The VidZone Network

August 19, 2010

My Gaming “Blind-Spots”

I find it amusing they used what appears to be a Countach for the car. [Image credit]

I took the opportunity during my drive back to Orlando to catch up on some podcasts. One of which was the Kotaku podcast regarding “gaming blind spots”–games or genres that one just hasn’t experienced, unintentionally or otherwise. I figured I may as well air out my blind spots, but first some background…

I first started playing video games in the arcades around the turn of the decade between the ’80s and ’90s. Then one day my dad brought home an NES and I was a Nintendo gamer (owning all their systems) up until the Dance Dance Revolution revolution where I was gifted a PSone for Christmas. I was surprisingly spoiled and was bought many games and also rented games regularly. Some of my friends had Genesis, so I wasn’t completely shut-out from its offerings, but all other consoles prior I haven’t had much exposure to.

Starting in the PS2-era, I was able to buy my own things. If you know me personally, you know I have a massive collection of video games. If I had to bet, my collection from this period onward (across all platforms) consists of about 1000 games, give or take. Have I played them all? Heck, no! I have an awareness of why I bought these games in the first place, though, but that doesn’t mean I’m thoroughly familiar with them.  That’s why my “blind spot” list will likely include games I actually already own.

Now, let’s get started.

(more…)

Carl @ 2:32 pm
Filed under: Games,Personal — Tags: , , —

March 7, 2010

Carl’s Movie Mini-Review: Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton’s take on the Alice story seems to have all the right parts: A vibrant, committed, perfect-fit cast, spectacular costuming, and a focused end-point from the get-go. But somehow all these parts didn’t seem well-edited together. Taken individually, the scenes are fine, but I often found myself asking “is this what I’m really concerned with right now?”

In that vein, let me continue this post with a disjointed series of random thoughts:

1. Just how much incomprehensible, demented madness can you tolerate? This movie embodies weirdness, and an example of such is that much of what the Mad Hatter says is like a completely foreign language (though that’s not exclusive to him).

2. As I said before, the costuming is amazing. Alice goes through numerous costume changes as she grows/shrinks and changes company, and even some of the minor characters don’t adhere to the cartoon-character same-clothes-every-day standard.

3. I get Johnny Depp is a bankable name, but I think it’s completely strange that this is being sold as his movie. Which is not to say he doesn’t play a prominent role in it–which he does. I never read the original stories and it’s been a decade or two since I last saw the original Disney cartoon adaptation, but I don’t recall the Mad Hatter being such a central character. Still, in this politically-charged story, his role as a leader in the “tea party” revolution makes sense. Make no mistake, though, this is still Alice’s show all the way through.

4. I think all this movie needed was some cool-down time. Everyone was always rushing around, determined, almost every scene a little too urgent. Can we have a little time to simmer and reflect over what’s going on before throwing the next beat at us?

5. Avril Lavigne. I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to. Did they not invite you to perform at the Olympics? (If they did, I didn’t follow the games, so I plead ignorance.)

6. Crispin Glover seems as tall & lanky as ever. But then again, almost everyone is caricaturized by CG augmentation. I think I only saw three untouched humans in Wonderland. It works, though.

7. I loved all the side/minor characters except the Mad Hatter. That dude’s just disturbed/disturbing.

It’s not the most easily digestible movie, but I think this is one of those times where the effort is worth appreciating.

Carl @ 1:27 am
Filed under: Film,Reviews — Tags: , , , —

February 9, 2010

Don’t Forget Where You Started

From VidZone to EA Sports MMA

The VidZone Network logos over the years

It’s been something like half a year since I wrote in this blog. That’s a shame since I’ve always enjoyed writing. But I also got into this Twitter thing that let’s me vent slowly in a stream of conscious manner. It’s sort of like how I treated my LiveJournal back in high school.

I can account my absence to my great fortune in returning back to the game-making biz. I was called back to EA Tiburon last July to write for the upcoming MMA project; I can’t get much more detailed than that. This opportunity was given to me from a recommendation by my friend (actually my project lead) from my gaming grad school, FIEA.

An aside: Let me make something very clear to you aspiring game makers. You know how they say everyone in Hollywood’s no more than six degrees from Kevin Bacon? In the games industry, it’s more like two steps from any person. The best thing you can do is to not make enemies. Don’t burn any bridges. I’m not saying you necessarily have to make friends (though that’d be tremendously helpful), just don’t piss anyone off. Yes, like high school, it’s better to be anonymous than to be disliked.

I’ve written (or at least copied press releases) about video games on a website or blog for well over 10 years. I love games, and I love sharing games. Even if I may sometimes forget about writing on this blog, I’ll shout my voice out somewhere on this big informational network of interconnected tubes. You don’t have to listen to me, but you’ll always be able to find me out there.

Where’ve I been since I last checked in? Well first, let me remind you that I graduated from graduate school in December of 2008. During that last semester I interned as a feature owner at a mega-publisher. Then I spent a short while at a small independent developer.

The following unemployment afforded me reason to go to GDC. Then the student project I worked on was showcased at the return of the glory days of E3. Right after that the phone calls came. Not necessarily from contacts I made at the show, but let me tell you, people appreciate hand-written thank you cards.

I did a quick R&D contract back at the indie developer for a new platform, and once again I was torn with the decision of pursuing a promising follow-up interview in Austin (this time with SOE) or accepting a shorter term contract at EA.

Ultimately I decided on EA because: 1.) I have so many friends in Orlando vs. almost no one in Austin. 2.) The EA position was already offered and waiting for me. 3.) Moving (especially long distances) is a bitch.

My first few calls with SOE in Austin went spectacularly, but unfortunately the timing was just wrong and the planets didn’t align that way. As much as I launch tirades about the whole Sony umbrella of companies (particularly the consumer electronics & Playstation hardware sides), I have tremendous respect and admiration for the actual game software that gets released and the trust and support that must have been given to get them to that level.

Anyway, my time on the MMA team has flown by so quickly. So much has been accomplished, and yet there is so much left to do. I was given a new contract to keep me on a bit longer, I was given more design & production responsibilities, and I even took a couple of trips to Miami last week.

Thanks to a tremendous hookup by our partners at Strikeforce, a large number of our team were able to enjoy fourth row floor seats at the recent Strikeforce: Miami fight. Then I was also entrusted to make an emergency power supply delivery to Madden Bowl, saving the day and allowing our fighters to get some hands-on time with their in-game characters.

Speaking of fighters, I don’t think any other team in gaming is even close to as lucky as we are in being able to regularly talk with and interact with our talent. And not on voice or video conference. In the same room. Over food with plenty of conversation.

Let me recap this: I was invited back to work for two different companies, large and small. That’s four gigs. I went to GDC. I went to E3. I sat cage side at a major televised MMA event. I went to Madden Bowl. All of this in less than two years out of school!

Needless to say, I count myself unbelievably fortunate. I can only hope that this fast-paced life really is just the start.

Carl @ 12:33 am
Filed under: Personal — Tags: , , , —

August 21, 2009

“Squircle” is not the sound it makes when you touch it


Image credit: RussellHeimlich.com

I recently upgraded from my original Zune 30 to a Zune 80 thanks to a phenomenal sale price online. I love its smaller body, longer battery life, and of course the more than doubled capacity.

Aside from non-tactile feedback, I also dislike touch-based controls on portable devices due the the additional battery drain the technology introduces.

After trying out the new touch-sensitive, swipable squircle for a while, I ultimately turned it off in favor of sticking with traditional 5-way d-pad control. I operate the MP3 player blindly in the car, tracking forward and backwards in songs and skipping tracks. I didn’t want to inadvertently jump around or alter the volume level just by keeping my thumb on the squircle.

I was experiencing some unresponsiveness and unintentional (often opposite) behavior sometimes. Why won’t it read my clicks? Why is the volume raising instead of skipping a track? Why’s the track restarting instead of skipping forward?

I’ve since figured out the mystery. It turns out the Zune Pad’s touch setting only deactivates swipe gestures. Otherwise the touch-sensitivity is still active, and in fact determines the action taken when the squircle is depressed. In fact, I don’t it’s a traditional 5-way d-pad at all; I believe there’s a single microswitch under the big button. The Zune uses it’s touch sensor to determine whether your finger is in the up/down/left/right/center zone when the button is depressed. If you press any direction with a fingernail, nothing happens since there’s no skin contact to send electrical signals. And if you put a finger on one direction but press the opposite direction with a fingernail, the action activated is the one where your skin is making contact with the pad.

Clever implementation…but sometimes annoying. Fortunately, my battery life is phenomenal, though I haven’t put the unit through a multi-day endurance trial yet.

Carl @ 5:42 pm
Filed under: Gadgets,Techniques — Tags: , , —

August 16, 2009

Carl’s Movie Mini-Review: District 9

District 9

Since the Halo movie project wasn’t able to get off the ground, producer Peter Jackson and director Niell Blomkamp didn’t care to waste their creative momentum and decided to remake Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Joburg.

District 9 starts off as a sort of racial parable, mimicking the events surrounding apartheid in South Africa. But this time with alien refugees instead of native blacks forced to be second-class citizens.

One day 20 years ago, an enormous alien spacecraft comes to rest above the city of Johannesburg. After nothing happens for quite a long time, the local government decides to break their way in, finding a starving, dying crew of aliens. The Johannesburg realizes that it would be in bad form (in the eyes of the watching global community) to not aid the weary travelers, so they provide them food and shelter right outside the city.

The aliens are given a fenced-in plot of land to build a shanty town (the titular District 9), but sometimes they wander into the city and interact with the other citizens, often in socially negative ways, like stealing sneakers or cell phones (the aliens are believed to have no concept of ownership) or burning cars. Because the “civilized” South Africans (black and white) generally don’t get along with the aliens, they want another camp (District 10) built further away from the city.

And here we enter the story, with ignorant and bumbling bureaucrat Wikus van der Merwe leading the project to serve the aliens eviction notices. This first act of the film is filmed like a comedy mockumentary like Reno 911 or The Office. Then showboating Wikus accidentally squirts himself with mysterious black alien liquid, catalyzing a dramatic physical transformation.

Unfortunately that’s where the plot stops being interesting and the whole film devolves into standard fugitive-trying-to-fix-the-situation chase/action movie but with exploding people and a mecha-suit.

It’s a spectacle on the screen, but I can’t say it’s a spectacular movie overall. Maybe I’m ignorant to any other apartheid allegories in the final two acts, but I didn’t see anything else that bothered to the explore the refugee story any further. The whole movie is undoubtedly and consistently about the value of “human” life, but it just plays its cards so wrong.

Sharlto Copley plays Wikus very well and genuinely through his whole arc; I can’t take that away from him. The CG is mostly above average but sometimes still looks like something made on a TV series budget.

I can’t recommend giving it a viewing, but nor can I call it a total waste, so nor can I recommend not seeing it.

Carl @ 10:23 pm
Filed under: Film,Reviews — Tags: , , , , —

July 13, 2009

E309: Shadow Complex impressions

In a nutshell:
It’s Metroid-vania in a secret underground base/cave system.

What I played:
About five minutes of an already-started, time-limited demo. I wandered the cave system and made my initial infiltration into the base. I didn’t shoot at anything.

Like:
Map: The game uses a grid-based map system both as a HUD element and as the actual navigational guide on the base’s computers. This allows you to quickly connect what you’ve seen in the game world to your immediate goals and location.

Sticky: Your character is a natural spelunker, and you always feel confident he’ll make a jump or at least grab on to a hand-hold. Because of the heavy platforming elements, this gives you a lot of confidence to maintain forward momentum.

Carl @ 8:56 pm
Filed under: Games — Tags: , , , , —

E309: Forza Motorsport III impressions

In a nutshell:
Take one of the most exciting sim-style racers, fix what few problems it had, and add in even more goodies.

What I played:
A short two-lap race around a mountain track in a Lotus Evora. I also played it in the super-deluxe cockpit with triple-screen panorama, new Fanatec Porsche force feedback wheel, 5.1 audio, and motion base. The motion base is custom and does not utilize the already consumer-adopted D-Box motion code. It is uncertain if it will be an option in the final game, but it obviously received a lot of interest and attention.

Like:
Graphics overhaul: FM2 was very disappointing to me because it looks like an up-res’d Xbox 1 game. It ran smooth, but the textures and lighting were a bit muddy. Now everything is absolutely crisp and easily rivals the high bar Sony has set with its photo-realistic Gran Turismo series.

Aggression: Despite being a sim, the other AI racers don’t necessarily act like gentlemen all the time. They’re just as hungry to win as you and aren’t afraid of a little bump ‘n grind.

Unlimited rewind: At any point in the game, you’re able to hold down the Back button to rewind your race up to five seconds at a time. And unlike Grid with its tokens system, you’re allowed to use this feature as many times as you want. Considering that some later races last upwards of six minutes, this allows you to strive for a perfect run without throwing away half of your play time. However, I think this “instant gratification” system could hinder the less-dedicated drivers’ abilities to learn the track.

Dislike:
Loading: Again, this is an early build, and maybe there were some additional complications introduced by running on a triple-console/triple-screen, motion-base setup, but I was twiddling my thumbs for what felt like a quarter to half the time I actually spent on the racetrack. The results were well worth it, though, and the new rewind feature will drastically cut down on any need to completely reload the current race.

Carl @ 8:03 pm
Filed under: Games — Tags: , , , , , , —

E309: Tony Hawk Ride impressions

In a nutshell:
Remember Sega’s arcade Top Skater and AirTrix? Imagine you no longer have the safety bar to hold on to and sometimes you need to bend down and “grab” the board, too.

What I played:
Two passes through an introductory street course and a 1-minute session on the vert ramp.

Like:
Responsive: I didn’t sense any delay between my inputs and action being executed on screen.

Range of movement: The board is a large enough approximation of a full-size skateboard, and the curved bottom is shaped just right so that you’re able to carve without too much effort.

Dislike:
Visuals: I know there are still months until shipping, but the graphics look like a step back from previous versions, or at least not on par with modern AAA titles. Everything is fairly brightly and evenly lit, and textures are painted broadly. In other words, it’s lacking in fine detail. I’d say it’s lit like something from last generation.

Carl @ 7:56 pm
Filed under: Games — Tags: , , , , , —

E309: Split/Second impressions


In a nutshell:
It’s Burnout where you can blow up the environment.

What I played:
Three laps around an airport.

Like:
Action indicators: The game tells you when a rival car is near a triggerable trap and informs you what button to press to activate it. The window in which you can activate the trap is generally of a fair length, so you won’t ever feel cheated.

Traps: What the team says is true, there will be plenty of traps to activate throughout the duration of the race, keeping the playing experience fresh. Also, as the race goes on, larger traps will become available for activation.

Tight, arcade control: Just like Burnout, it feels like you more or less have full control over your careening two-ton machine. This is especially important for maneuvering your way through the tracks as the debris piles up.

Frame-rate: Even at this early stage, everything moves along at a brisk rate and all the post-processing blur effects were turned on.

Dislike:
Not much really: Hopefully the amount of traps available per trap aren’t so limited that each progressive playthrough results in the same sequence of events.

Carl @ 7:33 pm
Filed under: Games,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , —

July 11, 2009

Puzzle Quest Galactrix (NDS) impressions

After a whole battery charge and a half–which translates to about ten hours–I’ve yet to feel truly engaged by Puzzle Quest Galactrix.  Sure, it’s still plenty addicting, but I don’t feel as if I’ve really accomplished anything.  I’ve only engaged in about a dozen or so battles, unlike its predecessor Puzzle Quest Warlords where the roads are littered with enemies interrupting your travels.

Instead what serves as gates in your progression are literal gates.  There’s a large overworld map dotted with star systems you travel between.  Each star system, in turn, has its own free-roaming mini-map which contains some combination of planets, space stations, factories, asteroids, and the aforementioned jumpgates.  Since each star system can branch into several different directions, there are generally between three to six gates.

Each gate is locked to begin with and requires to you play a “hacking” variation of the game in order to be able to unlock it for any travel.  Rather than battling back and forth with some sort of opponent, the “hacking” game is a timed affair in which the player is presented with a series of colored gems that must be eliminated in the prescribed order.

The major problem is that the timer continues ticking while your combos rack up as new sets fall into place.  Usually in puzzle games, this is a matter of of chaotic enjoyment, but in Galactrix it often serves to impede progress and just eats up precious seconds waiting for it to end.  Sometimes the cascade contains the next color in the series.  However, (what feels like) more often it doesn’t.  It is truly infuriating to restart puzzles constantly because of what would normally be a welcome event in any other context.

To borrow a term from Resident Evil, I feel like the “master of unlocking,” a traveling galactic locksmith.  There are some missions asking me to do battle, but I feel completely overpowered.  I can purchase weapons and new ships, but I can’t figure out how to earn money, aside from selling the results of my mining (and perhaps winning battles?).  Mind you, asteroids are finite resources and are “destroyed” whether you win or lose the “mining” game.  It does seem they reset after some period, but I haven’t seen any indication of how to tell how long that cycle is and nor are there asteroids in every star system.

Oh yeah, and there’s a totally aggravatingly lengthy combination of loading and save screens between what seems like every action you take. I don’t know what’s so much more complex in this sequel, but I remember the original being pretty much instantaneous in every regard.

I’m still hooked thanks to the rapid consumption of individual rounds and the general gameplay, but I’m coming away unfulfilled within the greater scale of things.

Would I recommend it? From what I’ve seen so far, no. Stick with the original.

Carl @ 2:23 am
Filed under: Games — Tags: , , , , —


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