TB.Jogo 3

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Brad Douglas: It’s the post-E3 edition!

Jean Snow: Yeah, it was a big week for game news. So, what got you all hot and bothered?

BD: First off, I’m sure you can guess, I was all about CALL OF DUTY 4. Holy crap! The graphics!

JS: Oh yeah, that game looks terrific. I mean, I was already excited about it, being a fan of the CoD series in general, but that latest trailer turned it into a must-buy for me on release.

BD: I was really down on the CoD series, but the modern setting looks great. WWII was getting old. Plus, it’s in Chernobyl! What a great setting for a modern warfare game!

JS: Oh, I hadn’t realized that was the setting.

BD: Yeah, it looks like some sort of post-apocalyptic setting…it’s awesome.

JS: It looks like they’re taking the best from CoD and GRAW. I like the GRAW games and all, but there’s something more raw and fun in the CoD gameplay.

BD: Right, I agree…less fiddling with stuff and more just getting out there and shooting. I’m really excited about this… maybe more than HALO 3? (Did I just say that?)

JS: Well, for HALO 3, they showed that new trailer with scenes from the story mode. What did you think?

BD: I don’t know, it looks good, but I’m going to have to withhold judgement until playing through it. HALO 2 disappointed me from a story standpoint. It was just too short, I suppose.

JS: At first, I wasn’t so impressed, but then I watched this discussion of the trailer on the 1UP SHOW, and they were talking about some details that quickly flash by so you don’t really notice them, and it made me realize that there’s much more going on, like use of shadow, playable characters, etc. As you know, I’ve never played a HALO game, so I’m coming into this one fresh.

BD: Ah, interesting… I’ll need to check out the 1UP SHOW then.

JS: I will say that I wasn’t overly excited by the multi-player beta, but then again, I’m not much of a multi-player kinda guy anyway.

BD: You and me both. I mean, it’s fun for like an afternoon, but I never get drawn into any multi-player very much.

JS: Yeah.

BD: What else got you excited?

JS: You now how much I like XBLA games, so it was nice to see that trailer that previewed all the upcoming releases.

BD: I missed that one, I think.

JS: Definitely a few titles that I’m looking forward to trying, like WAR WORLD, UNDERTOW, EVERY EXTEND EXTRA EXTREME, GEON, BOMBERMAN LIVE, PUZZLE QUEST, SWITCHBALL, and oh-my-god SPACE GIRAFFE!

JS: I think it was great that Microsoft offered all the trailer downloads during the show, like they did for TGS last year. It was nice being able to check out all the new trailers in HD on my TV, as they were becoming public.

BD: Did you see the trailer for STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED?

JS: No, I didn’t see it. Did it show gameplay?

BD: Maybe…lots of Jedi flexing their force muscles…that could be gameplay. But damn it looked amazing.

JS: I’m so tired of trailers that don’t show any gameplay. What’s the point? Like that TOO HUMAN one. Sure, it looked cool, and it was nice to see what the setting will be like, but it’s frustrating to not see how the game is going to play.

BD: Well, the game isn’t coming out until 2008 I think, so I guess it’s too early for gameplay. One other game that got me very excited was STUNTMAN: IGNITION.

JS: Really? I noticed they put out a demo, but I haven’t downloaded it yet.

BD: I played the first one on the PS2, and while I really liked it, the long-ass load times finally made me give up. This one looks better and supposedly gets rid of those load times, so I think I’ll be enjoying it.

JS: Moving on to PS3, what did you think of KILLZONE 2?

BD: Meh. I never liked the first one.

JS: In terms of graphics, it does look amazing, and I’m glad they showed actual gameplay!

BD: I don’t know. I’m going to need more info to make up my mind on this one.

JS: LITTLE BIG PLANET is still looking quite nice, although as much as it looks cool to build all those obstacles in the game, that’s not what I want to do when I play a platformer. I hope you can still enjoy the game, even if you don’t want to build levels.

BD: I know they’re supposed to allow you to create and upload levels. I hope they do some community-based ratings and such, then you could just download the best levels. I think that would be great.

JS: Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping too.

BD: But you’ll have to buy a PS3 first!

JS: I’m telling you, the PSN downloadable games are looking better and better, and I’m finally at a point where I want to get a PS3. But I’m bummed by the whole price drop fiasco. It’s only happening in North America, and it’s only a sort of “clearance sale.” Bastards.

BD: Yeah, I was kind of surprised they did that. Seems like that would antagonize the rest of the world who don’t get the price drop.

JS: I’m not going to buy a PS3 until the price goes down.

BD: Well, you’ll probably end up with an 80GB version, which is nice. I haven’t played much of my PS3, but I’m still glad I bought it.

JS: Anything excite you with the Wii?

BD: Nope. Nothing. I don’t give a damn about Wii FIT.

JS: It’s amazing how in less than a year I’ve gone from being a longtime Nintendo addict, to just not caring anymore. Everything they’re pushing is just this mainstream non-gaming crap that I don’t care about. I want to play games!

BD: They’ve found a way to make money, which is basically to not focus on gamers. Too bad I’m a gamer. I’ll go where I’m appreciated; aka Sony and Microsoft.

JS: I mean, I am looking forward to playing SUPER MARIO GALAXY, but I’m just sick of seeing videos, and want to play the game already.

BD: Yeah, if it’s anything close to SM64, then I’m there. But I didn’t especially like SUNSHINE very much.

JS: The 360 is still my platform of choice, and I’m very happy there. I’ve got tons of XBLA games to keep my occupied, and there are still plenty of big titles I’m looking forward to in the coming months.

BD: Yeah, personally, the 360 is the best platform out there

JS: By far.

BD: But I expect Sony will overtake them within a year or so. Right now, Sony just has no games. But everything else is in their favor, I think. Once they get the games, they’ll pull out in front.

JS: I think it’s too late, unless the price is drastically reduced. They’re already talking about a $200 360…

BD: I don’t know… I think it will happen when developers figure out how to get the most out of the PS3.

JS: It seems that a lot of developers hate working on the system, and now with less and less “exclusives” going their way, I think it’s going to be tough to come back from the Wii + 360 lead.

BD: Once people see games that look clearly better on the PS3, then it will be easy to get people to buy one.

JS: Maybe, we’ll see.

JS: On to something different, there was a sale last week at Play-Asia, and so I picked up RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS and VIVA PINATA on the cheap.

BD: Have you gotten them yet? How are they?

JS: You know I’d been wanting VIVA PINATA for quite a while now, ever since I saw a demo of it at TGS last year. I’m really having fun with it. I think I told you before how I didn’t really like ANIMAL CROSSING much — I find it boring — but here, everything is more focused on just working on your plot of land, and so no need to run stupid errands, etc. We’ll see how long I stick with it, but for now I’m quite enjoying it. RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS — I got the 360 version — is another matter. I’m a huge fan of the Rayman game that came out on the Dreamcast, it’s still one of my all-time favorite platformers, and I was really hoping for something closer to that. I played and finished the DS version, which was a platformer, and quite liked it. Here, you just get a collection of mini-games, and although they can be fun, it’s nothing really to get excited about.

BD: Right, I heard RRR was more fun on the Wii, where you had the motion controls to work with.

JS: Could be. I got the 360 version because I wanted the game to look nice in HD. And now you have Miyamoto talking about a Wii HD… Damn Nintendo and their multiple versions of products!

BD: Yeah, that’s just bullshit, I think. They could have done that with the initial version of the Wii. They just wanted to wait and make more money off of people buying a second version.

JS: Well, it remains to be seen what a Wii HD would end up costing, so for a mainstream audience, maybe what they did was the correct thing, to keep the price as low as possible.

BD: Oh sure, it’s good for Nintendo because it gets it in as many hands as possible and gets them crazy profits. Back to the PS3, one last game I’m interested in: FOLKLORE. Looks AMAZING.

JS: Oh yeah, FOLKLORE, I’ve seen some video of it, it looks nice. So going back to E3, what did you think of HALO WARS? Is that enough to get you interested in playing an RTS?

BD: Halo Wars looked good…yes, as a matter of fact, it is!

JS: Are you interested in playing TOM CLANCY ENDWAR as well? Or is it just the fact that it’s a Halo-related game that has you interested?

BD: The thing they said that sold me was that it is more of an “action RTS” in that you don’t have to worry about resources, etc. That’s the thing I hate about all other RTS games. You just get in and move your forces around. That’s what I want.

JS: Well, that’s why I’m also interested in ENDWAR, exactly. I hate the whole resource development side of traditional RTS games, I just want the war aspect, and that’s what these games seem to offer.

BD: Right. Maybe that’s just a dumbed-down RTS. If so, give me the dumbness.

JS: Hahahaha… Yeah, totally!

JS: Last time you mentioned wanting to get DIRT or OVERLORD. Did you get one of them?

BD: No! I went to Akiba yesterday to get either one and I couldn’t find it in Messe Sanoh. Games Hollywood was closed, for some reason. I’m going back today so I’ll check again. Oh, and don’t forget the 2 Suzumiya Haruhi games coming out for PSP and PS2!

JS: Hahaha… Yeah, of course you’d want those! As much as I absolutely love the series, I’m going to stay away.

BD: Don’t worry, I’ll let you know how incredibly awesome they are.

JS: Hahaha… I hope they are good, I’m just not expecting much from them.

BD: Oh, me neither. But they could be good fun.