Monday, October 17, 2005
The absurdity of it all
Do you have any idea how many matches of Halo 2 have been played thus far online? Well, I'll tell you - 324,362,454. Or 21,006 years worth, longer than human civilization. Bungie recently posted these and several other mind-blogging stats on their site, and I suggest you take a look. Not only does it make me feel quite a bit better about playing as often as I did, but single-handedly demonstrates just how widespread gaming has become. Overtaking the film industry is one thing, but logging exponentially more time than your own existence? This is intense.
Speaking of intense, Phoenix Wright is fantastic. Just like it's twice-removed second cousin Trauma Center, it balances tension and mental exercise to near perfect proportions. It's fantastically well-translated, and the characters are immediately likable. I guess it didn't even cross my mind before, but having a solid story as a backbone really helps games like this go beyond their mere action devices and turn into a truly rewarding experience. And that's exactly what I've been getting out of my DS recently - games with an immersion and sincerely far deeper than any previous portable system I've played; the technology to create emotions in the palms of your hands. It's a beautiful thing, and makes me really pleased that I went ahead with the system.
Tom and I spent some time with the recently promulgated L.A. Rush, courtesy of the eternally generous folks at Midway. I will say that it's a game with a very singular, fully-realized vision, but that means one of two things, probably both - it's appealing to a market that I have absolutely no relation to, and that said market doesn't require polished game design to feel justified with their purchases. The hip-market-researched-hop vibe permeates every facet of the presentation, but never sincerely or maturely. The humor, humanity and relative subtlety of San Andreas is sorely missed in such an "urban" game, and it can't be ignored. With that understood, it's not an entirely unrewarding experience. The game looks good, the driving mechanics feel unique (for better or worse), and barreling through the city scenery with the cops on your tail is good for a thrill or two.
As plenty of reviews have already mentioned, the key consistent annoyance is the unskippable crash scenes, every time you so much as bend your fender. A screen full of exploding black polygons is fun the first couple of times, but ruins the visceral fun of crashing when it also kills the flow of the races every thirteen seconds. In an age where your wrecks can be rewound in a split second if need be (Full Auto), why can't I have the option to not watch my crash unfold in agonizing slow motion? As I said though, I don't think that the target audience here is concerned with such trivialities - as long as the soundtrack is licensed and the rides can be pimped, polish falls by the wayside. If you're can't handle racing perfection and favor presentation as much as anything else, I have the perfect rental game for you.
I would write more, but I'd like to go to sleep so I can wake up sooner, go to work, see a free Doom screening, come home and play the hell out of Stubbs the Zombie, go to sleep, go to work again, then come home and play the hell out of Shadow of the Colossus. It's a good week.
Speaking of intense, Phoenix Wright is fantastic. Just like it's twice-removed second cousin Trauma Center, it balances tension and mental exercise to near perfect proportions. It's fantastically well-translated, and the characters are immediately likable. I guess it didn't even cross my mind before, but having a solid story as a backbone really helps games like this go beyond their mere action devices and turn into a truly rewarding experience. And that's exactly what I've been getting out of my DS recently - games with an immersion and sincerely far deeper than any previous portable system I've played; the technology to create emotions in the palms of your hands. It's a beautiful thing, and makes me really pleased that I went ahead with the system.
Tom and I spent some time with the recently promulgated L.A. Rush, courtesy of the eternally generous folks at Midway. I will say that it's a game with a very singular, fully-realized vision, but that means one of two things, probably both - it's appealing to a market that I have absolutely no relation to, and that said market doesn't require polished game design to feel justified with their purchases. The hip-market-researched-hop vibe permeates every facet of the presentation, but never sincerely or maturely. The humor, humanity and relative subtlety of San Andreas is sorely missed in such an "urban" game, and it can't be ignored. With that understood, it's not an entirely unrewarding experience. The game looks good, the driving mechanics feel unique (for better or worse), and barreling through the city scenery with the cops on your tail is good for a thrill or two.
As plenty of reviews have already mentioned, the key consistent annoyance is the unskippable crash scenes, every time you so much as bend your fender. A screen full of exploding black polygons is fun the first couple of times, but ruins the visceral fun of crashing when it also kills the flow of the races every thirteen seconds. In an age where your wrecks can be rewound in a split second if need be (Full Auto), why can't I have the option to not watch my crash unfold in agonizing slow motion? As I said though, I don't think that the target audience here is concerned with such trivialities - as long as the soundtrack is licensed and the rides can be pimped, polish falls by the wayside. If you're can't handle racing perfection and favor presentation as much as anything else, I have the perfect rental game for you.
I would write more, but I'd like to go to sleep so I can wake up sooner, go to work, see a free Doom screening, come home and play the hell out of Stubbs the Zombie, go to sleep, go to work again, then come home and play the hell out of Shadow of the Colossus. It's a good week.
// posted by Nick @ 9:58 PM 
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