Matt Heston

I think even if you don’t hold much stock in the artistic value of video games, I believe there’s something to be said about the music that’s being made for some of the big budget, triple A games that have come out. While video game music has been around since the 8-bit era to compliment the action on screen, I think at this point there are games out there with scores that can stand on their own as legitimately good pieces without appending “videogame” to their title as music. As an example, here are two songs lifted straight from their respective games. The first one is the theme to Nintendo’s Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the next is “Far Away” from Rockstar’s western-era game, Red Dead Redemption.

Why am I excluding Nintendo’s upcoming hand held console from this post? It’s not because I don’t want to share my thoughts on it, it’s simply due to the fact that news about it is being released about it from multiple entities at a rate I don’t know if I can keep up with or properly summarize. Nintendo has unleashed a hydra upon the media, in which if you report about one exciting announcement, two new press releases arise to take it’s place, and I am but one man. But I feel confident saying this about it, though: The 3DS  is going to be a big deal, on the scale of how the Wii was a big deal when it was first released. Remember that? Remember not being able to get a hold of one unless you paid a ridiculous amount on eBay or camped out in front of a store? Yeah. Get ready for that.

But until then, I’d like to share what I’m excited for at this event.

Marvel vs Capcom 3 (Xbox 360, PS3; Rating TBA)

Marvel vs Capcom 3 is going to be mess. If it’s predecessors are any indication, some characters and gameplay mechanics will likely be so unbalanced that it will fail to deliver as a serious fighting game in just about every regard. But that won’t matter, because Marvel vs Capcom never tried to be serious- just really, really fun. It’s premise of pitting a wild cast of comic book characters against an even odder group of video game icons is beyond ridiculous and the games have been built to reflect that. From Iron Man summoning up a laser gun the size of a car to the announcer yelling “Awesome!” or “Dude!” when you pull off a sufficiently complex combo via random button mashing, I’m hoping to see Marvel vs Capcom 3 go bigger, stupider, and awesome-er than ever before.

Metroid: Other M (Wii; Rated T)

Alright, so technically this game is releasing a few days before PAX, but the weeks leading up to it will be so busy for me I seriously doubt I’ll be able to grab a copy, much less sit down and play it. But what I can expect is meeting several people there who just picked up the game, and finished it in record time (although I suspect the additional story and cutscenes will grate at those who go for a speed run). I’ve been a Metroid fan for a long time, so once again exploring, solving puzzles, and fighting aliens with the only female protagonist in gaming classy enough to be considered a “lady” instead of a “chick” is something I’m really looking forward to.

Kinect (Xbox 360)

Microsoft products, and even moreso, Microsoft advertising, tend to be pretty hit-or-miss. So with Microsoft’s new add-on for the Xbox 360 that allows users to play games with body motions rather than a regular controller have a lot of people wondering if it will succeed as a new innovation in gaming much like the Wii’s motion controls before it, or fail as an over-ambitious peripheral rushed out to the public before the technology can function in practice rather than just theory, like the Playstation 2′s Eyetoy (released in 2003). The tech demos and previews aren’t lending themselves to any concrete conclusions either, with awesome demos of a guy fighting Darth Vader with waves of his hands and support from big name developer Peter Molyneux (designer of the Fable series) each getting their own counter-point from shapely models running in place while the Kinect fails to catch their wild gesticulations as well as disdain from other big names like Yoichi Wada (president of Square Enix) saying it’s ‘no different’ than the Wii. So while I’m hoping to see more of the Kinect at PAX, and see it open up new ways to play video games, I’m going to be cautious before making any decisions on it.

Ghost Trick (Nintendo DS; Rating TBA)

Although I’m not much of a fan of anime or other forms of Japanese entertainment, I will concede this: Japanese storytelling can add so much style to a subject that even the most boring of premises can be transformed into epic adventures. Just like how Shu Takami turned the misadventures of a mild-mannered defense attorney into dramatic showdowns between larger-than-life characters who wield logic like katanas, he seems to be doing something similar with Ghost Trick by transforming a puzzle game that has you essentially toying with Rube Goldberg devices into a tense thriller where your limited abilities as a ghost to do simple things like opening and closing the shutters or causing a light switch to flicker are the only things that can save your friends in what may be the last two minutes of their life. Though it will likely put a pretty heavy emphasis on story, I’m betting each puzzle solved will be twice as satisfying because of it. The only trouble with that is that the story needs to be good throughout the entire game, or the whole experience will be ruined by it. Capcom’s booth at PAX last year was pretty fantastic, so I expect my curiosity about this game will be well taken care of when I get there.

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Lastly, the crowds that will inevitably swarm around the Halo: Reach booth will make it pretty much impossible for me to get any sort of good look at it while I’m over there. So for any other PAX attendees, I’d advise that for your own physical safety, do not try to cut through the horde of Halo fans for a peek. You court mortal peril in doing so.

At Penny Arcade Expo, there will be very few models in revealing clothing. In fact, they’ve been told that they aren’t welcome. It’s been common practice for PR groups trying to garner attention for their products at events like this to hire booth babes, but a recent poll of Penny Arcade’s online community showed that people going to PAX this year would rather have representatives that know about the product instead of just getting something to ogle at. There is an exception when it comes to cosplay (dressing up as a character), so models advertising products that show a little skin, some leeway is allowed there.

This ban on titillation was bound to happen. Stories of convention-goers waiting hours in line to learn about the newest piece of technology, only to be get a picture with a model/sales rep who couldn’t tell them the first thing about the wares they’re shilling, have been collecting on the Internet with every successive year of exhibitors selling to the lowest common denominator. This has always been a bit out of touch with the attendants, who have likely traveled quite a distance just to pay to see advertisements. These are folks who have a very definite goal in mind. While eye candy is nice, the crowd (some of which are younger kids) has a need that isn’t being satisfied.

All these exhibitors were doing was creating a series of awkward situations in which hired models are in an environment have no experience in, and attendees are encouraged to engage in behavior that they know is superficial and inappropriate. The poll wasn’t the only factor that caused this ban, though. The Penny Arcade creators themselves have stated their opinion on booth babes, too. Therefore, this years’ Penny Arcade Expo will have little of that, preferring to let guys there keep awkward interactions with girls to every other day of the year.

Damn. Christmas is here again.

Not to imply I don’t enjoy the holidays- I do. I live in a place where the snow falls softly and thick wool socks are in abundance.  Christmas has always been one of the best parts of the year for me. But I doubt there are few who would disagree with me when I say that being with family can be emotionally draining (or in other words- it can suck at times). I’m in close proximity with a group of people who know my successes along with my failures I’ve hidden so craftily from the rest of the world. “Impossible is Nothing”? Please. Impossible is telling my mother I don’t like the hat she gave me.

So what to do this sort of situation? I suppose just try to make it work, put in the effort to understand each other, and it sometimes takes a LOT of effort. I try to do this, because I know I alienate a lot of people with my awkward social graces, extended periods of time spent on the Internet, and long, pointless rants on why Limiter Bracelets are a terrible anime cliche. I owe it to other people and to myself to try to understand other people before telling them why I’m right (and they’re wrong).

I say this because I think it’s not enough to just spend time with family during the holidays. You’ve got to use that time, too.

Merry Christmas, Mom.