Gaming Signal: January 2006 Archives

Tuesday January 31, 2006

Stargate SG-1 MMORPG

What the heck? Do we really need a Stargate SG-1 MMORP? I can understand the appeal of the exploration side of things, but is there enough there to make an appealing MMO to the more casual gamer? It is SciFi after all, and SciFi MMOs don't seem to do well, sadly. And not being a big SG-1 fan, this really doesn't excite me too much.

One man's view of loot...

So after reading this latest article from WOW Insider regarding the upcoming new patch that adds some new armor, weather effects, and some other fixes. There are some additional details here in a 1UP article. The interesting thing to me is this new armor in that it is defined as tier 1.5 armor which leads me to a segue regarding this terminology - and I am sure many of our readers are veterans of these games, but I feel I should offer some explanation.

As players progress through the game, and reach the upper levels of experience there are rewards marked as "appropriate to that level and effort". These epic armors are differentiated by statistics and are slotted into a series of levels or tiers. Tier 1 armor tends to be entry level of the epic gear and is the starting point for players as they start doing more and more boss mobs. The tiers are setup like a pyramid in that there is always less Tier 2 gear than Tier 1 since the mobs that drop that equipment are more rare and require more effort. The tier system continues until the designer has the "uber" items associated with the most difficult encounters in the game. This highest tier of equipment is extremely rare and only usually available to the most die hard raiding guilds.

Now with that very short definition out of the way, I decided to check out the message boards at Blizzard for WOW regarding these changes and started reading through this post. There are a variety of responses here, but the ones of interest to me were the discussion that adding a Tier 1.5 armor that does not require raiding somehow diminishes the effort and trivializes the term "epic". The problem is, as Scott stated, having a given item is some how affirming that an individual has reached some pinnacle in gaming. To be honest, for some that is what gaming is about - excelling over others - for me its to have a cooperative gaming experience with my friends. Gaining access to decent gear without having to dedicate 4+ hours a day to do so is a selling point. WOW has made great strides to achieving what I see as a more casual MMO.

One last point is that, I think this move is intended to fix a problem Blizzard had when they created the original armor tiers. With that statement, I will go out on a limb and say that Blizzard should have designed thier tiers like this:

Tier 1: Quest only armor that requires no more than 5 folks to obtain any given piece. This armor should have been available to almost all players who make 60. This would be rare but not epic armor - it would be a badge of honor and not trival but also not incredibly difficult to acquire.

Tier 2: Available only in the level 60 dungeons in the game - in WOW these are defined as Upper and Lower Blackrock Spire, Scholomance and Stratholme. This would include a mix of rare and epic armor.

Tier 3: This is the Epic armor and as such is only available to those players who can do raids on Molten Core and Blackwing Lair.

Uniques/Tier 4: This equipment is available by killing the major bosses in the game: Onyxia, Nefarian, etc.

And to tie in with Scott's post, any of this gear would be purchasble from the MMO vendor at appropriate prices. Discuss

EQ2 Combines Servers and Adds Content

I saw this news over on Worthplaying, and it is definitely interesting news. EverQuest 2 is combining servers since they have grown the number of zones and the world have been pretty "vacant". Now I am not sure what thier subscription numbers look like, but its never a good thing when servers are combined. I could be wrong, but Sony is definitely spinning it as this is due to growth and so much more content to experience...

Get Yer Xbox Live Gamertag

So you have a 360 and want to share your l33t skillz with everyone by displaying your Gamertag, but the one Microsoft gives you is hugh and sucky. Well, you're in luck! The Xbox Live Gamercard Generator allows you to pick your background and style and generate away. For instance, here's mine:

Sweet.

Sunday January 29, 2006

Buy any in-game items lately?

Have you ever purchased items in a computer or console game using real dollars? I personally haven't, although I have looked into it a few times. So far, I've never felt it was worth my money - but that may change.

Eventually I see games embracing this concept in a big way. We've already seen Sony do it with their StationExchange program. Right now they just act as a tax on the secondary market, but how long before they get directly involved? Why shouldn't Sony or Blizzard sell in-game currency for dollars? Let me explore this and more.

When Ultima Online first came out in 1997 the response was surprising and turned the world of online gaming on its ear. Players and developers learned many things - from the concept of griefing, the complexity of player houses, and the dynamics of in-game economies. It wasn't too long after that rumors started circulating of players being able to sell their max-level characters to other players - I remember hearing talks of someone selling a character for $2000. The developers at Origin tried to prevent this, however it has never been something that can be completely controlled. When Everquest took off, this practice continued - I personally know of a couple of people who completely recouped the cost of playing the game by selling off characters and items on sites like eBay and its predecessors.

Note that this is different from playing the online game Magic: The Gathering Online from Wizards of the Coast. Here you're very definitely paying real dollars for online items. That's how this game is designed and there is a secondary market that is encouraged by Wizards.

In fact this has become so lucrative, that its moved beyond just players selling to others, but whole factories setup to do nothing but create in-game items or characters for sale. Because these players aren't playing the game for fun but rather to get items, they are referred to as 'gold farmers' in the game community. The most notable company making money at this is IGE which sells game items on nearly all online games. Because these players were initially focused on doing nothing but getting loot they were often abusive and selfish - often trying to monopolize a particular game area. This has resulted in bad feelings about these players and creating a very negative opinion of them. Coupled with the fact that many of these factories have been setup in China and you have some pretty bad bias out there against Asian players. Last year there were a couple of articles on the practice that lay out the money to be made an the method they use to make it.

In case you are curious, right now EQ2 gold is trading for about a nickel apiece (or $54 per 1000 gold) and for WoW, it's about a dime per gold (again, in lots of 1000.) Given the amount of time it takes to make a gold in those games, you can do the math to determine if it is worth it to you - I did, and it didn't work out for me. It did work out for GamingSteve - he bought thousands of WoW gold. He pointed to a recent survey showing 25% of respondents had purchased gold or items using real money outside of the game.

PC Gamer magazine recently entered the fray by announcing they would no longer take advertising revenue from companies like IGE. He claims they are turning down hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by doing this, but felt it was the right thing to do because of the ill they cause to online games. My local sports radio station did something similar when it decided to no longer take advertisements from online sports books. I applaud both for standing up for their convictions, but I have to agree they are likely fighting a losing battle. The fact is - people like these services and are willing to pay for them.

Given the popularity, I believe it is only a matter of time before this because standard practice with MMOs supported by design. You will be able to go to the developers web site and purchase in-game gold whenever you want. In fact, it might be that they give the games away (free download) and sell nothing but the gold. Who knows - that business model might work out better than the one in place today.

I know Tim and I have talked about this in the past - what do you think?

SomethingAwful takes on WoW

Leave it to the irreverent humorists at the website SomethingAwful to take on World of Warcraft and point out its many foibles.

Er, or should I say, man those funny bastages as SA.com totally rip on WoW and I was ROFL.

Either way, it's worth a read.

Thursday January 26, 2006

School Game Night

Tonight was Game Night at my daughter's elementary school. It was a neat idea. There were plenty of games on hand and free popcorn and water. The game selection is about what you'd guess for an elementary school game night: Trouble, Connect Four, Life, Chutes and Ladders, Clue Jr., Candyland and more. There were even a couple of chess boards, but my ego was in no shape to take a beating by a seven-year-old. At lest when I used to play ChessMaster on my PC, I always had the fallback that six-year-old Cassie is really a well-written AI engine in disguise.

Anyway, families were allowed to bring their own games. We didn't; I initially wasn't looking for any reasons to stay later than necessary. My loss. But I did notice someone had brought off-the-beaten-path game of The Kids of Catan. It looked interesting. (I've heard of Settlers of Catan but haven't played it. I think.) Unfortunately, I didn't get to try many games as my social butterfly of a daughter was speedgaming - a move in one game here, a couple of moves in other games there - and there wasn't really time. Oh well. We still had lots of fun though!

Best PC games of all time

Back around the turn of the century several sites published lists of the 'best ___ of the decade' for various categories like movies, books, music, etc. It's not a special date, but I still think it is worth a look back at the best PC games ever made.

6. Civilization - this game owned me, and many others. You had to play 'just one more turn' late into the night. The sequels delivered better graphics and (finally) multiplayer play, but the basic gameplay has remained the same for years.

5. The Sims - despite the fact that I personally didn't care for this one (why would I want to play a game that was more tedious than my life?) I can't ignore the fact that lots of people loved it. It had more add-on packs than any other game I can think of. Clearly, the gameplay appealed big-time to lots and lots of people. The Sims Online was a terrible idea, but The Sim 2 kept it going and I can only imagine that The Sims 3 will drive it even further.

4. Doom - Sure, there were other multiplayer FPS games before and since, but this is the one that had my friends and I extending lunches to play. I came into the office on weekends to play on the LAN even because it was just such a blast. I've played all the rest (Quake, Counter-Strike, UT, Battlefield, etc.) and enjoyed them a lot - but this is the one that stands out as consuming all of us the most.

3. Half-Life - for best single-player FPS experience ever developed and one that hasn't seriously been challenged (although I enjoyed the heck out of Far Cry, Quake IV, Half-Life 2, etc.) It set the bar that most new games are still measured by, and that says a lot.

2. Starcraft - while there certainly have been interesting and good RTS games before and since, for a lot of folks this game is still popular (especially in Asia) and great. The Blizzard team released a late last year to fix some balance issues - amazing for a game initially published in 1998!

1. Baldur's Gate 2 - this game set the standard for PC RPG games and for all that a PC game could be. The story, the gameplay, the production value all delivered. It contained over 100 hours of content and nearly all of it was highly engaging and interesting.

All of these games are fantastic and if you haven't played them, you won't regret finding them in a bargain bin and firing them up. Sure, the graphics don't necessarily hold up to today's 3D standards, but the gameplay and story elements are so strong it will overcome those limitations.

OK, but these are just my thoughts - have a game I missed? Let me know!

When Kevin Goes Bad

It may look a little something like the Fear of Girls video. Horrifying and frightening, we can only hope Kevin never reaches the 'elite gamemaster' level, for all of our sakes....

24: The Game

Next month will see the release of a PS2 game based on the TV show 24. 24: The Game will feature voice work from the show's stars. Game play is said to possibly last around 24 hours, though the real time aspects of the show will not necessarily translate.

This is all well and good, but what I want to know is: Do we finally get to see Jack Bauer's daughter, Kim, finally being eaten by a cougar? Do we get to smack Chloe around a little for pouting too much? Maybe the player gets to be the inevitable CTU mole, attempting to infiltrate what is apparently the most loosely screened government office in existence.

We'll just have to wait and see...

Thursday January 19, 2006

If its free, its for me...

The motto for the entire Signal network, but it pertains here in that this post is all about some free games from our brothers and sisters in Korea. The Korean's love gaming and for them the model is free game but pay for weapons/upgrades/etc. GamingSteve has gone into great detail about why that is and I won't steal his thunder and even if his podcasts are long - they are worth a listen. With that in mind, I have a couple links for you gaming folks to spend some time looking at.

The first is a jumping off point for many Korean games. I did not spend an inordinate amount of time looking at who built the site, but Power Game Station is portal highlighting a number of games in variety of genres. Everything from MMORPG to Action shooter is covered here. I believe all the games are free with some payment plan instituted for advanced features/items/etc. There is so much content here and its well worth taking a look.

The other is what appears to be a MMO version of HotShots Golf. Pangya has some nice visuals and is also free. JP sent me the link today and I stole his thunder by posting it first. I know very little beyond what the site describes.

These sites reinforce the fact that there is so much gaming content out there that you don't always have to pay exorbitant prices for the software and then a monthly fee to play a game. Now, there are qualifiers here, but if your looking for a free game fix and want to try something new - these are just the places to start...

Wednesday January 18, 2006

Star Wars: Empire at War

Lest SF Signal get all the Star Wars hulabaloo, I hereby contribute this morsel to Gaming Signal...

The single-player demo for Star Wars: Empire at War is now available at www.empireatwar.com.

(Does this mean Gaming Signal gets a Star Wars category? )

[via TheForce.net]

More Interesting Upcoming Games

Following up on a previous post, I've run across several new games that look really cool, in a mix of 360 and PC games, including MMOs.

360 Games

Full Auto - Guns, cars. What's not to like. Plus, their website is a riot.(2/21/06)
Gears of War - From Epic. 'Nough said. (March?)
Too Human - Third person SciFi shooter. First in a trilogy of games. Looks cool.
Chromehounds - Mechs, online. Drool.
Huxley - An online FPS (like Planetside), based onthe Unreal 3 engine. Looks great. Also for the PC.
Mass Effect - SciFi adventure from Bioware. You may as well hook me up to the feeding tube now!

PC Games

RF Online - A MMOG mixing fantasy and SciFi elements with 'Mechs and scantily clad female type characters. Probably worth the attempt to enter the beta. For the Mechs, of course.
Project Offset - A fantasy themed game using a 'next generation' graphics engine. Check out the movies and renders. Looks incredibly cool. Now we wonder if the game will live up to the tech, or will this only be sold as a graphics engine for othe developers?

Of course, there are a lot more PC games coming, I thouhgt I'd highlight a couple that you may not have seen already. Now I need to invest in a time machine, or something that will slow time, so I can play all of these...

MMORPG Game of the Year Awards

I knew I said I would append the previous game of the year thread, but since MMORPGs really feel different I felt I would do an independent post for this news. MMORPG.COM has posted two seperate news articles about games of the year - the first is a Reader's Choice award and the other is thier editorial awards. Both are very interesting given the responses are not what I expected.

The Reader's Choice awards was suprising in that EVE Online won many of the awards here. This game looks fantastic and might be worth a look. On the other end of the spectrum, the Editoral Awards leaned more towards Cryptic Studios and City of Heroes/Villians. Either way, there are some great lists there and well worth checking out.

2005 Game Sales

Game sales for 2005 broke the record for highest revenue in a single year, growing 6% over 2004. $10.5 billion was spent on entertainment software for PCs, consoles, and handhelds. And while this is good news overall, what was interesting was how this is split between sources and what software sold the most.

PC game sales declined 14% to $953 million down from $1.1 billion in 2004. Console sales were also down - with console hardware sales declining 3% and console software sales declining 14%. What was up? Handhelds were all the rage - and while the growth of the Sony PSP and the launch of the Nintendo DS were important, the GameBoy Advance continued to drive considerable revenue - accounting for over half of all portable hardware and software sold ($1.4 billion!)

The software market for one handheld (GBA) was greater than the entire PC game market. Wow - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.

Think you know what titles generated the most revenue in 2005? Think maybe it was Resident Evil 4 or another game from the various top 10 lists? Think again - the top 5 is dominated by sports titles. The top 5 are: Madden 06 for the PS2, Pokemon Emerald for the GBA, GT4 for the PS2, Madden 06 for the XBOX, and NCAA Football 06 for the PS2.

Friday January 13, 2006

Alternate Gaming Displays

In what I find interesting trend, extra displays are showing up on all sorts of products marketed at gamers. Is this just a blip, or the future? Does this help or hurt your gaming? What other displays make sense? I explore all that and more below.

It begins...
Logitech introduced a gaming keyboard last year. I believe they did this in order to compete with Saitek's success with its back-lit gaming keyboard. But what makes this special is that Logitech didn't just copy it, they also innovated. They didn't just include back-lit keys, but they also included a nifty multiline back-lit LCD display:

As you can see - they already see usage in FPS games to keep track of ammo. They also suggest (and ship) the ability to display CPU and memory utilization there (although this probably has dubious value while gaming.) There is a screenshot that also shows in-game chat (from what it appears to be an FPS, but could be an MMORPG) appearing there too. I could see other items shown on this little display - RPG character health, inventory, loot descriptions, etc. And as you might expect, people on the internet have embraced this and are already doing things ilke this - there is a thriving community of people adding G15 support to games (and how do I get these people to do free software development for me?)

There are even mods from gamers that display your unread mail and RSS feeds on it.

This display is a great idea, in my opinion. Anything that moves important, yet immersion-breaking information off of the main screen helps keep your head in the game, and housekeeping data off the display. And although this is largely 2D data that isn't hard for the graphic card to display, why not keep one more thing out of the display path and use those cycles for something else?

But not having one myself yet, will taking your eye off the screen to view it cause you to miss some action (important in an FPS)? Not sure, but I suspect your brain can process it all and it won't be a problem. Anybody else see a downside to this?

MFD-stick
But that's not all! There's also a new joystick/throttle combo from Saitek that includes an LCD display on the throttle. The X52 Flight Control System is a full functional joystick and throttle combination with all the features you would expect - 2-stage trigger, 8-way hats, rudder twist, etc. But what's unique about it is the LCD display - allowing you to keep track of the amount of bullets in your gun or missles under the wing (or on your shoulder pod, etc.):

I'm not personally in the market for a joystick/throttle combo anymore (sadly there hasn't been much worth playing here lately.) But if I was, this would definately be on my list.

Again, what do you think about this setup? Is it distracting? Does it decrease or increase your immersion - I could see it acting more like a real fighter (or mech) in that you do have multiple displays in the cockpit there too.

And are there more? Are you aware of other gaming devices with extra displays? If so - post 'em below!

Thursday January 12, 2006

BOARD GAME REVIEW: Ingenious

My Rating
BRIEF SYNOPSIS:An abstract tile-laying game by designer Reiner Knizia.
PROS: Quick to learn; a good thinking game, but can be played as seriously or casually as desired; great production value; solitaire mode.
CONS: only allows 4 players
BOTTOM LINE: A very simple game to learn, and one which can be played as a serious contest of wits or as a lighter 'filler' game.

As a rule I'm not a big fan of abstract games. I guess after playing Ingenious, that's more of a guildeline than an actual rule, though.

The game is very simple to learn. The game consists of a large number of domino-like tiles and a big empty board to place them on. Each tile has two symbols, one on each side, like a domino. Each player also has a score card showing each of the symbols. On a player's turn, he places a tile on the board and scores it. Each side of the tile scores depending what symbols it's adjacent to. If, for instance, one side of a tile has a green circle, then the player draws an imaginary line out from each side of the tile and scores one point for each matching green circle, stopping when a different symbol, or no symbol is found. After counting up all of the matching symbols for one side of the tile, the player moves up that symbol marker on the score card and then repeats the scoring procedure for the other side of the tile.

The game ends when the board is filed with tiles and no more can be played. The winner is determined (and this is the real beauty of the game) by the player who's furthest-behind symbol on his scoring card is the furthest ahead. For instance, if the furthest behind symbol on player A's scoring card in the blue star, and it's at location 8, and the yellow sun is furthest behind on player B's score card, at location 6, then player A wins.

Solitaire mode is played the same way, and a player tries to better his score each game.

The strategies in the game involve keeping an eye on your opponent's score card and keeping your back token further up as well as taking advantage of (and blocking) high-scoring moves.

I've played the game with people as young as 10 and with as few as 1 and as many as 3 players and have enjoyed each game.

Battlefield 2 News

Some interesting BF2 news for you this morning.

First up, EA has announced two new booster packs for BF2. Euro Forces will contain 3 new maps, a European Army and new weapons and vehicles. The Armored Fury pack will also contain 3 new mechanized focused maps as well as all new vehicles. They both look interesting, will be downloadable only from the web and will cost $10 each. Not to shabby. Unless you are one of these people, who have created an online petition to complain about EA selling the booster packs. Their petition states:

The gaming community has been too commercialized by EA and their business practice. This petition regards the new "booster packs", new content for the online game Battlefield 2, where a payment is required in order for the new content to be obtained. It has never been a custom of game developers and game publishers to demand such fees for content that should be free of charge.
What's next, payment for the individual updates?

First, the entire gaming community has been too commercialized by EA? Really? I especially like the data and examples backing that claim up. Very persuasive. Second, they have a problem with EA charging for the booster packs, claiming custom and content should be free of charge. Well, if this were a patch, then I'd agree. However, it isn't. It's larger than a patch, smaller than an entire expansion pack. Why shouldn't EA charge for it? It takes time and resources to code, debug, QA and release this content, why shouldn't they get compensation for it? EA can't continue to pump out new stuff for BF2 and not find ways to get more money to continue further development. They have to recoup their investment or else there will be no more content forthcoming. This isn't an MMOG where the monthly fees subsidize large content patches. I have no problem shelling out $10 for either of these packs, especially if it leads to more cool stuff for BF2, or even a kick-butt BF3. I heartily endorse not signing this petition. If you don't like it, don't buy it. In fact, if you don't like EA, why are you playing their games at all?

On the 360 front, BF2 is coming to the 360. Check out the nice screenies. I think it would be cool if Live let you play against PC owners, but probably not....

Wednesday January 11, 2006

REVIEW: Guitar Hero (PS2)

My Rating
BRIEF SYNOPSIS:You take on the role of lead guitarist in a rock band and shred your way to face-melting stardom.
PROS: Very easy to learn with useful tutorials; overall very good song selection; guitar playing feels (and sounds) realistic
CONS; Only a limited number of items to unlock and unlocked items cannot be used at other game levels ; the Grim Reaper cannot use any other guitar (though the scythe guitar he comes with is very cool); multi-player mode not as much fun as single-player
BOTTOM LINE: Guitar-hero is a game for anyone who's ever air-guitared to great classic or heavy-metal rock.

I knew I would like this game before I ever plugged in the controller. What's not to like? I loved most of the songs, I liked the Dance-Dance Revolution style of gameplay and I'd get to be a rock star without all the hassle of world tours and heavy drug use. Er... yeah.

Anyway, the guitar controller that comes with the game has five buttons of various colors on the neck and a strum bar on the body, along with a whammy (sp?) bar. All of the buttons but one are easy to hit, and that 5th button isn't used until Hard mode.

Playing is pretty simple - the screen shows a fret with fret locations dropping from the top of the screen. You just hold the right button and hit the strum bar at the right time, ala DDR. In Easy mode there are no chords, but in medium mode you'll need to hold two frets at once. Playing feels realistic. I've not played guitar since high school (i.e. a long, long time ago) but I get the feeling that I'm really playing the songs - especially when playing the higher levels.

You start out in your friend's basement, but as you work your way through sets, you move up until finally you've gained global fame and you're playing The Garden. Finish The Garden level (and the game) and your character 'ascends'.

Overall I really enjoy the song selection. There's a good variety (Joan Jett, Cream, David Bowie, Queen, Franz Ferdinand, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Edgar Winter Group, etc.) There are 30 songs total, but you can purchase additional songs with money you earn from playing. You can also purchase new guitars and skins and even unlock new characters, including the Grim Reaper (though Don't Fear the Reaper isn't one of the songs - at least not through Medium mode.)

I'm working through Hard mode now. Hard mode adds the dreaded 5th button. The 5th button forces you (well me, at least) to move your hand slightly and if you can't find your way back to the first four buttons without looking you'll be in a World of Hurt (TM), as you cannot take your eyes off the screen.

We have two controllers and have played some multi-player, but my son and I are not very evenly matched, so that mode doesn't hold as much appeal for us. In multi-player, both players play the same song at the same time, though not always the same notes.

Overall my son and I thoroughly enjoy the game, and have played it more than any other game since we got it for Christmas.

Its that time of the year again...

Thats right ladies and gentlemen, the myriad of gaming websites have all started posting thier winners for games of the year. I mean every site under the sun will post some sort of list that will document thier top game choices for the year, and then there will be grand arguments about why a certain game made it over another. I figured I would start a running post listing each website with thier top ten games for comparison and an appropriate amount of scorn

Now with that in mind, I figured I should at least say that I take issue to games making the game of the year list when they were pretty much released within the last month of the year. I do understand schedules, but this does tend to outbalance games that were released earlier in the year that were equally good. This all leads into a rant about awards and considerations for games that were most recent in the minds of the judges, but we should not go there. I will simply record the data below...

Gamespy

Civilization 4 (PC)
Resident Evil 4 (GC)
God of War (PS2)
Mario Cart DS (DS)
Call of Duty 2 (X360)
Battlefield 2 (PC)
Half-life 2 (XBOX)
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (XBOX)

One thing to note here is that Gamespy also has listings by platform and an entire area dedicated to special awards which are a nice touch to bring out some points in games that may have not made the other lists.

Worthplaying

Resident Evil 4 (GC/PS2)
Psychonauts (Mulitple)
FEAR (PC)
Guitar Hero (PS2)
Shadow of the Collossus (PS2)
Call of Duty 2 (X360/PC)
Battlefield 2 (PC)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
Lumines (PSP)

One thing to note is that Worthplaying had Dungeon Siege 2 in the top 20, and is at least saying that a game that is good on one platform is also good on others (which we can all choose to disagree with later).

Gamespot

Finalists:

Battlefield 2 (PC)

Civilization 4 (PC)

FEAR (PC)

Forza Motorsport (XBOX)

God of War (PS2)

Guild Wars (PC)

Guitar Hero (PS2)

Mario Cart DS (DS)

Ninja Gaiden Black (XBOX)

Resident Evil 4 (GC)

Game of the Year: Resident Evil 4 (GC)

The Gamespot awards are definitely done more show like with a whole year in review theme and then awards for specific platforms. Its defintiely a good read...

Tuesday January 10, 2006

The Best Games You Never Played

In 2001 there was a game referred to as a real-time strategy game called Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising. This game featured a great take on the genre that was totally new - you got to take over a unit in first person mode whenever you wanted, and direct it yourself. In fact, you really had to in order to finish the missions. It was awesome - great story, outstanding graphics and production value, and the in-game chatter between your computer-controlled cohorts was second to none (in fact, I don't believe its ever been equalled.)

What do you mean you haven't heard of this one? It's just another in a long line of great games you've never played - and as a result, nothing like them has ever been seen since.

How about my choice for 2005's game of the year - Psychonauts? I know most of you didn't play it - the game didn't succeed financially at all.

How about others? Do you have a 'pet game' that you loved but know that most people missed? If so, let us know!

NWN2 Screenies

Worthplaying has 16 new screenshots of the upcoming NWN2 game. Looks really cool. Hopefully the game play will be up to par.

Monday January 09, 2006

2005 PC Game of the Year

I've been thinking a lot about my pick for 2005's PC Game of the Year. I had several games I enjoyed a lot this year including Battlefield 2, Civlization 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Brothers In Arms, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. However there is one game that I kept thinking about in my mind - wishing for another game as innovating and interesting as it. That would be my choice for my favorite game this year:

Psychonauts, by Tim Schafer. This game delivered on some many fronts - great gameplay, oustanding story, humor, interesting characters, solid audio, and unique graphics. Yes, this game is a platformer. Yes this game is a console port, and as such has some PC issues (like the lake of a save anywhere feature.) But all these things are simply overwhelmed by the uniquess of the gameplay. In a world of sequels and franchises, this game stands alone. Look at the top 10 lists produced by gaming sites around the web. Besides F.E.A.R. and Brothers in Arms, are any of them new? Not really - most are sequels or continuation of established franchises. I know this is safe for the publishers, but I wish there was more like Psychonauts.

Here is my review back in June on the other blog. I stand by that, including using GamingSignal's review policies. This game offers brilliant writing, unique gameplay, has a very high production value, and is loads of fun. I still find myself wishing for another game this fresh and unique.

REVIEW: Gun (PC Version) by Activision and Neversoft

My Rating
BRIEF SYNOPSIS:You play as Colton White, a hunter working near Dodge City with your father supplying food and goods to the railroads and riverboats. All is fine and well until an attack occurs and your life is turned upside down. This puts Colton on the path of revenge against the men behind the attack.
PROS: Excellent story and fun gameplay - Quickdraw mode is a blast.
CONS: Some strange graphic glitches on the PC, and I know for a fact the XBox 360 is not native. Invisible walls to restrict the map instead of convienent mountain or valley placement.
BOTTOM LINE: If you like westerns and GTA, this game is a must have. It is not without its quirks, but overall it has a great story and some very fun game play.

MY REVIEW:
Before I get into the details of the review, I want to reiterate that the rating is a strong one. This is done in accordance with our GamingSignal Review Criteria. This game is classified as a Grand Theft Auto type adventure with some excellent story elements. This game really did a good job nailing what I want in a single player game. It tells a compelling story that has the correct mix of cut scenes and action play to keep the game from being repetative.

The gameplay is pretty straightforward using the WASD keys for movement and the mouse for aiming. Rifles have a zoom mode for sniper type shooting that brings the gun into a first person mode, but all the weapons have a targetting reticle that is sized according to the weapon in use (Shotguns are quite large and pistols are pretty small). There are upgrades for damage done and and ammo. The game really does a fine job of offering unlockables for all the weapon classes. Through the completion of side missions (which include everything from being a deputy to a pony express rider) , you can obtain cash that is used for upgrades that improve damage and reload times for the weapons. Ammo is tracked but not difficult to find which was nice for me since I liked the fact that I could rearm after each mission. One great thing is quickdraw mode which works like bullet time in many other games, but is done well here. There are puzzles and situations that require you to have quickdraw time to complete and they are loads of fun. Nothing feels better than to go into quickdraw mode and gun down some bad guys

The game is not without some negative elements. I did play this on the PC and my machine is pretty powerful, but I did suffer some laggy moments and some graphical strangeness. Now I am willing to forgive these elements if they do not detract from the game or don't get me killed in the process of completing a mission - and they did not interfere on that level. Another negative element is the point the game makes about expansive open ended blah blah blah (we all know marketing speak when we read it), but in Dodge City there is an invisible wall at one end of the town. Now I know that developers are limited on resources and other things, but would it have not been better to put some buildings or something that would block it off in a more realistic fashion versus the invisible wall? Finally, I found that I really did not need to complete all the side missions to obtain all the potential upgrades for my character and his skills. I did complete them since they were fun and nice little segways in the story, but are not wholly necessary.

Overall, if you like westerns and want an excellent story to play through, get this game. The console version had a price cut after Christmas and I think its well worth the price of admission. The postives outweigh the negative elements I describe above and the game delivers a fun experience for older kids and adults (It is rated M and has some mature language and situations).

Sunday January 08, 2006

We're Back

If you are reading this post, then the transfer to the new domain has been successful! If you are unable to read this post, then I must get my head examined because I'm talking to myself in the second person. If you like, you can leave a contribution to pay for my psychoanalysis. But if you did that, then I would be proven sane after all, which would be great except that my head would explode in a puff of logic-smoke.

Where was I?

Oh, yes. The domain transfer has been completed. Our new host is MyDomain and they have been extremely helpful in getting us set up. A special thanks to Nathan in customer support who, in addition to having a pleasant disposition while doing an excellent job, had the stamina to endure many annoying phone calls from from a certain me. They don't make customer support people like that any more.

Our email addresses should now be working.

We now continue with our regularly scheduled programming.

Monday January 02, 2006

Pandemic/BioWare to go public

The combined entity that is Pandemic/BioWare (currently going by the name VG Holdings) plans to take their games to the street. Wall Street, that is. The game developers were brought together by venture capital firm Elevation Partners (formed by an ex-Electronic Arts president John Riccitello and U2 singer Bono) and this clearly had to be part of the reason for doing so. Staffed with former EA execs, it seems the team would like to create another gaming giant ala EA.

Before you rush out and buy this entity (whatever it ends up being called) take care - media companies like this aren't easy for analysts and the street to digest. They want to see companies with quarterly growth, and that isn't always possible with game development schedules. If that game you produce is a big hit, like Knights of the Old Republic or Star Wars: Battlefront, the company looks great. But end up with a Dark Reign 2 and things don't look so good. They state they'd like to create a Pixar-like environment where the companies remain independent yet can be a part of something bigger.

Take Two Interactive, EA, and Activision are a few examples of existing public game companies and the challenges they face - all 3 are trading at near their 52-week lows as the gaming industry rides the low that is the XBOX360 launch. Seems gamers are holding back on buying new games waiting to either get a 360 (or a PS3.)

Asheron's Call 2 : Down in Flames

Asheron's Call 2 was shut down as of Dec 31st, 2005. I never played it nor