That's right sports fans, Heller is back again with yet another rant filled posting of Heller's Desk
Finally I have dusted off my Nintendo DS for what I truly believe is one of the most IMPORTANT handheld titles we are likely to see for a long time, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It is a deep and engrossing title, which truly captures the spirit of the GTA series on a bite sized cartridge. Just because the DS lacks the storage or size when compared to say a PS3 or Xbox 360 doesn't mean this game is lacking in any way. Offering a comprehensive experience with more relevant mini games than you can throw a Molotov at, a decent story, and tight and intuitive controls, this is the must have title for the Nintendo DS. Hell I'd go as far as to say it's worth purchasing a DS just for this title! Check out our featured review over here
Sega are sure pulling me into the Nintendo Wii, first with the amazing House Of The Dead: Overkill. It is a fantastic, hilarious, and more importantly, mature game that offers something unique to the console. I had the pleasure of getting some time with the limited Bang Bang Box, unboxing article can be found over here.
Sega have followed it up with their totally OFF THE HOOK title MadWorld which releases nation wide today! Offering a totally unique visual style that is very "Sin City" with some of the strangest and brutal gameplay, this game sure isn't one for the weak hearted. Make sure you check this out if you have a Wii. We are currently offering a SICK prize pack, so make sure you get those entries in over here
So what have you guys been playing lately? What game has come along that unexpectedly blew you away? What game were you super excited about and it did nothing but let you down? Send in the scoop so I can check it out for myself :)
26/03/2009
It didn't take long from the time Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was announced to when it was actually released. In fact, it was right around 9 months, which is a pretty short time for any GTA game from when it's officially announced. When Nintendo revealed it during their E3 2008 Press Conference last year, it was met with both hype and raised eyebrows - how would Rockstar bring the franchise to the DS, a limited piece of gaming hardware, when it's already evolved so dramatically over the past decade?
Now that it's been released, that question has been answered. GTA: Chinatown Wars is a spectacular game. It's a title that propels the DS to "must own" territory (if it wasn't already there). In our review we gave it a 9.7/10, claiming that it may very well be the handhelds first system-seller.
Since we've played the game for an extended period of time, we thought it was a good idea to highlight how we think this game evolves the franchise. With every new addition to the GTA series, we've seen some sort of evolving, be it through the basic gameplay or visuals. It'd be easy to automatically dismiss Chinatown Wars considering it's played from a top-down perspective, a style that is (seemingly) dated and has never really been used in a mainstream title since GTA 2. So now the question to ask is: What has Chinatown Wars done for the franchise?
18/03/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
Downloadable Content has become a staple to all the current generation consoles. We have Xbox Live and PSN offering us not only patches, demos, updates and packs, we also are seeing arcade and full fledged being offered to consumers for a price to download. While these services have been offered since the current generation releases, with recent releases from Rockstar with DLC such as GTA IV: The Lost and Damned and Criterion's constant free DLC for Burnout Paradise, the bar has been raised higher than ever before.
A bit of a history lesson here. The Sega Dreamcast was the first console that featured DLC. Due to technologies and bandwith at the time, and memory limitations the quality of said DLC was lacklustre but none the less it was offered. Microsoft was the first company to charge for DLC on their Xbox console in 2002 for Mech Assault. Microsoft continued to release DLC for select titles on the console, but it wasn't until the release of the Xbox 360 that DLC became to become a standard feature in home gaming consoles. Microsoft had paved the way for DLC making the "Xbox Marketplace" and DLC an integral component of the console experience.
DLC since then has certainly evolved from arcade games and map packs. Criterion have steadily increased the life of their Burnout Paradise title for over twelve months with a slew of free DLC provided that not only added to, but completely changed the gameplay experience. Rockstar have released the stellar Lost and Damned for their Grand Theft Auto series, which includes well over 10 hours of additional gameplay, from a new perspective and feels like a stand alone title. With the release of Midnight Club LA: South Central DLC just around the corner, Rockstar are certainly proving that they are the leaders of quality DLC for their titles.
Now the bar has been raised so high, people are going to start expecting more from developers when they are served up DLC. This has been reflected recently with the public backlash towards Capcom's release of Resident Evil 5 DLC, which simply adds a more robust multiplayer functionality to the title. The public already expect more for their money, it will be interesting to see where DLC is going to head over the course of 2009.
This also begs the question is Digital Distribution the way of the future for console gamers. With services such as STEAM already operating with high success on the PC platform, and titles such as Gran Turismo Prologue, Warhawk, The Watchman all being offered as full downloads on the PSN and Xbox Live service, many would have to believe it's a real possibility. While it won't replace disc based media anytime soon, developers are going to have to investigate it as a viable option, especially considering the current global economic standpoint.
Join Heller and Tano on this weeks episode of The Voice as they discuss indepth their current views of DLC, the idea of Digital Distribution and of course the latest news and reviews.
17/03/2009
Written By Stephen Heller
Games are expensive here in Australia, for the average shopper visiting EB Games on release day you are looking at $100 and up for the hottest game for your beloved console. That is a lot of coin to throw on something that is going to last you 8-10 hours, and it seems the gaming community know that, thousands complaining that games are simply not long enough these days.
While I agree that games are simply too expensive, I think the length argument is void. When it comes down to it I would rather play 8 hours of a quality title than 15-20 of a sub par experience. When one really sits and thinks about it, games having a shorter lifespan seems like smart business sense by developers.
The average demographic of gamers has certainly evolved from the average teenage boy in his bedroom, which begs the question, can the average gamer really afford to sink 10 hours of their time into a game. Life these days is hectic for most, juggling study, work, sporting commitments, for a lot of people it would take them months to finish an 8 hour game. Could this be the reason we are seeing a lot of developers find success in Episodic content?
Valve have sold the idea with the Half-Life 2 episodes, Rockstar recently released their episodic content for the highly praised Grand Theft Auto IV, and TellTale Games have truly shown their dominance in the Episodic Content field. Could this be the way gaming is heading?
So to all those who relentlessly tell me that a game is too short, that a game didn’t deserve a certain score because it was simply too short, I ask you this question, How Many Games did you finish in 2008? While the hardcore gamers will scream numbers into the double digits, I believe a larger number will whimper a number within the 1-5 range.
Pick up and Play mentality also must be factored into a games lasting appeal. Developers want to make games user friendly, and accessible for everyone, no matter their skill level. Unlike the games like Super Metroid or Russian Attack which threw relentless numbers of enemies on the screen, having you die continually and having to restart the game, the frustration building with each button pressed, games simply do not offer such a great challenge. Games back then were realistically only a few hours worth of gameplay, it’s simply the hard difficulty that made them last forever.
In the next few years where do you think gaming will go? Are we destined for Episodic content for the masses? Or will we see the hardcore crowd prevail and have developers start creating games that last longer than a weekend session?
11/03/2009
The Voice
The fourth episode of The Voice is now here!
In this weeks podcast, Tano and Heller discuss the release of GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, the latest Dead to Rights and the upcoming release of the DSi. They go through some of the latest reviews, covering Street Fighter IV, The Lost and Damned and F.E.A.R. 2, and discuss the importance of a game console being an "entertainment" system.
For the next podcast, we will be giving you the opportunity to have your reviews read out and discussed on the show. All you have to do is submit a review to one of our sites. Five will be chosen from across MyMedia to be included.
Don't forget to email us your suggestions, opinions and topics you'd like to discuss to podcast@mymedia.net.au.
Download the MP3
http://resource.mymedia.net.au/podcasts/TheVoice4.mp3
Listen to it online
Subscribe to it via iTunes
26/02/2009
F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin has simply grabbed me by the throat and dragged me in this week. I've been creeping down hallways and blasting my way through this horror FPS for this whole week and I'm still loving it! Monolith have proved once again that they are masters when it comes to creating atmosphere. Check out our full review for the PC version over here
Exciting games are starting to pop up this week with Street Fighter IV making a rather positive impression on me. It has a way of bringing about a nostalgic feeling, yet manages to stay fresh and exciting. Street Fighter IV drops for the Xbox 360 and PS3 this Thursday.
And last but not least, the one thing that is going to keep me occupied, at least until Killzone 2 drops next week, GTA Lost and Damned for the Xbox 360. This piece of DLC is sure to blow us all away! Sorry PC/PS3 fans, you miss out this time around. So glad I got that Xbox after all!
So what is keeping your attention at the moment kiddies? Let me know :)
17/02/2009
Some of you have seen the Justin Potter videos floating around the site, and while I have got some great feedback on what people are taking away from them, I thought it was time that I explained my motivations for making these videos.
We are one of the only developed nations NOT to have an R18+ rating for video games. This is a worrying trend, studies have proven that the average gamer is aged in their late 20's in Australia, and with games becoming more complex, the lack of an R18+ rating could slowly stifle what games we actually get out here
In 2008 alone we saw games refused classification, and these weren't just small games, these were huge titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, Silent Hill Homecoming and many more. Instead we are given watered down, censored versions, which essential take away from the developers intention on how the games are meant to be played.
There have been many discussions about implementing such a rating, but one man stand in the way, Michael Atkinson, and by the looks of it things aren't going to change.
So I guess I made the first video mainly as a way to vent my frustration, but as I started to write down my ideas, news that F.E.A.R 2 had been refused classification broke and the material just started pouring out. I was at the chemist and I saw a black rimmed pair of reading glasses for $14.95, Justin Potter was born.
I intentionally made Justin with an American accent, to show that an American is working for an Australian board of classification. In theory he is not Australian, so he doesn't know what the Australian public wants or needs. This was done to highlight the fact that even though the OFLC have the information to see what the Australian people want, nothing is being done about it.
Also the videos were to show the inadequacies for the boards approval ratings. One minute F.E.A.R 2 is banned, the next week the exact same copy is put to the board and it is passed, inconsistencies don't stop there people. GTA IV was banned for consoles early 2008, we received a censored version, that's fine the damage is done we can deal with that. In November 2008 the game is released on PC, totally uncensored and no question of the board. WHY IS THIS SO? If they try to use the argument that children have easier access to consoles than PC's that is bogus!
That would be just like saying that it's ok to have R18+ Porn movies on Blu-Ray but not on DVD as more children have access to DVD. Time and time again the OFLC fail us, and it's about time things change.
So that is what Justin Potter is meant to represent. I hope now after reading this, you will go watch the videos and leave some comments
21/01/2009
First Lost and Damned Trailer
If you've been skeptical up to now, that's got to change your mind!
The trailer doesn't give much away, but it does introduce some of the characters through video and shows off some of the fantastic narrative already highlighted in previous Grand Theft Auto titles.
The first episode of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV, titled The Lost and Damned, will be released on Xbox Live on 17 February 2009. The episode will feature a new central character, Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of Liberty City's biker gang, The Lost. Dan Houser, vice president of creative development at Rockstar Games, claims the episode will show "a different side of Liberty City".
16/12/2008