... Cause the guys from Europe who delightly send me my oh-so-awesome games have some problemo's. They appeared to send me a copy ofBioShock, which I recieved yesterday, without the actual disk... I forgot that I actually preordered it, and now I remember them saying "The game's released on the 24th here, expect it being delivered on the 27th".
Well, when it comes to fast and cheap shipping these guys are flatout terrific. 27th of August, perfect timing. 65 dollar, perfectly the same as the game is priced overhere. Only 7 dollar overseas shipping costs, cause I'm more than just a regular. I've bought all my 360 games, and my hardware through this small company.
I called them earlier today, International Phonecalls, pain in the ass... Anyway, they said that they're sorry for what happened, and they'll send me another one with no costs tied to it. I even get to keep the second box. No idea what exactly is good about that, but hey, I can say "I've got BioShock TWICE for 65$." One in German, the other one has yet to be discovered.
My Xbox 360 is purchased in the Netherlands. Which is PAL region. Which means I have to get games from the PAL region too. Overhere in the NTSC lands it's difficult to fish a PAL out of the river. And if I decide to play a NTSC Xbox 360 game I get the following message: "This video game doe not match the area it's coded from. Please check if your game matches the region it is bought from, contact the Xbox Support for more information."
Pretty obvious, dudes at the Microsoft HQ over in DC don't want us, Americans to play the softcoreanime stuff from Japan. And they most definatly want to avoid us Americans touching the holy sport of kicking a little ball across a 50 yard field. There's no single FIFA or ProSoccer something to find overhere that's coded NTSC supportable. Even tough I DO have the oppertunity to get these kind of games, I couldn't care any less for that sport. I do however, I do care a hell lot for those riots. Interesting how a extremely simple game can turn people so evil, you guys are champs! I'm an ex-European, and goddamn it seems to be alot better to move to the United Kingdom. Cause a good brawl with the Police, HomeDepot is filled with Broomsticks, I've got a whole lot to smash up... I don't really like the st.yle of slamming every store to hell but a good fight with the Riot Cops is a piece of heaven. So much adrenaline flows through your vains, that when your skull gets cracked by one of their batons, you don't even feel it!
Anyway, before I even begin liking the United Kingdom, speaking of Japanese Cultre and their somewhat... Softcore games. There was a guy on thePenny Arcade Convention, he had a discussion with a guy from GameSpot about Americans barely show any interest into the Japanese Culture of gaming.
What catched my eye on that extremely overrated interview... Yes, overrated. Honestly, if I wanted Japanese Gaming Culture 101, I'd move to Tokio. Electronics City of the World. I disgust Anime, couldn't give a damn for any Final Fantasy game nor have I ever liked ANY platformer ASIDE from games starting with "Mario". Cause that guy was ment to Italian, I gave it a shot. But when it's completely Japanese, my eyes roll. I barely, barely ever liked those "Happy" games.
Jezus Christ, don't get me wrong here. But, this isn't 1967. These are dark times. There's two wars going on, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Global Warming causes forest fires everywhere on the globe, the incredibly hot areas like California and such actually have Ice Storms, and huge rain falls cause several areas on the globe to be filled with water. I don't call those times "Happy". And I don't need some kind of weird guy with a squeeky voice, going on somekind of weird adventure. No, I'm better off with a game that's ice cold.
For some reason, I feel better playing a killing game, than playing something that's from Asia. Tell me, compared to the United States. How many actual best sellers have the Japanese made? How many best sellers with a story that's even more chilly than Antartica? Capcom's doing great there. Dead Rising was terriffic, but influenced by the American culture. Willamette, Colorado. Frank West.
The thing that really caught my eye was the following quote:
Kondou did lend interesting insight into why many Western games don't achieve the same magnitude of success in Japan. Referring specifically to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series, Kondou noted that these types of games are simply too dark for a Japanese audience. Kondou noted that even in the most violent Japanese games, there is typically always a moment where the two opposite sides stop beating on each other and receive a peaceful resolution. The problem, he said, was the lack of a peaceful resolution or a lightening of the mood. "Someone needs to apologize at the end," he said.GameSpots Tom Magrino
Basicly, he's saying that we have such incredibly dark games that our population pretty much is your basic John McClane.
Okay. Since I don't like to game with the look on my face like "Oh gosh, this weird spikey guy with an unprenouncable name with a heck lotta T's and K's, he makes my day awesome!". Nah, I rather play like I'm watching a Hollywood movie. Guess where the Wii got sold so goddamn much. Yep, Asia. Guess where the Xbox 360 sold so goddamn good. The west.
WE HAVE DIFFERENT CULTURES! There, I said it. Why do we have different cultures? Cause overhere, where reality exists in true human form instead of a guy in an M&M suit. Here we like to play games like they're movies. Usually, rated M. Overthere, you guys play games for pure pure fun, and you guys need entertainment. Cause no laugh, is no good game.
Here we rather say "Holy crap, I shot his ****ing leg off!". Overthere it's "Yes, I've beaten you! 10 perfect strikes in a row! Yay!". Just because we play those M-rated games you disgust so bad sir Kondou, doesn't mean our gaming community is rotten with M-rated's. Heck, we have more Sports games than ESPN has shows. We have Disney games, we have Viva Piñata. We have racing games that aren't on 6-bit-Arcades.
That our games lack an happy ending is because of one thing:
Let's say. You're carrying this huge Shotgun. Cartridge in place. Pumped to shoot. When you have that thing in your hands, and there's the main villain infront of you. You're not supposed to say: "Ah, so you killed my wife. My brother. And ****ed my life over. Who cares? Let's hug!". And when there's a huge firefight going on, it's not supposed to take place in a garden of roses. And you most definatly don't make a character say in the end "Sorry that I killed everyone you knew... I am sorry.", and the worst thing that can happen in response of that one is "Apologies Accepted."
I don't know, but I, and I think I speak for a lot of people, I think we do like realism in a game. Backs the Movie thing up.
We shouldn't learn from you, a vast majority does play different stuff from M-rated games. You guys should learn from us: Shooting games, with gore and vehicles. They can be just as entertaining in the way of fun, just as much as your Konami stuff entertains the Japanese audience. Take Crackdown for example; Biggest virtual playground in a killing game. If you call that "Dark", than the faith in the Asian Gamers just gets drilled in the ground.
Realism doesn't mean it'll take effect on your actual life, damnit. It's dark on a screen, not the whole room. Movie-like-games with alot of freedom have just as much entertainment value as they have value in being incredibly violent.
It's dark when you compare it to reality. And games are supposed to get you OFF reality for a while. If it DOES mix you in with reality, the whole GTA-caused-murders thing pops up.
Sorry sir Kondou, but really: "Cut the crap, I got the gun. And it ain't made for me to make friends.". Happy endings, my ass.