I’ve been following this whole Major League Eating competition for a while now, and in general, I’ve been a fan.

So it’s interesting to learn that Major League Eating The Game will be a WiiWare exclusive, and it will “make extensive use of the Wii Remote to simulate the fast and furious action of a professional eating competition,” according to a press release. Apparently, you’ll be able to “simulate a variety of eating techniques including the cram, toss, and ‘typewriter.’”

Which makes me wonder: What is a “typerwiter” technique? I know that Takeru Kobayashi uses “The Solomon method.” But isn’t it all just shoving food in your face and avoiding a reversal of fortune?

The game will be one or two players and will include online play, a leaderboard and selectable all stars such as Kobayashi and San Jose’s very own Joey Chestnut. The game comes out when WiiWare does — May 12. I’m starving for a game like this. (Yes, that was a bad pun but I don’t care this game will be awesome.)

New York Times reporter Seth Schiesel has a great article about how old video game stalwarts such as Sony and Microsoft missed the boat on the social gaming trend and how that has had repercussions (like Sony exec Phil Harrison’s departure).

His argument goes something like this: Companies that targeted ease of use, simple gameplay mechanics and the social aspect of gaming in their titles have succeeded while the firms that have catered toward the hardcore market have fallen on harder times because game are moving into the mainstream.

In other words, PopCap, Nintendo and Activision have flourished because their games appeal to a broader audience while the companies that looked to have better graphics and better sound have foundered a bit, trying to reach the same, constant crowd (adult men ages 18 to 34, I’m guessing).

The most telling commentary in the article was this one:

“But Mr. Harrison blatantly stole the show by baldly admitting that his own bosses at Sony’s brain trust in Japan completely misgauged the direction of the entertainment industry. In designing its latest console, PlayStation 3, Sony focused on delivering high-tech single-player experiences, while Nintendo has dominated the market with the Wii by identifying and delivering casual, social games. Mr. Harrison tried to emphasize casual play with products like Buzz, the EyeToy and SingStar, but he said he was not supported by the corporate mother ship.”

I’m sure this will ignite another casual vs. hardcore debate on the Internet, and I have no problem with that. It’s a discussion worth having. I’m sure that hardcore gamers are up in arms about this “dumbing down” of video games, but frankly, I don’t see it that way.

This move toward casual and social gaming is part of the process as video games enter the mainstream. I don’t necessarily see it as a zero-sum game. Casual and social games won’t replace hardcore games and vice versa. I just these genres, expanding the reach of the medium and exploring new types of gameplay. Think of it as music. I don’t see hip-hop destroying rock and I don’t see Peggle killing off Halo any time soon.

The third and final game from my DICE excursion, and the most interesting one, is Mirror’s Edge.

The only non-Battlefield game at the event, and as far as I can tell the only non-Battlefield game from DICE since RalliSport Challenge 2 in 2004, Mirror’s Edge was touted as a first-person action-adventure game. It’s not a shooter because you don’t begin with a gun, and if you take one ammo is very limited. Rather than combat the game focuses on movement.

The game takes place in a contemporary city, but one where non-conformism is punishable by law. The citizens of the city have no rights but, as you can see in the screen shots, it’s a gleaming, clean, crime-free utopia. (These, by the way, are actual screen shots. You really can see for miles.) But what happened to those who weren’t willing to trade freedom for security? They were pushed to the outer edges of the city and mostly ignored.

This is where you come in. You are Faith, a Runner. Since the government openly admits to monitoring emails, cell phones and mail, your job is to hand-deliver messages between resistance leaders. Since there’s so much surveillance this forces you to rooftops and other precarious positions.

As is suggested by the term “Runner,” you spend most of the game running while police and other armed people chase you. The goal is to maintain momentum since slowing down makes it an easier shot.

The game helps you do this in a few ways. First, Faith is extremely agile. She can get to places fairly easily and will compensate and grab ledges so you don’t have to precisely line up jumps, a common complaint in this sort of game.

The controls are also simplified. To make Faith use her agility requires only two buttons, one to go up and one to go down. Up makes her climb fences, jump over low obstacles, pull herself onto ledges and so on. Down makes her slide under low obstacles as well as land in a roll at the end of a jump.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, they don’t make you hunt for where to go next. The game is based on running, evading enemies and navigating obstacles, not searching for the best route. To that end the next step turns red as you approach. (For example, this crane.) Their explanation for this is that Faith can see the best way to go based on her natural talent and experience, but really it’s a built-in pathfinding system. Whether or not it simplifies it too much or pulls you out of the action remains to be seen, but it removes the most obvious source of frustration in a game like this, namely being shot because you couldn’t find how to advance.

All in all it looks like it could be an interesting new idea and it’s good to see a big company like EA greenlighting a potentially innovative gameplay concept. At the same time there’s a reason innovation fell out of favor, it may not work, but so far it does look promising. We’ll find out when it’s released later this year.

All the screen shots are right here in convenient Flickr slideshow form.

It’s Feb. 29 so I can finally talk about the other two games I saw at EA’s DICE event, the first of which being their upcoming free version of Battlefield, Battlefield Heroes.

I practically can hear you exclaim, “What? Free? How free?” Well I’ll tell you. And don’t talk to your monitor, it makes you look crazy.

Battlefield Heroes is, in essence, a Battlefield game. There are two teams trying to raise flags to capture spawn points. This one, however, has a few differences. Namely the look, the feel, the focus and the price.

The most obvious change is the graphic style. They took a page from Team Fortress 2’s book and changed it up from realistic to downright cartoony. Not only are the characters cartoons but the vehicles and buildings carry the same style; they’re vaguely WWII, but a lighthearted version.

Which brings us to the second change: the feel. This game does not take itself the slightest bit seriously. For example, the event that started the war? A disputed result of an Olympic event. These aren’t historical factions or historical battles.

Likewise, they’ve dumped the realistic physics for, as you might expect, cartoon physics. Planes are simple to fly, other players can sit on the wings, tanks accelerate almost immediately and turn on a dime, and so on. It’s even officially third person, though as they explain it’s just first-person with your whole character on the screen rather than your hands. Many aspects have been simplified in the interest of accessibility, while the depth of the core gameplay remains.

Speaking of accessibility, the focus has also been changed. It’s almost a light MMO now. Rather than playing as a generic soldier who can change jobs mid-battle or at respawn you now have a character in the world. Upon signing up you create your soldier’s unique visual look, pick a side and choose his class, and you’re stuck with your decision (unless you re-register). Then, whenever you play, that character is you. And when you level up or get new equipment it follows you from game to game.

Finally, as I mentioned initially, the price. It’s free. You download and run it without paying a cent, the whole thing is ad supported. So in the end it doesn’t matter what I say, you can afford to give it a try for yourself when it goes live this summer.

Or see all the screenshots in a Flickr slideshow.

It’s a sign of the times. Libraries aren’t for studying, checking out books or using the Internet any longer. It’s a place for video games. Nationwide, these institutions are turning to titles like Guitar Hero to draw a younger audience and they’re even letting players borrow games (take that GameFly).

The AP says, that in Michigan, libraries are even socking video games and lending them out to players.

Down south in Encinitas, a new community library now lets residents borrow video games as well, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

So it kind of makes me wonder why more libraries in the Bay Area aren’t doing this? The best thing I could find is an item today by Times columnist Chris Treadway.

Locally, the Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza, has a Teen Tech Week, that includes a free afternoon of video game play on the Wii and PlayStation platforms from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. The interactive fun will include Dance Dance Revolution and other popular games, as well as board games for those who like lower-tech entertainment.

It’d be great if a library here stepped up and offered the community free video games to play. If folks believe titles like Shadow of the Colossus and Beyond Good and Evil are art, shouldn’t these titles be available to the community?

One night last week after a long day of covering GDC I hauled myself across San Francisco to a trendy nightclub for a preview of Battlefield: Bad Company as well as other things which shall be triumphantly revealed tomorrow.

The focus of the demo was multiplayer, but for those of you who haven’t been following the project, Bad Company is an attempt at a console Battlefield. The differences between Bad Company and the rest of the series are a single-player campaign obviously inspired by Kelly’s Heroes centering on your unit’s quest for enemy gold and destructible environments.

Now that you’re caught up, to the multiplayer. Rather than messing with flags and spawn points this game focuses on gold. One team is protecting their gold (as represented by boxes in buildings scattered across the map) and the other is trying to get it by planting a charge on the box and keeping the defenders away until it blows. Then the teams switch sides.

The two fundamental changes to the game from previous Battlefield incarnations - destructible environments and no flags - do a surprising amount to speed up the game. Whereas in, say, Battlefield 2 the game is about team strategy, coordinated assaults and using cover, Bad Company’s multiplayer is about blowing things up. Is there a fence or a building between you and the gold? Blast it out of the way. Are the enemies hiding behind a wall? Blast the wall.

All the strategy is tossed aside for a single-minded dedication to taking the fastest route to your goal, cutting a swath of destruction across the level. Coordination of teammates gives way to frantic shouts of, “WHY AREN’T YOU PEOPLE COVERING ME?!” into the mic as the entire opposing force descends on you with only a couple seconds left until the gold is yours.

And it’s a lot of fun.

The frantic pace works for Battlefield more than I’d have expected. I was wary of the changes but came away impressed. It of course has its flaws, for example you can’t completely level buildings so much as just knock down the walls, but in the heat of battle that’s the least of your concerns and I never ran into an object blocking my path that couldn’t be disposed of.

Based on my limited play time I would declare the multiplayer a success. Now to wait and see if they can repeat that success in their first attempt at a true Battlefield single-player experience.

See the rest of the screenshots through the magic of a Flickr set by clicking here.

Got into the office today and found a copy of Army of Two waiting for me. I can’t wait to check this out after seeing it at Electronic Arts’ fall event last year. The masks on the cover aren’t jiving with me, but I’ll let you folks know the final word next week.

Also in the mail today: Lost Planet for the PlayStation 3 and NCAA 08 March Madness (just in time for the tournament).

Deadliest Catch kind of snuck up on me. First, my boss talked about it. This was one of his favorite shows. I asked him to explain the concept to me.

“Well …” there’s this group of fishermen who go out into freezing cold waters and look for crabs, he said. That’s it? That’s all the big hubbub? A couple of days later, I mention this to my brother, a cook at Girabaldi’s in the Presidio.

He said, “Oh man, my boss loves that show.”

When I asked why his chef liked the program so much, he said he enjoyed watching at the crab. Eh, go figure.

Well, now, there’s a video game about it because Liquid Dragon Studios just announced that they were making a title based on the series. The team worked in conjunction with members of the Northwestern — Sig, Edgar and Norman Hansen — on the Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm for the PC and the Xbox 360.

According to the announcement, players will choose one of five different ships, some of which are included in the TV series, and a roster of 20 real life fisherman. (This is sounding strangely like Madden NFL for anglers.) Then players will captain their boats in the arctic waters in search of an “undersea jackpot.”

It sounds interesting enough. There’s definitely a strategy element of managing your crew, gathering weather data and searching for crustaceans. If I were playing this game, I’d be a mean old captain and give the greenhorns as little money as possible. I’d also grab the surliest fisherman out there so he can control the crane. If I learned anything from the show, you never want to a newbie manning something as dangerous as that.

When Hannah Montana: Music Jam was released last year, I was amazed, not with the tween license, but with potential of the game engine.

In Music Jam, you could play the drums and lead, bass and rhythm guitar. Everything was done using the stylus, but it worked amazingly well. Guitar worked like a divine combination of Guitar Hero and Jam Sessions. The drums worked almost like Elite Beat Agents.

It was an awesome idea that was limited to just a couple of songs. I thought that if they could just release another version sans the license and with more tunes, they would have a huge hit. It would just be like having a portable Rock Band.

Well, Disney may have just answered my prayers with Ultimate Band. Coming out for the Wii and Nintendo DS, this title will let uses play the drums and different guitars. On the Wii, it sounds almost exactly like Rock Band. You start off as a garage band, work your way up the ranks and get international wealth and fame. There’s customizable characters, etc.

That sounds find and good, but it’s the DS version that sounds especially intriguing. According to Disney, Ultimate Band is a “rhythm-based music game with a built-in recording studio.” Sounds similar to “Hannah Montana: Music Jam.” In addition, “players can jam to current and classic songs using the drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, or rhythm guitar. Players can also create their own original songs using the DS touchscreen and stylus to lay down tracks for each instrument and apply creative mixing effects.”

Just for icing on the cake, this is a game that works with DGamer, Disney’s new social networking program. This makes me wonder what the track list will be. I’m hoping it’s less tween stuff and more classic rock. David Hill of Radial Music, (the consultant that Disney is working with) says, “With iconic songs from every decade since the 60s, these games feature music for everyone.”

I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best this fall.

D3 Publisher is bringing Treasure’s cult classic Bangai-O to American shores later this summer and I had a chance to check out the Nintendo DS title at an event last week.

For those not in the know (I wasn’t), Bangai-O is a mech shooter that was released on the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast. The action takes place in two-dimensions as you travel through a level, dodging missiles and bullets on your way to the goal.

It probably sounds a little abstract so let me put it this way: Think of Geometry Wars and turn that up 10 notches, stick in actual level elements like walls and floors and voila, you have Bangai-O Spirits.

The action doesn’t use much of touch-screen. Most of the time, you’ll be mashing that X button to use the sword or hitting the shoulder buttons for those multidirectional missiles. You’ll be able to play competitively or co-operatively with four friends via the wireless connection (sorry, no Internet play).

There will be more than 150 stages, but the most impressive thing about Bangai-O Spirits is the level editor. At any point in the game, players can alter the game, adding walls, putting in explosives, etc.

But the best part is that fans can take those levels and share them with others using Treasure’s Sound Load technology. By placing plugging in headphones and placing the earpiece next to the microphone of another DS, players can exchange their own user-generated levels. The process is reminiscent of how the old modems used to work, but this time, it’s applied to hand-held system.

The technology helps Treasure get around Nintendo’s WiFi Connection and the idea brings up interesting possibilities. Conceivably, there can be a YouTube of Bangai-O levels using these Wav. files. (Someone has to be kind enough to set that up, and players will have to record the funny sounds from a DS and put them on the Internet.) It kind of brings that Web 2.0 element to hand-held. It’s an interesting concept that I hope takes off.