Gamernode: Frank Ling's Columns

The REAL reason why GTA IV was released broken

When I first heard of the GTA IV problems with freezes and crashes, my first thought was that the testing department screwed up royally by allowing such a big fat bug pass through. But after I thought about this for a while, I suddenly realized that it probably wasn't the case at all.

If anything, the testers probably found the error and production decided to go ahead and release the game anyway. Why? Because GTA was scheduled for release on April 29 and Hell or high water, it was going to be released on that day.

Imagine the embarrassment of Rockstar if they had to issue a press release saying, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, GTA IV will be delayed until further notice..." Can you see the chaos that would have started?

Millions of fans that pre-ordered the game would have been left with t...

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I don't got to show you no stinkin' patches

I guess being primarily a console gamer has spoiled me. In the not too distant past, my games came on a cartridge, a CD ROM, a memory card or a DVD; the games were complete and ready to play.

What I'm getting at is game publishers only had one chance to make console games as bug free and compete as they possibly could before handing it to their distributors.

Once the media was shipped, that was it folks. No recalls. No bulletins. No work arounds, (usually) to fix broken game issues. In short, they made their bed and slept in it. Period.

But now, what my fellow PC gamers have accepted as being part and parcel in playing PC games has now come upon the console world...patches.

I'm not sure how most gamers feel about patches, especially those in the console world, but my feeling is that when I bu...

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Top Ten List: Why the DualShock 3 costs so much

Ok, so we know that the PS3 DualShock 3 rumble controller is coming out in the US. But the price will cause some sticker shock--it's going to cost $54.99. I was thinking this over while looking at my current PS3 non-rumbling controller and wondered, "Just why is the new one going to cost so much?"

So I decided to put together this Top Ten List of why the DualShock 3 costs so much. Of course these reasons come from my active imagination and have no basis in fact...but then again, you never know...

Top 10 Reasons Why the New PS3 DualShock 3 Controller costs so much

10. Kaz Hirai wants a raise and can't think of a better way than to skim the profits. 9. Sony misplaced the decimal point and the price actually is supposed to be $5.49 8 The Sony marketing guys said, "We always...

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Wii were right--memories of a year ago

I was one of the lucky ones. On the day of the launch of the Wii last year, I happened to visit the Circuit City website to see if any were there. Amazingly, at 7:30AM on Sunday morning, the site showed an inventory of Wiis ready for sale.

It didn't make any sense because every other website in the whole world, it seemed, was completely sold out.

I figured it was a mistake or something, but just in case, I hurriedly entered my order online and left the house to do some errands. When I came back in the afternoon, I checked my email and there, in a surreal moment, I saw the confirmation from Circuit City that said my order was confirmed!

As the saying goes, I'd rather be lucky than good.

I went back to the website and discovered that when I stumbled upon the Circuit City website so early in ...

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Game Review Score Inflation

It seems that there have been an awful lot of high review scores for video games of late. I scan internet gaming news sources and it doesn't seem that a week has gone by without someone announcing, "(fill in the blank.com) gives {fill in name of game) a 10 out of 10!" or other high score in the high 9's.

I don't know about you, but handing out high scores like this seems to be making more news than the actual games themselves.

What I'm trying to say here is that either video games have really gotten that much better than say, three years ago, or our standards for what constitutes a great game have gone through an inflationary stage--the value may not really be there.

A perfect score or near perfect score used to be reserved for the cream of the crop--games that would be talked about for yea...

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Why do gamers pick particular game consoles?

The last time many of us experienced the thrill of new generation game machines making their first appearances on the scene was during the years of 2000 and 2001. During this wonderful time, the PS2, GameCube and Xbox were unleashed upon an expecting gaming public.

No matter which game machine you were interested in; there was an overall excitement about the new game consoles.

My friends had already made up their minds on which gaming machines they would be purchasing. Several of them took the day off from work in order to stand in line at the local Best Buy store to have a chance at purchasing a PS2. Others went for the Xbox, while I decided to buy a PS2 and a GameCube.

Now, several years later, we find the gaming community in the same situation again with the next gen consoles being releas...

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What happened to Microsoft's quality control?

I ordered the limited edition of Halo 3. You know -- the one that everybody was reporting they had problems with. Apparently, the brainy marketing or design people who thought up the game box with the DVD holders, which were supposed to secure the discs inside, forgot to check if the bloody things really worked or not.

The result of the defective hubs was that the discs would jar loose during shipping and would rattle around inside the box while self destructing by scratching against the very retaining hub that was supposed to hold the disc securely.

I bought the LE of Halo 3 through Amazon.com because I had a $25 coupon. The package arrived yesterday and I was hoping against hope that my edition wouldn't be marred. The first thing I did was to shake the game box. Unfortunately, what I hear...

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Some games you'll never see produced

Here are some games that you will never see produced. The idea for this came a little while ago when it was announced that there would be a Raiders of the Lost Ark Lego game.

Some of us were tossing around ideas about what sort of future series we'd like to see done in Legos. Several weeks later this germ of an idea fertilized (or fermented) into what you see now.

What better game to translate into a Lego video game then Gears of War? Imagine the sheer joy of being able to join your buddies in a virtual chunk fest while blowing up Lego Locusts and humans. Man, that's what I call fun. Experience the thrill of curb stomping a hapless victim into teensy little pieces of red, yellow, blue, white, green and black shards.Imagine this game never being developed...

Most of us are familiar wit...

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The right to return games for a full refund

When I first started gaming, as it is with all gaming noobs, I bought a game that was a first class loser. The box said I would have the best gaming experience ever. Well, that didn't happen and I was stuck with it because the fine print on my receipt said, "No Returns on Opened Software."

So I only had one solution. Go to the used video game store to trade it in for cash or store credit.

I entered the store and saw the manager behind the counter. I know him by name. His name is Caesar. Caesar is the type of guy who thinks he knows everything about games and is always trying to impress everyone that he does. Whenever I've asked him a question, he seems annoyed that I have disturbed his environment. He doesn't ever greet anyone, nor does he smile. He just stares at you as if you have intrude...

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Stan Lee and the fountain of youth

I watched the first Fantastic Four movie on satellite TV the other day and while the movie wasn't one of the best in the Marvel series, it was still fun seeing the FF4 on film. Stan Lee, who virtually created every super hero in the Marvel Group, made his usual quick cameo appearance in the film.

Sometimes he's easy to spot, and other times he only appears on the screen for a few seconds. He played the part of the mailman and actually had a small speaking part.

After the movie was over, I was thinking about Mr. Lee and how happy he must be to see all of his comic book characters coming to life. Stan Lee has also had his various super-heroes turned into video games: Spiderman, Fantastic Four, The Hulk and X-Men come to mind. But Stan's super-hero ideas have also been translated to television...

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Why gamers are better at handling life

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about teaching kids life lessons through sports, and using organized activies to help prepare them for the "real world." That got me thinking: video games do the same thing. People just don't really talk about it.

With video games, sometimes you enter levels that are rather easy to navigate and play through, but as time passes, the levels get harder, and the bosses become more formidable. And in some cases, the solutions to various traps and puzzles seem to elude you until you are certain that you will never be able to figure things out.

Life is like that sometimes.

Maybe that's why gamers are so resilient in times of trouble. With my gaming pals, when they're going though tough times, it's like, "FTW, I hate it, but I'm going to beat it somehow....

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Video Games: Are they really the cause of all our ...

Video games seem to be the new whipping boy for all the ills of society lately. They've been blamed for crime, low test scores, overweight kids, bad nutrition, breakups of marriages, breakups of boyfriends/girlfriends, and just about everything except anything good.

What happened? Most of us can pinpoint it to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game where some X-rated scenes were unlocked with an unauthorized mod. After that, the you-know-what hit the fan. Ever since then, there has been an outcry from politicians, parents, concerned citizens and even the AMA about the evils of what we all hold dear to our hearts.

Video games, it turns out, is the perfect scapegoat. Kids aren't talking to their parents anymore? It must be video games (and not because parents haven't spent more than 15 ...

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