Wedge598 / Member

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Wedge598 Blog

Gamespot is a little too harsh on some games.

I think some of the Gamespot reviewers are a little jaded these days. They seem to slap some games down with a heavy hand when the truth is that the games are actually quite good. Two examples that come to mind are games I'm currently playing and enjoying quite a bit.

The first is Viking: Battle for Asgard. I'm about halfway through and I can clearly see that this game has all the basics for a good game. Great graphics ... check; decent sound effects and voice acting ... check; Mildly interesting story ... check; great gameplay and varied missions ... check. The game mechanics work very well and the missions have enough variety to make them feel fresh. On top of that, the game is broken down into two disctinct play styles. On the one hand you have the basic solo play hack and slash and on the other you have a large scale battles in which you are one of hundreds of on-screen warriors and you're goal is to take down some key figures in the battle. Nothing in this game is broken and therefore not deserving of the of the low 5.0 score Gamespot gave it. If you want a good hack and slash with a little bit of large scale RTS-like battles you can't miss with this game.

The second is James Cameron's Avatar. I'm just getting into the game, but my initial impressions arevery good. The graphics and sound are movie quality and the gameplay mechanics are workable. I'm playing the PC version so perhaps the controls on the consoles are a little more querky. The game features two story paths and lots of variety in guns, armor and power-ups (skills). The action is also very tense with the Pandora Jungle proving to be very intimidating. Perhaps the gameplay will wear thin and become repetitive in time, but clearly jhe game is not broken and it seems to offer an accurate recreation of the movie setting and plot. Fans of the movie would surely love the game.

Both of these games should have been at least 7.0 or higher based soley on the fact that they offer solid gameplay and good production values. Minor annoyances may crop up preventing the scores from enter the "great" level but neither should be lumped with some of the other trash in 5.0 category. I think that some of the Gamespot reviewers are having a hard time seeing some of these decent games for what they are. Good, solid, but maybe not innovative, games. They seem too quick to nit pick the games weaknessesand weigh some minor annoyances way too heavily.

Shouldn't game prices reflect content?

The more I play the more I begin to see just how poorly the current game pricing policy is set up. It seems that in almost all circumstances new games will be priced at $60. There is a rare exception when the game is an add-on or sequel but 99% of the time it's $60. And what do you get for $60?

Sometimes you don't get much. The new Wanted: Weapons of Fate game for example apparently only ships with about 4-5 hours of gameplay and no multiplayer. That's not a good value in my book. You're paying about $15 per hour for that. On the other hand a game like Oblivion which also costs $60 could easily take you more than 100 hours to play through just once. Now you're paying less than $0.60 per hour. That's a difference of 2500%!

Why is that we are subjected to this? The answer is mostly because we let it happen. People run out to buy these low value games on release day before realizing that the game is way overpriced for the content. This is the principle reason why movie based games generally suck. They make money despite the fact that the game is short, unfinished and of poor quality.

Why can't we have a pricing scale that's more reflective of the content? Wanted should be a $30 game tops. Movie based games in general should be $40 at most. And I'd even support a higher price for games like Oblivion, Fallout 3 and GTA IV which have incredible amounts of value. Price those at $70 or $80 and I think it's actually fair when considering the hours you could spend playing them.

In fairness to the market, I will admit that the current price drop structure does often reflect the poor value of games. Generally those low budget, short play length games will see price drops within a few months of being released. But this doesn't really protect us from buying overpriced games on release day. Prince of Persia dropped to $40 just weeks after release. And I gotta admit I was pretty peeved when I paid $60 for it a week earlier. We need to curb our appetites a bit and wait for those reviews and then demonstrate our displeasure with the pricing structure by holding off on getting those overpriced games or just letting them pass us by.

Am I impatient or just too busy?

I've just recently taken my second stab at a Bethesda RPG game. My experience with Oblivion was a favorable one but ultimately I burned out because I was getting tired of grinding away trying to build up my character enough to take on the story missions.

But that was a few years ago and I want so badly to like the RPG experience that I thought I'd take a stab at Fallout 3. I tried hard to make a valiant effort to enjoy the game for what it is. The game world is huge and wonderfully detailed. The gameplay is deep and rich and the story has a sci-fi edge that really should appeal to me.

But alas, I found myself feeling the same way about this game as I did about Oblivion. I understand that part of the appeal is that the game world is supposed to be large enough to feel real and you are supposed to enjoy the trek through it to upgrade your character. I just can't shake that feeling that I'm wasting away hours on end and getting very little gain. I've got a full time job, three kids and responsibilties to the family that I can't ignore for days on end. Therefore that leaves me with just a few hours each night to play a mature game like this. I found that I was actually angry after playing it for several hours. I felt like I barely moved the story along and really didn't get much out of the time put in.

I need a game with a more rapid pace. I guess I just have to face the fact that with my limited schedule for gaming I need to pass on games like these that really drain my time. I want to feel like I'm made good progress in a game in the few hours I have to play. So, despite the fact that I really appreciate what these games offer, I just can't seem to commit to one. I think I'm going to have to resist the temptation to buy another one in the future.

Almost a 100% Converted ex-PC Gamer

Now just about 14 months into my Xbox ownership I'm just about ready to call myself a former PC gamer fully converted to the consoles. The only hold out is my racing simulation addiction. The PC still dominates the simulation world by offering real simulations and superior controllers.

I still maintain that a mouse and keyboard is best way to play a first person shooter but I have to admit that I've gotten good enough with the Xbox controller so that I can really enjoy a FPS on the console and not feel restricted by the controls. Add in the excellent online service and I'm one content console player.

I've finally upgraded to the gold membership and have been enjoying some online games with friends. I'm still getting used to the black box way you join multiplayer games as very few actually offer a lobby where you can sort through the servers and select one to join. Most games I've tried seem to do the choosing for you.

All in all I'm finding myself more addicted to gaming than I have been in a while and I owe that to the ease of use of the Xbox. The 42" HDTV, 5.1 surround sound and comfotable sofa are far more enjoyable than my PC setup and that makes it really hard to look at the PC for any games other than simulations.

As a once very opnionated PC gamer I have to admit defeat and concede that the console has won my heart for the forseeable future.

Racing is in my blood

Before there was the internet and gaming websites I was playing racing games on my computer. Starting with the likes of World Circuit and Nascar 1 by Papyrus I spent a fair amount of time driving around on virtual tracks with an analog joystick. By the time Nascar 3 came along I was convinced I needed a steering wheel to fully emerse myself in my fantasy of being a stock car driver. Nascar 3 also provided the first really viable internet racing opportunity and it wasn't long before I had convinced a few friends to race together over our dial-up 14.4 modems.

In 2001 Nascar 4 was revealed and really upped the ante on car physics and internet racing. My step-cousin and I decided to dive in full bore and organize a NASCAR league. In February 2001 we opened try puts for what was to become a well attended NASCAR racing league we called MNRL. For the next 6 years I raced at least once a week in this league and created some very long lasting friendships. Over the years we added voice communications (which was still an evolving technology at the time) and some of the members even offered up video replays and radio shows for the league. At it's peak it was one of the best times on I've had online.

Sometime in early 2007 the league faded out as interest finally waned three NASCAR games and countless races later. I guess many of us just burnt ourselves out on racing. Most of us are not racing today and some have even sold their steering wheels and equipment. Deep inside however I can't shake that feeling that it's in my blood and it's a genre I'll always come back to. In fact, just recently I've purchased the steering wheel (making me the owner of 3 wheels now) to try out some of the solid racing games on the Xbox360. Almost 99% of my time racing on the PC was spent online. Now I'm enjoying some of the cool career modes in games like Forza 2 and soon DiRT and NASCAR 09.

The old Xbox continues to impress me at every turn. I was skeptical that it could hold a candle to the extremely realistic PC simulations but the Forza 2 game has impressed me as being very realistic and a ton of fun. With the steering wheel, my old racing skills came right back to me and I'm enjoying tearing up the track at full simulation (no driving aids) and AI skill at Hard ... just like the old days.

I'm on a roll ...

As one who has completed less than 60% of the games I own, I'm finding that the current crop of games have been holding my interest long enough to let me finish them. Just recently I've completed Bioshock, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Ultimate Alliance and before that Half-life Episode 2 and Portal. Some of my success is probably attributed to my abilty to pick and choose games that I know I'm going to like. Many of the uncompleted games in my collection are genres I typically fade out on like RPGs and RTSs. Still, it feels good to finish a great game like the aforementioned. Some of the stories in those games were riveting. Next up are The Darkness, Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six: Vegas.

Don't knock it until you try it

It's been several years since I made that leap into the console arena with the PS2 and I can now claim to be the proud owner of an Xbox360 too. Spending the $400 on the Xbox was not a decision I took lightly. I waited for years for the right games to come to the console. With it's reputation as a shooters console and my own personaloppositionto the use of a gamepad to play first person shooter games I needed to see some games like Assassins Creed and Marvel Ultimate Alliance that I would enjoy enough to justify the purchase of the system.

Despite my initial reservations about shooters I decided that since I was such a huge fan of The Darkness comic books that I wanted to give the game a try. What I discovered was that although the control scheme was frustrating at times the more I played the better I got. Eventually the controls started to feel almost natural. So much so, that I decided to give Mass Effect a try too.

Now having nearly completed Mass Effect I'm feeling very comfortable with the controls. I'm still fumbling a bit in intense situations and I find the slow rotation frustating at times but overall I find the duck and cover combat style of Mass Effect to work quite well with the gamepad. In fact, I'm now considering purchasing the Rainbow 6: Vegas game for the Xbox despite the fact that the game is $20 cheaper on the PC.

Bottom line is I just needed to give the console shooter a fair chance. And now that I have, I'm finding the appeal of sitting in comfort in my living room and playing on my high def TV with 5.1 surround sound does a pretty good job of outweighing the minor control frustrations and slightly higher price tag. I don't think I'm ready to tackle a highly intense twitch shooter like Unreal Tournament but I will be playing more of the tactical shooters (which I previously enjoyed so much on the PC) on my new Xbox.

Kid Game Reviews

As a father of 3 young girls who is constantly frustrated with the lack of a decent review on kids titles, I'm going to try and help out other parents with the same beef by posting some reviews of the games my kids and I have tried.  

So far I've just got 2 mini-reviews up but will add more as we try them out.  These reviews should be particulary helpful if your kids are just getting into gaming and are below the age of 8 or 9. 

First Blog ...

I doubt anyone will see this but what the heck ...

As a long time PC gamer and former anti-console guy I'm just now opening my mind a bit to see the benefits from the consoles.  In a bit of a whim I decided that I'd buy myself a PS2 with my birthday money.  I liked the looks of the Shadow of the Colossus game and convinced myself that it could be quite relaxing sitting in my living room in my recliner playing a game.  Sometimes my desk chair at my computer just isn't that comfortable.

I was pleasantly surprized to see that the PS2 games looked and played quite good (especially on my widescreen TV).  SotC is every bit as exciting as I'd hoped and easily one of my all time favorite games on any system.  I've since bought a few games for my little girls and also a couple more for myself.  Everyone is really liking the PS2 and I really think it was a good purchase.

My computer is taking a little break these days.  But I still hold strong that my computer easily blows away the PS2 in graphics and some games even look as good as the new XBox360 stuff I've seen.  I'll also never be caught dead playing a first person shooter on the PS2 as I feel the mouse and keyboard are a vastly superior control system for those games.