After handing in my resignation at the end of September, I’ve attempted to diversify the other interests that occupy my spare time, but in the end, it’s always about gaming, and probably always will be – until arthritis does me in. Being away from all of the die hard gamers gives one time to think about what drew them to the hobby – getting back to actually playing and enjoying games, rather than talking about sales figures and console wars. Not reading much of the produce of so-called games journalists was also quite refreshing. Some writers really do not relish the opportunities they have, and really just bitch and complain about the stupidest things. This pretty much describes me five months ago – jaded, complacent and lazy. Continual improvement should be the goal of every writer throughout their career. I'd really been exploiting past achievements, namely setting up many of PALGN's standards and relationships back in 2003 - but there will be no more resting on my laurels - expect to see a lot more of me in the coming months.
The other thing that really caught me by surprise is the positive feedback I get from readers of the column. I don’t regard myself as a great writer, but to get thanks and support from the gaming community for my column really does make bringing it back a worthwhile exercise.
Anyway, enough of the sentimental guff.
Matt’s Somewhat Serious Bit
I was reading back over past issues of Easy Mode, and it was apparent that I thought the PlayStation 3 would repeat the success of the previous two consoles – what I didn’t expect was the whole “$599!” debacle (or $999 in our case). History seems to be repeating itself, with Sony and Nintendo having swapped roles. The PlayStation 3’s got a bit of a problem on its hands, and it will take some stellar games from Sony & company and some smart business to get back in control and stay in the race. Damage done early in the cycle is not irreversible – the first PlayStation’s launch was a bit of a whimper but it came into its own, and who could forget the dismal local launch of the original Xbox. A $200 price drop in the first month can’t help the confidence of buyers in your product, but Microsoft managed to turn it around, to the point where Australia was their most successful territory in terms of market share.
Sony just doesn’t seem to be doing itself any favours at the moment – the sheer smugness of its management team is nauseating. The continued bad treatment of PAL gamers is the real concern, however. The cumulative region effectively tagged “Sonyland” by many, due to the unquestionable support gamers give the electronics giant, always cops a raw deal when it comes to launch schedules and pricing. Yesterday’s announcement that the PAL PlayStation 3 would in fact have lower PlayStation and PlayStation 2 compatibility due to emphasised software emulation (and removal of the core PS2 chips from the architecture) was a real slap in the face – especially after seeing just how much effort Sony put into the backwards compatibility support for the US and Japanese regions.
Don’t sit around the forums whinging and complaining about second hand treatment by Sony – do something about it. Don’t buy a PS3. Don’t have that sort of will power? Buy a Japanese or US PS3 – which are cheaper. Granted, it won’t play any of your PAL games and thus defeat the purpose of complaining about PAL PS3 backwards compatibility (but you could go back and pick up some games on the cheap – and they’ll be 60Hz guaranteed), but it can serve as a demonstration that you’re no longer willing to be treated this way. The other option is to wait until the software support is up to scratch. You can apply this behaviour to other aspects of next generation gaming. Don’t like paying $120 for your games? Stop shopping at EB – look around for a deal; there’s always one in the first week. Import your games if you have a credit card – you won’t pay more than $80.
If you’re just going to sit around and take it, don’t forget to take this to the next Sony Computer Entertainment Australia announcement.
Half-assed attempt at gaming related comedy
Marcus Fenix, age 50.
Quote of the Fortnight
"Rumble is a last generation feature" - Phil Harrison of SCEE, speaking to GameDaily Biz
Yeah Phil. Since the things you guys lack are apparently old hat, I guess being market leader is "last-gen" too.
Cross Media Mania
As a child of the 1980’s, I received a health dose of cartoons every morning, especially on Saturdays. Video games, being popular at the time, were a natural choice for making a cheaply made cartoon, especially for Hanna Barbera, the kings of cheaply made TV animation. Pac-Man was arguably the most noticeably video game character, and therefore was the first subject of a cartoon based on a video game.
Pac-Man was set in the fictional country of Pac-Land, and followed the adventures of the titular character, his wife Mrs Pepper Pac-Man and son Baby-Pac (So Ms. Pac-Man got knocked up eh? – Ed). The ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde and Sue (designed for the cartoon) served as a foil for the Pac-Family’s attempt at living a peaceful existence. The ghosts were lead by a fellow called Mezmeron, whose goal in life was to get the power pellets, which allow Pac-Man and company to devour his ghosts, and put them to use for his own evil doing. Pac-Man and family were often accompanied by Chomp Chomp, the Pac-Dog, Sour Pus, the Pac-Cat, Super-Pac and Pac-Man’s cousin PJ.
Does he have a prescription for those?
Unlike many other properties based on games, the Pac-Man cartoon actually had concepts which were reintegrated into the video game series. Sue replaced Clyde in Ms. Pac-Man in order to provide a female spectre to oppose the female chomper. The cartoon also spawned an arcade game called Pac-Land, which was a major departure from the formula of the original game – and a major bust as a result.
Pac-Man originally ran from 1982 to 1984 in the United States, premiering somewhat later in Australia (about 1987-1988 as far as I can remember, but I did live in a rural town), and 43 episodes were produced in all – the last one being a Thanksgiving special. There do not appear to be any plans to release the series on DVD, but it has been known to air on Cartoon Network offshoot Boomerang from time to time.
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Thoughts and opinions expressed in Easy Mode Volume 2 are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of PALGN.com, it's advertisers, affiliates and whoever else holds a material interest.
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