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Even a Super Hero needs a Hero

In this industry there seem to be a trinity of games that will generally be terrible; movie games, games aimed specifically at kids and super hero games. Movie games are one thing, they’re rushed to meet a certain dates to go along with a movie release, kids games are made to be unchallenging and developers don’t truly put effort into the presentation, however, superhero games have no excuse. Superheroes are so versatile, they can be in many different genres from RPGs, action games, fighting games or even RTS games. They’re easy sellers, the sell themselves with whichever comic book character the game is based on.

Now not every superhero game is terrible, but none particularly stand out. Spider-Man 2, Xmen Legends/Marvel Ultimate Alliance series are decent games. None stand out as the memorable classics they could be. Its sad that I can say in my honest opinion the best superhero game ever made was Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage of the 16 bit era. Sitting down with Producer Joe over some games, we were able to come up with ideas for different superhero games that could be easily executed right. Namely, a 2d or 3d fighter that would force you to play a character exactly as they would act in battle, and I don’t literally mean force you too, but you’ll get the best result by playing that way but of course you would be able to play your own way. Just one of a few ideas we came up with, but that there alone is better than Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

Developers sit on the rights to these titles and when they do use them, the games seemed either rushed or just plain not thought through. Marvel Nemesis could have been an amazing title, but it was just not executed properly and just felt clunky. EA bought the liscense to make garbage like that? Activision has done a mediocre job with the spider-man games, hopefully that will change with Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, and it will play as good as looks. All in all, superhero games need a hero to make a great comic book game that can be considered a classic and an example that the rest sould follow.

Kickin’ it Old School

I was just giving the old amazon a quick check for a collection of games, SNK’s King of Fighters:Orochi Saga, a collection of games featuring KOF ‘95-’97, imagine my surprise that SNK decided to be generous to the states and throw in ‘94 and ‘98 as well. That’s off topic though, while making my pre-order I noticed something under the “buyers who bought this, also bought this” There was a heaping helping of other companies classic collections. It seemed like almost every company had way more than one as well. I was torn as to how I felt about it. On one hand, for a young person like myself, its a chance to play all the hits and gems your big brother,cousin, older friend have been going on about. On the other hand it seems like its a companies lazy way of making a quick buck.

When thinking about it, it really doesn’t matter which it is, both we as gamers and the companies win. They make quick cash and we get our nostalgia. One can argue that this is a better deal than paying out for a full priced game for a rehashed formula. The Dynasty Warriors franchise comes to mind as I say that. Also we get many full games for less than a third of the price of one, and when you really take a good look, these old school games might as well be brand new to a large population of gamers. Take Capcom Classics Collection vol. 2. Many newer gamers know who Strider Hiryu is, but how many have actually played Strider? How many newer gamers can say they’ve played Metal Slug, or the original Ninja Gaiden or Dead or Alive games?

Upon seeing all of those collections dangling there I’ve found myself quite into collections of more old school titles. Its essentially a company’s story from when they started until now. Whether or not it was their intention to show us how they came up in the industry or were truly just trying to nickel and dime us remains unknown except to them. One thing is for sure however, we can be glad they do it, for all of us who’ve missed out because we were either too young or just not even born yet, we can now truly appreciate why gaming became such a phenomenon in today’s society by playing the games that laid the foundations for what we play today.

Tags: collections, old, school

The King of Fighters

If you thought Final Fantasy and Megaman were the only gaming franchises reserving the right to go double digits think again. The King of Fighters series started in 1994 with the aptly titled King of Fighters ‘94. Its roots, however, seep into other SNK titles including Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari Warriors and Athena. The King of Fighters was the original dream match pitting characters from various SNK universes against each other. Also originated in the King of Fighters series was the 3 on 3 battle system. Worldwide it was one of very few games that could rival the money making machine that was Street Fighter 2. The King of Fighters series innovated fighting games far beyond Street Fighter, featuring better graphics, the 3 on 3 system, super combos and later having more than one super combo at your disposal.

The franchise saw a new addition yearly similar to a sports title featuring slight tweaks on the existing formula until three years would pass, traditionally, the King of Fighters series has an entirely different mechanic every 3 games followed by a dream match that collects the best parts of the previous three years. ‘94 itself was considered a dream match, ‘95,’96 and ‘97 featured upgrades and tweaks to the existing 3 on 3 formula. ‘98 featured the best of all three worlds. ‘99 through 2001 featured the Striker system which allowed you to pick three characters and then a striker who could be thought of as something similar to an assist in the original Marvel vs. Capcom. After the King of Fighters 2003, SNK waited two years to release the King of Fighters XI which seems more suiting that resuming the yearly title after skipping a year.

The King of Fighters XI was on a new arcade system which featured better graphical effects, all new possibilities for the 3 on 3 tag system that was implemented in 2003 such as the Saving Shift which allowed you to break your opponent’s offense by tagging out, or the quick shift which allowed you to combo with one character, switch to another to continue the combo and then switch to the last character to complete the combo. Skip a few years yet again to 2008 and we have the announcement of the King of Fighters XII which SNK has promised to be the greatest 2D fighting experience ever. Screenshots and a trailer have been released since then and so far we’ve only seen graphics and a few characters. The graphics are the best hand drawn hi-resolution sprites ever seen in a 2d game period. More information about the King of Fighters XII will be seen at Japan’s AM show later this month.

Tags: Fighters, King, of, The, XII

Games Have Changed

Video games are one of the best sources of entertainment by becoming mainstream and accessible to everyone. They’re selling like hot cakes because they appeal to most audiences. However, that wasn’t always the case. Games themselves, the feel of games, and the definition of playing games have changed and will continue to change.

Before the CD-Rom era, games were often brutal, long experiences. Most people would talk about how poorly the levels were constructed, how unfair the AI was, how easy it was to get stuck/lost in the game, and how they wouldn’t “lose to the game”. They would spend money on software that took much of their time to complete and fulfilled their masochistic impulses. That was what it meant to play a game. A large number of the insanely difficult titles are considered classics and the most memorable.

When the Playstation came out, its hardware brought more options to the developers’ table. This sparked the RPG revolution. Final Fantasy VII was THE game that made roleplaying games mainstream. It was critically noted for its graphics, characters, cinematics, atmosphere, and gameplay. Its cinematics brought the gamer closer to the story while the person feeds on the eyecandy. It was perfect for its time and it made a big push for games.
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Tags: Gaming, history

Dreamcast Redux : Vice Style

The Sega Dreamcast is often considered one of the most underrated consoles of all time, this is only now after we’ve realized just how stacked the library was with great games unlike consoles following it who have bigger libraries stacked with only about fifteen to twenty actual hits. The Dreamcast even before the PS2, Xbox, or Gamecube had online play, it was terrible, but it showed that online play on your console was possible. The Dreamcast had an incredible advertising campaign that truly made you want to own a Dreamcast. All in all the Dreamcast was an incredible venture by Sega, so how did it fail? Due to its gift, the console was way ahead of itself which prompted other companies to up the ante. The PlayStation 2 came and boasted everything the Dreamcast had and more, including a DVD player and better graphical capability.

Now if Sega were run by the GamingVice staff, we believe the Dreamcast would have done well enough that it could justify a successor. The Dreamcast had a million and one peripherals, from arcade sticks to fishing rods. One thing it was missing, however, was a DVD player which we feel would have kept the console in the fight much longer. If Sony was able to make a profit with their cheap DVD player/video game console, Sega would definitely be able to make a profit selling a DVD player of its own. As for the graphical quality, there would be no reason to worry about that. The PS2 clearly had the least graphical capability in comparison to the Xbox and Gamecube and it won the console war with its incredible library. Next on the list would be an even bigger campaign then before, new and original advertising techniques to really draw the crowd in. The Dreamcast was already cool, so now it had to look better than the competition.

The Dreamcast had all the necessary tools to stay in the console race, unfortunately the ball was dropped and history occurred. Could Sega have made a comeback after the Dreamcast? definitely. If they were to come out of console retirement it would be one of the hugest shockwaves the gaming world has ever seen. With their experiences and learning from their mistakes they could easily come in and innovate gaming to a point we’ve never phathomed.

Tags: consoles, dreamcast, PS2, revival, xbox

Quarter Dollar Gaming

The arcades were the end all and be all of gaming back in the late 80s to mid 90s. Many major franchises made their debuts in the arcades, such as Street Fighter, Donkey Kong, Double Dragon, Bionic Commando and others. Arcade gaming was the equivalent of the Monday Night Football game with your buddies, the only difference was that the arcade was open everyday. Even when the first home consoles came out they featured games that were watered down versions of arcade games. Arcade titles were top of the line in sound, speed, and graphics, it was also a very competitive place to be. People battled for top scores around the clock, day in and day out. When it came to fighting games people plunked down quarters to not only learn the game but also to prove their mettle as a gamer.

Do you remember the days when gaming consisted of a joystick and only the buttons you needed? When to get the best possible graphics you had to get out of your house? When you could make friends or meet a half decent woman while playing games? When you could cut school to play games and not get in trouble? If you don’t, we here at Gaming Vice do, and if you’ve been living under a rock for longer than I’ve been alive I’m talking about the arcades.

These games were a lot more personal too, when you lost, you didn’t just lose a game, you lost that quarter. These games were for pride as well, there weren’t internet thugs calling you a “noob” from fifteen states away, these were real people calling you a scrub to your face, and what could you say, everyone saw you lose. On the flipside if you were the best at your local arcade people saw you as a king among gamers. You could play as long as you wanted on that same quarter. It was a fun and exciting time. Something happened that rocked the boat though, home consoles started to rival the arcades, but that was no big deal at the time it just meant you could play games at the arcade and at home and have a good time all the time. Then it got bad, consoles became better than the arcades in the mid 90s, arcades across the United States began closing in rapid fashion.

Continue reading Quarter Dollar Gaming

Tags: Arcade, Dollar, Gaming, Quarter, revival

Wii Want More

When the Nintendo Revolution was announced, I remember the hype of Nintendo fans everywhere. Some time later it was announced that “Revolution” was not its name, rather this new console was to be the Nintendo Wii. At first it was hated, but then we saw what the Wii was all about with its motion controls and the hate was silenced. The Wii became the truth to Nintendo fans everywhere and despite the doubters when it was released it was sold out everywhere for months, the Wii had become a success. Fast forward to today and Wiis still sell at a record pace, however, I’m no longer impressed.

I realized that the Wii had become doomed to the same fate as the Gamecube, minus a few third party hits. The only quality titles were sequels of first party Nintendo titles. Now I’m sure Nintendo fans are content with this, but as a fan I am not. I have a Wii and own a single game, which conveinently is a Nintendo title. I have no interest in any of the third party titles as they receive no advertising, so I know nothing about them. Quite frankly even if I did, they all just seem gimmicky and that my friends is what the Wii has become so far; a big gimmick.

It doesn’t have to be this way, however, if Nintendo could score some worthwhile third party support and some original first party titles there could be a huge turn around. The Wii needs games that live up to its original name, something to make us realize that the Wii is the revolution in gaming. I also think that Nintendo should have been supporting the shift into HD. I don’t need good graphics for a game to be good, but Nintendo stated that they wished to draw in more casual crowds and I believe good graphics can do that. Nintendo is letting us down by promising us a revolution that only they back, and as anyone who has studied history knows without strong supporters behind you a revolution does not succeed.

E3 showed just how stuck in their ways Nintendo is by not bringing anything new to the table. Now I’m as big of a Nintendo fan as the next guy, but seriously the most exciting thing they were able to bring was Animal Crossing, with a microphone? The DS has had a mic since it came out and there’s nothing new about that at all.  There’s a serious problem with that people, not a single new thing at one of the biggest gaming events of the year. Nintendo really needs to step it up because that won’t cut it, especially with Sony boasting 256 players online with MAG and Microsoft pulling out stunts like gaining Final Fantasy XIII onto the 360.

Bottom line, Nintendo is known for their innovations in gaming but they’re innovating to the point where it is just a gimmick. Unfortunately, they are gimmicks that only Nintendo knows how to develop for and that doesn’t make a console great.

Tags: innovation, Nintendo, Wii