Month: December 2004 (Page 3 of 3)
Sorry I haven’t been more chatty today, but it’s launch day at Wolfpack. The Throne of Oblivion goes live today, and it provides exciting extensions to the promise of Shadowbane. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed with the timing, because the game really does add some functionality to Shadowbane which makes it a whole new game. Continue reading
I haven’t commented on the whole Frag Dolls phenomenon but… this is hilarious.
Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun is out. Here’s the website for the book You know I’ll be going and getting one.
I try not to talk too much about games that I haven’t played yet (which is why I haven’t, for example, talked about Everquest 2 much – haven’t had time to try it). But I’ll make an exception for Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, solely because I loved the prequel so much. Once I get my copy in the mail, I’ll offer my own thoughts.
What do you do if you have a wildly fun game that constantly gets good reviews, but doesn’t fly off the shelves? Marketing’s answer: go darker. And sexier. I loved the first one, but huge parts of the reason I loved it – the storybook feel and the cocky yet idealistic prince – looked to be swept under the rug. Penny Arcade pretty much confirms my fears, as if the Godsmack soundtrack in the TV commercials did not.
You whippersnappers, with your fancy graphics, interactive fictions, splendorous environments and visceral combat. Back in the old days, we used books for our interactive entertainment. And we liked it!
This guy liked it enough to map one out (found via Grand Text Auto).
More about those EA screenshots that I pointed out earlier – how much harder is it going to become to create content on the next generation of boxes? Can our industry survive going to the next level?
I remember at a game conference 4 years ago listening to someone from 3D Realms (it may have been Scott Miller) mention that it took a day to make a Wolf 3D level, a week to make a Duke Nukem 3D or Doom level, and at the time it took a month to make a Next Gen title like Duke Nukem Forever (which may explain why its not still out). This may also explain why many games went from being 40 hours long 5 years ago to being about 10 hours long nowadays. Continue reading
Suspiciously on the same day that an EA memo about allegedly crappy working conditions was released, Idle Thumbs has dug up some screenshots released by EA, showing how amazing EA titles will look in the future. Look up here! Look at the sock monkey!
Looking at the screenshots, two thoughts come to mind. 1) These look freakin’ amazing, and 2) We still can’t get skin to look right.
On the heels of our discussion here about the Uncanny Valley, it seems that Terranova has discovered that WoW looks amazing, even while its technology lags behind. A lot of that is because of the amazing consistency of their art, but again, don’t discount the fact that they chose stylized over realistic for their looks. Or put it another way: NFL Blitz 2005 will age a hell of a lot better than Madden 2005.
For those of you wondering why all your favorite developers are abandoning PC for console development:
Press announcement #1 (1 Dec 04)
IRVINE, Calif. – December 1, 2004 – Blizzard Entertainment® today confirmed that World of Warcraft® has broken day-one sales records in North America, making it the most successful PC game launch ever. World of Warcraft, the company’s subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), sold through to over 240,000 customers at retailers in North America on Tuesday, November 23, selling more in its first 24 hours than any other PC game in history.
Press announcement #2 (10 Nov 04):
Microsoft beat even its own heady expectations for the hotly anticipated Xbox game “Halo 2,” selling more than $125 million of the product its first day in stores. The software giant on Wednesday reported sales of 2.38 million units for the game in the 24 hours since it went on sale in the United States and Canada at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Press announcement #2.5 (3 Dec 04):
Microsoft has released a swathe of new figures related to Bungie’s Xbox opus, Halo 2, revealing that the title has now sold over five million units worldwide and become the most popular game in the history of Xbox Live.
The Sims have always had great bugs. From Slashdot Games:
Maxis has recently released an update for The Sims 2 (both CD and DVD versions)… Another nasty bug (fixed in this patch) that I’ve encountered is one where stranger Sims walk off the lot with a baby!
Check out Grand Text Auto for a longer list. There’s something about setting a game in a ‘real world’ with AIs walking around that just makes the bugs that much better. Which reminds me: I bought the Sims 2 DVD edition, which included “outtakes”. Does that just mean bugs? Continue reading
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