Mods are what make pc gaming for every one, yeah that is right they are what make the expensive pc format worth it for rich and budget gamers alike

• 27Nov 08

  My game design position paper on Piracy.

  (it had to be 1500 characters i made mine over 2000, i liked quoting different sources i have the links at the bottum, hope you all enjoy)

   

  Piracy, where, why, and how do we deal with it?  Is piracy a fault of community or legislation, how should publishers and developers best deal with piracy, and how shouldn't they?  These are the questions I want to explore in this position paper.

  Where better to begin than on the PC, the platform that is currently facing the largest piracy problem the world over, or is it?  Traditionally the PC market had a good amount of Casual and Hardcore players, with titles like Simcity and half-life flourishing on the same platform.  Currently the largest divide to arise is the one of the audience.  Titles like Sims have show how much sway the casual gamer has on that platform, or is it that the target market size isn't that much different but rather the mind/skill set.  Epic recently summarized it as

  "The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know [BitTorrent] all the elements so they can pirate software," says Cliff Bleszinski. "Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC." 

  Some developers think that the platform it's self is to blame, everyone remembers the college music scene after Napster, it has never been the same.  id CEO Todd Hollenshead was quoted saying;

  "I think that there's been this dirty little secret among hardware manufacturers, which is that the perception of free content--even if you're supposed to pay for it on PCs--is some sort hidden benefit that you get when you buy a PC, like a right to download music for free or a right to download pirated movies and games."

  Ironically if you travel to Asia, the number one platform for legitimate content is PC, look at the sales figures of any blizzard game, and realize that over half those sales came from Asia, numerous MMO's and Steam/Valve games do well too.  Why, is anyone's guess, but I think it's because of online DRM's and accounts for MMO's and Steam, and battle.net.  If you for example travel to china and visit an electronics retailer you can buy your X-box 360, get it "fixed" and then buy the pirated games for a third the price.  I played a pirated copy of COD 4 online in a ranked match at the store.  While you walk down the street and into a cyber café to play with legit PC game titles online in Battle.net, and through Steam.  The one thing these games and this market convey is how wrong epic and id are in there approach, maybe it isn't the PC platforms fault after all it provides the Dev with the greatest amount of flexibility in defending their IP.

  On the other side of that coin is the Secure ROM Star Force scandals flying around, and DRMs that limit installs.  For example EA's Spore used Secure ROM, the DRM installs to the 0 layer of the OS kernel, can't be removed without formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the OS.  This is nothing short of spyware in that if anything goes wrong with it your OS can be crippled.  This is reflected in a ****action lawsuit EA is facing,

  "Consumers are not warned about the program, which is installed without notice and cannot be uninstalled, even if the uninstall Spore, the complaint states. The secret SecuROM program is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations," the complaint states"

  Secure ROM and Star Force among others have faced large compatibility issues with various pieces of hard ware, people would take the game home only to find out that it was never going to install on their hard drive or through that disk drive because the anti piracy software determined that the computer wasn't safe.  This was originally disregarded as internet rumors, until several review publications actually encountered this problem themselves, StarForce will even cause problems on the computer making some drivers and software malfunction, sometimes resulting in other games and such not working.  Why a company would spend millions making a game and then include some broken anti piracy measures is beyond the comprehension of anyone.

  Adding insult to injury, many AAA pc titles to come out in the last year have install limits placed on them, effectively making it like you just rent your 50 dollar titles.  All this has lead to Pirated Games actually being a safer bet for gamers, you could spend 50 bucks to rent Spore and hope for the best, and install the spyware on your PC, or you could download the pirated version that runs just as well without the DRM.  I've heard cases of extreme fanboys buying the game then pirating it to go around the DRM while supporting the developer with their cash.  I think it's a sad day when a pirated game is a better product but that is the shape of things on the pc.  As for piracy being a PC problem, anyone who can Pirate on the PC, well the Wii and PS3 are cake by comparison, Bit torrent the Rom and burn it on the respective disk.  If you don't want to buy a blue ray burner you could probably install linux on your PS3 (it supports ubuntu) and hack it that way.  The 360 may be a little trickier in the US but cross the border into Mexico, a personal friend of mine studied abroad there and couldn't buy legit games so he got his xbox "fixed" to play the local fair, demonstrating how there is more of a industry around pirated console titles, vs. the shareware approach in PC piracy.  I find it ironic how developers are fixated on how much piracy the pc suffers in America, japan, and Europe, and don't care about the entire industry spawning from console piracy in the Asian, central & south American markets.  It's not only money they aren't making; it is money someone else is making.

  On another front, some developers and publishers are doing alright with this; Steam has proven to be great for the community in many respects.  Valve has made their steam platform irresistible, the provided community and in game communication functions (integrated VOIP and text chat combined with friends lists, and Clan support) paired with the digital distribution side (Full games often discounted prices plus integrated patching) make it a gaming platform that has surpassed x-box live in functionality and price (free).  The mix of great steam games (Half-life series, Counter- strike source, Day of Defeat Source, Team Fortress 2, and Portal) pull in players, and then the features keep them there.  You can even load non steam games into it, to add steam functionality to them.  For example I put COD 4 on my steam account for free so I could use the community features in game.  Steam will soon be an open source anti piracy solution as Valve has announced plans to basically give it away, or lease it for free to any institution or company who was interested.  Surprisingly more third party publishers haven't adapted this great solution, not only would it give the developers the tools to protect their work, but it would give gamers the out of the door community functionality that so many games lack.  Steam isn't hack proof, but Valve has been ever vigilant in updating and modifying it to keep thieves on their toes without inconveniencing the user base.

  The even better alternative many would argue is the one Stardock is proposing, they've turned down every anti-piracy possibility on their last couple games, and have declared that all future games will have none.  No disk in drive requirement, no CD key, no DRM.  Some think they are crazy, they think everyone else is crazy, Brad Wardell, president and CEO of Stardock, Says;

  "When I make a game, I focus on making games that I think will be the most profitable… when it comes time to make a game, I don't have a hard time thinking of a game I'd like to play. The hard part is coming up with a game that we can actually make that will be profitable. And that means looking at the market as a business not about trying to be 'cool."

  Basically saying designing Gears of War for the Wii isn't a good idea, but rather designing something for the market you want to purchase your product, rather than your Crysis no one can afford to run on their machine.  Their most recent effort Sins of a Solar Empire, was a huge success, as a budget development this earth shattering RTS changes the concept of scope and strategy, and as a original IP sold approximately a million copies so far.  Considering there were no TV adds, and no Huge E3 presence for this game it has sold pretty much on word of mouth, one million on such a game is amazing.  Stardock has managed to profitably create niche games, and cult games, something Tim Schafer has struggles with since he left Lucas Arts.  Maybe Epic and id have simply suffered a disconnect from their target market, because every Valve game sells extremely well, not World of Warcraft well, but very well for next to no advertisements.

                  So what is the best way to approach piracy, do you want to minimize it, minimize the theft, the lost sales, or punish the offender.  The only method not yet attempted is the legal route, it is criminal.  I doubt that the publishers would waste their time and money in the short run to pursue that route.  Though I think it is probably the only that you could really combat piracy in the long run.  The international scale of piracy and the limitations jurisdiction makes it an unreasonable pursuit.

                  At the end of the day I think steam has caught on to the best anti piracy scheme for PC, they do a great job of rewarding the Consumer for cooperating whilst keeping a tight lid on piracy.  Steam offers the community so much, and the only cost is your cooperation, your adaptation of their platform that they have crafted for you in and of itself combats piracy in every way, appeasing the consumer, punishing the cheater/thief.  If you are a pirate who justifies piracy through lack of money or accessibility or laziness, you can't get a better deal on software, than through steam, the convenience is second to none.

                  The problem then is how you approach the more blatant rip-offs occurring in unregulated markets like China, or Mexico.  Honestly the scale of it is only such because the government allows it to happen, the fact of the matter is that until either the larger publishers take interest/gain influence in those countries, or a stronger, more regulated international market occurs we won't be able to do a darn thing. 

  I just wish that Epic, id and EA, and many of the other developers who play the blame game when a title flops stop putting it on a community that up until that point supported them.  I remember when UT 2004 was sold out in my home town for two weeks, it sold so fast.  UT 3 flopped for a lot of reasons and I don't think piracy was a one of them, because it isn't any more present now than it was then.  You'd think a developer like epic would care a little more about some guy burning hundreds of copies of Gears to sell in china, than some zit faced kids lending their titles to each other in a generic suburb.  The ironic thing about these companies that make the stink about piracy they are also complaining to no end about renting and resale of their product.  Is it not that you buy a product to be able to do what you want.  Imagine buying a car and the manufacturer messes up your car when you try to sell it.  Epic and id have no right; they are just being greedy, and selfish.  None of those things are good for the development of an industry.  When a great game like spore, has a DRM that threatens the very platform you spent all your time and money building, it negates the efforts of the developers.  As Stardock and valve have shown, not playing the part of the jerk can work out great for everyone as well.

  
  

   

  Work Cited

  "http://kotaku.com/5056532/why-no-gears-of-war-2-for-pc-well-piracy-for-one"

  "http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54322"

  "http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/09/24/ea-faces-****action-lawsuit-over-spore-drm"

  "http://pc.ign.com/articles/858/858653p1.html"

  • Posted Nov 27, 2008 1:39 pm PT
  • Category: Opinion

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• 11Nov 08

  Rant, do developers ever change

  I've been a active gamer my whole life, i only became a active participant in the online community upon reaching high school, i was introduced to half life, and through that game i found mods, things have been getting more severe ever since.  i remember being in high school and being overwhelmed by battlefield 1942, it's scope it's beauty, it's lag, and it's complete lack of polish.  dice has come along way since that title, but something i don't expect from them is polish, or more than one playable game mode per title.  battlefield bad company came out this summer and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't polished by any means, there was a glitch in the demo that made it into the final game that  made it past silly reviewers in the media, some times guns stop firing, and the only way to get the fire action to work again is to switch to knife, hit melee until something happens then switch back to your gun.  a stupid almost game breaking glitch i don't even know if it's been removed because i don't have my xbox online right now.  mirrors edge by the sound of it is little different it contains e surance style cinemas that destroy the feel of the games presentation.  and some annoyingly tedious/glitchy combat.  plus a story that could have used a little development.   i feel like EA gave dice the chance to start over with this title but all we got was a 6 hour racing game with week story. despite being new and unique dice really missed the mark.  they did what allot of people thought they couldn't do, pull of the first person platforming, and messed up the combat, story, and over all presentation.

   

  Dice has been on the scene a while and i've learned that to be a fan of there games you must see past the technology and unbalanced experience into what is derived from the unique experience.  i am sad that this game didn't do more even with the limited scope and brief length they managed to not do what needed to be done to make this a successful experiment. 

  • Posted Nov 11, 2008 1:15 pm PT
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• 29Oct 08

  Game Design Journal #7:pacing and tutorials

  So as always i have several more games than i have time to play, one of those games is farcry 2. it is a very good game, but it, as the reviews say, has some short commings. the main one for me is pacing, keeping things from feeling to spread out boring or repetative is very important and sometimes this game is fantastic and sometimes it is horrible. farcry 2 is a game that does a few thing extremely well and a few other things not so well. for example you spend alot of time driving from place to place, the problem is that vehicles are no fun to drive and feel really silly. getting in and out of vehicles feels good but actually driving one reminded me of the vehicle physics in battlefield 1942. the enviroments are beautiful but relatively sterile compared to crysis's beaches and what not. the whole game world feels less than those of crysis(AI/animations), oblivion(truely dynamic world ai), and GTA 4(lived in feeling). but at the same time the interactivity of the world is totally different, for example setting a fire and seeing it propigate is a fascinating feeling. i guess that though this game may not immerse you in someones surreal creation like bioshock, but once you get past the horrible tutorial the game world takes on a naturally eveloving feeling as the use of the maleria to control player exploration and build connections with other people within the world. yeah you spennd a little to much time driving, and you get constantly bombarded by annoying patrol trucks with no alliance. these are stupid mistakes in a game that shows so much thought and hard work. perhaps we will see a expansion or something that addresses some of the games short commings. ok so i basically rambled in a circle, enjoy.
  .

  • Posted Oct 29, 2008 9:23 pm PT
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• 27Oct 08

  a movie so bad i posted on gamespot about it.

  SAW V

  This is probably one of the worst films i've sat all the way through i found no entertainment value what so ever. the story here is that a copy cat killer will continue the legacy but all the murders save one in the film where planned and aranged by the original jig saw killer so the new guy appears as nothing more than a pawn of his master. the story runs its self in a circle and was not deserving of it's screen time. a movie that is so predictable and shallow and punishingly pointlessly gory the first time will have no replay value. all i can say about the seven series this far is that they've made 5 movies trying to deepen the story and experience for the viewer but after all the moneey and effort this film appears as nothing more than a unoriginal Seven rip. where as seven doesn't try to create the villian into a hero but rather present the delema of pursueing/ being pursued by such a character. in seven since every hero character dies you must assume that you as the viewer are supposed to connect or relate to with jig saw. well everything that character had going for him was distroyed in this film, where he used to believe in rehabilitation. it shows that he was really just a deranged self righteous serial killer, with a fanboy. destroying the one reason for wathing the film, a compelling villian or anti hero however you want to look at jigsaw, writing him and his apprentice as they did resulted in me the viewer not caring any more. basically once and for all you see jig saw not as a vigilante or a agent of justice but as someone who is simply enjoying the act of playing god, he like any self righteous person says one thing while his actions say the opposite. if he wants justice why does he kill so many innocent people in pursuit of it, and why does he not deliver himself into his own rehabilitation program, lol. i could go on and on about how saw 5 is bad but i guess the ultimate sin of this film is that it thinks far to highly of its self and in such commits the same sin as so many of the individuals who play the game. that irony makes this films existence questionable and leaves us, the viewer feeling like the movie is more a money grab than anything.

  • Posted Oct 27, 2008 10:09 am PT
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• 9Oct 08

  Microsoft New EA?

  Microsoft is pulling off the old EA routine, they have basically cut back first party developement to Rare, Microsoft Games Studios, MGS previously owned bungie, fasa, Ensemble, bizare creations and rare, in the last year they've sut down fasa, ensemble, lost bungie and bizare creations, and only own rare, fasa and ensemble are two of the best pc developers, fasa made all the mechwarrior/assault/commander games, and the crimson skies games, their only weak project, but not a horrible game by any means was shadow run, but one stumble and the studio has been disolved, well ensembles AOE 3 may not have reviewed the best but it sold well over 2 million units so was a great success for a pc game. then in the middle of halo wars developement they announce the studio is closing. this reminds me of EA and westwood, amoung other scandals, nothing pisses gamers off more than a greedy mega publisher canabilizing studios in such a fashion.

  • Posted Oct 9, 2008 4:05 pm PT
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• 9Oct 08

  Game Design Journal:(if pcgaming is dieing) i just picked up two more pc games

  10-09-2008

  so i was at target and i saw that assasins creed and vegas two were on sale assasins creed was 30 and vegas 2 was 20. let me tell ya, if pc gaming is dieing it's from bad ports, i only played the first mission in vegas 2 but what a cheap expansion i can't believe it released for 60 bucks on the 360, the AI is horrible, the level design is bland and in areas is broken by a cover mechanic that is only as good as the level design, and no lean button is really silly. the interface is unintuitive and clunky like all the rainbow games (except 3) but doesn't have any of the tactical potential, the squad control interface would have been good if the squad AI wasn't the worst i've ever seen, i'm playin normal and am on the first level and they never properly advance to cover, i've only had them successfully block me, that is about the only thing they do. breaching a room is the only thing they are capable of, but getting them from room to room or through a open area gun fight is a exercise in frustration. i've only installed assasins creed but lets hope even though it too is from ubisoft, the champion of horrible ports. i can't for the life of me understand how a game like vegas 1 can degrade into vegas 2, and the story is absolutely the worst voice overs aren't synced to lips heck it feels like listening to a police scanner while playing a rainbow six game.

  • Posted Oct 9, 2008 12:22 pm PT
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• 8Oct 08

  my first game design review/preview

  i was tasked with playing a portion of ratchet and clank and then wrighting a review/analysis here is the assignment copy and pasted.

  Please use the following guidelines for this paper:
  
  First, provide the designers structure for the game (see document in Course Content).
  
  Next analyze the game and write about the following criteria:
  Originality of Concept.
  Originality of Gameplay.
  Quality of visuals and sound.
  Comparison to similar titles.
  Conclusion: How fun is it and why is it (or isn't it fun)
  
  Games outside of the Games For Review list may be considered, but they must be games the instructors are familiar with and they must be approved in advance.

  Ratchet and Clank Future Perfect is a PS3 exclusive title, the game play is based in third person action shooter genre with an art ****that is very cartoony and will undoubtedly be compared to Sly Cooper, Mario or Crash Bandicoot. I played approximately three hours of it and found it to be light on challenge and fun, but with no real drawback, making the game is easy to recommend. The player is tasked with a linear progression and simple AI adversaries. The draw of the game isn't what one would expect when looking at a shooter, you'd think immersive action, compelling story, but what I witnessed in my preview of the title was a game where the reward is in the humor, and the challenge is in the arsenal.

  Originality of Concept:

  The game is different from pretty much every other third person shooter/action game. Weapons are very ridiculous, often hilarious, AI is very simple and useless, and the humor woven into the whole thing is what pulls the player through the game. The story is very simple, stop bad guys save the universe, and at times (often) irrelevant, but the delivery of that boring story is like that of a good Pixar film your characters and their interactions are diverse and surprisingly entertaining. Humor in games has been tried and often failed. But this game to me shares more with Painkiller, Armed and Dangerous, and Serious Sam than with Mario. Weapons are inventive to say the least(a disco ball weapon!) you start with very traditional weapons(aka boring) and progress towards more rewarding fair as the game progresses. Though as I've mentioned the game only really takes the FPS formula of that proved successful if not fully realized and polished it and made it third person.

  Originality of Game play

  The Concept and the Game play are pretty closely linked, being a game with humor and action and then having the driving force of the game play also being one of the larger sources of amusement does a pretty good job of integrating everything together. The problem with the game though is that since the AI is so simple the combat is derivative and without a constant flow of new weapons it becomes a grind and not fun, you may use a new weapon two or three times before you bore of it, then default to the plasma pistol or lightning whip. Did I mention that weapons upgrade, well it's not that involved of a process. I really wish that new weapons came at a faster clip or that each one had multiple functions similar to UT or painkiller so that time spent switching weapons in the pause menu was a little less. I found that I felt compelled to stop playing the game after 20-30 minutes simply because a lot of it started feeling like grind. The game as I played it presented no real challenge, no penalty for dying, nothing, humor and curiosity where the only driving forces. Though I can see the inspirations for the gameplay design in this title I must say that it feels unique and well thought out, just a little thin in some spots.

  Look and Sound,

  While it is a solid game I still found the art and color of Mario galaxy to be far superior, the opener for the game is very visually solid/stunning but then as I progressed it felt less so. The Sound work is uneven. While the voice work, music and sound effect are all top notch and the presentation is good I felt that the mixing could have been better. The sound mixing felt flat, for a big budget ps3 title. The implementation of sound in the game makes the beautiful explosions fall flat on your ear drums. Over all a good job though animations are fun and exaggerated but I still prefer the nuanced animations of TF2. Again a fun and unique spin on the animated look that is starting to pop up more and more the closer to the uncanny valley games get.

  Comparison

  I found this game to compare to many games from across the board, the childish animated appearance of the game has many comparing it to Mario Galaxy, and Banjo and Kazooie the humor and weapons make it comparable to Serious Sam or Armed and Dangerous. I can't say that this game is revolutionary, but it is a good game. My only real problem is if you take away the interesting weapons the game isn't very compelling at all. It's hard to make the gameplay contingent on only one factor like a weapon and keep it replay able or interesting. With only one element that is compelling and every other game play element simple and second ****the game doesn't hold up well once you've seen its bag of tricks. I didn't finish the game but what I played of it left me feeling that way after the first couple play sessions. And as I mentioned this game made me feel compelled to put it down after 30 minutes but unlike other such games as world in conflict or guitar hero where you play for a little bit and move on I didn't feel any sense of achievement I put the controller down more from boredom than anything else.

  Conclusion:

  This is a good game and I would recommend it to people who are predisposed to these types of games. But I wouldn't say to my RPG loving roommate, quick go buy it, because really for all the flavor of the game it really has some missed potential. Maybe with stronger puzzle elements, or more developed AI, or more challenging boss battles this would have been one for the books. Instead it is a compilation of game play elements from across gaming history that feel unique only in their compiled state, but separate are only status quo.

  • Posted Oct 8, 2008 8:02 pm PT
  • Category: Games

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• 29Sep 08

  Game Design Journal #5Hype, design that is and isn't relavant.

  So myfascinationwith the flawed game of too human has lead to a granderanalyzationof flawed game design in general, and right now i'm attacking the hype monster and how it alters the perspective of reviewers. So many people considered halo3 and GTA4 to be the pinnacle of game design in the last 12 months, well yesterday i was playing GTA4, i've not yet beaten it so i haven't reviewed it consider this a rant on the game and it's over hype. 90 percent of critiques gave GTA4 a perfect review, i must say that though it does so many things that no other game has done most of the innovations are not gameplay centric, but ratherirrelevantto the actual play of the game. probably the most fantastic aspect of the game for me is the world the game world and its people feel so alive this game feels like a perfect evolution of the concepts explored in the oblivionpersistentworld with so many AI around you doing their own thing, you'll see people working on their cars, robbing cars, packing cars, hanging outcommittingcrimes, fighting swearing observing theirenvironment,observing you. The AI can grab onto stuff, i had a cop grab onto my driver sider door handle and keep holding on as i dragged him around,untili rubbed him off on a light pole. i had a gangster jump onto a landingpontoonof my helicopter, and hang on as i flew around till i shook him off after a few minutes and he fell to his death. this is all immersive, but at the end of the day the missions are in many ways more derivative than in the last game, the shooting and cover mechanics are nice but still stink, and don't work properly most of the time. the story is stillpredominantlylinear, this game doesn't even tell a compelling narrative most of the time you are a grunt working for a jerk who eventually you kill, and all the nice people you meet back stab you so you kill them too. somehow niko keeps gettingfresh-startsas he flees enemies and that means you move to a new island and start organized crimeunder someoneelse. for how compelling he is supposed to be as a character he is actually very derivative of every other organized crime game/movie/book. he's a guy who never really considered a 8-5 job he's not someone forced of cornered and trapped in crime. Niko is just a loyal criminal he is loyal to his job and his family. I don't feel like the driving is very complex since all cars drive essentially the same but with different degrees of excelleration, momentum and handling tweaks, you never feel like one car is a a front wheel drive car vs. rear wheel drive, vs. low end gearing or high end gearing. So i guess my problem with GTA 4 is just that for a perfect score i feel like the gameplay would be a little more with the times, instead GTA 4's gameplay is essentially the same as last time, with a semi branching story line that is not verysurprisingor compelling so far. Halo 3 was even worse for me, it felt like a b shooter, with slightly (not good enough) improved graphics, story that wasn'tsurprisingbut rather a rehash of the first game. and the supposed perfect online was crippled by a verynaivemutli player server concept that ultimately fails andsimultaneouslybreaks the game play. every game must strive to berelevant,adding forge to halo 3 doesn't justify the 60 dollars because the game isn't moving out of halo 1's shadow or even comparable to other releases of the day, orange box, bioshock, COD 4, all went leaps and bounds past every other game of there genres while halo 3 wasn't perfectlynostalgiclike painkiller, orcompetentlycomparative to it's peers. And that is where GTA 4 fails as well, though the world the sand box it creates is fantastic but the tools you are given are car jacked from other games and they look like they got damaged in the process, the cover system issuccessfullythe worst to ever come out, the auto aiming only seems relevant because character outlines and lighting make people often invisible, mean while the level design for story driven gunfight sequences is really bad and emphasizes theshortcomingsof the gunplay mechanics. enough ranting i know i've officiallysaidthe same thing a dozen different ways, I guessI'mjust a bit jaded and that games must really be unique or push in acertaindirection to get my attention.

  • Posted Sep 29, 2008 12:15 pm PT
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• 23Sep 08

  gamer design journal #4 : What should a sequel be

  so i was playing ninja gaiden 2 and wondering to myself, what should a sequel be. i think that a good sequel depends not only on how much time has passed since the original, but also what has happened in the genre, many developers wonder how to make fans happy, look at blizzard, star craft 2 is a great example, blizzard want to keep star craft 2 just like star craft one but with a visual update, this may be made more difficult by how much rts's have changed since star craft, mainly in the interface. after playing sup com or company of heroes, homeworld 2 or world in conflict, its hard to go back to the archaic control scheme that it seems blizzard is keeping to appease some korean tourney players. but then i look at games like diablo where the genre really peaked with diablo 2 and nothing has surpassed it yet, so for diablo 3 to be just a face lift and a new story might be just what we gamers/consumers want or expect. i haven't beat ninja gaiden 2 yet but i'm about half way through and i have to say that it is a vastly improved sequel, the combat (that was already the best in the industry) is twice as good thanks to finishing kills and more fantastic perfectly balanced weapons(the bosses over all are also much better, i've only had issue with three of the bosses) though i wish ninja gaiden had been a little more perfect it is all i could ask for as a fan of the original. lets hope it stays this good.

  • Posted Sep 23, 2008 7:41 am PT
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• 17Sep 08

  well last night was a funny night

  So i was gonna go to sleep at nine because i was so exausted, i was in a housemates room with some friends and they spotted a "mouse" well my response is get a splatter trap(traditional rat trap) and some peanut butter. so i leave to get the tools and i hear, "no it's a chip monk" well i hate chip monks, they are so much more destructive on so many levels, i turn around to see this thing for myself as i head back to the room, i hear" no wait its a baby squirrel, a flying squirrel" now my interest is peaked, i love squirrels. so i hurry over to see that it was rather a sugar glider, so with some distress we capture the little guy, now i have a sugar glider, i live in michigan currently, and this is not a native species, looks like someone lost a pet. i would advertise lost s ugar glider around the neighborhood, but these things are expensive and i feel like anyone who knows about them would claim them as their own. so today i have a sugar glider in my pocket. funny how the night turns out isn't it.

  • Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:17 am PT
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• 16Sep 08

  gamer design journal #3

  Well, i know i last talked about retro games, but i had a hankering for a new title so i went and bought three new games, i picked up ninja gaiden, battlefield bad company, and too human. now i know that none of these will be considered gaming classics, but i wanted something different and each of them has something unique to that game, you can probably guess what makes battle field and ninja gaiden appealing but why buy too human after the bland reviiews and what not, well i did it because i had wanted to play it ever since i heard about it. and because i was a fan of that developers work from back on the game cube(eternal darknes, twin snakes) well yesterday i didn't do much besides play too human and i'd like to summerize my feelings about it. i feel that this games developement was drastically effected by the epic lawsuit. the game feels six months shy of greatness in my mind. firstly let me explain this game plays like a rpg with devil may cry controls meaning the combat doesn't quite have the same kinetic feel of say ninja gaiden or devil may cry. the games presentation is often uneven, one second it's fantastic while the next it's horrible, the one thing i've consistently loved is the art design. it is fabulous. for all it's weaakness this game is still fun and unique so i do hope for the sequel and that it be better in every way. i'll right my review when i finish it. i must say that the original combination of gameplay and art design themes makes up for some of the shortfalls

  • Posted Sep 16, 2008 6:34 am PT
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• 15Sep 08

  going retro

  so over the summer i picked up a few classic rpg games to diversify my gaming experience, i now have bauldur's gate 1&2 with both expansion packs, and icewind dale 1&2 (and expansions) and temple of elemental evil, plus diablo 1 and 2. lets see how some of these games have aged i bought most of them in the bargain bin or in giant collections. for cheap. here's to hoping.

  • Posted Sep 15, 2008 8:36 am PT
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• 10Sep 08

  gamer journal #2: classic

  today i was playing a little counter-strike source before class and really enjoying the perfectly balanced gameplay with tight controls, and simple but deep design. counterstrike, and day of defeat, and team fortress and UT and Quake are all fantastic timeless games, the gameplay doesn't drastically differ iteration to iteration and the fun is always there, they are examples of games you can keep coming back too. the broewser based version of quake three launching this year will breath new life into that game, and i can't wait to hear what valve plans to do in the multi player spacein the future, a portal mp game perhaps?

  part of what keeps those online games playable is the fact that nothing has really changed in the last decade for interface in that genre so that you can go back and play counter strike 1.5 or source and the only difference is visuals. you can no longer say this of the rts space, games like company of heroes, supreme commander and world in conflict have forever changed the standhard of rts interface and gameplay, finaly realizing the potential of that gameplay type. problem is that most other big devs, like EA and blizzard are still pumping out the old type of game, with fixed cameras and clumbsy controls and no queing to help with the tedious micro management. after playing sup com and WIC i can't tolerate the interface for the previously timeless star craft or warcraft 3. i only hope that blizzard and ea(c&c) start embracing standards of the times rather than selling to a obscure korean professional gamer who love hotkeys and watching a novice struggle with micro management

  • Posted Sep 10, 2008 7:56 am PT
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• 9Sep 08

  Is it just me or is gamespot the slowest web site?

  so i was on campus using my eee for internet and i could barely connect to this website then when i clicked on my blog it crashed the browser, i restarted my computer but the lag and instability persisted, i got home and i tried my desktop using a different provider than the school and a different connection(DSL) and i get the same results. this website is running like a fat kid through deep mud, what gives?

  • Posted Sep 9, 2008 7:33 pm PT
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• 9Sep 08

  gamer journal #1 : windowdressing

  so i was playing call of duty last night and i have to say that ove these last two months my eyes have been opened. the game is the greatest case of window dressing it's a hairs breth away from being timeless but simple short falls ruin the game for me.

  first problem:

  spawn point placement, and spawn deaths.

  spawn point placement is a classic short fall in MP game design, many games have fixed this with spawning immunity or special spawn point placement, or advance spawn point placement ai, or spawn in areas. somehow it feels like 9 times out of ten in COD 4 they forgot about this, not only does this cascade other short falls like uneven level design, or circular design or spawn in flanks, it just frustrates the team deathmatch. this simple short fall really rears its head once you play more compititavely. this basic shortfall shows that this is the first time infinity ward has taken multiplayer seriously

  second problem

  choppers and air strikes

  really the only problem i have with these is tied into my original problem with spawn points, once one team starts winning the other team just starts spawning and dieing, thanks mainly to the choppers and air strikes, i've died four times in a row upon spawn thanks to these two momentum building power ups. agian facilitating the short sighted design of the multi player.

  so i hope that it doesn't sound like i don't like the game, cause i do. it's just that i find it a few simple mistakes away from deserving the game of the year status it was awarded. i have high hopes for COD 5 becuase tryach is much better at multi player than infinity ward in the past, just look at united offense and call of duty 3

  • Posted Sep 9, 2008 12:04 pm PT
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• 9Sep 08

  i'm taking a game design class at school this semester

  so i'm taking a game design class and this will become my online game journal/ blog and my teacher will be reading my excentric blog posts. so if you wonder why i've tamed my self this is why, ok, talk to you guys agian soon.

  • Posted Sep 9, 2008 10:10 am PT
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• 15Aug 08

  Linux, wow, if only it supported more games.

  well i,ve had my eee pc for a week and a half, first impressions are that linux is a far friendlier OS than windows, and still even friendlier than mac, the xandros build that shipped with my 20 gig eee pc 901 is really idiot proof, and in mac fashion limiting. but that is just this build of the OS. I've been trying and researching the other distros and i'm blown away by the platform, the price(zero dollars if you want), the potential, and the ease of use. every app you like for windows exists in one form or another on linux, you like microsoft office, well try on open office, photo shop, try gimp, it goes on and on. i experienced none of the silly windows problems when using my OS and the boot disk that cam with my computer will reinstall the 3.5 gig OS and productivity apps in 15 minutes. the biggest problem for this gamer is the lack of game support, i did nlite xp and install that but i'm missing xandros so much i'm reinstalling right now. i'm working on trying the virtualization or emulation softwars like wine to run windows apps in linux. i'll keep you guys posted on what this casual pc user(hard core gamer) experiences as i wade deeper into linux orange tinted water. i do plan to try ubuntu or kubuntu on my game rig, i've seen some phenominal desktop plugins that would be huge for me when i'm doing school work.

  http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=ubuntu%203d&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#

  if you want to see more just search for ubuntu interface, try looking for the ubuntu matrix video. talk to you guys later.

  • Posted Aug 15, 2008 9:26 pm PT
  • Category: Computers

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• 5Aug 08

  If only companies weren't so useless

  I've been pursueing the eee pc 901 for well over two months now and i'm tiring i've placed three seperate orders at different points in time, and about now if this one doesn't show i just won't buy the darn thing. first amazon where they told me it would take well over two months for it to come so i cancle and order from new egg since they are in stock then they cancel my oder because they had a fight with my credit card company. so now i just ordered from tiger direct. it's been a year since i placed a order online but on tiger direct you get hit up with taxes from five different states i found myself paying 60 dollars in taxes and i am just so tired i swallowed it like a champ. So much drama first month of the eee 901 series didn't have any linux versions available thanks to a microsoft strong arm typical of them in the 90's. i only wish that microsoft would stop bullying people into adopting or promoting their OS and instead return to the great days of 98, 2000 and xp when they made a good product. but alas i will hopefully have the laptop within the week and be able to write about it here. so much technical drama i am sorry to my friends that i have here that i haven't been active and that i haven't been online the xbox. i'm so buissy traveling and working. i hope to catch up with you all this fall. summer for me is only another month then i'll be a reacuring member of the community agian.

  • Posted Aug 5, 2008 7:21 pm PT
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