Wednesday, December 23, 2009

HAX

The last month of Modern Warfare 2 has been rough. I've sunk about 20 hours into the multiplayer on the PC (a low number compared to many people in the game right now) and I think I've run into every hack and exploit in the game. The first MW had its fair share of problems with this (I actually stopped playing the first game on the PC and moved to the 360 because hacks became so common) but the popularity of this game at its launch has accelerated the speed at which the community would have normally found these. The most annoying thing I've run into thus far isn't even a cheat though; it's the akimbo 1887s. They're usually a one shot/one kill and have a crazy range for a shotgun of that power. Every single time someone kills me with those I want to ram a rusty railroad spike through that fucker's asshole.

Now thankfully there is a patch out now for all platforms that fixes these issues. Hopefully I can now safely come back to the game and enjoy getting my ass kicked by people who are just better than me, rather than people who are just cheating.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Needs more Ds

The most lasting thing I got from my viewing of Avatar last friday was a feeling of wonder and amazement. It wasn't just the experience of seeing the film in 3D, it was the execution of the 3D that that sucked me in. It could have easily been a series of cheap scares and out place moments where "OH MY GOD THAT GUN IS POINTING RIGHT AT YOU" but they weren't there. Avatar didn't just prove that modern 3D was a great technology, but that it can be done in a way that benefits the film and doesn't distract from the experience of watching it.

I don't want to hang to much on the film, it isn't perfect, but it has done a great deal to advance the medium. Like Jurassic Park was 16 years ago a revelation for CGI, Avatar is for 3D.

There are still some questions left to be answered, ticket prices, blu-ray, etc., but I still am more excited for films in a post Avatar world than I ever thought I would be.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

I just got served


So today is apparently Capcom day on the blog which is fine with me as long they keep putting out awesome stuff like this to talk about.

The background in this screenshot shows Metro City, the setting for the Final Fight games making it the most recent addition to Super Street Fighter IV that pays tribute to FF. (Another one of those references being Final Fight character Guy being added to the SFIV roster, also featured in the above screenshot.) If you don't already know, the Final Fight and Street Fighter franchises are already linked. Street Fighter was originally sold to arcades as a the sequel to Final Fight, but some where along the line the game's name was changed from Final Fight II to Street Fighter. Over the years Final Fight characters have made appearances in various Street Fighter games paying homage to the two series' linked roots.

While Street Fighter went on to become one of the most popular franchise's in gaming, Final Fight fell off the map. The only recent addition to the series was a putrid PS2 game released a few years ago. Final Fight may never return to the popularity it once had it's still nice to know Capcom hasn't forgotten about it. If you haven't played Final Fight before I highly suggest you change that, with Virtual Console on the Wii being one of the many legal means of downloading the game.

Hard or Easy

Like most normal humans I got my ass kicked last year by Mega Man 9. It was frustrating to the point where I felt like there was no fun in the game for me to have. That isn't to say that I don't understand why other people loved it. Truly challenging games are hard to find to in this day and age and I do think that some people just need a game to be frustrating before they can really get anything out of it.

For me MM9 was a huge disappoint. It was a game that I was really anticipating and to load it up to find that I was absolutely wretched at it was heartbreaking. I don't use the term "heartbreaking" here lightly either. This was the same feeling of heartbreak I used to get all the time as a kid when I would get a game, try to play it, and find that I was just too terrible at it to get anywhere. I knew that the game itself wasn't bad, but rather I was bad. For a person like myself who loves games this type of revelation is akin to an art collector realizing that they've gone blind. Being unable to see something that seemingly everyone else could was (and still is) depressing. Now I do know that I'm not the only person who sucks a MM9 or the only person who loved video games growing up and was awful at them, but when you suck at a game you know to be good you sometimes feel like you're the only one.

I've read some places and heard some people I know wonder aloud why games have (as I alluded to earlier) become easier. The answer is simply because of people like me. Developers have grown past wanting to create games that are challenging for the sake of it in favor of games that can challenge players without being frustrating. Devs want players to see the worlds they've created; and why wouldn't they? There is no point in pouring all that effort into something only a small portion of your potential players will see. That isn't to say that there is no room for hard games, in fact there should be plenty of room for both levels of challenge in games today.

Mega Man 10, was announced earlier this year with the addition of an easy mode to the game. Whether or not it was a decision made due to the whining of people like me or someone at Capcom wanted to share their creation I don't really know. I'm just glad that I'll be able to see the game like other poeple.