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22 Apr 05

Happy Earth day everyone. Having grown up in Nebraska, I'm more attached to Arbor Day myself. It could also be that I find planting trees more fun and rewarding than picking up trash. It's sad for me that Earth Day comes at the height of allergy season. Something blows in on a front, and I'm more into hating the Earth than loving it. Oh well, that's why we have the miracles of modern medicine from the drug companies. Please excuse me if any of this sounds fuzzy. Oh, and don't forget to go to the News section to vote on the best strategy game ever.

I was playing around with the quick mission maker for SWAT 4. Let's face it most of us don't have the time or talents for major modding. We don't have patience to learn the arcane tools the developers give us. As simple as Neverwinter Nights is, more people don't use the editor than do. That's where the quick mission editor comes in. You can quickly and easily set up a mission or series of missions for you to play single player as easily as you set up a match in Unreal Tournament 2004.

It's a simple series of tabs you can click through to set up the mission as you wish. Of course, you start with the map. Then you choose the objectives. You can choose anything from really loose (basically don't die) to very strict (no civilians injured, no suspects killed). You can even set time limits and adjust the difficulty to up the challenge.

Next, you set up the players. You have three groups, officers, civilians and suspects. You can choose who and how many of each (with a cap on your team of course). You can specify weapons for each (or let the SWAT team outfit itself). You can set morale for civilians and suspects. You can set the skill level for suspects. You can even choose which body types you want to see for suspects and civilians. As a sort of inside joke, one of the models is named Sonny Bonds.

Then you type up a brief description, save, and you're good to go. When you save you can choose to add the mission to a group. Groups are easy to share. It's simple and flexible. That means it will get used. You could probably create a whole campaign in a half hour. Most importantly it lets you play the missions of the type and in the style you'd like. Maybe we'll see more of this in the future.

Jason
Comments?

21 Apr 05

I found something kind of odd. It seems Savage: Battle for Newerth is sort of unofficially freeware. There are some links to support this. There's nothing official though and it appears that the one topic where someone from the dev team admitted the move was deleted. I guess that sort of keeps their options opened. Basically, they removed all the authentication from the game so any CD key will work.

The only other thing I wanted to talk about today was the future of Nintendo. I still have a great deal of fondness for Nintendo left over from my NES days. But now I worry they have the worst kind of insanity. They say and do things that seem to make sense at the time, but taken together show bizarre thought patterns. Take the rumor of not showing the Revolution at E3. Take the DS. You have a new system that they claim isn't competing with the GBA or the Sony PSP. It's got a weird jumble of features, wireless, dual screen, touch screen, microphone, etc. I expected them to have some killer games poised to counter the PSP launch. But no.

Now the next generation Revolution touch screen control pad rumor keeps popping up. It is a rumor that fits all the hints that Nintendo has dropped, but it doesn't reflect anything gamers have indicated they want. Touch screens are very flexible. It could create unique and fun gameplay. It sounds cool until you start looking for a downside.

What is the downside? Primarily there's no tactile response from a touch screen. You can't feel the edge of a button. You don't have the satisfaction of jamming down a button. The switches on the huge Steel Battalion controller are cool because of the feeling of switching them. You could do the same thing with a touch screen, but the effect would be lost. Beyond that you have to learn button layouts for each game. If you get confused, you end up looking at the controller, not the game. That can kill immersion.

The biggest drawback seems to be their goal. It's no secret that Nintendo hasn't benefited as much as Microsoft from multiplatform games. Now, if the rumors are true, they seem to be trying to force developers to only develop exclusives for the Revolution. It sounds good in theory, but it's not clear it can work outside of Japan. The Gamecube didn't have the market share to command many exclusives beyond first party titles. It was a much safer bet for developers and publishers to go multiplatform.

If Nintendo presses the issue, it makes more financial sense for developers and publishers to wait and see if the console sells before committing to making an exclusive. That just plays into Nintendo's seemingly endless problem with not having enough games to move console units. So if the publishers play wait and see, the Revolution might have a sluggish start. That creates a negative feedback loop.

I guess that just puts Nintendo with Microsoft. They're both gambling bigger on the next generation in hopes to hit it much bigger. But that also means that the chance of failure is higher than it has to be. Let's hope gamers are rolling sevens.

Jason
Comments?

20 Apr 05

I just have a quick update for today. It's been one of those exhausting days where I didn't even get that much done. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

There are a couple of new releases today, Stolen and Stronghold 2. Someone must have stolen all the magic from Stolen because the reviews are scary. I was hoping for a good, immersive nonviolent stealth game. Stronghold 2 looks kind of neat but lacks sex appeal. Managing sewage in a castle just doesn't have the glamour it used to. I hope they didn't make it too realistic. Medieval life was pretty dark and depressing. A more light hearted, Startopia like atmosphere might work better.

I tried to move deals to the deal section of the forum, but Overstock is having a 24 hour 10% off sale. I updated the links to reflect it. I'll just put it here and hope interested parties see it in time.

In the news section, I put up a new poll asking for your pick of the top strategy game ever. I'm sure my options will upset people, so yell at me in the forum. I considered taking suggestions, but I didn't want to wait all year. Also in the image gallery, there are some new screenshots. I swear that Shogun Warrior RTS for the Nintendo Dual Screen is looking intriguing. If it really becomes the home of portable RTS games, I'll have to break down and get one. They just announced an electric blue DS. Perhaps it will go with the site.

I've seen reports that The Movies has been delayed again. That's the problem with a Molyneaux game. Everyone can see the promise right away, but whenever there are delays, you know something isn't working. Then design has to change to accommodate reality, and no one gets the game they were expecting. Hopefully it will be good.

Jason
Comments?

19 Apr 05

I have a couple of follow ups. First, once again we have a clear biggest story of the day, but it's not game related. The college of Cardinals has selected a new Pope. I'm impressed with how quickly they moved. I'm also impressed with how quickly opposition to the selection sprung up. No honeymoon for Pope Benedict XVI. Fortunately, he's got a good boss. As an aside, it would be interesting to see a politician accept his office humbly pointing out how unworthy he is.

Next, on yesterday's big story, CNN has an update pointing out that the combined market share of the new Gamestop/EB will be from 20-25 percent. Walmart rings up around 22 percent so there shouldn't be too many regulatory obstacles for the merger. They are making all the rights sounds and investors are happy. We'll see what happens.

Moving on, I did get to play a little Jade Empire. First, I'd point out it isn't a very strategic game. Sure there are fighting style immunities and vulnerabilities, but quick reflexes can still rule the game. I will point out that the game is beautiful, has smooth action and an involving story. In fact, I'm most impressed with the writing. The dialogue may not be award winning, but the actual story exists on multiple levels. There's the level of everything you see. Then there's everything you can deduce from what you know and have heard. Finally, there's the hidden level of the motivation of the other characters. These come together well to keep you interested and intrigued. That's good writing regardless of the medium.

Today, I wanted to give a quick take on SWAT 4 from Irrational Games. Vivendi Universal was kind enough to send a copy my way. In honor of Rich, let's get to the rundown.

SWAT 4 ships in a standard small size game box. The box contains two installation CDs in paper envelopes (one with the CD key), a 38 page monochrome manual with 26 pages of actual instructions bound by a color cover, and that's it.

There was one install size for the 1.6 Gig game. You have the option of installing Gamespy and Direct X 9.0c as well. The install required a swap to the second disk and a swap back. The game installed without incident.

If you use Zone Alarm or something similar, the game will do the hidden hang (the game will not let the pop up through) trying to contact the internet. The old Alt-R, Alt-Y does the trick as usual. If that didn't mean anything to you, don't worry about it.

If you played SWAT 3 the first thing you're going to notice is how streamlined the game is. The controls are simple, direct and easy to use quickly. There is a slight learning curve, but most of the non obvious controls are not time sensitive. You're not going to split teams during a fire fight. You're not going to check out your sniper's viewpoint either. I'll just say there's a lot of flexibility in the controls, and you shouldn't have a problem getting your teams to do what you want them to.

The graphics look sharp. Unfortunately, my machine isn't capable of maxing out the game, but even with normal settings, the game looks good. There's effective use of lighting. The textures look great. The hands, weapons and details of your avatar are spot on enough that they don't distract you at all. Weapon effects seemed realistic. The special effects, such as the disorientation from a Flashbang, are pretty impressive. It's also possible to pop up windows showing what each team member sees. Handy.

From what I heard, the sounds complement the graphics as well. Team chatter is short and to the point. Overall nothing distracting in the sound.

The game options look good. You have single player career mode and instant action. Multiplayer offers team based adversarial (SWAT vs. Suspects) modes including Barricade Suspects (basically deathmatch), VIP escort (SWAT has to get the VIP out, Suspects have to capture and hold him before they can execute him), and Rapid Deployment (SWAT has to disarm the bombs before they explode). The ability to subdue and arrest opponents should add to the experience. It's also possible to play the single player campaign missions Coop.

Early on, I haven't noticed any AI problems. Some always pop up, but it appears your team isn't suicidal. That's always a plus. Overall it looks like a safe bet if you like tactical shooters and don't mind that the emphasis isn't on killing anyone in your path. You're a cop. Arrests are preferred.

Jason
Comments?

18 Apr 05

I'm now up and running on my brand new cable modem. Once again Time Warner proves they have great services, quality technicians and annoying CSR's who appear more interested in closing out calls than actually solving customer's problems. If you have to be weak in one of those areas, I guess that's the one to choose. If you don't hear any more from me on this subject, I've considered the problem solved.

There's not too much debate as to what the top gaming story of today was. Gamestop bought out EB Games. For those unfamiliar with the American gaming marketplace, Gamestop and EB are the two top dedicated game stores in the US. While even together I don't think they comprise the majority of games sold by unit or dollar value, they're important because they exist only in the context of gaming.

I know most people are going to doom and gloom this to death, so I tried to think of some of the positive aspects. It's hard to make too many generalities as there are good and bad versions of both stores. Gamestop is owned by Barnes and Noble the book chain. I've noticed the bookstore attitude does carry over some to Gamestop. They're usually content to let you browse and will offer help if asked. EB tends to be a bit more aggressive in their sales. They often have a hot product to push and are encouraged to mention it as often as possible. They also have rather long winded scripts they have to go through for each check out, phone call or walk in. Let's hope the Gamestop hands off policy wins out here.

With their combined buying power, they should be able to get better prices for new releases. There's no guarantee they'll pass savings on, but they're feeling the pressure from Circuit City, Best Buy and Fry's who are willing to take a loss on an item to get you in the store. Gamers often expect to see a sale on major releases either upon release or shortly there after. If the new Gamestop can have those kinds of sales and still make a profit on them, this buyout will definitely be of benefit to the consumer.

One of the non obvious benefits is the continuation of Gamestop. That might sound stupid, but those very competitors I mentioned, plus Walmart and Blockbuster (and other media stores), are a strong pressure trying to squeeze the dedicated game store out of business. Sure we'll probably see a lot of redundant stores close once the deal is finalized, but the remaining stores will be stronger for it. They won't be fighting in the diluted market for share.

Finally, this is a real opportunity for Gamestop/EB. They can get back to the "gamer's place" image that built the market. They can focus on hiring and keeping real gamers as sales clerks and managers. They can rebuild that feeling of the neighborhood game store where friends can meet, find and talk about the latest games, and find those rare "diamond in the rough" games that megamarts don't carry.

So why should they do all this? To start, it makes this purchase look more like a strategic move than an act of desperation. More importantly, gamers built up those chains. The game stores had better remember that. If they don't, they'll find that gamers have too many other easy access options out there. It's better to be the beginning of something great than to be the beginning of the end.

This week we'll go back to something more traditional for the game of the week. It's Stranger (official site) from Fire Glow Games. It's a medieval fantasy RTS, but adds in a subterranean layer, RPG elements and plenty of interested third parties ranging from monsters to nations. They allow you to choose your level of control over your units. You can micromanage everything like a RPG battle or automate how you want them to fight and throw them into the grinder. The developers are also promising a deep magic system and an economic model based on moving material between the two levels. Look for Stranger later this year.

Jason
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