The NGP looks promising, but a number of key moves still remain for Sony

Author’s Note: This editorial was published March 18, 2011 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

Disclaimer: The below article is an editorial. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Examiner.com.

The debut of Sony’s Next Generation Portable at their PlayStation Meeting event in Japan was very successful in terms of grabbing the attention of gamers everywhere. The NGP itself is a stunning piece of hardware that: corrects a number of issues with the original PSP, packs enough power to pull off visuals that seem comparable to current generation, and possesses a software line-up headlined by some of the PS3′s biggest franchises (namely Uncharted, Killzone, and LittleBigPlanet). Sony has the introductory moves lined up quite well for them, but with the 3DS on the horizon, Sony still has some key announcements yet to be revealed that may ultimately decide the fate of the handheld.

Sony’s competition, the Nintendo 3DS, is the latest console in a lineage of handhelds that have never lost a console war, ever. Nintendo not only has a victory-filled history on their side, but a stellar record of bringing must-have software to their portable consoles as well. Nintendo has already announced a new installment in perhaps the most notable video game franchise of all time, Super Mario, is eventually coming to the 3DS. Some are already convinced that Nintendo will win this handheld console war just as they’ve done in years past.

The war is not yet won, though, and while Nintendo’s line-up is promising, many of those promising titles don’t have release dates yet. Two of the most anticipated titles for the 3DS are new versions of classic Nintendo 64 titles, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Star Fox 64. Ocarina is coming out in June and Star Fox 64 has no release date as of this writing, leaving most parts of the remaining year open thus far, with few announced 3DS release dates to be found. Now, Nintendo doesn’t typically reveal much until E3, but with a potential competitor perhaps launching this year and the 3DS having a launch line-up with few standout titles, the Kyoto-based giant is being surprisingly quiet.

Classic Now, Classic Forever – Why Mario Lives On

Author’s Note: This editorial was published May 26, 2010 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

For many, the terms “goombas,” “koopas,” “bullet bills,” and “warp pipes” are synonymous with platforming. They’re not associated with just any kind of platforming — elite platforming, some of the best that the video game industry has to offer. These terms originate from the Mario universe, a universe where a princess is in constant danger of being kidnapped by a supernaturally powerful beast named Bowser. Whenever he takes her, millions of Mario fans emerge to answer the call to save her, despite having done so countless times before.

They do so happily.

But why? What is it about this particular universe that draws gamers in so? Mario isn’t the only platforming franchise in town and his isn’t the only one with imagination — Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank franchise is packed with creative designs. If gamers want some great platforming challenges, the Prince of Persia franchise offers that. However, no matter what, no matter how many challengers arise in the platforming genre, Mario remains king.

Editorial: Do Trophies, without unlockable content, artificially extend replay value?

Author’s Note: This editorial was published January 15, 2010 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link and this link will take you to its original location.

—

Trophies and Achievements are personal gamer milestone markers. They note when a gamer has made progress, when they’ve done something of note, or when they’ve accomplished a particularly amazing feat over the course of a game. Sometimes, Trophies and Achievements are constructed by developers as unique goals for gamers to meet in game. Many gamers find themselves pursuing these skill-based rewards — rewards that tie into the well-documented gamer itch to obtain the high score or earn bragging rights.

However, often times, gamers will find themselves playing for the Trophy or the Gamerscore increase alone. When a gamer earns a Trophy or an Achievement, that’s it — the only reward is a small icon and increase in Gamerscore or Trophy Level. Shouldn’t a gamer earning Trophies or Achievements earn more than just that, though? Doesn’t a gamer deserve some reward from the game itself for demonstrating being skilled at the game?

Skill-based rewards, without actual in-game rewards, seem more like a “thumbs up” rather than an actual reward. The Trophy and the Achievement exist outside of the game. They’re integrated into the game, but their impact seems to be largely outside of the game without unlockable content.

Editorial: Early television advertising is important for video games in 2010

Author’s Note: This editorial was published December 30, 2009 and originally appeared on Examiner.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

Monday night, while watching television, I saw a commercial for BioShock 2 and it caught me by surprise. The fact that Take-Two would have advertising for a sequel to their critically acclaimed, best-selling FPS wasn’t what caught me by surprise. I wasn’t surprised by the fact that I saw a commercial urging viewers to pre-order to the game, either. No, what caught me by surprise is that BioShock 2′s release date is in February 2010 and I was watching such a commercial at the tail end of December 2009 — well over a month prior to BioShock 2′s release date.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, though, and most gamers shouldn’t be — 2010 is going to be a tremendous year for video games. Between the number of console exclusives and multiplatform releases scheduled for release next year, determining which console will have the best 2010 will be difficult at best. However, what will be most difficult of all is making any title stand out amidst the rush of titles battling for the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere.

BioShock 2′s recent commercial isn’t just important because it’s arrived early, but the method chosen for it — television — is important as well. Television advertising grabs the attention of the viewer and is a powerful force in video game marketing. Games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had considerable TV presences. While both games were already hotly anticipated without a doubt, they both appeared on television more than a few times and likely aided sales. This perhaps is especially true for Modern Warfare 2, a title which had been advertised during NFL Football — a widely-watched sport that likely contains a large number of consumers in Modern Warfare 2′s targeted demographic.

The difference between the situation in 2010 and the situation between GTA IV/MW2 is that GTA IV and MW2 were both immediate standout releases among their fellow games. In 2010, the calendar is filled with nothing but standout releases — nothing but titles worthy of the anticipation generated for them by the press and industry consumers alike. Many of the releases — especially between January and March — will be coming out within weeks of each other. All of the publishers who can afford television advertising will have it for their title. The only advantage that can really be had is for publishers to begin advertising early.

Has The Age Of Deterrence Arrived For Metal Gear Solid?

Author’s Note: This editorial was published October 11, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

After the “conclusive” ending of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, some thought a brief hiatus and eventual reinvention of the Metal Gear franchise was in store. Series creator Hideo Kojima had other plans, though, as the next Metal Gear announcements came in the form of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP and Metal Gear Solid: Rising for PS3 and Xbox 360 — new games featuring the same convoluted MGS universe and story arcs. Peace Walker fleshes out more of the mysterious past of Big Boss, much of which is still potentially untold. Rising will hopefully add insight into the world of Raiden and answer the questions of what exactly happened to him between the years of MGS2 and MGS4.

But after MGS4 went to such great lengths putting the MGS plotlines to rest, introducing two new installments in that same series feels a bit odd. The familiarity of the universe certainly makes it considerably easier to release new installments — as opposed to introducing a new Metal Gear overhaul — but two new games in a universe that developer Kojima Productions worked so hard to “conclude”? That seems like the opposite of what the franchise needs: a fresh start.

Backward Compatibility Going Forward

Author’s Note: This editorial was published September 9, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

Gamers are used to backward compatibility in their consoles. It’s been in video game consoles that are part of a company or brand lineage. Backward compatibility is a rewarding feature for consumers who’ve supported those lineages — buy the newest console and you get to play your games from the previous one.

It’s a win-win situation, honestly: Consumers don’t have to take out their old consoles, and their investments in previous generations aren’t discarded. For console manufacturers, backward compatibility has been a means to extend new life to the consoles that have come before, enabling them to continue to move software and hardware units of the previous console during — and after — the launch of new hardware.

The current generation of consoles, though, has been fairly quick to shed backward compatibility, partially or completely. The PlayStation 3 used to play PS1 and PS2 titles through hardware-based backward compatibility, but now it plays PS1 titles only through software emulation. Microsoft had been on a mission to make nearly every Xbox title playable on the Xbox 360, but they stopped. The Nintendo DS started off with a GBA slot, but Nintendo got rid of it in the newest DS model, the DSi.

Console manufacturers are now quick to dismiss the importance of backward compatibility. Overall, backward compatibility has taken a blow this generation, and its future as a feature is in question.

Is backward compatibility gone as a major console feature?

Pricing The Issue

Author’s Note: This editorial was published August 20, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

Being a gamer has never been particularly inexpensive. Every so many years, new hardware is released and the new consoles always cost hundreds of dollars. Some gamers prefer to think of consoles as “investments.” When gamers say they’re going to “invest” in a console, they actually mean purchasing plenty of video games for said hardware.

Over the course of the console’s lifespan, gamers will likely eclipse the cost of the console in purchasing games for said console. The console’s lifespan winds down, the console war/cycle comes to an end and new hardware comes out. The process then repeats itself all over again.

However, there may have never been such a pricey console war as this one. Everything in this console war seems to have a significant price tag. Consoles are more expensive, games are more expensive and independent games and DLC are going for as much as $15 or more.

When the issue of price hiking is brought up, many gamers might be tempted to point the finger at Sony, but the truth is that there are few companies in the video game industry who haven’t raised prices in some way.

Consumers were suddenly introduced to $59.99 for games for high definition-capable consoles in the single turn of a generation. Then, we were introduced to a new world of downloadable content where paying $59.99 for a game simply wasn’t enough.

Suddenly, there are new installments of these games and they cost up to a quarter of what the consumer paid for what is supposed to be a “full” game.

Can A Game Like Scribblenauts Make Learning Fun?

Author’s Note: This editorial was published August 18, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

When I was in elementary school, my English textbook had lots of left-hand pages filled with spelling and grammar lessons, with lots of right-hand pages filled with sentences to fix. My family wouldn’t even buy our first computer until I was in seventh grade, so I had no word processor and no Internet for reference. I would sit there with my textbook open, writing down the correct solutions to the sentences in my notebook.

When I went to high school, every year for four years we received a rather meaty vocabulary book for English class, which meant there was at least one vocabulary exercise per week in addition to regular English class homework.

Now, all of that hard work and trial-and-error eventually paid off for me. I received an English award my freshman year of high school, and staying dedicated to English in high school more than prepared me for the paper-writing challenges of college.

But that strictly textbook approach doesn’t always work for everyone.

People learn in a wide variety of different ways. One of the ways is visually and one of the other ways is interactively. A game like Scribblenauts happens to combine both approaches.

Subtlety In Motion

Author’s Note: This editorial was published August 12, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

Control paradigms change and evolve over the course of time in the video game industry. The NES’s D-pad-and-button configuration was a change from previous controllers introduced by consoles such as Atari and Intellivision.

Over time, console makers added more buttons to controllers, and D-pads were replaced by analog sticks — until Sony introduced the DualShock dual-analog-stick controller over a decade ago. A strong, comfortable, and ergonomically sound device, the dual-analog-stick controller was the standard for video game controllers for more than a generation.

However, the time for change has arrived once more in the form of Nintendo’s Wii Remote, which introduces a new dimension to controllers: motion control. The widespread appeal of Nintendo’s innovative and market-disruptive controller has forced the competition to respond with motion-control schemes of their own.

Microsoft recently introduced Project Natal, a camera that promises to bring users even further into their games with the most familiar controller they’ve ever known: their own bodies. Sony responded with wand controllers for the PlayStation Eye, which appear similar to Nintendo’s Wii Remote yet possess somewhat different, if not added, functionality.

By the end of next year, there’ll likely be no shortage of motion controls or motion-controlled games.

inFAMOUS: A Welcome Shock To Superhero Games

Author’s Note: This editorial was published June 17, 2009 and originally appeared on Bitmob.com. Clicking on this link will take you to its original location.

—

I never had a problem with the concept of inFAMOUS as a game. Shooting lightning at enemies, climbing up walls “urban exploration” style, open-world gameplay — in terms of gameplay appeal, inFAMOUS was a winner. However, for a little while, I was kind of skeptical about inFAMOUS’ ability to deliver as a comic book superhero game. I never questioned the validity of the idea, but I remained a bit skeptical about exactly how faithful to comic book superhero concepts inFAMOUS would end up being. I love video games as a medium, but when it comes to superheroes, they’ve rarely ever captured the essence of licensed superheroes, let alone lend enough confidence that they’d deliver full-fledged original ones.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself nearly immediately sucked in by Sucker Punch’s electric adventure.

I haven’t read or collected comic books in nearly a decade — since I was twelve or thirteen years old. Yet, inFAMOUS pulled me into the game by opening an enormous gate right back to my childhood nostalgia and everything I ever loved about comic books. The reason why dawned on me within a few hours of gameplay: Sucker Punch gets it. Cole McGrath, his story, the gameplay, the setting — these certainly weren’t a bunch of video game developers stepping outside of their element. They understood how to make a superhero and exerted that understanding throughout inFAMOUS.

But what exactly does Sucker Punch get so right in terms of comic book style?