Gaming Signal: November 2006 Archives

Monday November 20, 2006

PREVIEW: Valkyrie Prophile: Lenneth

I ended up with some money to burn in the form of an expiring credit at a well-known internet game store AND a trip to India (from Boston) in my future. So what did I do? I turned that credit into the PSP game Valkyrie Prophile: Lenneth and charged up the batteries for a long flight.

The game took a long time to get into - but once I did, I was pleasantly surprised. The game starts with nearly an hour of cut scenes and in-game exposition, but the once the action commences it becomes rather fun RPG. Typical of Japanese imports, some things are inscrutable but add to the overall charm.

This Square Enix game has a lot of role playing depth that works well on the PSP. It's a pretty straight-forward port of an old Playstation game (hint to developers - the PSP rocks these games) with some 3D cut-scenes thrown in. The cut scenes are awesome looking, by the way, but don't really fit the rest of the games art style.

In any event, this is a very strange and unique RPG. The story is the first of its kind - you play a Valkyrie tasked by Odin to search out and find recruits for the side of Asgard in an upcoming battle. You do this by finding the potential recruits, stealing their souls, training them up in the various dungeons (finding key artifacts along the way), and eventually sending them on to fight for Odin. If this sounds like it has some dark overtones it is because the game definitely has a mature spin on things. A child committing suicide, for example, and becoming a recruit is just one of the many of the games darker elements (see my comment on the Japanese-style.)

Some of the game acts and feels like a platformer - once you enter a dungeon you move Lenneth around by jumping and climbing between levels. You also can create ice blocks that are needed to climb you up into hidden areas of the map. This almost plays like a Mario game - except that when you touch an enemy you don't lose life, but instead go to the combat screen.

Combat plays out like a turn-based RPG, sorta. Each character (and you can have up to 4 at a time) can execute an attack on one or more opponents and you select that attack for each one. However, while your side has their turn you can attack in a particular sequence to fill a damage bar and allow you to execute a combo finishing move that does uber damage. There are basically 2 types of characters - melee and spellcasters. The melee characters can utilize bows if they want, however doing so generally limits their effectiveness in exchange for the range. So - a little Mario, a little Mortal Kombat, and a little turn-based RPG. Hmm...

Between dungeon fights you have to spend some amount of time improving your characters by spending the skill points they earn to either teach them new skills or improve their effectiveness. You also have to manage the inventory of items (armor, weapons, potions, etc.) that you collect as well as take advantage of the fact that in certain places you are allowed to fabricate those items directly from the Material Points you collect for clearing out dungeons, pleasing Odin, or by de-materializing unneeded items. If that sounds like a lot to do - it is. But for an RPG fan like me, it's the kind of thing you expect and enjoy (what is one persons tedium is another's depth I suppose.)

I haven't finished it yet after about 15 hours of gameplay. I'm looking forward to seeing the various endings that are available (which depends on what level of difficulty you pick) trying this game out over the long haul.

Tidbits For 11/20/2006

Today we have several totally unrelated items. Except that they all relate to gaming in some way, duh.

Do your kids, or you, eat PopTarts? Do you have a love of hats and all things Xbox 360? Then PopTarts has a deal for you! Just send in 3 UPC boxes and you can be sporting this stylish, yet functional, Xbox 360 beanie on your dome. Perfect for those of us in colder climates!

N'Gai Croal (how the heck do you pronounce that anyway?) has a series of posts on Newsweek about the Console Wars. Part 1 covers Microsoft's goal to ship 10 million 360s by the end of this year. Part 2 discusses why current 360 software sales haven't translated into additional 360 hardware sales. And Part 3 covers how Sony lost many of its exclusive 3rd party games. Ah, there's nothing better than a console war. Except maybe a war between the Kirk/Picard fanboys...

We've covered illegal MMO game servers before. Now, NCSoft and the FBI have raided the company L2Extreme for running illegal Lineage II game servers. L2Extreme claims they have 50,000 active users on their servers, which is really quite a lot, considering the nature of those servers. I wonder how much $$$ L2E was raking in? I'd hate to be in their shoes right now....

The new Sid Meier game, Railroads, not your cup of tea? Fear not! Now you can download the original Railroad Tycoon game for free. Sure its 16 years old, but its still a classic. And did I mention free?

Tuesday November 14, 2006

Game stores - good or evil?

I just read a great write-up on video game stores over at 1up.com and I feel compelled to add my commentary. Go ahead on over there and read it first, then come back. I'll wait.

Now - I rarely, if every, shop at video game stores. Why? Because of all the annoying behavior listed above - and more. Here are few they left out.

Teenage Idiot Staffers - the kids that staff these video game stores are, by and large, complete idiots. I've listened to the most inane chatter between these boobs that made me honestly embarrassed to be a gamer. I stood in one store with my 7 year old son listening to the guy behind the counter going on about the physical endowments of a particular anime character using the most graphic language you can imagine (no really - imagine the worst - 'Mr Brown's Madonna joke in Reservoir Dogs' kind of language.) Not only was my son and other children near, but we're talking about an anime character! That's just sad. But they also don't know much about technology or the games - I suppose you might get the expert who plays all the latest titles just out of Japan, but 90% of the time you get a kid whose idea of hardcore gaming is the latest Madden drivel.

Prices - the prices at these stores are set at retail. Only suckers pay retail. I don't mean for game systems - where the prices are fixed in some bizarre legal way I can't figure out. But for accessories and games. I'll drop by the big box retailers like BestBuy or Fry's where they generally offer some discounting (especially on the day or week of launch.)

About the only good part about these game stores is the ability to buy and sell used games. If it wasn't for this, I'd never set foot in one. But what has your experience been? Do you have a favorite store that always treats you well? Or your own horror stories?

PREVIEW: Need For Speed: Carbon

I recently picked up and played through a little of EA's recent incarnation of the venerable street racing series Need for Speed. As pretty much the only racing game I've been interested in playing lately, I was intrigued to see what has changed in this years model. Features like the canyon courses and wingmen had me excited about giving it a try.

First, the graphics are great - there is some fine use of lighting and mapping features here. The cars and road looks better than ever before. Surprisingly there is some product placement, but it worked to make the world more believable. For example, crashing into a car with the Progressive insurance logo on it was fun and ironic at the same time. On my PC with a dual core AMD 4600 and a single 7800GTX, I was able to run the game with all graphic options in 1280x1024 - sweet.

The audio is good - although the songs aren't the strongest I've heard in this series, and are a far cry from the music found in the Burnout series (and neither can hold a candle to GTA's.)

As for the gameplay - it doesn't seem a whole lot different from the last installment (Need for Speed Most Wanted.) The police chases seem far less intense than in that version, and so far I haven't found a mission oriented around the chases. That's too bad, because the police chases were the best part of Most Wanted and I miss the excitement they generated. The game introduces a turf battle - with you taking territory in the city with your crew based on races you have won. I find this a forced and relatively strange mechanic and slightly derivative of other games, but overall it works OK. I like being able to tackle different races at my own pace (although it is annoying that you are forced to rerun some races when rival crews try to take over your previously conquered turf.)

The actual race styles are similar to what was in the previous games (circuits, drifts, time trials, etc.) However the big new feature is the introduction of wingmen - races on your team that help you out on the race. This is what was most exciting about Carbon and what I was looking forward to the most. There are 3 different types of wingmen - one who scouts out shortcuts (taking them first so you can follow), one who lets you draft off him for a burst of speed, and one who crashes into a designated opponent to hold him back. While those sound cool, in practice the wingman acts more like a powerup instead of a partner, and that is disappointing. I guess I'd like to have seen him actively trying to block opponents and allowing you to draft, rather than having a single roll and doing nothing else. Having a partner that has the ability to just blow by you (to scout ahead) is just disconcerting - if he can do that, why not just win the race?

And the most frustrating for me are the new Canyon races. When you go to take out a boss, you first have to defeat him in a straight up street race, then take him on in the Canyon. This is a 'boss race' mode that has you running the course first with him in front and you following, then racing it a second time with you in front. You gain points by staying on his tail in the first part, and lose points based on how close he can stay to you in the second. It's frustrating because if you lose, you have to start it all over. And the courses are tough - with technical difficulty and the fact that you can go over the edge of the canyon and instantly lose. Ouch.

Overall, I'd have to say that if you aren't a fan of the series, you should give this one a pass. But if you love the series, I think you'll find a lot to like here.

Lost Odyssey

Take a look at the trailer for Lost Odyssey shown at the recent Tokyo Game Show. It drives the Xbox 360 well and demonstrates and art style I find really refreshing. The actual game might not play like that at all - it's some sort of RPG so it isn't clear how that massive battle will work. But seeing a game with a unique style really encourages me. I'm tired of all the clones.

Thursday November 09, 2006

Tidbits for 11/09/2006

While tidbits/link posts are somewhat infrequent, they do have thier moments. Today is one such moment. There is a bit of news here with some commentary (as usual.)

Samuel L. Jackson will be the MC for the Spike TV Video Game Awards again this year. I found this out from one of my favorite web comics, GU Comics. I suggest we all try to vote even if it does suffer from end of year-itis. There are games on the award list that have not been released yet (Call of Duty 3.) The show airs on Spike TV on December 13, and will be interesting to say the least.
From Gamasutra, Rob (of Software By Rob) has posted a great article about what software developers want besides money. Personally, I am in this job for the wheelbarrows full of cash that I get each payday ;). Now seriously, this list was pitched as something for those game programming guys, but it holds true for just about any developer I know. Money is good, but there is more to job satisfaction than just that.
I have determined that some people are crazy and if you want to guarantee a demonstration of that fact then you simply have to release a console with limited availablity. Then folks will start lining up to buy the first ones that become available. The link is from CAG (I won't spell out the acronym, but you can go there and see it) and it discusses how folks have already begun to camp out at Best Buy for the PS3 midnight launch more than a week from now. It demonstrates that some folks have too much time on thier hands, and money...
Finally for all those folks who didn't know, or have simply avoided World of Warcraft news. The expansion has a release date of January 16, 2007. Everybody can now exhale and commence the planning the required vacation time and start stacking up brownie points with the family to get enough playtime in.

Tuesday November 07, 2006

Get Your (Live Arcade) Game On!

Take a look at these upcoming XBLA titles.

While I enjoyed Contra on the SNES, I never played the coin-op so I'm not sure about that one. But:

Assault Heroes - looks nice. Oh yes, does it ever.
Heavy Weapon - my son played this on the PC and its fun, if not complicated.
Novadrome - supposedly a futuristic racer. I can't find out much about it though. Hopefully there is a demo.
Small Arms - now this is what I'm talking about! Its Super Smash Bros. with weapons. Its got assassin pigs and cyborg cats. What's not to love?

And all this in the next couple of weeks. Sweet.

Child's Play

I have made donations to this charity for the last couple years since I think they do some fine work. It is an opportunity for gamers to step up and demonstrate that we are not all crazed killing machines that learn all our ethics from games like GTA - we knew that already, but some folks are clueless. The charity makes donations of games and toys to kids who are in hospitals around the world. This is Child's Play third year, and hopefully will be their most successful year.

Sunday November 05, 2006

1UP and Journalistic Integrity?

Yes, I do find those two things to be an oxymoron, but it is something that comes from 1UP's decision to pull a somewhat controversial review of Neverwinter Nights 2. The "review" is found in the link from Joystiq, and should not be considered a review - but does it make it less valid? The person that wrote it is not very pleased by the game that Obsidian released, but the worst part is the way the article was written. I will come back to this after we discuss how we got here...

The entire story is relatively short, but as it is often to happen when a new game gets released, there is a slew of reviews. When looking at those scores, one stands out in the list and that was the 50/100 from 1UP. This kind of number for a game that seems generally approved of started a rumbling in the websphere which appears to have led to 1UP's decision to remove the review. Which, of course, leads us to me

Everybody assumes the review was removed since it was full of cynicism and was a slap in the face to many of the folks who like this type of game. But, I don't think that was why it was removed - the article was poorly written from a grammar and prose perspective. If the author had spent a bit more time working that end of his article, it would have been an excellent counter point to many of the other reviews out there - but he didn't and as such had it pulled.

I am not going to pretend that there is not some amount fanboyism in these initial offerings and that I find it difficult for any game that is just released that has that much depth can be adequately reviewed by release day. Furthermore, our sister site (SFSignal) has broached this topic of what is a review versus a critique already and I am not going to open that can of worms again. I will say that this is just another iteration of that discussion, but this one focuses on games versus books. Reviews for games are not reviews but instead are glorified previews. They put a numerical opinion of the title, and that can help folks who share a similar opinion with the "reviewer" determine if the game is worth the investment of time and money.

Thursday November 02, 2006

Is the XBox Live Marketplace a Crutch?

That is an excellent question isn't it? This comes up as part of the fallout from the latest list of content that can be purchased for Marketplace Points for the new EA game, Need For Speed: Carbon. Now if you go through the entire list of items, you will see some interesting things in that one of the options is an 800 point unlock of every performance package in the game (its listed as the Ultimate Performance Bundle). Now there are two angles here with this stuff, the first being that it is added content that enhances the experience above and beyond the base game. This is definitely where the content that Oblivion adds, and while I don't agree with the pricing model - it is a good thing. The second is that game publishers can release half a game for full price and then make even more through these content downloads. And it is this second angle that concerns me in that a single successful release will start a landslide where every game that follows will be done that way. This is also where the question used in the title comes up. Would the game that we are discussing today be done this way if XBLM (code for Xbox Live Marketplace) did not exist? My gut feeling is that these companies are already embracing the concept of added content, and that would be provided through a proprietary storefront if the Microsoft provided one did not exist.

I fully understand that creating games costs money, and I am willing to pay for good games. What I am unwilling to pay full price for is half a game that is completed by buying content patches that wind up doubling the overall cost of the game. I think adding content that enhances the game is an excellent way to supplement income, and these can be the addition of special cars and tracks or adding new quests that are not core to the game. These are wonderful additions that should result in compensation for the developer.

Who is responsible for policing this stuff? Some believe it should be Microsoft who puts thier foot down in order to protect customers, but I honestly don't think so. Microsoft is simply providing a mechanism to purchase the content, and since they are not providing the content cannot be responsible for what publishers do. They may go to these publishers and say that was really not a nice thing you did, but I don't think they will prevent this stuff from happening. So the power falls to the consumer (as it should), if this type of activity is something that sets your blood boiling - then hit the publisher where it hurts, the pocketbook. Nothing sends a better message than finding out something is not selling. So for those out there who hate this microtransaction stuff, vote with your pocket book. If folks do decide to be more verbal, remember that these companies are more likely to listen if a non-emotional appeal is used. Calling names and use of colorful language do not help your situation, but showing respect and documenting your points will get you a lot farther... It is the whole flies with honey thing.

Wednesday November 01, 2006

XBox Live Gold or Silver?

This may come as a shock to some folks, but when it comes to online gaming on a console, I am a novice. I have never hooked up my Xbox to the network since I always felt that my multiplayer games were best experienced on my PC. But that is all changing with my purchase of a Xbox 360 (which will be described in a later post). So if you read all the marketing hype associated with this device, you will know all about how the console allows you to chat with your friends/enemies and play games against or with each other. This is great since I could now play Gauntlet with all my friends and talk trash without all the hassles of meeting up in person. I mean we all have wives, kids, jobs, and other stuff that makes meeting up something that occurs much later in the evenings. So the way things work, is that I should be able to log on to Xbox Live with my free account (Silver), and purchase the game from the ole XBox Live Marketplace. Once it is downloaded, fire off some messages to my friends and start hearing the cry of "Hero needs food, badly"... But no, I can't since I don't have a Gold level account. <Insert sound of Pac-man dying here>

Now it is not a total loss since I can play at home with my son, but when I want to play a good four player game I am required to purchase a Gold subscription (which runs about $50 for a year.) The thing that drives me batty is that I am paying for the game, I paid for the console, and I am paying for my own bandwidth - what exactly is MS providing in this experience? Are they hosting the games? I don't think so since the game is most likely a peer to peer sort of thing which means even less infrastructure costs. Are they offering me a friend's list and messaging? Yes, but that stuff is covered by the free "Silver" package.

Now, I do know the cost of entry for this upgrade is low - it is less than the price of one game, but it is the principle of the thing for me. Today there is very little differentiation between the levels of membership beyond one having access to multiplayer games and the"advanced matchmaking system". I know that MS is actively working to improve that experience and make having a Gold level account mean something, but right now it feels like a mechanism to leech yet more money out of the consumer for very little value. The only things that were "exclusive" were an early release of the Gears of War trailer which was all over the net long before I actually downloaded it.