Project Natal … are we really ready for you, I mean do we all really want to go from work to sitting on our couch playing games with a controller, or do we really want to come home from work and start playing game like an inhanced paint program and start moving around some more and not play games like Call of Duty, or Halo, or Fable, or Fallout 3. I mean is motion sensing really what we all want? I think that everyone thinks it’s kind of cool for parties and stuff but that’s really about it because I really hate playing Wii Sports by myself. I think Project Natal will be a great feature or accessory but I think Microsoft really needs to think this one through and put their money to their OS and to better quality XBL and to their game studios of course. As for the other companies keep it up but keep making games with controllers too. Please… As Stephen Colbert said about Project Natal “ if a child has a skate board, and has the skill to ride a skate board, no longer has to ride a skate board”
-Chad
If you don’t understand why there is such nerd outrage, it’s because the average development cycle for a Valve game lasts around half a decade. Half-Life, arguably their biggest game ever, didn’t get a sequel until 2004, nearly 6 years after its release. Team Fortress 2 was nearly vaporware until its release in 2008, nearly a decade after the release of the original mod for Half-Life. So for Left 4 Dead to get a sequel almost exactly one year after its original release is odd for a development company like Valve.
The other side of the nerd rage is the lack of content that was packed into the disc and the amount of content that was given to the players post-release. Left 4 Dead was priced as a full-price game, but had the content of your average expansion pack. Post-release, it was patched in with free downloadable content (which was nice) but the amount of content was minimal, at best (you get one new mode which is basically Horde mode from Gears of War 2).
Now Valve claims that the sequel for Left 4 Dead will have a lot more content than its predecessor, but how much can we believe this claim? I love Valve as a developer, but they are barely trustworthy. Their own firm release dates are never met, and Gabe Newell’s “fantastic and futuristic” episodic content system is long forgotten. He promised “6-8” months between the Half-Life 2 episodes – it’s nearly two years after the release of The Orange Box (and in it, Episode 2) and we have seen hide nor hair of Episode 3.
Over 25,000 people have now signed a petition on the Steam forums boycotting the release of the new Left 4 Dead, pledging they won’t buy it. Internet petitions rarely work, but I hope Valve can take notice and at least realize that in the current economic climate, where video games are considered a luxury item, they can’t charge full price for a game that is nothing more than a half-price expansion pack!
You know whom I blame for this? The console crowd – who oftentimes have more money than sense (no offense guys and gals, it’s the truth). Console folk are gouged when it comes to downloadable content – map packs and extra stuff post release is just considered part of a patch (free of course) to PC players. So the idea of an expansion pack (usually ranging in cost from 25 to 35 dollars) is alien to the console people. Valve is taking advantage of this, because they know their biggest sales for Left 4 Dead 2 will be on the XBOX360, easily.
That’s what makes me sad, mostly. A developer like Valve, who is in neither any dire economic situation or has a history of this kind of gouging, bilking their fans. It’s disloyal. It’s mean. It’s almost Activision-y.
- - Baljot
First off, I’d like to take a second and greet you with a dashing smile and a quick handshake. My name is Josh, and I will be telling you about Sony’s E3 ’09 Press Conference. I know, I know it’s a little late, but I didn’t see anything about it on DBC so here it is.
Kicking things off, Sony announced that they have 364 titles coming out amongst their three platforms. 35 of which will be exclusive. (That’s right PS2 fans, Sony still showing you some love.) I gotta say I’m pretty excited for what’s ahead for the PS3. What’s ahead you ask? Well, I’ll tell ya…
I’ll start things off with a bang and talk about our first glimpse of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Let me tell you, this game looks Be-A-Utiful. Looking from a top a tall city building over everything else below was just mind blowing. Nathan Drake makes his return with a new sexy sidekick for all of us to ogle at. (YES!) In the demo Drake and his compatriot are being hunted by a chopper, of course there are a lot of bangs, booms, and ahhhs as everything culminates into a the collapse of a building that Drake and friend are still trying to escape. Do they make it? Watch and you’ll see. Expect Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to be out sometime this November.
This brings us to the next exclusive title for the PS3, MAG. FPS fans rejoice because I believe this game is going to redefine the way we play objective based multiplayer online upon release. Boasting an impressive 265 online multiplayer online demo at the conference, I cannot wait to see this live. Everything seemed so smooth from issuing commands to landing carefully placed shots between the eyes of the enemy. What gets me is how slow paced the combat is. It’s not like Call of Duty or Halo where you just run and gun. There’s actually a lot of strategy that goes with the gunplay. (Go figure right?) Look for MAG to carpet bomb onto shelves third quarter of this year.
