Trigga Please!

Right now, I'm in the middle of a marathon work weekend, but I thought I'd pop in briefly to tell you what's going to be taking up my gaming time, when I get a chance to play, that is. Naturally, I'll be carrying on with my trilogy of home console games. That's Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2, and Fallout 3, in case you didn't know, but there's something else I can't wait to get started on.

I'm talking about Chrono Trigger DS, the re-release of the classic SNES RPG. With all these major games released recently, it's easy to forget about some of the handheld titles, but this one has been on my radar for some time. Since I didn't have a SNES when I was younger (Go Sega!), and I lived in England (where the game wasn't even released) I missed out on this piece of gaming history, and I'm glad I finally get a chance to check it out. People have said that it's the best JRPG ever, and I'm eager to find out if this is just nostalgia talking.

I'll be bringing you a nice write up when I've had a chance to play for a while. Since Square have released two of my favorite games of the year, so far (The World Ends With You, and Crisis Core: FFVII), I have high hopes for Chrono Trigger. Lets see if it can stand the test of time.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

This week in Rock Band, my tongue gets tied in a knot, as I attempt to correctly pronounce Yngwie Malmsteen's name. Well, however it's meant to be said, he has a 3-pack of songs available for download. Joining him are The Killers, Soundgarden, and Lamb of God, all of which I've heard of, but don't really have any interest in. The 3-packs can be acquired for 440 MSP ($5.50), but of course all the tracks are also for sale individually, for 160 MSP ($2).
Here's this week's selection:

By The Killers:
Mr. Brightside
Smile Like You Mean It
Spaceman

By Yngwie Malmsteen:
Caprici Di Diablo
Damnation Game
Red Devil

Soundgarden - Jesus Christ Pose
Soundgarden - Pretty Noose
Lamb of God - Laid to Rest
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So despite the fact that some of these tracks look like fun to play, I didn't buy any of them. However, since I haven't purchased too much stuff recently, I decided to go back and pick up a few songs that I didn't get when first released, for one reason or another. Therefore, I will be providing some retro reviews this week instead.

The first track is Volcano by Jimmy Buffet, which is in drum tier 3. I skipped this one before as it came out the same week as The Cars' first album, but decided to pick it up now, as it looked like fun to play. Turns out, it's not as much fun as I was expecting. There are constant 1/8th notes all the way through, but the kick drum is fairly steady. There are a few slightly different sections, but overall it's not too interesting.

The next one is Bad to the Bone by George Thorogood, which is also in tier 3. This one came out during a week when I was completely broke, but I always intended on buying it at some point. It's actually fairly repetitive, with the same beat almost all the way through. There are a few occasional changes, and the middle section is fun, but overall it's kind of boring. A bit of a shame really, as I was hoping for more from such a good song.

The final one is Livin' on the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe by MC Frontalot, which also falls into tier 3. This song was released during the period I couldn't play Rock Band, due to broken drums, but now I have the chance to check it out. It's unlike any other track I've played, in that it would most accurately be described as hip hop. The song has a syncopated beat that isn't too fast, but definitely requires good coordination between both hands and your foot. It's tough, but fun to play, and I feel that it will help me practice skills not found in a lot of the existing music.

So would I recommend any of these tracks then? Well, not the first two, but Livin' on The Corner of Dude and Catastrophe is a must buy for any fan of Rock Band drumming. It's different, it's tough, and most importantly it's pretty good to listen to, which makes me hope for more hip hop in the future. I may not be a huge fan of the music itself, but damn, those are some fun beats to play!

In other Rock Band news, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Harmonix, MTV Networks, and EA regarding the kick drum pedal that ships with the first game. Monte Morgan, who filed the suit in the US District Court of Northern California, claims that "Due to a design defect, the bass drum foot pedal (which is an integral component of the Rock Band drum kit) fractures under ordinary and expected usage, thus rendering the pedal inoperative. Without a functioning bass drum foot pedal, consumers are unable to use the Rock Band drum kit or play the Rock Band game in the manner marketed and advertised by defendants."

Now, I have to admit that I sort of understand the reasoning behind this lawsuit. After all, my guitar, drum pads, and kick pedal all broke through regular use, where as my original Guitar Hero guitar kept on going for years. Part of the suit recognises the fact that a metal reinforcement was added to the Rock Band 2 drum pedal, which is sort of an admission that the original pedal wasn't strong enough, yet they continue to sell them. However, they have been willing to replace any broken instruments, no questions asked, but I guess this fact isn't enough for some people.

The companies involved have responded by saying "Harmonix and MTV Games are dedicated to consumers having an outstanding experience with our products. When used as directed, our drum pedals are designed to provide years of enjoyment." Okay, so I stand by Harmonix, as their games have provided me with countless hours of entertainment, but this statement is ridiculous. Years? Try weeks. The fact is that the original kick pedal wasn't made strong enough, and it will break, even if used as directed. However, I think that asking for the full cost of the drum kit back is crazy, and I agree with MTV Games when they called the litigation "opportunistic and baseless". Surely they must mean bassless, though.

Hard to Rezist

Tomorrow is Black Friday. For those living outside of the US, this is the busiest shopping day of the year, with crazy sales going on in all sorts of different outlets. I personally think the whole day is some sort of twisted joke, as today is Thanksgiving, a time when people like to eat, drink, and be merry all day long. Then they're expected to get up at 3 in the morning the next day, just to get in line for the "door buster" deals, many of which start at 4 a.m. Very funny, you corporate bastards.

So what about those of us who like their sleep, and treasure their sanity? Those of us who'd rather avoid all the madness, and sit at home playing video games all day (which unfortunately I can't - work)? Well, Microsoft has a special little offer for those who fall into that category, with selected Live Marketplace content receiving temporary price cuts. There are a handful of games, a selection of DLC, and even a few premium themes to spice up your new dashboard. Everything is getting approximately a 33% markdown, but the offer only lasts through the end of the weekend, so get them now. Here's the list of content included in the sale:

Live Arcade Titles
Rez HD
Arkadian Warriors
Assault Heroes
Catan
Brain Challenge
Boogie Bunnies
Golf: Tee It Up!

DLC
GH3: Metallica - Death Magnetic Album
Forza: March Car Pack
Crackdown: Gettin' Busy Pack
Rock Band: All That Remains Pack
Lips: Jason Mraz - The Remedy

Premium Themes
Gears of War 2: Last Day
Sonic Unleashed
Castle Crashers
Note: For the list with prices, click here.

Okay, so in all honesty, there really isn't much exciting stuff. I don't care about the DLC (no, not even the Rock Band pack), and I'm perfectly happy with my psychedelic kitty theme, but there's one thing that definitely stands out. I'm talking about Rez HD, of course. This was one of the titles that I missed the first time around, and it ended up on my potential virtual pile of shame, but now I have no excuse to pass it by. Sure, I may have a lot on my plate right now, but I'd be a fool if I didn't take advantage of this offer. If anything, I can just hold on to it until I get a chance to check it out.

Of course, the game itself is only $6.25, but this doesn't include the cost of any additional controllers I may want to purchase for that full-on, down my pants, trance vibrator action.

World bore

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Guitar Hero: World Tour, the latest game that allows you to pretend that all your childhood dreams of becoming a rock star actually came true. Now, the Guitar Hero games and myself have a bit of history together, but I still haven't played this one. You see, I jumped off of the Guitar Hero train the minute I saw Harmonix rushing towards the Rock Band one. This seems to be how Yahtzee felt as well, but had to factor something else in, due to geographical location.

I'm talking about availability. I sometimes forget that those living outside of the US have a hard time getting hold of my favorite game of last year, or at the very least have to pay through the nose for it. That's why I completely understand the lure of Guitar Hero: World Tour; after all, what good is a game if you can't buy it? However, availability seems to be Yahtzee's only real selling point, which I don't think is too strong of an endorsement. After talking about how Harmonix are bastards for a few minutes, then complaining about the shoddiness of the new instruments, he has very little time to talk about the actual gameplay, but I guess we should all be familiar with how this genre plays out, right? Besides, he pretty much made his feelings about rhythm games clear when Guitar Hero III came out, and I don't think too much has changed since then.

So here's the review for you to enjoy. As always, it contains plenty of strong language, so is definitely NSFW. Oh yeah, and buy Rock Band.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

Flashtastic

Are you at work, stuck at a computer terminal, mindlessly bored? Well, it's flash game time! I don't usually play any PC games, but every now and then a free one comes along that's so good, I feel I just have to mention it. In this case, the game has actually been out for quite a while, but it's only recently that it's been occupying my time. It's called Fantastic Contraption, and is a physics-based puzzle game that challenges you to get a little red object into a larger red area. To do this, you have to build a contraption, within a specified space, that will drive it, fling it, catapult it, or any combination of those.

The pieces at your disposal are rather limited. You only have a few types of turning wheel and a couple of different connectors, but these can be combined in many clever ways to create machines unlike any others. At first my contraptions were simple little vehicles that only just got the shape to the area, but after a little practice I was building unnecessarily complex inventions, some of which worked great, some of which got immediately tangled up and ended up self-destructing (which is always funny).

The other nice thing is that you can save your creations, and view those of other people. This is what inspired me to play this game the other day: I saw a friend at work checking out some interesting designs, and realized that I never gave this game a proper chance the first time around. Nothing I've built comes close to some of the crazy machines people have come up with, but it's still a good source of inspiration for when things seem a bit tough. It's also good to see what other people have done to help get an idea of how the physics work, and how you can use them to your advantage.

Oh yeah, and for those who remember The Incredible Machine, I don't think the name of this game is just a coincidence; I'm sure it provided inspiration at some point. Fans of that title, and just fans of puzzlers in general, seriously need to give Fantastic Contraption a go. Check it out here.

When Hell is full......

You stand in the doorway, your hands tightly gripping an auto shotgun. In front of you crouches someone who was a stranger less than three hours ago, but after all you've been through it feels as though you've known each other for a lifetime. Behind you are two more survivors, each guarding a window, but it's quiet; a little too quiet. "I think that's it," one of them says, as they lower the barrel of their assault rifle. That's when everything goes wrong. All of a sudden, your vision becomes impaired, and you hear the distinctive sound of a horde of infected running up the stairs to ambush your party. The room becomes awash with gunfire as, still blinded, you randomly fire upon any movement you see. You hear screaming from somewhere close by as one of your partners is pounced upon, to be torn apart. Turning to save him, you get the biggest surprise of all. Your eyes widen in horror, and you hear yourself yelling at the top of your lungs "It's a tank!! RUN!!!". No one survives.

This is a typical scenario from Left 4 Dead, Valve's zombie action game released last week. The premise is really simple: Four random people meet each other while trying to fight against the undead hordes. They must make it across the city, from safe house to safe house, until they are picked up by a rescue vehicle at the end. That's it. There's virtually no story; it's all about the zombie-killing action. But let's get one thing straight: These aren't technically zombies; they're 28-Days-Later-style infected. They're fast, they're agile, but thankfully they don't require a headshot to put down.

So what makes the game interesting? Well, first of all, there's a really strong emphasis on teamwork. Scattered amongst the regular infected are "super infected": Hunters, Boomers, Smokers, and Tanks. Each of these types of enemy can incapacitate a survivor, forcing a teammate to come and save them. There's also the option of reviving a fallen comrade, which means you must stick together if you want to make it to the end. Teamwork and communication are very important; a survivor that wanders out of view will quickly find themselves less alive than they'd like to be.

The second interesting thing is the so-called "AI Director". See, the events in the game aren't pre-scripted, but change depending on how well you're doing. Things like number of zombies, direction of the swarm, presence of super-infected, availability of guns or pipe bombs, and even frequency of health packs are all affected by the AI Director. This is what really makes Left 4 Dead so good. The fact is, you never know exactly what's going to happen, even when you've had to repeat a section many times. This means that no one can get too cocky, as even the most expereinced player has no idea exactly what lies around the next corner, and this makes every play through surprising and unique.

At the start, you choose which one of the four scenarios you wish you play. Each one consists of five chapters, and they are set in places typical of zombie horror. On normal difficulty, they should each take around an hour to beat, but this increases the higher you set it. So that that mean the game is only around four hours long? Well, kind of, but since every play through is different, the levels become more like maps in a multiplayer game, where it doesn't matter how many times you've battled in a particular area. The AI Director will ensure that things are surprising every time, and obviously things will change depending on who you're playing with.

Speaking of other players, I bought Left 4 Dead with the intention of battling through with friends of mine. Upon starting though, I found that all my pals were still playing Gears of War 2, so I decided to get started by mysef. Now, there is a single player mode, where AI takes control of the other three survivors, but this really isn't how the game's supposed to be played. Without other humans to talk to and coordinate with, the game is kind of boring, not to metion the fact that the computer plays a little too well, making things quite easy. So instead, I jumped online with some random strangers, who I proceded to play with for the next few hours. To me, this felt like the proper way of playing. After all, these are supposed to be four random people who meet each other in their fight for survival, and having only just met my comrades, I really felt we were in the same situation. At first we were strangers, but a few hours later we were laughing and joking like old friends.

It's a good thing that they programmed AI for the survivors though, as this allows them to put in the greatest feature ever in an online game: It's called "Take a break". Simply select this from the pause menu, anytime, and the computer will take control of your character, allowing you to go to the bathroom, make a sandwich, smoke a cigarette, or any number of other things that would normally involve interupting your game. This is the reason why I played for so long on my first day, with random people. Usually I'd feel guilty every time I needed a few minutes off, but instead I could leave them with a perfectly capable teammate while I grabbed a quick bite to eat. Seriously, this feature is utterly fantastic, and I'm going to have a really hard time going back to games that don't have it.

So that's my Left 4 Dead expereince so far. There's also a versus mode, which has four other players take control of super-infected, but I've only briefly tried this out. It's certanly on the list for the future though. The game is really worth it just for the campaign mode, as nothing else quite captures the rush of seeing a swarm of hundreds of infected decend upon you, as your teammates begin screaming and blindly firing into the mass of undead. So would I recommend it then? Hell yes! It may be short, it may be low on story, but it's certainly a unique experience that shouldn't be missed by anyone who's a fan of zombie horror, video games, or just plain old-fashioned fun. See you on the other side!

Fine Chinatown

We're finally getting some proper details regarding GTA: Chinatown Wars, Rockstar's latest entry in their popular franchise, and the first one for the Nintendo DS. Up until this point, the only screenshots we had showed off the drug dealing mini-game portion, but none of them gave us an idea of what the rest of the game would look like. Well, now we finally have a few glimpses of the action, as well as some of the gameplay details.

The info comes to us from Spanish magazine Hispana, and from it we learn that the setting will, once again, be Liberty City. As you can see from the screenshots, Chinatown Wars will be in true 3D. It's brought to us by Rockstar Leeds, the same group who made the PSP GTA games, so we know they have some experience on handheld platforms. Here are some more details from the magazine, translated by Nintendo Everything:

- Camera can swivel 360 degrees
- Trains will pass overhead in the city, cars will circle, pedestrians will be walking, etc.
- GPS seen on the touch screen while you move through the city - PDA allows you to gain access to the map with more details as well as the goals of missions
- You can mark points that you want and the GPS will always tell you the shortest legal route to the destination with yellow or blue arrows
- New discoveries (such as gas stations) are added to the map
- Top screen brings you all the action, while the lower screen will let you control elements like the PDA, GPS, the radio, access to the people on the map, or using Motolov cocktails and grenades.
- Drugs have a big importance in the game
- Drug system can be compared to Drugwars
- You have to control the stock of drugs, buy them in one neighborhood and sell them in another
- Good way to make money in the game
- You are given a map so that you know what people demand and at what prices
- Like other GTA games, in Chinatown Wars, you can catch a taxi - whistle into the microphone so the taxi will stop

I have to say that I'm actually a little disappointed by this info. First of all, does it really have to take place in Liberty City? Not that I've got the whole map memorized, but it's bound to feel quite familiar after all the adventures I've had there. Secondly, I was kind of hoping for something tailor made for the DS control scheme. Titles like Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword really showed us what developers can do when they utilize the touch screen for more than just mini-games. I'm sure the controls will be fine, but I still think a hybrid d-pad/touch screen combo would be sweet, and something impossible on any other system.

Some of the new stuff does sound like fun, especially the drug dealing aspect, which could be the road to big bucks if you play your cards right. I also hope there's another way to hail cabs than whistling into your DS. I hate it when developers shoehorn in mic support, even though it's only used for one or two things that could easily be achieved another way. It's like the one time in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney when they make you yell "Objection!", instead of just pushing a button like every other time throughout the game.

Anyway, despite these things, I'm still looking forward to GTA: Chinatown Wars. It was originally scheduled to be released sometime this holiday season, but has since been delayed until the first half of the fiscal year, which ends in April. This puts it in a much better position to command my attention, so I look forward to hearing anything else about the game, when it becomes available.

Who said graphics were everything?

These days, video games are all about graphics. Polygon count, resolution, frames per second; these are the things designers worry about when planning their new software. But someone out there is saying "To hell with it. Graphics aren't that important!". No, I'm not talking about Nintendo, but rather luvcraft, the creator of In The Pit, one of the NXE Community Channel's very first games.

What makes this title unique isn't the fact that it has retro graphics, but that it has no graphics whatsoever. That's right, the entire game is played with sound alone. You are cast as a creature at the bottom of a dark pit, and must eat villagers thrown in by, I assume, the king. By listening to their cries you can pinpoint exactly where they are and move in for the kill.

Now, they say it can be played with stereo sound alone, but I imagine it was truly meant to be enjoyed in surround. I feel that playing with only 2 sound channels would be like playing the Virtual Boy with one eye closed; not the optimum experience. Unfortunately, I don't have this luxury at home at the moment, or I'd probably have to check this one out. Also, I don't think the intention is to sit staring at your blank TV screen like an idiot, but to play at night with all the lights off, allowing your sense of hearing to truly take over.

In The Pit is available now on the Xbox 360 Community Games Channel for 400 MS Points ($5). If you still find the concept a little too unbelievable, watch this trailer and see hear for yourself:
<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:df61044d-75aa-4605-877b-7797abc6a58c&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Trailer for "In the Pit" for Dream Build Play 2008">Video: Trailer for "In the Pit" for Dream Build Play 2008</a>

A dead giveaway

This week in Rock Band, we get a trio of 3-packs, along with an individual song. First we have The Dead Kennedys (about the only band I've heard of this week), then Mission of Burma, followed by The Century Media Girls of Metal, who aren't actually a band, but rather a category of music. We also get a song by Crooked X, which is the only 80 MS Points ($1) one; all the others are the usual 160 MS Points ($2), but the 3-packs can each be bought for 440 MS Points ($5.50).
Here's this week's selection:

By The Dead Kennedys:
California Uber Alles
Holiday In Cambodia
Police Truck

By Mission Of Burma:
Mica
That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
That's When I Reach For My Revolver

In This Moment - Forever
Lacuna Coil - Closer
Lacuna Coil - Swamped

Crooked X - Gone
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

Okay, so in case you didn't guess, I skipped all these songs. The fact is, I feel like I've played so many tracks now, that why should I settle for anything I don't love? I'll continue to buy music for Rock Band, when stuff I really want is released, but probably won't end up picking up much else. Of course, it's easy to be picky during the holiday season when there are so many other games to occupy me, but a few months from now, when all the big titles seem a lifetime away, I may find that DLC I wasn't interested in at the time suddenly sounds a whole lot better!

Experience the rebirth

Okay, so upon turning on my Xbox 360 yesterday I was prompted to update my system. Finally, the New Xbox Experience has arrived, bringing with it a host of new features to my favorite little white box. The first thing I was asked to do was create an avatar for myself. While Microsoft have clearly tried to one-up Nintendo by having higher detail characters, and clothing customization, they have left out a few features, such as the ability to move and resize facial features. This means no Darth Vaders (or anything less savory), but it also makes it harder to create an avatar that really looks like you. So far though, this isn't really that important, as there are only a handful of titles that utilize the custom charaters.

Once this was done, the experience proper began. There are a number of channels on the side, such as My Xbox, Friends, and Game Marketplace, and selecting between them displays all the options available. The My Xbox Channel (are they called channels?) contains all the important stuff, such as your profile, game saves, and music and video content. The Game and Video Marketplace contain, well, marketplace content, and includes a link to the Community Games Channel. All the other channels, as far as I can tell so far, are pretty useless. Ones such as Inside Xbox, Events, and Spotlight, seem to have videos telling us all about the new system features, as well as ads for purchasable content. The Friends Channel is the last one, but seems more like a friends list for those who don't really play games. It's more visually appealing than the old one, but just isn't as quick for those who want to get into a game as fast as possible. It does show everyone's avatar though, and I must say I was surprised to find out how many of my friends are secretly black.

None of this really matters though, as the new Guide (accesibly by pressing the Xbox button on a controller) has all the features of the old dashboard, at the push of a button. The old style friend list is there, and has actually been improved. Now it displays exactly what everyone is doing without having to select their name, so you can tell who you want to join at a glance; very convenient. It also allows users to access things such as markerplace content and system settings, without having to interrupt the game they're playing. The Quick Launch button also lets you select from a list of recently played titles, without having to find them on your system.

Okay, so the new dashboard is cluttered, and the new guide is fantastic, but what about some of the other features? Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try out the new party system yet, or the install games to hard drive feature (need to free up some more space), but I have had an opportunity to give Netflix a test run. For those who don't know, Microsoft and Netflix have teamed up, allowing subscribers access to their entire library of streaming content via their game console. It's a bit of a weird system at the moment, which involves you selecting which movies you want to watch on your PC, then accessing them on the 360, but you can have plenty of titles in the list, so you won't need to be updating it every time you watch something. This feature is absolutely fantastic; the movies are decent quality and start within 10 seconds of selecting them. They will automatically play in HD if available, and adjust the video quality depending on the speed of your connection. I watched a number of movies yesterday, and have plenty of things on my list for the future. By far the best new feature added in this update.

So these are my initial impressions of the New Xbox Experience. I think they're trying to appeal to a broader market, but have left all the hardcore features in for those who need them. Much of the stuff I'll probably never use, but it's nice to know that now even the least tech-savvy among us should be able find content with ease. It also seems that any new features they wish to add in future can be slotted in, without the need for any more major changes. Overall, it's different, but the new features are definitely worth the change, and put Microsoft yet another step ahead of the competition. I can't wait to see what they have planned next!

Oblivious to something

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Fallout 3, Bethesda's latest open-world RPG. I'm a little surprised to be honest; Yahtzee has made it clear that he's more of an instant gratification type of gamer, and Fallout 3 is the type of game you have to play for quite a long time to really get the most out of. Now, I'm enjoying this title myself at the moment, so I'll hold off on giving my full opinion until later, but there's just one thing I'd like to talk about now.

I've heard a lot of people, including Yahtzee, compare this game to Oblivion, which makes sense as they have a lot of similarities. Something that no-one seems to mention is the leveling system though. I've talked about it before, but I felt that Oblivion just had this totally backwards system in which you had to power up skills you weren't going to use, just to get the bonuses you wanted when you leveled up. Playing the game without keeping track of everything led to a character that wasn't as powerful as they should be, and with enemies that level up with you, it could mean that you find yourself completely screwed when it's far too late to do anything about it. This was the reason I stopped playing Oblivion, and I worried that Fallout 3 would have the same terrible system. Therefore I was very pleased to find that it has much more traditional leveling, and I can play the game however the hell I want without the fear of being in trouble ten levels from now. As far as I'm concerned this is the single biggest improvement to the game, and I wish a few more folks would acknowledge it when reviewing Fallout 3.

Anyway, enough of my opinion; here's the one you came to see. As always it contains plenty of strong language so is definitely NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

One gear just isn't enough

It's been almost 2 weeks since the release of Gears of War 2, arguably the biggest game of the holiday season, so you may all be wondering why I haven't written up my impressions of it. Yes, I did get it on launch day and yes, I have been playing, but not as much as I thought I would be. See, here's the thing: The original Gears of War was a pretty fun single player experience, but really shined in co-op mode. It meant you had a buddy to keep you alive when things got tough, and also someone to enjoy the ridiculous, ultra-macho dialogue with.

Upon purchasing Gears 2 I figured co-op would be my main mode of choice. There are plenty of people on my friend list playing, and I already promised a few of them that we would tackle the story mode together. What I've come to find though, is that it's tough to catch any of them before they start a game. Whenever I log on they're already busy playing with someone else, and co-op mode only supports two people. I guess there's also horde mode, which has up to five marines battling against large waves of enemies, but, once again, it's all a matter of catching people before they start a game. Besides, I'd much rather play through the main campaign before I start on the bonus modes.

The other thing is, from what I've played, it just hasn't grabbed me yet. I've heard that the first hour is very similar to Gears 1, and now that I'm past it there's definitely a bit of variety, but it still feels very familiar: Same graphics engine, same controls, same enemies (so far). While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, sequels never hold my attention as much as original titles. Having played through the first Gears many times, it's going to take a little bit more than just some new levels to keep me interested this time around.

I also have other games distracting me. I'm really enjoying Fallout 3 at the moment (impressions coming soon), and would choose it over Gears 2 for my single player fun. I also just got Left 4 Dead, which looks like it might be taking up my multiplayer time, so I honestly don't know when I'm going to the opportunity to play Gears now. Maybe if developers didn't cram all their releases into a two week period, I might have more time to play before everyone moved on to the next big title, but that's a whole other topic of discussion.......

Virtual lamb to the slaughter

A few years ago I was playing Deux Ex on PS2. As I wandered thorough it's environment I heard a meowing. Looking down revealed the source of the noise: A little Siamese kitty, searching for a bite to eat. Aw, how cute, I thought, as I continued on my journey. All of a sudden I heard a brief yowl. I looked down and was shocked to find the feline dead on the floor; apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to where my feet were, and had stepped on the poor animal. Needless to say, I felt kind of bad. Would my guilt be enough to prompt me to contact the makers of the game and urge them to remove all cats from future Deus Ex titles, lest any more virtual animals senselessly lose their lives? Of course not, that would would be stupid. Or would it?......

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have recently released a statement on their website asking Majesco (the makers of Cooking Mama) to please create more vegetarian recipes for their series, or maybe even a game with just vegetarian recipes. Maybe Majesco should have been a bit clearer that Cooking Mama is just a game. They probably should have put disclaimers on their product stating that no animals were harmed in production, and any meat you see while playing is in fact meat substitute made entirely of pixels.

Now I can understand people putting time and effort into trying to get real animals a better life, but are video game creatures all that important? Or are they worried about copycat crimes, with children emulating Mama's virtual slaughter? You've got to be kidding, right? No one plays Cooking Mama to learn how to cook, you morons. Do you honestly believe anyone out there has successfully prepared a meal by following along to the DS title? I think kids are much more likely to copy action and fighting games than Mama's make believe Home Ec.

In order to get their message across, PETA have even released a flash game called Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals (hmm... subtle) which does quite a good job of capturing the feel of the official titles, but has you going through the sometimes-grim process of preparing a Thanksgiving turkey. So that just leaves one question: Did you guys really think it was necessary to slaughter yet another virtual animal, just to get your point across? Shame on you!

Far from a-ok

Do you remember Manhunt 2 and all the controversy surrounding it? Released last year, it's ultra-violent gameplay and grim plot got it banned outright in some countries, before it even released. Here in America though, people can put whatever they want into movies and games; the government can't stop them or they would be going against the US Constitution. That's why they hand all the power over to a little company called the ESRB instead.

The ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board, was established in 1994 to help parents decide whether or not their children should be allowed to play certain games. With new violent titles like Mortal Kombat, as well as slightly more sexual ones like Night Trap, it was about time for a ratings system similar to the one seen in movies. We now have one that should be familiar to most: E for Everyone; T for Teen (age 13 and up); and M for Mature (age 17 and up). There are a couple of others that are hardly used, and one that is never used (not on consoles anyway). I'm talking about AO, or Adults Only, which deems content suitable only for those 18 or older. Although it's only a year more that the M rating, it carries with it a whole different meaning.

See, what happened to Manhunt 2 is, the ESRB decided that the game was only suitable for adults so slapped an AO rating on it. Okay, so it can only be bought by people over 18, right? This may not seem like a big deal to those overseas, but they don't realize that here in America people freak out over stuff that isn't "family friendly". Freak out to the point where many major retailers won't sell AO games, and Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft won't even allow them to be published on their systems. This essentially means that the rating is a ban, and forces developers to censor their content.

This is the same problem we have in the movie industry with the dreaded NC-17 rating, which will cause movie companies to go back and re-edit their films to get them down to a more reasonable R. But at least movie companies can ignore the MPAA rating and release their picture anyway, or have an unrated DVD version; game companies must re-edit or they won't be able to get their product on consoles at all. This is why both ratings have been referred to as the "kiss of death" at one time or another.

Now, I'm not going to go into the reasons why games may receive the AO rating. The fact is that sexual content is much more likely to cause it than violence, but this is a whole other discussion for another time. What I'm more concerned with is the power that the ESRB have to essentially ban whatever games they feel like. I think a new system is needed that would allow developers to put in whatever content they wanted, without fear of earning an AO. In England they use the BBFC ratings, which are the same ones used for movies. A game or film that receives an 18 rating will only be sold to those over 18, be it a copy of Pulp Fiction, Dead Rising, or Debbie Does Dallas. Although the board does still have the power to ban content by deeming it "unratable" (which is what happened to Manhunt 2), it allows for a lot more freedom, so UK gamers sometimes end up with more complete versions of games like Indigo Prophecy (also known as Fahrenheit).

So why don't we adopt a system similar to this one in the US? If it was illegal to sell adult games to minors, would companies be allowed more freedom with their content? Maybe, but this brings up another issue that people complain about: Government regulation. No one likes the idea of the government stepping in and telling folks what they can and can't sell, and people often cite the First Amendment as the reason why they shouldn't, so lets have a little look at the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I see nothing in there that mentions the sale of adult content to minors. Sure, they can't step in and create any laws that would abridge (censor) anything, but keeping said content out of the hands of children just isn't part of this amendment. Now I'm not necessarily saying that government regulation would be the perfect solution to this problem, but it might allow companies to get away with more, as there would be a system in place to keep their adult games out of the reach of underage hands. However, politicians have been shot down many times whenever they attempt to put this practice into action.

So what is the solution then? The ESA states that the average age for a gamer is 33, so we are clearly in need of a system that allows these adult gamers to see some adult content. People don't want the government to censor video games, but we have essentially given that very power to the ESRB, who I know I didn't vote for. Whether it's a new set of ratings, government regulation, or simply a bit more leeway on the part of console manufactures and retailers, something must be done to change the current system if we expect to see gaming mature in the same way as many art forms that have come before.

That's torn it!

A friend whose PS3 lives permanently around our house (huzzah!) just purchased Mirror's Edge, a free running-inspired skyscraper rompathon. So far I've only had a brief play on it, so I can't yet comment on the game as a whole, but I would like to express my thoughts on one annoying little niggle that keeps rearing it's fugly head.

I refer, unfortunately, to a particularly nasty visual issue known in the techy, speccy world of gaming as 'tearing'. That is to say, the unpleasant torn look you get to the image on your screen as it starts redrawing the current picture frame (something done 60 times a second on most TVs) before it's finished drawing the last, causing a slight discrepancy between the top and bottom halves of the image. To the eye, this manifests as a horizontal slit down the screen where everything below it is slightly offset to the left or right, like someone slashing a painting halfway down and moving the bottom portion slightly off to one side. Now, it's not exactly a show stopping problem, but the PS3 is meant to be have the biggest and best bits of this console generation and it seems downright daft that Mirror's Edge should have such a visible shortcoming.

In my experience, tearing usually originates from a deliberate choice by the developer to improve frame rates by stopping the game from synchronizing with the television's refresh rate (known as V-syncing to PC gamers) at the cost of this most irksome of eyesores. Could it be that Mirror's Edge didn't get quite enough time in development to smooth things out so the developers had to settle for tearing to get a solid framerate?

It'd be interesting to see if this is a common problem for all formats or something exclusively on PS3 version of the game. Anyone else out there having this problem?

Low....on....power

We all know the feeling: A few too many late nights or early mornings, and all of a sudden an intended marathon gaming session turns into an afternoon nap. If only there were a way of supplementing your body's natural energy stores with chemical stimulants. Oh wait, there is! In fact, there are many ways of getting a quick boost - some less legal than others - but a popular method involves the ingestion of high caffeine energy drinks.

I doubt there are many among you who've never had a Red Bull before, but looking in the aisles of my local grocery store I see many different kinds of energy drink, from the concentrated shot to the probably-worse-for-you-then-heroin 32oz jumbo size. If you're like me, you probably spend time wondering which will get you through those late night sessions, and which will have you reaching for the Pepto Bismol. Well, wonder no more, I've just discovered an awesome site that has reviews for over 800 energy drinks, from the common to the utterly bizarre. It's at taurinerules.blogspot.com, and has everything categorized according to best taste, best buzz, Red Bull clones, and more.

Now I know this post isn't strictly game related, but the way I see it, video games and caffeine go together like ToeJam and Earl; Ico and Yorda; Nintendo and shovelware. So don't let lack of sleep ruin your electronic entertainment plans; head on over and see which one suits your needs the best.

Dead Ace?

A lot has been said recently about EA's sci-fi survival horror romp, Dead Space. Set on Earth's flagship planet cracker ('mining ship' to those of us who don't speak future-waffle), the USG Ishimura, it tells the story of Isaac Clarke, a technician sent to find out the cause of a vessel-wide communications blackout. Upon arriving, he finds the entire ship almost derelict and infested with spindly, harpoon-legged abominations that quickly mutilate half his team and send him on a terrifying quest for the truth.

The popular reaction to Dead Space's release has been fairly polarized. Most have applauded EA for producing a highly polished and atmospheric experience with brutal fights, cool weapons and a couple of genuinely interesting gameplay mechanics, while others have quite harshly criticized it for it's ultimately very repetitive, linear gameplay and exceedingly generic storyline. Indeed, from my play through I found pretty much every science fiction cliché box had been ticked somewhere in the game's 8-12 hour play time.

First of all, we have the ever so popular silent protagonist. Now, I think this can work wonderfully in some games as it allows you to get into the role of your character without any annoying personality clashes that could alienate you from your in-game avatar, but somehow it does seem a little odd that he doesn't have anything to say about the horrors he's witnessing. The Zelda and Half-life series use exactly the same trick, but they seem to get away with it better as the former has never really been about fantastic storytelling and the latter has a strong enough cast of ensemble characters to make you feel like you're genuinely part of the narrative.

Other classic genre clichés present are the (previously mentioned) mysteriously abandoned space ship, mutated crew-members, scary alien artifacts, creepy crew audio logs (honestly, who would find time to blog when they're running for their lives?), half-mad zealots babbling about the end of humanity, a shady organization with a secret agenda and even a giant evil hive-mind that wants to swallow your soul.

I can fully appreciate and even agree with these complaints, there's no doubt that it's a deeply clichéd story and you can usually spot the plots twists coming a mile off, but in a way, Dead Space revels in cliché. Like a good, adrenaline-fueled horror film, it doesn't really do anything new but you still come away satisfied.

Even more importantly, though, is that this really rather good game came from EA, until recently one of the worst peddlers of lazy filth in the industry, who genuinely seem to have taken it upon themselves to improve the quality of their products and make games that are actually worth the asking price. Hopefully with some better writers they can improve even further, but they've still tried their darnedest, and for that alone Dead Space deserves a huge round of applause.

Well done EA, keep it up!

Hey, DLC!

This week in Rock Band, the full album releases continue, this time with the Foo Fighters' The Colour and The Shape. As usual, the they picked an album that already has a song in the game: The tough, but fun, Everlong. Therefore, this is the whole album minus that one track. They seem to have been doing this a lot recently. I think it's a way of getting people to buy Rock Band 2 instead of just downloading the entire albums into the original game. I suppose you could just buy these in Rock Band 1, but if you want the complete record you'll have to shell out $60 for a copy of the sequel. Oh, and you can pick up the entire pack for the bargain price of 1600 MS Points ($20), as well as buying them all individually for 160 MS Points ($2).
Anyway, here are this week's releases:

Doll
Monkey Wrench
Hey, Johnny Park!
My Poor Brain
Wind Up
Up in Arms
My Hero
See You
Enough Space
February Stars
Walking After You
New Way Home
Note: Click on any song for expert drum videos.

So it's gotten to the point now where I have so many songs to play (over 230) that I just can't be bothered with anything I don't really love. I guess all this choice has made me picky, but I'm not really a Foo Fighters fan, so I skipped all these. But what about the 20 bonus tracks that came out last week? Wasn't I going to review those? Well, I was all set to write my opinions down, but then I realized that reviewing free content is kind of redundant (just forget I said that next time I review a demo). I mean, who cares what I think?; the songs are free so just go and download them. There were a few I definitely liked, including Give it to Me, Database Corrupted, and The Feeling, but ultimately you should just get them all as they don't cost anything.

In other news, Rock Band 1 has recieved a price cut. The Wii and PS2 versions have gone all the way down to $99.99, where as the 360 and PS3 versions have dropped to $139.99. This makes it a really good deal, but I'd still recommend buying the sequel if you can. Not only does Rock Band 2 come with better instruments, but all the tracks from the original are importable into RB2 for only $5 (for 360 and PS3 anyway), assuming you know someone with a copy of it to borrow.

Harmonix also announced the Rock Band Track Pack vol. 2 this week. For those who don't know, this is a selection of songs that were previously available for download, but being sold as a stand alone disc instead. Wii and PS2 users will have to be content with playing the pack on it's own, but 360 and PS3 users can import the songs onto their hard drives for use in either RB1 or RB2. Unlike the last Track Pack released, this one has plenty of songs on that I've previously bought. They're not my favorites, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who likes the selection and wants to save a bit of money, as the whole pack will cost only $30 instead of the $40 you would pay if you bought them all individually. Click here for the entire list of songs, then just wait until November 17th for the Rock Band Track Pack vol. 2 to hit stores.

October NPD - Fable-bodied

It's that time of the month again. Not, not that time of the month; time for the NPD sales data for October. It looks as though console sales are down from September, with only the Wii and Xbox 360 seeing an increase. The thing is, the 360's numbers only went up by a little bit, which is less that expected after the recent price drop. The Wii, on the other hand, saw a big increase, probably due to more units making their way to retail. As far as the other number go, well, September actually consisted of 5 weeks of sales, instead of October's 4, which helps explain the low numbers for all the other systems.

Here are the figures:
• Wii - 803,000
• Nintendo DS - 491,000
• Xbox 360 - 371,000
• PSP - 193,000
• PlayStation 3 - 190,000
• PlayStation 2 - 136,000

Now, 360 may not be ruling the hardware sales, but as far as software figures go, it's a different story. Five Xbox 360 games make their way into the top ten, including Fable 2, which shoots straight to number one with almost 800k sold. Fallout 3 is on the list, but unfortunately Rock Band 2 is not anymore. And speaking of rhythm games, where's Guitar Hero: World Tour? I know it released right near the end of the month, but I didn't think that would matter. It had an entire 5 days to sell only 200k units, in order to make it into the top ten, but I guess they couldn't even do that. Maybe $200 really is too much for Guitar Hero, or maybe sales are just a little slow and we'll see it on the charts next month. LittleBigPlanet makes it's debut, and joins all the usual suspects: Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart, which will probably be on the list for a long time, right up until the sequels are released.

Here are October's numbers:
01. Fable II (Xbox 360) - 790,000
02. Wii Fit (Wii) - 487,000
03. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) - 375,000
04. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 290,000
05. Wii Play (Wii) - 282,000
06. Saints Row 2 (Xbox 360) - 270,000
07. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (PS3) - 231,000
08. LittleBigPlanet (PS3) - 215,000
09. NBA 2K9 (Xbox 360) - 202,000
10. Dead Space (Xbox 360) - 193,000

I'm sure we'll see Guitar Hero on the charts next month, along with Gears of War 2, and Call of Duty: World at War. Hardware sales will probably increase as we get closer to Christmas, but we'll have to wait until then to find out for sure.

Payne, no gain

I was fooled like everyone else. I don't know why people even get excited anymore; it's like they totally forget everything that's come before. I'm talking about the trailer for the movie Max Payne, which has been in theaters for a while, and made the latest game-to-film adaptation look halfway decent. Of course, the film itself ended up getting bad reviews and was generally regarded to be terrible.

Looking back over the the years, this is the way things always seem to go when video games become movies. I was so excited when I heard that Street Fighter II was making it's way to the big screen back in the early 90s, but I'm sure you remember how that turned out. Characters were familiar in name only, and a game about simple street fighting became a movie about terrorist plots and international warfare, or something like that. Add that to the fact that none of the characters had their signature special moves anymore, and you have one disappointing movie.

We've all been let down many times since then though. Great games such as Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Silent Hill, and Doom all turned into mediocre films, with plot lines loosely taken from their source material. Could these movies have ever been good? Probably, but something big is lost when changing an interactive medium into a non-interactive one. The whole draw of video games is the ability to affect what happens in the world around you, and use skill to advance further. A game like Gears of War would make a terrible movie because it has such a weak plot, and instead relies on fun gameplay to keep it interesting. Watching some butch space marines hide behind rocks and shoot for two and a half hours might not be as exciting when you don't have control.

That said though, there are still a couple of video game movies that managed to do it right, but these are the exceptions to the rule. The first is generally regarded to be the best of the bunch: Mortal Kombat, from 1995. The thing is, it's really not a very good movie, but at least it follows it's source material quite well. Rather than try and craft a plot, the main bulk of the story is a big fighting contest, just like in the game, which gives the film makers a chance to show off all the characters' special moves. It was cheesy, but managed to get the feeling of the game across much better than many attempts since then.

The second one that turned out good was the Japanese animated version of Street Fighter II. This actually came out before the live action one, but most in the western world wouldn't have seen it until after. Much like Mortal Kombat, the majority of the movie consisted of people fighting with each other for one reason or another. All the special moves we were familiar with were present, and looked more badass than ever, and on top of all this they made all teenage Street Fighter fans' dreams come true with a shot of Chun Li's boobs! Still highly recommended (the movie, not the boobs), and unmatched as far as video game movies go.

Just because a couple of studios managed to do it right over a decade ago though, doesn't mean that anyone will get it right again. You'd think that some of the recent adaptations would be good, but it's just not the case. Then we have directors like Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Bloodrayne) who seem to have made it their life's work to bring down the average quality of video game movies, and are doing a damn good job of it! This is why I find it weird that people still get so excited when a new game-movie is announced. Big titles on the horizon include Bioshock, Prince of Persia, and Halo, none of which I'm even the tiniest bit psyched for. As fun as they all were to play, I just don't want to sit down for two hours to watch what basically amounts to an extended cutscene.

Video game movies aren't going to go away any time soon. Hollywood is completely tapped out of ideas and can't seem to get enough stories from classic films, old TV shows, and comic books to keep things going, so must turn to another popular source. My only hope is that the movies get people interested in the games they were taken from, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. I mean, if I'd never played a video game, and instead formed my opinion of them on the terrible movie adaptations, I don't think I'd ever pick up a controller in my whole life!

The fables have turned

This week on Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee takes a look at Fable 2, the sequel to the 2004 RPG for Xbox. Well, it's called a sequel anyway, but according to Yahtzee it sounds like more of a re-tread, with a few new features added. It's supposed to be an epic quest to save the world, while at the same time having to deal with stuff like working, getting married, and having kids. It sounds as though neither of these aspects work all that well though, which isn't that surprising in a title that tries to do so much.

I haven't actually played the game myself, but have watched my girlfriend play for a while, so have a few opinions on it. The one thing I saw her doing more than any other was working, in order to get gold. Working involves wood chopping, blacksmithing, or bartending, but all these really come down to is pressing a button at the right time over and over again. She also pointed out to me that despite the fact you can play as a male or female character, the NPCs' dialog doesn't seem to change at all. This means that she's constantly hearing people call her handsome, and women continually hit on her despite the fact that they're the same sex (not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's a bit weird when every woman does it). While this is just a small aspect, it really takes me out of the game world, and makes me wonder where else corners have been cut.

Anyway, enough of my opinions; here's the review. As always it contains plenty of strong language so is definitely NSFW.

Check out the rest of his videos here.

When Monopoly isn't enough....

It's the video game holiday season. Every week seems to bring us another huge release, and it's hard to keep up with them all. I thought I'd probably be here telling you about my experiences with Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, or Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, but there's also another title that's been occupying my electronic entertainment time: Scene It: Box Office Smash for Xbox 360. More observant people may have noticed the little icon up in my gamercard, so I think it's about time to share some of my feelings about it.

First of all I should state that I didn't buy this game; my girlfrind picked it up last week, but I couldn't help but check it out. For those unaware, it's a movie trivia game, based on the DVD board game of the same name. It's actually the second title to be released for 360; the first one, entitled Lights, Camera, Action, was released last year, but this new one adds more questions and play modes. Basically it's like a gameshow: A question is asked and players must choose the answer as quickly as possible from 4 options. The questions are all movie related, but vary in difficulty depending on the particular challenge.

The most obvious type involves watching a movie clip, then answering questions about it. Some require you to pay close attention to the clip, but a lot of them are easier if you to have prior knowledge about the movie. Other games have you guessing the name of a film based on still images, ending credits, or things such as a child's drawing of it. They're generally pretty fun, and there's a wide enough variety of them to keep things interesting. All these are played on the special buzzer controllers that ship with the game, which are solid-feeling and responsive.

While a few of the games are played by buzzing in then answering the question, many of them just involve choosing an answer, which no-one sees until the round is over. This way everyone gets a chance to get points, instead of just the quickest on the buzzer. Of course, the one who answers fastest still walks away with the highest score, but at least everyone else gets something. That's pretty much all there is to it. Each round constsists of a few different challenges, the points get totalled, and then you move on to the next round. Bonuses are handed out for having the quickest, or most correct answers, but those doing badly often get special bonuses too (such as for the most wrong answers), to help them catch up a little.

Other features include online play over Xbox Live, achievements that are handed out like halloween candy, and avatar support once the New Xbox Experience is released on November 19th. While these are nice bonuses, the real fun is in the social aspect; Scene It is best played with 4 people in the same room, preferably with a decent knowledge of movies (because no-one likes to lose too badly). Therefore I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun party game that doesn't wan't to spend $180 on plasic instrument controllers. While I don't see it taking up much of my time that could be spent on "real" gaming, I will continue to pull it out whenever we have company. Since there is the possibility of fresh questions being released as DLC, Scene It: Box Office Smash may keep finding it's way into my 360 for some time to come.