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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Upcoming games (now through September)

People ask me for advice on buying games. Sounds like a dicey prospect, because game taste is like music taste -- mine isn't yours.

That said, I am excited for a number of upcoming titles on multiple platforms, for a bunch of different reasons. Maybe some of those reasons match yours.

I'm just going to list through September, because there are a bunch of titles, and I want to do a follow-on holiday buying guide later.

Below are my brief lenses for my games excitement.

Professional: From the toy job perspective (game engine and tools product manager), I'm looking forward to a number of titles from my licensees on the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. Many of those I can't yet talk about (bummer), but I'm looking forward to a big ol' "boo-yah!" when I can.

Armchair analyst: As an armchair analyst, I think there are some games that will make some commercial or artistic waves, and hopefully push the market forward a bit.

Gamer: And as a gamer (and personally playing on the 360, Wii, and NDS), I've got a bunch of titles competing for my ill-managed discretionary cash.

Check out the list below. They're roughly in chronological release order, but dates may change, I'm not the publisher driving the title's release, I'm probably missing some big ones, blah blah blah.

And be sure to use the comments section to tell me titles to which you're looking forward.

Monkey Island: Special Edition (360) -- Have you not played this classic? Well, LucasArts is milking its back catalog, and its back-catalog rocks. Pick up this re-imagined gem on XBLA, and fall in love with the adventure genre all over again.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal (PC, Wii) -- I sooo hope this comes to XBLA (rumblings say yes), but a new episodic franchise based on the famed original? Done.

BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle (360, PC) -- Do you not own these two great titles? Stop reading, go out and pick up this $30 two-fer pack (wait for it ...) right now. Why are you still here?

Bust-A-Move Plus! (Wii) -- Make fun of me if you want, but Bust-A-Move is an IP favorite of mine. I'm looking forward to this title for mindless, frustrating, puzzling.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? (PSP) --Letting handheld players build their own levels is a dicey prospect, but if it's pulled off right, the mechanic and the art and humor style of this could be a platform-seller.

Marvel VS Capcom 2 (360, PS3) --OK, so it's not so much a re-imagining as a re-release, but this 2D fighting XBLA release brings one of my favorite Xbox titles back, and I'm looking forward to getting my tail kicked by twelve-year-olds while I dutifully espouse the merits of Captain America and patriotism.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled (360) -- This re-imagining of the TMNT arcade cabinet (not the SNES version with the additional content) looks wicked slick. If you picked up the previous XBLA release for peanuts on Amazon recently, you shouldn't feel too angry about paying for this new, slickly skinned version. This is part of Microsoft's "Summer of Arcade", which could be subtitled, "The Summer of Wicked Expensive XBLA Titles", but at least they're quality wicked expensive XBLA titles.

The King of Fighters XII (PS3, 360) -- Fanboy franchise power in another high-caliber fighter; I'm curious to see the final units numbers.

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta (360, PC) -- I've resigned myself to the fact I'll be playing Fallout 3 forever. More content equals more playing. Anytime I don't know what to play, I put in Fallout. And now I'm going to go off-world. Suh-weet.

Wolfenstein (PC, 360, PS3) -- I *heart* the classic forebearer of the FPS, and now that BJ's back, I'm going to be blasting. Not just for the name of the hero, but because the shroud mechanic sounds cool.

Phantom Brave: We Meet Again (Wii) -- The title that arguably busted open the strategy RPG is finally coming to the Wii, enhanced and expanded (more story, different UI, updated graphics, and new characters/ inventory swag / skills).

Batman: Arkham Asylum (X360, PS3, PC) -- I am a comic book fan; one hoping for the first Batman game that doesn't make me angry. This combo stealth actioner may finally be it. I'm worried its "Teen" rating my undercut the edge, but we'll see.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS) -- A co-worker got me into Curious Village recently, and now I can't wait for all of the titles in the franchise. Think beautiful, (non-stereotyped) Japanese animation puzzler on the DS, and you're part way to the awesome.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) -- All three Wii Metroid titles in one place, with the excellent control scheme from the third game brought back to the first two. It's in my Amazon wish list, so buy it for me.

Bayonetta (PS3, 360) -- Here's an over-the-top third-person actioner that has a new level of WTF written all over it. It's stylistic, seems to make no sense, vids make it look buttery polished already, and I dig that heroine's hair suit is not because she's hirsute (the first is kind of sexy; the second most definitely would not be).

Mini Ninjas (360, PS3, Wii, DS) -- Awe, cute mini ninjas, anthropomorphism, a Samurai Jack vibe, and the fact that ninjas are cooler than pirates? Arr, that's gold, that is.

NHL 10 (PS3, 360) -- I'm a hockey fan. It's off-season. So, normally I'm sad, but Electronic Arts and 2K Sports are duking it out for the most fantastic hockey treatment, and I win.

NHL 2K10 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2) -- I'm a hockey fan. It's off-season. So, normally I'm sad, but 2K Sports and Electronic Arts are duking it out for the most fantastic hockey treatment, and I win. I think 2K will win on the Wii and PS2 fronts.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, DS) -- Loved the first game, and the second will hopefully be even more polished. I am nervous Raven's not at the helm, but Vicarious Visions did a ton on the first game, so the second is probably in great hands (looks like the CGI cut-scene budget is smaller, this time around, though). Plus some folks at Marvel have promised me this game is going to rock. They promised.

Scribblenauts (DS) -- Hrm. "Puzzle platformer game with 200 levels" doesn't quite do this justice. You write words. The words become objects. You use the objects to move around the levels and solve puzzles. Oh, yes you do.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf (360 PS3) -- I hear bad rumblings this has been canceled. I hope not. A grown-up RPG on the consoles? Freaking finally.

Halo 3: ODST (360) -- Yeah, I can not get away from how much I am a Halo fan. While my clans have sickened me on Halo 2 (I bought a 360 for a reason), Forge and 4-player co-op keep me coming back to Halo 3, and ODST looks to have a fun game mechanic (innovative flashbacks), great story, more maps for Halo 3, a cool firefight game mode, and a beta key for Bungie's mysterious Reach project. And Peter David is writing the ODST comic book commercial suck tie-in, so I'm set.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) -- Single and multiplayer franchise expansion to the DS. Sqeenix plus Disney. Roxas and Axel as playable. Yippee.

Borderlands (360, PC, PS3) -- Teased for so long, with a recent shiny new coat of paint, I have worked hard not to lose interest in this one. Gearbox has earned their place in the industry, so I'll likely pick up this game just to vote with my dollars as to how to do it right, and I'm guessing the game will live up to the studio that made it.

Alright -- that's the list for now. Now comment, dammit!

Hey, I just realized no one ever sends me review titles anymore -- What up with that?

Maybe it's because I moved, and they don't have my new address ...

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posted by Adam @ 5:47 PM

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Who should buy Midway

Midway is on the chopping block. It's been a weird, relatively recent spiral for the game industry mainstay, but sadly, it looks like Midway may go the way of Atari or Acclaim (if it's lucky), reborn in another skin for a venerable brand.

So who should buy Midway? The brand's got cachet, IP, and ... loads of debt (likely the biggest stumbling block for purchase).

Allegedly, at least three companies are vying for Midway: Warner Brothers, Ubisoft and "a private Chicago investor" (not that that went well previously).

The first two are interesting options, I'm not going to speculate on the third, but what about a dark-horse fourth?

What about Epic Games?

Now, I'm being totally speculative, have no apriori knowledge, and this probably won't fly, but it struck me this morning that this could be a good match.

Think about it, Epic's into buying good dev teams in their bid for world domination (a la Chair Entertainment and People can Fly), Midway has a whole lot of experience using the Unreal Engine (basically making it their company-wide tech), but have grumbled about it (with some possible legal fallout that could be absorbed in an acquisition), the Unreal Tournament license has gone from Atari to Midway, and given Midway's current state, I doubt they can hold onto it.

I'm just saying.

I don't know what Epic's cap table looks like, if an acquisition is even feasible, what other discussions Epic is having with the likes of Microsoft in relation to the Gears franchise, or with Electronic Arts, who is the named publisher for the People Can Fly title, etc.

So, it's wildly speculative. But sometimes the more interesting Biz Dev thoughts are.

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posted by Adam @ 3:23 PM

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Tokyo Game Show 2008

Overview:
The Tokyo Game Show is in full swing, and other than putting some links over on the left to TGS tags or sections of industry sites (IGN, Joystiq, and Kotaku*), I haven't been able to write much -- though I've been keeping up.

So what's the big news at TGS?

Depends what you like.

If you're of a certain type, maybe it's all about the TGS "companions" and their "outfits".

I'm not writing to your type. Ever.

Industry Happenings:
From a lightweightish touchpoint of the industry perspective, the platform representation is a bit interesting. Not definitive by any means, but the percentage of titles per platform at TGS08 is an interesting indicator of commercial interest (and therefore, addressable market) for those platforms. Obviously, the data slightly skewed due to the regional (and, therefore, regional consumer interest) nature of show.


Unofficial breakout of platforms represented at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show
Attendance is down around 11,000 from last year (continuing a downward trend), probably due to Nintendo's continued absence, and the in-betweenness of big shipping titles and not-yet-playable titles, and/or Microsoft as one of the big publishers still not being the Japan draw that Sony is (or Nintendo would be, if they deigned to show).

But ignoring jaded gaming press's various wailing's about "not much happening" at TGS this year, for gamers who still love games, there's some good stuff, and Saturday's public attendance (from picts) at least looks respectable.

Microsoft:
If you're an Xbox 360 fan, there was a lot of good noise on that front. Besides the formal announcement the New Xbox Experience (NXE) coming November 19th, (confirming what we already knew, based on an XBL ad), it sounds like the monolothic, twice-a-year Xbox dashboard updates of the past may give way to more fleet-of-foot updates, which as a gamer, program and former development manager, makes me happy. Plus, the videos of the new dashboard in use is pretty exciting.

And the laggard "Bringing it Home" downloadable content finally showed up (anyone else find it funny that Xbox Live's Major Nelson seemed surprised by the content?). Oh, but good luck finding it in one place on your Xbox, since I have yet to find the TGS08 button there, what with all of the "Shocktober", Quantum of Solace, Gears of War 2, and other noise on the dashboard. (UPDATED: Turns out I got to it by going to Marketplace --> Spotlight --> Games --> Tokyo Game Show 2008 (37 slots down from the top? Seriously?).)

If you're more on the 360 fanboy side, you should take glee in Microsoft's further eroding of the Sony exclusives by taking Tekken 6 (out next year), adding to the usurped Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy franchises.

Oh, and Halo junkies? Bungie finally got to make their late- and- undercut announcement of Halo: Recon, a boxed-title expansion pack for Halo 3, that will be a prequel (single player campaign and new multiplayer maps and modes), featuring a playable Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) marine -- a bad-ass looking character I've been waiting (and I'm pretty sure I've been promised I'd be able) to play since Halo 2. The trailer shows off the repeat top-notch, triple-A, traylor madd skilz we've seen in past Halo universe trailers. Some of the cool stuff is pretty subtle (which makes it cooler).

Of similar interest is the Halo Wars RTS, and I'm hoping it gets the love it needs from Microsoft and Ensemble, given the former's recent shuttering of the latter.

Public service announcement: I still want Otogi 3, but From Software's Ninja Blade will likely fill the gap until someone comes to their senses and makes that other thing happen.

And on the free- publicity- better- than- your- own- game- PR- could- do front, I'm not sure Microsoft could get better than Kotaku calling Banjo Kazooie "More Like LEGO Grand Theft Auto".

Sony:
Sony folks? Were you bummed like I was that anticipated title White Knight Chronicles -- a game showing up this year -- wasn't playable on the show floor, and its session was a PowerPoint presentation? Hey, at least 4-player co-op news snuck out.

But the Resistence 2 (PS3) and Resistence: Retribution (PSP) interconnectivity sounds nifty (actually the whole "PSP Plus" tie between the PSP and PS3 (including DualShock functionality) feels cool, and I hope devs exploit it).

I'm watching to see if LittleBigPlanet becomes the atypical console mover I think it could be. But the brilliance of leveraging Sony's IP as Sackboys (Kratos from God of War, Nariko from Heavenly Sword, "Old Snake" from Metal Gear Solid 4, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII), while kind of a "duh" move, showcases the kind of tactical marketing savvy I like to see. Now, if they could only do the same thing with their video and music catalogs on PSN...

Multiplatform:
On the multiplatform front, Resident Evil 5 is looking grr-eat, and the co-op deets (I'm a co-op bigot) make me happy.

Konami's going to get us a new Xbox 360 and PS3 Castlevania, but other details or neigh non-existent.

Namco Bandai's Afro Samurai? Looks wicked sweet.

And, no, Square Enix didn't announce a date for Final Fantasy XIII. [Sigh]

And this Street Fighter IV trailer? Art. Again. I want the game to look like the ink or watercolors or sand post-processing effect. Please?


Changing Business Models:
On the "changing business models front", Microsoft's NXE goes a long way in that direction, because it will give better access to the wealth of content that's made the 360 a victim of its own success, and it'll be an interesting experience in the "core, non-core, social interaction" realm (a la the avatars and LIVE Party). Sony making all first-party PSP titles downloadable is a very cool, moving- into- the- digital- distro move, and Level 5's surprising ROID digital distro (Steam?) competitor gets props for super sexy packaging, and console- transformer- red- herring tease (but they don't have any PC or mobile games in their portfolio, do they? Hmm.).

Philosophy:
As a left-field kind of thing, I really like what I think is an important industry statement from Peter Molyneux (Fable II):

"More and more we are saying these ones here are core games and these one here are casual games. Actually I think that is an incredibly divisive thing and if we're not careful the amount of attention we put into these core games will get less and less because they are so expensive to make."

Show Floor:
Here's an embed of what the Tokyo Game Show floor must be kind of like, from blip.tv / Kotaku (who, despite my rant below, I think are probably fine folks).

More as I think about it. Maybe.

* (What is up with Kotaku? Much as I like those guys, why the hell do I have to dig through so many fractured tags to get all of my TGS info? ("tokyo game show 2008"? "TGS08"? "Lets TGS" [sic]? WTF? Oh, and there's TGS content not tagged. Nice.)

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posted by Adam @ 10:38 AM

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Saturday, June 07, 2008

Video game criticism that matters

Here's a decent article (and part of a series) on more mature video game criticism: "Zarathustran Analytics in Video Games, Part 9: Flaws in Criticism Today".

You should read the article (and the series), but -- in essence -- it's a call for the importance of meaningful critical review of games as genuine feedback to the teams that make them, as opposed to the "this is fun" / "this sucks" or review scores model that is endemic to the review world today.

(As an aside, does anyone else find it ironic that versions of numerical scores are used to grade non-numerical, creative experiences)?

I do think a model that creates -- in essence -- post mortem input to creative teams is far more useful for driving the games industry forward in a meaningful way than the aggregate Metacritic scores currently used by publishers, and (unfortunately) sometimes used to penalize creativity.

I think there's probably some middle(ish) ground between the prevailing system, and ivory tower(ish) critiques like "Repressed Homoeroticism in R-Type" (no disrespect meant, but I'm looking for a subset of enabling criticism that helps development teams, as opposed to "just" cultural implication assessments).

I do have a pet peeve, though: historical pop culture memory gaps.

While I appreciate references to Lester Bangs and Alan Moore, why reference Enders Game, as opposed to Kobayashi Maru? Or perhaps more appropriately (given this particular article), why use Mirrors Edge, rather than precursor (and dead-on candidate for the particular point being made) Breakdown? (Admittedly, I'm perhaps overly a fan of Breakdown, and think that team did something gutsy and innovative and didn't get its due props.)

But those are nits compared to my overall appreciation of this article and its sentiment.

Check it out for yourself.

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posted by Adam @ 2:50 PM

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Odd choice for a PlayStation3 loading screen

I found this a wee bit (painfully) funny.

Check out the Flash loading logo for the SCEA PlayStation Website:

Look similar to anything else in the game space? ;-)

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posted by Adam @ 3:19 PM

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Holiday game tidbits

Looks like my annual shopping recommendations and awesome deals post isn't going to happen this year, so check your local papers for whatever happens this Sunday before Christmas.

There some 50%-off deals at Amazon.com ($20 Crackdown isn't bad).

What else?

PopCap games are 50% off.

Other than that, all I've got is if you buy Viva Piñata Party Animals online at Toys R Us, you get the original Viva Piñata free, and free shipping:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2850707

(So I made maybe two of you out there happy.)

Aside from that, enjoy this Call of Duty 4 holiday map video, from the find folks at Infinity Ward:

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posted by Adam @ 3:15 PM

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Sunday, November 18, 2007

Disclaimer

So, it's finally happened.

After an approximately three-year focused effort, I'm officially working in the video game industry, hopefully leveraging that perfect storm of my technical skills, business savvy, passion for games, and snarky attitude toward traditional corporate America for the benefit of gamers everywhere.

I am so jazzed.

The recent sporadic posting on this site is because of the physical cross country move ("Goodbye, Texas! Hello, North Carolina!") and new job baptism of fire -- not because of any conflict between the job and this blog. As a matter of fact, the new paycheck-givers are very supportive of my blogging prowess (or proliferation; they didn't really say -- I'll claim both).

So I'll keep blogging my mix of video game news, business analysis, thoughts, ramblings, and rants.

Keep in mind my thoughts don't necessarily reflect those of my masters.

To wit:
"Viewpoints expressed in this Weblog do not reflect or represent the thoughts,
intentions, plans or strategies of my employer, family, friends, acquaintances,
other gamers, or even, quite possibly, me as the author."
There. Think I'm covered now.

Exciting times ahead, kids.

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posted by Adam @ 7:37 PM

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

WGA out of the game (UPDATED)

So, the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) is currently striking.

So, besides early re-runs and some other, more serious impacts about which I'll probably write on my acting blog, there's a video game impact.

The WGA is trying to a full-on push to get into video games. They put forth big presences and PR as to why it's better to use professional, union writers, at conferences like the Austin Game Developers Conference, even chairing sessions entitled, "Taking Your Videogame [sic] to the Next Level with WGA Talent".

And why wouldn't they want to push into the roughly $26B video game industry?

And why wouldn't we want them too, since we want quality writing?

But there's a problem. Problems. But let's keep it simple.

Problems, like, it's tough to get the majority of the game industry to pay for professional actors, let alone professional writers. (There are some great exceptions, but I'm talking generally.)

And then the writers go and strike.

Why, again, should game companies look at hiring potentially more expensive professional WGA writers, with the risk factor union reps have just introduced into the risk profile for companies assessing whether or not to pay for WGA writers to write games?

UPDATED: Over at IGN.com, it says "A Writer's Guild representative told IGN today that only a handful of game writers are currently represented by the union, and that they fall out of the jurisdiction of the current strike."

Though I still stand by my statements above for possible future impacts.

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posted by Adam @ 9:23 PM

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Another reason to not like game journalists

(Caveat: I'm not a games journalist. I'm just some dude who likes games and is gifted on the snarky communication front.)

I get frustrated with video game journalists for a lot of reasons, not least of which is their jaded take on games. They'll downgrade the score of great little gems because they're not a fan of the franchise, or they've gotten so greedy with escalating feature sets they penalize a smaller developed title for not including the feature.

The other reason I riff on games journalists is their lack of any sense of history. If it's not related to a violation of their fanboy franchise, it's dead to them.

Take, for example, Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes Xbox, making money this past quarter. Read a lot of the trade press coverage for this, and you'll have people downplaying the profitability because it's "only" due to Halo 3 sales.

OK, so let's review, jaded journalists:
  1. The Entertainment and Devices Division wasn't projected to be profitable until 2008.
  2. 2008 was a bump up from the original profitability projection of 2010.
  3. This is Microsoft's second profitable quarter for the Entertainment and Devices Division in a row.

So, the division is profitable for 2 years, and 203 quarters (depending on how you count) earlier than planned, and it has a track record, and (going into holiday sales), a likelihood to continue.

Never mind things like the Xbox was never expected to be a contender in the console war, and arguably bested Nintendo last generation and Sony this (so far). And the Entertainment and Devices Division also includes Zune, which is doing well, and also wasn't supposed to even be a contender in the MP3 / personal media devices front.

And, brass tacks, they're making money. Lots of money.

Honestly, I don't get the haters mentality (toward Microsoft, Apple, Electronic Arts, etc.) -- it just seems to be sour grapes from the have-nots and don't-want-to-work-for-its.

I'm fine with opinion pieces on things like the Microsoft numbers -- just call them "opinion", rather than "reporting". Or call them "second fiddle to Adam's snarky brilliance".

Let the hate mail begin...

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posted by Adam @ 11:41 AM

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Monday, October 22, 2007

Contradicting fall game sales predictions debunked

OK, it's not that I don't like the guy, but I when he does video gaming analysis, this guy at CNet falls flatter than me.

Below is a version of the comments I left on his blog. Last time I did this, he wrote a defensive response post, aimed at "people", and never referencing my comments. Let's see if we get a repeat infraction.

Like I said, I don't have an issue with him. He's got a good gig (more power to him). But folks like him (and I) need to recognize (and acknowledge) where we're stepping out of "analysis" and into "opinion".

Anyway, read his whole post for context, but he basically says this is his projection for each of the consoles this holiday:
  • Overall Xbox 360 outlook for the holiday season: mediocre.
  • Overall Nintendo Wii outlook for the holiday season: strong
  • Overall Sony Playstation 3 outlook: moderate to strong

And he says parents not able to find a $250 Wii will buy a $400 Ps3. Why they would do that rather than a $280 or $350 Xbox 360 feels a bit off to me. Maybe he's thinking parents will recognize the Sony brand over the Microsoft brand?


It's an interesting analysis, but it is lacking (and not accurate) in so many areas.

Many of the comments in response to his post point out the major misses in the article.

In addition, I'd say his analysis neglects basic market factors, and doesn't even address things like the recently released NPD numbers, which paint a very different picture than he does. And while every company is going to have their spin on these numbers, Sony's "forward-looking" take is pretty telling.

He's also inconsistent in pointing to bundles as being factors (or non-factors) in holiday sales, but doesn't mention things like the recently released Xbox 360 bundles (the Arcade bundle and the Forza 2 / Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle).

On the PS3 side, you doesn't go into any detail about the brief history of (and differences between) the price-dropped 80GB, 20 GB, phased-out 60 GB, and recently-released (but feature reduced) 40 GB models.

And he says with Halo 3 out and Mass Effect the only exclusive this holiday, the 360 won't see enough of an upswing from those titles.

Seriously? Does he think the Halo 3 tailing occurred that fast?

I would argue that console exclusives (like Halo 3 or Gears of War) are console sellers, Mass Effect will likely do far better than for which he credits it (the Electronic Arts acquisition by itself is arguably indicative of this market confidence). And I don't think the "BioShock boost" is over yet, either.

And I would argue the non-exclusives are huge console draws (they are for me; I'm looking for a console's total gaming portfolio which is why Microsoft is first for me for its retail offerings; Nintendo is second because of its great Virtual Console offerings, and Sony is last).

For example, "Oh, I can also play Call of Duty 4 on Xbox 360, which is a better FPS platform? Oh, Madden '08 looks and plays ridiculously better on the 360 than the PS3? I don't need to buy a PS3 to get Devil May Cry 4? I can play Orange Box (definitely) and Assassin's Creed (probably) earlier on the 360 than the PS3? Etc.

Again, the guy has some interesting commentary, but it's super lightweight, and way behind (both in terms of time and depth) industry analyst professionals like Michael Pachter or Colin Sebastian.

He also trumpets a previous forward-looking post he did as pseudo credentials for his analysis. Avoiding a rebuttal to the idea of "Why 'Halo 3' will decide the Xbox 360's fate", I'm not sure I'd recommend trumpeting a September Halo 3 post written the day before the game was released -- when industry analysts like Pachter and Sebastian had posted deeper, more accurate predictions weeks (in some cases, months) before. And those guys, as storied as they are in their dedicated vertical market, are only "right" around 60% of the time (in a non-representative, but random, and repeated, an non-overlapping personal sampling).

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Looking at comments written in response to his post while I was writing this one, though, looks like I'm not alone in my grousing.

Hey, for those of you who have been writing to complain about me not having done a "Crotchety Gamer" post in a while ... you're welcome.

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posted by Adam @ 2:14 PM

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Another place consoles are missing the boat

So, The Orange Box has flagged for me a couple of big missed opportunities for developers / publishers wanting to capitalize on things setting consoles apart from PCs.

The big one is multiplayer. I'm not talking about Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network -- I'm talking same-box, four-player mutliplayer.

I have FOUR freaking controllers! Not being able to play local Crackdown at all, only being able to do two-player local co-op for Gears of War, and having to go online to play any multiplayer Team Fortress 2 sucks. Why buy it for $60 for the Xbox 360 or PS3 (eventually?) when I can have the same same box experience (with an arguably better control set) for up to $25 less?

I can see a company mistakenly not wanting to implement local multiplayer, because of the mistaken perception they can sell more games if everybody has to buy them in order to play.

Ridiculous. I have so many friends and acquaintances who have bought games and systems because of my twice weekly open game nights. You limit the local play, you limit those sales.

I'm glad to see Halo 3 continues the 4-player same-box support, both offline and online (other than offline co-op campaign, which only supports 2, and which I maintain is likewise poor; but not as bad as all of the other games I mention).

I'd have more sympathy, but (A) I really think console multiplayer games need to support local multiplayer as a standard feature to compete in the current market, and (B) After pinging multiple game devs about this, they were pretty harsh about local multiplayer not being included because of "developer laziness" -- ouch! And those are their words, not mine).

So, get with it, kids. I would have bought The Orange Box day one if TF2 supported local 4-way play. As it is, I'll hold off until it hits a promo discount price, and if that doesn't happen well before or well after the holiday game glut, I may end up passing on the title altogether.

Oh, and Area #2 where consolers are falling short? User content. Halo 3 has the Forge level editing feature. Build from that (give us the level, map, and skin creation options we've had on the PC mod side for years).

(Oh, and don't get mad at me for mentioning Halo 3 so much. Though they do a lot of things right, their botched non-drop-in-drop-out online co-op sucks. Feel better?)

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posted by Adam @ 3:13 PM

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Sunday, September 09, 2007

The importance of corporate solidarity

As a enterprise technical director, I recognize the importance -- and challenge -- of keeping everyone on the same page. Some recent video game happenings have prompted me to write about it.

So, I'm gonna talk about my version of what I call "corporate solidarity", why it's important, why it's hard, and why it sucks (and what costs) when it's broken. And I'm going to use two recent examples that aren't big by themselves, but give me a launch pad for discussing this in a games industry context -- BioShock and Crackdown.

"Corporate Solidarity":

From a functional perspective, if the various development, QA, project management, support, operations, and other parties are not marching to the beat of (largely) the same drum, I can't get the products and services for which I'm responsible out the door. And once I get them out the door, if people don't have a "one team, one brand" perspective, a lot of folks' ridiculously hard work can be thrown out the window in a heartbeat.

Maintaining this is hard for a bunch of reasons. Actually, we could say, "The reasons corporate solidarity falls apart is Legion" (both due to the connotative sense of the word, and because when all of these things stack up against you, they can feel vaguely demonic; I kid; maybe).

I manage international, multi-million dollar projects and services. People fall off the same page because of time zone and cultural differences, varying departmental goals, the "silo effect" of different internal functional groups prioritizing their goals over the success of projects or services they're supporting, Customers' (or developers') changing needs being put ahead of agreed-upon schedules, miss-prioritization of cost / scope / schedule to the negative detriment of the other factors, personality conflicts, greed, hubris, embarrassment about admitting a technical or business mistake or lack of skills or experience, the planets not being aligned, tectonic shifts, and Web 2.0. To name a few.

And managing these stumbling blocks is hard. Wicked hard. And it requires just that -- management. Project management, financial management, people management, risk management, relationship management (in addition to people management), expectation management (separate from people and relationship management), communication management, and on and on.

Personal case study:

Let's take a small example of internal corporate solidarity falling apart, and the damage it does.

I managed a part of a service / product offering I'd actually brought into the company. A year-plus later, it'd become a decent revenue stream, had transitioned to another group, and was growing. I was brought in to shepherd some next steps for the service, and had been asked to attend a call with the current owners (within my company and division) and the Customer.

On the call, the point person from the new owning group within our company proceeded to insult the Customers and my team as not knowing anything about the service (I had actually been responsible for helping define the original business, user, and context flows the service). He was unresponsive to Customer questions and requirements statements and dismissive of my bringing up any history and lessons learned.

His content was worse due to his delivery, which was very aggressive, snippish, and what you could call "steamrolling".

The call went as well as it could, and I spent the time constantly navigating conversation back to the Customer to get what I could as far as enhancement requirements, desired time lines, service level expectations, concerns, and the like, not responding to our own company's barbs, and heading off my team members' and the Customers' responses to those barbs.

Immediately after the call ended, the Customer (who was also the business owner of the service, and who had a positive history with me), called me to ask what just happened, who this [unmentionable] person was, proceeded to tell me they may have made a mistake moving the service with this group, said he was thinking of stopping the enhancement project all together, and hinted that the mistake might impact our entire division.

That's a whole lotta cost for an employee forgetting he worked for the same company as folks on the phone, and forgot his Customer on the phone was providing his current position. The real-world cost in addition to that was the expense and time-cost of stopping and restarting the enhancement effort a number of times, weeks work of damage control, and the relationship building of re-establishing credibility for the entire division. The eventual solution is too long for (and outside) the scope of this post, but involved several of us outside of what I'll call that problem area of the company doing the work to keep the business, and being mature enough to swallow our own pride to keep the business, despite having to do it along with less mature people. Not fun, that.

Game Case Study 1 -- BioShock:

OK, biases out in the open first: I'm playing BioShock, and it's an amazingly well-done and entertaining game. On top of that, Ken Levine seems like a genuinely nice, hard-working and helpful guy.

But BioShock's had its share of PR bumps.

First, there was the hiccup around widescreen HDTV presentation. Which, arguably came down to an internal development miscommunication as to how 4:3 and 16:9 presentation is handled, versus ... what the rest of the HDTV world expects. But Levine was quick to offer (while on vacation) a mea culpa, explanation, and promise of further exploration to address it for gamers. (This is a actually a pro-solidarity example, sometimes called "constituent solidarity".)

But then there have been all sorts of problems with the PC version of the game -- largely around copy protection, and getting "charged" for multiple installations of the game, even if you're the only one playing it.

That's frustrating by itself, but exacerbated recently (and publicly) by a statement from a 2K Games forum moderator (who is not a a 2K Games employee; most news outlets have not updated with this critical bit of info).

Here's the thread from the forum (stereotypical crudishness included):

Quote:
Nemesisdesignz wrote:
I installed Bioshock on my laptop under one admin user, Everything works fine, but I then tried to switch users on my computer and whenever I launch Bioshock it is asking me to enter my serial again for the game.... IS THIS GONNA CHARGE ME TWO OF MY 5 Activations???? IF SO THAT IS GAY.... I need to know this ASAP before I attempt to play this on my pc under the other user... THis is a bug if the case be....so get yo stuff fixed!

Here's the response from moderator 2k Tech JT:

Quote:
2k Tech JT writes:
The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free?

Obviously, the logic is a bit off (if you buy a movie, and the hero doth bleed, can not your family watch the hero bleed with you?). It's not like games follow a per-seat licensing structure akin to big-gun ETL or development software.

Since this is allegedly not a 2k employee, why do I include it?

Because this is still another extended example of a lack of corporate solidarity costing a good product that's already in the marketplace. The problem person in question "works for an outside tech support group" -- a vendor who is part of the larger matrixed BioShock team -- and who (obviously) impacts the positive and negative success of the product. You better believe if I was at 2K, I'd be factoring this instance into contract renegotiations with that vendor company. Of course, maybe this forum moderator is just effected by the penumbra of parent company Take-Two Interactive (what, you don't think there's something endemically wrong with that outfit?)

Game Case Study 2 -- Crackdown:

This one makes my heart hurt a little. Hang on ... OK.

Crackdown is a great little sandbox game from the original creator of Grand Theft Auto (before it got caliente café). It came bundled with a beta key for Halo 3. The game stands on its own without the Halo 3 beta. It sold 1.5 million copies in six months. It was published by Microsoft.

Realtime Worlds producer producer Phil Wilson said in a developer interview (among other things), despite the critical and popular success of Crackdown, there isn't going to be a sequel.

Why?

According to the Realtime Worlds (and pay attention to the language):
"Microsoft were a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things."
Ouch. So, "Our publisher who effectively banked us on that and our two next projects? That hand? This is me biting it."

Not good. So with this publisher / developer solidarity breakdown, Shane Kim over at Microsoft Games is probably going to be thinking about that if Realtime Worlds comes and asks them to publish their "undisclosed project due in 2009."

Oh, and as a little freebie, notice how bad decisions beget bad decisions and impact tertiary groups. Developmag.com has changed the story (there was some other unflattering stuff in the original article), adding this disclaimer:
"NOTE: Details/facts in this story have been adjusted at the request of Realtime
Worlds."
I used to be a journalist (formally, not just this current labor-of-love column stuff), and there are things you want to do. Stuff like stand by your story, not blame your source, not be obligated to get your story approved -- or edited -- by your source, and so on.

The solidarity breakdown has hurt many.

Anyway, that's my little (little?) blurb about corporate solidarity, corporate partnerships,

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posted by Adam @ 7:21 PM

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Friday, August 31, 2007

Nerves ... nerves ...

I am a wee bit nervous.

Why?

Halo 3 went Gold this week, on its way to into my hot little hands on Sept. 24th, midnight (note to my new employer: I will likely be "ill" Sept. 25th).

So, why the nervous?

My replacement Xbox made horrible sounds last night. Like clicking, whirring, sparking, snapping sounds inside is plastic chassis. And I was playing the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta, so there was no disc involved.

I'm hoping this "new" 'box doesn't brick before Halo 3 arrives. "Hoping", but not "praying", mind you. I do save that for genuinely important stuff.

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posted by Adam @ 11:14 AM

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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Incoming: Crotchety Gamer Comments

Over at CNET, Don Reisinger has a post for his "The Digital Home" blog basically saying movies are derivative, video games are innovative, and

"The movie industry needs to take some notes from the video game developers. Trust me, it's the only way to bring us back."
Ridiculous hasty generalization aside (but read the whole article, so you're not just taking my words), there are some problems with Reisinger's post.

Keep in mind he's a self-expoused video game proponent. Also keep in mind that though I am, too, I've smacked the video game industry around recently (and am getting ready to again). And while this is going to sound overly critical of him, it's not meant to. He's just espousing some "pro-game, anti-everything-else" rhetoric that seems to have become pretty popular lately. I feel like it needs a response. Again.

He's made some good points about the "mind-numbing" film offerings and the "far more innovative" games industry, but these are generalizations for both vertical markets. I think it romanticizes video game offerings, and unfairly slights film.


In essence, he's talking about the very real trap of commercialism, but that exists regardless of the distribution medium.

It's not like it's that easy to nail down. After all, film and video games are at the end of the day
commercial enterprises. It takes money to make creative projects, and financial backers may go with known quantities at the expense of original intellectual property. Sure, we want original IP, but if that doesn't sell, companies can't make more of it (look at how video gamers under-appreciated titles like Psychonauts, Beyond Good & Evil, and Breakdown, keeping us from those possible sequels).

Do you want challenging stuff in film? There is a fantastic independent film scene that pushes thematic and content boundaries. Sure, the downside is there are those that do it for the sake of pushing boundaries (to poor effect), but the same can be said of video games (the Virginia shootings "simulator" game, and it's too early to know whether Take-Two's Manhunt 2 will fall into the same category).

On the flip side, there are interesting and valuable films that attempt to make it through mainstream commercial distribution (Hayao Miyazaki's films, Timur Bekmambetov's Night Watch, Danny Boyle's/Alex Garland's Sunshine), and those that are wildly successful -- and arguably thematically important -- on the commercial front (Zack Snyder's 300, Robert Rodriguez's Sin City).

Reisinger maintains, "Movies have become boring and derivative", so I'm not sure he's compared and contrasted first-person shooters in general (and the number of World War II games in particular). Or the sports franchises. Or Massively Multiplayer Online games.

Sequels are often at the top of detractors' lists as a sign of a decreasing box office quality. But I'd argue there is commercial and popular anticipation for sequels like Sin City 2/3. And it's not to say there can't be innovation in sequels (in film or gaming). To me, Madden is a tired franchise -- but Madden 08 is an amazingly solid game. And while I would be satisfied with a break from WWII shooters, Gearbox Software's upcoming Brother's in Arms: Hell's Highway is the third in its series, is a WWII shooter, and is arguably one of the more innovative franchises out there.

And all of the "hot new video game releases" he lists are actually sequels (Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Metal Gear Solid [4]).

And BioShock (which I consider a fantastic game), is, to honest, a bit derivative -- of its System Shock precursor and of the Deus Ex play mechanics and depth of story.

And video games are a different industry than film. A very young industry, with a lot of potential. Reisinger bemoans "only" getting his choice of a "'blood-pumping thriller', a 'laugh-out-loud comedy', or your run-of-the-mill family drama", but games don't even give us those three (surely not two of the three).

I'm also not sure I've ever seen anyone lament human beings' lofty emotions and struggles: "For too long, we've been subjected to the mind-numbing stories of love, action and drama."

To be honest, I believe good stories are good stories. Film sequels can be told well (The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi), or not as well (in some folks' opinion, the new Star Wars trilogy). Same with games (I'm hoping Halo 3 has a better story than Halo 2; Hell's Highway is based on pretty hard-core, real account; I'm looking forward to Mass Effect's story; etc.).

So let's give different medium the grace afforded by the medium. And let's take each medium to task when it is being derivative. And let's laud the good stuff, loud and long.

No medium is more artistic than another.

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posted by Adam @ 8:42 PM

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Monday, August 27, 2007

GC and PAX summaries

Here's my take on game thingey's announced at the recent Leipzig Game Conference ("Leipzig", or "GC") and Penny Arcade Expo (PAX).

By way of framework, there are games I care about, there are conference-related announcements, and there are conference-related announcements about games I care about. My summaries are mostly about this overlap. With smatterings of other stuff to celebrate diversity.

Oh, and Uwe Boll was the surprise guest at PAX. Not Jack Thompson. Good.

On to game announcements.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures -- I'm a Conan fan, and getting two games based on the franchise is pretty cool. This one is the MMO from Funcom, expected in early 2008 for PC (with an Xbox 360 version following), and early play tests from press have been fairly positive (with the caveat that for an MMO you really need more than a play test). And it was named Leipzig's "Best Online Game of the Show". I'm trying to get into the beta.

BlackSite: Area 51 -- BlackSite's being done by the local Midway Austin folks, and though they didn't hire me to do the voice work (they did let me audition), I want the game to do well. The typically snarky folks at Kotaku are a bit bullish on the title, which is saying something.

Borderlands -- Likewise, I want Plano, TX-based Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms) to do well with their just-announced Borderlands. Sounds promising, and with a randomization feature that touts up to 500,000 different firearms (and is likewise applied to armor, vehicles, and so on) and randomized level layouts, this game doesn't sound like it's going to be boring at all.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- The works and mythos created by C.S. Lewis are deep and rich, and given the movie is coming along nicely, the inevitable game from Disney Interactive is, too. Early build screens are already looking good, and I hope some gameplay videos pop up soon.

Dead Island -- Zombies am still new hotness, so this game from Techland (Call of Juarez, Loki, Warhound, and the Chrome Engine) looks promising. I love that the bar for now-gen zombie games has been set by Dead Rising. I'm hoping other devs rise to the challenge.

Fracture -- I'm hoping this new IP from LucasArts lives up to the hype of the terraforming gimmick. While the play mechanic is enticing, I haven't been struck by the character designs, and initial impressions from game press have said while the mechanic is cool, it was straight-up shooting that won matches.

Halo 3 -- So far, industry folks are liking Halo 3's campaign (same, but tweaked), multiplayer (tweaked way more), and in-game editor, "The Forge" ("This might be the coolest addition to Halo 3"). I think I may be going dark on this title soon, to avoid any (more) spoilers for me. Oh, and breaking from tradition, Halo 3 was the title used for the final Omegathon challenge (usually a retro game) at PAX. It was a new level, with new maps, with many lucky, lucky fans in attendance.

Haze -- I'm excited about this game, if for no other reason than it's from the Free Radical folks of TimeSplitters fame. There are unconfirmed rumors the game is not coming to Xbox 360, which would suck.

Heavenly Sword -- This PS3 brawler looks good, and reviews so far have been mixed on gameplay and depth. They certainly seem to be putting a lot of the right effort behind story telling, acting, character design, and audio, so I hope the game rocks as much as its potential.

Legendary: The Box -- Aside from Gamecock or Spark Unlimited needing to rename this title, I'm so looking forward to this take on a literal Pandora's box. More mythology for me, and dev chops from Spark partnered with the announcement of multiplayer have me grinning. And dodging griffins. Gamecock knows how to pick 'em; and they're in Austin.

Mass Effect -- Allegedly more polished, allegedly more pretty.

Metal Gear Solid 4 --Seriously, if you're not excited about MGS 4 for franchise love, pushing technical boundaries, innovative character design, or boundary-pushing story and thematic elements, you're probably reading the wrong blog. News at the show was a bit of "maybes", with possible support for customer soundtracks and online play. Themes and new boss characters were revealed, with a loose "Beauty and the Beast" theme, and boss characters based on real-life actresses / models Yumi Kikuchi, Scarlett Chorvat, Mieko Rye, and Lyndall Jarvis.


Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness -- I'm looking forward to this game, and the PAX announcement of the 4-5 hour Episode One available for download from Xbox Live this year is exciting for PA fans, and for folks (like me) wanting the Xbox 360 to catch up to episodic gaming. And the official Website opened.

Rock Band -- This game got rave pre/reviews at GC and PAX. I'm fascinated with this whole phenomenon that arguably allowed Activision to unseat Electronic Arts as top publisher (but let's see what the Madden '08 numbers do). Oh, and Rock Band is Harmonix / MTV Games. I was just, y'know, talking about the phenomenon.

Spore -- I so want this game, but I've put my interest on hold, repeatedly, to match its repeated delays. The devs at GC said the game is completely playable (yay!), but "still requires a lot of polish" (boo!), but there may be an open beta to help them do that (yay?). Oh, how they tease me.

Too Human -- While I'm tired of the soap-opera drama coverage of delays for this trilogy, I'm still excited for this game. GC announcements narrowed the 2008 release to early in the year, with a demo to hit this fall. And it's derivative of Norse mythology.

Totems --OK, this is a just-announced, PC/360 free-roaming / sandbox game from 10tacle Studios (best-named dev studio EVAR), and is inspired by the French sport Le Parkour, animism, super heroes, and Cirque de Soleil. Tell me your interest isn't piqued.

Viking: Battle for Asgard -- Long-time readers know I'm a fan of mythology, and Norse mythology in particular (my dog's name was Loki, and Thor and Loki action firgures are currently beating the crap out of each other on my office shelf). So I'm stoked about SEGA's announcement of Viking: Battle for Asgard, an Xbox 360 and PS3 hack-n-slasher where you'll also get to "order around mythical beasts and liberated troops in enormous battles" as Skarin, a warrior protecting Midgard (earth) from goddess Hel and her minions. Hey, even if it's just now-gen Rune with a few other mechanics, I'm on board.

Virtua Fighter 5 -- This is an improved version over the current cabinet arcade "Version C", and has upped the number of NPCs, the intensity of the AI in Quest Mode, and added more accessories with which players can customize their characters. The big show at GC was online play for Xbox 360 -- something the PS3 version doesn't have. VF5 hits this October, also from SEGA.

WET -- Is a new action shooter from Sierra, and game reviewers and sites have been a little jaded on it, marginalizing it as derivative of Tomb Raider, BloodRayne, Prince of Persia, and Covert Ops. "Jaded" being the operative word. The pre-rendered cinematics belie an attention to detail and love of Hong Kong / Rodriguez-style films that make for great target visuals and gameplay. Could be some potential here.

Sony -- Sony's booth evidently had toilets as seats, probably an allusion to some of their Euro advertising that had a model sitting on a toilette (no, it doesn't make sense to be either). But they did announce Play TV -- just for Europe -- which will sit between your PS3 and TV and let you record one channel and watch another (so it sounds like a dual tuner setup). Play TV not only supports high-def video but lets you stream live or recorded video from the PS3 to your PSP, letting you watch TV shows on the PSP from anywhere in the world. Not earth-shattering for those familiar with Slingbox tech, but still pretty cool. Sony says this isn't coming to the U.S., because the "U.S. doesn't have terrestrial digital television yet."

To me, not a good excuse, and I expect Microsoft to announce a leapfrog move that involves an extension of what they're already doing with their Media PCs, Xbox 360, and Zune players (now #2 in the MP3 marketplace, I'm told). If they don't make such an announcement, we can chalk it up to one of the bigger missed opportunities in media intersection.

The full Sony press release about Play TV is here.

Other pointers to Leipzig-related news stories:
Other pointers to PAX-related news stories:

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posted by Adam @ 10:03 AM

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Web 2.0 and gaming

You hear that? It's the sound of opportunity.

Or it may be some techno-geek screaming, "F***ing get with the times, game industry!"

Web 2.0, to oversimplify, is that intersection of getting desktop-application-quality ("rich") functionality from your browser, and user-generated content that draws people in droves.

Tastes are out there. YouTube, FaceBook, and other specters of new-technology past that are, frankly, "so 2005".

Twittervision is probably a better, simple, recent example. Or SplashCast.

But what about gaming? Where's that perfect storm of Web 2.0 mashables (which, I think, are required to include at least one of Google's forever-in-"beta" products) and gaming?

Some stuff is already out there. Maybe Habbo Hotel is an example.

But what about mainstream game intersection with a Triple-A title?

Maybe this nugget missed by most folks (from GameTap's quietly launched news/feature Website) speaks to the future:

"As development on Halo 3 reaches a climax in preparation for the game's September 25 release date, developer Bungie has revealed details of an expanded file-sharing system for players with Microsoft Points to burn. Halo 3 features an innovative in-game system of file sharing, whereby custom map configurations, "game variations, screenshots, and game movies can be uploaded to Xbox Live's central servers. Every player with a copy of the game and a Live Gold subscription can upload six different pieces of content that cannot exceed 25MB in total. Bungie Pro raises the stakes, opening up a total of 24 slots and a 240MB storage total. The price of this expanded file-sharing option is 750 Microsoft Points for a year's subscription, or "around 78 cents per month," as Bungie puts it. Sophisticated integration with Bungie.net is also promised, allowing gamers to quickly navigate other users' shared content on your computer, and even queue it up for download when you next load Halo 3 on your Xbox 360. "
Interesting.

That last part is pretty key from a Web 2.0 / video game integration perspective. The stats for Halo 2 are already teasing at some cool stuff, with being able to look at in-game activity from different angles, Email it to a friend, and so on. I've got to think this is just a hint of the hidden rich-statistical goodness that is going to be in Halo 3. I claim dibbs on the phrase "rich-statistical goodness".

snapshot of a Halo 2 game played by player Hitachi Wasabe.
And I want a lot. I want to be able to set up in-console on on-Web the folks whose content I want to watch. I want to get notices when new stuff from them comes out. I want to look at the Game Viewer, and zoom in to that moment, and watch that movie, from every angle. I want to watch when I earned that 12th beat-down that also won the game, and I want to Email that to my buddy. I want to get his response in-game on the Web or on my phone. I want to be able to look at who's watching my movies and playing my maps.

And so does Bungie. You think they won't be watching the variations to which their customer base is gravitating?

I also want little things, like my Xbox Live Friends list to be accessible with my non-Xbox Live (Windows Live) Friends list from my Xbox and my computer, and I want to be be able to do the same stuff on both platforms, and have it enhanced beyond what it is -- with Xbox 360 content. Things like that.

Good times ahead for Web 2.0 and video game integration. I just hope the games industry is quick to get on the bandwagon. Or quicker, since folks have been rolling on it for a while.

And if you're a professional in the industry and in Austin for the Austin Game Developers Conference, there will be some off-schedule discussions of Web 2.0 and video game intersection. Let me know if you're interested in that, and I'll connect you with like-minded folks.

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posted by Adam @ 2:58 AM

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Monday, August 20, 2007

Killing our heroes ...

I've been thinking about design, story, and games as "high art" for a long time, but quite a bit lately in particular.

One of things I've tossed around on multiple personal projects of mine (video game, comic book, screenplay, and more) for a long time is the importance of meaningful sacrifice. It's important to me, so it shows up in my creative endeavors.

This shows up in different ways, besides my own creative output.

Like my interest in the recent Comic-Con "Kill Your Darlings" panel with F. Paul Wilson, David Morrell, Max Allan Collins, Richard Morgan, Josh Coniser, Joe Schreiber, Elizabeth Forrest, and Maryelizabeth Hart.

Or there's my recent rant about games not being "more artistic" than film.

And there's this video of Ed Brubaker interviewing Matt Fraction, where Fraction turns the tables briefly and asks Brubaker about his killing Captain America, and how Brubaker loves the freedom at Marvel, because he was able to kill Captain America, because "nothing is sacred" there. (For the record, I think Brubaker's writing one of the most amazing ongoing books in Captain America, and all with the absence of the titular character; "titular" especially when Rob Liefeld draws him. Oh, snap! Oh, and I like that Fraction doesn't care what he says.)

(And I'm sorry if this is first time you've heard of that Cap's dead, but it's been months; go here for my "second shooter theory").

Speaking of Master Chief (what, you didn't follow that last link?), I got to thinking about Microsoft's recent print ad campaign for Halo 3, which has M.C. Johnny walking by a giant structure. There's some blah blah blah text at the top of the add, and this nugget that stand's out to me in the middle of the page:

"A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him."
And I got to thinking, how cool would it be if this was literal? How cool would it be if this was about Master Chief?

In short, how cool would it be if Master Chief had to die at the end of Halo 3 to "finish the fight"?

(I really enjoy the Halo franchise, and I'm not anti-Microsoft, so get that out of your head.)

More generally, what if we wrote games such that to really succeed, you had to sacrifice yourself?

I'm thinking of the sacrifices in other mediums that struck me. Spock in The Wrath of Khan (best Star Trek movie EVAR). Spider-Man in the J. M. DeMatteis / Mike Zeck "Kraven's Last Hunt" / "Fearful Symmetry" arc (hey, I thought Spidey was dead). Superman (even though I knew he wasn't going to stay that way). Elliot Ness in the romanticized The Untouchables. Doyle in the Angel episode, "Hero". Captain America.

And there have been moments in games. Floyd in Planetfall comes to mind.

But what an amazing opportunity games have.

Ever felt elevated or weepy or inspired or called to action from watching a film? What if you weren't watching the heroes making sacrifice, breaking your heart, making you feel like you need to jump out of your chair (Hellboy's "making a choice") -- what if you were that guy or girl?

What if we get to play our icons in a game, and sacrifice ourselves. Not because we suck at 3D platformers (ahem, Ms. Croft), but because the sacrifice is required to "win" the game. Or maybe it's required at least for one or more versions of "winning", given games' propensities for multiple endings.

This obviously has to be handled carefully. It can't be a cheap death (we gamers hate those already). And it can't be contrived ("I must die, otherwise I don't finish the game"). It's got to be so organic and sensible and seem like the only option (or at least one of the sensible options) that the player wants to sacrifice her- or himself (no easy thing in a purported non-linear medium). And it's also dicey because Brubaker's "nothing is sacred" is different than "nothing is important" (he's very much treating the death of Captain America as wicked important in that book).

Think about it. What if the story and the stakes for games were so elevated that I as a gamer felt like what I do matters so much, I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the good of the game universe, which -- for a moment at least -- I forget is a game universe.

That's when I think interactivity will meet high art. I'm still looking for that.

Let me know what you think.

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posted by Adam @ 3:50 PM

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