I went to the Rock Band site today only to find I was directed elsewhere. That elsewhere being the international site where I had to make the selection between the UK site, French site, German site and the Swedish site.
Interesting except for one small detail: I LIVE IN AUSTRALIA DAMMIT!!!!
Considering how Australia seems to be repeatedly snubbed by the Harmonix (both RB2 and the Pro Guitar never being release here) I'm beginning to smell a conspiracy.
What happened? Does someone in Harmonix have a grudge against Australia? Did they go to Australia on holiday and have their wallet stolen or something? Does Harmonix have issue with kangaroos and koalas?
True I could just go to the UK site for RB goodness but it does feel somewhat patronizing. Is Australia really that an insignificant speck in the gaming industry? Ignoring potential customers can't be good for business surely....
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Forever is too long
Apparently, it's true: A release date has finally been set for Duke Nukem Forever. Suddenly, the game that has been a laughing stock will finally see the light of day, after so many years in development.
So some thoughts on this revelation:
- Does anyone really care? The development has gone on for so long and, as such, Duke 3D has been forgotten or dismissed as tainted. I enjoyed Duke 3D when I was in high school and I liked it for it's sense of humor and character: Something that Quake and Doom seemed to lack. Indeed, seeing as FPS these days seem bound rigid to the notion of realism, an FPS with kooky weaponry and jokes would be more than welcome. So it may be far to say that DNF's time has come but are we ready to hand over the money for it?
- The reason 3D Realms used to explain the delays with DNF was: "When it's Done" Funny thing is, Valve and Blizzard use the same principal with their own games - only thing is, when a game from those camps is finally released, everyone falls head over heels in love with it and eagerly goes along with the developer's ambitions (I'm looking at you Starcraft 2!)
- Why did Gearbox take over? It's easy to imagine a huge sigh of relief upon the project's termination after years of delays and frustration. That being said, are Gearbox acting on the frustration that enough is enough? Or do they sincerely believe there is a good game just waiting to get out?
- Does anyone know what they're doing? Following the history of the development hell that has been DNF, it seems it's been a clutter of ambition, ideas looted from other games and a continual race to keep up with graphical advancements. Do the few remaining on DNF's team know what they're doing? Does anyone at Gearbox know what they're doing? I can easily imagine someone from Gearbox coming down and establishing order with loud shouting, proper guidance and a decent sense of direction. Is that what's happening? After all, it would be a shame to deliver a lousy product after a long wait (Too Human anyone?)
- Comparisons to the Guns N Roses album Chinese Democracy seem rather inescapable: Two projects that spent an incalculable time in development to the point where only the devoted few were the only one's keeping record. Thus, when Chinese Democracy finally got released opinions were divided. Sure some may dismiss and defend Chinese Democracy in equal measures but in the end, the Chinese Democracy Guns N Roses is indeed a completely different beast to the Appetite For Destruction Guns N Roses who had won millions over twenty years earlier.
- Does this mean Yahtzee's joke assessment of DNF would now rendered irrelevant? Would this also mean that the Zero Punctuation fans who voted in DNF as the best ZP would end up looking kinda silly? And, now that I think of it, did Gearbox take over DNF development purely for the sake of showing up Yahtzee?
- Would the wait be worth it? I suppose it would be easy to dismiss the game after the long wait but somehow, the idea that the game would be a triumph to end all triumphs is hard to imagine.
Sad but true.
So some thoughts on this revelation:
- Does anyone really care? The development has gone on for so long and, as such, Duke 3D has been forgotten or dismissed as tainted. I enjoyed Duke 3D when I was in high school and I liked it for it's sense of humor and character: Something that Quake and Doom seemed to lack. Indeed, seeing as FPS these days seem bound rigid to the notion of realism, an FPS with kooky weaponry and jokes would be more than welcome. So it may be far to say that DNF's time has come but are we ready to hand over the money for it?
- The reason 3D Realms used to explain the delays with DNF was: "When it's Done" Funny thing is, Valve and Blizzard use the same principal with their own games - only thing is, when a game from those camps is finally released, everyone falls head over heels in love with it and eagerly goes along with the developer's ambitions (I'm looking at you Starcraft 2!)
- Why did Gearbox take over? It's easy to imagine a huge sigh of relief upon the project's termination after years of delays and frustration. That being said, are Gearbox acting on the frustration that enough is enough? Or do they sincerely believe there is a good game just waiting to get out?
- Does anyone know what they're doing? Following the history of the development hell that has been DNF, it seems it's been a clutter of ambition, ideas looted from other games and a continual race to keep up with graphical advancements. Do the few remaining on DNF's team know what they're doing? Does anyone at Gearbox know what they're doing? I can easily imagine someone from Gearbox coming down and establishing order with loud shouting, proper guidance and a decent sense of direction. Is that what's happening? After all, it would be a shame to deliver a lousy product after a long wait (Too Human anyone?)
- Comparisons to the Guns N Roses album Chinese Democracy seem rather inescapable: Two projects that spent an incalculable time in development to the point where only the devoted few were the only one's keeping record. Thus, when Chinese Democracy finally got released opinions were divided. Sure some may dismiss and defend Chinese Democracy in equal measures but in the end, the Chinese Democracy Guns N Roses is indeed a completely different beast to the Appetite For Destruction Guns N Roses who had won millions over twenty years earlier.
- Does this mean Yahtzee's joke assessment of DNF would now rendered irrelevant? Would this also mean that the Zero Punctuation fans who voted in DNF as the best ZP would end up looking kinda silly? And, now that I think of it, did Gearbox take over DNF development purely for the sake of showing up Yahtzee?
- Would the wait be worth it? I suppose it would be easy to dismiss the game after the long wait but somehow, the idea that the game would be a triumph to end all triumphs is hard to imagine.
Sad but true.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Customise This
Been playing a lot of Mass Effect lately: Took a while to get into it but now I'm having a great time getting through it. But then again, this is a Bioware game and they have yet to let me down.
Okay sure, the quality ratio between story and game-play seems dreadfully unbalanced but there is still some good to be gained from this game.
I found the customization a bit strange though: I go to the effort of building a decent avatar to represent my John Shepard - but what looks like something workable in the development doesn't quite work out in the final product (much like many other games). Still, it could be worse: I recall my friend Hanna playing Mass Effect 2 with a Jane Shepard that resembled a cross between Samus Aran and Julia Gillard....
Okay sure, the quality ratio between story and game-play seems dreadfully unbalanced but there is still some good to be gained from this game.
I found the customization a bit strange though: I go to the effort of building a decent avatar to represent my John Shepard - but what looks like something workable in the development doesn't quite work out in the final product (much like many other games). Still, it could be worse: I recall my friend Hanna playing Mass Effect 2 with a Jane Shepard that resembled a cross between Samus Aran and Julia Gillard....
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Rock Band Beatallica
Well, we have a Guitar Hero Metallica and a Beatles Rock Band - it makes me wonder if Beatallica will have a rhythm game all to themselves.
Sure it may be a licensing nightmare but dammit, who wouldn't want to play Beatles/Metallica hybrid music on some plastic guitar shaped controller?!
Sure it may be a licensing nightmare but dammit, who wouldn't want to play Beatles/Metallica hybrid music on some plastic guitar shaped controller?!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Shoot the Runner
I have mixed feelings towards the TV show Good Game (for the uninitiated it's a gaming show on Australian TV). I watch it yes but only becuase it's the only gaming show on TV. As such, the show frequently comes across as a mixture of rubbish and information - indeed, it is a chore to sit through the former just to get to the latter. I look forward to the day that the proposed Game Damage gets the green light but until then, Good Game is all we've got.
Still I'll give Good Game credit: I saw them give a glowing review to the WiiWare game Bit.Trip Runner. Intrigued, I downloaded, had a go at it and found it very much to my liking. It may seem quite daft, in that resembles an Atari 2600 game but the idea of collecting power-ups to build a tune is a strong one and here it works great. Sure some of the jumping may be frustrating (particularly when it sends you back to the beginning of the level!) but Bit.Trip Runner certainly has a lot going for it.
So yes - Bit.Trip Runner is a good game (for lack of a better choice of words).
Still I'll give Good Game credit: I saw them give a glowing review to the WiiWare game Bit.Trip Runner. Intrigued, I downloaded, had a go at it and found it very much to my liking. It may seem quite daft, in that resembles an Atari 2600 game but the idea of collecting power-ups to build a tune is a strong one and here it works great. Sure some of the jumping may be frustrating (particularly when it sends you back to the beginning of the level!) but Bit.Trip Runner certainly has a lot going for it.
So yes - Bit.Trip Runner is a good game (for lack of a better choice of words).
Friday, September 3, 2010
Burned out
Whilst I finally have a 360, I'm not in any rush to play any of the new games. Strangely I'm sticking to the original Xbox games. Seeing as the gaming industry is built on a constant demand for new things, I however am taking things at my own pace, leaning on the notion that games cost a lot of money, such investment should be made to last, and there's no rush. After all, if one game is completed at least there is another ready and waiting in the wings (ie my Hall of Shame).
Anyway, I dusted off the old chestnut Burnout 3. I have always had a soft spot for this game, with it's gorgeous presentation and a prospect of a racing game that's charged with adrenalin and the satisfaction of slamming the opposition of the road. It's great fun and certainly entertaining to watch. I can't recall how much time I have invested in this game - which is a surprise seeing as I normally don't enjoy racing games. But if one works then it must be doing something right.
However, now the flaws of the game have become obvious: The soundtrack is woeful having an uneven ratio of good songs to crap songs. The DJ Striker as annoying but he can be turned off thankfully. However, special ire is reserved for the AI of the computer: It is nasty indeed. Whilst the game relies on crashes, it seems to have no idea what it wants to do with them: You get points for doing some decent driving yet, at the same time, you also get points of crashing. Likewise, crashing seems almost inevitable: Some of them come out of nowhere, the player crashes seem to last a whole lot longer than the computer crashes in an almost taunting fashion (my partner will verify just how much swearing has come out of my mouth whilst playing Burnout 3). And speaking of the opposing cars, they seem the recover pretty quickly from crashes and they seem to speed away an impossible rate when you crash. I know games should be challenging but they shouldn't be unfair.
Still, Burnout 3 still has a charm to it that keeps calling me back - not bad a feat seeing as the racing genre has never really endeared itself to me.
Anyway, I dusted off the old chestnut Burnout 3. I have always had a soft spot for this game, with it's gorgeous presentation and a prospect of a racing game that's charged with adrenalin and the satisfaction of slamming the opposition of the road. It's great fun and certainly entertaining to watch. I can't recall how much time I have invested in this game - which is a surprise seeing as I normally don't enjoy racing games. But if one works then it must be doing something right.
However, now the flaws of the game have become obvious: The soundtrack is woeful having an uneven ratio of good songs to crap songs. The DJ Striker as annoying but he can be turned off thankfully. However, special ire is reserved for the AI of the computer: It is nasty indeed. Whilst the game relies on crashes, it seems to have no idea what it wants to do with them: You get points for doing some decent driving yet, at the same time, you also get points of crashing. Likewise, crashing seems almost inevitable: Some of them come out of nowhere, the player crashes seem to last a whole lot longer than the computer crashes in an almost taunting fashion (my partner will verify just how much swearing has come out of my mouth whilst playing Burnout 3). And speaking of the opposing cars, they seem the recover pretty quickly from crashes and they seem to speed away an impossible rate when you crash. I know games should be challenging but they shouldn't be unfair.
Still, Burnout 3 still has a charm to it that keeps calling me back - not bad a feat seeing as the racing genre has never really endeared itself to me.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Class act
Whilst I've finally have a 360, I haven't forgotten my other consoles. Indeed, I'm still carrying on with Ogre Battle 64 on the Virtual Console. Why? Becuase it's a flippin' great game, that's why!
Funny thing is, I'm up to chapter 13 and I'm feeling somewhat left behind: The baddies have all these upgraded classes whilst I'm struggling on the same set I had ages ago (to give you an idea, I got the cleric class recently - the first new one in a long time). Thus it is kind of humiliating that I'm getting left behind as the baddies get all these sweet classes that can wipe the floor with me in mere seconds.
Give me more classes game! Stop being so damn selfish!!!
Funny thing is, I'm up to chapter 13 and I'm feeling somewhat left behind: The baddies have all these upgraded classes whilst I'm struggling on the same set I had ages ago (to give you an idea, I got the cleric class recently - the first new one in a long time). Thus it is kind of humiliating that I'm getting left behind as the baddies get all these sweet classes that can wipe the floor with me in mere seconds.
Give me more classes game! Stop being so damn selfish!!!
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