Sunday, October 21, 2007
World of Evecraft?
12:00PM Maggie Greene | Jim Rossignol has some thoughts up over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun on MMO design – a study in why, despite WoW being WoW and ‘the’ MMORPG in a lot of ways, EVE Online is potentially a better base for future MMO designs. Not in terms of creating a better “PvP-heavy spaceship-centric world,” but by applying some of their design principles to games with more mass appeal? The two concepts that Rossignol picks out as being vast improvements over the WoW model are no levels (collecting skills, not level grinding, becomes the object) and money – not XP – would become the driving force in a game. There are some interesting thoughts, but lest you think it’s an EVE love fest, he cautions: What Eve doesn’t do, of course, is create a world that is as compelling and immediate as World Of Warcraft. And this ties in to my final point. You might respond to all this and say: “but levelling up gives us something to aim for, the skilling in Eve is so much more nebulous, so to speak. It’s better to have quests and a magic horse at level 40 I can aim for. That is why WoW has some many millions of people playing it.” This is correct, and it’s another reason why the principles, rather than the execution, of Eve Online are worthy of copying. If you were to base your game on Eve you’d make skills, items, and equipment both aspiration-worthy and customisation-friendly. It’s about presentation as much as mechanics …. One of Eve’s failures is the obscurity of its aspirational targets – any game wanting wider appeal needs to present this more clearly. It’s a quick read & worth a read through, even if you’re only tangentially interested in MMO game design. World of EveCraft [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] More »
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: B.Rap Boys
11:00AM Flynn De Marco | Kaneko released B.Rap Boys in 1992 with a semi wide release. It was a beat em up that featured three playable characters roaming the mean streets of a fictional New York seeking to put an end to an evil crime lord and his minions. Each character relied on a different mode of transportation to get them to and fro such as a skateboard, a bike and roller skates. It was controlled with a joystick and two buttons and although the fighting was done with one button, players were able to pull off a variety of moves. More »
“Can They Be Important?”: Games and Art and Relevance
10:00AM Maggie Greene | I don’t always agree with Ian Bogost, but I almost always enjoy reading what he has to say. Sexy Videogameland brought up Ian Bogost’s address at the Southern Interactive Entertainment & Game Expo earlier this month. He spends most of it talking about poetry – since people love to cry ‘How is this relevant to my life?’ – and ties it into the game industry. You’re probably going ‘What in the hell does Archilochus have to do with video games?’. I’d suggest you just read the address: No, [games] will only be important when — and if — others can point to our medium — to particular examples of it — and locate moments of individual insight that mattered in their lives. This is a charge for which we have only indirect control. We cannot insure it with transistors and pixel shaders. We cannot will it, we cannot even expect it … [A]ll we can do is record those flaws, confusions, grievances, shocks, joys, surprises, and hopes. We might choose to do so in videogames because they are a medium uniquely built for simulating life, for constraining actions, for creating roles others can embody. We might choose to do so in videogames because they are a medium of our moment in history. We might choose to do in videogames so because it is hard to do, because unlike the lyric poem they are a medium with more raw potential than proven triumph. And then we can hope that history may preserve them, so that later — next week, next year, next century, next millennium — someone much like us might encounter them, and see a part of our lives in theirs. Awww. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I think Bogost makes some interesting points (there’s a sense of immediacy about trying to prove that games are relevant, that they must prove their worth right now) – and it’s certainly framed in a way we don’t see often. Archilocus? Baudelaire? Bukowski? If only he’d thrown in some Rexroth or Prévert! Videogames: Can They Be Important? [Ian Bogost via Sexy Videogameland] More »
Mass Effect LE Available Online Only Through EB/GameStop
9:00AM Flynn De Marco | If you were hoping to waltz into your local EB/GameStop on November 20 and pick up a Mass Effect Limited Edition, it looks like you’re out of luck. According to the game retailer’s website, the Limited edition will only be available as an online purchase. And I quote: This is an ONLINE ONLY Limited Edition. This item WILL NOT be available in stores. This seems like an odd move, but who am I to question the logic of the great EB Games? So as not to cause any confusion, EB Games isn’t the only place you can get the Mass Effect Limited Edition, you just won’t be able to get in their stores. Whether or not it will be available at other brick and mortar locales remains to be seen. Mass Effect Limited Edition- ONLINE ONLY [EB Games] [Thanks, Doomstink] More »
Raph Koster On Game Grammar and Creating Fun
8:00AM Maggie Greene | Gamasutra has a long (long) interview up with Raph Koster (lead designer of Ultima Online and founder of Areae). It’s long. But Koster touches on a ton of stuff – the shift in game design, the ultra-casual market like Habbo Hotel vs. WoW, this idea of ‘game grammar’, why patents are a necessary evil, and is ’single-player gaming dead’? – and it’s an interesting read. Even some interesting ideas on the us vs. them mentality present in the industry (or is it?): I love when you chided everyone [at GDC Austin]. I watched Sulka Haro [of Habbo Hotel] talk, and … I could feel this slightly electric vibe of tension between the MMO guys in the audience and Haro. I don’t want to overgeneralize, but… I got this “We don’t like you, and you don’t like us,” kind of feeling, because they feel like he’s doing something different. RK: Sulka has been coming to GDCs for years! He’s a guy who has been bridging the gap all along. Honestly, it’s more cases like… Nexon never comes out and talks, because they really do think that they’re just a different industry, as far as they’re concerned. I don’t want to ascribe motives — I don’t really know — but they just don’t do the talks! Because honestly, how relevant would many of the talks here this year be to them? Not very! I think it’s really, really, really important that people in any industry get out of their village and go anywhere else and check out what’s going on. Travel is broadening. It’s an enjoyable interview to read with some different ideas on a number of aspects of the industry. Defining Games: Raph Koster’s Game Grammar [Gamasutra] More »
Congratulations, Cheapy D and Mrs. Cheapy!
7:00AM Flynn De Marco | Cheapy D, my friend and owner/operator of the awesome CheapAssGamer is now a father. I got to spend some time hanging out with Cheapy and his lovely wife while I was at TGS. They even put me up for a few nights, took me to some amazing restaurants I wouldn’t have been to otherwise and were extremely gracious hosts. They are a wonderful couple and I am thrilled to congratulate them officially, if not somewhat impersonally here on Kotaku. I’m sure I speak for the entire staff when I say congratulations Cheapy, Mrs. Cheapy and welcome to little baby Cheapy! More »
CDC Games Sues South Korean Company
6:00AM Maggie Greene | Well, the Chinese gaming world is certainly turning into a sue-happy place as of late: CDC Games, the same company that has launched an assault on piracy, is now suing South Korean-based MGame Corporation in both South Korea and Hong Kong. Earlier this week, CDC leveled charges at MGame of providing really crappy tech support for Yulgang, a popular MMORPG, and failing to back up CDC in their quest to end piracy; after filing those suits in Hong Kong, CDC moved on to South Korean courts, alleging MGame breached a contract and failed to provide financial data. While MGame hasn’t commented on these charges, CDC notes that MGame has terminated their contract with the company, citing non-payment (oops): Earlier this week, CDC’s online gaming unit, CDC Games, sued Mgame in a Hong Kong court claiming Mgame has not been providing adequate technical support for its “Yulgang” online game and that it has not been supporting CDC in its efforts to combat piracy. CDC Games said Wednesday that Mgame terminated its contract with the company, citing nonpayment. CDC said on Friday its games unit has “continued to make obligatory royalty payments to Mgame for its operation of ‘Yulgang,’ which continues to operate in China today.” I’m not sure how CDC’s status as the largest outside shareholder in MGame ties into all of this, but I do know that even the brief news reports have given me headaches. CDC Files Another Lawsuit Against Mgame [CNN] More »Ratchet and Clank Imperial Fight Festival Gameplay
5:00AM Flynn De Marco | GameTrailers has exclusive new footage of some new levels of the upcoming Ratchet and Clank for the PS3. Being a self professed fan of the series and a PS3 owner hungry for some decent games on the system, I’m quite looking forward to this game’s release. All the clips I’ve seen of it have looked great and they just keep getting better. As an added Saturday bonus, I’ve included a second clip after the jump of another new area, the Arena Challenge . More »
More on the New Danish ‘Gaming School’
4:00AM Maggie Greene | As mentioned last week, Copenhagen eSports is opening a school for gamers. ZoneRank went to the horse’s mouth (in this case, Rasmus Pedersen, head of the project) and got some more information on the particulars – and it sounds like they have some lofty goals, to say the least: In the short term we will invest a lot of effort in the training courses that we will offer gamers. This is a new thing, we’re offering, and we also have some things to learn here. Also, it’s very important for us to get the entire infrastructure involved in our online activities to run really well right from the start. In the intermediate term we will be adding content as well as new courses to GaminGSchool and in that way open it to more people. We will arrange some great tournaments, and help develop a proper fan culture to give the gamers a real sense of being a part of something great. In the long term … well. We might organise a national gaming league and even a world championship. Perhaps even loftier aspirations than the usual ‘teach using games!’, which is what I thought of initially. It’s an interesting interview – concepts like this usually get at least an eyebrow raise out of me, but it’s making a little more sense in context. The Gaming School – Rasmus Pedersen [ZoneRank] More »
