Frothing Demand

Forgot to update last week, but I think the only thing I wrote that was actually posted was the second Metal Gear Warp Pipe.

The early part of my week was uneventful. The latter half saw us finally take the opportunity to visit Game On. Through means beyond our control (train carpark being full), we ended up having to drive into the city. Like any other major city, certain Melbourne roads are pedestrian only, which makes crossing from one side to another rather interesting. Also amusing is when someone fucks with the traffic lights, and your green arrow doesn’t appear to earn you right of way.

The exhibition was pretty good – I think the best part about it was their classic arcade section, where they had managed to cobble up several original cabinets for classic arcade machines, including the original Space War and Pong machines. The more recent gaming things had a lot of information, but I think the game demonstration choices were a little dubious – I’d have shown off the games that the machine was noted for, but their game selections seemed a little random. The other unfortunate thing was that there was also two school groups touring – we’d aimed to go mid week to avoid the place being packed but it was not to be.

Metal Gear Solid 4 took up the remainder of my week. It’s the best game of the new generation, but I don’t think anyone that hasn’t played the previous four games will be able to fully appreciate both the story and just how far the gameplay has come. I’m honestly surprised that the bigger outlets are dishing out 10s for it. This week, I’ve got to review that, The Bourne Conspiracy, The Incredible Hulk, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Aces of the Galaxy and Novastrike – there’s also the possibility of a Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 review.

Reviews

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict (Nintendo DS) at Internode Games Network

Features

The Warp Pipe – Metal Gear Retrospective Part 2 at Internode Games Network
The Warp Pipe (15/06/2008) at Internode Games Network

A relatively quiet week in Melbourne, though much work was early in the piece. Seems as though the gaps between submission and posting are being extended everywhere I work for, which would indicate the review flow is picking up again. I’m using this quiet time to plug a few gaps in my achievement record – I said I would not be pursuing raw GamerScore, and though I am dangerously close to that #50 position, this is a chase for efficiency. That said, it ultimately still resulted in me playing crappy licensed games, so I still fail. The foot long scratch the cat left down my forearm on Friday morning was less painful than Transformers: The Game.

I have many an excellent title still sitting on the backburner during these quiet times, and I am gradually pushing the pile down. This week’s victim was Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, a somewhat disappointing entry in an otherwise good series. I’m hoping to hit either Super Mario Galaxy or Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops this week.

Reviews
SpellForce Universe (PC) at Strategy Informer

Features
The Warp Pipe’s Metal Gear Retrospective – Part One at Internode Games Network

I spent the majority of my Sunday editing the GTAIV review that will hit Internode sometime this week, the reason being that neither the copy editor nor content editor had played the game.

As a critic/review in this industry, I make an effort to play the vast majority of releases in the industry, regardless of their quality. I can accept that the two editors had not played it, as their roles do not require them to have insight on the majority of releases, but I was shocked to find that many big name reviewers and bloggers had little to no experience with the Grand Theft Auto series prior to the release of the fourth game.

There are certain big name games that I have missed over the years, due to not being behind a particular piece of hardware or perhaps not even owning said piece of hardware, but I’ve made it my duty to try and track these games down and play them to enhance my perspective. It’s a time consuming exercise, but I think it adds to the work that I do churn out, and will hopefully benefit those who read my articles.

This week’s entry is a little rushed as I’m likely to be playing catch up all week. There are certain parts of the Warp Pipe I’m now preparing in advance, I’ve got reviews to write for Okami and NBA Ballers, and the first part of the Warp Pipe’s Metal Gear Retrospective to plan and write.

Reviews
Iron Man (Xbox 360) at Internode Games Network

Features
The Warp Pipe at Internode Games Network

After struggling with a belated Mario Kart Wii review all week, it struck me that there are no major releases for another four weeks. Typically there would be a “drought” of games until early September, but I think the industry is finally getting their act together. They may have realised that it would be better to position some of their software outside of the holiday season, where it’s bound to be eclipsed by superior first party efforts. June, July and August, traditionally quiet months for me, will be pretty busy – July more so with the rescheduled E3 in its second year.

Playing through Heavenly Sword this weekend – I like a condensed, action-packed experience like this, i.e. “the perfect rental”. Should I manage to beat it later today, it will be the 34th game I’ve knocked over so far this year. I’ve decided to try turning my attention away from going after a large achievement score on Xbox Live, after I couldn’t crack the #50 barrier without lowering myself to playing childrens games and hunting sims like the rest of the community, so my scoring rate will slow down to reflect the type of releases coming out.

My hoarding tendencies and backlog have changed quite a bit with my financial situation. I’ve spent roughly half of what I normally would have on games by this point in the year, and have made an effort to rent a lot of titles I want to play, or get Charly to bring them home from work for a brief period. The backlog of games to beat is in the 70-80 range, I’d like to knock over 30-40. My goal for finished titles this year is 100, and with games needing to be reviewed, I should exceed that in the end.

Reviews
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Nintendo DS) at Internode Games Network

Features
The Warp Pipe at Internode Games Network

Left it a little late tonight to write this, since I’ve been tidying up a number of little jobs today, and finishing some games that I’ve had on rental for about 3 weeks now. Most of my time this weekend was meant to be spent with Mario Kart Wii and Okami, but they fell by the wayside as I finished Viking. Of course, since I’m supposed to be reviewing Mario Kart and Okami, that’s bad prioritising on my part.

The Mario Kart series may be one of Nintendo’s strongest selling franchises, but in terms of quality, it has been on a steady slide since the initial entry. The main cause for this is the need on their behalf to make the game accessible. The thing is that Mario Kart always was pretty accessible – what Nintendo does to make the game more accessible only frustrates skilled players by stacking the odds against them. If you’re in first place in any Mario Kart game from Super Circuit onwards, chances are you’re going to cop a hiding from a blue shell and lightning at least once in a race. If you’re in last, you’ll get a blue shell, super star, bullet bill, golden mushroom or any other object that’s going to spit you into the top 3 in the next 15 seconds.

Normally I just grin and bear it with Mario Kart, but when I was playing on Friday, I experienced the game’s help from both perspectives – it happens very blatantly in the Wii version, a factor which makes me really not like the game at all. If I’m losing in a race, I would like to learn my lesson – if I race like crap, I deserve to come last and have to try again and do better by say, learning the course. Instead, the game gave me a series of power ups which put me from 12th place to first within 10 seconds, giving me the race and the cup.

I’ve yet to try the game online, but its safe to say at this stage that Mario Kart Wii is a bit of a bust. Maybe they should just do an update of the SNES version on Wii Ware with 4 player GP and Battle.

Reviews
UEFA Euro 2008 (PS3) at Strategy Informer
Army of Two (Xbox 360) at Internode Games Network
Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) at Internode Games Network

Features
The Warp Pipe at Internode Games Network

GTA Retrospective Part 2 is up. I need a freaking break after those things. Part 3 coming on Sunday but I have to write it tomorrow by 5, yay.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure review posted.

GTA Retrospective Part 2 is not coming together very easily. I am really looking forward to a short break with no work hanging over my head.

First part of the Warp Pipe’s GTA Retrospective is up. Reviews for Turning Point: Fall of Liberty and Condemned 2: Bloodshot completed. Really need some time off, but before I can have any, the following needs to be done.

– GTA Retrospective Part 2 (Today/Tomorrow, 2,500 words)
– GTA Retrospective Part 3 (Wednesday/Thursday, 2,500 words)
– Army of Two review (ASAP, 1,200 words)
– Castlevania: Dracula X Collection review (ASAP, 1,200 words)
– Advance Wars: Days of Ruin review (ASAP, 1,200 words)
– Professor Layton and the Curious Village (ASAP, 1,200 words)
– Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Before the 30th, 1,200 words)

I’m not too attached to sleep at the moment, so I might push to get it all done by Friday night.

Turok review posted at Internode. I’ve written a Super Smash Bros. Melee review for them earlier this week, and the first part (of three) of my Grand Theft Auto retrospective will be up in the usual Warp Pipe spot of Sunday.

Struggling with this review for Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. Writing reviews of bad games used to come naturally. Condemned 2, Army of Two, Professor Layton, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, Apollo Justice reviews all need to be written by the 30th, too.

Edit: Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles review went up just after I hit submit.

Warp Pipe is up. I’ve got 8 reviews and two features to take care of this week, need a little bit of a break.