Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 8:29 AM
Wed Nov 11
67 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us: tips@kotaku.com
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
Email | AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
Email | AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
Email | AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/16/09
But, the hardened bitter relentlessly "let-down" part of me who has flushed hundreds of dollars down the toilet looking for something even mildly entertaining in this genre is saying "they're going to take even the most fundamental things that make this genre fun and completely suck the soul from them in an attempt to cash in somehow on wow's success, as unlikely as that sounds, they'll figure out how to do it."
Time will tell. #apb
10/16/09
10/16/09
It might be. But not as against the NDA as sending screenshots to Kotaku.
10/16/09
Hated for life :)
But seriously, niicccccccceeeeeeee! #apb
10/16/09
You could always, you know, read the NDA and see if it's against the rules.
10/17/09
10/17/09
10/16/09
Actually, I don't remember if I registered for it, so I'm not really surprised ... I just thought I'd release a little anger. I am quite interested in hearing what people think about it, though.
10/16/09
I just looked at the form now and I'm pretty sure I never filled it out before. But I looked at my empty inbox with contempt first as well. #apb
10/16/09
10/16/09
Unlike most people who applied and were just hoping for a chance to play it early for free, I was hoping to help figure out any of the problems that may be there, but ah well. Hopefully there'll be at least some people who got in that actually know what it means to be a beta tester and will be useful. #apb
10/16/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
I might give it a shot.
10/01/09
Sort of like waterboarding, but with more talking and less gargling.
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
Yes, this nascent species of gamer is one who rolls from one beta to the next. However, they never seem to find enough time to actually play retail releases. Certainly not when they spend almost every waking hour searching through the internets for the trails of upcoming betas and learning the methods of their entrance. One they set their site on one, the hunt is on.
Whether it be creating accounts at websites; inflating their qualifications in the application questionnaires; keeping a keen eye on their email for entrance notification; signing up for paid services; pre-ordering at specific retailers; buying a game they don't want that includes beta access for another game; or the classic...carpet bombing registrations with numerous entries, these gamers will stop at nothing in their pursuit of their prey.
The beta gamer is a rare but loud breed. You can find them on any board or blog boasting of entrance into their latest conquest. But don't actually look for them in the final release of a game. The beta gamer long moved on to other pursuits.
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
10/01/09
@DarkGildon: Admiral Ozzel would like to give you a little bit of advice on that...
10/01/09
09/24/09
And apparently it's the EXACT same city from the first game...
So...who wants to be on how long it takes for the crackdown devs to blame poor sales on used game sales, instead of poor gamebuilding?
09/24/09
I think you are trying to base the merits of Crackdown on a different game. For the first game, (imo) Realtime Worlds didn't set out to make GTA PLUS agility orbs, or Halo PLUS bigger jumping, as a means to extend the gameplay. At its core, Crackdown is more of an adventure platformer with shooting than it is a shooter with high jumping. The use of the weapons lock-on system exists to reinforce the jumping and mobility.
The game not having "any structure", well that is the "downside" of open world. Rather than directing a player through a series of artificial barriers to get to certain bosses at certain times, they allowed them to go anywhere at any time in what may be the first true open world game in modern memory (I'm sure I can be proven wrong on this one though.) And that has it's downsides, like not having a clear-cut structure, even though the developers had a implied structure. But I don't think the use of the orbs is a band-aid or distraction from that.
Agility orbs are kind of like puzzles. You see one in the distance and pick your line, or figure out "how the heck do i get to that?" in some instances. They are micro-rewards for making a ridiculous jump, or for being persistent in getting a hard to get-to orb.
The orbs are integral to what Crackdown is as a game. A game should be based on its merits and intentions, not the expectations of it being a game that it isn't trying to be.
09/25/09
09/24/09
09/24/09
Love getting that quote when you get to the top of the tower.
09/24/09
Crackdown had a lot of strong points, the plot was not one of them.
09/24/09
*looks at Crackdown 1250/1250 GS and cackles maniacally*
09/24/09
09/24/09
The best part about the orbs is the audio cue. It was one of the most vital elements in the game, and one of the best design decisions I have come across in a long time.
09/25/09
09/24/09