Saturday, January 14, 2012

Apologies and Announcements

Hi everybody

I'm sorry about the lack of updates. I had a show ready to go last week but the recording got FUBAR'd beyond belief and had to be scrapped. However, there is some big news coming in the next week that will change the Basement Vagrants forever. Stay tuned!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Basement Vagrants Podcast - Episode 13 - "A Tale of 2 Trailers"


In our post-Christmas episode of The Basement Vagrants Podcast we discuss two of the biggest trailers hitting the internet lately, The Three Stooges and The Dark Knight Rises.

Download the episode here

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Basement Vagrants Podcast - Episode 12 - "The Basement Vagrants Go Medieval"



It's the Basement Vagrants Podcast, YAAAAAY!

Bubs from The Ring Crew Show joins us this week and we review The Muppets, as well as talk about Crank 3, The Three Stooges trailer, we discuss some of our favorite TV shows and more.

Download the episode here.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

News - New Munsters and Sony's Latest Moneymaking Scheme,


The classic 1960s television comedy The Munsters is the next property stepping up to the remake plate. NBC has ordered a pilot for a new version of the series and director Brian Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns) is going to be in charge of the project. Most cynical television fans such as myself would likely assume that Singer was tapped to helm NBC's latest experiment due to the popularity of some of his recent films but Singer was actually interested in the project before the network ever expressed interest in it. The direction for the new show has been described as "an imaginative reinvention of The Munsters as a visually spectacular one-hour drama." So the wacky hijinks of Fred, Lily, Grandpa and Eddie are going to be shoved aside in favor of a more serious, one hour Dexter-like drama?

The only question I have is why even bother using an old property like the Munsters if you're going to radically change the show? The original is about a family of monsters (A Frankenstein, a werewolf, 2 vampires and a blonde) getting into crazy situations like finding pirate treasure, Grandpa selling their house to a demolition company and Herman competing in a drag race. The fact that they may now have to be dealing with issues like Eddie smoking marijuana, Lily contemplating an affair with The Invisible Man and Grandpa developing Alzheimers seems ridiculous.

But we all know why they're adapting the old show right? It's not because people these days are dying to see Herman Munster bust through his front door again, and it's not because they feel there are more stories to tell and deeper issues to be explored, it's all because of those 2 billion dollar words that Hollywood are so interested in these days: "Name Recognition". People are familiar with the name, and they'll be curious enough to see what they'll do with a new series, so they'll watch it. Hell I probably will too, so I guess that makes me part of the problem.

I just hope they let Rob Zombie do the theme song.






Sony's PS Vita Will Have Dedicated Memory Cards



Sony's latest version of the PSP, the Playstation Vita is on the cusp of being released in Japan. It is a heavily redesigned version of the PSP with dual thumbsticks, a touch screen intervace, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity as well as better graphics, screen resolution and a much faster processor. Another one of it's unique features was revealed today as dedicated memory cards that can only be used with the system. This means that unlike the PSP which could use standard SD cards sold by many different manufacturers, this handheld device will only save data onto special cards produced by Sony themselves, effectively cornering the memory market for the device.

Sony's software development leader Muneki Shimada has spoken out to news sites saying that the decision was to give "equal conditions" to consumers, stating that since SD cards can have varying speeds and specs, it would be unfair to gamers. Bullshit! It may be true that specs on cards are slightly difference but it doesn't have any effect on gameplay or anything that would impact competition or enjoyment of the device. Maybe Lexar's cards write data .05% slower than Kodak's, who cares? It's obvious what's going on here is that Sony is forcing gamers to spend their money on their cards, for inflated prices.

Here are the proposed prices for the Sony cards:

4GB - $24.99
8GB - $39.99
16G - $69.99
32G - $119.99

If you've bought a memory card in the past year or so, no doubt you've noticed that the prices for portable memory has dropped considerably. A 4GB standard SD card can cost you as low as $10 depending on where you shop, and a 32GB one should not cost a smart shopper more than $50. If you add in the fact that the Vita will not support physical disc versions of games and will require them to be downloaded, 4 gigs will only support a few games, and that's if you don't put music, movies or any other large files onto it. Even if there is a modicum of internal memory (probably only a handful of megs for system settings) this means that the Vita, that will likely be retailing for at least $300 is going to cost gamers quite a bit in the long run.

What a scam.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

BV Mini Podcast #2 - Saint's Row the Third and Halo Anniversary


I take another half hour to talk about another couple of games I've been playing lately, Saint's Row the Third and Halo Anniversary. It's just me again, but your other favorite podcast co-hosts will be back again next week, don't worry.Link
Download the episode here


Links
Saint's Row 2 - Shogo Akuji's Death
Saint's Row 2 - Maero's Death
Saint's Row 2 - The Death of Carlos

Monday, November 21, 2011

BV Top 5's - Top 5 Most Overrated Games of 2010

The year is coming to an end, and the biggest gaming boom in recent memory is in full swing. Saint's Row The Third, Goldeneye Reloaded, Halo Anniversary, Uncharted 3, Skyrim, WWE 12 and Skyward Sword just to name a few. It's a great time to be a gamer and a bad time to be a poor one. During the greatest 3 weeks of the year I started to think of years past, specifically last year and some of the games released that just didn't live up. This is my list of the top 5 most overrated games of 2010.

5. ModNation Racers.



ModNation racers is a PS3 racer in the vein of Mario Kart. In fact, it's exactly like Mario Kart. So much even that you can actually race as all your favorite Mario characters, unlicensed versions of them of course. The gimmick here is that the game allows the player to design their own tracks, racecars and characters and the amount of options for customization is actually very impressive. All the tools are provided to recreate virtually any character, car or racing strip you can imagine. The racing engine is pretty good as well, controls feel tight, the graphics are cartoony, colorful and fun and despite a lackluster career mode, hopping online or on the couch with a pal for a couple races is actually pretty fun. So why is this an overrated game? Well, in the end the only exceptional part of this game is the creation aspect and the gameplay wears thin after a while. It's a beat for beat Mario Kart clone and once you've raced around a few tracks you've pretty much seen everything the game has to offer. None of the created characters or carts handle differently, they feel the same and make no difference on the race whatsoever. Sure you can race as C'Thulu against the Fantastic Four and Burt Reynolds, but once that novelty wears off you're left with a bland racer with little replay value. You can unlock more parts for cars, tracks and carts by playing through career mode, but there's absolutely no point because you can download any character (and believe me, every character in existence has already been created) online so there's no point in making your own.

ModNation Racers seems impressive on the surface, and it's one of the most customizable games in existence, but beyond that candy coating lies the blandest of chocolates. The cheap kind with that white powder stuff on it.

4. Call of Duty: Black Ops


What? How dare I include a Call of Duty game on this list? Surely one of the games in one of the best selling and most critically acclaimed game series of all time can't be bad. Well, it's not bad really, but it's a game that doesn't really need to exist. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a pretty important game in first person shooter history. It wasn't revolutionary really but it's because of that game that a new standard was set for the genre. The online multiplayer was the best ever at the time and the story moved beyond the stagnant setting of WWII and into the present. Combined with the most solid FPS engine to date it made it the benchmark for the most crowded genre in gaming. Then came World at War, a minor setback for the series, plunging the series back in time instead of advancing it even further. It remains a forgotten installment in the series and therefore not much to talk about. Modern Warfare 2 came after, improving upon it's predecessor, removing the annoying respawning enemies that plagued the original Modern Warfare as well as ramping up the action and storytelling and improving the stability and replayability of the multiplayer making it, in my opinion, the best online FPS ever made. Then Black Ops came out in the fall of 2010, breaking records and putting MW2 in the back of everybody's mind but doing nothing to improve the franchise. It brought back the Nazi Zombies mode from World at War which garnered a great response from critics but felt like nothing more than padding. The multiplayer was alright, but didn't feel quite as tight as MW2's, the story mode was pretty "been there, done that" and didn't feel unique or satisfying. There's only so many explosions, tank battles and beach storming a person can take before it seems like old hat.

Black Ops wasn't a bad game at all, but Activision's business plan of putting out another COD game every year and not innovating at all is quickly milking the series and turning some fans off. The fact that each subsequent title breaks the sales record of the previous means that we're bound to get another game next year, and the year after until people start demanding more from their war shooters.

3. Super Meat Boy


Hailed as the modern day resurgence of the platformer genre, Super Meat Boy came out last year to glowing reviews from gamers hungry for a challenge. However when the challenge is grappling with the sloppiest, most floaty and unresponsive controls in a game that's designed to be frustrating, I'll gladly take Kirby's Epic Yarn instead. Super Meat Boy is basically a slicker, more polished version of I Wanna Be The Guy or Kaizo Mario which are all games that are specifically designed to frustrate the player by being unfair, but where's the challenge in that? Challenge should come from a fair and balanced game that requires skill and the cooperation of good controls and physics to complete, but instead we're given a game where your characters runs as if he's always on greased ice, jumps 400 meters in the air and floats like a cotton ball on the moon. The original Super Mario Bros back in 1985 had perfect jumping and running controls and 25 years later few games can get as perfect as that. As far as bringing back the old school platformer, Mega Man 9 came out a year before with amazing retro graphics and excellent controls, but with modern unlockables, achievements and collectables, with a $10 price tag to boot.

Meat Boy isn't that bad, it's fun for a while and the hidden bandages, unlockable characters and secret levels are a great bonus, it just never feels like a genuine challenge or satisfying experience. The art style is very good however and you do get a lot of value for your money, so if you don't mind dying 100 times to one spike trap that is specifically designed to piss you off, go nuts.

2. Pokemon Black and White


Released in Japan in 2010, Pokemon Black and White versions are the latest in a long long line of Pokemon games starting in 1996, and while the series has gotten buffed up with tons of new features and a new coat of semi-gloss every few years, not a whole lot has changed. In this blogger's opinion, Nintendo's portable RPG series hit it's peak in 2004 with Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen and each version after has been somewhat of a disappointment with Black/White being the first that I've never even gotten close to finishing. Maybe I'm getting too old, but the new batch of Pokemon released in this version can't hold a candle to the original 150 and most of them just seem like 5 second creations with little thought whatsoever. There are now pinecone pokemon, disc pokemon, bell pokemon, gear pokemon and numerous redesigns of old ones branded with stupid new names. The main problem with these games is that in 15 years the series hasn't progressed beyond 2d sprite graphics, the same story warmed over year after year, simple sound effects and no voice actors as well as the limitations of always being on handheld consoles.

All that being said, there are now 500 or so Pokemon available in the games now, tons of town to visit, items to find and create and lots of online connectivity that can keep longtime fans busy until the next game, the fact that the series hasn't moved beyond it's billion dollar safe zone, makes this critically praised title just another drop in the Pokemon sea.

1. Heavy Rain


Heavy Rain is not only the most overrated game of 2010, it is one of the worst games I have played on a modern console. Not only did this abysmal piece of electronic garbage get 9s and 10s across the board from reviewers, it appeared on numerous "Best of the Year" lists last year. Critics were wowed by the graphics and innovative storytelling presented in Heavy Rain, and the unique gameplay, and while I will concede that it is a fairly original game in it's execution, at the core of this title is a boring, poorly written, poorly acted and repetitive mess.

Let's start with the story. Heavy Rain is a crime thriller where 4 strangers are caught up in a murder mystery. A private detective hired by one of the victim's mother, a photographer (who really only turns out to be a damsel in distress/eye candy) a distraught father and an FBI agent are all seeking the killer for different reasons and their stories all converge at the end. Unfortunately the story is so convoluted and confusing that the fact that they all meet up at the end isn't important because the way they got there makes no sense. The game is also padded out by subplots and tangents that go nowhere and add nothing to the story because they exist solely to make it seem like the plot is more complex and involved than it really is. Character's frequently make the stupidest choices just to put themselves in peril to make the story exciting, fail to notice obvious clues to what's going on and who the killer is, and occasionally break the laws of space and time in order to hurdle over gaping plot holes. Anyone who says this game has a good storyline really needs to give the game a second look and use a modicum of brain power because I've read Xenogears fanfiction that was better and more coherent than this.

Graphically, the game is decent, I will give it that. The environments are detailed and even though the color scheme is drab and boring, there are a lot of nice textures and modeling. That being said the facial animations are horrible for a game that consists mostly of people talking and spouting off expositional dialogue. I'm all for story based game lay but when the facial animations and lip movements are akin to Speed Racer, it makes it hard to take what's coming out of their mouths seriously. The action scenes are stilted and anything but fluid and any time two characters have to interact with each other it looks like 2 wire mannequins being manipulated by two guys wearing green screen suits.

The gameplay is where this game really hits a wall. The entire game consists of quick time button presses and slowly walking from interactive object to interactive object. The difficulty in the later parts of the game is artificially increased by making the player push more buttons like a crappy game of Simon Says where to pick a lock you have to hold square, triangle, R1 AND turn the analogue stick to the right; Super Meat Boy eat your heart out! The buttons needed to pass certain scenes rarely ever logically corresponds with what you're doing and most of the time it seems completely random. Beating a so-called hard section doesn't feel satisfying, nothing is challenging and the fact that Quantic Dream built a whole game over an overused mechanic that is considered by most to be one of the most annoying trends in modern gaming is baffling. Heavy Rain would be infinitely more fun as a point and click adventure and I had way more fun playing the recent Sam and Max games.

Heavy Rain is a complete failure, and the fact that so many reviewers lost their minds over this game and almost completely ignored other fantastic releases in 2010 like Deadly Premonition and Alan Wake make me wonder where the game industry's head is and how this bodes for the future. Luckily for us though, 2011 is so far a fantastic year for video games and if I do a similar list to this one, it would be much harder.

Friday, November 18, 2011

The Basement Vagrants Podcast - Episode 11 - "The Dork Knights"


We're back, and we're talking Batman. We go through (almost) the entire history of the Caped Crusader and discuss the high points and the low points, as well as the future of the franchise.

Thanks for listening. Download the episode here

 
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