Lost Planet launch event recap
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 12th 2007 at 5:45PM }
Does Capcom know how to throw a party or what? Trashed cars. Mangled computer parts. Free booze. Some Lost Planets. Ryan Olson has captured images from and insights into the launch event over on his blog Red Herring.
Olson's own impressions of the game were mixed (similar to the general consensus). He was turned off by the "lethargic" character movement, but moved by Lost Planet's visuals, particularly the smoke effects. Anyone else in attendance last night? Who's picking up Lost Planet today?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Johnny Hundo @ Jan 13th 2007 1:28AM
Picked it up at BestBuy today -- but only because they were out of Wii controlers... ;-)
I'll put it in for a bit this weekend - in Colorado the highs are supposed to be in the single digits - so very appropriate.
Hundo
bernardo @ Jan 12th 2007 6:38PM
Had a great time...thanx for the invitation....food was good.....thanks again
Jeramy @ Jan 12th 2007 6:39PM
free booze? damn, why did i reject the invite. i should've flown/road tripped to sanfran yesterday.
aegies @ Jan 12th 2007 6:06PM
I was there. It was pretty cool actually, and I dug most of James Mielke's DJ set. My website partner took 7th in the competition, and then the US tournament winners went on to score an upset victory over the Japanese developers. It was good times. We should have a ton of pictures and more detailed impressions on our site later this evening.
http://eat-sleep-game.com
Jarvis Slacks @ Jan 12th 2007 7:32PM
Yeah, I just grabbed a copy today. I'm a little worried that it is getting mixed reviews, but I need a new game. Gears is making me a little too violent. I went to look at chainsaws today. So strange...
droptop GP @ Jan 12th 2007 6:45PM
i got my copy this morning.
the game is beautiful to look at.
i've been playing the demo a lot so i'm used to the controls & character movement. the 'lethargic' motion grows on you and it's not so bad.
bombtrak @ Jan 12th 2007 10:40PM
I've seen lots of video of LP, and while it looks pretty sweet, it really does seem slow...particularly in multiplayer. Also, I think they dropped the ball with the grappling hook idea...they could've utilized it in ways far more similar to Capcom's masterpiece, Bionic Commando (i.e. swinging as opposed to just pulling toward objects and lowering down into pits).
Turo @ Jan 12th 2007 7:05PM
so far i dont see much reason to celebrate...4 codes havent worked so far for my collector's edition map...*sigh*
KTallguy @ Jan 12th 2007 6:48PM
I really think the game looks great!
The event was off the hook! What an awesome promotional job by Capcom!
Marin Perez @ Jan 12th 2007 7:18PM
I didn't see any free booze, just Monsters and that crap.
Neko Ewen @ Jan 12th 2007 7:06PM
The music was fine, but the sheer volume of it, pumped through the entire place, made me want to beat the DJ with an ironic blunt instrument. The smoke irritated my eyes and throat too.
Other than those two things dragging me down and making me feel sick, it was pretty cool though. They really did go all-out, and I took some neat pictures.
Steve 3.2 @ Jan 12th 2007 7:39PM
Hey James -- "incites" ??? You mean insight?
Dirk Dorkelson @ Jan 12th 2007 7:14PM
I went. My buddy and I also used our jobs to check out the "media" area. I'm sorry, but no self-respecting journalist drinks while working, let alone takes freebies from a company he's supposed to be writing objectively about. It's one thing to get a review copy of a game and quite another to sit there quaffing free alcohol (which was only available in the cordoned-off area for media, Capcom employees, etc.) and eating on your subject's dime. Maybe most of the people in this area were Capcom employees, b/c there was a whole lot more socializing going on than game playing.
Another funny thing about the Capcom employee/media area was that the TVs set up there to play the games were more like 360 demo kiosks. The floor area had a much better setup.
I thought the game was fun. At first, I was annoyed by the slow running, but then I thought, "You're wearing all these clothes and in the freakin' snow. you shouldn't be able to run fast." So I started to use the grappling hook to get around as much as possible. It took me a while to get used to the controls, but I absolutely owned in the last deathmatch-type game I played in. (I think they call it elimination.)
I didn't pick the game up b/c I've got EB Games giftcards from Xmas in my wallet, but I'll probably get it this week.
Ryoga Vee @ Jan 12th 2007 7:33PM
free booze were in the VIP area. did anyone see that Ninja with that BIG sword?
pat @ Jan 12th 2007 8:01PM
I'm rocking on your dime
http://www.turntablelab.com/clothing/0/0/6217.html
Ryan @ Jan 12th 2007 8:06PM
In reference to Dirk's comments (#8), a few of my own thoughts:
Media events and "freebies" like copies of the game, wearables, etc. are the nature of the beast, whether you like it or not. I'd like to think that most of us in the business of covering video games (and any other industry, for that matter) are able to attend these things and do our best to stay as objective as possible (read: not load up on freebies). Because it's so tempting to take the stuff, journalists do it. The marketing people aren't stupid.
While I can't speak for anyone else, I do my very best to be objective. But I'm far from perfect. I have free shirts from companies and munch on food at their events. Does that make me partial to their offerings? I doubt it. Events are part of the way they do business and easier than having 10 different on-site meetings with publications. Keep in mind that this is work for us. That doesn't justify the behavior, but hopefully helps put it in perspective. Keep in mind that we all have our own internal biases anyway.
Getting games for free is an issue I have mixed feelings about, but part of my job is familiarizing myself with as many titles as possible so I can write about a variety of topics with as much perspective as possible. Buying every new game out there isn't cost-effective or realistic. Keeping games long-term, on the other hand, is another issue entirely. Companies don't want them back, so I've taken to giving them to friends. I also have a big stack of them on my desk at work (where there are no game systems). But I work for a business publication.
Just my $0.02.
alexanderwales @ Jan 12th 2007 8:04PM
Alright, so this game is good but not great, is that what I'm hearing? It's gotten a 78 on Metacritic based on 21 reviews, with a 73 from users based on 36 votes.
From that, it looks like a decent purchase that was hyped into something that people thought was phenomenal. I haven't played the game (or the demo), but is that a fair assessment?
Miguel @ Jan 12th 2007 8:45PM
I also attended. I thought it was fun, especially the tournament. I had not played the demo in a while and I still took fourth place. They had nice t-shirts too, four different designs i think. I got one that says "anchor, shoot" and shows Wayne riding an Akrid and obviously shooting at it. Finally, they had an awesome ice sculpture of the worm that comes out of the snow during the trailer and a VS made entirely out of Legos. (about 5 foot tall)
p.s. They had an inflatable rock climbing wall and some dude fell all the way from the top to the bottom. :)
The Man @ Jan 12th 2007 9:19PM
I really enjoy playing this game despite the the lame story and bad voice acting.. If you could turn off a cinematics, I would give this game a 10/10. the game play is top notch and the graphics are amazing.
Tucker @ Jan 13th 2007 12:05AM
Ok, I'll weigh my less-than-significant opinion on the matter of free booze and swag at events like this. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go, but I've been to similar events out there. In school for journalism, it's hammered into us not to take 'gifts', etc. from the people we write about. Most media companies have pretty strict policies about what you can and can't take. In that case, you've basically got to play by your company's rules when it comes to those things.
Personally, however, if I was attending something like this and later reviewed the game, I'd more than gladly partake of whatever they're willing to throw at me. I'm not stupid - I'm not going to sit there playing the game saying "gee, Capcom gave me a few free drinks, I think I'll bump up this review." Auto shows are another good example of this - I've been to a few of the big ones, and during the media days they LOVE to have sponsored events with the booze a-flowin' and whatnot. Sure, the companies are banking on you getting little free-and-easy with the judgement, but the hard fact is, if you're a decent, thinking journalist when it comes time to write that copy you SHOULD be evaluating the product/whatever based on those factors you're supposed to - not what the company *wants* you to. I mean, hell, if we all just regurgitated press releases it'd be a sad world indeed.
What's MORE troubling is the overall trend in the video game review industry to inflate scores, make behind-the-scenes deals with manufacturers/advertisers/publishers/whatever. It's getting better as many sites/magazines' credibility has come into play lately, but it's not exactly going away.
I mean come on, a crazy-ass launch event... What do you expect? Why not just have a good time, soak up the free stuff while you can, then go home and judge the game honestly for yourself. Like I said, if some free shit from the publisher is really going to affect your professional integrity, then I think you're in the WRONG business.
PHANTOM 018 @ Jan 13th 2007 11:54AM
Personally I own the game and i am enjoying it. It is definitely not the best game of the year, but it sure is one of the prettiest. The controls work just fine and the whole slow movement is being blown way out of proportion. He is in the snow for crying out loud! Anyway, my only problem is that the single player is kind of boring. It is just one enmy after another. There is no real excitement until you get alot of snow pirtaes in mechs. The akrid are easy to kill and are pretty boring. other than that I would still reccomend it to anyone who likes shooters.
Blackmanfu @ Jan 13th 2007 5:04AM
So I got my copy of the game this morning from EB games, and I only have a couple things to say...
I'm not a fan of the lethargic movement as well, but come on, Wayne is trudging through knee-deep snow and/or carrying giant weapons and grenades. I dont believe he'd be setting any track and field records soon. What REALLY bothers the hell out of me is the fact that Wayne can't look up at an angle greater than sixty degrees. Mothra may be flying through the air above me and dropping bombs on my head and I wouldn't know because WAYNE CAN'T FRIGGIN LOOK THAT HIGH. It's a pain in the ass to find grappling hook positions as well (coupled with the lack of upward aiming). Not only that, why is the B button used for both entering a mech, and TAKING THE MECH GUN APART? It's only a slight shift in position between being able to get into the mech or simply ripping off one of its guns. Often, in the heat of battle, I tend to enter the mech when I aimed to attach a gun, resulting in me piloting a severely underarmed VS, or take the gun when I aimed to enter the mech, resulting in my getting squished by a giant bug.
Other than that (and the ongwtfbbq storyline), the game is absolutely gorgeous, especially the smoke and explosion inferno effects. Bloody brilliant. Go out and buy it. Beat it. Keep it. Love it.
Felix @ Jan 22nd 2007 9:20PM
Really fun game, just crank up the difficulty and you'll be more than satisfied by the difficulty and complexity of combat in Single Player.
Multiplayer death match is so much fun. Any downloadale content is welcome.