So I decided to take a break and catch up on all the news that I’ve missed over the past week or so. And there’s been much to sift through, so since I have some time to kill…
- I guess the big news was the revelation that Nintendo’s Revolution is not going to be that powerful, at least when compared with its next-gen brethren, the Xbox 360 and the PS3. And while I agree with Nintendo’s belief that high-def gaming is “not here yet”, which led to them cutting out HD support for the system (I still have mixed feelings on that one), having games that look “just a bit better than Xbox 1″ is pretty lame in my book.
And other have agreed, as seen in the latest batch of YTMND, such as this and this.
- Sony on the other hand is getting a ton of flack for their latest attempt at viral marketing, which is a “guerrilla” graffiti ad campaign for the PSP, and not everybody is impressed. You can also find other reports here and here.
First off, I’ve seen the same things all over New York City and how anyone could confuse this with genuine street art is beyond me. But its pretty annoying nonetheless. But at least Sony is paying kids to post such crap all over the place (though without any regard to personal property it seems); the most annoying aspect of MS’s viral marketing ploys consisted of a contest where kids went around spray-painting Our Colony logos all over the place in hopes to win a contest or something. Is it any wonder that folks like Microsoft have so much money? They have no need to spend money on advertising when they can get dopey kids to do all the ad work for them.
And Nintendo isn’t innocent of stuff like this either. Remember their idiotic street team? Making kids stand under a baking sun while wearing a belt with 4 GBA attached (or worse, a LCD monitor plus GameCube attached) for 9 hours every day during the summer just for a small handful of games and bragging rights to say that one “help spread the word about Nintendo”…
- As everyone already knows, video games is the hot thing in education today (and boy do I ever know, especially after this week… more on that later, haha!!). Well Ted Rueter, the assistant professor of political science at a university in Indiana feels that its actually kidnapping American education.
While I will agree that many schools are in a rush to capitalize on their popularity, with potentially disastrous results, I find it curious how he’s so willing to write off video games because of all the negative messages they supposedly all project, in regards to violence and sexism, instead of realizing that educational institutions can actually help to rectify such stereotypes. But again, much like Roger Ebert before him, those who don’t understand new forms of media are quick to reject it, though the fact that its coming from an educator makes it all the more frustrating.
- And speaking of education, here’s a game that shows players how to give someone (or in this case, a something) an orgasm.
- So everyone’s favorite angst ridden hedgehog, Shadow, is now a pro-wrestler? I especially love creator Yuji Naka’s quote:
“We had received letters from kids, and many of them had asked for Sonic to have a gun,” he said. “We felt that it was not appropriate for Sonic to have a gun, but maybe it would be ok with Shadow and that’s how we started on the game.”
If those aren’t the words of someone who officially doesn’t give a fuck, then I don’t know what is.
- Also a big hit on the web this week (though for real) was the teaser trailer for the new Silent Hill film. And it does indeed look very true to the game, that doesn’t mean its necessarily brilliant in my book.
Considering that most games “borrow” narrative elements from movies, its always weird when the game then becomes the basis of a movie. So yeah, Silent Hill looks like a perfect cinematic rendition of the game… and in turn looks just like every single generic horror film out there. Oh well.
Meanwhile, Peter Jackson was recently asked about his involvement with the Halo movie he’s producing, and thus far, he just hopes it doesn’t suck.
- Back to Sony, or specifically their PSP, Capcom is offering as a pre-order bonus a special overlay to improve the system’s digital pad. Sounds great, but from what I hear, the thing actually sticks to the system via an adhesive or something…
- This is something different: you always hear of big game publishers going after some groups of fans and their homemade projects with a gang of bloodthirsty lawyers, which especially ridiculous when its obvious that its a labor of love and a tribute to some game that the general public has long since forgotten about, and is therefore not much of a money maker these days.
Well one publisher its seems is quite different: Vivendi Universal has okayed a fan-made King’s Quest game. That’s pretty fucking amazing actually.
- I may as well mention that I finally beat Shadow of the Colossus earlier this week. The final colossi, as well as the ending, much like the entire game, was absolutely incredible. And I also got my hands on the official soundtrack as well, so I’ve been listening to that too.
Here’s a really good behind the scenes look at the game (though I’d imagine its even better if you can understand Japanese). Plus here’s some pics of two bosses that were cut from the final game, a bird and a spider creature…
… The soundtrack has additional pieces not heard in the game, so one has to wonder if they were the battle music that went to them.
- And on the GAF, the question of where to find quality game shirts was posed. And among the normal suggestion, Way of the Rat was brought up, and I’ve come to discover the greatest single game related shirt I have ever laid eyes on..
