N4G article trends. Love them, hate them, you're rear end is still being stuck up in the air. If you're wondering who the beautiful gent is accompanying this blog, it's Gucci Mane, and Gucci being trendy (or not, I'm not a woman or metrosexual) is a sort of reference to the motif. I digress, I'm here to offer my 2 cents on what's trending and the idea of trending articles.
Let's start with the Anonymous-themed articles. We're nearing the (hopefully) end of the avalanche, and I for one am extremely glad. How many good articles are dwarfed by the subject of Anonymous' recourse, of which my opinion is held at neutral. This is a damn gaming site, can we all stop giving a flying duckface? Come on guys, in all seriousness, major sad face. I'm getting "blah blah, wah Geohot, blah blah, Sony, blah blah blah" shoved in my face every day. The sleuthy skills of generally great contributors are trying to eat up what you guys click on. That's a problem.
Now, let us not be confused with my hatred of articles that very loosely pertain to gaming, and articles that directly pertain to all facets of a game (I'm looking at you Halo, Uncharted, Killzone). I don't mind when people count every polygon and touch themselves to the lighting of a particular videojuego, that's great, go for it. Sometimes I really want to know details. However, when the same story is reiterated over and over in different words, or I'm given every little update that I could really care less about, that means, you shouldn't either. But wait, you're probably thinking, hey generic gas mask guy, why would you want to hear every stupid thing about a game, and not something more important, isn't that a contradiction? Well, yes, it is, but it's a game. When I go here, I expect to see something of the sort. Hell, I don't even mind one or maybe two Anon update articles. But when it's a the same old dead horse every day, that really gets in the way of what I love, and that's a problem. Follow me and be a leader, because if you don't that's a problem.
Simple Earning -Good Site to join
Showing posts with label Brent Hecht. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brent Hecht. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Borderlands 2 Preview
One thing is clear, Gearbox Software is really enthusiastic about their fans. Really, really enthusiastic. Oozing gratitude and humility for the success of Borderlands, the team presenting at PAX was eager to show their love and affection for fans - from free copies of the new game to live demonstrations geared towards showing players of the original all the changes made in response to fan feedback, as well as all the good stuff that’s staying the same.
Like guns, lots and lots of guns. Outdoing the sheer quantity of firepower from the first game comes down to dual wield (in any combination) and unique manufacturers. Emphasis was on the Tediore brand, which are highly disposable. It’s encouraged to toss them away (preferably at an enemy, since they’ll explode) after ammo is depleted. Of course, the explosion is bigger if there’s some ammo in the gun, and the more ammo, the bigger the bang! A replacement Tediore gun? Oh that’s just instantly delivered in its place. Vladof guns warm-up slow then fire in a steady stream, AK-style, and Bandit guns have huge - really huge - ammo clips and seem to be pieced together from pub detritus.
This early it’s difficult to judge the success of their efforts in areas like storytelling, but that Gearbox so clearly recognizes the shortcomings in the first game inspires confidence. For Borderlands 2, writer Anthony Burch and creative director Paul Hellquist worked together so that the story and gameplay would complement one another, instead of having the former relegated to lengthy cut scenes wedged between gameplay (and miserable fetch quests). Still, they want story to be something that players can scale to their experience, so whether the player is following closely along or largely ignoring it in favor mission focus, story will be there in a more palatable way.
Characters (you know the crew - Mordecai, Lilith, Brick and Roland) from the first game will be appearing as NPCs with tie-ins to the sequel storyline, and Salvador the Gunzerker and Maya the Siren were shown off in the demo. Beardy Salvador is a fan of dual wield and can easily be a more brawn than brains type of dwarf, but the presenters are quick to point out that he still has a deep skill tree including Overheat, which grants a faster fire rate the longer you hold the trigger. Showing off his skills in the tundra (where Handsome Jack left him, maybe there’s some revenge on the horizon?) the Gunzerker rescues a buddy and sets about disposing of a giant robot.
AI movements are improved, and enemies can (and will) go anywhere in the environment that you can, as well as make use of environment features. The enemy AI improvements amount to squad-based behaviors with commanding units, those that wait for reinforcements after taking too much damage, and units that can repair/heal others. While the AI is a bit savvier it can also be stunned and injured in addition to just plain blown to pieces. Bullymongs, monsters of many arms that like to chuck ice at you, were encountered. There’s still Psychos, and a Nomad Torturer enemy made memorable use of a Psycho midget bandit as a meat shield. By freeing the midget you create a bit of a distraction: the midget picks a fight with the Nomad Torturer (granted, with no great success).
Environments are larger, and make use of a newly discovered color: green. The characteristic wastelands of Borderlands could, after all, get a little monotonous. Now with an arctic icescape and use of that aforementioned “green” color, the team took inspiration from areas like Iceland and the Scottish Highlands in their level design. Perched atop a level’s vantage point, the team was eager to point out that the green you can view in the distance (and everything in between) is someplace that you can walk to - or maybe drive to, as there is a new driving system (including a four-person party wagon) with new wheel physics. Getting where you’re may not be such a struggle, either, with the new mini-map in the upper right and new user interface. The menu screen has been redesigned with the player and split-screen MP in mind, and the quest system revamped so it’s easier to co-op.
Borderlands was a refreshing addition to the shooter genre - the weapon generation, unique art style, RPG elements and solid shooter mechanics are a winning combination. Borderlands 2 is an iterative take, with expanded environments, improved storytelling, and redesigned interface. It follows that if you like Borderlands, you’ll like Borderlands 2 - and if you were on the fence about the series this may well be enough to sell you.
Want more? Check out my interview with Borderlands 2 Art Director Jeramy Cooke! http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Photo credit: Adam Sentz
Like guns, lots and lots of guns. Outdoing the sheer quantity of firepower from the first game comes down to dual wield (in any combination) and unique manufacturers. Emphasis was on the Tediore brand, which are highly disposable. It’s encouraged to toss them away (preferably at an enemy, since they’ll explode) after ammo is depleted. Of course, the explosion is bigger if there’s some ammo in the gun, and the more ammo, the bigger the bang! A replacement Tediore gun? Oh that’s just instantly delivered in its place. Vladof guns warm-up slow then fire in a steady stream, AK-style, and Bandit guns have huge - really huge - ammo clips and seem to be pieced together from pub detritus.
This early it’s difficult to judge the success of their efforts in areas like storytelling, but that Gearbox so clearly recognizes the shortcomings in the first game inspires confidence. For Borderlands 2, writer Anthony Burch and creative director Paul Hellquist worked together so that the story and gameplay would complement one another, instead of having the former relegated to lengthy cut scenes wedged between gameplay (and miserable fetch quests). Still, they want story to be something that players can scale to their experience, so whether the player is following closely along or largely ignoring it in favor mission focus, story will be there in a more palatable way.
Characters (you know the crew - Mordecai, Lilith, Brick and Roland) from the first game will be appearing as NPCs with tie-ins to the sequel storyline, and Salvador the Gunzerker and Maya the Siren were shown off in the demo. Beardy Salvador is a fan of dual wield and can easily be a more brawn than brains type of dwarf, but the presenters are quick to point out that he still has a deep skill tree including Overheat, which grants a faster fire rate the longer you hold the trigger. Showing off his skills in the tundra (where Handsome Jack left him, maybe there’s some revenge on the horizon?) the Gunzerker rescues a buddy and sets about disposing of a giant robot.
AI movements are improved, and enemies can (and will) go anywhere in the environment that you can, as well as make use of environment features. The enemy AI improvements amount to squad-based behaviors with commanding units, those that wait for reinforcements after taking too much damage, and units that can repair/heal others. While the AI is a bit savvier it can also be stunned and injured in addition to just plain blown to pieces. Bullymongs, monsters of many arms that like to chuck ice at you, were encountered. There’s still Psychos, and a Nomad Torturer enemy made memorable use of a Psycho midget bandit as a meat shield. By freeing the midget you create a bit of a distraction: the midget picks a fight with the Nomad Torturer (granted, with no great success).
Environments are larger, and make use of a newly discovered color: green. The characteristic wastelands of Borderlands could, after all, get a little monotonous. Now with an arctic icescape and use of that aforementioned “green” color, the team took inspiration from areas like Iceland and the Scottish Highlands in their level design. Perched atop a level’s vantage point, the team was eager to point out that the green you can view in the distance (and everything in between) is someplace that you can walk to - or maybe drive to, as there is a new driving system (including a four-person party wagon) with new wheel physics. Getting where you’re may not be such a struggle, either, with the new mini-map in the upper right and new user interface. The menu screen has been redesigned with the player and split-screen MP in mind, and the quest system revamped so it’s easier to co-op.
Borderlands was a refreshing addition to the shooter genre - the weapon generation, unique art style, RPG elements and solid shooter mechanics are a winning combination. Borderlands 2 is an iterative take, with expanded environments, improved storytelling, and redesigned interface. It follows that if you like Borderlands, you’ll like Borderlands 2 - and if you were on the fence about the series this may well be enough to sell you.
Want more? Check out my interview with Borderlands 2 Art Director Jeramy Cooke! http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
Photo credit: Adam Sentz
I have been to the Clouds and back
I would like to talk about Onlive, the cloud based internet video game streaming service. Let me start by saying Onlive is the future, but the future is not the present. IGN has posted several articles bashing Onlive, however theses articles were full of misinformation and overall trolling. I'm going to an unbiased article about Onlive based on my personal opinions after playing over 200 hours of games on Onlive. I have watched Onlive grow from the beginning, (I was an Alpha tester), and have to say I am very pleased with the progress they have made in just a year. However it isn't without it's faults.
What is Onlive?
Onlive is a cloud based internet streaming service.
What does that mean?
Think of Onlive like Netflix for video games. You start the service click on the game you want and start playing in seconds.
What are the Pros of Onlive
1. Gaming in seconds. You just click on the game you want to play and within seconds your playing the game. No downloads, no installs, no waiting till 10am for your local game store to open, no waiting on shipping. Just click and play.
2. Prices. Everyone likes to say that they have good prices, but Onlive really does. Onlive is primarily a PC gaming service so your paying PC prices for the game ($50). But if you subscribe to their playpack ($10 a month) you get 30% off everything. Making full games like Deus Ex HR and Batman AC only $35.
3. Playpack. Onlive has a Playpack bundle featuring over 80 games, with weekly updates adding about 3 or 4 games. The best thing about the Playpack Bundle is the 30% off everything.
4. Online save files. This is one of the coolest features of Onlive. I can start playing a game on my Microconsole and resume on my laptop, than go over to a friends and resume there. The games are saved to Onlive's servers allowing you to resume from anywhere.
5. $5 Fridays. This is relatively new, but still very cool. Onlive sells one game for $5 each friday ($3.50 with the playpack). The games so far have been: Batman AA, Splinter cell conviction, Hawx 2, Borderlands GOTY, Just Cause 2, and AVP.
6. Game Spectating. Onlive has a revolutionary new feature called the Arena. In the Arena you can watch anyone play any game that is on the service. Say you wanted to see what Red Faction Guerrilla was like. You could hop onto the Arena and watch me play it. Than decide to give me a thumbs up or down depending on how well I play.
7. 30 Min trials. You can play the real game for 30 mins. Not a demo but the real game.
As good as Onlive is, it's not without it's fault. And it has them.
1. Needing Wired Internet. When Onlive first came around a wired internet was required to play. It's still largely the case. While you can "play" on a wireless connection is it splotchy and unreliable at best. Over a Wireless connection the game "shudders" often.
2. Needing Internet. No internet No games. But I'm also going to include in here other people. I live in a house with 5 other computers. When all the computers are doing something on the internet my Onlive get's exceptionally blurry and unresponsive. Onlive works best when no one else is on the internet.
3. Updates. Onlive claims that it updates the games automatically, but a closer inspection reviles that almost every game on Onlive is running at it's base version, (no updates). This is a problem, as games like Deus Ex HR would greatly benefit from the update the cuts load times. But more than this no updates prevents the inclusions of DLC in many games. On Onlive if the game doesn't have the DLC included in the base game it won't be on Onlive.
4. Graphics. I'm not a graphics whore by any means I prefer gameplay to graphics, but I do realize this is a BIG deal to some people so I figured I should include it here. The graphics are running somewhere around Low-Medium quality with few games running on High or Ultra.
5. Games. Onlive doesn't have many new games. While they are getting a better selection of games currently it's not good. They have over 200 games on their service but very few actually "core" games. Their selection is limited to Deus Ex HR, Splintercell Conviction, Hawx 1&2, Borderlands, Just Cause 1&2, Batman AA & AC, Red faction G&A, and Assassins Creed 2&B.
In Conclusion: When Onlive is working it's working well. Please watch the video I recorded below (forgive my terrible playing.) If you prefer cheap prices and convenience to functionality and quality than Onlive might be right for you. It's fun and addicting but the selection of games may not hold you over for long. However I highly recommend that everyone at least check into the service. The service is free, the games are not.
What is Onlive?
Onlive is a cloud based internet streaming service.
What does that mean?
Think of Onlive like Netflix for video games. You start the service click on the game you want and start playing in seconds.
What are the Pros of Onlive
1. Gaming in seconds. You just click on the game you want to play and within seconds your playing the game. No downloads, no installs, no waiting till 10am for your local game store to open, no waiting on shipping. Just click and play.
2. Prices. Everyone likes to say that they have good prices, but Onlive really does. Onlive is primarily a PC gaming service so your paying PC prices for the game ($50). But if you subscribe to their playpack ($10 a month) you get 30% off everything. Making full games like Deus Ex HR and Batman AC only $35.
3. Playpack. Onlive has a Playpack bundle featuring over 80 games, with weekly updates adding about 3 or 4 games. The best thing about the Playpack Bundle is the 30% off everything.
4. Online save files. This is one of the coolest features of Onlive. I can start playing a game on my Microconsole and resume on my laptop, than go over to a friends and resume there. The games are saved to Onlive's servers allowing you to resume from anywhere.
5. $5 Fridays. This is relatively new, but still very cool. Onlive sells one game for $5 each friday ($3.50 with the playpack). The games so far have been: Batman AA, Splinter cell conviction, Hawx 2, Borderlands GOTY, Just Cause 2, and AVP.
6. Game Spectating. Onlive has a revolutionary new feature called the Arena. In the Arena you can watch anyone play any game that is on the service. Say you wanted to see what Red Faction Guerrilla was like. You could hop onto the Arena and watch me play it. Than decide to give me a thumbs up or down depending on how well I play.
7. 30 Min trials. You can play the real game for 30 mins. Not a demo but the real game.
As good as Onlive is, it's not without it's fault. And it has them.
1. Needing Wired Internet. When Onlive first came around a wired internet was required to play. It's still largely the case. While you can "play" on a wireless connection is it splotchy and unreliable at best. Over a Wireless connection the game "shudders" often.
2. Needing Internet. No internet No games. But I'm also going to include in here other people. I live in a house with 5 other computers. When all the computers are doing something on the internet my Onlive get's exceptionally blurry and unresponsive. Onlive works best when no one else is on the internet.
3. Updates. Onlive claims that it updates the games automatically, but a closer inspection reviles that almost every game on Onlive is running at it's base version, (no updates). This is a problem, as games like Deus Ex HR would greatly benefit from the update the cuts load times. But more than this no updates prevents the inclusions of DLC in many games. On Onlive if the game doesn't have the DLC included in the base game it won't be on Onlive.
4. Graphics. I'm not a graphics whore by any means I prefer gameplay to graphics, but I do realize this is a BIG deal to some people so I figured I should include it here. The graphics are running somewhere around Low-Medium quality with few games running on High or Ultra.
5. Games. Onlive doesn't have many new games. While they are getting a better selection of games currently it's not good. They have over 200 games on their service but very few actually "core" games. Their selection is limited to Deus Ex HR, Splintercell Conviction, Hawx 1&2, Borderlands, Just Cause 1&2, Batman AA & AC, Red faction G&A, and Assassins Creed 2&B.
In Conclusion: When Onlive is working it's working well. Please watch the video I recorded below (forgive my terrible playing.) If you prefer cheap prices and convenience to functionality and quality than Onlive might be right for you. It's fun and addicting but the selection of games may not hold you over for long. However I highly recommend that everyone at least check into the service. The service is free, the games are not.
HaloFest Review
My trip to PAX Prime 2011 was instantly made more complete with the announcement that they were also going to celebrate 10 years of Halo at PAX. I remember the days of playing countless hours of Halo in college and still can't believe it has been 10 years since the launch of Combat Evolved. Getting the opportunity to experience all that is Halo at HaloFest was a dream come true and a great bit of nostalgia.
As I ascend the 2 escalators up to HaloFest, I am greeted by a life-size Warthog replica and the familiar music from Halo: CE. The music sends chills down my body, and I could feel the energy from all of the other Halo enthusiasts in the exhibit. They had tons of LAN setups for everyone to try out the new multiplayer and firefight maps. Within 2 seconds of starting up a free-for-all match on the remake of Prisoner from CE, which is my favorite multiplayer map, I felt at home and quickly recalled the positioning of the catwalks and where the rocket spawn point is. I also played a round of Firefight on a remake of the “Halo” level from the CE campaign. I had never seen or played this re-made map before, but immediately I knew the layout of the map and where the enemies are dropped off because it is exactly like the original. From the brief glimpse of the multiplayer that I experienced, I can only imagine what sort of memories everyone will have the first time they jump into the game.
I attended a panel about celebrating 10 years of Halo with the actors who did the voices of Master Chief, Cortana, 343 Guilty Spark, and Captain Keyes. The panel starts off slowly with Marty O'Donnell talking about each actor and how they worked on old projects like Myth and Oni. He finally discusses Halo, and eventually the huge news came out that Steve Downes (Master Chief) and Jen Taylor (Cortana) had never actually met and been together in the same room before this weekend at HaloFest. The rest of the panel focused on each actor’s feelings about the job, and how surprised they were at how things turned out. Another tidbit that was revealed was that Pete Stacker (Captain Keyes) is also the voice in the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" commercials, and prepared a special "Real Men of Halo" song about terrible Warthog drivers to perform for everyone (It can be viewed at the 47 minute mark: http://www.ign.com/videos/2... ). It was a funny treat for the audience and shows how the actors are extremely huge fans of the series. After the panel, Marty O'Donnell and the voice actors for Master Chief, Cortana, Captain Keyes, and 343 Guilty Spark signed my copy of Halo: Combat Evolved. This was a one of a kind moment and now I have a rare collector's item to always remember this.
Another panel was about the re-imaging of the campaign for Halo: Anniversary where they discussed how they were working hard to maintain the campaign that everyone knows from their childhood, with glitches, easter eggs, and all. ‘343 Guilty Spark’ is demoed for those in attendance and they began the level in "classic" mode, which looks exactly like the Halo from 10 years ago. After a few minutes, at the push of the "back" button, the dreary gray fog and bland brown trees transform into a bright, florescent purple and green jungle exploding with life. It was amazing to see the huge difference between the exact same game in a split second. You can switch back and forth any time you want, even in the middle of a grenade toss or while reloading. Hitting the "back" button changes the priority of the different graphics engines, which makes for the ease of switching back and forth on the fly. Later, I viewed a short behind closed doors demo of the same level with the newly announced 3D feature that can be enabled anytime from the options menu. Although obviously not viewable in classic mode, it takes a few seconds for the full effect to kick in, and you can still switch back and forth to classic mode on the fly. I've never seen a game in 3D before, but the effect was pretty impressive. Reloading the Needler causes the spikes on the gun to jump off the screen and everyone watching the demo ducked during the first reload, and all of the leaves from the lush jungle create a great depth of field. The 3D graphics seem a little shimmery and I'm not sure if that is normal for 3D tech, nevertheless the game looks to be way more than a simple up-res'd HD remake.
Sunday morning brought the penultimate panel for a Halo fan as 343 Industries hosted a 1 hour on Halo 4. They were coy on obvious story details, but revealed that the next Halo trilogy will be called “The Reclaimer Trilogy,” and showed lots of concept art detailing Forerunner architecture. It also sounds like the Flood will no longer be an enemy since they seem to want to tell a new story in this trilogy. Sotaro Tojima, the audio director at 343, then showed an interesting video about how his team went to dangerous lengths to capture unique sounds. Halo has always been synonymous with great music and sound, and I hope Sotaro can live up to the big shoes Marty O’Donnell has left behind. Next up was a question and answer session, and everyone seemed to focus on story related questions, which obviously 343 were not going to answer, so it was a somewhat wasted Q&A. Someone did get a good nugget of information out of the team when they said that there will be destructible environments, but they didn’t want to make them fully destructible because that strays too far from the Halo gameplay that everyone knows. If I had a chance to ask a question, it would have been about whether they were building an engine from scratch, or modifying the Halo: Reach one. The panel ended with the team showing a new animated video of the different concept art that seems to focus on large, grandiose structures and environments to try and capture the epic feel of Halo. Overall, it sounds like 343 Industries is trying extremely hard to capture the feel and magic that Bungie had when making Halo, and between 200 employees and 3 years of work so far, I think they are well on their way to making a masterpiece.
As I ascend the 2 escalators up to HaloFest, I am greeted by a life-size Warthog replica and the familiar music from Halo: CE. The music sends chills down my body, and I could feel the energy from all of the other Halo enthusiasts in the exhibit. They had tons of LAN setups for everyone to try out the new multiplayer and firefight maps. Within 2 seconds of starting up a free-for-all match on the remake of Prisoner from CE, which is my favorite multiplayer map, I felt at home and quickly recalled the positioning of the catwalks and where the rocket spawn point is. I also played a round of Firefight on a remake of the “Halo” level from the CE campaign. I had never seen or played this re-made map before, but immediately I knew the layout of the map and where the enemies are dropped off because it is exactly like the original. From the brief glimpse of the multiplayer that I experienced, I can only imagine what sort of memories everyone will have the first time they jump into the game.
I attended a panel about celebrating 10 years of Halo with the actors who did the voices of Master Chief, Cortana, 343 Guilty Spark, and Captain Keyes. The panel starts off slowly with Marty O'Donnell talking about each actor and how they worked on old projects like Myth and Oni. He finally discusses Halo, and eventually the huge news came out that Steve Downes (Master Chief) and Jen Taylor (Cortana) had never actually met and been together in the same room before this weekend at HaloFest. The rest of the panel focused on each actor’s feelings about the job, and how surprised they were at how things turned out. Another tidbit that was revealed was that Pete Stacker (Captain Keyes) is also the voice in the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" commercials, and prepared a special "Real Men of Halo" song about terrible Warthog drivers to perform for everyone (It can be viewed at the 47 minute mark: http://www.ign.com/videos/2... ). It was a funny treat for the audience and shows how the actors are extremely huge fans of the series. After the panel, Marty O'Donnell and the voice actors for Master Chief, Cortana, Captain Keyes, and 343 Guilty Spark signed my copy of Halo: Combat Evolved. This was a one of a kind moment and now I have a rare collector's item to always remember this.
Another panel was about the re-imaging of the campaign for Halo: Anniversary where they discussed how they were working hard to maintain the campaign that everyone knows from their childhood, with glitches, easter eggs, and all. ‘343 Guilty Spark’ is demoed for those in attendance and they began the level in "classic" mode, which looks exactly like the Halo from 10 years ago. After a few minutes, at the push of the "back" button, the dreary gray fog and bland brown trees transform into a bright, florescent purple and green jungle exploding with life. It was amazing to see the huge difference between the exact same game in a split second. You can switch back and forth any time you want, even in the middle of a grenade toss or while reloading. Hitting the "back" button changes the priority of the different graphics engines, which makes for the ease of switching back and forth on the fly. Later, I viewed a short behind closed doors demo of the same level with the newly announced 3D feature that can be enabled anytime from the options menu. Although obviously not viewable in classic mode, it takes a few seconds for the full effect to kick in, and you can still switch back and forth to classic mode on the fly. I've never seen a game in 3D before, but the effect was pretty impressive. Reloading the Needler causes the spikes on the gun to jump off the screen and everyone watching the demo ducked during the first reload, and all of the leaves from the lush jungle create a great depth of field. The 3D graphics seem a little shimmery and I'm not sure if that is normal for 3D tech, nevertheless the game looks to be way more than a simple up-res'd HD remake.
Sunday morning brought the penultimate panel for a Halo fan as 343 Industries hosted a 1 hour on Halo 4. They were coy on obvious story details, but revealed that the next Halo trilogy will be called “The Reclaimer Trilogy,” and showed lots of concept art detailing Forerunner architecture. It also sounds like the Flood will no longer be an enemy since they seem to want to tell a new story in this trilogy. Sotaro Tojima, the audio director at 343, then showed an interesting video about how his team went to dangerous lengths to capture unique sounds. Halo has always been synonymous with great music and sound, and I hope Sotaro can live up to the big shoes Marty O’Donnell has left behind. Next up was a question and answer session, and everyone seemed to focus on story related questions, which obviously 343 were not going to answer, so it was a somewhat wasted Q&A. Someone did get a good nugget of information out of the team when they said that there will be destructible environments, but they didn’t want to make them fully destructible because that strays too far from the Halo gameplay that everyone knows. If I had a chance to ask a question, it would have been about whether they were building an engine from scratch, or modifying the Halo: Reach one. The panel ended with the team showing a new animated video of the different concept art that seems to focus on large, grandiose structures and environments to try and capture the epic feel of Halo. Overall, it sounds like 343 Industries is trying extremely hard to capture the feel and magic that Bungie had when making Halo, and between 200 employees and 3 years of work so far, I think they are well on their way to making a masterpiece.
Request: A new addition to the User Review section
N4G.com is touted by its staff as being a gaming and tech news aggregation site whose content is controlled by the very members that are seeking the news posted (again, but its own members) on the site.
If this is true, then I say we should be able to entertain the following suggestion I will make.
I suggest that members be able to do User reviews, or Member reviews if the name isn't contextually accurate, on the websites where all this gaming related news comes from. That way, members on N4G can see that a certain website either provides excellent, unbiased journalism; or flamebait troll articles designed solely to gain hits for sensationalism. They then can go into an article, see the source, and avoid at all costs.
Or maybe, in addition to this review, a kind of "Ignore" function for the sites could be implemented where you place the URL of the site into the Ignore list, and no news from that source will show up.
Granted, the idea needs refinement, but I think it has the potential to really turn the site around, as we would avoid articles with flamebait titles, or ridiculous troll opinions about which console will outsell which other console in the holiday season.
I just think that if we truly control the content, we should have a way to circumvent those people who give their own submissions 3 approvals and get their friends in to approve their flamebait articles as well. Also, the requirements for approving and disapproving submissions needs to be adjusted or changed because many here have no interest in spending hours scouring the internet looking for 3 stories to submit just for the privilege of approving or disapproving articles. Yes, some would abuse that privilege, but that's what true moderation is for. Ban their rights to approve or disapprove if they show they are abusing those rights.
If this is true, then I say we should be able to entertain the following suggestion I will make.
I suggest that members be able to do User reviews, or Member reviews if the name isn't contextually accurate, on the websites where all this gaming related news comes from. That way, members on N4G can see that a certain website either provides excellent, unbiased journalism; or flamebait troll articles designed solely to gain hits for sensationalism. They then can go into an article, see the source, and avoid at all costs.
Or maybe, in addition to this review, a kind of "Ignore" function for the sites could be implemented where you place the URL of the site into the Ignore list, and no news from that source will show up.
Granted, the idea needs refinement, but I think it has the potential to really turn the site around, as we would avoid articles with flamebait titles, or ridiculous troll opinions about which console will outsell which other console in the holiday season.
I just think that if we truly control the content, we should have a way to circumvent those people who give their own submissions 3 approvals and get their friends in to approve their flamebait articles as well. Also, the requirements for approving and disapproving submissions needs to be adjusted or changed because many here have no interest in spending hours scouring the internet looking for 3 stories to submit just for the privilege of approving or disapproving articles. Yes, some would abuse that privilege, but that's what true moderation is for. Ban their rights to approve or disapprove if they show they are abusing those rights.
Should gaming journalism have a major shake up?
We all know anybody can become a gaming journalist with a computer and money for a website. But is this really the problem. Look at the film world. They have random movie fan sites appearing left, right and centre but why do these sites get less focused and the profession, qualified sites gets attention.
The main difference is qualification and experience. Some may say that experience is a form of qualification but this is fundamental reason why gaming journalism is not regarded so highly. Reading reviews from the film critic industry it is easy to see that a random guy hasn't worked his/her way up. These people have worked to get a journalism degree from respectable universities. The higher the university rating the more respected the degree is and the chance of getting internship’s from respected publications goes up. This system seems to work well. Reviews are not just opinions. They are criticising the films, the look at how the public will like a film and go with that direction. For example you know that a 4 star from The Week is more than a good film. They seem to avoid there own personal clouded opinion and look at good effects in the film and how the story plays/doesn't play out that well
Should the industry look at gaming journalism and give them the critical spot light for once. So what are the criteria to get into game journalism? On the Eurogamer website (just an example and does no way reflect on their writing abilities) there is a video of how they became gaming journalist. On senior writer who said he was employed because he knew the founder of Eurogamer. He then learnt on the job (didn't start writing). This brings up an interesting point. Is it easy for new respected websites to start up like this without experienced staff in the film world. No. Is non qualified writes able to get into the film critic world. No. So why does this happen in the gaming world. Is it websites are too easily respected. The best of an unqualified bunch. They may have the experience but experience is nothing without qualified training. Eurogamer is less so but magazines like Edge which have an awful history of reviewing games and are able to write and publish not only rubbish but are respected).
It is not only the websites fault. Metacritic has a play in this. Their average review score is so respected it is the first thing quoted. The fact that the gaming websites are rarely reviewed on quality. Should Metacritic have a qualification quota to combat the growing poor articles? Rotten tomatoes have the best and has a list of criteria based on views counts and approved critic societies only make it onto the website (check is out it will surprise you). A recent blog on N4G highlighted a method of review sites and having a quality control on N4G. Could N4G be the first step in the right direction?
You may see this as a rant but it is more of a concern. Does gaming journalists need a journalism qualification? The answer is no. They seem to want work experience and you learn how to right on the job. This is the fundamental reason why gaming journalist will never been seen as real journalism and there needs to be a sake up. Lets hope, as this form of "journalism" becomes more mainstream, the degree qualification (among) others is more sought after to increase quality in the industry as a whole.
You never know the argument "Its a review of X game and his own opinion and doesn't represent what other feel" might change. We could get some proper analytical reviews if the journalism world is shaken up
The main difference is qualification and experience. Some may say that experience is a form of qualification but this is fundamental reason why gaming journalism is not regarded so highly. Reading reviews from the film critic industry it is easy to see that a random guy hasn't worked his/her way up. These people have worked to get a journalism degree from respectable universities. The higher the university rating the more respected the degree is and the chance of getting internship’s from respected publications goes up. This system seems to work well. Reviews are not just opinions. They are criticising the films, the look at how the public will like a film and go with that direction. For example you know that a 4 star from The Week is more than a good film. They seem to avoid there own personal clouded opinion and look at good effects in the film and how the story plays/doesn't play out that well
Should the industry look at gaming journalism and give them the critical spot light for once. So what are the criteria to get into game journalism? On the Eurogamer website (just an example and does no way reflect on their writing abilities) there is a video of how they became gaming journalist. On senior writer who said he was employed because he knew the founder of Eurogamer. He then learnt on the job (didn't start writing). This brings up an interesting point. Is it easy for new respected websites to start up like this without experienced staff in the film world. No. Is non qualified writes able to get into the film critic world. No. So why does this happen in the gaming world. Is it websites are too easily respected. The best of an unqualified bunch. They may have the experience but experience is nothing without qualified training. Eurogamer is less so but magazines like Edge which have an awful history of reviewing games and are able to write and publish not only rubbish but are respected).
It is not only the websites fault. Metacritic has a play in this. Their average review score is so respected it is the first thing quoted. The fact that the gaming websites are rarely reviewed on quality. Should Metacritic have a qualification quota to combat the growing poor articles? Rotten tomatoes have the best and has a list of criteria based on views counts and approved critic societies only make it onto the website (check is out it will surprise you). A recent blog on N4G highlighted a method of review sites and having a quality control on N4G. Could N4G be the first step in the right direction?
You may see this as a rant but it is more of a concern. Does gaming journalists need a journalism qualification? The answer is no. They seem to want work experience and you learn how to right on the job. This is the fundamental reason why gaming journalist will never been seen as real journalism and there needs to be a sake up. Lets hope, as this form of "journalism" becomes more mainstream, the degree qualification (among) others is more sought after to increase quality in the industry as a whole.
You never know the argument "Its a review of X game and his own opinion and doesn't represent what other feel" might change. We could get some proper analytical reviews if the journalism world is shaken up
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