All posts by gimmgp

Commentary, Console, Food For Thought, News, Posts By Active Authors

Anchoring the Vita

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Screenshot by Flickr User: Debris2008
Screenshot by Flickr User: Debris2008

Earlier last year, one of my co-workers was part-timing at Best Buy as a gaming ambassador.  He had the opportunity to borrow a display unit of the PS Vita and show it off to his friends and family.  I guess the hope was to encourage consumers to pick one up on launch day, or just to create enthusiasm for Sony’s new handheld.  At the time, I was impressed: the processing speed and graphics were stunning, and many of the games available to demo held my interest.  Even with these offerings, I still made no plans to purchase a Vita.  The high cost of the system, combined with the fact that I already owned a 3DS, kept the Vita off of my wish list.

This isn’t to say the Vita did not hold my interest.  I have kept up with the various releases to the handheld, many of which I would love to play.  What I would really prefer is some way to enjoy these games without having to invest in a costly mobile device.  At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony unveiled just such a method.

Dubbed the PS Vita TV, this little set-top box has been turning heads at the Sony booth.  Roughly the size of a deck of cards, this hardware can be connected to a television in order to play Vita games on the big screen.  The PSVTV (an abbreviation of my own device, it’s cool, you can use it) will also be able to play PSOne Classics and other Playstation Network  titles.  In addition to all that gaming goodness, the system will feature Remote Play, so players can stream games from a single PS4 onto other screens in the area.  When you top it all off with Dual Shock 3 controller functionality, video streaming services, and a final price of $100, Sony has made quite an interesting console.

Currently, there are no plans to release the PS Vita TV outside of Asian markets, so I certainly hope the system does well enough to make it over here.  There is so much potential in a low-cost console that can play classic games along with handheld titles, but I think its true power lies in Remote Play.  Since so many games are moving multiplayer options into an online/network space, it would be nice to have a cheaper option to get some local group gaming.  Just think, instead of dropping $400 on a PS4 to play with your friends (not to mention lugging around a huge console), you could invest in a PS Vita TV and piggy-back on someone else’s system.  Saving money and mooching off of friends at the same time, what could be better?

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Food For Thought, General Commentary, Retro

Honor to the Classics

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Image by Flickr User:n0cturbulous
Image by Flickr User:n0cturbulous

It was rather early in 2008 when Square-Enix announced their plans to re-release Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS.  After playing through the fully upgraded visuals and new 3D perspective of Final Fantasy III, I was eager to see what sort of treatment Chrono Trigger would receive.  Would Square-Enix rebuild the game with a 3D engine, or keep the visuals in 2D but re-draw all of the sprites?  The soundtrack certainly deserved to be re-mastered, maybe even with a symphonic performance track.  My head was buzzing with the thoughts of one of my favorite games being brought back and drastically improved.

 Then the first screenshots came out and they were… the same as always.  It seemed that the only changes being lauded by Square-Enix were the inclusion of anime-style cutscenes (which were already made for the PS1 port, and could be watched anytime on Youtube), an extra dungeon or two, and a Pokemon-esque battle arena.  Hoo-freakin-ray.

Needless to say, I gave up on buying this seemingly lackluster port and moved on to other major releases in 2008.  Nearly five years (and one massive sale) later, I decided to pick up Chrono Trigger DS and complete yet another playthrough of a classic RPG.  What I found upon this tiny cartridge was not just another lackluster rom-dump of an old game, but the perfect version of a Super Nintendo classic.

Right from the start of the game, there are two new options that take advantage of the design of the DS.  The first of these is using the touch screen controls to navigate the game menus and commands.  The second gives the option of playing with all of the menus displayed on the lower screen of the handheld, leaving the actual game world on the top screen.  This is huge.  Chrono Trigger is well-known for its distinct art style by Akira Toriyama, and being able to enjoy the game’s visuals without any sort of menu clutter is an excellent upgrade.  All of the memorable battles and gorgeous sprite work were presented like never before, and I was able to appreciate the art from a new perspective.

The story has been expanded to a degree as well.  A fresh translation was completed and included, which provides a more accurate and fleshed-out narrative.  This means that all of the “cafes” from the SNES version have been transformed back into taverns and pubs, and any sort of mature content/dialogue has returned, which certainly gives the cast of characters more depth.  The cutscenes add a bit of flair to the game, and run quite nicely on the DS.  Furthermore, an extra ending was added, which creates stronger ties from the game to its pseudo-sequel, Chrono Cross.  All of this is topped off with an in-game encyclopedia which catalogs and details every enemy, boss, item, and ending as the player encounters each one.

So far, this post must seem like nothing more than a roaring endorsement of Chrono Trigger DS (guilty as charged), but what I am really trying to get across is that this game serves as a template more publishers should follow when re-releasing older titles.  Instead of simply providing players with a fancy emulator to play old games, companies should be piling on special treatment to these classics.  Imagine downloading a game from the Virtual Console or PSN Classics and receiving tons of concept art, developer interviews, or even the original instruction manual for a game.  Planning to release an HD collection of games from the Playstation 2?  Include the original versions, voice actor interviews, bonus games; really the sky’s the limit with this stuff.  It may cost a bit more to add these tidbits to a re-release, but the content is certainly worth it and I am ready for video games to receive the same fanfare and treatment as the film industry.

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Console, Game Series, General Commentary

Review a Bad Game: Resident Evil: Survivor

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Screenshot by Flickr User: The Stouffer
Screenshot by Flickr User: The Stouffer

It is safe to say that in the year 2000, Resident Evil was riding pretty high.  A successful trilogy had been released on the Playstation, the high quality sequel Code Veronica just debuted on the Dreamcast, and a big-budget movie was in the works.  To sweeten the deal, a spin-off from the main series had just released in Japan, where the usual third-person perspective was traded for a first-person view.  The idea was to create a Resident Evil game that would utilize light gun controllers and (hopefully) steal some thunder from the arcade shooter market.  But this idea relies on the actual use of light gun controllers, a feature which was removed from the American release.  It also relies on the game not being a terrible pile of crap, which Resident Evil: Survivor most certainly is.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “How does a game that was developed for a light gun handle with a traditional controller?”  Very poorly would be the response.  Imagine playing the original Resident Evil, with its delightful tank controls, from the first person.  There is no strafe or sidestep, and anytime you draw your gun, the main character stops completely to fire.  Simply navigating the game is a frustrating ordeal, since the protagonist constantly gets stuck against any object in his way, and the combat is no better.

The logical upgrade that would come from a first-person view would be the ability to better target zombies’ vital bits (read: head and knees).  A player can certainly aim at these weak spots, but it makes no difference within the game.  Shooting a zombie’s head deals out no greater damage than a straight shot to the finger (which makes no sense in any sort of world, video game or otherwise).  To further complicate things, the speed at which shots may be fired is limited.  For some strange reason, there is a rate-of-fire limit in Survivor; sort of cooldown between every single shot from a gun.  So be prepared to take plenty of time dispatching each  frustrating enemy in this turd.

Even the creatures in this game look terrible.  The original Resident Evil knew that the processing power of the Playstation had its limits, so the developers relied on clever lighting and camera angles to compensate.  Survivor does not have such luxuries, so every bland and jagged zombie looks terrible against the plain and pixelated backgrounds.  The audio is just as bad, with buggy sound effects and schlocky voice acting in every cutscene.

The story is blessedly non-canon, with a tale of some random amnesiac surviving a plane crash on the Umbrella Corporation’s private island, which is (of course) filled with biological horrors.  But even within the realm of spin-offs, which normally change up the traditional story and experiment with details, Survivor sticks to a rather bland RE formula.  Hero enters town, zombies are present, hero finds out Umbrella makes biological weapons (no duh), bigger zombies show up, some civilians need saving, Tyrant boss, rocket launcher, self destruct sequence, cut to credits.

When my brother and I rented Survivor from our local Blockbuster Video back in the Autumn of 2000, we were so excited to have another Resident Evil game to play.  Within just two hours, we felt bamboozled by our beloved Capcom.  With its terrible controls, bland story, and bizarre combat restrictions, there were no redeeming factors for this awful game.  At least the lack of interesting plot developments means the average player can just skip this RE entry.  So for those of you who enjoy the Resident Evil series (or survival horror in general) do yourself a favor and avoid Survivor.  And avoid Operation Raccoon City while your at it.  Honestly, it’s a toss-up as to which game is worse.

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Food For Thought, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors, Widely Read Posts

Everyone Plays Video Games

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Screenshot by Flickr User: faseextra
Screenshot by Flickr User: faseextra

A strange thing has been happening around my workplace: people are playing video games during their free time. Not just the usual two or three of us who bring our DS to work, but everyone seems to be hunched over their phones and computer screens, clicking or swiping away at little stacks of sweets. That’s right folks, Candy Crush fever is at full pandemic levels in our building, and there is no cure in sight (save for upset bosses).

For those who are unfamiliar with Candy Crush Saga (CCS), allow me to brief you on the game. Available as a mobile or Facebook game, CCS is a match-three puzzle title in which a player must clear certain pieces of candy from the screen in a set number of moves. Combos greater than three and chain-moves will provide the player with special candy, which may be used to clear the board more easily, and failing to destroy the target pieces will result in a game over, and the loss of a coin. This is where the game becomes diabolical.

In a given day, each player is given X coins which translate as chances to complete a level. Once the coins are expended, the only way to gain more chances is through the spending of actual money. Like so many free-to-play games before it, Candy Crush makes its money through the unfortunate souls who spend their hard-earned income to buy more coins, and, in essence, pay to keep playing the game.

This is exactly the sort of scheme that many of us “real gamers” will proudly (and loudly) defame, citing that these so-called-games ruin the medium as a whole. With even one listener, we will ramble about a dystopian future where all video games are money traps. All of these casual games are passing fads that have overstayed their welcome, and we scoff at those who play Angry Birds or Words with Friends when they are waiting in line at an overpriced coffee shop. Don’t these people know that the games that are actually fun and worthwhile only exist on consoles and computers?

At an earlier time, I would have taken up the torch right alongside my brethren and blindly marched on these lost souls, ready to push my gaming preferences on each of them. Then it dawned on me: I am living in a time where nearly everyone plays video games. The advent of mobile games and the emphasis on a casual market have brought so many people into the fold, and that effect continues to this day. I have overheard complete strangers telling stories of playing with their relatives over the iPhone. I have watched kids roam around in Minecraft on a tablet at the airport. I witnessed my own mother, who never touched a controller in her life, toss a virtual bowling ball down the lane, score a strike, and trash talk my brother in the process.

When this realization first hit me, I felt pure revulsion. Here was my hobby, being pulled right out from under me by people who didn’t even seem to care about video games. I spent so much of my life being picked on and looked over for being an “inside kid” who played too many video games to have a proper social life. Suddenly, every department store was selling cheap retro gaming t-shirts and belt buckles, fake geeks were coming out of the woodwork, and crappy mobile games were making millions of dollars. But I would not be fooled, no sir. I had the good sense to know real games from these shoddy facsimiles, so I would stay my snobby course and scoff at these fools who were trying to play pretend at my hobby.

Once I had calmed down (it took a while, mind you) and actually tried out some of these games on my wife’s phone, I came to a harsh conclusion. In spite of all the commercialization and monetization at work in so many of these games, there is fun to be had in their play. Angry Birds is so reminiscent of the simple games of my youth, and Candy Crush Saga (at its core) is a competent match-three puzzle game for the masses. There are several other examples of fun “casual” games, and these sorts of titles exist right alongside what I consider more mainstream examples of video games.

So instead of perpetuating the “casual versus hardcore” games argument, why don’t we take joy in the multitudes who are playing video games all around the world? Candy Crush Saga may not be the game for all of us, but it can be a great first step into the deep well that is puzzle gaming, or just the means to have an actual conversation with an otherwise unknown co-worker. After all, everyone likes Tetris and Mario, right? Just go from there and share your hobby with the world.

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Console, Food For Thought, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors, Retro

Community Post- Which Turtle Are You?

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Screenshot by Flickr User: TheStouffer
Screenshot by Flickr User: TheStouffer

In many modern video games, there is an option to design the main character from the ground up using a robust creation system. For some players, this is an excuse to create the most ridiculous hero ever (eight feet tall and purple hair, yes please), but more often than not, people want to put themselves into the action. It makes sense: video games provide experiences that are wholly unlike real life, so of course you would want an avatar of yourself performing these amazing feats. But the option to create a virtual self is not always available, particularly in the co-op multiplayer games of old.

Back in the saccharine days of the 1990s, when the video arcade was still alive and kicking, huge cabinets provided four players the opportunity to punch and kick their way across cartoon landscapes. Animated shows like The Simpsons and X-Men were riding high, and their arcade counterparts were the featured titles at every gaming establishment across the United States. And at the top of every kid’s playlist sat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. This show (and its respective games) had it all: ninjas, martial arts, skateboarding, and of course, pizza. There was just one problem when it came to actually playing the game with four people: deciding which turtle to play as.

Oh sure, it may seem like an easy decision (Leonardo, duh), but what happens when you have four kids and all of them identify with a katana-wielding do-gooder? You can’t all be the leader – that just wouldn’t make sense. As with so many other co-op arcade games, hard introspection and tough decisions about one’s character had to be made. Several of my trips to Chuck E. Cheese would progress as follows:

“Okay guys, which turtle are you? I am really nerdy and I like to build with Legos, so I should be Donatello.”
“Wait a minute, I like those things too, and I am wearing a purple shirt, so I should be Don!”
“Fine, fine, fine. Well, Cory should be Leonardo, since it’s his birthday.”
“But I don’t wanna be Leo, I like Michelangelo! He has numb-chucks.”
“It’s nun-chucks, stupid! Fine, then I will be Leonardo, Cory can be Michelangelo, Jeremy can be Donatello, and Corey, you’ll be Raphael.”
“Nuh-uh! I am not gonna be Raph, he sucks!”
“Well someone has to be Raph!”

This would go on for some time, until one of us would just break the argument and pick our favorite character before anyone else had the chance. It seemed like every co-op arcade experience went like this until each of us had settled into our roles. For me, I became the grappler/support of the team. My roster was made up of characters like Haggar, Lisa, Nightcrawler, and Ryan, while my brother would take the leading roles of Cody, Bart, Cyclops, and Alex. We had learned which characters best suited our play styles, but more importantly, we identified with these heroes and our time spent gaming became even more special.

Even though arcades have mostly vanished from the world, the experience of molding yourself to a character is far from extinct. There are several modern co-op games that do not allow players to create an avatar from scratch. When playing Left 4 Dead or Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, my friends and I still have to figure out which character is the best representation of our personalities. Most first-person shooters limit the visual customization options to basic colors and body armor, so players must determine their role in the group using the weapons and tools available. Maybe you are the sniper who stays back and picks off enemies for the team, or perhaps the job of a medic might be a better fit. The choice is yours.

While the arguments and debates over character selection were mostly superficial among my friends, there was a deeper reason for all of it. When you get to the nitty-gritty of co-op gaming, there needs to be less focus on your individual progress and more care put into how you can best help the team. After all, if some jack-ass is stealing all of the pizzas when his/her turtle doesn’t even need health, the rest of the team will suffer. Just like Master Splinter said, “Together, there is nothing your four minds cannot accomplish. Help each other, draw upon one another, and always remember the power that binds you.”

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Console, Food For Thought, From New Authors, General Commentary, Retro

Some Backwards Thinking

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Screenshot by Flickr User: TheStouffer
Screenshot by Flickr User: TheStouffer

Like so many others at the start of a new year, I made a short list of resolutions with the ultimate goal of getting my life in order.  At the top of the agenda: clean out my stuff from the parents’ basement.  The task was meant to be a sort of gift to my mother, who I am sure is tired of looking at piles of junk covering an otherwise-serviceable living space.  Granted, I tend to keep my assets meticulously organized and well-maintained, but they remain massive piles of junk in the basement, nonetheless.

You see, I have a tiny habit of being a packrat.  A more accurate description of my character would reveal that I am a hoarder who keeps nearly every item that enters my possession.  But after two trips home this year, I have made my way through half of my treasure stores.  Thanks to the efforts of my wife, I have parted with several items: old school papers and receipts have been recycled, unneeded clothes and furniture were donated, I have even managed to gift or Ebay some of my massive collection of gaming memorabilia.  But no matter what anyone says or offers, I cannot get rid of a single video game that I own; the games of my past are simply too precious to throw away.

Many people have tried to reason with me on this matter.  “When was the last time you played your NES?  Do you really need all of this stuff?  Can’t you play this on your computer?”  All of these are valid comments.  It has been quite a while since I hooked up my old Nintendo; the old girl cannot even run on a modern television without a conversion cable.  Certainly I do not need any of my old games.  I have piles of newer titles that I have not even started, so I am in no short supply of entertainment.  And of course I have emulated much of my older collection for the sake of convenience.  In spite of all these criticisms, I will not budge.

Let’s look at this from another angle.  Now that all the hullabaloo of E3 has died down, it has become clear that yet another console generation will abandon backwards compatibility with the previous systems.  All of the games I purchased for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 will only run on their parent consoles.  On top of that, my digital purchases for the Live Arcade and Playstation Network will not carry over, so these titles are tethered to my current consoles until the end of time (or when they break down, whichever comes first).  Despite all of the technological marvels displayed at the latest E3, it seems that even going back even one console generation is proving too much for Microsoft and Sony.

What about Nintendo and the potential of the Virtual Console?  At this time, there are 27 titles available to download on the Wii-U eShop, most of which are licensed Nintendo properties.  Combined with the games available on the Wii eShop, which covers eight different consoles from several companies, players have roughly 450 titles available to purchase.  While this is a great library of games to choose from, these offerings are hardly comprehensive.  Just looking at the games I have stored away reveals dozens of titles that are not included on the eShop, and probably never will be (sorry, Monster Party).

How about buying older items from your local used game store?  Earlier this year, GameStop voided all Playstation 2 transactions, which limits their products to only current gen offerings and smart phones.  This relegates all previous consoles and their games to Goodwill, flea markets, and online dealers.   Oh sure, some of the more fondly remembered classics will get re-releases and bundle packaged, but so many great games are getting tossed out the moment something shiny and new comes along to be sold (and resold) by GameStop.

This leaves the argument of simply emulating all of my old games and pitching the physical copies.  After all, I could make a pretty penny off of some of the more beloved titles in my collection, and keeping my games in a digital format would free up some space.  But there is something lost when playing hunched over a computer screen with the cold embrace of a keyboard.  Call it nostalgia sickness, but playing older console games just isn’t the same without a controller in hand and sitting on a comfy couch.  I am the sort who would prefer to pay for an ideal gaming experience as opposed to piracy or emulation.  But if no one is offering, what choice do I have?

It seems that for the near future, I will be keeping my old games and consoles.  I want to preserve these games and the unique experiences offered by each one, so I can share them with new friends and loved ones.  Besides, no one really uses the basement anymore; Mom can handle the clutter.

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play

Console, From New Authors, General Commentary, Posts By Active Authors

Being the Controller

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Screenshot by Flickr User: Casul Media
Screenshot by Flickr User: Casul Media

By now, nearly everyone with an internet connection has heard something about the Xbox One reveal.  Most of my next-gen predictions were proven correct as I read several round-ups on the matter: Usual banter about hyper-speed processing and superior graphics, Check.  Profile-specific purchases and the supposed downfall of the used games market, Check. Baffling denial of an always-online console but the need for a persistent internet connection, Check.  Every console will ship with a Kinect and there will be a push for more games/features to become Kinect-enabled… wait, really?

At first glance of screenshots and press releases, I had assumed that there would be some sort of Kinect accessory, but I was rather surprised to hear that Microsoft decided to make Kinect ownership mandatory for the next console generation.  With the excellent sales and consumer reaction to the device, maybe such a development is not so surprising.  Much of this initial shock was based on my own personal experiences with the Kinect.

Last year, Laura and I borrowed the motion-sensing accessory from a friend of ours, mainly to try a variety of demos and see just how different Skyrim was with actual shouting.  For the most part, I found the Kinect to be an interesting, but ultimately gimmicky toy.  Navigating through virtual environments using my own gestures and movement was engaging at times, but thanks to regular sensor re-adjustment and frequent delays, I never felt fully immersed in the experience.  These problems were compounded by the space restrictions of GIMMGP Headquarters, which provided roughly ten feet between the television stand and the couch.  Plus, the lack of a controller in hand just felt wrong to my doddering old gamer self.  Slashing the enemy with my arms, running in place, and jumping to avoid obstacles just couldn’t replace the comfortable heft of a traditional controller; my anchor to the video game world had vanished.

Long before developers were including force-feedback technology and pushing motion controls for every console, all of the gamers I knew were already having their sense of touch and spatial recognition engaged by video games.  The most common example could be seen whenever we would gather to play Mario Kart 64 (or any racing game, really).  As each of us steered through a hard turn, we would twist the controllers and lean our bodies into the curve.  These motions did nothing to affect our in-game performance, but that didn’t matter; a connection had been made.  Controller and screen melted away, and the weight of our bodies in the kart would register with our characters’ movements.

These sorts of spatial connections would also occur whenever I played a game with pushing or pulling.  The crate puzzles in Ocarina of Time task the player with moving boxes around, normally under a time limit.  Whenever Link would struggle against a block, the resistance he met became palpable.  I would lean forward and put extra pressure against the analog stick, struggling against the drag of a massive crate.  Watching Laura play Katamari Damacy, I saw her performing similar actions: leaning her body, pushing the controller towards the screen, knowing in her heart that this helped the massive ball of junk lurch forward.  With the Kinect, I felt none of these immersions.  Even when pantomiming a push or pull, or leaning into a curve, I was met with no resistance; nothing tactile to provide a response.  Without the anchor of a controller to translate my movements, I felt like I was flailing about in an open space with no bearing on the in-game world.

From everything I have read about the new Kinect sensor, it seems that Microsoft is trying to enhance the gaming experience through an improved sensor and biometric readings.  The upgraded Kinect will be able to better detect player movement and facial features, along with estimating heart rate through a variety of factors.  These readings could be used to change game difficulty on the fly, or alter in-game achievements over time to better suit different play styles.  While these science fiction nuances may be impressive to some, the thought of a persistent camera monitoring my every move does not scream immersion to me (rather Big Brother and paranoia).  Unless the improved sensor can recreate the moments of spatial connection and total engagement that I found from a traditional console, then I will just let a controller stay as its namesake and stick with the classics.

-Chip, Games I Made My Girlfriend Play