Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Games: So, Capcom was gracious enough to invite me in to get a sneak peek of Lost Planet 2’s multiplayer the other day. I’d never been to Capcom before and there were a ton of great review/journo people as well, so it was truly a double treat to attend the event.

Before getting into LP2, I need to first disclose the fact that I enjoyed the original Lost Planet a great deal. If you haven't already read my formal opinion, HERE you go. (Go ahead, click it. I'll wait.) Although the game got a fairly rocky reception in review circles, I found it to be a fantastically good time, and absolutely on the right track. Simply put, I'm a fan.

With that disclaimer aside, I left the demo feeling very positive about what I saw. Although we did not get a full and complete look at the whole game, there is very little doubt in my mind that LP2 will surpass its predecessor.

Overall, there were two main themes to the content: Customization and Mecha.


Looking at the customization first, the Capcom reps made the point over and over again that the player’s character is meant to be a unique, personal avatar for use in both the main campaign mode as well as online. We were quoted that (at the moment) there’s at least seventy thousand possible permutations of a player's avatar, and that number is likely to grow prior to the time the game hits the shelves.

In addition to physical appearance and clothing, weapon customization plays a large role. There were several classes of weapons that each player will have access to, and each class has several different styles and levels of power. For example, in the ‘heavy’ class, characters can choose to have a rocket launcher or a pistol-like hand cannon. Each of those weapons has several different styles and variations, and so on.

When asked about acquiring the different options, reps stated that while some items would be preset and specific to certain conditions in the campaign or tied to in-game achievements, players would also collect credits that would be used for a slot machine-type mechanic that would randomize the gear people get. Not sure I'm sold on that particular concept, but I remain hopeful.

Although we weren't allowed to change any of the settings in the demo, it was pretty clear to see that there is huge potential for each person buying the game to have their very own customized character, and that's always a good thing.


Moving on to the mecha, all I can say is ‘WOW’. It's no secret I’m a nut for giant armored things, and Lost Planet 2 is absolutely filthy with them. These “Vital Suits” are definitely a major focus of gameplay, and they've been revamped in every way possible.

For starters, the number of different models was incredibly impressive. I got to play the demo for around three or four hours, and it seemed as though every time I looked at someone else's screen, I was seeing a new VS I hadn't seen before.

The smallest was almost like a thick suit of armor that encases the player's body and functions like an extra life bar. Moving up in scale, there were several small ‘platform’ types that were sort of like Segways with guns, both terrestrial and airborne. Even bigger were tanks, bipeds designed for melee, lighter units that can transform between walking and hovercycle modes, and so on.


The heaviest Vital Suits on display were extremely impressive. The first was a three-part walker that was piloted by a player in the middle and had two independent gun platforms on either side. Even larger than that was a massive giant spider that had been outfitted with cybernetic armor implants. Towering over the players on foot, it appeared to be able to hold four or five players, each controlling their own set of weaponry.

(Oh, and the best thing? There were several mentions of a two-part Voltron-style combiner that will be available, though it was not running in the demo.)

The most interesting and exciting thing about the expanded focus on Vital Suits was that so many of them were able to fly in some fashion. In a level that strongly resembled an oil rig, I hopped into an assault helicopter and proceeded to pick people off the platforms at will -- definitely a high point of the demo. Another helicopter was designed for transporting ground troops, and many of the lighter (or even medium) Suits were capable of taking to the skies. My mind was blown when a cyborg scorpion piloted by the enemy team leapt straight up and exposed membranous wings before sniping rockets from above. To say it was completely unexpected is a massive understatement.


Differences between the 360 and PS3 were basically nil. Some people at the demo felt that the 360 graphics were sharper, while others were sure that the PS3 had the edge. Although I did spend more than a few minutes trying to suss out which one was superior, I think it's a nod to Capcom that they were basically identical even on a nitpick scale. Honestly, I could not tell the difference.

One final note, reps at the event said that the game has a multiplayer focus in both campaign and competitive modes. When asked to clarify, the answer was that the traditional story mode is meant to be played with at least one other person, if not more. Co-op is absolutely being positioned as the preferred method, and AI bots will be available for people who do not have friends on-hand when playing story mode. It was also noted that players who are intent on going alone will have the option, but that the game does not scale difficulty down for people lacking backup. You've been warned.

Capcom has stated that the Lost Planet 2 multiplayer demo will become available to the public on April 21 (unless you’re a Capcom Unity fan or win a code via contest) and the game itself will launch on May 11.
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Games: Been putting some time into 3D Dot Game Heroes on PS3. After logging a couple of hours on it, I think it's pretty clear to see that this thing will be a nuclear bomb of nostalgia for anyone who's old enough to remember The Legend of Zelda on NES. I mean, it was pretty clear that it was a Zelda homage from previews and early buzz, but putting the game through its paces, I really don't think it's an understatement to say that this is NES Zelda brought into 3D.

I just cleared the third (of six) temples this afternoon, and so far I've collected the boomerang, bow and arrow, bombs, hookshot, and picked up a few empty jars and heart pieces. Er, I mean, ‘apple shards’. The gameplay is pretty much the same as it was back then-- The hero searches the overworld and then enters subterranean dungeons full of monsters and puzzles while slowly building up his resources of equipment and health/magic capacity. The only real difference between Zelda NES and 3DDGH (so far, anyway) is twofold:

1> Instead of shooting a sword beam when the player's life bar is full, the swords in 3DDGH grow to absolutely ludicrous sizes and are capable of skewering enemies from across the entire screen.



2> Players have the option of creating their own avatar thanks to an incredibly cool customization tool available from the main menu. The game offers a wealth of different models to choose from at the beginning (heroes, ninjas, monsters, tanks, and so on) but the possibilities are basically unlimited as long as the creator can think in pixels. Just for fun, I created an exact replica of Mario and tonight I'll probably do Mega Man. For purists, it's totally possible to create an exact likeness of Link to complete the illusion of having an official 3D NES Zelda sequel.

Although I am definitely old enough to remember bringing home the original shiny gold cartridge way back in the day, I have to admit I'm a little curious to see how the game will be received by younger players who may not have any recollection of Zelda’s first incarnation. Personally, I'm having a great time and really enjoying this faux blast from the past -- although I haven’t enjoyed a true Zelda since Wind Waker, it's refreshing to see something like 3D Dot Game Heroes sweep all of the recent crap aside and focus again on the core formula.

P.S. – IT’S A SECRET TO EVERYONE.


In other Atlus news, anyone who's having problems with the soundtrack CD from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey should read this:

"Due to a manufacturing error, the bonus soundtrack CD bundled with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey does not play properly," stated Tim Pivnicny, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atlus. "We are moving quickly with our manufacturing partner to replace defective soundtrack discs, launching a fulfillment site into which customers can input their information and receive a new soundtrack CD in 2-4 weeks. We apologize for this issue, we appreciate our fans' understanding and patience, and we thank them for their current (and hopefully continued) support."


To formally submit a replacement request (limit one per customer), please visit: www.atlus.com/strangejourneycd .



Misc: The second installment of Chatroulette Piano Improv is now up, and you can check it out HERE. Both brilliant and hilarious, there's nothing else to say.



Food: The wife came up with a brilliant, more stewlike play off of Split Pea Soup tonight. After softening the peas in boiling water, she added cubed pork loin sautéed with onion, spices and a dash of soy sauce. Cornbread was served on the side.


Neither one of us had ever made anything with split peas before, but it was pretty damned delicious and the entire meal (two big servings) only cost about $3.25 total! Take that, Melissa D’Arabian!
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Games: BioWare released a brand-new add-on for Mass Effect 2 yesterday. Titled ‘Firewalker’, it adds a hovering scout vehicle to the game, and this new ride is capable of some pretty nifty maneuvers. It's free to players who have activated the Cerberus Network within their copy of the game, and my review of the content is HERE.



In other games news, I'm in the middle of writing my review for the Wii’s Fragile Dreams.


It's a difficult piece to write, since on the one hand I find it to be a fairly refreshing effort conceptually, and quite unlike most of the other games available for the Wii. On the other hand, I have to be brutally frank in saying that it's extremely tedious and not much fun at all. Ideas and artistry only go so far... certain decisions must be made with regard to how the experience feels to play through, and in this case, I'm having a hard time believing that the boredom and frustration I'm getting is something that the developers were actually trying to achieve.


I haven't been playing a lot of portable lately, but I have spent some time with Patchwork Heroes on PSP, and I've got to say that it's pretty fantastic. The gist of the game is that giant airships are approaching the city, so the people living there launch preemptive strikes by sending soldiers to land on these airships and chop them to pieces with handheld saws.


It sounds bizarre, but it absolutely works thanks to the quirky, 2D presentation and easy-to-grasp mechanics that only take a minute or two to get the hang of. It has loads of personality, and has a vibe similar to things like Katamari Damacy or LocoRoco -- things are goofy, but they're intended to be goofy, so it all ends up being humorously tongue-in-cheek. It's early days yet, but I've got nothing but good to say about the title so far.



TV: I’m not going to dwell on this very long, but it needs to be said - this season of American Idol flat-out sucks. After watching the show for the last four or five seasons, it's quite clear to see that this year's crop is the weakest, most talent-free group they've ever picked. It's terrible!


This week’s ‘Top 11’ episode had only two performances that I would say were of the caliber of what should be expected at this point in the competition. The rest of the contestants seemed way out of their league, and a few of them have no discernible singing talent whatsoever. The wife and I (and most of America, evidently) have been sorely disappointed with this season, and we're even debating whether or not we care enough to keep watching.

Not only are the contestants terrible, but the judges are out to lunch as well. I'm often mystified by the praise given to lackluster performances, not to mention the personal antics happening. Ryan Seacrest is coming off like a toothy Chihuahua aggressively marking his territory, Kara DioGuardi apparently underwent a personality transplant and now has trouble keeping her hands off of Simon, and Simon Cowell himself seems mostly occupied with moving onto his new show and getting through this one as quickly as possible. Ellen Degeneres? Well, Ellen's worthless. She rarely says anything that isn't parroted from someone else, and it's like she's physically incapable of saying anything even remotely negative.

Several television pundits have been quoted as saying that Idol could be in serious trouble next season after the poor showing here and the fact that Cowell (long said to be the backbone of the show) is leaving. Based on the current level of quality we’re getting now, I'd say that sounds about right.



Food: Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I just made fried rice for the first time and was quite proud of myself that it turned out to be pretty damned edible.

I was a little hesitant to make it because it was a dish my dad had always tried to cook for us growing up, and he never, ever managed to pull it off. I ate far too many scoops of wet, mushy starch embedded with cubed carrots and previously-frozen peas as a child, and because of my dad's numerous failures, I had somehow convinced myself that such a dish was not meant to be cooked by someone not of Chinese descent. However, it was one of those nights when there really wasn't much in the house and after surveying the available ingredients, the wife thought it was the most feasible prospect. She was right, it turned out pretty good, and I would definitely make it again.

In addition to the rice (of course) I ended up tossing in some mustard greens, frozen spinach, ground turkey, onions, carrots, egg, and fresh ginger. It may sound like a crazy hodgepodge, but I'd say it worked. If you've got some recipes or ideas of your own for fried rice, I'd love to hear them.



Comics: late to the party for sure, but here are a few pics I took at the recent Emerald City Comicon here in Seattle. Captions follow.

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Welcome back to Drinking Coffeecola!


Notice anything different?


No, not the hair.

No, I haven't lost weight either, but thanks for saying so.


After having been blogging for the last few years, I felt like it was time for a little change. Time to freshen up the place. Slap a new coat of paint on the walls, so to speak. Although I did switch templates (and it feels really odd to me to have my sidebar on the right and not the left) the biggest thing is the brand-spanking new custom logo created especially for this site by Chris Coughlan, AKA @TotallyEpic on Twitter.

Personally, I think he did an amazing job reading my mind, and was totally patient and professional when listening to all my nitpicks and tweaks. If you've got art needs, I'd totally recommend him. My experience was nothing but awesome.

Drop me a line if you’ve got any feedback on DC’s new look, I'd love to hear it. In the meantime, let's get back to the regularly-scheduled blog where I take a few bits and pieces that have been accumulating in my e-mail over time and I regurgitate them here for your viewing pleasure.


First up, a message from Daniel Lipscombe on a brand-new gamer-oriented charity project:

Points For Life is a charity event that will take place on June 5th 2010. A charity event aimed at videogame players, it’s our chance to give something back. The idea of the event is to ask people to sponsor us to gain Achievement points, PSN trophies and Steam Achievements. Play will start at 9am on June 5th and last for 24 hours, and it’s up to participants to earn as many Achievements/Trophies as they possibly can. Sponsors can pledge per Achievement points or Trophies, or they can just sponsor the event. The raised funds will be donated to Child's Play and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

"We gamers are a massive community and a determined bunch of people," said event organiser Daniel Lipscombe. "Charities such as Great Ormond Street Hospital and Child's Play need money to keep up the great work they do, and if we come together we can give something back and do some good."


Website - http://pointsforlife.wordpress.com/

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Points_for_Life

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102074516497476

We have a target to reach for each charity, and we hope to gather as many gamers as possible to reach (and hopefully break) these targets.


Email us about the project at points4life@googlemail.com.


Moving on, anyone who reads this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Twisted Pixel. I loved The Maw and ‘Splosion Man was even better. Their new project, titled Comic Jumper, will be on display at the upcoming PAX East show.


According to my sources, attendees will be able to see the first ten minutes of gameplay along with concept art, screenshots and a Q&A with the developers. If you're going to be at PAX East, stop by the Twisted Pixel booth and tell them that I sent you.

(Also, if you stop by the Mommy’s Best Games booth and tell them that you heard about it from the GameCritics.com podcast, you'll be eligible for a free piece of swag.)

I personally won't be at PAX East (will be at PAX West, though) but I look forward to hearing all about it. If you're going, drop me a line and let me know how it was.
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Comics: I know I've written about it before, but it bears repeating. If you haven't read Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, you're missing out on some of the best writing being done in comics today.

The premise of the book is basically what you'd expect: the zombie apocalypse descends on the world, and everything goes to hell.

Kirkman’s story follows a sheriff, his wife and son, and the group of survivors they meet as they struggle for safety and a semblance of their former lives. On the surface, it seems like pretty standard stuff. However, what makes The Walking Dead so powerful is Kirkman’s ability to spin stories that hinge not on the zombies, but on the living characters.

Over the course of the series, I've continually been impressed by how real he writes -- how people react to certain situations, how emotions would play a factor in survival, and how people don't stop being people just because the dead return to life. Plenty of movies and books focus on the practical aspects like scavenging for food and ammo or building an impregnable base for defense, but very few zombie tales really examine what it might be like to continue to be a warm, breathing person with hopes and fears and needs in the face of inevitable horror.

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I'll have some pictures of the recent Emerald City Comicon up in the next few days, but aside from that, there’s not much to report after the hectic weekend and a baby that's still in the full-blown teething stage.

If you're a parent, I'm sure you remember how difficult this stage is, and if you haven't had kids yet, let me just say that it is (in my opinion) the absolute worst part of raising a child, hands-down. Seriously, love my baby unconditionally, but I can't wait until these teeth come in and we can get past this.

Games: For the moment I'm still spending my available free time with Risen on the 360, and I'm loving every minute of it. The more I see of the game, the more I like it, and the more I admire the work and craftsmanship that must've gone into creating it. The island the player explores is a fantastic place, crammed ridiculously full of detail and interesting locations. My lust for exploring and adventuring has been stoked to fierce heights, and I would certainly recommend Risen to anyone who enjoys the same. Although it may have a lot in common with Oblivion thematically, the pacing and tightness of Risen’s design actually remind me more of a cross between Dragon Age and Fallout 3.


(By the way, if that combination sounds good to you, I would suggest securing a copy of Risen sooner rather than later. I've already started hearing reports that the game is becoming hard to find, and based on current sales numbers, I think it's a pretty safe bet that the publisher will not be printing a second run. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Also, I've heard that this week's XBLA offering will be the N64 classic, Perfect Dark. Believe it or not, I've actually never played the game. It's been on my list of ‘classics’ to experience as part of my general critic education for several years, but my N64’s been packed away in storage for a while, and I've definitely had my hands full with more current releases. However, now that it's going to be available in a souped-up version, I'm thinking that maybe the time is right.


However, before I pony up for it, I'd love to hear feedback from any readers who have played the game and have memories of it, whether good or bad. Did you like it? Is it worthy of being called a classic? Would you say it's a must-play for anyone worth their critical salt?

Drop some knowledge on me.
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Games: Yesterday, the subject of BioShock 2’s recent DLC came up and spurred a lively debate between a few people and myself on Twitter. As any tweeter knows, it's difficult to carry on an in-depth conversation with a limit of 140 characters, and trying to jump back and forth between several people at the same time is an even greater challenge. As a way of continuing the chat without the technical barriers, this post.


For those unfamiliar with the news, it was revealed that BioShock 2’s “DLC” was not so much additional content as it was an unlock key for content that was already encoded in copies of the game. BioShock 2 isn't the first game to do this and it certainly won't be the last, so before the rant begins, I just want to be clear in saying that this particular post is about the concepts of unlock keys, DLC, and ethics, and not about BioShock 2 in particular.

(Also, as another preface, I would invite you to check out my good friend and esteemed colleague Thom Moyles’ blog HERE. Thom’s a brilliant, standup guy, and I've got nothing but respect for him. However, this time we found ourselves on opposite sides of the issue. To see the counter to what I've got here, go check him out.)

Now, getting down to business…

In general, I'm a big fan of DLC. I can't even begin to count how many transactions I’ve completed, and I keep a pretty vigilant lookout for new additions to titles I've enjoyed. I think DLC is a great concept, I believe it adds value to games which would otherwise be cast aside or traded in after completion, and I support it as an effort on the part of developers and publishers to recoup losses they claim are incurred due to sales of used titles.

(Are used games REALLY costing them money? I'm not going to go there right now because that's an entirely different topic, but for the sake of this post, let's just assume that it's so.)

However, I do believe that there is a certain ethical element involved with the production, implementation, and sales of DLC, and I feel that it's often ignored or looked at as irrelevant in deference to the rights and profit of developers/publishers.

In Thom’s blog, he states “The problem here is that [Brad’s] applying the pragmatics of physical ownership to that of computer data. You see this a lot on the Internet, and it never works. It never works because when you buy game media, you’re not buying every bit of information contained in that media, you’re paying for whatever bits (literally) of that data that the game company chooses to give access to.”

Thom is not the only one who has cited this particular piece of logic, but in my view, anyone advocating this line without qualifying it is either profiting from this new era of online transactions, or simply drinking Kool-Aid to a certain degree. I certainly don't mean to insult Thom or anyone else, but I really don't see why the concepts of ownership that have served the human race since the dawn of time have to be chucked out the window just because we have so many new ways of controlling and limiting access. ‘Can’ does not equal ‘should’.

As someone who works for a living, who has responsibilities and bills to pay, value for the money I spend is always foremost in my mind. When I decide to put cold, hard cash down, I want to know exactly what I'm getting.

In the case of games which contain “extra” content on the disc that can’t be unlocked without paying an additional fee, I can't help but feel that there's something inherently dishonest about the practice. If I put $60 down on something and it's sold to me, I expect to be able to take full advantage of everything on the disc that is intended to be played.

The phrase “intended to be played” is an important distinction I need to make because as Thom pointed out, it's extremely common for any game to have a certain amount of content locked away for various reasons -- the developers weren’t able to effectively implement it, there wasn't enough time to bug-test, certain things had to be censored, so on and so forth.

For example, Rockstar locked away the infamous ‘Hot Coffee’ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for good reason, and it was never intended to be accessed by anyone. The same goes for a more recent example, Yakuza 3. In that case, Sega said up front that certain parts of the game were going to be removed (most probably disabled and not actually removed) because they were deemed “too culturally Japanese” for the US audience.

In these (and similar) instances, I absolutely respect the decisions on the part of the developers and publishers to snip, tailor or edit a product until it takes on the appropriate qualities and profile that they’re after. However, if Rockstar came along later and said that the infamous locked scenes could be made available for an additional $3, or if Sega said that Yakuza’s host bars could be unlocked for $5 online, I would have a serious problem with that.

To me, if there is content on a disc I have paid for and own, and if that content is actually intended to be used and played at some point in time, then I'm of the view that developers and publishers have an ethical responsibility to say so up front. Full disclosure. They obviously have planned it in advance, so it's not as though they can say they had no knowledge of the contents status. Why don't they disclose? Because they know that the audience would go ballistic and never stand for it. And who could blame them? In my mind, that's the same thing as buying a house only to be told after the fact that a bedroom you weren’t shown will remain forever locked unless you pony up another couple thousand. It's the same thing as buying a new car and then being told later that you actually have anti-lock brakes, but that they require a fee to be activated. It’s always an unpleasant surprise to find that you didn’t buy exactly what you thought you were buying, and not in a good way.

No one wants to feel taken advantage of, and people who are spending good money (especially in this economy) want to feel like they're getting an honest deal. If developers craft content that's actually on a disc being sold, it feels very dishonest to be asked for an additional monetary contribution in order to see a part of a unit that the consumer has already paid for.

This is where the “physical/data” part Thom mentions comes in. As I mentioned earlier, I really don't see the need to throw out concepts which humans have employed since we as a species were able to understand buying, selling, and ownership. Regardless of what publishers and developers may want to convince me of, the simple fact is that if they sell me a disc, I see it as mine, and I expect to use it as I see fit. Trying to turn that simple idea into the current concept of “developers and publishers get to do what they want because everything is licensed and the player doesn't really own any of it” feels incredibly disrespectful to the consumers and fans who keep the industry going. I'm not interested in participating in this Brave New World where portions of a product I paid for are locked away and held prisoner to micro-transaction greed.

As a consumer, I don't feel that this new philosophy is ethical, and that has nothing to do with any kind of imagined “gamer entitlement” -- it's just a simple truism inherent to the concept of buying and selling, and intimately linked with the diminished perceived value of something that is suddenly revealed to be less than what the buyer thought it was. Disclosure from the seller and the buyer's ownership of the property in question is the basis of any financial transaction, and trying to modify (and then justify) this age-old understanding only sours goodwill on the part of consumers and flaunts the current imbalance of power.

Just because it's possible (and even legal) to slap all kinds of partitions, controls, DRM or any other sort of control system in games sold to consumers, that doesn't mean it's right. Supporters of this new e-control philosophy can try to manipulate words and twist the issue as much as they want, but ask anyone on the street if they're happy to pay for an unlock key to a disc they've already bought and the answer will always be the same – hell no.

Call me old-fashioned, archaic, behind-the-times, or any other title you’d like, but if the content was ready to go at launch, if it's actually on the disc, and if it was intended to be played at some point in time, then people who have paid for these discs should have full access to all of the content on them. If not, then there’d better be a disclaimer somewhere on the package telling me that I'll need to chip in another $5 to get the ‘full’ experience. (And no, don't bring up the whole ‘you get the full promised experience without the unlocks’ argument. It doesn't make the practice any less shady, and it doesn't make the consumer feel any less taken advantage of.)

Will the practice stop? Probably not. If consumers knew about such practices ahead of time, we could potentially vote with our wallets -- but with this knowledge intentionally and consistently held back to avoid such a circumstance, there is no way to know which games are guilty and which aren't. The fact that this knowledge is routinely hidden speaks to the attitude of those engaging in the practice. If publishers and developers genuinely thought it was all on the up and up and that nothing was wrong, then why not be straightforward about it? In this case, actions most definitely speak louder than words.

Like I said earlier, I'm not against publisher and developers earning a profit, I enjoy and partake of DLC just as much as the next guy (and probably more so) and I'm all for extending the life of games that I've enjoyed. That said, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing this, and no matter which way I look at it, I can't see disc unlocks as anything other than dirty, disrespectful business. DLC will keep getting made and I’ll still buy it, but I certainly hope that those with the power to make such decisions will show consumers some respect, concede that there’s an undeniable taint to the practice, and avoid this delivery method in the future. It just makes everyone involved feel icky.
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