“This is why I bought this game.”
That LBP2 commenter’s review is one of the quick bits of description you see as today’s level loads. I have a lot of things I’d like to say about this level, but I think I’ll just let that little review do the talking for me when it comes to Essence of platform – still alive.
I’m a guest on this week’s Jumping the Shark podcast, which I basically used as a platform to hold forth about how good Rift is. Lucky for me, those guys are way too polite to cut me off!
The Nintendo 3DS is right around the corner. March 27, people! Pre-order yours for only $250! Plus the price of whatever games you’re going to get. What else are you going to do with your tax refund check? Upgrade your PC?
Oh, wait, come to think of it, they have 3D on PCs (Pictured? Is that supposed to be Just Cause 2?). Today Nvidia hopes to remind you of that fact by dropping the price of the Nvidia 3D Vision from $200 to $150. This is basically a pair of battery powered glasses that work with special drivers to make almost any game play in 3D. I used this thing pretty extensively for a review about a year ago.
After the jump, I’ll tell you if the Nvidia 3D Vision is worth it. Continue reading →
This afternoon I completed my Army Training. I’ve hit upon a number of military-themed community levels, including one that seems to be a target-shooting sim with a Vietnam theme. Not sure what to make of that one. This one works just fine. I’m a little confused as to why this LBP2 army training takes place exclusively at night, but I’m not going to make a fuss about that. Maybe it’s because we own the night. I don’t know. I do know that the memory of playing this simple little obstacle course is keeping my mind off of the fact that my PS3 is again refusing to connect to the Internet. It’s a sweet level. Not the one I really wanted to post–that’s coming tomorrow–but nice enough. I can’t remember the last time I got the instruction to “Drive the Hummer”. Also, I’m a sucker for ziplines.
Since I can’t resist, I’m gonna post one more shot from this level. Check out the reflection here. It’s a simple thing, but I like how it adds depth. I’m constantly struck by the sense of depth in this simple little world.
After the jump, sackpatriot Continue reading →
In case you’re one of those hateable Steambabies — you know, the folks who whinge about wanting a game, but waaah!, they not going to get it unless it’s on Steam — then you’re in luck. One of this year’s best games, Atom Zombie Smasher, is now available on Steam, and it’s six bucks cheaper than if you were to buy it directly from the creator. I hope you’re happy now.
If you’ve already bought Atom Zombie Smasher, a) good on ya!, and b) you’ll be getting a download code to also get the game on Steam. Because, you know, Steam achievements. Forty of them!
Do you play Halo: Reach? Of course you do! How else are you going to piece together your own custom not-really-a-Spartan Master-Chief-a-like suit of armor?
The Defiant map pack comes out tomorrow, adding two multiplayer maps and a firefight map. Post a comment below and in 24 hours one of the Qt3 interns will randomly pick five posts for a free download code. Make sure to post with your email so we know where to send the download codes. Good luck, and one post per email address please.
By the way, my Halo: Reach character’s armor is pink. It’s ironic.
EDIT: Congratulations to Cadaemon, Doug, Jordan, Mitch, and Joshua!
I love the little motivational speeches your commander gives you in Shogun 2. He sits there on his horse, yelling context-specific inspirational pre-battle things before his assembled troops. It’s a great touch that, I believe, Creative Assembly introduced in Rome: Total War. If you want to just get to the battle, you can skip it with a quick tap of the escape key, but then you’ll miss adorable tidbits like the following:
I’m sure it sounds less, uh, rednecky in the original Japanese. Also, here’s an unfortunately relevant bit from the advisor.
Ah, quaintly naive advisor chick, you have no idea. :(
Over a month ago, Atari released a broken Test Drive Unlimited 2 and immediately issued a couple of “oops!” statements and a mea culpa and “we’re patching it now” proclamations. The usual stuff. Fast forward to today, when the patch for the Xbox 360 is supposed to finally fix the game’s social options and multiplayer support.
Oh, wait, it’s not ready.
Maybe tomorrow at 9am. And what’s more, the social options won’t be fixed after all. There’s currently no ETA for when that part of the game will finally work.
Nice work, Atari! Well done, Eden! You guys are doing a heck of a job keeping my copy of Midnight Club: Los Angeles in heavy rotation.
I’m having a grand time with Shogun 2, the latest in Creative Assembly’s Total War series. But those first few days are always a grand time. Will this be the Total War game that breaks the Chick parabola, that curve where you enjoy a game until you discover the AI is terrible? Check for the review on 1up in a few days.
Homefront, on the other hand, is disappointing early and often. I say that as a huge fan of Kaos Studios previous game, Frontlines. Unfortunately, Homefront is no Frontlines, largely because it’s trying so hard to be a Call of Duty. The full review will be on Gameshark later this week.
Also out this week are Yakuza 4 and Top Spin 4, both series I admire rather than enjoy. The Yakuza games suffer mightily in comparison with other open-world games, but they have their own storytelling appeal. As far as tennis games go, Top Spin is like the smart but homely sister to the bubbly Virtua Tennis party girl.
Keep an eye out for Gods Eater Burst for the PSP. Not that I’m necessarily recommending it. But I see the title and I get excited because I think of God Hand. Unfortunately, this isn’t that. But we’ll always have Bayonetta, which is a pretty serviceable God Hand 2.
Finally, are you ready for the latest map pack for Halo: Reach? I hope you are, because I’d love to be able to play Halo: Reach with people who are as bad as me. This latest map pack includes a new firefight map I quite like, partly because there are plenty of indoor hiding spots, where I found a garage with a warthog that has a rocket launcher on the back. At which point I don’t feel like hiding so much anymore.
If you’ve got a kid, go quick and get him to help you with today’s level, Sackeratinator 3000. I’ll confess I haven’t yet gotten my own kid to help me puzzle this one out, but I fully intend to do so. Not because I can’t figure it out myself. Well…a little bit of that. I have only played seven or eight rat test cages, and one of those I’m just not getting. I need a new perspective.
But let me step back a second. Yes you read that right. Rat test cages. Basically in this level you allow yourself to be transformed from sack to rat by a lab scientist. He promises to turn you back to sack once you work through his lab tests. The only real problem with the level is the extensive prologue section about the lab doctor and riding an elevator and blah blah blah. I’m sure I’ll be able to skip it next time I play the level, but I hate skipping this type of stuff first time through, so I end up resenting it if it’s tedious. It is here, but I can forgive that because the little rat test cage puzzles pleased me so. In spite of the fact that there’s one I can’t crack. I’m sure my kid will help me figure it out. In the meantime there’s plenty more to try.
What’s more, the game really does pay you the compliment of treating you like a rat. Because as far as I know, rats don’t get any pop-up tips in their little lab experiments. I like the fact that as a sack rat, neither do you.
I cannot wait to get back to this one.
At GDC, I moderated a panel on the future of strategy gaming. My opening premise was that the genre is in a golden age, thanks to the range of great games spanning AAA big-budget titles, mid-sized developers working with larger publishers, garage developers working with smaller publishers, and even some amazing titles developed and published by just one person.
During the panel, I mentioned six such games. I mentioned them again on the latest episode of the strategy gaming podcast, Three Moves Ahead. And I’ll expain here why you should play them. Although, to be fair, at least two of these games hired artists, so it’s not entirely accurate to call them one-man projects in terms of the development process. But they are all self-published and well worth playing.
After the jump, six great strategy games made (mostly) and published by one dude Continue reading →
To counter yesterday’s annoyance at spelling sloppiness (which seems to have since been remedied), I just want to say that I find some of the level descriptions designers use to be absolutely charming. Especially when the interesting word usements they structure are obviously the cause of language barriers, and not laziness. Today’s example:
There is no reason. Crush a lot of Sackboys of favorite mischief with the weight. Crush! Crush!
I not only find that endearing, I’m a bit touched that the level designer has bothered to translate the level description into English. Not all designers do this, and that’s fine, but I like it when they try. It’s a nice touch. Does this say something about who is playing the game? Or is it merely a comment on the fact that most of us who speak English in the U.S.A. can’t be bothered to learn other languages. I don’t know, I just like it.
Crushes Sack!! is the level in question today. I felt a little guilty about what I was doing at first, dropping huge weights on the little sack creatures below me. The fact was, however, they were shooting at me, so I had to crush them. Why were they shooting at me? There is no reason.
I’m getting to be a real sucker for these homage levels. With two exceptions. First, I don’t care for any of these community “levels” that are films. I’ve got precious little time to game, so I’d rather not spend it with your sackmartymcfly version of Back to The Future. It’s cute, but I came here to play. Second, I have yet to find a Star Wars level that is useful in any way. Furthermore, if you title your level “Dule of the Fates” I’m probably going to avoid it. Unless I’m supposed to be fighting as Charlie from The West Wing. I don’t get it. A designer puts all this time into creating a level, then spells the title of the level wrong. Come on people.
Today’s homage was pretty good, in spite of the title apostrophe weirdness (you’ll have to click the link to see what I mean). Sack of War doesn’t really play like a God of War game, but that’s okay with me. I’ve already beaten one of those games. Have I not told you that story? I beat God of War 2. On my own. Totally kicked its ass. I’m not saying that to brag or anything. Just establishing my bona fides. At any rate, aside from the overwhelming music and general harshness to Persians, this was a nice play. And a value play as well, since when you get to the end you transport over to the sequel automatically. Also, you get to ride a cyclops (pictured).
Although I did get a little nervous when I got the instruction to “Grab the cyclops and smash through the fire walls”. I haven’t heard that since my wedding night.
Thanks folks. I’m here all week.
Next time you hear or read “fag-this” or “nigger-that” in an online game, don’t just ignore it. Most games or online communities have some provision for reporting that stuff. Use it. Or even use it if someone’s being disruptive in a less provocative way. And lest you think nothing comes of reporting people, consider this awesome thread on the League of Legends forum.
Pendragon, the community manager for Riot Games, asked for five people who’d been temporarily banned to volunteer their names, at which point he would detail exactly why they’d been banned. He had no shortage of volunteers, and there’s no shortage of discussion following the explanations, which comprise the five posts after the initial request. It’s an intriguing way to look at what you’re not allowed to do in the game.
I’m glad to see racist language and intentionally sabotaging games are bannable offenses. At first I was taken aback that you’re not supposed to draw smiley faces using Teemo’s mushrooms, but that does fall under the category of griefing the other nine players instead of actually playing the game. Fair enough. If you want to make artwork, do it during a custom game!
League of Legends is notorious for its unfriendly player community. Not to say you won’t find friendly people. You will. Most of the time. But when it comes to jerks making themselves heard, League of Legends is right up there with the worst of them, like Halo, Call of Duty, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m glad to see Riot Games doesn’t just take a laissez-faire attitude about the whole thing.
(Thanks to Rob Zacny!)
I’m already set up with a couple of fancy Mad Katz Fightsticks, but they’re not nearly as classy looking as the upcoming Mortal Kombat Fight Stick. I understand that Capcom’s Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom branding would be all cartoony and brightly colored, but what’s with the Mortal Kombat branding being so tasteful and refined? That thing looks like something Captain Nemo would use to drive the Nautilus.
The Mortal Kombat Fight Stick has been designed to reflect the look and feel of the classic Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet and its ergonomic button layout has been updated with additional design and technological touches to create the ideal joystick for serious console players. The underside of the Mortal Kombat Fight Stick is lined with velvet-wrapped memory foam for the comfort of players who hold the stick on their lap, while rubberized feet at the bottom corners will prevent the stick from sliding when placed on a table or similar surface. The inner workings of the Mortal Kombat Fight Stick are composed of high quality arcade parts from Suzo Happ and are easily accessed without the need of any tools. Inside the joystick base, all parts and wires are protected by a unique plastic shield emblazoned with the Mortal Kombat logo, and there is room to store cables and a copy of the game. You put your weed in there.
Okay, I added that last bit, but come on. I mean, seriously, what were they thinking?
