Arcana Heart: the fighting game for weirdos

A game like Arcana Heart, which features an all-female cast duking it out for no apparent reason, is a no-brainer Playstation 2 import for Atlus, publisher of all the most Japanese games on the U.S. market. Arcana Heart is apparently quite popular in Japanese arcades, but does this beauty also have the brains to back up her brawn?

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Super Smash Bros. Brawl a rowdy good time

Like many of my peers, I enjoy slashing, shooting missiles at, ramming with a motorcycle, and blasting others. Virtually, of course, and what better game to do all of this in than Super Smash Bros. Brawl, arguably the most hotly anticipated game to come out so far this year.

Nintendo wisely decided not to mess with the multiplayer much, the only really significantly new feature being the Final Smash Ball, an item that allows players to use their characters crazy special move. The four player battles are still amazingly fun, and nothing is more satisfying than getting the Smash Ball over and over again.

The single player game is about as much as you could ask for in a fighting game, including an arcade mode and an adventure mode called Sub Space Emissary. While the Sub Space Emissary mode is enjoyable and there are some “oh snap!” moments in the story, it’s unlikely anyone will play it for anything more than unlocking all of the characters.

The new characters, including third-party favorites Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, all fold into the brawls well. Some of the characters can be a tad over powered (I’m looking at you, Pit), but never so much that it completely unbalances the game. Obviously it’s a major disappointment that other third-party characters like Mega Man or Dante didn’t make it into the game, but it is Nintendo’s show. At least there’s always next time.

The graphics, while not on-par with some of the incredibly good looking games on the other next-gen systems, are very good for the Wii. I suppose there’s always that asterisk of a Wii game looking good for the Wii, but does anyone really notice after playing for five minutes?

Over the past week, and likely into the coming months, you’re going to hear a lot of different things about Brawl, but there’s one very important thing you must understand if you consider buying this game: don’t look to it for deep mechanics and ultra-combos. This isn’t a game you sit at home with and practice at until you’re ready to take on the Daigos of the world for ultimate tournament championship wins. What this game is great for is gathering a bunch of your friends and just having fun with ramming Peach butt first into Solid Snake, whether this is for hours late into the night or during your 15-minute break. This is true not only of the multiplayer, which the series is known for, but the singleplayer as well. If you come into this game with the mindset of just having fun it’ll be great game. I know I love it. But if you expect it to be anything like Tekken or Street Fighter, well, there’s other good news on the way for you, but this game isn’t it.

Using the wii remote for more than games

Anyone I know that has played the Wii has found it be an incredible piece of gaming hardware, but it turns out the Wii remote is capable of even more than we thought. Johnny Chung Lee, a graduate assistant in the human-computer interaction department at Carnegie Mellon University, has adapted the Wii remote to serve as a digital whiteboard and a head tracking for VR displays.

Hopefully Nintendo will figure out a way to use this in a game.

(Thanks to Penny Arcade for featuring the video)

Update: I talked with Lee about his applications of the Wii remote, and he said the whiteboard and head tracking headset were “relatively old research concepts.”

“I basically just looked at those ideas and then mixed that technology with the Wii remote,” Lee said.

Lee, who said he plays “a fair amount of games,” said a great variety of games could benefit from the headset.

“The nice thing about the head tracking is that it provides you with a concept called motion paralax,” he said. “So any game that uses space could be retrofit to use head tracking: 3D games, and even 2D games or tabletop games.”

Lee also said he has gotten e-mails from hundreds of educators from around the world who have used his whiteboard software, and the head tracking headset could also have military and medical applications.

Lee said he hopes games are made using this technology, but developing hardware such as this is a “pretty big risk.”

“It will sort of have to be up to a marketing department to say if it’s safe enough to make a game like this,” Lee said, “but hopefully that’ll happen.”

Duke Nukem Forever teaser trailer

Well, it’s finally here. After 10 years, we’re finally seeing something from 3D Realms about Duke Nukem Forever that’s more than a tiny screenshot. However awesome Duke Nukem and his various games are, I’m kind of confused as to why there’s all the celebration about a minute long teaser that really doesn’t tell us anything. If this game didn’t have Duke Nukem attached to it, I don’t think anyone would care. We really haven’t heard anything about what the game is going to offer. I suppose, at this point, people are only interested because they want to know whether anything could be worth a 10 year wait. It’s definitely too early to allow for any excitement, though.

Activision blocks GHIII guitar compatibility with Rock Band, looks like douchebag

Harmonix was all set to release a patch for Rock Band for the Playstation 3 that would have made Guitar Hero controllers compatible, but at the last minute Activision blocked Sony from releasing the patch, according to a statement from Harmonix on Joystiq.

The patch, which would have been released on Dec. 4, was approved by Sony and was all set to be released before Activisions’ guitarblock. In Harmonix’s statement, they said releasing the patch would be what’s best for the consumer, and if any other companies want to make their products compatible with Rock Band equipment they would have the full support of Harmonix and MTV.

The full statement to Joystiq:

“As we have said in the past, Harmonix and MTV Games believe in an open standard philosophy of hardware and game compatibility. We think that there should be interoperability between music instrument controllers across all music games. This is clearly in the best interest of consumers, game developers and console manufacturers and will only help to grow the music game genre as well as inspire innovation and creativity.

Two weeks ago, Harmonix created a software patch for the Sony PLAYSTATION 3 version of Rock Band that allowed for guitar compatibility and support for third party peripherals, including enabling use of Activision’s Guitar Hero III controller with Rock Band. The compatibility patch was submitted, approved and had been scheduled for release by Sony on Tuesday, December 4. Unfortunately, Activision objected to the release of the compatibility patch. The patch remains with Sony, but we have been told that it will unfortunately not be released due to Activision’s continued objection.

As is the case with the Microsoft Xbox360, we believe that Sony PLAYSTATION 3 users should be able to use the peripheral of their choice with Rock Band. We sincerely hope that Activision will reverse its decision and allow release of the compatibility patch and further, that Activision will allow Guitar Hero III to support Rock Band guitar controllers as well. We welcome all third party developers who wish to support our controllers and will provide any required support in order for them to do so.

We believe that when consumers have choice, everyone wins. Harmonix and MTV Games hope that Activision and others in the industry will also adopt this philosophy.”

Seriously, way to look like a money grubbing douchebag Activision. There’s no way to come out of this looking good except to allow the patch to be released. Of course, it would make Activision look even better if they took Harmonix’s suggestion and allowed the use of the Rock Band guitar with Guitar Hero. I can’t see how this wouldn’t be more profitable for them. I haven’t heard of anyone who prefers the Rock Band guitar to the Guitar Hero one, so they could probably sell more of their peripheral.

Also, I must praise Harmonix for their apparent interest in what’s best for the consumers. I suppose this just goes to show the different aims of developers and publishers.

No Arnold for Conan

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is distancing himself from the new Conan game, GamePolitics.com is reporting.

GamePolitics cited a Contra Costa Times article saying one of Schwarzenegger’s aides said he was in no way involved with game.

The new Conan is the sword-wielding, decapitating star of a new ultra-violent video game, “Conan,” which is drawing criticism from [State Sen. Leland Yee] and warnings from [the National Institute on Media and the Family] to scratch the game off Christmas lists for children and teenagers.

Schwarzenegger has “no association with this game,” said Aaron McLear, the governor’s spokesman, who did not elaborate on how the governor feels about the character becoming a video game. Schwarzenegger is fighting for a law to restrict the sale of violent video games, and “Conan” would be among those regulated.

While Schwarzenegger has appeared in other violent video games, that didn’t make him above signing into law 2005 legislation from Sen. Leland Yee that would have criminalized the sale of M rated games to children under 18-years-old and required retailers to separate M-rated games from games for children. Though the legislation was quickly slapped down a federal judge on constitutional grounds, it’s currently under review in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

DMC4 demo confirmed for early 2008

A downloadable demo of Devil May Cry 4 should be available over Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Store in early 2008, Capcom announced in a press release today. The demo will showcase new protagonist Nero over a variety of locales before culminating in a battle against Berial. Players can use a variety of the new abilities bestowed by Nero’s devil bringer in the demo, including “the ability to slam creatures to the ground, cover great distances in a single bound or even grab enemies while on the ground or in the air and pull them towards Nero to continue the attack combo.”

Capcom also announced a new weapon, named Lucifer, which fires glowing red swords that pierce enemies and explode when Dante throws a rose, which he holds between his teeth. Kay. Capcom also announced a new boss, One Winged “Dark Knight.”

Keep in mind the game is scheduled for a February 2008 release, so it’s entirely possible the demo will come out in very close proximity to the game. The press release says players will have a chance to play the demo before purchasing the game, but whether that means the demo is coming out before the game or not is unclear.

Capcom also released a bunch of hi-res screenshots and some artwork, so look for those and the full press release after the jump.

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Mass resignations immanent at Gamespot

Because of an air of confusion, fear and “irreconcilable despair,” Gamespot could soon be facing the resignation of a “large number” of editors, Kotaku is reporting, citing an anonymous source who works at Gamespot.

The source also confirmed that another anonymous poster, identifiying themselves on Valleywag only as “gamespot,” was right on with their assessment of the situation.

“[It] could have been written by a stenographer,” the source said.

Kotaku goes on to report that the other Gamespot staffers don’t know why Jeff Gerstmann was fired, adding that “Money has never played a role in reviews before” and “Gamespot has never altered a score.”

The source speculated that friction between Gerstmann and Vice President of games Josh Larsen could have been the root of Gerstmann’s firing.

The source also indicated that Larson’s paraphrased assertion that “AAA titles deserve more attention” was not necessarily a hint that Gamespot’s reviewers be more lenient to those titles. Instead, in light of some rather controversial review scores—for example, the 7.5 for Insomniac Games’ Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction—the editorial team needed to be more conscious of accuracy and impact of its scores.

Reports that Gerstmann’s review quality had been slipping are anecdotaly corroborated by the source.

As for the now-pulled video of review, it appears the reasons for it’s removal are less nefarious than assumed. “Jeff showed up late. It was thrown together quickly, the sound sucked, there was only footage from the first level of the game—it was a mess,” our source said. We were told that the redacting of the clip was based on a producer’s decision and not a demand from upper management.

The source also said the brand has been irrevocably tarnished, and the staff are in near mutiny. The controversy is a “cataclysmic event in Gamespot history.”

It appears as though my predictions of the ruining of Gamespot’s reputation and the eventual downfall of Gamespot if they didn’t reverse course quickly are becoming a reality.

Gamespot has been a video game fixture on the internet for years, and I would hope that their previous reputation as a really pretty hard reviewer would stick with them when the going got tough. It appears they’re learning the hard way that, while it takes years to build a good reputation, it only takes minutes to get a bad reputation.

Gamespot, CNet, someone needs to act fast to save their credibility, not to mention reverse the feeling of despair among the staffers, or there won’t be a Gamespot much longer.

ESA hires former MPAA exec

The Entertainment Software Association has hired former Motion Picture Association of America senior vice president Rick Taylor, Gamespot is reporting. Taylor’s new job as senior vice president for communications and research will be similar to his old job, in which he headed the communications department, overseeing press relations and serving as a senior strategist.

“The ESA and MPAA share many of the same goals, such as promoting intellectual property rights and reducing piracy across the world,” said MPAA CEO Dan Glickman. “Rich will hit the ground running in his new position, and his insight and creativity will be valuable to ESA, just as it was for the MPAA.”

Let’s just hope the ESA doesn’t start going so far in the same direction as the MPAA and RIAA have in regards to pursuing copyright violaters.

Gamespot, advertising-supported media, and the rage of the internet

In case you haven’t heard, the word on the street is that Jeff Gerstmann, long time reviewer and current editorial director for Gamespot, has been fired for giving Kane and Lynch a mediocre, though very negatively worded, score. According to the rumor mill, Eidos got pissed and threatened to withdraw the huge amount of advertising they were doing with Gamespot.

According to a statement from CNET, the only official statement I’ve been able to find, “GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis.”

“It is CNET Networks’ policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current of former,” the statement said.

I can’t bring myself to really believe Gamespot would do something this stupid until it has been confirmed by someone, but if it’s true, this makes me at once very angry, very sad and very afraid. Very afraid for my future in business, very sad that it’s still the bottom line that media companies care about and very angry at what would be an unjust firing.

Gerstmann certainly would not be the first journalist fired for not appeasing the advertisers, and he definitely won’t be the last. This past May, Harry McCracken, editor in chief of PC World, quit for a few days over the chief executive’s refusal to publish an article, “10 Things We Hate About Apple.” McCracken didn’t come back until the article was posted on the magazine’s website. Pulitzer Prize winning automotive writer for the Los Angeles Times Dan Neil provoked the ire of GM, who removed their advertising from the newspaper. At a smaller publication this could have gotten Neil fired.

This kind of back and forth between an outlet’s integrity and keeping advertisers has been a part of the journalistic world since the very first advertisement in media. The scariest part is the subtle effect this could have if it’s true. While the temporary outrage (and you can be sure, the anger will fade) will make journalists even more independent-minded, the long term effect could be a reluctance on the part of journalists to put the truth out there, whether because they fear for their jobs if the advertisers threaten to pull their ads or not getting published because the editors don’t want to risk it. The fall out of this firing could be chilling, if the rumors are true.

Of course, whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter on the internet. What matters is the perception of the internet at large, and their perception is clearly that this firing was in response to the Kane and Lynch review. The most noticeable effect of this rage is the Kane and Lynch user reviews at Gamespot, which has become about 70 percent 1-out-of-10s. The reviews no longer argue the merits of the game but declare Gamespot is no longer credible.

“Hell hath no fury like gamers scorned,” said one user.

“Down with CNET,” another user, who signed his review with Anonymous, said (I’ll spare you the all caps). “The game that ruined Gamespot.”

It’s ironic, but the person who will benefit most from this is Gerstmann. With one review he has become a hero of the internet, and the positive PR any website or magazine that snaps him up gets will be huge, not to mention his quality as a long-time video game journalist. On the internet, positive feelings tend to not be as strong as rage on the internet, but I have no doubt the effects will be well worth it.

The ultimate loser here is going to be Gamespot. Regardless of whether they actually fired him for the review or not, the damage to their reputation has been done, and every review on the site must now come into question. A huge site like Gamespot can take the hit to their userbase, but if they don’t act soon to mitigate the damage, either by taking Gerstmann back (if he will go at all), refusing to take advertising from Eidos or, with Gerstmann’s consent, saying exactly why he was fired, it may indeed be the game that ruined Gamespot.

UPDATE: Saw this over on Valleywag via Kotaku:

When companies make games as downright contemptible as Kane and Lynch, they deserve to be called on it. I guess you’ll have to go to Onion or a smaller site for objective reviews now, because everyone at GS now thinks that if they give a low score to a high-profile game, they’ll be shitcanned. Everyone’s fucking scared and we’re all hoping to get Josh Larson removed from his position because no one trusts him anymore.

Still anonymous source, but still…