October Video Game News Highlights
Posted by
Nechrol
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It’s certainly the year of “threequels”. We’re well into the deluge of heavy hitters that are due for release in the pre-Christmas run, the most prominent of these being Battle Field 3, Gears of War 3, and Uncharted 3 to name a few.
And while we bask in the gaming light of what has been and what is to come before the year is out, we also wonder what next year will have in store, and where these big companies will go now that they tentatively embark on new games.
But let’s not dwell on what it all means, and where we go from this peak we’re on, (because such thoughts would cause us to panic, conserving shotgun shells and gallons of water for the upcoming apocalypse) let’s focus on what else has transpired.
Skyrim
I’m interested/concerned at the rate companies are releasing their games with bundles.
I mean, you could purchase Skyrim for $59.99 and happily skip home with the game clutched in shaking hands, saliva staining the disk as you insert it into your console, you could do that.
Or–or, you could spend your hard earned cash and stroll to the front of the queue (or E-queu if you’re buying it online) and shell out $150 w/o tax for the collector’s edition of the game. In a situation where you could have once walked out of the store with the game in a small plastic bag, you now require a trash bag or low paid immigrant worker to heft your goods home.
For your money, you get a dragon statue, a map of the game, and an art book. Think about that, you’re paying $100 for that. In these harsh economic times where some of us shower in skips filled with rainwater, using raccoons as makeshift loofahs, the whole package somehow blinds us from the cost of the separate items and bafflingly instils value in it all.
Think of how much meat and cheese you could buy for $100! I’m not sure on the specifics but a nice brie isn’t too costly…
Contests and player input is becoming more prevalent
There’s also been an interesting surge in competitions to actively involve the player in parts of the game development process. Just recently, Team Ninja put out a casting call to anyone who felt they possessed enough acrobatic fortitude to create moves for the new Dead or Alive game.
I’m a big fan of the series and not too shabby a player either, however judging from some heated on line gaming experiences, the exertion from hammering the buttons caused audible wheezing from my opponents, and that was in between handfuls of cheetos they furiously stuffed in their mouths.
However, I do wait in anticipation as to what the populace can produce and it appears to be one of the most active calls to arms from a company, which is not a bad thing. If all goes well Team Ninja will have some truly unique move sets for characters, and if not, they can have a good laugh when some kid attempting a flying kick tears out a light fixture.
Opinion: Player Metrics Vs. The Vocal Minority
Here’s an interesting article on player feedback and complaints that is an increasing issue in a games development.
What you can take away from it is that people are angry, and people complain, it’s like a drug to some. The dizzying and euphoric heights of venting unbridled and vitriolic rage are a pastime that has existed since we evolved to possess vocalisation. This need to shake our audible fists is perhaps more prevalent today than ever, take a look at a random YouTube comment section to witness Olympic levels of awkward, inane and idiotic displays of this.
Gamers have always been vocal about their dislike for particular games and the elements contained within, one players love is another’s hate, and forums and chat rooms are the Mecca that we flood to express these opinions.
It’s the nature of the world that we can’t please everyone, and we have to make choices that we perceive as the ‘right’ ones when developing a game, and, as an undeniable law of the universe there is always someone who has something to say about it.
Sometimes it’s grounded in reality, say, a poor mechanic that affects shooting calibration, which is a problem that needs to be fixed. On the other hand, matters can be puerile and trivial with a player whining about a speck of dirt that is rendered in such low definition they fail to cut their eyeballs on the visuals.
Companies are requesting more feedback from players, that’s basically the whole premise of beta testing, you need someone with an outside view to take a gander at mechanics and playability. However, with the flood of feedback, you can’t entertain every crackpot notion a gamer has, it’d be like getting a committee to design a horse, they end up envisioning a camel because not everyone can have their way.
Like life, everyone complains about everything. I propose that we deal with serious complainers in the industry by abducting that person in the night and dropping them in a remote forest infested with deadly wildlife. We bestow on them only a spork for defence (and sporting) purposes to give them a chance to reflect on what really is important in life.
If they survive, they have learned valuable life lessons and attained clarity on their fragile place in the universe. If a disgruntled jaguar eats them or some nightmarish nest of beetles creates a home in a bodily orifice and they unfortunately pass to the other side, then let that be a lesson to the rest of them.