The Charge:
It’s You Against Your Friends!

Opening Statement:
I remember a time when EA’s long running Need for Speed franchise was a yearly powerhouse, 6.1 litre big block seal of quality that always delivered. Five years later, following half a decade’s worth of half-baked storylines featuring undercover detectives, corrupt officials, and racing-obsessed crime bosses and it seemed this once-proud staple could no longer entice gamers to put the pedal to the metal. Electronic Arts has taken desperate measures to regain their sure footing as a third party giant, shaking things up by spreading the NFS brand across several promising developers. Last fall brought gamers the successful simulation-heavy NFS: Shift, now on the other end of the spectrum, Criterion Games (developers of the crowd-pleasing Burnout series) seek to kick start thrills by revisiting the whole late 90s police chase obsession with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Is it a chase worth pursuing, or does it sputter out before the finish line?

Twenty bucks says he's NOT listening to My Chemical Romance.

Facts of the Case:

Forget storylines about drug deals gone south and large scale “chopshoperations”, NFS: Hot Pursuit is about one thing and one thing only; speed. This is a war revolving all around speed. One side of this conflict seeks only to cross the finish line first; the other side to shut down these illegal racers and take back the streets and roadways of the fictional Seacrest County.

The Evidence:
There were whispers of discord when it was announced that Criterion would be reawakening the NFS: Hot Pursuit brand that it would of course just be Burnout with a new label. As a diehard supporter of the high impact racing icon, I can only cry out that this is not the case. NFS: Hot Pursuit is not Burnout Paradise under a new coat of paint. It’s something much better. This game of Cops vs. Cruisers hits every mark a successful racer should, and then goes the extra mile with one of the best competitive online components I’ve ever played, and a dealership full of licensed vehicles (something other Criterion racers have always lacked). Lambroghinis, Mercedes, Porches, Cobras, Mustangs, Chargers, Challengers, Nissans, McLarens; they’re all here, and they’re on both sides of the law. Imagine a world where James Bond enforced the traffic laws and hunted down the likes of Vin Diesel, Steve McQueen, and Bean Bandit. Now open your eyes and embrace the digital reality. This is the greatest game of dinkies you will have ever played.

Y'know, the Reventon would've made a pretty sweet Batmobile.

Seeing as NFS: Hot Pursuit was released within weeks of Sony’s juggernaut Gran Turismo 5, I feel the inevitable comparison must be scattered to the winds. This is not GT5, it’s not Forza or NFS: Shift. This is an arcade styled racer through and through and it plays as such. The controls feel heavier than the usual Criterion fare, even more so than my preferred racing underdog, Split/Second; but within a few races, gamers should have the tight drifting controls down pat, and that’s when the fun comes in. Racers must drive hazardously and ridiculously fast to build up precious boost. Drifting around corners, driving into oncoming traffic, pulling off breathtaking near-misses all dole out small amounts of potent nitro. The police also earn boost, albeit not by driving like a maniac, just by maintaining enough high speed to stay in pursuit. Unlike fare such as Burnout, NFS: Hot Pursuit prefers boost to be used in small amounts at opportune times, such as when exiting a drift or when trying to accelerate after a crash. Using it when the vehicle is near top speed is pretty much a waste. Not that boost is the only weapon that makes up this beast’s arsenal. Oh no, determined drivers will find themselves armed with upgradeable equipment that make the races very interesting to say the least. Items are all available from the start, but are in limited supply and must recharge after use, side-stepping the dangerous Blue Shell trap that many racing games crash into.

Which is more of a weapon; a banana peel or Blue Thunder?

The shiniest option though is the new Autolog, a sort of gaming Facebook that keeps players constantly connected to anyone of their friend’s list that is playing Hot Pursuit, even when embroiled in the single player campaign. Progress is linked, online and off; allowing gamers to build experience (known here as “bounty”) quickly, ascending through each side’s 20 ranks to score equipment upgrades and hot new cars. More impressive is the way NFS: Hot Pursuit ranks gamers against their friends, sort of like a personal leaderboard; a leaderboard that only judges your skill against your gaming buddies. Believe me, it’s fun to leave a personalized written smack down on a buddy’s wall after shattering his best time on a particular event.

2 of your Friends like your latest PWNAGE!

Speaking of events, NFS: Hot Pursuit is bursting at the seams with all variety of racing action. There are one-on-one contests between a single racer and police unit, there are stylized time trial and vehicle unveiling events, there are equipment challenges, vanilla flavoured races and then there is the race to end all races, the Hot Pursuit event itself. This is an eight car survival event which pits four racers against four police interceptors. All weapons are available, and there are no holds barred. If it seems white knuckle at first, try it online against less predictable human opponents. Just keep in mind that even though there are points for the racer position or most busts for the cops, this is essentially a team event, and the reward for a team victory far surpasses that of the solo prizes. Myself and a fellow gamer online have started trying to perfect a tag team manoeuvre in which he boosts ahead of our target, threads the needle of my roadblock and drops a spike strip, allowing almost no chance of escape. We’re talking about real meat and potatoes styled gaming. I can see NFS: Hot Pursuit’s online community far surpassing Burnout Paradise and reaching up to join the hallowed halls of the online first person shooters in terms of a social experience. With the ability to seamlessly switch between Cops and Racers, and the sides being randomly swapped at the start of each online event, it’s easy to take as much fun from the newest Need for Speed as one wants to.

Coincidently enough, the greatest equalizer is still slamming into anopponent at 160 mph.

Visually, Hot Pursuit is a sizzler. Seacrest County is immense, and explodes with life. The highways can be choked with traffic (all licensed cars as well) at certain hours of the day, turning each race into a 100 mph speed differential slalom run. Helicopters and aircraft streak across the sky, and each race contains at least one gorgeous vista view that gamers may risk a crash to watch in awe, especially with the amazing shifting weather conditions. Crashes are Criterion’s usual thing of beauty, with shrapnel and paint stripping from the cars with each impact. The soundtrack detonates through the speakers with a pleasant blend of hard rock, some light hip hop and funky British styled techno. When a race is interrupted by the five-o, the soundtrack quickly switches over to a score that Hans Zimmer or Mark mancina would be proud to feature on their resume..

Rebuttal Witness:
If you find yourselves amongst the unwashed masses who lack a viable internet connection for gaming, alot of “Hot Pursuit’s” fun is stripped away. It’s still a great game, but it feels more like a half; like playing a PS1 era racer nowadays. Or perhaps I’m still shell shocked from the phenomenal eight player Hot Pursuit events.
The freedrive option, which opens up Seacrest County for exploration allows for some great use of the in-game photography. Sadly, the overworld map in nonexistent in this mode, forcing gamers to depend on a less than handy mini-map to find their way around an environment that dwarfs Burnout Paradise. Nitpicking, I know.

KELSEY GRAMMER! Pull the vehicle over to the side of the road!

Closing Comments:
I only wish I had been given the chance to play Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit prior to the holidays, as it would have surely commandeered a spot on my Best of 2010 list. Personally, I personally find it to be a much more enjoyable time than the daunting GT5, and a worthy successor to the Need for Speed name. It’s a drop dead gorgeous game with a rocking soundtrack, pulse pounding gameplay to keep gamers welded to their controllers, and a robust online component. There’s already a plethora of bonus events available for download, and if the online support is half as frequent as what Criterion supplied for Burnout Paradise, Hot Pursuit enthusiasts are in for a fun year, no matter which side of the law they find themselves racing on.

The Verdict:

I’m hoping with J this latest success, Criterion will announce at E3 2011, their decision to adapt M.A.S.K into a chaotic arcade racer.

- J

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft XBOX360 (PS3 Version Reviewed)
Developer: Criterion Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 16th, 2010
Rated: E(10+) for Everyone 10 and up.

The Charge:
Fight Together! Survive Together!

Opening Statement:
The first Army of Two was an effective 3rd person shooter that borrowed liberally from other, better games and made a decent first impression before quickly fading to bargain bins. The requisite sequel is now upon us, and our titular army of two has some new tricks up their sleeves. Does Army of Two: The 40th Day rise above the machismo and fist-bumping to provide a world-cass shooter?

Facts of the Case:
Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios have long parted ways with former employers at SSC. As the owners and sole operatives of TransWorld Operatives, they answer to no one save their sassy handler, Alice Murray. The dynamic duo has just finished up a routine job in Shanghai when all hell breaks loose. An armed force has launched an all out assault on the city, and carnage is everywhere. Our brothers in arms find themselves racing through Shanghai as it crumbles all around them. Co-op tactics and visceral action are the order of the day as Salem and Rios struggle to find Alice in the chaos, and attempt to discover the truth behind the 40th Day Initiative.

"Rambo... was a pussy!"

The Evidence:

The first Army of Two was well enough received when it hit consoles early in 2008. One of the spearhead titles in EA’s then fresh approach to new IP’s, it would go on to become the best-selling new IP from EA of this console generation. The game was not without its flaws however, and the development team took a hard look at what people liked and disliked when they set about assembling the sequel. The approach definitely shows, as Army of Two: The 40th Day is an improvement in many respects.

First off, what wasn’t broken, wasn’t fixed, and The 40th Day definitely feels a lot like its predecessor. You’re still guiding two armored up commandoes through room after room of bad guys whilst firing lead hoses at full auto as you hide behind cover. Kill.Switch may have given birth to the 3rd person cover-based shooter, but it was Gears of War that popularized it, and like the first game, Army of Two: The 40th Day borrows liberally from the Gears of War playbook. Salem and Rios control something like walking tanks, sure, but the controls never feel unnatural or cumbersome. The shooting mechanics feel immediately familiar, and the cover system is virtually identical to the first game, wherein you “snap” to cover rather than pressing a button to do so. It feels intuitive, and allows for faster cover-to-cover movement than you’d think. Things do feel a little more polished this time around, and the controller configuration is a little more user friendly, but the experience in this regard is much the same as it was the first go-around.

Also returning is the robust weapon customization, though this time you mix and match weapon parts from different models of firearms instead of parts unique to individual weapons. At first glance it doesn’t seem like there’s as much to choose from as there was in the first game, and that’s partially true, but the possible combinations allows for less redundancy in your guns and more unique designs. You’ll also stumble onto additional components in weapon caches strewn about the game. You can always pretend like you’re Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and start combining components from M-16’s, AK’s and whatever else you can manage to fit onto your super weapon.

"I don't care if you do add racial diversity... it's called Army of Two.. one... TWO."

The co-op mechanics are still the driving force, and again, the “aggro” system has been employed, and works as well as it did in the first title. One player essentially draws fire by spraying bullets everywhere while the other player sneaks around to flank the bad guys. Co-op sniping, where both players must hit a target simultaneously, and back to back shooting return also. Thankfully for those flying solo, the computer controlled AI partner has graduated from Kindergarten and has been moved ahead to Elementary school. So no, I wouldn’t depend on the AI per-se, but if you do get taken out, at least he won’t drag you around for 20 minutes before healing you. Army of Two: The 40th Day is really geared around a multiplayer experience, and the game provides for you, the player with a robust set of options. Split screen and online modes are available, and while not quite seamless, it’s not too hard to get a player on your friend’s list to hop on in when the going gets tough, and it does get tough.

Competitive multiplayer has returned as well. The first game’s multiplayer approach was interesting on paper, but fell flat in execution; thankfully everything has been completely redesigned from the ground up, and the multiplayer modes are considerably deeper and more involving than before. Everything is geared around 2-player teams, adding a unique twist to the now traditional gameplay modes. The 40th Day features its own spin on Deathmatch and objective based multiplayer that should keep people busy a lot longer than the first game did.

Army of Two: Go on vacation - coming 2011!

Technically, the game gets a visual boost to character models, with solid animations and some great textures, but the backgrounds lack the sense of realism and atmosphere of the first game. That said, the environments are ripped to shreds as you pass through, towers topple, entire floors of nearby skyscrapers disintegrate in a haze of smoke and fire, and low flying aircraft slam into structures with impunity. It all looks very satisfying. The audio is full of thumps and bangs, and the subwoofer channel does its best to shake your gaming room. Weapon effects sound satisfying and explosions thump like they should. The voice actors have been changed up a little from the first outing. Nolan “Drake” North voices the erstwhile smarmy wise-ass Elliot Salem, who’s become more of a bad ass in the transition, but that doesn’t stop the continuity from title to title from suffering. Aside from that, the audio/visual package is pleasing, and really offers little to complain about, even if it doesn’t quite push the technical envelope.

Rebuttal Witness:
The first Army of Two title took its licks for its approach to plot, which was woven in and out of real world events in a none too subtle fashion. Some people had feathers ruffled with images of that fateful day in September of 2001, and the fact that our commando duo were racking up kills in real world hotspots where good ole American boys were dying in real life. I applauded the approach, it added some much needed gravitas to what was otherwise one step removed from an 80’s action flick. On top of that, those who did pay attention would discover that the game actually wielded a pretty effective story that gave players an excuse to plow through levels beyond cash. The 40th Day is severely lacking in this department. The enemies may as well be an NCAA College Football team, and the plot can be summed up in one or two sentences. The titular “40th Day” doesn’t really have much relevance in the game, and the morality moments, while a nice distraction, ultimately are exactly that, a distraction. I can’t help but be disappointed by the fantastical turn the series has taken, even if the gameplay itself has been tightened up. Sure, things blow up real good, but there’s just no sense of purpose behind it all.

"ROCK! HA!... You go first!"

Beyond that, Army of Two: The 40th Day adheres to the 3rd person shooter playbook pretty closely, which makes for some monotony in later levels. The last firefight feels pretty much identical to the first, just on a larger scale. You know the drill, you move from room to room and shoot at anyone who’s not you or your teammate. It doesn’t change up much in the 6 or so hours it could take you to get through the game.

Closing Comments:
Fans of the first Army of Two will definitely be pleased with Army of Two: The 40th Day, gameplay has been tightened, the visuals are solid, and the multiplayer is surprisingly well implemented and fully featured. The characters have been toned down, which will certainly please some moaners, but I can’t help but feel that EA Montreal has killed some of the appeal in the process. That said, if you’re looking for a decent co-op experience, you’ve found it.

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360 (PS3 version reviewed)
Developer: EA Montreal
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: January 12th, 2010
Rated: M (17+) for Mature

In a move that’s sure to have a vast multitude of people (gamers especially) shredding the self-esteem of innocent customer service agents everywhere, Business Week reported Time Warner Cable is rolling out a tiered pricing structure in several markets across the country. That means the more internet bandwidth you use – whether for gaming, internet surfing, downloading movies or files or whatever – the more money you’ll be shelling out. It’s similar to current cell phone plans and it’s “a strategy that’s likely to rankle consumers but be copied by competitors,” as the article so succinctly states it.

This development can only be construed as bad news for gamers (unless, of course, you’ve been looking for a really good reason to kick that World of Warcraft habit. A crumbling social life is one thing, but having to pay $500 in overage charges every month? That’s motivation). It might still be a long way off, but I’m curious to see how this affects the number of people on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. This seems like one of those developments where the effects are much farther-reaching than ever anticipated.

According to the article, the highest tier you can purchase (for nearly $55) only affords you 40 gigabytes of bandwith. Download a few demos and a movie to your Xbox and you’ve already chewed through 10-15% of your data transfer for the month! That’s not to mention the file sizes of high definition content. At five to eight gigs per film, one high def movie could eliminate 20% of your bandwidth in the click of a button. I have no figures to back this up, but I would think that many of the tech-savvy folks that use their PS3′s and Xbox 360′s on even a semi-regular basis also use their computers daily. Even someone that would consider themselves a casual gamer could go through their alotted bandwidth in two weeks time and have to pay the rest of the way.

Also, does the possibility of multiple hundreds of dollars in overage charges instantly kill the recently announced OnLive gaming service? Only time will tell, but it certainly can’t help a platform that has already had it’s viability called into question. This Joystiq interview with OnLive’s founder Steve Perlman sort of addresses the issue, but he refers specifically to Comcast’s bandwidth cap of 250 gigabytes. That’s an embarrassment of riches in ones and zeros compared to 40 gigs Time Warner is offering.

Time Warner claims that a only small percentage of customers will even appraoch the highest limit. That may be true now, but as my buddy Mike so astutely pointed out, the bigwigs at TW know the future of media is in digital distribution. Five years from now, when Netflix is zapping movies right to your TV and Valve’s Steam service is the main method of selling video games, everyone and their mother is going to be crossing the pay-for-data threshold. I only hope Time Warner takes some the money they siphon off of people and use it to upgrade their rapidly deprecating cable infrastructure.

Even if you don’t have Time Warner in your area, the threat of other providers following suit is enough to put everyone on alert. As a Time Warner cable and Roadrunner (that’s the name of TW’s internet service for those who don’t have it… now the horribly Photoshop’d, copyright-infringing image above makes more sense) internet subscriber, this news hits me close to home both literally and figuratively: A lot of what I do personally and professionally relies heavily on my internet connection, and one of the initial tiered markets is an hour down the I-90 from me in Rochester, New York. I have Xbox Live, I have Netflix and an instant queue, I use Amazon and iTunes to download music, therefore I’ll be screwed when I’m paying for data transfer. It’s only a matter of time before the new billing system shows up here in Buffalo, and it’ll probably be sooner rather than later. I guess it’s about time I look into Verizon FiOs… or guess the password of my neighbor’s wireless connection.

So I’ve been logging some serious online multiplayer hours with Street Fighter 4.  This is kind of new for me as my only other online exploits tend to be the co-op based functionality of Halo 3 or Gears of War 2.  I tend not to be an antogonisitic multiplayer guy.

Street Fighter 4 and my undying love affair with hitting opponents with Zangief’s Ultimate Atomic Buster changed all that.  I’m hooked on multiplayer versus, but with this new addiction has come the rage-inducing cheapness of the early disconnect.

This is surely old news to most of you fragaholics, but the early quitters have become an enormous source of irritation for me.  I’m typically an easygoing guy and sure I’ll get upset during the course of my Street Fighter 4 playing, especially when some cheap-o Ryu player spams fireballs and short dragon punches all day, but there is no purer distaste I feel for my fellow man than when they crap their pants and quit the game when I’m on the path to a sure victory.

It doesn’t happen all the time though when it does I’m usually in desperate need of a win to break a losing streak.  And with Zangief’s ultra combo–the great equalizer–the animation is so long that my cowardly opponent has plenty of time to head for the hills.  Hey, it’s a hard life playing the ‘Gief when every other player chooses Ryu or Sagat or some other infernal projectile-chucker, making the hard-fought wins especially savory.

Once in a while I’ll send a “nice quitting job!” taunt instant message, but who knows the psychos on the other end of the line?  I mean if he’s the kind of person to quit a Street Fighter match early, then it’s not far off to surmise he has the means and the willpower to track me down and murder my cat.

And why is that I take it all so seriously?  In games like Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas multiplayer wins actually lead to practical in-game awards, right?  With Street Fighter 4, it’s just a fluctuating “Battle Points” score that does absolutely nothing save make you feel good about yourself.  Yet losing out on BP is enough to stick in my craw enough that my wife will frequently say “It sounds like you’re having a heart attack.”

Ah, the entertaining wonder of gaming!

Time to trot out another Pixel Verdict feature: the Symposium Ad Nauseum, a week-long roundtable discussion where we (as in “us” and “you,” as in “you” the plural pronoun or I guess “you” the singular pronoun if you have that high an opinion of yourself) engage in a hopefully vigorous back-and-forth about some kind of inane topic that would only appeal to video game geeks.

Each week introduces a new conversation starter that will–in theory–provoke some lively discourse.  Your participation is welcome; comment away and we’ll weave particularly compelling insights (i.e., posts that don’t use the word “meh”) into the discussion.

That’s it.  Keep checking back for updates!  Here we go:

Dave:  For our first Symposium Ad Nauseum I’d like to throw this question out to the masses: What are the finest video game multiplayer experiences?  Keep in mind, this could be online or old-school offline.

My vote for Best Ever is a no-brainer: Saturn Bomberman.  Not only is it the greatest entry into the esteemed Bomberman franchise, but on the Sega Saturn the game allowed for up to eight players.  Chaos for sure, but for my money nothing exceeds it for sheer trash-talking insanity.

Tons of power-ups, little dinosaurs with special powers to ride, an achingly repetitive theme song and the opportunity to lob bombs at people even after you’ve been nuked.

Of course it doesn’t help that the game is about as rare as photographic evidence of the Abominable Snowman and securing a multiplayer adaptor, eight controllers and a Saturn itself is no small investment.  But trust me friends, once you’ve sampled the goods, you’ll arrive at the same conclusion I have: nothing’s sweeter than vaporizing large-headed sprites.

Erich: Until I bought an Xbox 360, my gaming life was pretty solitary. Platformers are rarely multiplayer, and given my love of Nintendo consoles and general lack of friends, single player has been my preference by default. Back in college, however, I played a whole lotta multiplayer thanks to the release of the Nintendo 64, a friend with disposable income, and a little game called Mario Kart 64.

I was never the best racer on the course, or on the battlefield (Dave and Tim can certainly attest to that), but I had a blast. Depending on who you ask, 64 was either the purest expression of Mario Kart goodness, or an abomination of rubber band physics and ugly polygons. Though I haven’t played the game in a long time (the DS version has been my racer of choice for the past few years), it’ll always have a place in my heart. However high-res the graphics get or how many players developers manage to squeeze onto bloated deathmatch maps, I’ll never forget those late college nights sitting around the tube TV playing “just one more” battle on the Block Fort level. In the immortal words of a certain mustachioed doppelganger, “I’M-A WARIO! I’M-A GONNA WIN!!!”

Adam: Hands down, GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64. I never had the game or the system myself, but my friends in high school sure did. It personified the best and worst elements of split-screen gaming, with a convoluted, ugly and eye-straining quad-screen allowed four players to jam together, but on the plus side, it allowed four players to jam together. At the time, it was rare to get this much pure FPS goodness from console gaming. With dozens of weapons, character models and surprisingly well-designed maps, this was heaven for runners and gunners.

I was rubbish at the game (FPS are best left for keyboard and mouse, if you ask me) but I’d never played a game on a console that so best captured the thrill of multiplayer gaming. Cram you and three of your friends on a couch, a tangle of cords draped across the room, and watch the time fly. Many gamers still consider this humble shooter the pinnacle of console FPS, and with good reason. Admittedly dated by modern standards, physics engines and control schemes, GoldenEye 007 it has a certain nostalgic quality that demands an XBLA version. Pretty please?

Dave: Goldeneye was bodacious, no doubt.  Tons of college hours that could have been better used for reading were burned up in four-player death matches.  We used to play a custom “Execution Style” game, where if you got shot at all, you’d have to kneel down in front of your opponent and he would shoot you point blank with the Magnum.  It was pretty sick actually.  We also had a “Slapping Only” game where we’d manuever our low-res polygons, punching each other in the face.  That took a long time.

Of course, Goldeneye is an unplayable cluster-F in these days of dual-analog sticks, though Oddjob still sucks.  Viva la helicopter pilot!

Steve: Street fighter has long been one of those mainstay multi-player games in the Power household. I’ve had many a time on the arcade cabinets as well. When Super Street Fighter II first appeared at the local arcades, it was in the monstrous 4-cabinet, 8-player tourney variety. I was 15 or 16 (I think) and was spending a Saturday afternoon at the arcade while the folks perused the mall. I fired a few quarters into cabinet #5 and by the end of the tourney had shot to first place. The way this particular game was set up, the winner didn’t have to pay for the next game, and as long as he kept winning, he kept playing. Well as the afternoon went on, i kept playing, and I had started to notice a crowd gathering. This was nothing too special, as the machine was still pretty new, and very popular, but soon i began to notice cabinet #1 getting a little crowded, and the competition started changing up, getting older, more skilled. I tried to stay casual, but the heat was definitely on. The crowd got louder and louder, and I couldn’t tell you how long I was playing. I began a fight with an Asian guy about 5-6 years older than me, someone many of us had watched playing SFII in the past. He was FIERCE, and the round finally came down to a time out, after which i won by barely a sliver of health. He grinned, uttered something, and kept grinning. We played three, maybe four rounds against each other, all but one of them being a very close match. Until i felt a tap on my shoulder. Mom had wandered into the crowded arcade, and was telling me my time was up unless i wanted to walk home.

I stepped away from the first controller just as the final round was starting – the guy begged me to step up and finish it, so i did, and again, I just barely managed to snag a slim victory. I graciously stepped back again, and offered the 1st spot to the guy who’d spent an hour or more at #2. He just said, “Great game man.” and shook my hand. And that’s when the place went up. I was more embarrassed than anything but at the same time it felt awesome.  I walked out through the arcade’s entrance, and Dad just looked at me and uttered, “What the F— was all that about?”.

Tim: Goldeneye was a great game… like, 12 years ago when it came out. I loved that game and still do, but like just about every game from the PlayStation/Nintendo 64 era, it has not aged gracefully. Mario Kart has held up better then many other N64 games, but it was still limited in that Block Fort is really the only worthwhile battle arena. Anyway, I spent many years waiting for a worthy successor to Goldeneye.

The original Halo was just that, but I was out of college and had no one to play with. Had Halo been out while I was in college, I’m pretty sure I never would have graduated. Halo 2 took me online for the first time in 2004 and I was immediately hooked. I hosted weekly LAN parties to recreate the Goldeneye experience from college (but with more beer), going so far as to buy two more Xboxes. Yeah, I was that into it.

Then, the third chapter of Master Chief’s saga was released, combining the best elements from the first two already stellar games. Hence, it should not come as a surprise that I believe Halo 3 is the ultimate multiplayer game. Online, offline, in matchmaking or four-player campaign co-op with scoring, the game is nigh limitless in features and replay value.

On top of all that, factor in Bungie’s phenomenal support of the game since it’s release. They continue to release new multiplayer maps. Their website has unbelievable stat tracking, file sharing and access to user generated forge maps and game variants.

You can capture video and high resolution screenshots of your most memorable exploits, from sticking a warthog from 100 yards away for a triple kill to head-shotting some sucker as he jumps into a man-cannon, his lifeless corpse cart-wheeling to oblivion. Capture for eternity those “did you see that!” moments you used to trash talk your friends about.

For example, that’s me in the above image hitting my buddy Mo’s prone corpse in the groin with the oddball during an online match, after killing him with it in the first place. Does it get better than embarrassing your friends with digital groin punches, capturing it and sending it to their Xbox Live inbox? I say no. Of course, Mo says otherwise.

There are only two complaints about the game that I put any stock in:

1. The steep learning curve that is off-putting to some casual gamers.
2. The unfortunate prevalence of douchebags roaming the online matchmaking landscape.

My responses:

1. If you want to keep it simple, go flail away at Wii Tennis.
2. Hate the players, not the game. Unplug your headset and mute all the idiots. Expect to continue getting teabagged, though. There’s nothing you can do about that except work on your aim.

Jon: I cannot believe that you guys failed to mention what was possibly one of the greatest multiplayer experiences of the past 25 years.  If a video arcade had this cabinet when it was unleashed, there was always a throng of howling youths crowded around it was like Cyrus from The Warriors.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had arcades in a stranglehold when it was released in 1989; a quarter-sucking 4-player juggernaut.  The graphics at the time were mind-blowing, and the machine seemed to take great pleasure in belting out the unmistakable TMNT theme music in some variety on every level.  From the moment my quaking 7-year old hand slipped a quarter into the slot and I took my place alongside my younger cousin and two complete strangers, I was hooked.  We pounded our way through a flaming apartment complex full of Foot Clan Robo-Ninjas, smashed a pair of uniwheeled Turtle Terminators, and proceeded to enter a war of attrition with the the first boss; that Rhinoceros faced goon, Rocksteady!Yes, TMNT may have been a brain-dead button masher designed for the sole purpose of tearing fistfuls of quarters from the pockets of kids everywhere, but it was a freakin’ Ninja Turtles game man!  Four players!  First level on FIRE man!  If you collected action figures as a kid and seeing that machine didn’t make you want to run and jump and do AWESOME air kicks; then I’m afraid you lived an unfortunate childhood.  This was the beginning of a short era when Konami positively OWNED the arcades with their four-player cabinets.  Yes, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat where phenomena all to themselves, but there was a time when the biggest crowds, the ones at the front of the arcade, where they always put the newest, hottest games, would be gathered around TMNT, Turtles in Time, The Simpsons, X-Men, Sunset Riders, or G.I. Joe.

Dave: Man, they don’t make side-scrolling beat’em ups the way they used to (a point you will here me lament often).