Coffee Talk #64: The Great Box Art Controversy

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, Lane Kiffin jumping from Tennessee to USC, Conan O’Brien vs. Jay Leno, or what Jose Canseco injected into you, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The box art for Heavy Rain has been getting a lot of criticism from American enthusiast gamers. A lot of of them feel that the European version is vastly superior and Americans are getting the shaft by out-of-touch marketers. Personally, I like both boxes and don’t see what the big deal is, but I’m reminded of a situation where I did care: Ico.

The American box art for Ico sucked and I was jealous that gamers around the world had a prettier version. It’s a bit irrational, for sure. The game wasn’t any better or worse because of the box. Sony certainly didn’t care if the box made its customers happy since they already bought the game. The majority of gamers didn’t care or didn’t know that there was better box art in other lands. All that said, for a small group of people this was a huge deal. In retrospect, I’m not even sure why the whole thing bothered me so much. Capricious youth?

Today I wanted to see how you felt about box art for games. Does your blood boil when cooler art is available in Europe or Japan? Or do you not care at all?

The Late Shift II: Conan O’Brien Issues Lengthy Statement, Tells NBC to Suck It

Ah, the drama surrounding NBC’s late-night programming — it’s like 1992 all over again! This time around, NBC awarded the outstanding Conan O’Brien with The Tonight Show, but aims to bring Jay Leno back to the 11:35 time slot for a half-hour program. This would move O’Brien’s show to 12:05 and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon even later.

I must admit that I’m biased and greatly prefer O’Brien over Leno, but I don’t see how anyone can think this is anything but a dick move on NBC’s part. It’s disrespectful and discourteous, even more so than the aforementioned Leno/Letterman struggle after Johnny Carson’s retirement (watch the excellent movie The Late Shift for more info). I’m completely behind O’Brien on this one and I hope that he gets everything he wants.

Check out O’Brien’s full statement and let me know which side you’re on (please)!

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.

Yours,

Conan

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Beyonce Gets Her Nintendo DSi Groove On in Style Savvy

I’m pretty sure that none of you are interested in Style Savvy for Nintendo DS, but a few of you will want to check out these photos of Beyonce filming a commercial for the game. She’s beautiful and talented…and according to a certain hip-hop artist is responsible for one of the greatest videos of all time. According to the press materials:

Beyonce has fun during filming of two upcoming commercials for Style Savvy, a new fashion game for the portable Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, in Long Island City, New York. Five designs from the real-life Dereon clothing line co-created by Beyonce and her mother, designer Tina Knowles, will be available for download in Style Savvy in the coming months.

Well, I’m glad she had fun. Ha!

VectorForce: Cal State Students Get Game on Xbox Live

A group of California State University San Bernardino students have made their way onto the Xbox Live Marketplace with an old-school shooter called VectorForce. The effort is part of the school’s computer systems game development program. According to Game Politics:

The arcade-styled shooter took two years to create and involved over a dozen students in all, who worked on the project under the tutelage of Professors Art Concepcion and David Turner. Student Mark Chapman took on the role of the game’s designer.

I will download this game on principle and as part of my new year’s resolution. C’mon guys (and gals)! Let’s support these kids!

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Japanese God of War Collection Trailer Shows PS2 vs. PS3

This nifty God of War Collection video from Japan shows footage of the same scenes on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Plus, it’s always fun to look at this excellent series…especially in a foreign language. It’s like watching The Three Stooges in French — it’s just a whole other kind of brilliant.

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Today’s Poll: The Next Spider-Man

Now that Tobey Maguire is out of Spider-Man 4 and the franchise is apparently headed for a reboot, let’s think about the perfect actor to play the spectacular amazing Spider-Man. Sony’s Columbia Pictures plans to focus on Spidey’s teen years, so the actor should be young and awkward. A lot of people have been throwing Zac Efron’s name around, but he’s too handsome. While I don’t know how athletic he is (all the cool stuff is done in CG anyway), I’m a big Michael Cera fan. He’d bring out the science nerd side of Peter Parker in a way that Maguire never could.

Who’s your choice for Spidey? Let me know in the poll (please)!

[poll id=”19″]

Coffee Talk #63: Third-Party Controllers and You

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, Mark McGwire finally admitting his use of steroids, Mark McGwire in complete denial that steroids helped him hit home runs, or “Iron” Mike Tyson guest hosting Monday Night Raw, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

At CES 2010, Razer announced that it was getting into the console game with its Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360. (I still use an amateur controller to maintain my eligibility for the Olympics.) I was greatly excited that Razer was entering this market because, let’s face it, most third-party peripherals suck.

I almost always stick to first-party controllers. Sure, they cost more, but in most cases they’re much better than third-party offerings. The only exceptions I’ve made were Mad Catz’s Nintendo 64 pad and Xbox 360 Street Fighter IV pad. I don’t even use the latter for Street Fighter IV, but rather its d-pad, which is way better than the garbage on the 360’s stock controller. Anyway, that’s two third-party products in decades of gaming.

Most third-party controller vendors attempt to give gamers a cheaper alternative. For my money, most of the offerings aren’t worth it. Razer is a different beast altogether. The company has been making some of the best and most precise gaming mice for years — super high-quality stuff. I expect the Onza to be a top-notch product. I wish more companies would take this approach, rather than the cheapie route.

I wanted to get your take on third-party controllers for consoles. Have you been happy with any of them? Do you prefer the features and savings they (generally) offer? Or do you stick with first-party gear all the way?

Nintendo Serves Up Lame Response to Greenpeace Report

After being ranked the least environmentally friendly consumer electronics company by Greenpeace, Nintendo offered up some pretty lame excuses to defend its position. The most hilarious was this little tidbit:

The Wii console is notably the most energy efficient of its generation, and we have improved the design of some of our latest products, such as the Nintendo DSi, to minimize their energy consumption when in use.

So let me get this straight — Nintendo should be lauded for being environmentally friendly by having weaker consoles than the competition? That’s rich. While I think it’s foolish to judge the quality of the Wii or the DS solely based on processing power, it’s even more foolish to claim that their relatively underpowered capabilities are a form of environmentalism. Ha!

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Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy XIII Bus Tour

Square Enix has announced that it will be kicking off a Final Fantasy XIII bus tour in San Francisco on (when else) the 13th of January. The company’s press release stated:

The bus is scheduled to make numerous stops in the San Francisco and Bay areas through January 16, loaded with a never-before-seen demo area of the North American version of Final Fantasy XIII. Locations will be revealed and updated through the Twitter site @PlayFFXIII (http://twitter.com/PlayFFXIII), so start following today!

If you’re luck enough to be in the Bay when it kicks off, please let me know if you get a chance to check it out! The whole thing makes me think of the excellent song “Lights” by Journey: “I want to be back, in my city by the Bay.”

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