Here’s some highlights from the world of video games from last week (which I never got around to mentioning because I’m sleeping about 12 hours a day since I’m still on vacation) …
- I guess the big news is that Katamari Damacy, easily one of the best games ever to grave the PS2, is officially coming to America. But the real big news is that the soundtrack is arriving intact, and thank God for that. The game features easily some of the best music ever heard in any video game, but since much of it is in wacky and in Japanese, most (including myself) was afraid it would get axed. But thankfully, now everyone in the states will get the chance to hear the brilliance that is Lonely Rolling Star.
And now comes word that Technic Beat, another quirky action/music title from Japan, which absolutely no one thought would ever make it to the states, is also retaining all of it’s 80 something songs. This is also awesome news since the man responsible for most of the tunes is Shini Hosoe, who’s not only ultra talented, but also a veteran of the industry, yet much of his work goes completely unrecognized. Even though Technic Beat was produced by Arika (sort of a fave developer of mine as well) it features remixes from old Namco arcade hits, most of which Hosoe is responsible for (he used to be one of their first staff musicians). I guess he used his connections to revisit his old work. It also features remixed tunes from his other Arika work, like the Street Fighter EX series, which is cool. Too bad there’s nothing related to Bushido Blade or Internal Section.
- Also, the system requirements for Doom 3 have finally been made public, and as expected, most will have to plunk down quite a bit of change to play the game in all it’s graphic splendor. As I’ve stated many times in the past, stuff like this is exactly whey I’ve stayed away from PC gaming. Most people just don’t want to admit that most high profile releases are more graphic card demos than actual games.
Needless to say, I’ve received a ton of shit for making such a statement, but the facts speak for themselves: for the most part, PC games are no longer about pushing any boundaries in regards to gameplay but simply outdoing the other guys in the graphics department. Granted such one-upmanship is common on the console end of things, but at least there when folks copycat, there’s somewhat of an effort to bring something fresh to the table. I suppose I’m still bitter about the latest Sam and Max game, which was purported to be the pinnacle of it’s respective genre, being cancelled to free up resources for even more mediocre Star Wars titles. But then again, how can I blame Lucasarts for investing in what they know people will buy?
PC players always pride themselves in being more educated than the average (i.e. console) game player, yet they still willingly invest thousands of dollars into their gaming rig, year after year, and for literally the same game over and over again. Which is why I’ll gladly play Doom 3 when it comes out for Xbox, and be satisfied with the knowledge that I didn’t need to spend $3,000+ to find out that it plays a lot like very other FPS.
And just so know you, as much as I regard Doom 3 as simply Doom 2 with prettier graphics and more guns, I can also see Gran Turismo 4 as just Gran Turismo 3 with prettier graphics and more cars. It’s all a matter of tastes and perspective, I know this, so spare me any speeches, thank you.
- Speaking of FPSs and Xbox, if you go to www.ilovebees.com you’ll find a strange error message on the main page, as well as loads of crazy, cryptic messages all over the rest of the site. There’s even images that seem corrupted, and if opened in a text editor, reveal even more hidden messages. All of it actually ties into the upcoming Halo 2; many diehard Bungie (makers of Halo) fans have pointed out that much of the gibberish actually refers to their older games, like Marathon.
Bungie and Microsoft have been going all out with the Halo 2 marketing blitz and this is just another part of it. Previously, many members of the gaming press received bottles of honey with no idea who they’re from, and only a few discovered that there’s letters in the bottle which spell out “I Love Bees.” Also, I just found out that the countdown actually ends on the 10 year anniversary of the Windows 95 launch date. Even though I’m not excited for the game, such a unique marketing strategy is pretty cool nonetheless.
- But the game I am most looking forward to is Gradius V, which just came out in Japan. Not only am a I lifelong fan of the series (Gradius was the real reason, not Super Mario Bros, I got an NES) but the sequel was done by Treasure, who produced Radiant Silvergun, easily the best shooter of all time.
There’s actually been quite a bit of excitement surrounding it’s release, which has sparked numerous discussions, even debates, regarding the current shooter scene (there really isn’t one anymore). Perhaps the best one can be found at the Insert Credit forums: it starts out by questioning the now standard shooter formula of picking up power ups to wield a super strong ship, and how loosing all dying leads to loosing all those powers ups, which in turn leads to an unbalanced, and un-enjoyable, play experience in later levels. And how such difficultly has turned off most game players, hence why most shooter makers these days only cater to the most hardcore of shooter fans, which of course scares away casual gamers, who might be the key towards reinvigorating the genre, which has been in a slump for years now.
Hence why I enjoyed Radiant Silvergun so much, since there are no power ups in the game; instead all weapons are available in the beginning. It’s through skillful playing that one is able to upgrade these weapons, which can also be combined at any time for intriguing results. So I was pretty relieved to hear that Gradius V actually utilizes the Life Force (an off shoot of the Gradius series) method of powering up in which when one dies, some of the power ups can still be retrieved as they float away instead of just going back to square one (which also means you start where you died instead of going back to some checkpoint, which absolutely sucks).
I also took the opportunity in the discussion to detail my belief regarding the very nature of shooters in relation to human’s basic survival instinct, and how shooters are so good at expressing such a primary emotion (and how shooters can be used as a “gateway” to express other desires and feelings), hence why it’s no coincidence that the very first video games were shooters, since they are, more or less, the very essence of what a video game is. And thankfully, some got my point, whereas I think the notion went over most of my students heads when I introduced the theory early on in my class.
- Speaking of game design, during a recent discussion regarding the top, someone on the Gaming Age Forums posted this. It’s by Raph Koster, a major force behind such games as Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. It’s an interesting read, and his belief that the best games are ones that are open to interpretation is something I also agree with. But as it’s been noted by others, his assertion that MMORPGs as the ultimate example of players being free is nonsense. One has to do a ton of busywork just to get up to a level where they can finally enjoy the game, and even then, it’s a fairly restrictive experience on almost every single level.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I play games to forget about all the bullshit I have to deal with in real life, so the last thing I want in any video game is to deal with the same assholes, taxes, and social bullshit.
- As for video games that I’m working on, for a while I was struggling with a game concept that was a lot like Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack but with a slight twist. It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally realized that there’s just no real good way to mess with the formula; it, like Teris before it, is pretty much perfect and any changes is more or less detrimental. So instead, I’ve been working on a quiz game with Jason, and it’s coming all rather well. It’s tentatively called Q13 and hopefully a prototype build should be up and running in the next month or so.
