Cracked is a good website if you want to read engrossing articles about nothing. A lot of it is ridiculous but some of it I actually agree with wholeheartedly. This is a remarkable article I alluded to before but now I'm going to be lazy and leech off of it for one of my post. I scrapped my original write-up to this article so I'm doing it again here.
The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games by David Wong. TLDR:
6. Technology is going backwards. First you had Pong on the Atari which was revolutionary. Then you had Wii Bowling which was a nice improvement. Now motion control games haven't improved as you wave your hands in front of the TV like an idiot (especially Kinect). The Wii U and PS Vita are basically iPhones/iPads which are nothing new either.
5. "Big Brother" online servers are ruining gaming. Can't run some games without hooking up to a server, including single-player ones (see Starcraft II). Security measures are horrible. Also hackers and poor maintenance are proving this point even further since when Sony's server went down, everything went to hell.
4. Many video games promote endless playability by grinding for items (see any MMORPG). Even worse, you have to pay for perpetual online subscriptions, cheat codes, additional single-player addons, basically things you never had to pay for except in the last 5 years.
3. Creative bankruptcy. Almost all new games are sequels. Most obvious are FPSes like Call of Duty: MW3, Battlefield 3, and Crysis 2 which are strikingly similar in nature.
2. No real vision for the future. First it was make games look realistic, which we've done already. Now it's make a bunch of $1 apps, crap motion control games, and other awkward gimmicks (Nintendo 3DS).
1. We don't even know what a game is anymore. First it was "get a high score," now it's split into many different "art" forms--largely interactive movies with limited replay value, mini-games that involve decorating a landscape for s***s and giggles, etc.
And if what I wrote was still TLDR, then let me TLDR that for you...Today's Video Games SUCK.
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Well, let me reply to these and throw in my three cents right now.
6. I can understand the hate-on that everyone has for motion controls. I don't like the Kinect either--I've already made that clear before. Now these motion controls are starting to seep into my beloved racing genre. But the majority of the industry seems to be clear of motion controls for the time of being. I'm playing Rock Band & Call of Duty without the Kinect so this is a completely exaggerated point, right???
If you haven't known already, Microsoft has spent over $500 MILLION on Kinect advertising (Fun Fact: at $150 a piece, MS has to sell 3.33 mil Kinects to break even on the $500 mil benchmark alone). You can tell MS is trying to ram this thing up our ass. As a matter of fact, I hear the new Forza & Halo games are going to incorporate the Kinect somehow. And as for the Wii U? Well, everyone already pissed themselves over that already...remember, this is NINTENDO we're talking about, everything they produce is GOLD. Disregarding more motion control crap, I can't imagine playing with that big-ass iPad controller which hardly looks comfortable. So in other words, we're closer to this motion control "utopia" than we think.
5. Big online servers, heh. Remember back in the PS2/Xbox/GameCube days when you didn't need an online server for permission to play a game? Eh, those were the days.
While I am not familiar with DRMs and that madness, I've already talked about online servers being the life force for games and how they're rigged to blow. I already talked about OutRun Online Arcade, which'll be removed from XBL at the end of this year and you can't play it again. I also talked about MMORPG's. I also talked about Halo Wars and Call of Duty! Basically, once the server disowns the game, you really can't play it anymore. I could go on but I'm not gonna repeat myself even further. I really do like this quote for the Cracked article, sums it up perfectly:
Imagine if every time you drove your car, you had to first check in with the car manufacturer to confirm that it's you behind the wheel. Let's say that this relies on an Internet connection, and if the connection is down, you can't drive.
4. Eh, I don't have a problem with DLC if it means getting tons more content than normal (Rock Band songs in particular), but I see how things like cheat codes and already-on-disc content are really getting in the way. Elements of the game completed before release but were held back for monetary gain. Basically anything they can charge money for, they'll do it. Hey, I like capitalism and think they have the right to charge whatever they want but there's only so much that I'm willing to pay. That's why I'm such a scrooge when it comes to gaming--I only maybe play a few games and that's it--screw the rest and their media hype...
3. I don't have that big of a problem with sequels as long as they add something new or refine gameplay that we've come to love, but I do have a problem with all these damn gritty FPSes and fantasy adventure/MMORPG's. I've already talked about game violence and how its prevalence is driving me nuts. I'd much prefer a new Daytona game which, even though it's a sequel, is much more refreshing than anything else that these devs have put out nowadays. Anyway, don't have much to say about this though this quote SUMS UP MY THOUGHTS PERFECTLY:
This here is why all of the innovation in games seems to be about going backward, simplifying instead of pushing the experience further. They are trying to lower the barrier of entry for gaming as a hobby, because they don't know where else to go with it. So I guess what I'm saying is that one thing is becoming clear ...
2. Basically a repeat of #6. When game companies who think technology sells & gameplay be damned push faster and faster, then they reach the end and then we do get tons of random crap. Then at this point, dollar apps become the norm and it's all about watering down games in order to make everyone feel "involved." The only really good thing I see about dollar apps is that now anyone can be a game designer--you don't have to be part of some 500-man game studio with a $50 mil budget (read what I said). Ridonkulous...
1. I really hate these games that are trying to be like movies more than games. Need for Speed: The Run and all these FPSes. I'm anything but a movie buff so this really pisses me off. But I still think this point is being a bit harsh since there's some good movie-based games that actually have some variation, like Shenmue and LA Noire. But yeah, I do long for the days where ACTUAL GAMING TALENT was a necessity rather than the ability to click a few buttons and then you're now a certified "Gamer"...
Conclusion: The above quote in #3 really sums things up perfectly. Back in the 20th Century, gaming was sort of a "reclusive" activity--like only nerds and miscreants would play games. But it was cool because we got a lot of classics that still make us smile...Super Mario, Goldeneye, Zelda (yeah I admit), Sonic, DAYTONA USA, everything by Sega in its glory days, and so forth...
Nowadays, everyone loves games. Gaming studios are getting bigger and pushing better graphics and new gimmicks. Well, I believe that if things become too popular (in this case, gaming) then they are crushed under their own weight. Now that gamers have become "accepted" into society, everyone wants to join in. Everyone wants all this crap like movie games with state-of-the-art graphics, motion control skill-less games, etc. so what you get are well...a lot of soul-less products pushed merely to sell tens of millions of copies and everyone eats this junk up like we're pigs at the trough.
I've already mentioned this before so I'll do it again. As an aspiring game developer, I almost think I have to play politician and not offend everybody...like I'm supposed to say "Oh yeah, MMORPGs and mindless racing games like Split/Second are okay." If I get in as a programmer, then I'm basically a hired mercenary--tell me to make something, I'll do it and I get paid. If I go around trashing something, then that's going to cost me a job. Simply put, I gotta make money first and foremost. How many game devs do you see pushing blogs about how much this sucks or that sucks. Not many--the fan can rant cause he has nothing to lose...
I almost think I was born too late. Ugh, sorry if this article was too pessimistic. I'll get to Sega Racing Stuff LATER.
Showing posts with label Servers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Servers. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
SEGA'S BEEN HACKED And It's Important Enough To Make Front Pages (And Grid Sucks)
On the MSN homepage. Yeah, right up there with J. Blo's titties.
EDIT: Oh, and there's this pic on CBS that's gone viral big-time (try to guess what's wrong here):
SEGA is just one of many companies that have been hacked recently. This particular hack happened days ago. According to this arbitrary BBC page, all that was taken was 1.29 million Sega Pass e-mail addresses, dates of birth, and maybe some passwords. No credit cards. Okay, congrats hackers. You hacked Sega, the fat red-head kid in the playground. You took candy from a baby who didn't have any in the first place. You got some e-mails to hit up. What now--more spam e-mail? I'm terribly scared. I mean, those Windows Account Alert! e-mails really provided me with enough nightmare fuel to stay up for days. If I get another 400,000 GBP offer directly to my bank account, whoo boy, I'm gonna lose it.
TBQH, I don't even know what a Sega Pass is...so they got the password to my "Sega Pass." Okay, as long as they don't friggin go around posting as me. Sega already reset their passwords (which were encrypted BTW) and reacted very quickly, unlike Sony, lololol, so let's commend Sega in that regard. And no, I don't use the same password on more than one account. I only posted on the Sega board ten times in the last two years so what do I have to lose...
The funny thing is that the hackers behind the Nintendo & Sony attacks actually like Sega so they actually "get it"--this is what they had to say:
The hacker group Lulz Security, which has been involved in a number of high profile attacks, including one against Sega rival Nintento, has denied involvement in the Sega case.
Instead it showed some sympathy for the company on its Twitter feed.
"We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you. We love the Dreamcast, these people are going down," it said.
SELF-PITY AND DREAMCAST FTW!!! It helped save Sega's life. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, I can't wait to see the cops' beatdown on LulzSec's candy ass. But, most importantly, hats off to SEGA for being important enough to being mentioned in the news!!! SEGA VICTOLY!!!
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Oh yeah, one funny thing--GRID game servers are going down. This is a game released in 2008 BTW. I won't say much but if you read the comments in this Joystiq article, you see people losing their s*** over this, begging for dedicated servers and whatnot. I foresaw this whole debacle going down before...do not doubt me.
EDIT: Oh, and there's this pic on CBS that's gone viral big-time (try to guess what's wrong here):
SEGA is just one of many companies that have been hacked recently. This particular hack happened days ago. According to this arbitrary BBC page, all that was taken was 1.29 million Sega Pass e-mail addresses, dates of birth, and maybe some passwords. No credit cards. Okay, congrats hackers. You hacked Sega, the fat red-head kid in the playground. You took candy from a baby who didn't have any in the first place. You got some e-mails to hit up. What now--more spam e-mail? I'm terribly scared. I mean, those Windows Account Alert! e-mails really provided me with enough nightmare fuel to stay up for days. If I get another 400,000 GBP offer directly to my bank account, whoo boy, I'm gonna lose it.
TBQH, I don't even know what a Sega Pass is...so they got the password to my "Sega Pass." Okay, as long as they don't friggin go around posting as me. Sega already reset their passwords (which were encrypted BTW) and reacted very quickly, unlike Sony, lololol, so let's commend Sega in that regard. And no, I don't use the same password on more than one account. I only posted on the Sega board ten times in the last two years so what do I have to lose...
The funny thing is that the hackers behind the Nintendo & Sony attacks actually like Sega so they actually "get it"--this is what they had to say:
The hacker group Lulz Security, which has been involved in a number of high profile attacks, including one against Sega rival Nintento, has denied involvement in the Sega case.
Instead it showed some sympathy for the company on its Twitter feed.
"We want to help you destroy the hackers that attacked you. We love the Dreamcast, these people are going down," it said.
Warning to all Hackers: Kick His Ass, Seabass!!!
SELF-PITY AND DREAMCAST FTW!!! It helped save Sega's life. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, I can't wait to see the cops' beatdown on LulzSec's candy ass. But, most importantly, hats off to SEGA for being important enough to being mentioned in the news!!! SEGA VICTOLY!!!
------------
Oh yeah, one funny thing--GRID game servers are going down. This is a game released in 2008 BTW. I won't say much but if you read the comments in this Joystiq article, you see people losing their s*** over this, begging for dedicated servers and whatnot. I foresaw this whole debacle going down before...do not doubt me.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Video Games (MMORPG's) Rigged To Blow (Games Are Art?)
EDITED plenty of times on 5/13-14
Okay, we're back online. Blogspot was undergoing "maintenance" not for one hour but for two days so I was completely in the dark here. And my blog's poll went from 18 to 31 votes in a matter of hours...what the hell's going on here. I do appreciate more votes, that's for sure.
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But anyway, I see that the never-ending grind versus dumb mainstream games will never end. I wanted to address Scud Race but let's take care of this first.
This is on Kotaku. Now I wouldn't read this site anymore except for the fact that the other game blogs are not as comprehensive or run by complete idiots, such as G4TV which causes massive trauma, stomachaches, and erectile dysfunction. The topic of today: Why play an MMO when you know it's going to end? You pay for subscriptions, hence you are just "renting" the game. And when the servers go down, that it--the game's gone for good. Can't play it anymore so all progress made before is lost.
The typical Kotaku response: "why even bother living if your gonna die anyway??? its about the experience and social aspect more than anything!1! you're little single player games last 10-20 hours anyway so whats the difference???"
Here's what I have to say. My idea of a long-term activity should be something that leaves me with something positive and/or tangible at the "end." According to the responses, after playing some MMO until you become burnt out or the server closes down, you get the memories, a few friends, and carpal tunnel. To me, that doesn't seem worthwhile since MMORPG's long-term worthiness is stemmed in grinding levels by clicking on bad guys and talking with friends. These things I feel that I can do elsewhere, particularly with games that don't become a paperweight in 5-10 years...games that I can play "forever." Games that I can plug back in and say, "Hey, look at what I accomplished or learned to do," while going through the motions like before. On the other hand, MMO's are just wiped out for good so you can't go anywhere near them.
And as for socialization--can't you just do that on Ventrilo, message boards, chat rooms, or, dare I say, face-to-face in real life? Better yet, can't you spend some (or all) your time playing sports, making artwork, reading books, and spending time with family which can do wonders for your health and well-being? Why is it that even in the face of these revelations, people still think MMORPG's are money & time well-spent? Hey, I really don't mind if people cared so much about these MMO's but the fact they're so flippant to the idea that one of their "extra lives" will be flushed away in a couple of years is rather startling.
Or here's a theory--maybe people are hopping aboard these MMORPG's because they're like college parties with booze and strippers...get in while it lasts because it's not here for long (see the "social" aspect of these games). Though I'd opt for something with a bit more substance and integrity so no thanks.
EDIT: It just dawned on me a day later...isn't it a bit perturbing that we're comparing a MMORPG to a person's life? Just off the top of my head, you DON'T HAVE to play a MMORPG while you DO have to live your life. Come on, people.
I don't know. I've already talked about WoW before. I actually think the idea behind a MMO is interesting--creating a character to interact with other players' characters, but not how WoW or any of these big shots do it...with the fat kids, the medieval/fantasy setting, the servers going down, etc. Maybe I just don't get it but if you do then hey, who's stopping ya.... And this is my
It's too bad that many games (well, Xbox 360 and PS3 in general) nowadays are rigged to these servers. Like Call of Duty. Okay, I am somewhat guilty of this. I'm Prestige 1 on CoD4 and CoD:WaW, Prestige 4 in MW2, and Prestige 10 in Black Ops. I'm probably going to regret this later, but I'm playing these games cause I want to shoot people, not cause I want to run through the hamster wheel. I guess it's just nice that more people are opening up to the reality that they may not be able to play certain games in the future (see OutRun Online Arcade).
Thankfully, if there's one good thing I see coming out of gaming technology these days, maybe it's that they can sustain these servers longer. Send petitions and whine--maybe you can keep these games up or at least salvage something for the future (XBL achievement points??? I hope).
------------
But anyway, one of the fabled arguments in video game culture is whether or not games are art. Well, it depends. It's mostly on the developer's intent on whether to create a "unique" game or something cookie-cutter just to make mass profits. Check out this quote:
It's just terrible that up until this point, you no longer "own" a game forever; they just go away eventually which is completely contrary to the last 30+ years of game history where you could own the tangible game forever as long as you took care of it. Now you know why I'm a bit saddened by these revelations.
Pssh, I'm done here, I've gone way overboard. I hate video games.
Okay, we're back online. Blogspot was undergoing "maintenance" not for one hour but for two days so I was completely in the dark here. And my blog's poll went from 18 to 31 votes in a matter of hours...what the hell's going on here. I do appreciate more votes, that's for sure.
-------------
But anyway, I see that the never-ending grind versus dumb mainstream games will never end. I wanted to address Scud Race but let's take care of this first.
This is on Kotaku. Now I wouldn't read this site anymore except for the fact that the other game blogs are not as comprehensive or run by complete idiots, such as G4TV which causes massive trauma, stomachaches, and erectile dysfunction. The topic of today: Why play an MMO when you know it's going to end? You pay for subscriptions, hence you are just "renting" the game. And when the servers go down, that it--the game's gone for good. Can't play it anymore so all progress made before is lost.
The typical Kotaku response: "why even bother living if your gonna die anyway??? its about the experience and social aspect more than anything!1! you're little single player games last 10-20 hours anyway so whats the difference???"
Here's what I have to say. My idea of a long-term activity should be something that leaves me with something positive and/or tangible at the "end." According to the responses, after playing some MMO until you become burnt out or the server closes down, you get the memories, a few friends, and carpal tunnel. To me, that doesn't seem worthwhile since MMORPG's long-term worthiness is stemmed in grinding levels by clicking on bad guys and talking with friends. These things I feel that I can do elsewhere, particularly with games that don't become a paperweight in 5-10 years...games that I can play "forever." Games that I can plug back in and say, "Hey, look at what I accomplished or learned to do," while going through the motions like before. On the other hand, MMO's are just wiped out for good so you can't go anywhere near them.
And as for socialization--can't you just do that on Ventrilo, message boards, chat rooms, or, dare I say, face-to-face in real life? Better yet, can't you spend some (or all) your time playing sports, making artwork, reading books, and spending time with family which can do wonders for your health and well-being? Why is it that even in the face of these revelations, people still think MMORPG's are money & time well-spent? Hey, I really don't mind if people cared so much about these MMO's but the fact they're so flippant to the idea that one of their "extra lives" will be flushed away in a couple of years is rather startling.
Or here's a theory--maybe people are hopping aboard these MMORPG's because they're like college parties with booze and strippers...get in while it lasts because it's not here for long (see the "social" aspect of these games). Though I'd opt for something with a bit more substance and integrity so no thanks.
EDIT: It just dawned on me a day later...isn't it a bit perturbing that we're comparing a MMORPG to a person's life? Just off the top of my head, you DON'T HAVE to play a MMORPG while you DO have to live your life. Come on, people.
I don't know. I've already talked about WoW before. I actually think the idea behind a MMO is interesting--creating a character to interact with other players' characters, but not how WoW or any of these big shots do it...with the fat kids, the medieval/fantasy setting, the servers going down, etc. Maybe I just don't get it but if you do then hey, who's stopping ya.... And this is my
It's too bad that many games (well, Xbox 360 and PS3 in general) nowadays are rigged to these servers. Like Call of Duty. Okay, I am somewhat guilty of this. I'm Prestige 1 on CoD4 and CoD:WaW, Prestige 4 in MW2, and Prestige 10 in Black Ops. I'm probably going to regret this later, but I'm playing these games cause I want to shoot people, not cause I want to run through the hamster wheel. I guess it's just nice that more people are opening up to the reality that they may not be able to play certain games in the future (see OutRun Online Arcade).
Thankfully, if there's one good thing I see coming out of gaming technology these days, maybe it's that they can sustain these servers longer. Send petitions and whine--maybe you can keep these games up or at least salvage something for the future (XBL achievement points??? I hope).
------------
But anyway, one of the fabled arguments in video game culture is whether or not games are art. Well, it depends. It's mostly on the developer's intent on whether to create a "unique" game or something cookie-cutter just to make mass profits. Check out this quote:
"The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do."
-Andy Warhol
And that's what's nice about games. You just pop in the game and it's not going to change on you. You go away to a (hopefully) magical world where you don't have to worry about germs, diseases, pain & suffering, global wars, paying bills, etc. Like Sega Racers. Daytona USA, OutRun, Crazy Taxi, just cool places to be. And that's why I made Counter-Strike maps so I can create my own "worlds" to visit.It's just terrible that up until this point, you no longer "own" a game forever; they just go away eventually which is completely contrary to the last 30+ years of game history where you could own the tangible game forever as long as you took care of it. Now you know why I'm a bit saddened by these revelations.
Pssh, I'm done here, I've gone way overboard. I hate video games.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Lots Of Weird Stuff Going On (GFAQs, Servers, Forza)
This happened about two weeks ago. I received an invite to a private GameFAQs board called "LifeFAQs." Now considering the fiasco over the video proposal contest (which I'm not even going to link to--click on the tags to the right) and the realization that private boards are not accessible unless the admin specifically types your name in, I was convinced that they're just a waste of time.
So you may think this guy invited me because he saw my entry. Well, no, that's not it. The guy got this list of all the GameFAQs accounts older than eight years old and I happened to be on it. The board is actually rather big now, like another LUE (Life, Universe, Everything) board where people discuss their favorite flavor poptarts and their grief over breaking up with girlfriends.
Putting aside all pettiness, I'm not a fan of big boards at all. I used to post at a "big board" but it took a huge-ass amount of energy just to remain semi-relevant because there's hundreds of posts to reply too. I'd much prefer a small board where you can maintain close friendships with a few people than to be the "cool guy" that everyone likes.
------------
And this is a news story that I've picked up on too. It kind of relates the the OutRun Online Arcade server removal issue I talked about earlier. Well, if you've been following Halo Wars, then you've probably heard in November that Microsoft is pulling the plug on the stat-tracking server on Dec. 15, much to the fanbase's chagrin. However, because enough Halo fans complained about it, Microsoft has decided to keep the server up.
Going offline...
...just kidding, we're not going anywhere (yet).
Wow, isn't that great. A game lives or dies by the servers. Servers go down, game bricks. And this is what you get when you rely on official servers instead of dedicated ones (EDIT: I think anyway, not sure if there's any remedy to server games RIP). And throw in downloaded games too. Oh, what about my Microsoft Achievement Points? Well, if that were to go away, then I would have to come onto this blog and disagree with their decision in a not-so-polite manner.
And of course, this follows Electronic Arts' claim that they will only make games that adhere to online mode. See here. Can be loosely interpreted at a poke at Japanese games which have always been lackluster in the online component...
Oh, let me throw in that I've also been playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. Yes, I'm a toolbag. Yes, it's kind of fun. So I'm already Level 26 and I think the Galil is a dead sexy gun (for a gun of course). And I also made this crude Sega logo as my pic...it's not that grand because the game doesn't have every letter of the alphabet so I had to use a 5 and a 6 for the S and the G and then tweak it from there. Will post pics later.
But I also look at Call of Duty and the house of cards it's built on...everything is on a server. Not a dedicated server, I might add! Just public servers. See Starcraft 2, Modern Warfare 2, etc. Server goes down, everything flushed down the toilet. And you can also say this about World of Warcraft or Halo or any other game that people log hours upon days upon weeks into.
You could say that down the road about five years from now when the servers are gone that "no one will care about the game anyway," which is a seemingly legit argument, but why make all these disposable games in the first place? About as disposable as cameras and toilet paper! I'm getting really redundant here, just read the old OutRun post I linked to up there. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm sure as hell gonna hang on to my Daytona games as the ship slowly sinks. I don't want to be a sellout who buys all these brand new games that I will dispose of in the next three months. That's just pathetic, I can't take it.
BTW, I'm backing up my Blogspot too. Just in case the server is hit by a hurricane, a volcano, or a nuke. I put too much thought into this site to let it slip through my hands like sand on a beach.
------------
One more story. Forza 3, in an attempt to sway me back to their game, has released ten community-selected classics cars in a future DLC pack. This includes the DeLorean. Congrats Turn10 for deceiving me into believing your game was "dead," now go fix your PI ratings and maybe I'll reconsider.
88 MPH
So you may think this guy invited me because he saw my entry. Well, no, that's not it. The guy got this list of all the GameFAQs accounts older than eight years old and I happened to be on it. The board is actually rather big now, like another LUE (Life, Universe, Everything) board where people discuss their favorite flavor poptarts and their grief over breaking up with girlfriends.
Putting aside all pettiness, I'm not a fan of big boards at all. I used to post at a "big board" but it took a huge-ass amount of energy just to remain semi-relevant because there's hundreds of posts to reply too. I'd much prefer a small board where you can maintain close friendships with a few people than to be the "cool guy" that everyone likes.
------------
And this is a news story that I've picked up on too. It kind of relates the the OutRun Online Arcade server removal issue I talked about earlier. Well, if you've been following Halo Wars, then you've probably heard in November that Microsoft is pulling the plug on the stat-tracking server on Dec. 15, much to the fanbase's chagrin. However, because enough Halo fans complained about it, Microsoft has decided to keep the server up.
Going offline...
...just kidding, we're not going anywhere (yet).
Wow, isn't that great. A game lives or dies by the servers. Servers go down, game bricks. And this is what you get when you rely on official servers instead of dedicated ones (EDIT: I think anyway, not sure if there's any remedy to server games RIP). And throw in downloaded games too. Oh, what about my Microsoft Achievement Points? Well, if that were to go away, then I would have to come onto this blog and disagree with their decision in a not-so-polite manner.
And of course, this follows Electronic Arts' claim that they will only make games that adhere to online mode. See here. Can be loosely interpreted at a poke at Japanese games which have always been lackluster in the online component...
Oh, let me throw in that I've also been playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. Yes, I'm a toolbag. Yes, it's kind of fun. So I'm already Level 26 and I think the Galil is a dead sexy gun (for a gun of course). And I also made this crude Sega logo as my pic...it's not that grand because the game doesn't have every letter of the alphabet so I had to use a 5 and a 6 for the S and the G and then tweak it from there. Will post pics later.
But I also look at Call of Duty and the house of cards it's built on...everything is on a server. Not a dedicated server, I might add! Just public servers. See Starcraft 2, Modern Warfare 2, etc. Server goes down, everything flushed down the toilet. And you can also say this about World of Warcraft or Halo or any other game that people log hours upon days upon weeks into.
You could say that down the road about five years from now when the servers are gone that "no one will care about the game anyway," which is a seemingly legit argument, but why make all these disposable games in the first place? About as disposable as cameras and toilet paper! I'm getting really redundant here, just read the old OutRun post I linked to up there. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm sure as hell gonna hang on to my Daytona games as the ship slowly sinks. I don't want to be a sellout who buys all these brand new games that I will dispose of in the next three months. That's just pathetic, I can't take it.
BTW, I'm backing up my Blogspot too. Just in case the server is hit by a hurricane, a volcano, or a nuke. I put too much thought into this site to let it slip through my hands like sand on a beach.
------------
One more story. Forza 3, in an attempt to sway me back to their game, has released ten community-selected classics cars in a future DLC pack. This includes the DeLorean. Congrats Turn10 for deceiving me into believing your game was "dead," now go fix your PI ratings and maybe I'll reconsider.
88 MPH
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
OutRun Online Arcade Removal A "Legit" News Story Now
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30919/End_Of_Ferrari_Deal_Pulls_Segas_OutRun_Online_Arcade_From_XBLA_PSN.php
http://kotaku.com/5662675/an-outrun-game-is-about-to-be-terminated
It's really kind of funny now how my friend isamu noticed this about two weeks ago, yet now it's official news. Then again, it's not like people cared about this game until one person leaked this, then they jump on the bandwagon. So we're sad that ORA is only available for Xbox 360, but it gets worse. The Xbox 360 version will be removed at the end of 2011 because of an expiry on the Ferrari license.
And do you want to know WHY this is happening? This Eutechnyx developer is making another game called Ferrari: The Race Experience which is killing OutRun 2. Isn't that great? So basically, this Eutechnyx company, responsible for such gems as 007 Racing and Big Mutha Truckers, gobbles up the NASCAR (and thus the Daytona) and Ferrari licenses, thus screwing Sega twice. Geez man, this pisses me off. No new Daytona game, no new OutRun game. EDIT: Ok, so the Daytona license is overpriced but not exclusive but come on, two games mirroring Sega classics back-to-back...it's just weird how this company breaks out all of a sudden with this kind of stuff. I find it somewhat intimidating...
Of course you could still release these, but you have to use these crappy generic logos which would really be a burden on the games IMO... Like if I see a Daytona/OutRun game with these phony baloney generic cars like in Split/Second, it would irritate me very much. If they can make the cars look exactly identical to the originals, then maybe not so much, but still, it may be copyright infringement if you copy the original designs anyway.
------------
Now about this news story. The main reason why this is reported is because it's another instance of digitally-downloaded content being removed forever. Like Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, and other Midway games. I've already touched on that before--this isn't new. But it does make you think, all these GREAT arcade games and downloadable content (like Rock Band songs) you can download from servers, it's such a wonderful convenience! Until it gets removed from the server forever and then it becomes a relic of the past. You can't just run to the store and buy a hard copy of these games. We saw this back when the original Xbox's plug was pulled, and now I'm worried about stuff like Perfect Dark.
There's no guarantee that Microsoft will get rid of this stuff any time soon, I mean, unless they want half the gaming community to riot. As a matter of fact, if I were a game developer who watched my product disappear into thin air, I would be PISSED. Let me repeat that, PISSED. Games like Limbo, Braid, and Castle Crashers are in harm's way too.
This is just evident of how the game industry works. Release a game, then kill it about five years later, only to be replaced by the next cool thing. I don't like it, I don't like it at all.
Now you might say, "So what, these new games will be better than the old ones!" Really? There's no guarantee! Let me give you a good example--Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The old ones were great (2, 3, 4, Underground), but after that, the series went to crap. So there is no guarantee that the new ones are good. Or even worse, what if there is NO sequels to be heard of? Some games off the top of my head are Advance Wars, Star Fox, Monster Rancher, DAYTONA USA, I could go on. Now these aren't digitally-downloaded games--you own hard copies of these (thank God), but if they were downloaded, then that's another story.
I think I'm blowing this way out of proportion, but who knows. Five years down the road, this could be a damn big deal. I think the way to at least alleviate this somewhat is to make all content free and available to transfer from console to console, but Microsoft's stupid policy of prohibiting games not purchased by the original account just gets in the way. So that's great, you can still have the game on the hard drive, but you can't play it. You can't "prove" that you were the original owner because the servers are down forever. I hope MS does something about this, but I don't think so.
...........
But now, back to OutRun 2. It kind of pisses me off that the fact that we won't have OutRun 2 is secondary to the DLC issue. So no OutRun 2, now some people are running to its defense, shedding tears. Which is good, but where were these people back when the game was released? These are the same people that IMO either A. didn't play the game at all or B. played the demo, but went back to playing Burnout afterwards. Like take a look at this comment from Luke Plunkett of Kotaku:
So it's an Xbox 360 exclusive! Well, not really. The Xbox 360's exclusivity is temporary, with that version scheduled to be removed from Xbox Live Arcade in December 2011. After which, the game will just be...gone.
Which is a damn shame, as I loved it. Blue skies, fast cars, big drifts...it's a fantastic racer. Or should I say, was a fantastic racer.
I don't know. It's flattering so I do have to give the guy credit. But come on people, I'm not buying all of it. Besides, this game's still available on the PS2/Xbox (with more content I might add) so are you going to go out and buy that too? At least this news will increase ORA sales a little which is good to see this game get some exposure again.
Anyway, that's about it. Of course, you should go buy ORA if you haven't already. It's just 800 MSP ($10) so if you don't get it, you're an idiot. Plus not to mention that the PS2/Xbox OR2 games are about $5 in bargain bins at GameSpot so that's a great deal too. Goodbye.
http://kotaku.com/5662675/an-outrun-game-is-about-to-be-terminated
It's really kind of funny now how my friend isamu noticed this about two weeks ago, yet now it's official news. Then again, it's not like people cared about this game until one person leaked this, then they jump on the bandwagon. So we're sad that ORA is only available for Xbox 360, but it gets worse. The Xbox 360 version will be removed at the end of 2011 because of an expiry on the Ferrari license.
And do you want to know WHY this is happening? This Eutechnyx developer is making another game called Ferrari: The Race Experience which is killing OutRun 2. Isn't that great? So basically, this Eutechnyx company, responsible for such gems as 007 Racing and Big Mutha Truckers, gobbles up the NASCAR (and thus the Daytona) and Ferrari licenses, thus screwing Sega twice. Geez man, this pisses me off. No new Daytona game, no new OutRun game. EDIT: Ok, so the Daytona license is overpriced but not exclusive but come on, two games mirroring Sega classics back-to-back...it's just weird how this company breaks out all of a sudden with this kind of stuff. I find it somewhat intimidating...
Of course you could still release these, but you have to use these crappy generic logos which would really be a burden on the games IMO... Like if I see a Daytona/OutRun game with these phony baloney generic cars like in Split/Second, it would irritate me very much. If they can make the cars look exactly identical to the originals, then maybe not so much, but still, it may be copyright infringement if you copy the original designs anyway.
------------
Now about this news story. The main reason why this is reported is because it's another instance of digitally-downloaded content being removed forever. Like Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, and other Midway games. I've already touched on that before--this isn't new. But it does make you think, all these GREAT arcade games and downloadable content (like Rock Band songs) you can download from servers, it's such a wonderful convenience! Until it gets removed from the server forever and then it becomes a relic of the past. You can't just run to the store and buy a hard copy of these games. We saw this back when the original Xbox's plug was pulled, and now I'm worried about stuff like Perfect Dark.
There's no guarantee that Microsoft will get rid of this stuff any time soon, I mean, unless they want half the gaming community to riot. As a matter of fact, if I were a game developer who watched my product disappear into thin air, I would be PISSED. Let me repeat that, PISSED. Games like Limbo, Braid, and Castle Crashers are in harm's way too.
This is just evident of how the game industry works. Release a game, then kill it about five years later, only to be replaced by the next cool thing. I don't like it, I don't like it at all.
Now you might say, "So what, these new games will be better than the old ones!" Really? There's no guarantee! Let me give you a good example--Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The old ones were great (2, 3, 4, Underground), but after that, the series went to crap. So there is no guarantee that the new ones are good. Or even worse, what if there is NO sequels to be heard of? Some games off the top of my head are Advance Wars, Star Fox, Monster Rancher, DAYTONA USA, I could go on. Now these aren't digitally-downloaded games--you own hard copies of these (thank God), but if they were downloaded, then that's another story.
I think I'm blowing this way out of proportion, but who knows. Five years down the road, this could be a damn big deal. I think the way to at least alleviate this somewhat is to make all content free and available to transfer from console to console, but Microsoft's stupid policy of prohibiting games not purchased by the original account just gets in the way. So that's great, you can still have the game on the hard drive, but you can't play it. You can't "prove" that you were the original owner because the servers are down forever. I hope MS does something about this, but I don't think so.
...........
But now, back to OutRun 2. It kind of pisses me off that the fact that we won't have OutRun 2 is secondary to the DLC issue. So no OutRun 2, now some people are running to its defense, shedding tears. Which is good, but where were these people back when the game was released? These are the same people that IMO either A. didn't play the game at all or B. played the demo, but went back to playing Burnout afterwards. Like take a look at this comment from Luke Plunkett of Kotaku:
So it's an Xbox 360 exclusive! Well, not really. The Xbox 360's exclusivity is temporary, with that version scheduled to be removed from Xbox Live Arcade in December 2011. After which, the game will just be...gone.
Which is a damn shame, as I loved it. Blue skies, fast cars, big drifts...it's a fantastic racer. Or should I say, was a fantastic racer.
I don't know. It's flattering so I do have to give the guy credit. But come on people, I'm not buying all of it. Besides, this game's still available on the PS2/Xbox (with more content I might add) so are you going to go out and buy that too? At least this news will increase ORA sales a little which is good to see this game get some exposure again.
Anyway, that's about it. Of course, you should go buy ORA if you haven't already. It's just 800 MSP ($10) so if you don't get it, you're an idiot. Plus not to mention that the PS2/Xbox OR2 games are about $5 in bargain bins at GameSpot so that's a great deal too. Goodbye.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Outrun And Sega Rally Under Attack? (More Yakuza, Sonic)
This is a good bit of investigative reporting by my buddy isamu on the ORA board. I'm repeating this just for any readers not from that board...
OutRun Online Arcade is available on the Xbox 360 in any country. On the PS3 however, it's only available in the UK store. Well it turns out that he and many others have scoured the UK store to find the game removed altogether. So basically OutRun 2 is not on the PS3 anymore. What???
This isn't the first time that a downloadable game has been removed from an online store. Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, and other Midway classics have been sucked under (Midway went bankrupt). Same thing with Yaris which was free BTW (it was a promo game). You can redownload them again ONLY if you purchased it previously. Presumably, the game is still on the server but it's not for sale for some reason which makes no sense because you're missing out on the opportunity to earn money...
I think we should all play OutRun Online Arcade on the Xbox 360 in memory. Just cause we need to do SOMETHING and give Sumo Digital props for making the game more available to a larger crowd (although it wasn't a big seller). People, you had no excuse to try out the demo cause it's right there in front of you...
To make things worse, Sega Rally Revo has been pulled from the PSN store too. Yes, I know that Revo isn't considered a powerhouse Sega title, but it's still one of Sega's babies. So that's two Sega racers gone. I'm not 100% sure this is true, but I'll let you know if something comes up.
Why would something like this happen all of a sudden? Does Sega want out? Does Sony hate Sega? Is this a stupid mistake? The last thing we need is every trace of Sega goodness to go away...look out for the future...
------------
And then add this just because I saw it. This is entirely in Japan. New Pokemon game on DS and new Sega Yakuza (under some weird name) game on the PSP. FIGHT! Pokemon outsells Yakuza 5 to 1 despite the fact that PB/W has been out for a week already. This is from Sept. 20 to 26. All in all not surprising. Why is Sega making all these PSP games, much less ones that'll never come out in America anyway? Who knows, who cares. Congrats on coming in second I guess, Sega has a reason to hold their heads high now.
01. Pokemon Black / White (DS) - 829,000 / 3,386,000
02. Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinshou (PSP) - 174,000 / NEW
http://kotaku.com/5652709/pokemon-black--white-show-the-yakuza-whos-the-boss-in-japan
------------
And one more thing cause I'm teeming with information. We're talking about the new Sonic games. Sonic 4: Episode 1 is coming out in mid-October so that's pretty good. I'm pretty sure it'll be 1200 MSP but I can't prove it. Made by Dimps, it's a downloadable title. Yes, Sonic's gonna be GOOD AGAIN!! And what's best is that it's just the first episode which means more Sonic titles to come!
Looks like Sonic's moving slower in this one, apparently to improve the controls. The way he runs looks funny, like his foot movement is potato-shaped or something. Oh yeah, and I know Sonic 1 had Starlight, Sonic 2 had Casino Night, and Sonic 3 had Carnival Night, but this looks like another Casino level...there's enough of those already, but whatever, that's ok, I like that... Also, didn't I see a boss battle on Green Hill zone with Eggman and the ball thing? I think it's good to "revisit" old Sonic classics, but come on, make something semi-original. Who knows, it may be good.
http://forums.sega.com/showpost.php?p=6228418&postcount=215 - Sonic 4: Episode 2 is currently not in development yet.
------------
Sonic Colours (yes, I like the British spelling) is coming out mid-November and Takashi Iizuka of Sonic Team says...:
This is a similar title to Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, but the similarity comes from the concept – keeping the tempo very fluid. A similar concept applies here. Is it the best since then? We always strive to make the best Sonic game yet. It’s at least on a par with Sonic Adventure Battle 2 [sic], and I’m confident it is one of the best Sonic games ever.
http://www.tssznews.com/2010/09/22/iizuka-says-sonic-colors-one-of-the-best-sonic-games-ever/
I've been looking up some info on this Iizuka guy and he's been working on most every Sonic Team game since Sonic 3... So looking at the footage of Sonic Colours, this looks just like Sonic: Unleashed except without the nighttime Werehog stages. If it turns out like Sonic Adventure 2 (which I thought was great but remember, not EVERYONE liked it), then it will be alright. I'm not too stoked though. Also, it's just gonna be on the Wii and DS which sucks too--no Xbox 360 or PS3 love.
OutRun Online Arcade is available on the Xbox 360 in any country. On the PS3 however, it's only available in the UK store. Well it turns out that he and many others have scoured the UK store to find the game removed altogether. So basically OutRun 2 is not on the PS3 anymore. What???
This isn't the first time that a downloadable game has been removed from an online store. Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, and other Midway classics have been sucked under (Midway went bankrupt). Same thing with Yaris which was free BTW (it was a promo game). You can redownload them again ONLY if you purchased it previously. Presumably, the game is still on the server but it's not for sale for some reason which makes no sense because you're missing out on the opportunity to earn money...
I think we should all play OutRun Online Arcade on the Xbox 360 in memory. Just cause we need to do SOMETHING and give Sumo Digital props for making the game more available to a larger crowd (although it wasn't a big seller). People, you had no excuse to try out the demo cause it's right there in front of you...
To make things worse, Sega Rally Revo has been pulled from the PSN store too. Yes, I know that Revo isn't considered a powerhouse Sega title, but it's still one of Sega's babies. So that's two Sega racers gone. I'm not 100% sure this is true, but I'll let you know if something comes up.
Why would something like this happen all of a sudden? Does Sega want out? Does Sony hate Sega? Is this a stupid mistake? The last thing we need is every trace of Sega goodness to go away...look out for the future...
------------
And then add this just because I saw it. This is entirely in Japan. New Pokemon game on DS and new Sega Yakuza (under some weird name) game on the PSP. FIGHT! Pokemon outsells Yakuza 5 to 1 despite the fact that PB/W has been out for a week already. This is from Sept. 20 to 26. All in all not surprising. Why is Sega making all these PSP games, much less ones that'll never come out in America anyway? Who knows, who cares. Congrats on coming in second I guess, Sega has a reason to hold their heads high now.
01. Pokemon Black / White (DS) - 829,000 / 3,386,000
02. Kurohyou: Ryu ga Gotoku Shinshou (PSP) - 174,000 / NEW
http://kotaku.com/5652709/pokemon-black--white-show-the-yakuza-whos-the-boss-in-japan
------------
And one more thing cause I'm teeming with information. We're talking about the new Sonic games. Sonic 4: Episode 1 is coming out in mid-October so that's pretty good. I'm pretty sure it'll be 1200 MSP but I can't prove it. Made by Dimps, it's a downloadable title. Yes, Sonic's gonna be GOOD AGAIN!! And what's best is that it's just the first episode which means more Sonic titles to come!
Looks like Sonic's moving slower in this one, apparently to improve the controls. The way he runs looks funny, like his foot movement is potato-shaped or something. Oh yeah, and I know Sonic 1 had Starlight, Sonic 2 had Casino Night, and Sonic 3 had Carnival Night, but this looks like another Casino level...there's enough of those already, but whatever, that's ok, I like that... Also, didn't I see a boss battle on Green Hill zone with Eggman and the ball thing? I think it's good to "revisit" old Sonic classics, but come on, make something semi-original. Who knows, it may be good.
http://forums.sega.com/showpost.php?p=6228418&postcount=215 - Sonic 4: Episode 2 is currently not in development yet.
------------
Sonic Colours (yes, I like the British spelling) is coming out mid-November and Takashi Iizuka of Sonic Team says...:
This is a similar title to Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, but the similarity comes from the concept – keeping the tempo very fluid. A similar concept applies here. Is it the best since then? We always strive to make the best Sonic game yet. It’s at least on a par with Sonic Adventure Battle 2 [sic], and I’m confident it is one of the best Sonic games ever.
http://www.tssznews.com/2010/09/22/iizuka-says-sonic-colors-one-of-the-best-sonic-games-ever/
I've been looking up some info on this Iizuka guy and he's been working on most every Sonic Team game since Sonic 3... So looking at the footage of Sonic Colours, this looks just like Sonic: Unleashed except without the nighttime Werehog stages. If it turns out like Sonic Adventure 2 (which I thought was great but remember, not EVERYONE liked it), then it will be alright. I'm not too stoked though. Also, it's just gonna be on the Wii and DS which sucks too--no Xbox 360 or PS3 love.
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