The 2009 Video Game Thread

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Ghostbusters released for 360/PS3/Wii in North America and PS3 in Europe today. Anyone jumping on this one? Haven't seen much feedback thus far. Embargo was in place until today.

[MizzouRah]

I really need to finish up a few games this week so I can trade them in on Red Faction.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I really need to finish up a few games this week so I can trade them in on Red Faction.

I bought that the other day at Target as part of the Buy 2, Get 1 deal. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but have heard good things.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Ghostbusters released for 360/PS3/Wii in North America and PS3 in Europe today. Anyone jumping on this one? Haven't seen much feedback thus far. Embargo was in place until today.

Picked it up for the 360, will post impressions later as I haven't had the chance to open it yet.

[CleBrownsfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I bought that the other day at Target as part of the Buy 2, Get 1 deal. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but have heard good things.

Damn - there are several games I'm looking to get... that deal still going on?

[Calis]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Damn - there are several games I'm looking to get... that deal still going on?

I believe it ended on Saturday.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Ghostbusters released for 360/PS3/Wii in North America and PS3 in Europe today. Anyone jumping on this one? Haven't seen much feedback thus far. Embargo was in place until today.

Early review of the Wii version.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game – Early Review | WiiNintendo

[Tasan]

I'm installing the PC version of Ghostbusters right now. 10 gb install just so you know.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I bought that the other day at Target as part of the Buy 2, Get 1 deal. Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but have heard good things.

Let me know what you think. I still need to finish GOW (yes the original) and my second run through of Bioshock, then it's off to get GOW 2 and Red Faction.

[DeToxRox]

I might rent Ghostbusters if reviews are good. Frankly though once Fight Night comes out next week, that'll be all I play for a good long while.

[Tasan]

NOTICE:

Just in case you wanted to play multiplayer Ghostbusters on PC, its not in there. Seems to be a last minute removal or something. I don't really care because I just wanted to play the game, but for you folks hoping to play it co-op or some kind of ghosts vs busters online, buy one of the console versions instead.

[PurdueBrad]

I'm not too far into the 360 version but it is both an impressive and challenging game. The cut scenes are done very well, the dialogue as you play is good, I'm just hoping the game play doesn't get repetitive. This doesn't/shouldn't give anything away: I'm at the part where I'm exploring a building in Times Square. It is pretty fun up to this point but I do wonder about the overall length of story.

[spleen1015]

Uh-oh....

Activision threatens to drop PS3, PSP - News at GameSpot

Despite a growing user base for the PlayStation 3 and PSP, Sony recently reported a total net loss of $1.03 billion dollars, its first since 1995. The news came on top of previously announced job cuts and vast restructuring, while its flagship console, the PS3, continues to lag significantly behind both the Xbox 360 and the Wii in worldwide unit sales.

Kotick would like the PS3 to be cheaper.

Now it looks like things might be taking an even greater turn for the worse for Sony. Speaking to The Times of London, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick threatened to pull support for both the PS3 and the PSP as early as 2010, saying that the return on creating games for the platforms isn't as good as on competing systems.

"I'm getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don't make it easy for me to support the platform," he said. "It's expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation."

"They have to cut the price, because if they don't, the attach rates are likely to slow," he continued. "If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony." When asked about a time frame he said, "When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console--and the PSP."

Kotick's recent statements aren't the first time he's called for a price cut to for the current generation of consoles. In November 2007, he told a Reuters Media Summit that all three consoles need to be priced under $200 by 2009 if they want to continue pursuing mass-market adoption.

Activision Blizzard is weathering the current global economic crisis with aplomb, having reported a $189 million profit on revenues of $981 million during its January-March quarter. The publisher's rhythm franchise Guitar Hero also continues to perform, with Kotick describing the series "as big as Titanic with better margins." The franchise is soon to be bolstered by the upcoming release of turntable-equipped rhythm game DJ Hero, which is due to be released on the Xbox 360, PS3, PlayStation 2, and Wii later this year.

[dawgfan]

Negotiating tactic - he's obviously trying to get the cost of PS3 dev kits reduced and get Sony to take a smaller slice of the cut from game sales on Activision's titles.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Uh-oh....

Activision threatens to drop PS3, PSP - News at GameSpot

Surely you don't think he's serious, do you? This is just another chapter in the maneuvers by publishers to push for a significant price drop. Activision makes a good chunk of money on PS3 games. They just want to make more, hence the reason for the threats.

Consumers as a whole should be grateful for the increase in rhetoric. You don't see partnering CEO's telling each other to drop the price on merchandise very often. I'm sure Sony's pissed that he did this, but Sony has demonstrated that it takes multiple kicks in the ass to get them to do something in this generation.

[Big Fo]

Handheld games don't often get the love they deserve from the enthusiast press but Scribblenauts (for DS) won E3 game of the show from IGN, Gamespot, and Gamespy.

It's a puzzle game where you must summon objects in order to help the main character obtain pieces of "starite." You can type in tens of thousands of objects (no adjectives, no profanity, no copyrighted words) to help you meet the goal. Like in one of the simple levels early in the game the piece of starite is in a tree, you can type in ladder and the character will climb up and grab it, or type in lumberjack and one will appear and then go cut the tree down, or you could type in jetpack and fly up to grab it, etc.

Here's one guy's thoughts after playing the game at E3:

So listen to this story. I was in the early levels; I didn't quite have an idea of how ridiculously in-depth the database was. I was summoning things like ladders, glasses of water, rayguns, what have you. But I reached a level with zombie robots, and the zombie robots kept killing me. Rayguns didn't work, a torch didn't work, a pickaxe didn't work. In my frustration, I wrote in "Time Machine". And one popped up. What the fuck? A smile dawned on my face. I hopped in, and the option was given to me to either travel to the past or the future. I chose past. When I hopped out, there were fucking dinosaurs walking around. I clicked one, and realized I could RIDE THEM. So I hopped on a fucking DINOSAUR, traveled back to the present, and stomped the shit out of robot zombies. Did you just read that sentence? Did you really? I FUCKING TRAVELED THROUGH TIME AND JUMPED ON A DINOSAUR AND USED IT TO KILL MOTHERFUCKING ROBOT ZOMBIES. This game is unbelievable. Impossible. There's nothing you can't do.

In addition to the puzzles there's also a sandbox mode where you can just see how various things interact with each other.

A few videos:

E3 Trailer
God v. the Kraken
More gameplay from E3 (10:40 into video)

I can't wait for it to come out in September.

[MJ4H]

ok that is officially the best thing ever

[MikeVic]

I can't wait for that game too.

[SackAttack]

So I've been screwing around with Red Faction: Guerilla the last coupla days, and I gotta say - smashing port-a-potties* in the name of the revolution with a giant sledgehammer is all kinds of fun.

*No, I don't have to smash them, but...they're right there! With smashable waste tanks!

[RainMaker]

Been playing the Ghostbusters game tonight. Not too bad but does a few annoying things. One is that it seems to re-load the whole cut scene if you fail a mission and re-try it (maybe this is only at the beginning). I also don't like how slow the guy is and hard it is to move out of the way.

Otherwise, the storyline is really good and the scenes are nice. The nostalgia factor makes it fun, otherwise I'd just say it's mediocre.

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Handheld games don't often get the love they deserve from the enthusiast press but Scribblenauts (for DS) won E3 game of the show from IGN, Gamespot, and Gamespy.

It's a puzzle game where you must summon objects in order to help the main character obtain pieces of "starite." You can type in tens of thousands of objects (no adjectives, no profanity, no copyrighted words) to help you meet the goal. Like in one of the simple levels early in the game the piece of starite is in a tree, you can type in ladder and the character will climb up and grab it, or type in lumberjack and one will appear and then go cut the tree down, or you could type in jetpack and fly up to grab it, etc.

Here's one guy's thoughts after playing the game at E3:



In addition to the puzzles there's also a sandbox mode where you can just see how various things interact with each other.

A few videos:

E3 Trailer
God v. the Kraken
More gameplay from E3 (10:40 into video)

I can't wait for it to come out in September.

Awesome

[Young Drachma]

Rented Tiger Woods 10 today for PS3 I'm sure it'll frustrate me as past versions have and I won't buy it, but....as a rental, sure why not?

It really burns me up that games like this are going away from the model of letting you create your own player and instead want you to jump through all sorts of hoops to do what you want. It's frustrating. Just don't allow certain kinds of players to be taken online.

Or just let me play on the tour as Tiger and be done with it, because really that's all I wanna do. Get a few rounds in as a pro in a real tourney by myself and that's it.

But anyway, we'll see how it goes...the fanboys on all of the boards tell me the game is super easy.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Handheld games don't often get the love they deserve from the enthusiast press but Scribblenauts (for DS) won E3 game of the show from IGN, Gamespot, and Gamespy.

It's a puzzle game where you must summon objects in order to help the main character obtain pieces of "starite." You can type in tens of thousands of objects (no adjectives, no profanity, no copyrighted words) to help you meet the goal. Like in one of the simple levels early in the game the piece of starite is in a tree, you can type in ladder and the character will climb up and grab it, or type in lumberjack and one will appear and then go cut the tree down, or you could type in jetpack and fly up to grab it, etc.

Here's one guy's thoughts after playing the game at E3...

The dinosaur zombie robot story was awesome. That game wasn't even on my map until all the E3 reviews from IGN.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Been playing the Ghostbusters game tonight. Not too bad but does a few annoying things. One is that it seems to re-load the whole cut scene if you fail a mission and re-try it (maybe this is only at the beginning). I also don't like how slow the guy is and hard it is to move out of the way.

Otherwise, the storyline is really good and the scenes are nice. The nostalgia factor makes it fun, otherwise I'd just say it's mediocre.

I'm curious to see how that plays throughout the game. The review on IGN also made me curious about the Wii version.

SI

[BigDPW]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Rented Tiger Woods 10 today for PS3 I'm sure it'll frustrate me as past versions have and I won't buy it, but....as a rental, sure why not?

It really burns me up that games like this are going away from the model of letting you create your own player and instead want you to jump through all sorts of hoops to do what you want. It's frustrating. Just don't allow certain kinds of players to be taken online.

Or just let me play on the tour as Tiger and be done with it, because really that's all I wanna do. Get a few rounds in as a pro in a real tourney by myself and that's it.

But anyway, we'll see how it goes...the fanboys on all of the boards tell me the game is super easy.

I didn't buy 09 but have played alot of 08 over the last 2 years when I got the virtual golf itch. I am pleased that the rubber band AI is gone. I like the Tour Pro mode and absolutely love the club tuning and new putting mechanics.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

I didn't buy 09 but have played alot of 08 over the last 2 years when I got the virtual golf itch. I am pleased that the rubber band AI is gone. I like the Tour Pro mode and absolutely love the club tuning and new putting mechanics.

yeah, after all of that bitching..I'm actually happy with it. The new putting is so much better and even though I think DLC is a scam, it beats the alternative of buying the game and finding you get little to no use from it, because you don't have time to jump through a bunch of hoops and just you wanna play.

It's a huge leap forward over the last version and honestly for me, having Bethpage in a golf game is worth the price in my mind.

I'm just renting but other than NCAA 10 when it comes out, I'll be picking this up.

[Big Fo]

I have the Wii version and the club tuning is really useful. The default settings do not have the irons lofted nearly enough so even mid irons would bounce and roll for around 15 yards after hitting the green. Without the club tuning I'd have been screwed once I moved on to the advanced setting where you can't control spin after impact.

Was this new for this year's version? I hadn't played the series since TW07.

[BigDPW]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

yeah, after all of that bitching..I'm actually happy with it. The new putting is so much better and even though I think DLC is a scam, it beats the alternative of buying the game and finding you get little to no use from it, because you don't have time to jump through a bunch of hoops and just you wanna play.

It's a huge leap forward over the last version and honestly for me, having Bethpage in a golf game is worth the price in my mind.

I'm just renting but other than NCAA 10 when it comes out, I'll be picking this up.

How do you buy access to the courses without having to go through the Challenges? I can't figure that part out? Not sure if I will buy them but would like to know how...

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by BigDPW

How do you buy access to the courses without having to go through the Challenges? I can't figure that part out? Not sure if I will buy them but would like to know how...

Ok, just saw this. Games Modes -->Traditional Game Modes --> and then once you pick the game you want to play, you'll eventually get to pick a course and the locked ones will display the PSN icon in the right corner of the screen and you'll be able to purchase them then.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Rockstar Games just announced that they'll be releasing a PSP version of GTA: Chinatown Wars this holiday season. It'll get the upgrade to PSP graphics and add a few missions. The DS version had horrible sales numbers, so they're probably looking to recoup some money with an enhanced port to the PSP.

[DataKing]

Enybody else been playing the 1 vs. 100 Beta on Xbox Live? I like these sorts of games (used to play NTN at the bars quite a bit) and it seems like this could be pretty cool.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by DataKing

Enybody else been playing the 1 vs. 100 Beta on Xbox Live? I like these sorts of games (used to play NTN at the bars quite a bit) and it seems like this could be pretty cool.

1 vs. 100 on XBox Live - Front Office Football Central

[DataKing]

Doh!

[MikeVic]

I've started playing Little Big Planet on the PS3. I like it. Nice music, pretty relaxed gameplay, and the user-created stuff is a nice change from the in-game maps. This might be a buy for me (currently borrowing it).

[rowech]

Bound in Blood out this week. I've been waiting for this one for a while but it doesn't seem to have too much buzz around it. Anyone else planning on buying?

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by rowech

Bound in Blood out this week. I've been waiting for this one for a while but it doesn't seem to have too much buzz around it. Anyone else planning on buying?

I traded in a bunch of games and after paying off a preorder on Uncharted 2 and Max Payne 3 I had still money left so I put cash on on BiB. I'll let you know how it is.

[SackAttack]

After getting the LBP + Wall-E PS3 bundles in last week, we got a handful of Killzone 2 + Metal Gear Solid 4 bundles (80 GB, $400) in tonight.

Looks increasingly clear what Sony's strategy is going to be, at least until September.

FWIW, I've long lamented the loss of the days when systems routinely came with at least one game to play. If Sony shooting themselves in the foot on pricing brings those days back, so much the better.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm excited about The Bigs 2 next week. I loved the original game, as goofy as it was.

[RainMaker]

Battlefield 1943 is coming out on the 360 (not sure about PS3) on July 8th. I believe it's $15. I'm a huge fan of BF: Bad Company so I'm really looking forward to this game.

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I'm excited about The Bigs 2 next week. I loved the original game, as goofy as it was.

+1. The demo is so much fun.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I'm excited about The Bigs 2 next week.

Damnit, I thought the DP was scheduled for two weeks.

[MizzouRah]

After reading this: GameShark | Features | Madden NFL 10 Developer Q&A

I'm excited about Madden for once.. took the kids to gamestop and traded in a few old games and picked up Red Faction along with pre ordering Madden and NCAA.. I'm such a sucker!

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

After reading this: GameShark | Features | Madden NFL 10 Developer Q&A

I'm excited about Madden for once.. took the kids to gamestop and traded in a few old games and picked up Red Faction along with pre ordering Madden and NCAA.. I'm such a sucker!

this scares the crap out of me. I see it as the game will be either Absolutely completely broken and utter crap. or It will be by far the best Madden in years.

So I have no idea what to think.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by k0ruptr

this scares the crap out of me. I see it as the game will be either Absolutely completely broken and utter crap. or It will be by far the best Madden in years.

So I have no idea what to think.

I'm holding my breath..

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

So I've been screwing around with Red Faction: Guerilla the last coupla days, and I gotta say - smashing port-a-potties* in the name of the revolution with a giant sledgehammer is all kinds of fun.

*No, I don't have to smash them, but...they're right there! With smashable waste tanks!

Couldn't agree with you more. The game has an awesomeness about it.. nothing like blasting charges while the bad guys are under a building that's coming down right on top of them.

I'm really loving this game so far....

[Greyroofoo]

Has anyone tried dawn of discovery?

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

Has anyone tried dawn of discovery?

I've been playing it a bit on PC and if you're into city builders along the lines of Caesar, but with a bit of a twist since it has a story mode with levels similar to the warcraft games then it can be a lot of fun.

It also has a sandbox mode for those that just want to build forever.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Battlefield 1943 is coming out on the 360 (not sure about PS3) on July 8th. I believe it's $15. I'm a huge fan of BF: Bad Company so I'm really looking forward to this game.

It's on both consoles coming out this week.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I'm excited about The Bigs 2 next week. I loved the original game, as goofy as it was.

The original was a great game. Early reviews indicate this one is a great upgrade over that one, which makes it a must for me.

[DataKing]

Quick question. I haven't played either Madden or NCAA Football since moving to a next-gen platform. Did they ever bring back "coach-only mode," where you just call the plays and the game actually plays things out for you? This was always my favorite way to play on the PS2, but I know it was an issue when they first moved the games to next-gen.

Thanks.