I went and played online a bit. It was ok. However, I think I really missed the good 'ol multiplayer online days (I used to play Quake II) but that is besides the point.
I am almost done playing Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time. I love the series: great humour, awesome weapons and a lovable Lombax.
I think I'm going off topic...
So, remember the good old days of console gaming? I mean, even I would consider the Playstation 2 a "good old days."
My problems with current games and consoles...
1) The games "never ends." Great examples? Assassin's Creed series and Red Dead Redemption (because I own and played them). You finished the story but you can still continue to play the game without REALLY finishing the game. The only point to continue is to collect things which doesn't do much for the storyline. Sure, it's great to unlock the "unicorn" or the "golden gun" but ask yourself this, "does it help with gameplay?" NO! Now that you've got the most powerful item in the game... there is no one to terrorize! And once you're done collecting, now what? Yes, you can play the side stories but isn't it more entertaining to play them WHILE playing the story and not after the fact? There is no more big bad boss to fight... no ridiculous impossible side mission (maybe there is but I usually finish most side missions within the game)... and don't go picking on NPC (Non-Playing Character), they just run like headless chicken!
2) Developers make a decent game but with a half-ass job. You KNOW what I'm talking about? If you don't, let me use Assassin's Creed II (AC2) as an example. Yes? Understand now? No? I shall explain it in details.
Assassin's Creed II... such a nice conspiracy story and you just finished "Sequence 11" and it just jumps to "Sequence 14." What the fuck?! How can there be 2 sequence missing? The game character says, they "can't access corrupted memory." And THEN you realized that it's not "missing," they just want you to pay to complete the story! But if you bought the PC version, all the memories are there. THAT is such a rip-off. Not only did you just pay $40 for a game, you now have you shell out another $10-$15 so you can complete the whole friggin' story!
There is a difference between adding more content to enhance a game (like expansion Undead Nightmare for RDR or map packs for Call of Duty, etc - and you know what? People used to do this for free as a mod) and making section of games missing.
This image best illustrate the problem/issue:
Why can't they just make a game that has an ending and when you're done, you're done? Ratchet and Clank and God of War has done it right... finish the game, try your luck on harder level or with cheats! Or do what inFamous has done, 2 different endings (which I've only finished the Good side...).
3) Collecting things... Yes, it's cool to collect things that unlock things to enhance gameplay... but do you have to make some achievement ridiculously difficult? Or maybe I just suck sometimes. I don't have time or the patients to try to achieve some ridonculous "skills."
4) While we're on the topic of collecting things... trophies, trophies, trophies. Playstaion 3, I am looking at YOU! All the games have a notorious "platinum" trophy which I like to dub "Have no life except to try to collect everything" trophy. I really have nothing against collecting trophies. I actually think it is a cool thing when you hear "ding!" and you see you've unlocked a trophy. But seriously, to collect all the trophies to get the grand fromage trophy is excessive, don't you think?
I don't play much multiplayer with my console (for games like Call of Duty, I will always be a keyboard and mouse gal!) and some games (Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (ACB), RDR, Little Big Planet) contain trophies that can only be achieved through multiplayer. What's more, if you buy a game that was released a few years ago and a sequel was then released, the chance of you getting that "community" trophy is almost impossible if everyone have moved onto playing the new version.
5) I should get a 5th point in... it doesn't bug me as much but it's still an important point. $60 for games newly released... They eventually drop in prices to $30. I know they have to pay their programmers, testers, graphic designers and voice over people. But why would I spend $60 on a game that will eventually drop in price? Assassin's Creed games drops almost 50% within 6 months... I got ACB for $20 (Wal-mart had priced it for $20 and Futureshop still had it for $60... price matched and $18 for the game). True that some games may be sold out and probably worth the $50-$60 price tag (Remember Dance Dance Revolution? It was a revolution alright... impossible to find. I luckily got a copy of Dance Dance Revolution Disney mix for $25 off ebay, I think it still sells for $70-$100 off ebay - just search "dance revolution disney mix, NTSC-US version $70!)
No, I'm not done with money... Another thing that annoys me is now they release "Collector's Edition" which I don't know how "collectible" they are. I suppose if you buy and keep it sealed yes. But who will actually go and spend $200 to buy TWO copies (they cost $100 each)? And what you get is trinkets... AS2 has its Ezio statue, inFamous2 has its usable pouch/bag (which I saw someone use at Fan Expo in Toronto), God of War III has its plastic box.
I do have some of these collectibles because I grew up playing them on TurboGrafx-16... the Ys games for PSP that was release in North America by Xseed... the "Premium Edition" has a music CD while another one had this cloth map, and it only cost $40.
When Street Fighter 2: 15th Anniversary came out for PS2, I did buy it and it came with an Akuma plastic bust... It was free. Hey, I'm not going to complain!
If I really like the series and if the collectible is cool, I think I will buy it... but not at the price of $100.
And just to end off this blog, I post a picture from RDR:
I do find this funny because it's a Chinese laundromat in the "mid-west" where racism is probably a common thing. The Chinese writing? "Welcome."
