Business

So, let me guess... You haven't played Rochard yet. In fact, there's probably a pretty good chance you haven't even heard of it—and that's a damned shame, since it's one of the best download-only titles I've played all year. I gave it an absolutely glowing review, but a game like this deserves more. So, in my pursuit of fighting the good fight, I'd like to present this brief interview I was fortunate enough to have with the Lead Level Designer of Rochard, Samuli Viikinen.

It's unfortunate that the console video game industry has come to locking out single-player content to combat used game sales. The case of Batman: Arkham City is closing in on a feared worst-case scenario.

Anyone who plays games has their own opinion on the right and wrong way to do a review, and oddly, it's tougher than you'd think to find two people who agree on what a good review is—or how it should be scored. Anyone who spends five minutes on the Internet knows this to be true, but if there's ever a need for further proof, just get a group of gamers together, pick any review, and an argument will break out in a matter of moments.

I've never thought that Online Passes were a good idea, but I accepted them. I don't like that the other profiles on my Xbox 360 can't use the pass to go online with, but I deal with that. I've taken the other crap in stride up to this point, but when my Online Pass code doesn't work AND it's now been used? That's the end right there.

Microsoft should be pleased with moving another 308,000 Xbox 360 units, especially during a pretty dry month for new game releases. As I mention in the analysis piece, Microsoft will likely interpret this as a signal that a price drop isn't needed for at least the rest of 2011. That doesn't mean that the company won't be offering some interesting deals.

There have been a lot of advancements and positives for console gaming over the course of this console generation. Many games sport high-definition graphics and top-notch sound. Online play gives players the option to be social with friends all over the globe, if they so choose. The rapid rise of social media has put the industry and its fans closer together than ever before. Gradually, though, this generation's negatives and general anti-consumer trends have wiped out a lot of of those positives for me.

The console video gaming industry has successfully trained consumers to expect downloadable content for most new games over the course of this generation. We know it's coming. It's rarely a question of if… but when.

Really, who didn't see this coming? Ubisoft has a richly-deserved reputation for hating on the PC, and From Dust's DRM and terrible port can hardly be a surprise in light of the company's past actions. Ubisoft's upcoming Driver: San Francisco will probably also have this asinine DRM—Ubisoft claims it will not, but a similar claim was made for From Dust.

Rage was one of the games that impressed me at E3 back in June. It had a Borderlands vibe to it, but substituted more realistic graphics than the cel-shaded approach that Gearbox Software had taken. The game ran at 60 frames per second, even at an early stage, and was fun to play. My interest level shot up for Rage, and it had been on my wishlist with growing excitement.

Sensationalist headlines could have casual observers running for hills when it comes to how this year's sales numbers compare with last year. Don't fall for this. Let's keep in mind that the newer Xbox 360 models—the Xbox 360 Slim—really flew off of store shelves last July. We're now a year removed from that and now YOY numbers will bump into that success.