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23 Jan 05
Alright. We're extending the voting until the end of the month. I know we can get a few more votes rounded up. I appreciate all the help. This time I mean it. February 1 and it's over.
Oh, and do check out the Darwinia demo. It's a trip.
Jason
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21 Jan 05
Rome: Total War is still leading in the Game of the Year voting. Don't forget to cast your vote before Sunday night. Part of me is leaning toward keeping the voting open until the end of the month. If I decide that, I'll post something Sunday. Our traffic numbers are up, so thanks for spreading the word. Please keep it up. I really feel that if people take the time to look around here, our community will grow and realize some of its potential.
I was going to do an epic dissertation on Fantasy and Reality again today, but my brother sent me the Photoshop elements/Premiere elements double pack for my birthday. Since I was sick yesterday, I have some playing around to do.
Also, the Darwinia team has released a demo. I mentioned the game a while back. It's about leading a tribe of sprites to freedom after they escaped from classic 80's games. How can I not check that out. You can grab it Here. It's tiny. Do it now.
Oh, and be nice to each other out there. Some things are just wrong.
Jason
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20 Jan 05
I'm feeling a little under the weather right now. So please take this opportunity to look around the site. I'm probably the only one who's read everything here. That means the rest of you are behind. Check the place out. Kick off your shoes and make yourself at home. While you're at it don't forget to vote in the game of the year poll on the news section of the site.
Jason
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19 Jan 05
The voting has begun. Rome is out to an early lead. The voting will remain open until 11:59 pm CST on Sunday 23 Jan 05. At that time we will announce our Game of the Year. Please encourage any strategy/tactical gamers you know to vote.
You know it's been kind of an amazing week. First Penny Arcade withdrew their Game of the Year Award from World of Warcraft after a late week server fix made the situation worse. Many players could not get on the servers and stability was still a problem. The web gaming press reported with withdrawal as news. Now Blizzard has responded with an apology. Interesting. Oh, and Blizzard is admitting they're not releasing more copies of the game to retail until they're sure the servers can handle it. I see an Ebay boom coming. Finally, Blizzard has offered 48 hours of free time as compensation to affected parties.
Then on the sports front, reports come out that Visual Concepts is close to a deal to get exclusivity for the Major League Baseball license for the long term. In a twist, such a license would still allow first party developers to make baseball games. Then there's this article that claims that EA doesn't even use MLB branding on its MVP Baseball. Why would you pay for the MLB license if it doesn't get you anything? Also there are rumors that the National Basketball Association wants to split its exclusive licenses into three categories, simulation, arcade and mobile. Curiouser and curiouser.
Finally, Nokia is denying reports that the NGage is dying and will disappear next year.
Happy voting.
Jason
Comments?
18 Jan 05
Ok, we're down to 12. I'm going to briefly list them and why they made the cut. Please don't take not making the cut as any sort of insult. I've loved games that had terrible reviews because the resonated with me. I'd like to believe that a Game of the Year has a more universal appeal, at least within the genre.
So here we go (in alphabetical order):
Full Spectrum Warrior (Xbox & PC) -- It pretty much created a new type of game genre, the tactical action genre.
Ground Control 2 -- A very well rounded game that encouraged both good tactics as well as expansion.
Joint Operations -- They were trying to do a modern Battlefield bigger and better.
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox) -- The Xbox entry, but also combines disparate gameplay while keeping the focus strategic.
Kohan 2 -- An elegant game that focused on good tactics, strategy and unit balance.
LotR: Battle for Middle Earth -- A solid RTS entry, but a great use of the movie license.
Massive Assault Network -- Solves the AI/puzzle problem the old fashioned way, use people. It also highlights the elegance of the design.
Phantom Brave (PS2) -- The PS2 entry and a wildly creative take on strategic battles combined with character and item advancement.
Pikmin 2 (GCN) -- The Gamecube entry and perhaps the cutest entry. It is entirely untraditional but still creates an engaging experience.
Rome: Total War -- I'll say it again, sweeping and epic gameplay while giving you the freedom to focus on the areas you really want to play.
Silent Storm -- It reminds one of Xcom. Do you need higher praise?
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War -- It puts the grinder into meat grinder gameplay. It has a fresh visual style and constant combat.
There we are. So go Here and let the voting begin. May the best game win.
Jason
Comments?
17 Jan 05
I've received a little feedback on the list. If you want to get any input into which games survive the final cut, get it in within the next 24 hours. Voting will probably start sometime tomorrow.
EA has kicked Visual Concepts where it hurts again. After taking the exclusive football license, they are now taking the ESPN license away. Admittedly, it's unclear as to why ESPN would want to be branded on a generic football game (though a college game would make sense). The ESPN license was huge for Sega/VC, but it's looking like it will be more of a keep away for EA. They are talking about doing some sort of X-Games game. Can the Professional Bowling Association game be far behind?
It's probably time to kick off our membership drive. I suppose that could be difficult if it cost anything, but it's free. I'd appreciate it if you would mention the site wherever you happen to find yourself. It's probably a little easier now that there's more content to go through. If you're new here, please check out the whole site. There's lots to see and some good stories to read.
Computer Gaming World had some more information on the upcoming Star Wars: Empire at War RTS in their February issue. There are some scans around the net, but we don't want to encourage that sort of behavior. It looks like you'll be fighting over 20+ major worlds in the Star Wars galaxy. I'm sure one of them will be Tatooine (it is mentioned) once again ignoring the fact that it's a distant backwater where no one would ever come look for the heir of the dark lord of the Sith where even a famous jedi could hide for decades without being discovered. Anyway, the simple overview is that planets give income and bonuses. You have to build ground and space forces balancing your expansion with your ability to defend what you capture.
There are a couple of interesting notes. One is that space combat is not true 3D. It's on a 2D plane like Star Trek Armada. Ships appear to go around and under each other, but tactics are restricted to the plane. Khan would approve. Ground forces arrive in container ships, if they're lost, you have no ground assault. They must be protected at all costs. You can still blockade the planet if you don't have enough ground troops. It looks more than interesting enough to keep our eyes on it. Oh, and Petroglyph is made up of the part of Westwood that wasn't absorbed into the EA collective.
Sticking with the Star Wars theme is this week's game. It's Star Wars: Republic Commando (official site) from Lucasarts Entertainment. This is a first person tactical shooter focusing on a small clone army commando team. It's using Unreal engine technology to good effect. You'll lead your four member team on a series of missions designed to take advantage of each of their talents. Lucasarts is claiming easy squad control and smart AI. We'll see on the PC and Xbox in March.
Jason
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