Genre Fusion: Binary Lovechildren

It's not uncommon for gamers to hear the question, "what is your favorite genre?" Throughout my videogame-playing career, I have been hit with this very query on more occasions than I can count. Each time I feel slightly uncomfortable about giving a straight answer, and am compelled to not only say that I don't have a favorite genre, but also to explain why, and detail what I hope to see out of the videogame industry as it relates to the question of genre preferences.

It usually goes something like this:

I don't have a favorite genre. I prefer to take each game as an individual piece of work rather than lumping it into a category along with a myriad of other titles. Sure, I compare games to one another based on their similarities, but to prefer one type over another and to harbor preconceived notions about them seems counter-productive to enjoying as many games as possible. Being a videogame journalist, those sorts of prejudices can hurt my ability to objectively critique games, as well.

That all sounds like a very hippie-esque view of the videogame world, but in a very fundamental way, it is true. Games will be compared to a certain extent, but they must also stand on their own.

This is especially the case in the event of genre fusion - games that combine elements from two or more genres in a unique way. I happen to love when developers go this route and create something completely fresh (and hopefully enjoyable).

This has been happening more often as of late; it seems that the current list of genres just isn't enough to accommodate the creative vision of the people making games nowadays. They need to expand. Patapon, The Club, Professor Layton, and Penumbra: Black Plague are a few games that have fused genres very well in recent months.

Unfortunately, the progressive nature of titles such as these is difficult for some gamers (and reviewers) to grasp. I don't know how many comparisons of The Club to Gears of War I've read, but each time I feel just a little more disappointment creeping into my heart. The Club is basically a racing game...with guns...and points. It is not a traditional third-person shooter by any stretch of the imagination, yet many people desperately wish to compare it to those games.

Most of the time, however, the genre-fused product is so obviously on the cutting edge of inventiveness that it is recognized easily and judged accordingly. Patapon has been a hit with reviewers, as has Professor Layton. Butt does that make the 2D side-scrolling rhythm real-time strategy or the point-and-click adventure brain teaser the new hot genres? No...well, maybe...

I hope that there will come a time when genre distinctions, or more realistically, genre norms, are all but forgotten - when games aren't looked at as if they "should be" a certain way (more like game X or game Y), but just are what they are, appreciated solely for that which makes them unique.

...yeah, I guess that makes me an action-adventure-horror-shooter-rpg-strategy-racing-sports-sim kind of guy...

What's That Game Again?

Remember my "That game is what?" post, where I listed some of the most humorous Urban Dictionary definitions of various videogames to illustrate just how passionate, clever, and juvenile the internet community can be? Well I said I'd be back with more, so here's round two. Again, I just tried to find the most radical opinions of some of the more popular games and game characters in recent memory, and then brought them here, unedited, for your amusement.*

Here's what I found on my second quest into the dark abyss known as the internetz (entries left unedited for extra entertainment value - beware of profanity):

Super Smash Bros:
1 - The act of gangbanging a woman.

God of War:
1 - A game where Kratos seems to be the only real god since the other Gods die more often than mortals themselves..

Ninja Gaiden:
1 - "...Is too damned hard" is the end of that sentence..
2 - Overrated videogame developed by Tecmo for the NES. Following its release in 1988, the game went on to eventually attain enormous popularity amongst snerds and hardcore lamers alike..
3 - One of the Hardest games on X-Box that is impossible to beat..

Nintendo DS:
1 - A product that doesnt come close to PSP, grade is a D- where as a PSP is an A+
2 - A lame attempt by nintendo to revive their dying empire. People, nintendo is dead, move on.

PSP:
1 - PlayStation Portable: Sony's Handheld PlayStatio-*battery dies*
2 - A status symbol for nerds with money to burn.
3 - Overrated handheld made by Sony. Drooled by Sony fanboys who only care about graphics, not gameplay.
4 - Almost a games handheld, but has so much packed into it, it took several scientists to realise that could play games.

Grand Theft Auto:
1 - The best thing to happen to videogames ever.
2 - Awesomeness
3 - The game that turns even the most intelligent and polite guys into angry fools as they scream about failing another mission involving shooting hookers and crack addicts.
4 - A game that people play to make themselves feel important when they aren't. Highly overrated by the public. Winning awards it may have otherwise not have had it not been for the mass killing sprees and liscensed music involved in the game.
5 - The most overrated series of video games ever, because it allows nerds to look like big, bad, guys to be a criminal who steals shiny cars, kills hookers, and has sex, all in their imagination.

Everquest:
1 - A highly destructive psychological plague released by the neo-nazi affiliate, Verant. Symptoms of the virus include a brief sense of accomplishment followed by a rapid succession of worthlessness, the inability to function in a social setting, and permanent detrimental effects to one's chances of getting laid. The only known cure is suicide, or Everquest II.
2 - The second most effective birth control method next to linux.
3 - Created by people just as lonely as the people who play it. You play a gnome, elf, fairy or (Imagine this) a man. Your goal is to loose your job, wife, family, money, ability to use muscles (Besides clicking fingers and wrists), and life to this game. Your character collects graphical swords and potions in a never ending quest to obtain level 99 status. If you do, you are transported (in real "life") 10 years into the future, with no idea how the outside world looks, or how the sun looks for that matter.
4 - Also known as EverCrack because of it's incredibly addictive nature. Friends don't let friends play EverCrack.
5 - Something that slowly withdraws you from 'real' life, in which your daily chores become a means to a never ending end - hence the 'ever' in quest. The more you play this game, the more it will strangle you. 'Real' life activities such as waiting for the bus will most likely entail vivid thoughts of what you'd do if you could catch a female dark elf in real life or perhaps weighing up whether or not to buy a mug that makes you more intelligent. Enjoyment does not come from the actual play of the game as it is extremely repetative, rather it comes from the immense sense of power you hold over 'newbies' or those of lower 'level than you - Overall then, quite a decent computer game.
6 - It's like crack for nerds.

Gears of War:
1 - The only game on the market that lets you curbstomp people.

Rock Band:
1 - Actually Drum Hero, but with Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution added for free..

Master Chief:
1- a faggot guy wearing a green costume. Everything is fake and all u losers out there obsesed with the game just face it, hes a faggot! he has a girlfriend who isnt even real, named cortana, who lives in his head! He's a fag.
2 - The only person more badass than Spiderman, Superman, David Hasselhoff, Megatron, Optimus Prime, Batman, Goku, 50 cent, and Ryu COMBINED. And contrary to popular belief, he is also a mac-daddy pimp.
3 - A euphenism for a penis.

Call of Duty 4:
1 - The greatest alternative to sex, better than masturbation too.
2 - The most overrated game in the history of video gaming.
3 - The dstupidest game ever made
4 - The greatest game ever made. Ever.

Mass Effect:
1 - Gayest...Game...Ever!!!
2 - An evil game that will eat your soul if you try it. It is for the Xbox360, and it is Evil.

Peggle:
1 - To engage in sexual activity, esp. boinking.
2 - A peggle is a man who gives off the impression that he is slightly queer and flirts with girls at any opportunity in a girlish manner.

That's all for episode two. You can expect more fanboyism and franchise hatred in the future, and remember kiddies, don't drink and type - it makes you look like an ass.

*Disclaimer: The definitions in this column in no way represent the feelings of the author. If you would kindly direct your torches and pitchforks elsewhere, that would be greatly appreciated.

Hey, Batta, Batta... Swing! -- MLB 2K8 (Wii) Review

It's almost that time of year again; time to dust off the old glove, drag your spikes from the dark recesses of the closet, and begin the stretching routine. Baseball season is near, and with no EA offering this year, 2K Sports has a monopoly on all the baseball-related content on two out of 3 consoles (Sony's MLB 08: The Show is available on the PS3). That may not necessarily be the best situation for baseball fans, however.

MLB 2K8 is your traditional baseball sim, featuring exhibition, season, franchise, home run derby, tournament, situational, and quick play modes, along with management options such as roster, lineup, and rotation adjustments and a full create-a-player mode. These are pretty much standard fare for a modern baseball game, and throughout the various modes there are plenty of customization options, ranging from game rules to weather conditions to team and league configurations. Baseball fans will find enough to tinker with, and more casual players can choose to ignore as much of it as they want.

A few of MLB 2K8's features are conspicuously absent from this version of the game, however. There are no trading cards, no minor league games, and no online play. It's understandable that 2K is working with a new system of control on the Wii, and have stated that this was their focus in 2008, but to leave out entire portions of the game - especially online play - just doesn't seem like the best move.

Graphically, the Wii version of MLB 2K8 is obviously inferior to the other, high definition versions of the game. The players and stadiums lack the texture detail of their Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts, and the ballplayers have an overall stiff feeling about them. The entire visual presentation feels very last-gen.

The audio, on the other hand, is pretty solid. Joe Morgan and Jon Miller deliver excellent commentary, augmenting their play-by-play call of the game with plenty of extra discussion about players, the game, and even a bit of history. I feel like could sit and talk baseball with these guys for hours - and I mean the digitized versions of them. The sound effects cover the basic aural necessities of a baseball sim, from the between-the-lines cracks and whizzes to crowd cheering, heckling, and the like. It's not the best I've heard, but gets the job done.

Now, on to the controls - a key component of any sports title. For the most part, the controls in the Wii version of MLB 2K8 work very well, but are not perfect. The Wii remote is a very good match for baseball games, not only because of its motion sensitivity, but also because of the button layout. 2K8 capitalizes on this. The d-pad is optimally placed for throwing to each base (although the game also features flick controls where the CPU chooses the appropriate base to throw to), and the location of the B button near players' fingers rather than their thumbs lends itself to intuitive pitching control. To fire one over the plate in 2K8, players first select a pitch type with the control stick and aim at the strike zone with the Wiimote's infrared sensor. Holding the B trigger while lifting the Wiimote vertically begins the pitcher's windup, and flicking it forward lets it fly. There is also a meter involved in pitching; players must perform the forward motion while the circular cursor is in the optimal green zone in order to throw accurately.

Batting is as simple as swinging the Wiimote as the ball approaches the plate, or holding the A button and aiming with the Wiimote to bunt. It is all very intuitive, but there are a couple of flaws in the setup. First, for some reason the game often has trouble detecting the Wiimote pointer during pitching. I found that every so often the cursor would be stuck in one place, and I would have to shake the Wiimote to elicit a response. The second gripe may be more of a personal issue, but it is still worth mentioning. When batting, I found the wire connecting the Wiimote and Nunchuk to be a hindrance to my swinging motion. Either the cord would flail about or I would tug at it as my hands drifted apart. This caused me to have to tone down all my motions and lose the smooth feeling I would prefer from motion sensitive controls. After doing so I had no trouble, but it did detract from the experience a bit.

MLB 2K8 is a solid and enjoyable baseball game, but has plenty of room for improvement in the years to come. If you're strictly looking for a baseball simulation on the Wii, 2K8 is your only option, and it gets the job done. To those who are less die-hard fans, I recommend giving MLB Power Pros a look, because I'm a lifelong ballplayer and prefer that title to anything else available on the Wii. I would have loved to see how EA Sports would implement the Wii's input system into a baseball sim, but this year it's all about 2K.

The Orange Blocks -- Puzzle Guzzle Review

They say that 8 out of 10 upstart restaurants are doomed to failure before ever getting off the ground. The same seems to hold true for the puzzle genre, where new concepts are always a hard sell to the gaming community. Puzzle games have to strike balances between simplicity and complexity, innovation and familiarity, freedom and strictly-defined rule sets, etc., all while remaining captivating and enjoyable to play. If a game falls short in these areas, it is likely to be relegated to bargain bin duties and rarely heard from again.

Irem Software's Puzzle Guzzle strives to carve out a place for itself among the endless library of related titles, and although it does bring some new ideas to the table, it just lacks that special something necessary to be a hit.

The object of Puzzle Guzzle is to form complete geometric shapes by lining up the different patterns on adjacent blocks, arranged in grid fashion. Each block can be rotated in place, but may not be moved from its position unless a block somewhere below it is cleared, causing it to fall. As you might have guessed by now, when one of the aforementioned shapes is completed, the blocks that comprise it disappear, and the player scores a few points.

There are three basic game types in Puzzle Guzzle, which can be played in a variety of ways. Drop Puzzle is your basic fall-from-the-sky mode, where blocks descend from above with increasing frequency and rapidity as time goes by and points build up. Players must eliminate blocks to prevent the screen from filling. Stuffit Puzzle is a timed game where the screen remains full of blocks at all times. Players simply try to make as many shapes and accrue as many points as possible before time runs out. Quiz Puzzle presents jumbled images made out of pre-arranged blocks, which players must clear all in one shot. This means carefully arranging blocks to avoid clearing any prematurely, and also planning out how eliminating certain ones will cause others to fall into place after the final move is made. This can actually become quite complex as multiple drops and clears come into play.

Both Drop and Stuffit can be played via game sharing or ad hoc muliplayer, as well as single player mode. All three game types can be played in challenge mode, which is basically a player vs. CPU match where the player is rewarded for each victory. For me, the spoils of challenge mode were the most interesting aspect of the game.

Before ever seeing a puzzle, you are asked to create a little mascot for yourself. This is as simple as a cube with a smiley face on it. The "challenge" part of challenge mode comes from the fact that players compete against any of the game's 100 other mascots, and after defeating them in deadly puzzle combat (not really), get to steal one aspect of the loser's design. Basically, it's like Mr. Potato Head all over again; the eyes, nose, mouth, hat, glasses, beard, shape, color, and voice of your mascot are all replaceable, as are the hindering effects that your opponents must endure when you efficiently clear blocks.

Finally, the game features a puzzle editing mode, where you can create and trade Quiz Puzzle designs, a stat tracker detailing a variety of things you may or may not care enough to know about your puzzle-playing, and...a daily horoscope reading based on your mascot's zodiac sign? I found that to be an odd addition, but it's there, nonetheless.

Overall, Puzzle Guzzle doesn't break any new ground, but is still a functional and sensible puzzle game. It suffers from a very bland presentation, however, and fails to either instantly draw gamers in or hold its audience's interest for more than a few play sessions. The gameplay is not entirely intuitive, and as the pace picks up, players are generally forced to settle for less and less, until things have boiled down to either popping of a bunch of 2-block shapes or wildly rotating blocks in hopes that you can be fast enough to actually accomplish something. Either way, there is little growth in terms of player skill or understanding, and that quite doesn't work for a puzzle game.

To be honest, each time one of these objects-fall-from-above-into-a-vertically-oriented-rectangular-container games is released, I can't help but to wonder if everyone is still in the midst of a multi-decade swoon over Tetris, or if entirely original ideas just aren't floating around out there. Maybe those are just the 2 out of every 10 that actually make it big.

PON PON PATA PON! -- Patapon Review

Truly unique experiences are sought after like gold in the videogame industry today, but rarely does a work deliver on an off-the-beaten-path idea as successfully as Patapon for the PSP. In what can best be described as a linear real-time strategy/rhythm fusion game, Pyramid and JapanStudio have managed to provide great depth and engaging game elements in what is, at first glance, a very simple piece of software.

Upon loading Patapon, the player is immediately thrust into a starring role as the re-awakened god of the Patapon tribe, and is charged with leading them to "Earthend," in search of "IT." The fourth wall is obliterated. In order to complete the task, the Great Mighty Patapon (that's you), must beat various rhythms on four sacred drums (the four face buttons) to command the little black and white eyeball warriors to advance, retreat, attack, defend, etc.

The traveling Patapon army starts off small, but grows as missions are completed. This is not an automated procedure, however; Patapons can only be birthed by combining raw materials such as woods, ores, and metals, as well as providing a certain amount of ka-ching (the game's currency) per unit. There are six unit types in total, each with four different levels, based on the resources used to create them. Only three unit types can be sent into battle at a time, however, after being outfitted with a variety of weapons and armor picked up from fallen enemy warriors. It is up to the player to determine what configuration of troops will be optimal for each mission, as they all have different strengths and weaknesses. The extent of customization is surprising.

In terms of gameplay, though, Patapon can be a bit repetitive. This is a game about drumming, and drum you shall. In a move of pure genius (that was sarcasm), the developers decided to omit a pause function, so be prepared to shut out reality when it's Patapon time. In the midst of a mission, there is no such thing as a telephone, computer, doorbell, dog, mailman, etc. -- there are only drums... only Patapon. That's not to say that the game isn't captivating as a whole, but that there are some parts (mostly early on) that are less exciting than others.

The way gameplay works is that the player drums the particular four-beat rhythm that corresponds to the desired action, and then the Patapons perform that action over the next four beats, singing away merrily (a merry killing song, of course). After that, the player picks things up again with the next four-beat command. Patapon isn't your typical rhythm game in that it doesn't throw button sequences at the player and expect them to match them or parrot back in some glorified game of digital Simon says. The call and response style of traditional rhythm games like Parappa the Rapper and Space Channel 5 is in place, only here the player orchestrates and the game follows. The catalog (arsenal?) of commands available to the player can be strung together to accomplish goals as he or she sees fit. It's rhythm-strategy.

The goal in any of the game's missions is to move from left to right, defeating everything in your path. There is never any turning back, unless of course you quit - and "fail" - the mission. This particular aspect of the game seems representative of the unalterability of past deeds, and also helps to convey the determination of the Patapon tribe to achieve their ever-present goal of reaching Earthend and discovering the unknown IT. The player's steady drum beat drives the tribe into what the game calls "fever," where all of their actions become more pronounced, such as inflicting extra damage with every attack or easily retarding enemy advances. This is achieved by either by acceptably completing 10 four-beat commands in a row, or by pounding out four consecutive perfectly-timed drum beats. These are signified by full, echoed sounds as opposed to the more flat-sounding normal strikes. The music ramps up as the war band approaches fever, adding more complexity, new instrumentation, and of course awesome Patapon singing.

Finally, the game raises moral questions, like whether or not the Great Patapon is indeed working on the side of good, if the destruction brought about by the Patapon tribe is warranted, and if blind faith in an unquestionable god's word is really the right way. You might notice that the Patapon's eyes are always fixed on you or on something that you tell them to destroy. Do they ever notice anything else? No, they can't...because they don't look at anything else.

Good little warriors or bad, everybody should at least try out Patapon. It's a great game.

Violence Prevents Violence: The Right In Virtual Wrongs

Emotionally affective games are becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion as of late. From the more mainstream titles like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus to lesser-known (and decidedly less high tech) indie games like Passage and Gravitation, developers and players alike are seeing past the buzzphrase "games as art," and really noticing games' potential as tools to evoke emotion.

Which emotions, though? Are games limited to the tried-and-true feelings of happiness, sadness, love, sympathy, anger, fear...? Can they also make their players feel...disgusted? Shameful? Regretful? Guilty? I think they can, and I think that may be a very good thing.

As I mentioned last week, I felt a bit uneasy while playing Manhunt 2 on the Wii, as if I was doing something wrong, or was somehow a worse person for my actions. To elicit those sorts of emotions is an incredible accomplishment for a videogame, simply because not a great deal of them have explored the concept yet. In that regard, Manhunt 2 was a great success.

To be 100 percent truthful, I have never felt that way while playing a videogame before, partly because no videogame has ever been able to so viscerally connect its audience to the violence displayed on screen.

Games that can do this (and the Wii remote is an incredible aid) have the potential to be very strong deterrents to real-world violence. Introducing players to that emotional response - that feeling of shameful self-disgust - in the safety of their own homes allows them to understand the remorse associated with violent crimes without ever deciding to 'try it out' in the flesh. This goes beyond simple catharsis.

Consider this: what is the percentage of "rampagers" who ultimately take their own lives after their deed is all said and done? I don't have an exact statistic to cite, but anyone paying attention to media coverage of these crimes would have to assume that the number is fairly high.

The question I have to ask is, why do these killers kill themselves? Is it possible that they initially mean to commit their crime and walk away, but undergo some profound change of conscience in the midst of the act? Do they find there is no turning back from the unforgivable horrors they have wrought, and then decide that they are unfit to live, or that they can't live with the knowledge of their own evil deeds?

Is it an intensified version of the same feelings that arise during executions in Manhunt 2 that cause real killers to end their own lives, making it impossible to ever repeating their actions?

If that is the case -- that people don't want to feel those feelings after the initial experience -- then violent videogames such as Manhunt 2 could very well be an emotional tool that prevents, not begets, violence in the real world.

Of course there are those who want to die -- who PLAN to die -- and use their massacre as a means to achieve that goal. There may also be individuals who find gutting someone to be a fun pastime. They might even derive real pleasure out of killing. These sorts of people are psychos to begin with; not even videogames can save them.