Quick Blurb - Mass Effect

Bioware may be truly redefining video games as we speak. The dialogue system, presentation, and story of the Mass Effect series actually takes gaming in a new direction.

It's a direction where intense narratives in games is no longer niche, but mainstream. Where people want to play the game for the story of saving the Galaxy, not to shoot things.

Any journalist, media historian, or media studies buff should really be taking notice. I suspect that in the next 10-12 years there will be some major changes in the delivery of narrative in games that isn't about pure motivation, and could result in truly validating the medium in the same respectable light as film, music, and other high arts.

We need man-sized fruit snacks

Fruit snacks are delicious. These bite-sized bits of glory take anyone back to their elementary school days. There's a fundamental problem with them, though.

They're meant for kids.

Really, peruse the snack aisle at your local grocery store and you'll find boxes of Gushers, Welch's fruit snacks, Betty Crocker, General Mills; basically every brand of fruit snacks are packaged in small doses.

Nutrition facts and serving sizes aside, basically every 20+ year old male will agree that they could pound down at least 3 of these small packages in a sitting:

I guarantee that most guys love fruit snacks. I also guarantee that the first company that makes and markets some big, man-sized portions of fruit snacks will almost make millions of dollars.

Dear Subway: please use different knives

I love sub sandwiches. To me, it's like having a delicious sandwich of choice elongated to suit your appetite. Most people, myself included, completely dig Subway's subs. Delicious, fresh veggies topped off on good cuts of meat... I'd go there every day if I could.

But something really gets me about Subway.

For those that don't know me, I have a distaste for most condiments. Like others, I can't stand the sight, or smell, of things like ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. It gets to gag-reflex points. I send food back when these things are on it (and I always ask to have my food without).

Mayonnaise especially gets me. It's basically disgusting fat, right? Why do people eat it? Practically the whole world has agreed that mayo is disgusting.

For what it's worth, yes I have tried Miracle Whip. Yes, it is equally disgusting, you sick people. It's like smoking clove cigarettes, it really doesn't make anything better for you.

Back to the topic at hand, Subway. See, Subway is very good about keeping gross things like mayo off my sandwich. Still, other sick people get these condiments on theirs.

Subway provides the service of cutting your footlong sub in half, so you can easily hold your sandwich while eating it. See where I'm going with this?

They use the same knife for all sandwiches.

See, Subway, you're missing something. I asked for no mayo. The knife you used (which they don't ever wash, and always looks like it's caked with everyone else's condiments from their sandwiches) to cut my sub was used to cut the person's sub in line before me.

And they asked for mayo. You put that knife in mayo. I do not want mayo on my sub. That knife, full of mayo, went through my mayo-less sandwich.

So, Subway, change this. What if someone has severe allergies to disgusting things like mayo? You're killing this segment of the population, and making me tear off pieces of my sub, carefully examining for any gross white stuff.

I want a two-knife rule for every Subway. One for the mayo subs, and one for the rest. Make it happen!

Ten Top Wii MotionPlus Ideas

Recently, I posted a pretty rad editorial @thewiire detailing top ideas I had for MotionPlus gaming. Be sure to check it out and leave your own ideas in the comments!

Additionally, Chris Holzworth is starting up a column with us, and his first one is live on the site as well. It centers around what Nintendo needs to do at E3 to gain him back.

Or, as Chris would say, give him a "nerdgasm." Check that out, too, and give him some love.

PR Photo Project Status

For Photo Journalism class, we were asked to work on getting our photos published.

Taking a step beyond that, I have pitched my photo essay project (entirely based around video game controllers and our interactions with them) to a contributor to The Game Reviews, a video game website. The contributer has an irregular column devoted to photos of vintage game collections, allowing gamers to contribute photos of their collections.

I linked him to my photo essay on my Flickr page, found here.

No word yet on when my essay will appear on the site, but the odds seem very good.

Photo Essay: Video Game Controllers

The goal of this photo essay was to explore control input in video games and our interaction with them on a base level. The photo collection can be found on my Flickr page here.

The photo collection and minimalistic captions representing each photo demonstrate a few key factors in how we approach video games. While some initially view the photos as hunks of plastic for child's play, the intent of the essay is to note the way we as players interact with the controllers. To approach the controllers as the "handheld medium" that separates video games from other art mediums like film is essential in understanding this unique interactive entertainment form.

Photo captions tell the real story, with the earliest dated controller described as "Direction pad, two face buttons, two mode buttons. Two thumbs to operate." In this classic Nintendo controller, players can use their simple input, often a combination of four cardinal directions and two face buttons to enjoy a large variety (literally hundreds) of games. This same controller is used to direct Mario to a power-up in Super Mario Bros., charge up a super spike with Eddie in Super Spike V'Ball, defeat Ridley as gaming's original heroine, Samus, in Metroid, and explore a vast land and down foes with magic by issuing commands in Dragon Warrior.

Additionally, this photo essay raises the question, "What about the future of game controllers?" If Nintendo's recent advancements are any question, controllers will only continue to tie in to more natural forms of human interactivity. While old technology is being used in new ways (Nintendo's Zapper and Wii Remote both utilizing infrared, twenty years apart), things like accelerometers and gyroscopes bring real human movement to many video games in a big way. Companies like Emotive are developing headsets that measure brain activity, and whispers of Microsoft planning on using human shadows hint at "controllers" on the horizon.

For the time being, of course, a few thumbs and fingers seem to draw players into their games just fine.

While intense graphics, blippy-yet-masterfully composed soundtracks, and addictive online elements pervade the minds of gamers across the globe, the input control connecting players to their games undoubtedly rules the medium. These photos and their captions highlight that fact.

Portrait Project

The purpose of the Portrait Project was to use visual cues to challenge our assumptions of our photo's subjects. In this case, we were assigned to step out of our comfort zone and photograph (in my case) one individual we did not personally know, and another that we do personally know a certain number of times.

Using common visual cues, most should be able to note the uncomfortable looks that the photo subjects give off. Whether a viewer is considering the environment of the photos, in this instance we consider a lobby and outside an elevator, or their posture, clothes, and behavior, they make a judgment on whether the photographer seems to be acquainted with them.

My Flickr page contains all the photos in the project, but the final contact sheet used is seen on the left. I arranged each picture, four for each individual, to line up more symmetrically for the viewer to compare them. In my presentation to our photo journalism class, we found that viewers of the photos were split on their judgment.

The truth of the photos here are that the man outside the elevator is my roommate, while the girl in the lobby I am not acquainted with. I instructed my roommate to have his backpack with him and look as though he was waiting for the elevator in order to go to campus. By doing so and framing the photographs in an "impromptu" manner, letting him naturally look uncomfortable (as he surely was), the two subjects looked similar. Therefore, my project demonstrates that these visual cues may be misleading when the photographer chooses to mislead, as I did.

Document Project

My plan for documenting a night of myself consuming a decent amount of alcohol, and slowly descending into a drunken stupor seemed to pan out for my Document Project. The shots of each drink consumed led to ultimately finding my bed as a safe haven from a long night.

In documenting each alcoholic drink or shot that I took, I attempted to keep the same general frame for the photos, with a few unexpected exceptions. Most shots were "in-action," with each drink being visibly consumed.

The Document Project culminated in a few essential editing choices. With the low-lit situations I was often in, brightness and contrast levels were carefully monitored. No photos needed to be cropped, but they were arranged in a "contact sheet" format, with a sizable amount of white space separating each photo. The order of the drinks, then, can be "read" from left to right.

The final version, seen below, can also be viewed in various sizes on my Flickr page here.

Light photograph

In my photo, I utilized the Szarkowski element of Frame. It was a cloudy day, and I chose to photograph the "slanted" exterior windows on the second floor of the Union. While, to us, the windows appear to be perfectly straight, the angle of the natural light and slight bends and tilts of the windows reveals a "bendy" reflection of the roof above.

These "bendy" lines greatly contrast with the very straight lines of the rest of the photo. The windows and building itself lead off of the picture. That, combined with the use of nearby buildings, help define the frame. To me, it helped construct the feeling of very square, straight architecture around the viewer, yet the light from the sun (what little there was that day), found the details in each bend of the window.

When dealing with the framing, I was careful to ensure that the lines of the building were leading in the directions I intended. Though the building was leading off the picture, a series of vertical lines were sort of "intertwining" the rest of the picture. I felt that the use of these lines would help lead a viewer's eyes around the photo.

This photo didn't take too much editing at all. There were a few touch-ups to ensure the levels and contrast settings were correctly showing the scene as I saw it when I took the photo to begin with. Aside from that, little cropping or editing was needed.

New Place = Same Place?

Because I know, and have personally talked to, other Mike Suszeks in the world, I took the time to register www.mikesuszek.com.  And guess what?  That's where you are now!  At least, where you WILL be after all the transitioning happens.

That also means, I have at least four emails I can be contacted at (spoiler alert, they all forward to my Gmail).  So if you want to gripe about the things I write here, or want to tell me you loved the most recent podcast, shoot an email to mikesuszek@mikesuszek.com, which will wind up going to mikesuszek@gmail.com.

I know, I want you to type my name as many times as possible.  It's an ego thing.

So bookmark this place if you're interested in my life.  If you're TOO interested in my life, follow my Twitter.  If that's not enough... well a man can only do so much.

Peace!

-Mike

Flickr photos!

I'll be posting my Flickr updates here, primarily for my Photo Journalism class.

To start, my Flickr address is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesuszek/

My first (really bad) uploaded photo can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesuszek/3251551884/

And if you want to check out more of what I do (obviously better than taking photos), go to The Wiire, and check out my first product video review, and feel free to listen to the newest Wiire Podcast this week, Episode 123!

-Mike

Look that way -->

Now I've got your wallet.

[/diversion]

Rez + Wii = Genius

So, now that Tetsuya Mizuguchi will be developing at least one game for the Wii, and it sounds as though it will be an original property, I feel a little closer to what we should be expecting from the Wii.

After all, a possible port, at the very least, of Rez would mean pure amazingness with the Wii Remote.  And frankly, I find the 480p of the Wii to be good enough for my gaming habits.  I love HD, don't get me wrong, but 480p is still pretty, and I still consider it "this-gen."  But games are more than graphics.  They have the level of interactivity (better with the Wii Remote in my opinion) and the possibility for a great auditory experience as well.  Not much can top what Rez has done in the regard of intertwining these elements well.

But other games are pushing us towards the edge of Wii gaming this generation, some of which are on the way, and others that are still in my brain.  I want to see a version of Portal on the Wii, somehow.  And The Conduit seems like a godsend to the Wii core gamers (they'll surface when the game does).

But what else do we need?  Lots of things.  We need more online games, and with Reggie saying that more community features are on the way, we can only hope we'll get that.  Ultimately, if Nintendo were the first out the door with the first console of the next generation, then we should expect these sorts of features then.

Which is exactly what I am anticipating.  I expect that these millions of dollars Nintendo has mysteriously been spending on research and development is going toward the next console in the Wii family (they just CAN'T drop that name), which I call "Super Wii," and will be HD, have an adequate storage solution, use nearly the exact same controls as the Wii (you will be able to use the Wii Remote and attachments in some games) and have a decent online setup, but not perfect.  And still no DVD player.  Who knows if they'll ever do that.  But they will have streaming movies online.

Those are my far-off predictions.  Wouldn't that be fun?

To big-shot game makers: giant WTF

Courtney Love was often criticized for, as she put it, sitting on the "Holy Grail" of music, being unreleased Nirvana tracks that were rumored after Kurt Cobain's death.  In her eyes, it was kind of cool to keep what could be insight into his death, personified into music.

Whether you like grunge or not, bear with the analogy.  This same kind of thought process seems to be pervading the games industry.  There are a few games that basically all of us agree are amongst the best games ever.  They provide experiences we can't get anywhere else.  For some, RPGs like Final Fantasy VII, Earthbound, and Chrono Trigger are a "Holy Grail" of sorts.  Other gamers crave the excellence of Super Mario Bros. 3, or the amazing Super Metroid.  We all have our favorites, sure, but we can all agree on a few games that simply rock our world.

Now, we don't always need these games to turn into their own franchises, like Square Enix capitalizing on the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.  But at moments, it is easy to feel like some Publishers are cock-blocking gamers from the "what could be."

Right now, you could be playing an online, multiplayer classic F-Zero WiiWare racing game, complete with the awesome retro Mode 7 feel.  Or maybe Nintendo will get their act together and bring a new console Earthbound to North America, or anywhere for that matter.  But these games don't exist.  Why don't they, again?

I'm sure some will hold the belief that we don't want to beat a dead horse.  Digital reproduction of art seems to change the value of the original piece.  Is the Mona Lisa much of an important piece in art history anymore, now that you can get it as a mouse pad for your computer?  In the same way, would we be risking killing the original Final Fantasy VII and what we loved from it, by actually making a remake of the game for a next-gen console?

Personally, I think remakes are a bit unnecessary.  I find the extent of the Virtual Console, and XBLA services to be enough in getting your retro game on, well, legally at least.  But bringing an amazing game like Chrono Trigger to the DS as a remake... is it necessary?  Is there a point?

However, if we were to see more new digitally-distributed games that take inspiration from the days of blissful gaming simplicity, perhaps this could give us that same feeling we had when playing the originals.  And these original titles won't be affected by a new release.

It seems to be taking Publishers a long time to re-adjust their views on their established properties.  For some time, not all of our favorite games were growing up with us.  Mega Man, for instance, seemed to continue, for over 50 games, on his moderately successful (at most) run with the same age group.  The problem is that people are still growing, and it likely wasn't until one of the biggest downloadable game this year hit, Mega Man 9, that many of the original fans found themselves coming back to the REAL blue bomber.

What of the blue blur?  Sonic continues on his path of forgetting what he used to do best.  Sonic Rush seemed pretty good, but in standard SEGA fashion, the game quickly became scrap.  Why can't we just have a new, fast-paced, 2D console platformer?  Is it because SEGA doesn't like us?

Koji Igarashi has been on my shit-list for some time with the mishandling of the Castlevania series.  With the success of the DS versions and their inability to truly improve on one another, I've been convinced for some time that the team over at Konami aren't thinking on all cylinders.  A fighting game for the Wii?  Here's a quick note, IGA: You don't need to have motion controls.  Is there any reason why we can't have a great 2D Castlevania adventure on WiiWare?

Although I love the Metroid Prime series with a burning passion, there are a million possiblities in another 2D Samus adventure, which hasn't been seen for years.  And if Retro Studios chooses to stick with the Prime series, why can't we have online multiplayer modes?  According to a representative some time ago, when asked about the third installment in the series, they said they did not include multiplayer as it went against the spirit of the series; even though the second game had a fun multiplayer mode, and Metroid Prime Hunters for DS is fairly good online multiplayer shooter.

Why can't we have Super Mario Bros. 4 for Wii?  Although there is no confirmation, I personally feel we will see a game of this nature in the future.  After all, New Super Mario Bros. for DS has been successful.  If you've played the multiplayer mode for that game, you'll know what I mean when I say that I want a deeper verion of that mode as a Wii title in the future.

After all this, it is fair to ask: Why can't they make these games?  So many of us devoted gamers want games like these, and more.  But are the creators of the games sitting on their Holy Grails?  Are they intentionally attempting to create hype prior to a release or announcement someday?  While we may never know, we can only continue to kick and scream for the games we love, but may never play.

Link back!

Dear Diary,

It's been seven (three) long years (months) since I last wrote in you.  The webpages are beginning to wrinkle and turn yellow.  I's so sorry!

To all of the me reading this, I'm writing over at The Wiire (www.thewiire.com) now.  Since it's the tits, go look at things that we do there.  The programming is top notch, the writing is excalibur, and the food is(n't) free!

So what has been going on?  I'm reviewing 4 games, and about 6 different accessories as the moment.  And since I'm not a paid writer yet (pay me!) then I'm only bringing home the bacon after I sell some goods.

So here's some of what I've been enjoying (sometimes painfully) for your (the reader) sake:

• Tomb Raider: Underworld - This is actually fun.  The Wii version is pretty, and the controls work fairly well.  But it comes with a few issues, too.  It glitches out occassionally, to the point that the game froze, blaring a single note.  I had to manually turn off the Wii and play the entire first level all over again.  And then it began glitching on a cut-scene, which I had to skip.  I found a few fake walls, and was able to pass through them, although they were'nt "essential" by any means.  Sometimes Lara has stubborn control, but it seems like that is the point of the game, in being precise.  Overall, a good game so far.  The DS version is pretty good as well, you just have to get used to the side-scrolling aspects.  The development team did a pretty good job of making it look good as a portable version.  The full Wii review will be posted at The Wiire soon enough.
• Sonic Unleashed - This is like two games in one: a good one, and a not-so-good one.  The daytime stages control pretty well, and are actually fairly fun to play.  In the nighttime stages, where Sonic becomes a Werehog (dumbest f'n name EVER), the game slows down, and becomes a platformer/beat em' up.  SEGA breaks beat em' up rule #1 here, nearly everything is motion control.  The nighttime controls are god-awful.  If possible, I would love to smack the team that decided this upside the head.  GAMERS DON'T LIKE THIS.  If you want to make a beat em' up, SEGA, here are some tips: A) Don't do waggle.  Just button presses.  They are more precise, and keeps the gameplay quick.  Plus, it better allows for combos.  Look at the combat system in No More Heroes for inspiration.  B) Create a new IP.  Quit spinning off of Sonic.  You are a smart group of people.  But all gamers want to see in Sonic are the classic, fast-paced platform action we saw on the Genesis.  And if you decide to spin-off him anyways, use Knuckles or something.  A new Chaotix game would be great.
• Line Rider 2: Unbound - Not much to say, but this is a good game.  The controls are excellent, and the in-game menus are fantastic.  The puzzles work well, but there isn't that much incentive to play through them all.  The online is trash, though.  You have to register at the Line Rider site, and are not allowed to use clipart from an SD card, or uploaded from your computer.  You have to create it within the game.  And that would be fine, but there isn't a dedicated clipart-maker within the game, you have to use your line tools to make it.  No wonder there is less than 10 cliparts available for download that users have created on their site.

Expect some exciting new video content at The Wiire.  And just maybe some exciting stuff in podcasts ahead.

Letters to Developers: Mario Paint Wii

Little known fact (or "unknown" fact, whichever you prefer); I work part-time at a daycare center. I found out that some of the two year-olds do something that beats the crap out of what I do for fun:

They roll balls of colorful paint around canvasses, look cute, then eat graham crackers.

Now aside from wishing I was a kid again, seeing these bright and beautiful pieces of work made me think of a fun game idea.

There hasn't been enough good "art" games in the history of video gaming. I'm a believer that video games can be art, but that is a different conversation. We're talking about using your virtual cursor to create. In fact, the most recent successful incarnations that I can think of in this limited genre are Colors! and Inchworm for the DS, both homebrew digital painting application.

And considering the touch-screen capabilities, it is surprising we aren't seeing more on the handheld market.

But the most memorable game in this area hands down is Mario Paint. Borrowing the immortal Mario name but scarcely having anything to do with it, Mario Paint rests in history as one of the only original IPs that Nintendo hasn't dug up.

Question... why not? Looking at the Wii's hardware, an update to one of the Super Nintendo's most beloved games is more than within reason. Let's start with the logistics of a Nintendo decision to bring the game back.

Infamously, Nintendo is working to ride the line between "casual" and "core" games. Looking at their first-party software library, they are doing a pretty good job. There's a good mix of games, and some do a good job to allow players to mix up their core gaming with their casual. But no game would appease both sides as well as a new Mario Paint. This is especially considering the original game still has a very strong showing online, with impressive tunes being made using Mario Paint's music maker, like the immortal "Still Alive" song from Portal.

It would appear on the Wii for about $10-15 (depending on the features involved), and using a Nunchuk could truly make virtual art fun! And the possible control schemes in multiple modes using the Remote and Nunchuk make this game petition-worthy. We could see modes like:

Simple, by-numbers painting - If you are one of the 9 people that have played around with the Photo Channel, you'll agree that the Wii Remote has potential for drawing mustaches on a picture of your friend. And even though the Photo Channel can be considered poorly executed, the idea of being able to use the wiimote to doodle, cut/copy/paste, and other basic MS Paint actions has got me thinking. If even more options and finer-tuned controls were added to this idea, couldn't this make an enjoyable Wii Ware game on its own?

Music Composer - This sold Mario Paint. Being able to create your favorite Nintendo tunes on your SNES was wicked-sweet. With Wii Music on the way, some would argue this feature useless. Since, as of now, Wii Music will feature a mode that is nothing like the music creator in Mario Paint, it would be a great addition to the bundle.

Gnat Attack - Clicking on the coffee mug let you play one of my favorite mini-games ever. If the magic of point-and-click wasp killing could be translated in a classic, fun way to the Wii, this game would be an instant hit.

Movie/animation studio - Mario Paint gave us the ability to create mini-movies on the Super Nintendo. They even provided Super Mario World characters to create the feeling that we are an animation studio director. Of course, it was very limited at the time. With much more power in the Wii's hardware, this is another mini-genre that would have a perfect fit with Nintendo. Could we make Link run up and kiss Peach as Mario shakes his fist in anger in our own Nintendo-themed soap opera?

Motion painting - That little ball painting story from before is what made me believe this could be a triple-A time waster. Imagine that each of your button presses and slight motions in the Nunchuk and Remote could create a beautiful array of colors. Or perhaps pointing the remote at the screen with a color selected while flicking the Nunchuk would allow you to splatter paint on the screen. You could choose your canvas, your shading and texture, and each slight motion and tilt would change the effect on the screen to create infinite possibilities in your virtual art.

This last idea isn't very far off from seeing birth. With the development of Wii Spray on the way, we could possibly see quality virtual graffiti in this console generation. But a Nintendo-developed one would not only use less hardware like a pc and projector screen, but would come with the quality precision that Nintendo is known for. Even using the IR sensor itself would open up enough possibilities that it could make a sufficient downloadable title. But having a free-paint mode that lets your hands truly do the work could reboot a genre long lost.

There are plenty of games that developers should be rolling out with, that only gamers seem to have the vision for. Sure, it is not as if I am the only one to think of it, but googling "Mario Paint Wii" sure doesn't come up with many results, and they revolve around the time the Wii was first coming out. If there is a game that comes to your mind that should see the light of day, feel free to keep the roundtable going on it.

Ten things Nintendo should have said instead of "Sorry about E3"

Since E3 let out over a month ago, top Nintendo executives have come out of the woodwork to either somewhat or blatantly apologize for their part in the show.

Gamers that know about this also know that their excuses are pretty sub-par and typical. Sure, we can understand that some great games are on their way, but Nintendo did nothing more than destroy their credibility, or what was left of it, as a true gamer-serving company.

So really, they can say anything they want to try making up for it, even if it won't work for some of us. Here are some of the things they may as well say:

1. - We were pretty drunk, guys. Iwata passed out on the futon after a mighty long 500 rounds of cow racing (man we fucking LOVE cow racing). Did you know you guys get a free Wii Remote with that? Seriously, that’s fan-TASTIC.
2. - Look, last time we checked, lots of crazy booth babes that like casual games come to E3. And when we looked into the crowd, we realized that crowd-surfing with balance boards wouldn’t exactly work this time. Late the party pretty much sums it up.
   
3. - Seriously? And you guys aren’t irate about Microsoft just copying us left and right? Go ask them who pwns the console market now? That’s right, THESE guys (with thumbs pointing towards them).
4. - We just WEREN’T prepared. How can we fill time like that when we take so long to develop games? Don’t get us wrong, we’re making some kick-ass titles that you just have to wait for. Grumble all you fucking want. You know that when we shit, we shit GOLD. In the meantime, we will fill our time slot with better things than showing you our incomplete games. We’ll show you graphs and talk about our philosophies.
5. - Look we’re sorry, but it’s E3, not a fucking godsend to video games. It’s nothing like it used to be, and we’ll announce our games when we fucking want to. Don’t be tethered like the rest of the “your dumb”-asses out there.
6. - You guys weren't happy? We're working to make an affordable gyroscope add-on and you're taking the time to bitch about how we should have done that to begin with? Fuck it, we're SO over. I want my Starter jacket back, asshole.
7. - Hello? Hello? Can you hear us? Yeah, we're talking over Wii Speak and - - hey, shut up guys, they can't hear me if the rest of the room is talking! Hello? Yeah, sorry about that, Ted can be a bit - - dude, dude, SILENCE YOUR PHONE!
8. - We're sorry. Really. We're sorry for the Gamecube. We're sorry for not even announcing some fun Virtual Console games like an online Goldeneye. We're sorry that we rely too much on third-party support when we create hardware that supports shovelware. We're sorry that we take every second possible to show you, in powerpoint fashion, that we're number one. We're sorry that we haven't taken our innovative system and done enough truly innovative things with it. We're sorry that we don't value the things you do, like high definition graphics. We'll make it up to you. You know we're good for it, right?
9. - Gotcha! ...No, really, we fucked up.
10. - Yeah, yeah, you want changes, right? Send your wishlists to Reggie. If it makes you feel better, here's a clue at what you can look forward to: we're going to add waggle ability to the console itself. Then you dance with the remote AND the Wii in hand! Oh, and we're dropping the warranty. It prints money!
    

FPS games aren't dying, just doing a bit of repeating

Each year in gaming, a new First-Person Shooter steals the lives of gamers and many “game of the year” nominations. From a crude perspective, the game usually bears the same general formula as “last year’s” hit FPS while being carried by an attractively-named game engine and wearing the disguise of a vague-titled piece of entertainment that may-or-may-not have aliens and a government conspiracy in it.

Every once in a while, certain games spark life to this beaten genre, even when gaining inspiration from even older titles. Metroid Prime let us experience morph ball mode and the screw attack in a whole new way, Bioshock gave us a compelling narrative in comparison to other first-person experiences.

But even when facing these few diamonds in the rough, the future is bleak for the FPS genre. Are we seeing too many games from our own perspective? With a formula as simple and specific as “you see things you shoot, along with the gun you’re using and the arm that holds it,” isn’t it easy to retread old ground?

The video game industry will always repeat itself, and it apparently doesn’t take long to do so. If you like FPS games like I do, you’ll be eager to see some changes (aside from shiny new engines) that take the genre in a new direction. And here are some ways to do it:

• Give us a breath of fresh air - - make up some reason that the character can smoothly move from first-person to third-person perspective.

• Add some mystery ingredients to the game. If we know we are person A fighting battle B for reason C, it can get boring. By making use of the fact that we CAN’T see who we are, why not leave our own identities secret for a good portion of the game? We don’t see that enough.

• The point of a first-person perspective is to experience a game as if you truly ARE the character. What can be more realistic than actual first-person tasks? Doing dishes, scratching graffiti into bathroom stalls, shoving food into your face, watching a bacon double-cheeseburger disappear JUST under the camera. Sounds like a better Wii game than most other third-party offerings.

• Why stick to one character? Games like Call of Duty 4 put you in the shoes of a number of people. What’s exciting about controlling other people, though? In fact, here's an on-the-spot idea for a game that could stand being made based on multiple-character control:

Imagine that you take the role of a parasite that is slowly taking over the Earth (take notes, hungry developers). You can invade the human brain and work your way to another by forcing your host to (brace yourself for the awesomeness) ram their body into the next host. Then, your parasite makes the jump to a different host that has different roles and abilities, which then lets you further the game by finding hosts with specific abilities and access to different areas. And this would be the first FPS that you would run into another person for a (good) reason. I suppose you would either leave the last host's corpse behind, or it would be controlled by one of your spawn. I know, gross.



Oh, and the host you control would walk around like a drunk person, a little more tough, and fun, to control.

See? We can keep this genre alive, and maybe even unique. Unless you want your grandchildren to be playing Halo 18, I suggest we do something, folks.

New DS Castlevania: Order of Ecclesias, all graphically

Look a little bit to your left. That's the game you're going to play on your DS in the near future.

The newest title worth playing in the Castlevania series is Castlevania: Order of Ecclesias. In terms of story and specs of the game, we don't know much.

What we can deduce is that the main playable character with the hefty sword and mighty big HP bar is the heroine named Shanoa. A female heroine in the series is nothing new, but with all those wimpy-emo-vampire slayers taking the job in past games, to see a new leading lady seems... refreshing.

Does Alucard have a sister, possibly? Who the hell does Dracula procreate with anyways? Can someone fill me in here?

Forget it, just gawk at the new screenshots!

Rumor: Edgeworth to take the stand in new 'Ace Prosecutor' game

Courtesy of Joystiq, a rumor sprang up a few days ago regarding the newest game in the Ace Attorney series, starring our favorite prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth.

The spin-off includes features never seen in the series. The point-and-click series will be modified to fit the DS specs better than Apollo Justice did, with enhanced graphics and... movement?

Yes, it appears that Edgeworth can actually walk around the scenes, bringing a "3D-ness" to some of the beloved characters.

According to Weekly Game Journal, the game will be called Gyakuten Saiban: Perfect Prosecutor, at least in Japan. I can only imagine how Americans would pronounce that.

I won't strain your eyes, here are some zoom-ups of the Famitsu issue: