It may be ultimately pointless and/or sadistic, but something about seeing professionals masquerade amongst the hoi polloi and utterly owning the unsuspecting public in their craft is absolutely enthralling to me.
As part of their Starcraft 2 release coverage last week, TeamLiquid (a professional-level Starcraft community) posted a video of a diamond-level Starcraft 2 player playing through his five mandatory placement matches. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the terminology – all you have to know that this guy is really good and the reason he’s matched up against these poor victims is because everyone has to go through this process in order to be placed into the correct skill-level league. Kind of like taking a placement test to see if you’re in the gifted kid class or the short bus class.
You’ll see entertaining things such as writing out “LOL” in Auto-Turret placement in the enemy base or spelling out his online handle in the middle of the map using carefully placed units. You will also see ridiculous strategies utilized such as using double offensive Planetary Fortresses.
Basically, it’s a much nerdier equivalent of Jewel doing undercover karaoke. Well, maybe with more embarrassment for the common man.
(You can start the video at 3:10 if you want to skip past the internet gamer humor introduction.)
They say that the 21st century belongs to the geeks. If that’s the case, then Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World may just be the film of the century.
Sound absurd? Maybe. But at the very least, this action-romance-comedy is the quintessential film of the geek generation.
Director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) once described this movie as a cross between Say Anything and Kill Bill. It may sound ridiculous, but it’s an apt description for this deliciously fun movie based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s six volume graphic novel series.
Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, a 22 year old Toronto slacker who is currently “in-between jobs.” He’s the bassist of a band with his friends and they have aspirations of signing a record label contract and making it big. On the personal front, Scott’s recently started dating high-schooler, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), as his way of rebounding from a heart-wrenching breakup he had just gone through. Scott meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), at a party and is immediately smitten by her. Unfortunately, Ramona comes with some heavy baggage in the form of “seven evil exes” which Scott must defeat in battle if he is to date her.
Sounds like a reasonable premise for a movie, right? If you can buy into that, you’re going to love this film. (If not, well, you’ll probably feel like this fuddy duddy did.)
What Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World does best is encapsulate all the things I liked about my childhood into one very nostalgic and fun film. References to video games, comic books, television, music, and pop culture naturally pepper the film throughout without seeming forced. Co-Screenwriter Michael Bacall explains the film’s secret in handling references as “…trying to make it punctuation as opposed to prose.”
Did I love every single one of the references the movie makes? Of course not. I didn’t particularly care for the pseudo Dance Dance Revolution-ninja game Scott and Knives play together, but it was a necessary plot device in the film to show a visceral video game rather than a couch/controller based one. There’s also a much ballyhooed Seinfeld reference that I didn’t LOL at personally, but I did respect the fact that they got the rights to Jonathan Wolff’s theme music from the show while also shooting the scene like an authentic Seinfeld scene.
That’s the key here – authenticity. See, the internet generation can smell a phony a mile away. A lot of the drek Hollywood has put out in the last decade reeks of cashing in (Gamer, anyone?) on what studio executives perceive as the “geek culture.”
One of the reasons why Scott Pilgrim works is because it’s crafted by geeks (Brian Lee O’Malley and Edgar Wright) who grew up with the very same things the film refers to. These people have played those video games, read those comics, watched those television shows, and listened to those bands. They just happen to be accomplished writers and filmmakers with the means and creativity to share highlights from their formative years.
Most of the video game references are general enough that people who aren’t avid video game players will enjoy them. Do you get the concept of receiving points for defeating an enemy? Ok, how about the concept of landing multiple punches in a row on an enemy constituting a “combo”? Not so obscure, right? Now, let’s take it a step further. What if defeating an enemy turns them into a bunch of coins that fall to the floor? I hope you see where the film goes with this.
For people who have played a lot of video games in their childhood, boy are you in for a treat. It starts with a smirk or maybe even a chuckle at the opening Universal logo ditty rendered completely in 8-bit sounds. Your ears will perk up when you hear the “finding a secret” sound from Zelda in the opening scene. You may even fist pump when the ethereal “choose your Zelda file” music plays during an early dream sequence. By the time you hear the announcer from Tekken exclaim “KO!” as Scott defeats the first evil Ex you’ll undoubtedly have a shit-eating grin on your face.
My personal favorite, though, was a scene in which Scott tries to deflect attention away from his girl issues by exclaiming to his band, “Hey guys, I learned the bass line from Final Fantasy II!” He then proceeds to play the battle theme from Final Fantasy II on his bass guitar!
Edgar Wright earns +999 geek credibility!
While Scott Pilgrim Vs The World’s video game references may receive the lion’s share of attention, music also plays a huge role in the film as well. Besides the core love story, the film is also about Scott’s band, Sex Bob-Omb (+200 points if you can name that reference), as it progresses through multiple battle-of-the-bands competitions in its quest to receive a lucrative label deal.
Sex Bob-Omb’s music is actually done by Beck and he hasn’t sounded this lo-fi and raw since 1994’s “Loser.” There’s no shortage of actual musical talent standing in for the other in-film “bands” either. Members of Broken Social Scene play Crash and the Boys’ music while Canadian indie rockers Metric stand in for the heavenly Clash at Demonhead. To top it all off, renowned producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s “sixth member”) composes an 8-bit infused punk score for the film.
Eagle-eyed viewers will notice Scott Pilgrim wearing different band T-shirts throughout the film. Plumtree and The Smashing Pumpkins (with the apropos “SP” logo) come to mind. Hell, there’s even a Tragically Hip acknowledgement in the movie! (The movie is set in Canada, after all)
The film itself is a fantastic concert of grin-inducing visual and audio effects, endearing acting, and witty repartee. Edgar Wright’s previous two films have shown that he’s a master of quick edits, scene transitions, and comedic timing. These skills allow him take Scott Pilgrim’s visual panache to dizzying heights.
It may sound trite at this point to declare that a movie is like a comic book brought to life, but it’s truly appropriate for this film. This movie is like a comic book brought to life.
Seriously, no other film this side of Sin City has come this close to imagining what a comic book would look like with live on-screen characters. Verbs and phrases in stylized lettering slickly animate onto the screen when the action calls for it. Multiple split screens capture character reactions, evoking images of split comic panels. Scenes quickly cut from one to another seamlessly, giving the feeling of hurriedly flipping to find out what’s on the next page. The film’s style is just as much of a star as any of the actors and will quite probably be the focus of word-of-mouth buzz.
image courtesy of entertainment weekly
Scott Pilgrim’s cast is a veritable who’s who of a new generation of talented Hollywood actors. Many will talk about Kieran Culkin stealing the show as Scott’s gay roommate, Wallace, and deservedly so. His grounded wisdom and comedic chops would make even a straight man want to sleep in the same bed with him. Ellen Wong is an adorable manga character come to life as Knives Chau. It’s hard to imagine that this is her film debut, as she nails every scene she’s in.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays a confident and cool Ramona Flowers – I just wish there was more time to fall in love with her. The film clocks in at just about 2 hours, but between squeezing in 7 epic fight scenes and establishing Scott’s world, there’s not much time for Ramona’s character to breathe and develop fully. Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Mark Webber, Alison Pill, and Johnny Webber round out Scott’s group of friends and they all lend their own charm to the film.
On the dark side of the room, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman delight in tormenting our precious little Scott Pilgrim. Evans in particular is memorable as an over the top skateboarder/movie star whose voice can be only described as Gob Bluth mixed with Christian Bale’s Batman. Even “unknown” actor, Satya Bhabha, has an epic Bollywood-meets-mystical-internet-humor fight scene as Ramona’s first “Evil Ex,” Matthew Patel.
I realize that the Michael Cera backlash is out in full force, but please don’t let whatever feelings you may have on him stop you from seeing this film. His performance is decidedly Ceran, but he does do the Scott Pilgrim character justice. If you want to, you can even talk yourself into believing that Cera has increased his acting range to include nerd-rage and almost-asshole.
Plus, if you’re an Arrested Development fan you won’t want to miss the George Michael/Ann reunion during the film. Yes, Mae Whitman is in this movie and no, she’s not quite as…homely.
I’m 28 years old. I’ve seen movies in the past that I could partly relate to as a portrait of a generation. Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything comes to mind as a particular highlight. I just wasn’t born in the right era to call it my own.
With Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, my generation finally has its Say Anything. That is, if Lloyd Dobler could wield a flaming sword and inflict a 64-hit air combo on Diane’s dad.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World opens in US theaters on August 13th.
It wasn’t due to deficient game playing skills on my part or any bugs or faults with the game’s programming. No, I had a tough time playing through Limbo because I was genuinely unsettled by the hauntingly melancholy game atmosphere with its grainy black and white visuals and sparse, yet disturbing ambient sounds and audio cues.
You may think I’m talking about a new survival horror game, but I’m not. Limbo is a 2D platforming puzzle game.
“How is this possible?” you may ask. Just watch this short trailer:
I found it appropriate that the protagonist of the game is a young boy because a lot of what disturbed me in Limbo scared me as a child. I have a ghastly fear of spiders, insects, and man eating plants that crystallized in my youth somewhere between the piranha plants in Super Mario Bros. and the insects in Daikatana.
Death in Limbo is also an infinitely more powerful on screen event because it is happening to a little boy. My first death happened via running into a bear trap on the ground. The trap chomped my boy into an aerial concerto of bloody body parts which then collapsed limply to the ground. It quickly became obvious that I wasn’t going to be playing Rayman.
One particular scene early in the game has you walk by a white butterfly on the ground who flies off towards a tree that is clearly harboring a giant black spider lurking in the branches above. I must have spent a good five minutes sitting in my chair, paralyzed. I saw no obvious route around the tree, yet there was no fucking way I wanted to walk under three giant spider legs. Given that the game had established a precedent for grisly deaths by that point, I especially did not want to see what this spider was going to do to the little boy.
Eventually, I excruciatingly faced my fears and found a way past the spider situation. The game may “just” be in black and white, but the realistic animations of the boy and the world combine with the game’s desolate atmosphere to create a completely immersive experience.
Who are you? Why are you here? Where are you?
These are questions Danish developer Playdead want you to wonder about while playing through Limbo. And they did, in fact, linger in the back of my mind throughout the game’s first half, especially with the appearance of other humanoids (dead and alive). However, as the game progressed, I found myself caring less and less about these things and just focusing on what my next destination was and how to reach it. In other words, gameplay became the driving motivational force, not the search for greater meaning in the story.
A word about the gameplay: much of it is based on a “die first, figure out why after you respawn” paradigm. During your first playthrough you should expect to die often and die unexpectedly. This may sound like a frustrating nightmare, but for the most part isn’t, because there are bountiful checkpoints that place you close to your place of death. However, there are a couple of places in the game where I repeatedly yelled “Come on!” at my screen because I could not discern a certain goal and the death checkpoint forced me to play through a previous section before I could take a crack at it again.
Comparisons to Jonathan Blow’s breakthrough “indie” game, Braid, are bound to pop up due to both games belonging to a similar genre. I’ll take a shot at declaring a “winner” by saying that Limbo doesn’t quite reach Braid from both a gameplay and narrative standpoint. Overall, Limbo’s puzzles aren’t as elegantly designed as Braid’s. Many of the more difficult ones require precision timing and button pressing dexterity to solve problems, rather than imaginative and cereberal solutions. That’s not to say Limbo is poorly designed – there are some wonderfully devious puzzles that give a real sense of fulfillment once you figure them out. It just doesn’t feel as naturally rewarding as Braid did.
Braid’s narrative benefited from the use of prose in its introductory and ending sequences. These words really tugged at me emotionally and provided context for the story it was trying to get across. Limbo, on the other hand, does not have one word of text within the game. It relies solely on its greatest strength, its visual and audio atmosphere, to convey its message. Limbo starts off strong in this regard, but the sense of uneasy wonderment slowly peters out until the ending is reached. It’s an ending which I feel tries to capture the same level of existential meaningfulness as Braid, but ultimately falls short.
Having said all of this, Limbo still comes highly recommended if you enjoy playing puzzle platformers and/or delight in immersive and unique art styles. It’s unquestionably the best downloadable game I have played in 2010 thus far. Just be warned if you have qualms about viewing gruesome child deaths or have fear of giant insects.
One final tip: Don’t read the game’s description on Xbox Live Marketplace if you can avoid doing so. I think the game’s ultimate meaning is far more interesting and thought provoking were I not to have read the short premise on the description. For me, it was a throwaway fact that served to only narrow the possibilities of the game’s conclusion.
Limbo costs 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) as a downloadable title from the Xbox Live Marketplace. There is a trial version that encompasses the first two game chapters.
Let me tell you a shameful secret of mine: I never played Goldeneye 64. Well, substantially anyway. I dabbled in it a couple of times, mainly at large social gatherings and never for an extended period of time. I was too busy being narrow minded with my elitist “mouse and keyboard 4 life” worldview as a teenager. But I did understand that it was (and still is to many people) the most beloved console FPS ever. With this in mind, I had a go with 4-player split screen multiplayer for Eurocom’s (published by Activision) upcoming remake of Goldeneye for the Wii at E3.
Now, I couldn’t tell you if this game fully recaptured the magic of the original N64 Goldeneye, but I can tell you that the game was a fairly fun Wii FPS. Activision smartly had a setup of Wii Classic Controller Pros (depicted above), which are basically Wii Classic Controllers with “love handles.” The handles make a big difference in ergonomics, especially for FPSs. It doesn’t feel quite as natural as an Xbox 360 controller for the genre, but definitely brings the Wii on par with the Playstation Dualshock. Having two analog sticks changes the gameplay experience too, but probably for the better.
Goldeneye Wii did seem rough around the edges though, at least in 4-player split screen. I noticed that there were no on screen notifications. There were no kill announcements nor any on screen score report of any sort so it was hard to know how I was doing at a given time without bringing up the intrusive scoreboard. It also didn’t seem as if there were any items on the level to pick up as well. Whether this was intended or just a function of being a demonstration build was unclear. Unsurprisingly, frame rates also seemed slightly sluggish (yet playable) with a 4-player split screen compared to a 2-player split screen. I’ll chalk this one up to “demo build” and “Wii hardware”
Like the original title, you can select from many different Bond characters to take into deathmatch. I remembered that the infamous Oddjob model had some sort of unfair advantage, which my opponents at the booth confirmed with a question for the Activision rep. Apparently his model is no longer harder to hit, but he does have the ability to throw his hat for an instant kill. To counteract this, he can’t throw grenades, like the other play models can. I found the hat throwing not too big of an advantage as it takes some time to wind up and does leave you vulnerable should you miss. I did manage to get a few kills like this though and it felt mildly satisfying, kind of like a lite-humiliation kill.
Hopefully, Eurocom will polish the game up when the game is finally released. Given past Wii FPS entries, I don’t think I’d expect Goldeneye Wii to compete with the big boys, namely Call of Duty and Halo on the 360/PS3. However, it could be a great source of nostalgia for those who cherished the original. I’d be curious to see how those fans receive this remake when it releases.
Oh, and I finished the 10-kill limit deathmatch in second with 8 kills. I blame trying to go for the hat kill too much.
This morning, we finally got confirmation on pricing for Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral for Xbox 360. Now, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to people who noticed that Gamestop had posted the $149.99 price on their website right around E3 time last month. However, Microsoft had been strangely quiet on confirming this price point until today.
Here are the two ways you can obtain Kinect this fall:
For anyone currently owning an Xbox 360: Kinect peripheral w/ Kinect Adventures game, $149.99
For anyone without an Xbox 360: New Xbox 360 w/ 4GB memory storage and matte finish + Kinect peripheral w/ Kinect Adventures game, $299.99
Basically, if you are a new Xbox 360 owner, you can grab both for a $50 discount off MSRP. Microsoft also announced that all first-party Kinect launch titles would be retailing for $49.95.
Now, after reading gaming community reactions to this, one would think that Microsoft had done the video game equivalent of leaving Cleveland to join the Miami Heat. The vast majority of commenters and posters on notable videogamescommunitiesvoiced their extreme displeasure at the price point for Kinect. Many labeled Kinect as a “rip-off” and made comparisons to Sega’s ill-fated 32X peripheral addon for the Genesis. One poster on the neoGAF called it “A disaster of Kin proportions.” Even Microsoft’s own community site, Major Nelson, wasn’t immune to the backlash.
What went wrong? Just one year ago, Kinect (then called Project Natal) was the darling of both core gamers and the mainstream media. People were drinking the Kool-Aid of limitless possibilities in hands-free gaming combined with a futuristic “Minority Report’-esque interface for viewing media content.
Two factors led us to this point.
First of all, the launch software simply is not compelling, at least to core game players. The best game Kinect has going for it is a dance game which admittedly is quite good, but may not have quite the same appeal to Johnny McCallofDuty. The other software is widely viewed as non-gamer content (fitness titles and kids software) or glorified Wii mini-game collection knock offs.
Secondly, Microsoft bumbled the pricing information of the product. When first announced, many people were estimating that Kinect would cost at least $199.99. Pricing seemed to be secondary to the wonder and amazement that such a product existed and could be obtainable by the consumer.
In October of 2009, Wedbrush Morgan analyst, Robert Pachter, guessed the price of Kinect (then Project Natal) at $49.99 (!) with a worst cast scenario of $99.99. Gamers were thrilled. Not only was this device imminent, it would be affordable too!
Flash forward to June of 2010 where online retailers such as Gamestop and Amazon put up the Kinect for pre-order at a $149.99 price point. Grumblings were heard throughout the gaming community, but most were holding out for hope that Microsoft would change the pricing back to at least $99.99 when it gave an official announcement. They did not.
Clearly, Microsoft needed to sell the device at the $149.99, but knew that community backlash was already brewing. They tried to compromise by bundling in Kinect Adventures in with the peripheral. (If we assume Kinect Adventures would have cost $49.99 separately, one could derive a $99.99 price for the device and add the $49.99 for the game to get to the $149.99 price point) However, this seems to have gone largely dismissed by the community because it’s a title that no one desired nor was it perceived as being worth the full retail price tag of $49.99.
If it’s one thing people don’t like, it’s the feeling of being bait and switched on pricing, even if said pricing was never confirmed by the manufacturer. Contrast this with the public response to iPad pricing prior to launch.
Popular opinion before Apple launched the iPad was that it would be priced around the $800-$1000 mark. The Wall Street Journal published speculation in early January of 2010 that the device would cost upwards of $1000. When Apple finally announced the product with a starting price point of $499, it was lauded as being “affordable” and public perception was very positive.
Some conspiracy theorists out there feel that Apple “leaked” this misinformation to the WSJ to manufacture this positive perception. Whether or not this was engineered by Apple or predicted organically, the fact remains that it worked. iPad pricing is a virtual non-issue in terms of internet debate fodder. Microsoft would have done well to haved learned from this.
My Take:
Would I have liked the Kinect to be priced at $99.99? Sure, I mean, paying less is always good. Does $149.99 turn me off from purchasing it? At the end of the day, I don’t think it does. I’m still in love with Dance Central and even at the $200 price it’ll take to play it, it’s no worse than shelling out $200 for a plastic instrument Rock Band bundle to me.
The main concern prospective buyers should be having is with the apparent dearth of quality software titles, at least for solo players. If you’re a core gamer who has no interest in dancing, you suddenly have no reason to buy the Kinect at launch, unless you want a slightly clumsy, yet cool feeling way to navigate your media on your Xbox.
If you’re a casual social gamer or want something kid-friendly, then you have a more compelling decision to make this fall. I firmly believe that total hands free gaming is a lot more intuitive and exciting than having to deal with an a peripheral, at least in a social gaming setting. It’s a much more fluid experience to just move people to and from the front of the TV, rather than having to deal with calibrating and passing along multiple controllers. It’s also a better experience for non-gamers to skip having learn how to use any controller in the first place, no matter how simple it is.
Either way, I still believe Microsoft has a promising product here with the Kinect. The idea of hands free interfaces is a mighty compelling one to me and I’ll most likely be in on the ground floor if only to support the initiative. And because I’m a shameless early adopting gadget freak.
Most people, I’d imagine though, would be best served with the “wait and see” approach with Kinect.
Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii courtesy of Retro Studios (Metroid Prime).
That’s pretty much all you need to know about the game. If you have fond memories of playing Rare’s beloved Donkey Kong Country on your Super Nintendo, you’ll feel right at home in this 2D sequel on the Wii.
It’s clear that Nintendo didn’t tune the difficulty of this game to be as easy as, say, Super Mario Galaxy. One of the first things I noticed about DKCR was that I couldn’t sleepwalk through the game. Donkey Kong has three hearts and once he loses all three, you have to replay the level. Replenishing these hearts isn’t as easy as picking up the coins being thrown about you in Mario Galaxy as hearts seemed to be few and far between. Perhaps this was compounded by the fact that I felt extra pressure to play perfectly because my demo time was constrained on how many lives I lost. Nevertheless, I consider myself a fairly competent platformer, and was definitely challenged throughout the demo.
The E3 demo consisted of a 3 levels of which I was given the choice of playing 2. I first had a go with a boss stage involving a typical “jump on his head three times” encounter that I thought I would breeze through, but ended up having to concentrate to defeat. The encounter involved platforming boss mechanic standbys such as “run under the boss as he jumps really high” and “avoid the charging boss so he hits the wall and you can jump on his weak point.” I was thrown off, though, by the unpredictability of when the boss would leap high enough for me to run under and how quickly he would recover from the stun of running into the well. The other level was a standard side-scrolling platforming level that reminded me of the first level of the original Donkey Kong Country.
Donkey Kong has three moves he performs in the game: ground pound, big breath blow, and a spin attack. You may be familiar with these moves if you’ve played Super Smash Bros. Each is done by pressing a particular combination of buttons on the nunchuik and Wiimote. It’s not as simple as the sideways wiimote 2-button action, but is almost there. Donkey Kong can use the ground pound to make certain items fall from trees or as an attack against enemies. The breath maneuver can be used to blow the leaves off plants and flowers, uncovering hidden items. You can guess what the spin attack is used for.
Something new to the series is the utilization of Diddy Kong as a “helper” rather than a tag team partner. Once you break Diddy out of a “DK” labeled barrel, he will ride on top of Donkey Kong with his J=jetpack. Controlling Donkey Kong still, you’ll be able to hover for a short time while also being able to fire peanuts from Diddy’s cannon. More importantly, Diddy will also add two hearts to your life meter, increasing your survivability. Lose those two extra hearts, though, and Diddy will disappear again.
Although it was not playable at the show, I was told there would also be a 2 player co-op mode with the second player controlling Diddy. Not many more details would be given by the Nintendo rep, so we’ll have to see what this will entail exactly. It definitely sounds like something that could be fun, although I hope it’s not as passive as Super Mario Galaxy’s “co-op” play.
Other than that, the game is pretty much what you would expect from another entry in the Donkey Kong Country franchise. Nintendo has even brought back the iconic collectibles from the original franchise as well. You’ll want to replay levels to collect bananas, letters spelling “K” “O” “N” “G”, and also golden puzzle pieces. (My friendly Nintendo rep would not disclose what these are for yet)
Nintendo has had great success reconnecting with it’s 2D platforming roots in New Super Mario Bros Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns looks to continue that streak. If you’re a Wii owner who’s nostalgic for the ol’ DKC or just love 2D platformers, you’ll probably want to give this one a look this fall. Just keep in mind it’ll be a tad more difficult than some of the more recent platform games.
Cutting Through The Potty is a new segment where we break down large announcements into TL;DR takeaway points, provide real world-based conclusions, and posit some nitpicky snark (if applicable)
The issues surrounding the iPhone 4’s antenna have been fodder for one of the biggest product backlashes in recent memory. I’m sure most readers are aware of the fact that the iPhone 4 seems to lose cellular reception if you hold the phone in a “natural way.” Today, Apple addressed those concerns in a 30 minute presentation along with a Q/A session.
Takeaways:
Free Cases – Every iPhone 4 owner gets a free case until Sept. 30. You can choose from Apple’s Bumper or other unspecified 3rd party ones. If you bought a bumper already (but not any other case) you’ll get a refund.
No Restocking Fee Refunds – If you continue to be dissatisfied, Apple will allow you to refund the iPhone 4 within 30 days of purchase with no restocking fees. You will also get your AT&T contract refunded too.
There Is A Reception Problem, “But It Only Affects A Small Percentage of Users” – Though it was obfuscated in the presentation at first, Apple did acknowledge that the iPhone 4 did seem to suffer from a real issue of losing cell reception when gripped. Jobs wasted no time in pointing out that Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile phones also exhibit the same behavior. He then concluded that this issue only affected a small percentage of users.
The Stats Support That Conclusion – Lots of statistics were presented to put the problem in Apple’s perspective. Out of the 3 million iPhone 4’s sold, only 0.55% of those reported problems to AppleCare. 1.7% of iPhone 4 users have returned their phone, compared to the 6% return rate of the iPhone 3GS. 5,000 people have emailed Steve Jobs personally saying they have no issue. iPhone 4 drops less than 1% more calls than the iPhone 3GS.
My Take:
Let me start by disclosing that I am indeed an iPhone 4 user and that this antenna issue did affect my phone. I can make the bars go down on the display by covering up the antenna at the right spots. It’s a neat parlor trick that you can do at parties and bars, but honestly hadn’t noticeably affected my real world use of the phone. However, I don’t like the nagging feeling that the way I hold my phone could cause decreased usability. It’s a crappy feeling to be lurking in one’s subconscious. Hence, I bought a bumper not only to prevent reception problems, but also because i liked the gripability of the case and the buffer it creates for putting the phone down on public tables.
Nothing in the presentation was especially surprising. The announcement of free cases to given away (and refunds for previous bumper purchasers) was certainly welcome and a sigh of relief that I didn’t just get jacked $32. The restocking fee waiver seemed like a no-brainer too. I doubt most people would return their iPhone 4’s over this, so it’s an easy bone for Apple to throw.
All the stats Jobs rattled off were a nice way to shift perceptions away from the “overblown” media hype. I mean what looks better: 16,500 people have complained about the issue to AppleCare or that 0.55% of all iPhone 4 users did? (Hint: they’re the same) Can’t blame them for doing this though, the tech bloggers and mainstream media have made this out to be a “doomsday”-like scenario. Even non-techies know about this issue. It’s only fair Apple gets to frame perceptions too.
Troll all you want on the web about principles and Apple apologists, but the antenna is simply not a deal-breaking issue. If you’ve decided that the iPhone 4 is the best phone for you, go ahead and buy it. Yes, it’s an admitted issue. No, you shouldn’t interpret that as the Scarlet Letter and avoid the phone solely because of it. Shit, take advantage of the 30 day grace period Apple is giving you now. You can always return it if the antenna issue bugs you so much.
Ultimately, both the media and Apple can be attributed blame for this mess. Consumer Reports’ “non recommendation based on the antenna issue” was simply a shameless attempt at retrieving relevancy again. Apple’s an easy target now because of their success and prominence. It doesn’t hurt that people love reading this stuff too. We’re a society that delights in schadenfreude, especially when the most successful are involved. While it’s easy to poke fun at Apple’s egomania and hubris, there has to be some sort of journalistic restraint involved.
Apple also fucked up in not addressing this as a problem sooner and by initially blaming the user for “holding it wrong.” It’s one thing to stay silent, but it’s another to dismiss a clearly demonstrated problem by blaming the customer. Had they been more transparent and admitted the issue earlier, the media may not have been able to reach the fever pitch that it has in recent days. The issue may even have been contained and forgotten by now.
The Snark:
So Steve Jobs rattled on about “working their butts off” over the last 22 days to find solutions and the solution was “show videos of other smartphones dropping bars when gripped”? That’s the best their $100 million testing facilities employing more PHD’s than a full NBA roster could come up with? Come on, at least show us some “hard numbers” as the fruits of your labor. Anandtech has written up two very detailed and articulate reports using less than $100 million of equipment. Tell me why Apple can’t provide us with something similar instead of talking down to us like we’re Luddites (or the New York Times).
Along those lines, I got why they showed one of each Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile phones, but why the Droid Eris? Why not show something more relevant, like an EVO or Incredible or even a Nexus One? Maybe these phones didn’t exhibit so many dropped bars…
image courtesy of Engadget.com
Think someone failed on the slide showing the table with the 3 other phones’ “Min” and “Max” bars. Those columns on the table seem to be flipped.
Gruber asked the Apple execs if they used bumpers or cases for their iPhone4s. Each of them whipped out their phones to show that none of them do. That’s a pretty telling image.
Steve Jobs explained the delay in making a public stance by needing to collect “hard data”. It’s understandable, but there’s no reason to let this fester without comment for so long or blaming the customer for “holding it wrong.”
Steve Jobs gives himself plausible deniability on his public email replies by saying that “some of them are made up!” Great, now we’ll never know which assholic dismissals are real or not.
On the topic of the iOS 4.0.1 update yesterday that “fixes” the reception display algorithm: Someone brought up the fact that Apple supposedly “fixed” the reception bar display algorithm two years ago. Jobs feigned ignorance at this. Uh huh. I still think two years ago they updated the display to show 5 bars even when reception wasn’t that good and now that it’s bit them in the ass, they’re changing it again. Cell phone reception bars are such a load of crap. Personally, I’d love an option to show real dB readings.
Ever wish you could hear Samus’s voice in a Metroid game? Metroid: Other M (MoM) makes those wishes come true.
Metroid games have traditionally been about solitary exploration and incidental narrative through found logscanning, but MoM represents a distinctive departure for the longstanding franchise with it’s heavy emphasis on cinematic storytelling. Virtually every character is voice acted as well, which is something Nintendo doesn’t often do for their games.
I almost felt guilty for indulging in MoM’s lengthy cutscenes at Nintendo’s E3 booth. It felt a little unsettling at first, but I quickly became accustomed to this New Metroid Order.
Without giving away story spoilers, MoM sheds a spotlight onto Samus’s origins. Here’s a character we know almost nothing about over the past 25 years other than her gender and profession. It’s kind of weird to all of a sudden learn where she came from and how she’s felt about her adventures so far. I’m not ready to pass judgement on this game design choice yet, but I can say that I’m intrigued enough to see the whole thing through.
From it’s initial announcement at E3 last year, I always envisioned MoM playing like Ninja Gaiden meets Super Metroid. The playable demo at E3 more or less confirmed this assumption. MoM shifts between 2D and 3D planes depending on what part of the map you’re in. If you’ve seen last year’s Shadow Complex, you have a good idea as to what the 2D corridors look like.
In a surprising move, no nunchuk is used while playing this game. The default controls are similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii where you tilt the controller on its side. <insert obligatory snarky comment on the uselessness of motion controls in games>
Gameplay didn’t throw very man curveballs at me. If you’ve played a metroid game before, this game will feel very natural for the most part. I found the way MoM handled “crippling” Samus at the start to be novel. At the start of the game, Samus works with one of her friends from the Federation. They haven’t “authorized” her to use missiles or heavy weaponry yet, so that’s how her starting ordinance loadout is explained.
I do have to draw attention to how annoying the first-person aiming system is, though. At one point in the demo, I had to fight a boss that could only be damaged by missiles. Problem is, you can only fire missiles by switching into first person aiming mode and pointing the Wiimote at the screen. In theory this sounds intuitive, but in practice it’s awful. I felt like an invalid fumbling around with the Wiimote trying to defeat this particular boss.
The problem lies with the fact that you have to completely change the way you hold the controller in a pressure-filled twitch action sequence. It’s just doesn’t feel natural to be flipping around the controller when you have a 2 second window in which to flip, aim, and fire. Novel exploration mechanic, sure. Twitch boss fight mechanic, HELL NO. Sadly, I fear we may be too close to launch for any significant control changes.
Despite this, I’m too much of a Metroid fan to let this completely derail my enthusiasm for MoM. The game does contain Team Ninja’s signature movement fluidity (other than the aforementioned first-person aiming issue) and the cinematic cutscenes and voice acting are a fascinating new wrinkle for the series.
Metroid: Other M releases for the Nintendo Wii this August.
The most common question I heard at Konami’s booth while playing Castlevania: Lord of Shadows was “Hey, is that a new Castlevania? I used to love that game back in the day.”
Clearly Konami was prepared for this question because the friendly representative demonstrating the game for me wasted no time in responding to these inquiries with a confirmation and sales pitch that Lord of Shadows is a return to the golden days of Castlevania games. I hope the full game ends up fulfilling those promises, because the demo levels I played barely reminded me of the 2D adventures of Simon Belmont.
Castlevania: LoS looks plays very similarly to God of War. In fact, if it weren’t for the signs above the station, I might have thought Konami scored itself the God of War franchise. Gameplay in the demo was very combat oriented, including the obligatory action combo and grab system. The grab system was actually kind of novel. It plays similarly to a rhythm game (Bemani influence anyone?) where you have to tap the grab button right as 2 concentric circles overlapped each other.
You play as Gabriel Belmont with a weapon called the “Combat Cross” which reminded me of Kratos’ “Blades of Chaos” in that they acted as both short and long range weapons depending on the situation. Gabriel’s Combat Cross will morph between Castlevania’s signature whip and other weapons such as a sword. Other than the aesthetics, the weaponry system works out very similarly to God of War‘s, complete with psuedo-RPG elements such as the ability to upgrade weapons several levels and assorted magic attacks.
Long time series fans will remember the secondary weapons and a couple of these remain unchanged, such as the silver dagger or holy water. Konami wouldn’t disclose the other items Gabriel could pick up though.
The demo ended with a very brief horseback riding combat scene. Again, this played out very similarly to mounted combat in God of War.
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved God of War, but I think I was expecting a little something more distinguishing from a new Castlevania game. The Konami rep assured me that there would be familiar “metroidvania” gameplay elements such as level backtracking in the complete game. With Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) acting as an advisor for this game, I still hold out hope that the final product could end up being something special.
As it is though, the E3 demo left me with the sense I was playing a well executed God of War clone. This could be a good or bad portent depending on what you were expecting from a new Castlevania game.
Castlevania: Lord of Shadows releases this fall on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Quite a lot of mainstream press has been given to how video games contribute to the downfall of our youth and society. While I won’t argue that there’s a sizable collection of mouth breathers on something like, say, Xbox Live, there’s still hope for upstanding gamer youth yet.
Witness this video featuring Quake Live player, Shane “rapha” Hendrixson:
It’s a long video, but I guarantee you that once you start watching it you’ll be captivated. I had no intention of viewing past a couple minutes to get the gist of it, but found myself sitting through the entire video.
Young Mr. Hendrixson here has the articulation, poise, and humility that rivals even some of our best professional athletes.
I’m not trying to exaggerate here. I’ve seen my share of sports analysts and athletes give interviews and rapha’s performance in the above video leapfrog the vast majority of them. Just listen to him break down the mechanics and strategies of a high level Quake duel. It’s fascinating stuff that really brings to light how much strategy and planning that goes into the game, on top of the pure hand-eye coordination skills needed to execute them.
Compare this with any postgame interview of an NBA or NFL game. When was the last time you actually heard anything insightful from those “interviews?”
The kid even has the humility and maturity to acknowledge his opponent in a non-patronizing way (17:40 in the video) with no prompting from the interviewer. I’d wager that a good number of pro athletes including LeBron James could stand to learn something from rapha here, especially after last week’s debacle with “The Decision.”
