"He's heating up!"

Thats NBA JAM in all of its glory, on an iPhone. It looks really smooth, and pretty slick- I can't wait to pick it up. It's also some super supreme bullshit. The article (found here.) at touchArcade sums up my frustration:

According to the info EA has also sent our way regarding the game, it's coming packed with all 30 NBA teams including favorite NBA stars. But what would an NBA Jam game be without unlockables and secret characters? Well, the iOS version is coming packed with those too. They've even teased big head mode. Currently, two modes of play are being discussed: An instant game mode where you select a team and are thrown in to a basketball game as well as a campaign more where you defeat other teams to unlock various goodies.

I'll try not to go all Angry Video Game Nerd, whilst explaining it, but I'll give it a shot...James, help me out.

**** you, you mother****ing piece of ****-licking ****face.

First a little history: NBA JAM was going to be released alongside (at no extra cost) NBA Elite 11 in 2010, but the entire project was delayed and ultimately cancelled when this video was released:

Though the real gem of the video, 10-15 seconds of video that ultimately nailed the game in its coffin, is around the 3 minute mark, the entire video is a testament to how bad the game was. Oh yeah, incase you didn't know- what he's playing is an officially released demo...meaning that the game is technically still being worked on at this point. Regardless of that fact, EA ultimately chose to cancel the game ENTIRELY, about 2 weeks after word circulated on the game breaking bugs, meaning that countless production man-hours were paid for with zero to show, and the deficit was massive.

That begins me down the path to my main point: the monetization of NBA JAM. Despite any troubles Elite 11 was having, the NBA JAM team was moving right along, and even finished the game, without a hitch. When disaster befell the Elite 11 team, NBA JAM was left hanging in the breeze. Nintendo fans would already have the chance to play JAM, because Elite 11 wasn't going to be release on the Wii, so the discs were pressed already.

But, as history has shown, nothing stops commerce. EA chose to take a game, that was originally touted as "bonus", and tack a SIXTY DOLLAR price tag onto it. Let me reiterate: a free game went from $0 to $60 in the span of a fucking week. Amazingly, no one really seemed to have a problem with this- and honestly: I would have paid money for JAM, maybe $25 at the most...as downloadable content. But $60?

Well anyways, NBA JAM is ready to be released on your iPhone/iPad within a day or so of this posting, I'm going to take a stab at the price and call it an $8 to $9 price-point. Don't get me wrong, I love NBA JAM and I will eventually pick it up for my iphone- but the parallel of a nearly identical game being released on an iOS platform, for less than $20 (hopefully), after being charged $60 for a disc based game...is no one out there going to say something?

My main problem is that lately pricing vs. game content is way out of left field- and there are plenty of examples to mention, (Limbo is a great game, one of my favorite- but $15?...too short), but I feel like I'm getting away from the point.

So, am I completely insane? Am I completely missing the point? Did I spell it out for you? Am I trollin your face? What games do you feel were completely overpriced for the amount of content you played through? Say it!

Kinect continues to get more versatile; unintentionally sees ghosts.

I think I already stated in a previous post how the Kinect continues to become more and more interesting from a homebrew standpoint. I really love how people are taking an impressive piece of technology and making it their own- especially when the games licensed for it have been...lacking.

Truly, the move to make, for Microsoft, is to really take control of this interest in making the Kinect a conduit for innovation in interactive media and reward people/groups for it. In an age of "mobile/flexible-technological-everything", where people are able to get an app for whatever, or access information in almost any fashion...having the Kinect be apart of this revolution of interactive information would be key.

It would also be a great time to do that considering Sonys latest "community issues". Just sayin.

So whats prompting this pro-micro$oft propaganda? How about a great example of building upon the tech that the Kinect is using, to think outside the box:

(story from Popular Science.)

Ofcourse...theres always other intentions for these types of innovations. 

(NSFW, I guess- its more pitiful than offensive, imo)

But creating virtual music machines and interactive pr0n isn't all the Kinect tech is good for- apperantly is can be used to commune with the dead. Yeah, thats right. The fucking dead.

Picked up from Kotaku:

Okay, my sister was telling me about her friend who has a Kinect. One night recently she was playing it (not sure what game though) with her son and after some time the son ends up going to bed but the mom continues to play and at some point while she's playing the Kinect picks up on another body... When there is no one around but herself. Immediately she turns it off and goes to her bedroom.

I'll be perfectly honest here. I'm not a spiritual person in the sense that I think ghosts are:
     A) Still hanging around our homes, just chilling, waiting for us to do something stupid so they can correct us through creepy measures...or help us solve crimes.
     B) Hoping to play video games with us.

But I do have a sense of WTF when I'm by myself at the house and something weird happens- like if my kinect started to pickup something that wasn't my fatass.

I dunno. Craziness.

So what do you guys think about these homebrew hacks will amount to? What would you like to see in the way of interactivity

I've been...whats the word, oh yeah- LAZY.

It's snug.

No excuses though, I've just been lazy. I have a world of stuff I'm writing about, or hoping to write about- PSP2, mobile games, movies and even art!

Yet, I continue to procrastinate. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it together enough while watching the Superbowl (of commercials), drinking and eating of the dip of the 7 layer variety.

What are your plans, if any, for the Superbowl? Did you even know it was Superbowl sunday? Will you alter your schedule at all?

Wasting the rest of your free time.

Someday, probably soon, I'll have to compile all of the browser games I really like and post them here...and ruin your production and LIFE.

Until then, you should check out Entanglement, by Gopherwood Studios, which will keep you busy for either 10 minutes or an hour...before you realize that your boss is standing behind you, or that the music has completely entranced you into thinking you're a monk.

Check out Entanglement here.

FOREVER.

I still don't believe that Gearbox is working on this, and I still don't believe that it's coming out. Everyone has jokes, everyone has cuts and digs. The truth is, I don't think people really give a shit anymore- I think its all morbid curiosity.

But, according to Gameinformer, Randy Pitchford sez:

"...I cannot imagine any better video game news source team than Game Informer to reveal the moment of truth for the most inconceivable, incorrigible and inspiring turn around story in the history of the video game industry – the coming of Duke Nukem Forever on May 3, 2011."

May 3rd. 

welcome back, buddy.

Honestly, I hope that its good, but realistically I don't think that Gearbox has any stake in it, if the game is bad. If Duke Nuke'em Forever fails, if its terrible (which, theres a high level of FAILURE already associated with the IP), then Gearbox still stays golden. At this point, I don't know if I'd care if the rest of the game we haven't seen yet is just filled in Laura Croft: Angel of Darkness levels...I hope we can just get passed it and on to better Duke Nuke'em games.

Nuh-uh

And then, my face.

When he did the hodouken, I cried a little. If this is the type of stuff we can expect from people hacking the Kinect, Microsoft would be wise to "JUMP IN". You're welcome for that Microsoft.

Now this is happening

Your joke? Tell it to my face.

Bet you weren't expecting to pay TWO HUNDRED-FIFTY of your american dollars to play some games in futuristic, super A-fucking-mazing 3D. But, there...there you have it. Yep.../hands in pockets.

I know that portable gaming is a gigantic deal these days, but...I...dunno. Something about this seems kinda boring...or problematic, I'll figure it out later. (future chris: I didn't. Deal with it) When you really look at what the device is capable of and what that means, which is cool, something doesn't add up about how that happens. For instance, say that I live in a city that has mass transit- say I live in fabulous Manhattan, NY.

Say. It.

So I'm riding the bus downtown to have a $14 coffee and see a $25 movie, and since the bus ride will be longer than 5 minutes and I have the attention span of two coked up squirells in a Planters peanut factory, wait, where was I going with this? Oh right, the nintendo 3ds has to maintain a steady angle to your line-of-sight to be used correctly. That means that if you're bumped or nudged or riding on a downtown bus to get a $15 dollar coffee and see a $400.00 movie, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Granted I know that most people will be using their 3DS in their homes most of the time...where they have other, more powerful gaming systems awaiting them. BUT! It plays games in 3deeeeeeeeeeeez!!!! :D lolomgffs! Shame it won't play them "in 3d" for very long. Let me clarify- it won't play 3DS games long enough to justify $250. According to geek.com:

Nintendo has now updated its Japanese 3DS website to include a hardware page describing the different components of the system. Here’s the important bits about the battery:

• 3DS charging time: 3 hours 30 minutes

• Battery life playing 3DS games: 3-5 hours

• Battery life playing DS games: 5-8 hours

Nintendo also state that those times are only approximate and may be shorter “depending on operating conditions”. The 8 hours upper limit stated for DS games requires the brightness of the displays be turned right down.

Just to sum up that I think the Nintendo 3DS is, from what I've read and seen online, (since you have to physically hold it to witness what it does), awesome, but $250 is still pretty steep and I really hope that people who buy a 3DS are patient because like any new tech- its going to have its issues.

Hoping to get my hand in one of those again. The Power Glove, not dreamy Jack Vinson...

Awkward.

I could be wrong, I guess- with each new version of gaming that has been introduced, there seems to be some sort of trade-off. What do you guys think? What, if any, complaints do you think about the 3DS will come about? Do you think it'll be perfect?