Super Mario Strikers Review

Rent It.

Game Reviews ... How Do You Review Art?

The Escapist (easily the single best game industry "magazine" on the planet) is running a piece on the seedy underbelly of game reviews. I can't help but agree with a lot of the points in the article. Reviewing games (or movies, or any other sort of art) is always going to be controversial. They never seem to do a product justice, they're totally arbitrary and loaded with bias (or worse, favoritism), and really don't seem to affect how a game sells at all.

There are aspects of game reviewing that the article never quite gets to. Reviewers are unconsciously pressured into not only skewing a review score because of the pressures mentioned in the story, but even the language can be crafted to try to get a review onto the box or into an ad campaign as promotion for the publication.

The "games as art" thing is a oft-debated issue, and despite the fact that every game "journalist" (as if there was such a thing, don't get me started) has broached the topic at one point or another, I decided to wade into it for a research paper at the University of Washington. I took it in what I feel is a different direction, keeping it personal as all artisitc experiences should be. You can download a PDF copy of my "Video Games as Art" paper, or you can e-mail me for a file. One thing that I came across is that some of the games that were most like art (to me) didn't sell very well.

And there's the root of the problem. For as much as games (and movies) are an art form, they're also a consumer product, and anytime someone is exchanging money for something, they want to know what they're going to get in advance and whether or not it will be worth it. The product has to make a value proposition, and the end result needs to meet or exceed that proposition. Valve is a company that gets this on a deep, fundamentatal level. Gamers know that if they buy Half-Life, they'll get a great game. But they'll also get enough free content and other game experiences with it that they could play that game for YEARS. The reviews just don't matter, because the value proposition is blown out of the water.

So I've finally reached a level where I feel I can put my metaphorical foot down and say, I'm not going to review games anymore. Everyone's experience will be different with a game, so all I can really tell you is whether or not you should Buy It, Rent It, or Skip It. Anything else is just background and opinion, but those two words are enough to tell you whether or not a game meets or exceeds its value proposition. I could talk at excruciating length about how gorgeous a game's graphics are, or how the controls work, or how it sounds, but in the end, none of that matters unless you play the game (or don't).

Thus, I'm getting rid of all the fluff, and Two Word Reviews is born. The great part about this is that it simply doesn't matter how long I play a game, or finish it, or anything about me. It becomes all about whether or not a game is worth the price they're charging, or the price to get it into your hands temporarily. (On that note, I should specify that when I say "Rent It", I'm talking about a service like GameFly, so we're talking roughly $20/mo. or just under half the price of the game.) Pretty much all opinion is taken out of the equation, because by and large, the value proposition of most people is the same.

It'll be an interesting experiment. I'll probably never get my review on a box, most game websites wouldn't want to run these reviews (or pay for two words), but I know I'll feel a lot better about it.

Crazy Business Idea ...

Game shops like EB Games and GameStop largely traffic in used game. Even new releases tend to come back within a week as a used copy, which the company then resells, making close to a 100% margin or more on some games. They have massive inventories of these games and easily a national distribution network already in place by virtue of their retail locations.

So why hasn't one of these players (pun somewhat intended) gotten into renting games. They're used already, right? Copy the GameFly/Netflix model right down to a T, but build your inventory from games that people turn in, rather than buying new copies.

Seems like a no-brainer. What am I missing?

Oh My God of War II

I finally talked the wife into letting me get a new game as a present for making Dean's List again last quarter. After much hemming and hawing, I finally chose God of War II for my dusty PS2, since the praise heaped upon the title has reached near epidemic proportions. Not only did my lovely wife let me get the game, she (get this) bought it for me. Managed to get the last copy at Fred Meyer, too. She's the bestest wife ever!

I managed to hold off playing it for approximately 45 whole minutes (I was watching Planet Earth on Discovery) before getting my hack and slash on. The game is every bit as epic as the press would have you believe, and it's not at all an understatement to say that you'll be jabbing your twin swords into the eye of a Collossus inside of 15 minutes flat. The cinematics are also quite amazing, and it's possible that I might include this game in a project I'm working on about Video Games as Art for the UW. Not only is the art direction superb (the camera alone deserves some sort of award), but the game does a great job of conveying emotion.

My wife was half-stunned, half amused by the sex minigame and relative plethora of nudity to be found in even the game's first few hours. Nothing says "mature game" like nipples and ass-crack, I suppose. Still don't think I could tempt her into picking up the controller, though. She might like to watch it, but there's enough of a leap between watching and playing that I don't think she'd ever traverse the gap.

The only thing that would have made this game perfect? Achievements. Damn the Gods for making this game a Sony exclusive!

New GHOSTBUSTERS game coming?

Saw a post at Ain't It Cool News with four YouTube videos from what appears to be a GHOSTBUSTERS game! Not just the original GhostBusters, mind you, but this one is updated and all new. For one, the Ecto 1 hearse is gone in favor of an all new Dodge Magnum (actually, the Chrysler 300 Touring variant from Europe). There also doesn't appear to be any use of ghost traps in the game as near as I can tell.

Don't know if this game is official or a mod, nor if it is a prelude to the GHOSTBUSTERS 3 sequel that has been on-again, off-again for so long. But mother-pussbucket ... this game looks GREAT. Check out the videos, and in particular, the last one of Peter Venkman at a press conference, complete with Bill Murray audio.

Bully For Me

Saturday was a school work day, with two group meetings early in the day. Once I got home, however, I found a copy of Rockstar's latest, Bully, waiting for me.

I stayed up until 2AM playing it.

The game is very accessible, but they way they've structured the game in several places serves to keep the tension up. You're basically in perpetual trouble, late to class, out past curfew, etc. When you're trouble meter is on the rise, you have to avoid the prefects or you'll be busted on the spot (though you learn ways out of that). The more trouble you're in, the more likely you are to get a one-way ticket to "The Head's" office.

The best part of the game is the humor. The game is literally laugh out loud funny at times, whether from the salacious bits of being the little mack daddy on campus, or the idea of helping out your drunken English teacher. The style and humor are baked into the game, and while it's over the top, it's no so out there to keep you from buying into this world.

I'm not sure where I'll find the time, with class, work, and a leadership conference this weekend, but I really want to finish the game before the end of the month. I want to try out Final Fantasy XII before Wii drops in mid-November.

Are Blogs Authoritative?

As a college student, I've heard a lot of discussion about sources, what constitutes a reliable source, what constitutes a scholarly source, and what constitutes an authoritative source. "Consider the source" are the watchwords of any critical thinker when conducting research.

Now that I've set the stage ...

I was listening to this week's episode of This Week In Tech, Leo Laporte's podcast netcast about technology, and the subject of the Google buyout of YouTube came up. Unfortunately for Leo and his crew, they discussed it the day before the buyout took place. Apparently, the Wall Street Journal cited a blog as a source for the story, and the TWiT folks immediately jumped all over them for citing a blog. This was without any knowledge of any additional work the WSJ might have done in checking out the sources the blog might have used.

There are a bunch of issues here, and it's all a bit complex. That said, I think that the word "blog" needs more definition, as was suggested by the TWiTs. What exactly constitutes a blog? Fortress of Solitude is clearly a blog, as it is opinions of one person, but does that preclude me from running news? Does it make me less authoritative? Does the subject matter, since over a decade of experience as a video game industry journalist would make me an authoritative source on that subject? Planet GameCube was around in various incarnations before blogging was en vogue, but would they be considered a blog now, just because similar sites like Joystiq are called blogs? Is Joystiq even a blog anymore, now that they have a corporate parent?

As I said, this is complex stuff. What I want to take issue with is the attitude expressed by the TWiT folks, concerning blogs as sources. They immediately discredited not only the WSJ, but the blog cited simply on the basis that it was a blog, without any further research. The story turned out the be true, and next week's show should be interesting. But I've seen this anti-blog bias before ... Digg.com is rampant with prejudice against blogs simply because of the name. There is no consideration of the person(s) behind the blog at all, nor of the reliability of said blog. At the same time, posts from Joystiq and Engadget pass muster with them all the time, despite being self-confessed blogs. Again, all I can see is that corporate ownership seems to be a thread there.

I think it all stems from our loose definition of the term "blog", and the negative connotations blog sites like MySpace carry. Blogs are seen as less reliable and less authoritative simply by their nature. Seemingly, the lack of editorial oversight for blogs without a corporate parent and a somewhat muddled history of personal blogs with strong opinions (ones that tend to have little thought or research involved) carries a lot of weight. Or maybe it's just the sheer volume, and rather than deal with the signal-to-noise ratio, they've simply turned off that channel for information. Or maybe it's because of Google's AdSense, and the fact that people can make money on their opinions makes them less authoritative (again, a strange double-standard is applied for sites like Joystiq).

More examples of the confusion over the definition of a blog came quickly, as later in the same podcast netcast, TWiT talks about Sun wanting to post financial disclosures and other information required by the SEC in their corporate blog. Immediately, Leo jumped on this as an unsuitable avenue simply by it's nature, rather than considering that it's still the company divulging the information through their official website. (Patrick Norton, to his credit, defended the suggestion. I should also mention that Leo frequently plays the part of the technological neophyte in order to encourage discussion, so that could have been his role here.) Bear in mind, in a corporate sense, there's no difference between a blog and their website ... the company hosts both. It's simply a matter of getting information out quickly, and people have learned to look to blogs when they need information fast. It's clear evidence, however, that the word "blog" carries a lot of meaning on its own.

Undoubtedly, the TWiT cast considers each other to be reliable, authoritative sources (as is evidenced by John C. Dvorak's gushing over Hybrid Hard Drives, and immediate acceptance by the other TWiTs), and perhaps that's simply a matter of the TWiT folks being too comfortable in their own echo chamber. (That's actually the reason why I rarely listen to the show anymore, but that's a different discussion.) Needless to say, it's certainly wise to be critical of sources when doing any sort of research or letting information come to you. At the same time, dismissing a source simply because it comes from a blog without considering the history and background of the author in question is naive and foolish. It also contributes to an echo chamber effect when you dismiss good sources simply because of a label placed on them, keeping you from allowing someone else with valid thoughts and opinions to be part of the conversation.

Xbox 360 Announcements from X06

Rare is bringing the "Banjo-Kazooie" IP to Xbox 360. No timeframe was given, so probably in three or four years, given Rare's usual pace.

DOOM is coming to Xbox Live Arcade TONIGHT. Wow.

Reconfirmation of native 1080p gameplay. Time to start saving for that 37" Westinghouse HDTV.

Sony Finally Brings Good News

Just when you thought Sony couldn't get some positive press if they opened a dry cleaning business (groan) ... they manage to drop a couple bombs at the Tokyo Game Show.

First up, Ken Kutaragi announced that they're dropping the price of the 20GB PS3 to roughly $430 US. However, this price drop is confirmed to be ONLY for Japan. I don't get that move, and it probably has something to do with how the allocation of units is spread out amongst the territories.

In conjunction with that announcement, they also stated that the 60GB model would be "open price", which means that the retailers can sell it for whatever they want. That's NOT good news for consumers, as you can expect the price gouging to be widespread and rampant, since Japan is only getting 100,000 PS3 units total.

The second piece of good news is that they have relented and put an HDMI port in the 20GB model, meaning that the higher priced model has less to differentiate it. I'm not sure who'd buy a 60GB model now. Still, these changes mean that Sony realizes that they've painted themselves into a corner, and they need to get back in the good graces of the "core gamer".

What Would You Do If You Were Sony?

Jesus ... I'm not sure if Sony could be acting more like the fucking Keystone Cops if they tried. So what would you do if you were Sony, in the middle of what could only be classified as a PR disaster?

Apparently, Kazunori Yamauchi would feel free to make sure that the biggest game on tap for the PS3 launch ends up being the giant fucking albatross around the company's neck. In an interview with Famitsu, he revealed that the standard version of Gran Turismo 5 would ... get this ... come with no cars or tracks. You'll have to buy them all. For completists, apparently the pricetag to do this rings in at very close to $1000. The premium version of the game will have 30 cars and only two courses. All of this is far less than Gran Turismo 4 shipped with for a far inferior system.

Of course, if Microsoft were Sony, they would make sure that a Sony BMG music artist would be helping promote the biggest console launch around, in a delightful bit of synergy. Sony must have gotten wind of this and stole the whole idea, because how else could you explain Jessica Simpson and Epic/Sony BMG music running a contest where you can win an Xbox 360?

I keep wondering if things could get worse. I should probably stop doing that.

Why is Wii Going to Win?

Any fans of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time know that a huge part of why that game was such a major success is the fishing mini-game. Oh, sure, the game has expansive dungeons and incredibly fun horse riding, but Ocarina was the first game that I would fire up and play when I just wanted to spend a leisurely half-hour and kick back. Who knew fishing was so relaxing? (Well, odds are, your Grandpa knows full well just how relaxing fishing is.)

GameTrailers bring us this clip that shows just why Wii is going to be a massive hit. Debate about which version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the "real" version aside, the fact that the fishing game is going to feel exactly like reel fishing (tee hee) is precisely why everyone should get the Wii version over the GameCube version. Nothing feels more satisfying that flicking out your line and reeling in that fish.

More Wii Details

Planet GameCube is live-blogging the Nintendo press conference today. Apparently Wii Sports will indeed be included in the package (it wasn't in Japan, so there was some confusion), and will inclue Tennis, Golf, Baseball, Bowling, and Boxing as well. I hope you have the option of using a second controller (or the nunchuck) for two-fisted boxing action. It's not a new PunchOut!! or Fight Night 3, but it'll do. Additional Wii Remotes (the official name, despite Nintendo's apparent facination with the idea of calling it the "Wii-mote") will be $40, and the nunchuck attachment is $20.

The other details are still valid, launching November 19th for $249.99. I don't understand the late launch, given that Nintendo had assured everyone that they'd launch before PlayStation 3. The price is higher than I expected, but given the inclusion of Wii Sports and the nunchuk controller, it's a decent value. However, I'd like to remind everyone that may have forgotten ... Nintendo dropped the price of the Nintendo 64 from $249.99 to $199.99 three days before the launch. While it's doubtful they'd repeat that stunt, it's certainly a possibility.

Sadly, the unit will ship in white only at first. I was hoping for a Nintendo Red model.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck will be the only first-party launch titles. Mario won't be out until 2007. 15 total games at launch, and 30 by the end of the year. The Trauma Center remake for Wii will be a launch title.

The most interesting part is the idea of a "Mii". This is a virtual charicature of yourself or someone else, which you can then transfer to your controller and take with you. Clever idea. Any game with support for the "Mii Channel" can use your charicature in-game. including Wii Sports and Wario Ware.

Much like Xbox Live, Nintendo will be using a point system for Virtual Console purchases, and it's fairly straight-forward ... 2000 points for $20.00. NES games are 500 points ($5), SNES are 800 points, and N64 games are 1000 points. Unfortunately, the much vaunted Opera browser for Wii will NOT be included, and must be purchased with points.

No mention at all of DVD playback, so the rumors of DVD support being dropped must be true. Damned shame ... while I don't need another DVD player personally, it's certainly a "nice to have".

Details on Wii Launch

My old friends at PGC uncovered the info, apparently leaked early by the local Seattle PI.

Wii will launch on November 19th for $249.99. The Wii Sports games will be packed in, including Golf, Tennis, Baseball, and the surprise ... Bowling. No Nintendo-published game will retail over $49.99, and Virtual Console games will come in between $5-10.

More info after the US event tomorrow.

Wii news tomorrow?

IGN, Joystiq, and others are all predicting major Wii news coming at Midnight tonight. With a major announcement already scheduled for September 12, what else could Nintendo be announcing that they'd want to get out in advance of next week's event?

Update: Turns out that the "news" that was inexplicably under embargo was that IBM had been shipping CPU parts to Nintendo in major quantity for the past three weeks. Why would you bother with an embargo on news like that? Microsoft has already shipped their console, and Sony just doesn't have their shit together yet.

Sony PR Goes From Worse to Brain Dead

Update: OK, and killing all of your brand-positive advertising in Europe (where you're going to need a lot of it) isn't what I had in mind either. Apparently, SCEA's hired a new PR guy after Molly Smith bolted from the company, which certainly explains part of the company's complete disfunction. It'll be interesting to see if Dave Karakker can translate his experience shilling for Kahlua into getting people to buy the PS3.

Of course, when I suggested below that Sony needs to fix their PR image, I in no way indicated that a good way to do that would be to have Ken Kutaragi (the head of Sony Computer Entertainment America) tell everyone that the US is only going to have 400,000 units at launch, and Japan? Yeah, they get a paltry fourth of that (for a machine that should be far more popular in Japan than Microsoft's Xbox 360).

So who's going to be standing in line waiting for a PS3? Before any of you Europeans raise your hand, you'd better re-check the calendar, because none of you will be seeing a PS3 until March 2007.

Sony needs some good news, and pronto. At this point, I'd suggest that they either start making things up, or start paying bloggers like myself to start writing nice flowery prose about them. Anything to stop the bleeding, because there's only so much more of this that people will take before they just give up and either buy the console that's already out, or the one that will cost just a third the price of PS3.