Sleepy Gamer

Brand new game series’ are usually few and far between, and good ones are even more unlikely.  The current generation has seen it’s fair share of potential new franchises, but many new notables have yet to have produced proper sequels.  The cycle of innovation, refinement, then innovation is the foundation that the games industry is built upon.  So, here are some recent gems that are definitely worth revisiting.

Dead Rising (Xbox360)

You, trapped in a mall with thousands of zombies and the freedom to use practically anything as a weapon.  It’s no wonder we haven’t seen this game concept done earlier.  The zombie playground idea could be applied to almost anywhere too. Amusement park, airport, or even a small, open-world town would all be great locales.  Throw in a bunch more interactive objects for creative, new ways to kill the walking dead and you’re all set.  Oh yeah, how about some online co-op, please?

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

It’s the brilliant, Wii, point-and-click adventure that was a critically success, but a retail failure.  Sadly, we probably won’t ever see a sequel any time soon.  Some of the later puzzles were down right diabolical, but when you finally did figure it out, that “eureka” moment was pure magic.  The cute, lovable animations, the multiple solutions, and the clever use of items and enemies all worked to create an experience that could only be compared to the days of playing an old-school, LucasArts adventure game.  More of the same is all I ask.

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The gamble that Bethesda made in acquiring the rights from Interplay seems to be paying off. The fanatical outcry from the incredibly vocal Fallout fans has died down. The game is finally out and available for the masses to judge for themselves. And yet, as I log yet another hour in this wonderfully crafted, post-apocalyptic vision of Washington D.C., heading into the credits of my second playthrough, it’s apparent that the game lives up to every bit of the hype and then some.

Destroyed Beauty

There’s just something about the meticulous attention to detail of Fallout 3, how the environment was lovingly created and just as lovingly destroyed, that gives it that personality that is so rare to find in games. The Fallout series has always had a brilliant art style, mixing old 1950’s-inspired culture with the futuristic technology of tomorrow. With Fallout 3, Bethesda truly outdid themselves by presenting a world of hauntingly beautiful structures that spell a cautionary tale of nuclear war at every turn. Every corner of the game’s world is enriched in amazing little touches; torn-down walls, pieced together suits of armor made of shopping carts and old tires, tons of humorous, fake products and advertisements. There are even a handful of in-game radio station broadcasts with a wonderful selection of music from the ’40s and ’50s that help in immersing you in the alternate-history dystopia that the series is known for.

The characters themselves offer an incredibly rich selection of voice-acted dialog, whether or not you recognize the Liam Neesons or Malcolm McDonalds of the bunch. And just like Oblivion, there are naturally some repeats here and there (for example, three ghouls outside a vault all had the same exact voice and slightly different thing to say), but it’s never quite as noticeable, possibly due to the smaller amount of settlements and survivors that the Fallout setting lends itself to.

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Be sure to check out Part I for the Wii and PS3 breakdowns.

Xbox 360

None of the current consoles have fragmented the consumer experience more than the Xbox 360.  One could argue that the tiered offering of the of Xbox 360 line of consoles was designed to appeal to a broad range of gamers, from the very casual to the hardest of hardcore.  Unfortunately, most of the omitted features in the lower end models tend to be components you’ll regret buying piecemeal at a later date.  To make things a bit clearer, the Xbox 360 breakdown will be done in two separate parts, based on what Xbox 360 model you “jump in” with.

First things first, let’s get the common stuff out of the way.  Every Xbox 360 system comes with one wireless controller, and supports up to a maximum of 4 controllers at a once.  Each additional wireless controller costs $50, or if you prefer (although I’m not sure why anyone would want to), $40 for wired controllers that plug in via the USB ports.  Like the Wii’s wiimotes, the wireless gamepads also require either a steady supply of AA batteries or you could spring for a set of rechargeable battery packs made specifically for the controllers themselves.  The battery packs can cost as much as $15 a piece, and the charger itself can be bought as a USB “Plug & Play” cord for $20, or as an AC adapter plug-in “Quick Charge Kit” that comes with one battery pack and charges 2 rechargeable packs at once, all for $30.

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- “Yes we can has change!” Obama ads show up in video games.. You heard right, Barrack “That One” Obama has taken the first leap by a presidential candidate and bought ad space in a video game.  Make that nine games, published by EA, from Burnout Paradise to their Madden ‘09 roster update.. err cash cow.

- Nintendo dominates NPD sales once again. In other news, ice is cold and paper cuts hurt.. No big surprise here.  The Wii dominated with an outrageous 687,000 units in the month of September, easily outselling both the 360 and PS3 combined.  The recent price drop that put Microsoft’s box as the same price as the Wii ($250) clearly gave the 360 a bump to beat out the PS3, but that race is more of a 2nd place affair between Microsoft and Sony.

- Xbox 360 Memory upgrade program makes HDD-less Core and Arcade owners less screwed.. By registering your console ID at this MS site, you can apply for either a free 512MB memory card or pay only $19.99 (rather than the usual $100) to upgrade to a 20GB HDD.  Even that might not be enough HDD space once you start installing console games like PC games this Fall.

- Valve’s Half-Life 2 Episode 3 continues to define episodic gaming as every 2 to 3 years.. Those of you eagerly awaiting the next chapter in Valve’s Half-Life saga will have to wait a bit longer.  Seems Left 4 Dead and TF2 have delayed the episodic trilogy’s conclusion.  You can also expect a more signficant play experience to come from Episode 3.  Here’s to hoping we’ll see something new before year’s end.

- Bioshock 2 sequel/prequel teaser shows off cutest Big Daddy ever.. Not much is yet known about the follow to the breakout-hit, objectivist, uptopian, FPS, critical darling of last year.  Seems it will be both sequel and prequel.  Whether that means it will contain flashbacks or some totally off-the-wall story telling device remains to be seen.

- PSP 5.00 update brings long awaited online store. Take that DSi.. The latest firmware update makes the PSP online store more accessible (see iPhone store) by no longer requiring you to be tethered to your PS3 or PC.  Also, the new PS3 2.50 update grants the gift of hulu.com video streaming, so you can enjoy the latest episodes of The Office on your couch, not hunched over a computer monitor.

Those interested in getting Rock Band 2 will inevitably fall into one of two camps: those who already own the Rock Band 1 bundle, and the rest who have yet to hop on the bus and join the tour.  For the latter group, the improved instruments and huge selection of songs make the choice a relatively easy one for anyone even remotely interested in an incredibly fun, party-accessible, music rhythm game.  But we don’t live in a vacuum and this isn’t exactly the first game in the series.  So, is Rock Band 2 worth your $60 to upgrade to this year’s model?

The Patch Upgrades.. I Mean New Features

While the first game was the biggest leap forward in the music game genre since the original Guitar Hero, it was also missing a couple key features.  One of them was the in-game music store, which was patched in early this year free of charge.  Unfortunately, the online and single-player band world tour modes, cost the price of admission.  Many of the improvements make Rock Band 2 feel more like a patch upgrade than a full fledged sequel.  This seems to be the current direction most game franchises are heading, so I’m afraid we’ll probably have to start getting used to it.  Despite all this, everything Harmonix has added makes the game a whole lot better experience overall.

From the UI improvements, namely adding difficulty ratings on songs for each instrument component.  To the improved character customization options and loosened restrictions on using which band members.  To an incredibly diverse song list that crosses through genres and music eras with surprising choices.  To the brilliant inclusion of a drum trainer, complete with actual drum fills for those overdrive (ie: star power) activation moments.  Even the new Battle of the Bands mode provides a host of unique daily challenges that keep you coming back week after week.

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Starcraft II will become a trilogy of games.. Due to a ridiculously ambitious (note: over budget) single-player campaign, the RTS sequel will be released as three separate products, with an epic campaign for each race, complete with adventure gameplay, RPG elements, and a bit of Guitar Hero throw in for good measure.  I think we can all assume that both new expansions will also offer slight multi-player tweaks to each set of units and tech trees, just as all Blizzard expansions have in the past.  Although, it is a little disappointing that we won’t be seeing much of the Zerg and Protoss space opera until those secondary games come out.  The pricing and release schedule will be very telling as for how much of that evil Activision DNA has seeped into the Blizzard house, post merger.

New Diablo III class, the “Wizard”, is the only bombshell announced during the Blizzcon opening ceremony.. Following in the footsteps of other recent Asian game characters, such as that chick from Portal or that other chick from Mirror’s Edge, the third D3 class gives the Sorceress a fresh new look.  From my playthrough at Blizzcon, it’s definitely shaping up to be a lot of fun for all you power-hungry, mana-burning lovers out there.  Did I mention, you get the spell “Magic Missle”?

Microsoft announces New Xbox Experience (NXE) will launch Nov 19th.. For those scratching their head, that would be the “oh so clever” MS branding for the new Xbox360 Fall Update.  Among the new features are a totally redesigned user interface (think coverflow), cute player avatars (think Xbox Miis), party system (think PSN Home), and Netflix integration (yay, something sort of original!).  Too bad those Xbox360 “Arcade” owners will need at least 128MB of memory card space to enjoy those new features.

The upcoming Resident Evil: Degeneration CG-movie was screened at the Toyko Game Show (TGS).. Unlike the previous, live-action, Milla Jovovich-starring films, this new film promises to be 100% canon to the game series and actually works to link the Umbrella Corp storyline from the first three games with the upcoming RE5 game.  Good for long-time fans of the survival horror series and great for catching up newcomers in need of some backstory.  So yeah, this won’t be another Final Fantasy: Spirits Within..