Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands Announced...

   Today Ubisoft announced that Prince of Persia The Fogotten Sands, the game is on track to come out in May of 2010.  There haven't been any announcements regarding the story or which Ubisoft studio will be developing the game.  But judging from Prince of Persia website.  The game seems to be harkening back to the original Sands of Time series rather than the newer Prince of Persia series.  The official launch trailer will debut during the VGA awards on Saturday December 12th.  So I suppose we have until then to think about what could be in the new game.

Technorati Tags: princeofpersia,ubisoft,xbox360,PS3,PC,forgottensands,vgaawards

Forza Motorsport 3 Review(X360)

 

     Every once in a while(and believe this is happening less and less often lately) a game comes a long that I really can't say anything bad about.  Forza Motorsport 3 is one such game.  Sometimes games this good I tend to not review because I'm usually afraid of overdosing on hyperbole.  But hey, we all need to try new things right?

      Forza 3 is an excellent racing game.  You get the usual career mode, online mode, and time trial mode.  Of course, you also get the usual access to online auctions for your car buying needs.  The old game play of Forza 2 are still rock solid.  There are also expanded features for folks that have never played a simulator style racing game before.  The number and variety of assists that you can turn on and off are pretty comprehensive.  Allowing the people new to this type of game a set of virtual training wheels so that no one is at loss due to lack of experience.  These systems are in place throughout the game and the only real detriment to the player who uses them is a few less virtual dollars per race.  Also, time is added to competitor's times in things like Time Trials so that everyone is on the same playing field.  Forza still presents a large number of cars and tracks giving a lot of variety for anyone needing to find a descent ride to take out on a descent track. 

  The graphically fidelity of the game has been slightly amped up over it's predecessor with the addition of a in-car point of view.  This give the player a full two sides of the car and a full dashboard as well as rear view and side mirrors.  All modeled realistically off the original car.  The tracks and the exteriors of the cars themselves are much like they were in the original title.  If the barely populated and super realistic tracks were not your thing the in Forza 2 there will be no comfort for you here either.  Personally, I usually found myself going so fast around these tracks that I was only barely aware of the fan populace or lack there of.  Of course every car sounds pitch perfect and each vehicle definitely has it's own personality and driving style necessary to master it(at least with the assists off anyway).   The background music is still the lackluster poppy mess that was replete throughout Forza 2 but then I usually play with the music off anyway.  Even if you have no music at all the sounds of your car and the others will soon be all the soundtrack you need; if you are racing in a competitive shootout.  As you move up the difficulty ladder drivers get more and more aggressive until they will, in some cases, wreck you to get a head.  But when you reach such a high difficulty level it's probably time to go online.  After all, we all know how people drive in ranked matches, don't we?  So look at the hardest difficulty level good practice for the online experience.

   The career mode in Forza is called Season Play and here you go through Championship races based on class of car until you reach the highest class.  All the while earning money, experience, experience for your car to earn discounts, and of course gifts from car manufactures to spur on in your career. 

  One of the main features of the Forza series is the ability to customize both the exterior and interior of your car.  There is certainly some room for expansion here.  For instance, changing the interior color of your car, now that you can see it.  Or adding more after market parts to your vehicle so that it performs and looks drastically different than it did when it rolled off the show room floor.  But you are allowed to do everything but the above.  Which while not an extreme improvement over the first the baby step of allowing the player to design on a grid rather than directly on the car is makes a big difference to anyone who's ever tried to do it.  Another new part of Forza 3 is that you get a personal storefront where you can sell everything from your car designs to tuning setups.  You can also show off your photos of cars and replays there as well.   This feature is great and really makes the community of Forza 3 a little easier for people to jump in and out of the market for designs and cars.  There was a feeling of being overwhelmed in the virtually non-searchable auctions in Forza 2 that was really intimidating to anyone unwilling to spend a half hour looking through the same 10 car designs over and over.  With this you can also lock down your own designs to a particular car.  Colors can be changed.  But the days of people adding one little thing to a design and then selling the design as a new one are over.

    The overall package of Forza 3 will keep the average player busy for hours, even weeks.  I've been playing pretty steadily since the game was launched on October 27th and haven't found myself bored with the game even upon reaching near level 40 in Driver rank.  The higher the car class the more expensive the car typically is and that will mean that you must take more time racing or more time designing new cars.  Whatever you choose to do, you will have fun doing it in Forza 3.  If I had to level ANY criticism at Forza Motorsport 3 it would be to say again that reversing a track is not the same as making a new track.  There could be more tracks in the game; as typically you visit the same one quite a few times.  But this is a minor thing,  Between the online and offline there will be plenty of fun to be had with Forza 3 long after the glow of your Christmas lights have faded both from your memory and your tree.  If you like racing games, then pick up Forza Motorsport 3.  The game is exceptional and something for the competition to shoot for both this year and next.

Technorati Tags: forzamotorsport,forza3,xbox360,Turn10,Microsoft,carracing,racing,tracks,auctions,tuning,photos

G4 TV Brink Preview: Cause no one else has it...

Xbox 360 Games - E3 2010 - Brink

More new Characters from Super Street Fighter IV

More Tali in Mass Effect 2!

Happy Thanksgiving from your grumpy old friend!

 

       All year long I tend to rant a little about this problem or that problem.  Perhaps being critical of a game in a nitpicky way.   But I would like to thank all the game developers, publishers, and journalists who make the video game world go round.  Without your hard work and dedication gaming would still be in the 8-bit days.  It is amazing any games ever get made; considering all that needs to be done to make them.  You folks surprise me every time I turn on a console or load up a game.  And hey that IS something to be thankful for.

   This is the time of year when everyone should realize there is more to life than video games.  And that ANY problem we might have with this game or that game is really a small thing compared to the greater problems of the world.

     I would also like to thank all the readers of the blog and Twitter that have made this year the greatest this blog has EVER seen.  Thank you all!  I appreciate every silent one of you.

      Make my year or my Holidays and leave a comment or a tweet for me.  Just a little message saying something about what was written.  There are around 400+ posts this year and only 1 comment that I know of.  Don't feel as though you need to be witty or critical.  Just let me know your out there and your reading.  Because while statistics can be fun.  A little note from a community member is even MORE fun!

        Thanks again everyone...

                Don't eat too much Turkey or play too much MW2 both can be bad for your health.

        -Timothy Pecoraro(Devilsalias)

Assassins Creed 2 if you haven't seen it already

   It actually is a lot funnier in the game, even when you know its coming.  Mario is such a nice guy in the game; that this characterization is actually very heart warming.

Because I don't have time to finish Borderlands right now: Giant Bomb Quick Look Zombie Island Dr. Ned!

Pandemic Office Space Tribute!

Modern Warefare 2 big hit in UK, but only Consoles!

 

"Only the controversial PC version of the game could be considered a disappointment, entering at only number five in the individual formats chart. The PC version accounted for just three per cent of overall sales, compared to 57 per cent for the 360 and 40 per cent for the PlayStation 3."Gamesindustry.biz

       When I read this news I wasn't surprised, as no one should be.  The PC has a very healthy market made up primarily of folks who like to download their games digitally and usually have an unhealthy addiction to dedicated servers and modding.  Given those statements the evidence that Modern Warfare 2 wouldn't do very well seems self evident.

        Just this week players had to make a work around so they could use dedicated private servers as Infinity Ward would not provide support for them on the PC to try and avoid cheating.  However, IWNET(Infinity Ward's closed system) seems rife with problems.  Everything from a virus out break to wall hacking has been reported.  But I'm not trying to dump on Infinity Ward here.  It's their playground, we just use the equipment they can do whatever they want.

        In other PC gamer resentment news; the current version of the game does not appear to support mods.  Most sites simply talk about hacks that one can perform in the game on private ghost servers like infinite ammo and infinite health.  There are no user created maps, skins, or anything as they are not supported.

         As a PC gamer that has played most of the top tier games for the PC.  I have to say that every time I heard news from Infinity Ward about what they WOULD NOT allow in their upcoming game; the more I thought,

        'What was the point of coming out with the PC version?"

        The greatest selling video game of all time, Modern Warfare 2; was tailored for the console.  And that is where all the money came from when you look at the sales.  I don't think anyone; least of all Infinity Ward or Activision could be surprised about that.

Technorati Tags: mw2. modernwarfare,modernwarfare2,callofduty,infinityward,Activision,shooter,FPS,PC,pcgaming,sales,industrynews

Zombie MMO coming for XBOX 360 from Undead Labs. WTF?

      "Undead Labs’ sole focus will be to create the definitive massively multiplayer online zombie game (MMOZ) for console gamers. Nothing screams funny quite like wading into a group of rotting zombies with a lawn chair and a box of sharpened HB pencils, and nothing says fun quite like doing it with your friends, whether online or on your sofa. Undead Labs is committed to bringing to life an MMO loaded with action, humour and, of course, a lot of zombies, because the world doesn’t any need more dragons."

       The above from a press release sent out today.  The game is obviously at a VERY pre-Alpha stage as there aren't even screen shots of it as yet.  The game's creators are pulled from everywhere; including Guild Wars and World of Warcraft.  But a console MMO?  It is hard to believe such a thing possible except from a big studio like NCSOFT, Blizzard, or Bioware.  Here's hoping we are all laughing like this is a Plants versus Zombie style rather than sighing and shaking our heads because it's a Dead Rising clone instead.

Technorati Tags: xbox360,zombie,undeadlabs,MMORPG,consoles,MMOZ

Are These the Game Modes you were Looking for?(MW2)

      A few folks with some hacking skills have looked deep into the PC version of Modern Warfare 2.  This may be a sign of things to come for the consoles; so it kind of concerns everyone if true.

 

Technorati Tags: modernwarfare2,mw2,xbox360,ps3,sony,PC,microsoft,shooter,FPS

Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty: Changeling Gameplay

Resident Evil 5 Lost Nightmares Trailer

More Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares Info

No More Heroes coming to the PS3 and XBOX 360? Sign me UP!

 

 

 

 

 

         OK, these are some nice screens but if you notice the Japanese subtitles you will also realize that this game is only currently coming out in Japan on the XBOX 360 and PS3.  But considering how dismally the game performed in Japan on the Wii.  I'm sure the US will be the chosen market for this title.  At least on the XBOX 360 if no where else. I will pre-order.  Just make them available.  I REALLY wanted to play this game on the Wii; but considering it was one of the only games I wanted to play.  I ended up giving selling it.  So this is my chance and everyone elses who doesn't have a Wii to play probably the best game to have come out on the system.  But hey, I've only seen the reviews; so don't take my word for it.  Pre-order it yourself when you can.  When will that be?  Probably next year sometime after it comes out in Japan.

  Update: Unfortunately it looks like this game is having to struggle to find a North American Publisher, Kotaku reported this as of today.

Technorati Tags: nomoreheroes,xbox360,PS3,sony,microsoft,nintendo,Wii,paradise

PSN may not always be free?

 

      "SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral and PlayStation Network," said PlayStation head Kaz Hirai in a statement.

"Especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services."Eurogamer...

     I'm a little worried about what these "premium content and services" might be.  I'm thinking that this might be their way of adding cross game chat and friends lists.  Also they might start coming out with DLC first for whoever is on these "premium services."  Similar to the way Microsoft does it.  Sony has a pretty bare bones store and services currently.   I think they need to work on their free services before they start promising premium ones.  Because at this point all the PSN is worth is what you pay for it; nothing.  Well they could all ways add HOME to the premium services and make it actually worth using.  Don't ask me how, but it might be a good direction to go.

Technorati Tags: sony,PS3,PSN,Home,eurogamer,playstation

God of War 3 Demo in the HOUSE!

         So Giant Bomb has all ready run through this demo for all those who want to watch every moment.  However, I just got the demo yesterday; I pre-ordered God of War 3.  The demo is about as long as the above and even though I hit Helios on the first shot; it didn't shave much off the over all time.  I found was using the Fists of Cestus are amazing.  I tried using them for the latter half of the demo and they worked incredibly well.  You can ram enemies with them or ground pound.  Ramming normal enemies kills them, ground slamming does a good amount of damage to the whole group.  You can also use the group hit maneuver with the fists but with the fists its a sling shot move; usually into one enemy.  In most of the demos I've seen the fists seemed a bit weak; but there aren't weak at all, especially against groups that you can ram into.

        The quick time events are improved but not quite as good as some of the recent games that have come out using them.  I would have preferred in some cases just to not have the animation.  It kind of feels a little too formulaic in 2009 and definitely when the game comes out in 2010.  But hey this is the E3 demo, it even says so.  So maybe they will fix it.

       What I did like was the incredible graphical fidelity of the game.  Blood that rolls down Kratos arm as he dismembers an enemy.  Smoke that trails off from the bow once it disappears.  The glowing blades of Athena that even appear in the dark.  All of the weapons seemed to have completely unique animations.  I can't wait to see how they have improved the look and feel of the magic.  I will really be interested to see the final product.  It is incredible.  It does feel a little dated but God of War is God of War.  I'm sure the whole will be more than the sum of it's parts.

Technorati Tags: godofwar3,sony,ps3,godofwar,demo,giantbomb

An Excellent List for Story driven games!

"Eons ago, in 1996, Next Generation magazine asked me for a list of game design tips for narrative games. Here’s what I gave them.

Reading it today, some of it feels dated (like the way I refer to the player throughout as “he”), but a lot is as relevant as ever. I especially like #8 and #9.

1. The story is what the player does, not what he watches.
2. List the actions the player actually performs in the game and take a cold hard look at it. Does it sound like fun? (Resist the temptation to embellish. If a cinematic shows the player’s character sneak into a compound, clobber a guard and put on his uniform, the player’s action is “Watch cinematic.” Letting the player click to clobber the guard isn’t much better.)
3. The only significant actions are those that affect the player’s ability to perform future actions. Everything else is bells and whistles.
4. Design a clear and simple interface. The primary task of the interface is to present the player with a choice of the available actions at each moment and to provide instant feedback when the player makes a choice.
5. The player needs a goal at all times, even if it’s a mistaken one. If there’s nothing specific he wishes to accomplish, he will soon get bored, even if the game is rich with graphics and sound.
6. The more the player feels that the events of the game are being caused by his own actions, the better — even when this is an illusion.
7. Analyze the events of the story in terms of their effect on the player’s goals. For each event, ask: Does this move the player closer to or further away from a goal, or give him a new goal? If not, it’s irrelevant to the game.
8. The longer the player plays without a break, the more his sense of the reality of the world is built up. Any time he dies or has to restart from a saved game, the spell is broken.
9. Alternative paths, recoverable errors, multiple solutions to the same problem, missed opportunities that can be made up later, are all good.
10. Don’t introduce gratuitous obstacles just to create a puzzle.
11. As the player moves through the game, he should have the feeling that he is passing up potentially interesting avenues of exploration. The ideal outcome is for him to win the game having done 95% of what there is to do, but feeling that there might be another 50% he missed.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Blog, Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. "Jordan Mechner's Blog...

XBOX LIVE update! Facebook, Twitter, etc... (Yawn)

        "Here's the breakdown:

• Facebook: Almost everyone in the world is on Facebook; Now you can access it from your 360 console. Update your status, leave messages for your friends, play games and upload pictures, just like you would on your computer. You can also compare your Xbox Live and Facebook friends lists to see which of your friends are on Xbox Live .
• Zune: Listen to music and watch videos right from your 360 with instant-on HD in 1080p and 5.1 channel surround sound. You don’t even have to wait for buffering or downloading, the video or song is there as quickly as a button push. You can also share your music with up to six friends through Avatar integration and voice chat.
• Twitter: Along with telling people what you are doing every second of the day, you can also view friend profiles, trends and conversations, and search to see if anyone is tweeting about your favorite game.
• Last.fm: This feature allows you to listen to your own personal radio station right on your 360. You can skip, ban, or love a song is it seems fit; create your perfect mix. There are even now “gamer stations” with game related and styled music, picked just for the gaming community." Gamertell

     Each piece must be downloaded and updated separately; which seemed kind of strange to me.  Twitter and Facebook are jammed into the Community menu which kind of smacks of a rushed push.  The Zune Channel is much like the old Video Channel; just black with some thumbnail previews.  I wasn't in the beta but I think it's still running; at least from a design standpoint.

  The new Netflix does pop faster and some of the menus definitely work better.  But the whole streaming tech that slowly ramps up is all right but I wonder how this will perform on high lag nights.  Facebook and Twitter seem clunky to even get to from the main menu and both take a whole area of their own just like Netflix.  If they were going to institute these I would have liked them see them both be in a side bar or something you could expand and contract.  No one is going to sit there and watch Twitters go by or Facebook updates go by.  Unless you don't have a PC and then I think you have bigger problems.  I have not used Last.fm as yet.  But I'm told, I'm going to need to create an account which I usually hate.  Hopefully it will be quick and easy.

    The biggest cool thing about this update for me, was the initial text showing Star Trek in the spotlight menu.  I was all ready to download it until I saw: Star Trek is available on the Zune Marketplace for purchase only in Standard Definition for 1200 Microsoft Points.  Standard Definition?  Why would I want that?  The XBOX 360 will upscale DVDs for God's Sake.  This seems like a crappy move, they should have waited until both versions were available for purchase and rental.

     I don't usually have a problem with the consoles trying to expand their horizons.  But perhaps they should have lowered the prices for their Games on Demand service rather than putting the extra man power and resources into designing feature interfaces that virtually no one will use.

Technorati Tags: twitter,facebook,last.fm,social,networks,xbox360,microsoft,xboxlive

         

Bayonetta XBOX 360 Demo!

 

    I was one of the lucky few people to get a copy of the XBOX 360 Bayonetta demo yesterday.  The demo is a little shorter than the PS3 Japanese version that came out about a month ago; but it was nice to finally get some idea of the story and be able to read everything rather than having it fly by me at lightning speed in the hands of some journalist recording the video.

      The story seems pretty standard.  A forbidden union between dark and light in the form of a child that is hinted at being Bayonetta.  The cinematics are all in engine and look great. Which is pretty impressive considering the amount of graphical horse power this game tends to throw around.  Unlike games like Devil May Cry, Bayonetta never jumps the tracks graphically when things get hot and heavy.  There doesn't seem to be a plodding pace required by the game to keep everything on rails.  There can be a half a dozen big enemies on screen and your doing magic, shooting, and explosions everywhere.  Everything  stays solid.  Even when you are fighting a big boss battle you have full control, powers, and even access to Witch Time.  Which is when you slow down time for about 10 seconds so you can wail on your enemy or get out of the way of their next big attack, ganking them from behind.   The reason this is so cool, is that many times boss battles make the player think of the game in a new way rather than as a test to see how they have honed their skills up to that point.  Bayonetta doesn't fall into this trap; at least from the demo.

     The game seems to be less about being challenging the player; as it is about the player seeing things they have never seen before and trying to make the player want to master the game.  Unlike many titles where the game just wants you to survive through it and then come back if you had fun.  Bayonetta seems to be more about making you come back because you had fun.  All the crazy moves and weapons go a long way to just making the game fun to play and watch.  Rather than trying to take itself super seriously and consider how realistic or appropriate certain things are.  Also just from the demo there is a hint that there may be some verticality in the game.  Making it even more interesting.  Bayonetta has butterfly wings that allow her to basically fly as high as the level will go for a few seconds.  This made getting to higher platforms easy and made air combos during boss battles a real joy.  On the whole, the things I was most worried from watching videos of Bayonetta have been completely answered by playing the demo myself.

      First, the camera seemed a little funny, it isn't.  As long as you don't mind turning it around between fights there is absolutely nothing wrong with the angles it chooses during battle.  All those crazy moves can't be easy to pull off,  also not true.  On Normal difficulty I never had any problems pulling off any move I wanted.  The on screen instructions are helpful and any one should be able to pull off anything in Bayonetta's arsenal after a couple of tries.  Oh boy she is flying all over I bet the frame and controls really go nuts during major fights.  Also not true.  There is no screen tearing or framerate drop(on the 360 demo).  The controls are tight and you never feel like the game is just using you as an excuse to play itself.

    I played through the demo twice.  It is very short, only about 20 min if you destroy all the destructibles.  But it is action packed and lots of fun.  It is certainly very Japanese in the way that it handles story and content.  But that's cool.  I like games from different cultures that challenge what I believe a game could or should be.  But I will say, Bayonetta is probably more the Devil May Cry for the 21st Century than anything new and shiny.  But hey, what's wrong with that, I LOVE Devil May Cry.

   Just want to take time out to thank Sega and Platnium Games for giving me the opportunity to try out Bayonetta... 

Technorati Tags: xbox360,bayonetta,demo,journalism,microsoft,sega,platniumgames,PS3,sony,action,devilmaycry

Story of Dante's Inferno, the game not the epic poem...

Giant Bomb Hands On with Super Street Fighter IV Part 2

Giant Bomb Goes Hands On with Super Street Fighter IV!

  So

   So Jealous!

Netflix and PS3 the Two great tastes that taste great together!

          I usually watch most media on my XBOX 360.  Why?  Because I like some of their services better than Sony's PSN.  Also, last year, I think it was; PS3 wouldn't play WMA files for some reason.  So I started playing them on my 360.  But these days things have gotten better for my PS3.  One of those MANY updates that Sony has put through over the last year; it seems like they fixed my little WMA problem.  I still prefer Microsoft's rental service as ALL of the videos are in HD.  Rather than just some of them. 

       Today my disc for streaming Netflix came today for my PS3.   I was pleasantly surprised that  the process was INCREDIBLY easy.  You just put the disc into your PS3 and put the entry code that comes up into your account on your PC.  Then you wait about a minute or so, and boom.  Your in your instant que.  I don't mind queuing up movies and television shows on my PC.  I have a pretty long que so it's no big deal.  The nice part is that you CAN remove stuff from your que from your PS3 and that is cool.  But the most important thing about the PS3 version versus the XBOX 360 version is that the picture is MUCH BETTER and completely consistent on the PS3 and there are no load time or lag time stops.  A full episode of Heroes was streaming live in HD and I was using my PC online at the time.  It never dropped the resolution and it never stopped the stream to catch up.  That is AWESOME!  And it sells me completely on using the PS3 for streaming from now on.  Putting the disc in is no big deal as you can't do anything on either system while you are steaming anyway.

     As great as the XBOX 360 is, the PS3 is definitely better as a media device.  I suppose for $300 you can get a pretty descent media device.  But it DOES play games too, so I guess it is a better value in the end than the XBOX 360.  But hey Sony, when you want to get your 3rd party support and online together I'll gladly make the final switch and use the PS3 for most of my gaming needs.  Until then...  I guess I'll stick with PS3 exclusives and Netflix.  So if you haven't done so all ready.  Sign up for the free Netflix disc and get it sent your way.  It only took me a couple days to get it and as I stated it was super easy to install.

      Finally, for all you folks wondering how the picture and service could POSSIBLY be better than on the PS3 than the XBOX 360?  Well, it might be the disc, it might be the PS3's use of the processors, how the Internet is handled on the PS3 versus the 360.  But I have no idea, I'm just glad it works as well as it does.  You should be too, if you have PS3 anyway.

Technorati Tags: PS3,sony,netflix,videos,movies,television,rental,XBOX360,microsoft,bluray

Giant Bomb Reviews Modern Warfare 2 and believe it or not, the game is good! (Shocking)

Please Zartan, You can't save the world if you don't stop killing the civilians.(Good and Evil in Video Games)

 

         In general, I have to say that I usually play a heroic character in most video games.  I know that this is kind of lame for most people; but I have to admit that for some reason I hate doing bad things to people in video games.  Perhaps its the concept itself or perhaps it just seems more difficult to be evil in most cases.  Because even in open world video games where you can do virtually anything in any order; it seems like the designers of the game really meant you to play their game as a good guy.  There is nothing wrong with being good and heroic.  Certainly there have been a terribly large number of movies based on the idea of the one really good guy saving the world.  I usually like playing a female as most movies and games seem to have problem having a female protagonist and hey I love female models more than male ones.  Usually because many of the male skins seem to be absolutely terrible.  But currently being so far into Dragon Age Origins that I'm starting to think about it at work and dream about it; something has been nagging me.  Long ago there was something called, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.  Perhaps you've heard of the current 4th edition that came out last year to not much fanfare.  But something that is a staple of this role playing pen and paper game is the alignment system.  What is alignment?  Well, it's basically shows how good or evil you are.  Which has, as mentioned above become a staple of some recent western RPGs including the aforementioned Dragon Age Origins.  So here is how the alignments worked out in AD&D:

       "In the current 4th edition of the game, the alignment system[4] has been simplified.

  * Lawful Good: Civilization and order.
    * Good: Freedom and kindness.
    * Unaligned: Having no alignment; not taking a stand.
    * Evil: Tyranny and hatred.
    * Chaotic Evil: Entropy and destruction." Courtesy of Wikipedia...

       So what does this have to do with anything?  Well, this kind of nuance here is quite deep and completely unlike any video game.  Even in most Bioware games which are very story based and usually have quite a deep set of options; seem to be lacking when it comes to simple alignment.  Seems like most games where there is a choice between good and evil that's all there is.  Either you are good or you are evil.  There was an instance in Knights of the Old Republic 2 that allowed you to be neutral but I think that was as far as it's ever gone.  At least in the non-Dungeons and Dragons franchise games.  

          The problem with this is that often the problems presented in these games are not exactly black and white.  Or at least that's how they appear.  But in Mass Effect and Dragon Age Origins there definitely seem to be good and evil choices.  Also Fable and Fable 2 were incredibly guilty of this.  Fable 2 actually had you helping slavers if you were evil.  Certainly there would be evil people unwilling to do this.  What I thought was even funnier was that you couldn't just kill all the slavers and save all the slaves and remain evil. 

         I think the very fact that some of the characters in Dragon Age Origins that have questionable mortality are completely fine with you helping evil people but are less than thrilled when you make, "the ends justify the means decisions," which is really odd considering that even in the fiction for Dragon Age Origins this is usually the reason the "evil" characters give for their actions.

     So why the sliding alignment scale?  Well, to label some one anything other than good or evil gets a little complicated.  Especially when you have NPCs reacting to you.  The problem with this is, however,  is that you have to be so vilely evil to be evil that it often seems not only inappropriate but it is normally ANYTHING but the easy way out.  Most of the time evil is labeled as the easy way out or the cowards way out.  The problem is that in most video games it is actually incredibly difficult to actually be reading the story and understanding your role in the story and still be evil.  There are definitely people out there who do this.  But I don't really think that this is the idea the developers are going for. 

   There are responses in many parts of Fable, Fable 2, Dragon Age Origins, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2, Jade Empire, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that really make no sane sense in the context that they are in.  Most people who are 'evil" and aren't psychotic or completely insane are generally normal acting people who occasionally or regularly do evil things.  They don't talk to people like they are spoiled 1st graders and they rarely out right mock authority.  If you are evil and are presented to the President of the United States its unlikely that you will spit in his face.  You might write nasty things about him on your blog but you certainly won't do anything that would make you look bad in front of everyone.  But then this gets into why people are evil and I REALLY don't think that most writers and designers of video games think about this too thoroughly.

      After all, in Dragon Age Origins it would be pretty easy to see why some of the characters' origin stories would generate evil people.  But what they don't generate are broken crazy people.  At least these folks wouldn't make it into the Gray Wardens.  If your outward attitude was unbalanced it's doubtful that old seasoned Duncan would select you as his candidate for the Gray Wardens.  Also in Mass Effect being chosen as an Elite agent, a Spectre.  You would hardly be chosen for such a thing if you were psychotic.  Even Saren isn't THAT evil.  He would be considered Lawful Evil by the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons folks.

     So even though Dragon Age Origins is the BEST story driven RPG of all time.  I think the folks doing the dialogue choices should bulk up on their old school pen and paper RPGs and stop giving us such crazy choices.  Because when you have 5 dialogue choices and only 3 of them make any sense.  You really only have 3 choices.  This goes beyond my personal choices and more goes into creating a consistent understandable story that doesn't have characters doing insane things and the other party members not just killing  their crazy leader.  There are certainly some points in Bioware games and Lionhead games that do these very things but they are MUCH too far and few between.

    So yes Zartan, you can kill all the villagers and save the world but it will probably be hard considering one of the villagers probably has some special weapon secreted away in their cupboard that would have helped you save it.  So when you do reach the final battle you will probably die a few times and have to restart.  Is that any way to be a hero or a good villain for that matter.

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Giant Bomb's stealth Dragon Age Origins Video Review. Get it NOW!

And the Beat Goes On!

   I think it was originally Superman or Batman that was the first to say,

          "The difference between us and the criminals is that we don't kill.  All life is sacred!  Even the lives of criminals."

        Perhaps I took some creative license here.  But you get the idea...  Video games historically have never subscribed to this philosophy.  Just about every popular video game franchise in the modern era is about killing "something."  People don't really look at it this way, however.  The fact remains however that in most video games all you are doing is killing people.  Everything from Counter Strike to Civilization to every World War 2 shooter in history.  Yes these people are combatants, but what about games like GTA, Crackdown, Hulk, Saints Row, etc...  Every single open world game in history allows you to kill civilians.  Certainly there have been consequences in some of these games for this behavior but not in all of them and certainly nothing like, your character goes to jail and gets executed.

  

       So my friends, why are we still discussing this one scene in Modern Warefare 2 when the game is not only not out yet.  But these same game journalists saying how uncomfortable they are with all this are the same journalists that gave games like GTA and Crackdown high marks for the creative ways you can kill people.  What is the difference?  If you cannot separate reality from game reality perhaps you should see a psychiatrist and find another line of work.  Also, the few one off criticisms of the game that I have seen and the outrage I've seen are fascinating considering the game isn't out yet and that means that this discussion is completely one sided and in my opinion it is irresponsible to bring it up at this point when there is nothing ACTUALLY that different from this to an episode of the Unit, 24, or any other realistic terrorist show on television which regularly gets critical acclaim.  But then I really can't talk  too much about it either considering I haven't played the game either.

      Well,  folks I don't really remember anyone having trouble killing tons of people in Fable and Oblivion.  Most reviewers and journalists on podcasts regularly talked about how they played the whole game "Evil" so they can't even speak to how the game plays as good.  Well, playing "Evil" means you've killed lots of innocent people.  But I guess people in magical worlds don't count either.  I guess civilians only count when they look like you and there are terrorists about.  Wow, this is really bad news for Modern Warfare 2.  I guess they should have gone cel-shaded like Borderlands.

  "You think I am the monster, how many people have you killed today Mr.Drake?"

         I have a feeling that come 11/10/09 there won't be anyone interested in this scene or any other scene in the single player.  Because just like myself everyone's first stop will be multiplayer.  To yes, kill lots of  people.  Oh sorry, those folks don't count.

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American McGee's Alice Returns with a trailer!

So according to Destructoid we should be expecting a new Alice game in 2011 from our friends at Electronic Arts.  Here's hoping this is a full game experience and not some knock off downloadable that is just going to be capitalizing on the buzz of the Tim Burton movie coming out next year.

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