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If you live in Brooklyn and love games as much as we do, you may have heard about Game Play, a two-week festival devoted to video game performance art. Unfortunately, the festivities concluded this past weekend, but I was able to attend two of the shows before the end of their runs. Its “Off Off Broadway” roots definitely showed a bit, but it was nice to see some local enthusiasm for our industry in the heart of Hipsterville.

The shows at the Brick Theater included “Kewl-Aid Man in Second Life,” a guided tour of the virtual world starring the famous pitcher monster; “A Short Lecture of a Different Time,”a history lesson told through 8-bit graphics; and “Theater of the Arcade,” which took several simple game narratives and adapted them for the stage. I attended “Grand Theft Ovid” and “Modal Kombat,” both of which I’ll discuss after the jump. The $15 ticket price is a bit steep for amateur theater, but I think the show could develop into something special in a few years time. Be sure to at least keep your eyes peeled next year if you’re a fellow Brooklynite.

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If you own a DS and love RPGs, I hope you picked up a copy of Dragon Quest IX this weekend. While there’s no way it’s going to become the cultural phenomenon over here like it is in Japan, the fact that Nintendo’s publishing it stateside - and appointing Seth Green as its official celebrity spokesguy - is promising. Perhaps a modest following is not out of the question. The only problem is that most of us won’t be playing it “correctly.”

 Though the Toriyama art and turn-based battles might suggest another traditional outing, IX‘s multiplayer emphasis is a significant departure. Not only does the game feature four-player cooperative dungeon crawling, but there’s also a tag mode that automatically shares data and treasure maps with other players. This mode is inconveniently tucked away in a specific inn, but the potential benefits are huge. However, we’re all well aware that American gamers just aren’t geared to this kind of play, so too bad, right?

Or at least that’s the standard line. I, for one, am going to try a little experiment for the next month. During my daily commutes throughout New York City, I’m going to “canvas” for like-minded DQIX players in the hopes that we can become accidental buddies. I suggest that everyone reading this should do the same. Let’s keep our minds open and check back in 30 days.

I’m not sure how Square Enix did it, but somehow the storied Japanese developer managed to spend five years developing Final Fantasy XIII and still leave it unfinished. The game contains gorgeous environments, state-of-the-art CG animation and a deep battle system, but what struck me during my 46-hour play-through was how hollow the experience felt. It’s clear that FFXIII enjoyed the same lavish production values as its predecessors, but the world building and characters were short changed.

This was apparent from the very first chapter. After a stirring assault along the Cocoon highway, we are introduced to some of the thinnest characters I’ve seen in a modern RPG. Sazh just wants to get his son back,* Hope wants to avenge his mother, Lightning and Snow want to help Serah and Vanille just wants to annoy the hell out of me. I kept hoping for more character development, but most of the cast remained paper-thin. Only Vanille (yeah…) and Fang ever received some kind of pathos.

*”Waaaalt!”

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Howdy, sports-racers! You’ve listened to the podcast, but are you ready for the ride?

If you own ModNation Racers, look out for this beauty from “GinormousJ.” Even with its steep hills and roaming donkey herd, it’s relatively easy, but fans of Baby Park might appreciate the quick challenge. Be on the look out for other official tracks from the crew. Sadly, we can’t take credit for the Noid, though. See you at the starting line!

A little more than a week ago, Giant Bomb released its final E3 podcast, in which the regular crew chatted with Visceral’s Dino Ignacio, game designer Paul Barnett, Gamasutra’s Leigh Alexander and others. Unfortunately, while I and many others tuned in expecting an informative closing show, we were instead greeted with Alexander’s profanity-laden comments regarding Bostonians and claims that Activision’s party cost “$775 million.” Clearly, she had a bit too much to drink before the recording, and yet her colleagues decided it was OK to upload the show anyway. I’d guess (or at least would hope) that by this point, everyone involved is still a bit embarrassed.

Why bring this up when most of the gaming community was probably unaware it even happened? Certainly, I’m not writing this post to single out Leigh Alexander. We’ve discussed her work in our Rumble Reader show, and will likely do so again, seeing as Nick and I are huge fans. Her appearance was ill-advised, but I’m a forgive/forget kind of guy. I also don’t want to bash Giant Bomb, as I discovered after this fateful episode that I liked the rest of their shows. They’re funny, talented guys, and I’m glad to see that Gerstmann’s post-Gamespot project found legs.

No, the last E3 podcast has been bugging me because I’ve heard all of this before. Tipsy hosts, incoherent discussions and a general lack of professionalism from sites that I otherwise respect. I’m not so naive to believe that a lot of the industry rumor-mongering comes from loose lips at parties and events. That’s true of journalism in general, honestly. But ideally, even entertainment journalists – and no, I don’t think we need to feel guilty for using that term – should tone down the partying just a bit when presenting to their reading/listening audience.

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Though video game forums are constant hotbeds for trivial debates, there are a few old school “rivalries” that still continue to crop up from time to time. Mega Man 2 vs. Mega Man 3. Super Mario Bros. 3 vs. Super Mario World. Goldeneye 007 vs. Perfect Dark.* All great games in their time, and fans seem split down the middle when forced to pick a side. Maybe this may sound premature, but I think we can safely add Super Mario Galaxy vs. Super Mario Galaxy 2 to the list. I have not been shy in professing my love for both games, but with 120 stars worth of hindsight in last month’s Galaxy 2, I think I’m ready to make up my mind. It’s time to figure out which critical darling is more deserving of our affection. (Keep in mind that the following categories are not weighted equally.)

*I would pick the latter in every battle mentioned.

Level Design

This is a matter of preference, but my vote would go to Galaxy 2. The original spent much of the time in earlier galaxies introducing players to the gravity-defying running and jumping, but the sequel assumes players are ready for deadlier obstacle courses and more outlandish challenges. In many instances, the levels are designed to keep Mario moving as fast as possible, so that the player is never waiting too long on any particular planetoid. (This is especially true whenever Yoshi’s Dash Pepper shows up). Bonus points go to the sequel’s bird races for being much less infuriating than the manta water slides.

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