Oh. Well Then.

Not too terribly long, I got all bent out of shape over Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, since it was reported that the PS4/XBone versions were going to be digital-only and that's kind of a bad thing.  For reasons that I went into with a lot of words that ended up boiling down to "The Gaming world just isn't ready for this nigh-evangelised 'Digital Future' but more importantly I'm most definitely not ready for it, goddamnit" because I really really want to play every single MGS game ever always.  All of that remains true, of course, because Internet Infrastructure has not magically become better in the weeks since, nor is it showing any signs of magically coming to ultimate power any time soon either.  Unfortunately and fortunately.  (Since even if Infrastructure got better, I'd probably still be fucking stuck)

Good news has come out for everyone, however, as not only does Ground Zeroes have a release date for North America, but it has pricing and release details that are a bit different than previously reported for good ol' Europe.  First off, the game comes out March 18th, 2014 across PS3 and 4, the 360 and the XBone.  PC players...get to keep waiting for REVENGEANCE, I assume.  (Please buy it when it comes out.)  Much like Europe, there's a bit of a price variance not only between current and last gen platforms, but physical and digital as well.  The PS3 and 360 versions retail at $30 for Physical and $20 Digital which is pretty much what I figured would happen in that it's exactly the same as the European price, except they switched denomination markers.  Sorry Europe!

The good bit comes in, however, when you see that, yes, the Digital Versions for the PS4 and XBone versions of Ground Zeroes are $30 for some reason, but there are actual physical versions of the game as well which will retail for $40, a full $20 more for a prettier version of the game on a disk instead of a digital PS3 purchase.  In another complete 180 from previous reportings, there's apparently going to be something extra in the Physical versions, though if that's just the Next-Gen ones, I don't even know.  Regardless, there's going to be a box with a PS4 disk in it that has Ground Zeroes on it that I am going to one day stare at and debate whether or not I should purchase it.  On the one hand, I'm very, very glad that it's going to be something I -can- buy and play, but on the other hand, it's a prologue that could be shorter than the Tanker section of MGS2, and it's $40 when a digital version of the PS3 version is half that for reasons, and while I -want- to play it in stunning visuals with the Dualshock 4 and all that, I'll need to convince myself a little more.  Also, I'll be concerned about a package deal for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain whenever that ends up coming out.  (Likely around a year later, I'm guessing)

Still, it's good to know that I have the option if I decided to go that route because I likely will because I have no will-power.  Though I have to wonder what the extra bit in the cases is going to be, because I highly doubt it's going to be the Exclusive DLCs mentioned for both systems.  The Deja Vu mission for Playstation and the Jamais Vu DLC for XBox both look great, even though I swing more towards the Jamais Vu one because REVENGEANCE, and it kills me to think that I -won't- get to play it.  It's...not the same as more REVENGEANCE, of course, but it's close.  At least Konami is still acknowledging the game and hopefully the hopes of a sequel will end up panning out, because I will buy the absolute fuck out of it.  On the other hand, more 'exclusive' DLC for the Boxed versions on top of platform-exclusive DLC?  That's...that's going a bit crazy with it.  Though we are not exactly surprised, I should think.

crazy conspiracy theory, "David Hayter Voicepack DLC" - it'll never happen, but goddamnit if we're not all hoping

Rune Factory's Future Looks Troubling

Yesterday was a dark, dark day for everyone, though most people don't even know it.  Neverland, the developer behind the Rune Factory series, announced that it was immediately shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, which...you know, is bad.  It's also completely unexpected because Rune Factory 4, their latest released game, did well enough to greenlight a Rune Factory 5.  It seems that they were simply struggling financially and nothing was helping it, so they're just closing up shop.  It's depressing as hell, because Rune Factory as a series, 2 aside, has pretty much been getting exponentially better with each numbered iteration and would probably continue doing so.  Though, technically, they do still have a chance to do that.

You see, it's simply Neverland, the developer, that's going out.  Marvelous AQL has owned the IP for Rune Factory since the start, I believe, and that's not going to change.  Being that they're the publisher, what it means is just that they need to find a new developer to make future Rune Factory games if that's their choice.  Considering Rune Factory 5 is almost certainly already started and it's a good series that sells well-enough for what it is, it's pretty easy to hope that they will indeed continue making it.  One can simply hope that it won't lose any of its charm with a developer change, if one is indeed going to take into majority effect.  I know, you're just yelling "STOP WITH THE LEAD-INS", but it's as much for my own benefit to assuage my own fears about the situation as anything.

The plot thickened when Yoshifumi Hashimoto, Marvelous AQL producer of the Rune Factory series made a little post on the Rune Factory blog regarding their next project, since things appear up in the air.  If you'll allow me to shamelessly steal Siliconera's translated version of the post...

“Hello, Hashimoto here.

How are you guys enjoying Rune Factory 4?

I’d like to take this occasion to make a comment about the future.

As of now, it’ll still remain a secret as to what kind of title we’ll be releasing next, but I can say that the staff members are still doing great.

I will leave it at that for now, and I thank you for your continued support.

Producer, Yoshifumi Hashimoto”

The part of that message that states "The staff members are still doing great" is what's causing a bit of the rumor mill spinning.  The people in a folding developer are generally not "okay" when the announcement goes out, much less "doing great", so there are two different interpretations of what that actually could mean.  Either he means that the Marvelous AQL staff are okay which is...superfluous to say, or he means Neverland is great as it seems to imply, which would sort of make on think that they're doing great because Marvelous has something to say about it in the matter.  People are speculating that Marvelous might be hiring some, probably not all, of Neverland's staff with the intention on making a new development studio that can continue working on the Rune Factory series.  It might seem a little too good to be true, but it does absolutely no harm to anyone to at least -hope- it's true.  At the worst, we're wrong and Rune Factory 5 will be finished out by a studio unfamiliar with the series (or Marvelous' own in-house studio, but they might be a little busy with the new Harvest Moon at the moment) and at best, we're going to get Rune Factory 5 which is still mostly a Neverland production.  Either way, it still seems like Rune Factory 5 is still a thing that is probably going to happen, and I don't think I'm deluding myself into thinking that.

Still, gotta be honest, when I first heard the news, my reaction was basically this:  (Sorry, Chance, I'm stealing it)

It's good to be optimistic, however.  To hope.  Something something, A New Hope.

I just really want Rune Factory 5 if that wasn't blatantly obvious, and Vita plz if you like, I'll buy both versions

Okay, This Trend Needs to Stop Before It Starts

It's been known for a while that Metal Gear Solid V would be yet another of the Cross-Gen titles coming out, releasing for both PS3 and 360, but PS4 and XBone as well.  It's also been known that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, the prologue to the actual meat of MGS V, The Phantom Pain, would be releasing beforehand due to it being a prologue and all.  That was roughly all the information that we knew to this point, however, and that finally changed today....kind of.

The release window has narrowed from "2014" to "Spring 2014" which is, of course, considerably more focused, but it's clearly still not ready for an official release just yet.  We also have prices....in a sense, and this is where things get a bit tricky.  Current gen prices for the packaged versions of the game (meaning PS3/360 disks) will be £30, which roughly translates to about $48, assuming they don't do that thing they do where they just exchange £ and $.  Current gen prices for digital versions of the game, however, will be £20, which roughly translates to about $32.  And then there's an entry for the price of the Next-Gen downloadable versions, which is the aforementioned £30 or ~$48.  So, what's the price for the Next-Gen packaged version?  Uhh..

Well, apparently there won't fucking be one.

It's already been confirmed elsewhere from the linked article - Ground Zeroes is going to be Digital-Only on the PS4/XBone and I have only one thing to say to that:  Fuck that.

Next Gen games are going to be fucking huge - Killzone:  Shadow Fall is just south of 40 GB as a compressed file (down from a hefty 290 GB) as an example - and I can't imagine that Ground Zeroes, the first Open-World Metal Gear Solid title is going to be an exception to that, prologue or not.  My thoughts on digital-only games has been well-covered at this point (even if I understand that it's a necessity -sometimes-, and can acknowledge that there are varying degrees of problem areas to it) but I think we can all agree that downloading 40 gigs is simply unfeasible for a majority of the people playing games out there.  Not only is there speed issues to consider (since we're not all blessed with the ability to pay for wonderful internet), but there is that whole pesky issue about Data Caps that has not gone away by some sort of magic or sorcery.  So it's at this point that I would like to ask Developers to kindly pull their heads out of their goddamn asses.

I'm going to reiterate the very point I made back when Microsoft assumed the internet was magical and ever-present around the entire goddamn world:  It's fucking not.  Internet infrastructure is actually pretty piss-poor in the United States (not to mention neighboring Canada and Mexico) since the farther out from a major city you get (not even the semi-major cities) there is a drastic drop-off in speed, capacity and what have you.  Everyone in the industry seems to forget this constantly, because, and I'm just guessing here, a lot of developers are based out of major cities.  I can see how it's possible that it's easy to forget what you -don't- have to deal with, but that doesn't make it any better.  Still, I think even some of these people would have an issue downloading 40-50 Gig games on the regular.  So hopefully this little idea of "Digital Future" stays in the future now as it has done so already, because we just are not ready for it yet.

I mean, seriously, Ground Zeroes is going to be fucking huge even if it's supposed to be a 'short' game are we kidding anyone thinking otherwise

Goddamnit Sega - Yakuza 5 Localization "On Hold"

So, you guys like Sega news, right?  Well, how about Sega non-news?  Is that also good?  Because that's what this amounts to, really.  Sega's CCO recently stated that Yakuza Ishin is getting all their man-power to ensure it makes the PS4 launch, meaning things like localizing Yakuza 5 simply aren't on the table for now.  As in the game that's already been out in Japan for just under a year (released last December), there's been absolutely no work done on a localization for it in that year.  Presumably because they started on Ishin right away, but still, that's a bit egregious.  Also more than a little worrying considering this is fucking Sega we're talking about here.  But it's not like Yakuza 3 didn't take its sweet time getting over here either, so it's not exactly unprecedented.

Yakuza Ishin, if you weren't aware, is another game that goes back to the era of Japan where Samurai still wandered the lands, much like Yakuza Kenzan! which...well, you know how that story ends.  Or rather, you probably don't since it was never ever released outside of Japan.  So I'm not exactly buoyed by the news that they're working on a game that is potentially going to stay inside of Japan for its entire lifespan instead of localizing a game that could have and should see a release in the rest of the world.  There have been rumblings that it'll get localized, sure.  Potentially by Sony's new Third Party Productions division instead of Sega proper, but maybe even by Sega.  Or maybe by Atlus USA since that's definitely a possibility now.  It would definitely be nice, and a boon for PS4 and Vita both since the game is releasing on the PS4 and will at least be Remote Play-able on the Vita as well, if not boasting some other sort of functionality on top of that.  Not to mention the PS4 will be wanting for games in the first year or so as all new systems are (especially since it can't rely on backwards compatibility) so a Yakuza game to ease into the system would be very good.

Of course, that's all considering whether or not it makes it outside of Japan and just how long it'll take.  It's launching alongside the PS4 in Japan and we get the PS4 a little bit earlier on top of that.  That's sort of the key point in the matter here, and it's expressed through a line that absolutely just...kills me to read because it's so absurd when you think about it.

Nagoshi explained that due to the Yakuza team's size, they decided to pass up working on a port of Y5 to focus solely on Ishin. Nagoshi feels that he and his team "owe it to PlayStation fans" for Ishin to be a PS4 launch title, "even if it means a bit of pressure."

Emphasis mine, obviously.  If nothing, that's ridiculously telling of Sega's attitude towards the whole situation, since he says "Playstation Fans" when this is really only for Japan, are you fucking kidding me?  That is the specific situation here - this is a game being finished up for the Japanese PS4 launch and -only that-, but you're saying you owe it to "Playstation Fans" to do that?  The point I'm clearly leading to is that there are Playstation Fans everywhere outside of Japan and they fucking know this by now.  Their constant lack of acknowledgement is frustrating, and is definitely at least somewhat the reason for their lackluster sales in the West.  There's no guarantee that a Sega game you like will be continued and if it is, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to play it, which tends to stay the purchasing hand in the first place.  It happened with Phantasy Star, it happened with Valkyria Chronicles and it seems to be happening with Yakuza here (could argue that it already has with Kenzan! and Black Panther series) and it's hurting Sega far more than anything else.  Pick a side of the fence and stick with it.

And it's not like it'd take much effort to make the Yakuza series seem like it's going to be around in other regions.  Advertising is crucial, of course and they did a lot of that with 4, but it didn't seem to really take which is unfortunate because 4's advertisement was grand.  That had a lot to do with the residual distaste of Sega that clearly still lingers today, however.  All you need to do, if you're Sega, is announce that the Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Remaster is getting localized (Physical and/or Digital, I suppose.  Would prefer Physical, but I'll take what I can fucking get) and then get Yakuza 3 and 4 on the Playstation store with a bundle version of the two as well.  ($40 individually, $60 for both+the few bits of DLC that came out for them or something, maybe even a super bundle of all four games)  Then announce that Yakuza 5 is indeed getting localized and point to those previous efforts to show that you can get the whole Yakuza experience on Playstation 3 in order to be prepared for the launch of 5.  Punctuates the lead-in and you suddenly have a series that is expansive and crazy but accessible to anyone because it's just two purchases (or maybe even one) has it all right there on a single console.  No muss, no fuss, it's all just there for you to enjoy.

If you'd do all that and also work out with TPP to localize Ishin (or Restoration as it'll probably be called) then it creates an exponential effect, because it establishes a sense of security.  It's suddenly a series that you -can- get into because it's going to keep coming and it's going to keep coming out -here-.  Do a little focused advertising on top of that (maybe a goddamn commercial, yeah?) and you'll have an entire new pool of customers to dip into who will grow to appreciate the product as the quality work that it is.  That I even have to figure this out and explain it, however, is the height of frustration since it's very obvious things that they could do to bolster goodwill.  And if Sega needs anything at this point and beyond, it's goodwill because without that, they could release Call of fucking Duty and it'd sell like shit.  Maybe one of these days they'll figure it out themselves.

by the way, still waiting on word for Phantasy Star Online 2 which will literally print money in the West

Music! Grumbling About Grand Theft Auto V Edition

If I have one single, solitary complaint about Grand Theft Auto V it's....that the controls are still shit in the broad strokes of it, even if they're serviceable 80% of the time.  If I had two complaints, the other would be that melee combat is utterly unsatisfying, shallow and boring outside of some really nice sucker punches.  But, uh, that's not the point.  The point is that one of my complaints about the game is that the radio tracklist this go around is very, very disappointing.  I've never looked at Grand Theft Auto games as having exceptionally wonderful selections for their radio stations (and in truth, I spent most of my time on the Talk Radio stations anyway) but after Grand Theft Auto IV's wholly enjoyable Massive B Soundsystem track list, I admit, I had some high hopes.  Or...at least moderately off-the-ground hopes.  I was quite disappointed, I must say.

Still, there are some stand-outs among the rest of the songs that you've likely never heard before, and for reason as it turns out.  On the originally named pop station, Non-Stop Pop, the tracklist consists of songs from the 80s all the way to about three years ago, and it doesn't feel like many of them were actually picked from any Top 20s list from any point between those two eras.  Funnily enough, I don't actually think this one was on a list either, but I have a special attachment to the song after it was featured in the ten minute long musical orgasm that was the Encore from Daft Punk's "Alive 2007".  Stardust was also featured in a really, really good mash-up/remix that I heard a while back, with Beastie Boys and something else, though unfortunately it seems to have an aversion to Youtube, being taken down whenever it's put up.  Unfortunate, really, since it's a fantastic bit of music.  Anyways, tonight's first song is, obviously, "Music Sounds Better with You" by Stardust.

It's not fantastic on its own, since I've heard it mixed with Daft Punk so much, but it's still enjoyable and, well, it makes me -think- of the mixed version so there's that too.  I imagine that's kind of cheating, but if so, then it only helps further illustrate the problems that I have with this soundtrack, when a song that I like has only been a tertiary part of -other- songs that I like, which I like a lot better than this base song.  Whenever it's on, I keep it one, however, but that's more or less just so that I can actually -not- scan through the radio stations over and over and over again.  Because that does get a little old, as you might imagine.

Some of the soundtrack is comprised of Bands that you know, with songs that you likely don't.  Or if you do, they're not...you know, the 'hits' that you know from that band.  It gets very, very frustrating and I think the worst offender here is Los Santos Rock Radio, as the station is almost primarily -full- of examples of this.  The one that burns me the most here, however, is the next song I'm going to feature.  It's not a bad song, certainly, but it just makes you go "Really?  You went with that?"  It's not the first Grand Theft Auto game to do so - I realized as much when I looked at the GTA IV tracklist, but it's far less of a problem there - but it really just feels like it's a little over-much and I don't particularly know why.  Whenever this song, "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen comes on the radio, I just think of what could have been.

I can understand not wanting to use We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Another One Bites the Dust or Bohemian Rhapsody as those are the Queen songs that everyone knows so that maybe you figure people are sick of them.  Or that they're like, much more expensive to license.  Not like it matters because it's fucking Grand Theft Auto V, but still.  I just don't understand using Radio Ga Ga instead of Bicycle Race, Under Pressure, Killer Queen, Crazy Little Thing Called Love or Don't Stop Me Now.  Basically what I'm saying is that there are a ton of Queen songs I would have picked before Radio Ga Ga, and it bothers me greatly that Rockstar didn't think similarly.  Since Radio Ga Ga just...isn't as fun to listen to as any of those other songs, in my opinion.  Nor was it ever nearly as popular as any of those songs at any given point in time.  Which is the point of a radio station, you see.

If nothing else, there is at least -one- song on that is an absolute, 100% perfect fit for the game, for the atmosphere and for the enjoyment factor.  The song in particular is from West Coast Classics, quite possibly the best station in the entire game since at least it's a -little- consistent in quality and theme.  If I'm listening to a station for a clip at a time, you can bet it's likely this, and not particularly because I like Rap (I don't generally, actually) but because there's this song and at least two others that I can be perfectly content listening to while driving around, playing the game  The song is "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion these days, apparently), and I'm sure you can tell why it just fits in GTA V if you've never heard it before this point.

If I could, I would probably just make this song repeat over and over again while I'm getting around because it's just the best chill-out driving song you can have in the game.  It works for all three characters even;  I can picture Michael and Trevor bobbing their heads along with the beat, slightly leaned back in their seats moreso than normal, just enjoying things just as much as I could imagine Franklin doing so.  Also, I just enjoy the song myself which is of course the most important part of it, but still, I can justify it in-game as well!  As opposed to something like "Gimme More" by Britney Spears, which I can listen to for the novelty of it, but the likes of Trevor would probably rip his radio out of his truck and toss it out the window before listening to it fully.  Doesn't mean I -don't- listen to it, just that I admit that my immersion is completely and totally broken, which is clearly an unfortunate thing to have in a GTA game.

While there is Gin and Juice, it's easily the best inclusion to the soundtrack, and that's....that's a little sad, unfortunately.  Not that the song isn't great, but because it's not even a contest - it's the best because it's the best and that's all there is to it.  It stands head and shoulders above all else and there's really no arguing the point.  Hopefully with some DLC or with some updates or hell, even just in Grand Theft Auto Online (or Because of GTAO) we might get some more music, but I'm not exactly confident.  I want to be, though.  The Lost and Damned added some great tracks to GTA IV, so hopefully, they're just holding some good things back for the next entry or something. 

the only way the song could be more appropriate in GTA V would be if you could smoke pot -while- driving -while- listening to that song

Bonus Post - What's Been Going On Lately?

Above is the song that I linked to in the New Little King's Story post I made earlier, or rather, finished earlier, which was originally going to be used in a post the previous night where I just grumbled loudly about bullshit I didn't/don't want to get into and not actually talk about -anything-.  As noted in said NLKS post (which was supposed to go up last night, meaning the rage post was from the night before last) I hit save instead of publish and then closed the tab because I was, well, pissed.  So last night, I went "Oh, that was silly, but no sense in fixing my mistake and posting it since it's got no content and is just anger" and instead started the NLKS post which explained the lack of post from the night before.  While I was writing that, as I noted on my Twitter, there was a little friend drama occurring that I got dragged into.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but when two of your friends are having a -large- fight, and you end up on the blamed end because you didn't stick up for either of them (because they were both wrong), well, it kind of hampers morale.  So, what does all this mean, exactly?

It means that it just hasn't been a good week.

Rather, August just wasn't a good month in general.  I was on-and-off with allergies, and while my mood was mostly stable, my inspiration and my actual -ability- to write sort of fluctuated which I'm sure is residual from my moping around and such from The Great Mogs Funk of 2013.  Of course, at the end of the month here, I started working again and my current work will go on until at least the 20th of this month, if not til the -end- of September.  It's not easy work.  It's manual labor work, it's intensive, and it's something that requires proper timing and precision over several hours.  It's tiring, is my point, and going from not really working to being ridiculously busy is not an easy transition to make in ideal circumstances and I am clearly not in ideal circumstances by any flip of the coin.  So it's just a lot of stuff all at once as it usually happens and it just gets in the way and is annoying.

What -hasn't- helped things is that my pool of topics to talk about of a night has shrunk considerably for the bulk of summer, and I think that has shown itself at several points.  As I've stated before, during the summer it's simply -too hot- to play my PS3 for extended periods of time because it'll just erupt into flames and drag $170 out of my wallet for a replacement for a unit that I don't even want anymore.  I have an old 80 gig with backwards compatibility and not to sound like a jackass, but I don't even want that.  I don't use it because what if my PS3 seizes up and dies while I'm playing like, Shadow Hearts:  Covenant?  Drakengard?  Those aren't easy games to get anymore and yes, while you're -supposed- to get your disc back when you get the replacement unit, who knows if there's edge cases where they go "Oh, sorry, it was lost/destroyed" and who knows what happens in that case?  It's simply easier to just -not- deal with that nonsense.

That's why the goal has shifted as such.  I believe I mentioned it in the past, but I was giving serious consideration into the 500 GB GTA V Bundle at GameStop, and when I went there this past week to pick up Killer is Dead, I did it.  I put down $50 of the whole purchase and I feel good about it.  The Super Slim is a device that I actually like the looks of, it's small, it runs cool, it doesn't draw a lot of power, and if it breaks, I can open it and get my disc.  But, of course, it's not going to break - I'm confident that, like Microsoft with the latest and greatest models of the 360, they've figured out that over-heating thing something fierce and it only happens in the edgest of edge cases now - like Store Demos and the like.  So for $270 ($220, technically since the 50 is already down) I'm getting a PS3 that would otherwise cost $300 in a different bundle with Grand Theft Auto V, something I was already going to pay $60 additionally for, and another Dualshock 3 so I can have proper couch-multiplayer if I so desire and have someone else around.  Or if I just want to switch controllers.  It seemed like a no-brainer, especially because the cool system and the 500 gigs of on-board storage means I'll...actually look into downloading PS3 games I've gotten from Plus, which is a bevy of opportunity on its own merits alone.

So what's been going on lately is a lot of change.  Which means a lot of stress which means a lot of wasted time which means that I don't get a lot of work done.  Obviously, I apologize for that and it's a silly thing overall, but, well, y'gotta have pride in whatever you do, and I certainly do here.  I'm pretty certain that people read this blog nightly, judging by the view counts, and I imagine you people are the few and the proud, as it were, so you deserve a little transparency when I can offer it.  And that's what it is.  The next few weeks are going to still be rough, but when Grand Theft Auto V comes out, I'll have not only the game, but a new PS3 that I can use and abuse wholly for entertainment purposes on an unprecedented level which will allow me to get through my backlog and allow me to provide some more content for you guys where it might otherwise be absent or lacking.  It's not too far off.

As always, thanks for reading, folks.

as if I needed another reason to be excited for GTAV, I mean have you even seen that game

Forza 5 Shipping as an Unfinished Game

Note the title of this post.  Now note the title of the Joystiq post I'm sourcing primarily: "Forza 5 has a mandatory day one download".  Now note the title of the IGN post they sourced from: "Forza Motorsport 5 Requires One-Time Internet Connection".  Hell, look at the title of Eurogamer's post about the topic: "Forza 5 mandatory day one download adds Drivatars for offline play".  Now marvel in wonder in disappointment when friggin' Kotaku of all places manages to title a post the correct way to deliver the message from this Forza 5 news: "Forza 5 Isn't All On The Disc".

It's hard to make it really clear what I'm talking about without giving you the source material, so let's do that.

“So when you first boot up the game, we’re going to ask you to log in,” he explained. “And when you log in you’re going to get the Drivatars and you’re also going to get a whole bunch of content: tracks and cars. Our production schedule is such that we are putting them in as late as possible and that means making them free as downloadable content on Day One.

“[But] that is required content to play the game. We basically have designed the game to work with all that content no matter how late is coming in, in order to make the biggest game possible.”

After that, Greenawalt said, Forza 5 is like your refrigerator. “You have to fill it up with food the first time,” he explained. “And from then on, you connect whenever you want when you want to update your food. The Drivatars are as fresh as they are. It’s not like they’re going to degrade, but when you’re looking for new stuff – fresh stuff…it’s going to keep evolving. That’s the nature of this Drivatar system.”

“You do have to connect the game in order to get the latest Drivatars, because we need as many people training them as possible. And so rather than having just a launch-day set that was created by us, every day that people race is going to make the Drivatar set that much more accurate, that much more diverse, that much more interesting.

“All of the cloud and online features make the game far, far better,” Greenawalt summed up. “In fact I’d even say revolutionary. The things we’re doing with opponents and Drivatar are not something that anyone can envision unless you’ve played it. But we’re trying to get as much of that into the unconnected, offline mode as well.

“We’re not making a launch game. We’re making Forza 5, at launch.”

I cut out as much of the editorializing and whatnot as I could to simply give you the quotes from the post, since I provided the links anyway, and that should allow you to read the rest if you so desire.  But, I mean, the whole point of this post -is- to give you the whole picture on the issue, of course, so it may not be necessary.  Also, note the spin in place that has spurned a lot of misinformation about just what's going on here.  It's quite well done, of course, but it's annoying in how well it's seemed to work, given the comments from those particular sites from people asking for clarification and people touting misinformation with a "This is not news" tagline.  There are also people simply misinterpreting the news pretty clearly to push their own agenda, with the overall response pointing to this not being something to be outraged about despite all the obvious merits of it.  So I'm going to make it easy.

If you throw down $60 (or however much) on Forza 5 inside the confines of a store, walk out with a case that holds a disc of the game, go home, put that disc in the XBone and you cannot, for whatever reason, download the Day-One Download?  You cannot play the game.  The reason for this is that the full game is not printed on the disc.  It is that simple, and it's definitely a first.  A bad first at that.

How is this possible?  Well, it's explained quite clearly in the above if you read it correctly.  When the discs are going to start being printed, Forza 5 will not be a complete, finished game.  So they're printing what's going to be done of it and then working on it up until the days prior to the game launch, (hopefully) submitting it to QA and then letting the rest of the game go up on XBox Live for you to download on Day One.  The same day when, you know, a million other people are going to be downloading that data and the XBone's mandatory day one firmware update.  This is not a recipe for disaster on its face or anything, not to mention the undercurrent of it.  Regardless, it's something that needs stating and I cannot stress this enough:  THIS IS NOT A PATCH.  THIS IS NOT AN UPDATE.  It's astounding that that one point is not clear, because I'm sure if it was a little more clear, people wouldn't be so understanding of it.

Or maybe they would be, I don't know.  People arguing for this are basically throwing every point that we rallied against the XBone for to make this acceptable and the disparity between people arguing for and against it is much, much closer than it was for the XBone's policies.  "If you're buying the XBone, you have to have internet for the day one firmware anyway, so this isn't a big deal." "People barely play Forza offline anyway." "If you're complaining about this, you're using the internet, so you have no room to complain." and the old-standby "If you can't afford the internet, you shouldn't be buying a $500 entertainment machine." are all thrown around, I assume unironically, and it just makes my head hurt because I start questioning whether or not I'm being unreasonable.

I'm not.  If you're selling a game on a disc, the game should be on the disc.  Full Stop.

It doesn't matter if the "Drivatars" basically requires the internet to fulfill their promises and were what Forza 5 was seemingly built around because Forza 5 still claims to have an off-line singleplayer portion to it.  It doesn't matter that they're "using every bit of time up to launch to make it the biggest game it could be".  It doesn't even matter if the download isn't going to be all that big (though it's certainly going to be).  Doing this kind of thing is bullshit, and defending it on any level basically tells everyone that you're in the "Fuck you, got mines" camp which is truly not the place you want to be.  You're willfully ignoring that a Disc is supposed to -be- the game, not merely a pass to play it as the original XBone would have made it.

So, sorry all you people wondering why this is news.  It's because it is news, no matter how much you want to plug your ears and go "La La La" until it passes.  If it's an isolated incident, then that's just a blip on the radar, but if it starts a trend of "Fuck worrying about finishing the game on time" rather than responsibly delaying a game you can't finish, then that's going to be no better than what we were expecting with the original XBone, if not worse.  All it takes is one company trying to mimic this and then not managing to actually finish the game before the release date because....well, it's a gamble.  You're betting you'll be done with a goodly bit of time left for QA and some companies out there simply aren't good with time management.  Hence the myriad of delays you see games get almost every day.  Hopefully, this'll be the last time we hear of news like this.

I get that more people are going to buy an XBone now that it's not completely abhorrent, but you don't have to blindly defend it from actual criticism

Okay, I'm Suddenly Hyped for Grand Theft Auto V

I'm not going to say that before tonight I wasn't looking forward to Grand Theft Auto V, but I can say with certainty that before tonight, I was not exactly excited for the game.  That has been remedied with the latest video straight from Rockstar, showing some gameplay of the game while also explaining many of its new features and the like.  In all honesty, I only saw it because of Chance's post that included it, so credit where it's due, but I'm very glad that I decided to watch it after finding myself completely without something to write about tonight.  News doesn't like to happen when I'm content playing games that I've already brought up on this blog and talked about at length, it seems, which is something of a problem, but that's neither here nor there, because this is just all about GTA V.

It's hard to even pick where to start because it's all just...so good.  It's all just visual confirmation of things we've already known about the game for some time, but that confirmation and seeing it in gameplay (relax, Rockstar, looking at the video, we don't have any doubt that it was made using in-game footage) is just...better than it was on paper, really.  It's just something wholly different than reading that it's going to do this thing and it's going to be awesome even if you can see it in your head, versus actually seeing it and being able to really deem it awesome for yourself.  Though it's true - everything that I read about and felt a little skepticism about has been shown off in the video and put my fears more or less to rest about it, even if it sort of just worked out like I expected.

I guess I should start with the obvious before anything else, though.  The game certainly looks like a Grand Theft Auto game, which sort of seems to have its own....style, now.  They're flashy enough without trying for a photo-realistic look and shiny enough while still reminding you that it's a video game, and not a video game trying to look like real life.  That suits GTA quite well, I should say, especially with all the scandals it finds itself in - hard to say, but I imagine there'd be far more fuel on the fire if it looked as good as, say, The Last of Us.  But that would require some wizardry that Rockstar generally places elsewhere.  I'm not...sure where that is, because it's certainly not animations either, but that doesn't matter.  Maybe it's just in the amount of fun you can have not doing anything impactful, since good lord, GTA games offer quite an experience outside of missions that some other open-world games just can't.

Anyway, I can't think of a way to actually just....write about the game, so I'll just sort of list things off that make me giddy with glee:

• Character switching seems easy and quick, not to mention serving a purpose in the overall game
• The game world looks -huge-
• I'm not sure I'm going to -want- to drop in to a character running from a 5-star wanted level, but man....that you can is pretty cool
• Customization in both Cars and weapons is rather encouraging
• Lots of character clothing options is a plus for the crazy person in me who likes playing dress-up
• Diving could be cool.
• Hunting!  Seems to be the thing to add in games these days.
• Humor!  From characters!
• Is that a fucking weapon wheel?  Oh my god it was a weapon wheel
• So I've seen golfing, bike riding, swimming, tennis, parachuting...there isn't going to be a lack of things to do
• Please tell me destructible environments is a thing, don't tease me with that tow truck
• Customized approaches to missions?  Mmmmm
• Stock market?  Hmm.
• Yessss, property purchasing, please make them places we can go in and such (I think it's a given that you can, though)
• Grand Theft Online....looks like there's actually a bunch of people in it.  Interesting!

There's a -lot- in that five minute video and I urge you to watch it if you haven't already.  It sent me from 0 to 60 on the hype meter, and I'm certainly going to make sure I have a pre-order on it next time I'm in GameStop because of this.  I sure didn't see that coming.

I literally went "Eeeee!" the first time I saw the weapon wheel, thank god

I'm Looking Forward to 2013

So, now that we officially know the world isn't going to end in spectacular fashion at a time where many thought that it might and thus we're back to just wondering when it's going to happen, I think it's appropriate to look to the future.  You know, the future that is going to be there definitely for sure unless something happens that -nobody- expected, because I guess that is still a possibility or something.  Regardless, 2013 is going to be a thing, and from what we've seen already, what we know to expect from the year, it's going to be quite something to anticipate.  Here it is, only the end of 2013, and I already know of quite a few big games that will make 2013 a rather big year for everyone, which is saying something to be sure.  Not even just games that I am personally excited about, though there are those, but there are things that are just going to duke it out for GotY - that much is clear already.  If you think about it for a moment that right there in itself is fairly remarkable.

One such game of that caliber will assuredly be the above-pictured The Last of Us from everyone's favorite developers with the magic touch, Naughty Dog.  Boasting some of the best graphics that you'll ever see on a modern console and gameplay to match if the Uncharted games are any indication, TLoU is certainly going to be a ride unlike anything else the year might have to offer.  From what we've seen, it does seem to scratch the same itch that an Uncharted game might do (which is just as well, seeing as we likely won't see an Uncharted title in 2013 unless Bend Studios makes a Golden Abyss follow-up.....which I would adore) but it'll do much much more than that which is enough of a hook right there, personally.  That's no surprise, I'm sure, since you all know of my absolute love of Naughty Dog, but that adoration is well-earned and what I've seen from TLoU promises that my faith, my excitement, is in fact well-placed.

Something else rather tantalizing that the game adds to the mix is a focus on survival that hasn't been absolutely explained just yet, much like a multi-player aspect that is similarly vague.  Parts of me hope that this is, in fact, because they are going to share aspects - specifically that there might be a survival focus on one of the Multi-player modes because that could be really really fun and interesting.  Part of the survival bit is a little crafting system with which you can make some weapons and, presumably, medicine and other helpful things, not just destructive things.  From what I can tell, it's not the most advanced system, but neither does it need to be, and I'm sure it'll be robust enough to play a vital part in the game as a whole.  Really, there's just a lot to like here and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on my copy of the game.

Another game that is probably on top of most of the 2013 wish-lists or what have you that are out there is the recently explained Grand Theft Auto V.  Not only because of its pedigree which is quite extensive as we know, but because the scope of the game, as it has been detailed is huge and promises to really change what you might expect from a Grand Theft Auto game.  Whether or not they'll be hugely successful with the execution remains to be seen, as Grand Theft Auto IV was quite ambitious itself and, depending on who you ask, it didn't really live up to the expectations or the franchise in many many ways.  While it is hard to think of a game like Grand Theft Auto V possibly being something even resembling a disappointment, it certainly wouldn't be the first time, nor the most recent time, where a hugely-anticipated game turned out mediocre or otherwise disappointing.

With three different protagonists who all have been suggested to have their own 'lives' when you're not controlling one, the game is really breaking new ground in more ways than one.  It's also the biggest source of possible apprehension that I find with the title since I just have no idea how that's going to affect the overall game.  I believe sources indicated that the three would share assets (somehow) between them, so the reason to switch between them is really only to utilize their individual skill sets.  We don't know what those are just yet, but all three characters will be their own character fully and completely, thus giving you a reason to -want- to play as them, if only in theory.  I assume it will also affect other things, possibly contacts and the like, but the reason -is- there at least.

The part I worry about, however, is how three characters is going to affect the game overall.  The main reason that the three protagonists are like this is...well, actually it's to try and bait you further into the game, playing you against two of the other protagonists to urge you to find a 'favorite' of them to feel more of a connection with the game, ensuring you'll play it longer and more intently.  But the other reason is that three different characters have been created, have been developed and thought out by the teams and they want to make damn sure you play all three of them.  So to that end, I worry about how the story will be - will all three characters get their own 'story' told through a series of missions that end up coinciding at certain points?  Or is it just that you can play any mission as any character, but they're very clearly designed towards one character or another?  It's a hard balance that Rockstar has to draw with this set-up, and I can only hope that works well for them since GTAV has ever opportunity to be pretty fantastic.

Metal Gear Rising:  REVENGEANCE will allow me to cut all most of the things.

...

Yeah, that's it, really.  I mean, yes, there will be the special brand of Kojima crazy to it assuredly, as well as the Platinum crazy on top of that, and the game will be action-packed and wonderful, but I really, really just want to play with the Zan-datsu stuff.  And the rest of the game. 

But mostly the Zan-datsu stuff.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg here as there's all -sorts- of other things to be looking forward to in 2013.  DmC:  Devil May Cry, Ni no Kuni:  Wrath of the White Witch, Dead Space 3, Tearaway, Sly Cooper:  Thieves in Time, God of War:  Ascension, Killzone:  Mercenary, South Park:  The Stick of Truth and Watch Dogs among many, many other games are all slated for the year.  And that's just what we know about.  There's still plenty of time for things to get announced, finished and released before the end of next year, and at least a couple of those will likely be wonderful in their own right.

So while 2012 was a really fantastic year for gaming (if not much else for some of us), 2013 is shaping up to be quite a contender in its own right.  Just when you thought it was safe to bring your wallet out in the light again.

Grand Theft Auto V is Going to Be Huge

When I say that GTA V is going to be huge, understand that I'm not stating the obvious in that it's going to sell all sorts of copies and such.  What I'm saying is that the game is going to be huge if Rockstar isn't feeding us a line of bullshit which, of all the bits of information that've been put out by GameInformer, I think is the most interesting.  And there's a whole lot of information that's been put out there, most of which I'm using ComputerAndVideoGames to go off of today.  I mean, it's pretty much out there -everywhere- as even like friggin' Forbes is reporting it according to some googling, but CAVG seems to come up a lot or maybe I'm just imagining that, so I'm checking them out for a few things and might end up sourcing from them more often in the future depending.  Regardless, the rather long list of bullet points they've got about GTA V information is tantalizing and does quite a good job of selling it to me which I had previously thought was going to be a bit of a rough job.

The hugeness of the game lies in something that has been laid out flat as almost a challenge for us to anticipate in these months before the game will be available for purchase.  The actual map, the world of Los Santos, in GTA V will be 'bigger than San Andreas, GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption combined'.  That is a very, very tall statement, and I think that's aided by the fact that the ocean floor and mountain ranges will be fully explorable, meaning that every inch of territory within its borders (sans building interiors of course) is accessible through some means.  Not quite sure if that means you can scuba/deep-sea dive or if there's going to be submarines, but the ocean floor is 'fully detailed and can be explored' so take that for what you will.  As someone who thought San Andreas' map was huge, but completely underdeveloped, I am a little wary of course, because a map that takes you an actual hour to traverse one side to the other doesn't automatically make it good it there's nothing interesting in 80% of it because it's being big for the sake of it.

Still, 'scope' seems to be the name of the game here so I'm a little optimistic in assuming that it will be a fairly fleshed out map in its own right.  I say scope because not only is the map huge in scope, but so is the basic premise, the basic mechanic of the game, which is certainly a big departure for the series as a whole.  In GTA V, there will not be one protagonist, but three, all of whom are fully-realized and independent characters in their own right.  Michael, the character most figured was 'the' main character from the trailer, is a man in his 40s who is currently in the witness protection program after getting out of the business in the East Coast.  Now retired on the West Coast, he's stuck with a family that he hates (who hate him too) that is all too willing to spend all the money he made in his former life, leading him to need a new source of income and fast.  Easy come, easy go seems to be how he gets back into the game.

He's joined by the other two protagonists, Trevor and Franklin, who both have their own goals, motivations and backstories that are quite different.  Trevor is another man in his 40s, but where Michael exudes a confidence, perhaps even a bit of class, Trevor lacks that entirely.  He's grown up committing crimes and it's his main source of income.  Income which ends up funding vices - drinking and drugs, mostly - making him the 'seedy' member of the team, as well as the one that's the biggest liability.  Unlike those two, however, Franklin is a 20-something street hustler who's looking to move up into the big leagues.  I'm not quite sure myself just how these three get together to start up a little 'crew' as it were, but as the main characters, you can control any of them at just about any time through means of a quick-swap.  On missions where all three members have a separate job, you can hop into the role of any one of them (and switch part-way through if you so desire) to carry out their task, be it sniper, driver, air support or anything else under the sun.

Not only that, but apparently when you are not controlling two of the characters, they are off doing their own thing, and it is possible that, should you switch to them, you will find them directly in the middle of something, though what that is is unclear.  Doubtful that they take on 'missions', even side ones, on their own volition, but perhaps beating up pedestrians if you jump into the shoes of Trevor or hitting up some hot spots as Franklin.  Regardless of whatever they're into, you take control as soon as they come up from the Google Earth-style swap menu, so they do whatever you desire then on, but it's still interesting to consider leaving Trevor outside of an upscale neighborhood and taking control of him again to find that he's in a dumpy area of town scoring crack money or something of that sort.  Maybe even hopping into Michael's character as he's playing a round of golf to calm the nerves.  The possibilities are astounding, though I'm sure in practice they will be a lot less mind-blowing.

Ambition is the clear name of the game here, and even though it initially will not please everyone for the exact reasons we feared, if it succeeds in half the things it attempts, it'll be successful and quite so at that.  Not being able to buy property (which is slightly understandable, given the three different characters with three different lives thing) is a small price to pay for something a little different and a little more organic in the game, if just to see how it ends up playing out.  And so long as everyone's buddies aren't hitting you up every ten minutes or so to go shoot pool or look at 'giant american titties', I think we'll be juuuust fine.  After all, this stuff, this is all just the tip of the iceberg.  I'm honestly far more invested in the game than I thought I would be on concept alone, as, hey, I have dug multiple-protagonist games in the past and, done right, I'm sure this will offer something quite interesting with that type of scenario.  Even if the melee system isn't going to be focused on and just 'improved' some.  Because I'll always have Sleeping Dogs for that.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Coming Spring 2013

With every genre out there, there's generally one game or series that can more or less encapsulate what we all consider that genre to 'be' or at least used to be in some cases.  Basically the stand-out series that has steeped itself in the tenets of what that genre -is-, that we tend to associate it with the genre and vice-versa.  For First-Person Shooters it's (currently) Call of Duty (formerly Halo, formerly Doom, etc. etc.), for Role-Playing Games it's somewhat still Final Fantasy though pretty much by default, and for the Sandbox Game Genre, it's basically Grand Theft Auto.  There's competition, surely, but Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas basically cemented its place as the fore-runner of the genre with nothing else really coming along to seriously challenge the throne.  Saint's Row has come perilously close, thanks to its insistence on sticking to out-of-the-box shenanigans and parodies where Grand Theft Auto 4 strayed off course, earning it some ire, but it never quite made it, and it's hard to say that it -will-, with 3 being a mixed bag and no 4 in sight.

Being the fore-runner of the genre means that whenever a new installment is heading out to the masses, it's kind of a big deal because folks get excited for that thing.  I might count myself among those excited for the announcement of a release window for GTAV, but I'm not quite sure just yet, based on how IV did end up.  The funny thing is that I like IV, and I even have a few stories from it (one from the Multi-Player portion of the game if you can believe that) but it's not a game that can hold your heart or your vigor for long, especially when others come along that do what it does and better.  And it's because of those games that I just have to wonder how V is going to compare, as it's not a matter of simply being uncontested in everything it does.  It's going to come up short in some areas when based against other Sandbox games, simply because it cannot do everything, and it's mostly a matter of how forgivable those short-comings will be.  It'll likely be a matter of how well it does what it does well, really, and that's just something we'll have to see.

As for myself, and this comes as no shocker I'm sure, I'm sure I'll end up basing GTAV against Sleeping Dogs, because I really really like Sleeping Dogs, and it certainly has some interesting takes on the 'formula' that GTA games tend to follow as a basic principle, as well as unquestionably being leaps and bounds above it in quality for some areas.  The melee combat for sure, and I'd argue that it simply covers all close combat things (meaning I'm counting melee weapons as well) better, where the actual gunplay is down to opinion.  (I prefer SD, of course for the slow-mo, but I'm willing to step back and say it's not perfect since it's not a 'focus' as it were)  I'd even venture to say that some of the things it does with driving, namely the action hi-jacks and the ramming are miles ahead of anything GTA IV or even previous games in the series, could hope to meet, and it's not something I look for V to implement.

Depending on what your opinion of IV was, V either has a little or a lot of room for improvement, and I certainly cannot see a future in which people lament that "X was better in IV", so all that remains to be seen is just how -much- of a leap in quality V is over IV.  Going back to the familiar haunt of Southern California (though not necessarily to San Andreas, Los Venturas or San Fierro) is a start in the right direction, but a tricky one as well, as that means it's going to get a lot of allusions drawn to GTA:  San Andreas, which some consider to be the best game in the series.  If you don't manage to fit in that amount of stuff that SA had, you're gonna get complaints probably even moreso than IV which is a troubling thought for sure, and based on IV's rather sparse (in comparison) landscape of things, that's going to be a challenge.  Buying property's basically a sticking point if you ask -any- GTA fan, so I would certainly hope that Rockstar is smart enough to include that, and in a way that's satisfying.  It'll need an overall economic re-shift for the mechanics, of course, since you're likely going to be making money off these properties, thus you'll need things to buy with said money and in consideration of how much you're likely going to get around a certain point in the game, but that's for forward-thinkers and balancers to worry about; just get it in the game and we'll be happy.

That's honestly really all I'm expecting out of GTAV in all honesty.  I know it's going to be a cinematic game, bordering on 'experience', and I'm sure Rockstar is planning on sneaking a little more parody into this one than the last, but other than that, it's really kind of a blank slate.  And that, more than anything, I think, is really exciting, since we've seen what they can do with the tools they have.  To see what returns from IV, what -doesn't- return from IV like the man-dates and to see what just comes in 'new' (like property ownership, and if I'm wishing, then customization) and to see what level of polish it all has is what's going to really have me looking forward to it, more than anything else.  Say what you will about the mechanics of any game they release - the recent ones generally have a level of polish on them that a lot of other studios really can't afford to have, and that goes quite a long way on its own.

First Information on Yakuza 5

So, you might know that I kinda sorta like the Yakuza series, so when any information comes out for games in the series, I generally, you know, just take them in stride and certainly don't jump on them with teeth gnashing as a rabid dog with a meal before him.  Certainly not.  Silliness aside, you know that I'm kidding and that as soon as I saw that there were tidbits of Yakuza 5 info out there, I knew what I was writing about tonight and there's no way to mince words about it.  This is, to be frank, my turf, so let's just get what's known covered so I can go on being relentlessly excited for it, yes?  In all reality, there's not a whole lot to talk about, but there's enough that I can extrapolate pretty well on it, being a long-time fan and enthusiast of the series that I am.  Also being totally long-winded.

So first off, which is probably the biggest thing about the game is that Five is definitely the theme of the game, much as Four was for Yakuza 4.  Yakuza 5 will be starring Five Main Characters, and the story will take place through five different areas: The regular Kamurocho of Tokyo, as well as Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Hokkaido.  I'm gonna be honest here and say that I'm not -exactly- sure which of those locations have been in previous Yakuza games, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that only Osaka is a place the series has strayed before (in Yakuza 2) meaning that three of the locations will be all new.  Suspiciously absent is Okinawa, where the Sunshine Orphanage that Kazuma runs is located, but given his new job, I'm sure that will get explained somehow.  At least, I kind of hope it will be, since that would be a rather big hole in things.

As I said above, there will be Five Main Characters in Yakuza 5, which will include returning favorites Shun Akiyama (Three games strong, woo!), Taiga Saejima and, obviously, Kazuma Kiryu.  Joining them will be yet another new face in Tatsuo Shinada, an ex-baseball pro and possible gambling addict who is getting chased down by debt collectors as well as...uhh...Haruka.  As in, "I was 9 or 10 years old in the first game" Haruka, all grown up (16 or 18 now, it's kind of hard to pin down just how old she was in previous games, mostly because it's -incredibly creepy- to try and find out) and in Osaka to be a Pop Star.  Because the last time she was in Osaka went just ever so well, of course.  Being a playable character is confirmed, but as to what role she will actually play in the game (as in, can she fight?) is unknown at this point.  I would hope that being with the Dragon of Kamurocho for seven years would lead to knowing how to protect herself, as she certainly has the will for it, but we'll just have to see.

Kazuma has, in the time between the end of Yakuza 4 and the start of Yakuza 5 (which I imagine will be just over two years, since Yakuza 4 came out in 2010 in Japan and 5 is slated for December of this year) become a Taxi Driver in Fukuoka in one of the most random job switches I've ever seen.  And this is the same guy who went from "Yakuza" to "Orphanage Owner".  With just a cursory googling, I have discovered that Fukuoka (as well as the rest of the locations used for 5) do have some pretty high-up mentions regarding Yakuza activity, so to expect Kazuma to stay out of the biz for a while is a fairly foolhardy endeavor.  Similarly, the other returning characters are more or less doing just what they do - Akiyama is heading to Osaka, likely on a whim or for business (though what a Loan Shark would do in a location other than his HQ is beyond me) and Saejima Taiga is back in prison for some reason.  (Likely for being head of a Yakuza family or, even more likely, being framed for something.)

If you can't tell, this will be the most ambitious Yakuza title to date, even more so than the giant Genre-Swap that was Dead Souls/Of The End, mostly because they've taken an extra year to work on development, rather than sticking to a yearly release.  (Which, to be fair, we all rag on other companies for doing yearly releases, so maybe we really shouldn't, since Yakuza is a series that shows quality can happen in a year)  On top of doing up five entirely different areas (well, four, Kamurocho is likely just going to be touched up), they've been handling a lot of tweaks here and there as well as overhauling (or outright replacing) the game engine to ensure that transitions between Battle and Adventure modes is seamless.  In previous games, there was always a little bit of loading as the enemies were introduced which felt fairly natural, but was obviously a loading screen of sorts.  I imagine by making it seamless, they also intend on making the battle mode more dynamic; perhaps by including people running through the crowd or, when the fight is on the streets, having cars, er, -not- stop and/or disappear from the road completely.

What -I- worry about here is not the game itself, but rather the burning question of:  Will I get to play the goddamn thing?  While other games have had a hurdle regarding a physical release when it comes to only having Japanese audio, the Yakuza series has never had that issue.  However, after Sega's restructuring, Read: Gutting, of Sega of America and Sega of Europe, I just have to wonder A) if there's enough people left to localize the damn thing and B) If there is, do I have any hope of getting the damn game on a disk?  Sega has, after all, mentioned a 'Digital Future' for all but their four or five main franchises, of which Yakuza is not listed as one.  On the other hand, I would almost suggest that any Yakuza game, especially 5, given the above list of reasons why it's a very expansive, ambitious project, would simply be too big, file-size-wise to actually be realistically considered as a DD-only title.  But on the other, other hand, this is Sega, who seems to thrive on finding new and exciting ways to shoot themselves in the foot.  It'll be a while before we hear word of it all, however, since it won't even be releasing in Japan until the end of this year, and I certainly expect the usual year-long localization, but here's hoping for positive word.

Metal Gear?! 5?!

Metal Gear Rising might not be the only game in production at the moment with the words "Metal Gear" in the title, as the upcoming Official Playstation Magazine - UK reveals, though not on the cover in small font which makes me a bit fussed.  You'd think "Metal Gear Solid 5" would be a big enough deal to actually print on the cover in big giant letters, but what do I know apparently.  There's really not a whole lot of information beyond the fact that it exists, unfortunately.  Hideo Kojima, unsurprisingly, will have a big hand in the title despite previous claims that he would like to step away from the series (similar claims being made between 2 and 3 and 3 and 4 I believe), though I imagine he's going to ween himself away from it so he can work on his other projects that he's excited about; specifically "Project Ogre" which is mentioned vaguely with nothing beyond that.

If I had to guess, I'd say that "Project Ogre", whatever it is, is his first FOX Engine game made primarily for PS3 and Vita, though what it'll entail or revolve around is probably more up in the air than anything else could be.  If anything's clear about anything, it's that Kojima will make what he wants which is something to be commended, yet also means that it's impossible to really predict.  Between Metal Gear Solid, Policenauts, Snatcher, Boktai and his work with Castlevania:  Lords of Shadow, it's clear that he's got a -lot- of range, so you can't even narrow down the possibilities.  Whatever it is, it'll be distinctly Kojima and that's about all you can say for it beforehand.

As far as what Metal Gear Solid 5 is going to be, well.....that too is also as up in the air as anything could be.  I was under the impression (as I figure many others were as well) that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the end of Solid Snake's story, which despite Peace Walker originally being branded as Metal Gear Solid 5, still makes sense.  As such with what's said about 4, I was also under the impression that Metal Gear Rising would be the Raiden answer to MGS, so a "Metal Gear 5" wasn't entirely necessary.  Thus with those two characters both (theoretically) tied up, does this mean another run for Big Boss?  There's still a lot of ground that can be covered with him, but I'm not really sure if I want another Big Boss game.  I mean, yes, I do, but I just feel like his explained story is good enough.

It's kind of another God of War 4 situation in that there's really no reason to continue the branding with any of the existing characters, yet to make a new character would undermine the reason for making it another notch in the continuity.  I just don't see a reason for Metal Gear Solid 5 in that I want another Metal Gear Solid game, but I don't want it called Metal Gear Solid.  Rising is fine enough, it's its own entity and has its place in continuity but you know that it's going to be an entirely different game.  As I imagine MGS5 just might be unless they (unfortunately) find a way to shoehorn another adventure of Solid Snake or Big Boss into the timeline which, I only say unfortunately because I imagine doing so will do more harm than good.

It's kind of like the difference between what I want and what I know what's 'responsible' and I want more Solid Snake and Big Boss, but I know it's not likely a good idea for more.  I think that's the point that I'm trying to make here and I mean, at the end of the day it's all just games so it's not like it's going to 'undermine' anything, including itself, by hashing out.  The most likely scenario for Metal Gear Solid 5 that I can see (without a new main character) is that it takes place as Big Boss right after Peace Walker and has the player setting up Outer Heaven proper which would probably rock out loud.  Even moreso if they go the extra mile and re-imagine Metal Gear 1, placing you into the boots of Solid Snake for the 'second act' as it were.  It would be awesome but wholly unnecessary narrative-wise since it just sets up a 'second beginning' for a character that was closed up fairly well enough.

But I would buy twelve copies is what I'm getting at, here.

Update!:  So, I guess this is all kind of unconfirmed as Joystiq had another article about this that suggests they did not, in fact, read the magazine that had the bold declaration on the cover before reporting on it.  Which is just fantastic, of course.  But basically, it states that Kojima says "We'll -probably- have to make MGS5 sometime" and that if/when that time comes, he would like to be involved, but not at the helm.  As he's said a few times now.  So, there's that, I guess.  GJ Joystiq.

Grand Theft Auto 5 - Now With Official Trailer

I've said it before and I'll likely say it again, but I do so hate to post about the exact same thing that Chance does at any given moment but, as he's said, as we've agreed on and such, hey, sometimes that just happens.  Especially when it's something as big as Grand Theft Auto V being announced and then having a trailer release.  I don't want to go on about it too much without showing it off, so here it is before I get all verbose about it while not letting you know just what in the hell I'm talking about.

So, as suggested by the rumors floating around not so long after GTAV was officially announced, the game seems to take place in Los Santos as San Andreas before it did.  All the little subtleties were there, and then, well, the giant Vinewood (Hollywood equivalent) letters on the side of the hill was the slap of obvious we all, I guess, needed for an assured thing.  Let it be known that, if nothing else, Rockstar knows how to make a damn fine trailer as that was so goddamn well done that I watched it a few times already.  I think what I like the most is just how they seem to really get their voice actors into it as the person speaking did a damn fine job of delivering his lines.

Of course, that could be the first 'trapping' of the trailer.  Not that I'm suggesting anything malicious, just that, if you remember the -other- half of the rumors that were and are still out there, you'll remember that it suggests multiple main characters.  A single voice-over from some guy, nice as it is, isn't necessarily confirmation one way or another of that, especially when he's not even shown.  For all we know, he could be a main player in the story, but not necessarily a player controlled character.  I wouldn't mind so much if he was, though; has a decent enough backstory that would give proper motivation either way (so long as it's not another Niko in that "I tried to make a good life for myself, but then one day I went and got in a car and ran over 54 people before the car caught on fire, and I drove it into a Showroom before running away from the ensuing explosion" way.  Not that I care so much, but as I said in my initial post about GTAV:  The less possible factors for bitching, the better.)

If I had to guess (I don't) and/or if I really wanted to rip the trailer apart for clues (I kind of do), I would suggest that the guy featured at 0:40 could very well be (one of) our main character(s).  He certainly looks old, hardened and able enough to fit the back-story narrated out and I'm pretty sure the guy at 0:45 could very well be the same guy participating in what appears to be a medium-to-large-scale robbery; certainly not a first nor a last for the series.  I could very well be wrong on this (I think we all know how good I am at predicting things after all), but it looks plausible enough to me.  Mind, this is all just from watching the video a couple times; I could be completely oblivious to some big piece of news out there already.  We'll find out one way or another at some point in the (hopefully near) future, of course.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Officially Announced

Let's all put on our best surprised faces.  Really, I'll wait.  No, I'm kidding, I'm not going to wait, because this isn't a surprise at all.  Timing-wise, perhaps a bit, but we all knew GTA V was going to be a thing eventually and it more or less was just up to Rockstar on when to begin the hype engine.  And now it has begun and I'm sure we're all awaiting with at least the slightest bit of optimism, no matter what your opinion on Grand Theft Auto IV was.  Personally, I squeezed a lot of enjoyment out of it, playing through the story twice (once right after launch, the next post trophy-patch to, well, get the trophies) and while I understood the criticisms, they personally didn't hold a lot of weight with me personally, so I, obviously, can't fault the game them.

Of course, I did end up, as most people did, feeling that there was at least a little lacking from the game on a fundamental level, which didn't improve with The Lost and Damned at least.  (If you'll remember, The Ballad of Gay Tony has been tossed onto my ever-growing "To Play" pile where it will languish for a while, I'm sure.)  Not having played Red Dead Redemption or L.A. Noire (only included because I'm not sure how big a role Rockstar played in sending the game out) I can't be confident one way or another that they've learned their lesson or not, so I can only hope that, come release of GTAV, that lacking feeling has been dealt with.  The few details that have been tossed around as 'rumors' are fairly inspiring, however.

Apparently, the game is set to take place in Los Santos, the Rockstar version of Los Angeles, previously seen in Grand Theft Auto:  San Andreas.  This is a pretty ballsy move on Rockstar's part, as setting this game, directly after the eventual mixed reception of IV, in roughly the same area as the 'best' GTA game will draw a lot of parallels, and a lot of them are going to be very, very direct and near-unforgiving.  I'm hoping this is a calculated risk, rather than, er...for lack of better term, arrogance on Rockstar's part as this game is going to be released under the gun, and I think we all would like to see as few reasons for everyone to latch onto and complain about as possible.  Since, well, I think we would all like an 'undeniably good' GTA game again, much like, well, every non-GTA IV game, apparently.

Obviously, the architecture of Los Santos is going to be very different, as was Liberty City before it, which will likely be for the better.  Should they decide to go with as big a map as San Andreas had, I would personally hope that a lot of the rolling wastelands would be less, er....empty and generally useless to explore, aside from looking for Sasquatch who was always faked.  Granted, there was a -lot- out in the deserts, but then again, there was always more desert that was nowhere near as interesting or useful.  Perhaps in Multi-player such an area would be more desirable, I'll concede and it's obvious that GTAV is going to have Multi-player, so I guess we'll just see.  Whatever we end up with for the map will likely not match any preconceived notions we have about it so arguing what would be good/bad for it is a bit moot at this point.

Also mentioned in the article linked above, is the possibility of multiple main characters in GTAV.  Whether this means in a style mimicking...er....another Rockstar game (Yes, I know it happens, yes, I'm angry it was spoiled for me) or something more like....well, Yakuza 4 (run through each story, eventually able to switch them out), or a self-contained layout like GTA IV and its DLC packs, it should actually be a fairly refreshing change of pace for the series.  This isn't even considering -who- the main character(s) will be, merely musing on how they'll be introduced/utilized.  While there's no actual news beyond "Hey, we're just announcing this game, trailer on November 2nd", there's certainly a lot to think about for the simple fact that Grand Theft Auto V is happening.

Remember what I said about the hype engine?  Wasn't kidding.