Leveling Down

What’s up all? cmfl3x here. I recently volunteered to contribute some material to Leveling Down so I’ll be making posts every once in a while. A little bit about myself, and like espion4ge I’ve been gaming since the 8 bit era. Some of my favorite games from previous generations are Final Fantasy IV, Super Mario 64, Punch Out!, and Goldeneye. As you can see, I was a huge Nintendo fan. I still am, but am pretty disappointed in their offerings for the Wii right now.

As for current systems, I own a XBox360, a Wii, and a DS, although I lent my Wii to my fiancee. With a 360, I obviously play a lot of first person shooters, and I also enjoy RPGs like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect. Other than that, you should probably know that story trumps all other aspects of games for me, so if I like the story I can forgive annoying gameplay errors or bad graphics. Although everyone seemed to think Grand Theft Auto IV had a great story, which I disagree with. GTA had a promising story, but it was way too long and drawn out. But I digress…

Anyway, like espion4ge I put together a list of titles that I’m looking forward to this year. If you guys think we should have added anything to our lists, feel free to post in the comments! What are you excited for?

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Now that 2008 is over, it’s time to start thinking about 2009. I personally thought that 2008 was a fantastic year for gaming, and when I look at what’s on the horizon for 2009, I’m less excited. There are far too many sequels that I suspect won’t live up to their predecessors like Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando, Bioshock 2, etc. I’m not really a fan of the Halo universe (I always seem to fall asleep when I play any of the campaigns) so Halo Wars & Halo ODST are out. Final Fantasy XIII and Diablo III would make my list, but I don’t know if they are even guaranteed 2009 releases. So what’s left? Hit the link to see what I’m most interested in for 2009 (in no particular order – well, maybe chronological).

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Xbox 360
13 Month Live Gold Card [$29.97 Amazon] [$38.99 Newegg]
Assassin’s Creed [$23.99 Amazon]
BioShock [$23.99 Amazon]
Call of Duty: World at War [$49.99 Amazon] [$49.99 Best Buy]
Dark Sector [$9.99 Newegg]
Fallout 3 Collector’s Edition [$59.97 Amazon]
Far Cry 2 [$39.99 Newegg] [$29.99 Best Buy]
Grand Theft Auto IV [$29.99 Newegg]
Naruto: The Broken Bond [$39.99 Best Buy]
Prince of Persia [$39.99 Best Buy]
Scene It? Box Office Smash Bundle [$49.99 Best Buy]
Unreal Tournament III [$19.99 Newegg]

Playstation 3
Call Of Duty: World At War [$49.99 Best Buy]
Dark Sector [$9.99 Newegg]
Dual Shock Controller [$42.99 Amazon]
Fallout 3 [$51.99 Amazon]
Far Cry 2 [$29.99 Best Buy]
Haze [$16.99 Newegg]
LEGO Batman [$36.99 Amazon]
Midnight Club: Los Angeles [$39.99 Amazon]
Prince of Persia [$39.99 Best Buy]
Pure [$29.99 Best Buy]
Ratchet & Clank: Future Tools of Destruction [$41.99 Amazon]
Saints Row 2 [$36.99 Amazon]
Tomb Raider: Underworld [$46.99 Amazon]
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune [$41.99 Newegg]

Nintendo Wii
Call Of Duty: World At War [$39.99 Best Buy]
Ghost Squad [$21.99 Amazon]
House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return [$21.99 Amazon]
Mario Super Sluggers [$36.99 Newegg]
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party [$39.99 Best Buy]
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip [$39.99 Best Buy]

PC
Fallout 3 [$39.99 Amazon]

Sad time in video game deal hunting since Circuit City is going out of business. This means Best Buy won’t have to throw out as many sales on videogames to compete for customers, which in turn also makes Amazon less prone to giving deals. Just like the 360 & PS3 – having more competitors is a good thing! For this week, be sure to pick up the $30 13 month Live Gold card off Amazon since it usually retails for $50. Best deal of the week aside from Far Cry 2 for $30 at Best Buy.

US Software in December 2008
Rank | Platform | Title | Units Sold | Last Month | Lifetime to Date
01 Wii Wii Play 1,460,000 796,000 9,387,396
02 360 Call of Duty: World at War 1,330,000 1,410,000 2,740,000
03 Wii Wii Fit 999,000 697,000 4,525,900
04 Wii Mario Kart 878,000 637,000 4,891,000
05 Wii Guitar Hero World Tour 859,000 475,000 1,516,845
06 360 Gears of War 2 745,000 1,560,000 2,305,000
07 360 Left 4 Dead 629,000 410,000 1,039,000
08 NDS Mario Kart 540,000 unknown 5,160,000
09 PS3 Call of Duty: World at War 533,000 597,000 1,130,000
10 Wii Animal Crossing: City Folk 497,000 300,000 797,000

US Hardware in December 2008
Rank | Platform | Units Sold | Last Month | Lifetime to Date
01 Nintendo DS 3,040,000 1,570,000 27,540,100
02 Nintendo Wii 2,150,000 2,040,000 17,652,700
03 Xbox 360 1,440,000 836,000 13,856,400
04 Playstation Portable 1,020,000 421,000 14,339,600
05 Playstation 3 726,000 378,000 6,790,900

Wii titles dominated the sales charts last month like crazy, which was no surprise considering over 2 million Wiis were sold. Wii Play, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart have been in the top 10 software sales since they were originally released, and don’t look to ever leave. Animal Crossing and Guitar Hero World Tour on the Wii both saw nice boosts for December, but it looks like Wii Music may be one of Nintendo’s duds for the year. Guitar Hero World Tour seems to have just about died on the 360/PS3, and it’s found a new home with the casual market on the Wii. Well, maybe Guitar Hero 3 started the phase and World Tour was a simple upgrade for Wii owners. It’s also interesting to see Mario Kart for the Nintendo DS break the top 10 chart, a game that was released all the way back in 2005. With over 3 million DS’s sold last month, I guess that’s only about 1 out of every 6 new DS owners.

On the 360 front you had the main 360 multiplayer staples: Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2, and Left 4 Dead. Call of Duty: World at War is selling like hotcakes as it suffered almost no drop in sales numbers in its second month for both the 360 and PS3 versions. Gears of War 2 didn’t hold up so well, as it saw its numbers drop by about 50% – not good for the month of Christmas. But I guess with its broken multiplayer, people moved on to Call of Duty: World at War and Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead also was a great hit – the only 360 game on the list that actually sold more in December than when it was released in November. Positive word of mouth probably really got this game selling, as one guy probably bought it in November, liked it, and convinced 3 more guys to get it to play it with him. Seems almost like how it worked with me and all my friends at least.

Finally, the top games sold in 2008:
Rank | Platform | Title | Units Sold in 2008 only
01 Wii Wii Play 5.28 million
02 Wii Mario Kart 5.00 million
03 Wii Wii Fit 4.53 million
04 Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl 4.17 million
05 360 Grand Theft Auto IV 3.29 million
06 360 Call of Duty: World at War 2.75 million
07 360 Gears of War 2 2.31 million
08 PS3 Grand Theft Auto IV 1.89 million
09 360 Madden NFL ’09 1.87 million
10 NDS Mario Kart 1.65 million

I didn’t expect Super Smash Bros. Brawl to have sold so strongly!

NPD Sales Results for December 2008 [NeoGAF]

Courtesy of Amazon, we have:

Xbox 360
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 [$19.97 + $2.95 shipping and tax at J&R through Amazon]
Halo 3 Limited Wireless Controller with figure [$39.99 Amazon]

Playstation 3
Folklore [$34.98 Amazon]

I’d recommend all 3 if you don’t have them or need a controller still. I’m playing RA3 now and it’s definitely worth it for $20. The wireless controller retailed at $60 and with it having Halo 3 art and a Spartan action figure, it’s not a bad price at $40. Finally, Folklore is one of the more under-rated Japanese “action-rpg”-ish games on the PS3 that I would have picked up if I had the system.

Mirror’s Edge – getting closer and closer to the 1000. The question at this point is whether I want to get the full 3 stars on all 23 time trials (69 total) or just quit after the 50 required for the Achievement…

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway – pretty short game and the storyline is picking up a bit in the second half of the game. I should have it done by this weekend.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – at first I was pretty annoyed that the game was co-op (because I’d be playing with an AI controlled partner the whole campaign) but then my friend JPKewl got it so now I’m enjoying it a little more now that we can play all the missions together. We’re kind of slowly going through it whenever we both have time to play.

Unreal Tournament III – ended up picking this up at Best Buy last night since it’s on sale for $20 this week. I realize that it doesn’t have matchmaking and most of the online is dead (has co-op though), but I actually miss the game since I loved Unreal Tournament and UT2K4. I figure $20 is enough to play against bots on 50 different maps if that’s what it comes down to. Wish this version still had the Assault game type though but this video sold the game to me.

Prince of Persia – will probably get started on this next as my primary single player experience once I complete Mirror’s Edge and Brothers in Arms: HH this weekend. Heard it was sort of short so I might as well get through it.

Left 4 Dead – feels a little weird going back to campaign mode after spending time on versus mode. When you’re on a good team it’s awesome but when you’re with bad/non-mic players it’s probably one of the worst gaming experiences ever.

Why does everyone like being elves?

I recently decided to give Warhammer Online a try since I needed something to do while grinding the 56,000 kills or whatever in Left 4 Dead. I didn’t think I’d get back into the MMORPG scene after World of Warcraft, but figured the $10 price I paid for the game was not too big of a deal as long as I didn’t continue the subscription after the first free month. Granted, I only leveled up to rank 6 and never saw the end game but if you’re curious how it is, check out my impressions. In many cases I will be using World of Warcraft as a comparison, since they’re actually quite similar.

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Seems like a poignant scene – wait who are these characters again?

I picked this up over Black Friday weekend back in November when it went on sale for $20. I would have never checked it out for more than that, as it was another WWII shooter and I think I’ve already had enough of those. How many more do we need right? But, on the other hand, I had never played a Brothers in Arms game before so I figured it was worth checking out. After all, with rumors that Gearbox, the developers of the Brothers in Arms franchise, on tap to develop Halo 4, maybe I should see what they’ve been doing before they move on to the most important franchise on the Xbox.

Read on for my impressions as a Brother in Arms newbie.

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Xbox 360
13 month Live Gold subscription [$38.99 Amazon] [$38.99 Newegg] [$29.99 Buy.com]
Assassin’s Creed [$23.99 Amazon]
Battlefield: Bad Company [$19.99 Best Buy]
BioShock [$23.99 Amazon]
Call of Duty: World at War [$49.99 Amazon]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 [$39.99 Best Buy]
Condemned 2: Bloodshot [$9.99 Best Buy]
Dark Sector [$9.99 Newegg]
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [$19.99 Best Buy]
Face Breaker [$9.99 Best Buy]
Far Cry 2 [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Newegg]
Grand Theft Auto IV [$29.99 Newegg]
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock [$19.99 Best Buy]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith [$19.99 Best Buy]
Ninja Gaiden II [$9.99 Best Buy]
Rock Band 2 [$39.99 Best Buy]
Saints Row 2 [$39.99 Best Buy]
Silent Hill: Homecoming [$26.99 Newegg]
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows [$39.99 Best Buy]
Street Fighter IV pre-order [$59.99 with $10 gift card Circuit City]
Turok [$9.99 Best Buy]
Unreal Tournament III [$19.99 Newegg] [$19.99 Best Buy]

Playstation 3
Battlefield: Bad Company [$19.99 Best Buy]
Condemned 2: Bloodshot [$9.99 Best Buy]
Dark Sector [$9.99 Newegg]
DualShock controller [$42.99 Amazon]
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [$19.99 Best Buy]
Face Breaker [$9.99 Best Buy]
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock [$29.99 Best Buy]
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith [$19.99 Best Buy]
Haze [$16.99 Newegg]
Midnight Club: Los Angeles [$39.99 Amazon]
Ratchet & Clank: Future Tools of Destruction [$41.99 Amazon]
Saints Row 2 [$36.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Best Buy]
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows [$39.99 Best Buy]
Street Fighter IV pre-order [$49.99 with $10 gift card Circuit City]
Tomb Raider: Underworld [$46.99 Amazon]
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune [$41.99 Newegg]

Nintendo Wii
Mario Super Sluggers [$36.99 Newegg]
My Fitness Coach [$19.99 Circuit City]
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party [$39.99 w/ free Rayman Raving Rabbids 1 Amazon] [$39.99 Circuit City]

PC
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures [$29.99 Best Buy]
Fallout 3 [$39.99 Amazon] [$39.99 Best Buy]
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir [$19.99 Best Buy]

Practically no sales this week from Target or Circuit City. Luckily, Amazon and Best Buy deliver the goods. If you don’t have Ninja Gaiden II by now…definitely get it at the $10 price (if you can find it). Also the $30 for the 13 month Live Gold card from Buy.com is probably the cheapest you’ll see the subscription card for, so I recommend picking it up if your current annual subscription is almost over. And Wii owners – if you haven’t picked up Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party yet, definitely consider this week since not only is Amazon having it on sale for $40, they’re also bundling in the first Rayman Raving Rabbids game for free with your purchase.

Going to change up my weekly thoughts entries to shortened gaming related thoughts I’ve had each week. Here’s this week:

Left 4 Dead – Finally got the 1000. Dang it why did one of my friends have to just get the game this week though. Why couldn’t he have gotten it weeks ago?!

Shadowrun – Cool now maybe I can get back into this for multiplayer since I no longer have another multiplayer game to play at the moment.

Mirror’s Edge – Stupid Time Trial modes. I better just suck it up and beat them. Maybe I can clear them out this weekend.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway – I should try to beat this soon so I can get rid of it while it still has some value.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – I wanted to start it but it’s getting bumped down so I can get through Brothers in Arms first.

Call of Duty: World at War – Tried it out again recently and maybe I won’t be able to hit the first Prestige after all. It’s just not fun anymore and the fact that I’ll have to put maybe 20 more hours in to get it means I’m pushing it back in my backlog queue in hopes the desire comes back later.

Prince of Persia – Looks interesting, but dang it there’s an Achievement for collecting like 1001 gems or something in the game? Ugh I’ll get to it later then. Same reason I ended up putting Naruto: Rise of a Ninja off.

Gears of War 2 – Epic announced that they’re actually going to release a patch to balance the multiplayer game sometime this month? Too late. And why aren’t they fixing the matchmaking that still takes 10 minutes to find a game?!