5/18/04

Well, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is over for another year.  Since I wasn't able to attend, I've only seen a little of what was available at the show.  However, two things really surprised me about this year's E3.  The first is that I was actually (dare I say it?) impressed with what Midway had to offer... Mortal Kombat VI looks a lot more exciting than Deadly Alliance, with faster gameplay, tounge-in-cheek mini-games, and levels that are nearly as dangerous as your opponents.  After watching footage of the characters being thrown through glass ceilings and into crushing stone presses, I've got to say that this is the first time in a long time I've been excited, rather than bored, by over the top video game violence.  As for Midway Arcade Treasures 2, what can you say about a collection of excellent games that could have been- and were!- released on their own as early as a decade ago?  I'd say "bring it on, baby!"

The other shocker was the number of handheld game systems that were announced at the show... all by companies which should really know better.  One E3 attendee compared the half-dozen handhelds introduced at the show to a swarm of cicadas, and I think the analogy is a perfect fit.  It seems like these consoles pour out of the woodwork every five years, only to meet certain death at the jaws of a hungry predator.  That predator is Nintendo, and there's not enough Gizmondos, N-Gages, and Eves in the world to satisfy its appetite.

5/14/04

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is currently underway, and this year, it's all about the shorties.  I'm talking specifically about the handheld systems currently in development at Nintendo and Sony.  

First, there's the Nintendo DS.  This unusual handheld received more than its share of criticism when it was first announced, but now that they've seen it firsthand, gamers are viewing the twin screens of the Nintendo DS in a whole new light.  What's changing peoples' minds about the system?  Well, first of all, it looks really cool, perhaps even more so than the previously released Game Boy Advance SP.  Just check out this picture!  It's like the system was intended as an homage to the company's first handheld, the Game & Watch... and we all remember how cool that was.

Wait, it gets better.  The system isn't just a rehashed Game Boy Advance with twice the screens.  The Nintendo DS is packed with even more power than the Nintendo 64, resulting in the kind of impressive 3D that its predecessor just couldn't handle.  If you're still longing for the good old days, you'll be relieved to know that the Nintendo DS is backwards compatible with the Game Boy Advance.

There's one other thing the DS has up its sleeve.  Remember the game.com?  Er, no, you probably don't, do you?  Well, uh, my point was that the Nintendo DS's bottom screen is touch sensitive, giving you more precise and intuitive control than a directional pad alone.  Tiger had the right idea when they added this feature to the game.com, but I'm certain that Nintendo will put it to better use.

Competing with the Nintendo DS is... eh, some other crap.  All right, all right, you beat it out of me.  It's Sony's first handheld system, the PSP.  The second P stands for "portable", but that's being generous when you consider the system's limitations.  First of all, the battery life is appallingly low, clocking in at about three hours.  That may have been acceptable for color portables in the early 90's, but dude, this is the 21st century.  Three hours just doesn't cut it, especially when you've got handhelds out there that can run for forty hours on a pair of ordinary AA batteries.

Poor battery life isn't the PSP's only inconvenience.  It's also larger than other recently released handhelds, and uses a proprietary DVD format which raises its price through the roof and makes both the games and the base unit easily damaged.  I'll give Sony credit for planning some great launch titles for the PSP, but even that may not be enough to justify its high price and flawed design.  Call me biased (that's fine, because it's true), but this may prove to be Sony's first failure in the video game industry.

Well, now you know what's new at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.  What's new on The Gameroom Blitz?  I've whipped up an improved Saturn reference guide with a little help from my friends... fellow Digital Press contributor Greg Wilcox and Chris Millar, the editor of MillarTime.com (the name may make you thirsty, but it has nothing to do with beer).  I think you'll like it... it looks sharper than the first guide, and the information is more complete, with fewer rating omissions.  If you're still collecting Japanese games for your Saturn, this guide is sure to come in handy.

5/12/04

While visiting a nearby Goodwill store over the weekend, I happened across a handful of computer games and peripherals.  Oddly, many of the games I found were adventure titles, in the same vein of the recently cancelled sequel to Sam and Max.  Since I was (as usual) dreadfully low on cash, I could only afford two games, so I picked the ones I felt I would enjoy the most... Sierra's King's Quest VII and LucasArts' Grim Fandango.

I can't say I was happy with King's Quest VII, mostly because the game refused to work on my system.  That strikes me as a little odd, as my computer not only meets the minimum requirements stated on the package, but exceeds them... ten times over. 

That was a minor letdown, but Grim Fandango easily made up for it.  After playing this, I can understand why people were so angry about the Sam and Max cancellation.  It's like the waiting room scene from Beetlejuice (complete with all the humor!), with a little Latin culture thrown in for spice.  I'm amazed that LucasArts didn't release this one for the Playstation... Grim Fandango's simple polygonal characters and colorful rendered backgrounds make it look like it was MADE for that system.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!  I picked up this crazy doodad as well...

It's the personal computer's answer to the multi-tap, a peripheral which is fast approaching obsolecence thanks to the increasing popularity of online gameplay and consoles with multiple controller ports.  I'm not sure when this device, called the MultiPort, was designed... there wasn't a copyright date printed on it, but I did notice that the peripheral had some really unexpected features.

The first peculiarity is that the MultiPort has support for two controller types.  You can plug two standard PC joypads into the right side of the device, but the right offers support for up to four D-shell controllers... you know, like an Atari 2600 joystick, or a Sega Genesis gamepad. 

Stranger still is that the MultiPort has its own controller, the GrIP-Pad, which plugs into the left hand side of the unit.  This raises a lot of questions... would the GrIP-Pad work on an Atari 2600?  Could you just as easily replace it with something more responsive, like the six button arcade pad designed for the Sega Genesis?  And why the heck does it look almost exactly like one of the later model Saturn controllers?

Most unusual of all is that the MultiPort was created in part by NEC, the same folks who tortured us some time back with those ridiculous Johnny Turbo comics.  Was this the company's timid first step back into the world of interactive entertainment?  Maybe... I'm just glad that the flabby superhero wasn't invited back to the company to help promote their comeback.

5/6/04

Sega claims that it's got something big planned for this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.  Some especially hopeful fans of the company have already convinced themselves that Sega will jump back into the system wars with a brand new console.  They've made a lot of dumb business decisions in the past, but I can't imagine even Sega being so naive as to think that they'd be welcome as a console manufacturer.  They've already burned their bridges with the 32X... then threw the remaining pieces of the bridge into a wood chipper with the Saturn.  Then dropped the chipper into the ocean with the Dreamcast.  (How about that for an extended analogy?)

It's a lot more likely that Sega will join forces with another big industry player, like... Capcom?  No, not bloody likely.  Electronic Arts?  Nope, that ain't happening, either.  I was thinking maybe Nintendo, or perhaps Microsoft.  Sega won't go as far merging with either of these companies, but I suspect that they'll will sign some kind of exclusivity deal, or perhaps whip up a crossover game.  After years of rumors and annoying hoaxes, it's about time Mario and Sonic teamed up... this time for real.

5/3/04

The 150cc races in Super Mario Kart. M. Bison in Street Fighter 2 Turbo.  Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat 3.  As frustrating and unfair as they may be, they pale in comparison to the disgusting cheapness of the computer opponents in the Saturn version of Culdcept.  I'm ready to strangle that little brat Sebastion and the stupid furry sidekick that he stole from The Black Cauldron after losing to them in CLEARLY slanted matches for the past three hours.  It makes me long for the days when I was addicted to the exceptional Card Fighter's Clash.  Maybe I'm looking back at this game with rose-colored glasses, but I'm pretty sure it never conveniently pulled incredibly powerful cards out of its ass just when it needed them most.  I know for a fact that it didn't handicap you with constant lousy dice rolls... mostly because there WEREN'T any dice in Card Fighter's Clash, but also because the game never resorted to cheating like a miserable, scumsucking son of a bitch.

People may complain about cheat devices like the Action Replay and Game Shark, but it's games like Culdcept that make me grateful for their existance.  Let's face it, people.  Some games just don't fight fair.  Anyone who's ever been humiliated by Gill in Street Fighter III: Third Strike will attest to this.  I'm glad there are peripherals which help level the playfield, and I have no qualms about using them when I feel it's necessary.  Frankly, I can't think of a time when it's been MORE necessary than when I'm playing Culdcept.  Let's see you stomp all over me when I've got infinite manna, you little prick!