[From my Feature forum post.]

Had to vote for Pac-Man CE. So many of the great games are "just" straight ports with achievements (SotN), or cleverly improved over their earlier showings on other platforms (AHHD; PQ:CotW) . That's awesome, but it doesn't push XBLA as a platform for growth and opportunity. Pac-Man CE is a truly worthy sequel, and takes the best ideas of competitive individual challenge and makes it an event. With the death of brick and mortar arcades in North America, I don't think P-MCE would've ever been successful or honestly even created without XBLA.

-V-

(Also, Billy Mitchell got owned. )

Mass Effect.

LCE.

See you next year.

-V-

[edit 18-Dec: OH NOES RRoD! The inevitibility!!]
(But thank you Mr. Moore. Merry Christmas.)

Wii game cases have the best disc holders in the entire world.

I just had to say that up front. My copy of Metroid 3 finally arrived today. And I won't get any chance to play it until next week when I'm exhausted. That's the problem with working for a living... no time to appreciate a good old fashioned waste of money!

What I find notable is this is only the second Wii game I've actually purchased. Sports doesn't count as a pack-in (yay pack-ins!), and of course there's Zelda... and... where exactly did I miss out here? Games I've nearly bought include Metal Slug, WarioWare, SPMario... and... I decided to wait in line at 7am to pre-order this console precisely a year ago and I've got two games to show for it? wtf.

I caught myself thinking about this delayed-value-effect recently with all the excellent titles coming out for PSP. I absolutely want to buy a second PSP. I want to have a full-firmware PSP2K to actually buy new retail games to play. That's something I haven't felt since 2005 with Ridge Racer. Where did this renaissance come from?

This is exactly the reason I'm holding off on the PS3. More price drops are inevitable, and the amount of crap I don't give about PS2 hardware emulation could fill the Makuhari-Messe. Once there are 4 games I want to own, once I have the time to enjoy the money it will cost to get the full-meal-deal..... oh boy.

On the other side, I love my red DS Phat, yet the lure of bright and shiny new red+black is... just a luxury really. Won't improve the gameplay... but it may improve the experience..?

Just pondering which is more important to me right now...

Awh hell, just an hour of Metroid maybe.

-V-

Oh, and I Love Bioshock. A bushel and a peck... and a drill arm through the neck.

Truly the question of our era. I have been fed so much Bioshock media over the last six months that I feel like I can play the game in my head. I know what all the essential Plasmids do. I know how the weapons and ammo should feel and sound. I know about the "moral" choices I get to make. I know how to telekinetically transplant crossbow bolts. I know there's water.

Naturally I'm excited about the story. I'm proud to play a game that takes the first-person and solo-player experience seriously. Naturally I'm excited about getting the collector's edition. Metal Daddies and Moby remixes are like peanut butter and chocolate. Naturally I'm excited to play the same levels in different ways. Probably juggle a run on Normal and another on Hard dictating how I grow my character and treat the Little Sisters.

Now the reviews are REALLY in, and not just the cowtowing, I'm wondering if there is anything left for me to gush over. When I encounter the first of many System-Shock-2-plot-twists, will I be amazed? Has the efficacy of Irrational's publicity machine sucked all the surprise and delight out of Rapture? Can I really bring myself to assassinate hundreds of pitiable psychopaths in self-defence to end their misery?

Let's find out...

-V-

Sir Howard Stringer is a jolly jellyroll of a man.Wealthy in ways most of us cannot imagine.In fact, when he speaks money actually falls out of his mouth, which is why his interviews are so rare (and coveted!) It is therefore amusing to read his words and imagine the tinkle of coins, because his words are rarely worth anything.In this GameSpot article, S.H.S. tempts us fence-sitters with a price-drop by Holidays'07.

Gee, there's an idea.

Let's get deconstructing, shall we?

Sony chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has told the Financial Times that he is aware that there is "no question" that consumers want a lower price tag.

Something Kaz could've told him two years ago, but they didn't "communicate" so good.

Stringer praised the success of rival Nintendo's latest console, the Wii, saying that the company "has been a successful enterprise, and a very good business model compared with ours."

Nintendo is, in fact, an older company than Sony. And the vast majority of that history has been manufacturing games. (Sure, there was that crazy carefree period in the 60s, but let bygones be bygones...)

However, he vehemently disagreed that the Wii was more fun to play. "No, no, no, no," the executive replied to the question.

Difficult to know for sure when you can'tfind oneon store shelves to purchase. That's not a sign, is it? Now that they've established the Wii has outSOLD 3 to 1?

He also attributed much of the difference in sales between the two consoles as due to the fact that the Wii was significantly cheaper,

O RLY? YA RLY.

and that the two systems were "complementary and supplementary," to each other, and not in direct competition.

Absolutely true. There is no competition. On any level. Including annual profit forecasts. And user play-time.

In light of this, Stringer confirmed that Sony would be looking to cut the price of the PS3--he gave no specific amount, but indicated that the company was looking to make a decision about this before the holiday season. He said, "[The amount of the price cut] is what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to define."

Here's a start: Lower v.intr.

1. 1. To move down:
2. 2. To become less; diminish:

Stringer added that current games for the console were using only 20 percent or so of the machine's capabilities. "Once they use the full bandwidth the games experience is stunning...it's dazzling."

And this is where he's off the tracks, over the bridge, and into the gully. Precisely what games are you playing, Sir, that have let you see 100% of the system's capabilities? Precisely how good a programmer are you to reverse engineer the code in your head by watching a demo? Precisely what mathematical degrees do you posses that allow you to do more than read and regurgitate a report that says "Lair: Processor loadrunning at average 20%."

Now, it's been weeks since I wrote these comments on the original story, and we've had the Price Drop Bait and Switch voted Most Disappointing E3 announcement. It's no mystery that the Sony Executives and Sony PR don't exactly eat in the same lunch room together. Each finger is oblivious to t'other. The HotSpot had it right on, Sony was trying to fake-out Microsoft, and MS is all: "pshaw to that, son!" The Elite360 offers more default storage, enough content to fill it RIGHT up, and all the visual accoutrement you could ask for. Sorry PS3, see you in 2008... probably.

-V-

(Anti-Fanboy disclaimer: The only console I do not own at the moment is a PS3.I have very nearly bought a second PSP on more than one occasion to sit next to my v1.5 and two PS2s. Glad I waited for the Slim!)

GameCakes.com

-V-

(If I could link media files, you'd see this CTrigger video right here.)