GDC Wraps Up With Surfeit Of Coverage

Thanks to Shacknews for pointing to the Game Developer's Conference index at 1UP, further coverage at GameSpot, more coverage via GameSpy, and yet more coverage at IGN, as GDC finally wraps up. Highlights of newly posted articles include confirmation of Metal Slug Online from Mega Enterprises and SNK, a preview of BioWare's Xbox RPG Jade Empire, a post-mortem of Elixir's disappointing strategy title, Republic, and new information on much-awaited Xbox RPG Fable.

Comments

Jade Empire

[MoonFog]

Jade Empire looks totally awesome
I really had my doubts that the game will ship in Q4 2004, but seeing how sharp it is now makes me think that Jade Empire will indeed be released this year. If the other portions of the game live up to the BioWare standard then Jade Empire should be the best console game the company has ever created.

I love Bioware's games, and if this turns out to be the best they've ever created .. well .. wow

too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a shame that Metal Slug Online will be 3D. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see a 2D MMO game?

Jeah jigz

Re:too bad

[MoonFog]

Why would 2D be better than 3D ? From the article:
For the first time in the Metal Slug series, the characters and game world will be drawn in 3D, which is natural considering the developers expect thousands of players to play the game simultaneously (it's hard to fit that many character sprites in a 2D plane, however long it is).

Re:too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

Obvious solution: make the world larger. If cities were actuially city sized, there wouldn't be this congestion problem Right now, I see that most towns/cities contains like 20 buildings, for example; why now multiply that by 10 (after all, it's 2D, it's going to be easier to increase map sizes)?

2nd solution (which can be done simultaneously) is to have layers: so that all the action is still in 2d, but there's an option to switch layers/planes at different locations (imagine seeing your comrads taking out a powerstation in the background literarly, as you charge through the recently broken defences).

Re:too bad

[MoonFog]

I still don't see why you should want to do this. 3D is according to the article less work, and 3D looks better, even in a MMO game.

Re:too bad

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the original series is 2D to begin with?
Because 2D actually works better for certain game genres?
Because saying that 3D looks better in an MMO is probably a lie, since this sort of 2D hasn't been done for MMOs as far as I know (examples to prove otherwise would be handy for research, thanks in advance)?

I don't know, but if you don't think any of these answers would answer your question, that's fine by me.

GDC

[Vexware]

First of all, I would like to start by saying that though Metal Slug Online could sound like a nice game concept, there are several problems posed. When you say the words 'Metal Slug', the instant reaction is the thought of that classic side-scrolling shooter with its unique character and charm, because that is what the game is all about: wreaking havok in city streets with heavy weapon power sideways, in pure arcade style. It is just something which I beleive cannot be recreated in 3D, simply because it wouldn't really be the same game anymore. Its side-scrolling carnage arcade gameplay made it what it is and what stays in most peoples' memories. If you try and evolve that environment into a modern 3D engine, and bring it online, it isn't really Metal Slug, but just another online game with big mechs. Metal Slug Online, if it comes through development, will be in my opinion like what Crystal Chronicles is the Final Fantasy series: a different game with the same name. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it is not a good game, on the contrary, but I am just saying that I feel that it is not in essence a Final Fantasy game, though that feeling may be related to the fact I'm an aficionado of the classic seventh and eighth episodes of the series.

Next, in his speech Toru Iwatani made a good point about game developers having to be more open to and inspired by real life elements, but he also said he thinks game systems should be more simple. Of course we always say that the simplest gameplay is the best, but I think that if you have the desire to simplify it too much, a worse game experience can result from this. In a time where game engines and systems are continually evolving, simplifying the gameplay is a bit like walking backwards on a escalator going forward and upward. You have to design gameplay which exploits and suits these engine evolutions and in my opinion, simplifying the gameplay is somewhat limiting the gamer's control of how (s)he can fully use the newer and modern engines. Of course, I am taking a general example, as there are simpler games that do not rely on heavy engines and hence can afford to do with this simplified gameplay, but it can get somewhat scary when the idea is extended to deliver dog-digested horrors such as Kirby's Air Ride. I am all for good gameplay, and simple if you can make it so, but not if all it does is limit my enjoyment of the game because I cannot access instantly what I would like to with a more complex UI.

I am truely a bit saddened at Dave Perry's "descent" (need I put that in double-quotes?). He seemed quite a bit of an idol for me when I first saw what gems he produced such as Earthworm Jim and MDK, but when I see corporate tripe such as Enter the Matrix, I really wonder what has happened to his creativity and his philosophy of originality in games. You can always defend him by saying that 'he was not provided with enough time' but by saying that you are just reinforcing the point of why the corporate scheme provides us with litteraly crap film tie-ins. I wonder if Shiny were planning to really work on the game at all, or were just relying on the name to sell in which cars have square wheels to five million fans. It seems they relied more on the second option sadly, and I hope this is not a phenomenom which will get to the companies we appreciate most. But then, this also goes to show how uneducated a lot of people are when it comes to films' promotional games. If this is how future games are going to be, then we are really looking at a sad future for video games as a whole.

Re:GDC

[Anonymous Coward]

that feeling may be related to the fact I'm an aficionado of the classic seventh and eighth episodes of the series.

So in other words you have no taste in video games and have no idea what classic is. You were sounding good actually in much of what you said. You had good grammar, and overall your post is more intelligent and well thought out than the vast majority of slashdot. But when you consider FF7 and 8 to be the classic episodes of Final Fantasy you lose all your credibility. The real final fantasy aficionado replaces the numbers 7 and 8 with 4 and 6. And the old schooler adds in the number 1.

So yeah, what you're saying in the post isn't half bad, but let it be known that your taste and your old-school factor are greatly in question.

Re:GDC

[Vexware]

I hope you will forgive me if I tell you that I haven't had the chance to play the first episodes extensively, given the fact that I am only 13 and only got into video games at the age of 8, when I got my first console, the PlayStation. Hence I beleive I can justify not really having yet had the chance to have a detailed play of every major classic which was released on NES and MegaDrive.

I would also like to point out that you are placing a same argument on two different levels. First of all you say I have 'no taste in video games' and 'have no idea what classic is', then you go on to say I 'consider FF7 and 8 to be the classic episodes of Final Fantasy' and thus 'lose all [my] credibility'. These are two different things, as having not been able to play the precedent opuses of the Final Fantasy series, I took the general opinion of the gaming press which was that the said games were classics, so this was not specifically my opinion. You may dislike these episodes of the series, but saying I 'have no taste in video games' is somewhat flamebait since it was much appreciated by the general public, me included. I pointed out I was an aficionado of these two episodes and not of the series, so in some ways your argument is redudant since I never said I was a gung-ho Final Fantasy aficionado. I am sorry to have afflicted your true fan root feelings with naming these episodes classics, but I just follow my opinion and that of the majority of people having played the game; you could say that they are not true Final Fantasy fans but when a game is coined a classic by game reviewers and is highly appreciated by a high number of players, I think that can at least justify a bit why I said this.

Re:GDC

[Pluvius]

But when you consider FF7 and 8 to be the classic episodes of Final Fantasy you lose all your credibility.

Well, they certainly are the best games in the main series, regardless of whether or not you'd use the word "classic" to describe them. FF6 had a cliched plot with too many pointless characters that completely broke down about halfway through; the gameplay wasn't all that inspired either. However, it's still much better than the previous five entries, which are all more-or-less crap by today's standards (depending on your opinion of the Job System, of course). On the other hand, FF7 arguably had the best plot of the FFs, while FF8 had the best gameplay (again, this probably depends on your opinion of the Job System) and characterization.

As for the grandparent's point, I wouldn't say that Crystal Chronicles betrays the feeling of the FF series (since, like FFT, it's not part of the main series in the first place), but I would say that about FFXI.

Rob (Playing FF since 1990)

Republic was hard?

[Pluvius]

Elixir then had to rely on its own internal testing to help marginally improve the title. The steep learning curve was the first casualty of no time. Demis realized it was there, but simply didn't have the additional months to spend doing anything about it.

I thought Republic was pretty easy, personally (though I stopped playing it after the "plot twist" in the second city). The problem was that it was extremely tedious; you had to do basically the same thing over and over again to progress. There was little variety, hence little fun. Very disappointing.

Rob

Just returned...

[PhoenixOne]

Just my short review of GDC04 (this is my first "drunk slashdot post" so excuse the misspsellings). It 'felt' better then last year. Mostly because there where more employeed developers around (last year it seamed that half the people there were looking for work). But I didn't see much new technology/ideas. Maybe I just went to the wrong classes but there wasn't anything really "gee-wiz" this year. Microsoft's XNA is mostly just market hype as far as I can tell, and Sony was very quiet about their PS3 (although I talked to a lot of people making PSP titles).

All and all, not bad but not a year to remember. To use a sports term, it feels like a "Building year". ;)

Serious Games Summit

[Pvt_Waldo]

It's not getting much coverage, but there was an extremely intresting Serious Games Summit at this year's GDC. Basically it was about the use of games and game technology for non-entertainment purposes. Training, learning, simulation, etc.

For more information, see http://www.seriousgames.org