Random thoughts: 'GTA IV' irritations, 'Speed Racer' (the movie) and why Microsoft is making a huge mistake
5:13 PM, May 9, 2008
'GTA IV' irritations
I'm irritated a few little things in 'GTA IV' and I wanted to know if anyone else felt the same way.
• I'm frustrated with the pre-missions in some of the main mission segments. These are the simple busy-work parts where you have to drive to a location, follow someone, steal something or chase someone before the meat of the mission begins. It's usually right after these early, easy-parts, that I'm instantly killed because I'm so worn out by what precedes the action... and I'm not paying attention. The real beating comes when you have to start the entire mission over... including the boring easy part. I wish the game would start right where you died.
• I'm tired of the music that plays when the game auto-saves: "Do - do - dum - do." It haunts my dreams.
• What's up with invisible props? I drove across what I thought was an empty patch of grass... then BAM, my car comes to a complete stop with a crashing sound of metal. Slowly, phantom playground equipment appears in front of my car. Where did that come from?
• The Russian clothing store.
• Toll booths
• Jumping a car up to a balcony or other small location where the vehicle becomes permanently stuck.
• Motorcycles seem vanish from Liberty City only when I want/need them.
Quick review: 'Speed Racer' the movie. Too much talking, awesome racing scenes and colors that will burn your eyes. Lop off the first hour and it's great!
Microsoft is making a huge mistake.
This is all anecdotal, but I swear Microsoft is killing themselves by not offering a Blu-Ray player in the Xbox 360.
After the release of 'GTA IV' I have had several friends tell me they were planning on buying a PS3 within the next few days. When I asked them if they had considered an Xbox 360, all of them said they really wanted the Blu-Ray player to watch movies. Every single person said the same thing. And these are non-gamers who are dying to try 'GTA IV' and watch high-def movies.
Even after I explained the virtues of Achievement Points, downloadable content and Xbox Live, the number one selling point for my friends was the Blu-Ray compatibility.
I guess you can point out that the Wii is surviving without a High-Def video player, but it has a broader appeal than both Sony's and Microsoft's systems.
C'mon Microsoft, bite the bullet.
May 8, 2008
Preview: Metal Gear Online beta
11:06 AM, May 8, 2008
I think MGO has promise, but the complicated registration process (really, Konami, do we need to have two accounts before we can play?) is a big turnoff.
Konami promises they're working on streamlining the registration before the game is complete.
Also, I mention in the preview that I couldn't figure out how to play as Snake.
Konami was helpful enough to send me the solution to my quandary:
It is actually possible to play as Snake in MGO. It's a certain game mode where one person takes on the role of Snake (with all of Snake's cool tricks, such as OctoCamo and the Metal Gear Mk II), and everyone else tries to hunt him down. Snake gets points for killing people on the map, and everyone else gets points for killing Snake. So it's this back and forth of trying to hunt Snake while trying to help your team. Seems to be a very popular game type.
May 7, 2008
id Software hiring for Doom 4 (oh yeah, Doom 4 announced)
12:02 PM, May 7, 2008
id Software, based in Mesquite, Texas, just sent out a press release announcing that it is now hiring developers to work on Doom 4.
Of course, id hasn't even finished the last game it announced, so I'm guessing Doom 4 is a few years away, at least.
Still, kind of cool. And any of you who happen to be world-class game developers looking for work might want to freshen up your resumes.
Full press release after the jump.
May 5, 2008
Looks like Iron Man held its own against GTA IV
4:23 PM, May 5, 2008
As I said on Punchbutton last week and in my column on Saturday, there was some talk that GTA IV might siphon off moviegoers who would have otherwise gone out to see Iron Man.
With Iron Man raking in $100 million-plus in its opening weekend, I think we can put that theory to bed.
Like I mentioned in my column, though, I am curious to see the GTA IV sales numbers for the PS3 versus the Xbox 360. If the PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto outsold or even came close to the sales of the 360 version, that's a huge win for Sony.
Five worst video game sites of all time
3:13 PM, May 5, 2008
Old-Wizard.com (should even I know about this site? I don't!) listed their 5 worst video game related sites of all time.
Thank goodness we didn't make the list!
Xbox 360 Blu-Ray rumors refuse to die
3:06 PM, May 5, 2008
The tech blog on Yahoo points out that a manufacturer is claiming to have won the contract to make Blu-Ray compatible Xbox 360's.
Will this rumor ever die?
Will Microsoft finally come over to the Jedi side or are they happy on the dark side?
Will someone replace my HD-DVD's?
'GTA IV' is losing it's 10-point sheen?
11:12 AM, May 5, 2008
Besides the non-shop complaints about the in-game freezes, now the 'GTA IV' glitches are appearing on YouTube. I know there are problems with every game, but weren't similar problems the reason everyone bagged on 'Vice City?'
Here are some awesome glitches (there may be some language, so be warned before you click):
The sink hole of death:
Break dancing with the bus:
May 2, 2008
Thinking back on it, my PS3 HAS frozen a few times in the past
11:59 AM, May 2, 2008
I don't know why I didn't think about this before.
I've had some major PS3 freeze-ups in the fast, just like the 'GTA' bugs.
Once, when installing the 'Motor Storm' updates and DLC, I couldn't get past the menu screen in the game. I had to delete all downloaded content and re-install everything from scratch (I didn't lose my saved games, they are in a separate file). That worked.
While playing the 'Home' beta, I would constantly freeze every time I would reach a certain doorway in the game. I deleted those data files, re-downloaded, re-installed and it was fixed.
And finally, when adding DLC to 'Warhawk,' the game locked up my whole PS3. Deletion of the files and a fresh install, again, fixed the problems.
The 'GTA' problems seem awfully similar to what I was going through. I just think the sheer number of copies bought, brought the problem to a lot more people.
The 360 issues, I'm at a loss there.
Take-Two's suggested PS3 Grand Theft Auto IV fix
11:22 AM, May 2, 2008
The freezing issue on GTA IV doesn't seem to be going away.
I contacted Rockstar for an official comment, but they declined and suggested I get in touch with Sony.
From what I've seen on other game news sites, Sony doesn't have much to say, either.
But Gamespot did contact Take-Two's tech support team, and came away with an extensive list of suggested fixes for the PS3 version of GTA IV (no word on whether these fixes work on the Xbox 360 version).
While the checklist is probably worth a try if your copy is freezing on you, the length of the list suggests to me that the cause of the problem is still unknown and Take-Two is basically trying every gimmick it can think of to solve the issue.
I'm sure an official patch will be coming at some point.
For now, though, good luck with the list.
May 1, 2008
Now that 'GTA IV' is out, what's there to look forward to?
6:46 PM, May 1, 2008
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bored with 'Grand Theft Auto IV'... but I want to know what's next.
Seriously (or, um, SRSLY), what are you looking forward to, now?
For me:
• 'Iron Man'
• 'Lego Indiana Jones'
• 'Ninja Gaiden 2'
• 'GRID'
• 'Battlefield: Bad Company'
Permalink
| Comments (2)
Add your comments
Comments
Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet (although I still have a sneaking suspicion that it will suck), Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Soul Calibur 4 (Yoda and Darth!), and first rumors of the Xbox 720 (yeah, I think we'll start hearing anonymous reports of the next console's specs by the end of the year).
Oh, duh, and Spore.
Which will almost certainly be a letdown after the years of hype, but still, I'm curious.
Will Grand Theft Auto IV derail Iron Man's sales?
2:21 PM, May 1, 2008
Some analysts have been saying that box office sales for Iron Man could suffer if gamers stay home to play GTA IV this weekend.
I really doubt it, because I can't think of a single gamer who isn't drooling over Iron Man.
I mean, just look at this preview and tell me you don't get a tingly feeling all over.
Permalink
| Comments (1)
Add your comments
Comments
Victor, "Iron Man" is spectacular. It's worth losing some 'GTA' time to go see. Go now!!!
Workout with the Wii at Westin hotels
11:19 AM, May 1, 2008
Fellow DMN reporter Suzanne Marta has a post up at our Airline blog about how the Westin chain of hotels is beginning to install Wii consoles in its fitness rooms equipped with copies of Wii Fit.
Sounds more fun than the ancient Super Nintendo systems you still occasionally find in hotel rooms.
- Random thoughts: 'GTA IV' irritations, 'Speed Racer' (the movie) and why Microsoft is making a huge mistake
- Preview: Metal Gear Online beta
- id Software hiring for Doom 4 (oh yeah, Doom 4 announced)
- Looks like Iron Man held its own against GTA IV
- Five worst video game sites of all time
- Xbox 360 Blu-Ray rumors refuse to die
- 'GTA IV' is losing it's 10-point sheen?
- Thinking back on it, my PS3 HAS frozen a few times in the past
- Take-Two's suggested PS3 Grand Theft Auto IV fix
- Now that 'GTA IV' is out, what's there to look forward to?
Movable Type 4.1