Pixel Theories | a gamer getting older...

The 10 Sins of game development. pt 3

#7 Bland environments

The problem: Environments within the gameworld are repetitive, and/or many elements within the game are inoperative.  I.E. doors that lead to nowhere or cannot be opened, hallways without signs or distinction, and repetitive objects that can neither be moved or interacted with.

Major culprits: Halo: Combat Evolved, Doom, Condemned: Criminal Origins

Avoidance: Specifically tailoring environments by designing them to be completely interactive.  I'll never understand why devs put doors in the game yet I can never use them.  What the hell is the point in that!  Less bottles, crates, and cardboard boxes; more specific objects that relate to the environment.

#6 Linear gameplay

The problem: There's only one way to get through this FPS, if you don't like it TS!

Major culprits: Rainbow Six, Call of Duty 2, Perfect Dark

Avoidance: Designing the game to let the player choose what objectives are done and how they should be accomplished.  In this case, I singled out two older games and a launch title, because most modern games are designed to be non-linear.  However, there are still third party devs that seem not to get the point.  Games in this day and age, especially first-person shooters, should be designed to leave objectives and environments open, giving players the choice to accomplish objectives how they please.

NCAA Football 09 Rosters for the XBox 360 are in the EA Locker right now!!

And there are free!!!  Thanks to a user known to many as Pastapadre. 

No $30 memory card transfers kits or mailing your card in with a donation.  Just boot up the game go to the EA locker and DL.

Want to know more about the roster fiasco over the last couple of years?  Kotaku has an excellent article on the roster modders who provide full names of collegiate players within NCAA football and basketball video games.

Have fun!!!

e3 '08 - Ninty and Sony keynotes...

Yesterday I was going to post two seperate responses to Nintendo and Sony respectively.  But after some internal deliberation, I found both addresses to be lacking.  So much so that they don't deserve individual posts.  As I said previously I don't pay much attention to the figures that are stated, they've never really impressed or surprised me.

What did surprise me was the lack of innovation from both companies.  As Nintendo and Sony are both veterans that have, in the past, proved themselves by releasing/showing various new hardware and software which have had serious impacts on the industry.  Instead what was delivered was statistic after statistic.  As both companies had to have realized the at the end of the day previous, that they just brought their knife to a gun fight.

So in light of their lack of commitment to e3; I feel competent that I can summarize both Sony and Nintendo's keynotes each in a first-person perspective:

Sony: "Okay we f*^&ed up. We know we f*^&ed up.  But we're going to make it better by cutting prices; mainly because we can't compete.  So please, come back.  We've got a new SOCOM game, God of War III, and.....well....please, come back."

Nintendo: "We'd like to show you forty-two other things we can do with wiimotes.  None of which relate anything to Mario, Zelda, Kid Icarus or the many other licenses that we've got locked away in a vault and aren't going to do a damn thing with.  Sure we've got new games in the pipeline, I don't know what they are, but if I find Shigeru; he can go through them in great detail.  Shiggy?  Shiggy?  Has anyone seen a creative little Japanese guy around here somewhere?  Seriously, this isn't funny anymore!?!"

Two companies who have both at one time or another dominated the games industry; have now become the underdogs.  And only time will tell if MS can learn a thing or two from history.  Mainly, that this is one market where you can never rest on your laurels.

e3 '08 - Microsoft keynote address...

I used to think that e3 was a great expo.  I used to take the week off, read as much as I could, play with other individuals that I could talk to about the event and I even had my own mecca to LA back in 04'.  But now the lack of intimacy of the event has made the 3-day extravaganza a little bit of a bore.  Used to be that e3 was the an all-in moment at the poker game for first party developers.  Now, it's just a jockeying point for 1st party execs to recite arbitrary stats, that couldn't be verified by the best financial analysts.  Fact is that these guys cook their virtual books before they take the stage in July.  And I've seen so much of in the last 14 years that I've grown tired of it.

That being said Microsoft has made an interesting move at this year's e3.  Their interesting list of features for the new and improved 360 dashboard has me a little excited for the fall update.  And there's the rub.   When exactly is their fall update going to be?  With a lackluster spring update, and the lack of games from June to late-October, and a plethora of mediocre XBLA games, the house of M has been one of respite.

Hopefully, this latest addition to the dashboard will quash statements from those within the community who bitch and complain about paying for XBL.  Say what you want about the free services from Sony and Nintendo, it is becoming more and more apparent that those services can't hold a candle to the innovations and adjustments that are made to XBL via dashboard updates.  And it should also be noted that these adjustments are tailored specifically from community members that use the product most.  When you think about it it's really quite impressive.

A phonecall from MS.

I just got a phone call from Glenn at Microsoft.  Apparently they have a US based call center somewhere on the east coast that handles disgruntled customers such as myself.  Funny, because I sent the letter back in April which only puts them 90+ days behind the curve.  Moving on, in talking to Glenn, he was interested in seeing if my two boxes were still working; I confirmed that the were.  Then good ole Glenn starts to pitch me on re-upping the extended warranty on both 360's.  Talk about brass ones. 

This is sorta where I took over the conversation and informed Glenn that their main customer service department had "promised" me a new console and what I got in return was my original box that had been refurbished.  I went on to explain that two departments thousands of miles apart should have a common understanding of each others functions and one should not promise what the other cannot deliver.  In his response the drone went on to tell me that MS does not replace broken 360's with brand new ones.  If there is a unit beyond repair then they'll replace it with a refurbished one. 

"I am Jack's complete lack of surprise."

I refused the extended warranties and good ole Glenn gave me a 19 digit password so I can reach him in an emergency.  I wonder if and when I do call him, I may just call to bust his balls, will it take him 90 days to get back to me?