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Global Game Jam: Miami – 2012

Feb 052012

Thanks to the folks at Game Developers Guild, we had a real, live, in-person Global Game Jam take place from January 27-29. The first day (Friday) was all about registration, kickoff presentations and forming the teams that would have less than two days to complete their game concepts. The speakers were strong – all with local ties to South Florida: Derek Smart from Quest Online and 3000AD, Miguel Oubiña from Nuclei 3D and Mark Bradshaw from Stratogon Entertainment. Derek and Mark use a lot of remote workers (i.e. “inexpensive”) but Miguel is recruiting local students to intern with his studio. There were some constant themes coming from the presenters: being successful is tough, the work is volatile, use – and legitimately pay for – a prominent off-the-shelf game engine such Unity or Unreal, and be prepared to sleep under your desk a lot.

As we all sat around discussing skills and needs, I offered to provide QA or Music help to any of the teams who requested it. The first day ended with the artists and devs being shown to their computers and me heading for home, but not after I left my email address so anyone could contact me to take me up on my offer to help.

Not sure whether anyone would call upon my talents, I ended up getting requests for the “Midgard Serpent” Viking game, the futuristic, virtual “Voxel Slayer” game, and the urban “Gang Warz” game. Each required different styles and I had to dig out some old sample CD-ROMs to bring the right sounds into the loops and effects for each of them.

For Midgard Serpent I initially provided a sound loop to play while the Viking ship was sailing, as well as am appropriately aggressive battle song titled “for Thor!” The team made additional requests for sound effects such as lightning bolts and injury sounds, which I fulfilled with a combination of public domain sound effects and sounds of my own concoction.

The Voxel Slayer team was less ambitious, asking only for a single song loop, which I titled “Mad Voxel.” This was a synth-driven dance type tune with retro game sounds thrown in.

Finally, the Gang Warz folks needed a music loop and some effects to play when attacking, winning, or when a gang member dies. The loop got an urban treatment and the effects were short and to the point. Here’s a link to download and install their game on your PC:

Overall, the experience was fun, but it was work at the same time – especially when all three teams had overlapping requests that I had to triage and deliver on as quickly as possible. Definitely something I would do again!

Gang Warz

Auto-save Me, Tom Cruise

Video Games No Responses »

Oct 142011

There’s an unsung hero powering the current generation of video games. While the graphics engines, gameplay design and overly complex controller schemes get all the attention, this little guy humbly sits in the background, quietly doing his job. He’ll never be mentioned in the bullet points for why you should buy a particular game. And in most cases, if he’s doing his job correctly, he’ll never even register with the gamer — beyond the small, hardly noticeable spinning indicator that appears whenever he’s doing his job. I’m talking about the auto-save system.

How do I justify declaring auto-save a hero to gamers everywhere? Simple. When a game doesn’t auto-save, or if the auto-save system is fundamentally broken (finger pointed at you Mass Effect), it stands out like a 350 pound defensive linemen taking a ballet class in nothing but his jock strap.

Speaking of jock straps, recently I purchased Madden NFL 11 for the Xbox 360. As everyone knows, Madden is an annual release for EA Sports. Every August it makes its way to the shelves of Best Buy and Gamestop and a number other retailers. And every year, millions upon millions of copies of Madden are sold to its enthusiastic fan base.

Almost as consistently as the annual release of Madden is the chorus of jeers from the critics tasked with reviewing the game. Sure, it always gets decent scores, but even with good scores comes the same discontent every year. The gist of the Madden critic’s complaints are as follows:

“Man, every year they release the same game and steal $60 from the consumer… They only marginally improve the overall experience, but they never do anything interesting or groundbreaking with the IP… The exclusivity agreement EA has with the NFL has allowed EA to just print money over the years, without having to invest in making the overall experience better… NFL 2K5!”

It goes something like that, over and over again. And I’m not saying that any of these points are invalid. They’re plenty valid, save the one about stealing the $60 from the consumer. Most Madden fans know what they’re getting and love what they’re getting. There’s a huge percentage of Madden fans that are not gamers. They buy Madden and console and that’s it. Nothing else. For the amount of time and enjoyment that they get from Madden each year, $60 is a bargain. But, I digress.

With all the complaining that reviewers have to make each year about the Madden franchise, they tend to miss, or ignore, the most blatant shortcomings that the title has. And, in my humble opinion, the lack of an auto-save system is the top dog of shortcomings that Madden has to offer. I would go as far as to say that, relative to the expectation of gamers playing on the current generation of consoles, the Madden save system is flat out broken.

I only play Madden for the franchise mode. So, I can’t speak for the other modes that Madden offers. However, I would assume that the save system is consistent across all facets of the game. And with that stipulation in place, there are two major problems that I have with the system. The first is the “Quick Save” system. You press the select key from the franchise mode’s main menu and it kicks off the process. The save process includes a handful of prompts that you must supply answers to in order to complete the process. Relative to a save system during the PS2 generation of consoles, this system is fairly streamlined. It works well. But, the functionality is not the problem. The problem is the fact that I have to do anything at all. Auto-save is the norm. Anything else is antiquated. I don’t want to have to think about it. I just want it done.

The other problem is the lack of ability to save during an actual game. Now, I know this existed in the last version of Madden I bought. That was five years ago, on the PS2. How the hell do you have this feature on the PS2 and not on the Xbox 360? Huh? The only rationalization I could come up with was the increase in complexity that comes with the current generation of game play. There’s probably more nuance to the game that would need to be persisted in order to make sure that when the user picks the game back up, everything is exactly the way they left it. However, I don’t buy this. Not really. It’s now been six years since the release of the Xbox 360. EA Tiburon should have been able to figure this out by now.

These shortcomings in the Madden save system are so obvious that it was one of the first things I noticed — at least within the first half hour of gameplay. Actually, the second game I attempted to play I only made it through three quarters. My wife then asked me to fire up grill and throw some chicken on it. This is when I first noticed that I couldn’t save in game. So, I left it paused. As I prepared the chicken I could hear the rumbling of thunder in the background. A little voice in the back of my head muttered, “oh shit.” I knew it was coming. It doesn’t happen every time during a storm, but it happens often enough that I know on this day that the power was going to flicker, and my three quarters of gameplay was going to be lost. There was nothing I could do, but pray to the gaming gods. But the praying didn’t help (the gaming gods don’t have that much pull in the big scheme of things). The power flickered. My game was lost.

The developers have to be aware of the experience they are providing the user. They must’ve just decided to ignore it. Or maybe it was deemed a lower priority. I can’t believe that they consider what they have acceptable, relative to the rest of the industry. Save systems shouldn’t be neglected. They’re too important to the core experience to be put on the back burner. Make it work, EA, like the rest of the industry has.

Console Release Rundown: September ’11

Video Games No Responses »

Sep 182011

With September’s Console Release Rundown, the overall structure is going to evolve, which should better fit with the article’s purpose. The amount of releases this month nearly doubled the numbers from July and August. It just wasn’t feasible to expect insightful and interesting feedback on all of them. So, a conclusion was reached: screw the ones we don’t care about, focus on the one’s we do.

Basically, the new structure is intended to strip out the noise and just bring you semi-informed opinions on the games that the BattlePlay contributors are interested in. Only truly interesting feedback will make its way into the article — “interesting” being determined by yours truly, which brings me the added bonus of BP’s contributors ~~dancing~~ competing for my acceptance.

Along with that, any game without any worthwhile opinions… well, they just won’t appear in the article. Consider this my pre-apology for the countless games that will be snubbed by BattlePlay and its humble contributors: Sorry…

With that in mind, let’s jump in to what September has in store. You can feel it in the air this month. The big dogs of the console gaming world are starting to make their presence felt, just in the nick of time for customers to start complaining about Christmas commercials coming earlier this year than last. It’s not the best lineup I expect to see as December approaches, but it is headlined by two of the biggest exclusives on the current gen consoles, both of which are trilogizing their franchise this month. In to the pool we go.

Resistance 3

Systems: PS3
Release Date: 9/6/2011
Price: $59.99

I don’t think any of BattlePlay’s contributors have spent any time with the Resistance franchise. However, it does deserve to be mentioned and commended. It’s one of the truly elite console exclusive franchises in existence. Though I haven’t played Resistance — for no other reason than I haven’t played it — Insomniac is one of my favorite developers out there. I assume the same quality that they bring to the Ratchet & Clank franchise also shines in the Resistance franchise.

As I write this, I’m really racking my brain to why I haven’t played played Resistance? This must be remedied.

Driver: San Francisco

Systems: X360, PS3, Wii
Release Date: 9/6/2011
Price: $56.99 (Wii: $46.99)

“I love SF. It’s a wonderful town and I’d love to drive in it. The problem here for me is if I drove in reality like I drive in driving games, I would be dead along with scores of innocents. To avoid an ego crushing feeling of automobile inadequacy, I don’t do driving games. I’ll take the trolley on this one.” — Steve Z.

Dead Island

Systems: X360, PS3
Release Date: 9/6/2011
Price: $59.99

“Unless you live under a rock you’ve seen the original Dead Island trailer. Mike wrote about this here. We all know the game won’t reflect the emotional depth of that trailer. That trailer is all that this game will be remembered for.” — Steve Z.

“Mike’s mental powers have put me off this game completely. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about it.” — Kevin T.

Our contributors should note: mentions of my extreme greatness will guarantee your feedback a place in the Rundown…

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten

Systems: PS3
Release Date: 9/6/2011
Price: $59.99

“I am getting this game. I have played every Disgaea game that has been released. Ever since I played Final Fantasy Tatics, i can’t get enough of these types of Tactics games.” –Kevin T.

Note: An, “I will buy this!” from Kevin == big deal.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Systems: X360
Release Date: 9/6/2011
Price: $56.99

“I liked playing Dawn of War on my PC and enjoyed that more than Warcraft. Having not played that title for a while and getting to do it “Gears of War” style on an XBOX, it might be something I get myself for Christmas. Besides, the “insanely giant shoulderpads” (IGN) are reminiscent of my wife in the 80’s.” –Charles S.

NHL 12

Systems: X360, PS3
Release Date: 9/13/2011
Price: $56.99

“Borrowed a recent edition of NHL for XBOX from a co-worker and the rink seems so constraining after all of the Madden and FIFA I have played the past few years. Oh – and I never figured out how to take a proper shot. If Fox can reprise their old hockey title, I’m game, but I’ll pass on this one.” –Charles S.

There was so much buzz about NHL 11 being one of the greatest sports games of all time that I just had to pick it up. And, I’m not sure about all time, but the game was extremely well conceived, and amazingly polished. The problem I had with it: the controls are not meant for the casual gamer, not in the least. It took a while (30/40 games) to get a feel for the game, and even then my skills felt inept. The game leaves little wiggle room to appeal to a mass audience. If you’re a casual gamer that loves hockey, NHL 12 is probably not catering to you.

White Knight Chronicles II

Systems: PS3
Release Date: 9/13/2011
Price: $59.99

“The first release of WKC has garnered quite a following. It’s unique percentage based item drop algorithms have made haters of some and drove the collectors among us to distraction. Some of the rabid fans have racked up over a 1000 hours of game play just on this single title. As long as the developers stick to the formulas that worked the first time I can’t see this title doing poorly.” –Steve Z.

Gears of War 3

Systems: X360
Release Date: 9/20/2011
Price: $59.99

“I’ll come out and say it: game of the year in 2011. Gears of War 3 sets a new standard in triple A title development and with its masterfully executed beta, will go down in video gaming history as one of the legends.” — Steve Z.

To add to Steve’s hyperbole rich feedback: does anyone remember this trailer? This trailer was part of the original advertising campaign for the first Gears of War. It was enough to not only have me buy the game, but also the Xbox 360 needed to play it. My wife got both items for me for Christmas that year. I had it opened by Thanksgiving.

The Gears of War franchise was my first experience with the Xbox, and it is still my favorite. Tuesday can’t come soon enough.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2012

Systems: X360, PS3, Wii
Release Date: 9/27/2011
Price: $59.99 (Wii: $19.99)

“I already blogged my impressions and expectations for FIFA 12, so I downloaded the demo for PES to see how they compare. The pace that the players run at is a bit fast – like FIFA was a few years ago so that part needs fixing. PES does have nicely detailed player models which are evident in replays and closeups – maybe better than FIFA in that respect. I also like PES’s kick strength indicator which appears at the players feet and happens to be exactly where you’re looking when your about to make the pass. FIFA puts a bar indicator at the bottom of the screen and I can’t ever recall ever referring to that. So two nice touches for PES, but not enough to tear away a devoted and acclimated FIFA player.” –Charles S.

So, Who Should Get Your Money?

If you’ve spent any amount of time reading the posts on BattlePlay, you should already have guessed that GoW3 is the runaway winner this month of the coveted, “my income is not really where it should be right now, but I still plan to waste money on games” award (I’m still working on the title). It’s a favorite of mine so much so that I was willing to preorder it at Gamestop in order to play the beta. Gamestop never gets my money, but an exceptions was required in this case. When it arrives on Tuesday, all other gaming in my life can expect to be put on a rather long hiatus. There’s Locust to be gutted. There’s faces to curb-stomped. Gears of War rules my 360 again.

As usual, let us know what you plan to pick up this month, if anything.

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