Official Site: http://www.dorkly.com/originals
It's always a bit tricky pronouncing certain words in video games when voice acting wasn't used that often (and even then, some names were/are being mispronounced). Some words and names just don't sound like what they're spelled, like Gaiden, Kage, Melee, Drow, or the ever so popular: Mana.
Thanks Dorkly, your videos make me smile.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
VGCulture - Videogame Lore in a Minute
Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/lore
Source: Youtube Channel Lore (Link on top)
I've noticed a few "lore" videos on Youtube that tells the story of a game or series in the past, but I didn't realize how many of them were made. One of them was uploaded and posted yesterday that talk about the Guild Wars lore probably due to the Guild Wars 2 Beta that begins today for those who pre-purchased it. These "lore" videos is a minute long short written, edited, drawn, animated, and voiced by various youtubers from the videogame community. They're short, informative, and quite humorous. I do have to warn those who watch them that they contain all the main plots of a game and so if you've never played that game and plan to, don't watch it. I had to cut the Mass Effect video short as I realized there were quite a bit of plot twists I didn't want ruined. Yes, I'm still on the first Mass Effect since I lost my save files a 2nd time from my laptop crashing back in January. Anyways, I wish you all good weekend. Happy testing to those in the beta for Guild Wars 2!
Source: Youtube Channel Lore (Link on top)
I've noticed a few "lore" videos on Youtube that tells the story of a game or series in the past, but I didn't realize how many of them were made. One of them was uploaded and posted yesterday that talk about the Guild Wars lore probably due to the Guild Wars 2 Beta that begins today for those who pre-purchased it. These "lore" videos is a minute long short written, edited, drawn, animated, and voiced by various youtubers from the videogame community. They're short, informative, and quite humorous. I do have to warn those who watch them that they contain all the main plots of a game and so if you've never played that game and plan to, don't watch it. I had to cut the Mass Effect video short as I realized there were quite a bit of plot twists I didn't want ruined. Yes, I'm still on the first Mass Effect since I lost my save files a 2nd time from my laptop crashing back in January. Anyways, I wish you all good weekend. Happy testing to those in the beta for Guild Wars 2!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
VGCulture - A taste of Phantasy Star Online 2
Official Site: http://pso2.jp/
Source: Youtube Channel Keirnoth
Up till now, I've been watching players from around the world participate in the alpha testing of Phantasy Star Online 2 and the videos they've uploaded. The game eventually went into closed beta and I didn't want to follow it too much anymore since it was such as tease knowing it's playable, but not by me. Then Sega announced a character creation demo open to the public to mess around with and check out what kind of hunter one can make. Planning on messing around with the demo, I jumped onto chat a few days ago to join some friends for some League of Legends and I heard them talking about robots and magic. "What game are you guys talking about?" I asked. "Phantasy Star Online 2!" I screamed with excitement just hearing the name and asked them why they were talking about it. Well, they've been playing it! Shortly after, my friend offered me a beta invite that ends this Saturday to allow me to participate in the testing. Needless to say, I was enthralled by the opportunity presented to me.
After about 3-4 hours of registration, downloads, and patching, I started up the game and spent the next "hour" just creating my character. There's an array of customizable features that a player can choose from such as facial features, body type, clothing, color, hair styles, height, accessories, angles of certain features, length of arms and legs, etc. Even when the beta ends, I'm probably going to be messing around with the character creation demo all year long! After having my fun from creating my character, I jump into the game and start checking out every change the game has had from the original Phantasy Star Online game:
-Better graphics (this is a given)
-Being able to jump! (This was also a big deal for Guild Wars 2 when it was revealed)
-Combos can be chained indefinitely
-Different types of combos can be created through various skills and weapon switching
-Stronger attacks can be executed by timing the attacks (A mix from the original and Portable)
-The ability to dodge attacks (from Phantasy Star Zero)
-Capable of chaining combos in the air and attacking after a jump
-Each weapon has their own technique chips (from Phantasy Star Universe)
-Technique chips can be arranged as a combo chain
-Third-Person Style shooting works incredibly well (a variation from Universe's horrid FPS view)
-You can shoot and move at the same time!
-Everyone gets their own loot, no more loot stealing or priority sharing (from Phantasy Star Zero)
-Special events can happen in the middle of a dungeon run
-There are certain situations where 12 players can quest together at the same time
-Enemies have weak points on them where players can specifically aim at
-Classes can be interchanged (from Phantasy Star Universe)
-Each class has their own special skill tree that enhances their abilities
-Lobbies are incredibly large compared to the original
UPDATE:
-I just played a HUNTER class and yes, you can block at will
-You can air dodge after a jump
I think that covers a lot of the new changes. The only thing I'm not sure about is the ability to block (in Phantasy Star Zero, it's possible to block with a shield equipped while in Phantasy Star Portable 2 it's possible to block an attack with armor attachments). It's like they took everything that was great about the original, the spin-offs and notated the problems from them to create what Phantasy Star Online 2 is what it is now. I saw a similar development trend with Koei's Dynasty Warriors 7 where they took all that they've learned and used in spin-offs and past games to put into DW7 which made it refined and great. With a taste of what's in store, I can only hope that PSO2 is brought over to the Western market. PSO2 could very easily become one of my favorite games in the future. No news of a solid release date has been announced for Japan and no news of an international release has been revealed. Please Sega, give us Phantasy Star Online 2!!!!!
Source: Youtube Channel Keirnoth
Up till now, I've been watching players from around the world participate in the alpha testing of Phantasy Star Online 2 and the videos they've uploaded. The game eventually went into closed beta and I didn't want to follow it too much anymore since it was such as tease knowing it's playable, but not by me. Then Sega announced a character creation demo open to the public to mess around with and check out what kind of hunter one can make. Planning on messing around with the demo, I jumped onto chat a few days ago to join some friends for some League of Legends and I heard them talking about robots and magic. "What game are you guys talking about?" I asked. "Phantasy Star Online 2!" I screamed with excitement just hearing the name and asked them why they were talking about it. Well, they've been playing it! Shortly after, my friend offered me a beta invite that ends this Saturday to allow me to participate in the testing. Needless to say, I was enthralled by the opportunity presented to me.
After about 3-4 hours of registration, downloads, and patching, I started up the game and spent the next "hour" just creating my character. There's an array of customizable features that a player can choose from such as facial features, body type, clothing, color, hair styles, height, accessories, angles of certain features, length of arms and legs, etc. Even when the beta ends, I'm probably going to be messing around with the character creation demo all year long! After having my fun from creating my character, I jump into the game and start checking out every change the game has had from the original Phantasy Star Online game:
-Better graphics (this is a given)
-Being able to jump! (This was also a big deal for Guild Wars 2 when it was revealed)
-Combos can be chained indefinitely
-Different types of combos can be created through various skills and weapon switching
-Stronger attacks can be executed by timing the attacks (A mix from the original and Portable)
-The ability to dodge attacks (from Phantasy Star Zero)
-Capable of chaining combos in the air and attacking after a jump
-Each weapon has their own technique chips (from Phantasy Star Universe)
-Technique chips can be arranged as a combo chain
-Third-Person Style shooting works incredibly well (a variation from Universe's horrid FPS view)
-You can shoot and move at the same time!
-Everyone gets their own loot, no more loot stealing or priority sharing (from Phantasy Star Zero)
-Special events can happen in the middle of a dungeon run
-There are certain situations where 12 players can quest together at the same time
-Enemies have weak points on them where players can specifically aim at
-Classes can be interchanged (from Phantasy Star Universe)
-Each class has their own special skill tree that enhances their abilities
-Lobbies are incredibly large compared to the original
UPDATE:
-I just played a HUNTER class and yes, you can block at will
-You can air dodge after a jump
I think that covers a lot of the new changes. The only thing I'm not sure about is the ability to block (in Phantasy Star Zero, it's possible to block with a shield equipped while in Phantasy Star Portable 2 it's possible to block an attack with armor attachments). It's like they took everything that was great about the original, the spin-offs and notated the problems from them to create what Phantasy Star Online 2 is what it is now. I saw a similar development trend with Koei's Dynasty Warriors 7 where they took all that they've learned and used in spin-offs and past games to put into DW7 which made it refined and great. With a taste of what's in store, I can only hope that PSO2 is brought over to the Western market. PSO2 could very easily become one of my favorite games in the future. No news of a solid release date has been announced for Japan and no news of an international release has been revealed. Please Sega, give us Phantasy Star Online 2!!!!!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Retroview - Painkiller: Black Edition
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3200/
Source: Youtube Channel GOGcom
A month ago, I finally got around to finishing Painkiller. As I've mentioned in a past post about the series, I had seen a pack sold on Steam for the longest time but neglected it until I saw all 4 games sold together for $5 and decided to get the game to mindlessly shoot things when I needed to relax. Well, I got what I wanted and went through about 10 hours of bunny hopping and shooting monsters in the face. Painkiller, originally developed by People Can Fly, is a first-person shooter where the main character is sent to hell to fight off Lucifer and his minions to have the rights to return to heaven to his wife who died alongside the main character in a car crash. The game is fast-paced with hordes of enemies swarming the player. The game mechanics work similarly to Quake and Unreal in that the guns don't require aiming down sight, the player can jump far, high and quickly consistently, and mowing down rows of enemies isn't a problem as long as the player doesn't die. What the developers tried to achieve in the design of the game is having the constant pressure of enemies constantly after the player so that the player doesn't really have enough time to think but rather reacts instinctively. For the most part, the game was entertaining and had incredible environments that made certain moments memorable. The game is repetitive and mostly involves hopping around to avoid gunfire and shooting enemies with various weapons. The only time where it wasn't just shooting enemies is boss battles where it's more of a puzzle than a real fight (except against Lucifer which was a difficult and the most memorable boss fight). It's amazing playing the game now since the game was released back in 2004 but had a lot of interesting level and concept designs that kept the player on edge. People Can Fly had moved on from the game while it was passed from one developer to another only to receive a lower score on Metacritic with each passing game. I haven't got around to installing the 2nd in the series, but I suppose I'll get around to it one day. It was a good distraction from the FPS we have today since it played so differently.
Source: Youtube Channel GOGcom
A month ago, I finally got around to finishing Painkiller. As I've mentioned in a past post about the series, I had seen a pack sold on Steam for the longest time but neglected it until I saw all 4 games sold together for $5 and decided to get the game to mindlessly shoot things when I needed to relax. Well, I got what I wanted and went through about 10 hours of bunny hopping and shooting monsters in the face. Painkiller, originally developed by People Can Fly, is a first-person shooter where the main character is sent to hell to fight off Lucifer and his minions to have the rights to return to heaven to his wife who died alongside the main character in a car crash. The game is fast-paced with hordes of enemies swarming the player. The game mechanics work similarly to Quake and Unreal in that the guns don't require aiming down sight, the player can jump far, high and quickly consistently, and mowing down rows of enemies isn't a problem as long as the player doesn't die. What the developers tried to achieve in the design of the game is having the constant pressure of enemies constantly after the player so that the player doesn't really have enough time to think but rather reacts instinctively. For the most part, the game was entertaining and had incredible environments that made certain moments memorable. The game is repetitive and mostly involves hopping around to avoid gunfire and shooting enemies with various weapons. The only time where it wasn't just shooting enemies is boss battles where it's more of a puzzle than a real fight (except against Lucifer which was a difficult and the most memorable boss fight). It's amazing playing the game now since the game was released back in 2004 but had a lot of interesting level and concept designs that kept the player on edge. People Can Fly had moved on from the game while it was passed from one developer to another only to receive a lower score on Metacritic with each passing game. I haven't got around to installing the 2nd in the series, but I suppose I'll get around to it one day. It was a good distraction from the FPS we have today since it played so differently.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
GameLight - Cherry Tree High Comedy Club
Official Site: http://cherrytreehigh.com/
Source: Youtube Channel NyuMedia
Indie games have become a more prominent force in the market, but Japan has had indie games for the longest time created by "circles" or sometimes "individuals". A lot of great indie games have been created in Japan for the longest time and only those who know about them has a chance of trying some of them out. Certain indie games require a significant amount of reading but are still great games which leave non-speaking Japanese players out of the loop. Luckily, more translating groups such as Nyu Media are established to give us English speaking gamers a chance to play those awesome Japanese indie games.
Cherry Tree High Comedy Club, although not entirely clarified, is a sort of adventure/visual novel game where much of the gameplay revolves around talking and decision making. The main character is trying to create a comedy club within her school but is required to have at least 5 members to establish it (this should sound familiar to those who've watched Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu). So the player goes around earning money, recruiting members, and building up conversational skills to finally get the club up and going. The game is light hearted with humor, original animé-styled sprites and graphics, laid-back and catchy music, and all sorts of interesting characters. Talking as a main gameplay concept might sound boring, but if you've played any adventure game like the Sam & Max series, visual novel type games like the Phoenix Wright series (I know it's sort of like a mystery and adventure game too), or any of BioWare's RPGs and enjoyed the dialogue parts of the game, there's a good chance that Comedy Club will be a very enjoyable game to play. I've never heard of this game before (as I do try to keep up with some Japanese doujin/indie games), but I think it has made me that much more excited that Nyu Media/Capcom is surprising me with a game I've never seen. I'm very excited about Cherry Tree High Comedy Club and thank Nyu Media for bringing it over to the Western market to give us a chance to play it.
Cherry Tree High Comedy Club releases on April 27th, 2012 on Steam, GamersGate, GameTap, GameFly, Impulse and the Capcom Store as well as their own site up on the top link for $7.99.
Source: Youtube Channel NyuMedia
Indie games have become a more prominent force in the market, but Japan has had indie games for the longest time created by "circles" or sometimes "individuals". A lot of great indie games have been created in Japan for the longest time and only those who know about them has a chance of trying some of them out. Certain indie games require a significant amount of reading but are still great games which leave non-speaking Japanese players out of the loop. Luckily, more translating groups such as Nyu Media are established to give us English speaking gamers a chance to play those awesome Japanese indie games.
Cherry Tree High Comedy Club, although not entirely clarified, is a sort of adventure/visual novel game where much of the gameplay revolves around talking and decision making. The main character is trying to create a comedy club within her school but is required to have at least 5 members to establish it (this should sound familiar to those who've watched Suzumiya Haruhi no Yūutsu). So the player goes around earning money, recruiting members, and building up conversational skills to finally get the club up and going. The game is light hearted with humor, original animé-styled sprites and graphics, laid-back and catchy music, and all sorts of interesting characters. Talking as a main gameplay concept might sound boring, but if you've played any adventure game like the Sam & Max series, visual novel type games like the Phoenix Wright series (I know it's sort of like a mystery and adventure game too), or any of BioWare's RPGs and enjoyed the dialogue parts of the game, there's a good chance that Comedy Club will be a very enjoyable game to play. I've never heard of this game before (as I do try to keep up with some Japanese doujin/indie games), but I think it has made me that much more excited that Nyu Media/Capcom is surprising me with a game I've never seen. I'm very excited about Cherry Tree High Comedy Club and thank Nyu Media for bringing it over to the Western market to give us a chance to play it.
Cherry Tree High Comedy Club releases on April 27th, 2012 on Steam, GamersGate, GameTap, GameFly, Impulse and the Capcom Store as well as their own site up on the top link for $7.99.
Monday, April 23, 2012
GameLight - TERA Online
Official Site: http://tera.enmasse.com/
Source: Youtube Channel onrpg
I heard about TERA Online 4-5 years ago, saw it at E3 2010 and signed up for Beta 2 years ago, and finally just this past weekend I got to participate in the open beta testing. TERA Online boasts itself for being the first true "Action-RPG" MMO experience. I've tried many self-proclaimed "Action-RPG" MMOs but only ended up with another variation of the point-n-click RPG that has been used since the Ultima Online days, but for once I was not disappointed. Rather than click with a mouse pointer, the game is played much like an action-adventure game or third-person shooter where WASD keys moves the character while the mouse controls the camera and aiming reticle. By default, the left-mouse click is the standard attack while the right-mouse click is a sort of evasive maneuver. So if the player isn't facing an enemy or aiming where the enemy is at, their attacks will miss. Special skills are more than just extra damage and require panning the aim reticle, charging the skill, or choosing where the attacks will land. You can watch videos or read about the game, but the experience can't be understood unless played by the player and having a feel for the mechanics.
The first thing I notice right away when logging in the game was how graphic intensive the game was. The environments are incredibly beautiful, the characters are very pretty (though a lot of the male characters were generic and boring), the weapon effects were flashy and had nice feedback on attacks, the quests had a nice flow to them, and most of the voice acting was decent (I remember one guy acted out line that was horrible and out of character). Sadly, the soundtrack didn't really have anything outstanding that I could remember. This generally doesn't affect anyone's experience with a game (especially when a lot of people play their own music when playing an MMO), but I like it when a game has memorable music as it's a good way to remind me of a game and draws me back to it if it's so good that I just want to listen to it. Still, the gameplay captivated me and I had a lot of fun fighting 10-30 enemies at once and still coming out alive. The game mechanics allowed me to be strategic about approaching a fight, utilize skills to avoid getting hit and fighting multiple enemies at the same time, and enables me to do more than just mash buttons for more damage. The ability to dodge enemy attacks is FINALLY starting to be implemented more into so called "Action-RPGs" and it's a welcome addition to the gameplay (just like with blocking). One other mechanic that surprised me was being able to group harvest. If you're in a party with another player, you can gather flowers, minerals, and essence at the same time and it would increase the speed of gathering with all players getting their share and even cheering together at the same time. PvP would also be a very interesting aspect (I didn't get to try a real PvP mode but did do a duel) as players can't auto-lock other players and require positioning and aiming. In short, I really enjoyed the game from what I played. The game is set to launch on May 1st, 2012 and will require a monthly subscription. Click on the top link for more information on TERA Online.
Source: Youtube Channel onrpg
I heard about TERA Online 4-5 years ago, saw it at E3 2010 and signed up for Beta 2 years ago, and finally just this past weekend I got to participate in the open beta testing. TERA Online boasts itself for being the first true "Action-RPG" MMO experience. I've tried many self-proclaimed "Action-RPG" MMOs but only ended up with another variation of the point-n-click RPG that has been used since the Ultima Online days, but for once I was not disappointed. Rather than click with a mouse pointer, the game is played much like an action-adventure game or third-person shooter where WASD keys moves the character while the mouse controls the camera and aiming reticle. By default, the left-mouse click is the standard attack while the right-mouse click is a sort of evasive maneuver. So if the player isn't facing an enemy or aiming where the enemy is at, their attacks will miss. Special skills are more than just extra damage and require panning the aim reticle, charging the skill, or choosing where the attacks will land. You can watch videos or read about the game, but the experience can't be understood unless played by the player and having a feel for the mechanics.
The first thing I notice right away when logging in the game was how graphic intensive the game was. The environments are incredibly beautiful, the characters are very pretty (though a lot of the male characters were generic and boring), the weapon effects were flashy and had nice feedback on attacks, the quests had a nice flow to them, and most of the voice acting was decent (I remember one guy acted out line that was horrible and out of character). Sadly, the soundtrack didn't really have anything outstanding that I could remember. This generally doesn't affect anyone's experience with a game (especially when a lot of people play their own music when playing an MMO), but I like it when a game has memorable music as it's a good way to remind me of a game and draws me back to it if it's so good that I just want to listen to it. Still, the gameplay captivated me and I had a lot of fun fighting 10-30 enemies at once and still coming out alive. The game mechanics allowed me to be strategic about approaching a fight, utilize skills to avoid getting hit and fighting multiple enemies at the same time, and enables me to do more than just mash buttons for more damage. The ability to dodge enemy attacks is FINALLY starting to be implemented more into so called "Action-RPGs" and it's a welcome addition to the gameplay (just like with blocking). One other mechanic that surprised me was being able to group harvest. If you're in a party with another player, you can gather flowers, minerals, and essence at the same time and it would increase the speed of gathering with all players getting their share and even cheering together at the same time. PvP would also be a very interesting aspect (I didn't get to try a real PvP mode but did do a duel) as players can't auto-lock other players and require positioning and aiming. In short, I really enjoyed the game from what I played. The game is set to launch on May 1st, 2012 and will require a monthly subscription. Click on the top link for more information on TERA Online.
Friday, April 20, 2012
GameOn - MOBA Games - League of Legends
Official Site: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/
Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc
If we are to talk about MOBA Games, League of Legends (LoL) is bound to be the one game to be brought up (other than DotA 2 which isn't officially out yet). I have accumulated close to 600 hours on LoL since I first started 2.5 years ago when DotA was still my main MOBA game. That is perhaps the most I have ever spent on a single game (even more than Phantasy Star Online). It is undeniable that Riot Games' League of Legends is the most popular MOBA game on the market and one of the most played online games. Although there are many similarities from DotA's cast of characters, many of the champions in LoL are distinct with their own personality, unique play-style, and story background. The game is constantly expanding, improving, and updated so that the game's quality continues to further itself. A new champion is released every month with changes to existing ones to balance out the gameplay. There are many things that Riot does right with the new MOBA genre: simple to learn gameplay while still keeping it highly competitive and challenging, organized user-interface and comprehensible item shop, impeccable level design and art style that distinguishes objects from each other and the environment, and listening to the community to keep them involved. Like many other games, it does have its faults. The community is filled with younger audiences which unfortunately brings a lot of immaturity, whining/raging, name calling, and profanity filled goodness along with high egos and arrogance (this is not a generalization, you can tell the difference before schools out and right when the time they get back home). Children aren't the only ones to blame as many adults can be just as disrespectful and uncouth as they are in the streets. In short: the general community of LoL is ill-mannered and hard to get along with. That doesn't mean that everyone who plays LoL are going to rip your head off if you happen to do something wrong. In fact, I had a few matches where players from both teams were very courteous and joked around a lot which made the game really enjoyable (rare case, but they exist). Another problem is that the game frequently suffers from lag, bugs, disconnections to the server, glitches, and problems (usually right after a new patch). The Riot team is incredibly hard working though and has always made it a point to notate all issues and remedy them. The following for LoL is very strong and so there are a lot guides and videos that help players understand the game better. LoL is very balanced and the dynamics of how the game can be played makes for a very interesting match each time one plays. I highly recommend League of Legends for anyone who wants to play a MOBA game as an introduction to the genre as it's one of the easiest to learn and get into. Click on the top link and click play for free on the upper right hand corner to begin downloading and playing. This concludes this week's GameOn event, I hope everyone enjoyed it.
Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc
If we are to talk about MOBA Games, League of Legends (LoL) is bound to be the one game to be brought up (other than DotA 2 which isn't officially out yet). I have accumulated close to 600 hours on LoL since I first started 2.5 years ago when DotA was still my main MOBA game. That is perhaps the most I have ever spent on a single game (even more than Phantasy Star Online). It is undeniable that Riot Games' League of Legends is the most popular MOBA game on the market and one of the most played online games. Although there are many similarities from DotA's cast of characters, many of the champions in LoL are distinct with their own personality, unique play-style, and story background. The game is constantly expanding, improving, and updated so that the game's quality continues to further itself. A new champion is released every month with changes to existing ones to balance out the gameplay. There are many things that Riot does right with the new MOBA genre: simple to learn gameplay while still keeping it highly competitive and challenging, organized user-interface and comprehensible item shop, impeccable level design and art style that distinguishes objects from each other and the environment, and listening to the community to keep them involved. Like many other games, it does have its faults. The community is filled with younger audiences which unfortunately brings a lot of immaturity, whining/raging, name calling, and profanity filled goodness along with high egos and arrogance (this is not a generalization, you can tell the difference before schools out and right when the time they get back home). Children aren't the only ones to blame as many adults can be just as disrespectful and uncouth as they are in the streets. In short: the general community of LoL is ill-mannered and hard to get along with. That doesn't mean that everyone who plays LoL are going to rip your head off if you happen to do something wrong. In fact, I had a few matches where players from both teams were very courteous and joked around a lot which made the game really enjoyable (rare case, but they exist). Another problem is that the game frequently suffers from lag, bugs, disconnections to the server, glitches, and problems (usually right after a new patch). The Riot team is incredibly hard working though and has always made it a point to notate all issues and remedy them. The following for LoL is very strong and so there are a lot guides and videos that help players understand the game better. LoL is very balanced and the dynamics of how the game can be played makes for a very interesting match each time one plays. I highly recommend League of Legends for anyone who wants to play a MOBA game as an introduction to the genre as it's one of the easiest to learn and get into. Click on the top link and click play for free on the upper right hand corner to begin downloading and playing. This concludes this week's GameOn event, I hope everyone enjoyed it.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
GameOn - MOBA Games - Avalon Heroes
Official Site: http://avalonheroes.en.alaplaya.net/
Source: Youtube Channel alaplayaMovies
One MOBA that is rarely talked about or even known to many is Avalon Heroes. Little background information can be found on the development of the game, so I'm unsure if the game was Korean developed or when it was first launched, etc. Avalon Heroes is also one that follows DotA quite closely from the 25 level cap, to the various shop merchants, and Warcraft 3 engine feel. What's unique about Avalon Heroes is that other than the usual battle mode, there's an adventure mode where up to 8 players can traverse a dungeon and fight a boss, a scenario mode where it tells a story, an arena mode where the goal is to eliminate the enemy hero, and a lobby where players can hang around to socialize and trade. It's pretty evident that the quality in development is a bit low. The graphics are outdated and blocky, the user-interface is convoluted and incredibly difficult to navigate through (the shop organization is atrocious), and descriptions of skills and items are much too wordy. The game does take quite a bit of getting used to, even for DotA veterans and it's possibly why the game isn't very populated. Still, there's quite a variety of heroes to choose (still a lot more than Rise of Immortals) and the various modes make for a different experience. I think it'd be a fun game if one can find a group of friends to play adventure mode.
Source: Youtube Channel alaplayaMovies
One MOBA that is rarely talked about or even known to many is Avalon Heroes. Little background information can be found on the development of the game, so I'm unsure if the game was Korean developed or when it was first launched, etc. Avalon Heroes is also one that follows DotA quite closely from the 25 level cap, to the various shop merchants, and Warcraft 3 engine feel. What's unique about Avalon Heroes is that other than the usual battle mode, there's an adventure mode where up to 8 players can traverse a dungeon and fight a boss, a scenario mode where it tells a story, an arena mode where the goal is to eliminate the enemy hero, and a lobby where players can hang around to socialize and trade. It's pretty evident that the quality in development is a bit low. The graphics are outdated and blocky, the user-interface is convoluted and incredibly difficult to navigate through (the shop organization is atrocious), and descriptions of skills and items are much too wordy. The game does take quite a bit of getting used to, even for DotA veterans and it's possibly why the game isn't very populated. Still, there's quite a variety of heroes to choose (still a lot more than Rise of Immortals) and the various modes make for a different experience. I think it'd be a fun game if one can find a group of friends to play adventure mode.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
GameOn - MOBA Games - Heroes of Newerth
Official Site: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
If you're a DotA veteran and you seek challenge from a hard-core game, Heroes of Newerth (HoN) would be the game for you. With the help of major DotA contributor "Icefrog", S2 Games had developed Heroes of Newerth within the world of their "Savage" series with the gameplay mechanics from DotA. Many of the limitations and problems the Warcraft 3 engine suffered from has sought solutions within HoN. The game is very fast-paced, highly competitive, has over 100 heroes to choose from, and is now free to play. The graphics are beautiful with a more up to date graphics rendering compared to the Warcraft 3 engine and has a really nice lighting and effects visual that creates really nice animations for spells and attacks. Unfortunately, HoN has its own problems. Because of its steep learning curve, the game is very difficult to pick up and play. Furthermore, the community within HoN is relentless and unforgiving. Players will talk down each other, even within the same team. The attitude of players can range from the immature to the most profane one can encounter on the internet. Although the animations and effects are really nice, the overall color scheme and graphics style makes it really difficult to distinguish units from the environment. Others might complain that the game is "too" similar to DotA and doesn't offer anything new. Still, my experience with HoN was mostly good and I really liked all the different characters to choose from. There's still a lot of dynamics and variation to keep the game fresh and exciting every time I play it, and it's definitely worth checking out now since it's free to play (originally a $30 purchase).
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
If you're a DotA veteran and you seek challenge from a hard-core game, Heroes of Newerth (HoN) would be the game for you. With the help of major DotA contributor "Icefrog", S2 Games had developed Heroes of Newerth within the world of their "Savage" series with the gameplay mechanics from DotA. Many of the limitations and problems the Warcraft 3 engine suffered from has sought solutions within HoN. The game is very fast-paced, highly competitive, has over 100 heroes to choose from, and is now free to play. The graphics are beautiful with a more up to date graphics rendering compared to the Warcraft 3 engine and has a really nice lighting and effects visual that creates really nice animations for spells and attacks. Unfortunately, HoN has its own problems. Because of its steep learning curve, the game is very difficult to pick up and play. Furthermore, the community within HoN is relentless and unforgiving. Players will talk down each other, even within the same team. The attitude of players can range from the immature to the most profane one can encounter on the internet. Although the animations and effects are really nice, the overall color scheme and graphics style makes it really difficult to distinguish units from the environment. Others might complain that the game is "too" similar to DotA and doesn't offer anything new. Still, my experience with HoN was mostly good and I really liked all the different characters to choose from. There's still a lot of dynamics and variation to keep the game fresh and exciting every time I play it, and it's definitely worth checking out now since it's free to play (originally a $30 purchase).
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
GameOn - MOBA Games - Realm of the Titans
Official Site: http://realmofthetitans.aeriagames.com/
Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaRealm
Realm of the Titans was lead and designed by two DotA professional players who entered in various tournaments around the world and saw potential in the genre. After the two returned to China from studying in Australia, the now CEO and Lead Designer of Realm of the Titans got a team together and started development. Realm of the Titans was still in development when League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth was announced and eventually released and so it was dealt with much negativity from the fanbase of LoL and HoN. Unfortunately for me, I never got to try Realm of the Titans yet and have been waiting for it to go out of beta for who knows how long. So far, those who have tried the game thoroughly have praised it for its large cast of characters (more than twice as much as Rise of Immortals), its balance in competitive play, and its polish. I can't back those claims just yet as I have not tried the game, even though I've been meaning to for an entire year now (Alpha Testing started back last year April 7, 2011). In terms of gameplay, map design, and core concept, the game is closer to DotA than most MOBA games (aside from Heroes of Newerth). For a Chinese developed game, it sure looks impressive. I'm very willing to try out this game.
Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaRealm
Realm of the Titans was lead and designed by two DotA professional players who entered in various tournaments around the world and saw potential in the genre. After the two returned to China from studying in Australia, the now CEO and Lead Designer of Realm of the Titans got a team together and started development. Realm of the Titans was still in development when League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth was announced and eventually released and so it was dealt with much negativity from the fanbase of LoL and HoN. Unfortunately for me, I never got to try Realm of the Titans yet and have been waiting for it to go out of beta for who knows how long. So far, those who have tried the game thoroughly have praised it for its large cast of characters (more than twice as much as Rise of Immortals), its balance in competitive play, and its polish. I can't back those claims just yet as I have not tried the game, even though I've been meaning to for an entire year now (Alpha Testing started back last year April 7, 2011). In terms of gameplay, map design, and core concept, the game is closer to DotA than most MOBA games (aside from Heroes of Newerth). For a Chinese developed game, it sure looks impressive. I'm very willing to try out this game.
Monday, April 16, 2012
GameOn - MOBA Games - Rise of Immortals
Official Site: http://riseofimmortals.com/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
It's been a while since I've done a GameOn and have chosen to talk about Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games this week. It's a fairly new genre and is not officially called MOBA but is used to describe any game that plays similarly to the globally popular Warcraft 3 custom campaign map "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA). In a MOBA, there is generally two teams consisting of players taking different roles to fulfill a need to win a team fight. Throughout a match, both teams try to push their own army into the opponent's base and destroy the main core to win. What's unique about MOBA games is that its core concept is similar to a tower defense game, plays similar to a top-down Action-RPG, and originated from an RTS custom campaign map which retains some of its elements in the genre (MOBA originated from a Starcraft custom campaign, DotA made it popular). There are dozens of characters to choose from, the dynamics of the game changes all the time with team compositions, players level up throughout a match and learn new skills, buy items to become even stronger, and participate in mini-boss fights in the map.
With the success of DotA, many developers wanted to have their take on the new found genre without the limitations of the Warcraft 3 engine. One such game to emerge is "Rise of Immortals" and heavily based on the theme of Mythological beings from various cultures. The game's art style and characters remind me of "Demigod", another MOBA game that was fun but unfortunately suffered from unbalanced gameplay and clunky user-interface. I liked how there was a 3-player cooperative mode to play and practice on a new character in the game. In most MOBA games, players are often tossed into the fray and had to learn everything along the way which made for a steep learning curve (it's not really like that anymore). Rise of Immortals wanted to make the game a bit more involving for players since those who played DotA would know that nothing was kept and a player starts fresh at level 1 every time. In Rise of Immortals, players can earn currency to purchase items that slightly increases an ability of a character to give a bit of advantage and allow a sense of progression like an RPG would. During a match, the player can rotate the camera all the way around and play at an angle they feel most comfortable playing in. The game is still refining itself as all online games tend to do, and here are some things they hopefully improve on:
-The character roster is rather limited (a little better now than when I tried it)
-Gameplay is still imbalanced (some characters are useless while other clearly have an advantage)
-Movement reaction is sluggish or delayed (Not sure why, but there's a slight delay in movement when clicking)
-Less login bugs (A lot of players seemed to have trouble logging in)
It's been a while since I've played the game and I feel like playing it again once more just to check out the new characters. It's free to play so anyone interested shouldn't hesitate to click on the link on top and try the game out.
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
It's been a while since I've done a GameOn and have chosen to talk about Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games this week. It's a fairly new genre and is not officially called MOBA but is used to describe any game that plays similarly to the globally popular Warcraft 3 custom campaign map "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA). In a MOBA, there is generally two teams consisting of players taking different roles to fulfill a need to win a team fight. Throughout a match, both teams try to push their own army into the opponent's base and destroy the main core to win. What's unique about MOBA games is that its core concept is similar to a tower defense game, plays similar to a top-down Action-RPG, and originated from an RTS custom campaign map which retains some of its elements in the genre (MOBA originated from a Starcraft custom campaign, DotA made it popular). There are dozens of characters to choose from, the dynamics of the game changes all the time with team compositions, players level up throughout a match and learn new skills, buy items to become even stronger, and participate in mini-boss fights in the map.
With the success of DotA, many developers wanted to have their take on the new found genre without the limitations of the Warcraft 3 engine. One such game to emerge is "Rise of Immortals" and heavily based on the theme of Mythological beings from various cultures. The game's art style and characters remind me of "Demigod", another MOBA game that was fun but unfortunately suffered from unbalanced gameplay and clunky user-interface. I liked how there was a 3-player cooperative mode to play and practice on a new character in the game. In most MOBA games, players are often tossed into the fray and had to learn everything along the way which made for a steep learning curve (it's not really like that anymore). Rise of Immortals wanted to make the game a bit more involving for players since those who played DotA would know that nothing was kept and a player starts fresh at level 1 every time. In Rise of Immortals, players can earn currency to purchase items that slightly increases an ability of a character to give a bit of advantage and allow a sense of progression like an RPG would. During a match, the player can rotate the camera all the way around and play at an angle they feel most comfortable playing in. The game is still refining itself as all online games tend to do, and here are some things they hopefully improve on:
-The character roster is rather limited (a little better now than when I tried it)
-Gameplay is still imbalanced (some characters are useless while other clearly have an advantage)
-Movement reaction is sluggish or delayed (Not sure why, but there's a slight delay in movement when clicking)
-Less login bugs (A lot of players seemed to have trouble logging in)
It's been a while since I've played the game and I feel like playing it again once more just to check out the new characters. It's free to play so anyone interested shouldn't hesitate to click on the link on top and try the game out.
Friday, April 13, 2012
VGCulture - Filler - Shoryuken too OP
A lot of people claim that Ken's shoryuken has too much priority hits over every other attack in Super Street Fighter IV. Hmm, I wonder why:
Source: Youtube Channel theheartofbattle
Have a good weekend!
Source: Youtube Channel theheartofbattle
Have a good weekend!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
GameLight Review - Tobe's Vertical Adventure
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/105700/
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Developer: Secret Base
Publisher: Secret Base
Platforms: PC
Release Date: July 18, 2011
Genre: Platformer
Pros:
-Charming graphics and music has a sense of nostalgia for retro games
-Simple concept makes it easy to learn
-Two player cooperative mode makes for a fun and silly adventure
Cons:
-The game is littered with game breaking bugs
-Levels designs can get boring after playing a while
-Single-player isn't nearly as fun as two-player co-op
With a bit of reminiscence of the original Ice Climbers, Tobe and Nana sets off to find treasure as they scale down the deep caverns and climb back up. The game brings back the simple enjoyment of platforming from the retro days with a focus on two-player co-op. The 8-bit graphics, easy-going music, and adorable sprites capture a certain charm that made it attractive as an indie game. The game can be played solo, but it's not as fun. Both characters have their own abilities and so each player will have their own play style to adjust to. As a two-player game, it has its own challenge of coordinating with your partner and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with one player jumping off the head of the other or grappling each other up from the edges of a cliff. As a single-player game, you have a straight-forward platformer with some light puzzles in-between. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a lot of glitches and bugs that cause the player to fall to their deaths, get stuck, or miss a grab entirely. Such problems can be overlooked and laughed at in two-player mode with a friend but is incredibly frustrating when playing single-player. I would advise finding a partner to play two-players with or one who doesn't mind a lack of polish in their platformers before deciding to purchase and play the game.
Aesthetics
One of the main reasons why I was so interested in the game in the first place was the 8-bit graphics. The levels looked so clean, the sprites were cute, and the power-ups reminded me of Sonic the Hedgehog. For the most part, the graphics were great and had a sense of nostalgia for old school platformers; however, there were some levels were the environment was a bit messy. Foreground objects would obscure the objects in the mid-ground and some of the background converged with some of the colors of the objects in the foreground. This caused some problems with the player finding where they could land and where they couldn't or not being able to find objects they were supposed to grab. The music isn't entirely chiptune based, but it does have a bit of a feeling of it being a retro game. The tunes weren't entirely enjoyable to listen to, but they complimented the graphics, theme, and game rather well. The sound effects were mostly, if not all, chip based (8-bit sound card). I think such sounds like unlocking a chest uses a recording rather than a synthesized creation. The in-between conversations and cinematics made it almost feel like a flash game and uses vector-based drawings rather than pixel-based art. The art, audio and design put together was somewhat consistent and had a certain charm, but it was enough to get me to buy the game. Aesthetics: 7/10
Buttons
The controls were pretty simple with movement keys, jump, run, and item which adds up to only 3 keys with the 4 directions. With these few keys, the player can wall jump, climb up ledges, grab onto vines, roll, hop on top of enemies and objects, etc. The game played out alright at first, but later on in the game, there are noticeable problems when trying to grab a ledge, grab a vine, wall jumping, pull yourself up and sliding down where the keys don't respond how you want it to or glitch out. The jumping takes a bit of getting used to and near the end in the more difficult levels, it can be incredibly frustrating. The jump height and distance are rather limited which is fine for most cases, but long jumps are more difficult to judge as the player slows down mid-jump or a jump that should have grabbed onto the ledge didn't trigger. It's rather easy to fumble around with the controls when it feels heavy and unresponsive which made the game less enjoyable when it shouldn't. It's important to have clean and responsive movement and jumps in a platformer or it'll just be a frustrating journey the whole way through. Buttons: 6/10
Concept & Content
The goal of the game is to travel downwards to reach the large treasure chest and then escape by climbing back to the beginning of the level. One of the things I didn't like was that all the smaller chest required pressing down multiple times to open while the large one has a bar that measures your timing to when you open it. It kind of broke that flow every time and felt inconsistent. Between the entrance and the large chest is a number of light puzzles, platforming, and enemies. It was interesting at first, but the levels, enemies, puzzles, and and challenge got boring after a while and lost its novelty. The game is rather short with 4 islands with 4 levels each (16 levels in all) which is fine as the game would've just dragged on if it was any longer. If the game wasn't boring, it was frustrating when a bug or glitch causes some oddity to occur that kills the player. I've had the character miss grabs, unable to switch vines, get stuck in walls, can't move far in mid-air, unable to let go of an edge, etc. The main attraction to Tobe's Vertical Adventure is having a 2nd player join in the action and play two-player cooperative. Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
The game isn't that long, but it would have probably been worse if it was longer. The game flow is pretty consistent. The problem is that it's so consistent that nothing really changes or triggers further interest in it. It didn't get worse, but it didn't get that much better as the player progress through the islands. The game does get a bit more difficult as the game goes on, but it didn't really make it more entertaining. In fact, there were times where it felt more like an arduous task getting through some areas than an enjoyable challenge. There are actually 3 different routes to play through: Tobe's wall run style, Nana's double jump style, and two-player cooperative. After getting through Tobe's story, I tried out the other two and realized it's the same exact game with different styles. I gave up after a while as the game no longer held interest. Some parts were fun, some parts weren't. Duration: 7/10
Fun
I bought the game hoping to enjoy some retro style platforming, and in the beginning it was pretty entertaining. But as I progressed through the game, I started getting bored and/or frustrated by the gimpy jumping, stale level designs, and glitchy hit-box recognitions. I liked running up walls and wall jumping as it felt strategic and challenging. But a lot of the puzzles and jumps were more experimental and mostly about timing. By the end of the game, I didn't care for the game anymore. Two-player cooperative definitely was interesting and is evident that it was focus for the game's true design, but it was already too late and I no longer wanted to play it anymore. Fun: 6/10
Overall
I guess I'm sort of glad I bought the game as I learned a bit about how others might approach the platform genre, but at the same time I felt like the game annoyed me. Perhaps it's because I felt like it could've been a lot better which shine some hope for its series. There were moments in the game where I enjoyed the challenges, making jumps I didn't think I'd make, wall jumping into a climb, and collecting 100% of the items just to feel fulfilled; however, the sheer boredom from recycled puzzles, generic designs in every level, and the multiple bugs and glitches made for a bitter experience by the end of the game. I couldn't really recommend the game, but it might be a fun two-player cooperative game as long as the players don't mind a lack of polish. Overall: 6.4/10
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Developer: Secret Base
Publisher: Secret Base
Platforms: PC
Release Date: July 18, 2011
Genre: Platformer
Pros:
-Charming graphics and music has a sense of nostalgia for retro games
-Simple concept makes it easy to learn
-Two player cooperative mode makes for a fun and silly adventure
Cons:
-The game is littered with game breaking bugs
-Levels designs can get boring after playing a while
-Single-player isn't nearly as fun as two-player co-op
With a bit of reminiscence of the original Ice Climbers, Tobe and Nana sets off to find treasure as they scale down the deep caverns and climb back up. The game brings back the simple enjoyment of platforming from the retro days with a focus on two-player co-op. The 8-bit graphics, easy-going music, and adorable sprites capture a certain charm that made it attractive as an indie game. The game can be played solo, but it's not as fun. Both characters have their own abilities and so each player will have their own play style to adjust to. As a two-player game, it has its own challenge of coordinating with your partner and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with one player jumping off the head of the other or grappling each other up from the edges of a cliff. As a single-player game, you have a straight-forward platformer with some light puzzles in-between. Unfortunately, the game suffers from a lot of glitches and bugs that cause the player to fall to their deaths, get stuck, or miss a grab entirely. Such problems can be overlooked and laughed at in two-player mode with a friend but is incredibly frustrating when playing single-player. I would advise finding a partner to play two-players with or one who doesn't mind a lack of polish in their platformers before deciding to purchase and play the game.
Aesthetics
One of the main reasons why I was so interested in the game in the first place was the 8-bit graphics. The levels looked so clean, the sprites were cute, and the power-ups reminded me of Sonic the Hedgehog. For the most part, the graphics were great and had a sense of nostalgia for old school platformers; however, there were some levels were the environment was a bit messy. Foreground objects would obscure the objects in the mid-ground and some of the background converged with some of the colors of the objects in the foreground. This caused some problems with the player finding where they could land and where they couldn't or not being able to find objects they were supposed to grab. The music isn't entirely chiptune based, but it does have a bit of a feeling of it being a retro game. The tunes weren't entirely enjoyable to listen to, but they complimented the graphics, theme, and game rather well. The sound effects were mostly, if not all, chip based (8-bit sound card). I think such sounds like unlocking a chest uses a recording rather than a synthesized creation. The in-between conversations and cinematics made it almost feel like a flash game and uses vector-based drawings rather than pixel-based art. The art, audio and design put together was somewhat consistent and had a certain charm, but it was enough to get me to buy the game. Aesthetics: 7/10
Buttons
The controls were pretty simple with movement keys, jump, run, and item which adds up to only 3 keys with the 4 directions. With these few keys, the player can wall jump, climb up ledges, grab onto vines, roll, hop on top of enemies and objects, etc. The game played out alright at first, but later on in the game, there are noticeable problems when trying to grab a ledge, grab a vine, wall jumping, pull yourself up and sliding down where the keys don't respond how you want it to or glitch out. The jumping takes a bit of getting used to and near the end in the more difficult levels, it can be incredibly frustrating. The jump height and distance are rather limited which is fine for most cases, but long jumps are more difficult to judge as the player slows down mid-jump or a jump that should have grabbed onto the ledge didn't trigger. It's rather easy to fumble around with the controls when it feels heavy and unresponsive which made the game less enjoyable when it shouldn't. It's important to have clean and responsive movement and jumps in a platformer or it'll just be a frustrating journey the whole way through. Buttons: 6/10
Concept & Content
The goal of the game is to travel downwards to reach the large treasure chest and then escape by climbing back to the beginning of the level. One of the things I didn't like was that all the smaller chest required pressing down multiple times to open while the large one has a bar that measures your timing to when you open it. It kind of broke that flow every time and felt inconsistent. Between the entrance and the large chest is a number of light puzzles, platforming, and enemies. It was interesting at first, but the levels, enemies, puzzles, and and challenge got boring after a while and lost its novelty. The game is rather short with 4 islands with 4 levels each (16 levels in all) which is fine as the game would've just dragged on if it was any longer. If the game wasn't boring, it was frustrating when a bug or glitch causes some oddity to occur that kills the player. I've had the character miss grabs, unable to switch vines, get stuck in walls, can't move far in mid-air, unable to let go of an edge, etc. The main attraction to Tobe's Vertical Adventure is having a 2nd player join in the action and play two-player cooperative. Concept & Content: 6/10
Duration
The game isn't that long, but it would have probably been worse if it was longer. The game flow is pretty consistent. The problem is that it's so consistent that nothing really changes or triggers further interest in it. It didn't get worse, but it didn't get that much better as the player progress through the islands. The game does get a bit more difficult as the game goes on, but it didn't really make it more entertaining. In fact, there were times where it felt more like an arduous task getting through some areas than an enjoyable challenge. There are actually 3 different routes to play through: Tobe's wall run style, Nana's double jump style, and two-player cooperative. After getting through Tobe's story, I tried out the other two and realized it's the same exact game with different styles. I gave up after a while as the game no longer held interest. Some parts were fun, some parts weren't. Duration: 7/10
Fun
I bought the game hoping to enjoy some retro style platforming, and in the beginning it was pretty entertaining. But as I progressed through the game, I started getting bored and/or frustrated by the gimpy jumping, stale level designs, and glitchy hit-box recognitions. I liked running up walls and wall jumping as it felt strategic and challenging. But a lot of the puzzles and jumps were more experimental and mostly about timing. By the end of the game, I didn't care for the game anymore. Two-player cooperative definitely was interesting and is evident that it was focus for the game's true design, but it was already too late and I no longer wanted to play it anymore. Fun: 6/10
Overall
I guess I'm sort of glad I bought the game as I learned a bit about how others might approach the platform genre, but at the same time I felt like the game annoyed me. Perhaps it's because I felt like it could've been a lot better which shine some hope for its series. There were moments in the game where I enjoyed the challenges, making jumps I didn't think I'd make, wall jumping into a climb, and collecting 100% of the items just to feel fulfilled; however, the sheer boredom from recycled puzzles, generic designs in every level, and the multiple bugs and glitches made for a bitter experience by the end of the game. I couldn't really recommend the game, but it might be a fun two-player cooperative game as long as the players don't mind a lack of polish. Overall: 6.4/10
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
GameLight - Aion: Ascension
Official site: http://na.aiononline.com/home
Source: Youtube Channel aionus
Aion: Ascension 3.0 turns the unique MMORPG into a truly free experience with level caps and restrictions taken away as players can through the game as it was meant to be played. With today's launch of Aion's newest patch, players are able to acquire mounts, bid for houses, level up to the max of 60 from its original 55 level cap, explore new areas, and fulfill more quests. Aion has been well known for its versatile character customization and beautiful graphics but suffered from Western appeal when it was first launched in North America as a monthly paid subscription MMORPG as its gameplay followed the demographics of Eastern players and was considered incredibly grindy. After a few years of improvement and adjusting to the western market as well as having a free trial version before today's free-to-play launch, the game has flourished in the amount of players it has acquired. Combat is challenging compared to most MMORPGs as players have to cycle through their skills rather than simply just auto-attacking in order to survive and encouraging players to group up. The environment and flow of the game is designed to be as fluid as possible to provide a seamless experience for the player. One of the main attractions in Aion is the ability to participate in combat while in flight. Players will be able to glide, soar, and fly around for a unique experience that isn't limited to the ground. Players can sign up for a free NCsoft account and start playing Aion for free today by clicking the link at the top.
Source: Youtube Channel aionus
Aion: Ascension 3.0 turns the unique MMORPG into a truly free experience with level caps and restrictions taken away as players can through the game as it was meant to be played. With today's launch of Aion's newest patch, players are able to acquire mounts, bid for houses, level up to the max of 60 from its original 55 level cap, explore new areas, and fulfill more quests. Aion has been well known for its versatile character customization and beautiful graphics but suffered from Western appeal when it was first launched in North America as a monthly paid subscription MMORPG as its gameplay followed the demographics of Eastern players and was considered incredibly grindy. After a few years of improvement and adjusting to the western market as well as having a free trial version before today's free-to-play launch, the game has flourished in the amount of players it has acquired. Combat is challenging compared to most MMORPGs as players have to cycle through their skills rather than simply just auto-attacking in order to survive and encouraging players to group up. The environment and flow of the game is designed to be as fluid as possible to provide a seamless experience for the player. One of the main attractions in Aion is the ability to participate in combat while in flight. Players will be able to glide, soar, and fly around for a unique experience that isn't limited to the ground. Players can sign up for a free NCsoft account and start playing Aion for free today by clicking the link at the top.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
VGCulture - Collector's Edition Galore
When I see the label "Collector's Edition" for any game about to release, I see it as "the more expensive version". Sure, there are some games that follow a long series that some fans would be glad to get extra stuff for. Some of them are great, others seem rather superfluous. I will discuss a little today on Guild Wars 2's Collector's Edition.
Source: Youtube Channel guildwars2
Let's take a closer look at some of the items:
[Collectible metal box]
So instead of a flimsy cardboard cover with a regular plastic box to hold the game, you get a fancy metal box that's sure to last longer. This is something that can be praised or looked down upon in a collection of games. Sometimes having such a resilient box is nice, especially if it has a nice cover art and is a game the purchaser really likes or is incredibly rare. Other times though, they're clunky, takes up more space, doesn't line up with all the other boxes in one's collection, or is pretty plain compared to the standard edition's cover art. Having a nicer box does look fancy, but does it really warrant a higher cost because of it? For Guild Wars 2, I don't think it's entirely necessary.
[10-inch Rytlock figurine]
Okay, I've got to admit that's quite an amazing work of handiwork; however, not everyone wants a 10" figurine that they might not have space to place. It's just too much when a game comes with such a large object. They should make these figurines available for those who truly want it.
[Custom art frame, portfolio, and five art prints]
This is a nice addition to a game's collector's edition as it fits nicely into a box, has fan service value, can easily stored away or put up on display and is worthy for collection.
[Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD and Guild Wars 2 Game]
I personally think that a soundtrack of a game should be available to all who buys the game itself, but that's just me. It's one of the most common and easiest product to produce and add to a game and sometimes it's one of the best perks about getting a collector's edition of any game.
[112 - page Making of Guild Wars 2 hardback book]
This is also something very worthy of collection and quite an addition for any fan of a game. Hardback books such as these can sell for $40-$100 retail depending on how much the publisher wants to charge you.
[In-game items and spells]
It's rather unfair to give an advantage within a game despite the fact that the player who paid for the collector's edition put in a lot more money for it. It's unique and unobtainable, so if none of the physical junk/treasure does it for the customers, the in-game items and spells would be an incentive to buy the collector's edition.
I think it's mainly the figurine that made the collector's edition of Guild Wars 2 so expensive at a price of $150. I'd really like that book, but not enough to pay an extra $90 just to get it when I mainly want the game.
Here are some other up coming games with their collector's edition:
-Assassin's Creed: Freedom Edition
-Darksiders 2: Collector's Edition
-Diablo 3: Collector's Edition
Source: Youtube Channel guildwars2
Let's take a closer look at some of the items:
[Collectible metal box]
So instead of a flimsy cardboard cover with a regular plastic box to hold the game, you get a fancy metal box that's sure to last longer. This is something that can be praised or looked down upon in a collection of games. Sometimes having such a resilient box is nice, especially if it has a nice cover art and is a game the purchaser really likes or is incredibly rare. Other times though, they're clunky, takes up more space, doesn't line up with all the other boxes in one's collection, or is pretty plain compared to the standard edition's cover art. Having a nicer box does look fancy, but does it really warrant a higher cost because of it? For Guild Wars 2, I don't think it's entirely necessary.
[10-inch Rytlock figurine]
Okay, I've got to admit that's quite an amazing work of handiwork; however, not everyone wants a 10" figurine that they might not have space to place. It's just too much when a game comes with such a large object. They should make these figurines available for those who truly want it.
[Custom art frame, portfolio, and five art prints]
This is a nice addition to a game's collector's edition as it fits nicely into a box, has fan service value, can easily stored away or put up on display and is worthy for collection.
[Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD and Guild Wars 2 Game]
I personally think that a soundtrack of a game should be available to all who buys the game itself, but that's just me. It's one of the most common and easiest product to produce and add to a game and sometimes it's one of the best perks about getting a collector's edition of any game.
[112 - page Making of Guild Wars 2 hardback book]
This is also something very worthy of collection and quite an addition for any fan of a game. Hardback books such as these can sell for $40-$100 retail depending on how much the publisher wants to charge you.
[In-game items and spells]
It's rather unfair to give an advantage within a game despite the fact that the player who paid for the collector's edition put in a lot more money for it. It's unique and unobtainable, so if none of the physical junk/treasure does it for the customers, the in-game items and spells would be an incentive to buy the collector's edition.
I think it's mainly the figurine that made the collector's edition of Guild Wars 2 so expensive at a price of $150. I'd really like that book, but not enough to pay an extra $90 just to get it when I mainly want the game.
Here are some other up coming games with their collector's edition:
-Assassin's Creed: Freedom Edition
-Darksiders 2: Collector's Edition
-Diablo 3: Collector's Edition
Monday, April 9, 2012
VGCulture - Rant on Diablo 3 & Torchlight 2
Diablo 3: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/classes/outlander
Source: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/04/09/diablo-iii-barbarian-spotlight-video
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Diablo 3 fans are very excited to have a definitive release date after waiting for 5+ years. Torchlight 2 fans and those who pre-ordered are still in the dark to whether the game will release soon or not and it has created quite a bit of tension between the communities between the fans of both games. Torchlight 2 was set to release sometime last year and sought to buy it to feed their top-down, Action-RPG needs until Diablo 3 came out; however, the game was not released for the reason of too many "good games" coming out at the time (which I can understand since I bought at least a dozen games Q4 of 2011). Joystiq recently reported a quote from the CEO of Runic Games explaining that they do not want to release around the same time as Diablo 3 and will release shortly after instead. With this news, many who pre-ordered Torchlight 2 to wait for Diablo 3 has canceled their pre-orders knowing that they'll be playing Diablo 3. Other community members on blog sites, video comments and forums took a different reaction to the news and are instead canceling their pre-orders for Diablo 3 for Torchlight 2 now that they hinted at a "month later" release from Diablo 3's launch. Some common complaints on Diablo 3 are:
-Constant internet access needed to play, even for single-player
-All player data is stored on Blizzard servers and monitored (so no modding)
-Auction house has many skeptical about the balance and fairness of PvP
Runic games hopes to provide a different experience to avoid competition from Blizzard's highly anticipated game with these features:
-$20 retail price from the get go
-Ability to play offline
-LAN capabilities
-6 Player Online Cooperative play
-Modding support
I can understand what many of the community feels about Torchlight 2 coming out after Diablo 3, but it's too late for Runic games to try to push the game out and release it as many players will still wait for Diablo 3. For me, I know I'll be getting both games to play; however, my priority is set to Diablo 3 as I seek a cooperative game I can play with a lot of my friends and none of them seem too interested in Torchlight 2. Thus, I won't be getting Torchlight 2 anytime soon. Still, I hope both games will find its audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all.
Source:
-Joystiq: Torchlight 2 will 'ideally' launch shortly after Diablo 3
Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/classes/outlander
Source: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/04/09/diablo-iii-barbarian-spotlight-video
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
Diablo 3 fans are very excited to have a definitive release date after waiting for 5+ years. Torchlight 2 fans and those who pre-ordered are still in the dark to whether the game will release soon or not and it has created quite a bit of tension between the communities between the fans of both games. Torchlight 2 was set to release sometime last year and sought to buy it to feed their top-down, Action-RPG needs until Diablo 3 came out; however, the game was not released for the reason of too many "good games" coming out at the time (which I can understand since I bought at least a dozen games Q4 of 2011). Joystiq recently reported a quote from the CEO of Runic Games explaining that they do not want to release around the same time as Diablo 3 and will release shortly after instead. With this news, many who pre-ordered Torchlight 2 to wait for Diablo 3 has canceled their pre-orders knowing that they'll be playing Diablo 3. Other community members on blog sites, video comments and forums took a different reaction to the news and are instead canceling their pre-orders for Diablo 3 for Torchlight 2 now that they hinted at a "month later" release from Diablo 3's launch. Some common complaints on Diablo 3 are:
-Constant internet access needed to play, even for single-player
-All player data is stored on Blizzard servers and monitored (so no modding)
-Auction house has many skeptical about the balance and fairness of PvP
Runic games hopes to provide a different experience to avoid competition from Blizzard's highly anticipated game with these features:
-$20 retail price from the get go
-Ability to play offline
-LAN capabilities
-6 Player Online Cooperative play
-Modding support
I can understand what many of the community feels about Torchlight 2 coming out after Diablo 3, but it's too late for Runic games to try to push the game out and release it as many players will still wait for Diablo 3. For me, I know I'll be getting both games to play; however, my priority is set to Diablo 3 as I seek a cooperative game I can play with a lot of my friends and none of them seem too interested in Torchlight 2. Thus, I won't be getting Torchlight 2 anytime soon. Still, I hope both games will find its audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all.
Source:
-Joystiq: Torchlight 2 will 'ideally' launch shortly after Diablo 3
Friday, April 6, 2012
VGCulture - EA voted the worst Company in 2012
Official Site: The Consumerist - Worst Company In America Final Death Match: Bank Of America Vs. EA
Every year, the consumerist creates a poll of companies within America and has people vote for the one they believe is the worst company in America. I saw the polls a week ago and would have never thought that people would vote Electronic Arts all the way to the top. I thought people would be more upset at companies like Comcast for increase in monthly fees with no upgrades or GameStop for monopolizing the retail division to keep both new and used games high in price for the most profits. The runner up against Electronic Arts is Bank of America, which I suppose I'm not as surprised about seeing how their changes in policy and requirement for extra payment in debit usage last year has affected many loyal customers. Anyways, let's take a closer look to why EA was voted worst company in America:
Business Practices
Electronic Arts is mainly a publisher as most of the games they produce are developed by other studios. As a publisher, they ensure that things get done and have promise of marketable success. In the past, they have rushed projects, prevented creative freedom, shut down various studios, bought out companies to eliminate potential competition, and has also embraced social/casual gaming over core gaming (they shut down a studio that was developing a game while acquired a casual game studios). They might have changed throughout the years though. Look up on the history of Infinity Ward and you'll see that it started 22 developers leaving EA to working on Call of Duty and being picked up by Activision only to leave after Modern Warfare 2 to start a new studio under Electronic Arts once again. I guess you can't really change how a publisher works. You can't live with them, but you can live without them (unless you're an indie developer I guess).
Launch of Origin
Electronic Arts games for PC can be bought at retail stores while digital versions were also available on Steam. Games sold well on the Steam platform and it made Valve quite a bit of money to host those games. EA seemed like they wanted a crack at it and created Origin, a platform geared towards selling their own games on their own platform. A lot of people were upset, some were excited, and others didn't care.
Problems:
-Crysis 2 was about to be launched on Steam and some pre-purchased it. It was pulled from Steam and forced players to create an account and use the Origin platform in order to play it
-EA having total control over their games meant no awesome deals like it did on Steam
-The program is slow, buggy, and intrusive to the computer
-Origin apparently scans the user's computer to see what games they have, whether the player liked it or not
-Players were locked out of games they bought, crashed on games they played, and some couldn't even log in
Okay, this could be one of the reasons why it rubbed players the wrong way. I tried out Origin and really didn't like how I could barely download the games, had trouble starting up any of them, the amount of resources it took up on my laptop (probably constantly scanning my computer to see what games I had), the amount of times it crashed or froze my computer, and the fact that games stayed at its retail price. It converted me back to playing EA games on consoles rather than on PC as it caused too many problems for it to be worth it. I would like to remind everyone that Steam was once like that: took forever to load, froze the computer, was buggy, etc. and sometimes it's still like that. So maybe Origin will get better one day.
Secret support of SOPA
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a government bill that would have allowed government intervention on the internet. If passed, the government could block any site that was considered a breach of copyright. It would be nice if piracy would stop killing the entertainment industry, but this was a bad solution to that problem. Fan made sites for games or shows would be blocked, your favorite video streaming sites would no longer exist, and those who possess their own intellectual property with reference to existing ones (videogame remixes, videogame comics, meme sites, etc.) would be considered a breach and be blocked. Many companies understood this to be a problem too and took the effort to prevent such an atrocity to ever be passed. EA was the suspect of one of the companies being a supporter of the bill and has been since looked down upon by the community.
Downloadable Content (DLC) Galore
Sure, we can pan EA for always pumping out DLCs, but that goes for a lot of other companies too. I think what really hit fans of EA hard was the day-one DLC that wasn't included with Mass Effect 3 when it launched. The purpose of DLCs was to provide extra content to fans who wanted more out of their games. The problem is that publishers (and possibly the minds of developers) has taken advantage of that option and has exploited the term DLC to being "more money" rather than "extra content". It's not considered extra content when it should have already been on the disc already. This brings about another irony in the game industry as Capcom's latest release of Street Fighter X Tekken really did have day-one DLC on the disc but was unaccessible to players unless they paid the extra cash for it. I really hate DLCs as publishers abuse this power way too much and it is creating a horrible trend in game development where projects are rushed, lack content, and are unpolished just because they can be fixed later, added later or alongside the launch for extra money, and sometimes go unfinished entirely. This seems to be the problem with EA's Mass Effect 3 where the ending was unsatisfactory and has forced EA to create a DLC (which they have announced will be free shortly after being awarded worst company in America) that as a more conclusive ending. I swear, the trend of DLCs will one day cause players to buy portions of a game rather than an entire game (pay this much for single-player, pay that much for levels 1-5, pay monthly for the multiplayer portion).
Mass Effect 3
EA received an overwhelming response from fans of the series about the ending (*cough* even though BioWare was the one that developed it *cough*). I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I have yet to complete 1 and 2 and so I don't want any spoilers. Anyhow, this seems to be the major factor for causing all those votes to focus on EA since it wasn't too long ago. This has caused EA to bring about a DLC with a new/alternate ending (I'm not sure). BioWare's working hard I suppose since EA has the studio on 2-3 different projects, and now they still have to make additional content to a game everyone's so angry about.
Electronic Arts might have done things that did not favor their audience, but I'm not sure if they really deserved the title of "worst company in America" (compared to those listed, not comparing it to other companies in the game industry). It's commendable that EA has ensured the launches of games such as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Syndicate and Mass Effect 3 (hey, everyone wanted it so bad before it came out) during the first-quarter as game releases have been sort of slow in the beginning of this year. I'm not sure if I can quite call myself an EA fan as I do play a good amount of games published by them, but I also question some of their practices in the industry too. What keeps me from delving too deep into how they work is the way other companies have worked in the past as well. Notable companies are currently Capcom and Activision. I have my doubts that EA will change anytime soon as they're a huge corporation and making any changes to it while they still have their success (despite low market value and angry fans) would be dangerous for them, or so the higher ups and business men would say. Sad but true.
 |
| Source: Link at Top |
Business Practices
Electronic Arts is mainly a publisher as most of the games they produce are developed by other studios. As a publisher, they ensure that things get done and have promise of marketable success. In the past, they have rushed projects, prevented creative freedom, shut down various studios, bought out companies to eliminate potential competition, and has also embraced social/casual gaming over core gaming (they shut down a studio that was developing a game while acquired a casual game studios). They might have changed throughout the years though. Look up on the history of Infinity Ward and you'll see that it started 22 developers leaving EA to working on Call of Duty and being picked up by Activision only to leave after Modern Warfare 2 to start a new studio under Electronic Arts once again. I guess you can't really change how a publisher works. You can't live with them, but you can live without them (unless you're an indie developer I guess).
Launch of Origin
Electronic Arts games for PC can be bought at retail stores while digital versions were also available on Steam. Games sold well on the Steam platform and it made Valve quite a bit of money to host those games. EA seemed like they wanted a crack at it and created Origin, a platform geared towards selling their own games on their own platform. A lot of people were upset, some were excited, and others didn't care.
Problems:
-Crysis 2 was about to be launched on Steam and some pre-purchased it. It was pulled from Steam and forced players to create an account and use the Origin platform in order to play it
-EA having total control over their games meant no awesome deals like it did on Steam
-The program is slow, buggy, and intrusive to the computer
-Origin apparently scans the user's computer to see what games they have, whether the player liked it or not
-Players were locked out of games they bought, crashed on games they played, and some couldn't even log in
Okay, this could be one of the reasons why it rubbed players the wrong way. I tried out Origin and really didn't like how I could barely download the games, had trouble starting up any of them, the amount of resources it took up on my laptop (probably constantly scanning my computer to see what games I had), the amount of times it crashed or froze my computer, and the fact that games stayed at its retail price. It converted me back to playing EA games on consoles rather than on PC as it caused too many problems for it to be worth it. I would like to remind everyone that Steam was once like that: took forever to load, froze the computer, was buggy, etc. and sometimes it's still like that. So maybe Origin will get better one day.
Secret support of SOPA
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was a government bill that would have allowed government intervention on the internet. If passed, the government could block any site that was considered a breach of copyright. It would be nice if piracy would stop killing the entertainment industry, but this was a bad solution to that problem. Fan made sites for games or shows would be blocked, your favorite video streaming sites would no longer exist, and those who possess their own intellectual property with reference to existing ones (videogame remixes, videogame comics, meme sites, etc.) would be considered a breach and be blocked. Many companies understood this to be a problem too and took the effort to prevent such an atrocity to ever be passed. EA was the suspect of one of the companies being a supporter of the bill and has been since looked down upon by the community.
Downloadable Content (DLC) Galore
Sure, we can pan EA for always pumping out DLCs, but that goes for a lot of other companies too. I think what really hit fans of EA hard was the day-one DLC that wasn't included with Mass Effect 3 when it launched. The purpose of DLCs was to provide extra content to fans who wanted more out of their games. The problem is that publishers (and possibly the minds of developers) has taken advantage of that option and has exploited the term DLC to being "more money" rather than "extra content". It's not considered extra content when it should have already been on the disc already. This brings about another irony in the game industry as Capcom's latest release of Street Fighter X Tekken really did have day-one DLC on the disc but was unaccessible to players unless they paid the extra cash for it. I really hate DLCs as publishers abuse this power way too much and it is creating a horrible trend in game development where projects are rushed, lack content, and are unpolished just because they can be fixed later, added later or alongside the launch for extra money, and sometimes go unfinished entirely. This seems to be the problem with EA's Mass Effect 3 where the ending was unsatisfactory and has forced EA to create a DLC (which they have announced will be free shortly after being awarded worst company in America) that as a more conclusive ending. I swear, the trend of DLCs will one day cause players to buy portions of a game rather than an entire game (pay this much for single-player, pay that much for levels 1-5, pay monthly for the multiplayer portion).
Mass Effect 3
EA received an overwhelming response from fans of the series about the ending (*cough* even though BioWare was the one that developed it *cough*). I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! I have yet to complete 1 and 2 and so I don't want any spoilers. Anyhow, this seems to be the major factor for causing all those votes to focus on EA since it wasn't too long ago. This has caused EA to bring about a DLC with a new/alternate ending (I'm not sure). BioWare's working hard I suppose since EA has the studio on 2-3 different projects, and now they still have to make additional content to a game everyone's so angry about.
Electronic Arts might have done things that did not favor their audience, but I'm not sure if they really deserved the title of "worst company in America" (compared to those listed, not comparing it to other companies in the game industry). It's commendable that EA has ensured the launches of games such as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Syndicate and Mass Effect 3 (hey, everyone wanted it so bad before it came out) during the first-quarter as game releases have been sort of slow in the beginning of this year. I'm not sure if I can quite call myself an EA fan as I do play a good amount of games published by them, but I also question some of their practices in the industry too. What keeps me from delving too deep into how they work is the way other companies have worked in the past as well. Notable companies are currently Capcom and Activision. I have my doubts that EA will change anytime soon as they're a huge corporation and making any changes to it while they still have their success (despite low market value and angry fans) would be dangerous for them, or so the higher ups and business men would say. Sad but true.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
GameLight - SimCity
Official Site: http://www.simcity.com/en_US
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
SimCity has had a long history and influence in simulation games for the PC. It's been nearly 9 years since the last release of the series and is now returning. SimCity is a simulation game where the player (who's essentially god) creates a living, breathing world by constructing buildings, roads, resources, and necessities for humans to live. Knowing where to place certain buildings determines the well being of the inhabitants. I'm not much of a fan of SimCity, but I always fancied the idea of creating a whole city in a game. SimCity steps up and brings the game to life with hyper-realistic graphics, innovative customizations, and seemingly a multiplayer aspect where players' cities are right next to each other and will affect one another. The amount of detail in this SimCity is remarkable just from watching the trailer. Each tiny human in the game has an animation set. All objects reflect accordingly with light, environment, and weather. Even though I'm not entirely excited about the game, I think it'll be really fun to watch videos of other people's creations when it finally releases sometime next year.
Source: Youtube Channel pixelenemy
SimCity has had a long history and influence in simulation games for the PC. It's been nearly 9 years since the last release of the series and is now returning. SimCity is a simulation game where the player (who's essentially god) creates a living, breathing world by constructing buildings, roads, resources, and necessities for humans to live. Knowing where to place certain buildings determines the well being of the inhabitants. I'm not much of a fan of SimCity, but I always fancied the idea of creating a whole city in a game. SimCity steps up and brings the game to life with hyper-realistic graphics, innovative customizations, and seemingly a multiplayer aspect where players' cities are right next to each other and will affect one another. The amount of detail in this SimCity is remarkable just from watching the trailer. Each tiny human in the game has an animation set. All objects reflect accordingly with light, environment, and weather. Even though I'm not entirely excited about the game, I think it'll be really fun to watch videos of other people's creations when it finally releases sometime next year.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
VGCulture - Watching Tournaments & UMVC3 EVO 2012
Official Site: http://evo.shoryuken.com/
I generally don't keep up with gaming tournaments or professional game players, but once in a while I'll run across some videos of those tournaments and enjoy watching some of the techniques that the top of the elites do and have my mind blown. In the past, I have watched tournament plays for Street Fighter 3 & 4, Super Smash Bros. Melee, World of Warcraft, Halo, and League of Legends. I've even had the chance to watch an actual tournament live at BlizzCon 2008 for Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne and Starcraft 1. You might notice that there are tournaments across an assortment of genres such as Fighting games, Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), First-Person Shooters (FPS), Real-Time Strategy games (RTS), and Massive Online Battle Arenas (MOBA). There were even dance game tournaments before there was "Just Dance" and "Dance Central" around (Dance Dance Revolution by Konami). Videogame tournaments are so fun to watch sometimes because pro players perform techniques that you may normally never see in regular matches. Be it a consecutive tech block chain, moving lightning fast with a heavy character, overwhelming an opponent within 5 minutes of a match, or beating impossible odds in a 1 v 3 fight, tournaments between the most elite players of the world shows a side of a game that is rarely ever seen.
Anyways, I came across some Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (UMVC3) tournament videos of those qualifying for this year's EVO event. EVO is an annual convention where professional fighting game players around the world get together and test their mettle against each other in some of the most competitive environments the gaming community has to offer. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Soul Calibur V, Mortal Kombat (9), King of Fighters XIII, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo are among the games with tournaments. I'm sure there will be other fighting games that are non-tournment orientated there such as BlazBlue, Melty Blood, and who knows, maybe we'll get to see some of Tekken Tag 2. I came across two videos of the qualifying matches for UMVC3 with a player I've never heard of before: (remember, I don't keep up with pro players) ChrisG in both videos.
Source: Youtube Channel teamspooky
For this match, the "must-watch" round is the last one at 6:39. Tourney player Mihe had found a way to exploit Zero's ground dash and lightning dash and cycle through it against a side to stun-lock ChrisG into a combo he couldn't get out of. ChrisG had only 2 chances to get out of it: 7:04 and 7:26. Mihe left little to no room for him to get out of it and left the match untouched with a perfect. Watching the other rounds, ChrisG performs moves and techniques I never would have imagined doing with Morrigan and Doctor Doom. He's able to utilize his tag partner to create openings, use Morrigan's image to cause unblockable damage, and keep his opponent from a distance while still doing damage (which I find very difficult to do in UMVC3).
Source: Youtube Channel teamspooky
This video is between famed Street Fighter Pro player Justin Wong against ChrisG. Again, ChrisG performs some phenomenal attacks, combos and stun-locks against his opponent and was even able to solo it out with Doctor Doom. That infinite stun-lock Mihe performed was questionable shenanigans, but what Justin Wong does at the round on 9:47 is frightening. As long as he was able to lead in with one attack, his opponent was stun-locked. Another round worth watching is at 11:17 where Justin Wong just so happens gets caught in an Air-combo with his support out and loses two characters within that combo. With only Storm left, he...well, just watch it (don't want to spoil anything). I've never seen Storm move so quickly in the game before. I am absolutely terrible with her doing no damage, moving incredibly slow and losing health faster than a broken faucet spouting water. This was a very entertaining match to watch.
It is matches like those that blow my mind away. I love fighting games, but I play very casually. I play so casually that I don't even play online. When you play online, you'll sometimes go against pro players and be completely shut down. Maybe I'll play online one of these days, but I'll practice against my very easy to medium level computers before then.
I generally don't keep up with gaming tournaments or professional game players, but once in a while I'll run across some videos of those tournaments and enjoy watching some of the techniques that the top of the elites do and have my mind blown. In the past, I have watched tournament plays for Street Fighter 3 & 4, Super Smash Bros. Melee, World of Warcraft, Halo, and League of Legends. I've even had the chance to watch an actual tournament live at BlizzCon 2008 for Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne and Starcraft 1. You might notice that there are tournaments across an assortment of genres such as Fighting games, Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), First-Person Shooters (FPS), Real-Time Strategy games (RTS), and Massive Online Battle Arenas (MOBA). There were even dance game tournaments before there was "Just Dance" and "Dance Central" around (Dance Dance Revolution by Konami). Videogame tournaments are so fun to watch sometimes because pro players perform techniques that you may normally never see in regular matches. Be it a consecutive tech block chain, moving lightning fast with a heavy character, overwhelming an opponent within 5 minutes of a match, or beating impossible odds in a 1 v 3 fight, tournaments between the most elite players of the world shows a side of a game that is rarely ever seen.
Anyways, I came across some Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (UMVC3) tournament videos of those qualifying for this year's EVO event. EVO is an annual convention where professional fighting game players around the world get together and test their mettle against each other in some of the most competitive environments the gaming community has to offer. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, Soul Calibur V, Mortal Kombat (9), King of Fighters XIII, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo are among the games with tournaments. I'm sure there will be other fighting games that are non-tournment orientated there such as BlazBlue, Melty Blood, and who knows, maybe we'll get to see some of Tekken Tag 2. I came across two videos of the qualifying matches for UMVC3 with a player I've never heard of before: (remember, I don't keep up with pro players) ChrisG in both videos.
Source: Youtube Channel teamspooky
For this match, the "must-watch" round is the last one at 6:39. Tourney player Mihe had found a way to exploit Zero's ground dash and lightning dash and cycle through it against a side to stun-lock ChrisG into a combo he couldn't get out of. ChrisG had only 2 chances to get out of it: 7:04 and 7:26. Mihe left little to no room for him to get out of it and left the match untouched with a perfect. Watching the other rounds, ChrisG performs moves and techniques I never would have imagined doing with Morrigan and Doctor Doom. He's able to utilize his tag partner to create openings, use Morrigan's image to cause unblockable damage, and keep his opponent from a distance while still doing damage (which I find very difficult to do in UMVC3).
Source: Youtube Channel teamspooky
This video is between famed Street Fighter Pro player Justin Wong against ChrisG. Again, ChrisG performs some phenomenal attacks, combos and stun-locks against his opponent and was even able to solo it out with Doctor Doom. That infinite stun-lock Mihe performed was questionable shenanigans, but what Justin Wong does at the round on 9:47 is frightening. As long as he was able to lead in with one attack, his opponent was stun-locked. Another round worth watching is at 11:17 where Justin Wong just so happens gets caught in an Air-combo with his support out and loses two characters within that combo. With only Storm left, he...well, just watch it (don't want to spoil anything). I've never seen Storm move so quickly in the game before. I am absolutely terrible with her doing no damage, moving incredibly slow and losing health faster than a broken faucet spouting water. This was a very entertaining match to watch.
It is matches like those that blow my mind away. I love fighting games, but I play very casually. I play so casually that I don't even play online. When you play online, you'll sometimes go against pro players and be completely shut down. Maybe I'll play online one of these days, but I'll practice against my very easy to medium level computers before then.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
GameLight - Nexuiz
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/96800/
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
A month from now, a downloadable game called Nexuiz will release and attempt to bring back the joy of twitch-based First-Person Shooters. In the past decade, FPS games have slowed down due to the popularity of sci-fi shooters such as Halo and later military, tactical shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield as many other genres have in the past (example: Street Fighter 3 to Street Fighter 4 for fighting games or Diablo 2 to games like Titan Quest or Torchlight for top-down Action-RPGs). Many games are slowed down as they give a bit more leeway time to thinking and planning what to do next. It also makes it a lot easier for new players to grasp the main concepts when everything isn't going lightening fast. Still, many who have played FPS during the days of Quake and/or Unreal Tournament 2004 long for the fast-paced action they once experienced and Nexuiz intends to do so. Those who've played FPS of similar tastes will have a bit of nostalgia while kids who have never seen such a side of FPS before might very well be fascinated with the idea of being able to bunny hop quickly around, use jetpacks to fly around, and firing a weapon without having to aim-down sight or standing still. The thing about twitch-based FPS games is that it has players tap into their most natural instincts of fight or flight emotional states and have the outcome be determined by reflexes rather relying on planning, flanking and deception (in other words: it's a different kind of game, even though it's still an FPS). Players will inevitably run into each other in very short durations due to the small arenas provided to ensure that the action is near constant. The game features a lot of power-ups that can be leveled up, or so it seems. Developed on CryEngine 3 and set at a initial price of $9.99, this will be one game I'll be keeping an eye out for. Nexuiz should already be available on Xbox Live Arcade while the PC version and PS3 version will release for download on May 3rd, 2012.
Source: Youtube Channel machinima
A month from now, a downloadable game called Nexuiz will release and attempt to bring back the joy of twitch-based First-Person Shooters. In the past decade, FPS games have slowed down due to the popularity of sci-fi shooters such as Halo and later military, tactical shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield as many other genres have in the past (example: Street Fighter 3 to Street Fighter 4 for fighting games or Diablo 2 to games like Titan Quest or Torchlight for top-down Action-RPGs). Many games are slowed down as they give a bit more leeway time to thinking and planning what to do next. It also makes it a lot easier for new players to grasp the main concepts when everything isn't going lightening fast. Still, many who have played FPS during the days of Quake and/or Unreal Tournament 2004 long for the fast-paced action they once experienced and Nexuiz intends to do so. Those who've played FPS of similar tastes will have a bit of nostalgia while kids who have never seen such a side of FPS before might very well be fascinated with the idea of being able to bunny hop quickly around, use jetpacks to fly around, and firing a weapon without having to aim-down sight or standing still. The thing about twitch-based FPS games is that it has players tap into their most natural instincts of fight or flight emotional states and have the outcome be determined by reflexes rather relying on planning, flanking and deception (in other words: it's a different kind of game, even though it's still an FPS). Players will inevitably run into each other in very short durations due to the small arenas provided to ensure that the action is near constant. The game features a lot of power-ups that can be leveled up, or so it seems. Developed on CryEngine 3 and set at a initial price of $9.99, this will be one game I'll be keeping an eye out for. Nexuiz should already be available on Xbox Live Arcade while the PC version and PS3 version will release for download on May 3rd, 2012.
Monday, April 2, 2012
VGCulture - April Fools 2012
Every April Fools, I stay away from the internet to avoid being fooled by videogame news that may be worthy of an actual release or concept. However, I always check all of them out the next day and see what hilarious or cruel joke people or even game companies have created for the public. Here's what I found this year:
Source: Youtube Channel SegaAmerica
This would actually be an interesting mini-game for any of Sega's main games. I mean, all games seem to have some sort of undead these days. Sega added zombies to Yakuza. Rockstar Games added zombies to Red Dead Redemption. I can totally see zombie fishes in Bass Fishing, lol.
Source: Youtube Channel DiabloChronicle
Blizzard has made April Fools jokes in the past, but they're usually evident to being jokes. Still, a few of them this year got me laughing. This is one of them.
Source: Youtube Channel Google
Although it isn't "laugh out loud" hilarious, the novelty of the concept was rather entertaining. You can mess around with the map here.
[Half-Life 3 Site Prank]
Possibly the most cruelest prank to the videogame community this year was a deviously well constructed duplicate site of Valve's Steam platform with all the working parts with one major difference: A featured front page of what's seemly Half-Life 3. Fans of the series have been begging for Half-Life 2: Episode 3, so seeing an image such as that tugged on the hearts of many and shattered all hope when realizing it was a fake. Fortunately for me, I don't really care since I'm hardly done with Half-Life 2 (and my backlog is still ridiculous).
Source: Youtube Channel HawkandGamble
This was my favorite April Fools this year. The last 30 seconds is what made the video worth watching.
Source: Youtube Channel SegaAmerica
This would actually be an interesting mini-game for any of Sega's main games. I mean, all games seem to have some sort of undead these days. Sega added zombies to Yakuza. Rockstar Games added zombies to Red Dead Redemption. I can totally see zombie fishes in Bass Fishing, lol.
Source: Youtube Channel DiabloChronicle
Blizzard has made April Fools jokes in the past, but they're usually evident to being jokes. Still, a few of them this year got me laughing. This is one of them.
Source: Youtube Channel Google
Although it isn't "laugh out loud" hilarious, the novelty of the concept was rather entertaining. You can mess around with the map here.
[Half-Life 3 Site Prank]
Possibly the most cruelest prank to the videogame community this year was a deviously well constructed duplicate site of Valve's Steam platform with all the working parts with one major difference: A featured front page of what's seemly Half-Life 3. Fans of the series have been begging for Half-Life 2: Episode 3, so seeing an image such as that tugged on the hearts of many and shattered all hope when realizing it was a fake. Fortunately for me, I don't really care since I'm hardly done with Half-Life 2 (and my backlog is still ridiculous).
Source: Youtube Channel HawkandGamble
This was my favorite April Fools this year. The last 30 seconds is what made the video worth watching.
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