VGA 2012

I never watch the Video Game Awards on Spike. This year was no exception. I don't think that I'm the only one that thinks the show is a strange combination of awkward celebrity appearances and the yearly collective of Dude Bro shooter-sport games. This year was no different for the most part, but there were a few notable exceptions to the award show that made it stand out from past years.

Announcement of Dark Souls II:

Dark Souls was a game that divided players on its incredible difficulty and the ambiguous way in which the player proceeds through the story. I'm excited for the sequel, but that means that I actually have to finish the first game. From Software announced that Dark Souls II will be out on Xbox, PS3, and PC.

Time to learn Japanese

Today I put on my wizard hat and make some guesses about some Japanese exclusive 3DS games. It seems like there are entirely too many awesome games that are not scheduled to, or will never make it the US. Aside from importing these games, because of region blocks, Nintendo fans have been moderately successful in petitioning developers and publishers to take a risk on the American audience.

Does it have to come to that every time? With the eShop doesn't that cut most of the costs of localization? They wouldn't have to worry about packaging and shipping, and at the very least they could do was add English subtitles and menus. I have no idea how hard it is to localize a game. It make no sense to keep games that other audiences will enjoy locked up in Japan.

Vita News

Earth Defense Force 3 Portable is coming to the PSVita in America! Sometime this winter? 2013 maybe? who knows. But that's good news!

Get ready and get freaking excited:

    

Console Wars IV: Get Portable

Money you don't have can even burn a hole in your wallet. 

I've been dragging my feet, and thinking about the next generation of portable consoles from Nintendo and Sony. I've been looking at both for some time now and I've determined that the only way I'll ever make the jump is if they have enough incentive for me to get one, be it a game, price, or overall experience. Something that I had to have. Both the 3DS and the Vita are pretty slick, and they have some interesting titles, but there are a few things that hold me back from both.

The current 3DS design bugs me because I know they'll just redesign it later. It will look better, have longer battery life and more games. The 3DS already has a long list of games that interest me. Mario games, the potential western release of Monster Hunter 4, Kid Icarus, Zelda games, and a bunch of interesting smaller indie type games. The problem I have is that it is region locked, and I'd like to import all those Japan only games that I know won't come over to the US. Nintendo is dumb about this, which means I'd have to hack the device to find a way around that, or buy a Japanese 3DS. Totally stupid. The price drop made the device a super hit last year, and it looks like the 3DS is here to stay. But Monster Hunter 3G wasn't brought over here, and Fire Emblem probably won't either, and while I find some of the other games interesting, right now it seems like an expensive leap when I know a redesign is coming next year or soon-ish. The special editions 3DS' keep rolling out in Japan and they look awesome. I'd love to have a Dragon Quest or Monster Hunter special edition, but... that will never happen.

Special Editions!

And another crazy Dragon Quest Monsters game is coming out at the end of the Month. This one is called Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D and will be bundled with a limited edition white DQ 3DS. I've never really played the Monsters variant of DQ, but I've heard that it is better than Pokémon. The game play is interesting because it gives proper scale to the monster you may encounter, which hasn't really been done before. Blah. I'm a sucker for this stuff. 

Switching gears...

White Vita coming to Japan next month. 

And then there's the PSVita. It's new, it looks slick, and the demos that I've played have all been amazing. The problem right now are the slow output of awesome games, the prohibitively high price, and the hidden cost of buying a very expensive memory card. I like the design. Awesome games like Gravity Rush has been out in Japan for some time now, but aren't slated for release until what? June? The slow roll out of games is what made everyone hate the 3DS at launch. The Vita is nice, probably technologically better than the 3DS, and will eventually have a nice library of games... but offhand I can't think of one that would make me want to buy it. Phantasy Star Online 2 won't be out until next year, and for whatever reason Capcom hasn't announce a Monster Hunter title for Sony's handheld. That boggles the mind. Then there's this cryptic stuff about a game called Soul Sacrifice. It was announced in Famitsu Magazine with a six page spread, and little to no information about it. A short trailer has emerged which leaves people wondering: is this a sequel or spin off to the popular Sony game Dark Souls? That would be nuts. And probably make me want a Vita more than a 3DS (after the price drop). 

We'll find out more in a few days. I've heard that in the coming months that there will be some awesome game announcements for the Vita, and that all the naysayers will probably shut up. But they're all six months to a year away. That's terribly slow. Now Vita hasn't been selling very well, and it looks like Sony's right on track to mess up their console launch just like Nintendo did with the 3DS. Time to drop the price or do something that will get those Vita's off the shelves. Right now there's little incentive. Nintendo has a smidgen of incentive. 

If I had to quantify my incentive percentage to buy either console:

3DS: 60%

(based on larger First-Party title list, Monster Hunter 4, and eventual redesign)

Vita: 40%

(based on initial price, nebulous title schedule, and promising future)