Please Not Another Call of Duty Remake

So you just got the new Call of Duty game, pretty exciting stuff. Go to your local store, grab your game, put it in your system and your ready to roll. After playing for about ten minutes a question pops into your head, is this Call of Duty 4 or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 because honestly all of them look and feel the same.

That is the problem and that is also the solution. Let me explain a little more, as a gamer that is the problem. As the company CEO that is the solution. It is the commonly used phrase of, if it is not broken then don’t fix it. If I was the CEO of the Call of Duty franchise I would continue to do exactly what they are doing. That is releasing a Call of Duty game every year and watching the millions of dollars come on in.

A game so easy and simple even Kobe Bryant can pick up and play. As seen in the Call of Duty Black Ops commercial.

Call of Duty is a fun game don’t get me wrong. If you want to play a quick game, just hop online, shoot some enemies and then on with the rest of your day. The game play when playing Call of Duty is so simple. You chose your gun, you find your enemy and you shoot him. There is no learning curve or move set that you need to learn compared to a game like Dark Souls or Street Fighter. It makes it easy for anyone, of any age group, to just jump in and play.

When Call of Duty first came out it was fun and exciting because it was something new. As the years went on, all that was added included, a new map here, some new guns there and some progression from the past year’s storyline. To some that is all that they wanted, they wanted to keep the same formula because they were use to it, but wanted a few changes here and there. To most it got really boring and repetitive, pretty much playing the same game, but in a different time period and environment.

As a gamer, when your pay $60 for a game you want something worth your money. The new Call of Duty 25 is pretty much going to be the same game as Call of Duty 3. As a the company owner, keep producing a Call of Duty every year, if the fans continue to buy it, then why not keep making it? If your tired of the same Call of Duty over and over again the only thing to do is not buy a game. If the sales decrease then there would not be a new game every year. For now, people will keep on buying and the Call of Duty franchise will keep on producing and I honestly can’t blame them at all.

Old School Gaming vs. New School Gaming

Many fear change while others embrace it.

When it comes to video games, gamers often want the new system with the high-tech flashy graphics. But that doesn’t always guarantee that it is going to be better than the system you already have.

The way gaming is now is totally different then the way that it use to be. Let’s face it, gaming now is cooler and has changed drastically from the way it use to be. Gamers can now take games on the go, interact with the games themselves and literally put themselves in the game, cool right?

As an old school gamer, I don’t think so. I think that it is getting away from the way games were meant to be played.

When you play a game you want to sit down with your controller and run through a bunch of levels and beat down the boss at the end, it was pretty easy. You don’t want to get up and move your arms around in order to interact with the game, it is too much work. It also never works either, you end up trying to position yourself perfectly and the game never even detects your movements. Sorry Microsoft Kinect, PlayStation Move and Wii, it’s the truth.

The original PlayStation and Super Nintendo got it right. Their games were simple, easy to understand and fun to play. There was no need for a strategy guide or any of that. You go from point A to point B and that is why those games were simple, but still so much fun to play. Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sonic, Pac-Man and Street Fighter all revolutionized the video game world. That is why these popular titles are still around today. They had the easy, fun concept that gamers loved.

Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite games that I play today are on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. I think the graphics and the online game-play definitely make gaming so much better. It brings people together, you can play and talk with a friend from halfway across that world, that is amazing! All those feature are cool though, but that is not actual gaming, those are features.

Imagine if the original PlayStation and Nintendo had online play now. It would be awesome, playing the original Mario games on-line with a friend, that would be so much fun, not going to lie.

Think about the time era’s that these systems came out in. I am not surprised that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have the kind of graphics and game-play features that they have now. Imagine if those old school systems had the same kind of technology benefit that we have now, it would be crazy!

Change may be good to some degree, but just remember where it all originated from.

Call of Duty: Black Ops or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3?

I am going to jump into a much debated topic in the video game community. Everyone is open to their opinion, but I am going to give mine. We are talking about two of the biggest games in the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3.

Online Gameplay

Black Ops > Modern Warfare 3

This one is a no brainer for me. If you want quick, fast flowing game play you have to give the edge to Black Ops. It is just no comparison, the maps on Black Ops promote players to run and not camp in the corners, even though many still do.

I think that Modern Warfare goes for more of a team approach. They slow down movement and make it more team oriented. In Black Ops, you are able to take over the game by yourself and win for the team single handily. In MW3 you need to stick with the team and chose your spots in order to help your team win, you can’t run and gun like in Black Ops. For a gamer who likes to run around the map and have fun, Black Ops in defiantly better.

Also, another edge is in customization of guns and emblems. In Black Ops, you can create you own custom emblem from scratch and even put it on all of your guns. There is a lot more variety in colors and designs on your guns. Giving the player customization to make what they want, makes any game better.

Graphics

Modern Warfare 3 > Black Ops

MW3 has the edge when it comes to graphics. Some of the scenes that you play in the campaign are well designed and the graphic engine really shines. Black Ops graphics aren’t all that great, they are not bad, but when you are in the next generation of graphics, you need to be top-notch. From the environments to the little details on the guns, MW3 has the edge by a fairly large margin.

Campaign

Black Ops > Modern Warfare 3

The Black Ops campaign had me hooked from the moment I started playing it. Where it succeeds is in changing up the game play and environments and keeping it fresh. As a gamer, I have played many games over the years and many of them get repetitive and really boring, especially in war and shooter type games.

Modern Warfare’s 3 campaign was good because of the story it continued from, back in MW1 and MW2. It was cool to see how a story progressed over time. I have to say the last scene in MW3 was epic, I wish the whole campaign was like that, the night-time, lights and action was perfect. I just have to say that during the middle of the campaign I got bored and started to lose interest in the story, I just wish that they changed up the game play and environments to keep it fresh.

Overall

Black Ops > Modern Warfare 3

Modern Warfare 3 is not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. It is better than Black Ops in different areas of the game, but overall I think that Black Ops is a better game. If MW3 would adopt some of the features in customization and making their game faster moving, I think they would be right on par with Black Ops. For me, I think Black Ops is the overall better game!

Who is the Best Mario Character of All Time?

It comes down to this, a bunch of classic characters, but only one can be the best!

It is an epic showdown of, who is the greatest character out of the classic Mario characters from back in the day. I call them the classic “Mario” characters because they were never creative enough to come up with an amazing group name. I’m going to narrow it down to the top 3 then pick a winner.

Mario

Mario is an Italian plumber, no seriously he is. Mario could be called the leader of this group and he obviously is the most popular and the most known worldwide. I get the outfit and all, but one must think that it would get a little uncomfortable running around in suspenders all day.  This guys life mission is to save Princess Peach from Bowser, the giant evil bad guy. I just don’t get this dude though. So Princess Peach runs off and Mario saves her, then she runs off again and once again Mario is there for the save. Just give it up already Mario, you already saved her once you really don’t need to every single time.

Yoshi

What more is there to say. This little green guy has a giant tongue and can fly, well not for a long time, but I count it as flying. He even lets Mario jump on his back and ride him, making him by far the nicest dinosaur I have ever seen. Yoshi actually saved Mario back on Yoshi’s Island for the Super Nintendo. So without Yoshi there would be no Mario or Luigi. He is just the perfect sidekick and is always there for Mario. What other dinosaur would let you sit on their back, as you go on a crazy adventures to save a princess. Exactly, there is no other.

Donkey Kong

The king of the jungle himself. Back in the old days Mario and Donkey Kong use to be rivals. Donkey Kong was always throwing barrels at Mario as he tried to climb some ladders to save Princess Peach. Over time Donkey Kong turned to the good side, eventually leading to him and Mario putting aside their differences. Donkey Kong with his side kick Diddy Kong were a dynamic one, two punch. Donkey and Diddy ran through Donkey Kong Country together stepping on alligators and riding on frogs. Donkey Kong aka DK is also known for his DK rap, if you don’t know what it is, I recommend you check it out, its pretty epic.

Three classic characters, but only one can win.

The winner is…

Yoshi!

Let’s face it without Yoshi there would never be a Mario game. If he would’ve never delivered Mario and Luigi to their parents, Mario would never have been anywhere near as popular as he was today. Who knows what would’ve happened to him, I know I don’t want to know. I guess that it kind of helps that Yoshi is my favorite character, so I’m a little biased.

Honorable Mention:

• Toad
• Bowser
• Luigi

The Xbox 720 and PS4 Will Fail

There are rumors coming out that may change the video game world forever. But not in a good way. Microsoft and Sony are both considering banning the use of used games.

Yup I said it, no more used games.

This may be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. As a common gamer, used games are what save us gamers from struggling to scrap out sixty dollars when ever we want a new game. Don’t even get me started on how ridiculous sixty dollars for a game is already.

Microsoft and Sony’s plan is to make as much money as possible, money is all it is ever about.

So the big businesses Microsoft and Sony get richer and stores like Game Stop and Play N Trade get poorer. Most of Game Stop and Play N Trade’s business is from buying used games for cheap and over selling them, so without used game they would loose a lot of profit. Also, don’t forget about the consumer, the common gamer will get poorer as well. So it’s a win for Sony and Microsoft and a loss everyone else.

I just don’t get it. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 already have over the top graphics and lightning fast performance right now. I don’t see how much they can really improve on.

Let’s not even get started about how these game industries are making consumers obtain an “online pass” in order to play online. This makes gamers who want to play online, have to buy the online pass in order to play online, it’s crazy.

I really hope that this is just a rumor and is not going to turn into reality. If so the world of gaming will never be the same. It would finally show that it is all about the money, not about the gamer.

E3 2012 is taking place in June. We will see if any new details emerge.