A couple of things

I just finished reading the first chapter of Play Between Worlds by T.L. Taylor, which is about online game culture, and while I was extremely skeptical when I first started (it mainly examines EQ during its peak), the more I progressed the more I found myself becoming engrossed in this book. I want to get back to it as quickly as I can so I'm going to be listing quotes/points/thoughts from/on the book. I know it's not very professional but it's quick and it gets to the point.-Point: Your online avatar can potentially shape online interactivity.On being a Gnome: "...I received many fewer 'hey baby' comments than I would have had I chosen one of the more common female characters." My thoughts: While something we have always known, it's good to see someone researching this type of behavior."Power Gamers reside between the worlds of work and play."My thoughts: So true. I can recall many times where I eventually stopped playing a game and asked myself "why am I playing this? It's not fun anymore." This seems to happen more when I am trying to obtain those oftentimes nigh-unattainable achievement points..."Playing EQ is about playing between worlds - playing, back and forth, across the boundaries of the game and the game world..."My thoughts: Here they get into the communal aspect of the game and how so many people become involved in the message boards, read faqs on how to spec their characters, and engage in many more offline activities related to the game.*Heavy Price Paid from the Halo 2 soundtrack came on. Whenever I hear this song, my emotional attachement to the series resurfaces and my desire to play Halo 3 increases exponentially. Also, go and see The Pursuit of Happyness right now. It's hard not to like an emotionally powered movie that showcases what we as humans are actually capable of achieving. While it is obviously a movie, the situations the main character finds himself falling into seem as real and dire as the situations we find ourselves falling into on a daily basis. It is here that the movie finds its heart. We feel for this man because, to some degree, we can relate to him. We can see ourselves in his shoes. We all strive to achieve goals in our lives, whether it be short-term, long-term, possible, or impossible, and we want this man to succeed. We want him to succeed because if he does, maybe we can too.

Human Behavior

I understand it now, new forms of media are the scapegoats to all of our problems. The kids are no longer as interested in Math and Science? Let's blame it on videogames. People are starting to speed more?Let's blame it on videogames. Crops are bad? Let's blame it on videogames. (I made that last one up but if it comes true, you heard it here first.)

Let's be honest. Or, I will at least. When I hear a song on the radio that is fast and has a badass feel to it, I like to drive a little faster. Who doesn't? Try and listen to Queens of the Stone Age - Go With The Flow and happily obey the speed limit. Yeah, you can't. "Then not only are videogames corrupting me, but also music!" Yeah, I'm not sure about that...let's look deeper...shall we?

It is commonly known (well I guess "commonly" might be an overstatement) that certain colors and color combinations have varying effects on our psyche. Certain combinations make you hungry, more inclined to shop, sad, happy, whatever. Couple this with varying tactics of delivery and you have a potentially dangerous combination. Thankfully, most of us monkeys have the natural inclination to not go on our first instinct, and instead check a nigh-infinite number of variables before coming to our ultimate conclusion. Let's rewind a bit back to the Queens of the Stone Age. When I hear that song on the radio, I want to push the pedal down to the floor. I want to relive the video and fly down a desert highway going speeds that far surpass anything my blazer can smoothly execute, but most of the time I don't. I have learned that driving a vehicle at high speeds on slippery surfaces is much harder to manage than one would think. I also have a natural tendency to care for my fellow man and would have a hard time dealing with an "accident," and my wallet says that damaging my vehicle and/or getting a ticket wouldn't be the best outcome.

See where I'm getting at here?

We may have certain factors or "influences," if you will, around us that could possibly bring about a change in behavior, but ultimately it is our own decision to allow those changes to be made. If someone speeds because they saw it in the game and wanted to relive that experience, then maybe during that given situation their actions were somewhat justified (no one around on a desert highway instantly comes to mind), or maybe they are just batshit insane.Oh and on a sidenote.

Tom Waits is a god.

Urge and the 360

The audio director for Microsoft Games, Caesar Filori, came to IPR today to speak about videogames and after his presentation, I had a chance to speak to the knowledgable fellow on a few topics he didn't cover. I only had a few minutes so we weren't able to go into very much detail but I think it turned out quite well. I'll post the video online in a few days after I finish the editing and audio implementation. Until then, here's something to think about: Why hasn't Microsoft implemented their URGE music store on the 360?Doesn't it seem like a no-brainer to have their fledgling music service be directly linked to their video game console and their online network? To me it seems like Microsoft is really dropping the ball on this one.Imagine, being able to skip having to stream it from your pc and instead just stream or download it from your console. Sounds like a good deal to me. Oh and if they eventually implement this idea, it better not be half-assed in such a way that if I want to play it on both my 360 and my pc that I would have to buy multiple accounts. It's bad enough that if I want to buy Zuma on my 360 I still have to pay full price for all of the other versions out there. No. Screw that. Solution? A blanket license covering all versions of that game. If you want to play it on another platform, pay a couple of bucks. Why a couple of bucks? To handle the conversion and all that jazz. It sure beats paying $20 for something you already own. Eh, anyway, I'm tired.Goodnight.

Knee-jerk review

Castlevania Portrait of Ruin is another 2D side-scroller just like every other title in the series. It's like Aria and Symphony in that it has a leveling system and various equipment and items that you can pick up. Capcom isn't exactly beating a dead horse, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

My initial reactions to the game were actually quite negative. Oh look, it's like every other one where you start at a low level in Dracula's castle, but within a minute of playing you gain the ability to switch between two completely different characters. Jonathan plays like every other Castlevania protagonist, he has his whip/sword/whatever and by golly, he knows how to use it. Charlotte on the other hand plays like an upgraded version of Sypha Belnades from Castlevania 3. In fact, I found myself using her throughout most of the game. I thought to myself, "why not?" I've played nearly every Castlevania game released stateside, why not try a new take on it. So I did, and I found myself playing for hours on end. I had, in some respect, rediscovered Castlevania. Sure, some of the co-op areas seemed tacked on and forced, but I really didn't care. I couldn't wait to see what spell would drop from an enemy or what book I would find. Any game that utilizes the literary masterpiece Don Quixote as an in-game weapon to defeat the forces of evil, is worth at least a playthrough.

A few minutes into the game you find out that strange paintings have been appearing in the castle and that to put a stop to the enemy in question not gaining power (it's not Dracula for once...) you must go inside these paintings and destroy the boss at the end. Sounds dumb, right? Yeah, it kind of is, but it breathes a little bit more life into this franchise. The paintings allow the player to visit environments that have (to my knowledge) never been seen before in a Castlevania game. What kinds of environments you ask? Well I don't want to spoil too much but...since when have Castlevania games taken place in the middle of the desert with a setting sun in the background hiding behind a sphinx while painting a blood red sky? Yeah, it's awesome.

Now, I consider myself an above average gamer in terms of raw skill. My 360 is set to default to the hard setting on each game I play and most of the time, that seems too easy. Anyway, this game made me feel humble. No, this game (in some parts) made me it's bitch. Maybe this was directly related to the level that I was at, maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that I had lost a little bit of pride that day.

After playing arguably the second best game in the series Dawn of Sorrow, I expected another well-put-together, fairly serious storyline. Teen Angst? Check. Hatred for a father for all of the wrong reasons? Check. Wickedly cool supporting character who serves as a mentor? Yep, check. How hard is it to hire a professional writer?If they did, I'm sorry sir/madam. *sigh* Anyway, in short, I was letdown. It also doesn't help that the art style of the characters and opening cinema are generic anime. How hard would it be to make Castlevania cool again?

On a final note, as cookie-cutter as this game may be with the Metroidvania style of gameplay and the anime-inspired gameplay, I still had a lot of fun with the game and had a very hard time putting it down, even though I have a slew of other games sitting right in front of me, which include some of the best titles of last year (hint: one of them starts with a Zelda and ends with a Twilight Princess). Yeah, it's that damn good, just don't expect it to blow your mind with innovation.

Like a good Tom Waits song...

Remember the first time you listened to a really great slow and emotional song? It was only 3-7 minutes long but it had such a profound impact on you that it made you want to listen to it again and again. I don't care who you are, there are songs out there like this for you that you will play until the day you die.

Poems and short films also come to my mind as being in this short, impactful (is it a word?) and replayable category that I have just created.

The other mediums have it, so why don't videogames?

Like many of you, I discuss my gaming memories with my friends and how I would like to one day go back and experience that story once again. These are the things I say but in reality the probability of it happening are directly related to the industry's ability to saturate the market with an ever increasing amount of games whose sole purpose is to live up to the equation VALUE=LENGTH. Sadly, I feel this equation is being legitimized more and more each day.

But there are exceptions...

I try and play as many new releases as time permits (and I usually have a handsome amount of time) so please, if you will, let this statement carry a little weight, I find myself replaying Gears of War more than any game in recent memory. The game can be played in bite size pieces, or in one long sit-down session. You can be rambo or a bastard child from Winback (and I mean that in a good way of course). If you enjoyed this game, you are going to walk away with stories and experiences that you will want to share with your friends and colleagues, and with this game you can actually share these experiences with relative ease. Even if they are fairly new to videogames.

Fable
Say what you will about it, but Peter Molyneux is on to something. He's been saying that emotional games are a key to attracting new audiences. Fable may not have exactly pulled at the heart strings of the masses, but at least it tried. The entire game may have been completely overrated too short, but it was without a doubt a step in a new and exciting direction.

In defense of Peter, we have been face deep in violent games for years, lets try something new...

The point of entry for non-gamers is still too high, even after the launch of the Nintendo Wii (post Wii world?). I tell my girlfriend and people at my school about the emotional level of Final Fantasy 7, Kingdom Hearts, or Indigo Prophecy (not the ending though) and they are somewhat intrigued, but then they are quickly turned off by the time investment involved.

If you are not a diehard RPG fan but consider yourself a hardcore/dedicated/whatever gamer then ask yourself this, when is the last time you have finished a traditional "long" RPG?

Is the sheer length of a great game too daunting to prevent you to play it?

Would you like to see more emotional and bite-sized yet replayable games? Do you think these types of games could lower the point of entry and potentially attract new audiences to the industry?

I apoligize for how random this may sound but christ, sometimes it just comes out that way.

The gaming puzzle

Now, the concept I present to you may seem a tad deep and high concept, but please bare with me.

While taking a shower tonight I was going over the large variety of games I play and I found that on any given day I will play a puzzle game, an rpg, an fps, and maybe an rts. On some days it will be even more diverse, on others it may be just one or two. This got me thinking even more, these are my tastes, but they are also part of my gaming "puzzle" so to speak. If I go long enough without playing a game from one of these particular genres, I long for them like a crackhead longing for another hit. Ok, maybe that was an exaggeration but you know what I mean. I apologize for drawing a picture analogous to addiction, because it is far from it and I hate to add more fuel to the fire for anti-gaming lobbyists, but it just kind of popped in there and ostensibly it works.

So this "gaming puzzle" of mine is quite large. If we are to stay on the subject of puzzles and draw analogies from there, comparitively with someone who just plays Halo, their puzzle is made up of 8 pieces and features Barbie in the most elegant of dresses (and believe me, what an elegant dress it is) where as mine is a 5000 piece photomosaic printed on super high glossy material showcasing Howard Hughes standing on top of the world with a satisfied look on his face and money peeking out of the pockets of his ten thousand dollar suit. Fancy.

Those small puzzles are completed rather easy with one or titles here and there, and are complete most of the time. But for people like me, the puzzle is never really complete. As soon as one piece is put in place, another one is outdated and needs to be replaced because it no longer fits. It is as though time itself has become some interdimensional creature whose powers are changing the very shape of my personal puzzle pieces. Sometimes I don't want these pieces to be changed. Sometimes I am very happy with the puzzle that I have started to create. Oh sure, this new piece is newer and oh look, it's shinier, but I have to force it into the board to make it work and ya know, it just looks kind of ugly. But yet, if I take this piece out and replace it with the one that was previously there, my puzzle is behind the times. It has become retro.

Sometimes this happens, and sometimes it doesn't. The newest piece of my puzzle will finally replace a piece that was placed a long time ago but recently forgotten, that piece will be of "fighter" orientation, more specifically, it's Virtua Fighter 5.

When it will be placed into its rightful spot in my puzzle is a matter of fundage, a matter I intend to resolve as soon as the powers that be decide to award me for being me buy allowing me to win that lovely little game of chance called the "powerball." Oh you silly powers that be, you have procrastinated too long for my award, can I please have it now? I have school loans to pay off...

So what's my entire videogame puzzle like? It consists of almost every genre out there. Although, the shapes may vary in size and shape, they exist. The largest ones being of the fighting, rpg, fps, and puzzle sort.

Oftentimes, there cannot exist more than one type of piece in my puzzle at a time. No more than one puzzle game, no more than one FPS, and usually no more than one RPG. World of Warcraft is an exception (for me) because there is really no end.

So anyway, what's your gaming puzzle?

On multiplayer...

I have Kingdom Hearts 2 sitting in front of me, as well as Twilight Princess...and what have I done with my time off? I have played Rainbow Six Vegas and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, with a smidgen of World of Warcraft here and there. Why? Why have I set aside a few of the greatest games of 2006 for these two games that are arguably significantly less polished and held in lower regard? It's easy really. They are multiplayer games. I have a hard time justifying even jumping into the world of Hyrule (as scrumptrulescent as it might be) right now when my friends are all on Xbox Live having a good time together.

An industry exec said earlier this year that single player games were like masterbation and multiplayer games were like having sex. In some ways, I can relate to this, in others...what the hell was he smoking? Of course, when you take it to the extremes of each all signs of potential factuality immediately become null, but that happens oh so often, so let us think about it in its most basis of forms. Let's say you have two games of equal quality, for argumentive purposes let's say they are reviewed equally, one multiplayer and the other single player. As a self-described hard-assed videogame critic I like to think that I am beyond such barbaric methods of product evaluation, considering our medium and the differences of product I also like to feel that we are above and beyond the other entertainment mediums but I'm getting ahead of myself here. Anyway, let's also say that not only were these two products (consumerism tells us to call them products but the artist in me says to call them creations or...something) are both in the same genre, let's say they were in the style of elder scrolls and in medieval times. Now, which one do you think would sell more? The single player game or the multiplayer game? Of course there are many factors that are involved here that almost completely negate this argument but like I said earlier, essentially what are people more drawn to? The multiplayer portion. With that in mind, how long will it be until we see these legendary game series incorporate some kind of multiplayer aspect into the campaign mode?

I do not doubt the level of desire the public has for single player experiences, as I proudly claim that I myself partake in these seemingly old-fashioned nigh-neanderthal methods of enjoyment, but how much longer will they hold such a large marketshare?

Thinking even further down the line, if people start to spend more and more time with multiplayer games that require considerable investments of time, how long will it be before the market is considerably one sided, so much to the point that the point of entry for the competition is set to unreachable heights? Also, if the company that is the leader and is constantly evolving their product, can it necessarily be considered bad? I think it goes without saying that the product I speak of here is World of Warcraft.

Anyway, sorry for the deep ramblings.

I'm tired and I have some comics to read.

Goodnight.

Deep Thoughts

I like cheese.

Cheese is good.

Do you like cheese?

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