So... I was looking at the Christmas wallpaper thread and realised I haven't changed my wallpaper in a long time. I don't change it often. I didn't change it for 3 years until a few months ago. I once saw an image of a heart rendered as Breakout, and I thought it would be cool to do a T-Shirt design that I could use as a wallpaper in a similar style, but with Space Invaders (nothing is original.. :/).
I'm posting this now since I won't have a chance to do it any other time until next year...
I detest placing unnecessary importance on completely abstract orders of value on games. Which game is the best? is Mario Galaxy better than GTA IV? If you're smart about things, you don't always have to choose. You can enjoy more than one thing and saying something is the best sort of detracts from the other experiences. So why do this? Well, I'm doing it for me. I don't get why some people write blogs but I am writing this to reminisce about the year in gaming.
I'm going to be using kind of Bombcast 2009 rules for this, so exclusives for platforms unless a multi-platform game has a platform that it's meant to be played on. There are games that I haven't played, and won't get to this year so I can't put them on the list. I'm an all platforms kind of guy, I have so many consoles (look at my console list).
Categories
Best PC Game Best Xbox360 Game Best PS3 Game Best DS Game Best Indie Game Best Multi-Platform Game Game of the Year 2010
Other Awards
Best In-Game Hamster Best Person Trying to Steal Nolan North's Job Best In-Game Broom Best Zombie Game Best Strategy Game Best Downloadable Game Best 2010 Game Not Released in 2010
Best PC Game
I have enjoyed so many PC games this year. A lot of them were not released in 2010 though, thanks to Steam and Games for Windows Live selling me games for almost nothing. Two of the most enjoyable are Starcraft 2 and Civilization V, both being strategy games and that genre is pretty tuned to the PC platform so it's not surprising. I enjoyed Mass Effect 2 most on the PC but since that is multi-platform I won't nominate it.
...and the winner is... I feel like both Fallout games and Oblivion released by Bethesda were meant to be played on PC. A small part of that is the control scheme, but the largest is mod support. Gamebryo's modding capabilities is insane and Bethesda are really good at releasing that toolset (Obsidian followed up on that here too). The things that you can do to your game adds a touch of personalization and can even fix the game's problems.
The game itself, for most people, was broken and frustrating because of all of the problems. Looking purely at what Obsidian have done here I loved it. The world was smaller but better crafted. The writing, voice acting and overall story arch were much more enjoyable (but no Liam Neeson this time :/ ). A lot of people will disagree based on how busted it is, but I have to look past that. I experienced very few technical difficulties, am I supposed to reflect somebody else's busted experience?
Best Xbox360 Game
This is a tough category. So many of the best games for Xbox360 are multi-platform games. I bought Crackdown 2 and while that fulfils my lust for orb huntin' I can't recommend it as a game that's really worth it. I didn't get to play Alan Wake, so that doesn't count. I don't like Halo, so Reach doesn't make the list. That's not to say the Xbox360 didn't have it's good games but in terms of exclusives that appeal to me... not much stands out.
...and the winner is... Technically this is a multi-platform title... or will be. The PC version will not be coming out this year, which for the purposes of a 2010 list means that it is an exclusive. I can see so many of your disagreeing with me. The entire bombcast crew definitely would. I think it is much better than Fable 3, does a lot of things that I enjoyed incredibly. It's not going to make a 'best games ever' list, it has a hell of a lot of problems, but I love what it does. I am eagerly awaiting the PC version but I had to give in and play the 360 version after borrowing a copy from a friend. I'm not going to bother justifying this choice, most of you have already made up your mind about this game.
Best PS3 Game
This is the year I bought a PS3, and I have played very little games. I haven't checked out the back catalogue yet. The only games I played this year were this years games so I suppose that makes this easy. I have the God of War trilogy, and I borrowed Heavy Rain (and I also bought Fat Princess and Trash Panic). It was really great revisiting the first God of War game in HD and actually getting to play the second one. Heavy Rain absolutely blew me away. The game's structure, story, graphics and animation really impressed me and the impact of the story left me feeling like this is one of the best 'experiences' I've ever had in a game. As a game though, I'm not so sure.
...and the winner is... Yeah, this game is pretty stupid. I really enjoyed the story but the ideas behind the story and a lot of the dialogue gets ripped on because it's just such an overdose of masculine chest beating. The level design is so restricted. Completely linear, jumping from one set piece to the next. That said, I enjoy the combat so much, I think it's one of the best looking games ever made and the atmosphere in the world really drew me in. Plus ripping guys in half is so satisfying.
Best DS Game
If I could... I would put the Ace Attorney franchise as a winner for this every year. At the start of this year I discovered the first Phoenix Wright game and I keep playing through them all sequentially. I haven't stopped since I started, and I've gone through them all at least 3 times now. I can't stop, I'm addicted. I can't do that though, since the only 2010 ace attorney game is Ace Attorney investigations... which I do not really like. I want to so bad but I can't. Pokemon Gold/Silver were great additions to the series but I can't find time to play it between my phoenix wright playthroughs. The addition of the pokewalker was a lot of fun, it got me to walk around a bit more for a bit.
...and the winner is... This was my first Picross experience. I genuinely got an incredible buzz figuring out the puzzles. The sound and visual provide satisfying feedback for the chipping away of the blocks which is really all you're doing in this game. The visual design for the menus and the things you are making feel really old, like kind of 80s/early 90s.
Best Indie Game
Super Meat Boy. I love everything Team Meat have done, I love the punishment this game doles out. Not going to say anything about this game. Next.
Best Multi-Platform Game
Always going to be the toughest award. It used to be that exclusives were the best games, but these days companies realise that if they've got something good they need to exploit it on as many platforms as possible. Unfortunately Assassins Creed: Brotherhood won't make the list because I'm waiting for the PC version which comes out next yet but I know I am going to love it. I really enjoyed Dead Rising 2 despite how flawed it is. I even started a guide on the forums which got stickied and took a screenshot of every combo card to upload to Giant Bomb. Despite the 50+ hours I devoted to that game, I realise there were better made games, and games I may have enjoyed more.
The other issue plaguing this award is the 2 only real choices I have. Do I give one of them this award AND GOTY? They both need to be honoured in some way.
...and the winner is... Mass Effect 1 was so enjoyable, and had a lot of interesting features. They took a big risk with Mass Effect 2 by stripping away and overhauling so much about it but the core that they kept was the conversations. It's the best in the industry and while being fairly simple the things you do have consequences, the way you talk to people changes up the missions in a significant way. They really improved this game in ways that made the franchise go from an ambitious cool game that was fairly well received to one of the best games released. The PC version looks absolutely beautiful.
Game of the Year 2010
Now that Mass Effect 2 is out of the way, there can only be one winner. I have a hard time with the logic here, because if it didn't win best multi-platform how can it win game of the year? Well, this is a way of giving props to both of these games. They are on equal footing and they are very different games. Rockstar took their open world 3rd person shooting action framework, applied it to the setting of a Western and just ran with it. The voice talent, writing, graphics, settings, atmosphere, gameplay and everything else is really, really good. The controls are not as precise as I would like, but it didn't let me down when I wanted. This game is packed with content and high quality production values (have you seen that sunset?).
The actual ending for the game kinda of sucks, but the end phase of that game I found to be incredibly unique. Having the game continue after your character has completed their goal, essentially the entire point of the game, it becomes something else. Then tragedy strikes in a way that it doesn't normally do in games. You can argue that all this sucks blah blah blah but I enjoy it so much that I shut out all of that and just enjoy it.
Now for the minor awards...
Best In-Game Hamster
Got to give it to Mass Effect 2 this year. The writing and voice over kind of sucks ("Squeek"!? Come on) but it's so cute. Also, what kind of games lets you buy a freakin' hamster that has absolutely no purpose? Genius.
Best Person Trying to Steal Nolan North's Job
Yuri Lowenthal. He was in quite a lot of games this year, and some significant roles/releases too. Just look at his IMDB profile. He was great in Persona 4 but like North you can recognise his voice in other roles. Congratulations to Yuri, I hope he has many more roles in future games. He has a lot of talent.
Best In-Game Broom
While I am waiting for the PC version of Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, my friend brought his copy round and told me to kill someone with a broom. Why... just... why is that in the game? Great addition. I have to give it to Dead Rising 2 though, since it's actually incredibly useful as a weapon. Not for sweeping them but snap that head off and you can use it as a spear. Plus it makes the Knife Pole.
Best Zombie Game
Dead Rising 2, no question. Zombies are popular, and I am not tired of them but so often are they treated seriously which doesn't do much for me. Dead Rising 2 makes fun of that. I can't comment on Undead Nightmare as that will be arriving tomorrow and I won't finish it before the end of the year.
Best Strategy Game
OK, for serious now. Civilization V is going to take it. I enjoy Starcraft 2 a hell of a lot. It looks better, does good things for the RTS genre. The between mission stuff is really enjoyable. That said, in Civ I really appreciate how it is all grounded in history and the slow methodical pace. I can play a game for 12 hours. Going from nothing to conquering the world is very satisfying. The diplomacy isn't great, the AI don't act how they should a lot of the time but it's a really good game.
Best Wii Game
Disney's Guilty Party is so much fun. I don't own a Wii, which is why this is a minor award but I've had the opportunity to play through Wii games via friends and this is one of the only 3rd party Wii games that can compete with what Nintendo puts out. I wrote pretty much the entire Wiki article on this game so go take a look. I think it's a really well crafted game. The mini games are typical Wii fare but the characters and cases are so vibrant you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Best Downloadable Game
Scott Pilgrim vs the World is an incredible achievement. Ubisoft did great things with the source material and put it in to pretty much the only genre that wouldn't completely suck for a licensed game and isn't overplayed. The best thing about this game though is that it features the best combined talent in a game... ever? They got Paul Robertson for the graphics and Ananamaguchi for the music. I can't think of a better combination. I can't think of 2 better people to bring to this game and without those 2 this game would just be a standard sidescrolling beat 'em up. It has such style that I can't help but love this game.
Best 2010 Game Not Released in 2010
I bought Psychonauts right at the beginning of the year for £1 on Steam. How could I pass it up? I was completely blown away. I had heard so much about it and while I don't listen to hype I can see why it is held in high regard. I really felt like I was playing a Saturday morning cartoon, between the writing, the atmosphere and character designs. It's so enjoyable, and I just can't be too cynical of this games flaws. Loved every minute of it.
Well, if you read this you are a crazy person. I could have made this longer but I tried to keep it short. Nobody reads these things anyway but now I've thought about this years games and go it off my chest I feel better and it was good to think about all the great games this year.
4 Comments
So, I foolishly decided to start yet another Phoenix Wright character illustration (I guess I should call them ace attorney illustrations but screw it). This time it's Trucy Wright. I really love her magician look, and I think I did a good job on this one. I didn't fuck it up this time. However, I'm starting to find my style a bit flat (I know that's what I was going for but I'm bored with it a bit) so to mix tings up I applied some effects.
Already I've been designing these things like old posters so I decided to go all the way and make it look actually old. I'm not sure if it's any good though. Can the Giant Bomb community please help me decide? I'd like to hear your thoughts on which is better. Plain or with sickening effects.
Here they are:
Normal Weathered Effect If you could post some thoughts in the comments that would be great. Also if you have any comments about my illustration in general. I think I did so much better on this one than with Ema Skye. I did an OK face this time! I'll use your feedback to make some changes and then post the final one. Thanks.
Edit: some 'in development' screenshots that I don't normally show. 13 Comments
So, it's December. I figure on the lead up to the new year I would honour my favourite games of the year. Sure, I might do a Game of the Year award but there are so many good games it's a disservice to just list the very best. For each week in December I'll write a blog listing some of the best games this year, starting with the top 5 Indie games.
These are 5 games I think you should play, not in any order. You decide for yourself which of these you like most. I'll decide in my game of the year picks.
1. Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent
Nelson Thethers: Puzzle Agent is a game developed by Telltale Games in conjunction with Graham Annable, who's books and art style the game is based on. You are Nelson Tethers, the FBI's top Puzzle Agent. Yes, there is a division in the FBI devoted to solving puzzles. This sets a light comedic tone to the point and click adventure/puzzle game where you are tasked with getting an eraser factory back up and running after an unknown accident. Apparently erasers are the lynch pin of democracy. The light-hearted and comedic tone that fills the game is juxtaposed by a supernatural/horror based story framing the whole game.
Why should you play this?
The story, characters, voice acting and general writing of the dialogue is very compelling as it swings from comedic to tense as you are trying to figure out just what is going on. The puzzles themselves vary in difficulty and feels largely based on the Professor Layton games where you have hints and the puzzle is abstracted from the world. I really enjoyed Nelson as a character, and while it's a shame that this game is very short (couldn't haven taken me more than a couple of hours) I enjoyed the time I spent listening to him report on his tape recorder and questioning the townsfolk. The Puzzle stuff is an experience you can get from Professor Layton and other games, but the real appeal lies in the framing of Puzzle Agent.
2. Super Meat Boy
SUUUPEEEEEEERRRRRRR MEAT BOOOOOOY!!!! God I love hearing that every time I start it up. In this masocore platformer developed by Team Meat you play as Meat Boy, the boyfriend of Bandage Girl who has to platform his way across the world to rescue her from the evil, and pretty creepy Dr. Foetus. Starting out as a flash game I first downloaded last year sometime, Team Meat have developed this in to something that feels like a full fledged arcade or Indie title unlike other games that try to move from flash to retail.
Why should you play this?
This game has a great sense of style, from the menus, to the music and overall game graphical style. The sparse animated cutscenes are filled with videogame references/parodys and humour. There are over 200 levels, and team Meat promising free updates through 'Teh Internets' (an unlockable world). While levels might only last 10 seconds the game is so hard that you won't finish a level on the first time. I am stuck right now but I still don't regret my purchase because the wind up to the final stage where I am at has been a blast.
3. Comic Jumper
Comic Jumper is Twisted Pixel's newest game, (mainly) a sidescrolling shooter featuring failing comic star 'Captain Smiley' and the sidekick stuck to his chest 'Star'. The game starts with captain smiley in a usual issue of his comic, when after a big battle with his nemesis 'Brad', his comic is cancelled. Twisted Pixel to the rescue! In a self referential and knowing twist the game developer put themselves in the game, buying the captain smiley brand and putting him to work in several other comics to make money. Honestly the gameplay is pretty poor. I found Captain Smiley to be too slow, further encumbered by monotonous and repetitive level design.
Why should you play this?
Despite my negative points about this 'game's gameplay', almost everything else about this game is fantastic. It excels as a piece of entertainment, not as a game playing experience. The characters and dialogue are hilarious, along with all the of the live action video they shot (and a particularly funny motion graphics sequence at the end of the game). The settings are also fantastic. You'll jump in to 5 different comics across the game (including Captain Smiley's own comic) all featuring different storylines and art styles. if you dig the humour then it's a must. Don't come here for gameplay.
4. Monday Night Combat
This is the only title with multiplayer on the list, and is an only multiplayer-only title. Released on Xbox Live Arcade in the summer of arcade selection by Uber Entertainment, Monday Night Combat is a class based third person shooter featuring both an online objective based mode and a tower defence/shooter mode that be played by up to 4 players. It has been said many times that this game draws from Team Fortress 2 as it's main source of inspiration, and I can certainly see that in it's art design and class based gameplay but I feel like it draws from a lot of modern game design concepts in general. There are perks from shooters like call of duty (called sponsors) and other now normal features such as map voting.
Why should you play this?
It's very easy to recommend this to anyone who appreciates some team based shooting. The concepts in this game are pretty safe; shoot the other guys, storm their base, but the execution here is very good with a decent variety in presentation between the classes, the art style, the feeling of the shooting. It's light hearted action and while not 'funny' it doesn't take itself seriously. Very easy to get in to, very limited progression so you don't feel like you're being gimped with unlocks and for a low price it will last you for a lot longer than the price tag suggests.
5. Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Recettear is a very strange game. A PC RPG/Action game developed in Japan and recently localised, it is unabashedly grounded in Japanese fantasy and Anime (as if the game's art style didn't clue you in). I picked this game up in the Thanksgiving Steam sale after hearing about it from a friend (who hadn't played it mind) and decided to give it a try. The concept is a unique one, you are a girl running an item shop in a town. Sounds simple, but the various aspects of the gameplay begin to pile up and it soon becomes a game of time management and economics. Yet, somehow, it's fun. You'll be buying, selling stock, expanding your shop, installing vending machines and haggling with customers in no time. The other part to this game is top down RPG style dungeon crawling where you play an adventurer searching for loot to sell in the shop.
Why should you play this?
This game pleasantly surprised me. It's so unique in it's premise and while the execution of the gameplay system feels very much 'Indie' it has decent ambition. The art style consists of old school 2D sprites on a 3D world and looks very appealing. All the characters are based on a good Anime art style and the original Japanese voice acting has been left in so no awkward American voices to ruin this wholly Japanese experience. They did a great job on the localisation, as the translations are often quite funny and surreal. It spices up what would otherwise be bland dialogue. Getting used to the seemingly dense and complex gameplay systems is incredibly addictive, as you soon see the fruits of your labour when you go from raking in hundreds a day to ten thousand. Try the demo on steam and you might be presently surprised too.
Honourable Mentions
Here are some games that didn't make the list because I didn't play enough of them or only played a demo version of but feel (to me at least) like significant releases. VVVVVV MineCraft
Conclusion
So there you go. My top 5 Indie games of this year. Most of my favourite Indie games that I played this year were in fact made in 2008 - 2009 (like machinarium, go play that game, seriously) so it's a shame I couldn't give them a shout out in this list but there are still some very good games this year and I think my list is as diverse as it can get. There's something for everyone here.
if you have played any of these games let me know in the comments what experiences you had. Not sure what I'll do next week, but if people read this one stay tuned for more.
22 Comments
So... back on the work train I've done another illustration. I decided to finally upload my illustrations to my website which you can view here. I made a front page banner for my previous illustrations, as before I only had one of them. Here it is:
Godot, Gant, Gumshoe, Edgeworth Anyway, back to the new illustration. Frankly, I shouldn't have bothered. After Damon Gant which I thought turned out pretty good I wanted to do Emma Skye and while I don't mind the work I did on her clothes and stuff (that bow is fucking great :p) I realised that I still can't do people's faces. Especially in her case as there is very little detail to it... but I don't know. It kind of ruins the whole image. I would love some opinions, and hopefully some advice on how to do faces.
Here it is: Ema Skye, aspiring Scientific investigator. Likes chocolate Snackos. Age 15, scientifically speaking. Yeah, now that's out of the way. I might have to hang up my hat on doing these illustrations if this is how they are going to turn out. I will have to at least do Phoenix Wright, but that might be my last one ever because it's so frustration putting myself out there trying to do these illustrations which aren't even that good, but really wanting to do better. I felt like I was getting better but with this, I don't know.
What else is going on? I bought Alpha Protocol for £5 in the Steam sale. I was very cautious after, thinking "why did I do that?" but I was curious and in the end I'm so glad I did. The game is broken and flawed in many different ways but I can say as an overall player experience I really enjoyed it. I don't care about judging it too much, I am not a curator for a 'best games ever made' museum. I am allowed to expose myself to troubled games. Really enjoyed the 20 hours I put in to it and for £5 that's a bargain. I did cheat so that I could play the Veteran class first time round but I knew that was because I wouldn't give this a second go and I won't. At least not for a couple of years.
Thanks for reading, if you did. Not that many people read my blog for obvious reasons. It's usually just... this. But if you did I'd like comments and feedback. Stuff like that. Perhaps show me some of your Phoenix Wright fan art.
So, been a while since I blogged (not that long really) but even longer since I released a Phoenix Wright Illustration.
The last 6 months have been pretty awful, getting better recently though I guess. I started these because my friend was in the hospital, never going to come out. I got distracted, some took longer. Then I started my Chief of Police Damon Gant in early August I guess, but University started calling so I stopped it. I opened it up once or twice and added a tiny bit of detail then closed it again because of the mammoth amount of work I still had to do on it. Don't know why I chose to finish it off now but I did.
Something I find myself doing every single night is getting in to bed and playing my DS. I have a lot of trouble sleeping but when I play my DS I often found that it sent me to sleep and I dropped my DS, it's lost all power and I lost all my progress. It happens. The thing is, all I play are the Ace Attorney series. I start with the first Phoenix Wright then go through them all up to Apollo Justice and start over again. I wish it still had the same thrill as the first time I played them but I know who did it each time and how to prove it. Same with Heavy Rain I guess.
Here it is:
Damon Gant Small little easter egg behind him if you've played that case in PW1. I'm not happy with it, I never am. If you have any comments or feedback post them below. This will probbably be the last one that I do though, and I didn't even get to some of my other favourite characters. It's just time consuming because I'm not very good and I don't have a lot of time any more. I doubt I'll ever top my Godot.
I seem to have accumulated quite a few pieces of gaming merchandise/memorabilia. Some of it I am proud of, some have deep personal meaning and others are just cool. I do collect games and gaming consoles but they are practical. They serve a purpose in my hobby. These are items which serve no purpose but I have chose to keep anyway. Below I'll post a photo of each and describe what it is, and what it means to me.
I would also like to hear from the community about the gaming swag you have. Staff don't count, they must have a crap-ton of stuff.
Grand Theft Auto IV - Key to the City
GTA IV Key to the City Before GTA IV came out Rockstar Games announced a promotion via their social club website. Being eager I had signed up well in advance of the game. They were going to be giving out 'keys to the city' for people who completed the game 100% the fastest after release. At the time I didn't quite know what I'd be getting, much less a physical thing. It arrived, from New York, in a rather large Jewellery style box. All black and fuzzy. It has no function but it makes me proud. It's the only time I have achieved something related to gaming, so it sits proudly upon a shelf in my room.
Crysis - Random Crysis Swag
Crytek Prizes In October 2009 I entered a movie competition on Crytek's official modding site Crymod. Not only did I help organise it but I also made several submissions which were winning entries. For this I won several prizes. They arrived over 8 months late and were not at all the prizes originally stated but I was happy to finally get them. I wear the Crysis Warhead T-Shirt from time to time but the rest of it stays under my bed. Still, it's nice to be recognized by a developer and rewarded for it.
Sonic Chaos Emerald
Chaos Emerald I'm not sure if this one counts but it means a lot to me so I am posting it anyway. A couple of years ago my best friend Gareth purchased an ornamental set of Chaos Emerald replicas from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. He was always a massive fan. They sat for several years on a shelf next to his computer, looking very pretty. Unfortunately he passed away earlier this year at the age of 20 after a lifelong battle against Cystic Fibrosis. Having known his family for so long I've stayed in contact with them and they felt that distributing the 7 chaos emeralds among his best friends would be the right thing to do. So I have one sitting on my shelf, an eternal reminder of our friendship.
Giant Mario Statue
Giant Mario Statue The function of this is supposedly a DS holder, and while it usually does hold my DSLite I like to think of it as just owning a giant Mario. My best friend who died as I mentioned above bought me this randomly earlier in the year. We were talking about it online and then one day he just showed up with a massive box. His generosity always melted my cynical heart. I don't care how geeky it is to have a massive Mario, I love it and it will always be a reminder of him.
Fallout 3 - Special Edition Awesomeness
Fallout 3 Swag Yes, I am sad. I purchased 2 separate special editions for Fallout 3 so that I could get the Lunchbox, Bobblehead and the Brotherhood of Steel statue. At the time I was super in to Fallout 3 and loved it so much. I don't regret the decision to buy 2 special editions, made all the easier due to the fact that I got them both incredibly cheaply. I have had my spiritis lifted many an evening while working furiously on a project when I look up and see the vault boy bobbing his head.
Gears of War - Wallet
Gears of War wallet This is just something I bought many years ago when I was really in to Gears of War. I'm not a fan of novelty things but it's actually a nicely made leather wallet that has served me well. Sure, it makes me look like a geek or a metal head but I don't care. I enjoy looking at the logo.
Assorted Gaming T-Shirts
Gallery
I have a couple of gaming T-Shirts. Some I was sent by a developer such as the Little Big Planet and Crysis ones, others I bought such as the Rapture T-Shirt. I'm proud to display my affection for gaming emblazoned across my chest. It doesn't define who I am but at the same time I enjoy games and like to wear games I like. The Little Big Planet T-Shirt I was sent by Media Molecule is actually glow in the dark. Slightly uncomfortable to wear but still pretty cool. Not pictured is my Super Mario Brother Plumbing Service T-Shirt which I fell in love with. I may update with a photo of that once it gets out the wash.
11 Comments
I've been rather dreading it but enrolling yesterday wasn't all that bad. I'm just worried about some of the interactive projects I'll be doing. I really enjoy Photoshop and some motion graphics work in After Effects but things like Flash and programming in Javascript don't interest me which means I will struggle. Oh well. I've tried playing as many games as possible before studying eats up all my time and I finally S-Ranked Scott Pilgrim. The art by Paul Robertson and music by Anamanaguchi make it one of my favourite games ever for reasons other than gameplay (the gameplay is fun too though). I also bought and played through the very brief Witch Hunt DLC for Dragon Age: Origins. I'm not sure how I felt about it. I can't say I was disappointed because I didn't have any expectations but they re-used a lot of scenarios and locations from the main game.
On to the main point of this blog. A few weeks ago I pre-ordered and pre-paid for the PC version of Dead Rising 2. After playing Case Zero I couldn't wait, and really wanted to get the inevitably superior PC version. Not only would it have better graphics (and the possibility of mods) but it was £20 cheaper, half the price of the console version. Then, after speaking with the retailer and checking various sites Capcom have decided to delay the PC version until October 1st. Why? Should I be surprised? It is far too common for PC counterparts to be delayed for whatever reason the publishing company can come up with. Ultimately I know a lot of it stems from piracy, but still on the user end it's completely arbitrary. It has disrupted my plans in a pretty serious way. I'd cleared some time over the weekend and next week to play it, and by the time it actually comes out now I will have a ton of design work to do. it is only because it was supposed to be out this week that I would have been able to play it in an enjoyable fashion.
In response I've decided to cancel the pre-order, had the money refunded to me and found a slightly cheaper Xbox360 version of the game that can be delivered to me tomorrow for free. Not only that but it comes with a free T-Shirt (not that exciting but free is free). On the website every version of Dead Rising 2 has a free T-Shirt, that is except the PC version. There are also 3 limited editions for the consoles versions. None for PC. On top of that there's about 5 or so pre-order DLC packs around for both console versions but absolutely nothing for the PC version. So no special editions, no pre-order DLC and it can't even make the same release date.
I very much enjoy gaming on my PC. It gives me almost unlimited options, better quality gaming and everything that consoles offer I can get in a better form most of the time. I also own over 10 different consoles though, and while I prefer to game on PC there are constant annoyances associated with the platform that don't need to exist. They are arbitrary limits imposed on a platform that deserves equal treatment.
You can probbably tell, I am just frustrated. At least I will get to play the game at a reasonable time, but now it will not be on my PC and I won't be getting the best experience that I am used to.
So... I've been thinking about getting back in to Mass Effect 2.
I haven't bought any of the DLC so far, so I looked it up and I was quite shocked at what had been released, for both good and bad reasons. I figured I would wait until the next batch in the form of 'Lair of the Shadow Broker' before buying it all up, so I have some time and decided to do the math. Maybe this will help people out, but it certainly helped me and brings me to my main point of discussion. This is based on the PC version (using the Bioware site prices), assuming you bought it new with the Cerberus network code to get the other DLC for free.
Missions:
560 Points - Kasumi 560 Points - Overlord 800 Points - Lair of the Shadow Broker
So, the most efficient method of buying the points would be: 1600 Points + 560 Points + 560 Points = 2720 Points or £12.38 + £4.33 + £4.33 = £21.04 Since you can only buy points in 1600, 800 and 560 this seems to be the best method to get exactly the number of points you need to buy all of the DLC packs.
Now, for my thoughts on this. It is way too much. A total of £21 for DLC. I paid £27.99 for the game new, day 1, and for 75% of the price of the full game this DLC doesn't seem to offer anywhere near as much content as it should. Now you could say I don't need all the little packs, which I don't at all, but they only account for about £5 whereas the rest is £16. I'm just not sure how I can justify to myself buying small amounts of content for almost as much as the 20+ hour game itself. I can see how Bioware can justify it to themselves, and I don't hold it against them. They're a business. But I would like to see DLC priced differently, or reduced/bundled over time.
At this point it almost seems like I should wait for a Game of the year edition of the game and buy a second copy but that seems so redundant. I shouldn't have to buy a game a second time later down the line to get additional content. Now imagine if they release a few more mission packs after this, the price could actually exceed the original game and I'll pretty much have to buy it again if I want to save money. It's perfectly fine for them to do this, but there's got to be a better way to sell this content to your customers.
Now I know the argument for price to quantity is a very sensitive area, and I'm not sure if I'm even getting involved in that argument here. It's just tough to justify, examining it as a whole. If you have any thoughts post them in the comments below.
10 Comments
I finished Starcraft 2 again today and realised I really like the between mission loading screen for Char so I took a screenshot, touched it up and removed the loading bar in Photoshop. I thought other people might want to use it so I've uploaded it. The image is 1920x1080 so pretty big, and the file is almost 1MB. Below is the original loading screen and then the one I edited in to a wallpaper, and below that is a link to the actual file hosted on Photobucket.
Let me know what you think. I can take minimal credit because I basically did nothing besides adjustments, but I'd like to know if other people also appreciate this wonderful loading screen. I like it a lot more than most of the space ones.
EDIT: Look in the comments below for a higher quality, higher res version of the loading screen without the loading bar ripped directly from the game.
7 Comments
Log in to comment