But if you want to listen to the NEW podcast…

www.triplententeradio.podomatic.com

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.

 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.

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.

Super Mario Galaxy. The plumber’s grand inevitable return to platforming goodness. Well, I suppose we should go over the game first before we judge, eh? Even Mario isn’t excused from that, so let’s dive into the depths of Galaxy. You should know the basics by now. Collect the stars, save the princess, blah, blah, blah… let’s just do this.

We’re off to collect the stars once more. I wonder what Mario does with them after his adventures…
Super Mario Galaxy starts off with a great cut-scene that gets you set and ready for the graphical feast that is Galaxy. You’ll really be amazed by the light effects, color, and just general art that goes into each level. It’s quite evident from the get-go that Galaxy was a labor of love for its developers. Truly, Galaxy makes almost all other Wii games look like cheap, old-generation titles. It’s just that darn beautiful and fluid.

Eye-candy. Pure, unadulterated eye candy. Mmm…candy.

The audio is by far the best in a Nintendo title yet. A fully orchestrated breath-taking soundtrack enchants the user by taking classic Mario tunes and puts a new spin on it. Of course, it makes new tunes to add to the library as well. Dolby Pro-Logic II is supported, as expected, and if you have a setup that can use it, enjoy the melodies as they wash over you. It’s really nostalgia and beauty in audio form. Even the plain old sound effects seem to have new life. Maybe it was just me, but Mario’s “Wahoo!” sounds much more full of life than normal. Enjoy the sensory experience in Galaxy, it’s unmatched on the Wii, and perhaps in all of gaming.

If you don’t enjoy this game’s sensory experience, you have no soul.

The controls feel smooth and sharp. Joystick to move, A to jump, shake your Wiimote to spin, etc. It’s a very smooth experience. Alas, Galaxy’s greatness really ends there for me. The all-too-common theme, in Galaxy in the admittedly short time I played it, was “been there, done that.” I re-played Super Mario 64 a few weeks in advance of Galaxy in preparation for it. I had fun, the game was fresh, inventive, fun, and it sucked you in. Galaxy merely takes all the old Mario pieces, shuffles them up, and makes them pretty. Boss battle after boss battle seemed to just be the same old thing. Hit the tail, hit the ball back at him, jump… you get the picture. It’s just the same old thing. For a system so obsessed with innovation, surely it could do far better. Not to say they didn’t try…

Welcome Gimmick #1.

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Bee Mario and Boo Mario. Don’t get excited, there’s nothing new here. It’s just new suits for the same old stuff. We’ve climbed grates, I mean, honeycombs before. The only thing really new in this entire game is Starbits. Both a key to new areas, and a weapon, Starbits are a fresh take on the Mario series. However, instead of being something fresh and new, it feels like a desperate attempt to use the Wiimote. Use the IR interface to shoot things? This is Mario, right? I didn’t think it was a shooter… My fault, Nintendo. What I do know is that the only truly new thing in Galaxy fell flat on it’s face.

Starbits. Because when you see this, you think “Where’s my $%#@ing gun?!”

It appears Nintendo has met its match. I felt it in Twilight Princes creeping up, but I ignored it. But now, Galaxy just makes it so obvious, it’s impossible to ignore. Nintendo is merely taking the same old puzzles and strategy, putting it in a new world, and pasting on a new story. By the way, I didn’t mention the story for a reason, cause it’s not worth mentioning. Back to my point, this wouldn’t be excused in any other franchise, so I cannot find myself to do it now. The bottom line is this. I only played the game about ten hours. You say “He didn’t play it long enough!” I merely respond with this. Shouldn’t a game make you want to play it by 10 hours in? I honestly have no desire to ever go back to this title. I don’t WANT to play it more. Why should I? Is the game going to change that drastically? Nah, I don’t think so. It’s going to be the same thing from then on. So if you’re looking for the same old stuff repackaged and prettified, by all means, pick up Galaxy. If you want something fresh and innovative, don’t give this game a second look.

Goodbye Bowser. It appears I won’t see you in your true form for another 4 years. Here’s hoping it’ll be better.

FINAL GRADE: C-

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

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.

The contest will end on January 12, 2008. Get your e-mails in. The same rules still apply. But now, I’m going to give you a couple hints.

Most of you have had a problem with clips 1, 2, and 4. I’m not telling you if you got them right, or if you got them wrong. But here’s hints for all 5 clips:

-The frst clp s from an extremely popular Chrstmas move.

-The second clip is NOT from a Holiday movie, and features animals.

-The third clip is from a Holiday movie, and you should appreciate this hint.

-The fourth clip is from a Holiday movie, and if you can’t figure this clip out, take a break.

-The fifth and final clip, everyone seems to get. It is from a Holiday movie, and don’t watch it alone.

Now, AWGP is changing it’s format. Maybe we’ll add more music, maybe we’ll shorten segments. It’s all about experimenting, and getting your feedback.  What we are definitely changing, is our schedule.

AWGP is going bi-weekly. We’ll be back to talking on the weekend of the 12th. This allows us to have more discussion topics, and less of the tidbits. In the off weeks when we don’t record, we’ll be posting a NOT episode to give you something to listen to. Good stuff.

You might even see some changes around the site. We’re expecting to change the layout here, maybe even get a new banner (which we’ll be enlisting the help of the creator of our current banner, Tim F.), and post more often. I might even invite some people to guest write for the blog.

So, thanks for listening to AWGP in 2007. To be honest, when I started, I didn’t expect to have anyone listening to me. But now we’re around 1000 listeners, and you guys are the best!

-Arbiter

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’! 

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:

There’s a specific reason as to why I haven’t truly voiced my opinion about Gertsmanngate: I’m not a professional journalist. I can’t truly say how this affects the writing process, or the inner workings of magazines and websites. It’s an extremely complicated issue. But it’s also an old issue now, in terms of gaming news. I mean, we’re all focusing on other issues now, and Gertsmann is not at the forefront of our minds. But it will always be there.

Gertsmanngate has left a stink on gaming journalism. It’s left us wondering who we can trust. Gertsmann was trusted by many who read his articles and watched his video reviews, and was a pro. It’s like with all editors, after reading and listening to them for a while, you get to know their personal likes and dislikes, as well as what’s really an amazing game to them. So, it obviously struck a nerve when he was fired without notice from GameSpot.

What really leaves a stink is that Gertsmanngate is the most believable thing we’ve ever read. As Jeff Green, Games For Windows Magazine’s EIC, says:

No, the reason this sticks in the craw of so many of us in the industry, and the reason it won’t go away, is just how close to home it hits. It doesn’t really matter anymore whether Gerstmann lost his job as a direct result of Cnet/GameSpot buckling to pressure because of Eidos’ unhappiness with his Kane & Lynch review. The real problem is just how fucking believable it is. The very fact that no one can just laugh it off or brush it aside is the most pathetic and telling aspect of this entire affair.

And it’s true. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to trust anyone on the internet these days, from alliwantforxmasisapsp.com to PR people disguising themselves as “just one of us” on message boards. Add in money and advertising dollars, and suddenly you find yourself facing a huge problem.

GameSpot has constantly said that Gerstmann was not fired because of the Kane and Lynch review, despite the editing of his text review to “better represent the 6.0″. Whether he was fired or not because of Kane and Lynch, we don’t know. But what we do know, is that it’s made us as a community think about advertising hidden in what we read, and that is a problem.

Videogame advertisements in a videogame magazine or on a videogame blog make sense to belong there from a business standpoint. Because the only people who read magazines like EGM or GameInformer are hardcore gamers.

Now, let’s say that “Super Mega Ultraman” is being advertised all over fakevideogamesite.com. Fakevieogamesite.com reviews “Super Mega Ultraman” and gives it a 3/10, which is far from good. This lowers “Super Mega Ultraman”’s MetaCritic score, and makes the publisher of “SMU” mad. So, the publisher argues with fakevideogamesite and threatens to pull advertising coverage.

Gaming news sites and magazines need to move away from videogame advertisements plastering their pages. Because if “SMU” gets a 3/10, do you think Welch’s will care? Or ABC? Or Doritos? No, it doesn’t affect them. Of course, reviewers will still get harassed by publishers, but there’s not going to be as much suspicion from the gaming community that something fishy is going on when there’s not. Gaming media outlets need to increase the gap between advertising and what they write about immediately.

“If you work for a media outlet, and have managerial responsibility over your editors, and would seriously sacrifice one of your editors to appease your advertisers, then I submit that you are a disgrace to your profession. And before you do so again, I’d humbly request you fire yourself first. And get far away from anything involving journalism for the rest of your fucking life.” - Jeff Green

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.

Now, I did enjoy myself some games over the past few days, namely Eternal Sonata, and Super Mario Galaxy.

I beat Galaxy early this week. Beat. All 120 stars with Mario. L**** unlocked (but not played with). To me, I’m DONE.

People have said that Galaxy is just as good, if not better than Super Mario 64 (I myself have even said it). And I’m not going back on that opinion: Galaxy really is just as good as Super Mario 64. It gets everything right that Super Mario 64 did, and is entertaining the whole game. The motion controls aren’t invasive and bothersome, collecting the stars is a blast, and each of the levels has it’s own unique feel, even if it shares a theme with another level. The gravity “OMG I R UPSIDE DOWNZORS!!!” aspect is easy to understand, and your objectives are clear (which is something SM64 couldn’t always say about itself). And while your paths may be very linear, the whole game feels big and welcomes exploration.

There’s one thing that I’ve notived about Galaxy, though. Galaxy does not have a key component that makes SM64 one of the greatest games of all time: memorability. Granted, Galaxy is easily a Game of The Year contender, and is one of the best experiences all year. But Super Mario 64 is a timeless memory that you will always be able to look back upon 10, 20, even 30 years down the road. Super Mario Galaxy is great, but Super Mario 64 has a certain je ne sais quoi.

Maybe it’s because of difficulty. After all, Super Mario Galaxy is extremely forgiving when it comes to health and lives. While your health may have been cut down to 3, coins are easily found, and the game periodically gives you 5 1UP Mushrooms, plus the tons of 1UPs scattered around the levels and overworld. Plus, the levels are extremely straightforward. Too straightforward. The game essentially holds your hand in each level to find the star, practically painting arrows on the ground. In fact, the only time when your not given much direction is the hidden stars in each level, and even then, the game tells you which mission it’s hidden in. Super Mario 64 required you to explore and think about things, rather than just jumping and running.

Or it could be that Galaxy doesn’t do what Super Mario 64 did: redefine Mario. Before Mario 64, we played with Mario in 2D and only 2D. And then, Mario took a new direction, branching away from the straight and narrow paths, and encouraging exploration. And they got it right. Galaxy only adds one more mechanic to what Super Mario 64 started, and feels like it’s taken a step backwards in some aspects. Galaxy is a great game, but it doesn’t have as much memorability.

Something that I’ve just sunk my teeth into is Eternal Sonata. Japanese RPGs are not always my game of choice. While they normally have beautiful environments and a well-designed combat system, they’re often lacking in story and depth.  And Eternal Sonata is definitely one of those JRPGs.

Eternal Sonata does many things right (combat, graphics), but gets things wrong. For example, it’s storyline. Eternal Sonata takes place in the dreams of a dying composer, and so, every name in the game relates to music, from Tenuto to Polka to Ritardando. In fact, much of the game revolves around music. But when given an array of characters, each that could have a great story, Sonata doesn’t flesh them out. The whole storyline is underwhelming and is lacking, even though there’s a lot of potential.

The combat system works, and works well. While at first, you may feel that leveling up your party is a punishment, you’ll find out that there are more benfits to it, and by the point where it limits your time, you’ll feel like it’s held your hand enough so that it’s OK to restrict strategy time and the like. Unfortunately, the whole system itself is very limited, and customization is not at the level it should be. Eternal Sonata is excellent at best, and extremely dissapointing at worst. Definitely a rent.

And that’s been this post. Enjoyed? I did. Gave me some talkin’ time.

So, heads up: Holiday Guide? Out the window! AWGP 30-whatever (I’ve forgotten!)? Out by Monday!

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