The Gaming thread

I'd usually wait until later in the week to talk about stuff, but some little things have gone on since my last post that I sort of would like to talk about.

First off, big news (at least to me anyways):
Resident Evil 4, which has been a GC exclusive, will be available for the PS2 in late 2005. The GC version will still be out a lot sooner (January '05), so any RE fan would probably play it on the GC anyways, or buy one, but this almost seems like a blow to Nintendo. In fact, some other games that were supposed to be exclusives for the GC and were made by Capcom have seemed to have found their way to the PS2. (Viewtiful Joe, Killer 7, IIRC, Super Monkey Balls will also be available, but I think that is by Sega).

As for the idea, I like it. I'm a little interested on how they'll port it. It seemed like Capcom was working hard on using the power of the GC to make RE4, so it will be interesting to see how a port will do considering the differences between the systems. It may not be too bad since the PS2 is a little better in some things, such as particles, and the increased size of a DVD. The only thing that might look worse is the textures, but hopefully Capcom can work on that. The Silent Hill charaters looked pretty nice, so hopefully they can put up something similar.
link

In other news, Nobuo Uematsu (the FF musicc composer for those that don't know) will be leaving Square-Enix ....but that doesn't mean he won't still make music for them. He's basically moving on and making his own studio, which could do music for SE and other companies. If anything, it could be good news since we'd hear more of his music in games, but I have grown attached to him being with SE, especially after that one Icons episode on him. Good luck Mr. Uematsu! (like he's reading this. )

Kind of touching on my last post about the PSP, it sounds like the games for the PSP won't cost too much either, although it may depend on certain things. Right now, we only got an estimate of the price of games in Japan, which is about $47. This sounds like a lot, but the DS games will also sell for about $45 in Japan about that same time, even though they sell the games here for like $30. So it may be likely that the PSP games could be similar, selling for around $25-$35 here. THQ did say something about some games being $40 though. I basically got this from a thread in the same forums that I mentioned earlier. Speedis, the guy who made the game list, also made a very nice FAQ on the PSP. It has some nice info on there that may go against the rumors you've heard about the PSP. I'd definitly check it out if you do not know much about it, or even if you do. You can check it out here.
Again, this may be edited at later dates when more info is learned.

Another topic I discussed in my previous post was about Killzone. I was sort of joking when I talked about it being a conspiracy with the score IGN gave it. The funny thing was that it seems like to some people, it was a conspiracy, or something like it. They did bring up some points, such as the reviewer contradicting himself in the video review and the typed review, hardly any mention of online/multiplayer play (a strong part of the game, IIRC.), and other things I can't remember at the moment. I don't know what to think about it though. Either way, I'm guessing it is a fun game that may not quite be a Halo-killer, but is a pretty good FPS for the PS2.

I'm putting this news last since it just barely popped up I believe and I don't know how valid it is, although if it is, it would be kind of huge news. This is what Alex Albrect has on his webpage and I believe he said pretty much the same on TSS. (and just the day when I skip the show):

To me, this could mean something or it could mean nothing since it was kind of vague. Basically, from what I can remember, IBM is working with both Sony (along with Toshiba) on the Cell and they are also working with Microsoft for their next console. IIRC, Xbox 2/Xenon was supposed to have like 3 3.5 GHz chips based of the Power architecture, or something like that. (haven't read about it in a while). The PS3, on the other hand, is supposed to have 4 "Processing Elements" with 8 "Attached Processor Units" each, basically meaning it has like 32 APU's. I want to say that Cell is also somewhat based on the Power architecture as well, IIRC, which I guess they could have meant, which isn't really a secret. That definitly seems like two completely different approaches to consoles. For all we know, he could have meant that they both have transistors but they just moved them around. In that case, I guess the computer I got now is pretty much a Cell PC.

It also seems strange as to why he hopes Microsoft and Sony don't find out. How could these companies not find out? I'm sure the developers their calling would wonder why the dev kits from both companies were very similar, not to mention a number of other things that would pop up and rear their ugly heads. I guess I just wait until later to learn more about this. Or I could just wait until other forums get a hold of this so that I can dissect their brains.

 

I'm not sure if they will do this here, but Sony's got this bundle in Japan for those who still want the regular PS2 instead of the redesigned one. It comes with a translucent blue system and controller, a network adapter, a hard drive, and broadband software for ~$245 in our money. (if they actually offered it here, it would probably be less) It didn't sound like they were planning a similar bundle in the US, but that seems like a good deal. Of course, if you don't want all that stuff, I don't know what to tell you. For regular PS2's, I wouldn't doubt that they could start selling those at a small drop pretty soon since it won't have a network adapter like the new one, nor would it be incredibily small. They may hold off a little bit so increase sells of the PStwo, but I would guess that the price could go down pretty soon.

Then again, with them getting ready for the PSP, not to mention the fact that games like GTA:SA would probably persuade people to spend a little extra for the PS2, they may decide to stick with the current price point, depending on how much it costs to make them at the moment.

As for picking Smackdown or MK, I'd probably go with Smackdown, although that's more my personal opinion on certain types of games rather than the games themselve. I'd probably enjoy going through a story mode or whatever on a WWE game than playing MK. They both seem cool, but I'd probably pick the wrestling one.

BTW, check this out :

Link

I wonder how's that going with DaDakota. I do seem to remember him talking about the Gizmondo the other day.

Actually, after quickly checking out the site for the handheld, it looks like Warthog signed on for games on Oct. 19, so this may have been worked on for a while. Does anyone actually know much about the Gizmondo? To be honest, I don't know too much about it. I have heard of it, but I didn't really look to much into it since I figured it would be hard to suceed against Sony and Nintendo. It doesn't seem too bad though, but I barely started reading about a little on it from the web site. I'll probably check it out later, but it seems like it is trying to be a mix of a phone and a gaming system, or at least that was sort of the impression that I got. Maybe someone can clarify on that. I'm also a little curious on how big the average game would be and how the battery life is. If it is running from a card, which I believe it is, it shouldn't be too bad. The price kind of scares me at a price of ~$420. I'd probably rather get a PSP or DS along with a phone or something like that. I wonder if the GPS thing factors in to all that. IIRC, I think the PSP has a GPS accessory, but I think it was suppose to be pretty expensive. It is an interesting concept.

 

I posted a little bit on that a little while back, but it doesn't hurt to remind people about it. That game is one of the only real tests we have of what will be in store for us with next-gen graphics since it is scheduled to appear on a next-gen console. Plus, I love their games. I can't remember the longest time in one sitting I played Morrowind, but like you, it was pretty long despite the fact that I also don't normally play games that long in one sitting.

Basically, the fact that this game will be using next-gen tech combined with the awesome games produced so far in the series has gotten me excited about the game.

Something I forgot to put into my previous post was that it seems as though the redesigned PS2 is doing pretty well. In the UK, about 50,000 were picked up in the past week, which is triple the amount that sold the week before.

 

Time for another Pulse bash!

Wasn't so bad this time, but I feel like nitpicking. They started off on the PSP battery being less than the spec provided for some games, and while I never read it quite like that, I'll let it slide until more info is known. I think they read it wrong or something from the way they said it. Nevertheless, they still had to put in a 15 minute playing time, making me wonder why Sony even provided a spec for the battery since everyone just says they're lying and goes back to these claims. One thing I had a problem with was when they mentioned how Sony said the battery life should improve due to them working on it, which was followed up with a "yeah...right" type of tone. I would find it pretty likely that the battery life could improve, or at least the graphics and whatnot at the same life. This is a completely different type of handheld that developers are not used to and once they start learning the tricks, I'm guessing we could get an extra hour or 2, possibly, out of it. Plus, I think Sony is pretty serious about making at least some changes to the PSP eventually to make it have battery life. Basically, both of these groups would benefit from increasing the battery life and it probably wouldn't be too difficult, although some of the things Sony can do could be.

The next nitpick I had with it was a statement they made during a discussion about a Street Fighter game playing on American Xbox's about why would the Japanese even have them. I'd think any gamer in Japan would have one just like gamers here have Japanese PS2's and Gamecubes. I just thought that was funny.

During their little rant, they talked about how messed up it was that all these great games were coming out around this time. They wanted these games to be spread out throughout the year. My problem with this is that I don't think this was all on purpose. All these big games have been worked on for years and I think they pretty much were working on a "when it's done" release date. I'm sure they would like to release during this time of the year, but I doubt they sat down years ago and said, "We're going to have some RPG elements, a new engine, 200 cars, 50+ hours of gameplay, and we're coming out in the 4th qtr of 2004." They'd either have to cut back on some features and possibly have some bugs as well, or delay the game, which is what Pulse wanted more of. Of course, when a HL2, GT4, or other big title gets delayed, we all hear complaints about why isn't it done. I'm sure everyone will be happy if MGS 3 will be delayed until the second quarter of next year, even thought its done. (just one example, but you can do that to any of the big games)

Enough of the nitpicking for now. One question I got is if anyone has Killzone? I'd check it out, but I already am starting to get too many games than my family can really afford, not to mention that I still need to work on Disgaea, ESPN NBA 2K5, and others after I "finish" GTA:SA. I know that a lot of the review sites have been giving it pretty bad reviews, but like I mentioned earlier I believe, they may have had old builds of the game. I've seen some personal reviews that have contained things that have been the opposited of some of the reviews online. In fact, I think there were even some differences in how Gamespot and IGN viewed the game problem areas and good points. I just want to know if the copy they had WAS really out of date and they fixed it, making it almost like a new game, or if they haven't really fixed many of the problems since then and the game is still about average.

There is a new (I think) trailer of FF12 at their site . Just about everything is in Japanese, but I think the most important words are in English, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem checking it out. (most important="click" ) I will say that the CGI in this game is awesome, just like all the other games. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long to play it, or else I'd be crazily hyped about it already.

I read the other day on how Capcom was planning to make some more game-to-movie projects. IIRC, they want to bring both Onimusha and Devil May Cry to the big screen. I thought I read about a Megaman one too, although I think that may have been speculation. They wanted to make those pretty quickly too, like 2006 I think. I just find it strange with all these movies about games are being released. I can't even remember them all. They already have the Resident Evil on going. I think they have a Silent Hill movie in the works, along with another horror game I can't remember at the moment. They got Doom in the work and I believe they had a rumor of the Rock being in it. Plus, if you want to count FF:AC as a movie based on a game, that's another one. I just hope these movies have better luck that some of the previous attempts on game-to-movie conversion. They all would seem to make excellent movies and it would suck if it was butchered on the big screen.

Now onto the PSP again. Here is a link to a pretty good clip of the PSP in action and several games. It looks kind of old, maybe from E3, but I don't recall ever seeing it, and I liked the way some of the games looked. IIRC, there was mostly RPG's in the clip.

Coded Arms, a FPS and probably one of the best looking titles for the PSP, has some more pics out and it still looks nice. You can see some of them at IGN
but here's one:


While you're at IGN, it wouldn't hurt to check out other PSP games like Dynasty Warriors, Ridge Racers, and a game called Vulcanus to get a feel for how much the PSP can handle graphically. IIRC, those games have somewhat recently put out some more media from their games.

The last thing about the PSP I would like to talk about is the hard coating for the screen. AFAIK, they are planning to put one on, especially since it would be a shame for a screen that purty to have a scratch. Sony recently talked about this type of hard coating, which they will be using for other products as well as for Blu-ray. This type of coating can prevent scractches and even withstand markers and steel wool. I've kind of talked about this type of coating, IIRC, for Blu-ray, which really needed it since it was going to need a plastic cover for protection. With this new coating, it would be extremely difficult to scratch either one.

Speaking of Blu-ray, I read recently that they were able to make a disc out of corn, basically. I guess this follows the similar approach of making it out of paper, but using corn instead. I guess this means that if I buy Gigli 2, I can eat it afterward since I'll never watch it again...or maybe even at all. Blu-ray has the next-gen DVD war won already with this move.