If it’s not clear to anyone yet, I love Steam a lot. Nevertheless, most of the games available on it are older games who’s owners are trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of. Approximately one quarter of the games on it are actually released for the first time on Steam, but nearly all of these are games developed by Valve (who are using their own medium to sell games for lower distribution costs) or independent developers who see Steam as a channel for cheaply creating video games.

So when I see that Bioshock, a game many have been eagerly awaiting for three years is now available for pre-downloading through steam, it makes a man weep. While I was aware that Bioshock was being released simutaneously for Windows and Xbox 360, I did not realize that the category of Windows was broken down into “Retail Stores”, “Steam” and “Direct2Drive”. Unfortunately there’s no way that I’m aware of to download a Big Daddy figure, so I’ll still be getting the physical retail version methinks. I did this initially when Half-Life 2 came out, and Steam automatically added the game to my account, so that in the future I could install it via download. Perhaps the same thing will happen with Bioshock?

At any rate, seeing a 3rd party AAA title being released through Digital mechanisms means to me that yet another nail has been put in the coffin of the malevolent entity that is Gamestop/EB Games. And the peasants rejoiced.

Still bogged down in the midst of exams, but my final one is tomorrow (Computer Security!) and maybe I’ll have a chance to post more in the near future.

In the meantime, why are there so many phenomenal games coming out for Xbox 360, and only a handful for any other system (including PC)?

According to Metacritic (speaking of which, I promise to post the results of my data mining soon) We have on the Wii two games that are rated above 90% (Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4), leaving Super Paper Mario in 3rd place, and after that there isn’t a single game that I have a huge urge to go and play. Now I know that we have Metroid 3 coming out in a few weeks, and Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. Brawl coming out before Christmas, but that only brings the total of must-have games to six for the Wii (IMHO of course). Nintendo needs to step this up.

The Playstation 3 has a SINGLE game rated above 90% on Metacritic: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The next couple down from there are Ninja Gaiden Sigma (which is a remake) and Resistance: Fall of Man (which is awesome). The only title that I would consider to be must have between now and Christmas is Assassin’s Creed, which would bring us up to four, one of which is a remake of an Xbox game.

Come on guys.

Microsoft though, those guys are just feeding me dessert all the way to the bank (Remember, Bias, I work for them).

The 360 has 7 titles rated above 90%, Including Oblivion as on PS3, we have of course Gears of War, and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. A little further down the list we have Burnout Revenge (a dark, dark addiction of mine). I would also suggest that there have been some innovative if not perfectly designed games which are 360 Exclusives including Dead Rising and Overlord.

What to me is absolutely shocking is the volume of titles being released in the near future which I feel I must have:

Fable 2

Release Date: TBA 2008

Platforms: Xbox 360

Website

Now, I know there were issues with the first Fable game, and it certainly didn’t meet all the hype that was generated for it. But that said, I really enjoyed it, I like Molyneux’s preoccupation with allowing you to play different sides of the story, and I think Fable 2 (set in a more Steampunk setting too) will raise the bar a little higher.

Assassin’s Creed

Release Date: November 2007

Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows

Website

Now this game I’ve been waiting for for a very long time. I understand that it’s being released on PS3 as well, but Hitman meets Prince of Persia is all you have to say to get me to fork over 60 bucks. Beyond that the storyline to this game is being kept under strict secret, and that tells me there’s more to this game than meets the eye.

Mass Effect

Release Date: November 2007

Platforms: Xbox 360

Website

An action RPG Space-Opera from the creators of Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate, etc. Again, that’s all you need to say to me. “The most non-linear game we’ve ever made” helps to. From the glimpses I’ve seen so far, this game looks to deliver in spades everything Advent Rising never was, and a whole lot more.

Too Human (Well, maybe)

Release Date: TBA 2008 (Bets, anyone?)

Platforms: Xbox 360

Website

Any game that attempts to blend Norse Mythology into a sci-fi setting and quotes Nietzsche is okay in my books. I’ve actually had the privilege of watching this game being demoed when Dennis Dyack and crew showed up for an information session for recruiting at the University of Waterloo (and unfortunately didn’t give me a call!). The game looks slick. It wasn’t done by a stretch yet when I saw it, and it was clear that they were having some issues, but if this game ever comes out (which gets uglied up when you sue your game engine developer and try to build your own version of Unreal 3 Engine while simultaneously doing game development), I’m sure it’ll be a hit.

Bioshock

Release Date: August 21, 2007

Platforms: Xbox 360, Windows

Website

Bioshock is heralded as the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, a game which you should surf your ass over to eBay and land yourself a copy of if you’ve never had the delight of playing. The game has been designed for Emergent Gameplay, meaning that much of what you’re supposed to be able to do in the game is by emergence of the simple game mechanics which were built in, instead of being guided by the hand of the developer. If it’s anywhere close to on the same level as System Shock, this one should be on everyone’s bookshelf.

GTA IV

Release Date: Feb-Apr 2008

Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Website

The latest in the Grand Theft Auto series, and from the trailers, sure to be a cut above anything we’ve seen so far (Multiplayer!). Need I say more?

Burnout: Paradise

Release Date: Q1 2008

Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Website

The newest Burnout game is supposed to be a complete reinvention of the series. I’m not sure how I feel about this, as the series is pretty sweet as it is, and I really don’t want Burnout to turn into one of the other many racing games that are around. Nevertheless, I’m sure it will at least be worth a look at this Winter, and if it’s anywhere near as addictive as it’s predecessor, I’ll have scurvy by the time the Spring comes.

Halo 3

Release Date: Sept 25, 2007

Platforms: Xbox 360

Website
In 2001 Halo put the original Xbox on the map, and six years later Halo 3 will close the Saga of Master Chief. Although I’m sure this won’t be the last we see of the Halo games in years to come, it”ll be the end of a story arc that’s been with us for most of the decade, and has been a defining example of the FPS genre. I’m sure Halo 3 will be the best yet in the series, and I’m also fairly sure that It’ll be a few days before I see the sun again after it comes out.

Anyway, We all have that to look forward to in the coming months, and I’m highly pleased. I’ll be getting a Wii in the next few weeks as well, so here’s hoping Nintendo once again pulls a completely new genre out of thin air and creates an entire ecosystem of games that will quake the earth once more.

As for Sony, well, you guys are on your own for now. Maybe when God of War comes to the PS3 I’ll think about coming up with $17,000 or whatever it costs to buy a PS3 when you’re in Canada, but for now, I don’t think the titles are worth the cash.

Then again, when Playstation Home comes out, I might rethink that decision. That guy looks sweet.

I should really be studying for the distributed computing final I have tomorrow morning, but hilarity wins out.

Citizen Game posts a (less than) amusing truth about living north of the 49th parallel: You get screwed in the exchange rate. Once upon a time, our shining little loonies and toonies were worth half a big green American bill. This is happily no longer the case.

Never the less it would seem that the US would like to pretend that it was the good ol’ days of the ninties and charge exchange rates to that tune. I’m not going to bother showing the analysis here, but the image below sums it up pretty well (you can go to Citizen Game for the full run-down).

I would mention however that exchange rates are not the only place where we get nailed (or even the worst). My biggest beef is in the lack of digital content that we get up here.

In the USA, there are lovely services such as TiVo, Amazon Unbox, iTunes Music Store, Zune Marketplace, Xbox Live Marketplace, and so on. These lovely services will allow you to pay them money - in real dollars - and in exchange they will give you media content (movies and TV shows in particular). In Canada I’ve heard it’s theoretically possible to buy a TiVo system, but there’s some magic you have to pull. Rogers will allow you to rent a PVR system from them at an approximately cost of $15,000 a month, with an initial start up fee of whatever you’ll get for putting a second mortgage on your house. iTMS sells music, but nothing else, and the Zune and Xbox Live Marketplaces just aren’t available here.

What is going on here people? You wonder why we download so much media off torrent sites up here? Maybe it’s because for some reason nobody wants to let me have the ability to give them money so that I can watch the Colbert Report whenever I like. My guess being that nobody seems to be able to secure licensing rights from the IP owners for distribution in the great white north. This does not make any sense to me whatsoever, but I would guess that the enemy of Mankind, Rogers Communications, has something to do with this as they are responsible for all problems in Canada.

I may have gone on a bit of a tangent here, but to return to the land of Videogames, Gametap has a restricted set of titles for Canada as well (and that I _Really_ don’t understand).

In conclusion, if you don’t allow someone to buy something, they will steal it from you and lobby their government to make it okay to do so.

It seems that iD software dumped most of their catalog onto Steam a couple of days ago.

I never thought I’d be buying the Commander Keen series for $4.99 in 2007.

• Commander Keen, Episodes 1 through 5
• Wolfenstein 3D
• Spear of Destiny
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• Ultimate DOOM
• DOOM II
• Master Levels for DOOM II
• Final DOOM
• DOOM3
• DOOM3: Resurrection of Evil
• QUAKE
• QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
• QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
• QUAKE II
• QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
• QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
• QUAKE III Arena
• QUAKE III: Team Arena
• Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
• HeXen
• HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
• HeXen II

Now, the thing that kind of scares me is the iD Super Pack, which includes every iD game Steam offers (namely the above).

But it’s 62.95!

I buy a LOT of Steam games.  A LOT.  I’ve repurchased several games I already own on Steam just because it was more convenient (Thief 3, The Longest Journey, Psychonauts), but I don’t really see myself jumping on board 60 bucks worth of like, Heretic, and HeXen, and Quake.. All of them.

But then, I was never really into Quake, so maybe this one just isn’t aimed at me.

I’ve never liked Roger Ebert.  Mostly because he’s a pompous ass who seems to think that if there isn’t something deeply profound about a movie (and even if there is, he’ll often miss the point), then the movie is a useless piece of trash.

Well, as you can imagine he doesn’t think much of video games.  I always find this point of view entirely frustrating, because the people defending it are almost always (and certainly in this case) highly unfamiliar with the material in question.  If you’re going to have an opinion about something, why not give it a fair chance, maybe even take a look at some of the premium examples of artwork that medium has to offer.  Comparing Clive Barker’s Undying to Romeo and Juliet is comparable to comparing Terminator 2 to The Tempest, but I’m not trying to tell you that Film isn’t a valid art form.

So essentially what I’m saying here Rog is shut the fuck up.