Sexy Videogameland

Cough Cough

2009-10-30T14:34:00.004-04:00

This is the worst day ever. All week I've had a serious flu, have fallen behind on work, will miss the weekend's Halloween parties and to make matters worse, I've got to MOVE TO A NEW APARTMENT this Sunday, which means instead of resting I have to get my house packed up.

Life is hard. It's only a little bit harder than Demon's Souls, praise for which forms the spine of my latest Kotaku feature. If you want to make me feel better you can a. pray and b. read the article. It includes a really fun anecdote from the game's producer about how getting stranded in the snow with a lot of other drivers inspired the idea for the game's multiplayer.

So read it, and send me healing thoughts! I'm totally a Black Phantom over here and I need to be resurrected!

Hopefully when I'm well I can explain a little better why I'm so interested in meaningful challenges in games right now. Or maybe you can discuss in the comments and arrive at a definition of "meaningful challenge" on your own.

Assume The Party Escort Submission Position

2009-10-22T13:19:00.004-04:00

It's my birthday!

Since none of you have any control over whether or not the Yankees get to the World Series, what you can give me is to keep yourselves entertained and talk amongst yourselves until after the weekend, because between the anniversary of my existence and CMJ, I -- now let's be honest here -- am not likely to be sober for even a New York minute until then.

Thanks for making my life great, SVGL readers.

Small Bites

2009-10-21T13:17:00.008-04:00

When making yesterday's "I'm so busy" ~~excuses~~ rationalizations for not posting frequently, I forgot to mention something else cool: I'll also be contributing some reviews to AV Club's Sawbuck Gamer section, where we look at smaller titles, many of them indie or off-the-beaten-path, that can be had for less than $10. I recently wrote for the section about Tyler Glaliel's IndieCade Gameplay Award winner Closure, which pretty much blew my mind. The agility of bite-sized, brilliantly-simple approaches to game design even as megabucks and mega-values continue marching on in the traditional console space never ceases to amaze. I'm glad we have both approaches.

On the same topic, Gamasutra had an interview yesterday with the co-founders of Odd Gentlemen, creators of upcoming, buzzworthy XBLA title The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Cool dudes -- you should read the whole thing, but this bit stands out to me when I think of Closure:

"It's like they get really impactful in 10 seconds, whereas you might play a Final Fantasy game, and you don't give a shit until the eighth hour mark. That's when it really connects to you. Who needs that? Exactly like you said, you can make a poignant, small experience that gets to the core of what you want to feel and experience it. It's wonderful."

True that. Oh, we also had an interview I did yesterday with a guy from the Need For Speed games. The only "car game" I like is Midnight Club Los Angeles, but I didn't realize that the guys who do the physics in the Need For Speed series -- recent ones, at least -- get to go try the cars out all day on a closed circuit track with help from pro racers, so they know how it's supposed to look, sound and feel for players. Now that's gotta be a fun job.

In other news, some of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen me mention Kill Screen, the swank new gaming mag being assembled by some of the writers I respect most, in gaming or anywhere. Some of you might have even helped donate for Kill Screen's fundraising (thank you!) and secured yourself a copy.

Now, you can read a little more about the folks behind the project. I'm kicking in a small piece for the magazine too, which is probably news to my editor. Hey, Chris? When I said "this morning" I meant, like, Australia time or something. It's coming, cross my heart! I'm almost done!

Reviving For The Fight

2009-10-21T12:38:00.010-04:00

Thanks for being so patient with the somewhat sparse posting schedule lately. Been so busy -- but hopefully with stuff you'll like.

First up: I have fallen into a black hole, my friends -- my waking free time (ha ha) has been devoured lately by Atlus and From Software's Demon's Souls. This surprises me, since I'd never expect, given my usual tastes, to fall in love with a hardcore dungeon slog.

Of course, that's not all it is. Demon's Souls confronts an issue on which I've staunchly whined for about a year now -- the obsessive design focus on accessible games gradually eating away at opportunities for engagement by removing the kinds of challenges that help us grow. No, a game like this is not for everyone, but as I said only recently, it doesn't need to be. What it offers is a polished, brilliantly-plotted and precise experience for a player whose brain likes to be itched in that way.

How, you ask? Well, onto item two: I've started reviewing for the Onion's AV Club, and for my first full-length review, I aimed to isolate what's so pleasurable about this title. Give it a read, and if you're a Demon's Souls fan (or non-fan), have at the comments to share your feelings on it.

If you think my experience with the pleasantly-unkind Demon's Souls vindicates what I suppose you could interpret as Nintendo fatigue on my part in recent months, however, you'd be wrong.

Last week I went to a hotel in Manhattan with some other journos to talk to Miyamoto about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I came

away impressed -- both with the game, which I didn't want to put down, and with the company's stubborn adherence to its philosophies even when they seem bafflingly out-of-step with current trends.

As you know, I'm not a big multiplayer gamer. I've historically disliked even local multiple-player free-for-alls, even Smash Bros. and Mario Kart. But lately, when I have non-gamer friends over, guess what we do? We play Super Mario World together, and that's more fun for us than any online multiplayer experience, any cutting edge anything -- we had an okay time with Beatles Rock Band, and then we went back to Virtual Console.

(Speaking of, Beatles Rock Band is only having an okay time itself, but MTV seems happy as long as it beats Activision).

Succinctly put, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an update on what we loved about the SNES era, while its multiplayer focus adds an entirely new angle on things. Read how Miyamoto explained it -- his consistent ability to understand what's fun about video games even when it's tough to isolate in succinct design logic is why he's where he is today, and why Nintendo keeps surprising us. For yet more Miyamoto, read his interview with Popular Mechanics, wherein he explains why Mario is a plumber with a big nose (something I always wanted to ask).

I'm even sold on the "Super Guide" in practice, which I found a terrible idea in concept. Nintendo has found ways to make even playthrough-guide movies tickle the hardcore in us, and somehow manages to make a strong case for its oft-questioned position on things like user friendliness, online multiplayer, downloadable content and more. Read that one, too!

Funny, but when I visited Nintendo in the same week I'd been obsessing on Demon's Souls, I expected almost comical diametric opposites, and instead I found common threads. Hopefully I'll get to write more on this stuff very soon.

Except I'm not budging on Bowser's Inside Story. I do not want to know the story of Bowser's insides; it's a matter of principle, now.

Digital Days

2009-10-14T12:40:00.005-04:00

At Gamasutra today, I talked to Direct2Drive guy Jamie Berger for a really fascinating look at just how quickly digital distribution has grown up. It's amazing how fast it's happening; when you think about it, it was really only yesterday that full-size downloadable games were just a way publishers could try to put some extra legs on their catalog titles. It's affected the casual space, too -- it's hard to even recall now that PopCap used to be just a portal.

Of course, how far we are off from that mythical day when no one buys games at retail anymore is still an unanswered question (assuming we'll ever even get there!), and cloud computing and streaming services on the horizon put an extra smudge on our crystal ball.

But much of the response to my article from Gamasutra commenters is aimed at GameStop, and how so many people hope it'll just disappear.

Do you have any GameStop horror stories? Everyone does, but I mean... I go there anyway. 'Cause I'm lazy. If you're a hater, do you have experiential reasons for disliking the retailer, or is it just a Big Evil Corporation, which is Mean?

And how do you buy your games? I've started a new sidebar poll to gauge how prevalent certain distro methods are for you all, because my attempt to stage a massively-attended Metroid-versus-Vania supremacy poll fell pretty flat. Not even 300 votes? Y'all have let me down.

The final result was 176 votes for Super Metroid, 119 for SotN, but you don't care, do you. You don't care at all! Excuse me, I've got a pillow to sob into for a while.

Okay, I'm all right now. Bonus digital distro material from our network: GamerBytes' Ryan Langley shrewdly points out ten things PlayStation Network needs to clean up before it can compete with XBLA from a storefront perspective. My usage of both services, personally, is pretty equal, but I've still gotta agree with him.

If You're Not Having Fun, Play Something Else

2009-10-08T10:06:00.004-04:00

"If a player's not having fun, that might mean there's something wrong with the game. But it also might mean the player's simply playing the wrong game. Let's use design innovation to make them the right games, instead of trying to fix what ain't broke.

As we look to the future, let's refine the traditions of our past, not regret them as design flaws just because they're frustrating to more moderate audiences. Those big babies should just go play Wii Fit or something."

Yeah. Yeah!! Go read my new Gamasutra editorial today, ya big babies. Because I'm kidding. Kinda.

Writing About Games Does Not Make You A Games Journalist

2009-10-07T15:01:00.004-04:00

"I know the line behind us is long. There is an army of bloggers and tweeters ready to step into our roles. No one is questioning their enthusiasm or passion for the medium. But these people still need experience; they need seasoning; they need to grow up. We need adults filling these roles, not inchoate 20-somethings anxious to declare that Modern Warfare 2 has 'the best graphics ever.'

At a time when games are growing up, when the medium is getting more sophisticated and adult, we are losing our most sophisticated and adult critics. We are losing our most articulate voices."

-- Scott Jones, 'It's Hard Out There for a Game Journalist'

[This is also why I correct people when they try to call me a 'veteran.' Doing something long enough to earn a full-time job does not a veteran make.]

Don't Even Play

2009-10-07T08:23:00.006-04:00

[lookin' good, hottie]

Sometimes I wish "people in the real world" were more interested in video games, so that I could talk about 'em with them. Other times, I wish they'd never talk about them ever-ever.

I've developed a case-in-point: It seems people are more impressed or excited to hear what I do for a living than they were two or three years ago. The checkout girl at the drugstore next door, for example, gleefully revealed she is a Sims fanatic, on seeing me wear the MySims hoodie I practically live in. This kind of thing makes me feel good.

A lot of times, though, for some reason people (mostly dudes) decide to react to learning about my work by threatening, good-naturedly if enviously, to beat me at video games, or by asserting they play more video games than I do ("you actually play them?" is the stupidest question you could probably ask someone who tells you "I write about video games," but I get it a lot).

And I'm all, pssh, Kid. Don't even.

And he'll be all, "okay, fine, what's your favorite video game, like, ever?" (yes, there is a script, because this happens fairly often)

So I'll go, like, "Symphony of the Night or Metal Gear Solid 3."

And the dude will never know what Symphony of the Night is, and so I'll be all, "c'mon, kiddo, you're trying to step up to me and you've never heard of one of the greatest games ever made?" Because, like, y'know, me and MGS 3, we could have a debate about that (or you could, and I'll plug my ears or ignore you, but it could be done, let's say) but SotN's pretty quintessential.

So who's more obnoxious: The random bartender who says he can P\X/n me at every video game because he (slow, polite applause) beat Halo 2? (P.S., is he being sexist, or does competitive testosterone crop up when "regular people" discuss video games, no matter who with?)

Or me, for my tch, puh-lease, you never heard of Katamari Damacy response?

What're your experiences with the weird line between "us" and "them?" Are you annoyed that I keep calling them "people in the real world?" What're we, then?

By the way, that bartender probably could kick my ass at Halo. I play a lot of video games, but am not, to be quite honest, notably good at too many of 'em. But let's not tell him that, huh?

The New Evil Empire

2009-09-30T15:54:00.006-04:00

I've always been fascinated by the gamer community's tendency (need?) to personify games companies, its quickness to vilify what it sees as the "bad" guy (those who prioritize profits, natch), and its preoccupation with the personas of various individuals in our field (even journos)!

Of course, it's understandable -- in an entertainment technology biz, the focus is on the products and rarely on the folks behind them. I'm always interested in those folks, and anyone who enjoys team sports knows what happens when a passionate, focused audience plays favorites. It's impassioned, polarizing and just plain fun.

As his public profile has increased at a rate congruent to Activision's coffers, the publisher's chairman, Bobby Kotick, has fast taken his spot dead center of the gamer community's crosshairs. The frequency with which he throws around words like "exploit," "pessimism" and "raise prices" don't earn him any fans, nor do his aggressive biz tactics. So has he earned all the hatred, or is the man just doing his job for his investors -- and a great one at that?

I took a look at the issue for my column this month in Kotaku, hitting up industry insiders, analysts and his own employees to analyze the anti-ATVI sentiment from all sides. Give it a read! And if you dig it, kindly Digg it?

Bonus material: Another excellent parody song from our friends at IdleThumbs, "inspired by the teachings of Kotick." Brought to you by the mind of Chris Remo, who you might recall also brightened our lives with the "Senior Super Douche"-inspired "Stop Doing Interviews," also Activision-oriented.

PS: Big ups to Twitter follower Vahn16 for the Kurtz comparison -- "Love @leighalexander's Kotick article, but is anyone else having flashbacks to Heart of Darkness? 'He's a great man!' but few have met him."

PPS: Also big ups to The_Game_Boy for making reference to division-winning Yankees and their ol' figurehead -- "@leighalexander @pkollar It isn't a bad thing that gaming now has its George Steinbrenner."

(Follow me on Twitter so I can quote you one day, too!)

Conflict, Resolution

2009-09-28T08:51:00.002-04:00

"For a story to occur, it has to keep proceeding... challenge is about preventing you from continuing in the game... Story and challenge work against each other. No matter how hard you work on a game, if you've got a story in the traditional way, and you've got challenge elements like we traditionally use them, they work against each other."

-- Jonathan Blow

"All right: so what if the player's challenge and the protagonist's challenge are not the same thing? Or what if the function of the challenge is something other than doling out quantities of story? Is there a way in which challenge can make a story more powerful or more significant rather than less?"

-- Emily Short, "Analysis: Challenge, Game Design Conflicts, Storytelling"

"Motion Controller"*

2009-09-24T12:02:00.004-04:00

*Motion Controller, Sony says in its press release, is a tentative name for the orb-topped, glowy camera-sensing wand it just confirmed will release in Spring 2010. Yay, finally a release date! But no name?

Hey, let's be fair, though. Much of the time, new hardware has tentative or prototypical names -- remember the Nintendo "Revolution?" Remember the collective choke of horror, fascination and good old third grade jeering when we first heard the word "Wii"?

And is it truly likely Microsoft will introduce "Project Natal" to the mainstream consumer audience on retail shelves with a name like that? Yeah, no. I mean, it rhymes with a tennis player, even though it looks like it should be pronounced like something pertaining to gestating infants. Would it be so bad if we called it "Camera Solution" or something until it got its retail name?

Still, we in the press have been looking for something to call the glowy-wand-orb-thing besides "Motion Controller," and we wonder how Sony will name and market the thing when the time comes. Therefore, I decided to consult my friends on Twitter (become one of them!) to see if we couldn't give Sony some helpful suggestions -- and of course, some friendly teasing. Here are some. Leave more good/funny ideas in the comments!

BreenyMack@leighalexander wonder wand, shit sticks, red balls of fury, project fatal.. Just to name a few
39 minutes ago from UberTwitter in reply to leighalexander

dangermartian@leighalexander I think sony should call it the "Partytime Funwand," just to connect to the casual/vibrator market.
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to leighalexander

simmies@leighalexander Sony Expressence Dowel
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

stocdred@leighalexander Sonomotion, MotionMe, AirPlay, SimuMotion, WaveWand, SpaceSphere, BallSack, Copernicus, Project Not-tal, Hullabaloo
about 2 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

unangbangkay@leighalexander DualWand
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

dfjones@leighalexander the P-mote? E-motion? Ps waggle? Project rushjob?
about 2 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to leighalexander

julio_cesar@leighalexander I think it´s called "Wand"
about 2 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

WilloughbyJ@leighalexander Sony's Colorful Magic Wand
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

chrominance@leighalexander Singstar Twist n' Shout Microphone (but seriously, they should put a mic in that thing--take that, Lips!)
about 3 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

tech_gaming@leighalexander Would PS3D be too cheesy?
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

nilcypher@leighalexander I desperately want Sony to call it something overwrought like 'omni-rod' or 'uni-scepter'
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

Jensonb@leighalexander they ahould call it Six Axe Eyes
about 3 hours ago from Twittelator

MrWasteland@leighalexander The Unblue Ocean Strategy
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander Audience Broadening Initiative #37B
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

tech_gaming@leighalexander Something to go with Playstation Eye. I'm thinking EyeMotion, EyeSee, or just Eye-Aye-I
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

LBJeffries@leighalexander The amazing WANDO!
about 3 hours ago from web

WarofArt@leighalexander Metoomote
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

MikeCK88@leighalexander The PS3mote?
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry

timseppala@leighalexander Playstation Pie in the Sky
about 3 hours ago from mobile web

8bithack@leighalexander Playstation Knob.
about 3 hours ago from Seesmic in reply to leighalexander

thetrin@leighalexander Sony Ocean Motion Commotion Lotion
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander Sony Bone
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander SCE Controller Type 9 "Rudolph's Nose"
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

Fox4649@leighalexander Ollivander's Hand-Held Sony Peripheral
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

MrWasteland@leighalexander The PlayStation 3 Autogamic Gesticulizer
about 3 hours ago from Twitterrific

cptcarnage@leighalexander hmmm, StickAxis?
about 3 hours ago from UberTwitter in reply to leighalexander

Dlangar@leighalexander PS Wiggle #sonymotioncontroller
about 3 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

Sean2D2@leighalexander Magic balls. Wonder sticks. Stick and Ball. The Eyes of Sauron. Sorcerer's balls. Magic Wands. 4-D Controller. PSmote.
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

S_McNair@leighalexander Latan
about 3 hours ago from Tweed in reply to leighalexander

pantscommander@leighalexander Sonymote, Swaggle, Contrabulous Fraptraption, The "Pleasebuyme"
about 4 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

StupidDufus@leighalexander A name? How about "bandwagon" or "innovation." =P
about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to leighalexander

regretlesspanda@leighalexander Single Schlock
about 4 hours ago from Echofon in reply to leighalexander

The_B@leighalexander PS3se Wii-lease Me?
about 4 hours ago from Seesmic in reply to leighalexander

galenblade@leighalexander The Sony Metoo.
about 4 hours ago from web

tyrone_hawk@leighalexander PSMotion?
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to leighalexander

tylerstyle@leighalexander "Bulbi", your new companion for magical worlds. For the more seasoned gamer, call 'em "Orb".
about 4 hours ago from Snowl

A Pricey Cup Of Joe

2009-09-08T12:35:00.004-04:00

Starbucks Coffee is like, four bucks or something like that, insane considering how relatively cheap coffee itself is as a commodity (and considering how Starbucks tastes like crap -- Dunkin' Donuts for life).

But if we're talking expensive coffee, the priciest is the one served up with the now-infamous 'Hot Coffee' scandal with which Take-Two found itself saddled when a mod unlocked some hidden no-no content. Years of media hype, legal battles and other consequences of the incident's spectre followed.

It was expensive. Really expensive, and that's just adding up the costs we can materially quantify. I took a look at the cost of Hot Coffee in an editorial at Gamasutra today -- and found the real costs go way beyond the monetary.

And they go way beyond Take-Two. The entire industry paid for that one little mini-game, when you think about it. Agree?

Let's Wear Things

2009-09-08T11:59:00.006-04:00

I've already pointed out how much I like Meat Bun's T-shirts. I've been loving their newer ones, the DX Line, and getting a lot of wear out of the ones I've got, so I thought I'd indulge in some long-overdue pimpage.

Honestly, being a "G4/X\3|2" isn't something I tend to like to advertise in the traditional sense. Yes, I do, in fact, still own the launch-day FFVII shirt I got as a preorder gift from some retailer or other, but I'm a little embarrassed wearing that out in public. My Assassin's Creed 2 shirt was a cozy wear for the long flight home from E3, but I'm not wearing it out to the bar either.

But I totally love this particular "Fight Night" shirt -- yeah, it's a Street Fighter shirt, but it's so subtle that only fellow geeks can tell you're not simply super-fashionable. It always gets a ton of compliments when I wear it out and about, and it actually looks good on me, unlike XXL Unreal Tournament tees. If you've never checked out the new line, you totally should.

Also, I am promoting two items of clothing here, actually -- I'm not really sure why I got in the mail these high-tech specs from Gunnar Optiks, but hey, here we are, and I'm telling you about them because I feel guilty not having paid for 'em. They are apparently worn by professional musicians and people with names like "DJ Rocky Rock"?

I don't even wear prescription lenses, but my eyes really suffer from spending so much time a day on the laptop working. These are supposed to help prevent eyestrain. I guess I'll have to wear them daily for a while to see if there's really an effect or not, but they are comfortable and I think they look kinda cool.

Done shilling for now, I swear. Seriously, though, there are plenty of geek clothes out there, but when are we going to see more labels and retailers getting on board with geek fashion? Let's just pretend I am starting a "not brushing hair" trend, while we're at it.

And Your Bird Can Sing

2009-09-07T19:11:00.003-04:00

"So I ask: must we appreciate The Beatles? Must we reminisce with the newly aged about their privileged lives as naive youthful radicals, and then later as greedy yuppie centrists, and then finally as truculent conservative majority? Must we give them their final thrill in the medium we popularized, and which they spent decades not only failing to understand, but also deriding as useless and insolent? Must we allow them to celebrate not through change, not through novelty, but through utter sameness?"

-- The always-provocative Ian Bogost, on The Beatles: Rock Band

Music Sweet Music

2009-09-05T10:32:00.004-04:00

I don't listen to game music anymore. I used to, years ago -- owning a soundtrack to a game I really loved was a must. Certainly, as I've grown up, my musical tastes have changed quite a lot. You could also blame my career. Spending my whole days immersed in the art, business and culture of video games, I'm understandably less interested in seeking out yet more ways to work games into my everyday life. I'm at saturation!

But most people I know who are fans and followers of game music often express that they feel soundtracks have "changed," or fail to be as memorable as they once were. The themes we really love, recognize and identify with are for the most part from a prior era. I mean, there's "Still Alive." And "Somewhere Beyond The Sea" in BioShock stands out to me, but of course that song didn't originate with the game.

Website Original Sound Version exists for hardcore devotees of game scores, and they recently asked me to contribute some thoughts on video game music in an interview. I did my best to explain where I believe the perception of a character loss in game music comes from:

"With a few exceptions, most of our most beloved themes and tunes evolved out of an era where music was essentially used as background accompaniment for gameplay that was either very basic or very repetitive (think of trying to time your jumps to the beat in some sidescroller or another).

And of course, these games were not only repetitive but grueling, so you’d have one cartridge last you months, maybe even years, before you ever completed it or got tired of it. You’d end up hearing some of the same songs billions and billions of times, which means they were more likely to score some kind of permanence in your consciousness.

Games just are not made that way anymore, really. Now, tech being what it is, I think there’s this holistic approach to world-building, where every element is combined to immerse the player. Music’s become something that perhaps influences the impression or emotion of a scene, but I don’t think it’s intended to be noticed per se. The emphasis on realism means that music’s become more ambient – it’s designed to give the player a mood, but the player mustn’t notice that it’s happening. That – combined with the fact that we blow through these massive AAA titles in much briefer time periods somehow these days – means that game music leaves less of an impression than it used to, I think."

I think this is something of a misstep on the part of game development, though. When it comes to memory and emotion, it's always seemed to me that the visual sense is the least acute -- a beloved song or familiar scent can bring emotion and memory rushing back with an intensity that can't be matched by what the eyes see. The goal of creating a player's emotional attachment to a game would be much better served through distinct, memorable music themes.

Just think of the role "Still Alive" played in Portal's success and the endurance of its appeal -- there wouldn't have been cake without icing. And what would that seminal Final Fantasy VII moment have been without Aeris' theme? Recognizable music doesn't just build immersion, it builds loyalty. I'd wager a publisher could sell more sequels if they used the shorthand of common musical themes to jog players' memories of how much they loved the first one.

There are some games we continue discussing and adoring long after we've put the controller down, and music is one element that can give a title a lasting place in our hearts. I'd like to see less auditory wallpaper and more really good game songs, wouldn't you?

Until then, check out the full Original Sound Version interview, in which I name my favorite game soundtracks of all time. What are yours?

Is The First-Person The Most-Person?

2009-09-04T07:36:00.002-04:00

The first-person perspective has come to prominence over the years as the shooter genre has fully come into its own on consoles -- in no small part, I think, because developers realized it was far easier to work with than the third-person (remember all those tricky camera issues cropping up in the last-gen?)

There also seems to be an impression that it's the most immersive. You can look around a game world as if with your own eyes, you can see your own hands and sometimes even more (see the otherwise-lamentable Alone in the Dark's neato inventory system).

But there's something to be said for being able to see your character, right?

Japanese RPGs, which rely on rich visuals and groups of intricate characters, are almost exclusively third-person -- if there's such a thing as a first-person JRPG, please enlighten me. Western RPGs, on the other hand, are in the large majority first-person. How strange to see such a divergent approach in what is effectively a comparable genre.

Personally, I enjoy games that use the perspective in creative ways. EA told me that the reason for all the reflective surfaces in Mirror's Edge is to allow the player to see Faith, an interesting nod to the importance of self-visualizatoin. And remember how meticulously some of us arranged portals in order to get a glimpse of Chell? In BioShock, I think the first-person perspective is ideal -- your character lacks a sense of self as a narrative necessity, and is simply hands, weapons. Not to mention the fact that Jack might look like his dad, thereby spoiling some things.

Anyhow, I bring it up because my colleague, Game Developer editor Brandon Sheffield, wrote an editorial at Gamasutra pointing out why it's somewhat misleading to assume that first-person games are automatically more immersive, and he discusses some of the actual barriers to immersion he feels they can create.

Do you have a preference? If so, why? If it depends on the genre, which types of games do you think are more suited to one perspective versus another? Vote in the sidebar poll too, willya?

Heroine

2009-09-03T14:23:00.003-04:00

"I don't need games to have more female characters because I need to see myself reflected in them to enjoy them. One of the reasons I love games is because I get to be someone else. I feel very strongly that the ten-foot cow-man I get to be in World of Warcraft is as accurate an extension of my inner personality as any realistic avatar I've ever fretted over. And I don't need games to have more female characters because it's unjust or unfair if they don't. Games ought to be defining their own realities and making their own rules."

--Margaret Robertson, at Offworld

Bang Bang, Bang Bang

2009-09-03T11:18:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the hiatus, SVGLers. I've not been feeling well, which tends to sap my motivation for blogging. I'll try to keep up!

Have you seen my Kotaku feature this month? It's a bit dear to my heart. You may have noticed a trend in my writing lately -- I asked you how many of you have hobbies and interests outside of games (only 12 percent of you said you have "many"!), and I've been interested in diversity in general -- how imaginitive we are, how well games support imagination, and how valuable the work of non-traditional developers is.

Essentially, I've been frustrated with the narrowness of our culture and the way we repeat the same conversations over and over; the way we point vigorously to the same handful of titles to prove we're making progress, the sameness of blockbuster games -- and most frustrating of all, the virulent unwillingness so much of the core gaming audience seems to possess toward change.

I've been frustrated with developers and publishers, too -- I have had enough Tolkien, Star Wars and comic book derivatives to last me my whole life. I see us living in an echo chamber, creating both products and a culture around those products that are of interest only to us, and that stand no chance of breaking out of the feedback loop of insularity that prevents games from getting the respect they deserve alongside other media. We're supposed to inherit the future, not remain a niche.

We need a freakin' life, guys. Sorry.

Anyway, this month I talked to some influential folks about what inspires their work -- the question at the core of the piece is whether creativity in games is dead or constrained beyond hope. If you missed it when it went up a couple days ago, check it out!

Then have at it, commenters -- I know there are some of you already itching to point out to me once again the breadth and richness of comic books. While you're at it, you could also make a long, long list of games that defy paradigms to show me how wrong I am. You could even get really righteous and defensive, if you want; this is an open forum, after all.

You could, but then you'd be missing the point.

But if you like the feature, gimme some Digg love, would you? I mean, it has Tim-freakin'-Schafer in it, and I want people to read what he had to say!

Food For Thought

2009-08-31T09:25:00.005-04:00

"Instead of making games that immediately make sense to everyone and everyone agrees about, it would be better to have dimensions to games that cannot easily be explained. That's the kind of game that people remember ten or fifteen years down the road. There were more of those games during the Super Nintendo era compared with today."

-- Hiroki Kikuta, Composer, Square-Enix (Secret of Mana, Concerto Gate)

Not Now, Honey, I'm Exploring

2009-08-24T17:56:00.004-04:00

So, I've been playing Shadow Complex -- since we touched on the controversy some have raised around the game, I feel obligated to disclose I had a code for it. For whatever it's worth, I would have purchased it anyway.

Snafu aside, I like it all right. "Metroidvania" style is one of my all-time favorites -- I play Symphony of the Night several times a year, for example, and given how engrossing that core style is, I don't mind much that it's "ripping off" Super Metroid.

Two issues, though -- not especially fond of the aiming. If I can't use the Z-axis, why should I have to try to target enemies that are further "back" than I am? Sometimes, it doesn't seem to work very well. Of course, given that you've got unlimited ammo and enemy soldiers generally go down easy, it's not a major obstacle, but I like feeling precise.

The larger issue for me is one of plot and tone. This particular style of design encourages the player to experiment and explore, so I absolutely love that resources are either unlimited or easily replenished, and that thus far I haven't encountered any time-limited events (hopefully there aren't any).

I also think it's interesting to see the genre wrapped in distinctly Western military sci-fi as opposed to the more fantastic environments to which we're accustomed even with Metroid -- even though it's long been my position that video games have more than enough steel gray helmets-and-guns stories.

But these supporting elements stand in direct contrast with the game design. Granted, I'm only a few hours into the game, but the dichotomy is already jumping out at me: Your girlfriend's being dragged away for advanced torture into a helicopter that is about to take off, and you...

...Decide to go and search for more stuff?

Like, really, the mission objective practically SHOUTS at you, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, and you're just like, "huh, I wonder if there are any gold bars hidden in this weird underground complex." Uh, okay?

The cut scenes attempt to convey a sense of urgency -- take the most direct route to solve an immediate crisis -- and yet the gameplay requires precisely the opposite mindset. If the player chooses to engage with the plot, the gameplay feels weird, and if they go the other way 'round, as most will, the plot becomes even more goofy and cliche than it already is.

None of the things I'm pointing out are dealbreakers. I'm still enjoying the game so far. And I do think it's possible to wrap this genre with an appropriate story and atmosphere -- I hope Shadow Complex sells well, and proves that there's still a strong demand for this style of gameplay. I'd like to see some more original, modern takes on it come out of its success.

A Complex Shadow

2009-08-21T11:29:00.006-04:00

A notable constituency of the gaming community online has taken issue with Shadow Complex because of the involvement of author Orson Scott Card, publicly an opponent of gay rights. As excited as they are about Shadow Complex, many gamers are hesitant to spend their money in a way that would benefit someone whose political viewpoints offend them -- regardless of your personal stance on such issues, the unwillingness to reward a person who actively opposes something important to you is understandable.

Wanted to point your attention to an excellent, reasoned editorial by my Gamasutra colleague Christian Nutt, analyzing the internet protests. It makes me think -- as someone who believes games have only scratched the surface of their potential for social relevance, I'd surely like to see more creators express themselves on important issues through the art of games.

Of course, there is to my knowledge absolutely no political sentiment, anti-gay or otherwise, within Shadow Complex. But my strong feeling that art should authentically express the artist certainly comes under the microscope when I'm confronted with a situation where I don't much like the creator.

Every time the world of games comes up against real-world social issues, it's always a little tricky to navigate. "It's only a game" didn't work well at all for things like Six Days in Fallujah or the race questions raised by Resident Evil 5, for example. I like the comment on Christian's article which says "'It's Just a Game' is a very intricate logical fallacy used by gamers that don't want to grow up."

Regardless of a game's content, would you support a title if it had the involvement of someone whose views or actions in the real world violated your personal morals? Is it really possible to fully separate a product from its producer, even when there's no agenda in the content?

Fight!

2009-08-21T10:58:00.004-04:00

Back In The Day, were you team Mortal Kombat or team Street Fighter?

Personally, I was an MK kid. I loved the gore (maybe a little too much), and I've never been patient enough for the precision required to be even passable at Street Fighter. Lord, to this day I can hardly even do a hadouken. I've been playing a bit of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 lately and the results are embarrassing.

Either way, though, when you think about it, that fighting brand rivalry was nearly as big as Mario-versus-Sonic (I was Sonic Team, in case you're wondering). But the genre in general largely fell off over the years with the decline of arcades, and except for a couple good brands -- Soulcalibur and possibly Virtua Fighter, essentially* -- the arcade-fighter heyday seemed basically over.

Now a few things have happened that stand to change that. Connected consoles mean we no longer need arcades to square off. And now that Warner Bros. has bought up Midway primarily for Mortal Kombat, it's a good bet we could see "Fatality" return to the common lexicon once more.

Of course, Capcom brought it in style with Street Fighter IV last year, and the publisher has up til now faced few, if any obstacles in the way of cornering the traditional fighting game market in the West. I wondered how the company would feel about the return of Mortal Kombat, and so I asked 'em.

Turns out they're more than ready for MK to bring it on. Capcom's Chris Kramer talked to me about the evolution and dynamics of arcade fighting franchises over the years, and he says a return to the rivalries and richness we remember from our arcade-fueled younger days would be a good thing for the genre, the industry and gamers alike. Check out the article!

Not included in the story, but cute: Kramer says that when Capcom developers and staff attend EVO tournament finals, they're often encouraged by fans and attendees to show off their skills at Street Fighter -- having developed it, they ought to know its ins and outs well enough to give the tournament fighters a run for their money, right? Not so.

"You dont generally see Capcom staff playing in public," Kramer told me (he was trying to make me feel better for my admitted barely-remedial SF skillz). "Everyone's like 'where's Seth [Killian]? I don't want to make this game look bad.'"

[*there's always gonna be that guy who leaves a comment about HOW CAN I NEGLECT all the AMAZING LAST-GEN FIGHTERS blah blah. i'd like to tell that guy to cool his jets for today.]

Divestiture

2009-08-20T11:06:00.003-04:00

Today your favorite retailer -- or, especially in the U.S., the retailer you really have no choice but to frequent -- GameStop announced its second-quarter financial results, and the company's feeling the pinch of the crummy summer the games biz is having.

Don't worry about GameStop, though. Like, ever. The profit margin they make on used games gets up to 50 percent when all is normal, and even though this is one of the worst summers the industry's seen in years in terms of NPD declines, it's still the second-best quarter ever for GameStop.

Which makes me think a lot about used game sales -- I even sell things periodically, usually because I need cigarette money [srsly ten bux a pack in new york, lame]. I should probably just trade my next round of trade-ins for My Stop Smoking Coach.

I've never sold a piece of hardware in my life, but a few weeks ago I got rid the PSP-3000 -- I got very little use out of it in general and am eager to upgrade to the UMD-less PSP Go. It felt strange, as if even with a perfectly rational reason to divest myself, it sort of violated my natural reflex. I had a pang of wanting to clutch it back when I saw that Piano Black pass across the countertop.

Are you guys big re-sellers? If so, do you use GameStop or something that won't, um, rip you off? What I'm most interested in is this: how do you determine what you're going to trade in or keep?

It's Hardware Time!

2009-08-19T11:50:00.010-04:00

I've been asking you guys to vote in the sidebar poll on whether you think the PS3 price cut will be a game-changer for the console war. If you want to know what the pro analysts think in terms of market effects and options for Sony's rivals, I've gathered up their perspectives over at Gamasutra today -- give it a look if you like that kind of thing.

The standout there is that they all seem to think it's Nintendo who has the most to fear from current market pricing trends. Guess we'll see, huh?

Following the announcement, I talked to Sony yesterday, too, about why 30 percent is the big number for the PS3 Slim in more ways than one. And now, up today is the portion of my interview in which the company denies it's angling for iPhone marketshare with the PSP Go's planned 'Mini' titles.

If you're skeptical of that, I am too [s'like, come on!] -- however, one can hardly blame Sony for wanting to avoid giving the impression it's publicly squaring off against the explosive iPhone. And there are, as the company says, plenty of alternate aims for the device that are not within the iPhone's jurisdiction.

I'm a pretty heavy iPhone user, though only a dabbler in iPhone gaming. I'm very excited about the PSP Go, actually -- I hated UMDs from the get-go, found the PSP too heavy and not portable enough even in the slimmed version, and only rarely found something in its software library worth giving the system regular use over.

But ever since I got my hands on the PSP Go at E3, I concede my sentiments are approaching outright gadget-lust -- that I've come to rely so heavily on iPhone as a lifestyle product seems to mean a device like PSP Go fits into my life better, and that correlation, at least, is something Sony is consciously capitalizing on. How do you feel about it?

The past 24 hours have been The Sony Channel for most media outlets, thanks to this long-anticipated and pretty big pricing news. Given that, it seems like bad timing for me to call attention to some Game Informer stats making the rounds -- the mag did a survey and calculated that an unsettling 54.2 percent of Xbox 360 owners have had a Red Ring. Does that stat sound plausible to you? With all due respect to Game Informer staff, I'll just go ahead and quote one of my Twitter friends -- it's "hardly Consumer Reports," after all.

So to keep it all nice and balanced-like, I'd like to direct your attention to a really fun interview late last week I got to do with former Microsoft VP of game publishing Ed Fries. He talks about his time overseeing the games division's transition from basically nothing but PC flight sims into the full-scale hardware/software house we know and love today, and it's a fascinating story.

My favorite parts of the interview are where Fries explains how the console got its name, the revelation that Microsoft never thought Halo was going to be particularly big nor iconic for the platform, and how candid he is about the amount of stress involved in working on the high-stakes front lines of the platform wars. Please do give it a read!

Bonus material!!!111 Get sexy PSP-tan wallpaper here. Get adorable PSP-tan wallpaper here. More console-tans than you can shake a stick at here.

So, PS3 Slim Is Officially Here...

2009-08-18T13:53:00.003-04:00

For $299. Personally, my prediction was that the rumors were too good to be true, and that the best we could expect was perhaps a lower-priced bundle for the main SKU, with the introducton of the Slim as a somehow less-capable alternate SKU (think of how well the Arcade model has worked out for Microsoft!)

But I was wrong, since Sony has reduced its manufacturing build costs 70 percent and unveiled a smaller, cheaper PS3 at last -- with no catch. True fact!

So of course, the important question is this: If you are not a PS3 owner, will this do ya? Vote in the sidebar poll! Get your friends to vote, too! And feel free to discuss in comments or in the Shoutmix chat box also on your right.