OPINION: Why MMO’s Need Offline Modes (Hint: It’s A Jobs Creation Program)

Posted on December 15, 2011 by geelw

With the recent announcement of Lego Universe going under as of January 2012 and the resulting (and unfortunate) staff layoffs, there’s a lot of blame floating around about just what went “wrong”. Obviously, the lack of enough subscribers (despite a recent move to a “free to play” based business model) is a core reason the MMO met its demise.However, I think a few other factors didn’t help the game one bit and in fact, the project was doomed to failure from the start. Why do I say this with such certainty? Simple. The lack of ANY way to play offline in any form makes EVERY single MMO (no matter how popular), a dead game once the amount of online players drops significantly, making a game too expensive to keep going and a waste of resources that could otherwise keep a dev team at least partially employed… Continue reading →

Hey, Sony! Here’s How To Make Vita Memory Cards Less Of a Knife In The Wallet…

Posted on December 12, 2011 by geelw

With the announcement of prices for the PS Vita’s proprietary memory cards getting a lot of gamers up in arms (despite Sony recently stating that they’re not set in stone), I figure I may as well add my two cents here in order to help smooth things out a bit. There’s a simple solution Sony can use to quell some of that anger and get a few consumers to snap up multiple cards in the process. If the cards haven’t been produced yet, Sony can (and should) add a few free PSPminis to them as bonus content at retail or for those who have PSN accounts, add a voucher redeemable for their choice of minis as DLC when they register their card online. As we’re in the age where people want something extra when they spend what they feel is a lot of money on something they feel is overpriced, I’d say a bit of a reward for their loyalty (even though there’s not a cheaper third party solution in sight) will go a long way. Continue reading →

For MMO’s, A Little Forward Thinking By Looking Back…

Posted on November 9, 2011 by geelw

Just a quick note on this, as the long version will be part of an article I’m in the process of working on. Any new big-budget MMO that ships without a single player (and/or co-op offline modes) is missing out on making more money, period. Ignoring millions of folks who may NOT want to be social ALL the time (horrors!) but would absolutely buy and play certain games if they simply had an offline mode is pretty dumb, I say.. Just because a player isn’t joined at the hip to a server doesn’t mean he or she shouldn’t be playing a game at home where they COULD at some point (if they wanted to), take that character they’ve been using online to finally join or make a few friends. Micro-transactions aren’t the only way to make a profit, folks – getting a loyal user base that wants to buy into a version of your games they can enjoy (offline or on at their leisure) IS.

Spiderweb Software Is Having An Eternal Sale. Get Some Great RPG’s Anytime You Like…

Posted on October 7, 2011 by geelw

Want to try out (and then buy) some of the deepest and most intricate RPGs out there for PC and Mac (and in at least one case, iPad)? Well, Spiderweb Software, which usually runs an October sale has lowered their prices even more permanently! While getting 20% (or more) off is awesome, buying one of their PC or Mac games this month will give you an EXTRA 10% off, making anything they have an even nicer deal. Hmmmm… at these prices, I may just have to take my own advice here for a change…

So… Facebook Is Inspiring, After All…

Posted on September 21, 2011 by geelw

So, Facebook made a few changes some people seem really, really upset about, as poking around on the site today has revealed. I find the new stuff annoying (the right side feed and blue corner “news” notations), but not to the point of venting angrily about them. I guess some of the really pissed off folks are also Netflix users who are feeling extra burned at having more stuff changed without being asked first. Still, I did wake up and write a little poem about this new look for the site,

Yes, it’s musical in a sort of Gilbert & Sullivan manner… Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Daggerfall!

Posted on September 1, 2011 by geelw

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=104087

It's hard to believe how quickly time flies, but 15 years ago today, Bethesda Softworks released the second installment of its RPG series. While the end result of all that hard work was a more stellar experience than TES: Arena, it was still a bit buggy in spots. That said, Daggerfall was still impressive for its amazing visuals, scope and gameplay. Ah, memories. I still have my copy of the original game minus the interior box and the cool letter opener thanks to a really stupid roommate years back when I was living in NYC. At the time, I was recycling some cardboard boxes for mailing and I kept a small stack of folded boxes near my games collection, as I was using the boxes to ship out games I sold or traded. One day as I was going out to work, my roommate asked if he could use a box to ship a gift out for his mother's birthday and I recall saying something like “Sure, take anything near the stack of games” before heading out the door. Little did I know that my invitation was a call for some major stupidity and minor theft…Read more »

XCOM Gameplay Video: Why 2K Games Deserves More Respect…

Posted on August 30, 2011 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/nAmvP4w2ts0?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

There's SO much hate for this game from people who haven't even played it yet or worse, have such a death grip on their beloved (and indeed, absolutely classic) PC game that they're unwilling to let the dev team make the game they're trying to make. I say let 2K Marin and 2K China do their job and enjoy their take on XCOM on its own merits. The team has already bowed to an incredible amount of pressure from some of the more vocal “fans” out there, making tweaks to the gameplay to add more 'tactical' elements. But I think that's all that needs to be done to appease some that still don't seem to understand that every story needs a beginning. Hell, something as huge as the X-Com organization you know and love didn't come from a vacuum. I see the new game as laying the groundwork for a more complex future that includes all the other turn and action-based games in the series. Bending over backward and taking do or die orders from a mostly mean-spirited bunch that's not even interested in touching the new game will only strip away what the developers are trying to create.Read more »

Goodnight, Irene (And Good Riddance)…

Posted on August 28, 2011 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/My2u2QyvyF4?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

Other then a ton of rain, wind, Irene was (in the words of a friend) “like a cheap hooker – too loud, too expensive and gone like the wind in the morning.” According to the mayor just now, no deaths in NYC were due to the storm, we lost about 650 or so trees around the area (how did they know THAT so quickly?) there were only 24 arrests (Saturday nights average around 300) and while the overall damage has yet to be calculated, it seems that the city won’t sink into the sea like some thought.

Of course, others areas were much harder hit, so condolences to those who lost loved ones and property – here’s to getting back on your feet, picking up the pieces and moving on. Speaking of moving on… I have a Deus Ex: HR review to finish – back with that later. Spoiler: it’s a definite BUY.

Tough Love: I’d Feel Sorry For Nintendo If They Were Smarter…

Posted on July 29, 2011 by geelw

Call me crazy, but it looks as if history is repeating itself, this time a bit louder. The last time Nintendo tried to capitalize on the 3D “trend”, we ended up with the Virtual Boy, an interesting yet flawed device that tanked because it was too unwieldy, initially too expensive and only had a handful of monochrome titles released with few others cancelled or shipped out in small quantities. It landed in the discount bins at rental shops like Blockbuster and retail stores and is now a rather cool collectible that showed Nintendo does indeed make the occasional mistake. Flash forward to this week's news that the 3DS is getting a 32% price chop (which resulted in Nintendo's stock dropping by 21% as of this writing) and yes, thanks to a number of high profile game delays and cancellations, it's a case of here we go again… almost.Read more »

Instead Of An Evil Dead 4, Why Not A…

Posted on July 25, 2011 by geelw

…remake of the 1970 horror flick Equinox, which can indeed be seen as a prequel of sorts to the Evil Dead films? Hell, it definitely inspired Sam Raimi and I’m crazy enough to see an influence or two in a few other horror films such as Phantasm and The Gate (but I could be wrong). Not to second guess anyone involved in the project, but I’d personally prefer Bruce Campbell to play something er, closer to his age range and not attempt to prance around like Harrison Ford in that last Indiana Jones flick (aided by stuntmen and CG work where necessary). OK, maybe I was a wee bit too influenced by Bubba Ho-Tep (see it if you haven’t – it’s weird and insanely funny) in judging Mr. Campbell’s current state (that Old Spice ad campaign from a few years back shows he still has it going on). Nevertheless, I just don’t want any of the crazier fans to get their hopes up and think there’s going to be a NEW trilogy of Evil Dead films with the new one kicking things off. After all, the movies DID inspire quite a few Duke Nukem quotes and we all know what happened when HE came back recently (and a few too many years late for some folks)…