GamesMadeMe: Game Manuals

 GamesMadeMe is a series of posts that cover gaming-related topics that have shaped who I am as a gamer today. With the release hype of Baldur's Gate 3 upon us (no, I am not playing it) it had me thinking about my journey into Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Specifically the big, fat ringbound instruction manual.

A legendary artifact of gaming past!

 That is a good looking instruction manual!  When you picked up the box at the game store (a local mall GameStop for me at the time) there was some weight to it and you knew you were getting into something good.  Seeing the manual slide out of the game box was an awesome feeling and you knew what you were going to be doing for the next few hours while you waited for the multi-CD install process to finish.

 Even before Baldur's Gate 2 I have fond memories of sitting in the back of the family minivan reading through the manual of whatever latest video game I just bought.  I still remember buying Final Fantasy 8 and flipping through the manual.  I was so excited for that game and decades later that memory is stuck in my head.  Some of my favorites like FF8 and BG2 are still with me to this day.

 That experience is all but gone today and I can't remember the last video game I bought that came with any sort of game-related material.  I can still get a hit of the nostalgia with most board games and their manuals but it's more of a chore there as you really can't play the board game until you digest the rules book so it's always getting in the way of the fun.

 I have tried to bring some of this joy to my oldest son as well.  He found my Shadows of Amn instruction manual some time after he was reading by himself and he consumed the whole thing over the course of a couple days.  He didn't really want to play the game; was just fascinated there was a "book" with so much about a game in it.  We also bought him the collector's edition of the Zelda Breath of the Wild strategy guide and I've never seen a kid more fond of a book in my entire life.  He gets limited electronic time so he filled other time with reading and earmarking every last part of that book and coming up with elaborate plans for his one hour of electronic time the next day.  Man that makes a gaming dad smile ear to ear.

 Dang... need a tissue.  /sniff  Where does the time go anyways.  Game manuals made me the gamer I am today.

Combining passions: Green Bay Packer Highlights and Star Fox

Video speaks for itself.  Its my own personal nerdgasm.

What I bought in the Steam Holiday Sale 2010

Bioshock 2 - $10
Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition - $25 (Includes original, Awakening expansion, and all content packs)
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - $5

The Secret of Monkey Island - $3.75

Total: $43.75
Christmas Cash: $50

Yay, I still have $6.25 left to spend on non-gaming items!  And damn it, how did I miss Puzzle Quest for $1.50!  Anyways, this is how I feel after Steam Sales:

Jan 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

Welcome to the first What I'm Playing and What I'm Paying post for 2010.  In the future I will attempt to have these posts ready for the first of each month, but Heartless_ Jr is teething and when I finally had free time this past week all I wanted to do was own face in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for January below.  The overall spreadsheet can be found here.

Scribblenauts Is Here! Scribblenauts Is Here! Scribblenauts Is Here! Scribblenauts Is Here!

Ok, Scribblenauts has been out for a little bit now and I still haven't gotten a chance to buy a copy. However, I wanted to throw a post up to let everyone that hasn't heard of this little gem of game that it is now out and about.

Ars Technica has their review up:

Scribblenauts was the darling of E3, rounding up a hojillion awards—including a Golden Ars—and impressing everyone who stopped by for a demo. It was a game that showed very well, especially with a developer on hand to point out any number of interesting situations. The premise is simple, although it hides an abyssal depth: you are asked to either reach a star, or to fulfill the requirements to earn one. The tools at your disposal? The world.

You can type in or write any word you can think of, and get that item or person to help you in your quest. No dirty words, and no proper nouns, nothing copyrighted—but even without those limitations, you're looking at tens of thousands of items. Type in "pirate" to fight a ninja. Type in "bridge" to cross an expanse, or type in "motorcycle" and "ramp" and jump it. You gain currency by using fewer items, and also by using creative solutions, and you use that currency to unlock new worlds.

There are two types of levels: action levels where you simply have to get to the starite item, using your reflexes as well as your wits; and puzzle, where you are given a one-sentence instruction about what to do. It may say "get rid of the rats," and in that sentence are dozens of possibilities. In fact, you only completely clear out a level by finishing it three times, without using any item more than once. Much harder than it sounds.

I'm working on getting my copy still (hopefully before the weekend). Chances are I will hate the game since I'm hyping it up, but that's life.

Introduction to the "A Game of Thrones" Card Game

Fantasy Flight games has a neat little tutorial to introduce new players to their card game based on George RR Martin's book A Game of Thrones.

Its a neat time waster for anyone interested in the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series. The introduction covers some lore and the game play that can be found in the game.

The official game page is here.

Like Section 7, But Better! Section 8!

An article over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun caught my eye; mostly for vague references to "Tribes" and "Planetside", two games I rather enjoyed back in the day. The new game being compared to the latter is Sector 8.

I want to say up front that I’m having great deal of fun with this. It’s the kind of game I go into for five minutes to take a screenshot, and emerge from two hours later. Read onwards for why.

When people were throwing the “Tribes” word around to explain where Section 8 sat in the big scheme of things, I was unconcerned and not particularly inspired. I assumed it would be another vague sci-fi squib that wouldn’t really satisfy anyone. Tribes-alikes have a habit of not quite hitting the best things about multiplayer gun-violence on the head. As much as I respect the original games, their weapons, physics and environments never quite grabbed me in the way they did so many other people. So you can imagine that I was pleased to find that despite some similarities in the sci-fi, jetpacks and vehicles sense, Section 8 is very much its own game.

Just running down my "What makes a good FPS" checklist:

1. It looks good, both UI and atmosphere.
2. It has classes, not just guys with guns that they shoot people with.
3. The maps look BIG.

Now, does that make it worth the price-tag? Probably not. It is an Xbox360 release, which always makes me leery (For example: Halo was great on Xbox, but sucked on PC). Also, without any apparent digital distribution via Steam or another platform, it doesn't appear that the PC is their primary market. I'm not the only one with the digital distribution question either.

I'd be interested to know if Section 8 will be downloadable at launch on Steam - and if so if there will be a preload offer?

*coughs*I won't mind a free weekend and if you offer one you are bound to sell more copies. But yeah, you'll never do that.*coughs*

+1

So where is the response to this post? Purchasing this game on steam would really motivate me to purchase this game. Direct2Drive and all of the other content systems are a joke.

I would consider purchasing this game in store, but lately I have made it a hobby to secure all of my games with steam so that there is no worry of losing cd-keys and such.

I'll be keeping my eye on the game in the meantime.

Free Realms' Similar Demographics

While surfing Aeria Games' twitter feed for any updates on Shadowbane's future, I cam accross this gem of a quote:

We're interested to see what you think of Free Realms. Our Hello Kitty Online will also have similar demographics.
about 24 hours ago from web

Ouch.

Following Failure With Failure

It seems that closing the doors on Auto Assault isn't the only thing Netdevil is up to these days. MMOsite has the news that Netdevil has announced another post apocalyptic MMOG, entitled Warmonger. The basics: Warmonger will be an action-oriented MMO FPS set in a post apocalyptic future.

The kicker? It won't just be vehicles this time. Players can blow shit up and stuff, but not with vehicles. Understand?

The bigger kicker? It will be available for digital download on October 16th, 2007!

So, why will this be a failure? Because it is built around the AGEIA PhysX processor, perhaps the most worthless piece of computer hardware ever invented for gaming. Don't get me wrong, I am sure all 250 people worldwide that own an AGEIA PhysX processor will be just tripping over themselves to download this baby.

Fortunately, the AGEIA PhysX processor has dropped to somewhere in the neighborhood of $130, not terribly unreasonable. Players will just have to pretend they are buying the AGEIA PhysX card for access to it's vast library of enabled games. It worked for FFXI and the hard drive for the Playstation 2!

Pirates CSG: The only SOE game I would probably ever consider playing!

I do not like SOE. Never have and probably never will. However, they acquired a pretty good CCG/TCG company that they are now using to bring popular card and miniature games to the online space. Since there are very few commercial successes in this area I have to question the move, but none the less I am happy to see some quality coming out of their line up.

Case in point. Pirates CSG Online. This is probably the only game from SOE I would consider paying to play and it more has to do with the fact that WizKids made a damn fine game that SOE is just publishing an online portion of. Even then it will not be in a "buy a virtual booster pack of cards for virtual play pieces at the same price as the real stuff". I would pay a small monthly or reasonable one time fee for access to whatever I need to play.

It is currently in beta so head on over and get the client for free. All you need to play is a Station pass. Unfortunately or fortunately I already had one :P

The Spoils TCG Pre-Release Tournament 11/12

The Spoils

The Spoils is a trading card game developed by Tenacious Games Inc. that is being dubbed as a Tournament Card Game (TCG). The development team is a veritable who's who of the card gaming scene. With names like Jon Finkel, of Magic: The Gathering fame, this card game has been built from the bottom up with competitive play as the core.

On top of making a game that rewards skill while minimizing luck during play the team at Tenacious Games have literally put their money where their mouth is. For competitive play they have developed The Spoils Tournament Experience (STE) where they will be doling out over a million dollars worth of prize money. Not only does that show confidence in their product, but it shows a true understanding of where they plan to take The Spoils as a game.

Casual Gamers?

With all this talk about tournaments and pro-level gaming won't the casual card gamers be pushed out? I have never gotten heavily involved in any card gaming tournament scene, but I have played Magic the Gathering for several years and I’ve dabbled in various other card games along the way. I was able to pick up The Spoils for the first time and within a few games I knew enough to know where I was making mistakes instead of cursing bad luck.

The Spoils plays in such a way that you learn as you go. Every single turn and every single card played brings you one step closer to grasping the possibilities that lie within The Spoils TCG. Immediately upon picking up your first set of cards it is more than evident that the game is filled with many complex combinations.

Fortunately The Spoils has learned from the past of other games like Magic and have improved upon them. There are several common keywords that are clearly defined. The structure of each turn is well documented and well thought out. Throw in a glorious mulligan rule, two starting resources, and you have a quality game on your hands that begins play on the first turn.

A lot of talk around The Spoils has been how it is just another Magic with a few tweaked rules to prevent abuse. What I've discovered is a game that is far more organized and far more rewarding than other major card games. Many luck aspects have been removed and you often find yourself actually playing the deck you built instead of the cards you were dealt.

The Spoils is a refreshing change of pace. What seemed like a Magic clone beforehand has become an entirely new beast to conquer. The cards have a more adult and nerdy theme which suits my interests. On top of that the flavor text is just plain funny… any game that has a card proclaiming “I’d hit that” is a winner in my book.

Pre-Release Tournament 11/12/06

I was fortunate enough to attend a pre-release tournament at my local gaming store, Reality Check Games, this past Sunday. The store owner asked if I could spin up a little event wrap up so here it is.

The tournament started with 10 players in a Swiss format. The initial deck building period was set to 30 minutes which seemed wholly inadequate considering most of the players had no idea what they were doing. Those are the rules though and everyone struggled equally to grasp the deck building concepts. Some players spent more time reading the rules while others spent more time reading cards.

Time rounds began at 40 minutes per round which was extended to 60 minutes due to the fact that we were all struggling to get games moving at a reasonable speed. Once players started clicking with the rules the games started going faster which is a testament to the “learn as you play” flow of the game.

While I don’t have a break down of the rounds I will post the end results.

1. Chris C.
2. Teresa
3. Thomas
4. Josh
5. Matt (aka me)
6. David
7. Dan
8. Meagan
9. Buda
10. Scott

Prizes were given out for the top 8 spots and a consolation prize was given out for 10th; so 9th place was truly the only loser. Even then all 10 players walked away with the cards they played with and an invigorated interest in the game.

The top two players, Chris C and Teresa, were both seasoned Magic players along with the fourth place finisher, Josh. Thomas is a young gun and is the current shop “man to beat” in the World of Warcraft TCG.

Most of the other players also had various gaming experience with card games. Finishing in fifth I have several years of casual Magic game play under my belt. David and Dan cleaning up in 6th and 7th both have varied backgrounds in several games from tabletop miniatures, pen’n’paper RPGs, and other card games.

It was apparent that the more experienced card gamers had the better tactics in winning the games. I don’t want to say better decks because every game I played or watched it was easy to identify where the mistakes were made. Often times a mistake or two resulted in a loss. Unfortunately for me that meant a few too many losses.

Everyone made mistakes. Even the top finishers had their fair share, but with years of card gaming under their belt they knew how to recover and play well enough to overcome to take home a win. And that is the point I want to make. The Spoils is a game that rewards the thinkers and the strategists in all of us. While there is sure to be great deck builds in the future I doubt many of them will make it far without a smart and canny player playing them.

Overall the tournament was fun, well played, and hosted in a great venue. I look forward to plenty of The Spoils in the future. Until then…. wanna touch it?

That Gaming Itch: Call of Juarez MP Demo

That Gaming Itch

Every once and a while I get an itch for some type of game, in some sort of setting, that I don't always see in the spot light. For a while now, I've been wanting to play a good western-themed shooter. There are a couple Half Life 2 mods floating around that have been working on the idea, but none of them have produced a playable mod yet.

The other night I was surfing for gaming news, and I came across a multiplayer demo for Call of Juarez. It is a soon to be released western-themed shooter from Techland and Ubisoft. Without hesitation, I decided to satisfy my gaming itch.

Pros and Cons

I am going to break this down into a Pros and Cons list, as it will be the easiest way to review this game's multiplayer demo.

Pros

• The setting feels authentic. The two available maps felt like towns right out of a good spaghetti Western.
• The concepts behind the game modes make sense with the western setting. One map is centered around the Outlaws robbing the bank and the Lawmen defending, while the second map is just a straight up timed team death match (TDM).
• Graphics are up to snuff. Nothing to complain about. I didn't have a single issue related to graphics and I ran the game on max settings.
  
• When zooming in with a weapon you lose focus with everything except what you are zoomed in upon. A unique twist I haven't seen before.
  
• Not a single crash to desktop for the entire time I played.
  

Cons

• Due to the unbalanced nature of the weapons in game, the two classes, Six Shooter and Rifleman, didn't really provide enough variety.
• Piggybacking on the first con: the rifle is the most effective weapon in game. It can be fired as fast as the trigger is pulled and does two times the damage of the Six Shooter's pistols.
• The in-game server browser is trash. It makes Battlefield 2's server browser look like a golden nugget. The update and refresh buttons rarely worked and the game froze several times while at the server select screen.
• The game suffers from several connection issues. I can't remember ever actually quitting a server. Every game I was forced off by connection issues, or a flat out server crash.
• The Outlaws are Native Americans (Indians) and the Lawmen are White Men. Hmmmm... anyone crying injustice yet? Racist? Got me, but when I think Outlaw in the old west I'm thinking of Billy the Kid, not Chief Tonka.

Conclusion

In the end, the demo was fun overall when I was able to connect to a server not having connection problems. The action was quick and refreshing. Unfortunately, this game didn't make enough use of it's western theme. Besides the idea of shooting it out in an old mining town as an Outlaw or Lawman, there isn't much else that puts the western in Call of Juarez. Maybe I was looking for horses, trains, or Mexicans. Maybe just something other than White Man vs. Indian. I really don't know, but Call of Juarez just didn't deliver anything that screams "must play".

If you are interested in a western themed FPS, then Call of Juarez can satisfy you for a few minutes. I make no guarantees that the server browser or connection issues will be fixed, but I can't imagine them giving up on the title before some major holes are plugged. Call of Juarez is just another FPS that fails to innovate or impress.

Kingdom Hearts has me thinking about character creation in MMORPGs

Kingdom Hearts has me thinking about character creation in MMORPGs! How so you may ask?

Anyone remember back in the days of the Might and Magic and Ultima series where character creation was done with a set of questions. Usually they covered moral choices such as "You see a man begging in the street. Do you give him gold or do you berate him for begging?" While I can't remember the questions exactly they served the purpose that modern day attribute and stat sliders do.

I question in modern games whether seeing the actual numbers and making exactly the character you want helps or hurts the experience. In general RPG terms if I want a strong warrior I will raise my STR and CON during character creation. If I want a wise wizard I'll raise my INT. While this system gives me the ability to create the character I want does it really help me make a character that embodies my attitude?

Part of it comes from role playing. Good role players can pick up with any character regardless of the details. But we all know that modern MMORPGs are not really havens for role play. The mechanics are very anti-role play in the traditional sense. What roles are played are defined by the mechanics. You play a healer to heal... etc etc... there is a very weak sense of role play involved. Type-casting during character creation forces a role on you. Even if that is the role you want to play does it really reflect accurately of yourself?

What if you were asked a series of questions during character creation and answering them honestly would determine what skills, attributes, and alignment your character would be. What if you took the Bartle Test to determine your starting abilities? Or maybe through these tests and questions you are put into an advanced role in the world instead of having to progress your character with levels or skills?

What I'm getting at is that if the numbers didn't exist and you created a character that reflects your own personality and moral sanctions wouldn't you be playing a character that promotes role play? You would be more likely to enjoy the character for a greater period of time because you are actually thinking along the same lines as the character. The role playing barrier is stripped away because you are representing your real self in the game. Some may say their real self is lacking, but that is the point of the game. It gives you the power to swing a sword, throw a fireball, and slay the dragon. BUT your motives are guided by your morals and wouldn't it just be easier if you didn't have to play by a set of pre-defined rules because you created the character you wanted instead of a character that acts as you would?

Sadly, this is only a Utopian dream. The system would be broken down and attributes assigned to the questions. Eventually you would know how to answer questions in such a way that you get the character you want instead of a character that generally mirrors your persona. Fortunately those that are willing would be able to roll a true representation of themselves, but most likely would be cast out as "gimp" by the min/max crowd.

Real World Test: If you are a DM and run a D&D campaign the next time you get ready to roll characters have your players take the Bartle Test. Then divvy out pre-made characters based on the results. It is up to you how to figure out what classes/races/alignments fit with the various scores.

A wierd gaming day.

I had a bad day yesterday. Speeding ticket and then a city ordinance fine! No sense in breaking into the details... the day just sucked. So today I just wanted to game and that's something I haven't done in a while.

I kicked things off by canceling my EVE Online account for a month due to my expiring credit card. I will resub next month to keep those oh so valuable skills training. I'm taking a break from EVE because the game is just too intense for my RL situation at the moment. I will be back.

Next I grabbed some lunch and a funny thing happened. My PS2 stared me down right as a Kingdom Hearts II commercial danced across the TV screen. Without hesitation I finished up my lunch and grabbed my copy of Kingdom Hearts (the original) and popped it in. I jumped right into the beginning and made it past the first few save spots. This game is fun and I forgot what fun can be had outside of the PC gaming world!

Next I came upstairs and jumped online. I had wanted to resubscribe to World of Warcraft for a while just because the game can be fun if you stay away from the parts you hate. I put down another three month subscription and jumped back online. I forgot how painful the game is without your UI being tweaked out so I spent some time getting it up to snuff. I've rerolled an undead mage on the Whisperwind server. It's PvE (which I usually stay away from), but there is a nice guild I want to play with there... The Pod People.

After a triumphant return to WoW a game sitting on the floor caught my attention. It was Rebel Strike for my Gamecube. Having not played it at all since I bought it I decided to give it a spin. It's a bit tougher than I had imagined, but after all this PC gaming I'm still adjusting back to a console controller. Sadly my roomate moved out and took the Gamecube memory sticks with him. Unable to save I only made it through the training and called it a night.

It's no secret... E3 2006 got me jazzed up about consoles again. The Nintendo Wii has me more than ready to plop down cash. It's a great time to be a gamer... finally. I see a bright future between a Nintendo Wii and Warhammer Online :)

Update: 15 Nov, 2009 - Edited spelling, applied label, and removed broken link.

Can dreams come true? GDC rumors!

Grimwell has a laundry list of rumors from the Game Developers Conference.

Raph leaves SOE. Confirmed, see below.

Finally will give Raph a chance to get out and prove his theories right. He talks the talk, but needs to walk the walk.

EA is going to gobble up Mythic.

Unverified, but Mythic is small, lost a lot of money on Imperator, and is vulnerable to buyout. Lum can't tell us because he has work issues of his own so we must wait. Sounds sensible to me though.We've heard this one before. As long as EA doesn't mess with Warhammer Online!!!

The Cartoon Network MMOG. I call this almost verified. I sat in on a round table mastered buy a gentleman with MMOG experience who candidly said he was working on a MMOG for CN. Then I was introduced to a former UO dev who works there. Add in the fact that I received some 'Adult Swim' socks in my press kit and it's clear they are up to something.

Employing old MMOG devs is usually reserved for those who wish to make MMOG's. ToonTown for adults? Lots of interesting properties to mix up.Could be interesting, but doubt I would want to pay for a "ToonTown for adults". I don't like the industry shift towards "every game will be an MMORPG now so we can make more money."

SOE Loses SWG licence? Unverified. Would be a huge embarassment all things considered. Especially since the NGE went down recently, and burned the house.

Best thing that could ever happen. I've already talked about this here.

Wolfpack and Ubisoft not so friendly. Ubi dropped the price to "FREE!" and there is no SB2 announcement. Sat in on a PVP roundtable moderated by Damion Schubert and he didn't mention this, neither did the other WP friends. At the end of the day SB didn't bring the $$ on a large scale despite doing many things right for MMOG's and PVP. Possible, but not verified.

No Shadowbane 2 announcement makes me sad :( But there is plenty of other games on the horizon to make me happy. While Shadowbane was a great idea they failed on the business front. Failing on the business front almost always means failing on the game side of things.

Bioware Austin gets SWG licence. They did open that office, and there is a forum thread about the SOE loss part in which a Bio dev says to not decide either way until further data is in. Unconfirmed, but interesting. Would Gordon want to do that again? I hope they do something else like Jade Empire Online. I'd buy that six times!

Bioware + Star Wars + MMORPG = /drool!!! Grimwell may want an action-MMORPG, but I want a Bioware Star Wars MMORPG. This is almost too good to be true so I am holding back just a little.

Smedley Getting the Axe at SOE. This is a bonus entry, not from GDC. Something I was actually told last week and wanted to sit on and fact gather. At this point with Raph gone and SWG in question... it's hard to think this wouldn't be on the table.

Second best thing that could happen. That guy just doesn't "get it" and he confirmed it with his "We're going to dominate World of Warcraft" speach. I don't think this makes SOE any better, but Smedley just wasn't the man to make it better.

Those are some HUGE announcements that could be coming down the pipe in the near future and you heard them at Grimwell.com first!

Update: 15 Nov, 2009 - Edited spelling, applied labels, and removed broken links.

Nintendo Revolution... new possibilities explored

I was reading this article over at CNN Money and it dawned on me: the Nintendo Revolution, and the way the controller works, will reinvent the way we play games. This is the perfect chance for Nintendo to produce sequels in the series we already love without summoning that sick feeling of sequelitis. Star Fox, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and other classic Nintendo series will have new, exciting games to play on the Nintendo Revolution.

Unlike other sequels, where the control schemes are unlikely to change from game to game, Nintendo Revolution sequels will have an exciting new twist. The new control mechanism is exactly what sequels need. Cross platform games such as the Madden series will most likely use the "old" controller style for their Revolution ports (Nintendo has stated there will be some sort of "classic" styled controller that ships with the revolution).

This is a chance for enterprising developers to revitalize some of their boring and "dead due to sequels" titles. Series like Tomb Raider, that have become the laughing stock of sequelitis, could potentially be brought back to life. Even if the game isn't perfect; playing it with a Revolution controller may bring back just enough interest to revitalize the series. This could sway more developers to publish exclusively for Nintendo. Developers love to use their big name properties to move boxes.

The Nintendo Revolution looks better everyday.

Update: 6 Apr, 2007 - Updated labels and edited post.

More on the Revolution controller

Just to follow up on my last entry about the Revolution controller.

It is definately a mixed bag across the internet in regards to the Revolution controller. These seem to be the big complaints...

1. Not enough buttons or control sticks.
-Turning motion into input reduces the need for buttons and analog sticks. Current games use too many buttons as it is making you fumble over the controller. Simple = good.

2. How do they expect you to play .
-The popular fillers have been Madden, FPS's, and so forth. First off these people need to get out of their shell and realize there is more than one way to play a game. People need to stop thinking about how they couldn't play their current games with the new controller. Its new! Give developers time to develop their flagship games for the controller and you will see NEW ways to play your games.

3. All it is good for will be Duck Hunt 2.0
-Wrong... it means playing old game types in a new way. The market and various genre of games have become alarmingly stale the past few years. It has been more about sequels than originality. Any game on the Revolution is going to be a new experience for a while... it will be inventing new ways to play games. All because of the controller.

4. It is meant for Japanese gamers who like sword swinging and knick knack games.
-Sorry... this thing was built to be fun. If fun is limited to Japan... I may be moving there. People are sadly taking the tech demos as real games... believing the controller only works for the applications it was shown in. With developers there will come FULL GAMES built around this controller. Give it time people and let the developers do their jobs.

Heartless_ out.

Nintendo... Revolution controller

The article first appeared on 1up.com and has been linked everywhere. This picture is honestly to god the best one of the new controller. For anyone living under a rock the past few days... yes... this really is the controller.


Am I impressed? Hell yes. With all the secrecy surrounding the controller I was horribly worried we might wind up with a Nintendo Stink Bomb equivelant to the Virtual Boy.

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I was horribly worried we might wind up with a Nintendo Stink Bomb equivelant to the Virtual Boy.
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Nintendo wasn't kidding when they said it would be a simple controller. It is best decribed as a remote controller. Two face buttons, a D-pad, and a trigger on the bottom. Simplicity IMO is greater than the current trend of Xbox and PS3 to put more buttons in the hands of the gamer. The main function of the new controller is in the sensors placed on your TV set that determine location and motion of the controller. You can read the article for more details.

My feelings towards it are good. I am particulary curious to get this thing and its attachment for an FPS game. I'm actually looking forward to the next generation consoles now.

However, my concern is that change will scare developers away. This is a sad fact of the industry. The "suits" know that cool sells... and cool is the same ole washed up crap that we had during the last generation of consoles. We can only hope enough gamers like myself see through the crap and grab the revolution.

Ninetendo has sold at least one... to ME. Now vote with your wallet.

EDIT: Video for the controller has been released.

Worthless EQ II video...

Got me why I clicked download on this one.

Random groups of bad ass looking monsters in randomly placed areas of the world getting smacked down by random EQ II players. Hmmm... such inovation there from the EQ II dev team! I think I fell asleep during the video... or maybe it was just so uneventful that I forgot to remember what happened.

EQ II... such good graphics and voice acting put to waste.

Not to mention the credits are a year long and make the download an extra 20MB... blah.

I am going to get a hold of these people just to tell them how much they suck. Stay tuned for the results of that!

Heroes of Might and Magic V getting a hint from Blizzard

I present Exhibit A


and Exhibit B.


Gamecloud is running an interview with an Ubisoft rep about upcoming fantasy strategy game, Heroes of Might and Magic V. The article is dribble for all I am concerned. My capacity for Might and Magic died in the 90's before the first real 3D version ever was released.

Pointing this out because of the eye candy and how its artistic style compares to a company oh so well known for "cartoony" graphics, Blizzard and Warcraft. You want to know something though? I LOVE IT! These are kick ass screen shots and I love this sort of artistic style. It remains to this day why Final Fantasy VII and IX are my favorite Final Fantasies.... good cartoony > almost real looking or barbie doll graphics.
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"I LOVE IT! These are kick ass screen shots" - Heartless_

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Fantasy is about fantasy... let us escape the world of five foot nothingness and escape into a world where vibrant color and tall tales parade across our screen on gallant steeds.

+1 for this game.