This is probably the wrong place to post but...where did the SMG interview go?

escapist | May 04, 13:23 CET

It had already been posted back in September so that's why I deleted it.

Simon | May 04, 13:30 CET

How come there aren't any more Buffy video games out there? There certainly is a market for them. Not to forget about Angel and Firefly/Serenity. Lots of potential money to be made.

Sätan | May 04, 13:37 CET

There was some vague talk of an Angel game after the show got cancelled but obviously it didn't come to anything.

Simon | May 04, 13:39 CET

I liked "Chaos Bleeds", not sure if I preferred it to the first one, but there were definitely some improvements, such as the quickstake button and the use of different characters.

Would be nice if there were another one, or an Angel game.

Ghost Spike | May 04, 13:53 CET

Well, they have to license these games from 20th Century Fox. I've no idea how they did in terms of sales, but I'd presume not well enough to warrant another.

I'm still hopeful on a Serenity game. The Xbox 360 supports 1080i HDTV (meaning really, really high quality graphics). I wants to see Serenity live in that, with surround sound and... I'm thinking about this too much, clearly. With the right development squad, I think they have all the components for a varied game, and it could look pretty stunning.

gossi | May 04, 14:16 CET

I own Chaos Bleeds but haven't played it yet. Been too afraid that it might suck. But I'd just bought a PS2 and so how could I not own this game? It's good to know I didn't completely waste my money.

[ edited by loa on 2006-05-04 16:18 ]

loa | May 04, 14:52 CET

I could write pages on what is wrong with Choas Bleeds, suffice to say that I agree with Chris Golden, in that it just simply doesn't play as well as the first game. The first game fight engine was near perfect, and only the poor framerate and the dreamer levels let it down. There was nothing more satisfying than staking 2 vamps one after the other. It had a real buffy feel. Those guys went on to do an Indiana Jones game which took a lot of those fight mechanics with it.

All gone in Chaos Bleeds. Nice graphically and good framerate, but they seriously broke the fight mechanics. You can't change direction in mid combo, which makes multi-opponent battles really awkward. All vamps are dusted by "staking" even with a sword or an axe, which looks really stupid, not to mention that you can stake them in the foot and they will dust. And Xander seems to be able to do martial arts, and can take on multiple vampires without much difficulty, and... are you bored yet?

Loved the first game, though.

[ edited by bivith on 2006-05-04 13:16 ]

bivith | May 04, 15:16 CET

The original Xbox Buffy game rocked.

The second one was... well.. lets not speak of it.... at all. EVER.

TwisTz | May 04, 16:00 CET

Not being much of a gamer, I only recently aquired an xbox and picked up both games. I was instantly attracted to the first, the second not so much. The first has a much better feel and atmosphere from both the game play and 'verse angles. The second feels forced.

herb | May 04, 16:31 CET

Oh come on guys! I loved Chaos Bleeds...PLUS...we get to play as Joss!! How can that NOT be cool??

nixygirl | May 04, 17:37 CET

I loved both, but the first one definitely played better. Plus the voice of Willow in "Chaos Bleeds" made me want to spork my eyes out. "A seeeecret, I found a seeeecret." Bleargh!

rockgoddes | May 04, 17:56 CET

Ironically, I've started playing Chaos Bleeds again ( never finished it first time ), due to it being on of the few games compatible with the XBox 360. It does look nice in 720p.

bivith | May 04, 19:26 CET

Anyone play the two Gameboy Buffy games? I heard they weren't that great.

Simon | May 04, 19:46 CET

Off topic: We are a video system-less household, but it is getting to be time to get one. My son is 10 and just changed his mind from wanting a Gamecube to wanting a Playstation. I would like to look at it for Christmas, but I saw PS3 advertised as coming. In the ad it said something about bluetooth.

So, the questions that immediately come to mind are:

1. Does anyone know when they are bringing out PS3?
2. Should I wait for it or just get a PS2?
3. Is the bluetooth thing going to present a problem?
2. Does PS keep things compatable from one system to the next?

I know almost nothing about this stuff so any help would be appreciated.

newcj | May 04, 19:52 CET

Newcj-

I can't answer all of your questions but i can answer 2 and 4 and maybe 1.
4) yes the ps3 will be backwards compatable so it will play both ps1 and ps2 games.

2)whether to get a ps3 or not all comes down to what extent you will be playing games. if your son has only a relatively passing interest in videogames and would only play them every now and then, get a ps2. if he is (or is likely to get) really into videogames get the ps3. the last thing you want to do is spend alot (and it will cost alot) on a brand spanking new console if it isn't going to be used often.

as for your first question, the official uk magazine made a big noise recently about how the ps3 will have a world wide november release but i seriously doubt that they can have it done by then.

hope that helps (apologies for the off-topicness)

Geekmafia | May 04, 20:16 CET

newcj, the PS3 comes out in November (supposedly, there's talk of them moving it back), it will be expensive (eg. $400+), it has a bluray DVD player, which is nice, but there's a chance it could be a dead format in a year or two and you'd have to buy an HD machine to play your DVDs (not good, especially since the bluray player is why the machine is so expensive) you will be able to play PlayStation 1 and 2 games.

Personally, I'll be going for the Nintendo Wii (sigh), yes, it's a dreadful name, but it's the only console that is really going to change video games with it's innovative control style, yet still be able to play traditional games should you want to, it'll also have a huge back catalogue of Nintendo and Sega games available to download.

The XBox360 aint bad, some good games on it, and it'll be a great deal cheaper than the PS3 come Christmas, with more games.

The PS3 would be my last choice actually, I have a 360, I'll get a Wii, but have no intention of getting a PS3. Well worth getting your son to try out some games on all the machines before buying (I reckon kids are going to love the Wii) but do realise that Sony and PlayStation have some kind of hypnotic allure over kids.

Took so long to write that without just bashing Sony that GeekMafia had already answered the question.



God they were dreadful, played them online a while back and they were just awful, bad graphics, bad story, bad gameplay.
The Game Boy Advance one was better than the Game Boy Color one, but that's really not saying much.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2006-05-04 18:26 ]

Ghost Spike | May 04, 20:25 CET

1. Does anyone know when they are bringing out PS3?

Officially, November for Japan I believe. There's no official word on US release as far as I know. I will say the Xbox 360 suffered stock shortages, and it took months to get mine.

2. Should I wait for it or just get a PS2?

If your son is 10, I'd get him a PS2 personally. Why? A PS2 is under $100 I think. A PS3 will be several times more expensive. Of course, if you can afford the PS3 and it's available, certainly, go for it. It is really cutting edge, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good: great graphics. Looks pretty. Bad: very expensive console, very expensive games.

3. Is the bluetooth thing going to present a problem?

I think you mean Blu-Ray, which is a new stand of playing high definition DVDs. There are currently two HD formats - HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, with studios siding on each side of the disagreement.

Or, put simply, people are being pricks about it. Both formats are incompatible with each other. You may or may not end up with the 'Betamax' of the bunch (when videos first appeared, there were two standards - Betamax and VHS).

2. Does PS keep things compatable from one system to the next?

Yep, I believe it's going to be backwards compatible.

gossi | May 04, 20:26 CET

I loved the first Xbox exclusive game and the second game I only really liked. The first game seemed almost perfect to me but I can see where people have issues with the "Dreamer's Realm" part of it. My husband never got past that part and the first time playing it I had a hard time with it until I figured out just when to do the jumping. The second game had a great storyline and it was fun playing as the different characters but, as said above, Willow's voice and Xander's fighting skills were just so inaccurate that it took away some of the enjoyment of the game. I really loved the easy access stake button and it was hard going back and playing the first game and not having that because you got used to it. I sold my copy of Chaos Bleeds and kept the first game. Wishing I had kept Chaos Bleeds to because I'd be curious to see how good it looks on the 360.

I've been hoping there would be news of a new game from the Buffyverse, Angelverse and Fireflyverse. I know the first game did extremely well and I thought the second game was a big seller too so you'd think they would want to milk the franchise as much as possible.

Newcj, have you considered getting and Xbox 360? By the time Christmas roles around they'll have a huge library of games to offer and the games I've played so far on it look fantastic.

Firefly Flanatic | May 04, 20:27 CET

I found it jerky, didn't play smoothly, I only watched a few of the bonus features but they didn't play right. Apparently this is a common problem, the backwards compatible games just work, not necessarily work well.

I was surprised it worked at all considering a high profile game like "Conker" doesn't (b*stard HMV salesman assured me it would, and I wasn't going all the way back into London).

Ghost Spike | May 04, 20:37 CET

Thanks everybody.

I had been thinking about getting the new Nintendo system when it came out, particularly if it was going to be able to play the Gameboy and DS games he already has. But he has now switched to the Playstation love. That could change, especially if I do the research and find out info to change his mind. ;-)

I don't have a lot of money to throw at things so it is good to know how things are shaping up. I was afraid that as soon as PS3 came out they would stop selling anything for PS2 and it would become totally obsolete. If that is going to happen, I do not want to get a PS2, but I am not going to be able to afford PS3 and do not want to invest in any HD technology until we know who will win. (I am old enough to remember the beta-max conflict.)

As far as X-box 360...(shuffles feet)...I am not a fan of Microsoft but my brother is the computer geek...nerd guy and he reeeeeally is not a fan of Microsoft. I'm not sure I want to deal with the family conflict just because of a videogame system.

Glad to hear about the Gameboy versions of BtVS. I saw that there had been a Color, but did not know there was an Advanced. Even so, I'll avoid it. Are versions for the regular systems still available?

newcj | May 04, 20:51 CET

It won't be immediate, but shortly after the PS3 is released the new generation will begin and new games for the PS2 will be few and far between.

The Wii won't play Gameboy and DS games, it'll probably be a fraction of the price of a PS3 though.

Ghost Spike | May 04, 20:56 CET

Agree with everything positive said about the first game and everything negative said about the second. The bonus features were nice, but they didn't make up for a huge step backwards in gameplay.

MrArg | May 04, 21:05 CET

Does anyone else find this bit unhelpful?

"Tom how do you pronounce your surname?

TOM: Sni . . . Goski. Two syllables."

mjwilson | May 04, 21:06 CET

Heh, that's exactly what I thought mjwilson. "Sni" could be "snee" or "snigh." And I can't figure out quite how "Sni . . .Goski" could possibly be two syllables. Is "Goski" pronounced "goosh"?

Then again, likely it was a bit of kidding.

And add me to the ranks of those who agree the first Buffy game is superior to Chaos Bleeds, in both look and playability. (Although I'm too rubbish at such things to get anywhere on either game, frankly). I may be one of the very few who also doesn't like Giselle Loren as Buffy - not that she doesn't do as good a job as is possible, given SMG's absence, but it just doesn't sound like Buffy to me, which is distracting.

SoddingNancyTribe | May 04, 21:09 CET

I have a bit of an obsessive personality, so when I bought Chaos Bleeds, I sat down and played it for about a week straight. But after I beat it, I never played it again. It was fun, though.

During that same week, I had a dream that Joss came over and we played the game together - the part where two characters can fight each other. He said he wanted to be his character, so I said I'd be Xander so we'd be pretty evenly matched (because neither character has any special abilities, like spells or being fast) but he said the Joss character had a special ability that I just didn't know about. Then when we started fighting, his character suddenly sprouted these enormous wings and proceeded to beat the crap out of me, and I felt really stupid.

So but yeah, anyway, fun game. I never got to play the first one.

[Edited to add caps - could you use conventional punctuation? Ta very much.]

[ edited by SoddingNancyTribe on 2006-05-04 19:52 ]

girlpire | May 04, 21:21 CET

Ha! I didn't realize comments here were betaed. :D

I apologize for my lack of capitalization. You didn't actually change any of my punctuation, though. Is there something unconventional about it?

girlpire | May 04, 23:43 CET

Another voice in the chorus of "first game ruled, second game not so much". I played (and beat) the first game multiple times. Never made it more than a couple of levels through the second game though. Whatever magic spell they used in the first wore off long before I could get hooked on Chaos Bleeds. It's really unfortunate too, because the option to play as Spike and Faith? Awesome... at least on paper.

And as a rabid supporter of just about anything Angel related I have to say I've been dying for a game based on that series for years now. How amazing would it be to play as Wesley, complete with double handguns and slow-mo John Woo-style acrobatic leaps? Or Illyria, using your petite, waifish, unthreatening little body to pummel anything and everything that moves into bloody paste? Or Gunn with that axe? Or Angel with the "game face" and the double stakes up his sleeves? C'mon, that's gold right there.

Haunt | May 04, 23:59 CET

Count me in with the "Loved Buffy, Hated Chaos Bleeds" crowd. Not only did I find the fight engine in Chaos Bleeds to be terrible, and Willow's voice to make me wish I didn't have ears, I thought the extensively weird sequence stuff to be over the top.

We stopped on the level where Faith had to fight a buncha baddies, explode a wall causing a shaft to flood and an elevator to rise, then do a multitude of other non-fighting things to get other things to happen to be able to fight. Because it was annoying, and if I want annoying, I'll play the Simpsons Road Rage game.

The first game, however. . . LOVED it. The fight engine was incredible and I happened to have enjoyed the Dream realm. I thought it was, ahem, fun. Took us about forever to beat, but fun nonetheless.

GrrrAargh | May 05, 00:17 CET

I think I should give my advice on the PS3 PS2 discussion. The PS3 is going to take a long time to come out, by the time it does, your son will probably be 12 and wondering why he hasn't gotten anything. Also, when new systems come out, as a consumer you typically want to wait at least 6 months to a yr before you buy that particular system. The reason is that most new systems end up having glitches and problems that aren't fixed until enough people complain. The same happened with PS2, Xbox, and the Xbox360. The Xbox360 has been out for 6 months and I can go down to Best Buy and only find 16 games for it, because at one point they stopped production and nearly had to recall everything. I bought the PS2 when it first came out and it stopped working after a month, which happened to a lot of people. But right now the problems have been fixed and it is still the better system for your son.
1. It's cheaper for you.
2. There are hundreds of different games that your son can play.
3. PS2 games will keep coming out even after PS3 comes out for at least a year. Thats at least 3 yrs of new games.
4. Even when you're ready to buy a PS3, you can turn in for credit or sell your PS2, and your son can still play all his PS2 games on the PS3.

Hope that helps some.

GimpyD | May 05, 02:25 CET

Oh, and I loved the first Buffy. Chaos bleeds became repetitive movements and the voice over drove me crazy. Never touched it again after I beat it.

GimpyD | May 05, 02:27 CET

I thought the first X-Box game was fairly tight. It wasn't a classic, but it was fun to play, the controls worked nicely and the fighting system was fun (if slightly clumsy.)

The second one though... I like the idea of playing as diffrent characters, but they never got the whole team dynamic right (I only ever really felt comfortable playing as Faith and Buffy.) In addition, the VO were horrible, the fighting system was very clunky and the level design was merely passable. On top of that... I thought the story was... about the quality of your average buffy comic... a lot of callbacks (which is both good and bad) but it never made me feel like I was part of that universe.

It's too bad, a great buffy game could work very well...

rabid | May 05, 03:38 CET

girlpire you just made me piss myself at that little story! Very funny indeed!

OK, I don't have an XBox, and want desperatly to play the first game now!

nixygirl | May 05, 04:54 CET

I'd have to join the first game rocked, second game not so much club. It would be awesome if they came out with an Angel game.

cheryl | May 05, 05:42 CET

GimpyD, I don't know where you are getting your information on the Xbox 360 but it just isn't true. I've had one since almost launch and am a member of several xbox boards and there has never even been a hint at a recall and production was never stopped. They've been shipping them as fast as they can make them and have even increased production and opened more factories to meet demand. But from what you say your experience with the PS2 was I could see where you'd be hesistant to buy the new one right when it launches.

As for there only being 16 games available, maybe that's all Best Buy had right now but there's been about 40 games released so far with many new titles coming up in the next few months.

Ghost Spike, I know the 360 had a recent update to address some of the BC issues and am wondering if you've played it recently or if it was soon after the first update. I'm only curious because if I have a chance to pick it up used and cheap I might get it again. I know other BC games that some people were having problems with have said the problems were fixed with the last update.

And Newcj, I have a brother-in-law who hates all things Microsoft so I get where you are coming from with that and if you aren't a fan either, well luckily there are other options out there. I'd do what GimpyD suggested, get a Playstation 2. I think there would be plenty of games available that your ten year old would love, and like Microsoft with the Xbox, Sony will be continuing to make games for that system too even when their new system comes out. If you get one, check out Chaos Bleeds. Most people who haven't liked it experienced the original Xbox Buffy game first and it was far superior and the second one just couldn't live up to that. They should have kept the same developer for the second one but it's still a good game if not great.

Firefly Flanatic | May 05, 06:52 CET

Hm. I enjoyed Chaos Bleeds my first time through, but the second time I couldn't get over all the flaws. I shelved it and haven't touched it since.

vincent27 | May 05, 07:43 CET

...So the first Buffy game was XBox only and Chaos Bleeds is XBox and PS?

Thanks for the advice everybody. I appreciate it, and I'll continue paying attention in case anyone has any more. ;-)

newcj | May 05, 08:20 CET

The Xbox360 has been out for 6 months and I can go down to Best Buy and only find 16 games for it, because at one point they stopped production and nearly had to recall everything.

This isn't actually true. at all.

bivith | May 05, 18:34 CET

I for one loved Chaos Bleeds, but at random sections had massive difficulty in getting through boss battles. I'm definitely an RPG girl myself. I don't think the first game came out on PS2, but I played it at a friend's house. I definitely prefer Chaos Bleeds, and continually revisit it.

I also loved the Game Boy games, but haven't played them since I was 12 years old.

buffy_kitten | May 06, 07:04 CET