 2009 release date feels like a long time to wait, but at least it's not as long as some people were predicting.
Gears of War 2: Eh. The first one never hooked me, and the addition of more testosterone to the sequel doesn't sell it to me. However, I'm sure the people who liked the first one are going to find a lot to like in this one, as well. I'll probably give it a try, but my completely non-objective viewpoint is that I don't expect to enjoy it much.
Fable II: I'm interested, but here's my issue: I'm an avid dog lover, and if your canine companion can get hurt, I won't be able to play it. I was so worried about the fate of the dog in RE4 that I could hardly watch the boss fight where he comes to help Leon. Yes, I'm totally weak, but as cool as some aspects of Fable II look, the dog is going to make it or break it for me.
Rock Band 2: As much as I love Rock Band, I won't be buying Rock Band 2. Why? The track list is awful. With the exception of songs by Lush and Interpol, everything else on the disc is either a played out hit that I never want to listen to again, or by bands I never wanted to hear in the first place, like System of a Down, The Offspring and Presidents of the United States of America. I'll buy the new instruments, and I'll keep buying DLC, but I'm putting my foot down on the disc (literally, if possible). If the disc were required to keep getting DLC, I would just sell my copy of Rock Band and move to Guitar Hero World Tour. It's that bad.
Portal: Still Alive: I'm actually glad that this will be coming to XBLA. My only fear for a Portal sequel was that the writing wasn't really suited for a full-length release. But it looks like they're going to go the DLC route, which sounds perfect. If not for FFXIII, the announcement that this is coming this fall would have been the most exciting moment of the conference for me.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts: Another one that just doesn't interest me in the least. I've never played a Banjo game becuase I hate the title, and the characters look totally unappealing to me. Maybe I'm really missing out on something big, but you know what? I don't care.
Guitar Hero World Tour: When this was announced, I had no interest in purchasing the full-band set up. I'm not a partisan to either Rock Band or Guitar Hero, but I do expect different things from them. Rock Band is the fun and easy party game with a more diverse set-list. Guitar Hero is where I go if I want a solid, guitar-based ass kicking. Both are great in their own ways. So when Red Octane announced that they were going to rip off the rock band concept, I yawned and hoped that there would be a package with just a guitar and the game. But now that Harmonix has utterly failed on the Rock Band 2 track list, I'm more open to the possibility of owning more plastic instruments. We'll have to see if Red Octane can come up with a better group of songs, though. I could very well end up sitting out this round of the music game wars.
The J-RPG fleet: Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Star Ocean...honestly, I don't know what is supposed to differentiate any of these games from one another, and now that FFXIII is coming to the 360, isn't it a moot point? My understanding was that Microsoft was bringing over this quantity of second-tier J-RPGs in hopes of distracting people from the quality of the same genre that has previously been Sony's exclusive domain. But if Square Enix is going truly multi-platform with its big releases, do these other games become superfluous? We'll see, but for now I wouldn't even be able to identify screen shots of any of these.
Lips: Call me a music game whore, but I'm fairly excited by the first game to allow me to use any song out of my own MP3 library. It remains to be seen how their vocal-removal technology will work with songs whose production techniques are off the beaten path (will I be able to sing along to My Bloody Valentine and Ulrich Schnauss?), but otherwise this is sounding very cool.
The Ton of XBLA Announcements: The game shows are going to be cool for some people, but as someone who doesn't like game shows, I'm left cold. The announcement of what people are already calling Galaga Championship Edition is far cooler. GTAIV episodic content will definitely get me to put that game back in. Otherwise, I don't remember what was announced, and don't feel like sifting through the coverage to remind myself.
Xbox Live Changes
Avatars: Yawn. I don't do anything with Miis, and I don't see myself doing anything with XBL Avatars, either. Except that, you know, now I'm going to be forced to. I'll miss the picture of the Fruit Fucker that has graced my account for as long as I've had my 360. Also, the thought of paying for customization options doesn't appeal to me, and honestly I don't see it appealing to enough of the user base to make it worthwhile.
New 3D Dashboard: 3D interfaces strike me as something people thought was a good idea a long time ago that technological limitations have kept from becoming a reality until recently, leading to the discovery of better solutions in the meantime. Case in point: would you want to replace your web-browser with Second Life? If you want to look up a word on dictionary.com, do you really want to have to walk an avatar to a virtual bookshelf and pull down a book which then opens the web site? I know I don't. At any rate, this is why I don't care if Home ever actually emerges on the PS3, and why I hope Microsoft isn't going for something similar here. I'm all for streamlining the dashboard, but they're going to have to prove that a flashy 3D interface is actually more functional than 2D, and I think that's going to be very difficult.
Netflix on XBL: This is exciting, but I'm not sure how to interpret the official line that the service will come "at no extra cost" to Gold members. That sounds to me as if they're saying that now with my Gold subscription, I can download movies from the Netflix library for free. But since XBL already has a movie download service, which does not come free with a Gold subscripition, I'm assuming that what "no extra cost" actually means is that I'll be able to pay for Netflix rentals without having to have a unique Netflix subscription. However, if the movies are truly free to Gold subscribers, this is one of the most exciting announcements of the day.
My Verdict
Despite much of this information being leaked in the Intellisponse fiasco last month, they still managed to surprise with FFXIII, which I'll go out on a limb now and predict will be the biggest announcement of E3 '08. It was at least a huge opening shot, and I'm really excited to see how Sony and Nintendo counter.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Leaked Rock Band 2 Tracklists Kill My Interest
Back in April, I wrote a post about Rock Band DLC which basically opined the fact that my favorite genres ('80s and '90s alternative from the UK) are under-represented in rhythm games, albeit it with good reason, financially speaking. The number of people who are going to pony up the dough to download My Bloody Valentine's "To Here Knows When" is a lot smaller than the number of people who will buy any given Red Hot Chili Peppers song, and while that might be a very sad comment on the average American's taste in music, it makes it pretty clear what Harmonix should do if they want to make money.
However, a strange thing happened since that post, namely the release of The Pixies' Doolittle as a Rock Band album pack. Now The Pixies aren't from the UK, but Doolittle was released by my favorite label, 4AD, which has played host to some of my favorite bands of all time, including the Cocteau Twins, Lush and Throwing Muses. When the release of Doolittle was followed closely by the announcement of Rock Band 2, to feature bands who had never before appeared in a rhythm game, my mind instantly leapt to some wondrous possibilities.
Well, this week, Kotaku ran a story about a couple of leaked tracklists which may or may not shed a lot of light on what to expect from Rock Band 2. And if you like good music, it looks like this definitely will not be the game for you. In fact, if the lists are to be believed (and never have I so desperately wanted a rumor not to be true), Harmonix seems to have gone out of their way to make a game I would absolutely not buy. The appearance of Lush's "De-Luxe" on both lists does nothing to change the fact that System of a Down, the Offspring and The Presidents of the United States of America are three bands I hate so much that hearing one of their songs literally ruins my whole day. I realize that's an irrational degree of hatred, but as a good musician once said (guess which one) "I can't change the way I feel". Any one of those bands making the final list will prevent me from buying the game, because I'd have to stop as soon as I came to their song.
I can't get irrationally upset, though, because like I said in my previous post on the topic, I understand why Harmonix is going with so much garbage: the masses have no taste. It's my own fault for developing expectations that were never going to be met. My only hope now is that more good stuff will eventually appear as DLC--or that Guitar Hero World Tour will pick up the slack and woo the money I would have spent on Rock Band 2 into Activision's pockets instead.
However, a strange thing happened since that post, namely the release of The Pixies' Doolittle as a Rock Band album pack. Now The Pixies aren't from the UK, but Doolittle was released by my favorite label, 4AD, which has played host to some of my favorite bands of all time, including the Cocteau Twins, Lush and Throwing Muses. When the release of Doolittle was followed closely by the announcement of Rock Band 2, to feature bands who had never before appeared in a rhythm game, my mind instantly leapt to some wondrous possibilities.
Well, this week, Kotaku ran a story about a couple of leaked tracklists which may or may not shed a lot of light on what to expect from Rock Band 2. And if you like good music, it looks like this definitely will not be the game for you. In fact, if the lists are to be believed (and never have I so desperately wanted a rumor not to be true), Harmonix seems to have gone out of their way to make a game I would absolutely not buy. The appearance of Lush's "De-Luxe" on both lists does nothing to change the fact that System of a Down, the Offspring and The Presidents of the United States of America are three bands I hate so much that hearing one of their songs literally ruins my whole day. I realize that's an irrational degree of hatred, but as a good musician once said (guess which one) "I can't change the way I feel". Any one of those bands making the final list will prevent me from buying the game, because I'd have to stop as soon as I came to their song.
I can't get irrationally upset, though, because like I said in my previous post on the topic, I understand why Harmonix is going with so much garbage: the masses have no taste. It's my own fault for developing expectations that were never going to be met. My only hope now is that more good stuff will eventually appear as DLC--or that Guitar Hero World Tour will pick up the slack and woo the money I would have spent on Rock Band 2 into Activision's pockets instead.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)