Articles

Noob Xbox 360 Impressions

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For Xmas, I finally acquired a Microsoft Xbox 360, HDD included. And of course, I got it early in the day and was not able to play it until later that night. After nine nail biting hours without any system, I finally put the 360 through the ropes.

For a gamer that never really liked where Msoft was heading with the Xbox, I have to say I am enjoying 360 a lot. Maybe a little too much, in fact. The system’s got so much to mess around with that you can get overwhelmed without ever playing any games. I’m somewhat of a tech-savvy individual, so when a system lets you hook up your Media-Center PC and stream video to an HDTV in 1080i, I’m as happy as a toadstool that was just saved by a fat Italian plumber. →  Read the rest

Best Game Ever – Warcraft III: Defense of the Ancients

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It’s hard to classify this review. On the one hand, Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) is a custom map for Warcraft 3 that has been around for four years. WC3 itself has been around for almost five years. This might qualify it as “best game ever” status (and it indeed received this status). The flip side is, DOTA is still actively maintained, has a huge community, and has a number of sponsored leagues, including at various Blizzard events. More bizarrely demonstrating the cult status of DOTA is the work of Swedish DJ Basshunter. Accordingly, given the active maintenance and evolution of the game, it’s hard to give it the necessary dinosaur status a Best Game ever has.

Regardless of what you call it, DOTA has been amusing gamers, including myself, for a very long time. →  Read the rest

Merry Christmas NiGHTS

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NiGHTS into Dreams for the Saturn brings to mind the topic of games as art. Not only because the game has artistic value, though. Fans of the title have been calling for a sequel from the second the original was released. Yuji Naka, the leader of the project, contemplated giving fans what they want but then decided NiGHTS should stand alone.

So what does this have to do with art? Gamers’ have the attitude that games are made for them and developers should value the input of their fans. This works nicely as long as we assume games are merely consumer products. But what if we hold that games are art? Doesn’t that make developers artists? It’s one thing to hope your favorite band makes more music you enjoy, but to demand they output exactly what you want to hear and to feel entitled to this is bizarre. →  Read the rest

Actual Use for an SD Card: Excite Truck

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Early last week, my girlfriend noticed that she had a surprise under our Christmas tree. Not one to bow down to that kind of challenge, she soon met my present with one of her own. Hesitating for only a second, we both agreed to exchange them early. She was now the happy recipient of an iHome, while I got to bask in the glory that is Excite Truck.

The game is definitely a fun experience. It’s like Motorstorm, only without the whole over-promise, under-deliver thing. I can also see a lot of Burnout 3 in it. In the very little time I’ve had with the game, I have to say it was a great present. Hopefully I’ll have a review of it soon, barring any unforeseen writer’s block.

But the real gem in this game is the fact that you can import music from an SD card and listen to them while playing. →  Read the rest

OCRemix.org is da bomb

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Have you ever said to yourself, “Man, I really wish someone would remix the Super Mario Bros. theme with some jazz vocals. That would be sweet.” Seriously, who hasn’t wished that at least once in their life? Well, if you have, then your prayers have finally been answered. OCRemix.org is a site completely dedicated to hosting remixed versions of your favorite video game tunes.

Want a Salsa-flavored remix of Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s Special Zone? Or what about a techno version of Actraiser’s first level? This site is just filled to the brim with some awesome tracks. The songs themselves have to go through an approval process, so don’t worry about finding a song with some nut job screaming the vocals to FFX’s “Sudeki de Na” track. That shit won’t fly. →  Read the rest

Wii Have Internet. (Update 1)

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Nintendo is on a roll with these Wii updates. Hot on the heels of the Weather Channel release, the Big N has seen it fit to give their fans another reason to patiently wait while Mario collects coins on the bottom of the screen. Yes, that means the Internet Channel has been set free.

Although it’s only a trial version, it gets the job done in an admirable fashion. You’ll be surfing the net in no time, all in the confines of your dark, dank dungeon of sinful pleasure. But (there’s always a “but” with Nintendo nowadays) it’s definitely far from perfect.

First, there’s no javascript or quicktime, so forget about watching movie trailers on Apple’s site. We do get Flash, though, which means Youtube is a go, but there are reports that EU users are having problems with the site. →  Read the rest

Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 12.22.06

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Resident Evil 5 not coming in ‘07
1up has reported that the next proper sequel in the Resident Evil franchise will be coming in 2008, if not later. I don’t know where I’ll be living or working in six months and I’m supposed to care about a game that may not be out for three years? Human life probably won’t even exist by that point, and if it does, we will surely have evolved gills and other radical changes that will make gaming obsolete. Capcom might as well just say that Resident Evil 5 is never coming out.

Good games coming to the Virtual Console this Christmas
Some people have bitched about the low quality of Virtual Console titles. For every Zelda, Nintendo gives us a Solomon’s Key, Altered Beast and Tennis. →  Read the rest

Are gamers too jaded?

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Seeing as how most of us are around the 20 year mark, we’ve all probably seen and played a lot of video games in our lives. My collection alone contains well over 100 games, and that doesn’t include those I have traded in. This in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. Hell, the more the better. But when we start complaining about a new game that doesn’t do something that a 10 year old game does, we have to ask ourselves, “are we too jaded nowadays?”

Take, for example, Ocarina of Time. How insane was it when you first saw how big Hyrule Field was? For the time, that chunk of real estate was huge, and we truly felt OoT was special and epic because of it. Indeed it was. →  Read the rest

Amazing adventures at Best Buy

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Last night I went to Best Buy with the intention of buying a portable RPG for my upcoming plane ride to England. I chose that particular store because it is close to home and closes late, not because it doesn’t suck. Looking for Contact for the DS, I had a myriad of experiences that I’d like to now share with you.

– The PS3 demo kiosk is not working. Some racing game is stuck at the course selection screen and there is a short loop of bad heavy rock music playing. This same game crashed at the same spot at the same Best Buy a few weeks ago. I’m not sure if that store got a bad kiosk or if all the kiosks are that awesome. I do know I’m not closer to spending a months rent on PS3, though. →  Read the rest

GameCube Was Good, And Don’t You Forget It!

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There have been some rumblings on the Interweb in the last few months that Nintendo completely failed with the GameCube, some people saying it was their worst console to date. Sure, it’s not as popular as the PS2, but that doesn’t make it a failure.

Critics mostly point to the fact that the GC only sold 20 million consoles worldwide, compared to PS2’s 100 million. If you look at it like that, then yes, it looks like a failure. But for some odd reason, many people cite the original Xbox as a success story, even when it sold only 23 million units, three million more than GC. That just doesn’t add up.

Can you remember the games we got with our beloved GC? Titles like Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil 4 are easily some of the greatest games I’ve ever played. →  Read the rest

Why I play the games I play

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While collaborating with the rest of the staff about yesterday’s article, I started to wonder a little more deeply, very much in the abstract way Jay was specifically trying to avoid, why I play the games I do. I think the answer to this question is very much the answer to the question of why play games at all, when there are hobbies/ways of life that are likely to lead to more sex/money/interpersonal relationships than video games.

A simple answer would be that I can never be a ninja, a WWII general, a wizard, an NFL quarterback, an etc, etc but video games allow me to come as close as I am likely to be able. I’m sure this is part of it, the desire to be immersed in a game to the point where I feel as though I am a part of it, but I do not think this is all, or even most of why I game. →  Read the rest

The Christmas Method

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My last Winter Break ever starts tomorrow, meaning a whole month of absolutely nothing to do. Nothing to do but try a little gaming experiment, that is.

Welcome to Flavor Country (tm?)

The project is simple. I’ve had a stack of games of either my own or my roommate’s ownership just waiting for me to either begin or finish. Time and again, I can’t sit down with any of them for more than an hour. I think I need a break from the modern game, or at least the modern game design.

I’m tired of required tutorials sequences for things I know how to do, and for games I’ve already played. I’m sick of slow introductions that string me along forever before I really get the reigns. I’m tired of long bouts of poorly written dialog getting in my way. →  Read the rest

Wii Weather Channel Tells Weather, Gamers Complain

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…And I’m going to be one of those complainers. What? I can’t help it. What with the powers of blogging, and all.

Anyway, after updating my Wii (which never takes as long as those other guys), my forecast channel finally greeted me up on the main screen. I’m starting to like how the main screen is turning out, what with those blank boxes starting to disappear. Still makes me wonder, though, won’t we max out the available channels by the time Wii’s successor shows up? 48 channels may sound like a lot, but five years down the line? I’m not too sure about that.

After setting up my Forecast Channel by telling the Wii which city you live in or near, you finally get to see what we’ve been missing since launch. →  Read the rest

Why do we buy the games we buy?

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I approached some of the videolamer staff a few weeks ago and presented them with the following –

“I want to write something on our motives for buying games but decided that simply asking ‘Why do you buy the specific games you buy?’ is too open ended and abstract a question. Instead, if you list the last three games you bought and explain why you bought each I think that will make it easier to figure out why you buy games.”

Here is my list, followed by some responses.

Happy Arbor Day

1) Okami – I try to support games I perceive as very creative, which is why I bought this, Shadow of the Colossus, Psychonauts, and still want Odama. The amazing reviews did help convince me to buy Okami instead of a different game that’s very original (or at least original looking). →  Read the rest

Grandma’s Boy – Satan’s revenge?

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In a recent post, a blogger at Joystiq mentioned the game that was featured in the movie Grandma’s Boy. He also shared his opinion of the movie by calling it, “freakishly awful.” This drew an overwhelming response from readers who adore Grandma’s Boy. Since I have only a handful of fans to alienate, I will now go on record as agreeing with Joystiq.

This may seem a bit elitist, but before I tell you how terrible Grandma’s Boy is, I need to mention I saw the movie with three other people and touch on our credentials. Most people who insist the movie isn’t a pile of shit argue that those who dislike it are either non-gamers or have never used illegal drugs. It’s true that none of us were smoking anything while we watched, but we were drinking. →  Read the rest

I’m the king of the world!

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Just ask the few remaining people at Jay’s party last night, who were the Apollo Creed to my Rocky (in Rocky 2), the Frazier to my Ali (the two times when Ali won), and the whoever to my Tyson (back when he was a good boxer and a rapist, as opposed to just a rapist).

Yes, that’s right, the Golden Jew gave into the Wii, at least for one night. Although disgusted by the fact my persona was referred to as a “Mii” in Wii Sports, I was amused by the fact I was punching out a woman Mii. I think that might have been what fueled my victory. She also had glasses. Unrealistically, they did not break and force shattered glass into her eyes.

I was very impressed with Wii Bowling, finding that the ball actually curved the exact same way it does when I bowl for real. →  Read the rest

Final Fantasy XI OST

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Many people have probably already figured out that I am a huge video game music buff. More than half the music on my computer is from one game or another. And after much contemplation, I hit up iTunes and purchased the complete Final Fantasy XI OST for $16. For 51 songs, I couldn’t afford not to buy it.

I can already hear you moaning over the fact that I went the iTunes route, but I have to say they have a great selection of Final Fantasy music. They have all the major OST’s, covering the entire series. They also have some Black Mages in there for the hardest of the hard core. It’s also really good that I don’t have to wait like two weeks before I get the music, like you do with importing. →  Read the rest

Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 12.15.06

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Wii breaks records in PAL territories
American developers tend to focus on American gamers. Japanese developers are more split, but many still focus primarily on local customers. Do Australian and European developers give a shit about gamers in their own countries or do they instead focus on North America because that’s where the cash money is?

The answer to this question may have a large impact on this generation of consoles. If the PAL developers focus mostly on Americans, these record breaking sales are good news for Nintendo. If, though, these territories developers do care about the local gamer, this means that the Wii should be getting a good number of Australian and British developed games. This could be bad news for Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo: Did we say one million Wiis? →  Read the rest

The Spike Video Game Awards are not the Antichrist

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The Spike Video Game Awards have come and gone, and if you listen really hard you can hear the “Lawls” of a million gamers on the internet. To be honest, I’m somewhat disappointed in my fellow players. It’s one thing to be upset with the quality of the VGA’s, but I’m amazed at how many people want it completely abolished. Do they not want to have a nationally recognized awards show for the best and brightest in the industry?

I know that isn’t what Spike is offering us, but if we shoot down everything that doesn’t immediately line up with what we want, we’ll never reach that lofty goal. I’m at least optimistic that some day, these VGA’s will get better. This year, it seemed like they might. I guess they kind of did. →  Read the rest

Best Game Ever – Golvellius: Valley of Doom versus The Legend of Zelda

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The Legend of Zelda is one of the most influential games ever made and every gamer should make sure they play it. Golvellius is a Zelda clone made by Compile originally for the MSX that no one needs to bother with. It is also one of my favorite games. If a kid today played both one after another, it’s tough to say which he’d prefer. Without the context of Zelda being the pioneering adventure game, and without the nostalgia of playing Golvellius after school, all that’s left is the games themselves.

Golvellius was translated by people who actually spoke English.

And so I will now ignore how important Zelda is, ignore that it was designed by one of the greatest game designers in history, ignore that it was on the most popular system of its time, and most importantly, ignore that it came first. →  Read the rest