MGS 2006

I just woke up from the best night of sleep I've had in weeks. I attended the Montreal Game Summit afew days ago. I must say I'm really excited to see the direction the industry is heading in. There were alot of talks on the subject of emotion in games. Not only to make believable in-game characters, but also to invoke them in the player (food for thought: It's virtually impossible to invoke the feeling of victory without frustrating the player first). There has been alot of work going on in that direction over the last few years. Having heard him speak for the second time, let me say that Ken Perlin is a giant among men, and I hope he stays where he is for a long time. He has the power to be a very positive influence on alot of people.

That being said, I wasn't particularly star struck by the presenters themselves, but I will have to get used to the feeling of just being surrounded by a bunch of game industry professionals all day, bumping into people I've worked with and studied with. It's also a bit weird to be reading things on gamasutra covering talks where I was sitting in the 3rd row. I must say I used alot of self-restraint listening to high ranking executives from EA and Ubisoft talking about how players want good graphics, knowing that all I had to do was raise my hand to speak my mind.

A game that was talked about alot on the subject of emotions in games is Facade, an interactive experiment that was made by a very small group of people. It's full of bugs, but it's so novel that you can't help but play through it a couple times. The premise is that you're invited over to some old friends' apartment for drinks. You didn't know this going in, but their marriage has been in deep shit for years, and they're breaking up tonight. You're stuck in the middle, watching them argue, able to speak at any time with the keyboard. I still haven't managed to settle their differences, but I've become attached to the characters enough to keep trying.

I also had the chance to check out Excite Truck on Thursday. I must say I think the Wii controller does the job rather well, responding to very subtle motions. I can't wait for this kind of technology to become the standard it deserves to be. The analog stick is really just an extra layer of abstraction that should be on its way out of the spotlight. Motion sensing just might be the answer to the "camera not where I want it to be" problem, but time will tell. I just love Nintendo's strategy of broadening the audience, and I hope they've truly learned their lessons from the past.

Used Games

I read a Gamasutra article this week where a bunch of game industry professionals share their perspectives on the issue of used games. The very fact that I finished reading it the same week I started shows how much I liked it. There are some real pearls of wisdom in there (that "Anonymous" guy is a genius! But I think he's a bit schizo). If you only read one page, make it page 4. Although page 5 starts with a nice lengthy rant from someone who worked in a Gamestop.

Personally, I prefer to buy my games new. I prefer to but everything new! New means more protection. If there's something wrong with it, like a missing manual or a scratched disc, I could march back into the store and shout things like "What kinda business IS this?" if I wanted to. I worked in retail so I'd never shout, but I could just switch it for another new one without a fuss. I also like encouraging developers. I've gone out of my way to buy games new, just because I was afraid of wanting to get it after it gets discontinued. We love Katamari is the first example that comes to mind. I didn't want it that much when I bought it, and after I made sure it worked I didn't touch it for a while.

On the other hand I'm a firm believer in the right to resell. I don't think it's a basic human right, but it's as good as one. Like the right to get pissed drunk. I love dumpster diving! I do it whenever I have enough time in a place where there's a discount dumpster. I do this based on the assumption that all the games in there are crap. But while I'm flipping through all those 5 year old sports games, the other games I find will either be crap, or really odd titles with niche appeal. There are alot of games that I never would have touched had it not been for the used games market, like Getting up. I found Boktai as a complete fluke in some flea market. I had been wishing I could play that game for months. Sometimes I'll find successful games I just never had the chance to buy. This is the fate that awaits every game that's released, because the industry's business model doesn't recognize games as the art form that they are!

I can understand why the corporate execs at EA and Ubi, as well as their stock holders, don't like the idea of people making millions of dollars off of "their" products (Intellectual Property laws are a joke IMO), but if you want to keep making profit, figure out a way to make your product available forever. With 10 mouse clicks or less, I can order every Charlie Chaplin movie ever. I don't know who owns the rights, but he'll get his cut. I bought Guilty Gear XX on eBay because it was discontinued by the time I wanted to buy it. The only reason I haven't played Rez yet is because my only two options to get it are eBay, and piracy. That game just didn't sell enough to have a shot at being in a discount dumpster near me. It was released 4 years ago.

I think it's a shame that so many people let themselves get screwed over by selling their games when they know how much more they'll be resold for. I understand how there are plenty of reasons someone would do it, though. I resold my copy of Splinter Cell to partially finance my purchase of Viewtiful Joe. I don't think the ones who do the reselling are particularly nice people, but until games are available forever, just like books and movies and music and maybe even television someday, I'll do as much dumpster diving as I can. And if games become available forever, I think the stock holders would be surprised how many games just start generating cash for them again. Word of mouth is powerful!

Lynx

I'm watching TV after a long day at work (things are gonna be crazy for a while). I just decided that I'm gonna wait for whatever revamped Wii Nintendo will release months after the Wii launch. I hope I have the patience to actually DO it.

I haven't played videogames in weeks. I'm reading alot on the bus/subway nowadays. I don't really have anything to say right now, so here are some links:

• An article on the rise of Nintendo (they had alot of foresight before they started getting arrogant).
• Another escapist article ("Should games be fun?") I haven't even finished yet. It ponders on the link between gaming and fun. I've always been fascinated by the psychological impacts of games.
• Gamasutra's Top 10 most important RPGs of all time. All I know is I agree with the #1 spot.
• A Sirlin rant on the far future of games.
  

Football fever!

Well, it's Monday night and I'm glad the NFL football season is here. Monday Night Football is a good show to blog to. Anything that doesn't make me laugh and that I can follow without watching the TV screen is OK I guess.

Anyway, I've been playing up a storm since my last post. Not as much as I used to in my younger days, but still quite alot. Both indoors and out, as I finally got around to buying a DS Lite. Now my old DS is a dedicated alarm clock, and I can play all my single-card multiplayer games with non-DS owners too! I'm not sure two-player math drills will be very popular with the guests, but I'm sure Big Brain Academy can offer some surprisingly fun moments.

I've also been doing some more diving in the discount bins while riding out my PS2 and Gamecube. The game that's taking up most of my gaming time right now is The Warriors. This game scratches me RIGHT where I itch! I've been waiting for a good 3D brawler since the early PS1 days. And I don't know how they do it, but Rockstar has a real knack for making characters that are fun to interact with. The fighting engine is rather simplistic, but offers just enough potential variety to keep me entertained. I like the way the grappling is open-ended enough to make me feel like I'm being creative at times. I think that's a very important feeling to instill in the player.

I knew that game wouldn't disappoint. The Warriors was the carrot dangling on a pole that I used to push myself through Dirge of Cerberus. What a stinker! This is the perfect example of how when you try to do too many things at once, more often than not they'll all suck. You're basically running down a hallway shooting everything that moves. That's the game. Sometimes the hallway looks like rooftops, sometimes the hallway looks like a forest, sometimes the hallway looks like the inside of a house, but that's all it is. That, and a bunch of frequent, long cutscenes that do a better job of showing you all the cool things you CAN'T do in this game. The gameplay was just enticing enough to keep me going. Barely. It DID make me realize something interesting about hand-eye interaction in shooters that ended up helping me on the shooter I'm working on now. So just for that, and the myriad of unlockables I'm glad I own it, but it'll be a while before I play it again. A LONG while.

OK I've ranted enough, so here's a quick list of the other games I'm playing right now:

• Pikmin 2
• Super Monkey Ball 2
• Magnetica
• Advance Wars (felt like breaking it out again)
  

SPIN those balls!

Reposting this entry. Originally posted February 24th 2005. I added some stuff at the end.

Warning: This article may contain afew childish puns. I didn't write it yet, so I don't know.

Programming can be a stressful task. I've often said that debugging a program is one of the most frustrating things you'll ever, ever do. That's why I bought a pair of chinese stress balls (also known as Jingluo balls) several years ago while I was still studying. For those of you who don't know, Jingluo balls are meant to be spun around in your hand. The sensation you get while spinning the balls is rather soothing.



The reason I never played with my Jingluo balls is because they make a ringing noise when you spin them. They sound a bit like church bells, only much softer and at a higher pitch. I was always concerned that spinning my balls might bother those around me, and I didn't want to transfer my stress onto others, so my balls basically sat around in my room collecting dust for the next couple years. I finally decided to bite the bullet and start playing with them last week, and I must admit I'm amazed at the results so far. I also read this article on how to play with jingluo balls, which convinced me to make a habit of this right away.

Playing with jingluo balls has a ton of short, mid, AND long term benefits. It develops finger strength AND dexterity, which is probably why some martial arts instructors recommend Jingluo balls to their students. They give your forearms a surprisingly intense workout. I'm fortunate enough to be able to play with my balls for several hours a day, so I know this firsthand. After a couple days, something as simple as using a mouse, and scrolling with the mouse wheel would flex subtle muscles in my forearm that I was never aware of before.

What's surprising is that, after a while, the workout spreads all the way up to your shoulders and into your back. Every morning I wake up with sore muscles and it feels GREAT (people who work out will understand). I gotta admit that the first day I woke up with a sore back, I was kinda worried. On the chart below, the only muscles that haven't been exercised by my Jingluo balls are the red muscles of the lower back.



I'm thinking that the position of your arm when you spin the balls determines what part of the back is exercised, but enough about short term physical benefits. Playing with Jingluo balls also makes you more alert mentally. I've noticed I have even better balance and footwork. Long term benefits are of a preventive nature. Jingluo balls prevent arthritis and Alzheimer's disease. Basically, all of the theory behind accupuncture can be applied to Jingluo balls to, except you replace the needles with a perpetual massage. The article I referred to at the top is a nice resource for learning more about the benefits of Jingluo balls (sadly, there aren't many sites on the web that tell you anything beyond the OBVIOUS).

I also started teaching myself to play the guitar last week, and I think that playing with my balls has been a great help to get used to switching between chords quickly (something I still haven't gotten the hang of just yet). All in all, making a habit of spinning my Jingluo balls is one of the best decisions I've made in this young year, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

You got something to say? Don't be a stranger and post a comment!

Update: I've been playing with my balls for about a year and a half now on a semi-daily basis. I've reached a point where I can spin 4 balls in one hand (4th on top of the other 3), both directions in both hands. I can also spin them plam downwards, balls seperate. I can definitely vouch for the physical and mental benefits you gain by doing this. The spinning of the Jingluo balls WILL reach the muscles of your lower back after a while. And one thing I never mentionned because it takes a bit longer to set in is a greatly increased sensitivity in my fingers. It's a nice mix to have both the sensitivity to know how much pressure to apply, and the control to apply EXACTLY that pressure when grabbing something... or doing anything else with your hands, for that matter.

Hot and Humid

Today was a hot, humid, smelly and sticky day in Montreal. I don't think I've ever seen anything this bad. It was hot and humid enough to make breathing seem like a chore at times. Just to give you an idea, on my way home from work today there was a delay in the subway. I pulled out my DS to help pass the time, and when I opened it, there was mist on both screens! I had to wipe them off before getting to my game. Right then and there I knew I was going to write a blog entry tonight.

I noticed I'm slowly turning into a bargain bin shopper. I've felt the need to give my game collection a burst of new blood, yet the fact that I pay rent now pretty much eliminates new releases. I got myself a copy of Getting Up for 20$. The game is fun enough to keep me playing it so far. The tagging you do is more of a premise to give the platforming purpose. The controls are similar to those of the Prince of Persia games. The main difference is that Trane (the main character) can't run on walls.

I also got around to starting a game of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. The gameplay seems fun. I hope the dungeons don't get too repetitive, because I'm starting to get the hang of the fighting mechanics and I like them alot. The fact that anyone has to charge up to pull off anything other than a simple attack makes for fun "hit and run" style fights.

I hope to get into more detail for both of these games, but for now I'm gonna check out. This laptop is getting hot and the Colbert Report is on.

Sweet, sweet July...

Well this is my first blog entry from my new apartment. I've been pretty busy setting it up recently. Things are going great at work, which means I'm just busy enough to feel alive without stressing. I've rediscovered a nice little piece of geek entertainment called speed runs. This is where a player tries to blaze through a game from start to finish in as little time as possible. Examples of stuff I've watched include Metroid Prime done in 1 hour 4 minutes, and a personal favorite of mine, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, done in 43 minutes. A more extreme example is Morrowind in 7 minutes 30 seconds. Obviously they don't unlock any secrets. Or die.

In other news, the Gamefaqs message boards continue to provide me with occasional jewels of entertaining reading. It's enough to make me wanna start a series called "Senseless quotes from Gamefaqs".

And now for afew links:

• The Escapist (web magazine)
• Machanima (in-engine movies made with various games)
• A bunch of animated gifs of Zinedine Zidane's mighty headbutt.
  

"These controls are making me suck!"

Reposting this entry. Originally posted March 24th 2005.

I think the main appeal of videogames is they give you the impression that you can easily do things you can't necessarily do. Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Freaks were the two games that helped me reach that conclusion, but the same is true for pretty much EVERY non-puzzle game. Through videogames, one can become an expert sniper, a professional basketball player, a stealthy secret agent, or even a martial arts expert. The interactive nature of videogames makes it relatively easy to get the false impression that you can actually DO all the crazy things you get to do virtually. I myself am rather confident that, on a motorcycle, I could survive at least 10 minutes driving into incoming traffic. Fortunately for everyone, even if I HAD a bike, I'm not stupid enough to test that theory. Another fortunate reality is that MOST people have common sense, making incidents where people try to imitate videogames (or any other media for that matter) a rarity.

There seems to be another much more frequent issue related to the simulated skills people can instantly gain through videogames: the assumption that, if you can play ONE game well, you can instantly play any other game of the same type just as well with no learning curve. I find this phenomenon to be an expression of arrogance. You run into this kind of thing frequently on gaming message boards. Players will complain about poor controls bogging a game down, and their main justification is that they've played other similar games and that the controls are different. A good friend of mine illustrates this phenomenon PERFECTLY. I won't go into detail because he might read this.

After I finished RE4, I started browsing through the message boards on GameFAQs and reading some reviews. Reviews on GameFAQs are basically glorified rants, so I'm always going to look for the black sheep. With a popular game like RE4 I didn't feel like reading the opinions of fanboys going "OMG OMG OMG! BEST GAME EVARR!!" I'd rather read the reviews with poor scores so I can see if I agree with the reviewers' reasons or not. Auron255's review illustrates my point almost perfectly. Here's a quote:

I've experienced many many deaths in this game (72 to be exact), and only about 10 of them are actual legitimate deaths, where my demise was brought about by my own lack of skill and not the game's (for lack of a better word) suckitude.

It's as if the inability to adapt to how another game is played DOESN'T show lack of skill. It's not MY fault I died, it's the GAME'S fault. Something tells me that this guy has played dozens of games that gave him the impression he's a shooting GOD. I don't want to single him out either because I KNOW he's not alone. People like this seem to forget that any self-respecting company will have employees that work full time just to make sure their games are playable. When a game ships, you know that all the beta testers managed to finish it, and when it gets reviewed, you can easily assume that the reviewer finished it. What do all these people have that you don't? Nothing. Get over yourselves and ADAPT! That's what humans do best.

It's one thing to dislike the controls in a game. It's another to blame the controls for your failure. Metroid Prime is another example. Some people had alot of trouble accepting that a first person shooter would have a "free look button" instead of the popular dual analog scheme. In my humble opinion, considering the Gamecube controller, and the fact that you have 4 visors, and 4 weapons, the controls couldn't have been any better. Yes you need to get used to it, but once you learn how to use the lock-on button, there's no real NEED for the dual analog scheme. I tip my hat to the people at Nintendo for making that work in this day and age.

I'm not saying that all commercial games have adequate controls. There ARE some poorly designed games out there with TERRIBLE controls. The thing is, when such an instance happens, the majority opinion will be that the controls suck. I also want to point out that majority opinion is a valid reference for games. I'm sure there are people out there who find that human feces emanates a rather pleasant smell, but majority opinion says they're wrong. The bottom line is that if you're having lots of trouble with a game, and you seem to be the only person who dislikes the controls, deal with it. Adapt. Don't be a gaming robot who thinks he can copy/paste his skills into any game he wants. It's not the controls. It's you.

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Turbo-blog

This post isn't gonna be very informative. Just a sign of life to announce things to come. I'll be moving by the end of this week and my access to the outside world will be a little shaky for a while.

Plenty of good things to look forward to. I'm having a great time at work, and I've finished Castlevania DS afew weeks ago. Now I'm back into Super Princess Peach.

I also purchased Big Brain Academy. The games are more interesting visually than Brain Age hands down (BBA actually has COLOR!). The two games definitely complement each other well. I think this is the birth of a new genre. Until enough people agree on a better name, I dub thee "Brain Training Games"!

And now it's off to bed for me. See you soon (enough).

Lil' Nintendo Rant

I've been reading up on the Wii forums on Gamefaqs recently. I'm surprised by the small number of fanboys and trolls present there. Then again, I don't spend much time reading there. Still, some comments I read made me wanna post a link to this article I stumbled upon afew weeks ago. The author might be clearly making fun of fanboys, but the FACTS about Nintendo he states in there make perfect sense to me.

Today I learned that the WiiConnect24 service that'll allow you to download a MASSIVE chunk of gaming history onto your Wii will also offer some independent games, not unlike Xbox Live on the 360. I hope this is a sign of future benefits for indie gaming. Though I had felt it for a while, Costikyan's article "Death to the Game's Industry" was what really made me understand how and why independent movements in art usually spring most of the new ideas (Would you like to know more?).

Speaking of new ideas, even though Nintendo fanboys tend to give Nintendo a little too much credit for its past innovations, there's just no denying the amount of things console gamers take for granted that were started/standardized by Nintendo. Here's a quick list:

• D-Pads (Popularized by the NES, Sega made it out of the gate just behind)
  
• Shoulder Buttons (Started with the SNES. Sega quickly shouts "Me too!" afterwards)
• Analog Stick (Standardized by the N64. Sony shouts "Me too!")
• Rumble feature (Standardized by the N64. Sony shouts "Me too!")
• Motion detection (2/3rds of the "next gen" consoles will have them. Microsoft will probably follow. Announced by Nintendo months before Sony could... well... you know.)