• 1Sep 08

  No need to alienate casual OR hardcore. Just improve difficulty options!

  It boggles my mind why devs aren't taking better advantage of a feature as old and as prominently used as difficulty settings. If, let's say, they want to dumb down a few of their flagship franchises to make them more accessible for a wider audience, that's perfectly fine, but what shall it profit a company if it shall gain the whole casual market but lose the hardcore? Well, quite a lot, it turns out, but still not as much as it would were it able to please both sides of the spectrum, with only one investment, and the way to do this, I think, is by letting the gamer customize their own challenge.

  Now, for this to really work, it would have to go far beyond making subtle variations in enemy AI, attack damage, and ammo supply. The changes would need to be obvious, have a clearly noticeable impact on the overall gameplay experience, and perhaps as a bonus, be creative and interesting. I'm not really talking about unlockable challenges like speed runs, or handicaps or "meet certain conditions" either; the options must all be available out of the box and be a constant throughout.

  I suppose I owe some examples, and what better place to look than the watered-down soup du jour, Bioshock. I've had little experience with its spiritual predecessor, System Shock 2, and appropriately enough, this is due to the game's sheer difficulty impeding my progress. While Bioshock was ultimately a leisurely walk through the park complete with a handy tour guide, SS2 with its daunting inventory management, stat building, and ammo conservation has me utterly subdued.

  A happy medium between the two of these would be sublime, and Bioshock could have easily been it. For instance, if I wanted to challenge myself with something totally audacious like, say, the ability to actually die, or at least revive myself at a cost, that should be my prerogative. Include an option for that. Inventory management? That I don't want, so I think I'll set my preferred item storage method to "out of site, out of mind, and practically infinite", but that's not to say that more masochistic players should be deprived of an in-game lesson in maintaining a sensible budget.

  It's not like this would be hard to do, either, nor would there ever be an overtly open-ended "can of worms" as to exactly what elements and mechanics should be fit for trimming. As history has and continues to prove, most artists, including game directors, start out with a very specific vision and/or precedent for each new project, and its not usually until a bit later, when the producers, publishers and publicists step in that the work is gradually molded into whatever watered-down revision eventually reaches the consumer. What I'm saying is, a game whose final version is easy enough for an infant was likely not so easy in its infancy. If this assumption is correct, then it is likely that at least a few possible configurations in difficulty are considered throughout a game's production cycle, and all they'd need to do to give it universal appeal is keep more than one of them.

  So, assuming you've managed to wade through my wall of text this far, what does everyone think of this idea? Would it work? What are some things you wished you could customize in other games?

  • Posted Sep 1, 2008 8:07 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 0 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 21Jul 08

  Currently going Ga Ga over Deadly Creatures

  Yes, I said "ga ga". Anyway, if you had't heard of THQ's upcoming Wii title Deadly Creatures, then now you have. Easily one of my most anticipated games this year (which I'll elaborate on in a minute), it also seems destined to join the ever-growing ranks of brilliant Wii exclusives that flat-out flop commercially. Even moreso with poor Deadly Creatures, since it seems to lack a decent online cult following a la BWII, Zack and Wiki, No More Heroes and Okami Wii as much as its left wanting on the mainstream hype/advertising front.

  Now why does this near-certain doom irk me so? Quite simply, this is a game I have always wanted to play. As far back as my early childhood, long before any semblance of realism could be practically imagined, it has been my dream to see a video game where I could control a realistically modeled and animated, non-talking, non-anthropomorphic animal of some sort, behaving exactly as one would expect in its natural environment. Blame my life-long love of nature and animals that extends (and this is why they call me Creepy Mike) even to the point of vicarious empathy, a desire to shrink and shape-shift down into my fish tank or hermit crab enclosure and walk, crawl or swim among them, trancending the dull voyerism and superiority complex inherent in most humans' pet ownership, as to reach a heightened state of connection and understanding of the oft-unnoticed living world arond me.

  Now, what if this game totally blows? Well, sure I'll be disappointed, but the end results aren't even the half of my excitement. I'm just overjoyed that my vision has finally been realized, to the point where, regardless of execution, I will grant the game an A for effort and concept, purely out of gratitude.

  Now all we need (yes, its game idea time), is massive open-world game where you play as an alley cat in a large, urban setting. Just imagine killing pigeons and rats, stealing food from humans, fighting and mating with other strays, all with considerably more speed, stealth, agility and acrobatics then any lousy GTA human coult ever aspire to. Here's hoping.

  So yeah, I'm looking forward to Deadly Creatures.

  
  

  • Posted Jul 21, 2008 10:41 am PT
  • Category: Games
  • 0 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 23Jun 08

  A Final Salute to the great George Carlin.

  Legendary Comedian and freethinker icon George Carlin died of heart failure late Sunday night. I think I speak for all his fans when I say he will be sorely missed. If you're reading this, please take a moment of silence in his honor.

  Good night, everyone.

  

  George Carlin 1937-2008

  • Posted Jun 23, 2008 1:00 am PT
  • Category: People
  • 5 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts