So much to the surprise of no one Blizzard has announced Diablo 3, a series which I am not a huge fan. The gameplay video looks pretty and all, and there's some hope that they will be addressing some of my biggest beefs in the lack of variety, be it in quests, enemies or dungeons, though it doesn't seem to be doing much to change the entirely left-click based control scheme. I hope they can prove me wrong, because like the rabid following behind Baldur's Gate 2, I just have to assume it's something wrong with me. Here's another game which arguably has the same amount of depth in its controls, a Flash-based rail-shooter called Toon Crisis, in which the environments were taken from a dude walking around the streets of Soho but all the enemies are hand-drawn goofy critters. It's free, it's short, you don't have to download anything, and I like creative Flash games.
Link, Tooncrisis.com
-K.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Play This Now: Toon Crisis
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Thursday Morning Panel Show Thing: QI (Quite Interesting) - Season 2, Episode 1
I wonder if I should just start calling this "Thursday Morning Video." But at any rate, here's an episode of QI, it's edutainment!
Also I think it's funny that Woot sent me a tracking number for something I ordered two days after it was already delivered.
-K.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Kyle Likes Stuff Drinking Game
Take a shot for every time I said a variation of "mechanics" in the last post.
On Dungeons. Also, Dragons.
So I've been listening to the Penny-Arcade/PvP D&D podcast (Shut it, I think it's entertaining), and I guess Wizards of the Coast are getting their desired effect because it makes me want to give it a try. In the meantime I've been trying to find some sort of computer-based surrogate, though with my distaste of Neverwinter Nights and with Pool of Radiance being so ancient it is nearly unplayable I'm limited with very few options.
So I turned to Baldur's Gate 2, another game I openly dislike and, in the face of towering heaps of praise thrown upon it, have comfortably resigned that it is a problem with me rather than the product. Though I have not played it since the release of the demo (A mind-bogglingly gigantic demo for the time, split into seven large files) and perhaps there were mechanics at work that I couldn't fully process at the time, though I would argue I don't believe I've become that much more intelligent since I was 15. The only thing that's grown since then has been my pant size, but I digress. The inclusion of a tutorial in the full version helps, albeit a ridiculously long one, and the interface has not aged well. I don't know the D&D universe all that well and that means I have not memorized spells and their functions, let alone simple icons with caveman-style etchings, so having to go into every specific character's list of spells just to figure out what they do in the middle of a battle is not particularly fun or exciting. It also wasn't until I took a look through the game's ludicrous 266-page manual I learned that having a low Armor Class, which ventures into negative numbers, is actually optimal. Though having gone through the first hour of trying to manage these ancient mechanisms I am almost approaching what some might consider enjoyment.
I'm not sure how I feel about the combat, being in the pausable real-time format, the same BioWare would later use for Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic. Though this speeds it along more than the alternative, it makes it feel a little more like RTS than RPG, especially when you're commanding a whole party at once. I know I'm in a minority with my affinity for turn-based games and I know it would slow things to a snail's pace, but it would create a more, and I'm loathe to say it, authentic experience. They're already doing the dice rolls, like NWN and KotOR, but behind the scenes. Though that's another thought, why hide them?
I know that our little group is more mechanically-minded than others, with character expression and growth taking a backseat to raw math and statistics. "What does more damage?" is a question that often takes greater precedence over "What would my character prefer?" What makes it an entertaining experience is that very tangible aspect of the rolling of physical objects, specifically dice. I can only assume there are other like-minded individuals out there who wouldn't mind having that experience emulated to a digital format, so why hasn't there been a straight-up conversion, turn-based and dice rolls included?
Immediately my mind began to churn away at such a conversion, which I imagine could be easily accomplished, with the same robustness that NWN provided. Turn-based combat on a grid with the dice rolls included, much like a video game version of a board game. I also began to mull over the possibilities of emulating the social aspect of the physical game as well, the experience of a group of friends getting together to play a silly game in a basement where you slaughter goblins (Or Nazis). This is what comes across strongly in those podcasts. A game where in which you create an avatar who in turn you use to create another avatar. I realize that this is encroaching upon World of World of Warcraft territory, but I see potential here. Trying to re-create the mechanics standard D&D gameplay with a sort of home-y aesthetic; Character sheets written in pencil, NPCs (friends) who play the game with varying degrees of seriousness, progression marked not only with how deep you descend into the dungeon but also empty cans of Mountain Dew and discarded Cheetos bags, etc. There could be other potential gameplay mechanics like arguing with the DM or disputes over loot, though that might be a stretch.
At any rate, I think that would be pretty hot.
-K.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday Morning Sitcom: Black Books - The Grapes of Wrath
I'll get back to sketches sooner or later, but in the meantime here's my favorite episode of Black Books.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Grand Theft Adventure
This is one of the strangest but most entertaining stories I've read about this year, and perfectly timed, because I was getting tired of reading news about Metal Gear Solid 4 to get my daily dose of batshit crazy.
My favorite part about the story is that their "official" site was on GeoCities. It's still there, I guess, but since more than three people visited it the site is currently down. I had just assumed GeoCities went out of business some time during the late 90's, but if I do get a chance to access their site I'm sure I'll be treated to a background composed entirely of a tiled animated gif of a skull and a rockin' MIDI tune. Come on guys, GoDaddy.com, it's not hard. The saddest part, though, is that this is infinitely more press their game would've gotten otherwise.
-K.
Thursday Morning Sitcom: The IT Crowd - Yesterday's Jam
Thought I'd try something different this week, so here's the first episode of The IT Crowd.
-K.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Play This Now: Deus Ex
This is a game that needs no introduction, or at least if it does it means you haven't played it and you should just skip to the link below. One of only two good things to come out of the ill-fated developer Ion Storm (The other being Tom Hall's Anachronox), Deus Ex is an FPS/RPG hybrid that unashamedly leans more toward the former, but still allows you a sort of range of expression in creating your own character. Just as long as you're comfortable with that range being whether or not you pick people off from a distance or get up close and personal with a shotgun. The game presents you in a slightly dystopic not-too-distant future as a cybernetically enhanced operative working for a government peace-keeping agency trying to thwart the plans of a terrorist organization trying to seize large quantities of a cure to a new disease called the Grey Death, or so it may seem. (That may be the nerdiest sentence I ever wrote.) But even that is selling it short and expanding would spoil things for those who haven't played it. All I'll say is that the game also involves the Knights Templar, the Illuminati and Area 51. The way you choose to hone your skills as you progress also works in tandem with the level design, which almost always allows you to find alternate paths and solutions that best suit your abilities, and while it tends to reward those who are silent and stealthy, it does not directly oppose you from running around with a rocket launcher and a flamethrower. As most who have played it will tell you, it's one of the most immersive and engaging games you will ever play, and now it's completely free. All you have to do is hop on to GameTap (Which you should still have from playing Mr. Robot, right? Right.), you don't have to sign up for an account or anything, just track it down on the free games list and install.
Link, GameTap.
-K.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Extra Large News
So poking around CNN.com a while ago I stumbled upon links on certain stories that offered to print the headline on a t-shirt. I can only assume they want you to wear these, but why? There seem to be no rhyme or reason to which headlines they choose, just plucking ones out at random that don't make much sense when not placed in the context of, oh, say, a news item.
I don't get it, CNN, why would anyone want to wear a t-shirt that says "UK Olympians training in heat chambers?"
-K.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
What I (Dis)LIked Last Week
I realize that I said I would have last week's Play This Now up by Saturday and it is now Tuesday. The game I had in mind is not yet available at the ideal price, which is to say free, but should be by Friday and I will make note of it then.
I mostly kept myself busy with DS and GBA games with my main course continuing to be more Grand Theft Auto 4, with some general dicking around and also replaying the story. Last night was spent in "Party Mode," which is essentially a private multiplayer lobby, a free mode you can tear around in, with heaps of firearms and items strewn about, without fear of police retribution, while you try to wrangle your online friends in to move on to actual gametypes. But this mode also serves well for actual "parties," passing the controller around while we slowly, but freely brought the city to ruins. Though without a police presence you are basically limited to exploring, murdering civilians or finding creative ways to commit suicide, but in a communal setting, especially comprising of those with slightly maligned senses of humor, is quite enough. It is the only kind of setting in which making your way to a public park so you have more people to run over results in uproarious laughter, or going to great lengths to find an appropriate situation in which you can launch yourself off of your motorcycle for maximum injury.
It brings me back to my previous mention of appreciation that Rockstar took the time to craft and polish a world with resonate characters and a compelling story, but it still appeals to an audience not so concerned with that. When you fly helicopter to maximum altitude and leap out only to produce a gruesome impact, that's just funny.
-K.
Please Don't Mention Our Mistakes in Your Professional Critique
So according to MTV's Multiplayer Blog (via CVG), Konami has been demanding that print magazine reviewers not mention the length of the cut-scenes in Metal Gear Solid 4 or the supposed multiple installations as the game progresses. There are only two reasons behind this decision and they are either that Konami thinks these are so awesome that they don't want it spoiled for people or they recognize that these are absolutely terrible design decisions and don't want these particular flaws mentioned in a critical review of their product.
This is just another in a long line of examples of how deeply broken this industry is when it comes to professional reviews. An industry where, if enough advertising dollars changed hands, you can lose your job by being honest. This kind of bullshit simply doesn't fly in other mediums, NDAs are one thing but there are certain gag orders, embargoes on reviews that keep them from going up until after a game's release and other sorts of bullying tactics that are ridiculous. When the larger publishers start throwing their weight around and threatening to pull advertising funds away when someone gives their bad game an appropriate review and sites or magazines simply bend over and take it, that serves only to reinforce the notion that you can buy positive reviews. In an ideal world the advertising and editorial agencies of a publication would have absolutely no contact with each other, which is how I imagine those covering different forms of media operate, but the reality is that there often is quite a lot of crossover. A reviewer should not have to be weighing those concerns when trying to dictate their honest opinion, because laying that out is what he or she is paid to do in the first place. I can only hope that as this still burgeoning industry grows and matures and the crossover of demographics becomes larger that these sites and publications can start getting larger ad revenues from companies that do not fall under the ones they also critique.
All this would not even be an issue if the companies involved, like Konami and Eidos and Ubisoft, concerned themselves with making quality products rather than trying to have their flaws kept under wraps until the suckers make their purchases.
-K.