I will now post my 2009 predictions...
AoC will not close!
Happy New Year!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Everyone is predicting 2009 in review
And I see everyone is calling AoC a failure, and will close up shop.
Weekend Gaming Wrapup
And so we say goodbye to Deadspace, hello to the Darkness and discussion of the future of our gaming trends in the house all take up this weeks wrap..
Deadspace became the obsession over the weekend, finishing the game in a Marathon run between Saturday and Sunday. This title proved difficult to put down, as the feel of combat, the overall RPG fun and the story became quite compelling.
I wish more games exhibited such polish and fun. It seems a lot are just dropped on the player, and they expect you to do a lot to figure things out, or is just overall shoddy in some way.
An example of this is the Infinite Undiscovery title. I was really enjoying this game, but directions of where to go, what you are doing becomes an issue. The only objectives you ever get is a simple "I did this" or "I plan to do this" comments on a pause screen. If someone wishes a sandbox title with a lot of running around blindly and figuring out what to do next, this game is for you.
The combat has become very "MMO", and a lot of times you feel like you have no major control of the action.
The issue lies with your party. Their AI is SO good that you have no need to worry about death. A lot of times when you finally get to a mob to attack it yourself, it dies from the other party members already taking their shots. The game seems to run itself, and that is not so fun.
Back to Deadspace. A killer boss fight at the end, had us all excited.
So, at this point, I looked through my games, and decided on one I have had sitting around since I bought the new 360 (so I could give my son the old 360).
The Darkness distributed by 2k Games. The game is based on a best selling comic by Top Cow productions. The developers, Starbreeze Studios, is also known for developing a killer movie to game product, The Chronicles of Riddick, which is being remade for the 360 (and that other console...uh...PS something), along with some new content as well. It was considered the first movie to video game title that did not suck...hard.
Seems this game was well received, and follows the vein of our gaming mantra..."Story is important".
More on this as we progress.
So, this weekend also had my wife up in arms over something, which was the issue of playing a game again. She said she missed being in control of the game, and it may be that she may be the one who will play an MMO soon. The issue is what game will work best for her.
She is quite picky, and as such, it proves to be difficult to find a specific game for her.
Story of course is foremost. Visuals are important (no cartoony characters so games like Domo or Wizard 101 will not work), strategy is important...
Fantasy is also number one, and she hates Sci-Fi.
I debate about maybe some type of card based battle game, as she loves those types of systems.
Has anyone played Magic online recently? Is it any good? Any other card style game? (besides LoN, which has an issue with font sizing like LOTRO on big screens...)
...Taking suggestions..
Anyways, a new week, and I plan to start debating about some games (Infinite is on the short list now), and of course, I wonder how 2009 is going to start shaping up...
Have a good week folks...
Deadspace became the obsession over the weekend, finishing the game in a Marathon run between Saturday and Sunday. This title proved difficult to put down, as the feel of combat, the overall RPG fun and the story became quite compelling.
I wish more games exhibited such polish and fun. It seems a lot are just dropped on the player, and they expect you to do a lot to figure things out, or is just overall shoddy in some way.
An example of this is the Infinite Undiscovery title. I was really enjoying this game, but directions of where to go, what you are doing becomes an issue. The only objectives you ever get is a simple "I did this" or "I plan to do this" comments on a pause screen. If someone wishes a sandbox title with a lot of running around blindly and figuring out what to do next, this game is for you.
The combat has become very "MMO", and a lot of times you feel like you have no major control of the action.
The issue lies with your party. Their AI is SO good that you have no need to worry about death. A lot of times when you finally get to a mob to attack it yourself, it dies from the other party members already taking their shots. The game seems to run itself, and that is not so fun.
Back to Deadspace. A killer boss fight at the end, had us all excited.
So, at this point, I looked through my games, and decided on one I have had sitting around since I bought the new 360 (so I could give my son the old 360).
The Darkness distributed by 2k Games. The game is based on a best selling comic by Top Cow productions. The developers, Starbreeze Studios, is also known for developing a killer movie to game product, The Chronicles of Riddick, which is being remade for the 360 (and that other console...uh...PS something), along with some new content as well. It was considered the first movie to video game title that did not suck...hard.
Seems this game was well received, and follows the vein of our gaming mantra..."Story is important".
More on this as we progress.
So, this weekend also had my wife up in arms over something, which was the issue of playing a game again. She said she missed being in control of the game, and it may be that she may be the one who will play an MMO soon. The issue is what game will work best for her.
She is quite picky, and as such, it proves to be difficult to find a specific game for her.
Story of course is foremost. Visuals are important (no cartoony characters so games like Domo or Wizard 101 will not work), strategy is important...
Fantasy is also number one, and she hates Sci-Fi.
I debate about maybe some type of card based battle game, as she loves those types of systems.
Has anyone played Magic online recently? Is it any good? Any other card style game? (besides LoN, which has an issue with font sizing like LOTRO on big screens...)
...Taking suggestions..
Anyways, a new week, and I plan to start debating about some games (Infinite is on the short list now), and of course, I wonder how 2009 is going to start shaping up...
Have a good week folks...
2009 for MMO's in Image
I think this pretty much shows the outcome for the 2009 MMO season! And yes, that IS a trash can!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Deadspace - You got your RPG in my Horror Survival
Playing through Deadspace gives me some nostalgia, and then adds some tense experiences on top of the likes of Crafting and leveling.
Yup, you guessed it. EA's new IP venture proves that when you take some chances, you can garner success without resorting to previous motives and mechanics.
What has been a pleasure in this game is not only a visually intense setting, but mechanics that eschews the old school survival horror system of small amounts of ammo, enclosed camera angles and frustrating combat.
If we took Doom 3 and added some RPG elements of upgrading armor and weapons, and then give the player a 3rd person OTS camera view to give that enclosed suffocating feel that is the right horror survival ambiance, you get Deadspace.
The wife has pointed out that the "creepy" factor is not as high here as say an old Silent Hill or Resident Evil setting, yet, the game makes up for it by enhancing your game play with thinking before advancing mechanics, and making the right choices in weapons and armor.
The time of minimal health packs are gone, and is replaced by a system that does not "pause" the game so you can take one, which presents a more tense situation than the frustration of "Crap, I have no health left".
Instead of hoping you find that next weapon to use (like a pistol, shovel, etc.), you get a single gun that, if you wish, you can use through the whole game. Complete with the capability to upgrade the weapon with damage, capacity and reload speeds with crafting benches through the game. Luckily, this does NOT mean you are stuck with that weapon, and as well, little built in "shops" exists through the space ship you are supplanted on, to allow you to buy other cool tools to kill with.
What has been a pleasure in this game is not only a visually intense setting, but mechanics that eschews the old school survival horror system of small amounts of ammo, enclosed camera angles and frustrating combat.
If we took Doom 3 and added some RPG elements of upgrading armor and weapons, and then give the player a 3rd person OTS camera view to give that enclosed suffocating feel that is the right horror survival ambiance, you get Deadspace.
The wife has pointed out that the "creepy" factor is not as high here as say an old Silent Hill or Resident Evil setting, yet, the game makes up for it by enhancing your game play with thinking before advancing mechanics, and making the right choices in weapons and armor.
The time of minimal health packs are gone, and is replaced by a system that does not "pause" the game so you can take one, which presents a more tense situation than the frustration of "Crap, I have no health left".
Instead of hoping you find that next weapon to use (like a pistol, shovel, etc.), you get a single gun that, if you wish, you can use through the whole game. Complete with the capability to upgrade the weapon with damage, capacity and reload speeds with crafting benches through the game. Luckily, this does NOT mean you are stuck with that weapon, and as well, little built in "shops" exists through the space ship you are supplanted on, to allow you to buy other cool tools to kill with.
And that is also included on top of upgrading your armor in various ways with health upgrades and inventory capacity (again an issue with most Survival horror).
Finally, the game gives you an easy way to kill the creatures that exists on the ship, but it requires you being semi patient and not slamming ammo into the mobs willy nilly. Taking off limbs helps slow or even kill the mobs faster.
Finally, the game gives you an easy way to kill the creatures that exists on the ship, but it requires you being semi patient and not slamming ammo into the mobs willy nilly. Taking off limbs helps slow or even kill the mobs faster.
The only other comment I have is that the variety of different gameplay options as you go through the space ship (at one point you are stuck trying to eliminate debris hitting the ship using a huge laser cannon) and the sound (which has been nominated on many sites for the best sound for a game in 2008) really drives up the scary fun factor.
What really hits the fun home is thinking how I can go back through and play the game on hard to see how it stacks up...in so many words, the game is fun enough to warrant a replay later down the road. Not many games do that for me.
I am glad EA is taking a different approach to development with these new ventures. Deadspace is a load of exciting fun, and I am glad I found this title.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
2008 in games
Everyone has their own 2008 theme this week.
She quit MMO gaming in 2007 for over 6 months.
And with that, I am off again for a few days. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year, and here is hoping 2009 really makes some changes to how we all play!
For myself, I will highlight what I liked gaming wise, and how my year progressed...
Starting the year was a fresh round of EQ2. My wife and myself really enjoyed ourselves here. But, it was during this time we started to also question the extent of MMO's. What did they offer us, and why would we play a game that seemed to offer the same things over and over for our playtime.
We would log in, kill 10 of this, craft 5 of that...and go gather resources to make money to...well, do it all over again.
Level, kill, craft, level...chat a little, kill, craft...
I guess the social aspect is the most important part of these games, but when people started to not log in about March or April, we felt the weight of a game that was made for friends, when friends were not interested.
We took a break at this point, and I started to ponder Age of Conan. Beta kicked in shortly therein and I started to see the effect of the hype versus the actual quality of the code.
When the miracle patch hit, I was totally enamored with this game. The first 20 levels are probably the best beginning to any MMO I have ever played.
Yet, the drag of the content and quality of itemization started to suffer as you leveled.
I left after 30 days.
Then I started an MMO limbo again. What was I to do?
I then looked back to my past and remembered the joys of Guild Wars. I took it upon myself to rejoin with the latest expansion, Nightfall. I was hooked.
I also brought my wife back in.
My wife herself had an interesting year of MMO's.
Originally she had QUIT 100% after the debacle that was LOTRO. Thus that game ruined MMO's for her, and she thought she would never play again.
She quit MMO gaming in 2007 for over 6 months.
I finally was able to bring her back in with EQ2. She was finally happy again (and is still adamant to this day to never touch LOTRO ever again).
But, as we started to get near mid level, and I started to lose the luster to login, she also fell back on puzzle games.
Guild Wars brought her back, and all the old memories flooded in for us.
We tackled that game for 3-4 months, leveled to max, and started the Eye of the North expansion. We set certain goals and attained those. It was nice to have a game that had end game criteria in mind without mindless raids or the same ole login, kill, level, logout mentality.
During this time we deiced to also look at an Xbox 360. I will come back to that.
Later after we decided to log back off Guild Wars, I convinced her to go to Age of Conan. I wanted to go back and see the fixes and changes there.
We had a blast again. We leveled through the first 20 together. We made an effort to finish all the quests that were NOT part of the main storyline. We had a goal again, and then we finished the Tortage experience by talking to the smuggler and leaving for the mainland. We are now in Stygia and await the next fixes and merges to take place, along with DX10.
As for our 360 time, we found love in several games.
Fable 2 was a major highlight for the whole family. EVERYONE (including our son) finished the main campaign. The game is also considered one of our best for the year.
We also played through quite a few others with Silent Hill being a highlight for my wife along with Culdecept. For myself, my newest venture, Deadspace is my other highlight.
Overall though, we found in one game the mechanics and concepts that we feel encompasses the game we vote as our most endearing and most loved...
The Witcher!
Hours on end we spent, solving the puzzles, working through the storyline with the morals system, that truly felt realistic, in that the choices were not always black and white, almost like life.
With a very fun potion crafting system, and a combat mechanic that was quite unique, and required work to learn..and visually a stunning game to boot..we all agree that this was time well spent.
And as a bonus, the game is slotted to be remade for the 360, with new visuals, combat mechanics, story arc changes...and thanks to the morals system, means we can play the game again, and have a whole new experience.
Looking ahead, 2009 looks bland when it comes to MMO's, and I do have a few on the horizon that are currently in my list (DDO, a return to AoC), but if anything the year looks brighter for the 360.
With the mention of the Witcher for year end, a couple of others really make the mark.
Lord of the Rings:Conquest - Looking massively fun. RTS type of massive combat, without the resource issues, and a super fun looking combat system will rock.
Resident Evil 5 - Using the same engine from Capcom that was used for Devil May Cry (a gorgeous game itself), with co-op play, and a more action oriented combat system, this looks to be right up our alley.
Sacred 2 - Though disappointing on the PC maybe the 360 version will prove to be more fun.
And with that, I am off again for a few days. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy New Year, and here is hoping 2009 really makes some changes to how we all play!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
No MMO on my play list
Today I officially removed Tabula Rasa from my playing list. I looked at the icon this morning, and just decided a big NO to clicking it.
I just do not feel compelled. I wonder if it is the thought of it shutting down? Or was it the same over and over combat mechanics that killed it for me?
I miss Fantasy though, and that may be the issue.
Luckily I have Deadspace filling the Sci-Fi itch I get once in a great while (and of note..Deadspace is truly an AWESOME game, and I am duly impressed with the sound and controls...but more on that at another time)
So, back to the MMO issue.
I am debating starting up my DDO account I have waiting for me. I think the Hirelings are live now, and this was one of the items I wanted in effect when I played.
I also have a 10 dollar discount to Amazon, and I am debating getting a 60 day card for Age of Conan again.
I think I will wait on Conan to get DX10 first. I have a huge guild waiting on me, so getting players there for grouping is not an issue, but I really want to see the effects in their full glory. Several videos are about showing the sun rays effects and real time shadowing with blur for combat...very cool stuff.
But, I could also just not play any MMO for now, and continue on the wonderful Xbox 360 games I have. There is a ton of those..
Deadspace, Infinite Undiscovery, Prince of Persia and Star Wars: Force Unleashed.
With 2009 looking drab for the MMO genre, luckily there are several MMO's left to occupy my time. So maybe I should not rush starting a new one yet?
Anyways, back to the work grind...and if I miss it...Happy New Year.
I just do not feel compelled. I wonder if it is the thought of it shutting down? Or was it the same over and over combat mechanics that killed it for me?
I miss Fantasy though, and that may be the issue.
Luckily I have Deadspace filling the Sci-Fi itch I get once in a great while (and of note..Deadspace is truly an AWESOME game, and I am duly impressed with the sound and controls...but more on that at another time)
So, back to the MMO issue.
I am debating starting up my DDO account I have waiting for me. I think the Hirelings are live now, and this was one of the items I wanted in effect when I played.
I also have a 10 dollar discount to Amazon, and I am debating getting a 60 day card for Age of Conan again.
I think I will wait on Conan to get DX10 first. I have a huge guild waiting on me, so getting players there for grouping is not an issue, but I really want to see the effects in their full glory. Several videos are about showing the sun rays effects and real time shadowing with blur for combat...very cool stuff.
But, I could also just not play any MMO for now, and continue on the wonderful Xbox 360 games I have. There is a ton of those..
Deadspace, Infinite Undiscovery, Prince of Persia and Star Wars: Force Unleashed.
With 2009 looking drab for the MMO genre, luckily there are several MMO's left to occupy my time. So maybe I should not rush starting a new one yet?
Anyways, back to the work grind...and if I miss it...Happy New Year.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Filing suit follow up
Seems everyone is discussing the bit of news from yesterday in some manner.
MMOExperience, Tish Tosh and Broken Toys, with more to follow I am sure.
Worlds.com is throwing around a bit of weight with a patent that could really change the face of the MMO genre.
Broken Toys gets quite meaty with the subject, explaining about a legal system in the big ole state of Texas that seems to be unfair to many of the defendants of various cases.
This could explain the NCSoft reasoning of becoming the first target...
As he notes from another site..
“Being a foreign defendant in Texas is not a pleasant thing,” he said of NCsoft, which is primarily a Korean company. “The juries are, many would say, biased towards American plaintiffs and have a propensity to offer high damages. Some defendants might view them as an unfriendly jury and it might make the defendant more likely to settle.”
Ouch. But, lets not forget about the monetary issues NCSoft is feeling at this time. And worse how at this time in the Economy, and how a frivolous suit like this could lead to closure for a company if costs skyrocket.
Tish Tosh notes..
"NCSoft is over a barrel, at least Stateside, and makes for a much easier target than Blizzard"
How true.
But, this started me down the path toward finding out if there is any alternative means to running an MMO without the features noted by Worlds in their patent.
Could this change the way MMO's charge fee's? Could costs go up if all companies have to pay the license fee?
Or could these offerings be "Not for profit", and the companies offer alternative means to make cash. Like offering voice chat, and then suggesting alternate means to type (which would bypass the main gist of the patent)?
If a player uses VOIP in game, and say XFire to talk by text...how does that affect the patent lawsuit? And the server/client is say...free?
Mind you this is one of the two patents though. This patent was filed in 2000.
This explains about a virtual space and tracking the location of an "Avatar" and rendering objects to display to that character in a 3d space.
Yea..in so many words, ALL MMO's.
But, the date has issues with "Prior Art" for MMO's, with Lineage being noted by Adingworld in my previous post's comments hitting in 1998 (which covers NCSofts butt).
This patent is more bothersome
Filed in 1996, this one is more encompassing, and includes location data and communications.
Crude drawings accompany this patent, and it seems to be precise in how it works. And unless NCSoft can show some alternate means of communicating this data on their servers, they will be toast.
There is no doubt this will change everything. I may have been more precise in my predictions than I thought when I stated 2009 would be "The year of the single player game".
MMOExperience, Tish Tosh and Broken Toys, with more to follow I am sure.
Worlds.com is throwing around a bit of weight with a patent that could really change the face of the MMO genre.
Broken Toys gets quite meaty with the subject, explaining about a legal system in the big ole state of Texas that seems to be unfair to many of the defendants of various cases.
This could explain the NCSoft reasoning of becoming the first target...
As he notes from another site..
“Being a foreign defendant in Texas is not a pleasant thing,” he said of NCsoft, which is primarily a Korean company. “The juries are, many would say, biased towards American plaintiffs and have a propensity to offer high damages. Some defendants might view them as an unfriendly jury and it might make the defendant more likely to settle.”
Ouch. But, lets not forget about the monetary issues NCSoft is feeling at this time. And worse how at this time in the Economy, and how a frivolous suit like this could lead to closure for a company if costs skyrocket.
Tish Tosh notes..
"NCSoft is over a barrel, at least Stateside, and makes for a much easier target than Blizzard"
How true.
But, this started me down the path toward finding out if there is any alternative means to running an MMO without the features noted by Worlds in their patent.
Could this change the way MMO's charge fee's? Could costs go up if all companies have to pay the license fee?
Or could these offerings be "Not for profit", and the companies offer alternative means to make cash. Like offering voice chat, and then suggesting alternate means to type (which would bypass the main gist of the patent)?
If a player uses VOIP in game, and say XFire to talk by text...how does that affect the patent lawsuit? And the server/client is say...free?
Mind you this is one of the two patents though. This patent was filed in 2000.
This explains about a virtual space and tracking the location of an "Avatar" and rendering objects to display to that character in a 3d space.
Yea..in so many words, ALL MMO's.
But, the date has issues with "Prior Art" for MMO's, with Lineage being noted by Adingworld in my previous post's comments hitting in 1998 (which covers NCSofts butt).
This patent is more bothersome
Filed in 1996, this one is more encompassing, and includes location data and communications.
Crude drawings accompany this patent, and it seems to be precise in how it works. And unless NCSoft can show some alternate means of communicating this data on their servers, they will be toast.
There is no doubt this will change everything. I may have been more precise in my predictions than I thought when I stated 2009 would be "The year of the single player game".
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