Okay, recently I was discussing the debate as to whether video games can or cannot be considered art. As a result of this, a good friend—and fantastic artist—made an “argument” (used here in the sense that he had a thought other than my own and posed it in a way that challenged, albeit in a friendly manner, my original assertion) that games aren’t art based on his definition of what art is. His statement was as follows:
“I don't play video games, so take this with a grain of salt, but I can't personally qualify them as art, because I'm not familiar with any that were designed specifically to explore or question and ultimately create change at an individual or societal level.”
He then went on to list a specific, and enlightening, example of this sort of thing in comics—the introduction of a homosexual character in Archie Comics—and explained how this had, and continues to change society by challenging their concepts of what is socially acceptable and “normal.”
Now, while I can’t list any games which have evoked that sort of thinking on a level as grand as that, I do not feel that his would be grounds for denying games status as art. First, let me state that my friend was, in no way, saying that games couldn’t be considered art, but that he simply hadn’t seen any games to evoke this sort of emotional response on a socially changing level. However, to me, this isn’t a necessary characteristic of art.
My definition, art is, well, a lot of things. But, to me, it’s the creative expression of the artist’s imagination and the application of creative skills. Not every artist is a Picasso or Michelangelo, not every writer is a Machiavelli or a Marry Shelly, not every composer is…well, you get the point. A work of art doesn’t need to change the world to be art. It just needs to be an expression of the artist’s creativity. And, in this sense, I feel that a great many video games are, in fact, art.
That’s not to say that I think all games are art, just like I don’t feel that all movies, or all comics are art. Some of these are, as my friend went on to state, pure forms of “escapism” and strive to be nothing more than a means to an end. However, I can list several examples of games that go being more than just a package for a few hours of mindless fun. Games that, to me, inspire emotional attachment to the characters as well as the worlds they exist in. Games where the visuals often leave me breathless and push the boundaries of what can be done with the media. Games that tell a story so beautifully that, when it was over, I desperately wanted nothing more than to be able to experience it again.
Games that, to me, are art…
When the original “debate” was sparked, I found an article that discussed the author’s own reasons for why games are art and, while their arguments often got a bit on the long and snooty side, there was a point made that brought a smile to my lips. Well, rather, an example given in the form of the game Max Payne. Max Payne is a game that—at the time—made me stop and think about games in a way that I hadn’t before. Here was a game that was more than just a pixilated plumber bouncing on sentient mushrooms and punching dinosaur companions in the back of the head. A game that existed for more than an excuse to waste a few hours holding a controller; it existed to tell a story. And an emotional one at that. It didn’t take long for me to connect to Max and his plight; to long to see his vengeance for the death of his wife and daughter fulfilled. The whole time floored by visuals and gameplay mechanics I had never seen before and disturbed (in a good way) by the “tripping” sequences in which you lead Max through a vast darkness toward the ever-distant wailing of his baby girl. When you finally reach the nursery in one of the later sequences, there is a moment of turmoil when you dare to hope only to be thrust back into the harsh reality. It’s at this moment where you can understand Max’s addiction to the painkillers and his motives for abusing them.
Then there’s games LIMBO (the title is actually capped…I’m not “yelling”). Here is a game that can call upon ones most primal emotions—feelings like fear of being alone, fear of the unknown, and an undying desire to save the ones we love—all while forsaking the gritty realism seen commonly in today’s games. LIMBO is, in my opinion, a work of art from every possible angle. It is an emotional tale of a little boy who fights his way through an unknown world full of countless dangers and unknown terrors to save his sister’s soul all told with a beautiful simplistic art style which uses silhouettes and backlighting and focuses on mood rather than eye candy. The main character never speaks and, in fact, nary makes a sound except when the player fails a puzzle or falls for a trap and it is here that I find LIMBO truly shines. In a very short time the player becomes unwittingly attached to the shadowy little boy and when he dies—and he does so often and with a disturbing brutality—the player feels remorse and a sense of loss.
Shadow of the Colossus was another game in which the designers utilized simplicity in both art style and gameplay as a way of telling a powerful story of a boy who has his love and devotion turned against him. On a quest to save his companion from an unknown affliction—in fact, another example of the game’s beauty is that there is never any exposition given to the player, only what you can derive from the imagery presented—the nameless protagonist strikes a deal to destroy a race of colossi in return for the help from a group of spirits. As the game plays out—each colossus presenting a unique challenge and majestic beauty—it becomes apparent that the spirits have their own agenda. All of this, of course, is setting aside the fact that the game’s use of minimalist art direction and epic scoring readily sent chills down my spine and, often, made my heart speed up with the inherent danger of what was coming.
These are just a few examples of how games can be art. How the designers, the writers and graphic artists, the codewriters and composers all pour their heart and souls into a piece of work that embodies their imaginations and dreams. How that final work—that piece of art—inspires emotions in the players they are making these games for. I have many more—examples of how games can often task a player with employing their own sense of right and wrong and then living with the consequences of that choice, or of how certain stories are so and intricate that only a game could contain it and only a game could deliver it in a fashion that is unique to the person experiencing it—but, as it is, this went on a little longer than I’d planned and I need to wrap it up.
I hope that I have given a decent explanation behind my assertion that games can be, and often are, works of art; at least enough to satisfy my friend’s curiosity. There are few mediums that inspire greater joy and a feeling of experiencing someone’s creation in a way that is utterly different than most any other, than video games. And, while I’m not expecting this to change his opinion, I hope that he’ll at least be able to approach games from a different angle.
Thanks for your time, guys!
Later!
My thoughts and ideas. My creations and rants.
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Reaching for Awesomeness
Happy Mother's Day, peeps! Well, y'know...to those of you who are mothers, that is.
Anyway, I thoughts I'd drop a little review or two on y'all on this fine, now-sunny, Sunday afternoon. Okay, so, after the trouble I went through to get my twitchy little mitts on my copy of Halo 3: ODST--having left it in Texas with my future brother-in-law several months ago--I was finally able to drop (see what I did there? Eh? Aw, forget it.) into the Halo: Reach Beta this weekend.
First thing's first, I am a huge fan of the Halo universe. I've read almost all of the books (those written by Nylund and the one in between, anyway) and absorbed any other media related to the world in which Master Chief routinely lays the proverbial smack down. This ride through Bungie's world has been anything but smooth, mind you, but in those turbulent times I've clung to whatever bits off awesome I could gain purchase on and ridden out the storm. That is to say, I dug deep and found reasons to actually like Halo 3; at least enough to help ease the wait for ODST (the best in the series since Combat Evolved, thus far).
So, needless to say, I was damned excited when Reach was announced. As well as a little tentative in respects to the inevitable multiplayer mode--we knew it was coming, it's the legacy that started Xbox Live's reign as ruler of the Console Online Realm. Yet, the last iteration of this particularly tasty morsel of social gaming goodness had left me with a fairly sour aftertaste. Simply put, Halo 2's initially strong start fizzled at first and then practically winked out when Halo 3 dropped. Sure, there were some cool features--I absolutely love the Theater, but we'll discuss that further below--but, really, they'd deluded more of the awesome than bolstering it and this fact made tolerating the increasingly rampant swarm of immature racists that make up the "players" of this game completely pointless. Especially when there were games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare--a game where shooting someone's face off did not automatically warrant slandering their mother and dipping your digital testicles in their pixelated mouth--around to satiate my need for Social Murder.
But I digress...
With a cautious excitement, I sat down and prepared to dip my toes in a pond I'd long-since believed stagnated. And, I'm here to say that I have emerged refreshed and ready and anxious to explore every crevice in the unknown depths that await me in June. I am, once more, a Halo Multiplayer fan!
Right from the start, I could see that Bungie is aiming for a complete overhaul of their game. For starters, the matchmaking is vastly improved with what appears to be an outward desire to please the various types of people who seek to pit their skills against thousands of like-minded people. This is evidenced in the ability to filter your matchmaking, setting the engine to look for people who are "Quiet" or like to be "Team Players." Conversely, you can set it up to look for people who are "Rowdy" and play the ol' "Lone Wolf" if that's the kind of foul-mouthed, trashtalking evening you have planned.
As to the game, there are all kinds of goodies here to explore. You have nearly complete customization of your character, albeit with limited choices. This is enough to help you distinguish you from the other guy in the yellow Mark VI armor. These customization options revolved around a credits system which works like experience points. The better you do, the higher your level climbs, the more credits you earn to buy that fancy new helmet visor. Which leads me to my favorite change...the ranking system.
Unlike in Halo 3, you can get your armored arse kicked and still feel like the match was worth playing. Granted, if you were on the opposite side of that whoopin' you'd be rewarded better, but you aren't going to be a Private forever just because you've had a handful of bad games. I agree with rewarding "better" performances accordingly, but I'm a bigger fan of thanking people for buying your product and continuing to come back and get teabagged night after night.
The weapons in Reach are a mixture of slightly-different to completely new. Old faves like the Assault Rifle and Shotgun return but have been tweaked enough to feel fresh and relevant again, while the grenade launcher and Needle Rifle are something completely different while still maintaining a feeling of belonging. Along with the tweak in weapons, I am a huge fan of the "Armor Abilities". These are attached to specific loadouts and each puts a new spin on the same game. With abilities like the Jet Pack and Sprint a game of Slayer feels totally different than the same game played with Active Camo (found on the Recon loadout, I believe) and the overshield ability (for which I can't remember the name). With a simple tap of the left bumper, your character can launch into the air, fade into the background or become an invincible...uh...rock--you can't move while your overshield power is active, but rockets and weapons fire is deflected so, if timed right, you can instantly turn your opponent's attack back on himself.
The most welcome change, though, is the fact that your health doesn't automatically regenerate (with the exception of the Elites but I'm pretty sure they have disadvantages that balance that). This means that when I unload into an enemy he can't duck behind a wall and pop back out as if nothing had happened except the emptying of my magazine. There are health packs that refill your players, uh, health...but these are items they have to acquire rather than simply have happen. This makes the game feel more balanced and fair; if you're a terrible shot and you've spent a magazine to lower your opponent's health, your effort isn't laughed at when he turns around and plugs you in the face.
As I said, earlier, the Theater feature has returned. Now, if you've played Halo 3 or ODST, you're familiar with this. However, if you haven't, the Theater is a feature that allows you to playback previous games, allowing you to take control of a free-floating camera so that you can view that wicked assassination from as many angles as possible. Then you can cut out clips--or take screenshots--and upload them to Bungie's File Share for the whole world to view. Aside from the obvious gloating purposes, I find this feature incredibly cool because it shows Bungie's devotion to their fans, especially those who make Machinema.
That's pretty much all I have for now. I'll review the various gametypes specifically later on, when I've had more time with them. But, for now, I'm running out of time.
I did, however, want to take a second to mention that this is Jennifer's first Mother's Day in which she deserves to be honored. She's still pregnant, but I believe that she is going to make a fantastic mother to our baby boy and thoroughly look forward to this day next year, when I can reward her for efforts that I know will be worthy of praise. I love her and Rowan dearly and cherish the family we are building.
So, if you know her, wish her a Happy Mother's Day...if you don't...uh, well, don't be creepy.
Have a fantastic day!
Later!
Anyway, I thoughts I'd drop a little review or two on y'all on this fine, now-sunny, Sunday afternoon. Okay, so, after the trouble I went through to get my twitchy little mitts on my copy of Halo 3: ODST--having left it in Texas with my future brother-in-law several months ago--I was finally able to drop (see what I did there? Eh? Aw, forget it.) into the Halo: Reach Beta this weekend.
First thing's first, I am a huge fan of the Halo universe. I've read almost all of the books (those written by Nylund and the one in between, anyway) and absorbed any other media related to the world in which Master Chief routinely lays the proverbial smack down. This ride through Bungie's world has been anything but smooth, mind you, but in those turbulent times I've clung to whatever bits off awesome I could gain purchase on and ridden out the storm. That is to say, I dug deep and found reasons to actually like Halo 3; at least enough to help ease the wait for ODST (the best in the series since Combat Evolved, thus far).
So, needless to say, I was damned excited when Reach was announced. As well as a little tentative in respects to the inevitable multiplayer mode--we knew it was coming, it's the legacy that started Xbox Live's reign as ruler of the Console Online Realm. Yet, the last iteration of this particularly tasty morsel of social gaming goodness had left me with a fairly sour aftertaste. Simply put, Halo 2's initially strong start fizzled at first and then practically winked out when Halo 3 dropped. Sure, there were some cool features--I absolutely love the Theater, but we'll discuss that further below--but, really, they'd deluded more of the awesome than bolstering it and this fact made tolerating the increasingly rampant swarm of immature racists that make up the "players" of this game completely pointless. Especially when there were games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare--a game where shooting someone's face off did not automatically warrant slandering their mother and dipping your digital testicles in their pixelated mouth--around to satiate my need for Social Murder.
But I digress...
With a cautious excitement, I sat down and prepared to dip my toes in a pond I'd long-since believed stagnated. And, I'm here to say that I have emerged refreshed and ready and anxious to explore every crevice in the unknown depths that await me in June. I am, once more, a Halo Multiplayer fan!
Right from the start, I could see that Bungie is aiming for a complete overhaul of their game. For starters, the matchmaking is vastly improved with what appears to be an outward desire to please the various types of people who seek to pit their skills against thousands of like-minded people. This is evidenced in the ability to filter your matchmaking, setting the engine to look for people who are "Quiet" or like to be "Team Players." Conversely, you can set it up to look for people who are "Rowdy" and play the ol' "Lone Wolf" if that's the kind of foul-mouthed, trashtalking evening you have planned.
As to the game, there are all kinds of goodies here to explore. You have nearly complete customization of your character, albeit with limited choices. This is enough to help you distinguish you from the other guy in the yellow Mark VI armor. These customization options revolved around a credits system which works like experience points. The better you do, the higher your level climbs, the more credits you earn to buy that fancy new helmet visor. Which leads me to my favorite change...the ranking system.
Unlike in Halo 3, you can get your armored arse kicked and still feel like the match was worth playing. Granted, if you were on the opposite side of that whoopin' you'd be rewarded better, but you aren't going to be a Private forever just because you've had a handful of bad games. I agree with rewarding "better" performances accordingly, but I'm a bigger fan of thanking people for buying your product and continuing to come back and get teabagged night after night.
The weapons in Reach are a mixture of slightly-different to completely new. Old faves like the Assault Rifle and Shotgun return but have been tweaked enough to feel fresh and relevant again, while the grenade launcher and Needle Rifle are something completely different while still maintaining a feeling of belonging. Along with the tweak in weapons, I am a huge fan of the "Armor Abilities". These are attached to specific loadouts and each puts a new spin on the same game. With abilities like the Jet Pack and Sprint a game of Slayer feels totally different than the same game played with Active Camo (found on the Recon loadout, I believe) and the overshield ability (for which I can't remember the name). With a simple tap of the left bumper, your character can launch into the air, fade into the background or become an invincible...uh...rock--you can't move while your overshield power is active, but rockets and weapons fire is deflected so, if timed right, you can instantly turn your opponent's attack back on himself.
The most welcome change, though, is the fact that your health doesn't automatically regenerate (with the exception of the Elites but I'm pretty sure they have disadvantages that balance that). This means that when I unload into an enemy he can't duck behind a wall and pop back out as if nothing had happened except the emptying of my magazine. There are health packs that refill your players, uh, health...but these are items they have to acquire rather than simply have happen. This makes the game feel more balanced and fair; if you're a terrible shot and you've spent a magazine to lower your opponent's health, your effort isn't laughed at when he turns around and plugs you in the face.
As I said, earlier, the Theater feature has returned. Now, if you've played Halo 3 or ODST, you're familiar with this. However, if you haven't, the Theater is a feature that allows you to playback previous games, allowing you to take control of a free-floating camera so that you can view that wicked assassination from as many angles as possible. Then you can cut out clips--or take screenshots--and upload them to Bungie's File Share for the whole world to view. Aside from the obvious gloating purposes, I find this feature incredibly cool because it shows Bungie's devotion to their fans, especially those who make Machinema.
That's pretty much all I have for now. I'll review the various gametypes specifically later on, when I've had more time with them. But, for now, I'm running out of time.
I did, however, want to take a second to mention that this is Jennifer's first Mother's Day in which she deserves to be honored. She's still pregnant, but I believe that she is going to make a fantastic mother to our baby boy and thoroughly look forward to this day next year, when I can reward her for efforts that I know will be worthy of praise. I love her and Rowan dearly and cherish the family we are building.
So, if you know her, wish her a Happy Mother's Day...if you don't...uh, well, don't be creepy.
Have a fantastic day!
Later!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Ageless Superspies
Hey, guys!
Okay, first thing's firt, if you don't know about Condition 2 Productions hop on over here to learn more!
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about something with a little more Conviction! Hahaha! See what I did there...no? Anyway, as the bad joke suggests, I've recently been playing Spinter Cell: Conviction (that's Tom Clancy's Splinter...oh that is just too much to say). And I have to say, aside from my shared opinions on certain aspects of the game, I am digging it quite a bit. Now, as always, that's not to say it's not without flaws in both gameplay design and story elements, though, as a complete package, I am finding it head-and-goggles better than Ubisoft's last itteration.
To be fair, Double Agent started off really well, and actually had some solid ideas and a potentially decent story. But, in the end, the game was ripped apart by its own convolution; the player was bogged down by continuously conflicting objectives to the point where trying to maintain the right balance was simply no longer fun. Conviction doesn't suffer from this problem; the story is all Sam-kicking-ass all the time. It's not a perfect story, to be sure, but it's far more entertaining when you're playing a guy who doesn't have to worry about who he needs to please and how much. It's pretty straightforward: complete your mission and kill any mouthy asshole who gets in your way.
As far as gameplay goes, Ubisoft has pretty much stripped Sam's world down to the bone and started rebuilding it. I stress rebuilding here because it really felt that this outing was more of a pilot episode for a relaunch of the franchise than an actual sequel of sorts. Ubi has obviously decided to go in a completely different direction--reimagining the steal shooter--and, to me at least, Conviction came off as a kind of "test run" rather than the next installment in the series. Backing up my theory is the fact that Sam's part of the game (the main story, if you will) is extremely short--it took me roughly 5-6 hours to complete--and, though it doesn't feel rushed and there is definately a complete story, it's fairly obvious that we haven't seen the last of Sam Fisher. The actual meat of the game, however, can be broken down into three things: Mark & Execute, Projection Tech, and the P.E.C. Challenges.
Mark & Execute is pretty much what it sounds like. The player is able to "mark" a number of enemies (depending on the weapon, that number varies) and, after performing a Hand-to-Hand Takedown (if you can't figure out what this is, I can't help you) Sam is then able to swiftly and silently "execute" those unsuspecting foes the player marked. It's a little different at first, but is easily mastered and, during later parts of the game where things like the Sonar Goggles (Sam's new toy) come into play, is quite possibly the most fun I've had in a game like this in a long time. I often found myself happy I died in an area simply for the chance to re-do one of my previous M&E moments!
The Projection Tech isn't really part of the gameplay, per se. It's more like Ubisoft's new, and interesting, way of displaying Sam's objectives--and sometimes even his thoughts and/or memories--in the gameworld without disrupting the flow of gameplay. They even go so far as to allow you to project your objective at will; a simple press of the Back Button will cast glowing white words at Sam's feet.
The P.E.C. (which stood for Persistant Elite Creation in Rainbow Six Vegas 2) is a series of challenges given to the player--which can be accessed either through the main menu or the pause screen in-game--which offer up varying amounts of points upon completion. You can then take these points and spend them on things like weapon and gadget upgrades (granting things like extra Marks on certain weapons) as well as new "uniforms" for multiplayer and their subsequent upgrades. A good deal of these challenges will be obtained throughout a normal playthrough and I think this was done so that casual players could upgrade weapons without setting specific goals for themselves to complete, thus, possibly, degrading the imersion factor. That said, I personally think the P.E.C. is a fantastic way to get more bang for your buck on such a short game.
Like I said, the game is short. But, for me, the fun didn't stop at the single player game. There is so much more offered in the multiplayer modes and I will have more on those later on. For now, I have to be going.
See you in the shadows...or will I?
--Ray
Okay, first thing's firt, if you don't know about Condition 2 Productions hop on over here to learn more!
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about something with a little more Conviction! Hahaha! See what I did there...no? Anyway, as the bad joke suggests, I've recently been playing Spinter Cell: Conviction (that's Tom Clancy's Splinter...oh that is just too much to say). And I have to say, aside from my shared opinions on certain aspects of the game, I am digging it quite a bit. Now, as always, that's not to say it's not without flaws in both gameplay design and story elements, though, as a complete package, I am finding it head-and-goggles better than Ubisoft's last itteration.
To be fair, Double Agent started off really well, and actually had some solid ideas and a potentially decent story. But, in the end, the game was ripped apart by its own convolution; the player was bogged down by continuously conflicting objectives to the point where trying to maintain the right balance was simply no longer fun. Conviction doesn't suffer from this problem; the story is all Sam-kicking-ass all the time. It's not a perfect story, to be sure, but it's far more entertaining when you're playing a guy who doesn't have to worry about who he needs to please and how much. It's pretty straightforward: complete your mission and kill any mouthy asshole who gets in your way.
As far as gameplay goes, Ubisoft has pretty much stripped Sam's world down to the bone and started rebuilding it. I stress rebuilding here because it really felt that this outing was more of a pilot episode for a relaunch of the franchise than an actual sequel of sorts. Ubi has obviously decided to go in a completely different direction--reimagining the steal shooter--and, to me at least, Conviction came off as a kind of "test run" rather than the next installment in the series. Backing up my theory is the fact that Sam's part of the game (the main story, if you will) is extremely short--it took me roughly 5-6 hours to complete--and, though it doesn't feel rushed and there is definately a complete story, it's fairly obvious that we haven't seen the last of Sam Fisher. The actual meat of the game, however, can be broken down into three things: Mark & Execute, Projection Tech, and the P.E.C. Challenges.
Mark & Execute is pretty much what it sounds like. The player is able to "mark" a number of enemies (depending on the weapon, that number varies) and, after performing a Hand-to-Hand Takedown (if you can't figure out what this is, I can't help you) Sam is then able to swiftly and silently "execute" those unsuspecting foes the player marked. It's a little different at first, but is easily mastered and, during later parts of the game where things like the Sonar Goggles (Sam's new toy) come into play, is quite possibly the most fun I've had in a game like this in a long time. I often found myself happy I died in an area simply for the chance to re-do one of my previous M&E moments!
The Projection Tech isn't really part of the gameplay, per se. It's more like Ubisoft's new, and interesting, way of displaying Sam's objectives--and sometimes even his thoughts and/or memories--in the gameworld without disrupting the flow of gameplay. They even go so far as to allow you to project your objective at will; a simple press of the Back Button will cast glowing white words at Sam's feet.
The P.E.C. (which stood for Persistant Elite Creation in Rainbow Six Vegas 2) is a series of challenges given to the player--which can be accessed either through the main menu or the pause screen in-game--which offer up varying amounts of points upon completion. You can then take these points and spend them on things like weapon and gadget upgrades (granting things like extra Marks on certain weapons) as well as new "uniforms" for multiplayer and their subsequent upgrades. A good deal of these challenges will be obtained throughout a normal playthrough and I think this was done so that casual players could upgrade weapons without setting specific goals for themselves to complete, thus, possibly, degrading the imersion factor. That said, I personally think the P.E.C. is a fantastic way to get more bang for your buck on such a short game.
Like I said, the game is short. But, for me, the fun didn't stop at the single player game. There is so much more offered in the multiplayer modes and I will have more on those later on. For now, I have to be going.
See you in the shadows...or will I?
--Ray
Monday, March 22, 2010
Paper-Folding Killers and Klingons
Hey, guys!
Well, I can’t say I’ve been all that busy lately. Truth be told, aside from a few small projects—and one major, ball-is-rolling-this-is-going-to-happen project—I really haven’t been doing the creative thing much. That is to say, I’ve been gaming, heh. Now, before you get to thinkin’ that I’ve been just lazin’ about; let me explain a few things!
First, Neomyn is still very much alive. In fact, it’s more so than it has been to date. When my computer crashed a few months ago (a problem that has recently been remedied, thank you H&R Block) I had decided to take action to keep my creative baby in the air. With this goal in mind, I contacted my friend Ruthie Collins and contracted her services as an exceptional artist to take on the rolls of coloring. Now, as I’d explained in previous posts, Ruthie is a mother and has had to juggle the daunting task of coloring Mr. Woronchak’s lineart with the tasks one associates with motherhood; as well as teaching an art class, if I’m not mistaken. That said, she has had a bit of a slow going getting the pages colored and has, thus far, finished two. But, let me say this, those two pages are mind-blowingly awesome in their quality! I’m really hoping she can replace the stylus for her tablet soon so that I can finish lettering these pages and get them submitted finally.
I’ve no doubt we’re going to at least place in the top 5 for the month we compete.
As for the “Super Huge Mega Awesome Project” I mentioned above…
I’ll have more on that when we are further along and ready to share the monster we are creating. Also, when we have an official name for who “we” are, heh…
Now, on to gaming!
Roughly five years ago I had taken my first real step into the Adventure genre of gaming with a unique and admittedly bizarre game called Indigo Prophecy on the Playstation 2. Developed by Quantic Dream and originally released as Fahrenheit (the name was changed for the United States and Canada releases to avoid confrontation over similarities to Fahrenheit 9/11), Indigo Prophecy was the tale of a series of murders plaguing New York and the people who are unavoidably pulled toward each other as the story unfolds. If this sounds familiar, that’s because I’ve used a similar description when discussing my anticipation for Heavy Rain; Quantic Dream’s latest effort to change the adventure genre and, I dare say, the gaming experience as a whole.
Now, right away I should point out that it is relatively difficult to properly categorize Heavy Rain as a game. Hell, it’s hard to call it a game at all. In truth, Heavy Rain is closer to an interactive movie than a video game and is, in fact, touted as such by the developers themselves. The fact that you—the “player”—are using your DualShock 3 controller as the tool for which you weave the lives of four strangers together lends little, if any, credence to Heavy Rain being a game. Yes, it is sold as a game, but, really, I think this is only because your local WalMart’s electronics section doesn’t have a shelf for “Interactive Drama.”
Yet.
Okay, semantics aside, Heavy Rain really is unlike anything I’ve ever played before. There are comparisons to Indigo, sure, but that’s more like pointing out things that you can tell grew into the mechanics you are using now. The “control scheme” employed herein is something of an artistic expression of what it would be like to map human actions to a series of analogue sticks and button presses. I mean, strictly speaking, it is quite simply the best all-around use of the DualShock’s SixAxis controls I’ve fumbled with to date. Quantic Dream doesn’t just shove motion control into their game for the novelty of, well, shoving motion control into their game. What they’ve done is take specific actions—such as striking or putting out a match—and assign motion controls to them so that you actually feel like you’re performing the very thing your character is doing! Yes, I am aware that Nintendo has been doing this for quite some time and, in fact, has built a tiny little empire out of doing it well. But, with Heavy Rain, the designers utilize the motion controls as a tool for putting you into their story, not a gimmick (albeit a good one) for selling consoles.
Oh, and the story! I’ve only played through Heavy Rain once so far and, thus, only experienced one of the many versions of Quantic Dreams’ gritty opus. However, that one time was enough for me to sit here and type this without pause…Heavy Rain has some of the best writing I’ve ever seen in a video game. Especially one of this nature; that is to say, a story that revolves around real people doing real things (and, make no mistake, the first hour or so of gameplay is almost oversaturated with “real”) and not some space marine blowing the head off of the galaxy’s latest threat. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy saving the galaxy on a regular basis, but, sometimes, I like to be reminded that real life can be just as rewardingly dramatic.
Though, if you’re a father, as I am, the aforementioned drama in Heavy Rain can be a bit…uh…heavy.
On top of solving the case of the Origami Killer (of which there are a multitude of possible outcomes, I’m lead to believe), I have also spent some time boldly going where no man has gone before. Well, that is, no man without a decent computer and a subscription key. Yes, I have recently fully re-embraced my inner Trekker—that’s with an “er” not an “ie,” got it?—and started an account in Star Trek Online. With Bean on the way and the very real possibility that I will not be able to purchase every new game that drops, I had decided to enlist in a new MMO and, though I’d originally set out to play EVE, it was Star Trek’s ridiculous customization and mixture of space and ground combat that won in the end.
Now, before I get going here, let me get some of the standards out of the way. Star Trek Online is not a perfect game. It’s a new MMORPG and, as such, is absolutely going to have its fair share of bugs. These games are designed to be played for a long time and, as such an endeavor would almost assuredly need, will take some time for Cryptic to iron out the kinks. But, enough about what STO isn’t. Let’s talk about what it is.
Pretty. First and foremost, Star Trek Online is one of the prettiest games of this type I’ve ever experienced. From the standards of space to the random planets within continually generated systems, from the textured details on your infinitely customizable uniforms and player-created aliens (we’ll touch on that in a second) to the particle effects of space combat. Star Trek Online is, for lack of a better word, gorgeous. The only down side to this is that it sucks up a lot of processing power; something I think will hurt it a little in the long run given that Cryptic has to compete with World of Warcraft—the one MMO that seems to be designed to run on damn near any system with power. But if you’ve got a system that’ll keep up with it, STO is a spectacle to behold.
As for gameplay, well…
To start, Cryptic’s calling card customization is present and accounted for. This time, instead of using their engine to craft endless costume designs for super heroes and their nefarious counterparts, Cryptic has given the player to create and alien life! It would take me far longer than I’m willing to dedicate to this post to even scratch the surface of how deep this system goes; suffice to say, one could lose an entire day simply creating one’s avatar. From there, though, the customization spans into uniforms for your crew (also fully customizable!) and the ship you operate; for these, though, the choices are a bit more limited, though not by much!
Okay, so how’s the game actually play, you ask? Well, if you’ve ever played a game like this, the ground combat controls are fairly basic. There are some game-specific nuances that help ground you in the universe the game represents—and this is done well—but the meat of the controls are very basic. Space combat, on the other hand, is something of a stand-alone aspect of the game; which is good since it pretty much makes up a good 2/3rds of the gameplay. Ships control like one would think they should: different classes/sizes move at various speeds, boast class-appropriate shield/hull/weapon stats and are boast customizable (there’s that word again…sheesh) weapon loadouts and placements. But, above all, everything about it is Star Trek. From sounds to visuals, you have no doubt that you are in the world created by Roddenberry.
And that’s the thing I like most about it. I’ve played games that offer me a chance to live the life of a character inside a world I’ve only ever seen from the outside (-cough-Star Wars Galaxies-cough-) and this is the first one so far that lives up to its claims. From the very start, I felt like the captain of my own Federation starship.
Now, if only they would allow me to actually sit in the damn’ captain’s chair!
Well, I can’t say I’ve been all that busy lately. Truth be told, aside from a few small projects—and one major, ball-is-rolling-this-is-going-to-happen project—I really haven’t been doing the creative thing much. That is to say, I’ve been gaming, heh. Now, before you get to thinkin’ that I’ve been just lazin’ about; let me explain a few things!
First, Neomyn is still very much alive. In fact, it’s more so than it has been to date. When my computer crashed a few months ago (a problem that has recently been remedied, thank you H&R Block) I had decided to take action to keep my creative baby in the air. With this goal in mind, I contacted my friend Ruthie Collins and contracted her services as an exceptional artist to take on the rolls of coloring. Now, as I’d explained in previous posts, Ruthie is a mother and has had to juggle the daunting task of coloring Mr. Woronchak’s lineart with the tasks one associates with motherhood; as well as teaching an art class, if I’m not mistaken. That said, she has had a bit of a slow going getting the pages colored and has, thus far, finished two. But, let me say this, those two pages are mind-blowingly awesome in their quality! I’m really hoping she can replace the stylus for her tablet soon so that I can finish lettering these pages and get them submitted finally.
I’ve no doubt we’re going to at least place in the top 5 for the month we compete.
As for the “Super Huge Mega Awesome Project” I mentioned above…
I’ll have more on that when we are further along and ready to share the monster we are creating. Also, when we have an official name for who “we” are, heh…
Now, on to gaming!
Roughly five years ago I had taken my first real step into the Adventure genre of gaming with a unique and admittedly bizarre game called Indigo Prophecy on the Playstation 2. Developed by Quantic Dream and originally released as Fahrenheit (the name was changed for the United States and Canada releases to avoid confrontation over similarities to Fahrenheit 9/11), Indigo Prophecy was the tale of a series of murders plaguing New York and the people who are unavoidably pulled toward each other as the story unfolds. If this sounds familiar, that’s because I’ve used a similar description when discussing my anticipation for Heavy Rain; Quantic Dream’s latest effort to change the adventure genre and, I dare say, the gaming experience as a whole.
Now, right away I should point out that it is relatively difficult to properly categorize Heavy Rain as a game. Hell, it’s hard to call it a game at all. In truth, Heavy Rain is closer to an interactive movie than a video game and is, in fact, touted as such by the developers themselves. The fact that you—the “player”—are using your DualShock 3 controller as the tool for which you weave the lives of four strangers together lends little, if any, credence to Heavy Rain being a game. Yes, it is sold as a game, but, really, I think this is only because your local WalMart’s electronics section doesn’t have a shelf for “Interactive Drama.”
Yet.
Okay, semantics aside, Heavy Rain really is unlike anything I’ve ever played before. There are comparisons to Indigo, sure, but that’s more like pointing out things that you can tell grew into the mechanics you are using now. The “control scheme” employed herein is something of an artistic expression of what it would be like to map human actions to a series of analogue sticks and button presses. I mean, strictly speaking, it is quite simply the best all-around use of the DualShock’s SixAxis controls I’ve fumbled with to date. Quantic Dream doesn’t just shove motion control into their game for the novelty of, well, shoving motion control into their game. What they’ve done is take specific actions—such as striking or putting out a match—and assign motion controls to them so that you actually feel like you’re performing the very thing your character is doing! Yes, I am aware that Nintendo has been doing this for quite some time and, in fact, has built a tiny little empire out of doing it well. But, with Heavy Rain, the designers utilize the motion controls as a tool for putting you into their story, not a gimmick (albeit a good one) for selling consoles.
Oh, and the story! I’ve only played through Heavy Rain once so far and, thus, only experienced one of the many versions of Quantic Dreams’ gritty opus. However, that one time was enough for me to sit here and type this without pause…Heavy Rain has some of the best writing I’ve ever seen in a video game. Especially one of this nature; that is to say, a story that revolves around real people doing real things (and, make no mistake, the first hour or so of gameplay is almost oversaturated with “real”) and not some space marine blowing the head off of the galaxy’s latest threat. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy saving the galaxy on a regular basis, but, sometimes, I like to be reminded that real life can be just as rewardingly dramatic.
Though, if you’re a father, as I am, the aforementioned drama in Heavy Rain can be a bit…uh…heavy.
On top of solving the case of the Origami Killer (of which there are a multitude of possible outcomes, I’m lead to believe), I have also spent some time boldly going where no man has gone before. Well, that is, no man without a decent computer and a subscription key. Yes, I have recently fully re-embraced my inner Trekker—that’s with an “er” not an “ie,” got it?—and started an account in Star Trek Online. With Bean on the way and the very real possibility that I will not be able to purchase every new game that drops, I had decided to enlist in a new MMO and, though I’d originally set out to play EVE, it was Star Trek’s ridiculous customization and mixture of space and ground combat that won in the end.
Now, before I get going here, let me get some of the standards out of the way. Star Trek Online is not a perfect game. It’s a new MMORPG and, as such, is absolutely going to have its fair share of bugs. These games are designed to be played for a long time and, as such an endeavor would almost assuredly need, will take some time for Cryptic to iron out the kinks. But, enough about what STO isn’t. Let’s talk about what it is.
Pretty. First and foremost, Star Trek Online is one of the prettiest games of this type I’ve ever experienced. From the standards of space to the random planets within continually generated systems, from the textured details on your infinitely customizable uniforms and player-created aliens (we’ll touch on that in a second) to the particle effects of space combat. Star Trek Online is, for lack of a better word, gorgeous. The only down side to this is that it sucks up a lot of processing power; something I think will hurt it a little in the long run given that Cryptic has to compete with World of Warcraft—the one MMO that seems to be designed to run on damn near any system with power. But if you’ve got a system that’ll keep up with it, STO is a spectacle to behold.
As for gameplay, well…
To start, Cryptic’s calling card customization is present and accounted for. This time, instead of using their engine to craft endless costume designs for super heroes and their nefarious counterparts, Cryptic has given the player to create and alien life! It would take me far longer than I’m willing to dedicate to this post to even scratch the surface of how deep this system goes; suffice to say, one could lose an entire day simply creating one’s avatar. From there, though, the customization spans into uniforms for your crew (also fully customizable!) and the ship you operate; for these, though, the choices are a bit more limited, though not by much!
Okay, so how’s the game actually play, you ask? Well, if you’ve ever played a game like this, the ground combat controls are fairly basic. There are some game-specific nuances that help ground you in the universe the game represents—and this is done well—but the meat of the controls are very basic. Space combat, on the other hand, is something of a stand-alone aspect of the game; which is good since it pretty much makes up a good 2/3rds of the gameplay. Ships control like one would think they should: different classes/sizes move at various speeds, boast class-appropriate shield/hull/weapon stats and are boast customizable (there’s that word again…sheesh) weapon loadouts and placements. But, above all, everything about it is Star Trek. From sounds to visuals, you have no doubt that you are in the world created by Roddenberry.
And that’s the thing I like most about it. I’ve played games that offer me a chance to live the life of a character inside a world I’ve only ever seen from the outside (-cough-Star Wars Galaxies-cough-) and this is the first one so far that lives up to its claims. From the very start, I felt like the captain of my own Federation starship.
Now, if only they would allow me to actually sit in the damn’ captain’s chair!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
SexBox and PorkStation?
Hey, guys!
In an effort to maintain my writing regularity (i.e. keep me writing as much as possible) I'm going to update this blog at least once a week. This means that I'm going to have to shift the focus from strictly reviews of gaming, movies, and books to a broader spectrum of my brain dribblings. Or, in other words, turn it into an actual blog.
So, first off, today, USA Today (which doesn't include the parental accounts of the situation like the other articles do) has recently reported that sexual predators have "officially" migrated from chat rooms to gaming. Which means, ultimately, that Chris Hansen is going to have to open an account on World of Warcraft or perhaps start an Xbox Live account (his gamertag could be iCatchPervs). The fact of the matter is that this isn't really "news" and the article--and the few others I've read like it--come off as yet another attack on gaming in general.
The sad truth of our world is that anywhere you have a group of people (predominantly between the ages of 10 and 30) you are going to have any number of perverts swimming through the anonymity like sharks...great whites with leather chaps and a giant rubber ball between their teeth. It's inevitable. But, that said, there are steps you can take as a parent to prevent the sort of devious activities these men (and I say men, because, let's face it, how many 10-year-old boys are going to complain about a hot chick sending them screen-caps of their "bewbz"? Shit, most of the time, their the one's asking) are looking to perform. The problem comes from the fact that most of these so-called parents are more worried about using their kid's gaming as a way of keeping their demon spawn out of the way. They'd rather buy their kid a nice LCD and an Xbox or a new PC and a WoW account and put them somewhere dark and forget about them and then run to the nearest camera crew when they walk in to tell them their mac & cheese is ready and see a giant cock on the screen than actually be proactive about preventing that kind of thing.
Now, I'll be honest, I'm guilty of using my Xbox and Wii as a babysitter once in a while. That said, though, I limit the amount of time my son holds a controller and, since he's six, he's never played anything online. But, when he does get old enough to engage in the teabag-fest that is online gaming, I will take those steps I mentioned to keep him from being exposed to that giant cock. Though, I am smart enough to know that he will be exposed to somethings I don't necessarily want him to be exposed to; he will see a naked woman far before he knows what to do with one. It happens. But, instead of running to a lawyer and news station and throwing all the blame at Microsoft of Blizzard, I'll make sure I've done everything I can to prepare him for it. I have faith in my ability to teach my children the difference between right and wrong and the dangers of believing every line of text from "MyJugzRNyce".
And, Logan, if they really are, you should share with Daddy.
Seriously, though, I find it hard to believe that there's a parent alive today who doesn't get the inherent "dangers" of allowing their children to partake in online gaming. I mean, hell, half of these people are probably the mom's and dad's responsible for that angry f-bomb dropping, prepubescent, racist asshole I run into every time I log on, anyway! Maybe instead of suing Xbox or whatever it is they want to get famous for, they should do what this kid's mom did. Your kid's not a saint, lady. I'm just sayin'...
Anyway, Mass Effect 2 is rapidly shaping up to be the greatest game of all time. Well, of course, that is strictly my opinion...which, of course, is the only one that matters here. :P
(in my best Magic Johnson voice) Naw, but seriously, though...it really is a fantastic game that improves 100% on what the first one started. The textures are far more detailed, the conversations are cinematic, even the side missions are improved (dropping you on a fully rendered world each time instead of shitting you onto yet another mountainous bland planet). Truth be told, this game is so good that it has shown me just how flawed the first one was. But, again, I'll do a full review when I'm done.
In other gaming news, IGN gave a review of MAG that pretty much mirrors my opinions of it. The game is nearly perfect; marred only by the fact that S.V.E.R. is ridiculously overpowered. Yet, the game's core mechanics are so good that I still have a blast even when that loading screen shows up and the Wolf's Head logo of S.V.E.R. is mocking me from the bottom right hand side of my screen. Sure we're going to get our asses handed to us, but that just makes every enemy kill that much more exhilarating! In fact, I experienced my first Zen Gaming Moment while playing against SVER (you guys don't need the periods, do you?):
I had managed to stay alive--ducking in and out from behind a deserted building near our spawn--long enough to run out of ammo for my AR. Not wanting to purposely die and give them the satisfaction of yet another kill, I switched to my practically useless sidearm and began taking potshots from my safe little corner. It was with this single-shot peashooter that I managed to wrack up my highest score against SVER to date and ended the match with 8 pistol kills and 3 AR kills. The game really is a lot of fun and, unlike when I played CoD:MW (1 not 2) and Halo's 2 and 3, I really don't care about losing so much as I do the next kill.
Again, if you have a PS3 and 60 buck to spend (and aren't busy being seduced by a over-weight 30-something from his mom's basement) then you need to pick up MAG and look for me. My PSN username is the same as my Xbox Live Gamertag: Neomyn
Well, that's pretty much it for today. More on Jennifer and the Bean when we get her to the doctor--a process that's been nothing short of complicated given her lack of insurance. But, she should be in by the end of the month. Also, I'm finally writing a novel and have finished the first chapter and part of the second as well as contacted a graphic designer to bang out some designs for me to work with. That, however, is all I'm going to say about it since it seems the more I talk about a project, the less I work on it.
So, for now...
Later!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Insipid Samurai
Hey, guys!
Okay, so it’s no secret that I love samurai. That said, it’s easy to assume that I’m a fan of most things featuring samurai in one form or another. From the classics like The Seven Samurai to some more obscure things like the Onimusha series. If it’s got samurai in it, chances are I’ll give it a chance. So, in that respect, when I got a whiff of the Way of the Samurai series several years ago—I think a little over 4 years now…maybe more—it’s obvious I was excited.
Here was a game that allowed me to take on the role of a wayward Ronin—masterless samurai—and choose to help the people of a village in need of a hero or take over the gang of bandits and reek havoc on the dingy citizens as I saw fit…or I could simply pass the village by and legitimately end the game in 10 seconds. I, being the paragon that I am when it comes to gaming, always choose to help those in need. And, from that point forward it was an amazing romp through the fictional life of a Ronin. I loved it.
So, when it was announced that WotS3 was on its way, I was stoked. It was one of the highest games on my list of “must haves” for October this year. But, sadly, as the game’s release drew nearer and more reviews were surfacing, the edge on the sword that was my fervor began to dull. It seemed that this latest installment in an otherwise inspired series was somewhat lacking. All the key elements were there, but the meat was a little on the lean side. After reading the last average scored review, I decided that I’d throw it on my GameFly list and wait to play it when I got around to it.
Well, last week I received the notice that the game was on its way and, low and behold, my excitement shot right back up to its original zest. I was pumped.
Then it showed up.
And I put it in the Xbox…
And was sorely disappointed.
It’s not that the game is totally horrible. It’s just that I can’t seem to figure out how to find the parts that aren’t. First off, let me tell you that, should you choose to play this game, you need to speak to a minstrel (the little old dudes with the string instrument—Biwa—found in every major area) and get him to play a song. This isn’t really made readily apparent at first and, thus, I found myself creating my character from scratch on three separate occasions. That is to say, three times from not saving; if you die, you can load from a previous save or start over with any experience, yen and weapons accrued in your previous playthrough.
As for the game itself, there are definitely a lot of great ideas here. The core concept of the game—the reason I was drawn to the series—is present but, for me at least, felt more like an inspiration than an actual element of the gameplay. From what I could tell there is little in the way of story to be found and what snippets I did experience, were few and far between and made little to no sense to me. When you start the game, your character awakens—after a brief cutscene where you pass out in front of a couple of battlefield looters—in a small home in a village. When you exit the home you are greeted by a mean old man (presumably the owner of the home) and can actually accidentally skip the whole encounter and not be able to go back, thus having no idea what the hell is going on—not that the encounter really gives you much to go on in the first place.
The accidental skipping involves a system in which every major conversation can be interrupted by one of two choices: throwing yourself to the ground and groveling or drawing your weapon. The former usually has you kneel like an idiot and then get up and walk away, completely skipping the conversation and erasing any chance of repeating it. The latter…well…you can imagine what might happen there. This is a cool system in theory, but with no explanation as to what you’re doing or what the consequences are it can make for an irritating trial and error learning curve.
The gameplay itself, from what I can gather, revolves mostly around doing odd jobs for the people in and around the major areas of the world. The starting village offered only two that I found. One was a completely incompetent housewife who has apparently lost ever single sharp object in her kitchen and wants you to cut vegetables for her. A simple enough task and, really, kind of expected given the type of game you’re playing. However, the “mission” consists basically of you standing on one side of the screen and the woman kneeling on the other. She then proceeds to throw shit at you! And it’s not just veggies, people! I don’t know if she was just completely nuts or what, but the bitch starts tossing furniture at you like it’s no big deal. So, now you’re dodging wooden lamps and the like while trying to chop this dumb woman’s produce. Okay. But does she throw them in any kind of rhythm? Hell no. She gets clever and mixes up the pace randomly. I don’t know about you, but if someone wanted me to do them a favor and then tried to bludgeon me and, barring that, went out of their way to make said favor unnecessarily difficult, I’d toss up a finger and walk the hell away. And slap her kids on the way out just for spite.
The second “task giver,” if you will, was a perverted old lady who is apparently just this side of delusional. To “earn her trust” (to what end I never gathered) she gives you tasks that she feels are menial and, in reality, are ridiculously difficult or just so…fucking weird…that it wasn’t long before I wished for the stupid housewife’s flying produce. The first task I was sent on was a mission to locate this crazy old broad’s Lucky Underwear. I’m not even kidding here. It seems that she takes this pair of sacred panties with her wherever she goes—why she doesn’t wear them, I’m not sure I want to know—and she has misplaced them on one of her many walks. Okay, so you’re being sent on your standard early-game fetch mission. Got it. But why the hell are you hunting down an old lady’s underoos?!?! I mean, I understand that this is a Japanese game and, well, the Japanese culture is, by and large, far stranger when it comes to this type of humor, but come on! The task itself isn’t all that difficult. You run out, find the old granny’s panties and you bring them back. The problem is, apparently they smell like fish or something because once you have them, you are instantly the object of desire for the crows that inhabit the area in which the underwear is found. Like moths to a flame, the little feathery bastards chase you around and try to steal the garment. Again, I ask…why?
The second of the three tasks she gave me was to push her around. She’s old—duh—and doesn’t have the energy to walk down the friggin’ road from where she is and stand on the bridge overlooking the creek she’s already standing next to! Okay, gently push the old nut few yards down the road. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. So very…very…wrong. First off, the designers made the controls for movement roughly two speeds, standing still and sprinting like a maniac. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with movement being sped up in a game where I have to walk everywhere. But when you want me to push an old lady without pissing her off by being too rough, give me an option to toggle a walk mode, eh? Or, at the very least, allow me to grab onto her or pick her up. No, what you have here is the equivilant of pushing a chair covered with bacon grease! There doesn’t seem to be any point of contact that will last more than an inch before you slip off and start running past her. It’s unbelievable, really.
But! That’s right…BUT!
As annoying as that task was, she isn’t through! It seems that three of the village’s children like to run away once in a while and you—the nameless stranger with a sword—are the best possible option for finding them and bringing them home. Okay, okay, okay…no. That’s just too much for me. The lady just fucking met you and she wants you to find the kids who ran away?! You were dragged off a battlefield and no one knows if you’re a bloodthirsty murderer or amnesiac pedophile! I mean, c’mon! You willingly went on a mission to find her panties! That, in my mind, does not a good babysitter, make! But, okay, it is a game, after all so let’s take the job. The three children are hiding randomly in one of the major areas and you have to talk to them one at a time and get all three to follow you before the mission’s over. The problem, though, is that if you bump one of them (which is easy to do given the aforementioned movement control) the little bastard then spends the rest of the mission kicking the shit out of your shins.
Now, this would be a little funny if it didn’t take a decent sized chunk of your life away as well as make it irritatingly difficult to speak to the other children since every kick knocks you out of the conversation! By the end of this mission I found myself running from a 6-year-old just to talk to his friends and keep from pulling my sword and taking that little foot right the fuck off! By and by, not a fun mission. Not a fun mission at all!
Well, that about covers the milk and honey of what I played of the game. The bulk of the filler gameplay, if you will. So, what about the combat? Nearly non-existent if you don’t want to murder everyone in sight. Yes, you can fight pretty much anyone, but unless you do something untoward around them or attack them directly, no one wants to fight you. I spent roughly 3 or so hours with this game all said and done and got into maybe 5 fights. For a game about a wandering warrior, this seems a might on the weak side. One of those fights is pretty much necessary when you leave the mean old guy’s land—unless you want to help the thugs picking on a woman right outside the gate—and serves mainly as a way to get a feel for the fighting. Which, by the way, is relatively straightforward: A to jump, X for weak attack, Y for strong attack and right bumper for block. Other than that, your options are to attack with the lethal side of the weapon (be it sword or staff) or flip it and use the blunt side. Using the blunt side inspires some interesting dialogue from your foes while the lethal side offers a chance to Quick Kill your opponent which, in this case, is an homage to how most sword duels played out. It wasn’t always a lengthy volley of blades, but, rather, a contest of who could unsheathe their sword first.
The second of my small list of fights was the result of the way a conversation played out and was actually rather cool in that respect. The fight itself was short and felt as if I had murdered the man. But, hey, I don’t think butterflies are the most beautiful thing in the world, what can I say? The next fight was Butterfly Guy’s friends (another cool aspect of the game’s ability to track who you’ve killed) and the last two were random encounters with a Killer and the daughter of some samurai I supposedly killed in battle.
Both of those, sadly, ended in my untimely demise.
Hey…that chick could handle a sword!
The last death was, unfortunately, the last time I played the game. Quite simply, it bored the hell out of me. It’s just not interesting. There are a lot of solid ideas and the pieces for a great game, sure. But they were put together by a monkey with Down Syndrome…and, judging by the PS2-quality graphics, that monkey was blind as well.
Poor monkey…someone should get him a better job.
Meanwhile, I’ll play some more MAG and forget about being a samurai.
For now…
Okay, so it’s no secret that I love samurai. That said, it’s easy to assume that I’m a fan of most things featuring samurai in one form or another. From the classics like The Seven Samurai to some more obscure things like the Onimusha series. If it’s got samurai in it, chances are I’ll give it a chance. So, in that respect, when I got a whiff of the Way of the Samurai series several years ago—I think a little over 4 years now…maybe more—it’s obvious I was excited.
Here was a game that allowed me to take on the role of a wayward Ronin—masterless samurai—and choose to help the people of a village in need of a hero or take over the gang of bandits and reek havoc on the dingy citizens as I saw fit…or I could simply pass the village by and legitimately end the game in 10 seconds. I, being the paragon that I am when it comes to gaming, always choose to help those in need. And, from that point forward it was an amazing romp through the fictional life of a Ronin. I loved it.
So, when it was announced that WotS3 was on its way, I was stoked. It was one of the highest games on my list of “must haves” for October this year. But, sadly, as the game’s release drew nearer and more reviews were surfacing, the edge on the sword that was my fervor began to dull. It seemed that this latest installment in an otherwise inspired series was somewhat lacking. All the key elements were there, but the meat was a little on the lean side. After reading the last average scored review, I decided that I’d throw it on my GameFly list and wait to play it when I got around to it.
Well, last week I received the notice that the game was on its way and, low and behold, my excitement shot right back up to its original zest. I was pumped.
Then it showed up.
And I put it in the Xbox…
And was sorely disappointed.
It’s not that the game is totally horrible. It’s just that I can’t seem to figure out how to find the parts that aren’t. First off, let me tell you that, should you choose to play this game, you need to speak to a minstrel (the little old dudes with the string instrument—Biwa—found in every major area) and get him to play a song. This isn’t really made readily apparent at first and, thus, I found myself creating my character from scratch on three separate occasions. That is to say, three times from not saving; if you die, you can load from a previous save or start over with any experience, yen and weapons accrued in your previous playthrough.
As for the game itself, there are definitely a lot of great ideas here. The core concept of the game—the reason I was drawn to the series—is present but, for me at least, felt more like an inspiration than an actual element of the gameplay. From what I could tell there is little in the way of story to be found and what snippets I did experience, were few and far between and made little to no sense to me. When you start the game, your character awakens—after a brief cutscene where you pass out in front of a couple of battlefield looters—in a small home in a village. When you exit the home you are greeted by a mean old man (presumably the owner of the home) and can actually accidentally skip the whole encounter and not be able to go back, thus having no idea what the hell is going on—not that the encounter really gives you much to go on in the first place.
The accidental skipping involves a system in which every major conversation can be interrupted by one of two choices: throwing yourself to the ground and groveling or drawing your weapon. The former usually has you kneel like an idiot and then get up and walk away, completely skipping the conversation and erasing any chance of repeating it. The latter…well…you can imagine what might happen there. This is a cool system in theory, but with no explanation as to what you’re doing or what the consequences are it can make for an irritating trial and error learning curve.
The gameplay itself, from what I can gather, revolves mostly around doing odd jobs for the people in and around the major areas of the world. The starting village offered only two that I found. One was a completely incompetent housewife who has apparently lost ever single sharp object in her kitchen and wants you to cut vegetables for her. A simple enough task and, really, kind of expected given the type of game you’re playing. However, the “mission” consists basically of you standing on one side of the screen and the woman kneeling on the other. She then proceeds to throw shit at you! And it’s not just veggies, people! I don’t know if she was just completely nuts or what, but the bitch starts tossing furniture at you like it’s no big deal. So, now you’re dodging wooden lamps and the like while trying to chop this dumb woman’s produce. Okay. But does she throw them in any kind of rhythm? Hell no. She gets clever and mixes up the pace randomly. I don’t know about you, but if someone wanted me to do them a favor and then tried to bludgeon me and, barring that, went out of their way to make said favor unnecessarily difficult, I’d toss up a finger and walk the hell away. And slap her kids on the way out just for spite.
The second “task giver,” if you will, was a perverted old lady who is apparently just this side of delusional. To “earn her trust” (to what end I never gathered) she gives you tasks that she feels are menial and, in reality, are ridiculously difficult or just so…fucking weird…that it wasn’t long before I wished for the stupid housewife’s flying produce. The first task I was sent on was a mission to locate this crazy old broad’s Lucky Underwear. I’m not even kidding here. It seems that she takes this pair of sacred panties with her wherever she goes—why she doesn’t wear them, I’m not sure I want to know—and she has misplaced them on one of her many walks. Okay, so you’re being sent on your standard early-game fetch mission. Got it. But why the hell are you hunting down an old lady’s underoos?!?! I mean, I understand that this is a Japanese game and, well, the Japanese culture is, by and large, far stranger when it comes to this type of humor, but come on! The task itself isn’t all that difficult. You run out, find the old granny’s panties and you bring them back. The problem is, apparently they smell like fish or something because once you have them, you are instantly the object of desire for the crows that inhabit the area in which the underwear is found. Like moths to a flame, the little feathery bastards chase you around and try to steal the garment. Again, I ask…why?
The second of the three tasks she gave me was to push her around. She’s old—duh—and doesn’t have the energy to walk down the friggin’ road from where she is and stand on the bridge overlooking the creek she’s already standing next to! Okay, gently push the old nut few yards down the road. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. So very…very…wrong. First off, the designers made the controls for movement roughly two speeds, standing still and sprinting like a maniac. Normally I wouldn’t have a problem with movement being sped up in a game where I have to walk everywhere. But when you want me to push an old lady without pissing her off by being too rough, give me an option to toggle a walk mode, eh? Or, at the very least, allow me to grab onto her or pick her up. No, what you have here is the equivilant of pushing a chair covered with bacon grease! There doesn’t seem to be any point of contact that will last more than an inch before you slip off and start running past her. It’s unbelievable, really.
But! That’s right…BUT!
As annoying as that task was, she isn’t through! It seems that three of the village’s children like to run away once in a while and you—the nameless stranger with a sword—are the best possible option for finding them and bringing them home. Okay, okay, okay…no. That’s just too much for me. The lady just fucking met you and she wants you to find the kids who ran away?! You were dragged off a battlefield and no one knows if you’re a bloodthirsty murderer or amnesiac pedophile! I mean, c’mon! You willingly went on a mission to find her panties! That, in my mind, does not a good babysitter, make! But, okay, it is a game, after all so let’s take the job. The three children are hiding randomly in one of the major areas and you have to talk to them one at a time and get all three to follow you before the mission’s over. The problem, though, is that if you bump one of them (which is easy to do given the aforementioned movement control) the little bastard then spends the rest of the mission kicking the shit out of your shins.
Now, this would be a little funny if it didn’t take a decent sized chunk of your life away as well as make it irritatingly difficult to speak to the other children since every kick knocks you out of the conversation! By the end of this mission I found myself running from a 6-year-old just to talk to his friends and keep from pulling my sword and taking that little foot right the fuck off! By and by, not a fun mission. Not a fun mission at all!
Well, that about covers the milk and honey of what I played of the game. The bulk of the filler gameplay, if you will. So, what about the combat? Nearly non-existent if you don’t want to murder everyone in sight. Yes, you can fight pretty much anyone, but unless you do something untoward around them or attack them directly, no one wants to fight you. I spent roughly 3 or so hours with this game all said and done and got into maybe 5 fights. For a game about a wandering warrior, this seems a might on the weak side. One of those fights is pretty much necessary when you leave the mean old guy’s land—unless you want to help the thugs picking on a woman right outside the gate—and serves mainly as a way to get a feel for the fighting. Which, by the way, is relatively straightforward: A to jump, X for weak attack, Y for strong attack and right bumper for block. Other than that, your options are to attack with the lethal side of the weapon (be it sword or staff) or flip it and use the blunt side. Using the blunt side inspires some interesting dialogue from your foes while the lethal side offers a chance to Quick Kill your opponent which, in this case, is an homage to how most sword duels played out. It wasn’t always a lengthy volley of blades, but, rather, a contest of who could unsheathe their sword first.
The second of my small list of fights was the result of the way a conversation played out and was actually rather cool in that respect. The fight itself was short and felt as if I had murdered the man. But, hey, I don’t think butterflies are the most beautiful thing in the world, what can I say? The next fight was Butterfly Guy’s friends (another cool aspect of the game’s ability to track who you’ve killed) and the last two were random encounters with a Killer and the daughter of some samurai I supposedly killed in battle.
Both of those, sadly, ended in my untimely demise.
Hey…that chick could handle a sword!
The last death was, unfortunately, the last time I played the game. Quite simply, it bored the hell out of me. It’s just not interesting. There are a lot of solid ideas and the pieces for a great game, sure. But they were put together by a monkey with Down Syndrome…and, judging by the PS2-quality graphics, that monkey was blind as well.
Poor monkey…someone should get him a better job.
Meanwhile, I’ll play some more MAG and forget about being a samurai.
For now…
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Console Wars Hit the Home Front
Okay, so I've had my Playstation 3 for a few months now and I'm about to utter something I never thought I'd say out loud (well, technically it's not "out loud" per se, but I digress)...
I think I may leave my Xbox...
Now, don't get me wrong...I still love my 360, she'll always hold a special place in my heart. And, well, we'll still be friends and hang out on the weekends.
Okay, okay. In all seriousness, though, I am becoming more and more impressed with my PS3 with ever game I play on it. I've always said that there was no doubt that the Big Black Beast could put out more Pretty Power than the White Goddess, but I'd always sprayed forth the usual Microsoft-loving arguments about how the system doesn't have enough exclusives to hold it's own and that Sony doesn't really give a shit about gaming as much as multi-media entertainment (BluRay movies and music and shit like that). And, for the most part, I'm not entirely wrong. Sony still has a fundamental lack of exclusive titles for which I can justify scorning the Achievement Whore within my skull and they're focus still seems to be more about making money than making good games.
That said, however, there are more things about the PS3 that I'm loving than there are things that I think the good ol' 360 does better. These things include:
Free online gaming in the form of Playstation Network. I mean, c'mon! Brilliant! Why should I have to pay a monthly fee to play with my friends online and then turn around and pay MORE for content that I can ONLY get if I pay the aforementioned fee for which to play with my friends? Sony, as far as I can tell, simply taxes its individual content and sets you loose with an abundance of options that you have to get past Microsoft's velvet rope by showing your Gold Membership card to their surly semi-bald bodyguard.
Direct purchasing of downloadable content. When I first dove into PSN with my hold-it-at-arm's-length-cause-it-bites attitude, I was upset that Sony taxed their content forced you to buy content separately (or in a bundle, I later discovered). I was like, "Maaaan, Microsoft taxes you once and then you pay the "price" you see right there." Under further scrutiny, however, it quickly became apparent that this was a much better and consumer friendly method. Now, instead of spending $6 for 500 points to download a game worth 350 points--leaving me with 150 that I'll never be able to spend on anything other than a theme or gamerpic--I can just spend 1.99 (about 2.15 after taxes) for that extra character I wanted and be done with it. No more of the Hotdogs vs Buns scenario.
No Red Ring of Death. 'nuff said.
On top of those two specific things, I'd have to say that there are a few minor things like better graphics and the USB controller charging and, not to mention, the new Trophy System that I like more. All of these things combined have led me to the decision that from now on, unless it's an FPS (cause, let's face it, there's just no way around how awesomely comfortable the Xbox controller is) or a game that offers multiplayer for which my friends and I are interested in playing together, I am going to be buying multi-platform games on my PS3; seemingly starting with Batman: Arkham Asylum.
That is, of course, unless Sony releases a controller with off-set analog sticks. Then it's game over, man...
Be back soon with my thoughts on inFamous; a PS3 exclusive that was "shocking"....
Get it...
Later!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Dear LucasArts
Dear Story Developement Guys at LucasArts Game Department,
I, a loyal (which is stressed because, well, you guys have made a few faux pas here and there, *cough-Jedi Battles-cough* but I keep coming back) and dedicated fan. I am anxiously awaiting your next installment of Star Wars cannon and, though I am a little disheartened by the delayed release, I'm sure it will be the shining achievement in your ability to tell a story while "unleashing" the full potential of the Force. The videos I've seen and the articles I've read have done nothing but fuel the fires of my need to play this game.
All that said, however, I have something I'd like to say...
Please, for the love of your fans, move past the Galactic Civil War period. Seriously, we've seen enough. With the exception of the Knights of the Old Republic games, every single Star Wars game to date is based around the 30+ years between Episodes I and VI; with the a decent amount smack dab in the middle of the Original Trilogy. A time of fantastic battles and larger than life heroes, to be sure. But, c'mon, guys! There is a veritable plethora of great characters and stories to be told beyond the six movies.
In fact, there's an entire war. Waged, I might add, against an enemy FAR scarier than the Empire and rediculously evil. If you really think about it, the Yuuzhan Vong are the perfect badguys for a video game series. They have a caste system which could be used to tier the enemies faced within the course of the game, their weapons and technology stand up against a lightsaber (the primary weapon of most SW games' main hero) and their single-minded drive to enslave or destroy all life in the galaxy makes for the perfect antagonistic motive.
And, as previously mentioned, there is a wealth of deep characters from which to choose from. You could even make a game in which we, the fans, get to choose to take on the roll of a number of the Original Three (Luke, Han, and Leia...duh) in a branching storyline, lending to a game with multiple endings; an aspect most gamers love as it justifies their $60 purchase with more playability. If you want to stay away from the Original Three, but still want to do the branching story idea, you could make a game starring the three Solo children; three Jedi with similar goals and morals, but vastly different personalities and strengths. This give the player a chance to cater to a personal playing style or experience the game from three unique points of view; something we all look for when playing a game. Hell, if you want to stick to what you know, guys, you could even make a game starring our old pal, Kyle Katarn; a character we grew to love in the original games and did a little cheer every time he was mentioned through the NJO series and would love to see brought full-circle with a frontline role in the first of what would hopefully become a series of games in this time-period.
Here, I'll even run you through some story ideas just off the top of my head.
We'll star with one using the Solo children:
**for anyone reading this who hasn't read the NJO series all the way through, this next bit contains some spoilers**
Star with the player taking on the roll of Anakin Solo, the youngest of the Solo kids, leading the strike team on the mission to Myrkr. Give players not familiar with the NJO series a recap in the form of an opening crawl or montage cutscene (maybe even obtaining the voice tallents of the original actors?) and then toss them headlong into one of the most vital missions in the story. Starting with this particular mission would accomplish several goals in the form of one massive introductory level: First, you give the player their first real look this new evil and the world in which they exist through the woldship that the strike team attacks in their mission to destroy the voxyn (a great boss for said level, btw), pulls the player in with a character that feels familiar and new, then propells them into an emotional character-driven story when, at the end of the level, Anakin sacrifices himself to save the strike team.
From here you can choose to take the roll of Jaina and play through various mission which all lead up to her becoming the Sword of the Jedi. With Jaina, you could even incorporate space-flight missions as she becomes a memeber of Rogue Squadron and then, once she is granted Knighthood and dubs herself Yun Harla--the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess--leads her own squadron.
With Jacen, you have the whole Vergere storyline. You can lead the player through Jacen's capture and subsequent escape from the hands of the Vong with the help of Vergere and, later, Ganner Rhysode. I, for one, would love to witness Ganner's heroic Last Stand on Yun Yuuzhan (the terraformed Coruscant) through the eyes of Jacen as he works to complete his mission to convince the World Brain to turn on the ecosystem.
Or....
If you want to use Kyle...
Kyle's would be a simpler story, to be sure. You could take the player through the developement of Kyle's strategies for and missions to save Yuuzhan Vong captives during the war. Again, with Kyle, you could include space missions since, in the final battle of the war, the then-Knight was one of a select group granted a seed-partner and Sekotan ship.
Well, there you have it; and that's just off the top of my head. You guys should know more than I do, that this time-period is ripe with characters and stories enough for ten games! To be honest, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet? Is it George? Is he afraid that the Yuuzhan Vong are too scary for the younglings that would play these games? Cause, seriously, Darth Vader was one of the scarriest s.o.b's of my childhood and, let's face it, that's exactly what a badguy needs to be. That makes the hero's triumph over the evil-dude all the more exciting.
Of course, if you wanted to give the player a personal experience and allow them to create their own character, you have the whole Alpha Red project to focus on. Just for starters.
Anyway, those are just some of my ramblings. Like I said, before, I'm all for any game you put out...well...that is, until I play it, in which case, if it's sub-par (as far as my personal preferences go; I wasn't a fan of Republic Commando, myself) then I'll move on. It's just that my Star Wars fandom has, over the past decade, grown deeper roots in the Extended Universe and I feel that the New Jedi Order is the best of the best in this area and I'd love to see these characters brought to life in a digital experience.
Don't get me wrong, though. I'm a huge fan of the current series, Legacy of the Force. However, this only lends more to my argument for a game starring Jacen Solo.
Thanks for listening (sort of) and making games set in a galaxy far, far away...
Keep up the great work, guys!
I, a loyal (which is stressed because, well, you guys have made a few faux pas here and there, *cough-Jedi Battles-cough* but I keep coming back) and dedicated fan. I am anxiously awaiting your next installment of Star Wars cannon and, though I am a little disheartened by the delayed release, I'm sure it will be the shining achievement in your ability to tell a story while "unleashing" the full potential of the Force. The videos I've seen and the articles I've read have done nothing but fuel the fires of my need to play this game.
All that said, however, I have something I'd like to say...
Please, for the love of your fans, move past the Galactic Civil War period. Seriously, we've seen enough. With the exception of the Knights of the Old Republic games, every single Star Wars game to date is based around the 30+ years between Episodes I and VI; with the a decent amount smack dab in the middle of the Original Trilogy. A time of fantastic battles and larger than life heroes, to be sure. But, c'mon, guys! There is a veritable plethora of great characters and stories to be told beyond the six movies.
In fact, there's an entire war. Waged, I might add, against an enemy FAR scarier than the Empire and rediculously evil. If you really think about it, the Yuuzhan Vong are the perfect badguys for a video game series. They have a caste system which could be used to tier the enemies faced within the course of the game, their weapons and technology stand up against a lightsaber (the primary weapon of most SW games' main hero) and their single-minded drive to enslave or destroy all life in the galaxy makes for the perfect antagonistic motive.
And, as previously mentioned, there is a wealth of deep characters from which to choose from. You could even make a game in which we, the fans, get to choose to take on the roll of a number of the Original Three (Luke, Han, and Leia...duh) in a branching storyline, lending to a game with multiple endings; an aspect most gamers love as it justifies their $60 purchase with more playability. If you want to stay away from the Original Three, but still want to do the branching story idea, you could make a game starring the three Solo children; three Jedi with similar goals and morals, but vastly different personalities and strengths. This give the player a chance to cater to a personal playing style or experience the game from three unique points of view; something we all look for when playing a game. Hell, if you want to stick to what you know, guys, you could even make a game starring our old pal, Kyle Katarn; a character we grew to love in the original games and did a little cheer every time he was mentioned through the NJO series and would love to see brought full-circle with a frontline role in the first of what would hopefully become a series of games in this time-period.
Here, I'll even run you through some story ideas just off the top of my head.
We'll star with one using the Solo children:
**for anyone reading this who hasn't read the NJO series all the way through, this next bit contains some spoilers**
Star with the player taking on the roll of Anakin Solo, the youngest of the Solo kids, leading the strike team on the mission to Myrkr. Give players not familiar with the NJO series a recap in the form of an opening crawl or montage cutscene (maybe even obtaining the voice tallents of the original actors?) and then toss them headlong into one of the most vital missions in the story. Starting with this particular mission would accomplish several goals in the form of one massive introductory level: First, you give the player their first real look this new evil and the world in which they exist through the woldship that the strike team attacks in their mission to destroy the voxyn (a great boss for said level, btw), pulls the player in with a character that feels familiar and new, then propells them into an emotional character-driven story when, at the end of the level, Anakin sacrifices himself to save the strike team.
From here you can choose to take the roll of Jaina and play through various mission which all lead up to her becoming the Sword of the Jedi. With Jaina, you could even incorporate space-flight missions as she becomes a memeber of Rogue Squadron and then, once she is granted Knighthood and dubs herself Yun Harla--the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess--leads her own squadron.
With Jacen, you have the whole Vergere storyline. You can lead the player through Jacen's capture and subsequent escape from the hands of the Vong with the help of Vergere and, later, Ganner Rhysode. I, for one, would love to witness Ganner's heroic Last Stand on Yun Yuuzhan (the terraformed Coruscant) through the eyes of Jacen as he works to complete his mission to convince the World Brain to turn on the ecosystem.
Or....
If you want to use Kyle...
Kyle's would be a simpler story, to be sure. You could take the player through the developement of Kyle's strategies for and missions to save Yuuzhan Vong captives during the war. Again, with Kyle, you could include space missions since, in the final battle of the war, the then-Knight was one of a select group granted a seed-partner and Sekotan ship.
Well, there you have it; and that's just off the top of my head. You guys should know more than I do, that this time-period is ripe with characters and stories enough for ten games! To be honest, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet? Is it George? Is he afraid that the Yuuzhan Vong are too scary for the younglings that would play these games? Cause, seriously, Darth Vader was one of the scarriest s.o.b's of my childhood and, let's face it, that's exactly what a badguy needs to be. That makes the hero's triumph over the evil-dude all the more exciting.
Of course, if you wanted to give the player a personal experience and allow them to create their own character, you have the whole Alpha Red project to focus on. Just for starters.
Anyway, those are just some of my ramblings. Like I said, before, I'm all for any game you put out...well...that is, until I play it, in which case, if it's sub-par (as far as my personal preferences go; I wasn't a fan of Republic Commando, myself) then I'll move on. It's just that my Star Wars fandom has, over the past decade, grown deeper roots in the Extended Universe and I feel that the New Jedi Order is the best of the best in this area and I'd love to see these characters brought to life in a digital experience.
Don't get me wrong, though. I'm a huge fan of the current series, Legacy of the Force. However, this only lends more to my argument for a game starring Jacen Solo.
Thanks for listening (sort of) and making games set in a galaxy far, far away...
Keep up the great work, guys!
Ultimate Demotivator...
My very first demotivational poster! I created this a month ago and posted it on my Dev gallery http://www.rayloth.deviantart.com/ to a seemingly growing fanbase. The idea for this came to in a flash and I went home and made it in a little under fifteen minutes. Having recieved the dreaded RRoD TWICE now, I felt that this was my way of reaching out to my fellow gamers. I hope y'all enjoy it.
Please don't let me see you post this somewhere else. It's time-stamped and marked with the copyright that DevArt puts on posts, so I'll know you ripped it off. :D
Geek Justice...
Okay, so I noticed that it's been a bit o' time since my last blog and, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot to report. I mean, that is to say, I'm once again back to not having my Xbox...I really do think that Microsoft's Hardware Design Department is full of morons. I'm sorry, Kate, but I just can't buy that Microsoft (yes, even the Big Bill's Company) had the foresight and asshole-ingenuity to purposely design a system that would constantly fail and, thereby, force their consumers to purchase new machines. There are a few things wrong with this idea...1: Since the discovery that the RRoD (that's Red Ring of Death for those not "in the know") was more than just a "marginal few" and, instead turned out to be a whoppin' 33.3% of all systems sold in the first 2 years of the console's life, Microsoft has extended their full repair and replacement warrenty on all units purchased. This means that they are not actually forcing their consumers to purchase new Xbox's and earning twice the money per gamer but, instead, replacing or repairing the units for free and, with shipping and handling paid for as well, Microsoft is loosing money per unit that fails. And B: any high-end retailer and manufacturer has to see the fault in a plan to purposely design a system to fail even if they don't fix it...especially in a market that is rife with dangerously compelling competition.
Now, here's the problem with the Xbox 360's design (which, by the way has nothing to do with why I love the system...if there was no chance of getting the RRoD I would enshrine the damn thing). Microsoft built the system's innards and then several casings in which to put them in. Now, if you've read or watched any of the videos that came packaged with the system, you'll see that several of the casing designs were pretty solid ideas. Some weren't as "sleek and sexy" as the P.O.S. they went with, but they looked edgy and streamlined while maintaining a solid spec. And, let's be honest, as ugly as the original system was, it was solid and, unless you packed the fucker into a TINY cubby hole in your entertainment system that your friend put together and then played the thing for 8 hours straignt...well...it didn't overheat. But which design one out? The one with the worst possible air-cooling set up. Here, let me give you an idea of what I'm talking about... ) ( ...that's pretty much what the system looks like head-on. Now, imagine that you have a crap-ton of microchips and various processors, a DiskDrive and CPU to cram into this "sleek and sexy" body. Where do you put it? )o( That's right...right smack dab in the center of the bottleneck...y'know...the place that is MOST LIKELY to TRAP all that HEAT...And, what does heat DO boys and girls? That's right...it MELTS SHIT....
So, you're telling me that this group of people were capable of designing and building a system that can render lifelike light and shadows, give objects inside a digital space real world physics and creat and control an series of AIs that can outthink most people between the ages of 9 and 45 and they couldn't think far enough in advace to foresee that shoving all those processors into the center of an hourglass was a silly idea? I'm...uh...in the wrong business.
Aaaaaaaaanyway...this marks the official FIRST appearance of Sarah in the strip! This is hands down the best female I've ever drawn. :D Helps that the subject matter was so awesome that my subconscious wouldn't let me screw it up. Also, I am officially turning this into my one and only blog. It won't be strictly for OaG anymore, but will still include the lovely lil' strip.
Later!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
You Can't Unhear
I don't really have time to post a blog on this right yet, but some people wanted to read the strip and couldn't on the other places. So, here y'are, people! I'll post a blog explaining the strip and also news about the new artist! For now, I must go clean up for my son's birthday.
Later, guys!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Bar and The Law of Men
OaG: FF #2. Me recruiting the man, Lord Nolan. He no longer works there, but once upon a time (and in this strip) Nolan was a bartender. I liked him as a tender, which is why he'll stay one in the strip. He's got the perfect ego and personality for it. Anyway, I'm gonna post #3 now.Later! Heh.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Ding!
Thus begins the new storyline! Woot!
For now, please forgive my lack of "depth" in the colorin'. I'm toyin' around with some new ideas style-wise and it might take me a few trys to get it right. So, you should simply revel in the fact that I actually got this puppy done!
The reason behind its extreme lateness is the fact that I was stumped on how to render my original idea for this strip. However, my muse (the most wonderful woman on this planet or any other, near as I can tell) and I were discussin' the strip and she had the idea to change it from Ray lookin' at both his bills and a gaming mag and then puttin' two and two together to him checkin' the mail and complainin' on the phone about said bills and gettin' the mag. The idea for the new sponsorship for a Professional Gaming Team was the original drivin' force behind this story, so it all fit together pretty nicely.
So, Sarah, I'd like to dedicate this strip to you. Thank you for helpin' me get started again.
The rest of you? What the hell, guys?! Sheesh!
Anyway, enjoy, all! Later!
For now, please forgive my lack of "depth" in the colorin'. I'm toyin' around with some new ideas style-wise and it might take me a few trys to get it right. So, you should simply revel in the fact that I actually got this puppy done!
The reason behind its extreme lateness is the fact that I was stumped on how to render my original idea for this strip. However, my muse (the most wonderful woman on this planet or any other, near as I can tell) and I were discussin' the strip and she had the idea to change it from Ray lookin' at both his bills and a gaming mag and then puttin' two and two together to him checkin' the mail and complainin' on the phone about said bills and gettin' the mag. The idea for the new sponsorship for a Professional Gaming Team was the original drivin' force behind this story, so it all fit together pretty nicely.
So, Sarah, I'd like to dedicate this strip to you. Thank you for helpin' me get started again.
The rest of you? What the hell, guys?! Sheesh!
Anyway, enjoy, all! Later!
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