Paqwak - Computer Games

Computer Games - games online, puzzle games … etc

Archive for June, 2008

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Casual Gamer Chick: DS Contest Count Down: 7 Hours Remain

Just a heads up, if you’re looking to win a new Crimson/Black DS and haven’t taken part in our Casual Gaming Contest, please check it out now. Entering into the contest is as easy as playing a little game to win ticket entries into tonights raffle.

The winner will be picked tomorrow and we’ll packup the prizes to send out. Just a reminder, here is the prize list:

The contest ends at midnight, Eastern Time, so it’s time to get in the game and start building up some tickets for tomorrows drawing! Good Luck!

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Bret on Social Gaming: More Engaging: Facebook or Myspace?



More Engaging: Facebook or Myspace?

One would think with the more robust app ecosystem on Facebook that Facebook would have the more engaging site. But the numbers say no. However, I thought the numbers might be skewed in the favor of Myspace since it has more total U.S. users than Facebook, so I calculated the average time spent on each site, and Myspace still easily bested Facebook.

Average Time Spent per user May 2008 (in minutes)
Myspace: 281.80
Facebook: 165.59

For comparison, here are some other socnets:

MyYearbook: 155.31
Blackplanet: 114.34
Bebo: 100.59
Friendster: 74.1
Hi5: 72.4
Livejournal: 48.86
Classmates.com: 12.35

None of the socnets come close to casual gaming site, Pogo.com, whose users average 819.77 minutes on site per month. Tomorrow, I'll break down the major games sites from the Top 200 with commentary.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Grumpy Gamer: Things Said

Gamasutra posted an interview I did with Chris Remo back when DeathSpank was being announced.   I always like being interviewed by Chris.  He asks a lot of very interesting questions.

And just for the record, I am not in favor of unionizing the game business.  It may become necessary one day and there are a lot of benefits in doing so, but if it were to happen any time in the near future, it would be a complete disaster.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Small Fry

When I heard the newest Nitrome game since Sky Wire 2 was called Small Fry, I turned to my own "Small Fry", seven-year-old Roland to help me out with the review. Roland says this one is special because you get four different characters, and you have to get them all to the tree house at the end of the level.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Yes, I Am A Pirate

Ahoy there Not many people would be willing to admit as such, but I feel an explanation is in order to clarify why I am able to admit it.

More

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Casual Gamer Chick: EA Redesigning Sports Games for the Nintendo Wii

Electronic Arts (EA) announced the redesign of their sports games exclusively for the Nintendo Wii system. The sports games are part of the All-Play product line. EA Sports All-Play will release four sports games this year. The sports games are the big names in their sports franchise and consist of Madden NFL 09 All-Play, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 All-Play, NBA LIVE 09 All-Play and FIFA 09 All-Play. EA Sports All Play

The idea behind the EA Sports All-Play label is to level the playing field in the sports games. The Nintendo Wii has attracted a whole new type of gamer and EA wants to make sure their sports franchise appeals to the new gamer as well as the veteran gamer. The All-Play line simplifies the controls for the game, the play calls and the play modes. The games have all been redesigned from the ground up specifically for the Nintendo Wii.

The EA Sports All-Play games will be released this summer and fall.

Press Release Follows:

GUILDFORD, UK. – June 27, 2008 – Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: ERTS) has unveiled new game details and the unique line-look for its “EA SPORTS™ All-Play” products shipping this summer and autumn for the Wii™. Designed for social play and featuring unique controls, distinct presentation and a style of play that is inviting to players of all skill levels, EA SPORTS will ship four “All-Play” games in 2008 in Europe.

“The Wii platform and the Wii consumer are looking for a very unique sports experience,” said Peter Moore, president of EA SPORTS. “We’re excited to take four of our most popular franchises and develop them from the ground up exclusively for the Wii, with unique controls, unique presentation, unique modes and even unique packaging. Whether you’re an EA SPORTS veteran or a rookie gamer, EA SPORTS All-Play levels the playing field and delivers a fresh new gaming experience.”

EA SPORTS will ship the following games under the “All-Play” descriptor:

Madden NFL 09 All-Play
Madden NFL 09 All-Play features fun, approachable and innovative gameplay by unleashing the power of the Wii Remote through the all-new EA SPORTS Call Your Shots feature. Call Your Shots allows the player to create his or her own plays on the fly and direct receivers where they should run. Gamers of all skill levels can also enjoy an all-new fast paced 5-on-5 mode which has a reduced field length and big head NFL players. Experienced Madden players or rookies to the game can utilize the all-new play calling system. No matter the skill level, players can be competitive with three playbooks to choose from, ranging from Easy to Advanced.

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 All-Play
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 09 All-Play features personalized coaching from Tiger Woods’ personal coach, Hank Haney and all types of gamers can pick up this game and have a fun and challenging experience. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 All-Play features new graphics and user interface while also incorporating interactive and social mini-games. The standing swing control, the most “true to life” golf mechanic you can find in any videogame, truly takes advantage of the Wii console’s unique control scheme. The game will also feature online play for the first time with Simultaneous Online Play that allows up to four players the ability to play each hole at the same time.

NBA LIVE 09 All-Play
Step onto the court and into the fun with a unique basketball experience designed exclusively for the Wii. NBA LIVE 09 All-Play offers more action, more often, with an over-the-top basketball experience designed with everyone in mind. Improved responsiveness and more control options make this game easier and more fun to play than ever before.

FIFA 09 All-Play
Step onto the pitch and play a unique soccer experience exclusively for the Wii. Enjoy FIFA Soccer 09 All-Play one of two ways—a Wii-specific take on the classic ‘11 vs. 11’ simulation or over-the-top ‘8 vs. 8’ arcade action. Play with your Mii™ alongside your heroes Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney and other soccer stars created as customized characters in an arcade version of the beautiful game. Steal the ball and make outrageous shots by simply waving your Wii Remote. You’ve never played soccer like this before! Plus, play Footii Party Games called Table Soccer and Boot It for more great fun with family and friends.

EA SPORTS is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®.

For more information on EA SPORTS All-Play, the full line-up of All-Play titles, game features, overview videos and more, please visit the all-new All-Play website at www.easports.com/eaallplay.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Computer Games and Stories 2

Some computer games use the medium to tell a story with flair, I've covered some of those. Other games take a different tack. They allow you to write your own story, while playing the game. Some of these games give you unlimited parameters, other limit you to telling your own version of a particular story.

The games with greater parameters are often referred to as sandbox games. Civilization is among the better known of these. Civilization allows you to re-write the history of the world, telling the tale of how the Egyptians rose to conquer the French/Indian alliance and dominate the world. Or whatever you are able to achieve.

Alpha Centauri continues the story of Civilization, with groups of colonists attempting to make a permanent home on an alien world. This game has its own storey too, and in a further twist factions are divided along philosophical, rather than national lines. Factions that value harmony, or the collective, or science, or religion, al clash as they pursue their own vision of what it means to establish a thriving new colony.

Medieval 2 concentrates the story into Europe and the Mediterranean, allowing you to control various nations throughout a four-century period. The English might win the Hundred Years' War and go on to conquer Spain, or else Poland might rise to become a pre-eminent crusading power, or the Turks might conquer Europe, or the Mongols. This game offer many hours of intense diplomacy, including the diplomacy of the sword.

Into the second type of game fall most of those referred to as CRPGs, or computer role playing games. Some of these are better than others, and they are often judged, fairly or not, on how much freedom is given to the player. A good central story is one thing, but when it's just you and your computer, people like to explore every odd passage and remote village, and tend to dislike it if it turns out those are just painted backdrops with no substance.

More recently games such as Age of Conan have allowed each player to write their own book of ‘feats’ showing the various things they have achieved. These games write the story for you as you play. Automation, I like that.

Myself I'm more into the sandbox style game, Alpha Centauri and Medieval 2 both hold a permanent place on my hard drive. The others tend to be more transient. Once their story has been told, I don't need to hear it again. It takes longer to play a CRPG than it does to read a book, so the story needs to be at least as good as the average book.

I might give that books of feats thing a look, though.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Jay Is Games: Brown Dyed Hotel

Brown Dyed Hotel is a collection of puzzles that, as a whole, is one part discovery and one part riddle game, and it will surely give your gray matter a workout. Since each puzzle is slightly different than the one before it, the experience feels fresh and unique, if a bit short. There are only about 12 levels from what I could see. Some notes on the site hint at more, though.

30 June, 2008 | No comments

GBGames: Thousander Club Update: June 30th

For this week’s Thousander Club update: Game Hours: 409.25(previous two years) + 75.25 (current year) = 484.5 / 1000 Game Ideas: 710 (previous two years) + 35 (current year) = 745 / 1000 I experimented with ways to make my LD#11 entry more interesting. I wanted to see what happens when the obstacles expand, and I’m still [...]

30 June, 2008 | No comments

Diaz on GTA IV

Diaz reviews GTA for the Wall Street Journal (link via Maud). Apart from the immediacy of Diaz' prose, which I have come to enjoy immensely, there are also some weightier issues that Diaz deals with -- like art, and what it does to people and so on:

GTA IV sucks you the hell in but its narrative doesn't move me in any way or shake me up or even piss me off. I get madder when I crash my car in the game than when Niko makes a stupid decision in the cut-scenes (the movie-like interludes that players don't control). GTA IV for all its awesomeness doesn't have the sordid bipolar humanity of "The Sopranos," and it certainly lacks the epic flawed protagonists that define "The Godfather" and its bloodier lesser brother "Scarface." Successful art tears away the veil and allows you to see the world with lapidary clarity; successful art pulls you apart and puts you back together again, often against your will, and in the process reminds you in a visceral way of your limitations, your vulnerabilities, makes you in effect more human. Does GTA IV do that? Not for me it doesn't, and heck, I love this damn game.

If "Battlestar Galactica," a show on the Sci Fi channel for God's sake, is able to create characters as compelling and troubling as race traitor Gaius Baltar and tackle issues as profound as genocide and religious fanaticism without once losing its thrill-factor, GTA should be able to do the same. Niko, as a character, doesn't surprise, and the choices he confronts don't make me want to put the game on pause in order to mull things over; they don't implicate me or reveal me in any way.

For me, GTA IV is more an example of our evasions as a culture, more of a fairy tale, more of a story of consolation than a shattering cultural critique or even, dare I say it, great art. GTA IV is a game that allows you to forget how screwed-up and complicated things are in the real world; it could have done more, it could have put that screwed-up complicated world front and center.

The real world is currently the hardest, most troubling piece of real estate around, and even GTA IV, which wants to dial everything up to 11, can't, to paraphrase Hammer, touch it. Doesn't make the game any less worthy or awesome. GTA IV doesn't have to be "Moby-Dick" or "Beloved" to be the Greatest Game of a Lifetime or even to be worthy of discussion.

What's interesting though is that GTA could have been exactly what some folks are claiming it is. For all its over-the-top aberrance and brash transgressiveness, GTA IV doesn't really wrestle with the radiant feverish nightmare labyrinth that post-9/11 America has become. Which is too bad. When you're as lost as we are in this country, maps, no matter from where they come, are invaluable. It could have been that popular art blade that cuts through all pretensions and delusions; it could have been the map that we've been needing. But for that to have been possible GTA would have had to have put a small portion of the people playing the game at risk of waking up, even if only for a second, from the dream that is our current world.

Rockstar Games could have had a field day with Niko as immigrant, Niko as veteran from a war that was screwed up from the start, with Niko as aspirer to an American Dream that might never have existed in the first place. It wouldn't have taken much to have made some plot alterations, to have had Niko ducking ICE special agents, to have had him actually struggling to get the girlfriend of his dreams, robbing, stealing, killing in order to dress up to local standards, or to end the game with Niko being deported back to Europe. Any one of these narrative additions would have made Niko's journey and his successes all the more poignant, all the more surprising -- would have put a face, a very real, hard face on the American Dream, which for many aspiring Americans, throughout our country's long checkered history, is a nightmare.

Take a look!

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