Tokyo Game Show, Oh-Ho It Sucked

This weekend I had no work whatsoever which is strange because I thought game school was going to knock me out.  Remember, "no one leaves before 8 pm?"  Well I left before 8 every single day so far.  Really, come ask me how my first game went.  I was quite comfortable!  No late-night grinding/knashing of the teeth!  :D

"Don't push your luck little man...we'll drop the hammer on you soon enough."

Anyway, they just had this Toyko Game Show (taking place at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan) and there's not a lot that I really cared about.  First, Sega & Electronic Arts had to share the same booth--I'm not s***ting you (read third paragraph).  And as I'm looking at the official Sega blog posts (one and two)--OH GOD it's everyone's favorite delinquent at it again!!  Pimping out Yakuza and Binary Domain.  Like he has Tourette's...."YAKUZAYAKUZABINARYDOMAINBINARYDOMAINYAKUZAYAKUZA" etc.

Way to go, Nagoshi-san!  You got all these girls in the same room, but you can't even make a new Daytona game.  What a shallow man.

Hey babe, where's the Daytona games???

SegaShiro also took a few more pics...here's the EA part of the Sega booth.  So Sega's basically promoting Battlefield 3.  That's great.

And then the pictures gets weird..

For some reason, the Sega official blog can't stop taking pictures of food.  Well, you know what I had for dinner?  Dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.  I'm not making this up.

Look, it's the Sega Headquarters!!!  If Solid Snake and Sam Fisher could break in, we can too!!!  We're gamers, just put your minds to it.  Gamers always think they're macho like that--that's why we play intense action/adventure/RPG games...so we can be "cool."

Oh, and as usual, Sega is upstaged again by Capcom.  Crapcom had the best booth.  And then here's Keiji Inafune crying that he had wished he saved Megaman Legends 3 from cancellation.  Capcom flat out refused to let Inafune help them.  Even though Inafune "quit" (the trendy thing for ailing game designers to do, see Yuji Naka & Yu Suzuki), he was still able to do so under contract (I think).  EDIT: FYI, Inafune was THAT GUY who created Mega Man, just like Miyamoto created Mario & Zelda and Yuji Naka created Sonic.  So they killed Inafune's dreams...of a great Megaman game!  The bastards!!!

NOOOO!!!  THEY KILLED MY BABY!!!!!

So game developers, hang on closely to your old IP's, like Nagoshi with Daytona USA--aw hell, he doesn't even care anymore.

BTW, Nintendo doesn't even go to the Tokyo Game Show.  Instead, they sit back with their dopey 3DS joystick add-on and act all big and bad as usual.

Don't want to go to TGS?  What's the matter, Nintendo? CHICKEN???

NINTENDO!!!  I saw what you did there...  Because the 3DS sucks so bad and the Vita's gonna kick your ass, YOU ARE TERMINATED!!!

I know it doesn't make sense for Nintendo to be "fired" but this is just another lame attempt at a joke.

No one wins at TGS.  Just wait for the Daytona port to surface, ha.

HOW IS NAMCO STILL ALIVE???

Nintendo loses money, Sega loses money, everyone loses money!!

Well, notsomuch.  Here comes Mappy in the red Mitsurugi car (Namco), zipping by the flipped over Ferrari Testarossa (Sega) and Mario being lifted to safety by Lakitu after getting zapped by lightning bolts (Nintendo).

Namco is that bad thigh rash that won't go away.  Well, maybe not that annoying, but I prefer Sega of course.  They made $42 mil last quarter & $698 mil last year.  From what?  From Mobile Suit Gundam, Power Rangers, "amusement facilities," and 3DS games such as Ridge Racer and some RPG's.  Ok, so I feel sorry for the 700,000 schmucks who bought the 3DS but many of those bought Namco games.  Great tactic, Namco, release a bunch of launch titles for a new device to pick up easy sales because what the hell else are people going to buy?  Just like hitting from the women's tees, makes sense right...?  Expect Namco to do the same thing with the PS Vita.

So with Sega sucking, let's throw out the "bad Japanese market" as an alibi cause if Namco can make money, then Sega SHOULD be able to do so.  I mean, really, shouldn't Sega aim their sights a little higher than Captain America and Shogun: Total War?  I don't know about you but I'm still waiting for this 18 Dreamcast ports that Sega CEO Mike Hayes promised!!!  Or anything else that's an original Sega IP!!!

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But really, Sega and Namco have some striking similarities.  For one, they're Japanese.  They both go back to their arcade glory days in the 80's-90's.  They both made lots of racing games.  They both made 3D fighting games.  And they both are second-rate backbencher devs/publishers today.

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EDITED this part once

Also, this I would like to point out with Namco.  So they're working on Soul Calibur Five, rushing to design that new boob jiggle physics engine.  SC5 (or SCV, my bad) is supposed to take place 17 years ahead of SC4 cause, ya know, we really play fighting games for the plot.  And because it's in the future, that means the original cast of characters will be aged.  Since some of the ladies will inevitably not make it, expect lolly versions of old characters...like Taki's daughter who's 15 years old.

Makes a lotta sense, right.  "Don't like boobies!  Well, here's some kids!"  Still seems weird that you can portray 15-year-olds getting split in the head by a giant axe--especially with them stripped to their underwear in classy Namco style.  Why couldn't this series, with its sci-fi elements and all, couldn't just "teleport" characters into the future (dare to explain guest characters like Spawn, Heihachi, Link, Kratos, Darth Vader, Yoda???).  I don't know, I don't care.  Stick with Virtua Fighter.

Giving Akira a wet willy!!

EDIT: I used this picture before, sorry.

But it gets better!  Ivy's in although she's permanently stuck at 32 years old.  But after poking Namco with a stick at ComicCon, it's revealed that Taki will indeed return.  All 40+ years of her.  Brilliant.



Anyway, my favorite SC character has been Seong Mina, but if they get rid of her, I don't care...she's run her course.  They'll ruin her somehow--she's old, make her dress/look stupid, make her bottom tier, etc.  She has barely any chance since Namco has basically disregarded her since SC1.  So screw this game.

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I'm done here.  Enjoy riding Namco's coattails, Sega.  With Nintendo in the toilet, joining Square and Capcom, SEGA COULD'VE PUT THE COUNTRY OF JAPAN AWAY!!!!  THEY COULD'VE PUT IT AWAY!!!!   THEY WERE IN THE CLEAR!!!!  BUT THEY BLEW IT!!!!  What they could've done...I dunno, I'm an idiot fan who knows nothing.  Sony would've stopped 'em anyway.  Why am I a fan of this lousy company called Sega.  Get ready for a future of crummy, dominant American devs--Activision, Electronic Arts, Microsoft...unless Sega and co. step it up.

Video Game Meltdown Continues: It's Nintendo's Turn!

EDIT: Screwed up my Sega analysis

At first, it was Capcom with their laundry list of idiotic decisions, but at least they aren't losing tons of cash (to my knowledge).  But Nintendo, well...things aren't looking so good for them.  Found this stuff out from Kotaku and the Nonstop Gaming Board on GFAQs.

Remember back in March there was this "Wii/3DS: It Prints Money!" meme?  Well, congrats guys, the exact opposite has happened.

In the past three months (worldwide), Wii and DS sales have dropped about 50%.  Also in that time, the 3DS only sold 710,0000 units.

Nintendo's stock has dropped 20% (that's TWENTY PERCENT) in ONE DAY.  They also posted a $324 million quarterly LOSS.

Former Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi’s wealth may have plunged more than $300 million today after the flop of the 3DS player forced the company to slash its profit forecast.  

Satoru Iwata (Nintendo CEO) has taken a 50% pay cut and other execs have taken a 30% cut.

The 3DS price has dropped from $250 to $170, a 32% decrease.  Anyone who bought the 3DS before this price drop is entitled to 20 (that's TWENTY) free downloadable games for the device.  At this point in time, Nintendo is simply abandoning the 3D gimmick and going for DLC (games from NES, GBA, etc.).

There's a litany of problems with the 3DS.  The 3D aspect has worn thin (and made some people sick as well).  Not enough unique games.  Expensive.  Low battery life.  In direct competition with the regular DS and other handheld/mobile games.  Also, you can't play some games without a patch (see Ridge Racer).  EDIT: And check out this dude's link about Nintendo tracking your information among other things...pretty shady stuff, thanks Mr. Anonymous.

Also, throw in there that the Wii hasn't received many good titles recently, both first, second, third party.  Nintendo has abandoned that too in favor of the Wii U.  So basically, Nintendo better pray that the Wii U doesn't suck too or else they're in serious trouble.

I know I'm reporting facts instead of ideas again, but you should never forget about this.  This is history in the making.

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You know this is going to shake up Nintendo big-time.  It's probably their biggest down-time since 2000 when they were hurrying to release the Gamecube.  There's a tradition is Japan that if a company man makes a poor decision, he's not outright fired but forced to step down for a period of time.  Like putting someone in the dog house.  Hey, it happened to Gunpei Yokoi (Virtual Boy, the biggest bomb ever) and possibly Yu Suzuki (Shenmue didn't sell so Sega basically stopped him from making any more games).  Now someone at Nintendo's gonna get punished for this.  Who, I don't know.  Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot.



Hey Nintendo, sell the Seattle Mariners to make some money.  Besides, the Mariners are sucking right now (they recently snapped a 17-losing streak) so who cares, lol.

But really, this proves the point I've been saying for years.  You know what we want first and foremost?  GOOD GAMES!!!  Gimmicks won't cut it for me.  You can say, "Oh look, we made a 3D game!" but if the game sucks, no one cares.  Nintendo, learn this.

The Sega fan inside of me can't help but be a little bit jovial that Nintendo is getting jacked up over this.  I mean, Sega got roasted when it come to the Dreamcast--great console but Sega's soul was lost in the process.  Now Nintendo got a little arrogant here and thought "Hell, anything we produce is gold," and now they're paying the price for it.  Of course, the Japanese quake in March may have helped contribute to their hit, perhaps.  It just sucks ass that Microsoft is pushing this gimmicky Kinect crap and they have yet to take a major hit for it.  Oh their day of reckoning will come soon...

But otherwise, this sucks for Japanese gaming.  It's almost like Keiji Inafune put a curse on Japan in order to look like some sort of Nostradamus of gaming.  Now think about this--all Japanese game publishers as of late have done some stupid things recently (Nintendo, Capcom) or were already mediocre (Namco, Square, maybe Konami).  But I wouldn't be too worried about these companies--they'll hopefully learn from their mistakes.  The PS3 had a slow start, maybe the 3DS will follow suit.  EDIT: Or it could go the way of the N-Gage and PSP UMD's!!

But I'll tell you who's staying above the fray.  SEGA.  Yes, that's right.  They are doing okay.  Not producing any stellar games, but at least they're not "sucking" as usual.  For instance, they posted the highest revenue in Japan for the month of June, beating out Nintendo by 33%.  They also made an assload of money last fiscal year ($513 mil profit).

EDIT: Dammit, this came out a day after I posted this, Sega-Sammy posts a quarterly loss of up to $50 million.  Well, this is embarassing.  I only hope that in the long run, Sega has lost the least of all the other devs.  I apologize, I was wrong.  Well, that's why we have to step up and save Sega...

But anyway, if Sega suddenly does good....:

THE PIECES HAVE FALLEN INTO PLACE.  NOW IS THE TIME FOR SEGA TO DROP THE HAMMER* AND OVERTAKE THESE OVERRATED GAME DEVS!!!  BRING HOME THE GOLD MEDAL FROM THESE LOUSY AMERICAN DEVS LIKE ACTIVISION, ELECTRONIC ARTS, MICROSOFT, AND ROCKSTAR!!!  IT CAN BE DONE!!!



* - When I say "Drop the hammer," I mean the racing term to slingshot ahead of the competition (change gears), don't know if people picked up on that right away...

Cracked.com Cracks Open The Game Industry (And I Reply)

Cracked is a good website if you want to read engrossing articles about nothing.  A lot of it is ridiculous but some of it I actually agree with wholeheartedly.  This is a remarkable article I alluded to before but now I'm going to be lazy and leech off of it for one of my post.  I scrapped my original write-up to this article so I'm doing it again here.

The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games by David Wong.  TLDR:

6. Technology is going backwards.  First you had Pong on the Atari which was revolutionary.  Then you had Wii Bowling which was a nice improvement.  Now motion control games haven't improved as you wave your hands in front of the TV like an idiot (especially Kinect).  The Wii U and PS Vita are basically iPhones/iPads which are nothing new either.

5. "Big Brother" online servers are ruining gaming.  Can't run some games without hooking up to a server, including single-player ones (see Starcraft II).  Security measures are horrible.  Also hackers and poor maintenance are proving this point even further since when Sony's server went down, everything went to hell.

4. Many video games promote endless playability by grinding for items (see any MMORPG).  Even worse, you have to pay for perpetual online subscriptions, cheat codes, additional single-player addons, basically things you never had to pay for except in the last 5 years.

3. Creative bankruptcy.  Almost all new games are sequels.  Most obvious are FPSes like Call of Duty: MW3, Battlefield 3, and Crysis 2 which are strikingly similar in nature.

2. No real vision for the future.  First it was make games look realistic, which we've done already.  Now it's make a bunch of $1 apps, crap motion control games, and other awkward gimmicks (Nintendo 3DS).

1. We don't even know what a game is anymore.  First it was "get a high score," now it's split into many different "art" forms--largely interactive movies with limited replay value, mini-games that involve decorating a landscape for s***s and giggles, etc.

And if what I wrote was still TLDR, then let me TLDR that for you...Today's Video Games SUCK.

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Well, let me reply to these and throw in my three cents right now.

6. I can understand the hate-on that everyone has for motion controls.  I don't like the Kinect either--I've already made that clear before.  Now these motion controls are starting to seep into my beloved racing genre.  But the majority of the industry seems to be clear of motion controls for the time of being.  I'm playing Rock Band &  Call of Duty without the Kinect so this is a completely exaggerated point, right???

If you haven't known already, Microsoft has spent over $500 MILLION on Kinect advertising (Fun Fact: at $150 a piece, MS has to sell 3.33 mil Kinects to break even on the $500 mil benchmark alone).  You can tell MS is trying to ram this thing up our ass.  As a matter of fact, I hear the new Forza & Halo games are going to incorporate the Kinect somehow.  And as for the Wii U?  Well, everyone already pissed themselves over that already...remember, this is NINTENDO we're talking about, everything they produce is GOLD.  Disregarding more motion control crap, I can't imagine playing with that big-ass iPad controller which hardly looks comfortable.  So in other words, we're closer to this motion control "utopia" than we think.

5. Big online servers, heh.  Remember back in the PS2/Xbox/GameCube days when you didn't need an online server for permission to play a game?  Eh, those were the days.

While I am not familiar with DRMs and that madness, I've already talked about online servers being the life force for games and how they're rigged to blow.  I already talked about OutRun Online Arcade, which'll be removed from XBL at the end of this year and you can't play it again.  I also talked about MMORPG's.  I also talked about Halo Wars and Call of Duty!  Basically, once the server disowns the game, you really can't play it anymore.  I could go on but I'm not gonna repeat myself even further.  I really do like this quote for the Cracked article, sums it up perfectly:

Imagine if every time you drove your car, you had to first check in with the car manufacturer to confirm that it's you behind the wheel. Let's say that this relies on an Internet connection, and if the connection is down, you can't drive.

4. Eh, I don't have a problem with DLC if it means getting tons more content than normal (Rock Band songs in particular), but I see how things like cheat codes and already-on-disc content are really getting in the way.  Elements of the game completed before release but were held back for monetary gain.  Basically anything they can charge money for, they'll do it.  Hey, I like capitalism and think they have the right to charge whatever they want but there's only so much that I'm willing to pay.  That's why I'm such a scrooge when it comes to gaming--I only maybe play a few games and that's it--screw the rest and their media hype...

3. I don't have that big of a problem with sequels as long as they add something new or refine gameplay that we've come to love, but I do have a problem with all these damn gritty FPSes and fantasy adventure/MMORPG's.  I've already talked about game violence and how its prevalence is driving me nuts.  I'd much prefer a new Daytona game which, even though it's a sequel, is much more refreshing than anything else that these devs have put out nowadays.  Anyway, don't have much to say about this though this quote SUMS UP MY THOUGHTS PERFECTLY: 

This here is why all of the innovation in games seems to be about going backward, simplifying instead of pushing the experience further. They are trying to lower the barrier of entry for gaming as a hobby, because they don't know where else to go with it. So I guess what I'm saying is that one thing is becoming clear ... 

2. Basically a repeat of #6.  When game companies who think technology sells & gameplay be damned push faster and faster, then they reach the end and then we do get tons of random crap.  Then at this point, dollar apps become the norm and it's all about watering down games in order to make everyone feel "involved."  The only really good thing I see about dollar apps is that now anyone can be a game designer--you don't have to be part of some 500-man game studio with a $50 mil budget (read what I said).  Ridonkulous...

1. I really hate these games that are trying to be like movies more than games.  Need for Speed: The Run and all these FPSes.  I'm anything but a movie buff so this really pisses me off.  But I still think this point is being a bit harsh since there's some good movie-based games that actually have some variation, like Shenmue and LA Noire.  But yeah, I do long for the days where ACTUAL GAMING TALENT was a necessity rather than the ability to click a few buttons and then you're now a certified "Gamer"...

Conclusion:  The above quote in #3 really sums things up perfectly.  Back in the 20th Century, gaming was sort of a "reclusive" activity--like only nerds and miscreants would play games.  But it was cool because we got a lot of classics that still make us smile...Super Mario, Goldeneye, Zelda (yeah I admit), Sonic, DAYTONA USA, everything by Sega in its glory days, and so forth...

Nowadays, everyone loves games.  Gaming studios are getting bigger and pushing better graphics and new gimmicks.  Well, I believe that if things become too popular (in this case, gaming) then they are crushed under their own weight.  Now that gamers have become "accepted" into society, everyone wants to join in. Everyone wants all this crap like movie games with state-of-the-art graphics, motion control skill-less games, etc. so what you get are well...a lot of soul-less products pushed merely to sell tens of millions of copies and everyone eats this junk up like we're pigs at the trough.

I've already mentioned this before so I'll do it again.  As an aspiring game developer, I almost think I have to play politician and not offend everybody...like I'm supposed to say "Oh yeah, MMORPGs and mindless racing games like Split/Second are okay."  If I get in as a programmer, then I'm basically a hired mercenary--tell me to make something, I'll do it and I get paid.  If I go around trashing something, then that's going to cost me a job.  Simply put, I gotta make money first and foremost.  How many game devs do you see pushing blogs about how much this sucks or that sucks.  Not many--the fan can rant cause he has nothing to lose...

I almost think I was born too late.  Ugh, sorry if this article was too pessimistic.  I'll get to Sega Racing Stuff LATER.

Sega E3 Booth: IT'S AWESOME, BABY!!! (And More)

And as E3 rolls around the corner once again, this is the time where I complain about the talking heads from Kotaku, GameSpot, G4TV, 1-Up as well as the fat slobs who try to look important by entering a loud room full of electronic devices and "swag" consisting of t-shirts, keychains, and cheap plastic crap.  Wait, I thought E3 was supposed to be blocked to the public...apparently, they reversed on their decision when the angry masses battered open the doors to get inside so there was nothing they could do about it.


RUN RUN RUN TO E3 AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!

So this is supposed to be the 13 games in Sega's booth this year .  This list is from some guy on Kotaku and it doesn't have any sources or anything, but it sounds believeable to me.  EDIT: Never mind, this list is on all the official Sega blogs.  These are the games:

Aliens: Colonial Marines
Anarchy Reigns
Binary Domain
Captain America: Super Soldier
Crush3D
Guardian Heroes
House of the Dead Overkill: Extended
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Renegade Ops
Rise of Nightmares
Sega Rally Online Arcade
Shinobi
Sonic Generations

And...that list is completely underwhelming.  Sonic Generations is the only thing really worth mentioning.  They will probably reveal some new levels (maybe City Escape and a casino stage).  Old-school Sega diehards will love HotD, Guardian Heroes, and Shinobi, so I like seeing Sega give a few old franchises a nod.  We already have Sega Rally Online Arcade so if they rehash that, it would be stupid.  The rest are just expendable to me.  It's great to see more movie-based games (Captain America & Aliens) as well as Nagoshi's sparking gem of a masterpiece, Binary Domain.  If Nagoshi is there, then someone please kick his ass for me.

This is terrible.  I mean, really, who are the ones begging for a new Captain America??  Seriously?  People want Captain America THAT badly???  Well I guess after Superman renounced his US citizenship, America needs a new hero.  Superman, what a putz.

Yeah, this list may not be 100% correct, but do you really expect Sega to just pop out with a new Daytona or Shenmue game?  Remember how we first discovered OutRun & Sega Rally Online Arcades?  We found this name patents on these Korean websites.  We've seen nothing about a new Daytona, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, anything.  I think Sega is banking all their chips on Sonic Generations, a game that they came out with a month before E3 so if Sega has another game up their sleeve, they'd probably have revealed it already.  The ONLY surprise I can think of is Yu Suzuki popping up to announce Shenmue 3, but that old man is already over his head so don't count on it.

But if something BIG happens, then I'll admit my error.  But I doubt it.

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As for the rest of E3, we can already tell what's going to happen.  Microsoft is going to release more Kinect crap in another vain attempt to get the diehards to give it a shot.  Sony will release the new PSP and apologize profusely for the server downage thanks to a mumbling Kaz Hirai (while everyone else makes fun of him for everything).  Nintendo will cause gamers to faint with their new Cafe demo (which will probably be on par with the Xbox 360 but who cares, it's Nintendo, they are WINNERS regardless) and some 3DS games.  Then something on Duke Nukem, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Soul Calibur, and Rage.  Another E3, another waste of time, thank you, please come again.

BTW, this new Internet Explorer sucks horribly.  It lags, my tabs mysteriously vanish for no reason, I'm constantly being logged out of Blogspot, and I can't even find out where the history is on this thing.  Oh well, back to Firefox.

Living On Candy Bars And Black Ops (And PS3 Hackers)

Mmm, these mini Crunch bars are really good.  You know, you ought to run over to Wall-Mart and check out all the discounted candy they have.  I still assume they have it.  Just cause it's not Easter doesn't mean you can't eat candy.

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But anyway...for some mini-news.  Nintendo is gonna release a new console in 2012 and everyone assumes it will crush this current lineup of consoles.  I don't care; it will probably be just a Wii 2.0, kind of like how the 3DS is an upgraded DS.  Blahblahblah, Sony and MS are probably going to release new consoles in 2014 so I really wonder how much better these games will look and what will happen to our old 360/PS3 accounts (achievement points, DLC, etc.).  Eh, I don't think it'll be as pretty as everyone suggests.  I really don't know how much better these consoles can get now.

Virtual reality?  Not like Virtua Racing/Fighter, CERTAINLY NOT Virtual Boy, but actual virtual reality?  What a load of crap.  Stick to your little iPhone games, people.  That's the future of gaming--little $2 apps...

Speaking of the PS3, which has been hacked BTW, this is not the first time the server's gone down.  Oh my, how much we gamers rely on these servers to run our consoles.  Ok, I've already talked about the "servers going down = RIP console" theory over and over again.  I hardly ever use my PS3 other than to play Blu-Ray movies (even then I hate movies so I never use it at all, HA).

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EDIT: Turns out this PS3 breach may be a bigger f'n deal than normal.  Potential security info like passwords ,addresses, credit card numbers, etc..  1.4 of the 77 mil PS3 accounts hacked.  Now imagine if something happened to your trophies/achievement points, then I would be pissed.  EDIT AGAIN: UK Resistance is alive again!! Only to take advantage of their blissful dream come true.

Funny enough, there is a game by Introversion Software called Uplink (click for demo/pics).  You play as a hacker who steals money from banks, data from big companies, court evidence, etc.  You control the "desktop" of a hacker, trying to use password crackers and stuff while racing against the clock before security catches up on you.  Nowhere near as "severe" as Introversion's other game, Defcon: Everybody Dies, but when you consider the implifications of a company rep coming out to say, "Hey everybody, we just lost hundreds of millions of dollars/user accounts overnight, we're sorry," you gotta admit that is pretty heavy.

 Rofl.  *gets blown up*
Thanks to this dude whom I stole pic from 

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Really, to tell you the truth, this last month has been excruciating.  I really haven't been able to do anything (besides the Disney trip) besides play video games with myself.  Mostly Black Ops because I'm pathetic like that.  It's gotten to the point where I become extremely frustrated with just about anything bad that happens.  There hasn't been any room for opportunity here.

I've yet to receive any sort of feedback from my Sega job application which is no surprise.  Just forget about it--Sega wants nothing to do with me.  Fine, keep churning out lousy movie adaptations and bad DC port rehashes, awesome job guys.  My SEGA Job Application.

I'm also nearly done with the FIEA application process; just need to do the fabled Production portfolio.  I will probably have to work on that alone for the next week or so.  I really hope I get accepted to FIEA.  I just want to learn about game design and programming.  But they're sticking me with pins and needles and it ain't good.  Odds are they'll see a minor flaw in me and just dump me in favor or some other Mountain Dew-drinking "cool" dude so I get sent to Full Sail where God knows what goes on there.  My visits to FIEA and Full Sail.

I really want to get going somewhere since I'm being driven crazy now.  I hope I get out of here and face new opportunities.  Just want to do SOMETHING and prove my worthiness but no--not happening since the world has been dropped on its head recently and I've been trying to keep my cool all this time.

Until then, just chillin out, playing some Black Cops, trying to hang on to Sega dreams while I'm at it...

New Ridge Racer Game And Junk

Ah yes, Ridge Racer, we meet again.  Ridge Racer 6 came out in 2005 and now it's 2011.  Six years later, lol.

But first, there will be a Ridge Racer 7 on the Nintendo 3DS.  That's how Namco rolls--release a RR game for a new console's release, never in between.  At least there are seven Ridge Racers...compare to what I believe there are four Daytona USAs (1, 2, Championship Edition, Dreamcast).  But that doesn't matter cause Sega still has Scud Race, OutRun 2, Crazy Taxi, etc.

Now this I read from the Joystiq article (click here).  Tell me if you believe it's true: 

The Ridge Racer franchise has an odd knack for coinciding with platform launches. From the PS1 classic to the most recent Ridge Racer 7, capitalizing on the enthusiasm inherent with new hardware seems to be the series' bread and butter. It's clear why Namco chooses this strategy: it manages to obfuscate the franchise's lack of innovation with the technological advance each generational leap brings.

Does this seem harsh?  I mean, I haven't really delved into Ridge Racer until now, but don't all racing games play out the same way as before?  Like do you really expect Gran Turismo 4 to be that much different from 5?  Of course, read this guy's negative opinion about RR7 from the get-go.

And also from the Joystiq article, ALL SIX SECONDS OF RIDGE RACER 7 (in 2-D):



TBQH, just from looking at this brief clip, I was immediately reminded of OutRun 2 and that's kind of cool.

To see for myself what's the big deal with Ridge Racer, I decided to give the RR6 demo a spin.  The 600mb demo is still up on XBLA and I must've played that one race fifteen times over and over.  Now please be aware I know little to nothing about how the previous RR games play out.  Alright, here are my impressions.  But first, here's some gameplay footage:



For starters, the handling is not TOO bad.  It feels like a cross between OutRun 2, Initial D, and Gran Turismo.  You tap the brake and and spin around, but during slides, you have no idea whether you've "hooked it" or not.  Like the final turn in the RR6 demo, I would frequently just fly away from the apex of the turn despite doing the same thing I did for the rest of the race and would fall behind.  I guess maybe I have to play more often to get used to the controls.  Regardless, when you're not drifting, the car feels kind of bulky and sluggish.  It doesn't feel like you're in control like a Sega racer.

The game uses a "drift for nitrous" mechanic--just slide around like a hooligan to get NOS.  Seems cheesy cause there would be some turns I could take without drifting, but I would force myself to do so just to get that boost.

You can use manual or automatic transmission.  Now downshifting like in Daytona/OutRun doesn't do ANYTHING when it comes to drifts.  You do a little 6-5-6 or a 4-2-4, it doesn't initiate a drift.  So it all comes down to abusing the brake which is okay, but a little crappy.  MT actually has its uses because it seems if you shift to a lower gear while sliding, you regain your speed much faster.  When trying out AT, I see that the game would often sit in a higher gear when it shouldn't so MT does has its purposes.

The audio--oh my goodness.  You like really bad BD Joe impersonators telling you about nitrous and how awesome you are cause you caught two feet of air?  Well, no one does.  The way he screams "three, two, one" and other stuff, just kill me already.  The music isn't too bad--it's some techno trance stuff, but nowhere near as memorable as the Daytona/OutRun soundtracks.  As for the car SFX, there's nothing I thought was too outstanding.

Graphically, this game is okay.  Obviously, it's a launch title so it's somewhat outdated.  The track and car designs aren't that spectacular.  They don't blow me away like a Sega game.  They're not that detailed and/or colorful.  Driving around in the demo track, I see that they incorporated some detail here and there, but I wasn't delightfully surprised by it.

The sense of speed is alright but unfortunately in the demo, the cars only go 160 mph/255 kph.  In the real game, I assume they can be upgraded to Scud Race speeds (220 mph/355 kph).  The car selection consists of a bunch of Burnout/Split-Second phony baloney overly-shined cars with a bunch of logos referencing past Namco characters.  You want to drive the red Mitsurugi car, be my guest.

The camera angles are damn weird.  You only have two--on the hood or close chase cam.  I go with the close chase since I enjoy the third-person view the most.  Unfortunately, this camera view sucks.  When you drift, the camera always faces DIRECTLY BEHIND your rear bumper.  Compare it to OutRun or Daytona where the camera faces WHERE YOU'RE GOING.  In other words in RR6, you never see the side of your car.  It gets on my damn nerves cause in RR, it swerves back and forth so much.

Not to mention that wall collisions in RR6 are rather weird.  If you clip a wall, you bounce off of it in the most peculiar way.  If you're drifting in the chase cam and the rear scrapes a wall, it starts to fidget all over the place.  What the hell is this.

I eventually came in first.  My best 1st lap time was 1:10 and my 2nd/3rd was 1:01.  Okay, try me.

Overall, despite the fact that Ridge Racer, Daytona USA, and OutRun 2 look similar, they really aren't.  It's hard to put a finger on it, but Ridge Racer 6 feels...well...rigid.  Like when I do something right or wrong, it's hard to tell what I did to invoke this.  Handling doesn't feel as "authentic."  If I were to buy this game and play it for a long time, would I have fun?  Yes.  Do I wish it were a Sega racer?  Yes, sadly.  So if the Ridge Racer series needs to change, just fix some of the things I said, make it loosey goosey, and don't rely on this Fast and the Furious/Tokyo Drift crap in order to sell games.

You can read GameSpot's 8.1 review if you are so inclined...

And now you know the whole story...

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Speaking of which, there will also be a Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 3DS game, thanks model3 for pointing it out...