SEGA

Did I ever mention that I actually got SEGA to engage in a debate with me on twitter?  I know I told Lead Salad about it, but I actually wrote a twitter to them and they responded and what followed was amazing.  I kind of won the debate.  More on that in a minute, but let me just say I hate SEGA in many ways.

They used to be great.  They made great games and systems, but now they just make terrible Sonic games over and over and horrible Marvel movie games.  They're a shell of their former self and that's why they need to be put out of their misery to the resounding clapping of my hands.

This post was spurred on by an article TJ sent me yesterday.  I read the article without a bit of surprise.  Bottom line is that SEGA is restructuring and trying to streamline their business to cut losses.  My only comment to the heads of SEGA is that if you quit making shit games or made something the fans actually want you'd be a profitable corporation again.  Also, have any of you actually played video games?

What follows is my Twitter debate which will actually show more of what I've briefly described above:

NOTE:  Since it will take me days to get back to SEGA's October 2011 tweets I'll just paraprase what was said by them.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@Sega please do all gamers a favor and bury Sonic. I know he's all you've got, but seriously....let him go. #sonic #sega #cashin

SEGA:  We have many games besides Sonic coming out in the near future. Check the website. Get informed.

Lizi Almendarez ‏@PkmnTrainerLizi

@SEGA You are at complete liberty to disregard everything @HaikusAreEvil says.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@DizzyMissLizi @SEGA I'd just like to see something new from them 1st party is all. Just wantin a return to form. Not Super Monkey Ball 32.

SEGA:  Play Bayonetta.

Nathan Pratt ‏@HaikusAreEvil

@DylanCrespo @SEGA Bayonetta was astounding, but was developed by Platinum Games. Condemned is also excellent, but was dev by Monolith.

To which there was no reply.  There was another guy that hopped in, but his account is locked and I can't access his tweets.  

Basically, the best game SEGA had to throw back at me that wasn't Sonic or Super Monkey Ball was Bayonetta.  Which wasn't even developed by them.

What's funny is that the new Sonic game that is of old-school 2D design hasn't even been that well received.  In fact, the fan made Sonic 2 HD remake not only looked better graphically than SEGA's Sonic 4, but was generally perceived as a superior game.  Until SEGA made the fans that made the game take it down.

Yet another example of SEGA sucking at life is the HD rerelease of one of the greatest Dreamcast games ever, Crazy Taxi.  They ran into issues with the licensing of music (still not sure if it was money they didn't want to pay or something else) so the game was released without it's best element.  The amazing soundtrack.

The game I'm most excited about SEGA putting out is the HD rerelease of Jet Set Radio.  I just can't wait to get it for Vita and see how they've fucked it up.

3DS XL

I don't have a 3DS and don't plan on getting one, but I still couldn't help, but shake my noggin with the announcement of 3DS XL.

I know that my brother-in-law and Amateria both have a 3DS so I guess this is geared towards them more than anyone.

Do you feel burned at all?  Would you have picked the XL over the stock version had you had the choice?  What about the still no inclusion (yet can still be bought as an extra!) of a 2nd circle pad?

I mean it's a no brainer that handhelds get bumps in certain areas like battery life, sleeker design, brighter screens, but this just seems like a little too much to me as a consumer.

Let me explain:

The PSP had 4 different iterations: PSP 1000, PSP 2000, PSP 3000 and PSPGo.  The 2 after the original were better battery life, skinnier design and brighter screens.  The 4th was a craptastic digital only version that sucked massive ass.

The DS had, if I remember correctly, 4 different iterations:  DS, DS Lite, DSi and DS XL.  All of which were pretty drastically different than the other: inclusion of cameras and different software.

I guess, as a consumer, it feels a bit more of a backhand with such changes to the hardware.  Where if you don't upgrade to the new version, you're left behind with the outdated version with not only different and worse specs, but also entirely different features.

With the PSP models they all did the exact same things, but did them more efficiently.  With the DS you were actually left out if you didn't upgrade.

Just seems like a crappy way to treat your customers that's being repeated with the 3DS, but I guess as long as people keep paying for them (as with Nintendo they inexplicably always do) then Nintendo has no reason to change.

Gravity Rush - First Impressions

As part of my Father's Day I picked up Gravity Rush for the Vita.  I had enjoyed the demo enough and saw that it had some pretty awesome potential.  After dumping in a little over 2 hours last night, in my first play of the game, I'm happy to say that the game is simply wonderful!


The game starts in a typical wokeupandcan'trememberwhoyouareandnowhavestrangepowers type way which is kind of an old hat, but the game really does a good job of sucking you into it's awesome world.  It's a sandbox/open world game that is reminiscent of Crackdown in some aspects like the cell shading and orb/jewel hunting, but it plays in a completely different manner.

You play as a "shifter" named Kat who is given powers to shift gravity by a sparkly looking cat that she names Dusty.  It's funny because around the 2 hour mark while "flying" around the world I realized I wasn't actually flying.  I was falling.  No matter which direction you go in the game while you "fly" you're actually falling because you are going with the gravity parameters you've set.

The game controls very well and the combat is surprisingly fun, fast and very fresh.  You find yourself using face buttons and the touch screen all in rapid succession and I'm still shocked at how well it flows.

The music is truly excellent and keeps the game feeling....I don't know.....more immersive?  I'm having a hard time pinning down what I mean, but the score is one of the best I've heard in some time.

Kat is an extremely likable protagonist and I've come to see the game as a origin story for a new superhero.  Awesome.

There are also comic sections to read that work like a 3D interactive comic that is somewhat animated.  I love these as they are extremely well done and very nice looking.  It just helps solidify the whole comic book hero image in my mind.

I've already become obsessed with collecting every jewel and completing every side mission and challenge.  I very easily see myself dumping hours and hours into this trying to 100% the game.

It's a very good game that I'm thrilled to have in my collection of growing Vita games.  It's the best new IP I've seen since the first Assassin's Creed and it deserves every gamers' attention.

I know that game journalists seem to enjoy nothing more than saying the Vita is already a failure (IGN, Kotaku and Gamesradar), but with games like this I just don't get it.  This game couldn't work on any system, but the Vita.  Maybe if Kat were a plumber stuck in old school game design it would be better received on a handheld.  (Yes, I'm a bitter game blogger!)

While you're waiting for my full review, in a week or so, please watch this launch trailer to see the game in motion: