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Friends Vs. Friends List
0892 days
Show of hands: people who like to play video games with their friends? Now, put your hands down if those “friends” are only online… This article is more for those still holding their hands up. This is for the people, like me, that are being overlooked as video games “progress” further into the future.
Lets start things off with a little personal history lesson. When I had an Atari 2600 I used to play games like “Boxing” and “Combat” against my friends and family. We would play for hours trying to get in the final win; memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. Then things progressed to the Nintendo Entertainment System and we would play games like “Double Dragon” and “Cabal” and of course “Contra.” The games were even better looking and it was even more fun. Next there was the Super Nintendo, with its games like “Mortal Kombat” and the grand-daddy of competitive gaming for me, “Super Mario Kart.” Same friends, same style of fun, and so the trend would continue, up until the late PS2/Xbox era. Things took a major “leap forward” and my real life friends were left in the wake.
"Can I still get online with my Game Cube?"
More and more games (on the Xbox especially) were going online. Meet up with people all over the world and play games with, or against them. That was the big hook, right? Well, what about your buddies that you had played four player Goldeneye with for four years? Sure there was Halo, and that was great, but not much else out there, at least not for people that want to play in the same damn room. Have we not progressed past the days of Super Mario Brothers on the NES? Remember when you had to take turns playing a game? Mario would have to make it through his world, then Luigi got to play. Same-screen, multi-player games then weren’t really all that great because of the limitations of the technology, but that was, what, 25 years ago now. Fighting games existed too, but they just weren’t as fun. Playing tournaments of Soul Blade on the PSOne, or getting all four controllers going in a good game of Twisted Metal: that’s where it’s at. You can’t replace game memories like that with online games of Mortal Kombat Armageddon or Auto Modellista.
When I stepped up my system to the 360 I was totally down for some more gaming with my REAL friends. Things started off well: we got to play “Perfect Dark Zero” together. That was a lot of fun. Shortly thereafter though, games decided to just forget about your buddies and concentrate on your “new” virtual friends. Games that used to be marketed as “Co-Op” were all now being sold as “On-Line Co-Op.” I guess I really hadn’t noticed until I wanted to play some Co-Op with a friend of mine in Crackdown. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun to be two super powered cops running around the city, beating the snot out of criminals. Much to my dismay, however, the game ONLY offers “On-line” Co-Op. From there the trend only spirals out of control.
Games that DID offer the ability to play in the same room with a friend usually involved making mock rooms on Xbox Live. The problem there is that you ONLY have you and a friend trying to play deathmatch or CTF games, one man, one team. The worst part about it is that developers have taken out probably the easiest fix or at least patch to this issue: Bots. My friend Bill and I played literally countless hours of Perfect Dark on the N64. The game wasn’t all that great, the graphics now look absolutely horrendous, but never the less it was a hell of a lot of fun. Why? Simply because he and I could play deathmatch for hours and hours and it would never be the same game twice because of those little bots. I am no programmer, but I would imagine that something that fit on only PART of a N64 cart could be programmed into a multi-million dollar DVD game. Seriously… The only full size game (that I am aware of) that has Bots in it since has been Killzone 2 on the PS3. Even with bots in that game you could only play it single player. What the hell?
At the most recent E3, Microsoft said they were going to release Perfect Dark (from the N64) as an XBL Arcade game. Being such a huge fan of the original I already have very high hopes for this game, most of which I expect to be disappointed on. Sure it will look better, play faster, and sound great in 5.1 surround, but all that doesn’t mean dick to me if I can’t play it with my friends in the same room. Talking smack to my friends as they sit beside me and see me drop their in-game character over and over again is much more satisfying than doing it online. I like to see my opponent’s face as they realize that I have been following them, just waiting to capitalize on the first mistake they make.
Where are my split screen games that AREN’T racing games? In order for my friend Brian and I to play COD4 together he had to have his own 360, an account on XBL, and his own copy of the game. Damn! I mean seriously, why have this super powered machine, with the ability to have multiple controllers “hooked up” at once if you don’t have anything to play? Thank goodness for games like Army of Two and most of the Tom Clancy games; they are trying to keep hope alive. Army of Two probably does one of the best jobs of recreating the fun of those old games like Bad Dudes and Double Dragon. However, games like this are few and far between. This is, of course, excluding all manner of Wii games and “Rhythm Games.” Rock Band and Guitar Hero are in a category all their own, and since most Wii games DO have some sort of Co-Op or multi-player ability, but are mostly crap anyway. I mean you have your Wii Sports games and certain Kart racers, but as a whole the Wii isn’t known for it’s stellar games. Just being honest here. I own all three systems so I am NO fanboy.
The "Frag Dolls" always game with friends, and Avril Lavigne apparently.
For the most part, games that do allow you to play simultaneously with a friend are games of trivia or puzzle games, and most of them exist only on the PSN or XBLA. The exception to the rule is sports games. All your major sports games (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) have the ability to play with your friends on the same couch. Honestly, if they take those games and make them solely online multi-player, I’m done. If I can’t give my friend sitting beside me a verbal thrashing following me scoring a game winning basket/TD/goal/home run, count me out.
I’ve said it many times before: I don’t like relying on other people (especially that I don’t know) to have fun with a game. Also, think about the online gaming community as a whole. Take the good experiences you have had in a group of strangers versus the bad. Which one happens more often? Don’t get me wrong… I have been playing online with a great group of guys over the past year or so, but I have never met them. I don’t have the same history with my “online” friends that I do with my “real” friends. There won’t, and can’t be, any stories of “Oh, remember when we were at your apartment playing this?” or the occasional “Remember when we got back from the bar and were totally drunk playing this?”
Like I said, it’s as if games are progressing forward everyday, as far as graphical prowess, sound design, acting, and even story telling are concerned, and that’s great. However, if games progress too far without at least trying to keep some semblance of the offline or same-household Co-Op involved, really, where have we gone? At the price of human interaction we now have friends that we probably will never meet in person, and will have no connection to in the future. Yes, I know that people have met offline, and I know that others have gone so far as even getting married to their online counterparts, but these are definitely the exception, NOT the rule.
All I am getting at is this: Developers of games that actually have some need for Co-Op, be that online or off, at least consider doing something so that I can include my friends sitting beside me. That doesn’t mean that I need some half-assed multiplayer shoe-horned into my game totally ruining the experience, though. Also, don’t forget to consider your friends (speaking directly to the gaming public, I mean). If your buddies are sitting around watching you play a game solo, it probably isn’t the most fun experience they can have. Even the most craptacular old-school offline Co-Op can be made fun with the right people. My friends and I have played many a crappy game for hours, just because we can find ways of making it fun.
So when your Friends list tops out at 250, don’t forget your real friends. Take some time and play a game that involves them, too. At the end of the day, your real friends will literally be there for you. Like it or not, 90% of the people that you meet online and game with don’t give two shits about you on a personal level. They won’t pick you up if your car breaks down, bail you out of jail if you get caught with that “escort” in Vegas, or keep the secret on why you can’t use ice tongs without cringing.
What have we learned here? Pt3
0975 days
The last of the big three to present was Sony. Following up on what Microsoft started and what Nintendo held up in the second place slot, they had a lot to accomplish. Here is what they had to reveal.
After a montage of everything presumably that will be coming out in the near future, the man the myth the legend Jack Trenton steps out on the stage and kicks off the show. Jack got jokes this year. He starts off by saying “Thanks for showing up… Given the industries inability to keep things confidential I didn’t think anyone would show up.” Nice stab at everyone in the industry and the crowd as well. In true Sony form, and continuing what Jack has ALWAYS done, here come the numbers. Jack says that “today we will see some of the 364 games coming to the Playstation platforms this year.” Also boasting that Playstation captured 30% of the total retail sales for video games. He also again pushes the point that the PS2 is STILL a viable platform to produce on. Also that Playstation will be going out to more areas in Latin America.
A shot in-game
The it’s time for the show. We didn’t come to see numbers, we came to see games. Welcome to the stage Evan Wells from Naughty Dog to demo Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Being a fan of the original i was ready to see this one. The wait since the teaser trailer was well worth it. Every thing is rendered beautifully on screen. The environments look lush and alive, and so do the characters on screen. The action shown is explosive and only makes me want to pick up the first one again even more. Absolutely cannot wait for this one to come out.
Next on the scene is a live demo of M.A.G. (Massive Action Game *sigh*). But not just any demo, it will be a demo of a full 256 player match. Several members of team Zipper come on stage controllers in hand and plan an assault on a base. We are told about how everyone will interact with everyone else. It looks nice, smooth and things go bang. Hard to believe that every single manned vehicle and every soldier is controlled by a REAL human somewhere, but that is what they want us to believe.
The PSP GO
Up on stage comes Kaz Hirai President of SCEA. He talks about the PSP, and tells us that they are not content to sit by with the current style of the PSP. So he whips out the PSP GO. Probably one of the worst kept secrets in Sony or E3 history. It abandons the UMD completely, instead opting for a download only form for games. Still it only has the ONE analog stick. It looks a little cramped an possibly painful to play with. Time will tell I guess what players will actually think of it.
Please welcome the founder of Polyphony Digital and the father of Gran Turismo, Kazunouri Yamauchi to the stage. Where he announces (again) the release of Gran Turismo PSP. If I sound totally underwhelmed about this it’s only because this SAME GAME was announced 5 years ago when the PSP originally launched. A sizzle reel is shown and apparently Kazunouri has it playing on his PSPGo he happens to be carrying. When it hits retail, THEN I will believe it.
Next on the stage is Hideo Kojima, making his second appearance at E3 press conferences. He announces the TRUE sequel to MGS: Portal Ops, called MGS: Peace Walker. The video demo of the game is shown and it looks quite nice. It would appear that things are going back to Outer Haven and more will be told of that part of the story as “The missing link in the MGS story” is professed on the screen. It will launch along side the PSP Go on October 1st.
Mashing up a much of titles quickly, screens and video both are shown in quick succession. We see that there will be a Resident Evil title on the PSP finally, called simply RE: Portable (hopefully a working title). A version of Little Big Planet is shown, clips of Fat Princess, some strange game that looks like the Eye of Judgement, the Hannah Montana game and something looks to compete with Ninten-Dogs.
Jack is back and he has more numbers. Apparently PSN has 24 million registered users in 55 countries; more than 475 million pieces of content downloaded, and more than 90 exclusive titles. “In addition we’re adding more than 50 PlayStation One classics to the PlayStation Store” this year including Final Fantasy VII, available today.” (which at the time wasn’t true, I checked, but it is now.) There is talk about Playstation Home and how it will get bigger and bigger over time. More publishers are signing on and a montage is shown. Jack says his name in Home is Mr.T and he rocks a mo-hawk. Sure Jack, sure.
Then it’s time for the big stuff, and (naturally) a montage of the games we can expect from the PS3 in the near future is shown. Footage includes stuff from games like; Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Madden, Final Fantasy XIII, MAG, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend, Ghostbusters, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Buzz, Saw, Tekken 6, Dark Void, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Heavy Rain, Battlefield 1943, PixelJunk Shooter, Katamari, Fat Princess, Zombie Apocalypse, DC Universe Online, BioShock 2, Ratchet & Clank, Fight Night, an of course God of War 3.
Jack also drops on us that Lost Planet 2 will be on the PS3 from launch. He also says that apparently RockStar has been working on an exclusive game for Sony’s big boy called simply “Agent.” Nothing at ALL is shown about the game and we are given absolutely no information further than that.
Next some members from Ubisoft take the stage and we are treated to one of the more highly anticipated games recently Assassin’s Creed 2. Live demo time. This one takes place in Venice and starts up right where the last one left off. Things look stylistically the same, if only marginally better. Enzio (the protaganist) has a couple new tricks up his sleeve (pun intended). As we are treated to a DOUBLE “wrist blade” kill on screen on two different targets. Also it would appear that Enzio will have some pretty well known friends helping him along his journey this time, including but not limited to Leonardo Da Vinci. Enzio climbs into his famous “flying machine” and shows us what a litera interpretation of “Death from above” would look like. Awesome. Also, Enzio knows how to swim, as shown when he escapes from pursuit by diving into the water.
Jack comes back on the stage. Talks about how Final Fantasy XIII will be hitting the PS3 in the spring and a video of basically the same demo from the Microsoft Press Con. It still looks great and I am still anticipating this one, and will probably buy it on the PS3 anyway. After the trailer Jack says how excited he is about FFXIII AND about being the only place to find FFXIV as well (say WHAT!?!?!) and the trailer for that is shown as well. Looks nice, but unfortunately it appears to be a MMORPG since the title is Final Fantasy XIV: Online. It also will be released apparently in 2010, oh well I won’t be getting that one. FFXI was not a favorite for me, for it’s severe lack of story and the fact that I don’t like to pay for my games AFTER purchasing it at the store.
After that was a rather lengthy demonstration on motion tracking using the current version of the Eyetoy. I am sure that I am not the only one that was thinking that this seemed a little rushed. The motion tracking was controlled by what looked like a black Wiimote with a ping pong ball on top. The programmer that was explaining the demo said that this was a very early version and would probably drastically change through its development. There really wasn’t much “new” that they were doing except for the fact that it was being done with the PS3. They showed the interaction between the player and the items on screen, and boasted… ready for this… a “1:1 range of motion.” Yeah heard that one before huh? It was interesting but very very bare bones and like I said looked rushed. Almost like they had watched the other two Press Conferences and called back to the shop to bring what they had, polished or not. Time will surely tell how well this pans out.
Next Jack comes back and talks a little about Little Big Planet and its over “900K user created levels” that have been “played over 2 million times.” (Very sad that I haven’t touched mine in months *sad face*) Why is he talking about a game that is nine months old? Because the motto of Little Big Planet “Play. Create. Share.” isn’t just a motto… it’s a new genre of games. Thus introducing us to the guys at United Front Games, and their new game “Mod Nation Racing.” Which can pretty much be summed up as the Kart Racing version of LBP. You can play with the preloaded racers, cars, and tracks, but that’s not where the REAL fun is. You can (just like in LBP) create your own driver and track. The user interface for the creation process seemed very easy, considering the demonstrators made and PLAYED a track created in literally five mins. This game is going down as my sleeper hit of E3 ’09. This is one that I will be watching.
Jack hits the stage again and introduces a video for the next game in the ICO trilogy called “Last Guardian.” The game looks amazing. From the feel of the video, you will play as a kid that had a GIANT guardian that you apparently have to set free… maybe. Oh and it appears to be some sort of mix between a dog, deer, and a chicken. I know, it sounds weird but I really don’t know how else to describe it. From the way the kid interacts with the “Guardian” this will be a very emotional game. I for one cannot wait to play it.
Jack is back and intros a sizzle reel from that game that will never come out in a full release [not confirmed] Gran Turismo 5. Yeah it looks nice, but again it’s all sizzle and no live demo. Leaves everyone with a wait and see vibe.
Kratos = Moody
Finally the biggest of the big comes out on stage for his live demo… Kratos and God Of War III. The game gets a ten minuet demo live on stage and it looks amazing. Not only does it look good, but it looks polished/refined good. Like this game should be on store shelves soon. Kratos kills a pile of baddies, including a rather large Minotaur weilding an axe. The QTE’s from the first couple games are still there, as shown by when Kratos disembowels the Minotaur. The sheer scope of the game is fantastic. A giant lava golem lumbers in the background and is slowly destroying whatever city he is in. The demo gets really heated and just when you think it is going to get great… “We have to end the demo there.” Dammit! I guess we will have to wait until March 2010 when this one will apparently hit the store shelves.
And with that the Press Conference ends. Sony had a lot to prove coming third in order at this E3. They did a very good job of showing they still have it. It only goes to show that the “Console Wars” haven’t ended, or even slowed down any. The next year or so will be very fun to watch. See you next year in June for E3 10… E3 2010… something like that. For now, happy gaming!
Killzone 2 Multiplayer Review
1
As with any high-profile first-person shooter, Killzone 2 includes an online multiplayer mode which allows you to take on other players the world ‘round in a variety of game-types. Or, if you prefer, you can play offline with AI controlled enemies and teammates.
The offline multiplayer mode is not what I would call “multiplayer”. It is you, the lone human, fighting against and alongside AI bots in the multiplayer maps. No split screen or LAN is to be seen here, which is quite a disappointment.
As far as bots go I found that they were surprisingly clever and capable in battle. When my AI buddies had the “flag” and could not get through the enemy team positioned on the bridge, he had a bright idea: try a completely different route of getting to the capture point instead of endlessly throwing themselves at a wall of enemy combatants. I was quite surprised that the AI logic chose to go the long way around to get to the capture point based on the fact that the short route was way too tough to break through.
AI teammates will also repair equipment, set turrets, revive you, everything that you expect from a (competent) online buddy, minus the ability to form a squad and direct attacks with vocalized coordination.
The structure of multiplayer is essentially a mash up of other popular team-based multiplayer shooters. You have the class play of Team Fortress, the feel and level progression of Call of Duty and a few features of Battlefield mixed in.
You have your standard Team Deathmatch called Body Count, Capture the Flag with the name of Search & Retrieve, Capture & Hold, Bombing Run, and Assassination. They all work like the name suggests but the interesting part is that all of these game types happen consecutively within the same map. You could start out having to defend a point from being blown-up by the other team and after that is over you may be tasked with killing a specific enemy player.
The maps in Killzone 2 multiplayer are impressively vast.
The maps are quite large and accommodate all of the different game modes nicely. The visuals of these multiplayer arenas are some of the most impressive that I’ve seen on a console. The graphical fidelity seems to be on par with that of the single player campaign where as most other shooters sacrifice their visuals for the sake of a faster framerate.
Unlike Team Fortress, the classes are locked away and you are unable to access them until you bring character to the appropriate experience level. This may sound similar to Call of Duty’s class system, but it’s too slow to progress. It ultimately does not work.
What happened was in the first few days of playing online, most people did not have the high-tiered classes such as the Saboteur and Sniper unlocked. Most players were still suck with the initial base grunt class, or maybe the Medic if they played long enough. Not enough people had the Engineer unlocked so you didn’t see many turrets around, and nobody was repairing any of the equipment placed around each map.
What I saw was a grouping of classes based on the level progression. There would be a bunch of Medics, but then they would gain access to the Engineer. At that point there would be no more Medics, just a bunch of Engineers. There were a few exceptions but this was the case the majority of the time. This ended up ruining what could have been a deep class game like that of Team Fortress 2. Why they did not have all of the classes available to begin with, I do not know.
By this point in time this shouldn’t be much of an issue as the players who have been there since day one have long since unlocked everything. Of course this leaves new players at quite a disadvantage as they have no classes or abilites unlocked and may turn them off from playing further.
Stick with your team mates and win or die alone.
You will definitely need a clan to get the most out of the multiplayer. Like in many online multiplayer games, pick up groups tend to be either absolutely silent or individuals will blast staticy rap music into their Bluetooth headsets. Team work is a must in Killzone 2 especially when you are protecting an Assassination target.
Much of the multiplayer is a “trial by fire” sort of experience. Many of the weapons and abilities that are featured in the single player game are locked away in multiplayer. One of those features, the medical zapper, is sequestered to the unlockable Medic class.
The multiplayer medi-zap does not work the same as the singleplayer one. This fact they have neglected to explain. You do not press the Circle button to revive an online buddy. First you have to unlock the Medic class, and as the medic you have to press the D pad Left to select the medi-zap, aim it at your fallen friend, and press the fire button. After that, it takes some time to recharge before you can zap another buddy, which makes sense in a multiplayer setting.
This aerial drone is one of many perks to unlock while playing online.
Another change from single player is that there is no knife. This confused me when I first started playing online. I tried pressing Right on the D-pad to equip the knife and backstab an enemy, but nothing happened. It wasn’t readily apparent that the knife was excluded from your armament.
You may have many questions during your first few hours of play. “Why the hell did my teammate just shoot me on purpose?” That wasn’t your teammate. That was the Saboteur class; he can disguise himself like the Spy from Team Fortress 2. “What happened to these mounted guns? Why are they all broken?” They are broken to begin with, along with the ammo resupply crates. An Engineer must first gain the ability to repair items, which is quite a pain in the ass to unlock.
As there are no tutorials to help you understand how the multiplayer game functions, you will have to either ask someone who is more experienced or find out about it through trial and error.
Killzone 2’s online multiplayer is a take-it or leave-it experience. If you can find yourself a good group of people to play with and don’t mind investing the large amount of time to unlock key features, then you may have a good time with it. If you aren’t privileged enough to find a clan and don’t have the time or patience, the experience will be less appealing than other online shooters.
Click here to see Killzone 2′s single player review!
Flower Review
01083 days
by WiFi Pirate
in Reviews
On lazy days where I want nothing more than relaxation and games without stress, Flower is the best possible choice. This game is relaxing in just about every way a video game could be.
To start with, the visuals are beautiful. Crisp colors pop off the screen and make you feel like you are in the middle of a vast ocean of uncut grass and blooming flowers. As you blow the flowers and petals you collect around, you can see the time and effort that went into making the game. Each flower and blade of grass reacts as though a gentle breeze is blowing across a meadow in spring time. I know that sounds very cliche’ but i can’t think of a better way to describe it. It is very apparent that these are the same people that brought fLOw to the PSN. This game and everything about it is very smooth.
The controls are probably about the easiest part of the game to adapt to. Using the PS3 controller (either Dual Shock 3 or the Sixaxis) you simply hold down ANY button and tilt. That is it. Depending on the pressure you apply to the button you are pushing, the wind reacts with proper force. The harder you press, the harder the wind blows. Tilting the controller to make your long line of petals move around comes very natural, especailly to those that tend to move their arms and hands in games where it doesn’t matter.
Music in this game is exactly what you would expect. Very soft melodic tones that take a queue from the visuals are quite abundant. There are sections of the game where things get a little moody, but the music never switches into that kind of “Oh no! I’m about to Die” tone. Each flower type that your wind blows across has it’s own distinct sound and instrument that goes along with it. It doesn’t so much “create” the music as say getting a note in Guitar Hero, but it more adds to the existing music kind of along the lines of Lumines.
If there was any symbolince of a story involved in this game, I guess you could say it is to “Rescue” the city back from its steele and concrete oppressors. That sounds a lot heavier than it really is in the game. Each level you progress through brings new life back to a certain flower, and thus brings life back to your city. Closer to the end of the game you truly do have to rescue sections of the city from the strange girders and metal spires that pop out of the ground. I don’t think there is a point were you can actually “die” but you do get “hurt” in the sense that you lose a lot of your petal trail that follows you as you blow around. Also I am a big fan of game makers allowing you to “Play” through the credits. Much like Guitar Hero III and Super Smash Brothers Brawl, you are doing something while the credits roll. In this case you are still blowing your petals around the stage, but this time each flower has a credit attached to it. Simple but effective to get the player involved during what is arguable the most boring part of games.
This game really doesn’t have any true flaws as the case may be, but I guess it didn’t live up to the monumental hype that preceded it. At least in my opinion. That being said, it is a wonderful game. Very relaxing, and engaging. It never made me retrace my steps, however i did find myself doing so just because of the sheer fact that it was fun to run through certain sections of the game. There is little to no stress involved in playing. As I said i never “died” and only on a couple occasions did I think that it was difficult to make my way from point “A” to “B” with out any forethought.
So if you are looking for a game that is just an easy way to get away from the Gears of War and Call Of Duty type games out there, this could be for you. At $10 on the PSN it may sound steep for a 6 level game, but it is one that I can see myself playing over and over just because of what it is, artistic relaxation.
Flower (PSN)
01090 days
Games as art, this is definitely the game for people to have that argument. From the coverage of this game so far i would say this is a game that will receive accolades from a lot of critics. Described on the Playstation blog by the games developer as “the video game version of a poem”. Now doesn’t that sound relaxing.
For me personally i am hoping that this is the game that makes the PS3 motion controls relevant. Admittedly Wii controls feel pretty tacked on as well, but at least they may correct that issue with the Wii motions plus. Seldom do the controls feel like the were in the original planning of the game. The exceptions being “Warhawk” and “Wipeout”.
In “Flower” you play the wind for lack of an easier way to put it. The purpose of the game is to blow petals around a grassy field pollinating other flowers as you go. Twist an turn the controller in your hand to direct the wind along the flowery path. The more petals you pick up the better the multiplier and the score.
Flower is set to hit the PSN this Thursday Feb 12th. No price has been announced as of yet. It will have trophies nothing announced specifically.
This also could be the next game that i can get my wife to play with me on the PS3. Nothing says girly like flowers.
