Nintendo Okie

Yesterday I remembered Dead Rising 2: Off The Record came out. All of the sudden I remembered I never played Dead Rising 2 or Case West. I thought about things a bit longer and realized there were dozens of games I wanted to play at that moment. We refer to this as a pile of shame. Most people have a backlog of games for two reasons; lack of time and lack of money. In my case, since I am currently unemployed, lack of time is not a problem. However, lack of money is a BIG problem.

So what am I going to do? I imagine most people are like me and the urge to play a game can be fleeting. Before long my desire to slay zombies as Frank West will subside and my focus will turn to another game. But wait a minute; I have the first Dead Rising. Why don’t I just play that again? As some of you know, I lost all my 360 saves files a year ago so all my progress is gone. It would be like starting fresh. It’s a shame really because I had beaten the game enough times to see all the different endings (as far as I know). Even still, I feel there is more fun to be had with Dead Rising. There are several achievements I never unlocked and I was never able to save all the survivors in one play through.

After I remembered all of this, I kind of felt silly for wanting to rush out and purchase Off The Record. What is it about video games that make us want to buy the newest version of every game? Maybe it’s just me but anytime a game comes out I want to run to the store and buy it immediately; usually I don’t have the spare time to even play them. Back when I first graduated college and got my first engineering job, I would buy a new game every week. As a result, I didn’t finish most of them and some I never even started. So why do I need a new game? Well, because it’s new.

When Dead Rising 2 came out, my main reservation about it was replacing the photo taking with weapon making. Taking pictures was an awesome quirk that added a lot of fun to the first Dead Rising; for me anyway. Making weapons seems really dumb to me. Weapons are everywhere in the game, so why would I need to make a bat with nails in it when I can just pick up a sword? Why can’t the nail bat be lying on the ground like every other weapon? With Off The Record the weapon making is still present but Capcom added picture taking back to the mix. What more do I need? Well, $40 (USD) I guess.

Off The Record being a budget game is nice. Granted it should be since most of the assets are recycled from Dead Rising 2. Some people have a problem with Off The Record taking so much from DR2 but I feel it really fits the universe and overall tone of the game. Let’s be honest here, Dead Rising has been campy from the start. A mall full of zombies for you to kill; who approaches that with a sense of seriousness? Frank West is such a goofy character anyway. It totally makes sense that he would want to retell Chuck Greene’s story in his own way. He’s covered wars you know?

This article may seem a little unfocused, that’s because I am trying to decide if I want to buy Off The Record or if I should wait. Think of this article as my inner monologue. The scary part is, if I do buy Off The Record I know I will buy Dead Rising 2 and Case West at the same time. That is a lot of zombie slaying but more importantly it’s around $80 that I shouldn’t spend right now. Has this writing helped me reach a decision? Not really. Have you enjoyed reading this? That’s even more of a mystery to me. In the end, my decision will be dictated by my lack on income. As much as I want Off The Record, I probably won’t buy it until I get a job. It’s a shame since I know I will soon lose my urge to play it and may never get around to it. Somebody tell game developers to stop making so many games I want to buy. Wait, that may not be a good idea after all.