Dan Hsu is my hero

I don't say that lightly -- Dan "Shoe" Hsu is the reason I started seriously examining a career in videogame journalism (which some claim is a neolism that has no real value). His interview with Peter Moore (which is currently unavailabe on 1UP's website -- however, the follow-up is available) was a leap in the right direction for games journalism (it also made me warm up to Peter Moore). Previously, I had thought that games journalism was all overly enthusiastic previews and polite reviews by people who where not far removed from PR. Shoe proved me wrong -- he proved that games journalists could be critical and genuine with game coverage and in interviews. So, my love for 1UP and EGM was born. (The E3 2006 poolcast of 1UP Yours was also a turning point.)

Recently, Shoe has been publishing a series of articles (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) on his blog that detail some of the shadier things that go on in the industry (for instance: the illegitimacy of exclusive reviews). This "transparency" (as he and John Davison call it) is both interesting and informative. It also makes me respect the man even more. This is the kind of direction that I'm glad 1UP and EGM have taken (as evidence in Shoe's editorials in his last issues of EGM).

Even if you have no desire to embark in a career in game journalism, I highly suggest that you read his articles since they can be applied to any other medium. Be skeptical. Be informed. Know that people can be bought and sold. Know that some people won't stand for that.


Edit: Here are some of Shoe's editorials that he re-posted in his 1UP blog as well as a Penny Arcade comic strip about his interview with Peter Moore:
- Concerning Ubisoft's bullshit move of banning Ziff Davis coverage
- Concerning game censorship (Manhunt 2 and the ESRB)
- Penny Arcade's strip on "Moore's Law"

Chalk it up to basic needs

Ahoy, hoy! I've got another mix, because that's easier to do than writing about something... Say Son of Rambow. I'm lazy, I guess, but making mixes is something I find to be relaxing. Maybe I should DJ weddings, but then I bet they just want to hear "Time of Your Life" or some crap like that. I would get to see drunk people on a regular basis though... Oh, wait -- that's not a good thing when you're sober. (Something work has taught me.)

1. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Dawn of the Dead
2. The Helio Sequence - Can't Say No
3. Minus The Bear - Throwin' Shapes
4. Foals - Red Sock Pugie
5. Interpol - No I in Threesome
6. The Shins - Little Boxes
7. Port O'Brien - Fisherman's Son
8. Laura Marling - Ghosts

Parkour für alles

This mix is a bit dark. Maybe it fits with the whole overcast week we've been having.

1. Ratatat - Dura
2. Calexico - Two Silver Trees
3. The Do - The Bridge is Broken
4. Goldfrapp - Lovely Head
5. The Bent Pen Project - Your Jacket is Just Fine
6. Kaki King - Pull Me Out Alive
7. Rilo Kiley - Three Hopeful Thoughts
8. New Order - Ceremony

Super Joe, you dance like a wooden Indian

I remember Bionic Commando as one of those NES games where I would die miserably time after time, but I still loved it. There where games that would result in controller-throwing tamptrums, but somehow Bionic Commando wasn't like that with me. Maybe it's because I just sensed that if I failed, it was because of my meager skills. Now with Bionic Commando: Rearmed out, I got to test my skills all over again.

The overworld map of Bionic Commando was always confounding, but now the game makes it far easier to understand. Sure, you still don't pursue levels in numerical order, but it's far more obvious that you're somewhere you shouldn't be because you lack the correct equipment. Helpfully, the game has basic and advanced tutorials that help you feel more comfortable controlling Mr. Rad Spencer. In fact, after doing the tutorials and attempting some of the challenge stages, the regular game feels far more doable. Thanks to Rearmed, I may actually be able to beat Bionic Commando! I'm already on stage 12 (the final stage, if I am correct). Now I just need to learn to maneuver around those electric floors and then I'll be able to "explod" Master D/Hitler/The Leader's head.

I'm really happy with the way the team at Grin rebalanced the weapons -- now they all have their uses. And thanks to the better interface (I never understood what was going on in the NES days), you can bring all your equipment with you so you can switch weapons at will. Ah, the days of infinite ammo. How I missed you.

The new bosses are a welcomed addition and make Bionic Commando feel more complete. And although the graphics are 3D, I never felt as though I was missing platforms or making missteps because of the added dimension. It feels like 2D Bionic Commando, only better since you don't have the ill-fitting NES controller to deal with.

Really the only complaint I have is that it's difficult to launch from a moving platform to another using your bionic arm. Since the platform is moving, you are soon detached from your intended pivot point and you fall to your death. If there was just some added leniance in the amount of time you're able to stick to the platform you wish to cling to, it would feel far better. As it is, it's pretty unpredictable. Sometimes you make the leap and other times you just die.

Is Bionic Commando: Rearmed worth $10? Absolutely. This is a gift for the true gamers out there -- it's made with love and it offers an actual challenge that is difficult, but not impossible. Whether out of nostalgia or whether you're looking to discovering something you may have never experienced, it's a real treat. Bravo, Capcom. This is how you remake a game.

Memes, Genes, Scenes and Senses

Via digg via Joystiq: An absolutely brilliant Metal Gear Ac!d Mobile commercial.

"Rad" is my middle name

Jeremy Parish of 1UP reviews Bionic Commando: Rearmed. I'm definitely getting this for the PS3 tomorrow, even though trophy support won't be available until a later patch. True, I could get it for my 360 and have achievements available immediately, but I have heard that the game is better on the PS3 because of the d-pad (the one bad thing about the otherwise perfect 360 controller). Also, I just want another reason to turn on my PS3. Is that so bad?

I rented Uncharted a week or so ago, and I must say that the demo has to be borked, because playing on easy mode this time around is far more forgiving. (Or maybe I'm just imagining things.) Also, it has to be said: Uncharted is what Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wishes it could be. I have thoroughly enjoyed the story so far (even though it hints at upcoming sci-fi bullshit) and Nathan Drake makes for a good action star. There's no need to dust off Harrison Ford for further lackluster adventures, just make more Uncharted games.

Also, I like playing Uncharted because it has trophy support. Now I just wonder how the hell I can show off my e-penis to the world with a badge that's similar to my 360 badge. As far as I can tell, there's no official way to show off your PSN account. I did see a third-party badge creator, but you had to manually input which trophies you had won so far. What kind of bollocks is that?

Also, for those who are interested, today Yahtzee waxed on about Prince of Persia (the pudding analogy is worth it alone):

They find it all a different story

I was reading an article I found on digg about great instrumentals from bands who usually sing and I rediscovered something I'd long since forgot; a short film called More from Mark Osbourne, which featured a great song from New Order called Elegia. Check it out. (Unfortunatley, I can't embed it because embedding is not allowed for this particular video on YouTube.)

Like a star that can't wait for the night

Here's a mix of songs that make me wanna dance:

1. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
2. Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
3. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
4. Elias and the Wizzkids - The Dance
5. Led Zeppelin - Fool In The Rain
6. Lily Allen - Smile
7. Friska Viljor - Arpeggio
8. The Smiths - This Charming Man
   

This battle is about to asplode!

Capcom unveiled a new Versus title at EVO this year. It's called Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and it looks very pretty. I wish that's how Street Fighter IV looked... Or maybe they can use this engine for an HD Alpha or Third Strike remake (it might be the same one used by SFIV, but I don't know). That'd make me happy too.

1UP has a preview with video and GAF has some screenshots.

I don't like that the game only uses four buttons though. I much prefer a six-button control set of light, medium, and hard kicks and punches. Still, I suppose this is trying to be a game with broader appeal.

Qore Episode 3 impressions

The first thing that pops up for episode 3 of Qore is a trailer for a new Brothers in Arms game, and it has to be said that it looks pretty terrible (at least graphically). Moving on, I'm sort of dumbfounded that I can't use my PS3 remote control to navigate through the menus of Qore. It's nothing but videos, so why do I need a controller for that? Also, there's apparently no fast forward or rewind capabilities when watching videos either, but that's not really a problem since the video segments are in very manageable chunks.

I do have another minor complaint and that's that the "bug" for Qore that says that you're watching Qore in the corner of the screen is not transparent enough nor is it tucked far enough into the corner. Also, it's about 20% too large. But hey -- the devil is in the details, as they say.

As for any actual content that Qore offers, you still have to wait until September to play the betas for Resistance 2 or SOCOM. Also, if you've already downloaded Calling All Cars because you subscribed annually, that's going to apparently be continuously grayed-out since you already have it. So it appears that Qore is only capable of offering 3 downloadables an issue and one of those is always Calling All Cars. And what is Qore episode 3's third downloadable besides the Resistance 2 beta? A Qore theme. ... Alright. What about an exclusive demo or something a little more valuable? So far the only other thing has been a Naruto demo. Isn't this a show about games? Isn't it supposed to be "interactive"? Sure, when we have access to the betas, it'll be worth it, but until then there's nothing enticing going on.

The content of episode 3 concerns DC Universe Online, LEGO Batman, Baja: Edge of Control and NBA 09. It's a nice potpourri, although I'm really only semi-interested in DC Universe Online and LEGO Batman. I also thought that Qore was supposed to offer a monthly look at Resistance 2 until it shipped. Guess not. As far as DC Universe Online, I like that the look is inspired by Jim Lee, but so far I think it looks clunky (more so than other MMORPGs). The flying animations in particular don't look natural or fully fleshed-out, so I hope that this game is far from being released, because it needs more time cooking in the oven.

As for LEGO Batman... It looks like another LEGO game with a new skin. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the series needs to evolve if it wants to stay interesting because as it stands, I can get my fill of LEGO simply by playing the LEGO Star Wars or LEGO Indiana Jones demos. Baja looks like a last generation game and I could care less about another new NBA game (I couldn't even begin to tell you the difference between NBA 09 and NBA 2K9). Also, it's about time they switched up the "secret" L2 game. We need to move on from Pong-clone thing. I don't expect Sony to make a brand new game every month, but I also hope that this isn't the only bonus game that's going to be available this season.

I bitch and moan, but it's not really a bad product. As I've said, the best thing about Qore is Veronica Belmont, but I would certainly like some more content. As it stands, with the amount of stuff that's contained within, it should be more like a twice-a-month (or even weekly) type of show rather than once-a-month. It's a very polite show that's more like the pre-scrubbed and PR-approved gaming journalism that you're probably used to, but I'm also glad that's it's not trying to rip-off 1UP Yours or anything like that. As such, their choice of Veronica Belmont as host is key since most anyone else would seem very hammy.

So! Sony either needs to produce more content for Qore, or charge a little less. If someone asked me if they should subscribe, I'd say that depends on how much you like Veronica Belmont. Otherwise, stick with the 1UP Show and the like.

Overlooked Classic Rock Songs #2

The Association - Never My Love

The Hollies - On a Carousel

The Beatles - And I Love Her

PlayStation 3 Report: Week Two

Besides Metal Gear Solid 4, I now own another PS3 title: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (what a mouthful!). I've played all of the main Ratchet games (except for Deadlocked) and until I played Tools of Destruction (from here out abbreviated ToD), I thought that Going Commando was still the watermark for the series. I beat ToD earlier this week and now I'm going through challenge mode, so how does it stack up?

The first thing I have to say is that I respect Insomniac Games immensely. They create consistently fun and enjoyable titles and I think that the Ratchet series was the best new franchise established from the last generation of consoles. However, I feel that some aspects of ToD are still stuck in the PS2 era, the primary aspect of which being storytelling. Part of this is because the story of ToD is on auto-pilot as it lacks all of the charm and humor that I've come to expect from the series.

However, I feel the main reason that the story didn't shine is perhaps the execution of the cutscenes. They still have jarring transistions as residue from the PS2 games where the screen suddenly goes black or the scene doesn't quite end on a note that makes sense. They are overly brief and illustrate only sketchings of what's going on. Now, I don't want Ratchet & Clank to be War or Peace or some such overplayed analogy, but I do think there's an elegant way to handle the story so that you get all the information you need while being brief. Instead, this blatantly feels like a way to herd the player from one environment to the next so that they can try out their new weapons. People who've never played a Ratchet game before will be left cold to the characters since series superstars Clank and Captain Qwark aren't allowed to be their charming selves.

That said, the gameplay side of things is still spectacular. While it feels like there's only a few really good weapons this time around (why they have to bring the anemic buzzsaw gun back, I've no idea), it's still pretty fun leveling up your weapons to new levels of mayhem. The platforming is more balanced than it was in Up Your Arsenal, but I still felt like I could have used some more jumping around. Captain Qwark's 2D missions are entirely absent from ToD (the best element of Up Your Arsenal), but I think that in part that's due to this being the first installment on the PS3.

The environments aren't the most inspired this time around and I yearned for more types of Leviathan-type enemies (basically mini-bosses), but despite all of the shortcomings in these areas the gunplay is still fun. Fundamentally, it hasn't changed from Going Commando, other than having R1 be the new fire button. Still, if you've got a system that works... I will say that even though there are a lot of disapointing elements in ToD (No secret Insomniac area?), it's still pretty good and I will glady be buying Quest for Booty later this month.

Moving on, I've also managed to subscribe to Qore this week. I've watched all of episode 2 and I'm about to trek through episode 1. I have to say, for the most part, I'm pleased. I do feel like $3 is perhaps a dollar too much for the amount of content you get, but then I also think that I'm able to see Veronica Belmont in HD so... That said, she is clearly the best part of the package. Because she's such a charming host, I managed to watch videos on Silent Hill and Naruto that I'd never have watched where it not for her involvement. Transversely, while Microsoft's Major Nelson is also an amiable guy, I'm not going to watch a video on Madden or Fracture or Need for Speed simply because of his sparkling personality. In summary, cute girls equals win.

The Calling All Cars game that I got for subscribing... Eh. I remember Luke Smith saying that it was like NBA Jam back when he was on 1UP Yours. I'd say that's pretty fair. I'm sure it's more fun with multiplayer, but seeing as I know hardly anyone with a PS3, I'm not able to test that out (I'm also not going to buy a Bluetooth headset so I can chat on my PS3).

So I can say that if it weren't for the Blu-Ray support and the very few triple-A exclusive titles it does have, the PS3 would be gathering dust. The PS3 desperatley needs more compelling exclusives and Little Big Planet is looking more appealing all the time despite my lack of faith in quality community content. InFamous could certainly be the PS3's answer to Crackdown, but I'm looking for something that's really system defining. Speaking of upcoming games, I'll probably end up buying Bionic Commando: Rearmed for the PS3 since it supports trophies and because I'd like another game to round out my PS3 library.

So there you go. I'm sure my excitement for the platform will be elevated when the game business picks up in the fall and when Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Forgetting Sarah Marshall appear on Blu-Ray on September 30th.

I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear

As the two people who read my blog know, I was without a computer monitor for about 4 or 5 days. Now I've got a shiny new Samsung (that's getting traded in tomorrow because of a stuck pixel, by the way) and I feel more complete. So what's happened in the week or two of silence?

The first thing I did was beat Metal Gear Solid 4. I will say that, yes, it is a tremendous game, but after completing it for the third time just about an hour or two ago, I have to say... It's not the best MGS. A lot of people would say that honor belongs to MGS3, and I have to agree. There are things I love about all of the Solid series (I never got into the MSX games), but I would say that overall, MGS3: Subsistence (the Subsistence part is important) is the best of the four, leaving MGS4 in the bottom half with MGS2.

If I had to express my complaints with MGS4 while avoiding spoilers, I would say that there's really not much game there. After you skip all the cutscenes, you realize that the environments are pretty small and pretty linear. I never felt like I had a ton of options for tackling an objective or sneaking past enemy units. To be sure, it's nice that the controls are slightly better and you don't have a cumbersome camo or ailment menu, but I feel that the main purpose of MGS4 was to tie up all these plot lines from past games in a neat little package. As far as that goes, I do feel it is a massive success. I heard Shane Bettenhausen of EGM/1UP remark that the player would feel completely satisfied with the way things are wrapped up, and I have to agree with him.

As such, with further iterations of the franchise, I would like to see something that's more of a game. I could see the series going in two seperate ways in this regard. You could have "Metal Gear Raiden" be the more gameplay intensive title while "Metal Gear Big Boss" would fill in the backstory of Big Boss/Naked Snake more. As long as they're not on the PSP, I would love to play both of these games.

Moving on to more seemingly minute complaints for MGS4, I hate that each time you start a boss fight, the game automatically equips you with another weapon that's not of your choosing. If you're going for a no kill game, this is especially infuriating as the weapon that you're equipped with is always of the lethal variety. It's small, but an annoyance nonetheless. (Also, what's the point of having 60+ weapons if only a handful are non-lethal?)

I also hate that you can't skip the credits and that cinematics and the pause screen count as playtime. MGS4's credits are possibly the longest I've ever seen in any movie or game. Yes, there were a lot of people who worked on this game who deserve praise and recognition, but if I've already beat the game before, why do you feel compelled to waste my time?

Speaking of a waste of time... The game does have a dreaded PS3 install, but this is by far the worst offender I've found. It's nice that they split up the install time based on what act you're on, but once you play through the game once, you realize that you have to install everything all over again because it doesn't store the complete install on your hard drive, only the current act you're on. For those of us with space to spare, why can't I just install the complete game and never have to worry about this crap again?

So there you go. My vague review of Metal Gear Solid 4. If I were to give it a score, I'd give it a A- as compared to the A+ I would give Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. There's a lot I would like to go into concerning my favorite aspects of each of the four games, but I'll save that for another day.

I have other things I'd like to talk about as well, such as my experience with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and the PS3 in general, but I think I'll put those in a seperate post.