As early as a week ago, I was set to bemoan the lack of demos recently, demos which would remind me that the PC is capable of more than acting as a WoW terminal. Then Freedom Force hit, then SWAT 4 which is also by Irrational, and just this morning Splinter Cell for the PC. If you've been having trouble tracking down that coverdisc, the demo is essentially the same content I referred to a couple days ago - Lighthouse. The Xbox version is already very pretty, but when you start creeping into the higher PC resolutions I think it's fair to say that you will be entering truly uncharted visual territory.
Humans have brought to my attention an interview with one Trip Hawkins, one where he claims that within five years Microsoft will own Nintendo. You can do your own research on the man and determine whether or not he is in possession of mighty powers of speculation or indeed something akin to prescience. I submit that he is not. I submit that he spends his day naked in a dunk-tank, and that from time to time a man throws a fish at him which he catches in his mouth. Check out his answer to this question:
With the next Xbox planned for release prior to Nintendo's and Sony's next systems, the cost of implementing a next-gen media format (HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) would be expensive. What do you think if Xbox 2 used the standard DVD format instead of high definition?
Personally, I don’t think this is an important distinction. But maybe some early adopters will care about this and at least initially sway market share. HD will only be relevant in the long run if applications like football use it effectively to enable you to see more of the field. But I think the players are already on information overload as it is.
Alright? So he doesn't even understand what question is being asked. As for the Nintendo thing, I mean, they're an extremely proud company. They're not going to sell to an American corporation because fucking Trip Hawkins says so. They didn't come out on top of this generation - in America or Europe, at any rate - but they're hardly destitute. They're not up to their elbows in the couch trying to scratch together some yens.
You might recall that I enjoyed Massive Assault a great deal, once I was able work out the disagreements it had with my system. The sequel just went gold, and hits stores on the 28th. It was called "Phantom Renaissance" up until they got a publisher, who decided to go with the less the somewhat less spectral Domination. I'm curious to see how it is going to pan out. The original game had two sides which were essentially "palette swaps" in terms of their functionality, the sequel distinguishes the sides and adds what looks like "General" characters you can customize with unique bonuses. Hmm. One of the things I liked about the first one, though this probably puts me in the minority, was that there was a very raw numerical symmetry between the sides. Well, that, and it used the hexes. Sweet hexes.
Fingers crossed.
(CW)TB out.
crept out the back
door
Whenever we go to conventions I am constantly surprised by the young kids who come up and tell me they are fans of Penny Arcade. Often times their parents will even be right there with them. I can’t help but wonder if there is some other Penny Arcade out there that these kids are reading. Perhaps they have simply confused me with the creator of some family friendly strip about a little penguin named Penny. I honestly don’t think Penny Arcade is for kids and so I’ve never really felt the need to censor the sorts of things we talk about here on the site. Even so, we’ve consistently turned down porn sites who ask to advertise on the site. I can’t tell you why I think its okay to say in a comic that a man has to kill a dog to have an orgasm, but I won’t run an ad for a site with vaginas. With that said, I can’t help but make mention of the most recent update at SuicideGirls.com. (NSFW!)
WARNING!!!!! You should only follow this link if you want to see a girl playing videogames and wearing a Penny Arcade shirt get naked. Knowing our audience as I do, I have a feeling that’s going to be a lot of you. I should mention that this is not a free show.
-Gabe out
Speaking of Ubisoft stuff, they just announced a new golf franchise today. The future of the Links franchise is sort of up in the air at the moment as best I can tell. That’s frustrating since Links 2004 was in my opinion the best golf game to date for any system. Assuming it continues on its current trajectory, I expect Tiger Woods will be a skateboarding vampire in the next iteration of that series. So I think a new golf franchinse is just what the doctor ordered. I’m excited to see what Ubi does with a golf game for a couple reasons. First I think they tend to make good games for the most part. That’s why we work with them so often. Second there might be an opportunity for a golf comic book. I can’t imagine what that would be like right now but it sounds like a challenge.
There are two types of people in this world. There are people who like Tekken and there are people who like DOA. It’s been my experience that the two groups don’t get along very well together. I’m not sure what generates the sort of hatred I’ve witnessed between the two but it’s very real. Honestly I think we should all just get along. I mean, if we got rid of all the DOA fans then all our special Ed teachers and remedial reading tutors would be out of work. I joke, I joke… but not really.
Now I’ve been a Tekken fan since I saw the video of Tekken 1 that shipped with the Playstation. It wasn’t even a playable demo, just video of fights. I can remember just watching it over and over again in awe. I couldn’t believe that a videogame could look like that, much less on a system I could plug into my TV. I spent all weekend with Tekken 5 and honestly if you’re a fan of the series you just have to get it. Personally I think 5 is the best version yet, but let’s say you don’t like it. Maybe you preferred Tekken 2. Well shit man, just play it! They’ve included Tekken 1, 2 and 3 on the disk along with 5. It’s a hell of a deal for fifty bucks. Would it be better if it was on the Xbox and had Live play? Sure, but I say that about every game that comes out for the PS2.
-Gabe out
Another late start this morning on the newspost, I could upload it and the database was like "hey, thanks" but it wouldn't post the fucker. I'd tell you that we knew why it was doing that, and that we've gotten to the bottom of it, and soon it will no longer be an issue, but honestly I wouldn't believe me either.
(CW)TB
If you’re curious, the best song ever written is “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.
-Gabe out
