Jackreyes' Gaming Blog

This year’s E3 happened just a week or so ago, and there were a lot of announcements by a lot of people as usual.
This is a roundup of the main announcements:
Microsoft:

‘Project Natal’ – A motion sensing camera for the Xbox 360.

Halo 3: ODST

Halo Reach

Metal Gear Solid: Rising – Will now also be available on Xbox 360 when released.

Xbox 360 Games on Demand – The ability to download full games onto your hard drive.

Sony:

PSP Go! – Probably the one thing everyone knew about before E3. It will feature 16GB onboard memory and no UMD drive. This means all digital downloads for the PSP in the future.

PS3 Motion Controller – Yup, another motion controlling announcement.

Resident Evil Portable

God of War 3 – To be released… March 2010. just 9 months to go.

MAG (Massive Action Game) – Bad name, yes. True name, also yes. This (FPS) game will feature 256 players online at a time. Sounds… massive.

Nintendo:

Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Rather than Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo’s biggest announcement seemed to be software in the form of a sequel to the very sucessful game, Super Mario Galaxy.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Continuing the Mario theme (surprise, surprise), Nintendo also announced a new 2D Mario game for the Wii with multiplayer aspects.

Metroid: Other M – Not continuing the Prime series, a new Metroid game for the Wii from Nintendo.

Wii Vitality – This was the only peripheral/hardware announced by Nintendo. And they weren’t too keen on sharing the details. Seems strange to me, and they’ve said its targeted at the people who still refuse to become gamers…

Its not that I just haven’t included it, there really wasn’t much announced for the DS, other than Golden Sun.

Best of the rest:

EA:

FIFA 10 -  Whilst it was to be expected, the graphics seem to be sublime. I will definitely be looking into getting it.

Scribblenauts – DS – This was my highlight of the convention, it seems to be an almost perfect game from what I’ve seen. You need to watch videos to see the extent of the brilliance of this game!

Ubisoft:

Splinter Cell Conviction – Looking like it will be a great game.

Valve:

Left 4 Dead 2 - Who didn’t enjoy L4D? Well, its already causing quite a controversy because fans think that this should be released either as DLC for L4D, or an expansion.

Well, thats about it really. I might have to write an individual article for Scribblenauts soon, but for now, I think I’m done reading and writing about E3.

~Jackreyes

This week has been pretty poor article-wise, but nonetheless, here is our Weekly Roundup.

This week:

• Svenn Reviewed Frets on Fire, the freeware PC Guitar Hero-like game. See here.
• I wrote an article about games to look forward to in the coming days (and months). See here.

Ok, so it really was a bad week, but next week will be better (I hope).

~Jackreyes

Ok, I’m a bit late to post about this seeing as I believe they’ve stopped taking pre-orders on the first batch of consoles now, but I for one placed my order.

It should look a little like that, but I believe they’ve changed the design a bit through various stages of development.

This is the Pandora, in case you haven’t already heard about them. They are open source consoles running a Linux operating system. Although it probably won’t have any/many closed source games made specifically for it, it does have the possibility of porting a lot of games and applications that are designed for Linux computers. It can also emulate a lot of older consoles, including the PS1 (PSX) and SNES.

It has a Touch Screen,  Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a USB port, a 43 button QWERTY keyboard, 2 SDHC slots and 10+ hours of battery life. It is supposedly more powerful than the PSP and DS and their site, say it is powerful enough to run Quake3.

Obviously though, it doesn’t sound hugely impressive so far due to the lack of console specific games, however, this is not just a game console, it is more of a netbook really. Due to its Linux OS, it can run many applications including Firefox, a Mail application and Spreadsheets. But it is still hugely portable, more-so than a netbook. It is actually roughly the size of the original DS.

Video:
 

I will hopefully make more posts about the Pandora when I get mine.

~Jack

You may or may not have heard of the upcoming game Stalin vs Martians. If not, then it is described as an action RTS, involving Russian dictator  Stalin and… Martians. Sounds weird enough to be brilliant, doesn’t it? Here is the trailer:

and after seeing that you can safely say… It also looks weird, whether that is a good thing or not, I’m not sure yet.
Well, Sven and I had the idea to ask the people behind it a few questions. Here is how it went:

1. What inspired you to make Stalin vs Martians?

Hundreds of identical World War II strategy games, pseudo-Russian stereotypical stuff popular in the “Western countries” (as we call them), like faux cyrillic and bear’n'vodka shit. And, most of all, the fact that we had the opportunity and resources to actually produce the game THAT weird. We just couldn’t miss the chance.

2. Is your game as humorous as the title would have us believe?

With a title like that, who really cares?

3. Would you compare your game to any other on the market?

I think that Stalin looks a little bit like Mario. So we can compare the game to Super Mario Galaxy.

By the way, our game sometimes plays almost like a platformer, so it makes some sense!

4. What sort of gameplay modes will there be? (i.e. Multiplayer? Skirmish? Campaign?)

Campaign only. No one needs multiplayer in a game named, well, Stalin vs. Martians. Just think for a moment. Stalin. Versus. Martians. Multiplayer? Boy, you must be kidding!

5. If it has a campaign mode, would it revolve around a storyline?

Sure. Very stupid storyline. Interrupted by insane music videos.

6. Are there any interesting or unique gameplay features you’d like to tell us about?

The last game to implement REALLY unique gameplay features was, i believe, killer7. We don’t want to play the usual bad PR games anymore, so the answer is no, nothing unique. You’ve seen it all before. Action-packed RTS? Not really unique. Power-ups, bright shiny coins? Check out any Mario/Sonic game. Same old shit.

7. And finally, when can we expect to see your game released?

April 20, digital download for North America and Europe. Available through the main digital distributors like Steam and GamersGate. Published by the Mezmer Games label of Paradox Interactive.

So, there you have it. It could be very good, or it could be not so good.

You can probably expect a review sometime after the 20th of April, assuming the price isn’t too high.

~ Jack and Svenn

As I said in my last post, Sven and I decided to review 2 of 3 freeware games we happened upon, so… here we go.

The Lure of the Temptress was a point and click game for the PC, made by Revolution Games and released in 1992. Before I was born as it happens.

The game starts out with a cutscreen: The story takes place in a fantasy land

where you play as a civilian named Diermot. The King orders you to join the army and fight off a rebelling force led by a sorceress called Selena. You ride out to fight however, this is no normal rebellion, instead of people, there are evil ‘Skorl’ fighters. All of the King’s army are killed except you, you are taken to a prison where you awake and the game starts. You must first escape the prison and find out what you can and ultimately, save the kingdom. Sound a bit too clichéd? Well, in 1992, it was probably a reasonably new idea.

Not surprisingly, this game plays like a lot of other Point and Click genre games from the era. The storyline is fairly unoriginal as I already said. As for the actual gameplay though, a lot of the things you have to do on the game require logic, or just persistence. For example, to free your sidekick-to-be –Ratpouch- you need to find the knife on top of a barrel then cut the bonds, ok, that was a bad example seeing as its easy to see however, there are some more challenging tasks. Once you do have Ratpouch as your sidekick, you can tell him to do many complicated tasks. The game though, just screams generic point and click at me, but who doesn’t like the odd point and click game?

Controls:

What can I say? The clue is in the genre, you point, and you click. The default action for left-clicking is shown in the top left of the screen, for different actions you must right click and select an option.

Graphics:

Well, you have to remember, this game was released 17 years ago. The graphics are bound to be outdated, however, I must admit, I’ve seen similar graphics on bad DS games, and good GBA games. They were probably pretty impressive for the time. Personally, I really like the presentation of the game, it just reminds me of past games. Its not like you can’t see what is happening, they are reasonable, but its no Crysis, obviously.

Overall:

I know I keep saying it, but you have to remember, 1992. Long time ago. Besides, now its free, what have you got to lose in trying it? About 12mb bandwidth, but I’m sure you can cope with that loss if you don’t like the game. I do like the game and I imagine I will open it up again every so often and try to complete this tricky, logic-requiring game.

Gameplay: 8/10 – Classic point and click.
Controls: 7/10 – The right clicking can be a little hit and miss, maybe thats just me.
Graphics: 6/10 – Like I said, reminiscent of a GBA game.
Overall: 72% – Its free.

~Jackreyes

Earlier, well… just now, I found this: http://www.gog.com/en/search/sort/price/000

You can’t really say no to free games, sure they’re old, but the site is ‘Good Old Games’ so, it was to be expected. Anyway, firstly, I’d like to thank the site for offering free games -which are admittedly freeware games, but still-, and I hope they sell a lot of other classic games.

So Sven and I decided to take the challenge of playing, and reviewing – in 200 words or more – one of the three games each. Sven chose ‘Beneath a Steel Sky’ and I chose ‘Lure of the Temptress’. It should be interesting to see how the games turn out, and we welcome your comments on the third game, or any other game for that matter.

~Jackreyes

On October 2nd Nintendo announced a new handheld. The DSi, which is really what the DS Lite is to the original DS. The new features are:

• Gameboy Advance Slot taken out.
• SD Card reader
• Music player (reads from SD)
• 2 Built in Camera’s, one 3 mega-pixel, the other 0.3 mega-pixel
• Both screens are now 3.25 inches rather than 3 inches
• 12% thinner than the DS Lite
• Built-in web browser
• Downloadable DS Ware (Games and Applications)(Some costing Nintendo Points, some free)
• Internal Memory (unknown amount)

Pictures:

Personally I think this product is a bit of a waste of time. It doesn’t really add any ‘key’ features. Sure all this stuff is useful perhaps, but its not exactly revolutionary. This seems like a slightly more worthwhile update that the DS Phat to the DS Lite but, as far as I can tell it will make some games such as; Guitar Hero: On Tour obselete because of the lack of a GBA Slot. The DS Ware features of the DSi WILL be region locked. Which means anyone who imports a Japanese DSi most probably won’t be able to get any English DS Ware titles onto their DSi.

Either way, I won’t be buying a DSi unless some really groundbreaking stuff is released as DS Ware. Even then, £100+ is a lot of money to pay for an upgrade that doesn’t really add much if you have an MP3 player and camera already.

- Jackreyes

If you check other gaming sites then you’ll probably heard about “bob’s game” which is a DS game made by only one person. It took him 5 years, he was originally going to make it for the Gameboy Advance but then the DS came out and he made the switch. This is obviously a great achievement for anyone, especially seeing as he (Bob) is self-taught.  He is now looking for a publisher. To read more about his motives and thoughts on the game click here.

Below is his trailer followed by 2 demo videos.

It truly looks like an interesting game. Curious, but interesting.

I emailed Bob because I had a few questions to ask him about the game, and his reasons for making the game and here is what he had to say:

1. On your site it says you made this game because you always wanted a game like it as a child. Do you think that games these days are all too similar?
I think that the majority of what gets released or funded pretty much has to be similar to what’s already come out. It’s good business sense to stick with what works, and there’s no marketing data for a new idea. A lot of independent games have unique ideas, but they don’t sell well even if they’re great, because there’s no advertising campaign and a publisher still won’t take a risk on pushing it really hard. Then, because it hasn’t sold well, it gives the publisher negative marketing data towards that kind of idea.

2. Was there anything in particular that triggered your start in making the game?
I was sitting with some friends, drinking coffee at a 24 hour restaurant, when the subject of games came up. I mentioned the idea I’d had for “the perfect game” since I was a kid, and started scribbling on napkins laying out a basic outline. I spent the next few weeks desperately trying to get a pixel to move on a GBA emulator, and it just kept going from there.

3. 5 years is a significant amount of time. What motivated you to carry on working for this long?
The more work I did, the more motivated I was to keep working. I really liked the idea, and I was hellbent on making sure it came to existence.
I think it’s different coming from my perspective. 5 years actually passed very quickly for me, because I was very busy the entire time trying to beat the clock and cross off the next thing on the list. The next thing I knew, I was 25 years old, and it was done.

4. Did you ever think about dropping the game to work on anything else?
I was tempted, sure, but I wouldn’t have been able to even if I wanted. I kept imagining myself as an old man, looking back and wondering what would have happened if I had tried a little harder. I’ve got notebooks full of ideas for other projects and other games, and I’d just fill a page or two and set it aside. That was good, because I know exactly what I’m going to work on next. It’s not “bob’s game 2,” it’s very different.

5. Is there anything about the game or its storyline that you can tell us that isn’t in the Trailer?
Nope, just that there’s still a lot that hasn’t been shown, probably a majority of it. I haven’t shown the second half, and I haven’t really revealed the storyline at all yet. The in-game “bob’s game” hasn’t been revealed, nor has the touchscreen or many of the characters. I think that when it’s ready for review, almost everyone is going to be extremely surprised by a lot of things. I can say that there’s a narrator, and that the game doesn’t stay set in the same time period. There’s also more games than just “bob’s game,” and those are played throughout the game.

6. What other games do you see Bob’s Game similar to, if any?
I’m told it’s similar to “Shenmue,” which is pretty amazing considering that game took $70 million to make.
I would say it’s sort of similar to “Harvest Moon” or “Animal Crossing,” but with a story and an ending, which makes a pretty big difference.

7. What games do you think Bob’s Game will be as popular as?
I have no idea. It would be great if I could sell as many copies of Pokemon, but it’s far more likely I’ll sell about as much as any other unadvertised niche game. That’s fine with me, I really didn’t make it for the money- I made it because I wanted it to exist.

8. Did any publishers contact you during your work on the game?
Nope. Nobody knew about it until I released the first video.

9. Can you tell us which publishers you have spoken with, or have spoken with you up until now?
Nope. Every company so far has had the same policy- Don’t say a word. I think that might have something to do with stock prices or something, who knows.

10. What makes Bob’s Game different from every other DS game?
Of course, it’s by one guy- which matters! A lot of people don’t understand why it’s relevant, they just think I’m talking myself up.
First of all, it hasn’t been done before for a retail console game, and it’s been called impossible by a lot of guys in the industry- so right there you’ve got something relevant on the video game timeline.
More importantly though, it makes it more like a book, or a graphic novel or comic, or an independent movie script. Video games are big productions, involving a lot of money and a lot of people. During the development of these games, the dialogue and story is tested constantly through market research, and the whole thing is engineered to appeal to the largest group of people. It loses all of the individual quirkiness that makes it unique- and it ends up being this sort of bland story that doesn’t offend anybody, but isn’t very exciting either.
It’s like those TV commercials with that really unfunny, corporate sort of humor- that’s the result of strict market research.

All that aside, it’s also a genre-crossing type of game. There’s really not anything like it on any console, besides maybe “Shenmue-” which I haven’t yet played, so I’m sure it’s quite different than even that.

Personally, I can’t wait for this game. Looks like it has the potential to be a great game.

I’d also like to wish Bob the best of luck finding a publisher, and to thank him for taking his time to answer my questions.

- Jackreyes

I haven’t had the time recently to review the Acekard. I’ve made a start, but I want it to be really professional so it may take a while longer.

While you wait for the review I will write a short review of the newly released DS game N+ or N Plus.

Hopefully this will get done by… tomorrow, but if it doesn’t then it might not get done for a while yet seeing as I start back at school on Wednesday.

Thanks,

Jackreyes

After looking for something new to review, I decided upon DS Flash Cards.

These are essentially media reading cards for the DS. With the right software, you can watch videos, view pictures, read text files and even read Comics. This sounds pretty much like the new, just released in Japan, licensed by Nintendo, DS Vision right?

Well there is one big difference: the DS Vision doesn’t allow you to play backups of the DS games you own, which as far as I know is legal, but then the problem is with others downloading games that others have backed up which is illegal.

Also the DS Vision doesn’t let you play homebrew applications. Homebrew applications are either games or useful tools made for the DS and are available for free -usually- though some people request donations.

Disclaimer: Any backups that I test, are backups of games I own, such as Pokemon Diamond, New Super Mario Bros, Nanostray and many others. If you would like me to prove that I own the game by taking a photo of the original case and game with a piece of paper saying Jackreyes on it next to the items then please feel free to ask, I do not condone piracy and will not give anyone

Coming up tomorrow:

Acekard 2 Review, Review sample provided by the kind people at Acekard.com. So a special thanks to them.