I had finished it awhile ago, but just had found the time now to post up my impressions on History Channel’s entry into first person shooters. It sounded like a winning combination to me by blending history into a game, but the final result feels like it should have been one of those DVD bonuses that come with the boxed documentary set.
Archive for June, 2008
Blizzard has pretty much confirmed what many had already felt to be true…Diablo III is on its way.
They announced it in a big way with a site filled with plenty of juicy information instead of just putting in a placeholder image and saying “Coming Soon” or in providing media links that go nowhere except to lead you to another clever message saying “Coming Soon”…again. Oh, no, Blizzard knows its fans have been waiting for this news and they packed it with plenty of stuff. There are three videos to watch, wallpapers, screenshots, and artwork including plenty of lore to read over.
I always thought that the story behind the events of the game were just as important, which probably puts me in the tiny minority of those who enjoyed Diablo for other reasons, but from the hints that they’ve dropped on the site, it sounds like it’s going to be nothing short of the kind of epic that we can expect. Yes, there’s a lot to really get excited about waiting all over again, because that’s what it pretty much comes down to. No official release date has been announced, or even hinted at despite the FAQ on the site, so fans will probably be speculating on when it’s actually going to be released. Just how long the wait will be this time for that piece of information is anyone’s guess, but whenever it might be, I’ll be there.
I remember growing up with his comedy act on HBO which helped make me the well rounded individual posting on this blog, and had always appreciated how much he had made me laugh while poking fun at everything we take for granted in ways that made you think. He always had something to say and was always a joy to watch as a comedian. And he had done a stint as the conductor for Thomas the Tank Engine. That last blew my mind, but there he was.
Anyways, HBO is running all of Carlin’s specials in a tribute to the man and if you’ve missed any of his comedy acts and have cable, now might be a good time to catch up on what you might have missed. There aren’t a lot of comedians that I can really watch without seeing the same jokes over and over again, and Carlin’s old school act is the kind of classic stuff that I haven’t yet seen anyone pull off in the same way.
George Carlin, and Stan Winston, both of you will be missed.
Aint it Cool News has a series of tributes (as do many other sites) to Stan Winston, the special effects master responsible for the cutting edge tricks as seen in films such as James Cameron’s Terminator and, more recently, the incredible Iron Man. I remember watching the Terminator and feeling how terrified it was to watch a limping, humanoid robot skeleton hobble after its prey after being blasted. They completely nailed it down and made it seem eerily…human. Awesome stuff.
I’ve seen nearly every movie that the man and his team have helped to put together with their own imaginative ingenuity, and I had just watched an Iron Man interview where he describes what they had to do in making Robert Downey Jr. an unlikely superhero. That helmet that opens up over his face? Yeah, that’s REAL. They actually built a helmet like that.
You can check the tribute out here:
Tribute to Stan Winston (Ain’t It Cool News)
Interview with Stan Winston Studios’ Shane Mahan and Lindsay MacGowan
This is really an amazing interview, lots of interesting information that you might not know about Stan Winston.
18
Jun
08
My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die…I think
Categories: Top of the World
It looks like The Princess Bride finally has its own game and a timed demo is available for download. It looks like it mixes together cartoon-styled graphics with 2D gameplay across several acts, but what I’m interested in knowing is if you get to duel the Six Fingered Man.
Warren Spector…yes, the designer that brought us Deus Ex, Thief, and Ultima Underworld among the other titles in his long history…doesn’t think we need “100 hour” games as he says on Gamasutra. Although most of the article focuses on teaching the next-generation of developers the skills to get in, stay, and maintain relationships within the industry and how to go about doing it, it headlines with his quote in saying that 100 hour games are on the way out.
That’s what caught my eye. The rest of the article states pretty much what most anyone can tell you…that the games industry, much like any industry today, requires people that can wear several hats as opposed to simply the one that they left school with. But what I’m wondering is how he thinks that long games are supposed to be bad for the business.
Costs have ballooned along with the industry’s growing market. Games are getting more sophisticated, people want eye candy and will shell out the bucks to get it. From my meager perspective, it looks as if every game is caught up in a wild race to outpace its peers in terms of graphics, sound, and overall presentation which adds to the cost. Just as movies have gone into the stratosphere with their own budgets, games are practically doing the same thing. And Spector points to “100 hour” games as one of the problems.
First, you don’t need a massive budget to create a solid game that people will like, or need a huge publishing name attached to your development house to break into the industry. That’s not necessarily vital. Smaller devs are getting their titles out there all the time. Just look at Darwinia, Uplink, or Galactic Civilizations for that kind of inspiration. Those devs have made their ideas work for them without the multimillion super budgets.
Second, he states that the “100 hour” game is a problem because the demographics are changing…people with families want to spend more time with them which is not the beef I have with that argument. But he completely ignores the demographic that is looking for them, the one that THRIVES on immersing themselves within the developer’s vision, the same generation that is replacing the one that worries about weekend time with kids and have other responsibilities to concern themselves with. The days of diving into an NES RPG or action title for hours on end may have narrowed for those players that Spector is talking about, but I wouldn’t want to short the players that have the time and the inclination to sit through the worlds crafted to meet their particular expectations. I’ve gotten to the end of every GTA on the PS2 and, most recently, GTA4.
There is an “end” to their story without having to spend 100 hours on the game unless you want to collect everything that there is to find. Players are free to play what they want. If you want to simply finish the story, fine…there it is. But here…these are the extra options for you in case you want to try something else.
He also seems to miss the fact that side quests, such as those in RPGs, can be ignored. Several RPGs today can be as long or as short as you want them to be if you decide to simply miss out on any of the extra quests or jobs that they might offer. Sure, you’ll be leaving behind a lot of the color to the world such as in The Witcher, but at least you will still see the “ending” to the story. For players that have the time to enjoy the game for what it is and revel in poking through every niche and cranny in the hopes of finding a lost treasure, the option is there for them to explore. And who says that you need to finish the game on a schedule? Not every title has to be played, and many players like to focus on the genre that they appreciate most, leaving them more than enough time to savor a new release that they’ve been waiting for.
I respect Warren Spector for what he’s brought to gaming and consider him one of the most talented individuals still in the industry today. I’m sure that he means well and is concerned for the direction that games are taking today in terms of their production costs…no one wants to budget a game for $20mil and not have anyone play through it. But is guaranteeing that ending worth the reduced content in a game? Or has the industry become shackled to the bleeding edge? When I read articles like this one, I can’t help but think that the creative vision of a game that I’ve played had been compromised by the fear of how long it may take for a player to actually finish it. And I don’t want that.
Chaos Wars, a tactical RPG that had been out in Japan, had finally made its way over to our shores courtesy of third party publisher, O3 Entertainment. It also has some of the worst voice localization that I’ve recently heard. Game site, Insert Credit, points out that the voice actors are apparently relatives of O3’s CEO. You can watch the horror thanks to Youtube and witness what happens. Not only do the actors sound like they’re reading off of cue cards, but the best part happens towards the end at around the 5:15 mark when Yoichi, a smart looking fellow who looks like he’s one of those villains that is working behind the scenes to unhinge reality, starts talking. It’s not pretty.
It gets better with this clip. The first few seconds will send you rolling on the floor. “Can you moo-oove?” What?! Do you mean…move? I’m not sure what the actors were trying to do. Was it an attempt at an accent? Or perhaps it was an attempt to sound dramatic? It obviously didn’t work. The rest of this trainwreck is just as bad.
JRPG’s have finally gotten to the point where finding a title with atrocious voice acting is somewhat rarer than it was several years ago during the nineties. Namco Bandai, in particular, have come a long way in ensuring that their titles sound and look just as good in equal measure, especially with their Tales series. Square-Enix…well, you really don’t have to wonder at how good both their translation work, and voice casting, have consistently been. Unfortunately, Chaos Wars looks like one of those titles where a publisher decided to cut corners on the localization in order to kick another game out the door to generate income which only does the game, players that may have been waiting for it, and themselves, a huge disservice. At least from what I’ve read, the original Japanese is in there with English subs.
Would I rather not have the game come out on these shores because of this? Actually, yes. I would and I was surprised that Idea Factory or their representative had green-lighted this for release. Did they even hear the dub work? I have no idea. It’s just a poor way to treat a game. Now it will exist with having a Scarlet Letter of having joined a select group of terrible dubs that will live on in infamy.
If Working Designs hadn’t at least found voice actors that knew how to act (for the most part) during their heyday, I can’t imagine how Luna’s song would have sounded with this crew, or how well received their own imports would have been.
