:P Lost Planet

 

Remember my post last week about that gay guy on XBox Live who had his “Gayer Gamer” username tag removed? Well, XBox Live knows no bounds when it comes to removing the gay word from our consciousness. Kotaku now reports that yet another videogamer with the G word in his username has been banned. His name - RichardGaywood, which is kinda funny if you think about it.

Unfortunately, it seems that it really is his name. Mr Richard Gaywood, who’s from gay old England, has even supplied a scan of his driving licence as proof that he hasn’t made up a gay name just to annoy any Christians who may be on XBox Live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The release of Grand Theft Auto IV has brought on all sorts of comments of the status of gaming at this time. “The revolutionary game that will change videogaming forever” is one of them, while others have been calling it “The Godfather” of gaming. So many outlets are ready to pinhole this game as the next coming to bring games to the mainstream as a permanent foothold.

I’m not writing this to discredit GTAIV because it is, in fact, a superbly technical game that deserves the praise it has been recieving. However, i can’t help but think that this “revolutionary step in videogaming” isn’t really something that attracts not only different gamers but different people in cultures. Specifically, this game shows the divisable rift that I feel legitimizes videogaming as the art form that it is striving to be.

For the past few years, there has been a secret skirmish going on in the battle lines of the hardcore gamers: the “hardcore” game versus the “casual” game. However, videogaming experts (senior writers and editors from gaming sites) have refuted that there is no such thing as “casual” and “hardcore” gamers: it generally is used to stir arguments on message boards.

I for one agree with this, but there definitely is a segregation of the types of gamers that exist in this medium. This type of segregation in entertainment mediums isn’t uncommon: In films, for example, there are “scholars” (viewers who love to dissect a movie on themes and messages), “buffs” (viewers who like to know as much about a film as possible), “thrill seekers” (those who love ‘torture porn’ or ‘horror movies’) and “chick flickster” (those who frequent chick flicks) just to name a very few.

For the longest time, gamers have been segregated just like movies: it just took Grand Theft Auto IV to show it to some people. Here are some types of gamers:

Graphic Whores - Let’s start with some of the more easily impressed gamers, a la “Graphic Whores”. Whenever there is some impressive graphical effect or some really good modeling or “realistic” rendering, these gamers of the night go completely nuts over the game. Set to believe that graphics completely add to the bravada of the game itself, these gamers want photorealism in its most purest sense to project a sort of “virtual reality” that makes you believe you are in the world you are currently running through.

These gamers fell in love with games like Shenmue for the Dreamcast, Metroid Prime for the Gamecube and God of War for the PS2, which are graphical put-outs with actually great gameplay. There are, however, those games that are truly faulted from a gameplay or design standpoint that truly makes these games completely for these types of gamers.

A recent example might just be Assassin’s Creed. The game’s setting was perfectly conveyed in a photorealistic view of Jerusalem. The beauty of the fields and the intricate detail of the buildings left an undeliable impression on many gamers…that is if you were not concentrating on the gameplay, which repeated itself one too many times to be as engrossing.

Graphic whores tend to be the most excited about system launches because they seem to buy into the raw power of the machines, even though potential isn’t fully realized until well after 2 - 4 years in the system’s cycle.

Graphic whores aren’t the equivalent of a movie-goer who likes to see “boobies and explosions” however. Graphic whores tend to see the very minute, little visual details of a game that other games seem to completely miss. To some, this seems highly inconsequential to a game. However, the slightest break of reality can be jarring for a graphic whore. These guys are usually the pickiest of the bunch when it comes to recommending games because, to them, the minor imperfections to some on the graphics tend to be huge red flags that can’t be let go

Technologicas - Unreal Engine 3. Renderware. Source Engine. Do any of these terms mean a thing to you? If they do, then you are a technologica: someone who systematically sees the pros, cons and defining characteristics of the engine. You can tell within 10 seconds that the people who made Dark Sector is using the same architecture that the people who made Gears of War is making. Or, that the people who created Portal is using a heavily modded physics engine of Source, whom Valve used to create Half-Life 2.

Technologicas can look at anything simple from a character model, textures or even just a way an object moves and can instantly say “ok, this is a Havok engine game”. Generally, these technologias have had interest in creating their own games or have made the step of learning how to create mods.

Furthermore, there is one key characteristic of a technologica: They play a lot of certain types of games. Unreal Engine and Source has clearly been used on many First Person Shooters, which is why most FPS die-hards are very familiar with the engine and its limits. Renderware works on a lot of racing games, so they also have defining characteristics.

Technologicas can also be minor graphic whores: like a piece of art, technologicas might be more impressed with a shimmer, shadow or how something reacts to its environment more than colorful, realistic graphics. They can fully discuss what makes a game like Boom Blox so amazing, when others might just see it simply as “a falling block” game.

Technologicas are very much a “show-me” type of gamer. Seldomly do they believe in “hype” or “buzz”, these types of gamers are instantly skeptical of any type of game without knowing the intricacies of how the game runs, plays and acts. Lastly, technologicas tend to be PC gamers, since there highly more likely to use mods.

Breathers - Immersive technology. Living, breathing world. Deep, involving storyline. Over 100 hours of gameplay. You’ve played over a hundred hours of playing as Tommy Vercetti, Commander Shepherd and the Hero of Kvatch. You believe a game should not only make you believe in its world, but have you experience it like its your own. You want to be a great hero worthy of praise or a dispicable person of little merit and of many fear. If these types of games are what you’re into, you are most definitely what I’d call a “breather”.

First off, a breather demands a good story with believable and involving characters. More often than not, breathers play RPG’s for that simple reason. Game engines, technology: hell, even graphics seem rather inconsequential if the story is worth going through. That seems to explain why some RPG lovers, after years of having the same turn-based battle systems, are still willing to accept that tired system if the story is still interesting.

Story might not be a factor to a breather, however: There’s a little something called atmosphere that can really envelope a breather in the game. It could be as little as a radio station on Grand Theft Auto III or the utopia gone wrong 30’s setting of Bioshock. Again, if the player can believe his place exists while the disc is in the drive, he’s in it for the long haul.

In fact, “breathers” may very well be the most relaxed gamers of these sects:: For years, they have been willing to drudge through archaic battle systems (Final Fantasy VII), atrocious camera problems (Kingdom Hearts), simplified game mechanics (Bioshock) and unexcusably bad controls (Resident Evil) to be fully engrossed in its said game.

The argument could very well be that “breathers” really aren’t “hardcore” gamers (or the least “hardcore” of the hardcore), they are entertainment lovers seeking the next great story or world to dive into, like Star Wars for film and The Lord of the Rings for books. They are simply just finding that next fix with games.

Statlies - Calculated. Detailed. May very well be obessive compulsive. Like the “breathers”, you love your gameplay deep, involving and to last a very long time. However, unlike your breather brethren, story and atmosphere is furthest in your mind. That is, unless, it has something to do with your character or avatar.

See, you don’t seem to care if your sister died or the fate of the world is in your hands. Nay my friends, all you care about is how this highly expensive sword is going to effect your attack/defense rating or whether this character your training is the right character for the job you just acquired. Or, if my formation has enough balance so my long distance magic users have enough coverage with my footmen against my enemies. You get pissed off everytime you neglect a single stat detail because you didn’t take into account 30 different variables that could effect your win. You are a “statly”.

“Statlies” can definitely be seen pinning for the next big strategy RPG, such as Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea. They also can be seen playing simple strategy games such as Advance Wars, Carcassonne and Catan. It’s also very likely that they get excited for games like Fire Emblem, Dia Shayruka and Civilization. Outside of videogaming, it’s more likely they enjoy a game of Chess, Magic: The Gathering and Poker.

As you can plainly see, “statlies” seem to gravitate more towards strategy-RPG’s. However, don’t be surprised if these guys are caught drilling in multiple seasons of Madden NFL, FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer or any other types of sports games. These season modes, filled with signings, trades, morale and otherwise may be considered lightweight to most strategy gamers, but they seem to fill a nice void.

The one chief thing that defines a statly seems to be the consistent need to think. These are the type of gamers who don’t seem to get the popularity of such games as Peggle, Geometry Wars and Pac-Man: Championship Edition. To these gamers, the words “simple” and “accessible” clearly means “watered-down” or “inferior”.

Traditionalists - You started gaming 20, maybe 30 years ago. You may have seen the first Pac-Man machine when you were at a young age, being mesmerized by its colorful cabinet and strange glow. Hell, you may have owned an Atari 2600 or a Colecovision at one point.

Or maybe you’re not that old-school. Maybe you were young when the original Super Mario Bros. was released. Or when the Super NES and the Sega Genesis were constantly trying to battle each other for console supremacy. You distinctly remember your first arcade experience with Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and Metal Slug. You’ve lived through all those controversies and have tried to convince your parents to purchase those games for you, despite the media warnings. You were there when Super Mario 64 was released…and was simply amazed.

Nostalgia might mean “old” to some, but to you, it means “classic”, “quality” or “timeless”. You are a “traditionalist”.

To traditionalists, games that are considered “old” by some standards still stay fun to this day. They can still see the joys of playing Pac-Man and Frogger. However, traditionalists still feel that some of the best games being made have absolutely nothing to do with the hardware they are being developed for. Graphics, sound and engines may change, but great gameplay never changes. Traditionalists love gems like Super Mario Galaxy that not only bring something new to the table, but harken back to what made older games so memorable and fun. Traditionalists believe may have one mantra to live by: “Old games don’t just live in the past, they live through every single game being released”.

Sadly, as true as it may be, traditionalists are the most hard-headed and steadfast of the group. New gameplay inventions, such as what Guitar Hero and Rock Band brings to the table, seems to take traditionalists much longer to be convinced of how good these new games are. Some traditionalists also think that some advancements are unnecessary to gaming, from something like motion controls to something more drastic, like online gaming.

Mavericks - You want to be amazed. You want to be wowed. You want to know that the $400, $500, $600 you spent on that shiny new system will one day pay off with, if not at least, one game that will change the face of gaming. Furthermore, if it means a new way of playing something, you’re all for trying it out. You probably went crazy when you heard about the Wii.

You live for the moments: The first time you got a hooker on Grand Theft Auto III, rocked out in Guitar Hero or played Wii Sports. You want the rush, the feel of something refreshing. Hell, you might be a thrill seeker in real life. You are a “maverick” and you’re ready to be blown away.

“Mavericks” are all about diversification. Hell, they have to be if they want to try the next great big thing. They can be amazed at watching Grand Theft Auto III happening in front of them, then playing Halo with its all engrossing storyline via first-person prespective, then playing Guitar Hero with a bunch of people in their house. Then, suddenly, being enthralled about how visceral God of War is.

Furthermore, “Mavericks” want the gaming industry to be not only compared to movies or books, they want it to be known that they are the superior storytelling medium. Mavericks believe that a game is the best way to envelope someone’s imagination into a story or a character to truly experience the life of this character. Mavericks are completely devoted to that rush.

Which is also the main detractor of a “maverick”. More often than not, Mavericks end up not liking sequels of games mainly because they don’t “wow” them like the original. Sure, the game could have slight improvements that make the game more refined and responsive, but if it doesn’t break the mold, it’s not great. To a “maverick”, quality equals innovation and different gameplay.

——–

These six are only a few of the ones I could come up with and there are many more. The key point I wanted to get across is simply this: We all have our likes and dislikes with games. However, these types of gamers are neither hardcore nor casual gamers: they simply enjoy different types or different aspects of games. I firmly believe a dialogue should be discussed with not only gamers on message boards, but with gamers who run these sites that each type of gamer is fully represented.

Grand Theft Auto IV might be gaming’s most important release from a cultural standpoint: it’s clearly up to gamers at large how we want to be labeled: “Segregated masses” or “Diverse culture”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete Series

 

Hulk here. I coming out with game soon that come with movie. It blockbuster summer action movie starring puny Ed Norton and beautiful Liv Tyler. Hulk love Liv Tyler because she pretty. Hulk think Ed Norton overrated. Anyway, Hulk movie coming out in June and game too. You will play game or HULK WILL SMASH YOU! It make Hulk not happy when puny man not play Hulk game. You not like Hulk when he get angry. Anyway, Hulk getting off track. Let Hulk tell you about game!

Hulk game in New York City. Big city! All buildings around, Hulk can smash. Hulk can destroy them all! Everything! Hulk took down one building with thunderclap when puny Army man shoot him with tank. Then Hulk pick up tank and throw it. Hulk like to pick up cars and trucks and vans. One time, Hulk pick up taco van and throw it. It funny, but it still make Hulk mad.

Hulk climb up buildings and jump big long way into air. Every time Hulk land, it cause cracks in ground! Hulk also pick up concrete and hurl it at things he see that make Hulk mad, like signs and cars and things that Hulk not smart enough to name, but have lights on them that go blinky blink. For some reason, Hulk game let Hulk take subway to get from one spot to next. Hulk surprised New York let Hulk use subway after he destroy half of city, but Hulk must admit, it convenient.

Everywhere there puny humans! They hassle Hulk. Some of them punies run from Hulk, but sometimes Hulk pick them up by head and carry them around. Hulk not really mad at regular puny humans, it only Army punies that Hulk get mad at. They chase with tank and trucks and laser guns that sting like bees. HULK HATE BEES!

Hulk have many things he do in game when he not smashing. All Hulk need to do is look at map and go to place with X on the map, and he can get new thing to do. One thing Hulk do is smash Enclave base, where puny humans with bee-sting lasers live. Enclave not want Hulk to destroy home so they send out puny tanks to stop him. Ha ha. Please not make Hulk laugh. Hulk destroy them into bits and then take down base with punches, kicks, and special powers like smash ground. It cause shockwave and blast away punies from Hulk. It good to be Hulk!

Then later, giant robot fight Hulk. It big, but Hulk not scared of robot. It have big eye in middle, and it try to stomp on Hulk like Hulk a bug. BUT HULK NOT BUG. Hulk catch robot foot and not let him stomp Hulk. Then he throw giant robot down and punch him. Hulk do this many times. He also throw taxi cabs at robot eye. That one nice thing about New York City; it easy to get taxi.

Someone tell Hulk that Rick Jones in this game, as well as pencil-neck Banner. But Hulk here to tell you that HULK ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS. Rick Jones nice boy, and Hulk protect him in game. And Hulk hear that archrival Abomination is in game. Ho ho. That rich. Hulk tell Abomination to “bring it” because Hulk will take him to Funky Town, where Hulk is mayor.

HULK TIRED OF TYPING ABOUT HULK GAME. Just go get game when game come out in June. Then you smash just like Hulk, even though Hulk bet you puny and smell like warm onions. Bye, from Hulk.

 

 

 

 

 

I love video games. LOVE THEM. I know I seem like a “normal person” but the truth of the matter is that I am a gamer. I have been known to stay up at all hours trying to beat that high score. Taking to people online from all over the world is common place for me. If I failed my national exam this time around it is because my brother sent me a beautiful brand new Wii just days before the test. Part of my video game obsession includes games about horses. I have played Let’s Ride so many different times I can tell you all the movements of their dressage test. And that is not all, I have played Horse Life, Horsez, Riding Star and even Riding Academy. All these games are marketed to girls who are about 10 years old. As a 25 year old woman I am ashamed of my addiction. When the person at the check out lines scans the game and then gives me the look I automatically come up with the lie that it is for my nieces birthday. I don’t even have a niece.

The shame I feel about my love of all things horses and all video games can be overwhelming. One of my favorite parts of this game is that you don’t have to go through the checkout line so there are no looks of shame. I am sure you are asking yourself why I am admitting my addiction now. For weeks I have thought about posting about my new horse game obsessions but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Last week though the game decided to hold a contest to get there name out there using blogs. I was still on the fence.

But recently I found out that I am not alone. In fact many people out there over the age of 18 who presumably lead regular lives like I do share my obsession. I found that out by reading the message boards online for my new favorite horse game Howrse. The message boards are FILLED with people just like me! People who love horses and gaming and who are legally old enough to drive a car! The difference is that many of these people are proud be adults lost in the fantasy world of gaming, while I still hide in a little bit of shame. Howrse was clearly not designed with adults in mind with its bright colors and simple language, but it is a game that requires patients and forethought, traits that many youngsters lack.

In the game (it is 100% free for most people. They make money by people clicking on banners advertising other sites and from the select few who pay to get passes which gives you an edge in the game) you are given a horse. I choose a a Thoroughbred (I am sure you are all shocked) who is grey so he sort of looks like Gennyral. And because I am ever so cool I even named him after my precious pony. I know I know…I deserve to be mocked…mock nicely though will you.

 

 

Can you see the resemblance? I started playing a few months ago when looking around yahoo! answers. So many people would come to the horse section asking questions for the game Howrse. I was curious that a video game would be asking its players horse management questions. I had to check it out. For research purposes only of course. About 30 seconds later I created my account by giving my e-mail and started to play. They gave me a baby Gennyral. “This is cute” I thought to myself. About 2 minutes later though I couldn’t play anymore. I had already done everything I needed to do to care for the online Gennyral that day. If there is one thing they could have done to make sure that I would be back the next day it was to limit my playing time. I play video games for hours…not minutes!

So sure enough the next morning I logged on and was able to play again…for about 5 minutes. This was torture! How can they limit me like this. Most games let you play until you get sick of them. Howrse is not like normal horse games. You earn “money” by having your horse be successful at competitions. How do they get successful? By training of course. And similar to real life all the different breeds have training specialities. Thoroughbreds are genetically better at galloping races then other breeds. After a short time of membership you take a test on horse management. I just think that this is such a cool idea to integrate real horse knowledge into a virtual game. I warn you though that once you start getting to the higher levels in the game something gets lost in translation. I, a veteran horse person, an assistant farm manager, owner, and horse enthusiast cannot even pass the tests without cheats. I think that this game is on to something though. If they get their questions translated correctly and tone down the bright colors I think a lot more old folks like me might play. It is really addictive, I started out with just one and now I have a whole herd to top notch horses. Something I cannot claim to ever have in real life. And they only take a few minutes to care for each day, a horse keepers dream.

And my favorite part of the game? I can make that Gennyral immortal.

It is a cute game. For children. But I don’t care I love it! If you want to join don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. You can even add me to your friends list, skya7, but please do me a favor. Lets just keep this addiction between us. I am sure some psychoanalyst somewhere has a lot to say about my now admitted horse game addiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The question of how a game can be subversive has bothered me for a long time. You can try to look for subversive elements in games much like the elements in subversive genres like science fiction, but it’s not exactly easy.

If being subversive means making the reader question their own assumptions, games seem to start with a handicap.

In order to play a game, you must play by rules set down by someone else. If you are always inherently working within a given rule system, is it ever possible to subvert it?

On Message

That problem centers around the mechanics of a game, but not on the topic. Would a satirical game then be subversive? Not a lot of examples here to pull from. Harpooned (the “cetacean research simulator”) is perhaps the first proper satirical game in my mind.

It uses its exaggerated elements (whale gibs, shooter mechanics, etc.) for both humor and to make a socially valuable point, without taken them so far that they conflict with the game’s message. As satire Harpooned effectively makes a point against an existing institution, but it’s not exactly that my assumptions are brought into question, just that I’m made more aware of a problem.

So there’s a distinction to be made between a game that is subversive with respect to its message, and one that is subversive in its “telling” (still no verb to describe the presentation of a game to another, because let’s face it, design is such a shit-watered down verb). You Have to Burn the Rope is subversive in the context of other games, and what it points out about them, but much less subversive about the presentation of those points.

If a game uses procedural rhetoric to make a subversive point, like say Food Import Folly from Persuasive Games, the player is meant to question the validity of a system by exploring it. That game is trying to make a subversive point about the issues with the FDA’s food import inspection regulations. Without the ability to change or alter the system simulated by the game, how subversive can the message be?

At best you can only point out that there is a problem with such a system, you can’t argue for a solution without being able to see the solution’s effects simulated. Is it less subversive to point out a problem without being able to suggest or allow the exploration of solutions?

On Blacksite

Harvey Smith, creative director of Blacksite: Area 51, often claimed the game was subversive for dealing with political elements the way it did. From my own playthrough (on easy), it’s a harder for me to categorize it that way. There are some elements that could be seen as subversive, but with few exceptions they are all on the strict surface of the game.

For instance, while on the first mission in an oil refinery in Iraq, one of the squad members asks, “Who the hell gives refinery workers assault weapons?”, to which another squad member responds, “Umm… We do.” A strong statement you don’t usually see in a game. But the next chunk of dialog involves the squad members quoting Star Wars.

The end effect of sequences like this one is that the dialogue is very true to life. I can imagine real soldiers talking like that. Does it make me reflect on or change my opinion of those political choices? No, although that may be not only because the game pretty much comes out and says what it thinks, but that I’ve already asked myself those questions.

The chapter titles are typically ironic uses of Bush administration terms (”Mission Accomplished”) or references to their fuck ups (”Somebody call FEMA”). Pretty unapologetic in their criticism, but then when you look at the plot itself the themes are muddled.

The main villain was another soldier who had been experimented on and left for dead by the government, only as part of his revenge he pretty much wants to kill everyone - making it difficult to look at him as a reedemable or empathizable character. And so it’s not “hey the government did something wrong”, but “hey that guy wants to kill everybody”.

On Heartland

The Escapist recently interviewed David Jaffe on his canceled game Heartland, which attempted to deal with similar issues. In part he discusses production problems like deciding to make a left-leaning political game in Utah of all places (wha-huh?), but he also goes into some scenarios for the game:

“Jaffe describes a real-time sequence where the player and squad enter a suburban house after the Chinese invasion has turned the neighborhood into a war zone. It’s the home of a Chinese-American family. The squad rounds up the family, having them kneel in the living room.

The player chases after the teenage son, beating him and dragging him down the stairs, and throwing him into the living room. The commanding officer orders the player to douse the family and the house with gasoline, and set it on fire. “It was meant to be, ‘Oh, my God, this is the worst thing in the world,’” says Jaffe.”

The direct choice almost forces the player to question themselves, along the game’s theme. The reason I say almost here is because the presentation of such a choice will have difficulty declaring that it is a choice to the player (unless it’s explicitly defined via interface like the Little Sisters in Bioshock).

If they think they have to do exactly what the game character is telling them to in order to continue playing the game, they won’t act differently. But with repeated choices, the chances go up that it will become apparent to everyone.

On Portal

Portal (which Joe McNeilly of GamesRadar says is the “most subversive game ever“) manages to both explore subversive themes and utilize subversive scenarios in the game itself. It goes against the standard masculine oriented FPS in that it removes all guns as weapons.

The portal gun that replaces them takes on feminine characteristics because it, as McNeilly says, “creates connections rather than destroying life.” Bonnie Ruberg equates the portals with vaginas, even.

The single most subversive moment for me in the game was being lead to the furnace towards the end - stuck on the moving platform leading to your supposedly inevitable death. It’s a well crafted moment, because while the flames are incredibly stressing as they move closer, in reality you have probably have several minutes to realize you can use the one single mechanic, which has been taught extensively across the whole game, to escape.

GLaDOS tells you that you are effectively powerless against her, while you must realize you are empowered to change your circumstances, all while under duress (which is a tricky thing to accomplish design wise).

However, is that subversive moment is directly tied to the game’s subversive themes of masculinity/femininity? I have problems making that connection, but I can’t completely discount that it might be there (you are using the portal gun to give yourself life in that case, but that’s a bit tenuous).

Now, the focus of the themes of Portal are naturally more narrow than a game like Blacksite (taking on gender issues in games vs. the war in Iraq), but that is somewhat separate from analyzing the methods they use to explore those themes.

Is the ”insincere choice” (telling the player they have no choice while they actually do) the best means we have to present a subversive message? If we are locked into a rule system by the nature of the game’s code we can never change the system, what would be the ultimate extent in this regard? Making a game that allows the players to create their own rules, would almost seem to devolve very quickly into art-piece.

The resulting experience might have something profound to say about the abstract notions of games as a subversive medium, but would it lack enough direction/focus to be captivating in the slightest, and therefore possibly unable to be profound or meaningful to an individual? This is in software anyway, an ARG or board/card game might have more potential to explore this area today, with only human (and adaptive) participants.

On Definition

Maybe this is all just dancing around the definition of subversive. If to subvert is to overthrow or undermine the principles of something, I guess it depends what you’re targeting to undermine. Were you directly attempting to undermine an institution’s policy selections, maybe a game Blacksite would be subversive.

If you wanted to change an individual’s perspective on the matter by subtly causing them to question themselves, then it wouldn’t. Can you accomplish something like the former without doing the latter?

Whatever you want to call them, each of the two concepts, conveying a message that goes against the consensus and the delivery of that message to the reader, has a spectrum as to how deep you want to push them. Even if you want to make a point undermining a larger institution, making the reader question their own assumptions on a personal level communicates the point most powerfully.

Combining both concepts (using interactive elements such as insincere choice and potentially dynamic systems) is further towards the end of an overall spectrum of how subversively you can explore an issue in a game.

 

 

 

Buy $40 On Anthony Product, Receive One Free Citrus Cleaning Bar - $8.00 Value

 

According to a new Warner Home Video survey, customers are increasingly using PlayStation 3 consoles to watch Blu-Ray video content, with the percentages of both number of households and time spent watching rising from late 2007 to early 2008.

Analyst group Screen Digest quotes the numbers given by Warner’s home video president Ron Sanders at a recent digital entertainment conference in Paris.

Sanders indicated that the amount of time PlayStation 3 users spent watching Blu-ray videos rose from 15 percent of console usage in the fourth quarter of 2007 to 23 percent in January and February of 2008.

The Warner exec also said that the amount of PlayStation 3 purchasers using the console as a Blu-ray player rose significantly - from 53 percent in September of 2007 to 80 percent early in 2008.

According to Screen Digest, Sanders suggested that a 2007 Sony ad campaign noting the PS3 could be used to watch movies drove household usage of Blu-Ray discs up from under 10 percent in October to 15 percent in December.

However, commentators at the UK-headquartered analyst group noted: “The timing of the Warner research, which was carried out in late 2007 and early 2008, means it is impossible to quantify how much the usual Christmas gift-giving season (and subsequent increase in new BD homes) would have increased consumer spending on BDs without the promotions - or, indeed, whether the uplift is sustainable.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve got to be honest about this next review. I must admit that I’m somewhat surprised by how really bad this game was! Believe it or not I’m talking about the BIG seller, the maga hit Grand Theft Auto IV. I admit that I’d never played a Grand Theft Auto game or GTA as they call it but that didn’t really mean much. I still expected something from the game but GTA is simply a very flawed game. I didn’t finish it and literally had to stop playing it. After all the media attention and all the reviewers essentially calling this game a 10 out of 10 one would expect something much more. I do think it’s wise to chalk up these things to a Mass-Psychosis amongst these people. They found a ball to roll with and like a scrappy junk yard dog they clamp their teeth down and never let go. That’s the only explanation that I can offer these reviewers, to hopefully quell their embarrassment for going way, way over board on this title.

It’s hard to start off of where things went wrong with ‘GTA’. The first thing I want to point out is that it is a game very, very similar to The Godfather game a few years back or so. Both games had that ‘big New York feel and in both games you have to take the freeway, alot.

The Godfather Video Game.

That Godfather though had an entire masterpiece of Movie Making to guide it… still that game was a disappointment as well. In The Godfather there is like in GTA a lot, and I mean a lot of driving around. I’ve been to New York, but only a New Yorker or Woody Allen could get all emotional about it. The graphics of the city the visuals that I’ve been reading about from ‘established game site’ reviewers are way, way off. There is really no texture to the city that GTA gives us. GTA’s graphics are mostly VGA in a LCD world. The so called ‘naughty nature’ of GTA is supposed to enliven us. But it’s mostly ‘high brow’ crowd mentality stuff that has surely got many censors and do-gooders upset. Meaning that a lot of people identify with the Vibe of GTA and have seen these particular undercurrents in their own lives, which they obviously have avoided. There is far deeper and disturbing content in a great many other games than GTA!

To continue however, let me briefly go over the plot. Nico Bellic (above) is from Russia and has come to live in America. Turns out he’s a commando of some nefarious dealings in Russia… still he really does come off rather bemused by his new surroundings. He has a cousin Roman who works at a Taxi Cab Company and that’s the way the whole thing starts. You have a lot to do in GTA and that’s the real problem. At the start of the game I was beginning to wonder when it was going to begin…

The first thing that happens is that Roman has a boss and owes some money… things escalate and things are added on, but in between you have to wait around a lot. There’s a girl who you can call for dates. I actually took her to a Bowling Alley! I thought there would be some sort of payoff. Turns out that it’s actually what it is a date, in a video game! After that I dropped her off and she actually started calling me all the time. I said no to her advances each time. I mean what am I supposed to be feeling here?

I’m beginning to understand a bit about this sort of game these days… it’s trying to be more like life I suppose. There are other choices as well, like going to play darts, strip clubs and bars as well as restaurants etc. but I didn’t come to GTA looking for a new life, the old one is lousy enough! I pretty much had it after Roman (my cousin) calls after a hit wanting to go to a Show! Yeah, sure if it was for real or something! Those tickets are 100 dollars!

But all that I could eventually ignore. Still what really made me stop playing GTA was the mechanics of the game. The shooting isn’t advanced, Nico moves around very woodenly and when he shoots he does hit his mark… What really upset was that after getting knocked you have to start all over again! I don’t mean at the scene of the crime but way, way back at the beginning of the sequence. I finally lost it after tailing this drug dealer with some Rap Star do-gooder. I’m supposed to kill him and his drug dealing friends. Fair enough, that should be fun you’d think… but then there are about 10 of them and I was killed over and over again. Cool… I can do it over and over until I get it right, but I had to tail this same drug dealer in the same car with the same Rap Blabber mouth some pop in Jay who wants the radio on for at least five minutes! That’s right, the tailing of the drug dealer is a long drawn out affair where you have to stay far away from him so as to not arouse his suspicions. Well after the third time and the realization that I’d have to do it all over again I’d had enough of GTA.

Then there’s the problem with the cars. Often after being killed or arrested you end up somewhere like a precinct street or outside of a hospital. You don’t have a car anymore so you have to steal one. I spent a long time running around New York actually looking for a car! I mean New York! The developers of GTA actually decided not to have many cars parked on the street! I literally had to run about twenty blocks sometimes to find a car just to begin again! Even at 3 in the morning New York has cars everywhere!

GTA isn’t a bad game it’s just not one that you want to spend a whole lot of time with. It’s hard to fathom a game that takes itself too seriously, and that is apparently the case here. I don’t have the other GTA games to look back on so I don’t know the entire history, but I see some developers who may have simply tried to do too much and without the tools yet available to succeed, creatively and otherwise. In this case it is definately surface over substance. After playing a game like Call of Duty (our last review :P) GTA is like way, way below our radar here. It’s a shame really, since I was surely prepared to agree with everyone, but that’s one of the deals about being honest.

It’s best to skip games that go overboard like GTA IV and wait for the next installment. This one in our opinion wasn’t completely cooked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well we just played the Demo on the Playstation 3… the look an feel of the game leaves you wanting more. Haze is sure to be a hit. I liked the Magnum, it was very powerful… I changed from it to the main rifle gun a lot.

The Demo of Haze entails you and about two others as you go through some crash sites… apparently rebels have stolen the so called Nector, which is a drug that give you a sense of new powers and extra perception. I found that when I was under the drug I could kill a lot more successfully in the game.

The jungle setting was well put together and I don’t think that the makers of Haze have much to worry about, this little bit of Haze leaves you wondering what’s coming up next. Your fellow soldiers have alot to say and sometimes they seem to ‘lose’ it, like you would in any war but with the added drugs… kind of like Viet Nam or something I would guess!

At any rate it looks to be fun and we are glad to have the game coming out pretty soon, and with our Haze page here things can only get better and better with Haze!

 

 

From: Lost Planet’s Haze Page

 

 

 

 

 

The Wii’s got a new channel for its Wii Box. It’s called the Nintendo Channel… it looks a lot like the old Playstation Store of Sony’s that has just gotten a spiffy makeover (New Playstation Store to go Active Soon.)

I suppose it will take a bit for Wii to Update their look. But from the looks of things they are starting from behind the curve. Still it is important to be seen!

 

 

 

 

 

For more than a decade, the Grand Theft Auto gaming series has been a lightning rod for controversy. But really, what else can you expect from a game that so shamelessly flaunts social mores? This is, after all, a video game where carjacking and murder aren’t merely a means to finishing missions and beating the game—you can get your kicks in with GTA’s massive extracurricular sandbox worlds, too. But there’s always been more ways to spend your gangsterific time than running from the police and beating up strangers. After hours upon hours testing the just-released Grand Theft Auto IV, we realized there’s actually so much fun in Liberty City that is—dare we say—wholesome that we opted to breakdown the positive pastimes of the badass game rather than review it. Leave that to the crooks.

1. Listen to the Rockin’ Radio

Is that really Fela Kuti coming out through the digital dashboard? And Iggy Pop DJing? Woah. GTA: Vice City set the standard for in-game music (Rockstar Games even licensed a CD box set of soundtracks), but the new sequel takes the tunes to another level. You almost get the feeling that half the game’s $60 sticker price went to licensing some of these tracks. It is no exaggeration to say that this could be the best, most diverse video-game soundtrack of all time. And the talk radio’s pretty amusing, too—if you can concentrate on it long enough.

2. Swim Out of a Car Accident

The first time I drove my GTA car into the game’s version of the East River, it was an accident. I had already slammed by PlayStation3 controller in disgust, waiting to pick up my in-game avatar from the hospital—that’s where you usually end up when your lungs are filled with water and/or bullets. So I did a double-take when nothing happened at all. I did a double button tap, and suddenly my little thug is freestyling Michael Phelps-style toward the “Manhattan” skyline. Hey, beats paying for the ferry.

3. Drive Like You Mean It

It says something about a sandbox-meets-RPS game when its driving action is a lot more fun than some dedicated car titles. Some racers, like the Project Gotham series, tout their hyper-realistic cityscapes as chief selling points. But none of them have anything on Liberty City, which is beyond vast and doesn’t have those pesky rails to keep you from veering off the beaten path. As for the driving controls and car selection? Better than ever, and right up there with the second tier of straight-up racing games.

4. One-up Google’s NYC Street View

This game is catnip to New Yorkers and even tourists, who will no doubt spend hours hunting for in-game counterparts to real-life attractions. So spot-on was the game’s representation of my north Brooklyn ‘hood that I almost expected to find my apartment building waiting around the next corner. It wasn’t there (nor were any of the new wave-of-gentrification condo buildings), but the real-life sugar factory down the street was, as was a hyper-realistic depiction of a nearby waterfront park. Tone down the violence and grit, and the New York City tourism board could ride the Coney Island’s Cyclone rollercoaster and Times Square’s billboards all the way to the bank as a sort of virtual tour—albeit a very, very unflattering one.

5. Meet the Neighborhood Strangers

From Madden to No More Heroes the bobbleheads filling your screen tend to be cobbled together from a small stock of indiscernible characters. In GTA IV, though, different neighborhoods come jam-packed with different characters (albeit extremely and overtly stereotypical ones). Head out to “Jersey,” and you’re awash in big hair. Roll uptown to a residential street corner, and you’re dodging suits on their way home from the bank. Best of all, nearly all of these background characters are brimming with personality. They stop and chat with their friends, get testy when you side-swipe them and fight back when you shove ‘em from behind—or run away if they’re of the cowardly strain. We may be playing Mr. Nice Guy here, but we’d toughen up any day of the avatar week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Haze Experience Page by Ubisoft. You’ll want to check out our Haze Page as well. Lost Planet’s Haze Page!

 

 

 

 

 

 
Grand Theft Auto III was a landmark release for the series, its genre, and the PlayStation 2 console, earning widespread critical acclaim and a devoted following among gamers worldwide. Its follow-ups, GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas, earned equal amounts of praise and retail success.

With expectations running high given the quality of its previous entries, many wondered if Grand Theft Auto could measure up to series standards in its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 debut.

The end result appears to be a runaway hit with critics so far, earning a spate of perfect scores and a Metascore of 99 out of 100.

Justin Calvert at GameSpot awards Grand Theft Auto IV a score of 10 out of 10. “Stepping off a boat in the shoes of illegal immigrant Niko Bellic as he arrives in Liberty City at the start of Grand Theft Auto IV, you can tell immediately that Rockstar North’s latest offering is something quite special,” he begins. “GTAIV is a game with a compelling and nonlinear storyline, a game with a great protagonist who you can’t help but like, and a game that boasts a plethora of online multiplayer features in addition to its lengthy story mode.”

Calvert is impressed with GTAIV’s decision points that affect narrative and gameplay branching. “On several occasions as you play through his story, you’ll be presented with decisions that afford you the option of doing what you think is right rather than blindly following instructions,” he describes. “Every decision you make has consequences, and you’ll likely want to play through the game at least twice to see how the alternatives unfold.”

Controls also see an improvement over previous entries in the series. “New abilities in Niko’s arsenal include scaling fences and walls anywhere he can get a foothold, shimmying along ledges, and, most importantly, taking cover behind objects,” Calvert writes. “The ability to stick close to walls, parked cars, and the like at the touch of a button makes GTAIV’s gunplay a huge improvement over that in previous games, and, in tandem with the new targeting system, it also makes it a lot easier.”

Calvert makes special note on GTAIV’s newfound social focus. “You’ll keep in touch with your dates, friends, and some of your enemies using another of GTAIV’s great new features: a cell phone,” he says. “There’s no unwieldy conversation system to deal with; you simply choose which friend you want to call, what you want to talk about (it could be work, a fun activity, or asking for a favor) and then, assuming that he or she answers the phone, the conversation plays out.”

This results in appreciable gameplay benefits. “The rewards that you get when another character likes you enough vary depending on who it is,” Calvert explains. “Without wishing to give away specifics, befriending a lawyer can prove useful if you’re having trouble with the cops, for example, and having a nurse on your friends list can literally be a lifesaver.”

Calvert finds that GTAIV’s multiplayer aspects are satisfying as well, and make for a well-rounded package. “Grand Theft Auto IV is a game that you simply have to play,” he concludes. “The single-player game, which you can still play long after you complete the story, is the series’ best by far, and the multiplayer features are good enough that you’ll likely have no problem finding people to play with for many months to come.”

Eurogamer’s Tom Bramwell also rates Grand Theft Auto IV at 10 out of 10. “GTA IV’s big innovations aren’t amazing physics, spectacular graphics and epic environments - although it has all those - but convenience and multi-tasking,” he asserts. “There is no longer any wasted time.”

“The mobile phone is central to this, allowing you to make phone calls and text-message people one-handed while you walk or drive; networking, socialising, organising, and listening to that ringtone you downloaded for America’s Next Top Hooker,” Bramwell explains. “When you fail a mission, you can answer a text to teleport yourself back to wherever you spawn after the cut-scene briefing finishes.”

Bramwell notes GTAIV’s evolution in other critical gameplay areas as well. “Besides the phone, the second-best thing GTA IV does is realign the combat to match the Hollywood driving,” he says. “A Gears of War-style cover mechanic slams your back up against most surfaces, even cars, so that you can creep up to the edge, hop to adjacent cover points without exposing yourself, and fire on your enemies with a flexible targeting system.”

“There’s also a sense of refinement in areas where GTA has always been strong, like driving and carnage,” he continues. “Now you can lean out of the window and fire in any direction, providing you can direct the right analogue stick at the same time as steering and managing the throttle - slightly awkward, but then it would be - and technical advances improve basic acts of destruction.”

GTAIV’s narrative is also described as being a step forward for the series. “Niko himself is quickly sympathetic - his moral latitude is rooted in horrible war stories, but he’s warm-hearted - and imposing, and his influential relationships are with rounded individuals, albeit often in caricatures’ clothing,” Bramwell writes. “Situations and developments are rarely contrived, as the dialogue lays the foundation for dramatic events and betrayal subtly, in a way that you can appreciate more when you see them a second time.”

A few technical issues and control quirks occasionally mar the experience, however. “We’ve all read by now about the PS3 install time, but the frame-rate also takes punishment throughout, polluted by Rockstar’s unashamed ambition, with noticeable pop-in in places,” Bramwell warns. “It never once stopped me enjoying myself, though. The only things that did that were the occasional stickiness of cover points when trying to manoeuvre quickly, the continued absence of mid-mission checkpoints (itself only irritating when a mission begins with a long drive, which is rare), and some clunkiness in ladder-climbing and vaulting objects.”

“Otherwise, GTA IV is the 10/10 you were expecting,” Bramwell assures. “Almost everything you do in Liberty City would be good enough to drive its own game, and the best parts would be good enough to outrun the competition, but the reason it works so well is that Rockstar has made a game that requires no patience to play.”

Andy Robinson at ComputerAndVideoGames.com scores GTAIV at 9.5 out of 10. “As an experience, especially a cinematic one, GTA IV is incredible,” he says. “Story-wise, Rockstar’s usual mix of crime, betrayal and truckloads of piss-taking is at full force in an event-filled plotline. It’s easily our favourite narrative since Vice City.”

Robinson describes GTAIV’s protagonist as a balance between the personality extremes of the series’ past. “Unlike the silent anti-hero of III, or CJ’s custom canvas, Niko Bellic has tons to say and a shady past to uncover,” he writes. “Yes he’s a cold hearted killer, but unlike the robots of previous offerings, there are points in the story where his conscience boils to the surface. Underneath he even shows real emotion.”

GTAIV’s dialogue and storyline also benefit from years of tweaking and development. “Voice acting, as always, is fantastic. Non-player characters have plenty to say - especially on car rides to objectives. And they’ll never say the same thing twice (unless you replay a mission),” Robinson praises. “As always, the piss-taking, politically incorrect side of Rockstar’s script is alive, actually more so than ever. IV will have you chuckling more than any other game this year, I reckon.”

“But how does it play?” Robinson asks. “Compared to San Andreas, number IV’s game systems have been improved in a lot of areas. Vehicle handling has been tweaked to feel more realistic (though don’t get too rowdy - it’s not PGR or GT) and the pure thrill of driving around town is more present than ever.”

“Combat is a massive improvement over San Andreas too,” he continues. “The cover system is solid, injecting a level of strategy into gun fights not present in GTA III’s messy lock-on system. You’ll still die thanks to the odd lock-on screw up that has you looking at pedestrians instead of the policeman aiming up behind you, but for the most part it’s a considerably tight system.”

Robinson describes GTAIV as a worthy product that lives up to expectations. “GTA IV has its flaws as a game, like the sometimes problematic auto-aim shooting or the massive difficulty jump when you get to the final ten missions,” he admits. “But as an all-round experience it’s truly, hype aside, a standout experience of gaming in 2008.”

Critics seem willing to forgive Grand Theft Auto IV’s imperfections, awarding perfect scores in spite of noting a variety of minor problems. Many focus instead on praising the title’s expansive, well-realized world and largely annoyance-free gameplay, and as a result, GTAIV is almost universally described as a worthwhile experience and a great value.

 

 

 

 

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