Grand Theft Auto – NoobTubeTV

Our Next Generation Console Demands – Part 1

Hoping for advances in technology is like hoping that tomorrow will come. While it is a 99% certainty that it will happen, we really don’t know how it will turn out. We usually hope for tomorrow to be amazing. It is human nature to desire more and better for the future. As we get closer to the next generation of gaming, we will be talking about some of our favorite parts of this generation’s games and what we hope to see in the future.

In Game Graphics Vs. Screenshot Graphics

If you have read any of our coverage of Madden 13 and real time physics you will see that it is one of the more important parts of gaming at this point. Players and characters have ‘looked like’ their real-life counterparts for a couple years now. While EA Sports has taken awhile to get more face scans, it is something that will indeed improve for the next generation. However, physics and processing power are going to be more important than something just looking pretty.

Take Battlefield 3 for instance – not only do you see guns and enemies, but you see buildings and vehicles that can easily explode and remind you that some things look cool but they just aren’t ‘super real’ just yet. That is where the physics and actual graphical ‘processing’ are going to be more important than some sort of glorified screenshot that we see even this generation.

PC games aren’t necessarily held back like console games in this way. Well, they aren’t held back ‘as much’… and it is something that PC gamers are always happy to point out to console gamers. Console gamers shouldn’t expect ‘real life’ realism yet. If you take a look at the game from id Games that made everyone see just a glimpse of the graphical future of games – Rage certainly amazed gamers on PC and consoles alike. Even with a bunch of driver problems on PC it is still a great benchmark graphically. The issue XBox 360 users got to see as they opened the game for the first time was the fact that it came on 3 discs. While PS3 owners got to snicker and laugh because they have Blu Ray playback, XBox 360 gamers simply had to enjoy Rage with a couple swaps of the disc.

Other gamers might even recall having to switch discs on their 360 while playing Rockstar’s L.A. Noire. This game, while running on the same engine as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption pushed a new era of facial structure and movement in games. Never before have you had to interpret whether someone was lying to you based on their facial expressions, but in this case it made the game incredibly innovative even if it was quickly disregarded as a must have title. L.A. Noire still ranks as one of my favorite titles that came out during this generation of consoles because while it was in development for what seems like forever (nearly 7 years) it was still incredibly innovative and risk taking from a graphical and gameplay perspective when it game to interrogating suspects. There is still something to be said for games that take a chance to amaze you and that will never go away.

Even with these amazing achievements in graphics, there is still something to be desired. The PS3 was marketed almost solely on ‘The Cell Processor’ and its amazing 7-Cores. Yes, it was and is an amazing processor, but the funny part of this really goes back to the fact that many developers actually stated that games were easier to develop for the XBox 360 (which had issues with their own processor – RROD). Metal Gear Solid 4 was delayed on numerous occasions and if you pay close attention to Solid Snake during a cinematic scene you will notice that his hair still moves around in little chunks. While details like a character’s hair are something that some people might scoff at, take a look at some of the things people are getting caught up about with Madden Football. (wrong facemasks, helmets and shoestrings, etc.)

Real Time Physics (aka – The Sports Gamer’s Pipe Dream)

Perhaps one of the most famous hits in NFL history is the one that Lawerence Taylor put on Joe Theismann. While this is an extremely gruesome hit (please don’t watch this video if you get queesy) – it is a fine example of something that isn’t in Madden NFL football – real time physics with real time injuries.

Perhaps one of the most desired and denied wishes of gamers is realistic ‘real-time’ physics. This basically means that if a character is moving at a high rate of speed and tackles someone going a different direction you should see a collision that makes you go “oooohhh!”. What we have been seeing instead are animations that are ‘canned’ and play out in an expected fashion almost every time.

Even if you don’t play sports games it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a fighting game or an action game that had better real-time physics. Games like Assassins Creed or Mortal Kombat could become some of the most amazingly technologically advanced console games ever made (from the standpoint of physics). However, where many people want to see this drive improvement is in sports games.

The current generation of consoles has been pushed to the limit with physics processing. Many games look good in this fashion (All Pro Football 2K8) and others look simply ‘overblown’ (Backbreaker). What we are really hoping for is something in-between that will give us true physics in regards to player size, speed and strength (with other such variables). It is our hope that someday we will be able to play a game of Madden, MLB, NHL or NBA 2K and see hits, throws, catches, shots, passes, interactions and injuries that genuinely make us feel like we are watching/playing a real game of football.

Is It More Fun To Be A Hero Or A Villain?

It’s an interesting question when you put it in terms of gaming. Do you want to be the good guy or the bad guy? For the most part if you choose the latter in ‘real life’ you will end up in some sort of legal trouble. On the other hand, if you turn into a mass murderer on Skyrim or Fallout you are simply hated, feared and in plenty of ‘virtual legal trouble’.

When I was growing up it was always my mission to save the say with Mario, Zelda or Solid Snake. Now some 20+ years later I am given a choice every time I start an open world game from Bethesda. Is it wrong for me to have two different personas when I play the Elder Scrolls or Fallout?

I usually spend more time with my ‘good guy’ class, but when I have the opportunity to jump in for some slicing and dicing of whoever comes at me sideways – I relish every moment.

The interesting thing about being a bad guy is that you aren’t really every ‘bad’ per se… you are a brutal good guy with a short temper and an itchy trigger finger. In most games you don’t lose an opportunity to finish the main quest and save the day if you have butchered 109 villagers in Skyrim. You are still greeted as a hero after you complete quests or do something else considered ‘good’.

Games like Grand Theft Auto aren’t much different outside of the fact that you are given an opportunity to use bazookas and maybe see some sort of rocking cars late at night or maybe even snipe off the heads of people from a tall building. That is life in a world of absolute digital freedom and debauchery.

The funny thing is that when this comes up in conversation you will see people that either don’t game or hide behind some sort of veneer of being ‘Holier Than Thou’ act like you are terrible person when you talk about being a murderous adventurer and then they go log on to their creeper profile on Second Life or cruise the personal ads on Craigslist.

So, for those of you that have some sort of strange urge to be a villain – do it on a video game. You will feel better and you won’t have any real legal trouble.

Here is your chance – are you a villain or Dudley Do Right when you play these games? Comment Below!

Grand Theft Auto V – Los Santos (Los Angeles) – NOT Miami (Vice City)

*NOTE – Our initial post was that GTAV was going to be in Vice City. However, it was brought to our attention that it is indeed in Los Santos. It was an unfortunate error on our part and we do apologize for anyone that got too excited about a new Vice City game.

Grand Theft Auto V (5) is rumored to be coming out either late this year (2012) or early next year (2013). With the trickle of screen-shots coming out of Rockstar’s studios it does drive fans of the series to wonder about what they should expect from the next iteration of one of the most controversial games ever developed.

The biggest question for a GTA game is where it will be taking place.

That was answered awhile ago and it is their old version of cities like Las Vegas, Los Angeles and even San Francisco (called San Andreas). There are some people that all but worshipped Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (a close friend of mine will probably buy a console just to play this game if it is even similar in its beach settings, etc.).

: If you look closely you can see that LeBron James is in the background wearing a Yankees hat and cheering for anyone that doesn’t call him a villain. We are holding out hope that he is the actual villain you have to face in GTA V.

The most intriguing part about games from Rockstar is that they almost never disappoint when it comes to story, voice acting and the ability to explore and wreak havoc all over their world.

There are a lot of people that can’t wait to take their talents to Los Angeles (again), but even more seem to want Vice City. Chances are good you will have to wait another 4-5+ years for that.

What is your favorite Grand Theft Auto City? Liberty City, San Andreas, Vice City or somewhere else?

Conquering The Dead-Zone

We have entered an interesting time in gaming. This is usually the ‘dead-zone’ during the year in gaming. As we posted a video a few weeks ago about F.E.A.R. 2 – Project Origin a couple of interesting thoughts occurred:

1. First Person Shooters get repetitive and

2. We tend to lose sight of having fun with a game for the sake of having fun

Now that we have entered the dead-zone it is time to start looking at the current status of games from multiple perspectives.

Multiplayer Online Population – How many people are playing the game online currently? While there are many games that we once enjoyed playing online, sometimes there is still a remaining contingent of players that simply enjoy the game so much that they keep it alive in their dedicated community.

Single Player Longevity – Once you play through the game’s story, what else is there to do? While many FPS games simply roll credits after you finish the story there are some games that allow you to keep on playing (primarily from Bethesda) – Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, Oblivion and Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption or even the Mass Effect Series… the list usually revolves around open world games.

Fun Factor – To hell with leaderboards or some sort of trumped up ‘new’ features. The simple question is this: Does the game own your gaming soul? I have had many games over the years that may have been a few years old, but I just couldn’t stop playing them! There is nothing wrong with enjoying a game you have simply for the sake of having a great time. Whether it is nostalgia, a better experience than new games or just to hack and slash to release pent up stress from the work day… some games deserve to be kept in your collection because they are fun as hell. My go-to game for this was always Metal Gear Solid and now that the HD Collection is out on the 360, it feels like I am reunited with a long lost friend.

What are your favorite games?

Do you play any games online that some people have forgotten about?

Let us know in the comments section!