Gamers Outlook

Granny Gamers

2007-03-24T18:28:00.000-04:00

It was reported on FoxNews today that many retirement homes are experimenting with providing entertainment for their guests in he form of Wiis. In initial market testing, they were a huge success, especially with the Wii Sports games (particularly tennis and bowling). What's more? Kids may be a little more motivated to visit Grandma and Grandpa if they know they can challenge them in a video game.

Man Dies After Gaming Session

2007-03-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

Caught wind of some news about an obese 26-year old man in Beijing, China who aparently died after a marathon online gaming session. This guy was 330 pounds, and the full report seems to indicate the "problem" being the gaming itself... granted he spent the majority of seven days straight during break from school, but come on. My man was 330 pounds! It couldn't possible be how FAT he was that killed him. Nope. Prayers and best wishes none the less.

Mario Snow Art

2007-02-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

It was snowing and these kids were smokin tweeds. Enough said.

Virtual Console 2/12/07

2007-02-12T18:42:00.000-05:00

Three more classic titles, all from Nintendo's own NES console, are now available in the growing list of games on the Wii's Virtual Console. All three titles are 500 Wii points apiece. Here's what was released today:

Kirby's Adventure
Ice Climber
Kid Icarus

Though I can't imagine Kirby's Adventure and Ice Climber (well maybe the latter) might enthrall gamers into a frenzy, Kid Icarus is a game I've personally looked forward to seeing in the Virtual Console for some time. It's always good to revisit a classic.

Wanna Look Really Cool?

2007-02-07T22:45:00.000-05:00

Wear this hat. Not only is it super badass in the style department, but you'll be the envy of all who stand in your presence. You can get it HERE, only from the land of the rising sun. If any of you do get this, please post some pics of yourself toting this bad boy on your head.

Mariosoft

2007-02-05T23:03:00.000-05:00

Could it be?

No, it's a photoshop, but cool nonetheless.

If you spend enough $$$...

2007-02-05T22:43:00.000-05:00

A few days ago it was reported that Lost Planet cost 40 million dollars to produce. Not a big deal because a lot of "next-gen" games have been costing upwards of 20+ million lately, and also beacause Lost Planet is a high profile game featuring a famous asian actor as the main protagonist.

Forbes has reported today that this amount actually breaks out to 20 million in game development and another 20 million in advertising. Wow, I am blown away by these numbers, spending 20 million on advertising will get you a lot of ad space and I've only seen a few commercials for the game. [Albeit I don't really watch that much television]. So, how has the spending worked out for Capcom? As of Mid-January, Capcom has shipped 1 million units of the game. At $60 a pop, they've raked in 60 million, I'd say it was a success. Will this usher in a new era of gaming advertising? How much will be spent advertising games like Halo 3 or MGS4? I say, way to go Capcom for realizing that in this era of over saturation, new franchises need to be exposed in order to gain success.

Do We Enjoy Games More When We Have Less of Them?

2007-02-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

Think back when you were younger, and you probably did not have the amount of videogames that you have right now. Did you enjoy and get more out of your games back then? I honestly believe that I got more out of my games when I was younger than I do now that I have all of the games I want.

Today, I can purchase any game that I want, play them in surround sound and in high definition. Yet, I seem to turn off games a lot quicker if I get frustrated or get to a part that I don't particularly like. When I was a kid playing NES, I would have to borrow games in order to play something different. When I was actually lucky enough to get another game I cherished it for a long long time and beat it many times over, enjoying every single time that I did so. In a world of achievements and online play, it seems like people have taken that for granted, including myself.

I wish that this wasn't the case but I can't really help it. If I get to a frustrating part in a game like Lost Planet, I can very easily turn off my 360 and turn on my PS3 and start playing Resistance. If the same thing happens I can jump online or switch to my Wii. I may never go back to Lost Planet or Resistance again because of the last major reason why we don't enjoy our games as much. There are simply too many of them.

Every week many games are released for all systems, and with Gamefly and/or a local gamestore just around every corner, there is nothing stopping you from trying most of them out. I believe that people play more games nowadays but don't get into them as much as they did when there weren't as many available. I am on the 4 game plan with Gamefly and I can't tell you how many times I've opened a game, thrown it into one of my systems and played it for literally 5 minutes before I realize it sucks and put it back in the envelope to go back. Why do I do this? Because I know I have a large line of games that are ready to be shipped to my house and I want to play them all [let alone the stack of games that I've been meaning to play for half a year now].

Sometimes I wish I only had 1 system and a few games for the system. Especially since it seems like I cannot focus on any online games anymore because I play too many. During my SOCOM or Counterstrike days, those were the only games I would play every day routinely because I strived to be great at them. The quantity of games that are out now force you to miss out on too many good games just to stay good at one, and I am not sure that I am willing to make that sacrifice.

The last game that I put down all other games for was World of Warcraft. But the only reason why it was able to do so is because it was so addicting. Perhaps it was the leveling up, but I felt compelled to play and keep up with all of my friends. Maybe if future games incorporate the fanatical leveling race, I might be able to stick it out and stay enthralled in it.

I guess it isn't all my fault, most games today don't have the charm or gameplay to hold my attention like they used to. Very little is "new" these days and we live in a world of sequels and upgrades. Look at some of the hottest games coming this year: Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Devil May Cry 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Halo 3, GRAW 2...see what I mean? I am looking forward to and will purchase all of the games listed, but when will the novelty wear off? I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't finish half of the games mentioned just because of the shear number that are coming out.

I conclude with a challenge, stick it out. If you get to a frustrating or difficult part of a game, keep going and you WILL feel a sense of accomplishment that games were meant to produce. I have recently been pushing myself through most of the games that I play or at least keeping them and going back to them after a short amount of time. The reward is fulfilling and I encourage you all to do the same.

Is the Wii being Gamecube'd?

2007-02-03T23:51:00.000-05:00

Nintendo's Wii is sitting firm atop a pedestal of greatness at the moment. Killer sales through the launch, an undoubted victory over Sony and the grasp of both hardcore and casual gamers alike have the Wii looking very good right now. But how long will the Wii greatness last?

If you look at this year and the future releases scheduled for the system, it doesn't look so good. Of course Nintendo will be releasing a few games, but only 3 of them are the AAA Nintendo titles that we have all grown to love, and they are all sequels. Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 and Super Smash Bros Brawl. Everything else is hit or miss and most of them are ports [From last gen systems]. While we know that the ports will be different when moving to Wii due to the controls, that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing.

The only game people are playing on the Wii regularly right now, and the overall reason for the Wii's gigantic success is Wii Sports. Wii Play is going to be coming in a couple weeks and will carry the momentum for a few months but what is next? Where is Wii Sports 2? Where are all of the "Casual" games that will draw in the grandparents and non-gamers? It's not going to be Mario, Metroid or Smash Bros. In the past, these games catered to casual gamers but after many iterations of each, they have become quite complicated. I know my Grandma can not play a game in "3d" or anything with more than 2 buttons.

Let's go over the negative similarities between the Cube and the Wii:

-Both have no online play or any sort of plan to include online play [Pokemon doesn't count and neither does Phantasy Star]
-Both don't play DVD's [I don't see this as a big issue]
-They are not and never were the leader in graphics and technology
-They both have the exact same 1st party support [Mario, Metroid, Smash Bros, Mario Party]
-They both have useless features
----Gamecube: GBA to Cube connectivity and a handle
----Wii: News and Weather Channels
-Both are on the cheap end of their current generations when it comes to price

When it comes down to it, software is the life source of any videogame system. One of the major reasons why the Playstation was such a giant success is because Sony secured exclusives and helped create and usher in original content on a regular basis. They have gotten away from that and now they are struggling as well. In terms of 3rd party support, Nintendo is weak as it stands right now. I am hoping their will be a lot of surprise announcements in the near future to help generate more excitement, because I feel that the high that Nintendo is on right now is going to be short lived.

I worry about the novelty of their new console and the serious lack of games that are on the horizon. [most of the AAA Nintendo titles don't even have concrete release dates]. Will the Wii prevail from it's unconventional approach or will it be Gamecube'd into a sea of mediocrity?

Conan plays Serena Williams @ Wii Tennis

2007-02-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

Check out this clip [courtesy of gamevideos.com] of Conan playing Serena on his show. Place your bets!

PS3 Woes

2007-02-01T09:46:00.001-05:00

I just got PS3 and had to return it days later because the unit was defective, all games freeze at the menu. Have to send it back to the manufacturer for replacement. It's the $600 system too... go figure. That's all I have to say about that... Gaaawsh!! Friggin' Idiot!!

Virtual Console Monday Continues

2007-01-30T19:13:00.000-05:00

Though I'm technically a day late in posting what many of you Wii owners probably already know, Nintendo has released four more titles into the backlog canon of classic gaming titles. After much speculation and debate over which game would follow Super Mario 64, the only Nintendo 64 title made available for purchase, the big N has made available Mario Kart 64 as the second N64 title in the Virtual Console, along with three other classics.

Here's a breakdown of what was released yesterday:

Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo - 1000 Points
Bonanza Bros. - Sega - 800 Points
Contra III - SNES - 800 Points
Comix Zone - Sega - 800 Points

Nintendo at least seems to be trying to appease gamers still pining for more N64 titles. Let's hope the release process speeds up for future games.

Lazy Wii Guy

2007-01-29T23:11:00.001-05:00

Do you play with your Wii like this guy does? I do, but only after a long hard day at work.

New God of War 2 Trailer

2007-01-29T19:02:00.000-05:00

A new God of War 2 trailer has come out today and it is next-gen-shattering good. This game is one of my most anticipated releases of 2007 and the official release date is March 13th. Check it out below.

Great Read: Worst Endings Ever

2007-01-28T21:14:00.000-05:00

I found a very entertaining article over at Digg.com about the worse game endings ever and thought everyone should read it. The author clearly knows his shit and explains in detail and gives a great case for each of his picks. Some are uninspired, some are obvious and others are disappointing [see pic]. I agree with every one of them except the pick for Diablo. I thought that game ended great and was a surprising twist. Please comment on your thoughts.

Read it Here

The Wii News Channel is Now Available

2007-01-27T00:08:00.000-05:00

Today, Nintendo launched the News Channel for the Wii a day earlier then promised. The channel is free and takes about 5 minutes to download. I've taken it for a spin and have found to be pretty useless to tell you the truth. When you go into the channel it will give you a menu of news broken down by category [Local, World, Sports, Tech, etc.] After you choose one it will take you to a message board style page with all of the news articles. If a picture is provided with the news article there will be a thumbnail of it next to the headline. You can also browse the news via "slideshow" which is kind of odd. the news and pics will appear on screen, and then a couple of seconds later a new story will appear. All of the news is taken from the AP wire and is actually pretty up to date unlike the weather channel.

A globe is to the right of the articles showing you the location of the news that you are reading. You can click on the globe and browse the news by location as well. This channel is a novelty that will wear off very quickly. I wish Nintendo would spend more time on the Virtual Console first party games and actual ONLINE play instead of releasing things like this. But, since it IS free I can't really complain too much. Happy Reading!

Crackdown Impressions

2007-01-25T00:19:00.000-05:00

As reported earlier, Crackdown is going to be coming with a free Halo 3 beta invite, I predicted that this game would now sell over 1 million copies. Tuesday, a robust demo was made available free via Xbox live and I dove into it for a couple of hours tonight.

This game redefines "freedom" in a sandbox game. Sure GTA gives you freedom, but it ultimately steers you in the direction of the story. Crackdown, on the other hand lets you do whatever the hell you want right from the get go. You start out at the agency headquarters where you can get a car and get used to the controls. After the boring stuff you are off in your police cruiser. You drive down a long tunnel Batman style and jump out at the end. You are now in the city [honestly, I don't even know what the city is called]. Immediately you are being shot at from all directions. Cops have a certain icon over their heads and gang members have a different icon. The object is to basically kill all of the gang members [it gets interesting with compounds and bosses]. Your character can take a LOT of damage, and you get a regenerating health/shield system, the exact system Halo created. This city in real life would not be livable because there are shootouts on literally every corner of the streets. There are even shootouts on a majority of the rooftops and alleys as well.

You will see a lot of Agency Police working next to you and to my surprise they actually do something. Unlike games like Resistance: Fall of Man where the AI doesn't do a damn thing but get you killed, these police take down quite a few gang members. But if you accidentally kill a pedestrian or cop, they will come after you, which can get annoying very quickly.

The best part of this game is the leveling system. Depending on how you kill gang members [beat downs, shooting, grenades, etc] effects how you level up. I went around kicking the crap out of everyone in melee hand to hand combat and my strength leveled up quickly. With increased strength you can pick up cars and other objects as well as send foes flying with a single kick. If you use explosives, your grenades and explosive devices create a larger and more spectacular explosion. If you run everyone over, your driving skill increases and agency cars morph into badass supercars depending on your level [car gets lower, tires get larger and you can also get machine guns added to the car]. Shooting everyone increases your accuracy and allows you to target victims a lot quicker and easier. [while locked on to a target you can pick if you want to shoot them in the head, chest, arms or legs]. The last attribute which you can level up is agility, this effects your speed and jumping height. To me this is the most fun. There are agility orbs located on most of the rooftops and hard to get to places. After collecting a few you will level up and by the time you reach full capacity you can jump 35+ feet in a single bound. It is very satisfying jumping from building to building and treating the city like a gigantic obstacle course.

The story is weak and the way they tell it makes me skip all of the short cutscenes but I still love the fact that you can level up and you really do feel like the ultimate badass playing this game. Look for a full review when the game drops February 9th.

Wii Are Also in Business

2007-01-22T03:13:00.000-05:00

Along with Tom, I too have joined the club of Wii owners. I was finally able to get one last Tuesday at the GameCrazy that I work at, and I couldn't be more pleased. I'm not going to go into much detail as I will be writing a full Zelda: Twilight Princess review here in the next week, pending I can beat it; however, I am VERY happy with my Wii purchase.

I picked up the Wii, Zelda, component cables, and a classic controller. Unfortunately, I'm without a wireless connection in my house or nearby so I can't get online and scope out the Virtual Console and try out the trendy classic controller; however, I did order a USB to Ethernet adaptor online which should arrive next week and I'll be in business.

Though this is the first time I've actually owned and had a Wii in my own room, it's not the first time I've played one. I've spent countless [drunk] hours with Wii Sports and a little bit of time with Zelda prior to owning my own copies, so I knew what I was in for.

Let's just get this out there: Zelda is freakin' amazing! As I said before, I'm going to be writing a full review here soon so I won't go into the details, but I am having a second blast. Taking it slowly as I do all games, I'm on the second temple right now and just having a blast. And with the Wii controller, nothing gets old and the controls feel VERY fluid and perfectly fused with the Wii system (unlike GameSpot saying the controls feel tacked on).

Games don't seem to be as fun as they were when I was a kid playing Goldeneye and Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the N64... but Zelda: TP takes me right back to my favorite times as I kid.

One more thing here before I wrap this up and get back to beating this temple before I go to bed, I got the component cables for the Wii. Now, I don't own an HDTV, and I'd heard mixed reviews about the component cables, but in my opinion, I think they DO make a difference. On my TV they made the picture sharper and less blurry than my roommate's Wii running on an HDTV without component cables. But I have also heard that it depends on the TV, so you'll just have to find out on your own.

The Wii is worth it. Right now it's not a console that I see myself playing everyday or to replace my Xbox 360, but it is worth it just for the price, controller, unique gameplay, first party Nintendo games, and the Virtual Console.

GameStop/EB Games Restocks Stores with PS3's

2007-01-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

In a somewhat surprising newsletter sent to gamers who've subscribed to it, GameStop/EB Games announced that all of their retail outlets have been restocked with PS3's. These consoles aren't being held for pre-orders (I believe the last shipment of pre-ordered consoles arrive next week). A quick availability check around the city of Chicago revealed only one out of eighteen stores had sold out their stock, with most stores reporting a stock of at least four consoles.

What makes this revelation even sweeter is the fact that for a limited time, gamers can still trade in their PS2 system and receive $100 off a new PS3. In order to qualify, you must also trade in a second Sony brand PS2 controller as well as an 8 MB memory card in addition to everything packaged with the original PS2.

Those interested in partaking in the deal should hurry as this offer surely won't last more than a couple weeks. As always, be sure to call your local store to double check that PS3's are actually in stock.

Wii Are In Business

2007-01-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

Finally! My household has a Nintendo Wii. It only took 10 weeks to finally get one, but it's under control now. I did not get to spend a whole lot of time with this little bugger, only about an hour's time. In that hour I quickly realized what all the hype was about -- yet, that all the media's concerns with the unit seemed shockingly true as well.

My very first impression was, "Shit, that's tiny!" Then, I got my hands on the Wii-mote and it all began. I'll admit it takes some getting used to, but the more you play with it the more you realized just how great it really is. I quickly tested my hands (and body!) by cruising through Wii Sports, which I must say is great for what it is. My girlfriend said the graphics sucked on Wii. Suck on this. While trying to explain that it's not to be known as a graphical powerhouse, I realized I was wasting my time and decided to keep playing Wii Sports. Tennis... fun, Baseball... fun, Bowling... eeeh, they were all pretty good really. I was pleased, and tired at the same time. I under estimated the physical aspect of this type of gaming. Good stuff really.

After playing Wii Sports I took a shot at the new Zelda game -- frickin' sweet, let me tell you. My impressions here were in line with every other Zelda game I've put my hands on in the last eight years -- just loved it. The controls again took getting used to, but are considerably familiar and easy to be accustomed to. Graphics - meh, in line with what my girlfriend was saying earlier while playing Wii Sports, less than impressive, but not horrible. It's a step up from GameCube, and a whole hell of a lot of fun to play. More on that as I actually get some time with it.

Speaking of time, good to note Wii is a great console for EVERYONE. I would say yesterday may have been the first time in the last, well, ever that I can recall being in one room with all three of my brothers (10, 15, and 24) and all having a good time together. The age gap separates the family sometimes, but having Wii and being able to enjoy it's offerings as a group was really key. Nintendo hit something very special with this one, and I think that's true for all.

The Results Are In!

2007-01-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

The NPD Group has just released their results for the best selling games of 2006, some of which suprised the hell out of me. Accompanying that list is a tally of the best selling games of December, no doubt a giant month for software sales during the holiday season. Let's start with the December results:

1. Gears of War - Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
2. Guitar Hero 2 Bundle- PS2 (Activision)
3. Madden NFL 07 - PS2 (Electronic Arts)
4. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess - GCN (Nintendo)
5. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Wii (Nintendo)
6. WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 - PS2 (THQ)
7. New Super Mario Bros. - NDS (Nintendo)
8. Call of Duty 3 - Xbox 360 (Activision)
9. Yoshi's Island 2 - NDS (Nintendo)
10. Call of Duty 3 - PS2 (Activision)

Frankly, Gears of War was destined to have one of the top spots, but for me, the real shocker here is the fact that Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess actually managed to move more discs on the GameCube rather than the Wii. Perhaps it's not that big of a stretch considering Wii shortages are still present even today (which probably also explains the lack of any PS3 games). However, it's nice to see Nintendo's DS competing with the big dogs as they land two games in the top ten (versus zero from Sony's PSP).

Now then, here are the top ten sellers for 2006:

1. Madden NFL 07 - PS2 (Electronic Arts)
2. New Super Mario Bros. - NDS (Nintendo)
3. Gears of War - Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
4. Kingdom Hearts II - PS2 (Square Enix)
5. Guitar Hero 2 Bundle- PS2 (Activision)
6. Final Fantasy XII - PS2 (Square Enix)
7. Brain Age: Train Your Brain - NDS (Nintendo)
8. Madden NFL 07 - Xbox 360 (Electronic Arts)
9. Tom Clancy's GRAW - Xbox 360 (UbiSoft)
10. NCAA Football 07 - PS2 (Electronic Arts)

Again, big props to Nintendo for having the second best selling game of 2006...and for a handheld at that! Proof that Mario hasn't outlived it's usefulness in the gaming community. Also making a big splash this year was the aforementioned Gears of War and Guitar Hero II. Both titles were released on November 7 in the U.S. and barely had two months to generate sales. Yet, both were strong enough to secure the number 3 and 5 spots, respectively. Though I half expected Rainbow Six: Las Vegas up there (especially in place of Tom Clancy's GRAW).

Overall there was a lot less noise from the Xbox 360 which seemed to take a backseat to PS2 games during the year. I expect the Wii and PS3 will begin to take some of the attention away during '07 as Nintendo begins to roll out more first part mascot games and as the PS3 simply begins to roll out more consoles with games people actually want to play.

Bill Gates: Nintendo is the Greatest Competition

2007-01-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

At the Computer Entertainment Show, Microsoft Founder, Chairman, and Cheif Computernerd Bill Gates had the following to say to TV Tokyo:

"The strength of Nintendo on the portable space has been very impressive and surprised a lot of people... and the strength of the Wii... and we see Nintendo as the toughest competition." (If that quote doesn't read correctly to you either, don't blame me, I'm just the messenger).

While Nintendo has been selling very well in both the handheld and console markets this season, the real meaning behind this quote could be a shot at Sony (though not quite as dramatic as those between Rosie O'Donnel and Donald Trump).

Nintendo, MS, and Sony all Sued

2007-01-11T11:26:00.000-05:00

A company called Fenner Investments is taking on the big three in court. The company alleges that each of these broke a patent, infringing on intellectual property. The issue comes down to the analog joystick on the contollers, which returns a digital signal to the system. This company filed for the patent in 1998 and was granted the rights three years later.

Something tells me the combined lawyers of MS, Sony, and Nintendo might be a wee bit more costly than those of "Fenner Investments"...

2007: The Year of the Discriminating Gamer

2007-01-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone’s Christmas was great and your New Year has kicked off to a good start. Mine turned out to be exceptionally satisfying and exhausting for more reasons that I thought apparent at the time. But with the New Year also brings along with it New Year deals from local retailers looking to unload merchandise at slightly cheaper prices than from the year before.

This fact led me to EB Games (where else, right?) where for a short time they offered double for what they usually give for those looking to trade in their original Xbox consoles. Frankly, my Xbox hadn’t been used in quite some time (made quite apparent by the amount of dust collected) and I wasn’t sure if another deal like this would ever show itself (regularly, EB Games/GameStop gives about $40 for Xbox consoles). So throwing away all better judgment I decided to plunge myself into the realm of Microsoft’s 360 machine, wondering if I was over saturating my media library with superfluous entertainment. What I’ve experienced in the days afterward has been something of a gaming anomaly.

I quickly realized that if I was going to drop serious money on a console, why not go all out? It already came with a free game (Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter) so I decided to pick up another, Gears of War. Gears of War led me to pick up an Xbox Live membership just to see what the online aspect was all about (the ‘Pro’ set does come with a headset, after all) and my likeness for the first person shooter produced the thought that I might not be so letdown from spending so much. Well…yes and no.

Let’s get the negative out of the way. The first time I put Gears of War in the 360 the game acted up. I was unable to start a new game in any of the modes available and doing so only led me to a loading screen that immediately jumped back to the story select screen. Inspecting the disc for any damage, I saw noticeable circular scratches that I’m quite sure I didn’t etch on the surface. Nonetheless, I felt supremely let down. A new Xbox console and already a game had malfunctioned. Nintendo and Sony had never let me down in such a way and already an hour into Microsoft's console I had experienced problems.

I tried searching message boards in an attempt to secure a solution to the problem. I quickly found other Gears of War gamers, who might not have experienced the exact same problem, but had definitely had worse things happen to their 360 consoles (the dreaded three-light syndrome seemed to pop up the most). Most who had problems contacted Microsoft directly and were met with a startling lack of response from the big M. Some were told that Microsoft was aware of the problem but could offer no short-term solutions, which inevitably led to plenty of pissed-off gamers clutching broken 360’s. I was afraid the same would surely happen to me and was already expecting the worst.

However, my problems were beginning to fade. Having saw many gamers determine a correlation between Gears of Wars malfunctioning and the Xbox Gamertag ID, I decided to sign out and see if the problem continued. It did not and I was soon enjoying Gears of War, well, about as much as I could before noticing that I could not save if I was not logged in with an ID. Yet, the next day, when I signed in and tried GoW again, the problem seemed to vanish. After the initial debacle I’ve had zero problems as I was able to create a new game and soon was playing one of the best FPS titles I had ever laid eyes on.

Despite the small setback in software, my reception of the 360 has been monstrously high. I never thought I’d ‘sell out’ to Microsoft but the 360 didn’t have to run long to win me over. The user interface is one of the friendliest aspects of the machine, with options galore to fine tune everything from the custom look of the background to playing music through an iPod…even while playing a game itself, it’s still possible to select music. Looking at all of the options available to the console itself, it certainly had me wondering if the Wii or the PS3 had any chance to keep up in the three console race for control of the market share.

I’ve tried looking at the problem objectively. Though I haven’t had the chance to play anything for the PS3, from what I’ve heard, despite free online gaming, the juggernaut of consoles has had enough setbacks to change many gamer's minds. Reports and opinions from dissatisfied gamers have seen some consoles being returned to various retailers (no doubt scratching their heads as to why). Of the user complaints I browsed, I always saw a mentioning of the lack of resources the PS3 have in comparison to the 360 (and though it probably wouldn't be fair to throw the PS2 in with this comparioson, truth be told, I've never liked the boot up screen the PS2 utilized). Should Sony see success in the coming years it might have to do with changing the user menus and trying to keep up with Microsoft’s easy-to-grasp interface.

Nintendo’s Wii, on the other hand, has an interesting quandary of its own. Having created the notion of ‘remote based gaming’, Nintendo is definitely looking at the industry as a whole and trying to change the way gamers (and developers) see and experience the titles they play. Call of Duty 3 showed tremendous promise with its ‘point and shoot’ tactics and I have a feeling Nintendo can build on CoD’s success with even more FPS titles (hopefully with much improved graphics), each fleshed out with a sense of individuality. The Wii-mote has so much promise that I’m sure Nintendo is more than up to the challenge.

Yet for all the joys that the Wii is sure to bring, I’m still not left with the same sense of awe I had with the 360 and can’t help but wonder if Nintendo is on the right path or merely creating old traps for itself. The television channel menu system has its perks but I still feel as if they’re more than a few steps behind Microsoft in terms of building a rounded console. Things like the free online browser and the Weather and News channels help to boost interest, but for me the deal breaker was getting to relive old titles through the Virtual Console. Having dealt with both the Virtual Console and the Marketplace, at the moment, I feel more inclined to buy old classic games on the 360 rather than the Wii. Surely, Nintendo will expand it’s library to include the kind of classics everyone grew up with in the ’80’s and early 90’s, but then here’s the problem: a good example can be made of Street Fighter II, which can be purchased on both the 360 and the Wii (the 360 has the ‘Hyper Fighting’ Edition while the Wii has the original SFII). However, Microsoft allows online gaming with some of the downloadable titles and have leaderboards that track every gamer who's played. Specifically for SFII, you can challenge others and be ranked accordingly. On the Wii you’re stuck to playing with another friend in the room and at which you won’t be ranked versus anyone (speaking of which, where does Nintendo’s online plans figure in Wii development?). So considering all of that, which version would you buy?

Though I'm positive the respective backlog of classic games will take a seat to latest and greatest, the deciding factor for a number of gamers (besides shortage of product) is price. Will you shell out a significant amount of cash for extra perks or spend half that for a genuine innovative gaming experience? Only now are we beginning to see the effects of the ‘HD Age’, at which Microsoft clearly welcomed with open arms and at which Nintendo has held at arms length. Having bought a new LCD TV (again with the help of the after New Year's deals) I can appreciate all the graphical perks a set of component cable (nicely included with the console, I might add) can afford. I’m still waiting to buy component cables for my Wii, but having played it on a HD set with just regular cables, the difference in graphical output is strangely depressing. I’ve never noticed the difference more. As more families begin to upgrade their entertainment centers, so too should the brands that produce such equipment. Not that graphics make the game entirely, but if you saw the difference in visuals I’m seeing now, you might feel more inclined to pick up a 360 as well.

Anyway, if it seems like I’m falling all over this machine it’s because I am. I’m too impressed with how Microsoft’s 360 has been built. However, not every family has the means to stay on top of three different systems, all of which have their own console specific games that claim to be 'must-own' titles. At the rate the industry is going now, most gamers have already chosen sides with their next-gen systems and things might only get worse because of price discrimination. Fortunately, Nintendo and Microsoft both have moderately priced consoles that will at least attempt to match every dollar spent in regards to entertainment experienced. Unfortunately, I now have a copy of Jet Set Radio from the original Xbox, currently functioning as a paperweight due to the somewhat limited backward compatibility. How many years will it be until it shows up in the Marketplace?

Crackdown: The next 1 million seller

2007-01-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

Most of the general public has never heard of Crackdown, but recently it has been announced that a Halo 3 beta invite will be included with every copy. Since the hype for Halo 3 is so incredibly huge, I can guarantee you that this game will sell well over 1 million copies. I just hope people take the time to enjoy this game because it is getting very positive press from a lot of sites. Xboxyde.com has a great write up for it here. Basically, the game is a GTA clone with a twist [don't they all have a twist?]. You are a "good guy" but you have super powers that allow you to perform great feats such as superhuman strength, leaping from buildings, etc. You can get experience and level your character up through different attributes. The game has a comic book feel to it that some people may not like, and the whole world looks over stylized. Multiplayer will consist of online co-op, but no deathmatch or team based online multiplay has been announced. Official release date is Feb 20th, 2007.