Pictured above: Money Grubbing Whore

When I first saw the "Monthly Musing" for October, I thought long and hard what possibly could scare me. With such good topics appearing such as The FEAR: Ravenholm and The FEAR: Addiction, I knew that I couldn't put out an overused idea. So what is my fear for video games? Well, like most people, my fear started out as a general fear and grew to acceptance. My fear is of course about ruined video game franchises. I like to refer to this phenomenon as the George Lucas Effect.

Why the George Lucas Effect? Let me list the reasons:

1. I hate him. He is one of the worst writers and directors to date. The only reason his stuff is well done is because his actors improvise. George Lucas has only made three good things: Star Wars 4-6, Indiana Jones 1-3, and American Graffiti. He has great ideas but can't seem to put pen to paper.

2. Since he has only made three good things. He has chosen to take him money and run with it, and loves to never expand and to keep churning that money mill. Face it fans, you can hope for Star Wars to pick back up, but it wont and never will.

3. I've been meaning to talk about how much he sucks and this was the perfect chance to do it.

My first disappointment came with Halo 2. Now before I am shot in the head by a Bungie board member, I just want to say that the past two Halo games have had quite a disappointing storyline. While it did present some unique ideas there was no reason for me to care or be interested in Master Chiefs' fight with the Covenant. The focus had shifted from huge battles and small skirmishes in big maps with puzzle and exploration elements to tight close combat in smaller areas with very little puzzle elements. I do realize that the Halo multiplayer experience is great; I don't play games for purely the multiplayer experience if it isn't a multiplayer game. This seems to be the Halo franchises more direct focus which leaves my rich single player hunger still hungry.

However, Halo and its story and whether it is well made is a topic that can be debated for infinity. Halo isn't the only offender. Why most notable franchises include Star Wars episodes one through three, Indianna Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Sonic the Hedgehog, Starfox, and Tomb Raider to just name a few. This problem doesn't necessarily plague just the single player experience and sequels. No it can be found in the hype of new titles also. While this isn't a major problem. It does cheapen the video game experience a lot. Especially when a great game is supposed to come out. The game doesn't even have to "revolutionize the way we play [insert genre here]."

In conclusion, the problem cant be fixed. It isn't caused by uncreativity or laziness. But rather pressed deadlines and poor budgeted productions. Sure you can say that the developer is being lazy but when it comes down to it. It's all about money and what the companies what to spend on a title. It's just another sad fact of life.

We all have considered purchasing or have already purchased the camera, the chatpad, and the wireless headset. However, with the current prices and separate packaging these things can be a hassle to buy for our Xbox 360. How can Microsoft improve on sales of these little must haves? Simple. Bundling.

Microsoft has two current bundles out for its accessories and it would be nice (as well as smart) to see the peripherals selling better than they currently are. Here are the two best solutions I could come up with:

1. Console Bundles

Xbox 360 EXTREME Bundle:

This bundle would include The Elite console, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (or some other family friendly game...perhaps Banjo-Kazooie...or both!), the chatpad, the Live Vision Camera, a headset, 3 months of Live, the charge and play, and anything else that comes standard. All for $500-$550. Other flavors include the Pro EXTREME and Arcade EXTREME; with reduced prices and consoles respectively.

2. Update Bundles

Xbox 360 EXTREME Kit:

This bundle would include 3 months of Xbox Live, the chatpad, the Live Vision Camera, the charge and play, and the wireless headset. Other flavors include the EXTREME+ which would add 120 GB Hard drive. All for $100-$150.

Xbox 360 Messaging Kit:

This kit is already out, however I think an update with the Live Vision Camera and 3 months of live would be good. Price stays same.

The last peripheral would be the Wireless adapter. I didn't include this one because it can be useless. Microsoft should of added wireless when they made the Elite. However, while we are in the middle of this gaming generation of consoles I do not see a redesign near. As it would probably appear by now. Although it is unlikely.

Please keep in mind these are not actual bundles, but would be nice if the peripheral department would get their act together.

What do you guys think? Does Microsoft need to rethink their bundling or are the accessories not worth it?

I really wanted to add another topic I was worried about for blogging. I was first going to say that I was disapointed that they had neglected their Xbox Community with no Orange Box updates in sight. However, I found today that they are in fact doing so after Left 4 Dead. So I thought I would complain about what "full multiplayer" standards should be. I decided to save it for a rainy day. So, at a loss for topics I finally found something that interested me. I downloaded the demo for Tom Clancy's End War. Boy am I impressed.

I was really skeptical on how this game would work. I thought it would be displayed from a birds eye view so I could see a good section of the battlefield. However, its much more zoomed in and very pretty looking. I tried the story mode and jumped straight to the mission after I configured my voice. I was suddenly thrown with all these commands and thinking that I would have no idea what half them meant. I was wrong here also. The game does a really good job at recognizing your voice and what you say. It also makes things easy to do. However, the single mission I played was really short. So I decided to give Live a try. That took too long to find a game for my interest so I started a single player skirmish. Which proved much more fun than the story. Here I got really into the game with only a few complaints.

There needs to be a an "All units" command so I can tell them to rendezvous at a location, retreat, or attack something. It seemed to not recognize what I say sometimes which wasn't a big deal as I'm sure it was because I wasn't speaking up. The only other complaint I have is that this game is in the future, not that far in the future, but it would of been nice to have some more futuristic units.

If you don't prefer the mic. Then you have the choice of using the controller. I never used this, but it looked a little harder to do. I imagine a very good player will be able to manage their troops while using the controller to manage other things or check things out. Making this a faster paced game.

Overall, the game was really fun to play. Micromanaging everything kept me busy the whole time until I lost the mission. If you never enjoyed Sim City or anything like that, this game might not be your cup of tea. However, I deeply enjoyed this experience and recommend this game to anyone who like war or simulation games.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a game that I have been waiting to see. With numerous previews coming out and first impressions. Here is my pre-game verdict on this new title. When I first heard that the game is more oriented towards vehicle creation rather than platforming, I was a bit worried. So worried, I began to think that this game would not do well. However, after a recent preview I read of the game, I started to think logically on what this game truly means for the series.

Do keep in mind that this article is based on reading other journalists first impressions and previews of the game. I have not had any hands-on time with it at all.

What we have come to recognize in the Banjo-Kazooie series as four things:

1. Platforming with useful moves to get around.
2. Developed characters and story.
3. Item collection.
4. Massive worlds to explore.

First assume that this list isn't respective in any nature. Now, assume when Rare first started developing Nuts and Bolts that they considered all of these things. Let's say they first considered the characters; where the story was going from the end of Banjo-Tooie and what they could do with it. After establishing a story, they considered the world creation. Now with updated hardware Rare could create massive worlds and areas to explore. Finally they would consider the platforming and item collection aspect. Item collection would turn out not to be a problem. However with the addition of massive worlds, Banjo and Kazooie would need a vehicle to get around. BAM! That's where the idea probably started. Why not give Banjo and Kazooie a vehicle to drive around. They could even upgrade it or drive different ones. Hey, why not make part of the game, building the vehicle from any parts they want. Wham! This is where your platforming aspects get pushed aside for a while. While I believe this will be a great game, I do believe they finished the vehicle idea and fully explored it before coming back to the platforming aspects. From the multiple previews and first impressions I have read, I believe that the developer just threw in platforming aspects secondary.

While this will probably prove to be okay this idea can lead to angry fans. Sure, lots of fans are angry and the platforming elements and vehicle elements probably should of been developed equally (I like my moves). There is plenty of time for improvement in later titles. Hopefully Rare won't come out and say during the sequel something like:

"Yes, we decided to go back to the pure platforming elements as the vehicle sections were not received well in the last game."

This is only okay if Nuts and Bolts fails. This probably won't happen though as the game seems to be getting fairly decent reviews. As for my pre-game verdict on Nuts and Bolts, I do approve of this new addition to Banjo-Kazooie. All though if they do want to improve the franchise it would be advised well to spend probably a little more time with the games roots and not throwing most of the formula away. The old saying goes: If its not broken, why fix it? However, if its not broken don't hack away the good parts to add something new.

Overall, Rare's new title looks great if not good. What they can do for the sequel though is balance the platforming aspect a little more with the vehicle creation and anything else they want to add in. Keeping the fanchise safe from the one trick pony brigade that seems to be sweeping a lot of titles with potential.

With recent titles such as Fracture, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Lego Batman: The Videogame (this game as there hasn't been anything new to the series), Rocketbowl, and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames just to name a few, there seems to be a growing industry standard that if a developer can market a cool feature for this game then it will flesh itself out.

This is a very bad and ignorant idea. Such to say that cool and original features can add to a game and possibly revolutionize a genre. However, when in game development studios should consider that a mechanic needs to be balanced and smaller or equivalent features should be added to flesh out the game. These features can be based off of the original marketed idea or stand alone themselves. Via new capabilities, redefining, or puzzles. Also a combination of these doesn't hurt.

Puzzles are the most common way and while this tends to add to the experience , the puzzles tend to repeat themselves. Another aspect that causes a one trick pony effect is no enviromental variation. Environments in this current generation, older generations, and hopefully next generation should have variation. Environments can effect how the player moves or how a puzzle is solved as it can provide new problems as well as create new solutions. Thus ultimately changing the puzzle. Whether it is adding an ice level where you slide a bit before stopping and thin ice or mine field in sand. These would of greatly varied Fracture even. As the game featured a terrain deformation however only covered ground as the only thing to be deformed. Terrain deformation shouldn't of stopped at moving the ground up and down. This mechanic could of been fleshed out as much as possible. Water can make ice or be melted for rafts and traps as well as be made into cover. The ground could of been deformed into lava traps. Not exploring every possibility and turning out something generic is no exception.

My point is that developers should spend time fleshing things out till the game is fat and beautiful. Not coming to terms with a physics engine and expecting to make an amazing game with out competing with ground breaking games or building on something and no cutting something good is not a worthy or logical idea. Production dates can be pushed back, especially if its marketed correctly and explained correctly how the game can be enhanced.

Hopefully developers will get this message eventually especially if they want their games to be hits. Smaller titles and independent titles are no exception. If there is enough devotion and care for a game, then there should be a quality competitive product.