lost in games

Indeed, as i mentioned to you in a previous Games i have missed post i was trying to get hold of two old-gen games i had my eye on for some time now. Finally they are now in my collection. I got Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX) and Gregory Horror Show (PS2) for a total of CYP16 (incl p&p) on Ebay. Both sealed and in mint condition. I think Christmas season is great for some retro gems alongside the next-gen games. Will get back to you for my impressions.

Just two days left to the end of the working week and i have some long articles for you.

The first is The History of Atari - 1971 to 1977 on Gamasutra. It is a long one but then the company has a great history in Videogames although now it is just history.

The second is Gamespot’s review 9.5/10 of Super Mario Galaxy on Wii. The game is simply breathtaking. If you can have audio where you are then you can also watch Gametrailers review 9.8/10. This game compensates to a great extent the lack of other AAA titles on the console.

The third and last is about the status and future of the PSP console. The PSP comeback? on Next-Generation. As the PSP has grown on me i too think there is a future for this console. It might not be the DS powerhouse but it has established a market share it can build on.

Ok, i was reading EGM’s review of Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP yesterday and one of their comments was that one of the good things about the game is that is very convenient when you are on the move. Whether you are in a dungeon or you are just upgrading/levelling up your characters you can just go to PSP’s standby mode and get off your bus or the tube. Very convenient for short spells of gaming.

And it hit me. It is!! I remember how often i used it for Jeanne D’Arc, Lumines and for so many other games.

If consoles at home had this feature we wouldn’t be annoyed so much with whatever saving system the game had. Playing Metroid Prime 3 and after half hour of playing you don’t actually get to a saving point and you want to go out? No problem, just put the console on standby mode. Then when you come back you can pick up the game where you left off. You would not even have to worry about your battery dying on you.

The 360 currently has a sort of sleep mode but only for downloading stuff or when charging the controllers. They added this in one of their dashboard updates. I can not see why they can’t do it for when you are in a game. It will allow us to play longer games, games with few saving points or infrequent checkpoints.

Come on Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. I demand the standby mode feature on my home consoles.

NOW!

Once again Europe gets a second class citizen treatment compared to our NTSC counterparts. The PAL version of Zack & Wiki will be delayed until 2008 with no reason given according to a Kotaku report. After the not so great Metroid Prime 3, the only game coming out this holiday season to the Wii worth getting excited about is Super Mario Galaxy.

Real shame.

The game is video reviewed at Gametrailers (9.4/10) and it looks amazing. The single player story might be short but it is incredibly intense and satisfying with replayability of the game on harder modes. And the graphics…. Sure graphics are not everything but when they are these good you have to wonder.

As far as the multiplayer is concerned it seems only Halo 3 can rival this game. The maps’ design and the new perk system take this game to another level. My only concern is with the serious lag problems the Beta version had. Hopefully these have been sorted out.

The regular version of the game is being released today but the Limited Edition on the 9th of November.

For the past few days i have been seriously thinking of just giving up Metroi Prime 3. Why? For a few reasons.

1. Saving system may be the most crucial one. The game forces you to play for a considerable amount of time and then reach a saving point. I hate that. You can’t have small junks of play at a time. You need to invest a minimum of around 1 hour at a time to play Metroid which is especially difficult on weekdays.

2. The game is not that good. If it wasn’t for the controls i don’t think i would be playing it. The controls are carrying the game.

3. Backtracking. Going back to planets you visited before to open sections you could not complete because you lacked the equipment at the time is not something i like doing. I want to be able complete the planet and then move on to new areas not having to go back and revisit the same areas just to unlock a small section.

4. Bosses. Marathon, pattern style bosses. I have mentioned it last week how much i hate bosses but Metroid brough back memories. Bad memories. Boring and tedius.

So we come to the dilemma.

Should i continue this sometimes frustrating, filled with marathon bosses, lots of backtracking game for the sake of the controls? Or should i just give up on it (30% completed) and move on to something else?

I am listening.

I know, i know the weekend has gone by so fast once more. It’s a long week so make yourself some coffee and read these articles until you actually wake up.

The Great Firewall: China’s Misguided - and Futile - Attempt to Control What Happens Online - WIRED

Spinning the Moral Compass: Designing Free Radical’s Haze - GAMASUTRA

Both interesting and easy reads.

Catch you later.

Every now and then i try to get a copy of a few games i was thinking of about but never actually did. Games i sacrificed from other titles. This is how i got my Ico game and SW:KOTR. I played both of them years after their release and i am glad i did. Fantastic games.

Right now i am trying to get my hands on the following two games.

The first is Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX edition) which although i had read the good reviews it received at the time i never crossed my mind to buy it. None of my friends had ever heard about the game so i left it at that. After reading an article about it again in last month’s Edge issue and listening to the guys on the Totally Rad Show podcast talking about how good it was i finally made up my mind to hunt for a copy.

Gregory Horror Show on the PS2 is the second game. To be honest i tried to get a copy on ebay a couple of times before but the bid went over my maximum offer and just left it there. I think this time i will try and get a copy even at not a bargain price.

Any games you missed and now you wish you had bought?

I have not been able to find time to buy the game (plus the fact that the game has serious online issues) but i was directed by a Destructoid blog entry to Gamespot’s review of the game. It appears that once each PS3 copy of the game locks on to a particular online account. Therefore if the game is taken to be played on another PS3 the online mode is not accessible via the other user’s account.

Gamespot Review

It’s also worth noting the online registration process, which locks your copy of the game to your Konami account for online play. This means that if you ever want to sell your copy of the game, the next person will be unable to play online unless he or she has your registration details. To our knowledge this is the first time this has happened in a PS3 title, and Konami’s UK office declined to respond to enquiries over why the system was implemented.

The industry has long been moaning about used games being a huge problem and it appears that this is one of the ways they may be starting to tackle it. For me this is a non issue. Since i have bought the product, and probably at the steep price of CYP40 as well, i am entitled to use it however i want for as long as i want. If for some reason i want to sell it then i should not be penalised nor should the second hand buyer much like second hand market for cars, cds, books etc. Only time will tell whether more developers and publishers will follow this route.

A friend got it for me in London on release date and he brought it over on Saturday. Right now i have completed about 16% of the game so i have a lot more to do and see. For those who have not played the series before, Metroid Prime is a platform adventure with a lot of exploration to do with some shooting you have to do along the way. Your main character is Samus, a female bounty hunter.

The series was never supposed to be nor pretended to be a shooter. However with Corruption the Metroid series has moved closer to the FPS genre as probably Retro Studios (the developers) want to showcase the Wii’s controls. The game itself is solid but adds nothing new to the previous iterations on the Gamecube. However, i have read that the game does improve considerably after the first quarter. You will move from planet to planet as you get satellite uplinks on your objectives. As you progress through the game you get armour and weaponry upgrades which give you access to locations you could not previously visit. One cool new feature is the use of your spaceship. You use it to move from location to location and also you give it coordinates to perform bombing runs in open air locations while you are on the ground. It is like your spaceship is your sidekick. Nice touch. The musical score is one of the things i love about the game while on the other hand the boss battles do get on my nerves but bosses are part of the Metroid history.

Now to the main issue. Controls. The controls are mosty great. I have the advanced settings enabled where you move Samus using the nunchuck with the wiimote controlling your gun. Moving and aiming becomes intuitive after while. I have some issues getting a lock on enemies and then for some reason losing it which is really annoying especially as you lose the enemies from the screen. Furthermore the - and + buttons are very inconvenient to use due to their position on the Wiimote when you want to enter hypermode or quickly scan a boss and find out its weakness. There are other uses of the motion controls such as using the nunchuck for the grappling device for taking enemies’ shields for example.

Aside from a couple of issues however i have to admit this is the best control set-up i have experienced on a console for a FPS game. Going back to thumbsticks on my 360 and PS3 makes me feel i am going back in time, the dark ages. After putting the PSP into good use it seems it is the Wii’s turn now with Metroid Prime: Corruption. It was about time!