Final Blog Post of the Year

Well, as mentioned in the title, this will be my last blog post of the year. During this time I'll be hanging out with the family, catching up on some old games, finishing up some projects I’m working on (articles, reviews, stories, etc.) For the duration of the break I’ll be on Xbox Live (probably playing Gears of War, my newfound gaming addiction :P) and AIM so if you wish to contact me, you have both of those options…oh and there’s email. As 2006 comes to a close, I think I use my final blog post of 2006 to reflect on the past year of gaming.

The Year 2006 in Retrospect (Abridged version)

The Xbox 360 has really hit its stride this year after its pretty rocky launch in 2005 spilling over into the first few months of 2006. March however saw the releases of several highly anticipated games for the Xbox 360, GRAW, Fight Night Round 3 and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, all worthy of your gaming dollars even today. There was a bit of a lull after that point, as there were no really good titles until the summer. Early summer was met with Chromehounds, a vastly underrated and underappreciated game in my opinion. Late summer saw the releases of two much talked about and surprisingly good games, Dead Rising and Saints Row. These managed to tide 360 gamers over until the fall when some of the best quality Xbox 360 games released. November saw the releases of many great games such as Viva Piñata (which was another shocker) Rainbow Six Vegas and the most hyped game this year, Gears of War. It completely lived up to its massive amounts of hype and as such, has been named GameSpot’s 2006 Game of the Year. In the end, I think it’s safe to say the Xbox 360 has done an incredible amount in its first full year on the market, and I hope it continues to deliver.

The runaway hit Playstation 2 also had another exceptional year, and with the release of its big brother the PS3 looming on the horizon that was no easy feat. But the six year old PS2 showed everyone it still had some legs and stood strong once again with a killer lineup of exclusive games proving that you don’t have to upgrade to the next generation of consoles to have great gaming experiences. Throughout the year there were a ton of stellar releases including the much hyped Okami, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero II, Singstar Rocks! (which I really want to play), and Bully.

The Playstation 3 on the other hand didn’t have such a year leading up to its release this past November 17th. E3 2006 was not too kind to the Playstation 3 (I’m pretty sure everyone remembers the “Giant Enemy Crab” and “Ridge Racer” debacles during the pre-show press conference) and for some time afterwards it had its fair share of bad press in the months that followed. Even after launch, it still had bad press coming from all angles, including Time Magazine and the New York Times. Still though, the launch of the Playstation 3 was pretty smooth, despite missing intended shipment marks (an estimated 200,000 consoles reached North America on launch day instead of the promised 400,000). There were very few of hardware malfunctions that plagued the Xbox 360’s launch (and quite frankly, even now) and despite missing their original shipment targets, they have kept up a steady stream of PS3’s coming to keep retailers relatively well stocked (I recently called a local Best Buy store and they told me they had some PS3’s in stock). The actual launch titles fared about as well as 360 titles did the previous year with a few highlights (Resistance: Fall of Man) and a few flops (Genji: Days of the Blade, Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom). All in all, the PS3 was a bit on the disappointing side this year but, to its credit, almost all consoles have a shaky start (as did the PS2, and we all see what happened there) and its first full year on the market and some of its biggest blockbuster titles are coming up in 2007.

The Nintendo Wii on the other hand has seen its share of good press. At E3 2006, members of the gaming press got their chance to play the Nintendo Wii (some for the first time) and see how their new fangled motion sensing controller affected the way games would be played on the system. Since then, very little bad press has come Nintendo’s way, as those who had the chance to play it often left with great first impressions. Nintendo also decided to give gamers across the United States the chance to try the Wii out for themselves before it released at the Nintendo Fusion Tour this past fall. After my first time at the controls, I was very satisfied as were many others who had the chance to experience it. The launch went very smoothly, and although Nintendo didn’t meet their goals of shipping 1 million Wii consoles to North America on launch day, they still managed to get 600,000 units stateside. The launch titles were as expected, with one really huge game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) and a bunch of other great titles (Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Rayman: Raving Rabbids) to round out the collection. Surprisingly, there was a pretty big flop in the form of Red Steel, but other than that, there wasn’t much to lose sleep over. 2007 looks to be a good year for the Wii with three big name titles (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers Brawl) on the way.

All that said, this was a very good year for gaming. I plan on expanding this short feature in the next week so look for it when it’s finished.

Well, that’ll do it for my last blog post of the year. I’ll be back next year in full force so be on the lookout! :D. I hope everyone here has a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year!

First impressions of the Wii

On November 19, 2006, the Nintendo Wii console was officially made available to the public. I had my console preordered at my local GameStop, so I didn’t make a fuss about rushing out to pick mine up when the store opened. At around 2 PM that day, I made my way up to the store and finally picked up my Wii console. Excitement rushed through me as the clerk went into the back room and brought out the small white box containing the object at the root of much excitement and anticipation over the past few months.



The Wii remote itself is everything I remember from my experiences with it before. In hand, it’s one of the most comfortable controllers I’ve ever used. It’s got a good feel to it in terms of balance and weight, and it fits naturally in your hand. The nunchuck attachment is incredibly light (almost to the point of feeling a bit cheap) but is well designed, and is comfortable for long playing sessions. I also noticed the analog stick is a bit smaller than the one found on the Gamecube’s controller, but that’s neither here nor there. The only gripe I have regarding the Wii remote is the speaker. The sound quality just isn’t that good. The sounds are tinny and lack the clarity you’d find from most good quality headphones or speakers you’d find today.

The Wii console’s interface is well designed and is easy to work around. Flipping through the Wii “channels” is oddly reminiscent (in a good way) of flipping through channels on a television. Due to the similarities (at least in a physical sense) between the Wii remote and a traditional television remote, the channel interface was probably intentional. It’s simple, it’s easy, and very intuitive.

After playing my share of Wii Sports (the only game I have at the moment), I have to say that I am very pleased with how this game turned out. It’s pretty much every thing I expected and more. If you recall, I had a chance to play it last September at the Nintendo Fusion Tour event. After that small taste of Wii Sports, I was itching to play more. Wii boxing and Wii bowling are easily my two favorite modes, and boxing is great fun with a friend (but then again, all these games are great with a friend).

So far, the Wii has lived up to my expectations. I’ve had a ton of fun with it so far, and the only way I can go is up. I’ll be picking up some additional games soon and I’ll post my impressions on those as I get them. Has the novelty of actually swinging my arm (or flicking my wrist) to control my games worn off yet? No, not yet. In time, it probably will. It’s up to developers to come up with innovative and exciting ways to use the Wii remote’s motion sensing capabilities to keep the gameplay fresh and keep gamers and non gamers alike coming back for more. It’s certainly got me intrigued.

Umm...Yeah

I feel like making another blog post, so here's what's on my mind at 10:19 AM as I sit in the Library to kill time between classes.

Gears of War has lived up to my expectations and in many ways, exceeded them. The game is just awesome on so many levels. The singleplayer game is great but what really takes the cake is the multiplayer. It's so satisfying and fun. Unlike Halo 2, where people just run at each other guns a blazing, Gears of War actually requires teamwork and effective use of cover. You can't just run off and do your own thing. If you do, you'll likely end up overwhelmed by the other team. I love it. It's not the deepest game ever, but its fun and rewarding. Nothing beats sneaking up on someone and taking a chainsaw to them or gibbing an opponent with the Gnasher Shotgun. I could go on and on, but I won't. It would take far too long. Trust me, if you have an Xbox 360, get this game. Odds are, you won't be disappointed.

The Playstation 3 and Wii will be launching soon and I will be in line on launch day for one of them. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint. It starts with a "W" and ends with a...well, I think I've made it easy enough. The PS3 is looking better and better the more I hear from it, but it's not five or six hundred dollar worthy yet. I'm waiting until it gets a few more games I'm interested in before I take that plunge. Resistance seems to be getting rave reviews though, and since I love FPS games, that'll likely be my first purchase when I do pick up a PS3.

The Wii on the other hand has me extremely excited. I can't wait to play some more of Wii Sports and Red Steel. Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz seems to be getting some good reviews as well so I might end up picking that up at launch too.

Okay, looks like it's just about time for me to be heading off. I'll be back later with more updates on Gears and the impending launches of the Wii and PS3.

Late Night Final Impressions of Gears of War

Gears of War, the single most hyped and hotly anticipated game on the Xbox 360 to date. It’s been called a number of things, ranging from “The next Halo” to “The reason to buy an Xbox 360 this fall”. Who could blame people for generating such a buzz? Apparently, there is much to be praised, from the excellent graphics (probably the best you’ll see this year, on any platform), to the exciting tactically based “stop and pop” gameplay, Gears of War seems to have the total package. Well, I guess I’ll know soon enough, as I’ll be picking up my copy of the game around 3 PM Tuesday.




When Gears of War was first revealed, I was only mildly interested in it. It looked like it had potential, but didn’t look all that great to me. That quickly changed as the months passed, and more information regarding the gameplay, multiplayer and oh so sweet graphics emerged. While I’m no graphics whore, I don’t think I would feel quite the same if Gears didn’t look so damn good. But I digress…

(Click the image for a larger view)

As the months passed, drawing ever closer to the release date, my anticipation grew exponentially. The previews that have popped up in nearly every gaming related periodical or website I’ve seen. It’s pretty amazing. One preview in particular that got me the most excited was the 14 page spread (not counting the advertisements thrown in on just about every other page) in the November 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly. It revealed a lot about the game that I had previously been unaware of (the curb stomp in particular) and clarified some things I had been confused about. It left me with a newfound interest in the game, one that has only grown since then.

Since reading that preview, I actively sought out any and all Gears of War information and media on the net, and found my fair share. I stumbled upon some videos of Gears of War multiplayer (which have subsequently been removed for some reason but were uploaded again by users) on GameTrailers.com. Videos Four and six are my current favorites of the 12 or so that were once up there. An almost ten minute video preview over at Gamevideos.com made by the 1up crew, also has my interest through the roof, particularly because they discuss just how fun the game is and how all their worries about the game becoming repetitive have been put to rest. One of the speakers said something that really got me going. “This is probably the most polished game Epic has ever put out.” Wow. That’s certainly saying something, considering the Unreal Tournament series that has received pretty much rave reviews across the board. There's also the "Mad World" TV spot that popped up on the Xbox Live Marketplace a few weeks ago which managed to whet my appetite for all things Gears of War, if only for a short while.

Well, that’s my two cents regarding this massively hyped game for the Xbox 360. If my preorder turns out to be good, I might have a video of my initial impressions up soon (possibly Thursday or Friday). Well, if I can manage to tear myself away from the game long enough to set up and shoot the video.

Editorial: Microtansactions, The Wave of The Future? Dear God I hope not...

Developers have found a new way to eke a few more bucks out of you even after you’ve purchased a copy of their game. To expand the shelf life of their game, some developers release little packs of content, such as a few new multiplayer maps, weapons, or cars. These “microtransactions” as referred to within the industry are a growing trend, and I can’t say I’m pleased. Most content packs I’ve seen are pretty overpriced for what they offer.

I’m not going to condemn all developers who utilize the microtransaction system, because many developers don’t overcharge for very little content. While anyone who’s ever played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion likely remembers the horse armor fiasco, Bethesda has made up for it by releasing the rest of their far more worthwhile content for a much cheaper and more reasonable price.

I wouldn’t say microtransactions are a really bad thing (even though I do not really support them) because the content they offer does cost money to produce, and I understand development costs are rising but I draw the line when developers begin abusing them. Recent examples of a developer (or in this case, a publisher) milking the system include EA’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 content. The only way to unlock the “Sunday Tiger” is to buy him off of the Xbox Live Marketplace, and, while you’re there, why don’t you pick up a cheat code or two. Yes, you read that right. EA is selling cheats.

Making the case for overpriced content is the Chapter 2 expansion for GRAW. For 1200 Microsoft points, you get eight “re-lit” maps, four new co op missions, a few new weapons and some other stuff, as outlined in the link I included above. You may be thinking, wow, that’s a lot of stuff and it is, but not for that price, especially since the new maps aren’t so new. They’re just “re-lit” meaning at different times of day. So wait, let me get this straight, I’m paying 15 bucks for five (WOW!) new weapons and a few reworked maps where all you’ve done is change the lighting? You have got to be kidding me. For die hard fans, this might be worth it, but then again, to those die hard fans, the developers could’ve charged more than just $15 and they would eat it up. A guy like me, who is only casually interested in the game, will say “nuts to that”.

For about two months now, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Xbox Live Arcade game Lumines Live. The full game retails for 1200 Microsoft points, or about $15. Actually, I don’t think I should’ve used the word “full” when referring to the game, because what you get for that price is not the “full” version of the game. For that price, you get the “base” game. Key features, such as the majority of the VS CPU mode and single player skins have to be purchased separately. The “Advance Challenge Pack” has to be purchased on Xbox Live for 600 Microsoft points. Very disappointing.

Therein lies a potentially huge problem. What if these microtransactions take off and developers decide to omit content from the final version of the game and sell it to you later for an additional five dollars or so? It seems EA is already doing that With the aforementioned "Sunday Tiger" content, but another developer seems to be abusing the system even more grossly. Polyphony Digital is doing the same thing in the upcoming Gran Turismo HD for the PS3. According to recent reports and rumors, in the final game, there will be only 30 cars and two tracks, none of which can be played online. To play the game online, you must buy additional cars and tracks separately.

So what’s next? I’ll tell you. If gamers support these microtransactions, developers will take bigger risks, to see what they can get away with. If they succeed again, what’s next? Paying for gas in a racing game? Paying for ammunition in a first person shooter? You may immediately think, “oh hell no!” but that’s capitalism at its finest folks. These little microtransactions now potentially pave the way for that, and little by little, this is becoming a reality.