I have a bunch of funny car/racing/Sega memes & gifs for you. Found 'em off random websites like GameFAQs, Reddit, every terrible website out there over the years. And since I'm too lazy to make an actual good post, this one's for you!
Because of the large number of pics, you must hit the jump to load the page. Don't want to crash anyone's browsers here.
Showing posts with label Hydro Thunder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hydro Thunder. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Sega & Midway Similarities: The Death Of Gaming Giants
I read a good article on SEGAbits detailing five reasons for Sega's recent woes and they are as follows:
1. Poor marketing
2. Poor scheduling
3. Terrible games from '05 to '08
4. Terrible Marvel games
5. Too many new IP's, not enough old ones
Right now we are all bummed out about Sega. But I cannot get too upset anymore. This is to be expected for Sega. I'm hoping this is a cathartic stage in that they'll turn around, albeit they'll have nothing to show for the next couple of years besides Football Manager and a few more Dreamcast ports. But you never know cause just when I think they couldn't be any dumber, they either totally redeem themselves or reach unprecedented levels of dumb-ness. It's a game of Chutes & Ladders and I can't guess where they'll be in 5-10 years.
And now for your feature presentation...
I did some research on Midway (and Atari and Williams) Games a few months ago. I should've brought it up sooner but now is a good time. You see, Sega and Midway had a lot of common. See this:
* Both were old-school distributors of arcade/amusement hardware, including slot machines, jukeboxes, and eventually bona-fide arcade cabinets.
* Both had their own "League of Legends." Midway: Ed Boon, John Tobias, Eugene Jarvis, and Mark Turmell. Sega: Yu Suzuki, Yuji Naka, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi.
* Both were prolific at arcade games. Both had their own lines of fighting, shooting, and (lots of) racing games. Mortal Kombat<->Virtua Fighter. Maximum Force & Area 51<->Virtua Cop. San Francisco Rush, Cruis'n Everything, Super Sprint, Spy Hunter, Hydro Thunder, STUN Runner<->Virtua Racing, Daytona, OutRun, look on the right side of the screen.
* Both were known for pushing the envelope in terms of edginess. While Sega had Sonic, Streets of Rage, Toejam and Earl, and all that "Sega does what Nintendon't" bullcrap, Midway had Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Smash TV, NBA Jam, and NFL Blitz.
* In the turn of the millennium, both got hit hard by the decline in arcades. In '99, Midway stopped manufacturing pinball machines and in '01, stopped manufacturing arcade games altogether. Sega also suffered the same fate but at a much slower pace (i.e. AM2 released OutRun 2 and Ghost Squad in '04, Sega still continues to make arcade hardware--Ringedge & Ringwide--though it's awfully underutilized).
* Both were "bailed out" by private investors following the arcade heyday. In '03, American media magnate Sumner Redstone bought a majority of Midway's stocks. In that same year, Sammy Corporation bought out Sega.
* Both their "League of Legends" bailed out to create new studios. John Tobias left to create Studio Gigante. Eugene Jarvis left to create Raw Thrills. Yu Suzuki left to create YS Net. Yuji Naka left to create Prope. Tetsuya Mitzuguchi left to create Q Entertainment.
* Both lost a s***-ton of money & prestige during that period. Sega obviously lost billions for years after the Dreamcast debacle. Midway lost $115 million in '03 as they began shutting down studios, including Midway Games West and Midway Adelaide, that same year.
* Both published a ton of mediocre games since then. In Midway's case, this included BlackSite: Area51, Vin Diesel's Wheelman and Psi-Ops. In Sega's case, the Marvel games are a great example.
However, unlike Sega, Midway actually did go bankrupt. In '07 and '08, there was a revolving door of higher-ups getting their asses kicked out the door. In '09, Midway defaulted on its $240 million debt and crumbled into a million pieces only to be devoured by Warner Bros. for a measly $49 million. At that point, Midway's stock were worth less than a dollar. Rumor has it that whatever remaining Midway execs were devouring caviar and wine while "Rome" burned.
If there's any good news to be had post-Midway, it's that their franchises aren't completely dead. High-quality Mortal Kombat games are still being produced by Warner Bros. NBA Jam and NFL Blitz got remakes from Electronic Arts. Hydro Thunder got a remake for Xbox Live. And, love it or hate it, the Cruis'n games made a comeback in the form of multiple Fast & Furious games for arcades (including a terrible Wii port).
The good news is that Sega's "death" has been a much slower process, mostly because Sega still has Japan's support while Midway only had America to rely on. I only hope that Sega learns from Midway in that they aren't eating the caviar while their company continues to die. I think the changes they've made says "Well, we know we suck but at least we're going to do something about it," which demonstrates more maturity than Midway ever did IMO.
Also, I was thinking about Sega and what we would do if they actually did perish from this earth. Would it be THAT terrible? All those IP's don't just disintegrate into thin air--they are still in existence. Midway's prime IP's still get love today. Who's not to say Sega's old IP's couldn't get the same recognition? Maybe someone else will give Sonic their dues. Maybe someone else will actually bring back Daytona. Maybe Yu Suzuki will be able to make Shenmue 3 no longer bounded by the shackles of Sega-Sammy.
To be disappointed with Sega's death would mean to be disappointed that they missed the opportunity to return to "glory." Yet clearly as of their condition today and the trends in game design it's very unlikely this'll occur even if they remain alive for a long time. Everyone says that today's Sega is only a hollow shell of their former selves and will continue to be mediocre regardless of what happens. I hope I'm proven wrong and that Sega and the fans stay resolute. It's always great to remain optimistic but, as you've heard plenty of times, it's necessary to prepare for the worst.
"No society is guaranteed perpetual existence." - Mark Levin
Still we have faith that Sega will live and by God, even past the grave they will.
1. Poor marketing
2. Poor scheduling
3. Terrible games from '05 to '08
4. Terrible Marvel games
5. Too many new IP's, not enough old ones
Right now we are all bummed out about Sega. But I cannot get too upset anymore. This is to be expected for Sega. I'm hoping this is a cathartic stage in that they'll turn around, albeit they'll have nothing to show for the next couple of years besides Football Manager and a few more Dreamcast ports. But you never know cause just when I think they couldn't be any dumber, they either totally redeem themselves or reach unprecedented levels of dumb-ness. It's a game of Chutes & Ladders and I can't guess where they'll be in 5-10 years.
And now for your feature presentation...
I did some research on Midway (and Atari and Williams) Games a few months ago. I should've brought it up sooner but now is a good time. You see, Sega and Midway had a lot of common. See this:
* Both were old-school distributors of arcade/amusement hardware, including slot machines, jukeboxes, and eventually bona-fide arcade cabinets.
* Both had their own "League of Legends." Midway: Ed Boon, John Tobias, Eugene Jarvis, and Mark Turmell. Sega: Yu Suzuki, Yuji Naka, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Tetsuya Mitzuguchi.
* Both were prolific at arcade games. Both had their own lines of fighting, shooting, and (lots of) racing games. Mortal Kombat<->Virtua Fighter. Maximum Force & Area 51<->Virtua Cop. San Francisco Rush, Cruis'n Everything, Super Sprint, Spy Hunter, Hydro Thunder, STUN Runner<->Virtua Racing, Daytona, OutRun, look on the right side of the screen.
* Both were known for pushing the envelope in terms of edginess. While Sega had Sonic, Streets of Rage, Toejam and Earl, and all that "Sega does what Nintendon't" bullcrap, Midway had Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Smash TV, NBA Jam, and NFL Blitz.
* In the turn of the millennium, both got hit hard by the decline in arcades. In '99, Midway stopped manufacturing pinball machines and in '01, stopped manufacturing arcade games altogether. Sega also suffered the same fate but at a much slower pace (i.e. AM2 released OutRun 2 and Ghost Squad in '04, Sega still continues to make arcade hardware--Ringedge & Ringwide--though it's awfully underutilized).
* Both were "bailed out" by private investors following the arcade heyday. In '03, American media magnate Sumner Redstone bought a majority of Midway's stocks. In that same year, Sammy Corporation bought out Sega.
* Both their "League of Legends" bailed out to create new studios. John Tobias left to create Studio Gigante. Eugene Jarvis left to create Raw Thrills. Yu Suzuki left to create YS Net. Yuji Naka left to create Prope. Tetsuya Mitzuguchi left to create Q Entertainment.
* Both lost a s***-ton of money & prestige during that period. Sega obviously lost billions for years after the Dreamcast debacle. Midway lost $115 million in '03 as they began shutting down studios, including Midway Games West and Midway Adelaide, that same year.
* Both published a ton of mediocre games since then. In Midway's case, this included BlackSite: Area51, Vin Diesel's Wheelman and Psi-Ops. In Sega's case, the Marvel games are a great example.
However, unlike Sega, Midway actually did go bankrupt. In '07 and '08, there was a revolving door of higher-ups getting their asses kicked out the door. In '09, Midway defaulted on its $240 million debt and crumbled into a million pieces only to be devoured by Warner Bros. for a measly $49 million. At that point, Midway's stock were worth less than a dollar. Rumor has it that whatever remaining Midway execs were devouring caviar and wine while "Rome" burned.
If there's any good news to be had post-Midway, it's that their franchises aren't completely dead. High-quality Mortal Kombat games are still being produced by Warner Bros. NBA Jam and NFL Blitz got remakes from Electronic Arts. Hydro Thunder got a remake for Xbox Live. And, love it or hate it, the Cruis'n games made a comeback in the form of multiple Fast & Furious games for arcades (including a terrible Wii port).
The good news is that Sega's "death" has been a much slower process, mostly because Sega still has Japan's support while Midway only had America to rely on. I only hope that Sega learns from Midway in that they aren't eating the caviar while their company continues to die. I think the changes they've made says "Well, we know we suck but at least we're going to do something about it," which demonstrates more maturity than Midway ever did IMO.
Also, I was thinking about Sega and what we would do if they actually did perish from this earth. Would it be THAT terrible? All those IP's don't just disintegrate into thin air--they are still in existence. Midway's prime IP's still get love today. Who's not to say Sega's old IP's couldn't get the same recognition? Maybe someone else will give Sonic their dues. Maybe someone else will actually bring back Daytona. Maybe Yu Suzuki will be able to make Shenmue 3 no longer bounded by the shackles of Sega-Sammy.
To be disappointed with Sega's death would mean to be disappointed that they missed the opportunity to return to "glory." Yet clearly as of their condition today and the trends in game design it's very unlikely this'll occur even if they remain alive for a long time. Everyone says that today's Sega is only a hollow shell of their former selves and will continue to be mediocre regardless of what happens. I hope I'm proven wrong and that Sega and the fans stay resolute. It's always great to remain optimistic but, as you've heard plenty of times, it's necessary to prepare for the worst.
"No society is guaranteed perpetual existence." - Mark Levin
Still we have faith that Sega will live and by God, even past the grave they will.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Yes, A New Sega Rally Game Indeed (Revo Stories, Bad Peripherals)
Happy February everbody. Sega Rally Online Arcade is real and it's coming out soon. Click here.
Just as I expected, it looks like Sega Rally Revo. Well, according to the Joystiq article, it's supposed to be a brand new game--an amalgamation of Sega Rally 3 and Sega Rally Revo, both made by Sega Racing Studio. Now what the heck that means, I don't know. I have to plead ignorance here cause I know nothing about Sega Rally 3 (it is an arcade exclusive, after all). I wonder what it'll do differently than Revo, if anything at all. Or just a straight port kind of like OutRun Online Arcade--basic stuff with online features.
Judging from the screenshots I've seen, there doesn't appear to be any new cars or tracks so it looks like Revo stuff recycled again. Look at the tarmac screenshot above--that's the canyon level where you drive on the dam--I remember that part...
Ok, that's all I have to say about this new release. EDIT: Read my review here.
------------
Speaking of Sega Rally Revo, I did play the crap out of that game and managed to get all the achievements except "1st Place Every Event In The Game." I managed to beat the last event using the Lancia Stratos because the AI went into God Mode in the latter races so I had to hold on to my ranking, finishing 1st in the first race then 2nd in the next 3 races. So that was a pain in the ass.
And this is a true story way back around '08-'09. There are still people playing this game trying to vie for leaderboard rankings. You know, that Xbox Live skill ranking: 1 through 60. So I was playing the game minding my own business when a good friend F40 offered to help me boost for the 10 Online Wins achievement. So I beat him 10 times in a row, got the achievement, it's all good. However, my ranking score soared to 30+ which was enough for me to get in the Top 10 in the world.
Then I started getting tons of spam from other players--"hey, help me boost for a high ranking cause my friends cheated me, blah blah blah." Some even bribed me with Microsoft Points (which I didn't believe). It's stupid. It's a damn leaderboard--if you want to win, do it yourself. I had to piss off a few people who are like "eff you man" cause I refused, but who cares. That was very un-Sega like if I say so myself.
------------
Oh hell, I was looking at Kotaku again and there was this informative article on the Sega Activator. Now I've learned a lot about old video games by just browsing around the internet (Angry Video Game Nerd, for one), but I must've forgot about this piece of equipment for the Sega Genesis:
Kotaku Article
This is basically the Kinect back in 1993. And it sucked. Much like many of the peripherals that Nintendo came up with, like the Power Glove and the Virtual Boy. Seriously, Sega, can't believe you got high off the idea of coming up with new ways to play games when in the end, they just want to use the regular ass controller. Screw it, wasted man power.
Sega = Guinea Pig Test Subject, come out with something "new," get ripped to shreds, then other people fall into the same trap. Remember the new Sega theme song. Sega, plowing ahead, getting our ass kicked before everyone else does.
Speaking of which, this Sega Activator thing reminds me of something else... Ever heard of this Rock Band knockoff, Power Gig? It came out a year ago and now it's trash. Anyway, one of the gimmicks for it was...get ready for it...an air drumset. Wow, outstanding.
Even if this thing work 100% as expected, isn't rebound supposed to be an important asset to drumming anyway? Good luck trying to play a Blink 182 song while swinging at air.
------------
Ok, I'm getting carried away so I'll leave you with one more thing--Hydro Thunder XBLA on sale (800 MSP) for one week only. Now I don't recommend you buying it, but I do need to score points with the Midway crowd so there you go.
PS: New episode of Million Dollar Money Drop: Feb. 1st, 9 pm, 8 pm CT (after Glee), on Fox!!!! It's back, baby!!!
Just as I expected, it looks like Sega Rally Revo. Well, according to the Joystiq article, it's supposed to be a brand new game--an amalgamation of Sega Rally 3 and Sega Rally Revo, both made by Sega Racing Studio. Now what the heck that means, I don't know. I have to plead ignorance here cause I know nothing about Sega Rally 3 (it is an arcade exclusive, after all). I wonder what it'll do differently than Revo, if anything at all. Or just a straight port kind of like OutRun Online Arcade--basic stuff with online features.
Judging from the screenshots I've seen, there doesn't appear to be any new cars or tracks so it looks like Revo stuff recycled again. Look at the tarmac screenshot above--that's the canyon level where you drive on the dam--I remember that part...
Ok, that's all I have to say about this new release. EDIT: Read my review here.
------------
Speaking of Sega Rally Revo, I did play the crap out of that game and managed to get all the achievements except "1st Place Every Event In The Game." I managed to beat the last event using the Lancia Stratos because the AI went into God Mode in the latter races so I had to hold on to my ranking, finishing 1st in the first race then 2nd in the next 3 races. So that was a pain in the ass.
And this is a true story way back around '08-'09. There are still people playing this game trying to vie for leaderboard rankings. You know, that Xbox Live skill ranking: 1 through 60. So I was playing the game minding my own business when a good friend F40 offered to help me boost for the 10 Online Wins achievement. So I beat him 10 times in a row, got the achievement, it's all good. However, my ranking score soared to 30+ which was enough for me to get in the Top 10 in the world.
Then I started getting tons of spam from other players--"hey, help me boost for a high ranking cause my friends cheated me, blah blah blah." Some even bribed me with Microsoft Points (which I didn't believe). It's stupid. It's a damn leaderboard--if you want to win, do it yourself. I had to piss off a few people who are like "eff you man" cause I refused, but who cares. That was very un-Sega like if I say so myself.
------------
Oh hell, I was looking at Kotaku again and there was this informative article on the Sega Activator. Now I've learned a lot about old video games by just browsing around the internet (Angry Video Game Nerd, for one), but I must've forgot about this piece of equipment for the Sega Genesis:
Kotaku Article
This is basically the Kinect back in 1993. And it sucked. Much like many of the peripherals that Nintendo came up with, like the Power Glove and the Virtual Boy. Seriously, Sega, can't believe you got high off the idea of coming up with new ways to play games when in the end, they just want to use the regular ass controller. Screw it, wasted man power.
Sega = Guinea Pig Test Subject, come out with something "new," get ripped to shreds, then other people fall into the same trap. Remember the new Sega theme song. Sega, plowing ahead, getting our ass kicked before everyone else does.
Speaking of which, this Sega Activator thing reminds me of something else... Ever heard of this Rock Band knockoff, Power Gig? It came out a year ago and now it's trash. Anyway, one of the gimmicks for it was...get ready for it...an air drumset. Wow, outstanding.
Even if this thing work 100% as expected, isn't rebound supposed to be an important asset to drumming anyway? Good luck trying to play a Blink 182 song while swinging at air.
------------
PS: New episode of Million Dollar Money Drop: Feb. 1st, 9 pm, 8 pm CT (after Glee), on Fox!!!! It's back, baby!!!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead? (Midway/Cruis'n Games/etc.)
Feb '09, Midway declared bankrupcy (which explains why Midway games like Smash TV, Paperboy, and Root Beer Tapper were taken on XBLA). Apparently, today, all the studios are gone forever or are sold to someone else, as you can tell by the Midway logo in the trash can. I'm going to say a few words--I'm not going to kick the company while its down but I'm not going to give an eulogy either.
BUT FIRST, let me just say that I'm going into the Cruis'n series quite a bit here. Before you all call me a fanboy, a whiner, a stupid idiot who doesn't know anything, let me just say that I have played A TON of Cruis'n World and Cruis'n USA in arcades and on the N64. I sat there with my little N64 racing wheel and got 9,999 points on Cruis'n World, unlocked the Speed Demon as well as all the other cars (except for the Tommy which I think is impossible). I also set a world record on Cruis'n USA which I think may have been beaten right about now, but since the site that held the record has disappeared, it's really nothing right about now. What I'm trying to say is that I've spent a copious amount of time playing these games so you can't say I don't know anything about them.
Probably the hardest track in the history of racing games.
Midway has always been a punching bag of mine, mostly because of its IMO mediocre Cruis'n series which has turned Sega racing games into an endangered species as far as I'm concerned. That latter reason is why I take this a little personally, otherwise it can exist all it wants and I don't care. But you kind of have to give Midway some credit for they've really pushed arcades ahead in America such as Paperboy, Smash TV, Root Beer Tapper, Defender, Joust, Gauntlet, etc. They were kind of a "we make whatever games we want and you can't tell us otherwise" developer. Plus they've released a ton of their arcade games in their Arcade Treasures series (although the emulation wasn't 100% perfect).
Cruis'n Series: There's Cruis'n USA, Cruis'n World, and Cruis'n Exotica, three arcade games that came home on ports for various consoles. John Marine wrote a pretty good article on this here. Well, what's my problem with these games? Well, let me go with what I really don't like about it...
* It's a twitch racer. Basically, the main difficulty with the game is not hitting the driving lines, instead its simply reacing to turns and oncoming traffic. Most tracks anyway, some like Chicago and Redwood Forest in Cruis'n USA are insanely difficult.
* No need to use the brake at all. Very little need for skill and not much room to improve yourself. Flips, barrel rolls, etc take some skill to do but that's about it.
* Collision detection. If you're driving along and you make a little love tap with another racer, just flip two coins, one for yourself, one for the other guy. If the coin lands on heads, spin out. If tails, lose about 2 mph and keep going. Basically, it's just like a random integer that causes you to spin out for no reason whatsoever. For some reason, the likelihood of a spinout is much less in Cruis'n USA which means it got worse then on IMO.
* Rubber band AI. OH MAN DO I HATE THIS. You can be in the lead, cruis'n, first place, not doing anything wrong, hitting whatever racing lines may exist, but the computer will still be riding your ass the whole way. Sometimes when I'm playing this (this is mostly in the arcade version for obvious reasons) I lose and it just makes me want to punch the screen. And another thing Midway has the kindness to do is offer a "free race" to those who come in first, but you might as well play a light stopper game if you want freebies.
* Time limit is too generous. Races are too short, some lasting at least 1:30 or longer, depending on how well you drive.
* This one's for the arcade versions of Cruis'n World and Exotica, I'm looking right at you. When you're on the Kenya track or whatever, little sprite animals like zebras and elephants can wander right out onto the track. What happens when you hit them? They explode into blood chunk giblets that fly all over the place. PETA should've sued Midway for this. Anyway, I might've found this entertaining...if I were a five year old who likes making farting noises with my armpits and making death threats against Barney the Dinosaur.
NEW FOOTAGE:
About as gruesome as a shotgun-wielding lunatic at a furry convention.
On the other hand, there's a few good things I can say about the Cruis'n games and that is it's got a decent "vibe." Like it's a game that doesn't take itself seriously. Good music, good menus, cool cars, a decent sense of speed. It's not the worse game I've ever played...but at someone whose standards are way up high, I don't know, I just can't take it at all.
Cruis'n USA came out in '94, nearly the same time as Daytona USA and Ridge Racer.
The original Cruis'n USA had a Ferrari Testarossa, '63 Corvette Stingray, a Jaguar XJ220, and some weird '30's Chevy...thing. The cars were cool and the music was good which IMO makes Cruis'n USA the best in the series. That was before the series took a dive into Darth Vader territory with a bunch of ridiculous cars like little Beetles, Hummers, that 3-wheel truck thing, as well as flips and stuff which really make zero sense in any racing game as far as I'm concerned. This game even has drifting which really doesn't make any sense other than to do heli spins moves.
Like I said about the Cruis'n games, they're games that you can't take seriously. I mean, when I'm playing Daytona USA or OutRun, I always gotta do my best, but here, it's just stupid fun. But that's the main problem--it's something that NO ONE takes seriously! It's a game that the average Joe arcade gamer throws money at and then quits because they don't feel like playing a game like Daytona USA and busting their ass to get better at it. And that's why I think the Cruis'n games are dominating the arcades. And that's why I have a vendetta against them.
Everything Else: I could've gone into a long list of games but since this article's too long anyway, let's just sum it up quickly.
Mortal Kombat, their most prized possession. Personally, despite the violence, I never saw it as that great of a fighting series because it mostly ran on the blood gimmick. The later 3d series has really improved it's visage when compared to serious contenders like Street Fighter, Tekken, etc. Not going to comment much since fighting games aren't my forte.
NFL Blitz and NBA Jam, not bad. They got numerous home ports (including a new NBA Jam game coming soon) and they are pretty goofy. Although I prefer NFL Street, Blitz is basically rugby with QBs and RBs throwing the ball 50 yards with a perfect spiral and late hits and all that crap. Still, it's good fun and it's pretty easy to pick up. NBA Jam, fun too. Decent sports games.
San Francisco Rush, probably their best game IMO. Decent racing game with low gravity, the tracks are cool, tons of secrets. And get this, YOU HAVE TO USE THE BRAKES. Rush 2049 is a good arcade game that actually warrants some replay value (finding coins, gaining miles), but it didn't last long. Too bad the N64 versions were graphically underwhelming even by N64 standards.
Rampage, basically you play as three Godzilla-sized monsters and go punch buildings and eat people. Game really makes zero sense whatsoever but I can see little kids getting a kick out of it. The game basically becomes a "don't lose your HP" game as tanks and helicopters shoot you up and I never really could do anything to stop it. So yeah, this one's stupid. BAD.
Area 51 and Lethal Enforcers, compared to Time Crisis and Virtua Cop, this one's just laughable. There's no way to avoid getting hit so it's really up to level memorization to beat the game. At least there's a few cool secret items and rooms and crap.
Hydro Thunder, everyone knows about this one. It's a boat racer which is pretty cool and it's basically in every arcade in the world. It's one of Midway's best products, but I'm not bombastic all over it. Check out the new H2O Overdrive for arcades or the Hydro Thunder game for XBLA if you're so inclined.
California Speed, the bastard child of Cruis'n World and San Franciso Rush. It's basically like Rush but you can't blow up and are glued to the road. It's got some crazy locales like Silicon Valley and Mojave Desert which leads to environments such as large supercomputers, UFOs, volcanoes, large shopping malls, roller coasters, etc. It's still a pretty crappy game though.
Revolution X, remember this gem? It's got Aerosmith in it, but still, not even they can save it. Why AEROSMITH WHY??
Remember, music is the weapon.
Primal Rage, a bunch of dinosaurs punching each other in a blood bath to the death. Evo and Major League Gaming is considering adding this one to their lineup.
I could really go on, but that's about it. After '09, Ed Boon (Mortal Kombat creator) continues to work at the old Midway Chicago studio under Warner Bros. Eugene Jarvis (Cruis'n creator) bailed out and created his own company called Raw Thrills where he can spam Cruis'n and Area 51 clones to screw us over in the 21st century! Fast and the Furious = game of the century. So I guess you can say Midway really isn't "dead."
Anyway, bankrupcy can be bad and there's probably some Midway fans hurting right about now. But what if something like this happened to Sega? Didn't they come close to biting the bullet after the Dreamcast? I don't know, it's just something scary to think about. If Sega is gone, not only would you lose Daytona USA, but any chance of sequels! Plus Sonic the Hedgehog, which would make tons of kids and the UK cry. I'm outta here, adios.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Racing Game Trifecta (Light 'Em Up)
I would've posted yesterday, but I was feeling sick and not up to it.
I wanted to talk about three popular racing games: Blur, Split/Second, and the new Hydro Thunder out for Xbox Live. I played the demo for all three and I'm going to talk about them. You might say "Stop hating Eric" but to be fair, none of these games are that bad, just let me say something.
Split/Second:
If you don't know, the premise is you drive through a city or something. You gain "boost" by drafting other cars, drifting, catching air, etc. When your boost gets high enough, you can hit the "Powerplay" button to destroy something next to an opponent ahead of you to inhibit his progress. Examples include buildings rigged to blow and bombs dropped from helicopters.
You can choose to save up double the boost though and use a "Super Powerplay" powerup that literally destroys an airport terminal, drops a nuke, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks the track or something, etc. You can alternatively use this to open up new parts of the track--destroying the road to reveal an underground parking garage, etc.
The best thing about the game is the track design which has some good details. However, the track layout is kind of confusing. Just like Burnout, you have trouble telling that you're coming up to a barrier or something so you just bounce around off the wall. The wreckage that sells the game isn't even that exciting, like I came in first three times in the demo, got a big lead, and nothing really happened, I just cruised, that's all.
Car handling is bland, like Need for Speed except the car weighs like over 5000 lbs/2250 kg or something so it just chugs around. Also, the generic cars (Ford GT40's, Vipers, Aston Martins, whatever) that display little car damage really aren't that cool either and I feel emotionally unattached from it.
I can imagine this game being forgettable within a week or two. Yeah, this game seems built for the hyperactive MTV watching little kid who loves watching stuff blowing up.
http://www.giantbomb.com/splitsecond/61-25523/reviews/
^ Somehow, looking of that pic of Ryan Davis getting all giddy over Split/Second is the equivalent of how I would feel if I were to fall through a trap door into a tub of dog piss. Really.
Blur:
Made by Bizzare Creations, the people who made Project Gotham Racing and Metropolis Street Races, comes Call of Duty: the Racing Game. Really. This game has 20 players max, you gain XP, level up, and unlock new cars and "perks." That's right, you can get "perks" in the game. You get powerups by driving through Mario Kart-like items for flying nukes, mines, little machine gun things, boosts, and health pickups. Every time you get hit, you lose a bit of health and if you lose all your health, you blow up and lose a lot of time.
The game has cool menu music and it has real cars in it so that's a plus. Playing with 15+ people is just hectic though. The "first turners" just smash into you, don't bother to brake, good little Cruis'n-trained kids. I came in first twice out of eight races so you can't say that I suck and I don't know how to play. The track design is kind of confusing, especially that outdoor one with the dirt roads. Oh well, not that confusing once you play it several times. I just wish there were some daytime courses since night tracks are cool at first, but it just makes me sick after a while.
To get XP, you drift, win races, blow up other cars, etc. Really, this XP thing has been run into the ground already. The last thing I need is to feel like a hamster running on the wheel getting fed pellets cause I drove around bouncing off the walls.
The car handling is kind of like Split/Second too, only modestly better since the sense of speed is better and you can hit the braking lines and stuff, although there are theories that bouncing off the damn walls is better than actually trying to race normally. I enjoyed Project Gotham Racing a lot more than this IMO. Better than Split/Second, just let it go.
Hydro Thunder:
In sort of a "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" kind of moment, the Hydro Thunder fans get their game remade for Xbox Live with all new content. As a Daytona fan, I'm kind of envious, but even though I'm someone who gets a modest amount of enjoyment out of Hydro Thunder on the DC, I can say this port is kind of disappointing in terms of content.
Hydro Thunder is really the only good racing game on water besides maybe that jet ski game on the Nintendo 64. You pick from a few boats and tracks and have at it. You pick up boosts, hit shortcuts, and try not to get blown up or run into the wall. Tracks are two-minute long sprints to the finish as you go from point A to B.
Controls are actually kind of cool since steering a boat is dramatically different than a car cause you're at the whim on the waves. Sometimes I end up missing boosts because I'm floating about so I guess I should practice if I want to take this seriously. However, another element is track memorization since hidden paths and boosts can give you a huge advantage. In a disappointing turn, it seems that the boats are slower this time around as if to make you more aware of your surroundings. I thought it made the game more boring.
There's only eight tracks in this game. Because you can play any track on online multiplayer and bypass the stupid demo locks, I got to see the last two tracks in the game, Area 51 and Seoul Waterways (on the way to the BIG Starcraft 2 tournament). I'm kind of disappointed in both. The Area 51 track has a UFO and a portal to an alien planet, but it's a short "oooh, aaahhh" moment. Seoul seemed kind of bland, like you race by a few buildings in a concrete waterway. I thought the tracks in the original Hydro Thunder were more interesting. Nile Adventure from the original was awesome, but even Area 51 which was supposed to be the quintessential track in this game was kind of lame. There's this Mayan ruins track in this game though which sounds more promising but I haven't seen it yet.
Also I forgot to mention one thing--the boat balance. The beginner boats are so slow--I mean you can pick up a fast boat and still kick some ass even if it's hard to handle. I played Area 51 online twice and I just got dominated in a slow boat but nearly won in a fast boat despite my quality of driving both times were both lousy. DAMN the Torpedoes, Miss Behave, consider yourselves worthless. Also, where's all the fun boats like the Chumdinger, the little wooden boat with the fisherman and the dog and the trolling motor? There's a rubber ducky boat, but come on. How can you top this:
Yeah, I know this is a 1200 MSP game, but still I think there's many who would be willing to pay much more for a lot more content. I'm not gonna lie, this game has some potential but I think they squandered it somewhat here.
Conclusion: Call me picky, call me a fanboy, I don't care. I'm just calling it how I see it. All games are okay but none of them make me brimming with excitement. Like they feel like your standard racing game that comes and goes. Okay, maybe not Hydro Thunder which is kind of cool. You may like a few and that's ok. For me, just wait it out for the big fish, like the AWESOME DAYTONA USA COMPILATION coming when Duke Nukem Forever is released.
I wanted to talk about three popular racing games: Blur, Split/Second, and the new Hydro Thunder out for Xbox Live. I played the demo for all three and I'm going to talk about them. You might say "Stop hating Eric" but to be fair, none of these games are that bad, just let me say something.
Split/Second:
If you don't know, the premise is you drive through a city or something. You gain "boost" by drafting other cars, drifting, catching air, etc. When your boost gets high enough, you can hit the "Powerplay" button to destroy something next to an opponent ahead of you to inhibit his progress. Examples include buildings rigged to blow and bombs dropped from helicopters.
You can choose to save up double the boost though and use a "Super Powerplay" powerup that literally destroys an airport terminal, drops a nuke, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks the track or something, etc. You can alternatively use this to open up new parts of the track--destroying the road to reveal an underground parking garage, etc.
The best thing about the game is the track design which has some good details. However, the track layout is kind of confusing. Just like Burnout, you have trouble telling that you're coming up to a barrier or something so you just bounce around off the wall. The wreckage that sells the game isn't even that exciting, like I came in first three times in the demo, got a big lead, and nothing really happened, I just cruised, that's all.
Car handling is bland, like Need for Speed except the car weighs like over 5000 lbs/2250 kg or something so it just chugs around. Also, the generic cars (Ford GT40's, Vipers, Aston Martins, whatever) that display little car damage really aren't that cool either and I feel emotionally unattached from it.
I can imagine this game being forgettable within a week or two. Yeah, this game seems built for the hyperactive MTV watching little kid who loves watching stuff blowing up.
http://www.giantbomb.com/splitsecond/61-25523/reviews/
^ Somehow, looking of that pic of Ryan Davis getting all giddy over Split/Second is the equivalent of how I would feel if I were to fall through a trap door into a tub of dog piss. Really.
Blur:
Made by Bizzare Creations, the people who made Project Gotham Racing and Metropolis Street Races, comes Call of Duty: the Racing Game. Really. This game has 20 players max, you gain XP, level up, and unlock new cars and "perks." That's right, you can get "perks" in the game. You get powerups by driving through Mario Kart-like items for flying nukes, mines, little machine gun things, boosts, and health pickups. Every time you get hit, you lose a bit of health and if you lose all your health, you blow up and lose a lot of time.
The game has cool menu music and it has real cars in it so that's a plus. Playing with 15+ people is just hectic though. The "first turners" just smash into you, don't bother to brake, good little Cruis'n-trained kids. I came in first twice out of eight races so you can't say that I suck and I don't know how to play. The track design is kind of confusing, especially that outdoor one with the dirt roads. Oh well, not that confusing once you play it several times. I just wish there were some daytime courses since night tracks are cool at first, but it just makes me sick after a while.
To get XP, you drift, win races, blow up other cars, etc. Really, this XP thing has been run into the ground already. The last thing I need is to feel like a hamster running on the wheel getting fed pellets cause I drove around bouncing off the walls.
The car handling is kind of like Split/Second too, only modestly better since the sense of speed is better and you can hit the braking lines and stuff, although there are theories that bouncing off the damn walls is better than actually trying to race normally. I enjoyed Project Gotham Racing a lot more than this IMO. Better than Split/Second, just let it go.
Hydro Thunder:
In sort of a "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" kind of moment, the Hydro Thunder fans get their game remade for Xbox Live with all new content. As a Daytona fan, I'm kind of envious, but even though I'm someone who gets a modest amount of enjoyment out of Hydro Thunder on the DC, I can say this port is kind of disappointing in terms of content.
Hydro Thunder is really the only good racing game on water besides maybe that jet ski game on the Nintendo 64. You pick from a few boats and tracks and have at it. You pick up boosts, hit shortcuts, and try not to get blown up or run into the wall. Tracks are two-minute long sprints to the finish as you go from point A to B.
Controls are actually kind of cool since steering a boat is dramatically different than a car cause you're at the whim on the waves. Sometimes I end up missing boosts because I'm floating about so I guess I should practice if I want to take this seriously. However, another element is track memorization since hidden paths and boosts can give you a huge advantage. In a disappointing turn, it seems that the boats are slower this time around as if to make you more aware of your surroundings. I thought it made the game more boring.
There's only eight tracks in this game. Because you can play any track on online multiplayer and bypass the stupid demo locks, I got to see the last two tracks in the game, Area 51 and Seoul Waterways (on the way to the BIG Starcraft 2 tournament). I'm kind of disappointed in both. The Area 51 track has a UFO and a portal to an alien planet, but it's a short "oooh, aaahhh" moment. Seoul seemed kind of bland, like you race by a few buildings in a concrete waterway. I thought the tracks in the original Hydro Thunder were more interesting. Nile Adventure from the original was awesome, but even Area 51 which was supposed to be the quintessential track in this game was kind of lame. There's this Mayan ruins track in this game though which sounds more promising but I haven't seen it yet.
Also I forgot to mention one thing--the boat balance. The beginner boats are so slow--I mean you can pick up a fast boat and still kick some ass even if it's hard to handle. I played Area 51 online twice and I just got dominated in a slow boat but nearly won in a fast boat despite my quality of driving both times were both lousy. DAMN the Torpedoes, Miss Behave, consider yourselves worthless. Also, where's all the fun boats like the Chumdinger, the little wooden boat with the fisherman and the dog and the trolling motor? There's a rubber ducky boat, but come on. How can you top this:
Yeah, I know this is a 1200 MSP game, but still I think there's many who would be willing to pay much more for a lot more content. I'm not gonna lie, this game has some potential but I think they squandered it somewhat here.
Conclusion: Call me picky, call me a fanboy, I don't care. I'm just calling it how I see it. All games are okay but none of them make me brimming with excitement. Like they feel like your standard racing game that comes and goes. Okay, maybe not Hydro Thunder which is kind of cool. You may like a few and that's ok. For me, just wait it out for the big fish, like the AWESOME DAYTONA USA COMPILATION coming when Duke Nukem Forever is released.
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