Recently in Video Games Category

What was the first thing I did after pledging allegiance to the PS3?  I went to the PSN store and downloaded Wipeout HD.  The metacritic score on this game is pretty high, 1UP gave it 100 and IGN gave it 90.  I've been salivating for months over Wipeout's arrival, so the minute it appeared on PSN, I was playing it within an hour.

My immediate impression after looking at the first track was: Wow, my HDTV has never looked this good before!  I don't even have a 1080p TV and this game looks better than any other game I've played to date on either the PS3 or the XBox 360.  The screens are crystal sharp and the tracks pulsate with vibrant color.  At the end of the race, you can go into Photo mode (which is how I took the screenshot above) and explore every little facet of the track.

I'm a big Wipeout fan, having played Wipeout Fusion for the PS2 and Wipeout Pure on the PSP.  A lot of the tracks in Wipeout HD are taken from the PSP editions, but they look so fresh with the updated graphics, I didn't mind at all.  The vehicles in HD have the same mechanics as they did in the past, with one exception: you have to hold down the circle button when you fly over a weapon icon to grab the weapon.  I did not do that at all in Pure, whether you had to or not in Fusion, I don't recall.  It makes things a bit more difficult, as I don't want to take my finger off the X (speed) button for a second, so I sort of mash X-O together at the same time. The AI in Wipeout HD is much more formidable on HD (versus Pure), even at the lowest Novice setting.  The AI vehicles really use their weapons to slow you down, and their driving skill around the track is awesome.  There's a Pilot Assist feature in the options which you can turn on to avoid crashing into walls.  I resisted this at first, thinking that I was expert enough, but then I realized to compete against the AI, I really did need it.  Yeah, I'm a wimp!

The tough AI in Wipeout HD is more of a plus, as it really challenges you to learn the nuances of each track and pick the right vehicle for the race event (time trial, speed lap, race, circuit, etc).  It certainly makes the game more addicting and adds replay value.

If you're into futuristic racing and you have a Playstation 3, this game is a must-buy.  Nuff said.

I've been the biggest Microsoft/XBox booster for the past five years, but I've just let my XBox Live Gold membership lapse and I have no plans to renew it any time soon.  For the multi-platform title releases, I'll buy them for the Playstation 3 from now on.  If a new Halo title comes out in the future, I'll probably buy it, but I'm pretty much done with the XBox 360.

Why?  It's become clear through recent articles just how badly Microsoft has ripped off the public with both the original XBox and the XBox 360.

When Microsoft started selling the XBox 360 in December 2005, I wasn't going to buy it on the launch day.  I was really happy and satisfied with the original XBox.  I figured with so many of those consoles around, there would be some quality games available for it over the next two years.  After all, Sony supported their consoles for many years after a new product was launched.  That was a bad assumption on my part.  The games for the original XBox dried up faster than a prune.  The Guardian UK exposes the real reason for this in their multi-part interview with former XBox honcho Peter Moore.  It's a fascinating interview just for Moore's insight into his experiences with Dreamcast, the XBox, and his new job at EA Sports.

Moore reveals that the hard drive was the reason Microsoft abandoned the original XBox:  "The hard drive in every Xbox killed us; we we're still selling it at $199 and the hard drive was like $70. That's why we prematurely left the original Xbox, because the more we were selling - there was still great demand - it was killing us, and there was no way to bring the price down. So in the end we determined at around the 25 million unit mark that we just needed to slow this thing down and just not sell any more, and move to the 360 as quickly as we possibly could. And to this day people still believe we left the Xbox too early but it was purely for financial purposes."

Wow, that is a stunning admission!  I always wondered why the original XBox was dropped like a hot potato.  Here's why Sony deserves more trust than Microsoft.  When Sony says PS3 is going to have a 10-year cycle, their past behavior supporting the PS One and PS2 consoles seems to back this up.  The PS2 is still being sold (and sales are good) two years after the launch of the PS3 in 2006.  God of War 2 was a SCEA produced title that was released for the PS2 in 2007.  With the powerful capabilities of the PS3 hardware, which software developers are starting to tap into with this next wave of game releases, I believe the PS3 has long-lasting potential.

What really infuriated me was Moore's admission combined with the Microsoft manufacturing scandal that Dean Takahashi exposed on VentureBeat.  Takahashi's article exposes the factors that led into the Red Ring of Death.  Microsoft knew of internal defects produced by the assembly line for the XBox 360, but did nothing to stop it.  They were entirely focused on beating Sony to the market with their console and did not want to halt production to find and fix the defects.  The results of that poor decision led to more than $1 billion in losses for Microsoft.  I've gotten off easy with just one RRoD incident, other consumers have suffered through the RRoD multiple times.  Some of these people remain die-hard XBox boosters!  Sorry, I'm out, I just don't want to support this bad behavior with any more money.

Sony has had its own share of problems, mostly in the software arena.  They didn't understand how to do online, they didn't have anything to match XBox achievements, and their initial release of exclusive games weren't very desirable.  Now with a revamped game store and PS3 trophies, things are changing.  Today marks the release of Wipeout HD, a really good exclusive game for only $20.  Later in 2009 we'll have Resistance 2 and Little Big Planet.  Playstation Home looks to be pretty cool.  Next year, KillZone 2, Infamous, and (most of all) DC Universe Online look very promising.  I won't have to look at those stupid new XBox avatars all the time, what a relief.  Nuff said.

Link: Peter Moore Interview [Guardian UK Games Blog]

Link: Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft's video game console woes

This video from IGN showcases the incredible designs that Jim Lee has produced for the upcoming DC Universe Online game.  You'll see an Egyptian tomb featuring Black Adam, Star Labs, the Batcave, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Flash, Huntress, and Lex Luthor.  Lee's design work, which I've seen plastered on the walls of the company making this game, points out one great advantage DC has over Marvel.  Fictional cities like Gotham, Metropolis, and Central City allow for very unique architecture to be created for each one.

This game is already on my must-buy list.  I am sure I will lose days/weeks/months of my life when it comes out in 2009.  The first hero I am going to create will have Super-Speed powers, natch.  Nuff said.

I hadn't heard of EA's forthcoming Dead Space game until I saw a preview on Spike TV's GameTrailers program.  I was blown away by what I saw, kind of like the moment I first became aware of COD4.  The graphics are awesome, and it looks like a really eerie outer-space survival horror game.  Beyond the action there are some neat zero-gravity puzzles.

Here's one of their latest videos of in-game footage.  I can't get over how great the lighting effects look in various scenes...it's like DOOM3 taken to the next level.

And here's a video of the Image comic by Antony Johnston and Ben Templesmith:

Nuff said.

Let's not waste any time: as a videogame, LOST Via Domus completely sucks.  I have learned this because I have played the game to 100% completion, not once, but twice, on two game consoles.  Yet there may be a small minority of people out there who will enjoy playing the game.  Crazy people.  Like us.

Reading the previews about this game, I was very excited.  The LOST writers contributed a lot of good things to the game, helping to create a brand new character, Eliot, a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815 that we've never seen before.  The main problem is that Eliot has amnesia and people are trying to kill him.  This is really cool, because Eliot has his own flashbacks that you play through and his own mysteries that will be uncovered.  He has connections to Locke and the Widmore/Hanso conspiracy.  Eliot will explore many key areas of the island that we've seen in the first three seasons of LOST, from the Black Rock to the Hatch to the Others camp.  Due to what he learns about the Hanso foundation, Eliot is driven to escape the island and triggers a wild ending that appears to be approved by Damon and Carlton (Lost's showrunners).  Damon remarked on an ABC podcast that the Via Domus ending is not a dream sequence.  It echoes some of the time-bending island aspects that we've seen in Season Four.

However, the game play really sucks in LOST and it won't be worth it for most people.  Eliot really does not have very many moves in the game.  He shoots a gun, very briefly, in 2 scenes toward the end.  He runs through the jungle a lot.  Eliot can interact with the famous LOST cast members (Jack, Locke, Ben, Juliet, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley), but only a few of them are voiced by the real actors.  In order to barter for things like torches, lamps, guns, etc., Eliot has to collect stupid things like coconuts, papayas, and candy bars.  There are many levels in the game that are extremely frustrating, such as navigating through waypoints in the forest and ducking into banyan trees whenever the smoke monsters is around.  Navigating through dark caves, which you do twice, is also miserable, because there are no clues of where you need to go.  In order to get through the flashbacks, Eliot has to take pictures with his camera, at exactly the right angle and the right moment in time.

I am such a die-hard LOST fan that I just had to play it as soon as possible.  Gamefly had it readily available for the Playstation 3 and I received it a few days after it came out.  It was frustrating, but with the help of an IGN strategy guide, I made it to the ending.  Then I realized, this game may be one of the few that I can get 1000 achievement points on XBox 360.  I rented it for that console and in a few hours did receive the magic 1000 point achievement of my dreams.

Bottom line: if you are not crazy, don't buy it.  If you have to play it, then rent it.  Nuff said.

LOST Via Domus ending on YouTube

IGN LOST Via Domus Review

IGN LOST Via Domus Strategy Guide

LOST Via Domus XBox 360 Achievement Guide

Wow...look at this game clip from Mirror's Edge.  It's Prince of Persia in first person viewpoint.From DICE and EA, IGN says coming 2008, let's hope so. 

Nuff said.

Looks like the whole nation was infected with Iron Mania.  Shellhead's silver screen debut raked in $100 million for the 3-day weekend, above the projected $70-80 million.  This is good for everyone: Marvel, comic book fans, and Hollywood.

Marvel already projects higher earnings as a result.  They are also planning on an Iron Man sequel in 2010 along with a possible Thor movie.  Will it be the Ultimate Thor or the classic Dr. Don Blake Thor?

Over at Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker actually proposes that Downey deserves an Oscar for Iron Man.  Wow...Downey's career has been fully resuscitated.  Don't go mad and fall off the wagon, Robert!  Good things are in store for Mr. Favreau's directing career as well.

Not everything in the Iron Man universe is so rosy.  The Iron Man videogame looks to be getting terrible reviews.  I played the XBox 360 demo a week ago and found it to be a justifiable rental, if you are an Iron Man fan.  The game demo consisted of a level based on the movie where you fly around Afghanistan, blowing up terrorist camps using Stark technology.  Mostly you fly around and use repulsor rays to blow up shit.  The full game is supposed to deviate from the plot and puts you in combat against infamous IM villains.  You can also unlock classic versions of IM armor.

Here's an interesting behind the scenes look at the game.  Looks like good fodder for XBox achievement points, but a clear rental.  Nuff said.

IGN is the first online site to have an extensive video review of GTA IV.  It looks fantastic, as I expected.  It seems to me that they are pushing the sexual content even further this time around.  I know that there is an achievement called "Warm Coffee" which you get when a woman invites your character up to her apartment--a comedic backslap against the Hot Coffee easter egg from GTA San Andreas.

There is also an IGN Podcast where the staff (including Hilary Goldstein) talk extensively about their experiences playing GTA IV.  IGN has rated this game a 10 out of 10, their first such rating in many years.  Hilary says this is the best video game he's played since Zelda Ocarina of Time.  Wow, and I thought I could not get anymore hyped up.  Nuff said.