Achron

I just saw the little blurp on Anthony's post as well as a link on Reddit. This game looks intense







At first glance it seems like this would lead to long drawn out games. You have a Chrono (i think) status bar that basically acts as the juice to power your past actions. The farther you go back, the more Chrono you have to use, and it only rejuvenates in the present. At least in the demo, they have the bar rejuvenating hella-fast, so hopefully that gets slowed down a bit if the game actually comes out. It was taking them only 5 seconds to refill the whole bar.

But definitely there is a huge amount of potential with this.

EDIT: Press Release

"March 26, 2009 - Hazardous Software™ unveiled Achron™, the world’s first meta-time strategy game, at the 2009 Game Developers Conference® in San Francisco, California. The next revolution in time travel gameplay was demonstrated at the Experimental Gameplay Session.

Designed to reinvent the real-time strategy genre by allowing all players to travel through time, Achron is a futuristic science fiction game. Players and units have the ability to jump to and play at different times simultaneously and independently. Time travel is free and unlimited but it costs energy to change the time line. Players will be challenged to invent new strategies in a world where it is possible for them and their opponents to undo mistakes, change a strategy after committing to it, and alter the outcome of past battles.

“Time travel transforms the strategy game landscape,” stated Christopher Hazard, president and cofounder of Hazardous Software. “It opens up new dimensions of strategies and gameplay. For example, imagine being able to see when and where your opponents are going to attack before they do.”

Squaresoft's announcement that they were not going to release Final Fantasy XIII as a Playstation3 exclusive but rather will release a version for both Xbox360 and Playstation3 at the same time probably saved me roughly $400 today. Since the Playstation3 was first released, I have always felt I would buy one, although the initial price was too much for my meager college budget. The other major problem was lack of exclusive titles on the Playstation3 to warrant its purchase. Although the games do look beautiful, the Blu-Ray player has never been a selling point for me because most of all my movies are not digital on my computer or in my dwindling DVD collection, so the main incentives for me to buy the Playstation3 would be a decrease in price coupled with some exclusive titles that I could only find on the Playstation3.

Final Fantasy XIII was that game. I have been a longtime Final Fantasy player, although the most recent couple I have not found as enjoyable. But all the videos, screenshots, and other information surrounding XIII made it the one game I wished to buy in the future, enough to warrant a purchase of another system. Thankfully, with the removal of the exclusivity, I can now play this awesome game and not have to shell out for a full system to play it.

I am not sure how many people might be similarly affected as I was by the announcement, but I am sure Sony will have some type of major announcement in the near future to try and negate any losses from this. Anytime a major title becomes non-exclusive, it has the ability to remove the deciding incentive that might be the difference between a consumer buying a new system, or just sticking with their old one. Think back if a title such as Call of Duty 4 had been exclusively Playstation3, or if Halo3 was nonexclusive (not possible, but lets stick with the theoretical). Either of those situations could have caused a major influx of business for the Playstation3, just because it would either provide an incentive to purchase that Playstation3 to play the game, or remove the incentive to purchase the xbox for Halo 3.

Either way, Playstation3 sales took a hit today.

Sorry for the length between posts, school got back in the way of actually writing anything, but luckily summer job schedule has finally settled. What a way to come back though.



SC2Pod.com forums have come up with this brainchild about Blizzard's front page riddle. I guess they have a riddle every year.

http://www.sc2pod.com/news/Countdown_to_Diablo_3/

Basically the idea is that they are using the basic code of numbers representing their corresponding letters, so that for example the main title image is 232309 which when transferred to the English alphabet is WWI (or the acronym for World Wide Invitational). I personally was a bit skeptical about this, but the second day's assumption (that a new hidden picture would have use the code to equal another letter in Diablo since the first day was D), and lo and behold, the second day was the O.



I hope this is true personally. With the recent finding that Starcraft II is being listed on the major retailers' websites as having a December 3rd release date, to officially announce Diablo III at the same Invitation would be the greatest news out of blizzard in a long time. Starcraft and Diablo II were my first loves of computer gaming, to the point that I still play Diablo II with friends to this day. My only real fear is that if they bring back the old classes again, that they will continue to nerf the necromancer and not allow the old 20skele/20mage/20rev strategies to work.

hopefully this proves true, I will do an update later this week once more of the hidden pictures have been released. Here are the two pictures released place in their likely spots on a larger picture



And a little D2 nostalgia

Just a short little thanks to Grim, The Gadge and Steamy V for making my first FNF: Call of Duty enjoyable. Also Power Glove for answering my message before leaving. Sorry if i coughed while we were playing, allergies are getting to me.

i don't know how much I am going to get to play with y'all, but I had a great time, and I will definitely try to play again.

Look me up on Bteamspecialist if you want to play anytime.

So after forcing myself to do my accounting homework all morning, I skipped Spanish class and downloaded the new COD4 maps to try them out and get my first impressions. I will update this as i play more

Favorites:
1. Broadcast
2. ChinaTown
3. Creek
4. Killhouse?



First off, where is Killhouse? My roommate had said he had heard rumors that Killhouse was not in the Variety Map Pack rotation, but after playing for two hours, I have yet to actually see a Killhouse game. Has anyone else actually seen it? I had thought that maybe it was only an objective based map, since I had been playing Team Deathmatch, but even after playing objective, It was no where to be found



Secondly, for those of you who haven't seen, they are doing double experience for the COD4 maps, although I don't know how long that lasts. I personally like it, because it gives a bonus to the early adopters, as well as help me level up before the FNF COD4 tourney on friday, since after i signed up i remembered I had just prestiged. nothing like playing and having only iron sights on such great guns as the M4 and SAW.

When it comes to the actual maps though, Broadcast is definitely my favorite. It is like Vacant with a real outside part to it, rather than some shoddy tacked on shipment containers that act as nothing more than headquarters/sabatoge lame sauce makers. Broadcast actually makes weapon choice important, because if you move to the other half of the map, it could completely negate your current choice. For example, the buildings outside of the main television area are great for sniper or acog assualt rifles, but both of those guns get owned as soon as they come into the corner jumping world of shotguns and uzis, and vice versa. Finally a map that is like two maps in one.



I am still quite confused while running around Chinatown but I must say I like it. It is a multistory romp of stairways and higher ground advantages. So far Scorpion/Shotgun wrecks shop on this, because most of the time I stick inside buildings and it becomes a who can shoot faster type situation. Plus, the whole theme of the place is a nice reprieve. Not sure how they would fit it into the story line (maybe it is another flashback, but this time to a parrellel warfront during the Red Dawn Area).

Creek is another solid addition. Sniping is not one of my strong points, i prefer the upclose stuff, but Creek actually makes it fun. It's like everything you ever wished you could do while watching Sniper 1/2/3. The fact that there are basically three levels brings a whole new feel, because you could be in a perfect spot to snipe one level, and yet get hammered by someone somewhere else. Although I do find it funny that people have already figured out how to jump on one of the house roofs.

That's my take on it so far. I will keep you informed, and will definitely update this ASAP once I actually get play a level of Killhouse. For your time, I leave you with this.

Over on Gamecritics.com, Brandon Erickson wrote a commentary about a new article posted in The International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction that probed the idea of video game addiction and whether it actual exists and/or whether the measurements used to diagnosis the addiction are flawed.



Overwhelmingly I found this article to be extremely refreshing. Not only did it bring an actual objective eye to the whole debate and focused more on a central route processing of the evidence rather than the source, it also pointedly recognized how much media hype has affected the view of video games (see Sterling's Rant). The article highlights the obvious flaws in the diagnosis of video game addiction by using a changed version of gambling addiction keys.

Probably the two strongest argument of the article is how it should be parents' responsibilities to teach their children the time management skills to handle video games and that the media has created a huge hype surrounding the idea of “video game addiction” that is far from founded in actually scientific research.


1)"For parents, it is arguably their responsibility to ensure that their children do not play video games excessively, in the same way that they should ensure that their children do not watch television excessively, or that they do not play football excessively etc. One might even say that it is the parents’ duty to teach their child how to manage their time effectively. This is not an easy task and some parents may find it easier to sometimes let their children carry on playing games longer than they should, or may not to even attempt to limit their play at all.
For some parents the fact that video games keep their children entertained may lead to an over reliance on the game as a “digital babysitter.” If the child has a computer or game console in their bedroom then it will be practically impossible to limit their play. Under these circumstances, it is no surprise that some parents may find it difficult to break their child’s habits when they eventually decide that enough is enough."


This sheds light on a major problem in our society. With the resurgence of women's rights and women returning to the workplace, many families are trying to juggle having kids with two careers and other commitments. Because there is less oversight by one or two of the parents, parents look for other avenues to entertain and watch their kids when both parents are busy with other commitments. Originally this was through child day care services or television shows on PBS or like "Sesame Street", but because of the time constraints associated with each option (Child Care usually operate only during normal business hours and television shows suitable for children are not on all the time) video games have become a great outlet to have kids use because it can be used at anytime within the confines of the house. I am not trying to say that ever 20 year old should blame their parents for their 4AM video game playing and missing their English Lit class, but parents are taking a backseat to their child's learning, letting teachers only teach them book smarts, and hoping their children learn street smarts on their own. The author does a great job of pointing to the parents and saying “These are your kids and it is your job to raise them.”



It has been such a surprise to me as I have grown up to watch the way parenting changes around me. Luckily most of it seemed to miss me by a few years but the changes are astounding. There are larger sections in book stores for parenting then philosophy or do it yourself manuals. I am only 20, but I remember when I was young and would go walk the mile down to my local school to play Power Rangers with my friends on the jungle gym when I was 12. Now kids can barely go anywhere without having to constantly check in. Even toddlers now have leashes to keep them in check. And yet with this obsession in fear and safety also comes with a lack of caring in learning and growth. I am not sure when parents stopped teaching their kids how to be working adults, but I think it was somewhere between my best friend not knowing how to write a check last year and an ex-girlfriend in high school who was in the top of our class but didn’t know how to wash her own clothes. Hopefully soon parents take the reigns again and actually teach and focus on their kids, or we are going to have a lot of really dumb people in really powerful positions.


2)“This fits with a growing body of evidence that
suggests addiction is the manifestation of poor coping abilities, either for dealing with
traumatic events (e.g., abuse) or in coping with the stress of everyday life…”


Bravo! It seems each week a new disorder or problem comes out that the American public has to be aware of. I remember when Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) (I thought PMS was a natural thing). We seem to become increasingly medicated in this country, even though those same medications seem to carry worse side effects (Coma, Death, Increase Gambling urges FTW).



Instead of society dealing with its problems by looking for the root of it, whether that be an event or just stress, we just pop pills in the vain hope that fixing our symptoms fixes the problem. I know personally I have retreated to GTA3 when my physics homework seemed so damn hard I wanted to give up. Video games as a coping mechanism should be celebrated rather than demonized. Instead of the world looking at video games and saying “It’s your fault that kids are overworked, overtired, lazy, unfit for society, and you are just another black addiction on our children”, it should instead look at itself and ask “Why do so many people retreat to video games to find relieve from the everyday world?”

In the end, a think a response article from another researcher sums up the argument well.


"We have a firmly held belief that excessive activity and addictive activity are two very different things (although admittedly they do overlap on occasions). The difference between healthy excessive enthusiasms and addictions are that healthy excessive enthusiasms add to life whereas addictions take away from it."