In LocoRoco you take the roll of an incredibly happy go lucky…well blob, for lack of a better term. Via some very innovative controls, (using the L an R keys on your PSP you ’tilt’ the screen to enable yourself to roll around, across and over obstacles.) By chowing down on food scattered through the levels you grow in size and accumulate a form of points.

It’s puzzle platforming done right, though I use the term platforming loosely.

The screaming often accompanied by the actions in the game are all voiced by children too, it’s a sort of wacky notion but works well with the theme of the game, to really lead you into a frivolous care free sort of… childishness. Now as simple as those controls sound, you will find yourself shouting and yelling in frustration as you don’t properly time your maneuvers.

Certain times the game will have you attempting to tilt quickly to bounce yourself into the air, splitting apart into smaller versions of yourself to get through narrow spaces, or to float on a strong gust of wind; it’s all very clever. However as clever as this is; it is also very difficult in parts, especially in bonus areas when attempting to gather extra food.

There are other characters in the game that you will interact with though that’s the key phrase, interact. You need to figure out how to make use of the other things you find in the game, which may help progress the plot along, or open up secret areas for you to explore and collect more friends.

In the first game; there were 6 of our giant LocoRoco friends to play as; the sequel brings a big purple friend along for the party. A couple new areas also come our way with new themes and layouts from the previous game and some new mini-games as well that are incredibly adorable.

LocoRoco 2 debuted in December over in Japan, where I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of it from a friend of mine. However for those of us who don’t have a friend in the Navy, it will be coming to our shores February 10th. Though if you’re itching to play it now, word is at your local Gamestop you can pre-order to get your hands on a demo of it, made available through Sony’s Playstation Network.

I still can’t get enough of those kids singing and screaming though.

-The Reverend Lei

The soundtrack to a video game is the liver in the body of gaming. And by that I mean when it’s screwed, so is everything else. Perhaps it’s my +10 nostalgia goggles doing their thing, but I remember a day when combat themes didn’t sound exactly like one another, and accomplishment wasn’t signified by the reward, it was the little jingle you heard at the end of battle that let you breathe the long sigh of relief.

Perhaps times have changed, for better or for worse. Audio no longer seems to have a significant place in the majority of games, EA Trax is more hip and appropriate for todays generation. Who needs soft, recognisable melodies when you have hard hitting rock riffs from whatever underground rock music those hipsters appear to be listening to nowadays..

Allow me to jog your memory with something everyone will remember.

Metal Gear Solid.

You either opened it knowing full-well what it was and had been anticipating it for the longest time.
(Listen to a snippet)
Alternatively, you had no bloody clue what it meant, what it was about, and who the hell those guys were on the cover. But either way, when you first popped the disc in the top and heard the intro theme, you knew you were going this game demanded some serious attention. Every piece had it’s own sense of urgency to convey, when it was time to hide you couldn’t just see the timer had ceased counting down, you could FEEL the timer had ceased counting down. Even just the simple ! noise is an exercise in perfection, not too hard, not too soft – the ideal audio representation of an exclamation mark.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Gears of War was a brilliant game, and the sequel managed to improve on the brilliant duck ‘n’ cover shooter. But without the aid of the internet or other individuals, can you honestly tell me much of the music impacted on you? Did you find yourself humming it on a Sunday afternoon making yourself a bacon sandwich during a particularly long session of gaming? I sincerely doubt it. Sure the music still managed to create a sense of mood, but it felt more complimentary, rather than supplementary. And that is my bone to pick.

It’s not all doom and gloom however, see left. Bionic Commando Rearmed. Those who know me know how often I proclaim my love for this game. And not particularly for the gameplay, I found that pretty good, but the soundtrack blew me away. My nostalgia sense went into overdrive and to hear it remastered and intertwined with a fresh modern techno sound in such a brilliantly composed way made the experience 10 times better. In fact, I dare you personally to listen to Heat Wave and tell me that doesn’t sound perfect. Every level sounds like it should do, the Power Plant sounds dark and murky with a real heavy leaning on bass, boss music sounds fast paced and really delivers the sense of urgency. When amongst allies (which the track is also titled I might add) you know you are safe and this is reciprocated through your speakers.

But that’s enough about me, what does it for you? Does the Crashman theme bring manly tears to your eyes? Perhaps the objection theme of Pheonix Wright is the best way to lock you into a flow and forget about the real world. And how do you feel about sounds now diminished role in modern gaming?

]]> http://giantenemyblog.com/audio-compliments-video-but-to-what-extent/feed/ 0 http://giantenemyblog.com/drawing-the-line/ http://giantenemyblog.com/drawing-the-line/#comments Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:00:41 +0000 Peter http://gamerblag.com/?p=2594 Anyone who regards games as casual or hardcore doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It’s just about drawing the line with each game. Sure we have lots of babyish games and childish games, but they are just that. Games. Games for different types of people. Let’s take Pokemon as an example. Childish game with adults playing it, fine. However is it casual? No. Is it hardcore? No. What is it? A video game. A video game that can be played casually or on a hardcore level. Any game can be played casually or on a hardcore level. People often don’t understand the true meaning of casual.

From Dictionary.com

casual

1.	happening by chance; fortuitous: a casual meeting.

2.	without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand; passing: a casual remark.

3.	seeming or tending to be indifferent to what is happening; apathetic; unconcerned: a casual, nonchalant air.

4.	appropriate for wear or use on informal occasions; not dressy: casual clothes; casual wear.

5.	irregular; occasional: a casual visitor.

6.	accidental: a casual mishap.

7.	Obsolete. uncertain.

–noun

8.	a worker employed only irregularly.

9.	a soldier temporarily at a station or other place of duty, and usually en route to another station.

Let’s see here. Nope, nothing concerning content of something, only regarding how something is done. That’s the point. The game isn’t casual, the only thing casual is how you play it. Let’s expand on the second definition for a second that reads “without definite or serious intention; careless or offhand“. What that means is if you play a game for the sake of playing it (you play it because you’re friends are playing it) you’re a casual player. If not? Well let’s take a look at hardcore now.

Again, dictionary.com

hard-core

1.	unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated: a hard-core segregationist.

2.	pruriently explicit; graphically depicted: hard-core pornography.

3.	being so without apparent change or remedy; chronic: hard-core inflation; hard-core unemployment.

There you have it. If you play a game to complete it, night and day, non-stop without rest, or you refuse to play anything else before you beat that game. Then you are a hardcore player.

But wait! What if you’re in between? What if you play a game to have fun and enjoy the game? Then my friend you simply like video games and you are the best of them all. A casual player and a hardcore player will never enjoy games like you do.

You shouldn’t regard yourself (or others) as one type of person, you could of played Myst on and off whenever you felt like it, and you could have beaten Tales of Vesperia 4 times to get everything there is to get in the game. You can mix styles, people are dynamic, not linear.

The point is, it’s not the game, it’s you. You play casually? That’s fine, you can play a “hardcore” game on and off. If you’re a hardcore player you can play a Bratz game until your eyes bleed out, you’re still hardcore for putting commitment into it. I don’t know why people love to brand people so much.

Heavy Rain – Adventure/Mystery
While the adventure games of old like Carmen Sandiego have seemingly passed into obscurity, The creators of Fahrenheit are looking to bring back the adventure/detective genre into its once fine form. Among this game’s impressive qualities are 60 10-20 minute scenes of dialogue, the ability for the main character to die and keep progressing in the main story line, as well as the pain-staking detail that has gone into creating the game, whether it be in faithful real world creations of city terminals or using random french people as mo-capped facial extra’s in the game. Maybe if we are lucky, Quantic will add a sex scene that isn’t painful to look at either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlWTd3puAk&feature=related – The Casting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwZ9eCRm1SM&feature=related – Gameplay Footage

Fat Princess – Strategy/Beat ‘em up
Feminine Body issues aside, this charming, 32 player online rpg beat ‘em up looks to be a real charmer, even with the surprising amount of blood and violence that has been uncovered in recent screenshots. While pugnacious pugilists will be able to slice and dice to their hearts content, more
pacifistic players will be able to engage in various support roles, as well as feeding copious amounts of cake to their princess so as to make her much more difficult to abduct by the opposing team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMF4oD3E0_c – Gameplay Footage

White Knight Chronicles – RPG
Although the Playstation 2 was an RPG powerhouse, the PS3 has been lacking truly definitive titles since its inseption. Games like Folklore, Disgaea and the recently ported Eternal Sonata have sated appetites, but WKC promises to be the engrossing RPG that fills the craws of PS3 owners and detractors alike. Boasting 1080p graphics, Online multiplayer, a hefty story and the ability to create your avatar that can interact with the main game protagonists, the game promises to deliver a JRPG that will keep you coming back for more. While Famitsu recently gave the game a tepid review, it goes without saying that one review should hardly be counted on to judge a game, let alone when the reviewers give games like “Nintendogs” a perfect score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJbd2Wos6g0 – Gameplay Footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OubNHZ7Nmdg&feature=related – Cinematic Trailer

Killzone 2 – First Person Shooter
This game looks fantastic. Let me reiterate. This game looks FANTASTIC. Thankfully, it appears that there is solid gameplay to back up this visual feast. While there must always be a certain amount of trepidation about first person shooters and their seeming inability to innovate or change themselves in meaningful ways, this game promises a return to the unyielding and unflinching difficulty of old school shooters with a Team Fortress 2-esque class system. Guerrilla’s original entry into the series was not well received, but through the feedback of the original Killzone and the widespread success of their PSP entry “Killzone: Liberation”, Guerrilla seems poised to rectify the stigma of past failure once and for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6cxaCosJE – Helghan Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX4vs2_SyCA – Menu’s and Early Gameplay Footage

Gran Turismo 5 – Racing/Simulation
If Gran Turismo 5: Prologue was just a taste, the full version promises to be worth savoring as the final meal before your execution. The game promises well over 500 cars, a copious amount of race tracks and modes, jaw dropping graphics as well as the ability to torch anyone foolhardy enough to challenge you online. Gran Turismo may be a late entry in 2009, but it looks to be well worth the wait.
Addendum: The full version may or may not be arriving in 2009. DLC for prologue seems to be in the wings, but there may be some miscommunication between Sony and Polyphony as to when a full release will be available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcaDV80cQJA&feature=related – Early Trailer

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Action/Adventure (Shooter)
The original Uncharted played like a blockbuster action movie, and with the Naughty Dog team operating at full capacity with an extra few years under their belt, Uncharted 2 promises to be a runaway success. The terrific writing as well as tightly paced action will be back along with new stealth sections that promise to add a bit more variety into the game. Don’t expect Naughty Dog to drop the ball on the balance of stealth and combat. Considering how many times you were often dropped
into combat, there should be plenty of gunslinging action as well as solid snake-like antics for both styles of player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzy2-UuFPJg – Premiere Trailer

Flower
Flower is about a flower petal. Makes sense. Traditional gamers will undoubtedly write this game off as a dalliance similar to the interactive art of Linger in Shadows. For those of us with more open minds, the game looks to provide a stunning mix of graphics and presentation unmatched by most Triple-A titles. With the current gaming market saturated with brown and bloom shooters, it still amazes me that people are more than willing to dismiss a game that is not only different, but also offers a different kind of gaming experience. The only objective is to guide your petal around in order to make the world more radiant and beautiful; sounds a bit more fulfilling than chopping people in half
doesn’t it? Flower looks to soothe your PTSD on the PSN this spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl_I_rmS5bo – Gameplay Footage

God of War 3 – Action/Adventure (Combat)
Feel like ripping the head’s off some harpies or impaling some soldiers? God of War 3 will undoubtedly be the game that satisfies your blood lust in 2009 (and possibly several years afterwards). While the game has always boasted collosal boss battles and bloody combat, the final installation promises to up the ante beyond all previous measure due to both the power of the PS3 and the fact that Kratos has no one left to kill but the biggest and most powerful of all gods residing on Olympus. If you have been living under a rock and missed the first 2 god of war games, this will be the perfect time to get into the game. Just make sure to find a drycleaner who does loincloths.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKtWwEmJoqI – Teaser Trailer

Infamous – Action/Adventure (Sandbox – Combat)
As if this game didn’t have enough hype, IGN has gone on the record and said that they will not follow their hallowed tradition of hyping a game and shitting all over it once it’s released. The creators of the Sly Cooper series have created a sandbox world designed around the electric powers of the protagonist Cole, as well as created a set of moral and ethical dilemmas that he will have to face in what promises to be an excellent release. With a free-climbing system akin to Assassin’s Creed and a somewhat Acradey super power system, Infamous should prove to be a shocking success. Pardon the pun, but seriously, jumping from tree to tree while throwing lightning grenades? No one with a pulse could deny how awesome that sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7-AwGxLPZQ – Free Climbing Mechanics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFkdMtnI0Gw&feature=related – Light Combat Footage

There are several games that have not much known about them or may not be making the 2009 cut off. In the former category we have MAG (Massive Action Game) which promises 256 player online combat, Demon Soul (a JRPG take on WRPG’s), A new Team Ico game and a possible Ratchet and Clank Sequel. In the latter category, we have Final Fantasy 13 and 13 versus, the former most likely making it to Japan by late 2009 and showing up in North America by 2010 with the latter being unknown.

And then of course we have my personal favorite, the wild speculation category. Contained within these walls are Jak 4, Dark Cloud 3, Zone of the Enders 3, Metal Gear Ac!d, Kingdom Hearts 3 and a possible Factor 5 game (although their recent monetary troubles all but kills off any possibility of a new game).

At the end of the day, it becomes clear that the Playstation 3 will have both a long list of excellent exclusive games to choose from. When combined with a large multiplatform catalogue, 2009 may just be the definitive year of the Playstation that Sony has been looking for.

Sale ends on January 2nd, so go buy stuff.

The game magazine I’m talking about gave Super Mario Galaxy a 100. A perfect score. Of course, you don’t hand out a perfect score every day, so the reviewer felt like he had to give his view on the matter.
Here is the (translated) transcript:

“My admiration for this game is based on both objective as subjective grounds. For me the mark 100 is the best mark that can express everything that Galaxy has to offer. I don’t care for crap about perfect games existing or not existing, because you have to assume for this that there is an objective method to measure one’s fun while playing a game, and I don’t, because I’m a practical person. Besides, Super Mario Galaxy is just a perfect game.”

This got me thinking, maybe we are looking at reviews in the wrong way. Too many reviewers look at games as a summation of different factors: graphics, sound, story, etc. But that isn’t what games are about. Games can have an awful story, but still be a lot of fun. The same goes for graphics. Could Super Mario Galaxy have been improved? Yeah, maybe it could’ve had a better story, or maybe the final boss could’ve been better, or maybe less of the music could’ve been MIDIs. But would these improvements make the game more fun? No, they wouldn’t. While an RPG may benefit from a better story, SMG wouldn’t have been more fun to play, and that is what really matters.

Last issue, the magazine gave LittleBigPlanet a perfect 100. The reviewer wrote the following:

“You might be wondering after reading this review why the hell we gave this score of 100 points, but it is exceptionally hard to explain how hard it is to explain this game. The amount of fun we had is hard to put on paper.”

The reviewer then proceeded to try and explain just how much fun they had playing the game. And that’s what games are about, aren’t they? Fun.

And that’s what we should care about in games. Not graphics. Not sound. Not whether it’s bugfree. It’s whether it’s fun or not. If a game has terrible graphics, it can still be fun. If it has some crazy bugs, it can still be fun. If your guns make odd and wacky sounds, the game can still be fun. And fun is what’s important in a hobby.

The idea was first brought to the public’s attention at the same time as the hyped, but ultimately disappointing, DirectX 10. Messenger in and out of game with voice chat, a platform to buy games and downloadable content, topped off with the ability to play cross-platform with Xbox 360 users. We could even keep our fantastic mods if we wanted!

Wait, where have I heard this before?

Oh right, Steam. Been there, done that, and still doing it very well. Perhaps Microsoft saw the success that Valve had accomplished and wanted a piece of the pie, with the stealth update (read: much needed) to the UI of LIVE on the PC and the promise of a standalone client supporting all games coming in weeks time, MS seem to have kicked their idea into overdrive after a long period of stasis. The question now is: will PC Gamers bite?

The main issue is downloadable content. What can be gotten for points (read: money) on the Xbox is usually issued in a patch on PC for free. When it isn’t, it divides the community as most aren’t willing to pay simply for downloadable content, expansion packs are how the PC platform has learned to operate; micro-transactions may be wildly successful in the Asian MMO market, but Western gamers tend to like a more solid approach, and just the mere mention of a micro-transaction will often have gamers spinning their heads in anger.

At the same time, this could bring even more new gamers into the fold; the cost of a gaming PC is rapidly approaching that of a console leaving fewer and fewer reasons not to get a PC, especially for those who want a more complex but more rewarding experience. Perhaps applications like Games for Windows LIVE and Steam are the halfway house between a console and a PC.

“It’s a CASUAL game”

A casual game. A game, that is casual in it’s design? In it’s use? In it’s plot or art? What does that mean? What do you THINK you’re saying?

Video games are NOT casual. Nor are they Hardcore. Video games are video games. There is no such thing as a hardcore game and a casual game. There are obscure games, there are popular games, there are simple games, there are complex games, there are pretty games and there are ugly games. But there is no hardcore game, and not a single casual game. They don’t exist. A game cannot be hardcore or casual. A video game can have a target audience, an art style, a plot, no plot, it can have complex controls, it could use a motion sensor, it might even require you to type words to progress, as opposed to ever controlling anything, but none of these choices will ever make it casual or hardcore.

Katamari Damacy is obscure. It’s also colourful, and it’s simple. It’s kooky and straightforward in design. It’s intention is not to appeal any one demographic. It’s intention is to take a risk in game design. Would Katamari Damacy be a hardcore game or a casual game? Both, and neither. It qualifies for either. So how can we even begin to categorize it with a straight face, knowing full well that it would hypocritical and idiotic to do so?

The same goes for all video games. Another example? Grand Theft Auto. Difficult, traditional, risk taking, and immensely popular. How could this seemingly hardcore game still be hardcore if non-gamers play it casually everyday? GTAIV received endless criticism due to it’s popularity, calling it casual and mainstream when in fact it was ONLY mainstream. I am an avid gamer. I own a slew of consoles, I play them all. I own 2 copies of GTAIV, and will be getting the PC version in December. Now, I do not play it that often. I never play it for more then an hour. I play it, casually, you could say. BUT, it is not a casual game and I am not a casual gamer. It is also not a hardcore game. It is an action adventure open world sandbox game. I am a hardcore gamer, or as I like to say, “gaming enthusiast”. My brother is a casual gamer, he doesn’t spend long on a game, except for GTAIV. He plays the game hardcore, because he payed for it and read into it, and invested himself into it.

Catz and Dogz and Horsez are not casual, they are not hardcore, they are shovelware. Katamari is a puzzle game. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a party game and Halo is a first person shooter. I own and play all these (with the exception of the shovelware). Famously, on the internet at least, Halo is casual, Katamari is hardcore and casual and Smash Bros. is the epitome of casual. But I’ve played SSBB for at least 100 hours now. How could that be casual playing?

It can’t be, and it’s not. I am a hardcore gamer. People who own Wii’s and play for 40 minutes at most in a day are casual gamers. My friend is a casual gamer, he owns an Xbox 360. My other friend is a hardcore gamer, he only owns a Wii. My brother is a casual gamer, he owns a $1200 gaming PC. How a game could be casual boggles me. Games are not designed like that. Games cannot be casual. It is the GAMER that is casual or hardcore. The gamer plays it their way, invests in it their way, spends as much time in it as they like. There has never been a casual or hardcore game. Only a casual and hardcore gamer. It’s really that simple.

A lot of people who own a Nintendo Wii know the problem. When you first get your Wii, you’re excited. You play the games, you think everything is awesome. You’ll never need another console. The controls are so good, the gameplay is so much fun, you’ll enjoy your Wii forever. Fast-forward to the present, and it’ll probably be collecting dust. Maybe you used it for a couple of hours to play a recent release, like Disaster: Day of Crisis, but then you went back to doing other things. Why is it so hard to keep enjoying your Wii?

The answer is that there are no games on the Wii that you can put a lot of time in. As an example, let us take a look at Metacritic.com’s top 20 list for Wii games. There are 8 games that are strictly single-player, and all of them are quite short. 6 of them are Wiiware (which is quite shaming for big developers, honestly), and the remaining games include Guitar hero, Brawl and Wario ware.

Wario ware? Yes, it’s a fun game if you’ve got some friends over. But will you ever play it for more than an hour? No, you won’t. The same goes for Guitar hero. The only game in the 20 best games that you can put a lot of time in is Brawl. And one game does not make a console.

So what does the Wii need? It needs three things:

Long single-player games

It needs those games that you can just play on your own for hours. Things like long RPGs that take over 80 hours to complete. Things like strategic games that you can just play over and over again. Most games on the Wii take less than 10 hours to complete, and have very little replay value. Games like Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy take a bit longer to complete, but they still aren’t fantastic: And you’re basically done once you’ve collected everything, which shouldn’t take too long either.

Multiplayer

One of the most confusing things is how there are hardly any good multi player games on the Wii. Sure, there’s Wii sports and Wario ware, but I’m talking about those games where you can sit down with your friend and play a co-op campaign, or spend a long time playing against each other. The only game I can even think of that has co-op campaign is Brawl, and the Subspace Emissary is not one of its best modes.

On-line multi player

The way to spend most of your time is, of course, on-line multi player. For some reason, there are only two games with decent on-line play: Again, Brawl, and Pokemon Battle Revolution. However, Brawl is hurt by lag issues, and the settings for random battles are far from optimal. Battle revolution is a lot of fun, but it’s not very addictive.

Luckily, there are some games coming out that will help remedy this. For example, Monster Hunter Tri will have extensive on-line (without friend-codes), and Animal Crossing: City Folk will give you a lot of fun while chopping down trees in your friend’s town.

I think that as long as these wishes are fulfilled, the Wii will stop collecting dust and will instead become a great console. While it’s currently lacking in the games department, it has great potential. Especially if you look at the amazing lineup the Wii has for the next year, it will definitely get better.

"Cost your mother $250 to buy that for you so you can practice your entrance exam (to prison)." Bill Cosby at a gathering on Thursday.

Bill Cosby went on record recently as saying “Grand Theft Auto is an entrance exam for prison.” He said this in Greenwood, Mississippi at a community gathering.  He additionally said “The drug dealer is not in your culture, nor is the prostitute, nor is the glorified pimp if you teach black pride. They have no pride. They don’t know their culture.” That is the long and short of what he said. However, I have been watching some reactions to this, mainly on Game Politics.com (who provided the picture and story). This one irked me quite a bit.

“The people who make ridiculous statements like this have no idea what they are talking about. They just want to find a scapegoat and a catchy statement in order to gain some notoriety. Some have good intentions, but for most, it’s just about the ‘attention’.”

Or, how Kotaku handled the story.

“Cosby was not in fact flacking some new collector’s edition, he was flogging everyone’s favorite scapegoat for everything that troubles society. To be fair, he got off on an angry-old-man rant about hair extensions, sagging pants and lots of other things, too.”

I think we may be reacting the wrong way towards Mr. Cosby’s remarks. It seems that gamers are reacting like NRA members, fearing that whenever anyone makes a criticism towards games or some outspoken individual is making a case against them, we act like they are gonna take them away. But that is far from the issue. If you look at it, Bill Cosby isn’t slamming the game, he’s slamming the parents who are irresponsible enough to allow their children to play this. There are a great number of children who play games not intended for them, and there needs to be more responsibility by parents.

Gamers, too, need to participate. Kotaku is still central figure in game journalism, and they need to use their platform for something other then dismissing critics as crazy old men.  You too, Gamer Blag contributors! This is an enormous opportunity to make our voices heard, so that when there are real crazy old people trying to say games kill children, we can point it out. But at the same time, we need to give validation to those voices who do make real criticisms of games, and the people who play them.

~Zetto