Malik  (9/24/04)

I don't think there could be any better day to post Malik's Bitchings than a Friday like in which I can't find any information on certain aspects of Fable, due to the vast number of "Fable's too short", finding out today that I need to come into work on the weekend for a few hours doesn't hurt my bitchiness.  So, without further ado...

Good Reporting Gone Awry

So, as you all saw on my news post (you all did see it, right?) from Monday, the news of the PStwo coming out on the 26th of October and the news of it being included in a probably bundle package with GTA:SA have about as much chance of occuring as there is a chance of me retiring from my day job and doing this gig for a real paycheck starting October 26th. In other words, it's a big load of shit that a few of the less than bright stars of "real" journalism decided to run with without checking their facts or sources. It's sad enough that this happened without considering all of the other times that it has happened. 

For some unknown reason, the supposedly professional news personal, those who can be found with Reuters, the Associated Press, or any of the major independent/freelance news reporters have a bad habit of losing all sense of professionalism when it comes down to "kiddie" news. I'm not dissing my chosen obsession any, and it's not in any way my perspective, but it is a simple fact that most news agencies that cover video game "news" (I consider it very newsworthy news, and so do you, I imagine, if you're here at this site) do not consider it to be anything important and hope to report it only to fuel their ambitions...ambitions like attracting a younger demographic, increasing ad revenue, or an increased chance of selling a news story to a major publication (as in the NY Times, CNN, etc). News on a non-gaming news source about our geek pastimes are not published there for us as much as to drag us into their demographical world and to become yet another paying (or revenue in clicking on Internet ads, etc) faceless entity. 

So, in this case, what happened, which is quite simple and moronic, is that a report by an industry analyst (which I never care for all that much since they are usually a bunch of old white guys in suits who've never even played a game and only understand the purely business end of things, not the geek end and how the geekish things can have an unexpected outcome on the business end of things) at PJ McNealy said that it would be likely that Sony would mark the anniversary of the PS2's launch (October 26th is the anniversary in the US) with a newer and smaller version of the aging system to boost their sales. Then, the same report noted the delay in GTA:SA (damn you Take Two!) to that same date, and decided that it would have to be related to the newly designed system. This, in turn, was picked up upon by several news sources, including Reuters, who reported this information as being a set thing. In turn, places like ran news stories on it saying how it's going to happen...all of these news stories, despite having supposed facts, all sounded like they were strung together with little basis and no solid sources. 

However, when one considers the nature of this news, and how it could easily help Sony in a season in which many gaming companies stand to lose (from the over abundance of new and anticipated titles) a good deal of money, you have to ask a simple and singular question; why is Sony not pushing this information themselves? Or, you could say; how are they (Sony) keeping it under wraps and still expecting to succeed with the concept? The answer to either question is simple too; Sony would not keep something like this under wraps if they intended to make any money off of it. Right now, only the game accessories or games that are highly anticipated are going to stand a chance of succeeding, and with no vocal support from Sony, it means either Sony is ready to mess up hardcore and lose some major income, or it is not real. Knowing how Sony is a major electronics company that has been in the game longer than most of their competition, it's obvious that Sony would not pull off such a boneheaded move. Plus, it would be wiser for them to push a new "PStwo" on Japan first, since sales have sagged far more in Japan than the US...which would also mean, if they were waiting for an anniversary, they would wait for the one that marks the Japanese release of the PS2 (which is still a half year away)...if this is ever even going to happen. Wow, I just tore apart the entire reasoning behind PJ McNealy's report and the false reporting of it by Reuters with one or two simple questions. I would say that I should be a game industry analyst, but maybe I'm overqualified since I can use reasoning. 


This type of crappy journalism, however, goes far deeper. It has continued for a long time and will not disappear anytime soon. As long as the journalistic world is convinced that they need to be trendy to win over our lost demographic, we will see them pull out one big load of crap after another to try to lure us in. The important take-home lesson from this is simple; only believe our brand of news from a "professional journalistic" source as long as you're willing to be disappointed or as long as your willing to do the research to back it up. Better yet, you can go with the geek news sources, like (which didn't report on this news issue until afterwards to say the falseness of it all) or whatever other site is your cup of tea. Plus, I like to think I've done a good job with sorting fact from fiction on this type of crap since I usually will do the things that didn't remain skeptic until I verify something...or follow up when something is shown to be wrong (I haven't seen a correction on yet). That's what journalism is supposed to be about, but then again...our brand of journalism is not considered important by the people in charge...teh suxors to be us.

Who Needs a Game When You Can Have a Demo?!

So, when the new Nintendo DS comes out in about 2 months, we will all be treated to a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters or whatever Nintendo is calling this awkwardly controlled (as of E3 this year) portable FPS. However, while a demo seems like a major step up from the nothing you get with a new PS2, a GBASP, a GBA, a GCN, or an XB, it is still a petty insult when compared to the glory days of gaming...when a company knew how to reward you for investing a couple hundred dollars into their company.

I'm not trying to sound like a crotchety old man, but (those magic words) back in my day, the game companies used to show a little more respect. When the Intellivision came out you got Triple Action (or a different game depending on the current deals) when you bought the system, you got Super Mario and Duck Hunt with the NES (or another bundle...they had a good number of them, and it only cost $20 more than the base system despite how NES carts could run up to $75 and above...yes they got that high...ever heard of Romance of the Three Kingdoms?), with the original Genesis you would get Altered Beats, and with the SNES came with Mario the past, before video game consoles lost Sega and before Microsoft and Sony entered the realm of gaming, you could ensured that a system would be good to go right out of the box. 

Now, if you buy a new console, you are stuck with having to drop an additional $50 (or $35 for a portable system) when the system is first released if you want to do anything more than hook the console up and stare at it. Games are pricey, and so are the consoles, yet we get nothing in turn for a $300 investment in a new PS2 when it came out. In fact, because of this disrespect for my hard earned money, I'm getting attacked, in turn, by the game stores. 

When a new system comes out, ever since the release of the PS2, you are forced into buying a bundle package. This wouldn't be so bad, except if I'm dropping $300 (plus Washington state has a horrible sales tax that put me up to about $330 when I got my PS2), I don't have the money to blow anymore on that system for a good couple of weeks or a month. But, then comes the bundle idea that forces you to (usually) get 3 games with the console. The newly released systems always have the same starting prices for games ($50 for a console and $35 for a handheld), so this just turned the price up to a whopping $450 (in Washington, this would equal $495). Plus, these same stores are usually not satisfied with forcing a measly extra $150 out of your pocket, so they will try to force an extra controller on you ($20), maybe a crappy DVD movie if the console handles DVD playback (Armageddon for me...I hate you's $20), and if it doesn't have built in DVD playback you will have to get the DVD kit (another $20 or $30). In the end, after I got my PS2, for example, I was stuck with a crappy movie I never wanted to own (bad enough I watched it in the theaters...I can't even blame that on being drunk...sigh...), Madden (every bundle at Amazon came with Madden...maybe they don't understand that some people don't like football games...or maybe they are greedy whores), Ridge Racer (which was flat out crap-tacular), and SSX, and a second control, which is all well and good, but I would rather have gotten a memory card (which I couldn't afford for about 2 weeks after I got my PS2...since I spent so much on the console, I needed to wait for another paycheck). 

So, why was this type of bullshit possible? Because no consoles are sold with automatically included (by manufacturer) games. It is that simple. I mean, do you think could have forced a bundle set if Sony included a free game with each PS2? Hell no! Some people would argue, however, that a pre-included game would run the definite risk of not appealing to all potential customers. I would have to agree with that, and reply that the GCN came in a variety of, that wasn't as random as you may think. The console makers could have a set of two or three single game+console sets and break the game stores from forcing us into bundle sets. Or, the included game could be something with the mass appeal of Tetris or Super Mario, which has entertainment value for a good 90% (or more) of the potential customers. 

Yet, in the end, Nintendo came along with the idea of a demo game with the release of the DS. Not only does this leave the stores wide open to give us (the finger) a wonderful deal on a bundle set (since there is no real game included), but it's also a cheap way for Nintendo to try to hype a game that is already hyped enough. This is not going to sell extra copies of Metroid, since everyone who wants this game is already going to get it. And, most of all, this isn't a special deal for the people who buy a DS, since it's just a freakin' demo game and will only make us feel more ripped off when we get a pseudo-game along with our damned bundle package. 


one is as easy to solve as you may think...the proper solution is to look at the way Nintendo handled the NES. Back in the day of the NES, you could get one of several packages for your console. The basic package would go for $20 less than the next package, and it included the system and all cables and one controller. The second package included all of the same things, but it also included the Super Mario/Duck Hunt cart for a small $20 more. There were also a few other variants of this setup that came with time, but they always ensured that you could have a game with your new console for just a tiny extra amount of money...usually this extra amount would be less than 50% of the price of a new game on it's own. 

This would definitely be the best way to keep the greedy stores from tacking on the required bundle setups. I definitely don't want, if I chose to get a DS or any other system in the future, to have to buy two crappy games and one good one (crappy: Ridge Racer and Madden, or Luigi's Mansion and Rogue Leader; Good: Monkey Ball, or SSX) in a lame bundle in order to get my system. I mean, with launch titles, it's a pretty safe bet that only one or two will be good enough to be worth a purchase, while the remainder are merely eye-candy titles serving the purpose of making a system look good enough in it's infancy to lure in unsuspecting fools. If there was an included game with a new console, beyond a half-assed demo, you could be ensured that no store would be crazy enough to risk their sales by forcing a bundle of a fully functional (as in, it includes a game already) system. The bundles only exist to try to make the intended victim feel like they are guaranteed a game and that the store cares enough to make sure you can play something on your console. 

Also, as for Nintendo's idea of a demo game included with the DS...sigh...this is just greedy. At least they could give us a new version of Tetris, or some other cheap to make but still addictive game. Cell phone makers include these types of games for free all the time since it guarantees a happier customer and the games are so cheap that the tiny and insignificant out of pocket cost is easily made up for by the happy customers...and a demo may be cheap and easy to do, but it's an insult since those who want the game will only go out and get it, with or without the demo, when it's available. Plus, a Metroid title that is more of the modern Metroid design (like Metroid Prime) is not going to appeal to as many gamers as a more old-school type of platformer or an addictive puzzle game. 

So, in the end, the real solution is, once again, for game companies to look to the past for sources of inspiration and to forget this lame idea of always doing something new. 


So, this might have felt a little different than you would constant mention of Fable from me.  Well, I have good news for those who think more Fable is a good thing...a hint: check back here next week.  Anyway, I'm still tired and pissed with the crap involved in the rumor mill of "PStwo" news, so I'm just crapping out, I need to get in as much Fable as possible since my weekend shall be shorter than I previously anticipated (weekend?  Who needs one of those when you can come into work on your day off?!).  Anyways, if you've got a little bitching to aim my way...write me you little opinion or put it on the forums