Last Generation Games

Iphone/Ipod touch Gaming

2009-08-06T15:25:00.002-07:00

I'm am a recent owner of an iPod touch (8gb, nothing fancy) and with this new hand-held wonder I decided it was finally time to start listening to people when they talk about iPhone games since I can play them now.

I used to think that gaming on an iphone would be a terrible experience. I would think "dude, I need buttons for this... no touch screen is going to do the trick." Well, I'm glad to say that I was at least halfway wrong. After trying terrible demos of Megaman 2, Resident Evil 4 and Assassin's Creed I was ready to give up the hope of conventional gaming on the iphone (mostly because I'm too cheap to buy Monkey Island and haven't yet tried Peggle)--but then something wonderful happened: I stumbled across a game by Gamevil called Baseball Stars. Baseball Stars is a very simple to play, but very deep baseball game that took me back to the days of RBI Baseball on the NES. I wore my RBI Baseball cartridge out as a kid. I played that game for years on my NES until it was replaced by Sega's Sports Talk Baseball on my Genesis. This game took my right back to those days instantly.

I started out with the Lite version of the game and after a few innings I was hooked. They almost dared my to upgrade to the full version with the incredible depth this baseball RPG. You can play a full 32 game season, develop your own created player, play mission mode and each is fun and rewarding. The art and style of the game is totally Japanese (you can have a hot nurse, tiger-man and a martial artist to name a few) and it works great for the game.

At $2.99 Baseball Stars is a steal and it was a worthy first purchase for my first iPod touch. It's amazing that one game has changed my preconcieved notions about a platform, but look out world: I'm on the iPhone gaming bandwagon!

Red Faction Recap

2009-07-26T15:02:00.001-07:00

I spent the past week or so romping through Mars playing Red Faction Guerrilla on the PS3 and overall had a good time with it. The story was severely lacking, especially since so much could have been done with the rebellion taking place on the red planet; but the good news is that the game itself brings the fun.

Taking out whole buildings using only a sledgehammer is some of the most fun I've had in a game in a long time, but you're not limited to a hammer you have a variety of weapon at your disposal. Destruction is made easy with rocket launchers, mechs, tanks, remote mines and all sorts of goodies that will allow you to take down any structure you see standing. If you don't like the way an apartment building looks, tear it down! The game won't puish you for needless destruction!

This brings me to one of my biggest issues aside from a lack of an involved story: though there is a penalty for killing civilians, there's no real consequence for it. City morale can be gained back faster than those recently killed can lose their body heat. This takes away from the realism of leading a rebellion on Mars--wait, did I just comment on the realism of taking leading a rebellion on Mars? Who cares? This is a fantasy! Let the bloodshed continue!

While Red Faction Guerrilla will never be mistaken for a deep game story-wise, the fun of running amok while taking out the Earth Defense Force will make you forget that this is nothing more than a fantastic sandbox. The shooting is fine, the driving is good enough, but what the game boils down to is busting up buildings and watching them fall.

Overall, I'm glad I purchased Red Faction Guerrilla, but I'll say right now it's not going to be a permanent member of my collection. It's worth a play, and a purchase if you can get it for less than $40, but even breaking shit can get kind of old when you don't care about the world or any of the characters.

E3 09 Reactions: Two for Tuesday (Part I)

2009-06-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

The first official day of E3 showcased not one, but two press conferences from heaver hitters Nintendo and Sony. Both companies had a lot to live up to after Mocrosoft's slick and content heavy presentation. Today I'll Focus on Nintendo's money train parade with news on the Wii.

Nintentuesday:
I'm going to be honest:I had little interest in watching the Nintendo conference. I was disappointed with last year's conference and though I had a feeling this year would no doubt be more exciting, I didn't feel it was going to be something I really wanted to see. After reading the recap I'm glad I didn't waste my time with it.

The low of the conference from what I have gathered was the introduction of the Wii Vitality Sensor. This device will hook into your Wiimote where your nun chuck traditionally attaches. The peripheral itself seems wacky, but the craziest thing about the announcement of the vitality sensor is that nothing was shown using it. The device recognizes your pulse and that will somehow help you relax when and if somebody develops technology for it. My biggest problem with this is that if you're going to make an announcement of a future product, why not give something more than a speech of what it has the potential to do. What was presented seemed that it would be more appropriate in an internal development meeting than a public press conference. I've made the mistake of doubting Nintendo before, but I'll stick to my guns and say this isn't going to have a big impact on gaming.

The conference wasn't all bad; the Wii Motion Plus was demonstrated for the second year in a row and all signs are pointing towards a more accurate Wiimote being beneficial for developers on the Nintendo's tiny sales titan.

The sizzle reel for the Motion Plus showed athletes in what appeared to be a holodeck straight from Star Trek with various people playing real sports and doing real activities with the Wiimote and Wii Motion Plus taking the place of their physical tools. This lead into a second year of Wii Sports Resort at E3. The sequel to one of the best selling games of all time will feature table tennis, basketball, samurai swod play, archery, Kaiyaking, firsbee dog action and the return of golf. The game looks fun and will sure to be a sales monster.

Other announcements showcases Nintendo's main man Mario in two all new Wii titles: New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2. NSMBW is a four player cooperative side-scroller in the same vein as Zelda Four Swords Adventures, while SMG2 is a direct sequel to arguably one of the Wii's greatest titles: 2007 release Super Mario Galaxy.

Nintendo continued its appeal to the core gaming audience with trailers from Sega's The Conduit, Capcom's Resident Evil: the Darkside Chronicles and EA's Dead Space: Extraction. This was the real meat of the press conference, but unfortunately these were only represented by trailers and no live game play was shown.

Big N ended the conference with the first glimpse at the new Metroid: Other M, which being developed by Techmo's Team Ninja. The trailer showed fast paced game play and a very Japanese art style to one of Nintendo's most hardcore franchises. Team Ninja is know more for big boobs and blood, so it's going to be interesting to see what their take on a Nintendo icon will be once it's in our hands come 2010.

The press conference wasn't so bad, but the lack of live demonstrations outside of a few first party titles was a letdown after Microsoft did so much the day before. This was a definate step up for Nintendo and the highlights of the conference reached great heights.

Stay tuned for Sony as I finish the big three conferences.

[ Nintendo Press Conference @ Gamespot.com ]

E3 09 Reactions: Microsoft Monday

2009-06-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

With the start of June came the new Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) and this year was certainly one to behold. Now that the show is over and all has been said and done on with the big conferences and the show floor, it's time to reflect on what stood out the most Monday.

Today's Memories:

The first Major event of the show came the day before the show officially started with the Microsoft press conference. Microsoft came out of the gates swinging bringing out guests that are legitimate world superstars with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Steven Spielberg as well as gaming superstars Peter Molyneux, Hideo Kojima, Bungie and the Infinity Ward guys. But Microsoft wasn't going to get by on star Power; they showed a strong lineup of games coming soon.

The first game that made an impact was The Beatles Rock Band which is coming to the 360, PS3 and Wii this fall. I was looking forward to buying this game when it came out but I wasn't excited for its release until I saw the trailer and was reminded that the Beatles were the soundtrack of my early childhood -- Well played Microsoft, I'm on board.

Another game of significance to me was Splinter Cell Conviction. This game was stuck in limbo after facing countless delays, but the live demo at the conference cast aside any doubts that this game has the potential to be awesome when it releases in the fall. Projecting story elements and mission information onto in game environments is a unique way of keeping a game fluid and adding an element of style into what is essentially a dark and gritty reboot of a successful last generation franchise.

Modern Warfare 2 was featured with a lengthy live demo and a new snow environment, but it wasn't all that exciting for me. Not that the game didn't look great, but I'm one of the few people in the planet that prefers WWII shooters to modern shooters. Maybe it's the degree in history talking, but WWII is far more interesting than some near future, fake Middle Eastern and fallen Soviet countries. With that said I'm sure I will own this game before the calendar changes to 2010.

A big surprise in the conference came in the form of Hideo Kojima "sneaking up" on Don Mattrick and delivering the announcement of Metal Gear Rising was in development for the Xbox 360 (which was later confirmed to be in development for the PS3 as well). No game play was shown, but the announcement of the first Metal Gear game for the 360 is significant.

Last year's big surprise, Final Fantasy XIII was shown for the first time on the Xbox with a short battle summons demo presented by Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Katasi. The visuals looked great, but my excitement for this game won't pick up until after the new year since it's a planned Spring 2010 game.

Nothing else is coming to mind as far as the presser goes (though I know I have left things out), nothing but Project Natal of course. Natal is Microsoft's new full body motion sensor that completely eliminates the need for a physical controller. Natal seems like a it can be awesome and it can literally change the way we play our games in the future. Natal was demoed live on stage with a simple game featuring motion capture game of a girl kicking and slapping balls in some sort of full body pong and it seemed to work well. Microsoft then launched a sizzle reel of what you could do with Natal in the future that showed facial recognition, item scanning and a whole host of different possibilities for what Natal can do with the right development. The biggest thing shown with Natal was the inclusion of Peter Molyneux's Milo, which is a young virtual boy that can sense your emotion and even engage in conversation with you.

My problem with the Natal demo is that most of the coolest possibilities weren't shown live. I have my doubts on what will actually work until it's right in front of me and working. I would love to see Natal in person, and if it works as advertised it's going to be a huge deal for Microsoft in the future.

Overall the Microsoft was big on style and substance and I don't think anyone could have walked away from that conference disappointed.

[Watch The Microsoft Conference @ Gamespot]

A Weekend With inFamous

2009-05-31T23:53:00.000-07:00

This week the PS3 saw two exclusive retail releases in Sucker Punch's inFamous and NIS America's Cross Edge and I had the pleasure of receiving them both in the mail this Saturday afternoon. Great news, but I had to decide which game to open up and which one finds a place on my shelf to be returned to when the weather is hotter. And as you may be able to infer from the title, Cross Edge is on my game shelf sitting next to unopened copies of Valkyria Chronicles and Disgaea 3.

Now on to the meat.

So I spent the majority of my Saturday and Sunday playing the hot new Sony exclusive and I'm going to say it was well worth not getting anything done. The game starts with a bang (literally!) as you're set in the middle of a disaster area known as Empire City as soon as you hit start on the title screen not fulling knowing what has happened to the city around you; but the one thing that is for sure is that you need to make your way out. As you escape what is seemingly the epicenter of the blast you witnessed at the title screen you're introduced to the first of three districts you will either work to conquer or reclaim as the gravel-voiced protagonist Cole MacGrath. The fate of Empire city is in your hands as you have developed the ability to harness and manipulate electricity in a variety of unique ways. Cole has an effective arsenal at his disposal, which only grows in power as you progress through missions at your leisure.

I decided to live out my dreams of becoming a superhero, so I walked the path of the righteous and defend Empire city from drugged up thugs and crazy homeless men thus far. In what I would estimate is roughly 2/3 of the story progression I have encountered countless minions of evil and some great complementary characters. The city itself is a character as it is in shambles after you start your journey. The more good deeds I did for citizens and police in specific districts, the more land I reclaimed for the people to conduct their lives safely. The safer the land, the better the city started looking as trash was cleaned up and life started to get as close to normal as a quarantined city recovering from a large explosion can be. Along with the rejuvenation cane the support of the people who once labeled me a terrorist. Initially I was assaulted verbally and threatened by people on the street, but once they saw the work I was doing I became the belle of the ball! The same people who wished I was dead are now flashing pictures of me as I go by and supporting my fights with lesser enemies by throwing rocks at them as distractions. You really feel a part of the city as the people rally behind you.

As for how the game play, you can tell these guys made the Sly Cooper games for the PS2. You can climb on anything you see and it controls as smooth as butter. Your primary lightning attack controls like a third person action shooter and the further your progress, the cooler your abilities come. Whether you're jumping from the tops of buildings bringing down the thunder on some fools or grinding the rails as you zap nearby enemies the game never stops being fun and never reaches any significant level of frustration. The variety of missions will keep you from feeling like you're repeating yourself and the rewards for completing your missions will give you a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

All in all this is a good looking game that performs exceptionally well with absolutely no loading times. The comic book style cut scenes compliment the stylized character art and give you the feeling of playing through a graphic novel. The character voices are well acted and the dialogue never feels cheesy or forced.

inFamous is the perfect cure for the summertime blues and a must buy if you own a PS3. The trophies are awarded in such a manner that encourages you to play through multiple times as there are morality specific choices that can't be repeated. I have a feeling playing as a bad Cole will result in a far different experience than my good Cole has produced so far, so I'll be back for seconds when this play through is up.

The Return

2009-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

For a long time (53 weeks if you're counting!) I've been away from this blog, still reading and dreaming of becoming a gaming journalist. Well, in January of this year my dreams started slipping away with the unceremonious end of Electronic Gaming Monthly--better known as EGM. I was a subscriber to EGM when it was left to die and had a dream of one day writing for my favorite magazine and when the magazine was discontinued by parent company Ziff Davis my writing aspirations began to leave me as I finished my final semester in college. As I took my last finals and applied for graduate school my urge to write reamined, but my shining beacon of light was gone; EGM was finished and I needed to continue on with my path to becoming a teacher. As teaching opportunities dry up in the midst of a state budget crsis with no forseeable I am still determined to become a credentialed teacher, but my dreams of writing have been given a new life.

After a day of observing high school students I saw something in a Kotaku headline that reivigorated my desire to write: Electronic Gaming Monthly To Return! So with the return of my favorite magazine I've been inspired to return to Last Generation games and write once again, but take a different appraoch to what I was doing. I no longer want to focus on older games or just writing reviews, I want to cover news and give a personal input with my own style. So we (and by we I mean the "royal" we) here at last gen are back!

Have a look at the EGM press release announcing an imminent return.

[ EGM Press Release ]

Metal Gear Solid: A Fresh Perspective

2008-05-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

With June 12th rapidly approaching my excitement for the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 grows each day, my mind wanders mid-day and visions of the various Metal Gear Trailers infiltrate my thoughts. I can't wait to play through the finals chapter of the Metal Gear Series! I want to see how Kojima could possibly tie all of the crazy loose ends he left unbound the past three games--the only problem is that I have no clue to what those loose ends are.

You see, as of last week the game I had played the most in the Metal Gear series was the Recently released Metal Gear Online Beta, which I had played for about 2 hours on upon it's initial release. I know, it's crazy isn't it? How could I possibly miss one of the most beloved stealth action franchises to ever hit the playstation? It's easy. I'm a fool.

10 years ago Hideo Kojima and Konami released the first Modern Metal Gear game. In it's day it was critically acclaimed for it's amazing fully 3D graphics, it's unique play mechanics and most of all, it's story. The game went over so well that Five years later, it was remade for the Nintendo GameCube with updated graphics, controls and even redirected cutscenes. But for the sake of this article, I will limit my recollections of the game to the Original PlayStation.

Recently, in March I went to my local game retailer to preorder Metal Gear Solid 4 I decided it was time to put an end to my ignorance of the series and pick up the Metal Gear essentials box set. My purchase would sit on my shelf for weeks until something went off in my heard and reminded me that it was Mid-May already and I only had a few weeks to play through the whole box set, which I needed to do in order to understand what was going on during the 4th game. So on Sunday this week, I popped Metal Gear Solid into my PS3 and started to play.

My first impression when I saw the opening scene was that we have come a long way as far as graphics go in the 10 years following the original game's release. As soon as I took control of Snake for the first time I worked to familiarize myself with the controls; everything seemed to be in order so it was time to start the game. The sneaking worked well enough, but one of the first things I noticed after I started to move around within the first area was that many of the abilities I would assume Snake would have were not there. Snake couldn't jump, couldn't climb and couldn't one-hit kill anyone from behind. I was disappointed, but the game is 10 years old and can be forgiven for things that it lacks.

The second thing I noticed is that the game is hard. Very hard. I was killed many times just in the first area, but I was never frustrated; I made mistakes and the game punished me for them. The difficulty made me develop skills in stealth I rarely use in games as I am more of the fun and gun type of player. Metal Gear Solid does an excellent job of making you play the game as a stealth operative. You're not going to mindlessly shoot your way through this game as a one man army, you're going to have to sneak, hide and kill when possible. As the game went on, I found myself getting used to these controls and enjoying the limitations that were placed upon me; the challenge was great. As you move through the game, you acquire a large arsenal of specilized weaponry, but the primary game mechanics aren't focused around gunplay outside of boss battles.

The story on the other hand had no problems hooking me. Prior to playing the game I didn't read any back story concerning the original Metal Gear games so all of the characters were new to me. As the game goes on there will be more references to characters that don't appear in the game and plot points that wont be completely understood if you haven't read up on the two previous Metal Gear games for the NES, so I would recommend reading up on those before getting too deep into the story. Aside from the needed series history, the story is twisted and confusing in a good way. You never quite know what's really going on until you get to the end of the game. The over the top boss characters have been deeply thought out and leave an impression on you, especially in the case of the character Psycho Mantis.

My experience of playing Metal Gear Solid for the first time was an enjoyable one and it has me looking forward to playing the next game in the series. The game's mix of stealth action, shooting and crazy story has made me a fan of the series. For a game that is 10 years old, it hold manages to hold up well and deserves the hype and praise it earned back in it's heyday.

GTA IV: The Review

2008-05-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

Grand Theft Auto IV is Rockstar North's latest addition to the storied Grand theft Auto series and the most ambitious to date. The opening sequence introduces you to the main character in Nico Belic as he arrives to Liberty City on a freighter in search of a new life of luxury and glamor that his cousin Roman has dazzled him with in sensational letters and emails.

The story unfolds in a the simulated New York City known as Liberty City (the site for three previous games in the Grand Theft Auto Universe), which spans four unique districts that are microcosms of their real life counterparts. Rockstar's attention to detail in the design of Liberty City easily takes hold of you as you explore the islands little by little as the story unfolds. The visuals in Grand Theft Auto have improved exponentially in the four years since the last game in the aeries San Andreas hit the shelves. The characters are greatly detailed and the addition of bloody clothing after meting the business end of flying bullets adds a real feel of losing health when shot. A major element to this new and improved Liberty City is the inhabitants that can all pass for everyday people because they have a very organic feel to them. If you try to slowly run them over, they're going to put their hands out in front of them to protect themselves and they're going to realistically react to a someone being killed unlike previous games where the NPCs would gather around a fresh corpse to catch a glimpse. You're also going to get subtle details like people's cell phones ringing and being answered, people reacting to you bumping into them and dropping what they're holding in reaction to your interactions with them. The NPCs seem almost real at times, one time in particular I was impressed on a trip to Happiness Island (Ellis Island in the real world) when a man took out a camera to snap a picture of the statue of Happiness (Statue of Liberty) . Small details like that really make the whole experience of being a Liberty City surreal.

The Controls in Grand Theft Auto IV have been modified from previous offerings to offer more realistic driving and a better targeting system. The new driving controls make driving like a madman through the streets of Liberty city more difficult and adds great disparity between types of cars and trucks you drive. I found driving to be difficult at first, but after a couple of hours into my first play session I was able to master the driving and was was drifting around corners away from the police with ease.

Speaking of the police, the wanted system has been changed for to accompany a seemingly more realistic fleeing system. Gone are the star icons that lower your wanted level and with that, a new radius system system has been implemented in which your goal is to escape the police line of sight; the more wanted stars you have, the bigger the radius the police have to spot you in. This new system seems to punish you if you try to flee on a straight path as police units will be dispatched to intercept you outside of their line of sight by predicting your path, and if the spot you, the police radius will reset to center on where you were last spotted. Making quick turns and using a less predictable path will provide better results for fleeing the police.

Another new implementation is the use of a Cell phone that will act as a mission initiator and allow you to call your in-game friends, do bonus missions and acts as the launchpad for the Multiplayer game modes, which are new to the series. The phone can be great because it allows you to call for a cab when you don't feel like physically driving to your next location, you can call your lawyer girlfriend (who you can meet online) when you're in a spot of trouble to eliminate your wanted level and it genuinely adds to the story as characters will call you; likewise you will call people you're doing jobs for to inform them that your task has been completed. The phone also can be your biggest source aggravation. There are times when you're just about to start a mission you might get a call from a friend asking if you want to go out to drink or maybe hit up a strip club, or you may get an angry call from a girlfriend that you have neglected guilt tripping you into going out with them again. The phone is a cool concept, but it can act as a ball and chain because your relationships you establish affect the story and will provide you with benefits if they are well maintained.

Of everything I mentioned, the most important, improved, compelling and interesting, the story being told stands out far above the rest. After a few missions Niko will begin to divulge information about his past and at that point I began to grow attached to him as a character and began to pay more attention to what I was doing as I played. When I first started jacking cars I would shoot people in cars in the face to steal their cars because it ensured no resistance. Later I began to believe that even though Niko kills for a living, he was better than killing random strangers for their cars. Sure, he would steal at the drop of a hat, but I began to feel bad for making him kill innocents for no reason. It's a strange effect that I haven't felt in past iterations of the series. The story is a standalone story as GTA typically goes, so there is no need to play any of the previous games before jumping into Liberty City.

Grand Theft Atuo IV is a strong title that can be picked up and played for hours on end. I personally took about 42 hours of play to beat the main story and select side missions. The joy of playing the first current generation title of the GTA series will keep me coming back to Liberty city and I feel it's a must play for anyone who is interested in open-world games, fast-paced driving and shooting and anyone who has enjoyed a previous GTA title.

Hard At Work.

2008-05-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

So, you may have noticed a whole lot not going on here at last generation games over the past couple of weeks and for that I apologize.

Right now I'm the only staff since Jeff is on active duty for the Marines and I have a job, school and a band to work with, but that doesn't mean I haven't been finding time for games!

Just to fill you all in, I've been playing Tales of the Abyss and I'm 45 hours into it, but a busy schedule and the release of Grand Theft Auto IV have thrown me off track for my review, but don't worry it's on it's way as I am looking to put in some time on the game this weekend!

Now, I'm not sure how often I'm going to fill the lull with mindless drivel posts like this, but only time will tell. I did a bad thing and decided to pick a ton of PS2 RPGs to review and not a whole lot of short games so my reviews wont be a plentiful to start the site out, but I'm going to pick a game that is less than 60 hours for my next review so I can get it out in a timely fashion.

I have a ton of games here in the Last Gen office and just this week alone picked up Devil May Cray 4 (PS3), GTA IV (360), Lost Odyssey and shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne for review on top of the sprawling list of games I have in the vault. Most of them are going to easily breach the 40 hour mark, but rest assured I will get through them and hopefully Jeff will post some interesting stuff up when he's off active duty. Also, I'm going to be writing some news stories similar to the Movies article I did last month to fill the void between my reviews.

Anyway, I just thought I would give you all a heads up and let you know that Last Gen is "Still Alive" and we're eating our delicious and moist cake.

Are Games Detracting Theater Audiences?

2008-04-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PS3 and Xbox 360, it's all but guaranteed that millions of people will be staying home to get their fix of Liberty City come April 29th. The highly anticipated title will be the first Current Generation offering from the GTA series and has already reached over 3 million preorders in the US alone.

With this kind of selling power, gamers will no doubt be devoting a considerable amount of time in front of their televisions making good use of their new purchase. With an estimated 100+ hours of gameplay from the single player missions and the bonus of a slew of multiplayer options, a first for the series, people may choose to spend the week at home rather than going out.

This is a cause for concern in the film industry, where the new Iron Man flick will hit theaters just three days after the release of GTA IV.

The target demographic for both the film and the game are virtually the same for both titles, so the potential audience can for Iron Man's opening weekend could be sapped by GTA's release. Will gamers take a break from their misadventures in Liberty City to watch Tony Stark become Iron Man? Can a film release really be affected by the release of a videogame?

Hollywood is worried that this can absolutely happen.

In October 2007, Halo 3 was blamed for the poor box office showing of the Ben Stiller film "The Heartbreak Kid," which was released in the wake of Halo 3's September 25th release date. The rest of the film industry also suffered supposedly under the weight of Master Chief's gun as it was reported that total industry sales were down 27% compared to 2006 figures.

Personally, I think that Hollywood might have reason to fear big games releases in the future as the game industry continues to increase its mainstream appeal. I know that given the choice between buying a quality $60 game and playing all weekend and paying $10.50 for a night at the movie theater, I'll tend to take the game unless there are other incentives to get me out of the house. I generally only will go out to see a film in a group or on a date, otherwise I'll wait until I can watch it at my leisure in my own home.

The initial investment does cost more for a game, but with a game I'm going to be getting more time spent per dollar than I would for the 90-120 minutes I'll be spending in the theater. Games can also be played through multiple times and I have the option to sell them after I've finished them.

The appeal of a new blockbuster game has more weight than the appeal of a new movie title. The problem is that many movies that are coming out these days are just rehashed old films, unwanted sequels, revived old television shows or just plain bad. there are plenty of good movies that reach the silver screen, but many of the best are often lost in the shuffle.

The film industry still has a saving grace: I'm not going to buy buy Lost Odyssey for a girl to watch me play on a Friday night. As the trend in gaming tends to lean toward being more social, this could change. My friends come over some weekends just to play Rock Band and Wii Sports instead of spending money on a movie, but there are times when it's nice to get out into the world, socialize and interact with other people. As long as going to the theater remains a social event and people are willing to pay to see the new terrible Superhero Movie or Meet the Spartans the industry wont have to worry too much, but it will have to get used to the new kid on the block in the form of videogames taking away some revenues.

Riccitello: Hollywood is 'worried' [ Gamespot ]

Everything Old is New Again!

2008-04-08T21:56:00.001-07:00

Today, when I got home from a long day of class, I was greeted by the smiling face of an Amazon.com box on my doorstep holding my brand new baby: a DUALSHOCK 3 controller. I then happily tore into the box to unearth my new controller. I (after taking this picture, of course) immediately opened the plastic fortress that protected this beauty from my greasy, dirty hands and, instead of popping in a compatible PS3 game, I got down to the nitty gritty and put in Tales of the Abyss for the PS2. I was worried that my shiny new controller wouldn't work with my old PS2 games, so my first task was to see if my concerns were unfounded.

Thankfully, any doubts that I had faded away once I initiated a battle and felt a familiar tingle in my hands. At first I almost didn't notice it. I still have rumble in my Xbox 360 controllers, but it's been over a year since I felt the gentle buzz of a PlayStation controller in my hands. The sensation of rumble just felt right and subtlety adds to the gameplay experience. The DUALSHOCK 3 also feels as if it can deliver more subtle rumbles to give a more authentic feel to your on screen experience. While playing MLB 08: The Show (PS3), I noticed that I immediately felt more connected to what was going on in front of me and was able to move carefully guiding my pitches into the strike zone, which coincidentally improved my game dramatically, though there's no way I can directly link my favorable game results to the controller any more than I can claim that Lady Luck is on my side.

The controller itself feels just right in your hands with the added weight the rumble offers. The controller feels more solid and less likely to snap after a frustrating game moment coupled with a controller squeeze. Other than the "DUALSHOCK 3" written above "SIXAXIS" on the front of the controller there have been no aesthetic changes made to body or design. The face buttons and analog sticks both feel the same as the SIXAXIS and respond just as well. The battery life for the DUALSHOCK 3 has been impressive and can be relied to survive any Final Fantasy throwback sessions on your PS3.

My only complaint is that my new controller didn't come with a USB cable because Sony is assuming that I am happy using my own that came with my PS3. Good ol' Sony cutting corners where they can.

I'm glad to see that Sony listened to consumers and brought this "last generation" technology into the now with the DUALSHOCK 3 controller, and with it, completed my PS2 gameplay experience by giving me what has been missing since I made the jump from last gen platforms to current generation. I might even play through some of my PS3 games again to experience the rumble for the first time and to see if they can replicate the immersion I felt during my play through the MLB 08: The Show.

Hello World

2008-04-07T13:51:00.001-07:00

This is a gaming blog that focuses primarily on games that have been passed by and forgotten, left to sit on store shelves unplayed. We here at last Generation Games will be focusing primarily on bringing you PS2/Gamcube and Original Xbox reviews now that the shine has worn off and reality about the games has set it. We will also be bringing you current Generation titles as well, because we don't just play the oldies here at Last Gen.

We'll also be giving you general articles about gaming, opinion editorials, book and movie reviews and anything else we feel will relate to the general gaming audience.

We will slowly begin working on this site as our schedules dictate, but expect some good stuff. History has been made today. Let's hope it lasts.

-Anthony Rondina and the LG Staff.

**EDIT SEPT 12, 2008**

The mission statement has changed and I'm doing this alone. Jeff's got his own life and never really got into the blog thing so I'm the staff. Game reviews right now will no longer be the focus. I'll still talk about games and may be compelled to play in the future, but for now it's going to be about stuff I want to write about concerning videogames and I'll still be rocking the old PS2 games as well as the current gen stuff.