No, I don't just write things down to make you angry... but that is why I had sex with your mom.

• 10Aug 09

  Rigging the Game

  I was just reading about EA bailing on pc games. It made me think, as I often do, about the miserable state of my gaming rig. I've got a $4k gaming computer sitting here. I built it myself. What is it doing, aside from the occasional foray into the Fallout 3's DLC augmented wasteland? It's typing a blog no one will read...

  It's sad how pc gaming has declined over the last few years. I kind of blame MS for the trend. They were always like the "in-house" gaming wing of the PC world, and when they took Crimson Skies and MechWarrior over to the consoles it signaled the coming of this dark age.

  It's made all of gaming dumber than it used to be... since now the default level for everything is aimed at the 13-15 yr olds who anchor Xbox Live, rather than console games having to "play up" to compete with much deeper, more detailed, pc games. I miss the days when you could get actual simulators for x-wings and giant robots. I used to decide how much power to divert to the engines, then throttle forward to 100%. Now I hold R trigger to boost.

  I will say though... of all the missing or defunct pc game makers I lament on a nearly daily basis, EA is the one I will miss the least. I probably wouldn't have even noticed them leaving if no one had mentioned it. And there is light at the end of this tunnel, because apparently MechWarrior is coming back and rumors suggest it will have Crimson Skies in tow.

  I just hope they hurry. I'd rather not have to build a whole new computer for a new generation of pc games when this generation has only spanned half a dozen must-play titles.

  • Posted Aug 10, 2009 12:41 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 26Jul 09

  Lights, CAMERAS, and Actions...

  In reading various reviews of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, I've noticed a number of reviewers complaining about the camera system. It seems weird to me that there are still people out there, particulary "professional gamers", who haven't figured out how games work.

  In some games, learning to work the camera properly is a skill. The designers intend for it to be a skill. Mario 64, arguably the first truly great 3D game in console history, set that ball into motion, and fussy camera haters have been whining about it ever since. I've played about 150 hours of Monster Hunter FU at this point. There's nothing wrong with the camera controls. You just have to learn to work them. It's not any different than learning to jump over things in a platformer, learning to lead moving targets in shooting games, or acclimating yourself to any other control mechanic.

  Is the camera in Monster Hunter any harder to wrap your mind around than the equipment selection system in Metal Gear Solid 4? Or the arcane character advancement systems of any Final Fantasy game in the last 10 years? Or the camera controls in Grand Theft Auto games which make it possible to turn corners in traffic? No, it's not.

  I'll admit discussions of interface get tricky... the difference between a good or bad control can absolutely make or break a game, but I think you have to look at the intention of the design. Capcom didn't try to make a lock on system and fail. Nor did they provide a set of camera controls that feel wonky or irresponsive. They simply decided to make "keeping your eye on the ball" a part of the game. It's pretty obvious (after four MH games) they're doing it on purpose. I think in a game as carefully crafted as Monster Hunter, reviewers need to put their egos on hold long enough to consider that maybe Capcom game designers know what they're doing...

  And to be fair, they did call the game Monster HUNTER. I don't know how much more direct they could be about the idea that you will need to learn to look around for monsters.

  • Posted Jul 26, 2009 2:31 pm PT
  • Category: Games
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• 25Jul 09

  Are games getting easier or are we getting better?

  The whole shape of gaming has changed. Early games were mostly "survival games". Newer games are more about exploration and adventure. It's not really fair to compare most of them, because they're nowhere near the same genre.

  Older games had to be harder, because otherwise they wouldn't have needed to exist. Like Donkey Kong... it had like 5 boards total. If they'd been easy, the whole Donkey Kong experience would have been over in 10 minutes. Old school gaming was based in arcades, not consoles. When you're trying to get quarters, you want the games to be have as high a turnover as you can get away with. If Oblivion were a quarter to play, you could spend all day playing it for less than a dollar. With console games the effect is reversed, because you're trying to convince people to spend $60 by providing as much content as possible.

  Mechanics themselves change gaming. Load times and cinemas change things. Look at the hardest parts of Ghostbusters. You die at the stupid cemetery gates and then have to sit through a long reload and Ray and Egon babbling EVERY time. If that was representative of how modern games worked, half of all gamers would find a new hobby. So no, Oblivion, Metal Gear, hell, even Monster Hunter... simply cannot get away with being as oppressively difficult as old games like Rip Off or Tempest.

  Trying to compare the old games to the new ones is like trying to compare prostitution to marriage. Yes, they have a lot of things in common, and you can certainly draw accurate parallels, but they're still designed to achieve different goals.

  • Posted Jul 25, 2009 6:51 am PT
  • Category: Games
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