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Category Archives: Word on the street

Bad news of the weekend

Like many folks, I like to go to stores like GameStop and trade in games I’m tired of in order to get credit toward new games. And for many years, GameStop has also dealt in and accepted DVDs and Blu-Ray DVDs.

That came to a halt this weekend as I brought in a couple copies of Mamma Mia! to get rid of, and was confronted by a raw recruit of an employee who looked at me blankly and said, “What are these for?”

“Trade ins,” I told him.

He turned to a more experienced co-worker. “Do we do trade-ins on movies?” he asked. His co-worker turned to me and told me they’d finally discontinued the movie trade-ins.

Why stores hire new people so close to the holidays rather than shipping them off to Las Vegas Nevada until after the Christmas rush is beyond me.

The G.D. problem with Bioshock

What’s with all the profanity problems with otherwise terrific videogames like Bioshock? I’m not usually that offended by most profanity, but I do take exception to the use of the name of God when uttering profanity and I was at least shocked, if not BioShocked, at how often that is done in BioShock.

Now, most of the game is a wonder to play. Graphically, it’s beautiful on the PS3 and the tone and theme of the game make for some of the most compelling gameplay I’ve encountered in quite a while. But do we really need to hear background characters invoking divinity and damnation in the same breath?

Personally, I think the same emotion is communicated with a robust “Damn it!” without bringing the Almighty into the picture. Now, BioShock isn’t the only game to do this by any means; sadly, it is the game I’m most disappointed in for doing so. Yet I’d rather spend three hours searching for the best diet pills than playing a game with this particular kind of potty-mouth.

From a gameplay standpoint, I really wanted to keep the game. Due to the coarse language factor, though, it’s trade-in-bound. Too bad.

Resistance 2 is more fun than expected

I’m not a big fan of shooters; I’m more of an RPG player. But I have to admit that after digging into Resistance 2, the sequel to Sony’s huge shooter hit that launched around the same time as the PS3 itself, that I enjoyed my experience.

Maybe it’s the cool creature designs, maybe its the solid action, maybe its the intriguing storyline and maybe it’s just that I played the game on the easiest section where I wouldn’t end up dying constantly (since I’m not a big shooter fan, remember?) or what, but I have ended up really enjoying my time with the game so far.

Searching out aliens to blast is less healthy, but more fun, than searching out the best diet pill. I can’t imagine anyone who loves shooters not loving this game.

My must-have game of the holiday season

My picks are sometimes eclectic, sometimes a bit weird, but I think this holiday season, there’s no question for me which game I’m looking forward to playing most on any platform. I call it my must-have game of the holiday season.

There were really just two main contenders this time out: Fable II and Fallout 3.

Fable II is addictive and deep; I loved the first game and my wife and I have been looking forward to the new one ever since we got our 360.

Trouble is, Fallout 3 is also mighty attractive. From the same folks who stole literally hundreds of hours from both my wife and me with Oblivion, as much as we both want to play Fable II, there’s simply no contest, in this case.

Fallout 3 is our must-own title of the 2008 holiday season. No question about it. And I think this is a choice that’ll be as widely popular as Outer Banks rentals.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PSP Slim

Alright, here’s the blunt, honest truth. Normally I would list some games in here for the PSP platform that will help make your holiday season a happy one. But like an honest acne care treatment doctor, I don’t want to blow smoke up your nose.

Sometimes there’s just nothing worth getting. This is one of those months for PSP Slim. Save your money for other games on other platforms.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PlayStation 2

While most people are investing in theater seating for their PS3 setups, there are still good games to be had on the PS2 this holiday season. Here’s our ultra-picky pick:

Eternal Poison

I like Atlus’ role-playing titles more often than I dislike them. This one’s worth having; it’s the best-looking PS2 tactics-style RPG that Atlus has released to date! Could have used it on the PS3, but at least it’s cheaper on PS2. And it’ll play on PS3 unless yours is a recent one that lacks backward compatibility. Cheapskate.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PlayStation 3

You don’t need the services of a South Carolina injury lawyer to determine where my review of games worth getting in November 2008 will go next… I’m focusing on the PlayStation 3!

Resistance 2

The follow up by Insomniac Games’ debut PS3 title has been long in appearing, but it’s finally here. I tend to prefer the Resistance series to Gears of War, even though I expected that to go the other way, the first time I tried both. Go figure!

Valkyria Chronicles

My hopes are set high on this one, not so much because it’s a PS3 RPG (which is much-needed) but because it looks like Sega’s finally going to make a great RPG for the first time in too long. Just hoping the game lives up to the hype for a change.

Alone In the Dark: Inferno

A great survival horror franchise returns from the (un)dead to set up all-new chills and wet-your-bed moments. The tight episodic structure encourages frequent gameplay sessions because you know what kind of time commitment you’re making each time you pick it up, and it’s not overly-demanding.

Tomb Raider Underworld

Lara Croft hasn’t disappointed yet in this generation of hardware. This title is also available on Xbox 360, but I discovered the series on the original PlayStation, so I prefer to pick the PS3 version and have a DualShock 3 in my hand.

These are four great titles, but with God of War III, Killzone II, Resident Evil 5, inFamous and Final Fantasy XIII all missing this holiday season, Sony’s left with another holiday season in which they don’t have as many killer apps overall as does the Xbox 360.

This is a nice November crop, but not enough for PS3 to overtake the 360.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: Xbox 360

We continue our survey of promotional products… wait, no… games worth getting in the month of November 2008. It’s the last big month of the year, so our ultra-picky picks are your best guide to not wasting your hard-earned cash. We’ll now focus on the best to be had on the Xbox 360.

Left 4 Dead

Once EA gets into a new game genre, they really get into it. More survival horror from the company that did so well with their survival horror debut, Dead Space.

The Last Remnant

Another SquareEnix RPG on 360 instead of PS3? Believe it. This one’s typical epic stuff on the new next-gen RPG champion, Xbox 360. Not much has been leaked about this one, but it’s supposed to be the latest RPG goodness from the company that recently gave us Infinite Undiscovery. ‘Nuff said.

Where’s Gears of War II on our list? Sorry… didn’t care for the first one, so no go on the second. We’re that ultra-picky. Ignore us at your own expense.

Beta testing blues

Don’t get your Ju Ju Bes in a melty mound, but one of the most frustrating things a gamer like me can do is help a company beta-test a new, in-development game.

I do that on occasion; in fact, I’m doing it currently. But I can’t really discuss it because of NDAs and the like. Why is it so hard to keep one’s mouth shut at times like this?

Easy: you’re getting to see something before anyone else, and if it excites you… you can’t share your excitement with anyone. That’s kind of what bloggers do, right? We share what fires us up.

Still, it’s not that frustrating; one pay-off is that once the game does hit the streets and the NDA expires, I’ll be more ready than most reviewers to offer up a solid opinion on the final product.

The videogame diet?

Almost.

Physical fitness is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of videogames, but with the growing number of dance and exercise videogames, that may soon change. With camera technologies like Sony’s EyeToy, your videogame system can now monitor how well you follow along with a workout, rather than just display workout examples passively.

Who needs diet supplements and a Jane Fonda video when you can take on a title like Dance Dance Revolution 3?

The 360 is the new home of RPGs

The Xbox 360 is now officially the home of the best RPGs. Critical mass has been reached. The only RPGs on the PS3 are all Xbox 360 hand-me-downs, whether it be Oblivion, Eternal Sonata, Fallout 3 or whatnot.

To make matters more critical for Sony, they have virtually no system exclusive RPGs yet, and recently lost their exclusivity on their biggest such title, Final Fantasy XIII, which will now appear on Xbox 360 as well as PS3. Boom.

One could fill a few Amazon books on the mistakes Sony has made this time around; not securing enough RPGs is certainly near the top of that list.

Meanwhile, adding insult to injury is the growing list of Xbox 360-exclusive RPGs in Microsoft’s library. Anyone who snubs their nose at RPGs like Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Infinite Undiscovery, Fable 2, The Last Remnant, and Spectral Force 3 are simply trying to hard to ignore the truth: Even with holiday releases factored in, Sony’s PS3 has about seven RPGs either out or coming to their platform by the holidays. Xbox 360 has 28 RPGs.

Nuff said.

My most-wanted videogame for October 2008

Of all the great games coming out across all platforms in October 2008, which one am I most dying to acquire, personally? That’s not an easy choice.

I’ve been anxious to see Fallout 3 since it was announced; and LittleBigPlanet certainly has aroused me curiosity. The band/music titles are always fun. But if I had to narrow it down to one must-play title? The kind of game that would make someone forsake crib bedding for their newborn over? (And no, I’m not a dad yet.)

Well, in this case, it would have to be Fable 2. Both my wife and I have been looking forward to it since its announcement and its a game we’ll both play to death.

And as a long-time Sony loyalist, I have to admit this: the Xbox 360 has become this generation’s home of the best and most RPGs. Sony needs to wake up or get left in the dust.