Man I don't have enough time in my life for modern video games. I came back to Red Dead last night because my family got trapped in L.A. for the night. Long story. Not relevant. So I picked up Red Dead Redemption for an hour or so last night.

It was my first trip into Blackwater, the big city in the game. Even though I've been away from New Austin for a few weeks I had no trouble immersing myself back in the world and in the character of John Marsten. In fact I felt really out of place in the big city. I've spent so many months roaming the countryside and the big city (though not really all that big) felt like a different world.

I imagine this is how true country dwellers of the period felt. These big cities were really new concepts in the west and if you haven't been around them much they can feel very foreign. I rode in a car. There are cars in the game? That was a surprise. I tried to steal one but the typical ride/drive button didn't do anything. Come on Rockstar, builder of GrandTheftAuto worlds, let me steal the car. I wanted to try it out so badly even though I know the experience will be nothing like the real thing.

It was strange learning a new set of rules. On the prairie I had learned how people interacted with me. Would the city bring a new set of rules? I overheard two cops talking about me and I was afraid they would see me and come after me. They didn't but still it felt very foreign. My clothes now look very out of place and I feel a need to change into something more city like. But then won't it look strange when I head out into the frontier again? I guess I will find out.

This was one more experience that I have never had in a game but have now thanks to Red Dead. It's amazing how immersive games can be these days. Every time I would pick up a new Gran Turismo I would remark how real it looked and how it couldn't get any better. But every time it did. Open world games will continue with this trend for many years I think. There is still so much that can be done, even though the bar has been set really high already.

I was driving to L.A. recently after playing Red Dead heavily for a couple days in a row. If you haven't played the game one of the side missions involves killing and/or skinning wild animals in specified quantities. As you are riding your horse and running throughout the game you are constantly keeping an eye out for the critters that you need to kill at that time.

When I hit the Kern County area on my drive I found myself looking for small creatures to shoot and skin. The landscape was similar enough to the game that it must have put me in that mindset. Should I be concerned?

Zak

Been a while since I posted an update on my journey of gaming. I've been scattered between a bunch of games over the last few months. A little Portal 2, some Outland, Galaga DX, mostly finished Toy Story 3 and Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 with the kids. I even started Brotherhood finally. But on the advice of Boubou I have gone back to finish Red Dead Redemption and I'm doing it properly (not to mention I told schemer.com that this is one of my life goals). Working my way through the primary story line and also working on the quests. The quests (e.g. hunter, survivalist, strangers, etc.) have the added bonus of being more child appropriate than the main story line so I can sneak time playing before 11pm.

So what do I think now that I'm firmly into Mexico, working through quests, and exploring the various villages and ruins? I think this may be the most impressive game ever created. I am still impressed by the vastness of the game. I haven't even explored the entire map and I feel like there is another world that I have been given priviledges to visit. It feels like a forced world. People sit at tables just waiting for a stranger to stop by for an arm wrestle. A guy pitches horseshoes seemingly forever. There are a lot of prostitues in this world too, but I don't seem to have an interest in them. Been out on the prairie for an awfully long time now and all I can muster is, "Evening Ma'am."

I love that this world encourages me to shoot flying birds from a moving train. Though saying it out loud reminded me of the days of bison hunting from trains. When was the last time you saw a bison on the range (or anywhere for that matter? respect to Ted Turner for keeping a huge herd on his ranch). I love that a horse appears when I whistle. Love the way the sounds alert me to wildlife and danger. I really love the scenery and the objects. I wish I could interact a bit more with them but to think that somebody had to design and place each of those objects throughout the world is pretty mind boggling. Did they use a shrub distribution program? Were the mountains created by hand? I love that chewing tobacco refills my dead eye meter, though I've never actually used it.

I hate when mountain lions (cougars in game language) sneak up on me and pounce without provocation. Yes I jumped when hearing and seeing the lion kill me without warning. I hate the way Marsten moves sometimes. When his gun is drawn and he's hunkered down he can have a jerky uncontrollable movement when trying to make minor adjustments. It landed me in the river a couple nights ago. I hate when I shoot the good guy on accident when I'm trying to save him/her. Auto aim is great until it locks onto a friend and I pull the trigger. Sorry about your wife Sir. I was trying to help. I only looted her body to find out if it would make you mad.

I find myself not looting the people that I kill on accident as frequently as when I kill bad guys. Why should my morality carry over into a video game? My honor meter is already down from killing the person. Looting won't hurt a thing. In accounting terms the lost honor is a sunk cost; it shouldn't factor into my decision. But somehow it does. Am I becoming Marsten? Is this what they mean when they talk about second life? Surely this is more of a second life than any Sims game in terms of the emotional connection that I am feeling with the world. The experience is still scripted but there is enough freedom that I feel connected.

I wonder if returning to this world years from now will feel like returning to Narnia? The only real difference is that Narnia time continues at super speed when you are away, and there is no telling how many hundreds of years have passed since your last visit. Time stands still without me in New Austin and Nuevo Paraiso.

Zak

Remember when going to the video game arcade was a huge treat? Remember judging which arcade was better than another? Remember when the games in the arcade were clearly better than the games at home?

These were the thoughts running through my head after my first E3 experience, followed by a trip to Disneyland. For context let me explain why Disneyland is relevant. One of my favorite destinations in the world when I was a kid was the underwater arcade at the Disneyland hotel. I remember when it was built. I remember all of the hours I spent there. And I remember learning that it had been destroyed. The underwater arcade was not truly underwater but it was partially submerged and it was novel. It also had a fully immersive sit down Star Wars game. I remember Star Wars best but there were a bunch of good games down there (and a few not so good). One of the games had you controlling a knight and defending yourself from fireballs and bats. Each time you would get hit you would lose a piece of armor.

On my recent trip to Disneyland I found myself with time to kill on a couple occasions and sought out the arcade (to relive childhood pleasure). What I found was pure disappointment. The Disney Grand Californian hotel (the jewel in the Disney hotel line-up) had an arcade but it consisted of very few games and there was nothing there to get me excited. There was a Class of 1981, Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man combo pack. Not bad, but not special. There were a couple of connected motorcycles. A sit down racing game of some kind. A quick shot basketball hoop. Some quarter candy machines. Some weird safari Jeep driving game. And not much else. Where is the imagination Disney? The contrast between the games at E3 and the games in the Disney arcades was dramatic.

The next day I was in the park feeling sick after riding on Star Tours 3D (thank goodness we only waited 5 minutes instead of the 120+ mintues of the line). My wife was shopping so I went to kill some time in the arcade near Space Mountain. You know, the one that's been there forever but seems to be getting smaller every year (what happened to the area up the ramp)? Well it is even smaller now. The store next door knocked out a wall and expanded into the arcade. There are probably 10 games left. The only one that looked interesting was a sit down dog fight simulator. Pretty cool looking game, but only one cool game?

I fear the arcade is dead. How do you compete with Call of Duty and connected TVs? What can you do in the arcade that you can't do at home? The only answer I can come up with is create games that have controls and visuals that you can't get at home, but that means you have to go big. You need side by side racing simulators. And I mean really immersive stuff, like the AMD simulator that was set up at E3 with three big projectors, a wraparound screen, and full surround. But then you need to add a cockpit (maybe it doesn't need to move around?). Expensive stuff. How do you create enough of those to draw a crowd? Can I rent time on the simulator? You could do the same with plane simulators but the same challenges exist.

Any ideas for games that would draw you into an arcade and create an experience that you can't get at home?

There was so much talk about Red Dead Redemption in 2010. I have been a fan of Grand Theft Auto games since they came out and Red Dead seemed like enough of a twist that it represented something different. I knew I had to play it but wasn't sure when I would have the time. Between work and family (two kids) it has been difficult finding game time so the wait continued for much of 2010.

And then GameSpot declared Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year - 2010 and the buzz picked up again. I bought the game, but I also bought a bunch of others so it has sat on the shelf while I was trying to complete various achievements in the other games. This past weekend I couldn't wait any longer. I just had to try it.

First impressions:

1. I was impressed with the way the character moves in the game. The movements are much better than what you typically see in GTA and the character is a 'bigger' part of visuals of the game.
2. The world is beautiful. I have spent a lot of time in the California foothills up toward gold country and the world felt like home in a lot of ways. The Western style buildings and the big open space just feel right. Real. Believable.
3. I can already tell this game is going to be immense. I can't wait to see it all. How many hours do I think I will get sucked into playing poker? I think this game has already turned me into a hunter...and a Fame junkey.
4. I'm enjoying the story so far. It has provided some good up front information but there is still a lot of mystery. Why am I here? Who sent me?

I'm only about an hour into the game so I can only see the tip of the iceberg, but I can already tell that the other games I had in progress are going to have to wait. So far Red Dead Redemption feels every bit worthy of a Game of the Year prize and now it is calling to me. I'm going to have to cut some sleep out of the budget to make room for this game.

Don't spoil it for me but how did you like the game? Did it do anything for you that no other game has done before?

Zak

All right. I just sold another one. This time I did it right. I didn't just list a game that was sitting away in my drawer for months and months. I sold a game that I had just finished playing, Uncharted 2.

And this time I got a lot more money. $19.75 was the sale price. I netted $16.53 after Glyde took out the fee and the cost for the mailer. Amazon trade-in was offering $11.25. I've now made over $39 selling games with most of them being really old titles. From here on out I will try to sell my games right when I know I won't play them anymore.

If only I had played through Uncharted 2 faster....

P.S. Have I mentioned how easy it is? You have to try it to believe it.

I got my first crack at Gran Turismo 5 last night at the Victory Lap GT5 promotion party. It is so hard to evaluate a game in 5 minutes in a nightclub but here are my initial impressions. Keep in mind that I have hardly played any racing games other than GT4 for the last few years so my perspective is a bit outdated. The game was set up in simulators with force feedback wheels and pedals.

• The cars look great. You can see through body panels when the car has an extreme body kit. It gives a lot more depth to the cars and makes them seem more realistic.
• I am excited to try some of the new tracks and challenges. I've never played a game with Autodormo Monza and I'm looking forward to trying out the big ovals with a stock car. Exploring what is new will take some time.
• Love seeing the Tesla. They did a really good job of making it behave the way it should. You can even see the flow of energy to and from the battery. Hearing the electric motor in a video game is strange and really cool. Hqaveing worked for Tesla for the last 3.5 years this was especially gratifying to try out.
• I love that this game finally has Ferraris. I tried out the F40 (which I was far too excited to discover) at Suzuka. It was really challenging and I think with some practice and speakers that allow me to really hear the car it is going to be a lot of fun to drive. What other Ferraris are hiding in the game??
• The track modeling is really different, at least at Suzuka. The first right-hand kink off the straight was a lot slower than GT4 and a lot slower than a modern F1 car (in terms of relative speed). The game was recommending 2nd gear in the F40 and I went wide if I was in 3rd. F1 cars pretty much take that flat out. So did GT4. The 130R corner was a similar experience. Flat out in GT4 and modern F1. I think it was 2nd gear again in the F40.
• I only saw a little bit of damage but am eager to see more. Does it affect speed??
• The interiors that I saw were done really well. I wish all cars had an interior.
• I still don't like the wheel/pedal set-up. Maybe it just takes some getting used to but I have trouble getting the cars to go straight. I'm not sure how the brake pedal works either. Is it like the Sega Ferrari Challenge simulators that are pressure sensitive and you can induce wheel lock if you push too hard? I would need a quiet room to figure this one out.
• There was a lot of spinning. New game, unfamiliar wheel, etc. Very few drivers could keep the cars on the track. To my eralier points I think the lack of audible feedback made it hard, especially with driver aids turned off.
• The rain levels look really hard. Not only is the surface slick but other cars spray the windshield. Night tracks are going to be difficult too.

I am excited to explore further. Will the game ultimately be what I had hoped for? Only time will tell. Whether it meets expectations or not I am fairly confident that it will be worth the $60 that I pay for it.

Bring it on!

Zak