Every year hundreds games make the trek through the development phase, past certification and marketing on its way to its big release. But every now and then a few games get lost in the process. Most get announced, some even get full cinematic cut scenes released at big gaming conventions like E3, and then simply disappear. Some fall behind, some may even get released but die out quickly in the shadow of larger, more anticipated games. In the spirit of the release of the sleeper hit “sleeping dogs,” a project that was dropped by Activision in 2011 and later adopted by Square Enix, I wanted to do an article bringing some of the most recent berried gems back into the light, back on the radar.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII:

This high anticipated addition to Square Enix’s beloved RPG franchise has lost a lot of traction since its big reveal at E3 back in 2006. Square remained very secretive about the project releasing only one other trailer back in 2009. Then out of no where, on July 20, 2011, nearly three years later, an article surfaces on Kotaku.com that Final Fantasy Versus XIII had been canceled. Four days later Square Enix confirms that previous rumors concerning cancellation we’re purely rumor, and that FF Versus XIII was still in the works. However, Square failed to offer up any addition information. Starts to make gamers wonder if the game really will ever make it to release, and if it does, will anyone be left to care?  

Kingdom Hearts III:

Kingdom Hearts has quickly become one of Square Enix’s most recognizable IPs. The compelling story, and exciting combat system, that only Square can deliver mixed with cute, loveable Disney characters, makes an appeal to multiple age groups. But lately the series has become diluted amongst mini handheld releases that were meant to bridge the gap between KH1 and 2 and provide context for the third game. But now after five new installments to the franchise, each of which appearing across multiple hand held systems. One starts to wonder if Kingdom Hearts will ever make it back to a major home console to deliver a satisfactory conclusion to what should have been a graceful trilogy, or if square will continue to beat around the bush until all interest has dissolved.

State Of Decay:

Originally announced as “class 3” last year, State of decay is an open world zombie survival game being developed for Microsoft by Undead Lads. You’d think an open world zombie survival game should have appeared on the market much sooner, seems like a no-brainer. Regardless, not much marketing has been put forth on behalf of the game, so not much is known. One thing is certain, you should definitely keep this game on your radar.

Fallout Online:

Publicity surrounding the speculation that a massively multilayer Fall Out game was that of controversy between Bethesda and Interplay concerning the ownership of the IP. After receiving notice from Bethesda that Bethesda intended to terminate the trademark license agreement, due to Interplay’s failure to commence full scale production, Interplay refuted, which caused Bethesda to sue Interplay for copyright infringement on September 8, 2009.  Several suits followed thereafter, eventually ending in an out-of-court settlement was reached in January 2012, in which Bethesda received full rights to the Fallout online game for two million dollars. Development has had a rocky development, but you can be sure, the two million dollar franchise is destine for a grand return.

-Brice

Downloadable content has been a big part of gaming for a long time now. Downloadable content provides gamers a flow of extra content, and game-play well after the finished game has hit store shelves. But unfortunately, due to the rising price of game development, developers and game retailer have been forced to cut corners, screwing gamers out of a money and content with trivial, gimmicky pre-order incentives, day one DLC as well as on-disc DLC. DLC has become less about prolonging game play and more about leasing unfinished games.

The question of Downloadable Content is a complicated one at that. We as gamers look at gaming as a recreational activity, an art form, and a vessel for the future of story telling, but among all those things it is also a business, a very high risk one at that. During the first few months before a game is released, developers and retailers depend on game pre-order to to drive sales and provide sales data, which is where pre-order incentives come in. If all major retailers aren’t provided with exclusive content for the game, they will not order a huge amount of copies. So in order for developers to keep making games, they need all the sales they can get, pre-order sales being the most important. However, a person willing to invest money into a game, that they simply can’t wait until release to purchase, should not be forced to choose between what content they want available to them. A simple compromise to the problem of incentivize pre-order DLC is to simply make all content available for purchase a month after the game is released. That way, the devoted pre-order gamer is given the option to experience content, for a small fee, that would have otherwise been withheld based on which exclusive copy he/she had purchased, the developers pocket extra profit, and gamers who might have missed out by waiting till release, now have the option indulge, the same as those who had decided to pre-ordered. 

Day one DLC and On-Disk DLC draw a very fine line when it comes to the question of digital property being the property of the buyer all the same. When some one pays for a game they expect to get the whole game, and shouldn’t they? are they not entitle to the whole experience as opposed to a $60 chunk of it? The best way to combat the day one DLC and on-disk DLC scam is to simply stop buying games from companies that trim content from the final game only to re-sell it as “extra content.” Developers and Retailers need to realize that it’s at a greater loss to scam their fans, than it is release a finished copy game that includes all the content that was intended for release.

Downloadable content is a great way for both gamers and game developers to continue to do what they love. DLC allows the gamer a flow of game-play and content, and also allows profit for the developers to keep making content for us gamers. But its when game developers start locking gamers out of game content as opposed to allowing them extra content to prolong the experience, that’s when the balance falls apart. Developers need to make money, but this dishonest content-throttle business plan many developers have adopted has left gamers feeling cheated. I believe DLC has so much potential for both the gamer and the game developer. it is my hope that future developers will take gamer’s feelings into account and think twice before cheating gamers out content they rightfully deserve. Its hard to say where things will go. Will the market will find a way out of this rut of dishonesty? Will DLC loose all relevance as gaming moves away from physical media? One thing is certain. We’ll just have to wait for the next expansion to find out. 

-Brice

   Allow me to preface this post with a brief apology;  The blog has been rather stagnate as of late and for that I offer my sincere condolences.  I’m sure you’re all well aware of the fact that pursuing a higher education requires one to pursue fiscal resources as well which, unfortunately, cuts into my free time.  In addition to apologizing I would also like to thank those of you who still follow this page. Now to the review.

   I’ve wanted to post a review for some time now but due to my aforementioned monetary restrictions I wasn’t sure how to progress.  I could talk about almost any game and post my review but for anyone to read it the timing of a review is just as important as the subject matter.  Ideally I would like to review the newest games or shiniest toys but I lack the disposable income to do so.  The other option would be to review older games, but that raises the problem of retaining ( or rather gaining) your interest. Thus was the source of my dilemma.  So how does one overcome this obstacle?  Simply pick a game that is timeless. All I needed was a game that -despite it’s age- resonates with players, so I turned to Brice ( the blog’s better author) and asked what his favorite game was.  Which brings me to Okami.

   Okami is one of those games i’ve heard people whisper about but never really payed attention to.  Perhaps due to my PS2 days being full of too much angst and sugar for me to care about a games “artistic value”.  (yes, I was that guy )needless to say despite my alleged maturation I came into this game as a skeptic.  I rather enjoy artistic games but at times they come across as, well, pretentious. Often selling a weak story-line as “artistic ambiguity” but given Brice’s glowing endorsement as “The best game ever” I tried to keep an open mind.

        Okami is quite possibly the PS2’s most beautiful game aesthetically.  The game looks and -more importantly- feels like a living tapestry.  there were times where I would simply stop playing and just look around the world the developers created for me.  And that brings me to another point; It seems like the artists treated the environment as a labor of love, taking the theme to heart and remaining faithful to it throughout the course of the game.  The only issue I have with the presentation is the way the story is presented.  The story itself is engaging enough to draw my interest, but given the fact that the game seems to sell itself on it’s artistic value i expected the environment to play a more pivotal role in telling the story as opposed to the rolling text presentation that set up the plot and often broke the fourth wall briefly taking me out of the experience.  Despite those minor flaws I was thoroughly engaged once the story got going. It’s nice to see a more mythological driven plot that isn’t focused on visceral combat or rescuing a princess from a giant turtle; and there were times where I lost track of much time I spent playing the game.

      The game does offer a damn good experience that is as enjoyable to an adult as it is to a younger audience and I highly recommend it.

Grade: A- 

P.S. No Brice, not best game ever!

   Whenever I discuss gaming with my peers or constituents the conversation always turns stale when the subject of muiltiplayer is brought to the table.  You see while many members of my generation are obsessed with disemboweling each other in a rather mindless community setting, I’ve never really understood the appeal.  In fact the whole phenomena seems akin to sadomasochism from my perspective; in the sense that it offers instant visceral gratification for those who invest the time to develop a tolerance to the whole ordeal while simultaneously offering a rude awakening for those who just decided look around town and accidentally stumbled into the wrong building (I digress).  Despite the fact that I don’t personally invest the time or energy to become proficient in online fratricide, millions and millions of gamers regard it as a lifestyle and instantly label you as casual or ignorant (often interchangeable with queer or pussy in muiltiplayer vernacular) for not wasting as much time as they have learning their trade.

   Trolls aside, the cynical, jaded side of me of can’t help but to notice that the popularity of muiltiplayer spawns the perfect opportunity for game developers to cut corners.  For example: when’s the last time you played a F.P.S. for the narrative or new I.P.?  It’s been a while.  See, developers are reasonably intelligent people so they understand that: old I.P. + rabid and devoted fan base = huge profit margin.  In other words; why should devs create anything new or waste resources on innovation when they can recycle the same game year after year while justifying the hefty price tag by offering a “more complete” muiltiplayer experience, since when has it been okay to allow your game to stagnate so much that muiltiplayer is the sole selling-point!?!  The biggest transgression manifest itself in the form of micro-transactions so that after you spent $60.00 on a game and decide to play online  you realize that in order to stay competitive in the online community you have to shell out more of your disposable income for “a new weapons pack” (or some related feature like that).  

   Now the purpose of this post (or rant) was not to condemn the online experience or belittle those who enjoy muiltiplayer; but rather to address the disturbing effect it seems to have on the gaming industry in general.  If you enjoy Tea-bagging you fallen digital adversary by all means continue.  I, however, prefer innovative gameplay and a deeper, well written narrative in my games and it seems like I have fallen into the minority.  Which causes me to fear a great stagnation of the industry…….only time will tell.     

When most people hear the phrase “sell out”, they think of someone submitting to the higher-ups in exchange for money or “success”, often compromising independent integrity or principles. That is why it’s ironic that Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of penny-arcade.com have decided to title their latest kickstarter initiative “Penny Arcade Sells Out.” Krahulik and Holkins raised a question to fans of the site, asking them: “would you be willing to pay for a Penny Arcade website devoid of Advertisement?”

Krahulik and Holkins began this initiative for a couple of reason. They wanted to eliminate the workload of two people securing ad revs. for the site in order to move focus on providing more content for users, as well as creating an ad free experience for fans of the site. In order to continue to provide content for users without advertisement revenues they estimated that they would need at least $250,000 from those willing to contribute, in order to maintain the site for one year.

After only two days “Penny Arcade Sells Out” has already raised over $215,000 with 34 days remaining. For many years now ad revenue has been the only way Internet content providers have been able to continue providing content to users. Youtube, Facebook, Yelp, Kotoku, and many other are all funded by companies that host ads on their sites. If Penny Arcade’s goal of $250,000 is reached, it will mark a huge revolution in how internet content is funded, it will also lay testament to the power of crowd funding and devoted online communities.

In order to become a backer, users are asked to make a donation to projects they wish to support. Donations are subject to a minimum of one dollar. The more money a user pledges to a project the higher the incentive. Typical incentives ranging anywhere between honorable mention, to, a meet and greet with the founders. Farther more, If you decide to donate $1 or more to “Penny Arcade Sells Out,” Gabe will shout your name while chasing a duck. If you decide to donate $15 dollars or more, Gabe will think about you during sex, with a certificate of appreciation of course…. No…wait- he wont think about you while having sex WITH the CERTIFICATE, you see… you receive a certificate separately….. :\

go donate.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/575109064/penny-arcade-sells-out

-Brice