Hopefully Romeo will have learned some lessons about design > all and moved on, and might yet do some good for a game, I'm just worried that midway isn't the place (for both parties) .
place the console close to the PC, connect the console to CRT else if the TV (but only if the TV is standing close to the computer) - place controller besides keyboard, or in lap.
I might know a few that might by themselves a 2nd PS2 if this comes out - but I do wonder how many people out there are thinking about buying one compared with how many people was thinking of buying a GCN.
- and some information on how much a PS2, a GCN and a X-box costs to produce would be intresting.
...and too bad I bought myself a new PS2 a month ago.
I guess the writer missed the fact that you can get every feature in Ikaruga locked up after 20 minutes or so - no worries at all, just beat the game on normal without 2 lives not using a continue all the way through.
but to be nice they hand you the stuff after hours played as well.
The Hunt for features is by most gamers (that I know anyway) seen as a fun thing, and something to brag about to others that play the game; for example the goal to reach the AX levels in F-ZERO without a AX-Arcade version of the game will take a lot of my time, and I'll respect anyone that makes it.
So for me, a really good games have a extra, if not more, challenge setting once you beat it the first time; one reason is that I must always the hardest first, forcing me to go the easy way is a good thing; or perhaps some fancy art gallery to show your friends (if the hi-score doesn't say enough).
But the main reason is not hide stuff you want, but to introduce the game to the player gently. A new F-Zero players might not be better off from being able to play MASTERCLASS and get beaten to death by it, then starting smoothly with NOVICE feeling good about themselves. Most games actually introduces parts of the game to you as you play, and again this is to avoid you running into a wall with all the options available to you. Baldur's gate 2 did not go so gently towards the player as BG1, as after a fast introduction to battle it just threw you out in the world with a dozen or so paths/quests for you to choose from... I know many that stopped playing the game due to all the options it gave you.
You always have the play/stop button on your stereo to help, of course that requires the game to have the best option in game music -, to stop the music.
Now this feature is lacking in most games, and that is a shame -, but I can't say that being able to put your own music in a game is a great big feature - unless you lack a CD player or a computer with audio out ports...
Japan got both inovation (example: super monkey ball) and a long line of repetetive sequels.
the key is to remember that sequels in themself is not a bad thing, as long as they try to improve gameplay to perfection (example: Virtua Fighter) - just like chess the first version is not perfect, and new versions of it will arrive until it reaches that hight. Now the problem with 'perfect' games is that you can make money off the sequel as well, but how do you improve a perfect game? (example: Advance Wars).
- and these improvments are often not for the casual gamer to see - they can even be a problem (again: Virtua Fighter) - and they in the end will stop selling great volumes. Some games do break this, and those are the 'non-hardcore' games like Sims, FF, and Medal of honor (still there must be an end to the insanity). Besides a simple game perfected is often just done for the hardcore masses (shmups anyone?).
so if you look at publishers orginial IPs then the Japanese publishers are not really worse off then for those here in the west; for example Nintendo and MS is among the best in this category. But then you can turn it, and see that Nintendo is pushing a heap of sequels - and Mircosoft is not (due to being new, or just because? - well time will tell).
As for inovation, well it seems western and eastern inovative games often does not strike gold the first time around - but on the 2nd or 3rd installment (inovative?).
...and my personal view is that I do like inovation, and I love seeing good designs getting even better - that said I can always do the best thing and await for the inovation to get repeated - and done better the 2nd time (and that doesn't always work out - see above for sequels on perfection)
...as people have pointed out it does depend on what type of game you are playing, or if you count from start to finnish, or by actual gameplay value.
for exampel the arcade games flooding the market are all short, and should be. you are not going to stand there playing a game for 50+ hours at the arcade without stopping - so thats fairly logical.
Now those games does not get really bigger for the console/PC - and the extras are often just poor addons to the coresystem. No a game like Ikargua takes 20-25 minutes to finnish - yet I've played for 15 hours and never finnished it without massive use of continues:/
20 or 20 hours? I do not know.
on the otherhand I do feel that american games often are bigger timewise then their japanese counterparts - even the RPGs - but my experience in this field is more PC vs. Console so that again might raise questions.
but as for the final I'd like to state that I think that some years ago I would claim jap games to have a longer lasting value then western games - but the quality of games from japan have been stagnat and the west are getting even better - so now I don't really know in general, but with the online MPgames pumping out over here I think the US and EU are now in the lead in the too many hours game park...
note: Nintendos call for simpler game design - as in the arcades - will probably make shorter games as well, but berhaps not from a gameplay perspective.
I demand more of the games now then I did before - owning just 8 games and 6 are games I play and have played for 2 years. So games is what I do instead of TV and thats 2 hours per day 24/7 - enough time and yet I don't limit myself to 6 games, but I'm not finding games with the quality and polish outhere...
note: the other 2 being cRPGs and both lasted roughly 100 hours.
I'm not everyone, in theory I might be alone in this - but I feel that he is right.
and simple yet challenging games is what I want here in life (F-Zero, Ikaruga, super monkey ball, VF4E).
I see people changing their views on the GCN - going from obscure and small to a must have console here in Sweden.
GCN contra XBox: The problem I had, and most friends (besides the Nintdo lovers) were the lack of games for GCN at the release - and then Ikaruga poped up and I bought the GC, and now F-Zero, Zelda and Metroid, add Killer 7 and some other games that are coming to the GCN and you have a strong reason to buy.
Played Halo, and it is a good flagship for the X-Box, but it is overated, or atleast I and my friends agree on this - and besides Kotor that is all the X-box have that stands out.
...and the X-box makes most games look a little better on most games when the games are released on both consoles - and they have a better surround support; But the differance is small.
Perhaps the X-Box wins in this battle (GCN leads at the time worldwide) - but it is not for quality of the games for that console.
- and unless Fable and Jade Empire really stands out I'm happy with my GC and PS2.
note: I prefer simple action games, fighting games and party games.
Unless MS can cut the costs they would loose yet more cash per console. Besides that even more people would get it and chip it then before, and they would loose even more cash.
But perhaps it is a loss they would gain on in the end - but probably not before the next box comes out 2005-2006.
I would welcome a price cut on the X-Box as then I would see a reason to buy it - as it really lacks some quality games(that I'm intrested in). Now I would chip it, so me buying it would probably just hurt MS:&.
I'm 22, and most peers of mine seems to think of games as toys for children. When I was 16 or so half of my friends stoped playing games, and the reason was again - it is for kids.
Even then most people don't play games, and half of those that did were fed off NES in the 80s and early 90s and are now getting kids -- no wonder they consider most games no more then toys, be it Lola, SoF or GTA.
they probably see no economic reason to - as that cost money as well, and if they figure that it doesn't pay off in cash (in the end) they probably wont.
their own battlenet would be nice, but at the same time they got burned by the sims online (and how many did not see that coming, and how they now state that none did).
and they are trying to do PR, and they need cash - and besides we all have the right to bitch
the question is if it is worth it, and even more so - if it is the best thing to do.
well Take2 have some good developers, but they are not treating their developers well (besides from the cashcows) - thus the horrible status.
oh and I'm sure they are doing their marketing right.
yet again they have ripped off more devs then many.
Now of course 3drealms can do what they are doing, if anything they got the cash to do so. The problem being that they are tied with Take2 - so at the sametime they can't (as they need to publish it through take2 unless something happens)...and as for Take2 loosing money on DNF - well that would be in not incoming cash they are expecting for it, and for PR.
PR I'm not seeing...
it will get done when it's done - so the question is rather if thats not too late?
Varpoware galore - I was waiting for that game for so long, and even after (took years mind you) I got tired of waiting it remains in "production".
No Take2 (horrible publisher) got the right to bitch about it.
Slashdot Mirror
...and then you are forgetting the fact that he left the big games and started making small games through monkeystone - and! He cut his hair short.
Hopefully Romeo will have learned some lessons about design > all and moved on, and might yet do some good for a game, I'm just worried that midway isn't the place (for both parties) .
reboot, load - or such.
klick 'start' on controller - and away you go!
- and some information on how much a PS2, a GCN and a X-box costs to produce would be intresting.
I guess the writer missed the fact that you can get every feature in Ikaruga locked up after 20 minutes or so - no worries at all, just beat the game on normal without 2 lives not using a continue all the way through.
but to be nice they hand you the stuff after hours played as well.
and that said nothing new under the sky, just new ways of going about it - and thats what SMB did.
The Hunt for features is by most gamers (that I know anyway) seen as a fun thing, and something to brag about to others that play the game; for example the goal to reach the AX levels in F-ZERO without a AX-Arcade version of the game will take a lot of my time, and I'll respect anyone that makes it.
So for me, a really good games have a extra, if not more, challenge setting once you beat it the first time; one reason is that I must always the hardest first, forcing me to go the easy way is a good thing; or perhaps some fancy art gallery to show your friends (if the hi-score doesn't say enough).
But the main reason is not hide stuff you want, but to introduce the game to the player gently. A new F-Zero players might not be better off from being able to play MASTERCLASS and get beaten to death by it, then starting smoothly with NOVICE feeling good about themselves. Most games actually introduces parts of the game to you as you play, and again this is to avoid you running into a wall with all the options available to you. Baldur's gate 2 did not go so gently towards the player as BG1, as after a fast introduction to battle it just threw you out in the world with a dozen or so paths/quests for you to choose from... I know many that stopped playing the game due to all the options it gave you.
You always have the play/stop button on your stereo to help, of course that requires the game to have the best option in game music -, to stop the music. Now this feature is lacking in most games, and that is a shame -, but I can't say that being able to put your own music in a game is a great big feature - unless you lack a CD player or a computer with audio out ports...
the key is to remember that sequels in themself is not a bad thing, as long as they try to improve gameplay to perfection (example: Virtua Fighter) - just like chess the first version is not perfect, and new versions of it will arrive until it reaches that hight. Now the problem with 'perfect' games is that you can make money off the sequel as well, but how do you improve a perfect game? (example: Advance Wars).
- and these improvments are often not for the casual gamer to see - they can even be a problem (again: Virtua Fighter) - and they in the end will stop selling great volumes. Some games do break this, and those are the 'non-hardcore' games like Sims, FF, and Medal of honor (still there must be an end to the insanity). Besides a simple game perfected is often just done for the hardcore masses (shmups anyone?).
so if you look at publishers orginial IPs then the Japanese publishers are not really worse off then for those here in the west; for example Nintendo and MS is among the best in this category. But then you can turn it, and see that Nintendo is pushing a heap of sequels - and Mircosoft is not (due to being new, or just because? - well time will tell).
As for inovation, well it seems western and eastern inovative games often does not strike gold the first time around - but on the 2nd or 3rd installment (inovative?).
for exampel the arcade games flooding the market are all short, and should be. you are not going to stand there playing a game for 50+ hours at the arcade without stopping - so thats fairly logical.
Now those games does not get really bigger for the console/PC - and the extras are often just poor addons to the coresystem. No a game like Ikargua takes 20-25 minutes to finnish - yet I've played for 15 hours and never finnished it without massive use of continues :/
20 or 20 hours? I do not know.
on the otherhand I do feel that american games often are bigger timewise then their japanese counterparts - even the RPGs - but my experience in this field is more PC vs. Console so that again might raise questions.
but as for the final I'd like to state that I think that some years ago I would claim jap games to have a longer lasting value then western games - but the quality of games from japan have been stagnat and the west are getting even better - so now I don't really know in general, but with the online MPgames pumping out over here I think the US and EU are now in the lead in the too many hours game park...
note: Nintendos call for simpler game design - as in the arcades - will probably make shorter games as well, but berhaps not from a gameplay perspective.
note: the other 2 being cRPGs and both lasted roughly 100 hours.
I'm not everyone, in theory I might be alone in this - but I feel that he is right.
and simple yet challenging games is what I want here in life (F-Zero, Ikaruga, super monkey ball, VF4E).
GCN contra XBox:
The problem I had, and most friends (besides the Nintdo lovers) were the lack of games for GCN at the release - and then Ikaruga poped up and I bought the GC, and now F-Zero, Zelda and Metroid, add Killer 7 and some other games that are coming to the GCN and you have a strong reason to buy.
Played Halo, and it is a good flagship for the X-Box, but it is overated, or atleast I and my friends agree on this - and besides Kotor that is all the X-box have that stands out.
Perhaps the X-Box wins in this battle (GCN leads at the time worldwide) - but it is not for quality of the games for that console. - and unless Fable and Jade Empire really stands out I'm happy with my GC and PS2. note: I prefer simple action games, fighting games and party games.
Unless MS can cut the costs they would loose yet more cash per console. Besides that even more people would get it and chip it then before, and they would loose even more cash. But perhaps it is a loss they would gain on in the end - but probably not before the next box comes out 2005-2006. I would welcome a price cut on the X-Box as then I would see a reason to buy it - as it really lacks some quality games(that I'm intrested in). Now I would chip it, so me buying it would probably just hurt MS :&.
I'm 22, and most peers of mine seems to think of games as toys for children. When I was 16 or so half of my friends stoped playing games, and the reason was again - it is for kids. Even then most people don't play games, and half of those that did were fed off NES in the 80s and early 90s and are now getting kids -- no wonder they consider most games no more then toys, be it Lola, SoF or GTA.
they probably see no economic reason to - as that cost money as well, and if they figure that it doesn't pay off in cash (in the end) they probably wont. their own battlenet would be nice, but at the same time they got burned by the sims online (and how many did not see that coming, and how they now state that none did).
and they are trying to do PR, and they need cash - and besides we all have the right to bitch the question is if it is worth it, and even more so - if it is the best thing to do.
well Take2 have some good developers, but they are not treating their developers well (besides from the cashcows) - thus the horrible status. oh and I'm sure they are doing their marketing right. yet again they have ripped off more devs then many.
Now of course 3drealms can do what they are doing, if anything they got the cash to do so. The problem being that they are tied with Take2 - so at the sametime they can't (as they need to publish it through take2 unless something happens) ...and as for Take2 loosing money on DNF - well that would be in not incoming cash they are expecting for it, and for PR.
PR I'm not seeing...
it will get done when it's done - so the question is rather if thats not too late?
Varpoware galore - I was waiting for that game for so long, and even after (took years mind you) I got tired of waiting it remains in "production". No Take2 (horrible publisher) got the right to bitch about it.