So Much For PC Gaming Being Dead

Bobby Kotick the CEO of Activision has come out stating that around 70% of the company’s profit comes from PC games. Granted this is obviously coming from Blizzard’s hugely successful World of Warcraft this shows that not only is Activision being kept alive by a single game from a single company but the majority of their profit is coming from a supposedly dead platform.

Activision has also said in the past that because of the success of subscription based games like World of Warcraft they will be looking at introducing a subscription based Call of Duty game to tap into that market.

via Gamasutra

I Now Know What It Feels Like

As I mentioned many months ago I am a hardcore World of Warcraft raider turned casual due to long breaks from the game and after another year-long break from World of Warcraft I return to being a casual player with a new problem I never thought I’d face. I honestly used to think that casual players would come up with tonnes of excuses about not being able to raid to compensate for their lack of skill or just plain laziness but returning to World of Warcraft has made me realise that there is a lot of truth to their claims. The current state of World of Warcraft has reached a point where I the newbie can no longer raid.

Because of Blizzard’s actions in trying to make the game more casual friendly (which I applaud) a lot more guilds are able to easily progress through the high-end content with minimal effort. The side effect of this is they have made it even more difficult for a newcomer to break into raiding. Back in vanilla and even the first expansion, raiding was very difficult and had prerequisite attunements which meant a lot of guilds never progressed past a certain point, this worked to the advantage of the new comer. Since many guilds had not progressed very far the gear requirements to get into those guilds were still very achievable by one’s self, this however is not true with the current state of World of Warcraft. Very few guilds are still running the entry level raids so the only chance a newcomer has at getting into the current raid game is to have close friends on the inside of an already well off guild who can speak on their behalf.

Pugging raids seems like the ideal solution to the troubled newcomer, gearing up and learning encounters in the hopes that you may have the experience and gear to one day apply for a guild. Sadly this is not the case, in fact it is actually more difficult to get into a PUG raid than it is to get into a raiding guild. While a raiding guild is willing to give anyone a chance who shows enthusiasm and a willingness to learn a PUG raid will have stricter gear/raid experience requirements and quite often a much more elitist attitude towards those that stand in the way of their epic loots.

Luckily all is not lost to those that wish to experience the current content before the next expansion. As has happened with the previous two expansions; when the release day of Cataclysm draws near many guilds will stall in their raiding progress due to their raiders not seeing a point to it anymore as their gear will soon be obsolete. At that time most people find enjoyment in running the lower tier raids with their alts in order to gear them up and make leveling easier. Getting into a raid will become much easier as people will be more willing to accept lesser experienced players into the raid as there isn’t anything riding on its success. If it fails oh well, that’s just one less epic an alt will replace on launch day.

But until such a time I shall be making money off of the raiders by selling them overpriced gems and enchants while they still need them.

The Ongoing R18+ Debate

Today is the day, after a massive amount of campaigning, elections, public consultations and a resigned South Australian Attorney General today is the day the standing committee of Attorney Generals meet once again to discuss the inclusion of an R18+ rating for video games. Unfortunately this is a bitter-sweet moment as while we always knew the sheer amount of responses to the public consultation and a 89,000 signature petition (largest in Australian History) would delay the vote on an R18+ classification the Northern Territory Attorney General will not be attending this meeting making a vote impossible.

However the good news is what we do know is that from this meeting we will get an update of the status of the public consultation and when we can expect the report to be out. This report should be expected to be released very soon as this time it doesn’t have a single Attorney General blocking it’s release.

In other R18+ news, Frank Gibeau the President of EA Games has come out calling the lack of an R18+ classification of video games by the Australian Government a form of censorship. He also talks about the possible financial consequences of a government that designs policies hostile to game developers.

Read the full article here. (Free sign up required)

Gotta Catch ‘em All!

 

It has been many, many weeks since I last posted anything and while I would like to attribute that to me being swamped at work I’m sure the fact that I have been getting a new PS3 game every week since buying the console has ataken up alot of my spare time. Last week I did something different and wiped the dust of my DS and started playing the newly released Pokémon Heart Gold and what great fun it has been. Instead of writing a review (though I’m sure it’ll come at a later date) the release of Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver has made me remember why the decade old Gold and Silver are still the greatest additions to the series. So here are my reasons as to why Pokémon Gold and Silver are still the best in the series.

1. New Pokémon

Ask any old school Pokémon fan and they will most likely tell you that the original 151 are the only Pokémon that matter and any of the new ones don’t exist. However opinion is usually split when it comes the new Pokémon introduced by G&S. By the time the games were about to be released fans had already gotten many hints at the possibilities of new Pokémon thanks to the release of the first two movies and the completion of the first anime series. This had gotten people really excited to see what the developers had come up with and were open to some of the more weirder additions.

After G&S though introducing new Pokémon into the series wasn’t really that exciting anymore. The developers seemed like they had either run out of imagination and just started going through an animal encyclopedia to look for an animal that could have a household item attached to it or tried to come up with something as wierd and impossible looking as they could so as to make it look original. The new 100 Pokémon that were added in G&S were exactly what the series needed to breathe new life into it however every iteration afterwards just kept adding more and more unnecessary new Pokémon just for the sake of adding new Pokémon.

2. Gameplay Additions

G&S introduced a massive amount of new features into the series which then became standard for every game since. The most obvious of these features was the internal clock that kept track of the current time and day of the week which influenced a lot of things in the game such as nocturnal Pokémon. Pokémon were now able to hold items that would influence their power in battle and also how they evolved.The Pokédex had a massive overhaul which included new features such as full explanations of every ability taking out the guess-work to determine which ability is stronger. The new Pokédex was also now more than just an encyclopedia for Pokémon but was also a radio receiver that allowed you to listen to in game radio stations while exploring. A mobile phone was also introduced as a new way for important characters to get in touch with you and allowed trainers you had previously fought against call you up for a rematch against their newer and stronger Pokémon. Yes all of these features have appeared in other games since but very little has changed since G&S all of these features are either exactly the same or even been removed altogether.

3. Allowed travel back to the “old world”

While it is noticeably smaller due to the hardware limits of Gameboy cartridges the ability to travel back to the Kanto region of the first games and battle the original gym leaders was by far the best part of G&S. Since G&S was set 3 years after the events of R&B the region of Kanto had dramatically changed and while a lot of it was very familiar it was just different enough to make the player feel they were in an entirely new area. Many of the old Gym leaders are still there waiting to be battled, some are off exploring exotic locations while another was replaced entirely with a familiar face.

4. Storyline

Pokémon games have never been much for story beyond go defeat the Gym Leaders then try to “Catch ‘em All” but they still managed to have some degree of story telling in them such as Mewtwo’s escape or the player single-handedly taking down Team Rocket and it’s leader. G&S continues on with these kinds of stories by reintroducing Team Rocket not just as obstacles but as a fledgling organisation struggling to make their way back into power. The moment I turned on the radio and heard Team Rocket broadcasting over every station I knew shit was getting serious.

On top of all this G&S are very solid games in their own right not straying to far from the traditional Pokémon formula. They don’t need to rely on the laurels of its predecessor to be succesful. So even with the release of new games and new Pokémon Gold & Silver will always be number one for me.

Mana Bar – See Geeks Do Have a Social Life

This weekend saw the opening of The Mana Bar, Australia’s first and only video gaming bar. Given the popularity of some of its owners (Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw of Zero Punctuation and Guy “Yug” Bloomberg of AustralianGamer.com) it wasn’t unexpected that when I turned up on Saturday night there was a massive line waiting to get in and when I say massive I mean a 2-3 hour wait to get in. The owners were very friendly and grateful of the dedication of those in queue and were constantly coming outside and chatting to people in the line as well as giving out free stuff such as pizza and games to those patient enough to wait for so long.

Once inside the first thing you notice is how very small the venue is, it does have a very high ceiling but it can be extremely difficult moving around at full capacity especially with some people bringing their backpacks with them. All of the staff were very friendly especially Gabe the bouncer dressed up as Ryu from Street Fighter. He was more than happy to entertain people who were lining up by posing for photos or just chatting with them and talking about what drinks were available inside. The bar staff also were more than just people to get drinks from and always enjoyed having a chat including a conversation about suggesting to host a bachelor party here which drew many nods.

Drink selection was quite poor with only 5 (now 6) gaming themed cocktails some beers and the usual spirits but something new for me was a Jack Daniels and coke slushy machine which proved to be very popular. For a personal recommendation I would say go with the Breath of Fire cocktail but be warned it does have a certain kick to it thanks to the ginger and tobasco sauce. There are no meals available in the bar but given the location there are plenty of nearby places to eat including a Sushi Train just across the road and many restaurants just a block away in the Brunswick street mall.

Obviously though the main thing everyone wants to know about is the games and how it worked. 5 games were available on opening night, Fifa 10 and Guitar Hero drew many challengers to face off against the owners. Street Fighter IV gained a lot of attention with many people enjoying the spectacle. Raskulls was new to everyone on the night being a unrealesed XBox Live title and proved to be quite popular and Wii sports was a favourite among everyone who just felt like chilling back with some friends and having a chat. Instructions and rules for each game were posted beside each screen allowing even the most inexperienced gamer to jump right in and I can’t recall a single case where someone refused to give up their controller to someone else.

The behaviour of everyone was flawless with not a single alcohol fueled incident occurring or any one person hogging a game console which lead to some of the staff commenting that this was the most. Everyone was more than happy to give up their spot for any who wanted a go. The only possible incident I can think of is towards the end of the night a few competitive players had taken over the Street fighter IV machine. By then though no one really cared and instead were enjoying the spectacle of some high quality matches accompanied by cheers from half a bar of onlookers.

Overall the general atmosphere of the bar was great and was light years ahead when compared to any LAN cafe. This is a place where you can take you’re non-gaming partner and not have to worry about exposing them to some of the more seedier sides of geekdom. I look forward to many more visits in the future including a stop off this Tuesday night after work for Gaming Trivia hosted by Yahtzee.

Well It’s About Damn Time!

So I’ve finally done it, after talking and thinking about it for so long I’ve gone and purchased myself a PS3 and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. I’ve been holding off on doing this for quite a while, mostly because there really haven’t been any games that I absolutely had to play. I was content to keep playing my indie and strategy titles from Steam but now that two games that I’ve been waiting for have just come out I didn’t even hesitate in my purchase.

The first game is an obvious one, Final Fantasy XIII. I’ve been a fan of the series for a very long time having played almost every title in the series including the early NES titles and have become an absolute sucker for any JRPG title. This latest addition to the series is the first Final Fantasy to be released on the current generation of consoles and it takes full advantage of the technology making the combat graphics and in-game cut scenes almost indistinguishable from the high quality pre-rendered cut scenes. The combat looks spectacular with a very simple and minimalist interface so you can focus more on the action rather than the menus and with a new leveling system that is similar to that used in previous titles it is easy for any new or old player to jump right in.

Despite the fact that I am enjoying Final Fantasy XIII a lot it wasn’t my first choice of what game to break in my PS3 with, Heavy Rain was what I had hoped for but unfortunately I’m not the only one who wants to play it as the store has me on preorder. Heavy Rain could be described as a spiritual successor to Quantic Dream’s previous title Farenheit as there are a lot of similarities between the two in both the story and gameplay. Having loved Farenheit but admit it has its faults I am very excited to see what Quantic Dream have done ensure they don’t make the same mistakes twice.

I guess it is a good thing that I wasn’t able to pick up both titles at the same time as the Final Fantasy games are known for the mind fuck stories and it would be better to focus on the story of one game at a time before moving onto the next. After I’ve finished these two games I’m not sure what I’ll move onto as I’m sure there are plenty of titles in my backlog that I should play based on suggestions from others after finding out I just got a PS3 and I haven’t even touched the PlayStation Network so there bound to be plenty there for me to do.

Mass Effect 2 – Spoiled From The Begining

Mass Effect 2 is the game on everyone’s mind at the moment and with good reason, not only have Bioware created a game worthy of being a sequel to their hit Space Opera but have managed to create a game that improves on the original in every way thought possible. But I’m not going to talk about anything specific about the game instead I’m going to talk about everything that we knew about the game before it even got released in the form of teasers, trailers and developer interviews.

After finishing the game I pulled out my Collector’s bonus DVD and started watching all the trailers included in it and I can easily say I am very glad I ignored every bit of press about this game until now. After watching just a few trailers included in the DVD half the game was already revealed to me, I knew who was making a return, who my companions are and who my new enemies were, in fact most of the story is revealed to me without even having played the game. For a developer to release this much information about a game just doesn’t make sense, yes there was still a lot to discover about the game but go to any gaming forum and everything about a new release game is hidden by spoiler tags and warnings. Even the most minute of details such as gameplay tips are treated like classified government secrets with harsh punishments handed out to those that don’t watch what they say.

Obviously I know why developers release this kind of information as it keeps the fans happy and makes sure the game stays in the memory right up until release. The average gamer has a very short attention span remember so I guess they must sacrifice some of the discovery and experience one would get from the game by revealing what happens in the game.

But I have decided, from now on I will never watch game trailers until after I have finished the game because I want to experience the game and discover its secrets on my terms. If I had watched the trailers like many others did I would have already known that the Collector’s are the mysterious bad guys we must stop and Shepard dies at the start but somehow survives to make it through the rest of the game.

Do yourself a favour everyone don’t let developers spoil a game for you.

Good Old Games Big Announcement

Massive, massive news from the folks at GOG.com, somehow CD Projekt how convinced Activision to release their older titles on their service. That’s DRM free titles remember as GOG has a policy that all games are DRM free with no hidden programs, serials or install limits so I’d have no doubt that talks with Activision have been going on for a long time.

I for one am really excited about this, not because I am waiting for any games from them but because the greatest game of all time can now be purchased and ready to play. I am of course talking about Troika’s masterpiece Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. This really doesn’t affect me as I still have my original CD’s in pristine condition but since this game is no longer available anywhere except eBay and an extremely high price gamers everywhere will finally able to understand why some of us praise this game to the high heavens.

Unfortunately I have a lot on my plate at the moment in terms of gaming and other hobbies but after I finally get my hands on a copy of Mass Effect 2 and finish that I will now doubt be returning to the land of Arcanum.

Am I Too Much of a Wanker?

Sometimes you just gotta admit to yourself, blowing shit up is fun.

Aren’t Valve’s Christmas Steam specials just so fantastic, I didn’t pick up many of them but one I absolutely had to get was GTA 4 for under $10, It’s been a long time since I’ve played a GTA game and with the amount of good things I’ve heard about this one I figured at this price I just had to. Initially I was very skeptical at what this game would be like, based on what I had heard in the community and my previous experience with GTA’s earlier titles I wasn’t expecting much more than some gratuitous open world shooter with my only driving force to finish the game being bigger guns and even bigger explosions, boy was I wrong.

Before I go on I must describe my gaming habits, I’m not much of a FPS player. Sure I’ve played a lot of TF 2  and I’m now a big fan of Half-Life but the only reason I even got to play those games was because I really, really wanted to play Portal and The Orange Box was my only option. I’d much more prefer the slower “smarter” titles of the RTS and RPG genres. I love the stories and characters of RPGs and the strategy and tactics of an RTS and because of this I’ve constantly shied away from actiony FPS titles which only reward lightning fast reflexes with copious amounts of blood and explosions.

However over the last week I’ve been absolutely hooked on GTA 4 playing it almost exclusively ignoring some of the arty and strategy games I have yet to finish. Even though I am enjoying the action and car chases of the game this isn’t the reason I keep coming back, what has surprised me most about this game is the masterfully written characters. Well written characters is something you would more likely expect to find in an RPG and yet Dragon Age left me feeling empty last year with its lifeless and unrealistic characters. GTA has given me characters I actually care about, unlike Dragon Age where by the end I didn’t give a toss who lived and who died.

Even though a part of me wants to say that maybe GTA 4 is an exception and not the rule when it comes to great writing in action games and games like Crysis sure don’t help that but when I think back to my high school gaming I remember playing a little game called Max Payne. That one game has stuck with me for a very long time, not because of the bullet time mechanics in it but because of the film-noir style of story telling and well written characters that I can still remember vividly and can quote from the top of my head.

Because of this I have decided to give up my idea that I am somehow better than other gamers because I choose not to play shooters and instead this year to embrace the genre in all it’s glory.

Madcat’s Games of the Year

Another exciting year of gaming has finally come to a close and now it’s time to think back on all the amazing and not so amazing games that I played last year. Of course I’ll have the typical Game of the Year but I’ll be looking at other areas of gaming and picking out niche titles or something that may have really stood out for me. So after much thought and many, MANY hours of gaming I present to you Madcat’s Games of the Year.

Biggest Surprise – Torchlight

This title was brought to my attention just 3 days before its release on steam, at the time I was just looking for something small to occupy my time til Dragon Age’s release instead what I got was the best Diablo clone to date. It took everything that makes the hack & slash genre so great and refines it into something so pure and simple. It didn’t try to pretend to be something more than what it really is nor did it try to experiment with the genre, as far as I’m concerned Blizzard can take their sweet time with Diablo 3 as I’ve gotten my fix from Torchlight.

Best Indie Title – Light of Altair

I tend to play a lot of Indie games instead of the mainstream big releases as they often give me something that can’t be found in your typical shooter and Light of Altair stood above the rest this year. A sci-fi colony building simulation that takes place in the near future as man sets forth to colonize the solar system, Light of Altair takes the 4X gameplay and simplifies it down to be more accessible to your average gamer while still retaining its strategic gameplay.

Biggest Disappointment – Demigod

I had high hopes for Demigod, the videos released and the openness from the developers had me really excited,  in fact I was constantly talking about it and recommending to people it right up until its release, then the problems started showing themselves. Demigods release was plagued with problems even before the official release day with chain stores in the US breaking street date by a week forcing the developers to come in on the weekend and get the game servers up and running. Then there was the bad network coding that had people who pirated the game hogging the verification servers making legit players not even able to play single player, let alone spend half and hour trying to connect to a multiplayer game. One thing I will say in support of Stardock is that they are still over of the few developers that actually get involved with their community and finds out what they want directly making updates and fixes come that much sooner.

Best Flash Game – Miami Shark

What’s there to say about this game? You’re a shark swimming in Miami that drags commercial planes, stealth bombers and even spaceships into the ocean. Of the lunch times at work I wasted playing flash games this one sticks out the most, just jump into this game for 5 minutes have a laugh at the shear ridiculous of it then be on your way.

Best Arty Game – The Path

Undoubtedly the chin scratching game of the year, I’m not going to pretend that I completely understood everything that the game was trying to show me but playing this game has opened my eyes to a lot of the new arty games out there that are starting to emerge. The Path managed to tell me a story while using no dialogue, relying instead on how I interpreted my surroundings and cryptic text. I look forward to see what “arty” games 2010 can come up with.

Best Multiplayer – Borderlands

Borderlands multiplayer is a tricky one, it’s a pain in the arse just to get hosting working and even then finding a game with people your level and with the same quests done is near impossible. This game really shines however once you and 3 mates jump on Teamspeak and start fresh for a few hours. For this game playing with your friends is an absolute must as it is in my opinion the only way to play this game.

Best Music – Torchlight

As before mentioned in my Torchlight review the music in this game is composed by the same composer that did the music for Diablo with the main town theme bearing a striking resemblance to the Tristram theme. The music of this game has stuck with me since playing it and I’ll no doubt be still listening to it once I’ve gotten bored of the game itself.

Best Story – None

None, absolutely none. I honestly can’t think of a single title this year that has wowed me with a great story or well written dialogue. Sure there were a few titles here and there that had some interesting stories but none of them really stood out to me like The Witcher or Vampire Bloodlines. Maybe I do have very high standards for writing in video games or perhaps I should broaden my horizons next year by purchasing a console, there is Heavy Rain and FF13 to look forward too.

Funniest Game – Overlord 2

For too long video games have taken themselves too seriously, everything these days is about gritty realism and depressing real world scenarios. It seems that no one in the gaming industry knows how to laugh anymore, Thank you Overlord 2. Much like its predecessor Overlord 2 features its very cute yet ferocious imp like minions that get up to all sorts of trouble that put a light-hearted spin on what is essentially an evil overlord wanting to rule the world. From dressing up like kids and singing Ring Around the Rosie to using the most wierd and abstract items as helmets and weapons these guys had me laughing the whole way through the game.

Game of the Year – Batman: Arkham Asylum

To be honest I’m even surprised my self here with this choice, I really wanted to choose Dragon Age: Origins for this category as I really enjoyed it and it is the best group based RPG in a long time but from a technical and critical point of view Batman: Arkham Asylum is way ahead. This game was not only well designed gameplay wise but managed to capture the feel of the Batman source material almost perfectly. Gameplay was divided up into many different styles of play and it never made you play as one style for too long, always changing it up and keeping it fresh so that not once would you ever just be playing to get pass one little boring bit. The voice acting was brilliant and my personal favourite part of the game with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil reprising their roles as Batman and The Joker respectively.  Even though I am more of a RTS and RPG video gamer it is really hard to go pass this game simply because of how well designed it is making it a fulfilling experience.

Most Anticipated game of 2010 – Achron

Initially this category was going to be awarded to Disciples 3 but that game has been delayed so much that I really am struggling to get excited about it, Achron on the other hand has me very interested by introducing some new concepts and ideas that will flip the RTS Genre on its head. This is an RTS where the main strategy in battle is the ability to control time, the ability to send units back in time to give aid in a previous battle or rewind to a point before your failed assault on your enemy’s stronghold and try a different tactic. This idea is 100% completely new and if done right could very well have a strong impact on how we think about time travel in video games. My only concern though is how or even can it work in multiplayer, there are only a few trailers up at the moment and my mind just boggles at the amount of work that must be going into this to make sure it’s not only works but is actually fun.