• 8Jul 09

  From Spyro & Triple Play to inFamous & Ratchet: A Decade in Gaming

  Around this time ten years ago in the summer of '99, I entered/returned to gaming. Previously we just had a Sega Genesis and I just played whatever looked cool, and I mostly stayed in the sports and action/platforming genres. My first gaming purchase of a PlayStation 1 was a big deal to me. It was the first console I bought with my own money, and sure wouldn't be the last. And even though I have had times where I find myself with too many games to play, it has given me a very nice hobby that I can rely on during times when my friends aren't around, or bad weather, or on vacation, etc. Thinking back through these years, its amazing how far the technology has come along. PS1 & N64 reigned supreme, with their polygons & memory cards. Goldeneye was the FPS king, with Perfect Dark and Medal of Honor on the horizon. Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, and good ole' Mario led the platforming charge, with Mario & Crash as console mascots. Mascot platformers seemed to be the genre of choice, as there were plenty around. Then came the DreamCast & PlayStation 2, and business certainly picked up with the arrival of the Xbox and GameCube. FPSs slowly became the genre of choice with Halo leading the charge now. Sonic joined the platform ranks again, but the mascot platformer was slowly dying, although Ratchet, Sly & Jak did their best to keep it going. Everything started looking more and more realistic, characters were getting their own voices now, cutscenes were becoming more prominent. Online play took off, led by Unreal Championship originally for the Xbox Live & SOCOM for the PS2. RPGs even entered the online arena, with MMORPGs becoming a huge genre. Multiplayer gaming seemed more popular than ever, especially coop gaming. And this current generation, with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, have kept enhancing that, with casual gaming erupting with the Live Arcade, PSN & WiiWare and Virtual Console. Gaming has really grown.

  Like I said, my first purchased console was a PS1, along with Triple Play 2000 & Frogger. Spyro the Dragon also made an early appearance. Those days weren't that much different from my younger gaming days. Sports games were prevelant, along with licensed games (Star Wars Phantom Menace anyone?) & random platform or action games (Tomorrow Never Dies???). RPGs were games I avoided. I always believed I would not be able to figure out what to do if I got lost or something, so I never tried them. I very rarely finished games in those days too. Even the games I liked playing I didn't finish. Didn't help that I began a habit that I'm doing my best now to keep at bay: randomly buying another system. It started with an N64 for WWF WrestleMania 2000, WWF No Mercy and Perfect Dark. I tried other games for the N64, like Paper Mario at the end of the consoles life (which I did finish), Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, various attempts at Zelda Ocarina & Majora's Mask, among a few other games. And not too long after that a Dreamcast entered the picture as well. Soul Calibur, WWF Royal Rumble, Crazy Taxi, & World Series Baseball got the brunt of my attention. I don't really recall if there was anything else, but I do remember those. This was an early lesson: I like having options, but there is such a thing as too many options.

  Which leads me to another bad habit: buying handheld systems. First offender here was the original Game Boy Advance prior to a family vacation. Super Mario Advance, Fire Pro Wrestling, Zelda: Oracle of Seasons were with that purchase. In hindsight this was probably the best handheld purchase I've ever made, because of the timing. Not long after that vacation though, it found little play amongst too many other titles. Unfortunately I would not learn my lesson on handhelds until about 6+ years later so I'll return to this later.

  I also don't want to forget that I did have a decent gaming PC during this time. Age of Empires 2 & Diablo 2 were the biggest ones, but plenty of other titles were tried that I'd rather forget about. Not that they were bad games, its just that I bogged myself down so much that I'd rather forget I did that and just move on.

  The release of the PlayStation 2 was not a big deal for me. I do remember making an attempt for one when it launched, but to no avail. I was lucky enough to score one just before Christmas of that year though, which was very cool. Oddly enough, it was probably the only console I've ever bought where there weren't really any games I wanted for the system. Every other time a console has been purchased, there has been a game or two in mind that has fueled the purchase desire:

  PS1 Triple Play; N64 WM 2K; DC RR & SC; GBA Mario & Zelda; XB Halo, Amped & Star Wars; GC Monkey Ball & Smash Bros; GBA SP Advance Wars & Golden Sun; DS Mario & a GBA Zelda; PSP Hot Shots, MVP Baseball, Lumines, Ape Escape; X360 Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, & Call of Duty 2; PS3 Ratchet & Clank; Wii Mario, Smash Bros, Zack & Wiki. Quick aside that is an absurd listing of games.

  Back on point, the PS2 purchase wasn't really for anything specific. I remember getting Unreal Tournament for it, but the big game at the time was SSX, and due to the Tony Hawk Pro Skater craze, I wasn't all that impressed with SSX. Still, that purchase was most likely the best one I've ever made. At one point it got replaced by a modified PS2, but I still own a PS2 after close to 9 years. That is impressive for myself. Plus the PS2 broadened my gaming scope. Final Fantasy X broke the RPG barrier. Ratchet & Clank soared to my favorite franchise of all time. I started to actually look at games before purchasing them. Devil May Cry is most likely the game I've finished the fastest ever (beat in like two days playing it a bunch). No matter which systems eventually come out, the PS2, and the PS1 to a lesser extent, will hold a very special place.

  The Xbox joined the party at launch with the GameCube not too long afterwards. Halo, Amped, Dead or Alive 3, Fuzion Frenzy and eventually the awful Star Wars: Obi Wan were the initial titles with my Xbox. The Xbox was a cool system for its time, even though it got overshadowed by the PS2 pretty much until Xbox Live came out. After all these years of having to buy a memory card, and now the Xbox had a built in harddrive!?! That was very cool. My time with the Xbox was tumultuous because of my PS2. There were a few attempts at keeping an Xbox, but they never panned out. The GameCube on the other hand was a fine purchase. Super Monkey Ball & Smash Bros Melee were the defining games, along with Eternal Darkness. Lots of fun and enjoyment was had with the GameCube. Even though I did obtain a second one at one point after donating my original one for my nephew, we still have that GameCube here, which is again impressive as I don't keep systems for very long if I start losing interest.

  Let's see, I believe a DS and the PSP joined the ranks around this period too. The DS was just a dumb purchase (I still didn't learn), but I was able to sell that to someone so it wasn't a huge loss. Zelda Minish Cap was cool though, got to play that while I had the DS. The PSP was a good idea on paper, I think its still missing one vital thing, a second analog stick/nub. For Hot Shots & Lumines alone, I wanna say it was worth it. Those two games were awesome on the PSP. If only I could say the same for more PSP games. I also played Twisted Metal, Darkstalkers & Ape Escape at the PSP launch. Those were fine. The MVP baseball was disappointing. Later on, on a PSP rebuy, Valkyrie Profile was pretty cool, if only I continued playing through it. There was also the Ratchet & Clank game plus Daxter, which were both very good. At the very least, that last PSP purchase may have broken my habit of buying handhelds. It has not been easy. The DS has Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3, 4, 6 (GBA), World Ends With You, New Super Mario Bros, and probably a couple others. And the PSP has VP which I wouldn't mind finishing plus Star Ocean 1 & 2, Rock Band Unplugged, God of War, & Dissidia: Final Fantasy next month. I've done well resisting so far.

  And this brings me to this current generation. The Xbox 360 came first, along with Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Call of Duty 2 & Dead or Alive 4. And frankly, the 360 is the reason I started thinking of this. I sold it to a friend's roommate last year, and a year later, I'm in talks to buy it back. Even though I moved onto the PS3, I do like the 360s setup. The Live Marketplace is fantastic, with plenty of updates, demos, not to mention demos of the Arcade games. I enjoyed having that system, and the main reason I sold it was because I had the PS3, and at the time, didn't see anything that held me to the 360 (the actual staple reason I don't hold onto systems; whether its nothing out now or coming out). The achievement system the 360 introduced was a clever idea. They don't mean anything, but they are cool to earn. Unfortunately, a red ring took my original 360, which led me to the purchase of my PS3, and about a week later I got a refurb 360 returned from MS (which is the one I'm trying to buy back). Once again, games fuel my desire for it, with Mass Effect 2, the Secret of Monkey Island SE, and Perfect Dark leading the way, with Infinite Undiscovery & Star Ocean helping matters.

  I'll get to the PS3 in a moment, first how about the Wii. It was a great idea, it just didn't pan out how I hoped it would. I bought extra controllers to play multiplayer, and never opened two of them. Smash Bros Brawl was awesome, but the online was too laggy, and almost never got to play it multiplayer. Zack & Wiki was fun while it lasted. I was not impressed by Mario Galaxy. And to me the novelty was not enough. I guess I am a gaming elitist, but I know what games I like, and the Wii didn't have them.

  My PS3 is one of the original 60GB models, purchased when Sony decided to cut stock on them when they announced their 40GB sku. A lot like my purchase of the PS2, it was not for a game that was out at the time (wow, didn't even think that that happened twice). I did get MLB The Show and All Pro Football with it, but APF was originally purchased for my 360 (which died), and the MLB was just a mise purchase. The big reason was, one the price cut of $100, but mainly for the release in the coming months of the new Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. It was worth it. Since then, more R&C with Quest for Booty and Crack in Time later this year, inFamous was great, Assassin's Creed & Uncharted were very good, and plenty of other games I've played since purchasing it.

  Amazingly, throughout this 10 year period, I've stuck close to the people of the first console I got, Sony Playstation. Whatever it is, I have more luck with games on their platforms than on any other system. Insomniac, Sucker Punch, Naughty Dog, and Santa Monica Studios certianly helped (R&C, Sly, Jak, God of War). But I just like to play good games, which has gotten me into trouble far too often (trouble = buying other systems). Through it all though, I've enjoyed it. Honestly I haven't always been happy with specific purchases (most of those handhelds for one) or specific games, but there have been enough that it keeps me gaming and looking forward to new games. For all the 007 Racing, Obi Wan, Phantom Menace, Prototype, Elder Scrolls, SSX, and Halos that have either been awful, I just didn't like them, or I didn't care for that genre, there are those that have been worth it: Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Dragon Quest 8, Final Fantasy X & XII, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Hot Shots Golf, NBA Street 1 & 2, Tomb Raider Legend, Vagrant Story, WWF No Mercy, Zelda Minish Cap & Wind Waker, Sega Soccer Slam, Ghostbusters, inFamous, Fallout 3, 007 Everything or Nothing and countless others.

  In retrospect, I don't want to think of all the games I've played, nor do I honestly want to know how many systems I've bought (although I will calculate that just because), but I do know that since that PS1, I've had all 12 major systems during their time (PS1, N64, DC, GBA, PS2, XB, GC, DS, PSP, 360, PS3, Wii). If I wanted to I can even count my iPod Touch. The only ones I can think of that I haven't owned are the Game Boy Color and the Nokia N-Gage. Plus I've gone from working at Blockbuster Video part time to a full time senior Help desk associate position at Key, not to mention not owning a computer until later that year to owning 3, having built two of them, with one of them also running a VM workstation. What are the next ten years going to hold in store???
  

  • Posted Jul 8, 2009 9:48 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 29Jun 09

  Reviewed inFamous & finished Ghostbusters

  Last night I just played straight through Ghostbusters, picking up after the second big boss fight of the game, and going all the way through. It was challenging in parts, particularly the boss encounters, but I still really liked the game. It really felt like a Ghostbusters game, and it very well could've been the third movie. It brought up stuff from the first two movies, and brought them to a resolution. Stay Puft, Slimer, the Library ghost all make appearances and all tie into the story, well except for Slimer. It wasn't super long, but it was fun. Definitely recommended for anyone that liked the movies and wants to play a Ghostbusters game.

  Also I wrote my first review since New Years, of inFamous, which can be found here.
  

  • Posted Jun 29, 2009 7:56 am PT
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• 26Jun 09

  Fight Night Round 4 impressions, plus thoughts on Ghostbusters & Prototype

  So I'll start with Fight Night. Picked it up on Wednesday, after seeing the new Transformers movie at late Tuesday/early Wednesday midnight showing. The movie was okay, not as good as the first one, but it was what it was, just not as good. More on that later. Didn't get a chance to start playing Fight Night until after work and then before work yesterday. Thus far I've had 6 fights with my character in Legacy Mode, and fought the CPU in Fight Now once. Some of the graphical greatness is missing from Round 3, namely closer shots of the boxer's beat up faces, and when you score a knockout, the slow motion replay doesn't look as impactful as it did in 3. Other than that, it feels just about the same, with its added tweaks and adjustments. Fights can go much longer. In my 6 fights, two have gone to judge's scorecards, one went 9 rounds of scheduled 10, one I scored a KO with 4 knockdowns in final round, and one fight I somehow won in the opening round. Other than that odd first round KO, the fights are lengthier. Legacy mode is pretty neat, as you actually schedule your fights, have a recovery period after a fight, and have training opportunities before the fight. I would think you could train more often, but you are limited to how many times you can train based on how far in advance your next fight is scheduled. So far after a few hours play, Fight Night is good, about as good or maybe better than Round 3.

  As for the other two games I recently got, I am really digging Ghostbusters. At one point before the game came out I was thinking that the combat would get repetitive, but it kinda doesn't. You have almost as many ghosts that you can just defeat with the proton stream as you do having to capture. Plus the boss fights are pretty cool as well, not to mention the production values and having the original cast voicing their counterparts. That's awesome.

  Prototype on the other hand .... well .... I just didn't like it. Possibly because it just felt a bit too much like Radical Entertainment's last open world game, The Incredible Hulk; maybe because the story felt very unoriginal and very Resident Evil-like; maybe because it didn't feel like it had a personality, compared to inFamous' comic book feel and Ghostbusters authenticity. And in this case, all of those reasons came into play. I tried liking it or at least getting invested in it enough to want to know what's happening, but it just didn't happen. Oh well.

  Now back to Transformers. It wasn't until recently I saw the first one, and it was what it was. Normally I don't gravitate towards that kind of movie, as I do like a good story along with good action, but the action in Transformers was good and the human parts were dull. Well, ramp that up some more with way too many groan-inducing attempts at jokes and you have the new Transformers movie. Again, it was what it was (action good, other parts not so much), but it was a notch or two under the first movie.
  

  • Posted Jun 26, 2009 7:25 am PT
  • Category: Games
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