Important?

What is it about “important” games that makes me geek out, even if they aren’t really that enjoyable for me?

First of all, what is an “important” game? I will give you the latest example: MineCraft. Much has been said about this game. It is a Java game in which you start off in a randomized world of blocks, bare handed, with no shelter and no weapons. You acquire resources, first by using your hands to get some wood, then you can build some wooden tools, which in turn allow you to carve rocks into better tools and eventually even machines. There is no story, no ultimate goal. It is just you, nature and a bunch of horrible creatures who come for you at night. You can dig quite deeply into the earth. You may even find huge systems of caves (remember, everything was randomly generated).

Oh, and the graphics are ugly, and not in an endearing kind of way.

 
Uh… yeah.

And then, there is the fact that the game made 350,000$ so far. What?!

MineCraft had attracted thousands of people, and it is still in its alpha stage. People are talking about it everywhere. Known web-comics make episodes about MineCraft, it is, as they say, the talk of the town. And this is before you account for the staggering amount of user-made videos of colossal and complicated constructions that took weeks to create in the MineCraft world. Some of them left me at lose for words… so I’ll just let you get a taste:

From my short experience with the game, I truly believe it must have taken weeks if not months to build these, not to mention the even more elaborated constructs that exist out there. The game is not that big, but everything around it is: The amount of purchases, amount of time spent on it and the amount of talk about it all over the Internet, is huge, especially when taking into account the fact that only a handful of people are working on creating the game with a minimal budget. The impact of MineCraft on the world of gaming will be remembered, even if its popularity would eventually decline. One person can make a difference in the world of gaming, and this game is proof. This is why, even you don’t really enjoy it, like me, you cannot overlook its importance.

Links:

http://www.geekosystem.com/21-amazing-minecraft-creations/

Horrifying

The question of why do some people love horror films have been discussed to death. Me, I believe that the reason is similar to the reason some love to eat spicy food. It is a thrill. Some people actually believe it makes the food taste better, and for a good reason. If it makes you feel good, food will taste better. This has the same effect on movies. A movie that manages to evoke strong emotions is usually better for it. And horror is an emotion that we would rather not explore anywhere else in our lives, which, in my opinion, makes the impact of horror movies stronger than others.

So it should come as no surprise that a horror game would become a hit. After all, being able to experience horror interactively could potentially be more powerful than a passive movie. For me, a good horror movie or game is not about the scare factor – I don’t care for being startled, it doesn’t do anything for me. It is also not about depressing moments. A movie about people getting slain horribly is not scary, it’s just depressing. I have enough of that in my life.

Sorry, buddy. You’re just not that scary anymore…

For me, horror is about the fear of the unknown. About being out of control in a situation I don’t understand. It’s about the feeling of suspense. That is what many people do not understand: A good suspense does not have to break with a loudly screeching monster. Monsters, bad guys, “evil”… these are all archaic. I’ll give some examples:

Silent Hill 2

 

Once upon a time, there was a Blockbuster near my house. In it, there were games for sale… and for rent. There are no GameStop stores in Israel. So there I was, a brand new PS2 and almost no games. So, I decided to rent something that looked nice: Silent Hill 2. Skip a few hours, it’s 22:00. I finally get the chance to boot up the game. I love playing in the darkness, and this was no exception. The game has a nice premise: The protagonist had received a letter from his wife to meet her in the city they both loved: Silent Hill. Small problem though… she has been dead for the past few years. Once the short intro is over, I find myself at the top of a mountain, about to enter the city by foot. A thick fog covers the world. There is no more background music, only some eerie, continuous sounds. I begin my descent along a mountain path down towards what, according to my map, is the city. I cannot see anything a few meters ahead. The eerie background sound and my footsteps are the only thing I hear as I travel along the path. A strong sense of unease envelopes me. I find myself in suspense, even though I have yet to encounter anything resembling of danger. It just feels as if there is danger, more horrible than anything I could imagine. And that sound in the background… The path goes on forever, through the countryside, near abandoned farms and cars. A dog is barking nearby, or at least I think it’s a dog… I am completely and utterly alone.

Suspense is not about what you see.

And this is only the beginning. The game gets scarier as you encounter monsters and weird people. Everything feels like a waking dream, not to mention the unbelievably complex and interesting story. The sounds, the occasional music… I found myself having to take a break once in a while, regain my strength, my courage. It was an experience that I remember to this day, more than any movie I have ever seen.

Demon’s Souls

Games are not difficult. They used to be, most of the time due to bad design, which is understandable for a time when games were barely even born. It’s true that today people are less forgiving about unbalanced difficult games, myself included. However, a game can be difficult while well designed, it is just a lot harder to create such a game. I don’t know if Demon’s Souls for the PS3 is such a game, but I do know that it raised a lot of noise. So much noise, in fact, that by the time I got it, I already had a clear notion of how difficult it is. It was a game designed to kick a gamers’ ass without mercy. But in a way that would make you want to take it on over and over. Yesterday, after all that hype, all those articles and people hating and loving it for being what it is, I finally got it, and was prepared to boot it for the first time.

I had found myself feeling suspense, not unlike the feeling I had when playing Silent Hill 2 for the first time. So many people, gamers I know, had told me how difficult it was, how unforgiving. The game premise didn’t help to shake the suspense: You are a lone warrior, trying to save an entire kingdom whose warriors had failed, everything is covered in a colorless fog spouting evil creatures all around. No one is there to help you. And if you die… you don’t resurrect, not as yourself, anyway. Once you see the intro to the game, everything you feared is beginning to take shape, and in this case, it is worst than you imagined. Everything is dark, gray, and dead. The creatures look legitimately menacing. They are big, and they eat ten warriors like you for breakfast. The situation in the game looks and sounds hopeless, and I know I am getting into a game I am not even sure I will be able to survive.

It isn’t scary, but it looks like it can give you a beating.

The thing is, the game is not a horror game. You fight monsters. You get stronger, you dodge traps and you amass loot. Nonetheless, the feelings I had before starting the game for the first time were truly suspenseful, because of everything I had read, and because of its presentation, which feels like a hopeless situation.

I love it.

Speaking of Remakes…

In my previous post I talked about remakes and my ambiguity towards them. This week I have played a little bit of Street Fighter IV, which is mostly a remake of the good old Street Fighter II. Why mostly? Well, there are some new characters, and (if anybody cares) there is a new story for each of the characters.

In any case, I consider this game a remake, and, in my opinion, it is a good thing. I loved playing Street Fighter II at the arcades as a kid. I loved playing it years later on emulators and consoles. Street Fighter IV is almost identical in gameplay to Street Fighter II. The graphics are “next-gen” and there is a more than functional multiplayer mode and other goodies, but the core gameplay is the same. Even the moves for the old characters are played in the exact same way, so old geezers like yours truly can find themselves right at home from the get go.

Fast action flawlessly combined with spectacular graphics. I can almost feel her pain… 

And still, the game feels fresh, and I believe new gamers will find it no less attractive even without the nostalgic factor. How can this be explained? Is it because other fighting games, such as Tekken, rely mostly on button mashing while Street Fighter still requires some tactics and finesse? Or maybe I really am blinded by nostalgia? Whatever the reason, I am enjoying this game, whether its when I perform an ultra combo finish or when a friend wipes the floor with my dignity (you know who you are!), I am having fun with a fighting game like I haven’t had in a long long time.

So here is a remake I know exactly how I feel about. Maybe this is the answer I was looking for. I cannot have a specific opinion on all the remakes in the world. Some could be really good and polished such as Street Fighter IV, some might not.

Doing and Redoing

I don’t know what to make of remakes. It seems to me that a gaming company that releases a modern remake of an oldie is either doing this to please the fans of the original game, or just because they want to milk the franchise to death. What I cannot decide is whether or not the reason even matters.

 
No doubt that the remake looks amazing. But then again, we all know that the original was great.

With the impending re-release of The Secret of Monkey Island by Lucasarts, I am trying to focus on whether or not I am excited about this release. After all, this was an adventure game that stood above all other adventure games of its time and gave me hours of fun and laughter. And pirates. lots and lots of pirates. So a modern remake of the game with new graphics, music and voice casting must certainly swash my buckles, right? Who cares that Lucasarts are releasing this game really close to Telltale’s own version of Monkey Island that was released 3 days ago? Why should it matter that Lucasarts, who abandoned the adventure games genre years ago in order to focus on releasing tons of Star Wars games is suddenly releasing an adventure, which is a remake of an old favorite? Why would I mind that they are publically saying that they promise to release more adventures only if this new remake sells well?

 
At least Telltale is trying something new.

Well, I don’t know why, but I do mind. It does matter to me. Where Telltale attempted (with more success than not) to recreate the franchise and came up with a brand new Monkey Island adventure, Lucasarts is reusing its old material and is also “holding hostage” its other franchises unless their demands are met. It just feels wrong to me. Its the difference between a company that creates and therefore contributes to the advancement of video games, to a company that recycles for money. Lucasarts used to be the first type of company when it came to adventure games. I really hope that there is at least some soul behind their actions.

Left 2 Change

I must admit that when I first heard about Left 4 Dead 2 being announced at E3 2009, I felt a bit bad. After all, its unlike Valve to release a sequel so fast (only one year after the release of the first Left 4 Dead). Also, a sequel usually means that the previous game is obsolete. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to feel this way. Many Left 4 Dead fans are protesting against the impending release of a sequel for a variety of reasons, some of which make some sense (‘Significant content for L4D1 was promised, and never delivered’), others are just plainly a reflection of a fear of change (‘L4D2 is too bright to fit in with L4D1’s visual aesthetic’).

And that’s just the thing. The fear of change had lead to many protests on the Internet for technically ANY change. Facebook got a new interface? ‘But we like the old one better!’. The new Star Trek movie has a different theme than the Star Trek movies of the 60’s? ‘We want more of the same!’. It’s like there will always be a huge group of ‘hardcore’ fans of <insert franchise name here> that will say ‘better is badder’ for any change to their beloved <insert franchise name here>.

On the other hand, there are times that a group opposing a change is on to something. Sometimes, the change really is for the worst and the opposers manage to reverse it back. It’s these rare occasions when a group of idiots gets it right.

So when I found myself resisting something because its different, which in this example is the fact that Valve, which is known for releasing sequels years in between, would be releasing a sequel only a year after the original, I couldn’t make up my mind on whether or not my reasoning for this ‘mental’ resistance to this particular change is solid, or whether I am just another nay-sayer for all the wrong reasons.

New characters, new weapons, new maps – New game!
(Screenshot from Destructoid.com)

I have decided that it wouldn’t be smart of me to condemn this new release. Just because Valve had gotten us used to games that were years in the making and had provided free additional content years after the games were released, it doesn’t mean they have to do this for me. Left 4 Dead was very successful. If they feel they can release a sequel that early, then kudos to them. The first game was complete and I think I got my money’s worth for it. In a world where EA is allowed to release near-identical sequels to their sports games year after year after year, I think Valve are allowed to create their own frequent release franchises without us putting them through a shit storm.

In the mean time, enjoy the E3 2009 Trailer for the game:

Zombies in broad day light seems creepier, don’t you think?

Game-less weekend

My PSU (Power Supply Unit) is dying. It was in repair and was returned to me as busted as it was when I handed it in. Warranty in my country doesn’t mean shit and it shows every single time. Now I’m stuck until next week to be able to use my PC for anything other than surfing.  I cannot fully convey the frustration to be completely powerless (pun definitely intended) to do anything for a few days before the holiday and weekend are over, while bottling the rage induced by the knowledge that I was scammed again. Will there never be a PC retailer that doesn’t try to scam you every single time?

Team Fortress 2 Updated Again

Oh, Valve, the amount of fun I get from just a single product…

Another update for the beloved Team Fortress 2 game, this time both the Spy and the Sniper got an update, which includes new weapons, achievements and voice lines for both the classes.

As usual, Valve had delivered the update after a week of funny mock articles and advertises on the update site, giving the fans a lot of laughs and mystery as the Spy update snuck up on the Sniper update and stabbed it (and the Sniper) in the back. Good times. As usual, Valve included a new animated short, presenting the Spy in an entertaining manner.

Meet the Spy!

I still find it quite amazing how much attention Valve is willing to put into each of their games years after they have been released. I am not deluding myself to think that a company does that simply out of the goodness of their hearts, but it is quite rare to find such quality products with so much attention to details in today’s gaming market.

Video Shames

Sorry for not posting for a while, been busy with work, you know how it is.

Anyway, today I was at a computer graphics mini-conference-gathering of some sorts with a few lectures and yes, there was cake, so it wasn’t a lie this time. Some of the talks were interesting, some less, but it was a very short affair that went by fast and mostly painless.

I was happy to see that a few lectures were targeted at video games. One lecture in particular that got my attention was about an algorithm for deforming 3D models in a smart and symmetrical way, such that you could create dozens of different models by deforming a single model, such as furniture. The team even provided an easy interface, so creating tons of different models for a video game scene seems to be very easy with the framework they provided.

The thing is, not once did the speaker mention that their algorithm was targeted at creating video games. It was only after he was asked about possible applications that he said that the main focus of his paper was about creating models for video games and the like. He further exclaimed that the models could not be used for anything other than virtualization, given that the algorithm is not accurate enough to allow for physical reconstruction of the models by 3D printers or similar methods.

So basically I am asking: Why not to officially target your work at video games? I would think that a billions-of-dollars industry is something that should be taken more seriously by the academia, even if some backwards places still consider video games as children’s toys.

In any case, I had a good time at the conference and I believe there’s a thing or two that stuck with me.

Fighting Against Fixations

The Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPG) genre exists since the NES era. The first Final Fantasy games set the tone for the genre for years to come, and the concept remained the same for many years. However, there are some games that belong to the JRPG genre, yet they defied some of the core principles and the way we think about JRPGs. In this post, I will talk about two genre-defying JRPGs from two completely different eras: The first is Mother 3, to which I was acquainted by Michael Abbott, writer of the Brainy Gamer blog, in his post about the new fan English translation for the game (a post I will probably write about again in the future). The second game is The Last Remnant, for which I received a recommendation from the lovely Lauren Wainwright (also known as Atheistium).

Mother 3 is a sequel to a JRPG called Earthbound that was apparently was a big hit on the Super- Nintendo (SNES). Like many of the best games to appear on the SNES (Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger), Earthbound also eluded me because of my location. Long story short, Mother 3 was never released in the English language, until now, when an amazing group translated the entire thing into English. So now, like most western gamers, I was able to play the game. Finally, I understand why so many people worked so hard on translating it, and why so many people love this game so much. The game has a unique writing style, with a quirky sense of humor that does not get in the way of the more serious parts of the story, some of which are truly emotional and heart breaking. It is a campy game, and it knows it, which makes it even more fun to join in.

Don’t expect fancy graphics in Mother 3, this is a GBA title.

What I want to talk about is how the game separates itself from other JRPGs. From the start, the game distinguishes itself from others in a few ways. There is no money. When you enter a store, you can just pick up whatever you want, as long as it is in stock. I was shocked to discover this, because it breaks one of the most fundamental mechanics of any RPG, which is to accumulate wealth. Mother 3, in an attempt to tell its story without compromise, eliminated that mechanism. No longer was I required to hold on to equipment I did not need just to sell it later. If I did not need something, I could just throw it away. To me, it seems like a brave design decision. The best part is that half-way through the game money is introduced into the game as part of the industrialization of society, but instead of making me feel more comfortable with the familiar mechanism, it made me feel… dirty. I think that when a game is able to make me accustomed to new mechanics for the sake of the story, and then for the same reason feel uncomfortable with the old and familiar mechanic, it is impressive. Not only did it defy the genre, it also made the “normal” mechanic less appealing (in the context of the game).

Another way Mother 3 does things differently is the battle system. Sure, every JRPG has its own unique battle system, but most JRPGs rely on grinding. It is true that you can grind your way through Mother 3, which is a legitimate choice. However, the game is designed in such a way that you do not have to grind your way through it. In fact, you don’t need to grind at all. Beating monsters in the game is like solving a puzzle. If you realize their weaknesses and exploit them, you can easily beat the monsters and bosses as they come. On the other hand, a fight that is not fought wisely can be very difficult, if not impossible, even if you did grind the hell out of your party. In any case, if you die, the game lets you continue from the last save frog (yes, frogs are save points) with all your experience and items in tact (as if you never died but only transported back to the frog). The game focuses on telling its story, and therefore does not want you to get stuck for too long on monster battles.

 
The Last Remnant is gorgeous to look at, and the PC version runs smoothly.

The second game, The Last Remnant, does the exact opposite of Mother 3. It is a JRPG for “advanced” JRPG gamers. The story in The Last Remnant takes second place to gameplay, which resembles western RPGs more than it does JRPGs. The Last Remnant is a new Intellectual Property (IP) by Square-Enix, which is the leading company when it comes to JRPGs, and are the creators of the Final Fantasy series. It is a game of epic proportions, designed to be on par with other great names such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. It was released with many technical problems, which made many critics write it off as “average” at best, and I don’t blame them. The shameless way that companies, especially large ones, allow themselves to release defective games just so they can release them on time should not be encouraged, even if they are the biggest names in the industry. Nevertheless, a working version of The Last Remnant was released for the PC, and without the technical issues the game can be played as it should have been from the get go.

 
Where should I go now? The amount of possibilities can make your head spin.

So what could be so “genre-defying” about a game from a company that practically created the genre? First, as I said already, the game is not for beginners. Most JRPGs take you by the hand for a large chunk of the game just to get you started, and some of them guides you through a linear story for most of the game. The Last Remnant does not. It teaches you the basics of the game, but sets you free to do a lot of things that are unrelated to the actual story almost from the get go. In fact, it encourages it, but making you roam the cities and dungeons before calling you back to the story. Beginners to JRPGs may feel a bit lost and overwhelmed by the amount of possibilities. I found it rather refreshing to be able to explore so much of the game world almost from the start. The amount of side-quests is mind-boggling, and many of them are available early on. I would go as far as to say that, in this regard, The Last Remnant can be compared in gameplay to a western RPG.

The battle system in The Last Remnant is also quite interesting. Whereas in JRPGs you control each of your characters individually, in this game you control groups of characters (called unions). This makes it possible to conduct huge battles, and the battles in the game are spectacular for it. The downside is that when controlling a union, you cannot micro-manage individual characters. However, I am not really sure that this is a downside, because micro-managing the units in a large scale battle (of which there are many) could have been quite tiresome. While battles are very strategic in nature, many of your important decisions will be made prior to the battle, when creating unions and choosing formations for them. The battles themselves are fast and dynamic, and choices in battle can quickly determine the result. As with the exploration, combat in The Last Remnant could be difficult for beginners. Dying is not uncommon, even with constant grinding. Sure, grinding can make it easier to win some of the battles with brute-force, but the game is designed so that it is far more satisfying to win by using a good strategy, especially when it comes to tough, large-scale battles.

 
Large-Scale battles can be difficult to handle, but are spectacular to watch.

So these are two games from two completely different eras. They both somehow defied the JRPG genre, and mostly in a good way. I am enjoying these two games, partly because of the fact that they did something different, and showed that JRPGs do not have to repeat the same formula over and over again in order to be good. In fact, sometimes the old mechanics are just there because everyone are used to them (such as the linear JRPG storyline). I am glad to see that a big company, Square-Enix, took the chance on a JRPG that employs new battle mechanics and did not dumb it down for beginners. It probably hurt their sales, but it made me, and I assume other regular JRPG gamers, appreciate the game for providing a good challenge and not wasting hours on tutorials. As for Mother 3, I must say that to me it seems that the fan translation is amazing. Coupled with another fan collaborative effort to create an amazing strategy guide, Mother 3 was one fun ride.

Time is of the essence

Have you ever experienced one of those times when you had the best idea ever only to find out that somebody beat you to it months ago, and then somebody else created something that is so much better than the original idea, that the original idea would be considered obsolete at best? No? Well, to me and a few of my friends it happened.

Consider to following setting: Four computer science grad students on a hiking trip, trying to come up with an innovative idea for video game design. While drinking black coffee with the trees above and the flow of the water, an idea is born for a time travelling mechanic. Slowly, ideas formed into specifics, leading the naive men to believe that this was an idea that was meant for greatness.

Little did we (yes, I was one of those poor men) know that this neat little flash game was already on the market… Unbelievably, it was almost identical to the the game we formed in our minds, down to the smallest details of the time travelling mechanic and paradoxes! Playing it was just like travelling to the future and playing the game we designed just a few days ago. It was as if the creators of the game listened to our conversation, travelled back in time in a manner no so different from the one in the game and created the game before we even thought about it. Kind of a lame usage for a time machine though…

So somebody had already thought about (and implemented) our idea. Bummer. But here comes the good part: it didn’t matter. Enters: Braid. Braid was released on XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) about two months after we had our “big idea”. Although it is considered an indie game, Braid was richly funded. The time manipulation mechanics in this game could, I am sorry to say, wipe the floor with our mechanics.

The trailer shows some of the mechanics used in this magnificent title..

Without getting into an artistic discussion, Braid is carefully implemented to include puzzles that are on one hand complex and diverse, and on the other hand accessible and satisfying. Each world in Braid employs a new time manipulation mechanism that is usually completely different from other worlds, and then immediately puts you in a position to use that mechanism to solve carefully planned puzzles. The puzzles were planned thoroughly and it shows.

I only played Braid for the first time when it came out on the PC three days ago, and I am enjoying every minute of it. This leads me to several conclusions to this story: First, if we want to design an innovative game, we need to think faster. Second, even though we came up with our idea too late, it was a good idea in retrospect. I can say this because, as I said, I can play a game that implements it almost completely. Third, if our idea is not as innovative as we thought, we could still create something that makes better use of it, just like Braid did.

Princely DLC

I have already ranted about shady Downloadable Content in a previous post. It seems that the big publishers keep on pushing the limits on how low they can go with ripping off their legitimate customers. This time, the record is set by Ubisoft, publisher of the newest Prince of Persia game.

First off, I have to say that I loved the new Prince of Persia. It is, to me, an amazing accomplishment. The flow of the game is fast and catches the essence of what the prince is all about. Paired with one of the nicest cel-shaded graphics in gaming history, production values in par with Disney films such as Aladdin and Hercules, and topped with genuinely loveable characters, the game is just breathtaking.

How awesome that this is an actual in-game screenshot?

Therefore, when I have heard about the DLC planned for Prince of Persia, I got pissed. No, I was more than pissed. I was furious. I will explain with as few spoilers as possible: The game has a rather bleak ending, with no real conclusion. Since Ubisoft had already established that the new game is to be a first of a trilogy (an annoying trend, but one I can live with), I was satisfied with the ending, hoping that the next two would deliver the conclusion to the story. However… the new commercial DLC released by Ubisoft is called Prince of Persia: Epilogue. Can you see where I’m going with this? The DLC is an extra portion that contains a more “proper” ending for the original game! This isn’t a real expansion to the game. It contains a couple of new levels and moves for the prince and a new ending sequence that actually makes more sense than the original ending. And they are charging 10$ for it! They are charging the customers additional 10$ for content that was supposed to be an integral part of the original package for which legitimate customers paid 50$/60$ (depending on whether they bought it for the PC or consoles) . It’s as if that the game wasn’t completed by the time Ubisoft released it, and now that they finished the rest of the game, they have the nerve to release it as additional content for money! It is almost like being kicked in the nuts by a porn star; She lets you watch all the good parts but then she kicks you in the nuts.

 
It feels kind of like this

This is no less than a spit in the face of the customers by Ubisoft. Whereas companies like Valve are constantly releasing new maps and features for games they released years ago for free, Ubisoft intentionally cut the last part of their game, released the game and a few months later released that last part, charging no less than 10$ for it! There just aren’t enough words to describe how despicable this act is. I just pray that the majority of gamers, even those who loved the original game, would have the restraint and common-sense not to pay for this. We must draw the line somewhere!

Fighting the war AFTER the victory!

Chrono Trigger has a very happy beginning... You visit the millennial fair, celebrating a 400 year-old victory in a war between mankind and the forces of evil yada yada yada.

 

The big difference between this story and others comes later on, when you get to join the very same war, 400 years in the past. In fact, you have a significant role in changing the future and affecting it's outcome (and much much more).

However, the part where I really got into this game was when I first found myself in the future. The far future, about 1000 years into the future.

 

A dystopian future is one of the most common settings in sci-fi movies and games. However, after moving through a happy present time period and another medieval time period, I was shocked to see this future.

Robots? Mutants? Ruins?! It is amazing how powerful these clichés can be when used correctly, and is usually not a very believable future. Chrono Trigger nailed it though, and it was more or less what you would expect it to be. For me it was a real shock to find myself in a dystopian wasteland all of a sudden with no idea of how it came to be, coming from a time of knights and swords. This future is so distant from the “present” that I had no way of seeing it coming, and it fits into the story well. Which goes to show that clichés, when used correctly, are not clichés at all.

I will try to post more about this game, but I cannot promise anything, since I have other things to write about that are more… recent. Here are some more screenshots from later in the game where you get to travel to prehistoric times… things are never dull :)

An eternal story

Time travel. Everybody loves time travel stories. Books, movies and video games have been depicting time travelling since the dawn of time… Um… maybe not. But they existed for a long time. Too bad most of these stories are rubbish. It’s not easy to maintain a coherent storyline with time travelling fucking everything up with changes to the timeline. It’s even harder to maintain a storyline with the added interactivity of a video game. Nevertheless, one game in particular did manage to do exactly that: Chrono Trigger.

 

The game is as old as time itself, so I won’t recap the story, since it has been done so many times before. The reason I’m even writing about it is thanks to the Vintage Game Club, which gave me an excuse to play this lovely game again and relive one of the greatest adventures ever to grace a video game console. So instead, I will try and post my thoughts about the game as I play through it over the next few days or maybe even weeks (It’s THAT epic).

Funny thing is that while many people had played this game for the first time on their SNES (Super Nintendo), I have played it on my PC using a SNES emulator. I have downloaded this game without even knowing what I was about to play. I was (and still kind of is) a huge fan of Square (Square Enix these days) and after finishing the unbelievable Final Fantasy VI, I was looking for any Square game I could lay my hands on. Therefore, Chrono Trigger was a completely random choice. In Israel, gaming took a long time to sink in (it never really did, though), so I have never heard about this game before. Lucky me, huh?

Anyway, as I am once again getting ready to begin my journey through the many places and ages of the world of Chrono Trigger, I’m feeling a bit excited. It has been a long time since I have had a great gaming adventure as deep and as rewarding as this one, and I’m looking forward to share some of my views on it.

No Valve!!! Not you too!!!

I’ll get right to the point: Valve has implemented DLC into Steam. Downloadable Content (DLC) was up until now the curse of console owners. Created by the Microsoft war machine (Yup, them again) as a means of milking their Xbox customers, it first appeared on Xbox Live Marketplace. Game companies are creating additional content for games and are releasing it for a small fee, usually less than 10$.

The problem with DLC is that gaming companies began peddling content that is ranging from cosmetic to downright useless. Let me give you an example: There once was an epic game called: “The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion”. Oblivion is a huge game, with tons of content, amazing graphics and it even features Patrick Stewart for about five minutes.So what type of DLC would you expect to be released for such a game? New areas to explore? New noble quests to undertake? How about a nice new shiny armor for your horse? Wait.. WHAT? That’s right. For just a few dollars you could get a horse armor. For your in game horse. You had to actually PAY real world money to buy a fucking horse armor.

Believe it or not, the horse armor is not the lowest gaming companies went with DLC. The beloved EA is selling unlockable content for their games. This means they included the content in the game, and are selling it to you after you have already purchased the game. Could they be any more evil? Yes! They could! The are also selling cheats for some of their games!

I don’t need to explain why all this is highly disturbing. However, up until now PC gamers were treated differently. While the console crowd was always considered to consist of new comers who don’t know any better, as well as veteran gamers, the PC crowd was a bit harder to tame. That is why if an expansion was ever released for a PC game, it was a real expansion, something that added a considerable amount of content, and therefore was usually worth paying for. Also, a lot of DLC from the Xbox made its way to the PC versions of those games, for free, because everyone knew that PC gamers would not pay for unlocking a part of their rightfully owned game; They would fucking hack it!

Or at least, I thought that everyone knew that… As I wrote in the beginning: Valve had incorporated DLC into Steam, their download service. Steam, being the biggest gaming digital distribution center for the PC, now supports DLC. The first game to offer DLC for sale is The Maw, which is the first game ever made by Twisted Pixel Games and was released on the Xbox Live Marketplace several months ago. The DLC includes new levels for the game, at 1.25$ a pop.

While new levels are the least evil type of DLC, the barrier has now been broken. Companies can now peddle their DLC through steam, and it won’t be long before EA starts selling us pay-per-cheat and horse armors. ‘Tis a dark day for PC gaming…

On the bright side, The Maw is actually a really fun game to play!

(Also he’s a ninja!)

Starting off with a grrrrrrrrr..........

First blog post ever, and I'm starting with a rant. And I'm ranting about the only computer company nobody ever complained about before: Microsoft.

Yes, I know. Microsoft is amazing, and I must really be out of my mind to even think that there might be something wrong there. Alas, I'm afraid I have encountered something and I am going to share it with... whoever reads this godforsaken blog.

Horribly outdated sarcasm aside, I have known Microsoft for most of my life. I have been through the early DOS days, I have lived through the multiple versions of Windows and I have endured the bugs, the lies and the unstoppable aggressiveness. However, up until now, I just lived through it all.

So what was it that made me furious enough to actually write about it in a blog? In this case, it is not the 'what', as it is the shameless way in which Microsoft are forcing their product onto me, which is the XBOX360 Controller for Windows.

These days, many games are created with consoles in mind. Controls are perfected for the consoles, making these games much less comfortable to use with the mouse and keyboard. So buying a game pad for the PC is nothing new. Microsoft have released their own controller for the PC. A game that supported a game pad would usually support the MS controller.

However, more and more games that were imported from the XBOX360 to the PC do not support any game pad that is not XBOX360 compatible! Some companies had the decency to at least include some support, but with no default binding for non-XBOX360 game pads!

As I searched through forums for a solution to that problem, most of the answers were along the lines of "just buy the XBOX360 controller". This is the main way in which people are addressing this issue! It just enrages me to see how easily Microsoft is bullying us to use their game pad! It's a small peripheral and it is not that expensive, but why the hell do I have to use it if I already have a perfectly good Logitech game pad?! Even the button layout is virtually the same! Any game that works with the XBOX controller should work with the simplest Logitech game pad!

I took a lot of crap from Microsoft over the years. I don't know why it never bothered me this much before. Maybe it's because I am an avid gamer and something like that is more personal to me. Maybe it's because of the way that Microsoft is not even trying to hide their aggressiveness in this case and still gets away with their dirty trick. Or maybe it's because this is the straw that broke the camel's back, while I was sitting on the camel, making me fall off it and break MY FUCKING GAME PAD!