Game On

During one of my early battles on the planet Helghan – at least I think we were fighting on Helghan. I mean I know that Killzone 3 is the third game in the series and I should understand the storyline by now. But honestly I don’t care. And I care even less when the game’s designers cram three games worth of made-up military history into blocks of text onscreen during the first few minutes. Sheesh, Sony, didn’t you have enough money to at least hire Patrick Stewart to read the thing out loud?

For years the Mario Sports games have made an art out of simplicity. Where other sports videogames try to recreate the game’s action through elaborate controls, Nintendo has been taking away as many controls as possible. Instead of a gamebook full of rules and two fistfuls of buttons to handle, Mario Sports
games gave me a simple goal and a single button to push. The results – a series of stripped-down takes on tennis, golf, soccer and baseball – are all-ages friendly and surprisingly challenging.
So when I first saw Mario Sports Mix, I assumed it was a medley of past Mario Sports games – a four-for-one repackaging of Nintendo’s classic athletic adventures. But I don’t remember Mario playing dodgeball or volleyball. He has been affiliated with hockey in the past, but I’ve never seen the whole Mushroom Kingdom gang out on the ice. And while they’ve played basketball before, the tippity-tappity handheld Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is better forgotten.

Videogames have done well with the Orpheus myth. Mario descended into the fiery underworld of Bowser’s castle to rescue his beloved princess. I fondly recall exploring lava-laced caverns in pursuit of my pet frog in Master Blaster. A few years ago, I chased my girlfriend into Viewtiful Joe and more recently I pursued her through Dante’s Inferno. This time I’ve followed her into a bloody underworld known as Splatterhouse.
Splatterhouse shares its name and inspiration with an old arcade game that was famous for offending parents with its gory imagery. Rick, the game’s hero, put on an evil mask that transformed him into an avenging monster – sort of a sinister version of that old Jim Carrey movie The Mask – and set him loose in Splatterhouse’s haunted house.

The original LittleBigPlanet wasn’t supposed to have a sequel. A sequel, the game’s designers said, would defeat the entire purpose of LittleBigPlanet. Players were supposed to create their own games. LittleBigPlanet was intended to be designed by players for players. It would grow endlessly online, changing and expanding until it reflected the limits of human ingenuity.
But if the last decade has taught us anything, it’s that human ingenuity doesn’t necessarily make a profit online. Games that sell for $60 in Wal-Mart make a profit. And so LittleBigPlanet became LittleBigPlanet 2 – an upgraded, extended edition of the first game. It is currently available in stores for $60. (I paid $54 at Amazon.)

This winter, I’m reviewing the whole pack of motion sensitive games. From Wii Sports to Kinect Sports, I’m testing out the full range of gaming’s latest trend. And since all the games have some version of tennis, I’m calling the event the “Pong-Off.” Keep reading these pages to see the results, and may the best Pong win.

ONLY KINECT
This year, thanks to the Kinect ($150), the Xbox 360 steps into the “oooo, cool” spotlight that the Wii has been hogging for the past few years. The Kinect is a camera (of infrared-and-other sorts) that can track players’ whole bodies as they move around the room. Not only that, but it can recognize their faces and understand their words as well. Players merely need to be in the room with the 360 and some free space, and the games can begin.

Right away I’m forced to choose: Will I be a creative, “good” Mickey? Or will I be a destructive, “dark” Mickey? Will I be Mickey Mouse, innocent hero beloved by billions, or a tough, antihero animated for a new generation? Topolino or Mik3?

There are lots of ways to approach the latest Call of Duty. I choose the option marked “Zombies.”
“Zombies” is a stand-alone game mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops that showcases the series' shooting mechanics to fine effect. It is part of Call of Duty – built right into the game. I skipped over the single player and the standard multiplayer. I’m sure that the Black Ops storyline and setting are great. But all I played was “Zombies.”

“Son, why are you always going around dancing and playing patty-cake with everybody? Don’t you have a kingdom to save?”
“I am saving the kingdom, dad. But unlike when you did it back in Fable II, this time it’s a revolution – against my brother, your son, whom you made king, I might add. In order to overthrow him, I’m going to need good relationships with as many people as possible.”