But Didn’t I Buy That Already?

HD remakes and rereleases have littered the release schedules of this generation. These offer a chance to relive (or even discover for the first time) some of the most iconic games from the good old days when we used to talk about things being 32 or 128bit as we sneered at those still using cartridges (that might have just been me).

I love these. I have absolutely no problem buying a game I loved the first time around and experiencing it with fancier graphics at a higher resolution accompanied by sound pumping through nicer speakers. Our brains have a funny way of papering over the cracks when we become engrossed in something so these HD releases often appear the way we originally thought they did however a quick check on YouTube will show just how distorted our memories become (again that might just be me).

Often they represent fantastic value for money as the usual method of delivery is through the online stores such as XBLA although the boxed copies are usually at a very comfortable launch price and often contain multiple entries from the series giving new and old fans a chance to see where the latest renditions get their style and stories from as well as finding out why so many forum users condemn the latest releases for daring to modernise (read: acting like COD).

When dealing with retro (is 10 years retro?) there can be a few downsides. A slight issue with rereleases can be the camera. If in the original release it was a bit unruly then the chances are that it will still be unruly. 3D camera control isn’t an easy part of programming and the early days they hadn’t quite got it locked down although some of the same issues are present even today. Furthermore some of our little comforts such as checkpoints and dedicated map buttons are missing however these are all forgivable as changing too much can begin to spoil the charm of the original (a mighty fine example of combining modernity with antiquity was Perfect Dark which gave a dual stick control scheme without changing the feel of the single sticked N64 gem).

Out of all of the releases I have bought I would have to say that MGS: HD Collection is by far my favourite. MGS2 was one of my fondest memories of the PS2 days and as such I had bought MGS3 upon its release. I was horrified at how different it was and never really got into it however I fell head-over-heels in love with it thanks to the HD pack and now count it as my favourite out of all of the core series (seriously do yourselves a favour and buy it, it’s quite different to 2 but is so much more rewarding and features some of the best ideas to come from Kojima’s wonderful brain).

A couple other choice games to receive the HD polish are Shadow of the Colossus and Beyond Good and Evil. These two should be part of anyone’s collection as they offer as much charm and warmth as any release today. They both still feel completely solid, full of fresh ideas and are a joy to revisit all these years later, retaining everything that made them so distinct upon their original release but benefitting from improved graphics and slightly smoother gameplay (no slowdown when things get busy onscreen).

I do wonder where all of this will lead in the coming years. Will we see super HD releases or 3D specials of these games which have enjoyed continued success across the generations? Perhaps we will see current AAA titles enjoy the treatment in 10 years time such as a photorealistic version of MW2 (I know MW2 isn’t exactly current but I do think it would be the COD which gets the treatment).

One thing which most of the games which get the HD makeover have in common is how good they were upon their inital release. Often they had ideas way ahead of their time and pushed the limits of the hardware they were originally released on. I’d love to know which current games you’d like to see get a future makeover or even the games you feel have been unfairly skipped during this round of HD touch-ups so pop over to the Abuse section and let me know.

Cheers

You Bastards

With my boss busy with a VAT inspection today I’m going to risk doing a spot of writing. I’m still without my laptop but hopefully I should get it fixed at the weekend (so long as it’s not terminal). To kick things off I thought I’d have a wee rant about one of my heroes Phil Fish who has announced his retirement from the games industry this week. For those of you unfamiliar with his amazing work, Phil is the man (the legend) behind the unbelievably good Fez (see me swoon over Fez in earlier posts).

Phil and his tiny team have created a world of unparalled beauty and depth, working relentlessly for years at great expense to themselves and delivered a thought provoking game which transcends the traditional mould of the platforming genre complete with its own alphabet and number system on top of mind bending puzzles (I promise I will stop praising this game some day).

Rightfully so Fez was a great success for them. Unfortunately Phil was a bit too happy about this for a lot of the internet. Rather than being humbled by the whole experience of seeing his hard work pay off both critically and monetarily he had the audacity to see these as signs of his greatness (he is). When he chose not to fork out $40,000 of his own money to fix a game breaking bug (<1% of players’ save files became corrupt after a patch was released meaning they had to restart the game – I completed it four times so really don’t get what all the fuss was about, it’s a joy to play through) it all became a little bit too much for his detractors. 

The ensuing war between Phil and a relentless onslaught of naysayers who took it upon themselves to sling as much abuse his way as their anonymous fingers could muster. Phil (unfortunately suffering from a case of being a human being) took their abuse, wiped it on his creative arse and threw it right back at them in what became a horrible battle of one man versus what must have seemed like the world and unfortunately the will of the side with more soldiers was enough to break a single man’s spirit. The quote from Polytron’s site reads:

FEZ II is cancelled.
i am done.
i take the money and i run.
this is as much as i can stomach.
this is isn’t the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign.

you win.

We didn’t win. Everyone lost. The fight has ended and the people who are responsible can now move onto their next target. I hope Phil returns someday (perhaps under a pseudonym) and lets us back into his wonderful mind but until then I will mourn the loss we have all suffered.

To Phil Fish please remember some of us love what you created and the personality you carry yourself with. I honestly hope you can find some peace again and let this pass in the coming years. You deserve to be happy for all the joy you brought to my life and hundreds of thousands of others. To those who actually spent time to abuse a guy as you hid behind the anonymity of an internet connection I can only repeat what I opened this with: you bastards.

Cheers  

Technical Challenges

Hey guys.

I’m so sorry about my lack of posts recently. My computer has broken and rather than writing them on my phone I am currently having to put things on a slight hold. I’m pretty sure it’s just the power supply so it should be a fairly quick and easy fix but have worked the past 12 days and got another day to go so hopefully I should be back in action by next week. Thanks to all of those who have been visiting the site and checking in. I promise normal service will resume ASAP. There’s been some great things happening and I hate that I’m not contributing to the debates (or giving you information you might not have seen elsewhere). I can’t wait to get back to writing so please do bear with me.

Thanks (seriously thanks to all of you, it makes such a difference when I’ve been away and can see a steady flow of traffic still checking in).

Hola ¿Como esDos?

Hey guys.

Sorry for the lack of writing for a week or so. I’ve been off on my holiday to Spain. In hindsight I should have put up a post that mentioned I’d be away. Anyhoo, that’s me back and in the mood to get on with some writing.

I thought I’d start with a piece about the upcoming retro-styled Super Time Force because I came up with the title this morning and have only now managed to come up with a tenuous reason to use it (I love puns too much for mine and the rest of the world’s own good).

Super Time Force is an upcoming game from the wonderful chaps over at Capy. What instantly grabbed me were the striking graphics and the stunning level of detail. This was before I had even noticed the gameplay’s core mechanic which looks like an action orientated take on the purple shadow world in Braid (I’m sure there’s a better way of describing those levels in Braid but I’m too hot and tired for my brain to work properly).

Players have a set amount of time to clear a level (however it looks like there are time pickups scattered throughout the level). Rather than a simple race against the clock players can rewind time which opens up a character selection upon restart. At this point the player rejoins as the new character with their original actions replaying alongside them (like the purple shadow version of Tim). Apparently if the rewind had been triggered after a death it is possible to save that doomed version and have them carry on the fight with you although it is not necessary to wait for death to trigger a rewind (I hadn’t realised how tricky it would be to explain this in writing so do take a look at the video).

This is a game I am massively excited about. Capy craft wonderful worlds full of charm and have a clear love for their work (think Phil Fish without the detractors). The gameplay looks like a riot with that wonderful graphic style oozing over everything. I’m hoping there’ll be a decent puzzle element to the game as well as the all out carnage that’s in the reveal trailer but knowing what Capy are capable of I’m sure whatever the end result is it will be superbly balanced and well worth at least one playthrough.

If you’ve got any thoughts head over to the Abuse page. Those looking to check out other games by these guys should get onto Steam as they’ve got a sale on until the 22^nd.

Cheers

The Funger Games

Forza Horizon

Having bought the latest NFS game a few months back I had some reservations about Horizon. The frustration levels I reached as I worked my way through NFS turned the game into a drawn out slog as I battled through the artificially difficult game. The randomness of the crashes and the elastic band AI meant that a single mistake late into the race would spell the end of my run and with a 20 second (possibly less but long enough) delay between reaching for the restart button I was reduced to rage quitting on more than one occasion. Pride was the only thing keeping me going and the sense of relief far outweighed the elation of completion. Even the journey to events was fraught with danger as being caught speeding meters before an event marker meant more time wasted while the pursuing police were shaken off or even worse when they busted me and I was forced to repeat the long journey again. The developers clearly employed Buddhist monks as their QA team otherwise I’m sure someone would have pointed out that the game had lost a great deal of the sense of fun people are paying money for.

As I say I had reservations. I need not have worried however as Horizon is a far more relaxing affair. I was playing all day and did not feel cheated on a single occasion. The overarching structure is exactly the same however by not featuring police or the gratuitous crashes of NFS the game concentrates on the sublime feeling of driving wonderfully weighted cars along a gorgeously realised landscape. 

Pick a car, pick an event and drive to it. Perhaps stop along the way to enjoy some of the highly detailed backgrounds or even have a quick explore for some of the hidden goodies. Simple driving bliss handled at a pace which the game engine happily renders ensuring a constant smoothness and player enjoyment on the journey.

The races themselves are often very tight affairs. Rather than being the result of cheap AI tactics this is down to the skill of the other racers. The opponents have a real feel of fallibility about them with the exception of the lead cars which are a step above the rest of the field. This ensures that the game rewards skilful driving on behalf of the player and continuity throughout the game. It is down to the player to improve and work the racing lines rather than hope that an opponent crashes on the last corner.

The selection of cars on offer is impressive with the added bonus of any cars from Forza 3 (possibly Forza 4 too however I don’t own that) being unlocked as soon as the game sees your save file. Each one handles differently with a huge amount of enjoyment to be had with cars of every class (though no one will ever convince me that a muscle car is worth owning).

Similarly impressive are the race tracks made up of the open world. These contain some fantastic stretches of road combing twists and turns with decent lengths of near straights ensuring a huge amount of variety even on single tracks. Add to this the races that can be started at any time with the other AI drivers making their way around Horizon’s space which pits you against their car in a race lasting around two miles on whichever stretch of road you find yourselves and you have an almost endless selection of tracks. One thing I would have loved to have seen would be the option to get onto a couple closed circuits however I guess I have Forza 3 for this exact purpose.

Overall this is my favourite racing game at the moment. The variety on offer as well as the near perfect handling model they have crafted combines to give something which will take some beating. I found 3 to be too clinical despite the superb handling so for those of you looking for a rare balance of warmth, excitement and balance look no further. This is truly a worthy Funger Game.

Enjoy

Goodness Griefers Me

Microsoft’s proposals for improved matchmaking on the One have got me thinking. Their new plans are to involve a more in depth rating system for players which will give them an overall reputation. This will be built up over time and, in theory, should lead to people being grouped according to how others view them. Be courteous and you will find yourself amongst the more saccharine of players however those who swear as often as me will find themselves linked in with other proponents of graphic language. Apparently the Party system will remain the same which is good news however only time and millions of playtesters will put the system to the test.

With the system designed to keep griefers hemmed in to their own subset of the online world I thought I’d celebrate the greatest of all griefing triumphs. The incident in question dates back to 2007 when a vast army of players took it upon themselves to attack and destroy a Titan ship in Eve Online. The ship which found itself under bombardment is the highest classed ship in the Eve universe, costing the proud owners’ months (real life months) of time and effort to gain enough resources and build. To them this (around $10,000 of real world money worth of resources) was a price worth paying for a ship at which point had never been bested in combat. To GoonSwarm this was the ideal opportunity to show the Eve community what they were capable of.

GoonSwarm is made up of thousands of griefers specifically based in the Eve Online universe and one of their main sources of drive is the disruption of enjoyment for other users. Rather than sticking to normal forms of griefing however they have developed incredibly advanced techniques which require enormous amounts of planning and serious amounts of man hours to gather enough resources to execute the plans.

The attack on the Titan ship involved thousands of the most basic of crafts. Every time a GoonSwarm ship was destroyed the pilot would jump into another then resume the attack. As one member puts it “we choke the guns of our enemies with our corpses”. The sheer volume of tiny craft choked not only the Titan’s guns but also the servers running the game. The lag introduced by the overwhelming stream of incoming waves of GoonSwarm meant that reinforcements for the Titan were unable to effectively help their struggling comrade, a calculated part of the griefers’ attack plan. The result was a finely planned and coordinated onslaught resulting in the victorious eradication of both the Titan and the effort that went into building it in the first place.

It’s the destruction of effort which seems to be so important to griefers and the reason they do it at all. To crush someone’s spirit and to turn them away from a game they have dedicated their time and money to seems to be its own reward. I’m not passing judgement on griefing however I must respect the effort something like this attack represents. It’s an impressive way for a group of people to get their kicks whether you agree with the practice or not.

Karma however seems to hold its own view on this event. This year the GoonSwarm’s own Titan was destroyed in one of the largest battles an MMORPG has ever seen. Moments before a mass attack (this time not a grief attack but a legitimate land grab) by the faction on a rival saw the Titan’s pilot hit the wrong key. This resulted in the Titan jumping to the rivals’ space leaving the supporting armada behind.

The moment it was realised by the rivals that this ship was alone the battle began seeing reinforcements flooding space quickly followed by GoonSwarm and their allies. It is estimated that at one point more than $150,000 (remember this is real world money) worth of resources were fighting it out over the Titan craft. The result was a loss of over 200 craft made up by members of both side with no clear victor (although perhaps GoonSwarm could be seen to have lost this).

It’s moments like these that make me want to get involved in a game such as Eve however with such established factions and teams numbering in the thousands I fear it may be too late for me to join not to mention the amount of time it would take to get the resources together to put up a decent fight. If you’re an Eve player I (and I’m sure the other readers) would love to hear from you about your take on incidents like this so drop me a shout. 

Cheers

Effortless Reporting

Hey guys.

To round off a day of features about free things I thought I’d get something for nothing myself and point you towards this amazing article by the wonderful people over at Edge. It’s about the making of Hotline Miami which, for those of you who do not know, is a wonderfully violent bit of fun that you should definitely check out.

Enjoy

 

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With the dawn of the new generation well and truly underway it is clear that there will be at least one link to the past (not including anything of that title by Nintendo) no matter which side of the console war you sign up for. Both consoles will include a disk drive which is positively archaic in function compared to most of the other features on offer. Does that mean we are not ready for a digital only console or have the tech giants missed an opportunity to bring us all kicking and screaming into the inevitable future?

Don’t get me wrong I love boxed copies of games, especially special editions (my Fallout 3 lunchbox sits proudly on my peripherals shelf) however the future is clearly going to be a digital one. When music piracy exploded it was Apple who became the unlikely saviours of the music industry with iTunes offering the ability to buy single tracks which saw a rejuvenation of sales and ever since the music industry has been downloads based.

Movie streaming services such as Netflix have also become far more popular than physical copies as can be evidenced by the closure of rental shops such as Blockbuster or even the near collapse of HMV here in the UK (I know that poor management decisions and bloated head office structuring were key factors too but if no one is buying DVDs then there’s not enough restructuring in the world that can save them in the long run).

Steam was once considered an evil way to enforce DRM on Valve games however it was a true pioneer of the digital distribution of video games and is now a respected market leader in terms of sales. The flexibility of pricing structures ensures that publishers can launch sales as and when they like allowing the public the best possible deal all without the need to produce physical copies of games which may go unsold and cost them warehouse overheads etc allowing for greater profitability.

When Microsoft announced (the now reversed) decision for an always-on Xbox One they missed a trick and could have cemented this policy by removing the disk drive altogether. Not only would this have given them a true USP (no the Kinect is not a USP) that would have cleared up any confusion surrounding the always-on nature of the console but they would also have launched a console truly in tune with the digital age we are living in. This could have been a huge advantage to them as it would be them shaping the new face of the console games market while at the same time tackling the problem of second hand games bleeding developers dry. This latter issue would have ensured developers were adequately rewarded for releases on the One plus potentially having more control over the pricing would have meant underperforming games could be sold for less recouping revenue along the way rather than the same three copies being sold over eBay for the rest of time with no revenue making it to the devs at all.  

By the end of the PS4 and One’s lifecycles (I’m a future thinker me) online retail will be the norm for games. Better pricing structures are a must for this to become a reality but the consoles will get there and as consumers so will we. So long as I can continue to get game merchandise I don’t care whether it comes complete with the game.

Free copy of FIFA 11 for Xbox 360 (PAL) to the first one who translates the title into English (yes I know it’s old but it’s free and in keeping with today’s theme).

Cheers

Something For Nothing – Well Something For Money

With today marking the second release of a free downloadable title on the Xbox I thought I’d make a quick comparison of what the two paid for services are offering. For those in a rush I’ll summarise now; 360 owners are getting bumped but something is better than nothing.

Games With Gold is the new service from Microsoft which offers its Gold members two free games per month. This was announced at E3 as part of their continuing commitment to the 360 in the coming months leading up to the launch of their new console. I suspect this is more of an attempt to compete with Sony’s Playstation Plus which launched a few months ago.

Playstation Plus is a paid-for subscription based service from Sony set at a very competitive price point to that of the Xbox Gold service however the deal seems to offer far more in the way of incentive for buying into it. Whereas MS are offering two games a month the titles which have been mentioned so far are a bit past their sell by dates. Last month’s Fable 3 was a good laugh and filled in a few afternoons of playtime however (apart from today’s release of Defence Grid: The Awakening) the other two, Halo 3 and Assassin’s Creed 2, are very old and most likely part of most console owner’s collection already (they are however absent from mine).

PS Plus is not only offering something positively spritely in comparison it is also offering a full nine (10 really since one is a double pack) games as part of their Instant Games Collection. The standard of these is absolutely solid and includes Catherine the very game I kicked off this blog with. Here’s a link for you guys to check the deal out for yourselves. Needless to say I am very jealous and had no idea just how extensive this deal was (64 free games in one year is incredible value for £39.99).

I really hope that the message gets out to MS that their deal pales in comparison and that they up the stakes. There’s no reason they couldn’t do more to keep those of us with Gold accounts happy since we’ve been paying for it for eight years (well on and off) and are only now starting to get any real bonus. Those of you yet to check out PS Plus take a look at the picture above and see what you have been missing. Those of you with Gold don’t cry too much as MS might improve the offer but until they know we’re upset they will carry on with this minimalist approach so drop them a shout and let them hear your views.

Cheers

Windependent

Woo hoo. I know this post is a day late but I was waiting for a little more clarity on the whole thing. Microsoft has dropped the charge for patching on the 360 and will continue this onto the One. This is great news for small or indie developers and even better news for us.

As I stated in an earlier post the XBLA has been the source of some of my gaming highlights from this generation and felt that MS’ recent approach to the indie community has been fairly poor. This decision means that devs need not face a huge financial choice when a major bug is found by players (these bugs can often be missed by the QA departments of small teams who often number in single figures). 

An often quoted figure from Tim Schafer of $40,000 per update patch (after a courtesy patch allowed by MS) is a huge sum of money no matter the size of the dev team or budget. This money comes directly from their profits and can mean the difference between a studio beginning a second project and closing their doors. Remember that indie devs often work for years in their spare time or living from their personally accrued savings if they take on the task full time.

Is this too little, too late? I certainly hope not. Phil Fish has already stated that he won’t be developing for the One until MS changed their entire approach and allow self-publishing. This is still the case after yesterday’s announcement (MS didn’t even announce this themselves in yet another curious piece of PR) however it is a step in the right direction. Judging by the initial reactions this has been a very popular move by MS and may yet spur them onto the more modern practice of self-publishing so here’s hoping.

If you like this move then let MS know and they may budge. They want to hear from you and you never know a little bit of pressure may help to persuade them that indies are the future majors and every little bit of help they can get along the way will be repaid.

Cheers