Gaming Outdoors: SGC 2009

Here in Dallas, on this fine holiday weekend, I am at the Westin Hotel, taking in some gaming, as Screw Attack games holds a convention. Sat down at Capcom vs. SNK 2 almost seconds after walking in the door and I feel right at home. It's early in the start of this event, but there is a keynote coming from Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) @ 5, a panel with the infamous Jack Thompson and much more to come. So stay tuned. Oh yeah, Sonic is here too. Guess those video game royalties are starting to run out...


-- Post From My iPhone

State of the industry: Motion Sickness

Almost a month has passed since E3, and of all the news to come out of it, one seems to be in the front of gamers mind, motion control. Clearly becoming the future of gaming; Microsoft and Sony have both come to the stage with their own interpretations, with mixed impressions. Not only that, Nintendo has upgraded their version of motion control, and it has already been released. Basically, I want to look at the tech behind these three devices and consider their applications.

The Wii Motion Plus is already available in stores and it hopes to bring the 3D depth of field that hopes to improve upon the precision in the gamers hands. I decided to give it a shot and purchased some Tiger Woods 2010 and EA's Grand Slam Tennis. First of all, DO NOT buy Grand Slam Tennis, unless you don't own Wii Sports. The Motion Plus does not give your player freedom of motion, and your swings are basically button inputs, regardless of the precision. I was most disappointed by the career mode (only 4 tournaments and limited character creation) and the serve, which was completely based on timing and you cannot overhand swing at your discretion. But the Tiger is a different story alltogether, in fact, not only is the golf fantastic, but the disc golf is a welcome addition to the EA sports line up. The swing has also improved, allowing players to draw or fade with a flick of their wrist. I really think Nintendo may have the tech to spur another 2 years into the Wii's life, as long as the software is there to support it. But as for the future of motion control, the Wii will be left in the dust. Nintendo should be into some heavy R&D to compete with the next two technologies.

Moving on, the most impressive or at least, the most ground breaking is Microsofts Natal. This combination of multiple cameras and it's own microprocessor allow for the user to interact in full stereoscopic 3D, extremely simliar to the ping pong ball motion trackers used in modeling characters in games now. There 3 main tech demos being shown now include; a breakout esque full body motion game, Milo an interactive Ai, and it's application to existing games such as Burnout. First impressions of seeing it at E3 were impressive, the camera seemed to respond well to user input and the NXE was cool, being able to log you in on your face alone.

Milo on the other hand creeped me out, the premise of coming home from work and hanging out with some British tween boy does not appeal to me, but the concept of interacting with ones face and voice may peak my interest yet. If I relate using the tech in the last conversation I had with an NPC in the latest RPG, I think that aspect holds potential in changing the way we play games. Making the way studios develop new games with the Natal, what I am most optimistic about. If they make games we want to play, then the hardware will sell. Although, games that I enjoy may not interest others.

And thats why Sony is making the tech I want now. Mash up of both technologies, by incorporating a camera and remote. Albiet the remote is not the most asthetically pleasing ( many have compared it to a sex toy), I cannot deny the application of necessity, Buttons. In my opinion, games and their interactive enviroments are still far to complex to interact with using only our bodies.

Looking at a game like Zelda, the idea of sword play seems realized by sony's tech demo, and with the ability of the camera to provide facial recognition or even head tracking, it's really the best of both worlds. This is what I want in my motion technology, to play Fable 2 and interact in some high fantasy story. And if any of these techs provide this, I would be satisfied. To read up on more Sony tech, please check out my E3 Wrap Up.

After the industry debating this left and right, I am done with all this motion technology. Hopefully I can spend the next couple months on the couch, moving only my fingers...and maybe an eye or two.

*All pictures are result of a Google image search

Gaming Outdoors: Final Fantasy in Dallas

The girlfriend and I went to the Myerson for an evening of drinks, music and best of all Final Fantasy. Having played almost all of the games at one time or another I am a huge fan. And the music by Nobuo Uematsu has to be some of the most prolific for our medium. It was nothing short of fantastic hits across all generations, a sneak peek of FF14 (same as E3) and a video message from Nobuo-san; mostly in regards to his love of ping pong. All in all the night was a success and I hope the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will do it again. For the future shows, we need more cosplay.


-- Post From My iPhone

FTW!

-- Post From My iPhone

iPhone 3G S

Just pre-ordered mine last night and it should be delivered on June 19th. I bought the 16 GB White. Lots of new games to play. Anyone else gonna jump on the band wagon?



image courtesy of:

http://images.macnn.com/macnn/news/0906/iphone3gs.jpg

E3 2009: Press Conferences

For gamers everywhere, E3 is the convention where publishers and developers come to hype the future of gaming. In the past its infamy had dwindled, but as the ESA promised, E3 is back! Now there is a ton of content to cover from the convention, so I will leave most of that up to the professionals. Since the basic business model for any developer involves a console on which to develop these games; Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony hold some of the most significant press conferences of the show. I am going to run through their conferences double time, and give consensus on my best game and technology picks from the show.

Microsoft



Coming out the gates running, Microsoft brought the Harmonix team and a few Beatles to introduce the new Rockband. The pacing of the show was an interesting point, as Microsoft was the only one of the three to avoid business metrics, sales forecast or those pesky charts which typically slow down the intensity of new releases. The focus on the lineup included titles like Splinter cell: Conviction, Halo 3: ODST and Forza 3 headlining the exclusives for the year. While other 3rd party hits include; Alan Wake, Assassins Creed 2, Tony Hawk Ride, and Metal Gear Solid Rising.




New tech included some updates to the OS which bring facebook and Twitter functionality and of course, Microsoft answer to "waggle", Project Natal. This camera will capture the gamer in a full motion interactive experience that looks to change the way we game. The most prominent example lies in Peter Monyluex's experiment Milo. Check it out, there are some good explanations of Natal's potential at the following sites:

http://kotaku.com/5274539/see-microsofts-project-natal-in-action
http://kotaku.com/5274554/molyneuxs-milo-brings-a-virtual-child-to-the-xbox-360

Nintendo

Moving on through to Nintendo, who also had a slew of exclusives which include New Super Mario Brothers Wii, Wii fit plus, and Wii Sports Resort. All seem to play on the same fundamental Nintendo experience we know and love. They reintroduced the Motion Plus hardware again and also brought out the vitality sensor. What is this mysterious device? Click the link below for an explanation.



http://kotaku.com/5276350/wii-vitality-sensor-gets-smoothly-fingered

Besides any practical life saving applications, it hopes to further integrate one's health into the gaming experience. In my opinion, it has been developed to shed light on the stressed induced lifestyle of the Japanese salaryman, and Nintendo sees that as a potential market, so this may find its niche. Mario Galaxy 2 was also announced in the closing minutes, as was a Metroid reboot called Other M. With the Metroid Trilogy also recently announced, it would seem for Nintendo, this is the year of Metroid and Mario.

Sony

Lastly, was Sony and if not for the leaks, they seemed to bring the most surprises. The exclusive lineup including; God of War 3, Gran Turismo 5, Drakes Fortune 2, M.A.G, and the newly announced Rockstar North game Agent. Along side those exclusives comes a new iteration in the Play. Create. Share. platform called Modnation Racers; which can be best described as Little Big Planet does kart racing. The track builder looked highly intuitive and I was impressed with its potential.

The PSP GO! seemed to be the biggest not* surprise of the conference. By making the device solely dependent on digital download to provide all forms of media is a bold move for Sony. It is a step towards the future though, and as more and more publishers are learning to embrace this and consumers will eventually come to love the portability of a handheld console with no cartridges. The only real negative point I see is the $250 price tag, which after Apples recent announcement of the iPhone selling for $99 (3G 8gb), the PSP may have a little trouble selling outside the core gamer. Sony also brought their new motion technology and demoed it live. Its mix of peripheral and camera functionality the brings similar game play style of a Wii with more precision. The controller although, while not aesthetically pleasing, does work and has potential to be competitive in the motion control gaming sector. You can see it in action here.

*It was leaked a month before the conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGcOPwAvPvc

And the winners are...

Best Game: Splinter Cell Conviction

To be honest, before this conference I had written this game off. Since the release of Assassins Creed, Splinter Cell seemed less appeal ling to me. I had play the first two iterations and enjoyed them, but found Double Agent to be kind of broken and never played past the first couple hours. So when they revamped their style and approach to this game I had no expectations. Which in retrospect was good, because the demo blew me away. It is still sporty the same gritty protagonist and fundamental stealth combat, but its presentation is why I am so giddy over this game. First, the mission objectives are taking a prime time TV (a la Fringe) approach to informing the player and explaining the ongoing story elements through a projector like image on the actual environments around you. With that comes a new combat system where the player can assign kill commands to multiple enemies and then execute them seamlessly through a single button press. There seem to be other mechanics which affect stealth, such as playing off the enemy seeing your last position and then moving in the shadows as they stare at the column they think your behind while you take them out. All of this is extremely clean and calculated visually. Hopefully Ubi Soft delivers.

Runner up: Scribblenauts

Has to be the most creative thing at E3. Forget all the motion sensors and vitality monitors. Give me a game with a library of hundreds of thousands of objects or nouns and tell me it isn't a good time. The objective of Scribblenuats is to use your diverse vocabulary to solve puzzles by creating in game objects. To create something you only have to spell it and the results are as gratifying as they are hilarious. Have you ever wondered who would win if you pit God against the Devil against Kthulu? Well check out some videos online and see what some of the attendees came up with as they tried to stump Scribblenauts.

Best Tech: Sony Motion Control

Here is where I will potentially get flamed. Sure Microsoft's Project Natal is great and it has the potential to change the way we play games, but I am not sure I want that. So how is Sony different? They are trying to do everything the Wii promised it would. First, accuracy, which by watching the tech demo of this guy tickle a skeleton rib cage before he sliced of its head shows how precise this device really is. But if Microsoft can do that, why is this better. BUTTONS, we need buttons to interact with the virtual world. How can I play a game like Fable 2 with no buttons? Or Left for Dead? Or Madden 2010? Sure, these might not be the games you would use motion control for, but if you had buttons, I am pretty sure you could. So, for now, the type of gamer I am and the gaming I want to do, I want my buttons. Even if there is a little physical activity involved.

To finish on a lighter note:

**all images are the result of google image search.

Play it NOW!: inFamous

By no means am I going to try and make this blog into a place for reviewing video games. Companies have been built and burned to the ground, in the pursuit of providing consumers un biased reviews and I only want to show you the new game that is blowing my mind. Bringing us to the topic at hand; inFamous. Sucker Punch Studios newest IP, inFamous tries to mash up the parkour, free running style of Sly Cooper, with the gritty, electrifying, adventure of a graphic novel. Across 4 days I was consumed by Cole and his journey through Empire City. It ran at around 15+ hours for me and I was at 70% complete when I finished the story. One thing that inFamous has embraced is the moral choice paradigm, where the choices the player makes affects their affinity between good or evil.



This in turn not only influences things in your enviroment, physical attributes and powers you possess, but changes the story as Cole can become one of two people. On my first spin through I chose the path of evil and before it was said and done Cole had become a shadow of his former self. For me, the fun was found in Cole's diverse powers and platforming abilities. His power allowed him to traverse building tops and city streets as quickly as the energy which powers him and when it comes to power, Cole possesses some of the most fun abilities any gamer could wish for. No spoilers here, but if the idea of grinding across a a power line while dropping electric grenades and picking off opponents with a well placed blast in the face sounds appealling, you should play it now.


*all images come from google image search

E3 2009 Begins

So here comes the content. I have been watching some of the coverage on G4, but have a list of podcasts and blogs already filling my inbox. Just saw Tim Schafer and Jack Black preview Brutal Legend, should be seriously metal! Anyway, like E3, I am trying to bring a plethora of topics to the blog. Some of which I hope to frequent include: Retro Gaming Round Up, Gaming Outdoors, State of the Industry, Recommended Reading, Focus Test, and Play it NOW. So, stay tuned as I will bring impressions from the press conferences by the "Big Three" over the next week and all the coverage in the industry throughout the rest of the year.

Thanks for reading

Aloha!: Waimoku Falls

Hey, just checking in, seeing whats going on in reality. Out here we have been off the grid for a few days. Went out to the eastern edge of the island and camped off the coast, truly beautiful stuff. You can see some pics of Waimoku Falls, a hike we made the next morning and the Oheo pools we swam in. Just click the link to your right. Well, off to snorkel Black Rock Beach.

Sean

State of the Industry: Cancelled?!

Still haven't posted my paper on marketing to video game consumers during the recession, but I have a good reason. Might be able to have it published, so I am going to have to wait before I post it on the blog. Don't worry though, I have lots of content planned for the sight, maybe a few new monthly topics and updates for everything to come.

Aloha!

Landed in Hawaii last night. Lots of fun to come, so stay tuned!

Retro Gaming Round Up: Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring

Many of you will remember a little game from 1992 called Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing; sure Nintendo had it's Punch Out!! and George Foreman's KO boxing, but if you owned a Sega Genesis it was all about the Holyfield. So, while cleaning out my garage, I found a mysterious box that belonged to my roommate, which low and behold it contained gaming gold!! The original Sega Mega-Drive and Sega Genesis in working condition! From Mortal Kombat to Sonic the Hedgehog, a plethora of childhood memories rushed back and there seemed to be enough entertainment to quench my thirst for retro gaming. But, when I found the spiritual successor to Holyfield's video game debut, titled Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring, only one thought ran through my head... to quote Michael Buffer "Let's get ready to rumble!!"

Now, although I never owned a Genesis, my neighbor did and at an age of 8, it seemed like one of the coolest things on the planet (until I got a Super Nintendo). Playing Holyfield boxing in his musky basement happens to be one of my fondest memories of the Genesis. I couldn't tell you if critics thought it was a great game back then, but to me it was the closest I could get to the ring. I guess my nostalgia could have skewed my memory of the game, but I had to see if it still felt the same.

So, I jumped right in and started pummeling the NPC's. It all was what I could remember with a fighting system reminiscant of a digital "Rock'em Sock'em Robots". One thing I noticed after a couple fights was the technical aspect of the gameplay hidden behind the simple controls; where Muhammad Ali was a little faster and threw lots of Jabs, Rocky Marciano was a brawler going for the big hits. It was nice to see that not every fighter felt the same. The Sound & Graphics were crispy on my HDTV (smirk), but hey thats why its retro. After a couple hours fatigue was beginning to set in. Not that I was physically tired, but I had become desensitized to the wonder games like this brought me. Instead, if the NPC made it to round 5, I found myself becoming bored. A game that I once played on and off for hours on end had become tedious. With only 3 real punches per boxer and limited movement and guarding, I realized that somethings will never be the same. Since playing boxing games like Fight Night, from a technical aspect, this game cannot provide my brain entertainment for more than a couple matches. I am not unhappy with my latest experience in retro gaming. I am more disappointed in the realization that my expectations can never be met by playing this game, since I am not the 8 year old in my neighbors musky basement anymore.

State of the Industry: Cancelled?!

Well not exactly. Because of a grad. school paper I will have to work on over the next 2 weeks, I will be putting this months state of the industry out in chunks, so I don't try and fit 1,000 words into a blog post. Topic for the month should be a good one though, "How Companies in the Industry Have Responded to the Recession." So be on the watch for that. In the mean time, enjoy this...

http://www.c2i.ntu.edu.sg/AI+CI/Humor/AI_Jokes/img/GraduateSchoolTest.gif

On Twitter now.

just look up speedracerUNT.

Look at this Pic!

Thought it was pretty cool. Mad props to Kei Acedera for her creativity.

Pic can be found online @ https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7C56kZJk7ashU1OzLG9o9crFbDLMvg8YFFjLySYhlVfB4WExS08-1PHO9L-Dqb_gdMAAbAz8Ap7kzakHoelaVC2dieuDfGpfx8xw-M95J6aHh4yljFn_GJvW0uT5ylagkPXOBmY_GnkFl/s400/cute-street-fighter-kei-acedera.jpg

State of the Industry: Digital Distribution

Two weeks ago, GDC was held in San Francisco, I was not lucky enough to have gone, but through numerous plugs, podcasts and G4 I noticed that Digital Distribution has become a hot topic again. I suppose it never stopped being a topic; instead it was simply reintroduced in a new medium called OnLive. Never heard of it? Neither had anyone else until this conference and it has brought out the skeptics in the industry. I can't decide what to believe, as I have yet to experience it for myself, but for this post lets explore what OnLive does (theoretically) and how it could change the industry. Here is a quick synopsis off their website:



"OnLive is launching the world’s highest performance Games On Demand service, instantly delivering the latest high-end titles over home broadband Internet to the TV and entry-level PCs and Macs. Founded by noted technology entrepreneur Steve Perlman (WebTV, QuickTime) and incubated within the Rearden media and technology incubator, OnLive spent seven years in stealth development before officially unveiling in March 2009. OnLive, together with its Mova subsidiary, lies directly at the nexus of several key trends, all of which are reshaping the way we think about and use digital media: The shift to cloud computing, displacing the limitations, cost and complexity of local computing; An explosion of consumer broadband connectivity, bringing fast bandwidth to the home; Unprecedented innovation, creativity and expansion within"




Basically, you log in via the set top device or a personal computer (mac included) and using "cloud" technology; the OnLive servers are able to stream a games video into that said device. You would have to connect some sort of input device, but all the processing and graphics are computed at the server and you are essentially watching a video of what you are playing as you play (hopefully lag free). It works, in a controlled setting, as developers demoed it at GDC, but on a massive scale it seems wrought with road blocks. For example; not all publishers have signed on (although EA, Ubisoft, Take-two, and 9 other publishers are go for launch), the distance to a server is a factor (about 1000 miles), and most ISPs have bandwidth caps, making it seem more difficult for adoption by the masses. In time, all this will be overcome and for developers/publishers, it will be a more profitable direction to eliminate the retailer. Because in the end, all developers aim to do is get their games to consumers in the simplest way possible.

The Zeebo aims to due something similar for 3rd world gamers, buy offering affordable downloads, on a 3G network. With an initial launched scheduled for Brazil this year, Zeebo will hope to bring gaming to locations in the world, currently NOT supported by next generation systems. They too offer games from a plethora of publishers and according to the website "are viewed as the world's 4th console gaming platform", but the question of their success will remain just that for a time. Mostly due to the fact that Brazil has one of the largest grey markets in the world, purchasing a PSone with 100 burned games on the cheap does not sound like a bad way to game it up where I am sitting.

Some postulate our future would lie in the full download service, others see it as being streamed. Will OnLive be the future of gaming and will Zeebo carve out a place for itself among the other 3 consoles in the market? Only time will tell. One thing is certain, whether or not OnLive and Zeebo become the next big things is less relevant, because the next big thing will be digital distribution. I heard on a podcast yesterday that Sony has just patented the phrase "Playstation Cloud", I wonder what that could be for...

All pics are courtesy of www.penny-arcade.com, http://www.onlive.com, and http://zeeboinc.com

NEW TV!

Not the best pic (TV is a little to bright for Iphones), but its a Samsung 51" LCD and after watching The Fifth Element on Blu-ray, I can honestly say that my old TV dying is the greatest "misfortune" I have ever experienced.

My TV is Dead....

Funeral arrangements are being made, not sure if I am going to bury it under a pile of shit in the garage or drive out to the desert and blow it up. But to be realistic, I should of thought about WTF I'd do when my 57" Projector TV dies. Certainly not the easiest thing to dispose of. There will be some liquidation sales this weekend, guess its time for that pretty flat panel I have been dreaming of! I will comeback with pictures of the new baby soon enough.

all images provided by google image search

Almost April!?

So as you can see the blog posts kind of thinned out through the month of March. Mostly due to a downward spiral of reality I have been dealing with, but not without blame is the recent releases of RE5 and Killzone 2. To keep this ball rolling and finish the month out strong I wanted to touch on my recent experience will the Killzone 2 Multiplayer. Really, I think Penny Arcade summed it up best in 3 frames...

Now lets be clear, Killzone 2 does not re-invent the wheel. In most respects, it would be considered a standard shooter. But, it is my personal opinion that Killzone 2 does much more than just "any" FPS with multiplayer. From a technical standpoint this game is hit or miss. Beautiful Graphics, floaty gun mechanics or fantastic sound effects, terrible dialog. Its like most games, a share of the good and bad, so why has its multiplayer been such a success? The non-stop action is why. First, the matchmaking is solid and clan system effective, but really where it shines is the way the play mode is set. In most 32 player maps, each team participates in 7 rounds differentiated by defense objectives, assassination missions, assault campaigns and good old fashion death match. Leading to a 25 minute battle royal where, which ever team wins, receives a multiplier on their Battle Points. Whats a battle point? Glad you asked, because this is why I love Killzone 2. It has almost an RPG/Class based leveling system where you earn battle points by completing objectives in each round, plus you can get battle points for kills and using your class based skills.

That's right, class based skills. So not only can you play as a run and gun soldier, but there are classes like the engineer, medic, tactician, scout, saboteur, etc. who all have unique load outs and skill sets. Sure this borrows from Team Fortress 2, but not in a tacky way. It still retains its own natural feel, and even re-invents itself with a Ribbon system, where you can also unlock abilities through ribbons and these abilities can be used across classes. Allowing you to tweak your character to a specific play style. Of course, to tweak the difficulty you are only allowed one rifle and one pistol at a time, creating more balance among classes. And everyone glows the color team the are on (Helghan Red, ISA Blue) which really helps to differentiate enemies, while still letting them look unique. While it might not detour to far from the FPS Multiplayer formula, it is by far the best Multiplayer game Exclusive to the PS3 and is something that Sony fans should be proud is their own.

All pictures provided by www.google.com/image and http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Retro Gaming Round Up: Quiz & Dragons

Every once and awhile I like to go back and find games that remind me of how it all started. Other times I am lucky enough to find a game that I missed while growing up. Either way, it is important to pay homage to those games that have inspired so many of the "next-gen" games we are currently enjoying. While listening to The Hotspot Podcast last week, Tom Mcshea was part of an interview with David Sirlin, who had previously worked on a collection of classic games from Capcom. Tom seemed completely stoked about the infamous Quiz and Dragons and I couldn't help but share his enthusiasm and picked it up for myself.

Originally released in arcades in 1992, the game combined some elements of an RPG with that of a board game, to create a unique twist to the quiz game genre. But really, the best part of playing this today is the questions! Because there is nothing like playing this 17 years in the future and trying to remember the names of all the New Kids on the Block. Not only that, but with 4 selectable characters, you can be a Fighter, Amazon, Wizard, or NINJA! Ninjas are the bomb... just in case you wondered why thats in caps. This game was part of Capcom Classics Collection vol. 2 and came with a couple other gems like Strider and 1941, so if the appeal of a Quiz Game/RPG + 19 other classics sounds like your cup of tea and you have a PS2, Xbox or PSP, go pick it up, it was only $15 at my local video game retailer. Also look at the first comments for examples of some of my favorite questions in the quiz.