BRB, OOH, OOM, and Bio. Rez PLZ?
Dear god has it been a long time since I’ve posted anything. Wondering why? Well their is a simple acronym to answer that question. WoW. It’s taken over my life again, but that time spent playing has not been in vain. By this point in my WoW career I’ve seen the majority of what their is to be seen in the game. So in an effort to stave off becoming a zombie I’ve started to look at the game from a design point of view, and understand why and how Blizzard did certain things the way they did.
While it certainly hasn’t led to a huge amount of insight, I now understand why mounts exist and why their are level restrictions to them. In case you want to know, they exist mostly as sometime to strive and save for at lower levels and the level restrictions force you experience the world for slower pace with ground perspective. So you can soak up all the little details a mount may encourage up to skip over. In all honesty though, my time could be better spent learning more about game development. Their is only one issue with that though. Game development is hard.
While anyone can come up with ideas and flesh them out a little, the actual hard work of development lies in building what you have drawn out on paper. For someone like myself, a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, it’s hard to concentrate on one act so intensely. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not giving up. I’m still working on learning to program, and pulling apart games that I am playing. Currently I’m playing through The Legend of Zelda series and I’m learning a lot of about action/adventure games and the evolution of the series.
I’m considering posting more design breakdowns as an effort to exercise writing more. I really enjoy writing about these types of things. Being lazy is just so easy though.
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Tags: Game design, Legend of Zelda, World of Warcraft, WoW
Dev Land here I come!
I think it’s about time to stretch my legs again. So what have I been doing with all this time instead of writing here? Well it’s kind of a strange story that really sprouted from when I was 10. As a kid playing games a lot you start to think about how cool it would be to actually make games. As I grew up I learned more about the process of what it takes to make a game and you know, lost interest. As a kid you want to see things in a very personal and simple way. And if it strays too far then it’s too much work to be bothered with. So I spent my time honing my other crafts such as fine art, writing, filmography, and music. While I really focused on games journalism for a while I would get these urges to dig deep into game development. I felt like I hadn’t fully explored the possibilities. I also felt as if I always had something to contribute to the discussion and creation of games.
Which leads me to where I am today. I’m going to be changing hats. Now I’m wearing the cap of the game author. I really can’t explain the feeling I’ve got recently from pouring my time into learning as much as I can about it. I really feel like this is the right path for me. I finally feel like my potential can be tapped with all of my creative interests. It’s definitely not all sunshine and rainbows though. I’ve learned quickly just how much goes into making a game from concept to prototype alone.
I’ve been wanting to hold off on talking about this for as long as I can so I could see how it feels to be more involved. And success. As to what will become of me and this space? I am currently ironing out a couple design docs for my original games. It’s a learning process so don’t expect anything too soon. I have some ideas of what I want to do with all of this. In reality though I’m playing my hand much more loosely. So look out for some random updates for now. And if you want to get involved with game development at all or know a few pointers shoot me an email. Specific work will be posted later that I need done. I’m going to try and tackle as much as I can for right now. So I guess it’s game over for now. I’ll continue later.
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Tags: game development, Industry
Wolfenstein 3D has been ported multiple times. Each time this happens small addition have been made to justify the purchase. With it being one of my favorite games, I of course buy it over and over again. Most of the time I am pleased with the additions. That is until the release of the PSN and XBLA versions.
The big deal this time was trophies/achievements and unlockables for the upcoming release of Wolfenstein on PS3 and 360 this fall. While this isn’t uncommon with most re-releases these days, I based the unlockables on games such as Bionic Commando: Rearmed. To summarize, I was sorely disappointed.
The trophies/achievements are a nice addition, and provided some challenge. Especially “Blazkowicz-ed!” which took a couple days of playing to complete. So no complaints there. The problem for me was the lack of more then one unlockable for Wolfenstein. After you get to the elevator on the first floor of episode one you’re informed that you unlocked $1,000 for the upcoming release of Wolfenstein; and that’s it. It’s almost sad to see an opportunity squandered.
They could have had unlocks for character skins and small levels that could get people excited for Wolfenstein. As a long time fan I would love to see some of that nostalgia bubble up into the next game. In reality it’s a small nuisance that shouldn’t bar anyone from picking up this classic though. Hopefully the main game will make references to the original.
Also, why the hell would you put in a map for the iPhone version, then months later not include a map for the console release? Do you know how hard it is to find a good map for levels? VERY!
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Tags: ID Software, PSN, Wolf3d, Wolfensterin, XBLA
Lately I have been delving into the world of nostalgia. Three specific games I have been playing are Final Fantasy VIII, Super Mario 64, and Chex Quest 1-3. All of theses games I played as a kid, but I never finished any of them. The other commonality between them is that I have warm memories pertaining to each of them. Spending many evenings playing them and enjoying every moment. So I decided to go back through all three with results that were very interesting. All three gave unique results when compared to my memories. This in turn showed me how versatile nostalgia can be when thinking back upon games.
Final Fantasy VIII was the first RPG and FF game I ever sat down and gave it the time of day. I instantly fell in love with the art style and battle system. It was so unique from previous games I had played, (e.g. Wolfenstein, Starcraft, Mario). While it hadn’t been too long since I have played the game, I always looked back upon it with good memories. Playing the game, I have to say it held up to my impressions from the past. It was just as engaging and addictive as I remember it. Unfortunately I’m unable to finish it right since I don’t have all the disc’s available. I can say that I am eager to finish it though.
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Tags: Chex Quest, FFVIII, Final Fantasy, Mario, Memories, N64, Nostalgia
Pokémon Platinum Review
Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Game Freak Genre: RPG ESRB Rating: E
System Available: DS System reviewed on: DSi Version: Retail
Looking through the fact sheet of changes from Diamond and Pearl to Platinum, you could get a little letdown. Does a new area, redesigned gyms, and new forms of legendaries really get anyone excited enough to buy the same game again? Put your hands down fanboys. Looking back at previous compilation versions of Pokémon you can’t expect too much. Surprising though, Platinum is an experience best played through then talked about. While it doesn’t feel like a wholly new game, it has enough new things and smoothed edges that it’s an enjoyable play through.
With the advent of a proper Pokémon game on the DS, Nintendo seemed reluctant to go wild with the device. Slow advances are something you tend to expect from the Pokémon series. That being said, The Distortion World introduced in Platinum is the crem della crem of the series. While wild encounters and trainers are absent from this world, they are replaced by three dimensional movement and puzzle solving that requires you to consider multiple plains. Unfortunately this section of the game is short lived and you return to the standard gameplay to continue your journey. It’s really just a nice vacation to get you energized toward the inevitable Elite Four.
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Tags: DS, Handheld, Nintendo, platinum, Pokemon, RPG
Resident Evil 5 Review
Publisher: Capcom Developer: Capcom Genre: TPS, Survival Horror ESRB Rating: M
System Available: Xbox 360, PS3, PC System reviewed on: PS3 Version: Retail
Resident Evil 5 is a strange creature. It has all the flash and graphics of a next-gen game, yet the gameplay feels as if it’s years old. This isn’t that warm nostalgia feeling you get from Punch-Out. It’s that feeling where you played that type of game years and years ago. Although that’s nice, those conventions have evolved into better, more intuitive play and controls. That’s the feeling I get from RE5.
While this conflict of evolution is present within the game, Capcom tailored the experience towards that conflict. They understood that moving is clumsy, so the infected can only run till they are 30 feet from you. At which point they slow to a shuffle. This tailoring helps alleviate what would have been a killer to playing the game. While they help most of the issues, a few still go unchecked.
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Tags: 5, Capcom, Evil, Resident
stream of consciousness.
Before I started writing this I felt like I needed to explain why I haven’t posted in so long. As I tried to come up with a reason, a thought occurred to me. Why waste, at the very least, a paragraph explaining why I haven’t been writing? So from now on, no more excuses, and no more wasted space.
Anyway, I kind of just want to jazz about what I have been playing recently and the thoughts that accompany them. I actually just finished the Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness demo for PC. Starting out I had no real idea what I was getting into. I haven’t really followed the news about it and I just seemed to look longingly at each release. Each time telling myself, “I really need to try out that game.”
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Tags: 360, Capcom, Penny Arcade, PS3, RE5, Steam, Valve
A Review on Reviews Part 2
[This originated as a featured article on The Gaming Vault]
[Continuing from "A Review on Reviews Part 1: Killzone 2" I return to dissect the parts that make up a review. From words, to numbers, to the person behind it all. All of these pieces create this much talked about part of games journalism.]
Wording
The actual review serves a couple of different purposes that play to the different parties interested in it. The main goal is to provide a consumers guide to that specific game. Ultimately they are the people who will listen to them the best. Whether they listen or not is something that will be discussed later. Another purpose the review serves is to be a mirror for game developers. It can spot out major flaws or strengths that a developer can use to better their current or future games. The text of a review is a description of the ups and downs that take place through-out the game and weigh them for their merit.
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Tags: Reviews
A Review on Reviews
[This originated as a feature article on The Gaming Vault]
Recently an explosion of comments have come out from EDGE’s review of Killzone 2. To summarize, EDGE gave Killzone 2 a 7/10 and every fanboy came out of the woodwork to either trash EDGE for falling out of line with the 10’s, or diss the game and PS3 in general. This isn’t really the first time a review or magazine has been assaulted by fanboys for being supposedly “bias”, or “attention grabbing”. What I am still perplexed by is this misunderstanding when it comes to reviews.
Let’s make this clear, reviews are not science and their is no set standard for how to conduct them. This, (as many reviewers have stated), is part of the problem. Some one learns one set of rules to reviews and then misplaces those onto other reviewers rules. Not to mention the mysterious idea of reviews go 6-10, and anything lower then an 8 is trash. All of these impressions of reviews creates a lot of confusion for not only mom and dad consumers, but gamers as well.
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Tags: EDGE, Reviews
Let’s get personal
This post is going to be a little more personal then usual. Reason being is that a lot of major personal events have happened recently. First one being that my job was affected by a temporary lay-off with the possibility of being permenant. As pretty much everyone knows, the job market is really shitty right now. THANKFULLY, I now know I will be going back to work. Good news to say the least.
What sucked even more during the waiting period was that my WoW account ran up the day before Lunar Fest started. It’s so strange taking a break from WoW. It’s almost like I have end game syndrome. I feel like I don’t miss it, but at the same time a part of me wants to keep on playing. I am shooting to have my account defrosted by friday. Mostly to take part in Lunar Fest and grind out those achievements. I am sure a whore for them.
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Tags: personal
Linkage
