Skyward Fire

The latest and maybe the most important invention in mankind’s history since the discovery of powerful video game consoles, the cell processor and the various games that we play in modern times has been invented. Yes, I am talking about the Time Machine (was just finished last week) and I am going to be the first one to use it and will be using it to travel back in time to the date 22 June 1965 and location Wermelskirchen, Germany. “Why that particular date?” you might ask; well that was the unfateful day when the infamous Uwe Boll was born and I will make sure that he does not grow up to become a movie director and make vomit inducing movies out of uber-cool games (Farcry anyone?).

Are you still reading this? OK, so now that I have your attention, here’s the real deal.

The time machine has not yet been invented ( I bet I had gotten all your hopes up for time traveling to the Mesozoic era and playing Turok first hand, but sorry people, maybe in the next century). What this article is really about is .. well .. ACTION FIGURES!!

Yes you read that right.

What do you understand when i say the word “Action figure”? According to our wonderful Wikipedia -”An action figure is a poseable character figurine, often made of plastic and other materials, and often based upon movie, comic book or video game characters.”

Now that you have a basic idea of what it is, allow me to elaborate in my own words what I think an action figure is, first of all and quite simply it is a magnificent piece of art amongst other things. It is also a faithful replica of your favorite game, comic or movie protagonist which you can keep in your room, on your desk, in your display shelf and many other possible places to basically appreciate the work of the hard working creators and designers who made the character for that movie or game in the first place.

Now if you are going to say that these things are for kids then my friend let me tell you how hugely mistaken you are. Action figures are a big deal in this time and to support that claim here is a little fact for you guys - Today Action figures are a 1.5 billion dollar business and one of the few segments of the toy industry that actually grew in the last few years. The majority of people that buy these are in their twenties and their thirties and are really not kids anymore. Let’s look at an example shall we - If I buy and wear a t-shirt that says ‘Metallica Rocks’ then it’s cool, and I am just expressing my love for their music? But if I buy an action figure of James Hetfield and keep it on my desk then that’s kiddish, eh?? Oh pleassse … and you say I need to grow up. These days there are companies solely devoted to making action figures and nothing else like Mcfarlane, NECA, Mezco, SOTA along with many others.

It’s less about play action for the collectors than it is about getting it right. The overall look and feel of a figure by which i mean the sculpt, the paint job, articulation and capturing the intricate details (like say the mandibles of a predator or the chains of Kratos) has to be awesome.

Nowadays with every new blockbuster movie or a great game there are licensing deals for making action figures and collectibles of the characters.It started with Star Wars and became a rage from then onwards. May that be movies, sports, games, comics even music bands there are action figures of almost everything. And it is a great way of immortalizing that particular moment or the character in 3D and it is also a way of just showing your likes and dislikes, like “Hey, I like God of war and that’s why I have a 12 inch Kratos standing on top of my desktop monitor.”

I am an action figure collector myself and have been one since as long as I can remember. Sadly in our great country India, this hobby is almost non-existent, but I wish to change that and I hope this post will work as a catalyst for the same. Here’s a link bunch for some fantastic action figures from my very own collection. Keep a look out for more on action figures right here!

The past few years have been great for the video games industry. Amazing titles being launched ever so frequently ensured to keep an avid gamer happy throughout the days. Not to forget to mention, the advancement to the next generation of gaming, as the world witnessed the launch of three new consoles more or less around the same time-period. Franchises were really true to the spirit of the game and kept the power flowing by constantly enhancing the graphics, gameplay etc. of upcoming titles. Other than these obvious facts, a certain aberration has indeed been observed. A truly appreciable change in the trend of game-development is that, the designers have begun to experiment with the franchise itself and carve out a game in a whole new genre. This is not a very new thing, but looking at the number of aberrations in so many franchises, certainly forces one to acknowledge the potential of this trend.

Command and Conquer; if we say it out loud, it instantly brings to memory the fast paced tank rushes and full motion video sequences that made the series so intriguing. Somewhat around 2002, a new game hit the stands by the name Command and Conquer:Renegade. Any C&C fan would not leave out a game launched freshly that was obvious, so the game sold over a million copies in the very first month of its launch. What gamers were delighted to see, was that it wasn’t an RTS game. It was a First Person Shooter! How did this happen? A franchise doing so well, that their last game at that time, Red Alert 2 was still selling like hot cakes; changed genres? Quite unnatural, yes, but not an attempt in futility, simply because Renegade was an amazing game. The battle over Tiberium between GDI and NOD was just begging to be made into an FPS. Many gamers fantasized seeing all the action up-close and with Renegade, it was delivered so well.

Killzone on the Play Station 2 was a big let down. It was a good shooter, no doubt but could have been a lot better. When Killzone was announced for the PSP, gamers couldn’t help but sigh out loud, as no one expected it to be anything but an FPS with bad graphics and horrible gameplay, as FPS titles on the PSP don’t really sound as if they would go a long way. Lost Boys (now known as Guerrilla) did a fantastic job by making Killzone: Liberation an over the top , third person shooter, which won the hearts of gamers all over and took portable multiplayer action to a new level.

Same can be said for the Warcraft franchise. World of Warcraft needs no introduction. 12 million users online are proof enough. Starcraft, Star Wars, Quake , Mario, Sonic etc. are some other franchises that changed genres for the better. Sadly, this doesn’t always work. Commandos was a great franchise literally torn to shreds by the horrible execution of its FPS version called Commandos: Strike Force. Its all about hits and misses actually. You cannot expect raging success every time. Nonetheless, it is very creative to change genres and bring a lot of excitment to the table. Lets just hope we see Halo Wars soon!

Take a minute off your busy schedules and ask yourselves this “What is the future of Gaming Industry?” Although being an extremely clichéd topic, it is one question that comes a begging. People constantly rant about “Old is Gold” and “retro gaming rules” and what not. Although I support the idea of respecting older games, I stand here to honestly admit that I am a realist. If one wants to catch up even a fraction of the action, one has to constantly update his PC or get a console. People who don’t agree with me are invited to jump out of the window, from a great height. Just saying “I am satisfied with the past” will not cut it anymore. The gaming era and the industry itself have changed. Wake up. And welcome to the place we call “reality”.

A look at Microsoft E3 Conference will give you a better idea why exactly I am writing this down here. People are too satisfied with what was made 6-7 years ago. I am being specific about the gaming condition in India which is seriously a big let down. Why is CS: Source the most popular game here when games like GRAW and Fallout Tactics are superior in every way? Or is it bad marketing? No. The answer to this ridiculous behavior in all Game Cafes is the simple fact that everyone thinks buying anything above an nVidia GeForce 6200GS would make them bankrupt. This is far from the reality I must say.

A decent 8600 GT can be purchased in less than Rs 5000 and the 8800 GT for Rs 9000. They still won’t put any cards simply because there is no demand. And why there is no demand? Because 70% of the gamers in India have no idea that games like Fallout Tactics or MGS 4 or Killzone 2 even exists. For them, NFS Underground, Cricket 2007, CS: Source and Warcraft 3 is the crème ‘la crème of the gaming realm. Being a hardcore fan and player of Warcraft 3, I must say, it is a great game but, it is not a reason for never trying out Command and Conquer 3 or Supreme Commander or Dawn of War!

I did say I am a realist and will stick to it forever. Therefore I accept that most of the time, Internet gaming for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Gears of War PC are difficult. But it isn’t difficult on LAN! Who on earth stopped Game Cafes from installing these games instead of the 7 year old crap that we are served? I say MGS 4 multiplayer kicks Godzilla ass. Who thinks otherwise? Not because people agree with me. It is because no one has a damn opinion in the fist place. I can go and rant about how I scored 50 Takedowns in Burnout Paradise and people just nod saying “uh huh”. I never got an “Oh really? Wait till I have something to say about that!”

Although the newer games are given very high attention in USA and Europe, in India, the competition is just absent! It may exist on an individual level in a sporadic pattern, but it is not yet a trend which is very sad. The fact that people just shut their eyes and ears whenever something new turns up saying “I am happy with the retro!” is truly annoying. An average Indian would buy a stock PC for Rs 25,000. I agree it doesn’t come with a high end card but such a commodity can be purchased without any trouble and the falling prices only add to the ease of purchase. Too costly you say? No, that’s not the case.

You could get a console. Yes, Consoles provide tremendous gaming potential, if purchased at the right time. I said this just so that some fool doesn’t go buy a PS2 tomorrow and say “What the hell there are no new games on it!” Only a dumb and desperate gamer would go for a PS2 at this time. Although sadly, this is the time when most PS2 consoles are being sold in India because of the convenient price of Rs 6990/- and even as low as 5000 bucks in the grey market. Why exactly do people frown at the PS3 just because it is priced at 20 to 25 K is beyond me. People, this is your wake up call. THIS is the time to get a next-gen console. When a console is launched, it is ridiculously over-priced. The Xbox 360 was priced at Rs 30,000 and PS3 at Rs 40,000 at the time of their launch. Even the games were too expensive. Only after a year, do the prices become reasonable. The X360 is available for about 15,550 bucks and the PS3 for around 25000 bucks. What are you waiting for? This is the best time and price combo you will get. Anything below this would be too late and the console would be obsolete. By “below” I mean next year. There are some great games scheduled for launch on both Platforms. So go and treat yourselves to a shiny console soon.

After saying all this, HOW on earth will I forgive myself for not mentioning the Nintendo Wii? I didn’t mention it because,

1) Getting an original Wii is difficult. You must order it from EBay etc and pay the shipping charges which are quiet high.

2) Poor collection of games in India. Why on earth will someone buy Cricket 2007 and NBA 2008 on Wii? Ever heard of a Low End PC with 256 MB of Ram and a CRT screen? That will run these games. No need to buy a Wii for that. As far as great games on Nintendo are concerned, they are not available here easily. You need to get to EBay again.

3) The English version of the Wii costs double the Japanese version. Why on earth is this rule implied, I have no clue. Even in the grey market! Why would I buy a Wii for 22,550 Rupees when I can get a PS3 for that amount? Clearly the both PS3 and X360 have superior GPUs and faster processors. Unless there is a solid price gap, the future of Nintendo’s new console is pretty slim and mediocre in India.

Allow me to conclude. Unless there is an astonishingly fast change of gaming attitude, the current lineup of games will be poorly accepted or not accepted at all in India. Cybercafés need to start upgrading their game Engines in order to enable gamers to play games like Command and Conquer 3 and Unreal Tournament III. People, graphic cards are not costly. So get a hold of one. Consoles must be bought at the right time to enjoy their great potential. Nintendo hates India and we want Wii (If that was unintentionally funny, please forgive me).