I'm glad I don't make games

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember. Just to give you an idea, my first computer didn't even have a hard drive and I never got bored of playing Tapper for hours. The idea of making video games was what got me interested in programming. The idea of making video games kept me motivated as I made my way through the grueling computer graphics program after my bachelor's. When I hit the job market, I flooded the gaming industry with my resume. Now I'm kinda glad I never managed to get my foot in the door.

I'm sure everyone who works in the gaming industry loves their job. The coolness factor is through the roof, and you have to have an interest in games to begin with. The problem is that there's a big issue with the Quality of Life and the gaming industry. I've been aware of this for quite some time now. I can handle pressure, but it helps to be able to spend time away from the source of pressure. People are expected to work 50, 60, 80-hour weeks "as needed", and "as long as needed".

What REALLY freaked me out and made me post this happened last night. I was chatting on MSN with an internet buddy of mine who happens to be working for a prominent gaming company. To give you an idea, through its games, this company has made the front page of Gamespot several times and will continue to do so for AT LEAST the next two years. Since he was online at 10:30PM, one of the first things I asked him was if he was watching the Oscars. His answer was "No. I'm at work". That's CRAZY.

Like I said, I'm sure that most people who work in the industry have a passion that drives them to endure such conditions. They ARE still human, however. This issue needs to be addressed before someone goes postal. I wouldn't use the word "crisis", but that doesn't mean that nobody else would. Maybe I AM exaggerating, though. I guess I've been spoiled lately by the little things like, ya know, spending time with my family and friends on the weekend.

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Why I trust Gamespot

Reviews of any kind are inherently bogus. Well, MOST of them are. The act of taking your opinion on something and translating that opinion into a numeric score is just plain silly. I've always thought this. Despite that, I really enjoy going on Gamespot, and what do I spend most of my Gamespot-time doing? You guessed it: reading reviews.

They might seem like two conflicting positions, but they really aren't. Translating an opinion into a numeric score is stupid, but that doesn't mean that the text elaborating on that opinion is bogus. Also, the scores that the Gamespot reviewers give their games is usually somewhere between 0.5 to 2 points lower than what other gaming sites give. This makes me take the numeric score slightly more seriously since there won't be as many games ranking in the 9.5 to 10 area that's complete bull.

I'm always amused when I see people in message boards whining about how a given game deserves a better score than what Gamespot gave it. One thing I've found (and like) is that whether or not you agree with the score a game gets, when you read the review, you understand why the reviewer gave the game its score. I disagree with the score Tenchu 4 got, but I understand that the reviewer put most of his emphasis on lack of innovation.

Besides, there are plenty of other things on Gamespot for me to spend some time on. Last year I was practically addicted to their Gamespotting rants, and previews for games I'm interested in will have me visiting that site REAL often. All these factors combined are why Gamespot is the only gaming site I go to.

Ong Bak: A nice breath of fresh air

Last night I went to see Ong Bak with my friend. The commercials had been running on TV for a couple of weeks and had struck my curiosity right from the get go. After having seen dozens of Kung Fu movies and Samurai movies, I was wondering what kind of movies Thailand can come up with. Now that I saw it, I gotta admit it was very refreshing. Choreographed Muay Thai ROCKS!



Overall the movie reminded me of Rumble in the Bronx, but obviously the fights had alot more knees and elbow strikes. Generic goons often went down with one hit, and the fights between people who can take a couple elbows to the head were just plain SICK. Tony Jaa got the chance to show off his tumbling skills in some of the chase scenes. The plot is kinda stupid, but there's so much action that you don't care.

I suggest any hardcore martial arts fan see this movie in theatres if you can, and the other fans can rent it when it comes out.

Tekken 5: Home at last

I bought Tekken 5 today and have fiddled around with it a bit. The transition from arcade to console has gone by rather well so far. I'm glad to see all the customization options still intact and am looking forward to getting as many items as I can. So far I got a "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" thing going on with King (Lei, Yellow tights, Red boots).

Alas, I think it's going to be much longer than even *I* thought before I play T5 in an arcade again. 50% combos left and right are tolerable when you're playing for free, but even at 25 cents a pop, it reduces the game's appeal considerably. Played around with the ports of Tekken 1 and 2. MAN King couldn't do ANYTHING in those games!!

More will come after I've spent more hours playing the game.

All other handhelds can go to hell

This weekend I got my first REAL chance to play with a Nintendo DS. I had seen one in action before, but that never really counted since the DS belongs to my niece and the only game she ever plays on it is The Urbz. On Saturday I got to play the Metroid Prime: Hunters demo on my friend's DS, and the implications were so grand that they didn't sink in until afew days later. The game controls let you use the D-Pad or the buttons to move Samus around, and either shoulder button can be used to fire. The touch screen is used to turn and aim EXACTLY like a mouse would for any FPS on a PC.



This got me thinking about short term and long term applications for this innovation. The Nintendo DS is effectively the first piece of gaming-hardware to feature an input device that can emulate a mouse. This opens the door to a wide variety of possibilities right there. The day might come where we'll see an RTS game that's not on a PC and that's NOT totally shitty. I had gotten used to playing first-person shooters with an analog stick, but the fact remains that a mouse is the best way to aim at a human who's, ya know, trying to avoid getting shot.

Not only can the touch screen be used as a mouse, but it's still a screen, which broadens the horizons even further. I refuse to believe that, three years from now, the only thing being displayed on that screen will be a map. I can't wait to see what game developers will use that screen for once they get used to the concept, and that's the main reason why I want to encourage it. The PSP looks great and all, but it seems like more of the same. Kinda like a "Widescreen Gameboy meets personal media station". The concept of watching a movie on my handheld console is interesting, but TOTALLY incompatible with my lifestyle. Handhelds are mostly useful in two situations: using public transportation and sitting on the can, and I'm not gonna be in either one of those situations for too long. RPGs and strategy games can give me more incentive to use my handheld more, though, but the PSP is hardly going to be the only handheld to offer me that. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to find myself owning both a PSP and a DS afew years from now, but if I had to choose one, DS all the way, baby!

If you have something to say, don't be shy and SPEAK UP. It helps me to know that I have readers.

Proud to be a Tenchu fanboy

Every now and then a gamer will fall on a game that rubs him JUST the right way. I'm talking about the kind of game that he'll enjoy playing even if he's the only one on the planet who likes it, and he'll automatically forgive all of the game's weak points because he just enjoys the game so much. The original Tenchu: Stealth Assassins for the Playstation was such a game for me. Tenchu is a stealth action game (the FIRST 3D stealth game, BTW) taking place in medieval Japan. You play a ninja and spend most of your time running on rooftops, sneaking up on people, and performing stealth kills. I still remember the first time I saw that game in my cousin's basement. In fact, Tenchu was my main motivation for getting a Playstation of my own, as I had been an avid computer-gamer until then.

Over the next couple years I will have finished Tenchu and its prequel (among other games, obviously). After I finished Tenchu 2, I knew I was a fanboy. The game was just so HARD. The levels were huge and the boss fights were frequent AND tough. You could easily spend 30 to 45 minutes inching your way through a huge forest just so a boss can kill you and force you to start the whole thing over. Yet I somehow managed to ENJOY playing through Rikimaru and Ayame's campaigns, and would still recommend the game to anyone... back when people could tolerate PS1 graphics for a couple hours straight.



The third game in the series, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, was another VERY big reason for me to finally get a Playstation 2, and I can honestly say that Tenchu 3 is the best game in the series so far. The addition of the "auto-face" feature made combat so much better that I secretly wished all of my stealth-kill attempts would fail. The same weaknesses that have been with the Tenchu series from the beginning were still there, but as a fanboy, I knew that wouldn't be a problem. I can quote myself telling one of my friends that "the Tenchu series is one of those things where, when the next one comes out, I don't care HOW many bad reviews it gets. I'll get it, I'll finish it, and I'll probably enjoy it".

I must've jinxed the series because, right on queue, the latest Tenchu game got a sub-par review. True to my word, I really don't care. I've read the review, and the main theme seems to be lack of innovation. As Tekken 4, Virtua Fighter 3, and Master of Orion 3 all point out, innovation doesn't always help a series anyway. The Dynasty Warriors series is a great example of a series that's been giving its fans more of the same for quite some time. I haven't touched Tenchu 4 yet for reasons that are of no importance to this blog, but I can't wait. I'm sure there's SOMETHING new besides a new character, and even if there isn't I know I'll enjoy it.