26 December, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 26 December, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 059e - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - De Wett
4:10 - to the manor



Witcher 059f - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - Rayla
1:50 - ascent



Witcher 059g - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - pulling sentries
3:20 - mutants

18 December, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 18 December, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 059c - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - Kalkstein
2:00 - wandering
4:30 - failed hospital quest



Witcher 059d - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - executioner's tower
2:30 - new armor
4:50 - back to swamp
7:10 - turn in and trek to old manor

Motion Control Prediction Revisited

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 18 December, 2010

Over a year ago I wrote a post on motion control going nowhere. I left myself a reminder to review those predictions.

Kinect (previously Natal)
"I'm guessing the best uses of Natal will be gimmicks, small things that make playing standard games just a little more physical."

I was wrong. There are no best uses of Natal for standard games. It's not in any standard games. Natal is a purely casual business.

That seems to be working out okay for Microsoft. After Black Friday they'd sold 2.5 million units. They spent half a billion in marketing, but if the sales keep up I suspect they'll break even. It just has nothing to do with me. But the same could be said of Facebook games, iPhone games and many other areas as gaming expands.

Move (a.k.a. the wand)
"The wand is good for aiming and manipulating objects in arm's reach. It'll be used for some shooter games and some puzzles in adventure games. It'll also be used in some strategy games, possibly to good effect, but I won't care because I don't like strategy games."

There are a couple shooters using the wand for shooting. But to my knowledge that's it. I liked the shooting in Metroid Prime 3, so I may someday enjoy PS3 Move shooting. But I think the overarching theme is that motion control is not being aimed (har har) at my demographic, by and large.

The End
Originally traditional gamers were the means to get Sony and Microsoft's proprietary internet content boxes into living rooms. But since Nintendo showed them another way, they're happy to try it.

In Microsoft's case, they launched it as what feels like a separate business which doesn't affect me one way or the other.

Sony, on the other hand, didn't have any exclusives worth a darn this holiday season. They may have actually hurt their core business by shifting resources to motion control.

Regardless, I think this post marks the end of my hopes that motion control would contribute significantly to experiences I care about.

10 December, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 10 December, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 059b - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - racists
1:40 - back to town
3:30 - Jean-Pierre
7:00 - forge

04 December, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 4 December, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 059a - Dissecting The Salamander

0:00 - striga nonsense

01 December, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 1 December, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 058a - Her Highness

0:00 - new sword
1:00 - towards the striga's crypt
3:50 - story time
8:00 - Velerad
9:00 - striga's crypt

29 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 29 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057h - Get Outta Town

0:00 - kill some wraiths
2:00 - kill some bruxa and Lilly
3:40 - turn in and reward choice

the font used is Bayern from typenow.net

22 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 22 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057g - Get Outta Town

Update: The old download version lost sound after twenty seconds or so. It should be fine now.

0:00 - ancient crypt
2:30 - to the cemetery proper
6:00 - Vesper
7:40 - huntsman
8:20 - back to the cemetery

15 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 15 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057f - Get Outta Town

0:00 - finding the refugee cave
1:50 - fight and money delivery
5:00 - finding the old mine
6:20 - exploring old mine

09 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 9 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057d - Get Outta Town

0:00 - swamp
1:10 - refugee cave
2:30 - swamp
4:00 - Raven's crypt



Witcher 057e - Get Outta Town

0:00 - Raven's crypt

08 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 8 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057c - Get Outta Town

0:00 - Jaques
6:00 - druid cave

07 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 7 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057b - Get Outta Town

0:00 - leave Kalkstein's
0:30 - fight through the barricade
6:10 - White Rayla
7:20 - into the swamp

05 November, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 5 November, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 057a - Get Outta Town

0:00 - talents
3:20 - Scoia'tael choice recap
5:00 - to the barricade
9:10 - visit Kalkstein

29 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 29 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056f - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - Order fight
1:30 - Shani
3:30 - Zoltan
4:50 - Order fight 2
9:00 - ~Toruviel~

27 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 27 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056e - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - Kalkstein
3:10 - checking with the blacksmith
6:10 - a bit of wandering
8:10 - Shani

22 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 22 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056d - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - rescue refugees
7:40 - Shani
8:10 - chasing the striga

18 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 18 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056c - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - Foltest
5:40 - Antoinette
7:50 - Triss
8:30 - Old Vizima
10:10 - Zoltan

17 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 17 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056b - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - Foltest
3:10 - de Wett
5:30 - Merigold
7:50 - Velerad

15 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 15 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 056a - Chapter Five Begins

0:00 - Dandelion
2:10 - Vincent
3:40 - Carmen
4:40 - Radovid
6:00 - Zoltan
8:10 - intro to Old Vizima

14 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 14 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 055e - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - curing Vincent
4:10 - attacking Salamandra



Witcher 055f - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - attacking Salamandra
1:10 - Azar
2:50 - consequence animation
4:20 - Professor (mostly)
6:00 - wrap up

12 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 12 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 055d - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - swamp fight
2:20 - forbidden Vizima
3:00 - curing the werewolf

11 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 11 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 055c - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - Siegfried
0:30 - infiltrating Salamandra drug lab
6:30 - freeing villagers / setting up swamp fight

07 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 07 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 055b - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - Scoia'tael update
0:40 - parenting
1:50 - bank robbery
8:40 - Thaler stand off

05 October, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 5 October, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 055a - Bizarro Chapter Three

0:00 - Siegfried
2:20 - Alvin sent to Triss
5:10 - night out with the boys

30 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 30 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 054a - Vacation's Over

0:00 - Toruviel
1:00 - Dandelion
6:00 - Rayla
7:20 - Dandelion

28 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 28 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 053a - Standoffish

0:00 - Berengar
2:30 - Rayla
4:20 - Dandelion
5:10 - Scoia'tael
6:20 - Alvin
7:00 - Toruviel
7:40 - Rayla
9:50 - Dandelion

27 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 27 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 052c - Emotional Rescue

0:00 - hermit



Witcher 052d - Emotional Rescue

0:00 - Lady of the Lake
7:10 - Berengar

26 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 26 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 052a - Emotional Rescue

0:00 - druid
4:20 - Celina
7:30 - Julian



Witcher 052b - Emotional Rescue

0:00 - Tobias
0:50 - review
2:30 - Fisher King
5:40 - vodyanoi priest
6:20 - Lady of the Lake
7:20 - Berengar

23 September, 2010

One More Business Says It's Leaving The PC Ghetto

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

I read a story about Capcom not releasing Super Street Fighter IV on PC. It was disappointing. I bought SF4 for the PC during the Steam winter sale last year, fully knowing I wouldn't actually play it. I just wanted to throw Capcom a little money for being a good citizen, supporting the PC without consumer harming DRM. So this is a slap in the face.

The game's producer (Yoshinori Ono) said that the PC version of SF4 had strong sales but was "number one in piracy". Doy. The PC's an open system (compared to the consoles at least). You might as well cancel the PC version because the sky is blue.

Maybe he just said it wrong. Maybe something got lost in translation. Maybe the piracy numbers on SF4 were truly horrendous.

But the article 1up got the story from also says that despite the PC port being easy to do, there would not be a Steam release because it would be unfair to people who can't buy from Steam. So it's not about piracy because Steam would solve that. It's about fairness. But excluding the PC gamers entirely is already unfair.

Again, maybe it's a translation problem, but this story doesn't seem to make sense. And narratives like this aren't unique to Capcom. A lot of the business people sound like this when they talk about the PC. Piracy is a tough problem, and most companies don't sell enough on PC to make it worth their time to figure it out. But once in a while they see a game like Spore or Starcraft 2 move millions of units and they can't stay away.

It's not a new problem. And it's not going away. But it annoyed me particularly this time, so I wanted to say something. Capcom's good citizen credentials are hereby revoked. Please resume your normally scheduled web surfing.

22 September, 2010

Quick Takes

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

Amnesia: The Dark Descent (3 of 5) is by Frictional Games. You might remember me mentioning the Penumbra games a while back. I appreciate that they're an independent studio with limited resources, but when I played Amnesia, I couldn't help but feel it's the same game they've made twice already. If you haven't played any of them, the first time's pretty exciting. They combine simple puzzles with insanity effects and monsters you can't possibly beat. It's tense. But I've seen it before, and the monster encounters became far too predictable.



Recettear (3 of 5) is a simple dungeon delve combined with running a shop. It's a nice idea. Balance hack and slash with buy low / sell high. Neither side of the game has much depth to it. And the two sides also don't relate in any interesting ways. But it's a cute grind that I can use to keep my hands busy while I listen to a podcast. It's digital knitting.



Star Wars Battlefront II (3 of 5) was on sale for $5 on Steam. That's probably about the right price. It's not up to Battlefield 1942 standards. But the scope of the campaign was pretty impressive. From Geonosis to Hoth you fight with the 501st clone division. The campaign gets way too hard. The feel, feedback, and sound is third rate. But I paid $5 and shot some battle droids, so it was good enough.



I still should finish Cryostasis, but I know it's going to be another 3 of 5, so I'm not too motivated.

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 22 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 051a - Big Boys

0:00 - Dandelion
1:20 - Lady of the Lake
2:50 - preparation
6:50 - Dagon



Witcher 051b - Big Boys

0:00 - Dagon
2:50 - Lady of the Lake
3:30 - checking non-humans
5:00 - Celina
6:00 - wraiths



Witcher 051c - Big Boys

0:00 - Pat
1:10 - wraith fight
4:20 - druid

18 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 18 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 050c - Cat Harness

0:00 - fields
0:50 - Dandelion

17 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 17 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 050b - Cat Harness

0:00 - crypt
4:00 - south of village
6:40 - Mason Harn

16 September, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 16 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 050a - Cat Harness

0:00 - naiad
1:50 - vodyanoi priest
2:20 - Julian
4:40 - fistfight
5:50 - Abigail

15 September, 2010

Common Sense

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 15 September, 2010

I read a lot of gaming press. It's largely press releases with a touch of opinion. "Such and such company announced that such and such game will have such and such feature, and here's what I think about that." It's the nature of a business built on supplying rabid gamers all the details about upcoming games and supplying advertisers as much daily exposure as possible. But once in a while, that system fails us.



A lot of outlets covered a press release from Common Sense Media. It said that 72% of adults would support a law banning the sale of "ultraviolent" games to minors. Gamasutra covered it. Joystiq covered it. G4 had an almost four hundred word rant about how dumb people are. BitMob had a blurb. I'm sure it was covered all over.

But nobody I saw doubted it.

I'm not a journalist, statistician, or legal expert. I'm not going to deliver a smoking gun. But I'm surprised that nobody thought it was worth a few minutes of Googling (which brought me to an LA Times piece on Common Sense Media) to make sure this was on the up and up.

First off, the press release never mentions the California law (AB 1179) currently in front of the Supreme Court. Common Sense Media sponsored AB 1179. Doesn't that connection seem vaguely important?

Additionally, CSM obtained their statistics by ordering an online poll from Zogby International. When the Wall Street Journal graded pollsters after the 2006 elections, they found Zobgy's telephone results were in line with competitors' margins of error. But their online polls had "at least twice the average miss of four other polling operations". More recently (August 2010) the New York Times' political polling blog FiveThirtyEight refused to use Zogby online polls which "are associated with by far the worst pollster rating, and which probably should not be considered scientific polls".



I understand that the press release + opinion = article grind is a necessary evil, but when it's a press release from a group that is trying to deny our hobby First Amendment protection, it's worth double checking.

10 September, 2010

PAX 2010: Games

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 10 September, 2010

Motion Controls

Most of the Kinect demos were two players at once (and didn't look very interesting), so I only ended up playing Dance Central, which was fun. We keep hearing so many things about how one Kinect feature or another "will be added later". From what I could see, Kinect even had a hard time distinguishing the player from the background. There were enough people lined up to play it (and I've seen it often enough on Amazon's hourly sales charts) that I suspect it will sell some units. But I don't see anything there for me personally.

I at least tried a couple games with Move. There was a Lord of the Rings kiddie brawler. It played like a Wii game. I tried more mature fare with the Move edition of Heavy Rain. The the guy demoing the game was very nice, but the controls and icons were confusing. I've heard the standard controls are terrible, but the Move controls definitely aren't good.

Except for Dance Central, it looks like game developers still haven't got their minds around motion control.


On a related note, OnLive could be good for some people. It will let them play high end console and PC games without high end hardware. But the first time I pressed the fire button in Just Cause 2 and waited half a second for the guy on-screen to fire, I knew it wasn't ever going to be for me.

Plus the business model sucks. :P



Favorite Game

Gear - A bunch of the DigiPen games were installed on all of the PC freeplay stations. My favorite was Gear. The level design, physics, and scale were just right to keep me feeling like I was just barely in control. Trying to go through as much of the game as possible without touching the ground also helped keep it interesting.



Not Exciting, But Solid

The vast majority of the games I played were well made, but didn't really excite me. If you like the sorts of games they are, you'll probably like them.

The Ball - first person puzzler where you get a giant metal ball through a maze (needs some "standing on the ball" mechanics)
The Conduit 2 - Wii sci-fi FPS
Vanquish - Gears of War but more mecha (and minus co-op)
Hunted - Gears of the Rings
Infamous 2 - shoot lightning; climb on stuff
Lost in Shadow - maneuver through shadow casting puzzles
Two Worlds II - like Gothic 3, but with lots of customization (combat needs more zing)
Force Unleashed 2 - decent fantasy brawler
Solace - medium low difficulty bullet hell shooter with very good production values



Disappointments

Star Wars: The Old Republic: I played a quest and a half as the Imperial Agent. Aside from taking cover and a dialog tree it was a standard, boring MMO.

Darkspore (action RPG using Spore creatures): There just didn't seem to be much to do in the demo shown.

Monaco: Maybe it was just because the group I played with ran around like chickens with their heads cut off and could never seem to get to the exit, but I was hoping for more from the winner of the IGF.



Brink (thought I forgot again, didn't you)

Brink wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. The demo level seemed to heavily favor the defending side. The fancy movement system didn't seem to amount to much more than a sprint button that enabled mantling. The developers were constantly telling us to change classes, which I thought the objective system was supposed to do. When I followed the objective system it led me to the wrong side of a locked door. And with no bots in the match, there's no way to tell if the game will be suitable for Ozone's co-op events. The verdict is very much out on Brink.



Full Disclosure

I picked up free T-shirts for Brink, Fallout New Vegas, Hunted, Two Worlds II (two shirts because they had a "wear our t-shirt tomorrow and get a second design" promotion which tickled my fancy), and the Weekend Confirmed podcast.

Also, I saw a lot of games that could have fallen into the Not Exciting, But Solid category, (Kirby's Epic Yarn; Donkey Kong Country; Rage; New Vegas) but I only list titles I got hands-on with.

And as always, these are short demos. They may not reflect the final quality of the full games. And these are just my opinions based on my experiences in a crowded, noisy convention setting.

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 10 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 049b - Field Study

0:00 - Hermit
3:10 - fields (Teyu)



Witcher 049c - Field Study

0:00 - Abigail
1:00 - Dandelion
2:30 - Tobias
5:30 - fields
8:10 - Mason Harn

08 September, 2010

PAX 2010: Random List of Cool People

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 8 September, 2010

I'm thinking I'll avoid real names where possible, just to be safe. I have no pictures of my own, this year, so I'll be really safe. :P

Magical Mystery Tour

Orbdep and S.O. were back on the tour this year. They broke off on Thursday and took a boat tour which sounded so nice I wanted to try it for myself before I went home. (The weather never cleared, though.) Also, Orbdep had picked up the new Castle Ravenloft cooperative board game which we played on Thursday night. (We consisted of me, Orbdep, Kara, Brian, and WingedIllidan.) We beat the easiest scenario on the easiest difficulty and just barely escaped with all of our lives. I'm lead to understand that that's par for the course in Ravenloft.

I got to wander a toy and puzzle shop with Emorimiku, which was fun.

I spent some time walking with Mystral, who was nice. She took a video of Turbo the dog playing in the international fountain.




Pre-PAX Dinner

ArcticXC was head boy for Gryffindor and very friendly. (He was also very friendly the year before and quite possibly the year before that when I actually went on the pub crawl.)

xythen made cool Nuka Cola caps (the currency in Fallout) for the button trade. She also has a gentleness and smile that haunt me.

I got to talk Witcher choices with Carlos from Portugal, which was really cool. Also, Heleor snapped a picture of us talking.




Green Tortoise Hostel

Dan was back this year. He's apparently designing a game with Kyle. I think they might make a good team as Dan seems very energetic and Kyle is very grounded.

Paul was part of the same group, but his main claim to fame is probably playing backup for Jon St. John (the voice of Duke Nukem) singing Free Bird (along with Sid Meier's son and some other industry folks).



Also, while wandering around on Sunday, Paul and I bumped into each other and grabbed the first box that said 2 players in the board game freeplay area. It was called Ninja Versus Ninja and we had a good time playing it.


Out and About

I ran into Parabola on Monday. I accompanied him on a wander to find drinks he couldn't get in Canada. They don't have cherry Coke up there.

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 08 September, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 049a - Field Study

0:00 - recap
1:00 - negotiation research
3:10 - elves
4:50 - Alina
5:40 - Alvin
6:40 - find the hermit

30 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 30 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 048c - Lake Night

0:00 - Lady of the Lake
2:00 - killin' stuff
6:00 - naiad
6:40 - more killin' stuff

27 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 27 August, 2010

Witcher 048a - Lake Night

0:00 - Alvin
1:10 - Dagon worshippers
3:10 - resolute girl
3:40 - vodyanoi priest
7:40 - talents
8:40 - naiad



Witcher 048b - Lake Night

0:00 - village
0:50 - lakeside
3:40 - island
5:20 - Lady of the Lake

26 August, 2010

Wii-valanche

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 26 August, 2010

For no good reason, I got caught up on some "core games" on the Wii recently. Time for some mini-reviews!



No More Heroes 2

3 of 5


Let's look at my thoughts on the first game...

Hmm. No plot to speak of. Amusing mini-games that quickly become a waste of time. A fun ride, but not worth the grind.

I'd say that also pretty much sums of the sequel as well. It has a tiny bit more plot, but not so you'd notice / care. The mini-games are a bit better, but still get old, largely because the first one you open is the most effective way to get cash. Luckily you don't need to grind unless you're committed to buying every new piece of clothing available in each chapter. I actually did buy all the clothes for a few levels, trying to be true to Travis' superficial character, before I got bored.

While No More Heroes 2 improved a bit, it isn't enough. The combat is still mediocre, often ineffectively communicating what it wants from the player. The mini-games don't hold up. The story, even as a metaphor for gaming culture, made its point in the first game. It's still fun to see some of the crazy stuff, but I feel pretty done with No More Heroes as a franchise.



Mad World

4 of 5


I'd heard horrible things about Mad World being repetitive. And it can be. The game tells you up front that if you want to get the most points from killing a guy you should trap him (usually in a spare tire or garbage can), impale him with a street sign, and kill him at one of the many environmental killamajigs in the level. While all this is true, the game isn't about points per kill. It's about points within a certain amount of time, so as long as your mindful of opportunities to get more points by hurling a guy into a passing train or stuffing him into a burning barrel, you'll do fine.

The plot is a waste of time, and the mini-games / driving segments are pretty weak, but the combat was just enough to keep me entertained and punched up a notch with the occasional waggle fest. Mad World is my favorite action game on the Wii.



Red Steel 2

3 of 5


I had to buy a Wii Motion Plus for this? Even if sword strikes didn't simply fail to work occasionally, the combat would be pretty lackluster. Most fights boiled down to block, counter; finishing move. They moves feel and look okay, but outside from learning a new finisher once in a while, there wasn't enough variety to keep the game interesting. NecroVision's combo mechanic puts this game to shame.

The story and other activities in the game are so worthless that by the time this sentence is over I'll have spent too much effort talking about them.

24 August, 2010

PAX Prep

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 24 August, 2010

PAX 2010 is almost here. I'm getting anxious. I feel like I should be doing something. But there doesn't seem to be any productive stuff to do.

Panels? I made a list, but there were so few things I really wanted to see that it didn't take long. Heck, there's nothing on the list I have that I couldn't miss. Sure, it'd be nice to see a live demo of RAGE, but there'll be enough internet footage later that it's not essential.

Expo floor? I used to make a list, but always missed something. So this year I'll use my map as a checklist and simply hit up every booth. That's a couple hours of prep time saved.

Community stuff? Since someone else took up the banner of the NorCal meetup, all I have to do is show up. The same goes for all the community events.

I still feel like I'm missing something, but everything I can think of is ready to go.



Just for old times' sake here are some games I'll be looking for.

Monaco - It won the grand prize at the Independant Games Festival but had no demo. And the video I've seen doesn't look fun. The cognitive dissonance thus generated must die.

Dance Central - The people who created Guitar Hero and Rock Band have reportedly made the best use of the 360's Kinect peripheral. It should be enlightening. I'll be looking at other Kinect and Move games as well, but I'm not expecting much.

Batman: Brave and the Bold - a simple Batman brawler I've heard good things about

Dead Rising 2 - The save system's still borked, so I'll never buy it, but it should be fun for the length of a demo.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - third person action with a futuristic take on Chinese legend, could be good

Two Worlds 2 and Gothic 4 - I liked Gothic 3, so these are worth a look.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - I've heard very positive things, but I hated Super Paper Mario, so we'll see.

Vanquish - over the top sci-fi cover shooter from Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil 4, God Hand), worth a test drive

Fable 3 - Fable was a huge let down and I didn't bother with the sequel. Still, it's worth a quick look to see if any of Molyneux's ramblings actually panned out.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Ubisoft's DRM is still keeping me away from AC2, but Brotherhood has an interesting take on multiplayer I'd like to see firsthand.

Guild Wars 2 - I've heard GW2 is rethinking a lot of MMO conventions and improving on them. It also has no subscription fee so there's at least a tiny chance I might play it.

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 24 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 047b - Outcasts

0:00 - cave
0:40 - elven craftsman
2:20 - Fisher King
5:40 - Berengar



Witcher 047c - Outcasts

0:00 - Berengar
5:10 - Alvin
5:50 - blacksmith
7:40 - Alvin

23 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 23 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 047a - Outcasts

0:00 - Alvin
0:40 - lakeside
3:00 - Chireadan
4:00 - dice
6:20 - Toruviel
8:50 - ~elf woman~

20 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 20 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 046a - Polite Or Broken

0:00 - Julian
0:50 - healer
3:20 - fields



Witcher 046b - Polite Or Broken

0:00 - fields
7:20 - Alvin

19 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Thursday, 19 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 045 - Domestic Disturbance

0:00 - map
0:50 - Alvin
2:20 - Alina
5:40 - Celina
7:20 - Adam
8:30 - Julian

17 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 17 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 044d - Chapter Four Begins

0:00 - Adam
2:20 - Celina
3:50 - Dandelion
4:50 - letter from Shani
7:00 - male innkeeper & waitress



Witcher 044e - Chapter Four Begins

0:00 - Julian
0:30 - books
2:50 - Alina
5:50 - Alvin
9:20 - Julian

15 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 15 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 044a - Chapter Four Begins

0:00 - lakeside
5:00 - Dandelion
7:30 - notice board



Witcher 044b - Chapter Four Begins

0:00 - female inkeeper
2:10 - talents
4:20 - Dandelion
6:10 - Julian
8:10 - blacksmith's son



Witcher 044c - Chapter Four Begins

0:00 - blacksmith
1:50 - prize cow
2:40 - ~Celina~
6:30 - Alina & Alvin

13 August, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 13 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 043a - Bizarro Chapter Two

0:00 - Siegfried changes
2:20 - Coleman changes
5:20 - Vivaldi changes



Witcher 043b - Bizarro Chapter Two

0:00 - blaming Kalkstein
0:50 - party changes
4:00 - final changes

09 August, 2010

Game Journal: Cryostasis

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 9 August, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Cryostasis is a bad game I'm enjoying.




Here is a picture of frozen boxes.


Here is a picture of you inside a frozen box, looking at the same decorations you've seen a million times before, which are basically frozen boxes.



When I first played the demo for Cryostasis, I thought I'd never play the game. It was a pain, and there wasn't enough payoff for how annoying it was. That's partly because the demo was from later in the game and threw you in with no learning curve. It's also because the demo was some of the least interesting bits of the game.

But it's also because I've taken to only playing the game for a checkpoint or two at a time. The scares are scarier if I don't get used to their pattern. And I don't mind the occasional cheap deaths because there's only two or three per session.

And last, but certainly not least, I've completely changed the character of the game. It's supposed to just be scary and bleak. You're inside this frozen ship full of monsters. Even when you're saving crew members' lives by going into their past and taking control of their actions, victory just means a body disappears. It's hollow.

So I fixed it. Every time I go into someone's past I hit the play button on my multimedia keyboard. It starts a song. It starts this song.


("You" by VAST from the album Video Audio Sensory Theater)

As my viewpoint enters the crewman in a shower of sparks, the sparse synthetic sounds tell me I'm embarking on a strange, personal journey. Can you hear it?

As I learn what it was that killed that crewman, the chorus begins to sing, gently urging me forward. Listen to it.

As I'm learning what killed him, dying and re-entering his past, the singer is spouting random stuff I don't care about. The song doesn't really fit that well. :)

But by the time I'm figuring it out and saving the crewman, the singer is singing about leaving and love, which is what happens every time you save someone in their past. They just disappear. It's not at all clear if they survive or if they have any idea of what you did for them. But you saved them, and with the song playing and the chorus singing, that's what it feels like.

The game made a puzzle. I made it feel worthwhile to solve it.

This is part of why I still love the PC as a platform. From gameplay mods and hacks (the only way I finished Far Cry and other games) to simple ambiance changes like this, the PC will always give me the most options.

But how do I review a game when my experience is so different from what you'll have?

I don't. I just write a journal and tell you what I enjoyed or didn't, even if it wasn't part of the game. I don't have to give scores. I don't have to rush to be current. I just have to have interesting experiences and share them.

Because you can't
Take anything with you

I Sleepy

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 9 August, 2010

Being tired is like being drunk. And sometimes I need to be tired enough to forget my inhibitions and write a blog post. When I'm sober, I feel responsible to my Let's Play audience. Plus I'm painfully aware that there's a huge backlog of stuff I should have written about months ago. I still have plenty of pictures (and even some video) of Big Baby from my month in Champions Online. I played through Ninja Gaiden Black and I don't think I even told you. I probably could have reviewed half a dozen other games I've played, but it just didn't seem worthwhile. Nothing about them excited me.

*goes off to rummage through picture directory*

Oh geez. I've still got Mass Effect 2 pictures in there! And there's Tropico 3. More recently there's a bit of Cryostasis and Minecraft.

Ew. Two Rayman Raving Rabbids pictures. That's an experience better off forgotten. :P

The other part of it is that as much as my experiences working disabused me of the idea that work is noble, I should be doing some. So there's always a bit of guilt involved.

Meh.

Let's get writing.

30 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 30 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 042d - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - house of the night
1:40 - Triss
2:50 - Vincent
4:40 - secret meeting
6:00 - hideout



Witcher 042e - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - hideout
1:00 - Azar
5:00 - hideout
6:20 - Professor



Witcher 042f - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - cave
2:30 - dike

29 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Wednesday, 28 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 042a - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - Vincent
3:00 - mini-concert
4:40 - Triss
5:10 - Leuvaarden
6:50 - Triss



Witcher 042b - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - Radovid
5:40 - Yaevinn
6:40 - Patrick



Witcher 042c - Last Load Of Dirty Laundry

0:00 - Blue Eyes
1:00 - Patrick
1:40 - ~Blue Eyes~
3:10 - Patrick
4:10 - ~Lady of the Night~
8:20 - Everybody

27 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 27 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 041a - Unexpected Guests

0:00 - talents
0:50 - bombs
2:30 - Dandelion
5:20 - stupid merchant
6:10 - ~merchant's daughter~
8:50 - Dandelion



Witcher 041b - Unexpected Guests

0:00 - dice
6:10 - sewers
8:00 - hideout



Witcher 041c - Unexpected Guests

0:00 - Radovid
1:20 - hideout
3:30 - werewolf cinema

That last conversation tree is a repetitive mess. Here's the short version.

Kill werewolf?
- If not, tell werewolf about Salamandra's connection to King Radovid?

25 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Sunday, 25 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 040g - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - salamandra hideout



Witcher 040h - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - salamandra hideout
0:50 - Jethro
4:20 - salamandra sewer group
8:20 - inn
9:50 - Leuvaarden



Witcher 040i - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - swamp errand
1:20 - Jethro
4:10 - Leuvaarden
6:20 - Siegfried
7:10 - undertaker
7:30 - guard officers

24 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 24 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 040d - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - Alvin & Shani
1:40 - DeWett
3:10 - Velerad
5:00 - graveyard
8:20 - Velerad



Witcher 040e - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - trade quarter
2:30 - Thaler
4:00 - Jethro
7:10 - Angus



Witcher 040f - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - royal huntsman
1:50 - sewers
3:20 - salamandra hideout

23 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 23 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 040a - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - Yaevinn
0:40 - Sewers
9:00 - trade quarter



Witcher 040b - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - mage tower
0:50 - swamp forest
6:00 - talents
9:00 - swamp forest



Witcher 040c - Farming And Fallout

0:00 - Voref
1:00 - swamp forest
8:40 - temple quarter
9:00 - Yaevinn

19 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 19 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 039a - The Negotiator

0:00 - trade quarter
3:30 - Velerad
5:30 - warehouse



Witcher 039b - The Negotiator

0:00 - bank
2:40 - Yaevinn

voting choices

17 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Saturday, 17 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 038d - Nobility

0:00 - inn
1:00 - Velerad
1:50 - Thaler
8:10 - Adda
8:40 - Thaler



Witcher 038e - Nobility

0:00 - Thaler
1:30 - Triss
3:30 - ~Adda~
6:20 - Triss
8:20 - Leuvaarden



Witcher 038f - Nobility

0:00 - inn
1:30 - talents
2:30 - Andrew Gablodda
5:20 - trade quarter dispute

16 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Friday, 16 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 038a - Nobility

0:00 - trade quarter
0:30 - town hall
1:50 - trade quarter
2:20 - merchants
4:30 - royal huntsman
6:20 - inn
7:40 - sewers
9:30 - elven ruins



Witcher 038b - Nobility

0:00 - elven ruins
2:40 - sewers
3:50 - inn
5:00 - town hall
5:50 - ~townclerk~
8:00 - party
8:20 - Triss
9:40 - Leuvaarden



Witcher 038c - Nobility

0:00 - party
0:50 - Velerad
1:40 - Thaler
2:50 - Adda
4:50 - Velerad
6:20 - Adda
10:10 - Velerad

13 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Tuesday, 13 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 037d - New Wildlife

0:00 - cave
4:30 - swamp forest
7:50 - Vaska



Witcher 037e - New Wildlife

0:00 - Vaska
1:10 - swamp forest
3:40 - bandit camp
8:40 - fallen tower



Witcher 037f - New Wildlife

0:00 - fallen tower
1:20 - bandit camp
5:50 - Vaska
6:30 - cave



Witcher 037g - New Wildlife

0:00 - swamp forest
2:10 - Vaska
5:40 - Hierophant
9:20 - Triss

12 July, 2010

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 12 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 037c - New Wildlife

0:00 - Yaevinn
4:40 - swamp forest
7:50 - cave

Game Journal: The Witcher

written by Blain Newport on Monday, 12 July, 2010

GAME JOURNALS CONTAIN SPOILERS. DEAL WITH IT PINK BOY.

Witcher 037b - New Wildlife

0:00 - wyvern island
8:10 - Yaevinn