The 2010 Video Games Thread

[dubb93]

It will turn a profit pretty easily. It's easy to forget that they've already made millions off the release of a glorified demo in the form of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. If you include that profit, they only have to sell around 2M copies worldwide to break even. They'll do that in the first week.

Also, it's been mentioned by developers that Gran Turismo 6 will be released using the GT5 engine, so they're going to be printing money with the lower development costs on that game, which should be out within 3 years.

Source for all of this?

[SirFozzie]

August Sales:

360: 356,700
Wii: 244,300
PS3: 226,000

.... It's going to take a lot of spinning for those numbers to look good from the PS3 point of view.

[SackAttack]

August Sales:

360: 356,700
Wii: 244,300
PS3: 226,000

.... It's going to take a lot of spinning for those numbers to look good from the PS3 point of view.

Nah. They're not that far behind the Wii, and the 360 is still benefitting from people swarming the shelves looking for the 250 GB slim models.

It's not that those are GREAT numbers for the PS3, but they're certainly not catastrophic, either.

(I wonder if that'll forestall MBBF.)

[dubb93]

As a total portable newb I'm looking for advice. I had never owned a portable system until recently and I have purchased both a PSP and a DS within the last couple of months. My question is for the DS which is mostly being used by my girlfriend. She was on the internet today and got a message that she was out of memory and needed to delete some things to continue surfing(not really exactly sure what it said, this is what she told me).

I'm going to guess that a memory card for the DS would solve this issue. If this is the case can someone please suggest a good one to get to help me out here. We have the new XL.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Source for all of this?

I actually did a bit more legwork and found that it's already going to be profitable before release. This analysis from Joystiq doesn't include the advertising costs, but it gives a general overview.........

This could be an absolute first that a game has already made a profit before it even launches. Even with a $60 million dollar (so far) development cost of this game.

Most games could not recover from such a steep development cost no matter what, much less before it launches.

Its quite simple and interesting that a lot of us tend to overlook it…but the reason why is Gran Turismo Prologue. The partial game was a splice of Gran Turismo in the making, launching at $39.99 USD and selling over 3.5 million units gaining over $100 million dollars in revenue.

So Sony is looking at a starting profit before the game launches which is expected to be the PS3’s highest selling title to date.

[SackAttack]

I actually did a bit more legwork and found that it's already going to be profitable before release. This analysis from Joystiq doesn't include the advertising costs, but it gives a general overview.........

I think $100 million is probably on the high side, since their numbers take into account neither non-development expenses nor the fact that a significant portion of the $39.99 price tag is retailer markup.

But you're right that if they make money on GT5, Prologue will be why.

[dawgfan]

I think $100 million is probably on the high side, since their numbers take into account neither non-development expenses nor the fact that a significant portion of the $39.99 price tag is retailer markup.
Correct. The actual profit on that game is far, far less than $100M once you factor in retailer markup, marketing costs, development costs, manufacturing costs, etc.

[SackAttack]

Correct. The actual profit on that game is far, far less than $100M once you factor in retailer markup, marketing costs, development costs, manufacturing costs, etc.

Well, the $100m number isn't a profit number unless you think actual GT5 sales on their own will cover development costs.

Just saying that the $100m is inaccurate in terms of the amount of gross revenue Sony actually took in on that game. The true number is probably more in the realm of $70-75m. Which still ain't chicken feed, granted.

The other thing is that there have been several additions to the game since Prologue was released - the NASCAR license is the most notable one off the top of my head. So it's not inconceivable that the $60m budget number is going to end up just being a baseline, and all of the expenses that Prologue incurred above the line are going to apply again for the full game. Possibly more so.

We'll see. It's not impossible for it to break even, but I don't think it'll be the system seller for Sony at this point that it would have been two years ago, and I'm not convinced that they WILL break even. But, if they do...it will be because of Prologue. Without that, there would have been no chance.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

We'll see. It's not impossible for it to break even, but I don't think it'll be the system seller for Sony at this point that it would have been two years ago, and I'm not convinced that they WILL break even. But, if they do...it will be because of Prologue. Without that, there would have been no chance.

I'd agree and disagree depending on which region you're talking about. In Asia and Europe, this will be a big system seller without question. They'll move a lot of units.

The NASCAR license is the big question mark in the States. If they can sell to the large NASCAR audience that this is the game to scratch their itch, it'll be a big hit. Let's face it......the avid gamers already know that they are or aren't going to buy this game. It's a love it or hate it situation. They have to target the casual gamer and NASCAR fan if they want to achieve bigger numbers.

[sterlingice]

As a total portable newb I'm looking for advice. I had never owned a portable system until recently and I have purchased both a PSP and a DS within the last couple of months. My question is for the DS which is mostly being used by my girlfriend. She was on the internet today and got a message that she was out of memory and needed to delete some things to continue surfing(not really exactly sure what it said, this is what she told me).

I'm going to guess that a memory card for the DS would solve this issue. If this is the case can someone please suggest a good one to get to help me out here. We have the new XL.

You know, I've never used the web browser on any of my iterations of the DS. It strikes me more of a square peg-round hole thing. But, doing some homework, it looks like it's a free DSiWare download now.

As for your problem- looks like you're kindof out of luck, which is, to say the least, a bit of a design flaw. The DS just doesn't have the memory to run this proprietary version of Opera that's a bit of a resource hog, from the sounds of it. And it doesn't support Flash or streaming media since they take up too much memory.

Here's one of many reviews talking about it:
Nintendo DSi Browser (DSiWare) review (http://dsiware.nintendolife.com/reviews/2009/04/nintendo_dsi_browser_dsiware)
http://ds.ign.com/articles/970/970635p1.html

Wish I had better news for you, but it looks like the browser is just meant for light browsing and there are some sites that just don't play nice with it (let me guess- she was using Facebook?) and there's not much you can do about it except hope they come up with a better browser. The old DS had a slot where you could plug in a memory expansion but that's gone on the DSi (then again, the DSi has 16MB of RAM whereas the DS had 4MB + 8MB expansion)

SI

[dubb93]

Yes it was facebook. That kind of sucks, but not a deal breaker.

Onto a more serious note the US Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that when you buy a piece of software you do not own it, rather you license it and that you can be prevented from reselling it. Will the major videogame publishers try to outlaw the second hand game market? Will this ruling stand up in further appeals? Will the average videogamer really pay $60 to buy every game they play brand new?

Source:

hxxp://games.ign.com/articles/112/1120315p1.html

[Neon_Chaos]

Just got Valkyria Chronicles 2 for the PSP, and it is awesome.

I am now PO'd that I never bought the first game for the PS3. Sigh. More purchases for me.

I sunk around 30-ish hours on this game already. And I'm only halfway through the story (which runs from January to December, I'm just in May). Busy grinding to get better items, unlock character potentials, and unlock the storylines for the ridiculous amount of characters.

[SackAttack]

Yes it was facebook. That kind of sucks, but not a deal breaker.

Onto a more serious note the US Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that when you buy a piece of software you do not own it, rather you license it and that you can be prevented from reselling it. Will the major videogame publishers try to outlaw the second hand game market? Will this ruling stand up in further appeals? Will the average videogamer really pay $60 to buy every game they play brand new?

Source:

hxxp://games.ign.com/articles/112/1120315p1.html

Seems kind of weird that they would overturn the first sale doctrine that way.

[Atocep]

You mean 1Q 2011? That was the lastest I heard. Another year push-back and that being 'at earliest' would seem a bit extreme.


You're correct. Kotaku clarified a post they made and corrected the delay to 1Q 2011.

[Atocep]

Nice. New Valkyria Chronicles sequel on the way. PLEASE be a PS3 game.

Sega registers Valkyria Chronicles 3 domain | Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/23/sega-registers-valkyria-chronicles-3-domain/)

PSP bound. I don't get it. It's like they're trying to limit the number of people that play this series.


Valkyria Chronicles 3 Is Coming To The PSP (http://kotaku.com/5638203/valkyria-chronicles-3-is-coming-to-the-psp)

[Neon_Chaos]

PSP bound. I don't get it. It's like they're trying to limit the number of people that play this series.


Valkyria Chronicles 3 Is Coming To The PSP (http://kotaku.com/5638203/valkyria-chronicles-3-is-coming-to-the-psp)

That is awesome.

[CleBrownsfan]

Doesn't seem to be getting that buzz but I am pretty excited for the release of Move this Friday. Mostly because I can't wait to play EyePet with my daughter ;)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

PSP bound. I don't get it. It's like they're trying to limit the number of people that play this series.


Valkyria Chronicles 3 Is Coming To The PSP (http://kotaku.com/5638203/valkyria-chronicles-3-is-coming-to-the-psp)

Yeah, pretty baffling move. Only option that I could see happening is if they put it out as a downloadable title that could be played on the PS3. But I'm not holding my breath.

[Neon_Chaos]

Yeah, pretty baffling move. Only option that I could see happening is if they put it out as a downloadable title that could be played on the PS3. But I'm not holding my breath.

I think that despite being a critical success, the first game sold poorly compared to production costs on the PS3 that they really didn't want to risk losing money again.

I'm just glad they're keeping the series alive, rather than just quitting on it because of poor US sales of the first game.

VCII is a great handheld game. VCIII is apparently going to be set in the same time as VCI, and the series will return to the canvas look and feel of the first.

Who knows, if VCIII turns out to be a success, SEGA might think of bringing the series back to the PS3 for one more attempt at making money off of the US market.

[SirFozzie]

MMORPG APB announced that the game is closing, just three months after release, and so deep in the hole (300 people worked on the game, $100 million spent), that they were never going to get out (Max 130,000 registered users)

[Neon_Chaos]

MMORPG APB announced that the game is closing, just three months after release, and so deep in the hole (300 people worked on the game, $100 million spent), that they were never going to get out (Max 130,000 registered users)

I don't think there's marketshare available for a shooter mmo. What with halo and cod hogging all the players.

[mckerney]

I don't think there's marketshare available for a shooter mmo. What with halo and cod hogging all the players.

And in this case everything I'd heard about APB was that it was pretty bad and the most fun to be had was in customizing cars and characters.

I still wouldn't be surprised if Activision tries a CoD with an MMO like subscription though. Not that I think it'd be a good idea, but could see Kotick trying it with his apparent strategy being short term profits that could likely hurt the company long term.

[Atocep]

I don't think there's marketshare available for a shooter mmo. What with halo and cod hogging all the players.

Done properly there definitely could be. Firefall is one of the most anticipated MMOs out there. Halo isn't a big deal to PC players. It's just now getting features that have been in PC shooters for 15 years.

APB screwed up because it tried to do too much and ended up not doing anything well. It tried to be a shooter, but was a poor one. It tried to be a driving game, but wasn't a good one. It tried to have RPG elements, but they sucked. It was a game that lacked direction and with more than 100 free to play MMOs out there right now you have to release a quality game or people aren't going to bother.

[Atocep]

I still wouldn't be surprised if Activision tries a CoD with an MMO like subscription though. Not that I think it'd be a good idea, but could see Kotick trying it with his apparent strategy being short term profits that could likely hurt the company long term.

He's busy right now trying to convince people that it's a good idea to strip the cutscenes from a series of games (the starcraft series, for example) and sell them on a DVD as a "Starcraft Movie" for $20-$30.

[mckerney]

Done properly there definitely could be. Firefall is one of the most anticipated MMOs out there. Halo isn't a big deal to PC players. It's just now getting features that have been in PC shooters for 15 years.

APB screwed up because it tried to do too much and ended up not doing anything well. It tried to be a shooter, but was a poor one. It tried to be a driving game, but wasn't a good one. It tried to have RPG elements, but they sucked. It was a game that lacked direction and with more than 100 free to play MMOs out there right now you have to release a quality game or people aren't going to bother.

Here's a good read on some of the things that went wrong with APB:

Redundancies At Real Time Worlds | Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/08/16/redundancies-at-real-time-worlds/#comment-491791)

[SirFozzie]

Here's a similar article from one of the higher ups at RTW:

Luke Halliwell's Weblog | Just another ex-game developer (http://lukehalliwell.wordpress.com/)

[MajikMan77]

APB servers to close down in the coming hours.

Realtime Worlds | APB: All Points Bulletin (http://eu.apb.com/en/news/announcements/2010/09/16/end-of-an-era)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

APB servers to close down in the coming hours.

Realtime Worlds | APB: All Points Bulletin (http://eu.apb.com/en/news/announcements/2010/09/16/end-of-an-era)

So they just shut it down and everyone who purchased it basically has dead software? Am I seeing this correctly?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

440 Gamestop locations opening up at 10:00 PM local time tonight for the release of the PS Move controller.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/events/movemidnight/

[stevew]

I think a COD type shooter with ridiculous amounts of stats and connectivity would be amazing.

[SirFozzie]

So they just shut it down and everyone who purchased it basically has dead software? Am I seeing this correctly?

yup. and places in the UK and Canada are still selling the game.

[mckerney]

http://i.imgur.com/qg2hk.jpg

And those who bought the game never got the update either.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

yup. and places in the UK and Canada are still selling the game.

That brutal. That's a great way to lose all credibility and ensure no success in any future MMO endeavors due to a lack of trust.

[DaddyTorgo]

going to be interesting to hear what the story behind this is

[TroyF]

440 Gamestop locations opening up at 10:00 PM local time tonight for the release of the PS Move controller.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/events/movemidnight/


I'm kind of stunned at that one. No idea that many people wanted to get it at midnight or get it period.

[mckerney]

I'm kind of stunned at that one. No idea that many people wanted to get it at midnight or get it period.

Same here, I'd be curious what Move titles people can't wait to play that they'd get it at midnight. Plus I thought I'd read some places were selling it already.

[Atocep]

A friend of mine is a manager at a Gametag here in Tacoma and he said he has a total of 3 preorders for Move. He also said no one asks about it. His store gets a fair amount of business too as he said they got about 50 people to show up for the midnight release of Reach to go with over 100 preorders.

[Groundhog]

I own a PS3 and don't even really know what Move is. I'm guessing it's a wii-esque controller or something?

[mckerney]

I own a PS3 and don't even really know what Move is. I'm guessing it's a wii-esque controller or something?

Yeah, it's basically an improved Wiimote and nunchuck.

[SackAttack]

yup. and places in the UK and Canada are still selling the game.

The US, too.

[CleBrownsfan]

I searched for an answer but couldn't really come up with a clear answer - maybe MBBF has the answer.

Are games like MAG, Tiger Woods, Resident Evil, ect that are MOVE compatible already to play with the new Move equipment? Or do you have to buy an "enhanced Move" version of the game?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'm kind of stunned at that one. No idea that many people wanted to get it at midnight or get it period.

I don't think there is that many first adopters. I was just as surprised as you.

I searched for an answer but couldn't really come up with a clear answer - maybe MBBF has the answer.

Are games like MAG, Tiger Woods, Resident Evil, ect that are MOVE compatible already to play with the new Move equipment? Or do you have to buy an "enhanced Move" version of the game?

The console update for Move should already be available. I downloaded it the other night. Each individual game will receive updates/patches as well.

[DaddyTorgo]

Read an article on the MOVE that says that it's pretty awesome, but I don't think I have a need to shell out for one - certainly not till the stable of titles gets a bit bigger...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Read an article on the MOVE that says that it's pretty awesome, but I don't think I have a need to shell out for one - certainly not till the stable of titles gets a bit bigger...

I think that's going to be a pretty common thing amongst gamers. It's a great controller, but we'll likely see some package deals in the holiday season or early next year that are much better than the current price point.

[mckerney]

Read an article on the MOVE that says that it's pretty awesome, but I don't think I have a need to shell out for one - certainly

From what I've heard about it the tech sounds good as more accurate than a Wii, but I already own a PS3 and a Wii so there would have to be some pretty amazing Move exclusive titles to get me to spend $210 just to get a 2 player setup.

[Neon_Chaos]

I think that's going to be a pretty common thing amongst gamers. It's a great controller, but we'll likely see some package deals in the holiday season or early next year that are much better than the current price point.

Definitely.

I was terribly disappointed that the bundled game is a WiiSports rip off.

I would have been much more interested in purchasing this when it came out if they packaged that Wizard game they demoed on E3. :)

[CleBrownsfan]

Well, I got the Move about a hour ago. Like I said in a previous post - I got it more for my daughter (EyePet) so I hope she enjoys that little monkey-dog-cat looking thing ;)

I'll give some impressions on EyePet & Sports Champions this weekend.

Ping MBBF: So if I already have MAG, an individual patch for that game will come up to d/l & I'll be able to play with the Move controls? You or anyone know if there is a time table for these patches?

[dawgfan]

- certainly not till the stable of titles gets a bit bigger...
Did anyone else read this as "not till the stable of titties gets a bit bigger"?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Ping MBBF: So if I already have MAG, an individual patch for that game will come up to d/l & I'll be able to play with the Move controls? You or anyone know if there is a time table for these patches?

News: Huge MAG update 2.0 detailed - ComputerAndVideoGames.com (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=265141)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Bundle deal for the Move controller..............

Playstation Move Sports Champion Bundle - Slickdeals.net (http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/39263/playstation-move-sports-champion-bundle)

[Yellow5]

Two early access beta keys to Vindictus (http://vindictus.nexon.net/).

Free to play action based MMO. Surprised that this is actually fun... Anyway, free keys for anyone interested.

"Blood spurts from enemies, right where your twin blades sliced. Enemies fall, only to become corpses you can hoist and brandish as sadistic weapons. Watch as walls crumble and whole buildings topple, providing you with new toys in the battlefield. With Source Engine physics and destructible, interactive environments, Vindictus redefines everything you thought you knew about "free-to-play."

957B418A57A642458673

C1A6AB7D652F4D3CB979

[Yellow5]

Did anyone else read this as "not till the stable of titties gets a bit bigger"?

Yep! haha

[JonInMiddleGA]

Anybody else seen the gameplay trailer for Bioshock: Infinite?

Thoughts?

[RainMaker]

Anybody else seen the gameplay trailer for Bioshock: Infinite?

Thoughts?
Looks good. I sort of wish this was the route they went with Bioshock 2. They did such a good job creating a world in the first one that I'm excited to see all the nuances they create here. Hopefully get some new plasmids and wrinkles in gameplay.

[RainMaker]

Has anyone heard any news on FIFA 11? I'm seeing advertisements for it but really haven't heard anything about improvements to Manager Mode at all.

[whomario]

Has anyone heard any news on FIFA 11? I'm seeing advertisements for it but really haven't heard anything about improvements to Manager Mode at all.

for starters they merged "be-a-pro" and manager mode into one career mode (you can choose to either start as a player,manager or player-manager)

here´s what i saved of it :

FIFA 11 NG; Manager Mode is changing...to Career Mode - EA News (http://www.ea.com/uk/news/fifa-11-ng-manager-mode-career-mode?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=news)

FIFA 11 | Career Mode | EA SPORTS Football (http://www.ea.com/uk/football/videos/27fc66cb7d6ea210VgnVCM1000001065140aRCRD)


there´s also aparently 2 blogs from the mode-designer on it, but the links won´t work from any source i tried and only push you to the FIFA mainpage, where i can´t find the blogs ... So if anyone figures it out please quote it in here ...

Latest Football News, Videos, Blogs & More | EA Sports Football (http://www.easportsfootball.co.uk/blogs/offthebench/post/slug/fifa-11-producer-blog-career-mode)

Latest Football News, Videos, Blogs & More | EA Sports Football (http://www.easportsfootball.co.uk/blogs/offthebench/post/slug/fifa-11-producer-blog-career-mode-part-two)

also, the PC version will NOT have that new mode but still independent modes from what i´ve read ...

[SackAttack]

NBA Elite 11 Delayed; NBA Jam To Ship Separately By Holidays (http://kotaku.com/5649371/nba-elite-11-delayed-nba-jam-to-ship-separately-by-holidays)

NBA Elite may or may not actually come out this year, which means NBA Jam is no longer a bonus-with-purchase.

Actually, the fact that they're separating it suggests to me they either have a different pack-in in mind for "Project $15" or whatever they call it, or else the game is DOA this year.

[Groundhog]

Man, I'm not surprised it's delayed given how horrible it looks. I would be surprised if it gets released at all. Looks like they really need to just work on it for another 6-9 months and release it as Elite 12.

[Atocep]

NBA Elite 11 Delayed; NBA Jam To Ship Separately By Holidays (http://kotaku.com/5649371/nba-elite-11-delayed-nba-jam-to-ship-separately-by-holidays)

NBA Elite may or may not actually come out this year, which means NBA Jam is no longer a bonus-with-purchase.

Actually, the fact that they're separating it suggests to me they either have a different pack-in in mind for "Project $15" or whatever they call it, or else the game is DOA this year.

They said they'll be updating rosters for Live 10 this year since Elite was delayed. That leads me to believe they're not expecting it to be released for this season.

[whomario]

Wow, this should put 2k11 into "holy shit" regions as far as sales go, no ? Hope they use that extra cash getting in a few more developers for more areas next year :)

And also, i just wanted to mention that Heavy Rain is absolutely awesome. Yes, i know i´m late to that party but whatever ... ;)

[CrimsonFox]

Wow, this should put 2k11 into "holy shit" regions as far as sales go, no ? Hope they use that extra cash getting in a few more developers for more areas next year :)

And also, i just wanted to mention that Heavy Rain is absolutely awesome. Yes, i know i´m late to that party but whatever ... ;)

is this game still only a ps3 game?

[whomario]

is this game still only a ps3 game?

yeah, PS3 only.

[Neon_Chaos]

They said they'll be updating rosters for Live 10 this year since Elite was delayed. That leads me to believe they're not expecting it to be released for this season.

That is awesome news for 2k11!

Time to rake in some cash boys.

[RainMaker]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I have a bad feeling EA is going to push for an exclusive license from the NBA.

[Neon_Chaos]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I have a bad feeling EA is going to push for an exclusive license from the NBA.

That would suck balls. :(

Just thinking about it is depressing. :(

[whomario]

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I have a bad feeling EA is going to push for an exclusive license from the NBA.


actually i´m pretty sure they´ll get fined by the NBA first for not meeting their end of the deal to, well, release a game and the NBA will be rightfully pissed off about this whole thing.

I really don´t see them handing out an exlcusive licence with the way 2K has built up steam the last few year, they aren´t the little underdog game played by the basketball-purists anymore but a game for the masses that last i looked sold almost twice as many copies as Live did last year (PC version not even factored in !) and increased their sales by around 60% both of the last years.

Maybe im starry-eyed here but I just don´t see the NBA overlooking such a massive discrepancy and opting for the quick cash here...

[Philliesfan980]

actually i´m pretty sure they´ll get fined by the NBA first for not meeting their end of the deal to, well, release a game and the NBA will be rightfully pissed off about this whole thing.

I really don´t see them handing out an exlcusive licence with the way 2K has built up steam the last few year, they aren´t the little underdog game played by the basketball-purists anymore but a game for the masses that last i looked sold almost twice as many copies as Live did last year (PC version not even factored in !) and increased their sales by around 60% both of the last years.

Maybe im starry-eyed here but I just don´t see the NBA overlooking such a massive discrepancy and opting for the quick cash here...

You obviously don't know David Stern...

[Honolulu_Blue]

And also, i just wanted to mention that Heavy Rain is absolutely awesome. Yes, i know i´m late to that party but whatever ... ;)

I watched a friend of mine play it and then played out one scene. I agree. It was a lot of fun. Very cool experience.


I just downloaded the latest Mass Effect 2 DLC "Shadow Broker". It's gotten some solid reviews. I am looking forward to jumping back into it.

I recently bought an old game, "Dominions 3", because I was annoyed at how bad "Elemental: War of Magic" turned out to be. It's definitely dated, but I'm enjoying it thus far. So much crazy variety.

[Noop]

If this is the death of EAsport then I am absolutely happy because they have ruined the sports gaming industry.

[DaddyTorgo]

EA Sports MMA demo is out today as well.

Getting great reviews over on the OS forum so far.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some pretty good games put on the PS3 Greatest Hits list today.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time
MAG
Demon Souls
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

All four are worth the $30 price point. I'm sure they'll show up for $20 on some weekly deals pretty quickly.

[SackAttack]

Some pretty good games put on the PS3 Greatest Hits list today.

Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time
MAG
Demon Souls
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

All four are worth the $30 price point. I'm sure they'll show up for $20 on some weekly deals pretty quickly.

Three out of four of those are games I consider worth a buy.

MAG I have an incredibly difficult time taking seriously, even at $30.

[SirFozzie]

http://www.carpefulgur.com/

Talk about the little company that could.

Carpe Fulgur is a very small translation/video game company specializing in localization.

They brought over a game called "Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale", a weird combination of dungeon crawler and item shop simulation.

Basically, the game's heroine wakes up to find her dad's gone walkabout and left her a very large debt that means that she will lose her home, but the debt collection agent helps Recette try to pay off her debt by opening an item shop and selling to townsfolk and adventurers.. of course sometimes for those rare items that people want. you need to head into the nearby dungeons.. (and you have to hire adventures to do this for you, which is the dungeon crawl part of the game)..

The three people finally got the localization complete, and decide to release it. They know it's a long shot, but they have to hope that the game will sell. They say that they know it's a pipe dream, and basically, they can't make a living doing this unless they sell 20,000 copies of the game. But, they can't resist giving it a try.

Today, they announced that they had sold 26,000+ copies in the first month the game was out. That was more than the game had sold in Japan, where it had been a pretty good seller. They're gobsmacked. I'm one of those 26,000+ sales. I love the game more than Civ V, if that can be believed.

It's nice to see that a good game doesn't require $100 million, or development staff of 200 to make, and that sometime the little guy wins.

[mckerney]

http://www.carpefulgur.com/

Talk about the little company that could.

Carpe Fulgur is a very small translation/video game company specializing in localization.

They brought over a game called "Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale", a weird combination of dungeon crawler and item shop simulation.

Basically, the game's heroine wakes up to find her dad's gone walkabout and left her a very large debt that means that she will lose her home, but the debt collection agent helps Recette try to pay off her debt by opening an item shop and selling to townsfolk and adventurers.. of course sometimes for those rare items that people want. you need to head into the nearby dungeons.. (and you have to hire adventures to do this for you, which is the dungeon crawl part of the game)..

The three people finally got the localization complete, and decide to release it. They know it's a long shot, but they have to hope that the game will sell. They say that they know it's a pipe dream, and basically, they can't make a living doing this unless they sell 20,000 copies of the game. But, they can't resist giving it a try.

Today, they announced that they had sold 26,000+ copies in the first month the game was out. That was more than the game had sold in Japan, where it had been a pretty good seller. They're gobsmacked. I'm one of those 26,000+ sales. I love the game more than Civ V, if that can be believed.

It's nice to see that a good game doesn't require $100 million, or development staff of 200 to make, and that sometime the little guy wins.

Recettear is great.

[RainMaker]

EA Sports MMA demo is out today as well.

Getting great reviews over on the OS forum so far.
Not saying much. I think they ban you for saying negative things about EA games. I saw a lot of people getting banned in the Madden forums earlier for bringing up issues.

I'd be interested in seeing what some other sites/forums have to say.

[DaddyTorgo]

LOL

It does seem a lot more...slow-paced and tactical than the button-mashing that is UFC...I can tell you that from the demo so far.

It's tough to un-learn yourself the UFC controls and familiarize yourself with these controls.

Subs are much more realistic and possible. I just guillotiened Lashley from the bottom with Overeem less than 2 minutes into a fight after he took me down. It's all about stamina and using your stamina effectively rather than button-mashing.

Also you have to be more...deliberate with your offense as your stamina goes down.

[DaddyTorgo]

And hell - I just TKO'd Shields with Mayham. It's nice when you rock a guy...he still has a chance to defend himself as you rain down punches, instead of the "gray screen=death" thing in UFC.

[DaddyTorgo]

WOW

Sweet. I just subbed Shields with a beautiful armbar. Not even sure how it started, it looked like I was on the bottom when I grabbed it and then I rolled into it full and stretched it.

Everything feels a lot more...organic in this game. Scrambles...front kicks, etc.

EA's expertise with motion-capture and fighting physics really comes off well IMO.

[DaddyTorgo]

TRIANGLE CHOKE!!

Never managed to pull one of those off successfully in UFC

Love this freakin game so far.

Essentially there's two modes of subs. The first is joint-locks, where you have to carefully press the "attack" or defend button, in a rhythm where you don't burn out your stamina too fast in order to bend the joint and get the submission. You get a little "x-ray" type view of the joint under stress so you can see how close it is to snapping.

For chokes it's a "find the hot zone" type of rotating around while the person in the sub has to find the "safety zone". Both of which are always moving and your recticle gets smaller/larger as you get closer/further from submission.

I'm sure there's more written out there on the web about them. But basically to me, it's a lot less broken than UFC (at least on the subs front) because you can sub people at different points in a match. And I've already seen more types of subs than i ever did in UFC.

[DaddyTorgo]

oooh - just escaped a triangle with a slam and transitioned into an armbar.

if sub-battles are this much fun with non-sub fighters imma be in heaven

[DaddyTorgo]

that was all on easy difficulty. on medium i just had a bunch of sub attempts blocked before they even started, so it's not unbalanced or anything

[DaddyTorgo]

i just gave up my back without enuf stamina and almost got caught in a RNC

[Big Fo]

Nintendo had a press event for the 3DS that just ended in Japan. The new handheld will be released on February 26 in Japan and sometime in March for North America and Europe. It will cost 25,000 yen but a price was not mentioned for NA/EU.

25,000 yen is close to $300, I am interested in getting a 3DS but at that price it would have to have an amazing bunch of launch games for me to consider buying one.

[RainMaker]

So I picked up NCAA Football again. I have Dead Rising coming on Thursday, FIFA 11 coming on Friday. A new computer coming which will allow me to play Civilization V and the new FM in a month. Oh and of course NBA 2K11 and Fallout: New Vegas are preordered. I may not have a girlfriend for much longer.

Borderlands has some new DLC out and Red Dead Redemption has the same. Why can't they stagger this stuff better.

[sterlingice]

Nintendo had a press event for the 3DS that just ended in Japan. The new handheld will be released on February 26 in Japan and sometime in March for North America and Europe. It will cost 25,000 yen but a price was not mentioned for NA/EU.

25,000 yen is close to $300, I am interested in getting a 3DS but at that price it would have to have an amazing bunch of launch games for me to consider buying one.

If they don't do, say, $250 at launch and then $200 by next Christmas, it might as well be DOA. Also, they need to embrace online like this generation like they haven't shown they are willing to yet. You're not just competing with an inept and smug Sony- you've got competition coming from all venues including the PS3-cannibalizing-your-old-super-successful-PS2 problem with the DS.

SI

[samifan24]

I'm trying to decide between Fallout: New Vegas and NBA2K11 for the PS3. I can only buy one. I loved, loved, loved Fallout 3. I'm not a big hoops fan but NBA2K11 looks fantastic. The last 2K game I owned was NBA2K5. I also purchased NHL 11 recently so I have a sports game to keep me busy. Which game should I buy?

[cthomer5000]

I'm trying to decide between Fallout: New Vegas and NBA2K11 for the PS3. I can only buy one. I loved, loved, loved Fallout 3. I'm not a big hoops fan but NBA2K11 looks fantastic. The last 2K game I owned was NBA2K5. I also purchased NHL 11 recently so I have a sports game to keep me busy. Which game should I buy?

1. You loved Fallout 3.
2. You're not a big hoops fan.
3. You have NHL 11 to keep you busy.


I think you're answering your own question here.

[samifan24]

1. You loved Fallout 3.
2. You're not a big hoops fan.
3. You have NHL 11 to keep you busy.


I think you're answering your own question here.

Hey just hoping some hoops can could convince me. I think 2K11 will be a fantastic game. I will probably pick it up as long as there aren't any showstopping bugs.

[k0ruptr]

I do think 2k11 is going to be the best NBA game in years. that said. You gotta decide if sports is the way you wanna go.

[SirFozzie]

Man, reading this headstart (Collector's Edition) review of FFXIV over on RPG.net, this sounds APB level bad..

[RainMaker]

There is a point where a game has too many cutscenes, and Dead Rising 2 has hit that point for me. Half the game is loading or a cutscene, I just want to kill zombies.

[Atocep]

Man, reading this headstart (Collector's Edition) review of FFXIV over on RPG.net, this sounds APB level bad..

I have 2 friends that tried the open beta and they both lasted less than 30 minutes before uninstalling. They said on PC the controls and interface are obviously designed for a console. You either play with a controller/gamepad of some sort or don't even bother. Using keyboard and mouse is as frustrating an experience as you could imagine.

Both were incredibly excited to play and probably spent a couple hours each dealing with the website issues trying to get signed up for open beta when it started.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It was tough to decide whether to put in this thread or in the wrestling thread but ... while watching the Dead Rising 2 tips threads on XBL tonight, a random inspiration struck: Pro Wrestling Zombie game.

Zombie Scott Hall which basically is like his past 5-10 years.
Zombie Kevin Nash which move slightly faster than his real life counterpart.
Zombie Hulk Hogan, circa his spray-on tan years, which has a more natural skin tone.

The possibilities are almost endless, even if you remain well within the boundaries of good taste.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Saw something this evening that had me scratching my head a little. This isn't about anybody's rankings or developers or whatever, it's more general than that.

Here's an article (http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/112/1124577p1.html) from IGN talking about how Reach finally passes MW2 as the most played XBL game as of the week of 9/20.

Here's a snippet of the top 10 (the article goes through 20)
1. Halo: Reach
2. Modern Warfare 2
3. Halo 3
4. Call of Duty: WaW
5. FIFA Soccer 11 Demo
6. FIFA 10
7. Call of Duty 4 (Purchase the full game for direct download)
8. Madden NFL 11
9. GTA IV (Purchase the full game for direct download)
10. Red Dead Redemption

What caught my attention was WAW being at #4. At no point in months have I ever seen more than like 10k players at any given moment, other than zombies most of the playlists are in the double digit to triple digit range regardless of time of day or day of the week.

My puzzlement was basically along the lines of "if it's #4 and I know that there's hardly anyone playing it online no matter when I check then how few
people must be actually playing anything of the games down the list".

Just kinda shocked me.

[MJ4H]

I finished the main story portion of Metroid Other M yesterday. Wow. Easily the most I've ever gotten into a game. I think I just kept saying "wow, this game" over and over while playing it.

I am still quite literally baffled at any review less than 9 out of 10 for this game.

I give it an 11.

There is apparently more to do after the credits have rolled, but I haven't done any of it yet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

$10 e-gift card from Walmart.com on preorders of Fallout: New Vegas.

[ColtCrazy]

Well, my fun money is taken care of the next two checks....Fallout New Vegas in 2 weeks, then Fable III a couple weeks later. I still haven't picked up NCAA Football, but I might do that sometime in December. I'm loving Madden, and I'm probably not going to resist NCAA for much longer.

[RainMaker]

$10 e-gift card from Walmart.com on preorders of Fallout: New Vegas.
Amazon has a $10 credit toward a future video game purchase on pre-orders.

[Big Fo]

Neither website is offering that $10 credit/gift card with the PC version, weak.

[stevew]

NBA Jam anyone?

[SnowMan]

Anyone heard any rumors about a Diablo release date, yet? Jonesin' for some dungeon crawly.

[Atocep]

Anyone heard any rumors about a Diablo release date, yet? Jonesin' for some dungeon crawly.

I've heard no earlier than next summer and most likely later than that. Probably find out more in at blizzcon in a couple weeks. Last I heard was it's not close to being in beta though.

[RainMaker]

NBA Jam anyone?
When is it out on the 360?

[stevew]

Dunno, Playing the Wii version.

Def a two player game, but it's as fun as I remember.

[stevew]

Durant buried a couple threes inside the last minute, and my Thunder went into OT. Durant then got cold, and missed 5 threes in a row.

And WTF is this "goal tending" bullshit. I need to figure out how to turn it off.

[MizzouRah]

Icebreaker anyone?

Backbreaker Studio Now Working On "Icebreaker" (http://kotaku.com/5659282/backbreaker-studio-now-working-on-icebreaker)

[Vince, Pt. II]

I finished the main story portion of Metroid Other M yesterday. Wow. Easily the most I've ever gotten into a game. I think I just kept saying "wow, this game" over and over while playing it.

I am still quite literally baffled at any review less than 9 out of 10 for this game.

I give it an 11.

There is apparently more to do after the credits have rolled, but I haven't done any of it yet.

Damn it. This is the first Metroid game (non-handheld) that I haven't played. I've just moved so far away from console gaming that I have stopped bothering buying them. You can't be telling me these things.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I picked up the Mass Effect 2 "Liar of The Shadow Broker" DLC.

It's about 2 hours long and well worth the money if you enjoyed the game. It's very well done. It plays on all the game's strengths, great dialogue, some cool pitch battles and fun cinematic sequences. There's a space car chase sequence that had the potential to be annoying, but it wasn't. It was pretty short, which is good, but also peppered with a ton of great back and forth between Sheppard and Liara that had me laughing. It was about 100 times better and more enjoyable than, say, the space car chase in "Attack of the Clones."

I always felt like the whole Sheppard/Liara relationship - if that's how you rolled in the first one - wasn't addressed satisfactorily in the sequel, and this DLC handles it perfectly. Very solid addition to those who have played through the game or are even in the middle of it.

[DataKing]

One week until New Vegas! *bounce*

[cartman]

Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed from the Nov. 2nd release date.

You will never play it: Gran Turismo 5 delayed, again (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/10/you-will-never-play-it-gran-turismo-5-delayed-again.ars)

[JonInMiddleGA]

One week until New Vegas! *bounce*

+2 (covering my son's enthusiasm as about 1.25 of that and me the other 0.75 of it)

[DataKing]

Gran Turismo 5 has been delayed from the Nov. 2nd release date.

You will never play it: Gran Turismo 5 delayed, again (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/10/you-will-never-play-it-gran-turismo-5-delayed-again.ars)

!@#$%^&*()!!!

[dubb93]

One week until New Vegas! *bounce*

More importantly, One Week until Costume Quest!

[SirFozzie]

Gran Turismo 5 Years to come out? :)

[mckerney]

Excited for Valve's announcement today that they'll release Dota 2 next year, that will be a day one buy for me.

[Atocep]

Excited for Valve's announcement today that they'll release Dota 2 next year, that will be a day one buy for me.

I'm interested to see what they do. I love League of Legends, which is from the original DOTA all-stars team. The fact that LoL will be 2 years into it's cycle and is free is going to make it hard for me to pay $30+ for a MOBA.

[jeff061]

So out of the loop, never even heard of DOTA 1.

All my gaming time is still dedicated to Starcraft multi. Just finished up the 50 practice matches and am playing real games now. Which is a different beast altogether, but still loving it.

Once SC2 play dies down and Civ5 drops in price that's next on the list.

[cartman]

Excited for Valve's announcement today that they'll release Dota 2 next year, that will be a day one buy for me.

I'm still eagerly awaiting Half-Life 2 Episode 3. Even though HL2 is almost 6 years old, it has aged incredibly well.

[stevew]

Unlocked Ewing and Starks today. I'm guessing big head Ewing is gonna be scary as shit.

[mckerney]

I'm still eagerly awaiting Half-Life 2 Episode 3. Even though HL2 is almost 6 years old, it has aged incredibly well.

I'm really looking forward to Episode 3 too, but it's been three years since Episode 2 and there's been no word on it so I'm not holding my breath on it. And I definitely agree on Half-Life 2 holding up. I've played through Episodes 1 and 2 recently and I don't think a better single player first person shooter has come out since HL2 was released.

[jeff061]

I kind of assumed the episodes were a failed experiment(financially) and that the next HL release would be a full blown game, major engine improvements and all.

In any case. Valve kicks ass. Seem to have the magic touch when it comes to bringing on new dev teams to keep a variety of fresh games outside their crown jewel.

[mckerney]

I kind of assumed the episodes were a failed experiment(financially) and that the next HL release would be a full blown game, major engine improvements and all.

I think that with Valve owning Steam and is able to self publish on PC they'd be able to do pretty well financially on the episodes if they just wanted make another 10-15 hours worth of game play and then sell it for $20. I'd thought what happened was the same thing that happened with Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2; Valve was working on a project and didn't want to release it until it was absolutely perfect. From what I'd read early on when they were working on Episode 3 it seemed like they were going to take all the ideas they weren't able to work into the game earlier and put them into Episode 3 and I thought that that combined with the usual amount of time it takes them to polish a game and add new features until they think it's absolutely perfect just made it take forever. It definitely wouldn't surprise me if what was going to be Episode 3 becomes a full blown Half Life 3 because they just kept adding more and more as they were working to perfect it.

Not that I really mind that that's the way they do things, the wait may suck but everything they release is great. And looking at Team Fortress 2 the early media and screens from 1999 on that make it look like a rather bland game not very different from a lot of shooters that are out, completely unlike the finished product that was released in 2007.

[Groundhog]

Yah, I think my HL2 impressions were in this thread actually. I played through it a few months ago, and was very impressed. The first hour of the game in particular are amazing.

[Atocep]

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwxN8sCIOOE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwxN8sCIOOE?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Probably the best HL2 mod out there. :D

[Honolulu_Blue]

<object width="480" height="385">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwxN8sCIOOE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></object>

Probably the best HL2 mod out there. :D

Heh! This reminds me of one of my favorite mods of all time. It was a "Doom 2" mod where a lot of the sound effects were replaces by sounds and quotes from "Army of Darkness." Those specific sound effects and sound bites are so very deeply ingrained into my head.

[EagleFan]

Anyone picking up EA's MMA next week?

or Fable 3 the week after?



Heard anything more about either of them lately? I liked the commercial that I saw for Fable 3, made me start to consider it (just have to justify spending the money somehow).

[Vince, Pt. II]

I'm still eagerly awaiting Half-Life 2 Episode 3. Even though HL2 is almost 6 years old, it has aged incredibly well.

Half-Life 2 might be the best game ever released, in my humble opinion. Both Half-Life games were insanely amazing.

[Greyroofoo]

Anyone picking up EA's MMA next week?

or Fable 3 the week after?



Heard anything more about either of them lately? I liked the commercial that I saw for Fable 3, made me start to consider it (just have to justify spending the money somehow).

Personally I'm saving my money for Rock Band 3.

[DaddyTorgo]

Anyone picking up EA's MMA next week?

or Fable 3 the week after?



Heard anything more about either of them lately? I liked the commercial that I saw for Fable 3, made me start to consider it (just have to justify spending the money somehow).

Pretty psyched for EA MMA.

[dawgfan]

Personally I'm saving my money for Rock Band 3.
Yes yes yes. I'm going to be suffering in November and December as this game will be an Xmas gift to me, and it's going to be tough knowing the game is out and I'm not yet able to play it.

[sterlingice]

I want the keyboard for sure, but I'd love the string guitar, too. But that's $250 in total so I don't think we'll be doing that.

SI

[Groundhog]

A few months ago I was going to buy myself an electric guitar to play around on anyhow. After hearing about Rock Band 3, I'm just going to grab that game and the electric guitar.

[k0ruptr]

Fable 2 Complete game for free through xbox live:
This used to be only the first chapter, but reports over at slickdeals are confirming it is now the FULL GAME. 7 gig download, but hey fable 2 for free, awesome game!

Xbox LIVE Marketplace | Fable II (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5307f1/?p=1&of=6&bt=0&sb=1&did=00000001-0000-4000-8000-00004d5307f1)

[EagleFan]

Fable 2 Complete game for free through xbox live:
This used to be only the first chapter, but reports over at slickdeals are confirming it is now the FULL GAME. 7 gig download, but hey fable 2 for free, awesome game!

Xbox LIVE Marketplace | Fable II (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d8024d5307f1/?p=1&of=6&bt=0&sb=1&did=00000001-0000-4000-8000-00004d5307f1)

Wow, Anyone that hasn't played thie game yet should take advantage of this. I still fire it up every once in a while to try to get another achievement or two (want to see if I can get the full 1000 at some point).

[cartman]

Still says $19.99 when I connect with the 360. If I follow the instructions on the slickdeals website, the link says "This game is not available for purchase from the Xbox Live Marketplace on the Web"

[Flasch186]

Ill be buying nothing but my wife did just pick up some part time work... we have no idea what we're going to do with Aiden {shrug}

[RainMaker]

Does it matter if you never played Fable I?

[dubb93]

Does it matter if you never played Fable I?

Game is set hundreds of year after Fable 1. Same world, but completely different story/tech level/dynamic.

[SackAttack]

Snagged the Fable II download through the website earlier, and just turned on my 360 - it is downloading now, so hey.

I bought a few games earlier. Sonic 4: Episode 1 on PSN, but I also went out to the used games shop to pick up Sonic & Knuckles and the original NBA Jam on Genesis.

[EagleFan]

Pretty psyched for EA MMA.

Have you tried the demo?

This is going to take me a while to learn. I am so used to the UFC controls that I keep instictively going for them.

Based on the demo it is a competely different game type. It's more of a strategic game than UFC and not as brutal.

One thing that happened that I liked (but hope that doesn't mean that this game is the opposite of UFC) is that I was getting my butt kicked in my last match but then pulled out an armbar submission in the 3rd round for the win. I hope that doesn't mean that the submission is to this game what the knockout is to UFC.

[DaddyTorgo]

Have you tried the demo?

This is going to take me a while to learn. I am so used to the UFC controls that I keep instictively going for them.

Based on the demo it is a competely different game type. It's more of a strategic game than UFC and not as brutal.

One thing that happened that I liked (but hope that doesn't mean that this game is the opposite of UFC) is that I was getting my butt kicked in my last match but then pulled out an armbar submission in the 3rd round for the win. I hope that doesn't mean that the submission is to this game what the knockout is to UFC.

Yep - I've played the demo a good deal. No doubt it is easier to go for submissions, and I too still have the UFC controls messing me up, but I think overall I'm going to enjoy this game much more.

[SnowMan]

Still says $19.99 when I connect with the 360. If I follow the instructions on the slickdeals website, the link says "This game is not available for purchase from the Xbox Live Marketplace on the Web"

Same thing here. That sucks I was excited when I saw it was free.

[TroyF]

Figured I'd put this here. I'm getting into a serious time crunch with gaming now.

NCAA11, NBA2K11 from the graphical sports sim side.

DDPB2, FM2011, new FOF from the text sports side.

Fallout Vegas, The Witcher (based on people here), the new Call of Duty next month.

And I still haven't bought Civ5.

If there are any sleeper hits, I might be in a gaming coma in a month or two.

[DeToxRox]

Echoing Troy's sentiments, I will be balancing between:

NHL 11
Fallout
Fable 3
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
Black Ops

Plus I am sure there is stuff I am forgetting.

[EagleFan]

I am trying to find a way to create more hours in each day but have not yet been successful.

On the gaming side I am trying to balance:
NHL 11 (gets most of my 360 time)
EA MMA (picking up tonight)
Fallout 3 (keep trying to get back into that)
Backbreaker Football (throw in a random game every now and then)
MLB: The Show (want to get more time for this but ends p being eveyr now and then)
FOF 2007 (after the update I have started a whole new career)
WMMA 2 (the dynasty that I am running with that other sim got me back into this and trying a new career)
OOTP 11 (this one has been losing the time battle)
WoW (Was getting back into this a little but the last patch has caused it to run like a dog on my system with screwed up graphics and may have cured me of wanting to play)

[RainMaker]

I'm in the same boat, especially since I've really started getting into NCAA Football 2011.

NCAA Football 2011 - Gotten into my Northwestern dynasty
FM 2011 - This is going to take up a lot of my time right away
Civilization V - Play on occasion
Fallout: New Vegas - This is going to take my next 2-3 weeks.
FIFA 2011 - Think I'm going to wait for a patch before I get into this
NBA 2K11 - When the association patch comes out soon, this will be played heavily
Bad Company 2 - Still love throwing this in every now and again.

Just finished Dead Rising 2 (which is horrible), and still have a slate of games I want to get to at some point. Mass Effect 1/2 as well as finishing up Bioshock 2 and Red Dead Redemption which I got about 2/3rds of the way before getting bored.

[Atocep]

Just finished Dead Rising 2 (which is horrible)

I'm at the point where the rescue arrives and things go to shit. My biggest complaint with the game is they don't give you any time at all to explore or just run around killing zombies. You're always up against the clock.

I've really enjoyed the boss fights. Most are actually challenging, which is rare in games today. Killing zombies with a lightsaber is quite enjoyable as well.

I just wish I could stop for a few moments and just kill some fucking zombies.

[Atocep]

For those looking forward to Diablo 3:

Five Things We Learned at BlizzCon 2010 - PC Feature at IGN (http://pc.ign.com/articles/113/1130544p1.html)

Blizzard is hard at work on StarCraft II, Diablo III, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, a 'Next-Gen' MMO, and another untitled project we've heard next to nothing about. We got StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty earlier this year and Cataclysm is coming out on December 7th, but what about 2011? Blizzard doesn't like to put early release dates on anything so there's nothing set in stone, but at this point it's a safe bet that the company will be putting out no games next year. From the talk about Diablo III it sounds as though too much is still being worked on to realistically be ready in 12 months. Believing another WoW expansion will be ready in a year is a wild fantasy. Blizzard already said its in-development MMO won't even be given a title until 2012, and as we've said Heart of the Swarm is 2012 at least. Unless Diablo development rapidly accelerates, 2011 will be a year without Blizzard.

Not really all that surprising based on what I had read. Blizzard said a couple months ago that there were 2 acts they haven't even started on yet.

I don't think anyone that knows Blizzard was expecting Heart of the Swarm in 2011.

[ColtCrazy]

Anyone played Fable III yet? I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get it or Fallout New Vegas. I have Fable II and Fallout III and enjoyed both. More of a Fable fan, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Fallout.

Probably get one next week, the other for Christmas.

[Groundhog]

EA has shifted the NBA Live series over to Tiburon (NCAA/Madden).

[Atocep]

EA has shifted the NBA Live series over to Tiburon (NCAA/Madden).

Yeah, was going to comment on this earlier. Apparently EA Canada got hit with major layoffs.

[RainMaker]

I'm at the point where the rescue arrives and things go to shit. My biggest complaint with the game is they don't give you any time at all to explore or just run around killing zombies. You're always up against the clock.

I've really enjoyed the boss fights. Most are actually challenging, which is rare in games today. Killing zombies with a lightsaber is quite enjoyable as well.

I just wish I could stop for a few moments and just kill some fucking zombies.
Yeah. You could ignore saving survivors and just do the main missions, but that sort of defeats some of the fun with the game. It'd be great if they gave you more time to dick around, make weapons, and have fun with the environment. Maybe even a mode where you can turn off the missions and just play a free-for-all, or just don't have a clock at all.

I thought the loading times were ridiculous for a game made at this stage of the console cycle. There are load screens after load screens. I don't understand how Red Dead Redemption and other games can have these massive maps without loads and you can't enter/exit a room in DR2 without a 45 second load screen. Not to mention there are way too many cutscenes that run way too long.

It's a really fun concept for a game that is horribly done.

[RainMaker]

EA has shifted the NBA Live series over to Tiburon (NCAA/Madden).
That's not exactly good either.

[CleBrownsfan]

Anybody plan on getting Kinect tomorrow? I plan on picking it up and taking advantage of Target's buy two get one free. Just not sure what launch games to get yet...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Almost all of my gaming time has been spent on pogo.com, although I do occasionally get one or two songs done in Rock Band 3.

[spleen1015]

Anybody plan on getting Kinect tomorrow? I plan on picking it up and taking advantage of Target's buy two get one free. Just not sure what launch games to get yet...

Nope.

[terpkristin]

Anybody plan on getting Kinect tomorrow? I plan on picking it up and taking advantage of Target's buy two get one free. Just not sure what launch games to get yet...

Nope, but the Kinect launch is screwing up my ability to buy a regular ol' 250 GB console. :(

/tk

[whomario]

Has anyone here played Enslaved - Odyssey to the West yet ? I started yesterday and so far it has been tons of fun. Not a too complicated game really (but has a nice atmosphere/storyline), but rather very fast paced and straight-forward.
Kind of has that old jump and run feel to it :)

[Mustang]

Anyone with kids know of a good 'Matching Game' game for kids, drop me a note. My daughter is addicted to them. All the ones I've found that are free flash type games usually only have 4x4 grids which gets boring for her.

[Comey]

Nobody got Goldeneye? Reviews have it as a Game of the Year candidate. I can't wait to get it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Nobody got Goldeneye? Reviews have it as a Game of the Year candidate. I can't wait to get it.
Hey, look who just got his August 1997 issue of Nintendo Power!

[Comey]

Hey, look who just got his August 1997 issue of Nintendo Power!

The remake is supposed to be incredible. I want it for the multiplayer, mainly.

[dawgfan]

Anybody plan on getting Kinect tomorrow? I plan on picking it up and taking advantage of Target's buy two get one free. Just not sure what launch games to get yet...
Zero interest. I've seen it in action, and while it's cool in theory, the technology isn't far enough along to make it worth all the hassle associated with it and the aggravation in using it and not getting the results you think you should.

[MizzouRah]

Anybody plan on getting Kinect tomorrow? I plan on picking it up and taking advantage of Target's buy two get one free. Just not sure what launch games to get yet...

I'm getting one for Christmas so please post impressions!!!

Also, does anyone know what else might be needed if you have a normal Xbox (the one that came with the 20GB HD)?

[SirFozzie]

I'm getting one, and the Dance Central game (will probably replace DDR as my preferred workout.. I've already told my friends if they ever get a video of me doing it online, I will kill them)

[dubb93]

Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 has an awesome community sharing feature this year.

So far I have downloaded near perfect versions of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, LOD's Hawk + Animal, Jeff Hardy, and Sting to go with passable versions of the Macho Man, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, The Ultimate Warrior, Kamala The Ugandan Giant, Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart. I also snagged some pretty poor TBH versions of Hulk Hogan + Earthquake. There are tons more guys, I've only touched the surface here and it seems like every time I log on there are new old timers uploaded.

On top of that Jake "The Snake", Terry Funk, Rock, Austin and Ricky Steamboat are all in the game as unlock-able characters.

I haven't played this series since 2009 but these old timers have me pumped for this game so far. I just wish I knew who half of the current wrestlers are. It is making the WWE Universe mode a little confusing since I have no clue what most of these guys finishers are.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just pre-ordered Black Ops from walmart.com

Gave me a chance to use my $10 e-gift card I got for New Vegas and base price was $5 off. Wish I had pre-ordered back when they were offering a $20 gift card though :(

[RainMaker]

Forgot about Black Ops. The commercial looked great. Is it worth $60 just for the single player? I know everyone loves COD multiplayer, but I'm more of a Battlefield fan myself. Not sure if they've changed the COD multiplayer at all in this.

Also have a Kinect coming tomorrow through Amazon. My XBox has been teetering on the brink of destruction and I've been wanting to get a bigger hard drive for awhile. So I figure I might as well just get a whole new 250GB system with the Kinect. Should tide me over till this console cycle is through.

[RainMaker]

Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 has an awesome community sharing feature this year.

So far I have downloaded near perfect versions of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, LOD's Hawk + Animal, Jeff Hardy, and Sting to go with passable versions of the Macho Man, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, The Ultimate Warrior, Kamala The Ugandan Giant, Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart. I also snagged some pretty poor TBH versions of Hulk Hogan + Earthquake. There are tons more guys, I've only touched the surface here and it seems like every time I log on there are new old timers uploaded.

On top of that Jake "The Snake", Terry Funk, Rock, Austin and Ricky Steamboat are all in the game as unlock-able characters.

I haven't played this series since 2009 but these old timers have me pumped for this game so far. I just wish I knew who half of the current wrestlers are. It is making the WWE Universe mode a little confusing since I have no clue what most of these guys finishers are.

I picked this up last week at Gamestop. Had like $47 in trade-ins and couldn't find a game I wanted so just went with that. Pleasantly surprised with it. The Universe mode adds a lot to the replay value of the game. It still has some big issues with matchmaking, but does give a sort of never-ending career mode that can be customized on the fly.

Sad to see Nexus not make it in yet, but I heard that at least 3 of the guys will be in a DLC coming in December. And agree on the downloadable characters. Wondering though if there is a way to get their entrance music in the game too. Seems like there is a way.

[RainMaker]

And one more thing. Has anyone played Fable 3? Thoughts? Was thinking of picking this up when I finished Fallout: New Vegas (which at this rate could be months from now).

[Honolulu_Blue]

I don't play any X-Box 360 games on-line and I never play the single player campaign, but, for me, MW2 was worth the money for the Spec-Ops missions alone. Hopefully there will be a somewhat robust co-op/split-screen campaign for Black Ops. That plus killing zombie nazis will be enough for me.

The Kinect does nothing for me. The only time I really ever play my Xbox 360 is when I have friends over and we're drinking. I don't want to be jumping around and shit when I'm drinking. No good will come of that in any way shape or form. I am not the most coordinated person in the best of circumstances and after several beers things will only get worse.

[MJ4H]

Nobody got Goldeneye? Reviews have it as a Game of the Year candidate. I can't wait to get it.

Want it bad but can't really do it right now. Will almost definitely have it eventually.

[terpkristin]

And one more thing. Has anyone played Fable 3? Thoughts? Was thinking of picking this up when I finished Fallout: New Vegas (which at this rate could be months from now).

A lot of reviews are saying that it's not so great. The word that sticks out to me is "janky" (it's what the guys at Joystiq kept saying about it on the podcast). I read, probably on Joystiq, that the developer is acknowledging that there are bugs and is asking for bug report submissions. The Joystiq guys were also down on it because the interactions with town folk, etc were dumbed down (as compared with Fable 2) and that in general, it wasn't as nice an experience as Fable 2. Surprising they had so much disdain for it, they LOVED Fable 2.

/tk

[dubb93]

I picked this up last week at Gamestop. Had like $47 in trade-ins and couldn't find a game I wanted so just went with that. Pleasantly surprised with it. The Universe mode adds a lot to the replay value of the game. It still has some big issues with matchmaking, but does give a sort of never-ending career mode that can be customized on the fly.

Sad to see Nexus not make it in yet, but I heard that at least 3 of the guys will be in a DLC coming in December. And agree on the downloadable characters. Wondering though if there is a way to get their entrance music in the game too. Seems like there is a way.

I have read in two reviews so far that you can change the title rankings in the universe mode manually. Have you figured out how to do this? I would love to get The Outsiders off of Superstars and into the tag title hunt while moving some teams down the rankings that have guys involved more in singles matches.

[RainMaker]

I have read in two reviews so far that you can change the title rankings in the universe mode manually. Have you figured out how to do this? I would love to get The Outsiders off of Superstars and into the tag title hunt while moving some teams down the rankings that have guys involved more in singles matches.
I haven't. Might require deleting teams ahead and then re-adding them. Otherwise you might just have to setup custom matches for them and have them win against teams ahead of them.

[ColtCrazy]

Target has a buy 2 get one free deal on games. Seriously considering a splurge this weekend.

Now, to narrow down 4 choices to 3. Fallout New Vegas? Fable III? NBA 2k11? Goldeneye? I think Goldeneye is the only give me. Oh, the decisions!

[sterlingice]

Want it bad but can't really do it right now. Will almost definitely have it eventually.

Ditto. Will eventually get it, but I rarely buy new games. Not really in the budget right now

SI

[terpkristin]

Target has a buy 2 get one free deal on games. Seriously considering a splurge this weekend.

Now, to narrow down 4 choices to 3. Fallout New Vegas? Fable III? NBA 2k11? Goldeneye? I think Goldeneye is the only give me. Oh, the decisions!

Based solely on reviews for Fable 3, I'd say skip it.

On other news, my personal Operation: New XBox is now complete.

/tk

[dubb93]

Target has a buy 2 get one free deal on games. Seriously considering a splurge this weekend.

Now, to narrow down 4 choices to 3. Fallout New Vegas? Fable III? NBA 2k11? Goldeneye? I think Goldeneye is the only give me. Oh, the decisions!

I would avoid Fallout. I'm not the only person who had the game corrupt all of my save games. That is the absolute worst thing a game can do to the player.

[RainMaker]

I would avoid Fallout. I'm not the only person who had the game corrupt all of my save games. That is the absolute worst thing a game can do to the player.
Is that being fixed? I'm nervous about playing on in that game.

Kind of sad but I feel like every game these days is unplayable till it's patched.

[EagleFan]

I don't play any X-Box 360 games on-line and I never play the single player campaign

Then what exactly do you do with them? Use them for coasters?

:)

[MizzouRah]

Has anyone played The Dark Decent? Just read a review and watched some of the game.. it really looks spooky.

[Neon_Chaos]

Wasn't like we didn't see it coming...

NBA Elite 11 Officially Canceled, Franchise Future Moves to EA Tiburon - Operation Sports (http://www.operationsports.com/news/454419/nba-elite-11-officially-canceled-franchise-future-moves-to-ea-tiburon/)

:D

[dubb93]

Is that being fixed? I'm nervous about playing on in that game.

Kind of sad but I feel like every game these days is unplayable till it's patched.

I imagine it will be patched about as well as Fallout 3 was patched which would be fine by me. Just get rid of the save game killing bugs and I would recommend it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Then what exactly do you do with them? Use them for coasters?

:)

Co-op/split screen games with my friends.

edit: Though, I will admit, that for the vast majority of the their lives, my games are coasters. I don't buy many games though. I only have a handful and most of them I bought used. In fact, I don't even technically own an Xbox 360. A buddy of mine was having horrible RROD issues back in the day, so he bought himself a spare one. I have his spare. I have had it for over 3 years now.

[CleBrownsfan]

Got Kinect at lunch... went to Target and got on the buy two get one free deal. I bought Motion Sports, Kinect Sports, and Kinectimals (for my daughter). I'll post some impressions once I fire it up...

[ColtCrazy]

Did the Target deal. Ended up getting NBA 2k11, Fable III, and Goldeneye. Thought seriously about Red Dead, but Goldeneye looked too good to pass up (even if it ended up being my free one since it was $10 less). Seriously excited about the weekend now.

[RainMaker]

I can't say much for the games, but the Kinect is pretty cool from a technology standpoint. Go into the video chat and it'll follow you around the room if you start moving. Not sure I've ever seen that from a camera before.

[dubb93]

Wondering though if there is a way to get their entrance music in the game too. Seems like there is a way.

I have not tried this yet, but I will be trying it later on today when I have free time. I took some time to study this and picked this up nearly word for word off of an internet board elsewhere.

1. Download ''Any Video Converter'' (its free), install it ect.
2. Search any theme you want on YoutTube. Eg. search ''AJ Styles Theme''
3. Copy & Paste the URL, (good clean version, dont download crap sounding songs)
4. On the top right of Any Video Converter you will see a scroll down, select MP3 Audio
5.Go to ''File'' & ''upload video form internet'', Paste the URL then click ''convert''
6. Once done go back into file and click ''Open Output Folder'' and there you will see the MP3. Open it in iTunes.

Now obviously it isn't just that easy. After that you have to get it to your XBox. I'm going to try burning them to CDs, but I imagine a Microsoft approved flash drive would do the trick as well.

From there a quick look in the game tells me that each song has to be set as a playlist by itself within the 360 system. Then you start the game, go to custom entrances and select your music you want for each wrestler.

That is the theory atleast. I'm going to be trying it later tonight like I said.

[dubb93]

DOLA:

Still have a little editing to do and entrance music to add but for the most part my RAW brand split is done in my WWE Universe mode game I'm going to start.

Hollywood Hogan
Scott Hall
Kevin Nash
Randy Savage
Ric Flair
Arn Anderson
Chris Benoit
DDP
Sting
Lex Luger
Roddy Piper
The Steiner Bros
Eddie Guerrero
Goldberg
Raven
Sid
Kidman
Harlem Heat
Dean Malenko
Juvi
Bam Bam Bigelow
Perry Saturn
Buff Bagwell
La Parka
Steve "Mongo" McMichael
Bret Hart
Chavo
Big Show
Y2J
Finlay
Rey Jr.
Ricky Steamboat
The Bushwackers(I was grasping at straws here when I tried 4 straight tag teams and none of them were available so I snagged one of my all time favs and added them to this split)

[dubb93]

The above method works perfectly for getting the theme music in the game. I just tested it out.

[BigDPW]

For Themes I found this site...

Ìóçûêà ðåñòëèíãà — VSplanet.net — òîëüêî ìû çíàåì, ÷òî òàêîå ðåñòëèíã! (http://vsplanet.net/multimedia/music/)

Most of the themes work great...

[mckerney]

Gran Turismo 5 once again has a release date and will possibly be coming out November 24th.

[Atocep]

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jRjQpRdh_BM?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jRjQpRdh_BM?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

[Tasan]

That...that was really, really funny.

[rjolley]

Has anyone tried or heard anything about Create from EA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Create_%28video_game%29)?

[miked]

Anyone want to sell me some Wii games they don't play anymore? I don't think there's anything I WANT to play enough to spend $50-80 on a new one...except maybe Goldeneye 007 (only because I used to love the N64 one).

[SirFozzie]

2.5 million Kinect sold. Wow. Was expecting something in the very high six figures or low seven figures. I thought making five million by end of year was a pipe dream

[RainMaker]

Price has absolutely been an issue. The industry has a long history of accessories that have cost over the $50-60 price range that fail miserably. There was an article in the past that detailed the overwhelming odds against a $60+ accessory having any real commercial success. If I can find it, I'll add it to this thread.

There's no real technology being pushed here. The Sony controller is an updated version of the Wii controller system. Natal is an updated version of what the Playstation Eye was doing a generation ago.

Even the support that the PS3 is providing to add Move functionality to old games won't help its case. People want something new, not just a new way to play something old.

Well they ended up selling a lot of these units that no one seems to want.

[terpkristin]

Anybody play Dragon Age on the PS3? I have it on XBox but as you may know if you follow me on Twitter or FB, my Xboox is going back to Microsoft for a faulty disc drive.

Thinking about trying to find a used copy of Dragon Age for PS3, I really want to give it a go...

/tk

[Big Fo]

This might be a longshot because the two games came out recently, but has anyone who liked Assassin's Creed 2 and the SNES Donkey Kong Country games played both Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Donkey Kong Country Returns?

I need to decide which would be a better Christmas present to ask for. Or if anyone has just played one of those, what do you think so far? Both have gotten very good reviews overall.

[MJ4H]

Got DKCR and played through about the first world. I love it. I bought exclusively to play co-op with a friend of mine, and it is great for that. Don't know the first thing about Assassin's Creed.

DKCR lives up, though.

[cartman]

Who was that saying that the Kinect would flop? 2.5 million sold, not shipped, since launch.

Is Kinect the new Wii this holiday season? - Video Games Blog Plugged In - Yahoo! Games (http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/222-is-kinect-the-new-wii-this-holiday-season)

[MikeVic]

I bought a used copy of Dead Rising 2 for my PS3. Been having fun with it so far, but not really far into it.

[sterlingice]

2.5 million Kinect sold. Wow. Was expecting something in the very high six figures or low seven figures. I thought making five million by end of year was a pipe dream

Same. I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in hell at 1M by the end of the year, much less 2.5

SI

[Ajaxab]

Anybody play Dragon Age on the PS3? I have it on XBox but as you may know if you follow me on Twitter or FB, my Xboox is going back to Microsoft for a faulty disc drive.

Thinking about trying to find a used copy of Dragon Age for PS3, I really want to give it a go...

/tk

I enjoyed DA on the PS3. I don't know how it compares to Mass Effect, but I did like it better than Oblivion. I think the party based play is more interesting than the single player of Oblivion. Dragon Age is the only RPG I've had any desire to play through more than once. I think it would be worth picking up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Who are they fucking kidding?

Analyst: Activision Should Monetize Call of Duty's Multiplayer For Shareholders - G4tv.com (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/709003/Analyst-Activision-Should-Monetize-Call-of-Dutys-Multiplayer-For-Shareholders.html)

[RainMaker]

Who are they fucking kidding?

Analyst: Activision Should Monetize Call of Duty's Multiplayer For Shareholders - G4tv.com (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/709003/Analyst-Activision-Should-Monetize-Call-of-Dutys-Multiplayer-For-Shareholders.html)
Classic example of a Wall Street guy with no knowledge of the industry trying to force a bad decision on a company. This guy just sees numbers, doesn't understand the customer.

I'll add that it would be interesting to see how a company would do with this model. I'd imagine they'd lose a lot of sales but would be curious if they would make the money up in monthly fees over time. I still feel like the best strategy is to sell map packs at a later date (or give them away) and essentially kill the used game market and milk an extra $10-$20 out of your most loyal fanbase.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Classic example of a Wall Street guy with no knowledge of the industry trying to force a bad decision on a company. This guy just sees numbers, doesn't understand the customer.

Easy enough to excuse it as that, until you get to this However, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said he would charge Call of Duty players a subscription service "tomorrow" if he had his way.

Granted, he's been described as someone who "...doesn't play his games, and it shows." but still, he's ostensibly more informed about the industry than a random Wall Streeter.

If the math adds up, then I can't really blame them for making the move, but I have a tough time figuring that the math would add up. You don't just kill a $1.2b golden goose (combined sales of 2 & Ops) by cutting its market to a fraction of what it has been.

[jeff061]

game sales will continue to be challenged by the publishers' altruistic decision to provide significantly more entertainment value per hour than ever in history."
Yeah....no.

Caught up in the WOW pipe dream and no knowledge beyond the bottom line.

[Ryan S]

If the math adds up, then I can't really blame them for making the move, but I have a tough time figuring that the math would add up. You don't just kill a $1.2b golden goose (combined sales of 2 & Ops) by cutting its market to a fraction of what it has been.

Given that most of the people I play COD with barely touch the single player mode, I guess it would be unlikely they would spend $60 on a game if they needed to pay a further subscription fee to play multiplayer.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Given that most of the people I play COD with barely touch the single player mode, I guess it would be unlikely they would spend $60 on a game if they needed to pay a further subscription fee to play multiplayer.

Yeah, that's kind of my line of thinking too.

[RainMaker]

I still feel that belief on even the CEO's part is out of touch with the community. It sounds like someone who knows how to run a business but has likely never met with gamers or been around them.

The video game community can be fickle. And with so much competition out there these days, you just can't piss them off. We've seen established series like Madden and NBA Live tank over the years. We saw a big budget game Kane & Lynch bomb because they pissed off the video game review community. Spore saw a ton of negative press with the DRM problems they had at launch. There's a bit of a mob mentality when it comes to games and once your product gets the negative ball going, it's tough to turn around.

It just seems an extremely dangerous move. Like I said earlier, I'd be interested to see a company try with an established game and see how it works. But I have a feeling they would see sales drop and the multiplayer community suffer. One of the aspects of COD is that you know people who have it. So if a couple less friends are playing, maybe you pass on the game as well. I know personally that I tend to choose games I can play online with friends.

[RainMaker]

Given that most of the people I play COD with barely touch the single player mode, I guess it would be unlikely they would spend $60 on a game if they needed to pay a further subscription fee to play multiplayer.
Interesting idea, but what if they just sold COD at $5-$10/month? No $60 up front for a single player. You just pay that monthly fee for multiplayer.

[Atocep]

I still feel that belief on even the CEO's part is out of touch with the community. It sounds like someone who knows how to run a business but has likely never met with gamers or been around them.

The video game community can be fickle. And with so much competition out there these days, you just can't piss them off. We've seen established series like Madden and NBA Live tank over the years. We saw a big budget game Kane & Lynch bomb because they pissed off the video game review community. Spore saw a ton of negative press with the DRM problems they had at launch. There's a bit of a mob mentality when it comes to games and once your product gets the negative ball going, it's tough to turn around.

It just seems an extremely dangerous move. Like I said earlier, I'd be interested to see a company try with an established game and see how it works. But I have a feeling they would see sales drop and the multiplayer community suffer. One of the aspects of COD is that you know people who have it. So if a couple less friends are playing, maybe you pass on the game as well. I know personally that I tend to choose games I can play online with friends.

Activision's CEO is the guy that thinks people will pay $20 for a disc full of starcraft or warcraft cinematics. He's also the guy that said his goal was to take the fun out of making games.

He's completely out of touch with reality and is a frequent target of Kotaku.

[TroyF]

Just picked up GT5. I'm not generally a racing game player, but I enjoy the game. The problem I have is the gamepad. I hate the damned thing. Is there a good racing wheel which won't destroy my budget that would work with the PS3, PC and 360?

[SackAttack]

Just picked up GT5. I'm not generally a racing game player, but I enjoy the game. The problem I have is the gamepad. I hate the damned thing. Is there a good racing wheel which won't destroy my budget that would work with the PS3, PC and 360?

As far as I know, the only cross-compatible wheels end up being PS3/PC or 360/PC. Nothing that bridges the consoles.

[SportsDino]

Activision's CEO is a dud, only a matter of time before he runs the company into the ground in my opinion.

[tyketime]

Saw this at IGN:

The single-player-only model of games could have had its day, according EA Games' label president Frank Gibeau, who believes that "online is where the innovation, and the action, is at."

His comments to Develop come in light of the addition of multiplayer to Dead Space 2, following the original's well-received mix of solo sci-fi and survival horror. "It's not only about multiplayer, it's about being connected," he said, "I firmly believe that the way the products we have are going they, need to be connected online. Multiplayer is one form of that."

"I volunteer you to speak to EA's studio heads; they'll tell you the same thing," Gibeau continued, "They're very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay – be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services – as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out. I think that model is finished."

I hope this is not the case. While I enjoy some multiplayer titles, I would hate to think that my gaming/playing time to fit my schedule would no longer be viable.

[bhlloy]

Yeah, count me out of console game playing if that ever becomes the case. I don't have the time to become good enough to play online any more or the energy to find non-douchebags to play with. I already don't bother with COD any more because the 4-6 hour single player campaign is a bit of a joke.

[stevew]

Given that most of the people I play COD with barely touch the single player mode, I guess it would be unlikely they would spend $60 on a game if they needed to pay a further subscription fee to play multiplayer.

Yeah, that's kind of my line of thinking too.

I'm sure something else would come along and would be free for MP. If they can't make it on my $60 contribution, tough shit for them.

If they would have declared it an "elite premium" title and sold it at like $75, I'd have grumbled, but still purchased.

[JediKooter]

I actually love on-line multiplayer. Let me clarify that though: I love on-line multiplayer co-op campaign mode and little if any of the capture the flag or other multiplayer variants.

[DataKing]

I'm more of a co-op person myself as well. The turd-to-decenthumanbeing ratio is much better on co-op.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm more of a co-op person myself as well. The turd-to-decenthumanbeing ratio is much better on co-op.

Y'know, I think it's fair to say that I'm a fairly stern judge of character/people/ douchebags/whatever.

That said, outside of modders, glitchers, and boosters, I really don't run into too many people playing online that particularly bother me. And nothing that a mute doesn't fix pdq.

What am I missing here?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Y'know, I think it's fair to say that I'm a fairly stern judge of character/people/ douchebags/whatever.

That said, outside of modders, glitchers, and boosters, I really don't run into too many people playing online that particularly bother me. And nothing that a mute doesn't fix pdq.

What am I missing here?

I am not sure what the exact definition of either " modders, glitchers, or boosters" is and I haven't played too much in the way of on-line games other than with friends, but that's by design.

The only game I really ever played with any regularity on-line was "Left 4 Dead." Usually, I only played with friends. Sometimes, I ventured out and played with strangers. Intitially, my experiences were pretty solid, but as time went on, I ran into more and more griefers, i.e., people who would join the game just to fuck with it (shoot other players) and then disconnect. After that happened a few times, I was done.

[dawgfan]

Yeah, count me out of console game playing if that ever becomes the case. I don't have the time to become good enough to play online any more or the energy to find non-douchebags to play with. I already don't bother with COD any more because the 4-6 hour single player campaign is a bit of a joke.
I think he's over-stating things - there's always going to be a market for solo-play gamers. But...it's absolutely correct that there will be fewer options for that in the market. But as long as there are gamers that like that style of play, there will be games looking to tap into that niche.

[DataKing]

Y'know, I think it's fair to say that I'm a fairly stern judge of character/people/ douchebags/whatever.

That said, outside of modders, glitchers, and boosters, I really don't run into too many people playing online that particularly bother me. And nothing that a mute doesn't fix pdq.

What am I missing here?

My personal online experiences have led me to believe that you run into a higher number of griefers/assholes/turds/whatever in competitive games, rather than cooperative ones. Griefers/assholes/turds/whatever are drawn more to competitive games since it offers them better opportunities to be a griefer/asshole/turd/whatever.

Anyway, that's just my perspective...nothing empirical at all. And naturally there are always some of these people present, no matter what the game...

[RomaGoth]

Saw this at IGN:

The single-player-only model of games could have had its day, according EA Games' label president Frank Gibeau, who believes that "online is where the innovation, and the action, is at."

His comments to Develop come in light of the addition of multiplayer to Dead Space 2, following the original's well-received mix of solo sci-fi and survival horror. "It's not only about multiplayer, it's about being connected," he said, "I firmly believe that the way the products we have are going they, need to be connected online. Multiplayer is one form of that."

"I volunteer you to speak to EA's studio heads; they'll tell you the same thing," Gibeau continued, "They're very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay – be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services – as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out. I think that model is finished."

I hope this is not the case. While I enjoy some multiplayer titles, I would hate to think that my gaming/playing time to fit my schedule would no longer be viable.

I wonder what would happen if EA actually, you know, asked their customers what they wanted?

[JediKooter]

I'm more of a co-op person myself as well. The turd-to-decenthumanbeing ratio is much better on co-op.

That has been my experience too. I've ran into two groups: "Douche/griefer/hacker/jackwad" & the "waaaayyy too much into the minutae of the game and won't shut up telling me what I'm doing wrong".

One of the guys I used to work with found a solution to that problem. Him and his group of friends started an email group that only accepted people they knew who were not douchebags and that is the only group they played with on-line. Had set times and what games. Made it go pretty smooth and fun from what he was saying. I kind of do the same thing now. If the option is there in the game, I set it to 'invite only'.

I don't know if there is one, but, I think it would be pretty cool to have a FOFC Xbox Live group. That way, at least we somewhat know who we are playing with.

[DataKing]

I don't know if there is one, but, I think it would be pretty cool to have a FOFC Xbox Live group. That way, at least we somewhat know who we are playing with.

There's an old thread around here somewhere that lists FOFC'er Gamertags, but I have no idea how up to date it is.

That being said, anyone reading this is welcome to send DataKing1 a friend invite if I'm not on your list already.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I am not sure what the exact definition of either " modders, glitchers, or boosters" is

Basically I meant people who look for/find/use various ways to cheat the game.

My phrasing is probably pretty COD oriented but it really applies to anyone who consistently uses any sort of cheapass shortcut to gain competitive advantage.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Basically I meant people who look for/find/use various ways to cheat the game.

My phrasing is probably pretty COD oriented but it really applies to anyone who consistently uses any sort of cheapass shortcut to gain competitive advantage.

Gotcha. I've never played COD on-line and have only heard of such things being possible. Sounds annoying.

I have Blood Bowl on-line a handful of times. Most folks are ok, but there are plenty of "rage quitters".

[JediKooter]

There's an old thread around here somewhere that lists FOFC'er Gamertags, but I have no idea how up to date it is.

That being said, anyone reading this is welcome to send DataKing1 a friend invite if I'm not on your list already.

Oh cool. Well then, look for an invite from jedikooter soon. :)

And I'll second what DK said about sending an invite. All I ask is if your tag is different than what is on here, please let me know you're from FOFC. I'm currently only on Xbox Live.

[Mustang]

Y'know, I think it's fair to say that I'm a fairly stern judge of character/people/ douchebags/whatever.

That said, outside of modders, glitchers, and boosters, I really don't run into too many people playing online that particularly bother me.

Was always meaning to ask you your opinions for online play. I have a low threshold for wanting to deal with douchebags so, figured if you could manage then probably ok for me to venture more into multiplayer gaming.

[RainMaker]

My gripe with online play is that I don't want to be matched up with a guy who has spent 16 hours a day playing a game since its launch. Most games seem to be doing a good job of fixing that, but it still exists.

[Big Fo]

FIFA is the only game that I play online somewhat frequently, and usually that is against friends. But that game does a decent job of letting you avoid obnoxiousness if you have to play a random. You can back out of the match at the squad selection screen if your opponent will only be one of the top teams and you're sick of those kinds of matches. And the games are short so if you're stuck playing an opponent with a bad connection, or someone who just spams lofted through balls over and over, or some other annoying tactic the games only last about 15 minutes. And in ranked random matches you are generally matched up against people of similar ability as the game uses a points system that gives each player a score.

[RomaGoth]

My gripe with online play is that I don't want to be matched up with a guy who has spent 16 hours a day playing a game since its launch. Most games seem to be doing a good job of fixing that, but it still exists.

I am guessing you don't play MMO's, then right? ;)

[Matthean]

Mass Effect 3 Video Game, VGA 10: Exclusive Debut Trailer HD | Video Clip | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-mass-effect/708363)

Mass Effect 3 trailer.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Was always meaning to ask you your opinions for online play. I have a low threshold for wanting to deal with douchebags so, figured if you could manage then probably ok for me to venture more into multiplayer gaming.

That's probably been one of the two biggest surprises for me about playing online, something I steadfastly avoided for years. They're definitely out there but not nearly in the percentages I expected. Certain games seem to have more of them than others but on the whole I've had fewer meltdowns during 200-300 hours of online play than I have just surfing the internet.

A caveat probably goes with that though, in fairness. I play online based largely on the desire for either particular game modes and/or challenges (i.e. trying to learn not to suck quite so much). I do NOT play online because I'm interested in being social; i.e. chatting randomly or even about the game. It's exceptionally rare if I even plug the headset in, pretty uncommon for me to play without muting most of the players in the game that do. If I changed the latter behavior I'm sure my average blood pressure while playing online multi would be considerably higher.

[dawgfan]

If I changed the latter behavior I'm sure my average blood pressure while playing online multi would be considerably higher.

http://aznbadger.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/george_zimmer_guarantee.jpg

[Matthean]

Batman: Arkham City Video Game, VGA 10: Exclusive Hugo Strange Reveal Trailer HD | Video Clip | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/vga-10-batman-arkham/708342)

[MJ4H]

Played 5 hours of Donkey Kong Country Returns co-op last night. Most fun I've had playing a video game in a long, long time. This game is fantastic.

[tyketime]

I find it interesting to look at the Steam Game & Player Stats page from time to time to see the number of players playing the Top 100 games (link here (http://store.steampowered.com/stats/)). Which games are hot, etc. What it also shows is whether new releases sold well or not. I had enjoyed playing the previous versions of Bejeweled, so I bought version 3 at 10% off prerelease price. Looking on the Top 100 chart, it is nowhere to be found (unless I am missing it). And the lowest game only has 189 players. I know some choose to play in offline mode (and this could well be one of those games). But it seems to me this maybe didn't sell as well as expected.

Are there websites that have similar stats for top games & number of players for xbox live?

[Passacaglia]

That's pretty cool. Color me surprised that FM has more players than Civ 5.

[tyketime]

That's pretty cool. Color me surprised that FM has more players than Civ 5.

I also see that FM2010 & FM2009 are in top 25. Somebody must be doing a pretty good job with that game/series! ;)

[RomaGoth]

I also see that FM2010 & FM2009 are in top 25. Somebody must be doing a pretty good job with that game/series! ;)

Too bad the same can't be said about EHM.......:(

[dwardzala]

For those of you looking for a good 4X type of game, check out Distant Worlds from Matrix Games. Link (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/379/details/Distant.Worlds) here. You'll want the expansion as well (they corrected a poor design decision with research).

This game is technically an RTS but it is not a clickfest like some. I have only played this a few hours, but it has the feel of the game all of the MOO fans wanted MOO3 to be.

The only drawback is there is no multiplayer.

[Warhammer]

I recently bought an old game, "Dominions 3", because I was annoyed at how bad "Elemental: War of Magic" turned out to be. It's definitely dated, but I'm enjoying it thus far. So much crazy variety.

If you're looking for some Dom3 MP let me know.

[Mustang]

Ventured for the first time into Black Ops multiplayer and enjoyed it. My first step is to mute everyone so I don't have to listen to anyone and then I play just free for all. Figure if everyone is going to kill everyone then team play goes right out the window and I don't have to listen to anyone...

Maybe I'm missing it, but wish free for all matched you more with people in the same skill sets. If I can manage a kill ratio of 1:1, I'm happy. Some of these guys have 30:1 ratios, which I have absolutely no idea how.

[tyketime]

I've played multiplayer in both the Battlefield Bad Company 2 & Call of Duty series of games. So I thought I would jump into the Halo Reach multiplayer, but I'll be damned if I know what I am doing, and seem to be completely clueless. Anyone care to help a Reach noob out? Any good sites I can go to read about the differences? Do I really need to complete the campaign before jumping into multiplayer (I didn't for the other two series either, but with better results)?