video games

Rob Walker of the New York Times seemingly belittles the enjoyment level of my latest addiction, Guitar Hero III. And I quote:

“You’re not actually playing the guitar. No matter how good you may get at Guitar Hero, if you decide to take up the real instrument at some point, you’ll be starting from scratch.”

Being that the man writes for the Times, I’m sure he can appreciate the difference between the entertaining fantasy of video games and the dedication required to learn, play, and ultimately enjoy creating live music — in this case with a guitar.

Guitar Hero works, however, because it convincingly feels like you are a seasoned musician, even if you play real guitar like myself.

I’ve played rhythm guitar for 14 years now. I’ve also performed live in several bands to crowds upwards of 300 people. It is a powerful experience.

Why would I play Guitar Hero then? Because I can be the lead guitarist that I never was. Because I can play songs that otherwise would take much more practice to pull off. Because I can stir feelings from my youth — a memorable time in my life that has since past as the adult in me pursues more rewarding ends.

That’s why.

I haven’t played in a band for years — until tonight. It wasn’t the kind I used to enjoy as a confused teenager or hipster undergrad. But it sure felt the same.

I’m talking about Guitar Hero III for Wii; specifically playing online together with an old friend from high school, Casey Willis.

We took turns playing imaginary guitar and bass in real-time on Fisher Price-like axes — he in Georgia, and I in Utah. Even though I work online for a living, I’m still amazed by the simple things the internet is capable of achieving. In this case helping two has-beens feel young again.

And we didn’t even have to deal with a mediocre PA system.

The toy compact disc you see pictured above is not compatible with PS3 hardware — in fact, the little booger is twice as thick as standard CDs.

But the irregular gauge nor warranty endangerment would keep my little Sadie from trying to play “I’m a Little Tea Pot” on the ill suited $500 machine this past Monday. Amazingly, the PS3 took the disc, but wouldn’t give it back — the Blu-ray drive was in duress.

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I’m a big fan of video games. I write about them, play them, and deny my addiction to them when not eating out with Lindsey and the girls or watching sports. One game I’m particularly excited for this holiday is Rock Band.

The Associated Press has the story : “While “Guitar Hero” limits participants to one instrument, “Rock Band” will accommodate a singer, a lead guitar, a base or rhythm guitar and a drum kit. To score points, players must hit exactly the right note, the right tempo or sing in key. “You can play it alone, with your friends, or online,” says Brent Dady, product manager of EA.”

I’ll still buy the new Guitar Hero later this month when it’s released on Wii, but am anxious to play Rock Band with a group of friends. Interestingly, the latter game is getting so much attention that music labels are asking how they can get involved to combat struggling album sales.

Rock Band releases Nov. for Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2 with a Wii version expected earlier next year.

Microsoft released Halo 3 for Xbox 360 today. The game will sell millions, it’s already getting very good reviews, and Microsoft hopes (and needs) the game to be the biggest entertainment launch in history to reverse ongoing losses in its Xbox division.

“With nary a pirate, a spider or a wand in sight, day-one sales of [Halo 3] are expected to shatter entertainment sales records and top the biggest entertainment launches of all time,” Microsoft said in a statement. The current holder of that record is Sony’s Spider Man 3.

Over the weekend, Microsoft sent out what game journo Dean Takahashi called “propaganda: an $800 bribe (shown above) to convince the gaming press that Halo 3 is the biggest event of the year.” Takahashi says he’ll send the free loot back to Microsoft in an effort to tame the hype.

I could be wrong, but assuming Takahashi’s calculations are correct, the swag bag could be one of the most exorbitant press kits ever released. But will it serve its purpose in convincing the world by way of glowing coverage that Halo 3 is a mass media event that transcends rank and file video game enthusiasts like myself?

I’m not so sure.

Halo 3 needs to be more than a great game to achieve its commercial objectives. It needs to boost and maintain solid Xbox 360 sales which have slowed in a post-Wii world. It needs to offset the $10 million plus in marketing costs that Microsoft has so far shelled out. It needs to appeal to a lot more people than it has in the past even though the third installment is largely the same game.

But it will need more than an auspicious swag bag to accomplish all that, and I don’t think any game, regardless of who makes it, is that good.

I was interviewed by GameDaily for my thoughts on video game reviews today and here’s what I told ‘em. For context, video game review scores are perhaps the most influencial consumer product reviews I know. For instance, something like 8/10 best selling games last year were in the 90th percentile, so you can see how important (and political) a good review score can be to a game publisher. My comment:

“As much as I criticize review scores, I still use them to gauge lemon games and think scores should stay. Unless a game receives an average of less than 50%, I will still buy or at least give it a renting chance if it has sufficient appeal. That said, I find any system above a 10-point scale (think decimal points) to be superfluous in that it takes the subjective review process way too seriously. Kudos to GameSpot for recently dropping their 100-point scale down to 20. Now they just need to drop it to a clean 10-point system.”

My ideal product review system already exists in the movie industry. They use a 10-point scale by way of a five star system, such as 4/5 stars, 3.5/5 stars. I like this methodology for two reasons. First, five stars (though a perfect score in its own system), doesn’t hold the same meaning as a perfect 10 score. For some reason, a 10 implies more perfection than 5/5 stars while both metrics tell that something is very, very good. I say the less presumption, the better.

Second, the star system on a 10-point scale doesn’t take the subjective nature of reviews too seriously as noted above. Round up the average review scores, go read Meta Critic to catch any outliers, and you’re well on your way to dodging repellent products.

I decided to buy a PS3 on a whim this week. To be honest, this game (Heavenly Sword) will be released as a demo tomorrow, and I just couldn’t deny myself the HD action-adventure goodness. So far I’m happy with my purchase. The interface is beautifully simple and well-organized, I really like the PlayStation store for downloadable games, demos, and videos, and I’ve liked what I’ve played so far. No buyer’s remorse what so ever.

The hardware is leagues ahead of the unreliable Xbox 360. For a hefty $500, you get access to Sony’s upcoming and traditionally stellar first-party games, a Blu-ray player, 60GB hard drive, wireless networking, and one of my personal favs, free online multiplayer (albeit limited in comparison to 360’s more expansive list of supported games).

I will admit, the system feels a bit stale at the moment due to a lack of truly compelling software, and it easily trails the Wii in the freshness department. But I’m optimistic of the future prospects, the visuals are gorgeous, and its fall linup of games has my interests piqued.

I’m off to Santa Monica tomorrow to cover the Electronic Entertainment Expo again this year. It’s a lot smaller now because the conference ballooned into a pit of money and glut last year, but it should still be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get my hands on some fresh games. As a refresher, here’s what happened since last year’s E3:

• Nintendo’s stock has doubled to almost $50/share off unthinkably high Wii sales. The thing really is great; I had two 80 year-olds at my house today having a blast on it. It doesn’t fully satiate my core gamer appetite, but some big titles are expected later this year.
• Sony is in a world of hurt; their PS3 continues to struggle, and it is expected to continue that way despite its newly reduced $500 price, about $200-$300 more than it should cost for a gaming machine. (A majority of people still don’t consider it a blu-ray player and/or a computer and largely never will because it’s sold in the video game department at retail. Oh convergence!)
• Microsoft is doing solid in terms of attracting new games and establishing a respectable install base, but even they can’t catch a break. They’ll lose a billion dollars this year on service repairs alone due to abnormally high 360 failure rates. That’s what you get for outsourcing both your manufacturing and design. Add that hefty chunk to the already estimated 5 billion in total losses since launching the first Xbox, and investors have every right to be pissed, regardless of Billsoft’s absurdly deep pockets.

Games I’m most excited for: Assassin’s Creed, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Skate, Little Big Planet, and a handful of fresh new titles in that order. Predictions: Wii will outsell both Xbox 360 and PS3 by early next year, Xbox 360 will get a price cut to $350 off the heels of the PS3 drop, Halo 3 will be the biggest selling game of 2007, and Sony will continue to underwhelm. All in a year’s work of the $14 billion dollar industry.

See also:

• Yours truly at E3 2006
  
• The Video Game Industry: A Week In LA 2006

Those who know me well know I like video games. I don’t get to play them as much as I’d like to, but I do have the opportunity to write about them as a freelancer. So why is video game dialogue so cheesy? Why do I get embarrassed sometimes when my wife comes in the room only to find me suffering garbage line reading and poor scripts to get to the action? This is something of a pet-peeve for me as a hobbyist and something I recently wrote a feature on. From the article:

“The once fledgling video game industry with its minuscule budgets forced early game makers to wear several different hats, including storytelling ones even if they didn’t have prior experience. “When video games began, particularly on the PC, they were made by one, two, and three-person teams,” says Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal, a vocal proponent against amateur game dialogue. “Very few of these people had professional writing experience.”

As gaming grew to more than $14 billion a year, its storytelling failed to grow up with it. You can read the full article on Next-Generation.

It’s a geometry game called Planarity. You simply drag the dots so that no lines are intersecting. It gets harder the more you succeed. Very addicting. Perhaps cubical Minesweeper or Solitaire has finally met its match…