Ben-Dutka80+ degrees in March is ridiculous . Just had to say that.
Cross-game promotion is cool, Rockstar, but…
For the record, I say the idea of creating "crews" in Max Payne 3 and being able to use them in GTAV multiplayer is wicked cool. It might actually entice me to go online with those games. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear, Rockstar:
You had best not gimp either game for the sake of the all-powerful multiplayer. I'm fine with creating the deepest, funnest multiplayer imaginable for both titles, provided it doesn't in any way impact the campaign experiences. Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto have been defined by their unbelievably memorable single-player adventures in the past and if that changes because of all the kiddies who play nothing but multiplayer, I'm gonna be pissed .
By the way, I'm fine with GTAV coming out early next year . People might say there aren't enough huge games coming out this year but honestly, that just means you're spoiled. The last few years have been so jam-packed with insanely huge titles that we're always expecting bigger and better each and every year. Really, I'm okay with what we've got coming. Bioshock Infinite tops my list right now.
Whatcha makin', Square Enix?
I'm almost certain I'm going to be disappointed – hate to be cynical but they routinely disappoint me with new game announcements – but I'm trying to be hopeful. Square Enix is teasing a secret game and based on what I see, I'm definitely reminded of Final Fantasy Tactics . And if they really are doing a true sequel for the Vita or something, I'll be very, very happy. But of course, that won't happen, will it? No, it'll be some watered-down half-RPG nonsense for the 3DS or worse, iOS or some such crap. It certainly isn't Final Fantasy XIII-3 or Versus XIII ; that trailer doesn't make me thing "big-budget blockbuster," so maybe I should be more worried. Actually, in some ways, it almost made me think of Suikoden …
This generation isn't over yet. Square Enix could still surprise everyone. Or they could just sink further into the mire while vainly attempting to turn themselves into Activision. …sadly, I think the latter if far more likely than redemption, if recent history is any guide.
Personal gaming update
Been way too busy for much in the way of personal gaming, although I do like going through Journey every now and then, and with little time, the Vita tends to get some love. Still playing Hot Shots Golf , Wipeout 2048 , and even a little Michael Jackson: The Experience HD . Beyond that, I just have to keep cranking on reviews; the last few were just really disheartening. Ninja Gaiden 3 was well below average (and way below expectations), and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City was just mind-numbingly boring and yeah, not very good at all.
I do have Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention to look at for the Vita, and I still want to review Ridge Racer as well. I also have Armored Core V sitting here, which is a big surprise; I didn't even know it was coming out. Never even knew a fifth title was coming until I saw it in the mail. But anyway, stay tuned for our upcoming "So You Think You Can Review Video Games" ongoing feature segment…
In regards to your Rockstar concerns, may I ease your mind by directing you towards both GTAIV and Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer and how the campaigns for both games were in no way compromised by it.
Things change. Rapidly. RDR and GTAIV were in development for quite some time before multiplayer became what it is today.
GTAIV came out nearly four years ago; development began back in the PS2 era. RDR was a 5+ year dev cycle. So I don't think that means anything.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 3/24/2012 10:04:32 PM
So do you feel that both Max Payne and GTAV are being rushed then?
We don't know how long GTAV has been in production and no release date for release has been announced yet.
Last edited by frostface on 3/24/2012 10:18:36 PM
I didn't say they were being rushed. I said it'd be very easy to add more multiplayer emphasis at the expense of a great campaign.
That's a fair comment.
I just don't see any evidence from Rockstars recent past projects though that would indicate that they may do that on future projects.
Last edited by frostface on 3/24/2012 10:36:02 PM
Apparently Chaos Rings 2 for iOS is getting high praise from fans of old school Squaresoft PSX RPG's. Honestly, it does look quite awesome. I believe I read Sakaguchi(probably spelled that way wrong) is signed on to make two iOS exclusives… hmmm. Where's Square-Enix going? Maybe they think they've found greener pastures.
Anyway, it;s been a really emotional week for me and gaming. I just can't believe how struggled Team Ninja was to get NG3 done. It really seems way below their standards, even for the reformed team. It gets progressively worse after the Airship boss at the end of the.. 2nd Day?. Up until then, it may of had several issues, but it was far from aweful. And, really, at that point I was like it's not nearly a 3 or 5 or such non-sense. And critics just aren't giving it a chance, and the game does, at any time you desire, allow you to switch your "Play Style" from the pause menu to HARD, desolving the #1 complaint of near-every critique I've read. Also, reading statements like, oh, it recycles bosses 2 or 3 times just perplexed me more. Every prior NG has you fighting nigh every boss at least 2 times, and sometimes 3x(Sloth boss, Tentacle boss). How is that now so terrible? Anyway, while I think there were quite a few cheap shots to the nuts some critics pulled, the overall consensus is ultimately right on target. The levels start going way down hill. Graphics become terribly bland. Like seriously, some textures are bad for even PS2, like that snow cave. goodnight! The camera never gets better. and that tree boss. oh my heck. how the heck did they let that out the gate? And what was with Ryu's pleasure stroll through Hayabusa village making friendly with the locales? What is this? I wannabe Uncharted now? Everything started to make sense. Yeah, this ain't right. There's a tangled nest of problems here that should've been fixed before ever leaving out the gate. Being on day 7 now I can respect any 5-7 as a score. 7 being generous, 6 being fair, and 5 being just a bit harsh. But one way or another, the game should be approached very cautiously and I assume the worst for Tecmo-Koei consequently.I think NG3 has most dissapointing game of the year wrapped up with a neat little bow on top.
I was reading the positive reviews for Chaos Rings 2. Sounds great but I will never pay $17.99 for an iOS game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v–T4qySIo
But if it plays and looks like a $18 game, it becomes worth it right?
This sort of game may be signaling a publisher's faith in investing deeper production values into the mobile market.
Anyway, this trailer looks pretty awesome.
It has HIghlander written all over it. But it's iOS so it sucks =p
Well, pricing should reflect the quality of the game. Let's say Journey was not on the PS3 but rather an Android game… of course I would purchase it to play on my tablet… its the game and quality of the production that dictates the overall price I would say, and in some cases it is a price worth paying!
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
PGU: dead! YLOD!! I did't think this would happen to me? This is so depressing. Ironically I was in the middle of MGS3, about to fight The End and sure enough my precious offs it's self.
I tried the hair dryer trick twice and no such luck. I'm looking over what my other options are and none of them seem to easy. Might go for a home fix, but I hate waiting for the tools and parts to arrive.
I just want my precious back!!!
Any tips?
I just sent mine to Sony when it died. I got back a refurb and it's been working like new ever since.
how much was that?
is it a phat princess? Mine died on me twice so I fully suggest skip trying to fix it and buy a new slim. From my experience you'll save money and time and don't forget to buy Sony's extended warranty. The peace of mind is worth it trust me
Last edited by SoulController on 3/24/2012 10:29:14 PM
I know how it feels to have your system gone. Of all the PS3 system fixed by normal folks eventually breaks again within months. I think is better to give Sony a call. My refurbished 60 gb die in a year, so I traded it for a slim. I guess when they get the YLOD they can't be fixed again.
It was $150 total. It may be cheaper or higher now. I can't remember of they lowered or raised their prices. I just remember they made a change not too long go. Visit the support section on the us dot playstation dot com.
Thanks guys, Still a little undecided. A refurb option is sounding tempting. I'm just a little worried about the success rate of refurbs. If I try to fix it myself the chance of failure is even higher, but I'll atleast have some nice tools and an understanding of electronics a little more. A new PS3slim would be the safest bet. But that would also be 250$ and 80gigs gone.
If you trade in the fatty for the slim, it will cost $100; but if you just want it fixed, it will cost $150.
Bugz is that deal with Gamestop? That doesn't sound like a bad idea.
Might want to check out GameStop too, as they refurb & re-sell the 60 & the 80GB(w/PS2 emulator)PS3's with a warranty, at $229.99.
I have a GameStop refurbed 60GB that I've turned into a 750GB unit & I've had no problems with it.
60GB PS3
http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/consoles/playstation-3-60gb-gamestop-refurbished/64006
Still meaning to get through FFXIII-2. For some reason, I haven't really been able to muster up the enthusiasm to play a whole lot since the beginning of the year, but I've been enjoying other things more.
For me, this past week has been dominated by the state elections and all I can say is thank goodness that it's over. Maybe with a new party in charge we'll see some positive changes, but I somehow doubt it. More interesting to me is that the R18+ rating has finally passed through the House of Representatives here, which means that we're all but guaranteed to see it put into effect at the beginning of next year. No more need for censorship and so on, it'll be brilliant.
Don't really know what else to say right now. I just want to find something to inspire me and get me moving again, but I think that working eight shifts a week and sleeping six hours (or less) every night is starting to take a real toll on me. Eh, complaints for another place.
Peace.
May I just take this opportunity to say that the last battle of FFXIII-2 (storywise) is utter crap. I honestly thought that it couldn't get worse than what was in XIII… I was very, very wrong. Seriously, throw a few more unbalanced battles at me. I've all but elected to give up on it.
Unlike Sqeenix, I trust Rockstar. With this backlog I still have Im totally fine with GTAV coming out next year too.
I just really dont understand why Squeenix & Crapcom dont get it. Drop everything and just listen to the fans..please! Otherwise you'll keep losing money.
PGU: I have to gloat about this because I'm super proud and it took me 200+ hrs and about 4 months of on and off grinding but I platinumed Dark Soul's this week. I think this will be the last platinum trophy I get for a while or at least tons of grinding to get one. I guess now I can live up to the name of my psn id Soulcontroller
I'm pretty sure I would be disappointed to Ben though I'm not getting my hopes up so I won't care either way. Ha. Square is has nothing really to offer. Only games I'm interested in are Final Fantasy Type O or whatever and Versus XIII of it still exists.
PGU: My sister bought me SFxT because she's an awesome sister. It's okay. I prefer SSFIV. Plus knowing Crapcom locked a ton off content out that's already on the disc makes it hard to enjoy. Also the game feels unfinished. Theres a terrible audio glitch when playing online and you cant even select Cole or the other two PS3 exclusive characters in Arcade mode. Not to mention MegaMan is pretty much worthless as he only has four moves. Other than that I'm still playing MGS3D and I just got Kid Icarus Uprising. Haven't really started it yet. I did start the Kid Icarus 3D Classic I got for free from the eShop for preordering Uprising.
Last edited by Jawknee on 3/24/2012 10:28:44 PM
Finally bought Fatal Frame 2 and 3. I love to play horror games at night after a date. I love to see my girl scream like a girl. I wish Silent Hill and Resident Evil were just as scary as fatal Frame.
I need to check out Fatal Frame but I have been traveling the world and only have my Vita with me 🙁
I hope it is as frightening as people say because the only game on current gen consoles that has frightened me was Heavy Rain – Specifically the scene where you have to select which "tool" to use on yourself!
Cant wait for Max Payne and GTA V.
I *would* hope the S-E game will be a FFT sequel, but (given their recent history) I'd expect that they'd just ruin it anyway.
PGU: Mass Effect 2…over 70 hours worth so far. Everything else has taken a back seat this month. The DLC missions haven't been quite as good as the others, but I love love love the game. Absolutely fantastic writing: I've laughed out loud playing ME2 more than any other game ever.
Playing ME2 now? Lucky you who can jump right on to ME3 and continue whenever you are ready!
I love the writing in these games too. Practically every single conversation is a treat. And how just a seemingly simple basic mission might turn out to hold a surprising twist or a differnt finish than expected… It just never gets old!
I'm playing ME3 now, and just meeting the ME2 characters again is SUCH a treat. Made me realize how much I really love the gallery of characters in ME2.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/25/2012 6:12:22 AM
lair of the shadow broker is the best one in my opinion, then project overlord
Yeah the shadow broker were VERY good.
*********possible spoilers*********
Shadow Broker was excellent, especially the added home base and the ability to reconnect with Liara. Overlord is great in concept, but the execution is sub-standard. Too many cheap deaths. I haven't played Arrival yet.
PGU: I finally started "Mass Effect 3" and I love it yeah it sucks Legion and Miranda are dead but after my first run with Mass Effect 3 I'm going to pick up where I left off in 2 and try to get everyone alive when I replay 3.
Playing Ninja Gaiden 3 I like it but I'm not really going to rave about it, if I had to give it a grade I would probably give it a C-. For effort and trying to give Ryu a story.
Once I'm done with both games I'm going to replay both before shipping them back before Prototype 2 comes out.
dude, you may want to put that behind spoiler tags some people dont want to know that!
its not a given thing that those characters are dead, thats just his playthrough, but spoiler tag was still needed
It's not a spoiler when the characters life or death depends on the players actions? Everyone knows that every character in your crew in ME2 could die – including Shepard. It's not a spoiler… All he is saying is that HIS Miranda and Legion is dead.
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/25/2012 10:33:55 AM
PGU: I finally started "Mass Effect 3" and I love it yeah it sucks Legion and Miranda are dead but after my first run with Mass Effect 3 I'm going to pick up where I left off in 2 and try to get everyone alive when I replay 3.
Playing Ninja Gaiden 3 I like it but I'm not really going to rave about it, if I had to give it a grade I would probably give it a C-. For effort and trying to give Ryu a story.
Once I'm done with both games I'm going to replay both before shipping them back before Prototype 2 comes out.
R* has always managed to put out a kick a$$ MP with kick a$$ SP so i have no reason to doubt them on that front.
however i just hope GTAV lives up to its name, goes back to its roots and has NOTHING to do with GTAIV!
or should i say taxi driver bore me to hell simulator.
as for max payne 3 bring it on its looking f*cking awesome!
i was a bit skeptical them replacing remedy, then the bald max and san palo came out i was really worried.
then the release date passed, and again, and again, took so long to get a word out of them i was convinced it was canned!
but now we finally have a release date, hopefully it will hit it this time!
looks f*cking awesome, all i can say is god help you if you delay it AGAIN R*!
god help you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
logically id bet its something to do with the 3DS.
i dunno what it is with $E lately but all their best games are on handhelds.
all the kingdom hearts games for instance, i would of killed to see birth by sleep on the ps3!
oh well whatever it is i just hope its something you would expect to come from them.
not another FFXIII, a japanese game trying to be western.
nothing worse then a fake!
cant believe im saying this, march is always a massive hectic month!
but im bored sh*tless!
ME3 was a MASSIVE disappointment!
i was expecting to play through it again to experience other decisions and stories but it disappointed me so much it killed every desire i had in it!
then NG3 sucked donkey balls, and resident evil, and twisted metal was not what i had hoped it to be.
neither was J&D.
i thought the series was like R&C a platformer, but its not every single god dam level in jack 3 at least is a racing game!
god, i wanted to play a platformer not gran turismo!
sitting here waiting for the DMC HD collection to come out, hopefully that will tide me over till MP3 came out.
i have to be honest so far this year has been a MASSIVE disappointment for games!
every game that was suppose to be a big GOTY contender has been pretty meh.
everythings been pretty meh!
i know its only the 3rd month of the year but normally we have heaps of GOTY contenders by now.
all we have so far are disappointment of the century contenders!
come on guys, WTFs going on!?
I pre-ordered Test Drive Ferrari Challenge, it's supposedly coming out May 15 according to Amazon. That's about the most exciting gaming-related thing I did all week. Playing a bit of Shift 2 Unleashed, but I've really been doing that for far too long. I'll have to pull something out of the backlog and see if it sparks my interest.
Ben, I'm not sure you should so hastily relegate the iOS games to the garbage bin (or at least not lump them with "some such crap"). iOS games have really come a long way. Squeenix made a good iOS exclusive product in Chaos Rings (which sold well enough to warrant a sequel), then you have games like Infinity Blade, Battlehearts, Contre Jour, and ports of FFT: WotL, Wizardry, World of Goo… there are some really good titles on iOS. Plus there's rumor of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition coming for it as well.
I'm sure this is all old news to you, being an industry writer, but I just felt like defending the iOS systems a bit. No, they're not up to console quality standards, but some of the titles even give my beloved Vita a run for its money.
Last edited by TheAgingHipster on 3/25/2012 8:18:23 AM
Cool post, AgingHipster. One should never underestimate the competition, *especially* not when the competitor has a big Apple on it and has sold way more units than all consoles combined.
As for me I root for the Android side. Google should not be underestimated either. Plus, Android is COOLER! 😉
Last edited by Beamboom on 3/25/2012 10:39:40 AM
I didn't mean to imply that all iOS games are junk. I just have no interest in a Final Fantasy for iOS, which I think WOULD be junk.
And I'm sorry, I really don't care how advanced it gets…without BUTTONS, I will never care much. There's only so much you can do with a touchscreen and that tech is far more prone to screw-ups right now. A button remains the only 100% precise method of implementing control.
That "World Of Goo" is quite something. There really are some nice games coming to these mobile devices now.
Quad core phones are only a few months away. Samsung will stuff a Tegra3 Quad Core in their next line of Sammy phones and tablets. My Asus Transformer Prime rocks at the moment, but admittedly, I have not bought games for it… only tinkered with the free stuff…
It will all continue to progress and we will simply have more choice across all our devices in the coming months and years. That's good…
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
I wouldn't expect anything good of armored core V. Ninga Gaiden was a colossal let down…..
Yeah I'll be waiting a long time till Infinite.
PGU: ME3 multiplayer,(now that I'm done the main story).
I understand your concerns, Ben, but I think Dan Houser won't let MP take over what the core of GTA and Max Payne are, and that is the single player experience. It's what works, it's what sells Rockstar titles. He knows this and he's a great storyteller. I think he will ALWAYS have a huge emphasis on the single player experience, and even though a lot of work will go into MP, he knows his stories define his games. He will not mess the winning formula up.
At least I hope not. That's what they said about George Lucas before… you know….
I'm thinking don't bother with Armored Core V Ben.
Concerning Rockstar, they're one of the few gaming companies who, in my opinion, never short-ball the singleplayer for the sake of multiplayer. Never have, which leads me to believe, they never will.
My gaming update, just ordered Dark Souls online, I expect it to come in soon. Hopefully I enjoy it, so I'm going in with an open mind.
Also, what's this about "You think you can review" segment? Am I missing something?
PGU: Started up another character in Mass Effect for a run through the trilogy. Ending discussion aside, it was pretty cool seeing decisions I made playing ME back in the day still be referenced in ME3 and have some consequences on that part of the story I was in at the time.
I'm also finding that The Old Republic has begun taking away more of my free time again.