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Denver, 4:24 AM
Wed Nov 25
53 posts in the last 24 hours
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
06/25/09
06/24/09
06/24/09
06/25/09
06/24/09
06/24/09
06/24/09
06/16/09
As for the hoopla over price, I think it has to do with the "sudden" rise in costs to consumers with titles like Braid and Castle Crashers. The argument did not even consider the end package. Only the $15 price tag is what was focused on, and the accompanying fear that more games would follow their lead.
But, things change.
Was there a big stink over World of Goo's $15 price tag on WiiWare? I think the ratio of buyers-to-naysayers switched places for that game compared to Braid and CC. Perhaps consumers were more willing to bite the bullet for compelling content due to the groundbreaking set forth by those other titles?
The reality is that consumers, developers and publishers benefit from the expansion of price points. A more varied swath of content can be created and sold rather than sent to die at $60 or not profitable at $5.
06/16/09
With this new distribution model, if you lose the ability to play an older game, you wait until it's released for a newer system, then buy it again each generation.
So, it's not like you won't get more hours of enjoyment from the game than the lunch - it's just that if you buy a sandwich, they're not going to take it away before you're done with it, then try to sell it to you again.
06/16/09
The game size limit imposed now much more loosely by Microsoft certain didn't the help games being developed for their service breathe freely. Nintendo's inclusion of playing from SD flash can't make up for the total of 512mb internal memory, and unless a game is literally broken into pieces that would fit, 512mb will be the biggest any downloadable game will ever bee for the Wii.
Sony seems to be leading the race right now, especially with the promotion of user-generated content with LBP and mod nation whatever, new and creative games that wouldn't survive the expensive disk-printing process, and just happen to be more bite sized. I'm looking forward to Fat Princess, which looks like it's got enough content to be it's own fat retail game.
The complaints about downloadable game prices is something I've felt myself. Something that feels...risky and uncertain about buying downloadable games that have higher prices. Something about feeding a number to your game box thing and just being able to download the game feels like you didn't get very much, even if the title is dozens of hours long. The feeling of holding the game in your hands and saying "This is a twelve hour experience." just doesn't resonate with highlighting the game in a menu.
Also, what you've bought is what you've been buying for years behind the scenes, the license to use the software on the hardware. Not having a physical representation of ownership is something that will take getting used to, but since it's the obvious way of the future I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I'll still be a little wary. Something about that magical $10 price take makes games so appealing, and anything over that seems like it's too much. That might be the effect of buying stuff for the past couple years with MS FunBux instead of dollars, and 1200 looks a lot bigger then 800, even if I know the dollar value behind it.
In fact, I've yet to buy a handful of titles from PSN, despite having near $20 on my account, because I'm not sure if it would be worth it. I really want to buy flower, but I feel like I should be saving the money on there for...something. I have no idea what, but I just cant buy it.
This is a very long comment, again. I should stop doing this late at night.
06/16/09
06/16/09
But... but... it is the Internet! Everything on the Internet should use magic iDollars and be free!
06/16/09
06/16/09
06/16/09
pxljnk s th gyst sht vr plyd n my lf
Whch n? Thr's nly n wrng nswr hr, nd tht's Mnstrs.
06/16/09
Monsters is quite possibly the best tower defense game in existence and eden is... a unique experience, and quite addictive. I didn't like racers, though. I'll give you that one. Don't know how it was gay, though... I didn't think sexual orientation affected gameplay preferences... I mean even the straightest of men may find enjoyment from Cho Aniki, for instance.
06/16/09
And it came from Applebees.
I don't know what to believe anymore...
06/16/09
06/16/09
Well...America made the first car....
I think you can finish the rest.
06/16/09
06/16/09
06/16/09
Tofu... nope
Ramen? Nope
Sushi? Possibly, but probably not. Probably a pre-japan food, actually.
Teriyaki? I think we have a winner!
06/16/09
06/16/09
Applebees, Chiles, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, ClaimJumper, Outback,.... These places are crap resturants.
I don't think I'd hate them as much if they didn't call themselves restaurants. they're about equal to fastfood, which for what it is and what it costs....
06/16/09
We did? I'm pretty sure all we can really claim in that regard is that we made the first mass-produced car, which was coincidentally the first car that was priced such that the people who actually built them could afford to buy them.
@Bardiel18:
Being first does not draw down the wrath of banhammerage. Crowing about it does, especially if that's all you post.
@bobtheduck:
Live shrimp?
@BlueToast:
Steak & Shake = awesomeness in edible form.
@Advent Chaos: Love XJ9 c::
The fries are good, and I liked the burger the first time I went, but when I went back again it wasn't as good as I remembered. And definitely not as good as a Steak & Shake bacon double cheesburger with a real shake. My suggestion, if you can find one in the area, is to try out Ruby's (not Ruby Tuesdays, just Ruby's). I know both are Left Coast chains, and I've been to both in the LA area.
06/16/09
06/16/09
The value of course being subjectively determined but each individual.
06/16/09
06/16/09
Truly. I loved Portal, and Flower. There are other games like Ghost Squad, Dead or Alive 2, or music games like Beatmania and Guitar Hero that you can just sit down and play from start to finish, and even though I beat them dozens of times, they're often the ones I come back to.
On the other hand, I have a huge stack of 40-80 hour games that I don't even try to finish because I realize I will never have the time to make it through them unless I shut out every other game and form of entertainment for a long time - so I don't even try. I play a little once in a while, and then shelf them again.
06/15/09
Flow wasn't really a game. It was a media demo. I played it, but I was never immersed into it. It was more "Hey let me show so people an interesting concept" but that's all it did. Contrast that with Peggle or any other casual game of your choice.
I agree with the how games are derivative and I'm glad people are trying to not conform to a one-size-fits-all formulaic approach. But I don't think that they should believe that their shit don't stink, or that gaming isn't better because of all the FPSs of yesterday.
It's almost as if people love flow because it some how legitimizes the game industry. "Hey we have deep innovative artistic titles, we can't all be degenerate obese kids." In reality, this game isn't much about anything.
06/15/09
06/15/09
Interesting profile on a team with a strong personality and a refreshing outlook on video games. The more success their games encounter, the more the rest of the industry will take notice and realise that sometimes, a little subtlety goes a long way.
Flower will certainly rank among my very best video game experiences of 2009, as Flow did back in 2007. Unlike most other games I've played this year, I already know for sure that Flower will stick with me for years to come.