REVIEW: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Finally, a retail game to review. Here is my review of Batman: Arkham Asylum...

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a multiplatform title developed by newcomers Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive. It is a full retail title with 1000 gamerscore for Xbox 360 and trophies for PS3. In addition, the PS3 version contains exclusive "Joker" levels. Batman: Arkham Asylum is based upon the long existing Batman franchise, taking inspiration from comics, movies, and every other Batman medium. It can be considered a third-person action adventure with beat-em-up and free-roam elements.

STORY: Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place in the Batman comic book continuity. It begins with Batman escorting the Joker back to Arkham Asylum after the Joker takes the major hostage at his office. As soon as Batman and the Joker reach the asylum however, things only go downhill. It is discovered that the Joker staged the entire event to get back into the asylum and take control of the asylum. Batman is stuck in the asylum, and his entire rogue's gallery is there too. You can assume what happens next. The story of Arkham Asylum is amazing. Paul Dini, the writer of the animated series and recent comic book stories within the Batman universe, writes the perfect story. The setup of Batman trapped in the asylum is simple enough, but the story is anything but simple. Various plots twists and surprises are abound in the game. It feels like a real Batman story, full of drama, action, mystery, and overall badass-ness. This isn't a light story either. Players will find the mature and realistic Batman in this game. The themes and overall atmosphere are mature, and not for the light-hearted. A big part of the immersiveness of the story is the voice acting. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprise their roles from the animated series as Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, respectively. Their voices fit extremely well, and the story truly sounds and feels like something from the comic books or the animated series. In particular, Mark Hamill's spectacular performance as the Joker is worth noting. He has not lost touch since the original series, and the Joker is more menacing than ever. Overall, the story is perfect. No one should be worried that the story is watered down for the game. If anything, it is more complicated than other games. Boys and girls, this story is comparible to powerhouse stories like BioShock. The story will make all the players do a double take, as the twists in this game are crazy. I won't spoil it, but don't be surprised if you find yourself wondering what happened to your game console for a bit. The boss battles in this game are great, but as many other game do, the last boss battle is a bit weird. Not Gears of War 2 weird, but a little out there. Without going into extreme detail, the actual gameplay of the fight is great, but the context can be a turnoff. No big deal however, as it definetely doesn't ruin things or create problems. The story of Batman:AA is a 5 star adventure.

GAMEPLAY: Batman: Arkham Asylum creates a much different experience gameplay wise. The true value of this game comes in one simple premise: you are Batman. Rocksteady kept this in their heads during the entire development process, and their attention should be rewarded. At any and every time, at any and every place, and at any and every moment, you feel like Batman. The gameplay mechanics are tailored strictly to make the player become the Dark Knight. There is not one moment where you feel like you are playing a video game. This is an immersive experience. No game has every accomplished the level of becoming Batman like this does. Combat is free-flowing and super easy to pick up, yet difficult to master, much like Batman himself. Each punch and kick feel like the prowess and power of Batman. You feel the ease of fighting yet the mastery and skill of Batman at the same time. The greatest of these examples of immersion is when you become an invisible predator. There is nothing better than walking into the room with 5 armed thugs and taking them all down without ever being noticed. This feet is completed through several key gameplay mechanics. First, the game employs detective mode. This changes the look of the environment to locate all enemies (whether they are armed or not, too!), all environmental changes, fingerprints, and a bunch of other stuff. Secondly, Batman's incredible repetoir of gadgets comes into use, with things such as the classic batarang to the batclaw which can grapple to not only the environment but people, too. The gadgets themselves are key to the immersion, as each has its own unique use and makes you feel really awesome. To go more into actual campaign gameplay, the free-roam is great. Arkham Asylum is varied in gameplay. You may encounter a group of thugs that need taking care of, or you might need to investigate a crime seen for clues. You might find yourself following fingerprints to locate a person, or quitely roaming the sewer system without alerting Killer Croc. Gameplay is varied and never boring.

GRAPHICS AND DESIGN: The game looks awesome running with the Unreal Engine. Environments are varied in every way, and in particular, the shadows and dark textures look amazing. This, once again, brings Batman and the "hiding in the shadows" M.O. into the game nicely. One thing of note is that the game never looks unrealistic. This can be hard in a superhero game, but Batman:AA pulls it off. A nice little touch also is the surrounding Gotham City you can see on the horizon. Even though some may find the setting of Arkham Island a cop-out for the cooler Gotham City, the brilliant vista and gigantic moon lit with the Bat-signal never make you feel like you are somewhere else. You are in Gotham, believe me. Unfortunately, some may find the detective mode a bit annoying. The gameplay is extremely reliant on this, and due to the blueing of the screen, some of the more awesome vistas can be missed. Not a big deal though if you just remember to turn it off when you aren't fighting. A highpoint of this game is the character design. The Joker looks like his menacing self, with the big grin and purple suit. Batman looks like Batman but much more grounded in reality. Batman isn't in tights nor is he in a rubber nipple suit. The game balances the more realistic interpretations of Batman with the comic versions, and comes up with a suit that looks great. This is one of my favorite interpretations of Batman's look. All the villains look great, and it is nice that Rocksteady considered that these inmates probably wouldn't have access to their "costumes" after a long incarceration, so they redesigned everyone to make them fit. Harley Quinn seems to have stolen some nurse's uniforms and put her spin on it. Scarecrow has gained access to a burlap sac and has constructed a crude fear toxin injector in the form of five seringes attached to his right hand. Poison Ivy has stolen a guard's coat. These design decisions make the villains look realistic, applicable to the story, unique to the game, and still look like themselves. Props to the design team at Rocksteady.

REPLAYABILITY: There are so many things to do in this game. The story itself has 3 difficulties, so that is a good 24+ hours there. Arkham is full of secrets too. The Riddler has placed several trophies among the island along with several riddles to be solved, a good 240 combined. Through my initial playthrough, I only found 50 some, so good hunting. Arkham itself includes mysteries alluding to its dark history, with strange symbols to be found. A deep secret is revealed after these are all found, so be sure to look for those. In addition to these in game goodies, Batman: AA has an entirely seperate challenge mode, with maps made for fighting arenas or invisible predator. Here you can earn medals either for lasting long enough, scoring high, or doing specific things, like inverted takedowns. These can get extremely difficult and challenging, so these won't take a short time. Overall, replayability is high.

PROS: Amazing gameplay and immersiveness. You feel like Batman all the time and in every way. Everything in this game from the vistas to the laughable quotes from the Joker are flawless.
CONS: Detective mode can cause one to forget the beauty of the environments, last boss battle is a little flatter than the others.

I am a lifelong Batman fan. I have played other Batman games and some of them have been good, while other have been really, really BAD. The first ten minutes of this game made me conclude that this is the best Batman game ever. Think about this: gameplay doesn't start till 15 minutes in. The first ten minutes drew me to this conclusion. After I began playing and being the Dark Knight, I concluded this was the best superhero game ever created. I couldn't believe how they captured Batman so well. I lost all feeling of playing a game. I was Batman. After I finished the game, however, I made a bigger conclusion: this is one of the best games ever. I want to really point this out. This game has story that takes serious turns. I haven't felt twists like this since BioShock. That is saying something. Some can be turned off by a superhero game. This may be either by the past reputation of superhero games or that they just can't believe that a superhero game could amount to the greatness of classic stories like BioShock or Mass Effect. This game does that. Please, PLEASE don't be turned off. This game has it all. Good games make the player play through a good story and experience. Great games make it an effort to immerse the player. Excellent games immerse the player completely, and make them feel emotion in a game. Batman: Arkham Asylum is without a doubt in my mind an excellent game.

VERDICT: You are missing out by not at least trying this game. It is a unique and unrepeatable experience that can keep your excitement and emotions like BioShock can. If you don't like great story, immersive gameplay, extreme twists, amazing design, and awesomeness, avoid this game. On the other hand, if you like any of these things, buy the game. It is worth every damn cent.

Blizzcon Awards

Ah, the annual Blizzcon. So many gamers flock to this convention, and rightly so. Blizzard is definitely one of the foremost leaders in the gaming industry. So, how did they fair this year?

Best Moment: The entire show. Because of the localized style and the closeness of the fans, the entire show is just one big ginormous awesome moment. The opening press conference brings announcements gallore, and from then on its do what you want to do. Blizzcon is different than E3 or TGS. It is just for the fans. Yes, the press are involved, but the fans are the main aim here. I cannot make one moment stand out the best because the fans react greatly to all of them. Good job Blizzard for making your entire show a great moment. From the WoW expansion to the ass-kicking Diablo monk and even to the evil voice of Kerrigan, the show deserves this.

Best Graphics: StarCraft II. Just looks amazing. Especially the Protoss defense barriers. It really is a gigantic upgrade from SC1 (obviously, since they are roughly 10 years apart). This game looks much prettier and detailed than WoW and Diablo. The characters and environments look sharp and colorful, and most importantly, I can tell who is who. If there is one flaw among most RTS's, it is that the different factions look too similar. Blizzard did a great job of differentiating all of the factions not just by gameplay but by graphics in SC1. It appears they are continuing this strategy into StarCraft II.

Best Announcement: Wow: Cataclysm. What can I say? Blizzard continues to manage the best MMO ever created (so far). This shows the true dedication Blizzard has to its fans. WoW would not be as successful as it is today without the continued updates, patches, and new content that Blizzard provides. Cataclysm seems to be keeping excitement for WoW alive. Blizzard has almost reached the peak of perfection for multiplayer. WoW: Cataclysm shows their undying love for fans. Which can only make you say "wow". Pun intended.

Best Little Detail: The swag given to Blizzcon-goers. This was one of the best swag bags I have ever seen, and one of the few times I am jealous that I didn't get some useless crap. T-shirts and the works came in the bag, but a nice little present also came: an bloated action figure Terran. Which was customizable. You can't buy it from anywhere either. Darn, that makes me jealous...

Best Trailer: Starcraft II's "Old Rivals" trailer. I won't pretend. I haven't played the first StarCraft. I plan to soon, and I am sure I will enjoy it, having experienced only bits and pieces and loving it. That being said, I love this trailer. It is just bleeding epicness. All good games have story involved. And the ability to make a trailer that does all the things this trailer did, and make it interesting to a StarCraft noob...that is amazing. This was also a good way of showing off the new voice for Kerrigan. I know many StarCraft fans were sad when the original voice actress left. But the new actress sounds great, and the trailer makes her voice fit into the universe.

Best Gameplay Footage: Diablo III's Monk in action. When I get this game, I want to be this guy. He is kicking some major ass here. Button clicks never looked so awesome. The monk seems to be the perfect mixture of speed and strength, and I think many will flock to this new and interesting member of Diablo III. Diablo III keeps on looking better and better as more characters and places are revealed. Better yet, this game looks interesting to the masses, and not just Blizzard fans.

Unexpected News: The news that Blizzard will be releasing 2 titles next year. This is odd for Blizzard. Because of they only have 3 titles, release dates tend to be spread out quite a bit. The news that they will be releasing 2 full retail games next year is surprising. This may have come from the push of StarCraft II to 2010 (which everyone was expecting anyway), but I would have figured that would have pushed Diablo III to 2011. Apparently Blizzard has enought people working to make both games at the same time, while still supporting WoW, which is what pushed StarCraft II to 2010 in the first place. If they can pull it off, great. If not, then I would still be happy with one...

The Missing Element: Blizzard's new IP. They have been teasing for a while that they have something new up their sleeves. This would have been a perfect time to show off what they have been working on. This leads me to a couple conclusions. A). Blizzard is going at a pretty slow pace due to the amount of workers needed to either support WoW or make new games. B). Blizzard just didn't have enough time to talk about a new IP with big news like WoW: Cataclysm and Battle.net stuff. C). Blizzard is waiting till a more console-centric convention because their new IP is for consoles. 0_o ?

Most Hilarious Moment: Jay Mohr at the cosplay contest. He wants to have sexy times with a night elf.

Something You Probably Didn't Know: The Monk reveal in Diablo III looked awesome, right? Well, behind closed doors interviews revealed some more details about this guy. Namely how he actually is going to be controlled. The Monk will have more of a fighter control than anything. The monk will have a system for combos. For example, one can click to hit the enemy, then click again to debuf, then click again to heal. This three hit combo system has several combinations and is quite different than a usual point-and-click fighter like Diablo. The Monk will also be deal huge amounts of damage, but will be extremely vulnerable to attack. That is one way to balance it, I guess.

GAME OF SHOW: WoW: Cataclysm. Well, you know, if I would have picked what I like, it would have been StarCraft II. But the fact that Blizzard keeps on going with WoW just deserves a reward. WoW has changed their way of business, and Cataclysm just keeps the ball rolling. Getting to the actual game merit though, Cataclysm is bringing quite a bit to the table. 2 new races, level cap raising, and new dungeons are always welcome. Interestingly enough, the revamp of lots of areas in the original Azeroth is really awesome. And not many people know this, but this revamp is free. In order to revamp these areas, everyone must be affected. You can't have vanilla WoW players play with other WoW players without revamping Azeroth for everyone. Blizzard is making this aspect free, either when you buy Cataclym or through a patch at release. This way, everyone has the new revamped areas. Cataclysm will just add the quests and all the other good stuff. This is a great way to not force people to buy the expansion, but make it enticing enough for people to buy it anyway. Good job Blizzard.

That's it for Blizzcon. Just a small preview for the rest of the week, I should have a Batman: Arkham Asylum review up soon and another post which I will keep secret. The latter should be up by today, and the review in the next week.

GAMEScom Awards, Part 2

Here is part 2 of the GAMEScom awards.

Best Graphics: Crysis 2. Yes, it is somewhat of a "go figure", but looking at the tech demo they showed off is pretty awesome. The graphics are not notable for their looks but for what they have done with textures. The environment is basically one gigantic texture, so artists can basically do whatever they want with the looks, and make it look damn good. Crytek Engine 3 also reacts differently to situations. Every window is breakable in a different way. If you shoot a pipe, it will steam open. Amazing stuff.
-Runner Ups: Assassin's Creed II, Mass Effect 2

Best Shown Off Multiplayer: Star Wars: The Old Republic. Yes, I picked an MMO. But this one is different. This looks, sounds, and I can only assume feels different that other MMO's. BioWare is one of the best third-party developers these days. Everyone knows they are masters of the single player. And this mastery is what makes there MMO the best. Who knew that the best multiplayer shown off at the show would come from a game that melds multiplayer and singleplayer?
-Runner Ups: Halo 3: ODST, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Best Little Detail: Keith David voicing a character in Modern Warfare 2. Arbiter? Sergeant Arbiter? Keith David is a voice acting legend. His voice reverberates in every game he does, whether that be the tortured but battle ready Arbiter or the concrete straight-lined Captain Andersen. Him being in Modern Warfare 2 makes it better. Immediately.
-Runner Ups: Assassin's Creed II gets Eagle Eye movement, Dante's Inferno has a morality system

Worst Waste of Time: Ubisoft's new title "Just Dance". Do me a favor. Go watch the trailer for this new game. Do me a second favor. Once you watch it, never watch it again. Ever. The lady turns blue when she dances. The grandma doesn't stop dancing. Is she trying to grab her...OH MY GOD. This game should be burned immediately. Don't waste my time Ubisoft. You have James Cameron for that.

The Silent Killer: CCP's new console shooter. This game is unprecidented. CCP a while back created a free-roam galaxy MMO called EVE Online. This game if fairly popular. Now, CCP has announced that this new shooter will impact events and situations in the MMO, and vice versa. This is cool. I think the popularity for this will go up quite a bit when more details begin to emerge.

Best GAMEScom Coverage: Congratulations, IGN. You did really well this time. GAMEScom was complicated. Lots of things going on at the same time. IGN's coverage was the best. The news was constant, and there were no idiotic articles like some things Kotaku had reported on. The best part, however, was the video coverage. Along with the daily fix everyday, the trailers and the walkthroughs were the best looking and the most enlightening. There 20 minute Old Republic gameplay footage is worth noting.

Best PS3 News: The PS3 Slim. Really? Again? Yes again. This is important, and deserves recognition. Face it. This is a gamechanger. This is the best decision Sony has made since the Dualshock controller. This is great news not just to new customers but to old ones, too. For Sony vets, this means the company listens to you. They heard concerns from the public, and listened. This means they want to listen to their public. Yay.

Worst PS3 News: The PSP Go costing only $50 less than the PS3. The price drop for the PS3 is great, but the pricing for the PSP Go is atrocious. No portable should cost only $50 less than a full console. The PSP has so many less features than a full console. This is a given. Sony is gonna sell some PS3s this fall. They won't sell as many PSPs as they will want to, however. People will fork over that amount of money for a full console, namely the Wii. They won't spend it on a portable.

Best Xbox 360 News: Mass Effect 2 is going along pretty smoothly. The new trailer with Grunt coupled with a bit of other news lets 360 owners know they still have Mass Effect. Sure, it's on PC too, but in terms of console, Mass Effect is a 360 entity. This game is one of the few RPGs to do well on Microsoft's platform. To know that BioWare is dedicated to making it run smoothly and improving upon it is news enough.

Worst Xbox 360 News: Final Fantasy is only 70% complete for 360. And this is where all that awesomeness from Mass Effect 2 goes away. No one can deny that one of the best, if not the best RPG is Final Fantasy. It was big news at E3 a year ago that Final Fantasy XIII was going to be on 360. AS A PORT. Not to be against Sony, but they usually end up with the ports. 360 owners without PS3s will have to watch as their friends play one of the best RPGs several months before them. On one disc. Not three.

Worst Game of Show: Fable III. This could have waited till Tokyo Game Show. Look, Fable is great. But it kind of came out of nowhere. Lionhead and Peter Molyneux are known for their closed door demos that leak onto the internet the next day showing the awesomeness of the game. This closed environment allows the game and Peter to show off the awesome aspects of the game. The press conference just didn't work for Lionhead. Fable III is a good game. But so many games can be ruined by poor publicity. I won't judge the game fully until I see more. But first impressions are important. And Lionhead didn't do a good job at all. Here's hoping some improvement and a more traditional Lionhead in the coming months at TGS.

BEST GAME OF SHOW: Assassin's Creed II. Is my pick weird? A bit. You are probably thinking that you really didn't hear much on this game. But the stuff you did here reverberates everywhere. There was no press conference for ACII. There was no showing, no live demo, nothing. There were about 4 interviews with various websites. But as so many other things go in life, the small and focused things often become the biggest and best things. The interview shed some light on yet more improvements in the Assassin's Creed universe. Ubisoft Montreal is working hard on fixing everything, and so many times do we hear the phrase "we are trying to fix everything". Well, come November, Ubisoft Montreal can say something to everybody: "We did fix everything". I can't find one thing in AC1 that they haven't said they have fixed. Not one thing. And on top of that, they are improving the game and adding new things. Think how hard that is. Working on fixing a previously worked on game while adding tons of other things. It is no wonder over 400 people are working on this one title. The Prince of Persia crypts detailed in these interviews sound like such a great addition to AC. I want this game. You should want this game. That is why it gets Game of Show.

Agree or Disagree? Let me know. An award post will be done for Blizzcon, but it will only be one post long. Until then, enjoy your week.

GAMEScom Awards, Part 1

GAMEScom is over, and people will continue to go on with their lovely lives. AT LEAST UNTIL TOKYO! Anyway, here is the first part of the awards for the first GAMEScom. I felt the convention was better that the Games Convention, and its new venue in Cologne and the size make it a great public expo. That being said it still is not comparible to E3 or Tokyo. But it does have potential. Enough with the small talk. On to the awards!

Best Moment: The reveal of the PS3 Slim by Kaz Hirai. This was the announcement everyone was expecting, and the news everyone wanted. Not only is the PS3 cool and slim. Not only is it $100 cheaper. Not only is the stupid Spider-Man font gone. But Kaz did all of it. A cool guy showing off cool things. This announcement brings great news to current and future PS3 owners, and it finally puts Sony back into the race for console supremacy.
-Runner Ups: Tim Shaffer giving Brutal Legend a demo, Assassin's Creed II given Prince of Persia-like crypts.

Worst Moment: The 2 day news slumber. GAMEScom was great, but the news was done after a day and a half. No reveals. No big awesome trailers save a couple. It was dissapointing. For those of us who couldn't go to Cologne in person, these two days were torture.
-Runner Ups: Crytek waits 2 days to reveal nothing, GRIN was making a Final Fantasy action game.

Best Announcement: PS3 Slim. Yes, this deserves another award. The announcement is just so monumental. The PS3 was too expensive. The PS3 was not competing with Wii or Xbox 360. With the announcement of the Slim, Sony can now rejuvinate its stance. It can compete. Sony basically announced that they found their balls from the PS2. Now they can be Sony.
-Runner Ups: Naughty Dog wants to continue Jak, Abbey Road DLC release date.

Worst Announcement: Fable III. Peter Molyneux is dissapointing. After the big tease on Lionhead's website with people such as Aristotle and Abraham Lincoln, it was all for another Fable title. Don't get me wrong. Fable is great. But the fact that Peter can't do anything besides Fable is sad. No one needed his overexaggeration either. With every game he reveals, no one knows what is true and what is stretched. I'm sure Fable III will be great. But Molyneux isn't.
-Runner Ups: Ubisoft "Just Dance" game, No Modern Warfare 2 public beta

Best Trailer: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Another epic video from the mind of Hideo Kojima. This was an awesome trailer. It showed how Kojima is really making this a Metal Gear Solid 5 title in length and atmosphere. The co-op looks great, and this trailer did the best in showing how it works. It was worth the nine minutes it took to watch. Then again, it's Kojima. He can make a 40 hour game worth it.
-Runner Ups: Army of Two: The 40th Day, Mass Effect 2

Best Gameplay Footage: Star Wars: The Old Republic. The 20 minute gameplay demo that IGN posted was phenominal. It showed that BioWare isn't messing around. They are serious when they say they want to change the face of MMO's forever. Everything about this gameplay footage is awesome. It shows a variety of classes, all who look awesome. It shows the variety and scope of landscape, all of which looked awesome. It showed how story is the core of the game, and that was awesome. This can turn a sceptic into a supporter, and and more importantly, give the WoW player a possible alternative...
-Runner Ups: Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 2

Best Conference: Sony. They pleased the public, and in a public conference that is the most important. The conference was only an hour long and yet brought news that could have satisfied the public at a bigger show, like E3 or Tokyo. The speakers were great and the use of Kaz Hirai was only practical.

Worst Conference: Microsoft. Or should I say Lionhead Studios. From a billion-dollar company like Microsoft, a press conference isn't hard. Using the hour to put Molyneux on stage was stupid. This talk would have been more appropriate in a closed session with members of the press, like Fable II was handled. This was wasted money. This was wasted time. Microsoft should have done better.

Most Pleasing Release Date: Dante's Inferno for February 9th. A legendary poem turned game which has garnered much applause comes out only 1 month and 9 days into they new year. A game developer that said that a game was going to come out in early 2010 actually kept their word? NO WAY.
-Runner Ups: Dark Void, Abbey Road DLC

Most Revealing Interview: IGN interview with Assassin's Creed II developers. So many things revealed in such a small interview. The interview shows once again that Ubisoft Montreal (all 400+ of them) really want to fix the inconsistencies of Assassin's Creed with things like more mission types and no repetitiveness. It also showed they want to improve and introduce new things, like all citizen cover, taunts, historical accuracy, animus changes, and Prince of Persia-like crypts with secret treasures. Amazing. Contender for game of the year.

Most Uninteresting Thing: Crytek waits till Thursday instead of Tuesday for a big Crysis 2 announcement. In fact, this was just to show off the new 3D model of the Crysis suit. WTF? Who cares. First of all, waiting till Thursday for "look at this. Isn't it cool? That's it!" was stupid. Second of all, who cares about the new suit? It looks the same as Crysis 1. It has the same functionality as Crysis 1. And it's a first-person shooter, so you don't even see the suit in the game. Wow. Crytek, you upset me.

That is it for part 1. Part 2 will finish them off. Who will get Game of Show?

New days

You may notice that my blog has changed a bit in looks and content. I decided that the blog needed some additions that were relevant to what I tend to talk about. One thing led to another and a whole blog redesign was the most appropriate thing to do. I won't bore you with design stuff, but I will direct you to some new features.

The site introduction has been moved to the sidebar. This just looks more relevant and it gives the posts immediate attention. Polls will remain under this, in their usual spot.

About Me will remain under the poll, and my twitter updates will be under that.

I have decided to publish a list ever so often to let readers know games that are on my mind while not dedicating an entire post to it. This list should change every couple months, so check back occasionally for a new list.

I have attached several RSS feeds on the sidebar, specifically IGN, Kotaku, and GameInformer. These sites provide gaming news from professional sources. I may also use these for reference in a blog without having to link the entire thing. These RSS's enable me and the reader to get references from other sources.

I have attached a blog archive under all of this. If I need to refer to an older post I can now reference the archive, and more specifically give a date for that entry. This also allows the reader to look at older posts.

I have shortened the number of posts on page from 3 to 2. This makes the page shorter and more connected.

A search bar has been added at the bottom.

Reaction polls have been added to each post. Readers can now rate each post as "good", "bad", or "ugly". This is just an alternative if a reader doesn't want to comment personally.

Hope these things serve as a convenience. If there are any complaints or comments please note so.

GAMEScom, Day 4 AND Blizzcon, Day 1

Today will be a dual post focussing on the end of GAMEScom and the beginning of Blizzcon. The news is still slow, though, so bare with me.

GAMEScom

A: Lionhead confirms they will not be using Natal for Fable III.
R: Good. I don't want Milo in Albion. Anyone remember the guildmaster from Fable 1? "Do you have any potions or food?" That would suck with Natal? "Do you have any...hey, I can see you do have a nice can of soda right next to you. Will you drink it? Please? Drink it. DRINK IT." Creepy skynet Milo shit...

A: Little Big Planet will get a new update introducing water into the game. A private beta will be held for it too.
R: I can see it now. Someone is gonna recreate BioShock in Little Big Planet. And it will be awesome.

A: Gearbox announces they are already developing DLC for Borderlands ahead of the game's release date.
R: A double-edged sword. On one hand, this is a smart move. It has been proven that a focus on DLC after the game keeps the game going. Fallout came out in 2008 and it has stayed strong for more than a year with constant new content. On the other hand, it the game itself isn't good or does not sell that well, DLC doesn't mean anything. The initial game has to be fun and it has to sell well for DLC to even be considered. Did you know that DLC was released for Ace Combat 6? Yup. It didn't sell well at all however. The actual reaction to the game determines whether DLC is good or not. This is why I think Gearbox is taking a big risk developing DLC right now. If Borderlands doesn't do well, which is a high possibility (it releases close to Brutal Legend and Modern Warfare 2), they will have wasted their time.

A: Mass Effect 2 will be locked at 30 frames per second.
R: Taking a que from Ubisoft and the Assassin's Creed 2 team are we, BioWare? This was easily the biggest flaw of Mass Effect. The framerate sucked. Locking it at 30 is great. This is the standard for most first-person shooters, and locking it will give it the smoothness of Call of Duty. Great call BioWare.

BLIZZCON

A: A new World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm, was announced. The game will introduce many new things to Azeroth, including a level cap to 85, two new races (Goblins for the Horde, Wargen for the Alliance), a couple new dungeons, and major changes to many areas.
R: As I am not a WoW player, this really doesn't interest me much. To me, this is just another expansion which Blizzard is releasing to keep up popularity and sales. Both of which they don't really need, but they like their public. Level cap is no surprise. I doubt the two new races will garner much use when they are released. I think some people will be upset about no new continent, but that won't be a big deal at all. Thinking about it all, if you want all the expansion packs and WoW, that comes out to be really effing expensive. Like I said, not a WoW player, so I can't give an amazing reaction.

A: Battle.net improvements are shown in detail, with many features mirroring other gaming social networks such as Xbox Live. In game launch is shown, along with other features such as constant friend connection, automatic updating, and even personalization features.
R: Did you know that there are more people registered on Battle.net then those registered to World of Warcraft? That is a big number. Blizzard is making a great decision revamping Battle.net. StarCraft II is going to be the flagship for the new Battle.net, and I think we may have another 10 year game on our hands. Taking influence from Xbox Live is great, as Live is the most popular gaming social network out there. I also like the automatic updates. No loading, no stupid screen telling me my game is updating. it just updates itself.

A: A fourth class is revealed for Diablo III: the monk.
R: This guy kicks some ass. A great addition to Diablo III.

A: Blizzard states that a port of Diablo III to consoles is a strong possibility, as they are currently talking to first party publishers.
R: AWESOME. I have alway thought that one of these days Blizzard is going to have to address the console market, and releasing Diablo III to consoles would be a great start. I think there is a big audience that play console that would love to be able to play Blizzard games but just aren't PC gamers. I hope this works out, because Blizzard could make some big bucks from this. Unfortunately, even if it does get picked up, I don't see a console Diablo III till 2011 at the earliest. It takes a while to translate a game made for PC to a console. The problems mostly arise in the transition of PC to console controls.

A: Starcraft will have a premium map system.
R: Only makes sense. Microtransactions in Starcraft would sell like hotcakes. People will buy maps for Starcraft. It is as simple as that. This does not mean there will not be any free maps. Most community maps will be free. But if someone makes a map and wished to sell it, they may. And they can make some real money out of it.

That's it for today. I should have a response to GAMEScom up pretty soon, so watch for that. Blizzcon continues through the weekend also, so watch for a Day 2 update.

GAMEScom, Day 3

Wow, Day 3 sucked. Not much at all. But I did find some things that I thought would warrant at least a small post today. Here we go!

A: Final Fantasy XIII is reported to be 70% complete for Xbox 360, and 90% complete for Playstation 3.
R: Good news for PS3 owners, but not for 360 owners. For the first time, the 360 is getting the port, and not the PS3.

A: Harmonix announces that new downloadable songs will bring the Rock Band catalogue to over 1000 songs by the end of the year. These will include songs from Queen, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Elton John, Iggy Pop, The White Stripes, Pantera, Talking Heads, and The Raconteurs.
R: Cool. Lots of good artists there, especially the first 3. Interestingly enough, these artists are all headlining artists in Guitar Hero 5. Coincidence?

A: In the recent days after GRIN's bankruptcy, it was revealed that they were developing a Final Fantasy action game.
R: What? GRIN developing a Final Fantasy game? This is one of the things you feel sad about after a game developer closes. This sounded interesting to me. Unfortunately, it will never see the light of day. Maybe for the best, no? GRIN definitely wasn't the best developer out there...

A: If a demo is released in America, Square Enix states that the Final Fantasy XIII demo will contain different things that the Japanese demo.
R: Cool. If it is one things that pains me, it is seeing the demo of a game played at E3 five billion times, released 3 months later, and not fun at all because I know what happens. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't release one at all though. Final Fantasy games really don't need demo popularity gain...

A: Harmonix in an interview with 1up.com stated that they are hard at work at the next iteration of the Rock Band franchise.
R: No surprise. As long as Rock Band 3 is worth it and not just another game in the series (I'm looking at you Guitar Hero), it is worth it. I really hope they do something different. Not just another peripheral. I trust EA and Rock Band a hell of a lot more than Activision and Guitar Hero, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still go the peripheral upgrade way.

A: Keith David will voice a character in Modern Warfare 2, along with Craig Fairbrass, who previously voiced Gaz in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
R: WHAT? Keith David! Awesome! The game just got one of the best voice actors in gaming. He'll fit the game like a glove. And Fairbrass? Gaz died, didn't he? Mystery? IS GAZ ALIVE?

A: Epic Games states that if Shadow Complex is popular enough, downloadable content is highly possible.
R: Well, this is in the bag. Shadow Complex is already popular. DLC is inevitable. I would say something like challenge maps...

Well, I hope Day 4 brings more. News is getting real slow. Blizzcon also starts this weekend, so I may do a blog on Blizzcon too.

GAMEScom, Day 2

Ah, the amazing day 2 of GAMEScom. Lots of stuff today, but before I start I would like to correct myself. On the previous blog I stated that the PS3 will have an 80GB hard drive. A friend corrected my mistake. The actual size of the hard drive will be 120GB. Now on to the announcements:

A: Lionhead Studios revealed Fable III at the Microsoft Conference. Targeted release date will be late 2010. The game will take a Fable II save file and will put you in the shoes of your hero's child. The game will center on becoming ruler of Albion, and then ruling your subjects. For more info, see this.
R: Pros and cons for me. First, I feel it was ridiculous that the entirety of Microsoft's press conference was Peter Molyneux talking about Fable III. That isn't an MS conference. That is a Lionhead conference. Fable III is no surprise to me, especially because See the Future kind of headed this way in the first place. It sounds interesting, and I am glad the game is progressing somewhat. I still don't trust Molyneux, though. He has a really bad track record of overhyping his games. What intrigues me is the fact that it will still have combat mechanics. I don't want a politician game. I am interested in seeing how this touch thing works. I kind of like the scroll wheel for expressions, and I don't want something that is gonna feel like a context-sensitive action. I need to see WAY more to make a correct opinion about this. Fable II was good though. One thing that would be great is if they actually made Fable III with lasting appeal. Fable II was great, but it had zero appeal after I finished the game and fully upgraded my character...

A: Dark Void is given a release date of January 12, 2010.
R: Dark Void is a little mysterious to me. It sounds and looks cool, but this seems like a MadWorld situation. I don't think it is gonna sell very well. I will have to wait and see what the reviews and the watercooler talk says.

A: Fable II will be broken into 5 downloadable content packages.
R: Why? What is the point of doing this? If you want Fable, go pick up the game. Why would anyone wait for 5 episodes to come out when you can grab the entire game?

A: Infinity Ward announced there will be no public beta for Modern Warfare 2.
R: Not a surprise but still disappointing. I would have loved a multiplayer beta.

A: Album DLC is specified for The Beatles: Rock Band. Each album will cost 1360 MS points per album and 160 per song. Abbey Road will be released on October 20, with album buyers given the ability to play the entire 16 minute medley on the album rather than seperate songs. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will come out in November, and Rubber Soul will follow in December.
R: Awesome news. I know I am going to be spending a crap-load of money on this. I am not a big fan of paying $16 per album, but I really want to play that 16 minute medley. For anyone who doesn't know, The last 8 songs on Abbey Road were recorded together as a medley, so playing all of those in a medley is epic.

A: Guitar Hero 5 will be getting an exclusive 5-pack downloadable content from the Rolling Stones.
R: Dammit. I am jealous...

A: Many new details were revealed about Assassin's Creed 2. For full details, see this.
R: Don't ignore that link up there. You need to read that preview if you want to follow me. First, I love Assassin's Creed, so all this news is great to me. All of the things I keep hearing make me know for a fact that they are focused on fixing every flaw of AC1. They seem to be doing super well. All citizen crowd cover is great, and it is something that I think everyone thought they would be able to do in AC1. Finally, eagle eye is good for something now that you can move while doing eagle eye. It is kind of nice that the HUD can be turned off, but I probably won't do it. Taunts are awesome, and are definitely welcome. I can't tell you how many times I was stuck in a fight with 3 people waiting for one of them to hit me. It is also cool that Ezio's gun is somewhat inaccurate. This makes it historical accurate and it doesn't make the gun the new blade. NOT BY A LONGSHOT. The crypts sound epic. Can't wait for this game...

A: Ninja Theory, developers of Heavenly Sword, are teaming up with Namco Bandai to make a new multiplatform title.
R: Honestly, I don't care much for this. Heavenly Sword failed in sales. Let's hope that this new one sells better, or Ninja Theory may be in some danger.

A: Naughty Dog announced they would like to return to the Jak and Daxter franchise somewhere along the line, and it is at the top of the list for options of what to do after Uncharted 2 is finished.
R: Good news for Jak fans. In my opinion, a definitive sequel to one of the best platformers ever would be most appropriate...

A: Titan Studio, developers of Fat Princess, tease two new classes to the game: pirates and ninjas.
R: Pirates, ninjas, and cake obsessed princesses? Who could ask for more?

A: In an interview with IGN, Kojima talked a bit about his new projects unrelated to Metal Gear. Kojima stated that he is working on introducing a new engine, of which the first game to use it will be Metal Gear Solid: Rising. He is also working on 1 new IP, and hinted at a possible return to a loved franchise.
R: My guess is that he is working on another Zone of the Enders game, and probably a true Metal Gear Solid 5. In the interview he states that Peace Walker is going to introduce many details of the story and close some gaps, but it will also open others. I think he is going to make a real MGS5. I can't wait to hear about his new IP. Anything he makes is fantastic.

A:In addition, many new videos came out today. Running down the list:
-Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
-Army of Two: The 40th Day
-Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
-Just Cause 2
R: Peace Walker looks cool. Especially that co-op move where one player follows the other and it becomes somewhat of a line shooter. Awesome. Army of Two looks to be fixing its story problems. They really want to have that sense of disaster. Castlevania looks sick. Just sick. That just went to my 2010 list. Just Cause 2 looks like it could be the definitive free roam destruction game. Of course, people said that about Mercenaries 2, so...

That be it for today. Hopefully some better announcements will come tomorrow, but I highly doubt it. Tomorrow is when the show is open to the public, so it will probably mostly be hands-on impressions and stuff.

GAMEScom, Day 1

Yes, today was the first day of GAMEScom in Cologne, Germany. And boy, was it an exciting day. Lots of announcements and an overall great start to the convention. Before I jump in, however, I want to explain a bit of how I will be writing down convention reactions like this. Basically, the post will take somewhat of a question and answer format. I will introduce what was announced, and after that I will add a personal reaction to it. Some things I barely have any reaction; to others I will have quite a bit to say. Although I expect these blogs to be a bit long, the way I am writing them should let you skip things you don't want to read. Anyway, let's get to it!

ANNOUNCEMENT: Dante's Inferno is given a release date of February 9th along with the announcement of a new intriguing morality system in the game. This system will consist of "righteous" and "unholy" choices, and will be integrated with combat.
REACTION: Great. Dante's Inferno looks to be an awesome game, and a February release date is perfect (especially because it's right next to my birthday!), especially since we have been expecting the game in 2010. The morality system sounds good too. Visceral Games seems to be trying to change the regular morality system from predetermined choices to combat. Apparently, the way you kill things determines morality. As long as this system doesn't impede combat, that's great. It would suck if the immoral ways of killings are way better than the moral. This, in my opinion, will only work if the holy choices are as good and are a strong alternative to the unholy choices.

A: Star Wars: The Old Republic is revealed to have full voice acting for not only English but French and German.
R: Holy shit. That is a lot of voice acting. Sounds epic, but this pretty much confirms that BioWare wants some moolah. Expect a WoW like subscription fee...

A: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is given a release date of March 2 and Battlefield 1943 is revealed to have already amassed more that 1 million players.
R: Although I don't care much for Bad Company 2, it seems DICE is making quite the franchise out of it. I hope to God they put more than 1 multiplayer mode in the game at retail. That was one of main reasons I didn't buy Bad Company 1. The fact that 1943 has hit 1 million players after only about a month and a half, and it's only an XBL title shows that arcade titles are bridging gaps between arcade and retail. Look at Shadow Complex...

A: Mass Effect 2 is shown at the EA Conference. The trailer showed a new area called Omega, a new krogan called Grunt, and some nice little tidbits. A revealing IGN interview also talked a bit more about things.
R: First, go see the trailer and the interview on IGN. The trailer was really interesting. I love how Omega looks. You can see the depth BioWare wants from ME2. The area looks way more detailed. Grunt is great, but I hope he isn't a replacement for Wrex. Although I tend to use Garrus and Ashley is ME1, I like Wrex a lot. He was definitely a great character. I kept him alive too, so I hope he is still there. Grunt looks to be a little different that Wrex obviously. He seems to be a lot more concerned with getting things done and he is more interested in killing things. The interview is insightful. One question posed was if the interviewee could name three choices in ME1 that would profoundly affect ME2. The answer was this: who died or didn't die on Virmire, who you had sexy time with, and if you saved the galactic council (I didn't. They were mean...)

A:Brutal Legend is getting a demo on PSN and XBL in September.
R: Awesome. Can't wait to play.

A: CCP announces a new FPS MMO for consoles that will connect with their PC strategy game, EVE Online.
R: This sounds cool. An FPS that is exclusively for consoles that will connect and determine certain things in the PC MMO. Think about this. If this turns out successful, you will be affecting a PC game's gameplay, and playing with all consoles.

A: Crytek is saving their Crysis 2 presentation for Thursday.
R: Question mark? What does Crytek have that they need a whole different time to show? I know Crysis 2 is coming to consoles, but do they really needs lots of time for that? Intriguing...

A: Ubisoft announces a dance game called "Just Dance".
R: crappy dance + Lady Gaga title = absolute crap.

A: Sony's PSN is up and running, with a recorded 27 million users registered. A little less that half of those are signed up to Home. Home was announced to be gaining two more spaces, an Audi space and a SingStar space, and the PSN will be getting an upgrade with interactive themes. Europe also gets a video service now.
R: Most of this is logistical stuff. It is interesting to see the ratio of PSN to Home users. If you take all the people that have an Xbox, the ratio of users on XBL is less that the ratio of PSN users on PS3. Honestly, Home spaces are no big deal. They just seem to be marketing ploys. The PSN upgrade is a blatant copy of the New Xbox Experience. Interactive Themes? Seperation is not changing "premium" to "interactive". Yay for Europe, I guess...

A: PS3 gains a digital reader service. This service will partner with Marvel to bring the Marvel comic catalogue to PS3. These comics can be transfered directly to your PSP and read.
R: Cool, but I don't think it will be "Twitter" popular.

A: PSP gains an apple like app store, called miniS. This store will be exclusively for PSN games of 100MB size or lower. The PSP is also getting more colors.
R: Seems Sony wants PSP to be more like an ipod than a portable gaming system. miniS seems to be intriguing however. Kind of like an arcade to the arcade...

A: Sony will wait to talk about motion controls till the Tokyo Game Show.
R: I was expecting this. This is partially because of time constraints (they only had an hour) and the fact that they don't have much to show yet. That's okay though.

A: Sony revealed the long rumored PS3 Slim. It will be the new version of the PS3. Specs are the same, with an 80GB hard drive, 2 USB drives, and the works. Sony also incorporated its price cut into the announcement, with the PS3 going down to $299.
R: THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!! Why in the world did they wait so effing long? This wasn't just the pink elephant in the room. This was the the neon pink elephant in the room that is 50 stories tall. Sony is finally making some good decisions. The Slim was a good move. And yes, I called it. As I said, this will reinvigorate the market. The $100 price cut is super smart, and now it makes the PS3 in my opinion a real competitor to the Xbox 360 and the Wii (Although, I hear Microsoft may be dropping the 360 price themselves). The way I see it is this: by introducing the Slim, Sony is garnering more attention to the PS3. Not only is this model new, but it is cheaper. And with the amazing 2009 lineup they have, lots of PS3's should be sold this Christmas. Although I don't think the Xbox will be hurt much, the Wii needs to look out for Sony. Xbox and Sony have both introduced new innovative things. Wii is not. Wii popularity is going down. Whether this be the difficulty to garner hardcore gamers or the lack of real change, Sony is in place to take quite a few of those Wii users who may want to go to something more hardcore. Sony made great announcements today. They can finally focus on games. This also shows one thing: SONY SUCKS AT HIDING THINGS.

That's it for day 1. Day 2 should hold some announcements, with the Microsoft conference taking place tomorrow (actually, you can catch it on a live blog if you wake up at 2 AM!). MS and Lionhead are poised to make some big announcement. See you tomorrow!

Summer Drought

Due to the overwhelming boredom I have been experiencing this week, I thought it appropriate to analyze why I am so bored. Although boredom is a complex thing and has many causes, there is one really good reason why: THIS. SUMMER. SUCKED. FOR. VIDEO. GAMES.

This summer has been awful for the video game world. No new releases in 3 months except arcade titles. Ok. Sure. Prototype and Madden 10 came out. If you think those games are selling points, you are wrong. Prototype lasted 8 hours and then it was done. Madden 10 is just another Madden game. Nothing new and interesting.

Back to the original subject, nothing in 3 months. The best games of the summer have been arcade games on XBL. Although I normally would not mind this, it it ridiculous that there is no retail games out there. Instead of me spending my money on games I spend them on pre-orders. I have already pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Halo 3: ODST. I am craving for a new game. This is like withdrawal for the summer.

I may sound greedy, but think about it. In a world that thrives on new experiences, having none is just terrible. And the lead up is bad too. The summer starts with E3 for me. And this year's E3 was phenominal. So many announcements and things to look forward too. An entire week of video game induced nirvana. That is the problem though. None of these things came out in the summer. A lot of these things even got pushed to next year. So being introduced to all these awesome things then just sitting there with nothing to do SUCKS. And there is no middle ground, either. It goes from high to low to high. E3 to Summer to GAMEScom.

Don't get me wrong. The games that did come out were super enjoyable. Splosion Man is one of the finest arcade titles ever. But just as things are starting to come out again, my life starts up again. Freshman training will kill my time for GAMEScom coverage. School starts a day before Batman: Arkham Asylum comes out. It just sucks that this summer didn't bring more. In a world dictated by demand of customers, you would think summer would be a big selling point for game companies. Most people have free time in the summer. New games at this time would sell pretty well. Now, I understand why the bulk of games are released at the end and beginning of each year. They are near Christmas. They are good gifts. But summer seems to me a no-brainer for game releases too.

Oh well. Maybe this is just my withdrawal symptoms, but I don't remember a summer this dry since...well...I just don't remember one!!!

The Hills Are Alive...

Today's post is about music games. For a while now, games made exclusively for music have been incredibly popular. These games try to make the intricate and gigantic world of music popular and accessible to all people. Think about what music games have done to the industry. Before the rise of music games, a big gap was starting to form among those who were hardcore players and those who were casual players. Although this gap still exists, games like music games aided in keeping hardcore and casual in one place. By creating a game that is easy to pick up and is fun, but still has a great level of difficulty if one chooses, the industry created a bridge between hardcore and casual. Since then, many games have created bridges between the two groups. But as the game industry evolves, music games are an interesting thing to look at.

Music games have changed much over the years. They started as an staple in arcades with games such as Dance Dance Revolution. Only until DDR's transition to consoles did music games start to be on the rise. Guitar Hero introduced more mainstream rock into music. It introduced songs most people knew, which was a step forward from a mostly Japanese soundtrack on DDR. Guitar Hero became super popular, and created Guitar Hero officionados who new how to play all the songs on Expert. It spawned 2 sequels and created a cultural stamp for itself. Music games continued to grow however, as a game called Rock Band challenged the established genre. Rock Band introduced a wider base for music, more instruments, and downloadable songs. Rock Band turned music games into a group aspect. RB would spawn a sequel, and the downloadable songs would be a strongpoint for sales, with over 200 songs and albums available for download. Guitar Hero would follow in this trend and make multiple instruments also. The future holds much for music games. As Guitar Hero releases yet another sequel, Activision is trying to broaden the Hero label into pop music and rap music. With their new title DJ Hero and Band Hero, more music is being made available to the gaming masses. EA is focusing on bringing more legendary music to the table, with the impending release of The Beatles: Rock Band, as well as their continued focus on downloadable content.

But the music genre could hit a roadblock fairly soon. Music games have always been known to be new and innotive. They have been known to introduce new things. But music games at this point have reached a technological peak. After Rock Band and Guitar Hero introduced an entire set of instruments, all instruments for rock, pop, and country were taken care of. Now with the impending release of DJ Hero, rap will be taken care of. As far as controllers go, there isn't much left in terms of innovation without sacrificing ease of play and quality. The games are reaching their peak themselves. Completely customizable characters, instruments, and even user-created music have all reached the games. With the impending release of LEGO: Rock Band, stages will be able to customized also. Guitar Hero 5 is set to have a completely customizable experience, with any combination of instruments and players possible. What else can music games do?

Certainly, if music games are at the peak of performance, releasing new peripherals and a new game every year isn't smart. The point I am trying to make is that this is the time for music games to make it or break it. They need to figure out a way to appeal to the masses in a completely different way, or they will fall into the woodwork. It seems that the game developers are noting this, and the big 2 (EA and Activision) are doing things to try and evolve.

EA is sticking to music. They want to focus on giving people a music experience, and that to them means delivering more music. Through their gigantic amount of downloadable content, EA is able to deliver tons of music that is playable in both Rock Band and Rock Band 2. This content includes tons of different genres. There's stuff like nu-metal, classic rock, metal, death metal, screamo, emo, pop, and even country in there. And with the full release of albums, EA plans to keep up this content for a while. They also realize however that some music needs more than just being available for download. EA had the license to introduce the Beatles for a while now, but they knew just putting it into downloadable content would not be the best sales option. By creating The Beatles: Rock Band, and getting names like Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison, and Dhani Harrison involved in the development, the game will sell like hotcakes and be quality. EA is sticking to the music.

Activision is going almost completely opposite. Although they too want to have downloadable content, its content is shameful compared to Rock Band's. Activision is focussing their music effort into separate games, such as Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Their strategy is to deliver a seperate game, and have whomever likes it buy it. Their main focus is in enhancing the gameplay experience. GH5 promises drop-in and drop-out gameplay, with any combination of instruments. Anything from 4 guitar players to 3 drum players and 1 singer is possible. It is also possible to change difficulty and song in the game without going back to the menu. Activision is sticking with refinement.

Who's strategy is better? Are either of the strategies going to work? It is a topic to consider.

So just consider music games today and how much they have changed. And please don't watch The Sound of Music. Please.

And here's your forcast...

Picking up a bit from my last post, I am going to make some predictions about GAMEScom. GAMEScom is the next big gaming conference that will take place in Cologne, Germany. GAMEcom will replace the normal Leipzig Games Conference due to more popularity and the fact that Cologne is a lot bigger that Leipzig. Due to its increased size, more things will probably be covered and revealed. Keep in mind, however: this is no E3 or Tokyo Game Show. This game conference is mostly for showing off existing licenses, and is open to the public. Only a couple really gigantic things should be revealed. Most of the things will be release dates, gameplay footage, and explanations from developers. Put it this way: If E3 announced the games, GAMEScom will expand upon them. I could be wrong of course because this year the conference is a hell of a lot bigger, but I doubt it. Anyway, here are some of my predictions.

MICROSOFT: MS will mostly be showing off Halo 3: ODST and other exclusives. There is a big possibility that Microsoft Game Studios could unveil their super-secret project, but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't shown (for super-secrecy reasons...). Natal will probably be touched upon, but I don't expect anything in terms of release date or price. I would think anything that doesn't have a release date will get one (excluding games that got pushed to 2010. They will wait till Tokyo to say stuff about that). Joy Ride should get a release date for sometime this fall. Overall, this will be a "look at our cool stuff" show for Microsoft.

SONY: This will be a big show for Sony. They must, I repeat MUST, have some type of price cut for PS3. Waiting till Tokyo could hurt them quite a bit. I would not be surprised if they unveil the PS3 Slim here, but they could wait till Tokyo to do so if it exists. They will have most of their great titles playable, like Uncharted and God of War III. I expect a lot of new levels shown off for already revealed games, and probably a bigger focus on downloads. The PSP Go will have some of the spotlight, but most of it will be on the PS3.

NINTENDO: Not much for Nintendo. They will have a typical showing of new games and probably already released games like Wii Sports: Resort. I am sure the guys that made The Conduit will be showing off their new games heavily. Nothing will be shown of the vitality sensor. It will be a dull showing for the big N.

THIRD-PARTY DEVELOPERS: Lots of awesome stuff here. Release dates for games coming out this year. I wouldn't be surprised if you here more delays to 2010. Starcraft II will be there, and the reasons for its delay will be extrapalated a bit. Bioshock 2 needs to be there, and it needs to have something new. Games that haven't been shown much have already been confirmed to be shown, such as Brink and RAGE. Ubisoft will be showing off Assassin's Creed II, but will not show off much of there other things due to all of them being pushed to 2010. EA will have Brutal Legend stuff, and Activision will show off Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. Some new properties may be shown off, but only 2 or 3 if they are.

I do have some predictions that are probably not going to happen, but I'll put them out there anyway:

-Bungie shows off Halo: Reach.
-Kojima shows off Metal Gears Solid: Rising.
-Microsoft gives a release date for Natal.
-Nomura shows off Kingdom Hearts III.
-Microsoft's avatars and Nintendo's mii's join forces to bring down Cobra.
-The transforming Xbox from Transformers duels the modded PS3-George Foreman Grill for supremacy.
-Microsoft announces the xPhone, a highly technological touch mobile device that can use applications purchased from the new Microsoft Online Store Client Manager Device Beta Star 5, a store dedicated to Microsoft apps and music. Launch apps will include the games "Kill the Apple employees" and "Make your own copyright paragraphs".
-James Cameron will talk about his new film, Avatar, for an hour in a gigantic arena with thousands of people without showing a single title card, screenshot, or question. And he takes no breaths.
-Peter Jackson will announce a new game called "Everything I Planned to do After Lord of the Rings Went Down the Drain and Turned into Something Completely Different Because I Have No Consistency in my Projects".
-Activision will announce they are working on Guitar Hero 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, and X, along with spin-offs Recorder Hero and Eukalele Hero. All of these will have exclusive peripherals with them that don't work with any of the other games...
-Tim Shaffer and Beyonce will have a court battle over the use of the phrase "if you liked it you should have put a ring on it".
-Peter Moleneux will reveal the official name for Project Milo: SKYNET.
-Namco Bandai will unveil the new Dragonball Z game: "Dragon Ball Z: Way Too Many Sequels to be Good Anyway" or in Japanese "Dragon Balls GO!".
-Finally, the Splinter Cell team reveals that the demo they showed at E3 was just something they threw together in a week to appease gamers, and that they haven't been working on a new Splinter Cell due to their new addictions to Lost, Everybody Loves Raymond re-runs, Mexican sugar candy, and Metal Gear Solid 4.

Enjoy.

REVIEW: Battlefield 1943

Yes, another arcade title. This is pretty awesome though.

Battlefield 1943 is an Xbox Live Arcade title developed by powerhouse developer DICE and publisher EA. It is priced at 1200 Microsoft Points, and is a standard title with 200 Gamerscore to grab and a bunch of other in game exclusives. It is the first arcade title in the long running Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 1943 is a multiplayer only first-person shooter.

STORY: As a multiplayer only title set in World War II, there really is no story. You take control of either a member of the United States Marine Corps or the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific theatre of WWII. The game takes place in 4 major battles of WWII which include the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Coral Sea.

GAMEPLAY: In true Battlefield fashion, the gameplay of 1943 is a straight first-person shooter. There really is no innovation in the way you play the game, but in a game like this that is not really neccessary. The game does a great job at presenting a basic FPS layout, and it fits very well. The gameplay on all the maps consists of one gameplay variant called Conquest. This game mode can be said as a combination of capture the flag and deathmatch. Each side is given "tickets", represented by a bar at the top of the screen, which indicated how many reinforcements and support they have. There are 5 flags on each map, and through various ways such as capturing a majority of flags and killing men, the tickets on the opposing side deplete. The game ends when a team has no more tickets. This gameplay type is great and a lot of fun. It is engaging and it encourages teamwork, as running and gunning is not the best strategy. This gameplay gives benefits for the shooter and the strategist, and the reward for both is equal. There are 4 main vehicles in the game (tank, jeep, plane, and boat). The tank and the plane are very rewarding, although the plane has quite a learning curve if one wants to fly well. Unfortunately, the jeep and boat are mostly used for fast transportation or just an alternative to sprinting. There is also an ability to send an air raid. Players control the flight direction of bombers and control bombs to land at a certain place on the map. This is a shining part of the game and it shows how DICE really wanted variety in a title like this. Gameplay in 1943 fits well with its size, and it never stops getting exciting.

GRAPHICS AND DESIGN: Battlefield 1943 is one of the best looking arcade titles ever. Due to its heavy use of the Frostbite Engine (previously used in Battlefield: Bad Company), it look and feels like a full retail title. Everything on the map is destructible, and the maps are very vibrant and realistic. The map layouts themselves are very close to their real world counterparts also. The weapons all look very realistic, and overall it is a great looking game. There are some problems with the physics however. When going full speed with a jeep or a tank at an enemy, you will not run them over. This is unfortunately a very obvious design flaw.

MULTIPLAYER: Being a multiplayer-only title, this area is great. Matches are always easy to find, and the map is populated very well. Squads can be formed in the game, and there is even a reward in game for having the highest scoring squad. The game feels like a polished version of Battlefield: Bad Company multiplayer in a WWII setting. There are no lagging issues that I encountered, although an occassional 1 second glitch may appear when you respawn. This is no issue, however.

REPLAYABILITY: 1943 thrives in replayability. It is just non-stop inexpicable fun. The size and the graphics all fit together very well, and there is variety in gameplay to make one want to stay. The great thing is that the three outfits (rifleman, infantry, and scout) all are easy to pick up, but they all have great levels of depth. If sniping is your forte, the scout is great. Infantry is great for up close combat, but they also load out with a bazooka, which makes them great for heavy artillery too. Rifleman are great all around outfits, and there depth serves in their ability to shoot up close and far away. There is something for everyone here to sink their teeth in. And with DICE's promise to update and reward the community (they released a new map when the community reached 45 million kills), the replayability is very high.

PROS: Great FPS, looks and sounds like a full retail title, amazing depth and replayability.
CONS: Physics engine is a bit weird, only offers one real gametype, not for everyone.

This game was surprisingly good. It took me about half an hour to get the game, and I fell right into place. This is a great game for anyone looking to waste a bit of time, or for anyone who has time to spare. Conquest fits perfect in a game of this size, and the depth and gameplay make it shine not as a WWII shooter, but a great online shooter overall. It isn't for everyone though. The 1200 point price may turn off some, while the lack of gameplay options may turn away others. But if you like a good classic shooter and great multiplayer depth, this is a game to try out.

VERDICT: Try before you buy, but if you like multiplayer shooters, you won't have to try for very long.

THE PS3 DIET!

Ah, good ole' predictable Sony. I just love how every secret you try to keep never works out.

Yes, this post is about the recent PS3 rumors. There are tons of things going around about Sony's future plans. Rest assured, I have my own thoughts on the matter. Many actions done by Sony and done by others have led to speculation that the PS3 will get a redesign, dubbed the PS3 "Slim", much like the PS2 did. Let me lay the groundwork...

This all began when photos on a Thailand manufacturing company revealed what seemed to be a slimmer version of the Playstation 3. The photo came with a description that this new console would be a redesign of the current PS3, and that it was currently in mass production. Soon the internet was ablaze from these pictures of a slim PS3 and new packaging. After a week on the website, a cease and desist letter was given to the website, threatening further legal action if the pictures were not removed immediately. Although this letter was from a private firm and not Sony themselves, just the act of a desist letter made the public suspicious of Sony's actions.

Soon after, game blog Kotaku cited that they had had a conversation with an employee at GameStop who spoke to a "connection" in Sony. The employee stated that this "connection" was an executive at Sony, and when asked about the PS3 Slim photos, the man supposedly stated something along the lines of "Wow. I am surprised the photos came out that early." The executive realized that this apparently was not the smartest thing to say, and dodged away from the issue in the conversation. The PS3 Slim rumors were all but confirmed in most minds now.

Unfortunately, E3 would stop the rumor mill for a while, due to the shift in attention to the convention. Sony dodged any questions of a PS3 Slim, and focused on other things. One thing to note is that Sony did not drop the price of the PS3 as many analysts predicted.

Only till a month and a half ago did the rumors begin to flare up again. A group of people apparently in Thailand took a video of a supposed PS3 Slim in a market in Thailand, and posted it to Youtube. The video is very grainy and unfocused, but it does show the men holding the supposed PS3 Slim and detailing its qualities. This video was basically proven to be fake, as many analysts site the market as a black market in Thailand known for its keen ability to fake goods. Although this was fake, attention was back on Sony.

And then, Amazon decided to contribute. A supposed PS3 Slim was on sale on Amazon last week, with a picture that looked just like the Thailand pictures. Purchase was not available, and the picture was found to be a fake made by a user. Amazon also dropped the price of the PS3 Uncharted bundle to $399.

With GAMEScom in Germany coming up in two weeks, will there be a PS3 price cut and/or a PS3 Slim announcement?

Here is my opinion: A PS3 Slim is in production, however the only legitimate rumor of it is that of the Thailand photos and the cease and desist letter. Sony is also going to lower the price of the original PS3 and make it a cheaper alternative to the Slim. The Slim will appear better due to its design and new features such as PS2 backwards compatibility. There are three main reasons I draw these conclusions:

1.Sony recently revealed that they found a way to emulate the Emotion Engine (the PS2 engine) into the PS3 without additional production cost, a factor which made Sony take it away from the original PS3. Having this ability they can construct a console with backwards compatibility now. But the PS3 is already on the market, and re-introducing backwards compatibility into the PS3 would anger the consumers that already have PS3's. Why should a newer PS3 have backwards compatibility and an older one which is the exact same not have it? Sony would not introduce it back into the normal PS3. It makes sense that if there were a Slim console, this would have the backwards compatibility. It is a selling point for many people, and it wouldn't anger current PS3 owners.

2.The gigantic elephant in the room is a PS3 price cut, and it will eventually come. But why did Sony not cut the price during E3? Reducing a price at E3 when there is a major media focus on video games makes the most sense. Why wait? It is possible that they are waiting to introduce the Slim and reduce PS3 price at the same time. Cutting the price while introducing a new Slim would give people a cheaper model to buy (PS3) and a more expensive model (Slim). This is strategy employed by Microsoft with the Core and the Elite models of the Xbox 360.

3.Sony has done this before to re-invigorate customers. A common strategy is to redesign a console to almost "relaunch" interest, a strategy Sony employed with the PS2. This was a smart idea and it did work with the PS2. Doing this with the PS3 makes a lot of sense. Redesigning somethings makes some people want it more, and it makes some people who previously were not interested get interested. This is a common strategy among all companies (remember the Mustang re-invention?), and it would not be surprising if Sony used it too.

What do you think? PS3 Slim or not? Will GAMEScon reveal it all?