Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Video Game Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics have been going for a few days now, and it's difficult not to stop and take note of the athleticism and single-minded dedication of the participants. At the Olympic Games sports are elevated somehow, from a pleasant diversion to an ancient struggle of man versus man, and man versus nature. Yet not all sports are created equal -- I'm looking at you, handball. So maybe the Games need an infusion of new sports. But how to choose among the hundreds of sporting events in the world, some more reputable than others -- I'm looking at you, cheese-rolling.

Well, since this is a video game blog, you can probably guess where I'm going with this. Yes, video games can be the inspiration for a new slate of Olympic sports. And why not? Olympic sports have been the inspiration for many video games: Nagano Winter Olympics '98, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, etc. It's time for some reciprocation.

And so, without further ado, I present the Olympic (Video) Games.


5. Super Dodge Ball
from
Super Dodge Ball

Super Dodge Ball, 1988

How is this not an Olympic sport already? I think people would pay top dollar to see their countrymen hurl giant rubber balls at opposing players. Plus it would require speed, stamina, strength, and a good amount of team strategy. Would this Olympic sport follow exactly the rules of the NES game Super Dodge Ball, where players can be hit multiple times before they're declared "out"? I'm not sure. I'll leave that up to the IOC.


4. Skydiving
from
Wii Sports Resort

Wii Sports Resort, 2009

OK, so skydiving would present a few more logistical headaches than most Olympic sports. As in Wii Sports Resort, contestants would attempt to link hands as they're falling through the sky. I imagine judges would award points based on style, duration of linkage, level of difficulty, creativity, etc. This would be the team competition. But there could also be an individual competition, where skydivers try to maneuver themselves through floating rings. Of course the Olympics will need floating ring technology. How about it, science?


3. Monkey Race
from
Super Monkey Ball

Super Monkey Ball, 2001

Frankly, I think the picture above demonstrates the necessity of Monkey Race as an Olympic sport, but here's my pitch anyway. Modeled after the SEGA game Super Monkey Ball, in which a foursome of adorable primates rush through levels in enclosed spheres, Monkey Race would feature other adorable primates -- this time, humans -- racing against each other and the clock to push their spheres over grass, concrete, water, whatever! Alternative plan: gymnasts are placed in monkey balls as punishment for not landing that triple twist punch front, which, to be honest, was pretty routine.


 2. Tetris
from
Tetris

Tetris DX, 1998

One of the most recognizable and beloved video games in history, Tetris, would make a pretty darn good Olympic sport if you ask me. Athletes would need quick thinking and deep focus to achieve high scores in Tetris, as tetrominos fell from above at an increasingly fast pace. The completed lines at the bottom of the board couldn't be digitally erased as in the original video game, so maybe they could just lower into the floor or onto a conveyor belt. I don't really know. I'm a gamer, not an engineer!


1. Mario Kart Racing
from
Mario Kart series

Mario Kart 64, 1997

The Olympics organizers might want some extra emergency staff nearby for this one. It's Mario Kart Racing, based on the insanely popular Mario Kart series. A total of eight racers (sorry Mario Kart Wii) compete on a variety of courses to win the grand prix. But it's not just the best racer who prevails, but also the shrewdest strategist, as all players can pick up offensive and defensive items from "item boxes" scattered throughout every course. Note: this may require relocating future Olympic destinations to banana-rich countries.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Deus Ex

The best PC game...EVER.

Deus Ex, released in 2000.
There are thousands of computer games in the world, but the odds of one better than Deus Ex are astronomical. It's that good. Here is a game that excels on all levels -- presentation, graphics, play control, sound, and, most importantly, gameplay. Here is a game that transcends the typical video game boundaries, and charts a new course for interactive art. Here is a game so brilliant that it makes other top 50 games look almost insignificant. Deus Ex is the best computer game of all time. It just might be the best video game of all time.

Deus Ex takes place in a dystopian not-to-distant future. Many of the world's nations have placed their support behind UNATCO -- the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition -- to combat terrorism around the globe. Players take control of rookie UNATCO agent J.C. Denton, a nanotech-augmented operative. Along with his brother and other UNATCO agents, J.C. is tasked with taking down a terrorist group called NSF. Everything is not what it seems, however, and soon enough J.C. is thrust into a much larger and more sinister plot. It's safe to say that the story in Deus Ex is one of best ever written. It's unpredictable, for sure -- lots of plot twists -- but also intelligent and thoughtful. There is some serious reflection in Deus Ex on technology, politics, and human nature.

During important dialogue, the camera switches to third person view.

In Deus Ex, choice is everything. As a player, you make choices and then have to live with them. This applies to your tactics -- whether to fight directly or sneak around -- your loyalties, and your upgrades. As J.C. completes missions and tasks, he is awarded money and also attribute points, which  can be used to enhance a menu of special skills. Players who prefer running and gunning will want to invest in rifles, pistols, and heavy weapons. Those who prefer to outmanuever enemies with technology can add points to lockpicking, electronics, and computer. Skills will largely determine how each player reacts to obstacles in the game. In this way, Deus Ex is one of the games most responsible for "emergent gameplay" in video games today. Emergent gameplay defines a scenario where game developers introduce to the player a relatively simple set of rules and frameworks against which the player is encouraged to explore creative strategies, some of which the designers never predicted. In other words, Deus Ex challenges its players to solve problems in many different, imaginative ways.

The skills screen, ranking each skill from "untrained" to "master."

Deus Ex uses the standard WASD plus mouse combination, with weapons/items and nanotech augmentations mapped to the 1-0 buttons and F3-F12 buttons, respectively. The layout works exceptionally well with very few hiccups -- only rarely did I need to inspect the F keys to find the appropriate augmentation. The game makes good use of the keyboard in other inventive ways, namely the ability to hack computers and input user names and passwords. This is certainly one aspect of the game that wouldn't translate well to home consoles.

Where's Catherine Zeta-Jones when you need her?

It's difficult to single out one thing that makes Deus Ex such a superior game because everything works together. Graphics and sound provide an appropriate sense of place and atmosphere, the story and characters provide meaning and direction, and the dynamic gameplay provides constant challenges. What might be Deus Ex's greatest strength is its level design. Each level is perfectly spaced and paced, whether it's UNATCO headquarters on Liberty Island or a night club in Paris.

With so many "game of the year" editions on the market, and with so much hyberbole coming from video game sites and print publications, it's easy to forget what true greatness is. Deus Ex is it. There are only so many best-of-the-best, transcendent video games out there -- I can count my personal list of such games on two hands, and still have fingers left over -- so it's important to spread the word once they're discovered. And the best part is this: you could share this game with a dozen friends, and none will experience it in the same way.

Score: 10





Note: Deus Ex is available for a small price on Steam, gog.com, and GameTap.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Time Flies When You're Having Fun: Part I

Welcome to a new series at DBtC: Time Flies When You're Having Fun.

There are thousands of video games on the market, some better than others, but always one or two that capture our attention and keep it for hours, days, years. This series is a tribute to those special few games that have kept us occupied for more hours than we care to admit. Every few months, a blog contributor will write about the game he or she played more than any other, and why. Sometimes the game is a childhood favorite; other times it has served as a platform to spend time with friends; and still others it is a game that, by design, requires significant time to complete 100%. Whatever the reason, these are the games that we play again and again, while newer or more popular games gather dust. And, more often that not, these are the games that stay with us even after the power is turned off.

Thanks to Aaron R. for his inaugural review.



Ground Zero 
by Aaron R.

"A helicopter roars in from overhead kicking up dust and dirt in a wide radius. You are efficiently hustled aboard. On your way to the dropoff, the Sergeant in command briefly wishes you luck but you can see from the expression on his face that he finds your survival highly questionable. Then before you know it, you are dropped off and the helicopter is gone once more." 
Probably my highest number of hours logged in front of a game of any sort was for a game with no graphics to speak of, aside from the occasional line of colored text or ASCII art. Ground Zero, and its successor Ground Zero II: The Second Coming, were MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), like another classic game Zork ("it is very dark here. you are likely to be eaten by a grue"). To play, you simply pointed your telnet at the correct address and port (what, you never used telnet?) gave your username and password, and then you'd see a huge ASCII mushroom cloud erupt on your screen, line by line.

A screenshot from Zork, one of the earliest interactive fiction games.

This game was the first time I had online "friends" that I had never met. Euthanasia, Randar, Drasnor, Josh. Killing each other over and over for hours and hours. When I got home from school I'd launch my dial-up connection and port in for a few hours every day. The basics of the game were very simple. As described in the code dump for the game on Google:
GroundZero is a completely different way of Mudding. There are no room descriptions or pretty things to look at. If you've played Half-Life or Counter-Strike or Quake you'll feel right at home. The battlefield is generated randomly on boot and packs of gear are dropped by parachute around the top level of the grid. There are two teams, alpha and bravo who fight their way to the lower level of the grid, depress the big red button, and detonate a large nuclear mechanism that wipes everyone out, gives your team points, and restarts the game. Simple, right
A 50x50 grid, with Alpha in the bottom left (0,0) and Bravo in the top right (50,50). Each team has a base that can be entered that is safe from attack, and is guarded by a near-invincible guardian who can shoot you from further than your guns have range to reach. The map is randomly generated each time, so you can never plot the same course through the rooms twice. The game was pure violence and creativity - the points never really mattered, and the game would reset eventually anyways, so you spent your time collecting guns and ammo and armor and trash-talking the other players. Your character would automatically fire on anyone that came within range, so all you had to do was focus on navigating around and keeping your ammo loaded and gear equipped. If you picked up a gun but forgot to type "equip postal rifle/load rifle 9mm" (action, item, sub-item - such as ammo) then you were out of luck. You might find barrels of gasoline lying around...if you wanted, you could push all the barrels into a single room and lay the mother of all traps. The offending party would see the following upon entering the room:

A burned-out hospital (17, 19)
You enter the room and see:
a barrel of gasoline (15)
a claymore mine

A screen capture from Ground Zero II.
What they would see next is the screen announcing their death while they are teleported back to their team's base. Examining the map in your base would show that the squares upon which you have been standing have been rendered aflame and inaccessible to other players until the flames died down. Remember how I said the base guardians were near-invincible? They can only shoot you if they see you and they never leave their spot. Thus, quickly pushing barrels into a pile in or next to their room, then carefully throwing a grenade, might kill them - or at least render the exit to the enemy base an inferno that would light anyone exiting that base on fire. Another favorite tactic for mass destruction: amassing a huge inventory of grenades, dynamite, and C4. Wait for someone to find and attack you. Just before your death, type the command "pull all" to pull the pins on every item of explosives you are carrying for the ultimate in kamikaze.

My parents would occasionally marvel at the speed at which the game goes by. Lines of text scroll by almost faster than you can read, and you type commands (especially movement: n, w, s, e, up, down) at blinding speed. Combat becomes a race to see who can quickly navigate the dangerous rooms while avoiding traps like dead-end rooms or grenades thrown onto gasoline barrels, while reloading or calling in airstrikes or an evac helicopter by doing nothing but typing commands rapid-fire. After enough kills you'd get a title like [MERC], [HUNTER], or [BADASS]. There were only a handful of [BADASS] players, but they were granted special abilities, the most unique of which was to become death incarnate. If they entered the room with you, they had a small percentage chance to become death. You'd see this:
NAME's eyes roll back into his head as his weapons drop from his limp fingers. A dark aura rises up around $m and the world seems to be perfectly still, perfectly peaceful. A low quaking sound begins to form, but from where you're not sure. It seems to be coming from all directions as it grows louder. NAME's eyes snap open. They are calm, deadly, and devoid of humanity. NAME's movements are a blur. Faster than thought you find yourself face down on the ground, gasping for air through lungs that you no longer have. NAME HAS BECOME DEATH! 
Of course, you were killed instantly. If you had a huge number of deaths, you would get ranked [JSOH] for JOSH, a spectacularly incompetent player who nevertheless stuck through. As the game would progress, after enough blood had been shed, an announcement would come that the door to the second level had been opened, the "down" (the only spot on the map where you could go down). It was not announced where it was, however, and each team had to race to locate the down on the grid. Once located, you'd communicate it over your team chat and your team would flood into the second level. This smaller level, 25 x 25, had the objective of the game: the big red button. Pressing it would initiate a countdown clock to nuclear destruction of the entire map. The team that had pressed the button would win, but the other team could locate and de-activate then re-activate the button to start the clock again with them in control. Of course there was the small matter of the NPCs, the button guardian and a disgruntled postman, both of whom could easily kill you.

I haven't thought about this game in a long time, and typing this all out makes me incredibly nostalgic. The lines above I pulled straight from the code, but there is no longer an active server available. I think why this game connects to me so much is that it was really the first social game I played. This was the first area outside of school and my normal life where I could immerse myself in a game world. The violence, frankly, was a secondary thing. The other team was your enemy, but all the players on that team had been your teammates the night before, and would be again later. This perpetual world that I could log in to and interact with was a huge draw - and this was early on in the development of multiplayer games, still in dial-up territory. It wasn't until years later that games like Counter-Strike would become popular, but even then you were always playing with a randomized cast of characters (unless you had a clan or something). With Ground Zero, no clan required, I would always know that my friends would be online.

The other reason I liked this game was the creativity involved. The coders were actively playing - problems could be fixed by the next day. Good ideas could be implemented (how tanks came about). Creative thinking was rewarded (pushing a bunch of barrels in one room and then mining the hell out of it). Fun things could be attempted, like making a line of barrels to wall off an entire area of the map in fire (which was of course represented on the map by little [F] markers). Anything you could type out or throw together had a chance of working, and the other players appreciated ingenuity. I don't think I've played a game since that had the same combination of variables, and nothing will ever compare to coming home from middle school, jumping into a helicopter, and joining a raging battle with my friends rendered entirely in text.

So yeah, I miss that game =P

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Best Buy Summer Gaming Blowout

Best Buy is throwing a "summer gaming blowout" sale with lots of Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games on sale for $15 or less. The sale starts today and runs until July 28.

$14.99 Games
Gears of War 3 (Xbox)
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (Xbox/PS3)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Xbox/PS3)

$9.99 Games
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Xbox/PS3)
Just Dance 3 (Wii)
inFamous 2 (PS3)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox/PS3)
Dragon Age II (Xbox/PS3)
Madden NFL 12 (Xbox/PS3)
SOCOM 4 (PS3)

$4.99 Games
Pilotwings Resort (3DS)
Metroid: Other M (Wii)

A number of accessories are also on sale.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Wizorb

You're a wizard, Cyrus!
 
Indie developers tend to have a lot more creative freedom than the larger gaming companies. With less money involved, and therefore less risk, independent developers can experiment with genres and art direction that would otherwise be ignored by bigger developers. Take Wizorb for example. Can you imagine Activision or Electronic Arts investing in a game with antique graphics where players slide a paddle back and forth across the screen?

Based on screenshots from the game, it's easy to assume that Wizorb is one part Breakout clone and one part old-school RPG. But it's actually about 90% Breakout, 10% RPG. Paddle and ball mechanics make up the core of Wizorb, with RPG trappings like spells, item shops, dungeons, and needy villagers filling in the gaps. Players control Cyrus, a heroic wizard who transforms himself and his wand into a ball and paddle in every stage, bouncing back and forth to defeat monsters and free the land from a mysterious curse. There isn't much of a story to Wizorb, apart from what's hinted at in conversations with distressed villagers. The whole affair is very lovingly built on the foundation of NES era role-playing games -- clichés and questionable translation included. What else would you expect from a company called Tribute Games?



Wizorb is a forgiving paddle game. Tutorials are built into the first few stages of the game, and the overall difficulty level gradually rises over the course of 60 stages. The game is also, surprisingly, non-linear. Players can use keys, switches, and glyphs to unlock doors and explore new areas. Stages with branching paths, along with the ability to replay stages for high scores and "perfect" ratings, give Wizorb a healthy replay value. The game may be short, but it can be played again after the story ends.

Light role-playing elements are sprinkled throughout Wizorb.

The graphics in Wizorb might appear laughably outdated, but they match perfectly the style, tone, and overall presentation of the game. In any event, the graphics are secondary to gameplay, which is where Wizorb earns its high score. From such simple collision mechanics -- a ball bouncing off a paddle -- Tribute has made a fun, frenzied, and unexpectedly strategic game. Through the clever (and timely) use of spells, upgrades, and good old-fashioned geometry, players can determine whether they win or lose.

Score: 8.5


Note: Wizorb will be available on the Playstation Store starting July 24. The game is already available on PC, Mac, Linux, and Xbox Live Arcade.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Secret of Monkey Island

It's hard out here for a pirate.
 
As someone who's played console games all his life, I've not only missed out on a lot of computer games, but also a lot of genres. Real-time strategy (RTS) games and adventure games, for example, are rarely produced for home consoles. But now I'm making up for lost time. After playing StarCraft two years ago, I hold RTS games in high esteem, and look forward to playing more. And now, after playing The Secret of Monkey Island, I'm anxious to see what other wonders the genre can provide. Monkey Island is quite unlike any other game I've played before. It's a subversive game, to be sure, one that bucks video game traditions, breaks the rules (and the fourth wall), and preys upon the preconceptions of its audience. It's also the funniest game I've ever played by a safe margin.

Adventure games may have gone the way of the Western, but The Secret of Monkey Island retains its relevance today, 22 years after its debut.

Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure game, and the controls couldn't be simpler. If you own a mouse you can play the game. Items are stored in inventory slots, from which they can be used, opened, or combined with other items. If you want to talk to a NPC, you simply click on him or her. If you want to walk down an alley, just click on your desired location. It's a good thing the controls are easy to master, because the puzzles -- which make up the core of Monkey Island -- can be difficult indeed. Overall, however, the game has an appropriate difficulty level. Moreover, the game's hero, Guybrush Threepwood, cannot die (a significant departure from previous adventure games), which allows players to focus on puzzle-solving and exploration.

Yes, that's his real name.

The story in Monkey Island starts off fairly innocuously, but then talks a few strange and hilarious turns. It all revolves around would-be pirate Guybrush who, in his eagerness to become a swashbuckler, finds himself in the middle of a plot involving ghost pirates, health-conscious cannibals, and rubber chickens. It's a purposefully silly, over-the-top story with plenty of sight gags, parodies, and one-liners. In fact, the writing in Monkey Island, along with its brilliant "pirate reggae" music, is the main attraction. I doubt a funnier game exists in the world.

Monkey Island is not a long game, but it may take some time to solve some of its more challenging puzzles. In this way it's similar to Metal Gear Solid, which can be beaten in approximately three hours if one skips all the cut-scenes and knows exactly what to do. Yet even now, knowing all the clever tricks and riddles in the game, I am still drawn back to Monkey Island for an encore.

You'll never find a more wretched hive of SCUMM and villainy.

I hesitate to write more about the plot, characters, and puzzles, because these are all best experienced first-hand. It is sufficient to say that The Secret of Monkey Island is a great, enduring adventure game with inspired puzzles, brilliant writing, and some very memorable music and set pieces.

Score: 9.5





Note: LucasArts released The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition in 2009. This remastered version features updated graphics and voice over work, plus the ability to toggle between the new and original versions of the game.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Top 10 Video Game Swords

When it comes to video game weapons, I have a weakness for swords. Whenever I customize a character in an RPG, I always choose a sword and shield combo, never a two-handed lance or heavy weapon like a mace or axe. There is just something heroic and classic about swords. Since video games are often set in fantasy worlds and revolve around archetypal heroes, swords are ubiquitous. They appear in almost all genres: action, adventure, RPG, strategy, platform, etc. For some games -- Strider for instance -- a single sword is sufficient. For others, like Monster Hunter, dozens are required (and upgradable).

Below please find a list of the ten best video game swords. In an industry dominated by action games, and therefore weapons, there is no shortage of swords. But these ten are among the most unique, the most cleverly designed, and the most full of meaning.


10. 
Alucard Sword 
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night


The Alucard Sword is one of the most powerful swords in Symphony of the Night. A family heirloom from Alucard's human mother, the sword is taken from Alucard early in the game by Death, Dracula's servant. Only later can he reclaim it, along with other heirlooms. The Alucard Sword allows Alucard to warp beyond his enemies and attack from behind.


9. 
Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden


Although there is a host of useable weapons in Ninja Gaiden, the Dragon Sword is the most balanced and dependable. Handed down in the Hayabusa ninja clan, the sword finds its way to hero Ryu Hayabusa at the beginning of Ninja Gaiden. Toward the end of the story, Ryu begins to understand its true potential. The Dragon Sword is carved out of the fang of a dragon.


8.
Heavenly Sword
Heavenly Sword


The Heavenly Blade is wielded by the heroine Nariko, who defies her clan's traditions in order to prevent a ruthless warlord from using its devastating power. Nariko uses the blade in three forms depending on her stance: in "speed stance," for example, the sword takes the form of two separate blades and provides a balance between power and speed; in "power stance" the blades merge together for powerful (but slow) attacks.


7.
Quietus
Hexen


The final weapon obtained by the warrior Baratus in Hexen, Quietus is a longsword bathed in a fiery green aura. Although it is clearly a sword, Quietus is actually a projectile weapon; it shoots five green energy orbs which deal heavy damage to enemies. Like other final weapons in Hexen, the pieces of Quietus must be found before it can be assembled.


6.
Beam Katana
No More Heroes


For an unorthodox game like No More Heroes, one needs an unorthodox weapon. Enter the Beam Katana, one part samurai sword, one part lightsaber. Pictured above is Tsubaki, one of many beam katanas found in the game. They are capable of cutting through most matter and deflecting bullets and other explosive projectiles.


5. 
Valentine
SoulCalibur II


Certainly one of the most unique swords ever imagined, Valentine is the snake sword used by the deadly fighter Ivy in the SoulCalibur series. Valentine is a cross between a broadsword and a multi-segmented whip. It can expand and contract during battle, allowing players who choose Ivy to attack opponents from almost any range.


 4.
Energy Sword
Halo 3


Probably the greatest melee weapon from any first-person shooter, the Energy Sword is a Covenant weapon that is deadly at close range. It has two attacks: lunge, which homes in on enemies once the targeting reticle turns red; and slash, which is similar to a standard melee attack. The energy Sword in Halo 3 has a battery that exhausts after ten kills, so use wisely.


3.
Blades of Chaos
God of War


Rarely does a character's weapon speak so accurately to his personality. In God of War, the antihero Kratos earns the Blades of Chaos from Ares himself. A pair of chained blades that can stretch out to a set distance, the Blades allow Kratos to perform eye-popping and destructive combo attacks. With each level upgrade, the blades change color and shape slightly.


2.
Buster Sword
Final Fantasy VII


At every comic convention, you will spot at least one cosplayer dressed up as Cloud Strife with a huge foam or cardboard sword behind his back. This is a law as immutable as gravity or the speed of light. He's a very popular character, after all, and his Buster Sword may be the most iconic in video game history.

1.
Master Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword


Was there any doubt? Blade of Evil's Bane. Sword of Time. The Master Sword. Whatever you wish to call it, this is the ultimate weapon, an unparalleled sword capable of striking down evil in its physical form. Portrayed as a double-edged longsword, the Master Sword has appeared in several Zelda games since its first appearance in A Link to the Past.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Steam Summer Sale

It's that time of year again. Steam is having a summer blowout sale.

For those who don't know, Steam is digital distribution platform operated by Valve, the company behind Half-Life and Left 4 Dead. There are about 1,500 games available on Steam, from both independent developers and gaming juggernauts. As a recent subscriber to Steam, I can tell you it's a extraordinary service: user-friendly, community-conscious, and affordable. Steam hosts sales every day, many of which subtract as much as 75% of the total cost. But the yearly summer sale is something else entirely. During this sale, which lasts until July 23, Valve offers straight discounts, daily deals, flash sales, and "community choice" sales, which allow Steam users to decide which game goes on sale next. Today's community choice is BioShock 2, on sale for $4.99.

There are also "pack deals" on sale until July 22. These include packages like: Rockstar Hit Collection; Star Wars Collection; Valve Complete Pack; Bethesda Collection; and Super id Software Pack. All are on sale for 50-85% off.

My initial response to the Steam summer sale:

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Video Game Collection Sells for $1.2 Million on eBay

Rare Sega and Nintendo games among 7,000 sold.

A French video game collector is now $1.2 million richer after selling the bulk of his enormous video game collection. The collector, who lives in the south of France, has made a habit of buying and selling video games, but this most recent sale was by far the biggest transaction. The collection featured 22 full sets, i.e., every single game released for 22 separate systems. That's 7,000 games, including some of the rarest games on the planet.

Check out the listing here. It contains photos, descriptions, and listings for almost every game. Many are still factory sealed.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Debunking the Nostalgia Myth

Because I read a lot of video game articles on websites like IGN, Gamespot, Joystiq, and Kotaku, I end up scrolling down to the comments section. I'm not sure why I do this. Because I know what I read there will infuriate me. The comments section is where free speech goes to live, and intelligent debate goes to die. And of course this is true for almost every site, not solely video games sites. Not The Daily Puppy, though. Go figure.

On sites like IGN and GameSpot, sometimes there is a truly enlightening, well-informed, or otherwise lucid comment, but 95% of the time the comments section will make you want to purchase the next ticket on Virgin Galactic and say goodbye to planet Earth forever. It really is incredible the amount and variety of idiocy that one finds in these comments sections and message boards.  Normally the most offensive comments come from Xbox or Playstation fanatics who argue for the supremacy of their system versus all others. But lately I've noticed a new chain of disturbing comments: those referring to nostalgia in a pejorative way. Let me explain more clearly. Commenters have increasingly been leaving text that implies or explicitly states that players who value older, "classic" video games over modern games are simply looking at the past through nostalgic lenses, and that a game released in 1996, for example, will never be as good as a game released 15 years later.

This is just nonsense, but it's a particularly vicious and effective canard because it totally delegitimizes the opposition. It's difficult to hold a debate between two sides when one is characterized as completely irrational.

Here are some examples:

brook44528 • 2 days ago •
except great games are only ever good for their time, they are always going to fall short in comparison to games released a decade later, whether it's down to technological improvement or changes in taste. 
xdevx518 • a day ago
I really hate the elitist attitude that people have towards Deus Ex. Yes it was an amazing game when it came out twelve years ago, but people are looking at it through nostalgia clouded rose colored glasses. The graphics have that gritty "realistic" look that doesn't hold up, the ai is pretty bad, and combat isn't ever exciting. I like and play many games that are 15+ years old still, but that's because I have nostalgia for them, not because they are as good or better than modern games, even if some are still good games. 

Let's break this argument down into its two parts. The first states that gamers who hold aloft classic games do so only by succumbing to nostalgia, to a sentimental attachment to a bygone era. Sentimentality is often difficult to disassemble from memories of the past -- especially one's childhood -- but most gamers know objectively what is good, and what is bad, and judge games accordingly. In the 2008 IGN Readers' Poll, users voted on their top ten games of all time. The result: seven games from the 1990s, three from the 2000s. The yearly average of all ten games: 1998. There is a good reason that games in the mid to late 1990s are consistently named to top ten lists by critics and fans, and it has little to do with nostalgia. Video games reached a creative and artistic peak in the 1990s.

I would also add that the novelty or "newness" of modern games can be just as seductive as nostalgia for older games.

Now, the second part of the argument: modern video games are inherently better than older games because of technological advances. Only in video games, a medium intimately connected with technology, could one even submit such a misguided argument. Well, maybe plumbing too. Although you don't need me to sell you on the benefits of indoor toilets. Now, you don't hear many people arguing that movies are better in 2012 because of 3D technology, or that popular music has finally hit its stride because of auto-tune. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Advanced technology can be used for good or evil; it does not imbue a medium with excellence. There is no doubt that video games have become more advanced technologically, but has that made this generation of games better than those that came before? No. One could argue that developers have brought new ideas and new models of interactivity to modern games, and thus made them better. But the argument that a modern game is better because 15 years of technological advancement separate it from an older game is preposterous. Video games are not firearms or operating systems. Video games are art. Players experience them not only with their eyes.

Friday, July 6, 2012

The World Ends With You

When worlds collide.

In an industry dominated by sequels, reboots, and other unoriginal material, its refreshing to see a game like The World Ends with You. Designed by Square Enix, the company responsible for Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends with You (TWEWY) is an entirely new IP with a unique setting. It's certainly one of the more original role-playing games to come out in the past ten years. For a handheld game, TWEWY is packed with substance, including a mini-game that can be played with friends via Wi-Fi, and lots of post-game content. Its animation is great, its music even better, and its combat system, while potentially troublesome for younger players, is inspired.

Shiki and Neku.
Unlike the fantasy settings of many Square Enix games, TWEWY is set in modern day Tokyo, in the Shibuya shopping district to be precise. The bustling metropolitan essence of Shibuya is well presented in the game, and also incorporated into its gameplay. Elements of Japanese youth culture -- food, phones, graffiti, fashion -- frequently play important roles in missions. The game's heroes are cultural warriors, so to speak. They include Neku, an antisocial 15-year-old who loves his own freedom and nothing else; Shiki, a fashion-conscious teenager; Joshua, a mysterious and somewhat snobby young adult; and Beat and Rhyme, a duo that's equal parts brains and brawn. All have been thrust into a mysterious "game" run by a cabal of "reapers." They have seven days to pass the reapers' challenges, or "face erasure."

Shiki fights above, Neku fights below.
TWEWY is an action RPG. Players control Neku and his parter du jour as they search the various neighborhoods of Shibuya trying to complete missions handed down from the "game master." Some neighborhoods may be inaccessible depending on the day and mission, so Neku and partner must satisfy certain requirements to open gates guarded by reapers. Most often this involves defeating "noise," the main enemy in TWEWY. Attacking (or being attacked by) noise opens up the combat screen; this is where the game really shines. The developers at Square Enix and Jupiter made a bold move by deciding to incorporate the dual screen and touch screen functionality of the Nintendo DS into their combat system, instead of taking a more traditional and safer route. The result is an inspired combat system that plays out in the top and bottom screen, and sometime requires simultaneously button presses and stylus movement.

But Square Enix and Jupiter didn't stop there. They introduced a few more innovations, making use of the DS' internal clock to allow pins (Neku's weapons) to evolve while the system is shut off, and allowing players to change their level before every battle. Now, all role-playing games are about "leveling up," but in TWEWY, players can level down. Using a slider in the status menu, one can lower levels, exchanging health for higher enemy drop rates. This is a brilliant risk vs. reward system that permits players to live dangerously to obtain more money and rarer pins.

After the game is over, TWEWY allows players to experience each chapter of the game again, in order to beat hidden challenges and get answers to some unanswered questions. There's also Tin Pin Slammer, a multiplayer mini-game that can be played with other DS users. Yet even without all the post-game content, TWEWY would still be an amazing and impossibly ambitious portable RPG. Square Enix could easily have chosen to produce another handheld Final Fantasy. Instead it developed a new IP; created a beautiful and challenging story about friendship, memory, identity, life, and death; and broke several RPG conventions in the process.

Score: 8.5

Monday, July 2, 2012

Atari: 40 Years of Fun

The grandfather of modern video games turns 40.

Nintendo deserves credit for saving the video game industry, but Atari deserves credit for inventing it. From 1972 until 1983, when the video game market crashed, Atari defined computer entertainment. Its two greatest successes were PONG, one of the first and most commercially successfully arcade video games, and the groundbreaking home console Atari Video Computer System (later renamed Atari 2600), which laid the groundwork for all modern consoles. Yet despite all its ingenuity, commercial success, and influence on the market, Atari experienced a fall almost as precipitous as its ascent. By 1985 the video game giant was in dire straits: the market crash was a financial disaster; the rise of Japanese consoles created new competition; and Warner Communications, which owned the company, decided to sell. Atari survived for some time after that, actually turning a profit with its third-generation console Atari 7800 (1984-1992). The company released its last system, the Jaguar, in 1993. Despite its advanced technology, the console was a commercial failure. Its discontinuation in 1996 prompted Atari to leave the home video game console for good.

Since 1996, Atari has been structured and restructured, sold and resold. Atari, Inc. is now owned by Infogrames Entertainment, SA, which formally changed its name to Atari, SA in 2009. Most recently, Atari released two apps for the iPhone and iPad: Circus Atari and Centipede: Origins. To honor its fortieth anniversary, the company released an infographic highlighting its major milestones and a promotional video, shown below.

Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari, had this to say:
“Over its 40 years of operation, Atari has become one of the most iconic and recognized brands around the world, responsible for mainstreaming video games with blockbuster franchises including Asteroids®, Breakout® and Centipede®. Today, we aim to keep the tradition alive through new and creative development efforts based on what made us great in our early days – offering our devoted and growing fan base fun but challenging games on mobile and online platforms.”
It's strange to think of Atari, the company that reigned over the so-called "golden age" of video games, making mostly mobile apps.


Interesting Atari trivia:

*Steve Jobs worked as a technician for Atari in 1974.
*Call of Duty publisher Activision was formed by four disgruntled Atari employees in 1979.
*Atari co-creator Nolan Bushnell founded Chuck E. Cheese's.