First off, let's get one thing out of the way: despite my best efforts to avoid exactly this outcome, our first 'Spy-Hunter of '08 encountered more technical snags than any other 'Spy-Hunter. This was particularly surprising to me considering the lengths to which I went to ensure that the whole event ran smoothly. Still, we had trouble getting the games set up, no microphone support and a crazy train wreck of video-capture issues. And yet we managed to get our collective acts together by 4:30 p.m. (about a half-hour past our usual start time) and a good time was had by all regardless... and when I say "all," I of course mean me.
While those issues were all quite pesky, the most glaring of all of the problems that we ran into this time out was the simple fact that I couldn't get on the GameSpy team to save my life. Granted, my life was probably better preserved by running with the 'Spy-Hunters, but it totally defeats the purpose of this event when we can't manage a team swap. So, in every game we played, I somehow ended up on the opposite side of my GameSpy compatriots (although I should mention that Patrick joined the Hunter side as well to keep me company for one game). If you're wondering why we GameSpies did such a magnificent job winning in this 'Spy-Hunter, now you know why: because that wasn't us, Gabe was just always on the wrong team.
Just Unreal
In our last 'Spy-Hunter, I made a promise that we GameSpies would come correct in 2008, and only a part of that was referring to our gaming prowess. The other part of our correctness would come from us actually being able to run these games with all of their features enabled. I'm talking specifically about voice chat here, and I think that it has only really been an issue on the PS3 so far. Sadly, although we tried relentlessly to get our headsets to work with UT3, it just wasn't in the cards and that's why you can't hear any of our typically hilarious chatter in the video.
At first I was hopelessly crestfallen that the GameSpy team had failed miserably at mastering the most basic functionality of the PS3, but then I visited the UT3 forums and instantly felt a mixture of vindication and slow-burning rage. It would seem that very few people can get Unreal Tournament III's voice chat to work... even those that were notified of the push-to-talk button that is just barely mentioned in the instruction manual. (There is a not terribly cryptic message on the controller map that labels d-pad right as "toggle speaking," but we can't be bothered to parse that phrase into "push-to-talk"). So, now you know why we weren't talking and that it wasn't our fault at all... almost nobody can talk in UT3 on the PS3, so we count ourselves in good company.
However, I hasten to add that, apart from the insufficient team management tools and the inoperable voice chat, Unreal Tournament III does a lot of things right concerning online play on the PS3. Friends list accessible from the main menu? Check. Incoming messages accessible through the main menu? Check. Were we able to quickly and easily find our friends online and invite them to our game? Super check! Finally, a game on the PS3 that actually utilizes basic functionality that the 360 does with its eyes closed. Keep in mind, that is not meant to be a dig on Sony, but it probably sounds that way considering how heinous some of our previous experiences with the PS3's online capabilities have been. Sorry fanboys, we're just calling them as we see 'em. UT3 at least proves that things are getting better for PSN users, so I wanted to be sure to point out that even with all the issues that we had (some of which had nothing to do with the game itself), we still had a great time.
