This is not Halloween

It's Halloween and do you know what that means? Aside from many little girls dressing up as Anna and Elsa from Frozen?
That's right: it's the beginning of winter! But This is meaningless to me as I live in Australia and am currently in the middle of Spring. Still, at time of writing, the weather has been schizophrenic to say the least.

Anywho, I was in my local EB games recently and noticed, in amongst the PC games, a whole rack of unsold Angry Birds Star Wars games.
I suppose that's what you get for selling out.

But, to save this post from being a exercise in complete cynicism, hopefully the recent publisher deal LucasArts have with GoG will make people realize there are more substantial Star Wars games available and within easy reach.

A New Hope

Well it happened: The new publisher that GoG has been teasing turned out to be LucasArts.

I was doubtful of this but it would appear any doubts are confounded. I don't know what kind of deal the GoG legal team did with Disney but it would seem they (the legal team) aren't being paid enough.

Not much else I can say except: Bring on TIE Fighter!

Counting down to...something

This weekend, GoG placed a countdown detonating how long until a new publisher is unleashed.

Who could it be? A likely candidate would be LucasArts but I'm not sure about that. As we all know, LucasArts are now owned by Disney - a company who is notorious for holding onto their IP with an iron grip. Thus it does seem something of a stretch that Disney would pay attention to a small company operating out of Poland.
Still, GoG's legal team have preformed miracles in the past so perhaps it would be wise not to to doubt them just yet.

I guess we'll all have to wait and find out...

Dead Eyes Open

Its Halloween next weeks so, in anticipation for this annual event, here's some nightmare fuel for you:

Stiff poses? Blank expressions? Opaque eyes? I look at this and I'm half expecting to start hearing an slow / off-key version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Seriously is this game a rhythm game or a horror? If this artwork is anything to go by I really can't tell.

Highway to Hell

Not much to say for today so here's something I found awesome (where did Frank Klepacki get that guitar?!):

Original video located here. Accessed 22nd October 2014

War was declared but nobody showed

Recently I saw Crusader Kings 2 for sale on Steam. I was aware of this game - however that was largely through the mod available that transforms the game into a replica of Game of Thrones. No matter: That reason alone would be enough to fork over ten bucks for it - the fact that it was on sale was another damn good reason.

Make no mistake: I love me some strategy games - but at the same time I find them a daunting beast. A lot of strategy games have this complexity to them that can come across as intimidating. Yes there is a lot to the game that is just waiting to be unlocked by the player and yes they are the type of game that can ensnare hours of willing investment from the player - but it is not readily apparent. I find that strategy games can very unfriendly to the newcomer and the player is required to embrace the game on the game's own terms - even if such an undertaking is, more often than not, an uphill struggle.
I recall playing Civ 2 a LOT back in the day and being pretty good at it. Thing is, I can't recall how I got where I did: I can't recall when I found out one crucial piece of information that changed the game completely and made me rejig my playing style. True a lot of my information on Civ 2 came from playing Civ 1 but how I obtained that knowledge has been lost to me.

Thus to come across strategy games like Crusder Kings 2 and even Rome Total War, is to face a completely new challenge. A new challenge of unlocking a game that could be worth my time and effort but only after I get on top of it when it's beating me down into submission. The mechanics are waiting there to be utilized but only when I get into the swing of things. My foes aren't unbeatable but they still need to be crushed effectively. So to confront a new strategy game is to learn how the game works (in a genre not known for newcomer friendliness) and to build a new playing style to fit - it's pretty much building the wheel all over again.

Still I am interested in continuing with Rome Total War and Crusader Kings 2 - indeed there is something satisfying about facing down a beast and taming it.
Plus there's the Game of Thrones mod - how can one refuse? (I  fro one am interested to see what will happen if I send Joffrey to The Wall...)

Believe it or Not, I'm Walking on Air

Because glitches in MMORPGur's never cease to be amusing, here's one for my last session in ESO.

What are you doing up there?:

Horsin' Around

Recently I obtained a horse for my character in Elder Scrolls Online. It was, of course, the Palomino that is available for purchase - because there is no way, with ESO's insane economy, that I was going to all the trouble to save up so many thousands of gold coins to purchase one of in the game steeds.

Anywho, I do like the idea of naming one's steed as it adds to a personalization of the player character. Unfortunately, as anyone who knows me will tell yo,, I'm not very good at coming up with names.
So what did I call my steed for my elf Darthrain?

Kevin

Got Your Back

Sometimes, the perfect placement for a screencap just falls right into your lap.

I got your back!:

In need of some class

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who asked me what type of gamer I was. Because, according to her, there are three types of gamer. There's those who play retro games, there's those who mod the hell out of the games they play and there's those who buy up everything new (bling bling).

I wasn't aware that such classification existed but I don't really seem the need to. Really there is only one qualification to be a gamer and that is: you play computer and console games. Doesn't matter if the games in question are on tablet or from twenty years ago - you play games and that's it.

What is the need for such classification? Is it to introduce snobbery and a hierarchy within gamers? Such a thought pattern is bizarre considering that gaming has in recent years become more inclusive - it has become something anyone can do and not just the computer geeks. This is indeed a far cry from the original 'gamer' that spawned from the 1980s. Thus having 'gamer types' seems a far more regressive step.

And really the gamer types descried above don't make a lot of sense: I play a lot of retro games yes but at the same time, I'm very interested in modded games. So with a foot in two camps what does that make me? A freak?
Furthermore what defines a retro gamer anyway? Is someone who plays PS2 and (original) Xbox games a retro gamer? Does this also mean that someone playing the games from now in 2034 would be a retro gamer?

Really there is no point to these gamer types. As stated above, a gamer is really defiend by someone who plays games. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Thus, the guy who spends thousands of dollars on a top-of-the-line gaming PC is no more a gamer than the guy who plays games on his iPhone.  Similarly, the woman who plays games because her boyfriend does is no less a gamer than the guy who invests many hours in hunting down that one XBLA achievement.

Red Alert indeed

This week I've tried to play Command and Conquer Red Alerts 2 on three separate occasions - only to have the damn game crash every time.

I'm not sure why this is so - but a likely guess would be EA drones being displeased that I'm playing a game that isn't one of their latest.

Blocked up

Recently news has emerged that a new movie based on a game will be emerging. And the lucky candidate will be the immortal calssic....

....Tetris.

It's an odd choice to be sure but how one earth can you make a movie out of Tetris?
I personally believe the only way you can do this would be to focus on the bizarre legal story that plagued Alexey Pajitnov in distributing the game. And that story has enough potency to make a fascinating movie.
But no, my opinion doesn't matter as I am a lowly blogger and nowhere near the Hollywood system. Still, if the Tetris movie does turn out that way, I will pay to see it (your move movie makers!)

This Looks Like a Job For Superman!

So a new Batman game is on the way for the eighth console generation so now would be a good time as any to talk about DC’s greatest hero – that’s right, Superman.

Superman may be the greatest of all superheroes and the wellspring that all others have come from but such a distinction can’t stop him from having crummy games. And it’s not just the notorious Superman 64 - the Superman brand has, throughout gaming history, has lent itself to flops like the Arcade game and the 2600 game.  And somehow the alleged Superman Curse seems no longer confined to actors.

Is it possible to make a Superman that’s actually any good? Well the first problem would be to overcome the inescapable truth that Superman is the embodiment of the invulnerable power fantasy. And invulnerability is a very hard thing to do in a medium where a player finds himself up against legions of obstacles all of which are life threatening. So how does one make a game around a character that is practically bullet-proof AND not make it boring?

One possible solution would be focus on one of Superman’s characteristics – that being the power of flight. Who wouldn’t want to be placed in a Sandbox environment and be given the ability to take off and fly with ease (or at least without the necessity of hijacking a helicopter)? I mean if Nights Into Dreams can prove that a game can be made around a flight mechanic then there’s no reason why a Superman game couldn’t work. Why, I’ve played the Commander Keen games with the jump cheat on (so sue me) and somehow I could easily imagine that working as a Superman game.

But making a game around a character who is bullet-proof is only half the problem – Superman is the ultimate good guy and doing everything to everyone may not appeal to the modern gamer. True being the good guy is never easy but it can work given a suitable risk/reward system: if the player, say, faces the task of rescuing people from a collapsing building caused by a bad guy, there lies a challenge of rescuing the people. If the player manages to rescue all of them, they will be rewarded but if one or all the people die they will be penalized. And such penalties could come in the form of populace reaction: If Superman does a bad thing the people of Metropolis will distrust him and will react accordingly. This in turns will inspire the player to try and work their way back in Metropolis’ graces. It may not be an easy undertaking but, given the right amount of reward, it may work (and hey, who can’t deny the appeal of being Superman and shifting heavy objects?).

But the ultimate question is whether or not anyone wants a Superman game. Which brings me back to Batman: In recent years Batman has been blessed with games and movies that have ultra-successful whilst Superman has had to contend with his once glorious name becoming toxic with the afore-mentioned Superman 64 and the polarizing Man of Steel. And thus who in turn, has the largest command of the nerd cash? Hint: Not Kal-El.

That is something I’ve noticed: The people who love Batman hate Superman with just as much vigor. Indeed, I heard that the recent Arkham games were made by people who loved Batman and wanted to do the best job possible. While such dedication is admirable I can’t help but picture Rocksteady being full of people who would fall over themselves to make Batman game but would be anything but enthusiastic to make a Superman game. It is also somewhat telling that the only way it would seem to save the Superman movie franchise is to do a crossover with Batman.  Yep, the only way to save your franchise is to get in someone else to do it for you.

I can see a Superman working providing the right amount of thought is put into it and is made by people both passionate about Superman and committed to doing the best job possible. The only problem is whether or not the appropriate numbers can be generated from those people who are far more enamored of Batman. 
And as a parting shot consider this: We may all laugh at movie producer Jon Peters and his complete misunderstanding of Superman but somehow I can’t help but think Mr. Peters has become something of an avatar for those who aggressively place Batman on pedestal whilst denouncing Superman.

The Saints Are Coming

I've never played any of the Saints Row games but hearing this has inspired me to hunt down no.2:

Original video located here. Accessed 1st October 2014