Game Shorts

Mar 9, 2006 · psu · 3 minute read
Games

We’re going to Toronto for a long weekend, so this is the perfect time to flush out the state of my game playing and mix it up with small nuggets of confusion. In other words, a “clip” article. MMO(SP?)RPG

Recall that the “M” and the “M” in MMORPG stand for “Massively” and “Multiplayer.” With this context, consider the following complaint that I have read in multiple gaming forums and [web sites](http://www.gamasutra.com/php- bin/news_index.php?story=8264): World of Warcraft sucks! There aren’t any solo missions.

So, let me get this straight. You want to pay for the network connection, the subscription fee, the price of the game and the PC to play the game on so you can play a single player campaign mode? In a Massively Multiplayer game? Can someone explain this to me? Or is this in the same bucket in which rationales for savepoints are stored?

Zombies: Conquered

Once again the zombie hordes have been vanquished. I even finished the extra PS2 side mission. The main game would have been cooler playing as Ada I think. The zipline gun is fun. Next, there is Professional mode, and maybe a handgun- only speed run.

XBox 360, Still Meh

The Xbox 360 is so lame that a major shiny military shooter with a strong online component can be released… and I still can’t get interested. I think the DS-Lite looks cooler. It seems to me that the PS2 can actually complete pretty effectively with the 360 for at least another year. This is because the core market force behind people adopting a console is not so much features, graphics, performance, online marketplaces, or media convergence abilities. All that really matters is what all your friends own, and no one I know has a 360 (well, except sprang).

JRPG Fest

The new Shadow Hearts hit today. To get in the mood, I also got Dragon Quest VIII. I think with these in hand along with Shin Megami Foobar and my small collection of retro PS1 releases for later, I’ll have enough to keep my busy until the Xbox 360 isn’t completely pathetic.

I’ve played a bit of DQ, and I predict I will get tired of the savepoint studpidity. But the fights and the cartoon art style are fun.

I fired up Shadow Hearts: From the New World just to go through the first area. Gay merchant couple: CHECK. In the first ten minutes of the game there are three obvious references to the previous game. This is going to be fun.

Guitar Zero

I don’t think I will get past the end of the medium song list in Guitar Hero. They need to make a special edition for old guys with retarded hands. Still, I can get a lot of mileage from the quest to get a perfect score on Smoke on the Water. I think another year of practice will get me there.