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.



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.

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.

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.

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.[img][/img]

Originally posted on my 1up blog about a year ago

There are no good places to buy games. At all. There's something wrong with all the places I go to get games.

First, we will start with the most hated, Gamestop/EB. Ideally, this should be the best place to buy a game. It's a video game store. But no, this is probably my least favorite place to go for games. Every single one of their locations I've been too are way too small. There are always a few dozen little kids with their clueless parents running around. Or even worse, trading in about 30 games and 2 systems to get some crappy game. I have twice been next in line for about 15 or 20 minutes while some kid gets $3 a piece for 10 games so he can get a new DBZ game. Also, most of the staff at these places are totally inhuman. Every once and awhile I'll talk to someone who actually knows about games. That's quite a refreshing experience. But they are few and far between. One kid working there actually asked if Zelda was, "The green guy or the princess?" I mean, I know you don't have to like or even play games to work there, it just seems strange. Ideally, since most people who go in there are clueless parents buying games for their kids, you should know something about what you're selling. The staff also loves to push things down your throat as you are making a purchase at their store. Every time I'm there I'm asked if I want to preorder anything. This doesn't bother me. But after I say no, they proceed to list of games that are coming out that year to make sure I'm not going to change my mind and preorder. That's absurd. This isn't rape, but no still means no.

Secondly, the big stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, Target etc. These are the places I usually tend to go to pick up my gaming needs. But they suffer from the "No one ever knows what I'm talking about" syndrome. People there know much less about the products that the Gamestop guys, and that makes sense since it's not a games only store. But they also seem to have a bizarrely varying stock. It seems that they just stop caring some older games and don't have a very large stock of non AAA titles. They also don't have used games.

Finally, I could get games online. This is probably the best option really. You can generally find anything cheaper online. It really isn't a bad option for a normal person, but I hate waiting for things. I'd rather pay a little extra and get it in a store now than wait for it to come in the mail. That's just my personal problem. I'm sure lots of people love ordering online. I keep it reserved for games I absolutely cannot find in stores.

I want to start an adult video game store. Adult as in "no kids allowed" not as in porn. I think that would be a much nicer shopping environment. Until that day, I will have to rough the stupid, stupid world of video game retail until I go crazy from being welcomed to Best Buy or always asked if I want to reserve things. Ugh.

As you boot up an MMORPG for the first time, you are always excited. “What kind of character will I play? What class will I be? If I’m this and my friend is that, we will make a kick ass team! I can’t wait to get to this area! My character is going to be so bad ass!” For me, this feeling of excitement lasts for about 20 levels, if I’m lucky. I’ve played more than my fair share of MMO’s, but I think I’m done for good now. My interest in the genre has severely dropped since I started playing text based MMO’s (I can’t believe that game has a Wikipedia article) when they were called MUD’s. There are some huge flaws in the genre that no one game has been able to resolve. No, not even WoW in its infinite glory has perfected everything.

One of the biggest draws to these games is loot. Everyone wants cool armor. They want to look unique and bad ass. The problem with this is twofold. In most cases, it takes a very long time to get your character to look the least bit cool. Since WoW is the gold standard for MMO’s these days, I’ll use it as a touchstone. In WoW, my none of my characters looked well put together until at least level 30, if not later. The second part of this problem is that gear is also integral to character stats and abilities (in most games), so the coolest looking thing isn’t necessarily the most useful thing. This leads to everyone wearing the same thing because it is statistically the best, thus sucking all of the uniqueness out of your character. It’s not really fun to play a game for days of your life just to know you’ll end up looking like everyone else of your class in the end.

The best solution for this I’ve seen so far is in City of Heroes (or City of Villains). During character creation, you make your dude look as bad ass and unique as you want. Stats are tied to “enhancements” that you drop into individual skills and have no cosmetic effect at all. They still award you for leveling with things like capes. While these have to statistical bonus, you’re a superhero, so obviously you want a cool cape waving in the wind behind you as you jump or fly around the city. With the enormous amount of customization options that you have from the very beginning, you get to feel like a full-fledged super hero from the moment you start, rather than wearing ugly armor for hours of your character’s life.

So you have some cool armor and you’re ready to meet up with some friends in the game to take on a dungeon or instance. But wait, your friends are unemployed and play all day long. They are level 50 and you’re only 35! Tough shit! Have fun collecting pelts while they are taking out a huge instance boss. Level discrepancy is one of the biggest problems I’ve had in most MMO’s. Inevitably, someone has more time than the rest of the group. Either they stay at your level and start an alt (more on alts later) that becomes their main character because it’s a higher level, or they fly ahead on their main character and don’t really care to help you level that much.

Again I have to point to City of Heroes/Villains for a pretty good solution to this issue. They have a sidekick system in place so your high level friend can bump you up to close to their level. It doesn’t give you the new powers or skills you’d have at that level, but your current powers are almost as strong they will be in the future. I haven’t played it (due to high system requirements), but apparently Age of Conan has a similar system in place. Why more MMO’s haven’t adapted this concept is beyond me. These are supposed to be community and friend-centric games, but if your friend is ahead/behind you in leveling, the most interaction you end up having with him/her is exchanging PM’s from entirely different zones.

But, holy shit! Your friend is now 55! Imagine what your character will be like at 55! You’ll have all these skills and those abilities! You’ll be able to fight these mobs and that boss! You can wear this helm and use that axe! Now after thinking about all of that cool stuff, try going back to killing rats so you can use some crappy dagger. Rough, isn’t it? Looking ahead in these games may inspire some to keep going and strive for that level, but for me it just kills the experience. When I start playing an MMO, I try very hard to hold off on it, but my time-to-guide is very low. And once I see what I will be if I spend hours and hours of my life playing, I find it very hard to go back to being low level. Very few of these games let you feel like your character is worthwhile at low levels, prompting you to gaze longingly at the distant future.

There are a few ways to solve this problem that some games have used. The first is to make your character feel powerful, even if it really isn’t, from the very start. Again, I haven’t played it, but Age of Conan seems like it does this. The combat system looks quick and more reliant on your imput. While in WoW you just press one key and attack at a certain interval automatically, in Conan you always have to be on your toes and attack from different directions. The combat is also a great deal more violent and interesting to watch. You actually look like you’re hitting the enemies instead of making a sword swinging motion near them. I hate to keep going back to it, but City of Heroes has accomplished this as well. At level 1 you were still a super hero who could knock enemies back several feet with a single punch.

The other way to solve the former problem ties in with my next problem. Congrats, you’re level 35! Oh wait, you’re halfway to max level. But not really, since the last 35 levels take even longer than the first. Lower the damn level caps in these games. If it didn’t take so long to get to a level you could actually have fun and feel useful; it would be a lot easier to keep playing. All I ever hear about these games is how awesome the “end game” is. They need to make that content easier to get to. If it really is as good as people say it is, let more of the community into the club. I would say far under 50% of WoW players ever get to experience one of these fabled level 70 raids. That kind of stuff sounds fun– it really does– but I don’t want to spend so many hours of my life not having much fun in order to have fun in your game. Mass Effect was rough for 3 or 4 hours and that was nearly too much unfun to justify the great ending. I hit 60 in WoW once. By that point I was far too burnt out on the game to care about the elusive end game. I quit playing a week or two later. Guild Wars gets the win here with its very reasonable level cap of 20. You could do that in a week or two and then get on to the best parts of the game.

You finally did it, level 70! You hit the cap! Oh no! That other class has this really cool skill you’d like to try! And honestly, you’re pretty bored with your current class. Time to start over! Alting derails me in MMO’s more than anything else. Maybe I’m just too damn curious, but when I see a character who looks neat or has a nifty skill, I want to try it. Unfortunately, in almost every game, that means starting back at the beginning. At least in some games (Guild Wars), it won’t take long to get back to the top with my new character. Tabula Rasa (although I haven’t played that one either due to school networking problems) has a cool solution. They have a cloning system in place that lets you clone yourself right before important character progression decisions. Other games give you the ability to respec but that only lets you change your character within the chosen class and usually become cost-prohibitive after a while.

I realize that most of these problems are there to keep you playing longer because, except for Guild Wars and Mythos, you’re paying a monthly fee to play these games. They need to keep you playing as long as possible. The longer it takes you to get to the max level and the more distracted you get by making new characters the better. The only way paying monthly for these is a good deal is if it’s the only game you play and you play a lot. I buy far more games than I should, and it gets expensive, but I like having new and different experiences instead of constantly playing the same one. If I’m going to pay for something monthly, it’s going to be a GameFly account (which I just signed up for) or a GameTap account where I can sample a ton of different content.

I like to be exposed to different game types, genres, mechanics, stories, etc. With an MMO it’s just the same thing day in and day out. Even when I was enjoying playing WoW, afterwards I would feel like I hadn’t really done anything. If there’s no true end to a game, you can’t really accomplish anything. Yes, that is also partially true for something like GTA or Halo multiplayer. They don’t have a true ending, but matches and rounds end. Someone wins and someone loses. In an MMO, I can’t help but feel like everyone loses.

Skipping the nit picky, more personal quips with these games (no more fantasy settings please), I’m at the end of my tirade. All of this being said, every once in a while I get a weird need to play one. This is the part I can’t explain no matter how hard I try. Sometimes I just want to level a character, grind for pelts, get ganked in low level areas and be part of a strange and mostly terrible community. When I get this feeling, I have to close my eyes tightly and repeat over and over, “They just want your money. Nothing good can come of this.” Usually, it works. Or at least it will until the day they fix these problems and suck me back in.