December 29th, 2007 blasphemy
2007 is almost over and SDF can ultimately declare the PS3 as the clear winner. It has been a terrific year for the PS3 with games such as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Lair and many more… The PS3 success can also be thanked due to the horrific failure of the Wii and Xbox 360. The failures include Mario Galaxy, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Ninjabread Man, and the list can on and on. These failures made it pretty easy for the PS3 to dominate sales and hearts of true gamers.
From the chart above, it shows the PS3 on pace to beat out the Xbox 360 and soon the children’s Wii. Many idiotic fanboys have said that the PS3 is a failure, and this piece goes against what they have all been saying. So next time some stupid little girl says “The PS3 is the gayzor, just look at the salez” all you have to do is direct them to Sonydefenseforce.com and they will be pissing themselves a pool. With that said the SDF towers have scientifically used mathematically complex formulas and algorithms to piece our prediction for the PS3.
Posted in Industry News, Other Systems, Playstation 3 | 83 Comments »
December 17th, 2007 Hans
Never before have I seen a title of such great importance continue to fall from grace with each successive installment. We all have glowing memories of playing Mario 64 at a Toys R’ Us kiosk back when the revolutionary title released alongside the Nintendo 64 in ’96, but like Super Mario Sunshine before it, Mario Galaxy represents a significant regression for the franchise.
While other publications are being handsomely rewarded for their stellar reviews of Mario Galaxy courtesy of Iwata himself, Sony Defense Force is not paid or endorsed by any commercial interests. This is the only website where you will find genuine, unadulterated impressions of the year’s most hyped titles. Unfortunately, Mario Galaxy is marred with numerous gameplay decisions that ultimately have me questioning what Nintendo was doing for the years they spent developing the title.
One of the primary faults of the game deals with the simplistic gameplay. Mario Galaxy’s formula for game design can be summed up as follows:
1. Randomly place normal items (apples, jars, bugs) in outer space.
2. Have mario waggle his way from each small planetoid by either collecting one of five items, destroying all the enemies on the planet, or finding a way to unlock a star pad.
3. Eventually you will manage to waggle your way to the end planet, where you will have to perform some simplistic task in order to attain a star.
Repeat this process 120 times, and you have Mario Galaxy summed up quite well. While Mario 64 boasted of large, expansive environments, Galaxy mainly has Mario traversing the smallest land masses imaginable in a very linear fashion. After the first few stars, the average player will get tired of this repeated gameplay process. It must be noted that the game appears to be limited by last-gen hardware. The Wii/Gamecube just simply isn’t capable of rendering large, open environments in HD. Perhaps if Mario Galaxy were on the PS3, they’d be able to create a truly next-gen mario because Galaxy looks marginally upgraded from 64 which was released over 11 years ago.
Another flaw is that the combat mechanics are also in desperate need of revision. While games like Uncharted are making the combat an engaging experience, Mario Galaxy’s combat involves jumping on enemies heads or waggling your waggle-stick for a waggle-attack. Perhaps this would work well if the core gameplay itself was challenging or difficult; but it’s not. The game appears to be designed for a 4 year old. It’s easier than the original Mario on the NES.
Overall, to say Mario Galaxy is a disaster is an understatement. If you’re an easily amused child with a hard-on for nostalgia, pick up Mario Galaxy. Otherwise, if you’re an intelligent gamer that is interested in a real videogame experience, pick up a Playstation 3 and have a turn at Uncharted, easily this year’s best.
Posted in Other Systems, Reviews | 136 Comments »
December 12th, 2007 BennyB
Well it looks like Xbox 360′s savior of Japan turns out to be a dud. Early reports indicate the much hyped 360 exclusive JRPG, Lost Odyssey, has tanked in Japan with only ~60,000 copies sold so far and only an small boost to 360 hardware sales the same time period (~8,000).
Perhaps MS can make it’s money back porting it to PS3?
Posted in Industry News, Other Systems | 72 Comments »
