Should big publishers jump on the crowd-funding bandwagon?

With the success indie developers are finding through crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter, could companies like EA and Activision be tempted to work the model into their own businesses?  If so, how would it work, and would gamers be receptive to the idea?

Who is buying strategy guides?

Whether published by Brady Games, Prima, or another company, strategy guides are always enticing.  The covers mimic the games they offer strategies for and flipping through the colorful illustrations and pages incite the imagination for what's to come in a particular gaming title.  It's hard to walk past the guide stand in a store without looking over and contemplating giving one a try or even just buying it because it looks cool.  As a kid, I always wanted the strategy guides to the games I owned but thanks to their hefty pricetags on-top of an already pricey game my parents probably bent over backward for to afford, the answer was almost always "no".

"Sorry, guys.  Mom said no.  Maybe if $9.95 wasn't the same as $200 in 1992 we could have a future together."

Why are all the characters on the cover straining so hard? Perhaps it's best we don't know.

Now that I'm an able gamer who rarely becomes stumped during a game as I did as a child, I am still somewhat drawn to strategy guides.  I even have the steady income to afford a few but I still always pass.

The only extra thing it would offer is the fulfillment of completing a game 100% if that was my goal.  Typically, my goal is to beat the main quest or storyline and whatever I happen to do along the way is just part of the fun.  I don't feel the need to completely explore the game and find all it's secrets and complete all it's quests to feel that I have mastered it.  Simply chewing on the amount of fun I want at the pace I want justifies leaving out a few things unnecessary to the plot.  Speaking of exploration, by strictly following a strategy guide walk-through, exploration becomes search and seizure.

There's really only three ways to utilize strategy guides, right?  You can actively go through the guide as you play through the first time using all the hints in the guide and subsequently ruining all sense of personal accomplishment you would have had doing it all on your own.  Secondly, you can actively go through the guide after you've already beaten the game to find things you've missed.  Rarely, after putting 10,20,30, or 40 hours into a game and beating it am I willing to entertain the prospect of going back and doing it over again, much less more thoroughly.  I doubt I would even consider it years later after the game has had time to fade in my mind.  Thirdly, you can use the guide only if you become stumped but then you've spent a good amount of money on a book that basically replaces a free Google search.

So why are strategy guides so popular?  Well I guess some players really DO want to master the games without putting forth the cerebral effort to do it themselves.  Aside from that, before the internet was widespread the guides were very helpful for very difficult games.  The original Tomb Raider comes to mind.  I played this game when I was young, 11 or 12, and had much trouble with the puzzles and just the general difficulty of the game.  I had borrowed a tattered Tomb Raider strategy guide from a cousin and was able to get myself through more difficult parts of the levels.  My parents couldn't afford strategy guides, much less internet for me to browse for answers.  That's to say the answers were even online then, who knows?  But now with widespread internet, the guides are still all over shelves.   So again, why are they so popular?

Strategy guides weren't new to the Playstation or N64 generation either; They go much further back.  Jeff Rovin's "How to Win at Nintendo Games" books were super popular in the late eighties and early 90's.  I was able to find three of the books at a used book store recently and thumbed through them.  The games back then didn't lend themselves to needing a lengthy amount of strategy so each game highlighted in the books only gets a few pages.  If you're into the classics, these books are actually fairly helpful.  Many NES games were extremely cryptic and though the NES itself only had a 4 button controller plus D-pad, many of the games still proved unfathomably difficult.  The little tips and tricks found in those books and other magazines from back in the day were a big help for some gamers.  I remember using Game Genie's and cheat codes to advance levels on classic games.  Games today have gotten away from the clear dissected level format but there still are some cheats available if that's what you're into.

Today's games don't really need the kind of instruction NES games did.  Tutorials, in-game help menus, and autosave points do such a good job to guide players through games and save their progress, that today's games can be seen as too easy.  I'm happy with the default difficulty levels of most games but a few console generations ago, difficulty heavily depended on the game.  Today, not all players are as patient as they once were and if having to search more than five minutes for a clue becomes a hassle then the game gets neglected or a Google search is on the way. Noobs.

Who is buying strategy guides today and why?  It's a decently sized market, someone has to be buying them up and for good reason. 

For what it's worth, they make great collectors items.  I've snagged a few used ones and as a nostalgia junky, I love them.  As a gamer I can do without them.  What about you?

Image sources (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

Death That Matters: Part 2

In Part 1 of 'Death That Matters', I discussed death caused by the player, and how some games try to make pulling the trigger feel like the grave, powerful and irreversible act it is.  In this part, I'll be looking at the deaths of characters friendly to the player, and how these moments can illicit an emotional reaction in the player.

Death That Matters: Part 1

Death in video games is rarely the heart-crushing affair it is in real life.  In fact, it's usually the name of the game.  We waste a thousand terrorists in Call of Duty, and we don't - nor are we expected to - give a second thought to the widows and orphans we leave in our wake.  And that's okay.  These games aren't meant to make us ponder death and its consequences.  But some games do venture into this territory, and I think it's a very worthwhile endeavor.

The Main Quest vs Side Quest Dilemma

The main quest vs side quest dilemma is something that I've encountered while playing games like Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls.  The dilemma arises because of the level of immersion and freedom these games offer, but it can tear away at that sense of immersion which the developers worked so hard to create.  Is it a necessary evil, or are there ways to get around it?

Free Play - Slender Space

Free Play - a quick look at games you can play right now for free.

Ever since the indie game Slender: The Eight Pages went viral, it's hard to walk 10 steps without bumping into a Slender clone.  And I admit that when I first saw the screenshot above for Slender Space, I almost rolled my eyes.  But when I saw that the game was playable in my web browser (thanks to the Unity engine) I figured I'd give it a shot.  Below you'll find a video of 10 minutes of gameplay.

Nostalgia Trip: Zombies Ate My Neighbors

I owned quite a few games as a kid but that didn't keep me from renting games almost every weekend of the summer.  One Genesis game I almost always returned with a dreadful late fee was Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The concept of the game was so fresh for its time and even today, despite the onslaught of zombie related titles flooding the markets, the concept is still unique and interesting:  Run around a map full of horrifying legendary monsters and save your neighbors one at a time before they die.

You start out as one of two teenagers, Zeke or Julie, armed with simply a water pistol.  You can collect various household weaponry along the way including pop-sickles, soda cans, dinnerware, and a fire extinguisher to subdue your enemies.  Other weapons include a grenade launcher and a crucifix and there are even potions which allow you to briefly morph into a vicious monster when consumed.  This game has it all.

And as the fan art depiction above shows, the enemies are variable too.  Think of anything scary in the early 90's and it's probably in the game.  Chucky-esque dolls that walk around with tomahawks, chainsaw wielders wearing hockey masks, dopplegangers, blobs, and of course zombies.  Werewolves, Frankensteins, aliens, sea-monsters, and vampires all make an appearance at some point.

The most charming part of the game to me is the level nomenclature and the oozy way it appears on screen before each level starts.  Each level has its own title and theme, for example Level 4 is Chainsaw Hedgemaze Mayhem where the player must quickly navigate a hedgemaze to rescue neighbors while the horrifying chainsaw men cut through the hedges and come right at you.  Level 18, Squidmen of the Deep requires the player to swim through parts of a lagoon while dodging ferocious seamonsters or squidmen.

The game even features a few memorable bosses along the way.  I haven't beaten the game but memorable bosses I've encountered include Level 8's Titanic Toddler where a giant baby reminiscent of 1992's blockbuster Honey, I Blew Up The Kid stomps around and squirts milk on you.  You have to take down the toddler in order to rescue your neighbors in the level.  Others include the giant worms of Level 20's Invasion of the Snakeoids which I wasn't able to beat until later in life.

The terrible two's have never been so dreadful.

The game has password saves so if you lose out you can always get back to roughly where you left off and continue the never ending fun.  If you like retro games and own either a Genesis or Super Nintendo, I can't recommend this one enough.  It takes me back to the time when helping your neighbor went a long way and dodging hordes of undead was a fresh idea.

Images source:  (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

Budget Gamer Alert - Gamefly Sale

Gamefly is having a weekend sale (ends Monday night) on some popular adventure games.  The sale includes The Walking Dead (which I scored a 10/10) for only $9.99, a FREE download of Psychonauts for members, and several other games including Brutal Legend and Jurassic Park.

Are you a bad enough dude for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon?

 It would seem that Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was NOT just an elaborate April Fools prank.  Some screenshots made their way online over at NeoGAF.  I think this 80's style sci-fi game (DLC maybe?) might be just the right amount of ridiculous to end up being awesome.  Screenshots after the jump.

Cranking on the backlog: Halo: Combat Evolved

You're probably wondering if I'm mistakenly referring to the wrong Halo or if maybe the cave I used to live in recently collapsed.  Neither are true.  This is in fact the correct Halo I'm referring to and my cave is fine, thank you.

When my high school friends were satisfying their Mountain Dew addictions and playing multiplayer Halo on their original XBox's, I was wasting hours of my life on my Playstation 2 albeit Halo-less.  Now that my stable income has encouraged me to waste all of my money on collecting video games I didn't own growing up, I now have an original XBox (2 actually, for no real reason) and consequently the original Halo release that arguably led to what gaming is today as well as over diagnosed ADHD.

When Halo: Combat Evolved was at its prime, I actually did go over to friends' houses and play the multiplayer mode of the game but never got a chance to try out the campaign.  The only campaign I've completed up til now in the Halo series has been Halo Reach so I figured I might as well catch-up on the story and the experience like many true gamers have.

So far the experience has been less fun and more of a chore.  The graphics hold up okay but the gameplay feels so repetitive.  At least in Halo Reach you got to fly around on spaceships some and complete a variety of missions throughout the campaign.  I feel that most of the time I've spent in original Halo has been running down the same set of dark hallways over and over again looking for checkpoints.  I'm actually amazed at how little the enemies have evolved over the course of the series but not veering far from the original formula is how Bungie made Halo so successful I suppose.

Currently I'm at a part in the game where the Flood enemies are attacking me from every direction and due to my shoddy checkpoint save position, I'm left with nothing but a shotgun, a few shells, and a pocket full of prayers to escape from the library.  It's at least a change from traversing the same Unggoy and Sangheili infested corridors over and over.

At this point I just can't wait to finish the game and move on to Halo 2 which I'm hoping adds some spicy variety in the gameplay.  Maybe it will, maybe it won't.  Either way, I feel it is my duty as a gamer and now game blogger to experience these major titles.

Image sources: (1), (2), (3), and (4)

Game Journal 2013 - Walking Dead

The third game I completed this year was Telltale Game's The Walking Dead.  This is one of those games where I tried the demo when it first came out, and it seemed okay, but it didn't really grab me.  However, when the game started winning Game of the Year awards like a doped up Lance Armstrong, I figured I should give it another look, and I am glad I did.

The outdated sports game made to last

Very few sports games hold up to the test of time.  As a video game collector this becomes very evident as I have doubles of every John Madden football game since 1994 and I can't get rid of a single one.  Every sports game depreciates up to 60% of their value after the first year and gradually continues to depreciate over time until they slowly become a burden on society and clog up sections of Goodwill and used game stores.  For a new version of a sports game, usually all that takes place is a roster tweak and some mode tweak that ultimately either really sucks or has no effect on the game.  It's a vicious cycle of the consumer catching the shaft and some people like me just can't seem to resist it.

Sports games are my guilty pleasure.  I violate the stereotype that gamers who play sports games are typically casual gamers.  I'm a hardcore gamer and I also love the occasional sports game if it's done right.  In college, I fell into the EA trap of buying updated versions of their games yearly for a while only to be disappointed and left without $60 to buy more Ramen with.  Three years ago when 2K Sports promised that NBA 2K11 would be revolutionary, I wasn't overly eager to believe the hype.

But Holy Shit.

I've had this game for three years and I've been playing it for three years.  2K12 and 2K13 are undoubtedly better upgrades but I wouldn't know because I can't put this one down long enough to find out.  The My Player mode is like an RPG for sports.  An RPG for SPORTS.  It's fantastic.  It made me rejoice when I found out that EA will no longer have exclusive licenses to make sports games (I believe for college football but maybe NFL.. maybe neither.. maybe both... I don't remember).  If 2K Sports gets on the bandwagon, we as sports games fans might be in for a treat!

This game looks so good.  I've fooled many of my friends into believing they're watching a game on television when I'm playing.  And before this, I wasn't even big on basketball games; I'm more of a football guy.  But this game is so fun and full of replayability.  I played through a full 82 game NBA season in My Player mode and missed the playoffs by one game.  Without hesitation I moved onto the next season and fully intend to play through all 82 and bring home the championship.  I'm sickened by how long this will take but also can't wait to do it.

The AI is very good.  When in My Player mode you can rely on your teammates to make the right decision most of the time.  Sometimes a player will become a ball-hog and instead of passing it right away, they might take a shot that you wouldn't approve of but that's the beauty of it.  Players like that exist on teams and you have to deal with it; however, your team can build team chemistry that lessens the likelihood that a player will neglect passing around the rock.  You shape your own image via press conferences and shape your own character by your performances and play style.

You can also play as Michael Jordan and do Michael Jordan-y things as Michael Jordan did.  There are a few challenges you can take on to see if you have what it takes to match Jordan's most memorable performances.

My key complaint is the passing.  To pass simply the passing button and the directional stick never seems to go where you want it to.  Unless there is only one player in a direction, I would advise using selective passing which might slow you down a bit but it's better than throwing a dud pass that gets intercepted clear across the court where you didn't want it to go.  I've punched the hell out of my arm rest after letting a pass fly right into the hands of a defender who was no where near my wide open teammate. 

This game holds up and it's getting in the way of my backlog but I'm okay with that.  When the Grizzlies finally win the championship this season with My Player at the helm then maybe I'll take an early retirement.  We'll see.

image source in order:  amazon.com, operationsports.com, wired.com, thatgamerhub.com