Happy Thanksgiving!

Blog Report: November 24th

Official U.S. Playstation Blog
Digital Comics Reader Now Available for PSP – Get a Free Issue!
Grace Chen - Senior Manager, PlayStation Store
November 20th, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/11/digital-comics-reader-now-available-for-psp-get-a-free-issue

One growing trend of this generation of consoles is the functionality of the device outside the common aspect of playing a game. The PSP has been experimenting with Movies, Music and Internet Phone for some time; so the idea of turning your PSP into a Digital Reader seems like a no brainer. With the latest firmware update, the Digital Reader is now available and although it is limited to comics (addressing the primary audience on the PSP), with success, it will lead to more and more digital publications. This post is to notify people that there is a free digital comic available, but there is a catch, that is pretty much the only combat available. To me this seems like another missed opportunity on Sony’s part around properly building up the community for the release of a product. Why would you go live with a Digital Reader, but the Publishers are not going to put up content (save this one comic) until a month after release. The audience will commit to the update and have it on their PSP, but not have access to any content. Then, when the content goes live, there is a good chance that they will have already forgotten why it mattered.

Set on Stun
XBOX with Facebook and Twitter — Winner of The Dumbest Console Idea Award for 2009
Shawn Deena
November 20th, 2009
http://setonstun.com/2009/11/xbox-with-facebook-and-twitter-winner-of-the-dumbest-console-idea-award-for-2009/

The Xbox 360 has been the benchmark for online interaction in this era of console gaming. Currently you can chat, text, video message, and even watch a movie with your friends, as well as play games. If you ever needed to do another type of social interaction, it seemed like there would be a much better device than my video game console to execute that action. Guess I would be wrong though, since with the latest update of Xbox Live you can now log onto your respective Facebook and Twitter accounts and interact with all your friends. First problem, QWERTY keypads do NOT come standard with the 360 or its controllers. In fact, they will run you an additional 30 dollars and the virtual keyboard will not due; trust me, its pathetic. Second, you would need to be an Xbox Live Gold member (meaning you pay a subscription around $40 annually), and that is just absurd considering both these services are free with an internet connection on any other platform. Lastly, the functionality of both these applications is extremely gimped due to the fact that the Xbox 360 does not support an Internet Browser. That means that no 3rd party apps can be supported, meaning all the Facebook games that people play, cannot be played on a video game console! So, what can you do? Update your status, leave messages for friends and look at pictures; wow, sure wish my iPhone or PC could do that… oh wait, they have been for years.

Weekend Warriors

Just got through with Borderlands as Assassin's Creed 2 slowly begins to devour my soul. Loving every minute of it so far, but what are you all playing this weekend?

Play it NOW!: Borderlands

The wasteland of Pandora is plagued with adversity, but luckily, I have the cure; a bazillion guns! Borderlands, is not your typical FPS. It is one of many games entering what I refer to as a “hybrid-genre” and as Gearbox would describe it, Borderlands is what you would get if an FPS and RPG had a baby; more specifically, if Halo and Diablo had a baby. This should lead you to a couple conclusions, first you will be shooting aliens in the face, second, you will be collecting a ton of loot and last, you will be grinding until that level 50 level cap kicks in. As many of you know that read this blog regularly, I had been going to Gearbox every couple of months for focus testing sessions, and now that the game is out, I can tell you it was to play Borderlands. Since I had spent a lot of single player time (around 15 + hours) playing this game at Gearbox, I wanted to experience the actual game, co-op ONLY. Working out the schedule with my brother, we ended up finishing this game in a little less than 12 hours, and I am still left with some side quests to go back to.

I really have to hand it to Gearbox, if there is one thing Borderlands has going for it, it is style. The graphics alone are a blend of realism and cel-shading to create something wholly unique, visually referred to as “concept art” style. A thick black outline permeates the objects in the landscape and clearly defines the character models, buildings and weapons throughout Pandora. These are coupled with a sense of personality allocated to many of the NPCs you encounter; from the mischievous, sometimes hilarious Claptraps, to many of your quest dispensers like Scooter or Crazy Earl. Even your tougher enemies are differentiated by simply throwing the word “Badass” in front of their name. If I had to point to one thing lacking, it is any sort of narrative. The story is really irrelevant, starting with you choosing a class-based silent protagonist (despite the occasional taunt over your enemy’s corpse) and following the orders from a mysterious woman, to find a vault thought to contain a wealth of treasure. When you get to the vault, it will surprise you for about 3 seconds and then you realize the last battle kind of fizzles out. Let us take time to recognize though, that this is not why you play Borderlands! You play Borderlands, because of the loot and does Borderlands sure have some of the coolest weapons I have ever seen. Take for example “The Boiler”, a drum loaded cluster rocket launcher, which not only fires 5 rockets spread across the terrain, but 5 rockets which explode with “nalpamy” goodness, causing massive fire damage on all my enemies. Or my favorite close quarters gun, “The Judicator”, a shotgun of the highest grade (orange class) which will basically turn any opponent to kibble in two pops. Complete this little arsenal off with some Bouncing Bettie Electrical grenades (electric elements drop enemy shields quick) and you can pretty much handle anything the game can throw at you.

To come back the classes mentioned earlier, there are four choices; Soldier, Sniper, Siren and Brick (yeah, his name is the class). Soldiers are more tactical classes who can drop a turret which will buff you and your teammates, master shotties and assault rifles, and has an entire medic skill tree. Snipers try to control the battlefield from a distance, utilizing a pet bird to stun opponents, cause elemental damage and master the headshot. These are the two classes I experienced the most of (me being the soldier, my brother the sniper). The siren is a stealthy magic class, who can “phase walk” through enemies and explode behind them for massive area damage. She is also proficient with small arms. Then there is Brick, a human wrecking ball, whose special ability is to drop his gun and just start pummeling his opponents until they are a smear on the desert landscape. Oh and Brick also is proficient in heavy weapons, which he shoots from the hip! Each class also has a modifier, which will allocate bonus skill points to specific abilities making you more effective or balanced. I spent the majority of the game as either a Support Gunner or Shock Trooper. Lastly, there are the shields, and while most of them are cool and do various counter attacks or have immunities to specific elements, I found that the regenerative health shield was the only way to go. Myself being a medic sub-class, I could heal anyone by shooting them, except myself…which proved to be a problem from time to time, if I did not use the correct shield. The vehicle combat was passable, but did not resonate the Mad Max feeling I was going for, mostly because the vehicles lacked variety and the guns tended to be weaker than my own sidearm.

I think this game will be the Franchise that finally takes Gearbox to new heights. The Brothers in Arms series was always successful but suffered from the industries saturation of World War II shooters. FPS/RPG Hybrids on the other hand are few and far between, generally suffering from issues of being two much of one or the other. Borderlands on the other hand, seems to have found the balance here and with 2 million units sold in the first 45 days, I can hardly wait for the sequel. Luckily, there seems to be a slew of DLC keeping me busy until then. So if you like guns, guns, guns; Play it now!

* Played through the main story and probably 70% of side missions, reached lvl 38 Soldier before credits rolled.

**All images are a result of a Google image search and www.nerfnow.com

Blog Report: November 17th

Set On Stun
Assassin’s Creed Lineage — Now This Is What We Call Marketing
Shawn Deena
November 11th, 2009
http://setonstun.com/2009/11/asassins-creed-lineage-now-this-is-what-we-call-marketing/

Ubisoft has decided that Assassin’s Creed 2 needs to take its marketing campaign to the next level. Simple, press releases and TV commercial are not going to fit the bill for the highly anticipated sequel. Instead, Ubisoft has put their most recent acquisition (FX Studio Hybride Technologies) to good use, by creating a series of short films to explain the origins of Assassin’s Creed 2 new leading man, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Filmed on a green screen with real actors, Hybride Technologies used CG to build the world of 15th century Italy around them. Since the game will be taking place in similar locales, the short films do a good job of creating an atmosphere for the upcoming game. Taking place during the Renaissance, your character appears to be involved in the political espionage of the Medici family, working as an assassin. It is believed Ezio is an assumed descendant of Altair, the originals leading character. That is how the game is able to make the correlation between the games previous setting in the Holy Land during King Richard’s crusade. I was a big fan of the original and eagerly anticipate this games release. Actually, by the time you are reading this, I will already have my copy, since it begins selling on November 17th. Cheers.

Official U.S. Playstation blog
adhocParty for PSP Available Soon
Kristin Neirinckx Marketing Manager, PSP
November 13th, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/11/adhocparty-for-psp-available-soon/

Portables have existed for a long time now and as time has gone by, innovation has driven every new game over the past few years. The newest revelation to hit portables is multiplayer and thanks to broadband everywhere and Wi-Fi, it is becoming easier. The PSP, which required Wi-Fi and being within a Local Area Network to play multiplayer is about to get a little help from its younger brother, the PS3. What your PSP can do is connect remotely into your PS3 and use the internet connection the PS3 has to make the PSP available for online play. Now, many would ask, why not just play your PS3 if you’re going to sit down in front of it. In many cases they would be right, but with games like Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, N+, or the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront 3 only being sold on PSP, there are some unique games experiences people are missing out on. While in ad hoc party mode, the PS3 will also open a channel for video chat (if you have the Playstation Eye and Bluetooth Headset), which can greatly increase the online gaming experience. Just one more way Sony is trying to give the customer a greater gaming experience.

Weekend Warriors

Lets see. Still playing Dragon Age, Borderlands and MUA2. Then my girlfriend went and through Modern Warefare 2 into the mix. Its amazing I even have time to update this. What is everyone else playing?

-posted from iPhone

Blog Report: November 11th

The Official U.S. Playstation Blog
70’s Mustang Joins the Gran Turismo 5 Lineup at the Gran Turismo Awards
Alex Armour // Manager, Public Relations
November 6th, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/11/70s-mustang-joins-the-gran-turismo-5-lineup-at-the-gran-turismo-awards/

A love for cars, trucks and SUVs is the motivating force behind the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). About 7 years ago, Polyphony Digital and their hit game Gran Turismo teamed up with SEMA to hold a secondary awards ceremony tied into the SEMA auto show, called the Gran Turismo Awards. To understand why this is at least an expert's judge of performance, Gran Turismo’s pedigree lies in the facts that they are the benchmark against which all other racing games are currently judged. Back to the real cars, the contestants are from five different categories and will be judged by Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of Gran Turismo and resident car nerd. He will judge each vehicles appearance and history. Then, once each winner is evaluated, the best in show is chosen, who will have the privilege of their car being featured in game. Due to the long development process, the past two winners will also feature their car in game. So, currently leading into the release of Gran Turismo 5, there are going to be 3 award winners featured from the past 3 SEMA shows; an Audi TT, Infiniti G37 and 70’s Ford Mustang Transcammer. It is good for these two communities to share promotion of each other's efforts. SEMA puts emphasis and supports the auto tuning community and of course the majority of gamers who purchase GT 5 support that community. Using a cross promotional event such as this can only benefit both companies. Congrats to the most recent winner Phil Koenan, I can’t wait to take that Mustang out on the track.

Set on stun
Flashback — The Atari Mindlink
Shawn Deena
09/08/09
http://setonstun.com/2009/11/flashback-the-atari-mindlink/

Technology is continuing to evolve at an ever present rate, but our imagination tends to cause humans to get ahead of the current applications in technology. Take for instance the Atari Mindlink, a monumental failure adverted by Atari, the Mindlink was meant to eliminate the need of a controller. Instead, it seemed to just bring upon headaches as users tried to move their eyebrows across infrared sensors to control games such as; Pong, Bionic Breakthrough and Mind Maze. Although the product was never released, it’s interesting to see what people thought was the solution to the problem 25 years ago and where we have come to find this solution now. If you look at the Wii it is one step towards no longer having buttons to control a game. Microsoft hopes to take this even further by eliminating any sort of controller at all. Instead of using your mind (or rather your brow), the device codenamed NATAL uses a stereoscopic 3D camera to capture the movement of the user. This translates into a form of hands off approach to gaming. Based on the recent test runs, it looks to be a success in waiting, but only time will tell since it will inevitably be released. Hopefully when they release the mock up for the device, they won’t mention how it “increases computer and game system intent to purchase”. I think something like this should be designed around the intention for increasing immersion, sales will come

Marketing 101: Sin to Win

9 Circles of Hell and the Campaigns behind them

It's November 9th and another Circle of Hell has opened over at Electronic Arts. Since the anouncement of new IP Dante's Inferno, EA has been all over the industry building hype through some ridiculous marketing stunts. I will not debate the responsibilities of using a profound piece of literature, to build the narrative for an action game. Let's just look at how these marketing stunts are being executed and whether or not it has had an affect on the audience. I believe their original campaign is developed around the 7 deadly sins, but the 9 circles are the levels in the game. Either way, most of the circles are the same are similiar to the sins committed, so we will just apply the camapaign stunts across the circles. The game also has a "normal" marketing campaign as well, and if after this you are interested, you can go to EA's site for more information here.

Limbo - During this year's E3, Electronic Arts staged a fake Christian protest against the game, complete with signs that read "EA = Electronic Anti-Christ." The idea of religious protest against a video game is sure to make headlines, even if this isn't the first time. Lest we for the Hindus community's outrage over “Hanuman: Boy Warrior” a PS2 game. The protest eventually spurred actual Christian activists to denounce the silly stunt. The funny thing is, becuase the initial impression was the demonstration was real, EA was able to get twice as much converage for one activity, since every post was followed up with a clarification. Well played EA.


Lust – At Comic Con this year, Electronic Arts was running a contest that promises " dinner and a sinful night with two hot girls, a limo service, paparazzi and a chest full of booty " as a reward for snagging multiple pictures with any booth babes, committing "acts of lust." First off, booth babes probably have a hard enough time just being an entire convention filled with nerds, objects of affection. Now, you are basically antagonizing these gamers to go out and get a booth babe, from any company, not exclusively EA, to take a demeaning picture. Obviously this could not end well. Not only did some "winners" refuse their prize to make a point, but essentially EA is alienating their fan base. For it being one of the easiest sin's to campaign over, it seemed like EA had really messed this one up for all intents an purpose.


Gluttony – What better way to say your sorry than with cake. Of course, EA didn't want to waste another opportunity to market Dante's, so instead of a normal cake, EA went with an arm cake.
Gamespot was the lucky media outlet to receive it and from an epic cake point of view, this one is spot on. Though it didn't get as much coverage across the various media outlets, in the basic application to the game it seems pretty accurate. Sadly, execution was lacking.

Greed – EA then sent out checks for $200 to various journalists and media outlets which read; “By cashing this check you succumb to avarice by hoarding filthy lucre but by not cashing it, you waste it, and thereby surrender to prodigality.” Some chose to destroy the check (Brian Crecente @Kotaku) or donate it to charity (Chris Grant @Joystiq), but either way it got Dante’s Inferno back into headlines. Cheapy D of CAG.com actually calculated the value of doing something like this. Here, he looked at the cost of advertising on Kotaku, as compared to pulling a stunt like this:
“Kotaku charges an $8 CPM (cost per 1,000 banner impressions) for their standard advertising banners. Their news post about this PR stunt will likely surpass 40,000 views.  Look Into To err on the safe side, let's say the total cost of the check and fancy box is $300. Since Crecente burned the check, EA basically spent the equivalent of a $2.50 CPM for a front page news post on Kotaku.” Now, that’s a pretty good deal when you’re trying to utilize the advertising budget effectively.

Anger (Wrath) - A 17 pound package crate appeared on the doorstep of numerous journalists. Once the twine was removed from the outside, a series of moody overtones began playing, which were quickly silenced by the horrific noise of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up blaring from inside the box. The catch, the box was basically sealed shut, with no way to turn it off! It would not stop until you cracked open the crate and disconnected that power source. Nothing like the sweet melodies of Rick Astley to bring out the anger in someone.

With Heresy opening to the public, I wonder what EA has planned next? Will we get a video montage of the "Buddy" Jesus holding a Popes Gone Wild video, or is the Catholic Church planning on releasing a new line of Dante's Inferno propylatics? Let us not forget that there are still the cirlces of Violence,
Fraud, and Treachery; left to inspire the audience to pay attention to EA's new franchise. It will stay on my radar until its release, if only for the LOLs. 

*Note: All photos were found using Google Image Search

Weekend Warriors

DRAGON AGE ORIGINS. I have chosen the origin of a Dwarven Noble and am pretty much hooked. Anybody else out there playing?

-posted from iPhone

Blog Report: November 4th

Official U.S. Playstation Blog
UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Celebrates Halloween with a Title Update and a Double Cash Weekend
Arne Meyer // Senior Manager of Marketing Communications, Naughty Dog
October 30th, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/uncharted-2-among-thieves-celebrates-halloween-with-a-title-update-and-a-double-cash-weekend/

Uncharted 2 has been on-sale since the 13th of October and with its positive reception, the community is currently thriving. Games are not always shipped to perfection and one good thing about the level of connectivity our consoles feature is that updates are relatively simple. Naughty Dog, the developer of Uncharted 2, has recently released an update to fix a few issues in the game. But, to take advantage of the upcoming Holiday, Developers are offering a bonus with this update. If you play the uncharted 2 multiplayer between October 30th and November 2nd, players will earn double the cash they normally would in multiplayer events. Also, cash is a determinate of Level, so more cash goes to increase your level, as well as provide funds to purchase the numerous things in the store. Also, the multiplayer battles will be infected with skeleton heroes and zombie villains all through Halloween. It is a great idea and excellent PR for their company. They are essentially providing early adopters extra content for free, as well as creating an incentive, to participate in the community. Naughty Dog employees will also be roaming around the game online, so users should watch out for the “red paws” next to gamertags. You may have the pleasure of dying at the hands of one of Uncharted 2’s creators. It is good to see active communities holding events and celebrating something the all enjoy.

Set on Stun
Rise of the Peripherals — Gaming Gadgets Galore for Serious Niche Marketing
Shawn Deena
October 29th, 2009
http://setonstun.com/2009/10/rise-of-the-perpherials-gaming-gadgets-galore-for-serious-niche-marketing/

Through the many generations of video game hardware, peripherals have been a major part of the market. Initially, peripherals were designed out of necessity for an input device, but have since changed to find unique ways to immerse users in the games. Let’s face facts though, not every peripheral was designed to immerse gamers and not every peripheral was a success. Our generation is no different since the fruition of the rhythm game had taken place. Now, living rooms across the world are full of plastic guitars, fake drum kits and microphones. But with the success of these, Activision would only find ways to increase this niche markets profitability. Starting this month and heading into next year Activision, Nintendo and Ubisoft are all planning on releases new peripherals. First, an expansion of the Rhythm genre with DJ Hero, a turntable based rhythm game. After that, a new way of skate boarding through your living room with Tony Hawk Ride. Nintendo, finally decides to release more software for the Wii Balance Board, but they too see more in the niche market of fitness gaming and plan to release a new peripheral with the Wii Vitality Sensor. What it does, well no one really knows, but it is certainly a unique venture into the market. It may be a dangerous gamble on some of these peripherals, since the economy is still down, how many $100+ games are people going to be able to buy. This doesn’t even account for the new James Cameron production Avatar, whose game, like the movie, will be playable in 3D. Of course to support that, you will need to buy a HD TV (and I think it needs to run at 120 hz.) which will most likely cost you an excess of $1,000.

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

The Art of Gaming: November

MarquesCannon @ http://guitaratomik.deviantart.com/gallery/

Weekend Warriors

Exciting news this Friday, God of War 3 has anounced the launch of the Collector's Edition. It seems EPIC and boasts a playable demo that can be downloaded as early as today!!! If I don't end up finding a download code, I will be online playing Borderlands and Uncharted 2. Uncharted 2 will also be hosting a "double your cash" promotion, all weekend while playing online. And I will still have to find some time for Brutal Legend. Just had a fight against the Drowning Doom and know I am not too far from completing it. What are you playing this weekend?

-posted from iPhone

Blog Report: October 28th

Set On Stun
Veronica Belmont Sums it Up Nicely: “Pink is the New STFU”
JP Sherman
October 20th,2009
http://setonstun.com/2009/10/veronica-belmont-sums-it-up-nicely-pink-is-the-new-stfu/

An article about how women are still being marketed to as dainty homemakers and not the tech savvy equals they have become. When NewEgg.com released a new campaign targeting women this holiday season, a technology enthusiast, Veronica Belmont was taken back at its simple minded focus; offering suggestions only in house wares or consumer electronics, all dressed in a ghastly pink. When do of course enjoy pink (someone has to), but in this day and age where consumers are all about options and differentiation, that suggesting only pink is probably not the most successful way to increase sales. Also, the concept of a technology website selling pots and pans is equally as derivative as, building a campaign towards women with those pots and pans in mind. Since, “61% of technology purchases are unplanned by women, who make up 82.5% of the shopping decision making,” it would be smart of New Egg to focus on the following considerations:

•There needs to be an immediate recognition of VALUE.
•There needs to be a distinct visual identity differentiation.
•Focus on perceived value
•Provide features as it relates to value
•Avoid the “pink it and shrink it” look

Sherman believes that if this is done, NewEgg.com may potentially see more sales and less offended consumers.

The Official U.S. Playstation Blog
UNCHARTED: Eye of Indra – First Episode on PSN Today
Neil Druckmann // Lead Game Designer, Naughty Dog
October 22, 2009
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/uncharted-eye-of-indra-%e2%80%93-first-episode-on-psn-today/

Full motion comics are a relatively new form of media, which utilizes comic panes with some animations, to blend audio driven story with hand drawn characters. This has become a growing trend within video game promotion, yielding an apparent competent return on investment. Basing this assumption on the continuing number of companies who choose to use this method of communication, Uncharted 2 has become the next game to feature its own full motion comic. Having watched the Dead Space full motion comic in anticipation of the 2008, I also participated in the New Uncharted: Eye of Indra episode. Seemed ok, for being so heavily sponsor driven, I would have preferred to pay a dollar and gotten 10 minutes of content, instead of 5 minutes of story and 5 minutes of advertising for the latest Toyota SUV and videogames I already own, but it was cannon to the existing fiction from what I could see. Future episodes will be downloadable on the Playstation Network for a price of $2.50. Hopefully they will be fewer ads, since there is a price associated. I find it interesting how different Medias are blending to create new ways of deliver entertainment. Of course, in this case it seems to be in promotion of an already existing IP, but maybe one day, full motion comics could become respected medium and will even have its own “Citizen Kane”.

Play it NOW!: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has arrived and Sony is sitting on a gold mine. It is my opinion that this game is the greatest cinematic experience I have ever had while playing a video game. It is not perfect, there are some moments where I was frustrated by the AI or spent far too much time looking for an elusive piece of treasure, but there is an overall cohesiveness between characters and their journey to Shambhala and it's hidden treasure, the Cintamani Stone.

• Character & Story: Really are the best part of this whole game. Drake is the same confident, sarcastic and frankly, lucky leading man from the first one. As much as he tries to "do the right thing", he will still manage to kill thousands of enemies in order to save the world. Chloe, the new girl is an excellent counter-part to Drake, having two sides to her personality and to some extent creating a love triangle between; Drake, her and Elena. That's right, Elena is also here, as well as Sully, reprising their previous roles and keeping the same campy chemistry they had in the first Uncharted. The pacing continues to gain steam as you move closer and closer to your destination. While, acts of betrayal and bravery keep you guessing what will happen next. The villains you hate, the heroes you love and when the story resolved, I couldn't wait to do it all again.

• Music & Sound: Fits the game extremely well. Sound effects are crisp, music builds upon the immersion into the various environments and the voice acting is on point. Nolan North may have been in numerous games since the first Uncharted, but whenever I here is voice, I hear Nathan Drake. Its good to see him reprise the role he seemed born for.

• Animation & Graphics: Drake is still rocking the "Half-Tuck", and it is top quality. Scenes take place in expansive vistas such as: Istanbul, Nepal and the Himalayas. Camera angles build the tension, using camera locations that seem more physically possible and make the parkour scenes look incredibly difficult. The character models not only retain their detail between cutscenes and gameplay, but there are times in the story, where the animations are completely different based on the circumstances Drake is in . Please take sometime while in the Village to interact with the people around you, it really is entertaining to see how much time Naughty Dog put into their animations, despite their uses being associated to only one or two chapters. Oh and really shiny eyeballs (you'll understand once you have played it).

• Gameplay & AI: The shooting mechanic is much improved. Guns feel very different from each other and each have their strengths and weaknesses. The M4 Carbine is of course the best, but I really enjoyed blind shots with the Pistole. There is nothing like watching a heavily armored opponent take two cartridges to the face. Also, the grenade mechanic is much improved over the first one. Previously, Naughty Dog required the use of the six-axis to manage the arc of your throws. Thankfully, this is no longer the case and it is controlled via the right analog. Stealth combat also plays a larger part. Not only does one of the first chapters require a substantial amount of this, but there are many areas littered across the game where stealth can help you keep the flow of enemies to a minimum. Also, many stealth kills will afford you bonus grenades or weapons, noted by a little ninja mask hovering over the object. Platforming is a little easier than the first one, as moving up buildings and across platforms seemed more intuitive, despite AI partners occasionally blocking your landing or inadvertently dropping you off a cliff. It is not often, but when it happens, you can't help but feel frustrated.

• Attention to Detail: I think this is what can take a game from good to great. Looking at everything in this game, you can tell that each aspect was carefully considered and detailed to the full extent. Character animation and design are not recycled. Each model feels unique and has a little bit of personality. This can even be seen in the AI behavior, as more heavily armored baddies are not afraid to rush you and some enemies are more grenade happy than others. Gameplay is very rewarding and participates in the hand holding, pat on the back style where you are rewarded constantly, whether its for 250th headshot or finding 10 more pieces of treasure. Twitter was an added functionality as well, and is an interesting experiment in Social Media. Reception has been less than stellar when someone is tweeting each chapter completed, but the summarizing of trophies or tweets about getting online for multiplayer turns twitter into a third party leader board to some extent.

• Multiplayer: Ah yes, the long debated, "is this going to suck?" aspect of Uncharted 2 has become one of the coolest parts. First off, this is a new attempt, the original Uncharted did not have multiplayer, hence some peoples apprehension. The options are robust featuring competitive multiplayer and co-op. The co-op is a three man affair running story driven scenarios or a Gears-esque Horde mode. Competitive Multiplayer has everything from traditional deathmatch to Plunder (CTF Mode, with a twist). Add the fact that each player has two slots offering boosters in battle, which can be purchased using money earned in any game mode, various character models you get from completely the single player and a leveling system to improve matchmaking, you get a complete multiplayer experience.

I loved my experiences in Uncharted 2 and am still playing in search of that Platinum Trophy. Naughty Dog has truly hit this sequel out of the park and this once niche IP has turned into Sony's next big franchise. So, if you like expansive vistas, character drive stories, explosive gun battles and treasure, you better go play it NOW!

**Note all pictures are courtesy of Google image search and Penny-Arcade.com

Weekend Warriors

Borderlands came out this week! First game I have ever contributed to in some form or fashion. Although, when the credits roll, I am sure to only find a quick blurb thanking all Focus Testers, instead of individuals. Despite that, I retain a sense of satisfaction, knowing that I played this game back in its alpha form and now, will be playing it on my couch all weekend. What are you playing this weekend?

-- Posted from my iPhone

Blog Report: October 21st

Catering To Your Audience: Videogame Direct Marketing
Shawn Deena
October 11, 2009
Set on Stun
http://setonstun.com/2009/10/catering-to-your-audience-videogame-direct-marketing/

Many games over the years have been developed as a radical concept, which becomes so successful it creates its own genre. Look at how role playing games went from a strictly single player experience into massive multiplayer online experiences or how movie licensed comic book games have spawned numerous original stories in a comic book format. It is games being designed for a niche, but still can be played by anyone that is becoming extremely successful. Shawn touches on many examples; Brutal Legend (diverse gameplay / Heavy Metal Music) or Beatles: Rockband (Beatles / Rhythm Game), and I think the main point is that, if you can design a game which appeals to a community or sub-culture that already exists, it will sell. The exception lies in two potential pitfalls: First, the community has to feel the game does justice to whatever sub-culture exists because, if not the game would be ostracized. Second, there must be a certain level of accessibility to the game, so when a gamer recommends a Spiderman game to a comic enthusiast, the new player is not frustrated by some over technical gameplay. If and when companies have achieved cohesiveness between these two elements in a single game, they are typically a success story. That is why more and more games will continue to be developed for these sub-cultures.

Pre-order Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! on UMD Today!
Nao Zook
October 20, 2009
Official U.S. Playstation Blog
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/pre-order-holy-invasion-of-priv
acy-badman-on-umd-today/


As a follow up to the previous article I posted from Gamasutra regarding the release of the PSPgo and the inevitable phase away from UMDs (Universal Media Device) to Digital Download only. This article is a perfect example of good PR and managing the two way conversation in such a way that it will benefit your customers, your product and your company as a whole. When Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman was released in the US, NIS America decided to only release the title as a digital download. They felt that for the cost of the actual title to stay low, they could easily put it online over having to manufacture UMDs, but the community wouldn’t stand for it and gamers began to request a physical copy of the game. They used the Playstation Blog to run a poll and see how many consumers were willing to wait for the manufactured copy and the results appeared strong enough, NIS is now offering pre-orders for the UMD and if they reach 1,000 they will go to print. Another thing to note, the price point has not changed, so whether you download it or purchase the physical copy of NIS’s website, the game is only going to cost you $20. NIS should be applauded for keeping an open mind about the whole process, since digital downloads are just starting to become more mainstream. They did an extremely good job of understanding their customer needs and found the price point NIS needed to execute at, in order to fulfill the customer needs. Hopefully, NIS will find their much deserved success here, as well as in Japan.

Gaming Outdoors: Borderlands Release Party

Free Drinks, Mix Master Mike and Little People were all present at tonight's Borderlands Extravasplosion release party. Lucky enough to get on the invite list, a friend and I headed down to the Granada Theater on Greenville Avenue (Dallas). After a few vodka tonics and light conversation, we decided to play some co-op. Lines were pretty good for only having 4 machines going, and everybody was having a great time. Mix Master Mike was on point laying down phat beats and Randy Pitchford gave an inspired speech, as a psycho midget roamed the stage. Check out some pics below and play Borderlands when it is out this Tuesday.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Weekend Warriors

It's FRIDAY! And I am gonna play Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legend until my face Melts! How about you?


-- Posted from my iPhone

Blog Report: October 14th

Blog: Official Sony U.S. Playstation Blog
Blogger: Roy Stigall III // Sports Lifestyle Marketing Manager, EA Sports
Post Title: EA SPORTS NCAA Football Challenge Tour Coming to a Campus Near You
Date: October 9th, 2009
Link: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/ea-sports-ncaa-football-challenge-tour-coming-to-a-campus-near-you/

That’s right, its football season again. And what better way to support your inner athlete than by running the gridiron against some local competition. If you win, you get a new PSP and a trip to the Rose Bowl for the finals, where the grand prize is $10,000. Why is this important to PR? Well, it’s kind of important, because they are going to stop in Denton and Dallas on October 27th – 28th. But looking more closely at this post, there is something more important. The Blogger is not any employee at Sony! Roy Stigall is actually a marketing manager at EA, the publisher of NCAA Football 2010. It makes sense, since this seems like a joint promotion because the truck being used is Sony branded and utilizes PS3’s, but I like how the Playstation Blog also incorporates external influencers to promote their brand. I suppose this kind of helps to create a sense of harmony, as Sony can work closely with 3rd parties. Microsoft is no newcomer to this philosophy, since they are spearheading support behind the third party title Modern Warefare 2, which appears to be in the running for the highest selling multi-platform game of our generation. Either way, it is a perfect example of how company’s in the industry build channels of communication around certain intellectual properties, despite the occurrence of their exclusivity. Good luck to Sony and EA on this campaign and maybe I will stop by for some football.

Blog: ‘Set on Stun’
Blogger: Shawn Deena
Post Title: Flashback — Mario The Ultimate Videogame Icon
Date: October 8th, 2009
Link: http://setonstun.com/2009/10/flashback-mario-the-ultimate-videogame-icon/

Think about any brand that was the innovator, the first brand to successfully differentiate itself in a given market, become a leader and experience brand longevity. Brands like Coca-Cola or Levis Strauss, but if you were to ask someone about video games, Mario would probably be the pop icon we all remember. He is 28 going on 30 and is still Nintendo’s must successful brand to date. It is funny to think, when he first premiered in1981 on the arcade hit Donkey Kong, he still didn’t have a name. Apparently, he was named in the sequel to Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. And he was named after an angry warehouse manager, who was upset about back rent. In Donkey Kong Jr., the original character (now Mario) had kidnapped your father Donkey Kong, and you had to get him back. Mario was actually a villain in his first named appearance! As time would go on a universe would be built around the character, he would be featured in 200 or more games, many of which had his name in the title. He would also continue to be the mascot of Nintendo, to this day. The reason this is significant is because, much of Nintendo’s success is linked to this plumber, who travels to a mushroom kingdom and saves a princess year in, year out. Nintendo has played off of two strengths over the course of its life in the video game market; innovation and Mario. Now moving forward the Wii is starting to shows signs of its sales reaching a plateau. Hopefully, with the new Mario coming soon, they still remember those two strengths.