Gran Turismo PSP
Okay, so you’re thinking, “Why is he talking about that old thing?” And I’ll tell you, I put off buying this for a long time, and now that it’s a “Greatest Hit” it seems more than worth the price of admission. So I finally caved, and I’m happy to report that I don’t regret that move.
One reason I waited so long is the well-publicized redactions this game has, relative to it’s “home” console cousins. There is no career mode, almost no car tweaking, and no infrastructure online play. Add the fact that all tracks are open at the start and you might wonder if the game is even worth trying. I did. But in this case, I can make the argument that they burned the village in order to save it. By which I mean assuming they filled that little UMD to the rim with data, I wouldn’t take anything out of the game to make room for the missing elements. In Gran Turismo PSP you have driving game that, in races, feels just like its grown up counterparts. The physics, the graphics, and the overall feel comes from the same DNA. And it shows.
If they would have had to sacrifice some gameplay quality to fit in a career mode, I’d call the game a failure. Furthermore, in some ways, not having a career mode gives the game greater longevity, in that there’s no game to finish here. Sure, you could make it your goal to collect every car available, but you’re gonna get bored long before that happens. In career mode on the home versions, you could always win little race series and build your car collection faster. But here you have to earn every single dollar you’re going to spend buying cars, and it takes lots of time to earn the cash to buy those pricey race cars. (more…)
Ok, so maybe I’m a way bigger nerd than I once thought, but back when I was in high school, some friends and I started a Dungeons and Dragons club. The game was relatively new and conceptually one of the most unique gaming experiences of its time. Sadly, our club last approximately one month because some right wing parent wrote a nasty letter about how D&D was satanic, and even sent in audio tapes from preachers saying this. So the school banned the game and we were left looking for another game to play. Luckily for us, one of my comic geek pals discovered “Champions.” 
Champions was a create-your-own-super-hero game and dare I say, it was way more fun than D&D. The cool part was that basically the sky was the limit when it came to who you were and the powers you chose. Heck, you could even make up powers, and most of us did. Each power set had to have an equal set of disadvantages, so maybe your dude was super strong but had a weakness to fire or ice, heck even government cheese would suffice. Finally the game allowed you to photocopy a character sheet and actually color in what your character might look like. This was totally bad ass and many a day would I waste time in class drawing out some cool dude! 
Of course, high school didn’t last forever and upon moving on to college I quickly discovered women and beer. I did try and reconnect with my Champion gaming buddies, but they too discovered the finer things in life. Many years later an online game called “City of Heroes” came along and I introduced Stacey to the whole concept of character creation and all things super hero. She loved it and we created a tag team duo that was pretty awesome. I was a beefy strong guy, while she was a healer. I would run along and beat people up and she would heal me when I started to hurt. Dare I say, not too many people effed with us online. The only silly thing was that she insisted being called “Hubby” and “Wifey.” Sigh, the things we do to get our women to play games.
Mad scientists, doomsday devices, minions, money laundering, and theatrical costumes. Mwahahaha is a game that takes the best parts about being a Bond villain and packs them up neatly into a casual escapist experience. Not to mention, you sound like a complete fool when speaking it’s name aloud. Go on, walk into your nearest game store and ask if they carry Mwahahaha. Everyone’s doing it. 
