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1000 post extravaganza, I give a theory on how to fix Sonic.

By vidiot 19 Comments

My first positive experience with the community came from a user named  and333.
 
I didn't ask him to make my user avatar, he just did and sent me his version of what I tried to hobble together with a computer devoid of Photoshop at the time. It's interesting stuff like that's kept me here. The last time I was took part of a gaming community was years ago, when I was probably too young to take part. The site in particular actually died, and the community tried to keep together after the sites demise. I'm not exactly sure why I left, I can't really remember. Regardless, I've realized that I missed reading opinions from cool people who know have an understanding of what they are talking about, versus the traditional: "OMGZ y0u sux0r f0r l1king thiz gam3!" which still exists here, but not as apparent as some other sites. There are some awesome writers here, and the fact that this is a site that supports and is focused about user writing, the quality usually for the most part is great.
 
And it has hands down, the best achievement implementation for a web site on the planet.
 
So, consider this a shutout to all the awesome people I know. You know who you are. If not ask, and I will respond, usually by making fun of you.
Because you are a terrible, terrible person.   
 
Let's talk about Sonic.

   Vidiot's brain dump is filled with essential vitamins and nutrients. Contains no MSG.
   Vidiot's brain dump is filled with essential vitamins and nutrients. Contains no MSG.


His name is Sonic, bitch.


 
I was into Sonic as a kid.
Some of my earlier memories was watching both Sonic TV shows that played during the early 90's. It was incentive for me to wake up as a kid and watch an episode before heading out to class. Sonic AM was the best of the two shows, I was incredibly happy that the Nostalgic Critic reviewed the show a while back and showed how excellent it was. (At the same time showing how bat-shit terrible the other show was.) Heck, I'll admit I even read the comics here. There I did it.
 
Sonic was a product of the 90's for sure. His arrogant coolness was akin to what was considered "cool" attitudes at the time. Versus Mario, Sonic actually had personality. He wasn't a blank slate.
 
Watching Sonic age has been, understandably, annoying.
I've heard, and read various reasons over why Sonic has failed. A popular theory is that Sonic is, and has always been for, children. That we have out grown him.
 
So, why do I enjoy Mario: Galaxy?  What makes that game almost timeless in regards to the demographics that enjoy that game?
 
I don't think at this point, Sonic will ever step out of Mario's shadow. For better or worse, the two mascots will be always compared. Sonic's brand recognition alone has allowed him to continue to have games. If you honestly think that Sonic has continued to pump out new games due to their quality, buddy, I got bad news for you.
 
The problem not just resides as Sonic as a character, but who and what Sonic is from a gameplay mechanic standpoint.
 
Let's talk reinvention, but first let's establish my theory.
 

Gameplay mechanic adaptation.


 
It's pretty simple. You might be well aware of it, let's start with Mario 64.
 
An example of gameplay mechanic adaptation deals with Mario himself. Mario had always been about agility, jumping specifically. This was a thematic quality attached to the character. Jumping. When Mario went into the the 3rd dimension he just didn't double jump now. He did back-flips, and he sprang off the tops of trees. Some games didn't need adaptation, but many did but got confused. They either tried to mimic other games, loosing their identity in the process.
 
Taking thematic elements from a character, elements that have been established from a mechanical standpoint, and expanding them, reinterpreting them.
 
Reinterpretation of themes can aid stale gameplay also. Tomb Raider went through a metamorphosis when it switched over to Crystal Dynamics. Crystal took the concepts of Lara's platforming and expanded on them, by literally making her gameplay accommodate the aspect she is a quite literally a gymnastics.
 

You fought enemies, attacked, used magic, and even summoned. But it played completely different from any other game in the franchise. Final Fantasy XII is a great example of this theory, whether you personally enjoyed the end result or not. 
You fought enemies, attacked, used magic, and even summoned. But it played completely different from any other game in the franchise. Final Fantasy XII is a great example of this theory, whether you personally enjoyed the end result or not. 

We can establish these thematic qualities too! Batman Arkham Asylum made you feel like Batman. How? By making you do what Batman does from a mechanical aspect.
In the end, Sonic needs this an application of this theory. Fresh eyes to look at what Sonic is. Someone other than Sonic Team.
 
Let's apply the theory.

We all know Sonic runs, and that the game should be accommodating to this concept. Not making Sonic into a...slow moving...large....stretchy arm monster... Or...swinging a sword...
So what's my concept of a reenvisioned Sonic game? Well, for me, it all boils down with this picture that was released with the announcement of the ill-fated Sonic game from 2006. Specifically, this concept image:
 

No Caption Provided

Do you see what I see? It's not Sonic. It's not just the speed. It's his environment.
 
Sonic runs, he needs the landscape to run in. The freedom, to race around at top speeds. Sure, yes, he still needs the obligatory roller-coaster experience you had during the day time levels in Unleashed...But look at that screenshot, do you not see the potential that I see? The concept of an open-world design is an idea I would love to see a new Sonic take part in.
 
I started thinking about this after I saw this clip of the canceled Flash game that was leaked by the dev team.
 
 
Again, keep thinking about the concept of an open-world. I can't be the only one who see's potential here.
 

Personality issues


I thought Bioware did a good job trying to address what passes as plot in a Sonic game. The franchise needs grounding, and focus. We all know Sonic also needs to shed a heft majority of the random critter friends who follow him. Instead of focusing on his uninteresting friends, why don't we focus on Sonic's world and situation, a concept that barely gets any screen time. I would also argue that Sonic, himself needs to grow up with the times, but that's just my opinion, as is this entire post.
 
The reinvention of Sonic is a touchy subject. Everyone knows at this point that something should happen. Sonic Team's idea is to release an HD version of Sonic on XBLA to appease long term fans. This is procrastination, not addressing the issue that they're current featured games are not up to snuff and standards, not by Mario anymore, but our standards of good games in general. There are fans that wish the game would only stay in a 2D form. I don't blame you if you feel this way. The consistent stream of, lack of a better word: failure, is something I haven't seen since Army Men.
 

In conclusion

It's fun to apply the theory to other genres and franchises. Regardless, I think this is a pretty appropriate 1,000 post. I've always enjoyed the concept of Sonic more than Mario, I see a lot of potential wasting away here.
 
(Vidiot's favorite Sonic game is Sonic CD.)
19 Comments

Uncharted 2/Brutal Legend/Machinarium Smörgåsbord of thoughts.

By vidiot 23 Comments


 Pictured: A smörgåsbord.   
 Pictured: A smörgåsbord.   
 

 Smörgåsbord ( [ˌsmœrɡɔsˈbuːɖ]) is a type of Scandinavian meal served buffet-style with multiple dishes of various foods on a table. In Norway it is called koldtbord and in Denmark it is called kolde bord. Smörgåsbord became internationally known as Smorgasbord at the 1939 New York World's Fair when it was offered at the Swedish Pavilion's "Three Crowns Restaurant". It is typically a celebratory meal and guests can help themselves from a range of dishes laid out for their choice. In a restaurant, the term refers to a buffet-style table laid out with many small dishes from which, for a fixed amount of money, one is allowed to choose as many as one wishes. 

I know what your thinking, and yes, I am offered buffet style eatery everywhere I go. 
To be fair, I get my service after threatening patrons with a blunt weapon. Perhaps it's different in Sweden. Like a different culture or something. 
 
I tried to type this yesterday. Actually I did type this yesterday, but things didn't work out and the site timed out. 
There were many tears shed, and fictional wars regarding breakfast food was committed.  

 Vidiot's Brain Dump was established in 1823.
 Vidiot's Brain Dump was established in 1823.

Uncharted 2: Or, how to get mortally injured multiple times and survive?!


 I HATE Uncharted 2.
 
Sitting at a ludicrous 97% at MetaCritic, with many of the reviews written weeks in advance before the release of the game, my expectations for Uncharted 2 were high.
 
No, let me rephrase that. I set my expectations at: "I will be disappointing if Jesus does not jump out of the box" level. To my dismay the second coming did not begin when I opened my copy of Uncharted 2, I assumed that the game would break some spectral barrier when I put the game in my console. 
Instead it apparently silently installed, and then booted. 
 
I sat ready to pounce on this game. My critique radar was set a level I haven't set in years, and then in horror, I stared dumbfounded as this game proceeded to laugh at my expectations. As the opening train level continued, it then proceeded to educate me where my expectations should have been set. Then it mocked me more.
Then it took my money and spent it on drugs.
 
Okay, no, that last part wasn't true.
 
Okay, I don't hate Uncharted 2. I want to not like it though. I haven't seen a game like this in a long time, something with unbelievable production values coupled with some of the best pacing and refined gameplay I have ever seen. At first I thought I would complain about the cover system, how Drake sometimes still is a little roll happy and sometimes rolls instead of sticking to a wall. This does not break the game, it's a stupid nitpick. So that doesn't count as a complaint. I was then going to complain how the game used action movie cliches, but it's clearly trying to be an action movie. It's like getting angry at Lost Odyssey for being a Final Fantasy game. The game clearly knows what it's trying to be. It doesn't help me that the game has better writing than a majority of the action films from last summer. 
 
It's the best game I've played in a while. I realized halfway through playing that if I was going to find something to deter my developing opinion that it was a great game, it would be nothing more but a nitpick. I've read other complaints, more specifically how the levels are linear, which sounds more like a description of the game more than a complaint. Linearity in a game?! Say it aint so! Were going to start complaining about level linearity with Uncharted 2? 
Well there goes a few...genres..
 
A lot has been said about the games production values, and yes it's simply the best looking game I've seen in a while. I haven't felt overwhelmed by a games visuals in a long time, this game succeeded in just that.
 
Also, I would like to point out that the game has color. Yes, color. In this day of age, it's great to see a high profile game like this look realistic and have a color palate that ranges more than just gray, black and shit. I also like the anatomically correct looking characters, writing that doesn't have a bunch of cursing mascaraing as a "mature storyline", and a lengthy scenario that has a beginning middle and end.
 
Hand to hand combat is only relegated with two buttons.
 
Ah-HA! Why isn't this game like Street Fighter? No intricate combo's Drake? Wow! This game fails!

 Pictured: Drake not doing a hadouken  .
 Pictured: Drake not doing a hadouken  .
Actually the downgrade in combat works wonders in practice and makes more sense than the first game. I thought I wasn't going to break the satire, but I couldn't leave it there. I'll try harder next time, leave you with that statement and incite 50 page flamebait responses.

Brutal Legend- I'm so confused.

 
Where do I start with this game? 
Well for one, the developers have great respect for the subject matter of metal. The game almost oozes with a palpable fondness for it's context and source material. 
It's just too bad that the game doesn't know what it's trying to be from a gameplay standpoint.
 
I'm all for splicing genres, but in Brutal Legend's case it cant seem to find which genre is it's great at. The definition of being a "jack of all trades, master of none" really holds water here so far. 
 
Actually, that's not quite true. Brutal Legend's world has the common theme of being metal, but has a varied landscape. The hand-to-hand action oriented gameplay works just fine, as well as it's stellar presentation. These are all things that Double Fine has proven before it has experience with.
An open-world game, coupled with RTS elements are mechanics that Double Fine hasn't tried yet. They're pretty big mechanics. It's not just something you just jump into, let alone combine on your first try. It's inexperience. The same problem I saw with the first Assassins Creed, in which both games have similar problems regarding the lack of things you can do in the game's many side quests. 
 
But nothing too terrible has come from it yet. I haven't finished the game yet, (it's length seems to be a big problem.) and I'm curious to see where the gameplay goes. I've had a ton of fun with it so far, but it's problems are noticeable. 
 

Machinarium- The adventure game you haven't played but need too.


Along with Axel and Pixel, I saw this game at Pax and walked away greatly impressed. It's still great, and any fan of adventure games should check out this out. The world has a haunting, yet inviting look to it. Anyone who's interested in something different should check out the demo. 
 
So to reiterate:
  1. Smörgåsbord
  2. Uncharted 2 deserves the praise, even though I don't want to admit it because I have ego issues.
  3. Brutal Legend is a confusing game.
  4. You are a terrible, terrible person until you check out Machinarium.
  5. Smörgåsbord 
 So that's it. I'm still knee deep in games. I hope nothing else distracts me. Like Trine finally coming out for PS3 or something. HAH! Yeah, like that will ever happen!
23 Comments

Following the design.

By vidiot 9 Comments

I'm knee deep in both Uncharted 2 and Brutal Legend, so of course for today I'm going to write a blog primarily about Halo: ODST.
 
... 
 
 ...I'm not exactly sure how that works. It's been too long since I typed a blog so without further ado:  
 

 IT'S THE OBLIGATORY UNNECESSARY LENS FLARE EDITION!  MY BRAIN DUMP HAS A POWER LEVEL OF 9,000! (...but not over 9,000.)
 IT'S THE OBLIGATORY UNNECESSARY LENS FLARE EDITION!  MY BRAIN DUMP HAS A POWER LEVEL OF 9,000! (...but not over 9,000.)


No matter how much things change, the more they stay the same:
Halo 3 ODST is an expansion done right. Was it necessarily worth the price of a full retail product? Or worth a game commercial mascaraing as a movie trailer? Probably not. At the same time, you can't really argue with Microsoft which is very self aware of the fact that sticking the word "Halo" on something will sell a certain amount. So many times I have played something that claimed to be an "expansion", while being nothing more than a map pack. If ODST was released as a downloadable over Xbox Live, I think that a majority of the fan critical detraction's would be not as...over-the-top. Then again, perhaps Halo has become something so commercially polarizing that no matter what is released with the brand is bound to rile up the masses either way.
 
I'm getting totally sidetracked, back to topic.
My mind began to wander quite a bit while playing ODST. The lone tropper making his way among the steel sky of New Mombasa brought up a feeling of isolation, and more specifically: exploration. This game design brought back memories from a long forgotten past. The purpose of this blog is to isolate the level design philosophy that ODST has, by looking at Bungie's past. 
Then we can do things: Like make wild guess about Halo: Reach, that are all probably wrong, but will make a bit of sense.


The beginning of design.


It's 1993. I'm a kid, and I'm looking through a mail in catalog with Mac Software. While browsing a game catches my eye made by a company called Bungie. It was called " Pathways into Darkness", Bungie's first foray into the first person shooter genre. 
 
A few years latter I would finally play Pathways, and get the crap scarred out of me. (Impressionable dumb kid.)
From a design standpoint it was a product of it's time, and it's platform. It was a first person shooter similar to that of Wolfenstien, in-fact in conversation with gamers latter in life Pathways would always be relegated to "The wolfenstien for the Mac".
 
Wolfenstien 3D, was the Wolfenstien 3D for mac. The game was ported to practically everything. 
 
Instead Pathways had a heavy adventure element associated with it's original design. The player explored by himself a series of long running corridors in a pyramid. He picked up crystals which gave special powers. He even solved puzzles with items.
 Oh, crazy impractical multi-window HUD from 1993. How I miss you.
 Oh, crazy impractical multi-window HUD from 1993. How I miss you.
The player also unraveled the story by talking to dead people.  That alone win's vidiot's seal of awesome.
 
Yup. Strewn about the corridors were hapless dead people who had not survived their predicament (They were Nazi's so no hard feelings). Utilizing a dialog box, players typed akin to a text adventure style to ask the dead people questions. Throw in multiple endings and semi-non-linear gameplay and you have something pretty neat for it's time. 
 
The adventure elements were strong, and perfect at a time where adventure games were strong. 
 
So what should we take from all this? A high emphasis of story and an experimentation of adventure style exploration.The next few games Bungie would make would take the concept of a story driven adventure in another direction.
 

The Marathon Era

 
This is where certain design concepts begin to solidify, more specifically the focus of a "linear, non-linear level" design. 
 
Lost? Don't blame you, I don't exactly know where I am where I type this.
Seriously. Is this my house?
 
While Pathways focused on adventure mechanics, the next series of games Bungie made re-focused on the action. But The Marathon trilogy still did not lose it's sense that the story was equally important. More specifically, an attention to detail to the locations was emphasized. For an era that was more concerned with giving you a maze to collect card-keys, by contrast The Marathon series made you explore alien cathedrals. 
 
It's at this point where things begin to get interesting. (I know, how many paragraphs are we into.) 
 
Here's a map of the Cathedral level to give you a good visual representation of what I'm trying to get at:
 
Notice the lack of a specific beginning or end? Your literally dropped in an area, your goal is to get to a communications terminal but before you do there is a series of things you must do before you can. Your looking at the creation of a game design:
 
The design of a large open level to explore, with various goals to achieve, while picking up various pieces of the game's story via other terminals. 
 
This is concept that is not exclusive to Bungie, but it's a concept that slowly evolved from their games over decades. At the time it was brilliant. The player explored a large open world, finding his objectives in turn. It doesn't work that well for our modern sensibilities. 
 
Without any NAV points to throw up on your map, exploring the levels of Marathon 2 today for the uninitiated can be a frustrating experience. What's interesting is that this solid design was almost thrown away, and the open-world esque design ran into a speed bump of sorts.
 
That speed bump was Halo.
 

From Halo to ODST

The original Halo was conflicted with this design, and no greater example are two levels in the game: The Silent Cartographer and The Library. 
 
The Silent Cartographer was that fun level where your dropped off the back of a pelican and recreate the Omaha beach landing....BUT in the future.

More importantly it exhibited the level design mentality of Marathon, giving you a large open level to explore and objectives to complete. 
 
By contrast, The Library is a complete change from this philosophy, sticking primarily to a linear design propelling the player continually forward. We see more of this throughout the Halo series, with varying degrees of linearity and semi-experimentation between the two designs.
 
Which brings us to today:
 

 Portion of ODST's map.
 Portion of ODST's map.
ODST's New Mombasa takes the design laid down from Marathon, and expands on the concept by making the open-world design also function as a HUB world. 
Side terminals not associated with the campaign akin to Marathon, are scattered about. The main advancements of story are initiated in the form of more traditional linear levels, while the player explores a location alone. 
 
And the memories of Pathways Into Darkness came back to me. Reminding me that even though it's 2009, certain designs always hold true, no matter how much they've changed. 
 

The future!



 
Notice: The following obviously is totally my speculation. 
We know that Halo: Reach will be a prequel, and it will take place primarily on the doomed planet Reach. 
I predict a similar style to ODST will be put into play, instead of multiple ODST troppers to play as you will play as Spartans.  
More importantly, giving the track record of the games, I think Reach's HUB world will dwarf ODST's, with players roaming the main battle on Reach and initiating linear levels taking place elsewhere on the planet. 
 
While we are mostly aware that portions of core gameplay mechanics both changes and mutate over the years, games design also has a similar flux. We take a lot of this for granted, and it's fun to write stuff we usually gloss over.

...and now you know...and knowing is half the battle....Or something like that.     
9 Comments

Spoilers

By vidiot 8 Comments

C'mon, click it. You know you want too.

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.
8 Comments

Your take on old games being reviewed.

By vidiot 16 Comments

Heads up for anyone who is interested in purchasing Persona for PSP:
 
It's old. 
 
Do you smell that? Yeah, it does kinda smells like sulfur. No, don't be alarmed, I just dropped all my current thoughts on the floor. 
 

 Dumping my thoughts on your face.
 Dumping my thoughts on your face.

In the grand spectrum of gaming history for the last, lets say thirty years, the concept of a proper re-releases and (especially) a proper remake is a semi relatively new concept. The opinions of what constitutes something worthwhile for our matured gaming tastes, is a convoluted concept that I've been recently trying to wrap my head around. Because by definition of a game being old, it immediately cannot stand toe to toe with our current expectations.
 
Or can it?
 
 

The Argument against.

 
  
Seriously.
 
Prior to Xbox Live Arcade becoming an interesting cornucopia of indie, emulated games, remakes and strange... things (It's coming to XBLA)... It was flooded by the likes of your standard, classic issued games. What's new to say for the likes of how a classic version of Tetris plays? Thankfully XBLA is not loaded with games akin to something that comes loaded in the goofy games tab on the Start Button you will never touch. (Unless you love minesweeper, that is exempt I still play the fuck out of that.)
 
 mmm...minesweeper...
 mmm...minesweeper...
But the argument for me at least still stuck. Played Sonic on the Genesis? Guess how it plays on the Xbox? Here's a hint: It's Sonic The Hedgehog. It's still a 2D sidescroller that has a high emphasis on speed. It's also can become quite punishing. It's difficulty and technically limited graphics can probably be associated with the fact it was made in 1991.   
 
It's also still fun as hell.  
 
The entertainment value of Sonic is still high. (at least in my opinion.) Games age at different rates and with varying degrees of quality. Old games can have core mechanics that can click with gamers over generations. It's a classic for a reason.  
 It's not going to be like Wiley Coyote cartoon, where sonic begins falling until he has realized he ran too fast.
 It's not going to be like Wiley Coyote cartoon, where sonic begins falling until he has realized he ran too fast.

Sadly the other side of that coin of being a classic is that it's old, and as stated Sonic can be a punishing experience for gamers who do not have a grasp on the games historical context. How do we rate that? Well, for some reason we usually do it by comparing the game by today's standards, and it's here where things get murky.
 
No matter how much certain aspects of a game "ages appropriately", which is already questionable to begin with, there will always be something that holds it back. It's in it's nature, it was made over a decade ago. 
 
Let's pick on Persona for PSP for a more recent example. It was made in 1996 for the playstation. There is a high emphasis on random encounters and random encounter rates. The graphics are ugly. Characters have limited frames of animation and the choices that you make in the story seem difficult to initially comprehend the outcome.
 
 
From Gamespot:

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Review


This decidedly old-school role-playing game got a fresh coat of paint but not the complete overhaul it needed.



The Good


  • Intriguing story with two distinct paths to follow  
  • New, more authentic localization.


The Bad


  • Tedious combat  
  • Boring, ugly environments  
  • Absurdly high random-encounter rate.
 

Score: 5.0 (out of 10)

 
Now before you write your angry tirade at the editor Mr. Lark Anderson, please take a moment to realize most of these points are pretty dead on. Although one might need to ask why the context of when it was made is being ignored, and why are we now complaining a port of game made in 1996 is being marked down for poor graphics?
 
Is that a legit question? 
 

The case for



Games are software. 
 
It's another fascinating aspect of this medium that separate's itself from film or books. Is there a problem with the game? Why not patch it? With our strive to keep our nostalgia in check, we often tinker more with our old re-releases in order to gain a wider audience before. We don't just have emulated ports. We can have ports with additional content. We can tweak the gameplay. We can have ports with HD graphics. And sometimes, we go crazy and remake the whole game with additional content, tweaked gameplay and update that sprite work into something that makes your monitor combust into flames!
Glorious, glorious 1080p HD flames.  
 
Wow.
Wow.
There is a chance to make your old game better. Recently we have seen some pretty excellent examples of how this can work out, as well as some examples of many pitfalls a developer can come across. Making ports are never as easy as hitting a few buttons. Anyone who disagrees can pick up a copy of the original Sonic for GBA. Again, games are software, and reviews set standards. If your old game plays poorly that it did ten years before: Something is terribly wrong.
 
But more often than not, we see reviews that try to meet a series of modern expectations. Which is a good thing, old games are old games. Nostalgia sometimes distorts our view, and if we haven't played it before, why should we pick up a game that is so clearly flawed? Unless it was a game that could give you better perspective on how a franchise evolved. A game that perhaps had mechanics, that while dated had been tweaked in a ways that was perfectly acceptable and had never before seen content. A game that had a compelling and original story.
 
A game....Like Persona for PSP?!
 
From 1up.

Persona (PSP)

 "It may be old and ugly, but this RPG is still miles ahead of its peers."
 

Score: A

 
 
GAH! OPINIONS!
 
The truth of the matter is, Persona for PSP can streamline it's combat via something akin to Final Fantasy XII's gambit system. There are tweaks abound in this game, including full blown voiced FMV cutscenes and a completely re-worked soundtrack.  And sorry, the only touch up with the graphics seem to be that it's now at a letter box aspect ratio. It's old, but regardless of time holding it back, it's not difficult to make the assumption that it's certainly making an effort to stand out. 

Yup. It's still Persona.
Yup. It's still Persona.


 

My verdict

 
If you haven't guessed: Pretty damn conflicted. 
 
I think reviews on old games should focus on what the game is trying accomplish. 
 
Are you a fan of Persona? Would you like to play what is probably the most definitive version of the first game? You play JRPG's to begin with, your tastes are probably in line for what this game offers. Step right up.
 
Do you want to play Sonic with achievements? Have you ever played the original Sonic? We got a port for you.
 
Never played Monkey Island? Are you a huge fan of Monkey Island? Trick question: You will like this version regardless. 
 
It's the remakes, the ports, and the emulated versions that fail with their goals that should be criticized. Not necessarily their context.
 
For godsake, they're old games.
 
So what are your opinions? What do you look at when you come across a review for an old game? Do you even read reviews? Can you read? Please share.
16 Comments

R.I.P. Custom PSP firmware

By vidiot 1 Comments


                                                                     My PSP custom firmware, I will miss you. (2007-2009)
 
Oh well, technically I can hack it again later.
 
Persona PSP currently runs on a firmware that has yet to be hacked, and from what it looks like, won't be hacked anytime soon. I am not a pirate by any means and use it for emulation and to save power by not using UMD.  
 
Well, I can at least give my impressions of Persona PSP now.
1 Comments

I ramble about moving, Dissidia, and concerns with Persona 3 psp.

By vidiot 1 Comments

So I have a new house.
 
It's sorta gotten to the point in which I can finally feel that I am living "in my home", versus "in some house". It's a refreshing feeling to say the least after several weeks of pain and misery. 
 
I'm exhausted, but the light at the end of the tunnel is coming. Comcast doesn't want to let one of my cable modems online for some reason or another, resulting me sorta incapable to access Xbox Live for the time being. 
 
Whatever.
 
You know, I have a pretty cool mantra that I've been trying to really use and I relied on it during the move, I have dubbed it:  
"taking a chill pill."
 
I'm not talking about recreational drugs, or substance abuse, I'm talking about the classic: "Put yer hands in the air and just go with it." There was nothing that I could have really done to make the situation "better", I tried my hardest and wept the benefits of accomplishment. Is it over? No. Is there more to do? Yes. Will it be difficult? Absolutely. 
 
I think I just echoed a bit of Donald Rumsfeld vernacular, now I feel weird.  

Am I going to let small mistakes hold me back or get me upset? Hell, no. We seem to totally forget about just keeping cool, in our stressed out lives. To not let our emotions get the best of us. It's such a simple concept, but it's situations like the one that I've been through/still going through where one really get's put to the test. I think we can all learn a bit from this concept.
 
I'm looking at you Joe Wilson.  
 
 

 YAY! I GET TO USE THE LOGO AGAIN!!!!
 YAY! I GET TO USE THE LOGO AGAIN!!!!


Switching gears, I played quite a bit of Dissidia during the move. I'm having a ton of trouble trying to "categorize" the game. It was initially billed as some Final Fantasy fighter, bringing back lucid memories of Ehrgeiz. I think some people have all but forgotten DreamFactory in general, I mean the giantbomb page is practically bare.
 
Does anyone remember DreamFactory and Square's partnership. Were talking about the developer that made Tobal, which was Square first release on CD. It's almost like The Bouncer kinda blinded us all in regards to Square's past fighting game history.
 
I think that deserves a tangent on it's own. Regardless, combat wise Dissidia plays more like Star Ocean than any Tekken. Equipping items and weapons, associating attacks to buttons via a menu, my first reaction was that all Dissidia was missing is towns to wander about and we would have had a full blown RPG.
 
But it's the focus on the combat, the obvious interest of replicating fights akin to Advent Children that impressed me. I'm slowly realizing that I probably would not like to have seen a "traditional" Final Fantasy fighter, with intricate combos and the like. I feel the game would have lost it's identity and followed down a road similar to that recent Castlevania fighter on the Wii. Without the RPG components, this would not have been a Final Fantasy game, but a watered down fighter with RPG characters. If your property or franchise is going into another genre, it shouldn't lose itself to appeal to another demographic. We saw this with the terrible string of stupid franchise cart racer clones in the late 90's. I applaud what Dissidia is trying to accomplish so far. 
 
 Someone is getting smashed in the face. Very dramatically.
 Someone is getting smashed in the face. Very dramatically.
There's also a fricken story mode. No! Not an arcade mode with a little ending cinematic. Were talking about structurally one of the best looking singleplayer fighter/game/rpg modes I have ever seen. The chessboard mechanic is so fricken simple, and I hope other fighting games in general take note of what this game accomplishes. It's just too bad that the context of the story so far has been a giant uninspired mess, but aside from that, I hope another developer takes note of the mechanics of the story mode and just runs with it. I think good strong single player modes in fighting games are something that have been needing room for improvement for a very long time. 
I know, a bold statement. 

...Even thought this isn't exactly a fighter...bah...I'm talking specific mechanics here.
 
Dissidia also copies something smart that Crisis Core did. Offer modes of play of the pick-up-and-play variety. Something that I can quickly boot up and play five minutes of and stop. While I like the remakes and huge games on the PSP, I look at something like the upcoming Persona remakes/ports and shrug a bit.
 
Will running around on some dungeon floor in Tartarus, translate to something I can play between real life classes?
 
 
In closing, I hope everyone has an awesome pirate week.

 YAR!
 YAR!
1 Comments

Vidiot's PAX Journey of Awesome

By vidiot 1 Comments

I wasn’t supposed to go to PAX.

 
My current schedule and that annoying thing called “life” has been pretty hectic recently. I’m currently helping my family move into a new home that is, at the same time, being remodeled. Somewhere in between announcing months before I would be attending, and then getting caught up in the tornado of understandable but sometimes unnecessary high stress associated with such an ordeal: I forgot to purchase my badge.

It also didn’t help that this summer was quite filled with the usual events and trips all summers should have…and work…While I type this I just got done going all day to the music event that is Bumbershoot in downtown Seattle. My mind is a bit more warped than usual right now.

It never ends.

Admittedly I’m a little late to the party. There have been some phenomenal blogs concerning PAX, and countless more news articles concerning this year’s event, so I’m going to focus a bit on my personal experience more than the games I played. (Don’t worry, I’ll talk about the stuff I played too!)

I have no idea why I’ve never gone to PAX. But for some reason or another, I’ve always had something get in the way of attending. After attending for the first time this week, I have decided not attending is not just stupid, but ludicrous, for someone in my position. (Living a drivable distance from .) I will purchase a three day badge immediately when they go on sale for next year’s event, simple as that.

A member of my immediate family was able to get a hold of a three day pass, and while to my dismay I could not go for three days, (Only Saturday.) the experience was more than enough to warrant a return.

So, why is PAX great?

PAX is great for a number of things, most of which have nothing to do with it being an “E3 for the rest of us”. If you think PAX is nothing more than a giant convention floor, open to the public filled with never before released games, you’re only a fraction correct. I assume I had a lot of “first timer” moments wandering the convention floor. I looked at my schedule that previously I had only glanced at, and became increasingly blown away by the back to back panels.

People were playing table top, cards, and the floors above the giant expo room contained console free-play. This is a convention engineered for the gaming enthusiast, pure and simple. The room for growth here is obscene; I loved every moment of it, I can’t wait to watch this thing grow.

I guess my first humanizing experience was seeing, what appeared to be Adam Sessler smoking a cigarette outside the convention. I don’t know why, but I thought it was hilarious.

Heading a few floors up I casually began playing Axel & Pixel (No page on GiantBomb, c'mon guys!), and adventure game with a ton of style. It’s classic point and click, certain puzzles involved hitting the right button combination too….chase….away….a giant….mountain monster….by throwing ice… To say that the game is difficult to explain is an understatement. You essentially manipulate the environment to allow both a man and his dog explore a dreamlike painting.

While playing I casually recognized someone to the right of me. I took his picture.

Blog approved! :P
Blog approved! :P


After this I decided to hit my first panel, the “Penny Arcade Make a Strip”, which as you can imagine is pretty self describing.

I didn’t like the wait. At one point in the “que room”, some fine folks at Bioware decided to play the E3 CG trailer of The Old Republic on a giant screen. The man with the microphone asked the crowd if they wanted to see it. The overwhelming majority screamed back “NO!” The man awkwardly walked away from view. When the Jedi in the trailer gets killed at the end, someone screamed “NOT AGAIN!!!” and the whole crowd erupted in laughter.

The Make a Strip panel was perhaps the coolest and happiest moments at PAX. Watching Tycho walk out on stage after it was announced he had just had a kid was epic. Gabe’s sarcastic reaction was great too:

Gabe: “Let me get this straight, you get a fucking standing ovation because you had a kid. Tell the audience what you told me when I had mine!” 
Tycho: “Anyone could have a fucking kid.”

It was like watching a great comedy team. My respect for these guys shot through the roof, it was amazing.

After this I hit the expo floor. I missed seeing The Old Republic demonstration because I needed to go to the bathroom.

I’m serious. That’s how fast that thing filled up.

I played Mass Effect 2 (Better shooting mechanics), Bayonetta (Seems to have a bit more substance than just being a DMC clone), and an XBLA beat-em-up called Shank. 
I want to talk about this game for a second (Shank), because I think this game has quite a bit of promise. It’s simplistic graphic style allows 2D cutscenes to transition seamlessly with it’s gameplay. It does it in a manner that looks simple, but at the same time impresses the hell out of you. The style of it's cutscenes reminded me of Penny Arcade adventures, couple in the fact the game is an HD 2D beat-em-shoot-em-up and you can understand what I mean when it looks seamless.  Anyone who’s had an interest in reliving the beat-em-up genre should write this game down for future reference.

The first chunk of the main expo floor was dedicated to stuff like this. Indie games galore, there was even a section for what appeared to be games running on the Torque engine. This type of exposure is absolutely phenomenal for indie games. It was a great place to see obscure stuff like Machinarium that  was on display. Throughout the expo floor was little displays to buy swag. As someone from Kotaku pointed out, a prime place to find and pick up a fucking Nomad.

I almost bought a Sega Saturn. I didn’t. It’s still on my list to do.

I stumbled and found the TellTale booth at this point. I bought myself surfing the highway and a poster of .

Again, I casually noticed someone.

I struck up a conversation of how I played during recess as a kid in elementary school. He laughed and talked about how was actually used as an educational piece of software to teach English in as a second language. (Think about it: Using all the different verbs.) I got him to sign my poster. It was most certainly the highlight and the most surreal of the day. 
 

Figure it out.
Figure it out.


The TellTale panel involved the creation of a scene. Characters were chosen, a location was picked, and the script was made on the spot by people screaming out from the audience. Participants in the audience were chosen to voice the characters, and the whole scene was animated and ready by the end. Voice recording complete with lip-synching and facial animation within a few minutes. Pretty amazing.

TellTale has a very efficient engine.

I saw RoosterTeeth’s panel. I sat behind someone that sounded like he had tortes. I left early….
 
 
…Because I wanted to see the GiantBomb panel.
My apologies, it was the, and I quote: “The GiantBomb Re-Reunion Tour: Tour Legit Tour Quit!”

It was great seeing everyone there, among the GiantBomb editors Rich, Bob and Alex showed up. Jeff kept playing a looping video involving what appeared to be t fighting for food while the panel talked. Conversation topics included casting Bufu on things, what everyone was currently doing after GameSpot, and can someone consume a cup of noodles with the energy drink Noz used instead of water. It’s as disgusting as it sounds.

Contestants that failed didn’t have enough courage, diligence, expression and understanding.

Rich also pulled out the long lost episode of Time Trotters. It was Night Trap and involved Jeff and Ryan tracking down and killing a vampire (who was Joe Lieberman) …and latter themselves….from the future.

Waiting in line for the GiantBomb panel I met someone who had traveled all the way from Denmark to attend. Suffice to say he was awesome, and had brought his copy of Persona 4 to get signed. It was at this point that I found a newfound appreciation for this site and PAX. Talk about bringing people together. I really hope to go longer next year, because I truly got the impression something amazing is happening here. I can’t wait to see this convention grow and mature. I also hope that next time I can run into some of you users who attend. 



 
 
Edit: I added a bunch of stuff, and grammar checks that I missed at two in the morning.


1 Comments

Yes PAX for vidiot! :)

By vidiot 1 Comments

Yes, I went to PAX. 
 
Yes, I went to PAX literally by a stroke of luck and last minute.
 
Yes, I met very important people.
 
Yes, there will be a long blog post recapping my experience. Look for it tomorrow.

1 Comments