Console development is slowing gaming down. This counts the Wii U too, guys.
I guess I'm known as the "Nintendo Hater" in the forums I frequent (even though I don’t) so I'll express my worries with the Wii U.
I just worry that they're going to go the same route they did with the Wii ... "charge a shitload of money for old hardware because people will spend it" ... the original Wii's capabilities are running off moderately upgraded Gamecube hardware from years before. That's why they were making a killing off of each console that was sold instead of the traditional method of losing money on the console and making it back through the games.
I don't think the Wii U is going to be a slightly upgraded Wii by any means ... but from the looks of the specs so far it's only marginally more powerful than what's already been out for 5 years or more. Good money making strategy yeah, bad for gaming though as it doesn't let it evolve by leaps and bounds as far as technical presentation like it used to.
A multi-core IBM processor (probably a triple core) and a custom ATI Radeon HD that's more than likely going to be running off of the R700 chipset. The same chipset that's been in use by low end PCs and notebooks for quite a while now (though as I've always said, when you code a game for ONE specific piece of hardware you can get a hell of a lot out of it instead of having to code worry about different specs and hardware like on the PC).
And the thing isn't due out for another YEAR ... it's going to be even MORE out of date by then. Things COULD change by that time, and I hope the full official specs hit sometime soon. But I have a feeling it's just going to slow gaming down even more since developers mostly aren't concerned with developing for the immensely more powerful PC platform anymore where they can GET that "leaps and bounds" jump gaming REALLY needs right now.
Developers are mostly console-centric nowadays, and they’re going to be developing on hardware that isn’t much different than what’s already out there. They’ll of course be able to squeeze a bit more out of a more powerful console. But for the most part, gaming has slowed from a headlong run to more of a fast walk that stumbles every now and then.
Call of Duty has been running off of an identical engine for YEARS now, and doesn’t show any sign of evolving since they have no reason to make a DRASTIC change since people will buy it every year. They could easily STILL release that game in a slightly lowered down form for the Playstation 2. Those sports games you buy every year? Basically the same thing. Little upgrades here and there. Killzone 2 to Killzone 3 (my favorite game of this generation for multiplayer so far) … definitely a jump, but not that much. And those are just a few examples.
1981 to 1991 saw HUGE advancements thanks to the arcades and their immense capabilities compared to computers of the time and home consoles. 1991 to 2001 also saw MONSTROUS advancements both the arcade and home arena ... but mostly in the PC realm. 2001 to 2010 ... it started slowing down. At the start, if you REALLY wanted to seriously game you had a PC. Console development got more and more popular and the games just haven't shown all that much of an advancement (for the most part). Games nowadays just haven't made that huge jump like they used to. Oh, they look absolutely gorgeous, and there are quite a few standout titles. But nothing much different than what we’ve been playing for years. The only attempt at hardware innovation anymore are different types of control methods instead of focusing on the capabilities of the console itself.
I’m definitely not saying don’t go out and buy the Wii U if you’re interested in it, by all means go for it. Good games are good games. Nintendo has a long running history though, and this console doesn’t look like it’s going to be the jump gaming desperately needs. It’s shaping up to be more of a small leap. Keep buying your Call of Duty games, and let them make you buy needless upgrades for your PC because they refuse to optimize their games. So the PC guys who spent an armload of money on their new PCs to run this and that game that comes out for it nowadays, it’s because most of the developers out there are only optimizing their games to run on 5 and 6 year old (or more. How long was the gap between the showing off and release of the 360 and PS3?) hardware.
A typical gaming PC now has at LEAST 10x the power of any home console out. Yes, the games look and perform better … but do they look and perform THAT MUCH better? Think about that one.
Perfect Dark … would you believe it came out May 22nd, 2000.
I didn't even know about any of this. I knew the game came out in 2000, but I didn't know it was this soon. And with all the rapture nonsense going on today, this historic game is unfortunately lost to a lot of people. So rather than lament about the game that I didn't play all that often back in the day (sorry console kids, I was too heavily invested in playing games on the PC and emulation at the time) I'll leave those memories up to you. And no, that awkward Xbox 360 outing doesn't count. The version of Joanna Dark ... while impressive ... doesn't match up to the original.
And another thing, apparently the model Michele Merkin portrayed her at one point. I would've voted for Milla Joovovich personally because this Michele woman doesn't quite cut it for me. But there's a few Maxim shots of her in here because she's still damned impressive. Hell, she even got a spot in the Retro Gaming Roundup show as one of the Top 10 Hottest Video Game Babes for this month.
For those of you who for whatever reason haven't played this excellent shooter, it can be found on the Xbox Live Arcade for a small price. And if you want it to look like the Nintendo 64 version is fairly easy. Just get out your old composite cables that came with your system, hook it up THAT way ... then spit on your screen and smear it around. Unfortunately, due to the fact that this game pushed the Nintendo 64 WELL beyond it's limits, there's not a whole lot you can do to cut the frame rate by 1/3.
And be sure to play it multiplayer as well, because that's where it really shines.
And if you're worried about the rapture, don't worry. It's not going to happen. Hit the jump for a smattering of pictures that I find interesting regarding this kick-ass female video game lead.
Crysis 2 PS3 Demo Impressions
Most everyone who frequents gaming news websites have surely heard the fuss and rampant speculation about the Crysis 2 demo
over PlayStation Network that was taken offline seemingly no sooner than it arrived. The backlash over the removal of the demo, and even the actual demo itself is reaching a boiling point. Some gamers enjoyed the demo while it lasted. Other were furious at Crytek for not delivering on promises of producing a console graphical benchmark. The rest are wondering what the fuss is about, because, well, they couldn't connect to a game. Forums around the internet became bombarded with praise and hate (mostly hate), which soon led to Crytek's decision to pull down the servers altogether. In Crytek's official statement, they simply state that they want to make sure everything is in tip-top shape come launch. Other conspiracy theorist suggest that they removed it as a fail safe, suggesting that the demo was so bad that it would hurt sales. I guess I am a conspiracy theorist, because I happen to believe the latter. Nonetheless, I was fortunate enough to not encounter many of the connection errors, and was able to rack up around 500 kills and max out my level before the short lived demo came to an end. Here is what I have to say about it
A WIP vertical shmup … Chaos Streams.
There’s a distinct difference with this one. This game is done entirely in ASCII graphics. If you don’t know what that is, then go look it up. Now I’ve played games that use this graphics technique for years and years, and I have always loved it. Back with Rogue and a lot of the old bulletin board door games (even though that’s ANSII, but it’s the same general idea) to the newer Rogue-likes. I love it. But a “fast paced” shmup with all text based graphics I’ve never seen. The only thing even remotely close was a Space Invaders clone. And while it was done well for what it was … let’s face it. The original Space Invaders isn’t exactly the same kind of pace as something like 19XX : War Against Destiny or Radiant Silvergun.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any downloads for this yet. And it isn’t even anywhere near being finished. There’s a video and some (what the developer called outdated) screenshots after the jump, but if you just want to head over to the forum post for the game over at The Independent Gaming Source you can click right here and get all the same stuff, and updates if or when the dev puts them up.
Me personally, I hope this guy releases something because this looks kinda cool. I just hope he changes up the sound and music and whatnot in it, because it sounds like a 3 month old smacking a keyboard.
Killzone : Liberation DLC
I just recently got a PSP and this game, and learned that there was some very important DLC that was released for it … namely adding entirely chapter to the story mode as well as online multiplayer. You’re SUPPOSED to be able to get it from Killzone.com … but it appears that site only seems to want to concentrate on the newest game that’s out. So the DLC isn’t available for download anymore. So I did a little hunting and found a Mediafire link for it … but let’s be honest. Who wants to use Mediafire?
Here’s the demo to give you a little taste since it isn’t actually in the Playstation Store. Just decompress it to your memory stick and you’re good to go.
Killzone : Liberation Demo – 25MB
What you will find here are the files to update the game. This is NOT the full game, and it won’t do you any good unless you already own the game. If you want the full game … you can snag it at Gamestop for 10 bucks. Or maybe even cheaper other places. Trust me, it’s worth it. Even to this day it’s one of the best shooters for the PSP. You can download the update right here. I don’t believe I’m violating any kind of copyright in making this available. And there are still some people who play it online, I just want to aid in making that number bigger because this really is a great game. And bear in mind, this update is for the full version of the game. Not the demo.
Killzone : Liberation Chapter 5 and Online Play Update – 77MB
Now for the instructions. You need to get the directory onto your memory stick by either just putting it into your computer or hooking your system up via USB. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Go into the PSP directory, then the GAME directory. Copy the directory here. I shouldn’t have to tell you to make sure you have enough space. Now go in and start the game. You’ll see a “Downloads” option, start that up. After a bit you’ll get an “Out of memory” error, don’t worry about it. Just hit the circle button to back out, then back out of the browser. You’ll come across an install screen, and it’ll install the DLC. There you go, all done.
Enjoy.
Game Review–Modern Combat : Domination for the Playstation 3
Ah Gameloft … how I know thee from the days I had my iPod Touch. When I saw that this was coming to the Playstation 3 at a mere 8 dollars, I knew I was in. Even though I was in the mindset that I didn’t particularly like modern first person shooters (I found out later it was just Call of Duty I didn’t like) … I was willing to give this game a shot. And while it does have it’s severe flaws, it’s still a surprisingly good game.
Get Quaked 3–You won’t see stuff like this in Call of Duty folks.
These videos are mainly stemming from the frustrating fact that people seem to think games like Call of Duty : Black Ops have good multiplayer. I just recently went through Black Ops’ pathetic attempt at single player and am slogging my way through the multiplayer … when I remembered there are games out there WORTH playing that are actually fast paced instead of faking it. Call of Duty and Halo fans out there, play a real game that’s actually fun to play. You don’t even need to grow a set of balls to do it, you can play this for free. And it’ll run on just about any modern computer.
Razer Switchblade … doesn’t look very promising to me.
I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Me personally, everything in this damn video is computer rendered except for the humans … the gameplay footage is plastered on as a result. And think about the Intel Atom processor … it’s not totally useless. I have two netbooks I absolutely love. But the little Atom isn’t a gaming processor. I honestly don’t know much about this thing, but one thing I’m going to predict, if this thing gets released it’ll more than likely tank.
It does LOOK neat though, but I think I’ll hold off until I see some real world performance results.
Ripping off of Flare from the forums again here. hehe
Voxatron - Spiffy looking arena style shooter.
I haven’t seen a game quite like this in a while. The destruction in the video looks awesome and I can’t wait to play me some of this. Here’s from the site :
Voxatron is an arena shooter that takes place in a world made of voxels (little cubes, kind of). Everything in the game is displayed in a virtual 128x128x64 voxel display, including the menus and player inventory. If you look closely, you can sometimes see the inventory (score/life/ammo) casting a shadow on some of the objects on the ground.
I've been working on voxel rendering and modeling tools for a long time now, with the ultimate goal of making a large explorey adventure game. About half a year ago it fused with work I was doing on arena shooters for Conflux, and this is the result.
It's quite a simple game at heart -- mostly just Robotron set in a 3d destructible world with goofy creatures. I'm unsure how major the implications of destructibility will be for gameplay, but it sure is fun to blast away pieces of wall. I've also added an experimental wall-building pickup you can use to construct barriers to hide from scary monsters.
The game takes place in a small set of arenas. Some of them feature rooms with set action pieces, somewhere between Knightlore and Smash TV. This is some of the original adventure based design sneaking back in, and an excuse to create thematic environments.
Features:
- Custom software rendering with soft shadows.
- Built-in sound and music synthesizer (also used to make the trailer music).
- Playback & post game recording.Voxatron will be ready later this year, but I'll create a single-arena preview version too.
Hit the jump for a spiffy video. Thanks to Flare over on the GameGavel forums. One of these days I shall have the patience to do the type of games I want to do. Text based versions of shit I don’t play in the first place. That’s the master plan.
My daughter the game reviewer.
I have a strange habit with video game collecting. Some people collect Atari 2600, or NES, Genesis, whatever system you can think of they collect for it. I don't waste my time with that shit because for a console system I only buy what I plan on playing. I DO however kind of collect those stupid plug and play games. You know the kind. You just shove some batteries in it, hook it to the TV and you're good to go. Now there are some damned good ones out there like ANY of the Sega Genesis based ones, Mortal Kombat, the Namco ones, and of course the venerable Atari Flashback 2. Which it's debatable as to whether or not that is actually a plug and play system since it's literally a reproduction Atari 2600 sans the cartridge slot (which, anyone with some skill with the soldering iron can put one on).
I recently got what you see to the left. Visually ... that's just wrong. But aside from that, NONE of the games on it are any good. But I think that of most of the plug and play games like this. The graphics are halfway decent, but that's about where it ends.
Every time I get one of these, my daughter wants to play it. She's 9, and I've deliberately started her off on a good regiment of Sega Genesis games and old arcade games, along with some select Xbox 360 games that are acceptable for her age. She wanted to play Mortal Kombat however, and that's where I drew the line. Instead I just popped in the Sega Genesis version and didn't bother to put in the blood code. But that's neither here nor there. Now ... she absolutely loves the Spider-Man movies, so when she saw this she automatically wanted to play it. Which is fine by me, hell, this thing was made with kids her age in mind.
She did what I typically do with these, started running through the different little games it has on it. After about 10 minutes of fighting with these "games" (well, okay, to it's defense there is a little first person dungeon crawler style game on it that I think is halfway decent) I hear her call from the other room. Here is how the conversation went :
Angela : "Daddy!"
Me : "Yeah baby?"
Angela : "This Spider-Man game sucks."
Me : "I tried to warn ya!"
Angela : "Can I play the Xbox?"
Me : "Sure thing baby-girl!"
So yeah, she's already started reviewing these shit games like her daddy. I couldn't be more proud. Now all she has to do is turn 26 so she will actually be allowed to listen to my podcast.