Script for Haze longer than the script for MGS4?

In a recent interview conducted by Sci Fi channel with Free Radical’s Rob Yascombe, an interesting little tidbit was released. Yascombe, the writer for Haze, mentioned that the screenplay of Haze was around 120 pages long, and that the actual script was 1000 pages long. This seems like a bit of an overkill for a FPS like Haze… Comparatively, David Hayter has mentioned several times on his IMDB page that the script for MGS4 is “roughly 800 pages”. Is Haze in store for a peculiarly epic plot? Or perhaps Hayter wasn’t including side conversations and those in-game “Whose footprints are these!?” one liners?

At any rate, its something interesting to note. Free Radical’s Haze is due out exclusively for the PS3 on May 20th.

Reviews are just opinions, grow up people

This is something I’ve had bottled up for a long time.

Reviews have become the word of God as of late. The reviewers themselves, Gods of the industry. With each review posted, hundreds of fanboys gather like vultures to fresh giblet of road kill under the high noon sun. They analyze every sentence, every word, every piece of punctuation, leaving no stone unturned. They arm themselves with every pro and con, and then head out to duke it out on their favorite message board. When a game is released and a major publication doesn’t give it the score its supposed to get, World War III erupts. Out of every crevice comes a fanboy, each with his own two cents to add. Message boards turn into warzones, and intelligent conversation into a casualty.

Unfortunately, the publications don’t help the matter either. Its not unusual for a lesser known publication to post a bad review of a good game to get a few more hits. Even the game developers have become more proactive in the situation – now some developers threaten to pull advertising revenue if their games receive negative reviews, tarnishing the bias of reviews(check out some issues GameSpot and EGM have run in to).

Fact of the matter is, however, that reviewers are not Gods, and their reviews are not the gospel. They are simply people, like you and I. Granted, they have played A LOT of games, but so have many of us as well. Their rantings and ravings have no more weight then the dribble of your resident message board troll(well, provided the troll has actually played the game in question, which is not the case most of the time). In fact, with some hardcore genres, like fighters, they have even less bearing – how is a writer that has to review X amount of games a week ever going to have enough time to figure out the ins and outs that make or break the system in games like Marvel VS Capcom 2?

So the next time you read a review, before you waste your time dissecting it line by line and articulating how inaccurate it is about your favorite game, step back. Read the main points, think about the audience the review is written for, and the motive behind it. Ignore the numbers, even. Then remember that its someones opinion. Be an adult, be rational. Reviews are just opinions, and everyone is entitled to their own.

And Smash fans, 9.5 is good, shut the fuck up.

80GB PS3 bundle to be discontinued?

After rumors popped up last Monday that the PS3 may be in store for a new price cut, Sony was quick to shoot it down. However, more reports have been coming in that indicate Sony is doing SOMETHING funky with their PS3 lineup. Major retailers across the country have reportedly been receiving notices from Sony to discontinue selling the 80GB model. BestBuy.com has even removed the 80GB PS3 from their website, listing only the 40GB PS3. Target.com has changed the 80GB PS3 to ‘available in stores only’.

This leads to two situations – either the 80GB bundle is being revamped or its being discontinued altogether. The 80GB bundle with Motorstorm was originally supposed to be a ‘limited time offer’. Also, in both Europe and Japan, the 40GB model is the only model actively produced. Making only one PS3 model would go the long way in simplifying the PS3 lineup, which has confused consumers to no end.

Many have argued that Sony would be stupid to do this, as then there would not be a PS3 with PS2 compatibility(all PS3s can play PS1 games). However, as stated before, the US is the only market where a PS3 with PS2 compatibility is still actively produced. Sony has indicated that the majority of its consumers were least interested in a function that allowed them to play PS2 games. Going by sales numbers of Motorstorm, this may be correct – the 40GB PS3 regularly outsold the 80GB PS3 all throughout the holiday months, perhaps indicating that the majority of the consumers are buying the PS3 for PS3 games or Blu Ray playback, not PS2 games. Additionally, Kotaku reported that Sony is still looking to implement PS2 compatibility in the 40GB PS3 through software emulation, which means that the 40GB could possibly be able to play PS2 games at some point.

Expect to here further news about this later on down the line.

First look at Team ICO’s latest project

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan updated their career section with an interesting tidbit today – they added what appears to be a screenshot of the latest game coming from Team ICO. The picture shows simply a chain descending into a dark hole, with shadows surrounding area. The text on the website just describes the open positions in the team.

Team ICO announced its currently working on two PS3 titles, although information has been extremely sparse surrounding them. Outside of a rumor released last fall that one of the games would heavily emphasize the use of a hang glider, nothing has been said about either title. Regardless, the two titles are heavily anticipated. Team ICO and Fumito Ueda, the ones behind the PS2 classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, are known for pushing the boundaries of games and art, with captivating environments and innovative gameplay.

Hopefully more will be announced soon. Until then, keep your eye on Sony’s career section.

Guitar Healer

Sure, we all love playing Guitar Hero. Nothing beats a wild night of staying up ’til dawn, whaling along to “Through the Fire and the Flame” on your plastic Gibson with a few friends and a few beers. Its a fun, innovative game. But now, according to an article posted at ShackNews, Guitar Hero may also be a great tool in aiding physical rehabilitation.

One patient, for example, was told he would never regain full flexibility and rotation of his arm after an injury. However, with regular physical therapy, supplemented with playing Guitar Hero(which relies heavily on the aforementioned flexibility and rotation), the patient made a rapid and astonishing recovery.

Doctors further say that Guitar Hero could be used in physical therapy to include improved abdominal, lower back, and wrist strength, sitting balance, fine motor skills, and general endurance.

Check out the full article at ShackNews.com!

Final Roster for Super Smash Bros. Brawl revealed?

A screenshot has emerged recently that supposedly shows the final character select screen of SSBB, revealing the entire roster of characters. Behold:

However, theres a few things that make me question the validity of this screenshot. First, the profile pictures don’t seem to match up, in terms of art direction. Some seem to be in game models while others look they were taken from elsewhere. Second, Jigglypuff’s ear seems to overlap her picture’s boundary, which doesn’t happen anywhere else. Finally – wheres Zero Suit Samus, a character confirmed to be in it since day one?

Still, if this picture is real, I’m content with the roster. Its freakin’ huge! Good representation from all the different series too. Although I’m a bit disappointed that theres no Megaman or Bomberman, two 3rd party characters I was hoping they could acquire. Thank God they brought Ness back, though! OK!

Sony squashes PS3 price cut rumors

Reportedly, Kaz “Ridge Racer” Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, addressed recent rumors of a Playstation 3 price cut towards the end of January in the Japanese Bloomberg. As expected, he said that there were no plans for a price cut in any region, Japan, USA or Europe. Kaz insisted that anything reported was just mere speculation.

Of course, the week before E3 2007, when Target released its flier showing a $499 PS3, the price cut was also denied, as was the creation of the $399 40GB model. For the moment, however, Sony has made it clear: No PS3 price cut in the immediate future.

MGS4 demo debunked again… well, sorta.

Ryan Payton, the man in charge of localizing the heavily anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 for us English speaking audiences, has said time after time that Kojima Productions will not release a playable demo of MGS4. Payton insists that the time required to release a demo would be time away from completing the full game. That doesn’t stop fans from praying their will be one.

For a moment, it looked as if the millions of prayers had been answered. In the current issue of the UK gaming magazine Playstation World, they get some hands on time with a MGS4 demo. At the end of their preview, they say “Want more MGS4? Well, you’ll get it very soon. The stage played here will be out on the PSN store in the next month“. PS3 forums across the web have been on fire lately after the editor of PSW, Ian Dean, confirmed to MetalGearSolid4.net that this was indeed not a typo, and that the demo was slated to appear on the Playstation Network in February.

However, earlier today, MaxConsole contacted Konami and spoke with their public relations rep. They maintained that “We do not comment on speculation, I am afraid”, indicating that PSW’s confirmation was nothing more then speculation.

If you like to play the word twisting game, at least they didn’t specifically say there was no demo… Nonetheless, it looks like we are still in the dark on the issue. MGS fans, keep praying!

More rumors, more price drops

Microsoft’s XBox 360 may also be very well in for a price cut. TheBitBag.com recently released a rumor indicating that the 360 Premium may be in for a $50 price drop to coincide with the release of GTAIV. They claim “some unnamed person has tipped that Microsoft will be dropping the price of the Premium 360 another $49 on the same day that GTAIV gets released”.

No doubt that Microsoft has been looking to further distance itself price-wise from the PS3, ever since the 40GB and 80GB PS3s brought it within $50 of their 360’s competitors. This would not only further distance itself from the PS3, but also bring it into range to compete with the Nintendo Wii, especially if the the other 2 models followed similar price cuts. With exclusive content on the 360 and a price drop, Microsoft is making it a no brainer as to which console you should get if you want the most out of GTAIV.

Rumor: PS3 in store for yet another price drop?

Several posters at SlickDeals.net are reporting that the PS3 may have yet another price drop towards the end of the month. Many are rumoring that a $299 PS3 will be announced on January 28. SlickDeals.net is a website dedicated to providing consumers with the latest prices in electronics, breaking the news of both of the previous PS3 price drops and the 360 price drop a few weeks early, along with the CheapAssGamer forums.

Though it does seem early for this to occur, Sony did recently announce that the price of manufacturing of the PS3 did drop, from $800 per unit at the launch to $400 currently. This is mainly due to the success of Blu Ray, especially with Warner Bros. going Blu Ray exclusive earlier this month. Now there are also rumors that Paramount found a loophole in their HD DVD exclusivity contract and will be going Blu Ray as well – leaving Universal and Dreamworks as the only remaining HD DVD studios.

Financially, the price cut makes sense, consoles have historically been sold at a loss at the beginning of their lifetime. The only consoles not sold at a loss at launch are the Sega Saturn(sold at the price to manufacture) and the Nintendo Wii(sold at a $100 profit for Nintendo). Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony make most of its money off of game licensing, not the actual console. For every game released, they developer must pay $10,000 worth of licensing fees to Sony(its traditionally been $20,000 for all 3 companies, but this was another cut Sony made to encourage developers recently). They also make a bulk of their profit from peripherals, like memory cards and controllers.

Still, I personally think it may be a bit too early for another price cut.

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