“Explain this odd behavior” — Artanis

Die-hard StarCraft fans will probably remember Artanis, a Protoss leader that spoke those exact words. That is, if they ever happened to click on the unit frantically…

Only those words have a different meaning today and are addressed to Blizzard rather than to the player. Why did you guys decide not to include support for LAN Multiplayer in StarCraft II?

Well, here are some possible explanations :)

Blizzard needed to differentiate StarCraft II from the original StarCraft. Adding features and content works, why not try the opposite for a change?

Blizzard requires more Vespen Gas. Cool stuff requires a lot of Vespen Gas, you know that, right?

The Science Vessel “LAN 1” was ambushed by a pack of Mutalisks. That’s why you should always escort weak units!

Anyway, Battle.net is so cool you won’t even need LAN Multiplayer! That is what Blizzard wants us to believe. Still, Battle.net won’t allow me to play offline, right?

Oh, by the way, that’s actually the reason put forth by Blizzard: Battle.Net will make us forget about LAN Multiplayer. We’ll see about that in due time ;)

Can’t live without LAN Multiplayer? Say it out loud!

• Sign the petition “LAN in Starcraft 2 Please.”
  • http://www.petitiononline.com/LANSC2/
• Say it on FaceBook
  • http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=97729779171&ref=mf
• Say it on Twitter
  • Adds the tags #sc2 and #petol to your tweet.

F5’ed!

The times you had no option but to queue up at your favorite retailer to get a copy of the latest blockbuster are long gone. Digital distribution, spearheaded by Steam and its competitors have been offering a decent alternative to retail stores for some time now. But games on demand are coming to you this winter. Yes, you, lucky Americans. For the rest of the world will wait a little longer. As usual!

Before we focus on where we’re headed, let’s consider for a moment the more traditional options we have to buy a game.

Retail stores: R.I.P.

As in other industries, brick and mortars video games resellers face a tough competition. Their important overheads (the rent mostly, shop assistants too) makes it hard to compete with newer methods of distribution that don’t require much more than a server farm and a webmaster.

Power to the players? Say it like you mean it :)

For us gamers, buying a game at a shop means standing up on our feet – an incredible challenge not always worth rising to – and actually going to the store. Plus you are not even sure the game will be in stock. Not to mention you have to make sure the store will be open when you get there.

That definitely does not fit the needs of the lazy gamer or those of someone desperately wanting a new game in the middle of the night. It does not do any better for those you had to come to a family trip to the middle of nowhere. God help them!

Switching to the point of view of game studios, retail stores have other drawbacks that won’t make any developer or publisher advocate their cause. I’m referring to piracy and the used games market. While it’s quite obvious that piracy does not do a lot of good to the video games industry, it has to be mentioned that when a used game is bought by a reseller and then sold again to a customer, only the reseller makes a profit out of it. No to mention that is generally not a good bargain for the customer. Good riddance!

Still, there is one thing that could very well save retail stores: accessories. Indeed, we’re not quite ready to stream a guitar hero controller, even with a broadband connection :)

That being said, if retail stores only sold this kind of games – Music/Quiz/Fitness games – would they still be making a profit? Damned overheads! And Microsoft’s Project Natal might even deprive retail stores of that final stream of income on the long run. Tough times for retailers!

Digital distribution: the clock’s ticking!

Buying a digital copy of a game

Digital distribution, although not necessarily cheaper than the distribution technique it is competing against (Europeans buying games on Steam got that), offers many advantages. Here are the highlights:

• The store
  • You can compare prices between different platforms in a jiffy
  • Downloading takes less time then going to the store and back
• The catalogue
  • Games are always in stock
  • You can actually buy old games
• The gaming experience
  • Games self-update
  • Community/Social features

But there’s a downside to all this: what happens if the platform is down?
I guess you’ll have to be patient to buy/download a game. As for playing a game that you already have, Steam’s offline mode will make your day. To be fair, I have never witnessed – or even heard about – Steam being down. I have no experience when it comes to other platforms and would really appreciate to have your feedback on Impulse or Good Old Games for instance.

All in all, digital distribution outmatches retail stores by a long shot.

Subscriptions, a cheap alternative

Well subscriptions are, in every aspect, a cheap alternative. Paying a monthly fee will grant you access to a games collection that is enriched as time goes by. However, the latest games are generally added to the catalogue some time after they released anywhere else. This does not make it a viable option for the most enthusiastic gamer.

For instance, Unreal Tournament III, released in Nov 2007 – some 18 months ago – is listed as coming soon for the Metaboli’s most expensive offer.

Gametap, while being twice cheaper, offers similarly ageing games. Still, there is a noteworthy pack: the free pack. You can find very decent games, including Tim Schafer’s Psychonauts, a game I was truly happy to having spent €50 on.

Last but no least, if you decide to cancel your subscription: you will not be able to play the anymore, the games are not yours to keep!

Games on Demand: the future of game distribution?

Well, buying a digital copy of your game is not hype anymore. What you may be doing in the near feature, is playing games on demand. That’s right, just like that movie you ‘rented’ not so long ago.

The concept of Games on Demand have been brought to light by Onlive, a company that offers a service – currently in private beta – that will stream games to your low-end PC or Mac. Or even to your TV!

As it is a cloud computing solution, all the computing is done in server farm; you don’t need much more than a monitor and a gamepad, a low-end computer is supposed to do the trick.

That service has a great potential: you would not have to buy expensive video cards or gaming consoles anymore, games would run smoothly at max settings on any system – since all your computer/TV does is display what has been computed on a server.

Some important questions have yet to be answered:

Will game publishers tag along?

Apparently so. Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Take Two, among others, have already signed partnerships with Onlive. Why wouldn’t they? The benefits of games on demand to gamers are obvious, the technology seems effective. Not to mention it could very well be a way to lower the royalties publishers pay to console manufacturers. Indeed, Onlive has released/plans to release a development kit (SDK) that will allow studios to design games especially for Onlive.

Sounds great. What does it cost?

The price certainly is the most decisive success factor. According to a teaser video on Onlive’s website, games will be sold, although prices are currently unknown. There is no clue if a subscription system will be offered to enthusiast gamers.

What happens if the servers are down?

Well, everything comes at a price. For all its advantages, Cloud Computing has one major drawback: you depend (1) on the data centers running properly and (2) your internet connection’s speed and stability.

A consideration all the more important given the recent downtimes Google and Amazon have suffered lately.

How will the hardware/console manufacturers react?

Nvidia already signed a partnership with Online, probably to supply, at the expense of AMD, the video cards (or GPGPUs) that will power their high-end servers.

Console manufacturers might want to do something to prevent that model from reaching a mass market. It is not so much because they make money by selling consoles – they usually don’t. Rather, it is because they make a profit by selling expensive (read high margin) accessories and charging game publishers for royalties.

I don’t know about you, but I’m eager to see how things develop!
Do you think the games on demand model will prevail?

F5’ed.

View This Poll

I decided to stop trying to like Battlefield Heroes. The game is more interesting to the marketer I am than it is to the gamer. Here are the rationales that motivated my decision.

Well, I make it sound like a big deal, but as I wrote in my recent preview of Battlefield Heroes, I had high expectations for this game. I considered – and still do – that it could shape the future landscape of games. Still, I will be out of the picture if that ever happens.

Multi-single player

On top of the many details that could very well be fixed before the game is released, there is something that really bugs me: I feel like I don’t belong on those servers. Albeit it is meant to be a multiplayer game, all I witnessed was several people playing on their own that happened to be connected to a server where other like-minded people where playing on their own as well. In other words, people don’t play together, they don’t even communicate, exception made of the ubiquitous lols when the game is over.

I’m tired of seeing drivers of empty vehicles leaving their fellow comrades stranded at the base, with no vehicle left to reach the battlefront in less time than it takes you to read this whole post. They just drive right past you. To be fair, the third-person view makes it tough to quickly dart a glance around you, to make sure no one is looking for a lift. But we’re soldiers, come on! Leave no man behind!

That being quite irritating, it does not get any better once you reach the battlefield. If you ever played Team Fortress 2 on a decent server, that’s about the exact opposite. No team coordination, team chat or voice chat. Well, I guess that’s why it’s called casual after all.

Things that need fixing

I also alluded to many irritating details. Here is one : not being able to swap for a different character while in-game. This means that if one team is beating the hell out of the other – which happens despite the matchmaking system – you can’t adjust to the situation by changing class or even equipment.

For instance, you can equip with either grenades or sticky bombs before you join a server. If you equipped with grenades and face only tanks – in which case grenades are helpless, and trust me, with tanks being as powerful as they are, it happens – you will have to join another server (since you don’t get to choose what server you join, unless you ‘favorited’ it) or keep dying.

Why it’s still interesting

Well, first, it’s in beta. That means it can be improved substantially before being released. Second, it will certainly appeal to many casual gamers, or gamers looking to play, at a given time, to play something casual. Seriously, who decided you couldn’t enjoy playing both Hearts of Iron 2 and Peegle? I’m sure you like at least one casual game… Ever played Tetris? :)

Bonus ranting

Judging by what I saw online – empty servers, achievement/farming servers – and what keywords lead people to my first post on the topic, I imagine

(1) I am not the only one dissatisfied with important aspects of the game,
(2) I am afraid too many gamers will focus on ‘earning’ achievements rather than playing for the fun of it.

Keep working EA!

F5’ed.

Battlefield Heroes’ beta at a glance

version tested:1.01.959

Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play, casual, FPS game from EA. Still under development, the game is open beta. Well, EA calls it a closed beta but since EA partners give keys away, I will settle for open beta ;)

If you need a key, go to the official page listing partners giving away FREE beta keys. EA reported some beta keys to have been bought and sold while thousands of free keys are just waiting to be tied up to your EA account. No comment!

Battlefield Heroes’ final Release is scheduled to happen sometime this fall, after having being postponed for quite some time. By the way, the game is totally stable as of now (v. 1.01.959) and runs like a charm on my Windows 7 RC x64 computer.

Because you really only care for the conclusion, here are the main things to know about Battlefield Heroes right underneath. If you care for more details, you’ll have a way more details below.

Should you give it a try?

Well, I think so. For one thing it is free and will be set up on your computer in no time. Secondly, this game could be a major milestone in online PC gaming. I don’t see it replace Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat Source or Left 4 Dead in the heart so-called hardcore gamers but it will surely find its audience : casual gamers, ageing PC owners or hardcore gamers on lunch breaks, I doubt the servers will be empty.

Why? Well, the game is quite fun actually, although nothing like I played before. Right now, I would actually like to join a game. Yeaaah, I want that new rifle… and that grenade spam ability, I confess :) I really appeals to the part of you that spends countless hours leveling in RPG games.

The game needs a lot of tweaking (beta version) but it stands a fair chance to see me play from time to time in the next weeks. Not that I plan to spend cash on micro-transactions but I want to know where it’s headed.

More importantly, I fear the greatest threat to the game is actually the gamers that do not always play nice. I have noticed one too many players camping at respawns, leaving your base with the last vehicle and two empty seats… or farming for XP. Depending on whether they behave, I continue to play the game or not.

Talking Business Model and profits, briefly

However, it is quite possible EA will make a profit with this game: I saw quite few people with customized outfits and EA offers to rent servers for a fee. Plus there were supposed to monetize the website traffic by displaying some ads on the website, but I don’t see them as of know. Finally, although EA announced no such thing, they could very well use in-game advertising to make more cash. I will definitely write some more about it if I can get my hand on some figures.

Anyway, what is it like on the battlefield?

Well, if you have already tried it, you will certainly agree, it is most definitely casual. Not in a bad way, though. It is not aimed at an hardcore FPS player, that is all. The game features a third-person view (no first-person view available) and simple – but cute – graphics, cartoon style (see screenshots below).

The basics

Two factions fight to capture and hold different positions on the map. The factions are identical in the sense that each one of them offer the same 3 classes (soldier, gunner and commando). Nothing very innovative here.

As you would expect, the gameplay is simple and you won’t find such things as a prone stance, peeking left or right (which would make little sense given the third-person view by the way :), or iron sights (likewise). This is definitely casual – again, no judgment here.

The vehicles

A very good thing when it comes to vehicles is that they offer room for two or three people, a driver and one or two passengers/gunners. You can also assume control of a sort a flak 88 canon but obviously, you will not move an inch :)

Last but not least, I had the feeling there was little you could do when fighting on foot against a tank. You could use sticky bombs, that is if you have chosen to equip some at the expense of grenades, but the tank can shoot from a distance. And since the tank is quite easy to maneuver and benefits from a fairly good speed… it is not a fair fight. Not to mention the third-person view that allows the tank commander to see around it, not allowing  the poor soldier to avoid the confrontation unnoticed.

Introducing Abilities

An important part of the gameplay stems from the different abilities you can earn. Each ability has a cool down timer and different levels of proficiency, just as most of Action RPG games (e.g. Diablo). This bring more depth to the game allowing you to heal teammates in close proximity, to fix a vehicle or to fire burning bullets for a short period of time.

This gives a touch of MMO to the game since you will level and have the opportunity to exchange Valor Points for the abilities you fancy. Once you have learnt an ability, it’s yours for good. Unlike additional equipment or apparel you can ‘get’ from the store. See below ;)

Earning Valor Points and buying Battlefunds

Leveling up will award you Valor Points; Accomplishing ‘missions’ (achievements, really) will too. Spending Valor Points will get you new new weapons, some pieces of apparel (shirts, trousers), plus some emotes (gestures) and widgets. Widgets are equipment that, contrary to a new pair of boots or a given emote will impact the way you play. Widgets include band-aids and toolkits to boost your health or fix your vehicle. These are not to be confused with abilities for one more important reason : weapons, widgets, emotes and apparel expire !

This means you’ll have to spend Valor Points over and over again as time goes by.

Apart from Valor Points you earn, there is something else you have to know about : Battlefunds. These have to be bought with real money and you’ will get 700 of them for €5. Given that a standard piece of apparel cost in average 140 Battlefunds, you’ll get it for €1. Battlefunds (BF) cannot be earned or exchanged for Valor Points (VP). Additionally, a given item can either be acquired by spending VP or BF. Basically, this means you won’t customize your avatar much if you are not willing to spent some money on it.

BF will get you most apparel and emotes, more than half of the widgets but no weapons. That is a good move toward fair-play. What is not, is that you can spend BF on VP and XP boosts. That is definitely not something I advocate. If BF were limited to buying items that do not impact your strength, I would totally back up EA’s move toward a free-to-play, micro-transactions supported shooter. The way is it now, money can make your life easier, and consequently, the game quite unfair. Unless the match making system takes that into account, which I frankly don’t know about.

Missions

Missions are much liked basic achievements apart from the fact you have three Mission slots and must assign up to three before joining a game from the ones available to you. They do not bring much to the gameplay since a typical mission will be to kill x enemies. Still, it might get better as you level up and in the meantime, it brings in Valor Points ;)

Match making

I would like to talk in more details about the match making system. Not that I reject the idea as whole, but rather, I think it should be tuned a little. And that’s what a beta is after all.

For those of you who never heard this term, it is a system affecting you automatically to server, based on your level here, and possibly on your skills (Kills to Death ratio for instance).The idea, although not new at all, is interesting, especially given the fact the game is aimed at casual gamers.

What bugged me is that it prevented me to play on several occasions.Sometimes, no server matches you level and/or skills. When that happens, there is nothing you can do but wait! …Or change hero, but that’s little comfort.

Match making also means that if you landed on a server you don’t like, you have no guarantee you won’t join that exact server again just after having left.

At some point, I landed on an XP farming server – a server where the two teams took turn to capture positions and consequently earn more XP and/or complete missions. I was definitely not in the mood for a stare contest in front of a flag so I decided to quit and prayed I would join another server. I was lucky that time but I also had worse experiences where I would join the same server again and again. Mind you, you can also join an almost empty server that will wait for more players to join until you can start the fight. Not much better, right?

F5’ed.

More Screenshots

Click to enlarge

Waiting for others players to join… happens way to often!

Just killed the guy who camped at my respawn point and killed me 15+ times before I could, finally, respawn somewhere else, grab a tank and crush his tank

	Different shots from the store, where you can buy weapons, widgets and emotes. All for a given period of time. (click to enlarge)

I’ve just mentioned two interesting deals on Telltate’s games and wanted to share my thoughts on the viral mechanism they are trying to leverage.

I think it’s great!

First, a word on the concept for those of you who have not read my previous post. The idea is quite simple:

1. Telltale sent a unique coupon to every newsletter subscriber,
2. The coupon allows anyone to get a discount on Telltale’s games,
3. Everytime a coupon is used, its ‘owner’ receives a $1 store credit.

Here are the two reasons why I think it is smart, beyond the viral nature of the campaign:

Bonding with the customer

The Telltale’s newsletter addresses you as a member of the community and thanks you for your help so far (i.e. having brought in cash by buying their games). It allows the brand to bond with the customer on a emotional level -, making him feel part of a family that meets great success, is appraised for making fun, smart and atypical games. It so well written that at some point, when it mentions the 70 employees on the payroll, you almost feel responsible (and proud) for the job created lately.

Within a few words, they successfully mention what makes their games unique and it is another reason – if you needed one – to feel connected with the brand. If that makes you an even bigger fan of theirs and surely helps turn you into an ambassador. And that’s great relationship marketing.

If you didn’t know how to help them, they make sure you do once you’ve read the newsletter:

Please send this coupon to your friends, talk it up on your favorite forums, post it on Twitter… wherever you can think of! The more people we can get checking out Telltale’s games at this special price, the more fun will be had by all.

Appealing to your greedy side

Although I think this is great relationship marketing, I do think some won’t give a damn about helping a company if there is nothing in for them. And that’s where the unique coupon comes into play. The idea of earning store credit is a powerful motivational factor. Plus it does not cost Telltale a thing*!

* Bear in mind there is a difference between a cost and a short fall. A cost is money spent, a shortfall is money not earned (but it did not cost you a thing either). That is the beauty of digital distribution (and the whole services industry :) Here, the only cost incurred is due to the bandwidth consumption, which is marginal – we’re talking of 70 mo.

What about the results?

Well, it’s too early to tell and Telltate will probably never publicly talk about it. But searching Twitter for tweets mentioning Telltale already reveals quite a few people celebrating Telltale’s anniversary or promoting their coupons. Likewise, a Google query shows a fair amount of sites and forums relaying the news.

Still, there’s a tiny glitch in the plan

As I mentionned I my previous post, the one giving you my coupon code, there’s a even better deal at the same time on Steam; if you plan to buy a whole series of Sam & Max that is.

IMHO, it is quite awkward from Telltale because someone rushing on a coupon and buying a whole season would have been better off buying it off Steam. Plus coupon code ‘owners’ can feel betrayed, Steam’s better bargain being prejudiciable to them earning some store credit.

What about you? What do you think of this campaign? Does it changes your brand perception at all? Did you use those coupons? Please share your thoughts in the comments section!

F5′ed.

Happy Birthday Telltale !

Just a short post to mention that Telltale is turning five. Telltale distributes the new Sam & Max Series as well as Wallace & Gromit or Strong Bad. Having played through the first series of Sam & Max (6 episodes, ~ 6h each), I encourage you to take a look. Demos are available on their website, you can go there to check out S01E01.

If you are interested in buying an episode, you can use the following code to get it for $5.

Coupon Code : L4H-F9B-WNE-P72 – The promotion ends on June 17, 2009

That being said, if you are considering to buy more than 3 or 4 episodes of a given Sam & Max Series, you’d be better off purchasing them through Steam. There are two separate deals that can get you a complete season for €15 roughly. But hurry up, the deal is on for 5 days, until May 17th.

5 days, 5 dollars… 5 years…

F5′ed!

I consider myself to be a gamer, I even qualified as a hardcore gamer for years. Now, I’m just gamer, I can play Team Fortress 2 for a few hours, defeat a few levels of World of Goo and then pick up where I left a Company of Heroes campaign and even squeeze in a few tracks of AudioSurf if times allows it. The point is, I like various types of games; but most of all, I like playing, whether it uses a computer or a simple deck of cards. What I like about games – and that is the message I’d like to pass along to game designers/producers/decision makers – is threefold: escapism, fun and challenge. I would also like to add the last two are linked most of the time. For sure, pointless fun is good, Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbits or most of the lines from the Sam & Max series are proof of that. The thing is unchallenging games get boring quickly; and that is, IMHO, where many games from Ubisoft are flawed.

Assassin’s Creed: more than a climbing simulation?

Let’s consider Assassin’s Creed. This game is literally and figuratively a walk in the park. And don’t get me wrong, the walk is pleasant, but at some point, you just feel like going home. That is exactly what happened to me, I stopped for good after having completed a third of the game. I had the feeling this game did not have anything more to offer. I had seen the three cities, got my equipment back, learnt a few moves but I needed more. I needed more challenge. Most certainly, some more diversity in the situations and missions would have helped.

So, what could have been done to make it a better game?

Well, in a nutshell, everything that is supposedly included in the sequel: more mission types, new weapons and moves, for starters. That should make the game less repetitive. When it comes to challenge, the optimistic will have noticed the sequel supposedly features a new AI. If I may, I would suggest some tweaking to the chasing part: while pursued, sitting on a bench should not be sufficient to make the city guards lose track of you, especially when they walk right past you. Sure, you’ve got to admit the hood helps blend in, but seriously, who are you kidding?

There are many other ways one can think of to make the game more challenging. For instance, isn’t it frustrating to simply hold the right trigger and the A button to run/climb/jump when appropriate? I really wished all of that was not automated. Now, I understand (most?) people not wanting to learn complex controls and combos. I also understand any sensible game editor wanting to make money out of their games, therefore targeting the masses. What I don’t understand is (a) who said the masses wanted simplistic games? (b) Why there was no choosing between different difficulty levels or at least, different control schemes (basic, the actual one/advanced).

The Prince is dying, he’s got Altaïr’s syndrome

When Ubisoft released their adaptation of Jordan Mechner’s original PoP, it was quite interesting, they did a good job. The immediate sequel seemed to be refreshing, with a drastic change in the Prince’s attitude. But what have they done with the latest version?

The 2008 Prince of Persia is mystery to me… Who is it intended for? Kids? Apparently not, the game is rated 12+. Teens then? If you’re thinking of some that never held a gamepad and are bored to death, possibly. The main problems are the game’s repetitiveness and lack of challenge whatsoever. Visuals aids are everywhere! And if you are not able to see them, you can always press the Y button to have some light show you the way. Not the general direction, as a light beam going from point A (you) to point B (your destination), no; a very agile light that passes by every cliff and wall you have to go through. In brief, you don’t have to wonder where to go, or how to get there. Combats are also very simple once you have identified your enemy’s attack routine, which only takes a handful of seconds. Typically, it goes: block, block, attack; block, block, attack. Over and over again.

Jumping around is fun for a while. Getting the first 60 light seeds was fun. After that, being task to get another 60 should have raised suspicions but it did not. By the time I had collected 100+, I started to wonder how long it was going to last. I had a bright idea (most probably thanks to the light seeds :) : I checked the achievements menu and got horrified: they were way to many achievements related to the seeds’ collection… the Prince was doomed to collect them to unlock new areas to… collect some more! Does not seem genuinely motivating, does it? A game offering the sole perspective of doing what you already have been doing is deeply flawed to me. It has to give you something to look forward to (and deliver), whether it is a new weapon, XP points to invest in such or such ability, new (understand different) places to explore, or simply an inspired story telling. Think about what we said earlier, games are about escapism, fun and challenge. How fun is it to do something over and over again? How challenging?

It is even worse when you realize you won’t even see the end of the game (yes, we are going a little off topic, but honestly, what was the topic anyway?). Because the only reason one could would want to go through a repetitive game is because, somehow, the story aroused his interest and he wants to know how it ends. That is why I finished Space Siege. I know, the plot was not that good either but it was Chris Taylor backstage :) Now back to Prince of Persia. While console gamers will have the opportunity (hum…) to buy it as a DLC, PC gamers are basically screwed: it will not even be distributed.

If I’m angry at Ubisoft it is because I have the feeling they are letting gamers down. They used to do games differently – think about the early Tom Clancy tactical shooters, or to a lesser extent probably, Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time. Maybe my memory fails me, but I remember games offering more challenge, with much less assistance. You actually had to use your brains a little!

The underlying economic logic and what it means for us, gamers

Making a profit is more than okay, it is necessary. So I won’t even discuss that point. That being said, is oversimplifying a game’s mechanics the right move? I would tend to think it is not.

Sure, business-wise, it seems to work. The game sold very well (6M+ copies to date apparently), despite some very harsh critics. But what will happen as today’s gamers, a growing audience, therefore partly new to video games, becomes more familiar with it? When the masses, at some point, feel bored by the very same games we criticize today?

This is a, if not the, downside of gaming becoming mainstream. Social acceptability is great, but is it worth witnessing games being striped apart from the challenging bits that make it worth playing in the end? Do publishers consider gamers as failures that just cannot lend a decent job/girl/boy/whatever? Are we in dire need of success to the point we just want to beat a game because at the end of the day, it is the only think we’re good at?

I’d beg to differ.

I really wish Ubisoft* and other studios/publishers for that matter could drop their illusions: if the game does not sell well and you think it is because it is too hard; well, think again!

I have very mixed feelings for the future. The latest Tom Clancy’s games – Hawx and End War seemed to suffer from the very same problems we mentioned above: simplistic gameplay and repetitiveness. Still, it featured some innovations, with the voice-based command system of End War being a good example (I won’t say more for I haven’t tried it yet). There is hope!

No offense Ubisoft!

* Ubisoft, I like you. It might not be obvious from what I wrote previously, so I thought I’d say it loud and clear. If I take your games as examples, it is precisely because, from many perspectives, they are good games. I just believe you could do more, when other publishers could die trying. Please show us you’ve got balls and make a stand for an ideal of gaming, that is, if it is what you believe in. Video games should be rewarding, just as any other type of (non-video) game. But come on, we want to earn it, we need to. What were you guys thinking when you decided to award a 20G ‘achievement’ to the player right after the first cut-scene? Success has to be earned.

Like they say… Conquering without any perish is feeble triumph

F5’ed.

If you had or have the same problem – it could very apply to other games -, read on!

First of all, yes, I noticed,  the game is not brand new – I had been waiting for a price drop… in France (everything coming a while later in the European Gaming market… Rock Band 2 instruments, anyone? – and this makes the post even more relevant.

So, back to what is happening: you insert the DVD in the tray, launch setup, enter your serial number. Ageia’s (not Nvidia’s at that time) drivers start installing and… that’s it. Nothing else happens, not even a warning message saying the installation has been aborted. That, you have to notice it by yourself, and that is quite frankly the easy part :)

When such a thing happens, you can either use your brain or Google; I used Google. Reading a few forums posts eventually got me on track: the PhysX drivers were to blame. What precisely happens is the installation wizard notices a newer version of the PhysX drivers and rather then (a) skipping the install of the drivers (b) downgrading silently, in case of an hypothetical compatibility issue that would impede the game to run with newer drivers or (c) notifying the user of the situation… the game installation is just canceled, how lame?

So, ‘what should I do?’ you might ask? Piece of cake:

1. Uninstall the PhysX drivers,
2. Install the game and therefore an old version of the PhysX drivers,
3. Update the PhysX drivers – recommended if you want to ensure the newer games will play properly

That’s it, you’re good to go!

But I’m not. I just felt like I would add a few lines.

I sincerely hope the developers of such softwares will be – or rather have been since MOH: Airborne’s release -  smart enough to improve the user experience. Even Microsoft got it right with DirectX, didn’t they? Is it so hard to think that newer versions of the software will come out and test the current installation process against it? Programming 101, right?

This kind of issues really makes me envy the simplicity of console systems sometimes.

F5′ed!

I’ve been playing Guitar Hero for 4 months now and Rock Band for 2 days. I play on hard, once in a while – three or four sessions of 2/3 hours, two or three times a month (4 sessions *3 hours * 3 times/month = 36 hours tops so far, including the time my friends spent playing the guitar).

Nothing excessive, right? Well, you can imagine my surprise when I noticed my strum bar was not responding correclty this morning. Last time, after only 2 months, it was the fret buttons that responded rather haphazardly: some times only the red fret would work, sometimes I has both green and orange.

I tried to make sure the problem was persistent and tried to reboot the xbox console, I separated the neck of the guitar, blowed on the contacts, put the neck back on… nothing worked! It is no software problem. The first time my guitar broke I returned it to the video games shop and got a new one without much trouble – I had to argue for a while though. The shop assitant mentionned he had a few guitars returned for similar reasons. I can only hope I’ll get a new working guitar very soon.

But the problem remains, are these controllers made to break? Is Activision aware of that? Are they issuing revised models on the market as time goes by? I sincerely hope so because I don’t really feel like going to the store every 2 months to have my guitar replaced. I can only imagine what hardcore & regular players are experiencing.

Not to mention the incredible noise the strum bar makes… Isn’t Guitar Hero World Tour’s guitar the fourth or fith guitar in the series? Talk about learning from your mistakes!

F5′ed.

Well, long story short, connecting my speakers messed with my current calibration setting! The good news is Rock Band’s calibration wizard helped me adjust it just fine. If you want to learn about the benefits of calibration, you can always read my first post on the topic.

Bottom-line, keep in mind that every time you make changes to your hi-fi installation (that happens :), move your Xbox and instruments to a friend’s house or even simply plug-in headphones… c-a-l-i-b-r-a-t-e-!

F5′ed.