Sega Can't Scrub Away SOPA

Now we all know this SOPA bill has been around for a long time yet it just won't die.  Hey, I've talked about it six months ago.  Basically, every single gamer hates it (the day a gamer likes it is the day Sega makes the Dreamcast 2) while the companies themselves are lukewarm to the idea.  And the fact that we have other pressing issues in the United States like our national debt, massive spending, massive unemployment, the healthcare debacle, illegal immigration, expanding size of government & regulations, our national debt, the disastrous housing market, energy independence (or lack thereof), our dwindling military, and our national debt, you'd think SOPA is a drop in the bucket.  But whatever, let's deal with it because this can be disastrous if it passes.

Here's a funny story pertaining to the bill that's generated some controvery and I want to address it.  There's some website that's been sending mass e-mails to all game companies requesting their stance on SOPA.  Some companies replied while some have not.  Sega replied to the e-mail...with an automated message that doesn't pertain to the question in the least (perform a "hard reset").  This set up for a funny Internet joke at the time.  Sega's inbox searches for keywords in its e-mails and sometimes sends an appropriate reply in order to save the Q&A crew some time.  But apparently, the story got around the Internet so much that Sega themselves replied to it.  With a video:



"I used to be Nintendo's rival company, until I took a hard reset." - YouTube comment.

Yes, it's a hokey video and some do hate it.  This is when the Sega haters come out the woodwork to take pot-shots at them.  For one thing, they never mentioned if they support SOPA or not.  Like they know they're "busted"--they don't want to lie but they don't want to admit they support the bill so here's a "non-answer."  But are we really going to find out if they support it?  These are just some guys working on the ground level who are just responding to Internet trends.  Do you think the suits at the top will find out and give their opinions on the issue?  Probably not.  But I REALLY would like to know Sega's stance on this.

Then again, we know that Nintendo, Sony, Electronic Arts, and Capcom have been flirting with the bill but have pulled support due to peer pressure so does it really matter if Sega supports it?  Who really cares what Sega thinks anyway??  Do they have that much clout in anything anymore?  I don't know...judging from Sega's cease-and-desist demands in a couple of things (Sonic advice YTMND's, Streets of Rage remake), I think they'd be somewhat for the bill.

Man, screw the bill.  I'm all for stopping illegal piracy (well duh, that's why it's illegal), but this whole streaming crap is next.  What's next--they systematically strip the Internet of any gaming-related media?  Yeah, you may not be able to watch every cutscene on Heavy Rain (which could remove the incentive from buying the game), but it may go much farther than that.  What's to stop them--what's the end-game anyway when it comes to censorship?  And you can blame the "evil corporate lobbyists" all you want (never mind the fact people will mass boycott them), if these dummies in Congress can't get the q-tips out their ears and end up passing this law, then SHAME ON THEM.  Will they even read the bill?  Remember: "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."

Anyway, forget about SOPA, I wonder what the corporate culture at Sega is like.  Seems like a couple of kids floating around the office with a camera as Sega continues to act impotent as usual.  If it weren't for Sega of Japan & Sumo Digital's heroics, they'd be in a much worse position than now.  I'm going to write an essay on that soon--I'll let you know about that in the future.

BTW, SOPA is a stupid name for a bill...almost reminds me of SOAP...shoes that is.  Sonic Adventure 2.

ROLLING AROUND AT THE SPEED OF SOUND...

Oh and one more thing.  Some Japanese tabloid has predicted which Japanese game companies will shut down in the next decade.  Sega, Square, and Tecmo are ranked "most likely to fail" followed by Capcom, Konami, Namco, and Sony.  Nintendo and Gree (who the f*** is that) have a massive gap over the others and thus are the only ones sitting cozy so basically Japan is screwed.  But to restate, Sega is doomed.  Go to Hell, Sega won't die on my watch.  They'll always have a niche and won't resort to producing slot machines and UFO catchers for all eternity.  Stop hating on your own country's developers and get lost.  And y'all can't stop me from talking about Sega racers--not SOPA, not Sega's misery, all that nonsense.

Happy Festivus 2.0

It's December 23 which is Festivus worldwide.  Now my (second) Airing of Grievances, this time on events from the year Twenty Eleven:

MICROSOFT SUCKS -- Cause they continue to ram the Kinect up our asses and it will always suck and nothing can change my mind.

NINTENDO SUCKS -- 3DS is overrated and cause Link keeps winning the GameFAQs character contests and it's beyond stupid at this point.

NAMCO SUCKS -- Ridge Racer Unbounded is trash and RR Vita is incredibly lacking (five cars and three tracks???????????).

SONY SUCKS -- They got hacked and couldn't do anything about it.

ELECTRONIC ARTS SUCKS -- What "unique" games have they made besides Madden and other perennial sports titles?  EDIT: FYI, Mass Effect, Battlefield, and even NFS: The Run were made by separate studios.  Also, Origin is spyware, you noobs.

CAPCOM SUCKS -- Cause they don't like racing games, that's why.  And they couldn't be arsed into putting MEGA MAN in MvC3 (this offends me even as a non-Capcom fan).

SKYRIM SUCKS -- Overrated, buggy, time-consuming trash.

BATTLEFIELD SUCKS -- I just don't care, lol.

CALL OF DUTY SUCKS -- MW3 is bad, rofl.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT SUCKS -- This game will always suck and its dwindling players shows...

NEED FOR SPEED SUCKS -- RUN JACK RUN FROM THE POLICE AND THE ONCOMING TRAIN!!!

BURNOUT SUCKS -- It just does.

FAST & THE FURIOUS SUCKS -- You're killing arcades with this trash!!!

GAME INFORMER SUCKS -- They trashed OutRun 2 but loved Burnout Crash, UNEXCUSEABLE.

OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE SUCKS -- Horrible Daytona USA review.

SPIKE TV SUCKS -- Turning gaming into an advertising cesspool and teabagging the guy in front of Shigeru Miyamoto.

G4TV SUCKS -- I don't know what they did wrong but I'm fairly certain Adam Sessler said something stupid.

REDDIT GAMING SUCKS -- Too many stupid ass Advice Animal memes.

TOSHIHIRO NAGOSHI SUCKS -- What has he done lately but make another studio for Yakuza games?

GAMEFAQS SUCKS -- Damn do I hate this website.  Every board is either run by absolute buffoons/trolls or picky moderators.

FIEA SUCKS -- How was a game about an anime-style teddy bear wielding a sword chosen over the sweet racing game I suggested?

AMERICAN IDOL SUCKS -- I hate this show.

DISNEY WORLD SUCKS -- Everything is overpriced there.

NFL REFEREES SUCK -- Officiating has been horrible all year.  Finally someone calls the zebras out (and gets picked up on live TV) and then he gets penalized again.  What BS, this is the No Fun League now.  I swear, if the Saints get cheated out of a game by one of these phantom calls, I'm going to lose my s***.



I suddenly like the St. Louis Rams now (after the Saints debacle earlier this year).

VIDEO GAMES SUCK - They're a waste of your time.  So why do I plan on making these very time-wasters for a living?  Same reason people make porn or sell drugs, cause they're STUPID.

Sega, however, does not suck.  Just when I thought you couldn't get any stupider...you find a way to totally redeem yourself!!!!  (Daytona USA)

YOU ALL STINK!!!

Time now for the Feats of Strength.  Until you (FnF fanboys) pin me to the ground, Festivus is not over.  YOU WANNA PIECE OF ME???  YOU GOT IT!!!

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.

LEAVE SEGA ALONE!!! Pt. 2 What You Can Do About It

Hey, guys. This is a follow-up to the previous post where I ask you to see things from Sega's point of view.  It's super-late and I want to get some things in here.

But first, let me divert from my original thought a bit here.  I was watching ESPN last night (apparently, every sporting event was called off due to rain) and I saw a Rise of Nightmares commercial.  Now this ain't new to me but it's nice to see Sega getting a little face time in here.  Also funny how they take a poke at all these lousy Kinect games so they score points for that too.  And the game also looks like House of the Dead so it's not too bad (for a dark, violent game that is).



And whenever old people tell it like it is, it's usually awesome (cause old people don't care what others think...they're old and impatient and don't care about kissing ass so STFU AND LISTEN ALREADY).

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Now, as fans of a game developer, it sure is hard trying to be loyal and at the same time, get your point across. As a fan, there's very little you can do at times. But you can still do something. You represent your fanbase well. Get active in the community. You never know when employees of said game company may actually eavesdrop on your work. I mean, developers ARE human--they live in the same world as you and I. So all I ask AT LEAST is to be a good sport about it. Maybe they will repay the favor.

I'd really like to think that some Sega employees have read my blog although I doubt it.  I'll never really know. I have never been milquetoast when it comes to expressing my opinions on the Internet so this blog is now my favorite venue to do it.

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But even though you're a fan and you try to be a good sport, sometimes game companies do things that are blatantly stupid. It's one thing to be completely oblivious with what's going on inside the building (Sega??) but it's another to do something obviously stupid/illogical that attacks the fanbase.

See: Activision (Bobby Kotick but no one's a fan of Activision), Electronic Arts (obvious, once again, no fans anyway), Rockstar/Take-Two (Red Dead Redemption/L.A. Noire "sweatshop" work conditions), Nintendo (snubbed Starmen.net's massive Earthbound Anthology fan project), and Capcom (laundry list plus canceling Megaman Legends 3 so abruptly despite thousands of petitioners--"blaming the fans").

So what can you do as a fan when you're let down? Well, you can do a little, like I said before. You can post on random message boards, sign a few "petishuns," and feel sad about it, but there's even more. You can create things. Just because you're not a game designer doesn't mean you're inept.

Like we're talking about Daytona USA, right? We have message boards, blogs, strategy guides, YouTube videos, and user-made cars for games like Forza, Trackmania, and Nascar Racing. We can create fan art, fan fiction (rofl), fan games and emulators (see an example here). We can also try to work for Sega. And we can do more than that need it be.

I'm adamant in my stance for a new Daytona game as long as it doesn't tank Sega. I'm not asking for a 500-man studio with a $100 mil budget here, just a Daytona game with a standard amount of content! And this is something I said a very long time ago but I'll say it again... If for some reason Sega flat out refuses or is unable to make a new Daytona game, then we'll have to make our own equivalent to it. Sadly with all new cars, tracks, and music (unless we can pay Sega for the copyrights, rofl). But we're not "stupid" cause we know what it takes to make a good Daytona game. So if Sega wants to stand in our way, fine. We'll just do it without them and then they'll get 0% of the credit as opposed to 50% or so.

Speaking of which, there's very few Sega job opportunities here in the US but if you live in the UK around London, check out the Sega jobs you can get over there. Some of them are simple, like a straight up "Programmer." Come on, there's gotta be some people with video game expertise across the pond!

Good night folks and try to stay positive.

MLG And Evo Stuff (Professional Gaming)

EDITED twice, moved the NASCAR part to its own post

Oh man.  Get ready for more gaming conventions.  So yesterday, I was watching a Major League Gaming (in Anaheim) stream on some website.  They were playing Halo: Reach, CoD: Black Ops, and Starcraft 2.  Who won?  Well, I don't know.  Also, at the same time, there was this Evo tournament thing (in Las Vegas).  They were playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (with no Megaman) and Street Fighter 4.  Thank God there was no Smash Bros. or I would have snapped.  BTW, there was some dude from Saudi Arabia who came in 2nd place in SF4 and that's boss.


OMG Koreans playing Starcraft, we're not worthy!!!


I have no idea what's going on here.

So I watched and I guess it was kind of cool.  No I didn't absolutely abhor it like pretty much everything else.  Well, everyone playing CoD ran around with the Famas Red Dot (very rarely an AK74 or G11)/Lightweight/Sleight of Hand which was kind of stupid but they were playing under special rules.  There were about 80,000 people watching both streams plus those watching on Spike/G4 and in the actual convention center.

Man, I tell you I get a little jealous of those guys.  Nothing like struggling to keep a 1.0 KDR on Black Ops (not me, some other people), then seeing these guys put on a show.  That's a real morale boost there.  Don't worry kids--just play enough Halo/CoD and someday, you'll make $30,000 a year playing video games!  Yeah, good luck.  Remember, changing your XBL Gamerpic to a MLG logo will increase your skills by 1000%.

But in the end, you still gotta go back to real life--working hard, taking care of business, keeping the world going around.  I don't even remember who won.  Also MLG/Evo will never air on ESPN while professional poker will.  Hell, even 1st and 10 gets aired over video games so QQ moar nerds.

I have to watch Skip Bayless over MLG.

Another thing I noticed was the advertisements.  Now Dr. Pepper is synonymous with gamers--when did this happen?  What happened to Mountain Dew--no one likes that anymore?  Dr. Pepper has a contest that will hook someone up with some gaming room with a l33t beast PC and sofa.  Great, I liked Dr. Pepper when no one cared now everyone likes it and makes me look like a bandwagoner.  Also, what's up with this NOS energy drink?  I don't drink energy drinks cause those are for World of Warcraft nerds who pull all-nighters with their "epic 30-man raids."  The only NOS I want is in my car, not in me.



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Speaking of competitive gaming, there's also CPL: Cyberathlete Professional League.  Oh man, now that's old school.  They're still around although they may be merged with MLG or some crap like that.

Let's go back to Counter-Strike.  Not Source but 1.6.  The Greatest Game Ever Played.

Real men play CS.  I'd play more but my comp sucks, wait until I get a new one...


Now this is a LAN party.


HEATON, HAVE MY BABIES.

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...

Video Game Industry In Full Meltdown Mode! (Capcom, Activision)

Occasionally, I skim over GameFAQs Nonstop Gaming Board to see what people are talking about.  One thing that's going on is that there's an increasing animosity towards Capcom.  Now I haven't been paying any attention to them (no racing games certainly doesn't help) recently other than Keiji Inafune's recent departure and shellacking of the Japanese game industry and the occasional Dead Rising news.  I would venture a guess that Capcom is Japan's second-biggest game publisher behind Nintendo because they have so many hits (Street Fighter, Megaman, Resident Evil, etc.) and don't even mention Square since they suck now.

What has Capcom done lately, you ask?  Bam, read this:

To rehash: No Megaman in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  MvC3 is basically a demo of Ultimate MvC3.  Dead Rising 2 is basically a demo of DR2: Off the Record.  Canceled Megaman Legends 3 and Megaman Universe.  Can't erase save files from Resident Evil 5/Mercenaries 3D.  Devil May Cry is trash now.  Too many Street Fighter games.  And I could go on but DAMN it is bad.

IT'S HIS FAULT!!!  HE PUT A CURSE ON CAPCOM!!!  YOU SINISTER BASTARD!!!

Heh, and I thought Sega had problems.  Well, no, Sega's doing okay as far as I'm concerned.  I guess Inafune was right--Japanese companies have their heads up their asses right now.  OH WAIT, NOT NINTENDO, THEY ARE GODS AMONG MEN, THEY CAN DO NO WRONG.  Well the Wii U and 3DS are questionable at this stage so there you go.

EDIT a few days later: I also heard that Capcom has revealed Hello Kitty x Street Fighter merchandise at some point in the future.  So basically, Capcom is hiring 4chan users now?  Dammit man, stick a fork in Capcom, they've drank the Kool-aid...

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BUT WAIT.  It doesn't end there.  America, you're not off the hook yet.  Oh, we can't forget about our good friend Bobby Kotick over there at Activision.  He has plans to reboot the Guitar Hero franchise.  As you can tell, it's gonna suck big time.  Here's what he had to say:

...But we created this critically acclaimed, highly rated game –and these are the hardest failures, when you put your heart and soul into it and you deliver an extraordinarily well received game, and nobody shows up to buy it. So that’s what happened with DJ Hero. At the same time we were so excited about going down this new direction with DJ Hero, I think we abandoned a bit of the innovation that was required in the Guitar Hero franchise.

And so it was the double whammy of DJ Hero was unsuccessful, and then Guitar Hero became unsuccessful because it didn’t have any nourishment and care. So we made what I think was exactly the right decision last year. We said you know what, we need to regain our audience interest, and we really need to deliver inspired innovation. So we’re going to take the products out of the market, and we’re not going to tell anybody what we’re doing for awhile, but we’re going to stop selling Guitar Hero altogether. And then we’re going to go back to the studios and we’re going to use new studios and reinvent Guitar Hero. And so that’s what we’re doing with it now.

Oh Good Lord.  What he's trying to say is that they pooled all their effort into DJ Hero at the expense of Guitar Hero.  And DJ Hero didn't sell (and to a certain extent, neither did the latest GH) so Activision just wasted their time on nothing.  And now the new Guitar Hero will inexplicably rip off aspects of Rock Band and I don't know what to say anymore.  Oh, and DJ Hero?  That's gone forever, kiss it goodbye.

Got this from some Kotaku photoshop contest long ago...you find it yourself.

As an aside, if Activision REALLY wants to "save" Guitar Hero, follow the name--JUST INCLUDE GUITARS, that's it.  Drums and vocals just didn't work out for GH--you'll NEVER outclass Rock Band at this rate, they got you beat there.  Pick songs that include the best guitar charts so that people don't have to sit through songs that are lousy in guitar but good on other instruments.  Really, people just want to go back to the old GH style (GH3 grossed over a BILLION dollars in sales), but you know they ain't doing that.

EDIT: And Activision will find a way to nickel-and-dime you with Call of Duty.  Complaining about the $15/1200 MSP map packs?  Pssh, I admit that's steep for some but we play enough Call of Duty get our money's worth.  But they're gonna whore out CoD to the end...just like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero.  You heard about this "Elite" service for paying members?  MW3 has train-wreck written all over it.  Then maybe WoW and Starcraft too...

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And ultimately, this ends with a GameFAQs poll taken today.  EDIT: These are the final results of the poll out of 56,256 votes.  "Which video game publisher do you like the least (or hate the most) right now?"  Rounded percentages: 

Activision Blizzard 23%
Capcom 22%
Electronic Arts 18%
Microsoft 9%
Square Enix 9% 
Nintendo 8%
Sony 6%
Ubisoft 4%

Actually, at one point in this poll, Capcom had 26% & Activision had 22% but you can see that this is not the case anymore.  Wow, Microsoft in 4th place--who would've thunk it?  Thankfully, there's no Sega here because they're pathetic enough as it is.  The antipathy towards Capcom may wear out after a while--I can't see them outclassing Activision in the long run...

I really can't talk about this anymore.  If you want to know more "bad" things the industry has done, read what I posted before.  I've never seen the industry and its fans on edge before.  Everyone's at each others' throats, crappy business practices, tons of shouting at the devs to do this and do that, making all sorts of demands, it just never ends.  Maybe I ought to just step back and let the chips fall as they may since I don't want to join the angry mobs and get blasted with the hoses & tear gas, so to speak.

Random Google image search to the rescue!

Japanese (*cough*Sega*cough*) Games Suck

So says Keiji Inafune, Capcom mastermind behind Megaman and Dead Rising, said at TGS 2010.

"I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone's making awful games; Japan is at least five years behind.....Capcom is barely keeping up. I want to study how Westerners live, and make games that appeal to them.....the Japanese game industry isn't dead as long as Capcom is around."

Seems like a cool guy, we can go to Arby's and a get a Cheddar Melt

Surprisingly, this isn't the first time Inafune has said this...he has beat up on the Japanese game industry more than I ever could...

Anyway, it's tough for me to call this since I live in the US and thus I mostly see American-made games.  Practically everything's now American: FPS, racing (ugh), action, strategy, RPG (Japanese RPG's are becoming a niche), etc.  The way I see it, it's just fighting game and a few oddballs like Mario and Zelda that Japan has on us.  Who knows, I may be wrong.

I think what he's trying to say is that Japan is making less "quality" titles.  Nintendo is obviously perfect with their Wii and DS consoles selling in 10,000,000's.  Sega, like I've said before, is a joke.  I mean, I just hear nothing about them.  Let's hand off a few Sonic games to other devs to spit out on a regular basis and throw the fans some crumbs in the form of a few home ports and call it a day.  Capcom and, to a certain extent, Square still have some relevance but still, I gotta give credit to Mr. Inafune for what he said.  I think Megaman is good--seriously, give the blue dude credit.  And despite the extreme violence, I am somewhat interested in Dead Rising 2, just to see what the environments look like lol (I love colorful places).

Look, I may have admitted I'm not Sega's biggest fan, but I like what they've done throughout history and I want them to do good.  They're loveable losers.  But as far as I see it, they're making games like any other normal Japanese dev so they get no separation.  They're losing their "unique" qualities--like you don't see those Dreamcast-esque games anymore.  Oh well.

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And about Sega & Sonic Adventure, I was going to say this.  I think some of us thought that this game was going to be a knock-out punch that gives Sega a little credit.  Well, not really.  Besides the reviews, the game also had to come out at the same time as Halo: Reach.  So the game got a lukewarm reception and unless Sega starts spitting out those other DC ports, then they're going to lose whatever momentum they had.  And I still don't know when Crazy Taxi is coming out.

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And about the GameFAQs photoshop contest, I'm not entering because A. I don't have a good idea and B. there's about 200 entries so far and I have no shot at it considering the quality of some of the entries.  The video contest was my closest shot.  Oh well, screw that site.

Other Japanese Game Publishers

Okay, I'm looking at some of the GameFAQs polls of the day and they went through some Japanese companies, listed some game series for each, and asked which is your favorite.  Because we know Sega is out there as a big player until they took it in the chin after the DC and were basically neutered, it's kind of interesting to see what their rivals are up to...  Makes me feel bad for Sega, they are basically the laughing stock of Japan as far as I'm concerned.

DISCLAIMER: When I mention this game or that game and get mad, it doesn't mean that the games specifically suck or are bad or that I hate them and wish they didn't exist--they're all good in some way.  I'm just giving you my personal thoughts on the game, not necessarily commenting on the quality of the game unless I so feel like it.

Also, GameFAQs has a bias towards RPG/Adventure games which explains stuff like Zelda >>> Mario, etc.

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Capcom: Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Megaman, THAT'S IT.  The definitive trifecta of horror, fighting, and platform-shooter games.  Surprisingly, RE and Megaman got over 25% each and SF got 13%.  But Capcom has other games like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Dead Rising, Breath of Fire, Phoenix Wright, holy crap, they make Sega look bad, really bad.  They don't have a definitive racing game--they had that Auto Modellista game which as far as I'm concerned is a joke so really.  Overall they are probably #2 behind Nintendo.  This whole 2-D Fighter genre is just too much for games like Tekken or even Virtua Fighter to compete with, sorry.

Konami: They have Metal Gear Solid and that should be all as far as I'm concerned.  Number one choice at 38%.  Oh they have Castlevania too which is 22%.  They also have Contra, DDR, and Silent Hill.  Oh yeah, it was also Konami that made the Enthusia PS2 racing game which was nearly up to par with Gran Turismo but hardly as popular.  I think Sega could take these hooligans but knowing Sega, they will putter across the finish line with four blown tires.  Next.

Namco-Bandai: Tales of Fill In The Blank is number one, 27%.  Okay, I just don't give a damn about stupid RPGs, just let it pass.  They made Pac-Man, another juggernaut, but since people have their heads up their asses, they don't care about it anymore--10%.  You also got Ridge Racer, the series that was most identical to Daytona USA and Sega, but they've kind of fizzled out despite getting numerous versions for recent consoles.  Sega is still #1 baby when it comes to racers.  Tekken and Soul Calibur are still legendary but once again, they aren't making headline news.  The most recent SC games are just getting obnoxious as far as I'm concerned.  Katamari Damacy, okay yeah, roll up stuff.  They also have Time Crisis which is one of the few arcade games left that I actually am interested in.  They also have Klonoa and Digimon for the kiddies.  No one cares anymore, right.  If there's a company that's most similar to Sega in terms of games and at falling asleep at the wheel, it's Namco so I sympathize with them a little.  Just a little.

Square-Enix: Final Fantasy (51%), Kingdom Hearts (18%), Chrono Trigger (15%).  Just walk away cause nothing else matters.  The less said about Square, the better, although that Einhander game was kind of cool.

Sega: Okay, here we go.  Root for the home team!!  The choice are...:

Panzer Dragoon -- 2.48%

Phantasy Star -- 12.08%

Shenmue -- 6.54%

Shining Force -- 7.14%

Sonic the Hedgehog -- 55.8%

The House of the Dead -- 6%

Total War -- 4.41%

Virtua Fighter -- 2.62%

Yakuza -- 2.92%

What kind of lousy-ass choices are these!?  Virtua Fighter--3%!?!?  Total War, Yakuza, WTF?  Shenmue has like two games and it gets at least 7%, wow how amazing.  I see a lack of Daytona USA but nothing could be more predictable.  That reminds me that Sega has always been one to spread the goodness around to many, many series, but still, looking at the choices we have...oh man, how weak.  Take this poll 10 years ago and you'd see something else.  But really, if it weren't for Sonic, Sega would be dead.  Oh man, this is sad.

Nintendo: Zelda THAT'S IT EVERYONE I JUST SUMMED UP NINTENDO.  Okay, if it takes just one good game to destroy the others, then how about SUPER MARIO, POKEMON, Kirby, Metroid, Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros., F-Zero, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Wii Sports, I mean, just look at the lineup in Smash Bros Brawl.

............

I mean, look at Smash Bros. Brawl.  Sega and Konami were performing all sorts of favors (what kind, you use your imagination) just to get ONE of their characters in the game.  So there you go, Sonic and Solid Snake, yucking it up with Nintendo's cast of characters...

Did I mention that Nintendo has sold over 74 million Wiis and 132 million DSes worldwide as of June 2010?  Let that sink in for a moment.

.....

Sega has no chance, they really don't.  At least we know that Nintendo just plain sucks at racing games cause every Mario Kart game they've released has been highly flawed with maybe the exception of the original SNES version (tiers, snaking, stupid sprite cardboard cutout characters, you name it).  And the latest F-Zero game?  Sounds great but that was SEGA that had a hand in making that game, did you know that?  Sega is still #1 in racing games, sorry, call me a homer, but that's how I see it.

Oops, forgot about the poll results...Zelda got 100% just leave it at that.

Oh yeah, there's one more game company I forgot to mention...let's get it over with.

Sony: Sony hasn't been one to make games but they have some damn good hardware.  The PS3 makes the Xbox 360 look like a baby's toy.  God of War run away with this at 33%, is there any surprise?  I mean, I know I'm going to seem like an ass, but what's the big deal with that game?  You play as some burly man with two swords, slashing the crap out of monsters and other stuff, you kill Greek gods and have rough sex with the goddesses.  Tons of gore, violence, and sex.  Am I missing something here, or does this game seem like a glaring embarassment of society in general?  You have Ratchet and Clank at 18%, Gran Turismo at 12%, and Twisted Metal at 10%.  Gran Turismo is one of the only good racing games left and frankly, I don't see anything else barring Mario Kart and MAYBE Burnout getting higher ratings.  SOCOM, Little Big Planet, yada yada yada, Sony's more of a hardware company and recently the PS3 is really picking up steam so look out Nintendo and Microsoft.

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There's other companies though that the polls forgot to mention and two come to mind--Tecmo and SNK.  Tecmo made Monster Rancher/Farm which is one of my favorite series of all time but that's six feet under.  They've also made Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Fatal Frame, and Tecmo Super Bowl which at least have some relevance today.  SNK made Metal Slug and a load of fighters such as King of Fighters.  They also made their own console, the Neo Geo, which bit the bullet just like the Dreamcast so at least we gotta give props where they're due.

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Wow, this was really painful to go through.  Sega, what a lame pathetic company to be a fan of.  Nintendo, Capcom, and Square are laughing it up while Sega is out on the street begging for spare change.  I can't take this anymore--Dreamcast was Sega's Alamo, and they've lost it.  I got a headache, I'm gonna go do something else and go away for a while.  geez...

Oh yeah, and one more thing.  If you think I'm a Sega fanboy who's blowing hot air, hey, take a loookat all of the Sega video game franchises here, cause there's a lot:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sega_video_game_franchises

No excuse for Sega to be dirt compared to everyone else.