Editorials

There was a short news piece in GameDaily today quoting one of the senior producers working on Gears of War 2 as suggesting that developers may be reaching the "upper end" of the 360's graphical capabilities. The producer goes on to say (in essence) that the ceiling hasn't been hit, but the very fact that this comment was actually seen as a kind of news got me thinking—even if (and that's definitely an IF) the 360 is closing in on the best that it can do.... so what?

When the reviewer wasn't being unfairly disinterested, he was flat-out wrong. So I decided to make my review a little different, and take the reader, point-by-point through why its author was not just wrong, but unprofessional. How unprofessional? I suspect he played very little of the actual game.

When I look at my long and storied relationship with games, there's every other game in my childhood, and then there's Double Dragon. How much did I play this game? So much that, without fear of hyperbole, I can state that if I had set aside every quarter I put in the machine, I likely would have been able to pay for college entirely in loose change. Although that would mean that I would never have played all that Double Dragon, and I can't imagine what kind of person I'd be today if that were the case*.

I had a comment and/or question regarding my use of the phrase "rooted in the last generation" and what exactly that meant. To be honest, I think it's a little bit lazy of me to use that phrase often because it's shorthand for a couple different things. I apologize for my lack of specificity, and no, that's not sarcasm.

In yesterday's GameDaily, there was a brief report that porn star Tera Patrick will be providing one of the voices in the upcoming Saints Row 2. I had to scratch my head a little on this one... I'm all for quality voice work in games and I think it adds a lot when it's done well, but to be perfectly honest, I could care less about having a recognizable "name" in my games.

The Xbox 360 became the hardcore gamers' console of choice by creating a robust online play space and filling its library with slick-looking, tried and true, formulaic games with mature content. The Wii captured a new generation of casual gamers by redefining the control scheme with gimmicky motion sensors and offering family oriented games and applications that were accessible to the non-gamer. Nearly two years after the release of the PS3, I have difficulty in describing what the strengths of the PS3 are and who it's for because Sony hasn't developed a clear brand position. Is it the console of choice for gamers who want a Blu-ray disc player?

With all due respect to Mr. Fils Amie, when you trumpet—a game about collecting furniture to decorate your house and writing letters to other cutesy animals in the town—as your shining example of what "core" gamers are expecting, what we have is a failure to communicate.

At E3 2008, Microsoft unveiled a line-up of products designed to appeal to the more casual gaming audience that Nintendo currently dominates with the Wii. The miscalculation on the part of Microsoft is that they think they can appeal to the masses by providing something useful like Netflix connectivity and online chat parties or something that is supposed to be an improved experience like Lips, which is a refinement of the singing/rhythm game.

So is it true that most gamers only want better graphics and more-of-the-same gameplay? Many industry heads think so, and evidently there's a pretty good number of gamers out there who are pretty eager to agree with them.

So a few days ago I posted a rant about the sorry state of kids’ games, and afterwards I was bound and determined to find something that my son and I could play together.