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Croal and Totilo go toe-to-toe about Zelda
Super-journalists Stephen Totilo and N'Gai Croal have started one of their "Vs. Mode" exchanges, in which they debate the merits of a particular game at length. This time, the subject of their discussion is The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. MTV's Totilo finds that while the new control scheme of the game is largely great, other parts of Phantom Hourglass are too stripped-down or simplified; for example, finding bombable walls, once an exercise in tapping walls or just bombing everything, now you are often led right to the spot via a pattern on the floor. In addition, what hasn't been messed with, he thinks, may need to be. As a longtime Zelda fan, Totilo thinks that the series may be getting stale.Croal, on the other hand, is a Zelda neophyte, starting with the DS game, as Nintendo imagines many others to be doing. He loves the controls-- so much so, in fact, that he all but states that the fun of controlling Link is the only thing keeping him hanging on. He finds that there's too much wandering and backtracking in Phantom Hourglass, and probably in Zelda in general, and not enough forward motion.It doesn't sound like either journalist will be donning a Link suit to review the game. Did the same issues weigh on your decision to buy or pass on the game, or was it as easy as "new Zelda, must buy"?[Image part of a wallpaper found here, via GameSetWatch]
Croal goes on CNN to discuss Manhunt 2
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal recently appeared on the CNN program American Morning to discuss all of this business about Manhunt 2 and its gruesome acts of violence. What is most odd, Croal reports, is that the interviewer (Kiran Chetry) was reasonable and didn't have "an ax to grind." She instead asked Croal a series of reasonable questions.Of course, she still brought up the whole "kids acting out murder" thing. Croal, however, brought up the common sense argument, stating that the game is rated "M" for mature, and isn't designed for children. Of couse, some kids are still going to get their hands on it, but he believes (just like many other sane individuals) that it is up to the parents to keep their kids away from material that isn't appropriate for them.
N'Gai Croal reimagines the Wiimote for Metroid Prime 3
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, who you may remember hating for his shockingly-worded preference of 2D Metroid, still really likes Metroid Prime 3. In fact, he likes it so much he came up with an alternate button placement on the Wiimote for ideal Prime playing, one that puts the - and + buttons around the A button like the GameCube's layout. He even suggested, during the same discussion that sparked the original outrage, that Nintendo could have shipped such a 'special edition' Wiimote with the game. He backed up this discussion with a Photoshopped Wiimote that Newsweek put together.We think that's a pretty fun idea, despite being a collector's nightmare. If the function of the thing doesn't really change, why not let people spend their money on weird one-off controllers? It's no different than, say, the Guitar Hero controller or the $200 Steel Battalion doodad, except that it could still be used with other games.
Croal: Metroid should never have gone 3D
The latest "Vs. Mode" exchange between Newsweek's N'Gai Croal and MTV's Stephen Totilo compares Metroid Prime 3 with BioShock (a.k.a. the game that people won't stop talking about). They're up to part 3 now, which mostly covers the morality of the two games. Almost in passing, Croal makes the following remark: "'Metroid' is a franchise that should never have made the jump from 2-D third-person to 3-D first-person."He goes on to say that the first-person format works best for games involving forward motion (shoot, go through door, shoot, etc.), and that the Metroid games' trademark backtracking is most easily conceivable in a side-scroller. And even though we can almost hear you rummaging in the closet for your Indignant Commenter hats, we mostly agree. While Metroid Prime is a great series of games, they aren't great Metroid games. The emphasis on storytelling (via scanning) and the reduced platforming required of a first-person game make for a fundamentally different experience from a real Metroid game. We admit we have big problems with the 3D maps, too, which hampers exploration significantly. For Croal, the change is enough to keep him from making progress in Prime; for us, we can enjoy both independently, but at no point do we really feel like we're playing a 3D Metroid.
N'Gai Croal vs. MS attack dog in PS3 bet
N'Gai Croal from Newsweek done gone and did it again, he baited another Microsoft guy into a bet ... a gamble they'll probably lose. The new wager is between Croal and Xbox attack dog Andrew "Ozymandias" Vrignaud. The battle lines are that Ozy says there'll be a 40GB $399 version of the PS3 once the "clearance sale" is over. Croal says that once the 60GBs are gone in the next couple months, the 80GB version will drop down to the $499 mark. Sadly, Croal's dreads are not up for grabs this time, it is merely a very expensive steak dinner -- lame! We want the hair of Croal to hang from someone's mantel one day.Previously Croal won a bet against former Xbox poster boy J Allard regarding sales of the PSP. Allard eventually owned up to his side and had the picture you see at right taken. One day we'll get Croal in a wager he's sure to lose -- more importantly, we'll get his pretty dreads too.[Thanks Copa]
An elegant announcement for a more civilized age
This is yet another confirmation of what every gamer has been waiting for since the first time we saw the Wii controller. At the Hollywood & Games Summit, panel moderator N'Gai Croal asked LucasArts president Jim Ward about the possibility of a Wii lightsaber game. Ward's response was very encouraging. "We're all over that, and internally we have already played a lightsaber game on the Wii. It's a lot of fun, and we'll get there." He went on to say that "some stuff" would be out this fall. Start practicing your blind Force-guided waggling now.[Via NeoGAF]
Newsweek's Croal, MTV's Totilo hands-on with Manhunt 2
Newsweek's N'gai Croal hasn't been afraid to defend his tastes on his LevelUp blog. The site's Vs. Mode debates feature some of the best back-and-forth gameplay analysis to be found anywhere. So when Croal and MTV News game writer Stephen Totilo got to play the first few levels of Manhunt 2 at Rockstar's office, you know the resulting conversation is going to be good.Totilo's portion includes some graphic descriptions of the asylum escape in level one, which includes scenes of public urination, in-cell hangings and stealth kills via syringe and axe-based decapitation. The protagonist isn't completely cold to his role, though -- Totilo describes how he "watched Daniel vomit because of his quick-passing guilt."Most of the discussion so far, though, deals with the game through the lens of comparative media studies, comparing it to controversial movies like Natural Born Killers and Taxi Driver. Croal and Totilo both harp on the idea of organizations like the BBFC and IFCO and companies like Nintendo and Sony imposing content decisions on consumers. As Croal aptly puts it, "Unless they have good reason to believe that this game is an imminent threat to the public order, or that it will in and of itself incite adults to violence, [the BBFC and IFCO's] decision seems to me to be based on taste, and I will never believe in substituting anyone else's tastes for my own." Amen!
Is Wii less powerful than Xbox One? N'Gai investigates
Last week in an interview with eWeek, Microsoft's president of Entertainment and Devices division Robbie Bach made the claim that the Nintendo Wii "[doesn't] have the graphics horsepower that even Xbox 1 had." Is the Nintendo Wii, with or without duct tape, less powerful than the original Xbox? Newsweek's N'Gai Croal decided to investigate by talking to "two of our most reliable technical experts at third party publishers" speaking under the condition anonymity (given Croal's credibility, we trust him).The article therein is a very technical discussion on fixed function shaders, pixels and vertexes, and ultimately concludes that the GameCube 1.5 moniker isn't far off from the truth, though said one source, "keep in mind that the Wii's GPU is not as fast or feature rich as the Xbox 360 or PS3, but that doesn't mean you can't get very close results." And of course, given the hardware sales we've seen since the console's launch, how much does supreme technical prowess really matter to Nintendo?
Are Nintendo fanboys hurting the Wii's 3rd-party support? One fansite editor sounds off
Who's at fault for Nintendo's lack of third-party support: Nintendo, the developers, or the fans themselves? Kevin Cassidy, founder of website GoNintendo, places the blame on the Nintendo community for showing reluctance or unwarranted disdain toward third-party Wii games.The rant, part of Newsweek writer N'Gai Croal's P2P series, makes a point out of Dewy's Adventure, a game he feels internet users have called in "kiddie" based on its looks alone, subsequently refusing to give it a chance. This is a problem Nintendo had when revealing Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to be a cel-shaded romp with a pre-adolescent Link. Of course, that game sold well on merit of its Nintendo roots. Dewy's Adventure isn't even out yet, so opinions have room to alter wildly between now and its release later this year.Is the "kiddie" problem inherently Nintendo's, though? Regard Microsoft's Viva Pinata, a game that has been praised widely but suffers from low (though steady) sales. Is the kiddie image of the title affecting other consoles, too? Cassidy opines that Nintendo fans are clamoring for "mature" titles that include violence and gore, but we feel this is a more universal trend that is affecting all consoles.
EA's Larry Probst denies PSP gamers original games
Newsweek's N'gai Croal (awesome name) had a chance to talk to Electronic Arts' CEO, Larry Probst. Love them or hate them, EA is a major player in the industry, and their games have the power to move hardware units. Croal asked Probst about making original games for the PSP, something that seems outrageous to the CEO: I'm not so sure that I agree with the premise that we're strategically focused on building original product for the PSP. "That's news to me. It's more likely that we would target platforms like the PS3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii if we had an original in mind. Our strategy on PSP has typically been to take the franchises that we build on other platforms and exploit them on the PSP."Croal points out the success of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories as one reason why publishers should look into making exclusive games for the handheld. However, Probst believes that without more units out there, the chances of original PSP games from EA is slim. Like the rest of the sane world, he notes that Sony should lower the price, and maybe even make a redesigned console, in order to reinvigorate sales.Check out the rest of the interview to see Probst's other PSP thoughts, and why Nintendo matters.See also:Fun = DS, not PSP, says EA execEA makes a lot of money on PSP[Via Joystiq; Image via Games Blog]
