So you all probably got to see this by way of email or GDC page surfing .. but if not, then I encourage you to check it out here: http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/694378/GDC-2009---Huxley-Walkthrough---The-MMOFPS-Explained.html
This game looks like fun and though I can see it getting old very fast unless they add more depth to it, its certainly not dull right now.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Im slipping..
There's an RPG with farming and other more rpg normal elements (story, adventure, etc) apparently that came out and got good rating from critics on the Wii. .. a weeek ago.
Obviously I am letting this wedding business get the best of me! Well in case you like Harvest Moon, or rune Factory you might want to check out this new wii game which launched last week, Rune Factory Frontier!
I included a couple screen
shots from the japanese version 
to appease the visual folks like myself out there. but rest assured it is in english if you buy it here.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My Life as a Dark Lord!!!
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/GDC-2009-Final-Fantasy-IV-The-After-Years-And-Crystal-Chronicles-My-Life-As-A-Darklord-Coming-To-WiiWare-16454.html
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/143/14333929/imgs_1.html
Here it is! At GDC today, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord was announced. Muaa-ha-haa! Finally my chance to use monsters to protect my evil-ish dark crystal from pesky adventurers! On WiiWare, sometime Q4 this year, I'm stoaked.
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/143/14333929/imgs_1.html
Here it is! At GDC today, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord was announced. Muaa-ha-haa! Finally my chance to use monsters to protect my evil-ish dark crystal from pesky adventurers! On WiiWare, sometime Q4 this year, I'm stoaked.
OnLive, well, is live :P
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7962180.stm
In the news today, a new streaming game service will come on line later this year. You will be able to play games running on other pc's in a "cloud computing environment". Yay! Well, at least somebody has finally showed up to put some competition into the Blue Ocean downloading games market. This might have some unusual effects and might make reinvigorate the overpriced and over complex PC market for the mainstream consumer. We shall see.
In case you are a layman and very confused about what I'm talking about here, the proposed service would let you boot up your laptop and use it more like a television and less like a computer, I.e. just for display rather than processing the whole game. A Server would process all the math and stuff for you and then send you the pretty pictures in response to your strokes. The servers would be run by a pay service (i.e.OnLive) If this REALLY takes off, then it will put away the need for UBER™ gaming rigs and instead people will use something with a nice monitor and OK video card (to support HD) instead of the dual or triple video card and crazy powerful processors that cost a fortune from Alienware.
In the news today, a new streaming game service will come on line later this year. You will be able to play games running on other pc's in a "cloud computing environment". Yay! Well, at least somebody has finally showed up to put some competition into the Blue Ocean downloading games market. This might have some unusual effects and might make reinvigorate the overpriced and over complex PC market for the mainstream consumer. We shall see.
In case you are a layman and very confused about what I'm talking about here, the proposed service would let you boot up your laptop and use it more like a television and less like a computer, I.e. just for display rather than processing the whole game. A Server would process all the math and stuff for you and then send you the pretty pictures in response to your strokes. The servers would be run by a pay service (i.e.OnLive) If this REALLY takes off, then it will put away the need for UBER™ gaming rigs and instead people will use something with a nice monitor and OK video card (to support HD) instead of the dual or triple video card and crazy powerful processors that cost a fortune from Alienware.
The Chronicles About Spellborn
Well, Tobold and Melmoth have pretty much made up my mind for me, though in all honesty I DID try and download and get the game working but the European version came in two pieces that wouldn't un-rar and I didnt have it in me to sit and try and download it again a different way. Basically it sounds like Spellborn is either too difficult or too much of MOTSC (More of the Same Crap)
Still I hear it has neat, beautiful environments, but someday these companies are gonna wake up and learn that neat environments are made by artists but true fun games are made by people who appreciate fun (and they might be artists too). Don't make an un-fun game. Make it fun and play-test it till it rubs you raw. Make sure the first places are smooth and bugless. Then make sure the later areas are smooth and bugless. Then release it. End of story. Is this so hard?
Add frills and extra stuff and more content a month AFTER its released and the first few inevitable patches come out fixing things you couldnt have anticipated. Content is the enemy. Fun is your friend. Make that game fun first, not big first, then expand from there, with more fun, not just with beautiful spaces. Oh and one more thing. Fun is not doing the same thing all the time. Fun varies itself constantly in subtle ways (or sometimes big ways)
Still I hear it has neat, beautiful environments, but someday these companies are gonna wake up and learn that neat environments are made by artists but true fun games are made by people who appreciate fun (and they might be artists too). Don't make an un-fun game. Make it fun and play-test it till it rubs you raw. Make sure the first places are smooth and bugless. Then make sure the later areas are smooth and bugless. Then release it. End of story. Is this so hard?
Add frills and extra stuff and more content a month AFTER its released and the first few inevitable patches come out fixing things you couldnt have anticipated. Content is the enemy. Fun is your friend. Make that game fun first, not big first, then expand from there, with more fun, not just with beautiful spaces. Oh and one more thing. Fun is not doing the same thing all the time. Fun varies itself constantly in subtle ways (or sometimes big ways)
Monday, March 23, 2009
7 Habits and MMORPG's
Something that just occurred to me over the weekend...
Massively Multiplayer Online Video Games are fun, and probably most players have used the term "addictive" whether in truth or with some degree of jest. We have all heard the stories of people whose real life has been robbed by the games.
We can all think of many reasons for this. To name a few: MMORPG's have an endless number of activities/quests to do, people don't want to give up their characters which they have invested days' worth of playtime into, people grow familiar with their game's world and grow a fondness for it, and friendships made online could potentially be lost by leaving the game. But I wish to make an interesting connection with a principle taught by Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
My mom taught a class at a community college on 7 Habits/Time Management, so I grew up with this stuff. One important lesson is given about Time Management involving a chart into which all activities can be categorized.
****************************************************
Time Management---Urgent---Not Urgent
Important ------------------1-----------2-------
Not Important------------3------------4------
****************************************************
Explanation of Chart: It's composed of four "Quadrants," and it helps us classify our activities.
Quadrant 1-Important, Urgent
Quadrant 2-Important, Not Urgent
Quadrant 3-Not Important, Urgent
Quadrant 4-Not Important, Not Urgent
Experts recommend spending most of our time in Quadrant 2. This means we should spend our time planning, preparing, building family relationships, learning, and preventing problems.
Why not quadrant 1? Quadrant 1 is important, right? Well, Quadrant 1 represents Crises, Pressing Problems, and Deadlines. Wouldn't it be better to Prevent those things from turning into last-minute issues? Thus, quadrant 2 is preferred.
How am I relating this to MMORPG's? We must admit that single-player video games fall under Quadrant 4. Sure, it's okay to spend a little time here, we all need some relaxation and hobby-time. But here's the interesting part...When you take video games into the online realm, the game suddenly becomes Quadrant 3. Now you have friends who are asking you to join for a dungeon or a raid, and events arise that must be played during a certain week or they might be missed.
This ties into why MMO's can be so much more addictive than other games. They give Urgency to an otherwise laid-back gaming experience. But I'm not here to criticise people--I just thought it was an interesting connection. As long as we are responsible about our time, it's okay to lose ourselves in fun now and then. Just remember, it might be a little harder to do when that game makes you feel like you have to play it NOW.
Massively Multiplayer Online Video Games are fun, and probably most players have used the term "addictive" whether in truth or with some degree of jest. We have all heard the stories of people whose real life has been robbed by the games.
We can all think of many reasons for this. To name a few: MMORPG's have an endless number of activities/quests to do, people don't want to give up their characters which they have invested days' worth of playtime into, people grow familiar with their game's world and grow a fondness for it, and friendships made online could potentially be lost by leaving the game. But I wish to make an interesting connection with a principle taught by Stephen R. Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
My mom taught a class at a community college on 7 Habits/Time Management, so I grew up with this stuff. One important lesson is given about Time Management involving a chart into which all activities can be categorized.
****************************************************
Time Management---Urgent---Not Urgent
Important ------------------1-----------2-------
Not Important------------3------------4------
****************************************************
Explanation of Chart: It's composed of four "Quadrants," and it helps us classify our activities.
Quadrant 1-Important, Urgent
Quadrant 2-Important, Not Urgent
Quadrant 3-Not Important, Urgent
Quadrant 4-Not Important, Not Urgent
Experts recommend spending most of our time in Quadrant 2. This means we should spend our time planning, preparing, building family relationships, learning, and preventing problems.
Why not quadrant 1? Quadrant 1 is important, right? Well, Quadrant 1 represents Crises, Pressing Problems, and Deadlines. Wouldn't it be better to Prevent those things from turning into last-minute issues? Thus, quadrant 2 is preferred.
How am I relating this to MMORPG's? We must admit that single-player video games fall under Quadrant 4. Sure, it's okay to spend a little time here, we all need some relaxation and hobby-time. But here's the interesting part...When you take video games into the online realm, the game suddenly becomes Quadrant 3. Now you have friends who are asking you to join for a dungeon or a raid, and events arise that must be played during a certain week or they might be missed.
This ties into why MMO's can be so much more addictive than other games. They give Urgency to an otherwise laid-back gaming experience. But I'm not here to criticise people--I just thought it was an interesting connection. As long as we are responsible about our time, it's okay to lose ourselves in fun now and then. Just remember, it might be a little harder to do when that game makes you feel like you have to play it NOW.
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