06-10-09

This is so much fail…

Don’t ask why, but I was idly browsing the Harriet Carter site, a glorious domestic bazzare of gifts for old people and As Seen On TV products, when I stumbled upon the complete failure above.

“Guitar Hero® handheld game packs all the action of the monster video game into a pocket-sized version you can play anywhere!”

O RLY? I bet Free Bird sounds AWESOME on that tiny speaker.  For $17.98 plus shipping and handling, it even has a carabiner, so you can clip it to your belt and walk around with an overpriced piece of plastic shame dangling from your waist.  This is exactly the type of bullshit clueless parents buy their kids,  trying to save a few bucks, only to find it quickly disposed and forgotten.  They could just take their money to GameStop and buy a used copy of the real Guitar Hero for about the same price.

This deserves a spot on my Worst Gifts for Gamers list. Perhaps a Part 2 is in order.

12-31-08

2008 Kind of Sucked for Gamers

So it’s New Year’s Eve, and right on cue my annual bout of gamer’s retrospection is kicking in.  This is normally the part where I look back on all the games that came out during the year and reflect on how awesome the year in gaming has been.  But as 2008 comes to a close, I’m left feeling more disappointed than affectionate over this past year’s offerings.  And I’ve come to a somewhat alarming realization: 2008 kind of sucked for gamers.

2008 was supposed to be “the year for gamers” right?  But what did that really mean?  For the video game industry (well, except perhaps Sony) it meant huge sales figures and overhyped sold-out game launches, despite the failing economy.  (What recession?)

But for us gamers, 2008 was mostly a year of sequels and rehashes that we gladly lined up and shelled out big bucks for–again.  Blockbuster titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Gears of War 2… Noticing a pattern here?  Where was the originality and innovation in 2008?  And I’m not just talking about killer graphics–that’s something none of these games were short on.  I’m talking about the gameplay itself.  Riveting and unpredictable storylines, amazing characters, truly immersive worlds you can spend hours getting lost in–where were these things?  The games of 2008 seemed to be all style over substance, more hype and high-tech than moving and memorable.  Brittany Vincent over at TGR sums up my feeling exactly.  Where is the heart?

What was this year’s big “it” game?  GTA IV, according to Spike TV who awarded it Game of the Year.  Seriously?  I wonder how dead the horse has to be before the game companies stop beating it.  I don’t think I could bear another Call of Final Grand Theft of War 5 release.  I don’t care how realistic a game looks if that’s the only thing worth playing it for.  I don’t care if I can pick up and throw every object I see.

What I do care about is “that feeling” and I’m sure you know the one I mean–that euphoric feeling that can only come from playing a really amazing video game.  And that’s something 2008 hasn’t given me.

12-12-08

Sony PS3 Sales Slip, Not Surprisingly

Today CNN Money reports that sales of Sony’s PS3 have plummeted 19% from last year’s figures and the console is literally “dying on the shelves.”  Meanwhile, Xbox 360’s 2008 sales have improved over 2007 and Nintendo’s Wii continues to be a sellout since its launch.

So why am I not surprised?

Huge Pricetag

When it launched in November 2006, the PS3 cost $500 for a 40G model, and $600 for a 60G model.  And that price only included one controller and no games.  Who could afford to spend that kind of money on a bare-bones video game console?  Certainly not me, and I’m a single adult in the 18-35 demo with a great job who loves video games–their target market.  So I can’t even imagine how parents struggled to afford this price-bloated piece of plastic plus a $60 game game or two, trying to give their kid a merry Christmas.

But even though the console’s price has dropped several times and there’s now a wider range of models to choose from, the still-pricey PS3 continues to struggle.  If Sony’s console sales hadn’t been disappointing since launch, I might chalk it up to the recession, but that’s not easy to do when nearly every other game company seems to be thriving despite the economy’s current hard knocks.

Console Competition

When it comes to video games, Sony is a relative newcomer to the scene compared to Nintendo who has maintained a huge following since the original NES ignited a love for video games in many of our hearts as kids in the 80s.  And over the years, Nintendo has always put out quality systems (I like to pretend VirtualBoy never existed) with great libraries of games that have been fun and innovative.  The Wii, despite its silly name, was destined to be just as successful.  So why did Sony think it was a good idea to choose a launch date for PS3 so close to the Wii’s?  This is where I think they really underestimated the competition.

The PS3 also launched at a time when the Xbox 360 had been out for a year already.  But Microsoft had been quietly biding its time improving the 360’s hardware, building up a solid library of games, and winning players over with its Xbox Live experience.  If Sony was expecting 360 owners to buy a PS3 as well, they certainly didn’t have much of anything new to offer.  I’m willing to bet that most people who already owned 360s went out and bought Wiis instead.

Nothing New to Offer

Sure the PS3 has “amazing graphics”, which has been its main selling point.  But is that all that really matters to gamers?  Sony’s sales have indicated otherwise.  Other than improved graphics and offering a Blu-Ray player at a time when most people didn’t even know what Blue-Ray was, what else did the PS3 offer?  Certainly not an impressive library of games or innovative design over its predecessors.  Even the PS3’s controller design was more of the same.

Disappointing Game Library

The PS3 launched with a pretty underwhelming selction of games that either nobody heard of, or titles that had already been out a long time on the 360.  Compare that to Nintendo Wii, whose launch titles included mega hits like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.  Sony should have offset the console’s huge pricetag by at least offering more compelling titles, especially at launch.  If a console has great games, gamers tend to overlook the price, no matter how ridiculous.  After all, what good is a technologically superior video game system if it doesn’t have good games?   Like many, instead of buying a PS3, I waited to see if any titles would launch later on that compelled me enough to purchase this system.  Two years later, I’m still waiting.

It will be interesting to see what Sony does to try to win over gamers and dig itself out of its hole.  CNN suggests deep price discounts–that would certainly help.  I guess.  My advice to Sony: count your losses and just focus on Playstation 4.