Ben-DutkaGood Lord…the games just won't stop. That Resident Evil game comes out this week, too, doesn't it? …whatever happened to my traditional first-quarter break? It go away? 🙁
If GTAV doesn't make it out this year, then…
At the start of 2012, my two front-runners for Game of the Year were The Last Of Us and Grand Theft Auto V . Obviously, such a prediction was based solely on the sheer capability of Naughty Dog (and that one amazing trailer) and the fact that GTA…is, well, GTA. But it seems Naughty Dog's project may not make it this year (GameStop has a vague December 31, 2012 release date), and Sterne Agee now thinks Rockstar's hotly anticipated title won't arrive until 2013 . There's little to no chance of seeing Metal Gear Solid 5 , I wish we would see inFamous 3 but I doubt it, and although I've played every single Halo , I don't have a huge amount of faith in Halo 4 .
To me, this sort of leaves Bioshock Infinite in the driver's seat for this year's top honors. I've said it before and I've said it again: Bioshock is too under-appreciated by gamers; it's often forgotten when someone lists off the best games of the generation, and that's just plain wrong. The first two were excellent . And I have every confidence in Ken Levine and Co.; they're gonna produce something super special. …I won't be wrong. I can't be wrong. It's gonna rule too much.
Inafune still isn't pulling any punches
Former Capcom boss and Comcept founder Keiji Inafune got a lot of press last year by accusing the Japanese games industry of falling behind the west. And now, he's at it again . Obviously, anyone with eyes can see that his claims are all too true (although to what extent is arguable), and others have echoed his sentiments, including Hideo Kojima. But in all honesty, while such a debate could go on literally forever, I've decided that the biggest problem is something Tomonobu Itagaki mentioned when being interviewed for his new project (THQ is the publisher), Devil's Third – He said the biggest difference is budget. The budget of his current project is bigger than all of his previous games combined (more than 30).
Yes, of course games didn't have anywhere near the budgets then that they have now, so you have to take that statement with a grain of salt. But after making constant comparisons between Western and Japanese offerings this generation, I have to say, that's by far the clearest, most painful fact: the production values for Western titles are typically much higher. It's so obvious they have put much more money into their games. There are always exceptions to the rule, but I think the point stands.
Personal gaming update
Haven't really been able to play anything I want to play this past week. Just working on reviews: MLB 12: The Show and Street Fighter X Tekken are done, as are Reality Fighters and MotorStorm RC . But I've still got to do Unit 13 and Tales of Graces f , which I've been playing quite a bit. It isn't turn-based, but it's still quintessentially Japanese, and it's nice to have an old-school JRPG every now and then. It isn't bad at all…but as is the case with almost all such titles, you have to be into the sub-genre or you just won't get it. That's how niche games are, after all.
Also, there's one other announcement coming up that relates to the Gerstmann news this past week. Game reviews are always a hot topic of conversation, and we're probably going to kick off some sort of enduring, potentially year-long giveaway that encourages gamers to prove they have what it takes to be a critic. I have to hammer out the details, but prizes could include games, game-related paraphernalia, and even – wait for it – a 3G PlayStation Vita. Stay tuned.
I'm looking forward to Bioshock Infinite as well. I haven't played the 2nd one yet, but I did pick it up for cheap a while back, and will be getting around to it sometime this summer probably. So is ME3 not really a contender then?
I think Japanese developers should stick to what they know best, and the quality of Eastern games will rise. Too many of them are trying to emulate western developers, and that just shouldn't be.
Well sadly, I don't have too much time for games lately. I managed about an hour or two of Twisted Metal this week, along with 20 minutes of Hamster Ball. If I can find more time, I want to continue playing through either LA Noire or Peace Walker, as I'll likely only have time for one. School keeps me pretty occupied these days…
2012 has already been wild. Looking forward to that Tales review. Bioshock is definitely a day 1. I watched the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea tonight and it was striking how Nemo's undersea philosophy matched up with that of Andrew Ryan and Rapture. It will probably be my GOTY but you never know.
Keiji Inafune pops up in the Chirper feed (in-game twitter spoof) in Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2. That was funny; it's still a niche JRPG but has a totally revamped turn based mechanic reminiscent of Valkyrie Profile 2. So far it's awesome for fans of that sort of thing, like a totally different game from the first.
Funny fact of the day: CNN covered the Mass Effect 3 ending backlash. Unsurprisingly the anchor was astonished that adults play video games.
As far as any prizes go you can just hand them over, no need for a contest 😉
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 3/17/2012 9:46:40 PM
"Unsurprisingly the anchor was astonished that adults play video games."
I just want to scream.
The guy tried to explain about the average age of the gamer being over 30, she didn't seem to understand.
Adults still read books and watch movies *gasp*
ah whatever….sure mainstream recognition would be nice..but I don't think I'll be around to see it.
The ignorance is appalling though – maybe video games shouldn't be called "games" anymore…then again they're still an entertainment medium. *sigh*
Wow, if Neptunia's battle system is like Valkyrie Profile 2's, which I loved, I will definitely buy it.
Hellish, it isn't as exciting of course but it reminds me of it. You should locate some gameplay footage first. Your characters each get a turn and depending on how much AP you have you get a circle to run around in, if you can get up to the bad guys you use that AP to smack em up with moves and combos and abilities. It isn't perfect but it's nothing like that broken mess in the first Neptunia.
Even without GTA V and The Last of Us, I think this year has a lot of awesome looking releases, and Infinite is just one of them. Mass Effect simply isn't my thing, but by all accounts it's an awesome game. I think that Journey (based on the reception it's received and all the words that have been written about it already) marks it out as being worthwhile of a look in reminiscence at the end of the year. Something tells me Max Payne 3 could surprise a lot of people and I don't feel comfortable ruling out Sleeping Dogs, XCOM: Enemy Unknown or DmC as potential contenders.
I just think that they could all wind up having phenomenal gameplay and telling interesting, involving stories.
When it comes to Japanese games, I do think that budget is a big reason for their lack. It relates to the technology and employees that they can utilise and can simply result in an inferior product in every respect. Now, I must confess to not having played a huge range of Japanese games, but all that I have could see improvements, and not all of them from a purely financial standpoint. I think that they are too entrenched in the older methods of creating games and telling stories (I'll get to that argument in the forums a bit later on, I'm interested). I think they're all just a bit confused as to what they are trying to create, even if it does have that Japanese DNA, the western strains dilute it too much, or maybe not enough. It just fails to reach the same heights of quality on a constant span of time.
Personal Update:
Been writing more of late, which is always a good thing, particularly after a period of flatness like I've been experiencing of late.
I'm still needing to finish off FFXIII-2. I want to make Serah and Noel all-powerful before going back to face that final battle, but I can't overcome the Long Gui and get all the CP that is inevitably garnered from that awesome beastie. I'll do it later this week maybe. Then I'll be moving on to the Killzone series 🙂
Finally finished all of the novels of Jane Austen, I think I've already spoken enough of my love for them, so I'm beginning on Sherlock Holmes.
Peace.
P.S. If that contest you speak of can be made to be international, you can expect me to come back a bit more frequently than I have been of late. If not, I am disappoint 🙁
Sorry, no, it won't be international.
As for the Long Gui, if you can simply survive his attacks, you can take him down. Once you take out his two front legs, he just lays there like a slug while you pummel the snot out of him. If you have enough power, you should only have to take his legs out twice (he stands back up after the Stagger is over).
I'd suggest coming close to maxing Noel and Serah, and get yourself a great monster. My recommendation is a maxed Lightning (LOVE her) with great stat-enhancing infusions, like strength, magic, and resilience boosts. Remember, besides Twilight Odin, she's the only "monster" to have 6 ATB bars. And while she can't have as many HP as Odin, she takes nowhere near as much effort to max, and she's much faster.
Otherwise, get Narasimha, the silver Behemoth. At around Lv. 60, he's one of the best Commandos in the game. Btw, the Long Gui is a piece of cake compared to Yomi…
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 3/17/2012 10:47:10 PM
Ah well, it was worth a shot. I'll still try to be a bit more involved anyway. I miss PSXE.
Thanks for the advice with the Long Gui too, but my main problem is surviving long enough to take its legs out… especially after it stands up again :/ I shall do it though.
Yeah, HP is the issue with him. Noel really needs over 9000 and Serah can't have much less than 7500, I think.
Yomi is just way worse, though. At least, he was for me.
I say The Last of Us is better off being late. I think it says a big thing when a dev, knowing that the holiday season is the best time to harvest, is able to say, "no, no, we need to make the game as good as we can first."
So if this news is indeed true, I'm 100% behind it.
Yeah, Japanese games just aren't how the used to be (like the old grey mare). And I believe the production budget is probably a key reason for it. Aside from Lost Odyssey and FF, it seems most every major jRPG this gen has suffered from not looking or feeling as robust and complete as their showings on prior generations. Perhaps there's a reason for that.
WHich also has me thinking a lot about the next gen. I think I'm starting to let the vision go. The vision of thinking that I could, in a few years, be playing Infamous 3 on a PS4 with an experience that can capture a sprawling metropaliton landscape, filled with hundreds, maybe thousands, of bystanders with more life like behavior. With buildings that aren't static outdoor only objects, with windows that don't behave like solid concrete, where the openess and freedom of structures exist on the inside and out, all without lengthy loading screens, all due to the added processing and memory a generational leap could probably afford. Oh, and the amazing leap in graphics that comes with that too 😉
I say this because it just seems like it's too rich a proposition. Too much expense for publishers to green light. Too much business risk. The market can't sustain that. I sense this may be a big reason why the hardware leaders are sitting on their hands with the next gen. (IGN wrote an interesting article about the console biz the other day similar to this that got me pondering this). So now I'm sort of accepting that this 5-6 year generational reset that invites radically new and more sophisticated design, that helped makes games like Skyrim, Infamous, Assassin's Creed, and others, possible may be some many years away.
Andway, PGU, been doing some Tekken.
Wrapping up the schrool quarter. If I can hang on and not mess up my finals or final projects, I'll get myself a clean slate of 4.0's 😉
Last edited by Temjin001 on 3/17/2012 10:44:50 PM
I think you're dead-on with what you have to say about the limitations, not of the hardware, but of the budgets. I mean, even some of the biggest budget games of this generation, despite being downright amazing, are still static. Hitman: Absolution is supposedly going to be able to put over a thousand NPCs onscreen at one time, Euphoria can give them realistic actions and reactions, while DMM can generate objects that react realistically based on what they are and where they are hit, but to use all of that together with intelligent freedom of design and even the graphics that we have now would be ridiculously processor intensive.
Besides that, the creation of it all would send the cost skyrocketing, as you say. Until some way is found to keep it all within relatively realistic pricing levels (perhaps as David Cage mentioned recently through a convergence of the technology and a greater allowance of tech sharing), it simply won't happen. Saddening, but no less true.
Been really having fun with Graces this past week. Sucks not having an HDTV cause it looks like a PS2 game on my standard tv :/ Really looking forward to that review Ben! ^-^
Not sure if a HDTV would make a huge difference. It's a Wii port, after all, so it makes sense that it would look somewhat dated. I'm more interested in if it plays well on a controller, considering that Wii connection. Let me know, I may consider picking it up if it's going relatively cheap when I head to the city next.
@Lawless
The controls are really smooth and work well with a ps3 controller. I honestly cant imagine playing this game on the wii. And I've tried it in HD in my living room tv (my own room has the standard) and it does make a big difference. You should probably pick it up as soon as possible since I heard there may not be any reprints and its shipped in really low quantities. It might be hard to find in about a month or two unless you buy it online.
Hmm… after a bit of research, it hasn't been released in the Euro regions yet. Not until the northern hemisphere summer, which is two and half months away yet (if I'm not all lost and confused again). Looks like I'll have time to get everything in gear before it does release. Thanks for the word, Snipey.
Ben are you going to be reviewing the Resident Evil game that comes out this Tues?
Yes.
Ben will you be doing a review for that gravity rush game on the vita?
Well yeah, when it comes out.
Haha, review overload!
It isn't funny. 🙁 😉
Yay another US only giveaway. I'm so excited….. not >.<
The hoops are annoying to jump through when you go international. Especially when each country has it's own sweepstakes laws. Last thing anyone wants to do is pay duty on a free prize.
Along with Bioshock i have high hopes for Tomb raider and ACIII also.
Ben, are you going to review Silent Hill Downpour? Critic scores for the game have been all over the show, ranging from as low as 4.5 to as high as 9 out of 10. I'd like to know what PSX thinks.
Note all links contain ME3 spoilers.
OK I beat ME3 and I thought the ending was okay since it kind of wrap up the franchise with the fate of the characters and in a way rebooted the franchise. However after I read this :
http://www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/
It change my opinion from okay to just bad writing. I still think its okay but at least explain the plot holes, give me a reason to go back to the other games since those decisions won't matter for the endings, and dialogue options for the ending before I chose. I really hope the theory the fans made is correct:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbghjn7_Byc
I know it means DLC for the real ending but I'll buy it if it means a better ending. I also found it funny that THIS was the final boss of a epic trilogy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=467pmIX-oZo
Note all links contain ME3 spoilers.
PGU: I've been playing Street Fighter X Tekken mostly & loving it. The character roster & match-up choices i really dig. Plus with all the DLC coming down the track, it will be a game i play for a long time to come i reckon.
I've also been playing Silent Hill Downpour, & as a SH gimp i think Vatra have done a pretty good job with this, much to my surprise.
The atmosphere & ambience smells of that familiar Silent Hill feeling missing from previous offerings & the story is really quite good. What i love the most about it though is the amount of random scares that pop up during the side quests, which at times completely caught me off guard. The enemy variety ain't bad either, the doll creature was the most unnerving freakin' sh!t i've seen in a while.
I haven't had this feeling from a horror game in years so i was thrilled that of all games, SH Downpour delivered when i personally thought it would stink & die.
My only complaint with the game is the combat, which is frankly one of the crappiest combat systems i've played. Other than that though imo this is a return to form for SH.
Don't even wipe your messy arse on IGN's review, although it's their opinion, there is no way in hell this game deserves a score as poor as 4.5 considering what games they have rated higher.
This is a solid game, a road in the right direction for the SH series imo. Don't dismiss it because IGN gave it a 4.5 because you could be denying yourself of a good old school horror experience.
For me the games I'm looking forward to are Assassin's Creed 3,Darksiders 2 and The Witcher 2(have to dust off the 360 to play this).
I totally disagree with the idea that the problem with Japanese games is money – game development is a creative endeavor. You can't make people more creative by giving them more money. But you can stifle creativity via any number of means. Maybe they'll figure it out some day, maybe not.
I got my platinum for Ferrari Challenge this week. Started on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but haven't had much time to play it yet. Seems alright so far though.
Just found out that Slightly Mad Studios, the creator of the Need For Speed: Shift games, is coming out with Test Drive: Ferrari Legends in May. Really looking forward to that.
No. Creativity has NEVER been Japan's problem. If you don't have the budget, you simply can't compete. That's the way of big-business entertainment.
If I keep Mass Effect 3 out of the equation I can't see how there can be any other winner this year: Bioshock Infinite.
But what if a wildcard enters the picture, like a completely new IP that blows us all totally off-guard?
THAT would be awesome.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/18/2012 8:06:14 AM
Bioshock, AC3, and Diablo 3 are the big games on my radar for the year. I know D3 probably won't be a PS3 game, at least not right away, but I'm pretty excited because this last Christmas I finally upgraded to a new computer (mostly to play the star wars mmo, which was very meh by the way). Honestly I couldn't pick which of the 3 I'm looking forward to the most. D2 was one of my first "life consuming" games, and I love the atmosphere and lore of the game. But Bioshock and AC have both been incredible gaming experiences, and although I felt the AC2 iterations were getting a touch stale, I'm way excited that we're seeing a true sequel finally. Should be epic.
I've never done a PGU here, but I guess if anyone is interested: Picked up Fallout: New Vegas again after over a year of letting it sit, love the game but it's freezing all over the place so I think I have to quit it again. Need to finish Red Dead and LA Noire (I know i'm slow), then it's on to AC Revelations and Zelda Skyward Sword.
Unfortunately I'm a farmer/rancher and it's calving season, so game time and sleep are in short supply atm.
Keep up the good work Ben, love the site and the community…long time lurker, just recently started posting again. Hope you all had a happy St. Pats
Looking forward to Bioshock, Ghost Recon, Inversion, & Daktura, plus a few others I can't think of ATM.
My own PGU..
Been very busy lately while trying to get my gaming den done & trying to whittle down some of my huge PS3 backlog, so I've finished Battlefield 3, infamous, and infamous: festival of blood(my very 1st 100% trophy's gotten, but sadly there's no 1st plat to me for it).
So now I started full-tilt on Borderlands & have also been dabbling a bit with American Mcgee's Alice, Alice Returns, Fear 3.
Plus I also have AC1, Batman: Arkham Asylum all geared up to go, and I also need to finish Uncharted so I can start U2.
As far as work on my old living room/new gaming den is going, I'm still not quite happy with it cause I've got so much freaking gaming stuff that I've been having to constantly arranging & re-arranging the layout on & on & on……
But I really need to get through all the hassles of getting it done so I've finally settled on one layout(again, maybe, & probably temporary).
I've just finished getting my 2 PS3's, 2 PS2's, PS1, PSX, original Xbox, 360, Dreamcast, all hooked up together through a 8-console switch-box.
So the only thing left to do now, is to figure the best way to chain-gang another 11 or so of my retro consoles all together in one straight line so I can utilize my RF to coaxial adapter at the end of the line.
Why cant these contests be International 🙁
Logistical nightmare.
Because shipping anything – ANYTHING – out of the country is so complex, it's asinine.
You gotta do lots of paperwork. Not to mention there are actually issues with sweepstakes laws being so different country to country. It's just annoying. Especially in the US.
I also think that Japanese devs are using old and dated methods of programming their games. That's probably why they take forever to reach a fairly mediocre product upon release.
I'm looking forward to Bioshock and GTA 5 though i doubt it will release this year. PGU: I went off gaming for a while there ive a massive backlog theres 19 games i want to platinum lol. I'm currently working on Prince of Persia its frustrating getting the lightseeds, hope to platinum it by tuesday then onto UC2 or GOW3.
I had a little fun with Prince but eventually decided to sell it, too much seed hunting and not enough fighting.
I don't blame ya. I'm bored of it after just a few hours of playing. I don't think i'll ever make it through this backlog,
I've been waiting to read that Unit 13 review, wasn't sure if it wasn't going to happen. I can wait a little longer. 😉
That Resident Evil game just pulled in a 3/10
My god its been so long since I've posted, its good to be back. Cant wait for Bioshock Infinite, but first to finish this back log of games I have from the past year still smh