Ben's Week In Review: January 29
Metal Gear Rising: RevengeanceFebruary is a very busy month, people. Get ready for plenty of high-profile games!
Kojima did the right thing
In recent weeks, we've learned more about the Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance project, and the most recent tidbit of information involved Hideo Kojima canceling the project. It was shelved for a while, which is why we didn't hear anything about it. Kojima clearly didn't think it was on the right track but when the time came to make a decision, he opted to give it to Platinum Games. They have a proven track record in the action department and Kojima said his team was basically working outside its comfort zone and things weren't going very smoothly.
Most Japanese developers desperately try to cater to Western tastes by stepping outside that comfort zone and forcing themselves into an unfamiliar mold. But Kojima didn't do that because he knew the end result wouldn't be worthy of his name. Why can't more Japanese designers be like this? Why can't they all recognize what they excel at, and attempt to continue to excel at it, rather than changing their entire approach? And remember, Kojima Productions handled the character creation and story for Revengeance, so it could be a fantastic blend...
I hope people don't ignore Quantum Conundrum
It seems gamers are often too quick to dismiss downloadable games these days. But I really hope Quantum Conundrum gets the attention it may richly deserve; ex-Portal designer Kim Swift is heading up the project, and she walked us through eight minutes of engaging gameplay. I loved Portal 2 and this looks awfully similar, only it has that added twist of different dimensions. I think it's interesting that the puzzle genre has sort of fallen off this generation, but at the same time, the Portal titles have done exceedingly well. Therefore, I'd like to think Quantum Conundrum has a good chance at being successful, too.
Puzzlers really have to be extremely well done to catch my attention these days, and Portal 2 was ingenious. I'm seeing a lot of that same creativity and inspired imagination in Airtight's new project. Can't wait to try it.
Personal gaming update
Right now, it's all about Final Fantasy XIII-2. I expect to have the review up later Monday night; I still have to play more before I feel comfortable writing the full analysis. For an early taste, feel free to check out the highlights summary, which took me some time to put together. It's actually a little surprising when you consider all the upgrades to FFXIII's gameplay and design setup. No, I still don't see it as true role-playing for a variety of reasons, and the storyline won't be a strong point, but there's a lot of good here. Bear in mind that I was one of FFXIII-2's biggest detractors...and I am having fun.
But as good as it might be, please God don't do Final Fantasy XIII-3. Not unless it's a total and complete overhaul to make it an actual RPG, which I doubt will happen. Just pump out Versus XIII, try to forget what happened with the online FFXIV and get going on FFXV. Maybe they'll get it completely right then.
I also expect to see Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Syndicate, and a few others in the coming week(s). Oh, and Twisted Metal, of course. :)
1/28/2012 Ben Dutka
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Comments (42 posts)
Excelsior1
Saturday, January 28, 2012 @ 10:09:31 PM
Anyways, I'm thrilled to hear Ben is having fun with XIII-2. It sounds like they have made some major improvements to the game. It was always going to be a day1 purchase for me because I enjoyed XIII a lot.
0 up, 0 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:15:19 AM
2 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:47:19 AM
2 up, 0 down
Temjin001
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:51:59 AM
Last edited by Temjin001 on 1/29/2012 12:52:26 AM
0 up, 0 down
Underdog15
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 12:06:40 PM
"Every time" seems a little overkill. I think I might have said something like... what... twice? But hey, you're welcome to go find the quotes to prove me wrong.
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JDC80
Saturday, January 28, 2012 @ 11:49:30 PM
Reply
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Jawknee
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:03:25 AM
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4 up, 0 down
Qubex
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 1:20:10 AM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy|
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Snaaaake
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:06:10 AM
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WTF!?
Most fans were looking forward to see how Raiden became who he is today instead of seeing him facing off against new foes.
Here's my PGU:
Been playing the heck outta FFVIII on my PC, using a bit of guide I somehow got my hands on the Lion Heart gunblade in disc one and it certainly made battles easier, I don't even need to summon GF with Squall.
Already reached Ultimecia's Castle and now I'm on a quest to make all my stats 255 without junctioning magic which would take months but I'm up for the challenge.
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Jawknee
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:31:42 AM
Better that this chunk of the story is left for later. Kojima can tell that story better than Platinum.
1 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:53:06 AM
I would not want Platinum Games handling Raiden's backstory either.
3 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 6:32:42 AM
Either we'll never know what happened to Raiden or Konami will just milk it more by asking Kojima Pro to make a prequel to Revengeance.
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Oxvial
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 10:23:18 AM
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___________
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 1:16:41 AM
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it was looking freaking awesome!
ive always wanted a modern MGS game detailing raidens history, and a slight gameplay change but still of course keeping the stealth tactical gameplay.
a tenchu game but set in a futuristic environment which MGS is famous for, would of been freaking amazing!
and thats exactly what rising was looking like!
now all we got is this robotic bayonetta wannabe!
allot of people dismiss DL games these days because we dont all live in japan with ADSL2+ speeds and unlimited download usages!
tis why i wont be buying it, even though id love to i love portal and this looks even better!
sigh, one day developers will realise online only = cutting your sales by 99.999999999999999999%!
i just started playing the witcher 2 again last night, finally mustered up the patients to kill off the kayran.
my god that boss battle is a B*TCH!
gotta be the cheapest boss battle ever created!
i just wish the game was a bit better polished, sometimes its running fine with max GPU usage, and other times i cant get above 10FPS because the GPU usage is below 30!
starting to wonder if i should try and put up with it, or if i should say f*ck it and wait till the 360 version comes out.
0 up, 4 down
Beamboom
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 5:40:23 AM
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PGU: WORDFEUD! With my ps3 being offline these days it's the only game I've played this whole week. What's happening here... I'm turning into a casual gamer?
But Oh My God how I look forward to return to SR3 when the Internet connection is back up. I got *so* much to chat about with my sr3 coop buddy now! (yes so we treat coop games like an advanced kind of IP phoning. I'm casual, damnit!) :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 1/29/2012 5:53:43 AM
4 up, 0 down
Oxvial
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 10:23:39 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXu04sUPgh4
Last edited by Oxvial on 1/29/2012 10:24:42 AM
2 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:01:17 PM
I'm sure there is nothing else like it!
2 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 11:30:53 AM
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I plan on picking up TM when it comes out, I also really want kingdoms of amular also. The demo was a lot of fun! I thought I'd be far enough in Skyrim by now to take a break and I could catch up on R3 and Portal 2 but that isn't happening.
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Beamboom
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:45:20 PM
I suppose DC Universe is an ok introduction to the genre, but if you think that game is good then I'd love to introduce you to one of the real good ones. You'd love'em.
Last edited by Beamboom on 1/29/2012 12:45:58 PM
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maxpontiac
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 4:59:58 PM
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BikerSaint
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 11:38:40 AM
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Congrats on your new little gamer-to-be!!!!!
1 up, 0 down
Kokushi
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 11:40:45 AM
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Playing Bioshock and its amazing, and playing MGS1 for the first time and its great, even with the dated graphics i love the feel of the game, its cool to see Mei Ling for the first time.
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bigrailer19
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:03:11 PM
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 1/29/2012 12:04:32 PM
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Beamboom
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:36:13 PM
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BikerSaint
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 12:24:32 PM
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Other than D/L'ing some demos from the PSN, I haven't been gaming the last couple of weeks.
I've been way too busy tearing apart my living room so I can turn it into one gigantic gaming den.
Just bought a couple of 125 gallon fish tank stands & 6'x1" thick fiberboard panels(which I'm now Polyurethaning)to use as the table bases for all my consoles, accessories, with plenty of storage space beneath for all my other gaming-related equipment. I'm also going to be adding wall to wall shelving above my tables for added gaming space.
The plan so far, is to make it so one wall will be just for all my older SDTV-related consoles, & the other wall will be just for all the newer HDTV consoles.
I'm also thinking about putting a 4' center aisle in too, either for all my big bulkier accessories such as my 3foot long 140-button Steel Battalion controller & Harmonix drum set controller, or for all my handhelds.
The 3rd wall will be all stand-up shelving for my VHS, CD, DVD, & Bluray music & movie collections.
And I'm planning to close it all in with a 4th wall made up of plastic stand-up shelving units with numerous drawers to allocate all my smaller supplies into for each console & handheld.
**Disclaimer**
As usual, all plans above may be modified and tweaked to better suit the mood, along with maximizing the highest potential enjoyment, of this said gamer.
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LimitedVertigo
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 2:21:57 PM
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4 up, 2 down
johnld
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 4:51:47 PM
1 up, 0 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 7:41:45 PM
The music isn't bad, and I hope I didn't make it sound like it's ALL J-Pop and metal/rock stuff. It's there, but there's also some classical stuff, too. It's just more...I don't know, modern, I guess.
And I don't believe you were going to spend a big chunk of money on the Collector's Edition JUST for the music...I mean, that can't be. You can get the soundtrack separately for a fraction of the price, I'm sure. :)
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LimitedVertigo
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 9:52:17 PM
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Qubex
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 1:21:27 AM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
1 up, 0 down
johnld
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 5:07:50 PM
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i havent heard anything about quantum conundrum but if i hear good things about it or theres a good demo, i'll check it out.
PGU: finished assassins creed revelations. i wanted to get platinum but i cant be botherd playing multiplayer for the trophies. theres also 2 damn trophies that are glitched so screw that. finally got back to mass effect 2, all missions finished. i think i'm at the last mission. i'm also have mgs hd collection and nfs shift 2(gift) waiting on my shelf, not to mention my move games. and of course, battlefield 3 keeps getting played in between everything else. i just love playing it online. i have access to mw3 and skyrim since my bro bought them but i dont really mind not playing them.
btw, ran into my first game with a bunch of bf3 cheaters, platoon [GAS]. i went 1 and 11 just trying to shoot down a helicopter that had unlimited flares, incredible lock on range(he can lock on but i cant), and extremely hard to lock onto(i was right behind him really close but my missiles wont lock on). the only things he had was autoloader, ir flares, and another worthless equipment, and he was alone in the helicopter. one of his platoon mates didnt even have a level/rank icon. whats the point in playing if you're gonna cheat anyway. noone cares about the leaderboard anymore.
a couple of game deals for you guys. mgs hd collection is 30 bucks at best buy this week and target has a free $20 gift card if you buy skyrim, final fantasy 13-2, or soul caliber V.
Last edited by johnld on 1/29/2012 5:15:57 PM
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Teddie9
Sunday, January 29, 2012 @ 6:41:20 PM
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Oh and speaking of which I wanna know what project ogre's all about.
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Qubex
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 1:24:54 AM
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PGU:
Been playing mostly "Skyrim" on the PC at the moment. Just a complete mind blow. But I am missing "Battlefield 3" multi-play so I will fire up the PS3 and play it this week and continue my leveling up progression.
I have also been playing quick rounds of "ZEN" pinball and "Corby" on the Asus Transformer Prime tablet. What a joy of a machine.
So all in all I feel quite covered at the moment!
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
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gungrave
Monday, January 30, 2012 @ 10:40:57 AM
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I've read in many reviews that the words "to be continued" appear regardless of which ending you get. I hope that "to be continued" is regarding versus 13 and not FF13-3! With all the DLC coming out for 13-2, it feels like an incomplete game. When FF13 came out, it needed 3 xbox discs, but this one can all be stored on one xbox disk now...BS! The PS3 owners are getting the shaft on this one, and with all the parts that couldn't be sqeezed on a single disk, now we are being forced to purchase DLC. Versus better stay exclusive....but i know better.
0 up, 1 down
Temjin001
Reply
Saturday, January 28, 2012 @ 9:43:05 PM
I like what I've read about FFXIII-2. I like that it seems to be widely recognized as a clear cut upgrade to FFXIII, addressing a good many complaints of the former game's design. I'm game. That is until I can get to it.
PGU: It's been mostly about Lost Odyssey and MK Arcade Kollection this week. I'm about 20 hours in on LO and am thoroughly enjoying it. I got my sea ship. Cool! I also think the game's writing is really well done. Those decidely frequented story memory sessions are well articulated and the good majority of them have been worth the pause to the forward momentum of the game's core story.
I'm sort of wanting to try SCV, but I dunno. We'll see come Tuesday if it arrives at my rental store. And hopefully I can steal away some more free time to play games, as studying and school projects are where the bulk of my time is spent.