GTA: IV Trailer

You couldn't consider yourself a gamer and not be aware that the first trailer for GTA: IV was going to be released today. Grand Theft Auto is one of the largest and most successful franchises in gaming. I have to say that the trailer, while short, is impressive. If all of the images are generated in game as is being claimed then Rockstar have literally taken the next step with large, open scale, sandbox games.

The lighting and detail of the city are unbelievable. With all of the turmoil surrounding Take Two and Rockstar currently I reckon this trailer is going to create a buzz in the gaming community. What would interest me is to see how they will do things differently this time. The Grand Theft Auto franchise is well established. Rockstar have developed the series and created new and interesting environments each time, however, what will be new in this one. I can't believe the images in the trailer are coming from a console. I think it is the first time that I have actually been in disbelief at the quality of the images. Gears of War is awesome and the Unreal 3 engine of the highest quality, but if Grand Theft Auto: IV is a world larger than San Andreas with the quality of visuals seen in the trailer then I think that gaming may have just reached the next level.

I wonder how the hardware differences on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 will affect the game? The 360 with twice as much RAM may benefit over the PS3. While it has a seven cell processor it is still a relatively unknown device for developers. It seems that Rockstar don't have the same problems with the PS3 as do Valve and id. Considering all of the talk surrounding the development of Stalker and its subsequent release last week it looks like GTA: IV may steal its thunder.

The irony of it is that Grand Theft Auto has never been known for its graphics. Liberty City as it is shown in the trailer is one of amazing realism. It is almost a shame that the game will be taken up with crime related activities. It looks like a place where you could settle down and live for a while. It looks almost idyllic, as though you don't want to disrupt the easy rhythm of day to day life.

Let's see whether Rockstar can fill the new Liberty City with something new. Something which will revive the franchise and create an awesome game in the process.

Games Magazines In Turmoil? Or, Are They Just Copping Some Bad Press?

The games magazine industry has been copping a bit of a beating lately. Not only has there been talk that they are losing a large number of subscriptions and sales but one of their own has come out and criticized them.

The blame for declining subscriptions and sales has been squarely placed on the internet. Magazines can't compete with online news services to cover and publish the most up to date news. The problem with this lies squarely with the time constraints placed on producing the magazine. Magazines don't go to print the day before they are placed on the news agent's shelves. They are finished weeks prior in order to accommodate page layout, publication, delivery and distribution. This places a strain on the currency of information provided in magazines. It is becoming more and more difficult to create exclusives which are relevant.

However, on Wednesday one of the industry's own journalists and editor of Gamearena came out and publicly criticized what goes on behind the scenes of the game industry magazines in order influence the review and publication process. "For starters, most are super-protective of the inner-working of “games journalism” and pretend like it is rocket science. It is not. To a lesser extent, there is an attitude of self-importance, like they are Gaming Gods. If anyone should be a Gaming God, it is the guys who create masterpieces – like the folks behind Mario or GTA or Pro Evo or World of Warcraft," he says. But every industry has their own megalomaniacs who believe that they not only control the world, but created it as well. I don't find this hard to believe. He goes on to say, "I have a seriously hard time giving using the word “journalist” with a straight face. “Games reporters?”… yes. “Games reviewers?”… yeah I think so. But “journalist”? You cannot be serious." Richie is obviously personally attacking those in the industry and some of them will come back and say that is exactly what he is doing.

This is not the meat of what he had to say, "Now, having said all that, reporting on games is not nearly as corrupt as some places claim it to be ... All I am saying is that you should not trust any game review, or reviewer, that your search engine throws up ... Fact: games reviewers have been offered either sex or money to change a review score ... Fact: be careful when you read an “exclusive” review. You probably already know this, but they are much-more-often-than-not tied to agreements about coverage or minimum scores ... Fact: most game reviewers get paid little, which increases the likelihood that they will fall into the trap of temptation. This is not their fault, but a reality of the industry." While Richie offered some other facts about the gaming industry these ones summarize the basis of his argument. He is not the only person talking out about the industry. Jason Hill of The Age has been criticizing the print media and there was a session at Egames in Melbourne last year devoted to it.

Should anyone be surprised by this? That the gaming industry, being an extremely large global economy, should attempt to pervert one of the main tools at its disposal which it uses to sell games? Of course, they want to have some control over it. They want to be able to sell more product. That is what they are about. It is not some warm and fuzzy environment where people respect honesty and integrity. Games distributors want to sell games. That is it. This should not surprise anyone. I believe that readers of magazines should be media savvy enough to know that this goes on.

These things are the reason why I started thecynicalgamer in the first place. I was completely dissatisfied with the reviewing process. The biased nature of reviews which seemed to be slanted in a particular way in order to paint a positive picture of their product. This is where thecynicalgamer reviews started. As being a means to review a product with a particular slant and shape the review in that way. If I can do it then anyone can do it.

It would be good to see the gaming magazine industry have a shake up. A good kick in the pants is what it needs. People purchase games and magazines in good faith. They shouldn't have to spend their well earned money (and it is probably a damned lot harder for them to earn it than the gaming industry) and feel that they are getting what they paid for. More often than not gamers are not seen as people but just another part of the demographic who will spend their money on a given product based on its placement to appeal to that demographic as opposed to the quality of the product itself. People shouldn't have to waste their money on material which is second rate and this includes the magazines that they read and the games that they buy. But don't be naive enough to believe that this just goes on in the gaming industry. It goes on everywhere. It is the abhorrent evil which underlies the consumer driven marketplace.

If you want to read the entire editorial then click here. It is well worth the read.

Check This Out

I know this will come as no surprise to anyone, but I thought people may be interested in checking out the differences in the minimum specs for C&C 3: Tiberium Wars for XP and Vista.

Processor
XP - 2.0ghz
Vista - 2.2ghz

RAM
XP - 512mb
Vista - 1 gig

Video Card RAM
XP - 64mb
Vista - 128mb

It shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone that the specs are different and Vista requires greater power. I bet that if you ran the minimum requirements and tested the frame rates for this game that you would get better frame rates running XP than Vista.

Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It Too?

I don't think that you can have your cake and eat it too when it comes to the game industry, but what does that mean for gamers? There are just two examples of this in the last week which I want to use to highlight my point. The first one being the Stalker patch not allowing you to use your existing save games and the second involving the possibility of having to pay for more content to play Crackdown.

There has been a lot of positive and negative feedback with regards to Stalker. I am enjoying the game and will continue to play it through to its completion (just wish I had more time to do it). Usually the release of a game patch is good news for gamers. Bugs can be fixed, compatibility issues resolved and hopefully gamers end up with a better playing experience. However, there is a catch to the Stalker patch. You can install the patch, but you cannot play any of your old save games. That is not a very good catch. Once again, people have invested time in to a game not to see any potential for reward without reinvesting the time. This is frustrating and it is understandable that some people are upset about it. However, the bad thing is that there are people who are writing and saying that they regret purchasing the game and that I feel that this sort of thing reflects negatively on the smaller, more independent developers. As for those people who say they regret purchasing the game due to the patch not being backward compatible with their save games then I don't think they were happy playing the game to start with. I don't believe that a patch would fix the problems they have with the game. However, people believe that games should be released finished to begin with. They don't believe that they should have to endure the patch and repatch routine in order to get a product which plays the way they believe it should. GSC aren't responsible for this, but most developers are. I don't believe that PC gamers can be completely ignorant to the problems associated with developing a game across multiple platform types to work on completely different hardware bases and not have any issues. Games for consoles should not necessarily require patching upon release as they don't have to program the games for different hardware configurations. PC Games have to work on a number of different platforms. I don't believe it is possible to stress test every single game on every conceivable PC configuration. Patching is a reality of PC gaming and will be while PC games exist. However, not allowing gamers to patch the game and continue to play their old save games is a backwards step. It means that those gamers who have already invested their time in a game have to go back and replay the game in order to get the benefit of using the patch. This is not fair and not a good indictment on game development. While there used to be a time when this was more common, I don't believe that it should start to be that way again. If it meant waiting a week or two before they got the patch to run with the old save games then they should not have released the patch so quickly. I would prefer to wait for the patch rather than have it forced on me with these conditions. Unfortunately, with PC Gaming this is a matter of you can't have your cake and eat it too. Some of those games, such as X3, which are excellent games but buggy to the point of being unplayable upon release mean that you have to wait before you can enjoy the game.

Crackdown is another kettle of fish. It was obvious that with only 8 or so hours of gameplay that they were going to release purchasable downloadable content for the game. While a recent interview did not confirm or deny that this would happen if you read between the lines it seems most likely. At what point in time do gamers consider they have received good value for money on what they have purchased? What possibilities are there for them to take any action in this regard? There aren't any really. With MMOs taking a fair share of the revenue pie it is obvious that developers are going to look at other ways of making more money out of their product. Bethesda did this quite effectively with Oblivion. They released purchasable downloadable content to enhance the gaming experience. However, Oblivion had hundreds of hours of gameplay to start with. So, the notion of purchasing further content does not seem so bad as you believe that you have received your value for money to begin with. Gamers can't do to much with regards to changing this besides not purchasing the product. Then you have the problem that I have where I really like the product but believe that it is just light in content knowing that they are going to charge me more to get more content at a later date.

These two problems seem to be two very different aspects of the gaming industry which we have to live with and don't really have any chance to change.

Blogs As a Source of Information

It seems that blogs are a useful device for companies to use as a means of providing information which they would prefer not to use the traditional "press release" channels for. Microsoft's handling of the Xbox Live Account theft debacle is not to deny that it has happened, but to limit the release of information so that not all people have access to it. They have not used the traditional news channels in order to say, "Well, yep we made a mistake" but the General Nelson blog as a means of information dissemination. The General Nelson blog is written by the Xbox Live programmer and the article was more written in defense of the fact that their hardware had not been compromised, it was a human error. That's lucky. Either way there shouldn't have been an error to start with.

As far as I am concerned the easiest way to stop people changing other people's passwords over the phone and accessing their accounts is to send an email to the email address and let the person who subscribed change it online. That way the person holding the email account actually has to change the password themselves. Simple.

The interesting thing is how a commerical blog (or a blog related to a commercial entity) is being used to disseminate information. Blog's are not just a novelty any more but a legitimate source of news, or, a legitimate means for corporations to release the information they want people to read. While this may not be good news for my blog (with the lack of exlcusive content) it is good to see that people get their news from a variety of places.

The Cynical Gamer's Supercoach

For all of those who like their sport Cynical Gamer has hosted a number of leagues in supercoach and dream team competitions. Including: AFL (Herald Sun & AFL Players Association), F1, and V8 Supercars. There are only limited spots so first in best dressed. Make sure you get the right league code for the right competition. I will list the URL and the corresponding league code. You enter the cynical gamer league code when you register. If you have already registered you can change your league or join a league by entering the Cynical Gamer's league code.

The Herald Sun Supercoach
http://heraldsun6.virtualsports.com.au/
League Code: 176561

The F1 Dream Team
http://dreamteam.grandprix.com.au/
League Code: 476468

The V8 Dream Team
http://v8dreamteam.sportal.com.au/
League Code: 681375

The AFL Players Association SuperCoach
http://afl2.sportal.virtualsports.com.au/
League Code: 310279

I hope to see some of you on there.

RIP: My Desktop - We travelled the World Together

It happened last night. An unfortunate event which I was hoping would hold itself off for a little while longer. My desktop computer finally kicked the bucket. It was my games machine and had been in service for quite some time. However, I don't know whether I will get much more upgrading out of it.

I have been running an AMD 64bit 3400+ system, however, it is Socket 754 (Damn you AMD and your short lived chipset). So, there is no more upgrading for the processor. Also, it is running DDR RAM and AGP graphics. The system had been in my service for quite some time and managed to experience several different upgrades along the way to keep it chugging through games. However, it will chug no more.

At the time I made my desktop we were building a lot of desktops and I inherited an Albatron motherboard which we were not going to support any more (it was a load of crap). However, it is the motherboard which has finally the motherboard which has given way. It could not run USB devices but it managed to keep on firing for two and a half years.

The times we had together. There were the fun times, which included gaming, and then there were the frustrating times when the voice on the motherboard would say, "Your CPU may have a problem" and decide not to POST.

The unfortunate thing is that I can't afford the complete upgrade my computer requires at the moment so it looks like I will be gaming on the work notebook. DOH.

A Lesson To Be Learned: Stalker Initial Impressions

To me, independent developers are literally the heart and soul of gaming. The machinations are already in place to keep the large developers afloat. They have their franchises. Half Life is well established. Doom is a cornerstone franchise. Every EA sports title have their yearly update to keep the money flowing in to the coffers of the largest developer and publisher in the world. It is the smaller developers who look to take risks in order to make their mark on the industry. However, the smaller developers have to find their way in an aggressive world where presale marketing can make or break a title release.

What we then see is developers having a long and sometimes incestuous relationship with gamers in order to promote and sell their games. When I mean incestuous you just need to go to any forum and see some of the discussion which goes on. Having said that, if I had known nothing of the release of Stalker prior to the being placed on the shelves yesterday I would have thought this was a pretty good little game. However, me like many thousands of other gamers were told a lot more prior to the games' release over the last four or so years. In fact, this game had turned in to one of the games which I was most looking forward to, only to be disappointed on several occasions that it was either not going to be released, was going to be changed, or was in some state of flux. During this time the developers were seeking to secure a publisher for their game. So, they were not only looking to secure preordered sales but a company to take on the risk of delivering the product to the customer.

Stalker was one of the games which had a glut of high quality ingame movies released for it during its development period. Along with this there was a large community which was involved with the game on the developers web site. There was a large community focussed story competition to help the developers create some of the back story in game (this too had some issues). Many of the movies for the game were focused on the accuracy of their recreation of the area surrounding Chernobyl (including the abandoned city of Pripyat), the ballistics used in game and the revolutionary dynamic lighting (where movies showed large vistas moving from day to night - one of the big things about the game was that the sun was meant to be an actual light source in the game throwing dynamic shadows as it moved across the artificial sky). All of these things looked extremely impressive and well implemented in the movies released for the game. At the time Stalker was going to be a DirectX 9 app which pushed the boundaries of the hardware and the software.

I do not envy being an independent developer. The costs of keeping a company afloat with no income while you develop a title must be the hardest juggling act for any modern business. Plus, the added benefit of working with highly motivated creative people and keeping them focuses and on track over a five year development cycle (without burning them out) must be extremely tough. Then you have the fickle nature of the gaming industry itself to contend with as well. People, such as me, who get excited at the prospect of a game and build their expectations with the information which is provided to them prior to a games' release is another important consideration in the equation.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, things went out of control for GSC. The game they were developing and telling the gaming public about was not the game they were going to release. This is where other independent game developers should learn from GSC's mistakes. There needs to be things which you tell potential distributors about your product and then there are the things you tell the public. You tell the distributors your grand dreams for your product and then have them tell you what the reality is based on a delivery schedule. Then you tell the gaming public what you have got after you have got it and not before.

It seems to me that GSC have become too excited with what they thought they could develop before actually creating it in a workable format. They didn't protect their product before releasing to the public. This is the lesson to be learned. You have to learn how to tread the fine line of protecting your intellectual property while also creating the necessary excitement to generate presale orders in a hostile marketplace.

I will play Stalker through to its completion. I really do like some of the touches they have placed in the game. The ingame ballistics and the difficult combat is a good change to the standard run and gun shooters we are predominantly made to play. The oppressive environment is excellent and well maintained. The radiant AI is excellent the area has a feeling as though it is living, breathing and struggling to survive just as you are. However, the game runs perfectly for me in DirectX 8 and crashes with DirectX 9 mode. The game is not a sandbox game, but more three large levels out of Far Cry with no vehicles.

Like I said before, if I had not known any of the information about this game prior to its release then I would have thought this was an excellent game. Unfortunately, expectation is also a harsh mistress.

Tommy Vercetti In Drug Rehab Scandal

Everything seems to be happening to Take Two this week. Jack Thompson wants to ban their products before they are released. Their shareholders want to change up the management. And in a bizarre twist to the feud between Take Two and Jack Thompson it appears that the trigger man, Tommy Vercetti, is in a bizarre Drug Rehab scandal.

It was reported that Take Two had approached Tommy Vercetti to fix the "problem" they were having with Jack Thompson. As to how Tommy was going to fix the problem was not specified, but based on his checkered past it was believed that Vercetti had been contracted to perform a hit. Several days after news of this leaked Tommy Vercetti checked himself in to the famous Wonderland drug rehab centre.

Take Two issued a press release saying that Vercetti required some time out from his busy schedule in Vice City. That this time out would provide him with the need to take his business dealings to the next level. It appeared that the press release was not all that far from the truth as Vercetti has since been kicked out of the celebrity Wonderland drug rehab facility for dealing drugs.

Vercetti has issued a brief press release stating that it was "a minor misunderstanding between the staff and himself". That he was, in fact, "not a drug user or a drug dealer". That he thought the rehab centre was "a holiday camp for people under a great deal of stress who needed time out from their busy schedules". Take Two have remained silent about the scandal and, at the moment, are not willing to comment on the situation. Vercetti has since been seen in public having shaved his hair off and having '666' temporarily tattooed to his backside.

Level Scaling

There was a lot of discussion after the release of Oblivion as to whether level scaling was a good thing. Well, there was some discussion and a lot of abuse. Most of the abuse was directed at Bethesda some of the abuse was directed at other members of the Bethesda forums ("Can't we all just get along," Jack Nicholson). With another expansion being released for the game I think that the notion of level scaling is a good one to revisit.

In the last couple of weeks I have been playing Oblivion on the Xbox 360. I picked it up because I wanted to see how it compared to the PC version. I remember there was also a lot of discussion about the menu system in Oblivion at the time. Saying that it was customized for a console, however, I definitely feel that it worked better on the PC than the console. Overall the gameplay is a very similar experience on both machines. In fact, you would be hard pressed to separate them as a gameplay experience.

I still think that level scaling is a good idea ... on paper. However, no matter which way it was implemented with Oblivion it just did not seem to work. The concept of having endless replayability with a game is great. To be able to pick the game up, no matter what level you are at, and to be able to go to any area and have some form of challenge is a good idea. However, that challenge didn't come across.

I think a fundamental aspect of Role Playing Games is the notion that you start as a feeble peasant and you work your way up to uber warrior/mage/cleric/etc. The concept of the Hero Journey is well documented by Joseph Campbell (Hero with a Thousand Faces) and is traditionally a set pathway. The basis of being feeble is that you don't have access to all areas and gaining access to these areas is a part of the reward process of levelling up. However, I don't think that if Bethesda had made this single change it would have made Oblivion the all-time greatest game.

What else could have possibly saved this gaming concept? I know that a lot of gamers were pissed off that bandits who attacked you in the wilderness of the game suddenly appeared with Ebony and Glass weapons. I do agree that this was a ridiculous part of level scaling. It was poorly thought out. Why couldn't there have been more bandits? as opposed to the diametrically opposed super bandits who suddenly (actually they gradually appear leveling as you do). One of the things which RPGs strive for is to create an alternate reality. A world which is believable given its fantasy context. Level scaling does not create a believable alternate reality. I think that Bethesda could have spent other ways creating a scalable environment rather than slapping on the bandaid of everything going up in level with you.

There is also the possibility that, in theory, you could go through and complete the entire game without progressing past level one. This, given the context of the tradition of roleplaying games, is absurd. While I don't believe it should be necessary to prescribe the desired level a gamer should be at to complete the game to not progress at all and still complete the game is ridiculous and poorly thought out.

Given all of these thoughts about level scaling why is it that I played Morrowind for months after its release without completing the main story, and yet I did not return to Oblivion after finishing the main story? I finished the main story in Oblivion in about 3 weeks. This was not constant play just your standard casual play. I thought about going back and playing Oblivion but I did not take that extra step. Whereas with Morrowind I spent months playing the game trying to progress and even restarting several times. To me Morrowind offered a much deeper, much more satisfying level of gameplay. Because I had to travel to places the hard way then I felt that I had achieved something when I got there. I think, given the way Oblivion was set up that you naturally take the game for granted. You don't appreciate the progress you have made. Unless you traveled anywhere on foot or on horseback how could you appreciate the fantastic environment?

Level Scaling is probably not the only thing which stopped Oblivion from being one of the all time greatest games ever released. While it is possible to get rid of it through user created mods this is not the way the developers intended the game to be played. It is probably a good way to get extra life out of the game with new expansions being released for Oblivion. I hope that Bethesda learn from their experiences and become a better developer because, for my money, they are one of the best developers around. Oblivion would have been my "game of the year" last year. It just seems hard to believe that such a great game could have been even better.

Politician Admits American Ratings Board Is Toothless

The whole problem arising from the controversy behind Take Two and Jack Thompson is not created by a legal system more than too willing to litigate. It stems from having an industry which is virtually unregulated. The irony of it is that the American system is indicative of the Australian system. This is what US Republican congressman Rep. Fred Upton said about the American ratings board:

"I guess I thought the FTC [US Ratings Board] would have had some more teeth than they apparently have ... I’m not at all happy ... In essence there are no consequences. None ... I would like to have thought that (Take-Two and Rockstar) would have been able to be fined for millions of dollars for the trash they put out across this country ... I am going to be looking to write legislation giving the FTC the authority to impose civil penalties."

As far as I am concerned if we have a free market economy then if manufacturers want to make "trash" and people buy it then that is the person's prerogative. That is why we live in a free society. This is why I apparently have my "freedom". You can't punish someone for making a bad product if people are prepared to pay for it. Why don't they spend more time regulating the industry where it needs to be regulated and punish developers and publishers for releasing products which are unfinished and require a massive amount of patching in order to be playable.

What is the alternative? We have created a capitalist system which is slowly loosing control of its industries. State based control is in essence what is seen as being one of the worst components of a Communist society. However, where is the medium? Look at AS in Australia. Another toothless industry regulator. You apparently can't have your cake and eat it too.

What is Rep. Fred Upton's response? This is a quote from a piece of legislation:

"It shall be unlawful ... to ... distribute ... any video game that contains a rating label… for that video game where the person, with the intent of obtaining a less restrictive age-based content rating, failed to disclose content of the video game that was required to be disclosed to the independent ratings organization ..."

Politicians rely on corporations and industry to provide them with money to run and maintain their political campaigns. A lot of corporations provide money to both sides of politics so they can push their own agendas. This is the way that corporations use their power as leverage over politicians. I will put any money on it that if this piece of legislation makes it to American parliament it will be heavily edited so that the teeth are taken out of it. This serves two purposes. It pleases the people as they believe that legislation has been introduced to regulate industry without them realising that industry have been involved in changing the legislation. And it pleases industry because they have used their power to leverage the result they wanted to maintain their status quo.

What do we do as consumers? If we don't like the product we don't buy it. We are completely powerless to be involved in the power struggle of corporations and the powers that control them. We are just passive observers with no power of influence.

quotes couresy of Game Politics.

Stalker Is Definitely Here

There is no denying it. Stalker will be available for purchase this week. How do I know this? I know that the Australian distributors of Stalker received their stock of the game in today. Which means that in the next day it will be shipped out to your local games store.

There you go. For everyone that didn't think it was going to happen (which includes myself) it has happened. The only thing preventing the games release across the world would be ... well ... a world wide nuclear disaster. The irony of that would be impressive, but the likelihood of it happening extremely unlikely.

Get ready for Stalker. It will be out in the next couple of days. I will organise the time to get some play in and a review up in the next week or so.

One Size Fits All

It amazes me how in this modern world of consumer choice we have so few choices that we can actually make. Ford or Holden. Apple or Microsoft (Linux is not a choice any sane gamer would make). We live in a democracy which is meant to empower us with political choice, but those choices are confined to the two party preferred system of government. Meaning we ultimately have the choice of one or the other. When it comes to controllers for consoles we have, well I wouldn't call one choice a choice, virtually no choice. It is a matter of one size fits all.

I was one of the few people who were a fan of the original Xbox controller. There is a reason for this. I am not 12. My hands are fully grown and my fingers are probably longer than most. I enjoyed the comfort of playing a console without getting hand cramp 20 minutes in to game play. Unfortunately the Playstation controller is not very well contoured and too small. If I was a child then I am sure the Playstation controller would be more comfortable, but unfortunately, like most average gamers I am well beyond my pubescent years.

Why is it that we don't have any choice of controller? Considering most people would spend longer than ten or fifteen minutes playing a game and we can play it on our choice of couch, sofa, or easy chair why can't we have a controller which fits comfortably? Unfortunately, those who make the consoles have a one size fits all policy to cater for every single market in the world. I don't believe that any other consumer product which is about fit forces consumers to wear the wrong size. How would it be if we all wore the same sized pants? The world would be a funny place. So, why is it that, as gamers, we have to put up with a one size fits all policy for controllers when they don't.

Is it that the manufacturers of these devices don't want to put any more thought (or Research and Development dollars) in to create greater product choice and comfort for their consumers? Or, that they actually believe that one size of controller fits all? If they believe in the later then maybe they don't spend much time actually using the product that they develop because, I am sure, that they would have to be as uncomfortable as I get when I use these devices for extended periods of time.

The Way I Would Have Reviewed Crackdown

Cynical Gamer Reviews Crackdown (Xbox 360)

Sometimes, in life, for whatever reason we prostitute ourselves (I don't necessarily mean literally but metaphorically). We may or may not necessarily mean it but we do something we are not proud of for money. Of course, there are some people who literally prostitute themselves for money. It is referred to as the oldest profession, but I think that would make the pimp the oldest profession. That is why I have decided to write the review of Crackdown as though it were a high priced prostitute. Needless to say that I had read prior to starting the game that it was short. So, I decided to play it on the hardest difficulty from the start. Seriously, that is the only reference I will make to hard or hardness in the review.

I have been told that some people visit prostitutes. It does happen. They don't mind paying for five minutes of enjoyment. In this way Crackdown is like a prostitute. But not like some five dollar ho that you find standing on a street corner in St Kilda. Crackdown is a high class prostitute. Someone that you would spend a lot of money to spend a night with because she is beautiful, professional and the best at what she does. Crackdown is beautiful. It would have to be one of the best looking games around. The cell shading works extremely well and provides the game with a point of difference over the grittiness of Gears of War and the reality of Rainbow Six Vegas. The view distance is extreme. You just want to spend time with Crackdown. I guess if you paid for a high class prostitute you would want to spend some time looking at her too saying to yourself, "Well she's mine for the night." But that is really all you will get from Crackdown. A good night's worth of good looking entertainment. Cause what it gets down to is that there is not a whole lot going in the way of investing a significant amount of time in the game, like you would a good relationship, because there just isn't the content there.

Crackdown has all the moves too. It knows where to move in order to give you the right amount of satisfaction at the right time. However, there isn't a whole lot going on there for long term satisfaction. The combat system is well implemented. The mix of physical, firearms and the use of the environment to defeat your foes is well developed. However, the enemy targetting system at close range can be extremely clumsy. The other part of the game which I found extremely frustrating was that enemies would spawn behind you. Not a hundred metres behind you but a couple of metres. More often than not you find yourself respawning after being killed by some nameless henchman who has spawned outside of your line of sight. This made the game extremely frustrating at times.

In a nutshell all you have to do in this game is to take down three gangs. Each gang is located on its own specific part of the map. You can go after any gang in any order. All you have to do to take out the gang is to take out the king pin (or leader). If you kill the sub leaders (not sub king pins) in the gang then you will weaken the leader and make it easier for you to take him down. However, you can go straight for the jugular and take out the leader first if you want. That is basially all there is to the gang. There is no real variety in what to do. Each task or sub leader is basically the same. You might have to solve a puzzle on one of them (and I mean only one of them) and that is the only difference. So, don't get in to a cerebral spasm about it. Just get in there and get the job done. Much like visiting a prostitute really.

The driving in the game is pretty good, however, this was the skill which I developed the least. I couldn't be bothered trying to run people over in cars and some of the racing sub-missions were too frustrating as you mowed down innocent bistanders to get to the next checkpoint and then had the wraith of the police after you as you attempted to finish the race. It would have been good to see some other vehicles implemented in the game. However, the game concept itself is relatively simple. Like keeping your night with the prostitute to the missionary position. It is tried and tested. Just have a look at how the Grand Theft Auto franchise has made its fan base. Driving cars is its bread and butter. This would then be classified as the missionary position. The missionary position works well as a pleasure serving device, but there are definitely a lot more positions out there which can be mastered. Other vehicle types would have been good and every game of this type has cars in it.

I found it frustrating that once you had cleared out an area of its gang then there is nothing more to do there than collecting Orbs and racing cars. Ultimately, leaving the area relatively void. The jumping puzzles are excellent and, for me, the best way of travelling about the city is by jumping and running everywhere. It would have been nice of the developers had left some crime in those gang free areas to fight and keep you wanting to go back there.

I can imagine that Real Time Worlds and Microsoft would be more than happy to further my comparison of Crackdown as a prostitute by offering more content if you are prepared to pay for it. Isn't that the way a prostitute works? You pay her for a period of time in which you are entertained (or satisfied, I guess at the end of it she probably isn't). Then if you would like some more entertainment then you have to pay for some more. That is the way online delivery works. You are entertained for a short period of time and then if you want more you pay for it. Well, that is what will happen with Crackdown. They will release more short term entertainment, but you'll have to pay for it. Then I think of the reasons why people might spend money on prostitutes and all of them are relatively grandiose idealist concepts which avoid the notion that people just do it to get their end away. So, if you want a game that will give you a short amount of pleasure at a premium price then Crackdown is for you. Not the type of game that you would settle down with, but definitely a game that you might pay for to get your end away.

Cynical Gamer Rating
Would you pay to spend a night with Crackdown - 100
Is the game the equivalent of a high priced hot looking prostitute - 100
Would you pay to spend more time with the prostitute later - 0
Overall - 66

Afterword
Don't get me wrong but this game is excellent. Just way too short and with a poorly executed mission structure (well, it is not really even a mission structure). There would have to be a little more to the downloadable content than more shoot this guy and work your way up the gang type structure to get me to pay for more content. In this way this game is like a prostitute. Taking your money for a short time of pleasure. Hopefully there will be better games released this year which have greater depth to them.

Mondayitis

Mondays are the slowest gaming news day of the week in Australia for one very simple reason, it is Sunday for the rest of the world. While we wake up in the morning and celebrate the notion of pulling a Monday morning sickie (a well practiced pursuit in Australia) the rest of the world is dealing with the end of Sunday. What that means is that there are practically no press releases. Nothing important is ever announced on Sunday. So, gamers go through Monday with not only a hang over from the weekend but a hang over from gaming news as well. As for gaming websites they too are generally having a vacation and resting when Australians are going back to work. What does it mean for gamers when you go to work on Monday, you have the internet on your work PC, you have ALT-TAB lined up with your fingers in case your boss walks in and no gaming news to read? Nothing to hide from. No information. Nothing. This helps to make Monday the longest day of the week. At least on Tuesday there is some gaming news filtering out. Generally games are released in Australia on Thursday so Wednesdays are spent in anticipation. Thursdays are where you spend your lunch break traveling to the local games store to purchase said new release game and then the rest of the afternoon secretly reading the games manual at your desk. Friday is when you pull the sickie to recover from your all-night gaming session on Thursday night. The weekends are for 48 hours of online play. Which leaves lonely old Monday with nothing.

Oh well. What can you do?

Apple Gives it to Microsoft

I love the new Apple ads which criticize Microsoft Vista. You know, the ones with the Microsoft man with a security guard (aka secret service man) standing behind him. The security guard asks permission of the Microsoft man for every thing they discuss.

Apple is of course played by an actor who is meant to be the young and hip person (even though in movies he plays an awkward geeky person in Galaxy Quest and the old Television series Ed). And Apple is meant to be the perfect alternative operating system, however, Apple is hardly a gaming alternative. While a lot more games are being developed for the Apple platform and they have changed over their primary CPU provider to Intel (making it possible to run XP on the hardware) it is still a crappy gaming platform.

Besides the fact that Apple have been known to slow down the GPUs in their notebooks (so they produce less heat and conserve battery life) why would you go with an Apple computer to play games? While I love the Apple ads their hardware is notorious for being expensive (not as expensive as Alienware). Unfortunately, they are not a viable alternative to Windows for gaming. The same goes with Linux. I challenge any Linux user to get a person with absolutely no Linux experience (and someone who isn't a programmer) to get commercial games up and running on Linux within four hours. I don't think it is possible.

So, while the Apple ads may be amusing the reality is that there is no real alternative to Windows for gamers. It is the preferred platform (and probably will be for a very long time). Considering the growth of gaming around the world wouldn't that make Windows the hip platform to have and not the Mac?

Tommy Vercetti Called In To Deal With "Problem"

Rumours are starting to spread on the internet that Tommy Vercetti has been called in to deal with the Thompson "problem". Apparently Take Two made the call to their people who called Rockstar. Rockstar then made the call to their people who called Vercetti. Vercetti then called his people and found out who Thompson was.

When Vercetti was asked whether he had been commissioned to deal with the Thompson "problem" he said, "What Thompson problem?"

Vercetti has been out of the game for quite some time. His growing business regime in Vice City has grown out of proportion and he spends most of his time managing feeble minded staff rather than running the underworld. Problems have arisen in the last couple of weeks with Vercetti's former employer Take Two interactive. An attorney at law, Jack Thompson, is attempting to ban a future product release of Take Two. This is not the first time that Thompson and Take Two have locked horns. Thompson has launched law suits against Take Two on prior occasions attempting to have their products removed from the market.

The picture inset of Vercetti was taken quite some time ago. Apparently current intel suggests that he has put on quite some weight since then and he more resembles Eddie Murphy playing the Nutty Professor. When asked again whether he could confirm or deny whether he was going to take care of the Thompson "problem" he said, "Are you eating that doughnut."

When Take Two were asked later today whether they had retained Vercetti's services their representative said, "We have not, not called Vercetti's people."

It seems like a nasty situation is developing and someone had better take control before the two warring parties have a real falling out.

Test Drive: Unlimited

Let me just say that I am not a fan of the Test Drive franchise. Let me rephrase that. I was not a fan of the Test Drive franchise up until now. I picked up Test Drive Unlimited on Friday (hence the trip to EB) and have been completely hooked on this game ever since.

It is not a racing/driving sim, by a long shot, but it is good fun. They have basically mapped an island of Hawaii with over 1000 miles of roads and made a game. The draw distance is excellent. The good thing is that as you drive around there is a lot of AI traffic.

Let me just say that there are a few flaws with this game, such as at times completely stupid AI and roads which aren't completely contoured to the map. It is still great fun. You have a variety of different types of driving missions you can do. Whether it be to transport a model a couple of k's or to transport someones vehicle or, of course, to race. As you drive around if you have Xbox Live there are also other people driving around as well. You can instantly set up online races or just follow someone around the map.

It is an excellent concept. I hope it takes off as the amount of time you can just spend driving around the island is phenomenal.

Announcement: Internode Games Network

Just a quick post to let you all know some news.

I will be posting news items at the Internode Gaming Network. I will continue to post gaming news items in my own unique way here as well. But wander over to Internode and say hello. So, nothing has really changed really, just means I will be doing more work.

I have just become a news bot. Maybe I should develop my own sign off line like those "legendary" news readers, "And that's the way it is" (cause I am a wanker, lol). Anyway, they are a nice bunch at Internode and are one of the largest games server providers in Australia. They host a massive amount of file downloads including game updates and demos. They are also the official Australian file mirror for 3D Gamers (which is always a good thing).

...and that's the way it is, cause I am a wanker...

EB Exclusive???? Sony Backflip On Backwards Compatibility

I was in EB Games yesterday and the sales girl there said that Sony were putting the backward compatibility chip back in the PS3. What the...

Is this a Cynical Gamer exclusive, or, EB talking crap. I haven't read anything about this anywhere. Apparently they received an email yesterday saying that the chip was going to be placed back in to the PS3. There you go, Sony fans rejoice, the rumble pack will be coming back to the controllers and the backward compatibility chip will be coming back to the PS3. Then you will have the option to play those PSOne games which you will never play again. You know that you won't play them, but as long as you have the option to do so.

Developer Looking For Online Distribution System Named Gabe

Cynical Gamer's Personal Ads
Older games developer looking for a younger online distribution system. The developer is experienced with a number of solid titles already in our back catalogue, including a range of established franchises such as Hitman, Thief and Tomb Raider. We are not overly concerned about the end user. In fact, as long as they cough up the dough for our product we don't particularly care how it gets delivered to them. Even if the online distribution system is frustrating and intrusive. In fact, it is probably better that the distribution system is frustrating and intrusive because the customer will be using our business name and swearing at us which provides top of mind advertising for our company for free.

We are looking to settle in to a long term relationship with an established online delivery system. Experience is important, but the experience the customer has with the online delivery system is not. The customer pays up front don't they?

We do not care that customer's who do not have the internet will not be able to play our games (ala Half Life 2). What backward people playing games do not have the internet? In fact, it would better suit us if the customer paid for the product and then couldn't use the product because they will not be able to criticize it.

Please enquire within. Am willing to pay for dinner (but if your name is Gabe Newell we might go all the way) however overnight accomodation will have to be negotiated.

You Know You Are A Geek When...

You think this is a good way to package a game. Sadly, I think it is a good way to package a game, just to show off my geekiness.

That's right, it is apparently official. Microsoft have decided to make the most expensive retail release of a game ever. You will be able to purchase not just the limited edition Halo 3 (which is now so passee) but the Legendary Edition. This "Legendary" edition will be packaged in the Master Chief's helmet. I hate to think how much this will cost in Australia, but I reckon that chances are it will surpass the ridiculous pricing of the Half Life 2 Limited Editions (or $120 T-Shirt edition). Oh, and you don't just get the helmet but you get the game as well. Amazing, as I reckon there are people out there (strange, lonely people) who would pay money just for the helmet. Of course, you will get a host of extras, of which, you probably not watch any of them.

I might just be preordering one anyway, just to show off my own geekiness. It does mark the end of Halo as a single player experience. Although I am sure that Microsoft will one day in the near future say, "Hang on, Halo made us a lot of money, why did we stop it?"

Game Pricing - Australia's Raw Deal

Video Game pricing in Australia is a rort. The release of Stalker this month will see it's RRP set at $89.95 in Australia. However, in the US the game will be released for only $39.95 (US) or, as converted currency, approx. $51 (Aus). That means that somewhere along the line we are paying an additional $38 or 40 per cent of the cover price again. Where does this money go?

Surely the cost of importing the product, or even producing it here does not warrant an additional 40 per cent in cover price. What is stopping consumers purchasing their PC games online at amazon and paying an additional $10 in postage. They will still be paying a significant amount less than purchasing the product here. The sad thing is that doing this would take away trade from Australian traders. I know, being in a retail shop, that the additional 40 per cent is definitely not going in to the retail shop owners pockets. In fact the percentage of profit made by retailers on the pricing of games has gradually been going down (like everything else) over the last couple of years. It used to be that in the book industry the retailer made approx. 100 per cent markup on the purchased price of literature.

Who is it that sucks up the money that comes out of our pockets. If it is not the retailer (and I assure you it definitely is not) then it must be the publishers and developers who are making the extra money out of Australian Gamers. PC Games are not region encoded and can be played on any PC anywhere. What incentive is there to keep gamers' dollars in Australia when they can easily pay and download a game from overseas for a much cheaper price (direct2drive). Then you have the other consideration. The gaming industry is obsessed with Piracy . So much so that id creator John Carmack came out in the last week and said that piracy is costing the industry billions. They don't seemed to be too concerned about ripping consumers off and turning them in to pirates. No one comes out and says that unfair regional pricing is costing consumers billions. John Carmack is more concerned about what is not going in to his hip pocket as opposed to what is coming out of yours. Why would consumers want to pay an additional 40 per cent on the cover price of exactly the same product? Where is the additional 40 per cent of value in the product they are paying more for?

As a further comparison. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 retails for $59.99 (US) in the states. Converted currency makes it approx. $76 (AUS). However, the RRP for this game in Australia is $119.95. This is an additional $43 on the converted American price.

I am an Australian consumer and I am angry about the price difference. Where is the money going? and if we are meant to have a global economy why isn't there pricing parity? Of course, the film industry know all about the need or want to be able to control world wide releases and pricing of DVD movies through their region encoding.

The industry is more than happy to jump up and down and cry like babies when they talk about the cost of piracy to the industry. However, they are reluctant to talk about the inconsistancy of pricing around the world for the same product and how much this costs consumers. You'll find that this does not just occur with games either, but all products. I am not an advocate for pirates, but I don't believe that consumers in one part of the world should have to pay an equivalent 40 per cent more on the cover price than those from elsewhere in the world.

Format Wars

I want to create a new game (or a discussion about a new game) it is to be called "Format Wars". This game will be a shooter and is focussed around the release of a new format. We have a new format war which has started raging at the moment. The war between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Of course the players behind each format are massive, yet, there is no guarantee that either will be the winner. What do early adopters of technology get except a lighter wallet? These new players retail for well over $1,000 in Australia. That's a lot of money and more than a weeks wage for the average punter. Why would the average punter want to invest in this technology and spend their hard earned dollars only to have the technology dumped at a later date?

What are you getting for this price? Not much. All you are doing is providing Microsoft and Sony a chance to pay their research and development departments for creating the technology in the first place. These inflated prices are all about recouping the R&D costs of the technology. There are still a limited number of movie releases for each format. The irony of the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray war is that it is not just a format war but also a console war. Each format is the sole format behind the PS3 or Xbox 360. The cheapest way to pick up a player of these formats is with either console. The stand alone players are more expensive than the gaming devices.

So, what will happen in the "Format Wars" game? I think that you should have to pick a format and wear the logo of the company which makes it (microsoft or sony) and then you have to shoot down the competing companies format (alla Space Invaders). Rather than create a score you will put more revenue in to the company you support and create an even bigger fat cat of microsoft and Sony. Then at the end of the game no matter what format you have supported you will be called a looser and the other format wins.

It is just a 50/50 chance of which format you choose being the winner. Another twist to this format war is the backers of the formats. Microsoft have the pleasure of literally being in bed with the porn industry (I hope they wear protection and have a good wash afterwards) and Sony are being backed by Hollywood (which gets a lot of its talent from the porn industry). So, you will find out who holds the power in this industry. Crappy porn films or crappy hollywood films.

9 Days to Stalker

Only 9 days till the release of Stalker and I am slightly excited. I have been doing some reading and it seems like they have gone back to the roots of the concept and hopefully will be delivering a sandbox type gaming experience.

Those previews that I have read through have said that the preview code was a bit buggy. And I read in an interview with one of the developers that it isn't quite a large open world. That there are, in fact, three areas. So, we won't have completely seemless gameplay across the entire map. However, I wouldn't consider Oblivion to be a completely sandbox experience either. Oblivion was not seemless. It would have to load going in to and out of buildings and dungeons. A sandbox game should be open with no load time at all besides the initial one it takes to get in to the game. Buggy code is not a great concern to me either. While I don't like it there is an expectation that those games released which are by smaller developers and don't have the budget are going to be a little bit more frustrating and glitchy. Some games which I have played and loved such as X3: The Reunion and Boiling Point have been extremely buggy. X3 was so buggy that it was infuriating. Going through numerous uninstalls and waiting at least six months before an update was released which made the game playable on a long term basis. I now rate X3 as one of the best games I have ever played. However, not all gamers are that tolerant. They want to be able to purchase something and be able to play it (without frustration) straight away and I do agree, however, PC Gaming is not like watching a television show or a movie. The experience of gaming is completely different and the lengths of production are massive compared to television. In order to be able to play games which are not mainstream and offer an experience that goes beyond the level of your standard punched out shooter then you need to be prepared to put up with a little bit of frustration. In the end it is worth it.

I wonder whether the gaming community will be tolerant of a buggy Stalker considering the delays in its production? If the game does not run smoothly and without crashing out of the box what will happen to the sales of this title? If it takes another 3 months to get the game in to a playable state will people consider it to be worth the wait?

Tell Us What You Really Think

I love it when people are caught in candid moments. Moments in which they say what they really think, only to have their boss yell at them later and tell them to pull their head in.

This has already happened at the GDC (Games Developers Conference), but I thought it has been the most quotable quotable so far. Chris Hecker (a designer with Maxis) said that the Wii is a "piece of sh*t". That it was just two gamecubes sandwiched together. No offence Chris, but you didn't have to be Einstein to work that out, just have a look at some of the ingame footage from a cross platform game and compare it to the 360 or PS3.

He went on to say that he wasn't sure whether Nintendo gives a sh*t about games as an art form. That's true. Nintendo cares about Nintendo as an art form. If you haven't worked this out by now then you must be living on another planet. But, Nintendo do what they want. They have always done what they wanted. They have a massive core marketplace in Japan, which is enough to keep them going. They cater for this market through their proprietary characters first and foremost.

The funny thing is that Maxis are responsible for The Sims. A game designed to run on the worst PC possible. They are not responsible for making cutting edge games.

The funniest thing was the turn around which came the next day when EA laid the smack down on him and told him not to be so naughty. Sometimes the truth hurts, but I really don't think Nintendo would have been overly concerned with his comments. It is the highest selling console in the US on a week-to-week basis. They must be doing something right.

Half Life 2: A Complex Story

The Guerrilla Gamer in PC Powerplay (yes, I cancelled my subscription, but I stupidly picked up a copy) is at it again. Claiming that Half Life 2 boasts a complicated story.

I am sorry, it does not. It is, in fact, becoming a completely cliched story which really required no thought at all. Essentially people are being repressed (help, help I am being repressed - Monty Python) by a "superior" race of people/beings and controlled or exterminated for what ever reasons. The story has been used in many stories, "1984" and "Brave New World" were the two books which pioneered stories along this theme. "1984" is the often misquoted book which was written by George Orwell as a means for him to convey what he truely thought about Communism (I am sorry, it was not a forecast about our future but a statement about our present at the time). It was called satire and was related to Orwell's experiences with the communist party where he fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War. "Brave New World" is another misquoted book which talks about a future dystopia where people are controlled based on a program of selective breeding and emotional programming similar to a caste system. Further to this we have a number of movies which have created such worlds. Matrix, Island, Gattaca, Aeon Flux, V for Vendetta, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes (to a degree), Metropolis, Demolition Man, The Running Man, and many others. Plus you have other books based on the theme. Fahrenheit 451 is a classic by sci fi legend Ray Bradbury. You can't tell me that it is not overdone. It may be that it hasn't been overdone in games, but I would disagree. There are many games based on the theme.

Besides the betrayal in the game by character Judith Mossman and then her return to the "good" side nothing really happens. Freeman is placed in a dystopian world where he moves from the train station to the citadel. Having a character progress through a landscape is not story progression. It is character movement. People are being processed for some reason, but that is all you know. These things put together don't make a story. There are no reasons and no progression with the characters and their plight. By placing something in an environment (like those people fighting for the resistance) doesn't mean that their story is told.

I suggest Guerrilla Gamer reads some classic sci-fi to find out how story telling can work. Read some of Philip K Dick's classic novels (The Man in the High Castle, Valis, A Scanner Darkly (one of my favourites), Ubik) or try some of the classic early cyberpunk (William Gibson) and find out how dystopian societies can be portrayed and stories told. Just because a game is created that has some form of progression doesn't mean that a story has been told. It just means that time has passed and you have performed some tasks. Stringing together a number of tasks doesn't create the basis of plot and character development.

The story is so understated in Half Life 2 that the story was not told at all. The characters have no back story. You as a participant in the story have no reason to sympathise with them except that you may have a common past, but what is that past? For there to be emotional attachments to characters you have to have emotional links to them first. Gordan Freeman's actions are not really quantified beyond the premise that he has been chosen for this task?

There's more to his column that I found stupid. To the point where I don't think he reads his own magazine. "PC Powerplay has a historical problem when it comes to backing a certain kind of game. If a game exhibits some very particular characteristics, we tend to give it a very high score [Say what?]. Those characteristics include such things as non-linear storytelling, exemplary levels of player choice, emergent gameplay and AI behaviours, and a setting we haven't already experienced sixteen thousand times before." These are not the things that rate highly in PC Powerplay. To use Half Life 2 as an example (which he does). The game does use non-linear storytelling (it is so non-linear it doesn't exist). Half Life 2 does not present exemplary levels of player choice. The gameplay is entirely linear and offers the players no choice. There is no emergent gameplay as the game is a scripted, corridor shooter. There is no emergent AI in the game. All of the Stalkers are completely scripted. The unscripted AI was stupid (compared to Far Cry at the time which was excellent). Friendly AI would often block your path and make passage through the linear game impossible. A setting we have not experienced 16,000 times before. Freeman is the man who saves the world. Sounds like a setting we've heard of before. Yet, Half Life 2 received 10 out of 10.

So, whatever you reckon Guerrilla Gamer you get paid for your opinion so it must be worth something, right?

Sony's Home Away from Home

Sony are proposing to create an online community called, funny enough, "home". Obviously the trendiest thing about gaming, the bandwagon we should all jump on, the mecca of financial reward for all capitalistic game developers, is the MMO or related online communities. So, just to show you that they too can jump on the bandwagon are creating their own personalized online community around the PS3.

"With an avatar uniquely customized according to each user's preference, users can explore the 3D community that is Home - a sleek modern environment featuring spacious common areas; custom spaces dedicated to specific games; and personal apartments. Each user is assigned an apartment in Home where they can invite others to join them as they show off their own style in an area they can personalize themselves with furniture, art and other items," Sony's press release reads. "The service, known as 'Home,' will enable users to create their own avatar and explore a real-time virtual community, as if they are playing a detailed 3D game for PS3."

I must admit that many other times people have attempted to create these online environments they haven't been overly successful. It is interesting to note that many times in the press release users are, in fact, referred to as consumers and the environment will be a place of commerce and trade. So, now we get down to the nugget of Home. Izumi Kawanishi (Corporate Executive and CTO Software, SCEI) says, "I feel strongly that this unique blend of community, user-generated content, collaboration and commerce will expand the future of computer entertainment." Sony were extremely reluctant to have users (consumers) profit from the time they spent online playing the original Everquest. In fact, most software developers get extremely unhappy when users (consumers) profit from the time (their own time and not the software developers) they spend online. Sony, eventually, succumbed to the need to have some control and, more importantly, to make some money out of Everquest 2 and, as a result, set up a system in which to control it.

Home goes in to closed Beta very soon and they hope to launch it later in the year.

Xbox Live Kachink ... Kachink

Xbox Live hits 6 million users ahead of schedule. You know that when Microsoft makes an announcement like this it's because they hear the dollars clicking over ... kachink ... kachink. But, it would have to be said that at the moment they are playing a game of who can demoralize Sony the most. As Microsoft and Nintendo move in to lay the boot in to their biggest rival and, one would have to say, their console Arch Nemesis Sony.

Do you think that more attention would be paid to gaming news if it was put together like a battle waged between monolithic enemies in a comic book environment rather than boring old ticker tape news feed? If Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are seen as heroes touting a different cause in a battle waged against each other to convert people to their cause of righteousness and all round goodness (the capitalistic cause of righteousness is, of course, to make more money). That each move in this game was portrayed as a monumental fight with "kapows, kabangs and kaspatches" rather than boring numbers.

Isn't gaming news at that point where you could report anything and most gamers wouldn't even take notice. Let's face it, release dates aren't taken seriously. Gamers probably couldn't tell you which gaming developers had gone out of business in the last five years and no one remembers numbers and statistics longer than five seconds.

Oh well, I guess, that this is just a pipe dream and gamers really do take notice of gaming news. If that is what gets your goat then you will want to know that 2.5 billion hours have been spent playing online through Xbox Live. (Yawn, who cares.) Or, to re-report this in a more interesting way, Microsoft Kapowed its arch enemies online gaming services to let them know that people had spent so muchh time playing games online that you couldn't even count them in dog years ... and that mean lots.

Manifesto of a Fan Boy (or, Fan Boi, if you must)

Love them or hate them, I am so taken with the notion of the “Fan Boy” that I have decided to write them a manifesto. Not that they need one because no one could tell them any differently anyway. Insert your own product name (such as PS3 or Xbox 360) where the manifesto says .

Manifesto of a Fan Boy

I will blindly support [PRODUCT] with such blinkered and fervent love that it could be considered fanaticism. My love of the product stems from a deep seated desire to be more than just an ardent admirer but a loyal, committed and one sided promoter of the product. I will never criticize [PRODUCT] as it is beyond reproach. I will support [PRODUCT] to the point that it will seem that I have made the product with my own hands, using my own sweat and tears, in my own time and for my own profit.

I am like an active arm of [PRODUCT]'s marketing department prepared to shoot down any one who criticizes the product in any way. I will become a forum troll and flame anyone who has a differing point of view or any sort view on a competitor's product.

I am not blind just a loyal and devoted follower who cannot see any other point of view.

I will, on a daily basis, fight the competition at the war front. I will fight them in the forums, in the chat rooms, on game servers, in gaming news. I will fight them where ever they challenge my point of view. I will never surrender.

Do not ask me why I do this because I cannot answer the question. I do not know at what point in time I became brain washed by a company's marketing department. I don't know why it is that I lost all forms of critical thought. Why it is that I find the energy let alone can be bothered to do this every day is beyond me. I don't believe that I will ever be able to regain the possibility of critical thought. When this product dies I will find another to take its place. I need this ardent fanaticism in my life to weed out the shallow and meaningless nature of my existence.

Without [PRODUCT] I am nothing.

Commodore Revival

This is news which will send some of the older gamers (that means they are more distinguished) in to a bit of a spin. It has been announced that a new range of Commodore gaming PCs will be launched at CeBIT 2007. The brand labelled as Commodore Gaming is set to bring the name Commodore back to gaming PCs.

CeBIT is a computer and technology fair which is held in Germany. It is said to be the world's largest and an ideal place inwhich to relaunch Commodore.

This news is being widely reported on the interweb, yet I can't seem to locate an press release for it to verify the news. I still wonder if this is another wonderful interweb hoax. What will be of this new brand? The Commodore 64 is the worlds largest selling personal computer. It is a label which will be difficult to break. The Commodore brand was traditionally about bringing good quality low cost computers in to the home. This is not something which you believe would be possible with current cost of gaming machines. If you go to the Alienware (that company owned by Dell - they kept that on the hush hush) you can spend over $10,000 (AUS) on an extremely high end gaming PC. This doesn't seem to be Commodore's traditional market. Furthermore, they were responsible for bring the computer in to the home. Times have changed a great deal since then. This industry has grown up. At that time the home PC market was in its infancy. I don't believe that a brand can survive on sentimental reasons alone. I definitely won't be spending my hard earned on a Commodore Gaming PC just because it was the first PC I had when I was a kid. I can build my own PC now, something which I couldn't do then, and save a bucket load of dollars in doing it too.

Sony Struggles

Sony has been seen as struggling from without in recent times. Now internal problems are being reported which show that it may also be struggling from within. Gamespot are reporting that the current CEO (Sir Howard Stringer) is going public about current problems he's been having with Ken Kutaragi. It is not often that a corporation will air its dirty laundry and especially against someone who has such a mythic public persona as Kutaragi, the so-called father of the playstation.

It has been alleged that Kutaragi allowed the development costs of the PS3 to blow out. It has been alleged that Kutaragi's slowness in negotiation has cost Sony some key exclusive titles such as GTA IV and Assassin's Creed. Kuturagi pushed for a price drop of the 20gig version of the console to help in its market position, however, the apparent price drop has been hurting Sony as well.

Sony has been moving Kutaragi away from the day-to-day functioning of the business. He is now meant to be responsible for developing next-gen games titles. Given that the next-gen is now the current generation, with the completed release of all 3 major consoles, does that mean that he is developing game titles for the next console due for release after the PS3? Maybe, he is working on his own brand of managment simulation game. The game could be called Sony. The player could take on the day to day management of a large multinational company which was once a powerhouse but is falling to its competition. The idea of the game is to make the company a success while dodging all of the negative publicity it is receiving but maybe that will be mission impossible?

Elevator Action on its way to the Wii

One of my favourite retro games is on its way to the Wii Virtual Console. Elevator Action is an extremely simple concept. You start in a building and you have to collect items out of the red doors on your way down to the ground level. Enemy agents will try to stop you, but you can shoot, jump or run your way around them. It is possible to trap an enemy agent under or on top of an elevator and squash them in some way (my favourite). Elevator Action will be available for download for approx. $5 (or 500 points).

Shame Nintendo have got this game. I would have liked for it to have been released on Xbox Live Arcade. Doh. I'll have to keep playing it on Taito Legends.

Also, another favourite platform game, Super Ghosts and Goblins is being released on the Wii Console. A couple of good retro gaming titles for Wii fans. Sword of Vermillion is the other game available as well.

www.thecynicalgamer.com is live

You can change your web browser to point to http://www.thecynicalgamer.com or click this link and bookmark the page. That's right we just found out that the internet is on computers now and have actually registered the cynical gamer domain name.

At the moment we will maintain the blog as is without alteration, however, we will look at developing the cynical gamer further with, hopefully, more content. The problem at the moment is that only two of us work on the blog. I write all of the material and my brother does the html and graphics part of the blog.

I have a few ideas which I would like to implement to develop the site further. The biggest problem that I have in following through with this is time. Writing content takes a large chunk of time and we currently work full time and fit the Cynical Gamer in when we can. Change your browser to list the new http address then when the changes take place you won't have to do anything to find the new home of The Cynical Gamer.

Sony Ready to Rumble

Sony has been involved in a long standing court case which saw them being sued for breach of patent. This court case against Immersion has seen Sony reportedly drop the rumble feature from the PS3 controller. The Sony press release didn't say anything about the court case. It stated, "Pursuant to the introduction of this new six-axis sensing system, the vibration feature that is currently available on DUALSHOCK and DUALSHOCK 2 controllers for PlayStation and PlayStation 2, will be removed from the new PS3 controller as vibration itself interferes with information detected by the sensor." This has been coupled with Sony basically saying that rumble technology is not integral to game play and that gamers basically don't need it.

However, it seems that Sony and Immersion have sorted out their little ... well, tiff. In which Sony have agreed to pay damages to Immersion. This has led to a very quick "patching up" of their relationship as Sony are being reported to be considering bringing back the rumble feature to the PS3 controller. Even though they were saying that gamers didn't need it they are prepared to bring it back. Maybe, this is due to their cost cutting of the backward compatibility hardware out of the PAL consoles for a saving of approx. $25 per unit.

It irritates me that a corporation says one thing to justify their position (taking the rumble feature out) and not telling the truth (we are having a court case over patent infringement). And then stating things like, It is not necessary with games now to have a rumble feature. Only then to suggest later that the technology will be reintroduced to the controller. What do they think people are stupid? Do they think that we have a five second memory? It just irritates me completely that we are treated as though we are stupid.

Let's face it, Sony have had an interesting couple of years. They have been blamed for the exploding notebook batteries supplied to Dell creating a massive recall. They have been blamed for putting spyware on their CDs creating a massive recall. They had their credit rating downgraded. They have been blamed for infringing patents from Immersion and are having to pay out a massive amount world wide. You could say they are not the best of worldwide corporate citizens at the moment.

The PS3 has not been the launch success they would have liked. Is Sony actually in some trouble?

Video Game Bashing All The Rage

It seems that video games are to blame for everything. If it is possible to find a study or survey and relate it in some way to video games then researchers will do it. Gamespot are reporting that a study undertaken in the UK says that respondants claim to drive more dangerously after playing video games.

The BBC reported as such, "More than a third of young drivers are more likely to go faster on the roads after playing on-screen driving games, a survey suggests. And 27% of motorists aged under 24 admitted more risk-taking on the road after a gaming session."

The thing that made me laugh the most was that 34% of the drivers questioned believed that playing video games made them a better driver. Does that mean that if questioned in the same manner video games would make them a better killer or better soldier or better voyeur (as in the case of The Sims).

What will we see video games become the fall guy for in the future? The drought we are having at the moment has been reported to be the cause of video games. Increased interest rates - video games. Global Warming - more video games. Michael Jackson's bad plastic surgery - once again blamed on video games. Lee Harvey Oswald yelled that he was just a patsy. Maybe the video game industry should be doing the same.

Of course, the bottom line is that drivers don't drive faster after playing a video game because they are easily influenced or (let me say) stupid, but because of video games.

Speedball 2 Remake

Speedball is one of the all time classic sports games. One of the reasons why it the game is a classic is because it was an original concept. It was a take on handball, which is extremely popular in Europe, but with a violent twist. You could literally take down your opponents in order to gain possession of the ball. Not many "original" sports game concepts are released which have any relative success.

Some sites are reporting this as Frogster Interactive making the sequel which never happened, but this is not true. Speedball 2 was made and released on the Amiga. So this means that this game is a remake or a retake of the original. You can check out the official website here. They have got the game listed for a summer 2007 release (that would be our winter). There isn't to wait for the game to come out. However, Speedball has seen several reincarnations since being orginally developed and it has made appearances on the Gameboy Advance and the Playstation.

The original game was developed by the Bitmap Brothers. They were responsible for a number of original game concepts on the Amgia/Commodore computers. One of their more recent game titles was World War 2: Frontline Command.

The official press release from Frogster is as follows: "In the third quarter of 2007, Frogster Interactive is set to publish Speedball 2 as the longed-for sequel to the Amiga classic. The new release on PC transforms the futuristic game setting with the help of state-of-the-art technology into a high-speed online sports spectacle. Offering international leagues, a large-scale ranking system and a virtual marketplace, Speedball 2 pulls all the registers of modern multiplayer gaming action. Fully customisable characters from cyborg to amazon, dynamic sports battles, and continuous community support will convince sports simulation enthusiasts, action fans, and e-sports cracks likewise."

Hopefully Frogster will capture the true spirit of the original and give this classic a new lease on life.