Well, what this is is the weekend from nerd heaven. The Simpsons Movie is released. It's Comicon, baby, and I'll be going for the first time ever. This is gonna be crazy! So, in honor of the festivities, I present to you one of my patented super-geeky editions of the blog, because I've got all this stuff on the brain right now.
- Currently, my fingers are sore from a few nights of GUITAR HERO: Rocks the 80's playing. Now, I realize this new iteration is basically just Guitar Hero II with about 30 new tracks and a kind of half-assed 80's-themed makeover, but hey, I love Guitar Hero, I love the 80's, so basically, the chance to play songs like "I Ran," "Heat of the Moment," "Bang Your Head" and "No One Like You" was reason enough for me to snatch up this game the second it was released. Now, the funny thing is that many of these 80's songs are pretty simplistic, guitar-wise, so a few of the songs are not the most interesting to play. But hey, jamming out to "Balls to the Wall" is still pretty kickass.
- I haven't really given my thoughts yet on E3. As a cost-concious gamer, I am nervous at how segregated the world of gaming is getting. In the last generation, I know there are some big Gamecube and X-Box supporters out there, but to me the PS2 was easily the leader of the pack. Whether your game of choice was Metal Gear, God of War, Madden, Final Fantasy, GTA, Jak and Daxter, Guitar Hero, or Resident Evil, you had it on the PS2. Gamecube had Zelda, X-Box had Halo, and unless you HAD to have that one game, EVERYTHING ELSE was on PS2. And even today, I know I am still plugging away on FFXXII, God of War II, Guitar Hero, and a bunch of others on my trusty old Sony machine. There's even been some recent releases I'm curious to try out, like Odin's Sphere and the remake of the original Tomb Raider. Gotta love the PS2.
Now though, the competition for next-gen marketshare is really ramping up. The 360 has heavy-hitter exclusives like Mass Effect, Bioshock, Blue Dragon, and Lost Odyssey coming very soon down the pipeline. When looked at in terms of what will be available in 2007, it can be argued that the 360 is the system to beat, hands down. But, the PS3 is finally beginning to pick things up. Ratchet and Clank: Future looks amazing, Little Big Planet could be the next big thing in innovation, a cult classic in the making, and Naughty Dog will likely deliver the goods with Uncharted, which seems to be a classic adventure in the vein of Tomb Raider - never a bad thing in my book. Heavenly Sword should be top-notch, and there's a few other heavy hitters as well in '07, not to mention the big guns in early '08. Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid anyone? The latest footage of MSG 4 looks off the hook - if there is one game on the horizon that to me is a "must-buy," this is surely it.
Meanwhile, there is the Wii, which is wowing girls and the over-40 crowd everywhere with its ease of use and iPod-like style. The Wii has ushered in a new age of gaming, where casual games are becoming more and more popular, expanding gaming into the mainstream to unprecedented levels. But -- is this a good thing? For those of us who grew up with nintendo and know and love them as the company behind Mario, Zelda, and Metroid, it does kind of pain me to see them degenerate into a company making casual games like Wii Sports and Wii Fitness. To see the Big N showcase Wii Fitness at E3 as opposed to a new Starfox, Kid Icarus, Jet Force Gemini, or any other classic Nintendo gaming goodness was kind of sad. And it's long been a fact of the gaming world that the third party companies who helped make Nintendo - the Capcom's, Konami's, and Tecmo's of the world, have long since abandoned Nintendo's home consoles in favor of Sony and Microsoft. Of course, Nintendo is once again king of the portable market, where the DS has thrived thanks to a solid mix of casual and old-school games. Thanks to the wonders of the DS, I have old-school, 2D Mario, Castelvania, and Contra galore, not to mention the upcoming Zelda game that is supposedly one of the best ever in the series. To me, there is currently one reason and one only to buy a Wii, and that's Mario Galaxy, which promises to be astounding. But one game does not make a console, and I'm sorry, but Wii Tennis is not a killer app in my view.
And that's the weird place that games are in today. The Wii is there for all the people who don't usually like games but get a kick out of swinging a shiny white wiimote around at parties, and for the diehard Nintendo fans who live and breathe Mario and Zelda, and who think Mario Kart is the greatest thing ever. The 360 is for the first-person shooter diehards, the PC users who care about what engine a game is using and who never got the appeal of "quirky" Japanese games, and who get off on online multiplayer sessions of Halo. And now, the PS3 is kind of the gaming geek's console, the place for beloved franchises, many of them Japanese, like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy. It's the place where platform and adventure gaming thrives. The problem is, the PS3 is still prohibitively expensive. By all logic, all of us tens of millions of PS2 users should be flocking to it, but until the games begin to flow and the price drops, it's not going to happen just yet. It will be REALLY interesting to see what happens this fall, that's for sure.
Personally, Sony has been the #1 name in gaming for me since 1995, so my loyalty is definitely to them, and to the franchises I love like Ratchet, MSG, FF, Tekken, etc. I still remember the sheer sense of awe I felt upon first plugging in my PS1 back in September of '95 and the pure gaming bliss that followed in the months ahead, as my mind was blown by the likes of Toshinden, Jumping Flash, Twisted Metal, and Final Fantasy VII. But I'm not yet willing to drop $500 for a console, and games like Blue Dragon and Mass Effect are making a 360 look prety appealing. And the Wii has the everpresent Mario factor, plus the buzz appeal and the fact that girls are mysteriously drawn to its outdated graphics and simplistic games. Hmmm ... one thing is certain, the videogaming marketplace hasn't been this interesting, or confusing, in a long long time.
- THE SIMPSONS MOVIE ... Will it Suck? Or: Best. Movie. Ever?
Man, the buzz is building, some early reviews are trickling in ... I just can't help but wonder what this movie will be like, and most importantly, will it make me laugh in a way that nothing has since the halycon days of Classic-era Simpsons? James L. Brooks and John Schwartzwelder are the primary scribes, which is a great sign as both are two of the classic Simpsons masterminds. But ... the Simpsons has not been at it's peak level in nary a decade. A DECADE. Is there any conceivable hope that this movie will be a blast from the past, the animated equivalent of a Rocky Balboa-esque return to form? I want to believe, I really do. But I remain skeptical. As much as it pains me, I just can't see how this movie will be as amazing as I hope it will be. I mean, the plot, from what we know, involves YET ANOTHER instance of Homer angering Marge to the point where she questions her relationship with him, a plot development we've seen played out ad nauseum over the last several years, and that has only grown more and more wearisome each time it's used. There's also apparently a subplot of Bart seeking out Flanders as a foster dad of sorts. Haven't we seen this many times before? We've seen Bart seek a surrogate Dad. We've seen Flanders try to reform the Simpson kids. I don't know, these are NOT details that sound very buzz-worthy. And let's face it, the trailers have had one or two good jokes, but nothing classic, nothing truly worhty of getting excited about. I mean, Spiderpig? It's the most showcased joke so far and it's glaringly unfunny. Not a good sign.
So far, the only major review I've seen is at The Onion, where they gave the movie a B+. Now, that should be a good, if not great sign, as the Onion tends to be pretty harsh on comedies. But with the Simpsons, it's one of those things where it became so cool to hate on that it now seems to have come full circle, and the haters are taking a backseat to the "well it's still better than most other stuff" crowd. Well, I'm sure this movie will be at worst decent, but I want an A plus movie, a classic, something to put alongside the all time best episodes. Will this movie be that return to the glory days we all want, or just a nice visit with old favorite characters and a retread of already way-overused themes?
Ahhhhhhhhh ... well, in the absence of a final verdict (hope to see it this weekend but with Comicon not sure), I leave you with this classic quote:
Homer: Got any of that beer that has candy floating in it? You know, Skittlebrau?
Apu: Such a beer does not exist, sir. I think you must have dreamed it.
Homer: Oh. Well, then just give me a six-pack and a couple of bags of Skittles.
- Finally, COMICON is here. I know this sounds nerdy as hell, but it's one of those events I've been reading about since I was a kid, seeing the reports in Wizard Magazine and reading the emails from the guy at Mile High Comics every year ... Like E3, Comicon was always this magical fantasy land that I'd read about but never though I'd actually ever have the chance to to. And now, I'm going! Can't wait to see Kevin Smith in person again, or see the DC Comics guys, or see previews of Iron Man and Hulk, or go to the first ever TWENTY FOUR panel, or see living legends like Stan Lee and Ray Bradbury! Maybe even take a picture with a Supergirl, a Catwoman, a Harley Quinn, or a Zatanna or two ... I don't know how I'm going to fit everything into two days, but this will be one for the books. Expect pictures galore soon.
And with that I'm outta here. Back with a full report on Monday. It's clobberin' time!
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3 comments:
Three words, man: METROID PRIME CORRUPTION. How did you miss out on this hot ticket at E3? I still have yet to play the original Metroid and still have yet to complete Super Metroid, but the Prime series has been somethin' seriously sizzlin' lately.
Still, I can't blame you for what you're saying about the Big N. I am lovin' the ingenuity of the Wii, but as the big cheese of Sega said a month or so back, the industry just isn't taking full advantage of its motion sensing capabilities just yet. Games like Red Steel should've paved the way for some truly new gameplay, but every review I've read of the game only bemoans how lame its execution was. Zelda: Twilight Princess was definitely good fun, but it was simply a Gamecube era game ramped up to shoot the Wii up to stardom. Super Paper Mario was a dandy take on the classic Mario jive, but there was just one thing missing: challenge. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon on the Wii has been fantastic to play thanks to everything Midway offered in the game (although it seriously suffers from the idiotic substitution of a Mario Kart-style "Motor Kombat" in place of the spicy Chess Kombat in Deception), but the controls promised instant flexibility and immersion and sadly fell short of that lofty goal.
Will Metroid Prime 3 and Smash Bros bring it all home? Maybe. I hear ya, though -- the Big N needs more hardcore third party action, and it needs it last...erm...decade.
-SMOCypj
Hey J-Dog,
I didn't list Metroid for a simple reason -- I don't like first person shooters! This is why to me games like Metroid, Halo, Killzone, and Bioshock are pretty much non-factors in my system purchasing decisions. I just don't really like the genre.
Danny
I have to empathize with you there a bit, for I'm not a huge fan of FPS games either. Would you believe that when Goldeneye made its historic debut that I opted to pick up Diddy Kong Racing instead, thinking that it would be a much more innovative and far more satisfying multiplayer experience? DKR had a lot of hype about its ingenuity over the Mario Kart model at the time, but its execution was sloppy at best, and it now collects much dust beneath the classic James Bond title I have since corrected my silly mistake with.
Truth is, though, I never liked Goldeneye or its Rare-helmed follow-up Perfect Dark for the single player action -- it's always been about the multiplayer havoc. With the Metroid Prime series, though, it's very much a different story. As Nintendo often advertises, the series is really more appropriately labeled a "first person adventure" -- the main objective here is to explore the lavish worlds and unravel their mysteries and secrets, THEN blast space pirates and other assorted aliens into smithereens. It's the emphasis on puzzle-solving over gratuitous violence that has won me over to the series, not to mention its basic, yet cryptic storyline of exploration, defending the fallen, and defying one's search for power.
What game would I REALLY like to see make a comeback like yesterday? How about Earthworm freakin' Jim??? It's been far too long since an goofball, off-the-wall action/adventure game of that nature has hit the shelves. EJ 3D on the N64 (and possibly PS1) sucked like a voracious vacuum, and nobody denies it. If they can take a traditionally 2D franchise like Metriod and make it into such an immersive 3D franchise, they can certainly do it for Jim...and Mega Man, for that matter. Enough of this cheap Pokemon knock-off drec with the Battle Network shtick, y'know?
Incidentally, I still have yet to play any Halo game. I'm sure they're great and all, but I'm not going to dish out the cash for an XBox or Xbox 360 just for that series.
Peace out,
J
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