Well, not quite, but I’ll be live-blogging during the Spike TV Video Game Awards show (the second annual Award Show). Looks like I won’t be the only one who’s giving a play-by-play. (okay, I’m not doing a play-by-play, but I’ll be commenting on-the-fly.)
Week in review (Part 4)
This has been a fairly quiet week as far as new games go, but lots of good stuff out there in the gaming blogs world, so we’ll get right to it. (I’m still looking for a better title for the week in review and I’m trying a new format)
- At Tales of a Schorched Earth there’s been a few reviews for some Gamecube games (both of which I want to play) X-Men Legends and Paper Mario 2. Both look promising, but he makes a good point, PM2 shouldn’t have been releases this close to all the other blockbusters. I agree
- From hello, nintendo, there’s a link to Idle Thumbs about poorly named games. It’s a great read.
- From AFK Gamer it looks like Blizzard may be nerfing some of the classes/skills in WoW. Blizzard did this often with Diablo 2, and unfortunately someone always gets the shaft. I remember the Necromancer being a fun character to play and after a while they continually nerfed him to the point of laughability. I don’t know what he’s like now, but I had a sweet Necromancer that got jobbed.
- Me, I’m looking forward to Christmas at the ButtonHouse
- Above (or more likely, below) all the Top Ten Lists coming out, at Evil Avatar is a discussion of this years Worst Games of the Year. EA’s members can be counted on for both fanboyism and valid insight. Here it’s a mixed bag. Most disappointing for me, hands down, was Fable. The jury is still out on the worst.
Of course, let us not forget that there’s still a ton of good games to be played. I’ll be updating this week of a couple more I’ve been able to pick up. The fun never stops.
It’s Christmas time in the City
Even though I’m about to experience my seventeenth Christmas since I was twelve, I still get as giddy about gifts as I did back then. And I still ask for the same thing – video games. But now my tastes have matured, my wallet is fatter, and I don’t have to rely on Santa for everything. So I get to pick some of my own gifts. My wife and I usually exchange a few gifts but she lets me pick out what I want. So on my list is one of these:
Bring high-resolution TV to your desktop with the NextVision N4. The ViewSonic NextVision N4 video processor turns your LCD, CRT or projector into a TV and multimedia center quickly and easily. Simply plug your display or projector into the N4 for TV and multiple video entertainment connections. Adding a DVD player, VCR or digital camera is as easy as plugging into the N4. The NextVision N4 comes with everything users need to get started, including cables and a remote control. The ViewSonic NextVision N4 video processor offers a convenient, cost-effective way to add TV and multimedia capability to your desktop.
I mentioned earlier that I was getting the bug to hook up the old Nintendo systems but I didn’t want to monopolize the big TV upstairs, so I wanted to find something that could make use of the computer monitor. I had initially thought I wanted on of these but the reviews were lackluster. I trust ViewSonic for all my monitor needs so i figure my A90 and my soon to be N4 will play very nicely together.
I’m also going to pick up the ButtonWife some scrap-booking programs. I’ve got my eye on Jasc’s offerings, since I love Paint Shop Pro. I’ll probably pick her up a copy of Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (assuming they’ve fixed everything, which I heard they did). Since my parents will shower the daughter with gifts galore we’ll get by another year without having to buy her anything. Are we bad parents?
Columbus Geeks Toy Drive!
Columbus Geeks Toy Drive! :: DeVryGuyz.com :: It’s a geek thing: “Columbus Geeks Toy Drive!” – I hadn’t heard of the “DevryGuyz” or “Columbus Geeks” before today, but I heard on the radio a plug for the Columbus Geeks Charity to Children’s Hospital. There seems to be a lot of geeks giving presents and what-not to the less fortunate, led of course by the intrepid Penny-Arcade’s Childs Play. So if you’re from the Ohio/Columbus area and have tons of toy ideas for 2 year old boy and girls this is a good chance to help out with something a little closer to home than some of the other geek toy drives out there.
So give a little, it feels good.
Classic Halo Maps
Which map would you like to see again? – From EvilAvatar I was directed to this link, with a poll for what map from the first Halo you’d like to see made into a Halo 2 multiplayer. Whether they take results to heart and remake maps remains to be seen, but I feel confident most of the popular maps will eventually become available in Halo 2.
My two personal choices are Hang ’em High and Boarding Action. Hang ’em High was where we always had Rocket Matches and one-flag CTF. It’s a great map. I like Boarding Action for sniper battles. I hope to see one of those two make it into Halo 2.
Some thoughts on game reviews
Last week I commented on game reviews after reading this post on RedAssedBaboon. I railed against the content of the review but didn’t say much about review scores. But I can promise that’s exactly what people look at before they read a review. This made me thing a bit about a way of giving a game a score that encapsulated more than just graphics and sound or story and gameplay. There are outside influences that should also be considered, like when a game is released (relative to the release of the console) and sequels. Read on to my new way of reviewing a game.
This is still a rough draft, but I have been thinking about this for a while and think I may be on to something. It is a new take on the “1-10 scale” but takes more than the graphics/sound/gameplay/control aspects in to consideration. It’s hard to reduce the rating of a game to a single number but in the end that’s what I’m using. There are a few things that I’m assuming. One, I don’t think there has been a perfect game yet, hence no perfect 10s. Two, I’m not sure how this will work across platforms so I may have to keep the scores within the platform. That doesn’t mean a game that is scored 9.2 on the Gamecube is any better than a 9.2 game on the Xbox. But for now they’ll have to remain isolated.
My rating system is akin to the Pauli Exclusion Principle but instead of electrons we’re talking games: No two games can have the same score. Using an example, here’s how it works (using Gamecube games). The games I’m using a three fantastic games: Metroid Prime, The Legend of Zelda:Wind Waker, and Viewtiful Joe. On a gameplay level, all three are different but all three deliver with aplomb. Audio and visuals are superb and all three are replayable. Given that I don’t think a game can reach a perfect 10 or anything close to that, I’m giving my favorite game, Wind Waker, a 9.7. Then we have Viewtiful Joe. Again, another classic, one of the best on the Gamecube. But it’s not quite a 9.7 but it’s definitely a 9.6. So we’ll go with that. Now we have to consider Metroid Prime. Definitely one of my favorites, right up there with Wind Waker. I would say they are almost equals. But since we have the exclusion rule, I can’t give Metroid a 9.7 but it is better then VJ. So we’ve narrowed it down between those to. I’d say it’s closer to 9.7 than 9.6, so I’m giving it a 9.68. Now Wind Waker is a 9.70, Metroid Prime a 9.68 and Viewtiful Joe is 9.60. These values aren’t set in stone and they are subject to revision (as are my rating rules) but this gives the basic framework.
Sequels are especially tricky. It’s always assumed that a sequel is going to have the advantage of an experienced programming team that can improve things like graphics and controls. But I don’t think a sequel that looks better but doesn’t improve on a certain level doesn’t deserve to be rated higher than its predecessor. Same thing for games that are released later in a console’s life – it should be looked at more critically.
Week in review (Part 3)
Another week has gone by. The (arguably) best month of videogaming has unfortunately come to an end, but it has brought everyone much gaming goodness. It also looks like the plebes employed in the gaming industry also have something to be excited about. Our first item is just that.
From Kotaku, we get a leaked internal memo from Electronic Arts. From the memo:
As much as I don’t like what’s been said about our company and our industry, I recognize that at the heart of the matter is a core truth: the work is getting harder, the tasks are more complex and the hours needed to accomplish them have become a burden.
He does acknowledge blogs before “media” which seems to be becoming a common theme lately.
We are looking at reclassifying some jobs to overtime eligible in the new Fiscal Year. We have resisted this in the past, not because we don’t want to pay overtime, but because we believe that the wage and hour laws have not kept pace with the kind of work done at technology companies, the kind of employees those companies attract and the kind of compensation packages their employees prefer. We consider our artists to be “creative” people and our engineers to be “skilled” professionals who relish flexibility but others use the outdated wage and hour laws to argue in favor of a workforce that is paid hourly like more traditional industries and conforming to set schedules. But we can’t wait for the legislative process to catch up so we’re forced to look at making some changes to exempt and non-exempt classifications beginning in April.
That doesn’t sound like contrition to me, but I also recognize that EA is a big Wall Street company that has investors to please, but nontheless, no one deserves the hours these guys put in. I guarantee the guy who wrote this memo hits the road by 3:30 every day. (This memo was verified by Kotaku, too)
From Joystiq, we get a link to something that is near and dear to my heart – statistics. Bungie.net statistics to be exact. I am simply overwhelmed by what Bungie is actually keeping track of. I was showing my friend what you can access online and it is pretty amazing. Well here we have an intrepid Halo 2 player who has made Bungie’s RSS feed into some visually useful and pleasing data. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet (you need Office 2003 to make it work and I only have Office XP on the laptop, I’ll have to use it on the PC downstairs). For all that are interested, here are my Halo 2 stats. Nothing special, but I love Halo 2 on Live nonetheless. (Please notice the Symbol. I hope the irony isn’t lost on many)
On that note, according to the Washington Post (Via Kotaku) the Gamecube is obsolete. I have refrained from going off the handle on this one, but I can’t bottle it up forever. I’ll leave it at that for now.
That was a quick review of what I liked this week. I’ve come across more Gaming Blogs lately, so hopefully I’ll have a bigger pool of blogs to review, but for now I’m satisfied with what we’ve got so far. If you’ve got a tip or something you think I should see, drop me a comment. I’m in the process of setting up an email address for tips, but I haven’t set that up yet. Until then, comments will have do to.
(This post probably should have qualified for the “read more” link but I totally forgot I had it. I’ll add one next time.)
GameCube is teh Do0m3d!!1!# : Kotaku
Saw this on Kotaku and had to at least link to it before I went to bed. The Washington Post has it all wrong. Nintendo will have two of the Top Ten Christmas Games this year (MP2 and Viewtiful Joe 2). The GameCube isn’t dead. It’s alive and kicking very well, thank you. It’s easy to look at the video game section at Toys ‘R Us and see the smaller Cube library, but pound for pound, Nintendo’s got better games. At least fewer craptastic titles. I think I’m gonna look into the ratio of good to bad games on the three systems. I’m sure the GameCube would come out on top.
Come to think of it, I think someone has already done that. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
Playing with Blogger
I’ve been messing around with some of the cooler features of Blogger. I’m trying out the feature of posting a little blurb of a post and have the rest of the post show up here. It’s pretty cool stuff but it’s getting frustrating to set it up to only show the “read more” link when I want it to. Well, thanks to this guy, I’ve been able to get it to work. Not too shabby.
Hmmm, I can’t seem to comment on his blog to thank him. If he happens to stumble here, consider himself thanked.
Six Questions to review a game
“In the case of video games, if you really enjoy a particular genre of game, only a drastically bad review will convince you not to buy it. Many times, I find myself reading a game’s review, even after buying the game, to pat myself on the back for finding something that gave me a good time.”
I’ve done this on numerous occasions. But there are times when, caught up in the hype, I buy a crappy game (a-la Fable) and then go back and read the review to see what they got wrong. How could they miss such glaring problems. How they gloss over things like how the game was basically on rails with no exploration to talk of? This was supposed to be an open-ended game where you could do anything you wanted to. They alluded to this with statements along the lines of “it is not nearly as wide-open” but don’t really get into any details. Sometimes, they do mention something that could have swayed my decision, like how easy the game was when your pockets were full of potions. Things like that make a difference and sometimes they get it and sometimes they don’t. This is a piece on RAB about some of the pitfalls of the 10-point rating system. He’s got six questions a review should answer and a way to score them to give a final score. I think it works, for the most part. I want the reviewers experience and some of the questions effectively capture those feelings. I’ll have to check out some of RAB’s future reviews to see how this works.