Game of the Show

If only this game:

A) Was not an MMO;
B) Was also releasing on the Xbox 360.

Maybe it's a tad bit premature, but Final Fantasy XIV is my Game of the Show for e3 2009 thus far.

Some screens for those who don't know what I'm talking about:





As they say, a picture's worth a thousand words.

Dan Akroyd Hopes "Ghostbusters" Video Game Lays Groundwork for New Movie

Interesting Article from the "Arts and Entertainment" Section of today's LA Times:

"On June 16, Atari will release the much-anticipated "Ghostbusters" title...there is intense consumer interest in this game, and it brought together the core of the original cast for voice work - two facts that have restarted the dormant "Ghostbusters" filmmachinery."

"Ivan Reitman, producer and director of the two films, said the video game essentially hit the restart button on the franchise."

I've never watched any of the Ghostbusters movies, but I understand that many a movie buff will rejoice at the announcement of a new installment in this venerated series. However, the idea that a movie-to-game adaptation is going to "revive" a franchise seems silly to me. Gamers know all too well that, with very few exceptions (such as Capcom's Aladdin game for the SNES as well as the various LOTR games that have been released simultaneously with their movie counterparts), video games based on movies are nothing more than quick cash-ins for corporations to make a few extra millions off the success of a blockbuster movie franchise.

Now, there are signs that indicate this game won't be the typically worthless corporate rip-off crap gamers are used to. It's not being released as part and parcel of a movie release, so it needs to be a product that stands out on its own merits; secondly, it's been in production for a significant amount of time (some, as the article points out, would argue it's been in production for too long!), meaning that game-breaking glitches and bugs won't be a source of consternation for gamers who are becoming increasingly impatient with technical improprieties in video games. All in all, gaming fansites and magazines have been giving it fairly positive press, though to label it as a gaming hype juggernaut is probably overstating things. I'm don't think the article is trying to say that, though...

If the Ghostbusters brand name is strong enough, however, even harsh reviews won't deter good sales - and, consequentially, the movie sequel Aykroyd wants - because despite the complaints and poor reviews from the hardcore gaming populace, movie-to-game tie-ins DO often sell gangbusters at retail, even if they are dwarfed by their bigscreen film counterparts. The question is: Can Aykroyd hope to fall back on this if the game is indeed a critical failure? Can the specter of a new Ghostbusters movie potentially propel sales of the game, as well (methinks this is the REAL purpose of the article, FWIW). Most importantly: Is this game look like it's going to be anything particularly memorable? I certainly could care less for it, but not being a Ghostbusters fan anyway, I'm not the target audience for the product in question. For those of you out there who do happen to consider yourselves Ghostbusters fans, though...anything to add?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...well, for gamers, anyway. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (aka e3) has finally arrived, and boy, is it BACK! Until roughly two years ago, e3 was the premiere event for game companies to reveal upcoming game lineups and even new hardware. That all changed two years ago, when various coincidental factors caused the expo to become massively downgraded. It's pretty apparent from Microsoft's Press Conference today, however, that e3 is BACK and better than ever. Christening the event "Christmas is July" (err, June) doesn't do it justice.

This is the day gamers of all stripes have their eyes glued to their computer moniters (and now, with the advent of digitally distributed game content, video game machines themselves can now broadcast this information just as well) waiting for the latest breaking news about new games (today's hot items: Metal Gear Solid for the Xbox 360 and PSP, Mass Effect 2, and a remake of the classic adventure game Curse of Monkey Island, among others) hardware revisions (did anyone get to see the new PSP GO?) and rumblings of things still yet to come (the infamously secretive Sony game developer Team ICO is present and will reportedly be showing off their latest projects some time soon!)

I never designed this blog to become a news aggregate, but e3 is THE gaming event of the year (with the possible exception of the Tokyo Game Show in the fall) and offers plenty for gameheads everywhere to talk about. So, what do you think of the show thus far? What games/hardware/speeches stand out thus far? Anything particularly memorable? Or perhaps e3 is a snoozer of a spectacle for you?

Let's hear it, folks. Fire away in the combox below!

St. Justin Martyr, pray for us!

InsideCatholic Does a Retrospective at the Adventure Genre

Hear ye, hear ye, all ye fans of "old-school" adventure games! Joe Susanka at the InsideCatholic.com has an article you won't want to miss!

Since I'm part of the younger generation that never experienced that likes of games such as The Curse of Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, and King's Quest, I can't really comment on his main questions at the end of the article (namely, what happened to this type of game?) beyond the usual observation of its re-emergence on the Nintendo DS. Games like the Ace Attorney series, Hotel Dusk, and Jake Hunter are all treated as "text-adventure" titles by critics and fanboys alike; can anyone who is more familiar with the older titles of the bygone era of the "adventure" game vouch for this claim?

Hello From a New Contributer

Hello my fellow gamers!, 

For those of you who don't know me (which I am sure is most of this readership) my name is Br. Allen Martin. I am a currently finishing up my novitiate with the Carmelite Order, professing my Simple Vows this June. I have a degree in Philosophy from Loyola University Chicago and I am a graduate of St. Joseph's College Seminary. Andy and I were at the seminary together last year (I was a Senior when he was a Freshman).  I recently came across this site and became hooked. I think that this is a wonderful way of responding to Pope John Paul II's call for a "New Evangelization" and I knew instantly that this was something that I wanted to be a part of. The use of all "new media" is turing out to be a wonderful new means to spreading the Gospel to people of all walks of life. 

I will be writing posts here (regularly I hope, but at the very least from time to time) looking at a variety of games from Catholic point of view, and even unlock the "secrets" of some of these popular games. And just so you know, where I say "secrets" I am not referring to the hidden weapons, turing on "God-mode", or how to get unlimited ammo. No, when I say "secrets", I am referring to the Catholic undertones which run throughout many of todays popular games. 

So to close this introductory post, I want to say that I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you, and I am also looking forward to hearing your thoughts and perspectives.  

May God Bless you, and Our Lady keep you!

Our Sunday Visitor Headline: "How Video Games are Good for Kids"

As usual, I'm totally LTTP on this one, but this is too significant to ignore: The Catholic Newsweekly Our Sunday Visitor (a publication I would highly recommend, BTW, if only because of the spectacular writing of Russell Shaw) published an article earlier this month entitled "A Proposal: Computer Games can be Beneficial for Children." The editors pushed it the article to the front cover of the weekly edition, too, so anyone who has a subscription to the publication should have no trouble finding the article. The author, Eugene Gan, himself a professor at Franciscan University in Stuebenville, Ohio, chronicles the time he spent playing Lego Star Wars II with his son.

Some notable excerpts:

"We've all heard how sports help kids learn important life lessons, including perseverance, teamwork and all the rest. I propose -- and this may horrify some of you -- that computer games can play the same formative role."

...

"Talk about team play: It was in one such level in the computer game that I could hear myself coaching my son to persevere and not to give up so easily.

"Stick with it, son. You can do it."

But he was too quick to whine, "I can't do it," without really even trying. Aha, a life-lesson opportunity. I paused the game to talk about the importance of facing challenges, recovering from failure, and relating it to Our Lord's falls while carrying the cross on the Via Dolorosa. (That last one didn't seem as much a stretch at the time.)

The key is to look beyond the old perception of computer games as solely eye-hand-coordinated diversions for real opportunities to encourage more coordination through thinking and purposeful movement."

Feel free to read the whole thing here.

For my part, I was simply glad to read an article from the Catholic Press that didn't lambast video games as something inherently evil (which, sadly, has been the norm for the past decade or so, even though the U.S. media in general seemed all to eager to perpetuate this same viewpoint even now). This article, however, is actually the latest example of a growing trend in Catholic media outlets. No longer are video games to be ignored as worthless or, worse yet, derided as sinful mind-numbing, soul-stealing agents. The article leaves something to be desired (it leaves an open door to critics that claim the lessons learned from video games are also just as easily learned from sports, clubs, and other activities, which really just reflects an ignorance of video games as both a communications and artistic medium), I'm glad that prominent Catholic publications, both web-based and printed periodicals, are beginning to discover video games as something worthy of accolades rather than something to be dismissed with derision. Kudos to Eugene Gan and OSV for running this piece!

Star Ocean vs. Star Trek

On Sunday night I saw the new Star Trek movie. It has its rough spots, particularly in the first half of the movie, but it all comes together quite nicely in the end. I left the theater feeling a little underwhelmed, but satisfied. I don't think it deserves the lavish critic praise its received (95% rating from rottentomatoes.com? are you kidding me?), but I can at least give the movie a mild recommendation.

I also managed to finish off Star Ocean this weekend, and my feelings regarding the game are actually remarkably similar. I made no secret of my disdain for the narrative portion of the game in my last post, but the second half of the game (the last two discs combined took me approximately 24 hours to complete, barely longer than the entirety of the first disc) actually incorporates some much-needed character development, plot expansion, and some much-needed puzzle elements into the mix. Rather than feeling embarrased that I was sitting through 30 minute sessions of vapid dialogue from inane, uninspired characters, I was genuinely impressed with the writing and the overall plot structure. The gameplay, too, generally improved as I gradually reached the game's climax - the characters eventually faced off with a nihilistic nemesis bent on destroying the universe in the name utilitarianism (are you paying attention, Trekkies?)! Overall, like Star Trek, I can't help but think the game has been excessively praised by too many people, but overall, I think that the gaming community has done a far better job assessing the merits and shortfalls of Star Ocean than most movie critics have done in their critique of Star Trek.

On one hand, I'm slightly surprised that my feelings regarding both Star Ocean and Star Trek are so similar; on the other hand, considering that Star Ocean Producer Yoshinori Yamagishi has said many times that the series is heavily influenced by the original Star Trek, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised that my sentiments regarding the former are so remarkably similar to my sentiments for the latter.

And so, a mild recommendation for both Star Trek and Star Ocean. Suffice it to say, both are good, but definitely not great.

Any thoughts?