Gaming Links Roundup for March 2nd

Why I’m Not Okay With Sony Ditching PSP Discs
For a device that’s supposed to do so much, the Vita not being able to play UMD based games seems like a pretty big caveat when you’re marketing it toward core PSP gamers.

Square Enix announces remix album dedicated to beer
Haha.  Wait, what?

XSEED Will Do What Nintenwon’t, Agrees to Localize ‘The Last Story’ for North America
I’m thrilled to hear that we’ll get a chance to play this.

Tim Schafer Says Publishers Aren’t Worried About Kickstarter
It’s not surprising that publishers wouldn’t be impressed by $2 million.  But if they feel an existential threat posed by used games and $0.99 mobile games then I’m sure that the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter is causing them some degree of distress.  Publishers only survive with developers on their side, and there are more and more ways for developers to escape that relationship every day.

Are 100-Hour Games Just A Waste Of Our Time?
People who spend 100 hours playing games would disagree (as I am one.)  Articulating why it’s worth the time and pointing to it is challenging though I’m sure if we tallied up the amount of time that people spend on other activities then this wouldn’t sound as dramatic as it does.  See also: Hell Yes, 100-Hour Video Games Are Worthwhile and Sunbro.

Jet Grind Radio HD Re-release Confirmed
I used to think HD re-releases were shameless cash-ins, but then I tried playing SD games on an HD TV.

Silent Hell: the rage-fueled tale of Book of Memories
I don’t know what happened with Silent Hill but whatever enthusiasm I had for the series has evaporated.  I’ll still pick up the Silent Hill Collection later this month though (even if it’s not much of a collection.)

Still Clinging Together

After about 95 hours, I’m still dumping time and effort into Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together on the PSP.  I had figured that after my first play through I would be satisfied with the game’s story and more or less fed up with trying to build my characters.  With the World Tarot being featured as prominently as it is, I should have expected that this game wasn’t meant to be played just once (although it’s still quite enjoyable that way.)  Since it has an excellent soundtrack and a steady stream of unlockable characters, abilities, and events it was easy to jump back into the game and continue to explore it.  The branching storyline in combination with the World Tarot dismantles the conventional structure of the beginning, middle, and ending of a game and subtly reveals a meta-story of sorts which stands apart from any individual story branch.  I’ve enjoyed going back and indulging the game’s “what if” scenarios that tweak the personalities in the game such that you can observe what changes about a character based on circumstance and what is consistently true about a character no matter what scenario they find themselves in.  The characters of Tactics Ogre are not especially deep but have a texture to them that’s not always present in other games.  It is rewarding to play even 100 hours in and I’ve come to appreciate it more since I completed my first play through and review.

Weekly Links for January 21st

Links

Resident Evil 6 unveiled, with a surprise November release
What’s funny is as time’s gone on I’ve become more and more of a Resident Evil fan. I skipped the first, cheated through the second and finally

“Deus Ex” Live Action Film Behind the Scenes – Stunt/ Fight Choreography
I wish very badly for this to be a real thing. But I guess it’s not. (via: Kotaku)

Vita Sales Get Even Worse
I was surprised, but then I remembered that this is Sony that we’re talking about.

AMY dev claims its game is just ‘hard’ instead of ‘crap’
You know you’re desperate when you’re reduced to responding to your critics by saying “well, you’re just stupid.”

ESA spent $190,000 to support PIPA lobbyists
Nothing like spending a ton of money to try and get Washington to hurt people you don’t like.

What I’ve Been Playing

Dark Souls
On to Sen’s Fortress.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
The more I explore the plot branches in this game the higher my opinion of it becomes.

Bonus Video

Weekly Links for January 15th

Links

• How God Hand’s difficulty level caters to player skill
  If God Hand were portable, I would probably play it all the time.
• Ken Levine Wants You To Stop Staring At His Big Sisters
  Here’s a protip to Ken Levine: if you don’t want your audience to be distracted by a character’s chest, then don’t make their chest the center of attention.  I’m sure you can spare a few polygons to cover her up a bit if you’re that worried.  If you want to sell a game based in part on the sex appeal of its characters then at least be honest about it like…
• Really, Namco Bandai?
  Soulcalibur V.
• Ninja Theory Wants Devil May Cry Reboot to Compete with Bayonetta
  I’m all for DmC as long as it’s not going to take itself too seriously.
• Aliens: Colonial Marines Collector’s Edition Leaks
  I need ten of these.
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo now available on PS3 & Xbox 360
  I’m going to give this a shot.  I am interested to see what Square Enix took away from the reception of Final Fantasy XIII.
• PlayStation 2 is still selling, 10 years later
  The strongest evidence that says the success of a console hinges on its game library.  It will be interesting to see where the Wii is at in another five years.
• Tension Maps: A Process for Identifying Low-Risk Design Opportunities
  It’s a pretty dense piece, but it goes a long way to demonstrate the complexity of game design even for relatively simple games.
• Woah, I Didn’t Know Kindergarten Cop Took Place in Silent Hill
  Well, playing Silent Hill won’t be the same again.
• Yep: Origin required for all PC versions of Mass Effect 3
  Looks like I won’t be rushing to finish up ME and ME2 for pc anytime soon.

What I’ve Been Playing

• Bit.Trip Runner
  It’s so simple but so tricky to successfully complete.
• Dark Souls
  Blight Town, here I come.
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  I saw the video at the bottom of the post before I actually played the beginning of the game.  Now I am just disappointed when I see normal dragons in the game.
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
  I’ve motivated myself to try out different story branches for this game.

Bonus Video

Happy New Year! (Weekly Links for December 31st)

Ruminatron5000 Game of the Year 2011

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Links

• Games As An Aesthetic Form
  An excellent talk on the contributing elements to games and beauty.  Frank Lantz chooses to look at games as an aesthetic form instead of art, which makes for a more productive discussion.
• The Game Design of Everyday Things: To Shape the Future
  It’s easy to use grandiose phrasing and terminology to describe what games can do, but I really like “landscape gardening” as used to describe how a world is built around the player.
• Please Try Again

Learning to play means getting past the mechanics and rule sets, and understanding how you, the human, can affect, and are affected by, the game.

• Why Nathan Drake would make a fantastic homosexual
  Surprisingly enough, this is a really interesting idea.

I bet the most insecure [gamers] would even start to question themselves and wonder why they liked Nathan so much. I mean, they’ve just spent three games staring directly into the ass of a gay man for hours at a time

What I’ve Been Playing

• Dark Souls
  I recently rediscovered that I could stream music while playing games on the 360.  Playing this game to metal makes it twice as fun play and half as painful to die.
• Mass Effect
  The Steam sales have slain my wallet.  Now it’s time to start playing them.
• Resident Evil 5
  This and this.  Time to replay the game in goofy costumes.
• Beyond Good and Evil HD
  This was fun right off the bat, I hope it keeps up like that.

Weekly Links for December 18th, 2011

Links

• When Games Tell the Truth
  That “Long live play” commercial was kind of creepy.
• Modern Warfare 3 beats Avatar to $1 billion milestone
  I wonder where Modern Warfare goes from here? The trilogy is all tied up but I can’t imagine Activision is just going to stop there.
• Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Was My Favorite VGA Surprise 

  It’s not very likely that the original soundtrack will be included in the HD re-release, but I think the trailer was silent because Activision knows you’re just going to play the soundtrack over the game yourself.

• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance extended trailer
  I guess people are upset that Revengeance looks ridiculous.  Honestly, I stopped suspending my disbelief after Metal Gear Solid 2.  If you’re upset that Raiden can throw giant robots then you should probably remember just what kind of games you’ve been playing for the last 10 years.  So long as Revengeance is done in the same over-the-top manner as Bayonetta, I will be looking forward to it.
• Rumor: GameStop is helping Nintendo with Xenoblade
  Well, I put in my pre-order.  Now get The Last Story over here next.
• Pop Quiz: Are These Lyrics Final Fantasy XIII-2 Or Nickelback?
  Maybe Square Enix is trying to be funny with this soundtrack but someone is going to have to explain what exactly is the joke.
• Analyst Values Team Fortress 2 Hat Trade at $50 Million
  If it were with any other game, I might be dismayed by this.

What I’ve Been Playing

• Final Fantasy VIII
  Someday, I will play one the 70-million games that came out this holiday season.  For now I need to play games of questionable quality from 10 years ago.

Bonus Video

In Passing: Ultimecia’s Castle

I’ve managed to thoroughly exploit Final Fantasy VIII’s junction system this time around and found myself tearing through levels 40-100 without realizing it.  Any challenge in the game evaporated when I first had the opportunity to generate ridiculous amounts of magic that I could junction to my character’s stats with the game’s crafting system.  After acquiring the game’s airship/spaceship my investment in the game also evaporated.  Now that I’ve reached FFVIII’s final dungeon, Ultimecia’s Castle, things have gotten a little more interesting again.  At the beginning of the dungeon the player is restricted from using all battle commands except attack, from using items in the field, or even saving.  To top it all off you must also divide your resources between two parties.  Only after defeating boss monsters is the player able to regain their abilities one at a time. Even at level 100 this scenario can prove to be difficult.  It’s similar playing through one of the Mega Man games: determining which bosses are vulnerable to your current abilities and which bosses hold the abilities you need in order to progress.  It’s something that I wish had been done more throughout the rest of the game, instead of simply expecting the player to constantly maximize character stats.

Weekly Links for November 28th

Links

• Original Voice Actors Reenter Silent Hill 2
  This can go back on my “must buy” list now.
• Modern Warfare 3 Tops Japanese Charts In Opening Week
  Since when did Modern Warfare (or FPSs for that matter) become popular in Japan?
• An interview with the men behind Final Fantasy
  There are some interesting insights in how games have evolved over the last ten years.
• Modern Warfare 3 Isn’t An Un-Game, John Walker. You Are An Un-Player (And That Is OK)
  This is best thing I’ve read all week.

A game that leads the player can be just as meaningful, significant, intelligent, stimulating or exhilarating as a game that lets the player do whatever they wish (within the games confines). The player is not the centre of the equation, and neither is the game. It’s the interrelationship between the player and the game that matters most.

• Dark Souls: A Time To Grind
  I’m still not entirely sold on the reasons why people like this game, but I definitely see how it fills a void in the gaming landscape and why people would be hungry for something like that.

What I’ve Been Playing

• Final Fantasy VIII
  I’ve got my spaceship now.  Time to go beat up some cacti.
• Modern Warfare 3
  I’m slowly investing myself in the multiplayer and survival modes now.
• Dark Souls
  When George Orwell wrote “imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever” he was talking about Dark Souls.
• Minecraft
  Well. I have technically beaten the game, though I was kind of cheating.

Bonus Video

Weekly Links for November 20th

Links

• Hate Out Of Ten
  If for no other reason, watch for this for a survey of all the ridiculous review controversies there have been this year.
• Minecraft is Actually Finished. It’s Done. It’s Ready.
  Never thought this would happen.  Now where can I buy a boxed copy?
• The Next Final Fantasy Might Not Be the Same Old RPG
  I can get on board with this idea.
• CCP Honors EVE Online Rioters With Destroyed Monument
  This is one of the more interesting things that I’ve read about regarding MMOs.
• Producer admits Final Fantasy XIII had problems
  No kidding.
• This New SSX Trailer Remixes Run DMC to Showcase (What Else?) Tricks
  I think I will get my hopes up for this.

What I’ve Been Playing

• Final Fantasy VIII
  It’s been a slow week of gaming for me.

Bonus Video

Weekly Links for November 13th

Links

• Games Are Art Only When You’re Playing Them
  Joshua Wise asks some thought provoking questions about the nature of creating and consuming art.  It’s interesting even apart from the points drawn in the post about video games.
• Why Buying Games at Launch Is a Fool’s Errand
  Buying games on their own at launch is an expensive proposition.  It’s difficult to justify throwing more money at a game you’ve already purchased when there are entirely new games.  Honestly, I liked the concept of expansion packs better.
• Ninja Theory invites fanboys to play DmC: Devil May Cry
  I’m warming up more to this game and it makes me happy that Ninja Theory is trying to be open about the game with fans.
• PS Vita ‘UMD Passport’ transfers PSP games for a price
  The Vita looks less and less appealing all the time.  Charging consumers to transfer UMD games to the Vita adds insult to the injury of Sony abandoning a proprietary format that they forced consumers to support.
• Nintendo, Sony Handhelds Are Doomed Says Analytics Firm
  Charts, charts, charts.  It’s hard to argue with those numbers.

What I’ve Been Playing

• Final Fantasy VIII
  I’m sticking with it.  No turning back now.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  It’s been the highlight of my dude-shooting season thus far.
• Minecraft
  It’s hard to believe that this game is close to being officially released.

Bonus Video