CO-OP 0310 -- Android Vs. iPhone. FIGHT! -- Mass Effect 2, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game, LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
matt chandronaitAndroid or iPhone? Perhaps not a nerd debate to be decided in a single episode, but that didn’t stop Cesar and Rob from taking some … extreme measures. Fortunately their adorable little feud didn’t harm our interview with Mass Effect 2 producer Adrien Cho when we got to go check out the game last week. More after the show:
LittleBigPlanet rightly made an impact upon gamers worldwide when it hit last year. Strange, then, that except for some television commercials almost no one is talking about the PSP version. In perhaps one of the closest handheld-to-console experiences to date, the online, creator-mixmaster nature of LittleBigPlanet isn’t one you’d expect to be so excellently made for a handheld system. Ryan and I talk about why this mostly-overlooked gem shouldn’t be overlooked.
A huge thanks to Adrien Cho, a producer on Mass Effect 2, for taking the time to talk to us during the Mass Effect 2 preview event last week. JayFresh was the lucky bastard that got to represent Area 5 and play the game for a few hours, but these big-game preview events are always a reunion of sorts for us in games media and our friends Jeff Cannata of some show that I hear is both Totally and Rad stuck around to talk with him and Demian Linn and Brett Bates, both of BitMob, about why ME2 is looking (surprise surprise) like yet another BioWare success story.
Biggest movie of the holiday season? Almost definitely. Biggest game of the holiday season? It’ll undoubtedly do well in terms of game sales, but Ryan, myself and 1UP’s Justin Haywald all agree that “meh” is the best, one-word descriptor you can give James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game. It’s not bad, it’s just altogether a mediocre experience. Which, with movie-licensed games, as we all know, is practically a ringing endorsement. Still, if you’re one of the lucky few who has the hardware necessary to play the game as it’s meant to be played—in 3D—then you likely won’t be disappointed. Superfans of the movie may find a lot to like here as well, but as game design goes the bar has been raised so high this year that it probably never had a chance at being a stand-out experience.
Reader Comments (12)
iphone is the winner! Nazi Zombies on iphone = win. nuff said
I think the reason why people didn't want to play littlebigplanet on the psp was because the lack of mutliplayer scared them away or maybe people think the ps3 version is all they need. Also the psp may have great games but nobody is buying because of the addicting DS which is still selling crazy.
Great show Area5! Can't wait hear more news on EGM......
haha i do love my droid!
I expected Avatar: The Game to bomb like that... after all, all rushed movie-to-game adaptations are like that. The fact that the developers put more effort into the 3D gimmick than the gameplay obviously displays the flaws in design. Then again, I wouldn't say this is the end of the avatar game IP, if there will be any. More well made yet similarly ill-received games like Army of Two and Kane and Lynch are getting second chances. Like what Ryan said, there is a foundation for this IP to grow, and if developers take advantage of this lore successfully without being restrained by another movie, they could prove that video-to-game adaptations really do have a chance in this world.
Also, I can't wait to see what you guys come up with in 2010. You're not doing a Xmas special though, are you? Anyways, happy holidays!
cesar: _|_
rob: *slaps android out of his hand* YEA. IN YOUR FACE.
HAHA hilarious as always. matt, rmbr i said i hate you guys on the halloween episode tempting me bout the iphone? i finally got one and my friends are really sick of me raving about my games. hahahaha. (how do i get my short attention span boyfriend to be into games :( he only likes canabalt so far.)
anyway, also wanted to compliment u guys on the location shooting, i've never been to san fran (im from singapore) and it looks gorgeous. hope to travel there someday!
I haven't watched the Mass Effect 2 segment - preview and review events are insane.
For me, it would ruin the experience somewhat. What ever happened to the delight of experiencing a game for the first time in a personal setting? These days we're bombarded by trailers, gameplay videos and all sorts of stuff - do you really need to know every little detail about a game before you buy it?
Each to their own I guess.
@Spiro K i think it just depends on how much you're willing to expose yourself to it. when i'm excited about a game i google incessantly for reviews, trailers, gameplay videos and i actually get more hyped up about it to bid my time and curb my appetite til my next paycheck comes in. hahaha. so yea you're right, to each his own :) you always have an option to not view them if you don't want to anyway!
@Spiro K speaking of which, top notch reviews on ganatomy ;)
Sorry it took me all day to respond! We've been filming like crazy since we still have another show to do for next Tuesday and we don't want to have to work all Christmas weekend. ANYWAY...
@novato ... I think you have some solid points about LBP PSP, there. It kinda bums me out that the PSP market isn't bigger. It's a great system and I'd love to see it a'splode.
@Millerlite92 .. then why don't you marry it?!
@Sune ... yeah, it was about what I expected, too. STILL, given that the game is actually kinda decent is a marvel compared to most movie-licensed schlock. I agree, though, that if they can take the lore and take the base game that they've put together already and do something really compelling with it then it could be more than just a neat tech demo. As we've seen time and time again in gaming, a sequel has a pretty good chance of being better than the original. No guarantees, of course, but it happens in gaming much more than in cinema, IMO.
@nart ... We are *incredibly* lucky to live here! Everywhere we turn is another amazing backdrop. Certainly makes our "sets" interesting! Glad you enjoy our excursions :). Singapore seems like an amazing place to me, too. Would that we could film there! Try getting your boyfriend into rhythm games. I've found that they're perfect for people that don't have the patience to explore other gaming genres and can often work as a gateway drug. On your iPhone you can get TapTap Revenge 3 which you can even play two-player so you can entice him by playing together.
@Spiro K ... generally, we agree. That's why previews are so rare for our show. We try to avoid the myriad of videos dropping all the time as the hype/PR machine builds toward release. I get it, from their perspective, how important this aspect of gaming marketing is, but for the in-the-know-gamer, who makes up the majority of our audience (or so I believe, I have no stats to back that up), previews are little more than spoilers. Still, in our ME2 segment, I think we did a great job of talking about why we're excited about the game without revealing anything that's going to ruin the first-run experience for y'all. But yeah, there's totally the audience, like nart, who are very into absorbing everything they can about a game as it actually increases their final enjoyment rather than deadening it. I'm more in your camp, however, in that the less I know about a game the more impactful my first playthrough feels.
Mass Effect is my most anticipated game of 2010. I enjoyed Mass Effect 1, the story, setting and interactions with characters were really enjoyable. I do agree with many of the criticisms of it, the uncharted planets felt so empty and the driving was very poor. Also the shooting mechanic and frame rate let the game down. But it seems from your preview that these problems are being addressed.
Little Big Planet on the PS3 was a real disappointment for me, I loved the look of the game, the idea of downloadable levels and the music was some of the best put in a game. But the problem that stopped me spending more than an hour at a time with the game was the gameplay, not that fun and often frustrating.
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2010
Al
@Al ... yeah, if you didn't enjoy the gameplay of the PS3 version, LBP PSP isn't going to do much more for ya. I, too, am so excited for ME2 that I can hardly stand it!! Merry Christmas to you too, man :)
marry christmas guys! don't work on christmas. hahahaha.
coop fangirl,
nart
Merry Christmas Area 5. Look forward lots of great stuff from you guys in 2010.