Tag Archives | Gaming

Rumor: New Console to Host Microsoft’s Motion Cam

Posted by Jared Newman on June 15, 2009 at 3:35 pm

xboxnatal1UP, whose scoop on the PSP Go was dead-on, is now reporting a rumor that Microsoft will release the Project Natal motion-sensing camera standard with its next console. And it’s coming in Fall 2010.

It’s not clear where the information is coming from, but 1UP Editorial Director Sam Kennedy writes that the camera will also be sold as an add-on for the Xbox 360. The new console will only upgrade hardware slightly, and publishers will be able to release games that run on both platforms.

I’ve said before that Microsoft should wait until the next console generation to introduce motion controls. That’ll allow the company to court third-party publishers and launch with the best possible line up of games. However, Don Mattrick , the Xbox division’s senior vice president, said at E3 that Natal allows Microsoft to “leap into a new era of interactive entertainment without having to launch a new console.”

Rebranding the existing wares while offering Natal as an Xbox 360 peripheral represents the best of both worlds. Publishers might be more willing to develop for Natal if they can sell to new and old console owners, and Microsoft could catch up with Sony’s Playstation 3 in hardware power without significant costs.

On the other hand, I’m not thrilled with the possible PC-ification of console gaming. It reminds me of the Nintendo 64’s Expansion Pak, a memory cartridge that improved graphics in some games and unlocked new features in others. Incremental upgrades are exactly what I don’t like about PC gaming. If the rumors come true, I hope Microsoft doesn’t push an upgrade on its existing Xbox 360 user base.

This was a lousy idea that deserves its place in forgotten history.
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Random Idea: Bring Back Shareware for iPhone Doom

Posted by Jared Newman on June 11, 2009 at 4:34 pm

doomguySix years ago, an article in Wired held popular gadgets to a gold gaming standard: Can it run Doom? The article left open the question of when Apple’s iPod would achieve this technological feat.

That day is coming next week, when Doom: Resurrection goes on sale for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Using many of the same textures and sprites as Doom 3 for the PC, the handheld game will lead a wave of 3D titles designed for either the iPhone’s 3.0 operating system or the new, more powerful 3G S model.

The only problem is, Doom: Resurrection isn’t your typical 5-minute time-waster that usually flies through the App Store. It’s a five-hour game that took a lot of effort to build. John Carmack and Escalation Studios haven’t announced a price, but given that a remake of Wolfenstein 3D costs $5, I’m guessing — wildly, I’ll admit — that the new Doom won’t cost any less than $10. If I’m right, is Doom’s star power enough to justify the premium?

Practically, it’s too late for this, but maybe now’s an opportune time to bring back gaming shareware. I’m talking about a substantial chunk of the game, not a one-level demo. Instead of swapping discs in the old tradition, players could spread word of the game virally by messaging the download link to their friends. What gamer worth his or her salt wouldn’t download free Doom?

Once a critical mass is established, surely some of the players will spring for the full-featured game, which would include (in my mind) new weapons, more episodes and online multiplayer. With OS 3.0’s capabilities for downloading new content from within the game, it’s certainly possible. As more iPhone developers push the hardware, they’ll need more than a few screenshots, a price tag or even a brief demo to sell their product.

In the 1990s, shareware was a great tool for bedroom computer game programmers who had no other way to market their work to the masses. With the iPhone and iPod Touch, we’re seeing a resurgence of these small-time developers, looking to strike gold in an increasingly crowded playing field. If there was ever a time to bring back gaming shareware, this is it.

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How iPhone 3G S’s Better Graphics Complicate Matters for Developers and iPhone Owners

Posted by David Worthington on June 10, 2009 at 3:28 pm

I’ve had several computers that were less powerful than the iPhone 3G S. My Intel 486 machine was bleeding-edge at the time, but could not compare to the ones like my 300-MHz Pentium powered PC that I owned just a few years down the pike. iPhone owners will soon experience a similar phenomenon, and some apps in the App Store will be off limits to anyone that doesn’t have the latest Apple hardware.

The iPhone 3G S has a 600MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM (my family’s Commodore 128’s clock speed was about 4 MHz, and it had 128KB of memory). The graphics processor in the 3G S is the PowerVR SGX (same as the Palm Pre) that supports OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics–meaning, it would blow my old desktop PCs out of the water.

The iPhone 3G only supports version 1.1 of the OpenGL ES specification. It’s possible to write an iPhone app that provides basic graphics on an iPhone 3G and better ones on an iPhone 3G S, but many developers may not bother. That means owners of the iPhone 3G will not be able to run applications and games with souped-up graphics. An increasing number of applications will be off limits, essentially being roped off into a VIP section of the App Store. How that will affect application development is an open question.

My take is that developers will need to decide which version of the iPhone they will be targeting. With Apple offering the iPhone 3G for $99, its market share will ostensibly increase–especially if Apple opens up to another domestic carrier in the U.S. Developers have finite resources, and will have to pick one or the other.

Consequently, there may not be many advanced games available for the 3GS  for some time. Over time, the number of 3G S owners will hit a critical mass, and developers will target it more often. If I was buying the 3G S simply so that I could play more advanced games, I wouldn’t be in a rush to get one.

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Despite Piracy, The Sims 3’s Doing Fine

Posted by Jared Newman on June 10, 2009 at 3:05 pm

Given the chance, the games industry will whine ad nauseum about the evils of software piracy, but the recent success of The Sims 3 shows that illegal downloading isn’t necessarily bad for business.

Electronic Arts is boasting that The Sims 3 is a hit, with 1.4 million units sold in the first week alone. That’s the biggest PC game launch in EA’s history.

The company doesn’t break from its victory cry to acknowledge that 180,000 people illegally downloaded The Sims 3 a few weeks ago, after it leaked to BitTorrent sites. The piracy statistics, cited by Bloomberg, come from BigChampagne, a company that monitors file sharing. I’ve contacted the company in search of up-to-date statistics. (Got ’em. See below.)

Even if illegal downloads of the game increased significantly since the end of May, it hardly seems that the leak dampened legitimate sales.

Why not? There are a couple possible explanations. First, there’s no demo for The Sims 3, so piracy could in some cases amount to taking the game for a test drive. Pair this with EA’s claims to Bloomberg that the leak is a “buggy, pre-final build” of the game, and there’s even more reason for downloaders to get the real thing. Also, there will always be a group of people who don’t want or can’t afford to pay for the game anyway. Neither of these scenarios can be justified legally, but they also don’t support the tired claim that every pirated download constitutes a lost sale.

And isn’t BitTorrent somewhat of  a niche anyway? The Sims 3’s appeal expands far beyond the tech-savvy Internet users who know their cracking software, and its online community features make a legitimate copy preferable.

I understand the games industry’s plight. It’s a shame that not everyone pays for their PC games, when legally they should. But perhaps instead of complaining that people aren’t buying software, publishers should study the people that do and look at why The Sims 3 earned their $50.

Update: Just got the latest stats from BigChampagne. The Sims 3, the leaked version, has been downloaded more than 700,000 times per week over the last few weeks, totalling 2.21 million downloads as of June 9.

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How Soon is Too Soon in Video Games?

Posted by Jared Newman on June 9, 2009 at 3:25 pm

left4deadboxNot everyone is happy that Valve is making a sequel to its hit zombie apocalypse shooter Left 4 Dead.

A growing number of gamers are boycotting Left 4 Dead 2, not because it portrays zombies in a stereotypical fashion or anything, but because the game’s holiday release date comes only one year after the original game. “The release of Left 4 Dead 2 as a stand-alone sequel will split the communities and decrease the quality of multiplayer gaming,” says the protest’s Web page, arguing that the additional content should be released as part of the first game.

Similar issues have come up before, but in opposite circumstances. When Capcom announced a separate, $5 versus mode for the blockbuster Resident Evil 5, it felt like a cheap attempt to wring more money out of players. Increasingly, publishers announce paid downloadable content before or just after the game itself is released, leading players to wonder why the material wasn’t included to begin with.

To my knowledge, this is the first time an entire retail game stands accused of coming too soon.

Indeed, one year isn’t a lot of time between iterations of a franchise, especially for a game with virtually no plot and fairly homogeneous challenges (“don’t get killed” is the overarching goal). But how much distance does a game developer need before building a sequel, and how different must the game be to justify it in the first place?

The answer — despite players with a wide range of needs and expectations — is “not much” and “not very.” Personally, I’d be happy with a 10-year hiatus for played-out properties such as Mario, Zelda and Halo, but for the overwhelming majority, sequels couldn’t come fast enough.

That’s why Valve will never give in to this Left 4 Dead 2 boycott. The 20,000-plus protesters may seem like a threat, but the original game has sold well over 2.5 million copies at retail alone, not including online sales through Steam, Valve’s PC download channel. The market decides how soon is too soon in video games, and I get the feeling Valve knows exactly what it’s doing.

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No More Coffins for Red Ringed Xbox 360s

Posted by Jared Newman on June 8, 2009 at 3:03 pm

redringofdeathIf you own an Xbox 360, consider hanging on to any box that might fit your console, just in case you get the Red Ring of Death.

Joystiq reports that Microsoft will no longer ship out its custom-fitted “coffins” — somehow I don’t think this is the company’s lingo — in which to return broken Xbox 360s. Customers can still print out shipping labels on Microsoft’s dime, but they’ll have to find a suitable transport container themselves.

Microsoft’s confirmation is a change of course from what Joystiq learned in March, when a representative denied that customers weren’t getting the option of a coffin. All customers from every region around the world got to choose a prepaid label or a container with the shipping label appended, the representative said back then. The new policy went into effect on May 26.

A Microsoft representative told Joystiq that this move will “expedite the shipping process” because there’s no need to wait for Microsoft’s packaging, but you should be able to recognize the spin from a mile away. If killing the coffin is meant to help the customer, some sort of box should at least be optional for people who don’t have one sitting around. Its more likely that this is a cost-saving measure.

Joystiq recommends using any old box to ship a red ringed Xbox 360, but that raises more concerns. Are customers then expected buy packing peanuts or bubble wrap to keep the console secure? If not, what if some other component of the console breaks in transit? I’m going out on a limb here, but Microsoft could face either higher costs to repair additional parts or another PR nightmare when customers have to pay more to take care of a problem they didn’t cause.

The big takeaway? Either Microsoft is getting really stingy, or the company has been shipping a lot of boxes.

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The Best and Worst of E3 2009

Posted by Jared Newman on June 6, 2009 at 12:08 am

e3outside

For the last two years, the Entertainment Software Association downplayed video games’ biggest trade show, but 2009 saw a change of heart. E3 opened the floor to journalists and hosted more than twice as many exhibitors. Veterans say the show isn’t quite a return to form — I heard stories of fire dancers during the show’s peak — but it successfully made the statement that video games are huge. It was my first show, and while neon lights and low frequency rumbles will never stimulate me again, I’m glad I went. Here are the high and low points of E3 2009.

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E3: The Games, Part 2

Posted by Jared Newman on June 5, 2009 at 11:56 am

e3logoA collective haze fell over the Los Angeles Convention Center on the last day of E3. No one can handle any more neon lights, throbbing subwoofers, booth babes and shoot-em-ups, yet we continued because there was always one more game to try.

I’m nursing a binge video gaming hangover that has nothing to do with alcohol, but here’s what I remember:

Brink: In a “hands-off” presentation, we saw an ambitious first-person shooter that lets you change player classes and objectives mid-level. The ability to hurdle over obstacles by holding a button is promising, but there’s much work to be done before next year’s projected release.

Brutal Legend: The 30-minute demo included hacking away at cultists, driving in a hot rod and lots of humor. I’m on board if warring publishers can settle their differences.

CrimeCraft: Part of the MMO shooter wave, this game combines twitchy action with leveling up and character customization, with players organizing into gangs. Still, I’m not convinced that the “persistant worlds” of CrimeCraft and other games are a vast improvement over simple menus.

God of War III: I do not understand the fuss over this game. Production values don’t get any better, but isn’t this just your average blood-and-guts beat-em-up?

Huxley: This game made a splash years ago by promising persistent-world massive multiplayer shooting, but only the shooting part was playable at E3. The action itself is standard; it’s what we didn’t see that I’m curious about.

MAG: Organizing strategy in a 256-player game doesn’t happen in a 10-minute demo. I liked the sprawling battlefield, even if I only saw a portion of it.

Saboteur: Art direction shined in this hands-off demo. Muted grays of Nazi-occupied France give way to brilliant color in areas where resistance is growing. I’m reserving judgment on the mix of stealth and action.

Saw: The movie franchise was all about escaping sinister death traps, so this idea is long overdue. Puzzles — such as escaping a razor-laden head clamp and digging through drug addicts’ needles to find a hidden object — show promise, but the hand-to-hand combat looks weak.

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Classic Console Gaming Goes Portable

Posted by Andrew Brandt on June 5, 2009 at 10:16 am

fcmobileIIWandering the backwaters at E3 can yield some surprising finds, like the Hyperkin booth. The company, which sells accessories for most current and older-generation console systems, was showing off its month-old FC Mobile II, a portable game system that accepts original, 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges. The $60 package includes a light gun and two wireless controllers, and can be connected to a television or played portably using the built-in 2-inch LCD screen.
segahandheldBut 16-bit gamers don’t have to lament–starting this summer they’ll be able to play their favorite Sega Genesis or Master System cartridges on a unit Hyperkin plans to sell. The Sega model will also connect to a television or be playable on a tiny LCD, includes two built-in classic Sonic the Hedgehog games, and can play any other Genesis cartridges you find in dust-covered boxes in your closet or scrounge up at a garage sale.

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Hey, the PSP Go Feels Good!

Posted by Jared Newman on June 5, 2009 at 9:32 am

press-sony-psp-go-1I will now attempt to navigate a PSP Go hands-on article without using any puns related to locomotion.

Let’s start with the specs, which were known even before Sony officially announced the new model. It’s 40 percent lighter and 50 percent smaller than the existing PSP-3000, the company says. A 16 GB flash drive is on board, and there’s a Memory Stick Micro slot for expansion up to 16 GB. There’s no UMD drive, so games and videos are downloaded directly onto the device.

Maybe it’s the lightness, but the PSP Go miraculously works despite its small size and cramped layout. The controls slide down from the bottom half of the device, so holding it is decidedly different than grasping the sides of the PSP-3000, and a bit awkward at first.

Still, the Go rests comfortably in the hands. Keep in mind that the ones I tried were firmly shackled to a kiosk (seen below), with a metal guard in place to keep the controls open, so I couldn’t hold the device in different ways or get a true sense of the weight. Even so, a nearby PSP-3000 was markedly heavier.

pspgotopshackle

The analog pad, which is now depressed into the handheld’s surface, is easy to reach, even if the thumb irritation from using it hasn’t gone away since the last model. Face buttons can be pressed with accuracy, and triggering the two shoulder buttons required no extra effort despite resting on different parts of my fingers.

I played LittleBigPlanet and Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier during my time with the Go. The console has a smaller screen than the PSP-3000 — 3.8 inches compared to 4.3 inches, respectively — but I didn’t have any trouble discerning what was happening.

As for software, the PSP Go uses the same media bar as the PSP-3000. Kotaku reports that Sony is working on a solution for PSP-3000 owners to transfer their UMD games and wants to have something in place before launch.

Like any handheld, your mileage may vary in the comfort department. Most of what I heard from other reporters is positive, but gripes with the design are inevitable; it’s all a matter of taste. If the $250 price tag doesn’t scare you, I’d still recommend trying the device instead of impulse buying on October 1.

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