I'm a bit cranky today. So i've decided I'm going to list a few trends that I've never liked in the gaming industry. Things that feel sneaky, that were clearly just designed to make extra money, or something that has NO business being in gaming. So, here in no particular order, is my 'lets put a stop to this' list. And yes, this is just a 'let me complain about things' rant. If there was good news worth noting, I'd do just that. Since there isn't, this is all I have to work with.
1: 'Special editions' of games. Seriously, its getting out of hand guys. I mean, I understand re-releases getting additional content, especially when a title is being brought over to a new console. But Halo 3 had 3 separate SKUs. 3. Now, I happen to be a fan of additional content that tends to come on DVD releases. I'm just not a big fan of developers specifically PULLING extra content like concept art and behind the scenes stuff, so they can put it ONLY on the special edition that they'll charge you $30 more for. Come on guys, just please put it all on the original disk or all online. And shame on you guys who encourage this behavior by paying for these discs. I mean, what exactly are you gonna do with that helmet case of Master Chief's head?
2: Nintendo Friend Codes. Yes, yes. Its been said before. Still means its true. At least Mario Kart allows you to send friend requests. Which, you know what, I wish was the standard. It essentially accomplishes the same means on Nintendo's part (just enough connectivity to allow you to actually interact) while also keeping that iron curtain of anonymity firmly in place. The worst part of this? Its starting to inspire others to follow suit.
3: Region Lockouts. The PS3 is already region free. Sorta. Any PS3 can play PS3 titles from any region. Other than that, full region lockdown. PS1 titles, PS2 titles (if your system is fortunate enough to play them) and PSN/PSP titles. All region locked. Now ask me about DVDs and Blu-ray discs. You guessed it. Region locked. I suppose its a step in the right direction, at least for the PS4, you'll be able to play your PS3 titles (assuming Sony doesn't decide that BC is 'last gen' hardware), and while it is nice to see progress, it also becomes a strong reminder of what we've had to deal with for some time now. For the record, Sony made the PS3 region free because they figured they could store all 3 regions of the game on the same disc initially. Now, MGS4 can't even get language tracks from other parts of the world onto their region specific (but not region LOCKED) discs due to a lack of space. Maybe we should just make discs that hold a terrabyte. Which developer would complain first about a lack of space, Hideo Kojima or Square's FF team?
4: Any Sonic the Hedgehog game that isn't in 2-D. Look, I grew up a Sonic fan, I really did. Hell, I even liked Sonic Adventure and thought Sonic Adventure 2 was ok. I used to think it was MY fault the camera prevented Sonic from running straight; I wanted to like it that much. I can't even blame Sega for taking the blue blur into 3-D. Mario did it and with Sega floundering and Sony whipping them both in sales, they needed to try anything. But that experiment clearly failed. It failed so hard that Sega left the hardware business. Apparently, to focus on churning out 3-D Sonic game after 3-D Sonic game. And yes, I know they did more than that and they really tried. But Sonic Chronicles? Sega Superstar Tennis (not technically a Sonic game, but they're clearly using him to move the title)? SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG? These are clearly not going to right the ship. Now, what about Sonic Unleashed? You know, I think Sega may finally have a good idea here. Not the warewolf thing, that just screams Twilight Princess rip. No, they may have an idea to implement a camera "2.5D" camera setup. Have the character models all be in 3-D, but have the camera only allow movement on the X and Y axis. Sadly, the thing that'll probably down the title is the Warewolf mechanic. Because things like that don't just HAPPEN. They come with a reason, a story. And in Sega's understanding 'Story' is Japanese for 'Cram as many crappy characters as we can think of onto screen and give them all horrendous dialogue'.
That's gonna wrap it up for me tonight. Still a little under the weather. See you all Friday!
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