电玩杀瓜

Games Not Art? You've Got that Backwards

2011-07-08T16:41:00.001+08:00

Roger Ebert is entirely responsible for this debate about whether games are art. If he hadn’t stoked the flames of gamer fanboys by saying that games can never be art, life as we know would be dramatically different today; we’d live in a world where people cared ever so slightly less whether games should be considered art. And I’d be a millionaire. Damn you, Ebert, damn you.

The problem with answering the question “can games be art?” is the question itself. Asking if games can be art assumes games are something inferior to art, that art is something we all ought to aspire to create, because art is nirvana, heaven, 72 virgins, enlightenment, ecstasy, 72 virgins, etc.

But why is art the pinnacle of creativity? As I write this keep in mind I am one of the very nose-elevated vest and monocle wearing curmudgeons I am now condescending to and pretending not to be. Believe me, the view is awesome from up here. I love art. I adore it. Specifically I love books, music and film that aspire to be art. A beautifully turned phrase, an unexpected chord progression, a closing scene that leaves all the questions you thought were important unanswered. It’s sublime.

Art is not without limits, though. However noble an endeavor it is, art is only one part of the human experience, and whatever it teaches us about life it only does so cathartically, or to be less euphemistic, it enlightens us vicariously. In art there is no direct contact with the internal workings of a piece. We form images of characters described to us on a page, we imagine their actions being carried out; we marvel at the musician’s dexterous fingers while marveling at the composer’s composition; we immerse ourselves in the visual language, color and camera work of the film auteur. But we have no say on the outcome, and beyond our emotions, nothing is at stake. Perhaps that is the beauty of art, that it guides us safely through the most harrowing, traumatic, joyful and tragic of moments without leaving any lasting damage. But often what distinguishes art from craft is that art is metaphysical, constantly looking itself in the mirror and saying out loud to no one in particular, ‘am I getting fat?’ What art is has to change constantly, as that is what art is.

Until video games, there was little risk of ever confusing games for art. Traditional games have been around as long as human civilization, and probably as long as prostitution (on the eighth day the Lord made prostitutes. It’s in the Bible. I’ve read it.) Native Americans played lacrosse, the Mayans played some sort of game in a ball court where the winning team captain was decapitated by the losing team captain (why isn’t this game around anymore??), the Romans had gladiators, the Chinese have Go and Chess. No matter how brutal some of these games were, the greatest players all had a lot more going for them than brute strength or dumb luck. When we watch someone like Michael Jordan, Gary Kasparov or pre-beard Tiger Woods do what they do, is it not as sublime as reading Joyce, listening to Chopin, or watching Bergman? The difference here, I think, is that with the exception of dance, art has been defined as primarily a mental, intellectual, or emotional experience. And even in dance the ‘art’ of it is not its physicality, it is the emotions created by the careful composition of movements and gestures, usually set to music. In a game, because we focus primarily on its physicality (chess being the exception), does that somehow rob the game of its ‘art’? Is Jordan’s seemingly superhuman ability to move a ball down the court and into a basket less meaningful because there is no narrative to it, nothing for us to latch on to other than the spontaneous emotion of witnessing the moment as it happens?

There are good reasons to consider the players both artists and the art, but the games themselves, because they are nothing without their rules, cannot be. This is all besides the point I’m trying to make, however—the question is not only a waste of time, it is the wrong question to ask. (I’m almost at my point, I swear.)

Games go Virtual

The invention of the transistor lead to tiny computers that could fit in one’s home and cost only thousands of dollars; a watershed moment in the history of games. As technology has advanced, so too has the complexity of games, and not just in terms of programming code, but in how we play them. Think about it—until, let’s say the Atari 2600, all games ever played involved sets of rules, a scoring system, and clearly defined win and loss states—i.e. the traditional game. With the advent of the home console and faster PCs, however, we began to see games that mix traditional game elements with complex themes, stories, philosophies. Now this had been going on to some degree with Dungeons and Dragons, but D&D has never been popular enough to bring the games as art question to the attention of mainstream media. In the new medium of electronic games this question was not raised either, until much more recently. And, once Roger Ebert decided to take a stab at the question, video gamers would not let the question die.

But it’s time to let the question die in peace. Ebert’s response doesn’t matter because the question doesn’t matter. The modern video game has surpassed any art medium we have today in terms of complexity, sophistication and potential. It has the potential to tell stories as rich as Lord of the Rings, fill our souls with the most transcendent music, astonish with its ever growing visual splendor. Potential I say because we haven’t got there yet; not even close. What is holding the video game back is what gives it its potential—that it gives us control. This is something no book (not even choose your own adventure), song, dance, film, painting, photograph, or sculpture can do. A video game has the power to be so much more than these things because it gives its viewer not just to power to determine the outcome, but the responsibility of accepting the results of that outcome. The question really ought to be (and this is my point), can art be a game?

At the risk of turning my nose of at myself high enough to get a nosebleed, I posit that video games, though none have come close so far, are a medium superior to art for conveying a deeper understanding of the human experience. I think we get caught up on the word ‘game’ too much. We ‘play’ games and often describe them in terms of how much ‘fun’ they are, a limitation that does not burden film/music/novels/etc. Games are considered child’s play, despite an aging demographic currently sitting somewhere in the 30s. The interactivity, as I said, is another limitation as many worry that violent games will teach their children how to commit acts of violence without understanding the consequences of said violence. This fear may or may not be unfounded—the evidence is scarce, but in some situations it has proven to be an invaluable tool for helping people get their lives back. Soldiers who have suffered PTSD, civilians as well, have benefited from reliving their traumas in the controlled virtual environment of a video game. Their stories point to a larger truth—video games, simulations, simulacra, whatever you want to call them, can create much more powerful, visceral human experiences than art does.

It is unfortunate that so few games have really tried to deliver a serious experience. I have heard LA Noire described uncritically as a ‘not fun’ experience, which interests me only so far as what it says about the state of how we evaluate games. Heavy Rain is another example, one that makes the experience both thrilling and horrifying, and seldom ‘fun’. I haven’t played LA Noire, but Heavy Rain, despite its faults, on several occasions had me reacting to situations with as much as anxiety as my character was probably feeling. Watching it as a film we might question the hero’s choices; but being him, we suddenly see we would have done exactly the same thing. Far more powerful, in my opinion, than the catharsis of seeing it happen on screen.

The video game industry, if we compare to the next youngest, film, is a baby. I am not surprised or disappointed that most games are so immature, because a lot of them are fun to play. I don’t want to detract from the value of fun, only remind that games can do so much more. So who cares if games are art? Let’s care if art is games.

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Sony I hope you're listening

2011-06-21T12:12:00.001+08:00

Last week on June 14^th 2011, Sony began restoring online service in Hong Kong, the last two regions to be brought back online since the outage began on April 21, nearly two months ago. With the little bit of distance we have from the initial incident, I think it’s a good time to look back at what happened, and especially how Sony handled the crisis. To save you any pointless suspense, I think Sony did a pretty terrible job handling the crisis, and needs to rethink its PR strategy.

First a timeline of notable events:

April 20: PSN goes down worldwide. Sony announces that “certain functions” are down on their US blog, but no details are given.

April 21: Another post, claiming it will take 1-2 days to get services back up.

April 22: PSN blog confirms some sort of external intrusion took place

April 23: Announces further delays in bringing services back online

April 25: Acknowledgement that they know people want information, but still has none to share

April 26: Officially acknowledges personal user information was compromised, possibly including credit card information. A second post was made to explain the delay in informing people their information was compromised

April 27: Q&A posted detailing the nature of the attack, what is being done about it, and how people can protect themselves from identity theft

April 30: Sony announces phased restoration to begin this week

May 5: Final internal system testing begun

May 5: Announces offer for free AllClear ID Plus Identity Theft Protection in the US

May 5: Posts letter from Howard Stringer

May 14: Kazuo posts video announcing PSN restoration begins today for US and EU

May 27: Phased restoration of services in Asia begins

May 31: Complete restoration of services in Asia begins except in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan

June 9: Full restoration of services begins in Japan

June 14: Full restoration of services in Hong Kong begins

Now let’s start with what Sony did right. The list is short, but in fact they did do a few things pretty well.

1. When Sony did reveal that personal information had been compromised, they did a good job explaining the measures taken to protect users’ security and why they had to shut down PSN so abruptly. Personally I am glad they didn’t try to keep the system up while figuring out what happened, despite the huge inconvenience. The official response can be found here. What’s especially good about the response is that it lists all the ways users can check their financial records for possible identity theft, and how to use them.

2. To make amends, Sony offered a fair compensation package, especially considering that PSN is free to use. PSN users with accounts created before the attack occurred received a 30-day subscription to PSN Plus, two free PS3 games and two free PSP games, as well as a free one year subscription to AllClear ID. It’s not the full subscription service to AllClear, but it’s a bit more than the free service AllClear offers. For PlayStation Home users, they also gave each user 100 free items. What was nice about this is that Sony didn’t care if you have multiple accounts, so if you had two or more PSN accounts you could pretty easily get all the games they were giving away. Also, though it should be standard practice, they don’t set PSN Plus to auto-renew when the month is up, and don’t even require you to have a credit card attached to your account to use it. Any content you buy at the reduced PSN Plus price you can continue to use after the subscription ends (free PSN Plus games require an active subscription to use, however)

And that’s about it. Now what went wrong?

1. Most importantly, Sony waited nearly a week to reveal that user data was compromised. This is an unforgivable mistake. No matter what Sony knew at the time it turned PSN off, it should have advised users that personal data may have been compromised. Better to err on the side of caution and later discover that no data was stolen than vice-versa. In hindsight it seems that most users are safe, but there is just no way to know that in advance.

2. While I have no inside information, it seems Sony had no communications strategy in place for handling crisis situations. The messaging Sony delivered clearly indicated an out-of-date hierarchical approach in which a single message came down from the top and everyone on the ground had to stick to that message, no matter how little it resonated with readers.

a. Comparing the hack-related blog posts added to Sony’s PSN blogs on the US, UK and EU sites, they are identical, yet oddly are written in the first person. This is a beginner’s mistake, and only reinforces Sony’s image as a monolithic robotic beast.

b. During the crisis period, PlayStation’s Facebook page only linked back to the US blog posts, adding the same monolithic robotic branding effect.

c. On Twitter, all of the Sony accounts I could find also only linked to the blog posts and provided no personal feedback to PSN users other than vague “we’re working on it” statements.

d. When Howard Stringer did finally get around to posting a written letter addressing the situation, it two weeks late, which is about one week and six days later than it should have been. Furthermore, it was a terrible response, completely tone deaf to the audience expectations and attempts, but fails, to justify why Sony waited so long to inform users their information was at risk. You can read it here, but to give one example of how tone deaf it is, Singer writes:

“In the last few months, Sony has faced a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But now we are facing a very man-made event – a criminal attack on us — and on you — and we are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world to apprehend those responsible.”

Comparing the hack to a terrible natural disaster that struck Japan? Really Sony?

e. Asia—Americans and Europeans might not notice, but as bad as Sony’s PR strategy is in Western countries, it is much worse in Asia. First of all, there are no Asian blogs, twitter feeds or Facebook pages, so most of Asia is in what is close to total communications blackout with Sony, and have no way to interact with the brand online. Second, the games offered to Asian PSN users were generally much less popular ones. That it took much longer to bring Asia’s PSN back online was likely not Sony’s fault, but certainly they could have been more forthcoming with information about why it took so long.

That about sums up my analysis of Sony’s poor PR response to the crisis, but I would like to comment more broadly on their very poor approach to PR in general. As others have stated, while Sony is excellent at advertising, it really doesn’t understand how to do PR.

As I mentioned up there, Sony is all about developing one centralized message and only allowing that message to be shared. What’s worse is that they try to hide this by putting real people at the frontline of their communications, people like Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications and social media. Despite all the blog posts that appear in his name, they are exactly the same ones that appear on the EU and UK sites, under the names of whomever “writes” those blog posts. It’s kind of like reading some Kafka novel crossed with a bit of Camus, but with much less edifying results. I don’t fault Patrick either, because it’s clearly not his idea—someone higher up is making these decisions, and it’s unfortunate.

That said, Patrick et al should be doing a lot more to become a presence for Sony in social media. They should be making their Twitter accounts more visible, trying to attract followers, and becoming voices of influence that their followers can trust. I hate to compare to Microsoft, but Microsoft has done this very well with @majornelson, and there’s no market or industry reason why Sony should not do the same. @TheKevinButler is fun and great for promoting stuff, but you can’t use him to deal with real communications problems.

Sony’s @AskPlayStation Twitter account is one of its worst PR offenders. It’s TERRIBLE. The worse customer service account I can imagine, and one wouldn’t even need to use it to see why. Go ahead, open the page, and what do you see? “Response hours 2-5pm, Mon-Fri”. Again Sony, really? Three hours a day, and none at all on weekends? For kicks I checked out what Xbox offers in this department and found their Twitter help feed is open “Mon-Fri 6am – 12am PST, Sat-Sun 10am – 6pm PST”, they list the names of the people who respond to you, and they have tweeted over 584,000 times compared to Sony’s less than 900 times.

Oh and forget actually getting any response from @AskPlayStation, either. I tweeted them three times over three days asking them why I couldn’t connect to PSN after the US servers were back up before getting a response, which was “Sorry for the delay. We would need more information in order to help. What happens when you try to log in?” So I responded, and responded again, and again, and they just never got back to me at all. Looking through the tweets that @AskPlayStation has posted, you quickly see that it serves no purpose whatsoever other than to, you guessed it, redirect you to Sony’s official statements on stuff.

By the way I just checked how long it took @XboxSupport to respond to complaints: 1 minute. Sony, are you paying attention??

The last big failure I’ll mention today actually holds some pretty great potential for Sony. Last year Sony launched the poorly named PlayStation.Blog.Share (yet the URL is share.blog.us.playstation.com. Confused?), where PSN users can submit ideas Digg or Reddit style for improving PSN that other users can then vote on. The top ideas show up on the front page. It’s a brilliant idea, a great way to see what PSN users want. So what’s wrong? Sony hasn’t implemented any of the top ideas, nor has it even acknowledged them to say ‘hey this is great but we can’t do it because of xxx’ or ‘that’s awesome! We’re actually working on something similar, hope you like how it turns out, blah blah blah’. What is the point of asking your users for their input if you aren’t going to do anything with it?

Sony you have a great product and lots of excellent games. I personally find your game selection more interesting than what Microsoft offers, especially with offbeat games like Heavy Rain, Flower and the Team ICO games, but the big blockbusters like Uncharted are better than anything Microsoft has to offer as well. I really just think you need to do more to connect with your fans, especially in the US and Asia—both markets where you have a lot of potential for different reasons. So I suggest adding one word to your slogan: Play. Create. Share. Listen.

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Shout out for India

2010-11-18T17:30:00.001+08:00

I had this great idea for a post about revisiting old games, and why it’s so hard to do, but then I was struck by a sudden bout of procrastination and decided instead to give a big whoop of congrats to General Manager Madhuri Sen and all my company fellows in Mumbai India on the launch of our new and first ever India office!

Press release

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Mario and Luigi

2010-11-12T17:50:00.004+08:00

My best friend since Kindergarten lived in a two-story house with a green metal roof. The roof wasn’t always green, but what it used to be I can’t remember. We met when I moved to Montpelier in May of 1986, right at the tail end of the school year. It wasn’t the greatest time to move—with only a couple weeks left before summer vacation, how could I possibly make any friends before first grade began?

But somehow it happened. I don’t remember it at all, except a faint impression of a grinning kid who always wore a baseball cap, probably representing the Red Sox. My mom, however, remembers the start of that friendship with crystal clarity.

“I drove down to pick you up, and just when I saw you I see this kid out of nowhere screaming your name before giving you a big hug!” She likes to say. My mother has been known to wax quite eloquently, but there’s always at least a kernel of truth to her stories of my childhood. That kernel was this: Mike and I, whether the hugging and shouting actually happened, became friends fast.

All the years since elementary school have unfortunately crushed that period of my life into an amorphous time blob, from which clear blips of things I had done stand out, but I find hard to place in time. I traveled to India with my family in first or second grade; I remember playing in kick ball on the gravel playground at recess, or hiding in the huge dump truck tires, and yes, avoiding (but not really) getting cooties from disgusting (cute) girls. I also remember that until 4^th grade, Mike and I had the same teachers—Mrs. Brown, Ms. Westcott (now Mrs. Rome), Mrs. Dubois. We played soccer at the Rec field, and farm league baseball on the Pirates.

One of those elementary school years, Mike got an NES. Probably a birthday or Christmas gift. It came with the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt cartridge, and two controllers (when did two controllers go out of fashion?)

The NES was not my first gaming experience. Fleeting wisps of several others dance in my head; an Atari 5400 at the house of some kid named Brian, in New Jersey. It’s the oldest and least clear, but somehow I remember being in the basement of a nice house, turning the system on, but no memory of playing it. Later in Vermont someone, probably my older brother, found an Odyssey² at a garage sale, and convinced the parents to get it—quite a steal at just $17. We also had an Atari 2600—the ‘slim’ model, I remember. We had a bunch of games, including the original Mario Brothers, sans Super. It was an endless single-screen platformer, bumping enemies from below before kicking them off.

But it was Mike’s Nintendo I remember most vividly. Every day after school that I went to his house, we’d run up the long staircase with the thick, rounded wooden banister, he shouting “I’m Mario!” and I shouting “I’m Luigi!”, round the corner and into his room, sit on the carpet, push the button and bask in the electron-charged glow of his 13” tv with dials while pounding buttons like they were brewskies.

How many days we repeated that ritual! And the lack of variety didn’t faze us. Maro and Luigi, fireballs and invincibility stars, Bowser and a princess, were all we needed. Mike almost certainly had other games, but the only one I remember playing at his house was Super Mario Bros.

In time my family picked up a Nintendo, almost certainly the result of parents desperate for silence. We added maybe a half dozen games to our collection, but most I think we rented from the local video store or borrowed from friends. The original Ice Hockey, with fat, medium, and skinny players; Double Dribble, Contra, GI Joe, Life Force, and so on and so on.

Years later Mike picked up a Sega Genesis, and I went with the Super Nintendo. There was no symbolism to the split, but in middle school and the early years in high school we drifted apart, mostly my fault for trying to be someone I wasn’t. But in high school, I think a shared dislike for school sports coached by douchebags brought Mike and I back together in a way. We’d grown up a bit, naturally, and were very excited about PC games, getting the latest processors and video cards, and all that.

More than twenty years later, we work, we live half way round the world from one another. I can’t say whether things would have turned out differently if we stuck to the typical boys outdoors activities we might have otherwise done.

The Nintendos are gone now.

But not forgotten.

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Hey good-lookin'

2010-10-26T17:33:00.001+08:00

Hey good-lookin’. That’s right, I’m talking to you, sexy. I just saw you sitting there showing off your polygons, your lighting effects, procedural texture maps and anti-aliasing like you don’t give a damn. Maybe that’s what’s got me to come over here to talk to you—that you don’t give a damn.

What’s that? You don’t think I’m serious? When it comes to you hotstuff, I’m nothing but serious. You’re 30 frames per second of high definition sexiness, and I just want to scream every time I think of running my hands through each and every one of your 720 lines of sweet, sweet progressive resolution.

Don’t call it pillow talk, honeybuns, it ain’t that. This is something deeper, this is real. Sometimes you look so real to me I just want to reach out and caress your pixels, if you know what I mean. It’s the truth, baby. See little Miss 3D over there, with all those zombies fawning over her like she’s some kind of revolutionary? But I know she’s just a fad, baby, coming and going like waves at sea. She’s this year’s plaything, but you, you’re a keeper. You’re the peak of video game existence.

Whoa, wait a minute. Who is that? She’s so sharp, so smooth. And that lighting—did you see her lighting? Those shadows, those curves—I can’t even see the polygons. She makes me want to upgrade my pixel shader, if you get my drift. Look how she walks, so fluid, like---could it be? 60 frames per precious second, for each and every one of those 1,080 beautiful lines?

You’re giving me that look. No of course not. She’s not ready yet, anyway. Probably won’t be for years. You’re still the one for me. For now.

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The world is a game - rule #2

2010-09-09T18:01:00.001+08:00

Yesterday (actually two weeks ago. I’m lazy) I watched a TED video

Seth talks about bringing game mechanics to how we influence those around us. As he states, this ‘game layer’ is already under construction, and I would say it been around for a very long time.

Seth mentions four game dynamics one can use to get people to participate:

1. Appointment – one must return at a predefined time to a give place to take a predetermined action (e.g. Happy Hour, Farmville)

2. Influence and status – the ability of one player to modify the behavior of another’s actions through social pressure (American Psycho business cards, AMEX Black, school grades, academic titles)

3. Progression – success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks (LinkedIn profile completion)

4. Communal discovery – wherein an entire community is rallied to work together to solve a challenge

Sadly game mechanics to date have mostly been used to prey upon people’s weaknesses for addiction to perceived achievement.

Credit cards are the classic example of game mechanics gone evil—you get “points” for using your card. There are penalties for breaking the rules. But the points are nearly worthless, and the penalties are unforgiving. The worst part is, credit card companies are also the referees and lawmakers, who change the laws as they see fit, often without explaining those changes in easy-to-understand terms.

But this love of game mechanics is creeping into other industries, starting, ironically, with console platforms in 2005 when the Xbox 360 was launched and introduced the gaming world to achievements.

What is an achievement? Normally, it is something that takes a respectable amount of effort to accomplish, and will give you some sort of status recognized by your peers. Now I won’t make a blanket statement like “not a single Xbox Live achievement takes any effort to attain,” but I will say that 74% of them don’t. That figure may or may not be accurate, but it is startling. My point is, a good number of Xbox Live achievements, and PSN (you’re not getting out of this you bastard) trophies, are for figuring out how to press the left trigger. Unfortunately this cheapens the point of having achievements, but even more unfortunately it succeeds at Seth’s rule #2, influence and status. The result? Jersey Shore. No, but you do get achievement whore douchebags who enjoy (are addicted to) achievement gathering more than the game itself. These are people who don’t understand why people play chess because there’s no immediate gratification, no false sense of accomplishment to kick their serotonin inhibitors into high gear.

I’m not against recognizing achievement so much as I am against achievements. An achievement should mean something. Sony and Microsoft should not allow for effort-free achievements to exist. They should all be hard and require skill, not just the inevitable progress of game play. For every chapter I get through in Uncharted 2, I get a trophy. Why? What amazing talent did I possess to complete the level, other than an astounding level of laziness that I’d rather press buttons than take a shower? Sure I could crank up the difficulty level, but that doesn’t really change things. Reserve the trophies for pulling off difficult stunts, beating a game without dying, or beating a game without killing anyone.

I’m not completely against Seth’s rule #2 in real life either. I like #2. #2 is actually quite satisfying. I do #2 every day, sometimes twice. But I want it to actually mean something.

The trick to making people actually do good things that improve the world, is helping them forget that that is what they are doing. This is where #2 comes in. By giving participants a sense of achievement, real or not, spurs them on not because they’re feeding starving kids in a shantytown somewhere, but because they GODDAMN REACHED THE FINAL BOSS AND DROVE A SHOCKOBLADE DOWN HIS THROAT.

But could such an amazing use of #2 actually exist? It seemed unfathomable, despite by best efforts to fathom. Nevertheless, fellow writer-in-arms at Waggener Edstrom Rudi pointed me toward a website of all things, that does just this. It’s called Free Rice, and it’s dastardly simple. In their own words, “For each answer you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme to help end hunger”

Scoring system (grains of rice)? Check. Leveling up? Check. I’m so excited I’m getting ahead of myself. All the game is is you reading a word, reading four other words, see if the word’s meaning matches one of the latter four, selecting said word. That’s it. Every word you get right, 10 more grains of rice (your score) that go to feed some hungry soul. It even goes an extra step by MAKING YOU LEARN WERDS. Superman himself can’t end hunger by improving his vocabulary, so you’re kinda proving yourself to be more awesome than Superman when you play this game.

It’s not perfect, it should have some tool for sharing your score on Facebook/Twitter, but that’s an easy addition. Now I’d love to see this mechanic carried over to some indie titles on XBLA or PSN. Wouldn’t be too hard would it? Sony, Microsoft—are you listening?

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China's online game market goes boom boom, bust?

2010-05-11T12:25:00.001+08:00

Like many industries that didn’t exist in China till no more than a dozen years ago, online PC gaming has been growing pretty darn fast. However, the 30% growth cited in that article actually represents a slower growth rate than just a few years ago, when it was at 60-70%. One online gaming company, Changyou, saw 17% growth in its Q1 sales this year, but that’s actually one of the smallest quarterly year-on-year growths they’ve ever experienced. Considering that one such period saw 1000%+ growth, it’s not all that surprising that things have slowed down.

So investors see slowing growth, get scared, and stock prices begin to fall. I suppose it is inevitable that some investors would pull out, the ones who were only in it for the short term anyway, but still, WTF? How is 17% growth in anyway a sign that the so-called bubble is bursting on China’s online gaming market? If anything it sounds more like the market is maturing rapidly and that the industry is settling in for more stable long-term growth. Of course it will intensely competitive as any industry is in China where the number of gamers will be exponentially larger than most other markets, but that’s really only going to be good for the gamers.

The game industry as a whole will continue to grow dramatically in the next five years simply because the numbers of gamers are increasing. There’s like some 400 million people online in China nowadays, 93 million expected to be gaming by the end of this year, and 100 million more in the next few years. I am not a fan of predictions and estimates, but looking at the history of growth in China’s online population tells us that the same thing could very easily happen in gaming. So what’s all the worry about? What’s wrong with slower growth? Seems to me the business is still booming.

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China's online game market goes boom boom, bust?

2010-05-11T11:52:00.001+08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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China's online game market goes boom boom, bust?

2010-05-11T11:48:00.001+08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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How much we game, how much we pirate-aaarrrrr

2010-04-21T17:16:00.001+08:00

According to www.mbaonline.com, it seems we game quite a bit. It also tells us we pirate quite a bit, but it’s only counting games that are downloaded and not those bought on discs. Including those numbers would have a big impact considering how common the practice is in China. I’m also sure measuring that problem would prove to be nearly impossible.

Notably missing from the piracy list is the PlayStation 3, which, although apparently cracked (great spam comments on Mr. Hotz’s blog, btw), is not yet the victim of video game piracy to any serious degree. That could be a good argument for going Blu-ray and a difficult-to-code-for processor, but probably not.

Here’s there nifty visual bringing it all together—the only thing that bugs me is that it’s a simple graphic, rendering the source links unclickable. The JPEG standards group would be doing wonders if they figured out a way to get hyperlinks embedded in their image format (are they listening?).

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A better wall than a window: the pitfalls of 3D

2010-04-15T16:21:00.002+08:00

The other day I was walking through The Place on my way to Starbucks to meet my girlfriend, and I saw that Samsung had set up a booth in the plaza to promote their soon to be arriving to China 3D televisions. I’ve seen Avatar and Ice Age 3D in theaters, but had never experienced a 3D TV, so I stepped in to take a look.

Samsung had set up their 46” C7000s for the demonstration, which was showing a CG animated film I wasn’t familiar with. I sat down on the stool, put the requisite glasses on over my own, and prepared myself to bask in the experience of home theater TV glory.

Now I’ve read some details about these TVs, and the drawbacks inherent to the technology (dramatically reduced brightness levels due to the way the technology works, occasional flickering). But one thing I’ve yet to read any significant commentary on is shrinkage.

I’m not talking about George Costanza in the pool type shrinkage, but apparent screen shrinkage. I noticed this when I went to see Avatar back in Vermont. The theater was a nice theater, clean seats, good-sized screen, and of course 3 fuckin D. I was all set for the cinematic action-adventure of a lifetime. And it was, mostly. I mean forget the stupid story, the special effects were very little short of astonishing in their color and complexity. But why did it all look so… small?

With a normal movie, in normal 2D silver screen space, you’re looking at a wall of moving images. It appears fricken huge because the wall, generally, is in fact pretty fricken huge. Darth Vader’s head is actually five feet tall.

But 3D changes what you’re looking at. It’s no longer a wall, it’s a window. People and objects have depth now, they aren’t just smaller on the screen, they’re actually deeper into the screen. This window effect is very cool; at times I want to reach in, enter the scene. If I could get a little closer to those hot blue Na’vi, I totally would.

But the problem with a window is two-fold: it reminds you of everything you are not seeing—everything that is beyond the borders of the sill—and, because the 3D world has real depth, and it’s all contained within your field of vision, it loses the awesome vastness you get when you watch a 2D film like Star Wars. It’s easier to extend the 3D effect into the TV than it is out toward the viewer, so it doesn’t surround you anymore. It’s like peering into a little box that contains a beautiful, intricate, fully realized world. Indian in the Cupboard.

Granted I have not seen a 3D film on IMAX, so I’m sure I’m missing out. But if a 7-story screen is required to immerse me in the gorgeous depth of 3D cinema, what possibly can a 46” television do for me, or even a 65” for that matter?

Not much. No I didn’t enjoy it, not much at all. As I sat there in the Samsung booth watching allegedly gigantic creatures destroy a cartoon CG version of the Golden Gate Bridge, I couldn’t help thinking how epic it was not. It was like watching miniatures battle it out in some miniature version of the real CG world they were supposed to be inhabiting. I was not impressed.

So what does this mean for gaming? It means I’m a grumpy skeptic, a curmudgeon who doesn’t have much faith in 3D gaming until people no longer understand why Frank’s 2000” TV is a funny song. If the game fails to convey a sense that it is larger than life to me, I just don’t see myself suspending whatever modicum of disbelief is necessary to enjoy the game.

I’m sure I’m wrong though. In fact I think true 3D gaming has more potential than their cinematic counterparts do, simply because people will enjoy interacting in a 3D space more than they do watching others interact in a 3D space. But I don’t see first person shooters benefiting from 3D tech—where will my gun appear? In the screen? Does that Mean I have to sit two feet away to enjoy it? (Not to mention the problems of wearing the 3D glasses over my regular glasses).

If 3D gaming is the sea change event of the next console generation, I hope it is not the kind that requires a 3DTV, but rather the kind demonstrated in this video:

The window effect? This technology eliminates that. You can actually look beyond the frame by moving your head, giving a much more immersive illusion than standard 3D technology does.

Sadly it would only work for one person, so it’s not likely to ever catch on. Until that problem is solved I suppose I’ll have to keep muttering to myself while others enjoy their newfound love with the 3D revolution.

Bah humbug.

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The Loneliest Game You'll Ever Play Together - Demon's Souls

2010-03-08T12:29:00.001+08:00

Looking warily down the dark passageway, my barbarian throws down a Blue Eye Stone, bathing the cobbled floor in a flowing, iridescent blue light. He knows what lays ahead in that darkness; he’s been down that road before, paying dearly for it with his life. His hands shuffle through a pouch, falling on one of the few remaining Stones of Ephemeral Eyes, short cuts to regaining body form; death has been his teacher, teaching him that above all else, he fights alone.

The Blue Eye Stone glows azure, and he senses a change in the world. The stone flashes and rising from the glow a shape emerges. A soul, connected to my barbarian by little more than a shared misery, and sacrifice. How many times must we die, alone, together, to save this desolate world, the barbarian mutters, staring at the soul, now fully formed. A woman, a magic user by the looks of her ragged cloak and grizzled staff. She's young, naive; with a bow she introduces herself.

The faint bluish glow surrounding her being reminds the barbarian she is not of his world, and never will be.He wants to speak--oh if only they could speak. The barbarian has not been with a woman for... but that was before, so long before. The worldly boundaries prevent her from hearing his words, and he from hearing hers. There is nothing to do here but move forward, working together to defeat the demons that have plagued his world, just he knows they have plagued hers.

A blast of electric light surges from the young mage's fingers, and the barbargian remembers why he is here. Screaming in rage and fear, the barbarian feels his purpose consume him. Broadsword raised high, he charges forward with his silent companion into the darkness.

They battle bravely, side by side, her magical powers, though limited, complement his tired strength against the enemy. Then, he feels it again, the world shifting. A dark force is breaking through. The barbarian's eyes lock on to his wizard companion's, a sense of recognition passes between them. A soul, ravaged by madness and lust, has come for him. He has faced many such lunatics, but the fear is his wizard companion's eyes tell him that she has not. With a grimace he lifts his sword out of the crumpled demon at his feet and turns to start the long journey back to the Arch Stone, the entry point to this world. That is where the lunatic will be coming from, and there is nowhere to run.

The wizard follows him closely, hesitant and meek where once she was brash and bold. Death, even in soul form, casts of heavy weight on the consciousness. The barbarian remembers his first death at the hands of the lunatic, and knows he must protect her.

The soul, sheathed in red flame, runs at them quickly from a dark shadow, almost catching them off guard. The wizard strikes first, catching him with a magic arrow in the chest. He's only briefly stunned, and immediately charges her. The barbarian's blood surges to his head, and time seems to freeze. The lunatic's head, attached to a body. The broadsword sweeps down in a brutal arc, shattering the lunatic's shield. The wizard recovers from her fear and launches another magic arrow, smashing the crazy soul's nose. Blood explodes over his beard and eyes, blinding him. The barbarian switches to his sabre, slashing across the man's exposed face. The soul shudders, the red flame disappears. The barbarian shouts silently, mouthing the words WHY. The dying soul sees nothing, hears nothing, speaks nothing. A flame erupts, consuming the dead soul, and the world is back to as it was. The wizard is breathing heavily, tears streaking down her cheeks. The barbarian wishes he could touch them, brush away the sadness.

She will be stronger now, and more cautious. The barbarian smiles. She will be okay, for now. And for he, well, it's a lonely quest, but at least he is not alone.

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The other war against censorship

2010-01-25T18:05:00.001+08:00

I’ve had zero time to update for the past month or so, but here’s an interesting commentary on the state of gaming in China today:

A little context: China hates video games for some reason. It believes they are the devil, if a devil could exist in a godless country. Or whatever the Communist equivalent would be—Chang Kaishek, perhaps. So, China wants to harmonize the gaming industry, and this means taking out everything about games that make them fun, like stealing people’s crops, and other things that are a little more difficult to understand, like skeletons.

I know, I know. “Skeletons are scary as shit and would cause a second cultural revolution!” you’re saying. I agree this is a distinct possibility. Farmers and other 土包子 would sign up for a WOW account and upon signing in would immediately become apoplectic at the sight of the fleshless walking monsters, and with no outlet for their bottomless pit of rage, would mass together and terrorize government offices in demand for compensation because now their daughters would no longer be marriage material. Yes, this is a distinct possibility. So in writing this post I’ve convinced myself that in fact the government is right. The Internet, and games especially, must be harmonized at all costs. At all costs.

Discovered at Danwei.org

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The Rules of the Game [Demon's Souls]

2009-12-08T16:45:00.001+08:00

Earlier I wrote down some thoughts on Demon’s Souls having played through only about ¼ of the way. One of my main complaints was that it seemed to be getting too easy, but now I must seriously retract that opinion. Up to the second stage of the first world, yes it was. But since then it has become pretty #$@ difficult once again! And I am glad.

On to today’s topic—game. Demon’s Souls has game, and lots of it. While it is an RPG with a story, most of that story has faded away (I’m still not that far so I could be putting my foot in my mouth again) and what’s left is an adventure that follows many very old-school game rules. Please note that this is no way makes the game boring or dull—in fact I argue that the clear and consistent adherence to said rules is a large factor of this game’s success.

Rule #1 Consistent enemy engagements makes learning fun

Harking back to the days of insanely difficult Nintendo games, encounters with Demon’s Souls enemies are totally predictable, as they always appear in the same place and attack using the same strategy. Sorry, I mean predictable after you’ve fought them half a dozen times. The first time you encounter an enemy, it may very well scare the shit out of you if you’re playing in the dark on a big screen with a nice surround sound system. After it slices you to shreds, the second time you approach that fateful corner of the dark, well-trodden tunnel, you won’t be as shocked, but will still probably die. But then you’ll also start thinking about why you died. You were using a long axe, but it clangs off the narrow walls—a smaller weapon is needed. He pauses after shooting fire, so if you block first and quickly counterattack, that may wear him down. And so on. Eventually you’ll die enough times that you see what the enemy is doing, and learn when to attack, when to block, when to dodge, and when to run. It may still be a difficult battle, but the consistency of the experience is what teaches you—repetition is nature’s greatest instructor.

Rule #2 The world is a tightly confined space

In addition to enemies reappearing exactly as they were every time you re-enter a world, each world, as is true of almost any game today, sets clear limits on where you can and cannot go. This is accomplished either with bottomless cliffs, insurmountable rock ledges and walls that for seemingly arbitrary reasons you cannot climb over. But the reason for these limitations is not arbitrary—where you cannot go, there is no reason for you to go. So when the game does suddenly let you jump over one wall ledge, but not another that’s exactly the same height, it’s telling you there’s something there you need to do. Because you can pretty easily see when there are areas you need to go to, finding those secret places where you can jump the wall is not really a problem.

Rule #3 Simple controller configuration, wide range of attack strategies

Controller simplicity was a necessity for Nintendo games, where pressing A was almost always attack and B jump (For games that reversed this—why??). Battletoads was the game that perfected the two-button controller dance, building a control scheme that offered a surprising number of entertaining attacks.

Created for a system that gives gamers 14 buttons and two joysticks, Demon’s Souls manages to stay pretty simple despite putting all those buttons to use. Press R1 to attack. R2 for a heavy attack. L1 to block, L2 to parry. There are also buttons for switching weapons, using items and magic, and dodging and rolling, but you can accomplish quite a lot with just those attack buttons and some fancy footwork. The really important factor in most conflicts will end up being your stamina and blocking—the attack is just the icing on the cake.

Rule #3 The game is never deliberately unfair

I say deliberately because there are times when the controls or at times wonky camera lead to your demise, but I don’t think this was intentional. What I mean is that the world of Demon’s Souls is not designed to trick you into dying. Even if other players couldn’t leave you hints, which appear as pinkish blobs of mist on the floor and provide extremely useful info, the game still gives you ample warning. The underlying message is very simple, actually: proceed with caution. Doing so will save you from the clutches of yet another death probably 85% of the time. The only situations where the game sets you up to die is when it’s boss fighting time, but even then you have plenty of warning that you’re about to enter the boss arena, and could easily turn back if your testicles (or ovaries, as you can play as a female character) have suddenly shrunk. There are many areas where you can fall off an edge or get ambushed from behind, but most if not all such situations can be avoided or handled successfully by not running around everywhere with abandon.

The danger of lust, importance of caution (a side note)

And this lesson in caution, despite being so simple, is often the hardest to follow. It’s understandable. You venture deep into the bowels of the earth, rack up enough souls to level up at least twice or thrice, and then a demon knight pops out and impales you on his massive blade, sending your soul back to the beginning of the stage, and leaving all those souls in a pool of blood that you only have one chance to recollect. If you die again, all is lost. The first journey took an hour to achieve; it’s late, you’re tired, you should sleep. But you want to get those souls back, feel some measure of progress has been achieved before your head hits the pillow. That lust is your mistake.

Your exhaustion fills you with urgency, and you rush back in to collect your lost souls, and it’s not the demon knight that kills you, or even the peons near the beginning. It was that stupid ledge, the one you forgot lay there in the darkness waiting for the reckless. Normally you’re aware, carefully examining the floor as your step forward tentatively, but then it’s there, and there’s your hero, now a fool, falling, falling.

And all your hours spent that night are for naught. In Demon’s Souls, lust kills, caution saves.

Is the game too ruly?

The criticism I see coming is that the game relies too heavily on “game” rules and not enough on the rules of reality. To this I say, meh. Part of the joy of Demon’s Souls is discovering the rules and finding ways to take advantage of the limitations those rules create. Demon’s Souls has its own reality, a reality that succeeds because it is consistent. A consistent, fairly obvious game world rules result in a game that teaches you how to play as you go—very little tutoring is needed beyond what buttons to press—and teaches you not just how to defeat enemies, but the value of patience and cooperation as well. Cooperation? Yeah I didn’t talk about that here, but it’s coming in my next post, where I talk about the game’s most fascinating element—multiplayer. This isn’t an ordinary multiplayer game by any means, so stay tuned.

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Sony, MacArthur Foundation kick off socially responsible gaming competition

2009-11-24T12:11:00.001+08:00

As much as I enjoy getting online to riddle my opponents full of bullets from my virtual high powered rifle, I often find myself wondering, is this really all there is? Can video games accomplish anything more than an overload of hyper real violence and mayhem—that is, can they be anything more than just totally awesome fun? Do they need to be?

Yes, I think they do. They need to do more, and I’m not talking about the lame “is it art” debate. I mean they need to be more connected with the larger community of which they are a part, they need to start becoming something that can change lives, not just allowing us to escape from them.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have taken a few baby steps toward increasing interaction between the game world and the internet, but I am skeptical about what benefits gamers or the internet will see from letting people autopost their game progress or game purchases on Facebook and Twitter. I will keep them in mind, however, if I ever need to get myself unfriended as quickly as possible.

What caught my eye this morning was an announcement of video game support by the US President. The MacArthur Foundation is teaming up with Sony to hold the 2010 Digital Media and Learning Competition: Reimagining Learning ,with US$2 million in prizes up for grabs. The competition has two parts, 21^st Century Learning Lab Designers, and Game Changers, in which contestants can receive awards for creative new games or additions for Sony’s LittleBigPlanet, a popular and award-winning PlayStation 3 game that includes a comprehensive level creation tool. Sony’s supporting the event by donating “a significant number” (I’m guessing -4?) of PlayStation 3s and LittleBigPlanet copies to community-based organizations and libraries in low-income communities.

This sounds like a step in the right direction—merging game play with social action. And LittleBigPlanet, with all the social interactivity built into it, is a great place to start. I do wonder, though, how the people Sony is giving a chance to create levels will ever get to play their levels later—the game is PS3 only, and other than watching YouTube clips, the levels are downloadable only through Sony’s PlayStation Network. I’m also not really sure how it will relate to “Reimagining Learning”, but when you see the astounding variety of levels created in LittleBigPlanet, like

and

I feel optimistic contestants will come up with some pretty good ideas.

I discovered this story at Ripten.com, and here’s the contest homepage.

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Naughty Dog Plays Nice

2009-11-16T10:17:00.003+08:00

Uncharted 2 developer Naughty Dog has not only made an amazingly beautiful game, but have also proved not to be so naughty after all—thatvideogameblog.com reports via gamasutra.com that Naughty Dog is developing tools that it shares with other 1^st and 3^rd party developers, giving others a shot to get their graphics looking as good as Uncharted 2’s.

In the game’s end credits, several other developers are thanked, including Bungie, Xbox developer of the famous Halo series that put Microsoft on the map. It’s great to see developers so willing to share their ideas like that, and I’m glad Naughty Dog is so supportive of collaboration at the tool level. In the end the difference between games should be in their artistic elements—style, mood, tone, music, dialog—and not so much the engine driving these.

Uncharted 2: the beauty

I spent at least 15 minutes wandering around this Tibetan village in Uncharted 2, but this video doesn’t come close to doing the scene justice. One of the great things about Uncharted 2’s visuals is that the draw distance pretty much goes to the horizon in some areas, meaning 3d rendered objects are visible a long ways off. Most games limit the draw distance to ensure the frame rate doesn’t drop, but doing this creates a very artificial fog of war that can cause game play problems, especially in multiplayer.

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Demons have stolen my Soul, with reservations [Demon's Souls]

2009-11-12T17:45:00.001+08:00

Lately I admit I’ve been lazing about in front of the ol’ plasma a bit too much, staring at magically rendered universes of fantasy and adventure. Part of it is that I’m slowly recovering from a cold. It’s probably H1N1. If it’s fatal, I might die playing video games. Would my soul be revived in the Nexus? Somehow I doubt it. I’m no hero, I’m just a dude.

Apart from the fantastically beautiful Uncharted 2, a much lower profile game from the studios of Sony Japan has captivated my attention for a good twenty plus hours over the past few week. That game is Demon’s Souls, an action RPG that has won at least one claim to fame—it’s very hard to win. Yes, that’s one marketing angle they’ve taken deliberately, not one you often see on a game box, because, for some reason, game developers think that would be a turn off.

I’ll avoid going off on a tangent about how miserably easy most games have become these days, but suffice it to say, Demon’s Souls makes a solid effort at living up to its claim, but where I’m at in the game now, the difficulty seems to be fading to irrelevance.

The story is some throwaway about a demon that has ravaged the world and you’re the hero designated to defeat it. The problem is, you’re not all that much of a hero, not at first—more like a 98lb weakling. I like this, a lot. Probably because I’m a 150lb weakling and it gives me hope.

The game trains you in the basic mechanics of game play and then quickly kicks your ass by making you fight an impossibly difficult demon, and then the game really begins with your soul awakening in the Nexus, a sort of Void where you end up when you die. To progress through the game you warp to different worlds where you kill the baddies and collect their souls. Souls are like money, used for everything from equipment purchases to stat upgrades. Along the way you kill boss demons that give you a whole bunch of souls, and the added bonus of getting your human form back.

What makes the game difficult is that you start off very weak, and if you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, you will die. You will die fast. Add to that that every time you die, you lose ALL of your souls. The only way to get them back is to get back to where you died and reclaim your soul stain that was left behind, which is not always easy since all the monsters come back to life in your ever so brief absence. Unfortunately if you die again, the souls are gone and you have to start collecting them all over again. So yeah, it’s hard and it only gets harder the more you let your frustration replace your patience.

The game no doubt pisses the crap out of me on many occasions, but I love that they really wanted to make the game a challenge. The problem lies in the inherent nature of almost any RPG, plus a couple level design flaws I wish they avoided.

The inherent nature of which I speak is the leveling up of your character. Every RPG has this. In Demon’s Souls you use the souls you gain to improve your stats, and inevitably this means you can take and inflict more damage. This also means that monsters in the earlier levels become much easier, making them easy to defeat for quick soul farming. This takes away from the difficulty of any RPG, not just this one.

The problem then is that Demon’s Souls has monsters that are too easy to defeat but still give you quite a few souls, letting you soul farm quickly, which in turn makes future levels easier than they probably should be. I think what they could have done instead is follow the Diablo method, where killing easier monsters gives fewer souls than they did before, maybe to the point that they give almost none. This would mean the player either has to take a long time soul farming, or press on fighting their way through the harder levels. Another option would be to make the monsters you kill give you more souls the first time you kill them, increasing the risk of dying. Granted I’ve not made it more than a quarter of the way through the game, so I may find my critique is totally misguided soon.

The second problem may be a spoiler, so don’t read further if you care about this game.

The boss demons I have battled so far are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too easy. The problem is that the bow is overpowered and there’s no limit to the number of arrows you can carry, so basically I just enter the boss battle with 200 arrows and blast them from a safe distance. After defeating the big guardian night in the second part of the first world with arrows without having to move at all, I knew something was amiss. Again, perhaps this becomes an impossible trick against later demons, but so far I’m a little disappointed with the boss battles.

More to come on Demon’s Souls in the next couple posts. I want to look more carefully at the ludic (read: game) elements and later at the multiplayer features, which are pretty awesome for what’s a mostly single-player adventure.

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Comment riposte: Tools are not enough

2009-11-09T17:28:00.001+08:00

A few days ago I posted a comment on Kotaku to this article, which discusses a bit of a PR fiasco game developer Infinity Ward has found itself in after announcing that it’s new FPS Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would no longer support dedicated servers for PC gamers. The comment was lengthy enough that I’ve decided to repost it here, but first some context. (note: original comment appears near the end)

Call of Duty is a multi-million dollar franchise published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward (IW) and Treyarch, each developer taking turns to put out a new game every year. Originally Call of Duty was a WWII first-person shooter, and was an instant hit when it launched. To freshen up the brand, IW released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2007, which went on to be one of the biggest sellers in gaming history. That game put IW on the map, and a sequel was inevitable. Because the game is multi-platform, however, it had to appeal to two very different audiences—console owners and PC gamers. The main difference between the two is that PC gamers tend to be more hardcore and expect greater freedom and control over the gameplay, while console gamers range from hardcore to casual with plenty in between.

COD: MW was loved by PC gamers because it allows them to host their own dedicated servers to run matches. It also lets them to modify what options are enabled in ranked public matches, up to 64-player support (only 18 on consoles), the ability to lean, and most fun of all map creation and game modding, which lets the gamers change the game rules and graphics in almost any way they want.

an AWESOME Star Wars mod

The buzz for COD: MW2 was huge the moment it was announced, and honestly that’s no surprise. Robert Bowling, former community manager and current creative strategist for IW, was leading the communications charge in what started out with great promise. He was already on Twitter and was writing his own blog, and MW2 had its own Twitter and news site as well. They had even set up a twitter site tracking #MW2 comments, and posted questions for fans to respond to. The latter had some problems, like tracking any #MW2 comments and not ones related to the questions being posed, but it let users vote up the best comments in an attempt to keep them relevant.

All in all, a great start.

So what went wrong?

On October 17, 2009, with less than a month before the 11.10.09 launch date arrived, Bowling announced during a webcast (around the 1:39:00 mark) that IWNet would be implemented as a match-making service for PC gamers—and the end of dedicated server support. He called this making multiplayer more accessible to the PC community, but it’s hard to imagine that he didn’t see the serious backlash from the hardcore PC gamers coming.

This was not the end of the announcements, either. Soon after PC gamers discovered that everything that made the PC version unique was being taken away from them—no more leaning, no more modding or mapping. No more console for granular control over game settings, and perhaps worst of all, no more 64, or 32, player matches, meaning larger game clans, essentially the sports teams of gaming world would have to split up if they wanted to play. And, without dedicated servers, they will face greater lag issues and greater difficulty connecting with only the players they want to play with, since IWNet will do the matchmaking for them.

At this point IW and Bowling had already made one big mistake in their PR campaign—they didn’t engage the small but passionate demographic of their gaming community early enough. Fine, everyone makes mistakes. The problem then is how they continued to ignore the PC gamer audience. During an open online QA hosted by Best Buy—good idea, by the way, gives direct access to the game developers—IW game designer Mackey McCandlish and weapons artist Ryan Lastimosa deliberately and arrogantly snubbed the PC gamers participating in the event with unfortunately classic examples of terrible PR responses. For example:

Q: Is there a console in the PC version of the game, so we can change our field of view from the Xbox’s default 65 FOV to 80 also can we tweaks the weapon damage for each gun, removes perks, graphical debris, breathing sway, also thru console like we where [sic] able to before or is this all gone?

Vince-IW: We would like you to play the game the way we designed and balanced it.

And even worse:

Moriarte: Ignoring IW.net, is the PC version a direct port of the console version?

Mackey-IW: No, PC has custom stuff like mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings.

To suggest that “mouse control, in-game text chat, and adjustable graphics settings” somehow makes the game more than just a port of the console version is not the best choice of words.

Bowling, meanwhile, wasn’t doing much better, suggesting that the number of hardcore PC gamers was so small as to be meaningless when it came to game design decisions. He also called MW2 “their most feature-rich PC gamer yet,” despite all of the features that had been removed, and called the hardcore PC gamers “a very vocal community [that is] all online.” Ouch.

The great and tragically ironic climax to all of this is that Bowling himself declared just a few days later that he doesn’t think “any developer should not have control of how their game is presented or marketed or communicated… and they should take control of that a lot, lot more.” I might agree with you, Mr. Bowling, but I would add that whomever is handling it be someone with some level of competence.

IW has the tools, but they don’t have the skills, the experience or the wisdom to engage with its community in a way that respects the many, many opinions they’ve received.

What should they have done? What should they be doing right now?

I’ll let my original Kotaku comment answer the first question:

The problem, and the great irony here, is not that IW has jacked the PC version--it's their total arrogance in going about it.

I'm not condoning the jacking, but they really needed to at least try to make their audience understand their reasons for doing so, and in this they've failed completely. I find it ironic because IW was JUST saying how important it is for developers to handle their own marketing, and so far they're doing a terrible job of it! They seem to be totally clueless--Bowling especially--about the importance of showing a little humility to their fans, especially when they make changes that they KNOW will piss people off.

No, the end-user is not always right, as some are saying here. But that doesn't mean you ignore them! Just because IW doesn't need to worry about the money they make on PC game sales doesn't mean you dismiss those gamers voices--in essence IW has told PC gamers they are 2nd class to console gamers, their opinions are insignificant. There's almost no faster way to destroy your brand.

If I were IW here's what I would have done:

1. Pay special attention to those who are complaining--show them you're listening and understand their feelings.

2. Make sure I'm engaging them on public platforms, Twitter, Facebook, developer blogs, whatever.

3. Explain the reasons for jacking the game, and BE SPECIFIC. None of this "game balance" crap, that is PR nonsense designed to deflect, condescend, and offend. Your real reasons might not make the complainers happy, but at a deeper level they'll appreciate your honesty AS LONG AS YOU ARE BEING RESPECTFUL. You're worried about piracy? Ok, say so! You've actually received a lot of feedback from other PC gamers who find the game too hard to play because of cheating? Say that too, but HAVE PROOF to back yourselves up.

4. Make it clear you are flexible--let people know you're monitoring the community and are searching for ways to let people enjoy at least some of the things that made PC gaming special, like mapping and modding.

5. Finally, take a page out of Valve's book on L4D2--they handled their PR crisis beautifully, and look at what happened: complainers came away more than satisfied, and sales are up 4x over the original game! Seriously they won on all counts and still managed to make the game they wanted to make.

I find it so effin funny that IW thinks they know how to communicate with their audience, when they clearly have no idea. Sorry, I mean when they clearly don't care. Methinks they've been watching one too many episodes of Madmen. Get a clue, IW--MW2 might sell like hotcakes, but your reputation has suffered tremendously. I was looking forward to getting this for PS3, but maybe I'll wait awhile.

And as far as what they should be doing now is making it very clear that a lot of the details about how IWNet will operate are not finalized and that there is room for change and that they are listening to user feedback from everyone, whether it’s hardcore or casual gamers. And drop the arrogant holier-than-though attitude, be apologetic and promise you’ll do better in the future.

You screwed up on this one, IW, not the gamers.

Posted via email from 电玩杀瓜 - a game blog

I'm a preposterous posterous poster now.

2009-11-05T16:05:00.004+08:00

So please feel free to visit there, all you millions who've stopped by here. But this will still get updated.

Killermelons new home!

Video games-games of chance

2009-08-10T18:14:00.005+08:00

As my millions of readers may have noticed, I haven't updated in awhile. Between illness and general work busy-ness, I just haven't had time to get around to it.

But now, I've got time. In my wandering miasma of pain and suffering from an acute case of tinnitus (which is also chronic) and sudden hearing loss in my right ear for the second time this year, I've discovered a few things about life. One, sucky shitty things happen at a moment's notice and for no apparent reason. Two, some really wonderful things can also happen for no reason (like my gf's bikini wax--totally out of the blue!). And three, video games possess another characteristic besides interaction that other artistic mediums lack: ADDICTION.

While some people might be passionate enough about a book, movie, or CD that they flung the object in question at a wall out of frustration when they fail to make sense of it, I can't imagine anyone continuing to try and retry reading or watching said piece of art. For example: I suck at Call of Duty games pretty regularly, and no matter how much I continue to suck, I just keep telling myself I'll win the next time. Suddenly it's 4am and my kill ratio has gone from .4 to --3, I've broken three controllers and am ready to smash a window with my PS3. I often look out the window and see six other people doing the same thing (I wish I saw six other people who even had PS3s...).

But with a book, I might suddenly look up and it's 4am because I've so thoroughly enjoyed it. Any hint of frustration and I'd simply have fallen asleep out of boredom. I wouldn't care because there's no competitive drive to read better. I'll read it when I want and at the pace I want. Or maybe never. Same with movies and music. Why are games so different? Perhaps video and computer games, especially the online ones where you're in direct competition with other people, are more like gambling, in that gamers believe their success is equally determined if not more so by luck than by skill. Certainly the rationale for continuing to play is the same--I'll win it all back in the next round. Just one more round.

So why are you addicted, if you are? What keeps you playing even when you are clearly lacking in skills and have no hope of getting better?

Booth Babes--The true sign of a developed nation

2009-07-27T16:37:00.005+08:00

It comes as no surprise to me or my pet hamster that females in what some might call stripper outfits are, with possibly the exception of free pizza and/or beer, are wonderful and powerful way to sell a product, whether it's a replica Ryuken Katana from the late Hirohito period or... a video game!

"Booth babes," as they've come to be known, are merely the latest manifestation of an ancient tradition dating back many a millennium (blogspot just taught me that millenia is not a word--who knew? Anyway) to the day Ugh traded Sny to Fft for twenty Psa. Sny, an alluring young woman with the least hairy armpits this side of Qr, was so tantalizing to Fft that he was willing to give up all the food he had foraged for during the autumn harvest. Needless to say, Fft died that winter but not before having the most mind blowing love making sessions our primitive ancestors probably had ever seen. So in the end who was the winner? Fft by a longshot, as Ugh was stuck with hagged and old Rut, practically in the grave at the age of 27. He did get to live a long time thanks to the Psa, but I think we all know who the real winner of that deal was.

My point is, women sell stuff, and it's unfortunate that so many countries have yet to realize this. Look at Saudi Arabia--it's not so hot when you get the model's hands chopped off for accidentally glancing in her eyes when she's try to sell you on 1002 Arabian Nights, the sequel, and her Boshiya accidentally slips. Not to mention the embarrassment of a Boshiya slip, my God.

But China, China has totally got it and is totally if not tacitly fine with it. Not just the standard chick selling cars at international auto shows by metaphorically stroking your newly purchased manhood fine with it, but even video game fine with it. Why is there a difference? Because car drivers are mostly successful men, whereas gamers, especially in China, are scrawny or bulbous teenagers with a serious overload of hormones that have caused countless JIMP moments. So when you add booth babes to the mix, you might as well be lighting a stick of dynamite in a vat of nitro glycerin!

ChinaJoy, China's E3 equivalent, is a testament to China's commitment to opening its economic doors, with booth babes galore, many of which are truly attractive. Combined with China's growing cosplay love, these women--sorry, babes--are a sales and marketing force to be reckoned with, especially as China expands its gaming markets internationally to include the old, white, sweaty and hirsute old lonely men demographic, where it has already shown tremendous potential.

Honestly though, any country that doesn't prevent its women from using their sex appeal to sell shit, it's gotta be on the right track economically. I could blather on, but you'd probably rather just enjoy browsing the babes of booths at ChinaJoy 2009:

(Photo Credit: Frank Yu)

Chinese drywall effin up your Xbox

2009-07-16T08:58:00.003+08:00

I'm sure Microsoft would like to find any excuse other than their own crappy manufacturing process for the huge number of Xbox360s that have RROD'd themselves to death, but the fact is, the build quality sucked for a couple a few years.

Still, I won't say that it's impossible that Chinese drywall is responsible for some of those deaths. It's been a growing scandal leading to possible class actions suits for several months now, causing electrical problems among many other serious issues:

persistent rotten egg odor
respiratory or other symptoms alleviated by leaving a building and worsened on return
blackened and corroded metal, including copper, nickel, silver and/or stainless steel
premature failures of central air-conditioning evaporator coils
blinking lights or power failures
arcing or sparking
intermittent operation or failure of appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers and electronic devices such as televisions, computers and video-game systems

(Thanks Gamepolitics via Getmogames!)

EA's Battlefield 2: a chance to fight for the PLA!

2009-07-15T15:36:00.005+08:00

According to EA's Battlefield 2 website:

In Battlefield 2, players will choose to fight for one of three military superpowers: the United States, the Chinese, or the newly formed Middle East Coalition.

Sweet! I hope it recreates the Long March and other Communist triumphs, that sure would be exciting.

China bans electro-shock therapy for IA

2009-07-15T15:29:00.003+08:00

And what is IA? INTERNET ADDICTION!!! A rampant epipandemic in Asia only for some reason. Must have something to do with those Asian Addiction genes, East Asian to be precise.

But really, frying kids brains with electrons who were already frying their brains with electrons? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Then again I am only feigning shock (pun intended) at China surprising the world. Really, what can China do anymore that the rest of the world will find truly surprising?

(thanks Joystiq!)

China tastes the vinegar at WCG Asian Championship

2009-07-06T11:15:00.007+08:00

Upset by Vietnam in DOTA? I'll pretend to show shock at this stupendous upset, the shock I would show if I knew anything about how good China has been at DOTA.

Match results:

DOTA All Stars Guitar Hero World Tour FIFA 09
1st rank: Vietnam 1st rank: New Zealand 1st rank: Vietnam
2nd rank: Malaysia 2nd rank: Singapore 2nd rank: Korea
3rd rank: Singapore 3rd rank: Chinese Taipei 3rd rank: Malaysia

This year, there were lots of unexpected results especially from Vietnam. In the DOTA All stars quarter finals, Vietnam won against China, who was the champion in Asian Championships during last 2 years, and won the gold medal. Vietnam also won gold medal in FIFA 09.

(Link)

WCG 2009 looks tasty in this hot promo

2009-06-22T11:49:00.001+08:00

Netease? More like NetPlease!

2009-06-16T15:20:00.004+08:00

Women say I have a terrible sense of humor. I tell women they lack fortitude and more than a few mind grapes.

Netease, however, possesses a feature that are inherent in most men and women. Laziness. No sign that the new WOW servers will be up and running on time? Maybe that's just typical Chinese fear of making public announcements about complicated and possibly controversial issues, and everything is actually fine. Or maybe things are a mess, in which case I would still bet the farm that they're up and running as scheduled simply because Chinese are good like that.

The real kicker, according to the article, is that

A poll of some of the subscribers points to some interesting information, 53 percent of players said they would return, 26 percent wanted to observe the handover of the servers and then make a decision while 21 percent said they wouldn’t return to the game.

So the delay, however intentional, could have serious repercussions to that 11.5 million players figure, quite a few of those players are in China

WCG 2009 Asian Championship coming to Singapore

2009-06-10T15:47:00.004+08:00

On July 4-5 an invite-only WCG 2009 Asian Championship will be held for 112 2008 and 2009 National Final champions from fourteen Asian countries, including China. Four years in the running too! Games include DOTA All Stars, FIFA Soccer 2009, and Guitar Hero World Tour.

So who will make it from Team China? Will it be Slick Willy Wong or Charlie Chaplin Chan? Fu ManJew or LuvULongThyme? Stay tuned to not find out!

China's National WCG Finals Kick(ed) Off in Shanghai! (a long ass time ago)

2009-06-10T15:29:00.009+08:00

I'm so behind the times. So last month the first round of finals were held in Shanghai to see who would make the team that would represent China in the World Championships to be held in Chengdu, China later this year. 3,000 spectators watched 450 contestants battle it out over three days, and as far as the official WCG tells me, no results are available yet. I guess they'll be waitin till the rest of the results are in from the competitions yet to be held in other parts of China.

(WCG National Finals in Shanghai)

UPDATE: The players who have moved on to the next round can be found here:

Or just read this:

WCG2009三星电子杯中国区锦标赛预选赛已晋级名单 (winners)：

魔兽男子 Warcraft (men)

上海赛区：历生辉（Future），唐涌辰RyH.Darken，曾文睿（WE.09.kenshin）

北京赛区：武麟（Wulin），张芦Sayno

杭州赛区：徐真（Hopestar）

魔兽女子 Warcraft (women)

上海赛区：吴婧（Eva），张丽君（KK_Wind_mm）

北京赛区：竺励（Colagirl），米彤（Moonfish）

星际争霸 Starcraft

上海赛区：刘玻豪（Fnatic.Lbh）,陈昊（SC_Eva），孙一峰（Fnatic.F91），刘寅（Lovett）

北京赛区：黄慧明（SC_Toodming），王恩平（WYW），沈鹏（Onlycc）

CS：Counterstrike

上海赛区：Tyloo，fst

北京赛区：Excellent.Luckyday

DOTA

上海赛区：CD

北京赛区：TTi

WCG2009三星电子杯中国区锦标赛外卡赛晋级选手名单 (wildcards)：

魔兽男子 Warcraft (men)

外卡赛：黄翔（Mouz.Th000），李晓峰（WE.Pepsi.Sky），周成龙（Sai）

星际争霸 Starcraft

外卡赛：沙俊春（SC_Pj），罗贤（=PNZ=Legendary），叶荣龙（Fnatic.Never）

China wants us to protect us from ourselves

2009-06-09T11:39:00.005+08:00

China is now requiring that all PCs sold as of July 1st must come shipped with filtering software that can block access to certain websites. I haven't come across any details on how the software works, but it's safe to say this is the most boneheaded and backwards move China has ever taken regarding Internet development. People will be annoyed at having government controlling their PC ever so literally, but more importantly hackers will break it, computer vendors will get tons of negative feedback for complying and lose a lot of customers if they don't.

The silver lining to this dark cloud of misery is

The head of a software developer involved in devising the program confirmed the report to AFP, saying it was aimed at protecting people from pornography.

"The software will be provided to consumers in new PCs and they have the option to install or not to install it," said Bryan Zhang, chief executive of Jinhui Computer System Engineering Co.

Actually it does make me wonder why this is even necessary? Doesn't the Great Firewall of China work well enough? Or is China worried that it can't handle the rising growth in Internet connectivity? It could be a sign of things actually changing for the better, in a weird way--giving customers the option to control their own level of censorship. Maybe China plans on passing the censorship buck in a few years, putting the GFW out of its miserable existence. One can hope...

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/china-pc-filter-has-trade-implications-20090609-c1bp.html

E3-It's ON!

2009-06-02T12:03:00.005+08:00

E3 is live and beautiful. I have no time to keep up on it all, but here's some links you probably already have to track updates:

Joystiq

Kotaku

Magic Box

Infinity Ward (live twitting!)

World of Fight becomes World of Fighter becomes WTF?

2009-06-01T12:26:00.012+08:00

On May 6 I wrote about The 9, a Chinese gaming company that was the WOW distributor for China until this month, and its teaser page for a new MMO in the wake of losing the WOW account. The page used fonts and images eerily but not surprisingly reminiscent of WOW and perhaps other games as well. Needless to say, I was pleased (I bathe in pleasure bubbles every time I get a chance to knock a Chinese company for creating knock-offs).

And my pleasure deepened, because the title of this yet to be released MMO was World of Fight--you see, Chinglish is another veritable source of profound joy in my life. Just today I walked past a young man wearing a t-shirt emblazoned boldly with the words, "Are you ready to Ruck?" And yes, I knew at that moment, I was ready. Ready to Ruck.

*ahem* so World of Fight is kind of a Chinglishy name, but I find it kind of catchy as well--three monosyllabic words that get straight to the point: this is a world, and in it there be fighting. I decided to check up on this site today, and what do I find? They've CHANGED the name to World of Fighter, no "s". So close, China, yet this is terrible, making no sense at all. At least World of Fight meant something, stirred my cranium in some way to think, "ah, this is an interesting title!"

And the screw turns further. The name is changed; but so is the page itself. While the WOWish font remains, the black background is adorned only with two pillars guarded by what I can only assume to be dwarves and a classical Chinese building in the distance. Suddenly the title appears, and then Chun Li, Ryu, Ken and several other characters I presume to be from various Japanime fighting games.

WTF? Capcom? A partner? Perhaps. But seeing as The 9 is partly owned by EA, wouldn't that be some sort of conflict of interest? Or maybe not? I don't know. It does seem odd to me that The 9 would so brazenly use what are certainly trademarked images to promote an as yet unexplained gaming concept.

One other note--World of Fighter might just be a tagline. At the end of the Flash intro you see the Chinese characters "名将三国", and I think this could be the Chinese title, but 三国 or "Sānguó" refers to a period in China long ago known as the Three Kingdoms, and is a popular source of stories for contemporary creative works in China. So it could be some sort of fighting game set in that period, but that still doesn't explain the appearances of SF characters--If anything, it only confuses the issue. Most likely, as is often the case, The Nine thought, "hey, those are fighters! And we're creating the world of fighter! They will communicate a sense of fight that we wish to convey and attract many audiences and mad money in no time!" Most likely.

Pictures (click for full size):

(World of Fighter)

Video of Zeebo in action--could the Zeebo Exec look less interested?

2009-05-27T15:06:00.004+08:00

He just looks like he doesn't care that much... not enough sleep? I also notice that there's no option in Quake for multiplayer--not a good sign

Zeebo launches in Brazil--China next? (no)

2009-05-22T10:47:00.007+08:00

Looks like the Zeebo has launched, I think in Brazil first. I can't really tell from the report I read whether it has actually appeared on the market though.

Designed for developing markets and regions where latest-gen game systems are too expensive and piracy is rampant, the Zeebo takes a different approach to game distribution--3G networks. Seeing as China has recently launched 3G, it has the potential to be a big thing there.

And why might it succeed? Good marketing research!

[Zeebo CEO John] Rizzo says a consumer’s key requirements are affordability, local language, culturally relevant content, and ease of purchase and play.
“Our focus is frankly not at the top of the pyramid,” says Rizzo. “The richest people in those regions frankly can afford to buy the biggest consoles. We’re aimed solidly at that middle class.”

Publishers’ key requirements, according to Rizzo, are piracy prevention, less expensive title development, low cost, efficient marketing, and access to new markets.

So, how does Zeebo connect the needs of publishers and consumers? Rizzo says it’s by way of the console having zero marketing waste, minimal development cost, nearly no cost of goods due to the download format, and no piracy.

As far as Zeebo's wish to enter the China market, my concerns would be price--$199 is still no small sum of money--how hackable the systems are, and whether China would even allow it in the first place, since consoles are still banned.

As far as piracy concerns, Zeebo says on their website "content providers have a secure channel to market and sell their products. Titles are authorized to work with a unique ID, assigned to each individual console. They are not portable, and cannot be moved between consoles via removable media cards. With no way to copy titles, the Zeebo system is effectively piracy-proof." I'll leave that link they give to read more about it, but they still don't address the issue of potential console modding and people finding ways to access the data off the internal storage device (nor does it say how large that device is, how many games could fit on it before you start having to pick and choose). Of course, it could just be too much trouble to be pirated, as seems to have been the case for the PS3.

Let's say it did get in, though. Could it compete? Online PC gaming in Internet bars is the major form of video game entertainment in China, where gaming is also a more social experience. MMO games are very popular, including WOW, and like in other Asian countries Chinese like doing microtransactions to accessorize their avatars. Zeebo's website, however, doesn't even mention online gaming, which would suck, frankly, if it's not an option--who plays Quake (one of the games available) in single player? Nobody, that's who.

Still, the game list, though extremely short, looks good with big developers like Activision, Capcom, EA, and id giving support, and while most of the games are oldies like Quake/2 Duke Nukem 3D, they are good oldies. Some newer games available are FIFA 09 and RE4. It's really a very short list though, comprising five free titles and twelve more you can buy for $5-15.

Oh that price made realize another problem--you can get a gray market Xbox 360 w/o hard drive for about $200, the PS2 is $99, the Wii is $250 or so, and pirated games are less than a buck a pop--Zeebo will definitely have its work cut out for itself coming to China. If it offers free online gaming, however, it could beat Xbox, which for the most part can't be used in China since it's a fee-based service and Chinese people are stingy, no just kidding, they're just more practical. I can't speak, I bought a PS3 partly so I wouldn't have to pay to play online because I'm a stingy scrooge (The fact that the PS3 is the most expensive console on the market indicates only that I am also a man of great complexity and mystery.)

Plus and minuses aside, I think Zeebo has the right idea, even if the plan for execution leaves some questions unanswered. Prices do need to be lowered for consoles to get into China and other developing markets, but game quality can't suffer. I feel like Zeebo might be wrong about these markets enjoying games that are so many years old when they can easily see what latest-gen systems are capable of any time they're browsing the web. If you're not offering the realism of a PS3 or Xbox360, then at least the find a way to deliver the innovation of a Wii.

(Thanks Karlstadunix and Zeebo!)

Welcome to China where we steal your idea

2009-05-22T09:18:00.003+08:00

And try to make a quick profit, or whatever. I don't have anything to say about this except I really wish at least in the video game industry China would stop doing this. It's not like film or book industries that are hampered by heavy regulation and a constant need to appease the powers that be, is it? Actually it probably is. Until the Chinese government wants to give up some control and let creative minds work without fear, I don't foresee a bright future for locally created video games, or any other creative media, for that matter.

(Thanks Kotaku!)

The gaming industry and its rising penetration

2009-05-21T12:30:00.003+08:00

According to the NPD Group, anyway--

...nearly two out of three Americans (63 percent) have played a video game in the past six months. While that level of penetration does not begin to compete with music listening, which is nearly universal (94 percent), it exceeds the percentage of U.S. consumers who report going out to the movies (53 percent), during that same time period.

The best part? It's beating out film. I don't know why that's the best part, actually, but it should be, because film is terrible.

That's probably enough blanket statements for one day... anyway, read the rest of NPD's report here.

Is the PS3 going bulimic?

2009-05-15T10:38:00.013+08:00

And spewing all its fatty baggage all over the curbside like a supermodel after dinner?

One Chinese source tried to say so: http://bbs.levelup.cn/showtopic-803951.aspx
But the post has been deleted, as you can see.

Before said pics and details went down, several English languages sites caught them and reposted the pics, which are as follows:

Sony of course says it's all lies, beautiful lies. Who do you believe?

(Thanks Playstation Universe!)

WCG 2009 Rules and Regulations Announced

2009-05-12T17:57:00.004+08:00

Announced, and they aim to "Increase Gameplay and Spectator Excitement Worldwide."

Find all the juicy details here

And did I mention that it's taking place in Chengdu, China?

(Thanks SK Gaming!)

Xbox sales screech shrilly past 30 mil

2009-05-12T17:40:00.004+08:00

As you can see on my handly little chart on the right there.

Playing with inFamous (I wish I was)

2009-05-11T12:22:00.005+08:00

Lucky me sitting in an Asian timezone was able to enter pretty quick and quickly enough Game Hunter's contest for inFamous demo codes. With only 20 available on a first-come, first-serve basis, I, in my mid afternoon daze that always sets in after eating too much Chinese food, lumbered into action to register with USA Today and got myself a code! I know it was just a marketing ploy to increase viewership, and I probably would have cancelled my account the moment I found out I was too late, but I won and as a result happy enough to go on living.

Infamous, sorry inFamous (for some reason), is a 3rd person action game. I hesitate to call it a shooter, because you're not exactly shooting. I guess you shoot bolts of electricity and throw electricity bombs, so it's sort of shooting. But this is not a TPS by any stretch of the imagination.

Actually the attacks, which look beautiful and are made better by a largely destructible environment, are pretty conventional. You shoot stuff, it dies. It dies in cool ways, but it still dies, or is at least disabled. Disabled enemies or bystanders can be sucked dry of their life force, healed, or restrained with arc binders, which I don't understand really because they must shock the hell out of you.

The electrical powers are fun, but what really puts this game in a room of one's own is the controls. The controls, the controls! They work so, so amazingly well.

I feel like all the promos were telling me about this game was how you could manipulate the environment with your Force-like electrical powers or be Famous or inFamous, but failed to mention that you're actually a Parkour superstar as well. You run, jump, roll, sure, but did you know you can grab on to just about anything that appears grab-onable? Railings, building ledges, window sills, the sides of a train. You can crawl up lampposts and girders, or launch yourself up the wrong side of an emergency fire escape. Rail slide stair railings, even building-to-building electrical cables and electrified train rails. All the while setting limits--no scaling smooth walls. (I noticed one bug in the game though--I was unable to climb over a chain-link fence! How ironic! Maybe it's a kind of subtle commentary on the emptiness of the protagonist's soul).

The best thing about all this is how simple it is. You don't have to do special button presses, you character just does what is appropriate in the given situation. If you jump on the electrified wire, he'll slide--if you jump to it but let's say you miss judge and fall short, he can grab it as well. And to get on such narrow objects is not the painfully bone-crushing task it could be at times in Mirror's Edge, but rather your protagonist (I really should look up his name) is smart enough to jump exactly where you were intending for him to go, so if you were to have missed by a couple inches, you'll actually be fine.

Did I mention that the game also manages to include a cover system that works as well as GOW2 if not better? I guess because the button layout is kept sparse (a big plus for a button retard such as myself), they had the space for it.

So as great as blowing up vehicles, launching people a hundred feet, watching wooden objects shred to pieces (a pretty amazing touch) and sucking the life out of innocent bystanders is, I had just as much fun exploring the city in all directions. Sadly the demo forces you to take the next mission if you delay too long, but it has done its work--I want more.

p.s. There is one thing I wish (hopelessly I assume, since the game has already gone gold) that they would change--the sound your character makes when he runs. I'm not sure how to describe it other than utter crap. It doesn't even sound like a CD-quality sound, rather just some garbled computer pc speaker tonal grunts. It's a bit disturbing and actually takes you out of the game a bit. A normal swishing sound of jeans would probably suffice.

(thanks Game Hunters!)

China gaming is growing, and growing, and growing

2009-05-07T12:12:00.004+08:00

According to market intelligence firm Niko Partners China gaming could reach $3.8 billion in 2009. Keep in mind this is PC only, no consoles allowed! Full report here.

(thanks Joystiq!)

That last post was ugly, but this...

2009-05-06T12:58:00.008+08:00

I admit, looking at my last post in a browser window, that it's damn ugly. The AO2 photo on the right and the embedded video below with some weird gap between them. Horrific. Don't ever hire me to be a web designer, I have no eye for aesthetics unless they're blonde.

But there's something uglier out there, it's called piracy! No actually piracy's kinda cool, but what's not cool is something I like to call 山寨*. I invented this term all by myself, honest! I DID. Shut it.

Okay, so no I didn't. But I'm jealous that someone else did and is probably making millions off of it. So I'm going to create my own, phonetically similar term, 删窄. I'm sure it means something similar and not "delete narrow" or other such nonsense.

Why do I feel I can get away with this? Probably for whatever the reason The Nine, a Chinese gaming company thinks it can. Until recently The Nine was responsible for bringing WOW to China, but then for reasons never given out loud Blizzard decided to change partners and go with Netease. This was bad news for The Nine, since most of their revenue depended on the cash cow that WOW is. So like any good Chinese business that lacks any idea about what innovation means other than "COPY THE THING THAT MAKES THE MONEY", The Nine, moving with surprising agility, already has a page up for their own game, presumably an MMORPG, called "World of Fight". No I didn't mistype that.

Actually it's an awesome name for a game. Sounds like the best boxing/wrestling/mma game ever right? WoF!

http://www.wofchina.com/

Did you just click on that and think what I think? Yeah, that font looks similar, color scheme kinda familiar... nope, doesn't ring a bell. Well good luck to ya, The Nine. The game's not out yet, so there's a sliver of a chance that you're taking your game in a very different direction, but personally I hope you can 删窄 your way to success.

*山寨, shan zhai, a term made recently popular in China, literally translates as "fortified mountain village", but refers to locally-made knock-off goods that rip off famous product designs in an attempt to make them their own. For several great examples, check out this slide show from Auto Shanghai: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/5208546/Chinas-copycars-familiar-looking-vehicles-at-Shanghai-Auto-2009.html

(thanks Bad Power via Wall Street Journal, VG247 via Gamasutra!)

just a little UPDATE: according to Kotaku's post on the same subject, The 9's website could be referring to an upcoming MMO from EA, who has some shares in the distributor. But World of Fight? Really?

New Army of Two video shows Shanghai looking pretty

2009-05-06T10:08:00.005+08:00

Messed up! Man this game is going to be beautiful. I never played the first one, hearing only mixed reactions, but as terrible as this game might or might not be, it's worth the--what do games cost these days, $15?--price to see Shanghai's inevitable future self. If they release this on PC, my only question is, would China allow it? Or does it still hurt too many Chinese people's feelings, the way Fallout 3 hurt a lot (and I mean A LOT, like 6) of people's feelings in the US?

Burn motherheehaw burn

(thanks Joystiq!)

Some game called Aion hits a mill in China?

2009-04-27T18:04:00.005+08:00

Ok, whatever. It's 6 and I'm supposed to get off work now. 6:10 now, fuck. Ok I'm totally going, but I feel it my duty to update this blog once in awhile, especially whenever some exciting or at least relevant news in gaming in China comes along. So here it is. A game, that I have never heard of, called Aion, has hit a million users in China! Break out the bubbly everyone! It's time to celebrate, for some reason:

Within the first four days of launch, Aion pulled in one million players who happily paid for at least one hour of gameplay, reports GI.biz.Shanda Interactive Entertainment began charging users an hourly rate for the MMORPG’s “Yao Sai Pan Long” scenario, but despite the success, Deutsche Bank has told investors to hold off on purchasing stock in Shanda. This was due to player concerns over the cost, high hardware requirements and the current lack of in-game content.

Anyway, I'm sure people might know that MMO PC games are the big thing in China, most likely because it provides them with a sense of social worth that they don't otherwise find in school, home, or the underside of a toilet seat. Sorry that was rude. I don't know why Chinese like MMO games so much, and I don't know why Asians besides Japan but maybe including Japan like microtransactions so much. I mean, accessorizing a character that doesn't really exist? WTF? Anyway, I like to burn field mice so who am I to speak?

(thanks VG247 via GI.biz!)

StarCraft II beta in China???

2009-04-22T14:55:00.002+08:00

Pigs have just flown out of an ass somewhere. Ok, not yet... it's still just a rumor, but wouldn't that be crazy? Why China? Chinese don't play StarCraft, they play CS and WOW. Korea or the US would be more logical testing grounds, so I'm not sure I buy this.

(Thanks VG247 and Qj.net)

Fucking Brilliant

2009-04-17T10:06:00.000+08:00

GDC imitated, Chinese-piracy style: IDGA not happy

2009-04-16T15:21:00.006+08:00

IGDA, which hosts of the Game Developers Conferences that are held all over the world, isn't happy with Howell Expo for borrowing the GDC name for its own GDC event. I'm not up on my corporate soap operas, but this sounds like it could be a doozy:

Following legal pressure from Think Services on the organiser of the LOGIN conference to dissolve its partnership with Howell Expo's copyright-infringing China GDC event in July, the IGDA has now followed suit and deleted any reference to the developer conference from its website.
The organisation had previously noted that its members were able to take advantage of a 10 per cent discount for the event, but that has now been removed - although the savings will still apply to Howell's other property, ChinaJoy.

Oh the drama!! Can't wait to find out who slept with who after cheating on so-and-so behind the barn. I hope someone's twittering updates in real-time.

(Thanks Joystiq via GI.biz!)

China's online gaming numbers are out!

2009-04-09T14:48:00.005+08:00

The money shot:

San Francisco firm Pearl Research has published a report detailing the growth of the online games market in China. Seems it grew over 63 percent in 2008 to $2.8 billion.

It’s estimated that the market will grow to $5.5 billion in 2012. Over 70 percent of China’s 298 million internet users are under 30 years old.

That's pretty awesome. How about adding console gaming to the mix, eh China???

(Thanks Edge via VG247!)

Six Days in Fallujah--too soon?

2009-04-08T21:43:00.006+08:00

Not surprisingly, a game set in a war that hasn't even finished yet is drawing some flack.

A highly decorated British Army colonel and the father of a lance corporal killed in action in Iraq has criticized the game and called for it to be banned.

“It’s much too soon to start making video games about a war that’s still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history. It’s particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game,” he said.

Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was a Red Cap killed by an Iraqi mob in June 2003, added: “Considering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgment and bad taste. It is particularly crass when you consider what actually happened in Fallujah.

Interestingly this article is quoting British soldiers, not American. The game is said to have been developed in collaboration with some US Marines--and collaborators are always evil--so perhaps US game developer Atomic Games is handling the game carefully? Or perhaps the game portrays the US as heroes and the Brits as cowards? I could live with that, but it might perturb, bemuse, or even dare I say nonplus the Queen.

I feel that these soldiers, while understandably sensitive to the situation, are reacting prematurely. At least wait and see what the game is like before assuming it is "glorifying" the war. Of course, as is said of war films, perhaps there's no such thing as an anti-war game?

(thanks disturbingly named gadgetophilia.com via ANI!)

update: WSJ has a more detailed rundown of the source material for the game: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123902404583292727.html

OnLive? Sounds more like OnDead to me hahahah

2009-04-08T12:10:00.003+08:00

That is a pretty inane title for what could be a pretty cool system, dontcha think? OnLive, which will attempt to deliver gaming to any crappy PC or tv screen via some sort of orgasmicly quick video compression scheme and He-Man strength servers, is not something I'd have cared to mention on this blog except that:

Although OnLive's servers are for North America, the company does have international plans in mind. And in fact, Perlman pointed out that Internet Cafes across Asia use low-end PCs, making the OnLive service perfect for those venues, and certainly a great business opportunity.

Hmm... Asia? Well Korea and Japan, sure. But Internet speed can royally suck my fat schnoz in China, where connections for home use, as far as I know, top out at 8mbps, and .5mbps upload. And 8mbps is retardedly expensive, and I am going to assume only exists in major cities where still only 1% of 1% of 1% of residents bother paying for it. Would be nice if China started getting its FIOS on.

(Thanks gamedaily.com!)

Zeebo--for 3rd world gamers?

2009-04-03T17:54:00.003+08:00

I find that offensive--why build a crap gaming system for poor people? Do you think they even have time to play games? They're busy eating dirt or something.

Whooaaaa there Bill "Atlas Shrugged" Evans, get away from the keyboard. Thank you. But Bill is right about one thing, Zeebo, created by a company of the same name, is a budget video game system that's being targeted at developing nations, what business people like to call "emerging markets". China is one of those markets, although that might be exclusive of tier 1 cities, but maybe not.

What makes the Zeebo stand out besides its Super Nintendo like power to grip one's imagination and paralyze it before it can lose its sense of disbelief is its game distribution mechanism--no cartridges, no discs, and not even online transfer in the traditional home network sense. Nay, it uses 3G technology to let people purchase and download games over the mobile phone airwaves.

Obviously the Zeebo is all about affordability, and I ain't not gonna knock that. It's a noble endeavor to bring gaming to people that want it but aren't ready to drop 2-3000 kuai on a console, and microtransactions, which it seems it may have potential for, are something Asians dig more than Westerners. so good luck Zeebo, I wish you well, and certainly weller than those knock off systems China loves to churn out every time a real console maker releases a new system.

There's a gold rush on in China

2009-04-03T17:13:00.002+08:00

For virtual gold, that is! Yes, people who play WOW in the West apparently prove that China is correct in instituting restrictions to online gaming to curb addiction, but China should also extend that to include curbing the spread of total stupidity that virtual gold actually has value. It's electrons, people. 1s and 0s. Blizzard's servers go down, your life's true meaninglessness will be exposed, and then you'll have to go play Everquest or whatever it was you played before you lost yourself in the macabre void of WOW. WOW is really such an appropriate acronym for that game. WOW people that play it as if their life depends on it like nothing else are dumb. WOW people have virtual funerals in-game and WOW for the sake of opening my mouth once more.

But as I was saying, virtual gold farming is big business in China. There are, according the report linked here anyway, 1,000,000 people in China engaged in gold farming. Their work earns $2 billion US mind you in revenue. Holy cow patties that's no chump change. And that's just the conservative estimate. As Nicholas Deleon on Crunchgear writes, and he can write it better than I, having never played the game,

In all my days of playing World of Warcraft, though, to be fair, I haven’t played since Christmastime, I never even thought about buying gold; it’s just dumb. You either have a guild that hooks you up with gear, or have a friend who’s 60 levels higher than you who is willing to waste two hours killing mobs and running you though instances. That’s how the game is meant to be played, not by buying success off some kid in Asia who’s half-starving and mining all day. ::shakes head::

(Thanks Gamesindustry.biz via crunchgear.com via technews.am!)

Sorry I was busy playing online games and didn't notice that

2009-03-23T10:01:00.003+08:00

The Anti-online game addiction system proves to be effective in China! Or so Xinhua says, stating that:

The number of Chinese online game players under the age of 18 has declined to 15 percent of total respondents in 2008 -- a 7 percent drop from the 2007's figure of 183 million -- according to a nationwide survey by the China Youth Social Service Center release on Wednesday.

Yes, online gaming addiction, a distinctly Chinese and Korean phenomenon thanks I think to their love of Internet cafes, is being crushed. That's good for humanity probably, not so good for Blizzard as it tries to bring WOTLK into China, whom it must convince is, although extremely popular, not habit-forming whatsoever. Haha sure, Blizzard. Good luck with that.

(thanks Xinhua via Gamesindustry.biz via Joystiq!)

Numbers we've been waiting for--PS3 Home stats!

2009-03-20T17:55:00.004+08:00

Sounds exciting, I know. Stop looking at me like that, I know you're as eager to know as I am.

So, how is PS3 Home doing?

4 million registered users
55 minutes spent per session

4 million almost certainly means the total number who ever installed the thing, but I'd really like to know how many of those are actually using it, because yeah I went on quite a bit the first day it was stable, but since then, not so much. Just not a lot of interesting content yet, but I think it does have potential.

(thanks Kotaku!)

GAPP Fears Foreign MMOGs (most likely because of our huge skeletons)

2009-03-18T17:07:00.006+08:00

Bill Vaughn, not to sound like a bigot, but you sure are a sexy dude! Or chick! I don't care! (note: photo at right is NOT of Bill Vaughn)

Aside from that, Bill relates a story from JLM Pacific Epoch stating that China's General Administration of Press and Publication

will look at the approval criteria of online games to ensure that the gaming youth of China is not overly exposed to foreign cultures, especially in the case of highly popular games such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft.

Looks like I was at least partially right. (I haven't given up on believing it's because they fear mass demonstrations and raping and pillaging in an online world, though!)

(thanks JLM Pacific Epoch via IncGamers!)

Video Gaming coming to Shanghai China!

2009-03-17T18:03:00.004+08:00

Sorry I just lied to you. Shanghai will never see the light of an official video game market, probably ever, because it is sinking like 8cm into the sea every year. Eat your heart out, California!

Buuuut, Army of Two developers EA Montreal have announced the release of a sequel, titled Army of Two: the 40th Day. What that 40th day is, no one knows. I'm guessin it's the end of Noah's Flood and you get to watch all the animals mate, including Adam and Eve (hot!).

But the coolest thing about the game, and why I wasn't just randomly mentioning the destruction of Shanghai two paragraphs ago, is this:

In the sequel to Army of Two, Salem and Rios, the two blokes from the first game, go to Shanghai, China, which is nearly destroyed. They must "fight their way through ravaged city districts as they try to beat the odds and uncover the secret of the 40th Day."

Set in post-apocalyptic Shanghai? AWESOME. I hope they map the city accurately. Eat your heart out GTA IV!

(thanks Actiontrip!)

No Skeletons in China!

2009-03-12T09:54:00.010+08:00

China has now rejected Blizzard's second application to sell Wrath of the Lich King in China, citing "content that didn't meet requirements, including a city raid and skeleton characters"

Yes, skeleton characters. If I sit and really think about this for long enough, I bet I could figure out some really good reasons behind the skeleton fear, like if the Hu-ster had skeleton nightmares growing up during the Cultural Revolution (there were lots of skeletons back then!), but doing so would hurt my brain a lot and probably give me a stroke.

More likely China is just finding excuses for awhile to keep this foreign product out because they know how popular it is, and the government tends not to like anything that popular because it could somehow create a unified demographic that would then be difficult to manage. I understand this thinking, I know there are some crazy motherfuckers who would probably team up in WOW to try to kill virtual capitalist-roaders. So good on ya, China for stapping this potential problem balloon in the rubber skin before it explodes in a nasty yet kinky mess of shredded latex.

(thanks JLM Pacific Epoch via Massively.com via Joystiq.com)

Donate real blood to enhance spilling of virtual blood at RE5 Blood Drive

2009-03-08T08:48:00.003+08:00

Wow an even better idea--attaching the seriously bad-ass blood letting we all love to do in virtual worlds to blood donating in the real world. Nice work, Capcom, you've just:

won yourself new friends (they like me, really like me!) and maybe even respect

serviced the public

serviced the public in a kind of ironic tie-in to your extremely violent game

I mean this, I'm not being my cynical, world-hating, sarcastic self. It can be tricky figuring out how to promote such a violent yet hopefully fun especially if they let us melee while on the fucking move game in a way that relates to the game's nature (blood, blood, zombies, blood!) yet also can benefit society. So good on ya for that.

(thanks Joystiq!)

Killzone Cupcakes, yum

2009-03-08T08:37:00.003+08:00

Nothing goes together better than evil death machines and tasty cupcakes!

Ok I better preface this plug by saying I work in PR and so to my chagrin (not really) I like to point out clever bits of gaming PR once in awhile. This little stunt to promote the PS3's newest big mama title Killzone 2, which has sold like cupcakes (which sell better than hotcakes) does it quite well--freak the shit out of the game media before seducing them with the taste of sweet deadliness. Seriously, who would trust a cupcake from a Helghast? They have an emperor so they must be bad people! Go democracy!

(thanks playstation blog!)

Thank you Frank Yu!

2009-03-06T09:30:00.005+08:00

I should thank my ever so resourceful Google News Alerts as well, for picking up on this Mr. Frank Yu, former Microsoft Xbox Regional Business Manager for Asia.

This article from Gamasutra describes one challenge the iPhone might face in entering the China market--that it could be defined as a "gaming device", all of which except for the Nintendo DS Lite (didn't know that!) are illegal to sell in China. I'm not sure I totally buy the argument, as iPod Touches, the second generation of which is a better gaming platform than the iPhone, are currently sold in China. Of course, the Chinese government could change its mind at any time about that.

More importantly though, Frank Yu looks like someone anyone interested in Asia and especially China's gaming industry should know and kiss up to or just agree to be friends with. His old MSDN blog is still hosted and can be read here and he is currently the CSO and COO of Shouji, a Beijing based mobile games developer, which has a blog as well.

(thanks Gamasutra!)

Get a plasma...

2009-03-03T12:35:00.004+08:00

This weekend I splurged for a plasma tv. Well it wasn't really a splurge, seeing as prices have dropped so much and it was actually cheaper than my original LCD hdtv. But what it most definitely is, is awesome for gaming, and it's cheaper than LCDs that could match its image quality.

It's awesome in two areas--contrast detail and motion blur. Contrast detail is way sharper, and now I can not only see those fucking sniper assholes camping in COD as clearly as my overgrown toenails when I look down with my glasses on, but I can actually see the fucking sniper assholes when they're hiding in shadows. Take that fucking sniper assholes, I see you now.

Motion blur is totally gone except for what devs program into their games to make up for low framerates, but since there's none of that crap in COD, I'm playing a blur-free experience. It's much more noticeable than I thought it would be, and really makes my life of killing soldiers and sometimes Nazi Zombies much more satisfying as they don't disappear in a haze of pixels.

So yes, get a plasma. Don't worry about the ridiculous energy consumption and weight, or burn-in, because a good one (I went with Panasonic) will get you more friends, all the ladies, and best of all, feared by your virtual enemies. Do it, do it now.

Modded Xboxes can play online?

2009-03-03T12:12:00.002+08:00

I've long been living with the assumption that if one plays a modded xbox playing pirated games on Xbox Live, your IP address would be banned forever and ever till you die. Apparently that is not the case, according to this sort of obscure blog post that is written half in cryptic code talk, presumably based on Navajo language.

Basically it describes a piece of software called iextreme which is used to boot the xbox and allow it to play modded games. It is able to detect if anything goes awry with the boot process, which apparently would tip off MS that you're using a pirated game, and then shut down before your ip address gets reported. I mean, that's what I think it says, but my Navajo is rusty.

Of course, piracy is bad, don't do it . It hurts the poor defenseless game companies, and probably helps terrorists win or whatever. So just don't okay?

Dirt 2 Racin through Asia

2009-03-03T09:24:00.004+08:00

Dirt 2, not a porno but in fact a PS3 game that lets you engage in some "off-road racing with an extreme sports attitude." Sounds like Dan Quayle is writing their copy again!

I only wish to point it out for having some cool Asian settings to race around, including China and Malaysia. Good up on ya, Dirt 2 devs, for including lesser known settings--I do assume by China that means racing along the Great Wall, around Tiananmen Square, and a sprint to the finish inside the Forbidden City. Anything less and I'll be superbly disappointed.

Something Useful Hits Home, Playstation Home that is!

2009-03-02T14:57:00.005+08:00

I've been thinking for awhile to write about Playstation Home, the Second-Life lookalike service built by Sony but that really is more about generating ad revenue than letting people build flying penises to disrupt virtual conferences (I wish it had that feature though, seriously).

Basically Home lets you design a character with a pretty decent amount of customization in terms of facial features, and you can then run your avatar from your insanely real-world expensive apartment to other areas of the Home, including Home Central, the mall, bowling alley, movie theater and other areas designed by game developers to promote their games.

It looks great, but so far Home is a French Poodle that just won a dog show in Zimbabwe, i.e. looks like a million trillion Zimbabwe dollars on the outside, but is starving to death for food, I mean content, and content is (surprise!) the lifeblood of anything that has value. Yes, they did finally add clothes and furniture in the mall you can buy via microtransactions, but selection is pretty limited. In the mall you can also play chess, which is kinda cool, but like the arcade games, bowling and pool in the bowling alley, can only be played if there is actually an empty seat for your avatar. It's dumb to be that realistic as it defeats the whole advantage of a virtual world, but at the same time I like it for boldly daring to be so ironically annoying.

The movie theater is another place that could be cool, again, if they had content god dammit. all that plays on the single screen (what a crappy theater!) are a few trailers for games, over and over and over. Whoopity fucking do, how about we play a MOVIE in the MOVIE theater. Sony, you're a fucking distributor, why don't you have any rights to show MOVIES in the MOVIE theater? Worst execution of any concept in Home.

In the town square, called Central I think, there's not a lot going on either. The most popular activity I've seen so far is the music system which I under duress admit is kind of cool. It's cool that people can vote on what song should come next (I just typed suck instead of song by accident--typo or truth?), but the song collection is guess what limited as hell and mostly to crappy techno beats. At least you can make your avatar do various gestures, including a surprising number of dance moves. Makes me think the developers knew how barren Home would be and were looking for other ways to spice it up.

Well, guess what, somehow this idea succeeded, maybe because every other has failed so far, because you'll see a few dozen people dancing it up on the stage pretty much all the time. Bangin their heads doing the Rock n Roll gesture, or getting their robot on. It sure is fun. (note: periods can denote sarcasm)

the few outside companies that probably paid some pittance to get space in Home have created what I'll call "content" rather than content since it mostly sucks. Red Bull's space has some plane racing game that somehow has something to do with lethal caffeination overdoses, and some rooms in Far Cry and Drake's Fortune lands contain game environments but few or no interactive elements. It seems pretty worthless to me unless you're an obsessed fan of the games or on an extreme caffeine buzz.

This might all be beginning to change, however, if Warhawk's new Command Center and Sand Table have anything to say about it. Basically it's a war room, a place where you can see maps from the game and strategize, and meet others to start a game (one cool feature about Home--hopping into games with fellow lovers of the same game is pretty straightforward). The war room looks awesome, from the video on 1up's site:

PlayStation Home 'Warhawk Command Center Walkthrough' video

You can actually place markers on maps representing different units in the game to plan out different strategies and whatnot. This is so much better for one reason and one reason only--it makes playing the paid-for game more fun (and teaches you how to kill better, who doesn't want to know that?). It's also good for game makers because it'll get people more interested in Warhawk, and probably help drive sales and yadda yadda yadda. But for us gamers, the important thing is that it makes the real game more fun, and that really should be the underlying mission of any of the video game related content in Home.

(thanks kotaku)

Two tvs is always better than one

2009-03-02T09:46:00.006+08:00

So this weekend I took the plunge and bought a new TV, upgrading from a Philips LCD (42PFL5403) to a Panasonic Viera series Plasma (TH-42PZ80). Same size, but the kick ass image quality of a plasma (not to mention ass kicking 475w power consumption).

I decided to take the plunge because my friend decided he wanted to buy my old tv, and the new one wasn't much more than I sold the only one more. The new tv arrived before he could take my old away, however, so we did what any green-blooded video game losers with unbelievably tolerant girlfriends would do--dual-screen deathmatch!

With his ps3 on his new tv, mine on mine, a few more friends over, and voila we were blowing each other (away) in Killzone 2, Resistance 2, and we blew some Zombies (away), oh make that Nazi Zombies, in COD: WAW.

Killzone 2 looks absolutely awesome, and multiplayer wins for so many reasons, including not terrible lag, anyone can be healed, in-game match type switching, cookable grenades with gauge, leveling-based access to new classes and weapons. Can't wait to try more of the single player.

Saturday only got better as evening came on (did I mention we started at 2pm), when movie night time whipped around, and it was time to watch two of the greatest films made in the last five years: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Great Flying Spaghetti Monster Christopher Nolan is a talented man.

What did I learn from all this? Two tvs, not just better than one, but much more a life necessity than I realized. I thought my depression at the end of the night was from the sad awareness that Heath Ledger will never have the chance to reprise his role as Joker, and that Batman really is quite a failure in terms of Superhero-dom (doesn't save the girl, doesn't kill Joker, loses Harvey Dent, ruins his car... sigh), but I now know it was because I have seen the joy of having two tvs, a joy I most likely will never know again.

China tops Nintendo's Rampant Piracy List

2009-02-26T16:55:00.004+08:00

Rampant? Really, Nintendo? Are Chinese piraters looting and pillaging, slaying the men and having their way with the women? Methinks you're being a bit too dramatic, but such a concern might be a good reason for you guys to help persuade the Chinese that a legitimate console market could help conquer the hordes of evil piracy you see going on rampantly here.

Instead of complaining about it so publicly, why not try solving the problem first? Complaining is when all else fails (it's also for pussies).

(thx Kotaku!)

Beijing gray market video game vendors break non-existent Killzone 2 street date

2009-02-23T09:15:00.004+08:00

My friend was at our usual Ping Le Yuan video game store this past Saturday, where he saw Killzone 2 already on sale, a good six days before it's official launch date. The catch? It's 500RMB, or about $70. Worth it? Probably not.

Flower!

2009-02-18T17:38:00.005+08:00

As usual I'm late to the party, and I'm sure everyone has formed their opinions about Flower, what a cool artistic game it is, how much fun it is to fly around sailing in the wind as it swirls your little petals to their hearts delights through meadows, dabbling in brooks, breezing around solumn rock outcroppings, and so forth.

It is a beautiful game. It's a peaceful game, a game that frees you of the confines of your dank little apartment that's half a floor underground, of which the cutscenes only serve as a vicious tormenting reminder. Flower, are you mocking my existence?

No, well not intentionally so. But I envy its beauty, I want to own it, make it mine, a goddess I'll never know.

The thing, though, that really bugs me about playing it? It has made me realize how bad a game player I am. Not bad skillwise, although that's true too, but rather from a theoretical point of view. Or maybe an ideological one. I don't know. The point is, I don't play this game, even this game, in which winning hardly seems to be a point at all, because I enjoy it.

I play it to accomplish all the tasks to perfection. FOR SHAME. It really does ruin the fun of it, why? Because I end up focusing on figuring out how to get all my damn flowers to bloom, rather than the joy mentioned nigh four paragraphs ago.

Is it different for each level? Do I just need to have a butt load of flower petals when I end the level? All of them? Does getting zapped on level 5 lower my flower budding capability? Are there three sets of green petals on every level? THE GAME EXPLAINS NOTHING ARGH. Shouldn't I be basking in this ambiguity, celebrating its enigmaticity, if that is a word? Letting my imagination run away with itself at the possibilities this game presents, or at the very least, let my fucking obsession with perfection drown in a pool of drool so that I can get on with finishing the levels that it will let me play regardless of how well I did on the previous ones? Isn't that what's so cool about it, that you can enjoy the loose interpretive narrative no matter how unskilled you are, which makes my girlfriend (who is so amazing at everything else) happy to play as well?

Yes, this is my problem with game playing, my vice, my flaw. So I ask readers, do you have any flaws in your perception of gameplay that interfere with your actual joy of playing the game? Am I alone? What a desolate place this is.

Sony headed for more trouble?

2009-02-18T17:23:00.002+08:00

There's a Chinese report out that Sony might be headed for trouble keeping costs down as sales fall... that's just bad, bad news. If it's true. Although Chinese media does tend to be better at reporting on business stuff than anything else.

Original article can be found here:

http://homea.people.com.cn/GB/8807545.html

Want to buy a console in China? It's easy

2009-02-10T10:00:00.005+08:00

Even though video game consoles are not officially on the market in China yet, it's not hard to find any of them in the major cities like Beijing, where I live, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Any of the three systems in addition to the PS2 are readily available here, and surprisingly the prices, despite being imported, are roughly the same you'd pay in the States. A recent inquiry at my local dealer said the PS3 is going for about 2700RMB (~$400), an Xbox360 Arcade is 1600RMB (~$220) and the Wii runs somewhere around $300 last I checked, but that was awhile ago.

Where to buy:

In Beijing there are two choices--big malls like in Zhongguancun, the electronics/tech gadgets lala land of Beijing, where huge multistory complexes exist that cram in about as many vendor stalls as possible--if there were a fire, I'm sure most people would not get out alive. That said, it's the easiest place to find just about whatever you want, including video games and their systems. Zhongguancun is too far for me, but there's a similar place on a smaller scale near where I live called Pingleyuan. It's a lot of the same stuff but much quieter, and the guy who sells systems there is cool and seems pretty knowledgeable about gaming. The other choice is the little shops around the drum tower area--for some reason that's a popular location for console selling.

I bought a white PS3 last June, 40GB model, and it was by and large a hassle-free experience. Generally you don't need to bargain much, but you can probably knock 100-200rmb off the price if you get games and accessories with it. Most shops will have plenty of accessories, especially important cables like HDMI and even HDMI to DVI cables for computer monitor users. As far as I can tell they do come with a warranty, but I'm not sure it's the manufacturer's--rather you can either return it for a refund, get it exchanged, or get it repaired depending on how many days have passed.

There are some things to remember, however--the most important, I think, is that pretty much any Xbox360, Wii, or PS2 you buy will have been modified to play pirated games. This is done for the obvious reason--cost. You get a modded console and you can buy games just like buying pirated dvds--something like a buck a pop. The downside to this, at least for the Xbox360, is that you cannot play online.

The PS3, however, has not been modded. I guess no one's figured out how, or maybe the infrastructure doesn't exist yet to pirate Blu-ray discs in mass quantities for cheap. This means all the games you buy will cost you their actual price, which is anywhere from 260-400rmb. I find that there aren't any bargain deal prices like you can find in the States on older games, and I've never heard of used games being sold here either. The plus side is, you can play online with the PS3.

Other important considerations: remember that all consoles are imported, and if you like to watch DVD you bring from home, you might want to reconsider buying one here rather than one from the US, as consoles are region locked and in China, all consoles come from either Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, or maybe Taiwan. This means no legit DVDs from the west will play in them. Lamer than a paraplegic chicken, I know. Even worse, the PS3s are all NTSC and won't play PAL anything. Yet oddly when I rip a PAL movie to an avi file, it works fine. Dunno what's up with that.

OH wait, the actual worst part is buying a Wii here, because you can't change the damn language settings. If it came from Japan, you're stuck with Japanese, which I imagine has caused many hurt Chinese feelings.

Finally, the Xboxes, depending where it was imported from, may have 110v only power supplies, in which case you'll need a power invertor or power regulator to convert the voltage--DO NOT use one of those little crappy Radio Shack ones. It will fail and then you'll cry.

Other links on buying video game systems in China:

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2009/02/09/buying-a-wii-in-china

http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2005/07/29/buying-a-ps2-in-shanghai

And in Taiwan:

http://toshuo.com/2009/buying-a-wii-in-taiwan/

The latter raises an interesting point--that the Wii doesn't even offer Chinese, simplified or traditional, as an option, suggesting that Nintendo doesn't care much for Chinese-speaking markets. I'm sure that would change the microsecond China starts allowing consoles to be sold on the mainland.

WCG 2009 in China??

2009-02-06T10:41:00.005+08:00

According to gotfrag.com, this appears to be the case. This is big, this is huge, this is the Ron Jeremy of Video Game competitive events!

From the official WCG website:

National finalists then convene to compete in the ultimate international tournament in e-Sports, the World Cyber Games Grand Final, where each country's best players battle for the largest and most prestigious prizes in competitive gaming. The WCG 2009 Grad Final will be held in Chengdu, China.

Sweet, now I gotta figure out how to get there.

(Details in Chinese here and here)

I'm back and... wait, why am I praising Texas?

2009-02-06T10:25:00.005+08:00

Yes, after an extended Chinese new year holiday, aka Spring Festival, the killer melons, well melon for now, is back.

So why am I praising Texas, and not China? I guess for two reasons--one they've given me something to praise them for, and two for giving me something to praise them for. Make sense? I'm high. Kidding.

Texas has declared Feb 3 Video Game Day!!! Holy shotguns and beer guzzlin, what a glorious achievement. I hope I live to see such a thing happen in China, but I fear that day shall never come to pass...

Video Game Pirates are just Underserved Customers

2009-01-19T15:13:00.004+08:00

During the Game Business Law summit Jason Holtman from Valve talked about how his company has reduced piracy of its products--and guess what, it's NOT by criminalizing them. Valve has succeeded by redefining the terms of engagement, looking at pirates not as douchewagons who just want to steal shit, but as underserved customers. In other words, they pirate because the game company isn't treating them right.

Valve's solution was to add value to its products and to make them as easily available in countries outside of the typical Western markets. I guess there's some stigma about developing nations because the governments might not be as steady, but the more I read, the more it seems to me that doing business globally requires one to understand the market in which you're trying to do business, more than worrying about which way the government policy winds are blowing.

China is probably the far-off wet dream for many game developers and publishers right now; a huge market potential, but piracy, oh the piracy! It ruins the market, makes it unprofitable.

I say bullhonkey. It's just that these companies' expectations don't match the situation on the ground. They want it to be tons of customers = easy money, but they don't want to make the deep investments required to get into the market and understand it. The profit will not be as explosive and ridiculously amazing as they think it should be. No one's going to be sleeping under quilts of stitched-together Ben Franklins. Any game company that really wants to reap the rewards has to think long-term, and has to really figure out what Chinese gamers want.

So what do they want? One place to look are the current successes: WOW, for example. I don't play it so I can't speak to why China loves it so much, but I'm sure market research companies can do the case studies other game developers/publishers would love to have. I think they will find that gamers here actually have a variety of interests, as FPS like CS are popular as well as RTS like StarCraft.

I think they also want video games, as my earlier post about console sales indicates. The government has yet to approve the sales of consoles, but that it will happen is inevitable, and everyone should be preparing for this.

Most importantly, companies need to rethink how they're going to promote and sell their products. Rampant piracy makes traditional methods difficult, but Valve's experience is a valuable insight on alternative methods. Would that work in China? I have some doubts, but I think it stands a chance.

Additional suggestions I have:

Work with the gov't to promote "healthy" gaming (but only so far as that includes addiction rather than content)

Microtransaction gaming--sell the game for cheap or nothing at all and sell in-game accessories.

Episodic content--just a hunch, but I think Chinese gamers would enjoy this.

Understand that Chinese still don't have the spending power of the Western countries. Games need to be sold cheaper here (and if they're in Chinese, you don't have to worry much about overseas piracy anyway).

Sell online, partner up with Chinese online stores, e.g. Joyo-Amazon, Dangdang, buy360.

Support the gaming community: sponsor events, competitions, tournaments, charitable causes, etc. It's very important here to show you care about your customers. You need to show your loyalty in order to get theirs.

Any activity you want to engage in to limit piracy or warn piraters, get the government to support you first. If you have their backing, you'll be much better off if the Chinese public doesn't go for it.

In the same vein, remember that Chinese BBS forums can turn on you pretty quickly if you make a wrong step. Monitor the big ones and always be ready to respond. Engaging with consumers is one of the best ways to show you care about them.

And for me personally, would you console makers get busy persuading the gov't to allow console sales here? As that data I posted a few days ago shows, Chinese will buy them, and I guarantee you they want to play online.

(article from Gamedaily.com)

China to require real name gamer registration

2009-01-19T09:34:00.004+08:00

FTA:

The government will start real-name registration for online game players this year, said Zhang Yijun, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication's technology and digital publication department.
Four online game companies' operations have been suspended after it was found that their software did not have the mandatory anti-addiction system, he said in Qingdao on Wednesday.

To be sure this affects only PC games, as the console market doesn't officially exist in China, but this is clearly one of the challenges companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo will face in introducing their systems to China.

Would they have to design a completely new online service just for China, that forces users to present proof of identity and is monitored for sensitive content? Would doing so be worth the economic benefits? I imagine Microsoft and Nintendo could make the argument that it would be, but I doubt Sony can.

UPDATE: According to ars technica, this registration is for MMO players only, but of course that would be a large percentage of online PC gamers in China. Console gamers might not have to worry then, unless Xbox Live and the PSN get classified as MMOs, which I wouldn't be surprised if they did. (ars technica)

World Cyber Games, yeah China does it

2009-01-16T14:29:00.004+08:00

The World Cyber Games, apparently the Olympics of computer and video gaming (I just learned that it exists), does have a team from China. Some quick facts:

2008 WCG competitors: 15

Tournament participant since: 2000 (the tournament's first year, when it was called the World Cyber Game Challenge)

The team competed in: FIFA, Counter Strike, Star Craft and War Craft

Won 2nd place in 2001 (But I can't figure out where they won their medals from the winner charts)

Sadly does not compete in any console games--hope that changes soon though.

Also WCG really needs to update their info and their website--it lists China as having a mere 123,000,000 Internet users, although now that figure is over 300,000,000, and the site has way too much going on on the front page.

(WCG)

China's annual video game review is out!

2009-01-14T12:50:00.004+08:00

FTA:

China's 46 million gamers spent $1.7 billion on online games in 2007, up 71% from 2006. Advanced casual and casual online games made up 21% of the total, and new flash-based casual versions of popular MMO and RTS games demonstrated the hardcore gamers' appetite to play casual games along with subscription MMOs. Online revenue is expected to reach $2.5 billion in 2008 and $6 billion in 2012, for a 29% compound annual growth rate in the five-year period.

"China's spending on games is up thanks to their booming economy," said Lisa Cosmas Hanson. "14 million hardcore Chinese gamers play online games more than 22 hours per week. They play online, LAN, and single-player offline PC games in China's 185,000 Internet cafés and increasingly on their PCs at home, thanks to falling prices and higher disposable income."

According to the 6th Annual Review & Forecast Report, part of an annual subscription of reports for publishers, hardware makers, service providers, and investors who need to understand China's fast-moving video game industry, gamers are buying consoles with their disposable income as well. "In spite of the regulation that has banned the sale of game consoles in China since the year 2000, gamers are flocking to stores that sell illegally imported Wii, Xbox 60, PS3 and PS2 machines to take part in the excitement of console gaming," said Hanson. "While these consoles are expensive for the average Chinese consumer, gamers are willing to spend money on them to supplement their online gaming experience, and unit sales hit 2.48 million units in 2007, up 75% over 2006."

Piracy remains an issue for packaged software via digital downloads and counterfeit copies of games, but legitimate sales of packaged offline PC games surged 56% in 2007, over 2006. Chinese gamers are showing that they like to buy the legitimate copies to ensure quality and to get customer support. (Business Wire)
(My bold)

Gaming treats addiction?

2009-01-13T11:19:00.016+08:00

Not in China any time soon, I assure you.

It kinda sounds like replacing one addiction with another honestly, but I guess gaming wouldn't be quite so toxic to one's brain as whatever the eldest Baldwin brother was shoving up his nose:

"You got no idea, Julian. Julian, I need you. I need you to get that key and open the f- - -ing door and let me in. I got to play 'Galaga.' " (Avclub.com)

Games have, however, popped up in a few places as treatments for what ails ye--I don't think we'll be seeing it as a cure for nerd virginity syndrome any time soon, but Tetris can apparently treat PTSD:

Exposure to traumatic events can often come back to haunt people. Violent crime, car crashes, warfare: all of these bring with them the specter of long term psychiatric issues due to post-traumatic stress. Now a new study suggests that Tetris—yes, that Tetris—might be able to help with that problem. (ars technica)

Xbox360 outselling PS3--is anyone surprised?

2009-01-07T17:57:00.000+08:00

I'm not, but statistics, in my opinion, are usually a load of crap anyway. I mean Al Gore wins the popular vote but loses the election, so apparently 50%+ of people can be wrong.

But I digress. Stats are bs here however you look at because on the one hand, the Xbox360 has sold 8 million more units than the PS3, but on the other, it has been out a year longer. So that negates the success right? Wrong, because the lead a year ago was only 5 million, so it is outselling the PS3. I think. Who knows.

On the other other other hand, though, I'm surprised that the PS3 has sold 20 million units and yet has been called a total failure in the press lately. I mean, it's been a huge loss to Sony, as they've never made a profit on it, but that's still quite a few units, certainly more than I thought it was.

In China, gaming is an addiction

2009-01-07T17:55:00.000+08:00

This article examines one of China's hundreds of gaming addiction treatment centers. I haven't read it yet as I'm at work and as you can tell I am a hard worker. I hear it's a good read though, so check it out

We have a winner...

2009-01-07T11:29:00.000+08:00

China is quickly becoming known for its knock-off video game systems, none more (in)famous than the "Vii", a Nintendo Wii wannabe with far worse graphics and sketchier motion detection. Here's another shot at the prize though, presciently titled the "Winner". It attempts to replicate the PS3's multimedia functions while adding a touch of Wii with a motion detecting controller, and it is priced to move at $120-150. Watch out PS3, you have some serious competition for dead last in the console war!

Chinese piracy for sale, special 2-for-1 deal!

2009-01-07T11:08:00.000+08:00

It's not just a Samsung Anycall rip-off, it's a Sony rip-off too! The Amycoll PS3, how could you go wrong with this one?

Wii already released in China?

2009-01-07T11:04:00.000+08:00

I really hate sites that don't date their posts. Like this one. I assume it's not a new post because it says the Wii is expected to hit Chinese store shelves in late 2008, but guess what it's 2009 now, so why is my google news alerts just picking this up now. Stupid.

Also stupid because I'm pretty sure that it's still not in China, officially. I mean, how could it possibly compete with the Vii anyway?

Microsoft bringing Xbox360 to China?

2009-01-07T09:56:00.000+08:00

"Industry sources" say so, so it must be true!

But how Microsoft prices the Xbox will be key, said Florian Pihs, assistant vice president of the market research firm Analysys.

“Microsoft has to choose whether to go for better software protection or if they’re going to charge more for the Xbox because there are already some gray imports,” he said, adding that most firms launching games expect them to trigger piracy.

Expects it to trigger piracy? What? This analyst needs to be fired. Xbox360 games sold in China are currently ALL PIRATED. You can't find legit copies. Duh.

Will the PS2 ever die?

2009-01-03T08:47:00.000+08:00

It seems not. According to this report on kotaku, more people are playing PS2 than any other system, including the Wii, and by a ginormous margin. WTF? People, it's not 2005 anymore, come on and step up to the latest and greatest.

What does this mean? Are next-gen consoles just lame and sucky, like my great great grandmother's teats? Or are people just not seeing what the big hoohaw is about the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3?

None of the above. Perhaps once console makers could rely on the market's steady growth to introduce new and more powerful systems that would outsell their predecessors, but the PS2 kinda futzed that up for everyone by selling enough systems to populate a decent-sized country. Obviously the next-gen consoles had no hope to match the PS2's sales, and I'm sure they weren't aiming for it, but Sony must feel a bit sad that the original Xbox is played more than the PS3 is.

Will another system ever sell as well as the PS2? Not until they all break down I suppose.

I predict, however, that the next-next-gen systems, perhaps the PS4 and Xbox^3, will do much better. The PS3 and 360 were stop-gaps, leaps ahead in performance but not really offering anything new in terms of gameplay. The PS3 did offer more innovation, but its high cost stifled it. Personally I think it's a great investment if you're not only looking for a gaming machine, but Sony is only starting to market it as such now. Next time around, boys...

DOTA All Stars	Guitar Hero World Tour	FIFA 09
1st rank: Vietnam	1st rank: New Zealand	1st rank: Vietnam
2nd rank: Malaysia	2nd rank: Singapore	2nd rank: Korea
3rd rank: Singapore	3rd rank: Chinese Taipei	3rd rank: Malaysia