Saturday, July 25, 2009

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 8

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Click the link above to download the latest episode of the Game Nutz Podcast, or subscribe by clicking HERE!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 7

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Click the link above to download the latest episode of the Game Nutz Podcast, or subscribe by clicking HERE!

I got to bed really late, only got 4½ hours of sleep, and then overslept, so I'm not exactly on my "A" game this week, but Boter picked up the broken pieces of my conversation and managed to make a mostly coherent show from it, so props to him!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Where would modern gaming be without the Nintendo 64?

I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to anyone who's read my posts that I have a bit of a soft spot for Nintendo. I own every Nintendo system, every Mario platformer, and nearly all of the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and other classic franchise games; not to mention countless Nintendo related tchochkies. (My family is so proud!) My love for Nintendo is fueled not just by nostalgia, but also by admiration. Whether "X-bots" or "Sony fanboys" want to admit it, their favorite systems owe more than they realize to Nintendo's innovation, in particular, the Nintendo 64.

The N64 was one of the first home consoles built from the ground up with 3D gaming in mind. 3D games before the N64 were usually (though not always) a novelty. Practical applications of polygons were mostly limited to space shooters and racing games. While certainly 3D games were inevitable, Nintendo was the first to bank on it. Super Mario 64 single-handedly changed the way games are made, and was the first 3D platformer to achieve commercial and critical success. If you want to talk about influential games, would we have ever seen console-specific first-person shooters like Halo, Resistance, or The Conduit if it hadn't been for the precedent set by GoldenEye 007?

But let's forget about the software for a moment, and take a look at the controller. Nintendo had already pioneered several aspects of the game controller — the control pad, shoulder buttons, diamond shaped button layout, a curved, ergonomic design — all of which have been incorporated into most game controllers that followed. The N64 added three elements that have carried over into almost all of its successors’ and competitors’: analog controls, accessory ports, and force feedback.

The first element, analog control, is what revolutionized 3D gaming on consoles. While PC games could achieve it to some degree with a mouse or trackball, the N64 controller gave us the first stationary, handheld, one-handed solution to precise analog controls. It worked so well that Sony redesigned the PlayStation's standard controller to include, not one, but two analog joysticks.

Another innovation lifted from the N64 controller has been force feedback. Even though "rumble" was not a standard feature of the N64 controller, it quickly became a defining feature, and the Rumble Pak became one of Nintendo's most successful after market peripherals, due in part to it being packed in with every copy of Star Fox 64, and supported by almost every game that followed, including GoldenEye. After the Rumble Pak, almost every game controller for every system had force feedback built-in; the exceptions being the Dreamcast, and the PS3's Sixaxis, the latter of which took a lot of flack for its lack of a rumble feature.

The Rumble Pak was made possible by another act of foresight by Nintendo: the expansion port on the controller. Originally meant for storing and accessing the mostly superfluous Controller Pak, the port allowed for more useful peripherals like the aforementioned Rumble Pak, and the Game Boy Transfer Pak. Though not widely utilized, the Transfer Pak may have inspired Sega's VMUs.

Finally, there is what I consider the biggest industry changer of them all: four controller ports. Almost every system made after the N64, with the inexplicable exception of the PS2, has supported four controllers out of the box. This feature revolutionized gaming by turning it into a far more social experience than ever before. Friends and family members would pile into living rooms, dorm rooms, and break rooms for hours at a time to play Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., Aki's wrestling series, and many other multiplayer gems of the day.

On a special, VIP tour of Disney's animation studio in Florida, I witnessed a group of artists sitting in an office playing on an N64 during a break. A background artist at the now defunct studio informed me that Bomberman 64 and GoldenEye were their favorites. Imagine if Nintendo hadn't put four controller ports on the N64. Would Mario Kart and GoldenEye have been the immensely popular party games they became? Would other game system designers have considered multiplayer as important as they do now? Sony certainly didn't.

So criticize the N64, if you will, for its "blurry textures," pervasive "fog effect," and use of cartridges (the former two problems I never understood when the PlayStation's 3D textures were always blocky and jagged, and short draw distance and polygon pop-up were pretty much standard), but you can't deny the fact that it contributed more good ideas to the gaming industry than any console prior or since. Video game systems today are in its debt.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Game Nutz Podcast

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For months I've wanted to record a podcast to compliment my blog. Often my friends and I will sit around and chat about video games either in person, on the phone, or through IM. I've tried to arrange a podcast, but most of my friends are long distance, and I work odd hours, so we haven't been able to fully organize an online recording.

Then one day about a month ago I was visiting Game Nutz, my local independent game store, and one of the staff members with whom I have become friends mentioned that he and another Game Nutz employee and friend of mine had started a podcast. To make a long story short, two episodes later, they invited me to become a regular member of the show.

So if you'd like to hear the weekly gaming news and discussions of Drew "Boter," Rob "StickyNugget," and myself, then click here and download a few episodes, or follow the link to subscribe to the RSS through your feed of choice!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360) — Full Review


I've enjoyed Ghostbusters: The Video Game a lot. The game looks like the Ghostbusters movie, with realistic (albeit rubbery) models of the original cast as they would have appeared about 20 years ago. All the Ghostbusters' equipment is faithfully recreated from the original movie props, and all returning characters are voiced by their original actors. The script was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (writers of both movies, and the actors who portray Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler respectively), and the majority of the background music is taken directly from Elmer Bernstein's score.

You control the nameless, voiceless "Rookie," a new recruit to the Ghostbusters whose purpose in the story is to test out the new experimental equipment Egon has invented, and to free up the other Ghostbusters so they can move the plot along. The story takes place in 1991, two years after Ghostbusters II (though strangely there are very few references outside of the first movie). A Gozer exhibit has opened in the Museum of Natural History, and a psychokinetic shockwave releases Slimer from his research containment case, and the Ghostbusters chase him back to the Sedgewick Hotel, his happy haunting grounds from the first film. Once you arrive, it becomes apparent that Slimer's not the only ghost wreaking havoc. What's worse, the spirit dimension seems to be crossing over into ours!

(As I played through the story, I realized two things: 1) With dozens of different types of ghosts and monsters, including some very large ones (the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man), cross dimensional travel, and a variety of incredible powers and technologies, this is more or less the Ghostbusters movie Aykroyd wanted to make in 1984, before practical or affordable technology existed to create said effects. And 2) with all the rehash from Ghostbusters I (i.e. Slimer, Stay-Puft, Gozer, Ivo Shandor, the Sedgewick Hotel, Walter Peck, the Librarian ghost, Bernstein's score, etc.), this is what Ghostbusters II could have been like if Aykroyd, Ramis, and director Ivan Reitman hadn't strived for a more original story with the same characters and setting, instead of the common practice of basically copying the first movie for the sequel. Fortunately, by taking these familiar elements and making them interactive, it mostly justifies their repetition.)

The best way I can describe the gameplay is Gears of War with Proton Packs. Action and capturing is presented in a third person, over-the-shoulder view. Busting ghosts is a three step process that involves weakening the ghost with one of your four different beams, capturing it in another, and leading it into the Ghost Trap. In between bustings, you'll use your PKE Meter to search for spirits, clues, and cursed artifacts, the latter of which open up additional upgrades for your equipment which can be purchased at any time in the pause menu. Aside from busting ghosts, you'll also solve puzzles, most of which are pretty straight forward — eventually your fellow Ghostbusters will give you tips, should you get stuck — but some can be pretty obtuse.

All things considered, I have to say the game itself is very good, but without the Ghostbusters license and Dan and Harold's sharp writing, I don't know if the gameplay would offer enough variety to warrant the purchase. If you're a Ghostbusters fan, there's plenty to love here. I do wish the game was a little bit longer. It took me about 7-7½ hours to complete on the casual difficulty. I think one more level would have helped fill out the experience. I would have liked to see a recreation of the deleted Fort Detmerring scene from the first movie. Maybe in DLC.

I've yet to try anything online, nor have I tried the stylized Wii version. I may amend this review slightly to include online later, and I'll write a separate review for the stylized version once I get to play it. As for my score right now, it applies only to the Xbox 360 single player game.

8.5
Yea: excellent production; accurate, realistic depictions of characters, locations, and equipment; voice acting; lots of movie references
Nay: a little too short; a lot of rehash from the first movie, very few references to the second; somewhat repetitive; rubbery, over-exaggerated facial animations