Sunday, January 13, 2008
News
David Braben on The Outsider and ‘Next-Gen’ Design
9:30AM Kotaku US Edition | David Braben, who developed Elite and has recently been talking up his latest, the espionage-themed The Outsider (and giving backhanded compliments to games like Bioshock in the process). Gamasutra has an interesting interview up with Braben, talking about new paths for narrative design, what he and Frontier Developments are hoping to do with The Outsider, and what everyone in the industry is doing wrong: We really need to move forward on story — as one of the fronts. That’s not the only front left …. I had an argument with somebody that there were only four types of gameplay, and then out comes Populous. Okay, there are five, then. And usually, it’s an excuse to plagiarize. We all take inspiration from other games, and that’s fine. It’s when we take inspiration and don’t do any more. That’s the sad thing. When you don’t move it forward. And there’s a danger. Some of the games that fortunately don’t get much airtime don’t necessarily do that. That’s a missed opportunity. Especially these days, where we’re making fewer games than we used to. We’re essentially being trusted to use the opportunity to do something fantastic, and if we don’t we should get slapped around — which I’m sure we will do. Well, now I’m curious to see if Braben and his team can actually deliver – talking about grand plans is one thing, putting them into practice (in a manner that actually works) is another. I’m all for improved narrative design, but plenty of developers have gone down the ‘revolutionary’ path only to fall flat on their face with a disappointed audience who was expecting more. Next-Gen Narrative: The David Braben Interview [Gamasutra] More »
News
Dan Hsu On Industry Blackballing and Ethics
8:30AM Kotaku US Edition | GameDaily’s ‘Media Coverage’ section has an interview up with Dan Hsu, 1UP’s editorial director, on the plight of game journalists and sites getting frozen out by companies as punishment. We recently mentioned Hsu’s blog entry that called out Ubisoft, Sony’s sports game division and Midway’s Mortal Kombat team for practicing this sort of freeze out of media outlets in punishment for ‘”candid reviews” and “less-than-totally-positive previews.”‘. Hsu hastens to point out that this isn’t a regular occurrence, but it does happen. What’s a blackballed media outlet to do? When the occasional company does turn the screws, Hsu relies on advice from those that came before him. “The thing that always guides me is something my first editorial director [Joe Funk] told me on the day I interviewed at EGM [in 1996],” he said. “I brought up an old EGM editorial where the editor said that Capcom has pulled advertising, but EGM wouldn’t change its ways to win them back. I asked the editorial director about that, and how can EGM survive without advertising…how does the magazine deal with that pressure? He told me, ‘As long as you write for the readers and not the companies, the readership will come, and the advertisers will have no choice but to advertise with you.’” Companies giveth, companies taketh away, but soldiering forward with some modicum of integrity will at least leave your reputation (and readership) intact. It’s an interesting look at some of the behind the scenes aspects of game journalism and the industry as the whole. Media Coverage: Frozen Out [GameDaily] More »Lost Planet PS3 Trailer
8:00AM Kotaku US Edition | There’s been plenty of side-by-side comparisons of the Lost Planet screens for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, but not a whole lot of high-def video to actually see stuff in motion. This Japanese trailer for the PS3 version of the game, while packed with tons of cut scenes, at least gives us a glimpse of this version in motion. More »
How Gamers Will Save the World
7:30AM Kotaku US Edition | From Rock, Paper, Shotgun comes an article that was originally printed in PC Gamer UK entitled ‘How Gamers Will Save the World.’ It’s a nice roundup of a lot of the more serious uses of games, as well as a number of hot news stories of years past that involved the positive effects of gaming (e.g., you want your surgeon to spend a few hours a week playing video games). Gaming is changing how we communicate, how we do business, express ourselves, and meet new people. Collaborative gaming, where thousands of us are working together to create projects in game worlds like EVE Online, Second Life, A Tale in the Desert, or any number of other emerging worlds, forges new ways of playing, and new ways of learning. This is a phenomenon that is changing the world right now, and it’s happening without us really noticing. Furthermore, we are, by funding games and gaming-related research, creating the 3D web, the ‘metaverse’ – or the grid of information that will serve us in the decades to come. Moreover we are guaranteeing the propagation of a medium that engulfs cinema, architecture, music, animation, sculpture, sport, indeed all of culture. Games are a brave new frontier of imagination, art and science, and they’ve only just begun. And is that a waste of time? It’s an article that’s a nice wrap up of the positives of the industry and playing games at large, and a good read through on a lazy Saturday. I’m not sure gamers will save the world, but I am quite sure we’re not the pack of blood thirsty social misfits that popular media occasionally likes to paint a picture of. How Gamers Will Save The World [Rock, Paper, Shotgun] More »
CS Source Ads Invade Korea
7:00AM Kotaku US Edition | Reader Peter sends in these scans of Counter Strike Source ads that ran recently in a Seoul, Korea free daily paper. Peter also explained the country’s love affair with the game. Here in Korea CS clones like ‘Special Force’ and ‘Sudden Attack’ are popular despite having sub-CS1 graphics. They are free and players can pay for ad ons. I guess CS Source here will operate in the same way. I found the layout of the ad to be amusing. The history of CS comming out of the clouds, the slightly oxymoronic ‘2nd premiere’ and the sparse nature of the screenshot with only the pistol in screen. Be interesting to see if a free CS Source becomes huge here in Korea. I wonder how The Orange Box would do there? Hit the jump to see the bottom half of this full page ad. More »
Outspark Gets Lots of Funding, Talks Asian Games in the US
6:30AM Kotaku US Edition | Worlds in Motion has an interesting Q&A up with Susan Choe and Nick Foster of Outspark, a company that has imported games like Fiesta and Secret of the Solstice for US audiences. Outspark has managed to secure $US 11 million in funding from various sources to “help PC-based online games find the same market in North America as they currently enjoy in Asia,” and Choe and Foster talk about everything from importing Korean games wholesale, how they put together the project in the first place, and the carpal tunnel inducing process of picking what games to bring over: … We all played games, to a point where I needed acupuncture for my wrist! And we played games, from MMORPGs, to first-person shooters, to racing games …. But, in a sense, we were really looking for games that everybody can play, even the thirty-five year old women, without a lot of complications. But there are certain specific criteria we also look for in the game developers: 1. They believe in the North American, Western market. 2. They have the capacity to work with us, because — as you guys know — these games, once they’re launched, that’s the beginning of your work, not the end, unlike the console games. It’s an interesting look at one company who is trying to bring over some fresh blood while still appealing to a wide audience (and has the funding to back up their effort) – well worth a read through if you have the time. Q&A – Outspark Gets $11 M Funding, Talks ‘Virtual Playground’ [Worlds In Motion] More »
HowTo Install UT3 Mods, Keyboard, Mouse Support On Your PS3
6:00AM Kotaku US Edition | The guys over at Epileptic Gaming have put together a couple of quick videos to show off just how easy it is to import Unreal Tournament 3 mods from your computer to your Playstation 3. Hit the jump for a video that shows you how you can add mouse and keyboard support for the PS3 version of the game. More »
Giant Interactive Handling Empire of Sports in China
5:30AM Kotaku US Edition | Giant Interactive, the company that’s been making the rounds via a fantastic article on Zhengtu Online, their unholy marriage of gambling, flagrant RMT, and the usual MMORPG aspects, is moving into yet another area by securing the license to operate the Swiss-based MMORPG Empire of Sports in China. I admit it, I don’t get it – what’s the appeal here? – but with Giant at the helm, do we have real gambling on virtual sports events to look forward to? Giant will be running the game in Mainland China, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau – the company has really been rocketing to prominence in the past couple of months. The full release is after the jump. More »
Broken Canadian Rock Band Guitars Getting Replaced
5:00AM Kotaku US Edition | A number of Canadian Kotakuites have forwarded us emails from EA regarding replacements for broken Rock Band guitars – i.e., they’re finally getting shipped out. Having suffered the indignity of a later release and not being able to request replacements as soon as they broke, EA is trying to make amends by … letting you keep your faulty equipment? Well, I guess it does save the trouble of going to the post office: Hello, I know that many of you have been waiting for quite awhile, but we have good news. All Canadian RMAs placed before January 9th, have shipped! You should see that your RMAs have all been updated to Parts Shipped to reflect this. Depending on where in Canada you live, you should receive your replacement item within the next six days. If you have not received your new peripheral by January 16th, please contact customer support at www.support.ea.com. Be sure to create a new incident rather than updating your RMA incident to prevent any possible issues. In appreciation of the patience of our Canadian customers who placed an RMA prior to January 9th, we are not requiring customers receiving this set of RMAs to return your faulty peripheral to us and we will also be removing your credit card hold within the next few days. Thank you again for your patience as we build and improve our Canadian Rock Band warranty program. Please accept our apologies for the wait and any inconvenience. EA Customer Support Who needs a free game when you’ve got a broken guitar to keep? More »
