James' Holiday Gaming Guide: Games to Ask Santa For

With Christmas approaching quickly, I’ve taken the liberty of listing some of the best games for the holiday season.
For Xbox Owners:
· Gears of War 2- My review firmly stated how much I enjoyed this game and I think you will too. It has a great story mode, some improved multiplayer, and graphics that are out of this world. The game is rated MA and is good for older teens and up.
· Fable 2- This RPG has all of the elements that it needs to be a great advancement on the first Fable. With a large open world and a story that develops based on your actions, this game is a must have for RPG fans.
· Left 4 Dead- The new zombie game from Valve (creators of Half Life) delivers on the promise of great multiplayer and a true to form zombie infestation that captures the essence of zombie movies nicely.

For PS3 Owners:
· Metal Gear Solid 4- This AAA title has been the most touted for the Playstation. It offers dynamic action gameplay and great graphics that utilize the PS3’s great hardware as well as any game has.
· Resistance 2- This game is another Playstation exclusive that has drawn a lot of attention; it is a solid first person shooter that offers a traditional shooter experience.
· Killzone 2- Perhaps the most anticipates game of the year, Killzone 2 has been the focus of conversation since its trailer all the way back at E3 2005. With graphics to rival Gears 2 and a promise of great gameplay this game could be huge for the PS3.
· Little Big Planet- The original IP has drawn a significant amount of attention and it could be a great, dynamic take on the platformer if the user generated content on Home comes through for it. Only time will tell.
For Wii Owners:
· Mario Kart Wii- A continuation of the popular franchise this game uses the wii wheel to bring the authentic kart racing experience
· Super Smash Brother Wii- Another entry in the popular franchise this game will undoubtedly please fans of the series.
Multiplatform Games:
· Fallout 3- This post-apocalyptic RPG has generated a lot of praise and for good reason. With dynamic consequences for all of your actions and a new take on weaponry and attack, this game is something new that fans will enjoy.
· Grand Theft Auto 4- An extremely comprehensive game that immerses you deeply into Liberty City and the plight of Nikko Bellic. You can spend hours in this game just driving around and never work on the story mode, it is a very fun game that has so much replay value it is ridiculous.
· Call of Duty: World at War-The next installment in the COD franchise this game brings us back to WWII and into the Pacific to fight Japanese forces. With narration from Keifer Sutherland (Jack Bauer) and classic COD gameplay, the game brings a lot to the table.
· Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe- An interesting mix of characters and a highly criticized “Teen” rated gameplay (not usual MK blood and gore) this fighter is the first in a while that I am excited about. Most fighters have not made a good transition to 3-D but this game promises to be different with a good story and gameplay. The addition of so many iconic characters doesn’t hurt either. I just hope that it is as good as it looks, I’ll review it once I actually get it ;)
· The Force Unleashed- If you didn’t buy this game back in September, then now is your chance to make up for that. With incredible graphics, fun gameplay, and a story that is better than the story in “Attack of the Clones” (My least favorite SW movie, by the way) this game is a must have for any SW fan. I would also recommend the “Jedi Temple” DLC that I reviewed earlier.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, here’s to 2009 the year of Ghostbusters!

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed DLC Review

The Force Unleashed just got its first downloadable level and it is called the "Jedi Temple Level Pack." The pack is available at the Xbox Live marketplace for 800 MS points or about $10. The DLC includes a new single player level and several new characters including Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Darth Maul. To play the level you need to start a new game and there will be a list with the normal game and with the Jedi Temple game underneath it. You don't get to use your player from any saved games that you have however they start you with a character with almost all of the powers and abilities and you will level up several times.

The level itself is fun but a little short when you figure out what to do, it is not as long as the normal levels in the game and that was a little disappointing. The story is simple, Starkiller is going to the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Courscant to find a hologram and hopefully learn more about his father. There is a very cool boss character and the action is just as fun and challenging as the rest of TFU so if you liked the game you will like this DLC. The level is also more destructible than the majority of the other levels in the game so that is a nice element.

The level doesn't bring anything radically new but it sticks to what worked in the game and that is a good thing. I would recomend it if you liked the game, if you didn't like the game than this won't change your mind.

Overall: 8/10

Atari's First Ghostbusters Game Trailer!

After a long time in “limbo” Ghostbusters: The Video Game was finally picked up by publisher Atari and they are beginning their ad campaign now with a new trailer and a new site that will be launching any day now. The new trailer features our first looks at Peter Venkman and Walter Peck, both of which look amazing. The trailer is all cut-scenes but it has a good feel of a movie about it. I feel that the cinematic approach is best suited for Ghostbusters because of the game’s nature as, essentially, the third film.
The trailer shows off some very impressive character modeling and it is obvious that tons of effort was put into the development of the character models, which helps bring the authenticity to the game. I would prefer good character models and decent environments to the opposite because the actors were such a key part of the original movies. The emphasis on them is well placed, but that does not mean that they have forgotten the environments and the ghosts. There are some impressive visuals in the trailer as well, the ghosts are colorful and have a nice hue about them. The opening shot of the New York City skyline was so good I almost thought it was a scene from a live action movie and not a computer generated image.
The game looks very promising and I just cannot stand the wait. It will be out in June 2009, with a hinted at demo possibly coming out soon but that is completely rumor for now. Hopefully with the launch of the site we will be treated to even more GB goodness. But for now you can see the new trailer in all its HD glory at Gametrailers.com.

The New Xbox Dashboard

The updated Xbox dashboard that was promoted at E3 this year is finally out and I really like it. The new set-up has a lot of new media options, easier-to-navigate menus, and a more colorful and fun experience, although there are some things that probably should have been left out.
One of the first things that you will notice is the overall layout, all of the options appear as boxes that are staggered and you can use the analog sticks to navigate up, down, left, and right. There are all of the standard options as well as an expanded marketplace. The items you want are much easier to find, as you can browse the marketplace by title and genre. Also all of the downloads for a particular game can be viewed together, for example, if you go to Halo 3, you can see all of the downloadable map packs and videos together. There is still an abundance of game demos to try out and the interface is just plain improved.
You can also buy episodes of popular TV shows, buy music videos, and rent movies from a relatively large library of titles that will undoubtedly be expanding over the coming months. The premium themes make the dashboard itself look much better than the previous installment and the general layout is easy on the eyes. You should have no trouble finding whatever you want. The usual “Inside Xbox” feature is still there and, like everything else, it’s easy to navigate.
But there is definitely one thing that I could have done without and that is the Avatars, they are a blatant rip-off of the Mii’s and are way too “kiddy” for the Xbox 360. Seeing an avatar in front next to a big picture of Marcus Fenix just doesn’t sit right with me. The idea is to appeal to the “casual” market that the Wii targets, but I think that that is something Xbox just doesn’t need to do to be successful, the Xbox and the Playstation both appeal to the more hardcore gamers or the more mature gamers, it doesn’t need to be decked out with “kid-friendly” avatars. Not that children’s games shouldn’t be on the system, it’s just that the whole avatar system is pushing it too far. But because of the sea of new media and the easier to navigate menus I can’t complain, I think overall it is a step forward for the Xbox interface.

The Evolution of Controllers

The controller is one of the most basic parts of the video game experience and often we overlook the importance and value of the controller. We also take for granted the great control schemes that we have today to play our favorite games, but it wasn’t always so great. In this essay I will give a retrospective on the evolution of gaming controllers, from the early 1970’s to today’s generation of gaming consoles. Controllers have come a long way and have become much more effective through a lot of trial and error.
In the early days of video games, each game had its own input device. For example, a hunting game would have a laser gun attached to it and a driving game would have a steering wheel attached to the console. What must be remembered is that at this time in history video game consoles only played one game and that game was programmed into the system itself. So the hunting game would be a completely separate console from the driving game. This is the way it was in arcades and it made sense to apply that to the home video game market. It wasn’t until the development of the Atari 2600 in the mid-1970’s that the idea of interchangeable game cartridges was proposed.
With the advent of the Atari 2600 and the interchangeable game cartridges, came the necessity for a universal controller that could work for all of the games that would come out for the console. It wasn’t practical to sell each game with its own controller; that would make the prices too high and dissuade people from buying a totally new kind of product. Video games were not developed as a market segment yet so people didn’t know if they would really be successful in the home or not. In developing the controller Atari used a very basic joystick concept for movement and a single red button for any kind of action that needed to be performed. While the controller was very rudimentary it was useable for most all of the games. Atari did sell some other controllers, like the “paddle” controllers but the majority of the games used the traditional controller.
When Atari’s competitors (Coleco and Mattel Electronics) decided to get into the game market they took a different approach, they used a numeric keypad system, like a telephone, with some form of joystick or a disk. These control schemes were complicated and the controls changed for every game, so much so that people needed overlays to know what buttons to hit for what action, it was much less intuitive than the Atari controller and this led people to continue to support Atari as opposed to switching to these new systems. The idea of the numeric keypad didn’t die with this however. When the Atari 5200 was released it had controllers with a numeric keypad, not only was this a mistake but the controllers were notorious for not functioning, this was a huge step backwards for the controllers.
In 1985 Nintendo released the NES and that used a controller that utilized a “D-pad” (directional pad) and two buttons on the opposite side of the controller. This set-up was much more intuitive than anything before and it was a big step towards the controllers that we know today. The D-pad was more maneuverable than the joystick and the two buttons allowed for more actions and more complex games. For the rest of the 8-bit and the 16-bit era controllers followed this basic structure with one d-pad (usually on the left) and two or more buttons on the right. Nintendo’s prime competitor, Sega, released the Genesis with a controller that had thee buttons “A” “B” and “C.” But it was Nintendo who introduced the concept of the “shoulder” button. The SNES featured a button on both sides of the top of the controller, these buttons were rarely used but they led the way for the controllers to come that would make better use of the buttons.
Atari made a final attempt to get back into the video game race but their last try was an absolute disaster, the Jaguar was not only a bad system but it also had terrible controllers. The first problem is that they went back to the numeric system; if it didn’t work before why would it work now? Then the two red buttons were spaced out far from one another on the top of the massive controller. The controller was extremely awkward to handle and it didn’t help a system that was bad enough anyway.
If that isn’t enough bad controllers for you, Phillips released a CD based gaming console called the CD-I. This system had several controllers, all of which were bad. The only decent one was the standard looking controller that was similar to the Sega Genesis controller. The controller that came with the system was wireless and had a small joystick at the top and buttons all around it. The designs were not very intuitive and this just made a bad system even worse.
In 1994 Sony released the Playstation and this controller utilized a four button set-up, like the SNES, but in a circle on the right of the controller. Later versions made use of a dual analog style that had two analog joysticks that were more sensitive to motion and controlled view and movement independently, this allowed for more mobility on the part of the player and a better vision range, once you got used to it. There was also a d-pad on this controller which further helped give the player more control. These controllers also had two buttons on each side of the top of the controller, 2 on the left and 2 on the right. This is a style that Sony has used, almost without difference, all the way until today and something that Microsoft also used in their controllers
In 1997 Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 which had controllers with one small analog joystick and a d-pad. They also had the traditional Nintendo “A” and “B” buttons but also 4 yellow buttons aligned in a circle on the right of the controller called the “C” buttons. These buttons were primarily used for secondary actions like control of camera angles in Super Mario 64. There was also the “Z” button on the back that acted as a trigger.
In 2001 Microsoft entered the console race and released the Xbox. The original Xbox controller was an absolute monstrosity, it was huge and many joked that it was meant for a bear. Microsoft released a smaller, and much better, controller that became the standard for the Xbox. When the Xbox 360 was released in 2005 the controller had synthesized the best portions of controllers in the past. The controller has one d-pad on the bottom leftish, two analog joysticks on the top left and the bottom rightish. There are 4 buttons on the right in a circle the X, A, B, and Y buttons. Then there are two triggers one on the right and one on the left of the top of the controller and finally two additional “shoulder” buttons called the “bumper” buttons. These buttons have a variety of uses in games and they are easy to use only if they aren’t used with the trigger on the same side.
Some new features have been added to controllers over the years besides button combination and the two most significant features are wireless controllers and “rumble” technology. Believe it or not the Atari 2600 had a wireless controller and so did the CD-I which I mentioned earlier. But these controllers were primitive and not very effective. The first wireless controller that really “got it right” was the Sega Dreamcast controller but unfortunately that system was doomed to failure. But that wasn’t the end of wireless controllers, the Xbox and the Playstation had their versions of the wireless controller but they were more expensive than the wired controllers and they required a lot of batteries to keep them running. Finally the Xbox 360 has now started to come packaged with one wireless controller. The controller runs on two AA batteries, but if you buy a “play and charge kit” you will get a rechargeable battery and a wire that you can plug into the controller and the Xbox, this way if the controller is low in battery you can plug it in and still play while the battery is charged, and then you can take the wire out when it is charged and play wireless again. This development has brought wireless control to the mainstream along with the naturally wireless “Wii” controller, which works on motion detection.
The second feature is the “rumble” technology which is forced feedback from the system to the controller that makes the controller shake when appropriate in the context of the game. This was first used, in mainstream gaming, with the “Rumble Pack” accessory to the N64 controllers. If you bought the rumble pack and plugged it into the slot where the memory card is he controller would shake when you were either hit in the game or in a variety of other situations. This was made a standard feature of Xbox and Xbox 360 controllers and it required no add on. The Playstation 3 controllers are the first of that line to have rumble technology. This rumbling effect helps immerse the player in the game and make it more realistic to them.
Controllers have come a long way and we have seen many good and bad ideas but I believe that in the end we have found a good style of controller that doesn’t need significant changing unless some massive improvement is made in game control, like the elimination of an input device, but that is a long way off if it is even possible so we will have to see.

Spotlight on the Angry Video Game Nerd

My attentions in this blog entry turn to the entertainer known as the Angry Video Game Nerd. AVGN (for short) is an online show starring James Rolfe, an independent filmmaker, and it deals with the nerd character reviewing bad old games and consoles. The focus of the show is on retro gaming so the vast majority of the games are from the 80’s and early 90’s. The show began as a two small reviews done by Mr. Rolfe for private viewing amongst friends. In these firs two reviews the nerd bashes “Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” both for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The character was originally dubbed the “Angry Nintendo Nerd” and Mr. Rolfe began to post his videos on Youtube.com but when it became a feature on Screwattack.com the title was changed to the Angry Video Game Nerd to avoid copyright problems and to show that the scope of the show had changed. Soon after the show was put on Screwattack, Gametrailers.com bought the rights to post the videos on their site. Now the nerd videos are only available on Gametrailers.com.
What is interesting about the show is the emphasis on retro gaming, everyone is talking about the newest tech and it is funny and unique to hear someone ranting about a game that is 20 years old. The shows can also be somewhat informative because there are many consoles and games that are featured that I hadn’t heard about until watching the show. Then of course there are the games and systems that I have played and that makes the reviews even more fun because I have personal experience to back up the content of the review itself. Many of his reviews are tied into the release of a new movie in the franchise (like his recent review of Indiana Jones games the day before the new one came out) or to the time of year especially his annual Halloween and Christmas Specials.
The “nerd” character is just that, a character that James Rolfe plays in these videos, many people believe that he is like this in real life but he and everyone who knows him assure us that he exaggerates to be funny on camera. The nerd utilizes foul language and many of his phrases have become quite popular, however I won’t repeat them here. The range of games and systems that the nerd has covered is very large and some of my favorite episodes are his Sega CD review, his Sega 32X review, his Silver Surfer review, his Ghostbusters 3 part review, and his Chronologically Confused video where he talks about weird numbering in both movies and video games. To date, the nerd has put out more than 50 reviews and has no plans to stop which makes me very happy. His reviews are not for everyone so if you are a young child or are easily offended by foul language steer clear but if not you will find the videos quite enjoyable.
The first volume of AVGN episodes is available right now on DVD for purchase at Screwattack.com, though you can watch all of the episodes for free online. If you go to www.cinemassacre.com/new you can find links to all of the AVGN videos and to Mr. Rolfe’s other works, I highly recommend “Legends of the Blue Hole” it is an interesting story about a fabled, bottomless pit in New Jersey. Mr. Rolfe also reviews movies on spike.com, and you can find out what he is doing by going to his page. Have fun watching the videos and come back to blog soon, I have a lot more planned for the coming days.

Atari Picks Up Ghostbusters: The Video Game and Gears 2 sells 2.1 milion copies on its first day

Game company Atari has officially announced what many have suspected for a while, they are going to be publishing the new video game based on the "Ghostbusters" movies. Ghostbusters: The Video Game was left without a publisher after the Vivendi-Activision merger and has finally officially landed a publisher. Atari has set a release window of "early summer 2009." Which will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first film. (Which is June 8, 2009 to be exact) Gamestop has set a release date of June 16th which seems reasonable since it is a Tuesday (and also happens to be the 20th anniversary of Ghostbusters II) But Atari has not confirmed that date so it is most likely speculation in the part of Gamestop.

In other news, Gears of War 2 sold 2.1 million copies on its opening day (last Friday) and is expected to reach 3.5 million by this Friday. These numbers put it into an elite group of AAA game titles like Halo 3. This bodes well for the franchise and the possible Gears of War 3 that I am already waiting for.