Riviera: The Promised Land Impressions

So as I previously lamented, there is an Atlus sale going on at the moment (Set to go til the end of the month, I believe, so there's still time to jump on it) and suggested that I was going to go on a buying spree.  And I did.  Oh lord, how I went on a buying spree for games that I don't need with money I don't have, but I don't really regret it at all since I have quite the respectable PSP library (digital-wise) in the makings.  Seeing as I don't anticipate PSP support, in digital form at least, is going to drop off the face of the Earth anytime soon, it's an investment into the future clearly, not not something that is incredibly irresponsible whatsoever.  I mean, come on, they're Atlus games.  Well, Atlus-published, at least, since I'm learning the difference between a game that comes -from- Atlus, as compared to a game that Atlus published rather quickly.  The lesson learned, of course, is in quality and while it's not so much that the games are bad, it's just that they're not really on the same level as what I've been exposed to, in terms of Persona and such, which was something I had not quite separated in my mind.

In today's post I'm going to talk about is the above-pictured Riviera:  The Promised Land.  Developed by Sting initially for the GameBoy Advance, Riviera is...quite a unique little RPG, to say the least.  Not quite to the point where it's, ahem, 'too' unique, I would say, but it does skirt that line a little bit.  I will say that the game was clearly designed to be a portable game, at the very least, since you cannot go too far before tripping over the next save point which helps, but also does sort of negate any sort of challenge the game might pose.  Not that it -does- pose much of a challenge, but I could certainly think of an instance where it -would- which...doesn't help matters.  Because it's less "challenge" in my head and more "you done fucked up" thanks to the way the actual game mechanics work.  Which is a crazy, zany story to tell to be sure, since there are some mechanics here that you might know already, but probably haven't encountered them like this.

I guess the place to start is the somewhat defining aspect of the game.  You see, in Riviera, you don't 'level up' per se, but rather 'Skill up' which confers onto you all the bonuses of leveling up (i.e. stat gains) as well as a skill.  You know systems in which you have to equip an item for a while before you learn a skill off of it?  Well, think of that, but more that it simply counts how many times you use the item.  Some just require two or three uses, some require as many as ten before giving you the skill.  Of course, the issue that crops up with that is that items only have a certain amount of uses before they shatter into nothingness, disappearing from your inventory.  And I haven't encountered a 'store' or anything of that sort where I can re-acquire any weapons or such that I might have lost in this manner, so it encourages you to use your items wisely which is a nice sentiment of course, but it doesn't really feel like there's any safety net, so to speak.  Well, there is -one- weapon you get that has infinite uses but it doesn't really -count-.  Because nobody learns a skill off of that except sometimes one of the characters does but I don't know, okay.

So how are you supposed to learn the skills without utterly breaking an object in the process of simply doing so?  Well, quite simply, actually.  To compensate for this style of stat-increasing, the game does offer you a mode in which you can use weapons and items without expending their charges.  It's simply called "Practice" in which you just train against monsters that apparently wander along (of which you can pick, taking the randomness out of it) and for some reason, nothing actually gets 'used', so infinite potions, infinite sword strikes, etc.  Using items and weapons in this mode does not preclude you from learning the skills and is, in fact, the suggested method of acquiring them, so you can actually use the weapon/item 'charges' to make good use of the skills they confer.  One per item, and not everybody gains a skill from every item.  Things are simply tailored to each character.  For instance, one of the characters, Lina, seems to get skills off of clothing items, ribbons, cape, etc. whereas nobody else really does.  Similarly, she doesn't really get skills off of swords (both broad and rapier), where the main character and another character, Fia, do.  I really can't explain it much better than that, so I hope it makes sense.

I find that it unfortunately causes you to either over-value an item or under-value it, however, since I have a weapon in my inventory currently that I literally cannot bring myself to use because it's only good for one hit.  Nor can I throw it away because maybe it'll be useful.  It -won't- of course, since it isn't as if I could sell it, and you only have a very limited inventory space, so it's not doing me any favors by keeping it.  Conversely, I pick up and keep items that I simply have no use for (Clothing mostly, since you don't equip things so much as just get to pick four items before battle to use) since I can learn skills off of them.  And you never know when you're going to get a new party member.  Personally, I would hate to have tossed that one-use weapon before I got the fourth member of my party because surprise she could learn a skill off of it.  Being that skill ups are the only way to raise stats, they are, by that measure, fairly important.  So as I might've implied, it sort of breeds a little distrust for the entire system, considering shit breaks and you never know when you'll get another.  (So far, I've only found basic weapons in chests.  And they're randomized.)

The rest of the gameplay is similarly mixed as a bag, since it incorporates quite a few different themes into one single game.  It's fairly Visual Novel-esque, despite the moving sprites and battles, since the 'world' is divided into cells that you move to and from with a mere command, rather than actually moving about and exploring.  In said areas, you can also make use of the "Look" function, in which certain things might be pointed out to you that you can investigate for the cost of a Trigger Point which are earned from battles.  (Non-practice ones)  Most actions in dungeons require a Trigger Point, making it essential for your prowess to be unmatched; God help you if you walk into a room with a chest and don't have a point to spend on opening it.  (Despite the very real possibility that it will be trapped.)  In the non-dungeon area, you can simply freely walk about and talk to people, which is nice, even if the bulk of them want something, most of which you can only give them if you succeeded a glorified QTE in the previous dungeon with only one try at it.

Something else decidedly visual novel-esque about the game is the fact that it's also partially a dating sim.  Yeah.  You read that.  That is a thing you read.  The game is partially a dating sim.  But not....really in the obvious sense of it, from the experience I've put into the game.  More like sometimes you pick something and one of the girls you're traveling with likes you a little more because of it.  Supposedly, the level of love a girl feels for you by the end of the game will influence the ending, as you might expect, and I suppose I'll see when I get there.  I just don't know exactly how I'm supposed to influence the stats very much aside from the obvious parts where you can agree with Lina or Fia.  Guess which one'll make which one happy!  Again, I'm supposing that I'm not entirely too far into the game, so I hope eventually it'll make it a little more apparent on how I can influence the game and, in essence, the ending.  Seems kind of a basic thing to have in this type of game, at least.

All in all, Riviera is a pretty decent game thus far.  It's definitely an RPG with its quirks and the voice-acting is....not....absolutely horrible.  The fairies, as they normally are, are definitely grating and terrible to listen to, but everyone else does a fairly decent job in their roles.  Not to mention, there's dual-audio for all of you 'dubs suck' folks.  I haven't jumped into it, because I generally leave dubs on when available, but I might switch them on for a session or two (the game asks you when it loads up, which you want, I assume it loads the game differently depending, since you can't switch mid-game) just to see how they compare.  Not that I can -tell- beyond "hey, that certainly sounds like japanese", but hey, it's all fun.  As for whether or not it's worth the $7.49 that's currently being asked for it?  I could certainly think of worse ways to spend the money.  But unless you're looking for an RPG that has a lot of quirks, perhaps too many even for most folks, then you might want to hold back.  I don't regret it, but then again, I rarely regret my purchasing decisions as is.

Second Look: Treasures of Montezuma Blitz

In this day and age, the days where patching a game after-the-fact has more or less become standard across all platforms, we normally only see minor tweaks here and there in that form.  Bug-fixes, tweaking a piece of code to improve performance, or simply introducing code for downloadable items.  Normal stuff like that.  It's rare that a patch actually does anything to improve a game in a real, tangible way, but when these instances crop up, they should be lauded and appreciated accordingly.  Especially when they take a game that wasn't much of one and injects a wholesale shot of fun into it.  And double especially when said update causes me to compulsively play a game I had previously stated something of a mild distaste for in the past because I find that I am actually enjoying it.  Somehow.  I say all of this because oh god, I'm sure you realize why I'm saying this by now.

Anyways, I don't know what it is, exactly, about the patch that has been introduced to Treasures of Montezuma Blitz that has made it so much fun, but let me assure you right off that it is, indeed, fun, despite being the same game in many ways.  Rounds are still a minute long (barring matching tokens that have time extenders on them), and it's still the same basic game, thought improvements on the XP system allow for growth on a ridiculous level.  (Note that I am Level 12 in the above screenshot, where the last time I was Level...0.  I honestly haven't played the game a lot)  The score system similarly seems to have been amped up as, once again if you refer to the first post about the game, I was impressed by a score of 36,800 points, where I have now gotten to the mid hundred thousands (446,200 here making me ranked first in my list for what will be a pathetically short amount of time because Radthanael and Aubvry will demolish that in short order) and while that's my 'bragging zone' (I believe I've managed 600k on one occasion) it's decidedly ridiculous how wide the gap has gotten.  Yes, I'm higher level and yes, I have perks now, but still.

Realistically speaking, for being the same game, it's practically an entire new one with the improvements that have been made, if you haven't gathered.  Where I criticized it initially for being too short, for taking too little of your time, I now find that, as default, the game almost refuses to let you go.  Free Lives are earned in ways that I can't even begin to comprehend, so the five you're normally given (provided you play every day, you get -bonus lives- if you skip a day) almost -always- amount to more than that which turns what could seem to be 5-7 minutes of gaming to, honest-to-god 20+ minutes.  That is, if you simply play until you're out of lives for the day, as I imagine everyone does.  Knowing that the gaming time is 'limited' drives me to enjoy, to wring every second possible out of it, and I've found, several times now, that I think "Oh god, how do I still have three lives left, I've played like five rounds!".  I said it and I mean it as such:  the game does not want to let you go.

If you've downloaded the game already (remember, it's free), then going back is certainly recommended.  Only if you have a lot of time to spend on it, of course.  As I've stated, not only will the game shower you with lives for all the days you've missed, but you'll earn about half of them as freebies in the course of play.  This is honestly the best method of understanding the game, really, since you almost don't have to worry about the fact that you can only play it for so long.  Chances are, that 'so long' might even be longer than you'd be willing to invest otherwise.  But if you can start and stop, then you have a stronger will than I, friend, or simply a distaste for matching jewel games.  For the price (of nothing), I certainly can't insist you exercise caution any longer:  get the game, if just for something to play when you have a few minutes here and there or when you're just sitting around, perhaps not really wanting to play anything else.  I don't rightly think that there's a way that you could honestly regret the decision to get it.

Have I mentioned that the game has trophies now, by the way?  Because it has trophies now.  I'm not sure just how it got away with releasing -without- trophies in the start, perhaps because of the fact that it is, indeed, free, but for whatever reason, it has them now.  It's a fairly short list (only one gold, no platinum) that will give you quite a bit of challenge if you decide you want to fill it out completely, so this isn't a game to grab to quickly inflate your trophy count, but they're there regardless.  And the game is fun, too.  I believe I stated that somewhere along the line, but I think I haven't stressed it enough.  So maybe I should just really lay it all on the line really simply.  The game is free and fun (now), so it's definitely worth a download and minutes of your time every day unless you just aren't a fan of the type of game.  Which is certainly understandable.  Or if you have an addictive personality because this game will likely be hell for you then.  I swear that I'm seeing things in match-three vision nowadays.  It's....slightly maddening.

Update!:

So, either because I am an idiot who misses things terrible, or they changed something with regards to lives during the patch, I have been referring to Treasures of Montezuma Blitz as a game you can only play once a day.  That is incorrect.  That is....quite incorrect, as the above picture shows.  Lives refill every few minutes so that in fact, you could play your five, put the Vita down, go off to make a sandwich or have a smoke or something, and come back to at least a couple more lives.  So, provided you don't have much else to do, Treasures is definitely a game you could spend the bulk of a day playing as...well, a game.  Without paying a bit, on top of it, provided you have a little patience.  I decided it would be better to include the above screen as an image, considering it's in the game, to show off how dense I can be sometimes.  Since, we all have our moments sometimes.

And the Next Dreamcast HD Title Is...

...Sonic Adventure 2.  Obviously.  On the one hand, I am completely surprised, because there had been several hints and leaks and such in the past that painted the game following Jet Grind Radio HD to be Shenmue (which was from a reliable source, even!) which I honestly would have really liked.  On the other hand, I am completely -not- surprised, since in all honesty this is a little late as-is, considering Sonic Adventure 1's port was released last year and it's not like it took an entire year to port it.  It also likely would have been a much stronger start to the string of four Dreamcast releases Sega is more or less expected to come out with.  Yes, Jet Set Radio HD is certainly nicer to have, and ultimately something to be more excited about than SA2, but everybody knows what Sonic Adventure 2 is.  I will never understand the methods with which companies and such decide to do this sort of thing, and as I will likely always be on the consumer side of dealings, it's not like it matters since it seems like a matter of eventuality rather than anything else.  Which is a good thing, all said.

This is a little bit more interesting than what it is on the surface, however, since it highlights a few things that I can't decide if they're worrying or just strange.  At the end of the video embedded in the Joystiq link above, the logos denoted as the platforms it's coming out on are simply ones that suggest Playstation Network (PS3) and XBox Live Arcade (360) with nothing suggesting the PC at all.  So if you'll just play along with me for a moment, let's look at the last three ports that Sega has announced, along with the platforms suggested for them.  Jet Set Radio is set to release on PS3, 360, Vita and PC through Steam.  Nights Into Dreams (from the Saturn) is set for release on PS3, 360 and PC through Steam.  And now Sonic Adventure 2, as already stated, is simply set to release on PS3 and 360.  So it seems like with each successive announcement, they lose a system.  This sort of gives me the mental image that Sega is simply using what little manpower remains to pump out all of these ports at the exact same time, meaning that every new thing gets less and less of the attention that it deserves.  Which could very well just translate over the entirety of all three remasters.

Of course, the fact that all three games are set to release in the "Fall" does sort of help tip one off of the fact that maybe they're stretching themselves too thin.  Just....potentially.  I imagine the thought process is that, if they release everything so close together, they'll make a steady stream of money through the season and be able to go into the new year flirting with what lies above the red line.  Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if a PC version of SA2 was simply overlooked, as Sonic Adventure 1 was released through Steam, and it would be rather odd if the sequel skipped that avenue, especially considering how vocal the Steam community seems to be about Sega in general.  I'm not too optimistic, however, on the games announced to reach to systems they're not otherwise announced on which does sort of crush my dreams of continued Sega support through their Dreamcast re-release library this go around.  At this rate, 'Volume 2' as it were, will be Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure 2, ??? (theoretically Shenmue, but I'm not holding my breath on it currently) and possibly Seaman to round us up around the Holidays.  Not bad, of course, especially if the third game -does- end up being Shenmue, which would elevate it from "Not Bad" to "Yaaaaaay!".  With any luck, a Disc-based Collection won't be exclusive to Non-PS3 this time around.

I can't say that I have especially fond memories of Sonic Adventure 2 as I barely remember the lot of it, if we're being simply honest.  I don't even own it, having only been exposed to playing the game by borrowing a friend's copy of it.  I think.  I might've rented it.  Regardless, the point is that I don't remember.  Except I do remember that while I was playing it, I also had to do a Science Fair experiment which I did in between sessions of playing as Rouge since playing as the bad guys was so new and awesome even though, looking back, they were....fairly sub-par.  Character-wise, that is.  Again, the memory, she is not so great.  I do remember the Chao Garden, of course, which I will likely enjoy the hell out of whenever I get around to playing the game.  Because I will, you see.  Regardless of what systems it is and isn't released on, this is Sega, and I've given in to the fact that I will simply play all of the Sega games.  Sometime.  Eventually.  On something.

I can only hope that Sega at least releases one or two of these games before the next announcement comes around.  Even if it's Shenmue, because I would hate to think and worry that the Shenmue HD port might be 'tainted' by lack of focus.  I doubt there'll be a problem with the way any of these turn out; I don't recall there being any issues commonly stated for the last year's versions, but at the same time, one could assume that Sega was doing at least a little better last year.  With any luck, however, these remasters, fired off in quick succession as well as a hopefully present Yakuza Collection (that will come out in the states on-disc, I'm still holding out hope considering it'll cost me a lot of cash if it does) will bring in some serious cash for Sega, alongside Phantasy Star Online 2.  More money for them means more greatness for us, after all, so long as you're not buying a new Sonic game.  Though, after Generations....well, still maybe hold out for reviews, if such a thing were to happen.

Yakuza HD Collection a Possibility

So, Joystiq brought it to my attention (almost personally, it feels like) that the possibility of an HD Collection of Yakuza 1 and 2 is a thing that could happen.  Listed for a brief moment on a Sega Japan Release Schedule, the Yakuza 1&2 HD Edition leaves little to the imagination, suggesting that it is simply HD Editions of Yakuza 1 & 2 (Presumably sold separately, since Japan seems to be finnicky about bundling games, as is referenced by the Ico/SotC Collection, and Peace Walker HD).  Of course, I saw this Joystiq post and proceeded to immediately lose all of my shit.  Look around, do you see things that shouldn't be there?  Yeah.  It's my shit.  Because I lost it.  For a moment that was entirely too sweet, entirely too brief, I experienced what I can only describe as ecstasy unlike any I have experienced in recent memory at the mere thought of being able to re-visit Yakuza 1 and 2, older and wiser and more well-versed in the series as I am now without plugging in my PS2 and dicking around with Memory cards and all that we have more or less sworn off since the days of the PS2.  To see Kamurocho as it started in a resolution that isn't torture on the eyes, even if it will not be as detailed as 3 and 4's (seen above) offerings.

For that all-too-brief moment, life was amazing and everything was wonderful.

And then I had that reality check that I'm sure you have already been thinking of since you read the title of this post.  Sega is in the shit.  It makes perfect sense to start doing things like this, up-porting old games for a quick buck that has fairly little spending associated with it.  It makes sense to do this and release it to a public that absolutely loves the Yakuza series where the sales numbers shows as much.  And that all happens.....in Japan.  Not so much here in the States.  So that sort of makes one think that the Collection just might not make it over here because Sega doesn't want to part with the paltry cost of localization.  And if they do, then the chances of them doing it on an actual disk are pretty much incomprehensibly infinitesimal.  Which for me more or less means that they shouldn't bother localizing it at all since I'll never be able to play the fucking things.  So this whole thing has the potential to be bittersweet at best, and infinitely disappointing at worst unless Sega just kind of magically does the awesome thing with money that they presumably don't have.

That means there's really not a whole lot I can do or say alongside this, honestly.  If this happens to play out and get localized on-disk, I'll be a very happy man, but if it doesn't, or if it's DD-only, I don't know what I'll do.  I'll probably buy them anyway just to throw Sega the $30-40 and the support, even if I won't be able to feasibly play the games by any stretch of the imagination.  (It takes me a ridiculous amount of time to download shit.  Like, three hours to download a 500 MB game at best ridiculous.  Not so much an issue on Portables since they're not about to explode or anything, but my PS3?  Nah.)  But goddamn if I won't be bitter as -fuck- about it the whole time and for quite a time thereafter.  It's pretty much this sort of scenario that I was basing an entire "Digital Distribution is Not the Answer to Every Fucking Problem" article around and never got around to writing because I just started to lose a little bit of the venom I had with it.  The thing is, I'm not anywhere near alone in the "I have shit internet and I must scream" territory, but it just doesn't seem to matter one bit since way of the future and other such utter fucking nonsense.  In a world of data caps and shit internet infrastructure not to mention shoddy internet security (From everyone, not just Sony don't even -start-) we can't just throw every fucking thing on the internet and do Jazz Hands until magic happens, people.

It's honestly a little more than depressing to have that realization weigh-in like that.  At first, I thought that maybe the Collection, should it exist and come out, could be an example of Sega's willingness to give physical media for the Yakuza one last shot, despite it not being one of the 'key' franchises that they're basing their physical releases on.  But it's hard to think of a scenario where I could realistically expect them on-disk, which means I still don't know what to think of Yakuza 5.  Even though I'm in the camp that says it would be the worst fucking idea imaginable to go DD-only with Yakuza 5, I can't realistically say it's not a possibility.  And one that'll be all the more real if the sales numbers of the theoretical DD-only Collection run more or less along the lines as they would expect it to, meaning the people who buy the series are still -there- and willing to buy it no matter what.  I guess I am over-thinking it more than a little bit, but as I've made it perfectly clear more than once here, the Yakuza series is that series for me, and it sucks that the reality for it is as negative as it is.

With any luck, all my sudden sullenness and negativity will be for naught and we'll get some good news from the whole scenario.  It's wholly unlikely, of course, but Sega does so love proving me wrong (I figured they would've announced a new Phantasy Star for Vita - PSO2 doesn't count - by now, I figured something would happen with the two Yakuza:  Black Panther games for us, figured we'd hear -something- about VC3 in the west, I could go on and on) so that does leave a slight window open.  I can say with some certainty that if they -do- prove me wrong and throw us a disk, I will probably be buying several copies of the game if just to send the message that physical games will still sell, I assure you.  So there's at least some incentive there.  Only thing left is to see it play out, I suppose, which will likely be more painful than several things that I'm not going to bother to explain because I'm sure you can think of painful things.

Update!:  Aaaand it's official.  For Japan, at least.  I'm sure we'll get localization news....uhh....sometime.

Maybe.

Please give us this, Sega.

War. War Never Changes. MGS4 Does.

Back in ye olden days when Metal Gear Solid 4 was considered one of the only titles to own a PS3 for (which was faulty logic regardless) it wasn't as easy a title to recommend to anyone.  At least, that's what it seemed like, as everyone always had their own caveats for whether or not it was a good idea for a person to play the game, insisting that the content only catered to a specific group of people and it would universally be fairly awful to everyone else.  Glad to see that, like war, some things never change.  Regardless, as time went on and on, there were two things in the game that did make it a hard sell to certain individuals, provided they had not been party to playing it already by then.  Since everyone always seemed to have 'that friend' with a PS3, whom just let everyone play the games on it that apparently didn't exist since back in those days, the PS3 had -no- games, you see, which is of course utter truth and not rhetoric that eventually became something of a meme from being parroted off so many times.

Those two issues, of which I'm sure you know which ones I'm referring to, are soon to be a thing of the past as a budget version of Metal Gear Solid 4 is released to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear Saga.  (I assume they're starting at the MSX Metal Gear games.)  "The Best" versions of games tend to be the equivalent of the "Greatest Hits" re-releases we have here in North America, of which I am sure you are familiar with, in concept alone at least.  I'm not going to bother finding out all the different terminologies or anything that are in the different regions or on different systems since we know the practice already:  re-release the game with a slightly less appealing box art (because it has to promote the fact that it sold fantastically) for a low price, generally $20-30 to encourage tail-end sales to bolster the to-dates.  I don't really think they herald changes to the game itself or anything like that normally, however, unless it's the type to pack in the DLC available for it or something.  But changing the game is exactly what Metal Gear Solid 4's "The Best" version is doing.

When the version hits stores, a new patch will be out roughly around the same time that updates all versions of Metal Gear Solid 4 to what's already on-disk for this one which includes the two biggies that have been strikes against MGS4 for quite a while.  The patch and new version adds Trophies to the game, which is something that everyone had rallied for as soon as Trophies became a thing and is only...er....a few years late at this point.  As well as that, it adds something that is definitely a near necessity, and is pretty much one of the few valid complaints people have had about Metal Gear Solid 4.  You see, with each act of the game, there needed to be an install beforehand that would help keep the game from loading every other moment and the like.  These installs did take some time and more or less broke up the mood, even though they weren't completely detached from the game itself and were disguised rather well as the "Go ahead and take a break" signifiers, as was implied by Snake using said time to take a smoke break.  Oftentimes consisting of several cigs.  The issue many derived from it was that it was rather unnecessary when, in theory, those could all have been condensed into one install in some fashion, and that's entirely too difficult to argue against.

Luckily, that's no longer an issue, as a full install option will be available as the second bit improvement the patch/new version offers.  I'm pretty sure patches are not a region-restricted thing, so it's worth noting that even though this is generally just talking about Japan's version of the game, there's absolutely nothing saying we shouldn't expect it to hit our shores as well.  As such, I'm going on believing just that and already trying to think of just when I could reasonably think to play Metal Gear Solid 4 again to give a good run at some of the trophies on top of just...well, enjoying the game once more.  Since it's a fantastic game, and one that I don't believe I have popped in much after the acquisition of my TV with an HDMI port.  Yes, I started my PS3 playing with an SDTV and I still thought games managed to look absolutely brilliant on it.  One of the games I fully enjoyed in that method was MGS4 and if I played it fully on my HDTV after I got it, I entirely forget the experience, so when I do replay MGS4, it should be...quite the experience, for sure.

So it seems that the question still remains:  Why the long, long, long wait?  I doubt it'll be a question that's ever answered in any sort of formal manner, so I wouldn't waste too much time on speculation and looking a gift horse in the mouth.  However, there -is- all sorts of speculation that one -could- do, and if I were the type, I would suggest that maybe it had something to do with MGO.  It certainly seems a bit strange that a little over a month after MGO goes offline, this comes out, but it could just be a step taken to renew interest in people who might have only been playing the game for MGO anymore.  I simply think that there could have been an issue with game versions and connecting to the MGO servers, since they were not PSN servers and that that was pretty much something that could've caused a lot of headaches.  Of course, I don't quite remember if MGS4 had been patched since its release and whether or not it had could certainly blow all sorts of holes into that theory.  Regardless, it doesn't matter a whole lot, as we have a great game still, along with two big reasons as to why we should give it another go, veterans and otherwise alike.

Max Payne 3's "Cheater Pool" is Brilliant

If you've been following Max Payne 3 news at all, which I assume the bulk of us have been, then you may just have heard about the "Cheater Pool" before now.  I had read about it when it was but a mere suggestion, and chose not to bring it up because I figured it would never see the light of day.  I mean, it's an entirely smart and actually kind of hilarious idea, thus it's chances of existing for real are quite low.  Against all odds, however, it is live and absolutely glorious because of this fact.  As a validation of this type of thought, I imagine we could see it permeating into other games in a similar fashion, so I think it would behoove us all to keep an eye out on just how this one plays out.  Or....maybe the next iteration of it, since I imagine the next iteration (in a new game) will likely not wait a month and a half or so to come out as a way to relegate the players, since cheaters are likely going to get in early and get gone quick.

If you don't know what the Cheater Pool is and don't want to click either of the provided links, let me assure you that it is of a design that is quite brilliant.  One of the scourges of playing online is, from the mouths of just about anyone who -has- played a game online, running into folks who have this and that set up to help them cheat wins and kills.  Cheaters reliably suck all of the fun out of a game for the simple fact that they are generally insurmountable.  You might take to them as a challenge at first, someone to be taken care of specially, to be flanked or otherwise out-strategized, but it rarely ever works like that.  Eventually, it takes all of the verve out of the majority of us, as we simply find ourselves this cheaters second, third, fifteenth kill in a match.  So what does the Cheater Pool do that is so brilliant?  That it might make the days of cheaters destroying your fun draw fewer and fewer in between?

It pits Cheaters against other Cheaters, well outside of the bounds of the rest of us common, decent folks.  Players who are found out to be using modded or hacked game saves or any other sort of cheating device are quarantined from the normal matches and lobbies to the special ones reserved purely for their ilk.  Within the Cheater Pool, Cheaters are the only ones there, and there they remain until it is clear that they want to play on the straight and narrow again, presumably by means of simply re-downloading the game and not dicking around with the tools and programs out there.  At least, that's how it starts, but the actual way to get yourself a ticket outside of the Cheater Pool is a bit more nebulous, and for good reason I assume.  Rumor has it that the way to earn your way back into good graces is by playing (win or lose) 100 matches within the Cheater Pool unassisted with mods, hacks or other such nonsense.  Of course, that's just for the first offense.  If you get your way out and muck it up again, you can look forward to playing against other Cheaters for the duration of the games multi-player lifespan, barring special circumstances, I should assume.

Of course, the worry of such a system is "What if I get caught in it, because I never cheat?"  First off, if you never cheat, you wouldn't be worried about that.  So don't worry about that.  Stop worrying about that, you're ruining everything great.  Well, there is a support page where you can email the Cheater Pool team to have your case investigated, but by all rights, if you're in the Cheater Pool, it's because you were cheating.  Apparently every person relegated to the Pool is manually checked over, as in not automated, and only when it's absolutely clear that the player is cheating are they kicked out of respectable society, so to speak.  If anything, that's probably a flaw in the entire system, since it likely means that it won't be all that streamlined or quick, but I imagine it will succeed in its goals.  The human touch to it is probably the double-edged sword in all of it, for the reasons I spoke of already, but anything to thin the numbers at least a little bit.

I think it's pretty obvious as to why I find the idea both wonderful and hilarious, so much so that I don't need to elaborate on it much further.  It's simply a system that, if it works properly, cleans up the riff-raff more or less who detract from the overall online experience while then pitting them against one another to ensure that they get a taste of their own medicine.  Yeah, your aimbot is so cool that everyone else has it too!  I have to wonder, however, how one -knows- if they're in the Cheater Pool.  Does it say that in the lobby?  Does it give an indication next to your tag or something?  Or is it just when you receive crushing defeat or at least mild difficulty in the wake of your tools that you realize "Oh, I am not alone"?  I can't find anything specific, but at the same time I suppose I don't care so much.  So long as it works and we don't see anyone shouting from the rooftops that they were 'so unfairly relegated' to it and cause a big to-do.  I imagine that there's a fail-safe in place that can be produced quickly in such a case, but we'll just have to see.

Okay, I'll Bite. The -Hell- is an Ouya?

I mean, yes, I understand what the Ouya is, and I understand the concept behind it and all of that, but it still manages to confound me on several basic levels as I look at it.  So perhaps it's less a question of 'what is' the Ouya and moreso 'why is the Ouya a thing'?  It is apparently a pretty common question, and I would suggest that it's not one born of ignorance or anything like that.  Rather, I don't think it's an inherently negative thing to question this thing, since all of these gaming devices invariably get questioned by the dumbest people for the stupidest reasons anyway as is.  I qualify this, of course, because the people that believe in this thing, believe in it hard, as these types of things tend to draw, so questioning it doesn't generally end well.  At least, a little less well than questioning something like the Wii or the Vita or the like would go.  Since those types of things aren't exactly as 'new' as the Ouya, and thus have been around such scrutiny for much much longer than this.

So, for the uninformed, of which I imagine there might be several of you, my question of "What is the Ouya" might be your own.  Essentially, the Ouya is a $99 Gaming Console that will cater specifically to games on the Android marketplace, serving as a hub to bring those games from your phone to your television.  Yes those games that are always featured so prominently as "Also on the Android Marketplace" (after the iTunes App Store) that sell for peanuts since they don't have to go through any real certifications or the like (ESRB and the equivalent ratings, mostly) are going to be playable on your TV through this box.  I say "Are going to be" instead of "would be", because this thing is going to be a thing, barring some patent infringement injunctions or the like.  Thanks to Kickstarter, the thing raised $1 Million in a single day, which completely funded it, as the goal was $950,000 over the course of 30 days.  So, it's well over that and there's....still 29 days left.  And people will throw absurd amounts of money at this thing regardless, since the minimum backing (of $99) nets them a console and controller, meaning they'll be able to get it and...uh...play...things on it.

So, using basic math to get rough numbers, since the actual Kickstarter page is going to be a hotbed of action for a week still, let's point out a few things.  As I said, minimum backing (just looked at the Kickstarter, and there's a few pledge tiers below that.) bare minimum to get the Ouya is $95 (Well, technically, the $95 pledge limit has been reached, leaving only the $99), so let's just make that a nice, even happy $100.  Take the fact that pretty much by the time that Joystiq article went live, they already breached the million mark into account.  Just roughing the numbers up a little, that's ~10,000 people interested enough in the device to throw down money for it's eventual maybe release on the very first day such a thing is possible.  I think the actual numbers were something around 8,000 people, since there are several levels of pledges, of course, but like I said, the Kickstarter page will be wild for a time yet and any numbers I give you here have no chance of being anywhere near 'up-to-date', so I'm not going to bother a whole lot.  So let's just run with what I said and say that 10,000 people want to buy this thing, or more importantly at this juncture, simply want this thing to exist.  And the question I have for these people specifically is the one I posed earlier:  "Why?"

I have a few theories, of course, which are the only things I can come up with to really justify the existence of the thing.  Obviously the first and easiest bullet point for this to make is the idea that the full console experience is simply $99 upfront, wherein thereafter you can theoretically enjoy the thing without adding in another cent.  This is because the developers of Ouya ask (read:  Will probably make it mandatory) that everybody who supports the device offer at least -some level- of free gaming, whether it be a trial version and/or a demo, or simply making their game free-to-play with micro-transactions.  Which of course right there means that every Android game out there already will not be compatible with the Ouya by default.  If the controller didn't make that obvious enough, at least.  Of course, this kind of relies on the hope that the people who work on this thing won't be jerks and only make demos of their games to put in the bare minimum in an attempt for the max level of profit that could be wrung from an indie game (which varies from none at all to astronomical amounts, apparently).  I mean, I'm not saying that I expect that to happen, I'm just saying that when it comes to going the extra mile, I can't really name a lot of developers that are willing to do it.

Honestly, pretty much the only other reason is because I imagine a lot of people will see it as 'legitimizing' mobile gaming if there's this console directly related to the games for it.  Since you're not going to see traditional 'console' games (Beyond those that have been ported to Android/iTunes for a quick buck, but shut up that's not indie maaaan) on this thing, but simply games that have been specifically designed for....well, I guess not specifically the mobile scene anymore.  I guess it's more a creature of circumstance, since it's a console specifically built for indie designers, who have simply taken to the mobile scene for the ease of use and development when compared to actual consoles.  And PC, apparently.  Not quite sure how that works, but there you go.  Regardless, that's really what I think this whole project is, less about pushing the Android platform and more about simply giving Indie developers a console since apparently there's no place for Indie Developers in modern gaming.  Not like XBox Live Indie Games, Playstation Pub Fund or, you know, PC Gaming exists or anything.

Anyways, something I had been wondering about, which the Kickstarter page sort of tentatively confirmed for me is whether or not the Ouya itself would be a development platform or simply a box that plays games.  It seems that it's the former, thankfully, which makes a -ton- of sense, so that is something entirely in its favor as well.  While I'm a bit wary about the possibility of games being made 'only' for the Ouya (from people who want to take advantage of the controller rather than the full touchscreen interface) I admit that it's not a terribly bad option if the games themselves are worth it.  That's sort of where Indie Gaming as a whole proves to help and defeat itself at the same time, I think.  For every Minecraft and every Breath of Death VII, you get poorly slapped together clones of other games and games like Alphachimp by the barrelful simply because it's just as easy as coming up with some sort of idea and knowing just enough coding to slide by with the barest of essentials.  Because it's so easy, everyone can do it, but because it's so easy everyone can do it.  I hope the italics sort of helped deliver the underlying message there.

Still, with the launch of the Ouya not happening til March 2013 at the earliest (barring some legal issues or such as I mentioned before.  Personally, looking at the Ouya dashboard makes me think of the 360's, but I'm not sure if that's accurate.), there's still plenty of time for the plot to thicken.  As it's a console where things must be developed -for- it within the rather lax guidelines provided, it's going to have to find some support, and I'm not sure there's a whole lot of it out there.  At least, not in the terms of people who want to develop for something specifically assuming there are people who have spent $99 on this device who are also going to be willing to play your game.  As with most consoles, we could probably see the rather easy porting of existing games (but will companies like Squeenix and EA who have mobile games out there support it?) but if people are as consistent as they've proved to be, there will be no end of the bitching until fresh new things come out of it.  So maybe we'll see something of a renaissance of new innovation come out of this.  Or...maybe everyone will just forget about it come March.  I probably will.