Score One for the Little Guys

The Day has Finally Arrived...I'm Excited for a Handheld System

Behold, the Nintendo 3DS

Today was a big day for Nintendo junkies worldwide. Today, the folks behind the "Big-N" announced the price and release date of the Nintendo 3DS handheld system. During it's annual world press conference in New York City, Nintendo announced the 3DS would release in North America on March 27, for the not so consumer friendly price tag of $249.99. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime promises that the 3DS will release up to 30 games within it's first three months. While there's no official list of the current games that will be available at launch, there's a lot to be excited about with the new handheld system.

I've never been one to ride the wave of popularity most of the world has with handheld systems. Many handheld games are meant for short playthroughs with little emphasis on story development, and due to the obvious lack of technology, were never able to graphically compare to console games in terms of processing. Now, we are finally seeing a paradigm shift with Nintendo. The 3DS allows user to play in full stereoscopic 3D *without* the use of glasses. A 3D filter allows users to turn on/off the 3D effect, to enjoy the most out of their games in either 2 or 3 dimensions. I'm not too sure about the technical jargon involved in making a 3D effect sans glasses, but it's mostly due to the fact that the 3DS has a smaller screen, allowing for the images to be easily combined through use of extensive pixellation for the resulted 3D effect.

This is a huge step in terms of technological advancement. I believe 3D is the future of motion pictures, video games, home entertainment, etc., but with the current barrier of 3D glasses, I just can't seem to go along with the craze. 3D televisions are the hot new "go to" item for retailers, but because many sets require owners to wear re-chargeable 3D glasses, it seems too silly to me. Imagine a time where you invite your friends to watch the Super Bowl in 3-D on your brand new 3DTV, only to realize you have 4 glasses, with only 2 of them fully charged. It's an inconvenience, and frankly, you may impair the vision of your non-3D guests. However, with the 3DS, scientists and engineers have proven that it is possible to make a perfectly clean 3D image without the use of glasses. It's only a matter of time before 3D images can be combined on a much larger scale, allowing us envision a world without the cheap plastic 3D glasses that wind up in our glove compartments.

How far we've come

Handhelds have found a renaissance of sorts over the past decade, thanks to the creation of the Nintendo DS. The DS proved to be one of the fastest selling pieces of hardware out there, with more than 135 million units sold worldwide since it's launch in 2004. That pales in comparison to the 50 million XBOX 360 units sold since 2005, or the 41 million units the PS3 has sold since 2006. Now, Nintendo looks to instill a paradigm shift in the way we play video games, by turning millions of casual and hardcore players from consoles to handhelds. The games that are on the docket for the 3DS contain some of the most impressive tech I've ever seen in a handheld game. We've come such a long way from the old, archaic, gray, body-building machine that was the Game Boy, to a system that can seriously blur lines between console and handheld. Some of the more impressive games utilize game engines that are just one step shy of making a leap to a console platform. Plus, the 3DS is filled with some of the most gadgets I've ever seen in a handheld. Wi-Fi, 3 different digital cameras, a 2 Gig SD card, motion detection, full blown internet, a soon to be enabled 3DS online store, the list goes on. And for the final cherry on top, it's backwards compatible, meaning you can play all of your old DS/DSI games, even though those games *won't* be displayed in 3D.

The actual 3DS gameplay will feature graphics just like this

Regardless of my excitement, that's not to say I don't have my own concerns. First, battery life on the handheld is said to only last 5 hours tops. I'm assuming the power used to generate 3D will suck the life out of your 3DS faster than MTV sucks the life out of teenagers. On top of that, the price tag is still a little too much for my own taste. At $249.99, the 3DS costs more than a Wii and a 360. I still find it hard to justify paying more for a handheld than a console, but for those of you who are patient and can wait for the price to drop to $200, I say we twiddle our thumbs. On top of that, as with any new console/handheld that's launched, we're sure to see a series of lackluster launch games. While Nintendo IS promising to have at least 30 games out within the first three months, there's still no list or idea as to what those games might be. I will say some of the more promising looking 3DS games that are on my radar are the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D remake, and a new Resident Evil Game called Revelations. There are some other goodies like Kingdom Hearts, Kid Icarus, and even a Metal Gear game to boot, but those are not in the realm of releasing within the first six months of the 3DS release.

Another concern I have deals with the reports of how the 3DS' use of 3D technology could damage the development of some children's vision. According to several reports, all 3DS' will include a warning for parents of kids age 7 and younger, which claims that if they use the 3D filter too much, their eyes won't develop correctly. Kind of scary when you think about the fact that a handheld now has the power to melt eyes nationwide. I'm a little concerned that many ill informed parents will see an increase in optometry bills for their kids.

Regardless of the faults, and the price tag, the 3DS is looking like a fine piece of technology. Worse yet, I myself haven't even seen the actual 3D effects of the 3DS (considering the evident difficulty for online publications and magazines to properly portray the power of the tech). I'm ultimately basing my faith on the scores of praise from established critics like IGN, G4TV, 1UP, and Kotaku, who sing nothing but praise about their hands-on time with the handheld. Revolutionary doesn't begin to describe their pleasantries, and if it's all it's hyped up to be, the 3DS will make a mark in video game history, or for that matter, 3D technology, for years to come. It's just a shame that Sony is attempting another iteration of its PSP system in a world where Nintendo has a tight vice on parent's balls nationwide.

The Curious Case of Video Game Progress

Video Games and the Mainstream Market

You haven't seen the last of me gamers!!! I'd have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you pesky kids!

Ladies and Gentlemen...I have returned. It's been about a good solid two weeks since I've posted on my blog. I know you all have been begging for my eventual return to the keyboard, at least, the four or five of you who read this, but with the holidays behind use and a new year upon us it's time to have a little chat about my favorite topic...gaming. So let us begin.

Heavy Rain...one of the best titles of 2010

2010 brought some nice thrills in the gaming world. Titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo: Reach injected a nice dose of blockbuster action, while games like Red Dead Redemption and God of War 3 thrilled us with the dangerously beautiful landscapes of the Wild West and Mount Olympus. Starcraft II proved a 10-year wait to one of the most acclaimed Strategy games of all time is worth the wait. Heavy Rain, the most unexpectedly entertaining and surprising game of the year in my eyes, proved to us that a riveting storyline can lasso in a new direction in story-driven games. Of course there were many other titles that enchanted gamers in 2010, but there were plenty of disappointments as well. Bioshock 2 failed to capture lightning in a bottle twice in traversing and exploring the destroyed underwater utopia of Rapture, while Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II created a combat mechanic that was as entertaining as watching the Tatooine Canteen band. Nevertheless, I'm grateful these games were released. Many hard working individuals worked their butts of to make these games, both the good and the bad, and we're all the wiser because of it. Now, it's time to look ahead at the upcoming titles of 2011, but there is something that seems awry in the realm of gaming.

IGN released a very helpful release date calendar of the big games of 2011. If you noticed, I did you the honor of attaching the calendar above this text. Take a minute to look through it, and see if you can spot the same problem I do. Can you see it? Well, if we're not on the same page, then I'll just tell you what I see. Of the 39 games on the calendar so far, at least 30 of them are either sequels, or games derived of already established Intellectual properties. Of course this list isn't final, and many other games are expected to release in 2011 but have yet to receive a solid release date. Despite that, I'm starting to see a disturbing trend in gaming that Hollywood has already adopted...sequel-itis. The bigger titles of the new year are established games such as Gears of War, Uncharted, Dead Space, and Mass Effect. All great games mind you, many of which I can't wait to get my hands on, but I really question if there is still a creative spark being lighted under developer's asses. What happened to the influx of originality found in the 8-bit/16-bit era, or even the PS1 generation? We were bombarded with original Intellectual Properties harder than a Vietnam napalm strike with franchises like Chrono Trigger, Contra, Secret of Mana, Twisted Metal, and even the very underrated Legacy of Kain series. I know sequels are sometimes a necessary evil in today's world, but I get more excited when a new and exciting IP comes and injects a dose of brain-heroin through my fingertips.

Alright a skateboard in my room!!! Now what do I do?

Regardless of my ambiguous relationship with sequels, I do have to be fair in this argument. As I said before, I too am excited for many of these games, especially the likes of Bathman: Arkham City (puh-lease) Gears of War 3, and Uncharted 3, but we need to point out the source of the problem, and it begins with the publishers. The Call of Duty franchise, which has become the 900-pound Roseanne clone of our generation, is now on a yearly release cycle from Activision. The company's goal is to release a new Call of Duty game every year, hoping to see success each time it happens. However if Activision wants a clue as to why this is a bad decision, it should look no further than it's mishandling of both the Tony Hawk Skateboarding and Guitar Hero series. Both franchises have hit a new low in gaming, basically becoming re-hashes of the same game mechanics from previous entries, sprinkled in with new accessories for gamers to pony up and pay for (Just watch someone attempt to do a simple ollie in Tony Hawk Ride). Both games have hit sales lows, and God only knows where the leftover guitar, drum, and skateboard plastic peripherals ended up. My guess is they'll end up on that AMC show "Hoarders" -- I thought my garage was bad.

Borderlands, one of the best games no one played

Seriously though, publishers are too afraid to take risks. Some of the more recent original IP games like Borderlands, Brutal Legend, and Epic Mickey are fantastic, visceral games that don't garner the sales they truly deserve. Established franchises are fun and worth the money, but we as gamers are ultimately the ones responsible for unloading our bank accounts and determining whether a certain game succeeds. We should broaden our horizons and give the smaller guys a chance. Just browse through your 360, PS3, WiiWare online library and you'll find some of the most creative and addicting games made by indie developers. Games like Super Meat Boy, Braid, Limbo, The Misadventures of Mr. PB Winterbottom, heck, even "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!" are all designed by development teams of less than 20 people, and are being met with more overnight success than Justin Bieber's hair cut. 

PB Winterbottom, one of the most creative games I've played

I'm not saying we should always avoid games with established roots and high production values, but lets at least spread the word on the smaller games, kind of like a pay it forward system (minus Kevin Spacey's burnt face) in hopes that someone, somewhere will buy them. Games have taken a step forward, some might say beyond, in storytelling and is now being taken as a serious art form that not even Hollywood could mimic. We as gamers deserve variety so we can explore new facets of entertaining ourselves. All the while we're giving small time developers the chance to grow, and make the next big blockbuster gaming franchise.