Green Day: Rock Band Review

Title: Green Day: Rock Band
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Music/Rhythm
Rating: T for Teen
Release Date: June 8, 2010
Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix
Website

Rock Band has recently become the standard for music games because of the vast number of songs on the Rock Band Network and the lack of oversaturation like the Guitar Hero games. There have only been a total of 5 Rock Band games, and I think there were at least 5 Guitar Hero games just last year.

Green Day: Rock Band focuses on the career of the genre defining punk rock band, Green Day, who is now in their third decade of rocking. The game centers around three of the group’s best selling albums: Dookie, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, with a small mixture of songs from their three most popular albums mixed in. I was upset to see there were no songs from Green Day’s first two albums and no plan to release these songs or any of the absent ones from other albums in the form of downloadable content. It’s unfortunate that some more popular songs were not included, but instead entire albums which include songs most people have never heard, were still available.

I can’t help but compare Rock Band’s Green Day edition to last year’s Beatles edition. And when comparing them, there is no contest. The Beatles version had a lot more polish when it comes to background animations. In GD:RB all you get to see is three different venues with three different versions of the band members, whereas in TB:RB there were shots of in-studio rehearsals, music videos as well as popular venues such as TV shows and concerts. Graphically, GD:RB looks like it is a straight port of RB2 with the members of Green Day pasted into it.

Green Day: Rock Band is available for Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii. The Rock Band series has a stranglehold on the music genre and doesn’t seem to be letting up. By locking down on bands like Green Day and The Beatles, Harmonix has proven they mean business. Green Day: Rock Band may have been a step backwards, but it’s still a solid music game. From a person who grew up in the 90s, has always been a huge fan of Green Day and loves music games, I’m a little disappointed by the lack of visuals, but I still find myself playing this game occasionally on the weekends.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

March 13, 2010

http://diablo343.blogspot.com

The Gaming Savant, Ryan Smith

Is Kinect Too Late?

There’s been a lot of animosity coming since E3 toward Microsoft’s Kinect, a peripheral that was highly talked about a year ago. Recently, Xbox Live’s Stephen Tolouse made the statement that hardcore gamers have been wrong for the last 10 years, referring to the surprising success of Nintendo’s Wii. I blame the sudden switch in gamers’ attitudes to the weak performance by Microsoft at E3 this year, taking almost a step back as far as showing off what Kinect can do. With it Microsoft looking to take away Nintendo’s lunch money, it makes me wonder if Kinect is just too late.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT KINECT

One of the criticisms about Kinect is the rumored price of $150 for the unit. A lot of people are commenting that it is too much of a buy in when you can get a Wii for $200 and have everything you need. But the problem the Wii has faced with many gamers is it’s pretty much just a machine for party games. Most people I know who own one have it collecting dust and just get it out whenever a group of people get together. Since the Wii only comes with one controller, you end up having to buy or borrow 3 more. With Motion+, that comes to $70 a bundle, making the cost of the Wii $410 without a new game. So far Kinect has been shown to recognize two players and if it can pull off 4 that’s even better. The potential cost for a new Xbox 360 and Kinect comes to $400. Even if it is only 2 players at a time, it’s still not bad for a system you’ll actually play any other time. If some parent asked me which one I’d recommend for their kid, I’d go with Microsoft based on it being the better value, but that’s partially because I’ve always related the Wii to Apple, being a trendy electronic that’s built on hype. I’m sure they’re finding out now though they’re not invincible.

Another aspect I like about Kinect comes from the buzz around it when it was first announced, the potential. Sure, Skittles didn’t seem like much except fulfilling a secret fantasy to be Mike Tyson and own a tiger, but there’s more to it than that. By recognizing hand gestures and finger movements new doors can be opened up with brand new elements of gameplay. It could be something small like in a game similar to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time where the player would have to memorize finger placements to play a song, or it can be more involving like dribbling the ball in a basketball game. There’s also the added advantage of returning to my youth and flipping the checkers board when I was going to lose. It gets to a point where a peripherals failure may not be so much on the manufacturer or console as it is developers not leaving their comfort zone to develop new software.

THE HURDLE
Microsoft’s real enemy in all of this has been time. It’s been years since the Wii was released and there have been enough purchased that I’m sure most of the people interested in motion control already have one. Their saving grace is the probability that any Wii that isn’t in a retirement home or bar has another console with it. If they can launch Kinect with a strong line-up of games, then it stands a chance to dethrone Nintendo. They need to stay away from the piles of shovelware that has created 90% of the Wii’s library.

Microsoft may think hardcore gamers have been wrong, but they still need them to succeed. Just look at the sales for non-Nintendo Wii games and you see where the strength of the industry lies.

To read more of Ash’s blog posts check out his full blog @ http://ashchristians.blogspot.com/

Kids Like Collecting Stuff, Right?

Want a cheap way to extend gameplay? Try adding something to collect!

With the recent release of Crackdown 2, with its orb-collecting fun, I thought I’d take some time to talk a bit about collecting in a video game. For some games, it’s a way to add a few more hours for those die-hards out there that have to complete 100% of the game. Other franchises, like Pokemon and its numerous knock-offs, have it at the center of the gameplay. Like an OCD obsession, people getting all of something… so long as that something has value.

Just as it’s rare to find someone collecting Pauly Shore movies, it’s also rare for gamers to complete a collection in a game that isn’t going to reward them. Pokemon offered new abilities with each critter you found, InFamous increased the electricity the character could hold by collecting blast shards, and Crackdown increases gameplay abilities with the orbs collected. Each of these offers some kind of reward for the added effort to play the game, an incentive that could make the game a bit easier as you go on. Other games may use the collections as a way to unlock characters, like Ratchet and Clank, or even vehicles. The point is it in some way changes the gaming experience.

However, there are times when it just feels added on as an afterthought. Prototype offered many challenge missions aside from the plot to keep people entertained, but the added aspect of collecting around the city just seemed so pointless. They amounted to nothing more than something to fill time for the trophy/achievement whores out there. Even the web of conspiracy, with its 100+ people, didn’t offer much of a reward. The point was to absorb the memories of various people around New York City to learn more about the outbreak. What players were given was a shoddy cut-scene of still photos with voice work lasting 30 seconds with no real revelation. Sure, once somebody collected all of them, they could piece it together by replaying the scenes in order, but it didn’t offer anything new that wasn’t part of the overall plot.

What ultimately makes collecting work is the reward. Whether it’s unlocking new areas, completing missions, or added abilities, when collecting works it can add some extra fun to the game. I love messing with the physics of a Spider-Man game, swinging around the city, and it adds to that experience when a game like Web of Shadows adds the collecting to it. Not only does it offer the reward of increased abilities, but it gives me something to do when exploring the city. Collecting is like any other element in game development, it needs to be respected and used properly. It can’t just be added on to any sandbox game without offering some sort of payback. When elements of gameplay aren’t respected, it leads to piles of shovelware like the bullet time games that filled the 2000s, and that’s not a place I want to go back to.

To read more of Ash’s blog posts check out his full blog @ http://ashchristians.blogspot.com/

E3 Predictions revisisted.

Alright, let’s go over how close I was…

Things I think will be unveiled at E3 this year:
- Outside of God of War: Ghosts of Sparta, nothing else will be featured for the PSP. Wrong. Patapon 3 looks pretty cool.
- PSP 2 will NOT be unveiled. Right! Haha! Mark one for me!
- The Black Xbox 360 slim will feature WiFi, four USB ports, no internal hard drive and most importantly: no more red rings of death. It will also come with one 16 MB USB drive that fits into the back and will be mostly hidden. It was not called “Xbox 360 Slim” instead “Xbox 360 250GB”. It does feature Wifi, five (not four) USB ports, a huge internal harddrive and hopefully no red rings of death. I’ll take a half a point on this one.
- Nothing that hardcore gamers will want to play for PlayStation Move or Project Natal. This includes the new SOCOM and Fable 3. Both of them will feature Move and Natal support, but no hardcore gamers will want to play them that way. Wrong, the Star Wars lightsaber game got a pretty good reception.
- Project Natal will be renamed something that sounds stupider then “project natal”. It definitely will not be renamed just “Natal” This one is debatable. I prefer Kinect over Natal, but that’s just me.
- Nintendo will continue ignore online games. I’m gonna say I hit this one right on the head even though a couple little features were mentioned.

Games Announced:
A remake of Maniac Mansion, for Steam, Wii Shop, PlayStation Store and/or Xbox Live Arcade. Wrong.
- HAWX 2 Right! Woot! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcYhsTwbfU
- Professor Layton 3 Right! Two in a row! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyhh_Lz4ugg There will also be one for the 3Ds.
- Pikmin 3 I was unaware there was one in production before E3, but it was not featured there.
- Bungie’s new IP with Activision. Wrong.
- Mario Party 9 Wrong.
- GTA 5 Very Wrong.

I think I did alright with predictions. 4-5 right, whether you think Nintendo is continuing to ignore online gamers.

E3 Press Conferences

Well, the big press conferences are done and I’m surprised to say I’m most impressed by Nintendo’s. The Sony and Microsoft ones were way too centered on their motion controls, something I can’t really get excited about.

I love the prospect of a new Zelda game, especially one that takes a more cartoony look, like Wind Waker did, which happens to be my favorite iteration. The new Kirby adventure game got me initially excited, but I don’t know if I will like the lasso instead of the inhale/copy mechanism. Donkey Kong Country will be another game I’ll probably get because Andrea really liked those games on SNES, so it’s something we’ll be able to play together for a couple days.

Kinect is something I can’t see myself using for playing games. Some of the other abilities, such as the video player and the voice recognition look neat, but there’s nothing stopping one of my young children mimicking me by yelling “Xbox off” while I’m in the middle of a game. Fable 3 didn’t show me anything to get me more excited about it. I still want to eventually buy it, but I won’t go out on release weekend to get it.

As for Sony, I do not own a PS3 so I paid the least attention to their software. None of the Move stuff made me want one, but the new Twisted Metal looks stellar. I have been considering going
out and buying a PS3, and I probably would have with the bonus I got last month if it hadn’t been for medical bills. There have been a number of games in the last couple months that I really want to play, and Twisted Metal put me over the edge. I now want to be a PS3 owner. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get one for Father’s day.

To me, the biggest disappointment was the absence of a new Pikmin game. The first two on Gamecube were huge successes and I just cannot fathom why Nintendo wouldn’t want to churn out another. At least we’re getting a new Professor Layton, that’s something I can rally behind.

The Problem With Project $10

Electronic Arts has recently announced a “new” feature that will be included with their sports titles, which has playfully been titled Project $10. Their plan is to charge gamers $10 in order to access online features, including online matches and updated rosters.

I call it “new” because this feature has been used in games for a while. For example Battlefield 2 comes with a VIP code which offers the game’s first downloadable content for free, so the gamer basically ends up saving $10. This same reward comes with a lot of new games but most companies.

Some people are claiming that this added bonus for new game purchases is aimed to hurt used game retailers, like Gamestop, because EA gains no profit from used game sales. I disagree. Retailers will make this money back anyway they can. What they will do is offer gamers less money for their trade ins, then resell the game for just enough that shoppers will still save money by buying used games. For example (math alert!!!) Skate 3, one of EA’s most recent releases, retails new at Gamestop for $59.99, they sell it used for $49.99. At this price they would make a lot more money off the used copy then the new copy. What will happen is instead of offering say $30 to someone who is trading this game in, they will now only offer $25 and will sell it for $47.99. Before they sold it for $50 and bought it for $30, making a $20 profit, now they sell for $48 and buy it for $25, making a $23 profit. On top of this, gamers trade in games and use the money they make to buy more games.

I would argue that it will affect gamers that are selling these games (AKA their customers), not the stores that buy and resell them.

At least for me, I sell just about every game I buy. I’ll buy it, play it for a couple months, then list it on eBay. I generally make more money on eBay then I would if I traded it in somewhere. This $10 charge doesn’t affect me very much because I rarely play EA Sports games online. I recently looked at my Xbox Live games played list and I had one game of Madden 10, that ended badly. I was leading by two touchdowns when my opponent abandoned the game. Instead of giving me a victory, it gave my opponent an abandoned game and my record stayed at 0-0. That is the exact moment I stopped playing Madden online, after one game.

Instead, I will probably be able to get a little more when I list it on eBay, because my copy will come with the online access code.

2010 E3 Predictions

Things I think will be unveiled at E3 this year:

- Outside of God of War: Ghosts of Sparta, nothing else will be featured for the PSP.
- PSP 2 will NOT be unveiled.
- The Black Xbox 360 slim will feature WiFi, four USB ports, no internal hard drive and most importantly: no more red rings of death. It will also come with one 16 MB USB drive that fits into the back and will be mostly hidden.
- Nothing that hardcore gamers will want to play for PlayStation Move or Project Natal. This includes the new SOCOM and Fable 3. Both of them will feature Move and Natal support, but no hardcore gamers will want to play them that way.
- Project Natal will be renamed something that sounds stupider then “project natal”. It definitely will not be renamed just “Natal”
- Nintendo will continue ignore online games.

Games Announced:
- A remake of Maniac Mansion, for Steam, Wii Shop, PlayStation Store and/or Xbox Live Arcade.
- HAWX 2
- Professor Layton 3
- Pikmin 3
- Bungie’s new IP with Activision.
- Mario Party 9
- GTA 5

2010 Video Game Character March Madness

This bracket will rank some of my favorite and least favorite video game characters against each other until a champion is crowned. What I basically did was write up a list of 65 characters, then somewhat ranked them according to my liking. Instead of ranking them 1-65 I did 4 1s, 4 2s, 4 3s and so on. Then I randomly matched all the seeds, the same way the March Madness bracket is matched. I took the first of the highest seed listed and matched them against the last of the lowest ranked one. When it came down to the last two, they face off in a play-in game, for the rights to be destroyed by a #1 seed. I tried to put an emphasis on characters from games released in 2009.

FAQs

Q: Why is the order all messed up? 1 vs. 16, 7 vs. 8 and so on.
A: I am following the same order as the NCAA March Madness bracket, which is set up this way to try to ensure that if the #1 and #2 seeds keep winning, they won’t face each other until the last possible match-up.

Q: Why isn’t in (BLANK) here? He’s clearly better then (BLANK).
A: The list was chosen by my own personal opinion. For example, I do not play a whole lot of console first-person shooters, that’s why Master Chief isn’t present.

Q: Why do you have (BLANK) beating (BLANK), are you an idiot?
A: Yes, I am an idiot, but that’s not the point. Again this is my choice for who wins and loses. That’s the beauty of writing something like this. You get to express your opinions and have everyone disagree with them.

Sony Region – First Round

1) Cloud from the Final Fantasy VII series vs. 16) Thumper from the Twisted Metal series
Cloud is a master of swordplay. It doesn’t take him long before he reduces Thumper to a smoking pile of “Twisted Metal.”

8 ) Mario from the Super Mario series vs. 9) Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series
Snake hides in the shadows until Mario nonchalantly waltzes by. Snake emerges from the shadows and dispenses Mario with one quick flick of his wrists around Mario’s neck.

5) Katamari from the Katamari Damacy series vs. 12) Bucky Lasek from the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series
Katamari has little trouble rolling over and collecting Bucky Lasek and his skateboard as well as all of the spectators that are there to watch the bout.

4) Luigi from the Super Mario series vs. 13) Bently Bear from Crystal Castles
Luigi pops a fire flower and burns Bently in a hellish inferno.

6) The Black Knight from World of Warcraft vs. 11) Niko Bellic from Grand Theft Auto 4
Niko appears in the arena of the Argent Tournament disoriented and unarmed. The Black Knight sits back and allows his ghoul to rip Niko to bits.

3) The Prince of Persia from The Prince of Persia vs. 14) Rhindle from Adventure
The Prince of Persia is both quick and has a sharp blade, which comes in very handy when he defeats Rhindle quickly and quietly.

7) Loco Roco from the Loco Roco series vs. 10) Jack Cayman from MadWorld
Loco Roco may be able to squeeze himself into extra small spaces, but Cayman’s chainsaw is still able to break him down into tiny bits.

2) Ezio from Assassin’s Creed 2 vs. 15) Krusty the Clown from Krusty’s Fun House
Krusty attempts to flee from battle but Ezio is able to take him out with one throwing knife.

Nintendo Region – First Round

1) Sephiroth from the Final Fantasy VII series vs. 16) Siegfreid from the Soul series
Pound for pound this is a rather compelling match. Both are skilled swordsmen but only Sephiroth has the cunning to advance.

8 ) Square from Adventure vs. 9) Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat series
Square’s very small size can’t protect him from Scorpion’s harpoon. Plus he is without his dagger so he has no means of attacking back.

5) Polterguy from Haunting vs. 12) Knuckles from the Sonic series
Polterguy jumps in and out of random objects around the battlefield, frightening Knuckles and causing him to flee the scene leaving only a trail of urine in his wake.

4) Captain Olimar from the Pikmin series vs. 13) Willie DeWitt from Bucky O’Hare
Willie DeWitt’s charged up energy gun is no match for an alien who can only command the loyalty of flowers.

6) Toe Jam from the ToeJam and Earl series vs. 11) Super Monkey from Bloons Tower Defense 3
Super Monkey has a slight advantage since he has an unlimited amount of darts to throw. What he isn’t expecting is ToeJam to break out a Funk-Vac.

3) Meta Knight from the Kirby series vs. 14) Michael from Maniac Mansion
Michael’s film developing skills are no match for Meta Knight’s sword skills and agility.

7) John Starks from NBA Jam TE vs. 10) Daxter from the Jak (and Daxter) series
Daxter’s history of being used as Jak’s weapon allows him to take a barrage of basketballs off the head. He wears down John Starks and unexpectedly takes him out with a rifle.

2) Kirby from the Kirby series vs. 15) Kurt Cobain formerly from Guitar Hero 5
Shortly after typing in “Cobain” my cell phone received a call from Courtney Love’s lawyer… Kirby wins by default.

Microsoft Region – First Round

1) Night Elf Boomkin from World of Warcraft vs. 16) The Purple Tentacle from Maniac Mansion
A few shots of Moonfire turn the Purple Tentacle into a pile of purple goo.

8 ) Earl from the ToeJam & Earl series vs. 9) Football Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies
Earl never gets a chance to capture the Football Zombie before he’s lying lifeless on the ground without a brain.

5) Gattling Pea from Plants vs. Zombies vs. 12) Yoshi from the Super Mario series
Yoshi’s quick tongue action can only hold off the almost constant flow of peas the Gattling Pea can dish out. If the Gattling Pea can hold off a horde of zombies, Yoshi offers little challenge.

4) Earthworm Jim from the Earthworm Jim series vs. 13) Mini Cooper S from Project Gotham Racing 2
Earthworm Jim uses his head as a plug on the tailpipe of the Mini, causing it to sputter around until it stalls out. Axel Foley cackles manically in the background.

6) Worms from the Worms series vs. 11) Magnet Shroom from Plants vs. Zombies
Magnet Shroom draws all the Worms weapons away but without any offensive abilities of his own, he just sits there helplessly as the Worms uppercut, fire punch and prod him to death.

3) Professor Layton from the Professor Layton series vs. 14) The Spitter from Left 4 Dead 2
It only takes a portion of Layton’s cunning to realize he can survive if he avoids the Spitter’s acid.

7) Tarren Ghost from the Starcraft series vs. 10) Hogger from World of Warcraft
Hogger’s level 11 elite status means nothing when he hears “Nuclear launch detected…”

2) Cactuar from the Final Fantasy series vs. 15) Starfy from The Legendary Starfy
Starfy can only handle a few shots from Cactuar before he is defeated in a very decisive manner.

PC Region – First Round

Play-In Game
16a) Blood Elves from World of Warcraft vs. 16b) Tiger Woods from the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series
All Blood Elves look enough like women that Tiger Woods is distracted by their “beauty” allowing them to steal the match.

1) Mega Man from the Mega Man series vs. 16) Blood Elves
The Blood Elves feminine looks do nothing to a half boy, half robot. Mega Man wins easily since all Blood Elves know how to do is stand with all their weight on one foot.

8 ) Trevor Belmont from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness vs. 9) Sonic from the Sonic series
Trevor, who is used to tackling ghosts, zombies, vampires and other mythical creatures, dispatches Sonic with one crack of his whip-chain.

5The Lich King from World of Warcraft vs. 12) The Sims Me from the Sims series
The Sims Me has no weapons or special powers of any kind. The Lich King just unleashes an army of undead to finish me off.

4) Link from the Legend of Zelda series vs. 13) The Zuma Frog from the Zuma series
The Zuma frog’s little colorful balls are easily reflected by Link’s shield, allowing Link to get close enough to lop Zuma Frog’s head clean off.

6) UFO from the Kirby series vs. 11) Tidus from Final Fantasy X
UFO’s powered up super-star attack is too much for Tidus to handle when he doesn’t have Yuna there to heal him.

3) Bahamut from the Final Fantasy series vs. 14) Flo from the Diner Dash series
After Flo fears missing too many work days if she is seriously injured during battle, she forfeits the match and allows Bahamut to prepare for the next round.

7) Dr. Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters the Video Game vs. 10) TVR Cerbera 12 Speed from Project Gotham Racing 2
Since a Cerbera is neither a ghost nor human, it is enough immune to a proton pack as well as Venkman’s charm that it races away with the victory.

2) Diablo from the Diablo series vs. 15) Donatello from TMNT 2: The Arcade Game
Donatello’s staff is no match for Diablo as he gets cooked up into a delicious soup.

Sony Region – Round 2

1) Cloud vs. 9) Solid Snake
Cloud enters the arena with Snake no where in sight. Out of frustration, cloud slices his sword through the only thing he can find, a cardboard box, which for some reason Snake is hiding inside.

5) Katamari vs. 4) Luigi
Luigi takes out his vacuum from Luigi’s Mansion and begins to sweep off all the objects stuck onto the Katamari. Once it is too small to collect him he jumps on top, squishing it, then he continues on his journey.

6) The Black Knight vs. 3) The Prince of Persia
The Black Knight has too many phases for the Prince to be able to handle. Yeah the Prince is quick and agile, but an Army of the Dead is too much for most to survive.

2) Ezio vs. 10) Jack Cayman
Cayman enters with his chainsaw blazing as Ezio stands back smirking. Ezio’s agility wins out as his short sword attacks much faster then a chainsaw.

Nintendo Region – Round 2

1) Sephiroth vs. 9) Scorpion
Scorpion is able to get a harpoon into Sephiroth but isn’t expecting Sephiroth’s sword to impale straight through his heart on the rebound.

5) Polterguy vs. 13) Willie DeWitt
Willie DeWitt’s energy gun takes so long to charge up that Polterguy can evade the shots. Polteruy then possesses Willie’s gun, causing Willie to flee the scene frightened.

6) TowJam vs. 3) Meta Knight
Meta Knight slides into action with his sword cocked and ready for action. Before ToeJam can get his Funk-Vac warmed back up, Meta Knight has sliced through two of his legs and one arm.

10) Daxter vs. 2) Kirby
Kirby begins by inhaling Daxter’s gun and becoming a gun himself. Daxter’s quick thinking has him grabbing the Kirby-gun and firing off all the bullets. Daxter then beats Kirby senseless once he turns back into regular form.

Microsoft Region – Round 2

1) 1 Night Elf Boomkin vs. 9) Football Zombie
Knowing Football Zombies move quickly, the Boomkin throws an Entangling Roots on him to prevent movement. Then he unloads on the zombie with Wraths until he collapses.

5) Gattling Pea vs. 4) Earthworm Jim
This match is just a battle between pea shooters. Fortunately for Jim, his shoots a more consistent stream of bullets and therefore he emerges victorious.

6) Worms vs. 3) Professor Layton
Having defeated the Magnet Shroom, the Worms have retrieved their weapons. Since they’re only worms, their attacks do very little against a grown human. Layton conjures up a puzzle about worms and traps them inside forever.

7) Tarren Ghost vs. 2) Cactuar
Tarren Ghost uses her cloak ability to sneak up on Cactuar. However she still is no match for his 10,000 needles attack and succumbs to the battle.

PC Region – Second Round

1) Mega Man vs. 8 ) Trevor Belmont
Having never faced a robot-boy before, Trevor is clueless on how to go after Mega Man. Before he could choose a technique, Mega Man had already knocked him out of the tournament.

5) The Lich King vs. 4) Link
The Lich King under estimates Link’s small size and decides to go easy on him. This mistake gives Link the upper hand and allows him to escape with a slight victory.

6) UFO vs. 3) Bahamut
Both aerial experts with very powerful attacks, Bahamut gets the advantage because of his massive size and moves to the next round convincingly.

10) TVR Cerbera 12 Speed vs. 2) Diablo
Cerbera’s blazing fast speed means very little when Diablo lights a fire under his hood and seizes up his engine. Diablo cruises into the next round.

Round of 16

1) Cloud vs. 4) Luigi
With Luigi’s out of power-ups and his vacuum clogged with Katamari parts, his only offensive is to jump on Cloud’s head. This action is comical to Cloud so he allows Luigi to continue for a few moments before lopping his head off.

6) The Black Knight vs. 2) Ezio
Ezio can fend off an army of attacking guards so he had little trouble blocking, dodging and countering all of the Black Knight’s shots through all three phases.

1) Sephiroth vs. 5) Polterguy
Sephiroth laughs in the face of Polterguy because he is unarmed. What Polterguy doesn’t know is Sephiroth has seen far scarier things then a possessed toaster. Sephiroth has to chase Polterguy around for a little while before he’s able to impale him with the same sword that took out Scorpion.

3) Meta Knight vs. 10) Daxter
Daxter moseys onto the battlefield knowing luck has been on his side in the first few rounds. Meta Knight however allows him to die with dignity by making his death quick and mostly painless.

1) Night Elf Boomkin vs. 4) Earthworm Jim
Jim, being an earthworm, is immune to nature damage, which the Boomkin doesn’t realize until it’s too late. Before the Boomkin knows it, Jim has worn him down with head whips and pea shooter shots.

3) Professor Layton vs. 2) Cactuar
Cactuar’s 10,000 Needles on cool down, so Professor Layton sees and opportunity to advance. He presents a puzzle to Cactuar but Cactuar is a cactus so he doesn’t have a mind that can be blown by a confusing puzzle. Cactuar escapes with a slim victory.

1) Mega Man vs. 4) Link
Link starts out by blocking some of Mega Man’s shots. Mega Man evades all of Links attacks too. In the end, Mega Man’s gun wins over Link’s sword.

3) Bahamut vs. 2) Diablo
Bahamut begins by flipping around in the sky, twirling, twisting, bending and generally making a big scene. Diablo just waits and enjoys the show. Once Bahamut begins to charge up his energy beam, Diablo hurls a fire ball the size of Rhode Island into Bahamut causing him to fall from the sky like a meteor.

Round of 8

1) Cloud vs.2) Ezio
Ezio arrives to battle ready to go. Cloud does the same, loaded with material and with his best gear equipped. Ezio begins with a long sword, but cannot get past Cloud’s parries and dodges. Cloud then attacks with magic, which Ezio isn’t expecting and take him down to half health forcing him to switch to a smaller weapon. Ezio is able to get a few good shots on Cloud but ultimately loses a very close battle.

1) Sephiroth vs. 3) Meta Knight
Now this match is what the tournament is all about; Two very skilled swordsmen in an all-or-nothing death match. The battle wages on, going back and forth, much like the sword-fighting scene in The Princess Bride. Meta Knight emerges as the proverbial “Man in Black” with his victory.

4) Earthworm Jim vs. 2) Cactuar
Earthworm Jim and Cactuar is another entertaining match-up. Each of them are living things that wouldn’t ever be seen fighting in the real world. This cute but deadly battle is eventually won by Earthworm Jim.

1) Mega Man vs. 2) Diablo
Mega Man starts by equipping Ice-Slasher thinking it will work well against the lord of the underworld. Unfortunately for Mega Man, no ice is cold enough to survive the inferno surrounding Diablo. With the Ice-Slasher present, Mega Man is even more vulnerable to Diablo’s Fiery attacks. Diablo wins with the assist going to Ice Man.

Final Four

1) Cloud vs. 3) Meta Knight
Two Sephiroth slayers face off in a match that decides who will make it to the championship, both of these competitors made it to the final four last year. Cloud is the defending champ and Meta Knight lost to Mega Man in this round. This turns into a one sided bout since Cloud saved his Omnislash limit-break until now.

4) Earthworm Jim vs. 2) Diablo
Both newcomers to the Final Four, Jim and Diablo plan to strut their stuff in this match. Jim pulls out all the stops; head whips, blaster power-ups and cow launchers, but none of which really seem to phase Diablo. Diablo is on a mission this year and will not be taken down easily. Diablo prevails and punches his ticket to the finals.

Championship

1) Cloud vs. 2) Diablo
Cloud enters, still a bit sluggish from the Meta Knight match. Meanwhile, Diablo is already in the arena, waiting on Cloud to get this thing underway. Cloud comes prepared with his fire resist accessories donned and icy material attached to his weapon. Diablo is always ready, no matter who or what he is facing. Cloud starts off by casting a magic barrier on himself and rushing towards Diablo, attacking with every ounce of his strength. Diablo takes the shots with ease but appears physically drained from the abuse. While Cloud takes a moment to collect himself, Diablo casts multiple fire walls around him, out of which a number of demons emerge to attack Cloud. As Cloud fends them off, Diablo collects himself and plans his next attack. Once Cloud is done mowing through all the demons, Diablo appears and thrusts a trident through Cloud’s heart, becoming the Champion of the 2010 Video Game March Madness.

Sonic Classic Collection for Nintendo DS

Title: Sonic Classic Collection
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Side Scroller
Rating: E for Everyone
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Website

Shortly after I bought a GameCube, I purchased Sonic Mega Collection, a collection of all of the original Sonic games that appeared on the Sega Genesis. I found it interesting that Nintendo or Sega never released any iteration of this for the Gameboy Advance, much the same way Capcom did with their Mega Man Anniversary Collection. Low and behold, almost 8 years later, Sega finally releases a compilation of Sonic games for the DS called Sonic Classic Collection.

Included are six different games; Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. On top of these you can play as Knuckles in either Sonic 2 or Sonic 3. This came as a huge, welcomed surprise to me. In the GameCube edition, I was very disappointed when I wasn’t allowed to play either of these games as Knuckles, which was a benefit to Genesis owners who owned all three games. Sonic & Knuckles has an attachment on the top of the cartridge that allowed the gamer to plug additional games into it. If most games were attached, you could play one of the bonus mini-games that appear during normal gameplay, but when Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 were attached, the player could instead play those games as Knuckles.

Graphically speaking, these games are identical to their Genesis counterparts. Given their transformation to the smaller screen, it’s quite impressive how good they look. The sounds are the same as they were back in the day as well, taking each repeat gamer back to the days when soundtracks were limited by the cartridge format. In the same respect, the controls and gameplay are also identical. Although one thing with the controls did bother me. The start button doesn’t pause the game, instead it has no use in this game. If you want to pause while playing you have to touch the lower right corner of the touch screen. Why they couldn’t have both of these options, for people like me that are used to using the start button to pause, is beyond me.

There are, however, a few bugs that I don’t remember being present before. Every once in a while, when rolling along at high rates of speed, Sonic will glitch off track, get stuck and stop moving. You can usually jump yourself free, but it breaks up the fast-paced speed that these games are most well known for. There are also graphical issues, where Sonic will not appear at the front of the screen, instead he’ll be behind things that shouldn’t be in the foreground.

Additionally, there were things that appeared in the original games that probably could have been fixed for the rerelease. One big thing that always bugged me, appears in the third world of Sonic 2, The Aquatic Ruin stage, when playing as Knuckles. There are these pillars will shoot up from the ground, which in the original game stopped Sonic dead in his tracks. The problem arises when playing as Knuckles because he is unable to jump as high as Sonic can, therefore if the gamer doesn’t know they are coming and jump early enough to avoid them before they get to their maximum height, they are unable to jump high enough to get past them. Sonic, on the other hand, can jump high enough to clear them.

Sonic Classic Collection is only available for Nintendo DS. Even though there are little bugs, this is still an excellent buy for any gamer who grew up on the Sonic series. Plus the DS’s portableness makes it easy to speed through a couple levels while you’re in line at the DMV or traveling with people you don’t want to talk to (I.E. commuting to or from work).

The Gaming Savant says: Good buy.

March 13, 2010

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Preview

Platform: PC
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
Rating: T for Teen
Release Date: TBA
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Website

Blizzard Entertainment is well known for their three massively successful PC franchises; Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft. Later this year (hopefully, since no release date has been confirmed), they will be releasing the third expansion to their popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft called Cataclysm. Cataclysm begins with Deathwing, a powerful dragon, escaping from his prison in Deepholm. His escape causes colossal, irreversible damage to the world of Azeroth.

For starters, the level cap will be raised to 85. Generally, at least with the first two expansions, the level cap was raised by 10 not 5. Blizzard says they are only doing a 5 level increase so they can focus on end-game content and not zones and quests for the additional levels. A number of new dungeons and high level zones will be added, but you already knew these things would be present, since they appear with every expansion.

Two new races will be introduced. For the Horde, Goblins will be the new playable race. Goblins are currently occupying multiple towns across Azeroth, including Booty Bay and Ratchet. It is unclear what will happen with these towns, since they are used by both factions as loading areas for ships that cross the ocean. As for the Alliance, Worgen will make their appearance as playable characters. Worgen are what non-WoW players would call Ware-wolves and in WoW they are quite similar. Worgen raced characters will have the ability to appear as a human or in Worgen form.

In the first expansion, Burning Crusade, the Draenei and the Blood Elves were added as new races and allowed Alliance players to be Shamans and Horde players to be Paladins, for the first time. Before the expansion these two classes were limited to only one faction. Since then another problem has surfaced because there is such a small amount of races available for those classes. Cataclysm will fix this problem by opening up Alliance Shamans to both Draenei and Dwarf. Likewise, Horde Paladins will be able to be either Blood Elf or Tauren. On top of this, multiple classes have been expanded among more races, including Druid which currently has only one race on each faction.

All of Azeroth will be rebuilt for the release, allowing players to finally use their flying mounts everywhere. When flying mounts were first implemented in Burning Crusade, they were not usable in any of the original areas. With Deathwing’s exit tearing the world apart, it has allowed Blizzard to rebuild the original Azerothian continents, therefore allowing user controlled flight in old zones. Among the environment changes are; Orgrimmar, the Orc capital city led by Azeroth’s most powerful Shaman; Thrall, will be hit hard. No details on the city’s internal layout have surfaced but a shot of the front gates shows them heavily reinforced. The Barrens, the zone directly to the east of Orgrimmar, has been split in half horizontally with the southern part gaining an Alliance controlled town. The zone Desolace, formerly an area absent of plants, trees or vegetation, will flourish with life when a tear in the landscape allows water to reach the inner core. The Night Elf town of Auberdine will be destroyed, forcing Alliance citizens to relocate further north in Darkshore as Horde citizens move into the southern part. Azshara, which is currently rarely used by anyone, will become a zone occupied by the Goblins. On the other side of the planet, Southshore will be hit by a tidal wave and demolished. Wetlands will also see a lot of destruction as a result of Deathwing’s escape from Deephold. It is also said that Stranglethorn Vale will see a total transformation. Because of all of these changes, hundreds of new low level quests will be added, making the game seem totally different to someone who levels up a new toon, after the expansion is released.

A couple profession additions will be present as well. Archaeology is a new secondary profession that can be learned by everyone, regardless of prior professions. Archaeology will consist of locating artifacts which have been unearthed by the cataclysm. Characters will be given a new tracking system that will be separate from the ones used for primary professions, allowing for simultaneous tracking of collectables. Collecting artifacts will unlock Path of the Titans, a new system that eventually will unlock unique glyphs that are much stronger than the ones inscriptionists can make. Another profession addition is reforging, which is an addendum to many existing professions. Reforging allows for an item’s creator to change his or her creation’s statistics. For example a tailor can take a pair of boots with 16 spirit and change 8 of the spirit into intellect, opening up class specific items to more classes.

Speaking of stats, the stats that appear on gear have been dramatically simplified. Things like attack power, mana regeneration per 5 seconds and spell power will now be affected by the five base stats; stamina, intellect, spirit, agility and strength. Attack power will be dependant on strength or agility, depending on the class. Mana per 5 will be based on spirit for healers and spell power will be based off of intellect. All these removed aspects will still appear on your character’s info page, but gear will no longer support them.

With no confirmed release date, Cataclysm could be over a year away. However, Blizzard just put out WoW’s 3.3 patch, the last major patch scheduled before Cataclysm’s release, so it could come as soon as this summer. I have a feeling there is something major that Blizzard hasn’t announced yet. Something like a new hero class, I’m hoping for a Battle Mage, a Mage that wears mail or plate and wields two staffs. Maybe even a major capital city, one that will be emerging from the chaos and will support both factions, as well as banks, auction houses and class and profession trainers. It would also be nice to see an old raid instance that will be upgraded for max level players, something like Molten Core or Black Wing Lair. For now Blizzard is keeping a lot of secrets, further building the anticipation of new content and speculation of what might be added.

The Gaming Savant

March 17, 2010