EA is famous for blundering their way through game covers, however, this latest mistake may take the cake.

With all due respect, I give props to EA for their approach to this year’s cover players - they seleccted a different player for each console, which is pretty cool.  They even let college football fans vote for which college mascot would appear on the Wii version of the game, with good old"Sparty" of the MSU Spartans, getting the nod.

But oh my God, look at Desean Jackson’s arm.  What the hell is going on there?  It looks like he has two elbows for crying out loud!

My guess is that the graphic designer for the cover wanted to center the image, while also showing Jackson running, and also somehow fit the Cal football in there as well.  So they made the decision to kind of merge everything together on his right arm, hoping nobody would notice. And nobody did. I searched the web up and down, and as far as I can tell there is nobody else out there who noticed this. At least nobody who noticed and wrote about it. (Props to our warehouse employee Mikey “Danktra” Navarro for bringing it to our attention!  I talked to the boss and he says you’’ll be seeing a bonus in your next check Mike!)

Nah just kidding, they don’t give bonuses.

But anyways, I find it think the main thing to take away from this is that the foundation of EA is starting to crumble... This cover is kind of a metaphor for a broken (or breaking) company.  Sales are down, and they seem to be losing the prestige that they once held.  Personally, I feel that they are just suffering like the rest of us in this economy.  Maybe they are cutting costs and outsourcing their graphic design needs to China.  But they need something new.  I get less excited for the new Madden every year, and lately the sequels to most of their games seem to be little more than slight improvements over the old version, with a nice fat $59.99 price tag. They need a boost, and another Sims game isn’t going to do it.

Note to Friday High Five Seekers: The final High-Five Coupon Code for January 16th is the answer to this trivia question: In what California city do the Cal Bears play?  This code can be used twice to round out the Friday High-Five for today (but may only be used once per customer).  Good luck!

Posted by stefan on 01/16 at 10:09 PM
(3) Comments   

Five items for five dollars each. Every Friday afternoon.

The vpgames Friday High-Five is an amazing deal for those who are lucky enough to catch it. But you need to act quickly before it’s gone!

How it Works: Each Friday, we pick one of our products to be the week’s "Friday High-Five Deal." Throughout the day, we will be giving away special coupon codes allowing you to purchase the item for just five dollars. However, there will only be a total of five coupon codes available each day. Once the coupons have been used up, they’re gone for good!

How to Win:
High-Five Coupon Codes will be announced throughout the day every Friday. There are four ways to find these coupon codes:

• Follow us on Twitter - This is the best way to get High-Five Coupon Codes. We announce codes throughout the day, but announce them on Twitter first!


• Follow us on Facebook - Codes will also be posted to our Wall on Facebook.


• Our Blog - The Friday High-Five Coupon will be posted in our Blog, but only after being released on Twitter and Facebook.


• Sign up for our Newsletter - High-Five Coupon Codes will also be hidden inside each newsletter, you will need a keen eye to find them.

This Week’s High-Five Deal:

Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera Bundle

Includes Headset, 1 Month Gold Card, and Arcade Game

Questions:

So you will give away these coupons every Friday?

Yes, and we only give away five of them. Hence the Friday High-Five.

And the best way to get a coupon code is?

Just follow us on Twitter or Facebook. And be on the lookout every Friday for Coupon Codes!

Can anyone get these High-Five Coupons or do I have to do a whole bunch of other stuff?

Anyone and everyone can get these deals, you do not have to be a member of vpgames or become a member.

Will the price for this item automatically be five dollars, or do I have to enter the coupon?

You need to enter a valid High-Five Coupon Code to apply the discount.  After using the code, the price of the item will change to $5.00

Can I use another coupon for a Friday High Five deal?

How cheap are you, seriously?  We are giving away a product for five dollars, and you want to use two coupons? C’mon...

Does the Friday High-Five include shipping?

No, shipping charges apply as usual.

How many can I purchase?

There is a limit of one per customer.

What happens once all five coupons have been used?

Once all five coupons have been used, they expire for good.

I live outside the United States, am I still eligible?

Sure.

I live in Nigeria, am I still eligible?

No, sorry.

My question isn’t answered here.

That isn’t technically a question, but if you do have one, just email us at support@vpgames.com

Posted by stefan on 01/15 at 12:50 AM
(3) Comments   

So as you may have heard there was a little convention in Sin City last week.  (Warning - the dude in this video is kind of annoying).  Even though attendance was down 30% from last year, there were still enough cool games and gadgets to keep gamers and electronics lovers happy, including the new FC Mobile NES portable cartridge player seen in the video.

Capcom talked about a number of their upcoming games, even allowing members of the press to give them a go. Street Fighter IV looks to fulfill all of the expectations gamers worldwide have for it. Resident Evil 5 was also quite impressive with smooth gameplay and excellent graphics.

One of the biggest highlights from the video game industry at CES is the Nyko Wand.  When released it will be the first third-party Wii Remote in the North American market. The Wand also won CNET’s “Best of CES” award for gaming. Wii users look forward to Nyko’s version of the Wii Mote, which undoubtedly will be cheaper than the Nintendo version.  That is, of course, unless Nintendo sues Nyko again, like they did over the Nyko wireless Nunchuk.

Other Nyko CES products include wired versions of last year’s wireless releases of the Wing Classic Controller and Kama Wireless Nunchuk Controller. Also they will soon be releasing a heavy-duty foot pedal designed for the Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour drum kits.

And finally, for those retro-gamers out there, importer Innex also let CES attendees play old-fashioned Super Mario Bros and Star Fox on their new Limited-Edition Red & Gold Retro Duo console. Having debuted at last year’s CES, the Retro Duo plays both NES and SNES game cartridges, and is available now at vpgames.com

Posted by stefan on 01/13 at 10:41 PM
(13) Comments   

Back in July when our blog first launched, one of our first entries was this realistic rendering of what Mario would look like if he was human.

Scary isn’t it?

This got me thinking what would Mario would be worth if he were an actual human being.  Now we all know it’s nearly impossible to put a price on a life, but if we work the numbers creatively we can arrive at a pretty good estimate for how much Mario has earned for Nintendo in 2008. (Or not). So here is my feeble attempt at calculating what Mario would be worth if he were indeed a living breathing entity. Please note that this blog post is for entertainment purposes only, and should not be taken the least bit seriously.

- Gross Nintendo Sales. In the last fiscal year alone, Nintendo did just over 16.8 billion dollars in sales, with expected net profit to come in somewhere around 3.45 billion dollars for 2008.  This gives them a net profit margin of around 20%.  While Sony and Microsoft struggle to make a profit in their video game divisions, Nintendo remains one of the few video game companies in this recession that is just absolutely flooded with money, fueled primarily by the Nintendo Wii and DS.

- Mario’s Percentage. For the sake of argument, let us assume that the Mario brand is responsible for 33% of Nintendo-related sales.  So that means one out of every two products sold by Nintendo are Mario-related.  I get that figure from the fact that Mario Kart for Wii is estimated to have sold over a million copies (in fact rumor has it that it sold 300,000 copies in the first week alone).  This just represents one game for one of their consoles, the other major console of theirs would be, of course, the DS. 

- Percentage and Profit of Games. Of the top ten best-selling Nintendo Wii or DS games, 40% have Mario’s face on the cover (Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy for Wii, Super Mario Brothers for DS, and Mario Kart for DS).  There were 228 million Wii Games sold as of September, 2008, 454 million DS games, and 10 million Virtual Console Games, giving us a total of 692 million games. Now, if we assume that this represents 3/4 of the total number of games Nintendo sold during the year, then we can assume that Nintendo sold around 925 million games in 2008.  And if even 20% of these are Mario-based, then Mario would be responsible for 185 million of these games.  At an average price of $49.99, that would mean that Mario games brought in 9.2 billion dollars.  Assuming the 20% net profit margin we established in paragraph one, this means that Mario games would have brought in a whopping 1.84 billion dollars, or just over half of Nintendo’s net profit in 2008. Wow.

- Bear With Me Here. Ok now I understand this math is getting really fuzzy, and I don’t think this is going anywhere.  But bear with me here - you already started reading this blog post so you might as well finish it!

- Other Mario Products. Lastly, we also need to consider the number of Mario-related products that Nintendo sold last year.  We know that here at vpgames, merchandise with at least one image of the famous fat plumber’s mug accounts for about 22% of all Nintendo merchandise sold.  Getting a solid number for how much Nintendo did in merchandise sales in 2008 is very tricky, but I think we can safely say it would be around 10% of sales.  So taking 2008 sales of 16.8 billion, divided by 10 we get 1.68 billion dollars in merchandise sales.  22% of 1.68 billion = 369 million dollars in Mario merchandise sales, and 73 million dollars in Mario merchandise profit.  That’s a lot of Mario junk floating around.

- In Conclusion. Putting it all together, we have 9.2 billion dollars in Mario game sales, combined with 369 million dollars in Mario Merchandise sales, for a total of 9.57 billion dollars in Mario-related sales in 2008.  Assuming Nintendo’s 20% profit margin one last time, that gives us a grand total of 1.91 billion dollars in net profit.  So we can say that Mario made nearly 2 billion dollars in net profit for Nintendo in 2008.  This doesn’t even consider Gamecube or GBA titles/merchandise, let alone N64 titles that do still exist and yes, Nintendo still has the rights to (though not for much longer...stay tuned for more information!)

- Mario = Beyond Rich. So in conclusion, if the numbers don’t lie (which they most certainly do), then this would make Mario easily one of the world’s richest men. Since Mario has been doing this for a few years, his net worth would now probably put him somewhere in the range of Five to Twenty-Five Billion Dollars, somewhere between #11 Eric Schmidt (Google’s CEO), and #49 Michael Dell (Dell Computers) on the Forbes Top 50 Richest Americans list. He would still be behind Microsoft’s Bill Gates.  Also I am not sure he would qualify for this list, seeing as how Mario was technically conceived in Japan and is Italian by nature.  But still, you get the point. The guy would be freaking loaded.

P.S. - The more I think about this, the more I realize that it makes absolutely no sense.  These calculations are truly terrible, and I’m actually embarrased to post this blog.  How could any Italian cartoon plumber possibly be worth that much money?  Really. There are so many things I am leaving out here that it’s not even funny… If someone wants to do a better analysis of this someday, please be my guest.  Thanks for reading!

- Stefan

Posted by stefan on 01/08 at 11:44 PM
(5) Comments   

Available now for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Is falling 50 stories in your dreams accompanied by sound?  When it happens Mirror’s Edge, the wind rushing by combined with a gruesome splat makes for a rather vivid alternative to life.  This is only one of the little touches that make the platform-style of this game worth trying at least once.  As for the actual gameplay, the obstacles are reminiscent of the early Tomb Raider series.  Abilities like running on walls, and turning 180 degrees to continue a combo are added. Unfortunately they are not enough to keep your butt in the chair after an hour or two.  However repetitive tasks may get in Mirror’s Edge, the flow of the rooftop environment is too exciting to pass up, even if you only play a few hours a day.  So when you pop that game in, be prepared to traffic information across lofty terrain as a runner named Faith.
Pros:
The ambient soundtrack is a nice compliment to the wide open skies, which in turn make running the rooftops of Daily City memorable.
The speed of gameplay is heightened when you can string abilities together like wall runs and 90 degree turns. 
You can also calm things down with your slow motion ability, making long jumps and disarming foes more manageable.
There is some great art you can unlock as well as the soundtrack and cut scenes. 
Cons:
The art is very well done but it severs to highlight the major con I have that pertains to the cut scenes; they look like they should be viewed on a Saturday morning cartoon.  This style may have been the goal but I think there would have been other style choices that could highlight the artists ability as well as made for a more complete story.
The lack of outdoor spaces is troublesome, maybe because most all the puzzles are indoors, making the time you spend inside seem like forever.
Overall:
In hindsight this game is a quality title until I start thinking about those cut scenes.... This game is definitely worth the time and if you can find it used I wouldn’t recommend renting it because there is a residual quality to it that leaves you wondering what new paths you might find, and what will happen if I get all the yellow bags? 
Grade: B

- Stu

Posted by sglenn on 01/06 at 05:05 PM
(5) Comments   

Available now for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

I haven’t truly hated a game in a while, but I really hated Civil War Secret Missions.

CWSM is the kind of game that makes you want to go outside and play baseball.  Video games shouldn’t do that.  They should make you want to stay inside and keep playing them.  This shouldn’t be tough to do in the middle of winter. (Okay, our winters aren’t too bad here in Socal, but you get the point!) My point is, all a game has to do is not suck, and people will play them this time of year.  Well my friends, this game is not one of them. There is really no other way to put it: Civil War Secret Missions absolutely sucks, and should never have been made.

Pros: The game takes place in one of the most underused, and in my opinion most interesting times in America’s History. Yup, you guessed it - the Civil War. The graphics aren’t bad - like Sweet-Home Alabama the skies are blue, and the greens in the game are full and “lush”, if you will. Combined with the faraway train-whistle sound effects definitely makes you feel like you are roaming the south in the 1800’s. The attention to detail in the environment, and historical accuracy is very well done. Other than that, there really isn’t a whole lot of good to say about this game.

Cons: To start, this game feels like a History Channel corporate-sponsored video game designed to trick kids into learning history. Which is exactly what it is. (The History Channel part anyways).  It just plays like a giant corporate ploy to cash in on that “video game craze” going on right now.  Absolutely no thought or effort was put into a storyline. I couldn’t tell you what side I was fighting for half the time, and didn’t really care.  All I care about in a FPS is being able to shoot the other guy. Unfortunately, CWSM makes even this task exceedingly difficult. 

The first thing I noticed about the game was that your aim is atrocious. Now I don’t know if people in the 1800’s just had bad aim or what, but I swear I must have hit 3 Union soldiers in the head, and they would crouch over like I hit them in the stomach.  Also, and this isn’t really the game’s fault, but because it is set so long ago, the guns are really boring and terrible, and take forever to reload.

The second thing I noticed is, and again maybe it’s me, but people in the 1800’s repeated the same exact three phrases over and over again, until the point came where you wanted to shoot them. With a real gun. You remember NBA Jam how the announcer would say the same 2 things on a loop? “He’s heating up!...He’s on fire!” Yeah, it’s as bad as that. “I’d like to see you fight!” “You’re a good shot!” Shut up already.

Overall: The game somehow manages to be extremely short and take forever to finish at the same time.  I struggled through 3 levels, just to see if there was anything cool that happens later on. There isn’t.  It is the same boring music-less, story-void, lackluster gameplay as far as the eye can see. Because the aim is so bad, the battles seem to take twice as long as they should, and there are no machine guns to make things go quicker (aside from the Gatling Gun, which is heavily hyped in the game and then barely used).  I went to bed at 3 am, my copy of the latest Call of Duty staring at me from across the room, a tear in my eye for betraying it that night.

Grade: C-

Rent or Buy? Neither. Unless you a) Have never played a first-person shooter before and have nothing to compare it to, or b) Like the 1800’s so much that you are willing to put up with the most painful game Activision has or probably ever will put out.  Otherwise save your money and buy a History Channel DVD on the Civil War.

- Stefan

Posted by stefan on 01/04 at 12:43 AM
(8) Comments   

I have always thought that Los Angeles would have been a lot cooler in the 1950’s, you know, before all the traffic.  The idea of empty freeways and open boulevards is so long gone in that city, that it is hard to think it ever existed at all.  It’s too bad, because blasting through the City of Angels would be a lot more fun in real life if it was anything like Midnight Club Los Angeles. If you have ever wanted to race through the streets of L.A. without a care in the world, then this game is for you.

First Impressions: The Los Angeles map in this game is unbelievably spot-on.  Even more realistic than GTA’s Liberty City, Rockstar games knows how to replicate an area perfectly.  The graphics are excellent, the detail is incredible, and barely a So-Cal landmark is missed - from the Capitol Records building in Hollywood down to the In-N-Out burger on Ventura.  I spent a good twenty minutes trying to find my buddy’s old pad in Malibu.  (The map ended before I could get to his house, but I found the Ralph’s where we used to stock up on beer before chilling at the pad).  The city of L.A. is the main character in this game, and it alone makes the game.

Gameplay: When it comes to racing games, I am more of a fan of the Forza series and other games with true-to-life physics.  The control is tight and the vehicles are fun to drive, however the default controls are just horrible, changing them is surprisingly annoying, and the steering can feel a bit like “Crazy Taxi” at times.

Story: Surprisingly, the storyline isn’t half-bad. Racing games aren’t known for having the best (if any) storylines, but MCLA does a decent job of keeping things fresh with subplots, guest voices, and interludes that don’t last over five minutes (ahem GTA, cough cough).

Music: California-inspired beats fit the game very well: mostly hip-hop and some tight electronic tracks too. Turn down the lights, turn up the music, and you can almost feel the wind in your hair as you bust down the 101 at dusk.

Overall: MCLA boasts an incredibly large and detailed map, especially considering it has extremely short load times.  It’s easy to just pop in and enjoy a few races without having to get into it too much.  The game is invigorating when played seriously, but just as entertaining when you are just tooling around in your Audi R8. Grade: B+

Rent or Buy? Add to your game collection if you love street racing, Los Angeles, or ‘68 Mustangs. Rent this one if you just feel like exploring L.A. at 120 mph, without having to put up with the traffic

Available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP

- Stefan

Posted by stefan on 12/22 at 10:22 PM
(2) Comments   

All the internet is aflutter of the recently rumored possibility of a corporate takeover of Half-Life developer Valve by the web’s newest behemoth, Google. The Inquirer was the first source I read to drop the news, and it’s really pissed some people off. Google, despite their best efforts, have come off as a new breed Microsoft, a pig with lipstick if you will, gobbling up many companies in pursuit of becoming the premiere internet technologies company. Acquiring Valve would be an interesting move for Google, and most sources say it would mostly be to gain control of Valve’s Steam, which links gamers to games like Team Fortress 2 online.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Google take over Valve, if Gabe Newell is cool with it. Like The Inquirer wrote, “It is a good buy for them, a good thing for Valve, and in general, good for everyone except MS.” Valve is a fresh company, Google probably wants to regain some of that reputation. Think of Portal; a witty game that tons of people like. Google would do well to associate itself with such a business. It’s good PR. And, more importantly to Valve, Google, and nearly every human being, there’s an ass load of money in the deal. But then again, if Valve’s talk with MTV is any indication, then this whole story is a “complete fabrication.”

I’m gonna keep my eye on this regardless, though. Should be interesting to see unfold. Plus, corporate buy outs are fun! Right AIG?

Posted by Daniel on 09/17 at 09:42 PM
(2) Comments   

This November is going to be a great month for gaming. There are a bunch of new games coming out on all the systems, but, armed only with my PS3, I only have several to look forward to. But still, that’s pretty good. So, here’s my list:

5. Mirror’s Edge (Nov. 1st): A pretty ground-breaking game by the looks of it. I think it’ll be a really fun game to try out if not only for the unique type of gameplay. My main beef with it, though, is that it feels a little too futuristic and “soft.” The lighting and the feel just seems kinda strange to me, but then again I haven’t played it yet, so I can’t back that up too much. Should be fun for a bit though. Buy or Rent? Definite rent. Even if developers were going for a more open style of gameplay in which Faith can use different moves, there is still only one end point. For such a linear game, I don’t see too great of a replay value.

4. Quantum of Solace (Nov. 4th): I’ve never been a huge fan of movie based games, I think that this one has true potential. Activision is publishing it, and after the success of Call of Duty 4, the company has proved it can provide an epic FPS. Thing I’m looking forward to most? Multiplayer. The storyline will follow the movie exactly, so that won’t be too exciting since I’m planning on seeing the movie on it’s release date. If the multiplayer is as good as COD4, count me in! Buy or Rent? Rent. If multiplayer is solid, then possibly buy.

3. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Nov. 10th): I’m of a split opinion of this game. When I got Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance awhile back I was rather disappointed. I think that bringing the DC characters into the mix is really cool, but I would much more prefer a game with only DC characters. Despite all that, I think DC vs. MK will be pretty fun to try out. Buy or Rent? Probably only a rent. Maybe down the road a buy, if the DC characters are entertaining enough.

2. Tom Clancy’s EndWar (Nov. 4th): Really looking forward to this one. The last great RTS I played was Command & Conquer: Generals, so I’m in need of a new one for sure. As I wrote in a past blog, I’m also excited about the total voice command gameplay that’s available to you as a commander overseeing the battle. The units are a little bit too futuristic for my taste, but hell, it’s part of the story, so I shouldn’t complain. Buy or Rent? Absolutely, positively buying. No doubt about it. Picking up a bluetooth headset while I’m at it.

1. Call of Duty: World at War (Nov. 11th): Who isn’t dying to get their hands on this one? Part of me wishes that Infinity Ward developed it rather than Treyarch, since the former did so damn well and the latter is associated with the earlier WWII sub-standard COD titles. But oh well. I think it’s gonna be something really special nonetheless. And, to top it all off, your commander is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland. I mean, come on, it’s Jack Bauer! The Pacific and Eastern fronts will be cool; I’m curious to see how they’re gonna connect them, if at all. Buy or Rent? No question. Buy.

So, what is your top 5 list for November?

Posted by Daniel on 09/09 at 02:27 PM
(5) Comments   

Well, marketing doesn’t get much more creative than this. In what can only be described as a very well thought out, but poorly targeting promotional scheme, EA last week gave out free gasoline at stations in London, England and Los Angeles, California to push their new video game Mercenaries 2. According to reports, the L.A. operation went smooth, with free gas being given out until the station shut down for the night.

London, however, was a different story. The area’s representative (MP for you politically savvy folks) stated that “hundreds of residents [had] faced misery” due to the major gridlock and noise. My only idea is that England’s gas prices aren’t as high as they are in Los Angeles, as the Californians understood quite clearly that free gas was something to be happy about.

Why gas, you ask? Well, Mercs 2 takes place in oil-rich Venezuela, where your character has to use any gasoline you find wisely, as its a rare commodity in the fiction (wait a second, reality too). The publicity stunt is not the first international attention EA’s new title has gotten, though. Venezuela’s government, headed by President Hugo Chavez (shown, with a parrot, for reasons unbeknownst to me) has criticized the new game as getting the American public comfy with the idea of an invasion of a sovereign nation simply for oil. I mean come on, why would we ever do tha---

...Oh yeah.

Though, I highly doubt that President Bush ordered EA to start black ops in the form of video game distribution, even after Chavez implied at the United Nations that our President was the Devil. Either the United States has gotten quite clever with how we conduct our pre-invasion operations, or Venezuela has become a little paranoid. In the meantime, keep up the marketing schemes! Activision, free WWII-era guns for a day in the name of Call of Duty: World at War? Think about it.

Thanks to Joystiq

Posted by Daniel on 09/07 at 07:28 PM
(3) Comments