Dare to Play the Game

Warner Bros wants to buy Midway, Thoughts on new hardware for Nintendo, and Bill Clinton in Fallout 3? – Welcome to the column that offered $9.95 for the rights to the TNA Impact series and was turned down because I bid in pesos known as Dare to Play the Game.

After playing 15 games in the franchise mode of NHL 2k9, I am a strong 11-4. Most of the games are very close, common scores being 3-2, 5-4 and the like. Overtime is a frequent occurrence as well. However, my luck in overtime has been very solid so far. By the way, I do the old traditional Sudden Death overtime, no pansy shootout for me.

The game still feels odd to me at times, even though I do like it a whole lot. Had my second player go down for the whole season this week. I know injuries happen, 15 games in to have 2 season ending injuries is a bit much. Thankfully, I’ve been able to adjust my lineup and still be competitive. No stars yet *knock on wood*.

The other odd (or cool) thing is how I play against the strong teams. The two teams that look headed to the Stanley Cup this year is Detroit & Pittsburgh. I had the opportunity of playing them both this weekend in consecutive games. I downed Pittsburgh 5-0 and recorded my first shutout victory in a regular season game. In the second contest with Detroit, it was a little different. After the first period, the score was 1-1. After the second? 5-5. No joke. I had no idea what to expect for the third. Heck, I was thinking this game could go double digits. The final score, 8-6. I found my rhythm defensively (well as much as possible) and still proceeded to play strong offense. Hopefully I can keep riding this game and win the Stanley Cup.

Ode To Gamer Girls



Gamer Girls are so gosh darn loveable. Especially the ones who are down to earth. I found this interview last night from Destructoid.com about a girl that is simply known for column sake as Faith Naked. She’s been on Attack of the Show, loves Army of Darkness and is into Bubble Bobble of all things. She also rocks a Superman t-shirt. I’m not sure how you can go wrong with that combination.

Midway

Midway today announced that they have received a more than $33 million offer from Warner Bros. to buy out most of their company.

The publisher of Mortal Kombat filed for bankruptcy in February. The filing kicked off a soap opera of allegations of back room dealings, and corporate waste.

I’m kinda disappointed I guess. I really thought that Capcom would at least consider a bid on the Mortal Kombat name and create the super-game many of us were hoping for. Heck, I thought Namco might fisher out a bid too. Instead, we get UbiSoft, some private firm and Warner Bros. UbiSoft is an interesting idea, I mean from what I can find; they don’t have any fighting games in their catalog and would benefit from some of the other properties in Midway’s bag of tricks.

Then there is Warner Bros. They actually worked together with Midway with the recent hit: Mortal Kombat vs DC. It’s kinda of an obvious choice if you think about it, just the fanboys in the crowd were hoping for something else. That and most people are worried if WB does get the MK License, then somebody might get the bright idea of Lego Mortal Kombat. Though, I must admit the idea of Lego fatalities sounds cool in a very sick & warped way. But seriously, WB has a lot to offer and good backing for Mortal Kombat. I’m just probably being selfish and wishing for a smaller entity to get control.

You laugh. But apparently somebody else has already put some long thought process into the idea. GTA is next, mark my words. Nothing is sacred.
Fallout 3

Word that President Clinton was sort-of asked to be the voice of Fallout 3’s President Eden arched eyebrows and dropped jaws. But Bethesda’s top spokesman put the kibosh on that ever being a serious idea.Lev Chapelsky of talent firm Blindlight said they inquired, and received a polite “no,” regarding the 42nd president’s interest in doing video game work.

Before they would pitch us on someone like Clinton, they may first go ask if he would do something like that. In no way, shape or form, did we say is President Clinton is who we want for this role or [tell Blindlight to] go chase him. The idea of this ever happening is absurd, but stranger things have come to pass. I think Bethesda’s lucky Clinton said no. If he said yes I scarcely imagine that they would have told Blindlight to find someone else. And it would have killed the game. Sure, he’s perfectly matched to the role of a self-serving politician spooling out unbelievable jingoistic blather. But stepping out of the vault for the first time, picking up the Enclave radio signal, and hearing Bill Clinton would have brought the experience to a near-screeching halt, right as it got started.

Bill Clinton would have been genius, but perhaps that is just my opinion. But only if it would have ended up in an epic gun battle at the end with his head rolling down the hall. Not that I want to see any president’s head rolling down the hall (I actually like former President Clinton), I just think it is pretty awesome they way the game portrays such actions. The man’s voice is one of the most recognizable voices in the nation today even almost ten years later gone from office. He makes a killing on the speech circuit and if you had to think of who would fit a corrupt politician better, you’d be hard pressed.

That said, in the same breath it was probably for the best. Certain aspects of the game would probably have been compromised and we wouldn’t be left with one of the best games in recent memory. All the advertising would have gone in the direction of the former president and there probably would be a DS version which would be a side scrolling action game that would involve an 8 bit Bill as a giant insect boss with dis-proportioned arms and legs.

For those of you who don’t remember, you could actually access Clinton as a playable character in NBA Jam(T.E. edition I believe) with a secret code. Maybe Bethesda should have offered Bill a “boom shakalaka”.
Nintendo

Nintendo does not rest, Nintendo does not stop. Even with the success of the Wii and the DS, Nintendo keeps going.

And typically, right before new hardware is released, there’s a price cut. The Wii still has not gotten a price cut — save for a few, unofficial nips and tucks at UK retail. “I have never said that cutting the suggested retail price is not in the cards,” Iwata said. That price cut just hasn’t happened — and who can blame them?

One of the interesting things about Nintendo is that they really do never stop working. Think about it. The Nintendo 64 and Gamecube did well but were never the top system of their platform. However, in the background, they were always working on the Wii and when it hit, they knew they had struck true gold once again. They could rest on their laurels but instead they know that the next big thing is right around the corner.

So where does that live the Wii? Are we going to see the end of Wii by Christmas? Not likely. I think what we might see is the company sticking with their current price tag until the first quarter of 2010. Then we will get the $199 pricetag. People will go crazy, there will be a short time again where you won’t be able to find a Wii. Meanwhile, Nintendo executives will be rubbing their hands together screaming something about that money money, yeah yeah. They will then unveil at the next E3 that will be releasing some new piece of hardware whether it be a new console or the revolutionary WiiROB. This will work just as long as the first game isn’t a remake of Gyromite.

The first game of this episodic series (yes there will be more of this nonsense) is named Fright of the Bumblebees. You will be to control both Wallace & Gromit in your gameplay. In this one, Wallace has a honey business and has produce 50 pounds of honey in a single day. He’s got a doo-hicky that processes flowers into honey. Then there is a growth formula and you can see where this is going. It ends in a crazy bee chase and hopefully a happy ending. I want to like Wallace & Gromit, but unfortunately I just don’t get it. This is put out by Telltale (so this thing probably is good) and I have one thing to ask of them, where the heck is Sam & Max on my Xbox Live? Moving on.

Another puzzle game, this one comes from the minds of Square Enix. This one used to be a free flash-based game and the goal was to make colored blocks disappear from a board that was covered with them(wow, does that sound familiar or what?). You formed squares where the vertexes are the same color and block type. Those get removed and replaced with new ones. Bigger points for bigger square, etc etc etc. I would imagine there will be multiplayer and leaderboards. Oh achievements too. Sorry for the sarcasm, but some games just deserve it.

I have some good memories of Adventure Island on the ole Nintendo. Supposedly this game features gameplay very similar to that concept but put in a 3d world and includes various multiplayer minigames. Ummm, I’m not sure that is going to work too well. From what I researched, a similar game was already released on Gamecube and Playstation 2 but I can’t remember it for the life of me and I think it only showed up in Japan. At 800 points, it might be worth a try but I think it might just hurt the memories.

Most people know Bubble Bobble by now and are aware of its dinosaur bubble popping goodness. In this new version, Bub or Bob will be playable and that there will be support for up to 4 players. In addition, there will be 100 new stages as well as a collection of 100 stages from past games. The challenge can also be optionally ramped up. This will follow with some downloadable packs in the future with 50 levels a piece, described as very hard. At 600 points, it sounds like a steal.

One of the most unique fighting games finally makes it to Virtual Console. I’ve waited way too long. This game had eight different clay monsters to play as such as Bad Mr. Frosty, Blue Suede Goo and Taffy. There was an end boss to boot. The gameplay was relatively simple and featured Street Fighter-esque controls. It eventually spawned some sequels and hopefully we will be able to see them as time goes on. At 800 points, you’ll find a little bit of console fighting game history that shouldn’t be missed.

PS2
Secret Agent Clank
Up

PSP
Crimson Gem Saga
Up

PS3
Infamous
Cross Edge
Damnation
Fuel
Up

Xbox 360
Fallout 3 Game Add-on Pack: Operation Anchorage and the Pitt
Fuel
Damnation
Up

Wii
Up
The Munchables
Reel Fishing: Anglers Dream
Rolling Stone Drum King
Space Camp
Speed Zone

DS
Personal Trailer: Walking
Imagine: Makeup Artist
Up
Jake Hunter Detective Story: Memories of the Past
Space Camp
Puffins: Island Adventure
Sanrio Party!

PS3 has the standout release week, go figure. Furthermore, Infamous is the first title I can remember that has sparked genuine interest for me. Sure, it’s not a system seller but the game really looks good and has a decent somewhat original storyline. Hopefully, there are those out there with a PS3 who can speak further to it. Cross Edge doesn’t look half bad either. Up gets the movie tie-in award for whoring themselves out to every system and will end up in a future bargain bin about a month after the movie leaves theaters. Let’s move on. Then there is also the Fallout 3 expansion pack at a very pleasing $20 (the same price as to download). At some point (I have set a target date of this summer), I will pick back up Fallout 3, and then think seriously about the expansion pack. The problem is I think it will get a game of the year package with all of the content available(See Oblivion). But I’m not sure I want to wait that long. That’s it for this week’s releases.

As you might have read from the last few columns, I’ve been tossing around the idea of blu-ray. I even went and bought a player from Ebay only to have the darn thing not work on me. So after sending back the player and getting a refund (for which I do thank the retailer for the customer service), I went to Best-Buy and tried to go all Sony (player/receiver) only to realize that the player was out of stock.

So, for a few weeks I wasn’t sure what to do. The blu-ray gods as it were just seemed indigent and weren’t going to let me go through with it. Then I went in a different Best Buy on Saturday and stared at the same scenario. This time, the receiver was in question and all of the Best Buys I could tap online seemed to be out of the receiver I wanted. I walked the lonely aisles, not expecting much.

However, there was a box at the lone end of the receiver aisle, no display, just kinda by itself. It was the Sony receiver I wanted. The last one. I quickly grabbed it and grabbed the Sony Blu-Ray player that I had wanted previously and went for the purchase (and 18 month financing). I didn’t install either on that night and instead waited until Sunday. My future brother-in-law helped me and we got everything right on the first try. Amazing (of course it helped that I had a Sony receiver prior to getting a blu-ray and this was a mere upgrade). After testing the same problem discs from before (and all of them working fine), we sat and watched Dodgeball of all things as our first movie. Oddly enough, it was one of the best movie experiences I’ve ever had.

Setup only took about an hour and a half, most of which entailed the darn speaker wire. So, I am indeed a happy panda. I knew when I sent back my first player that I would in time find what I was looking for originally, I’m just glad that the setup worked so effortlessly. The only thing I really have left to purchase is a Blu Drive for my computer (for future review screenshots). Hopefully you will be able to complete a long project this week and be rewarded for your efforts. Take care kiddoes.

This happened recently, but typically I try to leave my personal life out of this column (that doesn’t involve gaming). However, I did want to share something exciting that happened in my life. I got engaged to Sarah(Lady Sin), the crazy woman that posts comments at the bottom of this page. She actually said yes (I was as shocked as the rest of you) and we are looking to get married in the Winter sometime. I’m a most fortunate man, because there is somebody out there to put up with my BS and she is fortunate because she is getting married to me. Muahhahaa. I love you sweetie.

As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)