While the battle between the COGS and the Locust seems like an endless struggle, yours truly has finally decided to hang up his weapons

at least for ranked purposes. Everyone seems to be getting the Seriously achievement now so I decided to do one better and get another 10K kills. No glitching, no team stacking, no having others play my account for a spot on the leaderboards, no modding, no clans; just me, my skills, and a lot of free time. While the game has been addicting for me to play online, I can honestly say I can do without everything I stated above that cheapens the leaderboards in addition to the loud, annoying, obnoxious, and racist people who seem to have migrated from Halo 2 to this game. Plus I feel like I have nothing left to prove on this game (other than that I Can't Quit You Dom achievement). Furthermore, this will now free up my time for the 10 or so games I bought since last November and my upcoming transition out of the active duty Army. Check out my score if you want the only thing that will change is my rank which is 477 in the world.

[UPDATE]: I can't stop playing this game on ranked. It's like crack. Or like the ex-wife you would forget about if it was not for the fact that you are paying child support. And by child-support I mean my burgeoning stats and my rank in the top 500. Top 400 when you factor in the people who play legit.

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At long last I have finally acquired one of the most famous games never to be released. A game so innovative yet so violent, the evil empire known as EA wouldn't even allow other publishers to sell it because they were afraid of damaging their pristine reputation. Thank goodness for the internet as I was able to acquire the full version of the game to play (thank goodness for CDI files ) on my Dreamcast. For those still unfamiliar with the game it was going to be the first fighting game to feature 4 player action before the Dreamcast game Powerstone and also featured the handicapped, the amputated, and the criminally insane who would fight to the spiritual death in a reimagined hell and all for a demon's amusement. No noble battles of good versus evil, no path to enlightenment through combat, just self preservation and carnage for carnage's sake made this one of the most honest fighting games storywise. The game would later see an incarnation in Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style which would turn out to be crap while this game could have added another facet to EA or brought legitimacy to another up-and-coming publisher. Oh well, at least I'll enjoy it.

Well it took all of 7 years to finally get something that I want and worthwhile from the Army....and all I had to do was go through two branches of service to do it. On July 27th I will get an honorable discharge from the active duty Army and join the National Guard. If you are not familiar with the Guard they have 100% tuition assistance to any college in your state. I also get a two year stabilization which means that I will not have to worry about being deployed anytime soon. This is all to set up my enrollment to Wake Tech for their two year degree program in Simulation and Game Developement that opened up a year ago. That's right, now I can finally get on track to a career and not just a job; and one that I actually like to do and have years of unofficial experience doing. I also reclass to information systems specialist to fall back on and soon will be on track to get picked up to make my sergeant rank which automatically puts me in most managerial positions I would apply for in the civilian sector. Hopefully, I will get an internship at, say, Epic Games which is in Cary and I live in Raleigh which is about a shade under an hour's drive from where I will live. Now that Microsoft Creator's Club is starting to look like I should buy it...

After assessing the idea of customizing the 360, I think I am going to do a full mod rather than paying a lot of money to do a small job like paying to put a new faceplate on and just some little crappy skins. I am going to pimp mine up by doing a full case and controller mod. While the default white is good as it is, you can't go wrong with black. I think it'll be cool as hell to have it look more like my PS2. Plus, I can pretend it's a PS3 minus the overpricing and lack of games and the George Foreman Grill look.

[UPDATE]: Apparently, Microsoft likes my idea and they are coming out with a 360 elite. It has an HDMI port, 120G, a component cable and something else I don't care for. I think I'll just get the bigger HDD and lie to people saying I have the elite system... 

After downloading the maps on the first hour they were out and playing them for a while I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the new maps.

Old Bones is a great map hands down because I personally do better in maps with open spaces and more than one area to have firefights but I noticed that it is still a race to see who can get to the Longshot and the Boomshot. I have been in what two battles that did not involve the courtyard and those were inside the doorway to the courtyard. This map is great if you are outnumbered because there are enough places on the inside of the buildings to hide.

Ok now Raven Down I had to play a lot more to actually think it was any fun because at first I would have been happy if I had never played it again. No weapons? WTF? Even though the map seems about bigger than the Rooftops I still do not understand why the only thing you can pick up is the grenades. This level has nice, dark corners but with no weapons and not at least ammo for the ones you have, the only person who is going to do good on this map is the host and the grenade taggers and the lucky person left alive after a big chainsaw/shotgun match where everyone is within 2 feet of each other.

Both levels look nice (on my HDTV!!!) and you can't beat free which is good. If you want to have a good time on all gametypes you can't go wrong with Old Bones. Raven Down matches go by almost too fast and fills the map with gibs. If I had to give the maps a letter grade it would be a B.

[UPDATE]: After playing a good amount of matches on the new maps I have to change my opinion of Raven Down and Old Bones. I play a lot better on Raven Down and I like it a lot better than Old Bones despite the fact that there are no weapons to pick up. The main reason for this is because I like chucking grenades at people and racking up a crap load of kills. Old Bones I still can't get profiecient at for some reason and I think its that most battles take place in the courtyard and I do better inside the buildings.

[UPDATE2]: The new Hidden Fronts multiplayer map pack came out 3 May 07. Microsoft has forced Epic to charge people for new maps when they stated downloadable content would be free. I wonder why they would charge people $10 for 4 maps (!) instead of doing something cheaper. Does Microsoft set the damn prices too?!? Anyway all the maps are pretty big and they have finally put a map in that deals with the Imulsion plants. The only one I can't seem to stand is Bullet Marsh because it is REALLY,REALLY dark and although it is a nice touch that the kryll can attack you, they should just kill you like in single player. Gardens will be a favorite for a good amount of people because of it's wide open spaces and that nice environmental hazard of the gases that keep you away from the sniper and you got a Boomshot and a Hammer. My personal favorite is Process which take place in an Imulsion plant (finally!) and has the Torque Bow, Longshot, and Boomshot. Its what I think Raven Down should have been. Finally there is the Subway that has plenty of places to hide and at least 2 choke points to surprise people. In all, the maps are pretty good (except Marsh) and has at least the Lonshot and Boomshot on every one. Still don't know about the $10 price point...

Everyone else has a winners and losers of '06 for about every category so I'll throw my two cents into the videogame industry.

WINNER: 2K GAMES

Rockstar may have taken some hits to their street cred but 2K Games built on the success of Jade Empire with the award winning Elder Scrolls Oblivion, horse armor incident and all. next up, Bioshock and "emergent gameplay".

LOSER: EA SPORTS

Madden failed to fully realize its next-gen glory on the 360. NBA 2K7 beats bests Live for yet another year. Charging gamers in Tiger Woods for already available options. Continues it's stranglehold on competition with it's exclusivity contracts. Fight Night and ESPN integration were bright spots though.

WINNER: WORLD OF WARCRAFT

With 7.5 million subscribers worldwide, it's the new Evercrack. Crossed over into TV land with South Park, Stargate, and Help Me Help You. Took bad press with the tragedy in Korea and the transgender incident. Blizzard still puts out expansions.

LOSER: JACK THOMPSON

Yet another shining example of why everyone hates lawyers. The REAL reason people play Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

WINNER: PS2 GAMERS

Okami, Metal Gear Subsistance, Final Fantasy XII, Guitar Hero 2, Bully, Kindgdom Hearts 2,etc. So many good games still out you would think it was the only system released by Sony.

LOSER: PS3 GAMERS

The price tag, the delays, the snub of the Euro gamer, no rumble, the robberies, the Ebay price gougings, the Lik-Sang debacle. PS3 gamers have no place to go but up.

WINNER: E3

Even though I always wanted to go to E3 I for one applaud the move to downsize the event. Less cosplay and random people with no business being there means that more information and coverage on games will only benefit the gamers more. Although I already miss the booth babes...

LOSER: USK

Don't get me wrong I LOVE Germany and it's people. I was born there, I spent my 21st birthday there and plan on going back. However, what is up with the USK and their policy towards "killer games"? It's bad enough people have to import games like Gears and Dead Rising but putting them in the same category as porn? Crytek might move if it goes through which sucks for them but if I lived there it would give me an excuse to visit "the back room"...

WINNER: GEARS OF WAR

No Halo? No problem! The Emergence of Gears of War proved three things: Epic can be more than Unreal, the 360 is more than just HALO, and you need HDTV to truly enjoy your games. This game was the tip of the spear of great games on the 360 in '06 and continued to cement the legitimacy of Microsoft and the relevance of XBOX Live.

LOSER: FANBOYS

PS3 fanboys who have only been gaming for maybe 10 years thinking the PS3 would "pwn noobs" on hardware and sequels alone. The 360 fanboys thinking Sony will fold in the face of losing exclusives. The Wii fanboys thinking the Wiimote is the greatest thing since the Powerglove. The PC fanboys thumbing their noses at anything not keyboard and mouse. Ignorance and a keystroke can make for a mind-numbing online experience.

WINNER: GAMERS

It was a good years to be a gamer. Two console launches and multiplatform trends have been contributing to the consistent increase in revenue towards the industry. Gears of War, Final Fantasy XII, Comapny of Heroes, and Zelda: Twilight Princess proved there are good games on whatever system you have. Expect more of the same next year when the PS3 gets on track, HALO 3 and Super Mario Galaxy make their debut, and Crysis makes you wish you upgraded your computer...

With the upcoming remake of Warhawk coming out soon, I realized that there are some games that were great on the original Playstation but were MIA on the PS2. Could a PS3 upgrade be in the works for these games?

COLONY WARS ( Psygnosis 1997-2000)

It wasn't just a good shooter franchise for the original Playstation. It was THE best shooter on the Playstation and one of the best to come around in a long time. Spanning three games including Vengeance and Red Sun, the war with the League of Free Worlds and The Tzar featured huge multi- layered battles, branching storylines, and was one of the first Playstation titles to make full use of Dolby Surround Sound. Using advantage of Blu Ray and the HDD, think of Lair in space with negligible load times, downloadable content, and an MMO mode so expansive it could rival what is available on the PC. With yet another Wipeout game in the making, why hasn't Psygnosis fired up the retro rockets again? 

JET MOTO ( SingleTrac 1996-1999)

It was Wipeout on water. Waverace 64 meets Star Wars Pod Racing. I'll admit, the learning curve for the games seemed a bit high at the time but once you got the hang of it the game only got better. Featuring suicide courses, the game employed the use of a magnetic grapple system and the ability to race on land as well as water. After Incognito Entertainment took over the Twisted Metal franchise, you would think some version would have graced the PS2 after having three sequels on the Playstation. As good as Twisted Metal Black was revived, I don't think I need to spell out how good a new sequel to this game would look today on a much more powerful system...

BUSHIDO BLADE ( Squaresoft 1997-1998 )

I said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE THIS GAME. Any time I hear of a remake I think of these games. While people seemed to balk at the ability to drop your opponent at just one swipe, the games were remarkably deep when you took time out to master them. Huge multi-tiered levels, a thought out damage system, and no life bars that handicap most fighting games, Bushido Blade on the PS3 would be like Fight Night with weapons. Don't even consider the Kengo game on the PS2 a true sequel, a REAL successor still awaits.

FEAR EFFECT (Eidos 2000-2001)

The series was a hybrid of Blade Runner and Resident Evil with a mix of Chinese mythology rolled into one. You played as three mercenaries who were to do a simple mission but was then pitted in a battle against the King of Hell. The game used cell shading with mature themes and was one of the few survival horror games to become popular not published by Capcom or Konami. It even spawned a prequel, Retro Helix within a year of the first and then.....nothing. No PS2 sequel or anything. Here's hoping when the movie comes out (which will probably be crap) in '08 Eidos will continue with this original franchise for the PS3 instead of making another 25 to Life game.

People are always talking about all these sequels that are going to be released on the PS3 and they should be as they will take almost full advantage of the hardware. However, if Sony decides to brush the dust off these games anytime soon, people will soon be talking again about these as well...

Video game movies. The very notion of the concept usually elicits one of two responses: derision and disdain. When a movie based on a game is released, it generates derision from the general public for being of a genre of movies with known spectacular flops and illegitimacy relegated only for campish viewing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, gamers the world over almost automatically experience disdain over the memories of previous blunders which only served to further tarnish both industries' reputations video game and movies alike and embarrass fans of the games. What I will attempt to do is analyze some of the factors as to why such type of movies will almost always meet with failure.

REASON ONE: THE GAMERS

Let's face it: gamers are the reason why the vast majority of such movies are and continue to exist. As videogames continue to rise in popularity, so does the undeniable lure of movie studios to cash in on the loyalties of the gamers attatched to them. Currently, the industry generates over $10 billion a year and by most reports have surpassed the movie industry so unsurprisingly, studios now want to ride your coattails but the problem with the success of a movie starts with also with you, the gamer.

Gamers are the subject matter experts when it comes to what should and should not be in a videogame movie more so than even the directors or the scriptwriters. After all, you played the game first right? There in lies the problem: making such a movie that appeals to the hardcore fan has hardly ever met with success (exception: Mortal Kombat) that draws in the general public and making one that strays from the source material (example: FF: Spirits Within) can guarantee a backlash from gamers. The majority either want a faithful adaptation or do not want something that you can go home and play anyway. The following quote will give you something to think about and will be quite possibly the ONLY time I will ever agree with Uwe Boll: "Take the hardcore gamers. The characters are way more real in the world of hardcore gamers who have played the game for hundreds of hours. They have the movie in their heads, they've built it on their own. These guys are always very disappointed in the movies."

REASON TWO: THE STUDIOS

Now, more than ever, there is a movie made about something every minute. In the last year there has been movies about gay cowboys, a 40 year old virgin, stupid human tricks, and even an overgrown ape and those where the ones that fared well at the box office. On paper, it would seem that movie studios have the ability to make anything into instant success and therein lies the problem: studios think that everything they snatch up will be box-office gold and this is nowhere more prevalent than videogame adaptations.

For this example I will use the first major adaptation: Super Mario Brothers. Could two plumbers save the world from going down the drain? Apparently Hollywood Studios thought so enough to use the venerable franchise. What they, like other studios failed to realize was that aspects of games (example: simple objectives, cartoon graphics, reptilian anthropoids) make them uniquely successful for that genre because game developers are in the business of making games for the sake of playing them and not something that may or may not have the crossover appeal or watching. A closer look at which games that contain cinematic elements would go a long way to restoring some credibility to the genre but when studios still have the ability to make hits out of unlikely subjects, such a matter will go unchecked.

REASON THREE: THE BOLL FACTOR

Infogrames. Terminal Reality. Sega. Uwe Boll. Three major game developers who sell millions of videogames. A director/producer of some of the worst movies of all time, video game or otherwise. Unlikely to be associated with each other you say if it were not for one key component on why videogame movies are generally panned.

There is no disputing that Uwe Boll is not fit to direct such movies despite his claim of "World Market Leader In Video Game Adaptations". However, these properties are not under public domain (example: Night of the Living Dead). And yet, with bomb after bomb, he somehow continues to acquire the rights in a manner I have yet to be explained to me. While that may not be known to me what I do know is this: if Hideo Kojima can recognize the how this person can negatively impact an intellectual property, then why haven't these game companies who continue to give this man work realize such a disservice he will continue to do to the industry. Just because someone can possibly generate more revenue using your games (example: Far Cry, Postal, Dungeon Siege) doesen't mean it will happen especially if they have never met with success in the field they claim to lead.

While video game movies have hardly met with success at least in the US, there are examples of such movies being done correct however few and far between. There is hope that the trend can be reversed (example: HALO, Metal Gear) but it is a slight one at best. Untill then, I would suggest enjoying videogames in the media it is best suited for.

I read an interesting article a few weeks back about the reasons why the Japanese have not caught onto the 360 like they failed to catch fire with the original XBOX. I thought to myself, if I was the head guy over the Japanese division what I would do...

Release Games That Appeal To Japanese Only In Japan

If you look at the top 10 games released last year there was not one American game on the list. You would also be hard pressed to find an American game in the top 100. A lot of information has been put down as why American game companies have not been sucessful in Japan, namely, contrasts in culture. What is interesting though is that while only one American game may be in the top 100, 6 of the companies that develop games for the 360 are in the top 50 of Japan. This means that while Japanese gamers might be loyal to Nintendo and Sony, this loyalty extends to the companies of Sega, Capcom, Namco, Square-Enix, Koei, and Namco. If Microsoft can publish more games in the genres that these companies sell consistently, then at least the 360 could entice other Japanese developers to make games that their people would likely buy on a system that has less congestion for the genres that they specialize in.

A Better Showing On XBLA

As I was watching the Bringing It Home Feeds on the 360, I was excited about the possibilities of what games would be coming for the XBLA so much that I began to wonder what other games that they would come out with. While I was feeling the love for Contra, Sonic, Castlevania,and Metal Slug, something really weird happened. For the seemingly sole game that was Japan only they were hailing.... Yie Ar Kung Fu?!?! What the hell?! Now I am not going to knock a game I have yet to play, but if they want more Japanese gamers, they are going to have to better than that. That said, franchises like Nekketsu Koha Dodgeball, Sweet Home,Ganbare Goemon,Chu Chu Rocket, and Tobal, for example, would go a long way in making XBLA a reason for Japanese gamers to at least try the service for something more than just one game...

Get Japanese Developers Under Their Banner

Now it might be easier said than done and I believe Peter Moore was actively trying to court developers but if Microsoft can convince the developers that they can provide them with more financial freedom to produce games under the Microsoft banner then a few companies might reconsider their stance. Take off some of the financial burdens on a company and they are more apt to take risks in making games. Also, not rushing the developers to create poorly made games would also build some trust that Microsoft is serious about winning more marketshare. It wouldn't hurt if they could snatch up Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya to start their own studio....

Ok so maybe IGN has their own article about what people want on XBLA, that's fine and good but since I really don't read anything from IGN, I really don't care. The only similarities you'll see is the format I write this and maybe some of the games because they are still popular. What I do care about, is the potential games that can be reworked and released on the Arcade side of Live. You might agree with me on some of them or not, but if you read through all of this and own a 360 or know of XBLA you have probably thought of a few of these games as well. My numbering is irrelevant because I want to see all these games on Arcade anyway.

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1. XMEN ( Konami/ Arcade/1992)

Damn the sound on this game alone was good. Oh yeah and it featured popular characters such as Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and decent second-tier characters Storm, Cyclops and Dazzler(?). In addition, certain cabinets allowed for all the characters to be playable which made it a multiplayer favorite. Oh yeah, and you could kick people when they were down. My only gripe was that at least in the Japanese version you could get health from enemies and this game was not released on a console. Throw in some achievements, and the ability to play co-op online with up to 6 and a quarter match style where you can pick up where someone else left off with a character and you got now an online classic.

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2. DOUBLE DRAGON (Technos Japan/ Arcade/ 1987)

It was either this one of the original arcade version of FINAL FIGHT but seeing as how that was released in the ARCADE CLASSICS COLLECTION, it might be highly unlikely that will ever be on arcade (sigh). Still, I have to give it up to the grand daddy of arcade beat-em ups. Set in a post apocalyptic New York, it's you and your brother against hordes of The Black Army and it's machine gun toting boss, Willy Mackey. Just having voice chat on a co-op on this game to taunt your big headed opponents would be fun as hell, as would achievement points based on how fast you could speed run through this game or using the fewest lives would be interesting.

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3. GOLDENEYE 007 (RARE/ N64/ 1997)

Sometimes I wonder if Rare will ever have a game as good as Goldeneye. In my opinion, it's been almost 10 years since RARE has made anything relevant. This was one of, if not, the best titles on the N64 and one of the best shooters ever. The first time I played this game it was an all nighter with 5 other people and I am sure there were many red eye gaming sessions around the country. Weighing in at only 16MB, this game would become even better if they were to reinsert the lost levels, negotiate with the actors to appear in the All Bonds mode, and if Microsoft can haggle with Activision for the rights to release it, this game would be renamed Redeye 007...

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 4. BUSHIDO BLADE (Squaresoft/ Playstation/ 1997)

"Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold."  

Oh wait, I was thinking about that other great swordfighting experience. Sure I could have put down Soul Calibur or even it's predecessor, Soul Edge or even Samurai Shodown. However, seeing as it's real early in the XBLA life cycle, there could be a very real chance that one of these games will cross over. That said, this game was completely revolutionary but did not recieve the exposure that it deserved. There was as much strategy on picking the weapon as there was on the fighter, huge and sometimes two-tiered levels to fight on; and most importantly, NO LIFE BARS. This fighting game was as close to real as it got back then in that with one hit you could drop your enemy or if a limb was injured, you lost all mobility of it. That being said, a spectator mode, coupled with leaderboards and this gem from Square would get the recognition it finally deserves.

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5. TMNT: TURTLES IN TIME ( Konami/ SNES/ 1992)

Although this game came out in the arcades a year earlier I think, it was improved on in almost every way on the SNES. I didn't get a SNES untill years later, in part because I was having too much fun with my NES and Genesis, but man did this game demand my consideration. I think this is probably the best TMNT game ever. Four player action, fun ass levels ( Neon Night Raiders), great music, and a vs. mode to boot makes this game at the top of my XBLA wish list. If Konami were to rework the SNES fighting game in the place of the versus mode and release this bad boy, it might outsell the subsequent games released in the past decade...

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That's 5 of the games I want to see on XBLA so far.