We Love, We Hate

We Love:

Drac's Back:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has finally hit Xbox Live, giving new gamers a chance to see why this one game redefined the series (and created a formula it still employs today). 800 points for one of the best 2D games ever made? Yes, please. Now, if only Konami would make more 2D Castlevanias for full-sized consoles...

Ace Combat soars to Xbox 360:
We're not gonna lie - having exclusive screens, info and interviews for Ace Combat 6 made our whole damn week. Check back on April 2 for a total info blast.

Sony finally gets it:
"If we fail," Sony Chairman Howard Stringer said this week in a TV interview, "it is because we positioned PS3 as the Mercedes of the video game field." This marks the first time we've heard a Sony exec publicly and directly admit that price is a problem, and we applaud Stringer's candor. Now, how about a price cut, Sony?

Easy 360 achievement points in the movie-based TMNT game:
What can we say? We're achievement point whores. Granted, scoring with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Xbox Live is easier than Paris Hilton afterhalf a drink- which is kind of lame. But 20 points just for beating level 1? You've gotta love it. Then again, it may just be the developer's way of apologizing for making you play one of the year's crappiest games so far.

The movie 300:
Screw the critics who say it's shallow. Ignore the dumbass man and bitchy woman behind you in the parking lot line, who can't stop whining about how the wife and the deformed dude should have had more screen time - he's just trying to get some, and she's trying to seem smart 'cause her looks ain't gonna take her far. 300 is a wonderfully enjoyable celebration of man-ness and gore. What it lacks in plot twists, it makes up for in stunning imagery and pure testosterone.

But stay the hell away from the PSP game.

GRAW 2 hearts Dodge:
Yes, the game is fantastic. Yes, product placement in games is probably an unfortunate necessity. But does it have to be this obvious? Every car in the bombed-out Mexican setting that's not a generic junker is a shiny new Dodge... and enormous billboards with bright red corporate logos overshadow more authentic touches, like a handmade sign reading "Ropa Para Ninos Y Caballeros." Viva capitalismo!

Xbox 360 Elite:
A new 360 with HDMI, 120GB hard drive and all black casing? It sounds sexy andlooks even sexier. But the drive and HDMI should have been available from the beginning. And with denials coming as recently as two weeks ago during GDC, it'll be a slap in the face if this is confirmed soon. Something tells us Microsoft held back to keep their console cheap and now us early adopters might pay the price. The "double dip" is never cool, guys, especially if we have to shell out another $400 to catch up. Or was the HD-DVD the double and this is the triple?

Staleware ports:
We don't care what the shareholders say: it should be illegal to port a game onto another system after, say, six months have passed since its first release, unless you make hella improvements. Tiger Woods hit Wii this month, when it teed off clear back in October for PS2? That means this year's version will come out in only six or seven months. Lame. And Godfather originally shipped in March of 2006 - a whole year ago. Guys, it's time to make a new game. Unless you're going to emulate Tecmo's remake of Ninja Gaiden for PS3 - it's so gorgeous, and has so many other additions (playable characters, a new mission mode) that it's totally worth it.

Microsoft owns GamesRadar?:
When we called the PS3 a public-relations disaster earlier this week, certain fanboys tried to spread the rumor that we're owned by Microsoft. The hell? Sorry, tiny-brained ones, but our opinions are strictly our own - GamesRadar's UK branch was once an MSN affiliate (though it hasn't been for a long time), but we've always been owned by Future, proud publishers of PC Gamer, OXM and PSM - as well as the Official PlayStation 3 magazine in the UK. So, no corporate favoritism - just truth bombs.

March 23, 2007