SSH83's (Ranting) Blog

2008, the Year of Rejoicing for PC Gamers

2008-02-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

If 2007 was the year of triumph for PC games on consoles, then 2008 will probably be the year of rejoicing for PC games on PC.

- On the RTS side, there will be Star Craft 2, or at the very least (and just as well), Star Craft 2 BETA. There exist no serious RTS fan who do not respect Star Craft. When the sequel of the most famous RTS on Earth comes out, you better take note.
- For the hardcore RPG players, Mass Effect will get its much anticipated home-coming to PC, complete with hotkey assignments for skills (unlike KotOR). However, this will also mean that the much talked-about fabrication of virtual sexual simulation in the game may finally become a reality by the end of the year. :P
- For the 10 million WoW-ers, a new expansion that promises another step forward in the MMO scene will probably break out of its shells. Other interesting MMO are also targeted for 2008, each promising a new step forward in MMO, and it will be interesting to see how the MMO genre will evolve after this new competitive year.
- For the innumerable Sims players out there, Spore is coming out supposedly this year as well. While there may not be straight-converts, if EA and Will player their cards right, this will easily be yet another smash hit in the casual market (a.k.a. The Subject of Nintendo’s Wet Dreams).
- On the Free2Play scene, the unadulterated spiritual successor of Diablo is coming out this year as well. Mythos is its name. Korean imports won’t stand a chance (ok, maybe the cutesy happy games will still capture the hearts of young girls, hands down). IMO, Hellgate was a better Diablo sequel for the modern generation, but when you are talking Free 2 Play, it’s a whole different genre with its own set of expectation. Hellgate and Mythos suddenly become an apple and an orange.
- For the adventure gamers, there’s always Sam & Max, but it’s been a while since Dreamfall came out, so it would sure be nice to take another step forward in the Longest Journey, which so far isn’t very long of a journey at all compared to classic adventure games. Hah.
- For the role-players, yes the players who prefer to chit-chat in the role of fictional characters instead of chit-chatting in the role of their real-world selves, they are in for a treat as D&D 4th Edition promise to become more casual-friendly than ever with online interface and all that. Don’t be too surprised 3~5 years later when you find out that your mom started to play D&D with her college friends or neighbors
- Last but not least, for the FPS players who managed to crawl out of the grinding pit that is CoD4 and TF2 class-based achievements, they will probably enjoy Far Cry 2 when it comes out in 2008.

P.S. Yah, I know I skipped turn-based strategy, but let’s face it, the games already out for turn-base strategy are arguably as good as it gets in the turn-base strategy game standards. If the developers make a turn-base strategy with even more details and management, the games would quite simply explode. Maybe some day in the future someone will shake up the genre but I don’t think that day is in 2008 (probably not in 2009 either).

Activision Has Poor Support for Great Game. Blizzard Doomed?

2007-12-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

There is proof that the merger may put Blizzard's quality standard in jeopardy. The greatest game ever published by Activision is arguably Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodline. Critics everywhere loved it and reviewers gave it an average of 8/10 rating. The greatest downfall pointed out by the critics was the bugs that cause (some times severe) stability issues in the game. Due to poor sales of the game, Troika went bankrupt after spending their last penny to release patch 1.2, and many problems in the game went untouched.

However, since this is such a great games, many gamers took it upon themselves to fix these bugs in unofficial patches. The two biggest ones are “The True VTMB Patch version 5.04AT” and the series of unofficial patches hosted by PlanetVampire.com. These patches greatly improve the game the same way the WoW patches fixed bugs and exploits in the MMO. All Activision would have to do is to spend a few dollars and buy these patches or simply offer to host them for free on their web site so that all users can actually play the game without major problems. Did they do it? Not from what I’ve seen. In the past two years, I’ve seen little to no support from Activision. This is completely different from Blizzard’s history with patching their beloved games such as Star Craft and Diablo II YEARS after its release at no extra charge to their players. Activision doesn’t even need to develop anything and still they don’t care enough to do anything.

These two companies are not as similar as the press releases indicate. Hopefully, after the merger, Blizzard standard will influence Activision and not the other way around.

Women Characters in Video Games

2007-12-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

I'm getting really sick of how whenever people discuss female characters in video games, they automatically start ranting about the skimpy outfit and how sexist we game developers are. Well, guess what, the truth is this:

If intelligent, legally correct games such as The Longest Journey, Beyond Good and Evil, and Dreamfall sold well, then publishers would be willing to fund more games featuring realistically dressed female protagonists, and we wouldn’t need to put girls with glaring cleavages in our games all the time.

On that thought, if you think you are a strong advocate of fair and realistic portrayal of both genders in games but did not buy any of the above three games, you need to put your money where your mouth is. If you did not buy a game, then you do not exist from the publishers’ point of view. If publishers do not see enough buyers for one particular product, they will be very hesitant to publish anything like it in the future.

So next time you find yourself in the market for games, deciding whether you should buy an all-too-popular game that you can easily borrow from your friends who already bought it(*cough* Mario *cough*), versus buying a game that is trying to push boundaries but isn’t getting enough support from the layman buyers, maybe you should consider buying and supporting that revolutionary game then share it with your friends.

Please visit the Round Table's Main Hall for links to all entries.

Wii Will Broaden Video Game Audience, It Just Takes A Special Kind of Killer App. to Make It Happen

2007-12-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

A massive amount of Casual Gamers and Non-Gamers are buying Wii and DS, but does that mean porting Ninja Gaiden to Wii will generate equally massive sales figure? NO! Absolutely not. Well... at least not yet.

Even though these people who don't normally play games are now buying game consoles, it doesn't mean they will consequently buy games that they never did understand or get excited about. Wii and DS only act as a doorway to the gaming world. Non-gamers are only beginning to understand the enjoyment of gaming, and hardcore titles such as No More Heroes and Metal of Honor are simply beyond their comprehension for the time being. In order to integrate these newcomers to the existing gaming market, they need to be transformed into full gamers. They need to understand that there can be more to video games than virtual simulations of real life activities. They need to be shown that their own imaginations and fantasies can come alive on their television set in the form of video games, BEFORE they will begin to appreciate other people's (game designers') imaginations and fantasies in the form of video games. They need to subtlety be shown that cutting up demons and shooting aliens are "fun" activities that they, too, can enjoy.

So, the big question is... how do we create a game that will serve this purpose? How do we create a game that, on the surface, looks like a virtual simulation of their existing favorite pastime so that these newcomers are willing to try it, but in practice, it serves as an introduction to the heart and soul of video games?

IMO, such a thing already exists. Here is how:- People watch TV as their favorite pastime, so Wii channels can be advertised as extra channels that are definitely an acceptable form of presentation, but for the content inside each channel...- The depth and capacity of Second Life will be a great way for people to insert their own imaginations and fantasies into their own channels, and after creating their own channel, players will want to see what other people are up to. Now, the tricky part is that other people can be their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even game publishers and developers.- Developers can create virtual playhouses that allow visitors to download and try out games in the fast and easy style of XBox LIVE Arcade. Enticing them first with arcade classics that they have heard of, then simpler games such as those on SNES, and then ultimately, demos of hardcore games.

Of course, someone can just create a game that is itself an transitional game. For example, Nintendo can create Brain Age 3 that adds strategy mini-game as thinking training or action mini-game as reflex training. Though creating a full prodcut this way may be too costly for a risky experiment.

In conclusion, the barrier has been broken, and the new market is wide open, waiting to be claimed. We just need to approach it the right way.

Did you know?

2007-03-26T20:56:00.001-07:00

A video that list a few statistics for the information age and predictions for the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIqk4agzKPE

After watching that and reading several comments all I have to say is:

Of course the machines will be able to outthink the human race. 90% of us are retarded in the first place.

Tips on How to Lose Talents in Your Company

2007-03-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

It's easy. Just treat them like dirt, despite the fact that they are the only reason you haven't gone bankrupt.

In an interview for Jörg Spielt, Bill Roper revealed a little more details on why the top guns of Blizzard North left Blizzard (http://www.joergspielt.de/bill-roper-english). Here's a short summary of what he revealed:

- Vivendi Universal, being the omnipotent French corporation in financial difficulties, were making decisions about ownership of Blizzard without letting anyone from Blizzard in the loop. Blizzard North studio would only get rumors about being sold to Microsoft or being sold on open market. In the chain of command, French HQ would contact NY Vivendi division, then NY Vivendi contacts Blizzard HQ, and then Blizzard HQ would inform Blizzard North, the studio solely responsible for the majority of income for Vivendi Universal between 2000 and 2002.

- Bill and Co. asked to be included in the loop and received no response. Then, they sent in letters of resignation, saying "We will resign if you do not include us in that process!” Vivendi remain indifferent, and in the end lost the leaders of Blizzard North and eventually the entire studio.

- Bill and Co. founded Flagship studios the next day. Their first game, Hellgate: London, is poised to achieve yet another unprecedented financial success.