Inquiring About The Public's Opinion Of SEGA...

As I sit here mulling over the bowl of cereal I don't have because my family forgot to buy some, I got to thinking about our dear friend SEGA once again.  You see, brand recognition and popularity is what helps keep companies in business.  So this leads me to ask this vital question...

Do you think Sega is "cool" anymore?

Where does Sega go on the Cool Wall?

Top Gear, telling you how it is since 2002.

Now.  Some of you will say, "Well of course Sega is cool!  They made some kickass games!  Who cares what people think of Sega?"  You're sorta right.  Us Sega hipsters got this little circlejerk going on and screw what anyone else thinks!  But it is IMPORTANT what other people think of Sega.  Sega cannot survive alone cause of a couple of fanboys on the Internet, they need a portion of the Average Joe gamer demographic to run out and invest in their stuff too.

See, that's what I mean about being "cool."  The term "cool" as in "genuinely interested in their products."  Being cool is important--it's how crap pop music, TV, movies, and video games manage to be relevant despite lacking any original content or substance at all.  Being "cool" is neither a good or bad thing--it's like handing off the baton or being "King of the Hill."  You gotta reach out and grab it somehow.  Sega was cool back in the 90's!  Sonic the Hedgehog!  Game consoles!  Arcades!  Kickass!  People loved that stuff.  But nowadays, everyone has written off Sega as a decayed corpse as they flock around the Western developers--FPS, RTS, adventure, MMO's with "realistic/grungy/shockingly depressing" hi-res graphics.  In other words, the complete antithesis of Sega! :(

This whole "cool" topic came about reading this compelling article about Nintendo and violent games' places in the marketplace.  Basically how the concept of "family entertainment" that Nintendo has relied on for so long has eroded over the last decade.  Think about it....what are the most popular games these days?  Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Gears of War.  Games with copious profanity, violence, and (some) sexual content.  They sell Halo and GoW toys in kids/family stores though MS/Epic shrug at the thought of directly advertising violence to kids.  Case in point, these games have claimed the "cool" mantle.  Realistic, gritty games are in vogue, clean happy games are out.

How did this happen?  You can name many reasons.  Kids look up to teens/young adults for what is cool--adults play violent games, so do kids.  The concept of a "family" has diminished--we spend less time face-to-face and have high numbers of single parent households therefore.  We've conditioned ourselves to violence and the "Jackass generation" that we hardly flinch at the idea at our of kids disrespecting each other.  I'm not a sociologist so I won't pursue the issue longer but look at this point mentioned in the article--55-60% of parents do not check nor do they even care about ESRB/PEGI ratings.  This is ridiculous.

But don't get me wrong...I'm not blaming violent games for society's problems, nor am I saying you can't enjoy these games yourself.  But these kind of games are adverse to Sega's M.O., plus don't you get tired of people realistically shooting, stabbing, blowing each other up?  Why is it that whenever anyone unveils a non-violent, colorful game, it's a cringe-inducing kids title, a shameful freemium game, or both?  Also would you let this kid play Call of Duty?  There's thousands of kids like this every day.  Boy, violence is good for them!

EDIT: This YouTube video makes another good point about game popularity--YouTube Let's Plays.  Nintendo has been vigilant in the past about taking down any YouTube gameplay videos.  Other companies, notsomuch.  I'm not a Let's Play watcher but I can see what they're getting at here--YouTube clips are basically free advertising and Nintendo better accept that soon.

And what does Nintendo, Sega's last ally in the war against gray skies, do about it?  SUCK AT EVERYTHING!  The Wii was a success cause they advertised it to that core young-adult demographic and did a great job with the motion control stuff.  Now the Wii U gives us some awkward gaming pad and is advertising itself to...little kids?  I swear, I saw a Toys R Us commercial last Christmas with little kids harping on a Wii U sales deal.  Is THIS the game console that the mainstream demographic (18-35 year olds) going to buy?  Especially with its outdated graphics and same old games from last generation?  I'm not a graphics junkie but at least Sega's new releases were top-notch technology (i.e. Scud Race/Daytona 2 being years ahead of the N64/Playstation).  Seriously, the 3DS is the only thing keeping Nintendo alive.  I still don't know how Pokemon remains relevant as ever these days, especially since all I hear from Pokemon nostalgists is bitching about how perfect Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow was (news flash--there were "bad" Pokemon in that game too) but shit, if it makes Nintendo money, then great.

Nintendo is a company I want...no, NEED to succeed in order to establish "balance" against Sony and Microsoft.  Now they are throwing their arms up and open for acquisitions or mergers?  RED FLAG!!  The fact Sega has hooked its anchor to Nintendo's sinking ship (in the form of Sonic games exclusive for the Wii U) is suicidal.

You want a kids console?  Buy a V-Tech.

Now, time for a pop quiz!  Get out a sheet of paper and writing utensil.  Write down up to five things that you think Sega has done that was "cool" at any time in its history.  You have thirty seconds, now....GO!

...

Time's up!  Compare your list to mine.  If you're like me, you've probably written down a list of things like this:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog!
2. Expertise in home consoles!
3. Expertise in arcades!
4. A backlog of vibrant blue-sky games that made fun the primary focus!
5. A brash, edgy marketing campaign!

Now, let's run through this list and compare them to the Sega of today.  Home consoles?  Sorry, Sega put the kaibosh on that in 2001 so let's cross that out.  Arcades?  Those are dead in the West and the only stuff we see are mediocre and never live up to the 90's so cross that out too.  Blue-sky games?  HA, please spare me, Sega does the bare minimum to keep their legacy from eating dust by releasing sparse, straight ports of their games to cash in on nostalgia from the fanboys so let's cross that one out.  Brash?  Edgy?  Name for me ONE bold thing that Sega has said or done.  No "Sega does what Nintendon't" or Sega screams.  Almost all of Sega's official advertising is done through their online blog site as they cut and run like a scared puppy.  So cross that one out as well.  So what does our list look like now?

1. Sonic the Hedgehog!
2. Expertise in home consoles!
3. Expertise in arcades!
4. A backlog of vibrant blue-sky games that made fun the primary focus!
5. A brash, edgy marketing campaign!

Yes, it's true, love it or hate it, Sonic IS Sega.  Sonic is the only thing that Sega has going for it...the only thing Sega hasn't given up on in the last 22 years, even dragging the franchise through the horse shit that was the post-SA2 era.  Seriously, just listen to the first forty seconds of this Giant Bomb video and you'll see what I mean.  "Sonic" = "Sega"  I'll probably talk about this in a Part 2 next time cause I'm tired and have gone on for too long, good night all.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PART TWO.

Gamers Too Defensive Of Games

This is a really brief post came up a few moments ago.  I'm reading a post on Kotaku and every once in a blue moon, they post something actually interesting.  An adult (with a child) who was affected by the Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook shootings has given up on violent video games, saying they affect him too personally.  Which is totally understandable and I agree with the premise of the editorial more than I don't (so Mario is too violent...ok that's strange).  I haven't lost any family or friends to gun violence so it's not as personal to me but I still don't like the premise of innocent people getting shot by criminals and psychopaths.

But as usual, looking at the comments, gamers go into butt-hurt mode.  This ALWAYS happens whenever some critiques the general premise of video games for any reason (from Jack Thompson's "lets ban games" to some smart kid's "games are a waste of time, go read a book")--the most common being "they're too violent."  The guy never blamed violent games for anything but the imagery of people being shot is too much. "Obviously you are being too affected by an image on the screen and can't discern between video games and real life," they say, among other demeaning things.

This leads me to my point.  Aren't video games considered art?  I mean that's another thing gamers are adamant about--that games are some creative art form (that's passed around for sixty bucks and used to yell at other people online then disposed of...brilliant) and anyone who says otherwise is "ignorant" and just "doesn't get it."  I think games are art...sort of anyway.  Art in the most plain term is basically "creative expression of human beings" from things like Crayola drawings to how we rearrange our furniture around the house.  So in theory, games can be considered art in the way they are visually represented, their gameplay, etc.

Therefore, if one of the main purposes of art is to elicit certain types of emotion and games are art, isn't it natural that we'd be affected by games in some way?  Like if I see overly violent games and I don't like it, isn't that understandable?  Hey, there are paintings (and music...and movies) with violent/macabre themes and even if they're not real, we still get moody over them.  So if someone sees a video game with people getting shot, then isn't it natural for some people to have negative emotions?  Even if, once again, the people are merely 1's and 0's and not real?

The amount of violence that one person can take is relative anyway.  Like there's a spectrum to violence.  TimeSplitters (the first two anyway) is a good example of a goofy FPS that portrays violence in a way that most everyone can digest.  Then there's Call of Duty and Perfect Dark which are "okay" in terms of violence that I still have no problems playing.  Then there's stuff like Manhunt, Gears of War (people getting sawed in half), and MW2's No Russian level that are beyond my taste.  This isn't just based on amount of gore--slaying monsters in God of War is probably more acceptable than killing human beings (possibly innocents) in a less gory manner (we relate more with humans' emotion of course...why some of the best stories told through various mediums involve human beings).  Doesn't mean I wish those games were never made (or that they're bad...I know Gears is a good game) or that I disrepect people that play them (I have many friends who play M-rated games) but personally, I'd just stay away from those if I could.  To say that it's ridiculous to be hurt by video games means that anything from video games is acceptable and that's just crap.  There's only so much violence people can take from games.

Meh, that's my opinion anyway.  To reiterate, violent video games don't make people do violent things (hell, E-rated games like Madden or Mario Party can rile up just as much violence).  I could post this on Kotaku (if I felt like dealing with hundreds of rebuttals for no reason) but A. I can't post on that site for some reason and B. there's no use dealing with those guys anyway.  I'm done here.

Stop Shooting People (No Politics)

Well I really didn't want to talk about this since it's horrific news.  But I heard about the Connecticut elementary school shooting and I just about turned pale when I saw the news.  And I'm sure many of you did too.  Hurts my feelings so bad.  And it's not like this shooting was in a vacuum--we had one in a Oregon mall a few days ago.  Then one at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin.  Then the Batman movie premiere shooting in Colorado.  Then the camp shooting in Norway.  List goes on and on and there's no way I can't talk about these events anymore.

I don't want to blame any one thing--not video games, not TV, not guns, not politicians, etc.  Cause in reality, all this comes down to one thing: morality.  You know, good old fashioned values.  Not just "I promise I won't kill anyone today" (cause most of us won't commit murder in our lifetimes) but things like honesty, integrity, hard work & individual responsibility, be faithful to your spouse, be respectful to parents & authority, not stealing/lying/cheating, treat others like you want to be treated, life has value/meaning, etc.  Cause regardless of what legislation our government passes, if we can't do the stupid simple stuff then we'll foster an immoral society where terrible things will happen (moral relativism, incivility, crime), possibly as bad as what happened that day...  This applies everywhere and every time throughout history.  To quote somebody, "Evil happens when good people stand by and do nothing."

That's my take on it anyway.  I salute all the heroes in these situations.  Pray hard for the victims & their friends and families and be a little nicer to others these days.  Maybe society is getting worse, maybe it isn't (I don't have any "stats" on me) but consider this a wake-up call if anything at all.

Yo Dawg We Heard You Like Flying Cars

How the future of racing/driving games works--just press a button and all the cars wreck themselves.  Or better yet, fly around and demolish everything.  Yeah, in the future when they invent those stupid auto-pilot cars that negate any risk, skill, or fun involved, video games will adapt and set the auto-destructors to the push of a button as well.

But hey, as long as it has Yakety Sax in the background, it's fine by me.

Racing Games In Decline Pt. 5: The Votes Have Been Cast...

About a month ago, I was incredibly downtrodden when my racing game pitch at FIEA got shot down.  Well, today, the cohort delivered the Top 10 C(r)apstone presentations.  Here's the Top 10.  Now the faculty has narrowed it down to the Top 5.  Once again, the students ranked the games from 1 to 10, which had a huge influence on what games got picked (the faculty could veto any game they thought wasn't feasible).

The winners are...Plushy Knight, Penned, 1st Edition, Battle Fortress Tortoise, and Apocalypse Valley.  The game I am working on is.....Battle Tortoise Fortress.  That is apparently my life for the next three, maybe six months.  I'll have to show you some of the artwork for this some time.  So now...I like turtles (well, tortoises).



EDIT: I gutted the main part of the post in which I go on to describe the games in further detail.  The picks were Plushy Knight, Battle Fortress Tortoise, Penned, 1st Edition, and Apocalypse Valley.  I've cut back on my opinions of the games that made & didn't made it.  I have to draw the line somewhere.

With that being said, no one likes racing games, I get it.  Even if I had made it to the Top 10, it would have NEVER won.  NEVER, NEVER EVER WOULD HAVE WON.  Racing games are a joke.  And even if somehow, the faculty decided to slip a racing game through, they would've assigned me to a completely different team.  Then swamp me with tons of homework from other classes to ensure it never gets worked on.  I'm dead f***in' serious.  Shot down.  Like Jerry Seinfeld the Cable Boy.  Or even Bonnie & Clyde.





EDIT: I also forgot Justin Bieber!



That's why I'm making such a big deal out of this mini Super Sprint game I've been working on.  Cause as far as I'm concerned, this is the last racing game I'll ever get to work on.  I'll be working on a tortoise game (or something else should BFT not make the vertical slice) then, assuming I can actually get a job, will be hired by EA and forced to work on something silly like FIFA or Dead Space.  Bank on it.  So that's why I hold Super Sprint so dear to my heart now.

Here's the AI I created for the game:



Yeah, so I just want to mope listening to sad songs from bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tears for Fears.  So AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR
RGGGGGGGGGG
HHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Intricate Details On Game Design

Edited Once

First of all, RIP Steve Jobs...he was an American exceptionalist whose work made a lot of people happy.  So he should be commended for this.  I don't have much to say but to wish him well.

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Now about school.  Whenever I'm not doing schoolwork, I'm just lazy.  Didn't really know what to talk about on this blog until something popped up.  Nothing Sega-related but I'll discuss a couple of things I learned from school and how they pertain to the game industry.  The topics are: Playtesting, Game Challenge, Game Violence, Console Standards, and Licensed Titles.

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Playtesting.  You make a game and you want to make sure it's good.  One of the worst things you can do it keep it concealed until some climatic moment since you're not getting feedback.  The best thing to do is to get average joes (not "pros" at the game or so forth) to play the game.  Don't try to poke them with a stick into getting them to see things from your point of view.  Ask them "What are the worst aspects about the game?"  Because it's really easy to get mush that does you no good.

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Game Challenge.  Okay, this topic is really old but worth mentioning anyway.  When designing a game, it's really easy to tip the scales on direction.  If the game's too easy or too hard, it will turn off many players.

So what to do?  One solution to use self-defined metrics so that you can determine which aspects of the game are too easy and which ones are too hard.  This can help if you have a few segments of the game that are abnormally difficult while the rest are piss easy.  Also coming up with a fair punishment for failing is something to check out.  If there's no penalty for dying, then what's the point of trying (*cough*Bioshock*cough*)?  On the flip side, no one wants to feel ripped off because they made a slight mistake and must redo the same portions of the game over again.

Now, if the game's very difficult to balance, which would be better?  Easy or hard?  Err towards easy.  If you give the player lots of stuff to fool around with, they'll make up their own user challenge.  For instance, in Super Mario Bros., you'll want to stomp three goombas.  Or in Zelda, you want to collect all the items & stuff.  So think about that during level/stage design.

In the end, though, as a game designer, you want your players to win.  Work them through a series of steps so they get good at the game, overcome some challenging obstacles, earn some items that make the game easier, and then they win.  Of course, some gamers may be pissed that the game is essentially holding their hand the whole way (I somewhat agree) but the casuals will love you for it.

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Game violence & other misdemeanors.  We dedicated one class to just sitting there and discussing this issue.  Now, as a goody two-shoes Christian, there's some games I'm just offended about.  That doesn't mean however that those games shouldn't be made.  We have the First Amendment (freedom of speech) after all.  But what line games should outright be banned--I don't know.

Here's something that I brought up.  I'm thinking about the Fox News debates--you know how Mass Effect got busted for "sidal nudity" and Modern Warfare 2 for its airport shooting scene.  Now, I know that people rail on the news & other forms of media that point out these things (yes, they do go to extremes), but I hate it when people think these games shouldn't be called out ever.  Let me ask the people who made Mass Effect, MW2, Manhunt, etc.: What is the POINT behind your controversial content?  Like if you're going to put near nudity or graphic content in your game, you should be ready to give an answer for it.  Saying "well, it's just a game, it has no effect on kids' minds" is a load of crap.

It's funny that the teacher who brought up this point (Rick Hall) almost took the side of the anti-violence party.  Like everyone gets all anal when anyone questions violent games.  Aren't they a means of channeling someone's violent/sadistic tendencies?  What if some kids go overboard from a game you made--aren't you partially responsible?  It got people thinking, I see.

Of course, I also noted that people become violent over things that aren't violent in the first place.  Mario Party, Sports Games, nothing worse than getting RAGE'D and wanting to bash your friend over the head with your controller.  And throughout the course of history, people have been overly violent (wars, torture, killing people for fun, etc.) so a couple of violent games aren't anything new.  And please don't bring up the "violent crimes went down as violent games were released" because that reeks of "Correlation does not imply causation"...

A funny story--Rick Hall (being a producer in the industry after all) mentioned the MW2 airport mission and how Infinity Ward basically included it because of the shock value and how it could sell more copies of the game.  However, IW came to the conclusion that it had moreso a negative effect on the game so I betcha they regretted including that mission in the game...

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Console Standards.  When you submit a console game to be published, it goes through a rigorous checklist of qualities that the QA team checks for--game quality, the intro screen is so long, your controller comes unplugged and a warning pops up, etc.  You submit the game to the QA and must wait until they check off the necessary.  If it doesn't meet requirements, the game is given back to you and you're forced to the back of the queue.  So don't piss around or you'll end up wasting a lot of time.

Sony and Nintendo are notorious for this.  Sega, eh....sort of.  The biggest lack of quality control was the 3DO.  At the time, it was a powerful console, but people could submit whatever piece of crap they wanted to publish and it made it through.  The console died a sudden death.  Ever heard of Plumbers Don't Wear Ties?

Profanity Alert


And off on a slight tangent, we're talking about how dev kits, tools, API's, IDE's, etc for specific consoles.  You need these to adapt your game to the console you're programming for.  Nintendo is considered the easiest console to make games on.  Take the Wii for instance.  It even comes with tools which automatically convert Wiimote motions so they're very easy to implement into the game!  So no wonder we got a lot of Wiiware trash...

But you know what's one of the main offenders of this rule?  The Sega Dreamcast.  I'm not lying--Rick himself said that the console was very difficult to program for.  It's probably one of the contributing factors that led to the Dreamcast's short lifespan.  As a matter of fact, it took a team of programming experts to "crack open" the hardware and produce their own tools that eased the difficulty of development for the Dreamcast.  No wonder the DC now boasts a library of homebrew games...years after Sega discontinued support for the console.

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Licensed Titles.  Why do movie-based games almost always suck?  Probably the most apparent reason is that these games are quick cash-ins to be released along with the feature film or whatever.  People watch Spiderman in the movies...therefore they play as Spiderman in the video games.  Makes sense, right?  Sega did this with Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor so it's good to know that their efforts are spent in the right places.

Another one of the main reasons why is that the devs are basically constrained by the IP's source material.  You can't Harry Potter and turn it into a FPS or The Terminator and turn it into a point-and-click adventure (go play Full Throttle).  You're working on a Star Wars game?  Well, you can't mess around with the source material because people buy the game to play STAR WARS, not whatever take you decide to put on the game.  Good example: the MMO Star Wars Galaxies.  People play Star Wars games to be a Jedi or fly a TIE Fighter, not to be some junkyard guy or hair dresser.  Originally, the main producer had an idea for a generic space MMO but later tacked on the "Star Wars" IP in order to sell the game to the publishers.  So that game bombed very quickly.

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I still have more to say about game design but not now...I'm very sleepy.

I Got Burnout & Fast And Furious Pegged, Ladies And Gentlemen!

But first, a new trailer for Burnout Crash.  I don't recommend that you watch this, but it's too late for you:



Losing vital signs...I NEED MEDICATION!!

But really, if waving your hands around destroys a city, might as well make a Godzilla/King Kong game so what's the difference?  You're not even using driving motions in this game.  What a sad little game.  Once again, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

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Alright, now that we got that wacky little monstrosity out of the way, let's talk about Burnout, Fast and Furious, all those games I like to bash and why they're so popular.  The answer seems obvious, but let me tell you how I see it.

When people play games, there's multiple reasons as to why they do some.  Some do it to solve puzzles.  Some do it to explore an environment.  Some do it to unravel a story.  Some do it to socialize with friends.  Some do it to create a work of art.

But you know what the main reason for games is nowadays?  To feel powerful.  That's why some of the most critically acclaimed & top sellers are basically action-adventures, FPSes, and fighting games.  Games like Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, God of War, Doom, Dead Rising, Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, Batman Arkham Asylum, Prince of Persia, Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter, Tekken, hell, even Super Mario Bros. (steppin on Goombas & Koopa Troopas).  The whole point is to make you feel like a champ...a bad ass mutha-effin champ.  I just killed everyone on the screen!  DUDE THAT WAS EPIC BEAST MODE GUYS!!!  I'm awesome.

That's not to say that I dislike all of the games above (hey, I like FPSes) or that Sega is an exception to this style of game (there's Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop, House of the Dead, etc.).  Or that all popular games must be violent cause there's a lot of "decent" ones out there.  Like Portal 2.  I literally saw a Portal 2 commercial on Disney Channel.  So it mustn't be that bad, huh?

So what does this have to do with Burnout?  Well, Burnout makes you feel powerful.  It's an "instant gratification" game.  You don't need massive amounts of skill--just pick it up and play.  You drive down the road trying to complete your primary objective--win the race.  You can take down your opponents by plowing them into obstacles!  YEAH, TAKE THAT BITCH!!!  And should you suck, well--you can always take out gobs of traffic while you're at it.  Hey look, I just destroyed a bunch of minivans and an explosive oil tanker.  Most people like the wrecks.

As a matter of fact, there's literally a game mode in Burnout where the goal is to launch a precious sports/muscle car into oncoming traffic & self-destruct (multiple times if necessary) to do as much damage as possible.  If that's not catering to the powerful crowd (causing massive destruction), I don't know what is.

And this is also applicable, to a certain extent, to games like Fast and the Furious.  Now this game isn't nearly as violent, but Midway/Raw Thrills really loves to use rubber-band AI to their advantage.  Regardless of how poorly you drive, the other drivers keep you in it all the way to the finish line.  It makes you feel good that you barely won as if you're such a great driver (a "powerful" driver).  Unfortunately, the cheap AI seldom lets you win so it leaves you hanging there.  Sneaky Midway.

Now let's talk about Daytona USA, OutRun, etc.  IMO, being able to drive a powerful vehicle, rocking back and forth in drifts, while dominating the competition makes me feel powerful.  Yet sales & popularity for these games have really dropped off.  Why?  Because it doesn't make you feel powerful from the get-go.  There's no massive wreckage to cause (excluding your own vehicle) and it takes a while to get good at the game.  Most people simply don't have the patience for this ESPECIALLY in an arcade setting where they don't want to plunk down a lot of money just to get decent at it.

I'm not going to say "well that sucks, everyone is stupid," but if you're going to make a racing game nowadays, why not go for the biggest demographic?  Burnout sells, Daytona/Outrun notsomuch.  Hey, that's the way it is.  And now you know the whole story.  BTW, this is cool.  And this is funny.

Hey Kids, STOP ALL THE DOWNLOADIN'...

Right now, I'm experiencing a lot of mental fatigue and I'm downloading this new Black Ops map pack so we'll see what that's like soon.

But first, the Supreme Court case.  So video games are an art form that are no longer persecuted by the government.  Or M-rated games can now be sold to minors in the state of California...I really don't understand what was the big deal by this...an EPIC WIN for gamers everywhere despite the fact we have much worse problems like the economy, the massive deficit, wars in the Middle East, etc.  Aren't kids already prohibited from buying M-rated games (in my state of Louisiana anyway)?  And so what--kids are always playing M-rated games like Call of Duty and Halo so it's not like their minds haven't been "infected" already.  Just get mommy and daddy to buy the games, problem solved...

I don't think the government should dictate what games can and cannot be made (yes, even Burnout).  Although this doesn't mean I don't frown upon ultra-violent/sexualized/other-questionable-material games (uh, Duke Nukem?  Rofl, well that's the Duke, that gets a pass...).  Happy games only...

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Oh, and right now, I'm checking my blog stats (don't worry, I'm not whoring hit counts here) and I see that I'm getting an abnormal amount of hits on my Cars 2 blog post, look at this:

For no reason at all, I'm getting an assload of Google Image views for one picture...this one.  Originally, I copied the url from the third-party website, then uploaded it to my blog, then removed it altogether.  I'M STILL GETTING HITS FOR A PICTURE I REMOVED FROM MY BLOG POST ALTOGETHER.

You might say, "Look at you!  You're getting tons of hits, you should be happy!"  Really, now how many people going through Google Image Search are going to stop and read what I have to say?  I'm going to try removing the pic from my Picasa album, maybe that'll solve things.

And to make matters more embarrassing, Cars 2 is turning out to be the biggest Pixar flop ever...33% on Rotten Tomatoes.  That's unheard of.  EDIT: Just like Nintendo producing a horrible Mario/Zelda game.  At least Cars 2 topped the weekend box office at $66 mil.  I haven't even seen it in theaters yet...I'm too lazy.  Cars is pulling a Duke Nukem...supposed to be great but no it sucks.  I want to talk more about that later.

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GREAT, now my XBL is just screwing with me again.  I can sign in any time I want, but I get signed out ten/fifteen seconds later.  While I'm halfway through downloading the new map pack.  This is horrible.  Maybe if I just keep mashing the "Connect to Xbox Live" button, it'll work (and make my name pop up on my friends' screens repeatedly)...

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One more thing.  This has to do with computer updates.  Last week, I got two Windows updates within a matter of a week.  So the computer always nags you--"When do you want us to remind you to restart your computer?" and I'm like NEVER!!  POSTPONE, POSTPONE, I restart my comp when I feel like it.

Every time it "reminds" you, it tries to restart the computer from under your nose.  EDIT: It still reminds you every ten minutes even if tell it to postpone for four hours.  As a matter of fact, I was in the middle of a chat with a Steam buddy and then my computer went through this self-initiated restart process (without telling me)....it started losing "focus" on the window so I had to keep clicking and getting off one letter at a time...something like "I think my computer is gonna restr (enter) r (enter) tt.."  as every single thing on my desktop disappeared one-by-one.  Just great.

And the updating process is so slow.  It's this blue screen that says "Installing 1 of 6 updates.  Please don't turn off your computer."  Alright, no big deal.  So the computer gets to the final update relatively quickly (in about 15 mins) so I'm thinking this last update will be quick.  NOPE.  My computer sits in the "Installing 6 of 6 updates" phase for about 8 to 12 hours...and there's NO indication of how close it is to completion.  I thought something was wrong with my computer and was about to manually power off the thing but it went "ding-a-ding-dong" late at night to indicate the computer had finished & restarted.  Both updates were the same.  Thanks, Microsoft, thanks.

And I also love how the computer has to restart over the most absurd updates...AVG?  Java?  Adobe Reader???  Now how many times have you used Adobe Reader recently?  I've only use it to read some .pdf attachments I've received in my e-mails.  And yet somehow the install has the gall to sneak in a little desktop icon every time like it's really that relevant.

Reference.

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY.  HOW FITTING WOULD IT HAVE BEEN TO TYPE UP THIS WHOLE POST IN CAPS CAUSE DAMN I'M REALLY PISSED OFF.  AND I HAVEN'T EVEN MENTIONED ALL THE Windows Account Alert! E-MAILS BUT THAT'S IT.  I'M GOING BACK TO SLEEP.  OH WAIT, DID THE BLACK OPS MAP PACK ACTUALLY DOWNLOAD?  WELL F*** IT I'M KILLING SOME SHANGRI-LA ZOMBIES!!!

Cracked.com Cracks Open The Game Industry (And I Reply)

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.

Duke Nukem: We're All Sexists Now

I already expressed my initial opinions of Duke Nukem Forever earlier.  Obviously the game has a problem with professional reviewers.  But it goes even further than that now.  It's now a sexist, embarrassing game that society should do away with.  Strip clubs and jokes about tampons.  This was alluded to by reviews on GameSpot and Giant Bomb who called DNF's humor unfunny and distasteful.  More reviewers & columnists are opening up about this now.  Not all girls find The Duke attractive.

Anyway, after writing my initial article, I learned more information about the game and still find things offensive about it.  I'm not going to give some stupid "games are art" lecture here.  As a white, Christian male, I don't approve of the salacious lifestyle of players, pimps, hookers, and whatnot.  But Duke doesn't bother me.  Why?  Cause he's an EXAGGERATED figure living in a fictional world of ugly aliens and hot babes.  Going around in that macho voice--"Let's go get some babes..." it's comical and shouldn't be taken as an attack on the female role in society.

And Duke fights to save these babes.  As for the girls in the hive level, well, they're fubar as it is so I don't know why everyone's portraying that as the "rape" scene in the game.  EDIT: The same "pod-girls" were also in Duke Nukem 3D so this isn't new.  The alien boobs on the wall?  Stupid, but those don't belong to actual human people (I presume).

EDIT AGAIN: Okay, I forgot to mention this.  Some people are mad that the game's lighthearted tone ends once you reach the Hive level where Duke shows no emotion to the countless women whom suffer or are killed (especially the Twins).  The fact that Duke didn't show more emotion I blame the lousy writing more than anything.  Don't hate on Duke, hate on the guys who made him say "I hate valve puzzles"...

And there's games of similar nature that people have defended.  God of War with the gruesome violence, torture, the rough sex minigame?  Perfectly fine, everyone loves this game.  Mass Effect 2 with the side nudity and the Fox News reports?  Oh how dare you insult that game!  Grand Theft Auto with the innuendo, strip clubs, hot coffee and the ability to kill, run over, and torture innocent people?  Hey, you Jack Thompsons out there, it's just a game, don't insult it!  But with Duke Nukem, no...it's a terrible game and all copies should be buried out in the Nevada desert along with E.T.

Hey, don't get me wrong--the most detestable part of the game is the near-nudity of the strippers at the club.  I'm not saying this game should get off the hook because if producers want to make games then they should take all the blame for the content.  But let's not pretend that DNF is the most offensive game ever made because there's more that I've found to be more offensive.  That's my two cents.  If you are a female, well...you may not like it.  But everything's so PC nowadays, it's ridiculous so screw it.  If you want a good "target" to go after, just blame MTV and all those rap videos, those are worse because they actually deal with REAL LIFE...

Or an entirely another way to deal with the problem, say "Shut up b****, get back to the kitchen and make me a sandwich." *sarcasm*

"Not my babes! Not in my town! You alien motherf***ers are gonna pay for this!"

"Hell, I'd still hit it."

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Oh and one more fun fact about Duke Nukem...there's a lithograph in the game that's similar to Kramer's painting from Seinfeld.  Being a Seinfeld buff, I was quick to point that out...and laugh.

He is a loathsome brute...yet I cannot look away.

New Carmageddon, NNOOOOOOooooooo.... (Driver, GTA, LA Noire)

Age gates are stupid, just set the date to 1965 or something and move on.



SO BEAUTIFUL...

Stainless Games is in the early stages of designing the next instalment of the Carmageddon series; Carmageddon: Reincarnation.  As the game develops, you’ll be able to follow progress in the Blog.

Of all the racing games to get a reboot, how come Carmageddon?  Wow, I completely change my mind on Burnout and Split/Second now, those are sparkling gems on a hill compared to this.  At least those two try to keep some "professionalism" while Carma looks to shock as many soccer moms and Jack Thompsons as possible.

I'm checking out the blog and it's interesting to learn about where their inspiration came from:

When we set Stainless up, the plan was to kick things off with a relatively simple Destruction Derby game (this was before the Reflections title) to establish the company, and then go onto greater things. The Destruction Derby game – codenamed 3DDD, as ‘3D’ was actually still a buzz word back then – was born from an observation of people playing driving games. Most driving games were pretty dull (this was well before Gran Turismo changed that forever). Even the top of the pile like the original Ridge Racer were as boring as an accountant’s pillow talk (well, OK then, to me), so the less patient amongst us (well OK then, me), used to turn our cars around, race around in the other direction and try to hit our opponents head-on in order to alleviate the ennui.

...

What then happened is documented in detail elsewhere, but to cut a long story short, about two years later we were well into development of what was by then, “Carmageddon”. By this time, the concept of “being naughty and breaking the rules” had grown wings, climbed up to the roof, flown off, landed on the head of the tabloid soap-box preachers, and shat down the back of their neck.

Basically don't follow the rules of conventional racers.  Oh and check this out.  This site gives you the materials to make your own paper cars...really?  I could never make any of those paper things, I suck.

There's not much else to say.  I'm not a fan of "dark" games but they can make whatever they want.  And now you know the whole story.

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Cool, check this out.  I'm looking at related videos and here's a Carma 2 stunt video.  It's relatively tame compared to the actual game.  These are custom-made cars and on display, but I'm amazed at the car damage and physics...not bad.  This game came out in 1998.  I also assume this is online multiplayer.  Too bad the actual game isn't like this.



LISTEN TO THE SKA, F-YEAH

Now more these free-wheeling PC racers.  This Carma 2 footage reminds me of Driver 1 and 2 (yes, the prequels to Driv3r).  I actually did play Driver for the PC a long time ago.  It was an okay diversion.  That came out in 2000 which was two years after Carma 2.  It was developed by GT/Reflections Interactive.

This is Driver 1.  Clearly, the whole Driver series is based off of 70's car chase movies which is pretty sweet.  You can't run over pedestrians which is nice.  The cops' method of stopping you is simple--recklessly smash your car to bits without regard to anyone's (including their own) safety.  Cop chases are kind of fun, but they spawned in front of you and never, ever stopped coming so it was always a losing battle.



Now this is Driver 2 for the PS1...unlike Driver 1, you can get out and steal other cars GTA-style and that's about it.  It's entirely driving, no killing.  Also, the city actually has curves, highway on-ramps, more than just hard 90-degree turns.  Surprisingly, Driver 2 also came out in 2000.  This video's just a funny glitch.



But in the end, we all know Grand Theft Auto 3 is better.  It came out in 2001 and just shut everyone up.  I like the PS2 GTA games, but not all the violence and cursing (sorry).



Anyway, this mission is making fun of Tanner, the protagonist of the Driver games...  Rockstar had their way with the competition at the time.  Driv3r was released in 2004 and included a character called "Timmy Vermicelli," a parody of Tommy Vercetti of GTA: Vice City.  Unfortunately, Driv3r was mediocre at best.  By then, GTA became the golden standard for free-wheel drivers.

Fast forward seven years to 2011 and this LA Nwah game handles a lot like GTA 4...except that you can't kill pedestrians.  Yes, they jump out of the way so Rockstar has decided to spare peds for once, aww how kind of them.  This makes sense since you're a good cop, not a criminal (you can still "borrow" civilians' cars).  Although you CAN kill a pedestrian with a car if you use exploits.  I think the devs modded the GTA4 code but forgot to completely fool-proof it...



Only thing that really sucks about the game is that the 40's cars are obviously much slower which sucks.

LA Noire...hmm...it's like a better version of Dick Tracy for the NES.

And that's it, your history lesson for today.  I'm fairly sure there's other games like this (like, uh...Tony Hawk's Underground) but I cannot mention them all.  ADIOS.

Navy Seals, Game Studios, Blops Map Pack

Well, about Mr. bin Laden who was recently killed.  Yes, I literally sat watching the TV waiting for this breaking message from the White House at 10:30 PM hoping and praying it wasn't anything negative.  Then it's about bin [Hi]den and I was like, "No way, man."

All I have to say is we really have to thanks these Navy Seals guys (and everyone in the armed forces as well) who go into these hell holes and possibly never come back so we can defeat these barbarians who use every trick in the book to slay the innocents.  We will never know the identity of these Navy Seals cause they act in the greatest of secrecy and they can't risk compromise.  Really, think about it--we hear everyday about these attention-whote celebrities or politicians but nothing about true heroes of liberty.

So a heartfelt thanks to the armed forces; God bless you.  And as for you terrorists who come to crush us and our way of life, eat lead and explosives courtesy of the United States Military.  A song for the Military out there !!!

As for the 9/11 victims, I wouldn't say it's revenge, Mission All Over, everything's great again cause this villainy still exists in the world so keep on supporting the military.

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Okay, where was I...so Gameloft is a developer of iPhone and iPad games is opening a studio in New Orleans.  That's thirty minutes from where I live.  I checked out their website and the only position I really qualify for is regular old "Programmer."  I'm going to throw my resume in there and see what comes up.  Hell, I already tried to apply for Sega but that may not work out.  It would be nice to get a job in NOLA and gain some experience, but in terms of making big-ass games for Nintendo, Sega, what have you, it may not be good enough to step up to the big leagues.

I know how to program, but I really wanted to be a producer.  I'd like the opportunity to make my own games.  I think I may be more cut out for a programmer.  When applying to FIEA, it may have been wiser to take the Programming tract rather than the Production one.  We'll see.  Maybe I can be a producer/programmer; that would be hella tight but not easy to achieve.  I may end up going to college but it's hard to pass up a job opportunity...I mean, I'll be doing the same thing whether I go to work or college, but the difference is I have to pay money to go to the college but I get paid to go to work.  So what would you pick?

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Also the new Escalation map pack for Black Ops is cool.  I got that as well as First Strike.  Yes, I know each map pack is 1200 MSP ($15), but when you consider how much people play Black Ops, these maps will be worth the money eventually.  Yes, Activision is greedy but what do you expect...freebies?

I really like Hotel, it reminds me of Rainbow Six: Vegas.  Convoy is also nice and colorful.  These are all big and detailed maps.  On the other hand, the new zombie map is just confusing as all hell...an invincible George Romero with the Hammer of Thor coming after you?  The snow blinds you and makes it hard to see...maybe once I figure out what I'm doing it'll be fun--until then, just stick with multiplayer.

I'm RAGE'd About These Hue Alterations!!

When I mean "Raged," I mean Rage, the upcoming video game by Bethesda Softworks.  This game takes place in an apocalyptic wasteland where you fight for survival by blasting the crap out of ugly space mutants.

(I had to set this pic to small since I don't wanna see these damn ugly dudes).

Holy cow, this is the most original idea for a game ever.  I've never heard of such a game before.  The amount of creativity on display here is staggering.

But really, I could sit here and say, "this game sucks," until I'm blue in the face, but that doesn't mean anything.  I wanted to discuss the game further when I saw a gameplay trailer on Kotaku.  I'm not even going to link to the video, just go there and see for yourself.

Hell yes, let the color debates begin!...

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deuxhero

Mon 18 Apr 2011 1:09 PM

Lively?

Looks brown to me. 
(Edit comment)

Brodka: regrettably @deuxhero

I hate this critique. Don't want a brown or gray game? Don't play a war game. Wars create dust and rubble. Especially wars in an urban setting.

Ever see pictures of urban centers during WW2? Or even ground zero in the aftermath of 911? Things get gray and brown in an awful hurry. 

Duuuuuuude @Kovitlac

Oh, you! :P

Springtime for Hitler is rather joyful, perhaps that is what people want. 

EnigmaNemesis @deuxhero

ROFL picture fail.

Also, the whole color argument is so lame. Color fanboys now, who knew? 

(Edit comment)
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First of all, I didn't know it was possible to be a "fanboy" of color.  If you like or prefer something to another, you're a fanboy!  Everybody's a fanboy (or fangirl) now!  Straight men are girl fanboys!  People who like to laugh and smile are happy fanboys!  People who love America and the liberties they have are freedom fanboys!  It never ends.  No matter what, you're a fanboy/girl and thus are an a-hole, apparently. 

But I tell you what jumped into my mind after seeing this Rage footage.  I see digital color alteration.  This is what many movies nowadays do--they alter the hue in order to convey a different mood.  At first, this wasn't such a bad idea (see O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Saving Private Ryan) but now, it's basically done to expediently add a little "zing" to the movie.

This is a really good Cracked article I read on movie cliches.  Basically, horror movies are blue, apocalyptic movies are grey, desert movies are yellow, surreal movies are green, and everything else is teal & orange.  Here's another good article about teal & orange movies from some guy's Blogspot.

Everything is teal & orange!

Everything is grey!

And about this Rage game, heh....everything is grey or pukish green.  What an original game.

Now I don't really care what Bethesda does with its games--make whatever you want.  But until then, I'm sticking with my trusty old color wheel:

Thankfully, Call of Duty and Halo still use the color wheel so that's cool.  M-rated games and the color wheel aren't incompatible you know.

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But to cheer you up, here's some happy news--Love Roller Coaster is in Rock Band!!!  Yes, happy times are here again!!!  Look at all the colors!!!

Talking About GDC Rants & Daytona USA: What The Heck Is Going On

BTW, after saying GDC so many times, it means Game Developers Conference if you're so blissfully unaware.

Okay, this is hopefully the last time I have to bring up GDC.  Now these guys have been around the industry for years so I really can't come here and shred what they have to say.  Here's what I got out of it.

Our future of gaming involves blood, people getting ripped apart, giant bugs, and Final Fantasy/Halo clones.  Right there is depressing enough, but I've already talked about violence and stuff before so I'm not going to rehash this again.

But there's two messages from GDC that made me think.  They both pertain to the future of gaming.  Now these are the two...

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The first is by David Cage, lead creator of Heavy Rain.  Now I don't know much about Heavy Rain except for the "Press X to Jason" song.  All I know is the protagonist's son dies and he goes around doing dramatic stuff.  But what Cage was trying to say is to make your games for adults--make them serious.  No more crazy crap like bosses, high body counts, etc.  Gameplay seems to rely entirely on progressing the story line though they throw in multiple endings for curiosity's sake and replay value.

Well look, I'm going to say something controversial here.  I'm getting really tired of these deep video game plots.  Some of my most favorite games have no storyline to be heard of such as Sega racers, Counter-Strike, Rock Band, and so forth.  Usually, when you're heavily confined to a story, it limits the gameplay, making it like you're playing out a movie instead of, ya know, a game.  A good story is no match for good gameplay, sorry.

I wonder what happened to games where you play for high scores or fast times.  Those games suck and have little replay value it seems.  Apparently, it's cool to play serious stuff like Final Fantasy or Shadows of the Colossus.  I don't want to roleplay or sink into the depths of the human psyche, I want to play an engrossing, action-packed game.  Otherwise, people wouldn't give a damn about games like Super Mario Bros. or Pac-Man anymore.  Doesn't necessarily have to be a multiplayer game either.  Which leads me to my next point...

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The other rant is by Cliff Blesinski, design director of Gears of War.  Now I've had my fair share of disagreements with Gears of War, but it's a popular game so at least it does some things differently.  He says that the "middle class game" is dead.  Basically, you either make these little Flash/iPhone games or you go all out with big production value.  Which I assume means game studios of 5 or 500 employees.  Uh, cool I guess.

Now I don't really like all these big games nowadays.  First of all, they're catered to the mainstream.  FPSes, fantasy, sports, and so forth.  For example, Call of Duty takes a lot of crap nowadays, but if it's popular, then keep churning them out.  Therefore, a lot of "specialty" games that go beyond the depth of a simple iPhone game apparently will fail.  It certainly seems that way nowadays so I guess he's right.

Not only that, but games of big teams take a hell of a lot of time to develop which means less variety.  As games get bigger, it takes more manpower to make them.  You could make a quick NES game with a few people in no time.  Nowadays to make a game like Halo, you need hundreds of people working for at least a year nonstop.  How much more complicated can games get, requiring more effort to complete and thus drawing out the production time even more?

What I want is Sega to try to make some new racing games (obviously, the big Daytona port), but I can tell these kind of games won't be "big" projects.  For that reason, Daytona USA seems like an oddball game to release and it won't generate much popularity as Mr. Blesinski says.  See OutRun 2 home ports.  This of course hurts the likes of Sega and other "middle class" devs who don't really have the effort to produce huge-ass games.

FYI, I have an old Counter-Strike buddy I used to know in high school.  He says his ex-girlfriend is now dating Mr. Blesinski.  If that's true, then that's crazy, man...

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Eh, I guess these rants about games make me feel a little beat-up.  Like I wonder if I can muster up the courage to make this game.  I think the allure of a Daytona USA 2 sequel is the nostalgia of only being able to play in small increments.  To tell you the truth, I have OutRun 2 and Crazy Taxi but I haven't played them much recently.  I'm a disgrace to the Sega community.

At least I felt the "good vibrations" from having played those games in the first place.  You can't take that away from me.  They are good pick-me-up games too so if you ever feel depressed, give 'em a shot.  Like a fine wine, you can't drink it all at once, but it's superb for that brief moment.  It kind of changes my outlook on some of these games.  You don't have to play them nonstop to be happy.

"It's about quality, not quantity." - Some vodka commercial.

We're gonna make this Daytona game not just for myself, but for the Sega community.  Cause they deserve it.

This is probably my last post before I go on my trip to Orlando, FL.  Like I said, I'll try to get an internet connection going, but don't expect me on Xbox Live any time soon.  Then we'll check out the colleges and see what path we'll go down next.  I'm running down a dream...

Today's LoL's Of The Week (Bizarre, Kotaku, FPSes That Suck)

Because it's been a while since I've ripped something.

But let's start with the good news.  Sumo Digital picks up Bizarre Creations' ex-lead designer.  I've said this before and I said it now--MAKE IT HAPPEN, SEGA!  Sega/Sumo Digital should pick up Bizarre Creations.  Pick up these people cause they have some know-how when it comes to racing games.  Keep these people away from Criterion or Raw Thrills and go pwn the bastards, rofl.  Lol at Criterion and Raw Thrills, they just screwed themselves.

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Kotaku, the (annoying) game blog site, has decided to change to a new format where parts of the screen are static and others are not.  Anyway, I don't like it and neither do a lot of people.  According to UK Resistance, Kotaku's average daily hits have dropped from 2 mil to less than 0.5 mil, beginning January 11.  ROFLMAO!!!

I look at Kotaku feeds from my Blogspot, I don't actually go to the website itself so it's a win-win for our side.

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All these FPSes coming out.  Well, there's this one coming out called Rage.  It's made by Bethesda Softworks, same people who brought you Fallout 3.  I know about this game thanks to the front-page GameFAQs ad.  Now they show this picture of this disturbing mutant guy which I will not directly post here (click here to see tha homie).  Now wait--what's the appeal of this game again?  Another post-apocalyptic adventure/FPS game with macabre environments and enemies?  Wait, I want to play this?  No, I don't.

Same thing to all you other new FPSes out there.  Bulletstorm, Brink, Killzone, etc.  I almost feel that these over-the-top, "herrdcarrr" FPSes are just trying to melt my brain.  Will I buy it?  No, no, no, no, stop trying to one-up Black Ops cause you're all jealous that a normal, contemporary FPS is whooping your ass.  See Goldeneye and Counter-Strike, other FPS classes that don't resort to crazy-ass scenarios.  So LOL at you game developers, keep making FPSes, so original...

EDIT: Speaking of which, about a month ago, Bulletstorm made a parody game of Call of Duty called "Duty Calls."  It portrays CoD as piss-boring with a linear campaign and lame storyline.  Now I do agree that the single-player kind of sucks, but it's all in good fun.  I think it's rather funny cause it nails many FPS campaign cliches, but the whole "Sergeant Super Duper Extreme Person" titles are probably made up by some Red Bull-drinking WoW nerd who pulled an "epic" 30-man raid all last night.  Or something like that.  Bulletstorm also parodied Halo too, WTG guys.

I also have a lot more respect for Halo now since you can make a futuristic FPS without it being disgusting to look at so yeah.

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Billy Mitchell opens a little hole-in-the-wall arcade at the Orlando airport.  Rofl.  In case you didn't know, Billy Mitchell is this old gamer dude who set a bunch of world records on old arcade games like Pac-Man.  Well, his greatest claim to fame is getting the record for Donkey Kong, though that was up for debate from sources like these.

This arcade has a few murals of Donkey Kong and what other games does it have?  Fast & Furious: Super Bikes and Dead Heat.  Yeah, great arcade.  No old arcade games either, nothing with a "kill screen."  Wow, greatest arcade I've ever been to.  Lol, Billy Mitchell.

Stick to the hot sauce.

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EDIT: Oh, and one more Lol's.  So my brother owns House of the Dead 2 & 3 for Nintendo Wii with those Wii-gun controllers.  Because this is on the Wii, the aiming already sucks as it is but I have to cope with it anyway.  I start playing through 2 with the blood on red and oh man...lol's everywhere.  Wonderful voice acting, nightmare fuel, guys hitting you in the face with axes/chainsaws, doesn't get any better than this, Sega.  Lol at this entire game.

Stick to Time Crisis, at least you can dodge incoming projectiles.  Wait, this is the second time I said "stick," my bad.  EDIT: NVM, this game doesn't suck, we love you Sega.  Read about my HotD2 experience.

I Hate Racing Games

For December 30th only, Sonic games only 50% or more off!  Too late I guess

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Ok, well I haven't ripped anything for a while so let's go again.  I talked about Split/Second and Joystiq previously--well guess what, the site's back at it again with this long-winded fanciful narrative about how it's such a great game.  It's also #7 of their Top 10 favorite games of 2010.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/12/30/best-games-2010-split-second/

Speaking of which, I also watched some YouTube footage of Burnout: Revenge a couple of days ago.  One clip among them stood out to me.  In this clip, a pristine white muscle car (a '69 Camaro or whatever) hit a ramp, flew hundreds of feet, and collided with oncoming traffic, smashing everything to bits.  A $100,000 car trashed in milliseconds as nearby traffic just sits there in awe, apparently.  Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough, a bomb goes off in the car, further decimating nearby traffic.  Honk honk, terrorist attack, drive away!  AND IF THAT WAS BAD ENOUGH, THEN A SECOND BOMB GOES OFF!  That's right, the car EXPLODES TWICE!

So this car's a bomb factory capable of laying waste to everything in its path!  This is Al Qaeda's favorite automobile!  The whole purpose of this mode is to see how much monetary damage you can deal to your environment (apparently, human life has no value seeing as you must've killed at least 20+ people).

You know what, if I wanted to play a game where I destroyed stuff, let's take it to the extreme, shall we?



You know, I'm gonna say this cause the Split/Second article above referred to cars as "attractively molded metal cages."  I'm sick and tired of cars being treated like meat.  Oh this goes WAY back to where I talked about the difference between cars taking damage and being outright demolished.  Like I know Daytona USA 2 is a violent racing game, but in the end, it's you and your baby from start to finish.  You take care of your car!  None of this phony baloney "Look at my instant replay wreck," crap.  This is just dumbing down the racing genre--as if the hyperactive action gamer who plays Halo or God of War needs something he can relate to.

My God, you have no idea how pissed off I get at this stuff.

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Oh, and I'm not done!  I'm back to kicking around Fast and the Furious again.  This is the Cruis'n game for the Wii.  Note that this isn't me talking.  Just speed up to 4:30 for the good part!  I don't know why he says the game is "okay" though, that was my least favorite part.



NEWS FLASH TO ALL ASPIRING GAME DEVELOPERS: If there is a noticeable hangup (i.e. freeze or suspended animation) between changing car colors or music, then odds are your game sucks.  Just look at the statistics--clunky interfaces and very long load times are signs of a BAD GAME.

Motorstorm: Apocalype, Lawyers, Lots Of Stuff, I'm Cryin'

First, I'd like to say that I feel somewhat distraught by making quite a few negative posts lately, especially one aimed at Daytona USA 2001.  I don't know if anyone's interested in this stuff--I get very little feedback.  For one thing, it's more "fun" to write negative material than positive, hence why you have people like Angry Video Game Nerd and Maddox the Pirate who constantly rip things a new a-hole.

But the main reason I brought up Daytona USA is because I genuinely care about the franchise...I could treat it like Blur or Split/Second and just gash it and go away, but I really want it to be good so I tell whoever what can be done to make it better.  Like if you ever have children, you want to correct and discipline them because you care and want them to be good.  I guess I criticize the state of racing games for that very reason.  I just hate how so much energy is put into so much junk and whatnot...

That concludes this message.

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I talked about Motorstorm: Apocalypse a while back in my violent/depressing video game rant and well, it rears its ugly head again.  You want me to come on here and criticize it--well, let's take a look at this six minute video:



Found the video from this Joystiq article.

Ok, so you can drive monster trucks, dune buggies, muscle cars, sports cars, ATVs, chopper bikes, whatever.  You and your gang has fun driving around an abandoned city as you dodge falling buildings, derailed trains, and pits of boiling lava (I made up that last one).  So it's like the last Motorstorm--just drive around, don't die, take multiple paths to the exit.  Oh yeah, and there's a few military contractors in the city trying to mow you down.  So not only do you get to crash and burn but you also get to run over people.  Sounds great!

I can't help but think I'm watching Michael Bay: The Racing Game.  It's Split/Second's bastard child.  Yes, it's obvious that these people put a lot of time and effort into making sure the game's good, but I think they missed the point...

See, most every racing game is on some extreme.  You got games that are "boring old sim racers," like Gran Turismo, Forza, Test Drive Unlimited, iRacing, etc.  Then on the other spectrum, you've got "OCD-blow-up stuff-in-your-face-crap" like Burnout, Split/Second, Motorstorm...  It's like there's very few games in that medium.  That's where the good Sega racers are--not too over the top, but not boring.  They're professionally-made games.  I think Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit may fit in this category too, but since that was made by Criterion, I'm not too certain it what's I'm looking for.

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When in doubt, sue someone:

Harmonix (Rock Band dev) sues Viacom (ex-Rock Band publisher).
Infinity Ward sues Activision who sues Electronic Arts over Medal of Honor/Call of Duty.

I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn't touch a big company like Activision or Viacom and expect to come out alive.  Hey, check this out.  New Call of Duty for 2011 announced.  This one's not by Infinity Ward (they're dead, remember?), it's by this new studio called Sledgehammer Games.  Who the hell is that?  Anyway, I really like Call of Duty, but it's going to get run into the ground eventually (if it hasn't already).  I'm really worried.  That and between Activision's habit of gashing game studios like that, I'd be afraid to work at Treyarch.  BTW, Black Ops just made $1 billion, so no, I don't think Activision will cut back in the slightest.  At leat the $15 DLC map packs will have four MP maps as opposed to three (including the obligatory zombie map).

Speaking of Activision, look at Guitar Hero (I'm jumping around a lot here).  Guess what--Guitar Hero is officially dead.  So while Rock Band gets gobs of DLC on a weekly basis, Guitar Hero gets like two or three songs a month.  And this month, Guitar Hero gets three Kiss songs, two that are playable in Rock Band (Detroit Rock City and Calling Dr. Love) and one in GH: Smash Hits (Rock and Roll All Nite).  So what's the point?  Combine that this year's GH: Warriors of Rock abysmal first month sales of 86,000 and there, it's dead.  Once again, Guitar Hero fanboys should thank Activision very much.

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I want to end this now, so I'm going to throw in three more quick links:

Gran Tursimo 5 Gets a 600mb Patch  - Adds some new features for online play such as stat tracking among others.  Hey, sounds great...waited all that time and they still need to fix it...doesn't sound good for Polyphony Digital.

Gears of War 3 Maps Will Be "Brighter" - Article goes on to say that the most popular GoW2 maps were the brightest and most colorful.  Hmm?  So people are getting tired of the grey, brown, and crimson red?  Now there is no 100% way to confirm that the color is the sole reason those maps are the most popular (it could be because those maps have better layouts, etc.) but still...cut the crap people.  We don't want to play this depressing garbage anymore.

Some Guy Talking About Sega Racing Classic - Old and nothing really new, but if you know little about this, read it.  Old Daytona USA cabinets needed to be repaired, some needing parts that aren't made anymore.  Daytona license costs too much.

The end.