Ico

An action adventure with heavy platforming and puzzle segments. You play as Ico and you are trying to save princess Yorda from her mother, of all people, whom is trying to sacrifice her daughter to extend her life span.  Getting Yorda to follow Ico is one constant brain challenge as she is not agile like Ico is and can not perform his stunts.

The game, I will admit, is not for everyone and to my shame, when I finally decided to get this title, it was already in the bargain bin. Get the multi award winning game which has been said to be so engaging that it had made grown man, even bad-ass bikers shed tears.

Why did it fail?

This title was pretty hard to advertise. People whom want action will not care for it. If platforming is your thing, you’d want to deal with Ico but helping Yorda would turn you off, and puzzle lovers are more used to the likes of Tetris. No one noticed it

Is it worth tracking?

Certainly, considering the fact that it is playable on the Playstation 3 and Playstation 2s are everywhere. The game itself might be hard to find and the fact that it is now considered a cult classic should make the price go back up to $30. Still a bargain considering it’s quality.

Deus Ex Invisible War

It is a shooter RPG and who does not love these! You play as Alex whom could be a male or female depending on your inclination. You are in a city that is being rebuilt, following a terrorist attack and as you can guess , not everyone wants to restore order. The choice you make will ultimately affect how the story unfolds.

Why did it fail?

Honestly, this title was not a total failure, but a masterpiece such as this one should be swimming in gold among the best of the crop. It sold enough to keep the name alive but not enough to make the company care to release a sequel in years. The good news is, after about 7 years, we now hear of that sequel. I can not guarantee it will be a great title, but keep an eye out for it.

Is it worth tracking?

Why yes! The Xbox is cheap and the game itself will cost you about $10.

Perfect Dark

It is astounding that Microsoft paid hundreds of millions for Rare yet they fail to realize that the Perfect Dark franchise could match Halo’s success. Zero was a disgrace but fortunately the original game was so great that the the franchise has not been tarnished. This game needs a proper sequel but wait, Microsoft needs to hand the development of the new title to people experienced in making shooters. If nobody in Microsoft game studio is available, then have a deal with a third party company

Parasite Eve

Hello! Is anyone at Square Enix not making a Final fantasy title? Sadly, the answer seems to be a brutal no. Otherwise, they would have remembered a franchise which succeeded as both a role playing game and a survival horror. It isn’t like millions of fans aren’t begging for it so please square, release FF 13 and get to work.

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Okay! This title did not sell trillions of copies but that is only because sega pulled the plug on the Saturn. This game needs to be re-released on the Xbox live Arcade and the Playstation store. Would it sell? Ha! Ask that question to the people mourning it’s rarity on several forums and the ones that are paying $20o or more for it on Ebay. Certainly a proper remake would have made the fans scream like school girls but that is way too much to hope for. It’s Sega after all.

That is all for now. As you can see, this post is a rant but the reason for it is noble. So let’s rant harmoniously.

In part 1, Chris Redfield will have to survive Black Mesa and City 17 while Gordon Freeman will be dropped off in the mansion near raccoon city then in that unknown African country. What do these 2 characters have with them

Doctor Gordon Freeman

Crow Bar
Futuristic assault rifle with secondary fire that bounces off things and kill multiple targets
Gravity gun
Pistol
Whatever else he picks up
Rocket launcher with 5 rockets and some more scattered around
Support from Alyx Vance and Dog

In the mansion, Gordon Dominates the zombies with the crow bar, wasting exactly 0 ammunitions while Alyx fires a few pistol rounds and kicks the zombies that get too close. Dog is still outside annihilating all the dead hounds that were chasing them upon their arrival. Face it if the soldier can solve the puzzles, so can the doctor so without further delay let us introduce the hunters, The Crowbar will no longer be enough but these kind of enemy go down with a shotgun that he picked up in the mansion.

As he is about to live the mansion, he must face a tyrant. The tyrant is not a match. He does not dodge or side-step and sometimes runs toward the prey. It is just a matter of softening him up with primary assault rifle shells and firing a rocket. The tyrant falls.

Having survived the mansion, Gordon, Alyx and Dog find themselves in Africa. The majinis get wasted quickly as Gordon tests the secondary fire of his assault rifle and eliminates multiple targets per shot. Alyx  gets a shotgun to make herself useful and still lands some devastating kicks. Dog is still owning big time. Gordon encounters the ax and chainsaw wielding giants but there are so many explosive barrels lying around that he can hear the gravity gun begging to be wielded.

As Dog is single- handedly destroying all remnants of majinis a huge problem arises for the good doctor. Enters the mighty Albert Wesker, Gordon gets slapped around, Alyx is temporarily incapacitated and Dog can’t catch him. This fight is in the hangar with plenty of rockets lying around so as Chris did, Freeman stayed in the dark and while Wesker is being distracted by Dog and Alyx who just teturned to her senses, he fires a Rocket. As Wesker tries to escape using the plane, Dog jumps on top of it and destroy a vital part causing it to crash on the spot.

Dog jumps off the plane and Gordon fires a rocket while wesker is still in the vessel. A massive explosion occurs seriously crippling the mutated man.  Having lost his Super speed due to injury, all he has left are empty threats Dog jumps on him for the finisher but Wesker, with one impressive uppercut pushes him off but uses all is energy in the process. Alyx  kindly reminds Freeman that he still has a Rocket launcher and The Doctor delivered the final explosive blow. Freeman, Alyx, and Dog head home triumphant.

Chris Redfield

Knife
Handgun
Powerful, no nonsense, one shot one kill, magnum code-named hand cannon with 50 bullets
Rocket launcher with 20 rockets
Hydra, a triple barreled shotgun which can hit from long range
Whatever he picks up
Support from Jill Valentine, Shiva Alimar, Claire Redfield, and good old Barry
Temporary support from Albert Wesker
Helicopter air support

The team enters Black Mesa and wipes out the place like these mindless zombies were nothing at all. The 5 of them are packing just too much heat for this facility. Sure the enemies get bigger and tougher but they all fall the same especially to Chris’ hand cannon, and Barry’s magnum.

“It better not be as boring” they are thinking as they are being dropped off city 17. The first thing that they realize is that the hostiles are armed soldiers. No problem for an elite squad and the confrontation gave them the opportunity to pick up more weapons and ammunitions which will enable them to go wild.. Later on their journey, they are ambushed by the hand grenade wielding suicidal entities.

Upon realizing the danger, the group decides to retreat in order to reassess the situation. Since they are being followed, Barry urges the team to go on ahead, tell them he will catch up with them and reassured them that he will be fine. Alone he faces the suicidal bombers and with his trusty magnum, he aims for the head and eliminates a first , a second, a third, a fourth but alas though he kills the 5^th, it was already way to close to him and the blast kills him cold.

Upon seeing that Barry never returned, the team sorrowfully accepted that Barry was no more. As if this was not bad enough, the 4 survivors are now attacked by the giant striders. Chris calls for air support and helps lay waste with the rocket launcher. The striders, however fire back and destroy the helicopter. Chris has 1 rocket left since the striders are harder to hit and more resilient then the Tyrant. As Chris attempts to fire his final rocket, a hunter appears behind him and pins him to the ground.

Death seems imminent when Wesker enters the scene. Using flash steps he draws the enemies’ fire and pushes the hunter off of Chris. He orders the girls to take him  to a helicopter a block away and to live this place. His last word is : “ Chris! I’ll be the one to kill you so until that day, you must survive. As Wesker continues to evade striders and hunters, the team  makes its shameful escape while being disgusted by the thought that they owe their worst enemy their lives.

In the near future more characters will trade places. Can they survive the experience?

When we think about the issue, we always criticize the fact that there are a lot of bad games that have a picture of a smoking hot girl on the box or a sexy female main character but there also is another side. What about the games that are not selling because the girls are not 10 times prettier than the prettiest Victoria’s Secret model?

While playing Grand theft auto 4, I realized that the main character, Niko, has a gut. In spite of the fact that the game male lead character did not have the body of an action figure, the game sold a ridiculous amount of copies. The reason why is because most if not all male gamers care little about the looks of the male characters which encouraged the game makers to embrace realism or whatever vision they have.

These days there is a significant number of girl gamers and alongside many female critics, mind you most of those critics never have touched a gaming controller, complain that game makers are sexist. The question is, why only few of them if any at all bought a copy of Beyond Good and Evil which is a masterpiece featuring a normal looking female main character.

The ladies must do more than complain and support the few artists that do portray women realistically and eventually more will do the same. As for me, I do not need all the female characters to look like Lara Croft or any other attractive characters, but I find myself wishing that Beyond Good and Evil’s Jade had bigger boobs, possibly ones that jiggled realistically, and booties so it would have sold more, in turn almost guaranteeing it’s sequel that is currently in jeopardy.

Do you think it is wrong for women to be portrayed as they are in video games?

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) and Nathan Drake (Uncharted)

Finally there is a gentleman whom can go where Lara goes and survive most of the danger she has faced over the years. They would go on their adventure together and Nathan’s verbal exclamation of fear will make her laugh. He would proceed to solve the problem which would impress her. Her beauty and class is enough to keep Nate Happy. At the end of their adventure, they’d argue over what to do with the loot they found. Lara would want it in a museum while Nate wants to sell it to the highest bidder. That’s alright, all couples fight.

Gordon Freeman (Half-Life Series) and Samus (Metroid Series)

What’s that you say! Why not the Master chief? Well until it is shown that Master chief can take off his armor and give Samus what she craves, I have to disappoint all Haloid fans and grant the date to the good doctor. They have everything in common. They never ever talk and they are efficient killers. A silent and deadly couple. Sorry chief. I’ll find you someone eventually.

Kratos (God of war) and Nariko (Heavenly Sword)

They are both strong and angry at the entire world and their cruelty is unrivaled. Nobody else will put up with their constant frown and lack of sense of humor. Kratos finally found someone to replace the wife that he killed. Well unless the fact that Nariko is rather busy being dead herself messes up everything. Oh well! Looks like Kratos will have to be angry a while longer. A very long while indeed.

That is part 1 of this series of article. I hope you enjoyed it and be sure to let me know about characters you’d like to see in a relationship

Eternal darkness (Gamecube)

Survival horror, psychological thriller, call it what you want but this game messes with your mind in a good way. While investigating the death of her grandfather, Alexandra stumbles into a book called “The Tome of Eternal Darkness” and as you can guess, this means bad news. You’ll play as 12 different characters from different time periods. Not a cliche story line.

Why did it fail? It is a survival horror that does not start with Resident and end with evil.  Also the fact that it was on the Gamecube is to blame.  Before the Wii, Nintendo owners had that tendency of buying only the typical Nintendo made games like Mario, Zelda, and the spinoffs.

Is it worth tracking?  Absolutely!  A gamecube only cost $40 and it plays on the Wii.  The game should cost no more than $15 in stores but you might have to keep going back and forth until someone trades in a used copy.

Breakdown (Xbox)

This is a first person action game that has few shooting elements but you’ll mostly rely on your nuclear powered fist. The story is simply breathtaking comparable to half-life.  Time travel elements, a memorable set of characters, amazing gameplay, and a story that deserves an Oscar.  Get this game at once.

Why did it fail?  Well it is not one of these popular sequels that were scheduled to hit in 2004.  At the time, people were on the look out for Halo 2, Doom 3 etc.  Namco should have advertised the game more, and also the nature of the game was misunderstood.  People who played the demo experienced a passable shooter but this is actually not what the game puts the emphasis on.  To put it in other terms, most enemies you’ll encounter can eat bullets for breakfast and sh*t out nails.  They can only be defeated by your set of powers that will make even the X-men proud.

Is it worth tracking? Oh hell yeah!  If you know what’s good for you.  An Xbox cost $60 and your 360 can play it with the latest updates for the backwards compatibility list.  The game is about $10 in retail stores, so get moving people.

There you have it folks, another set of phenomenal games for you to keep an eye out for.  Happy gaming and expect another Unfortunate Masterpieces soon!

There lies the whole negativeness of magazines.  In order for them to get exclusives stories, they have to get game makers to keep quiet until they publish the article first.  When they don’t manage to do so, whatever they report is old news to the ever increasing number of gamers who have internet access or know someone who does.  I love EGM, and their return to me is great news, but face it, things won’t be like they were before.  I like the editor’s humor, but does that mean I’ll be paying for comedy?

Even if they manage to bribe  some game makers to stay silent until they publish an article, which does not happen often, it will be available on the net the same day and for free.  I would much rather hear that EGM returns as an online publication, calling them self Electronic Gaming Online.  As it is now, they are going to get destroyed by established internet sites(IGN, Gamespot, Etc).

Do you think that there is still a place for gaming magazines and do you read them? Or do you agree that online publications are slaying them?

Beyond Good and Evil (Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube)

In this incredible action adventure created by Ubisoft’s Michael Ancel, you play as Jade, an investigative reporter and martial artist extraordinaire. Your goal is to reveal a planet-wide alien conspiracy.  This game has you fight, sneak, explore with your precious camera and vehicle and has some teamwork element.

Why did it fail?  Well, gamers are too superficial.  The player character is a female that is not dramatically gorgeous and her breasts are neither over-sized nor do they jiggle when she moves.  This game is better than any tomb raider can ever hope to be but, Jade is no Lara croft.

Is it worth tracking?  Absolutely!  The systems it is for are still common and software emulation could allow it to play on current generation of consoles.  It costs $15 or less so there is no excuse.

Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)

A splendid RPG released in the year 1998.  You play as Edge and embark on a quest to free the world from the will of the “Ancients.”  Your best ally is also your ride.  A powerful, no nonsense, intimidating looking dragon.  The game features strategic and real time elements.  The parts when Edge is on foot are strictly used for exploration while the segments that put him on the dragon are for combat and travel.

Why did it fail? Relax!  Gamers are not the ones to blame this time.  The game was released as Sega was pulling the plug on the Saturn. Very few copies were released and in spite of the fact that there is a popular demand for the game to be re-released on modern format.  Sega seems to take no interest in what the people want.

Is it worth tracking?  No!  The only way to experience this game is to get the hard to find Sega Saturn and the game will set you back a good $200 on ebay, ouch indeed.  If money is not an issue however, make it a priority.

I will give you more games to track in the near future. The reason why each list isn’t longer is because Hot Blooded Gaming is a fellowship and we take pride in turning each member into a serious gamer. I want you to remember these two titles, not overwhelm you with a long list that you’ll forget. Expect part 2 of the article to arrive soon

Interestingly, as early as the late 1970s when all systems were laughably weak, even the mid 90’s standard, a debate over which machine is superior started.  The Intellevision marketing team in order to dethrone the mighty Atari 2600, boasted that the graphics on there console were better.  A line we are all too familiar with today.

The gaming industry has been influenced by such debates over power.  Graphics have become a key factor in measuring a system’s worth.  While that does not mean it would be the most powerful console of a generation that would sell the most, it got gamers to expect more and no less of a new generation.  Some gamers will even argue to death over what console is superior graphically.  Each new generation is expected generate better graphics than the previous generation of consoles it replaces, while the PC constantly demands that we neglect to pay our bills so we can buy expensive upgrades.

Modern 3D gaming and graphics has completely changed not just the games but the gamers as well.  Graphics have reached a level of realism that is astounding.  No longer are all gamers playing for the same reason.  Few claim to purely care about the gameplay, while some are in it for the story.  Most stories in games today is told with beautifully rendered cut scenes or in game with breathtaking visuals.  This has changed how most gamers view their games.  Most gamers today are starved for games with the best graphics out there.  Game developers have taken notice of this. With the console’s visual capabilities able to  display realistic visuals, the video gaming world in many ways is becoming similar to Hollywood.

The orchestra, the special effects, and now it is not uncommon for games to have celebrity voice actors and even have the game character modeled after them. I can even go as far as stating that some gaming characters have reached such a celebrity status that they are influencing Hollywood to put them on the big screen or DVD.  Many movies based off games are now in the works.

The Media and Politicians have taken notice as well.  A few decades ago, Senator Zimmerman had a problems with Mortal Kombat’s fatalities.  Unless you have been living in a jungle, you know what happens every time Rockstar releases a Grand Theft Auto and a gamer steals a car or kills his fellow classmate.  Yes you know it all too well, the game gets blamed for it, which is absurd!  Most reports of that nature say the games are “too realistic” or “close to reality” because they look as good as they do.  With that they claim the games influence the people who make those bad choices, all because it looks so good.

Something interesting however seems to be happening.  After the graphics have shaped gamers and the gaming industry for so long, could it be losing it’s influence?  The extremely technologically inferior Wii is outselling the 360 and ps3 and 4 to 5 years after these consoles releases, there is not even a rumor about the successors.  With the Wii’s success and inferior graphics, do I smell a change?  Will it be for better or worse?  Only time will tell.

[Written by Thierry S]
[Edited by Kreyg D]

Natal means “to be born” in latin and in the circle of life the old dies to make room for the new.  Fortunately this does not seem to translate so literally in the world of video games.  That is not to say that all is rosy for us.  Natal, as Microsoft’s answer to Nintendo’s success, will likely do absolutely nothing to maintain, let alone advance hardcore gaming.  The fact that we, the true gamers reward the game makers whom invest lots of time and money into their games by purchasing them, is the reason why this new gaming era will not destroy our favorite franchises.  There will however, be less of these games to choose from.

Nintendo’s Shigeru Myamoto once complained that most companies were not assigning their best game makers to work for the Wii.  This is simply because the success of a console does not mean the success of the games.  With that said, the Xbox 360 and Playstaion 3 are not going anywhere and we will get the games we like.  The casual gamers will not buy as many games as we do.  I must point out that more than ever before, we must encourage the game makers that will not turn their back on us.  We can do this by purchasing their titles because a failure to sell games they invested a lot of time and money on might cause them to do like Majesco, creator of  Bloodreign ,which resorted to making very low budgets games for the DS and Wii in order to either make a profit by selling very few copies or not lose too much if the game does not sell well.

Software wise, we are alright, but the biggest blow is the fact that we will not be getting more powerful consoles anytime soon.  In terms of raw power, the PC will once again leave any other gaming platform in the dust.  If you are primarily a PC gamer, that is still bad news because with consoles versions of multi-platform games outselling the PC offering, don’t expect game makers to treat you like royalty because your platform has more power.  PC games might be polished console games that come nowhere close to utilizing the PC’s capability.  With that recession, however, I would have found the release of a $400 console unwise.

So is hardcore gaming dead or not?  The answer is no, not on the greater scale.  Individual games, however that are not doing so well might get canceled quicker than they normally would have been.  You’ll have your sequels and original titles from renown developers whom hardly ever disappoint but try not to get fed up with the 360 and PS3’s capability cause you will be staring at these graphics for a really, really long time.

[Written by Thierry S]
[Edited by Kreyg D]

Last generation saw some good releases, some bad ones, but few that were so phenomenal that the industry is still benefiting from their influence today.  Let us pay homage to some of these great games.  This is a look at what we feel are some of the most influential console games of last generation.  The games that stood out for doing something new, led the way for future games, and introduced us as gamers to things we had never seen or played before on home consoles.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox)

Imagine the announcement that Bethesda is releasing a role playing game on the same exact day that a Final Fantasy game comes out.  These days a very high percentage of gamers whom can afford only one game would go for the western RPG.  However, if the Japanese release was not a Final Fantasy, then there would not even be a dilemma.

Although Morrowind is not Bethesda’s greatest creation, it got more people to seriously anticipate and play western action role playing games.  With the level of detail and effort put into the world of Morrowind and the games it laid the foundation for, all eastern role playing games are being put to shame.

Bethesda’s newest role playing creations, namely The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 are so beautiful that the only things that are expected to look as good in turn based games are the pre-rendered cut scenes.  The only reason Bethesda invested so much in Oblivion and Fallout franchise is because they expected to make a lot more in return.  Morrowind is the game that gave western style action RPGs the push they needed.

Starwars Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)

Long ago in a galaxy far away, gamers could hardly identify themselves with the player character.  The game stories were viewed via cut scenes with no interaction required on their part.  Then enters Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.  The game not only had gamers choose their reaction to various situations but also introduced the famous morality scale.

Good or evil responses to situations would lead to different, yet highly satisfying outcomes.  Your character and their powers could me made to match his moral inclination.  The end result is that gamers could identify themselves with their characters more than ever before.  Some freaks changed their name to Darth Revan.  KOTOR was one of the best RPG’s of last generation.  It led the way for future Bioware games such as Jade Empire and Mass Effect

Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2, Xbox)

Have you ever read a review lately and noticed the reviewer’s disappointment because the game they are playing is so “linear?”  This in turn leading to a lower score and a harsher review.  I’m sure we’ve all seen this.  It’s time that you know Grand theft auto 3 is to either blame or praise for that.  It added a freedom to gameplay most had not yet seen before.

This game allows you to complete missions in very different ways. Grand Theft Auto 3’s level of freedom guarantees that no 2 games will be played the exact same way.  Grand Theft Auto does not dwell in any one genre. It has fighting, shooting, racing etc.  You can also drive around while listening to the radio, pick up prostitute, do stunts, and all of its numerous aspect range from good to great.  It had it’s own style and stood out from the rest.

After it’s release, many games tried to mimic the formula, thus the label, “Grand Theft Auto clones” was born.  Franchises like Saints Row, True Crime, The Getaway, Mafia, The Godfather, and Scarface exist because of Grand theft auto 3 and have been called clones.

Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)

Once upon a time, console gamers weren’t too familiar with FPS.  Sure there had been a few spectacular releases such as Goldeneye and  Perfect Dark, but as a whole, this genre called the PC its home.  In November 2001, that would change.  A powerful new console from Micosoft released and with it, a phenomenal FPS that console gamers embraced, if not worshiped.

Most importantly, so many copies of Halo were sold that PC developers had no choice but to take notice.  Now, because of Halo’s success, there is sure to be a console version of nearly all great first person shooters that would have been PC exclusives.  No longer is there a need to pray that the next Doom, Call of duty, or even Half-life would show up on consoles or fear that they may be lazy ports.  Especially now that they finally caught up with the fact that consoles games sell more copies.  Crysis is the one exception worth noting but it’s sequel is now heading to consoles.  Added to that, the fact that the Playstation and Xbox have their own exclusive franchises such as Resistance: Fall of Man, Killzone, Perfect Dark, and Halo,  it becomes all to clear that the place to get your first person shooter fix has changed from PC to console.

Shenmue (Dreamcast)

When I was thinking about who should be credited for creating the first believable and impressive world that was simply begging to be explored, I almost picked Grand theft auto 3. What a crime that would have been.  Shenmue was the first game which featured an impressive environment that kept us occupied, entertained, and took our breath away.

Unlike the other games on this list, Shenmue is unknown to many gamers and unfairly forgotten by many of the most popular gaming publications.  The video game media has that insulting tendency of crediting other game makers such as Rockstar for Shenmue’s accomplishments.  Sadly this games dwells in the shadow because the Sega Dreamcast was no financial success, but the game is fantastic. In fact, a lot of things that are not common features even in this generation were present in Shenmue.

You could play games within the game, go to stores, buy compact discs, and get a job.  You had to eat, sleep, practice your martial art skills and learn more moves from masters.  This game also revived and modernized what we call quick time events which is quickly pressing the buttons that are displayed on the screen which allows the gameplay to be more cinematic.

The characters that populated Shenmue’s world were impressive.  They had lives and a schedule to follow which is something that The Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion is famous for.  Though it should be noted right now that Oblivion came out 7 years later.  With that said, the impact of Shenmue on the industry should never be denied or forgotten.

There you have it folks.  Agree or disagree, I hope you enjoyed our list.  I’d Like to thank my good friend Kreyg for inviting me to be a part of HBG and thank you all for reading this!  Expect more from me in the near future.  Leave your list of 5 as a comment and tell us what you agree and disagree with, we’d love to hear what you think!

[Written by Thierry S]
[Edited by Kreyg D]