Tag: Videogames

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?

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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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?

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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EA and Random House Team Up for Dante’s Inferno TPB

Electronic Arts has announced that it will be teaming up with Random House for a special trade-paperback of Dante’s Inferno in order to promote the videogame of the same name. (Hit the full story for a picture of the cover!) Today’s press release stated:

Electronic Arts and Del Rey Books, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group announced that a trade-paperback edition of the classic poem Inferno, part one of The Divine Comedy, will be distributed to booksellers nationwide on January 19, 2010. This special edition of the canonized poem commemorates the launch of the highly-anticipated Dante’s Inferno video game from Visceral Games. The new edition features an introduction written by Dante’s Inferno Executive Producer, Jonathan Knight, who offers insight into the process of adapting the dark masterpiece into the interactive medium. The book also features a 16-page, full-color art insert showcasing the evolution of characters and environments from the classic poem to the video game.

I know some of you are irked by Visceral’s…unique take on Dante Alighieiri’s work, but if the game gets kids to The Divine Comedy then that’s totally cool. That said, it is kind of weird that a classic will come with 16 pages of pictures. *shrug*

Nintendo Confirms Pokewalker for Heart Gold and Soul Silver

Nintendo of America has confirmed that the Pokewalker accessory will be bundled with copies of the upcoming Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver for Nintendo DS. The game is slated for a March 14, 2010 release. And no, the Pokewalker isn’t a walking device for your 70-year old charmander. Here’s some official info on the accessory:

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, players can wirelessly transfer any one of their Pokémon from one of the two games to the Pokéwalker and walk them through virtual routes as the player walks around in real life. By walking, players earn Watts, which are used within the Pokéwalker to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or search for hidden items, and can be transferred into Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions to unlock new routes. There are even special versions of certain Pokémon that can only be found within routes on the Pokéwalker, giving players added incentive to keep their Pokémon with them wherever they go. The Pokémon in the Pokéwalker will gain experience points as the player walks, and can even go up one level when they are transferred back into the game. Players also can wirelessly connect two Pokéwalkers to trade items.

My March is so screwed. Between this, Final Fantasy XIII, and Dragon Age: Awakenings…I might have to skip this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. Perhaps one of you can take over the site for me when the ides of March hits. Ha!

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It’s still a light week in the videogame-release department, but there are a few titles of interest that you might want to keep an eye on. EA brings back its brothers of destruction in Army of Two: The 40th Day. That is, by far, the biggest release of the week. Outside of that, there’s an interesting DS RPG and a game for fans of winter sports…and that’s about it. As always, let me know if you’re picking up any of this week’s video releases.

PlayStation 3
Army of 2: The 40th Day — I’m pretty sure Kane and The Undertaker would wreck these guys.
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games — I totally forgot that the Olympics are happening this year. I guess I pay more attention to the summer games than the winter games.

Xbox 360
Army of 2: The 40th Day
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games

Nintendo Wii
Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Walk it Out — Base on the hit song by The Beatles…oh wait, it’s not.

PlayStation Portable
Army of 2: The 40th Day

Nintendo DS
Daniel X — A interactive retelling of one of the most powerful civil rights leaders in America. Okay, I totally made that up.
Sands of Destruction