Category: Gaming Theory

GamerSushi Asks: Underrated Games!

Viva PinataMan, after the huge amount of response we got to the thread about overrated video games, I figured we were just about begging to get this follow-up. I’d love to see something similar happen here as well.

Basically, I want to know what you guys think are the most underrated games out there. Games that for some reason or another seem to get overlooked by either gamers or the media on the whole. Or perhaps they weren’t overlooked, but just discounted outright or given an unnecessary amount of undue hatred.

For me, I have to say that Suikoden III doesn’t really get the praise I think it deserved as one of the best RPGs of the last generation. In this generation, Saint’s Row 2 was largely ignored in light of Grand Theft Auto IV, when it was probably a better spiritual successor to the series than GTA 4 was, even. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand was a great shooter that more people definitely needed to play. Likewise, Viva Pinata was another underrated game still that got shoved under the rug because it appeared to be a kid game.

So what about you guys? What do you think are the most underrated games?

What Were the Top 20 Most Played 360 Games of ’09?

LIVE
We’ve got one more top something of 2009 list for you, but this time it’s a little different as it’s not some publication doling out their “best-of” awards, but rather a unique compilation decided entirely by you the player. Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb recently posted the chart-topping games of 2009 as tracked by X-Box LIVE, and it may surprise you to learn that Halo 3 has once again taken the top spot three years running with Call of Duty 4 riding its coat-tails and Modern Warfare 2 in third.

I know you’re going to say that MW2 was only released on November 11 of this year, and I’m sure that future metrics will show the widely acclaimed First-Person-Shooter rocketing into the lead and leaving Bungie’s mean green machine in its dust. I just think it’s amazing that Halo 3 continues to lead the charts even though it’s beginning to get a bit long in the tooth. If it’s any consolation, Call of Duty titles fill out the remainder of the top four.

The charts also list the most popular Arcade titles (Battlefield 1943) and the most-played original X-Box titles (Halo 2). How do you think 2010 is going to break down? My bet is MW2 will clinch the top spot then fight with Bad Company 2 until Reach comes out.

Source: Major Nelson

GamerSushi Asks: Overrated Games

Grand Theft Auot 4- Lost and the DamnedThis one’s sure to start an interesting comment thread, I think.

Over the weekend, I picked up Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which contains both DLC expansions for Grand Theft Auto IV, considered to be one of the best games released in 2008. While I wasn’t crazy about the game back when it came out, I thought I would give it another shot because of the great things I’m hearing about the Ballad of Gay Tony, the second of the two downloadable episodes.

I decided to play Lost and the Damned first, knowing full well that if I played BoGT first, I would never go back to L&D since it is rumored to be inferior. The game opened up and within a few minutes I was shocked by a couple of things. In particular, the writing is what has taken me back the most. While writing is generally pretty good in GTA, L&D just screamed out cliches and inconsistencies. One minute, Jonny is saying he’s too old to do the biker thing and urges the others to settle down, and the next minute he’s leading the chase to go kill some police officers. It doesn’t help that the voice actor is awful, either.

Playing this game reminded me of all the things I disliked about GTA IV. The driving, the shooting, the control scheme, watching cut scenes and then driving to x to kill y… all of it. I still can’t believe how overrated this game was for the time, and having played better open world games since then (Assassin’s Creed 2, I’m looking at you) just makes the flaws all the more visible. I know that many people love this game, but I’m just not seeing it. I’m declaring it to be on my list of what I consider to be one of the most overrated games of all time.

So what about you guys? What games do you think are ridiculously overrated? Go!

Another Best Games of the Decade List

BioshockNow that 2009 has ended, it seems that everybody and their moms are coming up with “best of the decade” lists, whether it’s sports, movies or games. We’ve got some ideas of our own regarding this, though we’re letting things marinate like a juicy steak before we let you dudes start biting into it. OK, that analogy got a tad weird at the end.

Anyway, the A.V. Club has posted what it believes to be the best games of the 00’s, and as such has listed 15 games that progressed the medium. The list is actually remarkably well put together, and includes some great titles that you honestly don’t see in too many places, such as Advance Wars for the DS and Katamari Damacy.

While I’m not the hugest fan of Bioshock as the number 1 title, I can see why so many hold it in high esteem, though it seems a bit repetitive to include it along with Fallout 3. Aren’t they largely similar? Feel free to flame me if I’m wrong, as I couldn’t really finish either.

What do you think of this list, and what’s your game of the decade? Go!

Source- A.V. Club

Top Six: Gaming’s Worst Unlocks

We’ve all worked our butt off for something that turned out to so not be worth it in the end. Shoveling the driveway, being nice to your parents, school, these are all things that have no tangible benefit in the long run. Nothing is more notorious for this than video games though. Whether you’re scampering across rooftops or desperately trying to get 100% on a game you don’t really like, gaming unlocks can be the biggest time-sink. Our list of the six worst offenders are below (Oh, and potential spoilers):

#1: Auditore Cape, Assassin’s Creed IIauditorecape

While the first Assassin’s Creed will go down in infamy for the multitude of useless collectible flags scattered across the Holy Land, Assassin’s Creed II deserves this spot for a different reason. The 100 feathers that you can collect along your Renaissance adventure seem like they’re actually leading somewhere, especially when you reach the half-way mark and you get the second best weapon in the game, the Condottiero hammer.

After hours of searching for the damnable leavings of the eagles, you return to your villa and deposit them in the box for the last time to receive…a hug. Then, your mother presents you with the cape and thanks you for not forgetting her. Ding, achievement unlocked, and we have a sweet piece of cloth to show for it. What does the cape do, though? Does it prevent fall damage, or something useful along those lines? No, it does the exact opposite of every other cape you earned for doing nothing. It makes you instantly notorious in every city in the game except for your villa. Thanks, Mom, so glad that all those archer’s families will wonder where their father went because he interfered with my search.
Continue reading Top Six: Gaming’s Worst Unlocks

Rumor: NBA Jam Gets a Revival

NBA JamBoom shaka-laka! He’s on fire!

If anyone knows those words, then they will be excited to hear one of the newest rumors circulating around the video game realm this week. Namely, that NBA Jam is getting revived by EA Sports for an exclusive Wii title. That’s right, the Midway classic that we played in arcades and on our SNES or Sega Genesis are getting the Frankenstein treatment, coming back to us in the year of our Lord 2010. Allegedly.

While details right now are scarce, it seems that there is a pending announcement that could hit later this month. I’m not sure if you guys ever even played this game, but it ranks among my top sports games of all time, and probably as the greatest basketball title that I can remember playing. I loved getting on fire and doing the crazy make-your-opponents-weep kind of dunks to get absurd scores by game’s end. Even though I don’t have a Wii, I seriously can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Does anyone else remember playing this game?

Source- VG247

Gaming Pop Quiz, 2010 Edition

As you all know about our sweet little Internet cave that we call GamerSushi, we’re all about shooting the junk and really digging into gaming discussions, campfire style. This is a cool community, and as such we like to chat about what makes us tick as gamers, and how our gaming identities were formed. Enter the second edition of our feature, Gaming Pop Quiz.

Here’s how it works: We’ve come up with 7 different questions about your gaming history. As always with our getting-to-know-you type games, feel free to answer with as much or as little as you like. Obviously, some of these things you might not remember, but answer to the best of your ability. Go!
Continue reading Gaming Pop Quiz, 2010 Edition

GamerSushi Asks: Best Sequel?

Metal Gear Solid 3Last night, I stayed up ludicrously late to beat Assassin’s Creed 2. It was one of those things where I knew I was closing in on the end of the game, and was willing to do whatever I had to in order to see the end. Fortunately for me, the game is a blast, and has easily become one of my favorites for this past year, if not one of my favorites of the generation.

Part of what is so fascinating about the game is that as a sequel, it is such a ludicrous improvement over the original it’s hard to even compare the two. The gameplay that was only hinted at in the first one seems fully realized here, and the story is way better to boot. I’d even recommend it to people that hated the first one, it’s such a great open world game in comparison.

When I really think about it, next to maybe Metal Gear Solid 3, it’s one of the best video game sequels I’ve ever played. Seriously. Maybe one of the greatest sequels ever made. Lots of games improve with new iterations, but there are some that occasionally take gigantic leaps over the predecessors in a way that’s hard to imagine. Metal Gear Solid 3 was one such game for me, because it blew MGS 2 out of the water completely. Uncharted 2 is a great sequel and game, but the first game was already good, where as the original Assassin’s Creed was just mediocre.

Anywho, all of that to ask you guys- what’s the best sequel to a game you’ve ever played? As good as AC2 is, I think MGS3 is still the king of all sequels. One of the greatest games of all time, hands down. What about you? Go!

He Said What? The Most WTF Quotes of ’09.

bush
Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year! As we slip into 2010 and eagerly await the best first quarter of video game history, we look back and reflect on 2009 and what an interesting year it was for gaming. We had plenty of great games drop this year (Batman, Resident Evil 5, Assassin’s Creed II just to name a few), and we finally saw the release of the undeniable juggernaut, Modern Warfare 2. But, as great as this year has been, there’s been more than a few eyebrow-raising moments as well. Whether you’ve got Infinity Ward’s decision to use matchmaking on the PC, Bobby Kotick’s Emperor Palpatine-esque villainy or Microsoft and Sony’s bizarre desire to tap into the motion control market, 2009 has seen its share of shenanigans. 1up has put together a list of their top industry quotes of 2009, and I’ve gone through and picked out a few of my favorites:

“You ever wonder what the bottom of an Avatar’s shoe looks like? Well BAM! There it is!”

Kudo Tsunoda demonstrating Natal at the E3 2009 Microsoft key note.

“Games have been used for stimulation, but maybe it won’t be long until games are used for relaxation and even to fall asleep.”

Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata introducing the ultimate WTF, the Wii Vitality Sensor, at the E3 2009 Nintendo key note. Continue reading He Said What? The Most WTF Quotes of ’09.

2010 Gaming Resolutions

Every year, New Year’s Resolutions are the big thing to do once January rolls around. People make fake promises to themselves in order to build their self esteem and generally and make them feel better. In general, they hope this mental self flagellation results in them being able to sleep better at night, if in fact it causes any betterment at all in their daily lives.

I’ve only had a very minimal experience with these self imposed restrictions or boundaries, but only this year were they actually a positive thing for my health. However, I wondered what it would be like to pen up a few resolutions that related to video games. Here’s what I came up with:
Continue reading 2010 Gaming Resolutions

Capcom Remains Dour On Western Collaboration

bionic commando
Capcom, why do your employees have to be such downers? First Mega Man and Dead Rising series creator Keiji Inafune says that he believes that Japanese game development is on a serious decline, and now company president Haruhiro Tsujimoto has gone on record saying that Capcom has some trouble working with Western studios. The full quote goes like this:

“Our experience with Bionic Commando has demonstrated the difficulty of outsourcing the development of new title to overseas companies”, he said. “Nevertheless, we cannot develop a sufficient number of titles without using the resources of these companies. This is why we plan to continue using these alliances.”

Mr. Tsujimoto elaborates further, saying that the joint developments between his studio and Western based companies will continue for sequels while Capcom works on new titles. Part of the problem may stem from the fact that having two completely different styles of game development trying to mesh in one game may not work as well as one would hope, but what do you guys think? Is Capcom a little gun-shy after the failure of Bionic Commando, and what does this mean for up-coming titles like Dead Rising 2, which is being developed by Vancouver, Canada based Blue Castle Games?

Source: Kotaku

Are Demos Evil?

Resident Evil 5 DemoI feel like we’ve got a pretty good thing going on here at GamerSushi. In many ways, I’d like to feel like the discussion that goes on here is perhaps ahead of the curve on some gaming issues in comparison to other sites. I think this is especially true when topics we’ve debated about here start to appear in more mainstream outlines.

Take the subject of demos, for instance. CVG has posted an opinion piece stating that demos are evil, and no good really comes of them. The writer raises some good points which we’ve covered here, but I thought it would be good to revisit them. I think the main problem with demos is that they don’t often showcase the things about a game you really need to get a grasp of it.

Most games operate on a curve that teaches you about the game the farther you get into it, so the first few minutes is most often ideal. However, the first 10-15 minutes aren’t always the sexiest parts of the game, so developers don’t often do that, giving you weird glimpses into what they’ve made (see Resident Evil 5’s demo). I’m curious to see how the new PSN features that allow you to experience the first hour of a game operate, and how they work against game demos.

What do you guys think about game demos? Are they evil?

Source- CVG

Gaming Christmas Carols

odst santa
We’re really getting into the holiday spirit here at GamerSushi, but there’s always been one thing that we’ve found to be deficient in this most favorite of seasons: uber-leet carols! Sure, we all know the classics, like Frosty the Snowman or Silent Night, but are they really relevant anymore?

Well, fear not, as we’ve taking the liberty of updating some old dusty songs into something new and modern! The only things they’re missing are motion controls and HD graphics!
Continue reading Gaming Christmas Carols

Replay Value Menu: Have It Your Way

You just beat the final boss and are watching the end credits, wondering if you skip them will you miss anything important, like a hidden cut-scene or Easter egg. The credits finally finish and you bask in the glory of another completed video game experience. Now what? Do you start another game from your backlog or do you play something you have already finished? Or do you restart the game you just completed and try to find all the things you missed the first time around?

One of the things I always look for when purchasing a game is replay value. But what is replay value? To some people, it’s something as obvious as a New Game+ feature, where you can play the game again with your character already leveled up, which allows easier exploration, but makes the battles a cakewalk. This is especially handy when games like Chrono Trigger have many different endings.

Speaking of endings, does the drive to see all of them make you replay a game again and again? Or do you create saves at different points in the game, so you don’t have to replay everything in order to make the different decision and reach the new ending? Or do you just jump on Youtube and watch the endings online, laughing at the fools who did all the grunt work while you reap the rewards?

Some people I have spoken to on message boards claim that harder difficulty levels equal more replay value, but I really disagree with this. Playing the game again but with (usually) cheaper AI does not constitute a good time for me. I am going to attempt this with Bioshock as an experiment, but I don’t have high hopes. And even if I do enjoy myself, I don’t think this is something that works with every game.

What about Trophies or Achievements? I know for many this causes more replays than they would normally go through, but I can’t get behind it. During the course of a game, I may take the time to do a few things in order to get some more Trophies, but once I am done, I am DONE. I may come back to the game later and get a few new Trophies during a replay, but I don’t really go out of my way too often to get them. I know some people think it’s like getting a high score, but it’s not. People who have the most money to play the most games will get the most Trophies/Achievements, which takes all the fun out of it for me. Some people play games just to get the easy ones and boost their Level/Gamerscore. Not impressed.

For me, replay value stems from a game that was such a joy to play that, given enough time has passed, I will want to play again. There are games I was sure I would want to play again, but once I started them, I just did not have the drive to do it. What makes you replay a game? Are there any factors I have left out that appeal to you when deciding if you want to play a game again?

Franchise Fanboy Wars

Things are pretty messy out there in the video game realm. Gamers fighting against gamers, flames flying around the tubes left and right. People claiming superiority over one another because of a purchasing decision. What have we become?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before it came to this. Sure, everyone’s got their favorite system of choice, be it PC, XBox 360, PS3 or the Wii… But what about the franchises? To help feed the fanboy flames, I thought I’d throw some of our most beloved characters and stories together, to see who came out on top after a brutal battle to the death. It’s the franchise fanboy wars!
Continue reading Franchise Fanboy Wars

Introducing: GamerSushi Reviews Page

premiereWell, aren’t we fancy? We just keep adding these features, don’t we? Soon, you’ll all revolt, longing to go back to the “GamerSushi that was”…

But until then, enjoy the brand spanking new GamerSushi Reviews page, which compiles all of our reviews in an easy-to-browse manner. This should hopefully be helpful in the future as we continue to add more games. Much thanks to JJ, who really killed it with putting the layout together.

In terms of more functionality and updating, we’ve got more stuff we’re working on for the near future with GamerSushi. Any other features you would love to see on this site? What do you think of the review page? Go!

GamerSushi Asks: Repeated Playthroughs

dragon-age-dlcThese days, I just don’t get a lot of time to replay games all that often. I’m so busy that as soon as I finish a game, I go right past it and move on to the next. I very rarely take the time, even when I’m in the midst of playing it, to stop and enjoy what’s going on with the experience.

Back when I was younger, this was of course very different. I would play through games again and again like my life depended on it. It didn’t matter if I had beaten it a million times, I would load it up repeatedly just to see how quick I could beat it, or to explore every last nook and cranny. This was definitely the case with Starfox, Mario 64 and Metal Gear Solid. While I haven’t done this in years, Dragon Age: Origins has reversed this trend.

I keep finding myself wanting to go back and replay big parts of the story with a new character to see how things might be different. I’ve already gone through nearly every origin story, and I’m tempted to take a new city elf female character to some pretty major plot points. In my mind, it takes a special kind of game to have that effect on me in a time when I’m kind of swamped personally.

So what about you guys? What games do you play over and over again? What game has made you do this the most?

Destructoid Posts Top 50 Games of the Decade

sotc-2List time! We all know how lists put gamers in such a frenzy, and this newest entry from Destructoid is no different. The dudes (and a few ladies, I’m sure) have put together their comprehensive list of what they feel are the best 50 games of the last 10 years, running from 2000 to now.

While I generally don’t get my panties in a bunch over a list, I do like to take the things that they are measuring and think about how I would have ranked them on my own. I do have to admit that their top 50 list has some quality entries (Half-Life 2, Portal, Shadow of the Colossus are in some great positions), it also has a few things that I feel are misplaced. Valkyria Chronicles, for one, seems just a bit high at number 8, while Knights of the Old Republic is shockingly low at the 49 spot. Beyond that, the omission of both the Halo franchise as a whole as well as Fallout 3/Oblivion certainly raise an eyebrow or several hundred.

So what do you guys think of this list? And what are some of your best games of the last decade?

Source- Destructoid

GamerSushi Grade Chart Part Deux

grade-sheet-smallA month back or so, we asked for your input on how our grading scale worked for the games we review here at GamerSushi. You all weighted in with you thoughts, and gave some really valuable input that helped us in our discussions about how we should address our grading system going forward. Seriously, it really pointed us in the right direction. So, it is with great pleasure that we introduce to you the brand new version of the grade chart.

We’ve created a new page that has a breakdown (written by Anthony) of how the updated grading scale works. We basically combined several ideas that people gave us.

Our problem before was that since we are a small site with limited resources beyond our own wits (and even that isn’t much), there’s no way we’re going to be reviewing games that are truly worthy of D’s or F’s. Even C’s for that matter. All of our scores ended up being in the same zone for this reason, because half of our scale was useless.

What we’ve done now is address that issue by re-scaling the chart so that it basically only takes into account the hyped or AAA titles. That means that even a D could still be a good game, just a blockbuster title we didn’t enjoy as much as others. On top of all that, we ditched the +/- system, and added a new grade of “S” for the truly special games. This took care of the issues we were having where a game like Resident Evil 5 deserved an A+, but on our old scale, that would mean it was one of the “greatest games of all time”, along with Uncharted 2. In our new scale, RE5 becomes an A and Uncharted 2 becomes an S.

Anywho, Anthony explains all of that much better on the new grade chart page. I’d suggest checking it out and leaving your thoughts here! We’ll be re-scoring all of our reviews over the next weekend, so tell us your thoughts on those, too.

EDIT: Nick made the sweet graphic of the grade chart. He yelled at me for not telling you guys that. Whoops. NICK MADE IT.

Aliens Vs Predator Banned in Australia, Developers Fire Back

avp
The Land Down Under is known for many things, like koalas, giant cans of beer and Crocodile Dundee (not to mention all around manly-man Saxton Hale from Team Fortress 2 lore), but it’s also home to some of the most draconian video game rating laws on the planet. How the system works is that if a title is rated over MA15+, then it’s “refused classification” and cannot be sold in the country. Big surprise, then, that the upcoming Aliens Versus Predator by Rebellion has been banned. The game features two of the most acclaimed movie monsters of our time, and the films they’ve starred in have never been stringy on the violence.

If a developer wants to skirt a ban then they have to modify the content of their game so it meets the harsh criteria. Bethesda and Valve have both bowed to the iron will of the Australian government, but Rebellion is not backing down. They’re not going to modify the content, and they have one of the sassiest PR responses I’ve ever seen:

“The content of AVP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices.”

Take that, Australia! That’s a nice intelligent response, but I doubt it’s going to sway the Australian government. How do you guys feel? I don’t think we’ve talked about Australia’s ratings before, so give me you thoughts on those, too. On the subject of AVP itself, who’s picking this up? I know I am!

Source: Kotaku