A lot of gaming’s best and brightest will be in Los Angeles this weekend for the Spike TV Videogame Awards (VGAs). If my leg can hack it, I’m going to be hopping around town, pestering some of my favorite developers. Even if I’m not, I’ve designated a bunch of time for Scribblenauts
Of course I’m going to have to get some more Dragon Age: Origins
As always, I want to know what you’re playing this weekend. Shout it out! Or maybe don’t shout…the neighbors might complain.
Square Enix Japan has updated the official Final Fantasy XIII web site to include samples of the first ten tracks of the FFXIII soundtrack. The soundtrack is on sale in Japan now, with game coming on December 17th. To listen to the music, hit the “track list” tab on the soundtrack page.
Check out the tracks and let me know what you think (please)! I’m loving the music so far!
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Tiger Woods’ 18 holes (i.e. his mistresses), the return of Paulie “Little Mac” Malignaggi on Saturday, or Jerishow dropping the tag straps on Sunday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The Grand Theft Auto series took sandbox games to new heights. It inspired dozens of copycat games and made “open world” a requirement for several years. While I appreciate the liberating feeling gamers get from sandbox games, they don’t really do much for me. It’s awesome that you get to experiment and play freely, but that’s not what I’m used to and that’s not what I want.
2D platform games and Japanese role-playing games dazzled me in my formative gaming years. I developed an attachment to that old carrot-and-stick formula. I enjoyed linearity. I enjoyed being led around by a level or narrative, getting a reward every so often. NES, SNES, and Genesis games conditioned me to love this simple formula. Even though I enjoy making choices in games like Dragon Age: Origins, ultimately I want to stick with the same carrot-and-stick formula.
I know a lot of you love open-world titles, but I also know that some of you enjoy RPGs. Do you have a preference? Do you like playing in your virtual sandbox? Or do you prefer being lead around by a carrot and stick?
NPD Group has released its console software sales information for Novemer 2009. Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 put up some ridiculous numbers. While nobody should be surprised that MW2 topped the charts, some analysts were surprised by its complete ownage of November (it’s a financial term). All in all, the big titles did what they were expected to do, but there was one oddity in the top 10. Check it out!
(Xbox 360): 4,200,000
(PS3): 1,870,000
(Wii): 1,390,000
(Xbox 360): 794,700
(Xbox 360): 744,000
(Wii): 720,200
(Wii): 679,000
(PS3): 448,400 (Xbox 360): 362,100
(Wii): 315,000As a BioWare mark, I’m disappointed that Dragon Age didn’t do better. Sure, RPGs aren’t as popular as action titles and it’s a new IP, but I expect people to have better taste. Hmph. Nintendo has to be thrilled with its November. It sold a ton of new and old games. With so many new and excellent games released in November, I was surprised to see something as old as Mario Kart hit the top 10. To steal a line from Keanu Reeves or Joey from Blossom, “Whoa.”
Any thoughts on the November software top 10?
Zipper Interactive senior community manager and jiu-jitsu master Jeremy Dunham has revealed some interesting stats on the MAG
Hit the break for the box art. Considering my bias for Japanese box art, I’m surprised that I like MAG’s cover so much.
Continue reading “Sony Unveils MAG Beta Stats and Official Box Art”
CrunchGear has posted an…interesting conspiracy theory regarding EA Sports: MMA
Maybe it knows that there’s no way in hell EA Sports MMA is going to outsell UFC Undisputed
, and it’s cool with that. Why? THQ’s license agreement with UFC runs out next year (I guess it was for two games). EA, which has a tremendous amount of money at its disposal, could then go to UFC and say, “Look, we’re EA. We’re big time. Undisputed did well, but with our muscle at your disposal, we’ll make a UFC game so incredibly huge that you’d be a fool to stick with THQ. Also, here’s several truckloads of money to help sweeten the deal.”
Although some of the points are valid, the theory is pretty shoddy. Yes, EA Sports MMA will probably not be as popular as UFC Undisputed. Yes, EA would love to have the UFC license. However, that doesn’t mean it wants to game to fail. That would be idiotic. It would be far more productive to make a good game that gets strong reviews and bring that to UFC. EA could say, “Look, we made a great game without you, but together we could eclipse your success with THQ.”
The notion that EA would purposely want a game to fail seems monumentally stupid to me. What do you make of this conspiracy theory?
Microsoft marketing tool Major Nelson revealed the upcoming Xbox Live deals of the week for December. They are:
Week of December 14:
Lips: Coldplay Track Pack for 240 Microsoft Points
December 21 through December 27:
Shadow Complex for 800 points
Week of December 28:
The Maw for 400 Microsoft Points
If you haven’t tried Shadow Complex, it’s worth playing if you like old-school 2D shooters like Contra and Metroid. As a karaoke aficionado, I’m always down for more Lips tracks. I haven’t tried The Maw, but a few of my friends are pretty high on it. Most importantly, saving money is always a good thing, so take advantage of these sales if you have the means.
BioWare has announced the large and star-studded cast for the upcoming Mass Effect 2
BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts, today revealed the voice actors performing in Mass Effect 2, the second act of the award-winning science fiction trilogy. The game features Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”, “Apocalypse Now”), 2009 Emmy Award-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Saddam”), comedic actor Seth Green (“Austin Powers”), “Chuck” stars Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin, Keith David (“Crash”) and sci-fi favorites Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”).
I’m totally geeked out by the cast. The dude from Robot Chicken meets Worf from Star Trek meets Goliath from Gargoyles meets Trinity from The Matrix meets 6 from Battlestar Galactica. Awesome!!!
Ghosts Attack from Tarver Games, the new studio headed up by the excellent Chris Cross, is now available from Apple’s iTunes App Store (iTunes link). Here’s a snippet from the press release:
In Ghosts Attack, a story unfolds regarding the late 1960’s disappearance of thirteen scientists who were accidentally transported to a parallel dimension in a failed teleportation experiment. Too dangerous for humans, the company that employed the scientists is now dispatching remote controlled Rovers to explore and conquer the new realm.
The Ghosts Attack series will offer multiple features inherent to the iPhone OS 3.1, including regular push notifications and badges, In-app Commerce support for evolving episodic content, streaming video for in-game content and more. New content will be introduced in-game through [in-game guide] Karl, keeping the game and the story relevant. The first game features 17 missions, 5 weapons, and 5 Rover upgrades. On a semi-weekly basis, Karl will alert players of new missions set in different destinations around the world, keeping them engaged in the story and the gameplay.
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I encourage you to check out this $4.99 game. I’m going to be downloading it shortly and would love to hear your thoughts on Ghosts Attack!
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Barry Bonds’ agent saying the slugger’s career is over (duh), the Yankees trying to sign Johnny Damon (why?!?), or how much longer “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels will continue to perform for the WWE, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
As I was watching this excellent Dante’s Inferno developer diary, I started thinking about the disconnect between game critics and gamers. Some writers are just out of touch with what gamers want and expect. Part of it comes from getting too many free games for too many years, which makes some writers forget that paying $60 for a game is a lot of money for many consumers.
In other cases, some critics are too busy being critical to remember what’s fun. Dante’s Inferno is a great example of this. A lot of writers are already down on this game, dismissing it as a God of War rip-off. They’re thinking, “This is crap. It’s just like God of War.” At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, one of my friends was telling me that a lot of the people that saw the game at EA’s booth said things like, “This is cool! It’s just like God of War!” Funny how it goes….
What’s your opinion on game reviewers? Do you think a lot of them are out of touch? Or do you think most of them are spot on? Do you think that some reviewers forget what it’s like to be a paying gamer? If so, does it have a negative impact on their reviews?
