Gamebits

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

kahme — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:33:58 +0000

I watch a lot of video games. I don't watch many movies. I enjoy the unique combination of narrative and gameplay that games offer, yet few efforts to adapt popular games to the silver screen have preserved both elements, instead choosing to focus on a plot that doesn't stand up on its own.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World may not be based on a video game, but it is the most critically successful adaptation of gaming structure to date, with plot, mechanics, humor, and a narrative that never slow down — just like an excellent video game.

On the surface, the movie's plot is part adventure game and part teen movie: Scott, an unassuming, unemployed twenty-something from Toronto, spends most of his time with a small and similarly awkward group of friends. The big news for him is his adorable high-school age girlfriend, Knives (possible allusions to Kitana of Mortal Kombat and Dagger of Final Fantasy XI) — but that new excitement is quickly overshadowed when he meets Ramona, an indie-punk beauty who just moved to town. He soon finds out, however, that if he wants to date Ramona he will have to first defeat her Seven Evil Exes.

When it comes to decent movies that specifically appeal to a gamer audience, there's Mortal Kombat and … well, there's Mortal Kombat. But after seeing it, I would immediately add Scott Pilgrim to that short list. It has the combination of action and humor that should make it an instant cult classic. It doesn't try to parallel any particular game — it makes noticeable references to Sonic the Hedgehog, the classic Mario games, any number of RPGs, and the combat styling of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Some of the allusions are even more subtle — for example, Scott has to face off against twin Japanese men (yes, Ramona dated both of them!) to cross two more Evil Exes off the list — and what RPG lacks some kind of "twin" boss? Thunder and Storm from Earthbound, Volcanic and Blizzard Lord from Kingdom Hearts, Koume and Kotake/Twinrova from Zelda: Ocarina of Time — these are just the ones that I can name off the top of my head.

But the heart of this movie doesn't revolve around inside jokes and video game nostalgia — it can stand on its own merits, even for an audience whose last real gaming experience was wasting a quarter on two levels of Pac-Man in the local arcade. Michael Cera reprises the same kind of endearing, puppy-cute but eventually heroic character he perfected in such films as Juno, but with an added level of steel and some inexplicably flawless martial arts skill. Acting opposite the vivacious and sarcastic Ramona, with a relatively bland but amusing background of inelegant friends, the character combination is extremely effective. And despite the occasional teen movie feel, the audience is left wondering how things will get resolved until the last minutes of the film — an uncertainty that few movies manage well.

Just about any gamer or former gamer will find a lot, obvious and subtle, to enjoy about this film. And perhaps unlike even Mortal Kombat, you can even bring the non-gaming friends and family and expect them to like it, too — even if you may need to explain the concept of "experience points" later.

It's so hard to find good competition

Ken Gagne — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:28:47 +0000

Although I have an Xbox Live Gold account, I'm not much an online gamer. I prefer the camaraderie of friends, not strangers, and I prefer to interact with them in person as we share space on the couch. And since I'm more an old-school gamer, and few of my friends are any kind of gamer, the competitions we have are more likely to be in Tetris, Mario Kart, and Worms than they are Halo or Madden. But games that are easy to learn can still take a lifetime to master, and my lifetime of gaming gives me an unbeatable edge over my now former friends. It's tough to find someone I know who can also present me with a challenge, creating the tense and exciting gameplay experience I yearn for.

Finally, I think I've found my equal:

Sadly, whoever wins, I lose.

Ultima VI Reborn

Ken Gagne — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:21:40 +0000

The best games are those that inspire gamers and games throughout their ages. Their sequels are innovative and relevant, and their imitators are creative homages. For these reasons, we find ourselves returning to these archetypes over and over, whether in name or in spirit.

Many of these pastimes originated on the Apple II but eventually migrated to other platforms. Ultima, Richard Garriott's storied role-playing game series, had its start on Apple's popular computer, but beginning with Ultima VI, the venerable machine couldn't contain Lord British's ambitions. This last game in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy, subtitled "The False Prophet", has now transcended even its original format with the finalization of the Ultima 6 Project, an eight-year-long fan effort to recreate Ultima VI using the Dungeon Siege engine.

This isn't the first time an Ultima game has been reborn for a modern audience — standalone recreations of both Ultima III and Ultima IV exist, and Ultima V has also been remade in Dungeon Siege. But this update to Ultima VI is perhaps the most ambitious. Their FAQ states that the Ultima 6 Project is more than just a graphical overhaul of the source material. The team also focused on "adding an enhanced storyline to bolster intraseries continuity and building on the Ultima legacy in a way that will please fans new and old… flesh[ing] out a lot of the mysteries and unanswered questions, and … adding a lot of mysteriously 'missing' buildings that existed in U5, and suddenly weren't there any more in U6," as well as a hundred new NPCs for adventurers to encounter. These finer details will be appreciated by gamers, but even a casual observer can compare the original game's opening:

With that of the remake:

The downside to the Ultima 6 Project is that it requires Dungeon Siege, a commercial product that was last released in 2002 for PC and Mac. Copies are still available on eBay, but a re-release on Good Old Games or Steam would make the project much more accessible.

Regardless, kudos to the U6P team for their dedication to recreating their favorite RPG. May many fans finally enjoy the fruits of their labor.

If you want to know more about Ultima's roots, check out a video series recently begun by The Spoony Experiment (contains NSFW language) that goes all the way back to Akalabeth (which is now available for the iPhone).

8-bit Twilight: Eclipse Choose Your Own Adventure

Ken Gagne — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:12:03 +0000

A decade ago saw the commencement of the trend of movies (like Conan the Barbarian) being adapted to Broadway musicals. But lately, a new medium has proven a popular destination for films seeking new outlets. From the creators of 8-Bit Dr. Horrible comes the 8-bit Twilight: Eclipse interactive adventure:

This series of ten videos uses YouTube's annotations feature to offer the reader a choice of which video to play next. This sort of branching paths is typical of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, but combined with the 8-bit stylings of Doctor Octoroc, it's an innovative variation on his past masterpieces, demonstrating the creativity of an artist not content to rest on his laurels. And unlike his excellent Dr. Horrible adaptation, this latest parody came the same week as its source material's release. If there's anything deserving of satire, it's Twilight.

The Evolution of Nintendo Soundtracks

Ken Gagne — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:38:36 +0000

Video game soundtracks are more abstract than a game's graphics or challenge and thus are often overlooked, but they are integral to our gaming experiences. Hours or years after we've turned a game off, it's the melodies that stick with us, rising unbidden to our minds and whistling lips. In my case, more often than not, these are Nintendo tunes.

An enterprising remixer has compiled many memorable Nintendo theme songs into a single medley. His instrument of choice is Mario Paint Composer, a freeware utility for Mac and PC that replicates the musical component of the Super Nintendo "game" Mario Paint.

Although this brief selection omits many titles, including any and all published for either the Nintendo 64 or the Nintendo GameCube, it is still a nostalgic performance of the songs that composed our childhoods. The MP3 is also available as a free download.

(Hat tip to Epic Win FTW)

Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show

Ken Gagne — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:27:50 +0000

This weekend is the Northwest Pinball and Gameroom Show, being held June 11–13 in Seattle, WA. The expo includes 250 game machines set to free play; a speaker schedule that includes dozens of classic pinball designers, as well as modern stars Steve Wiebe and Walter Day; and an extensive pinball tournament.

Here's a glitzy promo that was shot at the show's 2008 event:

Pinball is one of the earliest forms of arcade machines and presaged the societal ills that would be cast upon electronic entertainment: shortly after their invention in 1937, they were grouped with slot machines and were declared illegal in New York City — a ban that remained in effect until 1976. As coin-ops became more advanced, pinball nearly disappeared from arcades in the early 1990s. A pinball adaptation of the film version of the television series The Addams Family somewhat revived the genre with its innovative features and inviting gameplay, but pinball remains an element of the overall arcade industry that has been on life support for more than a decade.

Fortunately, the retro scene is alive and well. Enthusiasts enjoy the focused challenge of man vs. machine in a format that is easy to grasp but difficult to master, thanks to a combination of complex physics and pure luck. Collectors appreciate the mechanical components that can't be found in today's arcade games, giving them the opportunity to repair and retrofit the machines in their own basement. And historians recognize the impact pinball has had throughout the 20th century:

Beyond these brief online videos, I'm unaware of any extended work that gives pinball the recognition it deserves. An arcade documentary would include pinball but may still be more than five years away from release.

In the meantime, you don't need to know the history of pinball to enjoy the machines today. Head to the Seattle Center this weekend for a bank of games the likes of which you're unlikely to see anywhere else.

The Battle for the Future of Donkey Kong

Ken Gagne — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:07:28 +0000

I spent this past weekend at Funspot, the classic arcade that hosted much of the King of Kong documentary that recorded and exaggerated the rivalry between two contenders for the Donkey Kong world record. The film cast underdog Steve Wiebe and reigning champ Billy Mitchell as hero and villain, and the appearance of a new champion has done nothing to diminish the perceived fervor between the two master gamers. It's a heated battle that threatens to consume the entire globe, endangering us all. We must act today to prevent a future that must never happen:

(Hat tip to Game Culture)

Humble Indie Bundle & Free Portal

Ken Gagne — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:05:49 +0000

Anyone looking for quality entertainment software for their computers should take advantage of these two limited-time offers.

The first is the Humble Indie Bundle, which packages together six games: World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, Penumbra, and Samorost 2. All six games are available for PC, Mac, and Linux, making for 18 unique downloads. Customers can name their own price and even determine the proportions by which it is divided among three recipients: the bundle's six developers; Child's Play, a charity that supplies children's hospitals with games; or the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Child's Play is a favorite charity of mine, so the opportunity to benefit them and receive something in return is a win-win.

Of the six games, World of Goo alone is worth the price of admission. In October 2009, its developer, 2D Boy, conducted a experiment similar to this bundle in which gamers could pay whatever they wanted for Goo. The results are extensively documented and, like the current Humble Indie Bundle findings, reflect that those who use a free operating system tend to be the most generous with their monies.

If donating to charity for a half-dozen games isn't your thing, then you how about just one title for free. Portal, Valve's first-person puzzler that has won multiple awards, is a free download through the Steam service through May 24th. It's part of a promotion of Steam's availability for the Mac, launched this week. Any Mac games you previously bought for PC can be downloaded for free, but whether or not you're an existing customer, you can now get Portal for either platform by signing up for a free Steam account.

Portal is a groundbreaking game in its own right, and with Portal 2 coming out later this year, now is a good time to catch up on what you've missed.

Programming Challenges for Sid Meier

Ken Gagne — Sat, 08 May 2010 16:40:45 +0000

A college student joins his campus's game development group. They decide to have a 48-hour programming competition. The kid's father, an alumnus of the school, asks if he can enter the contest, just for fun.

Who wants their dad tagging along for the weekend? Pretty embarrassing, right? Maybe not when your dad is Sid Meier, founder of Firaxis Games and creator of such legendary franchises as Civilization and Pirates! That's what happened to Ryan Meier and Wolverine Soft, the video game development student group at the University of Michigan.

Such limited-time programming contests are nothing new — Pangea Software got their start with a series of 24-hour games on the Apple IIGS, and I myself have entered the HackFest competition under similar constraints. Neither Ryan nor Sid were eligible for Wolverine Soft's competition, though, as both were serving as judges. Sid entered just for the fun of it, apparently having never performed on such a tight deadline.

The experience was encapsulated in a 24-minute video that alternates between the history of Meier's gaming career as well as his and the students' progress in the 48-hour programming marathon. The difference in output quality between the amateur and the professional programmers is astounding, which lends some credence to one observer commenting that programming comes so effortlessly to Sid, "He must have a function: 'build game'".

Elsewhere, Sid Meier recently spoke about game psychology, morality decisions, and social networking. The latter is something in which he has a personal investment as Firaxis explores ways to bring the Civilization franchise to Web 2.0:

When you're in the world with your friends, you want a different kind of gameplay experience potentially than if you're playing against people you don't know or if you're playing by yourself. To allow all these different things in the world of Civilization — competitive play, cooperative play, individual play, or synchronous and asynchronous play, where you're playing at the same time as somebody else, playing at a different time as somebody else — those are fascinating problems to me as a designer. That was the challenge of Civilization Network, to take this brand new technology, this new way of playing games, and take what's cool about Civilization and marry the best of those together and come up with something unique.

Civilization Network, a Facebook version of the game, will launch in 2010.

(Hat tip to Slashdot)

8-Bit Dr. Horrible's Conclusion

Ken Gagne — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:36:53 +0000

Following the first and second acts, Doctor Octoroc has finished the third and final installment of his 8-bit adaptation of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Here are parts one and two:

The entire five-video series is also available as a single YouTube playlist.

But wait — there's more! After I reported that Doctor Octoroc's site had been hacked, it was temporarily down while its CMS was upgraded for the first time in two years. When it came back up, there was additional content: a director's commentary, explaining the editorial decisions he made in adapting Whedon's work (count the quotation marks!); and a "making of", detailing the tools used to create the faux game.

Kudos to Dr. Octoroc on a creative, original, and excellently executed adaptation! My only question … what's next?