Curmudgeon Gamer
30 November 2007
Best year? Not for Reviews, but for Sales.
Next-Gen asked me to look into whether this was the best year ever and I started tallying up review scores. Some interesting things came out of that, a few of which are in an article there today about how this could be considered the best year.
The deal is that review scores overall are down this year. In fact, only 2006 is worse. And it's not just a fraction of a point, it's a point or two spread.
By several other measures, this has been a great year. I honestly think we could see sales over $19 billion this year. Software sales are way up. People appear to be really enjoying games, in part because of the Wii and games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
But my favorite bit was recalling the discussions -- particularly right after Sega went software-only -- about how maybe the market could only support two major consoles. If anything, this year has shown that the market has grown to support FOUR consoles: PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Sure, the PS3 is hurting, but it will still probably do a good bit better than the GameCube eventually. Maybe you want to say that the PS2 + PS3 count as one -- I'd probably accept that, but the point stands that the market is robust enough to keep three systems going, minimum.
I got some more stuff out of the digging behind this article that will either end up here or somewhere else eventually.
The deal is that review scores overall are down this year. In fact, only 2006 is worse. And it's not just a fraction of a point, it's a point or two spread.
By several other measures, this has been a great year. I honestly think we could see sales over $19 billion this year. Software sales are way up. People appear to be really enjoying games, in part because of the Wii and games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
But my favorite bit was recalling the discussions -- particularly right after Sega went software-only -- about how maybe the market could only support two major consoles. If anything, this year has shown that the market has grown to support FOUR consoles: PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Sure, the PS3 is hurting, but it will still probably do a good bit better than the GameCube eventually. Maybe you want to say that the PS2 + PS3 count as one -- I'd probably accept that, but the point stands that the market is robust enough to keep three systems going, minimum.
I got some more stuff out of the digging behind this article that will either end up here or somewhere else eventually.
--jvm at 10:10
Comment
[ 2 ]
ESRB Rating Distributions
I have a piece up today at Gamasutra about ESRB rating distributions. Turns out each console manufacturer has a reasonably distinct distribution of ESRB ratings on their platforms. There are some changes over time -- the Wii has fewer M-rated games than the GameCube -- but it is there.
Here are the Nintendo platforms, for example:
The one platform that was less successful also had a different distribution of games. Obviously, that's not causality, but it is amusing.
This piece came out of my playing with the new "filter by ESRB rating" option on the front page of GameStop's online store. I would never use it while shopping for myself, but it does give parents a very visible tool to filter out games they may want to avoid.
Here are the Nintendo platforms, for example:
The one platform that was less successful also had a different distribution of games. Obviously, that's not causality, but it is amusing.
This piece came out of my playing with the new "filter by ESRB rating" option on the front page of GameStop's online store. I would never use it while shopping for myself, but it does give parents a very visible tool to filter out games they may want to avoid.
--jvm at 10:02
Comment
[ 0 ]
22 November 2007
Zomb-wii
The Wii is gradually building up a list of games that interest me. Regrettably, they're all zombie games:
I'm tepid on Metroid Prime 3, mostly because the first one put me to sleep every time I tried to play it, but will still give it a run when I get a Wii. Even so, give the Wii another year and another three zombie games, and I'll buy one on that basis alone.
- Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
- Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
- House of the Dead 2 & 3
I'm tepid on Metroid Prime 3, mostly because the first one put me to sleep every time I tried to play it, but will still give it a run when I get a Wii. Even so, give the Wii another year and another three zombie games, and I'll buy one on that basis alone.
--jvm at 23:20
Comment
[ 8 ]
20 November 2007
October NPD
Another month, another set of graphs. I stuck my neck out a bit more than usual with the comments at the end on what we could expect to see in November. I might regret that.
--jvm at 11:47
Comment
[ 0 ]
16 November 2007
Are reviewers playing the game wrong?
Over at Penny Arcade Gabe makes an observation that is near to what's been touched on here before, but I like his description and find it provocative.
The summary: game reviewers have to play games at a frenetic, no-side-alleys pace, to meet practical deadlines (in the ballpark of release dates) while covering the flood of games in the pre-Christmas rush. Games are not always designed to be played this way, and this isn't always the way players play them. (jvm once queried: isn't anyone who'd review a "casual game" necessarily the wrong person for the job?)
I think the problem is unique to the medium. Movies, food, and wine don't require the same time commitment to review, and books don't change character particularly much when you read to a deadline (although I do enjoy them less that way.) Perhaps the closest thing is reviewing certain conventional games, but the world of "real-world" game reviews is tiny and undeveloped.
For me, this highlights the "real" purpose of reviews (to push new product on consumers) and contrasts with my actual use of the medium. Movie reviews have to be timely because people want to invest in the social experience of going out to see a good movie, and they need guidance as to which ones are "good" while they're still in theaters. But even mediocre videogames are generally available for years, and (except for games that depend on an online community to play with) the social experience will be the same: either I play alone, or with friends I invite over.
I'm disregarding some significant factors justifying the time pressure on reviews: a whole lot of games _do_ depend on an online community, and pre-Christmas reviews are important for nongamers buying gifts for us. Nevertheless, the criticism remains: the average review is trying to assess how fun a game is, by playing it in the way that sucks the most fun out of it. And I should heed this recommendation why, again?
The summary: game reviewers have to play games at a frenetic, no-side-alleys pace, to meet practical deadlines (in the ballpark of release dates) while covering the flood of games in the pre-Christmas rush. Games are not always designed to be played this way, and this isn't always the way players play them. (jvm once queried: isn't anyone who'd review a "casual game" necessarily the wrong person for the job?)
I think the problem is unique to the medium. Movies, food, and wine don't require the same time commitment to review, and books don't change character particularly much when you read to a deadline (although I do enjoy them less that way.) Perhaps the closest thing is reviewing certain conventional games, but the world of "real-world" game reviews is tiny and undeveloped.
For me, this highlights the "real" purpose of reviews (to push new product on consumers) and contrasts with my actual use of the medium. Movie reviews have to be timely because people want to invest in the social experience of going out to see a good movie, and they need guidance as to which ones are "good" while they're still in theaters. But even mediocre videogames are generally available for years, and (except for games that depend on an online community to play with) the social experience will be the same: either I play alone, or with friends I invite over.
I'm disregarding some significant factors justifying the time pressure on reviews: a whole lot of games _do_ depend on an online community, and pre-Christmas reviews are important for nongamers buying gifts for us. Nevertheless, the criticism remains: the average review is trying to assess how fun a game is, by playing it in the way that sucks the most fun out of it. And I should heed this recommendation why, again?
--Bob at 23:23
Comment
[ 8 ]
14 November 2007
Wii outsurfs iPhone
Not that it's particularly earth-shattering, or possibly even that surprising, but the Wii is apparently beating the pants off of the iPhone for number o' surfs (no, no "m") on the net. This according to netapplications.com, if you believe all you read.
Interesting to note that both are beating Windows CE. Get those Dreamcasts back online, dang it!
Nintendo Wii 0.11%
Unknown 0.10%
iPhone 0.07%
Windows CE 0.06%
Series60 0.03%
Report generated Wednesday, November 14, 2007 10:16:42 PM
Interesting to note that both are beating Windows CE. Get those Dreamcasts back online, dang it!
--rufbo at 19:53
Comment
[ 4 ]
First fruits of Game 3.0?
This post that just popped up on Sony's PlayStation blog shows off a way to get users creating pieces of games. Basically, you scan in objects on a white background and they become objects in some sort of game/program. Simple, but effective.
My older son has been drawing a lot lately, and getting more sophisticated as he works at it. I would really love to be able to draw some characters with him and put them into a game we could play together. Heck, how about just letting him use a prefabricated character to play in levels that he creates and scans into the PS3?
Mostly Sony has let the whole Game 3.0 concept wither away, but if this is what they plan to do with it, count me in.
My older son has been drawing a lot lately, and getting more sophisticated as he works at it. I would really love to be able to draw some characters with him and put them into a game we could play together. Heck, how about just letting him use a prefabricated character to play in levels that he creates and scans into the PS3?
Mostly Sony has let the whole Game 3.0 concept wither away, but if this is what they plan to do with it, count me in.
--jvm at 16:28
Comment
[ 2 ]
12 November 2007
Madden en Espanol
I haven't seen any mention of this, but I ran across it today in Sony's database of PS2 games: Madden NFL 08 en Espanol.
The page at Sony's site has almost no info. There is an interview with GameSpot, here syndicated over on GameStop.
Snippet of that interview:
The page at Sony's site has almost no info. There is an interview with GameSpot, here syndicated over on GameStop.
Snippet of that interview:
Interesting. As far as I know, this is a pretty unprecedented move, at least in the United States videogame industry. The game is also being released on the Xbox 360. I'm guessing the Wii and PS3 markets are too small (and the PS3 will presumably play the PS2 version).
GS: Is this a one-time experiment in courting the Spanish-speaking market, or something EA plans to do with all subsequent Madden games?
AS: Each year we have to evaluate our resources and priorities; however, we went into this project with the hope that it would be well received and become a part of our annual release schedule.
Labels: madden
--jvm at 23:04
Comment
[ 4 ]
Rock Band: FImp is Fun
Got to play one song's worth of the drum set with Rock Band on PS3 early this morning at the 24 hour Wal-Mart. It's great fun, as everyone and their brother already knows. On Medium difficulty, this ex-percussionist was able to get through the song without too many embarrassing mistakes, though mostly because the drums themselves are very generous about your timing.
I'd enjoyed Guitar Hero, though not enough to buy, and the formula translates to the drums very well. If you're wondering, it really is just Guitar Hero on the drums, where you're smacking the right one of a set of quads according to the icons on the screen. At times, you have to hit more than one. The limit for me so far was two at a time, which makes sense.
I didn't try much improvising a la Parappa, where improvising was the best way to really jack up your score, and since I wasn't familiar with the UI, I didn't know if my few riffs were helping much or not. Crossing the sticks just made me look like a dork. The mad scorefest that was the end of the song was a lot of fun, though I'm not sure the one-year old watching me knew what to think.
Unfortunately, the way the game had you bang the drums was pretty Ringo, which is to say it wasn't a very original arrangement and will likely convince another generation of hacks that all there is to playing drums is slapping at 'em as hard as possible, with the snare joining the high-hat every other beat. I'm hoping the two tougher levels have something a bit better than this quick demo's rim-smacking.
Still, is there a better social game out there right now? Rock Band puts the kabosch on anyone trying to argue to me that Mario Kart is worth inviting over the over-twenty [year-old] friends for a night o' fun. Rock Band extends the fun from air guitarists in Hero to has-been drummers like me. Cool.
So why isn't this out for the PS2 again? Curse ya', Sony!
(Update: It's a little difficult to find the PS2 version's due date. It's apparently Dec 10th, moved up to hit the sweet Xmas season spot. This is the first game I've been partially excited about playing in some time, WoW addiction excepted.)
I'd enjoyed Guitar Hero, though not enough to buy, and the formula translates to the drums very well. If you're wondering, it really is just Guitar Hero on the drums, where you're smacking the right one of a set of quads according to the icons on the screen. At times, you have to hit more than one. The limit for me so far was two at a time, which makes sense.
I didn't try much improvising a la Parappa, where improvising was the best way to really jack up your score, and since I wasn't familiar with the UI, I didn't know if my few riffs were helping much or not. Crossing the sticks just made me look like a dork. The mad scorefest that was the end of the song was a lot of fun, though I'm not sure the one-year old watching me knew what to think.
Unfortunately, the way the game had you bang the drums was pretty Ringo, which is to say it wasn't a very original arrangement and will likely convince another generation of hacks that all there is to playing drums is slapping at 'em as hard as possible, with the snare joining the high-hat every other beat. I'm hoping the two tougher levels have something a bit better than this quick demo's rim-smacking.
Still, is there a better social game out there right now? Rock Band puts the kabosch on anyone trying to argue to me that Mario Kart is worth inviting over the over-twenty [year-old] friends for a night o' fun. Rock Band extends the fun from air guitarists in Hero to has-been drummers like me. Cool.
So why isn't this out for the PS2 again? Curse ya', Sony!
(Update: It's a little difficult to find the PS2 version's due date. It's apparently Dec 10th, moved up to hit the sweet Xmas season spot. This is the first game I've been partially excited about playing in some time, WoW addiction excepted.)
Labels: firstimpressions, ps3
--rufbo at 10:41
Comment
[ 2 ]
11 November 2007
Castlevania on GBA
The Castlevania series, if Wikipedia is to be believed, has been plodding on now since September 26 1986, making it exactly one month younger than I am. In those twenty one long years, the only two times that it has decided to veer its metaphorical 4x4 off the motorway of mediocrity and into the forest of innovation is when it nicked the entire gameplay style of Super Metroid in 1997 with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and when it stiched its various components into the horrific third dimension and created a sparse variety of gruesome 3D action RPG abominations (starting with Castlevania 64) that felt similar to getting repeatedly poked in the eye by an inverted pincushion. Its the first deviation that's spearheaded the 'modern' Castlevania game, and the second one that's forced all the relatively decent Castlevania games onto handheld consoles because Konami reflect the idiot sensibility that the 'big' consoles are for 3D games only.
Which propels me nicely forward into the GBA Castlevania library, which I'm currently rocketing through. They are exactly like Metroid only they have levelling, which is nice, and the gothic art style means a load of slitty-wrist young teens can draw some disturbing fanart.
The ethical question that strikes you as you play through all these games is whether you're supposed to be a harsher critic when you realise that they're all the bloody same. Konami even spent a considerable amount of their development time recycling the same damn sprites and settings. Any potential comfort in repetition soon evaporates when you work out how much money you'll never see again because it's all gone on the same product three times. All Konami have to do is ctrl+c and ctrl+v, toss in a little gimmick and they're ready to go gold. But, then, this formula is the exact same one that alleged pioneers of scintillating innovation Nintendo have been using forever and ever now, and nobody ever seems to get angry at them for doing it because they're too busy falling hand over food in a desperate rush to obtain more official Wii peripherals.
Dracula is considered to generally be quite a bad dude, and serves as the omnipotent evil force that runs concurrently throughout the series. Konami have shamelessly plucked out one of Bram Stoker's creations and boiled away at it for all these years to really intensify all that concentrated evil; the only ways Konami have left to make this guy any worse is if they turn him into a nazi, put in FMV sequences of him forcing children to eat rat poison or reveal that he moonlights as a presenter for Fox News.
So, one handheld console, three gothic Metroid rip-offs where you exist to do nothing more than navigate a large maze and vanquish whatever remnant of Dracula that's kicking about at whatever particular moment. Harmony of Dissonance has thin, zig-zagging corridors and a heavy emphasis on combat. It's quite hard at first, until you realise that being good at combat means using the dash shoulder buttons to rocket yourself backwards and forwards. Thankfully being forced to dodge all your attacks helps you not think about how the audio sounds worse than a hundred different excrutiating reality TV show singing auditions all piped through the same tiny, NES-esque speaker. I'm sure there's a technical reason as to why it sounds the way it does (really bad) but I'm not here to talk about fixing the problem; I'm just going to point it out and then move on.
It's the most action packed GBA Castlevania, which means it's very different to Aria of Sorrow which is, comparatively speaking, a complete doddle and and has soul-collecting moments that almost remind you of playing a Pokemon title. Collecting stuff also features in Circle of the Moon, as you pair up two cards (which are dropped occasionally by fallen enemies. Collect them all!) to create spell effects and stuff. Aria of Sorrow, though, finally does away with the whip fetish and lets you wield an array of weapons, which is great until you learn that some weapons are good (the short sword) and some weapons are bad (every other weapon in the entire game apart from a big sword you get at the end of the game which makes killing the last boss a completely unexciting event) and it's also set in 2035 which was initially quite exciting because my mind got ahead of itself and imagined a whole bevy of exciting new monsters and the juxtaposition of the gothic landscape with awesome stuff like evil robots and cyborgs before it realised that Konami would never actually change anything about any of these games and I spent ten hours dealing with the enemies that I've seen in every Castlevania game since the beginning of time itself.
No matter what one you're playing you'll spend too much of your time walking too slowly and the biggest enemy in any of these games is the unresponsive controls, which exist basically to hate you for the entire game as if they were a stroppy teenager sitting in the back of a car being dragged to a family resort. Eventually you learn to pacify the fiddly brat but it's too late, because you're basically at the end of the game and you've levelled up so much that now nothing can pose any significant threat to you whatsoever and that nice collection of restorative items you've stocked up on means you can breeze through the final boss even if you put the Gameboy on a table, sat on your hands and started controlling the game with your nose.
The games like to introduce exemplary moral issues, usually giving you the choice of a 'good' or 'bad' ending. You get the good ending by looking up what insanely easy to overlook thing you're supposed to have equipped at one certain point in the game on GameFAQs and you get the bad ending if you think it's possible to play a Japanese game with a levelling feature and not resort to using internet guides.
Seriously though, what's the point? I don't know, and I can't tell you. They're all quite addictive, and I can't stop playing the little buggers.
Which propels me nicely forward into the GBA Castlevania library, which I'm currently rocketing through. They are exactly like Metroid only they have levelling, which is nice, and the gothic art style means a load of slitty-wrist young teens can draw some disturbing fanart.
The ethical question that strikes you as you play through all these games is whether you're supposed to be a harsher critic when you realise that they're all the bloody same. Konami even spent a considerable amount of their development time recycling the same damn sprites and settings. Any potential comfort in repetition soon evaporates when you work out how much money you'll never see again because it's all gone on the same product three times. All Konami have to do is ctrl+c and ctrl+v, toss in a little gimmick and they're ready to go gold. But, then, this formula is the exact same one that alleged pioneers of scintillating innovation Nintendo have been using forever and ever now, and nobody ever seems to get angry at them for doing it because they're too busy falling hand over food in a desperate rush to obtain more official Wii peripherals.
Dracula is considered to generally be quite a bad dude, and serves as the omnipotent evil force that runs concurrently throughout the series. Konami have shamelessly plucked out one of Bram Stoker's creations and boiled away at it for all these years to really intensify all that concentrated evil; the only ways Konami have left to make this guy any worse is if they turn him into a nazi, put in FMV sequences of him forcing children to eat rat poison or reveal that he moonlights as a presenter for Fox News.
So, one handheld console, three gothic Metroid rip-offs where you exist to do nothing more than navigate a large maze and vanquish whatever remnant of Dracula that's kicking about at whatever particular moment. Harmony of Dissonance has thin, zig-zagging corridors and a heavy emphasis on combat. It's quite hard at first, until you realise that being good at combat means using the dash shoulder buttons to rocket yourself backwards and forwards. Thankfully being forced to dodge all your attacks helps you not think about how the audio sounds worse than a hundred different excrutiating reality TV show singing auditions all piped through the same tiny, NES-esque speaker. I'm sure there's a technical reason as to why it sounds the way it does (really bad) but I'm not here to talk about fixing the problem; I'm just going to point it out and then move on.
It's the most action packed GBA Castlevania, which means it's very different to Aria of Sorrow which is, comparatively speaking, a complete doddle and and has soul-collecting moments that almost remind you of playing a Pokemon title. Collecting stuff also features in Circle of the Moon, as you pair up two cards (which are dropped occasionally by fallen enemies. Collect them all!) to create spell effects and stuff. Aria of Sorrow, though, finally does away with the whip fetish and lets you wield an array of weapons, which is great until you learn that some weapons are good (the short sword) and some weapons are bad (every other weapon in the entire game apart from a big sword you get at the end of the game which makes killing the last boss a completely unexciting event) and it's also set in 2035 which was initially quite exciting because my mind got ahead of itself and imagined a whole bevy of exciting new monsters and the juxtaposition of the gothic landscape with awesome stuff like evil robots and cyborgs before it realised that Konami would never actually change anything about any of these games and I spent ten hours dealing with the enemies that I've seen in every Castlevania game since the beginning of time itself.
No matter what one you're playing you'll spend too much of your time walking too slowly and the biggest enemy in any of these games is the unresponsive controls, which exist basically to hate you for the entire game as if they were a stroppy teenager sitting in the back of a car being dragged to a family resort. Eventually you learn to pacify the fiddly brat but it's too late, because you're basically at the end of the game and you've levelled up so much that now nothing can pose any significant threat to you whatsoever and that nice collection of restorative items you've stocked up on means you can breeze through the final boss even if you put the Gameboy on a table, sat on your hands and started controlling the game with your nose.
The games like to introduce exemplary moral issues, usually giving you the choice of a 'good' or 'bad' ending. You get the good ending by looking up what insanely easy to overlook thing you're supposed to have equipped at one certain point in the game on GameFAQs and you get the bad ending if you think it's possible to play a Japanese game with a levelling feature and not resort to using internet guides.
Seriously though, what's the point? I don't know, and I can't tell you. They're all quite addictive, and I can't stop playing the little buggers.
Labels: castlevania, gba, konami
--Martin at 06:12
Comment
[ 1 ]
08 November 2007
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo
After upgrading my PS3 to the v2.00 firmware, I downloaded the new demo of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and played through it on medium difficulty. Dude and gal go to find treasure on remote island, their plane is shot down, you are separated escaping. Now you're just a dude in the jungle.
After a few minutes of jungle environments you start running into bad guys with guns. From that point on, the game is mostly combat. At the end there is the tiniest bit of Tomb Raidering, and the game isn't subtle about it -- the hint icon constantly flashes even after you allow it to show you where you need to go.
Frankly, I found the combat difficult. I died a lot, and I think the grenade aiming interface is probably the worst I've ever used. That said, the use of cover was intuitive, which I hadn't expected after watching the videos.
The game looks brilliant, I think. The big waves on the water are a disappointment -- I saw a better effect in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance years ago -- but everything looks sharp and colorful. The dude (forgot his name) moves smoothly and responds well.
Would I buy the game? Maybe. I do have a hankering to play the demo again, so I guess there's that.
After a few minutes of jungle environments you start running into bad guys with guns. From that point on, the game is mostly combat. At the end there is the tiniest bit of Tomb Raidering, and the game isn't subtle about it -- the hint icon constantly flashes even after you allow it to show you where you need to go.
Frankly, I found the combat difficult. I died a lot, and I think the grenade aiming interface is probably the worst I've ever used. That said, the use of cover was intuitive, which I hadn't expected after watching the videos.
The game looks brilliant, I think. The big waves on the water are a disappointment -- I saw a better effect in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance years ago -- but everything looks sharp and colorful. The dude (forgot his name) moves smoothly and responds well.
Would I buy the game? Maybe. I do have a hankering to play the demo again, so I guess there's that.
--jvm at 23:23
Comment
[ 6 ]
Sonic Rush Adventure is Confused
Sonic Rush Adventure seems to have gathered itself a plethora of relatively encouraging review scores. I'm no mathematician, but I'm going to say that it gets about an 8/10 on average.
Which it sort of should, but mostly shouldn't.
It's actual levels are all fine. Running, jumping, smashing enemies open, it's all very Sonic. Classic Sonic, one might say. Let it be known at this point that I like Sonic, and I've played pretty much everything that Sega have churned out with his spiky blue face on the cover. Sure, most of them are utter guff, but that's besides the point.
I still don't understand why Sega feel a need to inject unnecessary peripheral garbage into the games. Sonic Rush had a nice balance, I thought. Enough story for Sega to congratulate themselves on creating something, but mostly just levels. Bosses were a bit of a bore, but you can't win them all and, thank god, at least it wasn't Sonic 360.
So, all well and good. Sega felt a need to create a sequel. First thing they did was add in another animal character for plot purposes. Nobody cares, Sega. Then they didn't get Hideki Naganuma to do the soundtrack, which is a shame. Then they put way too much focus on some drab stylus-based mini-game with a boat. Yawn.
I have to watch about ten minutes of cut-scenes before I can play some of the fun levels. Then I need to plot out routes with the stylus. I get why they're doing it; they're trying to justify the “Adventure” suffix they've slapped onto the game. Well, Sega, Phantom Hourglass has got that area covered. There's my adventure. I want some platform game, okay?
I feel a need to re-emphasise that the platforming part of Sonic Rush Adventure is great. But that's it.
Sega's problem with Sonic is that they fail to stick with one idea. Nintendo are very aware of Mario and, as such, games like New Super Mario Bros and Mario Galaxy are very polished, refined games that stick to the platforming. The Mario Party series has lots of mini-games. The RPG series caters for a more adventurous slant. Granted, we end up with a lot of Mario games, but at least they're not a confused mish-mash of wannabe genres like Sonic Rush Adventure.
Which it sort of should, but mostly shouldn't.
It's actual levels are all fine. Running, jumping, smashing enemies open, it's all very Sonic. Classic Sonic, one might say. Let it be known at this point that I like Sonic, and I've played pretty much everything that Sega have churned out with his spiky blue face on the cover. Sure, most of them are utter guff, but that's besides the point.
I still don't understand why Sega feel a need to inject unnecessary peripheral garbage into the games. Sonic Rush had a nice balance, I thought. Enough story for Sega to congratulate themselves on creating something, but mostly just levels. Bosses were a bit of a bore, but you can't win them all and, thank god, at least it wasn't Sonic 360.
So, all well and good. Sega felt a need to create a sequel. First thing they did was add in another animal character for plot purposes. Nobody cares, Sega. Then they didn't get Hideki Naganuma to do the soundtrack, which is a shame. Then they put way too much focus on some drab stylus-based mini-game with a boat. Yawn.
I have to watch about ten minutes of cut-scenes before I can play some of the fun levels. Then I need to plot out routes with the stylus. I get why they're doing it; they're trying to justify the “Adventure” suffix they've slapped onto the game. Well, Sega, Phantom Hourglass has got that area covered. There's my adventure. I want some platform game, okay?
I feel a need to re-emphasise that the platforming part of Sonic Rush Adventure is great. But that's it.
Sega's problem with Sonic is that they fail to stick with one idea. Nintendo are very aware of Mario and, as such, games like New Super Mario Bros and Mario Galaxy are very polished, refined games that stick to the platforming. The Mario Party series has lots of mini-games. The RPG series caters for a more adventurous slant. Granted, we end up with a lot of Mario games, but at least they're not a confused mish-mash of wannabe genres like Sonic Rush Adventure.
--Martin at 16:22
Comment
[ 3 ]
05 November 2007
Why the Manhunt 2 situation stinks
Josh prodded me with this link and asked my opinion.
[ Update: Josh has posted his thoughts. Favorite line: "The problem with that is that the ESRB continues to act more like a political body than as a standards body." Bingo. ]
Here's what I think: I read the ESRB press release last week, and I think it's mostly crap.
The ESRB is digging a hole. Are they regulating what consumers see? If so, then Hot Coffee should never have been an issue, since it could not be activated from within the unaltered game. Are they regulating what's on the disc? If so, then Manhunt 2 should be re-rated, since the images and animations and sounds are all on the disc.
I think the real problem will eventually be whether they are regulating data or code. At that point, I think the current system fails. Suppose I release a program (dressed up as some "game") which takes a user-supplied set of data (say, a music CD, a la Monster Rancher series) as input for algorithms that generate what appear to be images of humans having sex? They aren't actually people, mind you, but the visual images would be called sexual by any reasonable adult. As the developer, I never create models explicitly. I never create animations explicitly. But my program definitely generates what appears to be a sexual image.
Now, will the ESRB regulate what "ships on the disc"? It's just code. Maybe not even textures. Will they regulate what the user sees? They can't know, because the user will supply the data.
The whole idea of regulating media is very thorny. Ideally the ESRB needed to stay as vague as possible about everything they do. History will show that their real error was trying to get specific in response to Hot Coffee. Now that they've written something down, they've got to live by it, and more of their energy will be devoted to making every future controversy square with the first. That system is destined to fail, because the respond to the original controversy was to create a system which regulates what's on the disc, regardless of how it's used.
I think it's possible for us to start having a real conversation about what comes after the ESRB fails.
[ Update: Josh has posted his thoughts. Favorite line: "The problem with that is that the ESRB continues to act more like a political body than as a standards body." Bingo. ]
Here's what I think: I read the ESRB press release last week, and I think it's mostly crap.
The ESRB is digging a hole. Are they regulating what consumers see? If so, then Hot Coffee should never have been an issue, since it could not be activated from within the unaltered game. Are they regulating what's on the disc? If so, then Manhunt 2 should be re-rated, since the images and animations and sounds are all on the disc.
I think the real problem will eventually be whether they are regulating data or code. At that point, I think the current system fails. Suppose I release a program (dressed up as some "game") which takes a user-supplied set of data (say, a music CD, a la Monster Rancher series) as input for algorithms that generate what appear to be images of humans having sex? They aren't actually people, mind you, but the visual images would be called sexual by any reasonable adult. As the developer, I never create models explicitly. I never create animations explicitly. But my program definitely generates what appears to be a sexual image.
Now, will the ESRB regulate what "ships on the disc"? It's just code. Maybe not even textures. Will they regulate what the user sees? They can't know, because the user will supply the data.
The whole idea of regulating media is very thorny. Ideally the ESRB needed to stay as vague as possible about everything they do. History will show that their real error was trying to get specific in response to Hot Coffee. Now that they've written something down, they've got to live by it, and more of their energy will be devoted to making every future controversy square with the first. That system is destined to fail, because the respond to the original controversy was to create a system which regulates what's on the disc, regardless of how it's used.
I think it's possible for us to start having a real conversation about what comes after the ESRB fails.
--jvm at 19:47
Comment
[ 7 ]
04 November 2007
Maybe Ebert's Right
I enjoy the movie reviews in The New Yorker. This week, I read David Denby's review of "American Gangster", a movie about 1970s drug kingpin Frank Lucas, and this passage stuck with me. It's all worthwhile, so I can't really boldface any specific line:
Our loyalties are split between the hero of virtue and the hero of vice. We don't have to choose, which is fine -- irresponsibility is one of the pleasures of narrative movies. But can we accept the movie's glorification of Frank Lucas in the terms in which it's offered? It's true that movie audiences have always relished gangsters. They act out our fantasies of unlimited aggression, and when they are punished with death we are purged of the guilt we've felt from enjoying their rampages. The greatest gangster movies, however, deepen this transaction, taking us closer to the gangster's hopes and illusions, and then turning them inside out. In "The Godfather: Part II," Michael Corleone grows in power and then ravages his family -- the thing he most wanted to protect -- and we can see him rotting like a dead oak.Things that came to mind after I read this:
- There are no heroes of virtue in GTA. It really is a one-sided portrayal.
- We don't have to choose in GTA either, except not to play or just play driving/stunt games with its cars. Movies have an excuse for lack of choice (linear media) while games don't.
- Unlimited aggression is rewarded handsomely in GTA but death is never a real, serious punishment. It's a minor setback, nothing more.
- There is nothing even close to a character like Michael Corleone in GTA, or really any game. The GTA games are all scenery (to mimic specific movies) and no character.
Labels: characters, movies, story, violence
--jvm at 22:27
Comment
[ 5 ]
Overheard in a GameStop
This is just a single experience, so probably not indicative of anything serious, but it was amusing nonetheless.
I was in GameStop getting that Game Boy Micro and two middle-aged women were there shopping in the PlayStation 2 games. I only heard little snippets of their conversation, which I'll try to reproduce here:
I wonder what the GameStop employees see when they watch me. I guess I could be that guy who spends 30 minutes going through all the games in the GBA, NDS, GC, PS2, PSP, and PS3 sections...and then usually leaves without buying anything.
I was in GameStop getting that Game Boy Micro and two middle-aged women were there shopping in the PlayStation 2 games. I only heard little snippets of their conversation, which I'll try to reproduce here:
Woman1: How about this Final Fantasy? Have we played that one? I know we played some Final Fantasy.Later:
Woman2: Yeah, I think we played that one. They all run together.
Woman1: This one looks good.Eventually they bought something, I didn't see what. One of them noticed the Xbox 360 boxes and prices.
Woman2: What about it?
Woman1: It just looks good. I think I mostly just look at the people on the back. These look good.
Woman1: Xbox ... 360. What is that?That almost makes me want to work in a game store just to write about the people that come in.
Woman2: It's the latest Xbox.
Woman1: Is it like a Nintendo?
Woman2: No, it's from Microsoft.
Woman1: But what does it do?
Woman2: It plays the newest Xbox games. You play games on it.
Woman1: So you play games. It's just a Nintendo. But why would I pay all that money for the new one? What does it do that the old one can't do?
Woman2: I don't know. It's just the newest Xbox.
Woman1: I bet it won't play PlayStation games.
I wonder what the GameStop employees see when they watch me. I guess I could be that guy who spends 30 minutes going through all the games in the GBA, NDS, GC, PS2, PSP, and PS3 sections...and then usually leaves without buying anything.
Labels: game stores
--jvm at 21:11
Comment
[ 3 ]
03 November 2007
Awesome: Game Boy Micro
I picked up a Game Boy Micro this week. Amazing piece of hardware. I know it doesn't play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, but if I really need those I can try a GB-on-GBA emulator and my flash cartridge. As it is, the GBA library is plenty rich to justify this hardware as-is.
My only serious complaint is that it doesn't share the same power socket as the Nintendo DS, so the USB charging cable that Ruffin bought me (for the NDS) doesn't work. I'll live.
My only serious complaint is that it doesn't share the same power socket as the Nintendo DS, so the USB charging cable that Ruffin bought me (for the NDS) doesn't work. I'll live.
Labels: game boy micro, gba, nintendo
--jvm at 21:40
Comment
[ 6 ]
02 November 2007
Hold on to your PS2, controllers, discs...
Last night Sony put a downloadable version of Twisted Metal 2 up on the PlayStation Store. I'd been meaning to check out one of these downloadable games, and TM2 is by far the best one they've made available. So I gave them my $6 and a few minutes later was enjoying frantic car combat in a fictional part of Los Angeles.
I liked having access to a PS1 game without having to extract it from the shelves of my library. Sony should put more games up on the store or -- my preference -- sell a downloadable software package that allows me to rip my existing PS1 games to my PS3 hard drive. Or, perhaps, charge me a small fee (say a dollar) for the service. Make me an offer, Sony, and I'll consider it. This $6-or-more-per-game racket isn't my thing, even if it is more convenient.
However, the real trouble I had with Twisted Metal 2 on the PS3 is that my preferred control scheme -- Run 'n Gun -- isn't really feasible with the SIXAXIS controller. The lower controller triggers now have a lot of analog throw, and so are not very useful as digital switches. Since PS1 games like Twisted Metal 2 don't need analog triggers, they suffer. I briefly wondered how I could hook up a PS1 or PS2 controller, and remembered that it involves some controller-to-USB dongle that I don't own (yet).
So, with rumors that a cheaper, smaller PS2 system will be out next year, this just reinforces how I think people should view playing Sony games from here on out: get two systems. Keep a PS2 around for PS2 and PS1 games and view the PS3 as purely for PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies.
I liked having access to a PS1 game without having to extract it from the shelves of my library. Sony should put more games up on the store or -- my preference -- sell a downloadable software package that allows me to rip my existing PS1 games to my PS3 hard drive. Or, perhaps, charge me a small fee (say a dollar) for the service. Make me an offer, Sony, and I'll consider it. This $6-or-more-per-game racket isn't my thing, even if it is more convenient.
However, the real trouble I had with Twisted Metal 2 on the PS3 is that my preferred control scheme -- Run 'n Gun -- isn't really feasible with the SIXAXIS controller. The lower controller triggers now have a lot of analog throw, and so are not very useful as digital switches. Since PS1 games like Twisted Metal 2 don't need analog triggers, they suffer. I briefly wondered how I could hook up a PS1 or PS2 controller, and remembered that it involves some controller-to-USB dongle that I don't own (yet).
So, with rumors that a cheaper, smaller PS2 system will be out next year, this just reinforces how I think people should view playing Sony games from here on out: get two systems. Keep a PS2 around for PS2 and PS1 games and view the PS3 as purely for PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies.
--jvm at 09:25
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[ 4 ]
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