I purchased twenty fluid ounces of Halo 3 "Limited Edition Mountain Dew Game Fuel" in the hopes that it would taste so horrible that we'd get a strip out of it. Before I read the ingredients in preparation for this post, I often found myself desirous of this strange liquid - a liquid the precise color of tubercular sputum. I would trip over to Seven Eleven to obtain it, tipping a small portion onto the concrete for the Spartans we lost at Reach. Once I discovered that the soda contained a compound called "Brominated Vegetable Oil," my ardor was diminished for some reason. The flavor of the beverage is not unpleasant, especially if you like bromide. The almost oppressive campaign that surrounds the product is, perhaps, more bitter.
It's one slice (or, perhaps, sip) of a ten hojillion dollar marketing campaign designed to project one of gaming's biggest brands to people who already know about it. There is no way to escape the Goddamn thing. Over ninety percent of the surveyed crustaceans were "aware of the launch" and held a "strong desire to purchase," even though their massive claws and aquatic habitat make using the product impossible. Lemurs are less bullish, but then lemurs are a notoriously tough demo.
It took a third night of playing the Call of Duty 4 Beta for everything to sink in, but it's pretty much official: they know what the fuck they're doing. A shooter can't merely be great to come out this holiday, and even amazing might be insufficient. To go against the previously described fucking unstoppable media phalanx - to say nothing of Halo 3 itself, whose multiplayer offering is so broad on every axis that it must be called round - you need to drop something that be off the cheazy.
There are shooters that play with progression to varying degrees. Battlefield 2142 does, but the infantry experience is one part of a whole. Rainbow Six: Vegas does, but its reward scheme is largely cosmetic in nature, and takes place outside of the game proper - between rounds, in austere menus. CoD4's leveling has the sharp inhalation of a WoW ding. It takes place right there at the moment you earn the XP from a kill, with an onscreen celebration of the fact. The reward structure earns you new playmodes, new weapons, new slottable abilities, the right to build custom classes, the right to wear a clan tag. You don't need to wait long to earn them, the schedule is not cruel, but you need to put in your dues. It's not an onerous process: in order to level up, you must simply play Call of Duty 4. Trust me when I say this is something you will want to do.
I feel as though my knowledge of the game should be richer, so let me crack a few more levels and get back to you. Hopefully a beta code will have dripped out to you by then, and you will know what I mean with visceral certainty.
Oh, and also: if you want to tumble down some fissure in the earth and wake up in the Japanese Madness Caverns, take a look at this video for Puzzle de Harvest Moon. I watched it hours ago, and I am still haunted.
(CW)TB out.
sucks because I feel like shit but is also awesome because I have a
chance to play a bunch of Jeanne D' Arc.
I picked up the PSP slim last week and I'd say overall it's an
improvement. The thing that really stands out about it is just how
light it is. My guess is Sony was pretty pissed they couldn't call it
the PSP Light, because honestly that's what it is. Other than the
dramatic weight loss it sports a much nicer directional pad and and
the ability to push video out to a TV. It lost the spring loaded disk
tray which is a shame. The new UMD drive feels cheap and seems like
it's just waiting to break. The video out capabilities are nice but
you don't have the option to run the game full screen. You actually
don't have any options at all unlike the old GBA player for the Cube.
It looks good enough but the real bummer is that you are forced to use
the PSP as your controller.
Am I the only one who remembers how awesome the Nomad was? Essentially
is was a portable Genesis. You plugged regular Genesis carts into it
and you could play them on what at the time was a very nice little
screen. It also had video out so it functioned as a regular console as
well. The best part was that it had a regular controller port in the
bottom so it really was just like having a console you could pick up
and take with you. I'm really curious how hard it would have been to
let people sync a PS3 controller up to the PSP. See I actually
upgraded to the slim because of the video out. the remake of Final
Fantasy Tactics drops next month and I never actually played the
original. I got into the series on the GBA and actually played it on
my Gamecube via the GBA player. Sitting back on my couch with my
wavebird I must have logged well over a hundred hours in that game. I
had fantasies of a similar experience with FF Tactics: The War of the
Lions.
The bad news is that the PSP video cables won't reach to my couch. I
imagine this will be that case for most people with large televisions.
I guess I could get extensions but that's hardly ideal and I'd still
be using the PSP as my controller. The good news however is that the
new PSP is much easier on the hands. I've been playing a ton of Jeanne
D' Arc today and I have not experienced any "PSP Claw" as I used to
call it. Seeing as FF Tactics and Disgaea are both coming out next
month a new more comfortable PSP is exactly what the doctor ordered.
-Gabe out
Many of you are probably already familiar with Gamer Dad. He's become
a fixture at PAX and we've linked to him on a number of occasions. If
you don't know about him you should check out his blog. He's out there
fighting the jack Thompsons of the world and trying to prove that
being a gamer doesn't mean you're a psychopath. He has also been
tirelessly preaching the importance of gaming with your children.
basically he's one of the good guys and right now he needs some help.
Andrew suffered a heart attack recently and has since undergone
quadruple bypass surgery. He's not done yet either. Andrew is
scheduled for even more surgeries and his wife is asking for help. As
you can imagine they are racking up quite a bill and being a
professional advocate for our hobby just doesn't pay what it used to.
So I'd like to focus the power of the PA community on Andrew and his
family right now. If you're in a position to help them out I'm asking
that you please follow this link and do whatever you can.
-Gabe out
