Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
While competing franchise Soul Calibur roped in Yoda and Darth Vader and roster, Mortal Kombat has decided to go extreme by tying in with none other than the DC Universe itself. While this was supposedly rumoured to be in the past, fansite Mortal Kombat Online has hard facts on this, as well as the poster you see above.
Amusingly, the site mentioned on the poster appears to be dead as of this writing.
Hit the jump for some extra info.
Here at StuffWeLike, we like a lot of things when it comes to video games. But there are also some things we don’t. Here’s a list of stuff we’d like to see. And some things we hope never see the light in 2008.
Some good Wii games please
After Wii Sports, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy there was not much else to get gamers truly excited in 2007. A new Donkey Kong game would be nice. And we mean a proper DK game like Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), not some silly spin-off crap involving a pair of Bongo’s.
It doesn’t have to be all about the motion-sensing powers of the Wiimote either. Games can still be good using just the classic controller too. Observe the superb collection of titles on the SNES. Did they need motion-sensors to make them some of the best games ever? No!
The emergence of a new gaming mascot
It’s time for some new faces in the gaming world. We love Mario but he’s getting overworked these days appearing in such titles as Mario Kart, Mario Galaxy, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics and Super Smash Bros and the many more Nintendo will have planned for the mustachioed plumber. We’re not saying to get rid of him, just don’t abuse the poor guy.
The same goes for others too. The less said of Lara Croft, the better. Besides, Heavenly Sword’s Nariko is so much sexier. But even she hasn’t been the phenomenon Lara was in her day, though she has time on her side.
We’ll forgive Ratchet and Clank because Tools of Destruction is one of the best games around, just like Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was. Speaking of which, we wouldn’t mind seeing more of Nathan Drake, actually. It’s a start.
Proper motion-sensing controls
This applies to both the Wii and Playstation 3. It’s all well and good having new-fangled motion-sensing technology, but it’s how developers use it that counts. Take a look at how wonderfully these controls were implemented in Heavenly Sword and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction for the PS3.
Rather than being forced on gamers throughout they are used only when neccessary to enhance the experience at key moments. Now take a look at the woeful Lair and you’ll see what we mean.
Equally, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has some of the most intuitive controls of any title, ever. It’s games such as Link’s first Wii outing that fully justify Nintendo’s Wiimote. But it’s a shame when other titles don’t get it quite so right, Scarface I’m looking in your direction.
Exciting new accessories
Forget all this cheap attachment baloney. What happened to all the great guns and accessories? Back in the day I used to have a R.O.B. The NES Robot. How cool was that! How about something exciting and innovative like that Ninty? The Crossbow doesn’t quite cut it.
Even the Dreamcast had some sexy red Maracas that came packed with Samba De Amigo. Rather than fishing rods and golf club attachments we want something different, please.
Delayed titles
Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto 4, Little Big Planet and even Sony’s Playstation Home concept; we could go on. We don’t mean to be picking on the PS3 as it’s had enough bad press but it’s been the main victim in all of this.
We would like to see titles out on time as promised. Publishers teasing us with trailers and screenshots only to be told we have to wait another four months to play them is not good enough.
No more ‘Red Ring of Death’
It came, it saw and it bitch-slapped a lot of us, including yours truly. Of all the injustices to hit gamers this one took the biscuit and then proceeded to spit out the soggy-crumbled remains in our shocked little faces.
Ok, so reports of this stain on gaming humanity has subsided a little, but with rumors of a new Xbox 360 with built-in HD DVD coming don’t let it happen again, Microsoft.
An end to lazy updates
Electronic Arts are probably the biggest culprits here, but its not just them guilty of dressing up titles masquerading as something totally new. With the current/next-gen console war entering its first calendar year with all the major contenders in place we’d like to see some originality. We know developers are bustling with ideas, but we want to see them.
What would you like to see in 2008? What do you NOT want to see? Is there anything we missed? Let us know.
In Part I, we covered the games whose release dates we knew for sure. Now it’s time to head into the more obscure territory, by covering the games whose quarters we know, but not their release dates.
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Genre: Driving/Racing
Mario Kart Wii is, well, the Wii version of the ultra-famed Mario Kart series that you must know if you call yourself a gamer. A new system of balancing things out between newbies and experts will be featured, along with an online racing mode. Also of note is the Wii Wheel that will be packaged with the game – yet another Wii accessory to make you look silly in front of your TV. As for the rest – It’s Mario Kart! Hop in and have fun!
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Clear Sky is the prequel to the surprise hit of this year, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Clear Sky will explain a lot of things that happened before SoC, as its protagonist is one of the reasons why the radioactive world of Chernobyl is the way it is. An armour/weapon upgrade system and improved AI has been promised, as well as a very atmospheric environment. A must-buy if you’ve played and liked Shadow of Chernobyl.
Worms: A Space Oddity (Wii)
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy (Action elements)
The Wii’s serving of the legendary Worms series takes us back to its 2D roots as our beloved Worms continue their eternal war in a brand new setting – space! A brand new interface, multiplayer and six different planets to play on are up for grabs. If you’ve never played the fantastically addictive Worms series of games before, this seems to be as good a place to start as any, especially with its unique Wii controls.
Sins of a Solar Empire (PC)
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Perhaps winning the award for the most unique title of 2008, Sins of a Solar Empire is a sci-fi RTS that will feature seamless, real-time integration of epic strategy and close-up strategy. This means that you can check out your massive ships in space and zoom in to see your individual units, vehicles etc., all in real time! You also get to conquer planets, moons and the like, while the game’s impressive new engine is touted to be able to render lots and lots of space bodies. This might be a surprise hit in the RTS field, folks!
Frontlines: Fuel of War (PC, XBOX 360, PS3)
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Frontlines takes us to a near-future where an all-too-predictable war for natural resources (specifically fuel) has begun, causing chaos across the world. You must fight for your nation to find and defend fuel in this title! The game’s specialty will be its large-scale conflicts, which should make war more realistic than a dozen soldiers on each side fighting it out. A lot of depth in gameplay can be seen here, which makes this one first-person shooter you want to look into.
To view the large Quarter II and the other two quarters, hit the jump, babeh!
It’s one of those good news, bad news kind of things. The good news is Splinter Cell: Conviction has been delayed yet again. The bad news is that it doesn’t seem that the title suggested by most, well, me to replace Conviction has been taken up by Ubi yet. So much for Splinter Cell: Hobo Edition. (A reference to the way Sam Fisher looks in the game trailer)
In all seriousness though. Considering the lack of press information on the new Splinter Cell game it may be for the best that the title has been delayed with a TBA release date. This is because if the game was any way near alpha we would get some new video after the trailer several months back. If its not near that by now there wouldn’t be any time for QA testing before its up to now release date.
It would be interesting to hear some opinions on if you will be at all interested in the game once it comes out and indeed the Splinter Cell franchise as a whole.
ABC has answered the call of LOST fans by giving them mini-episodes that can be found on ABC’s website! New episodes air every Monday. These 2-3 minute episodes are brand-new footage with the regular cast of Lost. They are NOT deleted scenes.
Hopefully watching these episodes will be worthwhile, but ultimately I can’t imagine that they will be. ABC doesn’t want to split up its fanbase by having some people know some new fact while other fans don’t because they didn’t watch the online episodes.
At the same time the episodes will hopefully feed the fire that Lost fans have for knowing what will happen next when the new season begins in 2008.
