Context Sensitive

A game I recently picked up was "Beyond Good and Evil". I heard about a potential sequel for the game and decided to look back on the original. All the reviews said it was a very good adventure game that was unfairly overlooked. Steam carried it, I bought. I'll give it a full look later, but I am impressed. Its got good characters and apart from some graphics tearing plays very well. But it has a feature I really like: context sensitive inputs.

I didn't get the HD version.

On the computer, there are a lot more buttons available for input than on most controllers. But having available buttons hasn't stopped us from pretty much sticking with the mouse and WASD buttons. That's because we don't like having to think about what buttons to push. BGAE works almost entirely off of one button: left mouse click or the bottom button of a controller pad. You use this one button to talk to people, interact with objects, climb, attack etc. But what makes it work so well is that these actions only occur when they are relevant. You only attack when there are enemies nearby, you only interact when there is something to interact with. THIS FEELS WONDERFUL. I want to do something, I left click.

As a counter example, lets look at Batman: Arkham City. Its a wonderful game, with a lot more to it than the original. But that actually hurts it. The flowing combat system gives you the option of mixing in pretty much every single gadget batman has for combo multipliers. While this works OK, the shear number of potential gadgets makes it difficult to remember which buttons activate which gadget in the middle of a fight scenario. This is especially true when playing on the computer since many of the gadget buttons have no real use outside of that one gadget.

Aside from the one main action button, BGAE also has context sensitive platforming. You can't make Jade jump unless she comes to a ledge or a box, much like legend of Zelda. This may sound restrictive, but for the most part having the ability to jump whenever you want is unnecessary. Why would you want to jump when wandering around town?

Contextual actions have long been a part of games, but playing BGAE helped me realize the genesis of the mechanic. It came about with 3-D adventure games when developers realized that they had more actions than buttons. And rather than make annoying combinations, they adjusted one button to do more things. And I take my hat off to those designers. *Salute*.

The latest Console Gen.

I'm not gonna pretend that I am an expert on the latest consoles. But I want to throw in my opinion anyway. This is more a breakdown of the initial announcements of the consoles, rather than which will be best. You can only say which is better after the gen is done.

THE GOOD:

Ever since the last console generation, gamers started to realize that graphics were not the end all of gaming. Yeah graphics have steadily improved, but they have long since past the point of us caring about how beautiful the textures are. Now poor texture quality is the exception for most games. And this put sony in an interesting position. Sony has never been known for innovation in the industry, they just produce really solid and basic consoles. This worked in their favor this time around, since we as gamers had no great expectations of what would come out of the next console gen. We wanted better with more functionality, but its not like we were expecting anything ground breaking. 

And Sony delivered just that. Its PS4; its like a PS3 but better. Hell, even the name suggests that its just more of the same but upgraded. I loved the PS2, but I can honestly say that I didn't become interested in the PS3 until now (the Last of Us looks worth it). Sure it may have SOME extraneous features, but its not important. They delivered a solid gaming platform and it will probably have good games. Nuff said. 

THE BAD:

Let me be clear. I will be buying a Wii U. It has three games I absolutely must have. And its a solid console. They upped the graphics enough. They didn't abandon motion control, but still evolved the control scheme into a far more interesting direction. I wish I could devote more time to this here, but an asymmetric control scheme can result in some very cool multiplayer options. All and all, its a solid console that no one should have major complaints about.

But what a crap launch. First off, the name was ill chosen. What they needed to do was distance themselves from the kiddy image they built up. This not only fails at that but also fails at differentiating itself from the Wii at all. The Wii built a strong fan base among non-gamers. These people are NOT going to be following gaming news. So releasing a new console with such a prominent controller has confused many people into thinking that the Wii U is just a new controller for the Wii. This level of miss-communication is unfortunate, but wasn't helped by the dearth of advertising for the console. Remember the "Wii would like to play" ads? Nothing like that is going around TV this time. And on top of this, we have a disappointing launch line up of games. So we have a good console with lots of potential, but a crap release plan. I am having Dreamcast flash backs. 

THE UGLY:

If you are reading this, you know where this is going. The train-wreck that was the Xbox One launch. Microsoft was not thinking right when they designed this. Sure, its a solid gaming platform, but it has many features that directly aggravate gamers. Beyond focusing way too much on TV interactivity, they built the console with several security features that annoy gamers when they are on GAMES. Required internet connectivity is short sighted beyond belief. The you could argue that "Its only a once a day check and everyone has internet", but your wrong. Not everyone has internet. And it invasive. 

Lets make a comparison. Cars run on gas, you need gas to run them. But lets imagine that the car you purchased wont run unless you also called the car company on the phone once a day. Not only is it another hurdle to YOUR BELONGING, but it feels like the company is keeping an eye on you, like your a criminal. 

Just because you bought a console and have electricity, does not mean you have ready internet access in your home. Its also one more thing that can go wrong. Internet is not under your control; if something goes wrong with your provider, you can't play games. 

But we aren't done here. The Xbox One comes with a kinect built in. Lets be honest, the kinect was an interesting idea but it failed as a game controller. Building one in is not going to get more companies making good kinect games. But this is creepy in another way. It has a webcam that will track who is in front of the game system. AND they had the balls to install used game prevention measures into the system. They may have backed off on whether all games will have this feature, but the tech is still on the machine. Used games are the lifeblood of many gamers. Ever since it was decided that 60 bucks is the ceiling for most new games, many people have to buy used just out of necessity. 

There are just so many misguided decisions with this console. I think Microsoft got a big head with its uber successful Xbox 360. They thought they could push the industry where they wanted it. I see a lot of parallels to their behavior when they dominated the PC world. 

As a last word, I will say this. Buying one console over another is rarely a wrong decision. Even with the many flaws of the Xbox One, I don't think its WRONG to buy one. Just pick whichever one you like. You have your reasons.

EDIT:

I recently read that Microsoft reversed its stance on online requirements and used game DRM. Well, thats great. But still, this was a rank of the announcement. Still one of the worst announcements EVER.

Dreamcast Update

Some time ago, I posted about acquiring a copy of "Jet Grind Radio" for the Dreamcast. At the time, I knew someone that was willing to lend me a Dreamcast but that plan fell through. Tired of waiting, I once more delved into Ebay. After weeks of fishing, I hooked me a functioning Dreamcast with 2 controllers and couple of sports games bundled in. Got it for cheap too; the description mentioned a cigarette odor which apparently repelled some bidders.

It doesn't really smell though

Tomb Raider

The newest Tomb Raider was an interesting experience for me. I had played a bit of the original Tomb Raider, but I would never call myself a fan. And the newest rendition is an entirely different kind of game. It went for the full power triple-A experience. It also went for more action make it into a game very similar to Uncharted. I find that funny, because Uncharted was based on the third person precedents set by the older Tomb Raiders. And it was also an unusual purchase for me. I have mostly stayed out of the Super big titles, since the mid 2000's. Its mostly that the big games since then have all involved shooting, which isn't really my cup of tea. But I wanted to see, I wanted to see how this franchise could be saved.

Well, they went for a much grittier and realistic look. The design of Laura is MUCH better, especially the chest area. The infamous Laura boobs have been scaled back to something that looks like a person. I would also like to give the makers a lot of graphical credit for this game. The hair and water physics are spectacular and there are some very nice views and set pieces in this game. Its pretty obvious they had a very firm vision of how this franchise was going to evolve and ran with it.

It was a solid third person action platformer. It was linear, but it took advantage of the linear nature to show great views and have good action sequences. It also had one of the best cover systems I have ever played with. I did dabble in Gears of War and can attest that Tomb Raider's adaptive cover system is infinitely better and more intuitive. But much like Boy and His Blob, I wanted more.

Is it better that she isn't covered in her own blood?

The tomb raiding of the game was scaled back into a series of smaller puzzle rooms hidden around the island. These were always lots of fun to find and explore. But the puzzles were too easy. It really felt like the makers were just throwing a bone to hardcore original fans. AND IT WORKED!!!! I was totally tickled. If they could make another one that has more puzzles and exploration combined with the same combat system and we will have a winner. But I fear they won't. Uncharted had a great three game run based entirely on its combat and set pieces. The makers may be trying to emulate that. If they don't, I will be sooooo happy. We need more female heros in games. And its better if they actually have quality games.

A Boy and His Blob

In the late 80's, "A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia" was released for the NES. It was a very unique puzzle game designed around an AI companion blob thing. The blob would follow the main character around and morph into various useful items when fed jelly beans. While the game has aged poorly due to its very dated interface and utter lack of guidance, it is still well remembered. I emulated it and though I could not get far in it, I was impressed by the blob. The blob had a really good companion AI program, especially for 1989. To this day, sloppy companion AI ruins games. I was very pleased that the Blob at least behaved itself.

Humongous Entertainment

I could honestly just post this picture and call it a day. That about sums it up. I didn't get a real game system till I was 9; I had gameboy and the computer. And on said computer, I had a whole host of parent approved "Educational Games". Now, in the 90's, educational games actually had some quality to them. Yeah there was the usual "its book, but on computer" crap, but there was quality stuff like Math Blaster and Carmen Sandiego. And one of the best companies for kids games at the time was Humongous Entertainment.

What set Humongous Entertainment apart was that they seemed intent on entertaining before teaching. The majority of their games were adventure games where you had to solve puzzles to progress, and solving those puzzles was how you learned. They also had the Backyard Sports games, but you would be amazed how quickly a kid learns things when he is trying to win a football game (like math). Now, Putt-Putt and Freddie Fish were painfully cute and have not aged well in terms of entertainment or education value. But Pajama Sam had a real sense of creativity and adventure to it that allows it to still hold up to this day. But my personal favorite of the main cannon shall always be....

Spy Fox may not have been educational, but it achieved what so many and try and fail to achieve: it entertains children and adults at the same time. In much the same way Looney Tunes and the Animaniacs amused, Spy Fox had silly-ness and slapstick for the kids mixed with clever caricatures and innuendos for the adults. To this day my dad still finds the fat pig doing a very good Sydney Greenstreet impression absolutely hilarious. I played through that game so many times (it had a variety of different puzzles it would randomly use) that to this day I still remember how to beat each and every challenge in that game.

Which makes my recent purchase of it for the Wii rather odd. I mean, it was re-released some time ago and the point and click gameplay works better on the Wii than any other console. But why did I buy a game I will ALWAYS beat and was never meant for my age group?

....Could this be that nostalgia thing I have read about? I mean, wow! This feels really weird. I've never bought something just because it reminds me of my childhood before. Heck, I play old games all the time. But this is the first time that I have gone out of my way to re-purchase something I lost touch with over time. God, no wonder there are so many remakes.

Skyrim Stories

yodelayheehoo!

I got Skyrim a while back, just before they released the legendary edition. When it first came out, I was in college and all the reviews I had seen of it said it was an amazing game but one that would suck all your time. I made the wise move of not buying it for fear my grades would suffer. Now, I had played some of oblivion so while skyrim doesn't have the BEST gameplay, its solid enough. But for me the major reason I am so enamored of the game is the stories. Its been said by many that this game is enormous: it is close to a living breathing world that functions without the player. By all accounts, Bethesda did not take the easy way out; each dungeon is different, almost all the people in the world have a story behind them and the history of the land is chronicled in books scattered around the world. While I play this game, even though the quests are scripted, I like to imagine the character truly interacting with this world as a person. I create a whole little story that fits right into this specially crafted world. Let me share my favorites.

Shadowrun

Now, I have played a couple D&D games but I am certainly not a paper RPG regular. So I don't actually know much about how Shadowrun the table top RPG plays out. But I have played the SNES game and I am practically chomping at the bit waiting for the new Shadowrun game to come out this month. In the meantime, lets talk about the SNES version and pretend the Xbox version never happened.

Back in Business (New Goals)

Well, I have left this blog dead for over a year. I know I didn't have any loyal fans, but I have a reason to get back into this. I am just about to enter the job market and I want to make a concerted effort not to lose touch with my favorite pastime. And so, in order to insure I don't lose touch with this blog again, I will broaden the spectrum of games I cover here.

The simple fact of the matter is that I pretty much have stopped emulating old games. I still have all the files and such. But now I actually pay for new games and play them more frequently than the emulators. I still play lots of older games what with bargain bins, my Dreamcast and steam's surprisingly old library (steam is 11 now I think). There are also new games coming out that I am excited about. I never did get to play Majora's Mask when it was new and am looking forwarding to eventually owning a Wii U. Shadowrun Returns comes out in about a week and that will be a good chunk of time spent on that post. I have also gotten sucked into Skyrim.

Now I know I am way late on this, but wanted to wait for the hype to die down (as well as the price drop) before playing this game. I can honestly say that I am blown away by what Bethesda managed to pull off and will definitely be devoting a couple of posts to this.

I am toying with the idea of going into manga reviewing. Manga was an enormous part of my adolescence and I still read it regularly. But there is a dearth of manga reviewers online with only two that I know of. Most of the energy seems to be directed towards reviewing anime, but manga deserves its own special attention. I'm toying with a full video review idea, but I may start small and go for another blog before I get that invested.

Thats all for now. I got a job interview in a few hours. Here's to having my own income.