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Hope for 2008: Part Two

Click here for “Hope for 2008: Part One” 

In continuance of Part One, here’s another game that I’m excited for in 2008:

Tom Clancy’s Endwar

Consoles have had problems with RTS games in the past: while you can certainly replicate the graphics, the quick point-and-click control scheme of the PC is better for the fast, tactical pace of RTS games. Endwar is looking to change that.

Tom Clancy’s Endwar takes place in the not-so distant future. Normally, nuclear weapons would be the main weapon of war, but this time, that’s not the case. All nuclear weapons are obsolete, but this method of world peace is what leads up to another World War.

Endwar has been built for consoles, and it shows. Instead of the traditional overhead view on the PC, Endwar moves the camera to a third-person perspective of the group your are controlling at that time. The most alluring feature of Endwar, however, is voice control. You can play through Endwar using only your voice, with simple commands like “Unit Four Camera” to swap the camera to Unit Four, or “Unit Two, Attack Unit Five” to…have Unit Two attack Unit Five.

Endwar looks to be one of the year’s biggest games, if it can perfect voice control. Let’s face it: the only way for voice control to work is if the game can understand our commands. Tom Clancy’s Endwar is expected to be released before the end of 08.

Hope for 2008: Part One

 Click here for “Hope for 2008: Part Two”

Below is an e-mail I received yesterday:

2007 was a great year for games. Anything exciting for 08?

So, I thought about the question. And I realized that 2007 was a good year for games, but in my opinion 2008 is going to be even better.

When you think back to 2007, understand this: the most prominent triple-A games were sequels. Call of Duty 4. Super Mario Galaxy. Halo 3. Guitar Hero 3. While we did see a few exceptions to the rule (Mass Effect, anyone?), 2007’s best games were sequels. When I think 2008, sequels are the last thing on my mind. I really want 2008 to be the year when something original takes the coveted Game of the Year award.

In this post, I’ve included 3 games that I’m excited about (in no particular order). These games are the ones that look promising, different, and innovative. So, let’s begin, shall we?

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

After Mass Effect’s success, you’d figure Bioware’s next project would be a sequel. But Bioware shocked the gaming world when they announced that their secret DS project was: a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG. Sonic’s fast pace is replaced by an RPG turn-based battle system, with field exploring, enemies approaching on the field map (So long, random encounters!), a polygonal experience, and a storyline from Bioware.

From the details revealed in Nintendo Power (on sale now, so give it a read), Chronicles tries to maintain Sonic’s speed in a variety of ways. One of these is by deciding your whole party’s actions before anyone moves. So you’ll still have tactics, but the moves will have a certain element of “Sonic Speed” to them. Expect Emerald Hills, Mystic Caves, and other locales to return, and what would a Sonic game be without a loop? We also know that Sonic can assemble a team of three to travel with him out of a possible 11 characters that you’ll recruit throughout the game. Only problem I can see is that Sonic doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with RPG gameplay, so Bioware will be pulling off an epic feat if they’re successful. Expect Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood to be released Fall 08.

LittleBigPlanet

It would seem like an obvious choice to include LittleBigPlanet. Many gamers are very excited about LittleBigPlanet, some even going so far as to purchase a PS3 for it (and for Metal Gear Solid 4 of course).

LittleBigPlanet is like Bungie’s File Share service on overdrive: it’s all about user-generated content. LBP let’s you design the game that you want. Do you want a platformer involving teamwork, an all out race to the finish on skateboards and bouncy balls, or something entirely different? It’s all up to you. And the stage creation tools look to be intuitive and easy to use, allowing you to create things “even the creators’ didn’t expect”.

The only thing that could stop LittleBigPlanet from taking over the world is LBP’s main idea: user content. If the users aren’t there creating the stages (there are more 360s out there than PS3s), then all LBP content will come to a standstill and gamers will grow bored and move on. The stage creation tool needs to be easy and fun to use, the community needs to be there to create the stages, and the creators of said stages need to put some sort of effort into what they release. Let’s face it: an inappropriate-themed stage may be fun for you and your buddies, but not for someone else.

Left 4 Dead

Blasting through an endless horde of zombies has gotten a little stale lately. With the exception of Dead Rising, zombie games just aren’t as fun for me (well, maybe except for Stubbs). Enter Left 4 Dead, with the simple premise that may lead to endless hours logged with your buddies.

L4D features a four-man group of humans fighting through a city of zombies in order to stay alive and escape. Now, they don’t have the same arsenal as Dead Rising’s Frank West, preferring guns over discount signs. You start off in a “safe room” in each mission, allowing you to load up on guns, grenades, and ammo. Then you’re off to blast through an endless amount of zombies, that will enter differently each time you play. Eventually, you’ll hit another safe room. Wash, rinse, repeat.

What makes Left 4 Dead interesting, is that you don’t have to play as the humans the whole time. If you want, you can play as a zombie of a certain class (differences in stats and weapons). And even better, Left 4 Dead is designed to be a co-op game, so you can gather up some friends online and tackle the zombies together. Or you can use the in-game bots. Look for Left 4 Dead in June 08.

Check back in a couple days when I’ll put up Part 2.

Guest Review: Super Mario Galaxy

A good friend of mine, Mr. Storm, wrote up a review of Super Mario Galaxy this week, and let’s just say it differs somewhat from my opinion. Below is his review of Super Mario Galaxy. Click “Read More” for the review.

NOT AWGP11

So, just a quick reminder that NOT AWGP11 is now available for download off the feed (awgp.podomatic.com). Enjoy!

AWGP35, Holiday Contest Hints, and Changes

So, Happy New Year AWGP-ers (that’s what I’m calling all of you now)! Hope you had a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, and a Happy New Year. How about we ring in the New Year with a new format and a new episode?

First off, AWGP 35 is now available for download. But of course, you would already know if you already went to the feed and downloaded, or subscribed and had it delivered to your computer free of charge. Big thanks to our guests in this episode, LinktheLegend2 (host of the 1uppers Podcast), and DSCUBED (host of LITHCast and webmaster of LITHCast.com and TheHylia). While we may have lost half of the episode due to Audacity’s emotional roller coaster, we still have a great show, talking about games.

Now, about the Holiday Contest. We’re extending it, because out of all the e-mails we got, not a single one of you got all five clips correctly identified. Hit the jump for more info.

Holiday Contest

So, we’ve been out of comission for a few weeks. My b. Seriously. I love you guys. It’s not you, it’s me. I don’t think we need a break. Come on. Hug?

In order to make it up to you guys, we’re going to have a contest. It’s pretty simple.

-Go download the Holiday Contest episode of AWGP off of the feed

-Listen to the five movie clips. These five clips are quotes from movies, and the quotes all revolve around the Holidays. The movies are not necessarily Holiday movies, and as you’ll hear, the clips sound a little…different

-Once you’ve figured out the movies, e-mail awgpodcast@yahoo.com with your answers. Be sure to include your name, and put “Holiday Contest for AWGP” in the subject line. Remember, I’m looking for the MOVIE NAMES, not the exact quote or the character who said it

-You can e-mail me up to December 31, 2007. Then, I’ll ask those who answered correctly a question. The first to get it right wins the contest.

-We will ship to you a copy of your choice of game. Keep in mind that it must be $60 or less, and that I must be able to walk into Walmart/Target/GameStop and purchase the game. So, in case they don’t have the one you wanted, give me a couple of games that you would want.

-You must be a resident of the United States, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

So, get crackin’! 

Gertsmanngate: It’s not going away

When I woke up this morning, I checked the good ol’ AWGP Inbox (awgpodcast@yahoo.com) and see what spam we’d gotten today. Amongst some spam, there was an e-mail that I was slightly apprehensive about reading and responding to:

Hey Arb. So, why haven’t you talked about Gertsmann on the podcast or blog? I mean, you must have heard about it. So what’s your opinion?

Click the little more button here to read on:

Bloggin’ it up: Galaxy, Eternal Sonata

Wow. Been a while, huh?

So let’s get the excuses out of the way: Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been hit with a shitstorm of work. Seriously. I haven’t had much time to blog or podcast! Which sucks for me, personally. Especially when there are so many different things to write about.

Get Trigger Happy for Free

Back in the year 2000, Stephen Poole released his book Trigger Happy, a book about how videogames and the videogaming industry compares and contrasts with art, literature, and the movie industry. It’s a great read, and I’d recommend everyone to go out and purchase a copy.

If you can’t get out to buy a hardcover copy, then you’re in luck! Poole has released (under a Creative Commons license), an eBook version of the 2001 edition of Trigger Happy. You can view it with any PDF program you have. Unfortunately, a hacker is causing Poole to take a few precautions with downloading, so you may encounter a problem.

Trigger Happier: Get Trigger Happy for Free