Happy Father's Day! What didja get dad?
If it was called something else, everyone would love it
Yeah, I was pretty miffed, too. In my eyes, anything with "Metal Gear" in the title should be stealth-oriented. But I suppose I can make an exception when they drop the "Solid" and make Raiden the main character of a slice-'n-dice action game, especially if it's made by Platinum. Kojima Productions started it and Platinum is gonna finish it…I tell you this about any game and you're probably jumping out of your seat going, "Yes, please !" But because we still see "Metal Gear" in the title of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance , the hardcore can't help being a tad disappointed.
But come on. Platinum knows what they're doing. Look past the title for a minute and learn a bit more about the game; that Blade Mode is going to be utterly bad-ass and everything I've heard about the gameplay is glowing with praise and anticipation. Yes, the developers of Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta / Vanquish have collaborated on a game. Who's not interested?
The knee-jerk reactions are getting a little tiresome
Twice this week. First was the whole Lara Croft fiasco , which Crystal Dynamics tried to clarify but still managed to get a ton of press. I was forced to play the "calm down" card just because the complaints were crammed with hostility and fury. Then there was the Kotaku article about how Americans apparently "can't handle" scenes of Colonials dying in Assassin's Creed III (or that's the assumption because Ubisoft hasn't shown much of Connor killing early Americans). And I'm sorry, but that was just about looking for an issue where there was none.
I knew we wouldn't make it all the way to October without some pretentious left-wing-based piece trying to start an irrelevant fight. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes reading that mess, so I had to write something about that, too . I'm sorry, but someone has to speak up when blatant agendas – which have absolutely no purpose in entertainment reporting – start to make big headlines. No. Just…no.
Personal gaming update
So I finally finished the last chapter of Max Payne 3 ; I was really trying to savor the awesomeness but it had to end some time. Now I'm playing Lollipop Chainsaw , which doesn't qualify as "great" but still puts a smile on my face every time I sit down to play. I also got DiRT Showdown to check out, so expect a review very soon. Oh, and I'm trying to get my brother to finally play Shadow of the Colossus . He's all caught up with great stuff like Crysis 2 and Devil May Cry 4 …no more excuses. Just play the masterpiece!
I hope the more reflective and thoughtful readers enjoyed our most recent interview , which I thought was interesting, even if I didn't necessarily agree with all the responses. Look for more Q&As in the near future.
I've never been able to get into Metal Gear but I think fans should worry because it's a game that Kojima's team failed hard on which was then passed onto a dev that couldn't write a story to save their asses.
I don't see how either of those have anything to do with the left wing. They aren't the ones who go apesh*t agenda-crazy over typical gaming stuff. Imagine if Fox News got wind you could be a half Indian who assassinates early Americans.
I'm about to beat Lollipop tonight, it has been a wild ride and it definitely stays in the collection. It was linear but I expected that after Shadows of the Damned and there is just so much craziness going on the whole time that it never feels problematic. Plenty of replay value there too.
Also tooling around in the Two Worlds II expansion. In spite of my backlog I found SH: Downpour for a decent price. I could use some horror.
If anybody hasn't been paying attention to their PS Plus account, I got Zombie Apocalypse, Warhammer Space Marine, Choplifter HD, Just Cause 2, and Hard Corps Uprising for free. There's also Lara Croft Guardian of Light, inFamous 2, LBP 2, and Virtua Fighter 5 FS. I'm gonna play down the list and see if I like any of them.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/16/2012 9:51:40 PM
Don't forget about Ratchet and Clank: All4One. Rather interesting month for Plus. Unprecedented really.
The pol in California who wants to force game companies to put more extensive ratings on their games or outright ban the sale of games to kids is a Democrat. Not a Republican. Generally the "right-wing" just wants to be left alone and let people make their own decisions without government intrusion. It's the left who is constantly trying to engineer society and force us to celebrate lifestyles we find morally objectional through mandates and unconstitutional law. (ObamaCare, Forcing churches to pay for/provide abortion drugs/services, Nanny Bloomburg's soda, salt and transfat ban, teachers unions forcing the tax payers pay for all of their benefits by electing/giving gobs of money to the pols who they will ultimately negotiate against the tax payers with, getting sympathetic courts to redefine marriage against the will of the people,etc). The reason it has anything to do with the left is because it's the left who believes we should be ashamed to be American and they propagate the nonsense that we're all just a bunch of arrogant, self aggrandizing, sophomoric jerks who think we're better than everyone. News flash, there are jerks in every streak of society and life. America doesn't have a monopoly on a-holes. 😉
Last edited by Jawknee on 6/16/2012 10:08:37 PM
Yeah nobody on the left actually thinks that way, it's just a portrayal you've been sold. I'm talking specifically about those two freak-outs which clearly come from a broad cross-section of gaming society that can't be pigeonholed into a political viewpoint. But I expect Ben will stop this conversation and keep it on gaming…
Tansvaginal ultrasound probes… okay so, gaming…
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/16/2012 10:15:07 PM
Transvaginal ultrasounds is a lie told to you my MSNBC and Planned Parenthood. That isn't how a majority of ultra sounds are done and that wasn't the kind of ultrasound that law would have required. Majority are done on the outside of the belly.
And the left doesn't have to "think" that way. They are already in action and the mandates/laws forcing us to live they way the left wants us to live under the threat of fines or jail time are already on the books.
In any case, there's no evidence this journalist is an agent of any conspiracy or agenda. If you read the article objectively it has a great deal more to do (unsuccessfully) with how the game is being marketed than anything nearing "American Guilt" I think our fearless leader got this one wrong with his own agenda.
The headline said it all in my opinion.
Btw, I don't believe nor am I accusing you of thinking the way I said the general left does. I believe you to be more sensible than today's modern day leftist. You come across as more of a classic liberal which sides with the left on many issues but doesn't hold the disdain for our country that many of them do. If one loves their country, and I believe you do, one doesn't want to "fundamentally change it" like many modern leftist do.
World, you've been hanging around the self-righteous for far too long.
There's zero reason for Kotaku to post that article other to stir up trouble. Ubisoft answered the question quite clearly as to why Connor was seen killing the British. That disqualifies the entire article, as any GOOD reporter knows. Anything else is just the opinion and observations of the writer, which is painfully transparent.
If it had had anything whatsoever to do with the game, the first paragraph wouldn't have essentially said that he wanted to makes sure ACIII wasn't "yay rah rah flag-waving." Why even put that in? What does that have to do with anything?
I don't want this to go into a political war so Jawknee, just drop it. But my family works in a retail business and an area where essentially, the only clientele is liberal. …and yeah, they do think that way, World. We're all just a little sick of the condescending, pitying looks from these uppity self-righteous liberals who really believe the entire country needs to be lectured and taught by the "enlightened" left-wingers.
Not saying anybody here is like that. Just personal experience. You have to admit- Liberals do a GREAT job of creating issues and problems where common sense would've saved us all a great deal of time and grief.
And really, no political insanity in this thread; this is just a week in review. 🙂
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/16/2012 10:39:25 PM
Don't worry Ben it won't. 🙂 World and I can respectfully disagree and keep the peace, besides, what needed to be said has been said so we're done. 🙂 Thanks Ben.
Last edited by Jawknee on 6/16/2012 10:51:30 PM
Your folks retail business is probably in a hipster area. I don't think there's any overabundance on either side of the spectrum, I doubt I was the only one shaking his head when Mass Effect was being raked for being a sodomy simulator.
As far as the article goes when I read it I put myself in his shoes and when writing an editorial it seemed reasonable to me to get any foolish ideas out of the way before proceeding.
In this case the man was already knowledgeable about the fact that Ubi wasn't making a rah-rah-USA game but the marketing tactics were making it out to be just that. So yes I think it's acceptable to dispense with the obvious before contemplating further. He's well educated and experienced so what I saw more than anything was a guy without much to write about lately who needed a headline and poorly addressed his topic. I know I'm guilty of that at one time or another.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/16/2012 10:59:53 PM
Your 'left' and 'right' in the US are hopelessly confused (not unlike ours here in Australia) – the right wingers want people to be left alone to do their own thing, as long as it doesn't involve gay people getting married, for instance ;).
Also Ben – 'left' is not technically liberal – for most of history, liberal (philosophically and politically) is actually the right wing, and communism/socialism the left. However, these days it's just a mad jumble of what suits everyone – the Republicans (populist, conservative sometimes, liberal at others, socialist without calling it that when it suits them) and Democrats (populist, sometimes liberal, sometimes socialist) pick and choose pretty liberally (boom boom :)) from various political and economic philosophies. It's pretty clear that neither party in the US (or Australia where I'm from – I'd say we're worse), has a clear grasp or vision about where they're going, and are pretty much 'making it up as they go along'.
But anyways, it's hard to call an article talking about whether people are sensitive to Americans getting killed 'left' or 'right'. It's hardly socialist or liberal (in the political/economic sense – which is the traditional moderate right), it's more just social commentary. If it then went onto suggest a particular course of action that'd change (a patriotic agenda in videogames, for example, would be leftist, while suggesting we should be able to kill whoever we want would be right-leaning which, if anything, is what Kotaku were getting at).
Anyways, /ramble. Just throwing it up there to try and clear up how these things are generally defined.
Hmmm, as I recall there was that one gaming news-model woman you called out and then interviewed who actually turned out to be a real live gamer so perhaps where the Assassin's Creed story is concerned either you or I should ask this man just what it is he meant by his statements. Clear the whole thing up.
Axe: I'm aware of the mish-mash of definitions in history. 🙂
World: I really won't be interviewing someone from a competing source. I put myself in his shoes, too…and concluded that without any shadow of a doubt, 1. It's a complete non-issue, especially after the publisher already answered my question, and 2. The introduction that said- "…assured me that their game, set during the American Revolution, was not a rah-rah, jingoistic USA #1 kind of video game" tells me everything I need to know.
There's only one type of person who believes that "rah-rah America" (i.e., "ignorantly" supporting the country) is a BAD thing.
Edit: I should clarify that I'm more against the article's content and how it was written. I'm not going after the author, as some other people have done.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/17/2012 12:13:42 AM
I didn't mean an interview, just a question. I get the feeling this issue won't be over any time soon as history is always controversial. But I can see you have your views and they cannot be influenced, this dog won't hunt so I'll just let it rest.
PSXextreme (PoliticsStationExtreme) xD
By the way World, I'll play through LBP with you if you like? I can like, show you how the create mode works n that 🙂
Last edited by Ludicrous_Liam on 6/17/2012 3:51:42 AM
I agree, World. The marketing of this game is creating the whole issue in the first place. No matter what Ubisoft says to allay people's concerns, the fact is, their marketing department keeps making trailers that seem conspicuously anti-British, and are nauseatingly draped in the American flag(I don't find the actual flag nauseating, in fact, I think it's one of the more aesthetically pleasing flags).
Sorry Ben, deffo not trying to suggest otherwise :). As for whether it's good or bad Although jingoism does have a bad side, WW1, Germans following the Nazis, and plenty of other examples. But not in any way suggesting that the US is within light years of those examples – just rambling again :). But as for who's pro and anti-jingoism over there, I can't say, but by the sound of it, it's the liberals (socialists?).
PS – Sir Shak – aye, the US flag is great, I reckon it's deffo one of the best designs :).
Last edited by Axe99 on 6/17/2012 4:28:09 AM
@Ben.As opposed to the uppity religious who want to control everything?Please,this is pitiful.This is a game site not a right wing blog.(Jane Elliot who pointed out racism in her town had her parents business go to one customer per day after doing so,it goes both ways)
@Jawk.If you think the left want to tell everyone how to live might I point out it's the right who think they own morality.You only think that because you are not at the end of there crap.PS I'd sooner be bought by educators than cigarette companies or Halliburton(Cheney got $400,000,000 while VP from them,look at your tax $ spent on food for troops with a markup of 20%,not to mention the 20 billion cash that went missing in Iraq)I could go on all night.It's sad.The truth is both sides have valid points but if you define your self as left or right you dismiss the others points as propaganda while taking any statements that backup your belief as truth.
Blah, blah, blah, you need some new talking points.
Please, really, no more politics. I'm sorry I brought it up.
World: Agendas are easy to spot. They hide behind something with no rational content or purpose, like that article.
Shak: "Nauseatingly draped in the American flag?" …wow.
lateralus: Thanks to liberals – the supposedly "tolerant" people who are all about "choice" – anybody who IS religious feels the need to hide in a hole somewhere.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/17/2012 10:09:54 AM
Agreed, no more politics. After reading your rebuttal though I expected something incendiary in the source, which is why I first responded with a touch of angst. Then I read it. Of course there's a chance you're right and this guy is a rare American apologist, but it's hard to reach that conclusion without first injecting one's own axe to grind. His statement about "making sure" it wasn't a cheerleader game could have a basis in other things, as I said before it could be a basic elimination of absurdity to highlight the real issue which is the marketing.
Assumption is a fun way to make up commentary but a poor way to get at the truth of any matter imo.
The game looks good when Kojima's team was working on it. Vanquish was awesome but Bayonnaise was rather Blagh. I'll wait for reviews before I pick this up. The other thing that is disappointing is this was supposed to fill in the gap when Raiden saved Sonny from the Patroits. Was looking forward to that portion of the story arc.
As for the Kotaku article? Nonsense. The left loves to take potshots at Americans for some reason. I liken it to the good kid in the class. They always tried to do the right thing but ended up being the least popular as a result. It's either that or Kotaku was seeking hits by trolling it's American readers which isn't beyond possibility.
PGU: Playing through Gravity Rush. It's a spectacular game. The best game the Vita has to offer at the moment.
I still fail to see why people loved Vanquish so much. I love me an action packed TPS but Vanquish just felt like a last-gen experience to me everywhere but the graphics. Not that it was bad mind you, I enjoyed parts but never finished it.
Yea, I can see that. I just like it because it was a quality game as far as gameplay, graphics, and performance were concerned. The story was the blagh, but the design and gameplay mechanics pulled it over the finish line for me.
However it falls it will be entertaining to see what Platinum does with Raiden and how fans react (or overreact).
I've never been a fan of Raiden and I'm not much a fan of these type of hack n' slash games so speaking for myself, as a fan of MGS, I won't be expecting much. Had Kojima's team been the ones to see this through I would probably have super high expectations.
I absolutely loved Vanquish! Why? Because it was an absolute blast to fly around at top speed and bash robots faces in. It was just plain fun and that's kinda the point right?
pgu: so i have been playing skyrim most the week. i have spent almost 200 hours on it. love the game way more then i ever thought i would. right now im running around with 2 followers. one is the mage and the other is an invincible dog. the dog isnt technically a follower but is at the same time. he goes where i go and fights with me til i finish his quest.
i also picked up the dlc for escape plan on the vita that cost 25 cents. now that is a good price for dlc. i wish more companies would price their dlc like that. i just finished the game and havent started the dlc but i plan on it soon.
i also got into the little big planet vita beta. soooo much fun. i seriously cant wait to get the whole game. the touch screen parts fit right in and dont inhibit the game in anyway. anyone else in the beta?
Y U NO tell me where to get this invincible dog!?
i only just found him yesterday. well got him to join me yesterday. its a quest called a daedras best friend. its starts by talking to this guy in falkreath i think it was. i am pretty sure he is at the town forge. his name is Lod. he asks you to find this dog just outside of town. hes actually a talking invincible dog. when you go out of town he comes up to you and starts talking to you. asks you to help him and then you follow him. i actually lost him and didnt do the quest for a while.
if you have been to ivarstead fast travel to there and go up the mountain like your going to high harothgar. your actually looking for a place called haemers shame or something like that. its not that far up the mountain. i would bring some help depending on how leveled you are. when you go in the cave your going to fight vampires. after you finish inside the cave he will join you and you can still have an actual follower.
the dog can only be killed by the ax you are sent to get to finish the quest line. he cant carry anything and really doesnt talk other than barking after he joins you. but til you finish the quest he can be with you without dying and is actually pretty strong.
Cool, thanks frylock. I want to get back into Skyrim but I keep playing other stuff. I loved having the dogs in Fallout.
he is really worth having. he attacks a lot and will draw attention away from you. he cant be killed or even really hurt. the only thing that pisses me off about the dog is that he is constantly walking into you and pushing you.
Heh, I've just been playing Fallout 3 and I was trying to get a follower myself. I've only just begun really so I'm still in Megaton. I went to Jericho, and I was bad enough for him – I steal just about everything I se-OMG LOOK A TIN CAN!! – and he wanted 1000 caps for his 'supplies'. I was like "If I'm paying that much, you better be damn near invincible". So I go ahead and give him the 1000 caps and then proceed in shooting him in the face. He died pretty quickly 🙁
lol, Liam you shot your buddy in the face? If you're nicer then you can get Fawkes to follow you later on. He is a tank and hilarious to boot.
yeah that fawkes dude was a super mutant and he was pretty much invincible also. i had him as a follower for a long time because of that. even if dude did survive he probably would have attacked you afterwards. they dont tend to like that.
MG Revengeance looks awesome. 'nuff said. And yeah itd probably be better received by the sensitive folks if it didn't carry MG in the title.
I think the complaints about TR and AC3 is becoming what seems like another day in the life of the drama of small but loud wnd vocal gamers taking games way too seriously. Games aren't their entire world are they? It would seem that way when I read stuff like that TR rant.
PGU: Finished another school quarter. Woo Hoo! Im dizzy with memory allocation and clean up, and pointers up the ying yang.
Ive been doing VF5 FS most the week. Love'n it. I just got done losing about 90 percent of my fights to a dude. We played like 30 matches it seems. We had great matches, some were hilarious. Anyway, sometimes losing tons is just a step closer to winning tons 😉
So I tried the Journey demo. It's cool. The sixaxis motion camera turning made me roll my eyes but other than that it was all artsy and touchy feely. In a good way. Not the artsy way like when I stop into an art building at school and tell myself "man, half of this crap is just bull" where art doesn't become art until someone identifies with there little message that describes the bull crap on display. It's like, yeah, whatever a vandalized toilet sitting in a foyer" that's just idiocy trying to pretend to be cool. Sorry but sometimes the art types in games or anything really annoy me. I just cant shake that half of it is a charade. Thankfully the other half can do some pretty cool stuff =)
Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/17/2012 1:12:26 AM
It's a toss up, as a new IP it might not sell well but get a better reception and as a Metal Gear game it will sell better but might not be received well. If people don't like it I expect to hear from Kojima.
the "knee jerk" reactions have nothing to do with the title!
people are complaining because konami showed it off last year as one game that looked so freaking awesome, than said nothing for a year than came back with something that looks half as good!
its like watching a beautiful cake baking in the oven and you can see it through the glass, than your mother comes in and scats you away.
than she brings it to the table and its burnt and collapsed.
your going to be disappointed, and complain no?
common sense!
yet sadly ive learned that is extinct in todays society!
sigh.
its really sad that weve come to a point where people are so over reactive.
theres been enough ranting about that stupid "rape" fiasco so all ill say is if i had a nickel where something was blown WAY out of proportion id never have to work another second in my life!
talk about crying over spilt milk, turning a pot hole into a mountain, give a man a rope and turning him into a cowboy, ect, ect.
i finally finished future soldier earlier this week so ive been bored with nothing to play.
the LBP beta is allot of fun but besides creating your own stuff, and playing whatever else people have made theres not much there.
i was a bit disappointed, i thought there would be heaps levels the devs created but theres not.
so i bit the bullet and bought lollipop chainsaw and im actually quite surprised by it!
its still your typical suda 51 game, IE repetitive as hell, basic gameplay and low budget almost feels like a ps2 game!
but that said im actually enjoying it!
i thought it would be like shadows of the damned, repetitive as hell and seriously boring and frustrating!
but its not, it may be seriously repetitive and REALLY frustrating!
OK ive killed this boss twice now, how many more times to i have to slice his a$$ in half!?
but that said its actually surprisingly allot of fun!
no way near worth the 80 dollar price tag, maybe 50 but still allot better than what i was expecting!
thats one thing i really hope next gen sorts out allot better.
how games like uncharted 3, ME3, MP3, games that are high budget, cost a arm and a leg to make, have 8+ hour campaigns, MP, and other content can release the same price as a low budget almost to the point where it could pass as a ps2 game, 5 hour campaign mode and that is it, is beyond me!
im sorry, but there is no way in hell lollipop chainsaw should be launching the same price as the rest of the industries AAA games!
we REALLY need to come up with a better pricing structure!
especially for portable games too, i mean why the &^%$ is leggo batman 2 on vita 5 bucks cheaper than the ps3 version?
why is MGS on the vita 5 bucks cheaper than the ps3 version, especially when the ps3 version has more games on it!
just ridiculous!
im sorry but there is NO way in hell a portable version of a game is worth the same amount as a console version!
vita games should be no more than 50 bucks!
not the ridiculous 68 most are going for!
Dare I say…. nothing in this "Week in Review" counts as interesting. You even tried to bring some Right wing politics in to it. Oh, wait… maybe that was left wing politics. And none of the games mentioned are really of interest calibre. Some are dated and should be buried in to Gaming history… forever. OThers such as lollipop goes to show that people with no talent except to do hack job games can actually sucker people into buying and playing them. Well those that do not get the opportunity to play them for free like some.
Sorry, but things are getting boring here, but I think thats a reflection on the gaming interseting and not people here. Gossip and raning, like I am doing right now, seems to be the theme these days. Why? Because there was once a time there were plenty of decent games created by talented teams coming out each month… now its maybe 2 or 3 every year… possibly.
Keep Playing!…. if you can.
Or, maybe, you just don't like games as much as you used to. Happened to me, I only turn my PS3 on once a month now. I don't really miss it either, I just don't like to game as much as I used to. But I still visit the site, it just feels like home.
I feel sorry for you. There is nothing wrong/bad about the games coming out now… Nor with this site. I think what is wrong with gaming is people like you. But hey what do i know? You seem to know whats good for everyone.
Sounds like you got the depression my man. I don't care what people think I'm more comfortable with Suda 51 getting my money for a crazy ambitious fun-fest than another mainstream game that doesn't need my money and doesn't try anything interesting or new. Those games usually only deserve a used purchase.
pgu: i bought another fallout 3 goty edition, this time it was
new and not used, so, so far no 80010514 error code 🙂
i don't know why, i seem to be addicted to the game.
i even found a way to get power amor training at level 2
It got a goty edition for a reason 😉
Ahhh, Fallout 3… One of my definitive highlights from my years with the PS3 so far. I'll never forget those hours I spent in that game.
The DLCs are well worth considering too, should you want more content later.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/17/2012 2:55:37 PM
well beam if he has the goty edition then he already has them. but yes they are well worth playing.
I've just spoken with the author of the Assassin's Creed III article and things are exactly as I suspected. Happy to report the matter is well and truly closed.
Oh, you mean he admitted the article had no real point?
That it was about Ubisoft misrepresenting their game because it may have been their estimation that Americans wouldn't be able to handle an ad campaign that showed the colonists being killed. And that some folks simply read things into it that they wanted to.
Nice one, World.