This news story needs to start with a mini-review. Farsight's Pinball Arcade combines the pinball simulation engine used in the "Hall of Fame" series of pinball games with a collection of table recreations. The tables they provide are painstaking recreations of real tables which strive to preserve pinball, and they succeed on almost every level. The game is available for pretty much every platform in existence, has a strong DLC model for keeping gameplay fresh, and is pretty much the single best pinball simulation I have ever had the pleasure of playing.
When I say I've dumped a hundred hours into Farsight's pinball simulations I don't mean it as hyperbole. It's fact. Their pinball engine is just that good. It's free to try on most traditional and mobile platforms so anybody who enjoys pinball owes it to themselves to pick it up.
Anyway, Farsight has been getting tons of requests for a version of the legendary Twilight Zone pin. If you were alive and playing pinball in the '90s this table should ring a bell -- it's considered one of the best designs of all time. The problem is that rights to the Twilight Zone IP are a little expensive. No problem for the studio -- they started a Kickstarter to try and cover the costs. I think they've got the right idea as far as this is concerned -- Kickstarter is a great platform for reducing risk and trying to make the fans happy.
If you're interested in making the greatest pinball machine of all time available on one of the greatest pinball simulators of all time head over to their Kickstarter page and chip in.
In the past week, while battling demons in Sanctuary, I've flitted out of groups with Bauske and EccentricTomboy (hoping to catch Dryden at some point or another), and am still working on a review. In fact, much like the Sonic 4: Episode 2 review yesterday, I am thinking of asking our other writers to proffer some opinions as well, so we get a range for you to select.
We don't do scores here at GayGamer anymore. Partly because we're not aggregated by any sources, so it doesn't matter if we do. Partly because we do still offer a conclusion paragraph that tends to tell you what you want to know if you want to quickly ascertain whether a game is for you or not. It also means we can theoretically have more fun with what we post about games.
Now, about that always-online thing for Diablo 3. Beyond the first day, I haven't had much problem with it, to be honest. A few lag hiccups here and there that make me nervous to ever run a hardcore character, but otherwise it's been fairly smooth sailing. My first day in the game was actually in a four-person group with EccentricTomboy, Bauske, and one other. We didn't get much of the plot: a four-person brawl on screen tends to mean lots of colors, bashing, and fun, but doesn't give much time to actually stay awhile and listen. That may be okay, though.
I've also tried public games, to have people join, sit there, and not respond to me, nor actually play the game. It's worrisome. Anyone who has played has surely heard all the rumors and speculation about hacking through achievements? Or replicating your login session so that they can get into your account without needing your password (thereby ignoring authenticators as well)? Blizzard has released a statement about what to do, but hasn't actually detailed anything.
Which makes sense: why give potential griefers more ammunition?
I'm just not joining public games again until something is cleared up (and maybe not even then--I'm a fan of exchanging Battletags and talking with people I know). So, what about you?
Has your Diablo experience been wrought with lag, disconnects, or being hacked? Is this pretty firmly cementing all the reasons an always-online experience for a game which can still theoretically be played single-player is a disaster? Vent! Let us know.
During my intermittent, yet passionate trysts with Dame Wii, there has been one nagging point of annoyance. No, it's not the graphics, nor her refusal to kiss on the mouth; rather, it is the Wii controller. Having waved that ghastly wand until my arms could wave no more, I grow tired of its charms - favoring instead the warm, familiar comfort of "conventional" controllers.
Yes, one can always purchase the aptly-named "Classic Controller;" yet for those of us that crave old-timey goodness, its solid white frame and clear buttons stink of modernity. Thus, Nintendo sought to satisfy the craving of gamers - by which I mean only Japanese gamers - with the Super Famicom Classic Controller attachment for the Wii remote. Indeed, this gem of yesteryear is available only to Japan's Club Nintendo owners, leaving we Westerners feeling left behind, and reminded that however advanced we humans may believe ourselves to be, the specter of racism still haunts the land.
Luckily, thinkgeek.com has a rather convincing substitute. Priced at $20, the device seeks to mimic the look and feel of the classic Super Nintendo controller - on that left my thumbs thoroughly blistered when I was but a lad - connecting to the Wii controller to allow gamers to get the most retro goodness out of their Virtual Console purchases. So if you have some spare money lying around, and find yourself without the benefit of being Japanese, check out the controller at this link!
So if you're reading this site, you already know about the review I talk about in the beginning. But then I move on to talk about a bargain bin-ish purchase that I sort of kind of regret (though it's okay, because the game was purchased with a GameStop gift card I got for filling out online surveys, so it was technically free). And I conclude with initial impressions of a brand new action RPG that I got a review copy of and some complaining about how publishers always seem to send review copies with only a day or two before the embargo lifts like you can play a massive RPG in that kind of time without having an actual life! Enjoy this week's ramblings!
You know, if anyone was wondering what to get me for a present, SEGA and Gearbox Software announced today that Aliens: Colonial Marines now has an official release date of my birthday. And Abe Lincoln's. That's February 12, in case you didn't know your (allegedly gay) presidents!
"I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines," said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. "Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes."
This also reminded me that I somehow never wrote up what I saw of the new Aliens game at PAX East! An odd game to let fall through the cracks, for sure! Basically, Aliens: Colonial Marines is positioned as a cannonical sequel to the movie, Aliens. I was told that if they do their job right, the game will somehow make the much-maligned Alien 3 a better movie. (Personally, I have a soft spot for the relentlessly grim third chapter in the Alien series... it was with four that it went off the rails for me) Heck, they even got master designer Syd Mead involved in the game's production to design new locations. They also used designs from the Sulaco that he'd created for Aliens that weren't used in the film.
What I saw of the FPS in the video presentation looked spectacular. The graphics were gorgeous. The action was tense, frenetic and non-stop. About the only thing I didn't really like was the voice actor for the main character. He was a little weak... and if he's the main character, that could be a problem.
But enjoy this brand new trailer as you wait until February 12, 2013 to play Aliens: Colonial Marines on your Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. (There's a Wii U version in the works as well, but its release date has yet to be determined.)
Another Sonic game is out. Guess it's time to finish the cycle.
You know what cycle I'm talking about. Every time a new Sonic game gets announced, fans become apprehensive and cautious about the whole ordeal: Will it be new? Will it be classic? Will it be good? Then, as tidbits of information, photos, and videos are slowly revealed, the anxiety seems to wane and excitement builds. "Hey, this one could be different," they all say. And then comes the day when it's finally released.
Well. We all know how that goes.
Sonic Generations seemed to break this cycle. For once in the blue hedgehog's tainted past few years, a fluid, intuitive, and (most important of all) fun Sonic game actually got released. Of course, some fans may argue, but for the majority of players it seemed like Generations was putting Sega's famous mascot on the right path. And then Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 was released.
Before we jump to conclusions here, I will state this: Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is not a bad game. It's just not the best game in the franchise.
Oh, Sonic Team. I really, really wanted to be in your corner for this one. Sonic Generations had me giggling with raw, childlike glee. Sure, it was a big retail title and as such in a different category than this game, but it captured what made Sonic games great. It spoke to the eight-year-old in me that spent countless hours with Sonic games and recreated that madcap, on-the-edge-of-losing-control feel that kept me playing. I didn't care about collectibles or platform gaming; Sonic Generations let me trust the developers enough to press right and watch Sonic go really, really, holy-hell-I-can't-believe-it fast. That's what these games do best.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode 2 tugs at many of the same retro strings that get my inner 8-year-old's attention. The soundtrack sounds like it was composed almost entirely on a Genesis chipset, the cinematics and level design are reminiscent of Sonics 2 and 3, and the enemies mostly originate from old games. ("Holy crap! They put the arrow guy that looks like Olmec into the game! How about that?) But in dropping all the right retro references Sonic Team forgot what makes their games fun.
There are a few key factors, for certain, but primary among them would be an insatiable interest in video games. From a young age, the boy developed a fascination with the blips and bleeps of the classic arcades, the glowing pixels working together to form shapes and characters on a curved television screen housed inside a cabinet made of wood, paint, buttons, joysticks, and what he could only identify back then as pure magic.
As he grew up, this fascination never left him, and he continued his journey as a gamer with the NES, SNES, N64, PlayStation, and so on and so forth until this very day, where he sits in a small room, his face mere feet away from a monitor flashing with images of a brutish barbarian battling through the minions of Hell in Diablo III.
A few other identifying traits include an interest in art, musical composition, game programming and creation, and a love for the craft of the pixel. He enjoys retro games sometimes in place of modern blockbusters, preferring to jump with precision in Mega Man 2 than sniping across a map in a newly released shooter. Yes, he is an '80s child. Yes, he has a weakness for comedies and particular musical romances. And yes, he sometimes has an unhealthy obsession when it comes to anything Pac-Man related, but he is definitely proud of who he is and what he has become in life, and takes an interest in gaming culture, news, and experiences every day.
He also has no idea why he wrote this in third person.
Over on Joystiq this past Friday, Rowan Kaiser wrote up what makes the Quest for Glory franchise so amazing. Which led me to further thinking on the game series, and how it has influenced other games. Which is to say, in my opinion, I can see influences in a lot of places (particularly in BioWare titles). That is the topic for another post, however, as today I am more interested in figuring out what games have come closest to this particular RPG and adventure hybrid.
Recently I have been trying my hand at writing using ChoiceScript, which is used to make those lovely Choice Of games (Dragons, Vampires, and Zombies, oh my!). In reading up on how they handled choice and advancement, I came across this page, which describes their use of stats.
While the Choice of Games folk want you to make meaningful decisions, they came up with a method that seeks not to have them creating a labyrinthine novel with which you interact. Which is very similar to the QFG style: use stats to deterine a pass/fail option. What that means is your decisions matter in that they determine how your stats will increase, which in turn affects what you will succeed or fail at in future endeavors.
With "next gen season" fast approaching, boys and girls of Gaia once again find themselves wondering, with improvements in hardware, what visual treats await those privileged enough to have what we proles call "money." Apparently, we cannot look to the Wii U for guidance, as despite its rather impressive tech demo, the system is reported to be less powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360.
For many of us in the gamescape, Epic's "Samaritan" video - stunningly detailed, and peppered with visual whiz-bangs - seemed to be more of the jump one would expect from true next-gen graphics. There was only one problem: It was not the Unreal 4 engine. Rather the demo was made with a modified Unreal 3 engine which, while still an aesthetic feast, left us "holy f*ck, that's pretty" connoisseurs thoroughly and bitterly teased.
In a Wired article, the fabled next-gen engine is on its way - though whether next-gen hardware is capable of fully handling it is suspect. The Samaritan demo took "three high-end graphics cards to handle the demand;" realizing the goal that Epic's Tim Sweeny has in mind - creating visuals comparable to what the human eye can perceive - "will require hardware at least 2,000 times as powerful as today's highest-end graphics processors." He believes that such advances are two or three generations off.
Granted, this is so much speculation, and Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski's insistence that "It needs to be a quantum leap [...] They need to damn near render Avatar in real time" is terribly lofty, the above photo, as well as the gallery posted on Wired, gives gamers an idea of what the company has in store for the next generation of consoles. Moreover, the engine is reported to be not simply a vehicle for ultra-high-definition graphics, but a way of streamlining development, "allowing studios to do in 12 months what can take two years or more today."
So the full article (complete with a gallery) at Wired to learn more about Epic's latest efforts!
This felt like a really big week in Narnia, but when I checked my camera, there were hardly any pictures at all! I mean, three of them were of the same thing, mostly, so I just picked the best one. Oh, you'll see what I mean on the next page...
Kid Icarus: Uprising has proven to be a popular game for the Nintendo 3DS, and the multiplayer is a big reason why. But if you've been having trouble finding folks to play against, Nintendo wants to make it easier for you. Tommorow, Saturday, May 19, has been designated as Kid Icarus: Uprising Multiplayer Battle Day. Either online or locally, you're invited to come on out and play!
You can use Nintendo's Meetup Everywhere community to organize your own Kid Icarus: Uprising multiplayer gathering, or I suppose, since it's a bit late to put something together this last minute, find out if there's going to be one in your area. That way you can not only battle it out in Kid Icarus: Uprising, but trade AR cards, or StreetPass in-game weapons. (Not to mention the usual StreetPass benefits of more puzzle pieces and Find Mii soldiers!) Plus, Nintendo is sweetening the pot because they've said that the 20 groups with the most participants will receive special premiums, like AR Card packs and T-shirts!
• CPFace on QFG's Successor: That's exactly what I like about Choice Of games. The first time I played Choice of the Dragon, I didn't...
• Bauske on New Contributor: Bauske: I live in Indy, so GenCon is there. It's so close. It's RIGHT THERE. Doesn't necessarily mean I get to...
• Adam Botsford on Let's Chat: Diablo 3 Online & Future Review: Aside from early server issues and infrequent lag my experience has been positive. It did take me a little while...
• Dustafee on Video: Wootini's Video Podcast #69: Good God! I would much rather play a game called Drag Dogma. That sounds like so much fun. Alotta Kleetorus:...
• Randy "Dr Randle" Marr on New Contributor: Bauske: Welcome to the team, Baus. Noticed a retweet from Jack Devris about ya. Out of curiosity, do you visit GenCon...
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