The Problem with PAX

The Penny Arcade Expo hit a few road bumps this year, discovering that their exponential growth, while slightly slowed, is still enough to cause problems with line-management and space issues.

But that's a problem easily solved, and the PA folks are all over it.

The bigger problem, as I see it, is in the expo's name and its association with Penny Arcade.

Independent developer Cliff Harris, of Positech Games, asked pirates why they choose to pirate his games, promising them immunity and anonymity in exchange for their honest rationales, which he would aggregate and post on his blog. They reciprocated, and of about six reasons, a righteous indignation at DRM seemed to lead the list. Harris is actually responding to the gripes in both the pricing and de-DRMing of titles in the future, with his own reasoning why it's a good idea.

It’s odd to talk about EA Sports’ Madden franchise, with the features it's touting in the 09 release, now making itself more of a social gaming experience. For the better part of two decades it’s been one of the top titles to play with friends, offline or, lately, online. But the pattern of features that were added, upgraded or unchanged from last year points to a major push that’ll expand the game’s social appeal, especially to demographics well outside the paunchy, balding thirtysomething. In other words, EA is going where the growth is, and its marketing of this game absolutely tips that hand.

You're No More A "Gamer" Than You Are A "Listener", "Watcher"

I'm posting this because it's been something that's been bugging me for a while, particularly when I'm talking about my job to people who aren't that big on games. People who just presume that because I play a lot of games, I love all games, and cock an eyebrow when I respond "eh, 3D fighters, I hate that shit". Writing on Edge, Steve Poole asks:

Do you know anyone who likes books and likes all kinds of books, from popular exegeses of quantum mechanics to Mills & Boon romances? Do many people like all genres of film, or all genres of music? It’s very rare. We ought to consider it a tribute to the increasing breadth and maturity of the videogame medium that there are people who only play hyper-realistic FPSes, or games featuring talking fluffy animals.

Well put. Chances are, you're no more a "gamer" than you are a "reader". Time for a change in your self-labelling, "gamers"! Suggestions for amendments below, right after you read the entirety of Poole's great piece.

Loving, Hating Videogames [Edge]

CNN Tackles Hot Spore Porn Issue

We had our fun with lewd and lascivious Spore creatures when the Creature Creator first hit, and then we were done, but some people just can't let go and move on. The plague of Spornography has become so widespread that even the folks at CNN can no longer turn a blind eye. At least they keep things classy.

But scrolling through the database — past the three-legged sea horse, past the seven-eyed wildebeest and the half-motorcycle-half-pig — revealed something many users didn't expect. Buried among the more wholesome attempts were two-legged dancing testicles, a "giant breast monster" and a four-legged, "phallic fornication machine," for starters.

You can almost hear the concerned-sounding voice of your nightly news anchor during a commercial teasing a full investigative report on how Spore is raping our children's minds.

Industry Apologetics: It's Not Just A Game

In my last column, I defended Grand Theft Auto IV from allegations of sexism, based on my opinion that it treats everyone distastefully. It provides a sandbox experience, I said, that allows players the opportunity to explore the underbelly of humanity and themselves, reflecting their own worst impulses back at them.

I was pleased that the article provoked thoughtful, in-depth discussion about the treatment of race, gender and other social issues in games, but in debunking a single individual's attack on Grand Theft Auto, my intention was not to provide a blanket pass to games that permit (and arguably, in this case, promote) antisocial behavior. So I was more pleased at the commenters who criticized the virulence of my GTA IV defense than I was at those who agreed with me (though, hey, who doesn’t like to be agreed with?).

One of the ways I rationalized what I’d written is by noting that games are scapegoated and crucified at every turn by people who’ve never even played them, and that this unfair public flogging threatens the medium’s potential for mainstream legitimacy.

Why those who make games don’t defend their own craft vigorously is a question for another time, but my position has been that the least we can do is to return these volleys when they’re aimed our way. If we want to see games truly thrive and grow away from stigma, it’s our responsibility, really.

And that’s why the most irresponsible thing we can ever do as gamers is to speak the phrase, “It’s only a game.”

Yes, Age Of Conan Is Having Problems

The Norwegian branch of the Nordic region's largest gaming magazine, Gamereactor, gave Age of Conan a 9 out of 10. They are full of crap. It's not that Age of Conan isn't worthy of the score...it's just that there is no way of knowing that yet. They had their score ready before the game even went into early access, so in essence, they reviewed the beta of the game, which you cannot actually play now.

This is not a review. You cannot review an MMORPG on day one, or two, or three, and expect to have experienced even a slice of what the game has to offer. Games change from beta to retail. Tweaks are made, the population grows, servers get strained, etc. No, this is simply my impressions of the beginning of the game, at the beginning of its life as a full, retail product.

How much have I experienced so far? I've played every character class to level 10, with my choice of main - the Conqueror - played to level 20, the point you escape the newbie island and are thrust out into the open world. I'll look at the mechanics, the story, and the performance as it stands right now, and take from that what you will.

I've been doing these Wii Virtual Console updates more or less every Monday since they started uploading games to it, and I'll be damned if I'll let a little thing like not actually updating the VC this week because of WiiWare stop me. Since there are no new games for the classic game service coming out this week, let's fill in the space with our imagination! What would your perfect virtual console update look like? Mine would go a little something like this...

Soul Blazer (SNES - 800 Wii Points): Developed by Quintet and published by Enix, Soul Blazer is an action RPG that places you in the shoes of an avatar sent down by a god to restore souls and rebuild towns. The spiritual successor to ActRaiser, and nearly good enough to go toe-to-toe with A Link To The Past.

Tiny Toon Adventures (NES - 600 Wii Points): They're tiny, they're toony, they're all a little loony, and this theme song will be stuck in your head for weeks.

That's all I need. Just those two and I will be set for weeks. How about you folks? Shaq-Fu, anyone?

Blockbuster Not The Best Game Store So Far

So I ran out today to pick up Iron Man the video game, exciteable little fanboy that I am, and decided to purchase it at my local Blockbuster Video, to see how they were doing with the new retail push. They had one copy for the PlayStation 3 and one copy for the Xbox 360 available, and on a whim I chose the PS3 version, seeing as my poor system hadn't been getting much attention since Hot Shots Golf last month. Upon getting the game home I hastily unwrapped it, only to discover that my PS3, which I have long considered the best of the three current consoles when it comes to reliability, would no longer accept any Blu-ray media. PS2 games work fine, and DVD's, but PS3 games and blu-ray movies were a no go. I was completely crushed, and jonesin' for some Iron Man, so I took the game back to Blockbuster, hoping they would show pity on me for buying a game I couldn't play. They swapped out versions for free and I lived happily ever after!

Unfortunately I'm lying.

Rockstar's Houser - Fuck Casual Gaming

Apparently the post Grand Theft Auto IV release has the bravado reaching all-new levels over at Rockstar. In an interview with New York Magazine, Rockstar VP and GTA IV co-writer Dan Houser had some decidedly negative things to say about the industry's shift towards casual gaming.

Yeah, fuck all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking...We're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies.

Rockstar Games' Dan Houser on Grand Theft Auto IV and Digitally Degentrifying New York [New York Magazine via Eurogamer]
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Video Games Can Be A Rich And Magical Experience

Several of you have pointed us to an amazing opinion piece by Naomi Alderman at The Guardian titled "If we deny children access to all computer games, we deprive them of a rich and magical experience", a beautifully written response to recent events in the UK like the Byron Review and the banning of shocking Kane & Lynch advertisements. She praises Byron's report for touching on the many opportunities for fun and learning that computer games allow, and how we need to move away from the notion that computer games cause harm, and then points out how the print and television media reacted by warning parents about violent games and monitoring their children at all times. In short, they completely ignored the positive points and focused on the negative. Alderman paints a much brighter picture, though the quote that struck me as the most poignant was this:

The world of Grand Theft Auto does contain violence and misogyny; but then, so does The Godfather, or Goodfellas. So, for that matter, does The Iliad.

Some hardcore cakers (coughFaheycough) will tell you that Gingerbread cakes aren't in fact cakes. Well that's insane. Take for instance this amazing Companion Cube cake created by surprise birthday cake given to Game Cake's reader Fred Zeleny by his mom. Sure there's no frosting, really. Sure it lacks toppings. (Not even a whisp of fan-fave Ganache). But it's sweet, you eat it, and it's about a game. I think what Zeleny's mom has taught us all is that the audience for game cakes is much broader than what the big cake companies will have us believe. Sure the triple-A Mario cakes will always be top sellers, but that doesn't mean you can't have a success with something as simple and down-to-earth as gingerbread.

Gingerbread Companion Cube [GameCakes]

Diagnosing Completion Anxiety Disorder

Some of you may remember, way back in my blurb introducing myself to Kotaku, I mentioned I'm bad about not finishing games. I wasn't kidding. I have completed an embarrassingly low number of games, and I always though this made me a bit of a freak amongst my fellow gamers. But according to an opinion piece by Leigh Alexander of Gamesetwatch and Gamasutra, I may not be quite the abnormality I thought I was. She argues that gamers on the whole are completing fewer games now than they did in the past. There's a whole host of reasons she suggests as to why this is happening: Too long? Not engaging enough? Too challenging? No time to finish? Alexander's reason I identify with most with is inability to part with the experience. When you put hours and hours into character development, quests, and skill honing, it's hard to break away from that experience with the conclusion of a game.

So what's your reason for not finishing games? Or do you complete everything you start?

Opinion: On 'Completion Anxiety Disorder' [Gamasutra] [Pic]

What King of Fighters XII Taught Me About Diablo 3

I've long been mulling over exactly how a theoretical Diablo III should look...for years now. You see, Diablo is a 2D franchise entering a 3D world. And its graphical style, as trivial and superficial as the topic may seem, will affect the way the game feels to play (which many have probably noticed in 3D Diablo clones like Dungeon Runners that feel distinctly less satisfying).

But after reading that King of Fighers XII was completely hand drawn, the answer to updating a 2D isometric game suddenly felt obvious—just draw it out.