Consoleation Brainstorming: Plans For 2010

As 2009 is rapidly coming to a close, I’ve begun to think about how Consoleation will evolve in 2010. While I’ll continue to react to gaming news and sales figures, I’m seriously contemplating creating some regular entries having to do with older games. I’m at a point, financially speaking, where I don’t have the money to keep up with new releases and post impressions or reviews like I did for a lot of this year. Meanwhile, I do have plenty of games already in my library that are worth playing or replaying and breaking down or discussing.

It’s interesting to note that I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing PSX games over the past week or so. I played Jumping Flash! 2 once through in just 90 minutes, plus I started a new playthrough of Metal Gear Solid and I resumed playing the PSX ports of my favorite Midway sports games like NFL Blitz and NBA Showtime. With the 15th anniversary of the PlayStation upon us, I’d like to dedicate a bit of time on the blog here talking about the platform and its games. Consoleation PlayStation will begin in January, and I think it’ll not only be fun to play and relive some great memories, but sharing it with all of you makes it all the more special. If there are games that you’d like me to play or cover, feel free to comment or drop a line with suggestions. I have a few in mind to start with, but would love to read some of your ideas.

Consoleation PlayStation is not the only idea I have up my sleeve for 2010. I’m really hoping to bring to fruition some pieces on some of my favorite video game series of all time. Ace Combat and Ridge Racer– two of Namco’s bigger IPs– are on my list. Midway sports games are another possibility, as is Castlevania and Tony Hawk. These pieces will likely revolve around playthroughs of many, if not all, of the games in the series and my personal reactions to and reviews of each. Is Air Combat really better than Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere? When did the Tony Hawk franchise peak? Were reviewers a bit harsh when discussing Castlevania: Curse of Darkness? Consoleation Chronicles will be fun to put together, and it starts with playing through these games.

These are just a couple of ideas for Consoleation in 2010. Since the blog is my own personal project, I’d really like to see what I can do with it and possibly gain more than a few new readers. I know that this will require dedication on my part, but I look forward to the challenge. Now that I’m becoming more situated in my new living situation out here in the desert, it’s just about time to focus more energy on two of the things that I love to do in life: play video games and write about them.

I hope that you’ll join me for the journey. For now, though, a job interview awaits at 10am local time. That means I need to get a little sleep. Maybe I’ll even scan through the VGA telecast today.

MAYBE.

Consoleation Reaction: 2009 Video Game Award Winners

While I have not seen the 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards show yet (it hasn’t aired yet here in Arizona), I have been following the show’s results and announcements via Twitter and I’d like to post some reaction to the winners.

For starters, let’s talk about the Game of the Year award. No waiting for two hours here– the surprise winner was Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog for PS3). This is a major upset given that the PS3 userbase is so small compared to the Xbox 360 and Wii and yet the game triumphed ahead of Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and other games. This is a good thing. It’s not because I have major issues with the other nominees, but to see hard work rewarded over intense hype is a good sign. I was happily wrong with this prediction, and I’ll be very curious to see where else Uncharted 2 scores GOTY honors. It was the game that almost kept me from parting with my PS3 in the first place, and it’s the game that makes me want to buy a new one.

Another big upset came in the Best Team Sports Game category. NHL 10 upset Madden NFL 10 to win the award this year, and this is also a good thing. In a time where professional hockey is still rebuilding its image, the popularity of NHL 10– and its excellence of execution– really sets a good precedent. Sports games and Madden have been synonymous for many years and it’s almost always been elementary for Madden to win this award every year. To quote Lee Corso, “Not so fast, my friend.” Hockey also translates well to the video game arena as it’s fast and action-packed. Not a lot of pauses or play calls… just skating, scoring, and hitting. I still believe that MLB 09: The Show was the best game in this category, despite the VGA snub, but this choice is one I can support.

Before we get to the bad stuff, I’d like to call attention to the Studio of the Year category. While I believe that Rocksteady Studios’ win here over Infinity Ward, Valve, and Naughty Dog might have been linked to the announcement of Arkham Asylum 2, it’s also good to see an underdog win here. Arkham Asylum rightfully is in the conversation for Game of the Year, and Rocksteady showed us how to do a comic book game the right way. In many ways, Arkham Asylum was (for me, at least) this year’s Bioshock.

OK… let’s talk about the crap.

Let’s talk about the Best Voice award, first. To refresh you, here’s who the nominees were:

• Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn, Arkham Asylum)
• Claudia Black (Chloe Frazier, Uncharted 2)
• Jack Black (Eddie Riggs, Brutal Legend)
• Mark Hamill (The Joker, Arkham Asylum)
• Nolan North (Nathan Drake, Uncharted 2)

OK. The good news is that there was lots of love for Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2, both of which has interesting storylines that were made even better some quality voice acting. Personally, I thought that Nolan North was the best of the lot in this category, with Mark Hamill just behind him. If it wasn’t for Spike TV’s relationship with Jack Black, anyone else on this list would’ve won. While he was funny in Brutal Legend, the game itself was a disappointment in all phases including story and presentation and Jack Black did not deserve to win. It will be the only award he wins in 2009.

The other voice awards were just as foolish. Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins) and Megan Fox (Transformers)? Really? And X-Men Origins won Best Cast? How can this be? Why was there no love for Ghostbusters here? You know, Bill Murray? What’s worse is that voice talent with less visibility or starpower are more deserving of these awards, but Spike TV and its awards panel just ignores them. Voice acting has become a staple in the video games that we play today, so to see 90% of the voice talent that goes into creating these game just get ignored is criminal.

Moving to DLC, which I talked about in my last entry, it turns out that Rockstar got the award for The Ballad of Gay Tony (DLC expansion for Grand Theft Auto IV). I still believe that it’s an inexcusable oversight for only two games (Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3) to split four nominations in a category that’s incredibly relevant to this console generation. I can buy that TBoGT is deserving of the honor, but I still don’t understand how so much other DLC can be ignored. Borderlands and Best RPG winner Dragon Age: Origins each had quality DLC, but neither received nominations. Big Surf Island, the expansion to Burnout Paradise, was bypassed as well… and Criterion Games has been providing quality DLC for Burnout Paradise for some time now.

As for the rest of the awards, I could argue with them… but can also see why they won. I personally would not give Left For Dead 2 the 360 GOTY over Arkham Asylum, as Arkham Asylum was a new IP and had much better production values, storyline, and a much better single-player option. I personally believe that Halo 3: ODST got a gift by way of the Best Original Score category as it was the weakest game in its class (Assassin’s Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2). The Best Soundtrack category was the one award that Brutal Legend should have easily won… but it went to DJ Hero for some reason.

For now, though, I’m going to save my reaction of the actual show and trailers / announcements until I’ve actually seen it. The event is recording now, so I’ll probably post something here on Consoleation in a couple of days. In the meantime, you can check out the full list of winners here and react in comments however you’d like.

Consoleation Quickie: The 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards

We’re a few hours away from the 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards, and I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about them.

I will not be watching the event live. There’s no way. As much as the event tries to be credible, with the involvement of familiar faces like Geoff Keighley and Jeff Gerstmann, it just isn’t. The network (Spike TV) takes precedence over what the event tries to accomplish. Spike TV is a “network for men”, which means that we’re going to see silly objectification of women and pointless “guest” appearances, like the cast from MTV’s Jersey Shore– which I’m 110% sure has nothing to do with video games.

It’s sad, because people that I genuinely respect in the gaming press are covering the event and even have shown some eagerness despite the awards being a farcical spectacle. There’s also the fact that game companies actually consider the event worthwhile enough to debut new game footage for the first time, overstepping the gaming press entirely. I understand that it’s more of a mainstream audience that publishers can Reach (pun intended), but this show tends to magnify the stereotypes surrounding the gaming community. Contrary to what Spike TV thinks, we’re not all Halo-playing frat boys who like us some fine women and MTV trash. We cover all ages and genders. We have many different tastes in entertainment and lifestyle. First-person shooters may dominate the current gaming landscape, but there are other options out there. Still… for people who aren’t quite as serious about gaming as I am, the portrayal of gamers and what they like in past Video Game Awards telecasts has been an embarrassment in the most colossal sense.

This year’s event also has some issues when it comes to the awards themselves. MLB 09: The Show (Sony for PS3) get left out of the award nominees for Best Team Sports Game, despite carrying higher marks on Metacritic than all of the other noms except FIFA 10. How does this happen, awards panel? Did they know that there was more quality downloadable content available than expansions for Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV? What about Big Surf Island for Burnout Paradise? No mention of Borderlands and Dragon Age: Origins DLC, yet both games get award noms in other categories? Speaking of Borderlands, how does it get a nod for Best RPG when the game’s RPG element is fairly subtle compared to the game’s FPS exterior?

Perhaps the Video Game Awards are the closest to the mainstream spotlight that the industry will ever get. I understand, to a point, why there is so much support behind it. Unfortunately, past shows have set terrible precedents in terms of the event’s format, writing, and award winners… and there is absolutely no reason to believe that this year’s event will be any different. There’s no host to keep things together, we have guests and presenters who likely have never played a video game in their lives, and it’s still Spike TV. If you’re interested in more credible end-of-year awards, check out more relevant websites. Sure, there may not be spectacles like you’re likely about to witness to accompany them, but at least a few sites may have some experience and expertise to back up their choices.

As for myself, I’ll be recording the show via DVR so that I can watch it in doses and skip over the irrelevant and/or offensive parts. I’ll post some reaction next week, as well as a belated look at November’s NPD numbers… which should concern quite a few people as the industry’s slump is far from over. I also have Part III of Consoleation’s Year in Review coming.

In the meantime… enjoy the show! Or not.

Consoleation Looks Back: 2009 in Review (Part wII)

While I talked a lot in my last installment about how much fun that I’ve had with the Xbox 360 in 2009, I wish that I could say the same for the Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately, Nintendo didn’t really deliver a must-own game for me that held my interest for very long. Here are some games that did get some attention from me this year on the Wii:

• House of the Dead: Overkill: Those of you who know me understand that my love for arcade games runs pretty deep. While light gun games are not necessarily my strong suit, Overkill was a reboot of the venerable light gun series that held my attention and actually got me to play all the way through the game’s story. Sure, the usual light gun mechanics are here– but it was the presentation and the little things that kept me interested. The dialogue was purposefully crass and pretty damned hilarious. Plenty of unlockable items and upgradeable weapons made for several level replays. Accuracy streaks and shooting some easy-to-miss items demanded concentration and focus at all times. It wasn’t a scary game, but it was campy… and a lot of fun.
• Punch-Out!!: This game was a successful reboot of a series that’s been dormant for far too long. The controls felt familiar and right, and seeing the mixture of old and new foes was a good thing. If not for a punishing difficulty curve, this would have been one of my favorite games this year. That’s not to say that Punch-Out!! was a bad game, but it certainly could have used a little bit of tweaking to make it more accessible to players of all skill levels.
• MadWorld: Stylish and violent, MadWorld is one of the must play games for the Wii… provided that you’re of age, of course. I’ve read a few reviews of this game that compare it to Smash TV, and with good reason as it’s literally you versus a ton of enemies in a game show-type setting. Unlike Smash TV, however, you can bring death to your opposition in many different (and creative) ways. You can shoot, stab, and combo-kill… such binding a bad guy inside of a set of tires, running him through with a street sign, then throwing him into a set of spikes. It’s delightful viciousness.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii: While Super Mario Galaxy remains one of the best 3D platformers that I have ever played… New Super Mario Bros. Wii brings Mario back to his classic 2D side-scrolling roots with largely– but not completely– successful results. The game is colorful and looks great, and the allure of having several players on-screen at once certainly makes the game more accessible to groups of players so that nobody has to wait to get a turn. I do feel that the game does have some issues in terms of difficulty balance. While I believe that a game should gradually increase in difficulty so that the last few stages test the skill sets that a player has acquired throughout the experience, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is uneven in this regard. There are early stages that are considerably harder and more frustrating than later stages in the game, and this makes no sense to me. Still, the controls are as precise as ever and waggle is reduced to a minimum, which makes for an enjoyable experience… until you get too frustrated and have the game take over for you because you lose too many lives.
• Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare): I am a Final Fantasy IV addict. I’ve played the SNES version (Final Fantasy II), the PSX version (included in the Final Fantasy Chronicles package with Chrono Trigger), the GBA version, the DS remake… and now the pseudo-sequel here via WiiWare. This game is a bit deceptive in that a lot of the content is only unlockable via DLC, but it is a new game in a familiar world with a mix of new and returning characters and monsters. The gameplay is also familiar, although there are some new elements such as moon phases and joint attacks that take some getting used to in order to get the most out of this game. If you like classic RPGs, this one’s worth a look.

The big draw for me when it comes to the Wii is the Virtual Console. Much like Xbox LIVE Arcade has provided me with classic coin-ops to play, the Virtual Console is a one-stop place to download and play games from past generations. 2009 provided its fair share of worthy downloads, including:

• Final Fantasy (NES)
• Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (NES)
• Life Force (NES)
• Super Star Wars, Super Empire Strikes Back, Super Return of the Jedi (SNES)
• Super Mario Kart (SNES)
• Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES)
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
• M.U.S.H.A. (Genesis)
• Mercs (Genesis)
• The Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis)

Despite the good things, the Wii is still a questionable platform for me. Some games that I thought would be slam dunks for me on the Wii this year failed to impress me. The Wii MotionPlus add-on never proved its worth to me. Sure, it picks up all that is wrong with my golf swing so that I can never hit a straight shot… but it also made games like Wii Sports Resort and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 on the Wii a bit less fun for me. I don’t necessarily want my games to be more realistic. I think I can say with certainty now that I’m not a big proponent of the waggle future that we have coming in 2010 with Project Natal and Sony’s motion device, and this directly inhibits my enjoyment of the Wii as a platform.

I will admit that waggle and motion detection was a novel thing for me at first. My initial time with the Wii during its launch window of 2006 was marked by lots of time playing the Bowling game on the Wii Sports disc. As a former league bowler, it was great to impart hook on a bowling ball based on your wrist movements, much like real bowling. As time has gone on, what I’ve seen is the forced addition of motion detection to games that don’t need it… and this makes for a more tiring experience than there needs to be. Perhaps this is the traditionalist in me talking, but I don’t see what is wrong with just kicking back with a controller and using the tried-and-true interface that game players have been using for decades; sure, we’ve seen more buttons and sticks added to the standard controller… but moving to a more active and motion-driven interface just isn’t the answer for me.

But that trend– and others from 2009– will be the subject of Part III of the Consoleation Year in Review. We’ll look not only at motion controllers, but also downloadable content, the overflow of plastic peripherals, and more as we wrap things up. Look for the final installment later this week.

Consoleation Looks Back: 2009 in Review (Part I)

It’s hard to believe that 2009 is in its last month. The year flew by for me, and was capped off by the big move out west here to Arizona. Of course, 2009 isn’t over yet, but it’s not too early to talk a bit about the year that’s been in gaming for me.

About 6 weeks into 2009, I bought an Xbox 360 Eilte. The console succeeded my PlayStation 3 as the console workhorse, and I wound up trading in my PS3 for a Wii about two months later. While I’ve been happy with my 360 so far, I’ve been second-guessing my Wii purchase. Even with my recent purchase of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I still can’t seem to get into a groove with the system. Wii Sports Resort got a few hours of play on launch day, but none since. Dead Space: Extraction failed to hold my interest for long. MadWorld was an interesting concept, but I couldn’t find myself able to get into it. The only things keeping me from considering parting with the Wii at this point in time are the Virtual Console and WiiWare games that I bought (which have been bright spots) and the promise of new games in 2010 like Metroid: Other M, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and others.

As for the Xbox 360, I’ve had a genuinely awesome experience with it so far. I will admit that I’ve become an Achievement Whore, and the ability for sites like Raptr and Giant Bomb to track my gameplay stats online has been an addictive one to follow. In addition, I finally got to play some games that I’d missed when I was PS3-only. I got to play Ace Combat 6… and was somewhat disappointed with it versus the series’ PS2 iterations. The same went for Beautiful Katamari. I tried getting into Lost Odyssey (and couldn’t). I played Tales of Vesperia and finally liked a Tales game. In 2009, I downloaded over 100 Xbox LIVE Arcade games, reliving some great coin-ops from the past, including TRON, Smash TV, Frogger, and my personal favorite, Track & Field. XBLA has arguably the majority of my enjoyment on the 360, and that’s pretty impressive.

I also have a Nintendo DSi, having traded up from a DS Lite. So far, the upgrade hasn’t been all that rewarding. Some of the apps and DSiWare games have been neat, but I miss the GBA cartridge port. Being unable to play classic GBA games like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow or even the GBA Pokemon games is a feature that’s sorely missed. Hopefully 2010 will shed more positive light on the DSi with perhaps more features and functionality. The platform isn’t even a year old, and it’s typical for Nintendo to start slow and gradually ramp things up. We shall see.

When it comes to favorite game releases in 2009, there are certainly more than a few. Let’s start with Xbox 360 games:

• Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360): With BioShock 2 getting delayed to February, my desire for a story-driven action game was largely fulfilled by Arkham Asylum. The presentation and aesthetics were spot-on, the gameplay had just the right mix of action (lots), stealth (little), and investigation– not to mention some story twists and an overall dark atmosphere that really held my attention for longer than I thought it would, especially considering that I have no experience with any of the Batman comics, which provided the source material for Arkham Asylum.
• Borderlands (Xbox 360): I am not at all good at first-person games, especially shooters. Playing Call of Duty, especially online, is generally a humbling experience. By adding RPG elements and an addictive looting option, however, Gearbox and 2K Games delivered a first-person experience for me that’s held my interest longer in the genre than all but one other game: BioShock. I’ve already spent over 30 hours playing Borderlands, and I’m not even at Level 30 yet. Some quests may be repetitive, and the same monsters respawn all the time, but I can’t get enough of this game… and with the recent release of the Zombie Island expansion, I don’t see the end for this game anytime soon.
• Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (Xbox 360): This release is like a Director’s Cut of the game that we saw come out for the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP last year. It has all of the same pinball tables (such as Funhouse, Pinbot, and Taxi), plus it adds tables (most notably Medieval Madness) and online leaderboards while displaying everything in high-definition. This game won’t get any love on any site’s Best of 2009 features, but it’s on mine… and I wholeheartedly recommend it as a holiday gift for anyone who’s a fan of pinball or old-school arcades.
• NHL 10 (Xbox 360): Electronic Arts is getting very close to delivering the perfect hockey video game. Whether you play this game online or offline, AHL or NHL, using dual stick control or NHL ‘94 controls… this game rocks. I would like to see the presentation for next year’s game ramped up a little bit with more stat overlays and more new lines of commentary instead of the recycled stuff we’ve heard from Gary Thorne and Bill Clement for the last few years now. If EA can adapt their dual presentation (like they did in NCAA Basketball 10 by including teams from ESPN and CBS Sports for commentary and visual presentation) to include Versus (gotta get Mike Emrick) and maybe the NHL Network can get involved… this franchise has a real shot to dominate not only in hockey video games, but second only to Madden in EA’s yearly sports offerings.
• Shadow Complex (XBLA): This game goes to show that Koji Igarashi isn’t the only game designer to have a handle on the Super Metroid game design formula. The story may not win any awards, but the gameplay is comfortably familiar for anyone who’s played Super Metroid or any of the “Metroidvania” games, such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night or Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. The visuals are quite impressive for an XBLA game, and replay value is increased with challenge rooms aside from the main adventure. This is the downloadable game of 2009. 
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (XBLA): A game that has been deserving of a re-release for quite some time, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a frenetic fighter that is as much fun to watch as it is to play. Insane combos, fast gameplay, and some rather unique music all return for a new generation to experience. Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 controller is touch-and-go for this game (as it is for every fighting game)… but this game deserves a place on every 360 (and PS3) owner’s hard drive.
• Peggle (XBLA, Nintendo DS): I had never played or even heard of Peggle until it was announced for XBLA. Shame on me. The gameplay idea is simple; launch a ball from the top of the screen and hit as many orange pegs as you can as the ball falls down the screen in a Lucky Hit-like fashion. It’s not as simple as it sounds, though; knowing how the ball will bounce and what to aim for makes Peggle a game of strategy… and a little bit of luck, too. The Nintendo DS version, while not as smooth, is still very playable and has a few additions that make it a worthy addition to your library.

This concludes Part I. The next installment will talk about my favorite Wii offerings in 2009, as well as some of this year’s disappointments across the industry. Look for that later this week… but in the meantime, feel free to comment and share your own great games– and disappointments– of 2009. I’d love to read about your own experiences and choices.

Consoleation Observation: Stupid Ignorance

I went out today to continue to learn the lay of the land out here in Chandler and wound up hitting a few retail spots along the way. I wound up finding a couple of great deals, but also saw something that really got me upset and wanting to write about it, so bear with me.

I decided to stop into Play ‘n Trade, which is a new retailer for me. We never had them where I used to live and I wanted to see what they were about in terms of inventory and staff. The store that I went to was pretty small for a retail store, but I was excited to see quite a bit in the way of retrogaming stuff. There was a SEGA Genesis and SEGA CD combo complete. There were games for the Atari VCS. There were an NES Advantage. There were PSX games (that I almost bit on). The sole employee did his usual welcome, and I’ll excuse him for being a little less than warm since it was Black Friday… although there were only two other people in the store aside from myself and the employee.

One person was a customer like myself, who was a 360 owner and had some questions about DJ Hero. He got to try it out and I watched for a little bit. Standard stuff.

The other person was a young boy, probably about 10, playing a game. I didn’t pay much attention to him at first, until I heard the employee ask him, “Hey, you playin’ Spec Ops?” I looked up, and there it was. A child playing Modern Warfare 2, despite the ESRB rating of Mature 17+. What kind of example does this set? I got to wondering about whether this employee even cared, or whether Play ‘n Trade even used the ESRB guidelines. While I watched the screen streak with blood as the boy’s on-screen character took bullets, I felt embarrassed. As much as we talk about how certain games are meant for certain age groups and how the ESRB is supposed to be helping the industry protect itself from parental and governmental watchdog groups, this example shows that there remains a laissez-faire attitude about Mature-rated games and who gets to play them.

If this was someone’s home that I walked into and I saw a child playing Modern Warfare 2, I’d be more inclined to laugh it off as poor parenting or bad decision-making. You can argue with me all you want about whether a 10 year-old boy should be playing a video game that contains scenes of gratuitous violence like Modern Warfare 2 does. That’s fine. The bigger problem here is that a retail store is setting the example that it’s acceptable for a young child to be playing this game. I don’t care if this boy is a someone left in the store while his parents are doing Black Friday shopping or if the child is the employee’s son. What does the employee say when another minor walks into the store, interested in the same game? The employee can decide to abide by the ESRB and not sell the game, but another child was already playing it. The employee can sell the game to a minor and ignore the ESRB, but then what is the point of the ESRB to begin with?

I support the ESRB rating system and believe that all retailers should adhere to it. Do ID checks. Go over content descriptors with parents so they know what little Johnny will be playing. Say no to minors wanting to buy the game if a parent or guardian is not present. Let the parents decide if their children are mature enough to play these games… even if the parents don’t care and just want to stop their children from whining about not getting what they want. After having worked in the gaming retail sector as I have, I know that it doesn’t take more than a couple of extra minutes to check IDs and quickly go over the content descriptors. If the parent doesn’t want to hear it, fine, but at least the retailer made the effort and the fault lies 100% with the parents.

It’s stupidity like I witnessed today that’s going to one day get the video gaming industry regulated instead of letting the industry police itself. All it could have taken was for one member of the press to walk into Play ‘n Trade like I did today and ask about Black Friday sales, and then see the little boy playing Modern Warfare 2. Even if the employee quickly tried to yank the controller away or turn the game off, it doesn’t excuse what was allowed to happen. Suppositions can be made about what the boy was exposed to. Did he try the controversial No Russian level? Does he like to kill?

I know that it’s Black Friday. I know that most retailers have a ton of other things going on today and it’s hard to keep everything straight. At the same time, this behavior and basically stupid ignorance is just too angering to ignore. Hopefully it’s isolated, but you never know.

Consoleation Impression-ism: Gyromancer (X360)

Gyromancer is a role-playing and puzzle game hybrid that is the result of a collaboration between role-playing giant Square-Enix and PopCap Games, who’s published some fun casual games, like Peggle and Bejeweled. If a role-playing puzzle game sounds like it’s been done before, well… it has. You might have heard of a game called Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords before. (If not, do yourself a favor and play it now.) Puzzle Quest took the gameplay basics of Bejeweled and successfully mixed in fantasy role-playing elements like magic spells and the ability to level up and strengthen a character through earning experience points. The story, while serviceable, took a back seat to the addictive gameplay and the desire to continually level up a character. The music, though sparse, was appropriately epic and the visuals were decent enough.

PopCap and Square-Enix have not delivered a strict Puzzle Quest clone with Gyromancer. While the games share some similiarities, Gyromancer is very much its own game. Instead of shifting just two jewels– as in Puzzle Quest or Bejeweled– players must use a wheel that can spin a group of four stones clockwise in order to create lines of three identical stones and make them disappear. Like Puzzle Quest, clearing stones powers up spells; however, the only attacks that can be executed are after each spell’s gauge has filled up and an ability stone (which is an enhanced version of a stone that’s already out on the playfield) houses the spell until it’s unleashed by clearing that stone within a line. Also, unlike Puzzle Quest, opponents do not move in real time. Each opponent’s spell gauges gradually fill after each move the player makes. Once a spell gauge is filled, a skull block appears on the playfield, accompanied by a timer. If the skull block cannot be cleared before the timer runs out, the player takes damage by way of lost hit points.

There are other variables at play in Gyromancer, as well. Players will use beasts to fight these battles, rather than fight as themselves as in Puzzle Quest. Players can earn the right to use new beasts by finding items called Gyro Codes. These codes can be brought to the Summoner’s Den and, in exchange for cash… errr…gil, new beasts become unlocked and ready for battle. Players can only hold three beasts at once, and each beast has a certain affinity which may help or hinder its chances against other beasts, depending on that beast’s affinity. For example, a beast with a cold affinity will have an advantage when battling a fire beast.

After having completed the introductory stage and the Daemonwood stage, I can say that Gyromancer has an addictive quality to it. I don’t think that the game is as addictive as Puzzle Quest (or Bejeweled, for that matter), but I want to keep playing to keep leveling up and obtain more gil and awards. Leveling up is not only fun to do, but it’s also imperative to be able to bring beasts into battle that can stand a chance if you make a few mistakes while trying to create and clear lines. The story is forgettable, at least at this early stage. The graphics and sound fare better, though; the character designs have been impressive and the music is quite good. It would have bee  nice to get some voice acting into the game insteas of reading lots of text, but considering that th is is a downloadable game, it’s more of a nitpick than a complaint.

It’s tough to say with any certainty at this point if Gyromancer is worth the asking price of 1200 Microsoft Points (or $15). What’s disappointing is the quick release of DLC for the game, which provides three extra areas for 240 more Microsoft Points (or $3). Adding DLC at the time of launch to XBLA titles has been a regular thing for Taito, which is also under the Square-Enix umbrella. To me, that’s not good sense because much of this DLC is content that would already have been in the game 10 years ago.

I do recommend giving the Gyromancer demo a whirl, ad it doesn’t cost you a cent. The demo gives you more than enough time to get the basics and see if the game is a good fit for you. I’ll have more impressions for you as I’m able to spend more time with this title.

Consoleation Impression-ism: Modern Warfare 2 (360) and New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)

After a hiatus of nearly two weeks, I was able to spend a bit of time playing games Sunday night. I tried out my two newest games– Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360 and New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii– and I wanted to give some impressions of both before heading off to bed.

Let me touch on Modern Warfare 2 first. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating before I go any further: I am not very talented at first-person shooters. Borderlands may be the exception, as I’ve become more skilled playing that, but that may be more due to leveling up my character than it is my improving at these kinds of games. So… why did I buy Modern Warfare 2 then? I guess I needed to see what all of the hype has been about. I suppose that I could have rented it since my new place here in Arizona has a Blockbuster store less than 5 minutes from me… but I wanted to give the game its due time.

I played for about an hour, and I do like the game in spite of my lack of ability. The aesthetics are great, and there’s certainly a ton of action. I did play through the No Russian level that’s been one of the focuses of controversy surrounding the game, but playing through it myself had no real effect for me. I think I understand why No Russian was put into the game, but I think that a non-playable cutscene could have been used for the first half of the stage– which is what most people who bristle at the game point to.  I can also see where some of the imagery can be unsettling, as picking off wounded civilians who are attempting to crawl to safety is a very cold act. What bothers me is that, due to Infinity Ward’s decision to make the stage optional, there’s no real payoff for playing it… and that’s after clearing the second half of the stage, which is considerably difficult. Sure, you may develop a stronger hatred for the game’s antagonist, but I believe this could have been achieved a different way.

Modern Warfare 2 is intense. Bullets zip past you constantly and you must keep your head on a swivel in order to survive. The snowmobile scene, which was first unveiled at E3 earlier this year, is remarkably tense. I’m still very early in the game’s campaign, but I do like what I’ve experienced so far. Spec Ops is a nice added touch, with different objectives and a choice of playing alone or with friends. The game’s multiplayer mode is easily its strongest asset, though. As long as you keep the voice chat off (or play with friends), it’s an addictive experience and the additions that Infinity Ward made to streaks and player progressions make for a game that literally has infinite replay value– provided that these kinds of games are your thing.

I’ll be spending more time with Modern Warfare 2 this week for sure.

As for New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, the game feels like a welcome return to the roots of the series. Not that Super Mario Galaxy was bad or anything, but New Super Mario Bros. feels familiar and yet has just enough new things added to the experience so that it truly feels like the standalone game that it is. I played through a handful of stages, including the first sub-fortress, and had little problem getting through any of them. “Getting by” isn’t enough in a game like this, however; it’s all about the secrets and finding all of the hidden things in each stage, like Toads or special gold coins. It’s almost as if you can play the game in a variety of ways. You can play for speed runs through the stages. You can play to find all of the coins. You can play with style, or challenge yourself to run through a stage without powerups. The formula may be 25 years old, but it doesn’t age.

I’ll have more to say about both of these games in the coming days, but I wanted to get some thoughts out while the images were still fresh in my mind. For now, though, it’s off to bed.

Consoleation Relocation: Welcome to Arizona!

I finally am up and running here at my new home in Arizona. The trip here spanned over 3,000 miles and I saw some pretty amazing things along the way during stops to Graceland and the Grand Canyon… but I’m now in the midst of unpacking my belongings and am hoping to resume normal updates here starting Monday.

Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a job out here. That means that new game purchases are going to be pretty rare until I get some cash flow again. I do have some games that I’ll be trading in towards Super Mario Bros. Wii and hopefully Modern Warfare 2… but that’s going to pretty much be it until I find a job. Now that the move is over, I’m going to begin looking around at what sites have writing positions available and I’m hoping to latch on somewhere soon. Even if I’m not reviewing games (which is my first love), I still have a backlog of titles that I can cover and would love to expand my observational writing on the industry as I see it. The move has re-energized me, and I’m ready to get back into writing mode once again.

It’s worth noting that my Xbox 360 is now connected wirelessly, rather than with a direct connection. I have only spent enough time on XBL this evening to download the Bayonetta demo, so I really cannot comment on what effect– if any– the wireless connection will have. I did notw that downloading the Bayonetta demo (nearly 800MB) did seem to take a little longer than it did before, but the difference seemed negligible.

Now then, I wanted to briefly touch on a few things that went on while I was on the road:

• Apparently, there were reports that GameStop stores in certain areas broke street date again– this time with Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. I know that I’ve beaten this topic to death, but the evidence is piling up in my favor. Something needs to happen with the game distribution chain. If street dates are to be maintained, then retail distribution centers need to ship games to their stores much closer to the intended date than the 2-3 weeks that they’re currently using. I still maintain that street dates are pointless and should be abolished, though; sell the games once they’re received.
• NPD numbers were released while I was on the road, and what stuck out to me was another disappointing result by Microsoft. Two months don’t make a trend, but I believe that it’s something worth watching. Perhaps the exclusive Modern Warfare 2 bundle will help move consoles for Microsoft, but I don’t see a lot of positives for Microsoft this quarter. There are more exclusives in 2010, plus the eventual appearance of Project Natal, but Q4 2009 has done little to impress me on the 360 side of the fence. If I was to put my Michael Pachter hat on, I’d say that the momentum still lies with Sony. Nintendo will get a boost via Super Mario Bros. Wii and that should keep the PS3 and Wii in close pecking order for this month. Microsoft is a wild card and I would not be surprised to see a third straight last-place finish for the 360 this month.
• While implementing Twitter and Facebook as apps on the Xbox 360 dashboard seems like a good idea, the real coup of Microsoft’s latest dashboard update is the addition of Last.fm, which is fantastic. While I personally prefer Pandora Radio, Last.fm is a good to great radio program on its own and there are plenty of tags and bands from which you can create a superstation of your own. As for Twitter and Facebook, those apps are tough to take advantage of without a USB keyboard or Messenger keypad add-on… and not having a built-in web browser for the 360 makes all of the links that Twitter users tend to use totally pointless.

That’s about it for now. It’s good to be back. For those of you who are on board with Google Wave, feel free to add me. My address is gameguypeter@googlewave.com. Otherwise, feel free to comment here on say hello via Twitter.

I’ll be back Monday.

Consoleation Status Report: Hitting The Road

I’ve been talking about this a bit, but now the hour is almost at hand.

On Thursday morning, I will be departing for my new home in Chandler, AZ. I’ll be driving out there, so I’m anticipating a 7-10 day trip… which is going to include a few sightseeing stops since I’ve rarely traveled out of New England. My current itinerary has stops at Hershey, PA and the Grand Canyon… but may also include Graceland in Tennessee if I make good enough time. This is my long-awaited vacation from everything, as I’ve not had a real vacation (with no work or writing responsibilities) since 2001.

As a result, there might be another lapse in entries here at Consoleation. I plan to use Twitter liberally, and may be able to sneak in some brief updates on my DSi-playing progress as I’ll be playing all three Castlevania games during the course of the trip. If I do update here, it will be via my Blackberry Storm, so the entries won’t be as detailed as I’m used to publishing… but since I’ve rediscovered my love for writing and have a goal of getting permanently re-established within gaming press circles once I’m settled into my new address (which makes travel to E3 a real possibility for the first time ever for me), I would like to continue sharing my thoughts and observations when I can.

Unfortunately, I won’t be in a position to hook up any consoles while on the road, so I won’t be on Xbox Live or playing Wii during the move. Once the move is completed, I have my eyes set on two major game releases: Modern Warfare 2 for the 360 and New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. Aside from those games, my purchasing habits are going to be severely curtailed until I get situated with a job and start generating income again. Perhaps that will be a good thing, since I have a propensity to impulsively spend money on some games that I really don’t wind up wanting or liking. Having to budget money tighter than normal will hope me in the long run.

Before I go, though, here are some quick thoughts on Nintendo’s latest retro revival:

Excitebike: World Rally (WiiWare, 1000 Wii Points / $10) is a lot of fun. Nintendo has basically taken the tracks from the NES original and set them in more varied locations around the world… but the play control from the 1987 classic is carried forward here with few changes and feels as tight as ever. I would’ve liked to have seen updated leaderboards with the best times from each track, but there is online play here which works quite well. Playing online or with friends is what really extends the replay value of Excitebike: World Rally, but there’s plenty for solo players to do, as well. I really recommend this one, especially if you’re the nostalgic type.

With that, it’s time to retire for the night. Next stop: Arizona!