Video Game News

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:20 Written by Andrew Allen Tuesday, 23 March 2010 18:20

I was going to do a post on the best game developers in the world right now. That post is still coming, Dear Reader, but in the meantime, allow me to share in the collective "WHAT?!" at Nintendo's bizarrely fascinating 3DS announcement. Where in the balls did this come from? And why now, with so little fanfare? Nintendo claims they want people to have a "heads up" of what's going to be at E3. That sounds about as reasonable as Caesar giving the Romans an "fyi" that he's going to march across the Rubicon. The whole point of announcements like this is to come out on the largest possible stage, after the biggest possible fanfare...right?

The way I see it, there are two basic things Nintendo could be up to here.

1. Band-Aid Theory. The weirdest thing about this announcement is that the DSi XL is still planning to launch in a matter of days. What on God's green Earth could Nintendo possibly be thinking, announcing a superior product on the eve of a launch? Do they really think anyone's going to buy this thing now? I mean, I know the DS has been a sales killing machine, and I respect that, but there's a difference between bold and insane.

So, maybe they want to smother the DSi XL. Maybe they're hoping to drag sales down in North America (it's already out in Japan and Europe), in order to prime the pump for the 3DS. God only knows why the DSi XL is coming out in the first place if that's what they're up to, but companies are like the people who comprise them: their reasons aren't always logical. If we view the XL as a thing Nintendo could not avoid releasing for whatever reason, then perhaps this announcement is hoping to cut the product off at the knees and make it invisible in the US. Nintendo may be afraid of over-saturating their market, and perhaps they're hoping the 3DS will preemptively gobble up the XL and minimize damage.

2. They're Insane. That's the only other theory I've got. I mean, Nintendo has proven me wrong before: I was vocal about thinking the Wii would bomb, and look what happened there; God bless them, they're a company that thinks outside the box (they call it "Blue Ocean Strategy"). Still, they're known for extreme lows to match the highs: no one can regard the Gamecube as anything but a mistake (as much as I loved it), the Nintendo 64 got outpaced by newcomer Sony, and let's not even talk about Virtual Boy. 

My point is, I'm pretty sure that every executive working at Nintendo has "Just Crazy Enough to Work" tattooed on their left butt cheek, because these people live and die by left-field business decisions. Sometimes they're quirky, sometimes they're downright bizarre, and sometimes they make one hundred bajillion dollars. But this is not one of those times. If this is some kind of trick, it isn't going to work. I'm sure the 3DS will be fine, God knows a 3D version of an already disgustingly popular game platform sells itself, but whatever extra shenanigans this is supposed to incur aren't happening. 

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:19 Written by Matthew Nyquist Monday, 25 January 2010 01:29

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:19 Written by Mecha Wednesday, 20 January 2010 00:00

And they wonder why their games don't sell. C'mon Sega.

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:19 Written by Matthew Nyquist Saturday, 09 January 2010 00:11

So, I've had very little time for Bayonetta, but from what I have played it is amazing.  If you have a 360 and like action games, buy this title now.

Also, what have you all heard about Global Agenda?  It reminds me a lot of Tribes.

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:20 Written by Matthew Nyquist Tuesday, 02 June 2009 10:16

So, admittedly, I was in the sky yesterday when Microsoft was doing their media briefing (which they apparently did at USC's Galen Center,) but I did catch Nintendo's.  We'll have more talk on the show this week, but I just had to give a holy shit for the new Metroid trailer.  3rd person Metroid has returned!  It was definitely the highlight for me.  I was kind of left with meh with most everything else, but who knows as more info about the actual gameplay comes out.

The press conferences were always my favorite part of E3 and I can't wait to go again next year.  

I'm going to be moving on Friday so, it looks like we may be doing a show at a different time this week again so stay tuned.

Last Updated on Monday, 05 April 2010 08:21 Written by RurouniQ Sunday, 31 May 2009 09:45

So Sony has leaked (how can it be a leak if it comes officially from the company?) information on the PSP 2, or, as they are calling it, the PSP Go. (UPDATE: It seems as though it's more like the PSP-4000. Nothing indicates there are any hardware upgrades present.) I've read over the information we have so far, and what, you may ask, is RurouniQ's opinion on this?

Utter fail, for one major reason: There is still no second analog stick. Some might say that it's not kosher to condemn a new system based on one aspect of it, but bear with me here and read on.

In my opinion, the lack of the second analog was the leading factor in the lack of success for the PSP. Without a second analog, the first PSP was crippled. Not only did it limit the play styles that were available, but it forced developers to try and shoehorn existing control schemes into its limited options, which, in the end, made otherwise good games unplayable. And when a game is not worth buying but someone wants to play it anyway, what are they going to do? Pirate it. Then there's the whole PS1 emulator thing; this is great for certain games like Final Fantasy, but it ruins others that needed the second analog stick or 4 trigger buttons. Sony had a chance to start from square one with this new system, and what do they do? They blow it. Stupid fucking Sony. What's more, the one existing stick looks like it's in a much more uncomfortable place now. What, am I supposed to hold it from the bottom side now just to get to it?

The only significant  saving grace is the lack of UMD, although, if there is no actual disk or cartridge being sold in stores, this may signal the start of the death of brick-and-mortar sales, and because of that, brick-and-mortar stores may choose to poorly support hardware sales.

Let's go over some of the other features, shall we?

43% lighter than the PSP-3000: Thumbs up. Can't really say anything bad about that! The lack of UMD motors to spin is most likely what contributes to this.

16GB Flash Memory: Thumbs up. This was sorely needed on the original PSP, but would have not have been cost-feasible at that time.

Memory Stick Micro support: Thumbs down. You mean if I want to go beyond my existing 16GB, I can't use my existing PSP memory stick? Fail.

New Games On the Way: One thumb up, one thumb down. New Gran Turismo? I'll believe it when I see it. They said the same thing about PSP and we're still waiting. New Little Big Planet? Ok, totally sweet. You may have me there if this thing is affordable. New Metal Gear Solid? Hmm, that countdown site for Kojima Productions is looking a little less sweet right now.

Not Going to Replace the PSP1: Thumbs down. On one hand, it's great to see continued support for the dedicated's investment. On the other hand, it's time to pull the plug on this one, Sony. This thing has been on artificial life support for years now. This isn't the PS2; you can't expect it to hold itself up once you talk away the walker. What's more, this might mean that Sony thinks it can offer a tiered handheld system, one at a budget price and one at a premium price. PULL THE PLUG. LET IT GO. (UPDATE: Since this is essentially just a new model of PSP, this seems to be just a "premium" model and nothing more. You mean I can pay more for a system that doesn't offer any real improvements other than built-in memory? Joy.)

Other Information: Thumbs down. What other information? Is it backwards compatible? We don't know yet. Is it graphically any more powerful than its predecessor? We don't know yet. What will the price be? PSP Go fuck yourselves. (UPDATE: Again, it's the PSP-4000. No graphic updates, and the price is $249.99. Definitely thumbs down.)

All in all, I have to say that so far, this appears to be yet another three-hour tour aboard the failboat. I may be proven wrong in the future, and I will try to be gracious and admit I'm wrong if/when that happens. But for now, I wag my finger at Sony and admonish them for not learning from their past mistakes. Things like this make me truly concerned for their future as a company, because any body, whether it be a person, a government, or a company, that can't learn from its mistakes is in for a world of hurt.