Something New, Yet Familiar.

Something new, it's what keeps things going, it's what keeps things fresh and it often at times goes hands in hand with a concept that's been around for a while. For this instance it's the norm that becomes the standard, the mediocre, the uninspired that always has the chance to suffocate great originality  I recently finally watched the remake movie X-Men: First Class. Being an avid fan of the previous X-Men movies I was actually fairly excited about a remake of such a classic story that originated from flipped panels of intricate artwork. I was also sort of put off that they were already making yet another X-Men movie. With the days of the next Wolverine or The Hulk movies, it can be quite tiring - and usually people loose interest in the content matter. Assassin's Creed comes to mind (slow the heck down Ubisoft, you're killing your own creation).

Having recently experienced completing the game Bioshock Infinite two days after its release - I was immersed and driven to explore the game's world and story - and having watched the X-Men remake I came to a conclusion, story-telling needs brave and creative ideas to keep an audience entertained. However more on that later though as it seems the remake model is the successful method of the future with as can be seen in the movie and gaming industry.

Just recently I ordered the Collector's Edition of Tomb Raider (2013), the remake that finds Lara Croft finding herself, so to speak. I am eager to jump into the world crafted by the original creators of such an iconic franchise. A lot of new concepts and ideas were brought into the fray for this game including even giving Tomb Raider a multiplayer arena.  This adapts the franchise with the rest of the already connected global audience that play games against or with people online. There's also tons to do within the game with an open world like design set in place to again adapt to the growing popularity of choice. Are you with us or against us, Paragon/Renegade, etc.

Going back to Bioshock Infinite though I had found myself all caught up with the world that I had fallen in love with - metaphorically of course I would never want to live in such places - as previously experienced from the original Bioshock. When people played the first Bioshock it was a vastly new experience, from the world, the characters and even the combat that players carried out in a Utopia city underwater. We learned and discovered about a society that became made with power, so many variations of power might I add. In Bioshock Infinite the story really ramps up and the combat and new imaginative setting really captures own's imagination and sense of play.

After completing Bioshock Infinite and taking a step back from being immersed and living in a world where Nationalism was deemed a norm and revolution was right around the corner, I sat back and really breathed in the fresh new concept the people of Irrational Games had so handily crafted. As to not spoil anything I will just mention that the ending was totally not predicted nor was the city in the floating sky or the affection I would feel for an AI character, Elizabeth. I've played many video games before but never have I felt such a philosophical feeling as I did finishing Bioshock Infinite - Mass Effect 3 was close in this regards only to the state of constantly contemplating the game after weeks of completion.

With X-Men, Bishock and Tomb Raider we see innovation through risk, through daring story-telling and that I believe is what will keep each respected industry going. With next-gen systems coming around the corner one can only be so optimistic that more studios will want to generate more quality work through new ideas and innovation instead of blatant cash ins or sequels that run a series into the ground. It's ok to have a cash in here or there, as I know it's hard to stay afloat as a creative studio these days, but injecting some creativity and moxy into this industry will keep it from stagnating or worse loosing fans in a drawn out war of attrition.

The Used Games War

News broke that a next gen system unofficially termed the Xbox 720 - not pictured above - will not allow people with used games to access them. An activation code will be used initially when the consumer puts it into the system and thus eliminating the ability of a second hand exchange since the game's activation code will have already been used. Of course in order to verify this code your system will have to be connected online.

Many however are wondering if this will be a similar concept to DRM techniques seen on the PC market. With this part of the market piracy is rampant due to almost all PCs sold having a burning disc drive device. To contradict this piracy strict DRM has been put in place where the common denominator is you have to be connected online in order to play said game. Often times being thrown back to the main menu when a connection to the authorization server has been lost and initially, when this concept was first used -as it appears to be learned via the mass complaining of gamers that ironically conveyed this outrage through an online connection-, loosing all your progress since your last save.

Rumors about Sony doing something similar with their next gen system unofficially termed the PS4 -again not pictured above - have also arose due to Sony patents found online that talk about a system the tags games for this similar process. See the gist of things here is the system will read the game's tag, similar to the activation codes that Microsoft will implement with their 720, allegedly, but instead not require an online connection as the authorization process is done via the hardware as opposed to an online server. However similarly this will cut the used games market out as a game that's already been tagged with a specific system will not work on another. That's the whole point of this DRM technique.

I modded my original Xbox way back in the day because it didn't allow me to watch movies without going out and buying a remote for movie playback, while this feature was do-able right out of the box as per modders discoveries. If I feel like a company is putting restrictions on the product I purchased then I feel you as a consumer have a right to complain. These companies want to dictate what you can and can not do with their product and will often ban you from live if you're found to be a "cheater". Now obviously this doesn't go so far that you have to get authorities involved because of illegal actions being carried out. Still the ability to play used games, and thus either try out a game you're not sure about -or to save money picking up a used copy, on a console is paramount to many many consumers out there that enjoy the video game industry. Online passes and DLC have been put in place to deter consumers from pawning off their unused games for a little cash or bonuses towards the latest and greatest.

Oh I also highly bet that, just like the online pass, that you'll be able to buy another code with the gracious action of handing over your credit card. I really hope that does not happen, publishers are already getting their cake and eating it too, as the saying goes.

Games, games & more games

gah so many games, aahhhhhhh

It's that time of year again, when there are more quality (I'm talking really good) games out that gamers know what to do with. You may be frustrated, hopefully not at the point of as the dude above, but it's one of those good frustrations. With still playing Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, running and gunning in Borderlands 2, jumping on briefly to get my dailies in Guild Wars 2 and precision driving the turns in Forza Motorsport 4 I feel like my free time is being tugged back and forth with each game (Oh I haven't forgotten you Skyrim or Amular either). Like Donkey from Shrek, Oh oh pick me - Oh play me. 

It seems not only are retail games trying to get your attention but they're trying to keep it with more and more DLC planned or released for said games. We have Halo 4 coming around the corner and it's already been announced there will be a season of co-operative missions that will be keeping your attention for a while. That doesn't mention all of the DLC we've grown to love from Bioware with Mass Effect 3's multiplayer and single player experiences. Neither does it mention the 4 planned DLC campaigns heading for Borderlands 2. Nor does it mention the fact that DLC for an arcade game that came out a long while, A World of Keflings, just came out and was exceptionally good.

team up you say, why not

With not even getting into Dishonored, X-Com, nor Torchlight 2, the backlog is starting to pile up again. Time to get ready for the holidays and more importantly all the great games, like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (if you're still supporting CoD that is), Halo 4, Assassin's Creed 3, Far Cry 3, End of Nations, Tomb Raider...!

So many games, insane you say?

Generals 2 is Dead to Me, C&C is Gone

Wow, news that there will be no single player for Generals 2 and that the biggest change, aside from that mind you, is that the game will be known as a free to play Command & Conquer game, a service revisiting all the C&C universes like Red Alert and Tiberium Wars. You got to be kidding me, how can free to play work with competitive RTS games? More importantly though what made every C&C game I've played stellar was the story. Unfortunately they botched the story of the Tiberium universe having it conclude with C&C 4. Yeah nobody played C&C 4 because it was a horrible mistake, some would say abomination. Yet this looks to be yet another horrible mistake. Farewell C&C, your legacy only lives on in my childhood memories. RTS Gamer for life.

Command & Conquer: Generals 2 Announced!

Holy crap, it's been a while but EA is bringing back C&C: Generals (2003) with the sequel C&C: General 2. Using Bioware as marketing push I believe seemed confusing to me but then after doing a bit of research I've figured out that this "Bioware Victory" team have a number of Gens/Zero Hour vets within their crew. EA is also pushing that they're going to be using the infamous Frostbite 2.0 engine. Take a look at a brief glimpse of in-game footage.

So from the gameplay footage, it looks like it's the Command & Conquer we all know and love. Man did they let all the fans down with the disappointing C&C 4, and more importantly way to ruin the conclusion to one of the coolest video game stories of all time EA. While we don't see Kane or the Brotherhood of NOD here we do see the familiar USA faction fighting China and/or GLA units. Now the factions haven't been announced but a bit of digging I got some specifics.

"The game is set in a near future where global peace is a real possibility. However, with all the world's leaders attending a peace conference, a terrorist attack wipes out the entire cadre of politicians and diplomats, leaving nothing but each country's generals remaining to guide the world forward. Given their area of expertise, the generals quickly bring warfare back in vogue."

Where do I sign up (I played Generals for yearrrrs)?! Oh right 2013... Ok hope by then they integrate persistent leveling for online/multiplayer  (I believe this worked for C&C4), keep the experience and fighting will unlock your General's abilities and throw in a whole lot of desctructible environments using the Frostbite 2.0 engine (and of course powers to create such chaos and mayhem).

Gaming Trends

Pictured above is Lucky Space, a new Facebook game that claims to be for the 'core' players out there. As the picture shows you'll be building and managing a lot on your little asteroid from home. You start off with just that little hub building in the middle and then branch off. Resources in the game include food, ore, crystium, and research. The infamous, follow the quests and level up gameplay of social gaming (with some saying MMOs as well) is present. There are certain tasks players are given and by finishing these tasks a specific reward is given back. This isn't anything new but it's the driving force behind the game as players continue to level up by accomplishing set quests or goals. I'm only at level 15 so I can't say for certain if this is the true Facebook game for 'core' (let's say enthusiastic gamers) but I can tell you it's highly fun to continue to expand and flourish on this little rock (gameplay is said to be inspired off of the Sim City and Civilization games).

Now I've also been playing another free to play browser game but instead of it consisting on Facebook, this game has its own site. Castle Empire Online, a free to play browser game, is from the makers of the Settlers games and is published by Ubisoft. You're tasked to build an empire from a very small town center with resources of settlers, fish, firwood, stone, tools and many many more. As you progress and accomplish your set goals, levels start raising and you start to unlock more and more buildings such as a pivotal barracks and provision's house (a building that converts resources). You progress through the game, after the tutorial quests have been completed, by attacking nearby bandit camps on the map which will ultimately allow you to capture a sector thus expanding your empire (and more importantly allowing you more resource spaces/deposits), granted you fell the bandit leader who controlled such sector.

To call these two games similar is a disservice to the person you're telling that to, they are vastly different (mainly Lucky Space revolves around energy use/time duration and friends while Castle Empire Online revolves around intelligent management of resources with the occasional help from friends). However they both are full fledged free to play browser games. Like Dragon Age Legends, all you need is a computer that can run flash and a current web browser like Firefox or Chrome, you can play anywhere with any computer pretty much. This is pretty huge considering the only games you could play in your browser before were practically simple arcade games which did not have a cloud based system so you couldn't continue where you left off on another computer or day and time. Get ready to see full fledged graphically intense games in your browser in the future and will they too be free to play, (along with the micro-transactions that will help the developers/publishers stay afloat), as we see all so many developers/publishers deciding on at the moment?

The Definition of a RPG

Now before I get into this I'd let you in on some background information on me. I started playing games ever since the Atari 2600 when I was a kid, then got a SNES followed by many platforming and oh you know a certain Kart game as well (I also got a "bazooka" that played Tetris haha). Followed after that I grabbed the N64 and was blown away by the transition into 3D (funny how I can't go back to these very crudely rendered polygon games today though). Along this time our family got introduced to PC ownership due to a generous uncle who had a very technical job at an university. I still remember the day my family and I spent over at their house playing Dune II on his computer. My love for strategy games started there and I've been a major RTS gamer on the PC ever since.

Of course I latter grabbed an Xbox around the time Halo was popular and became a name when I was in highschool. My love for FPS games grew; I believe Goldeneye was the first FPS game I played and that was back in my high school days. For my college years I was introduced to Counter Strike and Half Life. My PC, brand spanking new for school PC, was running pretty much anything I threw at it; I was spending money on hardware upgrades instead of things I should have been getting like books. I highly enjoyed First Person Shooters, Real Time Strategy and Racing games at the time. I wasn't however a huge RPG fan. Sure I played the slew of them but most of them were boring or just tedious (why must I constantly sort through my inventory or oh now I get to go against an enemy that has way more hp than the lower enemies I've already faced).

Then I believe when I played KOTOR, Knights of the Old Republic, I understood it all. I think KOTOR wasn't my first RPG game that I enjoyed but it was the first one that made me aware what an RPG was. I thought it was interesting reading this article which describes the defintion of RPGs based on the thoughts of Casey Hudson (project director for Mass Effect 2).

"...three founding elements for their definition:

• Story plays a central role, and the player's involvement as the character can change the outcome of that story.
• Combat is more considered than a pure action game and incorporates tactical concepts.
• The player's character grows over the course of the game developing skills, abilities, etc."

That last one is why I really enjoyed playing Crackdown; yes I will try to find all these orbs that boost my abilities!

You can read the whole article here.  

Not saying I've played the crap out of Mass Effect 2 but I've played a looooooooot of that game. I believe I've got over 250 hours with multiple playthroughs and character profiles. The moral choices, the different classes and the variety of decisions/endings I want to have to import into Mass Effect 3 has kept me going for a while. On a side note, It's good to see Mass Effect 2 achieved universal acclaim, their design choices really helped in that matter. Man I can't wait for Mass Effect 3 and ever so excited when I heard that Bioware is putting the RPG back into Mass Effect.