• 10May 06

  Tilt Dual Shock

     I hope it improves the lack luster pinball genre on Sony consoles.  Wait, I can tilt a real pinball machine.  In fact, for the wii-mote, I could guide an pilotwing aircraft like a paper airplane.  Wait, I can throw a real paper airplane.  There is no much new in terms of next generation that motion sensor has to bring the next generation consoles: sorry. 

    The next dual shock should add some more complex movements to the controller without adding more controls.  It's a natural evolution, but not a revolution.  The wii-mote is not even a revolution.  As history has shown, adding more buttons out of reach of a player's fingers will do well (see Jaguar's controller/ telephone touch pad).  The dual shock for the ps2 got it right.  R3 and L3 was placed within the analog sticks, very much the idea that teh wii-mote will have with the a-buttons function as an analog stick.  So why are nintendo fans blasting sony when nintendo also follows?  The only revolution for video games may be extra fingers on the player,but this is out side the control (sorry the lack of terminology, that's a pun for you) of console makers.  Simply, some controls need to use what players have used before Nintendo.  Atari's controls (other than its Jaguar system) also had players twisting and turning, with no game play results.  So why  not add in sensors and train people to use those motions, which have been around before nintendo, to affect gameplay?  Nintendo  neither created the player whom had flung the gaming joystick around mindlessly (though both ps3 and rev will make you mindlessly do so anyways with gimmicky games) nor had they created the light gun.  But the big N did make motion sensors more reliable and they did make the first airborne light gun (damn dog).  Don't look at anything in terms of next generation being anything revolutionary.  Like Eddie Vedder screamed, "It's evolution, baby!"   

    Some responsible developers will use the tilt effect to go use.  I am tired of looking around corners with my analog stick.  It's costly, or at least, the developers are limited to what you will be scripted to see or else the game becomes broken.  To, say, allow the player to tilt his controller to look around corners, the player can use the two analog sticks as they were meant to be (camera, moving, and aiming).  Every remote is made for a ten finger person so buttons wouldn't work for next generation (and no self-respecting neo-darwinist will accept evolution happening in one generation).

  • Posted May 10, 2006 3:16 pm PT
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• 5May 06

  Roll Playing Games?

    Dungeons and Dragons will put do what all fantasy based lands have done.  From the upcoming Lord of the Rings MMO to the ever popular daddy killer, Worlds of Warcraft, everyone wants to play together, but I like to see the players hands when they roll the dice.  I do not understand why D&D's parent company, presently Wizards of the Coast, do not adversite tradition pen and paper games.  I did see one page ad in May's Issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.  The ad asked: if you wanted to pretend to be an elf in your basement, why don't invite some friends.  Despite satanic rituals, D&D had some good things going for it by refusing to visualize everything for the party.  Though I do enjoy killing a rat that was realistically part of the environment, as in that the rat was clipped up in a tree, I do think that massively multi-player rpgs have not successfully pulled off the pen and paper's certainty.  For instance,  players online can  perform useless actions like dancing.  You're certain that a player is dancing, but the performance is not personal and even worst than emoticons .  When I see a player on the other side of the table with his pencil riddled with teeth marks, I can really understand his convictions to do a little jig before rolling the di to see how well his female elf archer will strike.  Had this been online, the character model of the female elf would not have stepped outside the starting village's gate and whored the character's dancing ability to get weapons.  I do not want to think of the dice rolling in online games - it keeps me from slaying the real demons of the fantasy games. 

  Peace in. 

   

  • Posted May 5, 2006 8:44 pm PT
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