How Atari Can Really Take Advantage Of The Digital Age

While the company has seen its share of ups and downs (and a few sideways moves) over the past few decades, there's something about Atari that makes me hope they'll be around in some form for as long as people are around to play video games. Primarily a publisher for a good deal of the past decade, since 2004 they've been tapping into their history to produce a few different plug & play console variants in the Atari Flashback line. These units feature not only many classic games, but unreleased as well as homebrew tittles have managed to make it into the mainstream thanks to the small but dedicated team contracted to put the Flashback project together. As good as these systems are, I think Atari can bring things to the next level in a really cool way.

Why A Console Diablo Is A Really Great Idea (Again)

If you've been around for a few console cycles and managed to snag a copy of this game (which still fetches a premium price in some spots), you probably remember this shiny little gem from the "ancient" PlayStation days. It ate up nearly a whole memory card for saves, was brutal as hell and had endless replay value for those who loved it. Well, It looks like console owners may finally be getting another Diablo-like game after all... this time from the makers of Diablo, and I couldn't be happier.

According to a posting on the official Diablo III Community Forums:

"We're exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles and are currently looking to fill a few senior console-related positions on the Diablo III team. As we've said in the past, with proper care the gameplay could suit the console platform, and we're interested in seeing what talent out there might be interested in such a project. If you're passionate about all things Diablo and have the requisite skill and experience, then head over to our jobs site to check out the positions and apply.

Please note that this is not an announcement of a console title. We are first and foremost developing Diablo III for Windows and Mac PCs and don't intend to allow any possibility of a console interpretation to delay or affect the release of the game."

Reading that made me grin for a few minutes too long, but it's stellar news if it actually gets done at some point. Granted, the PC-only adherents are up in arms and whining as usual (in some over the top rants that make as much sense as a Rick Santorum supermarket speech). Nevertheless, I say it's one of the smartest moves Blizzard can make going forward and benefits everyone at the end of the day...

Ridge Racer Unbounded Trailer: Let Bugbear Be!

And here we go again. Last year, when EA unveiled SSX: Deadly Descents, the Internet descended on them in a rather deadly decent into all sorts of nasty name-calling and threats based on the trailer that showed the new installment was headed in a more action flick direction, something many die-hard SSX fans didn't want at all. Now, Namco Bandai is facing the same sort of crankiness based on a trailer that also doesn't even show any gameplay at all. Worse, some of the comments directed toward the game's dev team are at best, ignorant and at worst, more than a tiny bit racist.

Commentary: Why We ALL Need Wizardry Back!

Sometimes, I just hate Japan, but in a decidedly more "grrrr... how come they get THAT game?" manner (and not anything more overly dramatic than that, mind you). While the Wizardry franchise hasn't seen a new Western-developed PC game in the states since the ill-fated, (but mostly well-rated) Wizardry 8 (back in 2001!), since the late 80's, Japanese gamers have had nearly 40 ports or completely original Wizardry games and side-stories created by an assortment of developers for a number of consoles, portables and even cellphones. More recently, three Nintendo DS games in Japan have been getting their own original entries (*grrrr!*). You can keep your Angry Birds, and other "casual" games, folks - I'd rather play something with real meat on its bones.

Nintendo 3DS Pre-Order Madness Starts With Nary A Price Point In Sight (AND Your Kids WIll Go BLIND... Er, Maybe)...

I'm gathering that reports that the upcoming 3DS will carry a warning about use of its innovative 3D functionality being not recommended (or good, for that matter) for the eyesight of kids under six years old isn't going to stop anyone from putting down a fat deposit at Gamestop and posting copies their receipts online. Of course, those pre-ordering folk aren't six years old (and hopefully don't have kids coming up on that age they want to introduce to that sort of eye/brain strain) and heck, trying to stop early adopters from throwing packs of money around is sort of bad for the economy (which someone should tell those AGAINST alternative fuel sources).

Still, Nintendo really needs to play offense as well as defense here as they address this potential sales-killing (or class action lawsuit bringing) issue as more of the dopier media outlets (you know, the ones that ALWAYS take the "Video games will turn your kids into mass murdering sex fiends in three seconds!" approach to this sort of news) take this negative angle and run wild with it. I say, as long as parents can read the damn box (or have a clerk point this age limit out to them) BEFORE they buy it, it's all good. Now, about that price point... Guess we'll see by CES (my prediction: $249.99, but perhaps with a pack-in and maybe loaded with some cool stuff)

My REAL question is this: Why the hell do we keep seeing kid's movies arriving in theaters (then later on DVD or Blu-Ray) in 3D if kids under six shouldn't be able to watch them at all? Granted, you can sit around playing "normal" games for hours on end with only a few issues. 3D gaming has been headache-inducing since the 90's when there were something like two to four minute experiences along with a few other applications. I guess we'll see what happens after the 3DS ships and more folks can afford 3D televisions and those expensive glasses.

Still, I'm crazy that way. I can see myself playing a 3D game 'til I fall off the couch from dizziness, but I just can't imagine myself or someone else watching more than two 3D movies in a row before their butt tries to bite them for making them sit so long doing nothing...

Thank You, Good Morning America (Not Really, Though)!

Thank you, Good Morning America... for my day off work!

Having some of your staff walk off with multiple Disney Epic Mickey press gift bags earlier this morning means that I don't have a copy of the game to review today nor the assorted goodies I'd planned to give away as a means to drive much-needed traffic to my blog.

However, being the sole games journalist at the event, I didn't walk away completely empty-handed thanks to a Disney Interactive staffer that handed me a shirt and poster upstairs and made mention about not forgetting to pick up the aforementioned gift bag waiting for me when I left. Meeting Warren Spector, Peter David and a few other folks who worked on the game was pretty special as well.

(Later Than Usual) Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon Update: Split Screen Is In, But The Whining STILL Continues...

Proof positive that you can never, ever, EVER please ALL pf the people all of the time, D3Publisher of America recently updated the official Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon page as well as the game's Facebook page last week with the absolutely grand news that split-screen cooperative gameplay (or couch co-op) is now a part of the upcoming release. While a good deal of cheers and back-slapping has lightened the mood of assorted message boards, there are STILL some die-hard hard-heads griping about aspects of the game that would ONLY be truly justified complaints if these posters actually got their hands on an up-to-date (and still in-progress build).

Yeesh. Cue any sort of facepalm theme music or related animated GIF at this point

Commentary: PSP2 - Does it REALLY Need To Do EVERYTHING?

Love Letter From A Low-Tech Hard-Head

As much as I love Sony and the PlayStation lineup), the news cycling 'round about the company's upcoming PSP2 (and possible, on and off PSPhone device) irks me to no end. Well, maybe not that much (this isn't an "angry" rant at all, folks), but still... Not that's I'm complaining (but I'm complaining anyway), but SOME of us just want a pure GAMES PLATFORM, not another touchscreen tablet, laz-e-reader, movie playin', memory eatin' overheatin' shiny new tech toy. If the PSPgo has taught us (and hopefully, Sony) anything it's that getting away from the core consumer or adding too much functionality to a gadget only turns away those who just want to PLAY GAMES (pirates be damned).

BRÜTAL LEGEND, I Have Not Forsaken Thee!

Thanks for asking, really... but nope, I absolutely have not been ignoring my man Tim Schaefer, Double Fine Productions or BRÜTAL LEGEND, their Rocktober "surprise" that's taken the game world by storm this year (cue: "Lightning Strikes Again," Thor). I'm just sitting here cracking up on a near-daily basis at how all of a sudden everyone has finally discovered just what a group of fantastically talented creative geen-yusses he and his crew are.

I mean, I and many other editor types around the frickin' world trumpeted the joys of the eternally awesome, amazingly funny platformer Psychonauts* until we turned blue in the head and beyond (cue: "Among the Living," Anthrax). Nevertheless, did enough of you so-called "hard-core" guys and gals actually BUY the game and justify all the well deserved ink we spilled? Nope (cue: "Backstabber," Hytz).

*That, and the man's tenure over at LucasArts cleeeeeeeeearly shows he's got more than enough proof of Legendary Status (no certificate required). So There.

"Cult" classic, my left eyeball! Raz' awesome psychic summer camp experience is and always will be a "classic, period." Besides, mention the words "cult" and "video games" these days around a concerned parental unit who's already unnecessarily wary about the medium and you're asking for trouble of the Fox News variety. However, from the iron jaws of defeat come the Iron Jaws of Victory, especially if you're Tim Schaefer and Double Fine. I may not have been covering the game on DAF as much as you'd like (or I, for that matter), but guess what, kitties? I know... the (allegdly) REAL story of how BRÜTAL LEGEND came to be (allegedly):

Chapter One

Shortly after Psychonauts failed to reach an under-eager public that didn't quite grasp the idea of a video game actually being outrageously funny yet psychoanalytically precise, Tim got a bit grumpy that gamers weren't lined up around the block to snap up this triumph of humor and platforming awesomeness and stomped off to his office without supper. While sitting in a funk with loud metal blasting away in the background (cue: "Anger," Thor), something weighty got jarred loose, fell off a shelf behind him and *conked!* him square on the noggin.

(quick science lesson: when set to 11, speaker vibrations can be quite "motivational"to certain small solid objects of medium to heavy weight, around the size of a plaque or small statue)

Fade. To. Black... Game Over, man, Game Over! - is the the end of our hero?

Chapter Two

Interestingly enough, it was one of the many small, solid, medium to heavy weight awards the company had won for Psychonauts that landed on the back of Tim's head and put him down for the count (cue: "Cold Metal," Iggy Pop). Anyway, while he was out cold, visions of METAL filled his very being and upon regaining consciousness a few hours later (with a big throbbing cartoon knot on the back of his head), he jumped to his feet, swung his office door open wide as it could go (even though it opened inward) and at the very, very top of his lungs yelled out: "I GOT IT, YeeeeeeaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Unfortunately... it was about 5:46am and no one else was around... Will our hero's suddenly intense vocal styling and bold, new game idea go completely unnoticed as he sinks deeper into depression with a big freakin' knot on his head?

Chapter Three

Fortunately, Tim slapped an ice pack on that throbbing bumpola on the back of his head, brewed a fresh pot of java and took a whole lot of notes while waiting for the staff to roll in later. After recreating the experience (which resulted in another bump on the head and a few more hours out cold, whereupon even *more* ideas for the game filled his head), somebody suggested putting in a call to Jack Black as well a bunch of heavy metal's greatest hitters. A bit of art team madness, careful coding and a big, nasty publisher switch later and the results are about to become gaming history on a fairly massive scale (at least it looks like it if you're following all the endless hype, trails of drool and other bodily fluids coming from places where the game has been shown publicly).

THE END.

So there. Still, I do have somewhat (or is it something?) of a confession to make: As much as it kills me, the only thing I'm actually avoiding is playing any type of demo, as I want to go into the game as cold as a steel brassiere on a Nordic ice vixen astride a giant, saddled, helmet-clad polar bear. Why?

Am I crazy? Wouldn't it be certifiably true that I'm NOT doing my job as a games journalist by not continually trumpeting the joys of the unique single player experience and the even more unique (and recently revealed) killer multiplayer mode? Shouldn't I join ALL my fellow editorial comrades in arms on the front lines as we all gush endlessly over the game's stellar art direction, totally awesome soundtrack and even more ridiculously wicked use of many vocal talents from the wide world of metal history??? AM I CRAZY TO NOT BE UPDATING MY SITE EVERY FEW DAYS WITH MORE BRÜTAL LEGEND IMPRESSIONS, SCREENS AND MOVIES?!! (*breathe, wheeze* cue: "Naked in Front of the Computer, " Faith No More)

Well, no. I'm not crazy at all, just stupid-ly busy running this blog as a one-man show, which is really rough going with so damn many great games to cover this year, is all. Beeeee-sides, kittycats, I KNOW the game is going to be nothing but stellar stuff (hell, it's Tim Schaefer and Double. Fine. Productions. Two tastes that taste great together, especially when they make games. Dunno how their baking skills are, however). I kind of really just want to enjoy it as a totally fresh gameplay experience on Day One, as if I'd walked into a game emporium and saw it for the very first time. Just like some of you reading this will probably end up doing because you'd somehow never heard of the game or didn't pre-order a copy.

On the other hand, this kind of leads to My Secret Confession #2 (signed, near mint, $4.50): For a while, I've been picking a handful of "A" games I'm interested in every year out of a hat to do this with and BRÜTAL LEGEND just so happened to be one of them, that's all (really!). Huh? Well, it goes like this: After writing about games for so long (and playing games much for so much longer), an oddball habit like that keeps my brain on its toes and makes my reviews much better in the end.

Of course, I'm quite pro-Tim Schaefer and DFP, but it's a case where any positive bias is somewhat justified. If the game has warts I'll point them out and laugh just like the usual message board goons (but nowhere near as annoying, of course). If I have to gripe at all, I'll at least come up with some constructive critical mass that just might help Tim and co. out on their next project - that's how this review stuff is supposed to go, right?


BRÜTAL LEGEND is set to scorch up the retail charts on October (er, Rocktober!!!) 13 , 2009... but you already knew that, right? Sorry for being late - "Now you know... and knowing's half the battle!" Er... wrong game, but at least it's the same publisher, right?

Yeah, yeah, the HUGE screenshot gallery is coming, probably this afternoon, most likely tonight into tomorrow. There's a load of awesome images to pore over and I keep getting distracted by all the little details in each one.

Yeah, go pre-order the game if you haven't already, folks - it's really gonna rock...

Cursed Mountain Arrives Early. I'm Four Hours In....

... and I couldn't be more pleased, although it seems that the kids who want exploding zombie heads every three seconds may be a bit annoyed by the intentionally languid pacing. And the fact that there are NO zombies in the game, only really annoyed ghosts and more pissed off demonic things (that can still kill as quickly, mind you). The game layers on the gloomy mood right away and the overall sense of dread combined with the brilliant score makes for some nicely creepy moments. The game's general atmosphere has the feeling of the last depressing section of Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller crossed with a dash of Masaki Kobayashi's classic K(w)aidan and the lonelier moments of Kubrick's The Shining. Hopefully, that will help some of you reading this in terms of placing the game's tone.

As I said in my hands-on a while back, this isn't a typical survival horror game - you NEED to throw away your preset notions and just enjoy the ride, not listen to some kid on a message board who thought he was getting the second coming of Resident Evil or some other less cerebral game. That 'Mature' rating actually means a mature, literate story, not tons of gore and tits. What's here so far is very nicely done and once you let yourself get taken away by the game's flow, it's a pretty chilling trip up Chomolonzo.

There's a VERY deliberate attempt to tell a good story here, not just dump you into an action-packed game where you're not thinking about anything but the next boss battle. Eric Simmons isn't a "hero" in the traditional video game sense at all. He's just one man with an awfully depressing journey that probably won't have the happiest of endings, I'm thinking...

But that's a good thing. Review should be up this weekend - I'm headed back to the mountain for now...

Once More, Into the Breach (Onward and Upward)...

Yes, I'm back. Not quite where I'd like to be, but it's a (re)start. The primary goal of DAF is to shake things up (gently, most of the time) in the way video games are reviewed while nudging you, dear reader, into appreciating more of what's out there. The title of this blog is more an elbow to the ribs than a call to arms; a sort of a "Now that I have your attention" just to get you reading (and hopefully, responding).

For the past few years, I've felt that many major game review sites seem to have lost a good deal of their critical eye, focusing too heavily on bigger-budget, highly anticipated titles while ignoring or completely disrespecting smaller developers or games they feel don't warrant as much attention. The problem with this is too many great games (that don't have multimillion dollar advertising budgets) never get the praise they desire until they end up as bargain bin specials and small groups of gamers embrace them, too late for anything resembling decent sales.

Changing this trend won't be easy, but that's the plan. I'll be taking a look at lots of lesser known releases while also commenting on some of the major games for all platforms. Yes, we're platform agnostic here at DAF since system bias only keeps you from enjoying more good games. In 37 years of gaming from pinball to current gen consoles, I can safely state that I absolutely do not have a favorite console - it's always been about the games for me, period.

Some of you may be familiar with my work from my fanzine, Continue?, or websites such as VGBlogger, Ace Gamez, the late, lamented BonusStage and Gametour sites as well as a few magazines here and there. Heck, if you own a copy of La Pucelle Tactics for the PlayStation 2, you may have even seen my name in the manual under 'Special Thanks' (that's a cool story for another time, however). Anyway, a few hundred reviews, previews and a couple of in-depth interviews later, I found myself having to drop out of the scene for health reasons (mine and my father's). During all this, I never stopped playing games and can in fact, state that thanks to a relatively steady diet of assorted console, PC and handheld games, I'm feeling a lot more energized and thankful for the support I've gotten from more than a few industry contacts I've made over the past ten-plus years.

But enough of the "world's smallest violin" music playing in the background - I'll be back later today with a review or two. Stay tuned...