In some ways this is a follow up to my last Evening Topic where we discussed fanboyism. Everything from films to plays gets reviewed in some form or another and video games are, of course, no exception. But video game reviews have a tendency to stir up a lot of controversy, especially among fans of certain games.
Not only are reviews a source of fanboy rage, there’s also a strange eschewment of the review system in general. Certain sites and publications seem almost too soft on games, rarely giving out anything less than a 6/10 while other sites and publications are deemed too hard, rarely giving out their highest grade. So I ask:
- Do you consider certain sites/magazines’ reviews to be more professional than others’?
- Have you ever read a review you absolutely disagreed with, even if you respected the source of the review?
- How much playtime should go into a review?
- Does a game need to be finished in order to be reviewed properly?
The original BioShock was considered a masterpiece by gamers and critics alike in 2007, and whenever something’s successful a sequel usually gets announced. Now the time has come to return to Rapture, but is this a welcome one?
BioShock 2 puts you in the diving suit of one of the prototype Big Daddies, the first one to be successfully bonded to a Little Sister. On New Year’s Eve, 1958, your Little Sister was forcefully taken away from you, putting you in a chemically induced coma. Now, ten years later, you have awakened to find a city in utter ruin, with a constant need to relocate your lost companion.
It seems to me like we’re living in the age of nostalgia, where many of us are almost constantly looking back to what we remember as a golden age of gaming, when all the games were great and no one was shouting “noob” at us from across an internet connection. The Xbox Live Arcade has slowly built up a library of remakes, reboots and upgrades of old arcade classics like Asteroids, Centipede, Pac-Man and Galaga.
Another such title just released is Qix++, an improved version of the old arcade game from 1981. Originally released by Taito, the point of Qix (pronounced /kɪks/) according to Wikipedia, is to fence off, or “claim” a majority of the level’s playing field. Every level is a large, empty rectangle containing the titular Qix, a computer virus according to the game’s back story.
Once upon a time, adventure games were the proverbial kings of PC gaming, entertaining gamers everywhere with a heavy focus on well-written stories and trong, realistic characters. Adventure games had their best run during the late 80’s and early 90’s, before suddenly dying out. So what happened to the adventure games, and where are they now?
In this three part series we’ll be taking a look at the history of adventure games and possible try to predict a future for them as well.
In our third installment we take a look at the revival of adventure games, their current state and their various spin-off genres.
Once upon a time, adventure games were the proverbial kings of PC gaming, entertaining gamers everywhere with a heavy focus on well-written stories and strong, realistic characters. Adventure games had their best run during the late 80’s and early 90’s, before suddenly dying out. So what happened to the adventure games, and where are they now?
In this three part series, we’ll be taking a look at the history of the adventure game and possibly try to predict a future for them as well.
In this second instalment we take a look at the decline and near eradication of adventure games
With the recent release of the Brütal Legend demo (which is awesome, by the way, you have to check it out) it got me thinking about demos, and their value in today’s gaming society.
When I was a younger man, during the PS1 days, my new console came packed with a demo disc, usually featuring one or two levels from released or upcoming games. And it was great, because it allowed me and my friends to experience a game before begging our parents to buy it for us. Demo discs seemed to be released frequently, through magazines or promo campaigns. Once the PS2, Xbox and GC generation of consoles rolled in, it seemed (to me at least) that demos suddenly stopped being released.
Now, however, it seems demos are coming back to their former glory, allowing players to experience a game before shelling out the $50 or $60 the game stores are asking for.
- Are demos valid again?
- Where they ever not valid?
- Do you download demos?
Authors note: Yes, I’m aware of the fact that PC demos have been released through Steam and what have you since the dawn of time, but article is from a mostly console centered viewpoint.
For a while there have been many attempts, many failed attempts at that, to create a good super hero game. Most of those games have been movie tie ins, so suckiness was pretty much expected.
Along game a relatively unknown studio named Rocksteady who wanted to create the super hero game to end all super heroes; Batman: Arkham Asylum. They set out to recreate the look, feel and experience of being the dark knight. Along with Batman writer Paul Dini it so far seems they have succeeded, garnering rave reviews of preview builds and generating a huge buzz around gamer and comic book communities alike.
Today the demo launched for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, so naturally tonight’s Evening Topic is Batman: Arkham Asylum.
- Did you download the demo?
- From your impressions of the demo, does the game deliver what it set out to do?
- Could Batman: Arkham Asylum be the best super hero game ever?
The Ghostbusters are back, and they are better than ever. While most movie based video games have a large amount of suckage, Ghostbusters isn’t bogged down by the release date of a massive summer blockbuster.
This is an official entry in the franchise, a movie in video game form if you will. The boys in grey have a lot of fans both young and old, and all those fans can rest easily, as Ghostbusters: The Video Game delivers on many accounts.
The game kicks off as a wave of ghostly energy emanates from a museum housing a Gozer exhibit. At the same time the Ghostbusters have hired a new member to the team, the Rookie, who’ll be working as an “experimental weapons technician” or Egon’s guinea pig. The team is reluctant to get to know the new recruit as half the equipment he’ll be testing can send him flying halfway to New-Jersey in case something malfunctions.
After this year’s E3, the big three console manufacturers brought out new hardware in the form of motion control. Microsoft revealed Project Natal, a camera peripheral for the Xbox 360 with face and voice recognition and full body motion controls, while Nintendo updated everyone on what their Wii MotionPlus peripheral can do.
Sony didn’t want to be left out of the bandwagon and showed off yet another camera based motion controller, with two wand like objects. Much like a Wiimote with the MotionPlus attachment, the PS3Wands feature 1:1 movement in a 3D plane and seems tailor made for rail-shooters and sword fighting.
While all three kinds of motion controls were lauded by most fans and critics alike, it does raise one question: are montion controls really a good thing? Sure it can help with immersion in certain types of games, I for one felt Twilight Princess was even more fun to play with a Wiimote, but what about games that actually require buttons and analogue sticks?
Can you imagine playing Gears of War with the Natal, or Uncharted with the PS3Wands? Sure it helps the casual crowd experience gaming without the controller being a barrier, but most of us play games to unwind. I can’t imagine playing Ricochet on the Xbox 360 to unwind, seeing as most hands-on features have all said the same thing: that it’s a tiring and sweaty experience.
- Are motion controls the future of gaming?
- Will you be getting Project Natal, a PS3Wands or a Wii MotionPlus?
- Do we really care what the bottom of an Avatar’s shoe looks like?
Delays certainly isn’t something new when it comes to production of a certain type of medium. Movies, books, comic books and video games have all had to be delayed at some point, usually due to a lack of funding, lack of focus, laziness or the need for some extra polish. It’s when these delays become massive, however, we begin to question the point.
Duke Nukem Forever was scheduled for a release in 1997, but was finally axed May 6 2009 when the developer ran out of money. Batman: Arkham Asylum was recently delayed by a few months, and Fable II’s DLC Knothole Island was pushed back from mid December to late January.
And who can forget Daikatana, the game by which John Romero was going to make you his bitch. Set to release in 1998, the game finally launched in 2000, only to bomb fantastically.
- Are delays a necessary evil that should just be accepted?
- Or is it an excuse for developers who clearly haven’t been doing their best?
Yesterday I came over an article on Kotaku asking when “mature” would mature. In other words when the M rating would mean more than simply the addition of sex and violence.
The argument was raised that there’s a profound lack of games that can be described as mature and sophisticated, tackling more adult subject matter because in the eyes of the general public games are still a very young medium. There’s no established set of ways for us to expect what’s going to happen in a particular scene like there is in film and literature.
- Is there a lack of real maturity in games?
- What could be done to rectify such a lack?
- What adult subject matter would you like to see explored in a video game?
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