World of Warcraft and The Death Of MMOs
If you've taken the time to even travel to our lovely website here, chances are you're not one of the 6 billion people who are currently playing World of Warcraft. With Cataclysm, WoW's latest expansion (like you didn't know) out in stores, people are sure to be logging in another 25 to life into the game. For WoW fans, this may seem all well and dandy. Hell, this is a big step for gaming in general. But is it really good for the industry?
There is something I need to tell you before I write this. I don't play MMOs. I have played until about level 15 on WoW with a guest pass, and a bit of Maple Story, but that's as far as my MMO experience goes. But this article isn't so much meant to be about an in depth look at their effect on the industry. This is just a fellow gamer's two cents on what may (or may not be) going on. I'm no analyst, but who gives a shit?
So what is this about? Well the land of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games is quite a unique one in our world of gaming. It connects anywhere from a few thousand people to a few million in order to have the ultimate experience of playing a role you've always wanted to play in a thriving world seen seldom outside of the genre. Doing so in the real world would either be highly illegal or make you look pretty stupid. But this kind of game comes with a price. That price is about $15 a month, to be more precise. MMO's ain't cheap to upkeep (rhyme). A game revolving around constant online play gets a bit pricey for developers, so it takes a bit more "mmph" for this kind of game to be made and continue being run. Now that I've said all that, I just have to ask the industry one question.
How the fuck are you guys still developing MMOs?
This is the part where some educated gamer comes in and tells me, probably in one sentence or less, the answer to that question. You can't blame me for asking though. Consider these educated assumptions. Imagine how many gamers there might be actively playing video games in the world. Now cut that number down pretty considerably and you have PC gamers. Why does that matter? Well, because MMO's generally don't appear on consoles, and its a dominantly PC gamer market. Now, wind that number down a little bit more. You're removing the people that prefer to pay for their games once and have that be that. How many are left? I don't really know, but a shit ton less than you started out with, but we've still got a considerable size here so let's keep going. Now open a gaming magazine. Anyone you want. Chances are you'll find something about a current, ongoing MMO such as World of Warcraft or one that is currently in development. They aren't uncommon at all, so how the hell do they stay afloat??
I'm going to try to go in this with an MMO gamer's perspective. An MMO is quite a time consuming experience, taking maybe months or longer to get to some higher levels. Add to that that you're paying approximately $15 per month to play that game. Also add that you're probably going to be geared more toward the game that offers more to do, has a bigger population, and one that your friends also play. Now, I ask, how many MMO gamers really dedicate time to more than one MMO game? I'll be generous and say two. But even at two, we're thinking a lot of time dedication, along with $30 a month. I don't see many people being THAT kind of gamer, not even in the MMO crowd.
According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, in April 2008, the game was said to hold about 62% of the MMO subscription market and as of October 2010, World of Warcraft is played by about 12 million subscribers. Think that over for a second: 62%. That leaves just 38 percent split amongst the various other games. That doesn't sound like much left over for any up and coming MMO games trying to find their audience. It really makes you wonder if the recent colossal failure of APB was really because of quality, or it's inability to garner any players. I'd say it's probably both.
So what about free to play MMOs? Are they safe from being a victim of an MMO monopoly? Well, not quite. Most MMO games that see a widespread commercial release usually aren't free to play, but there are some out there. A few notable games are (as far as I know) Guild Wars, Maple Story (which is actually a free download) and, more recently, The Lord of The Rings Online (which was originally subscription based but than switched to a FTP based system.) Free To Play games usually offer different ways for members to give up their money, but in ways that seem to directly benefit the player. This usually means that the game will offer special items and such for sale that cannot be obtained elsewhere in the game. The system sounds good on paper, but in the end, it is a subscription based game that still holds the MMO crown. With that said, despite a FTP game being more accessible to gamers, they still may take hits in terms of population. While it may attract more people for being free, still consider how many people even want to play MMOs and how many more people are already playing one, regardless of whether or not it is free or subscription based.
So what one game may stand a chance in the midst of an MMO battlefield? Star Wars is probably one of the biggest names in Sci-Fi land, and is something everyone knows about one way or another. It's fair to say that the upcoming "Star Wars: The Old Republic" may put up quite a fight. Or will it? On the up side, it's being developed by one of the most renowned developers out there, Bioware. On the downside? It's going up against WoW, for one, but there are also rumors from within EA that work on this game just isn't going as smoothly as hoped. Still, that all remains to be seen. The MMO battlefield remains ever active, and only time will tell where many of them will end up and why they ended up there. All we can do is wait and see.
25 Exquisite Fan Art Images
Maybe games are not art, but some of the people out there can make them into art.
Portal 2 Delayed, Yet Not Valve-Like Delayed
How would a game made by Valve be any good if it wasn't delayed at least 2 times over the course of its development? It wouldn't, so to keep their tradition rolling, Valve announced a slight delay for Portal 2, and that slight means 2 months. Remember, this is Valve, so judging by their notion of time, 2 months is like 5 minutes. What this means is that Portal 2 will be released on 18th of April 2011 instead of February 9th.
Valve's opinion on the matter: "This two month slip not only marks the shortest delay in Valve's proud tradition of delays, it represents the approaching convergence of Valve Time and Real Time. Though this convergence spells doom for humanity, it will not affect the new Portal 2 release date."
At Home in Home: Haloween 2010
Before posting anything about my interests in Gears of War III, I wanted to start posting on home every so often. I didn't want to start with myself on the first post, so I decided to use this holiday to kick-off my blog. Well, since The Simpsons and Family Guy are putting their Halloween cartoons up a week late, I decide to do the same thing, especially since I totally forgot that I took thee pics before I went out to party. Without further ado, here's what PlayStation Home looked like during their Halloween celebration this year.
Me in my Digital costume waving
I don't know why I like H.R. Giger's Aliens in a casual setting, but I do
This is a costume based upon a game in home, and it's a spaceship, I think.
Pyramid Head, keeping his evil in check.
Scorpion, lurking in the shadows, after losing a bowling match, I assume.
Here is someone dressed as Isaac, the one guy other than Nathan Hale who can handle aliens in style.
Looks like a female Predator, either way, it's an unexpected and welcome surprise.
I don't know what that is, but I like it; it's like something from a fairytale.
A woman in a 20's dancer outfit I believe. Notice the lack of a crowd of boys pestering her.
Millionaire Hamster for the win.
Bomberman and Peter Pan having fun across the land.
I can't describe ths one; really, I can't.
Looks like a New York Guardian Angel from the 80's
Whenever you see Chewbacca and Radec on a dance floor, you're either drunk or hit your head; in either case, it's a clear sign to stop what you're doing and that's what I'm going to do. See you soon.
The doctor is [out]
A case for Scolar Visari
Visari is dead; long live Visari?
For those who experienced the final level of Killzone 2, some anomalies must have been puzzled the more eagle-eyed players towards the last surge towards the ending. With the most recent formal showing of Killzone 3, the clip gives credence to the speculation that Scolar Visari may yet be alive. This article will explore some of the curious occurrences that may manifest some of the aspects to this somewhat obtuse theory.
Before any points are discussed, a warning will be issued right now that some spoilers may be in the article regarding the final moments of the gameplay and the final cutscene.
Now that is out of the way, this article will proceed; several brief aspects will be examined starting from Visari Palace towards the final push.
On the Steps of Visari Palace
Towards the final push to the halls of Visari Palace when you approach the last opposing squad of Helghast, one of the Helghast soldiers states that he cannot contact headquarters and a little later these Helgans retreated into the building; this is the first curious anomaly, since the protection for Visari would be the utmost priority to the Helgan soldiers, cutting comms would have been counterproductive. Now what may have been happening is that since the Helgan central command had Visari secure, pulling out and leaving a decoy for the ISA to buy them time... without informing the outer perimeter that they were sheep for the slaughter.
Upon the defeat of General Radec Rico and Sev headed towards the chamber of Scolar Visari, but in the hallway there were dead Helghast scattered on the way. It seems likely that after the squad's retreat into the chamber after their calls were unheeded that they ran smack dab into Radec. Since Radec has eliminated his own men for sloppy dressing, one would imagine that retreating, even from certain death, warranted an on the spot execution; but there may be another explanation. The dead in the hallway possibly reveals that when the uninformed squad got near the central chamber of Visari, that they may have seen something they were not meant to see or tried to escape along with the others who left the planet. Seeing that they were not part of that particular plan in either circumstance the soldiers were summarily killed (by the way, if you happen to bring a StA3 LMG with you, after you kill Radec, sweep the reticule over Radec's body; it registers him as still living).
Rico shot after Visari got in his face, not before. Although it seemed that Rico lost it, it's quite possible, however unlikely, that Rico may have noticed that Visari had a different eye color than before. The only reason that is a possibility is because other than Rico's very odd actions throughout the game, After Shooting Visari, he sat down and basically started to rock in a corner. Another possibility is that most people who only played the first game saw Rico as a jerk; but those who played the other two saw a radical shift in his personality. It is also possible that Rico may have been drugged and brainwashed to kill the decoy in Killzone: Liberation after he was captured using the same techniques that the larger Helghast are subjected to before they are sealed in their massive powered suits of bulletproof armor.
Facial Features do not match between Killzone 1 and 2
Since man first figured out that a king is not a god and is indeed mortal, attempts on their lives have always been sought out by enemy and ally alike. Since the sword of Damocles is no less present over Visari's head than any other leader, and with an impending invasion by the ISA, even a moderately intelligent Dictator would see the wisdom of having a body double. In the following picture, there are several huge distinctions that separate the earlier manifestation of Visari from the latter.
Starting from the top line:
- The eyes are different colors. This is the second most significant difference because eye colors don't change easily when factoring in lighting or other natural factors like Heterochromia or major demelanization due to genetics. While it may be contacts or in the future there may well be a pill that can change eye color, it's highly doubtful that is the case.
- The base of the nose is of a different thickness betwixt the two. While age may be a factor in the shape of his face, the base of every human nose is bone, and is not subject to change this drastically through the natural aging process.
- A slight crook in Visari's "2009" nose. The nose of the younger Visari Visari is very aquiline and his face is symmetrical; "2009" has several asymmetrical details, his nose being one of them. While many people with different views than the current regime may have wanted to slap Visari up a bit, many, many bullets tend to seek out and find the enemies of Helgan's finest son, as well as some friends on his Christmas card list (Don't cheap out on a Dictator).
- The tip of the nose of "2009" is bulbuous in comparison to the pointy nose of the younger Visari; this could be due to the process of age, so it's not a huge point, but it is still a point to be had (no pun intended).
- The lines around the mouth of the younger Visari are more pronounced than the older one. This is an inverse activity to the aging process and not likely to occur.
- The lips of the younger Visari are thinner than the older Visari. Lips tend to get thinner with age and the sharp features of the younger Visari are not likely to soften in such a manner.
- The chin of the Older Visari is cleft whilst the younger Visari is bereft of such a feature. This is the most important feature to suggest that Visari had a double because while the eyes are an easier thing to change, to put a cleft in a man's chin is a more difficult thing to accomplish; and to do so in the middle of a military campaign seems most unlikely.
This picture of Visari taken from another angle will serve to emphasize some of the points made above:
Say What?
The most suggestive "hint" that Guerrilla Games may have left us is the newest official trailer of Killzone 3. In the newest clip available, it is narrated by Scolar Visari himself. While this does not mean that he is alive or even thought of in terms of leadership in Killzone 3, in keeping with the spirit of the game and with history, it is not prudent nor wise that the leadership would allow the "spirit" of Visari to hold the rungs of influence too long. When Lente was no more, he was replaced with General Metrac. When Metrac was taken out, Radec took control. Visari, while the most influential Helghast in their history, needs to be replaced to keep the monolithic structure of the Helgan civilization intact. Seeing that there was no easily visible successor other than the ones that kept dying as Generals, another leader would fragment their society along the military and civilian lines almost immediately if their regime were viewed as an oppressive one.
Perhaps we have not heard the last of one of the most Charismatic characters this gen after all.
The Doctor is [out]
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow From A God of War Fan
By now, anyone who is playing the new Castlevania is well aware that the game is fairly similar to God of war in terms of gameplay. Some may call it stupid, others fun, and a few may say "twatcock cattledick" but to each his own. I, myself, am a pretty decent sized God of War fan. To be honest, I bought the first game about two days before the sequel came out, played it all night, and then bought GoW2 the next day. I also went to the GoW3 midnight release, and beat it that week. Now that I've boasted about how hardcore of a God of War fan I am, I can tell you that I'm not a huge Castlevania fan. For one, the series was alive a lot longer than I was, and I really only played some of the Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS titles. I've barely even played Symphony of the Night (please don't kill me). I've played some Metroid though, so I'm declaring that as official Castlevania experience.
Samus Belmont
As for where I stand on those Castlevania games? I loved them. For one, they're similar to Metroid, which I also loved and two, they're a lot deeper in terms of, well, everything. The new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is also similar to another beloved game, and that game is God of War. Make no mistake, this article isn't about deciding which one is better. At it's core, this is actually going to be about why games with similar gameplay can still make a great name for themselves and remain separate from each other.
To be fair, I've played and beaten all three God of War games, but am only about 3 chapters into Lords of Shadow, so I can't say I have full authority to write this article so soon, but fuck it. When starting the game, I realized that the combat was the most obvious of similarities. I even felt like I was using the Blades of Chaos, as your chain whip could easily replace them in God of War as a new weapon. There are also buttom combos and blocking/dodging. In my opinion, combat in LoS feels a bit more organized than in GoW. You'll find yourself needing to block and dodge quite often, and needing to make sure your attacks are done at the right time. Even for smaller enemies, this is something you should keep in mind. It's apparent it will be necessary with tougher enemies. Character+Environment interaction also feels about the same. Press this to interact with that, jump up here to grab the ledge, etc. You get the idea. On top of that, environments themselves feel much like how they are in a GoW game, but a bit more complex and open. I have to say though, LoS has a bit more of an epic feel. This is slightly hindered, however, as the game is split up amongst quests, and is not seamless/continuous like GoW. Both games shine equally in graphic quality and what these environments actually contain. There is also the experience point system, which you'll use to purchase combos and upgrade them, much like GoW's souls. LoS seems to have upgradable weapons as well, although you have less control over that, as these upgrades seem to be things you find during your journey, and are not effected by experience point. The plus side to LoS being split up into several missions is replayability. Each mission will have you going back to complete trials which are certain goals you can attempt to reach before finishing the quest. You'll be rewarded with more exp for this. Also, you'll want to revisit quests to unlock things with new abilities you could not use when you were there last. Overall, despite both games being similar, I'd have to say that Castlevania is the deeper and more complex game in terms of content.
When it comes to story, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, but not a huge one. Like I said, I'm pretty early on in LoS. I've completed all of GoW3. I loved GoW's story, but I think i sort of fell apart toward the end of GoW3. So far, just the first 3 chapters of LoS has gotten me very interested, and I know there is still lots more to come. At this point, I'd have to say I'm definitely more excited about Castlevania's story then I was about god of War 3's story so early on in the game.
Don't get me wrong though, I still love God of War. So far, Kratos was a bit more fun as a character in that his entire journey was about fucking RAGE!! Gabriel, while I do find him a cool character, is not wielding fucking hate with balls of platinum the way Kratos did. I've only faced one "real" boss in Lords of Shadow, and it was great, but I have a slight bias toward Greek mythology. Not much compares to fighting off Greek god bosses. Speaking of Greek, God of War's Greek mythological setting really made the game an awesome and fun experience. I would go as far to say you could learn a thing or two about it. Lords of Shadow does very well at the whole fantasy setting, and doesn't hold back with the lesser seen violence of that genre, but the Greek mythological experience in GoW made for a more interesting time simply because I'd say I'm a bit more familiar with it then the fantasy stuff.
In the end, when it comes down to it, there really is no way to say one is better than the other (at least not for me.) If you're a God of War fan, have an open mind, and can respect a game taking a few notes from God of War's pages, then you shouldn't have a problem getting right into Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, kicking ass and having a fun time doing it.
No Director For The Kane & Lynch Movie
Please don't make me direct this!
First of all, yes, they are making a Kane & Lynch movie. Second of all, they are not making it for the moment at least. Patrick Alessandrin was supposed to direct it, but he's out of the picture now, probably because he was busy not fucking up his career or something.
The production start date has now been postponed, possibly until the Q1 of 2011 and there is no new director yet, thank God. Supposedly, the movie will feature Bruce Willis in Kane's role and Jamie Foxx in Lynch's, but let's not get excited over this since it never ends well when games are made into movies, no matter who plays in them.
CliffyB Almost Bit The Hand That Feeds Him
Just a piece of his awesomeness
I always thought of Cliff Bleszinski as a pretty cool guy, mostly because of his bold speeches. This morning, I was checking the Twitter when I saw him post this: "therealcliffyb: Motion controls shouldn't have midnight launches. They should have post daycare launches."
Funny shit, since I thought he shared my sentiments on the subject. I also thought "Oh, how brave of him to go after Kinect and Microsoft, the guys who keep him in business and all". I was about to check him on my big balled people list, when 5 minutes later he adds: "therealcliffyb: And for the record I love Kinect. 
"
Awwww... It's just like a bad comedy flick: "This teacher sucks! Oh, I mean rocks, don't fail me!". I guess he realized Twitter is a public website and anyone can read it, including MS. Too bad.
NFS Hot Pursuit Will Not Have A Story
Criterion had an epiphany and realized that racing games do not need a storyline, since you know, it's about cars and stuff, so instead of trying to make something up they simply didn't. The game's title tells us all we need to know: there will be racers and there will be cops. As racers we'll have to outrun the cops, and as cops we'll have to bust the racers. No drama, no nothing. Here are some of Mark Webster's words(senior producer at Criterion):
"We didn't really think it was necessary to include a story. If you're a cop, the aim is to go up the ranks, while a racer's aim is to get to the highest rank they can.
There is a full Career of events. As a racer, you have Time Trials, Races and Hot Pursuits, whereas as a cop you have Rapid Responses, Hot Pursuits and Interceptors. So yeah, there is a chunk of gameplay for the solo player."
Crytek Is Working With The Government
CryEngine 3 is a serious business.
You may think that video games are made by people who in their spare time go to ComiCon and have lovely picnics in parks, but the truth is that they are like any other people working in a major industry: at one point, the military comes demanding your services. This also means top secret stuff you are not allowed to share with your family, or the press for that matter.
Since Crytek develops one of the best graphic and physics engines out there, it was only a matter of time until the government and some other major companies became interested in making their simulations more hi-end. Allegedly they currently have seven studious under their umbrella, and the seventh is the one called "The Seventh Studio". Cevat Yerli spoke with Gamasutra and told them he is not allowed to say anything about this mysterious studio, since it's part of a military project. Here are some of his words:
Got job?
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- At Home in Home: Haloween 2010
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