Web Designer Wanted
Hey folks,
I want to announce that I am looking for a web designer to develop me a site that can contain my blog (with custom design hopefully) and space to display portfolios of different types, including downloads, images, video and writing.
You can contact me at admin@kapzer.com if you’re interested.
Thanks,
Kapzer
E3 Roundup
So, the week has passed and the powder keg that is E3 graced us with a slew of news, with highlights including the Wii U, Halo 4, the focus on Kinect titles, a Bioshock project on the Playstation Vita (formerly NGP) and lots of games. As you can see, besides the already known announcement of a new console, E3 2011 was a little short of excitement especially when compared to the massive free-for-all that was E3 2010.
In short, E3 was a bit of a disappointment. Most of the things that came out of it were already known or leaked beforehand, including Nintendo’s new console. Therefore, it is indeed acceptable for one to feel a little “jipped” when trying to sum up the events of E3. On the other hand, this year was full of gameplay demos showing everyone not just little teasers of what is to come, but giving some real demonstration as to what they will be playing. This includes relatively long gameplay clips of titans such as Battlefield 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Alongside that, we saw some more Gears of War 3 gameplay, quite a lot of demos from games coming to PS Vita, and some big-publisher titles like EA’s Need for Speed: The Run, and Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
The big highlight of the show was the Wii U, Nintendo’s response to demands from the gamers. The console sports technical specifications that live up to the current generation, and backwards compatibility for the majority of peripherals and software from the original Wii. That means you’ll be able to use your motion controllers with the new console. In addition, the Wii U introduces a new controller that contains all of the same buttons as a current generation controller, but adds a touch screen in the middle of it. This acts as a second screen that can work either in conjunction with the big TV, or as an independent screen where the player may continue playing whilst the TV is turned off or the channel is changed. So really we’re looking at a current gen console with a little add-on. Oh I forgot to mention that the console will contain quite a few of the upcoming 2012 titles, and is looking to be released next year.
To sum up the Wii U, all I can say is….it’s about time. Nintendo finally listened to the outspoken and horde that is the gamer nation. As for the rest of the show, I hate to say that it was mediocre but I simply cannot deny it. At least we got to see some great gameplay, and personally…Gears of War 3 is exceeding my expectations.
E3 2011 Baby!
Well it’s that time of the year again, that time where nerd and gamer alike come together in order to celebrate what is regarded as the Mecca of gaming – the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)! After the mindnumbing event that was E3 2010, this year is shaping up to be even more drool-worthy with a staggering 138 titles confirmed to be on show in some capacity whether it be as part of the conferences or on exhibition on the show floor. In fact, to show what I mean, here’s a list of the titles that have been confirmed to be present at the 2011 show:
A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Anarchy Reigns
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
Backbreaker Vengeance
Back to the Future: The Game — Episode 5: Outatime
Bastion
Batman: Arkham City
Battle VS Chess
Battlefield 3
Ben 10: Galactic Racing
Binary Domain
BioShock: Infinite
Blacklight Retribution
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Bodycount
BurgerTime World Tour
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures
Captain America: Super Soldier
Cars 2
Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII
Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic
Crusader Kings II
DC Universe Online
Dead Island
Defenders of Ardania
Disney Universe
Dragon Nest
Driver San Francisco
Duke Nukem Forever
Dungeon Siege III
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
End of Nations
F1 2011
Face Racers: Photo Finish
FIFA Soccer 12
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Fortune Online
Forza Motorsport 4
Free Realms
From Dust
Gears of War 3
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
Guardian Heroes
Heroes of Ruin
High Flyer Death Defyer
Hitman: Absolution
Hulk Hogan’s Main Event
Jurassic Park: The Game
King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Madden NFL 12
Magicka
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
Mass Effect 3
Metro 2033: Last Light
Michael Phelps: Push the Limit
Mind ‘n Motion
MotionSports Adrenaline
Nano Assault
NBA 2K12
NCAA Football 12
Need for Speed: The Run
NHL 12
Ninja Gaiden III
Of Orcs and Men
Pet Zombies in 3D
Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension
Prey 2
Prime World
Prototype 2
Puzzle Agent 2
Rage
RaiderZ
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
Rayman Origins
Red Faction: Armageddon
Renegade Ops
Resistance 3
Rift
Rise of Nightmares
Risen 2: Dark Water
Rocksmith
Rotastic
Rusty Hearts
Saints Row: The Third
Scivelation
SEGA Rally Online Arcade
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2
Sonic Generations
Soulcalibur V
Spider-Man: Edge of Time
SSX
Star Trek: Infinite Space
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Starhawk
Super Mario 3DS
Supremacy MMA
Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter
Take Shape
Tera
Tomb Raider
The Adventures of Tintin
The Darkness II
The Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Hidden
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Testament of Sherlock
The Sims 3: Generations
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online
TrackMania2 Canyon
Twisted Metal
Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress
UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Uncharted Portable
Upcoming new Just Dance
Upcoming new Raving Rabbids
Upcoming new Your Shape
Vindictus
Wakfu
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
White Knight Chronicles II
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited
XCOM
X-Men: Destiny
Zumba Fitness 2
(list courtesy of Rynstex at gaminglives.com)
As you can see the list is staggering, and that is only the games that are definitely at the show. There are still the new titles that will be unveiled as part of the publishers’ conferences, which starts in tradition with Microsoft going first. Following on the same day are Ubisoft, EA and Sony. Better than reading this, here’s a small graphic showing you the order and times of the major publisher conferences, with Konami having already done theirs as a pre-produced piece, and Activision as usual deciding to have a private conference with no live stream.
(image courtesy of Kotaku.com)
As you can see, that’s a busy Monday, with conferences proceeding throughout the day. On the other hand, June 6 is the media day anyway, so it’s expected for the majority of conferences to be situated then, with just the one by Nintendo taking place on the Tuesday, when the show is open to the public. As with regular E3 occurrences, there have already been accidental leaks. Last year included leaks such as the Microsoft Kinect and Sony blunders such as Mass Effect 2 on the PS3 and Killzone 3. This trend continues in 2011, with someone at Microsoft having accidentally leaked Halo 4 and a Halo: Combat Evolved HD version.
(image courtesy of Kotaku.com)
A shame, but I’m sure there’s plenty more news and surprises to come from E3 2011, so let the event unfold and let us see what there is in store!
I’m Afraid You May Have Consolitis
With the persistence of the current generation and promises from the likes of Microsoft and Sony that their current generation platforms will have a ten year cycle, it comes to question if games are being held back by conforming to the current standards. Let’s face it – video games seem to have reached a plateau where technical specifications have been similar for several years. It can be said that the real issue here is whether or not games are being hindered by developers conforming to said plateau.
The argument here is different depending on which perspective is being analysed. The general consumer would claim that there being a set standard for games is not a bad thing at all, since the priority of the consumer is the monetary effect this would have on them. With consoles having such a major effect on development standards, consumers would declare that they are spending less money overall due to only needing to buy one platform. Whether they buy a console, or prefer to play on the PC, they would say that they have no need to upgrade hardware. New hardware is always available when it comes to the PC, but with consoles having a lack of hardware upgrades it is apparent that consumers feel like the winners.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule in those consumers that like to play on more than one platform for reasons such as exclusives, or preference in certain genres on different platforms. One such example would be individuals that prefer to play their first person shooters on the PC, and alongside this group of people are those that consider the PC as their platform of choice. PC gamers, despite whatever opinions you may have of them, are the core driving force in advancing games technically. This is due to the virtually limitless technology available to the PC platform. With new components available regularly, PC gaming usually attempts to push the boundaries of what can be done within games via the use of new technologies.
In the perspective of the PC crowd, game developers have generally been disappointing. They believe that developers have begun to create games with consoles in mind, rather than developing for the PC as the native platform. For some genres such as role playing games and driving games it is understandable for console controls and gameplay to be preferred over PC gameplay, but the argument is that for the likes of first person shooters or strategy titles it is the PC that should be developed for first and foremost. There are accusations that developers are more interested in developing for the larger crowd and after higher sales, therefore concentrating on console development rather than utilising the newer technologies available that go beyond the capabilities of consoles.
Examples of the argument are the upcoming titles Crysis 2 from Crytek and Battlefield 3 from DiCE. After the release of the multiplayer demo on the Xbox 360 first, and then the PC, there are opinions that the PC demo feels like a port of the Xbox 360 version. There are accusations that after Crysis and Crysis Warhead, released exclusively for the PC, Crytek’s decision to make Crysis 2 a multiplatform title with a streamlined user interface was not favoured by the PC audience. They feel that Crysis 2 has been “dumbed down” in order to play better on consoles, sacrificing the complexity they introduced in the original Crysis, a game designed with PC gamers as the sole audience.
The Urban Jungle of Crysis 2
The PC crowd are concerned that DiCE will pull a similar move with Battlefield 3, which is the first title in the main Battlefield series since Battlefield 2, in between which there were three console-focused titles in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and the two Battlefield: Bad Company games. Unlike the previous PC exclusive prime Battlefield titles, Battlefield 3 is being developed for the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. It’s due to this, and the last few titles that came out before it, that is making PC gamers anxious about DiCE’s direction with the title. This is in spite of the fact that DiCE have already announced that the PC will be getting special treatment compared to the console versions of the game.
Battlefield 3 in DiCE's Frostbite 2 Engine
With one audience being in favour of the gaming plateau, and one very much against it, the opinions of the consumers are distinctly split into two. However, the opinion of those that are involved with the games industry every day must be considered. The perspective of game critics and developers cannot be ignored in such a debate. There are possible advantages as well as disadvantages to having a plateau in games. It can be thought that gearing a title for a multi-platform release means that all formats need to be of the same or similar quality, with no one format being distinctly better than any other. This could lead to limiting a certain version of the game that could have more content or more depth in gameplay via use of a technology that is not possible on other formats. However, this would sometimes explain why platform exclusives exist; simply because one platform is more capable than another.
On the other hand, it can also be argued that creating a title of similar quality on all platforms gives the title equality, so that the consumer may purchase the game on their platform of preference, and not feel like they are losing out buy not buying the game on another platform. However, at present platform manufacturers incentivise consumers to buy the game on their respective format through marketing or offering extra or exclusive content. This results in the game not being the same on all platforms, meaning consumers would prefer one platform over another.
Some would say that the argument of technical advancement and utilisation of new technologies versus equality and cheaper gaming for consumers is completely irrelevant. The so called “limits” in current generation technology has not stopped developers from being creative nor has it stopped them from pushing the technology as far as they possibly can. For this point, Crysis 2 is a perfect example. Crytek’s CryEngine 3 makes the game look graphically better than anything before it and that is by exploiting the hardware at hand and building an efficient engine to produce quality not seen in the past. This is the case for both PC and consoles; the game looks just as good, if not better than Crysis, and looks better than any other console title to date.
Crytek's Beautiful CryEngine 3
Game designers would be adamant that limits in technology do not stifle creativity. More than five years into the current generation new games and IPs that introduce unique features are still being created. Whether this is the use of a unique art style like in Borderlands, distinctive game mechanics like in Split/Second, or even completely unique titles like runaway indie hit Minecraft. There are many more examples of games that utilise current generation technology and still manage to introduce new things to gamers, proving that no matter which platform is being developed for, creativity is not dead in this postmodernist generation.
It can be said that despite the differing opinions from various components of the games industry, developers continue to innovate and deliver new experiences for consumers. Even though technology continues to advance and new processes and tools become available for use, developers are still managing to explore the current standard and keep pushing to use the full extent of the technology’s capability. Therefore, it can be said that even with “consolitis” being evident, it in no way hinders the ability of game developers to provide new and intriguing experiences.
Been A Long Time
Well, I must say, it has been an incredibly long time since I’ve updated this blog. Oh well, it’s not like anyone read it anyway!
Nonetheless, this post is just to say that I’m back and I shall be updating again. Don’t expect very regular updates, but it’s better than nothing, no?
Since last time, I’ve been up to a short summer break and then back at university for the third year of my degree which is mostly over. Yes, that means I shall soon start looking for work! So if you’re a game designer in a position to hire, then look me up! Of course, I shall be uploading my portfolio to the “portfolio” category on this site, and eventually a fully customised site will be up which I am currently working on with a friend. It’s just taking a while because we’re both at university and it’s an idea that hasn’t really been done before, especially this method of displaying a portfolio.
In the time coming I’ll start with a review of Battle: Los Angeles and my thoughts on the Crysis 2 demo, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.
For anyone reading, I’ll be back soon!
