The way I like to look at designing games is that you start with your fundamental ideas, and build walls and limitations around that. Games are nothing more than a set of rules in a given world, and these "compromises" give your creation its shape and form.
By any chance does anyone know someone at Stainless Steel? I'd really like to get a job there...: http://www.creathcarter.com
I see where you're coming from, but I'm not making assumptions on my own. We have excelent communication both ways and i'm not some guy who doesn't see the bigger picture. We still spend time together every evening, and we have specifically talked about this before which is why I can say it hasn't damaged our relationship. I was simply making an observation about our social habits as they are affected by instant messaging.
This definitely breaks down personal time between my Girlfriend and I. We share a 1 bedroom apartment, and everyday she and I go our seperate ways to work. While working we usually chat back and forth constantly about current events, what that nights plans are, etc. But I've found over the last several years that when we both arrive home together that evening, there's nothing left to talk about.
It hasn't really damaged our relationship at all, which is nice to know, but it does says something for instant communication while apart.
Ah, sorry I forgot about the OS question. I'm running Win2k with a heavily modified shell (graphically speaking). All my Emus launch from pushbuttons on the desktop and there's no clutter at all. The start menu and all other OS features are hidden unless you Ctrl-alt-del or hit the windows key.
About the price... This is an estimate, but I think I paid about $200 for the Motherboard and chip, about $100 for the DVDROM, $20 for the Power Supply... I think the ram was around $80, so I guess that's more around $400. This was about a year ago, so prices are probably down now I'd suspect. I overshot my initial estimate, sorry.
As for the P4 chipsets: EPIA themselves don't have a P4 motherboard but there are some that are Mini-ITX formfactor as far as I know. Two friends of mine have these and I believe the Motherboard model is CFI-S86. Let me know if I'm mistaken...
Another friend of mind went the controller-conversion route, rewiring his SNES and NES controllers for his PC. I love the original gamepads more than anything, nothing ever seems to match a systems original pad in quality, but since I built mine to keep space down I wanted to choose one pad that would work for all games (with the exception of the arcade stick, of course). I shopped around a lot for those. Aside from the choice I made I don't think anything beats the PS controllers, so if I didn't have that choice I'd definitely stick with them and four USB converters. Sweet stuff. I can't do the standup cabinet either because I like to sit and relax when I play. Hehe.
I grabbed the VIA EPIA M10000 MoBo with the 1Ghz Nehemia CPU. The whole setup (minus controllers and peripherals) only cost be ~$300 I believe. Very cheap for such an efficient little machine. It runs damn near everything perfectly, with very little slowdown on the most demanding games. (With the exception of a few N64 titles).
For controllers I found the Thrustmaster Firestorms to be great, but they still lack the precision of a true console on the directional pad and one of them mysteriously broke with very little use. I would have stuck with the Playstation controllers using the USB adapters, but the PS controllers lack 1 button to make it usable for an N64 title (and I don't think I was able to map the Select/Start buttons to compensate. Might be wrong on that).
You might want to hold off on getting one though, currently you can get a mini-ITX system with a slot for a P4 CPU up to 2.5+ Ghz. In addition to that there are video cards now that support component out (HDTV / Progressive Scan TV video format), and they're very much worth getting if you have a nice Sony or Panasonic Television.
The biggest help I found was to build myself a Mini-ITX system capable of emulating everything from my Coleco Vision to my N64. That eliminated about 80% of my clutter right there. I built my mini system into an old NES shell, bought some great joypads that had enough buttons to suite even the clunkiest contollers (FYI: that's the N64 which ranks in with a whopping 9 actual joy buttons (not including things like Start and Select), an arcade joystick set and keyboard and mouse. All my consoles went up on the shelf with all my games put away (with my rare ones on display). This allows the systems to have a much longer life, the controllers and carts don't get worn from use, and I can sit down and play almost 20 years worth of gaming on one box.
As for my next gen and unemulated consoles I have two boxes: one for peripherals and one for power/video cables. I try to keep everything in the best organization possible. Compact, but not wound so tightly that it damages the cords. I usually only keep one controller out per-console unless I know people are coming over. When not in use I have a designated slot for each controller on the side of my entertainment center that keeps them out of the way but easy to access quickly. As for the active cords for everything, I made sure to bind everything cleanly behind the TV ad hang them out of the way. I also grabbed a label-maker from the electronics store one day and labeled every connector for power and video that was attached to my TV. I have about 4 switchboxes and a receiver, and having labels for eveything keeps it much more organized.
That's my trick. I highly recommend getting a receiver if you don't have one, as they do wonders for organization and ease of use. After all that I mainly just tried to eliminate the least-used or older systems first and compensate with emulation, which works great. And just for the record I don't pay much mind to the "legal" issues of emulation invovled. I figure when you own tens of thousands of dollars of hardware and software it becomes moot.
I've always disliked sports games. I tend to think, if I want to play sports I'll go outside and play sports. I never saw the point in playing a game-of-a-game. Now it seems like there's no point in playing sports when you have the game!
The game is very short, I beat it in 7 hours. However it was one of the most well designed games I have ever played. Everyhting from the level design and implementation of game mechanics down to the production of music and voice acting. The blood, sweat and tears of the development team can clearly be seen on this title.
If length of entertainment is what you prefer in games, you should probably be playing an MMORPG. But you're probably not playing an MMORPG because you, like myself, probably realize how much they actually suck and that game length isn't everything.
I'm an avid RPG player, and I love long adventures. However this title is so well done it's fully worth your $50 dollars, (and then some), If not just for supporting the development of this type of quality title to ensure that more may be made in the future.
At the very least rent it, because it may not be worth your money to you, but it's definitely worth your time.
Sony successfully raised a lot of press about the inclusion of NURBS compatible hardware with their original PS2 announcements (Ooh! Such a powerful machine!) and are just trying to recreate the same hype around the PSP. The PS2 supported them all this time as well, but NURBS are inefficient and not the best for real-time 3D. I still have yet to see/hear of any PS2 games that use NURBS either, but correct me if I'm wrong.
This http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031202/25455_1.html is an interesting take on this news.
It claims Nintendo is in 1st place after Thanksgiving weekend, but appears to be combining sales of the GBA and GC. Either way, interesting news, if tricky...
I have been looking forward to snagging this game all year. Daydreaming about having my friends (or at least one other friend) over to play through another great Seiken Densetsu, since we always enjoyed the originals (at least 2 and 3) so much.
I recently discovered the ROM was already released online (not officially, nor legally, of course) and decided to give it a preview before Dec. 1st. I was really glad I did for several reasons.
At the time I had no idea they had no real multiplayer. This was no irritating to me, primarily because it was the sole function I was waiting for all this time. No other RPG, at least until FF Crystal Chronicles comes out, does multiplayer as well as these games. Though I enjoyed the other AD&D licensed ARPGs, I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as Secret of Mana or Seiken Densetsu.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun with the original release of Final Fantasy Adventure, so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. As a big fan of Squares 16-bit productions, despite the disappointment of having my most-looked-forward to aspect ignored this is THE best Square RPG I have played since the Super Nintendo era.
I've played about 6 or so hours into the game so far. The graphics are fantastic, combining the beatiful hand-painted style of Legend of Mana with the technically-unbelievable tile detail from Seiken Densetsu 3. The gameplay is finely honed and may possibly be the best in the series. Looking back over the past games Secret of Mana featured the smoothest control of the first four games, with SD3's slower combat movement cutting down on the playability (though not much) and Legend of Mana's removal of vertical attacks almost destroying the combat options entirely. Sword of mana combines the best of all these, with smooth animation, responsive control and weapon attacks that have a large hit radius making it easier to kill the smaller enemies. Magic, in this installment, is handled in a very different way than previous games. Where in the first few games the action was paused momentarily for casting a spell, Sword of Mana allows for spell casting in real time. An elemental is selected from the menu beforehand, and while in combat the player has the option of casting either support magic, or attack magic. A quick press of the button will cast the elementals support spell, while holding down and releasing it after a few frames allows for an attack spell to be cast. More interestingly is the fact that attack spells change depending on what weapon type is currently equipped, giving you even more options.
Also incorporated was a stripped down version of SD3's class system, making all 6 "classes" available to the player when leveling up. Primarily acting as a method to distribute the players status points at level up, the class feature also unlocks various benefits and abilities when different class options are focused on.
The story is also pleasently surprising. Though some of the early dialogue is a little too modern (a few too many "dudes", "chicks" and "Ya mans" for my age group) it delivers the plot and characters really well. Most of the original, major characters are intact with large amounts of new dialogue to each of them, as well as slightly different plot paths. However, the most pleasing aspect of this is the near-total lack of *hours* *of* *needless* *and* *irritating* *cinematics*. The game is not over directed what-so-ever, and instead opts to show simple cinematic scenes to move the plot along and then drop you right back into the action, or leave you to wander the area and gather more information or story on your own. (if you're confused by this, just think of most 16-bit square RPGs.) Another interesting addition in this department are the side-quests, which range from very simple, to very lengthy, but are always amusing. The rewards for doing them are usual small, often exchange for items or money, but since I haven't completed the game they may yield a larger prize the further along you are.
If you haven't played any of the King of Fighters games then you don't go to the arcade very much, or at least a very good one. King of Fighters doesn't get many home console ports, but it's a solid series with greatly polished gameplay and much tighter control than it's Capcom competition. It has a huge following in the arcades, but I don't see many people that know of it outside of that environment.
But if there is only a library of 100 ROMs total (eventually), what's to keep subscribed when they've downloaded them all? From my experience, it doesn't take a long time to download 100 16-bit ROMs, and "community features" featuring chats and forums aren't really worth $10 a month are they? That's what we have GameFAQs.com for.
Did no one like Shen Mue 1 and 2? I absolutely fell in love with both games despite I usually hate games-that-try-to-be-movies. I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned. Fantastic games that made a huge effort for something new. More than just big production, but fun gameplay and very well done story. The world of both games felt more "alive" than any other title today.
I know some people probably dislike them, and I know some love them, but I hope they get the credit they deserve as must-haves.
I had the same feelings about the Sims, though Sims is a good game and all, it also sends the message: Money + Material goods + "Friends" = Success
Everyone likes income, toys and friends, but not on such a shallow level as the game reflects it to be. Money is an enabler, not an asset, and it would be interesting to see if this does have some overlapping effects on peoples attitudes in their lives.
"...little more than a cipher through which we experienced the game's story", and it's suggested that this is less successful..."
This may be less successful as a standard "character", but that in no way means it should not be done. I personally prefer characters as ciphers, this allows me to become that character. As the article mentioned, the player is no longer watching another being experience this other world while playing out a story; the player *is* that character within that world, and creating that story.
The article is fair enough to mention that the typical "character driven" games like Max Payne (and unlike Morrowind) make for better "narratives" but this is the folly of many game analysts in assuming that all games are driven by narrative. While narrative plays a major part in moving the plot along, a game like Morrowind could easily be considered a simulation of sorts.
Either way, this is highly a matter of taste. I certainly hope I don't see less of this kind of game, and more of the currently popular polygonal cliches, that walk through several hours of cutscenes and constantly spout endlessly repetitive one-liners during gameplay. (Contrary to what I assume is popular belief, constant jabbering by the on screen player characters does not add personality).
After playing Morrowind so long, it's largest acheivement is the sheer depth and detail of it's world. The only film that would really be able to convey the correct sensation would be... oh... say, a documentary? I seriously doubt many people would be willing to sit through a 3 hour film on the native flora, fauna and various cultures and religions dotting the island of Vvardenfell.;)
But seriously, because movies for mass-appeal, as a rule, are shallow. I wouldn't have the smallest amount of faith that they could satisfactorily tell a story based in the Elder Scrolls universe. Film makers today are completely incapable of doing something so deep, and it would most certainly blemish the franchise.
Some friends of mine were designing a title just like you described, only multiplayer was a requirement, and some people could play as the cops instead. Cops would work together to take down the crime syndicates run by other players. The option would be open for player Cops to be crooked, and give false tip-offs and be paid off by the mob. While the other side tried to spread their crime ring by the usual illegal means, and not get caught. Players caught would have to serve time in a penalty box similar to Q3 Arena's Jailbreak mod, but could be sprung by other players, including crooked cops paid to free them.
It would be loads of fun if done correctly, though the game is surely not being made now. Hopefully someone else picks the idea up. (Hint, hint).
Why do corporations insist on these kinds of PR lies when the majority of their target audience can see right through them? All this does for me is take my opinion from "that's not a good device" to "I'm never going to buy that because the company is totally full of it". What would the reaction be if Nokia played the honesty role, and released a PR statement with an understanding of their poor designs and shortcomings, an announcement of changes to counter the poor decisions, and an open ear to designs and ideas that would benefit a followup device? Would the gaming audience hiss and boo that much? How much would that change the general appearance of the company, and how many people would earn a little more respect for doing what most companies with failed products do?
This is a good opportunity to focus on the differences between the companies themselves, considering that Nintendo did just that. When their handheld product came short of expectations, they admitted their mistakes, turned right around and made a new version of hardware which was received with a majority of positive reactions. This is a harsh contrast to Nokias consistent lying of ficticious successes in retail.
I am not entirely certain of this since I haven't played the game myself but I think the MMO "Second Life" allows for users to create in-game objects that are saved on the servers. The graphics in this particular title are hideous, but with a developer stepping back to allow the users to create their own world, litterally, it might be pretty cool in the future.
I'm still playing Morrowind to this day. It's my single player MMO, you could say. I'd say it's a matter of taste whether a person sticks with it, and it sounds like the original poster finds the same facination in MW and Daggerfall that I did.
As for the original article: to each his own. I have days where I'm swamped with work or I'd like to go out and do something else, so a nice, short game is perfect. But, as previously stated, epics like Morrowind and other similar games are right up my alley. I love finding myself immersed in a world for hours, days and weeks at a time. It's just part of the experience of interactivity in this medium.
Personally I'll always prefer the 2D games, and I'd love to see them carry on development for that style as well. However, eventually the series has to find it's way (back) to 3D, like it or not I suppose. Castlevanis has always meant a unique and fun experience to me. This series has a fantastic style and feeling to it that's all it's own. I would love to see Konami keep that unique sensation when moving to 3D. Unfortunately I had bad feelings about this new game from the first few screenshots. The graphics aren't looking too hot, and I personally don't like the centralized level structure they used. I also don't want to do *combos* with my whip. I'm pretty sick of combos in games. If they had a convincingly elastic whip that you could use to wrap around enemies heads and throw them, or pop the skulls right off of the skeletons, that would be tons more fun as well as adding something unique back into the franchise. This outing seems to have lost a lot of the arcade goodness that has made the series so much fun.
Slashdot Mirror
The way I like to look at designing games is that you start with your fundamental ideas, and build walls and limitations around that. Games are nothing more than a set of rules in a given world, and these "compromises" give your creation its shape and form.
By any chance does anyone know someone at Stainless Steel? I'd really like to get a job there...: http://www.creathcarter.com
Just thought I would try.
I see where you're coming from, but I'm not making assumptions on my own. We have excelent communication both ways and i'm not some guy who doesn't see the bigger picture. We still spend time together every evening, and we have specifically talked about this before which is why I can say it hasn't damaged our relationship. I was simply making an observation about our social habits as they are affected by instant messaging.
This definitely breaks down personal time between my Girlfriend and I. We share a 1 bedroom apartment, and everyday she and I go our seperate ways to work. While working we usually chat back and forth constantly about current events, what that nights plans are, etc. But I've found over the last several years that when we both arrive home together that evening, there's nothing left to talk about.
It hasn't really damaged our relationship at all, which is nice to know, but it does says something for instant communication while apart.
Ah, sorry I forgot about the OS question. I'm running Win2k with a heavily modified shell (graphically speaking). All my Emus launch from pushbuttons on the desktop and there's no clutter at all. The start menu and all other OS features are hidden unless you Ctrl-alt-del or hit the windows key.
About the price... This is an estimate, but I think I paid about $200 for the Motherboard and chip, about $100 for the DVDROM, $20 for the Power Supply... I think the ram was around $80, so I guess that's more around $400. This was about a year ago, so prices are probably down now I'd suspect. I overshot my initial estimate, sorry.
As for the P4 chipsets: EPIA themselves don't have a P4 motherboard but there are some that are Mini-ITX formfactor as far as I know. Two friends of mine have these and I believe the Motherboard model is CFI-S86. Let me know if I'm mistaken...
Another friend of mind went the controller-conversion route, rewiring his SNES and NES controllers for his PC. I love the original gamepads more than anything, nothing ever seems to match a systems original pad in quality, but since I built mine to keep space down I wanted to choose one pad that would work for all games (with the exception of the arcade stick, of course). I shopped around a lot for those. Aside from the choice I made I don't think anything beats the PS controllers, so if I didn't have that choice I'd definitely stick with them and four USB converters. Sweet stuff.
I can't do the standup cabinet either because I like to sit and relax when I play. Hehe.
I grabbed the VIA EPIA M10000 MoBo with the 1Ghz Nehemia CPU. The whole setup (minus controllers and peripherals) only cost be ~$300 I believe. Very cheap for such an efficient little machine. It runs damn near everything perfectly, with very little slowdown on the most demanding games. (With the exception of a few N64 titles).
For controllers I found the Thrustmaster Firestorms to be great, but they still lack the precision of a true console on the directional pad and one of them mysteriously broke with very little use. I would have stuck with the Playstation controllers using the USB adapters, but the PS controllers lack 1 button to make it usable for an N64 title (and I don't think I was able to map the Select/Start buttons to compensate. Might be wrong on that).
You might want to hold off on getting one though, currently you can get a mini-ITX system with a slot for a P4 CPU up to 2.5+ Ghz. In addition to that there are video cards now that support component out (HDTV / Progressive Scan TV video format), and they're very much worth getting if you have a nice Sony or Panasonic Television.
The biggest help I found was to build myself a Mini-ITX system capable of emulating everything from my Coleco Vision to my N64. That eliminated about 80% of my clutter right there. I built my mini system into an old NES shell, bought some great joypads that had enough buttons to suite even the clunkiest contollers (FYI: that's the N64 which ranks in with a whopping 9 actual joy buttons (not including things like Start and Select), an arcade joystick set and keyboard and mouse.
All my consoles went up on the shelf with all my games put away (with my rare ones on display). This allows the systems to have a much longer life, the controllers and carts don't get worn from use, and I can sit down and play almost 20 years worth of gaming on one box.
As for my next gen and unemulated consoles I have two boxes: one for peripherals and one for power/video cables. I try to keep everything in the best organization possible. Compact, but not wound so tightly that it damages the cords. I usually only keep one controller out per-console unless I know people are coming over. When not in use I have a designated slot for each controller on the side of my entertainment center that keeps them out of the way but easy to access quickly.
As for the active cords for everything, I made sure to bind everything cleanly behind the TV ad hang them out of the way. I also grabbed a label-maker from the electronics store one day and labeled every connector for power and video that was attached to my TV. I have about 4 switchboxes and a receiver, and having labels for eveything keeps it much more organized.
That's my trick. I highly recommend getting a receiver if you don't have one, as they do wonders for organization and ease of use. After all that I mainly just tried to eliminate the least-used or older systems first and compensate with emulation, which works great. And just for the record I don't pay much mind to the "legal" issues of emulation invovled. I figure when you own tens of thousands of dollars of hardware and software it becomes moot.
I've always disliked sports games. I tend to think, if I want to play sports I'll go outside and play sports. I never saw the point in playing a game-of-a-game.
Now it seems like there's no point in playing sports when you have the game!
The game is very short, I beat it in 7 hours. However it was one of the most well designed games I have ever played. Everyhting from the level design and implementation of game mechanics down to the production of music and voice acting. The blood, sweat and tears of the development team can clearly be seen on this title.
If length of entertainment is what you prefer in games, you should probably be playing an MMORPG. But you're probably not playing an MMORPG because you, like myself, probably realize how much they actually suck and that game length isn't everything.
I'm an avid RPG player, and I love long adventures. However this title is so well done it's fully worth your $50 dollars, (and then some), If not just for supporting the development of this type of quality title to ensure that more may be made in the future.
At the very least rent it, because it may not be worth your money to you, but it's definitely worth your time.
Sony successfully raised a lot of press about the inclusion of NURBS compatible hardware with their original PS2 announcements (Ooh! Such a powerful machine!) and are just trying to recreate the same hype around the PSP.
The PS2 supported them all this time as well, but NURBS are inefficient and not the best for real-time 3D. I still have yet to see/hear of any PS2 games that use NURBS either, but correct me if I'm wrong.
This http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031202/25455_1.html
is an interesting take on this news.
It claims Nintendo is in 1st place after Thanksgiving weekend, but appears to be combining sales of the GBA and GC. Either way, interesting news, if tricky...
"...I'm the only one that cares..."
;)
Not really. I'm infinitely bitter about not getting that game in my country, despite english translation.
Enjoyed the ROM though. Good times.
I have been looking forward to snagging this game all year. Daydreaming about having my friends (or at least one other friend) over to play through another great Seiken Densetsu, since we always enjoyed the originals (at least 2 and 3) so much.
I recently discovered the ROM was already released online (not officially, nor legally, of course) and decided to give it a preview before Dec. 1st. I was really glad I did for several reasons.
At the time I had no idea they had no real multiplayer. This was no irritating to me, primarily because it was the sole function I was waiting for all this time. No other RPG, at least until FF Crystal Chronicles comes out, does multiplayer as well as these games. Though I enjoyed the other AD&D licensed ARPGs, I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as Secret of Mana or Seiken Densetsu.
Regardless, I had a lot of fun with the original release of Final Fantasy Adventure, so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. As a big fan of Squares 16-bit productions, despite the disappointment of having my most-looked-forward to aspect ignored this is THE best Square RPG I have played since the Super Nintendo era.
I've played about 6 or so hours into the game so far. The graphics are fantastic, combining the beatiful hand-painted style of Legend of Mana with the technically-unbelievable tile detail from Seiken Densetsu 3.
The gameplay is finely honed and may possibly be the best in the series. Looking back over the past games Secret of Mana featured the smoothest control of the first four games, with SD3's slower combat movement cutting down on the playability (though not much) and Legend of Mana's removal of vertical attacks almost destroying the combat options entirely. Sword of mana combines the best of all these, with smooth animation, responsive control and weapon attacks that have a large hit radius making it easier to kill the smaller enemies.
Magic, in this installment, is handled in a very different way than previous games. Where in the first few games the action was paused momentarily for casting a spell, Sword of Mana allows for spell casting in real time.
An elemental is selected from the menu beforehand, and while in combat the player has the option of casting either support magic, or attack magic. A quick press of the button will cast the elementals support spell, while holding down and releasing it after a few frames allows for an attack spell to be cast. More interestingly is the fact that attack spells change depending on what weapon type is currently equipped, giving you even more options.
Also incorporated was a stripped down version of SD3's class system, making all 6 "classes" available to the player when leveling up. Primarily acting as a method to distribute the players status points at level up, the class feature also unlocks various benefits and abilities when different class options are focused on.
The story is also pleasently surprising. Though some of the early dialogue is a little too modern (a few too many "dudes", "chicks" and "Ya mans" for my age group) it delivers the plot and characters really well. Most of the original, major characters are intact with large amounts of new dialogue to each of them, as well as slightly different plot paths. However, the most pleasing aspect of this is the near-total lack of *hours* *of* *needless* *and* *irritating* *cinematics*. The game is not over directed what-so-ever, and instead opts to show simple cinematic scenes to move the plot along and then drop you right back into the action, or leave you to wander the area and gather more information or story on your own. (if you're confused by this, just think of most 16-bit square RPGs.)
Another interesting addition in this department are the side-quests, which range from very simple, to very lengthy, but are always amusing. The rewards for doing them are usual small, often exchange for items or money, but since I haven't completed the game they may yield a larger prize the further along you are.
It seems like an insult that they wouldn't properly port it to the PC in the first place. Making you use a gamepad or the keyboard (???) is ludicrous.
If you haven't played any of the King of Fighters games then you don't go to the arcade very much, or at least a very good one.
King of Fighters doesn't get many home console ports, but it's a solid series with greatly polished gameplay and much tighter control than it's Capcom competition. It has a huge following in the arcades, but I don't see many people that know of it outside of that environment.
Sweet stuff, check it out.
But if there is only a library of 100 ROMs total (eventually), what's to keep subscribed when they've downloaded them all? From my experience, it doesn't take a long time to download 100 16-bit ROMs, and "community features" featuring chats and forums aren't really worth $10 a month are they? That's what we have GameFAQs.com for.
Hahaha!
You know, about 8 or so years ago, everyone who is now in their late 20's - early 30's said:
"Well... looks like the glory days of Final Fantasy are past. Everything just kind of went down after VI..."
Youth is amusing.
Did no one like Shen Mue 1 and 2? I absolutely fell in love with both games despite I usually hate games-that-try-to-be-movies. I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned.
Fantastic games that made a huge effort for something new. More than just big production, but fun gameplay and very well done story. The world of both games felt more "alive" than any other title today.
I know some people probably dislike them, and I know some love them, but I hope they get the credit they deserve as must-haves.
I had the same feelings about the Sims, though Sims is a good game and all, it also sends the message:
Money + Material goods + "Friends" = Success
Everyone likes income, toys and friends, but not on such a shallow level as the game reflects it to be. Money is an enabler, not an asset, and it would be interesting to see if this does have some overlapping effects on peoples attitudes in their lives.
"...little more than a cipher through which we experienced the game's story", and it's suggested that this is less successful..."
This may be less successful as a standard "character", but that in no way means it should not be done. I personally prefer characters as ciphers, this allows me to become that character. As the article mentioned, the player is no longer watching another being experience this other world while playing out a story; the player *is* that character within that world, and creating that story.
The article is fair enough to mention that the typical "character driven" games like Max Payne (and unlike Morrowind) make for better "narratives" but this is the folly of many game analysts in assuming that all games are driven by narrative. While narrative plays a major part in moving the plot along, a game like Morrowind could easily be considered a simulation of sorts.
Either way, this is highly a matter of taste. I certainly hope I don't see less of this kind of game, and more of the currently popular polygonal cliches, that walk through several hours of cutscenes and constantly spout endlessly repetitive one-liners during gameplay. (Contrary to what I assume is popular belief, constant jabbering by the on screen player characters does not add personality).
After playing Morrowind so long, it's largest acheivement is the sheer depth and detail of it's world. The only film that would really be able to convey the correct sensation would be... oh... say, a documentary? ;)
I seriously doubt many people would be willing to sit through a 3 hour film on the native flora, fauna and various cultures and religions dotting the island of Vvardenfell.
But seriously, because movies for mass-appeal, as a rule, are shallow. I wouldn't have the smallest amount of faith that they could satisfactorily tell a story based in the Elder Scrolls universe. Film makers today are completely incapable of doing something so deep, and it would most certainly blemish the franchise.
Some friends of mine were designing a title just like you described, only multiplayer was a requirement, and some people could play as the cops instead. Cops would work together to take down the crime syndicates run by other players. The option would be open for player Cops to be crooked, and give false tip-offs and be paid off by the mob. While the other side tried to spread their crime ring by the usual illegal means, and not get caught. Players caught would have to serve time in a penalty box similar to Q3 Arena's Jailbreak mod, but could be sprung by other players, including crooked cops paid to free them.
It would be loads of fun if done correctly, though the game is surely not being made now. Hopefully someone else picks the idea up. (Hint, hint).
Why do corporations insist on these kinds of PR lies when the majority of their target audience can see right through them?
All this does for me is take my opinion from "that's not a good device" to "I'm never going to buy that because the company is totally full of it". What would the reaction be if Nokia played the honesty role, and released a PR statement with an understanding of their poor designs and shortcomings, an announcement of changes to counter the poor decisions, and an open ear to designs and ideas that would benefit a followup device? Would the gaming audience hiss and boo that much? How much would that change the general appearance of the company, and how many people would earn a little more respect for doing what most companies with failed products do?
This is a good opportunity to focus on the differences between the companies themselves, considering that Nintendo did just that. When their handheld product came short of expectations, they admitted their mistakes, turned right around and made a new version of hardware which was received with a majority of positive reactions.
This is a harsh contrast to Nokias consistent lying of ficticious successes in retail.
I am not entirely certain of this since I haven't played the game myself but I think the MMO "Second Life" allows for users to create in-game objects that are saved on the servers.
The graphics in this particular title are hideous, but with a developer stepping back to allow the users to create their own world, litterally, it might be pretty cool in the future.
Just food for thought.
I'm still playing Morrowind to this day. It's my single player MMO, you could say.
I'd say it's a matter of taste whether a person sticks with it, and it sounds like the original poster finds the same facination in MW and Daggerfall that I did.
As for the original article: to each his own. I have days where I'm swamped with work or I'd like to go out and do something else, so a nice, short game is perfect. But, as previously stated, epics like Morrowind and other similar games are right up my alley. I love finding myself immersed in a world for hours, days and weeks at a time. It's just part of the experience of interactivity in this medium.
Personally I'll always prefer the 2D games, and I'd love to see them carry on development for that style as well. However, eventually the series has to find it's way (back) to 3D, like it or not I suppose. Castlevanis has always meant a unique and fun experience to me. This series has a fantastic style and feeling to it that's all it's own.
I would love to see Konami keep that unique sensation when moving to 3D. Unfortunately I had bad feelings about this new game from the first few screenshots. The graphics aren't looking too hot, and I personally don't like the centralized level structure they used. I also don't want to do *combos* with my whip. I'm pretty sick of combos in games. If they had a convincingly elastic whip that you could use to wrap around enemies heads and throw them, or pop the skulls right off of the skeletons, that would be tons more fun as well as adding something unique back into the franchise. This outing seems to have lost a lot of the arcade goodness that has made the series so much fun.