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Posted by admin on 10/06 at 10:51 AM
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Rockstar’s handheld masterpiece Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is about is to be released on both the PSP and the iPhone. So now like seemed an appropriate time to review the game on the platform it was built for, the Nintendo DS.
Developed by the makers of the PSP version of GTA, Chinatown Wars can be best described as modern take on Grand Theft Auto II, applying lessons learned in the post-GTA III era while still resembling the older game. The Liberty City of GTA IV is still fully 3-D but now the camera has been tilted 90 degrees and the action is viewed form a top-down perspective.

Old GTA games, or all GTA games on the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, were strictly 2D affairs but this one uses its polygons for added depth, lightning, physics, and more flexible camera movement. How well the city is presented is crucial to an open-world game and the huge city of Chinatown is impressive not only on a technical level but on an artistic level. The graphics are slightly blocky but more stylized with some more color to go along with your thoroughly M-rated murder and mayhem. The higher camera also prevents the player from noticing any missing details or muddy textures. By making some intelligent changes, Rockstar made an exceptionally well realized urban sandbox to explore on the limited 3D hardware of the Nintendo DS and laid a strong foundation for the rest of the game.

Right from its slick title Rockstar-style title screen, Chinatown Wars thrusts you into the world of Huang Lee, spoiled son of a Chinese gangster about to embark on violent, funny and somewhat stupid adventure in a fake version of New York City. Characters and dialogue are good enough to not be distracting but crooked cops addicted to smack are not super original or memorable. Cross-dressing Italians aside, the Chinese flavor added to the typical gangster story provides the only interesting plot quirks. Also be on the look-out for the Lost biker gang from the Lost and Damned expansion. The narrative, along with the music heard on the various radio channels, suffer from not having any spoken dialogue. Good voice actors could have really brought the Chinatown Wars script to life but as of now, it remains the part of game that has suffered the most from the limitations of the DS.

However, the open-world gangster gameplay of the Grand Theft Auto series that has captivated so many, sold millions of games and spawned countless imitators, has been beautifully represented in Chinatown Wars. Playing this game and then going back to GTA IV and GTA II has shown that although the camera is in different spots, the gameplay is largely the same. You still steal cars and shoot guns, now with helpful steering assists and lock-on aiming. That may sound simple but through the varied missions, and a creative mind, those things can lead to hours and hours of fun tasks to accomplish and challenges to take on. Completed missions can be replayed at any time which is new and there are plenty of side quests to uncover in fake Time Square or fake Ellis Island. Steal a police car? Go capture some criminals while escaping the real cops for some extra cash. Find a skull icon? Then get ready for a minigun killing spree contest for you and even a wirelessly connected friend. 

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A big feature from GTA IV that has made the portable jump is the ability to go surf the internet. However, in Chinatown Wars you can go online through a laptop as well as through the new PDA. The PDA can be also be used to order weapons, plan GPS routes and respond to your various contacts. These contacts include drug dealers who are essential to the best new feature of Chinatown Wars: the drug economy. There are six drugs to deal and the point is to buy low and sell high. But managing several deals at once in a timely fashion while avoiding the police is not only fun but allows you to gather enough funds to pay for you other endeavors, like buying a tank or a sword. In addition to controlling the PDA, the touch screen is used for a few touch screen minigames. These activities, such as hotwiring a car or building a rifle, are fun and take full advantage of the platform but as far as being an evolution to the series formula, the drug trading blows it away. 

At E3 this year, Nintendo highlighted a DS game called C.O.P.: The Recruit. While the plot looked dull and generic, the footage showed an open-world game on the DS using a GTA IV style behind-the-back character perspective. If Ubisoft was able to pull this off it seems like Rockstar should have been able to too. Still, that game still has yet to prove itself whereas Chinatown Wars is already an amazing, polished experience that does not let its lower specs or slightly-outdated camera placement stop its from a being a rightful member of the GTA family.

Rating: 5 out of 5

- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 10/01 at 11:42 AM
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LOS ANGELES - According to CBS11tv.com, a southern California college student has been arrested on allegations of bypassing the DMCA by installing modchips into consoles.

A Southern California college student has been arrested on federal charges that he illegally modified video game consoles to enable the machines to play pirated video games.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 27-year-old Matthew Crippen was released Monday night after posting $5,000 bond.

The California State University Fullerton student who lives in Anaheim is accused of modifying Xbox, PlayStation and Wii consoles in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents got a tip from the Entertainment Software Association and searched Crippen’s home in May.

He was indicted on two counts by a federal grand jury. Crippen faces 10 years in prison if convicted.

Attempts to reach Crippen for comment were unsuccessful.

Posted by admin on 09/29 at 11:26 PM
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The newly emerging downloadable game space was breathed new life into once dead franchises. Much like how a company might shrink in order to survive, old and once viable 2D console games of yesterday are swallowing their pride and releasing new installments through services like Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, DSiWare, and WiiWare. But with the market becoming larger and larger, even games that have slightly lower-profiles compared to “Bionic Commando: Rearmed” and “Megaman 9” are getting a second chance. Case in point these three recently announced retro revivals planned for release in 2010.

Bonk: Brink of Extinction

Who can forget Bonk, the mascot of the ill-fitted TurboGrafx 16, a third horse in the two horse 4th generation console race. The lovable young caveman who loves meat and kills his enemies by crushing them with his forehead, was the star of several TG16 platformers as well some handheld re-releases and a bizarre shoot’em up spin-off named “Air Zonk”. But with the TG16 dead and buried Bonk would remain in relative obscurity until his original adventure was released early on in the lifecycle of the Wii’s Virtual Console. Now he is coming back on all three major platforms in the new downloadable game “Bonk: Brink of Extinction”. Based on screenshots released by Hudson, the game harks back to the 2D side-scrolling gameplay of the originals while adding spiffy new polygonal graphics. Prehistoric jungle backgrounds have depth and lighting while Bonk’s caveman cranium now has some shine to it. Between this and the already available “Adventure Island” revival Hudson seems to be digging into the vault for their downloadable games to complement their monthly Bomberman releases.

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge

Released at the tail end of the Game Boy Color’s life span, Shantae was a clever well-made platformer published by Capcom and developed by WayForward (developers of the upcoming, beautiful hand-drawn Wii remake of “A Boy and his blob”). The game starred a “half-genie” named Shantae who used her hair to attack her foes. That sounds familiar, maybe Platinum Games saw this before they split from Capcom to make Bayonetta. It was a critical success and while sales were not great, fans have been asking to see a sequel for years. The result, a 3-part episodic sequel will be released over DSiWare. Earlier this year, WayForward put out one of the standout games for DSiWare, Mighty Flip Champs. Perhaps the success of that has inspired them to choose the service as the means to release their new Shantae game. 

The graphics look like updated versions of the original cartoon sprites. In fact, it would not be too hard to believe that the game is based on the rumored Game Boy Advance Shantae prototype. The first part is slated to come out in late 2009. Hopefully WayForward is modeling their episodic release calendar on the one Telltale Games (makers of the monthly Sam & Max games and the new monthly Monkey Island series) uses, not the Half-Life one. Hopefully Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will get here in less than three years after episode 2.

Castlevania Adventure: The Rebirth

Currently this game is a rumor based on an ESRB leak. However, Konami has already released similarly named retro revivals like “Contra: Rebirth” and “Gradius: Rebirth” through WiiWare. So a Castlevania Rebirth is not too hard to imagine. What is interesting is the word “adventure” in the title. Castlevania the Adventure was the first attempt at a Game Boy version of Castlevania and the results were mixed at best. However, maybe remaking it for WiiWare would give them the chance to fix it as well as introduce it to new Castlevania fans that have already beaten “Order of Ecclesia” for the DS and their downloaded copy of “Symphony of the Night” for Xbox Live Arcade. The current head of Castlevania canon, Koji Igarashi, was involved in the making of “Contra: Rebirth” hopefully he has something to do with this project, a new game in the franchise he loves and helped reinvigorate. After all, Kojima already has the upcoming “Castlevania: Lords of Shadow”, the full 3D console game coming next year, under control. As long as both games have Dracula and whips I will be satisfied.

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- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 09/29 at 11:02 AM
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The rumors are true - Yesterday Nintendo announced they will be dropping the Wii’s price in both the US and Japan by $50 from to $199.99.  There are no current plans to drop the price in either the UK, Europe, or Australia (Sorry guys!)

The cut brings the Wii in line with Microsoft’s $200 entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade System.  The price drop follows a reported 50% decline in Wii sales compared with last year.

The new pricing will begin this Sunday, September 27th. Of course at that time we at vpgames.com will drop our price as well.

Both Sony & Microsoft have recently cut the prices of their consoles by a cool hundred bucks.  In the United States, Sony’s new PS3 Slim now goes for $299, and Microsoft sells a rough and ready version of the Xbox 360 for $200, alongside its HDMI-ready Elite model for $299 as well. Microsoft’s also selling its discontinued Xbox 360 Pro for $250 and running a $50 rebate promotion on the Xbox 360 Elite through October 5th.

While the US video game industry has seen somewhat of a slump from March on this year, many have predicted it’ll recover as early as this month, possibly breaking even before the holiday shopping season.. After this price drop mania begins to subside, this will depend mainly on customer enthusiasm for big-league games like Halo 3: ODST, Uncharted 2 (PS3), the New Super Mario Bros (Wii), and of course, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii)

Posted by admin on 09/25 at 11:01 AM
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My opinion of The Conduit has undergone numerous changes since its announcement during the summer of 2008. Still high off developer High Voltage Software’s new and strong commitment to bringing quality third-party original and hardcore games to Wii, to me the slightly futuristic first person shooter resembled a Wii-version of Half-Life 2. With mine and I’m sure many others’ expectations set so unreasonably high due to our desperation, the only thing that my opinion could do was drop as more video and information came out. However, the only real way to judge a game is to play it and at the New York Comic-Con earlier this year I played some of the Conduit. The demo was fun, although not as much fun as some of its fellow Sega competitors like Madworld of even House of the Dead: Overkill, and despite its problems I still wanted to play it. After buying and completing the game shortly after its release this last June, I realized that my opinion of the Conduit hasn’t changed much since playing that demo.

By far the biggest flaw of the Conduit is the utterly generic feel of the game and that come out the most in the story. Aliens are attacking Washington and you’re a special agent that has to fight and shoot your way to the truth while dealing with mysterious double-crossing characters voiced by E-list celebrities. Remember Kevin Sorbo from “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” you know, the show that “Xena: Warrior Princess” spun-off from? Defenders of the story point out the embedded narrative found in the hidden text scrawled into the walls and while some of them are clever, like the one hinting about the cliff-hanger, sequel-baiting twist ending, they don’t make up for the fact that the Conduit does not have a very interesting or engrossing plot. Neither does something like Killzone 2 but it almost makes up for it through its phenomenal (though grey) graphics and cinematic cutscenes.

Cutscenes in the Conduit are usually just extended Metal Gear codec calls. Perhaps the story could have been better if it took a “Men in Black” style comedic approach to its government conspiracy and alien invasion storyline. Timesplitters has shown that quality shooters can also be funny, and not in the ironic, unintentional “oh my god this is so bad its actually great” kind of comedy that permeates the Conduit’s otherwise dull and overly self-serious “storyline”.

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But if its sounds like I’m being harsh let me say that no matter what Metal Gear might suggest, plot in games is secondary to gameplay. High Voltage Software set out to make the ultimate first person shooter for Wii and they didn’t succeed, the first person shooter adventure Metroid Prime Trilogy says hello, but they did come admirably close. While it’s true that many early, rushed, or just lazily developed, shooters on the Wii have botched controls, the Conduit has precision creeping towards the level of a PC. Add in the slightly intimidating but robust control customization that allow you to tweak literally every aspect of the controls from the button layout to the bounding box and I honestly can’t see why someone would ever choose dual-analog over these pointer controls. Unfortunately the excellent controls are wasted in somewhat stock gameplay.

The sub-10 hour campaign has you fighting your way through various locales in America’s capital. Occasionally you’ll fight one boss type but usually levels culminate in battles against one final horde of the “drudge” invaders. One annoyance are the actual Conduits themselves. They are glowing portals that endlessly respawn enemies until destroyed and have a habit of appearing in bunches. Another gameplay twist is the mystical All-Seeing Eye. The glorified alien flashlight is fun to look but is only really used for the most basic of puzzles like hidden switches or invisible beeping mines. The idea of setting a game in Washington D.C. is a promising one and it’s nice to see some lesser-known but still important landmarks. Having a sister who lives in D.C., I know the importance of the Metro Subway system. One of the first things I did when starting the game was remove all onscreen HUD so the view of a ruined D.C. would look that much more real without any obstructions. However, although the environments do look pretty good, I got the feeling that in order to make those environments work as levels, the developers basically created standard corridor-filled shooter levels and put the D.C. aesthetics on top. The campaign is linear but without the flair of something like Call of Duty and its scripted events, the linearity becomes more and more noticeable. At least the give you the option to literally see the line in case you get stuck.

While their style of game design may be somewhat conventional, High Voltage Software has succeeded in enhancing it with their presentation. Interface, music and creepy alien sound effects and gun noises get the job done but the real stars are the graphics. The game has been built to be a showpiece for High Voltage Software’s new Wii engine, the Quantum 3 engine. I’m not a programmer so go find a developer diary if you want to here someone rattle off specs and numbers, but I can tell you that the graphics in the Conduit, while not an artistic achievement, are at least a technical one nearing the Nintendo titles as the best on Wii. The gun models are diverse, detailed and well-animated. Different grenades produce unique explosions in the well-lit environments. Enemies become slightly repetitive but burning them to death with a charged shot from their own gun is satisfying to look at especially after replaying levels with the one-shot fiery kill cheat code.

After teases like Gyrostarr for WiiWare, through the Conduit the Quantum 3 engine has proven itself as a premier 3rd party engine for the Wii, until they get that port of Unreal 3 working. Now we just need some more artistic developers to start licensing it. At first I though the game had a balance of sci-fi real-world “grit” to it that was missing from the space of Metroid and although Medal of Honor isn’t sci-fi is was isn’t so much gritty as it was just brown. However, the Conduit is also pretty brown, grey and sometimes silver just with some colorful explosions and alien technology thrown in. It’s similar to the unique D.C. setting thrown onto the standard level design. I do have one more issue that is really more of a pet peeve but all first person shooters in this post-Halo world should have regenerating health. Although only the first two Conduit levels use health packs, dying and respawning so frequently made me instantly turn down the difficulty level and almost soured me on the whole game. Luckily check points are frequent.

If the Conduit were only a single player game it would tough to recommend it as anything more than a rental, especially with games like Metroid Prime Trilogy on the market that just absolutely destroy it in almost every conceivable way. However, surprisingly enough, the thing that saves this game and that has kept me playing it for far longer than what I anticipated was the online multiplayer. At times I encountered some game-breaking issues, but for the most part connecting is quick easy and virtually lag-free. It uses friend codes but with its achievement system and Wii-speak powered voice chat, it is the closet thing to Xbox Live on the system. Now we just need to foster an online community to keep it alive. The game types are the usual death matches and team capture the flags along with some fresh spins on old ideas like “ASE Football” but the matches are still a lot of fun, especially with the intuitive controls which almost make the old match types feel like new experiences.

Some of the best parts of the single-player game stand out in multiplayer. Levels that seemed mundane when playing alone make great maps of various sizes and their generic themes like “chrome lab” and “warehouse” are easier to forgive. Using human and alien guns each with their own special abilities is fun in the campaign but take a satisfyingly strategic turn when using them against thinking human players. Most importantly, the story is completely non-existent. It’s kind of sad but the best thing about the Conduit besides its controls and graphics is that the online multiplayer is fun because it is competent and actually functions, except when people start cheating. There’s no reason to buy the special limited edition version of this game, especially when its includes an art book even though it doesn’t have good art, but if you do make sure to get your special online skin because you should be sinking some time into Conduit online.

The Conduit is a first person shooter with online multiplayer for the Wii that is good but ultimately soulless. But by putting so much effort into things like the controls, options graphics and online, High Voltage Software has nearly made up for the lack of artistic merit and an uninspiring campaign. It doesn’t look as good as a 4 out of 5 Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 game but it controls so much better. Everything else is pretty much the same so I guess it balances out.

Rating: 4 out of 5

- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 09/23 at 12:09 PM
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With the Tokyo Game Show rapidly approaching, the more and more news keeps coming from the major Eastern developers. First Capcom unveiled Okamiden for the DS and now, after years of development and speculation (as well as a leaked banner ad), Square-Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIII, the next installment of the mega-RPG franchise, will be launching on December 17th 2009 in Japan.

The first numbered game since Final Fantasy XII back in 2006, Final Fantasy XIII follows a new female protagonist, Lightning, as she and some ragtag rebels undergo a Final Fantasy VII style quest to overthrow a tyrannical and futuristic government. Final Fantasy XIII is notable not just because it is the first next-generation version of the series but also it is the first numbered entry to be released on a non-Sony console simultaneously in any region since Final Fantasy VI back on the Super Nintendo in 1994. While the Japanese version will remain a PlayStation 3 exclusive when it launches in Japan this winter, the international versions that are presumably hitting next spring will also be available for the Xbox 360.

While there hasn’t been any new information on the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII spin-offs, Vs. XIII and Agito XIII, Square-Enix has shown off an early playable version of, believe it or not, Final Fantasy XIV which is also scheduled to hit PlayStation 3 and possibly PC next year. Although that does seem like a quick turnaround, keep in mind that Final Fantasy XIV is Square-Enix’s latest attempt at an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), the first being Final Fantasy XI, and has been in development under a different name for several years.

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Finally, Square-Enix’s has also given release dates for the upcoming Wii-exclusive RPG epic, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. Crystal Bearers is slated for release in Japan on November 12th 2009 and in America on December 26th 2009, the day after Christmas oddly enough. I guess they’re hoping for some good gift-money induced shopping sprees. The Crystal Chronicles series has always been Nintendo exclusive but Crystal Bearers is the first to use a more traditional single-player format than its strategic WiiWare spin-offs and multiplayer-friendly predecessors on the DS and Gamecube (which was a leading game in the GBA-GCN connectivity fiasco). Add in its real-time battle system, something Final Fantasy XIII lacks, and the game starts to seem like more of an action-RPG approaching the style of something like Zelda.

Expect more Square-Enix and Final Fantasy related news at this year’s Tokyo Game Show at the end of the month.

- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 09/21 at 12:31 PM
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OSAKA, JAPAN - Capcom has announced that it will be producing a Nintendo DS sequel to the critically-acclaimed Okami, released in 2006.

The sequel, entitled “Ōkamiden: Chīsaki Taiyō​” or “Okami Chronicles: Tiny Sun”, follows the Chibiterasu, the puppy reincarnation of the Amaterasu, the sun/wolf god main character of the original, and Kuninushi, son of Susanoo and Kushi from the original game as well.

Based on the announcement and the brief gameplay footage seen on Capcom’s pre-Tokyo Game Show Japanese website, the game seems to stick to the cel-shaded graphics and Zelda-style adventure gameplay of the PS2 game and by using the touch screen, will be able to surprass the IR improved celestial brush controls of the 2008 Wii port.

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The game is being handlded by the people in charge of the Wii version, as well as games such as Onimusha and Ace Attorney Investigations, since the original developers, Clover, left Capcom to form Platinum Games, makers of Madworld and the upcoming Bayonetta.

More news is expected at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show where it is slated to make an apperance, possibly playable. According to Capcom and the Famitsu article with the unveilance, Okamiden: Chisaki Taiyo is on track for a 2010 release in Japan and is not currently listed for any other territories.

Publisher by: Capcom
Release Date: TBA 2010
Genre:

Posted by admin on 09/15 at 09:11 AM
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While Xbox 360 gamers are “busy taking people for a ride” playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox Live Arcade, American Wii owners will have a chance to get in on the crossover action this fall when Capcom releases, “Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars”.

The game was released in Japan last December and many felt that due to the licenses for all of the different animes Tatsunoko produces being owned by different companies in America the game wouldn’t make it to the states. A similar fate kept the excellent Jump fighting games from coming to American DS’s. But the stars aligned and now this crazy, frenetic fighting game is coming and to make up for the wait, Capcom has announced that four new characters will be announced for the localized version during this year’s Tokyo Games Show, two from Capcom and two from Tatsunoko in addition to some rebalancing and possible online play.

Since I, and I’m sure many others, are more familiar with Capcom characters than Tatsunoko characters, this list will be a bit lopsided but here are some of the fighters I want considered for the American release of “Tatsunoko vs. Capcom”.

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Bionic Commando
Between his new 3D adventure and well received 2D remake, Bionic Commando hasn’t been this relevant in years. Although his gruff new look might not gel with the rest of the cast, his original 80’s style sure will. Plus, the bionic arm could be used for numerous attacks appropriate for a fighting game. Just look at Dhalsim.

Albert Wesker
Anyone who has played Resident Evil 5 can tell you just how much butt a super-powered Wesker can kick. Add in some virus based attacks and some slick sunglasses and you have yourself a fighting game character. If a normal girl with some guns like Jill Valentine can make it into Marvel vs. Capcom 2 surely Wesker, the main villain of the franchise, can make it into the spiritual successor.

Miles Edgeworth
The TvC team mentioned wanting to put a Phoenix Wright characters into the game but ruled out Phoenix himself. So who better to put in instead than his nemesis and occasional ally, Miles Edgeworth. Being a prosecutor as opposed to a defense attorney, Edgeworth is naturally more aggressive. He’s also getting a spin-off game on the DS so what better way to promote that than to have him in a game where he elegantly beat up people.

Rufus
Currently, TvC has three Street Fighter characters, one from each game. But that was before the release of Street Fighter 4. Now with a new game out on the market, it’s time to introduce a new character from the series. I hope it’s the fat, greasy, American repair shop owner Rufus who made his debut in number four. Apparently he’s not that bad a fighter in that game so maybe that will carry over into TvC.

Frank West
He’s covered wars you know, in addition to zombie infested malls. So Frank West, photojournalist, should be able to hold his own in a fighting game. If he remembered to keep some of his Dead Rising weapons like a shotgun or some chainsaws, he should do more than just hold his own. The upcoming Dead Rising 2 doesn’t star Mr. West so maybe Capcom can give him a nice send off in TvC in order to make up for disgracing him in “Chop Till You Drop”.

Dante
I would prefer Bayonetta, who’s game is essentially a Devil May Cry clone, but Dante is the one owned by Capcom. His stylish action fighting style worked well in his own game as well as in Viewtiful Joe. If Viewtiful Joe can make it into TvC why not Dante? An acrobat with guns and swords is cool enough but too bad he can’t attack with his hair.

Speed Racer a.k.a. Mach Go Go Go
Simply put, Speed Racer needs to be in this game. He’s probably the most recognizable Tatsunoko character out here in the West so licensing might be a problem but Capcom needs to at least give it a try. His movie just came out, his car the Mach 5 has a slew of crazy powers that could work in a fighting game and his outfit is so ridiculous that maybe the others won’t notice that Speed Racer himself is a fairly average guy.

Samurai Pizza Cats
Between their new CGI movie and upcoming Wii fighting game, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are starting to make a comeback so why not dig up some of their old rip-offs like the Samurai Pizza Cats. This is another Tatsunoko series brought to America so licensing may be an issue once again but as actual fighters, the Samurai Pizza Cats should work pretty well in TvC.

Evangelion
Normally two characters team up to face another team of two in a TvC match, but some characters, like giant Gold Lightan, are so big they take up the two slots by themselves. Introducing an Evangelion from the popular Tatsunoko and Gainax co-production will add another character to that list of heavyweights and unlike the mech from Lost Planet, will provide some Gundam-style mech action to the mix.

The Littl’ Bits
Fighting games always need some joke characters, looks at Dan from Capcom’s own Street Fighter series. The Littl’ Bits, sometimes described as Japanses Smurfs, can fit this mold nicely and make the game weirder than it already is. Of course, cute characters like these don’t always have to suck. Megaman’s little robot sister Roll is already in TvC and she can do some damage with that broom of hers. 

Now we need is another Marvel vs Capcom and with Disney’s recent buyout of Marvel, who knows what crazy characters would be in that game. Here’s hoping for some Beast on The Beast action!

- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 09/14 at 09:39 AM
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With OnLive’s announcement this week that Beta Testing on the new system has begun, the company is once again the talk of the town. So now the question begins: Is OnLive all it’s cracked up to be?

At this year’s Game Developers Conference, an under-the-radar game company called OnLive revealed a new and “exciting” way to play video games at home. And to no one’s surprise, they named this new on-demand gaming service, you guessed it, OnLive! But I’m sure you have all heard about it by now. But so far, no one seems to be addressing the fact that someone already tried this before.

Okay, let’s set the Way-Back Machine for say, 2004. Before the current-gen systems weren’t out and PC gaming was still in the lead as the best platform for developers to make games for. Hoping to ride the wave of PC gaming’s lead, another under-the-radar company known as Infinium Labs begins development on what would become the Phantom. Infinium changed their name to Phantom Entertainment, and officially announced the Phantom and self- labeled it a console and PC killer.

Sound familiar?

Wait, it gets better.

The Phantom was - you guessed it - a new on-demand gaming service! Okay, okay, I hear some people saying the technology of today is better and “well suited” for an on-demand service, blah, blah, blah! Some of you are saying it can’t be done, some of you are saying it can. But if anyone should have learned from mistakes past, OnLive most likely learned from the Phantom’s never-released demise, due to the fact that they were both in development for years and probably even at the same time.

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We’ve all heard about OnLive’s negative impact on console systems like the 360, PS3, and Wii (such was the case when the Phantom was announced) but perhaps the death of console gaming is inevitable anyway. The PC market took a nose-dive when the Xbox 360 and subsequent current-gen consoles came out. Nintendo may be in a better position than its competitors since it has had a history of sacrificing raw power and the latest technological marvels for innovative gaming, and this may very well extend its console life. Nintendo - the last man standing! But that is going off on a tangent.

There is a growing trend towards ‘digital distribution’ in the past decade and this is not hard to believe as we are currently in the internet age. Nearly everyone nowadays have access to a high-speed broadband connection. We can see the results in varied areas: eBooks can be read online without walking into a bookstore, and music can be purchased without taking a single step into a music store.

The same holds true for video games, even at this very moment. There is already a shift from actual off-the-shelf video games to game distribution services in the gaming industry. Sony has its Playstation Network, Nintendo and the WiiWare and DSiWare, and Xbox’s Live Arcade and Live Community games - all services that download video games straight to the console without a retailer’s lending hand (and heavy pockets). Of course, nothing has come close to the potential impact of the OnLive game service.

Yet…

…The future of video games is a dark and scary place for physical retailers of video games. Gamers typically expect a new next-generation console to launch every 4 or 5 years, and retailers expect to make a killing off these hot cakes. But with OnLive’s cloud gaming service, all the necessary firepower (and much, much more) takes place outside the gamers’ home. No longer is it necessary for gamers to purchase the next-generation console or the expensive graphics card and computer to play the latest games. These state-of-the-art games can be played in high-definition instantly on nearly any computer (including Mac!) and television set. Gaming will instantly be much more accessible to a greater number of people than ever before. Or so OnLive claims, but remember we’ve heard it all before.

Although cloud technology is still yet to be proven in the real world, a number of developers have already jumped onboard with OnLive. Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Atari, Codemasters, THQ, Warner Bros., 2D Boy and Eidos Interactive are some of the big names to system is toting.

GameSpot has a quote from Morgan Securities’ Michael Pachter that sums it up very well:

“In our view, the OnLive model will appeal immensely to publishers, who will likely derive greater revenue per sale than is derived through conventional retail distribution. Instead of 20 percent of the game’s purchase price going to retail and another 20 percent to the console manufacturer, OnLive will likely charge around 30 percent (our estimate) of the proceeds, with the balance going to the publisher.”

Poppycock I say.

OnLive has both its upsides and downsides, just like everything else. I believe that the gaming industry as a whole could benefit from the “new generation of gaming.” But when and overly-ambitious game company announced a system that is still under development, with an unproven new technology, very bad things can happen to good gamers like you.

- Ian Simmons

Posted by admin on 09/10 at 11:20 AM
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