The Agitated Gamer

Rockstar has announced the next episode of their crown prince franchise.  ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ will follow Luis Lopez, the right hand man of one Tony Prince, a legendary nightclub owner.  The press release says this episode “injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime” as gamers explore the high end of nightlife in Liberty City.  ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ is set to be released in the Fall at a price of 1600 MS Points ($20).

Also included in the press release is the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes.  A disc containing both ‘Lost and Damned’ and ‘Ballad of Gay Tony’ episodes.  This disc will retail at $39.99 and will not require a copy of GTA IV to play.

Gamestop has released the MSRP and release date of Tony Hawk: Ride via their website.  Tony Hawk: Ride is supposed to rejuvenate the series by including a wheel-less skateboard for your gaming pleasure.  The game, which is set to release on 10/13, is set to be priced at a whopping $120.  This pricing model is inline with other Activision peripheral-driven games.  However, this Tony Hawk fan hopes that the game will be released without the peripheral, sporting classic controls and at a reasonable price.

Gamestop Product Details:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=74927

Most Xbox fans have a friend that loves Playstation and makes fun of the loud, unreliable machine from Redmond.  But, are PS3’s really that much more reliable than Xbox 360’s?

I have had a PS3 break on me after about 4 hours of gaming.  The drive would no longer read discs.  I surfed around the home menu for about 15 minutes one day trying to figure out how to get the game to play.  Nothing showed up. No error.  No red lights.  Everything was normal, just no ‘launch game’ option.

If your PS3 breaks on you after 6 months you have to pay to have it fixed.  At least Microsoft has a decent warranty in place for the 360 and replacement is a breeze (but takes a while).  According to Nick Doerr at joystiq the PS3 is not so easily replaced.  Luckily, our PS3 broke within 2 weeks of getting it and we had no problems getting it replaced through Amazon.

View this thread to read more PS3 woes.

Being a bit of a Metroid fan, and trilogy releases in general (damn you repackaged media!).  I am pretty excited about the coming release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy.  Better still, I have yet to play the 3rd and final game.  This will be the perfect opportunity for me to give it a spin.  Bravo!

Press Release from Nintendo:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption set a new standard for first-person motion controls in video games. Now it’s bringing those controls to the rest of the celebrated series, allowing players to experience the entire Metroid Prime story arc with the peerless precision of the Wii Remote. Nintendo announces Metroid Prime Trilogy, a new premium three-game collection for the Wii console that bundles all three landmark Metroid Prime games onto one disc and revamps the first two installments with intuitive Wii Remote controls, wide-screen presentation and other enhancements. Metroid Prime Trilogy will be available exclusively for Wii on Aug. 24 at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Each game maintains its original storyline and settings, but now Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes let players use their Wii Remote to aim with precision as heroine Samus Aran. Based on the breakthrough control system that debuted in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, these new Wii controls bring an entirely new level of immersion and freedom to these milestone games.

"Metroid Prime Trilogy puts the best first-person adventures all in one place, with a host of new additions that make these three timeless titles more engaging than ever," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "A great deal of care and detail has gone into Metroid Prime Trilogy, providing longtime fans with new ways to experience the games they love."

All three games now reside on a single disc. Players can access the game they want from a unified main menu that ties together all three adventures. Through a new unlockables system, players can gain access to in-game rewards such as music and artwork by accomplishing objectives across all three games.

Metroid Prime Trilogy was developed by Retro Studios and Nintendo, the same developers that created the original games for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii systems.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

For more information about Metroid Prime Trilogy, visit www.Metroid.com.

Revenge is like a ghost.  It takes over every man it touches.  It’s thirst cannot be quenched.  Until the last man standing has fallen…

I don’t know where the creepy trailer guy grew up, but in my neck of the woods ghosts just kind of hover around making creepy noises, or peeking out of windows behind curtains.  Nonetheless, this is how trailers are supposed to be made!  If this doesn’t get your gaming blood flowing, you better check your pulse.

Comes out November 11.

I recently had some time away from the family.  With several kid (and wife) free nights looming ahead of me, I began wondering what I would spend them on.  My mind was adrift of all the gaming goodness I would be experiencing over the next few days.  I had visions of all-night gaming sessions playing Call of Duty 5 or GRAW 2 online with my XBL friends.  But, I still haven’t finished Call of Duty 5, Resident Evil 5, or GTA IV.  Maybe I should pop one of those in and just get sucked in, immersed in an experience that was not to be had a few years ago.

What is an older gamer to do when this opportunity presents itself?

Sure, I still had to go to work.  But, that still leaves 16 hours with which I could game (and sleep a little).

Suddenly an idea.

I called a buddy that I grew up with.  He lived down the road from me and we played video games all the time.  I remember all-day gaming sessions on games like Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the top-down pain in the ass one).  This was back when we were content to sit and watch each other play.  Helping each other out, making snarky comments, and having a great time (without the help of alcohol).  We didn’t need to be playing co-op or online.

This particular friend happens to be unattached (single) and just recently I have moved within driving distance of him.  I don’t remember the particulars of the conversation, but I am sure it went something like this, “get over here, the family is gone and we are going to do some gaming”.

He came over and I downloaded the remake of Bionic Commando, another game that we had spent plenty of time playing in our youth.  The game is a blast to play.  It plays exactly as I remember the original.  It has simple mechanics, responsive controls, yet it is still very challenging.  I highly recommend it for fans of the original. 

It was the perfect game for the situation.  We had a blast playing through it and it really took me back to the simpler days of playing video games.  Before life, and graphics, got in the way of pure gaming pleasure.  We laughed and made fun of each other all the way through the game.  I need to schedule regular times to do this.  To get back to my gaming roots.

e-play, a movie & game kiosk provider, is putting up kiosks in Walmarts nationwide to buy back used games from savvy gamers for store credit.  This replaces the traditional system of having to walk into Gamestop and actually talk to someone when you are getting bent over for your decrepit games.  Don’t even think about gaming the system as it has numerous safeguards in place to prevent hell-bent heathens from scoring some virtual cash.  In fact, you will be looking to get the damn things to work at all, according to jazzking2001 at neocrisis.

They are already being placed in Walmarts in the Northeastern US, so look for them in your local store soon!

And I thought it couldn’t get any worse for Sony.  According to NPD’s most recent numbers the PS2 outsold the PS3 by about 45k units in April.  The PS3 sold around 127,000 to PS2’s 172,000 which secured them the 5th and 6th spots in the console wars.  A price drop is the ‘official’ explanation.  Who the hell was waiting for the PS2 to drop to $100 before buying one?

I for one wish Tony would just stick to the status quo.  Here’s hoping he indulges us old school fans and includes classic controls.  I couldn’t look at myself is the mirror after pretending to ride a skateboard with no wheels in the middle of my living room.  That’s assuming the damn thing wouldn’t break if I stood on it.

When are they going to stop calling this stuff innovation?

This reminds me, I need to finish Splinter Cell: Double agent, and try and figure out a way to get the 17 seconds of my life back I spent watching this video.