Welcome to another edition of the Game Ranter Banter. Five of our writers take a few minutes out of their busy schedules to give their opinions on some of the most compelling and controversial recent news stories of the game industry. This week, the Game Rant team discusses the epic release of Gears of War 3, the trend in beta testing, the potential of video game board games, the terrible reality of overpriced DLC and the return of Counter-Strike multiplayer.
Our readers are as knowledgeable and opinionated as our own writers, so here is the place for all of you to discuss these stories as well as any others that may have piqued your interest throughout the week.
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Jeff Schille
Setting The Bar
Though Madden NFL is the traditional starting shot for the Fall games season, the showdown of Fall blockbusters kicked off this week with the release of Gears of War 3. It has to be said: right out of the gate, Epic Games has set the bar astoundingly high.
By my estimation, the major players for the rest of the year are Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Batman: Arkham City, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, and (maybe) Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. (Yes, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be huge, but it’s not really in competition with those other games.)
We expect Uncharted, Arkham City, and Skyrim to deliver engrossing campaigns. Modern Warfare and Battlefield may well dominate the online multiplayer charts for months after they release. But, as pointed out in Game Rant’s Gears of War 3 review, Gears 3 really is the whole package. Excellent campaign, stellar online multiplayer. It looks, sounds, and plays every bit as good as you’ve heard. For once, the first AAA game of the Fall may also be the best game of the year — though I can’t wait to check out the competition.
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Vivasvat Kaul
Low Tech Variation
When I wrote up the story about Metal Gear Solid being transformed into a Risk board game I was filled with a childish glee. What if other video game franchises were turned into board games?
Metal Gear Solid could be turned into a customizable card game like Magic the Gathering with resource management and creature costs. You can summon Solid Snake only if you have enough Psych to do so. But he won’t have a weapon by default, and you need Drebin points to unlock and equip the Rail Gun. Meanwhile, your opponent is facing you down with 2 Metal Gear Rays and Crying Wolf equipped with a PSG1.
Uncharted 3 could be turned into an adventure game with a DM and role players. It could have a rule book akin to something like Vampire the Masquerade with dice rolls and character sheets. You want to cast ‘Creepy Crawler’? Roll a d20 and apply a penalty for using your off-hand. Hmmm… perhaps I’ve said too much. I’ll call my attorney and the patent office and then get back to you guys with a prototype.
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Anthony Taormina
Testing 1,2,3
It seems like over the years, as competitive multiplayer titles began to grow in popularity, that the number of beta opportunities available to gamers has grown exponentially. While getting a chance to contribute towards making one of you most anticipated games, like Diablo 3 or Battlefield 3, is an intriguing proposition it makes one wonder where the line between beta and demo begins.
With Battlefield 3 rolling out a beta only a mere month before it releases – realistically preventing any grand changes from being made immediately – most gamers will look at the opportunity as getting to play Battlefield 3 earlier, not contributing towards making the game better. Sure the developers will always reap the benefits of a beta, Epic Games could certainly have used one for Gears of War 2, but how do the players look at it? Has the alpha testing stage become the new beta testing stage and has the beta test become more of a demo?
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Jacob Siegal
Time to Play A Gun Game
Online PC gaming has never been my primarily mode for multiplayer fun – Except for Counter-Strike: Source. The euphoria a rookie player feels after taking out an all-star player on Dust 2 is not one many other games can elicit in gamers. The announcement of Global Offensive has sparked the excitement of the computer gaming world, and the most recent addition, Arsenal Mode, should have PC gamers attempting to hibernate until early 2012.
Gun Game has consumed countless hours of Counter-Strike players’ lives. Arsenal Mode is sure to do the same, especially after the popularity of Black Ops‘ gun game mode. The thrill of throwing the grenade at just the right time or stabbing a player holding a machine gun will never get old. The competition is just too addictive.
With the original creator of Gun Game on board, this is sure to be one of the most popular game types in CS:GO when it releases. Valve knows how to polish and perfect these mods, so by the time we get hands-on with Global Offensive, we might be playing the most definitive version of Gun Game ever created.
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Robert Keyes
DLC stands for Downloadable Cozen
I love when that game I’ve been waiting so long for comes out and I feel okay with shelling out $60 to get it on day one. I love that feeling of putting it into the PC or console and finally playing it.
I hate when I have to pay $60 for a game and in order to play it, I have to pay a monthly fee to use the console (see: Xbox Live Gold) and game I already paid for with the internet I pay for, all powered by my utility bill which I also pay for.
I really hate it when I pay $60 for a game and then have to pay more money to get all of the content that was produced during development. This is the story of all modern triple-A console games and it’s never been as bad as what we just saw from Gears of War 3 and the $45 worth of… weapon textures that players can “optionally” purchase or the $30 DLC season pass which is not only available for Gears 3 but Forza Motorsport 4 as well (and many more titles to come).
You can argue semantics and how DLC is “optional” or not, but in reality, the price of games have just gone up again if you want the whole package.
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What are your thoughts on the news this week? Share with us in the comments, on Twitter @GameRant and Facebook.com/GameRant.
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Honestly Robert Keyes I don’t normally agree with what you say. But this is the primary reason I’m boycotting GoW3. I don’t really feel DLC should be developed during the development of the whole game. Sounds more like to me, that while they were making the game, the executives, were going through what the game would provide and and cutting stuff out so it could be sold afterwards as a “Optional” package.
To me, that’s not “Optional” If I’m playing a game I like, I want the WHOLE PACKAGE.
Yah, I’ve never liked the idea of having to pay for DLC’s. So far it has been mainly a problem console fanboys had to worry about, but something tells me it’ll soon invade the PC market too. I know some PC titles already have them, but it’s really just a small percentage so far. Most downloadable content for PC has been free so far…
I agree with you guys thats why the 360 should be boycotted. Not only must you pay all these fees you also risk having to buy a whole new system if you play your game too long. In all the history of gaming what other game counsel can you say that about? Among these problems is the $h!tty library that comes with the 360. Most of the games that come out for 360 are douche bag first person shooters that require no thought at all while cussing out a child that lives on the other side of the world. The “developers” that create these games are just people looking to make a cheap buck and these poser “gamers” will go out and buy them every time. It’s really pathetic actually. You posers may think the 360 is great but take a second to think about it. How much money have you dished out monthly just to play one game you bought 3 months ago or for a new 360 for that matter. Me? I have paid nothing. The way it should be.
Oh wait. What about those upgrades you may need to get or when apple and microsoft make new os’. I guess that 360 hater forgot about those costs in his argument.
I don’t agree with all that this other person has said, but your argument is pretty crappy too. I haven’t had a “need” to upgrade for 4 years already. I’m upgrading now because I “want” to, not because I “need” to. I can still play all of the newest games at higher graphics levels than the consoles are capable of, and will be able to until the next generation of consoles come out. Simple logic, if a PC was EVER faster than a console, it’ll ALWAYS be faster, since the consoles are not getting any faster, PC’s don’t get any slower…
I like how you’re slamming the Xbox, but you didn’t actually tell us what platform it is that you are using…and I/m pretty sure that I know why you didn’t, too.
Your view on the Xbox is born of ignorance. Your argument is completely exaggerated. You’re also missing key points that actually negate your argument, too. More specifically, you’re leaving out any information about the Xbox’s individual characteristics that would be regarded as ‘superior’ qualities.
I personally play on my PC gaming rig. I blew a huge load of cash on it and don’t regret it even for a second given that my performance levels are far above average and definitely out-scales any console system. (This will stand true for any upcoming console systems WITHOUT upgrades.)
Does this mean that I should go on an incoherent tirade about consoles and suggest that they should be boycotted?
You realize that the other two consoles have their own nuances, right? You do realize that though the Xbox has Xbox Live that you end up paying for…that it actually breaks down to be fairly cheap per month?
$60 / 12 months = A MERE $5 A MONTH.
You spend that kind of cash walking into a gas station for only a few items on what just might be a daily basis. Hell… I’d point at anyone who is a smoker that complains about this and LAUGH. After all… THEY’RE buying something that destroys their very health!
If you’re comparing Xbox Live to Sony’s PS network… Have you NOT been reading the news this year? Have you not witnessed the multitude of disasters that the PS network has caused?
At least with Xbox Live, you’re paying for a service that is hosted on a network created by a corporation who specializes in IT and actually has a clue about SECURITY. At least Xbox Live is up and running about 99% of the time. They even give you plenty of options and ways to link your Xbox Live gamertag to your Windows-based PC games and various other information sources.
What do you get with PSN? Your credit card information compromised and WEEKS of downtime because they run their network on servers with HUGE security holes in them.
Let’s actually address the PS3 itself. I’ll do so by linking you to an article I just got done reading on Ars Technica about their mandatory installs that highlights the PS3′s failures. http://goo.gl/MvQzz
The article itself points to how Sony has really alienated it’s players with the many issues regarding updates, firmware and mandatory installs. (And the ‘lather-rinse-repeat’ that goes with it.)
The Xbox is not without issues, either. As we all know, the Xbox had higher numbers of failed units in the first few years. Their standards in determination warranty are inconsistent and leave the customer wondering if they’re going to get help or bent over the table. Microsoft frequently delays a lot of content for approval based on ridiculously steep standards. Their actual customer service for Xbox Live made me want to jump through the phone and MURDER the jackass on the other end of the line. (On multiple occasions.)
PC? Yeah. It’s expensive. The building and maintenance of a gaming rig is costly and requires in-depth knowledge of hardware/software. It’s time-consuming to troubleshoot and fix issues when they occur. But a good gaming rig is used for much, MUCH more than just gaming. This is the part that console gamers who decry the PC platform always conveniently leave out.
But I DO refuse the idea that the upgrade curve on gaming rigs is so steep that you have to upgrade every six months or 1 year. I see this thrown out in arguments in forums all of the time and it’s based purely on ignorance and lack of experience.
As Ken here has already mentioned in a post right below here, a well-built machine will run newer games at their full potential for about as long as any console and even if it’s not running at the game’s full settings, it’ll still run at settings that STILL make consoles look bad.
Upgrades are always optional. That is, to say, if you WANT to continue playing all new games at their highest resolutions with all settings enabled, you can ‘OPT’ to upgrade. LOL
But upgrading is usually done not only to get a boost in performance but because buying new hardware tends to give one that warm, fuzzy feeling as you take it out of the packaging. Hell… Call me weird but… Any time I buy new hardware, I like to smell that new hardware smell. It makes me smile as I think about the feeling of accomplishment of working hard for the cash I bought it with. I like the feeling of having higher standards and not just settling for something sub-par when there is better to be had.
I’m not even going to discuss the Nintendo Wii. It’s not even worth mentioning. (I’m sure this will include the Wii U in the future.)
Anyway… Each platform has it’s issues. No matter how you slice it, you’re getting what you pay for with Xbox Live. A (usually) stable network. (Which has upkeep and maintenance costs, by the way… You get what you pay for, after all. I’m looking at Sony’s crap network here…if you couldn’t tell.) You get plenty of content. PSN doesn’t provide much of anything that you can’t get on Xbox Live. I dare to say that you get more on the Xbox Live service.
As for DLC… You REALLY need to back off on that note. Much of the DLC out there is made by the developers and pushed by the publishers with dollar figures in mind. You said, “Me? I have paid nothing. “I don’t believe that for even a second. I refuse to believe that you have bought the same games as the rest of us and have never paid for DLC. If a developer wants money for their DLC content, it’s the same on ALL platforms. (Activision is the best example of this.)
I just don’t see how any of your argument is valid in any way. Sounds more like someone got mad at their Xbox one day and threw a fit, followed by vowing to ‘never play an Xbox again’ or some other such nonsense.
Er… This post didn’t go where I intended for it to go.
It was meant primarily for Johnny.
The bit about the PC’s and “cost” issues was aimed more at Chas.
Ken’s post “below” is now ABOVE.
My god this post was long. I didn’t read it all sorry. While I will agree about the PSN bit, they were lazy. Microsoft honestly isn’t much better. Most of the issues found in their OS’s are user submitted. so it goes without saying that if M$ didn’t have the help of the users, it would be in a world of trouble. Lets not forget, Anonymous hasn’t targeted M$ or the XBLive, Yet. This is only a matter of time. I honestly believe the PSN+ is more worth it though. They give you more for free and don’t bombard you with adds, like M$ does. Xbox live was in it’s glory in the Xbox days, now it’s not really worth it.
And while you didn’t mention the specs of your PC, M$ and $ony generally use hardware not yet available to the public. So while it may have more Raw power then the future generation of consoles, chances are, for what the Next Gen will give you, your system will be lacking in is certain features, that the next gen will make use of. the 360 had a triple core processor, the public could only buy a dual core (at best) at the time and a modified R500 GPU. some of the ideas for the chip were used in future generations of GPU chips.
I’m no fanboy. just saying it like I see it.
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