A Next-Gen Relic

Oddly enough, Metroid Prime 3 is possibly the least interesting title coming out this week. Why? Because it's yet another example of Nintendo proving all the naysayers wrong. This is a great game enhanced by the supposedly suspect Wii Controls that delivers on Nintendo's promise that they are not abandoning their hardcore fanbase or hardcore gamers in general; and they have several more titles that will be out this year that keep on delivering on that promise. This shouldn't really even be a question by now. If it's from the House of N and it's a title with big expectations, it will deliver. The answer isn't whether or not to buy Metroid, it's simply why haven't you bought it?

Much more interesting are the big 360 & PS3 titles coming out this week. PS3 has their big multi-player downloadable, Warhawk (which will also be available at retail). Much like 360's Shadowrun, this is a game that you can only play online. And while there is a whole genre of popular games that only offer online play, those titles generally offer a rich array of content beyond just your usual array of deathmatch options. Shadowrun was pretty much a massive failure, and Warhawk is almost guaranteed to be the same. I just don't really understand the reasoning behind titles like this. You cut off way too much of a potential audience in this way that you never would with a game that could use Multi-player, but has a strong offline component to make up for it (like Metroid or Bioshock).

Then there is the first big rpg of this year for the Xbox, Blue Dragon. This was a huge smash in Japan, quickly becoming the best-selling 360 game to date in that country. So rpg fans over here should eat this up, right? Well, possibly. Reviews are pouring in, mostly calling the game too old school for its own good. And with more original fare like Eternal Sonata & Mass Effect on the way, gamers should probably pass this one up. I'm very much on the fence here. On the one hand, Blue Dragon sounds like what I am looking for when I want a classic Japanese-style rpg. But on the other hand, like many gamers, there are way too many awesome games coming out now, and I just don't have money or time for anything that falls short of awesome. Blue Dragon being simply "good" just won't cut it. Of course, I say this about many rpgs that are simple decent, and end up buying them anyways. Blue Dragon will most likely be in that category.