Welcome to the Home of Game Strategies and Stories
27 May 05
Aces and eights. The dead man's hand. Today's Wild Bill's birthday.
I reached the point in my backlog where I was going to play Darwinia. The I realized I had a copy of Uplink that I never played. I figured I try out the earlier work before the latter. Uplink is really pretty cool. It won't teach you actual hacking, but it creates a cool meta hacking feel. It's amazingly immersive for watching percentage bars fill up. That sounds silly, but check it out and see what I mean.
Computer games reports that the trial version of Settlers of Catan has been released. Catan is one of the classic board games that most Americans haven't heard of. Demo and purchase options can be found Here.
It looks like I'll be doing an email interview with the team behind Ghost Wars. If you have any specific questions, send them my way.
I should probably write more, but the holiday weekend is here, and Uplink is calling. Let's remember those who fell defending the cause of freedom this weekend.
Jason
Comments?
26 May 05
I'm not sure the next generation consoles are doing enough to set themselves apart. Nintendo isn't saying anything so they're hard to criticize. I worry that on 4:3 aspect ratio TVs without high definition support people won't see the big difference.
I think that might be part of Sony's bravado in declaring the PS3 is not a game console. Personally, I don't think people are going to care if you call it a media center, media hub, interactive entertainment gateway or Fred. It really boils down to how you can make the experience better and more entertaining for them.
For instance, I like the Nintendo plan on backwards compatibility. I'm sure I'll be upset once prices are announced since Nintendo seems to think that NES games on the GBA are worth $20. Regardless, the idea is good. You can browse, purchase, and download the back library of the NES, SNES and N64 through the Revolution. Games will be saved to your hard drive for instantaneous access.
I like Microsoft's Live service and the planned improvements. They want to offer a unified, central interface to all Live activities. So voice chat, downloads, demos, purchases, video chat and game invitations will all go through the same interface. You won't have to search to find how to access your friends list in each game. The creation of zones and enforcing feedback on a personal level are all great ideas. They're building on all the strengths of the Live network.
I like Sony's push toward the highest HD standard. I like their adoption of higher density media even if it does suit their purposes. I like their built in WiFi, bluetooth and multiple output ports.
There was one thing I was hoping to hear announced that I didn't. Many people complained that the PS2 and Xbox couldn't be turned on with their DVD remotes. I didn't understand this as the standard controllers were wired, so you probably had to go grab one to play a game. DVD's often had to be swapped out with your game disk. So I didn't see the appeal of turning on your console with the remote.
However, with the adoption of wireless controllers, it starts to make sense. You can leave your game disk in, have the controller next to the remote and stay on your couch to fire up some gaming. Microsoft, at least, has confirmed remote on. That's great, but I'd like to see it go the next step.
What's the next step? Simple. You have multiplayer games and game invites. The obvious next step is to let you jump into the multiplayer game without getting up and swapping disks. Yes, this would require some sort of install to the hard drive, but all three have confirmed having hard drives. Once installed, when you receive an invite for that game, you just press a few buttons without moving and boom, you're playing.
There are some considerations, but I think they can be overcome. Publishers first interest is copy protection. They want to make sure you buy and keep the game to keep playing. Clearly, you'll have to put the disk back in on a regular basis. This could be required after so many days or so many play sessions. The key is it shouldn't be tied to starting to play. The whole thing goes down the drain if you get an invite and have to go digging for the disk before you can play. Publishers would have to log you off automatically after a significant period of inactivity so people don't try to keep play sessions over forever to circumvent the copy protection. You'd probably have a couple of free strikes before the game uninstalled itself. The idea is that you could put the disk in at your convenience, but still have instant access to your favorite online games without leaving the couch.
Another consideration is disk space. Games keep getting bigger. Even the 360's 20 GB hard drive will fill up fast. They are promising larger versions in the future. Either way, I don't see this as a big problem. Few people play more than three or four games online at any one time. Online communities fade out as the new hotness comes along. Most people will be well served by the stock hard drive. Then there's the fact that since only the multiplayer needs to be installed, less space is required. Another possibility is a reduced size install. Perhaps they use lower resolution textures or lower polygon models or even on the fly compression/decompression, but the install could be reduced in size without significantly compromising the play experience.
There is a big upside for manufacturers. The easier a game is to play, the more likely people are to buy it. When you see all your friends on your friends list playing something, the more likely you are to pick it up. This can build quickly after the "hot" new online game is released. The easier it is to play, the more likely current owners are to play a game and get their friends playing too. The more people you know that are online and playing, the more fun you'll have online. It's a series of positive feedback loops. So why hasn't anyone announced this yet?
Jason
Comments?
25 May 05
I guess I should congratulate the big winner. Yes, it almost seemed impossible at times, but it happened. Brad defeated Ken to become the all time game show winner on Jeopardy. Oh and I guess someone named Carrie won some idol or something, too.
Sometimes I really don't understand people. There was a lot of speculation about what was shown on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Was it real, was it prerendered, what will the games look like? Now people are upset to find that no one has final hardware yet. Some of the components aren't finalized. The revolution was an empty box. Whatever.
I wasn't expecting to see technical analysis of the motherboard designs. I'd actually be pretty upset if everyone had finalized their hardware and started etching the silicon. If that were true, why are we waiting to launch. No, E3 was about design philosophy and expected direction and performance. That's why I was upset with Nintendo. They basically just said, "We're going somewhere else." Then they left.
I noted a couple of things from the key players. Microsoft wants to create bigger and more accessible worlds. They want to be a media center in the sense that all media can be piped through the 360 from anywhere on the network. Go one place for all your stuff, gaming, movies, music and communication.
Sony is going in the same direction but getting there differently. They want a media center that can do everything for you. It can connect to a camera across the internet. It can convert your audio and video files real time. Sure it can pull things, but it can manipulate them too. We'll have to see if that turns out to be a subtle difference or something radically different.
Finally, I wanted to add one thought. Remember all the hype about upcoming physics accelerator cards? Physics is going to be the new lighting. More physics makes the world more real. Well, as far as we know, none of the consoles are implementing a physics chip. However, some developers, notably Epic, have mentioned that the power of the cell mimics the physics chip. Once the SDK is ported to PS3, the cell will be able to do everything the physics accelerator can. That might turn out to be the big difference in PS3 vs. Xbox 360 games. You'll get more loose objects, more particles and more effects going on around you. That sounds more fun than decoding a lot of video streams.
Jason
Comments?
24 May 05
I'm feeling a little more upbeat today. Even for a down year, there were some top notch titles on display at E3. The future looks bright. How upset can you be when we're getting a new Heroes of Might and Magic (in glorious 3D, no less) and by all reports, they're not screwing it up.
Maybe it's just the publishers figuring out the media game of E3. Now everyone announces their games before E3 publicly. The number of surprises are reduced, but the genre specific sites are sure to have better coverage. Combine that with the numbers artificially deflated by the hardware emphasis and you can find disappointment. Really though, the upward trend in gaming continues.
One of the next generation console trends I noticed was increasing the amount of third parties wandering around. While they might be further away participants in a big battle you're fighting your way through or they might be innocent NPC's in a city, their numbers are shooting up. The good news is you can't create a realistic feel to all that activity with place keeper AI. I'm hoping that despite the early eye candy this will be known not as the HD era, but the AI era. It could be a place where worlds seem alive both to the eye and the mind. I can dream.
I have a couple of quick notes before I sign off. First Square-Enix posted a record profit this year. This despite hardly releasing anything stateside. Sure, they released a Kingdom Hearts game, but it was the GBA version, not the one people have been waiting for. I can only imagine their profits next year if they release everything on their plate.
In an interesting move, Factor 5 has decided to develop exclusively for the Playstation 3. They were greatly impressed with its power. Factor 5 was known as the powerful Nintendo second party developer that gave the Gamecube the Rogue Squadron games. Those games helped legitimize the Gamecube as a powerful platform. With Silicon Knights gone, Rare sold and Capcom ending their exclusivity, Nintendo is running out of friends. I guess there's still Camelot and Hudson. Good thing I like RC.
Jason
Comments?
23 May 05
I was watching one of the morning "fun" news programs this morning. There was an out of the blue reference to RC Cola. I wonder if they read the site? I could be famous and just not know it.
Now that I've had a chance to catch my breath and reflect on E3, I've come to a startling conclusion. It kind of sucked. This year seemed extra glossy. Lights and noises and booth babes seemed at an all time high, but actual content seemed dismal.
I guess in retrospect it's not surprising. PC games always seem to go into hiding when new consoles are announced. I'd imagine they know they won't get the press they normally would, so they don't put forth the same kind of effort. Don't get me wrong. There were plenty of great games, but the booths were barely there because they knew the coverage wouldn't be there.
Most of the current generation console stuff had already been announced last year. The budgets and development cycles are pressing toward the next generation. That said, the games coming out look to be the most graphically impressive of the dying generation. Which, in turn, puts pressure on next gen products to only show graphics that obviously can't be done on the current generation. Limits, limits, limits.
Well, at least we got to see the next generation of consoles. Right. We'll know more soon, but there wasn't much hard data. The PS3 looked great, but no touching. Microsoft had all of one game playable. Nintendo didn't even bring a controller for the Revolution. Oh right, they're not playing.
It seemed like it was going to be the biggest E3 ever because of the consoles landing. They did more of a flyby, and we're stuck with a few blurry photographs. Without anything approaching final hardware, developers were hamstrung or stuck with renders. Overall, it seemed disappointing mostly because it could have been so much more on so many levels. The great thing is that there's always next year.
This week's game was chosen by popular demand. I look at the site data a lot. I've noticed people have been looking for more information on this game. It's Spartan: Total Warrior (official site) from The Creative Assembly. Admittedly we don't know how much strategy or tactics will be in this game. Given its pedigree, I'm hoping it's much more than a Dynasty Warriors knock off. You play a lone Spartan warrior in the middle of a Roman invasion. You're trying to turn the tide of history in a world of huge armies, myths and magic. It will be interesting to see if they can capture the epic feel of Rome: Total War while moving the focus to a more personal level. The other question is will you have some control over your allies. If special maneuvers or formations can be triggered by your actions, it could have the depth tactical gamers are looking for. Spartan is due out in the fall for the current generation consoles.
Jason
Comments?
© Talk Strategy 2005