AICN Games: Monki's Weekly Wrap-Up! Katamari! Ikari Warriors! Tony Hawk! U.S. Americans!

Greetings humans, Monki here with a long overdue wrap-up column! I know, I know...bitch me out...I've been busy as hell, and let's just say, I can't go in to Golden Corral anymore.

So what has happened since we last all chatted? Jesus Christ! The XBox dropped it's price just in time for Madden season...HD-DVD has picked up a little steam. (Albeit monetarily enhanced steam...) Both the PAX and Leipzig game conventions have wrapped, and Bioshock has hit shelves...

I'm sure that is absolutely it. Nothing else has happened at all.

I've got a lot of catching up to do over the next few weeks. Who wants to join me?

Press Releases of the Week!

I'm not a huge fan of sports titles...I own Madden '08, and I think the interface and the game itself are great, but I just can't get into it nearly as much as some people. An old roommate of mine buys EVERY SINGLE basketball title that hits...nope...just can't do it.

That being said, this is something I find very very cool. EA is releasing their next Fifa Soccer title with support of up to 10 players online at a time. Now THAT is cool.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - August 22, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc. today unveiled plans for a new feature called Be A Pro: Online Team Play that will enable 10 people anywhere in the world to connect online to play a single match of FIFA Soccer 08. The new feature, available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, will be offered as a free downloadable feature six to eight weeks after the game ships to stores. FIFA Soccer 08 will be available in stores in Europe on September 28 and beginning October 9 in North America.

Be A Pro: Online Team Play is the evolution of a new play mode featured in FIFA Soccer 08 called Be A Pro that locks you into the role of a single, fixed player the entire game and challenges you to master the same disciplines as a real soccer player - from positioning and tackling to reading the field and passing. Users receive real time feedback and analysis on the fly and a unique camera angle keeps both player and action in focus, zooming in when you're on attack. Now in Be A Pro: Online Team Play, up to five friends on different consoles will be able to select and take control of their own individual players on the same team, supported by AI teammates, to play against up to five rivals of another team. Alternatively, online users can select to play with free roaming players, and teams can have a combination of both.

"At EA SPORTS our dream is to create a full 11 versus 11 online gameplay experience in which each user will have a set position during the match and train specifically for that position," said Joe Booth, producer of FIFA Soccer 08. "Be A Pro is the first step in this direction, and now, with the ability to deliver five versus five online gameplay as free downloadable content, we are moving even closer towards the realization of this dream."

"Be A Pro forces you to think and react like a professional player where you experience the whole range of emotions players go through during the course of a game," said Andrew Wilson, Executive Producer of FIFA Soccer 08. "Now we are taking this experience online for you to share with your friends. You will have to learn to work together as a team much like any real teams go through in order to be successful."

In addition to Be A Pro: Online Team Play, the online feature set in FIFA Soccer 08 includes the award-winning Interactive Leagues, where you represent your club online against your rivals throughout the season in the F.A. Premier League, Bundesliga, French League or Mexican 1st Division and features weekly in-game pod casts by the development team, and Online Leagues, where you create and organize your own multiplayer Friends Leagues and tournaments with all the tools in-game.

It's freakin' 2007...how come there aren't basketball games where all ten players on the court are human controlled? 22 for football...that could be pushing it, and really, who wants to play offensive line every down?

And now for some interesting news...for those of you who haven't been paying attention, Rockstar Games, developers of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, have been trying to get a new title, Manhunt 2, approved by the ESRB for a M (Mature) release. The first submission of Manhunt 2 garnered the dreaded AO rating and therefore pretty much killed any chance of it hitting shelves. Well, some interesting stuff has happened since then. From Rockstar's website:

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 - Manhunt 2 will be released for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, and the Wii home video game system from Nintendo in North America on October 31, 2007. This announcement follows the submission of a modified version of Manhunt 2 to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, who has now rated the title "M" for Mature for ages 17 and older.

"Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we're glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience," said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. "We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it."

So, has Rockstar pulled a Hollywood style bait and switch? Did they load their new title up with extra gore and sexiness KNOWING they would have to shed some of that to get an M rating? It makes for good conversation fodder. What do you think Talkbackers?

This one just hit my mailbox and it features one of my favorite franchises of all times...the Tony Hawk series.

Santa Monica, CA - August 27, 2007 - This October, Activision, Inc. is bringing the sounds of skate culture to life like never before in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground -- the deepest, most customizable skateboarding game ever. Featuring over 50 tracks including "The Pretender," the first single from the Foo Fighters' forthcoming album and popular anthems from Nirvana, Bloc Party, Jurassic 5, Slick Rick, The Rolling Stones, and many more, players will be able to create their personal skate legacy to the songs that have fueled today's skateboarding culture. Additionally, MCA of the Beastie Boys makes an appearance in the game as a secret unlockable character.

"Tony Hawk games are known for having incredible soundtracks and we're really excited to have MCA, an icon of the music industry in our game as a secret character," said Tim Riley, worldwide executive of music at Activision. "Tony Hawk's Proving Ground continues the tradition of great music and provides the perfect vibe for players as they create their own experience, no matter what kind of skater they choose to become."

The following songs will be featured in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground:

• !!! - "All My Heroes are Weirdos"
• Airbourne -" Girls in Black"
• Angels & Airwaves - "Secret Crowds"
• Anglo Jackson - "Motorbike"
• At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul"
• Bad Brains - "Banned in DC"
• Beastie Boys - "Electric Worm"
• Blackalicious - "Your Move"
• Bloc Party - "Version 2.0"
• Cursed - "The Hands will Abide"
• Cymande - "Fug"
• Dag Nasty - "Circles"
• Darkest Hour - "Sanctuary"
• DJ JS-1 featuring L.I.F.E. Long & Immortal Technique - "Audio Technician"
• El-P - "Up All Night"
• Folk Implosion - "Natural One"
• Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"
• Fu Manchu - "We Must Obey"
• Funky 4+1 - "Rappin and Rockin the House"
• Future Pigeon - "Gift Tax"
• Gallows - "Come Friendly Bombs"
• Gorilla Biscuits - "Hold Your Ground"
• Jimmy Castor Bunch - "It's Just Begun"
• Jurassic 5 - "Radio"
• Kittens - "Carpenter"
• Los Abandoned - "Panic-Oh!"
• Lyrics Born featuring KRS-One and Evidence - "Pack Up Remix"
• Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - "Memories of the Grove"
• Motorcity Daredevils - "Bear in the Air"
• Nation of Ulysses - "You're My Miss Washington D.C."
• Nirvana - "Breed"
• Oh No feat. J. Dilla and Roc C. - "Move Part 2"
• Paint it Black - "The New Brutality"
• Paris - "The Devil Made Me Do It (Poach a Pig Mix)"
• Percee P - "Throwback Rap Attack (Madlib remix)"
• Pierce the Veil - "I'd Rather Die than Be Famous"
• Pig Destroyer - "Loathsome"
• Reverend Horton Heat - "Baddest of the Bad"
• Revolution Mother - "Come On"
• Roots Manuva - "Chin High"
• Sayvinyl - "That's Entertainment"
• Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
• Slick Rick - "Children's Story"
• Smashing Pumpkins - "Tarantula"
• Snapcase - "Energy Dome"
• The Bled - "Starving Artiste"
• The Clash - "Clash City Rockers"
• The Cramps - "Garbage Man"
• The Icarus Line - "Gets Paid"
• The Kooks - "See the World"
• The Octopus Project - "Music is Happiness"
• The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil"
• The Sex Pistols - "Holidays in the Sun"
• Twilight 22 - "Electric Kingdom"

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is scheduled to be available this fall and is in development by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and is rated "T" (Teen) by the ESRB. The Wii™ home video game system and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system versions are being developed by Page 44 Studios and are rated "T" (Teen) by the ESRB. The Nintendo DS™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions and is rated "E 10+ (Everyone 10 and older.

For more information about the game visit http://www.thpgonline.com/.

"MCA, where have ya been?"

That is a pretty sick lineup. Folk Implosion, Nirvana, Slick Rick...the Tony Hawk series has always been at the forefront of good soundtracks though, so it's hard not to expect a good one.

Pretty Images of the Week!

This trailer pretty much speaks for itself. I give you the trailer for Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am.

I have no idea what that game is about or how to play it...but RAD!!!

I think I legally have to show this next video or Quint will murder my two pet cats. I give you the second Halo short film (not in shaky-cam mode this time.)

Gritty as hell...I love it. Makes you wonder what a full length Halo movie would look like, eh? I wish Someone involved with Halo, or the Halo franchise, or you know, someone who owns the company that creates the consoles that Halo plays on would pony up the cash and make a damn awesome movie. That's just me wishin' though.

Last up for you kind folk is the intro video to the next Katamari title, Beautiful Katamari which is hitting the 360 sometime this Fall. AICN friend Krakken is absolutely addicted to the demo for this game. He hasn't eaten in weeks...he just goes on and on about rolling balls around. Oddly enough, a female gamer friend of mine, Darla, loves rolling balls too. Katamari, that is. Wait, what?

How can you not look at that and be totally psyched?? Tight pants and weird pandas! Come on!! "I will enjoy the party tonight!!"

Monki's Eight Most Important Stories of the Week!

Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Beta went live today...it's fucking insane.

Kotaku pulled the exclusive look at Halo 3: The Ride. Congrats you pirates.

Metal Slug 3 is coming to XBLA. I was at an arcade auction this weekend where a Metal Slug 4 sold for $450. Expect to pay much less than that.

People are upset that Manhunt 2 is going to be released now. Imagine that!!

Maybe WoW IS good for something. Virtual plagues! I remember when this story hit a while back...good to see something positive coming from it.

The PAX Omegathon ended with new Halo 3 levels/weapons. Flamethrower FTW! Check out the vids...

N'Gai Croal and Stephen Totilo are like Spock and Captain Kirk fighting in that pit with those sticks from American Gladiators. You know neither will take the final blow but it's a damn good time to watch.

Uwe Boll is fucking crazy. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Back in My Day of the Week!!

When I was in school I always found a visual aide helped my scores on presentations by leaps and bounds...on that note, I'm going to embed a video from a new show over on the On Networks called Play Value.

I came into my first arcade game around the age of 3. It was at a Skaggs in North Austin. The very first game to touch my virgin hands...Ikari Warriors.

My mom would go off shopping and my dad would stand next to me and watch me blow a dollar in quarters on this game where two little Rambo looking fellas ran around shooting pellets and throwing grenades at faceless cloned enemies.

At this point, I wasn't even tall enough to reach the control panel, so the workers there would pull over a chair for me to stand on.

After a short while Ikari Warriors was replaced with Toobin' and it's majestic waterfall marquee. After that, Narc took the sweet spot...but by this time, when my family would go to the mall (a monthly trip) my dad and I would step into Shangri-la...aka Aladdin's Castle. Aladdin's Castle introduced me to Street Fighter with the big punch pads that you would hit harder or softer based on what strength punch or kick you wanted.

The Castle is where I was first introduced to Guile, my character of choice on every Street Fighter title since I saw the colorful sequel for the first time. Then came Mortal Kombat and my obsession with learning how to rip someone's head off with the spine connected!! How fucking cool!! Like Guile, Sub-Zero has been my go-to.

As I aged, I had birthdays at Aladdin's Castle. Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, was as good as receiving that roll of tokens from Mom and then beating Terminator 2 for the FIRST TIME with a buddy. We sat and watched all the credits to that one. Revolution X had nothing on T2.

By this time I was starting to make friends with some of the local kids that would hang around the arcade while their sisters went to the Texas Illusions shop next door to look at holograms or the images you had to cross your eyes to see...IT'S A FUCKING SAILBOAT!

Some of my earliest social interactions took place here. There was always a rush when approaching the front doors to the castle...who would be on Mortal Kombat 2? Is that guy who absolutely owned my ass with Baraka back this weekend? Is TODAY the day that a sequel to Street Fighter 2 comes out? And then one of the most glorious things ever happened. The owners started putting monitors on TOP of the machines. People would watch the two going at it without having to shove each other to take a peek at the monitor.

If you could hold your own in a crowded arcade with twenty people watching...you were the king shit. Nothing was better than a three round battle with a sliver of health left pulling off a fatality against your opponent and a crowd going crazy afterwards. That thrill DOES NOT exist anymore. At least...not like it should.

A quick aside...I was at the King of Kong screening last Sunday when Steve Wiebe was taking his first stab at beating Billy Mitchell's new Donkey Kong high score. Standing on a chair at the back of the lobby in the Drafthouse, next to Tim League, that feeling started coming back. I might as well had been standing on a pink and green chair at Aladdin's watching some kid play Reptile on MK1! (A feat I've never actually seen)

After Wiebe hit 695,000 and his JumpMan spun around after being hit by that final barrel, he turned around to a thunderous applause.

Wow.

I remember that feeling...of course, not to the extent that it was at the Drafthouse, but I remember playing in some Tekken 3 tournaments when I was a bit older...15 others in a tournament watching you play, and then an honest applause after a match. Respect. That is it...respect.

Arcade camaraderie has been replaced with internet anonymity. And that sucks.

I try not to play multiplayer games online with people I don't know. I'm just tired of amazing douches ruining my fun. What has happened to the awe of watching someone who was excellent instead of the immediate racial and sexual slurs towards someone who just sniped you? Instead of "That guy is fucking good!" we've turned to "Fuck that guy's mother!"

We're entering into a very important time in the evolution of the way people look at video games. Right now laws are being drafted in various states to start banning video games based on the amount of violence and other "seedy" stuff in them. I think a lot of that has to do with the culture that has sprung up around gaming. If these violent titles were coming out, but the image of a gamer was one of an upstanding person instead of a foul-mouthed douche...who knows if these problems would exist?

All that being said...next time you go to teabag someone in the Call of Duty 4 Multiplayer Beta or the upcoming Halo 3...think to yourself...at one time I would have been standing next to this kid sharing a monitor...and show some fucking respect.

Oh, and for what it's worth...I saved up some cash a few years back, and now this is in my garage.

Pretty fucking sweet, huh?

The Final Minute with Monki

Okay, that does it for some catch-up...I swear to god I'm going to start writing this on a schedule. I've got a column about Star Wars: Unleashed to finish up, an interview with an author and a music column to get knocked out as well.

All that and a bunch of my games writers are fighting over who is going to be talking about Bioshock...a game that is blowing my mind at the moment.

Until next time, I leave you with the future of the United States.

I'm off to buy maps for every child I know...until next time, back up the tree I go!

-Monki