Dear Diary,
I did pretty well this week in Narnia, as long as I don't lose another good friend. The town bulletin board says that the cherry blossoms are coming, but they're not here yet. I love them — they're so pretty. Though we did have a lovely little sight this week. Make the jump and see what it was!
Today, Sony released that patch for Heavy Rain, which they hoped would address the issues that people have been having with the game, from graphical and sound glitches to not being able to load your saved game. Well, I would like to happily report that while they didn't sound entirely confident that it would take care of 100% of the issues people were having, it totally fixed my black loading screen of frozen death! A quick download of the patch and I was able to pick up where I left off and play the last hour or so of the game! Hopefully any of you who were also having this problem will also find it solved. And hopefully other glitches have been taken care of as well. While I agree that the game probably shouldn't have shipped with these kind of bugs, I appreciate the reasonably fast response. Now I can try to get all the rest of the trophies... and a better ending!
While excited gamers this week have been treated to the first full expansion to BioWare's epic RPG Dragon Age: Origins, customers who purchased the Mac port of the game are left wondering when they'll get in on the latest content themselves.
Electronic Arts published the OSX port of DA:O last December, utilizing TransGaming Inc.'s Cider wrapper to facilitate the Mac version. Cider, a proprietary version of WINE, implements the Windows APIs in a manner that OSX can utilise, allowing software developed for Windows to run natively on a Mac without the use of an emulator, virtual machine, or rebooting through Boot Camp. However this is hit or miss, as anyone who's ever used CrossOver Games to get Windows titles working on their Mac can attest; sometimes a game works perfectly, sometimes it explodes in a fiery maelstrom of pain and agony.
Although I do most of my gaming on my Windows desktop built specifically for that purpose, I purchased the OSX version of DA: O when it was released to support the idea of more serious games coming to Apple machines; stuff like the recent Steam/OSX announcement is a great bit of news and companies will only be motivated to make versions of their titles available on OSX if they feel there's a market for it. Nevertheless, since day one, performance on the Mac version of DA: O suffers considerably compared to the Windows version on the same computer in Boot Camp; this is unfortunately Cider's drawback, as the need to translate DirectX into OpenGL requires significant overhead, something that my poor MacBook Pro can't manage. Even at its lowest settings the game was a stuttering mess and unplayable, essentially a waste of money even though TransGaming's site said the machine excelled past the suggested requirements.
That's not even the most unfortunate part, as since being launched the Mac port hasn't been supported in the least. The latest DLC, Return to Ostagar, doesn't work with the Mac version because it requires a patch that hasn't been released for the port; in fact, no patches have been released for the Mac version at all, and there's been little in the way of explanation if there ever will be. BioWare, TransGaming Inc, and EA all point fingers and responsibility at one another as to who will be working on these things but in the end it's the customers who forked out the same price as the PC version to get a product missing many of the features of its sibling.
And then there's the expansion, which presumably will eventually be released on OSX as well (there's an Apple logo on the expansion's mini-site, and a Mac version is mentioned in the ESRB submission) but nobody at any of the involved companies have confirmed or denied whether or not it will happen. It's the lack of communication that is most frustrating, as the developers have seemingly abdicated addressing any concerns of consumers who have utilised any official methods to bring up questions.
Shoddy performance is one thing, but dropping support entirely is something else all together. It's a positive step for publishers and developers to bring their products to as many platforms as possible, but when they abandon those customers as soon as they do they're every bit as responsible for people not taking Macs seriously for gaming as anyone at Apple could be. I can only hope that BioWare/EA get their acts together for the expansion and handle its release and subsequent support better than they did with the base game.
Can love bloom on the battlefield? If you're among the many North American fans waiting for Kojima's next hit,
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the blooming may be even prettier than you imagined. Over at the
Playstation Blog, Sony's revealed the first details of their next PSP Entertainment Pack to be available upon the game's new release date of June 8.
This new bundle will include a "Spirited Green" PSP-3000, a copy of the related game, download codes for extra content and an as-yet-undetermined movie, and a 2GB Pro Duo stick at an MSRP of $200, or $30 more than just the PSP. This puts it just in line with all the other Entertainment Packs - any way you look at it, you're getting the game and a memory stick at a discount, and a shiny, dark cyan PSP.
Of all the PSP bundles in recent memory, this one seems the most likely to draw in franchise fans who haven't had interest in the system yet. While Kojima's earliest countdowns claimed Peace Walker to be an "MGS 5 class game," even newer revelations on the official blog actually show marketing with the words Metal Gear Solid 5: Peace Walker. It's a bit of a shame this branding wasn't quicker, as there are still plenty of Snake loyalists out there who might only be seeing this game as a spinoff. I guess the rebranding will give Kojima time to consider porting this one to console platforms, at least.
However you want to number it, Peace Walker and its attendant bundle will be coming to North America on June 8.
As most people know, one of the key elements to looking great is proper accessorizing; however, like most things, you must do so in moderation. With too many items or too gaudy of accessories, your "fab" can easily go "bad". Such is the case with this recently discovered Mario Pendant found on eBay. Granted, the item is made with 10K yellow gold and 4.25 CT worth of diamonds, which have some worth, but the object itself comes off as pretty horrendous. Plus with this many diamonds on a statuette, people are going to start wondering if the Grand Theft Auto on your profile is more of a rap sheet than a favorite game.
All of that said, apparently the company selling this item thinks that someone will "Buy It Now" for $2,600, which they claim is a steal since it normally is priced at $9,000. What is even more hilarious is that when I went through the other items the same store was selling on eBay, while I mainly found diamond stubbed crosses, I also found a Poppa Smurf, a Mickey Mouse, and an Incredible Hulk. So now you know where to go to find any of your childhood memories bedazzled into gaudy greatness. Speaking of which, maybe I should pull my BeDazzler out of the closet and try to 1up this pendant; maybe I can make a small mint off of it.
How To Be a Nintendo Pimp [gameSniped]
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Heavy Rain, but today seems to be the day to highlight some of its flaws. The opening section in the mall left the actor in me cringing (at least the English voice acting--I've heard the French is much better). Leave it to a flash game to be able to express my thoughts on that section of the game with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor: Press X To Jason.
Warning: the flash game ends with a spoiler for the real game, so if you plan on playing through the latter and have not done so yet, you may wish to hold off a bit.
Complete with four achievements and a ranking board, the game takes all of thirty seconds to complete. Since Heavy Rain is one of those games that seems to be polarizing gamers in a seemingly binary reaction, it is interesting to see how the reactions are expressing themselves.
OK, that's not actually the name of the piece. It doesn't really have one so I thought I would make it something goofy and intriguing. Reader dusk_b4_dawn sends in this rather saucy rendition of everyones favorite Ice Climbers. Po Po and Nana have apparently grown up and been spending a fair amount of time at the gym. And is it just me or does Po Po look like Zac Effron? Thanks, dusk_b4_dawn!
Since I started writing about games, I have developed a little penchant for rabbits--particularly the violent kind (more true to life). Having also been a fan of Usagi Yojimbo as a wee lad, I found Rock Paper Shotgun's interview with Overgrowth developers Wolfire Games to be of particular interest.
What is Overgrowth? Martial rabbit fighter, simply put.
Longer answer?
Overgrowth is what happens when you mix one cup of Assassin's Creed with a seasoning of Redwall, add a pinch of Donnie Darko and stir it around with a broadsword. Following the tradition from Lugaru, our goal is to really force players to come up with their own survival combat strategies and tap into their primal kill or be killed instincts.
The game is a sequel to Lugaru, an indie game released six years ago by one of the developers on this title. This time there will be more enemies: rabbits, wolves, cats, rats, and dogs. The premise is that this both gives them an easy to understand enemy structure (as they remarked, "Wolves eat rabbits because they are hungry, which is more insight into the motivations of the 'bad guys' than you will get in most AAA games even after sitting through hours of cut-scenes.").
Currently it has no set release date, but if you want to support the project (in case, you know, the game interests you already), you can pre-order right here.
The rest of the interview covers basic thoughts of indie developers, how the fighting will work, what sort of learning curve exists, and the decision to keep with a martial arts based rabbit instead of human.
This week over at Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? "Dad" is playing Heavy Rain and is having about the same level and type of fun that I'm having with the title. Now before you go judging me, don't pretend that you didn't think about doing some of these things too.
I know what the lords of the GayGamer castle talked about it on the podcast and Tiny even gave it a glowing review, but not everyone's experience with Heavy Rain is the same. While far from terrible, I think the game has more similarities with Space Ace than Silent Hill 2, Bioshock, Half-life and other games known for their masterful plots and story telling, but hey... that's just me. I better not say anything more or else I'll end up in the castle's dungeon again. Enjoy the video, folks!
Here's a pretty cool contest for the EVE Online fans out there:
The creators of the PODDED podcast are having a contest in commemoration of their one year anniversary since returning to the intertubes. One lucky winner will receive one year's worth of game time cards to EVE Online and all you have to do is submit a funny audio clip under three minutes in length to qualify.
The full competition guidelines are:
- The submission must be an EVE related original piece of work which has not been released before.
- It can be a parody, short story, song, advert, stand-up.....
- It must be no longer than 3 minutes.
- One entry per person.
- The deadline for submissions is April 28th.
- IT MUST BE FUNNY!
It's a pretty cool and generous contest for the would-be comedians out there who want to flex their creativity with something involving the EVE universe. Submissions are due April 28th, and must be sent in mp3 format to poddedpodcast@googlemail.com.
Win a year of EVE Online game time with the PODDED podcast [via Massively]
When Clover first released as an Xbox Live indie game, it instantly became one of the top games on the service. A well written adventure game with a beautiful watercolor art style and smart social commentary? Sign me up! But alas, few people actually venture onto the Xbox indie game channel, and so to bring Clover to a wider audience developer Binary Tweed has released a PC version with Clover: A Curious Tale. But this isn't just a simple port, think of it more as the Director's Cut with a ton of extra content added in. Nearly double the content in fact. But do the additions blend well with the original game, or has Binary Tweed created the definitive version with Clover: A Curious Tale on PC?
I am told that a helpful comparison for Clover: A Curious Tale is to the Dizzy series of games. Hopefully that comparison means something to some of you, but having never played a Dizzy game myself, all I can draw from the comparison is that I must have missed out on something amazing. Clover: A Curious Tale is an adventure game in the classic sense. There are seemingly hundreds of items to use, combine, collect, and interact with to solve puzzles to advance the story. However, unlike the classic adventure games I'm more familiar with, Clover plays in the style of a sidescrolling platformer. This works very well since it alleviates the pixel hunting typically associated with adventure games. Just walk over an item and press down to pick it up.
Since it's fairly easy to find the objects you'll be using in Clover, the real challenge is figuring out how to use them. Puzzles are everywhere, and there are some real head scratchers that had me trying just about every item available to figure out what to do. This isn't helped by the fact that there are some extra items thrown into the world that, having completed the game multiple times, I have yet to find a use for (cuttlefish bone, what do you do?). It can get frustrating at times, but careful observation will always point you toward the right answer (even if you only realize it in hindsight), and when you do finally discover the solution it is followed by a satisfying "A-ha!" moment where you feel absolutely brilliant.
Perhaps it is because of the frustration of the puzzles that everything else about Clover is such a calming experience. Hauntingly beautifully piano music (which can be downloaded in free soundtrack form here) accompanies every handmade watercolor scene, painting the world of Clover with vibrant color and sound. It is also impossible to die or lose in Clover, with the worst punishment being sent to the jail and having to backtrack from there to wherever you were trying to go. And even this punishment is not necessarily always bad, since there will be times that the quickest way to relocate an item needed for a puzzle is to get yourself arrested.
As I said at the beginning of this review, Clover: A Curious Tale expands on the content of the original Xbox release in a huge way. There are tons of new items, areas, puzzles and characters that have been added to considerably lengthen the game. What works so well about these additions is that those who never played Clover on the Xbox 360 will never know what was originally there and what's new. All of the new content blends seamlessly into the story, including three new alternate endings depending on some of the choices you make throughout the game. And more than just new plot and puzzles, there are other additions like full voice acting - which, dare I say, is a cut above the voice acting found in most AAA games. New gamers should definitely go for the PC version if given the choice, and even Clover fans from the 360 will find that A Curious Tale offers enough new content to warrant a second look.
And though I don't want to delve too much into Clover's story, it is best discovered on your own as you play, it is worth noting that this is one of those rare politically and socially conscious games. I do not mean this in a derogatory way, far from it in fact. As much as Clover makes you think to solve the game's puzzles, it's also a game that you'll think about long after you've finished playing. The messages in the game can be a bit overbearing at times (though not quite to the degree of a game like, say, Eternal Sonata) but whether you agree with the messages or not you will at least be inspired to think about them. Too few games even attempt to bring out something introspective in the player, and the fact that Clover succeeds while wrapping its messages in satisfying puzzles makes it all the more refreshing.
In case you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed my time with Clover: A Curious Tale. It's an adventure game that will stick with you, and with enough replay value to warrant multiple playthroughs. Some of the puzzles are quite the challenge though, and that is a point that I can't emphasize enough. Unless you're a psychic, you will get stuck and you will get frustrated. It's inevitable. Even still, looking back at my time with Clover, the satisfaction from solving those particularly hard puzzles outweighs the frustration. For gamers who aren't afraid of some hard thinking with their games, Clover: A Curious Tale is a no-brainer.
8/10
Clover: A Curious Tale is available for download at Blitz 1Up, Direct2Drive, GamersGate, and GetGamesGo for $9.99 (£5.99).
I don't know what's worse — that it took this long for the Lips series to branch out into a more specific genre for an add-on disc, or that it totally snuck up on me! Lips: I Love The '80s is apparently due out in the UK on April 2. I was really hoping for a US release, because I would have been all over that like I don't even know what! Unfortunately, I contacted Microsoft, and this is a UK release only. Sigh. Hopefully some of these songs will make it to our shores as DLC because I absolutely love '80s music, and they're are the songs I've always sang the most in Lips. And with tunes like "The Look of Love" by ABC, "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama, "Too Shy" by Kajagoogoo and "Kids In America" by Kim Wilde, I'd be in heaven! I'll put the full 40-track list after the jump, if you're a UK reader and curious as to what you're getting. If you're a US Lips fan, I don't recommend making that jump, because it'll just upset you. Seriously, I can't even express my disappointment in words here. It's awful...
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