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AICN Games: Monki's Weekly Wrap Up!!

First! by Darth_Gonz	Jan 21st, 2007 11:15:47 PM
I wonder if the Wii game by the Dead Rising/Lost Planet people will be rooted in a similar genre, or a new idea altogether.
the news I want on gaming by JRKerr	Jan 21st, 2007 11:26:52 PM
how does disgaea for psp fare? why did the release date for final fantasy crystal chronicles for ds disappear? how does fire emblem for wii look? there are no good licensed games, so games based on movies are never going to be cool news. real geeks dont play this halo/quake shit: thats for working week slobs who only play a few hours a week. I know aicn wants to point to a lot of cool games all at once in one article as if suggesting there is a lot of cool stuff to be looked at... but man... magicbox has the better news all the time, so the best aicn can do is lay on the analysis/perspective... we simply are going to play all these games anyway, so a news thread should really lay into analysis/evaluation of that columbine game and kinda spare us EA or E3 news... we know that shit already (and we kinda don't care).
moreover by JRKerr	Jan 21st, 2007 11:36:29 PM
any column that even breathes online ps3 ought to crow loudly that SOE is locked in a death rattle it created with shitty online play created by developers licensing their dev codes out to cheat sites for royalties. PC gaming is only arguably the best online play because of Blizzard and its intense moderation... and it has fuck all to do with seeing pores on fps grunts. The simple best gameplay has been on DS for over a year which is why DS Lite has sold 10 times more units than ps3 or 360 (only twice as many as wii now). I will throat punch anyone who dares disagree with me about sony sucking thick ass and pc fps games being in any way better than nintendo tactical games.
Instead of throat punching by blackwood	Jan 22nd, 2007 01:05:05 AM
JRKerr, you should read this: http://tinyurl.co m/2bc3xk
The first big game of 2007... by Shermdawg	Jan 22nd, 2007 02:56:26 AM
And all it gets is two fucking sentences??? WTF. Monki, first ya ignore Zelda, then mother fucking WoW? Once of the most played titles on the face of the planet? If there was ever a game AICN should have covered, it was The Burning Crusade. Quint, seriously, get the ball rolling on expanding this feature or pull the fucking cord.
*One by Shermdawg	Jan 22nd, 2007 02:57:29 AM
Sue me.
Show some respect... by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:41:35 AM
The Lost Planet/Dead Rising "people" as you so quaintly put it are called Capcom. One of the oldest established games developers going responsible for some of the most awesome games to grace arcades and consoles in the 80s and 90s...sheesh.
Burning Crusade is certainly worth more of a mentino by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:43:02 AM
Especially the bit about how some fools are paying £200/$400 for it on ebay. I had two copies go for rediculous amounts of money and am holding the 3rd one back to see those prices rise... :D
The larger file sizes in XBL Arcade by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:47:18 AM
Are to help push the XNA development tools that Microsoft are keen to get out there. You can download the XNA toolkit for free at Microsofts website and make games for the PC for free but porting your games onto 360 requires a membership fee which is approx $99. Not bad and a great way to get people into games devlopment; there are many people who work at my place that got into the industry from Yaroze!; the programable Playstation 1.
Motorstorm Bugs by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:51:15 AM
By "working out the bugs" Sony actually means, "we're adding more courses", and "the ability to play online", and possibly "we're trying to get it to run at 60fps at 1080p".
Motorstorm Bugs by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:51:15 AM
By "working out the bugs" Sony actually means, "we're adding more courses", and "the ability to play online", and possibly "we're trying to get it to run at 60fps at 1080p".
sorry for dbl posting by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:51:48 AM
No idea how that happened.
I love my dead gay DS! by BannedOnTheRun	Jan 22nd, 2007 06:10:22 AM
7 bits is more than enough.
Motorstorm Japan by Orionsangels	Jan 22nd, 2007 08:29:34 AM
Motorstorm in Japan got awful reviews. It as accused of being released too early. It was buggy, had limited options and they also said, while pretty to look at it, especially the crashes. It was overall a pretty generic racer. Sony is supposedly now addressing these issues for the American version. All I know is this is the sloppiest launch of a console in history. It's one mistake after the other. Sony tried to do too much with simple ideas they got from their competition.
blackwood by JRKerr	Jan 22nd, 2007 10:27:54 AM
nothing wrong with the hardware. the problem is the people. if sony would drug test (not that drug testing is helpful per se but it'd flush out the slackers at SOE lickety split) its employees over here... or just flush out SOE for not maintaining a SINGLE cheat free game... then it'd matter what kind of online sony has. You CAN play a cheat free online game with PC, DS, 360 or Wii. Sony is the one that lets developers administer their own games... all DNAS does is check to see if you're using a real playstation... and it doesn't even successfully do that. I dont need to throat punch somebody who says I can't afford it... I can just show them my 8,500 dollar collection of video games (not counting hardware, dig?). Dev codes come from developers. 360 and Wii can punkbust because they serve the games. ps3 can't. Bitch.
Nothing is cheat free by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 11:13:52 AM
PC games are rife with hackers on games like Battlefield 2, their cheats bypass punkbuster; it's why i stopped playing. Even the 360 isn't immune, i was just saying in The Zone the other day that GoW has been hacked to ribbons now, go check the leaderboards, and apparently so has Rainbow Six Vegas. Anyone who's played Halo 2 will also tell you the same thing. If someone is sad enough to cheat, they'll cheat.
And also by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 11:17:36 AM
What do you mean 360 and Wii serve their own games? Last i checked, if i host a game on 360 - i'm the host. Not a Microsoft server somewhere.
Motorstorm Japan by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 11:20:01 AM
Has some glitches, but the main complaint is that the final retail version is barely different to the demo that was released. Total waste of time. Sony have also had some shit lately for not keeping their promises; i can't think of one site that hasn't crucified them for making motorstorm 30fps.
Unsuccessful Trolling by topaz4206	Jan 22nd, 2007 12:59:30 PM
Hah, no one's even responding to his feeble attempt.
I heard Motorstorm sucks because Sony sucks by godzillasushi	Jan 22nd, 2007 02:30:16 PM
MUAHAHA! Actually, as eye says it, 360 doesnt serve its own games. In fact, I think only BF2: MC has its own servers right? Halo 2 is hacktastic and Gears is getting there. If its not hacking, its finding glitches (chainsaw jumping). People hack Pac-Man all the time :0. And sure, theres nothing wrong with the hardware of the PS3....but that isnt what sells the damn thing. People didnt buy it to watch movies. They launched with one fairly above average shooter, and the rest was garbage. And quantity over quality has always been Sony's game. And dont think that because LP and DR turned out good, capcom will be making great games for the Wii. Dont expect much from them on a system with lower developments costs.
Better article this week by DarfurOnTheRocks	Jan 22nd, 2007 02:34:16 PM
I must give some props. This recap was better than last weeks. That Motorstorm game is turning into a debacle. Firstly, Sony of Japan release a game that is INCOMPLETE! And now the US version is delayed, which could mean that they are working feverishly to complete it, or they are gonna make is less incomplete. I have to say thus far that PGR3, a X360 launch title kills Motorcross as it stands. The game sure looks pretty, but that soon wears off when you cant play online with anyone....
Has Anyone Tried to Browse the Net with PS3? by DarfurOnTheRocks	Jan 22nd, 2007 02:38:02 PM
Utter crap, that how the PS3 browser is! They f*cked up royally when it came to online strategy. I am honestly say that MS's live is $5/month better than what Sony offers.
With XBL its getting what you pay for by godzillasushi	Jan 22nd, 2007 03:09:48 PM
I laugh when people defend free play on PS2 and PS3. Its free for a reason. XBL is so well implemented in everything that consoles will be copying it for a long time to come. And the blade system is one of the smartest moves MS did. It gives you access to a players achievements and location, everything, with just a click.
Why does this column even exist? by Alfeetoe	Jan 22nd, 2007 04:05:40 PM
All Monki does is steal week old stories/vid clips from Kotaku and posts them almost verbatim for the AICN crowd. Here's an idea: why don't you just have a giant header that tells everyone to visit Kotaku, and not waste time reading something that pales comparitively? Or maybe, you know, get your own material/news. Just a thought.
Sony wasn't ready! by Orionsangels	Jan 22nd, 2007 04:34:02 PM
MS did their homework when it comes to modern gaming right from the birth of the original Xbox. They predicted the merging of online entertainment with TV and gaming. Sony had two consoles and was a huge success. Why? Because they released some good games. Releasing games on a console. Simple enough, right? That's all Sony knew. But times were slowly changning and Sony saw HDD & Online approaching for consoles. But it was too late in PS2s lifespan to release that. So they halfheartly attempted it on PS2. Other than FFonline and Socom. It never really went anywhere. Bottom line is-Sony was ill prepared for today's style of modern gaming. MS knew exactly how to do it and it's paid off for them. Nintendo is even good at it. But Sony is playing catch up. All they know is releasing games on their console. So in a panick they took what they learned on PSP and tried to simplify it on PS3. They crossed their fingers and rushed it to market. It's a poor man's version of what Sony thinks modern gamers want. Can they repair it? Who knows, the high price isn't helping. Inconclusion, Sony ran away with the ball in 95 and held on for 10 years, but now the ball is getting bigger, smarter and more complicated and Sony isn't smart enough to satisfy it. It's like a dumb person who isn't smart enough to win an arguement so they scream loud to drawn you out. Well Sony thinks bigger better graphics will shut everyone up.
Dead on Orionsangels by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:36:53 PM
Much to the decries of the sony fans out there, Microsoft just have a better corporate system in place than Sony do. Alot of people berate Peter Moore but truth be told he's a savvy businessman who's worked for some of the highest profile companies in the world, before MS he was President of Sega of America. While i wish he'd kept the Dreamcast viable, he could see the writing on the wall for Sega and it's thanks to him they now publish their games on multiple platforms. He's got what it takes. Sony, on the other hand, have Phil Harrison. A man who's resume before joining Sony as an executive includes developing for Mindscape International, whose only claim to fame is Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. To make matters worse, the man has the all the charisma of a flat tyre. Quite possibly the worst person in the world to run such a high profile business as SCE. I still vividly remember the multitude of videos sampling his famous "GIANT ENEMY CRAB" line at E3. Priceless. Finally, Microsoft have an excellent R&D team who are actually capable of coming up with their own ideas. They are keen to encourage developers and now amateurs to make games for their platform. They don't reserve certain knowledge for developers who pony up huge sums of money or offer the most lucrative licences. Sony, however, have a team of people who sift through countless technology magazines looking for innovations they can steal or buy the rights to. They also have a rediculous policy of withholding libraries from their developers which is why you see such huge jumps in quality between first party and third party titles.
Yeah - also Sony don't want to repeat the embarrassment by half vader	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:49:04 PM
of the Japanese release running slower than the damn kiosk demos. Jeez. Take as long as you like, and get it right. I know I sound like a broken record with my Motorstorm love, but fuck me if they do the right thing with this game it will become the showpiece title, not Resistance. Besides, at this stage they need to put something out WITHOUT fucking up. I guess most of you here are American, but the F1 game is looking pretty awesome, and I'm hanging for the next Colin McRae (on whatever format). At least they don't seem to be rushing GT5. Does anyone know a firm release date for Mario Galaxy on Wii yet? Or is it still undetermined? Man some of those Wii Monkeyball levels are hard! I feel very old as in I don't think my hand/eye co-ordination is what it once was. Then again, could be the beer. The interface leaves a lot to be desired though (I know I'm not talking about a cool 'hardcore' game here but sue me - Monkeyball is FUN).
(That was actually in agreement with your earlier posts by half vader	Jan 22nd, 2007 05:53:26 PM
AllSeeing) Forgot to hit post. Duh.
Can't wait by Leopold Scotch	Jan 22nd, 2007 06:59:35 PM
till I get a 360 with the Half Life 2 Orange Box, plus all the goodies I've to catch up on (Oblivion, GoW, Rainbow 6 Vegas etc). I think Mass Effect looks great too. I got God of War and Psychonauts on PS2 today pre-owned. Bargains, the both of them. Looking forward to finding the time to play through these supposed classics. Mario Galaxy, Metroid, Smash Bros: Nintendos big three of the year, but no release dates. There had better be more than that worth buying: I'm hoping for Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. I mean they surely can't rely on Wario Ware for the first half of the year? Someone got me Monkey Ball Banana Blitz as a gift, and from what I've played, it is pretty hard, but I like the controls (I'm only at the start of the third world though). Funnily enough, the FPS battle game supposedly has the best FPS controls on the Wii so far. I think Sega just judged the bounding box a bit better. I tried it out for five mins to get an idea of what a better FPS might be like and it's pretty straight forward to control and felt ok.
Another thing about Sony that is wank by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 22nd, 2007 07:16:06 PM
Is Ken Kutaragi. The man is a complete cock; you have to be to label yourself as "father of the Playstation". I remember, many years ago, when PS1 was launched, Kutaragi was present to see Destruction Derby showcased. Now in all honesty, the game looked pretty cool for it's time and still Kutaragi could find fault in it. He wondered why there was no car debris on the track and when the lead dev told him the PS1 couldn't handle the debris mechanics he went off on one arguing that it could. He won't listen to anyone at all. Total dick. You can understand then why I find it hilarious that he makes such bold claims about PS3; gems include "games on PS3 can run at 120FPS", "all games will run at 1080p", "PS3 is 4D" and that XBOX 360 is "an xbox 1.5 that's only going after PS2". Total clown.
Sony knows what it has to delver. by Orionsangels	Jan 22nd, 2007 10:20:06 PM
But how do you make it appealing? The large HDD is a plus for PS3, but so far they haven't proven why you need a HDD that big and how have they done online well? Poor interface, sad excuse for a market place, lack of demos. Sony knows what it has to delver. They just don't have the know how like MS. Xbox live is an inviting service, colorful and easy to navigate. PS3's interface is as exciting as watching paint dry.
So thank God for nice guy geniuses like Miyamoto, eh? by half vader	Jan 22nd, 2007 10:45:31 PM
And thank God that Nintendo's Yamauchi and Sony's Kutaragi were never in the same room at the same time. The universe would have exploded because nothing would have withstood that much ego in such close proximity. Remember how Yamauchi rode Miyamoto's coattails and used the brilliance of his games to get away with forcing third parties to pay more for things like (technologically outdated) cartridges and higher royalty fees? At least the arrogant old codger is gone now and Ninty (there's a throwback to the British gaming mags of old!) seems to have learned its lesson. I never knew that (the Sega publishing thing) about Peter Moore, Allseeing. Thanks for that. As you know though I still think he's a disingenuous prick and no better than Sony for the pathetic stunt about buying a Wii as well at E3 (woulda been much classier and he woulda got away with it if he treated it as a joke) but you're right about giving him props for his foresight at Sega. Kevin Collins is a tool though. As is Allard, success notwithstanding (the Zune shenanigans at the moment are pathetic with the non-shareable song coverup). Why can't they let the amazing hardware speak for itself (360) instead of pimping like they've got something to hide? Of all the products in the world I'd argue videogames have the most informed customers of all, so why everyone from these companies (even including Reggie and his 'laughable 'disruption' marketing buzzwords) tries to put one over on them is beyond me. They still don't seem to have learned their lesson from the HD-DVD and Blu-ray thing where the takeup has been slow with early adopters not falling for the disingenuous release (as they've been making high-def masters for major DVD releases as a matter of course for a few years now) of middle-of-the-road titles. EAers know when they're being patronised. All right. Better stop with the rant. Not trying to say I'm right, but that's the way I see it personally. Does anyone remember Trip Hawkins anymore? Ha Ha.
I wish the games market DID have by Leopold Scotch	Jan 23rd, 2007 05:03:14 AM
the most informed consumers, but the reason so much shit gets released is because idiots go out and buy it as soon as big publishers say 'jump'. Let's face it: all you guys know your stuff, even about the rivals of your favourite developers, but you're in the tiny minority. If every gamer was like half the posters here, we'd see much more classics released, since most of us don't go out and invest in such an expensive hobby without being informed by a reliable source on whether or not it's worth it. It's not just buying crap games either: parents are so misinformed, they'll go buy GTA for their ten year old. I've seen it several times first-hand. I'm not up for censorship, but at least respect that the medium can have the same influence as books or films.
Half Vader - Orionsangels by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 23rd, 2007 05:15:29 AM
Half Vader: Yeh, i remember Trip "3D0" Hawkins. He actually had a really good idea to be fair, to make one platform and have all the companies make games for it. If it had worked, 3D0 would have been a format as familiar as DVD is. It's just a shame that no one went for it. He was so sure of success too when Matsushita agreed to make players. I remember the UK mag EDGE giving him loads of spotlight and coverage; alot of people thought he was onto something and then PS1 came along and buried it. It still had some good titles, Road Rash and Street Fighter 2 were top notch conversions. Ahhh..the old days. As for Moore, yeh the Wii thing was kinda shit BUT Sony did start it first with that rediculous comment that they didn't regard Microsoft as any kind of competition and would like to work with them in the future; sounds harmless enough but that's actually a polite insult in Japanese business. It was only natural for Moore to bite back; Scousers don't usually let things like that slide you know? :P As for J Allard, yes, he looks rediculous and the fact he legally changed his name to "J" can make you draw any number of conclusions about the guy but, to be fair, he was the man behind the original XBOX and gave us XBOX Live so i'll forgive him his indiscretions and mad personality and put it down to the fact that most people who are exceptionally clever are borderline nutters. ----- O rionsangels: I think Sony are facing an uphill struggle to sell Playstation 3 to the public. There were alot of factors that helped push Playstation 2 to dominate the market but that advantage is gone in this generation. The hole Sony have dug themselves, IMO, is that they have chosen to utilise their Blu-Ray drive as the medium to publish their games. When you buy a PS3, at the moment, what you get isn't a console that plays Blu Ray movies; rather a Blu Ray player that plays games. I've always said that it was a poor attempt to sway the wavering studios to choose BR as their Home Entertainment format; in Sonys opinion, PS2 sold 75 million units so it speaks for itself that PS3 will do the same. They have some terrible business planners over there. Therein lies the answer to your question. Sony haven't thought about what they need to do to lure gamers back since, in their arrogance, they assume they'll automatically purchase PS3. In their eyes, the brand sells itself. I'm not sure how they can make PS3 more appealing and sell the system to your average gamer. It's an uphill struggle that seems to be made worse by the fact they keep shooting themselves in the foot. Price is definately an issue but not one they can really flinch on since they're losing money hand over fist already. There's not much they can do about the games but they could ensure that all developers are put on an equal footing for a change; the more quality titles they have the more appealing it becomes. A better online service; make it subscription based and, though I criticise them for having no original ideas, take a leaf out of 360's book and offer more free content. Perhaps giving their stuff away as opposed to using their platform as a massive online store would seem more appealing. Change the PS3 user menu/interface; it looks cool on PSP but i'd like something more from my high priced console. Finally, clear out the board at SCE and bring in fresh minds and fresh ideas; I get the impression things are very stale there at the moment. In all credit, Sony brought a breath of, much needed, fresh air to the industry at a time when Sega and Nintendo had lost all real interest in innovation and the market was on the verge of dying. They could see what was happening in the early 90's, it's a shame they can't see what's happening to themselves now.
and Mr.Miyamoto by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 23rd, 2007 05:19:03 AM
This will sound incredibly geeky but i nearly fainted afew years back when i realised he was stood next to me at a show in London. I spent the remainder of the day telling people Shigeru Miyamoto was 'this close' to me.
Incredibly geeky by half vader	Jan 23rd, 2007 08:14:19 PM
But pretty damn cool nonetheless! I mean, he's a living legend and is the only guy who constantly gives us experiences unique to videogames that justify it being called a valid artform (IMHO). I woulda felt the same I think if I had stood next to Jim Henson. I was only kindheartedly ragging on Trip. Yep I started with issue 1 (or zero actually) of Edge (still get it now) and was there for the whole story. I thought the same when Matsushita came in but you've gotta admit he was flogging a dead horse with the second one. Always came off as goodnatured and self-aware to me though even if history has proved him the poor man's Steve Jobs. I'm sure he's not bothered by it and sitting on a yacht somewhere getting old and leathery under the mediterranean sun. Whether or not Sony started it first (frist?) is sorta immaterial to me because it was bad enough that Sony was spouting shit like that (and karma got 'em with the woeful presentation), but I was just a bit dismayed that MS sunk to that level when they have such a great machine and could have so easily come out above it all smelling like a rose. Ah well. As for 'J' (is it like Homer J or Bullwinkle J?), fair enough about being a bit loopy. Can't throw stones in that respect.
It's plain old J by TheAllSeeingEye	Jan 24th, 2007 06:56:14 AM
Unbelievable but true.

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