The Spot 082201

By Miguel Lopez

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The Spot. Shane is still in Japan, and I am still the interim do-boy. Hurrah. We've got some very good questions today, which were indeed a pleasure to answer. After you're done, though, be sure to peep our insane Space World coverage--it will definitely be on by the time you read this! If you have anything you want answered this Friday, shoot me a message at thespot@gamespot.com.

08/22/2001

No radicals

In the last edition of The Spot, a reader e-mailed you, inquiring about a game advocate group that is working to stop politicians like Lieberman from censoring games. You referred her to IDSA. I know a lot about IDSA, and I would not describe it this way at all. IDSA may represent the video game community, but it seems to give in to politicians' demands a lot more than standing up for the gamer's constitutional rights. Lieberman even expressed his gratitude to the IDSA for being the most cooperative of all the entertainment representatives. While the music industry is telling him and his cronies to go piss off, the IDSA is making stricter laws. Now, I'm not saying that the IDSA is necessarily taking the wrong approach, but they are certainly not the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) when it comes to standing up to censorship. I'm wondering if there's a group that's a little more to the left than the IDSA when it comes to denouncing censorship. Just like the environmental movement has its various degrees of extremism, so should the video games industry. In the case of environmental protection, you have the moderate groups like Sierra Club and then you have the more extreme groups like the Earth Liberation Front. What extremist groups do is make moderate groups' stances not look so bad. For instance, if a group were demanding blood-drenched video games in shopping mall arcades, the idea of letting minors buy mature-rated games wouldn't look so bad. The issue of censorship is a very important one in the video game world, and the IDSA cannot protect our rights on its own.

-Anonymous


You're right--the industry could definitely use some stalwart radicals protecting its rights of expression. Sadly, aside from a handful of outspoken (and often misguided) members of the community, there is no organized group doing so, per se. Basically, it comes down to the fact that games are big business and have always been--not exactly the type of atmosphere that breeds civil disobedience. It's not the fault of the developers themselves, either; making games costs a lot of money, and the fewer hurdles that a company can encounter when releasing a product, the more likely it is to remain in healthy business. The small (but thriving) independent game development community has no real effect on the policies that govern the making of games, which is sad--this is precisely where that type of resistance would likely grow from. But more often than not, indie developers are just waiting to get into the legit business groove, and you can't blame them--it costs a whole lot of money to develop games (marketable ones, at least), and anyone who wants to do so long-term is basically forced into the publisher/developer daisy chain.

There's hope, though. If development tools become cheaper and accessible, it will be easier for more people to make games. And as the market increases, so will the diversity of projects. When this happens, you'll be much more likely to see groups in our industry like the ones you've described.

Broadband brawl

Hey Miguel/Shane,

With all the major game consoles going online in 2002, when can we see an online fighting game? I mean, everyone is complaining about how fighting games have nothing original or new about them, so if Namco were to put add-ons or sequels to Soul Calibur 2 and Tekken 4 and give them online capabilities, I think it would truly revolutionize the genre.

-Rob P.


Word. Fighting-game developers are already pretty hip to the idea of unlockable niceties in their games, so making them downloadable extras seems logical. With the next wave of consoles boasting all kinds of broadband capabilities, you can bet that this will be the case. As far as actual fighting gameplay over the Internet goes, it's already pretty established in Japan. Most of Capcom's post-2000 fighters for the Dreamcast let you connect to the publisher's own matching service and fight people over a 56k. From what I've heard, though, it runs pretty badly, however cool it might seem. So before we proceed to pummel, we're probably better off just waiting until the broadband action is hooked up.

Fighting adultery

Hi. First of all, your site is the best. My question: Will the Tekken series or Dead or Alive series ever come to the GameCube, and will the Tekken series ever be on any console other than PS2?

-Anonymous


As for DOA3, it is wholly Xbox exclusive. That one's etched with blood, in stone. As far as Tekken 4 goes, Namco has made no claims about it being exclusive to any console in particular, so don't be surprised if it hits every possible platform.

Another list

Hey, people at the Spot. I've been writing, but I never get shown an answer. Anyways, that crap is history since you guys have the best video game site out there. So here are my questions:

1. Is Malice (a game for the Xbox) coming to the PS2?

2. In Metal Gear Solid 2, will the cyborg ninja be back? I think yes because at the end of the E3 trailer, a ninja says "I am like you, I have no name."

But then why does the cyborg ninja (Gray Fox) say that in the first game after you beat Ocelot?

Thank you, and it will be an honor if you can answer these questions for me.

-John


Malice is indeed coming to the PS2. Argnonaut itself has decreed it. However, we're very skeptical about Malice being an actual game to begin with, as opposed to an overwrought tech demo for the studio's brilliant Shadowcaster engine. We hope so--some of the mechanics that the developer has demonstrated and talked about seem very cool. We'll keep you posted.

As for MGS2: Yeah, there's a ninja, but whether it's the cyborg ninja is yet to be determined. Essentially, it looks just like the one from the previous game and, in all likeliness, will move, talk, and act just like the ninja in the first game. So, for all intents and purposes, the answer is yes, even if MGS2's ninja turns out to be some crazy clone or something.

Get off my Jaws

I like your site. It is very cool, and I check it out every day. It's addictive. And thanks for taking my letter. But I have to say something. I think it's about time you guys stopped making fun of Jaws for the NES. I know most people have never played the game and do not know what it's about, but I have the game and I like it a lot. It may be repetitious, but there were not many games for the NES that weren't. I mean, first you guys say it's lame in your movie monsters game special, and then on "Who is your favorite game hero?" (or something like that), one editor, blatantly joking, says that the boat from Jaws was his game hero. Then you guys ask the question, "What should Metroid Prime be like?" and one of the choices, blatantly joking, was the sequel to Jaws for the NES. Come on, guys. You could at least make fun of Blue Stinger. Just lay off Jaws, man. It makes me sad. Oh, and what's the next Game Arts game coming out? If you ask me, their RPGs blow Square's out the water.

-Chris Sherer


Man, you'll be hard-pressed to find a group of fools more Jaws-loving than these right up in here. And with good reason--Jaws was groundbreaking in many ways. We're not going to get into that, though, but we will mention one thing: Jaws totally borrowed the life meter that Konami used for Castlevania. Talk about state of the art. So no, we're never going to step off Jaws. It's just an example of tough love. Arc the Lad Collection is the next GameArts game set to receive the Working Designs treatment. Look for it in October.

SNES love

Dear The Spot,

I just want to commend you people for the work you do. There's no other site out there that answers questions like you guys. Anyway, I have a GameBoy Advance, and I've been very pleased with it, but I was wondering if they were gonna remake any old classic games such as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out or Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven stars. GameBoy Advance to me is a portable SNES, and I think that Nintendo should have the go at releasing games from the past. Also, what games do you guys want to be remade?

-Oteve


There's been no word about any of the games you mentioned, though we agree that it would be rad. As far as SNES ports go, we know that Super Mario World has been confirmed for release and that Yoshi's Island is looking very likely. If there are any more, you'll definitely be the first to know. As far as games I'd like to see on it, the list is pretty long: Super Metroid, Actraiser, Chrono Trigger, UN Squadron, 7th Saga, and Super Tennis, to name a few. The SNES is many, many peoples' favorite console ever, so you can bet that releasing such things would be very lucrative.

A true dilemma

Hey,

I have got to ask you guys this very important question. Over the past few months, I've been watching the system wars very carefully, and I'm really starting to get worried. You guys have said that "the truth is, a healthy industry is good for everyone--the gamers get good games, the developers are allowed opportunities to make great games..." While this is very true, I'm one of those college students who can barely afford one system. With three different consoles, great games are being spread out too thin. I want to play the new Miyamoto games...actually, I'm a closet Pokémon fan, too, but I don't want to miss out on games like Final Fantasy and Metal Gear. On top of that, the Xbox seems to be have some interesting games. I had enough trouble picking between N64 and PSOne. I want to get a system that can last longer than Dreamcast did. (I know Dreamcast had good games, but it didn't have enough to keep me occupied until the next generation of consoles hit the streets.) Basically, wouldn't gamers be better off if we settled on one system and not had developers spread themselves across numerous platforms? I desperately want to play Tekken on the same console as Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, and Capcom vs. SNK...is that so wrong?

-Bill Patapchuck


Definitely not, Bill. In a perfect world, there would indeed be one game box that was supported wholeheartedly by the whole of the development community. In truth, though, such a thing isn't too far off--with game machines starting to resemble PCs more and more in regard to architecture, duplicating a certain console's hardware on another shouldn't be too hard. Whether it would be legal, however, is another story. Still, legislation has a good habit of catching up with technological innovation (though not necessarily as quickly as many would like), so it wouldn't be too outlandish to believe that things are going in that direction.

As for this generation, though, it's all up to you. If you want to play dope first-party stuff, then Nintendo is definitely for you. If you want the system who's maker is most vocal about third-party support, then the PS2 is for you. The Xbox is a bit of a wild card, but rumor has it that some crazy deals are in the works, so don't rule it out just yet...

Haters

OK, you guys, I need to know what you think of this, and I need the truth. What do you think of all this hogwash going around that Nintendo is kiddie? Do you believe it to be true? Well, I think it's pure...well...hogwash, because Nintendo isn't a PBS or a Nick Jr. They are a gaming company that makes games for all ages and for all groups. Microsoft even called the GameCube a "Fisher-Price experience." Where the heck do they get that? Nintendo has games like Eternal Darkness, Metroid Prime, Perfect Dark Zero, Conker, and many more that don't set off the kiddie sonar. So is all of this stuff about Nintendo being "kiddie" true to you?

-Josh


It's hard to argue that Nintendo's themes aren't less "gritty" when compared with other companies, but what has that to do with the quality of its games? Nintendo, without a doubt, has in its ranks the strongest first-party development teams in the industry, manned by some of the most understated talents to ever write a line of code. People who say they don't appreciate Nintendo's games because they're "kiddie" don't appreciate games in their truest forms; Nintendo's first-party games are consistently groundbreaking, polished, and ingeniously designed. Truth is, so far as game design goes, not many can touch Nintendo, and if its critics had cared a smidgen about well-designed games, then they wouldn't be critics. Sure, I myself will criticize Nintendo's squeaky-clean image, but I won't let that cloud my appreciation for its contributions to game design. Without a doubt, Nintendo is a trendsetter, and anyone who says otherwise is either clueless or has an agenda.


That's it for today. If you have anything you want answered this coming Friday, shoot us a message at thespot@gamespot.com.