Prince Of Persia HD Confirmed

A couple of months back I wrote about a rumour that Ubisoft was re-issuing two HD collection updates for the PS3: Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia. It was later revealed that the PoP would be European only with a North American release pending. Today it was revealed that us North American’s will get the collection, but in a different format.

Whereas in Europe the collection was pressed on a disc with all three titles, NA will see the games released a la carte via PSN. Thought it kinda stings that these games are not on the disc, most people realistically only want The Sands of Time of the three, kinda like how Warner will only put the Matrix with the other two movies because everyone really only wants the first one. That being said, I personally (when I get a new PS3 that is) will be getting all three, as even though the other two entries in the trilogy are weaker than the first, but they are solid games in their own rights and well worth anyone’s time.

Sly 4 Forth Coming?

If I had a working PS3 (see previous post) one of the games I would have been playing this week is the recently announced Sly Cooper Collection. Much like last year’s God of War Collection which collected both entries of the PS2 franchise and added both HD visuals and trophy support, the Sly Collection is the three entries found on the PS2 with the above mentioned features as well as 3D and mini-games for those with the PlayStation Move motion controller.

One intrepid gamer upon obtaining a platinum trophy for each of the games featured in the compliation was treated with this…

Take it for what it’s worth at this point, as series developer Sucker Punch and publisher SCEA have announced nothing formal as of this writing, but given that this is on the disc something has to be coming soon.

Despite being heart broken over my recent loss and quite angry at the company who manufactures the console, I can’t help but be happy over this discovery. The Sly Cooper series was among my personal favourites on the PS2, its second iteration Sly 2: Band of Thieves being my one of my all time top PS2 games. In the case of the second entry, it was a brilliant mix of a tight controlling platformer combined with the trappings of a modern day heist movie like the remakes of Ocean’s Eleven and the Italian Job. It’s amazing that no one has tried to make an actual adult-themed heist game using this as a template.

Much like their PS2 platforming studio brothers, Naughty Dog and Insomniac, Sucker Punch decided to start a new franchise on the brand new hardware with last year’s inFAMOUS, which turned out to be a great super hero open world game that felt like it was infused with the soul of Sly. With the announcement of inFAMOUS 2, it didn’t look like there would be much of a chance of a Sly 4, despite this image in the original title:

So it seems Sucker Punch is giving us Sly 4, Insomniac has given us three Ratchet’s (with a fourth on the way), that leaves Naughty Dog to bring back the duo of Jak and Daxter. Don’t get me wrong, I want Uncharted 3 as much as the rest of the world, but it would be nice to bring them back don’t you think?

 

R.I.P: My 60 GB PS3. Dec. 25th, 2007 – Nov. 12th, 2010

Tragedy struck this weekend as another of the soon to be extinct 60 GB launch PS3 consoles died this past weekend due to the YLOD, or what’s known as the Yellow Light of Death. Under these circumstances the console will produce a yellow light as opposed to the green under normal operation. The system will not turn on after this point.

This comes at quite a terrible time. Its owner, one Blair Farrell, just took home a new copy of the recently released Sly Cooper Collection and had obtained an early copy of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, a follow-up to his favourite game this console generation Assassin’s Creed II.

Upon booting up the disc and partaking in a particularly spectacular sequence, the console simply shut off. Attempts to resusitate on the scene were met with no avail and the machine was officially announced dead.

This has not been an isolated incident. This past September a similar the same tragedy struck one Fonda Comerford when her system died of similar causes, just after loading up a brand new copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes. Great thanks are given to the talented Ms. Comerford who aided in the recovery effort of both discs who lay trapped inside their respective black prisons.

Stop It With The Protection Missions Already, Sheesh

I have by no means, any clairvoyant abilities. That being said, I have a strong feeling that if I put up a poll on this blog about your feelings on if you liked protection missions in videogames, it would look a little something like this:

100% Are you kidding me?

0% Yes

The reason that I’m bringing up this topic is because of Activision’s recently released Goldeneye 007 remake for the Nintendo Wii. At being close to done, I’ve had a great time with this title and am frankly surprised that I feel this way as I thought the game had a poor showing at this year’s E3. I would have no trouble recommending this game to anyone except for one part, can you guess what that is ladies and gentleman?

That’s right class, a protection mission.

In the original Goldeneye 007 released for the Nintendo 64, quite possibly the most frustrating part of the single player campaign was near the very end when Bond girl Natayla has to reprogram three computer terminals and why she is doing this it is up to you as 007 to defend her. While you are getting shot by a multitude of guards, she will receive a few hits and chime in with the same three to four sentences about how she is getting hurt.

Now, as opposed to axing this altogether or, I don’t know, putting it in as a cutscene, developer Eurocom decided to keep this mission in their version of the game. Only this time as opposed to being silent, Natalya can now vocalize her discontent about being shot at. At the same time you are getting peppered with bullets and getting grenades lobbed at you in an exploding control room that makes it hard to see what to shoot at.

Why do developers still use this mission type in games today, as I can’t recall anyone who doesn’t express agony when talking about any game where some idiotic AI needs to be protected. In my twenty plus years of playing videogames I recall one game that was bearable to do so: Resident Evil 4. In that game, most of the instances where your with a defenceless AI you can tell them to hide and then you can reactivate their routines when the coast is clear. Why can’t more people do that? Game makers steal ideas all the time, why not this one?

Rewind back to 2006, Capcom releases their debut next-gen console game, Dead Rising. Four years after its release, people will not remember the photography, the wacky costumes, the amount of zombies on screen oh no, they will remember the times they got killed and had to restart because of some lousy, poorly designed protection mission.

The placement of the mission in Goldeneye 007 could not come at a worst possible time. Up to this point, the game is great but now all those joyous memories are poisoned by the protection mission at the end. Thoughts of this will hinder s future play through of the game, and heck, maybe even my decision to keep it once it’s beaten.

Developers, listen carefully, listen closely…

NO ONE WANTS PROTECTION MISSIONS IN THEIR GAMES, SO STOP ADDING THEM!!!

2010: The Year Of The Nintendo Wii?

No one can deny Nintendo the success they have had with their latest console, the Wii. Despite not having HD visuals or a strong online capability, it has trumped the competition nearly every month since its release in the fall of 2006. Many would feel that this is in determent to the hardcore Nintendo faithful as their marketing and games seemed to be aimed at the family and casual audience. They have had their fair share of core games that have been successful sure, but like previous Nintendo consoles in the past they have been spaced very far apart.

Capitalizing largely on the fact that console market competitors Microsoft and Sony are more or less at square one with their respective devices, Nintendo has used this opportunity to excite core gamers with a stable of quality games not only from themselves but from third parties as well. This was the most evident at this year’s E3 in Los Angles where, combined with the upcoming 3DS, many declared Nintendo “winner” of the big three press conference show off.

Starting the year with the roll over from last fall’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the system was graced by two great third party games in the superb Capcom fighter Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, a follow up to the 2008 cult hit. They were met with sales and critical darling Super Mario Galaxy 2 in the month of May.

This fall is quite possibly one of the strongest from the big N in recent memory. Starting off with Metroid: Other M at the end of August, which while being flawed was an interesting experiment and worth playing instalment of the long running franchise, and the early September release of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Following in October was another strong first party franchise title Kirby’s Epic Yarn which debuted with much love as well in E3 with its yarn aesthetic.

November is a full month for Wii fanatics. The recently released remake of the Rare N64 classic Golden eye 007 is scoring better than the Xbox 360/PS3 instalment in the same franchise, Blood Stone. This is joined by Sonic Colors mid-month, as well as Donkey Kong Country Returns and Warren Spector’s Disney Epic Mickey finishing off the month.

2011 will be an interesting year for Nintendo. With Sony’s Move being a more accurate alternative than the Wii’s remote even with the Motion-Plus accessory, third-parties will more than likely move development away from Nintendo’s machine where they have had a hard time breaking through first party juggernauts like NSMB Wii and Mario Kart Wii. Developers also have a brand new technology to learn in the Kinect camera being a similar but different offering than both. This will leave it to Nintendo to bring people back to the machine with their software offerings, and right now the only 2011 title they have to hype is the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword which will probably not see the light of day until late 2011.

For the time being though, Wii’s owners have a lot of quality software to sink their teeth into this holiday season that rivals anything the competition is dropping on more powerful consoles.

Super Mario All-Stars Wii Package

The 25th anniversary of the NES also coincides with the 25th anniversary of Nintendo’s beloved mascot Mario. To celebrate this Nintendo is reissuing Super Mario All-Stars, initially released on the SNES as a compliation of Super Mario Bros. 1, 2, 3 and what was once known as the Lost Levels but now referred to as the real Super Mario Bros. 2. The Package will come at a discounted price of $29.99 USD (or $34.99 according to my local EB Games).

But that’s not all folks…

The compliation will also come with a collector’s book outlining the history of Mario

As well a soundtrack CD featuring music rangiing from the original SMB all the way up to Super Mario Galaxy 2.

While it seems like a rip-off considering you can buy these games in all there original formats on the virtual console for about 500 Wii Points each (and they could have easily released this on VC for 800 points) when viewed as a package it’s more than worth it. For anyone like myself who doesn’t own SMAS it’s also a more viable option than buying the original SNES cart which currently is more expensive than this package without the frills. Frankly I would pay $50 + dollars for a new SMAS featuring Super Mario World 1 and 2, Super Mario 64 and a Wii-enabled Super Mario Sunshine but hey, gotta save something for down the road right?

SMAS will be available Dec. 12th, 2010. Mario fanatics should get there per-orders in now as this will be a limited run.

 

At The Movies: Double Sequel Announcement

Via ShockTillYouDrop, Silent Hill will be getting the sequel treatment in Silent Hill: Revelations. The follow up to the adapation will not be helmed by former director Christophe Gans but by new director Michael J. Bassett (Solomon Kane, Deathwatch) and will be filmed in 3-D. Revelations follows the story of Heather Mason who on her 18th birthday is plagued by visions of her father’s dissaperance which leads her to the haunted town of Silent Hill. Those familiar with the series know that this is similar to the events that transpired in Silent Hill 3 but it remains to be seen if the follow up will link in a similar fashion.

Producers have been trying to get a sequel out to the moderatly successful adaptation for some time, but have been plagued by setbacks such as SH screen writher Roger Avary being jailed for drunk driving which casued the death of a passenger in the vehicle.  The original Silent Hill was a faithful adapation of the source material, some might say too faithful for its own good and it will be interesting to see how this develops. Personally I would’ve chosed SH2 as a candidate for the sequel as it easily could have been considered a reboot but SH3 was also a good chapter in the series, quite possibly the last.

Tuesday saw the initial teaser that will appear on the blu-ray/DVD release of Resident Evil: Afterlife for Resident Evil: Damnnation, which is a follow up to the 2009 CG film Resident Evil: Degeneration. This will too follow RE2 and 4 protagonist Leon S. Kennedy like its precursor. Details are scarce, but the teaser shows Leon in Europe with the military fighting lickers and ends with a shadowy figure. Could this be the first Leon S. Kennedy/Chris Redfield crossover? Hopefully this turns out better than Degeneration, which in my humble opinion was worse that all of the live action Resident Evil films.

My Thoughts On Motion Controls

Outside of Nintendo’s new 3DS hardware, the greatest focus on this E3 by the major platform holders was the upcoming motion control devices: Sony’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinetc. This past September saw the release of Sony’s Move controller peripheral and this coming Friday, November 5th Microsoft’s Kinetc will be launched in store shelves. As a hardcore enthusiast of the videogame hobby, do I care about either? Dismissively I will say I already own a Wii but reasonably I will say that not right now, but I’m willing to be impressed later.

Looking at the launch line up it’s easy to see that gamers like myself are not the demographic for either of these devices, at least not initially. Despite both pieces of hardware being more technologically advanced than Nintendo’s own Wii-Remote motion controller, it appears that both platform holders are playing it safe and delivering their own applicable versions of experiences that most have already played and frankly have grown weary of.

Both will feature their own version of Nintendo’s break out show case title Wii Sports: In the case of Sony it’s the pack in bundle title Sports Champions and Microsoft’s Kinetc Sports. Fans of both houses will cry a foul stating that their favourite system provider’s respective device offers a greater level of fidelity than Nintendo’s machine and I would be inclined to agree. But if these devices are capable of so much more, where is the showcase title that will make people run to the store and snatch up these new offerings? Especially given the glut of exceptional software for all three machines. I can think of any number of examples of how I would allocate my own personal funds towards software in the month of November alone as opposed to picking up a gimmicky me-too motion controller.

I recognize that neither of these devices, at least out the gate anyway, are catering to my level of gamer. What both Sony and Microsoft are trying to do is capitalize on the plethora of new customers that Nintendo managed to gain. At this point in the game, will most casual non-gamers even care to invest in either of these? Does the soccer mom or Grandma who dusts off the Wii for the occasional game of Wii Sports bowling need to spend an upwards of $400 + for another game console?

At E3 2009, the buzz amongst both enthusiast and mainstream press for the then named Project Natal was the Milo stage demonstration. This stands as one of the prime examples of what Kinetc can offer to the gaming world, even though the project was reportedly cancelled. The demonstration showed a gamer being able to interact with a virtual character, showing ways that they can detect and react to their existence and how the gamer could in turn affect their virtual space. Those wishing to reach the days of the Star Trek holodeck saw this as a first step to seeing that as a reality. Fast forward one year later, and MS has nothing but fitness, sports and dance games.

For their motion detecting controller Sony have taken a more traditional route that will either help or hurt them in the long run. Most will dismiss the Move as a Wii-wannabe even though Sony’s wand offers a greater level of preciseness in its movement. All the offerings thus far, with the exception of Move control patches for games like Heavy Rain, are traditional rail shooters, sports and mini game collections. Hoping to fold in the hardcore gaming crowd, Sony is pushing move support for their first-party FPS sequel Killzone 3 and EA will be following suite with support for Dead Space 2. Both will be out in early 2011 and will certainly be a litmus test for traditional gamers acceptance for this control option.

To move some of the heat off of the new kids on the block, Nintendo has yet to truly demonstrate the superiority of motion control gaming even with a 4 year head start. No one can take away the innovation and success they have rightfully earned through both software and hardware sales, but outside of various mini-game collections and a few traditional games, hardly any software has really benefited from motion controls. Nintendo has had a huge year software wise, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was an early summer smash hit and they have great holiday momentum with software such as Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Metroid: Other M and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Neither of these are really pushing the motion aspect of the Wii-Remote controller, with at least two of the games being played in a traditional manner holding the Remote sideways. This was also the case with Nintendo’s late 2009 holiday hit New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Next year Nintendo will release the first true Legend of Zelda for the Wii in Skyward Sword which is the second first party game to require the Wii-Motion Plus add on. This will be an interesting title to watch as it will be one of Nintendo’s largest franchise played in a whole new manner and it remains to be seen if gamers will take to this the same way they did 12 years ago with Ocarina of Time on the N64.

Reading up to this point you might think that I am not pro-motion control but that is not the case. I own a Wii and will say that I have had great experiences with mini-game collections and traditional games controlled with through motion. GameCube ports such as Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and last year’s Metroid Prime Trilogy changed the way those games played for the better, and even felt like completely new experiences despite being games I had already played, beaten and loved in their original incarnations. In particular, Retro Studios work on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was suburb, and credit must be given to Konami’s Silent Hill: Shattered Memories’ use of the Wii-Remote despite being a lack luster game overall.

I personally don’t feel that I need to spend my hard earned dollars on either option this holiday season but am willing to be convinced in the future. At this year’s TGS Microsoft showed off support from major publishers towards the Kinetc from the likes of Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom’s Steel Batallion: Heavy Armor. Sony has yet to show anything for the far future, with the exception of PlayStation Move Heroes but hopefully they will have more offerings in the new year.

So, thanks but no thanks guys, for now I’ll stick with a controller. Come see me later though, okay?

 

New Resident Evil? Or Capcom Farms Out Another Franchise

Via Kotaku, it seems that despite the loss of pro-globalization head of R&D Keiji Inafune Capcom is once again looking outside its own internal devs to bring one of its classic franchises to life.

Slant Six, developer of the first PS3 SOCOM game, Confrontation and several PSP outings are rumoured to be making a team-based Resident Evil title codenamed “Resident Evil: Raccoon City”. Of course when reached for comment, both studios are hush hush on the subject. So, let’s make a short list of outside developed Capcom games shall we:

1. Bionic Commando – Grin
2. Dead Rising 2 – Blue Castle Games (now Capcom Vancouver)
3. DMC: Devil May Cry - Ninja Theory
4. Asura’s Wrath – CyberConnect 2
5. Steel Batallion: Heavy Armor – From Software

Does Capcom even make their own games anymore? With the split off of platnium studios and the loss of Inafune, it seems they don’t really have any stable of talent left. While this is still nothing more than rumour, does the world really need another co-op Resident Evil? Outbreak was best forgotten and 5, while fun was certainly a flawed experience. Can we just get back to making a solo RE game and bring back the scares?

Review: Castlevania Lords of Shadow

System: PS3 / Xbox 360

Played On: PS3

Developer: Mercury Steam, Kojima Productions

Publisher: Konami

Publisher: B-

Of all the series that started out in a two-dimensional format and was subsequently transitioned one dimension higher, Castlevania has had a hard time reclaiming its once former glory. Stumbling out the gate with two forgettable entries for the Nintendo 64 and then nearly getting there with two more on the PlayStation 2, it’s not for a lack of trying on Konami’s part. With the help of legendary developer Hideo Kojima and a brand new team at Mercury Steam, Lords of Shadow is a solid effort that ultimately falls short of the high standards of the famous series.

Forget everything you know about Castlevania, as LOS disregards series canon up to this point. The only links to previous ‘vania’s is a main protagonist named Belmont (Gabriel this time) who carries a whip-like weapon called the Combat Cross and monsters who are seemingly named for the sole purpose of seeing if series veterans can remember what entry they’re from. Even though it is a little disappointing to long time fans that LOS is more or less a reboot, it’s an excellent jumping on point for newcomers to the series who may have been confused over the series overly long time line. In fact, LOS strongest asset is its story that will compel players to play through the games 20+ hour length to see its surprising but heavily foreshadowed conclusion. It doesn’t hurt that acting duties are handled by the likes of Robert Carlyle, Jason Issacs and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Gamers who have familiarized themselves with recent character action games will feel right at home with LOS. Combat owes a lot to games like God of War and Dante’s Inferno, especially the former given the primary weapon carried by Gabriel. LOS is at its strongest when the player is engaged in combat and developer Mercury Steam did an admirable job in making the player get a sense that every flail from the Combat Cross is connecting with its target. Supplementing the fighting in LOS are two magics of light and dark variety that encourage high combo counters. After fighting for a long enough time without sustaining damage, quelled foes will drop orbs that can be used to refill the magic meters. Light magic grants Gabriel the power to regain health while dark adds increased attack power. Striking a balance between the two adds a great dynamic to the fighting system that will keep players engaged through the waves of enemies encounters.

Between combat scenarios LOS is broken up between puzzle solving and light platforming. For the most part the platforming is precise but there are also instances where a poorly placed camera angle will lead to a few cheap deaths. Despite the fact that many of the vistas that you will visit in LOS are among the best on today’s modern consoles, it is also difficult to figure out what can be grabbed or jumped onto. Mercury Steam tried to rectify this by adding a layer of shine to make players aware what can or cannot be interacted with at any given time but this just comes off as an attempt to hide a problem with the level design. Puzzles appear at a frequent enough pace to not frustrate those wanting to quickly jump back into the action, and for anyone wanting to forgo some experience points they can be skipped as well.

LOS is quite long for an action game, taking the most seasoned player over twenty plus hours to complete. While this may seem like a good thing given that games today can come across as quite short, LOS could have done with an editor to tighten up the pacing. Towards the beginning of the game mechanics will already start to repeat themselves and as it goes on you’ll get a sense that Mercury Steam was adding more and more things to increase the overall playtime when they really should’ve focused on making a more well rounded experience. Too often will you have to contend with nonsensical chupacabra hide-and-go-seek sessions that appear way too frequently and levels that make no sense in the grand scheme of things. By the end the quest deviates so much from the main story quest that the motivations of Gabriel have to be recounted by Sir Patrick Stewart’s narration to remind the player exactly why they are doing what they are doing.

What really stops LOS from being a great 3-D Castlevania game is that it doesn’t “feel” like a Castlevania game, more a game that had the name attached to the product to create more interest than had it been called something else. Although it is viewed more as a reboot, it loses the elements that make Castlevania what it is. Boss encounters boil down to landing a few quick hits on the bosses before rolling away, except for three giant bosses (or colossi, if you will) that are not even a fraction as interesting or satisfying as something like Shadow of the Colossus. This is a far cry from more traditional entries that feature some of the most memorable boss battles in videogame history. Overall LOS comes across as a solid action game that does a fine job of borrowing from other titles, but never truly stands out to make a name for itself.

Another large part of the Castlevania experience is the music, and in this area LOS also falls flat. Even at its very worst, the Castlevania series has some of the most recognizable musical libraries of any series. LOS features an orchestral score that does a good job of conveying the mood but does not feature any tracks that will stick in your head. If any of the classic tracks are used in the score, it is difficult to tell also. The only time a song will be immediately noticeable is in one of the worst levels of the entire game.

Fans of character action games will find a lot to like in LOS despite its unfortunate lenght and pacing issues. Castlevania diehards who were looking for the first great entry of the series in the third dimension will still get a sense that maybe their favourite series is better off sticking to the X and Y plain. LOS ends on an interesting note that will bring the series in a bold new direction should Konami chose to further venture further with this new direction in the long standing series. Not to take anything away from Mercury Steam who have crafted a solid but flawed action game, but it’s still difficult to shake the feeling that this was a reskinned game that could’ve easily been titled anything other than Castlevania.