The 1st day of the Twelve Days of the Best Games of 2011:Ultimate Marvel Versus Capcom 3!

      I decided to start this list off with a bang.  I’m putting Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 out first because this has been a controversial title at best this year.  Mainly this is due to the fact that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out in February of this year.  The game was amazing.  The first installment had some amazing features like Shadow Battle and a great player card that was originally seen in Tatsunoko vs.Capcom which was a Wii exclusive.  One of these made the transition to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

     The main differences between the games that the first title had 38 characters and Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 has 50.  Other than that, there are some balancing changes and the addition of the Heroes and Heralds mode that is both online and offline.  In order to insert the Heroes and Heralds mode, it seems they had to drop Shadow Battle.  But as Shadow Battle was only a perfecting of A.I. opponents to match a particular style of play, it could probably be lived without.  However, Shadow Battle was one of the major things that kept me playing the original title.  As with all other fighting games it remains a work in progress.  Why is this title so wonderful?  Building upon the incredibly amazing framework of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, this is the fine tuning of that franchise to a fine edge.  Once one has practiced with this game for an extended period of time; the possibilities are endless.  While I’ve been unable to spend quite as much time with Ultimate as with the original I am positive that the trend holds from one to the other.  With the first, I spent around 100 hours and with the new one I’ve hit around 10.  But the game only came out around a month ago.

     Many people have stated that this is a really bad move by Capcom and they take it out on the franchise.  While this game probably could have been downloadable content but considering the amount of content I would venture to say it wouldn’t have been much cheaper than the the price of the new boxed copy.  While I understand the problems people have with what Capcom did, I would venture to say that most of those folks would be happy playing the original and just renting the new game.  As they probably didn’t play the original for more than a few hours.  Most people who have invested a great deal of time in the franchise understand how sweeping the changes have been to the systems that make them worth the money.  This is certainly the last time Capcom could probably get away with a move like this with their more casual fans but this also comes with the knowledge that fighting games are beginning to float back to being very hardcore again and away from the casual market.

     Perhaps with a new Street Fighter on a new console this might change.  But currently I see fighting games getting more hardcore not less.  So for the hardcore, they simply move from one game to the next as the new installment arrives.  It’s a tradition, like putting up a Christmas Tree at Christmas.  So for those of you who don’t like this game or this franchise you probably are simply not willing to put in the time with the game to make it fun.  And that’s fine.  But as far as fighting games are concerned the Marvel vs. Capcom Franchise is one of the four most important in the fighting game community.  And for $40, this game is an amazing deal and a wonderful time.

 

Twelve Days of the Best Video Games of 2011! (Video Game Awards)

 Every year, every outlet comes out with a set of the best games of the year.  Well, this year has been a crazy quilt of some amazing games.  Not since 2007, have I seen such a glut of great games.  So every day for the next 12 days I’ll be writing an article about the top 12 games of the year.  These games are not going to be in any particular order and are not going to have anything to do with genre, system, or price point.  Not that I don’t realize that there is a significant difference between a XBLA or PSN game and a full priced $60 title.  More it is that these selections are based more on quality, than anything else.  The first game of the Twelve will be revealed tomorrow 12/17/2011.  So enjoy…

 

Last of Us PS3 Exclusive from Naughty Dog! Not much Uncharted here!

    This is certainly an incredible looking game.  But it also looks like another Zombie Survival game.  Even if it does have a “28 days later” twist with a little “The Road” thrown in.  While the concept is definitely not new, the interactions between the daughter and father look amazing.  A story driven zombie game would be amazing, as traditionally these types of games are all gameplay and no story.  So kudos to them.  Can’t wait to see some more!

Command and Conquer Generals 2 from Bioware?

      Update via Jostiq: “  Update: We've got the official PR from Electronic Arts, found at the Source link below. Most notable is this line: "Command & Conquer Generals 2 is being developed by a new BioWare studio, BioWare Victory, and is coming exclusively to the PC in 2013." So Victory Games is now BioWare Victory and its plans for a PC-exclusive C&C game are still in place. Wow!” If you don’t believe, here is the link.

Not exactly sure what to make of all this.  I don’t doubt Bioware can probably make an RTS and since the Command and Conquer brand hasn’t been doing very well for the past couple years this might be the right kind of shot in the arm it needs.  However, I’m a little afraid of what I’m seeing here.  EA’s brand coupled with Frostbite 2?  I didn’t think EA partners worked like that.  I guess I was wrong, I thought it was a more separate but equal proposition not a you play in my yard, I’ll play in yours.  Does this mean that some other studio in the future could make the next Balder’s Gate or the next KOTOR or the next Jade Empire?  Or even the next Mass Effect?  I don’t know…

   Finally, 2013?  What does THIS mean?  Is this going to be a PC only release?  Then it makes sense.  But if your all ready using Frostbite 2, what’s easier than porting that to consoles?  And in 2013 what consoles would those be?  Hopefully all will be revealed in press releases on Monday or next week when all the other outlets get to see what’s happening under the curtain.  But I’m guessing some of this will still be top secret until E3.  Geez, June seems like a REALLY LONG TIME from now.

Award for Most Beautiful New Trailer goes to Diablo 3!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Diablo III - VGA 2011: Exclusive Cinematic Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

   Every time they make a cinematic for this game, it just makes me want the game even more.  I wish this had a little release date attached to the end of it.  Diablo 3, will be worth the wait, whenever it comes out in 2012!

Metal Gear Solid Rising ReVengeance trailer Reveal!

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - VGA 2011: Exclusive Revengeance Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

    The big story here is that Kojima Productions is partnering with Platinum Entertainment!  Every game that Platinum has made since it began has been amazing.  So I am definitely picking this game up.  It looks like Vanquish on steroids and that’s saying something!  

  Of course, with the Kojima and Metal Gear names along side the great action; what more could you ask for?  I dunno, but they will probably throw it into the collectors edition

Even Game Developers hate the Online Pass!

      I really appreciate that David Jaffe is being straight with the media when he admits Online Passes limit the player base and are ultimately bad for the game.  But he is also being straight when he admits it’s all up to the publisher.  Sony has really screwed themselves over with the whole Online Pass this year.  After all, Uncharted 3’s not exactly Black Ops and neither will Twisted Metal.  Especially with the recent news that Online Passes from EA expire; I’m more confident than ever that they are a really bad thing.

     This isn’t something that I wanted to harp on but it seems like lots of publishers feel that adding on the Online Pass is doing something positive for them.  For instance, Ubisoft for the first time has included an Online Pass for Assassin’s Creed with their new release, Assassin’s Creed Revelations.  While the multiplayer here is cool and different it wasn’t exactly blowing it out of the park in Brotherhood.  It’s definitely a niche group, not a blockbuster.

       They could certainly be serving a little broader group if they got the folks picking the game up at Gamestop used in a couple months to at least try the multiplayer.  But no, it’s better to pay-wall the multiplayer so that the people getting the game new are the only ones that will be playing.  Which history seems to show, fizzles out in a few months.  I also noticed that Ubisoft didn’t bother with a Season Pass, meaning that they aren’t too interested in providing a beefy suite of DLC in the next six months or so.  Which I suppose, also says something about their commitment to the game.  I guess making $10 off online passes from used games is more important than getting an extra $15-$20 right off the bat for a Season Pass.  But then the Season Pass is a commitment to providing $20-$25 worth of multiplayer in the next six months.  While the Online Pass is for something that’s all ready been created.

     An even more interesting case of Online Passes shooting the publisher in the foot is that of Saints Row the Third.  A game that is 90% single player, open world wonderment.  These folks DO have a Season Pass and have all ready forced out a bunch of content.  However, they want people to actually bother playing co-op and their silly Whored Mode!  One is great, the other is a silly rip off of all the other shooter horde modes.  Co-op is pretty fun, and might be worth the $10 for an online pass.  But really, unless you know someone who has the game.  It’s pretty pointless to even bother with it.  The single player is awesomely fun and co-op is just an add-on.  So they losing by making people pay.  I probably would have at least tried the mode; if I was able to try it for free.  But not for $10.

      Finally, there are lots of ways to rectify this situation, as I’ve stated previously.  But it doesn’t seem like publishers or consumers are as interested in this as they should be.  And people buying the games new, probably shouldn’t be that worried.  Except when the Passes expire or when they just don’t work at all.  So publishers, if you are going to make us all go through this crappy Online Pass malarkey.  At least make sure THE ONLINE PASSES ALL WAYS WORK!

You Only Have One Life to Live…Sort of…(Rayman Origins)

Rayman Origins is a brand new Rayman game from Ubisoft.  This isn’t some kind of cash grab repurpose; it’s a whole new game with Rayman and his friends.  The game is incredible fun and surprisingly challenging.  At least it was surprising to me.  The game contains some of the best art and music that I’ve ever experienced in a platformer.

      The strangest thing about Rayman Origins is that with one hit Rayman dies; he can get one heart and only one heart to take a hit for him but then that’s it.  What happens when he dies.  Rayman gets dropped back to load screen and then back;  All most in the same place as he died in some circumstances.  The checkpointing in the game seems to have been done by someone who has actually played the game and know where the hard sections of the game reside.  This isn’t a bad system, it encourages people to be perfect, at least in single player. 

     To me, if the player is simply waiting through a load screen in order to be dropped back just about where they left off.  Why not just have lives, and then a continue screen perhaps.  The player can even earn lives the more points they earn.  I don’t know, I’m not a game designer. 

    By the time I was well and truly into Rayman Origins; I was pretty sick of making one mistake and then having to wait through a load screen just to be dropped back to the area in which I died.  Early in the game, the multiple live thing would have to be tweaked as most of the time in the early game you must actually redo the whole level if you die in any part of it. 

    The game is wonderful, but again it’s pretty difficult.  For the average player, will probably not see the whole game unless they are playing multiplayer, which is only available on the same console.  Having multiple lives would probably create just the right amount of handholding in the single player so that a majority of people would be able to see most of the game.  The way it stands, I think a lot of people will get frustrated and quit by the time they reach the end of the first world or the second world. 

   Which is a shame, because even with some of the more traditional trappings in the game; it is usually well paired with the musical score.  Every aspect of the game seems in complete harmony.  Nothing tacked on or superfluous just to make the game longer or harder.  So, while Rayman may be Immortal.  He really only has one life to give his fans; and for most of them, that is not enough!  

Awesome Skyrim Cover Song!

Greatest Magazine in the world closes on December 5th! Wait what?

      GamePro, according to Gameinformer today, both the website and the print magazine will be closing as of December 5th.  This news is not only surprising but sad.  Under the leadership of John Davison; the magazine grew to be the best critical magazine on the market.  Since Davison left the magazine last year; the magazine has dropped in quality significantly.  While Davison is now moved on to bigger and better things; it is easy to see where the cart went off the rails.

      Unfortunately, there are some really good people still working over at GamePro and while their last couple of issues have been lackluster to say the least; I figured it was more a problem of growing pains than the closure of the magazine and website.  To close both website and magazine seems like a crazy move.  The website has some very good, under-advertised content on it.  In fact, before this story broke I linked to a good video story they did about Star Wars Old Republic.  I have a lot of respect for the people who work at GamePro, even if their editorial choices have been somewhat suspect over the past two or three months.

      GamePro closing may be a sign of the times.  But I don’t honestly believe that Electronic Gaming Monthly, Gameinformer, and Edge Magazine can hold up the whole Western World of video games in the print market.  I suppose, the argument is that there is no room for a print magazine in the 21st Century about something as ever changing as video games.  I think this argument could also be made about print newspapers.  But print magazines are not about timely information.  They are about a contemplation and criticism that doesn’t appear to exist online in any form. 

      I love Electronic Gaming Monthly and Edge Magazine but to be the ONLY sources of criticism seems very dangerous.  Because neither magazine is an old standard that cannot be broken.  Edge is published by Future who is constantly losing ground in the magazine market.  Electronic Gaming Monthly is barely two years old and while it’s digital format seems revolutionary; as time has gone on it feels more like a website than a webzine.

      GamePro closing isn’t just the end of a very short, very brilliant golden age.  But it is also a rallying call to all video game media outlets to up their game or die.  If it can happen to the original EGM, GamePro, and countless others it can happen to you.  So stop the nonsense(sending a whole team of people to cover a show your only going to have text content allotted to, for instance) and start making quality content.  Or suffer the same fate.  Because of this kind of thing continues all of us will  lose; fans, writers, journalists, owners, developers, and the culture as a whole.

     Here is wishing all the folks who work at GamePro the best of luck finding a new job and I really loved the incredible, contemplative discussion that you tried to bring us every month in the magazine and then every week on the website.  I am very sad to see you go.

Nice to Know I’m Not Alone in My Feelings Toward Star Wars Old Republic

  Full Disclosure, I really hated the amount of Star Wars Old Republic I played.  I loved the voice acting and the story but the actual design of the game and some of the antiquated mechanics left it feeling like a Pre-Burning Crusade MMO.  Perhaps given the time the folks at GamePro had with the game; it has gotten better.  I hope so, because the idea of the game is incredible and the voice acting is great.  So even if this just went free to play I would probably sign up.  But at this point, I will take Skyrim over any MMO that’s out right now.  However, Guild Wars 2 , whenever that comes out could be the savior both Wow Players and serious RPGs could be looking for.  NCsoft has shown off a significant amount of the game and while I have yet to play it; it looks great.  Its kind of a hybrid between the traditional WoW structure and that of a single player RPG.  What could be better than that?

Black Box should stop Running and Talk it Over!(Need for Speed the Run)

       When I started playing Need for Speed the Run, the latest racing game from EA’s Black Box Studio; I was a more than a little anxious about the length of the campaign.  Many reviewers had noted that the campaign was too short, the challenge modes weren’t compelling, and multiplayer did nothing to extend the life of the game.  What I first noticed about the game, was just how two dimensional the story element of Need for Speed the Run is; there is a short opening cinematic and then, nothing.  After the opening cinematic the others that follow consist mostly of the main character sitting behind the wheel of his car or running from the cops.  Albeit more or less silently.

       This is a problem, given this is supposed to be a story centered game.  A race from San Francisco to New York sounds like a great movie plot after all. Unfortunately, they had to add in some incredibly silly out of the car quick time events in order to try and valid this fact.  It would have been far better, if these worthless sequences were replaced with some dialogue, flashbacks, backstory, or even with a villain or quasi-villain that would have given our protagonist someone worthwhile to fight against or overcome.  The middle to end of the game, tries desperately to up the intensity of the tone.  Only succeeding in making the game even more predictable than the earlier areas.

     Even with a very unbelievable storyline, an exciting experience could have been had.  I mean in the world of Need for Speed the Run, mobsters have helicopters, unlimited vans firing guns, and would rather kill the person they are trying to collect money from rather than just collecting the money.   Also, the main character seems to just around the corner from his next $80,000+ vehicle but doesn’t have the where with all to just fence said vehicles and collect the money for his debt.  All this put aside there are ways around such nonsense.  After all, in the 1977 release, Smokey and the Bandit; another multistate chase drama.  The Bandit, is an extraordinarily unbelievable character.  Constantly on the run from the law, making money at a state fair by people paying to “see” him because he is such a legend.  Crazy things happen to him, like meeting a runaway bride on his way to delivering illegal beer across state lines and then knowing every possible person that could possibly help him along the way.  Having the runaway bride be engaged to the sheriff’s son.  Finally, not even excepting the money for his delivery and instead making “another bet.”  Which probably should have been Smokey and the Bandit 2.  But no one really thinks too much about this while watching Smokey and the Bandit.  Or if they do, it seems to make the Bandit look lucky or good.  Rather than the whole situation being too unbelievable.

     The main difference between Smokey and the Bandit and Need for Speed the Run is story.  Smokey and the Bandit starts pretty suddenly and without too much introduction, much like Need for Speed the Run.  However, it’s what Smokey and the Bandit does with the rest of the movie that makes all the difference.  The Bandit is constantly talking to the others; whether this be in his car or over the CB.  The audience gets an idea of who the Bandit is and the reasons he is loved.  There is also the general feeling that the cops are lazy and somewhat useless.  Which is also, conveyed through actions and images rather than pointed out directly.  There is even a love story running through the middle of the movie.  I’m sure most guys going to see this movie in the 70’s weren’t too thrilled when that popped up in their action, chase filled movie.  But it allowed the movie, at least a little bit, to appeal to a broader audience than just guys.  In the age of cell phones and texting, there really is no excuse why a similar story mechanic couldn’t have been used in the Run.  Perhaps the developer looked at such a plot mechanism slowing down the pace of the game.  But as the game is incredibly short, some filler to simply make a worthwhile story out of it would have been nice.  No matter how fast paced your story is, it can’t all be action.  I think that is probably action movie 101.  Even Michael Bay knows better than that; usually anyway…

Even with Frostbite 2’s less than stellar rendering of people in this game(I’ve seen more convincing models in PS2 games).  There could have been a lot more dialogue between the two main characters(if you can call them that).  Either keeping the idea that they are talking on an overblown iphone or the developers could have actually had her in the car with him.  Perhaps they were worried about needing to do a bunch of facial animations.  Well then, dropping the entire “out of car” and story areas of the game completely; adding in some more options on the tracks, perhaps adding a few more miles of road in the process.  Along with a MUCH deeper multiplayer would have fixed that.  The focus should be either on making a great story or making a deep rich racing game.  Because otherwise, we get Need for Speed the Run.  Rather than Smokey and the Bandit or Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. 

    

The Day a Joke becomes a Reality! Why Blizzard? Why?

   The question is; is this the end of the World…. Of Warcraft?

Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3: Ultimately Awesome!

        Fighting games as a rule are played by two kinds of people.  Those who play online with strangers and those who play on their couch with friends.  Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3, more than just about any other fighting game out there is focused on the former.  Most folks who play with someone in person with friends, probably won’t see too many differences from the last game that came out around 9 months ago.  While there are certainly tons of changes and some of which make a great deal of impact on the game.  It will be hard for the average fan to notice them.

       This game adds lots of new characters, backgrounds, and some balance changes to some of the characters to create a better overall experience.  There is even a brand new mode promising to add some even cooler changes to the game, unfortunately rather than being packaged with the game it will be post launch downloadable content; at least it’s going to be free.

       There are some UI changes from the first game that are a little hard to get used to.  The way that X-Factor and your three character team are displayed.  Both only made it more difficult to easily evaluate at a glance.  The other cosmetic upgrades really make no difference to gameplay.  All of these changes were probably done to differentiate the game from the earlier title.  But were not necessary in the end.

       The gameplay itself remains virtually unchanged.  Returning players from the last game will be able to jump right in and while some of their favorite characters may not be quite as effective as they once were.  It doesn’t seem like any characters were broken by the balance changes.  Some of the framerate slow down has been addressed which gives the game a feeling of being even faster than it was originally.  Which can be a good or bad thing depending on your personal play style.

       Most of the people who are playing Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 online right now seem to be folks that were pretty addicted to the first version of the game that came out earlier this year.  There is going to be a steep, all most insurmountable learning curve for anyone picking up this game cold.  While normally I would suggest picking up the first game, first in order to learn more slowly.  I would not in this situation, for $40 it’s just not worth buying both game which combined would probably cost you between $70-$80.  Training and mission mode are useful tools in learning; but practice, Youtube videos, and perhaps a strategy guide are probably going to be more effective than anything built into the game.  All of this applies somewhat to this reviewer as I’ve been away from Marvel versus Capcom 3 for about 4 months.  So while it was my favorite fighting game, I’m still all most starting from scratch compared to all the folks online who have been playing the game nonstop.

      As with many Capcom fighting games of late, Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 is light on modes.  While these game are by far the most popular with the tournament players.  It is hard to understand why Capcom doesn’t want to appeal to some of the casual audience by putting things like survival, story, or even time attack modes.  All of which are pretty much a throwaway for the professional players.  It makes the casual player feel more like they are buying a better product than just getting arcade, versus, online, and training modes.  While at $40 Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 is probably the best fighting game your going to find.  It is also hard to not remember that last February 16th regular old Marvel versus Capcom 3 came out.

      Marvel versus Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds was definitely the best fighting game I’d ever played.  The game had what seemed like an infinite amount of depth.  Which only makes me love Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 even more exciting(even if it’s going to take me 2-3 months to get to be any good at it.).  So while I’m not sure that this game couldn’t have been DLC, I also I’m not sure that it would have been much less expensive so for this reason I give Ultimate Marvel versus Capcom 3 a 9.5/10.

      

Top 10 XBOX Games of All Time that AREN’T Halo!

        Today marks the 10th anniversary of the XBOX and to celebrate I’m listing off the best XBOX games of all time, that maybe you’ve forgotten about.  After all, while Halo might have been the most lastly and iconic of the big black box’s titles it wasn’t the only reason to own one.  After all, the XBOX was my only console during that period.  And this folks represents the reason why: (Not in specific order)

         1. Crimson Skies

     2. Mechassualt

     3. Oddworld Stranger’s Wrath

     4. Phantom Dust

     5. Burnout Revenge

     6. Black

     7. Psychonauts

     8. Jade Empire

     9.  Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2

   10. Otogi 1 & 2

     There are countless others.  I just settled on 10.  Not ALL of these games would hold up today, but I would venture to say that most of them would.  Perhaps not Mechassault, because after all, it was basically an online only game.  But the rest would be a different story considering most are single player only experiences.  So if you get a chance, take some of these games for a dry run.  And if you ever meet the guy who made Phantom Dust, tell him he needs to make another one.  Because while it is probably the least known game on this list, it is one of the best.