As a bit of a foreward, this is going to be the start of a series of quick and succinct breakdowns of some commonly held, incorrect beliefs about game reviews that I write as I find time and observe them in their natural habitat: the Internet.

Games do not start at 10 and lose points

So many people seem to believe this is true, and it shocks me as that's an entirely absurd notion. No one here at GameSpot (and no game reviewer anywhere, I would hope) believes that a game starts at a 10 and loses points as flaws are discovered. The opposite actually, while not entirely accurate, is a much better way to look at it if you want to draw that sort of a comparison.

Think about it: you don't start out a class in school with an A and lose points by not doing homework or missing questions on tests--you have to demonstrate a certain level of competence in order to score a good grade, and the same is true for a game. The problems with a game that we point out in our review merely prevented said game from earning a higher score; they did not lower its score. These two things may seem alike, but they are actually quite different.

I was flying back from my vacation yesterday (it was great, thanks for asking) and had a long layover in the Denver airport. It wasn't supposed to be a long layover, but thanks to bad weather on the east coast, it ended up being pretty lengthy. Now, usually airport delays stink, but a few extra hours in Denver doesn't have to be a bad thing thanks to the numerous Zoox stations spread across the terminals.

What is Zoox? Yep, that was my question, too. It's a PC rig with a 23" widescreen monitor, gaming mouse, headphones, and controller that lets you kill time playing games like World of Warcraft, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Battlefield 2, Halo and more for 25 cents a minute (you can also browse the Internet for 10 cents a minute). That might seem like a hefty price, but it pummels sitting on the floor next to a bathroom while reading the business section from a newspaper that you found on the ground next to a trashcan.

I didn't spend any quality time playing on a Zoox machine (I had a nice dinner with my girlfriend), but the kiosks seemed busy and the folks who were grinding away in WoW seemed completely oblivious to the fact that they were surrounded by harried travelers and screaming babies. If that's not worth 25 cents a minute, I don't know what is.

I'm still not entirely sold on the NXE. It's crashed on me more times than I can count, and the new interface is a confusing mess that feels like iTunes and the XMB had a deformed baby. But there is one very, very notable high point, and that's avatars.

Specifically, I'm talking about editing other people's avatars. Yesterday when Tom Mc Shea was out at lunch, I hopped on his Xbox and edited the living hell out his avatar. The below result speaks for itself:

What do your avatars look like? Anywhere near as frightening as Tom's?

On Weds night, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King launched in London's famous Oxford Street, and we were there to interview Blizzard and the fans.

Just who is this Beatles game for?

That's the question that's been running through my brain ever since news of the announcement that Harmonix and Apple Corps Ltd would be combining efforts on a Beatles-themed project came to light. Several outlets were reporting at the outset that the game would be a dedicated Rock Band expansion devoted to the Fab Four but that turned out not to be the case. Instead, we'll have a "full, new music game built from the ground up," according to Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopolous.

The licensing of The Beatles' music has had a... ahem... long and winding road; these days, the vast majority of the group's catalog is owned by Sony and Michael Jackson (the King of Pop purchased the publishing rights to around 200 songs in 1985), with royalties still being paid out to John Lennon's estate and to Paul McCartney. In 2006, the Cirque du Soleil production, "Love", was unveiled in Las Vegas, which combined some of the group's most famous songs with the visual wizardry of the long-running show company.

So, Apple Corps Ltd's long-standing dispute with Apple over licensing of the music to the latter's iTunes service notwithstanding, the company has been willing to extend use the Beatles' music, as long as it's in the right context. But what does that mean for Harmonix's just-announced game?

To me, it comes back to my original question: Who is the intended audience? While I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who actively dislikes The Beatles, I'm not sure if they are as relevant to the hardcore game-buying demographic as they might have been, say, ten years ago. I consider myself a moderate fan of the group--they lost me somewhere around The Yellow Submarine--but I have a hard time believing that the typical 18 year-old as totally psyched about this announcement as, say, your typical 48 year-old.

But, then, what 48 year-old is going to play (much less buy) a game like this, unless Harmonix radically simplifies the gameplay? Rigopolous has stated that this game will use Rock Band instruments but, as it stands now, further details are few and far between. I can only imagine the look of bewilderment my mom or dad would have if I sat them down in front of a set of Rock Band drums and told them to hold it down for me while I rocked some Rush. And it's tough to see how a Beatles game that uses the pricey Rock Band peripherals could be considered casual enough to draw in tons of new fans, Lennon and McCartney be damned.

So I'm left puzzled. If the Beatles game is a dumbed down Rock Band experience aimed at a casual crowd, it will likely turn off the hardcore Rock Band fans, a good chunk of whom won't have much of a connection to the music in the first place. And while the older set might relish in a perfectly marketed casual gaming chunk of 60's nostalgia for Xbox 360 and PS3, can it really be called "casual" if you've got to spend a bunch of cash for the accessories you need to play it?

Rigopolous has already stated the game will use explore the Beatles iconic psychedelic imagery--such as that found in the film The Yellow Submarine. My best bet? The Beatles game will be a sort of gaming equivalent to director Julie Taymor's film Across the Universe, a re-imagining/visual exploration of the Beatles catalog. I imagine the musical gameplay aspects (i.e. playing along with Beatles tunes) will be either entirely optional or, perhaps more likely, will give the player multiple options for interaction (everything from straight karaoke, to playing along with Rock Band instruments, or following note patterns with a standard controller). Ensuring a large (and customizable) spectrum of interaction seems like a must-have feature when dealing with what could potentially be one of the widest demographic spreads we've ever seen in a videogame.

So what do you think? Are you excited about the Harmonix/Beatles game? Do you think a Beatles game with Rock Band-esque gameplay can be a hit with both young and old gamers? What does this game need to do in order to be a gameplay success?

I will be doing one last blog entry about the sights of Tokyo after I have returned to the States. However, some thoughts are fresh on my mind regarding the games themselves, and I wanted to share them with you. Mind you, these are my own opinions and not those of the crew, necessarily. But these are the games that I personally saw that made the right impressions.

Most Surprisingly Attractive Game:

Monster Hunter 3 (Wii)

When I first saw Monster Hunter 3 in action on the show floor, I actually thought it was a 360 or PS3 game. I didn't get any hands-on time with it (I wasn't scheduled to cover it, and on the open days, the Japanese public mobbed Capcom's booth, which was inconveniently right next to Square's). But let me tell you--from a visual perspective, this game is impressive. You'll be doing a lot of underwater battles, and both the water and the monster models are fantastic. Quality animations are just icing on the cake, or in this case, on the dorsal fin. I am thrilled that Monster Hunter 3 may finally be doing what few games have done: actually use the full potential of the Wii hardware.

Best Trailer:

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)

Oh, good old Square Enix and their constant teasers. Of the three games in the FF XIII series, however, Versus has me most intrigued. I like the idea of a FF game set in an alternate version of our own world; I like how lonely the trailer made the world look; and I like the look of the hero, and the way he interacts with his buddies. The trailer makes the game look like the ultimate post-apocalyptic road trip. Of course, this is all conjecture, and we have yet to see gameplay. But at least the trailer did its job: I want to see more.

Machine You Most Want to Own, if TGS is any Indication:

Tie: Sony PSP / Nintendo DS

If the games I saw were any indication, you're gonna want one--or both. Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Resistance: Retribution, and many others hold incredible potential, while the DS is still a quality home for developers doing something different. I am admittedly annoyed at some developers for avoiding the touchscreen, most notable Square: Valkyrie Profile and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days disappointed me, because they don't need to be on the DS as opposed to any other platform, and fail to use its strengths. In my mind, the touchscreen is more than just a minimap or stats screen; if that's all you can come up with, then put your game on another machine, and stop pretending that the touchscreen doesn't exist.

Thankfully, a number of developers are creating terrific-looking things for the DS, and games like Tales of Hearts and Gardening Mama keep the spirit of the machine alive. Oh, and my favorite DS game at TGS? Riz-Zoawd, an anime take on the Wizard of Oz. It looks fantastic, and like most games that end up being superb (and like many that don't), it seems ready to take a chance.

Most Fun I Had with Any Game:

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)

I had zero expectation for this fan-service fighting title. I thought, "Great: Square's version of Smash Brothers, only with limited two-player combat, and with spiked hair." So color me surprised: it was fun and flashy, and its attack system has surprising depth, which means that two talented players can keep going for a good bit of time. "Floaty" is rarely a compliment, but I like the semi-weightless feel of the combat, and while the jury is out on just how much value this package will have, it's loaded with potential. Oh--and it's also really, really pretty.

Personal Game of the Show:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

The developers of Odin Sphere know what they do best: create fun action games with exquisite hand-drawn backgrounds. Theoretically, Muramasa is an action RPG, but I didn't see Odin Sphere as an RPG (just as I never saw Folklore as one, and am flabbergasted when it's called one). We didn't really see any of Muramasa's RPG elements anyway, but we definitely saw some amazing side-scrolling action, and it is fun and absolutely beautiful. Take Odin Sphere, mix in some Okami, and pour on the demonic madness, and you get Muramasa, my personal game of TGS 2008. I mean, how can you not want to play this?

Of course, my opinions are all colored by the limitations of what I saw. Other editors saw equally fantastic stuff, and I didn't even approach most of the Western-developed games, since titles like Fable 2, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, and others are not only really close to release, but are easily found at various preview events in the USA. This is Tokyo, and some of these games may not even make it to North America. Why would I spend time looking at Mirror's Edge, for which we already have a good amount of coverage, when this might be my only chance to see Gomibako in action?

So tell me: what game did we see at TGS 2008 has you the most excited?

From a press release about Shaun White Snowboarding having exclusive content when you buy it from Target:

"I've had a blast working with the Ubisoft developers, and we've created a game that's really different from any other action sports game," said White. "I think it really captures my style, and I can't wait to see what Target guests think of the extra features we've made just for them."

Target "guests"? Shaun White is keepin' it real.

I can't help but be reminded of similarly fabricated PR quotes from Aerosmith and Korn. How do these things make it into the final press release? Do these companies just like asserting their alpha dog pack leader position by forcing the stars people actually like to recite corporate terminology?

Does nobody look at this and say, "You know, our campaign might resonate with Shaun White fans more if it doesn't instantly make them think their favorite snowboarder is an absolute sellout. Maybe we shouldn't beat people over the head with the fact that we've turned him into a spineless corporate puppet and he is now more brand than person."

Sigh.