Bioshock Infinite Delayed to 2013, Here's Hoping For Improvement!

I'm not sure if you've already heard of this, but Bioshock Infinite has been delayed until February 2013.  It saddened me to realize I was indifferent to this news, I'm just not excited about the game.

For me, Bioshock has always been about exploring dark, creepy, mostly abandoned areas while encountering hideous mutants.  Some of the magic was lost in Bioshock 2, because the game focused more on non-stop action and much less on the slow-paced, tense exploration sequences.  In fact, scary jump-out-of-your-seat moments were completely absent from Bioshock 2.

I worry that this trend of turning the series into a Call of Duty-style non-stop gunfight will continue with Infinite.  The game features wide open environments for sniping and long range combat, but there is still hope because returning are the claustrophobic areas with the close range combat we all know and love.

Also, Bioshock Infinite does seem to retain the theme of trying to piece together what went wrong in an isolated community while you battle the vicious locals (who sadly don't seem to be complete abominations like the Splicers).  There's even hope that Infinite will have some of the creepiness from the previous games in the series.  One of the enemies is a mechanical George Washington who wields a minigun and hunts you down like the Terminator:

You'll never look at a quarter the same way again.

One look at that creepy porcelain doll face and you know you are going to dread running into these guys at close quarters.  Alright so maybe I'm a little bit excited for this game, if the devs can make sure it still feels like Bioshock (and please bring back the jump-out-of-your-seat moments!) then this one might be worth checking out.

How about you guys, are you looking forward to Bioshock Infinite?  Do you think it can reclaim the magic of the first Bioshock game?

When Star Wars Characters are out of Place

I like a good cameo appearance as much as anyone, and that's especially true when it comes to characters from one of my all-time favorite franchises: Star Wars.  When done correctly, with proper respect paid to the characters and the entire franchise, these cameos can be awesome.  When done not so well, we are left with something that's at best awkward, and at worst cringe-worthy.  Today we're going to take a look at some games that have had the privilege of including one or more Star Wars characters, even when they didn't quite fit in.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

Actually, including this game on the list shouldn't come as too big of a surprise.  The Tony Hawk series has been known to have crazy casts of secret characters, allowing you to bust combos as Iron Man or Bigfoot.  Tony Hawk 3 is notable due to the fact that one of the secret characters is the bad-ass who was killed off too quickly: Darth Maul.

Judging by the way he's holding that lightsaber, I don't think he recommends you try to edit his appearance or board.

Once you get over the fact that you are witnessing a Star Wars character perform 360 tailgrabs, you'll find that Darth Maul still looks like a bad-ass as he shreds around the maps holding his double-bladed lightsaber.  Therefore, this cameo appearance isn't one that should make you cringe too hard, unless of course you're one of those anti-everything-in-Episode 1 people.

Soulcalibur IV

When you think of the Soulcalibur games, what usually comes to mind are Victorian-era environments and characters obsessed with evil swords.  I'm willing to bet you don't immediately think of Darth Vader delivering a beatdown on Mitsurugi.  However, thanks to Soulcalibur IV, this is now the case!  The fourth game in this series included three Star Wars characters: Darth Vader, Yoda, and the Apprentice (from The Force Unleashed).

What? Don't you remember when Darth Vader and Yoda dueled in the medieval castle in The Empire Strikes Back?

These characters are all way out of place in a Soulcalibur game, and sadly they all look just plain goofy while they battle the fantasy characters who are regulars in the series.  Forget a galaxy far far away, the Soulcalibur universe is a whole other dimension far far away from Star Wars.  To Namco's credit, they did do a good job making sure the Star Wars characters retained their mannerisms instead of going all out goofy, and playing a Darth Vader vs. Yoda battle in a Star Destroyer docking bay is pretty awesome.

The Dance Mode in Kinect Star Wars

I can hear you all forming the same sentence: "Now wait a minute Rob, how can this be a cameo appearance when this is an actual Star Wars game?"  Well I had no choice but to include this game on my list, due to the disastrous way the developers handled our beloved Star Wars characters in the dance mode (there shouldn't even be a dance mode in a Star Wars game).  In the movies, Emperor Palpatine does NOT dance, neither does Darth Vader or any other protagonist/antagonist in the series.  Yet Kinect Star Wars has all of our favorite characters busting a groove and looking completely stupid doing so.  Words cannot describe it, so you'll have to see for yourself:



And that concludes our quick look at some Star Wars cameos in other game franchises.  If you're a Star Wars fan, I hope this list didn't ruin the series too much for you!  I personally get along just fine by pretending the lousy Kinect game doesn't exist.

The Big Head Cheat Code

Okay admit it, you have used the infamous "Big Head" cheat code in at least one videogame during your years of gaming.  And while we are visiting this nostalgic cheat code, it's okay to admit that you had a case of the giggles while witnessing balloon-headed characters go about their business.  As a kid I used this code countless times for various Nintendo 64 games, even if it only provided a laugh for about 20 seconds.

It seems like this cheat code used to be included in multiple genres of games, from sports games like NFL Blitz...

One of the stranger big head cheat codes, in most games this code usually makes all characters rock the swollen melon.

...to first person shooters such as Goldeneye 007 on the N64:

Bond contemplates jumping off the dam to end the headache you have inflicted upon him.

Why did developers provide this cheat in so many games?  And why did we use this code?  Let's not be in denial, it was used, or else it would have gone extinct very early on.  Surely we aren't that immature to actually like this cheat code, are we?  Yes, we are, we like seeing distorted humans walk/run/talk.  It's cheap humor, and apparently it extended playtime to the point where developers found it worthwhile to include it in their games.

I hope this post was able to bring back some memories of the days when we would laugh at something stupid such as this......alright who am I kidding?  We still laugh at stupid things, otherwise Youtube would have disappeared long ago.

Out of curiosity, what were your favorite cheat codes back in the day?

Birdy the Alcoholic Scarecrow

I love Conker's Bad Fur Day.  Say what you will about having a game filled with crude adult humor on a Nintendo system, but this is still the funniest game I've ever played.  The stages, most of which parodied popular movies, were all memorable and enjoyable (as well as frustrating, I'm looking at you, dinosaur-themed world).  We know from a previous posting about a certain sentient pile of dung that Conker has its fair share of weirdness, and today I want to talk about one of my favorite characters in the game: Birdy the Scarecrow.

He almost looks like a distant relative of Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

You are introduced to Birdy fairly early in the game, in a tutorial sequence that teaches Conker how to use context-sensitive platforms (which are just platforms you stand on in order to activate a special power-up specific to that area of the map).  After you get over the shock of having a creepy-looking scarecrow come to life and talk to you, you immediately notice that this guy is totally wasted.  What follows is a hilarious conversation between Conker and Birdy where Birdy tries to explain the concept of context-sensitive areas, while clearly not knowing the meaning of context-sensitivity.

But in the end, Conker finally uses a nearby context-sensitive (trust me, after watching this sequence of the game, you will never get tired of saying "context-sensitive") platform to give a beer to his new straw-filled buddy.



Sadly you only run into Birdy at one other point in the game, during another funny sequence where he rambles on about reading manuals and wanting Mepsi Pax (a play on Pepsi Max, a favorite drink of a member of the Conker development team who was nicknamed Beardy). Whether you love him or are annoyed with him, you have to agree that Birdy is one weird and unique character!

Mass Effect 3: Unanswered Questions (No Spoilers)

Good ol' Mass Effect 3, currently the biggest punching bag in the gaming industry.  I finally beat the game and encountered the dreaded ending.  It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I won't go into it here because I promised no spoilers.  Today I want to talk about some nagging questions that popped up during my first play-through of ME3, feel free to comment about any unanswered questions that bothered you about the game, as a big fan of the series I'd love to hear them!

1. What happened to all the mechs?

The very first species to go extinct as a result of the Reaper invasion.

I know that everyone has been complaining about the game's ending, and how most of it goes unexplained, but oddly the disappearance of the mechs that were so prominent in Mass Effect 2 has nagged me from the very beginning.  In ME2 mechs were everywhere: the Citadel, Omega, random planets, you name it.  Then Mass Effect 3 arrives, and we find that they have all but vanished without a trace.  It's not like the events of ME3 happen twenty years or so after the ending of ME2, so I find it hard to believe that galaxy wide technology can be completely wiped out in only a year or so.  Even the Reapers would be jealous of the speed at which the mechs were exterminated.

Sure you might argue it was mentioned that Aria's mercenary groups would bring their mechs into the battle against the Reapers, so I guess these groups somehow stockpiled an entire galaxy full of robots.

2. Why do Brute husks look like Elcor when they are explained to be a Turian/Krogan hybrid?

Amused. Silly human, you can't hurt me. In Pain. Put down the shotgun human.

I might be nitpicking here, but I can't be the only one who sees the resemblance between the Elcor and the Brutes.  They have a similar shape and a similar hunched-over gait.  They even have the same need to state every single emotion they feel while they are trying to kill you (only joking!).  Brutes are obviously much larger than Turians and Krogans, while only being slightly larger than the Elcor.  I find that fact notable since the other types of husks are mostly the same size as the races they are created from.  I guess the short answer to this question is that Bioware needed to find some way to rip off the Hunter from Halo, the Berserker from Gears of War, and the (insert giant bad guy that charges at you) from (insert popular game here).

3. What happened to the all-human Council?

Ambassador Udina lied to me, damned politicians!  At the end of Mass Effect 1 after I let the original Council die, Udina stated that the new Council would be composed entirely of humans.  During ME2, the Council didn't make an appearance (well it did, but that was when I played through as a nice Shepard who saved the Council in ME1), so I let it slide.  But in ME3, you find that the original Council has been replaced by another Council made up of a Turian, an Asari, and a Salarian.  Who needs continuity?  Certainly not us gamers who bought the Mass Effect games just so we could see how our choices had consequences throughout the whole series...

4. How is the Reapers' armor so damn tough?

Shepard ponders the mystery of Reaper-brand sheet metal.

Seriously, throughout the game you see the giant capital ship Reapers casually shrug off heavy weapons fire, making it seem as if the races of the galaxy equipped pea-shooters on all their warships.  How is it possible to make steel plating so durable?  Maybe the Reapers were built inside a black hole, with the extreme gravitational pressures making the material extra dense.  Die-hard Mass Effect fans will surely defend this by saying the Reapers have incredible force-field shields surrounding their ships, but their toughness still bothers me.  Also, why do the humans never fire off some nukes at the Reapers orbiting Earth?  If anything, it would eliminate the thousands of Oculi swarming around the Reapers.

On a side note, am I the only person who wondered how the Reapers would hold up against the Molecular Disruption Device (Little Doctor, Dr. Device, etc) from Ender's Game?

The Pain of Disappointing Game Endings

Well look what I found under this pile of dust, the Strange Moments in Gaming blog!  It has been far too long since the last update, so it's time to fire up the gaming consoles once again and deliver another article.

I'll admit, I haven't finished Mass Effect 3 yet.  I'm thoroughly enjoying Commander Shepard's last attempt to save the galaxy, and I find that I'm trying to do as many side missions as possible, while avoiding the main missions.  One of the main reasons I'm taking my time heading to the conclusion of the series is the fact that so many "gamers" are whining about the disappointing ending.  The fact that people have gone so far as to host a fundraising petition to get Bioware's attention is not very encouraging.  On a side note, if you're going to petition something, how about petitioning to stop developers from ruining franchises by milking the cash cows to death (do we really need a new Assassin's Creed game every single year??).

Petitions make Shepard cry.

All the hating on Bioware has got me thinking about other disappointing endings to games I have played.  So here we go!  It's time to re-live the pain.

The Cliffhangers of Halo 2 and Halo 3

Now that we've all played through Halo 3 and know how the series concludes, we can somewhat forgive Bungie for the Halo 2 ending.  But the uproar of angry gamers has been ringing in my ears since 2004.  At the time the ending felt like a slap to the face, almost as if Bungie ran out of time and had to cut the game short.  Things were just getting good in the story; the Elites had joined forces with the humans, the Covenant were about to invade Earth, not knowing the Master Chief was a stowaway on their ship, and we were ready to kick some ass.  But sadly, what we got was a short cut-scene of the Master Chief saying he was ready to finish the fight, followed by the ending credits (goodbye Halo 2, hello years of waiting for Halo 3 to be developed!).  Now that I think of it, maybe I haven't forgiven Bungie as much as I thought.

The ending of Halo 3 was almost as bad, because at the time this was supposed to be the last game in the main series.  Once again Bungie hit us with another cliffhanger.  The Master Chief is stranded out on the edge of the galaxy, and as if that wasn't bad enough, a gigantic Death Star-like object approaches the Chief's location, leaving us with  more questions than ever.

Could this be the beginnings of a Star Wars/Halo crossover?

Deus Ex: Invisible War

Sadly this game is a letdown in many ways.  The original Deus Ex had incredibly deep customization of character skills which allowed for each play-through to be mostly unique.  In the sequel, Invisible War, most of this had been cut out, making the entire game feel dumbed down in order to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.  I only experienced a couple of the possible endings in Invisible War, but each one had me shaking my head in disappointment, muttering "that's it??"  For such a story-driven series, the endings of Invisible War are incredibly brief and barely showcase the consequences of your choices/actions throughout the game.  You are left wondering what has become of this world you have immersed yourself in, and it's not like you get any answers in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which is a prequel to the first Deus Ex.

Honorary Mention: Grand Theft Auto IV

Ok, I know that the GTA games are mainly about enjoying the large sandbox world that Rockstar always gives us, but damn was this ending depressing.  You are given two options towards the end of the game, and each option results in someone close to Niko getting murdered.  There's no feel-good GTA San Andreas ending here, just a short cut-scene of Niko reflecting on the murder, making us wonder why Rockstar didn't cut the poor guy a break after his struggles throughout the game.


And that wraps up this entry about disappointing game endings.  Which games have set you up for disappointment in the past?

Twisted Metal on PS3, Sweet Tooth Rides Again

Whoa long time no update!  Hope everyone is having great gaming sessions, lots of good stuff out there now (or almost ready to be released), such as Resident Evil Revelations, the new SSX, and the Playstation Vita.  I've been playing the demo for the new Twisted Metal, and it has been awesome.

It's good to see they kept the same Sweet Tooth design from Twisted Metal Black

This new member of the series includes a few changes, such as the addition of "factions" (e.g. the Clowns faction where everyone dresses up like Sweet Tooth and tries desperately to be as evil and demented).  This means you are no longer going solo as any of the characters, you always have some like-minded freak buddies backing you up.  One thing that kind of bothers me is that you can put any character into any of the available vehicles, so if you always wanted to have Sweet Tooth ride Mr. Grimm's motorcycle, this game's for you (but I still believe that he should stick with his iconic ice cream truck).

One really interesting new feature is the helicopter vehicle, which allows you to soar high above your opponents, raining down a world of hurt with missiles and the mounted gun (which you can fire from a first person view).  Who knows what this is going to do for multiplayer balance, are cheating bastards going to hang out high in the sky waiting for everyone else to kill each other?

Other than that this is classic Twisted Metal, with the usual power-ups, destructible environments, and control scheme, but with slightly improved vehicle handling.  If you're a fan, there's no excuse for not taking the demo for a spin!