E3 pre-show! Warning: heavy linkage.

Also: my birthday's tomorrow! I'll be a quarter-century old.

Another year, another E3. I know this is starting to sound like one of the first blogs I wrote on this site and that's for a good reason: E3 2011 looks to be the year of sequels, remakes, and ports. I seriously think the games industry is running out of new ideas for new IPs.

The news is fresh from Konami's press conference: HD remakes of the original Metal Gear Solid games, Resident Evil, and Zone of the Enders. Woop-de-doo. Someone might be wondering why I'm so critical of Metal Gear Solid and I can hear the fanboys getting mad right now. Allow me to clarify why I dislike the whole MGS universe: fanboys. Because of the outrageous nature that some fanboys go through, it makes me want to have nothing to do with any of it. From what I've gathered, the MGS universe is a convoluted story centered around Solid Snake... no wait Big Boss... no wait Old Snake... Raiden?! It can't make up its mind who it wants to follow and if its not one specific character the fanboys go nuts and reject the game at first, then suddenly its Game of the Year material. Fanboys are raving lunatics.

Dedicated? No, I just call it freakin' weird.

However I will give Konami a little bit of kudos for announcing the next Contra, but not a lot for not revealing it. For all we know it could be an FPS Contra that old-school fanboys will get mad about. I'm starting to sense a pattern here....

Along with all of this, Konami is developing a multi-platform engine called the Fox Engine. Really? Fox? As in Kojima's company's moniker? I've had enough. Moving on.

Hot on the trails of the "exciting" Konami news is from the Sony camp. Yes they still exist despite recent circumstances. Not only are they getting the MGS remakes, but they're porting all of the digital download PSP releases, those that were on the PSN, to the NGP, or PSVita as some people are claiming. On top of that, they'll be bringing some new games to their Android-powered device, the Xperia Play. While the BFBC2 sounds good to me, I'm going to stick around and see what the NGP (or PSVita) has to offer. Plus I just bought an Android phone, I'm broke right now.

The NGP will also be getting an Uncharted sequel this year. And I know a lot of people are complaining about the motion controls with the NGP and all I hear is whining about using the back touchpad to climb up a rope. Get over it. Its a new way to play a game and it could be one of your favorites. STOP being so critical over something you haven't even played yet!

A little story happening with Microsoft is that CD Projekt is bringing The Witcher 2 to Xbox 360. So what does this little morsel have to do with all of this? Its a port. Enough said. Moving on.

THQ is headed back to the octagon for UFC Undisputed 3.

Another.

Sequel.

I'm just going to run down the list of sequel games that are being shown off this year:

Batman Arkham City

Saints Row: The Third

The Darkness II

Darksiders II

Serious Sam 3: BFE

Call of Juarez: The Cartel

Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (while not exactly a sequel, it is still a continuation of the StarCraft universe)

Silent Hill: Book of Memories

Mass Effect 3 (with rumored Kinect support)

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (even though they said they wouldn't do any more releases of SFIV)

Rayman Origins

Twisted Metal (reboot)

Gears of War 3

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (its a sequel)

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (ITS JUST A REMAKE, and some of you will pay $50 for a game you've bought 3 or 4 times before. SAME GAME.)
Tomb Raider (reboot)

Prey 2

Halo: Combat Evolved HD remake (very possible

Forza 4

Starhawk

Duke Nukem Forever

Madden 12 (you saw that one coming)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Driver: San Francisco

Splinter Cell 3DS (rumored)
Guild Wars 2
Ninja Gaiden 3
Red Faction: Armageddon
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
Battlefield 3
Carmageddon: Reincarnation
Resistance 3
Sniper: Ghost Warrior (PS3 port)
FEAR 3Alice: Madness Returns
Metro: Last Light
FIFA 12
Worms Ultimate Mayhem (rated in Australia)
Trackmania 2
Dragon Age 3
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Tales of Xillia (Tales of... series)
Diablo 3
Final Fantasy V
Might & Magic Heroes 6
Professor Layton
WWE 12
Blizzard DotA

And I'm sure there are a couple of games I missed.

Meanwhile there are three games I'm reluctant to call sequels: Sonic Generations, Age of Empires Online, and Aliens Colonial Marines. While the first two are new games in their respective franchises, I expect them to be more of the same-old same-old that we've played in the past. Aliens:CM has been in and out of development for a long while. I'm not entirely sure if its a sequel to the lackluster Aliens vs Predator game or not.

So, that's the sequels. Let's see how many original IPs are showing up in the next year:

From Dust
Heroes of Ruin
Dead Island
Rage
Bodycount
*Hawken (still in development, they need to find a publisher)

Yep. After 30 mins of searching you can count on one hand the big name IPs that you can expect to see soon. I know there are a few more but, like I said, after 30 minutes I gave up searching.

Seriously. People complain about their being no new IPs for games but they'll buy sequels and remakes left and right.
Its your own faults.
Some of the sequels I'm looking forward to, yes, but its the remakes and the thought that there are very little new ideas being made that disappoints me. I'm sure each of those games will do something their predecessor(s) never did but at their cores, they'll be the same.

Keep Playing.

A Second Look @ Enthusia Professional Racing.

(All images are from Gamespot.com. YouTube video is not mine either.)

Enthusia Professional Racing, made in-house by Konami, attempts to blend arcade and simulation racing. It does this rather well by keeping the arcade aspect in the menus while the racing is fully simulation (minus vehicular damage).

This wouldn't be such a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that the player may spend the bulk of their time in the menus trying to figure out the probability system in their favor.

As the game is first started, you're treated to a walkthrough of the menus. Skipping this may be a bad idea as it teaches the player about the probability system, which the game seemingly runs on. It's all about whether or not the player's car has a chance of winning the race, and this is explained during the walkthrough. Don't let these words fool you though; you can still win a race at a harder difficulty but only by roughing up the other cars and driving harshly.

It's an ambitious title that strives to show off what it does. Ambition doesn't cut it as the game is littered with problems that are hard to overlook and limit the overall enjoyment.

One problem lies in the fact that each race is only a few laps, you may find yourself participating in the small-fish races that can give you the odds in your favor. There is no limit to this and its a smart way to upgrade your vehicle to tackle the harder races and improve your odds. If you're feeling daring you don't have to stick to the easy stuff, you're welcome to try the harder races in order to acquire better cars.

This presents a few more problems: Before the start of the start race you can place a “bet” on which car you think will win. This has no bearing on the outcome, leveling up, etc. and is generally useless in the game.

At the end of the race a raffle is presented wherein the cars that participated in the race are displayed and a single one is highlighted. The player presses a button and probability takes effect again as to whether or not the player acquires a new car. This is THE ONLY way to get new cars since there is no purchase system. Konami lost the point with this game when more focus was put on the probability system and Enthu points rather than the gameplay.

The Enthu Points present another problem: Enthu Point are points you get for racing; they deplete with each scrape, each time you go off the road, or each time you hit another car (or when another car hits you). Other than that they exist to gauge nothing. The points refill with each successful win or when you take an in-game week off from racing. If the total points reach zero, it will force you to take a week off. Your Driver level determines how many points you regain during this process.

No matter how many Enthu Points you acquire, one bump or slide off the road will take away the same amount of EP, forcing the player to pay more attention to their driving. This is the question that begs to be addressed when concerning the Enthu Points: if the same amount of EP is taken away for each mistake, why have it so the total number of EP raises with each level? To put it another way: if you have 100 Enthu Points, bumping another car might take away 10 points. Meanwhile if you have 1500 points, bumping a car seems like 150 points are taken away. No matter how many Enthu Points the player has garnered, it seems they're penalized for the same percentage for each mistake.

The Free Ride mode is limited to what you have unlocked so far, meaning new tracks and cars are pretty much off limits unless you work to win them.

There is another mode called Driving Revolution which is a take on Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series. The player is given a preselected car and tasked with driving down a three-lane highway, passing through certain marker gates along the way while trying to make the best time. It's a mixture of skill and little bit of luck (bringing in the probability system again).

The racing is, for the most part, straightforward with the physics and speed being as closely accurate to the real world as Konami can muster. Each car handles, accelerates, and brakes differently from each other. The upgrade system has a small but noticeable effect on the cars.

The tracks consist of real world and original designs, each one requiring a different way to master driving through. It's not tough since the course map provides the player with enough warning of which corner is coming up, its up to them to remember when to brake and accelerate.

There is no damage and, seeing as how there is no monetary system involved, this is a good idea. Since the computer AI is anything but intelligent, you'll have to deal with them bumping into you in their attempts to drive the correct line. The AI is lifeless in that it doesn't fight back, its programmed to just go, to never make a mistake, to accelerate and brake perfectly, to recover from when the player cheaply runs it off the road and continue along as though nothing has happened.
There are two camera views: a close chase camera and a bumper cam with a rearview mirror. The bumper cam is the only way to see what's behind you since there is no button to look back.
Also, you may want to make sure you take a drive properly as there is no restart, only retiring. Doing so forfeits any Enthu points recovery and the chance to unlock a new car.

Enthusia shows off its potential in the graphics department by featuring some of the best graphics seen in a racing game on the PS2, potentially rivaling Gran Turismo 4. There are rarely any jagged edges on the environments, which are unique in their own rights, and the cars are smoothly designed. The game feels to run at a steady 30+ fps (I could be very wrong in that description) even with several cars all going full speed. The car models shown in the menus aren't the same during gameplay, however, but its hard to take notice of the other cars when your main focus is directed towards the driving.
Cars gather no dirt on the off-road courses, similarly the dust isn't kicked up behind you. During the wet courses the rain runs down the screen and back up when speeding. The reflections on car windows are dulled down to pixelated blocks but the reflections on the cars themselves are nice. Lighting during the night levels is nice, but nothing to get excited over. The ground reflects the light during wet night levels.

The soundtrack has an interesting mix of songs, the menu music is piano-techno mix, something of the arcade variety. The in-game soundtrack mixes it up quite a bit with songs mixing techno with rock guitars, its tolerable but best taken in small doses.
The car's engines seem to drone, increasing in pitch when accelerating and decreasing when revving down. Sadly, it's just unnoticeable.
What may be noticeable is that there are no crowd noises. The game feels lifeless and because of this you get a sense of loneliness. No one's cheering you on because no one cares.

FINAL LAP:

In the end, Konami took a bold step in an attempt to blend arcade and sim. It was, however, a misstep. In essence it can be seen as a game you would play in an arcade with a sim racing engine, it just can't make up its mind to figure out which side of the fence it wants to reside on.

If a sequel is ever put into production, Konami should learn from they're mistakes and rid the game of the Enthu points, complicated menus, probability system and focus more on the driving.

The game is littered with problems, sure, but it's not a bad game. The roster of cars is a strong one, the racing is accurate and fun, and the probability system is tolerable, even ignorable.

Konami attempted to make a community behind the Enthusia brand name with a website, which is no longer active, that was meant to be a community hub for Enthusia players which held events, contests, leaderboards and other news. It was just mediocre when compared to other racing games of the time (Gran Turismo 4, Forza Motorsport, even R: Racing Evolution) which had more reason and depth to them.

Even with the game being as old as it is, it would make a perfect addition to the Sim Racing Aficionado's collection. All others would be better off sticking with the more AAA titles.

Keep Playing.