This is not just another Guitar Hero post

The internets have been all aflutter today with video of Guitar Hero III in action, presumably, on the Xbox360. Joystiq made comment in their post that caught my attention:

It's hard to blame the team from Neversoft if the game's playing a little differently at the moment, as they didn't have access to the code (created by Harmonix) from the original two games.

While I know that when Activision acquired Red Octane they also received the Guitar Hero publishing rights. It seems odd that they didn't get any of the code in the process. It stuck out in my mind because it seems to mirror some of the things that go on at my own company.

Strictly speaking about only titles on Nintendo platforms, with all the developers under the wing of THQ, there appears to be little in the way with sharing of resources and ideas. Throughout the test cycle, some developers will continue to struggle with functionality that our other developers code with ease. Instead of communicating with each other, there seems to be more interaction with support at Nintendo. It seems like a case of one hand never talking to any of the other hands. We seem to have a system in place that should help with this but that our developers are still trying to figure out how to use it. Hopefully in the future, as they become better acquainted with helping each other, the test cycle will go smoother and the end product will be of a higher and consistent quality.

Am I not the gamer I once was?

I absolutely love Live Arcade. The idea that not only fresh, new experiences can be brought directly to me over the series of tubes, but classic ones as well, just warms my heart. I have, however, noticed that there is something quite wrong when playing these classics games: I suck!

I have been stumped by games that twenty years ago, I was a master. At least that's how I remember the games. Games such as, most recently, Rush'n Attack, Double Dragon, Paper Boy, and Root Beer Tapper on Live have be so much more difficult than I remember. Even NES classics like Super Mario Bros., Metal Gear, Elevator Action, and Ice Climber challenge me to even get past the first level in some cases.

These games are so much more simple than the games I feel that I have mastered on the 360 or the Wii, or even the GameCube or PS2. There is usually on two directions to move, horizontally or vertically, and a jump button and an attack button. Why then do I struggle with these games?

I initially chalked it up to age. These games are the epitome of the platformer genre and twitch game play. They rely more on reflex and rote memorization than most of today's free roaming games. I definitely struggle with multiplayer FPS's so I believed that this was the reason I was sucking at games that I once played with ease. Or did I? It then occurred to me that I own many more games today than I did as a kid. Now, I usually only play through a game once, unless I'm going for some achievements, and then I'm done. Not so in the past. I must have played some games until I practically wore out the controllers and cartridge connections. Playing these games over and over drilled them in to my head. There is also the ability to save practically anywhere you want in games today. If not, there is most likely some sort of autosave system in place to keep your place for you. We have it so easy now. Remember when you had to write down a password to continue where you left off? Otherwise, you had to start from the beginning. Again.

As I wrote this though, one other thought came to my head. What if is the AI, or rather a lack thereof, that make these classic games so difficult? Instead of increasingly complex and human-like development from the AI we see today, the AI is almost zombie-like in its effort to get to your character. They usually come from all sides, unyielding to anything in their way, even their own doom. Programmers are always attempting to create more realistic enemy by making them more cautious and intelligent. That's great and all, but what if? What if a game with today's capabilities hurtled endless waves of intelligent but suicidal enemies at you? Scary.

Just need to get something off my chest...

The proper term is not Wiimote.

Joystiq is reporting that a group of journalists have got together to assemble a guide for budding journalists and bloggers. Their aim is to set the record straight and create a sense of commonality on terminology in our industry. They touch upon such hot topics as the correct use of video game and what defines a great review. I imagine it is a thrilling read.

I just hope they get at least one thing right. The proper terminology handed down from Nintendo is Wii Remote. I'm sorry everyone. There is an extra three characters in the correct name.

Skills to pay the Bills

I happened to notice that Neversoft is hiring Guitar Hero Testers for the next iteration of the game. The description list qualifications such as being ready "to rock!" and passing a Guitar Hero "proficiency test." If hired, do you get a dressing room and the ability to make outrageous demands for what is put in there?

In all seriousness though, more power to anyone who is qualified. I'm almost complete with five stars on medium and fear moving on to Hard, let alone Expert. This is a skill and a great opportunity to get in the door. I believe Neversoft has a record of hiring people as testers only to promote them due to their testing/playing skills on the Tony Hawk series. The next thing this person knows, he or she could be selecting the songs for the set list in Guitar Hero III. And that would definitely pay the bills.

Initial Halo 3 Impressions

It took a couple of extra days to get my code, but it's finally here and I'm online. I had a chance to play about a half dozen matches, mostly on High Ground and a couple on Snowbound. My most immediate feeling was that I was having fun. FPS's are not my forte, but I was most definitely having more fun I would normally. Secondly, your character seems to move way too slow; like he's moving through molasses or something. This became especially apparent in Snowbound, where there is more open space. This may be improved if there were more people on the map. (I was in a 6-player rumble pit match getting my bearings.)

I did not see any glaring bugs or freezes. The only thing that really caught my attention is when the camera went through the ground after I died and showed the area outside of the game world. But still, nothing major. As far as balancing, I may not be the best judge as I'm not intimately familiar with the old nor the new weapons. However, it did seem that the rockets didn't fire fast enough and that the melee distance was tough to reconcile. Then again, maybe I'm just a noob!

Many people seem to be down on the graphics but I can honestly say that they weren't bad. They may not be up to hype standards but they were significantly improved upon from Halo2. The environments were crisp and detailed, things I believe to be hallmarks of a next generation game. Graphics, to me, aren't everything. It's in the details. Gone are the era of muddy, bland textures. The words now should have life and I saw that in the tease that Bungie is giving us. Furthermore, whether they improve the graphics before launch or not (I wouldn't hold your breath for a major overhaul, demos can be pretty indicative of the final product), Halo3 is about game play, pure and simple. If they can keep it fun, there is no reason to believe that this game will be a staple of Live for a very long time.

Wii: Bright or Bleak Future?

A little over a week ago, I came across a great new website: Game Producer Resource. The latest post describes Juuso's (the author) opinion on the upcoming success for the Wii.

Since I work day in and day out with the Wii, I thought I'd throw out my two cents:

I’m not as confident as you. Sales have been very strong and probably will be in the near future. But sustained growth is going to be tough.

The Xbox 360, my personal pick in the long run, and the PS3 will be better at meeting the hardcore gamer market with exceptional titles, XBLA/PSN capabilities and online gaming. The Nintendo Wii is said to try to be winning hardcore fans but attracting casual gamers as well. The casual games market is thriving, but mostly on hardware that casual gamers already own: like a computer or a cell phone. It will be a hard sell to get people to continue to purchase a $250 piece of equipment to play casual style games and that’s it. (For a far better success story, one can look to the DS.)

This leads me to another problem I see with the Wii: game line-up. Working at a third party publisher who fully intends to support the Wii, we still see it as a second tier platform. Triple A titles are going to the 360/PS3 while the Wii will get ports with tacked on Wii Remote functionality. Lackluster but strong support from third parties is going to be detrimental in the long run. Nintendo is the only company who seems to fully see the potential in their own hardware. And with a release schedule of only three or four high profile titles a year, the road ahead looks far less bright.

Gamers Day: E3, only all over the country

I believe May 9th was the one year anniversary since the last, by which I mean final, E3. It was the only one I was able to go, demoing our Nickelodeon titles to the press and anyone who was passing by. While it was a blast, it was murder on the feet. I won't say that I'll miss it except for meeting people from other companies but I guess that is what other conventions are for.

However, looking back over the news the last couple of weeks and I seem to see a trend. While there was not one single location for publishers to make announcements and show off their products, there seems to be the rise of the 'Gamers Day.' Publishers, such as Sony, EA, Microsoft, SquareEnix, Sega and Capcom, were hosting events in there corners of the globe. It's as if everyone decided that now is the best time of the year to announce and demo something, E3 or not.

My only problem with this is that it seems that after these events and then whatever money is spent on the Min-E3 and E for All Expo events, that it would be somewhat equivalent to one E3. I could be way wrong, but it seems silly. At least from a journalists perspective, it would save them from having to travel all over the country to get the latest scoops.

My pick for the greatest Next-Gen feature

Now that the dust has settled, I am absolutely positive what my favorite feature amongst the three new consoles is: achievements. No other element that has been introduced drives me harder to play games. The Xbox 360 has done for games what I have not experienced since the early days of my gaming career. Not since the NES, SNES and Genesis have I gone back and played a game over and over again, looking for every little thing and exploring every nook and cranny. Back then it was mostly due to the fact that I had limited games available to me. Later, when I began to buy my own games, I have also had a limited selection of games, but little reason to replay them. Halo 2 was probably a precursor to the achievements but I was not fully sucked in until I started to earn Gamer Points. I still play only a limited number of games, but it drives me absolutely mad that I do not have 100% of the achievements for each and every game that I have played. Achievements have driven me to rack up about 220 hours in Oblivion (including Shivering Isles) over the last year, as well as play through Tomb Raider and Viva Pinata. Although attempting to acquire all the achievements in LiveArcade titles seems to be an exercise in futility, I am persevering. (Damn you, Hexic!!)

From a design perspective, they have also really encouraged developers to flesh out their games and challenge gamers. Would I have played through every story line in Oblivion if it weren't for achievements? Would I have broken a controller over FIFA World Cup? Would I have even downloaded Texas Hold'Em? The answer is probably not. Still, achievements also allow the developers to be a little lazy. I absolutely loathe collecting achievements. I am sorry: Marcus would not stop to pick up Cog Tags while being bombarded by the Locust and there are not floating, metallic medallions throughout Lara Croft's world. Collecting is dumb, but I'll save that for another post. Online achievements are a personal gripe since I don't seem to have the time or the reflexes to compete with those that do. On the other hand though, they wouldn't be achievements if they were easy or anyone could get them. They are for the most dedicated. In the mean time, I will continue to plug away.

THQ lessens dependence on Multiplatform

This was news a while back but it concerns my company and I’m just now getting around to writing about it. Going forward, according to our boss of bosses, we will focus less on getting every sku on every platform imaginable. The problem with doing this in the past was that it definitely took its toll on some of our past titles. These titles may not have suffered financially, but most definitely technically and aesthetically. I think it is quite well known that in the last generation, many games start development on the PS2 and are ported to other systems. There are a hundred million plus PS2’s out there and it makes sense to start there and work your way down. It made business sense; it just was not good practice as far as making the best game possible for each platform.

I am very excited to see that this will change and can say that the writing was on the wall. I look forward to working on our games that are built from the ground up for a specific platform and specific player. At THQ, we have a huge caste of licensed games which make up the majority of our line-up. This will not change. But I am more and more confident in our upcoming original intellectual property. The onus is now on our developers to step up and make each version of the game stand up on its own merits. My focus is on the Nintendo platforms, so I will be dealing with the Wii and DS titles that come down the pipeline (as the GameCube and GBA are in their last throes). While we may not have been a catalyst for a more enlightened implementation of these great and creatively demanding platforms, I’m of that the opinion that no one has, not even Nintendo themselves. There is huge potential and the future looks promising.