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29 Apr 05
I suppose any time you put your opinions out on the internet, you risk looking a fool. Since I write for a fairly knowledgeable crowd about gaming that some people are quite passionate about, I run a higher risk than most. Fortunately the criticism has generally been kind or constructive or both. Regardless, I feel better when someone who's been writing on the net much longer than I have truly implodes in a spectacular manner.
I have a few links for you today. Since I mentioned X3 and Privateer, I thought it would be wise to throw up the link to the Privateer open source remake project again. Here it is.
Then I (indirectly) received a request to spread the word about an ambitious mod project. Usually when you use ambitious and mod together you might as well add doomed. Hopefully that's not the case here. They're trying to create a unified sci fi experience across games. Since they're working on mods for Homeworld 2, Nexus and Half Life 2, and I have those games, I have extra incentive to hope they succeed. Check out the Angels Fall Here.
I could analyze all the little details of Microsoft's Xbox 2 campaign out there. They're finally starting to turn up the hype machine. It seems to be working as some gaming fans are starting to drool. Personally, I'm waiting for the game announcements before I start salivating.
It is interesting to note how quiet Sony has been. I have two theories on that. One, Sony is supremely confident in their presentation at E3 that will blow away the competition, they don't have to start early hype. Or two, Sony is quietly taking notes on all of Microsoft's efforts, recording what works and what doesn't. They're doing this to map out a similar campaign timed to disrupt the launch of the Xbox 2. That's pretty much what they did to the Sega Dreamcast and a lot of people held off on a Dreamcast purchase waiting for the PS2. Of course, Sony could just be stupid and arrogant, but what fun is that to talk about?
Jason
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28 Apr 05
To cheer myself up from yesterday, I took a gander at the site traffic statistics. Pretty good. If current trends continue, we'll pass our total number of unique visits from all of last year sometime next month. Total page views lag a bit behind visits, but are far ahead of where they were last year. I suppose everyone dreams of spreading like wildfire, but slow and steady is more realistic and sustainable. Thanks to everyone for stopping by. Please continue spreading the word; it's working.
My plea for industry contacts hasn't struck gold yet, but I haven't given up. Actually, all my email (except spam) has dropped off recently. If you get bored, drop me a line. When it's slow like this I can respond to every email. Suggestions are welcome. Well, I don't welcome the suggestions to perform anatomically impossible acts or suggestions as to what I should do with myself, but at least it shows people care.
I saw the sad bit of news that Elixir Studios was closing its doors. They had two high concept games in Republic: The Revolution and Evil Genius. One had you plotting to overthrow a country; the other had you trying to hold the world hostage with your doomsday weapon. Unfortunately both were somewhat buggy on release. That was especially confusion on Evil Genius when they had announced they were all but finished with the game six months before it shipped. Speaking of shipping their publisher did them no favors shipping when they did at the end of the third quarter. Evil Genius got lost in a sea of quality games that included Kohan II and Rome: Total War. I was excited about the game, but the bugs and bad timing kept me from making a purchase. Now they're closing their doors. I wish all the team members the best of luck.
I don't agree with the quote from Demis Hassabis saying, "It seems that today's games industry no longer has room for small independent developers wanting to work on innovative and original ideas. Perhaps there is no longer any need for them." Like I said, I don't agree, but it is a very hard road, and you can't afford many, if any, mistakes.
Finally, Blues brings us the news that Supreme Ruler 2010 is gold. It will be in stores the second week in May.
Jason
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27 Apr 05
I'm feeling a little sorry for myself. It all started innocently enough. I was doing the website rounds for the latest info on the upcoming console generations. I noticed something. All these articles and columns had impressions or feedback from developers with dev kits. Either that or some had major purchasing agent comments. I realized I don't have much in the way of industry contacts.
Don't get me wrong. I get tons of industry email. I get most of the press releases available. Heck, once every blue moon, a review game shows up on my door step. But pretty much all the people I talk with (read email) are PR and media relations. Most work for publishers. Don't read that the wrong way. These people are very professional and helpful with what they do. Most of them even respond to my questions in a timely manner.
I guess I just expected that maybe an indie developer or some plebe at a studio might have stopped by the site and been intrigued. I thought somebody on the development side of the industry would have dropped me a line by now. Maybe there are dozens of them lurking out there right now, but I'd never know. So if you're out there, let me know. Even just a lowly, just hired temp tester can be an anonymous source in the industry. Ok, I'm done with the pity now.
I keep thinking about that Eurogamer Empire Earth II review. If a "better than Rise of Nations" game can top out at 7 out of 10, I wonder how far that slope can slide. Will Age of Empires 3 top out at a 6 if it's not better than EE2? If a mythical Starcraft 2 was released and didn't revolutionize the genre (it's hard to argue Starcraft was revolutionary, just polished and darn fun), would it only garner a 6 or 7? There's a point where that just becomes insulting to the hard work of developers.
Look expectations do go up over time. You can't release the same game and expect to get the same score a year, two or three down the road. But that's not how this review reads. It's more that the genre is stale, old and dying. Only a rebirth could save it. I'm waving the BS flag on that one. Fans of the genre who don't play everything that comes out will not be as jaded as a burned out reviewer.
I think the proper thing to do would have been to leave the nuanced bit to the worded explanation. Just tell people that if you're expecting the reinvention of the RTS, this isn't it. Then give the higher score with the caveat that if you're burned out on the genre, knock off a point or two based on the degree of your burnout. The other possibility was that the game had more flaws that brought down the score, but they weren't articulated well in the review.
I put up the new announced details of X3 on the news section. It certainly has some strategy elements in it even if it falls more in the space sim category. I'm still a sucker for Privateer like games. Feel free to roast me/discuss in the Forum.
Jason
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26 Apr 05
As we all know Mr. T ain't got time for Jibba-Jabba. Fortunately I do, or this would be a pretty barren front page. On to the Jabba.
I know it's not a strategy game, but what can you expect. I recalled that Flagship Studios was made up of former Blizzard employees, so I was hoping for a great RTS. Well, it turns out these developers were from the Diablo team. So they're making an action RPG. It's called Hellgate: London. The plot sounds like they ripped it straight from Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. Blues has the details Here.
Empire Earth is out now. It's getting generally good buzz so I was surprised to see that Eurogamer only gave it a 7 out of 10. Wow. I expected better so I read the review. It turns out the headline should have been "improved, deep gameplay better than Rise of Nations." Basically they gave it a 7 because the genre is stale to them and EE2 does nothing to fix that. Talk about Jibba-Jabba.
I put some new screenshots up in the news section of the site. We have some shots for War Leaders and Rebelstar Tactical Command. Enjoy. It's a busy time for games announcements with E3 looming, so keep your eyes on the News. While you're there don't forget to vote on the best strategy game ever.
Jason
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25 Apr 05
It appears the other shoes from EA's NFL power play have started to drop. It's clear now that the primary culprit is the league itself not EA. I don't absolve EA of anything, but it's clear that when negotiating with the NFL, more money overrides all other factors.
I suppose gamers don't want to believe that as if you love the game, you tend to carry some of that over to the league. Besides we know the gaming space. What do we know about league negotiations? More and more it turns out. The big news recently was the end of Monday Night Football as least as far as ABC is concerned.
It turns out that ABC was losing money on the venture that proved so valuable for the NFL. How does the league respond when ABC requests a reduced broadcast fee so they can break even? I think you could hear the laughing here. Now they're charging even more for putting it on ESPN. ABC goes to having no football. NBC claims ESPN's old digs on Sunday night. CBS and Fox hold pat (after paying the league their increases, of course). All this will start in 2006.
So what was the league's position on those households without cable or satellite? Well, they were missing Sunday Night Football anyway so now they can get a Sunday game that's easier to watch anyway. Presumably local market ABC station managers will still have the option of showing the MNF game if a local team is playing as they had with the Sunday night games on ESPN.
The league is also trying to push Thursday and Saturday night packages even though there don't appear to be any takers. If you're not going to have any respect for a fixture like MNF, I guess a little common courtesy for the colleges is out of the questions. Of course, Thursday has to be fair game since it was just a money grab by the colleges.
What's the worst part? ESPN is already the highest cost non premium cable channel by quite a bit. You can bet those prices will be going up the offset the $1.1 Billion per year they just spent. Cable bills going up again. I don't suppose they'll use any of the millions that EA paid them for the exclusive use of the ESPN license to offset that cost. Nah.
For another shoe dropping, I recommend Bill's take on Grand Theft Football.
This weeks game is just out. It's Cossack II: Napoleonic Wars (official site) from GSC Game World. Lead one of the powers of Europe through the tumultuous years of Napoleon. Lead the country through politics and "civilized" warfare. Enter battles engaging up to 64,000 combatants. Defend your supply lines and maintain your economy or your military ventures will come up short. The Demo is out now and the game is out this week.
Jason
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