Wii Accessories

September 17th, CTA Digital released the first ever Wii Bowling Ball. Fashioned after an authentic bowling ball, it feels just like a regular bowling ball but only weighs a little over one-pound. The ball is easy to use with an innovative inner system that allows you to easily access all of the buttons from outside the ball.  … Continue Reading

So What If Mass Effect 2 Is Emotional?

The following editorial was produced by Marco Fiori, a Freelance Contributor. To see more of his work, check out his website here.

It has never been better to be a RPG fan. Not only are Bioware, considered by many to be the best in the business, looking to deliver on their Baldur’s Gate ’spiritual successor,’ Dragon Age: Origins. We are pleased by the announcement and cannot wait to find out more details on the game.

So what do we already know? Well, it has the unimaginative title of Mass Effect 2; a QA man at Bioware indicates that Mass Effect saves will have a purpose; and the game might reach the PS3. Finally we have the proclamation from Bioware’s CEO, Ray Muzyka that Mass Effect 2 will:

“have consequences that are emotionally compelled; choices have to have consequences that are emotionally impactful [...] it’s part of the emotional investment.”

Good one Ray, tell us another.

Call us sceptical, but we have played far too many games where the player is promised that everything they do will have an effect. In reality, it is blindingly obvious when the ‘choice-moment’ occurs. It usually involves killing someone or letting them live. The Witcher is the only modern RPG that has genuinely delivered on that old chestnut. There used to be a time where RPG’s were about an enriching story, logical character development and believable setting. That was done without the need of HD-graphics or self absorbent marketing pap like “300 different endings,” or “a spider web of possibility.”

Half Life 2 (and Episode 2 in particular) did not need to boast about its emotional involvement. Valve created the game and it became apparent by playing it. We do not remember anyone coming to us during Baldur’s Gate II’s build up and preparing us to ‘feel.’ The characters and writing did it without intentionally searching for emotion.

Video games will always struggle to connect to our emotional needs. After all, they are about enjoyment and lack the same depth / intention that literature / cinema possesses. Mass Effect 2 may shock us with a twist or two (which is usually the only ‘emotion’ that developers can tap into), but it will not cause us to cry or rethink our lives.

The PR department would be better off telling us how they are improving the vehicle sections or introducing unseen gameplay elements rather than dictating to us how our brains should work.

Resident Evil Retrospective: The Nightmare Continues

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Resident Evil Retrospective: The Beginning

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F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin Demo Hands-on

So F.E.A.R 2, the first real Sequel to the F.E.A.R stories kind of destroys nearly everything that’s happened in any expansion or side games that have come out.  The F.E.A.R experience has slowly begun to die as the seperate games lived nowhere near up to the original. The only actual good throw-in was the expansion pack that played as an “Alternate” ending being the best way to put it.

When I downloaded the demo from the PSN, I was mixed with excitement and caution for how this game was going to work out and all I can say is that the demo did nothing but leave me shaking and anticipating the full game’s release.

The first thing to start out with is the graphics, the first FEAR was known to be one of the best looking games for 2005 and was truly high demanding for the PC, however considering how much detail was in that game it was no surprise. FEAR2 does not dissapoint there, the entire game has pretty much come to life and feels revamped from the previous game.   Little glasses shattering into tiny pieces, sparks shooting out from electronic equipment, bullet recoils to much more. This game brings back the chaotic feeling of destructable objects the first one had and extends it by just adding those little extra details.

The second to bring out in this short hands-on demo is the gameplay.  Most people see a shooter it’s going to be the same thing, it just depends on how sharp the creators make it to make it different. In terms of FEAR 2 the combat has become way more intense then before, and the mechanics have improved.  The enemy’s A.I made an improvement from the first game, not major improvements but definitely one to keep the fight on. You can be stuck in a one-on-one gunfight for a good 40 seconds if your health was low enough.  The enemies continue using flanks, covers and decoys to keep you busy causing you to think strategically with each of your moves especially when you want to conserve your ammo which brings me to the next upgrade to the series, cover.

Cover has always been something major in most shooters but Monolith has brought it to the next level. With the push of the action button (Depending on your console) you can flip tables, pull down shelves and use them as your new cover while you’re engaging the enemy. They even got as far as to allow you to forcefully open car doors as cover and then close them again when you’re done.  This is very helpful considering the enemies you’ll be going up against, not only that though but increases the intensity online multiplayer will be having.  Another newly added feature is the ability to control Mechs, in the demo you are given a chance to pilot one of these mechs. However it’s really required to have one for this (Unlike games that let you use them to just tear down enemies with ease) as they’ll be sending you against multiple opponents with missle launchers and even those mechs you found enjoyable in FEAR and it’s expansion pack.

The last thing to add into this Demo Hands-on will be the F.E.A.R Factor of this game. When I started up the level, I felt rather dissapointed, the game seemed to have begone following the normal horror games instead of the japanese horror the original went for. However as I progressed further and further into the game.  I began wasting half my ammo on stuff that wern’t even there. This game brings back the feeling of horror the original went for and intensifies it by casting shadows where you just came from. Having short montages of Alma popping up in the least expected spots. Haivng you get a taste of hell in FEAR for short moments. I don’t want to spoil any of those moments, in fact I’m trying to do this hands-on without spoiling too much of the demo itself so it’s coming out a bit rough. Either way, if you’re a fan of horror games or a fan of intense shooters, FEAR is the game for you.

Achievements? The start of something…

We at MonsterVine always enjoy a thorough introspection of the many things the video game industry has to offer, big or small. But community member, WarDragon989, has managed to make even the small look big as he examines the integrity of Achievements, Trophies and Steam Achievements and their consequent impact through the coming generation.

WarDragon989 writes:

Wonderful? Maybe.

The idea of what an achievement, is an accomplishment for completing a certain task which could have a ranging difficulty curve. Before Xbox released a viewable portal to the concept, these rare “game achievements” were only viewable on youtube or similar video sites and of course the good old gaming forums where people recited their moments to whoever would listen.

The Xbox System

In 2005, Microsoft and their brand new system, the Xbox 360, announced an in-built system know as “Achievements”. These achievements had “gamerscore” attached and when totaled up gave number differences, which raised a number of gaming egos in the process. It was a welcomed addition to the console market though some showed concern about them mentioning an unsettling addiction with acquiring them or that they “needed” to get the 1000/1000.

The policy that Microsoft imposed was simple; a game released on retail had to have 1000/1000 gamerscore with it, and the number of achievements can range from 4 to 99. A game released as an arcade can have 200/200 with 12 achievements being a normal static amount. Their policy has changed over the years with the inclusion of DLC, such as expansions. Retail can now have an added 250 points, totaling 1250 and the arcade added 50 more totaling 250. These of course are only available to people who have the new content. Halo 3 recently set 1750 achievement points, this would mean that any game can have a number of expansions added, but of course i believe there is a hidden cost.

Achievements are a nice addition if they are in the right hands, over the two years that Microsoft has had the achievements system, many game developers have retained a sense of ranging achievements from completing a game on different difficulties, to a boss battle, to killing 3 people in 5 seconds. In the later years, Halo 3 let people acquire new armour for getting a certain achievements and it recently updated to include many community based achievements.

Notable achievements are mainly ones which require time, effort, skill and the inability to cheat but this has caused many to believe that the “prestigious” achievements are more of a burden and struggle especially when they have acquired them;

* 5/7 day survivor (Dead Rising)
* Mile High Club (COD4)
* Seriously… (Gears of war) and their notable spin offs, No Seriously (The Club) and Beans Bullets Bandages (Battlefield: Bad Company)

Of course these game developers are the ones who have a good range of achievements so it doesn’t feel like a waste just to get one. Other developers are using the addictiveness of achievements as a secret latch for their games; for example The Simpsons and Avatar which both have very easy achievements and game concept. But due to the actual achievements selling the game and not the game selling itself, has the meaning of achievements been lost along the way?

Xbox achievement have a sense of addiction which a number of companies have taken advantage of and even the ability to “cheat” the system has caused a mass of players to claim a number of points without really trying, it became a major concern and Xbox HAD to do something about in 2008.

Overall, Xbox started an idea, which had a great concept and so far it has been very successful, but I believe they have made people forget what an “achievement” really is, and what it really means to get one.

Steam Achievements/PC

On the momentum of Xbox’s, now successful, achievement system Valve, a PC based company incorporated Achievements for a number of its games into their new Steam system, so far only a hand full of games support achievements, mainly their own games and a number of arcade type games.

The rules about them seem much more relaxed then Xbox’s version, with no gamer score, and the amount of achievements removed. Valve, using there own game Team Fortress 2 uses achievements to give the players new weapons with milestones, constantly updatedthe achievement list with new class and map packs making the achievements list almost endless with no restrictions.

Recently, World of Warcraft a popular PC game, adopted the achievement idea; which covers all aspects of the game. They have used the achievements points system, rating each one with points and give in-game bonuses for collecting a number of achievements.

Overall the PC version has gone in the right direction with achievements partially, Valve, who try to remind people that it isn’t about points, its about what you do and getting rewards for it.

Playstation 3 Trophies

Xbox’s competitive console rival, Sony, saw the impact achievements had on Xbox sales, and on the console itself, and believed a system would be needed for the PS3 system, they created Trophies.

Trophies are split into 4 different areas; Bronze (simple tasks), Silver (medium tasks), Gold (hard tasks) and Platinum (which you get when you have every other trophy). Instead of showing off the score, each trophy has a hidden score which is then added to a total bar. This bar increases in level and get harder to level up each time.

The difference between trophies and achievements is that a number of games require a sense of commitment to the game such as Warhawk, Wipeout HD and Socom. All mentioned require skill and time for you just to get one trophy and is not a simple one night play which some Xbox achievements are.

Trophies are a fairly new concept and are now in 2009 mandatory for future games, a number of old games including Metal Gear Solid 4, Heavenly Sword and others have yet to be patched and Sony is more relaxed on not forcing them to do so, which has angered a number of the community.

Overall, Sony has taken the Xbox idea of achievements and shook it down to its foundation and Trophies are that. Sony is much less restrictive on how many and what is needed to complete, and it is more to the developer.

The meaning of an achievement

Overall, Achievements/trophies are great to have as they add “more” replay value of a game.

The achievement idea is great in theory, but the meaning is lost. Xbox generally though it was better to reward people for almost everything in a game, while attaching a score for the ego inside us. PC generally though achievements where as Xbox’s was for any action and not attaching a score. And Playstation is between the two, while not have a score they have a total bar, that all the trophies add up to.

An achievement is an accomplishment for completing a certain task that has ranging difficulty attached. While most achievements and trophies hold true to this idea. When you look back at the “true” achievements and stories of people who do these cool and unique things, you wonder why they don’t have an achievement for that. It’s a shame that achievements are now game seller reasons and from the makers point of view you don’t want a customer to be frustrated with the game.

Achievements are dubbed down view of what “true” achievements are, this means that instead of doing days upon days of training; anyone can get an achievement which makes the achievements meaningless. While we have seen unique achievements for games, few have show commitment. The ones that do are normally pushed aside and labeled as “too” hard and “too” much commitment. A number of PS3 trophies require you to be committed to the game (hours upon hours) this is what it should be, achievements should not be a walk in the park; it should be a walk on the side of mountain-side trail.

Also there should be more community based achievements, for example Bungie are very in tune with their community and now have “Vidmaster Challenge” achievements or Wipeout HD, where you have to beat a staff members race time, almost giving a meaning behind it.

So in the end, i believe the Xbox 360 version lost the plot, with its restrictions and its score, while PC and PS3 versions showed us what committed meant, no score, no restrictions and playing the game then getting an achievements for it, not the other way round.

While comments are allowed below, please feel free to discuss this article in the original thread found here.