Need For Speed Movie??? Run That Moniker Into The Dirt

Top Gun, 1986 flick featuring Tom Cruise.  Thanks for coining this phrase and ruining the face of racing games forever.

I kid of course.  I just wonder what the hell is the thought processes of these EA suits other than run the phrase "Need for Speed" up your ass.  All of this on the heels of a proposed Need for Speed movie?  Really?  Michael Bay directed the trailer for The Run so I don't put it past EA.  I doubt this'll go through.  See what happened to the Bioshock movie, the Halo movie, the God of War movie, yada yada yada.  And even if a NFS movie were made, what would it be like?  It would look like this, don't kid yourself:



At :40, the words "Outrun Everyone" appear on the screen...BLASPHEMY AGAINST SEGA!!!

But anyway, I wanted to talk about Need for Speed in general.  It's not Split-Second/Burnout bad but it's getting there.  Don't get me wrong, it's a decent set of games but here's my opinion of the series all this time.  And if you're a NFS diehard, you may agree:

I see Need for Speed as a spoiled only child with rich parents.  He gets what he wants without question.  Because NFS is so pimped out, it's become the "go-to" arcade/sim racer of this generation even if most of the content is rehashed with each release.  EA with their $2 billion warchest buys out everything, including people!

EDIT: I'm dead serious when I say EA has that $2 billion warchest.  EDIT AGAIN: I wrote down the wrong number, wow I was way off, sorry.  Well, that's according to my FIEA professors that know the inner workings of EA.  Saving it for a rainy day I suppose.  For those of you hoping for EA's demise, well they ain't going away any time soon...

So basically EA makes their annual one or two NFS games and calls it a day.  Get their paycheck and cater to the oh-so-mediocre racing genre.  Here's a list of every unique NFS title since 2003:

Underground (2003)
Underground 2 (2004)
Underground Rivals (2005)
Most Wanted (2005)
Carbon (2006)
ProStreet (2007)
Undercover (2009)
Nitro (2009)
Shift (2009)
World (2010)
Nitro-X (2010)
Hot Pursuit (2010)
Shift 2 (2011)
The Run (2011)

To be fair, Shift 1 and 2 don't deserve to be there.  They're so much different in nature to the others in the series.  They were both developed by the racing-dedicated Slightly Mad Studios right out of London, England.  Obviously, someone had to publish their game so EA was willing to do so...as long as they tacked on the "Need for Speed" phrase to their title, hence the series became known as "Need for Speed: Shift."  Kind of like what Activision did with Modern Warfare 2/3.  Since the words "Call of Duty" resonate far more with gamers than "Modern Warfare," they appended the phrase to their games.

How typical of big publishers to pimp out the buzzwords of their game titles.  Like take Guitar Hero.  It was inferior to Rock Band (don't argue with me) but sold more copies purely because of the words "Guitar Hero."  And there you go--now you know why Shift was absorbed into the NFS family against its will.

EA also included in the contract "Put a drifting BMW on the cover with fancy visual effects--don't question us."

And here's what I want to talk about.  The production value of NFS games has always been solid though the quality has been lukewarm at best.  With the lone exception of Criterion's Hot Pursuit, not one NFS has reached "elite" status like other heavy-hitters such as Forza and Mario Kart.  And why is that?

I believe Need for Speed is in an identity crisis.  The first few NFS games were simple--drive a sports car through exotic landscapes.  Then they added police chases--that's fine by me.  Then they introduced the street tuner/ricer aspects in Underground.  Then they decided to go balls out with urban/highway racing as they introduce lousy cutscenes ripped out of a Fast & Furious flick, recycle the same mediocre arcade/simulation car handling, add tons of explosions, slap the BMW/Audi/Mustang on the cover and call it a day.  It feels hackneyed due to its forceful adherence to trends or what's "cool" at the time of release.  It's good at getting highlights on the gaming websites/magazines but after that, what do you have?  More of the same old, same old.

Also I'd like to mention the car handling which is really what makes or breaks a racing game.  What's with the handling?  I've played from Underground to The Run and in every experience, it's this abnormal mix between arcade and sim handling (read about my The Run experience).  Car handling isn't as responsive as I'd expect.  I don't get it because I thought NFS was supposed to be a mainstream game so why is it so annoying to play?  I'd take Forza or Mario Kart any day of the week when it comes to pure racing.  EDIT: Of course, Shift 1/2 may be different but I've barely played those...I should get around to it soon.

I also noticed something about NFS.  I recently looked up clips of this arcade version.  Compare it side-by-side with other hallmark "street racer" titles.  Do they look the same?  Yes they do.  So derivative it's insulting.


Need for Speed by EA


Fast & the Furious by Raw Thrills


Dead Heat by Namco


R-Tuned by Sega...my reaction to this game:

Am I being harsh?  I don't know, I'm just shooting from the hip here.  Trying to understand what the heck's going on with Need for Speed.  It's as if cutting-edge sports cars and massive production values can overcome all other shortcomings with the games.  Like I said, I know there's some NFS fans out there and I would like to know their take on all this.  The massive quantity of NFS games...is this necessarily a good thing?  Hey, just ask Sega fans if they think all these Sonic games was a good thing (Sega is Sonic's pimp).  A NFS movie, does this bother you in the slightest?

I said before that, as a programmer coming out of grad school, I refuse to work at Electronic Arts.  But maybe, JUST MAYBE I'd work for them under one condition--let me help you with Need for Speed.  And I'm not talking "sit there and program useless crap"--I mean let's talk turkey.  I'll be the producer who rights the ship.  It's driving me nuts and I want to help racing games save face nowadays.  Though this'll never happen so give up on EA while you're at it people.

Oh EA...you're beyond therapy at this point.

Going It Alone Without Sega

Well first off, I'll start by saying that Daytona USA and Sega Rally Online Arcade are on sale for 400 MSP each (XBL only, sorry guys).  So if you have an Xbox 360 with internet, you have no excuse not to but these now.  Good for you, good for Sega. YOU'RE TOO LATE NOW.

But now for the bad news.  I'm fairly certain everyone knows this but Sega has recently posted big losses of about $240 mil in the last year (March '11 to '12).  Tons of people laying off and Sega claims they will restructure their development to only include big IP's like Sonic, Total War, Football Manager, and Aliens.  We don't know what this means for titles still in development, like Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, or Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 2.  Something's gonna get cut cause that's the business.

EDIT: Seems that SEGAbits says that big bloggers like Kotaku have overstated the news.  Sega isn't giving up on other IP's as easily as it seems.  I already take Kotaku with a grain of salt and now it pays off.

...

I'm a bit distressed by the news but it's not totally surprising.  We all know Sega has been ailing for years and their only way out is to take even fewer risks.  All of this on the heels of my "Sega needs to do more" rant.  I know it sucks ass.  No specific reason why Sega is doing poorly other than that they've gone back to being "Good Old Sega" again...the one that falls into holes that it can't climb out of.  Oh wait, that's right, it's because of all the money spent on Dreamcast 2 development, thanks Zach Morris. (sike)

A brief aside pertaining to financial woes: I recently wrote a paper on Midway Games.  Yes, the Midway of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz, and Cruis'n games.  Like Sega, they were lucrative in the arcade business.  In '01, they closed their arcade division due to financial losses.  In '03, American media magnate Sumner Redstone owned 80% of Midway's stock.  Later, Midway started publishing mediocre games like Area 51, Psi-Ops, and The Wheelman.  Midway lost an ass-load of money and was eventually stripped and sued to pieces, only to have whatever remaining pieces to be bought out by Warner Bros. for cheap.  But I'll get into Midway again at a later date--I'm getting off-topic and I want to save it for later.

It's distressing to me because I've said many times it's my "goal" to work at Sega.  Then make some new racing games and actually restore sanity to video games.  A while back, I took some initiative and asked somebody on the official Sega forums if they offer any jobs for aspiring programmers.  Here's how it went down.  This is me:

Here's a strange question. I'm studying to get my graduate degree in game programming at Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (ranked 2nd in Princeton's Top 10 gaming schools) and will most likely be doing some intern work in the next six months. Rather than be harvested by Electronic Arts (like 2/3rds of my class will be), I was wondering if Sega was interested in holding some internships or job openings for programmers. I know Sega of America is in California but if I have to travel, then so be it. I like Sega so...I guess I would like the chance to work with you guys.

I'm just curious and am throwing this out there. Don't know where else to ask this question since Sega doesn't have a "contact" e-mail besides video game support (such as "perform a hard reset").

And this is an admin:

Gaming jobs are the best out there, so firstly - welcome to the first step in a satisfying career! For jobs at SEGA, keep in mind that we are a publisher, not a developer. If your programming focus is aimed at game creation, you'll be better suited for development positions. If you have interest in web programming, you'll be an excellent fit within a publisher.

My recommendation for anyone looking for jobs in video games covers off two main websites - www.gamejobs.com and www.gamasutra.com/jobs. Both should give you a ton of resources for available positions by company and region. SEGA jobs are listed in the above link (as noted), but again, this will depend on what you are looking for.

My final recommendation is not to be down on any company or job you take. Experience is experience, and you'll find that a diverse portfolio will be helpful in finding work where ever you go. If SEGA or one of our developers is in your sights, then figure out the kind of jobs they hire for and build your resume to match that, both in school and real world experience. Hope this helps, good luck!

That sounds like a great response and I really can't complain.  The thing that gets me is how Sega is now labeling themselves as a publisher only.  Ok, I've known for the longest time that Sega only publishes great games and doesn't make them themselves...but where are all these official Sega games coming from?  I know they're making some on their own.  I heard Sonic Adventure 2 was developed in San Francisco, hence the City Escape and Radical Highway stages.

And then there's the crap licensed games like Iron Man, Thor, Aliens...where are these games being made then???  Yeah, that's right--Sega Studios San Francisco, which I have no idea where it is...in a underground bunker under a non-descript building it seems.  Shoot for the studios owned by the publisher...like if you're into Nintendo, go for Retro Studios in Austin, Texas.

Speaking of non-descript buildings, I've looked up Sega of America's headquarters on Google Maps multiple times.  Here's what it looks like.

This is it.  A plain brown 4-story building in a medium-density zone in San Francisco.  If it weren't for the small Sega logo on the building, you'd never know it was a Sega building at all.  LOL WHERE'S THE BLUE SKIES???  Yeah, Sega is some juggernaut, huh....performing hard resets in a modest San Fran office building.  Living the life it seems.

I know many of you were expecting Sega to dwell in a massive university campus setup (like Microsoft, pictured above), but no, just a tiny brown building.  Sega ain't that rich.

HA, now that we've gotten the building stuff out of the way, let's talk about actually working at Sega.  And this is where it get's really sad...

It's about time I start to discount working there.  Let's be real--Sega is downsizing.  They aren't looking to hire anybody.  In the meantime, job outlooks in general continue to get worse despite the fact that Electronic Arts is snatching up as many programmers as possible.  No really, we NEED jobs and if that means doing the programming equivalent of shoveling horse manure at EA Tiburon, well....what choice do you have?  Money talks--you need money to live.  To make your family and friends happy.  Am I going to throw away everything over the pursuit of lousy racing games???

And even if you did work at Sega, would it be that great?  Travel across the country and sit in your little office cubicle working on Aliens or bad Sonic games just to keep Sega on the respirator.  Never get to meet Yu Suzuki or Toshihiro Nagoshi.  It would be lousy as you'd expect.  And it all comes down to the climax which is this...

I think the outlook of new Sega racing games is really bleak.  Maybe a new Sumo Digital title or another XBLA/PSN port but I can't see much through the fog.  I have little faith at this point they can churn out new Daytona/OutRun/other non-derivative racing game.  You need the stars to align to convince Suzuki-San and Nagoshi-San to make another racing game especially considering the sad outlook of the game industry, MUCH LESS have the chance to pitch the game to Sega altogether.  Also throw in the possibility of another financial catastrophe and that likelihood can drop even lower or be wiped out altogether (as in Chapter 13, look it up).

So now what?  Well, we can continue to chip away at Sega and its studios and hope to catch a break but it may be in vain.  So we make our own racing game.  And we do it without Sega, Yu Suzuki, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Makoto Osaki, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the AM2 team, the #41 Hornet car, and the Daytona soundtrack.  Can it be done?  Yes.  Will it be painful.  Hell yes it will.

WE NEED PROGRAMMERS.  WE NEED PRODUCERS.  WE NEED ARTISTS WHO ACTUALLY LIKE RACING GAMES.   WE NEED SEGA FANS WHO ARE SICK AND F***ING TIRED OF THIS GENERATION OF GAMES.  WE NEED TO GET TO WORK SOMEHOW!!!  Cause really...what other choice do we have...?

So it can be done without the Sega/AM2/Daytona name, huh?  Well let's look at two examples:

The first is Medal of Honor.  The first game came out in '99 for the Playstation and it had excellent reviews.  Electronic Arts bought the rights to the game but decided to kick the original team off the project.  So 22 ex-employees formed their own little studio called Infinity Ward which would go on to make Call of Duty.  Then Call of Duty would later triumph over Medal of Honor although that series has probably been run into the ground by Activision so that figures.  What goes around, comes around.

Second is Guitar Hero.  It was made by Harmonix.  After making Guitar Hero 1 and 2, Harmonix was kicked out--Activision made Guitar Hero 3 and so on.  Harmonix went on to create Rock Band.  Despite the ultra-success of Guitar Hero 3, the series fizzled out while Rock Band re-innovated the music genre with a huge library of music and new instruments and gameplay modes.

And if, should the Good Lord will it, maybe Sega will see our good deeds and intervene like an angel and then we will be able to make the best racing game ever made.  One can only hope.  I may be wrong but as they say, "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst."  We'll see what happens in a year or two .  But be on alert people since WE MANY NEED YOU some day.

...

Uh, so you know what Sega needs?  Sega needs a little help from his friends.  HIS SEGA FRIENDS LIKE YOU AND I!!!  GOD BLESS YOU SEGA!!!

Spending Time With Family, Saints, Go-Karts, Ghost Squad, F***in' Fast & Furious, Disney Sucks

First of all, this was a good weekend because I had no homework and my parents drove over to Orlando to spend a few days with me.  But let's get to the Saints next.

I'm going to be like Joe Beningo here in a few minutes so little kids, please cover your ears.  All I have to say is that thank the Lord that I didn't actually see this Saints vs. Rams game on TV (I instead watched NFL.com updates).  Because this has to be the MOST EMBARASSING DISPLAY I have ever glazed upon in my life.  No excuses to lose this game.  What a disgrace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


There are two types of teams in the NFL.  Teams that should win and teams that shouldn't.  The Saints are a good team (I think so, anyway).  They should be in charge of their destiny.  There's a reason the Rams were 0-6, because THEY STINK!!!  They had their backup QB in!!!  And then the Saints go to St. Louis and do what all dumb teams do and that is suck ass.  F***ing suck ass.


Compare the Saints to the Packers.  Let's just get this out of the way now--the Packers are probably going undefeated and are getting the #1 seed.  Why?  Because the Packers ARE WINNING GAMES THAT THEY SHOULD BE WINNING.  The Saints aren't.  And don't give me this "the team has to lose to learn to play better" nonsense since that just means they are undisciplined in the first place.  This sequence of "embarrassing" Saints losses goes back to last year when the Saints blew the games to the Cardinals, Browns, and Seahawks (first team to lose to a sub .500 postseason team, choke away 10-point lead, humiliating Marshawn Lynch replay).  Shame on you guys.  The Saints should've played with fire under their asses in order to keep up with other NFC teams but they look like they didn't give two s***s about it.


Oh, BTW, you know how awesome it was that ESPN gave the 62-7 victory over the Colts zero air time?  Well, expect ESPN to run a million stories about the Saints' 31-21 chokejob (most of those were garbage points) loss to the Rams with stories like "SEE I TOLD YOU SOOO SAINTS ARE ONE-AND-DONE ROFL" and "FALCONS WILL WIN NFC SOUTH CAUSE THEY HAVE MATT RYAN AND RODDY WHITE, TWO GREATEST PLAYARS EVER HAHAHA."  Good work, Saints.  Enjoy the embarassment.  Just suck it in and feel good about yourselves.  Really good.

Man-crush on Tony Gonzales!!!

And also don't give me this "Rams were playing passionate football," or "parity exists in the NFL" crap because it also applies to the Saints too.  If the Rams were playing tough, then the Saints should've played tough too.  AT WORST the game should've been tied by the half, but no.  The Saints scored ZERO POINTS in the first half.  That is completely indefensible.  You all are incredibly mediocre and deserve ZERO credit for today.  Sean Payton should take a paddle and just whip everyone with it.  Even Drew Brees since he's been throwing lots of dumb interceptions lately.  Seriously, just beat their asses with it.

Or maybe a ruler, you know...keeping with the Catholic theme.

This reminds me...I've said this before (in the Call of Duty: Max Performance post) that the day you underestimate the competition, you will LOSE.  Don't care if it's some dumb kids on XBL or your mom, you give it 100% all the f'n time.  This is true especially in professional sports.  Consider that a wounded animal WILL fight back when threatened.  Rams may be winless but they will get desperate at some point.  So you let 'em off the hook.  Good work Saints for playing down to the competition! 


And bear in mind that the Saints lost to a franchise that put out this video instructing its fans on "how to cheer" during the game.  Really?  This is absurd.





Seems like ever since "HAKIM DROPS THE BALL!!", the Rams have been the Saints' kryptonite.  Cause this is the second time a winless Rams team has gotten its first win against the Saints.  Sweet Jesus, this is bad.  So bad and I won't hold back.  I'm not going to "bail" from this team cause I still bleed black & gold but dammit I am just gonna call it like I see it.  Especially when I'm trying to enjoy time with my parents.

Know for a fact that someone will post this eventually so let's get it out of the way now.  And Rams fans, don't take this personally.  I'm mad at my team, that's about it.  There's still time for us to peak during the playoffs but enjoy playing on the road!  Geez.

Hey, it could be worse.  At least I'm not a Rangers fan.  Otherwise, I would be hospitalized right about now.

------------

Okay, now I've gotten that train wreck out of the way, let's talk about what happened in real life.  On Sunday, me and my family are traveling down International Drive in Kississimee, FL., the big line of attractions/tourist traps near Disney & Universal Studios.  And we're looking for a go-kart track to drive on.  We find this three story wooden go-kart track and it was fun.  Just like the ones in Pigeon Forge, TN.  DAMN was the ride bumpy as I bobbed all over the place on those poor wooden planks which ate my dirt.  But, nonetheless, I continued on.  I lapped everyone too.  Kids were driving slow so I cut them off...all without bumping into them, of course!  Otherwise, those bums would've yelled and me and dragged me off the premises for "threatening to kill everyone."  No one's allowed to have fun anymore.

There was also an arcade at this place.  The arcade was decent--that is, if you enjoy Fast and the Furious very much.  I counted TWO Fast & Furious bike cabinets, FOUR Fast & Furious Drift cabinets, and THREE Deluxe Fast & Furious cabinets?  I mean, s***, do you really need THAT MANY FAST & FURIOUS GAMES???  No one was playing these games too.  Also, just for the lulz, I saw that one of the deluxe cabinets was missing a brake.  And none of them had manual gear shifters.  Not like you need either of those things, HAHA!!!  Seriously, I think I have more fun picking lint out of my pockets than I do playing this game.

The arcade did have Ghost Squad (2004) there and I played it for about six minutes.  I wasted two credits on it cause I accidentally shot the hostages (well I didn't know you had to hold the "special" button!).  Seriously, what an interesting game.  I played that cabin level and it was neat.  The machine gun controller was cooler than the traditional pistol weapon.  Main problem is that the screen wasn't in good shape...it was faded and the attract screen logo was burned in there too.  The same thing can be said about the 18 Wheeler game right adjacent to it.  So is it just me or is EVERY Sega arcade cabinet in poor condition???  Does anyone even bother with these arcade games anymore???

And why oh why does there have to be a Guitar Hero cabinet at the arcade too???  Do we really need MORE GUITAR HERO GAMES???  Go away, Raw Thrills, just...go away.  Can't take it anymore.  Friggin Fast and Furious & Guitar Hero in every arcade.  Well, at least we got Daytona 1/2, Scud Race, OutRun 2, etc. at home so it's not too bad.

I should mention there was a twin Sega Race TV cabinet there too and I played through it just once.  It was just as mediocre as my first experience was.  Game still makes zero sense to me this time.  I picked the Plymouth Hemi Cuda which has low top speed which meant that the AI would just sidle up to me near the finish line so I lost that way.  Man, this game is pissing me off too.

------------

Oh, and it gets even better!  So me and my family decide to go to Downtown Disney.  It's this boardwalk-style attraction with a bunch of stores with blaring Radio Disney tunes (including Aaron Carter who is apparently still relevant) everywhere.  We checked out the Lego store they had.  Nice store, but no Xalax Lego Racers so no dice--Lego sucks now.  Yeah sure, just make a bunch of Lego dragons & Toy Story characters and we'll be on good terms--ooookay.  Then they had all these purple lit-up bars with dubstep music.  Another EPAC FAIL LOLOLOLLO.  And this "section" of Downtown Disney was called "Pleasure Island."  Geez, hide the kids.  Cause I imagine there was booze and hookers all around there.

Then I discover this store (or section of a store) called Ridemakerz.  Yes, it has a "z" on the end.  And you go there to make your own RC car.  Oooooo, gotta check it out!  So you pick up a plastic frame for your car (it's about a foot long & six inches wide), give it to the guy, and he outfits it with parts.  I picked a blue & white stock car.  Oh hell yes, after all these years, I finally get a "decent" RC car to play with.  Should be fun to drive around FIEA and whatnot.

So I read somewhere on the shelf that each car costs $22 at bare minimum.  I'm not interested in purchasing the shiny rims or the red tires--I just want a normal RC car shaped like a standard stock car.  Guy puts the thing together and says "Would you like a remote control with that?" and I'm like "Huh?"  The remote control is an "optional" accessory that costs an extra $25.  Wait, so I was about to buy an RC car without a controller??  What the f***ing s*** is that all about?  So the price of my car just doubled from $25 to $50.  Oh silly me, I thought I was getting a good deal on something at Disney World.  HA, forget about it.  So I just left after waiting for 15+ minutes.  Hate this crap.  TBQH, the car actually looked pretty good so it's a damn shame I had to give it up.  Maybe for $40, I'd give in but $50 is too much.

Anyway, I kissed my mom and dad goodbye and now I'm back at home, ready to take on the world by myself once again.  Thanks Saints, thanks Fast & Furious, thanks Disney for ALMOST ruining my day.

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!

When Gaming Ceases To Be Fun

Why do people play video games?  Well, if you cut the philosophical crap (the desire to be powerful or break the rules, etc.), people play them to have fun.  The same reason why people to go parties, watch movies, sky dive, drive go-karts, make out, etc.  But somewhere down the line, it transfers from having fun to accomplishing goals.  In other words, you don't play to have fun, you play for the glory of accomplishing some goal, whether it be succeeding in something difficult or beating the crap out of your opponents.

Yes, it's entirely possible to have fun and try for goals at the same time--that's not a bad thing.  But the idea is that if you accomplish your goals, then you had fun.  If you don't, then you feel worse than before because you just wasted your time.

Let's take sports for instance.  So you're playing in a league and you should be having fun regardless.  But you lose a lot.  Is that fun?  Okay, now let's step it up to the big leagues.  You play football, work out, study, basically dedicate yourself to the sport.  You take a lot of big hits, are relatively unsuccessful, and the fans and ESPN hosts want you cut from the team.  Are you having fun?  Or even worse, you're a professional boxer or MMA fighter.  Do people like Brock Lesnar enjoy getting pummeled to death?  No, but they do it to win the prize--the glory of achievements.


"I'm too drunk to taste this chicken."

So what am I getting at.  I play a lot of Rock Band now.  It's really the only game nowadays that I dedicate myself to.  I play Pro Keys, this you should already know.  How my "career" works is simple--play a song, hit as many notes as possible to get a high score.  Just keep jumping from song to song to get higher on the leaderboards and make myself look as good as possible.

This is what all the pro Guitar Hero/Rock Band players do.  It gets really intense as people try to FC (hit 100% of notes without breaking your streak) songs that they become incredibly frustrated when their efforts are in vain.  On the other hand, when they do succeed, they're overjoyed, like a 40-year-old woman who just won a Dodge Viper on The Price is Right.  WARNING: Tons of profanity.



I've always said that people have "emotional chips" that they lay down on things, such as games--regardless of whether they have control over the outcomes, like sporting events.  Kind of like putting your eggs in one basket...  You bet more, the happier you are if you win and the sadder you are when you lose.  The only time I really won "big" in the emotional roulette is when I got my Cruis'n USA world record years ago.  My reaction was similar to those people above.  Imagine if the hours that I put into the game, I didn't get the record.  I would be pissed about all the time I wasted.  Reminds me of the time I tried speedrunning in Goldeneye for the N64--that was a huge failure.  Couldn't even get :23 on Runway Agent although the WR is now :22...

So recently, as I get into my RB3 Pro Keys sessions, I'm looking through songs to play.  Nowadays, my choices are very limited.  It's sad that I'll pass over songs I really like, such as Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Bill Joel because I've already played the crap out of it and it pisses me off or something of that nature.  Instead, a few days ago I made it my top priority to hit all the notes in Centerfold by J. Geils Band.  And for three hours, I failed and failed and failed, missing the glissandos which I could never do consistently.  I got a new high score and decided to walk away saying, "I did okay, let's cut our losses and run."  I was bitter that I failed to live up to my rivals.

I'm not saying this to act jealous or to demean the character of these people but damn, it can get frustrating at times to see other people effortlessly accomplish what you struggle to do.  Like all these good players going out there FCing every song like it's nothing.  I know it's just a game but it can be disheartening.  I have respect for those who act classy about it because we are human beings first and foremost.

And this does have to do with other games.  Back when I actually had the chance to play Daytona USA 2 (in 2004), I discovered the Marubaku videos and my frustration really compounded.  I became angered because I hardly ever improved over time like why am I being bothered with this?  Eventually you know how it ends--in 2005, the cabinet went bye bye and then I couldn't play the game for competition OR for fun.

Another sad excuse of a failure is Call of Duty: Black Ops.  I'm 11th prestige right now and that is sad.  Well, I currently have a 1.5 KDR in Team Deathmatch.  I like to call myself "good" but I go through many slumps.  I've already talked about FPS "skills" here.  I've played FPSes for YEARS and I really can't get over the hump.  I have experience and strategy, but I can't execute 100% of the time.  When I lose at the game, I feel that I've wasted my time, spending it to prop up some professionals at my expense.  Now I know what it feels like to be a "noob."  It is humbling to say the least.  This and Daytona 2--times when my skills would vanish for unknown reasons.  That's not fun.


Gotta go to your happy place...woah look out kids, this could get a little rugged...

And one more thing about achievements--I'm talking about achievement points.  Back in the day, I used to be an Achievement Point Hunter, buying games and upping my score.  I didn't like all the games I've played (thereby removing the "fun" element out of gaming again) but hearing that "badonk" from the chievos made it worthwhile.  But some games once I've unlocked every single achievement, I would just stop playing them.  Fight Night Round 3 was a good example--you had to beat all but the final tier of matches to get 1000/1000.  I hadn't finished the game but I didn't care--I just stopped playing it.  Good riddance.


Why is this video so quiet?  Overall, I think when games become unfun, we're shooting for something better...being loved.  Cause we want to feel good about ourselves.  But it's okay because Jesus has unconditional love for you regardless.  So go back out there AND DO WHAT YOU LIKE AND KICK AS MUCH ASS AS POSSIBLE.

So competition isn't necessarily a bad thing--it's the thing that drives the economy and brings out the best in us.  But when things that are mere entertainment become sources of grief and people are at each others' throats about it, then we need to step back and get a little peace of mind.  Those that get enveloped in the competition usually become so stressed they are twisted into a pretzel.  If that's the case, then I'm glad I'm not that much of a diehard competitor...

There's NASCAR Ads In My Counter-Strike!

You know you've seen it before.  In-game billboards for real-life products.  Sometimes, these ads are dynamic--they change whenever they the devs feel like it.  Guitar Hero 3 is a good example of this: I saw a JCPenney ad in the game.  Then later, it was replaced with a McDonald's ad--it said "Mocha Latte on Expert" or something.  Thankfully, Rock Band doesn't have these kinds of in-game ads.  Another reason why Rock Band rocks and Guitar Hero is dead.

About CS, the most popular map has to be de_dust2.  Everyone's playing it.  I've been too busy playing custom maps to notice Valve's little maneuver.  So slip an ad in there, don't even bother trying to conceal or rationalize its existence--just put it there and call it a day.  You can't even spray over these ads--they cannot be blocked.

NASCAR at Las Vegas...well, I took these pics on March 2.  The Sprint Cup Las Vegas race is March 6.  So these ads are constantly updated, you see.  Those "Gamehelper.com" banners are supposed to be part of the map and don't count.

Oh wait, there are also ads in de_dust (one)!!

And in de_aztec.

I also checked in a few other popular like de_nuke, de_inferno, and cs_italy but I didn't see any.

I have a few issues.  This is a game that takes place in a completely isolated locations.  Terrorists are planting bombs, blowing up crates, and getting shot at by specially-trained operatives.  And there's a BIG SIGN for a NASCAR race in the middle of the level.  Who put this thing here?  And why?  CS 1.6 is an old game that's no so popular anymore.  What about Source games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead?  And why is the ad an actual part of the level geometry as opposed to a little dashboard sprite icon?

But the biggest thing that baffles me is WHY a NASCAR race?  How many PC gamers are sitting there thinking, "Gee, NASCAR is really cool.  All those things we said about it being about rednecks, turning left, and crashes was wrong.  I see it as a legitimate event that I will watch for the longevity of its duration--all six hours of it."

I heard the Daytona 500 this year garnered good ratings.  They were advertising for it all over American Idol.  So I think the execs are really pushing hard for NASCAR to become more mainstream.

I wouldn't say I'm pissed off by these ads, it's more strange than anything.  I wonder what ads will be next.  But stick with custom maps anyway--variety is the spice of life.

Short-Term Events Of The FUTURE

EDITED 1 TIMES

Heh, I have a surprise for you: my birthday is in two days.  March 1.  Well, it depends.  I was really born on February 29 which is Leap Day.  Since it's not a leap year, I don't know whether to celebrate on Monday (Feb 28) or Tuesday (March 1).  I don't even know what I want for my birthday.  I just want to go eat at a nice restaurant and enjoy the company of my friends & family.  Oh and cash, LOTS AND LOTS OF CASH.  And toy cars.  And a Daytona USA 2 cabinet.

And then if that weren't crazy enough, on March 8, I'm going on a family vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.  I will also take a tour of the nearby Full Sail campus in Winter Park.  I hope it's good.  Road trips are the bane of my existence (10 hours).  But this I must do and I'll have fun and take lots of pictures.  I also have a 13-year-old brother who is also rambling about game design so he's stoked to visit Full Sail too.  I assume there will be internet connection wherever I go so I can post here in the meantime.

And March 8 is Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday) which means lots of parades here in Louisiana.  Now Mardi Gras is a French Catholic holiday which means lots of partying in the streets of New Orleans.  From January 6 to Fat Tuesday (which varies each year), they hold parades on city streets, usually on Sundays.  And at parades, people on floats throw stuff to screaming crowds.

I've yet to go to any parades this year--they throw too many cheap beads and doubloons.  And it's kind of funky, standing on a sidewalk next to a bunch of miscreants.  But I'm going to go to one before the Disney trip just for kicks.  Maybe I get a good haul--some stuffed animals, footballs, etc.  And take more pictures for the old Photobucket account!

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And if there's one more piece of news, it's that Guitar/DJ Hero DLC is making a comeback due to "fan support."  No way, this is BOGUS man.  Maybe, DJ Hero is at least something new so I can see why they'd revive that.  On the other hand, Guitar Hero has run its course and needs a complete series reboot after a LOOONNGGG period of waiting.  I really don't care what goes on with that "Hero" franchise anymore, do what you want Activision.

From article comments: Dropeti said, "Ah, ye old marketing strategy. Pretend you are going to take it away so that people realize they actually want it."   I think that sums it up.  EDIT: The DLC isn't going to last long--Activision is just finishing up on whatever they've yet to complete (one month's worth).  Ok, good, now go away GH.

There's Cheaters In GT5, Plus Guitar Hero RIP

There's a Gran Turismo 5 contest on Speed Channel.  Now I've never seen it, but apparently, it's being ruined by a "cheat" in which the driver is able to cut across the grass to shave seconds off lap times.



They should've implemented some sort of Forza system--go off-road or crash and your lap time is voided.  You'd think by the year 2011 that Polyphony Digital would've caught this, but they didn't.  Not using this as an excuse to trash GT5--it is what it is.  And now that this is a televised event, now the crap hits the fan.  They had to trash the last round of entries for this reason.

Now I've already talked about "cheating" in racing games before.  Wall bounce/riding in Gran Turismo, PGR, and any other racing sims.  Snaking in Mario Kart DS and F-Zero GX.  And Sega games aren't exactly foolproof either.  The most egregious example is the pit-stop glitch in Daytona USA--if you drive on the grey strip, you can bypass the pit process altogether.  Now this works on the Beginner and Expert courses.  It's certainly not easy to do, especially on a consistent basis, so it's not like I'm saying it takes no skill to do.  But it is a bit ridiculous, don't you agree?  I imagine this would be an easy fix.  Just a shame that AM2 didn't expect it in the slightest.

There's also wall-riding, especially in Daytona USA 2 (go down to #10).  Now this is an extreme example, but if there's something out of expected gameplay to take advantage of, you damn well know people will do it.  I'm repeating this, but please find a way to fool-proof the game.  The reason for this wall-rubbing is because it allows you to cruise at high speed for longer than usual and realign yourself on course predictably.

So what do we do?  Ok, so do the Forza 3 thing--crash and lap is voided AND/OR car performance drops.  Isn't that a bit extreme for an arcade racer?  Make crashes more punishing by losing more speed or grip?  Possibly, but how much harsher can this game get for the inexperienced?  I think the solution to wrecks would be to make the grip rebound less advantageous so that you use the brakes to slow down, not the wall.  Sega, let me get my hands on the source code and I'll figure it out.

That's a simple rant, talk amongst yourselves about it.  This is game design baby.  We fine tune our games like a Italian luxury car...we don't settle for anything less than 100%.

------------

Now this is another interesting story.  Once again, it proves how brilliant I am.  Back in December, I said that Guitar Hero was "dead."  Well guess what, it really is dead now.  This is coming out of the mouth of Activision!!!  The "best" scenario is that there won't be a Guitar Hero game for 2011 only.  But it's more than likely there will be nothing new out of it.  LEAVE THE MUSIC GENRE TO HARMONIX (ROCK BAND), THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES WHO KNOW HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY.


Guitar Hero (btw this song IS IN Rock Band)

UPDATE: 
No more new Guitar/DJ Hero DLC either
Harmonix "Weeps"

Activision also says it won't release a Tony Hawk game in 2011 either so another genre bites the dust (last TH game sold 3000 copies first week...let me reiterate: THREE THOUSAND).  They are also firing over 500 employees.  As someone who's on the brink of entering the game industry, I'm not going anywhere near these guys.  I really fear for Blizzard and Treyarch.  I mean, dammit man, this is why I say it's a "bad thing" when a game franchise becomes wildly popular.  They just screw it up cause it gets to their heads!  Trash, trash, trash, gaming is dead as we know it.

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Motorstorm: Apocalype, Lawyers, Lots Of Stuff, I'm Cryin'

First, I'd like to say that I feel somewhat distraught by making quite a few negative posts lately, especially one aimed at Daytona USA 2001.  I don't know if anyone's interested in this stuff--I get very little feedback.  For one thing, it's more "fun" to write negative material than positive, hence why you have people like Angry Video Game Nerd and Maddox the Pirate who constantly rip things a new a-hole.

But the main reason I brought up Daytona USA is because I genuinely care about the franchise...I could treat it like Blur or Split/Second and just gash it and go away, but I really want it to be good so I tell whoever what can be done to make it better.  Like if you ever have children, you want to correct and discipline them because you care and want them to be good.  I guess I criticize the state of racing games for that very reason.  I just hate how so much energy is put into so much junk and whatnot...

That concludes this message.

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I talked about Motorstorm: Apocalypse a while back in my violent/depressing video game rant and well, it rears its ugly head again.  You want me to come on here and criticize it--well, let's take a look at this six minute video:



Found the video from this Joystiq article.

Ok, so you can drive monster trucks, dune buggies, muscle cars, sports cars, ATVs, chopper bikes, whatever.  You and your gang has fun driving around an abandoned city as you dodge falling buildings, derailed trains, and pits of boiling lava (I made up that last one).  So it's like the last Motorstorm--just drive around, don't die, take multiple paths to the exit.  Oh yeah, and there's a few military contractors in the city trying to mow you down.  So not only do you get to crash and burn but you also get to run over people.  Sounds great!

I can't help but think I'm watching Michael Bay: The Racing Game.  It's Split/Second's bastard child.  Yes, it's obvious that these people put a lot of time and effort into making sure the game's good, but I think they missed the point...

See, most every racing game is on some extreme.  You got games that are "boring old sim racers," like Gran Turismo, Forza, Test Drive Unlimited, iRacing, etc.  Then on the other spectrum, you've got "OCD-blow-up stuff-in-your-face-crap" like Burnout, Split/Second, Motorstorm...  It's like there's very few games in that medium.  That's where the good Sega racers are--not too over the top, but not boring.  They're professionally-made games.  I think Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit may fit in this category too, but since that was made by Criterion, I'm not too certain it what's I'm looking for.

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When in doubt, sue someone:

Harmonix (Rock Band dev) sues Viacom (ex-Rock Band publisher).
Infinity Ward sues Activision who sues Electronic Arts over Medal of Honor/Call of Duty.

I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn't touch a big company like Activision or Viacom and expect to come out alive.  Hey, check this out.  New Call of Duty for 2011 announced.  This one's not by Infinity Ward (they're dead, remember?), it's by this new studio called Sledgehammer Games.  Who the hell is that?  Anyway, I really like Call of Duty, but it's going to get run into the ground eventually (if it hasn't already).  I'm really worried.  That and between Activision's habit of gashing game studios like that, I'd be afraid to work at Treyarch.  BTW, Black Ops just made $1 billion, so no, I don't think Activision will cut back in the slightest.  At leat the $15 DLC map packs will have four MP maps as opposed to three (including the obligatory zombie map).

Speaking of Activision, look at Guitar Hero (I'm jumping around a lot here).  Guess what--Guitar Hero is officially dead.  So while Rock Band gets gobs of DLC on a weekly basis, Guitar Hero gets like two or three songs a month.  And this month, Guitar Hero gets three Kiss songs, two that are playable in Rock Band (Detroit Rock City and Calling Dr. Love) and one in GH: Smash Hits (Rock and Roll All Nite).  So what's the point?  Combine that this year's GH: Warriors of Rock abysmal first month sales of 86,000 and there, it's dead.  Once again, Guitar Hero fanboys should thank Activision very much.

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I want to end this now, so I'm going to throw in three more quick links:

Gran Tursimo 5 Gets a 600mb Patch  - Adds some new features for online play such as stat tracking among others.  Hey, sounds great...waited all that time and they still need to fix it...doesn't sound good for Polyphony Digital.

Gears of War 3 Maps Will Be "Brighter" - Article goes on to say that the most popular GoW2 maps were the brightest and most colorful.  Hmm?  So people are getting tired of the grey, brown, and crimson red?  Now there is no 100% way to confirm that the color is the sole reason those maps are the most popular (it could be because those maps have better layouts, etc.) but still...cut the crap people.  We don't want to play this depressing garbage anymore.

Some Guy Talking About Sega Racing Classic - Old and nothing really new, but if you know little about this, read it.  Old Daytona USA cabinets needed to be repaired, some needing parts that aren't made anymore.  Daytona license costs too much.

The end.

Rock Band Myths EXPOSED And REBUKED

Sorry, I want to talk about Sega racers too, but I saw this article and I wanted to address something...

Music Games are on the decline...

In 2008, music games - think series like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, SingStar & DJ Hero - made over $1.6 billion. In 2009, that dropped by almost half, down to $870 million, and in 2010, well...things are looking even worse.

From January through to October, music games have yet to break the $250 million mark. Which considering this is a year which has seen Rock Band 3 (which is a great game), a new Guitar Hero game and a new DJ Hero title is dismal reading.

It's worth saying that I'm a big Rock Band fan who doesn't like Guitar Hero.  You know that.  Anyway, business is business and if people don't buy RB stuff anymore, then well, that's the way that it is.  It does suck that Viacom has sold Harmonix (which I talked about earlier) which means that Rock Band could be without financial support for a while.  This is when things get hairy, but not much I can do about it now.

But that's not the point.   There's some idiotic assertions that I hear quite often and I want to address them.  Here goes:

If the genre's profits are down, then it must mean the games suck. - Bull.  If anything, all the hyperactive little Guitar Hero 3/World Tour kids jumped ship so it's time for the REAL Rock Band fans to come through.  The newer Guitar Hero games tanked anyway so with their numbers down, it makes RB looks worse than it really does.

And another thing--you have to expect the number of peripherals sold to decrease over time.  I already own three RB guitars, two RB drums, and three USB microphones.  I just bought RB3 ($60) and skipped the keyboard ($80).  Most people already own the instruments so expect less profit to be made.  Makes sense, right?

It's only a party game. - Well, the name of the game is Rock BAND so naturally you will want to play with other people.  However, look at it this way--what OTHER games "need" multiplayer?  Let's look at Call of Duty, Halo, any FPS.  So you're just going to play the single-player campaign on your own?  Or are you going to play with other people?  So WHAT if some games are fun with other people?  You're right, cause it's more fun to just play my little RPGs all by myself.

And another thing--you don't need other people to play the game.  As a matter of fact, other people can be annoying.  Ever tried to play for high scores?  Ever tried challenging yourself?  Ever tried to take the game a bit more seriously than that one time you were drunk at your friend's house and you couldn't even hit 25% of the notes on Easy?  Look at Pac-Man, you're eating dots like you hit notes in RB.  So Pac-Man sucks because it doesn't have simultaneous multiplayer?  Screw it.

You want to know where the REAL GH/RB players are?  Check out Score Hero.

The music market is oversatured. - Thank Guitar Hero and Activision for releasing about five music games a year.  Also weird stuff like Power Gig and Rock Revolution.  Since Guitar Hero has the benefit of the name behind it, most people think Guitar Hero is the definitive standard while Rock Band is a ripoff.  However, it's the other way around.  So when Guitar Hero sucks, Rock Band takes a hit too.

And about Rock Band, you have a few recent titles.  You have RB: The Beatles which is a shrine to probably the most popular band in the world.  You've got Lego Rock Band and RB: Green Day which are moreso cop-outs but they at least focus on the material at hand rather than have 30 songs from the title band and another 30 from miscellaneous bands (see GH: Metallica/Van Halen).  Also you can import these songs (barring The Beatles) to major RB titles which makes them leagues over GH where new games are basically separate expansion packs with little connectivity to each other.  Pathetic on GH's part.

And if you want to see oversaturation, just look at all the FPSes available, there you go.  There's only a handful of decent music games while there a ton of viable FPSes.  FPSes up your ass.

There's nothing new to the series, just same-old, same-old. - Rock Band 3 added Pro Guitar/Bass, Pro Keyboards, Pro Drums.  It also added a bevy of other options (such as convenient No-Fail switch) that make the game more accessible to veterans of the series.

If you've been paying attention, then you'll see that Rock Band receives new DLC songs on a weekly basis.  Click here to see a big-ass list.  Currently over 2000 songs!  Now you're not stuck to playing the same 50-80 songs over and over again!

But seriously, take a look at Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, God of War.  Anything REALLY new about these games?  You get your guns or knives, you kill the other guys.  Maybe there's a few new maps and game modes, but nothing significant.  Besides, when significant changes are made, everyone hates them (ex. see MW2's "unbalanced" perks).  Also, sports games like Madden, NBA 2K whatever, same thing with a roster update and a few new touches every year.

What I'm trying to say is....why does Rock Band need to reinvent the wheel?  Why does it suck but other games are fine?  Really?

I don't see what's fun about playing little scrolling notes on the screen/It's repetitive. -  Have you ever tried to play the game past the Medium difficulty?  Ever play on Expert where you get your hands dirty with some big solos and tough chord changes?  If you play on Easy/Medium, most every song in the same.  But when you get to Hard/Expert, the game really becomes taxing.  Try playing for high scores too in solo and band play!  If scores are stupid, then why bother keeping score in ANY game you play?  Really...

Oh, and you don't necessarily have to play Guitar/Bass.  Try drums.  Everyone loves drums.  You have four pads and a foot pedal.  It's a completely different experience.  Or if you don't like that, try singing.  Yes, vocals are fun too.

And what makes it better is that you get to listen to some great music too!  You gotta feel the music, man.  I love incorporating some of my favorite Classic Rock hits into a challenging game...and no, Audiosurf doesn't count since it's not rhythm-based in the slightest.

And most of all, this is a game that really tests your SKILL...it's like sports, chess, card-stacking, what have you.  Not like Zelda or Final Fantasy where you read a guide beforehand and it gives you steps on what to do.  This is the purest form of gaming--play for high score and don't "die."  That's why it's quite intruging.

I get tired of playing the same songs over and over again. - Go buy some DLC.*  Buy Rock Band 1/2 and Lego RB and import songs to your RB3 library (you must get RB2/Lego new though).  You can easily up your library 250+ songs for a modest price.

See, this is what I appreciate about Rock Band.  They actually try to compile hundreds of songs in the same game.  MAJOR CONTENT OVERLOAD.  That makes me happy.  On the other hand, Guitar Hero has a bunch of extra games which act like expansion packs.  Want to play song X?  Well, pop in this CD.  Want to play song Y?  Oops, that's not on the game you have in now, turn off the game and put in another.  Rock Band 3 circumvents this to a grand extent (no Beatles and a few licensed songs)...you can play most every song you own in the game.  How sweet is that?

To be fair, GH5 has some import features, but lose so many songs due to licensing and the DLC library sucks.  GH is just weak when it comes to gathering a huge setlist.

Rock Band is ruining the music industry/It's for lazy people who want to play real instruments. - That's stupid.  I have zero interest in playing real guitar or being in a band.  My only musical experience comes from piano lessons for several years.  I want to hit those little notes and listen to music at the same time.  And if anything, playing Rock Band has enhanced my musical knowledge ten-fold.  I know plenty more bands than I did before.  So I have to thank Rock Band for what they've done.

I'm no good at it. - Go buy the game and practice.  Cry me a river.

I've played Rock Band and I just don't like it. -  Assuming you actually gave the game a fair shot, then there's no way that I can debate this.  It's like trying to persuade to like baseball or NASCAR--you can't strap them to a chair and force them to like it.  Just give the series some props while you're at it; that's all I ask.

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* -  Get started by checking out these sites for recommended DLC so you don't get duped into buying a "stupid" song:

DLC Quickplay, RBDLC, My Top 10 Recommended DLC

That's it.  If there's any other questions that I think of, then I'll address them.  Adios, will post other stuff later.

Viacom Sells Harmonix (Rock Band Devs)

 
BREAKING NEWS.  Viacom is the company that owns MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc.  Well, because the Rock Band franchise has supposedly lost money in the last three years and because the price is right, Viacom has sold Harmonix.  Hopefully, someone else will buy it, such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Apple, oh...ACTIVISION, as long as it keeps the RB series on life support.  Besides, Viacom is garbage anyway with its diehard YouTube video removal campaign.  And we all know that MTV is the epitome is evil/stupidity anyway.

This is somewhat startling news because of what happened between Activision and Red Octane (GH Developer).  Activision throttled the life out of the GH series and then closed down Red Octane.  Also, the newest Guitar Hero game (Warriors of Rock) absolutely bombed.

At least Harmonix still promises to continue work on the series while the studio is on the auctioning block.  This is somewhat relieving news since I'm a huge Rock Band fan (as you could tell) and it sucks that a studio that actually cared about its product so much almost assumed room temperature.  I just hope the choice of music doesn't suck because Harmonix is no long connected to the Viacom pipeline.  If Harmonix is bought by someone else, I'll let you know.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/11/rock-band-dance-central-dlc-ongoing-work-not-affected-by-viac/
http://kotaku.com/5687486/rock-band-will-still-be-rock-band-after-harmonix-is-sold

Even then, Rock Band has had a nice run so far so if the series were to die, then at least it did so with a sense of pride.

Worth mentioning about GH and RB history:  Guitar Hero 1 and 2 were made by Harmonix and Red Octane.  The two studios split afterwards.  Harmonix (under Viacom) made Rock Band while Red Octane (under Activision) made Guitar Hero 3 and then on.  So if you assume Rock Band is a crappy Guitar Hero clone, then you're wrong because the RB devs were there from the beginning.  The more you know.

Also check out my list of RB DLC you should and shouldn't buy.

Hitting The Proverbial Wall (Rock Band)

One of the games I cherish and consider one of my best (skill-wise) games is Rock Band.  The game is satisfying because it's one of the few games that the developers actually seem to care about--releasing tons of downloable content in the form of songs by all sorts of bands (click here for an entire list...over 2000 songs).  I invested some money into this game (about $300+).  I like playing Guitar/Bass and I usually have fun with it.  And screw Guitar Hero which has saturated the marketplace to the brim that now everyone detests music games when they really shouldn't.

Now I assume you know a little bit about Rock Band.  When you're on Guitar, you have the five fret buttons and you use the strum bar to hit the notes (the big notes anyway, the little ones you can hammer-on/pull-off without having to strum).  Hit notes and your Rock Meter goes up, miss and it goes down.  You can hit the white notes to get Overdrive which can be activated which gives significant boosts to your Rock Meter and makes it much easier to not fail.

I've never really talked about this until now, but I consider myself somewhat good at the game (on Guitar/Bass).  Now I've passed just about every difficult Guitar song there is on Expert--Satch Boogie, Rude Mood, Devil's Island, Warriors Of Time, Raining Blood (GH3), Through the Fire and Flames (GH3), etc.  I feel that is an accomplishment but something I don't like rubbing it in since I'm not the best anyway.  But then they come out with this one song that...I...can't...pass.


Bottom left corner is the Guitar notes.  This is an automated run NO ONE IS PLAYING.  All I have to say is %@#^@#$!*r@.@$%^!/+@3!.

The farthest I've made it is about 25% in (:52 in video), then I failed.  I think I've made it to 25% about 3 out of a 100 tries.  I don't even play it anymore, too hard, not worth beating myself up over it.  Even if I do make it significantly past 25%, the solo gets even worse around the 40-50% mark and then I would have no real chance.

But then there's people who FC (hit all the notes without overstrumming/ruining the combo) that song which is probably one of the greatest achievements for any Rock Band player.  Like this guy (WARNING: Some major profanity).

Now I'm not trying to be the best in the world since I don't even think I can handle the pressure even if I had the skill.  These people are so bent out of shape by the time it's done, I mean between feeling like jello from the tension and screaming extreme profanities, it's a form of masochism in and of itself.  Like I wish I could be better but without the extreme pain.  Great, but not the point of getting YouTube comments about "getting a life."

I'm not jealous.  Look, I'll just man up--I'm not great at this, some of you beat me, congrats.  It just makes me wonder why I keep trying when I really can't get any better.  I've been playing for months but I never really improve my scores/percentages.  I get pissed since one of the reasons to play is to improve yourself...but I can't do it.  I play online in a band (with random users) and we play cooperatively for high scores.  I usually do better than everyone I play with, but sometimes I run into another Guitarist/Drummer who just blows the others away.  Like I feel like I don't deserve to be there.

I don't talk about skill that much on this site since I feel that it just makes people hate each other more and it's about having fun and playing the game, not about bragging rights.  But sometimes it makes me kind of sad that I wasn't built for this kind of stuff.  Like when I set that supposed World Record on Cruis'n USA (which really isn't set in stone...it's not Twin Galaxies material and the site that had it saved is down now), it was probably one of my greatest moments cause I "finally did it."  Finally did something that no one else did, but now it's kind of stupid.  And I can assure you the process leading up the WR was anything but pleasant.  Just glad that my efforts paid off...if I wasted all that time and didn't get the WR, I would've been supremely pissed.

Look at it this way though.  One, records are meant to be broken and titles/accolades are meant to be taken away by someone else.  Let me give you an example.  Click on the site "The Elite" in my links page on the right.  This is for Goldeneye/Perfect Dark N64 world records and has a big following--I've been observing it for years cause it's quite cool.  There was this guy named Wouter Jansen from The Netherlands who had world record times in every level on Goldeneye, but now, he's been beaten by a bunch of other people.  Look at me, I'm the greatest!  You're on top of the world one day, an afterthought the next.  Also, look at athletes--you're young, you're doing good, then you get old and can't play anymore.  Two, do you think in ten or twenty years that these records are going to be THAT big of a deal?  Sad to say but it's probably true unless it's something REALLY big like an Olympic event, but that'll soon be beaten or will come to pass.

I don't mind if people are good, but when people gloat and insult other people, then I take real offense--just get out of my face, jerk.  There's more to life than this.  To be fair, some of these great players are pretty humble about it which makes me feel better.

Let us play to enjoy the game itself.  Playing to be good is fun and obviously, that should be your goal.  To me, games like Rock Band, Counter-Strike, Perfect Dark, Daytona USA (if I ever did have the chance to play) I try to excel.  But sometimes you get stuck and it really upsets you.  It hurts but if that's the case, then just move on--there's too much stuff in this world to do to be hung up on one little activity.  I mean, you have to draw the line SOMEWHERE or else you'll go insane.  Try different things, enjoy life.  It's not easy to do, I know--that's the breaks.

...besides, some stuff is deliberately made to be impossible, like this.  Challenge is one thing, but trying to go outside in a storm and dodge rain is another...screw it, just laugh it up.  This video's funny.  WARNING: More profanity.