Playing through Heavy Rain for me was like watching Saw. Especially the part where you have to cut your finger off. The control scheme  would be perfect for a saw game. Quantic Dream did a wonderful job of making you feel immersed in every suspenseful second. Saw being a movie about mystery and punishment, would be a perfect marriage to Heavy Rain.

2. Fast and Furious / Midnight Club

Fast and Furious has always been one of my favorite movie series. Its a sham that it doesn’t have big games to go along with it. Midnight Club L.A. was not my favorite in the series but it was still decent. I think it was lacking structure and story. For me if you merge the 2 together  the end product would be a game with a developed story and plot line with the tuner, action and customization that you would expect from both.

Thats my picks, whats yours?

Not my controller just an image I found online

Ever been playing a game and get a bit frustrated? Has that frustration ever made you throw your controller? Well that what happened to me today. What would make a grown man throw a controller you ask? Super Street Fighter 4. There are time when you get so into a game when the controller doesn’t do what you want it to do you get a little pissed. I have seen times online where I know people have thrown their controllers. One time I was watching a friend play the aforementioned game online. The person her was against was playing with Akuma. My friend picked Zangief. His opponent was probably thinking he had an easy win. Last round of the game tied up. Here comes Akuma with a death strike. He glided across the board for what seemed like a sure victory.My friend stood there as it seemed the game was over. Akuma reached out to Zangief and surprisingly Zangief reached right back to him for a super pile driver. KO……. Silence. At that moment I knew my friend had caused an innocent controller to die. I have seen this very friend get so mad that he threw his PS2 controller to the ground with all his might. Luckily the controller survived but lets just say it never rumbled the same again.

I know that many controllers have died over not functioning the way a gamer wants it to. My problem today was with the one part of the the 360 controller that keeps it from perfection. The dreaded D-Pad. Not to mention for fighting games the 360′s controller is rather large. For every game but fighting games, with the exception of Soul Caliber I would rather use a PS3 aka the ps1 v3.0 controller. But is the controller to blame? A lot of times its not the controller its the software that is not reading it’s inputs. Well I don’t think its that either. I think we are to blame for the dead controllers. We get so worked up that when the game doesn’t go the way we want it to we hurt the only thing we can. The defenseless controller.

Whatever the case may be, even though I know its my fault I blame Capcom. You hear me Capcom you owe me a new 360 white controller. I will be waiting. Chances are I will be waiting, either til I feel like buying another one or a new xbox comes out. I know I will value my red remote. I know I am not alone on this one. If you have an interesting story for me, drop it in the comment box. Until then its the Redgamer signing off. Good gaming peeps. Woooo saaaaaa

Everyone loves an underdog. Last gen the PS2 was the undisputed champion even though the XBOX had superior specs. When the next gen started they came out swinging. The launch of the 360 reminded me in a lot of ways of the launch of the highly underrated Dreamcast. Microsoft came in with the thought that they wanted to take this generation, then the Wii came out :/ and sadly ended that thought. I think Microsoft will be content winning the hardcore gaming battle and after Sony’s early arrogance towards this generation made me cheer more for 360.

Listen and Improved Theory
Remember the blades? Hate them or love them they are gone. Since all the systems have agreed that this generation will be a longer than we as gamers are used to, so improvement is important. We have already seen one big software update which made the 360 easier navigate the massive amounts of content that they serve up weekly. There are some updates that still need to made but I have my fingers crossed that a new update will be coming along after while. But by far the biggest update has been the hardware update. Tons of dead consoles later, RROD and cracked disc. Forget a Kinect, its all about the new hardware. Wi Fi, shorter sexier (yes sexier) console, quieter and more reliable finally. Thanks for listening MS . About time!

Last but not least Theory

Like my homie at the Geek Whisperer once said, It’s all about the games. Nuff said!

So what does that mean now. Now instead of the blu-ray drive being a luxury it is now an great feature. So instead of 360 having a price advantage now it has a technology disadvantage. I love my 360 but to tell the truth the DVD is starting to feel a little dated. With the huge graphic capabilities of console now a days a DVD is just not enough to hold it all. 8gb versus 40gb. What 2 disc PS3 game have you heard of? But it does have its disadvantages, such as required installs and slow disc speeds.

I don’t know if the next XBOX will include a blu-ray drive considering it is sony technology but I do know it has to do something because regular dvd isn’t cutting it anymore.

Okay, now that thats out the way Lets get on to the topic at hand. Microsoft has recently announced a  new XBOX controller. This is very good news. Not that the regular one isn’t good because I still feel how I did about it when I said that it was the best game console controller I have ever used. The one thing that has kept the 360′s controller from reaching perfection is its D-Pad.

It seems like Microsoft has finally heard our cries. The new controller among other improvements has finally done something about that D-Pad. First a new more reliable 360 which was way overdo considering most everyone I know that has one is on at least their second. Me I am on number 3. But back to the controller, the main change is a patented D-Pad that raises with a twist to allow better controllers. As a Street Fighter fan I could not be more happy. Other changes they have made are sloped thumb stick tops, monochromatic buttons instead of the usual color a b x y buttons, and longer battery life on the plug and play batteries.

While I’m excited, I am still a little apprehensive.  I’m not a fan of the monochromatic buttons and the D-Pad twisting mechanism is cool but why not have it be up all the time. I see no advantage in having it down(like the current controller). I would have preferred to see it stay in one position but I think this is a nice step in the right direction. If it handles anything like I think it will than Microsoft my have just created the ultimate controller.

So what would happen if Epic developed a game with Master Chief based in the Halo universe? How would it look, how would it play? Just imagining it gave me chills. All the possibilities of a hybrid of arguably two of the best games for the 360. The look the feel of Halo would be breath taking. Imagine the flood done in the same style as the Locus. Even the grunts would look cool. Imagine how the MC would look.

I know this is one of those things that probably would never happen for multiple reasons but its nice to imagine. Some problems in mashing two game like this is compatibility. How do you mash a fast paced FTP with a slower paced 3rd person shooter? Do you use the cover system? My idea of the two mashing together would be more Gearsish but a little more fast paced. I guess for me just taking the Halo universe and infusing it into Gears of War would produce an epic (no pun intended) game the likes of which the 360 have never seen. Even a Halo vs Gears type thing where universes collide. Marcus and Master Chief in cover killing the Covenant. We may never see it, but it would be an awesome game.

Thoughts, input, comments?

The overall feel of the game is that 2k developed it and added too much too fast and the overall quality suffered because of it. Like that old saying “Jack of all trades, master of none.” It is a great game, but it could have been and should have been a lot better. Centers shooting 3 pointers on a regular basis, passes going the opposite direction of what you selected, my player mode freezing. Problem that should not exist.

This generation of games has been a generation of patches. Games get rushed out just to get a band-aid later.  Back in the day you had one shot to release a quality game, this leads me to the question “Does having the ability to patch games hurt the initial quality?” In previous generations games just worked, now there is a patch every time you turn the game on. I applaud those companies who hold back a games release to make it better, yeah it sucks to wait but it is wonderful when that wait produces a quality game. God of War 3 please make the wait worth it!