21
Sep
2009
The Effect of Next-Gen Re-Releases on the Gaming Industry
Because of the issue of backwards compatibility only being available in select PS3 SKU’s and it being limited among select X-Box games on the 360, a new phenomenon has started to arrive on the scene: Next-Gen Re-Releases. This has been something that has been present for a while in the form of Downloadable Content (DLC), some of the more recent and bigger names of the titles span from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 which received a graphics update as well as online compatibility, all the way to the recent release of TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-shelled.
The market is obviously there for these past titles to be re-released and consumers are demanding them. But more recently Sony’s Santa Monica offices are trying a new approach by releasing the God of War collection on a Blu-ray disk for the PS3. This package will include the original two titles in the series completely remastered from their PS2 states to run in native 720p HD graphics at 60 frames per second. Not only this, but unlike other classic games that are just offered through the various online marketplaces: PSN, XBLA, and Wii-ware, this God of War bundle will come with full trophy support, adding a new twist to two classic games. But really, the icing on the cake is that despite all of this work in remastering and adding new code to existing games, the release price for this bundle will only be 2/3 of what a standard new game retails at. $40 for next-gen updates to classic titles may just be the sweet spot.
But, why would a company spend all of this time and effort on games that have been out for years? Well, the developers surveyed the fans (Source) and simply asked them what they wanted done. This comes at a great time, because it will lead hype and anticipation for the March 2010 release of the sequel God of War III on the Playstation 3. Obviously it pays to listen to your fans, because as of now, a month and a half before the release of this new collection, it is in the Top 5 sales of all PS3 games on Amazon.com. (Source)
Now the question really is, knowing all of this, what effect will this have on the industry? If developers are focusing all of their resources on remastering classic games, then there will never be any forward progress made in the way of new IPs. There has to be a balance, and I do think that God of War has struck that balance. The way they are handling this timeline, they are allowing 4-5 months of play on the release of their classics collection in order to build the anticipation for the release of the next iteration in the series. In this you have the best of both worlds.
People that never got the chance to experience the original games (because they lived under a rock on in inner Siberia) will be able to play them in their remastered HD glory, but even more important, fans of the series will be able to wet their appetite on 720p Kratos months earlier than they expected to. This God of War collection really is an experiment as to how well the public will receive remastered games in disk form rather than just as Downloadable titles. Depending on the success of this title, we could potentially see lots more “collections” rolling out. Possibly a remastered Team ICO collection (ICO and Shadow of the Colossus)? It’s important to keep in mind that one of the most highly demanded titles is a remastered version of Final Fantasy VII.
In the end, the best part about this scenario is that everyone benefits from it. As long as developers don’t become complacent by ONLY remastering their classic titles, then gamers, developers, and the entire industry will all reap the rewards from seeing the most demanded games resurface in this generation.
Please leave questions or comments at the end!
16
Jul
2009
Droplitz Review
Overview
Droplitz is a game developed by Blitz Arcade and published by Atlus. The game is $9.99 and is out now on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. I have to say that Droplitz took me by surprise! After browsing through the marketplace, I stumbled upon this game. Once I noticed that the publisher was Atlus, I was immediately interested and went to watch some gameplay videos. It seemed like an extremely addictively puzzler, and true me, it doesn’t disappoint.
Controls
The path making process consists of rotating circular pieces that have paths inside them. Once you align them with each other they connect to make a larger pathway. You need to plan ahead how you are going to rotate this dials because if one of the Droplitz hits a dead end you will immediately lose. There are different types of dials; they have various shapes so you need to plan which dial to rotate to be able to create the path for the Droplitz. The way the game controls is fairly intuative, you use one button to rotate the dials to the right and another button to rotate them to the left. So, not too complicated.
Graphics
Visually, Droplitz is nothing that will blow you away. This is kind of obvious considering it is a puzzle game, but the graphics are very clean and do their job making the game presentable and visually appealing. When you are making your way through the game you will see that the themes of the puzzles are constantly changing, this is pretty good because the backgrounds and the music evolve similarly to how Lumines created backgrounds and moods set to music in various stages.
Gameplay
For a 10 dollars game, Droplitz offers a lot of content. You can find four different game modes, each with different boards to play in. These different levels are made available as unlockable content that is obtained through achieving certain high scores. While the first goal is fairly easily attained, as you progress through this downloadable title, the high scores seem harder and harder to reach. The first mode is the Classic Mode, in here you only need to create paths and get a good score, as simple as that. (Well, it’s called “classic” for a reason, right?)
The second mode that you can find in Droplitz is the Zendurance Mode. This mode challenges you to last as long as you can while playing the game, and while doing so you will have to keep creating paths in order to keep your “life” meter up. When you select this mode you will be able to choose between the different themes that you have unlocked while playing the Classic game. These themes have different music and a different kind of background attributed to each of them.
The third mode is the Power-Up mode. Like the name indicates, in this mode you will get a variety of power ups that modify the gameplay. Example of these are a power up that slows down everything and help you to create the paths with more time, another type of power up is one that destroys the area where you place it, you can use these with certain dials that make your work easier.
The fourth and last mode available in Droplitz is the Infection Mode. In this mode the dials will get “infected”, and when this happens they will be harder to rotate because they slow their rotation speed down making the path-making process more difficult. You will also have the power ups at your disposal in this mode, so you have to think about how you are going to use them to keep things flowing.
The Bottom Line
8.5/10
In the end Droplitz is an incredible game, extremely addictive and fun. With a very simple gameplay mechanic, this title will steal a lot of hours from your life. If you are a puzzle fan or you only want a game to spend some time with I extremely recommend you to look into this title.
12
Jul
2009
Battlefield 1943 Review
Overview
Battlefield 1943 is the latest entry on the classic Battlefield franchise, this time developer DICE have decided to take a different approach and make a download only title for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Controls
The controls in BF1943 are the same as other shooters on the consoles like Battlefield: Bad Company and Call of Duty, you aim and shoot with the triggers. You can also take control of different vehicles like jeeps, tanks and airplanes, in here the controls also feel very solid but you will have a hard time maneuvering your bomber.
Graphics
Considering that this game is a downloadable title the graphics are great, the maps are very detailed, the water looks awesome and the explosions on vehicles and airplanes also looks very good. The Frostbite Engine makes a good job to keep the frame rate solid while a lot of action is happening on the screen. Also the character models look good with great animations and very detailed uniforms. Another thing that I liked from the overall presentation of the game is the menus; they are very stylish and work really well.
Gameplay
This aspect of the game doesn’t come with any surprises, it is classic battlefield gameplay so everything that you liked (and hated) of older Battlefield titles is still present in this game; this is not something bad at all, you will still have loads of fun playing this title. Initially there are 3 maps on the game, I say “initially” because DICE added a community challenge where the objective is to reach 43 million kills between all the people that are playing the game, when this happens a new map named Coral Sea will unlock for everyone. The game features 3 different classes (Rifleman, Infantry and Scout) each with different guns, explosives and melee weapons. DICE has managed to balance the whole game adding weaknesses to all the vehicles and the classes.
The Bottom Line
9.0/10
Battlefield 1943 is one of the best titles that have been released on the PSN and the XBLA, it blends great graphics with extremely fun gameplay, resulting in a package that every shooter fan should get.
18
May
2009
Will Guest Stars in another Podcast
Your TPR Admin, Will teams up with the guys over at The Gamer Access again to bring you what’s going on in video games right now. Here are the main topics of this show (be warned, it’s about 3 hours long):
- April 2009 NPD Numbers
- Uncharted 2 Gameplay Impressions
- PS3 Firmware (v2.76) Update
- inFAMOUS Only Possible on the PS3 According To Sucker Punch Employee
- 1 vs. 100 Beta Impressions
- More GTA IV DLC Rumored To Be Announced At E3
- MGS4 Coming To 360?
- What Is More Important? Graphics, Gameplay, or Online
- Which Will Sell Better: Fight Night Round 4 or UFC?
- E3 Predictions
- Community Questions
- Uncharted 2 Beta Contest
- MUCH MUCH More
Click Here to Listen: Accelerated Gaming Ep. 14
***NOTE*** For instant hilarity, go to the 1h 05min mark of the podcast.
Once again, they refer to me as Cyrus in the podcast. And that’s based off all of my handles:
PSN – UNCyrus
Twitter – http://twitter.com/uncyrus
Skype – UNCyrus
Please leave your feedback and tell me what you think!
26
Apr
2009
Worms Review
Overview
Worms finally hits the downloadable marketplaces (XBLA and PSN), developed by Team 17 and with a $12.99 price tag, featuring a variety of challenges, offline and online multiplayer modes.
Controls
If you are familiar with the original title, then the controls won’t be that much of a surprise for you. Also, if you are new to the franchise then don’t worry, there really isn’t that much a learning curve. Overall the controls are pretty simple and not really hard to understand for gamers of any age.
Graphics
Worms boasts incredible animations, extremely colorful backgrounds and nice explosions. The developers held true to their style of graphics but still managed to give it a nice little nextgen tweek. The game have a very steady frame rate and it is overall pretty good in the visual aspect.
Gameplay and Story
When you first watch this game you can think the gameplay is really simple, but when you play it you will realize that it is incredibly deep; when you use your weapons you may want to think of some things before pressing the fire button. One of these elements is the trajectory and power of the wind. This wind (which is constantly changing) has a major impact on the trajectory of your missiles or grenades, making it a very important factor. The main goal on this game is to simply destroy the worms from the other team before they kill you. Overall the gameplay in this game is very well balanced and is have pretty much everything you can expect when buying a Worms game.
The Bottom Line
8.5/10
Worms is one of the best and post additive multiplayer titles available on the downloadable marketplace spectrum. I would highly recommend this title to anyone, especially if you like the previous Worms games.
25
Apr
2009
Flock Review
Overview
Flock is a physics based puzzle-platformer where you take control of a flying saucer to guide a variety of animals to your mother ship. The game features a single player and co-op. This game is published by Capcom and costs $14.99 or 1200 points.
Controls
In Flock you have control of a flying saucer that produces some sort of power that scares the animals that are near you, so basically you need to move the left stick to move the ship in order to make all the animals walk (or run) to the Motheflocker. But not everything is that easy, sometimes you will need to move some obstacles or you need to make some bridges with the objects that are around you, to do this you need to press the R2/RT button. And finally with L2/LT button you can deploy some sort of boost that makes your ship go faster for a moment.
Graphics
The graphics in this game are very nice and crisp, but it lacks some variety, most of the levels look really similar. The frame rate is very solid; this makes the experience very smooth and more enjoyable. Not too much more can be expected from this genre in a downloadable title.
Gameplay and Story
We can say that this is the aspect of the game that is lacking; sometimes you want to guide the animals to some place but they go the other way. However, this can make the experience extremely frustrating. On every level of the game you try to make your best to earn a variety of badges (Bronze, Silver, Gold) awarded to you based on your performance, also you can find leaderboards to compare your score with your friends. There is even a level editor where you can create your own levels. This really is one of the few elements that gives lasting appeal to a title the seems to like a lot of replayability.
The Bottom Line
7.0/10
Flock is a game that could have been a lot better. You have the features, you have the content, but the gameplay can drive a lot of people away from this game. It is worth checking out, but very hard to justify the $15 price tag.
23
Apr
2009
TPR Admin Guest Stars in a Podcast
TPR Admin Will guest stars in TheGamerAccess’s Accelerated Gaming Podcast: Episode 12.
Please listen to the podcast and support one of TPR’s affiliates: The Gamer Access
They call me Cyrus in the podcast, based off my PSN – UNCyrus… so listen in and please leave your feedback!
10
Apr
2009
FFVII on the US and EU PSN? Not for months!
The announcement of Final Fantasy VII coming onto the JPN and HK Playstation networks today made me do a double-take. Then the immediate question is, when will this content reach everywhere else? This will not happen this week, not next week, not even in the next month! Here’s why:
- The release of the game on the Asian storefront coincided with the release of the FFIV: Advent Children movie on Blu-Ray. So, one Final Fantasy release can ride the coattails of another.
- This content has been highly demanded for months, if not years! There is no way that a news item of this magnitude would just come out spontaneously in the middle of April. My guess is that E3 would be the perfect unveiling of this download in America/Europe
But wait… Here’s the catch! Both of these are slated to happen at the SAME TIME! According to Amazon.com, the Blu-ray is supposed to be released on June 2nd, which is the same day that E3 2009 starts in Los Angeles. Coincidence, I think not! Look for FFVII to be downloadable onto the PSN and possibly even XBLA after E3 this year.