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.
Showing posts with label PAX 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PAX 2010. Show all posts
10 September, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
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