Game Vent

It's been a while...

2006-11-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

How do we legitimize authority?

Time - getting to know someone else will help win their trust
Charisma - many people would immediatly believe and follow a movie star
Elected - if many people believe Mr. X is the right choice, than perhaps he is
Assigned/Implied - someone who is appointed into a position

Why do we believe, trust and go along with our bosses decisions and what makes their ideas the best choie for any situation? Eh?

C.G.M.

"That which makes you happy, is that which can't be sold."
Me!

Elite Beat Rant

2006-11-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hello? Does anybody read this? I write constantly and select only the best drivel to put up here and I have four comments, two of which are money scams. I think I have very important things to say and should be heard by the public. so that's why i'm going to write in here whether peope read it or not. My guild thinks I have important things to say. And they're mostly mommies! They must be right! They all love it when I pop in on Teamspeak (they had problems with the Ventrillo server as far as I can remember.) I'm the life of the part in my guild. Wow. How bad does that sound.

It's the best time to be a gamer for me. I play more titles now that I did five years ago. I have competitive friends and I love a challenge even if i'm bad at the game. I'll be hooking up with Medieval: Total War 2 soon and having just purchased Elite Beat Agents (FF3 comes out tomorrow) i'm gonna have an interesting evening.

C.G.M.

"If you have a choice of two things and can't decide, take both."
- Gregory Corso

States of Being

2006-11-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

It is interesting to note the behavioral practices of my former and present bosses. They are nothing like end game bosses, rest assured. But they are interesting non-the-less because they have special tastes and systems in place that must be overcome by use of special tactics.

In order to keep this short, I offer two ways in which an office desk can be placed:

1. Between
2. Beside

The first is an adversarial position which identifies clear lines between managers and employees. In my experience this insinuates a superior stature on the managers part because they are creating a situation before any words have been uttered.

The second is a cooperational position which neglects any ulterior insinuations derives by the former position. It creates a welcoming atmosphere and establishes a common ground between both parties from the beginning. Remember, if your boss is keeping information from you, the capacity to control you by withholding how much information you have is present.

C.G.M.

Calvin : You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes : What mood is that?
Calvin : Last-minute panic.

Eeek the Cat!

2006-11-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

I remember that show. And that is all I have to say about that. Neverwinter Nights 2 is fun. That's what i've been doing instead of writing. So, don't blame me if i'm not complaining or posting or doing anything that I should or shouldn't be doing.

But what should you do? Is there a premade plan or destiny that we should follow? If there is, why isn't it revealed to us? I'm glad I can atleast believe in myself to get things done correctly.

C.G.M.

"I seldom end up where I want to go, but almost always end up where I need to be."
- Douglas Adams

How much will my save game cost?

2006-11-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

EA now charges to unlock content in Need for Speed: Carbon. Pretty soon they'll charge for save game space, guns in an FPS and the .exe.

C.G.M.

"Mo Money Mo Problems"
- Notorious B.I.G.

Supersize Gaming

2006-11-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Since when do graphics in a video game mean more than the story that embraces it?

C.G.M.

"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself."
- Mikhail Baryshnikov

Eh Aye

2006-10-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

Artificial Intelligence is what makes a single player game playable. When you don’t have your friend around, or online, you can always pick up a single player FPS and have some fun. But what has AI meant for us in the past and present; and what does it hold for us in the future?

The AI in Doom and Quake was the most simple. Scripted monsters stand on ledges or run straight toward you and fire at you or hold back until you get close. All you need to do is step out of the way in order to dodge their fire and shoot back at them. It was very simple since they were early games and were scripted. Like many early games, all you needed to do was learn an enemy’s pattern to win.

Unreal Tournament 1999 was a fantastic game with 8 different levels of AI! But are they really all that different? The difference between a level 1 newbie bot and a Godlike bot was how much they jumped, their reaction time and how accurate they were. The most difficult bot was a real computer; it was insanely difficult, just not very advanced. Not very “smart.” It rarely worked in teams and if you had some friends, it was possible to defeat them by catching them in a crossfire or using rockets.

So what is “smart” for AI? These four postulates are what I believe a decent AI should have:

1. Reaction - how fast and when the bot reacts
2. Choice - what the bot will do under a given situation i.e. run, hide, duck, kneel, shoot, switch weapons, retreat, call for help
3. Anticipation - scripted bot placement vs. actual deployment and finding a place to station itself
4. Teamwork - making decisions and/or taking orders (multiple rather than singular goals)

The 3 levels of difficulty that Half Life 2 presented didn’t offer much. Easy mode made your weapon damage higher and helped you aim. Medium was the “normal mode” and Hard gave the Combine a slight edge. Your enemies traveled in packs and shot at you in packs or alone. Sometimes they would even split up and hide behind an explosive barrel. My wild firing foiled their defensive plans every time. They would always run from a tossed grenade and once split up, they are easy to take out.

I’ve played 21 hours of Doom3 single player an 2 hour multiplayer. I have not yet sued id Software for the 23 hours of my life they owe me, but because I have played their game for that long I can safely say their Artificial Intelligence was created by artificial programmers. They stacked the budget for the art and sound departments stole the show and left the AI programmer with five dollars and a hunk of peanut butter on a playing card.

The Battlefield 2 (single player) AI is interesting because your enemies actually work together and stick in groups to carry out missions. Even though this is a linear process, meaning that they will work to complete an objective until dead or redirected, they can still pose a threat on the higher difficulties. Their commander can also make choices for them based on how their opposition is threatening their flags. But still, there is no "thought." They do not pick up extra kits when out of ammunition or even switch kits when a different kit is needed, such as being faced by a tank.

Quake 4 has going to show us what teamwork is made of! Our enemy yells out that were coming and shout when they need help. They’ll take guard against our assault and not just shoot to maim and ask us questions. They want us dead. So how are these guys placed and where do they come from? Are we going to expect waves of opponents or a small super-smart group? Who knows how good these baddies will be, they sure don't.

I’m Quakeing in my boots because of F.E.A.R. The most advanced opponants in a videogame to date. Or so-they-say. Monolith studio’s had their work cut out for them. I played HL2 on all difficulty levels. I played my own way too. Shotgun only. Then Ingram only. Then hand gun’s only. So far this game has make me A.F.R.A.I.D. But after learning paterns, just like Half life 2, I have overcome.

Many of the new and recent AI’s only have two of the four necessary qualities to produce a challenging opponent and that scares me a little. They spend so much time making games look good and feel real, which is important but they do not offer a challenge. Hold that a moment. Remember UT1999? Many opponents are beefed up in power, accuracy and health but not in smarts. There is a long way to go between computer code and humans, but to sell a single player game, I want a challenge, not a bot with a lot of hit points and computer guided sights.

C.G.M.

"Love all, trust few"
- William Shakespeare

Masturbation 2

2006-10-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

Only the lonely masturbate. Those who are inclined enough to feel better for a few minutes or moments out of the week do it. Yeah, I masturbate when I’m lonely. I don’t always feel the greatest and that special imaginative reprieve changes a small part of that particular day. I get to forget and repel all the worry and make amends to myself with a firsthand differentiated force. I can have it my way. Like... a fast food restaurant or something.

It’s all about customer service. Personal service.What does customer service mean to you? For me it means getting a helping hand finding an elusive item or price within a store. On the opposite side of the coin it means constant attention to the people around me. Those who look lost and need direction are my top priority. Those that come to me in search of answers have to leave satisfied because that’s the main part of the business, getting the customer the product they express a desire for. And if we do not have as many products as our competition or the lowest prices I’m supposed to make up for what we lack through my service.

At least I can control what I want with my means of obtaining sexual pleasure. I have little control at work. This is based mainly on my position; I do not order and cannot choose when I may work or what I have to accomplish before the end of my shift. I’m limited to how well I preform and how quickly I get things done, and that’s fine but there is no real solace in what I do. If whoever is ordering the dairy wants to bring in a hundred piece order one night and a three hundred piece order the next, they can. Even though splitting the difference would be the best choice, we all know that the best choice isn’t what everyone wants, but when my choice is in my hands I’m always satisfied.

C.G.M.

"They ask for me by name. Gigolo Joe, What do you know?"
- Gigolo Joe, A.I.

What's in a Post?

2006-10-27T19:42:00.000-07:00

Didn't expect that eh? It's nice to have something different once in a while. Variety is needed once in a while. Perhaps marriage is like an MMO and the only way to get different content is to have kids. Different content, but not new.

So is gaming like masturbation? Something we do to pass the time? It is possible to get something more from gaming than a (really) good feeling such as social interaction by textual and/or vocal interaction as well as a visual sense in a limited way. It is possible to learn and use strategy as well as sharpen our hand-eye coordination. But is there anything we get from games? Few games are informative and even television can inform us, unless we are watching soap operas or "reality tv" shows.

In an aside, since i'm all over the place anyway. It's interesting that some purchasable items need to be edible to go on the market.

C.G.M.

"No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut."
- Channing Pollock

In the Name of Self Discovery

2006-10-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

I was not fully exposed to hardcore pornography until I left for university. Sure I had seen the pages that curious friends had ripped out of adult magazines, but I was, for the most part, sheltered from such things. When I was 17 someone brought such a magazine to work and I read it cover to cover. I didn’t know there could be so many different types and shapes of sex organs. I instantly knew what I liked and lingered on those pages while the other guys played cards. It was a special kind of learning experience for me since I wasn’t the most popular kid in school. Sure I had plenty of friends, but they were guy friends, not girl friends. I’ll interject here and say I had plenty of girl friends in university, so not to worry. I was only exposed to the internet in highschool and back then it was strictly for research, and not the carnal type, so I didn’t know what I was getting into.

The memory of seeing a fully hardcore magazine for the first time is still clear to me. It was a revelation of colour and visual interpretation of a multitude of sexual acts. The smell of the pages (it was brand new, pervert) and the texture of the glossy pages made the piece stand out and appear greater than it already was. I was floored at what I saw. It was there, in my lap to pour over again and again, never to leave me unless the pages ripped or the work caught on fire. I coveted it until I had to give it back. A friend had a porno magazine in first year residence. At the time he was drinking alcohol like it was water. I didn’t start drinking until the Canadian Government said I could; at nineteen. He was the guy who gave me the magazine, carrying it around like it was a newspaper. I let him use a Canadian Writing Standards book in exchange. It was a fair trade in my opinion, but I never got my book back. And that lead to many, many nights of self discovery.

G.G.M.

"If God had intended us not to masturbate, He would have made our arms shorter."
- George Carlin

zONE oF zERO tOLERANCE

2006-10-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Do you need to incorporate language to convey your message? Take a look at Penny Arcade, Kotaku and 1UP (to a point.) These successful and popular gaming webcomics/blogs/sites all use vulgar language as shrapnel in order to access their audience. Is colourful language necessary to reach your target audience? Language doesn't fit, but is associated with a specific age group. This age group makes it okay to say such language because certain ages of majority like drinking (19/21,) driving (16) and voting (18) all state that you are mature, and so language has become associated with maturity. It is also a staple in certain media environments to employ excess emotion. Take gangster movies and newer First Person Shooters. They all use language to help employ seriousness and the essence of danger and immediacy to a situation. But to use it in contexts of flippant anger at EA's matchmaking system or because someone won't sell you Bully is, well, silly. Thing is, language fits their audience and it is a device to help them seem more mature and purposful. In my opinion such language should only be used during moments of passion (sex), if you've lost a limb or if someone was harmed irrevocably.

C.G.M.

"As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don't know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable"
- The Wizard of Oz, The Wizard of Oz

Who are you?

2006-10-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

I believe I have not yet introduced myself. I am a 26-year-old male who has not yet recieved enough experience to find a job better than the local grocery store. I have a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo, specializing in Ethics and was a father for 2 years. I write constantly. My current bulk of work includes:

1 pook of poems
20 short stories
1 novella
Nursery rhymes and Fairy Tales
3 childrens books

My latest work is a biography on the last four years of my life which I recently finished. It details past decision making and why people are the way they are.

My gaming experience includes the following:

Commodore 64
286 (text based games such as Nethack, ADOM and Evets)
486 (Doom, Duke Nukem and Quake series)
Atari 2600
Nintendo/Famicon
Sega Master System
Super Nintendo
N64
Gamecube
PS1
PS2
Gameboy
GBA
Game Gear
DS
PSP

C.G.M.

"Remember, no matter where you go. There you are."
- Pigkiller, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome

Tweaks and Balances

2006-10-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

- "Why didn't you finish your essay Mr. Frost?"
- "It's hard to get my essay done when it's 10,000 pages long and has to be read by millions of people, Miss Otaku."

The biblical story of David and Goliath revolves around a young man who burns with fury over Goliaths challenge of the Isrealites, whereby the loser's army becomes a part of the winner's. It is a simple story of determination and perserverance. Of the (seemingly) lesser man beating the greater. Of Blizzard Entertainment and how it must feel to be facing it's first expansion: The Burning Crusade. It is a daunting task to create a game for customers let alone make them all happy. A few glitches and problems in a game are understandable, nobody can get everything right all of the time. Even a big (read huge) company such as EA has problems.

Blizzard has created their own Goliath and as it seems to be, no simple smooth stone snatched from a stream in a sling will be able to slay this savage beast. There are many angry gamers who will venture to their local forum and cry havoc, but to no avail. Yes, people schedualed time off work and yes, plans to skip class will now be abated. But it is all necessary to produce a game which has had many issues. Reading the forums, I agree with people's remarks that a less buggy game later will mean a better game. I do not wish to play something half finished.

My heard fell slightly upon hearing the news. I paid in full at my local EB Games. When asked if I wanted to pay in full for my preorder, the clerk was nodding his head yes to me the whole time. "Just to get it faster and with fewer problems" he said. I kind of understand his point. The day it comes out will be an equivilent to a new Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior or Pokemon game in Japan. The linups wuill be nuts. I remember getting my Parental Unit to drive me all over the city for Diablo 2 when it came out. I payed $10.00 more to buy out someone elses pre-order. And i'm holding my Burning Crusade Pre-order slip right now. It's worth $56.99 in traditional Canadian dollars. It's gonna be fun.

C.G.M.

"It is a happy talent to know how to play."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

How we all Want to be +1

2006-10-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

In the distance I kill a monster.
The monster drops a sword.
5 minutes laster I kill a more powerful monster.
The monster drops a sword +1.
I am happy.

In it's most basic form, people strive to better themselves, and when placed in a context with alternate representations, they try to better their personal representative. How outward projections fair are highly anticipated and mulled over. Colour and reflective properties along with an over-all high numerical sense is an apparition which drives people to continue with the same goals untill the developer barrier or specific time limit is reached. And once you have it, you thirst for more because expansion is always on the horison.

Better oneself has purpose, but up to a point. Reaching a maximum in one tier is similar to reaching a maximum in another tier but there is never an even playing field. If everyone was finitely similar the game would soon become boring. Little tweaks make people second guess their potential and the more echelons that are incorporated into said game make for more room for miniscule advancement and less continuity. Being able to produce 5 extra points of damage is seemingly neglegable, but perhaps being able to produce 5 points of damage across many skills or in less time might be the option that wins out.

Simplicity aside, becoming greater than you once were can emulate a sense of discovery and excitment. Being able to progress and better yourself is a wonderful feeling and when a developer discovers how to produce that feeling every couple of minutes they have created a wonder drug which costs me $17.95.

C.G.M.

"Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires."
- Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching

I Intuit Therefore I am

2006-10-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

From the general: Is it possible to understand something without knowing it?

To the specific: Is it possible to come up with the idea of a table without knowing what a table is in the first place?

Early man constructed a table because a stable and customizable platform was necessary to preform tasks, but did they know it was a table? They probably labeled it as a word or series of sounds and used it often when they needed a work station to hold building materiels or as a place to store food. The idea of a table is fairly simple, but what if we did not know what it actually was?

Exercise:

What is a table?

A table is a platform which consists of specific predetermined dementions and has the necessary number of legs to remain stable.

What isn't a table?

A table isn't a fish.
A table isn't water.
A table isn't sand.
A table isn't a banana.
A table isn't a donkey.
A table isn't a cloud.
A table isn't happiness.
A table isn't a very difficult process. (But this is.)

We might be able to identify the aspects of a table inversly to come up with it's idea, but it is a very long and drawn out process. Still, this lends itself to the idea of how to understand the Soul. We can describe aspects of a Soul using our intuition and it's proposed opperations and even define it, but what is a Soul? We have no real terms in which to describe it in any other way than it's functions. Does it hang over our head? Is it a repository of some kind? Is it an orb that is kept by God's belt like a sack of marbles? By eliminating everythign a Soul isn't we might finally be able to understand what it is. Lending this idea to gaming (since this is a gaming Blog, I guess I must talk about gaming,) if we take a look at every type of game made, would it be possible to develop something that is new and unique? Not saying that it might be enjoyable or profitable, but something that is not the same general type of game that we usually play? Wouldn't that be fun?

C.G.M.

"The unexamined life is not worth living."
- Socrates

Anonymity and Consequence

2006-10-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Apparently the advertisitng spyware in your computer is not as invasive as is made out to be. The CEO of the company that tracks the information has spoken with Gamasutra about his softwear. The company selectes brands based on the age group and sex of the player and displays advertisments accordingly based on internet usage. All information is routed as a series of numbers defined by demographics and regions, seperated so specific ads are not targeted to the wrong audiences. Whether they hit their target specifically remains to be seen since splashing a Nike shoe ad on a billboard while you're trying to stay alive in a gunfight will not be of great concern unless they make your toon run faster. Is there an generation of buyers that purchase whatever they see as trendy? There most certainly is and advertisers lust for them like my boss drools over potato chips. People purchase products based on want and want is a pretty strong animal.

The CEO admonishes that in-game advertising reduces the strain on developers and publishing companies as an extra source of capital in order to produce said games. He furthers his argument by stating that the amount of investment is linked to the quality of games the companies produce. And you wouldnt want the quality of the games to be reduced do you? Uh-huh! We like our sweet candy to stay nice and sweet. It's also nice that the senior at IGA Worldwide he plays BF2 and is fond of the urban enviromnments the with their flat surfaces and square buildings and streets and shops and galleries and plazas and fruit stands.

Do you think the big game makers like EA, Valve, iD, Bioware, Blizzard, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft would produce a lesser product simply because they did not have adequate capital? If the budget for Half Life 2 wasn't as big would the company produce poorer materiel? I understand that there are costs involved that must be worked out, but there are many companies that wouldn't settle for a mediocre game (bugs not included.) These developers and artists and programmers take pride in their work and I believe that will show through every time.

C.G.M.

"Confronted with their true selves, most men run screaming!"
- Engywook, The Never Ending Story

Advertising Madness Sale!

2006-10-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

I envision the halls of Electeronic Arts to be packed with rows of workers hunched over their keyboards being whipped by leather clad hoofed women. It is a bleek place where the toilet seat is made of hot coals and lunch consists of whatever your family could sneak by in the mail. The managers all look like Nostradamus and bet on the next franchise idea. Five times each day, and once at home, every worker prays to the massive marble letters E and A in the auditorium. Those who have little ones are allowed to drive home to kiss their children goodnight, while everyone else sleeps on mats under their desks.

In reality, the EA workplace is exactly how I described, minus the bathroom breaks.

The new Battlefield title: Battlefield 2142, emerges you in a multiplayer experience where you must fight to control the last vestiges of land in a post iceage world. In it's most basic form, EA has created a mod using the same engine BF2 was created from and added some interesting roleplaying game elements into it. Upon opening the game case, a letter falls out which states that softwear will be installed on your computer that will track movements on the internet based on where you surf and how long you surf for etc. Joystiq, a leader in gettin-down-to-business asked a few questions.

The softwear will only work if the computer you use to play the game is connected to the internet. If it's anything like BF2 than you are required to connect to the internet in order to play the single player game. And seriously, how many people spend hours playing with bots. The game was designed as a multiplayer game, so you have to connect to the internet in order to get full value of its content. Powerful age-groups are spending their time away from a huge source of advertising, television, and instead spending it in front of their computers. Fortunate or not, companies are convening to develop the space in which we play into a mode ready for advertising. Ready or not, here she comes.

C.G.M.

"According to myth, the Earth was created in six days. Now, watch out, here comes Genesis! We'll do it for you in six minutes!"
- Dr. Leonard McCoy, Star Trek II - TheWrath of Khan

Welcome to Game Vent!

2006-10-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Game Vent. In highschool the one-word-answer was not acceptable, but now information is being compressed to be delivered faster and more efficiently. I believe writers today are leaving out specific ideas in order to make their content more appealing and readable. This weblog will attempt to understand what some of the ideas developers and game rating sites are saying. I'm sure it will be a fun process.

Take episodic content. It is seen as a revolution by some game developers. Both Electronic Arts and Valve Softwear are betting that releasing games in smaller packages will win over their audiences because it allows them to deliver more concise and polished units of a full game. Although it does appear that playing a piece of a game once every 4-6 months to be a queer type of stop motion excercise, the thought of less patches and glitches might win out. Although Half Life 2 had a high expected value, some people might not have shelled out their money for incomplete pieces of a game they've been waiting for, for so long.

Q Entertainment founder Tetsuya Mizuguchi believes that Lumines Live in a 4-pack is the best way to distribute his game. Lumines is a fun and attractive game, made in the spirit of Tetris. First appearing on the PSP it has finally made it's way to the XBox 360 console in the form of multiple, purchasable downloads. Apparently by dividing a full game into sections, people need only buy certain portions that interest them. But those of us who want the full game will have to pay more than the game othewise might be worth. The expected value of a game is determined by cost and demand. The new Sin Episodes game is being created in a series of 6 chapters (thought I was going to say episodes eh?) and charges $19.95 each. If i'm paying a whopping $120.00 for a game that will take years to finish for both developer and player, that game had better be better than sin. Even so, the Pokemon franchise is doing exteremely well with their colour-titled games. So not all episodic games are off-target. I can't wait for Dungeon Puce and Rogue Mauve.

C.G.M

"I've never seen garbage eat garbage before."
- Clark Kent, Superman II