Let Your Friend Grab Your Stick

If you know me whatsoever, you know that I cower from online multiplayer the way that a craven hipster flees from a reasonable BMI, loose-fitting clothing, appropriately corrective eyewear, and shaving their crustache.

It doesn't matter if it's team deathmatch, co-op, or any of the multitude of variations produced by the mega-bucks franchises. I don't like playing games with you*, especially if I don't know you.

* - private sessions of Horde Mode are the exception here

It wasn't always like that. I used to enjoy your virtual company, but then you had to go and invite your friends, and then they brought their friends, and the next thing I know, I got Mason Dixie barking 'faggot' at everyone like some kind of bigoted dog with Tourette Syndrome, then there's the guy who's expending a lot of effort pretending to be high, assuring everyone, at every moment, that he is, in fact, high, and then there's the jaded trolling GameStop employee, He Who Is The Highest Authority On Games Ever, and every game we play with him kinda sucks, and is not as good as this one other game, which in turn, kinda sucks, and is not as good as this one other game, etc.

Really, I'd like it if you and your friends just shut up and let me focus on the game.

Now, I'm going to commit the sin of hypocrisy, and make a statement that is in line with the aforementioned hipster party line.

(Console-based) online gaming was better before it became cool.

Really, though, that's true of everything. Generally speaking, communities are more fun when they're more insular, and the population is such that there has been a bit of community-driven selection and filtering of new members. It's one of those things in which you only tell the friends that you really like about it, so that 'the one guy that you're all friends with, but you all kinda think he's a douchebag, but for some reason, he's always around' doesn't come in and fuck it up for everyone.

It used to be simpler, and I hate being the guy that says things like that.

While I love being a grown-up and owning a home and having a family, I will confess that one thing I miss about having roommates is 'pass the stick.' That is probably my favorite approach to multiplayer gaming.

For those of you too young to know of this practice, 'pass the stick' is when you have a buddy or several hanging out in the same physical space as you, and you each take turns while playing through a single instance of a single-player experience as a team. Sometimes, each dude will play until he dies, or each dude has a specific skill with which he's stronger than the others, and the stick will get passed based on each presented challenge, or maybe you rotate by 'level.' I played through Metal Gear Solid this way, Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill, the PS2 GTA games, and countless other gems, and it was incredibly fun. Controllers and beers would circulate all night, and we'd play into the wee hours after having gotten off work from our crappy retail or restaurant jobs.

Hell, sometimes, the girlfriends would want to get in on the action, which would add even more fun.

It would be interesting to see something like that worked into XBL, PSN, or Steam. If everyone owns the game, have one player initiate the session, have everyone share the same view while one dude's got control. That player can then delegate control to another player, if he wants. Something like that.

It's hard to imagine it being as fun, though. There's something to be said about everyone in the room crying out at the same time when something awesome, scary, or crazy happens, not to mention the running commentary.

I remember Adam and I slowly turning to look at each other during a particularly scary part of Silent Hill and our eyes bugging out when that one shared look confirmed something terrible that we'd both seen or heard.

Or playing through various Japanese survival horror games with my college roommate Kensuke.

Or taking turns on our respective KotOR saves with my college roommate Mike.

And as I talk through this, I'm realizing that maybe I just need to get that stick out of my ass about online gaming.

Part of my preference to shun co-op is that I want to be able to focus on the story without you crunching fucking Doritos in my ear while a very touching death scene unfolds, or an interesting plot point is expounded upon.

What I'm the most guilty of, though, is feeling like true multiplayer is a waste of time. While that is a post unto itself, it bears mentioning here. As I get older, I find myself, more and more, thinking that I could be advancing the story in something instead of playing this competitive multiplayer. I don't feel any kind of accomplishment in MP. It feels like a time-wasting treadmill most often. Is that the wrong way to look at it? Do you experience anything similar, or is that just the wrong way to look at it?

I am curious as to how other people approach their multiplayer gaming. Do you have any basic ground rules for yourself, or what you'll put up with and won't? What do you try to pull from the experience? What's most important to you in multiplayer?

Also, how do you feel about 'pass the stick?' Any good stories?

-Blaine
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PRE3 Drives Us to DRINK!

This is so not my fault. Tony started drinking at 9AM and then just kinda showed up at my house, ready to record. Lucky for you all, I filled him full of caffeine and pain-killers, and we rolled this motherfucker out. We combed through our sources and the internet to find every potential game worth talking about, and assembled a 3-hour EPIC PRE3 show for you that hearkens back to the old days of Untitled Podcast madness. Gone are our recent attempts at concision and we lay out for you a plentiful harvest of information and correct opinions.

From Dragon Age 2 to Rock Band 3 to The Last Guardian to the final Nintendo 3DS specs, we have it all for you, and we tell you exactly what we're watching for, what's got us excited, and what the Cardinals were doing while we recorded this.

Explode your mind here!

Keep an eye on this blog, as each day, both of us will be carpet-bombing you with updates and opinions, be sure to keep an eye on both of our Twitter feeds for moment-to-moment reactions:

Blaine

Tony

PLEASE let us know what you wanna hear about from us, and also let us know what you think is going to be the hottest shit during the show!

I'll give you one teaser here. I'm gonna keep a sharp eye on Brink. It's being developed by Splash Damage, who I think are the absolute best when it comes to class-based shooters, and the mix of single-player and multi-player sounds amazing. Check it out.



That looks hot. I like how the cinematic trailer really gives you a feel for the type of gameplay they're shooting for. I trust the guys at Splash Damage, and can't wait for this one. Keep an eye out for it @ E3.

-Blaine

GamePro

***CORRECTION 2009/12/31***

I received a tweet from the MAN himself, John Davison, last night, and I wanted to take a moment to clarify something I said in the original post below. Rather than risk being totally unclear again, here's his tweet:

jwhdavison @taranwalker Glad you like the ideas. Reviews are staying (for now) but will be more experience-focused. The rest is all features

So, yeah, reviews will be in there, and I really, really dig the 'experience-focused' angle.


Anyway, apologies to John Davison for not being clearer on that, but there ya go!


-Blaine

***END CORRECTION***

BTW, if ya haven't listened to the latest 4 Guys 1UP, do so. There, you'll hear about what sounds like the most exciting development in print gaming journalism, which is John Davison taking over GamePro. Just give it a listen, and hear about his plans to move the mag away from reviews and previews, and go more toward features about the people who make games and their artistic processes. The site handles the reviews and previews and all that stuff, while the mag is going to be much more feature-driven.

If you read EGM & 1UP during the Davison days, you know about the excellent quality that he brings to whatever he works on. I subscribed to GamePro as soon as I got home while listening to the podcast in my car.

What's interesting is that back in the 90s, when there were a million gaming mags, GamePro was one of my early favorites, but then became utterly irrelevant to me once Davison took over EGM.

What's incredible, to me, is that I'm going to be subscribing to both EGM & GamePro in 2010.

So, what do you guys think about gaming mags? What do you wanna see in them now that the reality of online content has set in?

I wonder if there'll be an option to subscribe on my Nook to either one...hmm...

-Blaine

Tonight! Tonight!

Okay. It's here! The first of the 'end of the decade' podcasts! Tonight, we'll be talking quite a bit our favorite games of this year, and #10-6 of our 'best of the decade,' as well as some games that didn't quite make the cut.

We need your help, though! What was your favorite game of 2009 and your favorite new release from between 2000-2009? Drop it in the comments, along with some quick thoughts on the games, and we'll read the best ones on the air!

Thanks!

-Blaine

Also, be sure to read our posts about games that didn't quite make the cut, but still get some love.

Forza (series)
Shadow of Destiny
Trackmania
The Witcher
Burnout Paradise
Plus, our extra special Christmas post

Gaming & Acquisition Day

Acquisition Day is nearly upon us, so it's time to prep your gaming library for maximum fulfillment. You must be mentally nimble over the next few days to make sure that your gaming acquisitions are maximized for as little as possible.

Here's a fun fact: I never get games for Christmas. I don't want games for Christmas. If I get a game for Christmas, I know it's something I don't want, because if I did, I'd already have it. I realize that not everyone is as efficient in terms of acquisitions as I am, so here's some tips from the pro.

#1 - Scour your local gaming shops for trade-in deals. Sometimes, if you trade in toward a pre-order, they'll give you a bonus of some kind, or if you trade in a certain amount, whatever. Even if the preorder game is one you don't care about, trade in anything you don't love toward it, maximize that dollar, then sit on it.

#2 - If you get a game for Christmas that you didn't ask for, tell the giver a) that you've already received the game from someone else and will require the receipt to correct their thoughtlessness, or b) it's such a wonderful gift that you can't believe that it's real so you'll need the receipt to verify that is does, in fact, truly exist. If the game isn't from your game shop, see if you can return this game or games to your local shop w/ no receipt and add them to your store credit fund. Either way, move the value of that game into your already existing store credit fund.

#3 - Be careful how you open the games you do decide to keep. Leave any and all stickers attached, or in a state in which they're easily reattached. Make only minor slits in the cellophane or shrinkwrap. If it's something you can play through quickly, make sure to get the receipt from the giver, so that you can return it as new after resealing it and add more to your ongoing store credit fund. Bear in mind, though, that you're voting with your dollar. If you do this, you're essentially telling the developer and publisher to fuck off and never make a game like this again. If it was a bad game, though...they overcharge for most of these games anyway. A lower prince point would make you less apt to do this.

#4 - Now what to do with your lump of store credit? First of all, switch all your credit to something other than the game you preordered that you don't give a shit about. Next, evaluate what you want versus what you need. I know that most of you are the kind of gamers that buy any old piece of shit game (I've seen your XBox live gamerscore & PlayStation Trophies, and what games with which you've tarnished it/them, fucker.) Most of you are the kind of gamer that contribute to the greater problem by buying just about anything with flashy box art or a good review from Game Informer, IGN, or GameSpot. Allow me to stop you for a moment. You know how you wonder what sex would be like, or what it would be like to touch a bare (female) breast without having to worry about being prosecuted? I maintain a very high-quality gaming library while maximizing usage of my man parts with a consenting living human woman every single day. What's my secret? I dump all that store credit into game preorders, so that when those releases come around, I'm in and out the store so fast that it's as if I was never there, and the bank account doesn't take a hit, so again, it's as if I was never there. I look smart, efficient, powerful, and thoughtful, all in one fell swoop, and you can too, all by not buying shitty games.

It's the key to life, really, when you think about it. What repels women more than anything else? A man who repeatedly makes bad purchases and bad financial decisions. You know how you can easily tell how smart a man is with his money? Find out how hot his woman is. If you're pissed about how ugly your girlfriend or wife is, or if you have failed to acquire one, it's time to review your game purchases over the last few years.

That's why you should be more like me, and only make good purchases, but make it difficult to ascertain the exact number of these good purchases. Nothing gets my woman's motor purring like her finding out that I made another gaming acquisition using only non-liquid assets.

Additionally, a solid game library becomes an asset, based on the market value of each of your games. If you only have good games, then it's not that you're 'buying games,' it's that you're 'investing.' Consider Panzer Dragoon Saga, Final Fantasy VII (black label), or Burning Rangers, all of which have only increased in value. If you are shrewd about your game purchases, and vote with your dollar, and only for games with real quality, then not only will your gaming life improve, but you'll position yourself well for an attractive mate. When she sees you step out of your personal helicopter in the parking lot for the hot new wine & sushi bar, she'll know that you were incredibly smart about how you handled your acquisitions on Acquisition Day, how you knew which gaming assets had real long-term growth potential, and which gaming assets were best liquified in favor of financial gaming diversification.

Anyway, since this is a gaming blog, I wanted to share some pro-tips right before Acquisition Day. May your acquisitions be vast and your wealth increase!

Lemme know what you get, and don't hesitate to ask if it's a keeper or dumper!

Also, the End of 2009 podcast is going out this weekend, so keep your ear to the ground! We'll post it here when it's time! Don't forget to tell us what your favorite game of 2009 was, as well as what games might be in your 'best of the decade!'

Merry Acquisition Day!

-Blaine

In Defense of Shadow of Destiny

Those early days of the PS2 were a bit like the early days of a new girlfriend. She's hot, she's cool, you like spending time with her, but you haven't yet figured out how best to, ahem, maximize your alone time with her.

Interestingly, in both cases, alcohol helped quite a bit.

Many of us wanted to buy the machine at launch, the few of us that actually worked at game stores back then actually did, and we consoled ourselves with the pretty-good (if disappointingly offline) Timesplitters or the truly excellent SSX or yet another retread of the overrated Tekken franchise or even told ourselves that Smuggler's Run was really, uh, fun. Even the jaggy DOA2 port was kind of a letdown.

Really, though, it was a shitty launch. Console shortages and a lack of killer apps quietly tempered our enthusiasm for the machine. Honestly, mine played almost nothing but Final Fantasy IX, a PS1 game, and DVDs for the first several months. Remind me to tell you about the time Tony and I nearly got busted for watching porn on our store demo unit by the district manager once...

Anyway, it really wasn't until a game called Shadow of Destiny came out early the following year that I really went nuts for my PS2.



Shadow of Destiny is a third person adventure game in which you control the main character through several time periods in the same town, and can very open-endedly avert your own death. There are multiple endings, and the more of them you complete, the fuller the story becomes. Little nudges in history here and there change things later, and it's through the manipulation of time and people that our hero, Eike Kusch, is able to continue living past a certain point.

Several things really make it stand apart for me.

First of all, the color scheme for each time period is very distinct. The oldest, if I recall, is a kind of sepia tone, and others each have a cool look, as well. I believe that the modern day scenes are full-color, and one of the middle time periods is a more white & blue color set. It's really been a while. This helps make each iteration of the town feel fresh and separate from other incarnations, and serves to convey a feeling for what's going on in each time period.

Second, there is literally no combat. None. This is, frankly, a bit jarring at first, but at the time, it was quite a revelation for me. The game just never needs any combat, as every choice is related to exploration, reasoning, and emotion. The player survives by their understanding of the game mechanics, the area and people around them, and their sheer ability to reason things out. Those who many regard as 'retarded' will roll their eyes at this, probably call it 'gay,' and never move beyond button mashing in their games and drooling on themselves as they watch reality television programs and '24.'

Third, the story and plot were, at the time, something new for 3D adventure gaming. Investigating one's own murder and having that lead to a much larger story that spans hundreds of years was something that hadn't really been seen too much outside of the old text adventures and point & click fare of the early 90s. It really made your brain work to grasp temporal implications as you maneuvered, sometimes through trial & error, to stave off you murder by using plans-within-plans hundreds of years before.

I'll be honest, though. I'm not sure that this is a game that stands the test of time. A lot has happened in regards to storytelling in 3D games, as developers like Bioware, Valve, Bethesda, Mistwalker, Feelplus, & Squenix have moved the medium forward tremendously over the last ten years, and I'm curious to go back and replay this game to see how I feel about it now. Since I'm not willing to pay $110 for the PS2 version, I'm going to preorder the forthcoming PSP port, due out 1/26, alongside Mass Effect 2. That costs only $30, and I believe it'll be available in both UMD & digital format (not sure which way I'll get it, though.)

Actually, I wonder if downloadable PSP games can be downloaded and played on PS3. Hmm...

Anyway, this was a great game at the time, and if you haven't played it, I urge you to give it a spin.

As Tony has indicated, we'll be talking on here a lot about the games that nearly made our "top 10 of the decade" list for the rest of this year, then we'll be shifting to 2010 games once the calendar rolls over.

Actually, that's a dirty fucking lie. While we will be talking about new and upcoming games, I also want this blog to be a place that talks about old games, too, just for the hell of it. Tony and I straddle the age of 30 (he's just shy of it, and I'm just past it), which means we're kinda old, at least according to target demographics. So, yeah, as I said at the beginning, this blog is about games, be they new or old, good games or crap like Tekken & Halo, RPGs or action RPGs (or the occasional racing game, apparently). This is your repository for all things gaming, so long as it fits into our narrow spectrum of awesome.

Whatever.

So, back to the topic at hand!

Did you cats play Shadow of Destiny? What did you think? If not, what was the first game to really rock your mind on PS2? Any special memories of the PS2 launch?

NOW COMMENT!

-Blaine