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Deadly Creatures: A new Wii game? Play as a scorpion?

Best Games of 2007: HDCGAMER Edition...

#1 BIOSHOCK

Yes, you knew it was coming. But really I stand by my choice. I made this one on Gamespot about a week before the VGAs so I feel more justified than anyone with picking Bioshock than anyone. The reason I picked Bioshock is pretty simple. The game tells an incredible story, has incredible gameplay, incredible graphics, and has bring philosophical elements to the fore of a video game for the first time. These are things not easily done all in the same title. Most titles do one or two of them. But to do them all, that is worthy of true praise.

#2 The Orange Box

This package with Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Pretty much blows away anything else. The games packed in this box are everything from a FPS to a puzzle game. Even with a few issues at launch with playing online. The game is still the best of the bunch and the best value anyone can get for $60. With downloadable content and even episode 3. There is little doubt that Valve will continue to make great advancements not only in innovation but in turning conventions into a kind of classical perfection.

#3 Halo 3

This title was so incredibly hyped by Microsoft that really there was no chance it wouldn't be a big hit. The game while innovative certainly doesn't support it's megalithic hype. But for it's industry changing Forge that allows the player to change the layout of maps and for it's film capturing feature this game earns a third place nod.

#4 Call of Duty 4

Call of Duty 4 brought Infinity Ward back to the stage of battle and again they dominated. With an incredible graphical feel and a unmistakable cinematic quality; the game is one of the best shooters out this year. The best part of Call of Duty 4 are the hundreds of options in their mulitplayer and the ranking system that seems to be copycat of Halo 3's. While the single player was excellent the never ending enemy barrages and the timed events grew old quickly and really pulled the player out of the game.

#5 Super Mario Galaxy

This is my only Wii title in this list and the only game this year on the system worthy of a spot. This game served to take platforming to it's top level. Mario is a the height of his powers here in Galaxy. There really isn't a better platformer. But unfortunately that's all that can really be said of Galaxy. It's Super Mario 64 on speed. But that isn't exactly a bad thing.

#6 Persona 3

It took us all too long to get to Persona 3. But really this is where it belongs. The game has an accomplished story and an even better and more satisfying combat scheme than many supposedly more advanced RPGs. The game is incredible and should be played by anyone who loved Final Fantasy. The game has the same feel but a more modern feel and a cool manga-like art style that makes everything look cool.

#7 God of War 2

This game having come out early in the year on PS2 seemed to get lost in all the noise of later titles. But the design and execution of God of War 2 make it certainly one of the best games of this year and the sequel can only highlight this fact whenever it arrives. The God of War franchise is the best of Sony's stable and will hopefully retain it's quality throughout it's existence no matter what version of the Sony console it lands on.

#8 Rock Band

The difference between Rock Band and Guitar Hero is simple a microphone and a set of drums. The game allows the player to choose an instrument and play either together in a band or join a A.I. controlled band that has a loose theme but not the kind of true theme that the player controlled bands have. The game is incredible and certainly deserves a high place on the roster for it's incredible amount of downloadable songs and the large amount of replayablity that the game engenders.

#9 Guitar Hero III

The game is certainly the crowning achievement of the series and even with a lackluster number of improvements or changes over previous editions the game is still a high achievement. With it's record sales and probably a partial reason why playing the guitar again seems to be an interest of children and oldsters alike. The game even being difficult is excellent and hopefully will garner a more innovative sequel in the future.

#10 Unreal Tournament 3

This legendary game is probably more full of potential than anything else. The gameplay and overall design are first rate. The lack of sales and seeming interest for the title are head scratching. But in six months this title will most likely be at the height of it's powers and might then take it's place among the greatest games on any system.

The games that were not listed here were either not good enough to be put on it or were beyond the experience of the author. This is not to say that these games are not good, simply that I haven't gotten around to playing them yet. BTW, as not worry anyone, Mass Effect would be #11 due to it's many bugs and boring vehicle sequences.

And the Award Goes to?

Yes it's true, we have entered that time of the year when everyone and their brother has decided that they need to do a GAME of the Year. But what really is the point in the end? Everyone more or less talks about the same games in their top ten and most sites have agreed this year that Bioshock from 2k Games is the winner. I certainly can understand why this happened but what I don't understand is everyone's need to proclaim it from the rooftops.

The quality of the title is rather obvious to anyone who has played it. But what some games of this year haven't shown is that they are all basically, when boiled down the same thing. I can hear it now, the cries of how wrong I am and what a fool I am. But it's true. The games of 2007 fell into two categories.

Critical darlings and financial ones. Only a couple of games bridged the two. Most games that did well financially were totally destroyed critically and most of the games that were critically acclaimed had a hard time getting off the ground financially.

The two games that really broke that mold were the Orange Box from Valve and Halo 3 from Bungie. You could also count Guitar Hero 3. All these games were incredibly well received both financially and critically.

But what do these games have in common and why then are all games the same. It's a lot easier than you might think. The reason for Halo's success was it's heritage. If there was no Halo or Halo 2 there would not have been the blockbuster Halo 3. It just couldn't have pulled in all that money. Same holds true for the Orange Box. If two thirds of the box hadn't appeared in other places and from the award winning company Valve. There wouldn't never have been that financial success. Finally the same holds true for Guitar Hero 3. And to an even greater extent there is Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. If there hadn't been all those Mario games in the past this game would never have been such a financial success.

The industry now is run by sequels. If the game isn't a franchise product it doesn't have that multimillion dollar power behind it. The reason for this of course is the distracted nature of the average consumer. Most consumers don't pay much attention to the here and now. Most pay attention to the last year or so.

So if your game is new and unique and no one has played anything like it. Then there is no way for that average consumer to know that your game exists. Unless there is a feature film about it or some kind of graphic novel about it.

Therefore, I will probably go along with the crowd and drop my top ten best games of 2007. I might even do it tonight. But folks please just take this as my opinion. Because the main thing that you should take away from 2007 in video games is that this was the year of the sequel. What will next year bring? More of the same. But then, that IS what everyone wants right???

November drives sales up to $2.63 billion....

"US GAME HARDWARE SALES, NOVEMBER 2007

Nintendo DS - 1.53 million
Nintendo Wii - 981,000
Xbox 360 - 770,000
PlayStation Portable - 567,000
PlayStation 2 - 496,000
PlayStation 3 - 466,000

TOP 10 GAME SOFTWARE TITLES, NOVEMBER 2007
1) Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) - Activision (Corp) - Nov 2007 - 1.57 million
2) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - Nintendo - Nov 2007 - 1.12 million
3) Assassin's Creed (360) - Ubisoft - Nov 2007 - 980,000
4) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) Activision Oct 2007 - 967,000
5) Wii Play (with remote) (Wii)- Nintendo - Feb 2007 - 564,000
6) Mass Effect (360) - Microsoft Nov 2007 - 473,000
7) Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) - Activision Nov 2007 - 444,000
8) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - Activision Oct 2007 - 426,000
9) Halo 3 (360) - Microsoft - Sep 2007 - 387,000
10) Assassin's Creed (PS3) - Ubisoft - Nov 2007 - 377,000"Gamespot...

Well you didn't really think it was called Black Friday because of the bad weather, now did you?

Causal Gamers don't know what No More Heroes is! Mini-Skirts won't even help!

Check out what I found on Kotaku...

The problem with the Wii is that causal gamers who are the main folks who buy the Wii only buy casual faire and not even too many games. No more Heroes isn't even on their radar. Even with Suda and company standing outside with toliet paper ready to sign and an extremely attractive woman with a mini skirt on couldn't draw a crowd, The rumors now say that Suda is going to make his next game on the XBOX 360. I wondered why he didn't make this one for the PS2 or PS3 to begin with. But it fashionable to develop for the Wii. It's only fashionable now, if it's profitable. The Wii bubble is about to pop Nintendo, you better get those copies of Super Smash Brothers Brawl out fast before the whole market goes away.

N'Gai Croal Tackles Video Games as Art...

Check out N'Gai's great article on Next Generation. He makes reference to the NY Times article about Halo 3 being representative of art. Which seemed thin on the surface. I do like the fact that N'Gai tackles the idea that games can be art based solely on gameplay rather than relying solely on the storytelling aspects.

Personally, considering there is such a convergence of the arts in every video game it is hard to believe that games aren't art. For instance, there are the visual arts that the game designers use to create the textures and such. Also, games have architecture aspects when dealing with map design. Also there are the amazing scores that are created for video games. Finally, there is the story in some games. So that is yet another recognized art form. How could games not be art when they are made up of art to their vary bone. Throwing in some science and math in there when it comes to the programming and technology aspects. You probably have the highest form of art that could be created.

In previous articles, I've discussed the importance of video games as art. But certainly the particular aspects discussed by N'Gai Croal and those I mentioned above were missing. I don't think games to need to change to become more artsy. I think that people's minds have to change about the way we think about games. After all, a person who creates and Unreal Mod or a Half-Life Mod couldn't be considered anything but an artist. How about the folks that do Machinima, they are certainly artists. So where does the art end and the game begin? It just doesn't...

Gaming Takes a Holiday!

This time of year everyone turns their radar onto games. It's amazing how a little advertising money and a glut of games coming out all at the same time can generate so much press when most of the REAL gaming press is looking forward to a nice two week break while developers and publishers get some time off.

The amazing part of all this is not that it happens, but that it's mostly so annoying. Even the Spike Video Games Awards are getting to be more white noise than cool.

The MTV style gets a little worse every year and this year they decided to make some poor models naked painted envelopes. I'm a guy and these were some really beautiful women and the body painting was great. But I couldn't help but wonder if this was just another step back for the games industry being taken seriously. Would the Grammys have done this? Would the Academy Awards? No, I really don't think so. So why did the VGAs feel like they could do this? Well, the same reason why they thought people would want to sit through two lame comics that couldn't come up with anything remotely funny. It all smacked of a lame awards show that really wasn't taken seriously by anyone. You know like the Rasberries or the MTV Music Video Awards. Considering the VGAs are the ONLY televised Video Game Awards Show it would have been nice if they could have at least tried to have a little class.


Besides the VGAs we also are bombarded by day time TVs attempts to make games something to get for the holidays and their pathetic attempts to seem like they know about what's new and cool. No one believes that anyone on these shows has the slightest clue and when they bring some one on who does; they usually give them around 2 minutes to explain what probably needs around 10 to explain.

Where does all this come from? It's there all year. Really it is. If you've noticed X-PLAY, Attack of the Show, or the wonderful Rise of Video Games that so many OTHER blogs have been saying is SO GREAT, The shoddy construction, the flashing lights, the endless prepubescent references. Well, Rise of Videogames doesn't have the last one. But the series isn't over yet. If these folks want to be taken seriously, like REAL journalists; maybe they should stop acting like the opening performance at a Carrot Top show.

But why do we see this so obviously this time of year? Well, it has something to do with all the games that are coming out SO CLOSE together. Holiday Rush by Kyle Orland, really gets deep into this, but I have something to add. Not only do publishers seem to feel obliged to get their games out for Christmas but worse yet; they think their game has a shot of beating everyone else's.

This really seems to contradict directly the idea that it's good to come out when everyone else is, because it makes people who aren't normally looking, well, look. That would be fine but with SO MANY choices it's like going to the movies and being given a chance to see ONE summer blockbuster for free and then having to wait three months to see any of the others. On the one hand you feel like your being given this great gift. On the other, your like,"Hey! What's with that!"

That is the way I see Christmas for MOST kids. Now, you kids who get a new IPOD every year because you want a new color and those kids who ACTUALLY get a new PC for every Back to School season; don't bother reading any further.

I think Bioshock had the right idea this year. It was all that anyone was talking about in the press for at least a month. They made an incredible impact and they came out in August. Trying to push all your releases into two months of the year can only hurt the game and the industry as a whole. In some cases it forces to make a choice they may not normally make and will inevitably kill at least one or two games all together.. If I had bought Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, and Halo 3. I would have not touched Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Super Mario Galaxy, or even Uncharted Drakes Fortune until at least next year and then their is inevitably something new and cool that will spark my interest and make me forget other games.

As much as most of you don't want to admit it. You feel the same way. Did anyone catch Kane and Lynch Dead Men? How about Battalion Wars 2? These aren't awesome games but you would have rented them if there wasn't so much other stuff out there.

Now some would say many hours played with one great game compensates for a few hours on not so good games. I agree, but what you aren't getting there is the variety. In the early part of the fall I was playing a shooter, a driving game, and an RPG all during the same time period. Now I have a choice between an RPG or a music game or a music game. This isn't because I don't have other games to play, it's because I don't have time to plan them.

Oh and Flagship; sorry I haven't logged into my Hellgate London account for about a month and I'm sorry I canceled my subscription but even if I knew what your new content was and why I should want it. I wouldn't be there to play it and benefit from it. Time issue again...

So if I all of a sudden stop writing this blog, stop updating the website, and oh... Stop doing the podcast. Don't worry, I've just taken a holiday from gaming before my paid counterparts. Hey, there should be at least ONE advantage to working for yourself for no money, right?

Discovery Channel's Rise of Video Games: It started out as history, what is it now?

" LEVEL TWO

• Premiere: Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
  In the late 1970s and 1980s, instead of controlling "things" like spaceships and tennis rackets, videogame technology let players command recognizable characters with real faces and back stories. Game developers were liberated to create more complex video games with heroic journeys — and Japanese creators like Shigeru Miyamoto rose to prominence with star characters Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda. But in the 1990s, Generation X emerged and the games of their childhood couldn't satisfy the new teen angst that now permeated pop culture. With Sega's Genesis and Sony's PlayStation, gamers dismissed cutesy cartoon characters in favor of grittier heroes like Sonic the Hedgehog and anti-heroes in games like Grand Theft Auto III. As players grew up, their youthful idealism was replaced with a warier view of the world and a yearning for photorealistic, angry anti-heroes. This episode features interviews with Trip Hawkins (Silicon Valley entrepreneur and co-founder of Electronic Arts), Al Lowe (creator of Leisure Suit Larry), Tim Schafer (creator of Full Throttle) and other notable figures in the gaming industry."Discoverychannel...

OK, the first show was pretty bad. But this show? Who wrote this? The show begins where it left off. But when they reach the Playstation One they go directly to the present. Talking about the newest technology and trying to talk about how Hollywood has taken notice. The main theme of the show seems to be about stories in games. They try to say that Super Mario Brothers has a story? What story is that? Save the princess? I suppose that's a story. For a 2nd grader.

There is much hyperbole about how important games are becoming in the larger medium and I really hate to say that this is really an exaggeration. The mass media industries aren't taking any more notice of video games than just another form to publicize their latest film or try in some pathetic attempt to get more money out of people who play games. It's not about excitement or passion folks, it's about money. This also makes me wonder, if games are so important why isn't this show on CBS, ABC, or NBC rather than Discovery Channel?

I know I've been hard on this show. I am really happy it exists. I just wish it was better. But since it became cool to have shows about video games on cable, isn't that what we all have wanted...

HDCGAMER Podcast Episode 6

We do Newsstand this week and keep it under an hour. That isn't all but you are going to have to listen to find out that much.

Click here to subscribe

Will Casual Games kill the Hardcore Market?

People on various websites and on message boards have been screaming all most since the Nintendo Wii came out about how it will be the end of gaming as we know it. They have also been worried about the industry as a whole moving toward only casual games and ignoring the smaller hardcore market.

What is hardcore? What is casual? What is everyone talking about?
Easy... Some comparisons have been made like,
"There are no hardcore readers or movie goers? How can there be for gaming?" Well this isn't true. "Hardcore readers," are people who like classics rather than those who read Danielle Steel novels. "Hardcore moviegoers," are people who only go to foreign films and prefer four star flicks rather than Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Does the Hardcore movie market or literature markets hurt the causal ones? They don't even make a dent. The casual markets rule; they make all the money and they drive all the sales. The industry revolves around them.

In gaming, hardcore gaming is basically people who love to play games that are complex and require a certain degree of dedication. This would be something like Final Fantasy XII or perhaps Team Fortress 2. But it could also extend to games like World of Warcraft or Halo. Casual games are basically pick up and play. They don't need instructions and tend to be based on simple principals. Casual games are usually seen as games like Tetris, Pac-Man, Zuma, Wii Sports, Rayman Raving Rabids, or even Pokemon.

There are certainly games like Guitar Hero that span both areas/ Bit this is really a case of involvement in a hardcore game rather than making a hardcore game appear casual. I mean a lot of people have played 3 or 4 hours of Halo or Guitar Hero in a month. But if that same 3 or 4 hours were in a day rather than a month then that would qualify more on the hardcore scale. But this really only involves games that allow the player to play in smaller pieces rather than requiring them to play for longer stretches to get proficient at some part of the game to progress.


So there you go... No need to have a debate over that little matter. If your unsure of the veracity of my claims take a look at the majority of the Nintendo catalog and the majority of the XBOX 360 and compare. You'll see the differences pretty readily.

Now, to the point. Will casual gaming hurt the hardcore gaming market? Only if developers and publishers allow it to. If developers and publishers feel it is necessary to simplify their games to match some mythical casual average. Everyone above and below that average will suffer.

As things stand now, the hardcore market is actually driving the video game market; helped by the casual market. This includes things like the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS sales. Also, games like Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band contribute to the huge return on video game sales. In October, video game sales rocked a 1.1 Billion dollar total and this is an astonishing number. Certainly nothing bad can come from numbers like this.

Possibly in the short run things will remain just about the same and even Nintendo admits that the Wii is far from future proof. In a year or two there will probably be a new version of the Wii that is more powerful and more compatible with what developers and publishers are looking for in hardcore gaming.

Doing this will ultimately make the Nintendo Wii and possibly the DS perfect gaming systems. However, there are some questions as to whether Nintendo itself understands what hardcore means. But we will leave that for the future to decide. In short, it will not be Nintendo who brings down hardcore gaming. Rather it was the flag bearer for trying to make causal gaming more interesting to the average person. In the long run, it will be the gamers who decide what is and what is not acceptable.

Video games are one of the most volatile markets out there. There are SO MANY factors that dictate what makes money and what doesn't. Gamers old or young are a fickle bunch. This year has been a historic year for excellent video games and so far an excellent year for video game sales. What happens next year may be very different. But that, will be decided in time.

Rise of the Videogame began last night. But it should have been called the Rise of Lazy Documentary Writers!

"

• LEVEL ONE
  Premiere: Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
  In the 1950s, the Cold War quickly evolved between the world superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. Mutually assured destruction enforced an uneasy stalemate, yet also drove computer technology to create missile simulations to predict the results of a nuclear war. This same computer technology was used to develop the first computer game in 1958 — Tennis for Two. The Space Race and the Vietnam war coincided with Steve Russell's game Space War! and the emergence of the first true giants in the video game business — Nolan Bushnell and Atari. In post-World War II Japan, electronics and computer technology emerged to rebuild a land and economy devastated by the atomic bomb. Space Invaders and Pac-Man soon followed, and the golden age of video games was born. Among others, individuals featured in this episode include Steve Russell, Nolan Bushnell, Ralph Baer (considered by many to be the inventor of the video game) and Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man designer). Video games emerged as a form of entertainment where the player was in control, as opposed to the more passive diversion of watching television."Discovery channel....

I'm really starting to wonder if the old adage about the video game industry being really small isn't more true than I could have imagined. This show is a great example. Everyone of these shows starts the same way and with the same people.
Here's some examples:
Nolan Bushnell (Check)
Ralph Baer (Check)
Peer Schneider from IGN (Check)
Heather Chaplin from Smartbomb (Check)
Aaron Ruby from Smartbomb (Check)
N'Gai Croal from Newsweek (Check)
Henry Jenkins from MIT (Check)
Tommy Tallarico (Check)

So what am I saying here? Well, it just seems crazy that in an industry where there are hundreds of people creating, writing, and marketing video games that these guys are all ways the ones that the writers or directors of these shows turn to. And who exactly is Stuart Moulder? I know I could just Google him but saying in his byline that he is a video game consultant is a little bit of a cop out isn't it?
Also why are all shows about video games made by the mass media are all ways about either the history of them or the controversy surrounding them?
Now, let me just say a couple of things about the show itself. How in the name of god do you get to equate video game history with global political history? It's like trying to compare the evolution of the potato chip with the history of Ireland. You can do it, but is anyone going to believe it?
Other than this theoretical flight of fancy. The rest of the show is basically a rip off of the old Game Makers shows on G4. These shows have albeit been abandoned because of different buyouts and marketing problems that they rarely air. But if they aired next to this show, the folks at Rise of the Videogame would be accused plagiarism. Oh and by the way, each one of those Game Makers shows which was formerly called Icons was a 1/2 hour This show that covers all most 5 or 6 of those shows in only an hour.
I think as big as this series supposedly is, they could have done without cutting corners and perhaps found some NEW information or gone more in-depth than those old ICONS or Gamemakers shows did. But, I guess that was too much work. Perhaps for Ken Burns next show, he'll call it, "Video Games!"
Oh, following their geopolitical scheme; what political statement does Tetris make about the world in which it was made?
Saying that games are Art and Culture is fine. But don't try and wrap some political or subconscious trappings on to Pac-Man, Pong, or Tetris.
Next up Nintendo and Donkey Kong.... I can't wait...

Check out this HDCGAMER Podcast for Thanksgiving! Episode 5!

Head over and listen to our Turkey Day podcast. The podcast has a review of Super Mario Galaxy and some news stuff. Look for Newsstand feature next week as I didn't get all the magazines in time for this podcast. This one is short and sweet so enjoy.

Bring me the Head of Mario!

Before you read this you might want to head over and read Mario is unmarketable by Aaron Linde. It's an awesome article and gave me the inspiration to write this one. The idea of mascots these days is getting more and more pathetic. The emergence of recent titles like Sonic the Hedgehog on the XBOX 360 and PS3 just proved how over the era of franchise mascots selling games really is. The problem is when you look at a game like Super Mario Galaxy and realize that Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario. Has some serious game designing chops and yet again he has turned the platforming industry on it's ear and made developers look again at the little plumber for ways to improve their own games.

Sadly though, Super Mario Galaxy has no real requirement of said plumber at all. The game could easily have worked using Luigi or even a new made up character. One reviewer said that it being Mario made the game better. I disagree. I think it just makes the game more pat. Making it Mario, made people instantly compare it to all the other Mario games. Which is exactly what happens with all of Nintendo's franchise mascot games.

How many years have there been Sonic, Mario, and Zelda games. Zelda of course, being the worst example of a worn out mascot. Because not only does Link do the same story types over and over we aren't even introduced to brand new franchise characters in these reruns. Once I would like to see a true sequel for Link where he starts with all his weapons or even better where Link has completely different weapons. Like an uzi... Just kidding...

Critics have said that this industry is moving away from sequels and going more towards remakes of old games so that these classics can be brought into a new era. Why not? After all, Nintendo has been doing it for years with their franchises. Few Nintendo franchises get new games that are wholly and completely different. How many times have we played the original Legend of Zelda or the Super Mario Bros?
There certainly seems to be an audience for these games. But it has all ways been about the characters. "Oh I love Zelda and Mario." A Nintendo Fan might exclaim upon hearing of a new title coming out featuring one or the other. Yes, the impact of these characters has been historically very important to selling games. The problem is that recycling old titles into new ones, isn't the same thing as making sequels. Sequels try to be better than the originals. Remakes are the originals, just with better graphics...

These days however, with the ever decreasing list of franchise characters and the people who loved them growing up. It's hard to imagine a new Mario or Zelda game making an impact on a whatever console follows the Wii. Certainly on the Wii, any quality titles will be latched on to whether they feature a franchise character or not. As all the games on the Wii are aimed widely at a younger audience or a much broader audience than those games that have come out recently. Everything seems to work with varying degrees of success. But the future can be a hard master or please. Just look at Lara Croft...

In a time not too long ago. A pixelated busty version of Indiana Jones could do no wrong. She explored every kind of tomb imaginable over four different games and even a movie or two. Yes, this was the most powerful franchise in video game history. She epitomized everything the modern game industry wanted to be seen as. Cutting edge, sexy, and action oriented. But it didn't last very long... By the time the PS2 reached customers in 2001 most people were more than a little over Tomb Raider.

Even with new editions like Tomb Raider Legend, last year. And Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition this year; the big draw of Lara Croft seems to have worn off. Which is too bad considering Legend was arguably the best Tomb Raider game ever. Angeline Jolie probably doesn't want to hear this as shooting begins on the next Tomb Raider movie in around 3-6 months. But it's true...

The world of iconic characters is beginning to dry up like a shallow river bed. I have to apologize to Marcus Fenix and Master Chief. Sorry, guys by 2010 nobody will even remember your names. As hard as developers are trying to bring their characters to the fore and sell them like it was 1999. It's just not working in most cases.

With titles like Mario and Sonic at the Olympics most gamers just shake their heads and ask, "Why?" But Nintendo takes the popularity of games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Brothers Brawl as signs that they can still use their characters to financial advantage. But is Mario selling Galaxy? Or is it super hype that has been going on for all most a year with the following statements in it: best graphics on the Wii, gameplay like that from Super Mario 64 but with a new twist, and plenty of journalists giving this game scores so high that it makes the rest of the Nintendo Wii's titles look like bargain bin crap.

No, I think that if this was Super Luigi Galaxy it would be selling just as well. I think that with the kind of buzz that this game has generated it really doesn't matter who the main character is. I have to say here that this is probably the best Mario game I've ever played and certainly the best platformer.

Having said that however, Insomniac's Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction also came out this year. The game is like a Pixar movie on crack and is probably the most fun I've ever had with the series. Was it Ratchet and Clank with their world and cast of characters that made this game great? Not really, it was the incredible commitment on the part of the best Sony developer out there to make a quality title. If Mr. Miyamoto could be allowed to make something else, perhaps everyone would see that the same holds true for Nintendo. But Japanese development being what it is, it's hard to imagine that ever happening.

So is this some sort of prophetic report on the new trend in the video game industry? Certainly not, it is more to show that these mascots are silly and that the video game industry is holding to them not to keep quality up or have iconic characters. It's rather to try and insure some kind of revenue stream. If the games are really as good as they hope they are; then they don't need their mascot crutch. And if they aren't, well then a hollow, "It'ssss a me... Mario!" Won't sell you too many more copies anyway. With the ever increasing price of creating games these kinds of tactics seem to be the fall back for publishers and developers in need of revenue. But just like reality programming on television, crap only plays so long until the publics starts to react. Unfortunately with video games, it takes a LONG TIME to change direction, so you folks might want to start doing that now. Before it's too late...

Oh by the way. Just so that none of you hardcore XBOX fans out there won't feel like your sacred cow is safe. Judging by the way the story ended and the fact that Bungie separated itself from Microsoft. Master Chief is next on the chopping block. The fight's finished, the mascots lost. Someone please tell the developers...

Just to prove how poor everyone will be by January! NPD numbers!

"Top 10 best-selling games of October 2007, according to NPD Group

Halo 3 (regular, collector's, and legendary versions)--Xbox 360--434,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--Xbox 360--383,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--Wii--286,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with guitar)--PS2--271,000
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass--DS--263,000
Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii--240,000
The Orange Box--Xbox 360--238,000
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock--PS2--232,000
FIFA Soccer 08--PS2--130,000
Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day--DS--117,000

October 2007 hardware sales, according to NPD Group

Wii--519,000
Nintendo DS--458,000
Xbox 360--366,000
PSP--286,000
PS2--184,000
PS3--121,000"Gamespot...

This was a crazy month with 1.1 Billion in sales! So is there any money left out there for the rest of the year. I'm sure, but by the time this is all over I don't think there will be many pennies in our coffers.

HDCGAMER Episode 4: The one about Call of Duty 4

In this episode we talk news and do a review for Call of Duty 4. Click on the episode link to listen to or subscribe to the podcast.

Rock Band DLC first Wave Revealed!

Head over to XBOX 360 Fanboy for the article. The question here is why are there so many multi-packs when supposedly the game was supposed to be like Itunes and you could pick and choose the songs you want. Also isn't this whole prepackaged thing the whole problem with Guitar Hero that everyone has been complaining about?