Sunday, October 15, 2006

Death In the Family

There has been a death in my family over the weekend so I will be heading out of town for the funeral this week. Have a good gaming week.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

The pitfalls of beta testing...

Sometimes, when beta testing, one finds out that a game they had high hopes for is too close to release, with far too many issues, that they begin to slowly erase it off their "must buy" list. It doesn't mean they give up on testing or providing feedback, but its the one time that the dreaded word "delay" appears next to the title. All, in the vain hope that the development team has an idea of how to make a better end product.

Even worse, this particular game has the potential to turn this market upside down and shake out the cobwebs.

Update: 25 Apr, 2009 - Edited post and labels.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Battlefield 2142 Demo has NO UNLOCKS!

The Battlefield 2142 demo is upon us, and EA has dropped a big surprise in it for everyone. There is no way within the demo to gain ranks, or unlock new weapons and equipment. This demo is free advertisement for BF2142, and I don't see how eliminating 95% of the game's equipment is supposed to generate positive buzz!

The unlock system in BF2142 is not like that of Battlefield 2. Every item in a player's inventory has to be unlocked. It only takes a few matches to get enough rank to have some decent equipment unlocked. Starting classes only come with the very basics. Players have to outfit them with unlocks to be successful. Grenades, C4 packs, and many other basic items, that BF players are used to, are all unlocked instead of defaulted at the start. Also, most of what makes BF2142 unique (squad beacon, stealth device, etc.) are hidden in the unlocks.

The demo is going to be very (and I mean very) dull if everyone is forced into fighting with just the basics. It will turn vehicles into un-killable machines! It will make camping the prime time activity. No one can flush enemies out with a grenade, or stealth in to collect a camper's dog tags. It really brings into question whether it is worthwhile to even download the demo. Players will end up playing a ghost of the true game.

What worries me more is that there might be something wrong with the game mechanics, and they are rushing to fix it before launch. To save face, they are putting a demo out and eliminating the part of the game that was causing issues. This is definitely something EA has pulled before with *cough* BF2 patches *cough*. The demo may run beautiful, but what does that mean for the end product?

EA knows how to screw over customers, and someday it is going to bite them in the rear.

Update: 19 Apr, 2007 - Edited article.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

PSM3 Magazine gives PS3 testkit a glowing preview!

The team over at PSM3 Magazine have gotten their hands on some Playstation 3 test/preview consoles. And guess what; they absolutely love it and give it a smashing review!
1) It's quiet like a sleeping baby. A barely audible hum. With the TV on you simply can't hear it at all.
2) It's heavy like a planet. No, really. It's impossible to pick up with one hand.
3) It's shiny like a mirror. In fact, it's impossible to take a photograph of it without the flash spanging every picture into a starburst mess. And therefore it's massively prone to fingerprintage too, with the tiny amount of dust in the office magically attaching itself to its surface in seconds.
4) The PS3 joypad is very light and the tilt system is very responsive. We like.
5) The start up is amazingly fast. And game load times were faster than expected. In fact, PS3 does both at about the same speed of PSP. ie, Long load times due to the massive Blu-ray disc? Nope. Simply not an issue.
6) Andy's fingers kept sliding off the shoulder buttons. But that's because his fingers are slippery.
You would think being the Official PS3 magazine and being some of the first journalists to get their hands on a working PS3 they would be more objective about it. The quality of their writing is worse than most blogs I read. It's an "OMG OMG OMG we gotz a PS3... OMGZ daddy Sony lovez us!11!!" article full of vague features.

How long are the loading times? Last time I touched a PSP it took over three minutes to load SOCOM: Fire Team Bravo.

How responsive is the tilt system? What game is it responsive in? Last time I checked even with the Wiimote it is reliant upon the game being played and the developers ability to program properly.

A heavy system? Heavy usually means expensive...

oh snap!

Well I have to get to class, but this is just amusing to see.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Battlefield 2142 Demo Confirmed for October 4th

From GamersHell: Battlefield 2142 Demo This Week!
"Electronic Arts unveiled that a playable demo for Battlefield 2142 will be launched on October 4th, giving you the chance to try out the next installment in the Battlefield franchise, scheduled to ship worldwide this month. Team play features allow up to 64 players to enter the action on the front lines as part of a formal squad, or work behind the scenes in Commander Mode to direct the strategic assaults of their teammates. With in-game success, players increase their rank and unlock awards, including new weapons, medals and more."
I'll be on the battlefield, of 2142, later this week. I am curious to see if the demo will have advertisements within the game. The beta test I participated in did not have any sort of advertisement, but the places for it were painfully obvious. Empty billboards littered the countryside. Blank signs on the side of buildings were easily noticed. I can't imagine what it will be like with the Fanta girls dancing across them.

Update: 8 Jul, 2007 - Edited post and applied labels.