Matt’s Somewhat Serious Bit
I’ve not really been up to date with developments in the games industry this week, for which I apologise. However, a few events were big enough to appear on my radar, one of which I’d like to focus on for this week’s main bit.
There’s a chance that in all of the positive news surrounding the DS and Revolution this week that many of you missed the first details of the latest Bomberman game, which will be released on the Xbox 360 in Japan in the coming months. Xboxyde have been kind enough to post scans, which you can find here and here.
Looks a tad different, doesn’t it? I’m sure many of you who claim to be Bomberman fans are “outraged” and “all sorts of pissed off”, and probably think I am too. However, I’m not, because I can acknowledge why Hudson have decided on a drastic change of pace for their most established franchise.
Bomberman fans are a bunch of crybabies
You see, the games industry is driven by the bottom line. Abandon all those warm and fuzzy ideas you have about Nintendo making Mario and Zelda games because they like doing it – it’s because they love money - lots of money, and so does every other publisher and developer under the sun. Hudson Soft loves money, but money is something that hasn’t been making its way to the Japanese developer’s offices lately. While they’re behind the successful Mario Party series, you can bet Hudson has been doing that for a flat fee – Hudson’s in house software has been doing particularly poorly in the last decade.
Bomberman, which was once a big hitter as far as franchises go, has failed to make a significant splash either critically or commercially since the release of Bomberman 64, nearly 10 years ago. I’ve seen tons of people claiming to be outraged about this rather drastic change in appearance for the series, yet 90% of them probably haven’t played a game in the series since the 16-bit era. The fact of the matter is that it’s the gameplay that’s the problem with the series and not the appearance, and from the screenshots displayed in the article, it doesn’t look like the core game is going to receive an overhaul any time soon. It’s not the only re-imagining Bomberman will be receiving this year – the PSP game Bomberman Bakufuu Sentai Bombermen is taking on a rather creepy visual style, with the traditional Bomberman costume style on grown men.
Could Hudson have originally intended Bomberman to be like this?
Trying something new when a series is stale, and switching to the “darker, edgier” character when a series is still popular are like apples and oranges – I do not condone the dark Prince, Shadow the Hedgehog or any other character change in this style. I also do not approve of the “bad-ass” character type – surfing on bad guys and letting off one liners like an old age pensioner with bad gas is not “bad ass”; it’s cheesier than the state of Wisconsin. Will the change work for Hudson? Probably not, but it’s always fun watching the man-children have a bitch.
You know what really grinds my gears #4
James and the other blokes went to the EA Play event earlier this week – another one of those media/retailer events where the publisher shows another round of uninspired tripe to a bunch of dribbling morons, and fill them up with free booze so they can’t remember any of it. When he showed me some pictures of the event, I couldn’t help but notice a long-lasting trend amongst members of the so called “gaming media”.
They’re all a bunch of slobs.
Here we are in an industry in its infancy, with many pushing to try and get videogames recognised as a legitimate medium, up there with paintings, books and movies, and our representatives can’t even be bothered wearing a shirt and having a shave. How do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you can’t even practise basic human hygiene or dress like a professional?
Like any other piece of sensationalist media, I’ve been looking for a scapegoat. Are publishers to blame for not expecting the participants of these events to maintain a minimum standard of appearance? Are gamers to blame for being a bunch of sloppy man-children? What about established media outlets – surely Rupert would be on IGN’s arse to pick their act up? Is gaming involving enough to be considered a lifestyle, like that of a metal fan, and thus the appearance of writers is just a continuance that fan-like style of living?
Gaming is a form of entertainment and relaxation to many, and the lack of worry about appearance is an extension of that, but really, those of us who are meant to be professionals should really try to act that way. I guess that’s part of the problem – the gaming media is so laid back that there’s really no professionalism involved. This can be easily traced to the fact that many writers are just dribbling fanboys, the manliest of the man-children, who lose any measure of credibility when a PR rep dangles some free stuff in front of their nose. The industry as a whole needs a higher level of quality amongst its writers - it's no good just having a couple of good ones, and it’s so bloody hard to increase the standard, even among established writers when nobody is prepared to pay for your services.
So, yeah, at whatever events I attend this year, I’ll be the only guy in a shirt and pants (which will probably make it easy for certain sooky podcasters to carry out their threats of violence.).
Easy Mail
So, last edition I put out an open call for the readers to send me some questions, and despite 10,000 people reading the article, I got none. I guess nobody wants to be paid out publicly, so instead I’ll just post up a bunch of questions I made up.
Q: What’s with Brendan?
A: He’s a Joss Whedon fan.
Q: What’s with all of the cheap shots at other staff members?
A: I’m lazy, and they’re all so freaky that one doesn’t even need to try to get a good shot in.
Q: Do you think Rare should do Battletoads for Xbox 360?
A: Here are three undisputable facts of life;
1) Humans need oxygen to breathe.
2) The sun will rise tomorrow.
3) Battletoads is shit.
Q: Where’s all of the decent Easy Mode material?
A: Being saved for podcasts.
Q: Will you do my tax return?
A: No.
Send your real Easy Mail questions to matt@palgn.com.au so I don't have to fail miserably at being funny (yet again).
The views expressed in Easy Mode are those of Matt Keller. His opinions are not shared by PALGN, its staff, advertisers or affiliates.
Well for the ladies anyway.
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