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9 Jul 04
Well, it's Friday. That means highlight time. I don't know for how much longer. I try to highlight games I've played through completely or at least given a hard workout. While it may seem like I play a lot of games, I don't always finish that many. Some I keep meaning to get back to while others just don't capture my imagination. So eventually, I'll run out of games I can feel comfortable going over the highlights. Fortunately (or not), we're not there yet.
Since yesterday's game was from Sid Meier. I thought I'd go with another game for highlights. Civilization you say? No, I'm going with SimGolf. What? Yes, SimGolf (SG). This is a game where you manage a country club. You try to design a good golfing layout while keeping your Sim patrons happy. You also get a golfing manager simulation thrown in as you manage the career of your club pro.
So what made SG into such a phenomenon when it was released? First you have name recognition. That sounds stupid, but it's true. Sid Meier is an industry unto himself. His name has been used to increase sales of his games since Civilization. I'm certainly not saying he hasn't earned the reputation. He's taken risks, invented genres and put out consistently high quality games. Combine that with the huge success of The Sims. Sure Simcity has been around forever, but The Sims brought whole new demographics into gaming. The Sims also made little computer characters seem like real people. So giving Sid Meier free reign to play around in the Sims universe sounds like a license to print money. It was for a little while, but people moved on.
So Jason, what about the game? Yes, there was a game behind the money making concept and it turned out quite well. Probably its greatest strength is the flexibility. You can play it many different ways. You can drop simple courses and focus on your golfer's career and skills. You can try to meet all the needs of your guests by turning the place into a practical theme park. You can design devilishly hard golf holes. You can even focus on creating 'stories' for your sims.
The Stories themselves are the next strength.You can design a course that makes for happy or sad ending stories. Basically, whenever two golfers are compatible and play a round together on your course, a story will unfold. If they are happy and enjoying themselves, they can generate a happy ending. If they're fighting the course the whole way, you might get an unhappy ending. Some happy endings even end up as love stories. Regardless, it creates the sim drama people are looking for in a Sims game and shows you some of the strengths or difficulties on your course design. It helps you connect to your patrons and your patrons to the course.
Finally, I'd say that a little of the wackiness in the game makes it fun. Whether you're hiring celebrities to greet your guests or building houses in hope that they might move in and wave to golfers on the links, you can do all kinds of crazy things to get people to enjoy your course. People too frustrated on a difficult hole? Perhaps the serenity inspired by placing a Buddha statue nearby will help. Want to increase green fees? How about adding a landing strip so the rich can fly their private planes directly to your course. It adds a little whimsy to the staid arena of golf and the Sims idea of objects affecting attitude.
Sold yet? Well if you're saying I'm a warrior not a duffer, perhaps today's game will help. It's Reiner Knizia's Samurai (official site) from Klear Games. It's a turn based strategy game set in feudal Japan. You must cunningly use your influence to secure the support of members of the various castes. Can you unite Japan under your banner? Samurai is available now.
Jason
Comments?
8 Jul 04
Whatever happened to run once? You know what I mean. Those movies at the beginning of game loading used to just run once. The first time you ran the game they would all play. You'd see the logos and the intro movie. Then each time you'd play after that you just go to the main menu. That was a great system. Why did we leave it behind?
Now some games don't even let you 'esc' or 'enter' or 'space bar' out of the movies. Most of them default to showing all the movies. Some of them let you turn them off in the options. A few more you have to manually change the .cfg or .ini files. Some you have to manually delete the movies from your hard drive. There are even some that embed the movies in the executable. Why?
Why do some publishers feel the need to antagonize their customers? You have our money. We just want to play the game not worry about the publisher. Even the coolest of the animations grow stale after a few viewings. Lucasarts has tried to do some cool things with their logo, but even those lose their charm quickly. If I really wanted to tell someone who the publisher of the game was, I just grab the CD or CD case. It's not like I'm going to lose it since the publishers won't let me play without it. Let's just go back to run once.
Today's game is another genre bender. It has a great pedigree however. It's Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life (official site) from Firaxis Games. You play as the young hero who must rescue his bride from the ghost pirate LeChuck. Oops, that's another classic series. Here you play a pirate making his way in the world. I do question the bullet point where they note they're using an entirely new engine. I think the old one might not stack up today. You'll never guess which quarter of the year to expect Pirates!
Jason
Comments?
7 Jul 04
Well, I've gotten some time in on the new Spiderman 2 game for the consoles. Unlike the PC version it's really quite good. Actually the PC version only looks bad in comparison. In terms of licensed game both are pretty amazing. I don't know why it's taken so long for good licensed games to start coming down the pike. Actually I do, it's because we, the buying public, haven't been too discerning when it comes to licensed products.
In the past, publishers have known that they will sell X number of units based on the license name alone so if they cut the production budget and force it out to coincide with the movie release or new TV season, they can guarantee Y amount of income. Sure things are hard to come by in the gaming industry, so I can understand the desire to jump on any that come along.
Amazingly (little Spidey reference there) part of the solution has been the awakening of the licensors. Before they used to just take their money from the game license and be satisfied. Now they are realizing that a good game can enhance their license, but more importantly that a bad game can damage it. While the Paramount/Activision lawsuit over Star Trek and Mary Kate and Ashley suing their gaming publisher may seem silly, in fact they revealing the high stakes world of licensing. It also stresses the importance of both sides making positive impressions on the audience to maximize success.
Now we have Warner Brothers saying that they will charge fines to companies that put out inferior products based on their intellectual property. While they aren't setting the bar particularly high (games must average 70%), they are saying no more crappy Batman games. I think that's a reasonable expectation. Publisher do no harm.
Today's game isn't a licensed game. It's just a series that seems like it's been around forever. It's Heritage of Kings: The Settlers (official site) from Blue Byte. This time the world building game has a medieval European setting in eye popping 3D. You can expect realistic weather and enhanced AI. Like everything else, look for it in the last quarter of the year.
Jason
Comments?
6 Jul 04
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've had a bit of a stomach bug the last 2 days. I'm feeling much better now thanks. We should be back to normal tomorrow.
Jason
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