I am not even going to try to make sense of this situation. For reasons known only to the brass at Activision, the software giant has left the Entertainment Software Association. This is akin to the Yankees saying they no longer want to be a part of Major League Baseball. I am not sure why Activision thinks it’s a good idea to be a rogue agent - or if other publishers will follow suit - but it will make this year’s E3 that much more interesting.
For those unaware, ESA is essentially the origination that groups video game publishers together. They are the company who laughs in the face of congressmen who propose bannings of video games and they are the ones who organize industry events such as the previous mentioned E3. The ESA is responsible for all the things related to gaming… except the actual development of games. So to turn your back on them, after they have helped build this industry to a level above even the movie industry, is just baffling.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
I usually have an uncanny ability to predict how good a game will be before release. It’s not a very difficult formula: good developer + good idea = good game. Lost Planet took this formula, tossed it into the Quadratic Equation (the world’s most evil mathematical formula) and laughed in my face.
Even though it came out in January of last year, when it came time to give my Game of the Year awards in December, I had still not washed the stench of rotting Vital Suit out of my mind. I’m not sure how Capcom completely missed on such a great idea either. Last Planet is a 3rd person shooter that takes place in a snowy tundra and you’re equipped with a grappling hook. What could go wrong!?
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Popularity: 2% [?]
If you thought you could escape the all-encompassing popularity of the Wii by taking a nice vacation, think again. The next time you walk into an exercise facilities at your favorite Weston Hotel, you may be treated with a video game instead. Weston has officially opened their arms wide to this newest craze and are stocking their hotels with Wii Sports and Wii Fit. What a strange time we live in.
Though I certainly have enjoyed playing Wii Sports and Wii Fit, I would never actually labeled them as exercise equipment. Slowly moving my arms once a minute to throw a virtual bowling ball or tilting my body weight slightly to land a ski jump are fun activities, things the whole family can enjoy, but I don’t exactly need to take a shower afterwards. Are video games serving as a substitute for actual exercise now?
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Has it really been five years since a good Prince of Persia title was released? UbiSoft created the stunning Sands of Time in 2003, and for a few glorious days, I assumed the company had finally converted to making games I actually enjoy. Five years later, after being inundated with countless Tom Clancy games and two reprehensible new Prince of Persia games, I assumed UbiSoft had turned their back on me for good. But there is a light in the distance. Can the new Prince of Persia erase a half decade of suffering?
The biggest change to this storied franchise comes in the form of fancy new visuals. It makes sense since this is the first next generation Persia experience, but the visuals go far beyond a simple polygon enhancement. Just like Warrior Within changed the warm, inviting style of Sands of Time to one of fear and loathing, this new PoP shifts the art style radically back in the other direction: it is now cel-shaded. Like Wind Waker and Okami, this is an interactive cartoon, but the changes don’t stop there.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was the first Castlevania game to break away from straight-forward action and deliver an exploration-heavy, RPG/action hybrid. It’s a great game that still holds up today. Sadly, Portrait of Ruin takes the standard formula and makes it an agonizing experience.
Portrait of Ruin is the very definition of a soulless video game. Though it models itself after the original masterpiece, it doesn’t bring one interesting new feature to the table. The award winning formula should be enough to make any game in the franchise at least fun, but the awesome Castlevania experience was overwhelmed by the most banal level design imaginable.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
very cruel sense of humor. Despite the growing popularity of Final Fantasy the world over, Square has been hesitant to bring ever Fantasy over to America. It took sixteen years but the interminable wait finally ended late last year. People were finally able to play Final Fantasy III.
Was it worth the wait? Probably not. FFIII first came out on the Japanese NES - the Famicom - when RPGs had simple stories and rudimentary graphics. Since that time, RPGs have ballooned to have the same budget as summer movie blockbusters, with graphics that were the envy of everything else and a score that would make Mozart weep.
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Popularity: 1% [?]
Now that Grand Theft Auto IV is finally on the market, we can begin to hear outcries from pundits around the country who have not actually played the game. Oh how tasty unadulterated ignorance can be. MADD - the angrily named Mothers Against Drunk Driving - have demanded that GTA IV change its rating to Adults Only. Why? Because you are able to drive drunk in the game.
First of all, it should be noted that driving drunk is a player’s choice. Just like killing cops and prostitutes, it is an act that is allowed but not required to complete the game. Just like people have the choice to drive drunk in real life, a choice that should never be exercised but still exists, gamers have the same choice in a virtual setting. So these mothers are angry that a video game gives people the same choice as real life. Strange.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Can you believe something called The Orange Box was one of the best games released in 2007? Even stranger, if you look past the critically adored Half Life 2 and just below the drool-inducing Team Fortress 2, there is a tiny gem that may offer the single greatest experience in all of gaming last year. Portal is candy flavored art.
It’s such a simple game. You are equipped with a portal creating gun. Using only this gun and your (hopefully) powerful mind, you are tasked with traversing a deadly obstacle course in a demented science laboratory. You are a rat in a maze, the reluctant plaything for a crazed computer.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Have you ever wondered who would win in a fight between Godzilla and King Kong? Of course not, the giant, agile monkey could run circles around that lumbering lizard. But who would win in a fight between generic knock-offs? That is the question War of the Monsters seeks to answer.
This is the direction I would like to see fighting games take–no more plodding, one-on-one battles. I’ve been doing that for 15 years! I want huge environments, destructible buildings and monsters. Lots and lots of monsters.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
Is it possible for a first date to go any worse? After waiting in line for an hour and plopping down a cool $60 to be one of the first to get my hands on the megahit of 2008, I feel obliged to try all this massive game has to offer. So I went on a real date with the very fictional Michelle. I even bought a nice pair of jeans beforehand to make a good impression, American girls seem to put a lot of importance on clothes for some reason. Tight pants was the last of my problems when it was all over, though.
Russians have a pretty cute word for carnival: funfair. You know what you’re getting into there. Instead of just eating food like two normal people meeting each other for the first time, we went to this supposed funfair down by the docks. Doesn’t trouble always spring up there? Turns out, the carnival is closed for renovation - something to look forward to as this sordid tale progresses - but a devastating turn of events on this evening.
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Popularity: 6% [?]
