Gears of War 2 [r]

Ty and I just finished Gears 2 with some help from Kevin. It was a two-sitting playthough thanks to a midweek cold.

As expected, the game mechanics are pretty much the same as the first, the graphics have improved, and Epic has added a few more toys. Some of the levels are visually and aesthetically quite impressive. The level design hasn't changed, it's linear except each area has a few dead end branches to make you waste time scouring them, or wonder if you missed something important.

The ai is coming along nicely, and that adds intrigue to what might otherwise be a shoot-duck-shoot adventure. On the subject of switching up the trench/barrier gunfight formula, Gears does something well. The go-to methods for preventing players from camping are to surround and/or charge. It's a crutch for adding difficulty when your pretty graphics don't let you send endless hordes.

The baddies in Gears do sometimes charge, and often flank - which is much different from having them pour in from every direction. This game presents a number of scenarios where the cover moves or disappears. The ars reviewer was all hyphy about this. It's okay but I'm glad they didn't overuse it.

What's really cool is the introduction of mortars. Fearing the vertical element you can still snipe, but not with complacency. It creates a distinct disincentive to be co-located with your buddy. There's just a whole new dimension when you can be surrounded by cover, but not safe. And it works the other way when you pick up a mortar tube.

Let's see... Epic realized that if there's going to be a trilogy, they need a story so that's been added (ahem, Halo). The in-game dialog is good and sometimes humorous (Marcus = Bender), the cutscene scripts are horrendous.

Great fun and a fantastic application of the media room.

Construction site with amenities [s]

Progress. I picked up the centerpiece for the media room. Furnishings include a futon and Justin's chair. The game systems are there, though tomorrow I have to call Microsoft to take the xbox back a second time. And the tv speakers were atrocious enough I immediately set up audio system.

The components are there, but much needs to be done before it actually looks like a media room. Of course this all comes after flooring and bathrooms. But the plans include:

• Paint the walls a darker shade to eliminate distractions.
  
• Polish the concrete floors for style, resilience, and benefits to electronics (cooler and dust free).
• Wall-mount the lcd.
  
• Feed wires through the walls for 5.1, mount the speakers appropriately.
• Devise a shelving system for electronics and accessories.
• Recessed lighting on a dimmer.
  

Tiling soon. Picked up some 12x12 and 24x24 slate pieces that should look pretty good.

Game consoles 101 [i]

I've gotten a few questions recently about audio, video, and game systems. Here's everything I learned from NES to Wii in a few paragraphs.

Peripherals:
With few exceptions, the best controllers, wheels, guns, and chargers come from the console manufacturers. The MadCatz and Sidewinder gadgets will save you ten bucks but are rarely a smart purchase. They tend to feel cheap, fail sooner, and have buttons in all the wrong places - likely because you're so used to the OE controllers. And if you buy a third-party gamepad, you'll inevitably get stuck using it in the next Halo deathmatch being the prime candidate for a handicap.

The one company that makes peripherals on par with or exceeding OE quality is Logitech. I'd still recommend trying out a floor model before purchase, but they're very good at ergonomics and durability.

There are a few niche games for which there is no first-party controller. Microsoft doesn't make a guitar and, for a while, Sony didn't have a force feedback wheel. In this case, definitely try before you buy. Your happiness/frustration with a game is heavily impacted by how easily you interface with it (think your first Wii experience or Drinking Kart).


Connectors:
I shouldn't need to say that Monster cables are known to be the biggest ripoff in the history of electronics, moreso than imperfect Pentiums or even mystical ion healers. But what about composite/component/hdmi? For those that prefer to be in front of the tv rather than behind, check the diagram below.

You have your choice of hdmi, component, or composite. Don't plug them all in. Use the hdmi if your tv has hdmi, component if your tv has component, composite otherwise. Component gives you separate channels for each color and hd capability. HDMI is a higher bandwidth digital signal. For the first month I had hd cable I was using component and the color was funky. As soon as I swapped in an hdmi cable all was well. Beware a $5 hdmi cable, but I assure you the $50 Sony wire is no different from the $30 on the lower shelf.

Bring on the band aids [r]

We finally got on the bandwagon. Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah. Apologies, sore tendons makes me giddy. Rock Band is basically Forza with instruments instead of a wheel. It takes practice, patience, and you really can't compete at a high level without knowing the track. Damn, pun counter is at two already. I'm on fire.

I might not be putting in the effort to learn the skill were it not for the awesome fact that it's a four player game. Indeed I didn't play Guitar Heroes 1-3. The co-op element makes it a far greater experience. Alas, the game comes with a single axe and there are no Xbox guitars to be found (the official one won't be released til April). But who really needs a bassist?

Surprises - there's some strategy involved in getting high scores. And the little extras like character customization and cities/venues add a little meat to the great gameplay.

Complaints - the difficulty is all over the place. The game has four skill levels and places each song on a spectrum of difficulty, but this can be a pretty bad indicator.

Music - there's some epic stuff from Iron Maiden, The Who, The Stones, etc. Just a few annoying ones like Weezer and Rush.

Riding dirty [r]

At long last I got my hands on Colin McRae's DiRT (henceforth referred to as Dirt). After Polyphony introduced rallying in GT2, off road competition has been a necessary complement to racing sims. Since Forza is all tarmac, I had my eyes on Dirt since its release.

Mechanically, the game feels significantly more arcadey than Forza. Far be it from me to claim expertise on the performance of seven-digit racing machines. All I can say is that the physical forces one becomes intimately familiar with in the sim racers are there, but far less pronounced. Maybe it's because everything in Dirt is a race car - indeed the race models are far easier to drive in Forza and GT. Maybe the designers were simply aiming for approachability. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I don't have to worry too much about weight transfer while snaking through the forests of Norway at freeway speeds.

The game's presentation is top-notch. Load up begins with a segment (below) reminiscent of Climb Dance featuring Rod Millen's Pike's Peak Celica. The menus are cleanly stylized and the car models are unmatched in their detail. Travis Pastrana's incessant words of encouragement could certainly have been omitted, but E for effort anyway.

Dirt features a large variety of events and machines. Of course you can slide around in Imprezas and 307s, but I did not expect trophy trucks, semis, and the treacherous Group B racers. In a straight up rally game you'd never see an opponent's car, Dirt provides for many different racing scenarios.

I do find myself wishing for the extensive modification engine that the sim games provide as well as their nonlinearity, but Dirt really comes through in areas I never expected.

Consoles and cars [p]

2007Q1 console sales:
Wii: 1,000,000
X360: 720,000
PS3: 500,000
(With DS outselling every system and PS2 outselling X360 and PS3.)

It's nice Sony and Microsoft are getting theirs. To paraphrase the past few years of trash talk:

• Motion control? That's a gimmick.
  
• Motion control? That can't fit the paradigm of modern games.
• Motion control? We invented it! We call it Sixaxis.
• The Cell processor basically gives Playstation 3 the power of a supercomputer.
  
• We're going to change the way people interact with games. X360 will create an environment where gameplay is driven by human energy.
• We're not in competition with Nintendo, they sell childrens' games.
• Playstation 3 will launch this November to compete with X360.
• The next generation doesn't start until we say it does.
  
• When Playstation 3 launches next Christmas, Halo 3 will be there to steal all the attention.
• The reports that we're implementing the Miis are lies and we will no longer talk to Kotaku... Okay we'll talk to Kotaku again.

That said, I have a fever for a racing game. And the only prescription is a Gran Turismo or Forza. If there's one group that's as annoying as the trash talking SCEA and X360 brass, it's Polyphony. Extraordinary delays, repeated feature sets, and the greatest sin of all: almost charging for content on a re-release. They were the best, and then stopped trying. I believe the verb is 'to EA'.

History indicates the second Forza will follow the Halo series and be the same game with more polygons. It'd be nice to see some innovation, but that's just not going to happen with Microsoft so worried about taking risks with their franchise titles.

Still if the gameplay is solid I'll unshun Microsoft and pick up their system. The Forza car list has been released. Ultimately the quality of the list depends on how it's used. If you have no business buying 90% of the cars because the other 10% blow their class away, your huge list just became very short.

I'm of course saddened that rally hasn't yet been introduced into the series. But other than that I'm impressed. They have a great sampling from so many generations of motorsports. The multiplicity of a single model exists in having numerous race versions rather than the ten different consumer models. The mid-90's lineup is strong, as are the LeMans GT series cars.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to playing with a wheel. It's been all dual shock for me until now. A precision analog wheel and pedal set should make the experience much more enjoyable.

Some highlights of the list...
2002 M3 GTR / 2006 Corvette C6R / 1964 250 GTO / 2003 Mugen S2000 / 1993 XJ-220 / 2005 Exige / 1998 FTO / 1997 GTO / 2002 Skyline Nur / 2007 Peugot 207 / 1995 911 GT2 / 1998 Tommy Kaira Impreza / 1969 2000GT / 1998 VeilSide Supra / 2001 Tuscan R / 2003 R32

Sadly missing...
Nismo Skyline GTR / Veyron / AMG CL35 / M6 / R10 LMP / R34 / Astra

[Insert forced Wii pun here] [r]

The Wiil deal, Wiimendous fun, I dream of Wiinie. And so forth.

Impressions:
This weekend was a pre-Thanksgiving with the roomies and friends. So the wiimote changed hands many a-time, and I've gotten to play about ninety minutes of Zelda. Alas.

But everyone had a good time, even the girls. It wasn't the intense, violent, Mario Kart battle royale good time that the Cube afforded us. Wii Sports is simple, but that made it easy for everyone to get into.

The software has yet to catch up to the hardware, and that's my biggest worry. Zelda was written for the Cube, so its motion control features are fairly shallow. I hope this won't be the case for new games and cross-platform games. In the case of Wii Sports, you're able to swing your club, throw a punch, etc. either using the real-life motion, or a flick of the wrist.


This leaves the control a bit too sensitive at times. Hopefully future games will have a setting for people who actually want to use the motion control features and a setting for lazy asses.

Outlook:
Wii sold out. In the good way. So did PS3 and x36. But there were a lot more Nintendo units to sell. Does this mean Nintendo has stolen market share from its pricier competitors? Does this mean Wii has established itself as the real deal for the new-gen console war (a.k.a. holiday sales)?

Let's hope so. Not because it might do damage to Sony and MS; the three-front console war has done great things. Let's hope so because if Nintendo sells big, developers will take advantage of the motion-control technology.

The hardware works. And it's the future. It makes pc gamers' precious mouselook seem sluggish and unwieldy. And it has the potential to solve the camera angle problem that has plagued nearly every post-Mario 64 game. I recall hearing rave reviews about the technology from Hideo Kojima - the greatest camera angle perpetrator of all time.

Throwing and ducking punches is very entertaining, and my arms are just a little bit sore.