I’ve nabbed a spot writing for a new blog, PushingPlay. It’s not the usual blog just aimed at the hardcore. Their slogan is “Gaming. For everyone.” As game are becoming much more mainstream this seems like a great idea for a site. It’s looking like it has a lot of promise. So I recommend you head over there and see what’s going on. I’ll be back here at times, but no where near as much as before.
www.pushingplay.com Go check it out!
Oh hi. I’m back from the dark void that is the constant release of games. Along with school, work and life, it has prevented me from writing. This week I decided to put off buying Resistance 2 until I actually beat the first one, so I have a few days without a new game. As much as this sounds like a pathetic, self imposed burden, there’s no problem I’d rather have than having too many great games to play. So let’s travel back to the beginning of the season and take a look at it so far.
Clarke, Issac Clarke
Dead Space was the first up and the first down. A nice, polished single player game was a great way to kick off the season (like Bioshock last year). While I could spend a long time talking about how it is very similar to Bioshock but not nearly as good, I’m going to skip that. I knew Dead Space was a great game when I realized that the designers were a step ahead of me. Upon walking a few feet into a room near the beginning of the game, it when into quarentine. I thought, “Ha, I know enemies are coming. I’m ready.” I proceeded to back into a nice little alcove where I thought I’d have the best chance at surviving the incoming swarm. Little did I know that there was a vent directly behind me and out lept a baddie who proceeded to eat my face. They knew I was going to back into that alcove and absolutely got me for it.
There has been a great deal of discussion around whether the game is scary or if it is even “survival horror”. I wouldn’t necessarily call the game scary, or at least not consistently. It is, however, very tense and suspenseful. If I had to make up a marketing friendly genre for it, I would dub it a “suspense action” title. Knowing that something can always jump out at you takes away scary but leaves stress (a good kind) and tension.
The few parts that I found scary were the times you came across actual people on the ship. This may tread into spoiler territory, but nothing plot related. There are three that stick out in my memory. A man down a hall slowly banging his head against the metal wall. As you get close to him he smashes it one last hard time, shattering his skull. A woman sitting on the floor, laughing. She blows her head off with a gun when you get close. Finally, and most creepy, is a lady near a hospital bed crying. Nothing happens when you get near. She doesn’t even seem to notice you. These moments worked very well, probably because there were only a handful of them and I never really expected what happened.
Well, it’s late now. In the middle of writing this I was attempting a quest in Fallout 3 and failed miserably. Tomorrow, we move on to Fable 2. Until then, play games.
This is basically what Halo 3 Recon will be. I am all for that.
Now that I’ve had a few days with the LittleBigPlanet beta, I can completely agree with the hype for it. This game is something very special. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game evoke these kinds of reactions and creativity out of people. Just the fact that a game can show off the creativity of people who didn’t make the game is pretty amazing. It is a game like no other, and a toy like no other.
It seemed like when Spore was released, you couldn’t talk about its community sharing without mentioning LBP in the same breath, now I can see why. The way the game isn’t really at its best until you go searching through the community for levels could have been a terrible mistake, but there are some truly amazing levels out there…and this is just the beta.
The more interesting comparison I would make to Spore is the idea of science through games. While Spore’s aim was biology and evolutionary science, LBP gives us some insight into engineering and phsyical science (I would even say more insight). There were times in Spore where I would come across a creature and think, “Oh neat, how did they make that?” But generally, it was pretty easy to figure out just by looking at the creature for a little bit. In LBP, however, I am constantly coming across levels that put me in a state of utter awe. The mechanical contraptions and level design people have come up with gives me hope for the future of humanity. There are some truly brilliant things going on in this beta. The ability to reverse engineer anything you come across in a level might end up being the most addictive element of the game for me. Far more than Spore, it has opened my eyes to the possiblities in a tool set and encouraged me to try to think outside the box.
While the actual levels are very fun to play as a game, the toy that is the creator is where it shines. You will make levels. If you’re telling yourself you won’t, stop. I went in thinking the same thing. While you may not make an epic Shadow of the Colossus level or an air pirate adventure, you will make something. It could just be a nifty elevator or one small pit puzzle, but it will be something. I’m not sure if I will even ever publish anything, but damn it will I make stuff. The experience of coming up with a concept and seeing if you can make it happen is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. The tools are so well thought out and defined that there is probably a way to do almost anything. It is the greatest toy box I’ve ever been able to play with. This is in stark comparison with something like Wii Music, which I haven’t played, but has been called a “toy” as well. From what I’ve seen and read, it is basically a glorified plastic piano that played preordained notes when you press buttons. This is the low end of the toy spectrum with Spore’s creators above that and LBP far above that.
I showed it to a “gamer lite” roommate of mine. He doesn’t own any of the current gen systems but enjoys the Wii in the common room and old school games. He nearly shit a brick once he saw what LBP was capable of. This was his dream, to make side scrolling levels. We spent around two hours making a level of pure bastardry. It was just a seires of pits to get over, nothing super special, but just switching off trying to devise new ways to make you pull out your hair while trying to advance was something I’ve never had with another game. The game has been stuck in my head all day. While driving for work I could only think of new things to try to make in my level.
This is just a beta, but I’m completely sold. From what I’ve heard the final game has even more things and pre-made levels, and that only makes me more excited. This game is really something unique that deserves to do very well. If it can’t move some PS3’s then nothing can. Thank you, Media Molecule. Seriously.
Plants, again.
I’m worried about Nintendo. This is not about the new DSi. That’s cool. I will probably end up getting one since my L and R buttons are a bit funky on my current DS Lite. What I’m worried about is their plan to remake Gamecube games for Wii. Let’s look into this.
First of all, the Wii plays Gamecube games. All you need is a Gamecube controller. There isn’t really any reason to remake these for a system that already plays these games. Apparently, atleast one of these remakes will use motion control. I sure hope they all do or there is truely no reason to buy them.
This is putting Nintendo in a strange spot. Why remake the GC version of Mario tennis when you could just make a new one? It could be because their new version of games (see Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Metroid) play almost exactly like the previous iteration but with motion controls. All I’ve wanted from Nintendo since Wii launched was a Mario tennis, but a new version of the GC one? This whole “play on Wii” movement reaks of laziness. Please get creative, Nintendo. We want new “hardcore” games. Not motion controlled versions of the games we’ve already played.
Now with less friendship!
We’re about to see two interesting game releases and reviews. Last week it was announced that Fable 2 would not be shipping with the long promised and much talked about online coop. This is one of the selling points that Peter Molyneux has been pushing hardest since it was announced. I haven’t played the game, but listening to people talk about previewing it, it sounded like it was working fine in those builds. Even in the final disc product you will be able to see your friends floating around as orbs. You can chat and trade with them, just not play. I’m not a programer or anything, but that seems like a hop, skip and jump away from the coop working. Fortunately, they are saying it will be patched in during the first week after release if not sooner.
LittleBigPlanet, one of the main reasons I own a PS3, had a similar announcement. There will be no online coop Create mode out of the box. They are also joining the “patch it in later” bandwagon, although their time table is much more vague. It will come with the first major update. That could be a month, that could be six months, we don’t know. To me, this feature is less important than Fable’s missing piece. You can still create levels with four friends in the same room and play through levels online with four people. All of this requires you have three friends who have a PS3 too, which is a bigger problem.
The question this triggers is how will reviews go for these games? Lots of games receive additional content during their lifespans, see Burnout: Paradise for a prime example. I’ve heard talk before of rereviewing a game later on, after it has gained this content, since it would be a pretty different experience to play. The difference between the LBP/Fable 2 and Burnout is that the Burnout DLC wasn’t imporant features promised for and cut from the original game. Burnout was complete when it shipped and has grown since to encourage you to keep the game and keep playing it, which seems to be working very well. Will reviewers cut these games some slack because they know the features are on the way? It is going to be a tricky situation to navigate. Good luck to you, game reviewers, I look forward to see how it goes.
Also, these games both come out on October 21. Coinsidence? Probably.
Apparently, I’m supposed to be disappointed by Spore. It’s five simplistic games thrown together with some cute creatures and creation tools. That is absolutely what it is, and I am enjoying the hell out of that.
This is definitely a case of hypelash. Nothing can win game of the show at e3 for a few years and live up to those expectations. I couldn’t avoid the hype, but it was never a game I followed closely and sat up at night thinking about. I checked out the creature creator and made my share of sporn. My thoughts at that point were, “Doing anything with these creatures will be pretty fun.” And I think it is.
I’ve only played a few hours so far and I’m just beginning the civilization stage. The game does an amazing job of representing evolution and making me understand it like I haven’t before. It feels like your creature does evolve in the way it should. I can’t quite tell from just my first planet, but it seems like there is a set of best features for the type of creature you are going for. For example, Plernt is an asshole carnivore. During the creature stage, it seemed like there was were specific body parts that he should have if it was going to be a good fighter. This could be false, since I was going for brute force instead of poisoning or charging.
I don’t have a problem with the simplicity of the actual game modes. This is probably because I’m no good at most of them. I can’t do RTS or civ games to save my life (except for Civ Rev, surprisingly). This feels like a good gateway into those genres. I can see someone picking up Spore and really getting into one or more of the stages and then wondering, “What else is out there like this?” and moving on to more games.
I guess everyone else thought this game was going to be more hardcore. I never thought it would be. It feels like it’s on the same line between hardcore and casual that The Sims was. I sank a ton of time into The Sims when it came out, and I’m not sure why. There is just something about these games that makes me want to keep playing. I want to see my creature progress and move into space.
I do have a theory about the end. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that there is a twist or something of the like at the end of the game. As soon as I heard that I immediately thought of a short story by Isaac Asimov, The Last Question. I recommend you read it, but I’m pretty sure that is how Spore will end. I’m going to assume you went and read it and then finished reading this. Spore will end with a new beginning. That’s my guess and I may be wrong, but I’m sticking with it. More on Spore as I play more.
When I last posted my 360 had red ringed and I had picked up a PS3. Since then, my laptop died and I’ve had endless car problems (none of which involve fire this time). So I’ve been woefully neglecting this place. Now that my 360 has returned, my laptop is back in action and I’m back at school with nothing to do, it is time to write again. I’m going to try to do something each week day. The key word there is try. Who knows how this will actually end up, but I’m starting today. Ready? Go!
Much has happened in the last few weeks but the biggest new to me (and other gamers in the area) is that PAX East is coming to Boston in March 2010. After watching all of the great panels from this year’s event, I cannot wait for my chance to get in and check it out. I doubt it will be as big or “star studded” as the real PAX, but it has to start somewhere, and I’m glad that somewhere is my backyard.
LittleBigPlanet, one of the games I got a PS3 for, is going to be having a “limited public beta test…in September.” And that is all the information we have. I don’t know if limited means number of people or amount of time. I’m leaning toward number of people since all betas are limited in time. As soon as I hear how to sign up or get your name in the hat, I will link it.
This whole post has been done in Google’s nifty new Chrome browser. So far it just seems like a different flavor of Firefox to me, but then again I don’t really know anything.
PS3 is a very different beast from 360. As much as I’m mad that I’m not playing Braid right now, I am enjoying the new kid on the block. Resistance is pretty nifty, Eden is a trip and Planet Earth is gorgeous. I was trying to figure out how to explain the differences between PS3 and 360 the whole first day I was fiddling with it, then I read this post by Michael Abbott. It explains it far better than I ever could, so I’ll just direct you to that. Leave a comment and recommend one disc game, one PSN game and one Blu-ray.
Apparently my 360 red ringing is an annual event now. I’m buying a refurbished 60gb PS3. More on that adventure later. Wish me luck.
Dirty twits Last.fm