Sigh. First they're all amazed last June and touting 100,000 copies of single movie titles sold... every PSP owner has an adoption ratio of 2.4 titles... like some nuclear family statistic. Then the well runs dry, the studios wonder why Stealth hasn't made any money yet, and by the time Advent Children comes out in North America it's stillborn. They better do it up proper... would you rather pay $29 for the UMD or $27 for two DVD's? To quote Sony's European president Chris Deering, "DVD sales are flattening. Consumers already have bought all the film titles they want for their DVD. The publishers are looking for new ways to sell discs." Yah, keep looking.
As the name that launched a thousand Japanese RPGs, Dragon Quest from Enix began a new era of story-driven video games. Without the complex baggage of Ultima, or the basement sessions of D&D, the Role Playing Game was catapulted into a boldly visual and symphonic feast of escapism, involving the player more in the journey than in managing rulebooks.
Nearly 2006 now... Banner graphix, yo! Christmas givings and munnys racked up three DS games for me. But I'm also kicking away at MGA and GTA and TRON on PSP, fyi. Things are good, but I won't have nearly enough free (game) time before getting back to work. Still waiting on a (working) second-hand PS2 to scratch that RPG itch.
Darwinia is a game worth commenting on. Yes it's innovative, proving again that small developers and enthusiasts are the last bastion of creativity. Yes it's playable, streamlined controls and easy on the system requirements. It's pretty and sounds good, and it's geek-fodder for A.I. and Tron lovers alike. (Go Engineer!!)
The storyline has more than a few things ripped out of the news headlines, and foreshadows just a tad for A.I. and "Matrix" cataclysms. Which is of course inevitable. What gets me, and made me have to quit playing, is it's such a successful immersion that it encroaches into simulation. It's believable to the point of pulling the game into the real world, as though I was an assistant on a video link with this scientist.
It's full of juxtapositions that require more thought than gamers are usually comfortable investing. Like Xenogears touched religious and humanitarian buttons that people simply didn't expose while holding a controller... these Darwinians are digital organisms created by one man, self-aware and evolving. This is more of a god-game than Sims, Black & White, and Populous put together. For purposes of narrative we have the talking "head" scientist. But the player is equally responsible for the life and deaths of the Darwinians. Genuine Ludologists must be quivering with glee! There's enough case studies here to fill a semester.
The conflict comes from virus code. A more primitive version of "life" that seemingly only has goals for continued existence, which of course requires food and the removal of competition. In a Babylon 5 twist (or wherever JMS got it) these mortal enemies of the Darwinians are the source of "souls" to create new Darwinians. Not having played the whole story, I can only guess at the full truth with any plot twists. Suffice to say it's a perpetuating cycle of life and death. Plus the virii shriek when you kill them.
So this is my quandary, I can't enjoy this combination of moral and theological questions in the context of gaming, and I can't escape thinking about it alongside the narrative. Plus the virii shriek when you kill them. Then you harvest their souls.
Anyways, I gave it an 8.0. Because for those final 2 points, it is not in fact a game. -V-
Once again another long-anticipated PSP game is delayed.
Pursuit Force won't see my screen until the spring. I have all but given up on the PSP as a game platform and now consider it along the lines Sony is pushing with each new firmware update: a multimedia device.
It's great for photos, video clips, magazines, and all that other *cough* good 1.5 stuff. Plus I got to explore Akihabara trying to find one. (Didn't. First store in Shibuya.) So there's nostalgia. It's a keeper, but not a gaming system by any means.
Hopefully my brother will come through with a UMD of Tron for Xmas. I'd better remind him.
Meanwhile it's time to find a Char^H^H^H^H Hot Rod Red DS on eBay. Look! Innovative first-party software! Thanks Nintendo. I'll preorder a Revolution controller too. We tight.
I'm honestly not sure why any blog post I've cared to write has been so pessimistic. Normally I'm quite easygoing with little to complain about. ;) Ah well, while I'm on a roll, it's depressing to suspend my City of Villains account due to lack of time. It's certainly fun enough, but I can't pay $15 / month to have a fourth job. ^_^;
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