Articles

The Electronic Arts I remember

by

A long, long time ago, back when Electronic Arts went by the abbreviation ECA, the company was not clearly evil. It turns out that they screwed Chris Crawford in the 80’s and undoubtedly weren’t the pinnacle of business ethics, but they also published good games. Every now and then, usually after reading a review of some terrible EA published game or news that they bought and destroyed a small developer, I reminisce about the good old days when the ECA logo didn’t make me cringe, but was actually a sign of quality. What’s that, you ask? You’re a snobby gamer who dislikes EA, too, but you wonder why they were once a respectable publisher? Like all good questions, this one can be answered with a list.

Archon II: Adept — 1984
The first Archon is a bonafide classic, but I still prefer the sequel. Both games play like Battle Chess (which came out after Archon), but the second has cooler creatures and more of an emphasis on building an army. →  The only thing we have to read is read itself.

Vista: Kodak Moment or Photoshopped?

by

Surprising me in the mail last week was the DVD Install Kit for Microsoft’s Windows Vista RC1 Client. I signed up for their beta releases a few months ago, but I wasn’t aware that they keep sending you the subsequent releases. Needless to say I’m not that upset about it.

After testing RC1 out for a few days, I can easily say it’s much better than the Beta 2 release. It has way better driver support, and has much more functionality. I was on the fence about upgrading to something that looked only marginally better than XP, but after messing around with Vista, I’m eager to cross over to the “next-generation” of Windows.

The real gem in Vista is its Aero functionality. DirectX is now continually running in the background. The main thing you will notice is that each window actually blurs the picture that’s behind it, be it the desktop background or an image you’re viewing. This cannot be done fluidly without graphics acceleration, and I have to say it looks really nice. →  We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we play.

Best Game Ever – Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne

by

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne is my favorite game of all time. With the many hours of enjoyment I have gained from this title, I owe it to you all to spread the good word.
Let me tell you why:

First of all, this intriguing subtitle brings to mind many important questions for the common gamer. Among these questions are:

1. What throne?
2. Why is it frozen?

But frozen seats of royalty aside, the storyline in an RTS is superfluous. What makes WCII: TFT great is the well-implemented and innovative hero system, the tight control over units that makes über micro possible, and the well-balanced, well-designed variety of races.

Warcraft is a popular game, with fan-created artwork, a lively multiplayer community, board games, hugely successful MMO adaptation, and mangas.

If my memory serves me, this book tells the tragic tale of the forbidden romance of Draakthazaar, the proud frost dragon from the north and the free-spirited young maiden, Ara, shunned by her people for daring to love the monster they so feared, yet she tamed with her tender touch. →  And so it games…

Guitar Hero 2 Demo

by

Damn you Harmonix, damn you to hell. The Guitar Hero 2 demo is only four songs large, and I haven’t been able to play anything else all day. Curse you and your innate ability to create unbridled gaming fun!

Yes folks, if you haven’t heard already the new issue of OPM has nice little demo of GH2. Jay and I have it. Now let’s talk about it:

Songs: I’m hearing some recent dissent about the Guitar Hero 2 soundtrack. Whereas the original had a wide variety of rock, the sequel seems to have a heavy focus on classic metal and hair bands, as well as prog. rock. I understand that everyone has different musical tastes, but for a game called “Guitar Hero”, the tracks seem to be appropriate. The four included here are Strutter, Shout at the Devil, You Really Got Me, and the infamous YYZ of Rush fame.

All four of them are done incredibly well, and I find it hard not to pull out the moves and really get into the song (and this comes from someone who doesn’t even like Motley Crue). →  It might come in handy if you, the master of reading, take it with you.

Weekly News We Care About Wrap Up – 10.6.06

by

Uwe Boll in talks for a second BloodRayne movie
If you missed the first BloodRayne movie, you owe it to Ed Wood to go see it. It’s not as terribly good as House of the Dead, but its crappiness is better than the mostly just bad Alone in the Dark. I will also be going to see Dungeon Siege on opening knight (hahahahaha, get it?) if anyone wants to join me.

For some odd reason a lot of people hate Boll and want him to have a massive heart attack and die, or at least stop directing movies. I come from the Leprechaun school of horror films (Leprechaun in the Hood is overrated, I recommend Leprechaun in Space) so Boll’s schlock is something I really look forward to. Some argue that movies like BloodRayne keep games from being taken serious. It’s more like games like BloodRayne keep games from being taken seriously.

If you’ve got a moment, take a gander at this write up of the state of video game movies. →  Prince of Postia: Article Within

The Tekken arcade stick praised; the Tekken games condemned

by

A few weeks ago, while browsing my favorite gaming forum, one of the posters reported an unconfirmed clearance sale at Gamestop/EB. The item? The Tekken 5 anniversary box. The price? $30, down from its previous $60 price, which was down from the original $100 MSRP. The package of course includes Tekken 5, as well as a very nice DVD box for storing all 6 Tekken games. The crown jewel of the set however is a limited edition arcade stick.

Normally this isn’t a big deal; you can buy arcades sticks everywhere some for as low as ten dollars. Not to mention that other game-branded sticks have shown to be of rather horrid quality (such as the Street Fighter Anniversary stick from Nubytech). What makes this Tekken stick so special is that it is made with real Hori parts, the same Hori that makes the best arcade sticks for Japanese home consoles. More forumites reported finding the box for the supposed sale price during the week, and it was then that I knew I had to find one for myself. →  Devil Summoner: Readou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Article

Concern that FFXII may suck

by

Put in the FFXII demo and try something. Get into a battle and then put the controller down. You’ll win. The gambit system sets up the AI in your party so you don’t actually have to play. I did this experiment months ago and was slightly concerned but figured that it was just a demo; Square would no doubt make some changes that encouraged the player to participate.

The new EGM has a review of the game, though, and one of the reviewers describes playing exactly how I did. He put the controller down during random encounters and had no trouble at all. Boss fights still may require human intervention.

The reviewer gave FFXII game an 8.5. I’m not sure what’s stranger, Square making an automated battle system or reviewers not caring that Square made an automated battle system. Is it possible an RPG that doesn’t require you to participate in random battles can be good? Maybe, but wouldn’t figuring out how to make them fun be a more noble pursuit than making them unnecessary but still happen? →  Words are the towns and cities of letters.

Why the PSP is a success

by

Many online sources have declared the PSP a failure. Others, including print magazines, haven’t gone that far but have acknowledged the PSP may currently be failing. The difference being the tense of the verb to fail. Here are some declarations that the PSP is dead or dying:

Should we consider the PSP dead?

RIP PSP

PSP: Just Die Already

Developers: The PSP has “failed”

But common wisdom is wrong: the PSP is not a failure; it has actually been quite successful. Sony took on a company that had around 95% of the handheld market. As of July, Sony has shipped 20 million units compared to Nintendo’s 21 million DS’s sold. There is a difference between units shipped and units sold, though how much is up for debate. Let’s take an extreme stance and assume that Sony only sold half of the units they shipped. This still means they not only penetrated a market owned by Nintendo, but captured a third of it. →  Please sir, can I have some more?

They hate my baby… and Tom Chick is an asshat

by

Read this. Also read Tom Chick’s original response post, and if you really care, his review (Chick’s response is at the bottom of the above article, and his 1up article is linked in his response).

I want to give hats off to Tom Chick, for masterfully pulling off this bit of PR. Because that’s all this is kids, it’s a “look at Tom Chick, he’s so abused!” play. And, it makes him more of a name brand, because I even read the Galactic Civilization 2 manual and have no idea who he is. So I guess he needed it. Or maybe I’m outside of his target demographic.

Ok, let me make my rambling into something cohesive. Tom Chick wrote the Gal Civ 2 manual. He did so for money (or, as some call it, phat l00tz). He also reviews video games. Fair enough. Tom then turns around and writes a negative review about SOTS, which is a potential competitor to Gal Civ 2. →  Tony Hawk’s Posting Ground

A shocking revelation

by

Today I spent hours playing Ghosts and Goblins on the Capcom Classics Collection. The game is an absolute classic and it is also nearly impossible. It took me about a thousand lives, but I finished the game…only to be told that it was all a dream and I’d have to do it again. So I did.

Sometime during the second playthrough it struck me — this game sucks. I know it sounds like blasphemy to a lot of people, and it sort of disturbs me to say it, but it’s true. This game may have a cult following but it’s a piece of crap.

The game is not hard because it is well designed. It is hard because its controls are horrendous. Jumping doesn’t always work and it is nearly impossible to climb up ladders. The collision detection is also spotty. To add to the fun, many enemies have almost random patterns. Perhaps that is a sign of good design, but in a game that controls so poorly it’s just torture. →  Holy crap, show me more!