Well, I just logged off Guild Wars after getting a chance to play with bossjimbob for the first time.

That. Was. Fun.

Nothing too serious - he helped me with a mission or two and that was it. But we got a little chatter in, laughed at some of the things in-game, etc. It also reminded me of some of the things about Guild Wars I like so much, that keep me going on about how much I like the ways it was made, and wondering why I don't play it more often. Such is life, I suppose :D

At anyrate, it also reminded me I need to see if there's a collector's edition of GW:EN coming out or not... I'll need to be at least one of the Guild Wars games first, though. Of course, City of Heroes and its excellent i9 update have kept me busy, and with i10 being on test server right now? Sheesh... I've only got so much time for goofing off with games, it hardly seems fair! But, I'm not complaining :)

Story here.

Read the op-ed and discuss. When you're done, I think you'll agree; you don't need me to stoke the initial discussion on this one.

Story here.

Wow. It shouldn't be a surprise, but wow.

Someone said a while ago we're hitting a point of diminishing returns when it comes to hardware improvements to market new systems; its simply getting too expensive and financially risky to make games that take full advantage of the power this generation. I want to know how many of those new games were originally slated for the PS3 and 360, and will now show up on the Wii in a less-pretty form. I've joked/scorned the fact that many games out there could've been done on the previous generation's hardware from a gameplay standpoint; I think this might be a validation of that.

I'd like to think we'll see more titles making use of the SNES controller - it makes sense. Certainly more sense than attempting to shoe-horn everything into a Wii-mote control scheme. Given the relatively low cost of the SNES inspired controller ($20), I think this is a good move for more traditional games provided they put a prominant display of that requirement on the game box.

Story here.

First EA, now Sony? Interesting. This is the second (relatively) high profile case of this that I know of concerning unpaid overtime in the games industry.

I've read that both the US and Japanese game industries rely on new-comers to keep going to one extent or another, as production schedules can turn into meat-grinders of sorts. Allegedly there's a high burnout rate in the industry, especially when companies keep crunch time hours throughout a whole project (I've heard of 80-120 hour weeks at EA through entire projects).

I think cases like these will help companies take a better look at how they handle their employees (there are companies that do their best to avoid insane work hours); if nothing else making sure its clear what they're entitled to under the law...

I would just like to say I've got some of the best friends that money can't buy. Today I received a package from my gaming buddies in Georgia and South Carolina. In the box there was:

• A Georgia license plate
• Bunches of pictures complete with comments on the back
• An entry tag for Final Round 10, the premiere fighting game tournament of the South (I've been to FR4 and FR8 )
• A copy of the Art of Fighting Anthology for the PS2 (I'm a massive SNK nut, but you knew that)
• A t-shirt with "Nerd It Up" splashed across the front from Digital Frontiers Plus (one of the sponsors of Final Round 10?)
• A can of "Rooster Booster" energy drink (either they're trying to get me hooked or there's a story behind it - not sure)
• 2 packs of Wick Fowler's 2-Alarm Chili Kit - Winner of the ICS's 1970 World's Best Chili award and my favorite way to make chili, period (can't get it here, sadly)

Yeah. I feel that Southern love :D

Story here.

Given the fact that neither game required a Direct X 10 videocard, I don't think I'll call this overly surprising. Also, the console versions of the games both run on older versions of Direct X (Halo 2 was on a DX8 based system, Shadowrun on a system that's more than DX9 but not quite DX10). These are not Direct X 10 games - they don't even require Direct X 10 video cards (see the system requirements for Halo 2 and Shadowrun).

I don't *think* Microsoft has gone out and claimed that neither game will run without DX10 (and if they have, can anyone provide a link?). I can appreciate them wanting to help encourage DX10/Vista game development, and they passed up a LOT of money by releasing those two games on Vista only. But to be honest? They would've been a lot better off supporting Vista and XP, showing gamemakers how to make games that work well under both, helping provide a smoother transition between the two OS's and DX's. That would be more beneficial, I think.

Now if only ATI and Nvidia would get their act together concerning drivers :P

Coming soon (hurryhurry!) to Gametap.

More simply known as "Garou" or "Mark of the Wolves," this is one of the best fighters I've ever had the pleasure of playing. Following Mac's tradition of sharing stuff, here's a quick look at a freakin' great match at a level I wish I had half the talent to play at.

Freeman versus Terry, best 3 out of 5.

I actually love the way the two players really feel each other out to begin with. They do a lot of things that are both safe and anticipatory of counter-attacks. Now, given that most people never got to try this game, its comperable to Street Fighter III: The New Generation; anyone comparing it to 3rd Strike is being overly-generous. Its worth noting this is the first Fatal Fury game to not have the multiple-planes of fighting, also. Some things you'll notice:

T.O.P. In - That orange strip in the life bar is the TOP (tactical offensive position). When your health is in the TOP, it slowly comes back, you do more damage, and you gain access to an additional attack.

Just Defend - Comperable to Parrying in Street Fighter III, it is more defensive in nature. A successful JD results in a slight gain in life. Unlike Parries, being too early results in a block as you press back or down-back to JD.

Feints - Sometimes you'll see Terry start a Burn Knuckle but not do it. This is a feint, and actually requires the other player to have a degree of skill in order to work. You do it in hopes that they go off on auto-pilot upon the start of the move; when you recover from the feint, you're in a good position to take advantage of their action.

Break Moves - Another thing you'll see Terry do a lot of. He starts a Power Dunk, but cancels it, staying on the ground. The first hit IS active, though, and hitting someone with it puts them into a juggle state. Its safe-ish, has a good reward if it hits, and gains meter. Still have to be careful, though.

Anyhow, enjoy the match :D

I just realized I side more with industry and companies these days than I used to. I'm more concerned about their bottom lines than I used to.

I guess have some favorite companies go belly up or close to it and having friends who work in the industry will do that.

O_o

Story here.

Right now sales are slow, plus the charts are utterly ruled by Nintendo.

I'm hoping we see a bit more variety come the holiday season when sales should pick up.

Good for Namco, good for Tecmo. Here's hoping the US versions come out soonish.

Quake Wars pays for online through ads.

Namco charges for online upgrade for Tekken 5 on the PS3.

And there's not enough cheese in all of Europe to go with the whine.

I suppose director of PlayStation Network Eric Lempel's admission that while they're happy with free right now that PSN, as it grows, could eventually charge for their services would cause mass rioting in Gamestop.

"Oh noes! We paid $600 for the PS3 and pay $60 per game! And even though Sony is sinking millions of dollars into HOME and other PSN stuff, and publishers have to pay server costs and maintenance fees, its not worth paying for or putting up with ads for! Those bastards! We can't afford that! That's like charging for cable TV! Or food!"

Free is dead. You're going to pay for online gaming, be it out of wallet (subscription fees, a one-time fee, or some other sales model) or you're going to have to pay for it through advertising (aka "Free," costing you time or an in-game advertising presence). I personally like the paid-up-front model that tends to exclude ads (although Sony Online Entertainment's Matrix Online is a subscription game with in-game ads - done decently and helping keep a niche game going), but have no problems with the other revenue models.

A lot of these gamers need to realize that running an online service is a little more difficult than going down to Wal-Mart, buying a clearance eMachine and setting up a Counterstrike server on their college's network for them and their buddies. Costs a hell of a lot more, too. And when they point to games that offer "free," they need to look at how the publisher affords to pay for it, and realize that its not an option for all games and all titles (a game that only sells 100,000 copies isn't going to be able to pay for online for very long, unlike the multi-million selling Guild Wars series).