GameSpotting: Body Blow
Welcome to GameSpotting, the latest top contender to have been named the new World Video Boxing Association champion, by TKO, after three grueling rounds.
Welcome to GameSpotting, the latest top contender to have been named the new World Video Boxing Association champion, by TKO, after three grueling rounds.
We're feeling a little punch-drunk following Nintendo's massive announcement earlier this week, and as such, you'll find no fewer than three columns dedicated to the topic of multiscreened handhelds, all accompanied by an equal number of references to the Virtual Boy. But, we've still got some fight left in us, so we'll take a swing at awkwardly implemented urban aesthetics and the next GTA, among other things. If you want a shot at the dream match, take it to the forums, or read the GuestSpotting FAQ and submit your own column.
Brad Shoemaker/Associate Editor
"You've been a good friend for a long time, Nintendo, but it's time for some tough love. Get your act together."
Bob Colayco/Associate Editor
"Throw in some trash talking, a bit of urban-style art, and hip-hop music, and anything can be 'street.' Right?"
Greg Kasavin/Executive Editor
"Nintendo makes some interesting decisions, all right."
Tor Thorsen/Associate Editor, News
"Take-Two's registering of GTA: Bogota and GTA: Tokyo means Grand Theft Auto may soon go global."
Ricardo Torres/Senior Editor
"Well, no one can say that 2004 started out boring."
Curt Feldman/Senior Editor, News
"The French have their poodles. The Japanese have their game consoles. And just as the French pamper their dogs, so do well-trained Japanese kids take care of their game machines."
Justin Calvert/Associate Editor
"If my Commodore machines weren't both out of action at the moment, I'm sure I'd still be playing Speedball 2 and Sensible World of Soccer whenever possible."
Ryan Mac Donald/Executive Producer, GameSpot Live
We ride shotgun with the Devil Dogs, the single largest outfit in PlanetSide, SOE's massively multiplayer online shooter.
Erik Kühlkamp/GuestSpotter
"Has anyone had the overwhelming urge to jump over someone's head after playing checkers for too long?"
John Q. Gamer/GuestSpotter
For many of us, video games are more than just a hobby. They're a fundamental part of our lifestyles. If you've got something to say about games, gamers, or anything related to electronic entertainment, read our GuestSpotting FAQ, and submit your own column.
| Brad Shoemaker Associate Editor |
Nintendo Has Lost Its Mind
Dear Nintendo,
Last night I read the first details about your new console that's coming out later this year. You've made me sad, Nintendo. I've stuck by you since the very beginning--back when your name really meant something, when everything you put out was gold. But look, these days it's really getting hard to keep the faith. You're letting me down. This new machine, this thing that you seem to think is a good idea even when your console business is struggling to keep its head above water, well...I just don't think this is going to cut it. Who told you this was a good idea?
You know, Nintendo, you were a lot of kids' first exposure to video games. Back in the day, the NES was the only game in town. You bought a Nintendo product; you knew it was gonna be good. Well, except maybe that whole Gyromite/R.O.B. fiasco. But really, you were the greatest. Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus? Who could forget what it was like to play these games for the first time? You single-handedly resuscitated and then claimed lordship over the American video game market when it was ready to vanish down the drain. For a long time, you were video games to a lot of people--and for good reason.
And don't even get me started on the SNES. Man...as far as I'm concerned, that was the real golden age of Nintendo. You couldn't do any wrong back then. Even with hefty competition from Sega, you were cranking out the most amazing games at a pace that seemed almost impossible. I'd call the SNES my favorite system ever, without hesitation. The Nintendo 64 was cool, and you kept the great games coming. However, you really dropped the ball with the third parties. You just lay down and let Sony walk right over you, and now they've got a lead that you'll probably never catch up to. The GameCube renewed my faith for a little while, but damn...that's become an even greater disaster than the N64. Third parties are jumping ship left and right, and just like last generation, every game in my library is a Nintendo game. One or two games a year just isn't going to do the job.
At least there's the Game Boy Advance. One could make a convincing argument that the GBA is the best system on the market right now, and I know you've basically got a monopoly on portables. It's just like with the NES so long ago: If you want to play handheld games, you're playing them on a Nintendo system. Obviously, the GBA is your big cash cow, so why make another product to effectively compete with it? I'm sure you're a little nervous about the PSP, but let's be realistic--that thing's not even going to be in the same price galaxy as the GBA. There's talk of $400 for that thing, while the GBA SP is a mere $99. Surely you don't really think it will be a threat right out of the gate. And even if it is, do you think two screens is going to be all you need to fight it?
Seriously, why do you think this is a good idea? You've got a handheld on the market that plays some of the best games available right now. It's incredibly cheap, and it's got an absolute stranglehold on the market. The GameCube, meanwhile, needs serious help. Why exactly should you devote so many resources to a new portable machine? To be blunt, two screens is not an innovation that will set the world on fire. I know I'm about to rip off posters on a hundred different forums, but it must be said: Do you remember the Virtual Boy?
You've been a good friend for a long time, Nintendo, but it's time for some tough love. Get your act together. Forget about this two-screen handheld nonsense. Forget about gimmicks like GameCube-to-GBA connectivity. Recognize what you've got--great hardware, great franchises, and lots of talent--and use it. I mean, look at The Wind Waker. You obviously haven't forgotten what the word "fun" means. You say you're going to show this Nintendo DS thing at E3 this year. Bring it on, I guess. But I'm warning you: It's going to be a tough sell.
| Bob Colayco Associate Editor |
Tiddlywinks, Street-style
With the release of NFL Street, Electronic Arts has attempted to leverage the popular style of its NBA Street franchise by applying it to another sport. NFL Street certainly is a fun game in some regards, but you can't help but feel that the urban flavor feels a little forced. Like the bigwigs at EA, we at GameSpot are never satisfied with leaving well enough alone. We pick at our scabs, we play with our food, and you're damned right we're going to take this street thing to its (il)logical conclusion. Throw in some trash talking, a bit of urban-style art, and hip-hop music, and anything can be "street." Right? Here's a list of street games that we demand EA develop.
NHL Street
If too many of you sports fiends buy NFL Street, you can bet your last toonie that EA will make this game. Imagine the possibilities! Pasty white Canadians talking trash and doing donuts in their tricked-out Zambonis! Gamebreakers where herds of stampeding moose trample your opponents as you skate your way to an empty net goal. Ah yes…hip-hop and hockey. They go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Well, actually, no, they go together more like chocolate and Molson, but don't tell our friends north of the border. They might get too sensitive aboot it, eh?
Tennis Street
With heartthrob Andy Roddick's ascension to the number one ATP ranking, tennis is making a comeback with Americans. Venus and Serena Williams actually did grow up in Compton, so who says tennis isn't "street"? Remember that classic Nike commercial where Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras hopped out of a cab in midtown Manhattan and set up a court right in the middle of a busy intersection? Now imagine playing that commercial in this game! Unlock legends, like Jimmy Connors and Johnny Mac, and watch them go ballistic on the chair umps during their gamebreakers! Top Spin's got nothing on this game.
Dice Street
What could be more street than some good old-fashioned hustlin' and dice shootin'? As you play through the game, you'll learn new tricks to improve your sleight of hand, and you'll earn shady equipment, like loaded dice and counterfeit bills for your antes. Scenic venues include the dumpster behind McDonald's on 53rd street, the boys' bathroom at the high school, the alley next to the liquor store, and the street corner in the financial district, where you can make suckers out of those gullible investment bankers. The suits will never know what hit them as you take their chedda and stick it to The Man.
Cheerleading Street
I'm envisioning players who sing and perform urban-style routines, like Gabrielle Union's East Compton Clovers in Bring It On (which any person with taste will agree is one of the finest films of the modern age). The game would come with a dance mat and a headset-style microphone that would require you to dance and sing, like an unholy melding of Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution. Dance and sing at the same time!?! Are we mad?!? Britney Spears can't even do that! How can mere mortals expect to pass the game? The answer: pure motivation. Beating the levels unlocks special bonus videos that feature Ms. Union, Kirsten Dunst, and Eliza Dushku in their cheerleading outfits from Bring It On.
Poker Street
No limit Texas Hold 'em is the hottest new sport in America. You can hardly flip on ESPN2 without catching some coverage of the World Series of Poker at Binion's in Las Vegas. When Bravo debuted its Celebrity Poker show, you knew the game had arrived as the country's newest darling. And why not? The game is filled with colorful personalities, including infamous trash talkers Phil Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen, in addition to legendary figures Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson. Why not sit down at a table with these guys for a game? Celebrity "Rounders," like Matt Damon and Edward Norton, might make cameo appearances. If EA put this game on PS2 online, they'd make a killing off the rake and never look back.
| Greg Kasavin Executive Editor |
Nintendo DS or Nintendo BS?
Here's my question about the recently pre-announced Nintendo DS: How long is the battery life?
OK, I have plenty of other questions, too. For instance, I'm wondering how, exactly, Nintendo intends to compete with its own firmly entrenched Game Boy line of portable systems by introducing a completely separate portable product into the market. Who's the target audience? Nintendo has suggested that the Nintendo DS is intended for a different audience from those currently serviced by its established gaming platforms. Also, assuming Nintendo has limited resources, why spread its research and development thin by bringing an entirely new gaming platform to market, rather than concentrate on its existing platforms, which are either facing or will soon face fierce competition? Any way you slice it, the announcement of the Nintendo DS certainly is strange news.
You may already know this, but even before the Nintendo Entertainment System, the company was already marketing dual-screen game systems. They were called Game & Watches. They were these little clamshell-style portable LCD-based games that would start to move faster and faster the longer you played, until you eventually lost. They were all about getting high scores, and they were pretty fun. Only some Game & Watches featured a dual screen--the deluxe models--and you'd experience different action on one screen versus the other. It was a neat gimmick, I suppose.
But it just seems odd to design an entire game system around the concept of having two screens instead of one. It seems like a rather arbitrary design choice--like, say, designing a game controller with no buttons on it. Sure, someone could design a game expressly for a controller without any buttons, but what, exactly, would that accomplish? More specifically, how many times have you played a game and thought, "You know, I wish I had two screens right now."
Nintendo used a sports game metaphor to explain the concept. On one screen, you could be watching your soccer player as he's kicking around on the pitch. On the other screen, you could see the entire field.
In a driving game, maybe you'd get a standard front-view display, as well as a simultaneous rear-view display.
Frankly, I don't find such ideas to be terribly exciting. What's so hard about hitting a shoulder button to toggle between camera views? What's so hard about splitting a single screen if the player needs to be able to see two different types of things at once? I've written often about how things like long loading times and jarring scene transitions can be very disruptive to a gameplay experience, but I can't say I've ever resented a game for allowing me to switch perspectives.
It's very likely that I simply don't understand what Nintendo intends to do with this system. I have no idea whether the two screens will each have a separate interface or what. I suppose a valid theory is that this system is just an extension of Nintendo's earlier attempts at connectivity between the GameCube and Game Boy Advance. If you plug your GBA into your GameCube while playing Splinter Cell, you get a little tactical radar on the small screen, for example.
Again, though, it's hard for me to understand how an insistence on this sort of game design would lead to more interesting games, automatically. I'm sure someone--hopefully someone at Nintendo--can dream up a very unique application for a two-screen gaming platform. But, clearly, most game developers aren't ingenious. Most game developers are trying to make ends meet by producing the sorts of games that are in demand. Though, perhaps Nintendo has no real intent of gaining strong third-party support for this new system. Strong third-party support isn't really Nintendo's strong suit, after all.
Nintendo makes some interesting decisions, all right. Naturally, we remember the company best for its most successful accomplishments, such as the NES, the SNES, the Game Boy, and others. We aren't as quick to remember the failed Virtual Boy, the failed ROB the Robot, the failed Super Scope 6, the failed e-Reader, and other Nintendo novelty items, all of which are certainly intriguing but, in practice, were far too limiting in their designs to attract too much attention or to hold anyone's interest for too long. I'm not necessarily suggesting that the Nintendo DS will go down in history as part of this less glamorous subset of Nintendo's hardware...but you have to admit that Nintendo's pre-announcement of this new gaming platform is at least as confusing as it is exciting.
Nintendo's best hardware unveiling in the past five years was the Game Boy Advance SP--if you measure in terms of how well the actual launch of the platform went over. Note to anyone intending to unveil a new hardware platform: That's how you do it. They announced it, and they showed it. The benefits of the new design were immediately, intuitively obvious. Granted, the GBA SP was based on existing hardware, so everyone could concentrate on the new features rather than wonder about what it would do, how it would work, or what games it would play. Still, considering how quickly the GBA SP sold millions soon after it launched, you'd think Nintendo would try to base its new hardware announcements on that successful model.
Instead, we got a late-breaking press release about how Nintendo is going to show a new dual-screened, dual-processor game system at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo in May. I'll be looking forward to seeing it then, but I wonder if it'll make much of a splash amid everything else that's going on. Anyway, Nintendo's responsible for some of the best games and best game systems ever conceived. Ultimately, I have faith that its people know what they're doing.
| Tor Thorsen Associate Editor, News |
Tommy Vercetti: International Jet-Setter?
On January 8, it looked like the title of the next Grand Theft Auto was all but official. The revelation that Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive had registered "GTA: San Andreas" with the US Patent and Trademark office indicated that the series' next chapter would take place in the third city featured in the original GTA.
Besides making sense continuity-wise, San Andreas seemed a better setting than GTA: Sin City, the rumored Las Vegas setting sparked by a 2003 April Fool's joke on Shacknews. The Los Angeles/San Francisco hybrid's hilly terrain would make for awesome Bullitt-style car chases, as opposed to Las Vegas' pancake-flat landscape. The seaside San Andreas would also supply a harbor for the dreaded boat missions--something the landlocked Sin City couldn't provide.
Less than a week later, the San Andreas theory was sideswiped after it was discovered that Take-Two had indeed registered GTA: Sin City. However, more intriguing were the two other GTA titles the company trademarked--GTA: Bogota and GTA: Tokyo. The titles indicated that the GTA franchise will go international--an appealing but worrying prospect. If done properly, the descent into another country's underworld would enrich the game's story. Done poorly, and you've got the bloody awful Grand Theft Auto London, 1969.
Judging by the Grand Theft Auto series' massive success, there's more than a small chance that Rockstar will make all four registered GTA titles. The technical details have yet to be determined, although the GTA being released this winter will almost certainly be based on the RenderWare engine used by GTA III and Vice City. It's also unlikely the series' crime-centric gameplay will change much, (Why mess with a winning formula?) although the inclusion of anything remotely involving Haiti and/or its people is extremely unlikely.
So that leaves us with scenario (as in "Here we go, yo. What's the ____"). Narrative-wise, the GTA series is at a crossroads. Will the next game be another flashback, or will it be set in the present day, with its faster cars and pricier music licenses? Different games call for different approaches, so here's a wish list of what this GTAddict would like to see.
GTA: San Andreas
In the best of all possible worlds (which, like Voltaire said, isn't this one), this game would take place in the mid-1970s. The soundtrack would be a no-brainer. It'd be packed with classic rock, infectious funk, and obnoxious disco. Missions would feature taking out a ring of murderous cops, à la Magnum Force, and a highway motorcycle chase borrowed from every episode of CHiPs. The protagonist would be a blaxploitation hero modeled after the crime-empire building Black Caesar (or better yet, Dolemite), and he'd get a badass Foxy Brown-like love interest. Can you dig it?
GTA: Sin City
A retro approach would also work for a Las Vegas-themed GTA, which would ideally be set in the mid-to-late-1960s. The story could borrow from James Ellroy's rock-hard noir novel The Cold Six Thousand, which profiles a group of CIA-trained criminals who take over the Vegas underworld. It could also borrow from the 1970s-set Casino, but it would, instead, be seen from the eyes of Joe Pesci's ruthless racketeer Nicky Santoro. Players would drive a variety of classic hot rods--heavy on the convertibles--down The Strip. They'd run missions for a Howard Hughes-like insane millionaire and could stop in and see Elvis in all his bloated, rhinestone-encrusted glory. The radio would include a mix of emerging rock 'n' roll and classic Rat Pack numbers, and it would also feature a crazed preacher on a gospel channel. Oh yes, and there'd be gambling--lots of gambling!
GTA: Tokyo
Though Seijin Suzuki fans would relish a game set in 1960s Tokyo, a Japan-set GTA would be better served by a modern-day setting. That way, the game could have its own neon-saturated Roppongi district and a garage full of Nissan Skyline-like imports. The story would follow a westerner out to beat the Yakuza at their own game (think Black Rain gone bad). GTA: Tokyo would also feature hordes of Kawasaki-riding bozoku and ruthless thugs out of Violent Cop and Gonin, with a female criminal mastermind, modeled on Kill Bill's O-Ren Ishii, behind it all. The soundtrack would be one of the most interesting aspects, as it would alternate between goofy J-pop and the spooky sounds of downtempo master DJ Krush. Oh, and maybe there'd be some Guitar Wolf, just for good measure.
GTA: Bogota
Any scenario scribe worth his salt would use Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden's superb 1990s-set Killing Pablo as a template for this game. The book has it all: murderous narcotrafficante, massive shoot-outs with police, and US plotting that involves the DEA and Delta Force snipers. Missions would include flying drug-smuggling planes and planting bombs in the cars of uncooperative government officials. An attack by some FARC-esque rebels would add a dash of military action to the story, which would no doubt feature a showdown on the sprawling estate of a drug baron who eerily resembled Pablo Escobar. The radio stations would be trickier. (Do they have talk radio in Colombia?) Cocaine might also be involved at some point.
| Ricardo Torres Senior Editor |
Nintendo DS: Dip S*** or Dope S***?
Well, no one can say that 2004 started out boring. Nintendo's recent announcement pretty much guarantees '04 is going to have a special place in the history of games. What exactly that place is remains to be seen. Judging from the forum activity in the wake of the announcement of the Nintendo DS, early money seems to be on a "Nintendo goes insane" sort of a place. I'll admit that when I first caught wind of the DS, I too thought "Lord, they done went and gone insane." And while such thoughts continue to linger in my head, I am at the same time curious to see how this all pans out. Granted, it seems like this is more than a little insane. And not the fun kind of insane we've seen coming out of Nintendo before--like good old Yamauchi spouting off in the Japanese press, for example. Crazy as it sounds, after a year of boring predictability for video games (name me a jaw-dropping surprise in the industry last year that no one saw coming a mile away), Nintendo's DS is a welcome bit of randomness.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying the DS is going to be this incredible new thing that's going to rock the world of video games to its very foundation. I mean, it might, but it's got quite an uphill battle on its road to finding a place in the hearts of gamers. I think the spirit behind the DS is something that's been missing from the industry for a while. For the purposes of my point in this column, I'm going to choose to believe that the driving force behind the new system is a desire to do something new and different. Basically, the new system was developed by desire--rather than by panic or desperation (though it's probably even money either way)--and this desire should push games. If you look at the last few years, the industry has been more about savvy business decisions and marketing than true innovation or risk-taking. It's understandable, since games really are big business and because courting the masses prevents you from really doing anything that's too "out there." So it's kind of cool to think that the DS could offer an experience we've never had before. Whether it's the cool change of pace offered by something like the EyeToy or the eye-and-neck-straining torture of the Virtual Boy (you know this skeleton had to come up sometime), remains to be seen.
I'm sure as more info trickles out (as E3 approaches), we'll have formed our own opinions on what the DS really is. But whatever it ends up being, I have to say I'm glad to see one of the big three trying something genuinely different for 2004. Yeah, this could be Nintendo performing a most spectacular Fonzie-style jump over a shark, but it should at least make for an interesting year. And who knows? It might even work.
| Curt Feldman Senior Editor, News |
GameSpot News, I Think I Love You. But I Want to Know for Sure.
Two weeks without news. The thought was downright thrilling. I stuffed the last present into the suitcase, turned the last light off, jumped into the cab, and watched the neighbors' houses slink out of sight. Then, after the mad struggle through security at SFO and a hasty connection at LAX 90 minutes later, I finally sank into what must be the narrowest seat in aviation history (I hate you JAL!). Then I set the watch 17 hours ahead. It's a pretty good feeling to finally shelve the last set of responsibilities way up high--well, out of reach--to contemplate 14 days in Japan.
The three or four weeks leading up to the Christmas-week flight last month had been unforgiving. It actually felt more natural to be hammering away at the keyboard, hashing out news, rather than doing anything else. A run up in the Berkeley Hills? Whiling away an hour or two at coffee mecca Royal Ground on College Ave.? Biking to the Marina with Anton, the too-young-to-be gray pooch who keeps me sane and fit? Naaaaa. I'd rather be writing news.
Well, not anymore. With 12-plus hours of racing the sun ahead of me, all I could think about was the fact that game news, game culture, and finger-mashing gaming (for me, that means peering over Alex Navarro's shoulder while watching him play through Mafia and Winning Eleven 7) was going on hiatus.
Pretty good plan. But then we landed in Osaka.
The wife's family hadn't changed much in the year since I had seen them. Same siblings, same nieces and nephews, same parents, and same tiny house that could easily fit into the kitchen and living room of my modest Berkeley cottage. Actually, it never ceased to strike me as remarkable that a family of four had managed to grow up in this miniature dwelling. It worked partly because a bedroom of one's own was verboten in these parts. Parents and children all shared the same room for sleeping. (And this wasn't just young children and parents... This was the case through high school, until each of the children, one by one, married off in adulthood.) Believe me, it's not the place you can play an honest game of hide-and-seek in. At one spot in the house, you are no more than a half step away from the kitchen, the bathroom, the dining room, and the nosebleed-steep flight of stairs to the two rooms upstairs. You want privacy? Go to the Grand Tetons. In Japan, you get friendly with the in-laws fast.
Being back in Japan all seemed pretty normal until I met the latest addition to the family. The brand-new, recently-reduced-in-price Nintendo GameCube. This family (which still kept the now never-used SNES in an honored place next to the TV) had jumped into the modern age of appliances by purchasing a GameCube. I fretted as I recalculated the odds of executing my plan of going on hiatus from the gamespace. Little did I know how completely the religion of GameCube was about to overwhelm me.
In this extended family of 12--a family that did everything together--this meant that wherever the kids went, the GameCube was sure to follow. How do I put this diplomatically? The French have their poodles. The Japanese have their game consoles. And just as the French pamper their dogs, so do well-trained Japanese kids take care of--no, coddle--their game machines. I never saw an electrical appliance packed, unpacked, and packed with such precision each time it was moved from house to house. At first I thought it was funny. Packing up the cable, controller, and console into the packaging exactly as it had come from the store was, the first time, quaint. By the time I had folded the power cord back up the 14 little times it took to scrunch it back into the still-pristine plastic bag (don't forget the twisty), and then back into its original packaging for something like the 25th time, I thought I was going to go out of my mind. How many times can you dust off a crappy copy of Super Smash Bros. before replacing it in its own plastic liner and case? It was all so perfect that I felt like setting the Cube's box on fire once or twice. Or better yet, I felt like taking a couple Mrs. Fields cookies and jamming them into the game slot. You know, to freak out the little Mr. and Mrs. Perfects the nieces and nephews had grown into--just to keep things interesting. (I especially liked the idea of the mushy cookies spoiling their day and their game, but where could I get a Mrs. Fields cookie in Japan?)
The bottom line was that for the two weeks I had planned on leaving the world of Mario and Gordon Freeman behind, I found myself to be the smiling and always cheerful caretaker of a game console that went with us to houses (family and neighbors), temples (no lie), hotels, hot springs, sushi bars, and department stores (why?). It truly was the console from hell, and I am, beyond doubt, glad to be back to the daily grind of news--passing up runs in the park, coffees in the early eve, and Frisbee tosses with the dog. GameSpot news, why did I ever leave you... Why did I ever leave you?
| Justin Calvert Associate Editor |
Decisions To Make
Although I often purchase individual music tracks online after hearing them on the radio, the bulk of my CD collection comprises albums by only a handful of artists. Actually, there are probably about 10 artists or bands that I consider to be my favorites, and because I trust them not to disappoint me, I'll often buy their new albums without having heard more than a single track. To a lesser extent, I feel the same way about movies, and for as long as I can remember, I have made a point of watching everything I can by the likes of Kevin Smith, Tim Burton, and the Coen brothers. For the most part, this practice of picking my entertainment based on those responsible for it hasn't disappointed, and so lately, I've been wondering if I'll ever feel comfortable applying a similar logic when deciding which games to play in my limited spare time.
I'm sure that plenty of you already have favorite game developers, based on their previous titles, but how many of you would trust any one of these developers enough to buy their next title without first reading something about it or having it recommended to you by a friend? I'm thinking not many of you would do this, particularly if the game in question isn't the latest in a series. You might think that the likes of Hideo Kojima and Shigeru Miyamoto are obvious exceptions to the rule, but since both have been involved with at least one title that I didn't particularly enjoy, I'd have to disagree.
When I was growing up with Commodore 64 and Amiga games, I never really thought about which developers were responsible for the games I was buying. But looking back at my collection, I guess I'd have to say that The Bitmap Brothers (Speedball 2, The Chaos Engine, Magic Pockets, Xenon, and Gods) and Sensible Software (Parallax, Wizball, Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit, Sensible Soccer, Sensible Golf, Mega lo Mania, and Cannon Fodder) were--and probably always will be--firm favorites of mine. In fact, if my Commodore machines weren't both out of action at the moment, I'm sure I'd still be playing Speedball 2 and Sensible World of Soccer whenever possible. I'd also be wasting hours on the quite superb Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit by spending far too long creating sprites and backgrounds and not nearly long enough tweaking the actual gameplay--just like I always did.
In other news, or at least in regard to things that are popping into my head as I write this, my mobile phone is in the process of dying a slow and painful death after it dived headfirst from the arm of my chair into a pint of Coke during a particularly thrilling two-on-two game of Pro Evolution Soccer 3. Despite the fact that I love my phone almost as much as my GBA SP, I've come to realize that it's time for me to let go of it before it starts cutting me off midconversation, before it starts losing my contacts, or worse still, before it starts refusing to let me play its games, which I often find myself doing for surprisingly long amounts of time.
Thing is, I really don't know that much about mobile phones. I know that I want a phone that can play some decent games. I also know that I don't want to have to pay extra for these games and that I definitely don't want an N-Gage. I've not written off the N-Gage as a games platform completely, you understand, because someone's bound to develop something playable for it one day. It's just that my list of requirements for a mobile phone also includes it being able to fit into my pocket, and, if at all possible, it can't look ridiculous when I hold it up to my ear. So if any of you know of such a phone, please don't hesitate to let me know.
| Erik Kühlkamp GuestSpotter |
Video Games Just Aren't Real
Over the course of video game history, issues concerning video game violence have become more and more common. Why should this even be an issue? This is simple entertainment we're talking about here, which is something that's not too far from watching a movie or a football game. But does anyone go out and tackle the closest person holding an oval-shaped object after watching a football game? Does anyone go out and start a Fight Club-like organization after seeing the movie? Has anyone had the overwhelming urge to jump over someone's head after playing checkers for too long? Video game violence is blamed these days because it's the easiest thing to blame. It's blamed because an easy and obvious correlation can be drawn between the abstract violence presented in many video games and real-world acts of violence. But the fact is, video games just aren't real.
While I was playing Counter-Strike, about a half a year ago, my father walked into my room and happened to see me score a kill--in the game, of course. He was shocked at the violence re-created in the game and forbid me from playing it. Granted, I've been playing violent video games for years, but I abided by my father's wishes. For the next few weeks, my parents were keenly attentive to any of my comments or actions that carried even a tinge of violence and then accused me of being violent and cold-hearted. A parent's concern about his or her child's mental health is understandable, but automatically placing the blame on video games is just ignorant.
A recent Gallup poll showed that roughly 71 percent of teenage boys in North America have played one of the Grand Theft Auto games, so why haven't they all gone out and killed someone? Or even half? Or a quarter? The answer, which is maybe too obvious, is that most people are sane. Individuals who can't discern the difference between real life and a video game are likely struggling with other, serious psychological issues. Take into account 16-year-old William and 14-year-old Joshua Buckner, who told police they were emulating Grand Theft Auto on the night of June 25, 2003, when they took shotguns to Interstate 40, near their Newport, Tennessee, home, and opened fire on vehicles. Their emulation resulted in the death of one motorist and the infliction of serious injury to another. In written statements, both teenagers expressed remorse for their actions. "I will always hate myself for what I did. I am so sorry," wrote William Buckner. "I didn't want to hurt anyone," wrote Joshua Buckner. This is a perfect example of two people whose lines between real life and simulation were blurred. They apparently realized that there are consequences to violence, albeit a little too late. Yes, they were emulating the video game, but isn't it a bit more disconcerting that they had easy, unsupervised access to 12-gauge shotguns? Where were the parents?
So why not blame anything else? Why not blame the Die Hard series for its violence? People who kill others do this because they are mentally unstable, not because they play GTA III in their spare time. People are born with natural instincts, hardwired aggressiveness, the need to socialize, and their fundamental personalities. These things can, of course, be suppressed or amplified during their development by a variety of factors. But think for a minute. Who has more impact on a child's perspective? Their parents and other adult role models? Or Gordon Freeman? If the answer is Gordon Freeman, then there is something fundamentally wrong with that person's upbringing. If video games didn't fill the void, something else would--and not necessarily something better.
The fact is, video games just aren't real, no matter how hard they try. Some video games attempt to be as realistic as possible. But let's face it. What of it is so realistic that would actually make you believe that you are a Rainbow Six operative in real life? You need to eat, to sleep, to use the washroom, and to feel separate real life from video games. What does a video game re-create? The sound and the fury of combat--distilled into tiny little squares that are projected on to a flat screen by electronic signals sent through an artificial diaphragm. No "smell of napalm in the morning," no feeling of hot lead ripping through your body, no taste of MREs, not even the motion sickness that comes after riding in a helicopter for two and a half hours. To make the leap between an extremely abstract piece of entertainment and tangible brutality is absurd. Video games don't re-create the remorse after killing or murder because the sane player knows that a simple NPC dressed in a security guard outfit isn't a real person. Likewise, the ability to conceal a chain saw in a tracksuit isn't possible. What's in video games is fun.
A video game is created to simulate the verboten--or the impossible--to crudely act out primal fantasies. People who make the reality leap necessary to carry these acts out in real life are already on the brink; they just need a little push. Video games are blamed because authorities don't want to blame themselves for their own neglect. Video games are meant to be fun--no more, no less.
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