Welcome to 2012 Part 3 - Upcoming Games

Welcome to my final part of my “Welcome to 2012” series… this final part is all about the upcoming games of 2012.  Please remember, I’m probably not going to cover every game that you maybe hyped for, but these are a few games that either caught my eye or I am really looking forward to this year.  I’ll range the games from the ones I know the least about to the ones I’m most excited for.  The following games will start with the name, platform(s), release date, the publisher, and then will follow with a paragraph that will contain my thoughts of the game.

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure (3DS, February, Sega)

Rhythm Thief probably won’t be a game I’ll get when it comes out, but from the trailer, it’s looking a lot like the DS games Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents.  Even though these types of games are often pretty addictive, the killer is that you can usually beat these types of games in a day or two.  If it does get good reviews, I’ll probably pick it up next month if I’m not broke (darn you, Vita)!

Luigi’s Mansion 2 (3DS, TBA 2012, Nintendo)

Luigi’s Mansion was a launch title 10 years ago on the Gamecube.  Since then, gamers have been begging Nintendo to make a sequel, and they have finally delivered.  If you’re not sure what Luigi’s Mansion was, I really can’t blame you as it was a pretty obscure game.  Just think of it as Ghostbusters, just solo.  At E3 it was revealed that the game will more or less be like the previous one, which was Luigi hunting down ghosts in a haunted mansion, but this time around, he’ll be going to more mansions instead of just one.  A release date has not been announced at this time, but the original was pretty fun, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of this game soon.

Syndicate (Multiplatform, February, EA)

Syndicate was originally a series of PC games made by an old EA studio known as Bullfrog.  I remember these guys mostly for Theme Park and Theme Hospital.  Both games which let you build your own park or hospital and were really fun.  I never played any of the original Syndicate games but apparently it was some sort of isometric shooter.   That aside, Bullfrog is gone and dead, but the series has been revived by EA.  According to the trailers, the game seems to be like the recent Deus Ex: Human Revolution but with co-op on the side.  I might rent this one first as it seems a bit steep to buy a $60 game without knowing too much about it, but at this time, I have some pretty high hopes for it.

Twisted Metal (PS3, February, Sony)

Twisted Metal is also a reboot for the original series of games on the Playstation. I was a big fan of the first two games on the original Playstation, but the last two weren’t that great.  I never played Twisted Metal Black on PS2, but I guess it’s good that Sony decided to make it free to whoever buys this game, so now I can play it.  The trailer of the game is pretty darn cool.  It’s obvious that Sweet Tooth is back, but the trailer just mainly showed him blowing crap up.  Some gamers seem pretty concerned that even though a lot of the vehicles are returning, a lot of the old characters from previous games are strangely absent.  Regardless, I’m looking forward to see what this game has to offer.

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational (Vita, February, Sony)

If you know me, I’m not exactly a fan of sports games, In fact, I kind of loathe them.  Mainly because most sports games are developed in a year and are usually roaster updates from the game before it.  I was never a sports guy, but I tend to get into sports games that aren’t related to any of the yearly franchises such as NBA Jam & NFL Blitz.  I also enjoyed original sports games (not based on real sports teams) such as Mario Golf and Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee. The reason why these games are good is that they usually don’t require you to all about the sport before playing it.  The game may actually deviate from the rules of the game, but it’s usually for the sake of making the game more enjoyable.  I enjoyed the PSP game from this series, so I’m pretty sure the Vita version will be just as good.  The trailer showed off some gimmicky features which I think isn’t necessary, but I’m sure the game will offer traditional controls as well.

Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS, February, Namco Bandai)

I’m actually a pretty big fan of the whole Tekken series.  The problem with this franchise lately is that every game after Tekken 5 has been more or less the same game, and that every game after 5 has had less and less new features, not to mention, everything has to be tournament styled and have everything unlocked from the get-go (which I think seriously murders the replay value of any fighting game).  Tekken 3D has had one trailer and it basically just says “This is Tekken.  Nothing new to see here guys, just buy it, m’kay?” Complaints aside, Dead or Alive Dimensions was basically the same as its previous games, but was still a good game.  For whatever reason they are also including the hard to watch CG movie: Tekken: Blood Vengeance 3D.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita, February, Sony)

Uncharted is basically Indiana Jones meets Tomb Raider, but combines all of the cool aspects from each one into one game.  The series is already a trilogy on the PS3, and I played through a good bit of the first game, and the second game is still unopened on my shelf.  The Vita game is supposedly a prequel of sorts to the first game.   I really dig the exploration in these games, but not so much the gunfights as I feel they are somewhat clunky and feel more of like a distraction from the main game.  The Vita game promises to be more exploration… but I guess we’ll see.  Regardless, I have this pre ordered with my Vita.

Soul Calibur V (Multiplatform, TBA 2012, Namco Bandai)

Soul Calibur and I go way back to the original game on the Dreamcast.  The trailers aren’t showing off too much, but I’ll give it a go anyway.  Oh, and I’m thrilled to see that Namco finally got the hint that adding console exclusive characters was always a stupid idea.  The release date will probably be announced soon, likely at E3.

Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS, March, Nintendo)

After seeing his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, everyone assumed that the Kid Icarus series would eventually get revived, and wouldn’t you know, it did.  The new game doesn’t seem to be anything like the older games, but I feel that might be a good thing.  The game seems be both an on rails shooter and a 3^rd person shooter (mixing it between levels).  The game has already had multiple gameplay and story trailers to it and is building a whole bunch of hype.  As of now, it’s looking like a day 1 purchase for me, and thankfully, this is actually not a February release (so I can don’t have to wait to buy it).  

Animal Crossing (the subtitle for it has not been revealed yet) – (3DS, TBA 2012, Nintendo)

The Animal Crossing series for me has always been probably one of the most sickeningly addictive games I have ever played.  If those of you that are unfamiliar with this series, you are forcefully thrown into mortgage debt, and in order to get out of it, you are forced to do repetitive errands, grow/find fruit, catch stuff, etc.  Now you’re probably thinking: “Chris, that all sounds stupid”, well you may be right.  But after doing this for an hour, it’s insanely addictive, and it’s why I must have this game the moment it comes out.  Because I must play it in order to fulfill my addiction to collecting garbage.

Addiction aside, according to an interview with the developers, they sort of got the hint the Animal Crossing: City Folk was exactly like its previous game with the exception of the small market they randomly added in (but of course it was called a city for whatever reason).  The 3DS version will add in more customization, as well as make you the mayor of your own town.  This means you can either become a freeloading junkie or you can help out the town and build useful things for the townspeople… or townsanimals.  

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (Multiplatform, March, Capcom)

Resident Evil is a very well respected franchise for gamers.  This game is actually a non-canon game (meaning not related to the main game’s storyline) but is sort an alternate “what if” story that occurs during Resident Evil 2.  Basically Umbrella has a squad of guys who are out to kill any survivals in Raccoon City that may know about Umbrella’s involvement of the disaster that occurred there.  And what do ya know, we only have two survivals: RE2’s protagonists Leon Kennedy and Clare Redfield.  The game’s main objective is to kill Kennedy through any means necessary, but to get to him; they have to wipe out hordes of their own zombies.  According to the trailers, the game is co-op, like the Left 4 Dead series except its 3^rd person and that each character in the game has their own unique abilities.  The game is also offering a multiplayer mode where you can play as other popular Resident Evil characters such as Hunk and Jill Valentine. 

Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS, February, Capcom)

Now you maybe are wondering why this game made my #1.  Well, I honestly think it’s going be an awesome game.  This is probably the game that nearly every 3DS owner has been waiting for since it the teaser trailer was shown off back at E3.  The series is returning back to its roots, and is offering a new story (that’s supposedly canon, unlike Operation Raccoon City) that seems interesting.  The protagonists from the first Resident Evil are to be reunited, however, Chris Redfield is missing, and his last known location was on a ship full of zombies and various other monsters.  The recent trailer reveals more about the story, and we'll also exploring various other places such as a sunken city, all for the sake of finding a cure to a virus (sounds familiar, right?).  After seeing the graphics pulled off on the 3DS with The Mercenaries 3D, I’m looking forward to playing the crap out of Revelations went it hits next month.  To conclude, here’s the best trailer of the game, enjoy.

Welcome to 2012 Part 2 - Playstation Vita

After typing out the Wii U article, I should of technically made the Playstation Vita article first due to it coming out next month.. oh well.  Anyway, as I stated earlier, we have a second console coming out this year from Sony.  No, it's not the PS4, it's actually the successor to the Playstation Portable, otherwise known as the PSP.  It's hard to remember the PSP a lot in the states due to it being dominated by the Nintendo DS.  In Japan, the PSP's sales are usually very close to the Wii and DS's which may sound shocking, but this was probably the main reason why Sony decided to make a successor for the console. However, in America, a lot of people sort of forgot about the PSP.

 The final model of the PSP (PSP 3000)

The PSP had a lot of problems with it.  The UMD format was overall a complete and total failure.  Loading times were usually too long, the filesize on a UMD was smaller than a PS2 game, and it only had one analog stick.  Developers did however manage to make fantastic games on the console, but sadly, most of them were forgotten and still didn't sell so well.  Due to Nintendo's innovative push with the DS, Nintendo eventually pushed out the PSP , and after 2008, a lot of developers slowly dropped the console altogether (in the West mainly).

 

The launch model of the Playstation Vita

The Playstation Vita on the other hand shows that Sony got the hint that PSP sort of sucked.  As Sony infamously does, it always has to borrow a feature from it's competitors, and this time, it's with the touch screen.  However, Sony did use some of it's own innovation this time around to create a back touch pad on the console as well.  The Vita also has two analog sticks, which resolves the issue that I mentioned earlier from the original PSP console.

 A Playstation Vita Game Card and Memory Card

Speaking of fixing old issues, the Vita also uses a proprietary card format for not only it's games but also it's (mandatory) memory cards as well.  The good news is the games will now load way faster than games did on the PSP.  However, the memory cards are no longer the memory stick format that we used on the PSP, so this means we have to buy a memory card at launch.  Since the UMD format is gone and done with (and we don't want it back), this obviously means that it won't play PSP games via a UMD, but you will be able to play PSP games via your memory card through either your current Playstation Network collection of games, or by going through a UMD conversation program that requires a fee for you to get the digital version of your UMD PSP games.

 Actual screenshot from Uncharted: Golden Abyss

What made the Wii U article shorter is that 1. It's unreleased and 2. It has little to no known games at this time.  However, with the Vita, it's been out in Japan for roughly two weeks now, therefore, we know what to expect for next month's launch in the States.  One thing I forgot to mention about the Vita is what's inside.  The graphics are a huge leap up from the PSP's, some would even say that it's on par with the PS3's graphics as it's getting ports of some current console games as well.  I also forgot to mention the Vita will have two models in every region: A WiFi model and a 3G/WiFi model.  In the states, the 3G model is using AT&T's service.

All in all, the WiFi model of the Playstation Vita is competitively priced with 3DS's original launch price of $250, with the 3G/WiFi model being priced at $299.  The current launch lineup is looking pretty good, I myself, am looking forward to Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational, and Super Stardust Delta.

Welcome to 2012 Part 1 - Wii U

With the exception of the apocalypse (lol) happening this year, we are expecting a lot of good games to come out!  This year however starts with our first "next gen" console from Nintendo known as the Wii U. 

The current Wii U Prototype.

Odd name aside, the Wii U is obviously Nintendo's home console successor to the Wii.  Even though the Wii sold the most consoles last gen, it's arguably the console that few gamers kept coming back to.  Last year alone, the only "big" game was Skyward Sword from Nintendo.  After Nintendo's showing of the console at E3, reactions were mixed, and most people including myself, were honestly worried of the console's future.

What we know so far:

• Will feature current gen graphics (on par or somewhat better than 360/PS3 graphics)
• Is an actual "HD" console with 1080p
• Nintendo claims it's more geared to "hardcore" gamers
• Will be backwards compatible with all Wii games, but will not upscale them (The PS3 upscaled PS2 games until they removed backwards compatibility in future models)
• Wii also use the same Wii Remote, as well as most accessories (Wii Fit scale, nunchuk, etc)
• Promised to have better third party support

At E3, a lot of guys not only groaned at weird name, but they also weren't big fans of Nintendo's new controller.

The Wii U Controller

Now, remember what I said earlier?  That you could use the Wii remote if you wanted to?  Well, you better not sell them off when you buy the Wii U, because only one Wii U controller can be used on each Wii U console.  The controller is meant to be a sort of enhancement to games.  One example was that the controller can give you a certain edge against other players in the game (since the others are using the Wii Remote).  The think the best way to think of is like the second screen on the Nintendo DS.  The top screen was usually the screen where all of the gameplay happened, but the bottom screen would usually be used for secondary tasks such as item inventories, maps, etc.  I feel the Wii U controller's screen will probably be used for the same things.

The coolest feature of the Wii U however actually lies within the controller.  Few of you may remember the remote play option that the PS3 had with the PSP.  A few games let you play PS3 games remotely on the PSP.  While I never actually tried this feature myself, the Wii U is going all out on this sort of thing.  Apparently, all games will playable on the Wii U's controller without the need for a TV.  While this may sound very strange for a home console, it's what Nintendo is doing anyway.  So if you are in a situation where you have to give up the TV to the kids or something, you can resume your game on the controller.  It's a crazy feature, but I can't wait to see it in action.

With the exception of a few games that were previously announced for other consoles, Nintendo has yet to reveal anymore details about the console (such as a release date, price, first party launch titles, etc), but it is scheduled to be out by at least the end of this year.  Let's just hope that I don't get over hyped for this console like I did with the 3DS and it's terrible launch. 

OnLive (Cloud Gaming) Review

Two years ago, a new cloud based game system was introduced at GDC 2009. What the system basically did was stream the game onto your computer. So, any low end computer could play a HD game on it without having to upgrade or buy a new PC. The way OnLive works is that several games are hosted on OnLive’s servers. When you buy them, you can instantly play any game on the service at any given time, as long as you have a PC that play video and that has a fast internet connection.

OnLive’s idea is very neat, and almost seems like its way ahead for its time. Over Easter weekend, OnLive was having a sale, and I hopped in and bought FEAR 2 for $5. This gave me unlimited access to the game. Now say if it wasn’t on sale, I could of bought either a 3 day or 5 day pass for the game if I only wanted to try it out. You can also try most of the games out for free for half an hour. Lastly, OnLive does offer a subscription based service for $10 a month, which enables you to have unlimited access with any game within its catalog.

OnLive can be played through a variety of ways. OnLive can be played on a PC, Mac, TV, and you can watch other people play through Android & iPhone devices as well. The TV accessory is sold directly through OnLive with a gamepad for $100. However, the OnLive service itself is free to play online, and you all have to do on a PC & Mac is download the free application. Thankfully, the adaptor is not required.

OnLive offers a TV Adapter & Gamepad combo for $100.

Even though, I already own a gaming PC, I tried OnLive out on both my main desktop PC and my laptop as well. Though 95% of my gameplay experience, I had zero to few problems while playing. The games are very responsive, and the video quality is good while running a high speed internet connection. On my laptop, I noticed some pixelation and OnLive was constantly saying it had network problems, but this only seemed to happen very rarely. Overall, the service is very smooth, and is perfect for anyone who has interest in the PC platform, and can’t afford to keep upgrading a PC or buying new PCs to play the latest games.

The video quality is certainly something to note. The quality is decent, but not amazing. The games look good, but not nearly as good as they should be. Even though a quality drop in video is rare, the service should at least offer higher resolutions so the games will look better. It feels like its YouTube quality, rather than me actually playing it on my PC or Xbox 360. The only games I tried out were FPS’s which usually require precise control, and all have fast paced gameplay. Though the games I played, I noticed no sort of “lag” and I never died due to a delayed control response or anything like that.

OnLive lets you watch other gamer's play games.

OnLive also lets you watch other players play a game. I noticed that anybody can watch you play a game, which I feel is a little creepy, but it didn’t bother me while I playing my game. OnLive also includes a friend system, and a voice chat system so that you can talk to your friends while they either watch you (or them) play a game or you can play a game together with them.

All in all, I feel that OnLive is a very neat idea. I don’t think many hardcore gamers will like it due to the video quality, but I feel more casual gamers will enjoy it due to being playable on lower end PCs. It’s said that OnLive may be built into some televisions in the future, and will more open up more gamers to the service. The catalog at this time is decent, with nearly two dozen publishers backing the service such as Ubisoft, Epic Games, THQ, Atari, and more. Despite the large support for the service, the game catalog is still rather small, but will likely grow as time goes on. I even saw that new games such as FEAR 3 will be playable on the service once it is released.

OVERALL RATING – 7.5/10

Pros – Can play any game within the catalog on any PC and Mac without having a super gaming PC. Quality is acceptable, and the gameplay is very responsive.

Cons – Video Quality may drop at any given time depending on your connection; video quality isn’t as good as it should be, game catalog doesn’t have many interesting or new games.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition Review (3DS)

Hadoken!  Street Fighter breaks its way onto the 3DS with a bang!  Is it just a meaningless port, or is it actually worth your hard earned money?

Street Fighter and I haven’t exactly had the best of history together.  I was first introduced to the game when was around 10.  I used to always be stuck at my grandma’s house during the summer, and I occasionally hung out with the kid next door since he also had a Sega Genesis.  One day, my friend dropped his Sega down the stairs and it pretty much killed it.  In result, he gave me a whole bunch of games.  The best game of the bunch was Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition.  Man, was this game badass or what?  Even though I struggled with each battle, I always attempted to at least beat the story mode of each character.  The biggest issue I had was not knowing any of the special moves, so in result, I always got my ass kicked into an oblivion.  Ever since then, I haven’t bought a Street Fighter game… until now.

Fast forward to 2011… the 3DS launch line up is announced, and it’s pretty much filled with halfassed ports and shovel ware.  Street Fighter would have fell into this category, but it’s obvious that Capcom was the only developer that gave a damn about making a quality launch title for the 3DS.  Super Street Fighter IV was originally a sort of expansion to the already existing Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360 and PS3.  The expansion added tweaks, new characters, stages, and whatnot.  The 3DS version is more or less the same thing except it’s portable.  Let’s get into this review, shall we?

Presentation:

Super Street Fighter IV is a game that gets you pumped up and ready to go for anything.  Why?  Because even the freaking menus are in 3D!  The game has probably of the most wonderful controls that I’ve used yet for a 3DS game.  Remember how I mentioned that SFII and I had issues because of me not knowing the moves?  Well pathetic noobs such as myself, can now cower down to the touch screen and instantly activate a special move.  This means the game is no longer about remembering overly complicated button combinations, and it’s more about timing & strategy than ever before.  Sure, experienced players may hate this version because of this, but let me assure you, I can still kick people’s asses that constantly spam specials and button mash.  I feel this is the perfect version for any new Street Fighter player.

Graphics:

SSFIV obviously can’t look as good as its console version.  However, good graphics don’t make a better game, right?  Regardless of this, SSFIV still looks amazing on the 3DS.  The 3D effect adds in some cool depth to the graphics, and gives you the feeling that you’re actually standing between the fighters.  The 3D versus mode is far by the stupidest addition the game.  If you’re playing a 2D style fighting game, the last place you want to be is behind your fighter.  It doesn’t even give you an advantage.  One thing I have to nitpick about is the static backgrounds. Even the people in the background are just completely frozen.   My question is: Why?  I’ve seen several fighters between the PS1/2 eras with busy backgrounds in fighting games.   Did time just freeze in the world of Street Fighter? 

Sound:

The music in SSFIV are obvious remixes to the classic SFII soundtrack, as well as adding new tracks here and there.  The voice acting in the game is superb in my opinion, and the goofiness of some of the characters really gives the game some comic relief when it’s needed. 

Gameplay:

This is where SSFIV plays out in spades.  Where do I start?  First of all, the game has 35 characters!  All of them have their own unique moves, specials, stories, and costumes.  The game features the usual story (starts with a movie, ends with a movie), versus, 3D versus, and online multiplayer modes that are expected in most fighting games today.  A unique addition to the package is the Streetpass mode where when if you pass by another person that has Streetpass enabled on their 3DS system, a set of your Street Fighter figures will duke it out.  Whoever wins, will level up.  Lastly, the online multiplayer seems to have semi-lag free matches.  The matches I played weren’t unplayable, but I can tell between a few matches I had that lag was indeed slowing the game down a bit.  Also, everyone online seems to suck.  Just sayin’! ;)

Lasting Appeal:

There is a whole lot to do in SSFIV.  The gameplay is fun, the characters are interesting, and the online play is a blast.   It will take a good bit of time to clear the game with every character, and long time to unlock every icon, title, and if you live in a big city, level up all of your streetpass figures.  I can see 3DS owners playing this game for a very long time. 

For new 3DS owners, I highly recommend it.  I mean, what else are going to get from such a lackluster launch lineup of games?  Super Street Fighter IV is without a doubt the best 3DS launch title.  Ubisoft & EA need to take notes on what Capcom has done here so they that their ports simply don’t reek of trashy shovel ware.  

TL;DR – THE FINAL RUN DOWN

Presentation – 8/10 – The new touch screen option to instantly use your specials without complicated button combinations was a well needed addition to such a hardcore fighting series.  New & Old players will both feel welcome.  The menus are well done, but I don’t get actually on why all of them had to be in 3D.  Lastly, if you do want to play the game without the help of the touch screen, using the L & R buttons for complex moves isn’t actually comfortable.  You’re probably going to make your fingers move onto the touch screen after you get sick of trying big moves out.

Graphics – 8/10 – SSFIV looks fantastic, however the static backgrounds makes me wonder if the character models is all Capcom worked into.  Why couldn’t the backgrounds have a little life? 

Gameplay – 9/10 – The gameplay in SSFIV is a wonderful experience, and is the most entertaining 3DS game I’ve played yet.  It’s also probably the only game I’ve been coming back to constantly next to Ghost Recon.

Sound – 8/10 – Classic Street Fighter music, along with some new tunes as well.  The English voice actors in my opinion sound really good.   The music isn’t exactly catchy or anything, but it still catches my attention when I hear a classic SF tune.

Lasting Appeal – 8/10 – With 35 characters, SSFIV will be keeping you busy for a very long time.  Mastering them and learning which ones you’re best with, as well as competing with other people online will keep you on this game until some new quality games come out.

OVERALL SCORE – 8.5/10

BUY, RENT, or AVOID – BUY.  Buying this game is a no brainer.  If you own a 3DS, you have to own this game as well.

The Sims 3 Review (3DS)

Hey, yo.  I'm back... with a unexpected review!  Enjoy.
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The Sims 3 is the sequel to the highly successful PC Sims series, and now it finally makes the leap over the Nintendo’s new portable. Is it worth checking out, or should you be picking up something else?

Before anything, I just want to throw out that I have a soft spot for this franchise. I remember a decade ago when my brothers bought this, and we were all wowed on how amazing it is to basically be god in a video game (sadly, we missed out on the SNES and the awesome ActRaiser game at that time). The Sims on PC to this day, is still a fun little game. The later titles are better graphically, but all of them haven’t really changed except with a few games adding in storylines (weird, I know!) and simply more items, jobs, etc. The Sims on the 3DS is really a bit of a breakthrough for the series. I’ve always wanted a Sims game on a portable console that was actually… well, The Sims. The Urbz and The Sims 2 on the DS were both amazing games in their own right, but they weren’t the Sims games you expected them to be. The Sims 2 Pets on the PSP and The Sims 3 on iOS devices attempted to do the same thing except with lousy controls, and for the PSP game, excessive loading times. Now, let’s see if the 3DS can finally do The Sims right!

(I’ll be using IGN’s five categories, as I can’t think of anything better to call each section).

Presentation:
When you think of The Sims on the 3DS, you’re probably thinking the touch screen is going to give you an advantage in control. Well, yes and no. The Sims 3 and I have one very big issue with each other. The buttons are very small to press on the screen, and the game almost has to be played with a stylus at all times. Now I have to admit, giving the Sim him or herself commands through the touch screen is a very nice touch, but trying to navigate through the tiny menu on the bottom screen is really a frustrating experience. Also, whatever happened to seeing my Sim’s erm… personal needs? It annoys me when I have to wait for a cube to show up telling me that my Sim needs to eat, shower, and pee. One huge issue the game has is the camera which can only be controlled with the touch screen via a digital analog stick and not with one of the buttons, what were they thinking?!

Graphics:
The Sims 3 is decent looking game. If you want to know what “decent” is, think of somewhere in between Dreamcast and PS2 quality (graphically of course). A lot of the textures look very dated, and the character models have clunky animation and seemingly freeze for several seconds when given a new command. I give the character models a little credit, as they do look pretty good for 3DS standards, but every object in the game has large jags that seem to really stick out. The 3D effect the game gives you for the top screen, does add some depth to the world, but ultimately fails since you occasionally lose the 3D sweet spot since you constantly have to switch between the top and bottom screens due to the control. I recommend playing this game in 2D, since 3D offers little to nothing for The Sims 3.

Sound:
The Sims 3 has the classic Sims sounds that you would expect. The Sims language, music, and classic sound effects are all here. While none of them are out of the ordinary, the music the Sims play on the radio still sound really catchy, despite them being in The Sims own language.

Gameplay:
If you haven’t played a Sims game before, you basically have one role. Play the role of God or basically “big brother”. Your sim has free will over themselves so unless you tell him/her otherwise, he or she will do whatever they feel like doing. Most of the time it’s slacking off, being a slob, and wasting time… and this is where you can jump in to help them. Your Sims will need to be told when to shower, eat, crap, and to go to work. While the game usually does this for you, it does feel better to go and do it yourself. Eventually you will want to go out of the usual routine and you will want to your sim to get a boy/girlfriend. Get married. Have kids. Get a promotion. Learn new things. You know the typical stuff in life. The Sims is really a game that can go on forever. Thankfully, the 3DS does retain of the classic Sim gameplay, but to deal with all of the awkward control and bad camera, your journey with your sim may end sooner than you expect. Thankfully, the game does offer some unlocks in terms of new items, as well new clothes for your Sim. Whether or not you find this as an incentive to keep on progressing with your Sim is completely up to you.

If you compare the 3DS version to the PC version, you will largely be disappointed. EA should have just named this game “The Sims” rather than “The Sims 3” just as they did with Madden. The game does cut out several things that The Sims 3 did add in such as actually driving to work (you just walk off the screen to go to work now). I also noticed that you can only start the game with one character, rather than having the option to have a family or simply a bachelor pad with a friend. Don’t get me wrong, nothing of huge value was lost with the move from PC to 3DS; just don’t be expecting something new with the 3DS version with the exception of the poorly used 3D effect.

Since this game does literally go on forever, I noticed the game does finally let you build your own home. I haven’t gotten around to testing out how big your home can be, or how much stuff you can put into it. But most portable Sims games before this one forced you to live in only pre-built houses, such as The Sims 2 (DS)’s hotel room or The Urbz (another DS Sims title) penthouse. I give it a plus for finally letting you build you own pad, but with the game’s bad controls, I doubt you would have to patience to make one without putting the game down.

Lasting Appeal:
The Sims 3 can be satisfying experience if you can get used to a crappy camera, bad controls, and the mediocre graphics. Under all of the game’s crap is a game that really does have a good gameplay experience, that is, is you have to patience to deal with it. All in all, for casual gamers, I don’t recommend The Sims 3 at all. The controls are confusing at best, and the camera is so awful that most people would be done with in less than an hour. A hardcore Sims fan might have the patience to deal with it, but in the end, they will probably be begging to return to the vastly superior PC version within minutes of playing this game.

TL;DR – THE FINAL RUN DOWN
Presentation – 5/10 – The menus are hard to use and the camera can only be controlled through a digital analog stick on the touch screen. The only credit it gets is letting me command the Sims with the touch screen.
Graphics – 5/10 – Wasn’t expecting much. And yeah, we didn’t get much either. I’ve seen Dreamcast games that looked better.
Sound – 8/10 – The usual Sim sounds and music was a real hard category for the game to fail on. Thankfully it at least did this right.
Gameplay – 7/10 – Addicting gameplay, but only if you have the time and patience to let the game stick to you.
Lasting Appeal – 3/10 – I have a hard time playing this game for more than 15 minutes. I get annoyed on how this game even bothered to even have a 3D effect since it makes it nearly impossible to play when it’s on. It’s like how people ported PS2 games during the Wii’s launch and forced every port to have poorly done motion controls.

OVERALL SCORE: 5/10


BUY, RENT, OR AVOID? – AVOID. Sorry, EA. How about porting the original Sims to this thing instead? I’m sure you might be able to that right.

The Nintendo 3DS: When is it coming?

For those of you that have lived under a rock for the past couple of months, Nintendo announced their next generation of portable hardware known of the Nintendo 3DS.  Like every Nintendo portable that came out before this, these consoles are usually one generation behind the current generation of home consoles.  The 3DS is really no exception, since it is more or less a portable Gamecube.  The irony behind this is that the Wii decided to go with the generation lag (as I call it) and the 3DS is probably nearly as powerful as the Wii. That aside, let's talk about the Nintendo 3DS.

First and foremost, the Nintendo 3DS is obviously a 3D gaming console.  But wait, consoles aren't just 3D anymore, they are also 3D.  This means it not only has 3D graphics, but also 3D effects that make the image appear that it's popping out of the screen.  I'm sure you're all familiar of the recent craze (or gimmick) of movies being 3D.  It's just as stupid as the movies that were popular two decades ago when people thought the old red & blue glasses were cool.  The biggest gimmick about the 3DS this time around is the new 3D screen.  It does not require glasses, which is a overall plus because watching Avatar in 3D for two hours gave me a headache.  If the 3D image still bothers you, Nintendo added a 3D slider so that you adjust it's... um.. 3D-ness.  You can even play a game with no 3D at all if you please.

The 3DS's design is almost the same as the current Nintendo DSi with some tweaks here and there.  The most obvious addition is the top screen is now a 16x9 wide screen, which is also the screen that will be generating the 3D images.  The 2nd biggest addition is the joy stick, or as Nintendo calls it: "The Slider".  A lot of people are already generating negative comments about this because the Playstation Portable (PSP) had the same "slider" or as Sony called it, the analog nub, because there is only one stick as opposed to the usual two sticks that people have grown so used to with home consoles.  Lastly, the 3rd addition is the new "3D" cameras on the back (as opposed to the former one camera) that will be able to take 3D pictures.

The design out of the way, the current list of games to be released sound pretty promising.  Remakes of Starfox 64 & Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time are expected to be out at or around launch, along with the long awaited return of Kid Icarus, plus a new Mario Kart is expected to come for the system soon as well  3rd party games have also been shown to the public such as Metal Gear Solid 3 & Dead or Alive.  Nintendo also claims that even older games will be re-released with 3D effects, but will be not be updated graphically like Starfox & Zelda will be.

So the release date?  Nobody knows yet!  This is actually what made me revive my old blog here is because Nintendo is being really tight lipped about the release of the 3DS in not only America, but also in Japan & Europe.  At the beginning of the month, Nintendo of America (or NOA) recently made a universal price drop on both the Nintendo DSi & Nintendo DSi XL systems.  A few sources are claiming the release date will be from November of this year to the Spring of 2011. 

In 2004, Nintendo released the first Nintendo DS in America in November, and then released it worldwide two weeks later.  Let's just hope that we can all get out hands on this exciting new console before 2011 and I'll be a happy man. Nintendo will be having a press conference on Wednesday which will finally put all of these rumors to rest, so until Wednesday, have a good one!