whitespider

The world in 2014:

"Coming soon in the elite uber digital deluxe double decker, wham bam, wiggie woggie edition: Exclusive universe unlock - get to explore the entire universe. Creature unlock. Build and play as any creature you can imagine - from a dna level. And multiplayer unlock DLC"

Then in small barely legible writing:

"Also included: the spore 2" the game."

I would rather a dlc entitled "the autobiography of billy zane" chronicling the life of billy zane from conception to adulthood, all the voices is the entire -expansion sized- dlc would obviously have to be autotuned.

I am often not sure if he is egotistical or outspoken or perhaps just both. However that's irrelevant to this post, as he came across humble and extremely helpful in this video blog. I hope he fixes these issues fully for you guys/gals out there enjoying the game. Seems like he will with that productive attitude.

@Vlad_Tiberius: Because I would argue that the militarily shooter is 100,000% more confined. So the 'genre fatigue' is significantly more pronounced simply due to the nature of the content. However I see the overall point you are making, or at least I believe I do.

What we need is new ip's in more than just name (if I am on the right track, that would earn me a nod) - in any genre. To elaborate on "more than just name" ; Games that offer a... dare I say it. New genre. Or a new setting entirely. If those two fail, at the very least a new method of presentation. The recent 'non-game' dear esther, contraversy about it being a game aside - took a step in 50% the right direction on this front. It 'removed what we knew' and only left player interpreation. And while I think that approach was resources limited - it posed an interesting question about emotional feedback being something worthy of consideration. At least to me.

Thinking outside the box seems to be something only possible as an indie game developer willing to make little money right now, big studios only back sure winners, and while I appreciate the fact that indie games are able to 'sometimes' do this - I am not sure about it's ripple effect on the mainstream gaming sector. And by not sure - I mean I am not sure there is 'any' ripple effect at all.

There is a lot more floating around in my noggin about this subject, however 3+ paragraphs is enough for now.

@Vlad_Tiberius: As true as this is as a general statement - it's more subtle than that. At least in my opinion - which is all anyone can claim. Other genre's branch out more, and offer less constrained boundaries and constructs. People think differently more often for different genre's than they do for military scripted first person shooters. Even sports games, probably the most anti-genre-progressive behind militarily fps games, still branch out into new physics systems and ways of playing. These scripted military shooters are offensive to me - because there is little to progress or rethink, and what little imagination there is left - seems to be as far away from a focus group as humanly imaginable.

Also, a lot of 'long running game series' not in the first person genre, started off far more ambitious - so improving them remained ambitious. There where simply an immeasurable amount of moving parts - so improving those parts still benefits the initial ambition. I don't think this is in any way true for military first person shooters. I don't think there was any ambition to begin with. And if there was, it's lost behind a smoke grenade's aftermath.

Oh, so there is still an audience. Damn.

So far it's been months, and I have not burnt out much at all. Then again i play skyrim in a very non-critical-path way. I just wander around and purposely avoid a lot of content so that i can experience it weeks, months, later. There is an uncapper mod for pc that allows you to set the rate each skill gains experience. I set that mostly to 10% of vanilla's 100%. Combine that with hard combat mods and realistic combat - and skyrim can last into the next expansion pack easily, and by then even more mods will be out that will continue the lifespan further. I have also set the crafting skill to 4% rate of vanilla. Since I can level up soooo fast simply by mass crafting/enchanting/potion making. Not anymore!

dell u2711 - 2560x1400 resolution.

AMD 6990 - 4gb of memory (2gb real world)

8 gb of ddr 3 memory.

Core i7 2600k Processor @ 5ghz on a noctua nh-d14

Creative Xifi

Audio Technica ADH-900's

mx550 Logitech Mouse

Proud of: The monitor is incredible, far better than traditional screens, and my headphones are supurb. The cpu is also fantastic.

Not so proud of: One of the most expensive parts, the AMD 6990. Mostly because of skyrim, my favorite game - being heavily nvidia biased. I wish I knew that prior purchase.

It's difficult to articulate what I liked about this game so much. Films/Paintings/Music with a mysterious 'otherworldly' yet possessing an 'under the veil' - meaningful touch have always conjured worthwhile emotions for me.

The game itself is not original as a concept exactly, it's the execution of that concept that creates a very profound and individual emotion. Parts of silent hill games did the same thing. I played though lot's of janky combat and corridor designs simply so I could pick up the fractured pieces of intrigue the series presented me. In this 'presentation' it was refreshing not even having to be 'brought out' by 'conditioned game elements'

I want to protest against people saying "games should be games, art should be art". If anything this game suggests an alternate timeline where games where developed with a more soulful approach. Then again the same could be said about most mainstream forms of media.

Art exists within the gaming medium, don't get me wrong. Shadow of the colossus has it's own individual mark and traces it left floating around. This 'work' however, felt like it left a ball in my hands by taking away the ball in my hands. To elaborate on that - It allowed me to create my own interpretation of events based on my own emotional and perceptual feedback by taking away what I was conditioned 'control' was.

I would have liked this journey to be longer. I was having one of the most memorable experiences of the year, and I wanted more. I even felt there could be more. Instead of the next project by this talented creator becoming more of a game, I would like it to become more of a tale. With the same indirect approaches, just more of it.