You know him from his spot-on monthly reviews, and you know the other him from Digital Championship Wrestling and Captain Eric’s Super Thumbs. That’s right! This month in Versus Mode it’s:
Steve Hamner vs. Eric Regan~!
1. PS3’s going to have a lot of trouble catching up to the 360.
Steve Hamner: Bzzzt! No! I should preface this by saying I wage an eternal holy war against Micro$oft and am a big fan of my PS2, but facts will bear me out on this.
First off, Microsoft generated no end of customer ill will by the complete SNAFU of the release of the 360. Moms dragged their kids into GameStop to ask the manager to explain why he’d ruined Christmas. Second, Sony already has commitments from no end of developers—the 360 came out with a good handful of titles, but the PS3 will come out with a truckload. Finally: Blu-ray. Whether it pans out as the next big thing or not, the PS3 is breaking new ground whereas the 360 is still playing on DVDs.
A mockup of the PlayStation 3.
Eric Regan: No, though the PS3 will probably go through the initial nitpicking and complaining that comes whenever any console is released. The 360 should also have at least SOME playable games by the time PS3 finally rolls out as well.
However, PS3 will be released during a holiday season, undoubtedly making it the MUST HAVE gift of the year. So it will get it’s hype, and it since it already has such a loyal fanbase it would be pretty hard to imagine PS3 having a hard time catching up to the 360. PERHAPS it will be slightly slowed, but nothing Sony will be worrying about.
2. There are so many other games that should’ve been honored on the Walk of Game before Starcraft.
Steve: That’s hard to say. There are perhaps better games, and a number of classics that didn’t get the nod, but Starcraft is incredibly deserving not just for the game it was, but for what it did to the RTS genre. It was the first to include an AI that employed competent strategy—those of you that played Dune or the first two Warcrafts can attest that a pair of hamsters could emerge victorious over the AI in those three games. It was also the first to make online multiplayer such a huge part of the experience; Blizzard’s battle.net made setting up multiplayer matches easy, and there was always a good game to be found.
Eric: No. Starcraft brought some life into the RTS genre and brought it to the masses. Not many games can say that because there really aren’t that many genres out there. It was one of the first games that made online multiplayer with other players an actual possibility and not just a crapshoot. Not even the other RTS’s made by its own company can say that. StarCraft had a a lot of staying power and developed a rather rabid fanbase. Because it helped popularize its genre, Starcraft deserves the nod.
3. Nintendo should stick with “Revolution” as its new console’s name.
Steve: Damn straight. “Revolution” says everything that needs to be said about this console. It’s taking gaming in a new and exciting direction with a change in how we play games; at least that’s what the big N is telling us. Not only that, the word Revolution totally sings—it smacks of freedom, innovation and modernization, which is EXACTLY what Nintendo’s trying to do.
A mockup of the Nintendo… well… something.
Eric: Yes! Well I mean, maybe they could call it the Super Wacky Fun Machine 6000, or the Shiny Play Octagon… or or…. Really, all of the other names that Nintendo or whoever has been coming up with and spreading around are just lame. Look Nintendo, you already cartoonify your games enough! I do not need to be playing the Ultra Plushpinkfuzz Triple Screen. STICK WITH SOMETHING DECENT, for the love of God!
4. Movies on PSP was a bad idea to begin with.
Steve: Absolutely. The resolution isn’t as good as the iPod, and a dedicated portable DVD player is a better buy for the film-starved traveler. UMD flicks are trading at game stores for pocket change—I think that says it all. The PSP is a slick little gaming platform, but Sony should’ve quit while they were ahead.
Eric: Yes, it really really was. Who likes to go to the movies alone? Who spends two plus hours away from people and away from their homes often enough that they would need some hot movie action in their hands? It just doesn’t seem that Sony really thought it all through. It SOUNDS cool when you think about it, but at the same time can you ever think of a time when you really would make use of it?
Add all of that to the fact that it costs the same amount as a regular DVD that you can like, buy and watch on a normal-sized screen with other human beings and well, there really isn’t much incentive to buy one. Unless of course, all of us gamers have no friends… DAMNATION!
5. It’s Princess Peach, not Princess Toadstool.
Steve: Yeah… this is really a thing? Seriously, they can call her Maude or Prudence as long as I can play a little Super Princess Peach on my DS.
A mockup of the princess.
Eric: No, I dont care if it was a typo, and I dont care if they have called her Peach in multiple titles. In all the Mario games that ever mattered I remember her as Princess Toadstool. I dont live in Japan, I call it Dragon Warrior and not Dragon Quest, I only know the Final Fantasy’s by the numbers they were released in the US. She rules the MUSHROOM Kingdom! Mushrooms. Toadstools. Ooooh yeaaahh.
