Why Too Much Tech Might Cause A Second Big Industry Crash… Or Not

Posted on August 7, 2012 by geelw

Between a few parallels with the gaming landscape in the early 80’s and the fact that the tide can’t stay in forever in terms of the constant push toward new tech at the cost of actual meaningful innovation, I think we’re in for a bit of a bumpy fall (and sooner than some think or even want to consider). There are too many divisions in the current business model between mobile, tablet, social, console and portable games, there’s a big pissing contest going on in the industry over which will kill of what first (despite the fact that they ALL can and should thrive together) and then there’s the whole online-only thing that’s 100% useless when you can’t get online. Don’t get me started on “free” to play games (which aren’t really free), the current PC elitism bile directed at consoles and the foolish Ultrabook nonsense where some companies thought making expensive laptops would be a good idea just because Apple has rooked in billions with its overpriced tech. Then there’s the stupidity of “the uncanny valley” or photo-realism in graphics, which, by the Great Green Pickle has NOTHING to do with gameplay or story (two things that are more important at the end of the day).

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On Replay Value: Why Most Critcs And Gamers Are Dead Wrong

Posted on June 26, 2012 by geelw

One of the annoying trends I’ve seen grow far out of hand over the last decade plus is the issue of griping about longevity in games, or more precisely, the overemphasis on criticizing length versus cost divided by quality. Pop onto any games review site or message board and you’ll see whining about games being too short for what they cost (no matter what they cost) or worse, too many posts about people who play certain types of games ONCE and immediately trade or resell them, often for far less than what they paid. This is dumb, and thanks to too many reviewers who write as if they’ve never set foot inside an actual arcade (or even if they haven’t, fail to understand that most games are made to be replayed), this trend of limited thinking and under-appreciation will keep thriving. For me, unless a game is so terrible that it HAS to be removed from one’s sight as soon as possible after a single play-through, it’s worth replaying… and in many cases, keeping.

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Dungeon Hunter: Alliance – (Slightly) Defending Ubisoft’s Vita Hard Sell

Posted on January 30, 2012 by geelw

Based on a majority of the posts over at the PlayStation Blog regarding Ubisoft’s upcoming Vita Action/RPG, Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter Alliance is going to be a hard sell to those who’ve already played the game as an iOS, Android or PS3 release… and that’s too bad. The upcoming port of DH:A has enhanced HD visuals and makes use of the Vita’s front/back touchscreen sand accelerometer in an interesting manner. As I’ve never played any version of the game and love a good dungeon crawler (I don’t own an iOS or Android device and don’t use PSN these days) , I’m interested in reviewing this one on its own merits.

Sadly, it seems that nearly everyone criticizing the game is doing so solely based on the $39.99 price point and not the fact that those new Vita owners who may have never heard of the game before probably won’t mind supporting Ubisoft, Gameloft and Sony with a full-price retail purchase… provided the game is good. Herein lies the problem with launch software (well, one of many problems). If you don’t spend time creating an experience that favors both old as well as new players, the veterans will always be there to let you know you’ve” screwed up” (even if you really didn’t)… Continue reading →

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 →

Commentary: PSP2 – Does it REALLY Need To Do EVERYTHING?

Posted on October 25, 2010 by geelw

Love Letter From A Low-Tech Hard-Head

As much as I love Sony and the PlayStation lineup), the news cycling 'round about the company's upcoming PSP2 (and possible, on and off PSPhone device) irks me to no end. Well, maybe not that much (this isn't an “angry” rant at all, folks), but still… Not that's I'm complaining (but I'm complaining anyway), but SOME of us just want a pure GAMES PLATFORM, not another touchscreen tablet, laz-e-reader, movie playin', memory eatin' overheatin' shiny new tech toy. If the PSPgo has taught us (and hopefully, Sony) anything it's that getting away from the core consumer or adding too much functionality to a gadget only turns away those who just want to PLAY GAMES (pirates be damned).

Risen PC Goes Gold, 360 Version Slips to 2010

Posted on September 19, 2009 by geelw

OK, that’s one down, department: Deep Silver has announced that the PC version of Risen has gone gold and will be hitting retail on October 2, 2009. The Xbox 360 version, however won’t arrive until sometime in 2010 (cue the sound of RPG fanboys ranting worldwide). While this might seem a bit of a letdown to fans expecting both versions simultaneously, it’s actually more of a positive sign in my book.

How so? Well, rather than stamping your foot as you type that angry e-mail or message board posting out to whomever, look at the delay this way: it gives Piranha Bytes ample time to make sure the 360 version is tweaked to perfection. Besides, the dev team can also use any constructive feedback from pro and fan reviews of the PC version to possibly add extra content (or possible patches) that PC version gets during the window from its launch to the 360 version’s release date.

It’s all about the perspective, folks…