Backhand of Justice

Dragon Age had many skeptics pre-release. It was seen as a throwback niche product, attuned to hardcore RPG fanatics that were hidden in some dungeon somewhere, rolling dice for the last decade. An antiquated, hardcore RPG couldn’t really be successful in today’s sophisticated and streamlined market, could it?

Now that we know Dragon Age sold 3.2mm copies since its release date, putting it on pace for over 5 million, we have to ask whether there are any niche products anymore. I believe there’s no good product that won’t find an audience. If your game doesn’t sell well, it’s probably because it was crap, not because there’s some missing audience for your phenomenal game.     read more

Bioware has announced that only Mass Effect 2 saves in which Shepard survives the ending can be imported into Mass Effect 3. Considering the trilogy is Shepard’s story, this is understandable. 

Will restrictions like these eventually cripple the breadth of choice available in a game like Mass Effect 2? Choose your own adventure novels are frequently crap because it’s hard to develop a compelling multi-thread storyline, after all. read more

Game consoles have historically had representative mascots: Nintendo has Mario, Sega had Sonic and Sony has uh … Crash Bandicoot? Ok, forget Sony.

Game designers have tried to manufacture mascots, and forgotten mascots are continually brought back to life, such as the recently announced Sonic 4 in a desperate attempt to take advantage of a preexisting fan base. This is foolish; game mascots don’t become or remain popular because of some easily identifiable character design, that’s a thing of the past. All it takes today is a high quality game. read more

Every serious gamer has a collection of old games, whether it’s dusty SNES cartridges lined up on a bookcase somewhere, or PS1 discs sealed away in a binder. While nobody remembers what connector is required to hook up an original NES to a TV, or even whether that technology exists anymore, that physical reassurance is there. Worst case scenario, emulators for old games are widely available online.

With the news that Halo 2 online is shutting down, however, we have to come to terms with the idea that online games, no matter how popular, will not survive the test of time. Even the Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft’s of the world will be condemned to obscurity once that online experience can no longer be replicated. read more

The games industry is growing faster than almost all other consumer entertainment products. Players are united globally across the internet, and the future looks bright for game sales and publisher profits through digital distribution. Why, then, am I expecting creativity to be constrained by the expansion of a global market?

Innovation flows primarily from smaller developers to the Activisions and Electronic Arts of the world. Can an independent developer with limited resources afford to ignore the opportunities presented by a global audience by failing to cater to all tastes? Mainstream appeal here we come. read more

Word on the street (if you missed the recent news) is that Rockstar is a dysfunctional studio that is collapsing internally. There is internal squabbling between the California studios and the demanding and out of touch NYC bosses, and quality controls are on the decline.

Rockstar is one of the premiere development studios with their ultra successful GTA franchise. I want to look at some of the best development studios and a potential path to ruin that has been taken by some previous fallen angels. read more

 After reading the litany of criticisms leveled at Darksiders, I realize that game critics still put far too much emphasis on innovation in games. Not only that, but there are inconsistencies in their criticism: Borderlands is a creative powerhouse for being the first game to successfully combine Diablo loot mechanics with FPS mechanics, while Darksiders is a cheap rip-off for mixing Zelda and God of War.

I have one thing to say to all those critics: you are stupid and you have stupid faces. As it may be hard to understand the sophistication of my argument in just one pass, I will do my best to break it down so that it is more easily understood. read more

The future is here! We have arrived at not just a new year, but a whole new decade, which will doubtlessly usher in brave new innovations for videogames (not to mention the long awaited introductions of hover cars and robot butlers). Following are my top 10 gaming predictions for 2010. read more

A wise man once said ‘3D is balls, 2D is the business.’ That man was Shigeru Miyamoto, and he was speaking in November’s Nintendo Power. As the godfather of gaming, Miyamoto knows how to swing his weight around, and although his proclamation might have something to do with Nintendo’s recent 2D game offerings, he has a point.

For too long have developers been obsessed with graphical wizardry, creating increasingly intricate lighting, particle and physics effects. Gameplay was an afterthought tacked on at the end of a development schedule.

While Miyamoto’s proclamation isn’t big news and gamers have been spouting ‘gameplay not graphics’ for years, it gives closure to an era that gamers might rather forget: the graphical arms race. read more

With all the outrage over the ‘No Russian’ mission in Modern Warfare 2, such as this embarrassing piece on Fox News, I wanted to briefly discuss the gaming community’s obsession with mainstream controversy. Why do we feel the need to defend ourselves from these criticisms?

News flash: gamers are no longer a minority. The videogame industry is one of the largest entertainment earners in the world. Videogames are no longer for children and teens. Most people play in one form or another. With the exception of Germany and Australia, very little of the ‘Western World’ has any history of media censorship.

What is everybody worried about? Just ignore it, videogames aren’t going anywhere. read more