Articles by mixvio
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.
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]
I'm rather caught off guard by this, but Joystiq is reporting the release of a new iPhone app by Square Enix that shows off still images from their latest addition to the Final Fantasy franchise, costing consumers just $8.99 to buy.
For the same price as both their iPhone versions of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II (to say nothing of the majority of the other games in their iPhone catalogue) you can have your hands on some screenshots that also multi-function as a calendar or clock.
I have to hope that somehow this is just an accidental glitch in pricing, and it will be corrected expediently, but if not this boggles me completely. I have a hard time believing even the most stalwart Final Fantasy fan will be interested in this, but I could be wrong. Would any of you guys ever buy it?
Yet another twist in the continuing saga of the R18+ content classification issue in Australia, GamePolitics is reporting that Facebook staff has removed the group Grow Up Australia, organized around protesting the lack of such a classification level in the country.
While Facebook provided no specific rationality for the group being disabled, their boilerplate stated:
"...groups that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed." Additionally, Facebook removes groups that "attack an individual or group, or advertise a product or service."
Group Up Australia staff claimed that no administrators have posted any such content on the page, and they had been heavily moderating member content. In the interim they've created a Facebook fan page while they try and get Facebook to reinstate the original group.
Grow Up Australia worked with EB Games recently to promote a wildly successful petition to the government in response to their recent discussion paper.
Facebook Boots Grow Up Australia Group [via GamePolitics]
A lot of noise has been made recently about Ubisoft's new DRM scheme; the platform, which will be on all upcoming titles released by the developer, requires a constant internet connection to play purchased games, whether single player or otherwise. Already rolled out for the PC version of Assassin's Creed 2, the service has been plagued by down times, denial-of-service attacks, and a lot of upset gamers.
In a lengthy article at CNET, author Josh Lowensohn goes into detail about how possibly the best way to avoid DRM in PC games is to simply avoid being a first adopter. Pointing out how titles like Spore and Bioshock eventually had their DRM patched out, or were released on other storefronts sans invasive piracy protection, he explains that the adage usually tends to be that DRM is pulled as a game's shelf-life increases.
Although this may be a good way to stick it to publishers like EA and Ubisoft, Lowensohn also points out that it's easier said than done. Most gamers don't want to wait months or years to purchase the newest title, and most people will be willing to suck up DRM frustration to play a title on its launch day. Still, if any such boycott ever did get off the ground and manage to materialize into something respectable, it may send a clear message to publishers who are considering these draconian methods in their own titles.
One Solution for DRM-Free Games: Wait [via GamePolitics]
It's Weekend Vacation? Recovery, your Monday Tuesday morning, 9 AM intellectual gaming discussion fix. Have a suggestion for a Weekend Recovery topic? Send your ideas to mixvio@gaygamer.net and you might see your name on the grand marquee!
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Hello gays and gals! I've been derelict in my posting responsibilities, having spent the past two weeks overseas in China on vacation. But! I am back, and I bring with me a subject that's been on my mind from time to time ever since I picked up my first MMOG.
We Fly Spitfires, one of my favourite blogs, posted an entry documenting a recent spat in the WoW-blogosphere regarding that terrible dragon of gold-buying.
I'll admit upfront that I've bought gold in World of Warcraft before; back when I first started playing and the thought of how much grinding I'd need to go through in order to purchase my first mount, the time commitment seemed unlikely. A little spam message in my inbox telling me how much game-gold I could get for a pittance of money seemed like a no-brainer: in the trade off between grinding for time, amidst my actual real life day job, or plunking down cash for the same result, ease won out. As my time in WoW wore on and I realised how much of those gold sellers obtained their funds through illicit means, I stopped utilising the service, but We Fly Spitfires brings up a very good point: while so many people are busy blaming people who purchase gold for all of society's ills, the actual people committing the crimes are benefiting from the transference of blame. Syncaine in particular, who I believe in the past has equated gold-buying with giving drugs to children (I think, my memory is fuzzy and my google-fu is not pulling up specific links) declares anyone who purchases gold is a bad person-- a hyperbolic declaration I can't help but roll my eyes at. In the grand scheme of things, if deciding that my time is worth more to me than spending X hours in a game makes me a bad person, then okay.
I think we can all readily agree that gold obtained through illegal means, like hacking and phishing, isn't something someone should knowingly purchase-- that's ultimately why I stopped buying any myself, because I didn't want to pay for a currency that may have been stolen from someone else. But blaming anyone and everyone who purchases in-game gold, whether in WoW or EVE or AION, is a bit much: the black market will exist one way or the other, and such blame is like saying anyone who uses a computer is responsible for cialis spam and Nigerian fraud emails.
Anyway, this is a contentious and divisive issue, but I agree with We Fly Spitfires' overall point: blaming people who buy gold won't fix the issue of why they're buying gold in the first place. Whether the game itself is too hard, some players just want an edge, or some players are just lazy, a contingent of people will always decide that their time is worth more than plunking down 50.00 bucks for 1000 pieces of pretend money; if game devs and the gaming community really wants to deal with this problem, blaming people who utilise existing services isn't the way to go about it. Have you guys ever bought gold before? Are you ashamed to admit it? Do you think anyone who buys gold deserves some sort of genital pestilence? Sound off in the comments.
Earlier today, Australia's largest video game retailer, EB Games, delivered forty-six thousand submissions to the federal Attorney-General's department supporting their recent discussion paper around creating an R18+ classification for video games.
EB Games collected submissions in all of their stores across Australia, as well as online, and in just two weeks it collected the staggering number of favorable statements advocating such a classification for 18+ video games.
Even though submissions have been overwhelmingly in favor of this classification (with the first thousand submissions being processed, only eleven responses were against adding the classification), South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson continues to dismiss the opinions of Australian citizens, contending that "only gamers care about this issue"-- I think that's rather the point, as only gamers are affected by the lack of a classification.
Atkinson also continues to equate gamers with criminals or terrorists, repeatedly implying that people in favor of an 18+ classification have left death threats at his home, or are more dangerous than "outlaw motorcycle gangs." While the R18+ classification requires unanimous approval from all eight Attorney Generals, there is a blessed chance that the March 20 election in South Australia may lead to a different party than Atkinson's Labor taking control of the local government, leading to his replacement.
Huge support for adults-only games [via theage.com.au]
In an article on Tuesday over at The Bulletin (Philadelphia's family newspaper), Susan Brinkmann explores a growing problem facing today's "avid gamers" and their immortal souls. Specifically, a rise in the proliferation of satanic-themed video games targeting God, Catholicism specifically and Judeo-Christianity in general.
Most of the article is built up on quotes by a 32 year old named Lance Christian who declares matter-of-factly that "the devil has a new tool to work with in this age of technology, and the majority of adults in a position of responsibility are left in the dark."
Brinkmann's article cites several examples of soul-corrupting video games being pushed towards sensitive children and teenagers by publishers apparently eager to send honest kids to hell. Most of these examples are out of context, fail to highlight how said acts have negative, punishable repercussions in the course of the story, or are totally misrepresented. Bayonetta was mentioned as a footnote, oddly enough, but not given the same satanist synopsis as Dragon Age: Origins or Nocturne; if any title was going to let an evangelical fap in outrage about being persecuted, a demonic hair witch would be it. Dante's Inferno is also mentioned, even though you're playing a hero doing the work of god through the pits of hell, but I guess they're concerned about a contact high or something.
At any rate it bears repeating: the games singled out are all largely rated mature, which means impressionable children, Christian or otherwise, should not have access to them if they're in the care of responsible parents. A helpful link to Focus on the Family's reviews of titles is provided at the end of the article for parents who wish to avail themselves of "family friendly" titles; spoiler alert: they hate everything.
PSA: Beware the Proliferation of Satanic-Themed Games [via GamePolitics]
Say what you will about the later additions to the series, but Final Fantasy 7 still remains an impressive title by the company behind Chrono Trigger, who managed the complicated feat of bringing a JRPG over to a Western audience that had traditionally been antagonistic to the genre.
Even though a downloadable version of the original game has been available on the PlayStation Store for some time, it looks like hopes for a revamped PS3-specific port with upgraded graphics won't happen.
In an interview with TechDigest, Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase explained that they would be open to a remake, but it's just unfeasible:
IF it were possible that we had all the right facilities and the right environment to be able to make and prepare a Final Fantasy VII remake within a year, we'd very much like a go at it! But even Final Fantasy XIII has taken over three and a half years to create. If we were to recreate final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we'd imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together! So it's looking pretty unrealistic! But if any such situation came about by any remote chance, then yes, we'd do it!
Although I enjoy playing the PlayStation 1 title for nostalgic value, it's pretty obvious how long in the tooth its blocky polygons have gotten. Still, I think it's probably best this way, since a remake will probably make the game look prettier, but would tarnish that original experience with a sheen of glitter and no substance.
FFVII Remake 'Looking Pretty Unrealistic' [via 1UP]
Confirming their dedication to previous announcements, Ubisoft has recently said that the PC version of Assassin's Creed 2 will utilize their latest attempt at DRM, necessitating an always-on internet connection for the duration of your game time.
Previously, Ubisoft said that it would first be rolled out in their beta test of Settlers VII, but future titles would make use of it. As the PC version of Assassin's Creed 2 comes out mid-March, this doesn't leave a lot of time to gauge how well the new system will actually work, but PC Gamer Blog received an advance copy of the title and their prognosis was rather nasty.
As said, you need to be connected to the internet in order to even log into the game and play. Your internet connection must be maintained for the duration you want to play. If at any point you get disconnected, whether intentionally or due to intermittent issues, the game will pause and give you the option to wait for your connection to return, or save your last checkpoint and quit to Windows; you cannot save your progress at the very moment the game was disconnected from Ubisoft's authorization servers, and any progress made between your last checkpoint and the disconnection will be lost.
Going further, even if your internet connection is stable, you must have constant access to Ubisoft's "Master server." Such a connection can drop out for any reason having nothing to do with your connection to other sites or the internet, up to and including Ubisoft doing system maintenance, connection trouble on their end, denial of service attacks or meteors hitting their colocation facility while you're trying to meet Leonardo di Vinci.
While it's uncommon for major companies to have issues with their data centers (generally), it does happen. The launches of most MMOGs are usually met with lag, players unable to connect, unforeseen bugs or any other issues that can crop up when you have a significant amount of players connecting to a service en masse. Considering how popular Assassin's Creed 2 has been, and how popular it's expected to be, it's not unreasonable to have concerns with the uptime of these master servers. Steam recently announced planned downtime on their servers for three hours, but while they were doing it players couldn't buy games, utilize Steamworks matchmaking services or access their friends list. Such downtime is exceedingly rare for Steam, but it does happen and it's one of the pitfalls of relying on such a system. Warhammer: Dawn of War 2 was absolutely unplayable for most people for the first two days of its launch because the Games for Windows Live servers were slammed with connections from eager gamers-- a fate I suspect Assassin's Creed 2 will share when it launches.
The intended benefit from this system, at least as far as gamers are concerned, is that saved games will be stored online and made accessible to any machines you have authorized to your account. However, as PC Gamer Blog notes, the number of people who actually make use of playing games across multiple computers is small, but the number of players affected by getting kicked from their game in the middle if their connection suffers fault is significantly higher. Anyone who really needs to sync saved games and files across multiple machines has probably heard of services for exactly that, or knows how to drag and drop files to a USB key.
In the end, I personally find this really frustrating. I buy everything I play myself, and it's becoming more and more annoying to be penalized for being a paying customer when downloading a pirated version of software gives me more freedom than buying it. When I have less rights purchasing something than I do stealing it, something is broken in the system. I shouldn't be treated like a potential criminal because I had the audacity to financially support a company and not demonstrate the behavior these arduous DRM schemes are intended to prevent. And when an enterprising hacker will strip this check out of the game or fool the local authentication check in a matter of days after launch, this whole system and all the servers Ubisoft has set aside to support these players will amount to nothing. The game will still be stolen, people who don't want to pay for it will still pirate it, and once again only honest consumers will end up being the ones carrying the burden. Rock Paper Shotgun says that this is "open contempt for paying customers" and, frankly, I agree with them.
Much to my own personal devastation, I was not included among the first round of blessed individuals who received access to the closed beta for Starcraft 2 when keys went out yesterday. However, the silver lining to this is that it can hopefully be taken as a sign that everything is on track for a release along Blizzard's stated timeline.
As someone who played Starcraft and Brood Wars so much I wore down both CDs and had to buy a second set, I cannot put into words how excited I am for the game's release after twelve long, long years.
While I figure out who to kill or perform sexual favors for to get a beta key, enjoy these three videos over at 1UP.com taken during their livestream of the beta yesterday. If you picked up a key yourself, show off in the comments. (It makes it easier to narrow down who I need to come after!)
Love, the little MMOG that could, has had a wild ride. Developed entirely by one man using a custom-created engine that he developed completely from the ground up, Love is a literal labor of such for Eskil Steenberg. It's gone from a project that many people dismissed outright to a paid open alpha, then freeish beta, and now at last according to Eskil's twitter feed it's getting its official release date: March 25th.
The completely procedurally-generated game has been incredibly interesting to me, least of which due to the fact that Eskil has elaborated about much of the game's development on his personal blog. It's great to know that the game will finally be getting released officially, and it's an inspiring thing to watch considering most MMOGs take a team of hundreds with millions of dollars in their budget years to get their game to a comparable state.
So now that you know when it's coming out, do you guys intended to pick up the game for yourselves at the end of next month?
And girls who like girls who like rumble packs!
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