Let me start this out by saying NO! I do NOT think innovation is dead. I do however, think it could use a nudge in the right direction. Being as almost every title that is being released this year has either a number or subtitle on the end. I am thoroughly ready to play Call of Duty: Kitty Bombs 6 <--- sarcasm. I really do like using lists to prove points but this one would honestly take really long.... But lets see it.
-Gears of War 3
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
-Assassins Creed: Revelations
-Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
-Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
-Halo: Combat Evolved
-The Darkness II
-The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
-Saints Row: The Third
-Final Fantasy XIII-2
That makes nine of the biggest titles coming out in the next year all sequels of some sort. Before we continue however, let me not forget the EA Sports people who make millions releasing the same game every year. Madden, NASCAR, MLB, NBA, and etc. That means around 13 of the big releases are sequels. I wouldn't really be mentioning this if it didn't seem to happen every year. Whoever has the rights to call of duty at the time will release a knew one every year. They are currently at number 8. Halo is on track for halos, 4-6. Add the remake of the first and that is 8. Epic will hopefully end their Gears of War trilogy but it really seems unlikely.
And really, I'm not saying that it is bad when certain games are re-done each year. If the game is good, sure make one or two sequels. But please, please, please, know when something is overdone. Know when you've built something amazing then stop. Of course I am mostly saying this toward Epic. As I have said before, they have a real chance to show what you are supposed to do with games. Make them good, write a decent storyline, and end it when it feels like it's done. Gears of War will be done after this one. This doesn't mean that the masses still won't rush to go buy Gears 4 at midnight if it comes into existence. And really, these things that have been titled cash cows have some real problems, because there are two types of them.
The first type, is a cash cow that starts as a trilogy or single game and then realize that they can make money off of this. They then drag out the so called "storyline" of the game to expand many. They one that gets two that pop into my head are Halo and Ass Creed(assassins creed). I honestly have no fucking clue what the storyline of AC is from the first to the most recent update. Something about an Animus and a glowing ball? Really, when it gets to the point someone like me (an avid reader who retains honestly a lot of detail) doesn't remember, there's a problem somewhere. It means that the storyline is unforgettable or rushed, or it just sucks. When you tell your writers to randomly throw in a plot sequence at the end of your game that makes it so there needs to be another, it really bugs me. (Really, the only thing that this long drawn out story telling works for is books. The reason for that being is authors spend years planning out these stories, not months) Do not think though, that I am blaming the game writers for this. When the design team wants this ending, you have to give it to them. I will at the end of this section say two more things. One, Epic, please end it. It's been great really, but it would show that you guys are smart and that you don't need to have one game you're putting out every year. And two, from what I understand, the developers of Infamous II actually ended this game series. As I've been saying, it doesn't happen often.
This brings us to the other type of cash cow. This type has a long laundry list of games that all belong to their respective company and the same title but have absolutely nothing to do with each other. These types consists of games such as Mario and Call of Duty. A new one is released every year simply because wither the company wants to or due to a large fan demand. Either way, I think it's safe to say that there are 72 billion Italian plumbers running around saving a Princess named Peach, eating hallucinogenic mushrooms, or driving a go-kart with tons of gadgets. There are varying opinions on games like this but really, the companies can realize when to stop. With Mario, I find myself just jumping on a few different platforms from last time and with CoD the campaigns change and that's nice but the multiplayer is all the same. I really don't want to hear the "diferent guns!" bullshit argument. You still have your full-auto, semi-auto, pistols, LMG, and etc. The perks stay relatively the same too. The only reason to get the new CoD every year is to play the multiplayer cause every other smuck will be in there instead of the one only a year old. Therefore saying you're not getting the new CoD is equivalent to telling your friends to shove it up their ass. So with that little penny in the gears stopping the cash cows such as these completely seems very unlikely. However, they can slow their releases. By a lot. Or just stop Mario completely.
Also, there has been some talk around the web saying that there is absolutely no innovation anymore. Well shut up, you fucktard, you're wrong. There are Indie games that are very innovative. However, them being classified as "Indie" automatically make people not what to get them. And this goes for all types of media, games, books, movies, and music. When people hear "Indie" they run. Seriously, when Slumdog Millionaire was released did anyone go see it in the theaters until it was nominated for an Oscar? No? Didn't think so. A lot of people seem to have this HUGE aversion to anything with the category of Indie that is really doesn't quite make sense. And really, Indie things aren't that under the radar anymore. I mean, many people saw "Buried", right?... Wait huh? The one with Ryan Reynolds... Yeah, the guy who plays the Green Lantern now..... *sigh* Okay, well anyways, what I'm trying to get at is you may not watch, read, listen to, or play indie classified things, but you know that they are there. They're the ones who get really innovative while the major companies release the same FPS every year.
But shouldn't there be some kind of middle ground? Large corporations do not innovate as much as they could because they would rather play it safe while with indie developers one bombs can turn into many lost jobs. So why can't the larger companies find some way to work with the indie developers. Yes, I know that sharing may be a hard concept, but can't you try? I mean really, I'm sure you would have loved to have Notch when he came up with Minecraft, he's mad millions and his game isn't even completed. Luckily, the people I consider to be the smarter of the large companies, picked him up and added it to the console. GO MICRSOFT. If only you could do more than one.
(I used the Buried example because it is an indie film and made only 100K its first weekend while a larger production such as Avatar made 77 MILLION its opening weekend, and Avatar is just a pretty retelling of Pocahontus. And Buried, is a much much much better film)
Once again here to rant
- Blue
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Handhelds And Microsoft
Over the last 10 years Nintendo and Sony have released a total of 3 main handheld systems each with at least three versions of each. And probably more to come seeing as they just can't seem to get it right. Okay, that might not be a fair statement. The systems might be working in perfect order and be great, its just two days after the system is released the designers decide they could have added a camera to it. So they make a new one. Lets make a list shall we?
Nintendo:
-GBA
-GBA SP
-GBA Micro
-DS
-DS Lite
-DSi
-DSi XL
-3DS
Sony:
-PSP
-PSP - 2000
-PSP - 3000
-PSP Go (upcoming)
-Playstation Vita (upcoming)
So basically, what we have are are a few useless updates, a few ones that change the hardware, a few the actually change the system, and ONE that is a complete revamp, however "meh" and pointless a revamp it is. So, lets start with the easier and less infuriating company.
Sony PSP:
The PSP-2000 was released in 2007 on various dates during September. This remodel was completely pointless in every way. What Sony essentially did, was make it lighter, and slimmer. I have one of the original PSP's and there was no need for this. The system was small enough as it was and the material it was made out of was fine as well. When they made the 2000, they made the system lighter by changing the material to complete plastic. This made the system much less durable. Also, they reduced the battery capacity by 1/3. They did this as a money ploy simply because people stopped buying the PSP.
PSP-3000 came out only I year after the 2000. This remodel did nothing to the outside to fix the damage they had done with the 2000 but it did a few things to the inside. For one, it removed the inside metal therefore making the inside harder to damage. The internal memory was also upped along with the screen being much improved. All in all, this was a moderately usefull update to the PSP. But I'm sure they could have done this with the first PSP... so why didn't they?
PSP Go & Playstation Vita
The PSP Go was announced in June of 2009, only two years ago. A few months ago, Sony announced that they were going to stop development on the PSP Go to focus on developing their new project the Playstation Vita which would be the Playstation successor of sorts for the handheld department of Sony. They then continued to say that the PSP Go will still be release. Wait a minute, what the fuck? So they're stopping development on a project they started two years ago to make something else. Something better. Okay, that's fine. But then you're going to release the other one? The one that you're stopping development to do the better one for? I might be missing something here, and if I am, someone please explain it to me because I am thoroughly confused.
Nintendo:
GBA Micro/SP
Nothing more to say here other then they're both useless. They merely reshaped the system but added nothing but a backlight to improve the performance of the system. And well, that's it.
DSi/DSXL
I never had the original DS but I'm assuming that the shape was the only thing changed from that to the Lite. If not, I'm sorry I really don't follow Nintendo. I rather dislike Nintendo, a lot. Anyways, like I said before, I'm going to use the Lite as a start off point. So, look, I do like the renovations to the DS at this point. I like adding the camera, video, and everything else. What I don't like, is the fact that they got rid of the GBA compatibility. Its nice and the look stayed mostly the same, but it was available in blue which I like. The XL however, seems a bit worthless. It is the DSi which was okay, but why release an entire separate system for a larger screen? Wouldn't it cut costs to just make the larger screen system? No one would complain about that. But then again, Nintendo seems like they need to release as many handhelds as they do Marios. But they have a legit excuse. You can only have so my Marios on the GBA. Then you can only have so many Marios on the DS, and thus the 3DS was born.
3DS
I've played this for about 15 minutes total so I don't think I'm fit to judge this. I'm still going to though, because that's just me. The 3D was horrible, I could not see it properly even with adjusting the damn 3D switch for about 10 minutes. So I ended up just playing the damn thing in 2D which completely defeats the purpose of having the damn thing in the first place, right? Right, so that combined with the fact that it plays different games without a GBA slot in my opinion, makes this a useless system. And since it is its own system, I declare any remodels done to this will also be worthless. However, what else would Nintendo spend their money on? Another Mario? Nope, they're gonna do both.
Microsoft:
Yes, there's a section for these slackers in a post about handhelds. Why? Because they don't have any. What have these guys been doing? Yes, the 360 is a great system and I'm sure it took a while, but if this is all you have been doing it should have less hardware problems. The system randomly scratches discs for no apparent reason and gets this nice little thing called the red ring of death that halts it from working. *Sigh* Look I know that Nintendo has been dominating the handhelds for a while, but I'm really sure that if you guys went and actually tried, you would have a chance. With the powerhouses that you have as far as exclusives you could rock the handheld with a mobile Gears and mobile Halo. I meany really, who will be able to compete with that? No one. You guys just have to get up off your ass and at least try.
Nintendo:
-GBA
-GBA SP
-GBA Micro
-DS
-DS Lite
-DSi
-DSi XL
-3DS
Sony:
-PSP
-PSP - 2000
-PSP - 3000
-PSP Go (upcoming)
-Playstation Vita (upcoming)
So basically, what we have are are a few useless updates, a few ones that change the hardware, a few the actually change the system, and ONE that is a complete revamp, however "meh" and pointless a revamp it is. So, lets start with the easier and less infuriating company.
Sony PSP:
The PSP-2000 was released in 2007 on various dates during September. This remodel was completely pointless in every way. What Sony essentially did, was make it lighter, and slimmer. I have one of the original PSP's and there was no need for this. The system was small enough as it was and the material it was made out of was fine as well. When they made the 2000, they made the system lighter by changing the material to complete plastic. This made the system much less durable. Also, they reduced the battery capacity by 1/3. They did this as a money ploy simply because people stopped buying the PSP.
PSP-3000 came out only I year after the 2000. This remodel did nothing to the outside to fix the damage they had done with the 2000 but it did a few things to the inside. For one, it removed the inside metal therefore making the inside harder to damage. The internal memory was also upped along with the screen being much improved. All in all, this was a moderately usefull update to the PSP. But I'm sure they could have done this with the first PSP... so why didn't they?
PSP Go & Playstation Vita
The PSP Go was announced in June of 2009, only two years ago. A few months ago, Sony announced that they were going to stop development on the PSP Go to focus on developing their new project the Playstation Vita which would be the Playstation successor of sorts for the handheld department of Sony. They then continued to say that the PSP Go will still be release. Wait a minute, what the fuck? So they're stopping development on a project they started two years ago to make something else. Something better. Okay, that's fine. But then you're going to release the other one? The one that you're stopping development to do the better one for? I might be missing something here, and if I am, someone please explain it to me because I am thoroughly confused.
Nintendo:
GBA Micro/SP
Nothing more to say here other then they're both useless. They merely reshaped the system but added nothing but a backlight to improve the performance of the system. And well, that's it.
DSi/DSXL
I never had the original DS but I'm assuming that the shape was the only thing changed from that to the Lite. If not, I'm sorry I really don't follow Nintendo. I rather dislike Nintendo, a lot. Anyways, like I said before, I'm going to use the Lite as a start off point. So, look, I do like the renovations to the DS at this point. I like adding the camera, video, and everything else. What I don't like, is the fact that they got rid of the GBA compatibility. Its nice and the look stayed mostly the same, but it was available in blue which I like. The XL however, seems a bit worthless. It is the DSi which was okay, but why release an entire separate system for a larger screen? Wouldn't it cut costs to just make the larger screen system? No one would complain about that. But then again, Nintendo seems like they need to release as many handhelds as they do Marios. But they have a legit excuse. You can only have so my Marios on the GBA. Then you can only have so many Marios on the DS, and thus the 3DS was born.
3DS
I've played this for about 15 minutes total so I don't think I'm fit to judge this. I'm still going to though, because that's just me. The 3D was horrible, I could not see it properly even with adjusting the damn 3D switch for about 10 minutes. So I ended up just playing the damn thing in 2D which completely defeats the purpose of having the damn thing in the first place, right? Right, so that combined with the fact that it plays different games without a GBA slot in my opinion, makes this a useless system. And since it is its own system, I declare any remodels done to this will also be worthless. However, what else would Nintendo spend their money on? Another Mario? Nope, they're gonna do both.
Microsoft:
Yes, there's a section for these slackers in a post about handhelds. Why? Because they don't have any. What have these guys been doing? Yes, the 360 is a great system and I'm sure it took a while, but if this is all you have been doing it should have less hardware problems. The system randomly scratches discs for no apparent reason and gets this nice little thing called the red ring of death that halts it from working. *Sigh* Look I know that Nintendo has been dominating the handhelds for a while, but I'm really sure that if you guys went and actually tried, you would have a chance. With the powerhouses that you have as far as exclusives you could rock the handheld with a mobile Gears and mobile Halo. I meany really, who will be able to compete with that? No one. You guys just have to get up off your ass and at least try.
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Review
Blue's Take:
This was the first LEGO game I played. I had heard they were good but I had no idea what to honestly expect. I had honestly chalked them up to "shut your mind off games" and moved on with my life. Then I saw how many of them there are. Indy, Batman, PoC, SW, and HP have all been Legoized and I liked all those series'. Green recommended this one to me so I went out and got it. I was by the end, pleasantly surprised. This game's level design is great and not confusing like some other games. The puzzles actually make you use the thing in your head called a brain for something other than the following though: "KILL EVERYTHING!!!" I love the way that Travellers Tales engages the player into making a strategy because each character has a different style of play. For some levels you need Jack, others you need cursed Jack and well... yes, you need Jack a lot. But he isn't the only character you need, the game is merely centered around him as it should be. The reason being is the game is broken up into the four actual movies, which mostly follow Jack.
One thing to single out specifically, is the red hat feature. Thanks to a friends strategy, you can methodically have infinite money. Seriously, I have 3+ billion in studs with nothing to buy. I have bought all of the characters, and red hats and have a ridiculous pile of money. See, how these work, is they stack effects. There is a x2, x2, x4, x6, x8, and a x10 hat, or effect, rather. So, by the end, you're getting x7680 the money you normally would. So one silver coin (imagine if Bill Gates took his entire funds and walked around giving it to people in pennies, that's about how many silver coins the game gives out per level, maybe a little less) you get 76,800. Think about that.
This brings me to the last thing that I really have to say about this game which also happens to be the most brilliant part about it. The way that they decided to retell the story of the PoC. The fact that there was no dialogue was, what I thought, sure to bug me. But I was wrong, by replacing them with the grunts and gestures that are extremely exaggerated brings a sense of humor to the game I would never had expected from ANY video game. Really, with all these FPS games and all these protagonists that are all roided out freaks with faces you can't really tell the difference in emotion when there wife dies or when they are KILLING EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just glad to see that there are actually games out there that seem to have the time taken to make something special, not just another gung ho FPS. In short, I liked this game and chances are you will too.
This was the first LEGO game I played. I had heard they were good but I had no idea what to honestly expect. I had honestly chalked them up to "shut your mind off games" and moved on with my life. Then I saw how many of them there are. Indy, Batman, PoC, SW, and HP have all been Legoized and I liked all those series'. Green recommended this one to me so I went out and got it. I was by the end, pleasantly surprised. This game's level design is great and not confusing like some other games. The puzzles actually make you use the thing in your head called a brain for something other than the following though: "KILL EVERYTHING!!!" I love the way that Travellers Tales engages the player into making a strategy because each character has a different style of play. For some levels you need Jack, others you need cursed Jack and well... yes, you need Jack a lot. But he isn't the only character you need, the game is merely centered around him as it should be. The reason being is the game is broken up into the four actual movies, which mostly follow Jack.
One thing to single out specifically, is the red hat feature. Thanks to a friends strategy, you can methodically have infinite money. Seriously, I have 3+ billion in studs with nothing to buy. I have bought all of the characters, and red hats and have a ridiculous pile of money. See, how these work, is they stack effects. There is a x2, x2, x4, x6, x8, and a x10 hat, or effect, rather. So, by the end, you're getting x7680 the money you normally would. So one silver coin (imagine if Bill Gates took his entire funds and walked around giving it to people in pennies, that's about how many silver coins the game gives out per level, maybe a little less) you get 76,800. Think about that.
This brings me to the last thing that I really have to say about this game which also happens to be the most brilliant part about it. The way that they decided to retell the story of the PoC. The fact that there was no dialogue was, what I thought, sure to bug me. But I was wrong, by replacing them with the grunts and gestures that are extremely exaggerated brings a sense of humor to the game I would never had expected from ANY video game. Really, with all these FPS games and all these protagonists that are all roided out freaks with faces you can't really tell the difference in emotion when there wife dies or when they are KILLING EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just glad to see that there are actually games out there that seem to have the time taken to make something special, not just another gung ho FPS. In short, I liked this game and chances are you will too.
*Sigh* ........ Twitter
' iLovee Talkinng To Youu <3
12 hours ago
Ever wanted to know what your best friend Timmy was doing at-
' Wow iCkant Believe Were Still Playinng Football ' Haha Fun ' iMa Shower at His Place && Spend My Morninng There Tio
12 hours ago
okay then just interr-
' iM Hott !
12 hours ago
wtf really!?
Peanut butter and banana sandwich! Too fuckin bomb!
12 hours ago
Ok shit
' ahhh iFeel Thaa Heat on My Legs !
12 hours ago
fuckin damn it. Anyway as I was saying
' omq Daniel && Johnathon Pushed Me iNto a Bush ' iWas So Fuckn Pisst
12 hours ago
' iHave Officially Gone A Whole Day W'O Make-up :o
12 hours ago
I'll just wait
' Nathan & johnathon are talking about me wtf '
12 hours ago
' iJusst Barley Noticed ' iTs 2:00
12 hours ago
' Me && Himm Tonight ' He's Gan(N)a Cheat On His Gurlfriend Withh Me Bitch '
12 hours ago
RT if your up :D<3
12 hours ago
' Haveing Thaa Guys Walk Behind Me iS Awkward ' Now Were Jusst Ganna Sit Down oN Thaa Sidewalk ' U(N)til iTs Jusst Me && Himm
12 hours ago
……… has it stopped?
okay so yeah like I was saying, or rather trying to say
Have you ever wanted to know what you best friend Timmy was doing at 8:00, 8:05, 8:10, 8:15 and 8:20 in the morning? No? You sure? Well how about aunt Barbra? Jesse from work? That guy Frank you met the other day? Oh well you use Twitter right? And you don’t want to know all these things. It’s okay cause you see nobody else does either. Nobody cares. You hear that you damn divas
NOBODY FUCKING CARES WHAT YOU’RE DOING EVERY FIVE FUCKING MINUETS!!
and seriously how awesome is your life anyway if you spend the whole damn thing talking about how awesome your life is online? If you were really doing all this cool shit like you say you are you would be too damn busy to be posting about all the shit you say you’re doing every three fuckin seconds. And this behavior is not solely the fault of Twitter users. Anybody who does this kind of shit on Facebook or….. huh I seem to remember there being some other social networking site…… oh well nobody cared about that one anyway.
' Oh sweet Baby Jesus :o
2 hours ago
damn
' iM really Tired iMa go Back To sleep On Himm '
2 hours ago
here we go again
' haha iM Makeinng My Aunt Make Me Food :D
23 minutes ago
' Coke Soda ' ice Cold '
22 minutes ago
I just want you, that's it all your flaws, mistakes, smiles, giggles, jokes, sarcasm, everything I just want you <3
22 minutes ago
' My Family Has To Many Parties ' Bt iLe[A)st When There Busy ' iM Withh Himm
21 minutes ago
But yeah seriously, This updating the world on what your doing in that exact moment every moment is fuckin pathetic. The only people that do it are the pople that don’t have friends of hobbies or suicide contemplations to take up their time. Seriously its just sad. Fucking stop it.
I'd like to thanks the color yellow for playing the role of "annoying tweeting person" and i would like to point out that these are all real copy pasted tweets
Oh and one last comment this is the only tweet anybody ever cared about
12 hours ago
Ever wanted to know what your best friend Timmy was doing at-
' Wow iCkant Believe Were Still Playinng Football ' Haha Fun ' iMa Shower at His Place && Spend My Morninng There Tio
12 hours ago
okay then just interr-
' iM Hott !
12 hours ago
wtf really!?
Peanut butter and banana sandwich! Too fuckin bomb!
12 hours ago
Ok shit
' ahhh iFeel Thaa Heat on My Legs !
12 hours ago
fuckin damn it. Anyway as I was saying
' omq Daniel && Johnathon Pushed Me iNto a Bush ' iWas So Fuckn Pisst
12 hours ago
' iHave Officially Gone A Whole Day W'O Make-up :o
12 hours ago
I'll just wait
' Nathan & johnathon are talking about me wtf '
12 hours ago
' iJusst Barley Noticed ' iTs 2:00
12 hours ago
' Me && Himm Tonight ' He's Gan(N)a Cheat On His Gurlfriend Withh Me Bitch '
12 hours ago
RT if your up :D<3
12 hours ago
' Haveing Thaa Guys Walk Behind Me iS Awkward ' Now Were Jusst Ganna Sit Down oN Thaa Sidewalk ' U(N)til iTs Jusst Me && Himm
12 hours ago
……… has it stopped?
okay so yeah like I was saying, or rather trying to say
Have you ever wanted to know what you best friend Timmy was doing at 8:00, 8:05, 8:10, 8:15 and 8:20 in the morning? No? You sure? Well how about aunt Barbra? Jesse from work? That guy Frank you met the other day? Oh well you use Twitter right? And you don’t want to know all these things. It’s okay cause you see nobody else does either. Nobody cares. You hear that you damn divas
NOBODY FUCKING CARES WHAT YOU’RE DOING EVERY FIVE FUCKING MINUETS!!
and seriously how awesome is your life anyway if you spend the whole damn thing talking about how awesome your life is online? If you were really doing all this cool shit like you say you are you would be too damn busy to be posting about all the shit you say you’re doing every three fuckin seconds. And this behavior is not solely the fault of Twitter users. Anybody who does this kind of shit on Facebook or….. huh I seem to remember there being some other social networking site…… oh well nobody cared about that one anyway.
' Oh sweet Baby Jesus :o
2 hours ago
damn
' iM really Tired iMa go Back To sleep On Himm '
2 hours ago
here we go again
' haha iM Makeinng My Aunt Make Me Food :D
23 minutes ago
' Coke Soda ' ice Cold '
22 minutes ago
I just want you, that's it all your flaws, mistakes, smiles, giggles, jokes, sarcasm, everything I just want you <3
22 minutes ago
' My Family Has To Many Parties ' Bt iLe[A)st When There Busy ' iM Withh Himm
21 minutes ago
But yeah seriously, This updating the world on what your doing in that exact moment every moment is fuckin pathetic. The only people that do it are the pople that don’t have friends of hobbies or suicide contemplations to take up their time. Seriously its just sad. Fucking stop it.
I'd like to thanks the color yellow for playing the role of "annoying tweeting person" and i would like to point out that these are all real copy pasted tweets
Oh and one last comment this is the only tweet anybody ever cared about
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