Next Gen Consoles Do's and Don'ts

The next generation of gaming is imminent and probably going to occur this year. Nintendo has already stepped up with their next generation hardware with the Wii U, but what about Microsoft and Sony? A recent announcement from Sony last week claimed that the "future of Playstation" will be discussed during a press conference on February 20th in New York -- which we all can assume is a Playstation 4 announcement. Microsoft has stayed fairly quiet about their next console, but many rumors have been circulating around the internet about both the next Xbox and the Playstation 4 and it's specifications. Whether or not any truth lies within these rumors is a different story, but I would like to explore some of the speculation thrown around and discuss what I feel both consoles need to accomplish when they hit the market.

The biggest rumor I've noticed about both next-gen consoles is some sort of technology that locks out the use of used games. Allegedly, both the next Xbox and the Playstation 4 are rumored to either have a registration process included within the data on the disc that works similar to a CD key found in PC games that will allow the disc to only play on the console it was registered to, or some sort of online only DRM (digital rights media) that will lock the game to the user's account and cannot be played unless the account has privileges. A third theory has been discussed about the possibility of the new consoles to detect whether or not the game disc is used and will force users to pay an online fee in order to unlock the ability to play said game (similar to what we see already with online passes) with the possibility of a premium paid service (like a higher tiered Xbox Live service) that will allow unlimited used game unlocks.

I'm honestly surprised we have not seen some sort of used game blocking technology already. Publishers do not make any money off of used game unless you count the fanbase or brand loyalty that may grow with the purchase of older used games in a company's back catalog. In order to ensure the publisher obtains every penny off of every game sale, a block on used games may be the only solution. Will blocking used game sales be a good thing for consumers though? Absolutely not. I personally love hunting down old games for my collection and the inability to be able to play used games hurts the gaming collectors and enthusiasts in the long run. Not only will this method hurt collectors, but certainly the average gamer who tries to save a buck by picking up a game used later on down the road with the inevitable rise in development costs and game prices. Honestly, the only people who win here are the publishers and a business cannot function if the consumer will not back the products, so I feel a system that blocks used games will certainly affect console sales. I do not agree with it, but I would definitely not be surprised to see this rumor become reality.

Another popular next-gen rumor is the possibility of both consoles becoming online only by not allowing any gameplay and limiting console functions unless the console has an active internet connection. Since most consoles are connected to the internet at all times, a large population of the United States still do not have broadband internet. By requiring a constant internet connection, console manufacturers are cutting down and alienate a pretty decent margin of consumers that will potentially purchase the console. Internet service provider outages, bad weather, and other occurrences can cause internet connections to become unstable or downright non-functional at times, which will ultimately not allow the user to play their single player games offline until connections are restored. The ability to be connected to the internet at all times is just another tactic console manufacturers use to battle piracy and gather statistics on the user, which again hurts the consumer in the long run. I cannot count on both hands how many times my ISP has had internet outages and I cannot play an online game, so I play a single player game instead. If this rumor is accurate, then my internet outages will deem my console completely useless.

A lot of rumors and speculation about the next-gen consoles have caused a lot of paranoia and panic about our favorite past time. I remember hearing used game lockouts before the PS3 came out, so all of this could be only paranoia. The gaming industry is evolving and I eventually see everything going to a completely digital distribution model in the future; however, I hope we have another couple of generations before that occurs. As much as I love the Steam platform for PC games, I hate downloading titles and with game client sizes in gigabytes climbing higher every year (Max Payne 3 on PC was over 25 gigabytes), downloading games will become a huge nuisance to everyone. Just imagine downloading Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on release day when literally millions of players are jamming the servers at once attempting to download the game and it hits 30+ gigabytes in size? It would literally take me a week to download the game, and that is if I can even connect to the server in the first place after they crash due to overloading frequently. This is not the way I want to spend the first day of a highly anticipated game release. I still enjoy buying physical copies and displaying them on my bookcase with my other titles and having that physical product to hold-on to that holds a value in some shape or form. All of this will be gone with digital distribution.

A lot of negativity circles around the next-gen speculation, but what about the positives? I have heard talk of both consoles using unreleased 8000 series AMD video cards, which is definitely exciting to hear. Microsoft is suppose to finally jump on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, which is definitely a must with the growing size of game clients. Talks of including solid state memory built into the consoles is cool, but if it drives the cost of the consoles too high (which it will), then please stick with old school hard disc drives. I'm hoping Sony finally changes their controller design and give us something new. I am seriously tired of using the same old Dual Shock controller we have all used for three generations of consoles. Rumor has it that the new dual shock will include a touch pad found on the back of the Playstation Vita, which I honestly have no negative or positive feelings towards. Both consoles really need to ditch 3D capability, which the format as a whole really needs to die off.

Any respectable gamer is highly curious and excited about what the next generation will bring to the table for gaming. Rumors will spread and many will be true while many will be nothing but rubbish. I'm sure both Microsoft and Sony will make decisions we all love and hate, but I really hope both keep the consumer in mind when they designed these consoles. We will all find out very soon what both companies are working on; hopefully as soon as February 20th.

What consoles need to do:

• Release at a sub $400 price point. Anything above $400 is asking for a Vita-like fate.
• Keep digital distribution as an option instead of a requirement.
• One SKU and one SKU only. We do not need to further confuse consumers with multiple versions of a console.
• Give consumers value if a service is charged. Playstation Plus is the right way to go, while Xbox Live Gold is not.
• Allow game installs. This feature is probably the most brilliant thing Microsoft ever thought of. It helps keep the hardware cool and saves on wear and tear on the disc drive.
• Focus on first party software more than normal. Gamers like me need justification for buying both consoles.
• Backwards compatibility. Do not allow all of the money spent on downloadable games and content become worthless or inaccessible in the future.
• Ditch motion controls and 3D support. Both are useless and unappealing.
• Avoid blocking used game sales and do not insult the retail market that support you.
• The requirement for keeping an internet connection active is a bad idea. Allow offline play for those of us without broadband connections or disconnections due to ISP issues.

Agree? Disagree? Hit me up on twitter @FaintDeftone and let know.

Gaming Haul: February 6th, 2013.

I made some more rounds today with a little extra money in my pocket and came up with some good stuff. First off, I found a Super NES game I've had high on my list for quite some time, Secret of Mana, in very good condition at a local second-hand game shop for $50 and I didn't think twice about snagging it up. I have yet to run into Secret of Mana in public so I didn't want to pass that one up. Secret of Mana is a game I have yet to actually play so I'm looking forward to firing it up.

Second, I found a good condition copy of Shenmue for the Dreamcast for $20 (which is about the same price I always see it for). I've always regretted selling Shenmue many years ago and since I picked up it's Xbox sequel about a month ago, I wanted to right my wrong and reintroduce it to my collection. I also picked up Fire Emblem: Awakening since I heard the game is basically the first must-own game for the system that isn't a Mario or Zelda game and I've always wanted to get into it's genre (see my blog post below about my experience with it so far).

Finally, I was able to find a Gamestop store that still had a brand new copy of The Last Story for the Wii. The Last Story is the second game feature in the Operation Rainfall movement that helped Xenoblade Chronicles get localized for the North American market. The game only had one pressing and is very hard to come by, so I grabbed it since this will probably be my last chance at getting it for a decent price. I plan on writing something about The Last Story fairly soon.

While I was out, I also grabbed a silver Gamecube console for $25. I sold my Gamecube back when I first bought a Wii due to the Gamecube backwards compatibility found in the Wii hardware. I regretting this as well since I wanted the console for my collection and I would much rather play Gamecube games on an actual Gamecube console and avoid sticking goofy memory cards and peripherals into the top of the Wii. I also talked to gentleman at one of the game shops I visited who may be able to hook me up with a Sega 32x attachment. I've never owned a 32x and even though it was short-lived and didn't have a lot of software, I still want one for collection purposes. The system has not been tested and was missing some cables, but the clerk told me to check back in a few days so he can try to obtain cables and test it out, then will sell it to me.

That is all for now. I better go play all of these damn games!

My First Crusade in Fire Emblem

The turn-based strategy genre is one that I've always avoided. I remember attempting to play games like Shining Force and Advance Wars in the past and having trouble grasping the gameplay. The hex-based grids that the player navigates in order to defeat their enemies always felt overly complicated to me. I remember feeling the same way about turn-based RPGs as well until Final Fantasy VII tore down that wall for me and I ended up loving the genre. With the release of X-COM: Enemy Unknown, which ended up being one of my favorite games of 2012 thanks to the fantastic tutorial included, I wanted to delve deeper into this genre. Is there a game that could help me through that hurdle in the strategy genre like Final Fantasy VII did for me? Well I am now attempting to to find out if Fire Emblem: Awakening is that game.

Controversy around Fire Emblem: Awakening struck this week due to shipping errors on Nintendo's part. The game was scheduled to release on Sunday, February 3rd and retailers never received their copies of the game; however, the Nintendo e-Shop digital download version popped up as scheduled Sunday. Gamers were in a frenzy this week trying to find the game and preorders at many Gamestop stores could not get enough copies to cover their preorder numbers. The whole fiasco was quite a mess, where gamers ran to the message boards sharing stories of their struggles to obtain a physical copy. Many gamers gave up and simply bought the digital version, but at no price reduction and the game filling up half of the included 2GB SD card, the digital version seems like a bum deal. Lucky for me I was able to snag a copy Monday night at a Target store.

Currently I have logged about two hours into the game and I am happy to say that I am actually enjoying it. The game does indeed include a well-made tutorial that helps the player ease into it's mechanics. The core battle system is pretty easy to understand but hard to master, since the right unit placement, the right weapons, and the right items are needed to be successful. Thankfully, Nintendo included many difficulty levels to help tailor the experience to a wider audience. I decided to play the game on the easy difficulty, yet still keeping the perma-death feature enabled that will result in a permanent loss to the unit if they fall in battle.  I like the fact that my fallen comrades will be lost forever since it makes me care more about them and want to play the game smarter, but I do find myself restarting each mission if I lose one of them or fail to recruit a new member. I've already lost the starter healer character, which I'm bummed about since she was very useful.

Like X-COM, I really enjoy the customization found in Awakening. Recruiting new members, leveling them up when they survive battles, equipping them with gear and abilities, and pairing them with other characters to enhance relationships are all really enjoyable elements to the game. From what I've played so far, it seems that there isn't any actual role-playing elements like exploring towns, overworlds, or talking to NPCs like some of the games in this genre has, but the game does include a pretty good story with a lot of cutscenes and dialog in between skirmishes. The game will at times let you break off and pick up side-quests or visit shops to pick up new gear, allowing the player to deviate from the game's set path.

I can see myself putting a lot of time into Fire Emblem: Awakening. I've been looking for a new 3DS game to pick up that offers a deeper experience than most games found on the handheld. Awakening's reviews have been stellar so far; many claiming that the game is the first killer app for the 3DS. The fact that the game is flying off of store shelves will hopefully make Nintendo think twice before they screw North American gamers out of Japanese RPGs. I will report back once I progress further into the game and see if I become an official Fire Emblem fan.

Top Ten Games of 2012: Day Ten

1. Far Cry 3

Ubisoft continues to knock it out of the park in 2012 with Far Cry 3, which is a series I previously cared less about until now. During Far Cry 3's development, I paid little attention to the coverage and remembered all of the flaws that irked me in the second Far Cry title (like getting malaria... yeah) and simply wrote the game off. It was not until the stellar reviews blossomed all over the internet that I decided to give the game a rent on the Xbox 360. The framerate was atrocious, but the game hooked me instantly and I ended up buying a copy on the PC. Before I dive deeper into this game, heed my warning: if you have a PC capable of running this game, do yourself a favor and skip the console versions due to the massive framerate issues. If you can only experience this game on a console, please do not give it a pass; however, brace yourself for some poor performance.

The first thing any gamer will notice about Far Cry 3 is the graphics engine; the game is simply gorgeous. The entire game takes place on a lush tropical island that can be fully explored to the player's discretion. The physics involved with vegetation, water, and explosions are all very impressive and life-like. I can't really say the game is photo-realistic, but it looks remarkable and gives the Crytek engine a run for it's money. The game is chock full of content, ranging from a 12+ hour story path, a good number of sidequests, and other activities such as hunting, assassinating, and racing the clock to deliver medical supplies to islanders. For a $60 title, the amount of content is very pleasing for a single player romp. The multiplayer and co-op campaign are nice diversions, but neither is really as appealing as the story mode.

Speaking of the story, Far Cry 3 knocks it out of the park as far as putting the player in a perilous adventure. The game opens with a group of young, wealthy vacationers being lead to a beautiful island in search of thrills and fun. Unfortunately for our vacationers, their fun quickly ends when they're kidnapped by a ruthless pirate militia ran by a man named Vaas who holds the group for ransom. Playing as Jason (the main character), you barely escape with your life and are picked up by a member of the Rakyat tribe who helps Jason seek out his kidnapped friends and take revenge on Vaas. During the beginning of the game, the characters within the group of friends are pretty unlikable and all seem like rich Jersey Shore rejects that sort of make the player care less about their fates; however, after experiencing what Jason and his friends must go through in order to survive, I started to actually care whether or not these people make it out alive. The game includes a zany cast of characters along the way and the villain Vaas is quite possibly one of the best villains I've seen in a video game in years. The voice actor portraying Vaas is fantastic and does a great job of making him feel likable, yet also look like a massive psychopath.



After the game takes the player through a thrilling first hour or so, the game really starts to shine when the world completely opens up and allows the player to tackle objectives as they please. The enemy A.I. isn't the smartest around, but when you stir them up enough they will become quite a challenge to handle. The random checkpoint spawns found in the previous game are gone (thankfully), but this also makes the game feel a little empty at times. No worries though, because the island wildlife will keep anyone busy between fire fights. Hunting and gathering pelts throughout the game will allow the player to craft upgrade items that will greatly aid the player on their journey. The wildlife can also be used to aid the player against the militia, but if not handled correctly the wildlife can quickly turn on the player. Each successful kill or skilled takedown will result in experience points earned, which will allow the player to level up and upgrade their abilities. Each ability adds a new tattoo to Jason's arm, which by the games end will make Jason look like an employee on Miami Ink.

Far Cry 3's shooting mechanics are on point, giving the player a fairly large arsenal to experiment with. At the start of the game, the player only has two weapon slots, but after a bit of hunting and gathering materials, the player can max out at four weapon slots. Having the four weapon slots is something I would recommend any player shoot for as soon as they can, because the amount of gun types will allow the player to fully customize what weapons they carry with them and how they want to handle any situation they may be thrown into. I personally always kept a shotgun on me in-case any lethal animals got a little too close for comfort, a sniper rifle for the stealthy route, an assault rifle to take down multiple enemies in a pinch, and a rocket launcher to deal with any heavily armored units. Using stealth was my favorite tactic in the game and I found taking down enemy outposts (which are scattered around the map and can be taken over for added save points) a thrilling task.

With the mixture of different gameplay types, a ton of content to explore, and an engaging story that is worth seeing till the end, Far Cry 3 is a must play. The reason the game is so high on my list is due to the sheer amount of fun I had with the game; I was literally hooked on the game from start to finish. Even after I completed the main quest, I found myself coming back for more in order to unlock all the achievements and complete all of the sidequests. Ubisoft took the complaints from previous entries along with the strengths and forged a terrific shooter. Far Cry 3 is has the complete package and this is why the game is my #1 favorite game of 2012.

Thank you to everyone who read my 2012 top ten list. I put a lot of time into this and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read it. Here's hoping 2013 brings us many more amazing games!

Gaming Haul: Week of January 28th

This week I didn't find too many interesting additions to my gaming collection. I feel like I have sort of bled my normal sources dry and need to wait a month or so for new stock to come in before I find some good stuff. That being said, I did find one game that I couldn't say no to: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES.

I remember playing this game a lot when I was a kid. A large part of my childhood was spent idolizing and obsessing over the Ninja Turtles, so it was a no-brainer that I had to play the video games too. This particular Turtles game was pretty bad and certainly no Turtles in Time, but I still enjoyed it as a child. The game was overly difficult, not particularly faithful to the source material (look at the cover, they're all Raphaels...) contained one of the worst water levels ever in gaming and was pretty glitchy, but it still has some awesome music and one of the most memorable NES games I've played. Take the game for what you will, I still wanted it for my collection due to how much I played it as a child. I picked it up for $1.99 so I certainly got a good deal on it.

Check out my gaming collection via The Backloggery to check my progress as I attempt to build a massive gaming collection!

Top Ten Games of 2012: Day Nine

2. Mass Effect 3

The Mass Effect series in my opinion is one of the best things to come out of the current generation of gaming. The series premiered on the Xbox 360, migrated to the PC and then eventually ended up on the PS3 as well. Developer Bioware made a name for itself many years ago with games like Balder's Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, so it was a no-brainer that Mass Effect was going to be an amazing title. The game has spawned two sequels creating one of the best trilogies in gaming history (again, in my opinion). The third chapter of the Mass Effect series may not be quite a strong as the previous iteration, but the game still continues the tight shooter mechanics, amazing world, and great story that made the series so special to begin with.

There isn't a whole lot to say about Mass Effect 3 that hasn't been said about the last game. The same core gameplay is intact with some minor tweaks. Traveling the universe, recruiting characters of multiple species to join your cause, using dialog trees to converse and make decisions along the journey, and leveling up class specific powers to defeat the reaper threat is still the name of the game here. Simply continuing the strong story with a strong cast of characters, taking the player to new and amazing locals and carrying over all of the previous decisions made by the player throughout the series are all more than enough to make this game one of the best of the year. All of that being said, the game isn't without it's flaws.

A lot of controversy surrounded this title in 2012; however not all of it was justified in my opinion. Some gamers cried out that making one of the most crucial characters in the story downloadable content (included with new copies) and screwing over people who bought used copies unless a premium was paid is a bad move on EA's part. I personally played through the entire game before I decided to finally download the extra character and mission and I honestly feel like I should have had this character in my party throughout the whole game, making me feel like I missed out on a lot of story. The other big commotion was over the game's ending, which basically failed to take into effect any of the decisions made by the player throughout three entire games by giving each player the exact same canned ending. Also, gamers ranted over the way EA closed the game by not giving players a satisfying ending to such a long story. EA attempted to correct some of these complaints by creating a free downloadable extended ending, but it didn't seem to patch the crippled ending nor please anyone. I personally did not mind the game's ending at all and liked the way the game closed it's final chapter; that being said, I do agree that forging an ending based off the individual decisions made throughout three titles would have been a much better route to go.

One thing that Bioware was able to do was make a believer out of me when it comes to their multiplayer suite. When the multiplayer component was announced, I rolled my eyes thinking it was going to be another tacked-on, uninspired multiplayer package thrown in to create false value out of the title. Usually the assets spent on multiplayer I feel would have been much better suited by creating more memorable and quality single player components (like fixing that ending, heh). Thankfully I was wrong because Mass Effect 3 is also my favorite multiplayer experience of 2012. Instead of shoe-horning some awful competitive multiplayer shooter into the mix, Bioware gave us a very fun enemy wave-based co-op experience similar to Horde mode in Gears of War. The thing that made Mass Effect 3's take on this popular co-op mode is that it still retains character creation, experience and leveling, power and stat building, and multiple classes to master. Thankfully, EA allowed Bioware to hand out a lot of extra multiplayer downloadable content like extra maps and character classes free of charge. Another cool feature found in the multiplayer suite was EA's inclusion of  special weekends that challenged gamers to hit a specific milestone online; if the assigned milestone was completed within that weekend, players were given free items and unlockables to any player who participated, which kept players coming back for more.

With all of the complains and controversy surrounding Mass Effect 3, I bet many of you are wondering why the game is so high on my list, or why it even made the list at all. Honestly, flaws and all, the game is still an amazing role playing game with brilliant set pieces, a jaw-dropping universe, some amazing characters, and one of the most memorable stories told in gaming. The gameplay is tighter than ever and the multiplayer was a complete blast to play. Any science fiction fan will fall in love with the Mass Effect universe and any RPG fan who loves to explore deep worlds and explore large amounts of lore made for those worlds will also adore this series. I could care less about how the game itself ended, but the journey as a whole was a memorable experience that ended up being easily my favorite series of games to come out of this generation and one of my favorites of all time. This is why Mass Effect 3 is my 2nd favorite game of 2012.

Top Ten Games of 2012: Day Eight

3. The Walking Dead

Point-and-click adventure games have slowly made a comeback within the past couple of years thanks to developer Telltale Games, who resurrected the classic Sam & Max and Monkey Island series while also moving several film franchises like Back to the Future and Jurassic Park into the genre as well (with mixed results). Even though I love that Telltale has brought back a treasured PC genre that sort of lost it's way in the new decade, I have not really paid too much attention to any of their games nor have I been highly anticipating any of them. The company's take on the popular graphic novel zombie drama series The Walking Dead certainly peaked my interest, but I didn't think much of it until I actually sat down to play it.

I can honestly say that Telltale blew this one out of the park. The game stays faithful to the comic series by retaining it's tone, yet giving us a new cast of characters that exist within the same universe. The game plays like your typical point-and-click adventure game while also throwing in several different modern game elements to mix up the gameplay. The majority of the game will be spent controlling the main character Lee by walking around the environments and interacting with objects and elements within the world. Small spurts of shooting, quick time events and melee combat mechanics are included along with dialog trees for conversations between characters and decisions made by the player effecting the outcome of the story. The graphics use a similar art-style to the comic book that looks cartoony, yet gritty and depressing. The atmosphere Telltale has created mixed with the color pallete paints a dark, bleak painting that displays dread and desperation perfectly for the player.

Telltale has crafted a highly memorable story that may possibly be the best story told out of any video game I have ever played. The characters are much better written than anyone featured in the novels or the TV show and the writing is extremely strong. As the player, you will grow attachments to these characters and feelings that will make the decisions laid out before the player extremely hard to make. I literally sat and thought deeply about each choice I made (if you can, seeing as some decisions are on a time limit) due to how I would feel the characters would react to them. I honestly have not played a video game yet that made me care as much for a group of people as this game has. Playing through the entire game while trying to protect a young innocent girl named Clementine (who has lost her parents and left alone) gives the player a huge sense of responsibility in your actions and a major emotional element to the character and her fate.

The Walking Dead is split into five episodes that play out like your typical television program, with recaps of previous episodes at the start of new ones. Each episode can be purchased separately (depending on the platform) on digital platforms for $5 a piece, or the entire series can be purchased in a bundle for $25 via download or on a $30 retail disc. The game can be played on a variety of different platforms including Xbox 360, PC, PS3, and iOS devices. Which ever method or device you use, The Walking Dead is easily one of the best, most moving gaming experiences I have had in quite some time and I challenge anyone to experience the ending without shedding a tear. All of this is why The Walking Dead is my #3 favorite game of 2012.