His blog is here.

I actually wasn't aware there were tweaks to the gameplay, but they sound good thus far. For those of you who've never played Puzzle Fighter, its a vintage game from the arcade/PSOne era (no idea where my copy went) that's been rereleased as a downloadable game for the PS3 and 360, and now includes online play previously only seen on the Japan-only Dreamcast version.

I like Sirlin's writing, and have read his stuff periodically since my Shoryuken.com days (aah), so its going to be interesting to me how his adjustments work, long term. They sound good in theory, but it remains to be seen how well those balancing tweaks survive the creative, competitive and utter ruthless player pool.

Oh, and he's offering his book online for free, but feel free to buy it too. I need to get my copy back from my friend @_@

Interview with Peter Moore.

I like Peter Moore. He's a character, definitely. I've been a fan of his ever since I saw his first interview during the Dreamcast days when he was with Sega to his move to Microsoft and now to EA. Now, ol' Pete has been called a lot of bad names by people who disagree with him and what he said at his various jobs, just like they do with anyone they disagree with. Xbox/360 fanboys reviled Kutaragi, Nintendo fanboys could go after Moore and Kutaragi just as easily as their detractors would attack Iwata and Nintendo. It happens.

But what makes Moore interesting compared to Iwata or (the now retired) Kutaragi is he's been around; Reebok, two consoles makes and now a software publisher. Everytime he's opened his mouth he's been very gung-ho about his company, his position, how they're doing, their vision, their product, etcetera. In short, give him half a chance and he will completely and utterly sell you on whatever he's selling. This is good; that's why he's paid the big bucks.

And he'll change that position depending on the company.

When he was with Sega he was, obviously, pro-Sega, pro-Dreamcast, pro-SegaNet, pro-2K Sports, etc.

When he was with Microsoft he was, predictably, pro-MS, pro-Xbox/360, pro-Live, pro-Bungie, etc.

Now he's with EA, and is understandably pro-EA, pro-Madden, and more neutral about the consoles, not endorsing or bashing any of them, but keeping to more of a "they all their strengths and weaknesses" type attitude, perfectly in line with what you would expect with a multi-platform publisher.

I think that's one thing that some people lose track of; that the people who speak for a company, who do business with a company, are always going to put that company in the best possible light as possible, will keep that company's best interests in mind with any and every statement. What do they really think? No telling. But if Kutaragi got hired by Nintendo, he would hype and praise the Wii like none other. If Iwata went to Microsoft, he would talk and explain how MS was at the forefront of gaming. If Moore went to Sony, then each and every advantage the PS3 had would be hyped up and any fault, weakness, or point of equality would be brushed under the carpet.

Likewise, when developers who do exclusives talk, they will mention how its impossible to do anything good multiplatform, whereas multiplatform developers will say they're striving to take advantage of each system to provide a univerally good experience. Exclusive developers will say "such and such could never be done on another system," where multi-platform developers will say they've worked hard developing tools on all systems.

Its great to read interviews, great to read stories, but always remember; they're trying to sell you something. The interview, the preview, the story, is basically an ad for them, their product, and their way of doing things. That they want you to believe they're doing everything right, they know what they're talking about and that they're not biased, even though they're biased as hell.

Never forget that.

Three fun things. First, Sony is going to be selling a fair bit of stock in one of its many businesses. Not something I'd care about normally, except that its been suggested that it relates to the second fun thing; two of those ever-trustworthy analysts believe that Sony will be dropping the price of the 80g PS3 down to $499 in time for the holidays, something that should make even the most ardent Sony hater happy if for no other reason than Microsoft and Nintendo will probably react to that somehow (I want my price/bundle domino-effect, dammit!).

Lastly, but not related to the other two, is that Sony and Microsoft's online services have one very important thing in common: Limelight. No, until a week or two ago, I never heard of them either. Now, its never safe to assume that just because they're a new name (to us, John Q. Public) means they're nobody; they have 850 other media companies as clients, including Amazon Unbox, Belo Interactive, Brightcove, DreamWorks, Facebook, FOXNews.com, IFILM, ITV Play, Metacafe, MSNBC.com, MySpace, NC Interactive and Valve Software. I don't know about you, but I find that pretty impressive, especially if you notice that they even have rival/competing companies onboard (FOX vs MSNBC, Sony vs MS, MySpace vs Facebook).

I don't know about you, but I think 2008 is already shaping up to be a very interesting year.

Interview here.

I'm hoping Sega does indeed go through with the online upgrade for the PS3 version, possibly rolling it together with an upgrade to make the PS3's VF5 version B into version C to boot (especially if they decide to charge for it). Likewise, nice to see a confirmation on the 360 getting version C instead of a lone website rumoring it will then saying "this might change."

Hope and good news. And, I think, a point of pressure shown:

-----------------

TVG: Whilst the Xbox 360 has performed well in both Europe and North America, it hasn't done well at all in Japan. Do you feel that Virtua Fighter 5 could be a strong title to push the console across the territory?

Actually, we haven't decided on whether to release Virtua Fighter 5 on Xbox 360 in Japan. If it could help Microsoft's share in Japan and get people to buy the console with the game (in a bundle), then perhaps...

-----------------

Something tells me Sega is fishing for a deal there. Just a thought, and one that Microsoft might want to take them up on. Of course, if that happens its likely that the PS3 version may never see that patch released, so it might be in Sony's interests to make a counter-offer. Unlike over here, Virtua Fighter is a *much* bigger deal in Japan, and is definitely a prestige title. If you want to play VF5 at home (for fun, or more than likely, practice) in Japan and haven't committed to a system yet, why pay more for the PS3 and VF5vb when you can get a cheap 360 and VF5vC?

That being said, its entirely possible that Sega might not release an online or version C update for the PS3 VF5 or release it on the 360 in Japan. After all, they do have an arcade market to protect. Should be interesting...

Payday today, and I got the call it was available for pickup the other day. MSRP was $39.99 if I recall, and the Gamestop Hawaii markup was minimal - only paid $42.99 plus tax for it. I picked up Condemned for the PC too ($17.99) since it was on clearance and my buddy Aaron highly recommended it (he has the 360 version and we're both Sega fans).

Anyhow... GW:EN comes in one of those lovely double-thick DVD case things, with protective, "nobody's opened this before" white tape on top and bottom that thankfully comes off easily enough for the legitimate owner. The packaging art is amazing as always; Jora was a great pick for the box (the detailing on her hair is insane); her face looks strong, serious and reserved. The Guild Wars: Eye of the North title/logo combined with the lighting prevent the cover from turning into "OMG SHEZ HAWT" fantasy cheesecake, which I think is a very good move (as opposed to pandering to the "we want fanservice" crowd, although they'll see enough of her in-game). A strong female character that should be appreciable regardless of gender, the bear that should harden back to various previews of game concept art, lovely background. The cardboard wrapper/box's embossed front flap is a very nice touch, especially since that portion has an amazing slick-glossy coat on it. Provided my lighting is decent and my eyes aren't overly tired from work, it printed a bit darker in bits, but its much richer looking as a result.

Opening it up reveals the lovely installer disc, a "Playsmart" tip leaflet that NCSoft seems to be including with all their stuff now (good move, actually), a map of the game area, a full-color booklet ("Manuscript") with a nice bit of flavor for the story (history, NPC's, enemies, etc), NCSoft's usual assortment of trial keys (COH/COV, GW: Trilogy, Lineage II) and of course their product catalog. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that Exteel is no longer featured in there (I believe they're still working on it, but sadly news has been scarce). New games being promoted are Guild Wars: Eye of the North (heh), Tabula Rasa and Aion. Aion looks prety, but to be honest I can't get excited about it right now due to the lack of news and the fact that I tend to prefer simpler, casual friendly play mechanics (I'm assuming Aion will be like most MMO's and stay on the complex side of things).

One big hurrah on the game key - its printed on a very cool ornate shield. What's the big deal? You have to tear off the perforated edges to open it up to read the key for registration. This is MUCH better than the scratch-off method seen in some other games, as the key is larger, easier to read, and you're just as certain that nobody's already used the key.

This is, my friends, a wonderful packing of a game, and a normal game at that, since GW:EN did not have a collector's edition that I know of. Nice, well done, luxurious full color on a lot of stuff (hint: full color/4CP is more expensive than just black and white), and incredibly well done external boxing considering that's the part most people are going to throw away (of course, it is a piece of retail-shelf level advertising, so it makes sense that its eye-catching). If this sounds good, let me assure you that both Collector's Editions I've gotten from NCSoft (City of Villains and Guild Wars Nightfall) have been really good, loaded with goodies for in-game and out, with Nightfall's CE being second only to the WOW: Burning Crusade's in my opinion (although I think WOW's cost noticably more... can't remember).

How is the game itself? No clue yet, as I'm busy typing this and might not get a chance to really play for a bit (took my Assassin/Necomancer from Guild Wars Factions into GWEN territory over the weekend for half-an-hour). But, given the track record ArenaNet has with me, I'm confident in my purchase. Its a bit of a pity that I've got so many ties in City of Heroes; makes it a bit hard to pry myself away to play Guild Wars... that being said, I always enjoy myself unlike my time in World of Warcraft (great game, don't get me wrong, but its not for me).

The Gears of War maps are now free.

Next question for me is: when is the next set coming out? That is the patter MS used for the Halo 2 maps, as I recall (paid, free, new paid, free, etc).

Prediction: The Resistance: Fall of Man maps will follow a similar pattern - paid-for initially, eventually becoming free, then new paid-for maps coming out later. I like this particular method, so thumbs up from me.

For a while now people paying attention to the industry have repeatedly heard about rising costs of new game development. This isn't something new necessarily, and more cynical readers have often dismissed "rising costs" as an excuse to keep game prices high or to bump them up to the $60 per title we're seeing on the 360 and PS3.

"Obviously developers/publishers are greedy," they say. "After all, they make tons of money on games, and DVD's are cheap!"

Well, this can be added to the list of facts they'll have to ignore when making such statements (such as development costs, piracy, short shelf life of games, etc).

Epic's story here.

Midway's story here.

Quick overview from Gamasutra.

I think we're all familiar with the outsourcing of jobs overseas when it comes to manufacturing (indeed, I think the kids growing up now might not know things are made in America besides cars and entertainment). Many people have joked about poor tech support from countries whose names they can't even pronounce. In an effort to keep costs under control (thereby minimizing financial risk and stretching their dollar) and to stay competitive, companies like Epic and Midway are outsourcing the creation of their art assets. Even Dragon Ball Online (from Bandai Namco) is being done between Japanese and Korean developers (complete with cultural difficulties, much like Richard Garriot faced with Tabula Rasa).

Why bother with this? In 1996 a PSOne game could be made for under a million dollars. Nowadays the average last-gen game can cost (depending on who's numbers you use) at least $1 million, averaging $5-7 million, and blockbuster (or at least big-budget titles) costing as much as $30 million dollars (source).

And this matters how?

Mark Rein boasted that Gears of War, an incredible, beautifully ugly game that set the 360's world on fire cost less than $10 million to make. And lets not forget that Microsoft picked up the tab on marketing the game too (which, granted, is one of the reasons we had the whole ruckus about MS charging for the Gears maps).

Developers and publishers are on the lookout for ways to keep their costs down. I don't know about you, but Epic's story is one *powerful* testimonial for outsourcing.

Gamasutra noted that its hard to find people with the qualifications to work in the gaming industry - one could argue its an employee's market. In theory there should be no significant job losses as a result. Also, Epic believes that the outsourcing of art could help make games more affordable to develop for independents, which is seldom a bad thing. But, if nothing else, it should be viewed yet another piece of evidence to the (practically) irrefutable fact that next-generation gaming is more expensive than ever, for consumers and publishers alike. So the next time you grit your teeth at paying $60 for a game, keep in mind that game companies the world over are trying their best to keep prices as low as they can.

Read Cube_of_Moon's editorial first. Its a very good read.

Done? Good.

Nice read - wow - lots of replies, too. Now that being said, I would like to point something out: making a game that would rate 9+ is a moving target. As gamers we get used to things very quickly; gameplay, graphics, etc. Each new high-water mark, especially with AAA games, becomes harder, more difficult and more expensive to surpass. A game that would've rated a 9 last year might become an 8 this year, especially with Gamespot's rating policy of lowering sequels/updates. The Guild Wars series is a good example of this; even though GW: Nightfall is by far superior to the original game on all counts, it rated lower because, well, its another Guild Wars game. What would've been a 9 last year becomes an 8 this year, possibly a 7 the year after that. Or, put another way:

"We can't be optimistic about the game market. No matter what great product you come up with, people get bored. I feel like a chef cooking for a king who's full." - Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co. Ltd., June 7, 2002

I would argue, however, its not the high-end that we as gamers should be concerned with so much as the "B" rated games - the games that make a system truly worth owning. Any system can have AAA titles; the Jaguar, 3DO and 32x did; some would argue the Dreamcast and Neo Geo Pocket Color had an enviable Crap:Quality ratio in game titles and selection. However, it's those 2nd tier titles that make all the difference in my opinion. If you look at the successful systems over the years, they all had an abundance of excellent games that weren't big names with oversized budgets and multimillion dollar marketing campaigns. You could walk into a store and after pointing out the major titles, could go around and show a new gamer a dozens of games that they would be great buys as well. You can't do that with an unsuccessful system.

Likewise, many games that are colorful, inventive, and just spread out aren't always the 9 rated games. I'm sure we can all think of titles that showed enormous potential, and maybe only needed a sequel or more polish to truly make it great. Or perhaps they're examples of niche genres in high-form. A lot of these titles are made with lower budgets and smaller staffs than the latest Final Fantasy or Halo, but are still exeptional games.

Finally, we must recognize that critical acclaim is no guarantee of commercial success. The original Prince of Persia (Sands of Time) wasn't a rousing commercial success, but fortunately Ubisoft continued on with it. As I recall Unreal Championship 2, another Editor's Choice game, didn't exactly do that well commercially also, overshadowed by Halo 2. Sleepers are called sleepers for a reason.

We're always going to have the extremes of superb experiences and titles better off forgotten. And, to be honest, I agree with some of Cube of Moon's worries about the lack of games rated 9+. However, I feel that its the middle ground, games rated 7 through 8.9, that provide a much healthier barometer of how a system and how the generation is doing.

Well, I would just like to say you guys have spoiled me. I've more or less stopped posting comments on the normal news threads. Well, most of you know I'm interested in the business side of the gaming industry, and have a pet fondness for MMO revenue models. That's why when I saw the new that Sony wants to make the Agency free to play, hey, I had to read it.

My mistake was scrolling down past the story.

While there were a few sane people, on the whole every idiot and fanboy with an opinion posted. Most of them simply did not understand (or seem to want to) the revenue model. Some of them thought it was a dumb idea Sony came up with. Some of them had to bring up Guild Wars, directly comparing it to WOW, and saying everything should be free lolz. Some people thought the whole point of microtrans was to force you to pay to play, albeit indirectly and far more insidiously. Some people took issue with Sony's admission that there would an aftermarket (ie, gold farmers, RMT traders, etc) for the game, and that Sony wanted to control it to rob everyone blind. Some people think you need to buy to play, and others believe that the game will be ruined by this.

Seriously, I could go on, but I'm feeling a little nausous due to the flu to start with.

So, in a nut shell, here's what I think in my not so humble and self-educated opinion:

Its a good move and I strongly believe that not only will help legitimize the business model in the US across both PC and console platforms with consumers, but it will also give the US MMO market a good kick in the rear both in terms of business and genres. Regardless of what you think of Sony Online Entertainment (and I know people who hate them passionately, especially those who played MxO early on and Star Wars Galaxies before NGE), they do run a good, profitable business, have explored far beyond the whole elves-and-swords fantasy genre that has saturated the market, and while maybe not the first in every area, have explored multiple revenue models (I'm fond of the Station Pass concept, the tiered free and paid Planetside, in-game advertising in MxO, and now this). I'm all for it; pay for customizations and paying NOT TO PLAY evens out the playing field with people who have too much time on their hands (very casual friendly, I might add). Also, if the game has any economic system in it, the people who "must have it now" can just purchase something from Sony instead of causing inflation on the in-game economy by resorting to gold-farmers.

I feel no particular love for the company (and my friend Jonathan - former SWG and Vanguard player, MMO affecionado in general - will probably kill me later for saying anything good about them). To be perfectly honest I'm far more interested and enamored with NCSoft as a publisher, developer and business. In many ways I strongly feel that Sony is following in their footsteps in regard to the American market, and that's a good thing; its continued validation of good ideas. But the bashing both Sony and the various revenue models that's going on in that thread is, to put it mildly, ignorant and reactionary.

Story here.

I'll admit to being surprised by this. I've not played any of their games, but they're very well regarded, if not loved, by their fans.

No real details other than "We're going to make 360 games," so it could be that they're going to make cross-platform next-gen games, or they're going to release games on the 360 while waiting for the PS3 userbase to grow as the system goes down in price. Whatever Nippon Ichi Software does, though, its good news for 360 owners. Anything that adds depth and variety to library of a console is a good thing.