Ask CVG Anything does exactly what it says on the tin. We ask followers on the CVG Facebook page and forums to send in their best game-related questions, and do our best to answer them.
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Are there any mobile games you'd personally love to see ported to consoles so that you could enjoy the experience more with a controller? - dwhlufc
Rob - Err, actually no. Most mobile games developers are pretty good at fixing games to touch screen devices.
Shaun - I agree with Rob - the only mobile games I've loved have been bespoke mobile games that would lose something in the translation to console.
Mike - Tough question to answer since most of my favourite mobile games are my favourite because they really suit the mobile platform. But I'd love to play Dodonpachi Maximum in 1080p with a chest-pounding sound system.
Chris - What Rob says. Most of the mobile games I like are great because they work with the limitations of the device - they realise some genres don't work well without buttons and as such they focus on other types of game. That's why there are barely any good mobile-exclusive platformers.
On short then, the mobile games I like should probably stay on mobile, because the only other systems they'd work well enough on are the 3DS, Vita or Wii U because of their touch screens. That said, Angry Birds Trilogy did work well with Xbox 360 analogue sticks (even though it was grossly overpriced and should have been an XBLA game).
Tamoor - I very rarely play mobile iterations of franchises I love. I know that a few Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy games have been released in Japan on mobile devices, but they've since been re-released as proper handheld/console titles. Do DS games count? I'd really like a Wii U version of The World Ends With You.
I loved the "Strike" games when I was growing up (Desert, Jungle, Urban and especially Soviet Strike on the Sega Saturn), and I would love to see these get the HD treatment or even remade. What series would you like to see given an upgrade? PS - Given your industry contacts, can you make the strike games thing happen? Ya know, coz you're all awesome and junk? - phate666
Rob - Yeah I remember people used to love that series! I'll ask EA for you.
Tamoor - I haven't played any of these. Should I?
Chris - Yes Tamoor, you should. Without a doubt. They're amazing. Fun fact - the PlayStation game Future Cop: LAPD is actually the fifth Strike game, because it was originally called Future Strike. Anyway, going back to the question, I want an updated version of WWF No Mercy (the ultimate wrestling game) with updated graphics and today's wrestlers. If they can remake arcade nonsense like WWF Wrestlefest then surely 2K can chuck some money at Syn Sophia (formerly AKI, who developed No Mercy) and get it to do its magic?
Shaun - I'd love to see the King's Field games make a comeback. I know that Demon's / Dark Souls are considered extensions of that universe, but there was something very alienating about the barren landscapes in KF. In retrospect, the tech limitations of the PS1 - the hideous 3D baby steps - actually served to make the games even more horrifying. The world warped and flashed at the edges. It looked like a dark impressionist painting rendered by a 1990s computer graphics artist. Definitely needs to be reissued, especially with the Souls series' burgeoning popularity.
Mike - Digger T. Rock.
Just kidding. ;) I'd love to see a new Starfox game done right. It's one of my favourite games of all time, and the first two on Super NES and N64 were both technical masterpieces of their time. But since then, new entries have been limp. Namco's Star Fox: Assault was alright but has crap on-foot sections and could be defeated entirely in one sitting. Star Fox Adventures doesn't count and Star Fox Command wasn't that good at all. The thought of a proper, high-end, full-fat Star Fox game on Wii U gets me bouncing in my chair like a sugar-wasted five-year-old.
Chris - For the record, Digger T. Rock was the balls.
What's your favourite game sound effect? - TheLastDodo
Mike - As soon as I read this question my brain commenced a giant sound effect tournament. Mario going down a pipe in Super Mario World places high. I love the portal 'creation' sound in Portal. The enemy 'Alert' sound in Metal Gear Solid games. I've wasted hundreds of rockets in my life just to hear the fleshy explosion of a corpse in Quake 3 Arena. But the winner has to be the DD44 Dostovei in Goldeneye baby. Archives, twin DD44s, volume all the way up. All Day Every Day.
Chris - I predict numerous "Streets Of Rage" answers. The weird gulpy noise you get when you pick up an apple or chicken in Streets Of Rage is superb. Other than that, it's the completely unnecessary splat sound effect that plays when you start a new game of The Ring: Terror's Realm on the Dreamcast. You can hear it at 1:10 in this video. Keep watching beyond that for the worst voice acting you'll ever hear.
Rob - An amazing, amazing question! This is a really tough one. I love the sound the pistol makes in Half-Life 2; it's a really satisfying cracking sound. Pckk pckk pckk! Love it. And I adore the bubbly sound of a full-screen plasma blast in Ikaruga, which goes like brbrbrbrbbrbrbrbrb. And who can forget the synthy clapping sounds in Rez when you press fire. There's so many amazing, amazing sounds in games but my all-time favourite is the sound a pipe makes in Streets of Rage 2, which is all like phwedong!
Tamoor - I like the "AAAARRRRGGGGHHH" from Streets of Rage; the way Ryu says Tatsumaki Senpukyaku in Street Fighter 2; the sound of firing a SOCOM without a suppressor in Metal Gear Solid; the noise when you run into a blue sphere in the Sonic 3 bonus stage; "Kupo" from Final Fantasy, when the announcer shoutes "INFINITY" or "X" in Marvel Super Heroes; and when Dr Doom shouts "FOOT DIVE" in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Plus the sound of the Desert Eagle in Counterstrike.
Shaun - That chiming menu tone found in a lot of JRPGs. So much of my love for JRPGs come from aspects peripheral to actual gameplay: the colours and sounds.
People freely criticise year-on-year instalments, yet past games like Alan Wake and Gran Turismo 5 were in development for very long periods, several years nearly reaching decades, before disappointing many... Does keeping a game in the oven for such a great length make it any better? - hi0marc
Rob - This is a particularly tough question because long development periods can mean lots of things, good and bad. A game could be in the oven for years because there are financial problems at the studio, or the design plan has fallen through, or the development engine that was promised wasn't good enough, or the game has to switch platforms, or there's been an earthquake and loads of data has gone missing, or because the key staff have been dismissed for corporate espionage, or anything. But then again, it could be because the design team at Valve don't want to show off Half-Life 3 until it's of an exceptional standard. However, to answer your specific question - does extra time hurt games - I would say usually yes for a multitude of reasons, though there are exceptions.
Chris - I wouldn't say GT5 and Alan Wake disappointed many - most people I knew loved Alan Wake (as did I). Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: Colonial Marines would have been better suggestions, I reckon. Either way, nah, I don't think the length a game's in development is a reflection on how bad it ends up being.
Yes, sometimes games are delayed constantly because things are going wrong and when they're eventually released it shows, but often games get massive delays which ultimately pay off. Ocarina Of Time was massively delayed after Miyamoto "upended the teatable" and wanted a complete revamp. Also look at some games that were more than five years in development - Fallout 3, Resi 4, Shenmue - and ended up being great. The much-loved Team Fortress 2 was first announced in 1998, and wasn't released until 2007!
Tamoor - I liked Alan Wake! This is a tough question to answer, but I think the issue people have with yearly sequels is that they're very iterative, with negligible difference between new and previous instalments. Keeping games in the oven for long can help build a better initial product, if that's strong enough the yearly sequels capitalise. I'm not sure there's a direct link between long development cycles and better games, sometimes it works (Half-Life 2) and sometimes it isn't (Too Human).
Shenmue 3 - Don't stop believing or time to move on? - El Mag
Chris - I'll never stop believing. Every now and then I think "hmmm, I don't think this is ever going to happen" and then I see something like DuckTales getting a remake or a new GoldenEye (even though it was a bit pish) and I come to the conclusion that you can never say never in this industry. "Almost certainly never" is about as close as you can get, and I think that's where we're at just now with Shenmue. At the very least I'd hope HD versions of the first two would come to XBLA and PSN eventually.
Mike - Never ever stop. Even if believing in it is like believing in Never Never Land. Maybe, one day, someone with enough money and lunacy will cough up the dough. They'll send it to Sega in a giant Benjamin-filled box along with a death threat reading, "F*** this up and I will end you," written in the classic SEGA font.
That's the plan anyway. I'm playing the lottery as we speak.
Tamoor - Time to move on. Sega isn't in a position to make the investment Shemue 3 requires. It could license the IP out, but I don't see that happening.
Rob - Sega owns it, Sega can't afford to make it, no one thinks it will sell well enough to justify the expense, Sega won't sell it. It's categorically over.
There are many gaming introductions that give bad impressions to otherwise brilliant games. A few notables include Okami, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Heavy Rain, which put a damper on their prospects to be consistently enjoyable. Which video game intros or opening sequences do you find the most laborious and tedious to endure? - jdconspiracy
Rob - Think you nailed it with Metal Gear Solid 3; it's a fantastic game that starts so poorly.
Tamoor - What? I liked the openings of MGS3 and Okami. But to answer the question: Persona 4. It's an absolutely brilliant game, but the first three hours are spent getting familiar with characters and setting up the story. In gameplay terms this translates to press X to advance dialogue.
Chris - I quite liked the Heavy Rain opening to be honest. Not so much all the "Jason" rubbish, but the stuff at the house had a pace and mood I'd never seen before in a game. Maybe I'm just a boring person.
Other than the examples you've given, all of the Zelda games since Ocarina have painfully dull first opening hours in my opinion. They're obviously there to get newcomers used to the game but being taught for the umpteenth time how to Z-target someone is mind-numbing.
Shaun - Assassin's Creed 3's introduction turned me off the game. I couldn't endure it, especially the passage (spoilers?) where you're tasked with speaking to several different NPCs in the galley of that ship. Just get on with it!
Multiplayer: Generally, do you prefer co-op or competitive? - TheLastDodo
Tamoor - Both. I'll play Call of Duty/Counter-Strike/Street Fighter for hours, but I'm also down for some Earth Defense Force or Monster Hunter.
Mike - With the exception of Mario Kart, which I'd play competitively every day for life if I could, I prefer co-op. I lack the attention span to stay committed to a competitive game for longer than a couple of months. After that it just feels repetitive to me and I move on. Too many games, too little time. But if a game offers co-op, I always make sure I finish it that way (as well as in single-player) and co-op modes are the ones I go back to revisit the most.
Chris - Locally I prefer co-op, because I don't like people rubbing it in when I lose multiplayer games and I feel guilty when I win. Online though I prefer competitive because I hate voice chat and never use it (my dream console would be incompatible with any microphones whatsoever), making co-op tricky.
Shaun - Co-op by far.
Rob - Split screen co-op is still the most fun I have with video games. The Spec Ops missions in Modern Warfare 2 were incredible.
Given the issues with Gearbox and Sega being sued is there an argument for a regulatory body for the gaming industry? To hopefully put an end to false advertising such as bullshots, trailers and demos that are way off representing the actual end product. Or should the industry be left to clean up its own act? - jodders
Rob - Well, there's already an advertising standards authority and I think it's best that remains non-specific to any industry. With regards to bullshots and misleading trailers, I completely understand what you're saying, but would guess that about 100 per cent of all publishers, developers and PR teams try to paint as flattering a picture about games as possible - it's only when the game is rubbish that people complain. That's kind of why reviews exist.
Tamoor - I'm going to come at this from a different angle: I was excited for Aliens, but also wary of it due to 1) The lengthy, reportedly very messy development cycle 2) Gearbox's lack of care for anything that isn't Borderlands.
Based on those fears I didn't pre-order, I waited for reviews before making the plunge, and when it turned out to be a turd I backed away and spent my cash in better places. I think being a savvy consumer and video game enthusiast is generally is a good defence against situations like this.
I'm assuming the people that got burned by the misrepresentation are those that pre-ordered or didn't read reviews; of course, a lot of mainstream consumers are going to be part of the second category, which sucks.
Yes, it's totally dishonest of Gearbox to do something like that, but I think litigation like what it is currently going through is best positioned to keep things like this in check. I'm not sure an officially appointed body would be of any additional benefit.
Mike - A regulatory body dedicated to preventing bullshots and CG trailers in games? No. Every commercial company in the world will always do its best to show its product - its investment - under the best possible light, and usually that involves some really bright lights and some extra shiny polish. Does food EVER come out looking as good as the picture in the menu? Have any of those perfect-skinned actors and actresses in skincare commercials every really cured a face full of rampant acne with the product advertised? Deception is everywhere, and sure, that's a bad thing.
But instead of going irate about it, I think it's up to gamers, and consumers in general, to be shrewd enough to make intelligent and well-informed purchasing decisions. If you rush out to spend £50 on a game based entirely on a flashy TV ad, you're lacking due diligence. We live in the technical age of communication and information sharing. You have ample opportunity to find out what a game is really like before you make the plunge. And if it sucks, don't buy it. That'll send a message to the game companies. There could be no better regulatory body than a consumer base in the know.
Chris - I think there's something in my eye.
