When Full-Priced Software Beckons

I did some counting, and I bought five games at their full retail prices last year: Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Assassin's Creed, in chronological order. That is quite out of the ordinary for my cash-strapped self, who usually gets a console toward the end of its lifespan and picks up tons of games at discount rates or as pre-owned titles. For example, my original Xbox was purchased after it had been declared dead by Microsoft, and I paid no more than thirty dollars for any of my games for the system.

I do not foresee that sort of outburst this year; I had followed all but one of last year's acquisitions with impatience since their respective announcements. My wife also no longer works for a major retail chain, which means I do not pass a shelf of games whenever I meet her on her lunch break. However, there are a couple of games which are calling to me. One is Too Human, Silicon Knights' cyber-Norse action RPG. As an Xbox Live Silver member, I was finally able to download a demo of the game, and I have enjoyed my time with the game immensely. While it took some time getting used to the controls, the feel of combat is pretty intuitive to me, even with only one character class playable. The unique twist on a grim mythology is also a draw, and the negative press the game is drawing for its long development cycle makes me want it to succeed. I am also intrigued by Mirror's Edge, which I can honestly say Electronic Arts has been unable to do since the first Lord of the Rings game. On paper, a first-person platformer sounds like a recipe for disaster, but the chance to look through the eyes of a person pulling off Prince-like acrobatics has me chomping at the bit. Speaking of puffy white pants, the new Prince of Persia game also whets my appetite, but I think I can wait a while for that one. It most likely will not need purchase numbers to speak in its defense as Too Human very well might.

In other news, this past week's E3 coverage has revealed two more games which make me regret my lack of a PlayStation 3. LittleBigPlanet looks awesome, and the community aspect of the game has enormous potential that has (in my opinion) not been available for a console before. I am also itching to see more of inFamous, Sony's upcoming open-world title. Most sandbox games would appeal to the explorer in me, but they tend to either cast me in the role of a decidedly non-lawful, non-good protagonist or feature so much violence that I get turned off. By this time in 2010, there might be enough games out there to warrant a new system purchase -- assuming someone has yet to force a new console generation on us by then.

I was not expecting this, but one game I was looking forward to playing has fallen off my list thanks to what I saw at E3. While gamers the world over were slavering in response to the Fallout 3 footage, I found the over-the-top gore on display unpalatable. Before anyone comments, I did play the first Fallout, and I am aware of how violent that game was. I am evidently in the minority of gamers who are satisfied that a defeated opponent simply falls to the ground. Blood spilling from a gunshot wound is realistic, whereas human beings falling apart from a sniper rifle shot is unnecessary. I cannot say how much of the carnage in the demo was due to the Bloody Mess perk/trait that apparently everyone who is not me will grab at the first opportunity, but bodies exploding into pieces repeatedly does not make me want to buy a game. Although taking someone out with a projectile teddy bear is hilariously awesome, I simply do not need another game I have to wait to play until everyone else in the house is asleep.