These are all questions based on the finales of various video games, past and present. Some are silly; some are genuine. I set up the quiz so that you’re given the spoiler and you have to come up with the corresponding game. The answers are all multiple choice, but, yes, you may find items that you didn’t want to know. These are spoilers, after all. For example:

They were all real people, and they’re all dead.

One of the old gang has let wealth and power go to his head.

The pirate is the princess.

The one-time super-hero idol is actually in league with the main baddie.

Since custom Buzz quizzes are limited to eight questions, I had enough material for three of them. You can find them by searching for “finale spoiler,” as they are all titled “Game Finale Spoiler Quiz.” For those of you who do not have Buzz Quiz TV, you can go to mybuzzquiz.com, search for “finale spoiler,” and play them from the comfort and safety of your web browser. (In either case, the ones created by user “StocDred” are the real deal.) Pretty classy move on the Buzz people’s part, I say.

Most of the localization problems are in the end credits. The titles of those who spent so much time working on the title are often spelled incorrectly. Letters are transposed all over the place. You know, these are all careless errors. If I spotted them reading credits that are generally just a list of Japanese names, anyone at Konami could have.

Worst of all is the new recorded dialog. It’s clear they spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to translate the famous exchange between Richter Belmont and Dracula which is best known to Anglophones by the famously terrible line, “What is a man? A miserable pile of secrets!” This conversation takes place at the end of Rondo of Blood and the beginning of Symphony of the Night, as the two games share a stage as a kind of memory refresher. The voice acting is improved, but the translation is really no better than the original Symphony of the Night’s. Well, maybe it’s a little better. The copy of Symphony of the Night in Dracula X Chronicles is supposed to have the new voices, but I haven’t played it yet.

Before:

Richter: Die monster. You don’t belong in this world!

Dracula: It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by humans who wish to pay me tribute.

Richter: Tribute!?! You steal men’s souls and make them your slaves!

Dracula: Perhaps the same could be said of all religions…

Richter: Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you!

Dracula: What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets. But enough talk… Have at you!

After:

Dracula: Belmont. Son of Belmont. I’ve been waiting for you.

Richter: Dracula. Die now, and leave this world. You’ll never belong here!

Dracula: Oh, but this world invited me. Your own kind called me forth with praise and tribute.

Richter: Tribute? You’re a thief. You steal men’s souls, their freedom…

Dracula: Freedom is always sacrified to faith, good hunter. Or are you truly here by choice?

Richter: All I’m here for is you. To hell with your heresy! You’re nothing but a blight on mankind.

Dracula: Ha! Mankind. A cesspit of hatred and lies. Fight for them then, and die for their sins.

The creators of Little Big Planet state that you can create almost anything using the tools that the game provides. So I took them up on the challenge and tried to build a refrigerator for my little Sackboy to run through. Five hours later I was progressing to the third level of my frig and I was loving it! The array of tools that Media Molecule is giving people to play with is very extensive, even for a beta. Once I had unlocked and learned how to use each tool I began to brainstorm about what kind of objects I could create, and how those could be used in the levels I was creating. I have about a million ideas in my head of cool stuff that I could make, but at the end of the day there is just not enough time to do them all.

Object creation is easy to get into, but at times tricky to master. You can do everything free form with the joystick or you can call up three different sizes of grids which allow for more precise control. The grids are nice, but when using them with certain objects the game slows down to single digit frame rates. Once you have created an object you can then use the object capture tool and store it for later use. You can also give away your objects to people who play your levels. This feature is one that I truly love. The ability to build up a huge library of objects over time will help those who are less skilled at the creation aspect, let’s just hope that people are not too stingy with the goods.

Ok…back to the refrigerator. It does take a while to make a complicated level. I must have gone back and tweaked my level over 100 times. It’s easy to make a level that you alone can play, but it’s also easy to forget that more then one person may play through your level at once. I do hope that in the final game that you can sort by how many players a map is designed for, this would be a big help for people who want to create single player experiences. Once the level is done you then just simply publish it. This allows everyone in the LBP world to play your creation. The game will keep track of how many people have played it, how many times it was added as a favorite, and you can even leave comments for the creator. So all in all it’s a very deep online system for sharing your creations. I hope the servers will be able to keep up, as the beta servers have already melted down twice. I had to take an extended break while they fixed these issues. In the meantime my brain went nuts trying to think of more things to create. Let’s just call it LBP syndrome. Once the servers finally returned I published, and then went about getting feedback on how to balance the level better from friends who are also in the beta. From conception to completion it took me about two days and a half to complete the level. I imagine that since I now know how to use the tools better future levels will take less time and effort. Then I can get some more sleep!

Another amazing aspect of Little Big Planet is the sheer amount of polish and work that has gone into creating the game world. Everything from the voiceovers to menus has been crafted to make the experience amazing. The voiceovers in particular are great. They are done, I assume, by the same man who did the humorous narration of Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy. They are very funny and lend a great mood and feel to the game. The game is presented so well it is really hard to put it all in to words, but trust me it’s really really good!

If there is a weakness to the game it is that the online play can be a bit frustrating since it seems almost no one on PSN has a headset. You sometimes need to communicate things to people in your party, but without a headset you have to spend a lot of time typing, which is just dumb. Sony should feel really stupid for not including some type of headset with every PS3 purchased. This is by far my biggest gripe with the game. There are other small things such as a camera that goes to far out sometimes, and the random bugs of creation, but being a beta I can deal with those.

I think Sony may finally have a title that they can truly call a killer app, since they have none out at the moment. Little Big Planet is cute, but not so cute that it can’t be enjoyed by the hardcore Garry’s Mod gamer out there. I can’t wait to get hold of the full release and see what features they left out of the beta.

If you have the beta as well feel free to check out and play the levels I have created so far. Below are their names.

The Refrigerator V2
Election
Object Creation Station

Tecmo’s enhanced Wiimake of the PS2 Rygar title, renamed Battle of Argus, caught my attention some time ago as a fan of the original version of the game from like what, twenty years ago? Just as we were starting to wonder where the game went, here it is.

Check out the newly-designed player character model, head below for footage of the original PS2 game when you’re done. It’s an interesting before-and-after.

I’ve been so busy doing “important” stuff for the past week that I’ve missed a lot of great things. Lucking, Fourhman was here to point out that Nintendo had announced Sin & Punishment 2. The trailer doesn’t mention Treasure, but there’s really no mistaking the style here. They made the original, and you can see their fingerprint all over this beauty as well. Unlike Fourhman, I do enjoy the surcharge-tastic import Sin & Punishment on Virtual Console, and I recall wishing the targeting reticle on there could be controlled by the Wii Remote. This looks like a wish granted. Now if only they could bundle the original on the disc with IR pointer functionality plugged in, we’ll be set.

One of the great things about gaming is when you get a chance to dust off an old gaming classic, to play it anew.  It is a hard thing to explain to some people, when you talk about the greatness of X-COM, or the devilishly clever puzzles of a King’s Quest game, because a lot of younger gamers focus on the presentation of the game, rather than the entire embodiment of the game.  For those that grew up on the Atari and early PC gaming along with those other consoles of the 80’s, we had to get past the blocky graphics to find the charm of our games.

The only problem with trying to relive some of the great PC games of my youth is that it is either too difficult to get them to run on a machine today, or you have problems just trying to use the media.  If anyone can tell me the last time a computer shipped with a 5.25″ floppy, I will send you a cookie, but needless to say, it is difficult to get these old games up and running.  Well, a new service has arrived that hopes to change the face of playing those classics, Good Old Games, and it is brought to us by a game developer of all people.  Read along as you can see what the service is about and get a feeling over whether it might be something you want to try.

Good Old Games is all about providing a service for gamers to purchase older classic PC titles that may not run as well as they did in the past.  The goal of the service is to provide the game, with a full installer, and complete compatibility with XP or Vista.  Sorry Mac and Linux users, the service is still PC only as of this time.  You also get the title free of any DRM along with some extras, like soundtracks, wallpapers and manuals.

The Good Old Games service has been created by CD Projekt, the development team behind the RPG hit, The Witcher.  CD Projekt decided to roll out a service like this because they wanted to be able to play some of their favorite classic titles from long ago, but on current machines.  They have taken the time to assemble custom installers that install the game with one to two clicks, and have backed up the purchases with full tech support on the off chance you do run into issues playing the game.  Also, the games are fully patched to current levels, so you know you are playing the proper versions of the game.

Games currently are priced anywhere from $5.99 to $9.99, and include all the extra add-ons in that price.  The service is geared up to add new games every week to the service.  Purchasing the games is as simple as clicking on the purchase icon, and entering a few payment details.  The game is immediately added to your account, and you can download it an any of the extras right after purchase.  And standing with the philosophy of you being the owner of the content, you can download it as many times as you would like, and even burn the installers to disc.  They are DRM free after all.

With all that is going for the service, there are two huge problems that are limiting its true potential.  First problem is that only two companies are currently on-board with the service, Codemasters and Interplay, which means that the catalog is not as impressive as it could be with more companies.  The Fallout games and Giants: Citizen Kabuto are nice games to start off with, but without more substantial hits, we will be stuck with duds like Redneck Rampage and Messiah.  This problem leads into the second problem, which is getting publishers to sign on with the service.  It seems that a lot of publishers are interested, but do not like the no DRM model that GOG.com is using.  It looks like some convincing will have to be in order before I will be able to play Hard Hat Mack and Syndicate through this service.

All in all, the Good Old Games service was easy to use, and very well documented.  I purchased Fallout, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division and Giants: Citizen Kabuto.  Each downloaded very quickly, and installed without any issues.  All are running full screen and are full patched as advertised.  Also, it seems that fan patches will work with these as well, which is another great feature for gamers that like to mod their games with fan made patches.  More game publishers would make the service perfect, but as it stands, Good Old Games could be a major player for those games that no longer run well on our current operating systems.   If you are interested in trying the service, check it out at GOG.com, and let us know what you think in the comments.  I got to go as it is time for me to continue my trek through the wastelands of Southern California in Fallout.

Let’s have a look at where the franchise has been lately. There are dozens of Mega Man games now covering just about every genre from sports to RPG, but most of these are trash. Here’s how to know whether the Mega Man game you’ve got is a good one. If it’s in the original series, that is to say Mega Man through Mega Man 8, it will range from fantastic to pretty good… in fact, it will pretty much range that way in order. If it’s a Mega Man X game, those allegedy topped out at about X4, after which the quality plummeted, but that didn’t stop me from buying them. The Mega Man Zero games numbered four, those were all fantastic. I’ve heard good things about Mega Man Legends, which has gone by different names on different platforms, but everything else should simply be ignored.

Clockwise from top left, Tornado Man, Splash Woman, Leviathan, Harpuia. Images: Creative Uncut

Getting back to 2008, Capcom’s listened to years of begging for a Mega Man 9. They placed the Inti Creates team, who developed the Mega Man Zero series, at the controls, and it shows. In what can only be interpreted as a nod to the original Zero game, there is for the first time ever for the original Mega Man a “female” robot master… a robot mistress, if you will, named Splash Woman. Those who played Zero will recall one of the four masters in that game was also female, and she was also a water boss, named Leviathan. Another nod in that direction is Tornado Man, who looks like Harpuia, the green wind-based boss from Zero.

While the Mega Man games gradually became easier, particularly to those who played the first three, Mega Man 9 returns to the cruel challenge level of the originals. It has that unique feel that old games like this have: it’s so damn hard when you first play it that you’ll wonder why you’re doing this to yourself, but when you master a level enough to reach the boss, you’ve created muscle memory for the stage, and it suddenly becomes a breeze. Ten years from now you could come back to the game and blow through it in an hour.

Fortunately for those of us who have begun to create that muscle memory, mastering the game is only the first part. Capcom’s team has packed so much bonus content into the game that it’s sure to keep you occupied far longer than any of the first eight Mega Man games. There are achievement-style “challenges” to accomplish, some of which you’ll hit very quickly and others you’ll only dream of. There’s even downloadable content, accessible from directly within the game (even on the WiiWare version!) for just a few dollars per piece. Among these you’ll find harder difficulty levels, a new challenge mode, and even the ability to play as Proto Man, Mega Man’s red-clad whistle-blowing brother, complete with his shield. A shield in a Mega Man game? Go play Zero.

Having played the game now on WiiWare and PS3, I have more to report on the differences than I’ve seen in other outlets. While the visuals are different (the WiiWare version fills the screen better and looks a little bit sharper because it’s not upscaled) the real difference is the controller. The DualShock 3 is a more comfortable controller to use to play this game. Holding the Wii Remote sideways like an NES controller is appealing, but it’s simply too fat to accurately simulate that feel. If you’ve got one of those Gamecube to NES controller adapters, this may be the time to break that out. Also, the larger, shallower buttons on the Dualshock 3 just feel more responsive when pushed.

I’ll be back with more impressions of these games as I progress through the game.

In a recent podcast, we talked about games that had made a dramatic emotional impression on us. We each picked a game and talked about how it really made us feel something serious. I mentioned Final Fantasy IV’s scene where the young twins Palom and Porom sacrifice their lives without an instant’s hesitation to save the rest of the party. Fourhman talked about how the three games in iNis’ Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents series each have a very sad episode in them. Ouendan has a story about a man whose girlfriend is mourning his death in a motorcycle accident. Ouendan 2 has one where a figure skater is killed by a car and her friend has to go on to compete without her. Elite Beat Agents has the one mentioned above in this comic from Three Panel Soul, called “On the Perfect Gift.” A man goes out on Christmas Eve and dies in a car accident, leaving his wife and small daughter to pick up the pieces as the anniversary of his death, and Christmas, approaches a year later.

The comic, which was published a year ago last February, shows the three agents in Elite Beat Agents taking up their issue with the assignment after the fact with their commanding officer. So, it’s contemporary to the game’s release, but this is the first time I’ve seen it.

Source: Three Panel Soul

This month we only have the standard logo for our Xbox 360 article, but if you have any good looking 360 mods that you want to show off to the world, send them in and we will make sure to use them in our monthly Ones to Watch 360 article.  And with that we move on to the releases.

Mega Man 9 - Easily one of the most difficult games to come out in recent memory, Mega Man 9 takes the player back to a simpler time in gaming when graphics were secondary, and the challenge of victory was all that mattered.  Mega Man 9 combines extremely hard difficulty levels, along with old school 8 bit graphics to give the player the sense of playing a game on their original NES console.  The game is authentic down to the point of including game bugs purposely to recreate the feel of the old console favorites.  Some may find the game just to be far too difficult to beat, but for those that are looking for a challenge, you need go no further than this title.  Mega Man 9 is currently out on the Xbox Marketplace.

NBA 2K9 - NBA 2K9 is one of two basketball games that is coming out out this month on the 360.  Some of the new features that are gracing the 2K9 release include a Living roster feature, which will update the rosters of the game on a daily basis, looking at things like hot and cold streaks, scoring an many other patterns.  Some may find this to be a bit too much, but the sport franchises are getting to a point where the art is really coming close to imitating real life with features like this.  Also look for new animations to come with these updates to provide fresh new looks to the game on a regular basis.  Online play, including full 5 on 5 round out NBA 2K9’s feature set.  Look for the game on shelves October 7th.

NBA Live 09 - Electronic Arts returns to the basketball arena with a new engine and lots of new features including daily updates to the game that are put together by a team of statisticians.  These updates will provide players with an up to date basketball experience that will model the real life game.  A player on your team ends up with a season ending surgery -  it might be time to move to a new team.  The graphics are really looking top notch this time around, and we no longer have the oily sheen that last year’s sweat mechanics caused on each of the players.  Online play is here also with full 5 on 5 game play and the ability to put together tournaments.  Look for NBA Live 09 on shelves on October 7th.

Fracture - Lucasarts is bringing their Force physics back to planet Earth in their terrain deforming shooter, Fracture.  The game places you in the middle of a conflict between the Atlantic Alliance, which relies on cybernetic enhancements to do battle, while the Republic of Pacifica, who looks to genetic enhancements as a way to fight the opposition.  The two sides wage battle by terrain deformation, using the environment as a weapon.  Use landslides, earthquakes and other features of the terrain to kill your opponents, while moving the story of Jeff Brody, your character, along.  While the game has a lot of promise, there is a lot of conflict over whether this game will live up to the early hype that it received back in 2007.  Look for Fracture on shelves October 7th, 2008.

Saints Row 2 - Saints Row 2 takes the formula that worked perfectly in the first game and kicks it up several notches by adding full co-op campaign support, brand new environments for your character to visit and a ton of new character customizations.  Volition has also put a lot of fun items in the game to give it a light hearted feel that departs from the somewhat serious story that was in its competitor, GTA IV.  Rolling around the city in a hot dog suit, while dropping shells on a rival gang is quite hysterical.  Some might be a little burned out on the whole gang styled sandbox environments, and beyond the co-op, not much has been said about the multiplayer, which was the stand out feature of the first game.  Look for Saints Row 2 on October 14th.

Dead Space - Dead Space is looking to reinvent the survival horror genre by moving into space, and adding a unique mechanic called strategic dismemberment.  The game features a rather engrossing storyline, and clean interface that never seems to get in the way of what the game is trying to present to you.  The game also is looking to mix in new mechanics, like zero gravity environments and creatures that look like something that has evolved out of the mutation of humanity.  No multiplayer is to be found in this, so the story is going to have to be top notch to make up for that short fall.  Also, some have come to call it Bioshock in space, so it does have some pedigree to overcome to prove itself.  Look for Dead Space on October 14th.

Golden Axe - The Sega classic is back and in style with all new graphics and a new storyline as well.  The gameplay that you all love and remember is still there, with your character hacking and slashing their way through the game, while using some magic to bolster their fighting prowess.  You do have a dragon that you can use in the game, and it will reign fire down upon the enemy.  The game does remind me of some of the recent hank and slash games that are out there on the market, but I have to wonder if it will really get past the fact that there is no co-op play, and no multiplayer modes to speak of whatsoever.  Not a huge deal if the single player story and action is strong, but it does take away from the two-player fun of the original.  Look for Golden Axe on October 14th.

Fable II - Peter Molyneux unleashes this next opus in the Fable series, uniquely titled Fable II.  This time around, Fable II looks to capture the allure of the first game, while improving on the nuiances of the game.  Features that were missing in the first go around, have been implemented, and polished.  New to the game is the ability to marry, have children and many other social aspects that were missing from the first Fable.  Fable II also offers the player the chance to own a dog, that can help him with quests and to finding items.  Recently, it was announced that online co-op would not be in the release version of the game which might upset some gamers.  The option may be patched back into the game on the day of Fable II’s release, but it is not guaranteed.  Look for Fable II on October 21st.

Midnight Club: Los Angeles - It may of just been me, but I really did not get into the last version of Midnight Club, mostly because I just did not like the style of the game, and the driving mechanics seemed way off.  Rockstar went back to the drawing board and are ready to release Midnight Club: Los Angeles upon the gaming world.  This time around, we have a solid story, and one city to focus on, complete with real streets, and lots of real world Los Angeles landmarks to help you get around the city.  Car and motorcycle racing is available here, and the game just looks amazing.  I am still unsure about the multiplayer in the game as it has looked a little unstable at times, but there has been some time to fix it.  Look for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on October 20th.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - Spider-Man swings onto our 360 again, and this time he is going to do it in a game that looks like it might not suck.  This time around, the story allows for you to play as a good guy or as a villian, and introduces a new combat system that looks to make you feel like a superhero.  Your fighting is based on stringing together combos, while transitioning from one enemy to another.  It sounds average on paper, but watching it in practice shows off all the great moves and combos that can be performed by our hero.  The story is supposedly written by some of the writers at Marvel Comics, so this should help lend some autheticity to the storyline.  Spider-Man games have always been filled with promise and expectations only to let down when they are released.  Lets hope this time we have a game worthy of the title.  Look for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows on October 21th.

Far Cry 2 - We finally are getting another Far Cry, but this game has no ties whatsoever to the previous installment of the game.  No tropical island, no Trigens and no convoluted story placing you in the middle of the action.  This time around Far Cry 2 takes you to the plains of Africa, where you are a mercenary for hire, along with several others that work with you, taking missions from the rival, warring factions.  Far Cry 2 looks to bathe the user in a level of immersion rarely found in a FPS, including weapon wearing, full day/night cycling, wounds that require the player to stop and heal them and even some vehicle combat.  All these features are great, but they may alienate the standard FPS player that just wants to run and gun.  Look for Far Cry 2 on October 21st.

Legendary - Looking for an FPS that forgoes the standard shoot ‘em up plot, and instead uses some ancient greek mythology to bring about the end of the modern world?  Well, Legendary is probably your ticket to fun.  You play Deckard, a prestigeous art thief that has been hired to steal a ornate jeweled box from a museum.  Deckard’s curiousity gets the best of him and he opens the box, not realizing that it is actually Pandora’s box, and with its opening, creatures are released upon the world to shepherd in the destruction of the world.  Unique to the game is its character deformation technology that shows creatures slowly being deformed by the weapons thay are being attacked with.  Also, they use random attack patterns to escape damage, which is a lot of fun to watch.  Look for Legendary on October 21st.

Fallout 3 - After a 10 year hiatus from the title and the rights of the series transfering from Interplay to Bethesda, we finally have a Fallout sequel.  Many have followed the development of the game, being that it has two beloved games that came out before it in the first two Fallout titles.  Fallout 3 is a radical shift from the first two titles, as it is played from a third person, over the shoulder perspective, and is in real time, not turned based combat.  Story has consumed Bethesda, trying to recapture the feel of the Fallout universe, while putting their own unique spin on the title.  Trying to balance the expectations of the original Fallout players, with new fans of the series will be tough to do, but so far it is looking quite promising.  Look for Fallout 3 on shelves October 28th.

Guitar Hero World Tour - After numerous sneek peaks and previews, the new experiment in the Guitar Hero universe has arrived, and it looks to attack at the jugular of its competition, Rock Band 2.  Packing in a ton of solid tracks, while adding new features like a complete music studio to create your own music tracks, there will be something for everyone in this title.  Easily the biggest draw for this title will be having the hard to get artists like Jimi Hendrix and The Eagles, which have always been difficult to sign for a game like this.  About the only downside that the game has right now is a bit of me too fatigue from those that may already have Rock Band 2.  But with a better track record with its instruments, Activision may have the game to beat this winter.  Look for Guitar Hero World Tour on October 26th.

Whew, that was a lot of typing this month.  Along with the above mentioned titles there are a few more that I can’t say I have enough of an opinion on like MotoGP and FIFA 09, because I have not really followed either on the 360.  Also, for those that were waiting for the instruments, the Rock Band 2 Deluxe pack will be available this month as well.  Look for it to run about $189.99 at most outlets.  Tune in next month for the November edition, when we will probably have even more titles to choose from.  Man is it a good time to be a gamer, and a sad time to be broke.