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25 Mar 05
I would say happy Good Friday to everyone, but Good Friday isn't that kind of holiday. It's a day for introspection on the price of sin. It's Good because you can't have Easter without the sacrifice. Otherwise it's pretty somber. So according to your beliefs, I hope you have meaningful introspection or enjoy Spring Break. I won't make any comments on the rituals of Spring Break.
I had earlier mentioned the Halo 2 bonus pack. It's somewhat more official today. However they made a curious announcement. They're releasing two free maps on Live soon plus more you can buy. Or you can wait for the $20 disk which has the maps and some bonus content including a CG cut scene. The curious thing was they announced that all the maps will eventually be free. As a policy that kind of makes sense, but the key is you keep that part secret so people still pay the money to get the maps while you're selling them. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will pay a premium to "get them now" and they might pressure their friends to get them to play on them. However, there are many more people who can wait a while if they know they'll get it for free soon enough.
The latest Xbox 2 (or 360) rumor is that backwards compatibility has been "officially" dropped. I think I've made my views on this clear. If the Xbox is the only next gen system without backwards compatibility and they don't have the "most powerful" title to fall back on, they risk falling into the niche category instead of soaring into serious contention for first place. Then again rumors persist about Nintendo making their new system so "revolutionary" that it will become niche as well. Perhaps the fight isn't for first place as we thought. They're going to bang it out for last. I love this irresponsible speculation based on rumor.
Gamespot has the news that KOEI is making a new Nobunaga's Ambition game for the PC. There's practically no information about it, but it's still exciting. I like KOEI. No word yet on a possible US version.
IGN has put up a very positive Darwinia review. Once again the impressive visual style is noted despite the lack of polygons.
Have a happy Easter everyone.
Jason
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24 Mar 05
Happy PSP day to everyone stateside. I hope everyone expecting got their preorders without any dead pixels. Early reports are that Sony isn't replacing units for small numbers of dead pixels. We'll see how that pans out. What has been interesting is that the gaming press has been focusing on the system's limitations and weaknesses, but the mainstream press that I've read has been overwhelmingly positive and truly saying this could replace portable DVD players and take part of the ipod market. As an interesting side note, Logitech is coming out with some pretty neat looking accessories for the PSP. Check them out Here.
Moving on, I mentioned that March was chock full of gaming goodness. I didn't expect "the best game for the PS2" to be released within a week of the "best game on the Xbox." I'm talking about God of War for the PS2 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory for the Xbox. While both are tempting to me, right now my backlog speaks louder (at least until tomorrow's Fry's ad). God of War seems to trump even Devil May Cry 3 in action, graphics and gameplay (without the insane difficulty). Chaos Theory improves the series stellar multiplayer while adding a new Co Op mode. It just goes to show what quality can come out at the end of a console's life cycle. I'm sure most of the rest of the AAA games will want to come out before the Xbox 2 launch. It should be another great year to be a gamer.
Jason
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23 Mar 05
Tomorrow is PSP day. I suppose I should be excited, but I don't have one ordered. It's one of those things that I'll probably pick up eventually, but I'm not in a rush to grab one now. I'm sure I'll break down after all the E3 announcements of cool games. Speaking of E3, one of these years I'm going to make it there. Unfortunately, this isn't the year. Too bad really since this one looks like one of the best in recent memory.
Bill Harris has put up some lovely ranting today. This could be my all time favorite piece of his. The great thing is that he could have been on that panel and would have said the same things to them. Probably just before he stomped out.
On a tangentially related note, I've been meaning to post this article from Gamasutra. The question covers morality in gaming, specifically game creation. I'm of the school that thinks there should be no government involvement in regulating game content, but there is a personal moral responsibility on the part of game developers. All games don't have to reflect the highest moral values, but there's also no need to pander to the base desire for senseless cruelty. Oh, and don't forget to read the first bonus rant at the end.
Finally, Iron Phoenix from Sega/Sammy came out today. It's a multiplayer brawler in the vein of Powerstone with big slashing weapons. It looks like a cool game and supports Live up to 16 players. I'm worried that it'll get lost in the wash of big releases. That'd be too bad since a little beat 'em up is a great break from tension filled strategy. I really think they could have made a killing with a slightly reduced price say $39.99 or less. Of course, not releasing at the same time as the PSP and God of War might have helped too.
Jason
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22 Mar 05
Evil Avatar is reporting that a Halo 2 expansion pack will be available in May. This is based on a listing found on EBGames. I believe said listing has been removed. Though the report of nine new multiplayer maps and a cinematic doesn't sound quite right. I mean they sold more than 4 million copies of Halo 2. There are only 2 million players on Live. I'm sure there are some players that would buy a multiplayer expansion for offline or lan play, but why throw away all those other potential customers off the bat. There has to be some sort of single player to the expansion.
That could reflect a limitation of the Live interface for Halo 2. Logically Microsoft would like to make the expansion available for download on Xbox Live. However if Halo 2 wasn't coded to accept downloads of single player levels, they could only release multiplayer maps. Still, I don't think it makes sense to release an expansion totally devoid of single player content. What's the official word? Well, "Microsoft doesn't comment on rumors and speculation." As usual.
Shifting gears, the NBA announced its licensing strategy today. It appears they saw the heat the NFL was taking (and perhaps noticed the analysis that the long term value of an exclusive license could drop). They decided to stick with the status quo. In short we keep EA's Live and Street lines, Take Two's 2K (formerly ESPN) line, Atari's Backyard Basketball line and Midway's NBA Ballers. There was no word yet on Ubisoft's upcoming sports line in the announcement. However, I'd be surprised if they were locked out.
Speaking of EA, I did read that the blamed their reduced earnings forecast on the limited availability of the PStwo. I'm not sure how that thinking goes, but I'm looking forward to finding out. The pessimist might argue that EA needs people who haven't bought EA games in the past to start buying them for EA to grow. I'm more of a realist who thinks they need to improve their hit to miss ratio.
EA did point out several games as underperforming including:
Need for Speed, NFL Street, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age and The Urbz. None of those were small titles. The first two were quick turn around sequels while the rest weren't exactly stellar performers in the reviews. It'll be interesting to see how EA responds.
Finally a bit of site business. I've added a couple of new ads (with perhaps another one or two coming). I want to make sure if there are good deals out there, you can take advantage of them through the site (and help support this place). I understand a lot of people still don't shop online. No pressure here. I just want our members to have the option. Also, check out the news section. There are some more screenshots and news tidbits up.
Jason
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21 Mar 05
Happy Spring everyone. My allergies don't share the sentiment, but I'll muddle through. A quick heads up, Console Gold is having a survey/contest. They have some interesting prizes. It's one of the nicer places on the net, so check them out.
Did I mention we could use a new story around here? Please go to the forum and do your duty.
Just as I'm complaining about game journalism, Gamespot comes through with an amazing article on storytelling. They've assembled quite a crew to quiz on the secrets of game design. See that's something a small site can't do. Imagine, a megalith using their power for good. I tease.
I'm sure Bill Harris will be pleased to note that EA sales have dropped off. I'm sure that's not entirely due to his boycott. However, it did hurt EA's stock price. It's hard to feel for a company with $3.1 billion in sales. It would be interesting to look behind the numbers. Perhaps some kind analyst will do that for us soon.
I think we'll stick with naval combat for this week's game. It's Pacific Storm (official site) from Lesta Studio. You play as the USA or Japan at the beginning of World War II. They're trying to give you a wargame with RTS combat and the ability to take over a sub or plane to participate in the attack. They're also promising a great deal of freedom in tactical and strategic decision making. Look for it in the fall this year.
Jason
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