atypicalgamer

Thanks and farewell for now

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:30:00 +0000

My faithful subscribers may have noticed the rate of posting slow to a trickle recently. I've been dithering about it, but have now decided to let atypicalgamer sleep for a while. I don’t feel able to devote as much attention to the gaming world as I need to make the blog what I wanted it to be.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who's supported me the last six months or so, to anyone who's read the posts or left comments or found anything useful here; and thanks especially to anyone who's bought the book that started the blog. The book is still out there, but for the time being at least, atypicalgamer won’t be updated. Any comments, questions or feedback, as always you can get in touch via my profile page.

Happy gaming, happy 2009.

the atypicalgamer

Holiday buying guide: PlayStation Portable

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Holiday buying guide: PlayStation Portable

This is the final installment of atypicalgamer's weekly buying guides; previous posts cover the DS, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. Note that while I've tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it's worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com.

Sony's first real handheld games machine was always going to be an event, and the PlayStation Portable did not disappoint. Arriving in the West in 2005, it was a stunning piece of hardware, less a handheld gaming device and more a sort of minicomputer, with a price to match. It was soon overtaken in sales by the DS, however, despite offering numerous extra functions.

It has just one screen, but a superb, sharply defined screen – as you’d expect for a machine built as much for watching movies and slideshows as for playing games; the buttons and controls fade out discreetly around it. Originally rather heavily built for a pocket gadget, the third and latest version is much more streamlined.

Should you buy it?

If you want a do-everything gadget (music, photos, video, games), then the PSP is a decent choice. It's an excellent way to watch films on the move, either via store-bought UMD disc, or ripped to a memory stick from your computer, while games look and sound just as wonderful. If that's not enough, then there are numerous attachments you can buy, to convert it to a phone, a GPS system, and even a Sky TV. Despite coming in a number of colours, it’s not huge on child-appeal and that goes for its games, too, although there are now plenty of original PlayStation games to download. It’s a favourite of the hacker community, who have managed to get it do all do all sorts of things it wasn’t designed for.

Summary of pros and cons

+ Games look and sound fantastic

+ PlayStation Store, accessible from the PSP or PS3 or PC (not Mac), where you can download demos and old favourite games from the PlayStation era.

+ Watch movies and other video in astonishing clarity

+ Store and use photos and music files

+ Wireless online play both ad hoc and via the Internet, plus web browsing

+ Remote play - if you’ve a PS3 you can view the media stored on it remotely

- Not so many original games on disc as some other formats

- Hassle of converting your own DVDs to watch on it

- So many functions can seem overwhelming; but you don’t need to use them all

Ten games to buy

1. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

2. God of War: Chains of Olympus

3.Lumines

4. LocoRoco

5. Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

6. FIFA 09

7. Burnout Legends

8. Tekken: Dark Resurrection

9.Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

10. Patapon

Other stuff to consider

Some bundles come with more accessories than others, so check before forking out what you’re buying already. And of course there's a number of official functional add-ons, which you can check out at Sony's site). But you might want some of the following, always checking they're for the right model of PSP.

Hard acrylic case

Additional Memory Stick Duo - it doesn't have to be Sony branded, but check it's compatible with a PSP

AV cable if you want to plug it into your TV

© Kate Berens, 2008

Holiday buying guide: Nintendo DS

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Holiday buying guide: Nintendo DS

This is the fourth of atypicalgamer’s weekly buying guides, covering so far the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. Next time it's the PSP. Note that while I’ve tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it’s worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com.

The original DS, launched in November 2004, entered a market that Nintendo already owned with its various incarnations of the Game Boy. But it managed to overtake even that with a revolutionary double-screened machine accessible to anyone. According to Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo, games had become too difficult for the average person to be able to – or even want to – play. The DS was meant to change all that, mainly through the so-called Touch! Generations games like Brain Training and Sudoku Master. The chunky plastic model was replaced a year later by the current model, the DS Lite, to be superseded next year by the DSi. Its enduring appeal to the younger generation is demonstrated by the fact it comes in a rainbow of colours.

As with the Wii, Nintendo supplemented these titles for new gamers with some old-timer favourites like Super Mario 64 DS; the handheld’s success now means that it gets its own version of many big name games from other publishers too. This doesn’t mean they’re the same (or the same quality) as the PS3 or Xbox 360 version; it’s a good idea to check before buying. Finally, it offers multiplayer gaming, especially easy for short-range “ad hoc” connections.

Should you buy it?

The current DS Lite still plays Game Boy Advance cartridges, but that will be done away with for the DSi, which will have two cameras and an SD slot instead. But if you want multimedia on the go from your handheld, you’re better off with an iPhone or a PSP (see the next post in this series). If you’re simply after the brain training and the games, you won’t be disappointed with a DS.

Summary of pros and cons

+ Suitable for any age group, including inexperienced older and younger gamers

+ Plenty of games to choose from, in most genres

+ Can play Game Boy Advance (GBA) games as well as those specifically for the DS

+ Easy to carry, the clamshell design means it’s protected from inadvertent damage when not in use.

+ Built in WiFi for multiplayer gaming.

- It’s a games machine; if you are looking for an iPod or cameraphone, you won’t get it here

- So many games that it can be hard to find the good amidst the dross

Ten games to buy

1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

2. Mario Kart DS

3. Animal Crossing: Wild World

4. Super Mario 64 DS

5. Elite Beat Agents

6. FIFA 09

7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All

8. Nintendogs

9. Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution

10. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain?

Other stuff to consider

There’s nothing essential, but you might want to buy a carrying case, a spare stylus and some game cases for those tiny cartridges.

© Kate Berens, 2008

Holiday buying guide: Xbox 360

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Holiday buying guide: Xbox 360

This is the third of atypicalgamer’s weekly buying guides. Future posts will cover the DS and PSP; see previous posts for the Wii and PS3. Note that while I’ve tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it’s worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com.

The Xbox 360is now the oldest of the current generation of consoles. As the first “next-gen” machine, offering High Definition gaming, and cheaper than the PS3 was projected to be, it sold out instantly on launch in November 2005, a full year ahead of the PS3 and Wii, its success bolstered by the Xbox Live online gaming service. This PR dream was only tainted by the so-called Red Ring of Death: a serious fault that caused early models of the machine to conk out with their normally friendly green lights turning red, leading Microsoft to issue an apology and extended warranty in 2007. Recent models use different components.

While it’s not a sexy, gleaming piece of equipment to look at, its sturdy, matt white exterior (black in the Elite version) means you don’t need to worry about dirty fingermarks, while the wireless controller is equally substantial looking. And of all the consoles of its generation, it has the most games and can also play many titles originally designed for its forebear, the Xbox.

Should you buy it?

At the moment it’s the cheapest console available, even with a 60Gigabyte hard drive; there’s a pricier Elite model with twice the space. An Arcade version comes without the hard drive, but the disadvantage of this is not worth the cost saving. Unlike the PS3, it doesn’t have a Blu-ray drive, Microsoft choosing instead to back the doomed Toshiba HD-DVD format with an add-on drive. It does have the benefit of an excellent online gaming service, on the other hand.

Summary of pros & cons

+ High-definition games look fabulous

+ New, high-spec games come out on Xbox 360

+ Superb online gaming service

+ Xbox Live Marketplace offers dozens of retro and new games to download to the hard drive

+ Excellent value with current price drops

+ Loads of games including backward compatibility with Xbox, though you can’t necessarily transfer save files (check the Xbox site)

+ Works as media centre with a Windows XP computer

+ Watch DVDs

- Controller eats batteries

- Can be noisy in operation

- Adaptor needed for wireless Internet connection

Ten games to buy

1. BioShock

2. Grand Theft Auto IV

3. Halo 3

4. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box

5. Guitar Hero II (with controller)

6. Fallout 3

7. FIFA 09

8. Dead Space

9. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

10. Race Driver: GRID

Other stuff to consider

At least one extra controller

Either rechargebable batteries or a Quick Charge Kit

Xbox Live membership for online play

Wireless Bridge if you want a wireless connection

© Kate Berens, 2008

Holiday buying guide: PlayStation 3

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:30:00 +0000

Holiday buying guide: PlayStation 3

This is the second of atypicalgamer’s weekly buying guides; the first was for the Wii. Future posts will cover the Xbox 360, DS and PSP. Note that while I’ve tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it’s worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com.

The PlayStation 3 is aimed at sophisticated gamers and movie-watchers; it couldn’t look any more different from the Wii. This successor to Sony’s industry-changing PlayStation and PlayStation 2 was announced with no little fanfare in 2005, but ultimately limped into the market in November 2006 (March 2007 in Europe), long after the Xbox 360 had cornered the “next-generation” market. At first, its only vocal fans were film buffs delighted with the PS3’s Blu-ray disc-playing function; but since then its reputation has been creeping upwards, with help from significant price cuts. But Sony plays the long game and is, albeit slowly, delivering all the features that were promised in 2005, making the PS3 genuinely a multimedia, Internet-connected giant in the living room.

It’s a product of its forebears in terms of design, especially its controllers, which have not strayed far from the iconic, user-friendly PlayStation design. They’ve recently got force feedback (look for the DualShock 3 rather than the Sixaxis), and contain motion-sensors, although these are rarely central to the gameplay as they are for the Wii.

Should you buy it?

This glossy black creature begs to be shown off, its elegance extending from the on-off button to the startup sound and the menu screens (rather less prosaically called the XMB or cross-media bar). It doesn’t look kid-friendly in the slightest, although there are plenty of family games to download. However, the PS2, nine years on, has many times more games available and remains ridiculously popular and good value. You can download some older games originally designed for the PS as well as newer, simpler (and cheaper games) than you can buy in the Blu-ray disc format. The PS3 also offers online gaming and has all the functions you’d expect to go with it, including messaging and voice chat.

Several versions of the console have been produced, but at present there’s just an older 40Gigabyte version (that’s the hard disc size) and the newer, standard 80G version. You’ll need this hard drive not just for downloading game content, storing photos, digital music files or movies, but because games frequently partly install there to facilitate quicker loading.

Summary of pros and cons

+ Games look fantastic in high definition

+ Newest, highest-spec games come out on PS3

+ Watching Blu-ray discs and DVDs, accompanied by Dolby Digital sound

+ Wireless controllers are recharged simply by plugging in to the console

+ Standard USB sockets allow you to attach separate hard drives and other peripherals

+ Built-in WiFi makes it simple to download system updates, demos and the like. You can also use the console for web browsing, which should become easier once a keyboard is released

+ PlayStation Store is a treasure trove of downloadable content, including entire previously disc-based games

+ Store and access photos, videos, music

+ Relatively future-proof

- Limited backward compatibility with PS2 and PS games included in early versions of the console; any PS3 bought in the past year doesn’t offer this

- Not as many games available as for the Xbox 360, let alone the PS2. But these days nearly all major titles come out on all consoles

- Games are often slightly more expensive than those for other consoles

Ten games to buy

1. Little Big Planet

2. Grand Theft Auto IV

3. Bioshock

4. Dead Space

5. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune

6. Race Driver: GRID

7. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

8. FIFA 09

9. SingStar

10. Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution

Other stuff to consider

At least one extra controller

If you’re planning to move stuff between the PS3 and your computer, or back up what youv’e downloaded, you’ll want a portable hard drive

HDMI cable if you have an HD television

A Blu-ray remote control can be handy for watching lots of films, though the game controller is adequate.

In the UK, the PlayTV add-on allows you to watch and record Freeview digital TV through your PS3.

© Kate Berens, 2008

Holiday buying guide: the Wii

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:30:00 +0000

This is the first of atypicalgamer’s weekly buying guides. Future posts will cover the PS3, Xbox 360, DS and PSP. Note that while I’ve tried to be objective, these posts ultimately represent my own personal opinions. Links take you to Amazon.co.uk, although it’s worth pricing against other online retailers such as HMV.com and Play.com.

Holiday buying guide: the Wii

Designed with non-gamers in mind, the Wii is the easiest system for beginners to get the hang of. Available games include dozens of family-friendly titles as well as old Nintendo favourites, many using the motion-detecting remote in conjunction with your TV. The Wii was launched two years ago, in November 2006, round about the same time as the PlayStation 3, a console it deliberately set out not to compete with. It doesn’t look like a piece of high-tech audiovisual equipment and nor does it try and act like one, its non-confrontational design ethic making it accessible to anyone, right down to the Wii remote, which looks like a cross between a standard controller and a fat TV remote. No wonder teenage boys aren’t as impressed by it as their Mums are. Just as revolutionary at launch was the price, exactly half of the PS3. The problem was that they couldn’t manufacture it quickly enough to keep up with demand. Hopefully it won’t be a problem this Christmas, even if the price is now no longer the lowest of the bunch.

Should you buy it?

This console really does have something for everyone, its uncomplicated party-style games supplemented by the latest versions of Nintendo’s top properties such as Mario, plus there’s the Virtual Console. This online store accessed via the Wii offers dozens of 80s and 90s games originally designed for long-dead consoles at pretty reasonable prices, alongside a handful of original Wii Ware games not released on disc.

For serious gamers, it’s more likely to be a second console, especially if they are into online gaming, where it falls far short of its rivals. The Wii just doesn’t do multiplayer FPS games like Halo 3, although that’s not to say it doesn’t offer a few titles aimed at over-15s. The online service should please concerned parents, though, as gaming partners are restricted to those who’ve shared their Friends Codes.

Summary of pros and cons

+ Suitable for all ages of gamers

+ Suitable for inexperienced gamers, including older people

+ Simple to connect to your TV

+ Wireless Internet connection, which allows game downloads, web browsing, online gaming and the BBC’s on demand TV streaming in the UK

+ Store photos

+ Offers many of the same games as the other consoles but with unique ones too

+ Can play games designed for its predecessor, the GameCube console

- Games are not high definition, even if your TV is

- The Wii remote eats batteries

- You can’t use it to play DVDs or Blu-ray discs

- Not set up for serious online gaming

- Fewer games in the higher age-group categories

Ten games to buy

1. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

2. FIFA 09 All-Play

3. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves

4. Okami

5. Mario Kart

6. Super Mario Galaxy

7. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

8. Resident Evil 4

9. Animal Crossing: City Folk

10. Wii Fit

Other stuff to consider

At least one extra Wii remote, possibly an extra Nunchuk (the analog stick attachment that comes with the remote).

Rechargeable batteries for the remote.

A GameCube controller and memory card if you plan to play GC games.

A Component Video Cable
to connect to your TV for maximized graphics.

© Kate Berens, 2008

From computer bleep to symphony orchestra: Video Games Live 08

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 13:44:00 +0000

Video Games Live has a two-fold mission. Firstly to increase awareness of videogames and their music as works of art, and secondly to introduce the gaming public to the orchestral concert experience. So what better venue for this year's London date than the Royal Festival Hall at the Southbank Centre, the capital's cultural hub? And what of the experience itself? Well, it's like going to a classical concert, but with all the buzz of a rock concert and the audience participation of a pantomime.

The majority of the evening's music was performed by the English Chamber Orchestra, with a passion and vitality inspired by conductor Jack Wall, who's also the project's co-creator and has composed music for games like Mass Effect and Jade Empire. Standing behind the orchestra on stage, the London Chorus performed vocal duties, their voices at their most haunting in the theme to Halo. This piece was enhanced by the guitar work of co-creator and concert MC Tommy Tallarico, himself responsible for innumerable award-winning videogame scores.

In its travels around the globe - stopping anywhere with a big enough concert hall, it seems - the organizers have had plenty of practice, but the show doesn't feel tired or clinical, with plenty of chat and audience interaction, for example in a human game of Space Invaders. Nothing was stranger, though, than seeing a gamer up on stage producing a top-scoring Aerosmith Guitar Hero solo alongside the real-life blistering guitar work of Tallarico. The other main soloist was YouTube pianist Martin Leung, who reproduced his finger-blurring blindolded Super Mario medley live, as well as a slightly less frantic collection of Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy tunes.

Enjoyment isn't hampered by not knowing every piece of music, as a screen shows collated video sequences at the same time, beginning with an early medley of retro hits from Pong to Frogger, the bleeps originally created in lieu of instruments now cleverly reproduced by the instruments themselves. The audience's favourite pieces were no surprise - Final Fantasy VII (a stonking version of "One-Winged Angel"), Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Halo, WoW and Metroid - and many were introduced by their composers via video clips, adding to the cheers and whoops of a truly celebratory atmosphere. More than any film score, these pieces of music have been a soundtrack to long period's of people's lives, and it's a privilege to hear them performed live in a grand setting.

There are currently fifty or so pieces in Video Games Live's repertoire, but only around half can be performed at a single concert, so it's worth going again if you get the chance. The concerts sell out quickly, as you'd guess from the fact that the Video Games Live Vol. 1 CD debuted earlier this year at number ten in the Billboard charts. It’s just been released in the UK.

And while a CD can't replicate the live experience, it's another opportunity for Video Games Live to demonstrate the quality of musical talent at work in videogames and its cultural impact on a generation of gamers.

The week in games October 20–24, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:41:00 +0000

Or a selective summary of what happened in the world of videogames this week, for anyone who doesn't religiously follow the newsfeeds. I've picked out a handful of news stories, with links to either the original or the most interesting source for further reading.

Max Payne film slated

Surely not! It’s not especially newsworthy for a game-based movie to get poor reviews (see the Rough Guide to Videogames for a whole catalogue of disasters). The movie has performed pretty well at the US box office but is somewhat flawed if the views of 3D Realms, developer of the Max Payne games, are anything to go by. The tale of a rogue ex-cop set on revenge in a noirish world with a Norse edge, it may not be as good as the game, but is it all bad? Some of Game|Life’s readers kind of liked it. It’s not out here for another few weeks, but I think I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD.

New Star Wars MMO game details unveiled

There's already a Star Wars MMO, but this one comes from BioWare, who created the hugely popular Xbox RPG Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel. So far a PC-only game, it's long been rumoured to be in production and was even quoted as the reason for EA buying BioWare last year. Less high fantasy and more space opera, it could offer a genuine reason to leave World of Warcraft, at least that’s what EA is counting on. Gamespot has the most detailed story.

Sony issues a profit warning …

Sony is feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, especially in its electronics and movie divisions. The strength of the yen is also a contributing factor since exports are so crucial to Sony’s business. It remains to be seen how games will fare.

… while Microsoft reported record profits

Specifically for its own gaming business, helped along by the recent price cuts.

London Games Festival 08 begins

In its third year, the LGF offers more events than ever, ranging from last night’s opening Video Games Live concert (more on that later) to a hands-on with Little Big Planet, a careers fair, an EA event in Trafalgar Square, a movie, anime, manga and games show at the MCM expo at ExCel, and an accompanying Fringe Festival. All the events are listed at the official site.

A Rough Guide to Computer (Western) Roleplaying Games

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:30:00 +0000

Note: this follows an earlier post on JRPGs.

Origins: 1980s and 90s
Videogames in the early 1980s meant arcades or personal computers for the most part: an Atari, Commodore or Apple II, perhaps an IBM machine running DOS. At the same time tabletop roleplaying was still in relative infancy, eagerly seized on by a generation of (mainly) boys who craved games that allowed them to exercise their imagination and play a hero (they'd long grown out of Action Man). The two went together like Whizzer and Chips: getting a computer to do the dice-rolling bit made sense and the first attempts at RPGs were created by students on university mainframes – needless to say, they wouldn't engender much excitement today.

Ushering in the 1980s, one of the earliest RPGs worthy of the name was Akalabeth: World of Doom, created by Richard Garriot (under the pseudonym "Lord British"), who went on to develop the Ultima series that would dominate early 1980s CRPGs. Ultima's main competition was the Wizardry series from Sir-Tech, beginning in 1981; and they were joined by the first of New World Computing's Might and Magic series in 1986. But in 1989 another player entered the ring, former strategy game publisher SSI, boasting an official Dungeons & Dragons license on the front of Pool of Radiance, first of the seminal "gold box" series. All these games can be seen as the foundations for the 3D Ultima Underworld (1991), and in 1994 the first of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls RPGs, which are still going strong today.

In the years since, CRPGs haven't ever fallen out of fashion, but they have absorbed influences from first-person shooters and third-person action games, while the ubiquity of 3D has put paid to the isometric viewpoint beloved of both RPG and strategy gamers. Of course the other revolution in gaming, and the roleplaying genre more than most, has been the Internet. Now online worlds inhabited by thousands if not millions of players have made it possible to have as social a gaming experience on the computer as around a tabletop.

How to define a CRPG?
You could say it's any RPG that's not from Japan; the computer criterion isn't so useful now that consoles have the necessary processing power for developers to successfully port games to the Xbox 360. Of course the distinction's not quite that easy, as every genre adopts elements from others, and the defining lines continue to blur. Ironically, the videogame RPG has even begun to influence tabletop roleplaying itself: the latest edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game has adopted elements from World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy, amongst others. The following, then, could be seen as definining features of roleplaying games generally.

Skills and levels Whatever the statistics or properties of the character you create or take on in an RPG, they won't be the same when the game ends. You become responsible for developing that character throughout the adventure, picking up new skills, growing better at existing old ones, gathering or buying equipment and becoming more competent overall. It's one of the most engrossing things about the genre, ensuring you always have a goal that's not necessarily related to the story, while rewarding the time and effort you put into the game, and has therefore been borrowed by numerous other types of game.

Atmosphere and environment While it started firmly in the Tolkienesque fantasy milieu and mostly sticks with variations on that, the CPRG has ventured into more original settings with games like Fallout and System Shock 2. Any environment has benefited from the evolutionary step of automapping, which shows you where to go next as well as reminding you where you've been. Back in the early 1990s, your best friends if you wanted to get out of a dungeon were a pencil and some graph paper.

Stories Sometimes these are central to the game, as they are in JRPGs, for example the Baldur's Gate games by BioWare. At other times it's a framework within which you can do whatever you please, taking the route of good or evil, a thief or a knight, say, the important thing being that your character is a creature of the game's particular world, and there's usually no shortage of books and documents to pick up for background reading on the world's history and culture. This can be more interesting than any voice acting, but however the story is told doesn't guarantee it'll be worthwhile in itself.

Why play a CRPG?
Bearing in mind that you don't necessarily need a high-spec PC or Mac (though some games aren't available for the latter anyway), with plenty of games including World of Warcraft sticking with specifications that will allow the greatest number of users, plus the fact you can play an ever growing number on consoles too, there's no reason not to. What you'll be signing up to is a longish game, but one with an engaging mix of strategy and all out hack and slash plus the satisfaction of building up a character to the heroic heights of childhood dreams.

For a really indepth read about computer RPGs, I recommend Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games
by Matt Barton.

Coming soon: a list of the best RPGs in all genres.

The week in games October 13-17, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:19:00 +0000

Or a selective summary of what happened in the world of videogames this week, for anyone who doesn't religiously follow the newsfeeds. I've picked out one news story per (working) day, with links to either the original or the most interesting source for further reading.

Monday 13 October
Games to beat the economic downturn
That's according to Michael Pachter, the frequently quoted games business analyst from Wedbush Morgan. Later in the week it was announced that September's sales were down 7 percent from 2007, but Pachter believes this to be a blip caused by the release of Halo 3 last year. It's true that games provide good value entertainment on a per-hour basis, but their initial cost can still feel high. UK retail chain HMV obviously agrees, as it announced earlier this year that it would soon begin selling used games, as specialist games shops already do.

Tuesday 14 October
In-game advertising for Obama's campaign
Barack Obama may not have spoken out against games with the fervour of Hillary Clinton, but there's no denying it's an emotive political issue. All the more surprising then to see EA confirm the rumour that campaign ads for Obama and his voteforchange.com site feature in Burnout Paradise for the Xbox 360. Later in the week, it was revealed that a further 17 games carry the Democratic message.

Wednesday 15 October
Saints Row 2 is apparently "a sin"
Saints Row 2 is shaping up to be a worthy competitor to Grand Theft Auto 4 on more than one front. Today it leaped onto the media controversy bandwagon, horrifying the NYPD, as reported in the city's Daily News under the headline "Letting game players kill cops and smoke drugs, 'Saints Row 2' is a sin". It does put the other side of the argument, if you read far enough, quoting THQ, "Saints Row 2 is not a gang simulation game… It's a tongue-in-cheek game."

Thursday 16 October
WoW vs WOAoR
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has been heralded as the first MMORPG to present a noticeable threat to Blizzard's World of Warcraft, although no one, least of all developer EA Mythic, expects it to reach WoW's heights of eleven million subscribers. However accomplished it is, abandoning a comfortable, familiar place where your friends also hang out is never easy: according to Blizzard over half those who left for Warhammer have already returned to the WoW fold. It's worth noting that for the Mac-using minority, WoW is still the only place you're welcome.

Friday 17 October
Global recall of system-selling game
One of the year's most anticipated games, British developer Media Molecule's Little Big Planet has been recalled globally by publisher Sony, due to the discovery of some text from the Qur'an being used in a background music track. The game, which Sony are expecting to be a system seller for the PS3 this holiday, was recalled so late that copies in the US have already been shipped in pre-orders.

atypicalgamer in November: holiday buying guides

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Every week throughout November I'll be posting a buying guide to one of the main games consoles and handhelds: the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and the Xbox 360. In good time for the holidays, each guide will cover the console's pros and cons, the best games to pick up, and any extras you need to make the most of it, along with enough background to help make sense of it all.

Whether you’re shopping for yourself or your family, you’ll find all the information you need right here at atypicalgamer.com.

PS Don’t forget to pick up the Rough Guide to Videogames, the perfect stocking stuffer in my (biased) opinion!

There's still time to win a Wii from Rough Guides

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:34:00 +0000

The Rough Guides competition to win a Wii is still open, and all you have to do is click on the link and fill out your details (US residents only). Also included in the prize is one of my favourite games, Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, plus of course a copy of the Rough Guide to Videogames. It's worth doing even if you've already got a Wii - give a gift like this and you'll be basking in gratitude all holiday.

On the right is the ad to look out for at Gamespot. I can't link to it directly, and in fact can't even get a look at it - I automatically get UK-based ads. But if you're too impatient, you can also click here to get right to the Rough Guides competition page.

Good luck!

A Rough Guide to Japanese Roleplaying Games

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Note: this post follows on from an earlier post about the DS and RPGs.

Origins
Many of the geeks programming computer games in the early 1980s would have grown up playing paper-and-dice Dungeons & Dragons in the late 1970s, so it isn't entirely surprising that roleplaying games proved so influential in the early home computer era. There was no equivalent for console gamers, though, a group who didn't need to be as technically adept as computer gamers of the time.

Being a fan of those very computer RPGs, Yuji Horii, a designer at Japanese publisher Enix, decided to create a simplified roleplaying game for Nintendo’s Famicom (known as the NES in the West), one that was designed to appeal to the mainstream Japanese console audience and provide them with the kind of experience enjoyed by players of Ultima (1980) and its like. And so Dragon Quest, the first Japanese console RPG, was released in 1986 (in the US as Dragon Warrior in 1989) and marked the beginning of both a new genre and a schism in RPGs that continues today. Not long after, Hironobu Sakaguchi produced what he thought would be his last game before leaving Squaresoft, Final Fantasy (1987, in the US 1990), and together these two series have dominated console RPGs, long one of the pre-eminent genres in Japan. Since their merger in 2003, Square Enix is probably the largest publisher of JRPGs, although other companies, notably Atlus and Sony, have also bestowed localized versions of JRPGs on the US and occasionally the UK.

East or West?
No longer can you assume that a console RPG comes from Japan: computer RPGs have been encroaching on this territory, perhaps most significantly when Xbox gamers were given their own version of PC stalwart The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind in 2002. Other features may have begun in one genre before crossing to the other (in both directions), but still the role of the player, the characters in the game and its storyline remain distinct.

Character: One obvious difference is the JRPG's distinctive character design. Even when they’re reasonably life-like, rather than the deformed avatars of the past, they retain some level of anime/manga styling. In most Western RPGs character appearance is less idealized, but this attempt to emulate real life can sometimes make them rather repellent in a way that more stylized character forms avoid. (This is the Uncanny Valley in action – see the Rough Guide to Videogames for more.)

Story: More fundamental than looks, however, is the Japanese RPG’s core concern with story: the characters are ready-made for the story in which they star and there’s little room for player invention. But this is part of their appeal; since they don’t rely on the player for cues, JRPGs tend to feature more epic tales, with an emotional power that’s absent from many Western RPGs.

By the same token, there's not as much freedom to explore the game world: as the characters only exist through the storyline, there has to be a prescribed (if not strictly linear) route through the game – you can't ignore the plot, as you can in some Western offerings. That world is often the same traditional fantasy setting (essentially medieval Europe), although JRPGs frequently adopt alternative backdrops, such as modern-day Japan, a steampunk theme, or even post-apocalyptic space.

Role of the player: In a Western RPG you may well be able to determine your character's appearance and career - choosing to be a fighter, spellcaster or thief, say - and, just as importantly affect their relationship with NPCs (non-player characters) by choosing from limited choices of dialogue in a given situation. In JRPGs the demands of the story put this kind of freedom out of the question. While fighting battles is almost always down to the player, the story will be told either in cut scenes or as text bubbles, making the player very much a spectator. All of which means that any identification you feel comes not from a sense of ownership but has to be achieved by the story's emotional pull.

Why play a JRPG?
Their detractors bemoan the stereotypical angst-ridden heroes, the restrictive plot and the insane number of items and bizarre monsters, which in Japanese translation represent a whole new terminology to be learned. They also invariably take a long time to play, but that's true of all roleplaying games, whatever their origin. It can be hard to find enough time to devote to epic journeys in fantasy land and even harder to remember what happened last time you played. But something Japanese RPGs do offer is an involving storyline, clichéd though it may be, and one that's often remarkably well written and effectively translated (no wonder it takes so long). So you're able to develop a satisfying connection with the characters much as you would if reading a book or watching a movie; something that's not so easy in a game where your character doesn't come with a predetermined personality and role in the plot.

Coming soon: a bit more on Western RPGs, followed by a top ten favourite titles.

The week in games: October 6-10, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:28:00 +0000

A selective summary of what happened in the world of videogames this week, for anyone who doesn’t religiously follow the newsfeeds. I've picked out one news story per (working) day, with links to either the original or the most interesting source for further reading.

Monday 6 October
DSi will be region-locked
Unlike the current DS Lite, the original DS and the various Game Boys before it, it seems that Nintendo's new handheld won't play games bought outside its home region. Bad news for any Brit who travels to the US, where games are cheaper and more titles are released or indeed anyone who has the language skills to play original Japanese games. This won't apply to current DS games, only those made specifically for the DSi.

Tuesday 7 October
FIFA 09 tops the charts
It’s not out in the US for another week, but here on football's home turf, it's sold 37.5% more than last year, making it the fastest-selling version ever. And it's had some pretty decent reviews, too, despite the fact that games press (including the Rough Guide to Videogames) has long preferred Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer series.

Wednesday 8 October
Blu-ray player for Xbox 360?
Having opted to back the wrong horse with Toshiba's HD DVD format, Microsoft were widely reported to have sourced external Blu-ray drives for the Xbox 360, in an original tech story that covers some of the reasons for their original choice. The rumour was swiftly denied by Microsoft.

Thursday 9 October
New Halo game announced
Microsoft’s keynote speech at this year's Tokyo Games Show included the announcement of a new Halo game, the Bungie-made Halo 3 Recon, a self-contained expansion that precedes Halo 3, and one in which you play as a marine, not Master Chief. It's due out in the second half of 2009. Amongst other revelations was the fact that Xbox Live membership has topped 14 milllion. Eurogamer.net has an interview with Bungie about the game.

Friday 10 October
Videogame shop managers find a new hardware source
From the British weekly trade mag MCV comes the story that GAME store managers have been snapping up bargain Wiis and Xbox 360s in their local Sainsbury’s supermarkets, to resell in their own stores. This helps them to offer their customers "choice, good value and . . . the best possible availability going into the Christmas period".

The week in games: September 29 to October 3, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:52:00 +0000

Or a highly selective summary of what happened in the world of videogames this past week, for anyone who doesn’t religiously follow the newsfeeds. I’ve picked out one news story per (working) day, with links to either the original or the most interesting source for further reading.

Monday 29 September
Kids want games for Christmas
According to a US game retailer, 9 out of 10 kids and teens polled in a sample of just under 1000 want a game for Christmas. No surprises there. Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Mario Kart were top of the wish list.

Tuesday 30 September
Xbox 360 charges ahead in the UK
The recent price drop for the Xbox 360 has seen its sales soar, doubling those of the PS3 in the subsequent fortnight, according to Microsoft. The prize for second place in the console wars may be won this Christmas, in the UK at least.

Wednesday 1 October
Horror game Silent Hill: Homecoming won’t publish in Australia
Australians gamers over the age of 15 are up in arms after being denied another game due to archaic censorship laws that mean the highest age rating is 15. I reached the original article by following this link.

Thursday 2 October
New all-singing, all-dancing DS announced
Nintendo unveils a new model of the DS in Japan, maintaining its strategy of upgrading hardware that’s still selling bucketloads. The new DSi will have a camera, the capacity to play music off SD memory cards and will be able to download software. It’s coming to Europe next year.

Friday 3 October (ongoing)
Game company executives seem to prefer the Democrats
GamePolitics.com has a list of donors to political campaigns in the US, including that of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a proponent of the view that videogames are causing a decline in the moral health of the nation’s children.

Nintendo's DS: a new home for the old JRPG

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:59:00 +0000

The DS has famously attracted hordes of new gamers with easy to master titles like Brain Training, but with rather less fanfare it’s also been providing for older hands, not least in the genre of Japanese roleplaying games. This type of game found its first home on the NES in the late 1980s, but in recent years several titles have been revised to fit one or other of Nintendo’s handheld machines. When new titles can take years – and many millions of dollars – to produce, it’s hardly surprising that the industry has picked up on a rich resource of smaller, graphically less complex games that suit the DS perfectly.

There’s an interesting review of the latest rehabilitation, Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, at Wired.com’s Game|Life blog, in which Chris Kohler puts the game into its original historical perspective. Even on its release in Japan in 1990, Dragon Quest IV was challenging the accepted forms of the genre with its unusual characters, while its pace is noticeably faster than that of more recent games in the genre. It was a couple of years before an Anglicized version would reach North America (retitled Dragon Warrior), but it never made it to Europe, so for many this game, and others like it, will be a new experience.

To date I’ve played just one Dragon Quest title: despite it being by far the most popular series in Japan, the first game to be localized for Europe was 2006’s Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King for the PS2. On the other hand, I've long been a fan of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest’s main rival in Japan, whose flourishing in the UK must be partly down to a lack of heavyweight competition (the two companies responsible for the series merged in 2003). But even with Final Fantasy there are some unfamiliar games to get to grips with in diminutive form, as even that series didn’t get here until 1997.

So what is a JRPG you may be wondering? Roleplaying may itself be a familiar term, but these games are a breed apart from their Western, computer-based relatives (like Oblivion, Baldur’s Gate, or the massively multiplayer World of Warcraft). Although they began from the same tabletop roleplaying roots, JRPGs have pursued their own, distinctive path. And while the first JRPGs were intended to be a simplification of Western RPG rules, they have since evolved their own equally complex systems.

For more on the hows and whys of JRPGs, check out my next post.

Gaming Glossary: A Rough Guide to Videogames Terms

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:41:00 +0000

Do you know your FPS from your JRPG? Is that a first- or third-party game you’re playing? And do you prefer your RTS to be isometric or not?

The following glossary is designed to cut through the jargon and acronyms that can cloak videogames writing, making it appear impenetrable to anyone but the initiated. A version of this appears at the end of the Rough Guide to Videogames, but this post will be added to and amended as time goes by. Suggestions welcome.

action-adventure
A broad game genre encompassing games that include combat or other perilous physical activity as well as exploration and puzzle-solving. Also sometimes action game or adventure game, or action RPG.

AI (artificial intelligence)
Dictates the actions of anything in a game that isn’t controlled by the player; great AI makes for more interesting and realistic behaviour by non-player characters or enemies.

analog controls
Buttons or other mechanisms on a game controller that react to gradations of movement; an analog stick, for example, will allow you not just to move in a specific direction, but to move slowly or quickly depending on the level of pressure exerted; compare this with digital controls, which offer just two states: moving or not moving.

arcade cabinet
A coin-operated games machine in an arcade.

beat-'em-up
A genre of one-on-one fighting, often martial arts. Examples are the Mortal Kombat and Virtua Fighter series.

beta
The stage in a game’s development when an almost-finished version is submitted to user testing to iron out any problems.

boss
An enemy at the end of a level which must be defeated in order to complete the level and move on to the next; they tend to be tougher than other opponents in the game.

cel shading
Computer-generated artwork that resembles two-dimensional cartoons in style, rather than aiming for photorealism.

console
A game-playing system that is hooked up to a TV screen, for instance the PlayStation, Xbox or Wii.

cosplay
The pastime of dressing up as characters from games at launches and other events; big in Japan, it’s now become popular in the UK and US.

cut scene
A non-interactive sequence that interrupts gameplay, usually designed to move the plot along.

developer
A person (or more usually a vast team of people) who designs and produces games.

digital controls
Buttons or other mechanisms on a game controller that offer just two states - on or off. Contrast this with the gradations of movement allowed by analog controls, above.

d-pad
A controller’s cross-shaped directional button.

emulator
Software that mimics the functionality of a console or other hardware, so that games can be played on a different system from that for which they were originally designed.

engine
The software backbone of a game, underlying programming that is often used across different games.

expansion pack
Additional content for a game, extending its life.

first-party
Used to describe a game developed by the same company that makes the console it’s played on, for example Nintendo games for the Wii.

first-person
Viewpoint whereby the player sees the action through the game character’s eyes.

FMV
Full motion video; see cut scene.

force feedback
Technology by which a peripheral such as a controller responds to signals in the game and vibrates correspondingly; for instance, when the car you’re driving crashes, when your character dies, or to signify recoil in shooting games.

FPS
First-person shooter, a shooting game with a first-person perspective.

god game or god sim
A strategy game in which you get to take control of the creation of a civilization or some other kind of human development such as a city.

handheld
A portable gaming system with an integral screen, for instance the PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS.

hit points
A numerical representation of a character’s capacity for damage, especially in RPGs; if a character is wounded in battle or falls off a ledge, hit points diminish. Other types of game use graphic life meters or bars, which drain or change colour to indicate health.

HUD
Heads-up display; in an FPS it often gives information on health and available equipment.

isometric
Viewpoint that allows you to see objects from three sides at once, used in RPGs and strategy games to give an overview of a broad area.

JRPG
A roleplaying game produced originally in Japan; JRPGs are significantly different from Western style RPGs.

LAN
Local Area Network; in games, this is usually used to refer to a small-scale multiplayer setup.

life meter
See hit points.

localization
The process of changing a game so that it appeals to a different territory from the one it was originally designed for, including changing the language and altering anything that might be deemed offensive in the new territory.

machinima
An art form that uses in-game footage as the basis for filmmaking.

minigame
A short, usually simple game, either within a bigger game, or forming part of a collection of games often suitable for multiple players in a party setting.

MMORPG
Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game; an MMO is simply any massively multiplayer online game.

mod
Based on the code of an existing game, modding (from "modification") usually provides new levels for an old game and can even revise the gameplay setting beyond recognition.

NPC
A non-player character, controlled by the computer rather than the player.

PC
A player character, controlled by the player. (Or a personal computer, depending on context.)

peripheral
Anything you connect to a console or PC to facilitate gameplay, for example a controller, a microphone or a steering-wheel.

pick-up
An item picked up by a character that offers a usually short-term or one-off effect, for instance a weapon in a racing game, or a health potion in a platform game.

platform(er)
A genre in which the player’s character has to jump from 2D platform to 2D platform; the word is also sometimes used for the 3D version, in which characters have to traverse dangerous environments by means of accurate player control.

port
A later version of a game revised to work on a different system from the one for which it was originally designed. A game is ported to another console.

rhythm
A generally music-based game in which fast and accurate responses to prompts are required.

RPG
Roleplaying game; a lengthy game (fifty-plus hours of gameplay is not unusual) in which the player assumes the role of a character or characters. It usually has a fantasy setting. See also JPRG.

RTS
Real-time strategy game; a game in which the player’s actions and the computer’s reactions occur in real time.

save point
A predetermined place in the gameworld where the player can choose to save progress for continuing at a later time; some games have autosave points that do the same job. Often located before a boss or other perilous situation.

sim
Simulation, a type of strategy game. The term is used in combination with whatever’s being simulated, for instance a flight sim or a theme park sim.

spawn
The reappearance of a dead character or defeated enemy. If Master Chief dies in Halo, for example, he’ll respawn in a safe location.

third-party
Used to describe games developed by one company for another company’s hardware, for instance a Rockstar game designed for the PS3.

turn-based
Describes a game or part of a game in which the action happens in a certain prescribed order; the computer will wait until a player has acted before taking its turn.

unlock
To access a part of a game, or an item in a game, that only becomes available once certain criteria are fulfilled. In some games, completion unlocks a further level, for example.

walkthrough
A detailed guide through a game, often written by fans. Also known as a game FAQ.

Unleashing LucasArts' Force: Star Wars and beyond

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:46:00 +0000

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is released this week and seems likely to be one of the year’s top-selling titles, if the demo’s anything to go by: it was downloaded 2.3 million times in the first two weeks or so. The game is available for every platform (though there are significant differences between them), which is just as well as it covers a missing part of the Star Wars story, the gap between the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which marked the birth both the Empire and Darth Vader, and the beginning of Episode IV: A New Hope (aka the original Star Wars movie).

It’s on my wishlist, but as always I’m waiting till the furore dies down before getting a copy and deciding whether it deserves better than the rather average review scores it’s been receiving. Although I did admit to preferring Indiana Jones, that doesn’t mean that me and my co-author aren’t huge Star Wars fans, and a glance at the index of the Rough Guide to Videogames turns up no fewer than eight entries. Of these, Lego Star Wars is covered as a canon entry, with shorter writeups of several other games, but we also delve further into the background with a piece on LucasArts, the developer and publisher behind The Force Unleashed. It’s just one of the articles in The Players, a section of the book covering individual creators, companies and characters who’ve had an impact on videogames history. Here’s an edited-down excerpt.

LucasArts
George Lucas’s filmmaking empire entered the games business in 1982, with a project looking into the capabilities of Atari’s computers, presumably with an eye to the potential afforded by the success of the first two Star Wars movies and more recent Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lucasfilm Games, as it was then known, wouldn’t make its own Star Wars game for many years; perhaps not so surprising, considering the catastrophe that was the E.T. game. In subsequent years, as Lucasfilm and its subsidiaries remained at the forefront of video, sound and special effects technology, games would become a vital, and lucrative, movie marketing tool. Back in the early 1980s, though, Lucasfilm licensed Atari and others to produce arcade and home computer games based on its film franchises.

After a couple of unmemorable titles for Atari in 1984, Lucasfilm Games established itself at the head of a new genre – the graphical adventure game. This was spearheaded by self-published titles like Ron Gilbert’s Maniac Mansion (1987), a point-and-click comedy-horror game for the home computers of the time, which inspired a three-season-long TV show (plus a 1993 sequel, Day of the Tentacle). Gilbert went on to produce the groundbreaking The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), followed by Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (see picture – this is a Canon title in the Rough Guide; PC, Mac, 1991).

The first actual Lucasfilm spinoff would stick with the genre, with the point-and-click Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, followed in 1992 by Hal Barwood’s Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, an original premise with such a great script that it sparked rumours of a film spinoff. The company’s last great adventure title was 1998’s Grim Fandango for the PC (another Canon title; see picture), after which the genre appeared to fade away with the arrival of 3D. At that point LucasArts’ focus was taken up with the prequel trilogy of Star Wars movies, beginning in 1999 with the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Although the company had developed a side-scrolling platformer for the NES based on A New Hope, the franchise was then – as it is now – licensed to a number of other companies, resulting in games of varying quality. Until 2001, by far the most highly regarded was the outstanding X-Wing series for the PC (1993 onwards; see picture), developed by the same team (Larry Holland’s Totally Games) responsible for LucasArt’s excellent World War II air combat sims for PC.

No matter that the Star Wars prequels disappointed many hardcore fans, for a while the world went Star Wars crazy anyway and LucasArts put out a slew of games on the back of the films, ranging from the dismal Obi-Wan (Xbox, 2001) to the superb Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GC, 2001). Then, in 2004, a company shakeup meant redundancies and a number of cancelled projects; highlights from other developers included BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic RPG (Xbox, 2003) and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 by Pandemic (PS2, Xbox, 2005).

As a publisher LucasArts has successfully straddled various genres, from the realistic shooter Mercenaries (Pandemic Studios, 2005) to the Lego Star Wars games (Traveller’s Tales, 2005), though the Star Wars brand is probably enough in itself to have carved out a prominent place in videogames history. All the more interesting, then, that as a developer, the LucasArts name is still, for many, synonymous with classic adventure games of the 1980s and 90s.

Win a Wii (and the Rough Guide to Videogames) via Gamespot.com

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:33:00 +0000

Yes, another competition but this time you don't have to do anything except send in your name. And live in the continental US or Canada. It's totally effort (and cost) free.

The ad apparently looks like this on various pages at Gamespot, but I can't see it as I'm based in the UK and automatically get UK-based advertising.

I've checked it out at the page the ad links to, which works too.

Simply because it's so great, I'm also posting here an ad from GamePro magazine's Fall 2008 Wii Gamers' Guide special issue (below) - it's right by the article that tells you how to win at Wii Fit without breaking a sweat. Thanks to Rough Guides US, and especially Nancy Lambert.

Canon fodder: LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURES

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:56:00 +0000

Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, PSP, DC; Traveller’s Tales, LucasArts; 2008; 7+, Everyone 10+

I love the Indiana Jones movies. More than Star Wars, even. So no one could have been more excited than me that Traveller’s Tales were bringing their Lego adventure magic to the Spielberg trilogy. It’s one of those games that’s simple to pick up, and perfect for times when you don’t feel like committing to anything too serious. As for whether it’s Canon material, read on. [NB Canon fodder is a category covering games not included in the Rough Guide to Videogames canon. This might be because a game didn’t quite make the grade, or it simply didn’t exist at the time at the time of writing, or both.]

How’s it work?
Anyone familiar with the Lego Star Wars games will be right at home; if not, then it doesn’t take long to familiarize yourself. First of all, you play through the stories of the first three films, each divided into six chapters, with the characters of Indy (in various disguises) and whichever sidekick is relevant to the scene. If you’re playing alone, your companion will be AI-controlled; if you’re playing with another person co-operatively, you’ll take a character each. The excitement comes from the action – solving mysteries (puzzles in this case), punching and shooting, chasing and being chased by the bad guys – that takes place in disparate settings around the globe, accompanied by the familiar John Williams score. But since these are Lego models rather than highly paid actors, violent interactions result in an explosion of bricks rather than blood, and there’s no dialogue either. The story is conveyed through silent cut scenes, and expressive grunting and facial expressions (“drawn” onto the plastic) that cleverly mimic the original actors. Individual character animations are just as perfectly judged, for example, Willie from Temple of Doom, Indy’s most feeble of female sidekicks, has a punch as strong as any character, but it’s followed by some ineffectual slapping motions; Indy waves him arms in inimitable style to balance himself as he jumps. These details are so cleverly observed, they don’t get tiresome however often you see them.

What do you actually do?
The large environments reflect those of the films in Lego form, albeit altered for gameplay reasons. So as well as being atmospheric they’re always partly destructible, whether in the jungle or the snow, in the Middle Eastern desert or a Shanghai nightclub. You’re not just fighting your way through to the end of each chapter, either, but picking up and moving items to solve puzzles, mending machinery, entering buildings, swinging on vines (or use Indy’s whip) across ravines, driving trucks and motorbikes. There’s no equivalent of the space battles in the Star Wars game though.

The baddies aren’t specifically Nazis, unsurprisingly – so no, there isn’t a Lego Mr Bronson from Grange Hill. Whatever their motivation, they tend to arrive in waves, heavily armed, unlike the majority of characters (you need to snatch up their guns to use them). Smashing the enemy’s only part of it, as you have to destroy lots of the structures onscreen to uncover items to build from Lego pieces, find treasure chests, and amass a pot of studs (aka cash) to buy extra characters and additions like disguises or improved digging and building skills.

Even for fans of the films, it’s the Free Play mode that opens up after you’ve played the story chapters that’s the most fun. Here, you run through the same scenarios minus the plot, with the ability to swap different characters in and out; it’s only through doing this that you can retrieve all of the hidden items. For instance, most of the characters can’t enter the low-down crawl spaces dotted around; swap to Short Round and you can wriggle in to gain access to new areas. The bigger characters have their own attributes: female characteres jump higher, some come with a shovel for digging stuff up; others with a spanner (wrench) for fixing cars and the like; Dr Jones Senior and Elsa have a handy code book to decipher hieroglyphics; and Indy has a whip but refuses to go anywhere near snakes. Perhaps one of the most useful is a Bazooka soldier from the German hideout in The Last Crusade, who will happily turn up and blast to smithereens the scenery of the earlier films.

Canon or not?
Any doubts then aren’t about the story, the silly tongue-in-cheek humour, or the characters. Just about the difficulty of some of the jumping, which shouldn’t really be so tricky. It’s not disastrous, as you don’t have to replay anything on dying, just lose lose studs, but it can be demoralizing losing thousands thanks to the fact the camera is fixed but for a few degrees in either direction. Sometimes you have to make a jump at the back of the scene, so to speak, and it’s impossible to judge where to aim your little Indy; even worse, your partner might move unexpectedly, which shifts the camera angle. It is possible to get the jumps right eventually, through a process of trial and error. On the other hand, death is unavoidable if one character is at the edge of a chasm when the other one wanders off in the direction of the drop; the first character, trying to follow, will plunge shrieking to her death over and over till the other one comes back for you.

It may sound like a petty complaint, but it’s intensely frustrating to watch your stud count drain away because you have to try and make a jump several times. It would be a bit mean to say it wasn’t canon simply on that basis, but there’s also the fact that as a two-player game, the sidekick can feel a bit unimportant, these stories not having a persistent ensemble cast like Star Wars. Then again, in Free Play you can both be Indiana Jones. In the end, while it may not quite make the canon grade, it’s nonetheless eminently worth playing.

Rough Guide to Videogames on BBC Radio 2

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:47:00 +0000

The national radio spot I've been going on about finally aired last night at around 10.45pm, while the majority of the UK was watching this year's Big Brother Final. That's right, the weekly arts programme presented by Claudia Winkleman, the thinking man's Davina McCall I'm told, was on opposite, um, Davina McCall.

If you missed hearing me talk to Claudia about the Wii, the DS, The Sims and Okami (I meant watercolour painting), my Mum, crisps and shoes, you can still listen online via the iPlayer console. If that doesn’t work, try the Weekender page. The relevant section starts at approx 37 min 44 sec if you like Kraftwerk; if not, then skip right to 41 min 30 sec.

Canon fodder: BRAID

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade; developed by Jonathan Blow, published by Microsoft

“Braid treats your time and attention as precious.”

“Braid does everything it can to give you a mind-bending experience.”

These quotes from the developer’s website speak volumes about the ambition and commitment lavished on this independent game. Charming, affecting and annoying in turn, it’s a game that can be taken on two levels. You can play it fast straight through, skipping the between-level text, or you can engage with it more deeply and try to penetrate the ambiguous narrative that’s wrapped up with the gameplay.

On the surface Braid is a platform-puzzle game, in which you negotiate your character, Tim, through lush, hand-painted levels, collecting jigsaw puzzle pieces along the way. In many ways it pays homage to Super Mario Bros – in its level design, in interpretations of monsters and scripted in-jokes (see the screenshot below) – and the running and jumping is straightforward for anyone who’s played a platform game before. If on the other hand you’re new to it, you’ll want a bit of practice, but then this is the perfect game to develop those skills, because mistakes are reversible here, thanks to your ability to turn back time. By pressing a button, events rewind along with the music, as the colour fades out, all the way back to the beginning of the level if you like. This allows you to redo any jump you missed.

The manipulation of time is much more than an aid for imperfect gamers, though; quickly becoming central to the gameplay, it’s extended and developed throughout the levels. So while sometimes Tim relies on a shadow version of himself repeating his actions, in other levels moving forward advances time and moving back reverses it. Sometimes a door key remains where you found it; other times it doesn’t. Each change of mechanic brings with it a new mental framework for the challenges to be overcome.

A gaming vocabulary isn’t needed so much then as a head for logic puzzles. Winning each hard-to-reach puzzle piece brings a triumphant rush, but sometimes getting there is difficult enough to be frustrating. If you’re like me, you’ll be tempted sometimes to give up and rush through the door to the next level instead. Just remember that without all the pieces, you don’t see the big picture (in this case, the ending). So it’s worth going back to previous levels, walkthrough in hand, to pick up any you missed.

Eventually inextricable from the gameplay, though, is the narrative, which is conveyed between levels by a handful of pages containing a few lines of text. The archetypal story of boy seeking princess isn’t just for motivation, but represents here the relationship between past and future; it’s about following a dream and examining a failed relationship, about the need to rewind and undo what we’ve done in order to move on, about unreliable memory and regret. Whether the text unerringly hits the right note or not (and I’d say it doesn’t), the sorrow and confusion of someone trying to make sense of the world would be hard to miss.

In the end, though, it doesn’t matter whether you can solve the often frustrating puzzles or not. Nor does it matter if you play in short bursts with dubious success or aim for a perfect finish. It doesn’t even matter whether you “get” it or not. However you approach the challenge of Braid, it’s without doubt a brave, experimental and worthwhile game to play.

Note: Canon fodder is a category covering games not included in the Rough Guide to Videogames' canon. This might be because a game didn’t quite make the grade, or as in this case, it simply didn’t exist at the time at the time of writing.

Winners of the Rough Guide to Videogames

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:46:00 +0000

The Guardian gamesblog's competition is finally over and the winning entries have been posted. Check them out.

The first entry, by Neil Golightly, is uncannily like reading a Rough Guide. . . witty, informative and a good read. Perhaps he's a travel writer in the real world. From the sounds of it, I’d like to have played The Longest Journey. But it’s too late for that, especially as I don’t even have a PC right now.

Soon I’m going to be covering some of the other games that missed out on being canon, either because they didn’t quite make the grade, or because they were released after the book’s deadline.

Twenty games for kids (and adults too) - part two

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:37:00 +0000

This is part two of a list of games suitable for grown-ups as well as kids – many of them can be played together. It’s an unapologetically subjective collection, all of which are still available (links take you to Amazon.co.uk). You can find part one here.

For each game, the European (PEGI) age rating is given first, followed by the US (ESRB) rating.

11. LocoRoco
PSP; SCEJ, Sony; 3+/Everyone; 1 player
Propel your cute little LocoRoco through forty short levels using the PSP’s shoulder buttons to tilt the screen, gradually picking up more members to make a big LocoRoco. A gorgeous design and catchy soundtrack (there’s a CD available) pile on the charm.
LocoRoco

12. Mario Kart DS
DS; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; multiplayer via WiFi
Born on the SNES in 1992, a new version of Mario Kart has turned up on every subsequent Nintendo system; this one is a culmination – and celebration – of all that history, with 32 tracks making for amazing racing experience, whether single-player or against real-life opponents. The Wii version has an optional steering wheel controller, and allows four-player racing without an Internet connection. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Wii

13. Nintendogs
DS; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; 1 player
An adorable, anti-allergy puppy you can play with, then put away as soon as you get bored – what more could anyone want in a pet? There are several editions of the game out there, covering different breeds (Chihuahua to Dalmation) but otherwise the same. Absorbing and gratifying for kids and adults alike, it’s worth noting younger players might find the voice command training a little tricky to pick up on their own. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Nintendogs

14. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
DS; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; 1 player, up to 8 online
When the media coverage is all about marketing and materialistic fervour, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Pokémon is a classic (if simplified) Japanese roleplaying game, as much about world exploration and nurturing the monsters as about collecting them. It’s got a long life too, with hundreds of pokémon (different in each edition of the game) to collect and swap online after the main game is over.
Pokémon Diamond

15. Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
PC, Mac; Firaxis, 2K Games; 12+/Everyone 10+; 1 player, multiplayer online
The strategic computer game that persuaded parents there was a benevolent side to gaming. It’s impossible to get through an entire game without learning something about the history of the world and its peoples, as you build a civilization from an inauspicious patch of grassland to a high-tech, spacefaring nation, via science and warfare. There’s also a streamlined, simplified and quicker version, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (12+/Everyone 10+) for DS, Xbox 360 and PS3. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

16. Super Mario Galaxy
Wii; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; 1–2 players
Mario’s Wii escapade is a landmark game, made even better by the clever two-player option that allows the weaker player (parent or child) to join in by collecting Star Bits and pointing at things, while the stronger player controls Mario’s running and jumping. The sumptuous universe is a blast to explore. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Super Mario Galaxy

17. Viva Piñata
Xbox 360, PC; Rare, Microsoft; 3+/Everyone; 1–4 players
It may be aimed at kids and have its own TV cartoon, but its cute appearance belies quite a complex game. The point is to create and nurture a garden of papier-mâché creatures (piñatas), making sure all their needs are catered for through judicious clearing, building, planting and watering. Breeding them results in new varieties you can name yourself. A pocket version is about to be released for DS, along with a sequel for the Xbox 360.
Viva Piñata

18. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves
Wii; Intelligent Systems, Nintendo; 7+/Everyone 10+; as many as 12 players
With a number of titles for the Game Boy Advance and now the DS, this is a hilarious party game that in its Wii incarnation relies on using the remote in a number of ways to beat a minigame, whether it’s to shave a beard, pop balloons or pick a nose – there are over 200 of them. Anyone can play and even less skill is needed than for Wii Sports, at least in the early stages.
WarioWare: Smooth Moves

19. Wii Sports
Wii; Nintendo; 7+/Everyone; 1–4 players
Everyone’s seen it on TV and most have played it too, as it comes packaged with the Wii. Five sports are included (bowling, golf, tennis, baseball and boxing) and it’s simple to learn, though kids will beat the adults every time in my expereince. Definitely worth picking up an extra Wii remote for.
Wii Sports

20. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
Wii; Capcom; 7+/Everyone; 1–4 players
It may sport a cute pirate theme, but this is a puzzle game that can get quite tricky at times – younger kids may want you at their side, and you may want a walkthrough at yours. It’s highly entertaining, though, using the motion-sensing remote in various ways to solve the gradually more complex levels, while a second player waves a remote to helpfully point things out onscreen. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

Twenty games for kids (and adults too) - part one

noreply@blogger.com (KateB) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:03:00 +0000

So now you’ve read the reasons why you don’t need to worry about your child playing videogames, how about choosing some games for them to play? To this end, I’ve put together a list of titles that are suitable for grown-ups as well as kids – you can play many of them together. Below is part one of what’s an unapologetically subjective collection (in alphabetical order), all of which are still available (links take you to Amazon.co.uk).

For each game, the European (PEGI) age rating is given first, followed by the US (ESRB) rating.

1. Animal Crossing: Wild World
DS; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; multiplayer via WiFi
See this post for more info. As a bonus, it offers painless practice at reading and writing (via tapping the onscreen keyboard). (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Animal Crossing: Wild World

2. Beautiful Katamari
Xbox 360; Namco; 3+/Everyone; 1– 2 players, up to 4 online
The latest, HD entry in the Katamari series; it may be getting dull for old-timers, but for anyone who’s not played before it’s well worth getting hold of. A gorgeous, stylized game with surreal humour, its basic premise involves rolling a ball around to pick up everyday items of increasing size. And it’s accompanied by some insanely hummable tunes.
Beautiful Katamari

3. Brain Age/Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
DS; Nintendo; 3+/Everyone; 1 player
This is a game that’s been hijacked for educational purposes, and some may feel it’s a bit too much like school. Despite the age rating, maths and reading are involved in some of the tests.
Brain Training

4. Buzz! Junior Jungle Party
PS2; Magenta Software, Sony; 3+/Everyone; 1–4 players
As well as more adult quizzes on general knowledge, music and film, the Buzz! series extends to several junior versions, including the Schools Quiz that’s used in British classrooms to practice test ages 7–11. This one revolves around monkeys in a set of minigames, but its wicked humour makes it bearable for the older gamer too. The same buzzer peripherals work for all games.
Buzz! Junior Jungle Party

5. CTR: Crash Team Racing
PS3, PSP; Naughty Dog, Sony; 3+/Everyone; 1–2 players
Fast and furious, the original PlayStation game from the last century is now available to download from the PlayStation Network for PSP or PS3 (though the big-screen version is inevitably pixellated). As well as themed kart-racing courses, there are battle arenas for full-on warfare and plenty of dastardly villains to dispatch.

6. Elite Beat Agents
DS; iNiS, Nintendo; 12+/Everyone 10+; 1–4 players
See the writeup here. Some reading is involved, as well as a love of cheesy pop. Note that the difficulty level ramps up quite a bit.
Elite Beat Agents

7. FIFA 08
PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, DS, PC, Wii; Electronic Arts; 3+/Everyone; 1–4 players, up to 32 online
The game of choice for junior footie fans, though the cognoscenti rate it lower than Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer franchise. It’s the big one, nonetheless, with the official licences, the lifelike player models and annual updates to ensure it’s as true to life as possible.
FIFA 08

8. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King
Wii via Virtual Console; Square Enix; 7+/Everyone; 1 player
Wii owners can download this medieval city-building sim set in the Final Fantasy universe, which means a well-developed world and cute anime stylings. City improvements are just part of the king’s job: you need to send a band of adventurers out for treasure to fund building, and keep them happy too.

9. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
DS; Nintendo; 7+/Everyone; 1–2 players
With its cartoony looks, this is a charming, funny adventure game making great use of the DS’s two screens. Reading is involved, as well as some patience for puzzle-solving. A good starting point for a series that has an extensive backlist, available via Wii Virtual Console and on Game Boy Advance cartridges (playable with the DS). (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

10. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, PSP, PC, GC, DS; Travellers’ Tales, LucasArts; 3+/Everyone 10+; 1–2 players
You could go for the Complete Saga (all six films) if it’s on special offer (or if you want it for the PS3 or the Wii), thought it’s maybe too much of a good thing. Sticking with the original trilogy, the films are played out with oodles of slapstick humour and silly additions like disguises. Different characters are central to the action, but there are always two of them, making it perfect for playing cooperatively. (This is a canon game, covered in more depth in the Rough Guide to Videogames.)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga