Oh, where should I begin? I may as well get this off my chest – what is up with that Revolution controller? My first reaction could be best described as well, confusion – followed by shock and awe – then more confusion ensued. It's safe to say that the gaming industry as a whole is collectively more confused about this new "revolutionary" peripheral which Nintendo vowed would be something new and very unique.
At first, I was ready to enjoy my ride on the hate wagon, but decided to jump off for good after spending some time reading IGN's analysis and now, I am intrigued. Intrigued to the point that perhaps after more information is unveiled and a hands-on opportunity presents itself (i.e. E3 2006), I'll start to warm up to it.
For the time being, I am still very skeptical about buying the system. Yes, I'd be eager to play the latest iterations of Mario, Metroid and Zelda games, but it's hard to shake the fact their systems end up being something of a "companion" console instead of a formidable competitor against Sony and Microsoft's platforms. My GameCube rarely gets any TLC and it's bound to remain that way until Twilight Princess arrives next year. And even though it's armed with a powerful asset – the ability to play hundreds of NES classics, that's still not a big enough selling point that will influence my decision to take Revolution more seriously. Obviously, there's still a great deal that I don't know about it, so only time will tell what my feelings will be in the near future.
Meanwhile, it's pretty obvious that gamers are extremely hungry for some Snake as evidenced by our recent surge of traffic. Of course, I am talking about the new Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots trailer that we posted last week. A few sites without giving it a second thought, opted to hotlink the file instead of linking to the article itself, ultimately raping our bandwidth and then some.
Fortunately, GotNext was able to withstand the huge spike and our site admin still has much of his hair – but man, I'd really hate to have to go through that again. In a way, it's ironic that other than an impressive teaser trailer was enough to seal my decision to buy a PS3 and yet, one look at the Revolution controller painted a very different picture. Ok, guess that makes me guilty of being biased. What can I say? I love me some Metal Gear action!
Last week, I spent some time with a few TNL buddies for a few challenging matches of Burnout Revenge which rocks my face every time I play it. Real gamers who love racing games own this game, and if you're not among that group – I pity you. No really. Being a diehard Burnout fanatic, I even invested in the PSP edition (Burnout Legends), which despite what some may believe, isn't a direct port of any previous edition. In fact, it's basically the equivalent of what Namco did with Ridge Racer for PSP. That means you can enjoy tons of classic tracks, modes and awesome features from the past three Burnout installments. I tell you, it's digital crack on a disc.
As much as I'd love to spent time endlessly rant about the game's positive highlights, it's not perfect. What was EA thinking by not offering multiplayer support nationwide? It was a golden opportunity that easily could have qualified the title as a "killer app". Instead, I need to locate friends in my area in order to get my human competitive kicks, which is key if you're expecting to obtain special vehicles sprinkled throughout all the manufactured discs ala Pokemon. Ugh. Here's one opportunity where I'd cringe at having to catch race them all to complete my collection.
This past month has been quite a thrill, combined with a series of site-related and freelance assignments (you all should visit Gamespy and check out my recent One Piece: Grand Battle coverage). Currently I am spending time with Lunar: Dragon Song which has been quite a challenge to play consistently due to a crazy 40 hr work week. Perhaps I can request an extended leave so Jian and I can kick some ass RPG style! When this is all done – I may take a small break and get back into preparing the next installment of a certain duality feature involving two hedgehogs. Oh yes, they're coming back...
Well folks, our September edition is a wee bit lighter than last (syke!! it's just as extensive as before). So grab a beverage, kick back in your chair and dig into the latest editorial insights from our passionate gaming crew!!!
··· Chris Scantleberry
