My trepidation was somewhat relieved when I got my hands on the demo and found it to have great atmosphere, great pacing, and great voice acting. Now I’ve had my chance to play the full game, and in short, it far exceeds any expectations I had.

Arkham Asylum opens as Batman transports his arch-nemesis, The Joker, to Arkham Asylum. Soon after arriving there, the Joker breaks free of his restraints and takes over the asylum, leaving Batman to pursue him through a myriad of obstacles the Joker puts in his path.

One of the much ballyhooed features of the game prior to its release was the dynamic combat system, and it does not disappoint. The flow of melee combat is excellent, and the gadgets that one would expect Batman to be packing around become a major part of dispatching your enemies. Batarangs knock foes prone, explosive gel incapacitates enemies, and Batman can even pull foes to him with his grapple.

Chaining together long strings of combos gains you experience that can be spent to improve Batman’s abilities and to unlock new gadgets. Even more fun is the ‘Detective Mode,’ which allows Batman to see his enemies through walls, see their current heart rates and states, and even tell if they are armed or not. Watching a goon’s heart rate increase when he finds the unconscious body of his buddy is satisfying in and of itself. This mode helps tremendously if you’re trying to be very sneaky (my preferred method of playing). While staying completely stealthy is rarely required in the game, it’s more challenging if you try to be the true ‘Invisible Predator.’

Combat is excellent, but where Batman: Arkham Asylum really shines is in its presentation. Arkham is dark, creepy, and reflects the fact that the Joker and his goons have had their way inside its walls. While I don’t want to give away anything that you might encounter in the game, I’ll just say that the morgue scene is very well done, and reminds me a bit of parts of the original Max Payne.

Not only is the atmosphere well done, the voice acting is outstanding. The Joker’s paranoia and lunacy shine through as Mark Hamill brings years of experience in the role to the game, and Kevin Conroy’s Batman is quite fitting. Classic villains like Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and the Scarecrow bring their own unique personalities to life through the quality voice and visual presentations.

I also got a chance to try out the ‘Play as the Joker’ feature in the PlayStation 3 version of the game. While it’s only available on challenge maps, it’s not just a skin. The Joker has a full complement of personalized moves, and even packs a pistol for taking out those really tough guards. It’s enough to make the decision of which console to play this one on a pretty easy choice.

All in all, Batman: Arkham Asylum lives up to all the hype. To this point in 2009, nothing I have played surpasses this game. If I had to submit a vote for Game of the Year right now, there’s no question that Arkham Asylum would get that vote. RockSteady has grabbed ownership of this title, and made a strong case for more games in the same vein, and I have no doubt that Eidos will happily acquiesce.

If you haven’t played Arkham Asylum yet, you need to go out and at the very least grab the demo, and then the full game. Don’t miss out on the chance to play the best superhero game of the year.

Batman: Arkham Asylum receives a 9.5 out of 10 from me, and is definitely a title worth a purchase, even now when money is tighter than normal.

According to an article at InformationWeek, “the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.”

Obviously, this was enormous news. Since it’s been estimated that 80-85% of the world’s gold farmers are located in China, this would have likely meant a huge drop in the amount of available virtual currency.

Unfortunately, there’s news today that the law being referenced actually does not reference gold farmers at all.

This morning I read that this ruling doesn’t apply to gold farmers at all. Over at ICTs for Development, Richard Heeks had the following to say,

This is a government restriction on the use of the quasi-Paypal-like currencies (mainly QQ coins) that are used extensively in China to pay for virtual game stuff. As announced they can now only be used to pay for virtual stuff, and you can’t buy real things with them as game companies were allowing to happen, nor can you gamble. This therefore is not about what gold farming clients do: use real money to buy these virtual currencies; it’s the mirror image. And it’s not about the major trade in gold farming such as World of Warcraft, which relates to other types of virtual currency. And it’s not about buying/selling in-game items. And it’s not about the power-levelling of avatars. Bottom line: it’s not about gold farming.

Thus it appears that all the furor and uproar over the last 24 hours was in vain. Apparently the Chinese government had no intention of stopping gold farming, which should come as no surprise. After all, it’s an industry that employs a lot of people and brings a lot of money into the country.

All this did get me thinking…who actually buys gold anymore? I mean with the current gold distribution in World of Warcraft rivaling our national debt, is there really a need for it anymore? Obviously some people think so, since the gold farmers are still in business. Personally, I’ve never understood the reasoning behind paying real money for pretend money.

Sure, you can argue that it’s just an extension of the concept of paying a monthly fee to play a game, but that a fallacious argument. After all, when you buy gold, you’re paying so you don’t have to play, and that whole concept just seems ridiculous to me.

Have you ever bought gold? Do you think it’s a defensible thing to do, or do you despise those who do it?

Well, that may be changing in the near future. According to Siliconera, Sony has secured a U.S. Patent for the technology that will apparently allow the Cell Processor in the PS3 to emulate the Emotion Engine of the PS2.

Couple this with the rumors of a price cut and the release of the PS3 Slim this fall, and you start to think that Sony may have a fundamental strategy shift under way.

After all, allowing the PS3’s Cell processor to emulate the Emotion Engine would allow Sony to sell PS2 titles via digital distribution on the PlayStation Store. Not only that, but couple that with the 160GB PS3 becoming the lead SKU, and you see a lot of storage that can be used for downloadable games.

This seems to be the business model Sony is trending towards, as evidenced by the UMD-less PSP Go. Tie in the price cut (rumored to be as much as $100), and you have a massive library of available games for a system that would be sneaking in under $300.

Now, all of this is speculation, of course. I just can’t seem to come up with any other reason for the patent to be filed other than backwards compatibility for the PS3. Here’s hoping that we see a fall firmware update that gives everyone the ability to play their PS2 games in their PS3.

Now if I could just get my PS3 to print out hundreds like the one in the image above…I doubt that’s coming in firmware anytime soon.

According to MCV, Kotick said in an interview,

“I’m getting concerned about Sony – the PS3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation.

They have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP too.”

That’s a big shot fired across Sony’s bow. So, will Sony take him seriously, and how will they respond?

According to Industry Gamers, Sony has already responded to Kotick’s statement (sort of) with the usual PR blurb, saying,

“PlayStation has tremendous momentum coming out of E3, and we are seeing positive growth with more than 350 titles slated to hit across all our platforms, including many anticipated games from our publishing partners. We enjoy healthy business relationships with and greatly value our publishing partners and are working closely with them to deliver the best entertainment experience.”

So what does all this mean? Basically, it means nothing. Activision is flexing their considerable muscle at Sony; probably in the hopes of getting a cut in their licensing fees, or a cut in the cost of the PS3 to increase sales of their games. Sony’s responding by touting how amazing their platform is, and saying nothing to respond to Kotick’s actual concerns.

This sort of thing isn’t all that unusual in the world of business. Besides, there are rumors flying of a $100 PS3 price cut to coincide with the release of Madden 10 in August, so Sony is likely to just ignore this and move forward as planned.

It’s unlikely that Activision will take any further steps unless the PlayStation situation worsens. After all, Call of Duty 4 alone sold 4.34 million copies on PS3, and PS3 is a leading seller in much of the world. Dropping support for the PS3 would be like cutting off their nose to spite their face.

So, taking all this into account, it all boils down to a bunch of corporate dick waving. Not all that original after all, is it?

I haven’t really weighed in on this one yet, but it’s about time.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? Quite simply, you’re nothing more than a bunch of over-entitled babies.

You know, I could almost understand it, if you’d bought L4D as a single-player game only. After all, as a single-player experience, L4D was sort of lacking. Unfortunately for you, you’ve got a Steam group, and most, if not all of you are playing L4D online regularly. So that argument (the only one available) is moot.

Wait, who’s that waving their hand at me? Ah, that’s one of the whiners, trying to convince me that Valve hates gamers now. SHUT. UP. Valve has always supported gamers, and given excellent support to their products. I’m perfectly willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, especially since they’ve already said that they have more content slated to release for L4D (four player matchmaking, for example).

Additionally, since I’m not a self-entitled idiot, I can understand the business situation as well, something gamers never seem to understand. With the sweeping changes Valve is making to Left 4 Dead 2, it would be nearly impossible to update the console version of the original game to accommodate them. So, either these people think Valve should forgo profits simply to make them happy, or that Valve should forgo a console release of this content. How moronic.

Thankfully, Valve isn’t listening to them, and we’re all going to be better off for it.

However, many of us are making progress. It’s been two years since I bought a Madden game, ditto for NCAA Football. I don’t remember the last basketball title I purchased, and I’ve managed to avoid succumbing to the urge to pick up FIFA, NHL, or Fight Night titles as well.

Unfortunately, I still have one crippling weakness: Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Yes, I realize that golf isn’t the ‘hardcore’ gamer’s choice, but for some reason I just can’t stop myself. Case in point: I headed into GameStop yesterday to pick up my copy of Ghostbusters. While I was standing in line at the counter, I was overcome with the urge to grab Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. I fought valiantly, but lo and behold, once I arrived at the front of the line, the first words out of my mouth were those.

What is driving me to do this?

In my defense, the past two versions of Tiger Woods have been great. Tiger Woods 08 had some fun online play, and 09 ramped that up with simultaneous online play, club tuning, and a greatly improved skill system. I hope this will at least begin to explain why I gave in so easily to the desire to give Tiger Woods 10 a go.

Once again, I’m not disappointed. The addition of the tournament challenge mode, which places you in the shoes of various professional golfers during memorable moments at past tournaments in really enjoyable, the new online tournaments are even more fun than last year, and this week, I get to compete in the US Open. Well, virtually, anyway.

I think that might be the answer here. Of all the EA Sports titles, Tiger Woods is the only one has consistently found ways to improve. Sure, they aren’t major gameplay changes, but they are changes that stand out when you’re actually playing the game.

Judging from what we’ve seen so far, there may be a case to be made for many EA Sports franchises this year. Madden 10 will include a complete overhaul of the animations and the AI, Fight Night Round 4 looked outstanding at E3, and there’s even a shiny new Grand Slam Tennis game that looks very interesting.

What I hope this means is that EA has come to the realization that it isn’t enough to simply slap new rosters and a fresh coat of paint onto an old title and pump it out. Instead, work to include meaningful features that make gamers want the games you’re making. As Tiger Woods 10 amply demonstrates, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every year, but you do need to include new features that give the game value.

Maybe, just maybe, when Tiger Woods checks his bank balance next month, he’ll see a 1 at the end instead of a zero, and he’ll think of me.

Have any of you found yourselves in this situation? Have you avoided the urge to purchase EA Sports games simply because there’s a new one every year, and do you think EA has gotten the message?

My first thought was that other than the size of the unit, the PSP Go really wasn’t all that different from the PSP I already own. Over the weekend, I read an interesting article on Ars Technica, where they reached a similar conclusion. I thought I’d share it, as it tracks closely with my early impressions of the system.

The bigger news, according to Ars Technica, is the news that Sony is moving all their PSP distribution to digital, as well as on UMD. However, there’s no reason to buy the new handheld to take advantage of this move to digital. After all, with the right Memory Stick, I can download all these nifty new games onto my existing PSP. So, how will the PSP Go do at retail?

Says Ars Technica,

“The value and audacity of what Sony will be offering has nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with the ubiquity of downloadable games and content. Sony already offers the ability to download video from the PlayStation Network directly with your existing hardware, and that allows you to keep your larger screen and ability to play your classic games. Not to mention you can take advantage of inexpensive used games that exist on UMDs. Sure, the system is slightly bigger and doesn’t support bluetooth, but you won’t have to buy new cables. The value of the “classic” PSP systems has never been better.

But the more important point here is this: How many people will be interested in shelling out $249 for what is basically a re-packaged PSP 3000 with no UMD drive? Sure, the Go is targeted squarely at the iPhone generation, but when you can buy a used PSP for a hundred dollars less, and Memory Sticks for way less than a hundred bucks, where’s the draw? Also, what happens to stores like Gamestop when a big box retailer, like Wal-Mart, decides to speed its sales by slashing the price?

So, to answer my own question, I don’t think the PSP Go is a miscalculation in and of itself, but I do think Sony will be very dependent on the volume of its download sales to realize their investment. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it shakes out, but I’m a bit skeptical of how the sales of the unit itself will go. Sony’s digital distribution may be the real winner in all of this though, and it could offset any sluggish sales of the hardware itself.

So, are you planning to pick up a PSP Go when it’s released this fall? If so, are you replacing a PSP you already own?

What would be surprising would be for them to attempt to capitalize on that opportunity by launching a new console. Well, according to Sam Kennedy at 1UP, that’s exactly Microsoft’s plan.

In their Listen Up podcast, Kennedy was chatting with David Ellis of Microsoft, where they were discussing the new motion-sensing Natal technology, Ellis apparently let it slip that there will be a new XBox console next fall. Yeah, you heard that right. They’re planning another console launch in 2010.

Gamers will also be able to purchase Natal as an add-on for existing 360’s, which begs the question: Why launch another console now?

After all, the odds are that any new console launched next year won’t be the tenological leap that the current generation of consoles was. More likely, they’ll replace some of the problematic hardware in the current 360 platform, possibly upgrade a few minor things, bolt on Natal, and call it good.

So, I guess that leads me to another question: Will anyone actually buy the damn thing?

Well, I have to speculate that they would. After all, most console fanboys will line up out the door for any minor release for their platform of choice, so a brand new platform to trumpet would be sweet music to their ears.

Additionally, it would give Microsoft the chance to move past the Red Ring of Death issues that have plagued the 360 platform, as well as allowing them to coerce owners of older 360’s to move up to a console that offers HDMI compatibility. After all, who was going to upgrade just for the HDMI connector?

There will be two things that decide how well this rumored venture pans out for Microsoft. First, can they get it to market before Nintendo launches Wii HD? If so, they would position themselves squarely to take a chunk out of the substantial Wii owner base.

Second, can they get it to market before Sony launches their motion controller? If you saw the E3 press conference that Sony put on, you have to admit that the Sony motion controller looked much more impressive in demos than Natal did. If Sony manages to put an impressive motion controller on the market in Spring 2010 as they claimed to be planning at E3, it could have an adverse effect on anything that Microsoft releases in the fall.

What do you think? If you had to make the choice, which one of these systems would you choose?

Digital distribution really offers gamers only two highly positive benefits: First, it’s easy. You can purchase a game without ever leaving your house. Heck, you don’t even have to leave your chair. Second, it’s extraordinarily simple to keep games purchased over a platform like Steam updated. Since the Steam client must be running to launch the game, you simply download the update before you start the game. What could be easier?

The Reuters piece even quotes that great bastion of gaming knowledge, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter (seriously, who died and made this guy king? Am I the only one who thinks he talks out his ass most of the time?), who says, “Downloads will become 20 percent of the market within five years, and probably peak at around 50 percent of the overall market in 10 years.”

I’m sorry, but this is not only purest speculation, it’s not even good speculation. Why? Hit the jump, and we’ll examine it.

PC titles are ripe for digital distribution, and they represent the lion’s share of these types of sales. After all, the platform lends itself perfectly to this type of purchasing. However, this overlooks a small problem. Many gamers, myself included, tend to want tangible software we can hold on to. After all, the economic situation of many companies means that if I have to reformat my PC in 6 months, the company I downloaded that awesome game from might not even exist. If so, I’m likely done with that game for all eternity, unless I can find a copy in a retail store. I know the younger generation of gamers is not as desirous of this as my generation is, but once the first big digital download site goes under, the backlash will hit all of them equally hard.

The second big thing that is being overlooked here is the bulk of the gaming market. Yes, I’m looking at you, game consoles. Sure, you can buy all sorts of titles from PlayStation Network and XBox Live, but the bulk of all console gaming purchases (including handheld games) is physical media. Now, the market paradigm may indeed shift away from that at some nebulous point in the future, but I don’t think it will be in this generation, or even the next one. Gamers have gotten used to being able to do things like watch movies and listen to music using discs on their consoles, and I doubt you’ll see a discless console make significant market inroads anytime soon. Additionally, many gamers still don’t bother connecting their consoles to the internet. They simple use them for single player games.

Another problem consoles face is that of limited storage. Now, this fact may change in future models, and you can always swap out your PS3’s hard drive for a larger one if you’re tech savvy enough, but how many people are going to do that? I own an average of 20-25 games for each of my consoles. If you’re conservative, and estimate a couple of gigs of data for each game, you’ve quickly filled the hard drives of all but the most expensive console SKUs on the market.

Sure, there’s OnLive, but that’s an unproven technology that hasn’t even been shown to work yet. I’m not saying that it can’t or won’t work, but there’s been no meaningful demo of it outside highly structured and controlled settings. Even if it works flawlessly, it depends on gamers relying on not only their individual internet connections while gaming (even in single player), but on the connections and hardware at the OnLive centers as well, all while paying an MMO-like monthly fee. A dicey proposition, to say the least.

The Sony PSP is also switching over to digital distribution, but that’s a minimal share of the market. It may grow some, but the entry price of $249 for the new PSP Go will be a major barrier to many who consider it.

All in all, while I am sure that digital distribution will grow in the coming years, I highly doubt you will see its market share increase much. I believe this partly because of the gaming culture moving more toward consoles, and partly because there are still far too many people who want to be able to hold their games, play their games, and ultimately trade in their games.

How do you think digital distribution will fare in the coming years? Will it ever be the de facto standard for releasing new games?

I question whether porting NwN into the massively multiplayer realm is really a sure thing. The most obvious obstacle is taking BioWare and Obsidian out of the equation. However, I believe that taking the modding out of the game which has already spawned many persistent worlds which are essentially mini MMO themselves will take away one of the elements that makes NwN such a fascinating setting.

This classic RPG based on the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons has been a popular staple for PC players since BioWare launched it in 2002. Two expansion packs, NwN: Shadows of Undrentide and NwN: Hordes of the Underdark continued the series, expanding the Forgotten Realms and adding to the already extensive tools and utilities that allowed modders to create their own detailed adventures.

The full sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2 developed by Obsidian, was received with slightly less enthusiasm from fans, but has gained a solid following and spawned three official expansions to date. Although the NWN2 tool set is less intuitive than the original, it was just a minor delay for modders. Players have options to add new character races and classes to their games as well as rule  and effects tweaks. Modders have also created countless skins, models, textures, and tilesets to forge many new high quality mods for fans to play after they’ve conquered the official releases.

There are also persistent worlds like Silver Spire, World of Talernon, and Higher Ground which has 192 players and 21 DMs. Many of these worlds are constantly changing because of players actions and  many have NPCs that react differently to players of different classes or races. The core issue is that in my opinion, pulling a off persistent and dynamic world in an MMO  hasn’t successfully been done. Sure you can have a stateful persistent environment but name an MMO where it remembers your actions and changes the world as a result – its somewhat counter to the idea that everyone shares the same game experience if you allow that to happen.

Cryptic is a class act that has shown great promise with its work on Star Trek Online and Champions Online. I don’t doubt that they could create a beautiful rendering of the Neverwinter Nights settings. However, I doubt that adventuring in a static world with content that continues expanded, but doesn’t change, will satisfy many fans of the Neverwinter Nights series.

Shawn mentioned all of this when he was talking about his PrE3 Blues. I mentioned then that I was unfortunately agreeing with him.

So, in the face of this crazy E3 week, how do I feel now?

Well, I’m pleasantly surprised. Even staying home this year, I found myself more interested in E3 than I have been in a while. Big announcements were rolling out one after the other, both from the ‘Big 3′ and others. Even the announcements that were leaked beforehand (yes, I mean you, PSP Go) were exciting to see.

It seemed that publishers and developers placed some bets on E3 this year, holding some announcements just for this week. It really helped to make this week feel important to everyone involved, from those of us here at FileFront to everyone at the conference. The ESA can stand tall and smile after the conclusion of this week.

I have to admit, it was nice. The industry appears to be coming together behind E3, and that’s a good thing. It’s great for the industry, and for gamers as well. The industry needs a central conference to feature its hottest wares, and E3 has long been it. With gamer-centric conferences like PAX becoming larger every year, it’s refreshing to see it coming back into its own.

Now, it’s time to start talking about next year’s E3, right?

However I can’t help wondering why E3 excites anyone anymore.

Sure, Microsoft, Nintendo and to some extent Sony all hold their big announcements for the first few days of E3 week, but after seeing these events in person the last three years I can safely say I’m not missing much by watching the Internet televised versions live. You can look back at the coverage of the last few years but I am beginning to wonder if all the hype, all the constant media controlling isn’t just a giant waste of time and energy.

Nintendo will no doubt offer their usual performance – claim great plans and a renewed sense of energy and announce more of the same. The Wii was a lifesaver for the company but it feels a bit like they are resting on their laurels waiting for the rest of the game space to mimic them. This is a big difference from the Nintendo I recall of 2005/2006 when the Gamecube was wilting away and the Wii was an unproven concept. Sure, we get it.. the Wii is popular, lots of people who normally do not play games bought one.. but from the perspective of someone who has long supported Nintendo I guess I’m jaded and tired. This isn’t a new sentiment – lots of “fanboys” cried foul as Nintendo went from underdog to overachiever the last few years, and frankly I’m happy that the company has succeeded.. I just feel like Nintendo is that friend I hung out with for years who went away one summer break and came back 50 lbs lighter and with double D breasts that suddenly everyone was paying attention to. Sure we’re ostensibly still acquainted, but I’m not sure I’m happy with the relationship as it stands now between us. Its great for Nintendo I’m sure.

Sony and Microsoft seem to be mimicking Nintendo and lets face it, business 101 says if you see something working for someone else you should adopt a similar strategy and personalize it to maximize your success in an industry. Microsoft’s news the last two years has been mostly focused on attracting the Nintendo goldmine.. games like Lips, You’re in the Movies and SceneIt! received more play than they deserved frankly (not because I dislike these games.. but because they didn’t really work to capture their target audience and didn’t attract the die hard gamers either.) Sure Microsoft had Fable II, the Final Fantasy XIII announcement, Fallout 3 DLC exclusivity for a short while and GTA IV DLC… but in the end it all felt aimless to me. The one area they seem to be making their mark is on media center functions like the Netflix player and this year the rumored Hulu integration through Xbox LIVE. I spent the better part of my gaming year on my 360 in 2008 but I’m just not catching the same fever this year I guess.

Sony is reliable these days – they will go after every market, they have the most expensive system with some of the best exclusive games but again something just feels off to me. Maybe I’m jaded. Ratchet & Clank’s online experiment seemed a success, PlayStation Home is a confusing failure from what I a can tell.. and LittleBigPlanet is still one of the most innovative pseudo-games ever made. I feel like Sony is lacking identity. It has the big media ties, the better hardware and the most fresh intellectual properties but I have no idea where it is headed this year.

Rumors abound before every E3. Motion controllers and new cameras are rumored for the 360 and PS3 to compete with the Wii. A new slim PS3 design and UMD less PSP both make sense. The message of the event just feels more diluted as the 3rd party publishers who largely abandoned the event the last two years in favor of media days and events where they could control the message and attention of the enthusiast press became the rule. I wonder if there is a need for E3 anymore. We’re in a competitive 24 hour news cycle every day, announcements have different impact than they did even 3 years ago because so many outlets exist and so many opinions exist. I feel lost in the fog, wondering what makes E3 week any different than the week of Activision’s Gamer’s day event or Square Enix’s big solo junket.

Maybe its fatigue. This industry can wear on you I guess.. the endless hype cycles, the ceaseless hyperbole from enthusiast press and public relations folks alike.. I just wonder, as we prepare for E3 2009’s coverage, what you really want from us? You can and will get exclusives elsewhere thanks to the access of sites like Kotaku and IGN and GameTrailers that we can’t offer. I’d like to think you want perspective, analysis and insight with the news, and maybe that is why you read a particular bit of text over another. We’re not diving in with quite the gusto this year personally but we’re committed to posting the news that resonates with our staff. While we do write these posts for our own edification, it’s important that we understand what you, our readers, value in the coverage we deliver.

Please, take this opportunity to let us know.

I can’t speak for Steve, Ron or Eva but I want Gaming Today to accomplish the task of entertaining and informing without taking itself too seriously. This isn’t a website covering a major diplomatic conference or world-changing social program here.. its about games and it should be fun.

Personally, I moved myself out of that era by spending an inordinate amount of time playing Battlefield: Vietnam. Now I hear that I might get a chance to return to those rice paddies in a Call of Duty title, and I have to admit to being intrigued at the idea.

According to That Videogame Blog, a ’source’ they trust has informed them that Activision is looking to license music for ‘Call of Duty 7.’ The choice of music, including some Vietnam-era music, Cuban music, African music, and Russian music. While I could see this pointing to Vietnam, it isn’t a confirmation yet.

But what other signs point to a change of locale for the venerable series, and why would Vietnam be a great setting for a Call of Duty game? Check after the break to find out.

I do recall that the Senior Producer of Call of Duty: World at War was quoted last year as saying that WaW was tying up the final battles of WWII, and that doing so would allow Call of Duty to “put the war to bed.” That would make some gamers happy, and some gamers irate.

I will say this. Vietnam as a war has a ton of potential from a game standpoint. It’s a different type of war than any other the US has fought. Not only the tactics and strategy. but the locale. Vietnam had everything from sandy beaches, to towering mountains, to harsh triple canopy jungle. Sometimes, a soldier might encounter all three in a single mission. Toss in the civialian populated areas outside the DMZ, and the likelihood that at least some of those civilians are actually Vietcong guerrillas in disguise, and you’ve got a recipe for one tense videogame.

Additionally, the Vietnam war included a large number of special operations units. I imagine this would be prime material for a Call of Duty game set in the time period. Treyarch could set the player as a member of the 1st Brigade 101st Airbone LRRPS, 3rd Special Operations Group, or any number of Special Forces units. There were also a ton of unit specific recon units, like Tiger Force. Any one of these would be an awesome backdrop for a campaign.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but I hope we see this come to pass. Call of Duty in Vietnam is definitely something I’d pay money to see.

First, it was the Wii itself. Packaged with Wii Sports, it was supposed to get gamers ‘off the couch’ and into their games. To be fair, it succeeded for the first couple of weeks. After that, most of the Wii owners I know went back to playing their other consoles, and allowed the Wii to gather dust. Personally, I’ve found that mine makes a fine doorstop.

The next ‘fitness’ release was Wii Fit. Basically a balance board with batteries, Wii Fit allowed players to follow along with an on-screen trainer to get in shape. Unfortunately, it also informed you of exactly how overweight you were when you started, and chided you for not exercising enough. As if I don’t have a wife to do that for me!

Now EA has EA Sports Active coming out May 19. Active was designed with an actual personal trainer to help you lose more weight! Yeah, that’s right. The only reason I haven’t been using my consoles as exercise platforms was the lack of a real personal trainer.

But neither of these are the worst. At least I can avoid these types of games. Today I learned about a much worse offender, one that will likely be purchased by well-meaning spouses and parents everywhere.

Today, I heard about a new product called jOG. Made by a company in the UK, jOG connects to the Wii and replaces the nunchuk controls for movement. Looking similar to a pedometer, jOG turns your steps into character movement on the screen. So, instead of pushing an analog stick to move, you actually have to run in place to move your character.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but WTF?

Let’s say I love to play Madden (not that I play Madden on the Wii, but work with me here). So, every time I want to move my player, I have to actually run? If I’m going to go to all that trouble, why not just go outside and actually PLAY FOOTBALL? What about a game like Call of Duty? Do we really want to spend our time trying to line up a rifle shot while running in place? Did I just enlist in the Army when I wasn’t looking?

The concept of the jOG is simply counter-intuitive to the video game lifestyle. I realize that this is something people are looking to change, but the jOG isn’t going to do it. Let’s postulate a typical scenario. Mom wants Junior to be more active, so she buys him a jOG. “He loves video games, so this will be perfect,” she thinks.

WRONG. Junior isn’t going to use that silly thing. It’s going to be gathering dust in a bin somewhere after about 10 minutes of try-out time. Mom’s out $40 or $50, and Junior’s still a big fat ass.

So, what’s the moral of this story? It’s simple. Video games are not for exercise. By definition, they are sedentary activities. If you want to lose weight, get your ass off the couch and go exercise. If you want to play games, then play games.

Am I the only one that feels this way? Do you see your consoles as an exercise medium?

Six Days in Fallujah was being developed by Atomic Games, and was designed to give players a view of what the soldiers in Fallujah experienced. There were a number of Marines involved in creating the game, which is not surprising considering Atomic Games’ background as a producer of combat simulation software for the US military.

Unfortunately, a firestorm of criticism from groups that are both anti-war and pro-military ignited. Critics blasted Konami for attempting to ‘capitalize’ on a war that was still fresh in the minds of those who were there, and the families of those who gave their lives there.

Anthony Crouts, Vice President of Marketing for Konami, said simply, “We are no longer doing the title at this time.” No word yet on whether Atomic Games will seek another publisher for the title.

While I can see why a few people would be incensed at the production of this game, I really cannot understand why Konami would cave to this type of pressure. After all, games are constantly set in real life conflicts. Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4 was set in a number of conflicts, including the war in Iraq, and no one seemed to be incensed at that.

Plus, the involvement of US Marines (many of whom were in Fallujah) in the game’s production would seem to indicate a desire to do justice not only to the experience, but to the people who served there.

I remember attending E3 in 2005, where I had the distinct privilege of sitting down and interviewing US Army Ranger SFC John Collett. He had been serving as a Ranger in the US Army during the Black Hawk Down incident, and he survived the rescue that is depicted in the game and the movie. When I spoke with him, he was serving as the military consultant for Novalogic’s video game adaption of Black Hawk Down.

SFC Collett was excited to have the opportunity to show gamers what those brave men had experienced. He was committed to making sure that the game was a faithful recreation, but one that was respectful to the brave soldiers who had fallen in the action.

I can’t help but think that this attitude would be shared by those Marines who were working on Six Days in Fallujah. Here’s hoping that Atomic Games finds themselves another publisher, so we can see what they’ve brought to life.

The basic premise is a simple one. The players are up against a wall, facing off against never ending waves of zombies, including a number of special infected. There are plenty of supplies, ammo, and explosives, but there’s absolutely no way out. The goal, as the name would suggest, is to survive as long as possible.

But does it actually work as a game mode?

As Valve has stated, their goals were to have game that lasted around ten minutes. In most cases, this is what they’ve achieved. In my experience, seven to eight minutes is a darn good run, but there are reports of people surviving as long as sixty minutes that can be found on the Official Steam Forums.

Valve issued a patch yesterday that would seem to have removed the chance that anyone will make it to sixty minutes again. It seems that in some cases, tanks would stop spawning after 14-15 minutes, allowing the survivors a much better change of longevity. This is no longer an issue. It will be quite interesting to see what the top of the leaderboard looks like now.

At any rate, the game mode itself is an absolute blast. It fills a gap that L4D definitely needed to fill, in that it allows players to have meaningful games that don’t require an hour or more to complete. In just 10 minutes (or in some cases, substantially less) players can have a great game experience that encapsulates all the intensity of the campaign finales. Heck, in some cases the finales can’t match the craziness that erupts when there are dozens of infected, a couple of smokers, a hunter and a tank or two running around.

If you haven’t given L4D a chance yet, this is a great time to do so. If you haven’t patched up and tried Survival Mode yet, you are definitely missing out. I recommend it to all shooter fans, and anyone who likes zombies.

I’ll let the following interview with one of the game’s creators explain exactly what Untold is but lets just say this is not your normal pen and paper RPG concept. Click through to the jump to read through my interview with Brannon Hollingsworth, Untold’s co-creator and one of the talented folks from The Wandering Men Studios. You can also find out more about Untold itself on its official website.

Shawn Sines, Gaming Today(SS): So.. first question… the boilerplate one of course.. tell us a little about Untold and the concept behind the game itself.
Brannon Hollingsworth(BH): Untold is a brand new game from Wandering Men Studios – the guys that brought you the novel Skein of Shadows (published by Dark Quest Games). The game itself is what we’re calling a CBRGP – a Card Based Role Playing Game. The concept is exactly the same as any other RPG on the market, with one critical difference – all of the tools of the game are cards – there are no character sheets, rulebooks, or pamphlets needed once you understand the rules – just the cards!

SS: Do you still need dice? How are you doing conflict resolution?
BH: Yes – a d20 – we like to say that all you need is a deck and a die!

SS: Interesting, so the cards replace the character sheet and all resolution is done with a single d20?
BH: Correct, but the cards ALSO replace all of the rulebooks as well.

SS: Does that mean that the game cards are generic.. for instance you would have a “Strength: 20″ card, an “Endurance: 15″ card, I know that might not be what you call them in Untold but I think you understand what I mean right?
BH: It depends on which cards you’re talking about – the ABS cards are somewhat generic, as you state, so we have Strength 1, or Agility 9 cards, for instance, but even those cards have some interesting tweaks to make them more valuable and a better value for the customer.

SS: Do you have different cards to represent different abilities or powers or skills? How does one build a character using the Untold system to represent their character?

BH: Yes, every combat maneuver, spell, item, weapon, magical device, or cool move (a la feat) is its own, modular card. So, you can use these cards to build and customize your character however you want. In terms of abilities and skills, we’ve rolled those into a single card type: called ABS (Ability Based Skills) and they handle all of your skill checks (Listen, Spot, etc.) as well as any Ability-related check on might have (smashing down a door, leaping across a ravine, etc).

Building a character is very easy and very fast: select your race card, select your ABS cards (if you like), select your Path cards (if you like), and then your Power cards (if you like) – then you’re done!

SS: Since this is a card based does that mean players and storytellers will be forced to buy packs of random powers?
BH: Not at all! First of all, Untold has NO randomization at all. That’s one of the things that we knew we DID NOT want as an element of Untold – while it might be great for making money, it’s horrible on players, and players are the reason we created the game in the first place.

When you purchase decks or packs of Untold, you’re going to know exactly what you’re getting – the contents will be detailed on the website and on the packages. This way. if a player or GM (storyteller) wants more Power cards, they’ll know what they need and can get exactly what they want.

SS: Lets talk a little about the broader concept, Untold is not just a system right? Isn’t it also a setting? How would you describe the game world to a new player?
BH: Great question – Untold is much more than just a system – the underlying story of Untold is one that lends itself to endless expansion and customization. The basic story is three universes – not worlds, but universes have collided and what happens as a result becomes the backdrop of your game.

This way, players and GMs can elect to play in our “default” campaign setting, which is called Splintered Serenity, or create their own campaign setting based on the races we offer. Alternatively, they can simply integrate our races, powers, sites and concepts into their existing games.

SS: Does that mean that the initial game will include not just the setting specific races/abilities/tech but also more generic conceits like elves, orcs, aliens, etc?
BH: One of the things WMS has planned is additional “genre” expansions, so we will eventually have a “Wild West” deck, for instance, with cowboys and Indians, or a “Far East” deck with samurai and ninja, or even a “Space Opera” deck with aliens, blasters and odd-looking aliens.

As we bring in the new decks, we’ll have those races – one of the things we want players to be able to do is play in the worlds they already have, but use Untold cards to do so. For instance, I’m a long-time GM and I have thousands of dollars of “Setting Books” on my shelves that I would love to play, but I can’t because my players dislike the mechanics, or don’t want to learn a new system, or whatever. Untold could correct this problem – you have a single system that works anywhere and anytime – you just nab the cards that match your setting and you’re off to the races!

SS: Can you describe a bit about the races players will find in the “default” setting? What sorts of creatures/characters can you make out of the box?
BH: We have a number of new and interesting races in the Splintered Serenity setting.

There are the L’na, a race that comes from a world where where magic is the basic building block of life, the L’na are a mystical race generally given to the tenants of subtle balance and harmony with the world around them. Physically, L’na resemble animals, but they are far from simple beasts: they are, in fact, highly intelligent and spiritual beings that are the apex of magical “evolution” on Ai, their home-world. The L’na also represent two different aspects – Dawn and Twilight which helps determine their role in the game.

We have a mechanical race called the Klik. They are beings of metal and steam, gears and gyros, pistons and pulleys, the Klik at first glance appear to be nothing more than strange conglomerations of odd, physics-defying gadgetry. Yet, once one spends any amount of time in the presence of these assertive and driven beings, they are sure to redefine their perceptions of them. While the Klik could not be considered individuals by any means, as they continually strive to perform their part in the service of their Great Machine, they are anything but random collections of parts and pieces. They also have two forms – the Rollers and the Tripods, which generally reflect their locomotion as well as their class in Klik society.

The most human-like of the races are the Apoc. Apocs are the last surviving remnants of the world’s armies after an apocalyptic event has left the planet as they know it completely shattered. Designed long before this world-shattering event, but with it in mind, Apocs are genetically engineered to be the ultimate survivalists – they’re enhanced physical powers honed to cope with any form of external stress. With powers bordering on (and some far surpassing) the supernatural, the Apoc are truly the next stage in human evolution. They break down into High-breeds and Churls representing the relative culture of the character and resources at their disposal. The High-bred are clean and ordered while the Churl are savage survivors.

Of course we’re planning on expanding the races in future decks as I mentions to include traditional RPG character races but we think the Splintered Serenity setting offers some new and interesting concepts that you don’t see in every game.

SS: Where would one of our readers go to find out more about Untold? Are you selling it online or is it available at retail yet?
BH: We’ve already been approached by several stores in the Birmingham, Alabama are, just in response to our release at this year’s Imagicon (http://www.imagicon.org), and are furiously working to ink deals with them! We’re definitely looking to branch out into more FLGS’es and would love to hear from anyone who would like to carry Untold, receive in-store demos of Untold, or both! But for those who can’t wait to get their hands on Untold – you can purchase directly from our website.

SS: Thanks Brannon, best of luck to you and the Wandering Men with Untold. It looks like it is already beginning to get some attention. I notice you’re sponsoring an upcoming convention?
BH: Thanks, Shawn! Yes, we are – we’ll be at KWAKCON this weekend (April 24-26) in lovely Kokomo, IN! We’ll also be Guests at Mobicon (May 15-17) and more than likely at Play-On Con and DragonCon – the jury’s still out on those last two.

Seems like a poster over on the F13 forums was told by a job recruitment type not to mention the fact that he plays MMOs. Supposedly, the recruiter told him that one of the employers he consults for specifically asked not to be sent people who play World of Warcraft.

According to the post:

I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I happened to mention I’d spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online games, which I described as “the ones before World of Warcraft” (I went nuts for EQ1, SWG and the start of WoW, but since 2006 I have only put a handful of days into MMOG playing – as opposed to discussing them – I’ve obsessed over bicycles and cycling instead).

He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc.

I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid WoW players.

For one thing, I can understand this on some level, but so what if it is a videogame? It could be a number of things that the person does when not at work that can lead to being a less than suitable employee. There is excessive drinking, whoring, knitting, dog training, working out, getting high all night, MMO grinding, reading into all hours of the night, clubbing, your kids myriad of different sporting events you have to attend, a TV marathon of “My Big Redneck Wedding”, the wife/husband/mother-in-law bitching and yelling all night, insomnia, chronic masturbation habits, just being a crap employee– a number of things can make a person less worthwhile on the job. Don’t just blame MMOs, and if you have hired a load of people who play these games for your company, that means you are an industry that appeals to gamer types any way so get used to it. It could just as easily be some multiplayer “shoot em up” on Xbox LIve that is keeping them up all night.

I understand productivity in the workplace, and as someone who comes from a managerial background, I have no need to know what an employee does when they are not at work. It is none of my business. I also know that (at least where I live) this could be considered discrimination in some respects and get you into some hot water. While people who do play online games have a tendency to stay up late grinding or raiding away into the night, not all gamers who play this genre are irresponsible louts who suck the clock at work. Granted, if a WoW player were slacking off at work because they were too tired to work, yes, I would probably fire them if they kept it up. But the same goes for anyone, not just an MMO player. Not all MMO players will be too tired to work and to generalize a particular person such as this recruitment customer has is just the wrong thing to do. It’s like saying that all beer drinkers are rednecks, all fat people are lazy, and all women suck at math– it is borderline stereotypical. If this guy has had back luck in the past with MMO players, I feel bad for him, but he should not take his prejudice out on the rest of us.

Video games are full of colorful characters from speedy blue hedgehogs to scientists who know their way around a rocket launcher. That doesn’t mean games are without their stereotypes though, and I’m not talking about the fact that every gritty shooter needs at least one black soldier ready to blast some hip-hop music at any given opportunity. No, I’m talking about the overweight individuals who packed on a few pounds and then decided that was reason enough to get in everyone’s way somehow. When it comes to those portly video game characters that aren’t plumbers sporting red overalls, most of them just tend to be plain old bastards. Here are six of the biggest fat bastards in gaming that I could think of.

6) Wart (Super Mario Bros. 2)

Wart’s gastrointestinal fortitude is especially ridiculous when you consider his situation. The man (er, frog) lives in an obstacle course world full of vegetables. He is quite literally surrounded by health food and exercise equipment, but somehow he managed to maintain a bulge that he displays proudly through an open robe. It takes a special amount of effort and creativity to reach that size when there’s nothing unhealthy in sight. The only source of meat I could see in that whole world was maybe the Snifits, so he must’ve been gobbling those guys up like popcorn. Plus, he’s the final boss in the game, who fights you by vomiting his last meal all over you. Besides which, he basically enslaved a whole race of little fairy people. That’s like walking into a kindergarten and declaring yourself king. Even Bowser just stuck to simple princess nabbing.

5) E. Honda (Street Fighter series)

E. Honda is a sumo wrestler, so his girth can be excused as part of his profession. Still, there’s one aspect of his fighting style that secures him squarely as a bastard.

I remember being a young boy and sitting down with some of my friends to play a round of Street Fighter II. All was going well as we pummeled each other using different characters, as all healthy young minds tend to do. Then someone decided to play as E. Honda, and we all watched in horror as the man proceeded to grab Chun-Li and repeatedly hump her, grunting in satisfaction as he did so.

As it happened, this turn out to be the finishing blow, so once E. Honda was “finished,” he released her, stood above her comatose body, and raised his arms in victory. Even as young children, something about this seemed, well, wrong.

Maybe all he was doing was giving his opponent some very enthusiastic hugs, but that still translates as two sprites bumping together in rhythm, which is a hard visual to pass off as innocent. Besides which, if part of your repertoire as a fighter is to pick up your opponent and thrust them into your torso several times, then you seriously need to re-examine your life.

4) Bo’ Rai Cho (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance)

Bo’ Rai Cho didn’t show up in Mortal Kombat continuity until Deadly Alliance, but he has apparently trained many of the series more famous characters, like Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Given his skillset though, you have to wonder just what those training sessions were really like.

E. Honda had one humiliating move to use against his opponents. Bo’ Rai Cho had two: the “Puke Puddle” and the “Flaming Fart” fatality, both of which were pretty self-explanatory. Using his mighty “Puke Puddle” move, Bo’ Rai Cho would projectile vomit all over the floor in front of him, leaving a wet spot for his opponents to slip on.

I guess you have to commend him for incorporating bulimia into a fighting style. And then there’s the “Flaming Fart” fatality, where he reduces an opponent to charred remains by igniting his flatulence — lending even more credence to my theory that this character was developed by some Midway exec’s 12 year-old son. It’s not enough that he just beat a man half to death; he still has to rub it in by literally delivering the final blow out his back door. That is one skilled bastard.

3) Dr. Light (Mega Man series)

Dr. Light is one of the most wholesome good guys in the history of gaming. With a name like that, you pretty much have to be. Because of his robotic creations, he’s basically responsible for the peaceful utopia that the Mega Man games take place in (until Dr. Wily comes in to mess everything up, that is). And to top it all off, he looks like Santa Claus in a lab coat. But look closer, and you’ll find at least a couple reasons that this jolly old man is actually quite the bastard.

Sure, he’s the first to respond when some robots with bizarre skills start tearing up the town, but what’s his typical game plan? Send the little kid robot out to take care of it. Yes that robot is Mega Man, who comes armed with a Megabuster and the ability to copy other robots’ weapons, but is that still the best he can come up with in a time of crisis? He created an entire civilization of intelligent robots, but he can’t conjure up a mechanical T-Rex with a rocket launcher or something? And besides that, he always teleports Mega Man to an area where he has to fight through hordes of enemies just to reach the main boss controlling them all. Couldn’t he save everyone a lot of trouble by just teleporting Mega Man to the robot master’s front door, seeing as people are dying by the minute and all?

Image via VGCats

Say what you want about his rival, Dr. Wily, but at least that guy ate healthy and threw everything he had into his endeavors (even if his plans usually involved world domination).

Oh yeah, and Dr. Light’s creations eventually lead to the end of humanity. Did you ever wonder why there were no human characters in the Mega Man X series? Probably because the robots eventually took over and replaced the human race entirely. I’m sure the calculation in their CPUs went something like this: ROBOTS MUST END WAR. HUMANS CAUSE WAR. ROBOTS MUST END HUMANS. Hey, thanks for causing the apocalypse, Dr. Light!

2) Every Single King You Rescue (Super Mario Bros. 3)

Those kings always bugged me. For one, I knew from the start that I wasn’t really out to save them; I was out to save the Princess (which also begs the question, just which one of them was her real father?). For another, they never really seemed grateful enough to me, even though I’d single-handedly rid their kingdom of enemies, taken down an airship with nothing more than boots and a moustache, and transformed them back to human form. After all that, their only response was really, “Oh, thank you. Here’s your mail. Now begone!” Then they’d usher you out the door to continue on your quest to save Princess Peach and that was that.

This always left me thinking, Huh? You’re ruler of a whole nation! Sure that nation may be made up of snow or giants, but you can’t spare maybe a mushroom for me to save your own freakin’ daughter? Bastards. I should’ve just left you as a dog and taken the whole kingdom for myself.

1) Rufus (Street Fighter IV)

To be honest, Rufus was the inspiration for this list, and that may have something to with the fact that he’s the one video game character who most resembles Fat Bastard from the Austin Powers films. It should probably be no surprise then that he tops all the other fat bastards before him. Look at him. I mean, just look at him and try to imagine what sort of life decisions could have led a man to don a tight, yellow suit, shave his hair into a single braided ponytail, and take up street fighting as a profession. It’s even more absurd when you find out that his backstory involves him seriously declaring himself the greatest American fighter and taking on Ken as a rival, all presumably for poops ‘n’ giggles.

All these reasons more than earn Rufus a spot on this list, but there’s one little detail that shoots him straight up to number one. Two words: “crotch fuzz.”

Seriously, what else could that be creeping up from his belt line? It would be disturbing enough for him to have this on display, but did he actually style it into an arrow? So it’s not just a matter or him forgetting to zip up his plus-sized suit; he really just wants to show off what he’s got growing down there. Thanks, Rufus. You’ve brought unnecessary pubic foliage to our gaming consoles — or you will soon — and for that, you are one helluva fat bastard.

Yesterday, Jonathan let you all in on the weird and not very secretly coded message plastered across a teaser site for Metal Gear Solid. The last code is mostly likely the power button for a PC–at least that is what the symbol on my power button looks like, but it also looks like the one for the Xbox 360. Then again, if you looks at the codes closely, you would also see other gaming symbols that looks very familiar to you. Therefore, one might think that the “i” is for the Wii, and the “!” is for the Xbox 360 and the last one is for the PC.  Yet, the Wii most likely would not be able to handle an exact port of Metal Gear Solid 4, therefore I personally think this had to do with the Xbox 360 and PC only.

So, if my deductive reasoning (and upon further investigation-most of the internet) is correct, MGS4 will no longer be a PS3 exclusive in the near future. That, or all the old Metal Gear Solid games will be heading to other formats–but it is best not to think on this too hard and instead focus on the obvious.

All of the speculation from yesterday is getting even more heightened today, with people chatting on all sorts of forums, but if you look back on the actual beginnings of these rumors, the teaser site just makes perfect sense.

First off, back in January of this year, Steve told you all about a site claiming to have spoken to an “anonymous Konami rep” who stated that an Xbox 360 version of MGS4 would be heading to the console in 2009. Then, back in October, Kotaku reported that a Japanese site spoke to a Konami rep who said that the company was currently looking into a port for the Xbox 360, only to have that information changed to “we are going multiplatform from here on out”.  Then, again in October, John Schapper (the head of Xbox Live) told MCV that he would love to see MGS4 come to the Xbox 360 and it could handle it very well despite Kojima telling Eurogamer it would not work because “MGS4 was optimized for the PS3 [and] it is probably not possible”.

Kojima has stated he wishes he had just released the Metal Gear games for the PC only so that the “other” console questions would have never plagued him. Therefore, it is quite possible that the PC is the system getting the MGS4 instead of the Xbox 360. The thought of the Wii getting the game, like I mentioned above, is just not really feasible unless they redid the game completely for the console.

Either way, Konami is doing a great job of getting people talking and creating even more hype for their game, which in the long run is great for sales. If MGS4 does indeed go cross platform, it will be another nail in the coffin for exclusivity on gaming consoles. Over the past two years, we have seen a major reduction in exclusive “hot” titles. Sony is doing their best with games like Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, Heavenly Sword and the upcoming God of War III, and Microsoft itself has always done well with titles like Fable 1 and 2, the Halo series and both Gears of War games. Nintendo always has its exclusives too, but with series like Final Fantasy going multiplatform and the possibility of the Metal Gear series doing the same, those days may soon be over with. At least the PC still has exclusives, but in the long run, it is always best for gamers to have as many options as possible–therefore, MGS4 going multiplatform would be a great thing indeed.

Hopefully all of the arguing, denials, hype, sepculation and teasing will soon be over, but I personally would not look for Konami to announce anything until the beginning of next year, the year that the Xbox 360 port is reportedly suppose to arrive. Just keep an open mind, because not only could it be a PC announcemnt, it coule be something entirely different as well—and you have to admit that Konami is very adept at running the hype machine.