Blog Report

Here is some news!

The Man Who Will Bring Us To The Fourth Dimension [Feature]
Dragon Age II's New Look, Now In Screen Shots [Bioware]
This Chun-Li Has Tiny Thighs [Gameface]
Which Version Of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Should You Buy? [Deus Ex: Human Revolution]
The Dumb Reasons Publishers Passed On PS3 Hit Joe Danger [PS3]
Large Kinect Kiosk Sets Up Shop In Mall [Xbox 360]
Does The Gears Of Warring Of Harry Potter Go Too Far? [Ea]
Help Defend Gaming: Sign the Gamer Petition
God Of War Movie Trailer Is...Unexpectedly Brilliant [Clips]
Amazon As Market Research (For The Lonely Gamer) [Nsfw]
How to Hack Your Nintendo DS for Easy Backups and Single-Cartridge Playback [Gaming]
Questions And Answers About Blizzard's Real ID Plans [Blizzard]
A Guide To Building The 'Perfect Arcade' From Scratch [D.i.y.]
Kmart's Peer Game Reviews Gives Power To the People [Well Played]
Sony Explores Alternative to Split-Screen Multiplayer [Patent]
Scandal May Have 'Permanently Damaged' Tiger Woods PGA Tour [Golf]
Rumor: Namco vs Capcom, Capcom vs Namco In Development [Rumor]
Sony Commercial Ripped Off [Top]
Infants Found Wandering Streets While Father Plays PC Puzzler [Crime]
Learn The StarCraft Storyline In A Hurry [Blizzard]

E3 Wrap Up

Click the jump for my impressions of E3 and what the "big three" had to offer.

Marketing 101 - Blur Ad Campaign

With the latest generation of video game consoles reaching full stride, popular culture has created a menagerie of different gamers. This results in more mainstream ad campaigns for video games, and the opportunity for creativity. Bizarre Creations’ newest IP, “Blur”, is an arcade racer, heavy on vehicular combat and multiplayer. The latest ad campaign features a foodstuff named “Brock Lee”, who is tired of driving in kart races for babies and marvels at the “big boy” racing in Blur. It is all very tongue-in-cheek and clearly a shot at the traditional kart racing genre and its current leader, Mario Kart Wii. Despite any qualms you have with the “sharing” of ideas across IPs, I feel the marketing is effective and succinctly explains the games overall theme. After seeing this, a post appeared on Kotaku showing the French ad campaign behind Blur. The approach towards the ad campaign is significantly different, taking the more “traditional” approach to advertising a product. Let's look at the two ads after the jump and go from there:

Marketing 101: Giant Bomb Quests

I love all press in video games journalism, Bitmob.com especially. I read everything from everywhere and rarely go flaunting the content of one journalism outlet verse another, but Giant Bomb has done something that may have raised the bar for press outlets across the industry. Dare I say, all web sites across the Internet. The implementation of a Quest system for their users. See a synopsis of my most recent online addiction after the jump...

State of the Industry: Dimps is the New, New

Alright people,

Anyone who has read this blog knows from time to time I like to poke fun at our old friend Sonic. But it would appear that his name is about to be redeemed, as shown in the clip below.

That's right! Everyone's favorite hedgehog is getting a proper sequel with the release of Sonic 4.

But, is it too late?! Has years and years of punishment inflicted on the gaming populous supposed to be forgotten? Probably not, although Sonic Team appears to be taking a back seat to this project and leaving it in the capable hands of Dimps. A studio responsible for the last 2 good sonic franchises (Sonic Rush series, Sonic Advance series) and not the recent horrors released by Sonic Team (Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight, Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic the Hedgehog 2006).

So should I be excited? I am hot and cold on this one as well. Having been burned by some of these previous titles myself there is not a really good answer. Sure, 2D Sonic has always been the best Sonic, so logically a 2.5D version is the version most consumers had been waiting for. But something in me feels like maybe too much time has passed. Maybe that sense of speed that I loved was somehow attached to nostalgia and not gameplay. Platforming has never been Sonic's strong suit, despite the game being considered a platformer.

Who is Dimps? Well, if you have played pretty much any Dragonball game for PS2, PS3, or Xbox360, then you know who Dimps is. Still not following me? How about Street Fighter 4, have you played that game? Thought so. So, these guys make good games, some would say great games. This studio was founded in Osaka, Japan by former SNK lead designer Takashi Nishiyama on March 6, 2000. This gentleman could be considered the father of the various 2D fighting franchises, of which SNK was made famous by (Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, & King of Fighters).

A moment of concern comes with the tagline following Sonic 4, "Episode 1".... Why oh why Sega would this game be episodic? It just does not seem like Sonic 4 would benefit from this distribution model. Sure, download only is the way to go, following the success of titles like Shadow Complex or S'plosion Man, but Episodic? Really? Only time will tell whether or not this franchise has officially gone bust; but while we wait, there is still room to make fun of Sonic after the jump.

State of the Industry: The Landscape of 2010 part 3

Really quick, to wrap up the expectations for the rest of the year, I feel I have to mention the advent of motion control. Much like online connectivity, hard drives and now Netflix; Motion Control seems destined to become the next industry standard for video game consoles, for better or worse... Let's take a really quick look at all the different offerings we should expect.

Wii & "The Motion Plus"- Wii Motion Plus has been available since 2009. It is essentially supported by only a hand full of titles and 2010 would seem like the year that would change, but Nintendo has been pretty quiet about it. Red Steel 2 is coming and hopefully a Zelda which supports the motion plus, but why has the focus shifted to the vitality sensor so quickly? It would seem prudent that their hardware be accompanied by comparable software.

PS3 & "The Arc" - Not much changing here, as Sony delays it's release of the new motion sensing peripherals, no rumored to be called "the arc". The delay is apparently for software reasons and that at least puts my mind at ease, knowing if I buy it, there will be things for me to do with it. Expect it to ship early next holiday season.

Xbox360 & "Project Natal" - Microsoft too  has found some issue with their new motion sensing device, and apparently the cost was too high for 'Natal' to have its own processor. Now games will have to give up 30% of the 360's core and games will be limited in scope. Apparently this will not be affecting the release schedule though and consumers should expect to see it early next holiday season as well.

*Note: All images are a result of Google Image search

State of the Industry: The Landscape of 2010 part 2

And the beat goes on as we look at the second half of 2010 and what the future holds. I would of course take any release dates you may have heard with a grain of salt. Many of these triple-A titles will hit a snag before going gold, so these are the top ten titles I would like to tentatively see drop in the later half of the year. 

1. The Last Gaurdian - Fumito Ueda and Team Ico make art as games and their narrative is prolific. Should be a must own PS3 title.

2. Dead Rising 2 - Capcom is bringing back the horde and the ability to create weapons, means all new ways to kill zombies.
3. Fable 3 - Peter Monyluex and Lionhead have a vision for the Fable universe that involves a level of immersion unseen in most games. I felt the last one fell short, but was getting very close.

4. Brink - Interesting theories on traversing the enviroment and combat, with a fresh art style. All good things.

5. Metal Gear Solid Rising - Just watch Raiden fight the Geckos in MGS4 and tell me you don't want to play that scene.

6. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Kojima does Castlevania???!!!

7. Halo Reach - Bungie's swan song?

8. Final Fantasy Versus 13 - I have no idea what to expect...please don't be Dirge of Cerberus, please don't be Dirge of Cerberus...

9. Deadspace 2 - Isaac is back and he has a zero gravity suit that doesn't suck

10. Crackdown 2 - Blow shit up with me!

Check back in for the final post on how "motion control" may try to become a standard of practice in 2010 and on.

*Note: all images are the result of a google image search and amazon.com

State of the Industry: The Landscape of 2010 part 1

2009 is coming to a close and it seems like 2010, despite any economic woes from the past year, is going to be jam packed with games. Now since everyone loves lists, whether it’s the convenient packaging of all the information or the opportunity to argue about why one thing comes before another, but in an attempt to avoid these scenarios; I am making two top 10 lists (first half of the year / second half of the year) and ranking them based on personal taste. Rather than having my long drawn out recommendations as I am sure you readers are acustomed too, all my reasons will be as consice as possible. Plus, if you have a different view, feel free to let me know in the comments section; that’s why it’s there. Alright, first half of 2010, GO!

1. God of War 3 – I have to know how the story ends and killing gods is oh so much fun.

2. Final Fantasy 13 – It has been far too long…

3. Mass Effect 2 – Bioware is on a roll and interrupting conversations with a blaster fire makes me feel like Han Solo.

4. Splinter Cell Conviction –  It might actually come out!

5. Red Dead Redemption – Rockstar has a knack for creating a game whose setting is a character unto itself.                                                                                                                
6. Alan Wake – Because of Remedy and my love for their games. \

7. Gran Turismo 5 – Again, it might actually come out!!

8. 3D Dot Heroes – It is just a really good idea.

9. Dark Void – I really dug the Rocketeer as a kid and “vertical cover” sounds ambitious / ridiculous.

10. Bioshock 2 – It’s an unnecessary sequel (IMO) to a great game and I hope they prove me wrong.

Now that is basically some of the most important games for the first half of 2010. Look for part 2 of this post to see what the 2nd half of 2010 holds in store for me and possibly you.

*Note: all game covers can be found on Amazon.com

State of the Industry: “Snack-Sized” Gaming

Listening to a recent episode of Rebel FM podcast, a listener posed the question regarding a saturation in game development and whether or not it is hindering innovation. While the debate for whether or not the video games industry is beginning to reach a point of saturation is just starting to brew, I think it is important to see how the landscape of game development is expanding. Due to this generation’s hardware becoming more externalized thanks to the internet, video games have truly become a part of main stream culture more than ever (much of this is also do to the Nintendo Wii). Moms are becoming the target of many publishers, your grandparents may soon be proud owners of the latest Nintendo portable and our pets can even have their own gamertag. While that last one may be a myopic point, game development is becoming more and more competitive, because there are so many markets to produce for. Publishers and Studios have undergone a lot of changes over the past year, due mostly to the state of the economy and frankly some bad decisions, changing the landscape indefinitely. Looking into how games are being published and developed today, as compared to say 5 years ago and we are starting to see a few emerging trends.


Small Developers, Big Ideas 

Indie Games have seen their share of failure over the past couple of years, but some have found great success on the platforms available to them. If you look at the metrics provided by Simon Carless at this years Independent Games Festival, PSN and Xbox Live have allotted 20% of independent games published the critical acclaim they deserved. Some examples of these include Castle Crashers, Shatter, Flow, Braid, Splosion Man, and Noby Noby Boy. The other 80% leaves a 50/50 chance to either succeed or fall flat. The Wii does not carry as much strength in this scene and once you carry over into the iPhone and PC market, it becomes highly competitive due to the developer base.

Looking at the studio behind the hit Castle Crashers, The Behemoth, it started out as two guys (Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin) making a flash game, Alien Hominid. Less than a year after the games stellar reception on PC, they were approached with an offer to port Alien Hominid to consoles. This would create the studio, bring in 2 more people and lead to the creation of Castle Crashers, one of the highest downloaded Xbox Live titles of all time. Braid is another fantastic example of a small studio, with big ideas. A brain child of Programmer Jonathan Blow, who without any art design, won the "Innovation in Game Design" award at the 2006 Independent Games Festival based on mechanics alone. Then he would contact David Hellman to bring a sense of style to Braid, where it would go on to find critical success on Xbox Live, PC and very soon the PS3. All of this might have been possible on PC 5 years ago, but for consoles, getting games like these pressed onto disc would have been a very expensive process. Some of the hallmarks of this genre are deserving of such a thing, but before their grand reception, it would have been a much more difficult process without digital distribution. This cannot always be a good thing, because with freedom from publishing costs, with each good idea there is comparable number of bad idea, but with respect to opportunity, it is ultimately good for the industry in my opinion.

“Snack-Sized” Gaming

As an adult gamer (I use this term loosely when describing myself), time is scarce to game. Work, school, and personal responsibility; all eat into my free time for gaming and sometimes I can't find enough time in the day to play a Dragon Age or Final Fantasy. Developers recognize this and with platforms like the iPhone, DSi and PSP, they are trying to develop games that are less immersive. A game where you could pick it up for 15 minutes, kill a few bad guys and go back to reality, doing whatever it is you do. John Davison, back on an old episode of the 1up podcasts referred to this style of games as "Snack-Sized", implying that it keeps that hunger we have to game at bay, while we are too busy for a 3 hour grind. It is a small snack for our insatiable appetite to game. The genius behind this is the way portable gaming is pushing the industry in new directions. The iPhone especially has started to affect the common price point of a downloadable title. At first, $10 doesn't seem like alot of money for a few hours of content. Going to a movie costs the same amount of money and 9 times out of 10 the most you will get is 120 minutes, including the commercials. (WTF is up with movie theaters and all the commercials now? Nevermind, not going to rant on that). With so much competition, price is being driven lower and lower. Some games will even hold specials on the iTunes store, dropping the price to $.99 for a limited time. You better believe people flock to that. Steam on PC does the same thing and has also found results.

Now, PSP has begun selling "Minis", "Snack-Sized" games which are targeting the exact same market as the iPhone. In fact, some of the games are direct ports of iPhone games and Sony has received some harsh feedback for selling them at prices much higher than a person can currently get on the iPhone. Casual gamers tend to be the main audience, since immersion is not the reason many of these people game. Instead, it is more of a time suck, a way to make the space between personal events or activities seem shorter. With the iPhone, Apple has the advantage. Most people will already have the phone on them for various reasons and whether your hoping on a quick flight or riding the train to work, "Snack-Sized" gaming will be there to help the time fly. But, as time goes on, the PSPgo is a much better piece of hardware for developing games, so in the right hands, Sony should be able to find a place with that audience. They just have to drop the price of the hardware.

Digital Distribution for Every Console

I have talked about this many times in previous posts, but I think that digital distribution is finally getting full support across all platforms. PSPgo is the latest piece of hardware to utilize it and Sony has decided that this platform will be exclusively digital distribution. Truly, for gaming this is a first for our generation. iPhone may have been the catalyst, but lets face it, that piece of hardware is a phone first and everything else second. But the PSPgo is all about the games. Although its launch was floundered by a poor price point and other issues, it will pioneer a future where digital distribution may become the primary method of delivering video games. I would go into how the Internet and Flash started the entire idea of video gaming in snack size, but my primary concentration was on consoles and how they have changed. Certainly, all games have roots in the personal computer.

*all pictures are a result of Google Image Search