Written by Tyler Parry
There was a time in my gaming history where I was content with just about every game I ever played. It was about the age of 4-8. You could put any game in my hand and I would enjoy it. Do you know why? Because every one of those games was most likely a 2D side scroller. Every system had em', Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES, Genesis, Saturn even. Do you know how many fantastic games came out of the 2D-SS genre? Too many to list. Astal, Clockwork Knight, every Castlevania game, X-Men 2, Alien Soldier, Pitfall, and about a couple hundred others. Why is it that today I would, a lot of the time, rather put down my 360 controller and the amazing graphics of new games, to open up an emulator with hundreds of SNES and Genesis games? It's because those games were fun as hell. I remember playing PSOne for the first time, with its fancy graphics and 3D gameplay. Pff. Yeah, sure I loved it. There were a lot of great games being made, but it was also the beginning of a new era. One that, ultimately, was less fun.
More...
I want my 2D games back. I know it's possible. Games like Shadow Complex and Trine are showing me that the games can be made damned well. Trine is an amazing game, it received tons of praise from the press, despite slipping into the shadows with most gamers. I got a chance to play the demo and when I began playing I let out a cry of joy as I realized that this game: a) Looked damn good, and b)Played damn good. It didn't have the hectic gameplay that most side scrollers had back in the 90's, but it instead fused so many elements of old and new game mechanics to create an awesome experience. This game very much reminded me of "Lost Vikings", where you would have to switch between 3 characters who would utilize their abilities to get from point a to point b and eliminate enemies.
And then there's Shadow Complex, which is being hailed as a new Metroid, and for good reason. From what I've seen, it's definitely a game to get excited about if you're a fan of side scrollers. Upgrades, current gen physics and graphics, an interesting story, awesome looking combat and puzzle elements. It's like Epic Games took everything we all loved about the old side scrollers, carefully crafted the right elements and combined it with current generation tech.
The sad part? Not many people are going to play it. If you haven't noticed, there's a lot of people on Xbox Live that wouldn't even know the game Goldeneye. Yeah, it brings a tear to my eye too. You know what their Goldeneye is? A little game called Modern Warfare. It sucks, but what were you going to play when you had your N64? Goldeneye, or Super Mario Bros. 3? Yeah, I'd be taking dual rocket launchers to Baron Samedi and Jaws as well.
But is there still a market for 2D side scrollers? No doubt. I can't be the only one that still appreciates Symphony of the Night, I know I'm not. I'm well aware that these games will not make it as full priced games either. They will however have a fighting chance as additions to the XBLA, PSN, or WiiWare. A great deal of people bought Symphony of the Night on XBLA, including me. I also bought Metal Slug, which is a great example of the pick up and play madness that side scrollers can bring to a gaming experience.
I feel as if it's a lost art that only older gamers will appreciate. Sadly, the newer generations of gamers are completely fixated on FPS's like Halo and CoD. I'm not sure what it is that changed to make the budding gamers less willing to try something new. I remember being about 8 or 9 and I was playing tons of different kinds of games, from RPG's to racing games, side scrollers, platformers, there were many games that caught my eye, even at such a young age. It might be because of things like the media and advertising, things hyping games up, whereas when I was young, gaming was almost like the punk scene, it was just something not everyone knew about and participated in, almost like an underground society. But that is completely another topic that I'll talk about another time.
The bottomline is, I hope that people will see the potential for 2D-SS' on marketplaces for consoles, and Steam on PC. How awesome would Castlevania be if it were like Shadow Complex??! AWESOME.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
EB Games: Power to the Player. Yeah Right...
I have a story for everyone. It's a tale about customer service and company policies. A tale of joy, money transaction,turmoil, and a boy with an empty game case.
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That was lame. But here's what happened. Steph and I visited EB Games a few days ago to buy some DS games because we'd just got a DS for $90 off a local classifieds site. We browse the games, she looks for Yoshi's Island, I look for Final Fantasy 4($40 for a DS game? Eff that noise.) She finds her game, I don't buy mine. Instead, I see Castlevania Order of Ecclesia. Awesome, Dawn of Sorrow was sweet, hopefully this one will be just as good. It's brand new, sealed in the plastic, everything. We buy the games, and leave the mall content and eager to play with our new toys.
I give the DS to Steph, and let her play Yoshi's Island first. On a related note, I've spent way more fucking time playing that game than her, and it is ridiculously addictive and actually quite fun. Look for a review soon. I don't hesitate to rip open the wrapping and open up the case. I do hesitate to grab the DS and play Castlevania when I notice a small problem, though. There is no game card or instruction manual in the case. Just the case itself and the DS WiFi manual. I am a little dumbfounded, considering it was a brand new, not used game, perfectly sealed in plastic wrap. No one could have tampered with it. I turn to Steph with the case open and go "Uh..." Steph didn't really see the problem at first, she though I might have had the game in my hand or something, and then she realizes. Back to EB Games we go.
Now, let me point out, I'm not a confrontational person, I'm not one of those people who goes off on employees because most of the time it's not their fault that something is wrong. This is one of those cases.
I bring the case to the girl behind the counter, with the receipt and even the plastic sealing and tell her the problem. She has to call up the district manager. After a brief talk, she tells me she can't do anything about it and we have to call up Konami and talk to them. Normal people would go nuts. But I know how these things work. It would actually be Konami's fault and not EB Games'. I let out a sigh and said "Ok".
We are back in the car when we realized we just purchased a $40 case. Now I'm kind of pissed. We pay $40 for an empty case and EB Games tells us there's nothing they can do about it? At all? This is where my problem lies. Why the fuck do we have to call up Konami? It bugged me more and more as I thought about how easily EB took our money and shrugged off something that granted, wasn't their fault, but they should be the ones taking care of. I as a decent person and a gamer would be slightly angered as well if I worked at EB and someone purchased a $40 case. I even said to Steph, "If I worked there I would have told that person I'll take care of it and call them back when the game comes in." But guess what? That's against company policy according to them. Helping a customer is against the rules. All Gamestop/EB Games cares about is the fact that they made their profit. That's all.
So what are we doing now? After calling many parts of Gamestop/EB Games, we've gotten the same answers, so the same day we had to call Konami ourselves. The game is en route to Konami's building in California. I better get some free shit from Konami...
-Tyler
More...
That was lame. But here's what happened. Steph and I visited EB Games a few days ago to buy some DS games because we'd just got a DS for $90 off a local classifieds site. We browse the games, she looks for Yoshi's Island, I look for Final Fantasy 4($40 for a DS game? Eff that noise.) She finds her game, I don't buy mine. Instead, I see Castlevania Order of Ecclesia. Awesome, Dawn of Sorrow was sweet, hopefully this one will be just as good. It's brand new, sealed in the plastic, everything. We buy the games, and leave the mall content and eager to play with our new toys.
I give the DS to Steph, and let her play Yoshi's Island first. On a related note, I've spent way more fucking time playing that game than her, and it is ridiculously addictive and actually quite fun. Look for a review soon. I don't hesitate to rip open the wrapping and open up the case. I do hesitate to grab the DS and play Castlevania when I notice a small problem, though. There is no game card or instruction manual in the case. Just the case itself and the DS WiFi manual. I am a little dumbfounded, considering it was a brand new, not used game, perfectly sealed in plastic wrap. No one could have tampered with it. I turn to Steph with the case open and go "Uh..." Steph didn't really see the problem at first, she though I might have had the game in my hand or something, and then she realizes. Back to EB Games we go.
Now, let me point out, I'm not a confrontational person, I'm not one of those people who goes off on employees because most of the time it's not their fault that something is wrong. This is one of those cases.
I bring the case to the girl behind the counter, with the receipt and even the plastic sealing and tell her the problem. She has to call up the district manager. After a brief talk, she tells me she can't do anything about it and we have to call up Konami and talk to them. Normal people would go nuts. But I know how these things work. It would actually be Konami's fault and not EB Games'. I let out a sigh and said "Ok".
We are back in the car when we realized we just purchased a $40 case. Now I'm kind of pissed. We pay $40 for an empty case and EB Games tells us there's nothing they can do about it? At all? This is where my problem lies. Why the fuck do we have to call up Konami? It bugged me more and more as I thought about how easily EB took our money and shrugged off something that granted, wasn't their fault, but they should be the ones taking care of. I as a decent person and a gamer would be slightly angered as well if I worked at EB and someone purchased a $40 case. I even said to Steph, "If I worked there I would have told that person I'll take care of it and call them back when the game comes in." But guess what? That's against company policy according to them. Helping a customer is against the rules. All Gamestop/EB Games cares about is the fact that they made their profit. That's all.
So what are we doing now? After calling many parts of Gamestop/EB Games, we've gotten the same answers, so the same day we had to call Konami ourselves. The game is en route to Konami's building in California. I better get some free shit from Konami...
-Tyler
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Get Ready For a Hellstorm JTV...
I was going to actually report this piece of news, but it's too disturbing. Just google child pornography on JTV. It's the link to the "inquistr" site. Warning, some of the pictures are disturbing, the comments are even worse.
Do Want!
I want deez gamez. I want you to watch dem too.
Mass Effect 2
Modern Warfare 2-Jake is getting the fucking NVG Edition. YER!
Brutal Legend
Dead Rising 2
Bayonetta
Castlevania: Lord of Darkness-Please be good...
Singularity
L4D2- Most likely on PC because in all honesty, it is much better
Shadow Complex
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories-Fapfapfap
WET
Final Fantasy 13
Max Payne 3
Bioshock 2
Crackdown 2
Alan Wake
There's probably more, I just don't remember everything. Oh god, I hope I get dat job at Gamestop... I need dem moneys.
-Tywer
Mass Effect 2
Modern Warfare 2-Jake is getting the fucking NVG Edition. YER!
Brutal Legend
Dead Rising 2
Bayonetta
Castlevania: Lord of Darkness-Please be good...
Singularity
L4D2- Most likely on PC because in all honesty, it is much better
Shadow Complex
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories-Fapfapfap
WET
Final Fantasy 13
Max Payne 3
Bioshock 2
Crackdown 2
Alan Wake
There's probably more, I just don't remember everything. Oh god, I hope I get dat job at Gamestop... I need dem moneys.
-Tywer
I Hate Christian Lander
"Stuff White People Like". Come on, really? He's the first step in JTV becoming totally lame and showing spotlight on the people that give JTV money. Don't watch his broadcast, it's not even good. The guy looks like a tall Kiebler elf with glasses. Almost 400k views, and not even 200 faves? That should tell you something about what the JTV viewers like to watch...
As much as I really didn't care about Dead Pirate Studios, I totally support their views on how JTV is becoming less focused on the actual broadcasters and more focused on sponsors. Kinda weird because around the time of E3 Tia Marie, who is awesome, was telling me how she was talking to a lot of people to sponsor JTV and stuff so that the site would be better. I never thought this would happen though. I thought it would be bettering all the little JTV heroes and normal broadcasters, but instead we get more ads, the front page looking nothing like it used to, and me feeling like when I go in to browse the gaming channels, I feel like I've found this hidden part where normal people can broadcast. It's a weird illusion that JTV is putting on, and they need to realize that their site would be gone if it weren't for all the people broadcasting.
What do you guys think of JTV now?
As much as I really didn't care about Dead Pirate Studios, I totally support their views on how JTV is becoming less focused on the actual broadcasters and more focused on sponsors. Kinda weird because around the time of E3 Tia Marie, who is awesome, was telling me how she was talking to a lot of people to sponsor JTV and stuff so that the site would be better. I never thought this would happen though. I thought it would be bettering all the little JTV heroes and normal broadcasters, but instead we get more ads, the front page looking nothing like it used to, and me feeling like when I go in to browse the gaming channels, I feel like I've found this hidden part where normal people can broadcast. It's a weird illusion that JTV is putting on, and they need to realize that their site would be gone if it weren't for all the people broadcasting.
What do you guys think of JTV now?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Prototype Review (Written by Tyler Parry)
It seems this generation has it's share of great games. Graphically awesome, increasingly complex gameplay, unique experiences, and unforgettable characters. But this generation also lacks something that I remember very well about past generations, mindless fun. Prototype is a game that is both awful and brilliant, yet manages to keep me playing somehow.
The game is set in New York city, where a viral infection has spread all over the citizens, and buildings, turning them into mindless killing machines, and spawning zones for mindless killing machines, respectively. You play as Alex Mercer, a man who seems to have a different strain of the infection, allowing him to form different parts of his body into weapons of extreme violence, enhanced speed and agility, as well as consume others to use them as disguises and gain health. Unfortunately, he can't remember how he became this hooded piece of awesome.
The story is rather dull and tired, but I found some plot twists quite interesting and fresh. The revealing of Alex's story was also fresh, as I felt compelled to hunt down targets from the "Web of Intrigue", people who were involved someway in how you became a hacking, slashing, smashing, devouring monster. The main story progression is somewhat lackluster I found, as I had no idea who the hell half the characters were and I felt like they weren't important. An example would be a twist between Mercer's wife and a man hunting Mercer. When it was revealed what she did, I really couldn't care less, and Mercer's dismay and sudden anger did nothing to upset me even the slightest. The emotional contact to any of the characters is not there. By the way, what happened to Dana?? I don't remember seeing her again..
The storyline was also quite misleading to me. I felt like the game was making Elizabeth Greene the main enemy of the game, after all she did. Obviously those who played the game know that she definitely isn't the boss. I was quite disappointed how that branch of the game was so easily complete. It felt like the writers had all these ideas of how the virus was started, but didn't want to part ways with any of their ideas and so threw them together into one big mess of story arcs.
With so many games setting the bar for graphical quality this generation, Prototype's graphics are totally inexcusable. Nothing in this game looks good. Even the prerendered cutscenes look shoddy compared to other mediocre games. I would have settled for just the models looking primo and everything else looking like total ass. At least I could have said "Damn that looked awesome when Mercer went armored and slashed up those tanks!" But no, instead I look at graphics that literally look last gen. It is atrocious. The characters are bland and blotchy, the landscapes are half decent at a distance, there is quite a bit of texture popping in some spots, explosions are downright unbearable, and the colours are very dull. This is not what New York is meant to look like. In an open world game like Prototype, the city, especially a well known one like New York, should be as much a character in the game as Alex is.
To me, sound is one of the most important aspects of the game, almost even more so than graphics. I remember playing the first Call of Duty with a nice pair of surround headphones and just being totally blown away by the sounds of mortar fire all around, Germans screaming to flank me, gunfire being heard everywhere, and me just sitting their with sweaty hands trying not to become another casualty. Unfortunately that's exactly what the sound in Prototype has become. Just about everything, save for the decent but profane voice acting, is mediocre at best. There are no unique sounds anywhere, an explosion sounds like an explosion, a blade sounds like a blade, a tank sounds like a tank, etc. Don't expect your 5.1 surround system to get a workout from Prototype.
And now, onto the gameplay. The one saving grace of this entire game. Do you remember Spiderman 2? You remember how awesome that was? Well Prototype grants you that feeling of awesomeness once more. There are so many things wrong with the gameplay, yet so many things right. To fully understand we'll have to go through certain things individually, starting with the upgrade system.
Much like Spiderman, you obtain upgrades and moves to make Alex Mercer a total badass capable of stopping anything. Of course, you don't just start off with every move-oh wait...Well after that part, you must go through the game and rack up as much EP as you can to purchase abilities like the whip, which turns Alex's arm into a long reaching claw that is capable of disabling choppers, or unlucky civilians. Think of it as Stretch Armstrong with more claw, and less bean leakage. There are also upgrades that allow you to run faster and jump higher, which is hella fun I must say. Zipping around the city and gliding is a joy in this game, if only the city looked as appealing as the running, jumping, and gliding animations. In fact, all the animations are pretty damn solid. You feel pretty badass the first time you jump 100 feet in the air and drop down onto a tank with the hammer upgrade, and then zip away to run up a building and do it again.
The game also allows you to destroy enemy hives and military bases. Of course, once you destroy them you're rewarded with a beautiful display of a building collapsing that is not unlike a gingerbread house falling apart. It's abysmal to watch, and quite laughable. You can also infiltrate military bases, which can hold soldiers which, when consumed, grant you things like weapon proficiency upgrades, and artillery strikes. Though I never, even for a second, preferred to have a terrible looking barrage of artillery fire over 30 tendrils massacring everything around me. But the option is always there. Though it was too easy, it was a lot of fun using "stealth", and by those quotes I mean you can consume a guy safely as long as there isn't someone looking DIRECTLY at you. There were too many moments where I'd consume a dude and say "How the fuck did he not see me? These are THE worst marines ever."
Also scattered around the city, a la Crackdown, are orbs that give you hints, and orbs that are on "landmarks". I didn't know the top of an apartment was a New York landmark. These also grant you EP that increases as you collect more. Only thing is, I always made tons more EP from everything else in the game, I didn't need the measly 10000 or so the orbs offered. Still, I took them when I saw them, which was only when they were directly around me.
You may read this review and think a few things, like "This review sucks," or "wow, this sounds like a shitty game." And you're right, on both parts. The thing is, I still had a blast playing it. Prototype is a game that feels completely unfinished and unpolished, with just a spark of what could have been a really amazing game. Luckily, that shimmer we get to play is the gameplay itself.
Gameplay: 7.5
"It really is fun to play. The city roaming is a fun, and it is just a blast to use different abilities on the endless amounts of enemies. Unfortunately, that is kind of a downside, things get a little to hectic at times."
Graphics: 4
"If slicing an enemy in half, squishing them to a pulp, or whipping them around wasn't so smooth, this game would be impossible to look at."
Sound: 5
"So ridiculously meh."
Overall: 7
"It's not a bad game. It's not a good game either."
This is my first ever review. Expect more to come, as well as some articles. Please leave some comments, and be constructive, not a dick.
The game is set in New York city, where a viral infection has spread all over the citizens, and buildings, turning them into mindless killing machines, and spawning zones for mindless killing machines, respectively. You play as Alex Mercer, a man who seems to have a different strain of the infection, allowing him to form different parts of his body into weapons of extreme violence, enhanced speed and agility, as well as consume others to use them as disguises and gain health. Unfortunately, he can't remember how he became this hooded piece of awesome.
The story is rather dull and tired, but I found some plot twists quite interesting and fresh. The revealing of Alex's story was also fresh, as I felt compelled to hunt down targets from the "Web of Intrigue", people who were involved someway in how you became a hacking, slashing, smashing, devouring monster. The main story progression is somewhat lackluster I found, as I had no idea who the hell half the characters were and I felt like they weren't important. An example would be a twist between Mercer's wife and a man hunting Mercer. When it was revealed what she did, I really couldn't care less, and Mercer's dismay and sudden anger did nothing to upset me even the slightest. The emotional contact to any of the characters is not there. By the way, what happened to Dana?? I don't remember seeing her again..
The storyline was also quite misleading to me. I felt like the game was making Elizabeth Greene the main enemy of the game, after all she did. Obviously those who played the game know that she definitely isn't the boss. I was quite disappointed how that branch of the game was so easily complete. It felt like the writers had all these ideas of how the virus was started, but didn't want to part ways with any of their ideas and so threw them together into one big mess of story arcs.
With so many games setting the bar for graphical quality this generation, Prototype's graphics are totally inexcusable. Nothing in this game looks good. Even the prerendered cutscenes look shoddy compared to other mediocre games. I would have settled for just the models looking primo and everything else looking like total ass. At least I could have said "Damn that looked awesome when Mercer went armored and slashed up those tanks!" But no, instead I look at graphics that literally look last gen. It is atrocious. The characters are bland and blotchy, the landscapes are half decent at a distance, there is quite a bit of texture popping in some spots, explosions are downright unbearable, and the colours are very dull. This is not what New York is meant to look like. In an open world game like Prototype, the city, especially a well known one like New York, should be as much a character in the game as Alex is.
To me, sound is one of the most important aspects of the game, almost even more so than graphics. I remember playing the first Call of Duty with a nice pair of surround headphones and just being totally blown away by the sounds of mortar fire all around, Germans screaming to flank me, gunfire being heard everywhere, and me just sitting their with sweaty hands trying not to become another casualty. Unfortunately that's exactly what the sound in Prototype has become. Just about everything, save for the decent but profane voice acting, is mediocre at best. There are no unique sounds anywhere, an explosion sounds like an explosion, a blade sounds like a blade, a tank sounds like a tank, etc. Don't expect your 5.1 surround system to get a workout from Prototype.
And now, onto the gameplay. The one saving grace of this entire game. Do you remember Spiderman 2? You remember how awesome that was? Well Prototype grants you that feeling of awesomeness once more. There are so many things wrong with the gameplay, yet so many things right. To fully understand we'll have to go through certain things individually, starting with the upgrade system.
Much like Spiderman, you obtain upgrades and moves to make Alex Mercer a total badass capable of stopping anything. Of course, you don't just start off with every move-oh wait...Well after that part, you must go through the game and rack up as much EP as you can to purchase abilities like the whip, which turns Alex's arm into a long reaching claw that is capable of disabling choppers, or unlucky civilians. Think of it as Stretch Armstrong with more claw, and less bean leakage. There are also upgrades that allow you to run faster and jump higher, which is hella fun I must say. Zipping around the city and gliding is a joy in this game, if only the city looked as appealing as the running, jumping, and gliding animations. In fact, all the animations are pretty damn solid. You feel pretty badass the first time you jump 100 feet in the air and drop down onto a tank with the hammer upgrade, and then zip away to run up a building and do it again.
The game also allows you to destroy enemy hives and military bases. Of course, once you destroy them you're rewarded with a beautiful display of a building collapsing that is not unlike a gingerbread house falling apart. It's abysmal to watch, and quite laughable. You can also infiltrate military bases, which can hold soldiers which, when consumed, grant you things like weapon proficiency upgrades, and artillery strikes. Though I never, even for a second, preferred to have a terrible looking barrage of artillery fire over 30 tendrils massacring everything around me. But the option is always there. Though it was too easy, it was a lot of fun using "stealth", and by those quotes I mean you can consume a guy safely as long as there isn't someone looking DIRECTLY at you. There were too many moments where I'd consume a dude and say "How the fuck did he not see me? These are THE worst marines ever."
Also scattered around the city, a la Crackdown, are orbs that give you hints, and orbs that are on "landmarks". I didn't know the top of an apartment was a New York landmark. These also grant you EP that increases as you collect more. Only thing is, I always made tons more EP from everything else in the game, I didn't need the measly 10000 or so the orbs offered. Still, I took them when I saw them, which was only when they were directly around me.
You may read this review and think a few things, like "This review sucks," or "wow, this sounds like a shitty game." And you're right, on both parts. The thing is, I still had a blast playing it. Prototype is a game that feels completely unfinished and unpolished, with just a spark of what could have been a really amazing game. Luckily, that shimmer we get to play is the gameplay itself.
Gameplay: 7.5
"It really is fun to play. The city roaming is a fun, and it is just a blast to use different abilities on the endless amounts of enemies. Unfortunately, that is kind of a downside, things get a little to hectic at times."
Graphics: 4
"If slicing an enemy in half, squishing them to a pulp, or whipping them around wasn't so smooth, this game would be impossible to look at."
Sound: 5
"So ridiculously meh."
Overall: 7
"It's not a bad game. It's not a good game either."
This is my first ever review. Expect more to come, as well as some articles. Please leave some comments, and be constructive, not a dick.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Real Broadcast This Weekend! Also, Be a Part of CCG!
Hey all who still read this. Tomorrow I will be going to my Aunt's for the weekend, where I will have ACTUAL working internet. The kind that would allow me to broadcast games again. So for this weekend, I will be renting a bunch of games, and doing a broadcast. Jake and Erik may stop by as well, but for the most part it'll just be me. I'm looking forward to it.
We are also looking for people to write articles and advertise the blog to get it off the ground. If you're interested in becoming a writer for CCG, write a small 1000 word article about anything involving the gaming industry, and email it to tyler_on360@hotmail.com. Also send an email to that address if you are interested in seriously advertising. As well as becoming part of an ambitious project, you will be given a cut of the AdSense profits. Payment in PayPal only. Word to your mother.
-Tyler
We are also looking for people to write articles and advertise the blog to get it off the ground. If you're interested in becoming a writer for CCG, write a small 1000 word article about anything involving the gaming industry, and email it to tyler_on360@hotmail.com. Also send an email to that address if you are interested in seriously advertising. As well as becoming part of an ambitious project, you will be given a cut of the AdSense profits. Payment in PayPal only. Word to your mother.
-Tyler
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