I don’t know if anybody noticed, but this year, especially E3, was incredibly sequel heavy. Sequels can be great, it’s essentially a way for developers to build on and expand whatever material they had to begin with. With games from revered developers like Ubisoft and their newly announced Assassins Creed 2, there are certainly high expectations. Especially given the original game.
What I think is clearly the wrong reason to make a sequel, is milking the proverbial “cash cow”. If your first game was successful, rejoice in your accomplishment developers, you earned it. But when next fiscal year rolls around and you need a big game to fill a void, please don’t roll back onto making a sequel when you don’t have any inspired ideas to make the second any better than the first.
Why do we find it necessary to go into an uproar when a game is delayed? It’s not a particularly new practice. GTA4, Smash Bros. Brawl, Bioshock and Bioshock 2 would be a few significant examples.
Obviously Bioshock 2’s delay is a hard hit on publisher Take-Two’s fianances for this year, but in what way does it hurt us gamers? Sure we get the game later than expected, but do you think they’d delay a game for no reason?
I’ve long been an advocate that we can have good super hero games. I’ve long hoped of a day when I can sit down with Spidey and have fun. Sadly, most super hero games these days are burdened with being a movie promotion. Meaning, they have to come out before the movie, and they have to do a good job of hyping it. To the contrary of what you might think, developers can’t do a lot with a strict time frame and a story already set for them.
When the everything is laid out for them, developers are tasked with just going through the motions. Creativity never really gets the wiggle room it deserves with these kind of restrictions in place. Which is why I think we need more non-movie saddled super hero games, such as, Batman: Arkham Asylum.
DLC has been a prominent part of this console generation, and with it has come a wide range of offerings: some outlandishly overpriced content that can best be described as “disposable”, some fantastic, free surprises, and a whole pile of predicable ten dollar stuff.
And all the while, Bethesda has been in the thick of things. It’s a surprising role for a studio that has for years made massive, compelling, isolated game worlds without a word.
The announcement of Mothership Zeta, the latest 800 point add-on for Fallout 3, hit today. This pack will make five. So if you’ve purchased the previous four packs, and you don’t plan to miss Mothership Zeta, you will have spent $50 total – a price probably comparable to what you paid for the original game.
Is this really a good way to do it? Five separate, largely isolated, content pieces that tack on small slices to a very large pie? Some change the ending of the game, some don’t. Some raise the level cap, some don’t. Some have compelling narratives, most don’t. read more…
Games just don’t hold my attention. At least, not for very long. Maybe I’m just not playing the right games, or maybe it’s my compulsive need to play a game for five hours straight, only to become sick of it.
All things in moderation, the World of Warcraft loading screen tip once said to me. I’m afraid I don’t follow that rule when I get a new game. No, I like to play it non-stop. I often find I enjoy the game while I’m playing. It’s not until the end of my several hour stretch that I realize I’m tired of it.
Gabe Newell, the co-founder and managing director of Valve, has been talking a lot about games as platforms. Team Fortress 2 is the best – and as of now, really the only – example. There’s been a consistent flow of maps and updates for the game, free of charge. The general gist is that by supplying free updates and content to a game post-launch, you can create a type of entertainment platform that continues to sell, well into its life.
The platform plan has been successful as a business strategy. According to Valve, there is a large spike in game sales with each update. Oh, and it kills piracy. No really, it works. read more…
Scribblenauts went into E3 relatively unknown, but came out one of the most hyped games of the show. Winning three best of show awards, Scribblenauts really shows the power of word of mouth. According to an interview with Creative Director Jeremiah Slaczka, they have done next to no advertising for the game. All the mega-hype is coming from people who played and really enjoyed the game.
Gamasutra just interviewed the CEO and VP of Alienware. It’s a lousy read – the two just beat around the bush and talk in circles. It’s an unimpressive attempt to portray themselves as relevant and good for PC gaming. They’re mostly part of the problem. Lewis, the CEO, says this when the interview comes to the issue of PC prices: read more…
For years games have been played with traditional button presses. The formula worked, and a whole lot of time passed with little change until the addition of analog control. With this generation of consoles, we see the Nintendo Wii, spear heading the motion control market.
The change was welcomed, seen as “revolutionary”, even a little over hyped. Some were disappointed with the motion control; it didn’t entirely live up to marketing promises. But it was still motion control, and it was a change. Players enjoyed flailing their way through tons of Wii games, some with good mechanics, and some not so good. All was well, until even more recently, with the release of the Wii Motion Plus, came the announcement of Microsoft’s Project Natal, and Sony’s Motion Controller.
This past week, EA’s Digital Illusions CE (DICE) released Battlefield 1943. The game is essentially an updated version of the 2002 shooter, Battlefield 1942. It is available to download on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network for only $15.
For those unfamiliar with the Battlefield franchise, the series plots a number of capture points across a large map housing dozens of players. Two teams compete to hold more of these capture points at any given time than their opponent. Add some guns, vehicles, airplanes, and bombing runs and you have yourself a recipe for success. This latest entry to the franchise is no different.
