- The GCD is in full gear. It’s been relatively quiet thus far, with most people looking towards Thursday’s keynote speech from Iwata for the possibility of new Zelda footage, or as Job pointed out pointed out, perhaps some insight into Nintendo’s online strategy for the DS. And I’ll do my best to report on the more notable things as I hear of them.
- But first up, someone at the GAF pointed out an interview with Mark Rein from Epic Games, the producers of Unreal. I really don’t follow the PC gaming scene much, and folks like Rein and the products he produce is precisely the reason why. Here’s a curious excerpt…
GI: As someone who’s been working closely with next-gen development, what do you think the biggest difference consumers are going to see in next-gen games is?
MR: There’s no question that the graphics are going to be a huge upgrade. You know, people are such snobs, with this “oh, it’s not about graphics” thing. That’s such nonsense. It’s totally about graphics, What’s the difference between the first Metal Gear Solid and the latest Metal Gear Solid? Right, it’s “wow, the graphics!” There’s no question, that’s going to be the first thing that people see – they’re going to see that the visuals are just spectacular.
Okay, first off, allow me to make a generalization that I know is probably extremely false and will piss many folks off, but I still feel it to be true at times: most PC games are nothing more than just marketing tools for graphics cards.
I find most PC games extremely uncreative and boring. I won’t go into a debate pitting East vs West design philosophies, but I think one of the main reasons why PC game creators are so hung up on creating realistic worlds and characters is because those are the most obvious things to do, given that they have to exploit the resources of whatever new card is on the horizon.
I love console games, especially ones near the end of any given system’s cycles, cuz that’s when you see the very best game designers draw all that they can from the hardware, since there’s been sufficient time to do so (and often, the end result if more than what was originally intended by the hardware’s designers). They’re past the point of using the simple, obvious tricks, and have the “Okay, now what? Guess I’ll make a good game now” attitude. Since PC game designers don’t have that point of “getting comfortable” with hardware for more than four or five years, hence the constant recycling of same old crap with better shine. Well, that’s not the only reason, but I think it’s a major contributor.
Yes, you have your Half-Life 2′s and your…. well that’s about it really. Okay, throw Sims 2 in the mix. Yes, there’s a lot of shit console games out there, but if you compare the two areas, there’s no comparison really. Most of the inovation is happeningon the console end of things. Even the games that aren’t necessary groundbreaking are still more fun… since there’s no need to download tons of patches and the such, but the inherent laziness of PC game makers is a totally different topic, and for a later time.
But the second thing is, okay graphics are getter better, but how much better? Enough to really matter? I know I sound like some old skeptic with a lack of vision, but I really do feel (and others as well, since I just had a conversation with both Robin and Jason regarding this general area earlier tonight) that we’re almost at the point where better graphics, and better technology, won’t mean much. Hell the three systems we have now are pretty close as it is, and it’s only going to become even more homogenized in the next generation. It’s not that I’m opposed to realistic graphics (well, I am, but that’s purely a matter of taste), but what’s the point of awesome capabilities if no one has the ability to truly grasp it?
Actually, this has less to do with general advances in technology, and more with game design. Games have hit a wall to a certain degree. There’s a certain amount of expectation regarding what video games should or could be, or at least we’ve already been told countless times. But once again, take a look at the DS; I already asked yesterday if things can be taken further in terms of realizing its potential, and answer might be no. Not even by Nintendo, the folks behind the machine and the ones who you could normally always depend on for making the best games possible on any given platform, is up to the task it seems. And that speaks volumes.
As someone pointed out already (I forget exactly who) that it’s a bit ironic that Nintendo, which has been the champion of fun, simple experiences, is responsible for the most complicated hardware conceptually speaking out there today. I give them credit for trying, but its perhaps a bit ahead of its time. As for the promised Nintendo Revolution, like it’s been hinted by folks within Nintendo, it’s just a name folks…
- As a part of the GDC celebrations, the first ever Walk of Game ceremonies took place. Think of it as the Walk of Fame but with video games. One of the very first wave of inductees was Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sega took the opportunity to unveil the very next game in the Sonic series, starring his evil twin, from Sonic Adventure 2.
It’s called Shadow the Hedgehog and it’s basically a Sonic game, but with guns. No, this is not a joke. And yeah, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
With this comes conclusive proof that Sonic Team has no fucking clue what its doing. And speaking as a long time, diehard fan of Sonic, I’m officially done with the series.
- One last thing, back to the issue of “New Games Journalism” (which is a term that’s quickly becoming a dirty word), UK Resistance has their own list regarding how they feel about it.
Hey, as I said before, I believe in change, but that list was totally, 100%, spot on. Truth is, maybe I shouldn’t even criticize the “hallmarks” of NGJ since I have yet to read any of them in their entirely, but that’s purely because they are all really bad and boring reads. And the thing is, the argument between this new heralded form vs. the “old guard” is only going to get louder and uglier.
