Weekend rant: Everybody loves May
OK, so technically it isn't the weekend any more since I'm a little late with this rant, but what the heck. I spent this morning catching up on my social life, which is currently on the verge of falling to pieces, and for the first time ever, I find that a "quick fix" solution involving spit-and-bailing wire (read: Grabbing an ice-cream with a friend) will simply not contribute toward improving the situation.
That said, I seriously need to make time in my ever-packed schedule for my friends. This is something I've been unable to do for the last half year and it's really starting to make me feel guilty. I plan to kick off this new resolution with a bunch of friends and Spider-Man 3, which releases at the end of the week.
I'm not kidding when I say I am really, really psyched about this movie. Who isn't, right? It's got Venom, it's got the Sandman, it's got a new Goblin (which is actually the only aspect of the movie I don't really appreciate. He doesn't look anything like a Goblin). Based on the early reviews from IGN and Newsarama, I think it's pretty safe to assume this is going to be a kickass movie and a fitting end to the Spider-Man trilogy.
The game releases next week too, but sadly the only version I'll get to play is the DS version, since I still can't get my hands on a freaking Wii! You just know there's something terribly wrong when you see CNN broadcasting a report on how much money Nintendo could potentially be losing as a result of not being able to meet demand.
CNN also did a story on that whole Kutaragi affair, which wasn't surprising in the least. The gaming industry is being taken seriously by all forms of media now and personally, I'm really happy that I'm part of the generation that gets a front row seat to witness the transition of gaming from what used to be a very "cult-ish" hobby to a widely accepted form of entertainment -- the best, in the opinion of some people.
Speaking of the Kutaragi affair, I really don't see why everyone is getting so riled up over the entire issue. He's not going anywhere, people! Do you really for one minute think that Sony's going to do away with Kutaragi after he single-handedly pioneered the PlayStation brand name? Of course not.
If you ask me, I suspect Kutaragi's still going to be a very big part of Sony's gaming division; just that he might now be more involved in the software aspect of things. He'll still play a big role in the hardware division and he might still be the designer for future PlayStations, but he's likely to have less pull at the company now.
The reason I feel this way is because of the Namco-Sony partnership story from January. I feel Kutaragi is probably going to be involved in this venture in a big way. Now, don't quote me on this, but I also think the partnership between Namco and Sony could be one of the reasons the company sold controlling shares of Monolith Soft to Nintendo.
Now both their Wii as well as PlayStation 3 ventures heavily involve Nintendo and Sony, which is, in my opinion, an extremely good thing, as we have seen time and time again that no one knows a console better than its manufacturers. Nintendo and Sony get good games, Namco Bandai still gets a big chunk of the profits and everyone is happy. Expect kickass titles from Namco Bandai in the future.
That said, May is going to be an awesome month for gamers everywhere in general, mostly due to all the big announcements that are expected within the next few weeks. First up, is the Square Enix party, which will reveal a new Final Fantasy game set in Ivalice (again), a new Disney game that isn't Kingdom Hearts and a new Star Ocean RPG, which I really hope is on the DS or Wii.
Following this, we have Blizzard's new product announcement coming up in a matter of weeks as well, and I really hope to God it isn't another WarCraft game.
Moving on, I still haven't gotten a chance to do First Impressions for Claymore or Koutetsu Sangokushi and I seriously plan to finally get down to it soon. Really! Maybe I'll even do it tomorrow, soon as I get home from work.
Keep your fingers crossed!
That said, I seriously need to make time in my ever-packed schedule for my friends. This is something I've been unable to do for the last half year and it's really starting to make me feel guilty. I plan to kick off this new resolution with a bunch of friends and Spider-Man 3, which releases at the end of the week.
I'm not kidding when I say I am really, really psyched about this movie. Who isn't, right? It's got Venom, it's got the Sandman, it's got a new Goblin (which is actually the only aspect of the movie I don't really appreciate. He doesn't look anything like a Goblin). Based on the early reviews from IGN and Newsarama, I think it's pretty safe to assume this is going to be a kickass movie and a fitting end to the Spider-Man trilogy.
The game releases next week too, but sadly the only version I'll get to play is the DS version, since I still can't get my hands on a freaking Wii! You just know there's something terribly wrong when you see CNN broadcasting a report on how much money Nintendo could potentially be losing as a result of not being able to meet demand.
CNN also did a story on that whole Kutaragi affair, which wasn't surprising in the least. The gaming industry is being taken seriously by all forms of media now and personally, I'm really happy that I'm part of the generation that gets a front row seat to witness the transition of gaming from what used to be a very "cult-ish" hobby to a widely accepted form of entertainment -- the best, in the opinion of some people.
Speaking of the Kutaragi affair, I really don't see why everyone is getting so riled up over the entire issue. He's not going anywhere, people! Do you really for one minute think that Sony's going to do away with Kutaragi after he single-handedly pioneered the PlayStation brand name? Of course not.
If you ask me, I suspect Kutaragi's still going to be a very big part of Sony's gaming division; just that he might now be more involved in the software aspect of things. He'll still play a big role in the hardware division and he might still be the designer for future PlayStations, but he's likely to have less pull at the company now.
The reason I feel this way is because of the Namco-Sony partnership story from January. I feel Kutaragi is probably going to be involved in this venture in a big way. Now, don't quote me on this, but I also think the partnership between Namco and Sony could be one of the reasons the company sold controlling shares of Monolith Soft to Nintendo.
Now both their Wii as well as PlayStation 3 ventures heavily involve Nintendo and Sony, which is, in my opinion, an extremely good thing, as we have seen time and time again that no one knows a console better than its manufacturers. Nintendo and Sony get good games, Namco Bandai still gets a big chunk of the profits and everyone is happy. Expect kickass titles from Namco Bandai in the future.
That said, May is going to be an awesome month for gamers everywhere in general, mostly due to all the big announcements that are expected within the next few weeks. First up, is the Square Enix party, which will reveal a new Final Fantasy game set in Ivalice (again), a new Disney game that isn't Kingdom Hearts and a new Star Ocean RPG, which I really hope is on the DS or Wii.
Following this, we have Blizzard's new product announcement coming up in a matter of weeks as well, and I really hope to God it isn't another WarCraft game.
Moving on, I still haven't gotten a chance to do First Impressions for Claymore or Koutetsu Sangokushi and I seriously plan to finally get down to it soon. Really! Maybe I'll even do it tomorrow, soon as I get home from work.
Keep your fingers crossed!
7 comments:
Its certainly hard to keep track of your friends once that commonality of School is stripped away. I'm shocked by those people who can balance, work, relaxation, family and still maintain their prior social life with their friends. Its not easy but certainly a good trait to master. :)
I'm kinda hot and cold on the whole Spiderman movies. Maguire just strikes me as a bit baby faced for the role, Dunst looks neither cute or sexy enough be worthy of the attention. I'm looking forward to watching the film and no doubt will enjoy it like I did the other two, I guess sometimes casts are a personal thing. :)
I took the opportunity today to pick up Paper Mario and frankly think the game looks fantastic. I hope that designers grasp that if you can't do HD realistic 3D on the Wii there are plenty or more stylised and "unique" ways to sell your games and separate them from the herd. I'm looking forward to getting into Papermario later this week.
PC news that caught my eye was obviously the CoD4 announcement, I'm eagerly awaiting more details on that. ET:QW is also getting stronger rumours of being released in June, I really must get my pre-order in for that!
I find 10k weekly sales of the PS3 in its native Japan and constant reference to value of product sold rather than units is a sign Sony is still reeling from the lack of interest. I'm sure many decisions were not directly influenced by Kutaragi but as the head he needs to take that fall, his less that stellar public image on the PS3 probably helped the decision along too.
Lets see if Ken can bring about the much needed price cut, switch the PR machine from PS2 "boastful arrogance" to "honest information" oh and get some of that software released and make it quality. Sony are far from lost but I don't see any easy path for them right now, lets see if they can walk the fire Nintendo trod for 10 years.
I agree, someone had to take a hit for the PlayStation 3's less-than-astonishing performance, and given Kutaragi's reputation btoh in and out of the company, he was the prime candidate to take that hit.
That said, the execs down at Sony probably see this entire thing as a chance to finally bring Kutaragi down from his high horse; something which seems in the best interests of the organization at the moment.
Moving on to games, I still can't find a Goddamned @#!$ing Wii anywhere! It's crazy. I refuse to buy one from India because the customs duty is going to burn a hole in my pockets and right through my groin, ensuring my financial (and likely real as well) demise.
The bright side is, once I do finally manage to get my hands on one, I'll have plenty of games for it that I'd be interested in playing. Now, if only we could get a concrete release date for No More Heroes...
I can't wait for ET:QW either ... the game runs on the Doom 3 engine, but from what I've heard, they're making much better use of it than they did in Quake 4, which is definitely a good thing.
Half Life Episode 2 isn't far off either, so I'm awaiting that, too.
And God, yes. I really need to figure out how to manage this "life" thing! ;)
Speaking of Spider-Man 3, I'm very excited to see it! I've been waiting so long for this movie.
Best thing about it is that I get to see it 2 days early (Wednesday) plus, I get paid for watching it!
Wednesday can't come quickly enough!!
I don't believe I've heard your impressions about Claymore or anything yet. I'll be looking forward to that.
OK, you're not going to believe this, but I had to spend the night at work because of how much stuff needed to be completed. By the time we got done with it, it was like, midnight and I had no way back home!
Impressions coming the day after tomorrow. Guaranteed. (Because I'll need tonight to catch up on my sleep)
Hold up. Did Chris say he gets to watch Spider-Man 3 two days early and gets paid for it?!?!
Hells yah! I've got a part time job (2 days a week) as a projectionist for a local megaplex, so I'm getting paid to screen the movie Wednesday. Not a bad deal if you ask me :)
Post a Comment