Nobody can kill good will faster than Sony

You know, if you asked me this morning how I felt about Sony and the PS3, my response would've been that it looks they've finally made a turning point. Sure, I feel the 80 gig model is a giant waste, but not really any more than the 360 Elite, and their lineup for the next 12 months looks really solid. Hell, I'd probably buy one early next year, maybe even this holiday if I've got enough left over after buying all the cool 360, Wii & DS titles (not likely, but who knows). I bet a lot of gamers who had more or less felt Sony was really done for felt that way. But then Sony has to be Sony. They can never keep the goodwill going and just shut the fuck up. And once again, Sony is just asking for it with what has come out in just the past day.

First off, we have Jack Tretton claiming that third parties just don't know how to take advantage of the uber-awesomeness of the PS3, and if they can't do that they shouldn't bother make games for the PS3. Way to support your partners there, Jack!

Now that's simply an exec being stupid, it's almost Sony's forte at this point. But then we get to announcements that really will piss off somebody far more important: THE GAMERS. Firstly the Europeans: Sony has fucked these poor people over a lot. Launching way late & having a wretched excuse for backwards compatibility when the 60 gig over here does it to near perfection. And Sony today has shown that they don't give a damn about that territory, because not only are they not getting the 80 gig model that Sony has been hyping so much, they aren't even dropping the price. Just what is their brilliant strategy to increase their horrid sales over there anyways?

But hey, I'm an American, I don't really need to concern myself with how badly Europe is getting fucked, as long as I can get one for $500 or maybe even cheaper as the reaction from many companies is that $500 isn't cheap enough. But here's where Sony really pisses me and everybody who was thinking about buying one off:

According to SCEE president David Reeves, the now-cheaper 60GB PS3 will be sold out in the US by the end of the month. Once they're gone? No more. Ever.

All they're doing is taking their stock in trade that they've got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July.

Once that happens, he says, there'll be just the 80GB models. Which cost $599. So if you want in on some of that PS3 price-cut action, you'd best get cracking.

Seriously Sony, just go fuck yourselves. You finally drop the price, your sales go through the roof (comparatively speaking) and you're basically going to throw that momentum away completely in a few weeks? You must have a bunch of mentally challenged monkeys running you're company, because this is by far the stupidest move any company has made, ever. If this indeed turns out to be true, I'll definitely not be buying a PS3 anytime soon, possibly never, cause I just can't take the bullshit anymore. I', seriously nearing the point where I'd do a dance of joy if your entire company went bankrupt, because you've honestly fucking earned it at this point.

To end today on a happier note, I've made my first internet video, and managed to not look like a jackass (possibly because I'm not in it), but check out my fan-made trailer for Nights: Journey of Dreams:



Iit' a little rough I admit, but I think good for a first effort. I'll probably do a better. longer version when they release a lot more footage. And just like the last couple of days, I'm posting some of what I think are the best videos of the day to come out of E3:

Super Mario Galaxy: Bee Gameplay



Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Debut Trailer:



That's it for now, I'll definitely be back Saturday or Sunday though.

You can't please all the people all the time...

I understand where Nintendo was coming from, I do, And if I was an investor, a senior-citizen, or a soccer mom, I'd be damn pleased watching Reggie talk today. But I'm a gamer. A longtime gamer. While not necessarily a loyal Nintendo fanboy, I definitely was one of the guys who supported you through the rough times with my hard-earned cash. And watching this conference, I felt bored and a little angry. Mario Kart! Yay!! Solid '07 dates for Mario Galaxy & Smash Bros, yay! And that was really it. The rest was patting themselves on the back how they've had great success with an audience that doesn't normally play games and announcing games for that audience that while we veteran gamers may get some fun out of things like the new Wii Fitness, it's not something we bought the system for, and we don't want to hear about it. Where's the virtual console news? Or some concrete info on Wii Ware? Why didn't you talk about some more of the great games you've got coming out instead of sales numbers we already know about? I mean, Nintendo knows it's the hardcore fanbase that really watches this stuff, that's who they should've catered to. There's lots to be excited about for Wii in '07, but judging from this conference, you wouldn't know it.

Surprisingly, I think Sony fared far better this year, but still had an underwhelming show, with the message seeming to be "look what we have coming out in '08!", and indeed, I will probably be willing to pony up $500 for this system next year sometime as they have some stellar titles on the way. But Sony really needs some killer apps this holiday season, and I just don't think games like Uncharted & Ratchet & Clank are going to move units. Especially not compared to what MS & Nintendo have coming. If Sony can't really capitalize on this holiday season, the doomsayers may actually be correct, cause Sony cannot afford to be a distant 3rd in this race. On the bright side, Home actually looks pretty functional, if completely over the top; and Killzone 2 actually looks phenomenal, but it's not coming for awhile.

And no, I haven't completely forgotten about Harry Potter, but I'll save any thoughts on it til at least tomorrow, depending on how much more E3 news breaks out. In the meantime, here's some of the best vids to chew on:

Metroid Prime 3 trailer:



Metroid Prime 3 Stage Demonstration:



Mario Galaxy Trailer



Mario Kart Wii



Metal Gear Solid 4



Killzone 2

Microsoft plays it safe

There were some nice visuals on some games (which I'll post trailers of) but MS really didn't wow this E3. What's coming looks great, but it's all stuff we were pretty much aware of. Really, the only nice surprise was Sonic & Golden Axe being released on Xbox Live Arcade right away (though I'm downloading the Blue Dragon demo right now, which they barely talked about). Where's Too Human? Where's some killer exclusives? Where are some brand new titles? Where is the much expected price drop? Why do I have to wait until November to play Mass Effect? MS really had a chance to strike first with a bunch of bombshells and really all they did was yell and say "look at this crap you already know about!" And tout their sales numbers. It's yet to be seen if Nintendo or Sony really do any better, but I think MS could've shown us some titles that should be out in '08 in order to get us excited. And quite frankly, the Halo 3 360 looks ugly as sin:



But luckily Halo 3, Mass Effect & Call of Duty 4 looked absolutely stunning, so I'll leave you with those videos for today (couldn't find a video for the Call of Duty 4 gameplay, though) and talk about Nintendo & Sony's press conferences tomorrow:


HALO 3:



MASS EFFECT:



Ooh, found one: CALL OF DUTY 4

3 steps back?

It was revealed today that the new 80 gig PS3 model will not have the nearly full backwards compatibility that the $500 model does. Really doesn't seem like that model is going to sell anything now. I've always said I don't believe backwards compatibility is that important a feature in the long run, but if it's something you promise to have, you'd better fucking stick to it, and dropping it, especially from your new "uber" model that you want everyone to embrace, is too fucking stupid for words.

Is it possible to shaft your fans as much as Sony has this past year? Probably not, but Bethesda is sure making strides in that direction, having just announced a "Game of the Year" edition of Oblivion for PC, 360 & PS3. It includes all the expansion content and the original game for a cheaper price than the original Oblivion when it came out. That's great for gamers who missed out on this title (which is what, like 10 people?), but seriously? This is a giant slap in the face to anybody who bought the expansions or the PS3 version because none of those have even been out that long. Fuck you Bethesda, I'll sure as hell remember this crap when your next game comes out, and I won't be the only one.

That's really all I have for today, but I will most definitely be back tomorrow as not only does Harry Potter hit theatres at midnight, but MS is kicking of E3 a little early with their own big press conference around 8:30 pm, which I will definitely be posting my thoughts on. In the meantime, since this week is E3, your trailer of the week is a game: NIGHTs: Journey of Dreams

One step forward, two steps back

Before I get started, no, this column is not about MC Skat Scat. Geez is it Sunday (almost Monday as I'm writing this) already? I don't really have a good excuse as I had both Friday & Saturday off, except my new gaming obsession, Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix for Wii. Don't let the slightly average scores fool you, this is a perfect fit for the Wii with its wand motions & a really fun game. I just think reviewers are understandably hesitant to give praise to a movie-based game by EA. It's not perfect, mind you, I'd probably give it a solid "8", but it sure is fun.

So, Sony finally buckled and cut their price. But is $100 really enough? With the complete lack of quality software out right now, and all of PS3's really big guns that we know of not coming out til next year, it doesn't look like it. But at least that's a step in the right direction. But they completely fucked it up by announcing a new, "superior" PS3 at the original price. This is just plain stupid. Multiple versions of the same console are moronic. People get confused about which version to buy. Retailers are hesitant about which version to stock, developers can't risk making anything that only would work on the higher-end systems, which limits them tremendously. We've seen this. Almost nobody owns a 360 core, the 20 gig PS3 was killed shortly after the launch. When elites become readily available, the pro will most likely still dominate because customers won't really see the value. It just doesn't work. Best case scenario, nobody will buy the new PS3, but gush over the cheaper one. Worst case scenario-Everybody waits for the "superior" PS3 (which only adds 20 gigs to the hard drive, mind you, while the Elite adds 100 and most people still consider it a rip off), which makes PS3 sales figures much worse than they already are.

That's really all I got for today, as I did have work and I'm kinda tired, but with E3 starting real soon, I should have nearly daily updates this week, in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Detective Grimoire

Nobility is stupid

Ok, before I get into the crux of my post for today, I did see a midnight screening of Transformers, and you'd think as someone who was at best a casual fan of the show, I would've enjoyed it, but I hated it (except for Shia LaBeouf's performance, he was great). It's not a dumb, fun movie. It's an insultingly stupid loud mess of incoherence that has the gall to call itself a movie while pelting you with ridiculously unsubtle ads (I'm never buying anything by Nokia, ever). I mean seriously, this ranks up there with Episode I in terms of something fans have waited years for, and yet turns out to be shit. I don't get the mostly positive reaction.

On the bright side, I did manage to catch Live Free or Die Hard, and it's exactly what a big dumb, FUN action film should be. You can't top the original, but this was definitely the best sequel, so I'd urge moviegoers to spend their money on that (or Ratatouille for that matter) instead.

Now onto my main train of thought, which not surprisingly, comes from yet another moronic quote from yet another batshit insane Sony exec., Jack Tretton:

"Yeah, 'fewer exclusives' is a term, and I don't know what makes an exclusive," says Tretton. "We have a very different approach to exclusives than some of our competitors. We don't buy exclusivity. We don't fund development. We don't, for the lack of a better term, bribe somebody to only do a game on our platform."

Hey Jack, this isn't high-society fencing. It's a fucking cutthroat business where exclusives can definitely mean the difference between your company thriving or what leaves it hanging by a thread. Your console sucks on every conceivable level right now. The PS2 wasn't a dream to develop for either, but your mere presence couldn't be ignored. You are no longer the 800-pound gorilla. Companies now really do have a choice, and if they can go for a much cheaper platform (Wii) or to someone who will pay them oodles of money to develop an exclusive (360), they won't come knocking at your doorstep, period. The cracks are really starting to show in Sony. It won't be too long before half the board members are locked up in an asylum. Christ. At some point the level of stupidity these guys are showing must be obvious to everybody.

To end this column on a slightly more positive note, I picked up the new Official Xbox Magazine, which had an exclusive demo of Eternal Sonata. I admit, initially, this looked like a very cliched' rpg (albeit with an unusual premise), so I had little interest. But the very active battle system helps keep it really fresh. I definitely look forward to its release this fall.

That's pretty much it for today, but here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK:

KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUATERS

King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters - Trailer

Posted Jun 14, 2007

A middle-school science teacher and a hot sauce mogul vie for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic, Donkey Kong.

The difference between Apple & Sony?

Does anybody have an answer to this? Cause I sure as hell don't, yet the whole IPhone smacks mysteriously reminiscent of Sony's PS3. A hugely overpriced piece of junk that even if it performs great, does a bunch of crap you don't need and does nothing to really justify the price. Shouldn't people react the same to a $600 phone (along with really pricey monthly plans) with the same apathetic attitude they've had towards a $600 console that offers very little to even the audience it's aimed at? Yet the buzz and press is pretty much the polar opposite of the PS3. The Iphone is at the very least thought to have good potential, while the PS3 is considered a dismal failure so far(and rightly so, truth be told). There's only one explanation:



HE'S A JEDI!


Moving onto movies this weekend:The easy choice is definitely Ratatouille. As I talked about when I saw the sneak preview, this is a simply brilliant film anyone should easily enjoy. There's no reason not to see it, unless you hate fun (much like the food critic in the movie). But also possibly not to be missed is Michael Moore's latest film, Sicko, about how fucked up the American health care system is. I wasn't a big fan of Fahrenheit 9/11, as Moore was way to smug and self-congratulatory on showing things that were blatantly obvious to all but the remaining Bush supporters who were too stupid anyways. Sicko is in familiar territory for him and looks to be a much better film, so I'll definitely be more willing to give him another shot (though probably not for $10 bucks at the theatre).

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Evil Nights

Video Day-The John Mcclane edition

Yeah, Die Hard IV hits theatres tomorrow, and the early consensus is that unlike most old franchises brought back, it rocks, so I'll be sure to check it out this weekend. In the meantime, check out some wacky Die Hard-esque video goodness:

The Ballad of John McClane



Die Hard-THE MUSIC VIDEO



DIE HARD 12: DIE HUNGRY



Die Hard 3-Alternate Ending



And finally-DIE HARD 4 TRAILER

Something for everyone

After weeks of sparse releases, there are big titles across nearly every platform covering nearly every need this week, which may be just enough to hold us gamers over until the dry spell ends in August. Kids (and maybe some adults) will dig the cheap movie tie-ins of Harry Potter, Ratatouille & Transformers on each and every console. I actually have some hope for the newest Harry Potter game on the Wii, as you can actually do the wand motions on your Wii remote, which if pulled off well, could be the best licensed game in history. I also feel that designers are dropping the ball with making Ratatouille your traditional platformer, when it could benefit from being a really deep cooking title. Transformers does seem to play to the strengths of the franchise from the videos I've seen, but it's most likely a shallow offering like most tie-in titles.

Craving some online Wii action? You know you are. And while Mario Strikers isn't out for another month, you can jump on now with Pokemon Battle Revolution. Surely the millions of Pokemaniacs who ate up the "new" DS iterations of the games will eat this up as well, but after finding out that the game hasn't changed in roughly 15 years, I'm passing on this opportunity to have adorable critters beat the crap out of each other.

There's something for those gamers who always are on the lookout for something "different" as well. Enjoyed Odin Sphere? Well then you'll probably also enjoy Grim Grimoire, from the same developer. It's another odd bird as it's a 2D RTS, but it has mostly positive buzz, so those looking for something unique may want to give it a shot.

Feeling like being a little evil? Got a couple of titles that might satiate you. Firstly, there's The Darkness, which is like the Godfather, but with dark sorcery. But the title I'm definitely most excited about is Overlord. I already gushed all over this evil version of Pikmin when I talked about the demo recently, and the full reviews seem to support my enthusiasm, so I can't wait to pick it up this week.

Finally, I'd like to give a cheap plug to a great gamer-comedy blog, SarcasticGamer.com. They've provided me with a lot of entertainment with their great commentary and funny as hell songs over the past few months, which has earned them a permanent spot in my links. Check out some of their best work:

How To Kill Your Brand



Microsoft Surface Parody



Red Ring of Fire



No Frikkin Games



That's it for today, but I'll probably be back tomorrow. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: MICHAEL CLAYTON

Steve Carrell is NOT Jim Carrey

But apparently nobody told the crew behind Evan Almighty, the sequel to Carrey's smash Bruce Almighty, that. The general consensus is that this is a Jim Carrey movie without Carrey; and Carrell, while he is a brilliant comedian, just is very different from Carrey. You can't do a movie made for one, substitute the other, and expect good results.

A horror movie with really positive reviews? It must be a sign of the apocalypse. I'm heavily tempted to check out 1408 given the extremely positive buzz and lack of ridiculous gore, but as I've previously alluded many times I honestly can't remember a scary thriller in the last 15 years or so that's actually scared me.

And finally there's a movie that seems ridiculously out of season, as Angelina Jolie is obviously trying for another best actress nomination with A Mighty Heart. Which means this belongs at the very least in the more serious fall season and not amid floods, scary haunted rooms, giant robots, etc. Which might speak of the studio's confidence in it.

Finally, in what might be the oddest team up since Disney & Square. Sega & Bioware are teaming up. To make a DS game. That's an RPG. That's based on Sonic. This will most likely rock, and arguably be the shot in the arm Sonic has needed since his Genesis days to pump some life into this franchise. Rest assured, it will rock with Bioware behind it and I hope it's not too long off.

Free game of the week: CAPTAIN ZORRO

Somewhere, Jack Thompson is smiling

Hell, he might even be living it up and getting drunk of his ass with some hookers after today's news. Not only is the yet to be released Manhunt 2 banned in th UK, but it's also been slapped with the dreaded "Adults Only" rating, a first for a major console release. What this essentially means is no major retailer like Walmart will carry the title, and even places like EB games might not carry it in store, making the chances of this game being a financial success on any level slim. This may even result in a delay or outright cancellation of the title if Rockstar & Take Two are determined to either tone it down so it recieves an "M" rating or just decide they'd rather just scrap the game altogether (though that's an incredibly unlikely scenario). I always thought the "AO" rating, much like the NC-17 rating, is a ridiculous joke. I mean, if a game/movie has an R/M rating, you need to be an adult or have your parents buy it for you. Can somebody explain to me what the need is for an additional rating that basically states that even if your parents want to buy it for you, they can't? Cause that's what's implied by the rating, which makes it ridiculous and unnecessary. What I'm personally hoping is they'll tell the ESRB to go fuck themselves, stick with the game as is, and as long as it doesn't suck, I'll support them the best way I can, which is through my wallet. I suggest any able-bodied adult gamer do the same, because if a good game with an AO rating sells through the roof, it'll force retailers to rethink their position on such titles. Of course, if it's a horrible game, let it flop like it deserves, because obviously the mature content is then covering up for actual quality, much like any modern day horror film...

Sadly, the only noteworthy release this week is a Wii port, but it's reportedly the supreme version, as Resident Evil 4 once again hits store shelves. $30 bucks sounds like a good price for easily the best Resident Evil to date, but even with fancy new controls and new content for those who only played the Gamecube version will it warrant a purchase? My guess is absolutely, especially if you are starved for some good Wii action as good releases have been sparse since Super Paper Mario.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK: 3:10 To Yuma

The Format War is over? Nah.

So, about a month and a half ago, Walmart apparently declared unofficially HD-DVD the winner of the format war. But a lot can change in a very short amount of time. That story's validity has been thrown into question, and we probably won't really know the truth until the holiday season which is when Wal-Mart will start carrying these supposedly super cheap HD-DVD players. Well, the other major player in the movie market, Blockbuster, seems ready to declare a winner now, and it's Blu-Ray. Whether or not this is a crushing blow remains to be seen, as the war so far has been measured much more on units sold, not who rents what, and if Walmart is indeed planning to unveil a line of super-cheap HD-DVD players, Blockbuster may just turn around and follow their lead anyways.

I did manage to check out the new Fantastic Four this weekend, and it didn't suck, even more so than the first one. It was a fun experience and better than the original, and I look forward to the nearly guaranteed 3rd movie given this beat expectations opening weekend.

I also got a chance to catch a sneak preview of Pixar's latest, Ratatouille. I was kind of worried Pixar might be in a downward slope since Cars was just ok, but this may actually be Pixar's best movie to date. It was funny, excellently paced, and a true family film in the sense that anybody of any age should get a lot of enjoyment out of it. I think it's seriously the best movie so far this year and you should definitely check it out when it opens on the 29th.

Fantastically Meh

I think I was one of the few people on Earth who didn't hate the original Fantastic Four. It was far from a great film, but Chris Evans & Michael Chiklis played their roles well, and to be fair, Fantastic Four has always been at best a mediocre comic book, so I wasn't expecting too much. I expect the situation will be the same with this year's latest unnecessary sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer. It's tame PG rating and current reviews suggest it's bland, overblown & bloated, which oddly enough still makes it worthy of the lame source material it's cribbed from.

I'm sure the big screen version of Nancy Drew will be great for 12-year old girls and nobody else. I understand it from a marketing perspective, but it would've been nice if they made it a little more in the tone of Veronica Mars so a more mature audience might enjoy it.

That's really it for today, but I got a new feature for you: The TRAILER OF THE WEEK. Basically, every week I will post a trailer for an upcoming film. Some big, some small. So, here's the first:

NATIONAL TREASURE: The BOOK OF SECRETS

You're only as old as Big Brain Academy makes you feel...

Another week, another lazy Wii port. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree could've been a great game, and from all reports it works fantastically with the Wii remote, but the lack of real variety kills it. Plus, it's $49.99 price tag is pretty steep for a low-tech casual game.

Another port, reportedly not done so lazily is Scarface for Wii, which should be in stores tomorrow. Granted, it's probably overkill if you're still playing The Godfather, but between these games, Resident Evil 4 & Manhunt 2, anybody saying the Wii is a "kiddy" system will just look like a jackass.

I'd like to highly recommend an under-the-radar demo. I had heard nothing of Overlord before this past weekend, when the demo was released. I hadn't expected much out of it, but what I got was an enjoyable, twisted & extremely funny take on games like Pikmin. If they can tighten up the camera a bit we may have a great sleeper title on our hands.

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Xeno Tactic

The Top Ten things I want to see at E3

Unfortunately, I was very burnt out from work during my last post and mistakenly thought E3 was starting this Monday, when in fact it starts one month from this Monday. But that's no reason to divert from my original plans (plus I cna't think of anything else to write about anyways):

E3 lives! While the ridiculous spectacle is gone, E3 is still a big deal, just in a much more business-like manner. Most of the major players from the industry are showing up and big things are expected from all 3. This probably won't have the huge surprises of last year since all the new consoles are out, but there will hopefully be plenty of stuff to get excited about, and here's the things I would most like to see, in no particular order:

1. MS announces retro points-This is easily the least likely thing (and actually it may not even be something that's possible), but it'd be pretty cool. Basically they would make free patches for backwards compatible Xbox titles that would give them achievement points. Not as much as 360 games of course, but maybe around 250 like most current Arcade titles have.

2. Nintendo is simplifying the friend code system-Again, probably not that reasonable an expectation, but seriously, Nintendo has screwed the pooch big time on their online, and it hasn't even started up yet. There is no reason whatsoever I should have to get some long ass code for every single online-enabled game I purchase for friends I already have registered. What makes this whole setup even more insane is that yes, you can still play random people, which this is supposed to prevent. And there's no webcam or voice chat as of yet, so even if your kid is playing with some creepy child molester, what exactly are they gonna do? There's no logic behind this system, no amount of great games (like Mario Strikers & Smash Bros.) will make people overlook this fact, and will probably make people forgo certain lower-profile titles because it's just not worth entering all new friend codes for the 20th or so time.

3. Mario Kart for Wii-Of course the one title that will make me say it's all worthwhile is a Wii version of the best racing series in history. Mario Kart for DS is still probably my favorite game for the system, and I still play Duble Dash & 64 on a regular basis. If they announced it and it was coming out this year with online play, it would pretty much be the best year for Nintendo fans ever when you add in the other 3 big Nintendo titles. I'd put this in the realm of probably showing up, but most likely slated for a '08 release.

4. Super Smash Bros. Dojo in near-finished form-Save a few characters for a surprise when the game gets close to actual release, but if Hideo Kojima claimed a few weeks ago that they could release it then and sell a million copies, it better damn well be near finished by the time E3 rolls around. I want to see a bunch of new videos, a decent amount of the roster and hopefully a certain blue speedster that everyone wants in the game.

5. "Home" in all it's "glory"-Sure, when we first saw video of Sony's "home" system it seemed pretty cool. But it wasn't till after the GDC that we started asking questions about how it would all work. And Sony has remained suspiciously silent. This could be the greatest gamer community tool to date, but signs point more to it being an over-glorified flashy pain that requires lots of "walking" and with more flashing lights & ads than Vegas & Times Square combined. Odds are it'll be somewhere in-between the two, but if Sony remains mostly mum on any real specifics at this year's show, be worried.

6. KOTOR III-I don't care what this is on. If it's an exclusive to something I don't have, I will buy that system. If it's going to be a PC exclusive, I will upgrade, but ye gods, Bioware GIVE US SOMETHING ON THIS GAME!

7. A new Wii Remote-function. It's more or less been heavily rumored that the Wii remote has at least one more secret, reportedly something to do with the fact that even though no games have been programmed for it yet, it can pick up sound, which could lead to some very interesting gameplay functions. The Wii remote having an as of yet unrevealed function is almost a lock, but odds are it won't be something too groundbreaking, so don't get your hopes up too high.

8. Better "casual" games-Whether it's Wii (ok, it's only Wii but given the success they are bound to at least try some casual games on the other consoles) or some other console, these "simple and fun" titles meant for the more mainstream crowd are all way too similar. Do we really need a bunch of party mini-games? Casual games are fine, but come up with some new freaking ideas for them. If I never have a reason to get anything in this genre besides Rayman & Wario Ware, I'm not going too, and most people will have that same reasoning.

9. A re-commitment for Xbox live Arcade-Live arcade is a joke, plain & simple. The most popular titles are card games, the original titles stink, and most of the revamped classics are horribly butchered. Arcade should be one of the top reasons to get the 360, instead, it's obviously treated as an afterthought. Ok, so the original titles stink, but how in the hell do you fuck up Double Dragon? I mean, seriously, if they fuck up Bomberman, I'm pretty much done with that part of the 360.

10. Killzone 2-I think people will be shocked if this shows up before Duke Nukem Forever considering we haven't heard anything since that eye-popping but suspicious video over two years ago. Sony has claimed it's in the works, but we've really heard nothing more. Considering this is what got many people excited about the PS3, this may be Sony's last real chance to make some sort of impact. If there's not even a mention of it here, consider it and most of Sony's hopes done for.


Free game of the week: Skies of War

Lucky Number 13?

I really didn't mean to go nearly a week without posting, but it's like there's been a general pop culture news embargo. I mean really, aside from the Fallout 3 teaser (which does look really sweet, the entertainment world has gone sort of mute. Gaming has an excuse, the new toned-down E3 is next week, and while the ridiculous spectacle is gone, their will hopefully be lots of earth-shattering news, but nothing really that worthwhile in other mediums has happened either. I'll expand on my pre-E3 thoughts this weekend, in the meantime, we've got another trilogy wrap-up coming, this time one that nobody really asked for, Ocean's 13. I'm somewhat optimistic, as the cast and crew have claimed this entry is a more "fun" film than the previous one, which was 2 hours of dreary torture, but again this just seems like an excuse for these guys to get paid to hang out for a few months.

It certainly seems like a much better option than the alternates. First, we have Hostel II, a guaranteed horrible sequel to the horrible original. Yeah, it made money, but I'm thoroughly convinced audiences just have no clue what makes a good horror film anymore after seeing the first one, then actually hearing people praise it and not call on it for the complete pile of garbage it was.

Then for the kids there is yet another animated film starring penguins, Surf's Up. Do kids still care about surfing? Does anybody aside from hardcore enthusiasts? Granted, it's probably a better bet than Shrek, but that ain't saying much.

That's mostly all I have for today, but I'll definitely be back this weekend (possibly even tomorrow) with some pre-E3 stuff and in the meantime, here's one of the funnier videos I've seen in a long time: HITLER GETS BANNED FROM XBOX LIVE

The only thing scary about Kevin Costner is when he tries to act...

Seriously, Kevin Costner may actually be one of the worst actors to ever grace the big screen. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is one of my all time favorite films, but that film works in spite of Costner's wooden delivery and horrid attempt at an English accent he occasionally remembers his character is supposed to have. Now, he tries to be a seriously scary psycho killer with Dane Cook as a protege in Mr. Brooks. Granted, given Costner's mostly played nice guys his whole career this seems like a daring move, but unlike other actors who simply normally don't show their dramatic edge, Costner simply has none. Every single role is the same for him, and lately he's made the unwise decision of starring along other talentless individuals so it shows all the more.

Luckily, there's an easy choice this weekend for movie-going audiences with Knocked Up, which granted, sounds like a straight-up chick flick, but this is from Judd Apatow, who brought us the fantastic 40-year old Virgin (and of course, Freaks & Geeks). The guy knows funny, and aside from a dude like Seth Rogen actually having a chance with a woman like Katherine Heigl, from all reports it's a refreshingly honest & real approach to the subject of an unexpected pregnancy.

Finally, I think I'm bored with the Halo 3 beta & I'm certainly not alone, as the "population" seems to mostly bottomed out from those insane early days. It's not a knock on the gameplay, really, but let's face it, this is just an unsatisfying nugget of the final product. 3 maps and only a few gametypes get old quick, along with it basically requiring massive trickery to play any sort of a real custom game. Oh well, not like I don't have plenty of other actual games like Odin Sphere to keep me busy for awhile.

No one to blame but yourself

We live in a culture where generally people like to blame any issues on anybody but themselves. Granted, it's occasionally true that circumstances are just beyond your control, you've done everything in your power and things still turned out poorly. But the majority of the time, you truly have nobody to blame but yourself. Video game companies especially should take note of this, because lately, a lot of third-party developers are whining and moaning that although the Wii is incredibly successful, people only buy Nintendo systems for Nintendo games, making it impossible for third-parties to justify developing games (or at least ones with big budgets) for the waggle machine.

Really? It's Nintendo's fault that everyone has rushed to develop cheap ports or uninspired party party games? Cause when I take a look at the Wii's third-party offerings, that's all that is there. I mean, when the best offerings from somebody that isn't Nintendo of late are literally rehashes of old games available on other systems (sometimes even the Gamecube), what right do these developers have to state they have no chance? A perfect example of this is Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, which just came out for the Wii after being available on the PS2 & Xbox for months, and yet the PS2 & Xbox will be the preferred versions because they have online. Granted, Nintendo has been incredibly slow to get the ball rolling on online, but it's happening, and exactly what timetable was Midway under that they couldn't wait for the tools to be sent? I got news for you guys, nobody would care about this game any less if it was delayed a few months for online, in fact that would most certainly make it sell far better than as it is.

There seems to be this weird mentality that the Wii's success is an extremely short-term thing and they'd better just flood the library with whatever they can while the iron is still hot. Granted, the odds of the Wii remaining as red hot as it is for much longer are slim, but it should continue to be a powerful seller, just like the DS has been, especially when they inevitable price drops start. And key to sales remaining strong after the initial hype has finally died down and you can actually walk into any store and just pick one up is good third-party titles. You can make Manhunt 2, but make sure it doesn't suck (see Resident Evil 4 for lessons in this). If everybody has a party game, people will just go with the most recognizable one, and odds are it's not you, so try something casual, but different. And lastly, don't suck. I know that seems obvious, but the plain & simple of it is that a lot of these third-party titles are just mediocre or awful games in the first place, and when the First-party offerings are almost all top notch efforts, it's hard to blame consumers for not buying your shitty product.

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Agent Scarecrow #1

I'm all partyed out...

Seriously, do we need another party minigame collection on the Wii already? Granted, Mario is almost certainly the king with his Mario Party series, and the mere fact that it's on the Wii makes sure it's a long overdue overhaul, but Wii owners already know that the Wii is flooded with minigame collections, which don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. And honestly, while the game looks fun, history tells us there will be another 4 or 5 Mario Party games on the Wii in short succession, so I'll wait for a more definitive version (i.e. with some online support like downloadable content).

But something far more interesting is on the horizon this week. Shadowrun for the Xbox 360 & the PC, letting two fairly volatile sides collide for the first time. There just really is no in-between on the console vs. PC debate, people just believe one is the obvious choice (I personally go with consoles because you don't have to spend outrageous amounts of money every year to keep up). And the rivalry between FPS console gamers & PC console gamers is even worse. Will this solve that age old question? Probably not, because word on the street is that this is already a failed experiment at best, but it'll at least be interesting to check out.

Video Day-The I'm even less sure I care about Pirates edition

Geez, I'm generally not one to pay much attention to critics, but given that Spider-Man 3 was sort of a letdown, and 28 Weeks Later & Shrek The Third were horrid insults to their terrific predecessors, I'm understandably apathetic about the latest sequel hitting this week, Pirates of the Caribbean : At the World's End. At this point, rather than being excited, I feel like I should go since I saw the last one and want to see how it ends rather than being genuinely excited about this latest chapter in the franchise. Hopefully the Summer season has nowhere to go but up from here.

Anyways, onto the videos. Nintendo & Ubisoft both had very big media days, so here's what I think are the best highlights from both:

Raving Rabbids 2 Trailer

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 - Transformers Trailer

Posted Yesterday

Theeeeey're baaaaaack!!! And this time they're rabbids in disguise.

Assassins Creed Trailer:



Mario Strikers: Charged Online Interview


Nintendo Media Summit Overview



And finally, just for fun: STAR WARS: JACKASS

Odin's got big balls...

One good thing about the end of a consoles lifespan, your bound to see those weird quirky titles strictly meant to keep the hardcore gamers still interested in the system, usually in the form of a flood of low profile but awesome rpgs. I'm still working through quirky fun little games like Tales of the Abyss & Shining Force Neo, which lack the polish and production value of say, a Final Fantasy, but still offer a good value in other ways like deep & fun characters or a unique take on a tried & true system. This week, another possible gem comes out in the form of Odin Sphere. The reason I say possibly is because it first got major notice by the guys over at Penny Arcade. And not to dismiss their opinion, but after them defending Enchanted Arms (which I thought was terrible and for much more than the reasons they said to ignore the bad reviews) and championing Puzzle Quest (which I thought was alright, hardly worthy of the heaps of praise they gave it), we simply seem to have a difference in tastes. But then the reviews started rolling in, with most calling it not only a damn good game, but the best-looking game to ever grace the PS2. Of course, me not reserving the game in advance may make it hard to come by, as these lower profile titles are never stocked well and hard to find at your bigger chain stores that deal in more than just games.

Now, if you want a no-brainer recommendation, just pick up season 5 of one of the best sitcoms of the last decade or so:



Few shows can keep this fresh for so long (and admittedly the show faltered in quality in the just ended season 6, but it was still way better than most other shows on TV) and season 5 is easily my favorite with lots of great episodes and moments throughout.

Free Game of the Week: Tactics 100 Live

The Top Ten Characters that should be added to Smash Bros. Brawl

Quick note before I get into my column: Shrek sucked. Hard. Granted, maybe it's because I was lucky enough to skip most of the banal animation films that have come out over the last few years, but this was truly one of the worst animated films I've seen in a long time. It may have had the production values of a big screen animated film, but everything else was on a Disney Channel Original Movie level. It's just sad. There's already a 4th planned, going back to Shrek's origins, hopefully that new focus will be a fresh spin that's badly needed. Also, I know the big news of the weeknd was all about Starcraft 2, but I don't know what I could say on the subject since RTS is one of my least favorite genres and I haven't really logged much PC game time since Oblivion.

Anyways, if you're any kind of Nintendo fan, you know that arguably the biggest game coming out this year (and arguably for the existence of the system if done right) is Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The Smash Bros. series is essentially any nerd's wet dream come true, all those questions of "would X beat y? in a fight?" can finally be answered (at least involving any of Nintendo's mascots, anyways). Now, it's still most likely quite a few months off, but the official website is "launching in 1 day. What does this mean? Hopefully that most of our questions will be answered, but more likely it'll be a minimal thing at best. But regardless, I figure this is a good time to list the top ten characters I think should be included in the game. I tried to include mostly non-Nintendo characters, ones that I think would fit, and that I think have a realistic chance of appearing (in other words, though Ratchet & Clank would be awesome, since they are Sony property, they will not appear on this list). So without further ado:

10. Little Mac



Admittedly, Little Mac isn't the most obvious fit given that he's simply a pugilist without any special tricks or powers (which is why he's not higher on the list), but it's his iconic status that get him a much deserved spot in this list. Punch Out is still one of if not the best boxing games ever made and it's ability to stand the test of time when most VC releases don't hold up very well solidifies him as a top choice. My suggestion: Keep him a short range character, but with incredibly powerful attacks and a whole lot of speed. Again, it would be tricky to make him work properly, but if anyone deserves the effort, it's every gamer's favorite underdog.

9. Rayman



Though the real stars of his latest game are most definitely those psychotic rabbits, Rayman is a big reason for Nintendo's resurgence in the game market and has been a mostly solid presence in the platformer genre as well (Rayman 2 is still one of the best platformers of all time), so why not give the star of what is the Wii's biggest 3rd party title a shot at duking it out with Nintendo's elite? He has lots of natural abilities that fit right in, and arming him with plungers/a plunger gun would make him a very versatile character.

8. Bonk



The TG-16's hard-headed hero is a perfect addition to the roster. His head-butts are already a great smash move in themselves, and his various abilities granted by eating meat (along with being able to change into certain costumes that give him other abilities could easily be incorporated, making him one of the more formidable newcomers.

7. Pac-Man



Arguably the only character that's as iconic as Mario, Pac-Man is probably the most deserving character on this list by mere status alone. Like Little Mac, it may be difficult to come up with a fitting move list, but I'm sure the programming geniuses at Hal Laboratory can figure out how to properly fit in the guy that really helped start this whole wacky video game craze.

6. Simon Belmont



The original vampire hunter seems to have more or less retired since his NES & SNES adventures, so what better way to bring him back than on the Wii's flagship fighting title? He's already got a ridiculous arsenal of moves, and I know we'd all love to see Simon take on Samus since they basically copied off each other for years until Metroid made a move to 3D. Castlevania was synonymous with Nintendo for a long time and any fan would love the opportunity to test him out against the likes of Nintendo's best.

5. Earthworm Jim


There might be characters who are better suited to the style of gameplay, and possibly even more deserving with a better iconic status, but I'll take Jim's straight out insanity over those any day of the week. Part of the charm of Smash Bros is the utter ridiculousness of such a concept, and that's why Jim would fit in so well. His gun toting insanity would be a great match up against any of Nintendo's roster (and maybe being able to somehow include his sidekick Peter Puppy). And if included, they must use the EARTHWORM JIM THEME SONG whenever he is selected!

4. Toejam & Earl



The funkiest aliens to ever grace a console, ToeJam & Earl are exactly the type that fit right in with this crazy concept. They could even be a tag team like the Ice Climbers, but I'd rather see each be his own character. They could still have the same moves (Tomato Bazooka, rocket skate charge, etc.), but obviously have roughly the same differences they had in the first game (cause really, that's the only one worth mentioning), where TJ is the quick one and Earl is the strong one. These guys would be a tremendous addition to the lineup and I hope Nintendo and Sega see it that way as well.

3. Mega Man



Simply put, the blue bomber made a name for himself on Nintendo. He's tried to go with other systems, but it's never regained the glory of his 16 & especially 8-bit years. That fact should be recognized with a slot in Brawl. He'd be arguably the most versatile fighter on the roster if given the right weapons (note, most if not all of them should come from Mega Man 2!), and is probably the #2 most wanted choice among fans. If Capcom can slide one character into brawl, there is no other choice.

#2. Bomberman


Bomberman is so high on this list cause he's such a seemingly obvious choice. He's been around nearly as long as any longtime mascot, and he remains a timeless symbol of fun & simple gameplay, which is what Nintendo and the Wii are striving to be synonymous with. Plus, with his various bombs, he's able to cause chaos. Lots of chaos. A key element to the Smash Bros. games is chaos, what with random things from umbrellas to laser guns to pokeballs pooping up randomly to use. A guy throwing all kinds of bombs all over the place would greatly add to that chaos, and in a good way. Bomberman always seemed most at home on Nintendo systems, that sentiment should be certified with a spot in Brawl.

#1 Sonic



This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Sonic has been a fan demand since Sega stopped making consoles. Execs at both Sega & Nintendo have slyly hinted that this is something they would like to see happen, and whenever an interview about anything Nintendo or Sega is doing comes up, even if the project has no relation, you'll see the interviewer try to worm it out of the interviewee. Sonic is the closest thing Mario has had to a serious rival for the gaming throne, and while he's certainly fallen on hard times, there's nothing like including him in Brawl to help him & gamers relive his glory days. It won't be a deal-breaker, but lots of fans will certainly be disappointed if Brawl comes out and the blue blur is nowhere to be seen.

Video Day-The I'm not sure I care about Shrek edition

Yep, the only thing opening this weekend is Shrek The Third, which I'll most likely check out just because I really like the first two even though the reviews aren't all that hot. But despite the PS3 costing Sony nearly 2 BILLION DOLLARS, they put on a brave face and showed of a bunch of stuff at a big event in San Diego this week, here's some of the better vids:

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune



Ratchet & Clank Future



Heavenly Sword



LittleBigPlanet

The waiting was the hardest part

This was at best a problematic day for 360 owners. People in possession of Crackdown couldn't get on until a couple of hours ago (and some people who got genuine beta invites still can't get on). It was definitely agony waiting (especially since the Halo 2 servers were also offline while they were trying to figure out the problem. And people are still having slight problems getting in even after downloading the beta. Most companies would fix it and leave it at that, but Bungie's been kind enough to expand the Beta 4 more days til June 10th.

I was able to get a few games in before this post. My early impressions? It's Halo 2's multi-player, refined. There aren't any huge changes, even with the new equipment. And that's hardly a bad thing. Granted, some jackasses will (and already are) complaining that it's not a big enough leap, but I seeing how highly praised Halo 2's multi-player was, refining to a T is far from a bad thing. I'll definitely post further impressions tomorrow if I feel I can say more on it than I have here, until then, it's BETA TIME!!!

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, that still doesn't mean it's a duck...

Just a reminder to everybody trying out the Halo 3 Beta that starts in a few hours-The finally product may be very different from what you play now, it's also something to keep in mind for the Halo haters who have been saying it isn't different enough. The game isn't coming out for 4 more months and this is simply a small glimpse into a small part of the final product, so it's hardly something to judge the entire game by. Single-Player is still a complete mystery, we haven't seen all the multi-player maps, some features probably haven't been implemented, and much may change based on the feedback Bungie gets from the beta testers themselves.

Though it seems like it's been forever and a day, Nintendo's online is finally starting to come closer to reality, with their first true online titles, Pokemon Battle Revolution hits in a little over a month, and IGN posted a really good hands on preview of Mario Strikers today. Re-registering people I already have registered (and them having to register me again) is definitely an unnecessary pain in the ass, but aside from that, the online setup sounds tremendous and as long as Nintendo actually takes the online play seriously this time, people probably won't care about having to register friend codes for each and every title.

That's really it for today, but I've decided to give it the old half-hearted try and score a rental copy of Crackdown tomorrow in order to try out the Hao 3 beta, so should I be successful, I will most definitely post my impressions, in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Star Island

Crackdown can finally be used for something besides a coaster

Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, as Crackdown is far from a terrible game, just underwhelming. But there is no doubt that the main reason this game sold was for the fact that if players weren't lucky enough to get into the Halo 3 Beta, they had to put down a hefty $60 for this GTA wannabe, and after all the waiting it finally starts in 2 days, surely making 360 fanboys cream their pants in anticipation, especially with the flurry of videos released over the past weekend (just head over to gametrailers.com and they are all very easy to find). Though I'm very excited about Halo 3 and somewhat tempted to rent Crackdown just to check out the beta, I'm pretty sure I'm content to wait til the full game hits, as I'm probably one of the few people who gives a damn if the single-player is as engrossing as the multi-player.

Square Enix had a big party and you weren't invited, but luckily in the day and age of teh internet, we don't have to beg someone cool enough to go for info, it's freely posted shortly after being announced. Some of the announcements sound awesome (Last Remnant seems like the next big RPG franchise), some not so much (like Chocobo Dungeon for Wii and Parasite Eve 3 being a cell phone game, doh!) but it seems any SE fan will be thrown so much love their wallets can't possibly take it between the new stuff & the stuff we'll all but for the 4 billionth time on a new console.

How much do I enjoy punishing myself? That's the real question anybody should ask giving a look at today's biggest Virtual Console release: Ninja Gaiden. It's an undisputed classic, no argument, definitely worth a measly $5. But it's hard, like make you suffer a brain hemorrhage hard, and quite frankly I'm just not completely sure I want to really remember how agonizing that game could be.

That's pretty much it for today, but I think I'll be back tomorrow with... something.

You can't make a good scary movie anymore...

At least that's my opinion after just getting back from a sneak preview of the only movie anyone cares about opening this weekend: 28 Weeks Later, the highly anticipated sequel to 28 Days Later. I really enjoyed the first one as a good, original horror film that treated an viral outbreak fairly realistically and had some good adrenaline-charged moments. While there have been some decent dumb-fun type horror films since then, there hasn't been a good serious horror film, and though you'd expect something better if they were going to bother to do a sequel, "Weeks" suffers from the same bad cliches and the same stupid types of characters you've seen in every awful horror film over the last 20 years or so. I've theorized that since horror movies never seem to scare me that I'm just not the kind of person who can enjoy a serious one, so take this review with that in mind, but I sure as hell won't be showing up for what seems to be yet another inevitable sequel judging by the ending.

The long-awaited Spring Update has happened for the 360, and my reaction is a huge "meh". It's kind of nice to be able to set my console to shut down automatically after a download is finished, but everything else seems incredibly unnecessary, especially the much touted ability to IM across services that were previously not available on live. Of course, we can already trade messages back and forth and talk to to other players through our headsets. If I wanted to talk to someone on AIM, I'D USE MY COMPUTER. This seems like one of many desperate moves to try and capture a more casual market that has mostly eluded Microsoft. But the casual non-gamer won't buy a 360. The controller is intimidating, the price is kind of steep. And why would they buy a console to play these casual games they can get for free on a PC they already own? I realize both MS & Sony are trying to establish themselves as some sort of centric entertainment box that covers all your needs, but the consumers don't want that much convergence, and they are proving it with their wallets by buying the simple and easy Nintendo offerings in droves.

And as a final note for today, I'd like to thank MS (or whomever is responsible) for butchering yet another classic. Double Dragon was released, and while it shares some of the same problems as TMNT like cheap difficulty, it brings a whole new one that completely ruins the experience-massive slowdown in co-op. You're telling me that you couldn't get a 20 year old game to run smoothly on your oh so powerful system? As long as fuck-ups like this keep happening, Live is always going to seem like a system filled with potential it never fully realizes, and somebody (possibly Sony with their Home service) will swoop in and take the jaded gamers.

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Tam Tower Challenge

A perfect example of why Nintendo's phliosophy on the Virtual Console is wrong

Much as I've made great use of Nintendo's virtual console feature since the system debuted, and as much as I've appreciated their philosophy that these classics of gaming yore should remain untouched, in some cases, this just isn't the right thing to do. Nintendo & Microsoft's retro releases for this week exemplify that. Today's only "worthwhile" VC release was Final Fight for the Super Nes. Final Fight, as most old school gaming fans will tell you, is one of the classic fighters of all time, right up there with classics like Streets of Rage. But the SNES version is a horrid abomination, missing things like one of the main protagonists as well as a two-player mode. It's bad enough that this is the kind of game that screams for online co-op, which we know won't happen on the Wii, but they could at least fix those horrid mistakes that no fan of Final Fight would forgive.

Then for the Xbox 360 crowd, we have arguably the father of all great side-scrolling fighters, Double Dragon coming to Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. Now granted, this isn't exactly a reason to cheer yet, as MS has a solid history of completely screwing up ports of ancient games that should be easy, but at least there is potential here. You know online co-op, touched up graphics and other goodies like achievement points are a solid possibility, enhancing the gameplay experience beyond mere nostalgia, which has definitely played tricks on many a long-time gamers mind. I can only hope MS somehow pulls a miracle or Nintendo gets their fucking act together on this shit upon the inevitable releases of classics like River City Ransom.

Moving on, I did catch Spider-Man 3 this weekend (and according to its ginormous box office, so did most other inhabitants of planet Earth). Strictly as a movie-goer, I was pleased. The effects rocked, it was fun & funny, pretty much all I ask out of a blockbuster movie. But I being a fan of the comics in my youth and being very familiar with most of the characters involved in this movie, I could see why comic book nerds are not, and they have really vented their rage on the internets over the weekend. We'll have to see if their reaction has any real effect, but unless Spidey plummets in week 2 (where there is no serious competition), I don't see this being an issue for the already announced sequels.

That's pretty much it for today, but I got another treat for old-school gamers: GAMETRAILERS TOP TEN 8-BIT GAMES

Great things come in three's?

Is three a magic number for Hollywood? Possibly the only thing Hollywood seems to love more than the sequel is the trilogy. And we've got 3 of the biggest sequels of all time coming out this month, with all three of these respective franchises going for the true Hollywood Holy Grail, the Hexilogy, with a 4th, 5th & 6th movie all but guaranteed, even though it's likely some major changes will go down in their latest chapter that may drastically alter the direction of the franchise. Only seemingly eternal series like Bond can really hope for a longer run without sufficiently long breaks in-between.

That being said let's look at what may already be the biggest movie of this year that many people are already seeing at midnight tonight, Spider-Man 3. This is also arguably the trilogy most likely to please most moviegoers as the last two were nothing short of two of the best blockbuster films ever made. Unerstandably some hardcore nerds have objected to certain elements (namely Gwen Stacy being a character in this film even though in the comics she was killed by the original Green Goblin). But really, all this is just Raimi's interpretation of source material that has time and time again been completely re-written anyways (or "retconned" in nerd terms) and as long as he makes it work, I, a former comic geek and long-time Spider-Man fan, am more than fine with it.

And finally, it looks like Live Arcade may have another gem worth downloading next week in Double Dragon. Unfortunately the keyword is "may". The press release is brief on details, and makes no mention of online co-op. And while it may be only a measly $5, classics on Live tend to be horribly butchered or missing what most would consider basic features (like altering the number of lives you have available in TMNT Arcade...). We'll just have to wait til more details are available or til the game is actually out to see if they didn't also screw p this one...

Those rectangular thingies with words in them, continued...

The last time I talked about books I mentioned how not fond I am of autobiographies, but at least they aren't always necessarily tied strictly to making money and can on occasion be enjoyable and insightful reads. The one type of book you're almost guaranteed to not get your money's worth out of even if you found it in some dollar bargain bin is the infamous tie-in novel. Not something that was a little known or long-forgotten book that a movie or some other property was based on, but something that is based on the property itself. These are nearly always rushed and very poorly written, mainly due to the fact that whoever is writing them is clearly doing it to pay the rent rather than someone who is a genuine fan of the property and wants at least the literary world to see their vision of it. This goes double for the ultra-rare, yet usually ultra-mediocre game novels. Rarely are they based on the actual game, usually they are a prequel/sequel/spin-off taking place in the same universe, and for that rare combination of gamer who not only reads books but also is willing to take chances on the game novel, most of us have been spurned, many, MANY times. It's sort of amazing that there's a general consensus that story-telling in gaming, while getting better, still needs drastic improvement, and yet while you can usually say the book is better than whatever shlock movie it's based on, you can never say that about the game. But there is a glimmer of hope. The recent Halo novels have not sucked (especially Fall of Reach & Ghosts of Onyx) and the books seem to finally start being based on series that have a deep story to begin with. Mass Effect: Revelation is hopefully evidence of this. A prequel novel to the certifiable awesomeness that Mass Effect will be when it finally comes out, it seems like it might be a great complimentary companion piece rather than a quick cash after-thought. It's out in stores this week, so if you have any interest, you might want to pick it up as I have.

That's really all I got for today, but I'll certainly be back tomorrow to talk about a certain wall-crawler's latest big screen adventure (and the game tie0ins that have that rare chance of not sucking).

FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The Last Stand