The World of Joel

As many of you know I am in the video game industry press. 2K Sports has begun doing developer calls for there games. I participated in one a few weeks back for Top Spin 3, and this morning I had one with 2K Sports for there upcoming Boxing title Prizefighter. What was neat about this developer call was that Don King and Larry Holmes was on the call with us. I have heard Don King before, this isn’t the first time, but man can this guy talk. On this conference call he went through 3 questions in 30 minutes or so. His long winded answers to questions were ridiculous, the man didn’t answer one question, for some reason he seems to just grab words from the dictionary and throw them in the air and hope some of them apply.

Larry Holmes on the other hand was interesting. The question was asked if he could fight anyone who would it be, he said George Foreman. Can you say bad blood? The conference calls are usually pretty informative, but Don King just talks to talk, I cannot believe this man, I have no idea what he was ever talking about. He goes from talking about the Bible to boxing, to the video game, to ancient philosophers.

The game itself looks amazing, the career mode being the center piece I feel like its a great idea. Fight Night from EA has always had there easy ride to the top, so I am hoping 2K Sports delivers. I wish I would have recorded this interview because if you could have heard some of Don King’s responses I have a feeling you would have scratched your head just like I was.

So as many of you know I review video games, I have been doing it for 5+ years and couldn’t find a better thing to do in the world. Days like today are why I love my job. I am obviously still a fan, although I am very critical of games as well, I see them for what they can be often times more then what they are. But today is different, I have been this excited to play a video game since The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess a few years back. Very few games make me “pumped up” to play, but Grand Theft Auto IV is. So just a word of warning if you are planning on viewing this blog in the next couple of days I may not be posting as frequently because I will be spending as much time as I can soaking up Liberty City. I’ll link you all to my review when it posts! For those who have got it, my XBL Gamertag is The Joelster so hit me up on there! See you in Liberty City.

I am not one that necessarily believes in curses, although sometimes I do find it hard to argue the opposite side of them. The Madden curse however may prove to be broken this year as Brett Farve could have his lowest amount of interceptions yet in a season. I still hold actually that Brett isn’t done playing football, but we do know he will be gracing the cover of the 25th Anniversary of Madden in Madden NFL 09 for every platform known to man. I am a big anti-packer guy, but I have always had an amazing amount of respect for Brett Farve, and I think EA Sports along with Peter Moore hit the nail on the head getting the rights to put Farve on the front. With Farve on the front you can only think of one feature that is going to be added, and that is a new QB Personality, Gun Slinger.

It has been a while since I have really gotten into a video game. As most of you know, I love video games, and I have been reviewing them since 2001. I have contacts with almost all major video game publishers, and receive about 75% of console games that are released and about 50% of handheld (PSP and DS), so I play a lot of games. But there is no doubt that although I keep myself as neutral as possible with video games there are still ones I can’t wait to give a shot, and I figured the best thing that I could do was give a list of games I cannot wait to play (in order of excitement):

- Assassin’s Creed (360/PS3)
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360/PS3)
- Uncharted: Drakes Fortune (PS3)
- Mass Effect (360)
- Rock Band (360/PS3)

It’s a pretty good list of games coming. I could see myself playing through all of these games. I have to say that I already went through Ratchet and Clank (PS3) another game I was looking forward to as well. So there is my list, no big surprises, but some really good games thats for sure.

So I am a gaming editor and I take a very editorial look at any game I review. I should be receiving my copy of Halo 3 later today. I would normally not put out an opinion on a game before a review session, but since I haven’t received the game from Microsoft yet I am just going to say, wow was this game over hyped. I don’t care how great Halo 3 is, I am sure it is fantastic. But I cannot imagine waiting in line at midnight for Halo 3. It is a FPS, we have seen thousands of them, the game has great multiplayer, and I have heard a great conclusion of the storyline. However it has always been a great game to me but never one that deserved to wait over night for.

We are quickly approaching the one year anniversary of the Playstation 3, and for any console that means the honeymoon period is over, and its time to produce some content. I have always been a big supporter of Sony, there is no doubt on my mind they create the best First Party games, or the most great first party games in the last decade, with Nintnedo following very close behind. However what the heck is Sony doing with there Playstation Online Service. I have downloaded over ten demo’s in the last month or two from Xbox Live, been engaged by a few Xbox Live Arcade titles, and played a ton of online multiplayer on Xbox Live. With Sony I have downloaded a whopping three demo’s which include the five minutes of Heavenly Sword, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfight 2 (already played on the 360), and The Darkness. The content that Sony has been putting up on there online service is minimal at best, and really is falling way short of what the Xbox 360 has done. I understand that most of these demo’s are third party, which leads me to believe there has been a very quick change of support that used to be 100% for Sony, and now is turning to the Xbox 360, many complaining that Sony just flat out isn’t putting in the man hours to help there development.

Sony can’t continue to rely on first party support, things like Playstation Home, and the Eye Camera are great additions, and even the price drop was nice, but this is the time where Sony needs to start revving its engines, get the content out there for gamers before you fall to far behind the race. This is going to be a tough holiday for Sony, they are going up against Halo 3 without any Grand Theft Auto title to battle it out, and when you only give the briefest of snippets of possibly one of the biggest titles (Heavenly Sword) to hit the PS3 this year, that is just not going to cut it. I have reviewed nearly every title released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3, and there is no doubt in my mind at this point in time, no matter what sales records may show, the Xbox 360 has more content, more games, and more reasons to buy a console then Sony has with a Cell Processor, A Blu-ray player, and a few good games. Sony you have a great lineup, some great concepts, but when you are coming out a year later then the competition, you need to be moving a lot faster then you are right now. You have the all-mighty cell processor, what’s taking you so long?

So I sent in my Xbox 360 for repair on July 20th and it arrived there on the 23rd of July. I called last night to check on the repair status and my replacement unit for the three flashing red lights and they said it was received and they were processing the exchange for a new unit. They said it would ship by the end of this week. We shall see, last time I sent my Xbox 360 in it took a bout two more weeks from now, but it seems to me that they are getting better on there repair system. We will see as I now have seven Xbox 360 games to review and it is piling up! We shall see if Microsoft gets the replacement unit out soon!

This may be a little late, but after watching all of the conferences and checking out a lot of what each company had to offer I have a hands down winner for best looking game at E3, and its Assassin’s Creed the most gorgeous, thought provoking, and next generation experience we have seen to date. Here is a preview of the game from GameTrailers.com

Well it has happened again. Back when I had the radio show GameTalkLive we had a whole show in regards to the terrible Xbox 360 repair process. It took weeks to receive a box, weeks to receive my 360 back, and just a terrible time in between. Well about one year and a few months after the first repair the unthinkable happened, or well according to Microsoft the thinkable happened, it broke again. I got the infamous red rings of death which are covered now by a three year warranty since Microsoft was having terrible problems with there units. So in essence I get to play the waiting game again, and unfortunatley I have about 5-6 Xbox 360 titles I need to review including DIRT and Transformers two games I was looking forward to checking out. So now I sit and wait, the updates on the support will come. I called on 07/12 at 9:00pm to report the problem and my support order was issued. 3-4 Days until I get the box. Lets see when it comes! That will be the next update! Please Lord give me patience.

So I should be out of class by the start of the Sony E3 07 Conference so I am hoping to do live updates just like I did from the Microsoft conference. The show starts at 11:30am Pacific, only one hour away! I believe we are all hoping to see some big announcements along side the showing of Killzone 2. A prediction before hand would be showing of Ratchet and Clank and maybe even the next Sly Cooper title either for PS3 or PSP or both. Interested to see where Sony is going to go, could there be the unveiling of God of War 3 for the PS3? Sony needs a big E3, so there is a lot riding on this presentation.

11:43am: Just like in the previous two conferences, Gamespot is having trouble getting there live feed to work, so until they get it up, I have no idea what is happening.

11:50am: I am still not up and running, looks like a slimmer PSP was announced.

11:56am: I am up and going, and we are moving now to the Playstation Network.

11:59am: Most gameplay and least graphics, Echo Chrome? I am just sick of puzzle games I am sorry! Can’t we get away from puzzle games. However the trailer is impressive, looks like an interesting and very different game. Actually the more I watch the more it looks really good.

12:02pm: Four game video montage. Wipeout HD will be fun, they are always just good enjoyable times. Pain looks very different, not sure what to expect from this one, could be a good time. Having played Warhawk beta I have to say that it was pretty fun, I can’t wait to see the full version it looked amazing. And last up is SOCOM Confrontation is the first PS3 SOCOM game, which is a downloadble game which is awesome. Using Crossroads a very popular map is awesome. The game looks gorgeous and is available both on Blu-Ray and downloadable!

12:06pm: Back talking about Home, which is ready for Fall. You can run on Home on a Sony Ericson phone. The environment and the new spaces of Home look really good. To me Home is either going to be great or fall flat, I like the look, I am just not sure it will take off.

12:09pm: Talking about Singstar on PS3 with a Blu-Ray version and then downloading more content further.

12:10pm: A mention of the Sony Eye (new Eye Toy), showing it off with Singstar on the PS3.

12:11pm: You can put photos from your phone onto the Home server, as well as the other way take your pictures from Home onto the internet.

12:14pm: You can open up any game in Home, which Phil decides to go into Motorstorm, and this seems like a great use of the feature. So in general you can play any game directly from Home. You can play either Singleplayer or Multiplayer.

12:16pm: We are going back to Jack now with more information on the PS3. Two goals this year, more owners and games. Phil throws a little joke into the price drop and the leaking of the price drop. 11 Million Units world wide by the end of the year?

12:19pm: Talking up the Blu-Ray , 2-1 Sales Blu-Ray over HD-DVD, and Blockbuster staying with Blu-Ray not HD-DVD.

12:23pm: Ubisoft’s Haze looks pretty good, Ubi Soft loves giving different consoles exclusive.

12:25pm: Sony gets the Unreal Engine for the PS3, to give it to other developers. 100 Games already into the works, and Epic is making Unreal 3 an EXCLUSIVE! Mods are able to go from PC to PS3 which is huge It is going to be out November 07.

12:26pm: PS3 Third Party Montage: Call of Duty 4 is the first and it still looks just as amazing as last night at the Microsoft conference. Assassins Creed is the second game showed and once again I said it was the best looking game last night and continues to be the best looking game today. Kane and Lunch is a game I haven’t heard much about but it does look like a good time. Resident Evil 5 not a Playstation exclusive, but still will probably be a gigantic release. Burnout Paradise, another Burnout title, and probably more arcade racing, not much to say here. Madden NFL 08 is the next trailer, and it hopefully will get some last minute touch ups as we have been hearing it looks a good degree lower in quality then the 360 counterpart. Next is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which I have played and reviewed, not that exciting. The Simpsons Game is probably going to be a bust, but hey there have been good Simpsons games in the past. Next up is Guitar Hero 3 which is going to be great, lets face it! Medal of Honor Airborne is a game I am personally looking forward to mainly because I have loved previous Medal of Honor games especially on the original Playstation. Rock Band is the next trailer and we all know we are looking forward to this one. And thats the third party support!

12:33pm: There is a surprise third party exclusive, and it is in its 20th Anniversary. It is METAL GEAR SOLID 4. Hideo Kojima is now on stage! He says it is the final game of the series! That is very surprising. The story of Snake will end and he will be done with the series now. The plot lines and such will be revealed. The game itself will be stealth, but new elements will be introduced in the battlefield. There is now a trailer for MGS4, brand new, ALL GAMEPLAY. Throughout the trailer the visuals are amazing, Snake definitely is showing his older age, he still looks good though. It still seems like we are looking at cut scenes still though, the object is to kill Liquid. However it looks amazing, can’t wait for MGS4! Early 2008 Release! Next week they will show a full demonstration of the game for the official unveiling. There he will have more information on the game.

12:44pm: We are now moving back to the Sony first party titles, which are coming in this financial quarter. First up is the new Ratchet and Clank game, Tools and Destruction.

12:47pm: Next game is Folklore, a new action RPG game. It is really a different loking game, a lot of different genres thats for sure. It has a lot of wierd elements not sure what to expect from this one. This is one that will be a pure thumbs up or down.

12:48: Heavenly Sword has looked amazing in previews before, and this trailer is no exception. This is one of the titles I am looking forward to, that is for sure. I think if the story is right, it will make for a great experience, which should be good for this title. The game is really one of the best looking games on the Sony conference thus far.

12:50pm: I am really excited about NBA 08, NBA 07 was really a good game, one that I still play, and the new game looks solid. Weekly content was huge and continues to be huge.

12:52pm: Little Big Planet is different, a lot of people talked it up, I am not sure. Play, Create, and Share is the idea behind the game. To me this requires a lot of work from the user base and if the user base isn’t initially interested it is really hard to get a game like this off the ground. I am also interested in the pricing.

12:54pm: Naughty Dog is showing off Uncharted a game that I think could be the big experience on the Sony Playstation 3. The story looks good. It has been called a Tomb Raider title, but to me it looks like even more then that. I am excited about this one.

12:56pm: Suckerpunch (makers of Sly) is coming out with a new Sandbox title, Infamous. All I can say is, WOW. Now this is what Sony has needed, a super hero/creative sandbox game experience that looks absolutely fantastic. Big thumbs up for this announcement. Although would love to see another Sly Cooper game!

12:57pm: Gran Turismo is coming back, and it is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue!!!! This will have full online functionality. They sure are hyping up GT5. Visually I have never seen a better racing, and that is coming right after play Forza 2. My question is why give us all these small games, why not just work on GT5 and give us that? And that is all from Phil!

12:59pm: Everything you are about to see is real time, that means Killzone 2! This is the trailer we already saw earlier today, so not that exciting. The game does look pretty though! Does it live up to the original trailer that was CGI? Not necessarily but still good. This is a pretty long trailer to, shows off quite a bit of content.

1:05pm: Jack is here to wrap it up! Playstation only around for 13 years, interested to see how the PS3 really ends up turning out! And thats a wrap, all three conferences are done. What did we learn? Not any “huge” announcements from Sony, that was actually probably the biggest surprise. I also wanted more info on the Playstation Eye? I guess not!