I'm your pusher...

I want to start a fighting game community at work. Well, community isn't the right word considering how small we are, but I eventually want all the people who would potentially be interested (all 3 of us) to spend some time virtually beating each other up when we have time to spare. To get the ball rolling, yesterday I brought my copy of Soulcalibur 2 at work. This is pretty ironic considering how bad I think the game is at its core. I've ranted about how bogus this game is before and my opinion hasn't changed one bit, but I can't deny the facts: SC2 is braindead easy to learn, and even a button masher can LOOK like a pro. It's EXTREMELY rewarding at low level, and that's what gets you hooked.

This was confirmed right away. As soon as one of my coworkers realized what I was playing, he said "Hey! I wanna try!" and I started him off in Arcade mode. He picked Mitsurugi and after he beat his first opponent, he turned to me and said "I have no idea what I did, but it looked awesome."

This is exactly the kind of reaction I want. If all goes well, I'll have the two other potential players hooked enough on SC2 so I can give 'em the old "If you like SC2, you'll LOVE this game." In my ideal scenario, by September we will have gotten comfortable with Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, Tekken 5, Marvel vs Capcom 2 (in any order), and our preferred game will be Guilty Gear X2. Of course, before we can do any of that, I have to get them hooked on the genre itself. For one of them the work is already done since he was really into VF2. We'll see if SC2 will give the other one enough eye candy and low-level rewards to get him into it. I sure hope so.

American Apparel

The other day I saw a report on a Montreal company called American Apparel. Well, it's not really a Montreal company since it has stores everywhere around the world, but it IS run by a Montrealler. The idea is really simple. They want to manufacture and sell high quality clothes 100% sweatshop free. Their main factory is in Los Angeles, and if I remember correctly, all their factory workers make double the minimum wage. This is definitely the kind of enterprise I want to encourage. If they stay true to their mission statement, I might end up spending a significant amount of money there.

Double-time!

I finally got around to buying a Nintendo DS on Thursday. With it, I bought two games: Mario 64 DS, and Feel the Magic. I'm finally gonna get my chance to play (a remake of) what is arguably the best Mario game in franchise history (so I've heard). I gotta admit that the second title was a bit of a splurge, but I noticed that all DS games are 30$ (Can), so how bad could the move be? It turned out to be surprisingly fun. The gameplay has quite a bit of variety compared to a dedicated platformer like Mario 64.

I really, really can't wait to see what kind of ideas game designers will have in a couple years to make use of the touch screen. I would love for Hideo Kojima to take a shot at the Nintendo DS too. This is the guy who took a seemingly straightforward portable console like the GBA and said "Hey! What kind of fun things could we make someone do if we slapped a solar sensor on the game cartridge and made a game out of that?" Unfortunately, I've never played Boktai, so I can't say first hand how fun the game is. All I know is that if you give that brain two screens, one of them a touch screen, and a microphone, he could come up with something that'll make gamers everywhere say "Whoa...."

The industry is waking up

Quality of life has been a topic of discussion in the gaming industry for some time now. I've made reference to this myself in a previous rant, but I'm glad to see that the industry is showing sings of waking up. I went to an IGDA meeting last night, and they showed a recording of a speech that was given at this year's Game Developers Conference by Steve McConnell. His speech was about efficiency in the software development industry in general, and that's a very relevant topic for game development.

The main idea is that a bit of overhead at early stages of a project will greatly reduce the effort required to deliver the software towards the end of the project. A nice statistic that I kept in mind is that, in the computer industry, roughly 80% of the effort is invested in unplanned rework for poorly organized companies. Sadly, most companies fall into this category, but at least the awareness of the solution is starting to ripple throughout the industry.

I forget where I read this, but I know that another potential problem the gaming industry might face in afew years is an uncontrolled explosion of game costs. Improved efficiency can counter this potential problem as well. Now I'm under the impression that I entered the industry at the right time, since I never got the chance to get used to bad development practices. If I don't learn things right the first time, at least I can grow with the knowledge that what I'm doing can be improved greatly, and if I ever "become somebody", I can start getting things done the right way.

No respect for beggars

Life in Montreal has completely desensitized me to beggars. In fact, I actually resent some of them. I can't stand people who beg for money in the subway, for example. Every station has at least one music station where people can put a hat on the floor and sing or dance for money. Some of the musicians are actually quite good, but some of them are absolutely terrible. They might suck, but at least the bad singers are exchanging money for a service. Just like squeegee kids. A bad job is still a job, and that in itself is worth some respect. When I'm walking in a subway station, the words "Can you spare some change, please?" are like fingernails on a chalkboard. I just think of the shitty musicians I've heard and think to myself "Move over about 50 feet and SING, damn you! DO something. You're in a subway station!"

Last night I was shooting some pool with my friends, and when we came out of the pool hall, some guy approached us and said he needed some change so he could take the bus. After a moment's reflection, I reached into my wallet and I gave him a bus ticket. He thanked me and asked me if I had a dollar so he could buy some coffee. What kind of an idiot does that guy take me for? Although the bus ticket was well worth it to make that guy look like a fool, it annoys me to have my inherent mistrust of beggars confirmed time and time again.

Afew years ago I went to have a picnic with some highschool buddies of mine on Mount Royal, and as we were walking back to take the subway, a beggar was asking for money so he could buy food. When we offered him our leftovers, he said "Well, I just had a sandwich, I don't wanna eat TOO much!" Begging for food money, but not wanting to eat too much... This confirms that the smart ones don't beg for money on the street. This is why I don't give money to beggars. Ever. And I'm a rather generous person too. I once gave 20$ to a complete stranger for gas money. It was 2am, and his story was so crazy it HAD to be true. And beggars never ask for 20$, it's always change. And after he took my money, he headed straight for the gas station and I saw him talk to the cashier while pointing at one of the gas cans on the wall.

This is another reason beggars annoy me. They make life harder for the honest ones. I'm convinced that, in a typical month, at least a dozen people get stranded in Montreal without any bus money for one reason or another. I'd be very curious to find out how many people who beg for bus money actually want to take the bus. Fortunately, my dad gave me a means of finding out without giving away bus tickets left and right: Ask the guy how much he needs, then say "Gimme watcha got, and I'll give you a bus ticket." I now vow to always have bus tickets on me. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces! I might even offer to sell them a ticket for 50 cents to look even more sympathetic. In fact, next time I see someone begging for food money within walking distance of a supermarket, I might even offer to buy him some food. I WANT to help people. It's just that cash is not an option.

I'm the Mac-Daddy!

Today at work I got a new toy: a smoking hot dual-processor G5 for me to work on. Now I've used many Mac computers before. In fact, back when I worked at IBM I was by far the most competent Mac user in the department (that says more about how nobody over there knew jack shit about Macs, BTW), but today reminded me how rusty I am with Macs. It also reminded me why a portion of the "Mac haters" out there are so resentful: they're not aware of their habits and blame the system for their inability to adapt. I've covered the same phenomenon for videogames too.

When I was setting up my G5 station, I realized that all my years of Windows use have given me a BAD case of "Control Panelitis". The concept is simple. Pretty much everything technical about Windows revolves around the Control Panel. That's just where you go, and I can understand how hard it is to switch to a new concept once that Control Panelitis sinks its roots into your brain. But I'm still under the impression that, once you know how to do something on both OSes, it'll almost always be simpler on a Mac. In fact my experience today taught me that, whenever you have trouble doing something technical with a Mac, you're probably over-thinking the problem.

A good example is when I was setting up my account. When I was trying to figure out how to make myself an administrator on my machine, I must've stayed in front of the computer, completely dumbfounded, for a good two minutes before I realized that the checkbox was right under my nose. Control Panel habits had me looking for a button that would open another dialog where I'd have to select something from a pull-down menu or something. I was expecting the option to be AT LEAST 3 mouse-clicks away.

Another example is when I tried to figure out where to plug my mouse. I was completely astounded by how short the mouse cable was. I managed to do some jury-rigging to be able to use the mouse, and about an hour later, I remembered that the mouse on a Mac is supposed to be plugged into the keyboard (which makes plenty of sense when you think about it). As you can see, there are still plenty of things I need to learn, but I can't wait to become a power Mac user. Then I'll have some real contributions to make if I ever find myself in another "Mac vs PC" debate. I mean just LOOK at it! Isn't she sexy?

Bye, the Gods...

I finished God of War yesterday. Had I known I was so close to the end, I would've waited before posting my previous rant. I find the game is quite short, but I'm still happy with my purchase. The gameplay is fun enough to warrant a second playthrough, but that won't happen for a while since I got Tenchu 4 yesterday. I haven't played it enough to comment further, sadly...

By the gods!

Last Sunday I went on a mini shopping spree for videogames, and one of the titles I bought was God of War for the PS2. I had seen commercials for this game for a little while and I was under the impression that it was "just another platformer". Then the good comments started coming in and I got curious. Since I knew I was gonna spend a good amount of money on games that day, I decided to make God of War one of the titles I purchased.



Right off the bat I was impressed by the overall feel of the game. The combat system made me feel a bit naive for judging a game by its commercial. Now that I have roughly 8 hours of gameplay under my belt, I can say that God of War is a very solid game. The greek mythology setting isn't the only thing that sets this game apart from the rest, and it's more than just a cheap gimmick too.

The game is peppered with minigames that add variety and strategy. They also make it believable when your character (Kratos) slays a monster that's 5 times his size. For the bigger monsters, you have to beat on him until a red O appears over its head. You then hit circle to engage the minigame that often involves you hitting a button when it flashes on the screen. These button presses make you do things like dodge between the monster's legs as it attacks you, then climb on its back to deliver the finishing blow. The minigames are of a different nature for other monsters. Ripping Medusa's head off involves spinning the analog stick as instructed, for example.



As you progress through the game, you acquire powers, and orbs to upgrade your skills. Upgrading your weapons will reveal new moves that you can use in combat on top of increasing your attack power, while things like Zeus' lightning bolts will let you throw them faster when upgraded. The storytelling seems spot on so far, and they do a good job of pacing the things you learn about Kratos' past. Overall I'd say it was a good purchase, and I'll probably end up going through the game more than once too.

Career Day!

Today was my first day at my new job, and I think things are gonna work out GREAT. Without naming the company, its activities include, but are not limited to, videogames. This isn't my first job as a programmer, but it's the first time I get to use my graphics programming skills for money, so my career effectively started today. All it took was 2 years of hell before the time I spent locked up in the computer graphics lab could start paying off...

The team seems great and I can't wait to start pulling my weight. Great location too. Can't wait to see how much cooler the area will be during the summer. I guess there's no point in rambling on and on about it. Let's just say I'm very very happy right now.

Arcades aren't dead YET!

I hear it every other day: "Arcades are dead. Arcades are dead. Gee it's too bad arcades are dead. Home consoles killed arcades." yadda yadda yadda. While I agree that arcades are dying, they certainly aren't dead yet. They're in bad shape, though. I myself used to go to arcades pretty often, and even I don't feel any kind of attraction to those places anymore. I'm obviously not alone, because I remember having to wait in line to play certain games when I was younger, and the last time I went into an arcade (a couple months ago), the place was empty. I can only talk for the Montreal region, but I've heard people on message boards from various places in the world saying that arcades are dying in their area too.

It's easy to see how home consoles took away from the appeal arcades once had. When the 3D revolution began, there was a period where home consoles simply couldn't compete with the visual quality of games found in arcades. Now they've caught up and are taking money out of arcade-owners' pockets. It doesn't have to be this way. What do you do when your main source of competition catches up with you in certain respects? You focus on the things you can do that your competition still can't.

I know that, in theory, consoles can do everything that arcade machines can, but in practice, MOST arcades will have things that MOST console owners can't do at home. As a fan of fighting games, I can certainly appreciate the "random stranger" factor that arcades provide. Playing against your friends and family help you get better at beating your friends and family. There's very little adapting to do since, after a while, you get to know your competition's habits. The only way to force you to keep adapting significantly is to add more players. This is a somewhat shaky marketing tactic since most people don't care enough. In fact, it's pretty safe to say that "stick and button" games have been killed by their console cousins. It was easy for me to wait for the console release of Tekken 5 before getting into the game, and I LIKE Tekken. And I LIKE playing against random strangers. Imagine how easy it was for the REALLY casual gamers.

What arcades need to start doing if they want to survive is focus on games that aren't stick and button games. Racing games in general are an easy example. Shooting games, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks and Percussion Freaks are all valid examples too. Sure you can play these games at home, but most gamers will get a shallow experience compared to the arcade versions. I know alot of console owners, and only one of them has a pair of DDR dance mats. He also has a pair of fake guitars he can plug into his PS2. Besides that, no one I know owns a racing wheel, or a gun for consoles. Even among console owners who DO own steering wheels or guns, I'm sure very few of them have any type of force feedback.

Another potential benefit is that music games appeal to women more than other types of games that are usually found in arcades, so you can double your potential market just by pushing those games. The inclusion of women in gaming has been a recurrent theme recently in Game Developer Magazine, so that might be why that came to mind. The moral of the story is that arcades everywhere are battered, dazed and backed up against the ropes. That doesn't mean they're dead. If you're gonna go out, go out swinging!