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Harry Potter - Quidditch, Sorcerer's Stone?
Thanks to two different readers for submitting Harry Potter game-related stories. On the one hand, a recent IGN Cube interview talks with EA about Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, an interesting sports game concept if ever there was one. According to EA, "..there's a progress from Hogwarts to working your way up a World Cup ladder. I can confirm that Viktor Krum (who appears in book 4) is in the game--which is appropriate since he's the 'Michael Jordan' of Quidditch in a sense." On the other hand, the ever rumor-spreading C+VG site are claiming that next-gen versions of Harry Potter And The Sorceror's Stone are scheduled for later in 2003, based on a leaked release schedule, since there has only a Playstation 1 console version of the first movie/book so far - this is far from confirmed, however.
The only change I would recommend for the next-gen versions is they actually make the game half-decent.
I wonder how the sports game will work though. I presume you will be able to switch between the different players and the roles. But in this case wouldn't it always just be best to be the seeker and use your advantage over the AI to win the game?
The rules for Quidditch are so insane. Essentially, almost all the time, the seeker is the one who wins the game. 150 points for one individuals accomplishments, it might work in fiction with a protagonist, but it's horrid for an actual game.
On behalf of the rest of the English speaking world I'd just like to remind everybody here that the book is actually called 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'.
The American publishers elected to change the title to appeal to an American audience. There's a list of changes made to the rest of the book circulating on the net. Seems like at least one word/phrase was changed on every page of the book so that American readers wouldn't be confronted by the realisation that people in other countries have different names for common items and can spell properly. (Aluminium)
Now wash your hands.
I'm glad to see they're updating the game for the newer generation of video game systems. I'm a little skeptical of the EA Quidditch game. Lots of folks have pointed out that since each game must necessarily end with a 150-point swing, it doesn't make a lot of sense from a sporting point of view. I guess this is to be expected considering that J.K. Rowling, as a single mother, probably wasn't very caught up on sports when she conceived of it. Maybe they'll make the value of grabbing the Snitch a configurable option. 30 points would be about right, IMHO.
Also, it'll be interesting to see how the new book affects the upcoming HP games. There's a new Quidditch move introduced in Order of the Phoenix, and it actually sounds pretty cool. Also, I wonder if they might add some more emphasis on Sirius Black's role in Sorcerer's Stone, considering he dies. Either way, I can't wait to see how the new games measure up to the Harry that we all know and love.
Boromir, son of Faramir, King of Gondor and Minas Tirith
...with a "k," the seeker for the Bulgarian national team? The only one who spells Krum's name with a "c" is a jealous Ron Weasley, who calls him "Vicky."
Yes, he could be considered the "Michael Jordan" of Quidditch, if Michael Jordan were 18, kind of dense, talked like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and played in a game where a single strong player at a single position (seeker) could make up for a lackluster team otherwise.
Eternal vigilance only works if you look in every direction.
Because it's broken.
The Seeker getting 150 pts for the snitch is ridiculous. That decides the game right there.
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
The grandparent post is a troll posted by a logged in troll. This is what the zoo system is for. Set your Foe modifier to -3, mark him as a troll, and let moderation do its job. As far as AC goes, just give AC -1. Knowledgable ACs normally get modded up anyhow. At that rate, you can generally read small comment articles at 0 with few trolls. That is, if you read often enough to foe logged in trolls.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
In some recess of my mind, I recognize that a Quidditch game could be cool. Think about it. Online play. 14 players (plus there could be substitutes on the sidelines). Player customization and skill stats. Essentially a 3d flight sim and sports game in one. High speeds, lots of action, a little bit of violence. Fun for everybody.
Then the part of my brain trained over the years to interject with reality steps up. It's going to be a crappy movie liscence game. From EA. Geared towards childen. With crappy AI cause everybody wants to be the seeker. Let's toss in crappy controls too.
If it wasn't for the fact that it would be Fox-ed rather quickly, the task of making a good Quidditch game would fall to mod devlopers for UT2k3/4, q3, d3, or hl2. Thank god trademarks will prevent a good movie game from ever being made.
It's not stupid. It's advanced.
Yes, because goodness knows the original Quidditch rules where a work of art, destined to echo down the ages, and were so well-thought-out and conceived that not only were they ideal for a diversionary color device in a children's book series AND some nifty special effects shots*, but are also perfect to actually play with... despite being some of the the most unbalanced, crappy rules in the history of fake games.
*: Actually, those are some of my least favorite shots in the movies, because having played my fair share of twitch games like Quake and such, I can't help but realize as I'm watching "Quidditch" on the big screen that no real human would survive the game. The people are moving around at what, thirty, forty miles an hour? So an oncoming person zips by you at sixty miles an hour, swinging a stick at you no less! (Oh, sure, they're really swinging at the blodger. At least, that's what the Slytheryn player tells the ref when they get caught, right?) Nobody's reactions are that fast. (And you don't really get to go with "Well, they're wizards, they're special", because they're not made out as supermen in any other way...) The shots tear me right out of my suspension of disbelief.
I suspect that much of the problem is taking the scenes out of the book too literally; Quidditch could kind of work if you couldn't just go zipping around on a broom at full speed, but instead were limited to 10 or 15 mph... although even that would be enough to kill nearly instantly if two people collided head-on the wrong way.
On that topic, the Playstation game designers will suffer from similar problems, since they have to actually make the game playable in 3D while allowing human-speed reflexes to play the game. Given the relative realism of 3D, they're going to have to actually decide how fast these people are going in an accurate model. I'd be intrigued to hear how they are going to do that/have done that.