Note: I previously published this on GamePro.com, so some of the content may involve that site, and some of the old links may not work anymore.
Video games and Hollywood
The video game industry of today is not the same video game industry I grew up with. Aside from the obvious reasons like there being different players on the field (except for Nintendo that is), the industry has exploded and is now fighting to be recognized as a legitimate form of entertainment. My complaint is that in trying so hard to be legitimized by the mainstream, it seems that developers have forgotten that they are making games, are instead trying to make interactive movies.
Now what's wrong with making interactive movies you ask? The fact that movies are a passive form of entertainment that's what. Games are becoming too scripted. There are exceptions, but think about it for a moment. How many scripted play scenes that punish you for going off track have you played lately? How many forced upon you rail shooter sequences in FPS have you played lately where someone else drives and you shoot at the same scripted enemies who do the same scripted thing each time? It feels like they pull you out of the game that you're playing and force you to watch while they play the game for you. Like they're telling you how to experience the game. Sure you get to shoot the same scripted enemies that come the same scripted route each annoying time they force you to play the scene over and over again. To me such scenes just take you out of the gameplay, and just makes the game more of a hassle than it need be. It's not even good design. If developers can't hold your interest with the gameplay mechanics alone, then quite frankly, they shouldn't be making games to begin with.
This doesn't just apply to the scripted rail shooter sequence, I'm also talking about other scripted crap like, "Cover me while I access this computer," and "Grab that sniper rifle and protect the guy on the ground from enemy sniper fire," or others like those. Stuff like that doesn't immerse the player further, it just annoys us, so, developers, please stop putting it in our games damn it. It actually damages the experience IMO.
Speaking of pulling players out of the game, lets talk about the mid level cutscene. Now I suppose that I don't mind if it's used to push the story forward even though it could be done without stopping the game in most games, but it's when they pull me out of the game every two seconds to show me some pointless cutscene just to show me a new move, or worse to tell me how to press a button, I've got a problem. It drives me ape sh*t batty when they freeze me half way through a level just to tell me that the A-button makes you jump. It's like developers think you're so damn stupid that you wouldn't have thought to press a button without their prompting (I'm looking straight at Spiderman 3 here). There's a reason that some smart developers give you an option for a training mode on the title screen, and that's so you can choose to skip it if you're one of the few players out there who are smart enough to press buttons on your own.
I also loathe the use of the mid-level cutscene to tell you how to solve a stupid obvious puzzle. It's like the developers are afraid that it might be too hard for you if they don't continuously point out the answer to you. It's like taking a test that already has the answers written in for you. Maybe I've played too much Tomb Raider in my time, but I prefer to figure it out on my own.Sure that can lead to many wasted hours of back-tracking because you overlooked one tiny little thing, but I'd rather take my chances with that then be treated like a moron. The way it is now, they might as well use the cinema to just make you watch your character solve the puzzle for you.
Another disturbing thing to me about gaming's push to be legitimized is the fact that they're mimicking Hollywood of all things in order to be considered legitimate entertainment. Maybe it's just me, but the stuff coming out in the movies lately doesn't even remotely resemble entertainment. Just a bunch of re-makes, re-hashes, and idiotic "We want you to think just like us," political films. Why in the hell would gaming care about being accepted by these mainstream Hollywood snobs who can't even come up with something original to save their lives? Instead of being the little kid screaming, "Look what I can do. See I'm legit because I can mimic Hollywood," they should be the degenerate teenager who says, "F*** you! I make more money than you, and I don't give a damn if you want to accept me, because you don't set the standard anymore, so kiss my ass."
Let's face it, Hollywood sucks ass, and gaming's attempts to mimic it are making gaming suck ass too. Instead of putting so many scripted elements into their games, developers need to realize that gaming is different from movies in that it's an active form of entertainment. You give the player control of the situation. That's what makes gaming great, the fact that you're part of the action instead of just watching the action. When you start to make games too scripted, it taints the experience, because it takes the choice away from the player. Stop taking the control away from the player damn it. You don't need mainstream recognition. If the mainstream doesn't want to accept you then who gives a crap? Will having that recognition make gaming any better? Hell no, so just focus on what makes gaming great, and making some great gaming. Screw what society thinks about gaming, just focus on making great games. I don't understand why it's such a big issue to begin with._teh2Dgamer
teh2D...fanboy?
Anyone who's been on an online gaming forum lately has no doubt run into heated fanboy arguments waged by people who are fighting their own holy war for the system of their choice. Fanboyism isn't a new concept. Rabid fanaticism has been around for ages, and videogame fanboys go back as far as the Intellevision vs the Atari days. I'm sure the "My system has better graphics." "No my system has better graphics," who needs "game A" when we have "game B", and all other types of fanboy arguments were just as heated back in the pre internet days as they are today. However, if there's one thing about a fanboy, it's that he never has anything new to say. He can spew all the "facts" and specs he wants, and still say nothing more than I don't like it because I'm ignorant.
So what makes a fanboy tick? Well I'm going to tell you about my own brush with fanboyism. That's right I used to be one. I'm not proud of it now, but in my defense I was a mild mannered one who at least owned the system he was bashing.
It was the '97-'98 school year, and I was in 8th grade. I had a friend who was an N64 fan that didn't like the Playstation. Having just got an N64 and a Playstation over the summer (My bro got a job, and we mixed in b-day money as well), I couldn't conceive how someone couldn't like the PS over the N64. We'd spend our mornings before school arguing the merits of the PS vs the N64 while my poor other friend (who later became my Goldeneye buddy along with my bro) had to sit there and listen to us bicker. The reason I argued so much was because I wanted to be right. I didn't care that there was no right and wrong when it comes to opinion, and I wanted to get him to think just like me, because , in my mind, I was right. I couldn't fathom the concept of agreeing to disagree. It just made more sense if everyone just saw things my way. The PS1 was the best and damn anyone who didn't agree.
So what pulled me out of this fanboy craze you ask?, Well part of it was the natural maturing process, and there were a number of other factors as well. One of them was I finally got my first N64 game. It was my 14th birthday on August, 31, 1998, and it was the day that Goldeneye dropped down to $40 bucks. I had rented Goldeneye before and while I liked the single player, I didn't get what the big deal with the multi-player was. The problem was that it was only just my bro and I playing and two player death-match sucks. I decided to give it another chance once I saw them put the sign up with the new price in the store. I'm really glad I did, because once my friend came into the death-match fray with my bro and I, I finally got to see what the hype was about. Almost every night of my freshmen year in high school was taken up by at-least three hours of Goldeneye. GE was the game that truly made the N64 worth it to me.
Another factor in curing my fanboyism was a little store called Gamecrazy. When I moved out to AZ in 1999 (leaving my Goldeneye buddy and days of GE death-matching behind), Gamecrazy was just starting up in my area, and they had a ton of great classic games (they're currently a sad shadow of what they used to be). Buying and playing games for all my old systems which I'd kept all those years made me realize that every platform had it's merits, and it's the games that matter.
The final nail in my fanboyism coffin was due to a little system called the Dreamcast. I'd been a Sega fan since the Genesis, but had chosen the N64 over the Saturn because someone lied to me and said it was getting FF7 which I learned wasn't true so I had to get a PS once I found out where FF7 was really heading. So I went an entire generation without a Sega system and having found my new favorite console in the PS, I was a little biased against the DC at first. I even once wrote into a website that had run an opinion piece saying that the DC was going to kill the PS2, and Sony execs would end up washing the Sega execs cars for a living, and told them that they'd put their feet in their mouths, and that Sega was going to end up as a 3rd party developer. The wrote back and said that I'd put my foot in my mouth and that the DC was going to kill the PS2. We all know who was right on that one even though now I'm not proud of the fact that I was right (by the time it happened, I was sad to see Sega leave the console business).
Biases aside. I really wanted to play Sonic Adventure, and when I heard that Namco was porting Soul Calibur, the sequel to my favorite PS Fighting game Soul Blade, It was over. I had to have the DC. When I finally got one, I fell in love with gaming for gaming sake, and my brush with fanboyism was over.
So my take on fanboyism is that it's a little bit of passion, a little jealousy, a little immaturity, a little of not wanting the system you spend so much money on to fail, and a little ignorance all mixed into one giant cluster you-know-what. The only person who can cure someone's faboyism is the fanboy himself. If he's not ready to open his eyes to other possibilities, then there nothing you can do or say to change that. The best you can do is try and reason with him, but don't let yourself get pulled into his flame trap. Other than that. I'd suggest ignoring fanboys all together._teh2Dgamer
Top ten game I've never played, but always wanted to:
10. Zero Wing (Genesis UK import)- I mainly want to play this game for the world famous intro. "All your base are belong to us!"
9. Tobal 2 (PS1 import)- I didn't think much of the original Tobal when I rented it over a decade ago, but from what I hear and have since watched on youtube, Tobal 2 looks pretty good, and has come highly recommended by those who have played it.
8. Soul Blazer (Snes)- I never got to play this Action Adventure RPG in the Snes games. It's one of the many games that I missed from that era of gaming.
7. Strider 2 (PS1)- I let this one slip through my fingers when it came out, but I always wanted to play it.
6. Contra III (Snes)- Yes, that's right. I've never played the mighty Contra III. I do have Hard Corps on the Genesis, but my gaming at the time was limited by what the rental stores had in stock, and they didn't have that game.
5. Alien vs Predator (Jaguar)- I never owned a Jaguar growing up, but I always really wanted one for this game. I do plan on getting the system eventually (even though they're way overpriced online), because I still want to play this game.
4. System Shock 2 (PC)- Another underrated game that I've always wanted to play. I do have the first one, but I've never been able to get it to run on XP, or even windows 98 for that matter.
3. Herzog Zwei (Genesis)- I want to see what people are talking about when they credit this game with being the father of all strategy games. I know that Dune on the PC gets the official credit, but many people credit this game too.
2. Shining Force III (Saturn)- I want to play all three episodes of this game. Not just the one episode that made it to the states. However, it's so expensive online, that unless Sega re-releases it, I doubt I ever will.
1. Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)- Speaking of expensive, I've wanted to play this game since I first read about it in the pages of Gamepro magazine. This is another one that requires the selling of an organ to buy. I'm hoping for a re-release of this one too.
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REVIEWS
Dementium: The Ward (System: DS | Developed by: Renegade Kid | Published by: Gamecock Media Group | Review by: steelersfan94)
This game is simply amazing. The graphics are great. Better than Brothers in Arms. It almost rivals that of a late PSX game. Maybe even a very early PS2 game. The sound sooo awesome. Make sure you play this game with headphones. Its so eerie. Its just mind-blowing. This is easily the freakiest game I've ever played (never played Silent Hill). WAY freakier than any Resident Evil. So, in conclusion, buy this game NOW!
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Goof Troop (System: Snes | Developed by: Capcom | Published by: Capcom | Review by: ShortHairedOffender)
Don't let the kiddie name make you think this game won't be fun. One of the biggest things that draws to this game is a two player co-op mode which allows for a freind to jump in our out at any time. This also has drawbacks. Sometimes your freind or you can get in the way a cause damage. If puzzle solving you may get hit with the block and lose a life for your own carelessness
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There gameplay features many challenging puzzles that any gamer can enjoy and strugle with. Most involve kicking bricks onto buttons. Although this sounds easy if it get in a corner your done. Often afterwards you will say how the idea was simple. (A common thing with many games.)
The graphics are very good compared to some games of its time but are not thrilling or revolutionary in any form or fashion. The sounds are also a draw back with annoying clanks that will make some rip out there own hair
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The lowdown: Fun gameplay but the sound is fairly annoying.
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Syphon Filter (System: PS1 | Developed by: Eidetic | Published by: 989 Studios | Review by: teh2Dgamer/Umaro)
An international terrorist organization lead by a man named Erich Rhoemer has hatched a plan to release a deadly man made virus called Syphon Filter on an unsuspecting U.S. population. Your name is Gabe Logan. You're a covert operative who works for an organization simple known as "The Agency", and It's up to you to stop him. That is no small feat, but thankfully you get a large assortment of weapons ranging from the more fun than it should ever be to use Taser, to the more traditional assault rifles and Shotguns, and you even get a M79 grenade launcher. All of which make your task of taking Rhoemer down a little easier.
The story in Syphon Filter is as complex as a hollywood spy thriller, and the game itself plays like an action movie. The fire fights are intense, but, thanks to the three different targeting modes, manageable. When an enemy comes on screen you have the option to just fire and let Gabe do the targeting, lock on to the nearest enemy at the press of a button which makes it possible to run in one direction while shooting in another, or you can zoom in to first person view and neutralize baddies at your own discretion. Mastering all three forms is absolutely imperative when the action heats up throughout the course of the game.
The graphics are top notch for a PSone game which doesn't mean a whole lot considering the age of the hardware, but the game runs smoothly. Burning subways, great lighting effects (for the PSone), multiple firefights and a plethora of explosions can't slow this game down.
Syphon Filter is a blast to play, but it does have a few flaws. Controlling Gabe is sluggish, the stealth missions can get frustrating, and the mission objectives aren't alway clear due to them constantly being changed mid-mission. However the game is fun enough to make you look past these small hiccups
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Bottom Line: Syphon filter is an objective heavy action thriller with a storyline in the same vein as a Tom Clancy novel. The action is intense, your arsenal abundant, enemy combatants numerous, and the story has many twists and turns along the way, and while it does have a few small flaws, they don't stop Syphon Filter from being a must have for action buffs who are still interested in their PSones.
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Jak II (System: PS2 | Developed by: Naughty Dog | Published by: SCEA | Review by: ShortHairedOffender)
Jak and Daxter was one of my all time favorite games and I had high hopes for the sequel. This game did not deliver. The original Jak was focused on a simple story with fun bosses and it was family friendly.
Not So Family Friendly
In this sequel we find Jak in the future where he is now speaking. Not only that but he has added a few curse words to his dictionary. This seems fairly in character because of his Dark Eco torture. Now this is just fine but once you get into the story you earn on of the first things I did not expect. A gun. Now instead of just kicking and punching you shot enemies. Not only that but you now have the ability to steal vehicles.
All and all
Ok, ignoring the fact that this game has taken a complete 360 this game is fun. Running from the guards can be fun but tiring. The enemies have lost there charm that was in the first and the environments are not as cheerful.
The Ups: This game is fun when running from the guards.
The Downs: Too 'bad ass' compared to the first.
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Revenge of Shinobi (System: Sega Genesis | Developed by: Sega | Published by: Sega | Review by: teh2Dgamer)
The evil Neo Zeed who has aspirations of world domination had your sensai assassinated, and your girlfriend Naoko kidnapped. It's time for you to fill the shoes of Joe Musashi a ninja master on his quest to avenge the death of his master, and to save his girlfriend from the evil clutches of Zeed.
Let's get this straight. Revenge of Shinobi is tough. It's very unforgiving, and it's not for the gaming weak. RoS has you taking revenge in eight super challenging side scrolling levels that require exact timing and a whole lot of patience. I'd liken Shinobi's play style to a Castlevania where perfect timing and finesse is everything. Even Shinobi's double jump requires exact timing which makes it feel imprecise at times, but it's mastery is a must especially in the later levels of the game. Missing a double jump can result in a lot of frustrating deaths for the player. However, that aside, the rest of the controls are spot on, and even the double jump becomes second nature after a while.
The gameplay is simple, move from one side of the screen to the other while dispatching hordes baddies while dodging their attacks, and learning their attack patterns. The game not only tests your gaming skills, but also your you memorization skills. Every boss has an exact pattern, and until you learn it the bosses will destroy you. My suggestion for anyone interested in this game is to look up youtube videos that show you boss strategies. A lot can be learned from watching those who have mastered the game.
While the gameplay is really tough for newcomers especially with the lack of checkpoints and tough boss battles in each level, the game is totally learnable for those with the patience to see it through. The game takes total concentration from the player. Like many other games like it RoS requires you to get in your hardcore zone. Finally mastering on of the game's tough levels puts you in gaming zen which few games ever touch. It's immersion is in mastering the game.
Bottom Line: Revenge of Shinobi is a great, but challenging game. If you don't have oldschool style patience, then stay away, because the game will frustrate the hell out of you. However those with patience will be totally immersed in Shinobi's gameplay.
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Animal Crossing (System: Nintendo Gamecube| Developed by: Nintendo | Published by: Nintendo | Review by: teh2Dgamer)
Touted as The Sims for kids, Animal Crossing is Nintendo's cutesy spin on the life-sim formula.
AC is quite essentally a game about nothing. You play as a horned boy or girl (your choice) who moves to a randomly generated town that you name with randomly generated residents. The only constsnt character besides a few that show up on rare occasions, and the museum cureater, is Tom Nook the local shop owner, and slum lord extraordinaire. The whole premise behind AC is...well, whatever you want it to be. There are tons of activities that your character can partake in. You can spend the whole day decorating your house that's provided to you by said slum-lord Tom Nook by choosing the floor, the wall paper, and what furniture or knicknacks goes into it; you can choose to fish all day, and sell the fish for cash, donate them to the museum, or even use them in your home decor; you can even run errands for the residents of your town who will reward you handily with new clothes for your character, furniture, and even fruit. There is so much to do in this game. You even have to upkeep your town by pulling weeds that pop up from time to time. You can even save your character to a memory card, and take it to a friend's house and explore their town.
AC runs off your Gamecube's internal clock, and calender, so there are some activities that only take place at certain times of the year. Tell one of the residents your birthday, and every year on your birthday, you'll be showered with gifts, cards, and a cake. Not only does the game celebrate birthdays, but every holiday, and the seasons also change with the calender. In autumn the leaves on the tree will change colors, in winter rain will turn to snow, and in summers everything's green and lightning bugs appear. It's a really fun concept, and it adds so much to the experience. The Gamecube's internal clock is also put to good use in this fashion. Tom Nook's store closes at 9:00 pm every night in your time, and there are certain activities like the summer yoga that takes place at certain times during the day. I can actually see some people getting up at 6:00 am just to catch it (I'm not one of those people).
For as addictive and fun as AC is, it does have it's faults. Once you've paid off your house and have decorated it to your liking, there's not much else to strive for in the game. After that, you might be entertained a little while longer by the quest to complete the museum's collection (my friends and I had a little competition going), and maybe by certain yearly events, but for the most part, there's nothing left to strive for after you've got everything to your liking. Also, even though the size of your house is upgradeable via Tom Nook, the final size of your house is still too small. You get so much furniture throughout the game, that you end up having to store it all by putting it into letters, and then storing those letters in the post office. This can be combated by filling the three other slots with new characters you've created (assuming you've got no one else playing the game along with you), and then having four houses to decorate, but even then you'll have more stuff that you know what to do with.
Bottom Line: Animal Crossing is a super addictive life-sim game that you won't be able to get enough of at first. However, once you complete certain aspects of the game, there's nothing else to strive for.
The answers to last issue's quiz:
1.C, 2.D, 3.C, 4.A, 5.B, 6.D, 7.A, 8.C, 9.D, 10.A
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My Gaming Life
Lately I've been making more youtube videos. I made video that shows 100 PS1 games in 10 minutes, and I did a tribute video to Metal Gear Solid that I had to split up onto two parts. I took footage of actual PS1 games that I own, and it took a really long time to make. For the MGS one I went back and played through the original MGS to make it. That game is still awesome. It's a testament to the fact that great design, and great gameplay are timeless. The first part of my MGS tribute shows off the action, while the second part shows off all the sappy lovey dovey stuff.
I've been playing the hell out of my Sega Genesis lately. Besides playing through and beating Revenge of Shinobi which in my younger years I would have classified as unbeatable and would have just moved on, I restarted a new save in Shining Force II. I currently at the part right after you get shrunken, and have to fight that chess board. The Shining Force series was always the premier Genesis RPG series IMO. Besides those two who have eating up most of my Genesis playing time, I've also been playing Demolition Man (which despite being developed by Acclaim isn't half bad), X-Men 2: Clone Wars, Gargoyles, and Columns. What can I say, I've got gaming ADD.
The other day I started a save in Kingdom Hearts. I've had the game for a few years, but I just never played it. I also started a new save in Jak II,, because my old save got deleted when my massive memory card decided to take a dump. I never really got that far into that game, because I've ran out of patience for driving missions. Sorry, but those missions are my least favorite in GTA, and they're worse in Jak II.
I've also been playing my completely free copy of Call of Duty 4 (once again, thanks Gamepro) for the PC. I'm actually surprised my outdated PC can handle the game. The game gives me medium settings, but I turned the settings to low and turned the anti-aliasing up. It still looks like crap regardless, but it's playable, and that's all that counts I guess. CoD4 is the only online game I've been playing lately, but even then I haven't been playing it a whole lot. 25 on 25 is hectic as hell though.
I've got my Christmas list done. All the games on it are 16-bit or earlier. My family knows how to use ebay and amazon. I'm trying to pick up a few stragglers that I've missed out on over the years. Stuff like Goonies 2, Bionic Commando, Kirby (I've never actually played a Kirby game for either the Nes or Snes), and more. Nothing too expensive though.
Well that's about all. Not very exciting I know.
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Underrated Gem of the month
Downhill Domination gets no respect.
Downhill Domination (PS2)- Think of this game as a super fast version of SSX, except instead of using snow boards, you use mountain bikes. The controls are even similar, but the game's jumps are way crazier. There's a whole lot of product placement in this game though. You'll see banners for ebay, Powerbar, and a bunch of others, but it's not that much of a bother. It makes it feel like the developers sold out, but the last thing you have time to do is read the advertisements on the track due to the extreme concentration it takes to keep your bike going steady, and avoiding trees and many other objects that liter the tracks (hikers anyone?). If you can't get enough SSX, then you should really check out this game. It's a rush.
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The Send-off
Well that puts an end to the second issue of 2.5D I hope those who actually stayed to read everything enjoyed it all. I'd like to thank steelersfan94, and ShortHairedOffender for their contributions to this issue. For those of you interested in contributing in the future, just sign up on my other blog that I made for contributers. As usual, I'd like to thank the VGmuseum.com for the screens for the games I don't own, or was too lazy to take on my own, and also Gamepro.
P.S. I'll be fixing the many misspelled words or other errors over the course of the next few days, so please bare with me here.
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