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So you're telling me that the gameplay is not directly affected by the graphics in a game like Rez for the PS2, where the entire gaming is a matter of presentation, a mixture of unique sounds and vector-type graphics? What, that game was too obscure an example for you? Then try this one on for size: the Doom 3 engine's per-pixel lighting and shadowing allows for an immersive gameplay environment since the player is constantly forced to decide whether to carry a flashlight to illuminate dark areas or to have a weapon in hand to fend off unseen enemies.

These two games are just off the top of my head; there are many, many games that use graphics as a way to enhance gameplay. graphics are important, and they are the main reason we're not still playing games on the NES.

Independent studios want to create wonderful, experimental titles, but are, in part, held back by business requirements. As businesses, our first priority is to become profitable, and the least-risky way to do this is to create more traditional offerings. (The same is true for large development houses.) Fortunately for us, better middleware tools and increased publicity can free us of this constraint. The former will allow us to experiment and develop easier; the latter will allow us to reach an audience now reserved for the large publishers. As these conditions improve, you'll see independents take more risks.

Middleware comprises the audio libraries, AI plugins, and 3D engines such as Torque, Conitec A6, and FMOD. These tidbits are the lifeblood of independents. Without them, we'd have to code everything from scratch, and you'd see even more Tetris clones than you do now -- little innovation. With them, we're freed from the low-level stuff. We can create games that look and sound good enough to attract consumers. As middleware improves, it'll become even easier to experiment and innovate.

Publicity is trickier -- while events such as the Independent Games Festival allow us to bend the ears of larger publications, it's still the big studios that are going to command the previews and exclusives. Having approached a number of print publications, I've found that it can be difficult to secure a sizable preview for our game, even though I think folks might like to hear about where we're innovating. But even this is improving; sites like The Adrenaline Vault are particularly indie-friendly, often posting press releases from smaller development studios.

I think, then, that it's only a matter of time before the smaller studios attempt experimental titles in substantial numbers. Many will be terrible; some will be great fun. But as it becomes easier to experiment, you bet we'll be doing more of it, simply because we can.

I'm glad you spoke up, because not every gamer is the same!

A lot of people on Slashdot are big fans of RPGs. I personally don't like them at all.

In fact, my latest obsession is a car racing game (Rallisport Challenge 2). Talk about linear...

It's a great game though.

Not everyone is looking for some fantastic story to get involved in. I'm not looking to have complex decisions to make in order to guide my character along some sort of path that will fulfill me in some deep sort of way.

I just want to jiggle a joystick around, and watch some pretty pictures move around the screen as a diversion.

My life is complex enough. I have a real family- I spend enough time trying to teach my 14 year old daughter to do the right thing, I don't need an animated character that also depends on me for guidance.

Is he doing this to be ironic? Who knows, it's still funny as hell.

I think someone should tell Dr. Gupta's secretary that they've been transcribing from a GameSpot interview with Michael Pachter, instead of the great doctor's notes. Whoops.

There are reasons why a game publisher might not want a website to post its screenshots with others, but I wonder if there might just be an error in the linked article.

In independent games, the question of quality-by-association comes up when a company approaches a developer with a request to include its game in a CD compilation. One side of the argument is that the presence of a title on a shovelware compilation can detract from its perceived quality -- your game might appear among a hundred Sokoban clones, or in an extreme case, you might see children's software next to more adult software. So, it is conceivable that publishers might have considered association with this website (archived here) a bad thing.

But I don't buy it. Entire conferences are devoted to publicity, and as they say, no publicity is bad publicity. (To wit, I'd talk up my postman about my software if I thought it'd help. He's a nice guy; we talk about other things.) The only tidbit that screams copyright violation as I understand it is this: Of this collection, several hundred were allegedly found to have been taken from magazines and overseas game sites...

However, I do not understand the end of that sentence: ...without the permission of the game publisher, a violation of Japanese copyright law.

To my knowledge, it is not illegal in the States to take and post a screenshot of a movie or game to the Web; my understanding Japanese intellectual property laws is limited, but given the number of Japanese film/gaming sites that do this, I don't believe that game publishers have any say over what screenshots are presented. I think 1Up may have meant this, instead:

without the permission of the website's publisher, a violation of Japanese copyright law.
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I long for the day when Google stops asking me, "Did you mean: inigo rage"

From Gamespot:

After a well-respected sports-industry magazine reports the sports-licensing deal of the century is in the works, NFLPA reps say the story has been retracted.

Two weeks ago, The Sports Business Journal, one of the most respected trade journals of the athletic entertainment business, revealed the identity of Madden NFL 2005 cover athlete Ray Lewis several days before EA Sports announced it.

Now it appears they may have broken one of the biggest rumors in the game industry's history.

The May 3 issue of the Journal contained a story with the headline "EA set to pay Players Inc. $1 billion." According to the article, Electronic Arts is in final negotiations with Players Inc., the NFL Players' Association marketing arm, to exclusively license all NFL player rights for the next four years. The Journal set the price tag of the deal at $250 million each year, which EA would pay Players Inc.; in other words, a literal billion-dollar contract.

Given the large sums reportedly at stake, the exclusivity of the EA/NLFPA deal would have been almost certainly strict. If such a deal were ever done, no non-EA Sports game could license NFL player likenesses--an almost certainly fatal blow to the Madden series' rivals, such as ESPN NFL Football.

When provided with excerpts from the article by GameSpot, EA Sports representatives promised to pass them along to "someone who can answer your questions." As of press time, no official confirmation or denial of the EA/NLFPA negotiations had been given by EA. However, off the record, one source close to the company called the story "way off."

While the The Sports Business Journal broke the story, it was, ironically, reprinted in the magazine ESPN. This prompted a moderator at ESPNvideogames.com to call the NFLPA. According to the moderator, NFLPA reps denied that anything other than "normal" licensing deals were in play.

When contacted by GameSpot, NFLPA executives said that not only was the story false, but that The Sports Business Journal has since run a retraction--something that will undoubtedly make fans of the ESPN NFL franchise breathe much easier.

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot
Link

"The attempt was to create a closed network in a closed environment. That is completely contrary to our concept of networked business"

Oh, so we can expect to see source code for the network servers for the assorted online Final Fantasy games released soon?

This is pure bullshit. It's not that Square/Enix wants Microsoft to have less control, it's that THEY want control - just like EA running servers for EA games.

Don't get me wrong, I love SquareEnix or Squeenix or [Enix] or whatever you want to call them today(tm Microsoft). I've been playing more FFTA than is probably good for my schedule, and FFVII is my favorite RPG of all time. (You call FFI classic, I call it a game with a crappy interface.) But this is bull pucky.

Interestingly, the interview contains an assertion by the interviewer that Wada said something really dumb: "In your words, network is the game." Why is this dumb? Because it was stupid when Sun said "The network is the computer" and it's stupid now if Yoichi Wada is saying "[The] network is [the] game". The computer is the computer, the game is the game, black is not white and up is not down. But I bring it up not to diss on Yoichi (though it's fun) but to point out that those days were the beginning of the end for Sun. I wouldn't want to jinx myself by uttering similar syllables :)

i for one was hoping to hear something about a new Console, i'd like to see Sega get back in the race

There were enough games to make me happy, IMO (IANAL)!

Including some new Thief game and Half-Life 2, anything else pales in comparision :)

According to this article.

"The system will be backward compatible with the Game Boy Advance (and, therefore, with other, earlier Game Boy models)."

Well according to Gamespot's article on the sytem, it looks like performance will increase.

Reminiscent of 3dfx's Voodoo2 scan-line interleave (SLI) technology, Alienware's "Video Array" technology allows two video cards to work together while running a game. Unlike 3dfx's SLI, where the two video cards shared the workload by drawing alternating lines on the screen, the video cards in Alienware's Video Array split the screen in two with one card working on the top half and the second card working on the bottom. Load balancing software ensures that the workload is evenly split between the two cards in cases where graphics complexity in one half of the screen is greater than the other. Alienware isn't ready to release benchmark numbers since the hardware is still in alpha, but the company expects a "50+% performance gain over traditional graphics solutions" when the system is ready for release.

Looks like this system could be pretty killer IF the price isn't insanely high that is.

Sony has already admitted that battery life will be short on the PSP.. And that would be in the best case, given that is Sony we are talking about, and Sony always tries to "embelish" their future specs.

The Nintendo DS will ahve battery life "similar" to the GBA SP. I think it will be a little lower, around 8 hours with backlight on.

I don't want a "portable" that I have to recharge every 2 hours!

(Ninty?)

The photos of the unit at the GameSpot link appear to be fake. Overlaying the images atop each other and performing a difference reveals them to have identical pixels outside of the screen contents.

In Japan "Zelda: Four Swords +" was launched a few days ago.

This game is like Zelda: "Four Swords" except you can play single player, and you can play multiplayer with a standard GC controller. It replaces the GBA screen with an emulated GBA in the TV screen.

Yes, it's coming to US and EU.

Prior to checking your link and getting the yoke, I was thinking you were refering to one of these conspicuos green men.

finally!

some sensible media! from this screenshot it appears that the little, shiny, fragile disc will be protected in a caddy!

now, if we could only convince everyone else to do this... i really hate that if my cds or games become scratched and unplayayble i am forced to purchase the flimsy media again. bastards.

Check out the following image!

Look at all those poor cross-eyed people! Who in their right mind would sacrifice their eyes for that little handheld?!

Navin Johnson is probably rolling in his grave!

Here are some additional links with pictures in case of /. effect:

Gamespot
GameAsylum
IGN PSP
Reuters

and info about Movies and Music on the PSP

Whoever checked this link clearly is not using firefox. It just gives us a nice view of a blank page. Strangely the google cache shows up just fine.

well there is some competition

well there is some competition

I don't think the Dreamcast game Headhunter was ever released in the US. You can find PAL versions on eBay, and some game websites have old stories on the game, (for example, gamespot.com), but the stories don't indicate a release date, or if the game ever actually came out. Only in Europe and Japan apparently, although the sequel, Headhunter: Redemption is slated for US release on PS2 and XBox

I don't think the Dreamcast game Headhunter was ever released in the US. You can find PAL versions on eBay, and some game websites have old stories on the game, (for example, gamespot.com), but the stories don't indicate a release date, or if the game ever actually came out. Only in Europe and Japan apparently, although the sequel, Headhunter: Redemption is slated for US release on PS2 and XBox

It's quite simple, really. The glass container in which the corn starch is stored resonates perfectly at 120Hz. Had the researchers used a difference thickness, weight or purity of glass, the required frequency would be different, though far less stable. What they have done, in effect, is open a very small gateway into a sub-level dimension. It is fortunate that they did not accelerate the container to a rate generating more force, which would have caused the hole to open larger; they might have inadvertently unleashed one of these.

It's hard, but not too hard. I think 'too hard' implies that the reward is less than the effort required. I had a fun time with Viewtiful Joe. I didn't beat it, but there weren't any times when I felt like I couldn't get past a section if I tried a few more times. I can't wait until the sequel comes out.

Also, Starcraft Cheetos and Doritos.

But when you think about these quick puzzle games, what comes to mind besides tetris, that isn't a blatant tetris knock-off?

The *other* successful games for handhelds were ones that didn't need to have anything saved, as the original Game Boy couldn't handle it. Imagine playing Final Fantasy I and not being able to save...

Huh? Ever hear of Final Fantasy Legend and it's sequels on the original gameboy? Saving games is not a function of the player hardware on a cartridge system, but of the cartridge itself. Battery-backed games were certainly possible in 1989 when the original GameBoy was released (NES games had been doing it for years, a la Zelda and Final Fantasy), and the GameBoy certainly didn't go backwards in that respect.

There are many original GameBoy games where you can save state (Metroid II, different Super Mario Land sequels, the afore-mentioned Final Fantasy Legend series, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Pokemon (technically a GB Color game, but the hardware was still essentially the same), etc). The most important part about being able to save on a handheld game is when you can save. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance get it right, where you can save anywhere (even during a battle). Older games like Metroid II that make you hunt down a save spot before you can quit got it wrong. The recent Mario & Luigi game got this wrong IMHO, because they only let you save at certain save points that were few and far between. At least the GBA has a sleep mode that lets you put the hardware into a battery saving mode without losing your current state. That's better than nothing, but not as good as a "save anywhere" feature.

Of course, putting a good old fun classic (like Street Fighter II) could spell success in a whole new way...

You're not really up on the portable gaming scene, are you? Street Fighter II has already been released on GBA, and a large majority of the GBA's library consists of "classic" ports from the SNES and even the Genesis (Sonic ports and such). There's no better platform for such "classic" gaming at the moment.

But when you think about these quick puzzle games, what comes to mind besides tetris, that isn't a blatant tetris knock-off?

The *other* successful games for handhelds were ones that didn't need to have anything saved, as the original Game Boy couldn't handle it. Imagine playing Final Fantasy I and not being able to save...

Huh? Ever hear of Final Fantasy Legend and it's sequels on the original gameboy? Saving games is not a function of the player hardware on a cartridge system, but of the cartridge itself. Battery-backed games were certainly possible in 1989 when the original GameBoy was released (NES games had been doing it for years, a la Zelda and Final Fantasy), and the GameBoy certainly didn't go backwards in that respect.

There are many original GameBoy games where you can save state (Metroid II, different Super Mario Land sequels, the afore-mentioned Final Fantasy Legend series, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Pokemon (technically a GB Color game, but the hardware was still essentially the same), etc). The most important part about being able to save on a handheld game is when you can save. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance get it right, where you can save anywhere (even during a battle). Older games like Metroid II that make you hunt down a save spot before you can quit got it wrong. The recent Mario & Luigi game got this wrong IMHO, because they only let you save at certain save points that were few and far between. At least the GBA has a sleep mode that lets you put the hardware into a battery saving mode without losing your current state. That's better than nothing, but not as good as a "save anywhere" feature.

Of course, putting a good old fun classic (like Street Fighter II) could spell success in a whole new way...

You're not really up on the portable gaming scene, are you? Street Fighter II has already been released on GBA, and a large majority of the GBA's library consists of "classic" ports from the SNES and even the Genesis (Sonic ports and such). There's no better platform for such "classic" gaming at the moment.

But when you think about these quick puzzle games, what comes to mind besides tetris, that isn't a blatant tetris knock-off?

The *other* successful games for handhelds were ones that didn't need to have anything saved, as the original Game Boy couldn't handle it. Imagine playing Final Fantasy I and not being able to save...

Huh? Ever hear of Final Fantasy Legend and it's sequels on the original gameboy? Saving games is not a function of the player hardware on a cartridge system, but of the cartridge itself. Battery-backed games were certainly possible in 1989 when the original GameBoy was released (NES games had been doing it for years, a la Zelda and Final Fantasy), and the GameBoy certainly didn't go backwards in that respect.

There are many original GameBoy games where you can save state (Metroid II, different Super Mario Land sequels, the afore-mentioned Final Fantasy Legend series, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Pokemon (technically a GB Color game, but the hardware was still essentially the same), etc). The most important part about being able to save on a handheld game is when you can save. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance get it right, where you can save anywhere (even during a battle). Older games like Metroid II that make you hunt down a save spot before you can quit got it wrong. The recent Mario & Luigi game got this wrong IMHO, because they only let you save at certain save points that were few and far between. At least the GBA has a sleep mode that lets you put the hardware into a battery saving mode without losing your current state. That's better than nothing, but not as good as a "save anywhere" feature.

Of course, putting a good old fun classic (like Street Fighter II) could spell success in a whole new way...

You're not really up on the portable gaming scene, are you? Street Fighter II has already been released on GBA, and a large majority of the GBA's library consists of "classic" ports from the SNES and even the Genesis (Sonic ports and such). There's no better platform for such "classic" gaming at the moment.

As more people figure it out, hacking seems to be helping.

Notice, I said 'hacking' not 'piracy.'

I hope they have some more board games than the typical handful like chess, checkers, backgammon, and such. It would be nice to get some advanced German board games like Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, any of Reiner Knizia's games or El Grande since this is coming from Sony Europe. I know Capcom released a network version of Settlers for PS2 in Japan that they gave away. Surely SCEE can arrange to give them a buck or two each copy to include something a little more interesting that can be played with more than just two people.

If you really want this new EA Bond/Goldeneye game to be lousy, I've got some bad news for you:

EA's Bond games have been progressively getting better. (The latter being declared as the best Bond game to date, by some.)

If you really want this new EA Bond/Goldeneye game to be lousy, I've got some bad news for you:

EA's Bond games have been progressively getting better. (The latter being declared as the best Bond game to date, by some.)

If you really want this new EA Bond/Goldeneye game to be lousy, I've got some bad news for you:

EA's Bond games have been progressively getting better. (The latter being declared as the best Bond game to date, by some.)

I wonder if there will be that sense of accomplishment I got from Tie Fighter when I destroyed an allied bomber squadron, sigh.

The visceral thrills you're looking for are likeley to be found here

Is Star Wars is doomed to be the christian rock of video games, i.e. pale imitations of already successful genres?

Whatever might be on the gaming technology horizon, it doesn't seem as though it will be coming from LucasArts.

Here's another one: They're releasing an online version of Segagaga, and basing all of their business decisions off of the actions of the best players.

I never played Nox, but back when I was in college, there was this game Die By The Sword.

The claim to fame was, it was a 1st-person "melee", where you used the keyboard to walk, but the way you moved your mouse caused the hero's sword to swing in odd maneuvers. Very dynamic poly models could capture any movement of the arms, and depending on swing speed, direction, and where you hit, that's how you did damage to the enemies.

If you've ever played ZPC you'll know what I mean without me even explaining it. This game features a pretty grim future where a fascist government runs everything... their soldiers resemble Nazi soldiers and their voices match the image as well. The environment of many levels features distant looming corporate buildings, ominous and faceless... In a few levels there are posters on the walls like "ASPIRE TO EXPIRE" and "we want YOU dead" (like the Uncle Sam "We want YOU" posters) or something along those lines... In these levels there are loudspeakers blaring distorted propaganda (which hugely resembles Hitler's voice if you ask me) increasing the political significance even further.

The game was made in 1996 and was based on the Marathon 2 engine, so it's a bit old. It's still interesting to play though (and fun, I like the whole atmosphere of it)...

Screenshots can be seen here and here. Here is a hi-res image of the box... Notice the really contrasty logo and imagery - it adds to the dark atmosphere of the game.

All the art is done by KMFDM album-cover-artist Aidan Hughes, who has a pretty recognizable style that compliments the style of the game really well.

Hell, to further the corporate-fascist bleak-future atmosphere, there's music created by Paul and Roland Barker (uh, although I've never heard of "Roland" Barker anywhere other than this game so I'm pretty skeptical about that), members of Ministry and The Revolting Cocks. Coolness.

Aside from the 'peace and prosperity' thing, you might like this

I'd have to say the best video game stories are the ones you can talk to other people about. Who cares if I say "Damn, one time I killed a bunch of flood with my shotgun, blah blah" - but when you start talking about getting off that last spell right after Kefka smacked you with "fallen angel" to beat the game with a party total of 4hp, now we're talking!

I think that the same things that keep people playing tabletop RPG's are what make good video games as well: immersing storyline with character development along with the flexibility to let the players creatively interact with the environment. Throw in some opportunities for exploration that provide worthwhile bonuses and develop the story, and you've got a solid starting point. I'd say the Final Fantasy series and GTA 3/VC are good examples of "hit games" that fall squarely into that description.

How does that compare to the Simpsons / TMNT / X-Men / D&D Tower of Doom / Golden Axe games found on classic arcade machines? Amazingly repetitive gaming with uncreative story lines and large fan-bases. What made them so successful?

The "point & click" adventure genre is quite alive in Japan (well, at least compared to here). Although some of them are either anime-based or dating sims, there are enough of all types to find one which may suit to your taste (like this one which was at the PS2 launch). Of course, you will need to be fluent in Japanese to enjoy them, as I doubt any of them will be ported over here anytime soon.

Unfortunately, GTA III / VC seems to have the most accurate physics of any driving simulator I've played with, and I've gone through a lot. Kinda sad, since they purposefully exaggerate towards comical movie physics a lot.

I actually had no idea the Ultimate Mod's Bugatti was a real car until reading about it just now... I thought that the really insanely fast car in the mod was just rice'd up and given artificially high stats!

I think ICO is the best argument for video gaming as art to date, but Rez is another excellent example.

Rob

All of those screenshots you linked to are of women. Is it really suprising that the programmers took a little extra time to make the female avatars look good?

I interpreted the original comment that the game looks ghastly to be a reflection on the "style" of the game.

For example:
EQ2 trees
WoW trees

Basically I see this as a problem I had when I was taking art classes: I'm a perfectionist. I love everything to have nice sharp lines.
That's the EQ2 way (from what I've seen).

Conversly I can't describe the WoW way (I sucked at art, thus I can't pick out what is right). But I know that it doesn't look like a static computer generated world.

Yeah, it looks absolutely ghast... I'm sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention...

Yeah, it looks absolutely ghast... I'm sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention...

Yeah, it looks absolutely ghast... I'm sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention...

Yeah, it looks absolutely ghast... I'm sorry, what were you saying? I wasn't paying attention...