Rockstar San Diego released a big chunk of downloadable content (DLC) for their hit game Red Dead Redemption (RDR) this week. The DLC is called the "Undead Nightmare" and is a campaign extension of the original game. Its kinda funny to me that they released this, because who would really think of adding zombies to an old west style game, but I was intrigued about it and I really enjoyed the original game so how odd could it be?
First off, I want to rant on Microsoft for a minute, which will take away from the game discussion. The DLC was released 10/25, and I was eager to check out reviews and grab it because Microsoft is offering an 800 point rebate this month if you spend 2400 points in the month of October. So, once the reviews looked solid I jumped over to the Xbox.com marketplace, looked up the game, and BAM, bought the Undead pack and had it queued up to download to my Xbox. Whoa, wait, what is this? As I feel excited about the purchase I just made, I see there is an item on the webpage that looks just like "Undead Nightmare" but it has the word Bundle next to it. WTH! 1600 points and you can buy this bundle which will give you all the games past DLC. Dammit! So, anyway, yeah I tried every avenue I could think of to reach Microsoft about this bundle and see if I could refund my money so I would then go buy the bundle. Microsoft just pushed their Xbox Live policy on DLC and said "sorry, no way." It is a bit odd and unfortunate to me that no one, Microsoft, Rockstar, nor the media had announced anything about this bundle. In the end, I wanted all that content (to play and for achievements) so I ended up getting the bundle anyway. I now have an extra Undead Nightmare pack I'm not using and haven't downloaded.
That was a bit longer than I expected, so back to the game. I really enjoy RDR for a number of reasons, which I won't really dive into on this blog post. For me though, if you want to game and just kinda waste time but not totally be bored, why not play the free roam? Free roam offers quite a lot, but the real benefit and enjoyment is forming a posse with friend, or randoms in the game, and doing adventures, or going hunting, etc.
A number of my friends who bought this game didn't really even utilize the online free roam. They bought the game for the campaign, finished it and then sold it off. Most of them did this within a month or two after the game was released. I really think they should have held onto it because after trying out all the content in the bundle I think it adds a lot more to the experience, plus my posse of 10 is now, at best, likely to be a posse of 4 if everyone is online together!
I must say though, the DLC that was released for this game is both genius and yet also not cool. For instance, the first DLC released was free for all users and included new coop game modes where up to 4 people could play together. The next pack released was $10 and included a new weapon and just a bunch of character outfits. Why would I pay for that? The 2nd DLC pack that came out added more character outfits but also added new game types and free roam adventures. This is definitely worth $10 to anyone who is a fan of the game and will continue to play it, so I see value there. Finally we have this campaign expansion of the undead. This was also $10 as a standalone pack, and it is well worth the cost for the quantity of gameplay plus a few multiplayer additions. Comparing this expansion add on to the GTA IV series though, this pack comes cheaper and offers just as much content. I guess I'm just confused at how Rockstar figured their DLC pricing vs what the gamers were really getting. The bundle for 1600 and all the DLC is genius and a nice treat, but it had been announced prior to the day of release.
Battlefield 4 Stats Graphic
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Annoying Game designs
I spent some time going playing an old game last week, Gears of War. I'm playing it because back when I first tried it out a few years ago I didn't really know or care for the achievement system, so I'm making up for it now. I also enjoy the Gears of War story, so this is like a refresher. Going through the campaign story again on insane in coop mode has been fun, but what I've noticed the most in the game are wha seems to be painfully bad design choices made regarding the game.
The stuff I'm going to rant about in this post exists in many games. These issues just happen to really bug me as I worked with a friend to replay the game and chase old achievements. Let's start with one of the most painful and annoying ones, cut scenes. In general I'm a fan of the cut scenes. They add to the game, if you're really interested in the story, and can show some excellent computer generated graphic detail. However, if you're playing a portion of the game and have difficulty with it, such as dying over and over again, a mandatory cut scene that you can't skip, you can only play for so long before you want rip you hair out. Unfortunately, in Gears of War playing through on insane difficulty, we ran into this issue quite a bit. This also leads into a second annoying design, checkpoints.
Checkpoints are supposed to be your saving grace, and help a player through their domination of the game's campaign. However, I'm not sure if game designers built the checkpoints based on normal difficulty in play through because when playing certain sections of the game, on its hardest difficulty, it is amazing what little things can ruin your enthusiasm to continue. Again, playing Gears of War with my friend, it seemed we would run into these long stretches of action in the game that were difficult to cope with, and we would end up restarting at the last checkpoint.. Even as we progressed through that section, one of us would die only to find out we had to completely restart the whole segment. Adding to the pain, imagine a long segment preceded by a cut scene, TORTURE!! Yes, definitely, not fun. So, the checkpoints become an issue if there are not enough, or if they are poorly spaced in the game.
Other thoughts for annoying game design can be music. Some games make AMAZING music, for instance Martin O'Donnell of Bungie. I own every Halo soundtrack he's made and I love them all. In fact, I recently came across a website listing tour dates and locations as a traveling symphony (http://www.videogameslive.com/) visits many worldwide locations specifically playing the music from popular games. However, even with these genius music creations, there's the share of experience in gaming with music that may be close to listening to fingernails running down a chalkboard. Granted, the game music may not start out that way, but tack on those annoying un-skippable cut scenes and lack of checkpoints hitting you in the face over and over, and your tolerance for anything will drop like the price of a poorly marketed or unpopular game (aka: Bayonetta, Kane & Lynch 2).
Typically, I think if you follow a game that is in a series, you will see the game designers build off the community feedback and be cognizant of what gamers want out of the next game. However, it is the year 2010 and gaming has been around for over 30 years. We still find games that have nasty annoyances built into them, and we just end up dealing with it. They have colleges now that help focus on game design, but I think in the end its experience...just catching past mistakes and growing from them.
Keep the good games coming!
The stuff I'm going to rant about in this post exists in many games. These issues just happen to really bug me as I worked with a friend to replay the game and chase old achievements. Let's start with one of the most painful and annoying ones, cut scenes. In general I'm a fan of the cut scenes. They add to the game, if you're really interested in the story, and can show some excellent computer generated graphic detail. However, if you're playing a portion of the game and have difficulty with it, such as dying over and over again, a mandatory cut scene that you can't skip, you can only play for so long before you want rip you hair out. Unfortunately, in Gears of War playing through on insane difficulty, we ran into this issue quite a bit. This also leads into a second annoying design, checkpoints.
Checkpoints are supposed to be your saving grace, and help a player through their domination of the game's campaign. However, I'm not sure if game designers built the checkpoints based on normal difficulty in play through because when playing certain sections of the game, on its hardest difficulty, it is amazing what little things can ruin your enthusiasm to continue. Again, playing Gears of War with my friend, it seemed we would run into these long stretches of action in the game that were difficult to cope with, and we would end up restarting at the last checkpoint.. Even as we progressed through that section, one of us would die only to find out we had to completely restart the whole segment. Adding to the pain, imagine a long segment preceded by a cut scene, TORTURE!! Yes, definitely, not fun. So, the checkpoints become an issue if there are not enough, or if they are poorly spaced in the game.
Other thoughts for annoying game design can be music. Some games make AMAZING music, for instance Martin O'Donnell of Bungie. I own every Halo soundtrack he's made and I love them all. In fact, I recently came across a website listing tour dates and locations as a traveling symphony (http://www.videogameslive.com/) visits many worldwide locations specifically playing the music from popular games. However, even with these genius music creations, there's the share of experience in gaming with music that may be close to listening to fingernails running down a chalkboard. Granted, the game music may not start out that way, but tack on those annoying un-skippable cut scenes and lack of checkpoints hitting you in the face over and over, and your tolerance for anything will drop like the price of a poorly marketed or unpopular game (aka: Bayonetta, Kane & Lynch 2).
Typically, I think if you follow a game that is in a series, you will see the game designers build off the community feedback and be cognizant of what gamers want out of the next game. However, it is the year 2010 and gaming has been around for over 30 years. We still find games that have nasty annoyances built into them, and we just end up dealing with it. They have colleges now that help focus on game design, but I think in the end its experience...just catching past mistakes and growing from them.
Keep the good games coming!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Assassin's Creed - Brotherhood?
I'm looking for some community help or advice in this post. In past blog posts I've discussed games coming out this holiday season, how to choose which games to play, whether to buy new, used, or rent, etc.
Last night I noticed on the Xbox Live Dashboard there was a tab for some videos related to the upcoming game release for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (ACB). The videos for both single and mutliplayer were well made and got me back into the storyline. I've played the first two games and I didn't really expect a third one to come out so soon. I know the game has had multiple announcements and trailers, and I was led to believe this game was like a interstitial add in game that included and focused on multiplayer. It seems though that this is the final game in the Assassin's Creed Trilogy, so in that sense it must have an appealing and hopefully worthwhile campaign to it.
I've got a credit w/ Gamestop that equates to about the price of a new game. I'm looking to make the most of the purchase from Gamestop so I want it to be a solid game on all fronts that I can really get into. Personally, I have a sense that the online play for ACB will get old after a few weeks if not days. Thoughts like that detract me from jumping on this game as a pre-order as well as buying it full price new. Most games I'm not 100% confident in replay value typically fall to my wait and buy used list.
I've not had any hands on experience w/ this game, but there was a ton of hype at all the summer expos and game conferences, and of course if you ask any local gaming store employee they will have rave things to say about it. Is that all I need to help me make a decision or is that people hyped up on their limited playtime and heavy marketing?
I'm really looking to finish out this game trilogy, so the campaign is the most appealing. I am sure I will enjoy chasing and running from other assassin's online, but I don't feel it will continue the thrill like a number of First Person shooter games time after time.
Do any readers have an opinion on this game and the game series in general? I'm looking for advice on whether I should bite on this now and spend my credit or sit and wait? A thought that spurred right now is that I could just wait for the game to be released to see what the reviews are, but in doing that, I will miss out on any pre-order bonuses.
Last night I noticed on the Xbox Live Dashboard there was a tab for some videos related to the upcoming game release for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (ACB). The videos for both single and mutliplayer were well made and got me back into the storyline. I've played the first two games and I didn't really expect a third one to come out so soon. I know the game has had multiple announcements and trailers, and I was led to believe this game was like a interstitial add in game that included and focused on multiplayer. It seems though that this is the final game in the Assassin's Creed Trilogy, so in that sense it must have an appealing and hopefully worthwhile campaign to it.
I've got a credit w/ Gamestop that equates to about the price of a new game. I'm looking to make the most of the purchase from Gamestop so I want it to be a solid game on all fronts that I can really get into. Personally, I have a sense that the online play for ACB will get old after a few weeks if not days. Thoughts like that detract me from jumping on this game as a pre-order as well as buying it full price new. Most games I'm not 100% confident in replay value typically fall to my wait and buy used list.
I've not had any hands on experience w/ this game, but there was a ton of hype at all the summer expos and game conferences, and of course if you ask any local gaming store employee they will have rave things to say about it. Is that all I need to help me make a decision or is that people hyped up on their limited playtime and heavy marketing?
I'm really looking to finish out this game trilogy, so the campaign is the most appealing. I am sure I will enjoy chasing and running from other assassin's online, but I don't feel it will continue the thrill like a number of First Person shooter games time after time.
Do any readers have an opinion on this game and the game series in general? I'm looking for advice on whether I should bite on this now and spend my credit or sit and wait? A thought that spurred right now is that I could just wait for the game to be released to see what the reviews are, but in doing that, I will miss out on any pre-order bonuses.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Revisiting Old Games
This weekend I had a lot of down time and although Halo Reach is still the highlight game going on for Xbox Live players, my friend population playing the game was down on Saturday night. I decided to stay within the Halo Universe though and pop in Halo Wars to chase down some missing achievements.
Its been well over a year since I last played this game, so it took me a while to figure things out again. The controls came back pretty quickly but some game features did not and I struggled to figure out how to use in game objects for building, attacking and defending. Once I felt re-established I started blazing through enemies and the achievements. Even though I am backtracking quite a bit in my gaming history I really enjoyed reliving the Halo Wars real-time strategy gaming.
There are a few games I have my eyes on to go back and finish up achievements or replay the games. I'm currently looking finish out the original Gears of War story on Insane difficulty in coop, I've got Halo Wars, and then a few arcade game titles I never finished out.
All these games are only a few years old each. You can probably find them on the market used or new for $20 or less. The games still have their appeal and give a great amount of entertainment value even with the current line up of titles. Again this just puts me back to my thinking about lack of time and too many games to play. Maybe it relates to all things. There is just too much to do in life and so little free time get it done.
The only really hard part about going back to play old games is that my mentality is set up for the current versions of the game on the market or whatever I played last. An example of what I mean is when playing Gears of War 1, if you are downed by an opponent you cannot crawl to your teammates for help. You're just stuck there waiting, but at least you can't bleed out like you can in Gears of War 2. Small things like that can be upsetting along with going back to old weapons and weapon balancing, but if you're determined to achieve you goal you can bare through it.
Are there any old games you've got your eyes on that you never finished, or perhaps never even played, but it was a game of interest? For example, its only been a year now, but I still have not played Bioshock 2. It got good reviews, but I just never got around to picking it up. The third game is on the way now and a movie is in the works, so there should be more motivation for me to get it. Another interesting thought would be around more games being re-released in HD graphics. Normally I've seen these come back as arcade titles, which works just fine to me since it is direct to download and usually much cheaper than a disc release. I wonder if anyone would ever upgrade Halo CE and Halo 2, or if its even worthwhile. Both games are still great to relive, but again, after so many years out on the market, it can be rough playing the old design and features.
Its been well over a year since I last played this game, so it took me a while to figure things out again. The controls came back pretty quickly but some game features did not and I struggled to figure out how to use in game objects for building, attacking and defending. Once I felt re-established I started blazing through enemies and the achievements. Even though I am backtracking quite a bit in my gaming history I really enjoyed reliving the Halo Wars real-time strategy gaming.
There are a few games I have my eyes on to go back and finish up achievements or replay the games. I'm currently looking finish out the original Gears of War story on Insane difficulty in coop, I've got Halo Wars, and then a few arcade game titles I never finished out.
All these games are only a few years old each. You can probably find them on the market used or new for $20 or less. The games still have their appeal and give a great amount of entertainment value even with the current line up of titles. Again this just puts me back to my thinking about lack of time and too many games to play. Maybe it relates to all things. There is just too much to do in life and so little free time get it done.
The only really hard part about going back to play old games is that my mentality is set up for the current versions of the game on the market or whatever I played last. An example of what I mean is when playing Gears of War 1, if you are downed by an opponent you cannot crawl to your teammates for help. You're just stuck there waiting, but at least you can't bleed out like you can in Gears of War 2. Small things like that can be upsetting along with going back to old weapons and weapon balancing, but if you're determined to achieve you goal you can bare through it.
Are there any old games you've got your eyes on that you never finished, or perhaps never even played, but it was a game of interest? For example, its only been a year now, but I still have not played Bioshock 2. It got good reviews, but I just never got around to picking it up. The third game is on the way now and a movie is in the works, so there should be more motivation for me to get it. Another interesting thought would be around more games being re-released in HD graphics. Normally I've seen these come back as arcade titles, which works just fine to me since it is direct to download and usually much cheaper than a disc release. I wonder if anyone would ever upgrade Halo CE and Halo 2, or if its even worthwhile. Both games are still great to relive, but again, after so many years out on the market, it can be rough playing the old design and features.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Renting Video Games
For most of my gaming I've typically bought my games new, or looked for them used where I can. Games, are consistent in pricing, usually $59.99 brand new when released for a console platform and $49.99 for PC. Does anyone know why they are cheaper? My guess would be console licensing and royalties.
Games these days typically can last between 6 to 50 hours to complete the main story. The extra added value for a gamer is the online capabilities. For things like playing online you typically would want to own the game so you can play it at your leisure and almost indefinitely.
On occasion I've gone out and rented a game or two. Some I rented because a friend wanted to play it with me or told me to try it out and I really didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a game I may only play a few times. Blockbuster Video had always been my place of choice to rent, but truth is I really had no choice. Blockbuster was the only local store in my area that allowed game rentals and would even have any in stock. The prices were high but the policy behind the rental was pretty fair.
Gamefly joined the scene a number of years ago, and as it acts like Netflix I can see the value for certain gamers. I personally would not use the service because it is pricey and the feedback I've heard from others (ie. Jaysus) is that the wait times can be ridiculous and the mail system is much slower than other through the mail services like Netflix.
Recently as I visited my local Redbox outside the 7-11 near my home I saw a sticker on the outside saying "coming soon: video games." I thought it was quite interesting and it actually got me a bit excited. Today when checking twitter I saw a message from IGN about Redbox and their game rentals (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1127803p1.html). This article states that the games are priced at $2/day and should be available at select locations around the country. This is not a full scale launch but a deeper test of what the video game rental market could be.
I guess this was a highlight for me because recently I've had my eye on Medal of Honor (MOH). Rather than rent the game for a whole week at Blockbuster for $8 or so I can just slide down the hill to 7-11 and see if it is available. The critics reviews have been a bit harsh and the user reviews are mild. I have friends on my Xbox friends list who have the game and made good comments about it. I figure $2 for me to grab that game for the day should be enough to let me know if its one worth purchasing or if a rental is all it will be.
$2/day can add up quickly though, so the benefit I see here is to get a taste of the game, almost like a demo. I think its worthwhile especially since it would be considered on demand. No waiting for it to come in the mail, and hopefully it is available at the Redbox nearby. This could be an interesting venture for Redbox, game/movie rentals and gamers alike.
Games these days typically can last between 6 to 50 hours to complete the main story. The extra added value for a gamer is the online capabilities. For things like playing online you typically would want to own the game so you can play it at your leisure and almost indefinitely.
On occasion I've gone out and rented a game or two. Some I rented because a friend wanted to play it with me or told me to try it out and I really didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a game I may only play a few times. Blockbuster Video had always been my place of choice to rent, but truth is I really had no choice. Blockbuster was the only local store in my area that allowed game rentals and would even have any in stock. The prices were high but the policy behind the rental was pretty fair.
Gamefly joined the scene a number of years ago, and as it acts like Netflix I can see the value for certain gamers. I personally would not use the service because it is pricey and the feedback I've heard from others (ie. Jaysus) is that the wait times can be ridiculous and the mail system is much slower than other through the mail services like Netflix.
Recently as I visited my local Redbox outside the 7-11 near my home I saw a sticker on the outside saying "coming soon: video games." I thought it was quite interesting and it actually got me a bit excited. Today when checking twitter I saw a message from IGN about Redbox and their game rentals (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/112/1127803p1.html). This article states that the games are priced at $2/day and should be available at select locations around the country. This is not a full scale launch but a deeper test of what the video game rental market could be.
I guess this was a highlight for me because recently I've had my eye on Medal of Honor (MOH). Rather than rent the game for a whole week at Blockbuster for $8 or so I can just slide down the hill to 7-11 and see if it is available. The critics reviews have been a bit harsh and the user reviews are mild. I have friends on my Xbox friends list who have the game and made good comments about it. I figure $2 for me to grab that game for the day should be enough to let me know if its one worth purchasing or if a rental is all it will be.
$2/day can add up quickly though, so the benefit I see here is to get a taste of the game, almost like a demo. I think its worthwhile especially since it would be considered on demand. No waiting for it to come in the mail, and hopefully it is available at the Redbox nearby. This could be an interesting venture for Redbox, game/movie rentals and gamers alike.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Achievement Hunting
For Sony PS3, you can win trophies from in game challenges, for the Xbox 360 we have the 'fabled' achievements. For PC, I'm not sure if many games contain similar accolades. I believe, possibly, games like Left 4 Dead on PC may have had achievements or trophies if they were simultaneously released on console platforms.
So, I mention the "fabled" achievements in reference to the Xbox 360. I state it that way because I believe Microsoft was the initiator for this type of thing and it has grown into a heavy following for some. After the rapid success and happy review from gamers, Sony decided to make trophies mandatory for their games. Funny thing is, although these challenges only add to an overall gamerscore, which is meaningless to most people, there are the proud few in gaming who strive to obtain these. I, myself, am big on achievement hunting.
I spent about 2 hours last night and a total of almost 5 hours hunting down a single achievement for the game Alan Wake on my Xbox 360. Am I crazy, yes, I think I am. In fact in the many failures I incurred while chasing it down I thought to myself why am I even wasting my time on this. The only valid reasons I can really think of is 1) its worth 50 gamerscore 2) I like having a sense of completion. In some instances going solo won't work for you and playing online can be hard when the random players online aren't helping you either. I have formed teams to help "boost" or "farm" achievements at times, some legitimately in game and others by manipulating gameplay for the desired outcome but very rarely at the expense of others in their online play.
Yes you can complete a game by simply beating its campaign or playing it online until you reach the top rank, but these achievements often add new challenges for a gamer to complete outside the standard game play. the Alan Wake achievement I completed last night is called "Run-on Sentence" where I had to complete an entire mission without dying. Trust me this was a huge pain in the ass and not fun to replay all 10x or so it took me. Another past achievement I received was reaching the rank of Captain in Halo Reach. I have one more to go for 100% achievement completion on that game which is to reach the highest rank in the game. I will definitely be putting a lot of hours into online play for that.
One last thing that I like, yet also bothers me at the same time, is that when I finally finish a game and all the achievements I tend to feel that game is completely done and will likely shelf it, not to play it again for a long time. One reason for this is the backlog of other games to play and other achievements to hunt. Maybe its sad, but sometimes I feel like I'm skipping the fun of the game just to get the achievements.
I'll write another blog in the future which actually discusses the evolution of achievements and how they are considered big business.
So, I mention the "fabled" achievements in reference to the Xbox 360. I state it that way because I believe Microsoft was the initiator for this type of thing and it has grown into a heavy following for some. After the rapid success and happy review from gamers, Sony decided to make trophies mandatory for their games. Funny thing is, although these challenges only add to an overall gamerscore, which is meaningless to most people, there are the proud few in gaming who strive to obtain these. I, myself, am big on achievement hunting.
I spent about 2 hours last night and a total of almost 5 hours hunting down a single achievement for the game Alan Wake on my Xbox 360. Am I crazy, yes, I think I am. In fact in the many failures I incurred while chasing it down I thought to myself why am I even wasting my time on this. The only valid reasons I can really think of is 1) its worth 50 gamerscore 2) I like having a sense of completion. In some instances going solo won't work for you and playing online can be hard when the random players online aren't helping you either. I have formed teams to help "boost" or "farm" achievements at times, some legitimately in game and others by manipulating gameplay for the desired outcome but very rarely at the expense of others in their online play.
Yes you can complete a game by simply beating its campaign or playing it online until you reach the top rank, but these achievements often add new challenges for a gamer to complete outside the standard game play. the Alan Wake achievement I completed last night is called "Run-on Sentence" where I had to complete an entire mission without dying. Trust me this was a huge pain in the ass and not fun to replay all 10x or so it took me. Another past achievement I received was reaching the rank of Captain in Halo Reach. I have one more to go for 100% achievement completion on that game which is to reach the highest rank in the game. I will definitely be putting a lot of hours into online play for that.
One last thing that I like, yet also bothers me at the same time, is that when I finally finish a game and all the achievements I tend to feel that game is completely done and will likely shelf it, not to play it again for a long time. One reason for this is the backlog of other games to play and other achievements to hunt. Maybe its sad, but sometimes I feel like I'm skipping the fun of the game just to get the achievements.
I'll write another blog in the future which actually discusses the evolution of achievements and how they are considered big business.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Gamer Rage? Your Online Gaming Communities
I happened upon a curious thing this past weekend when I was digging around online. On Sunday evening I was play Halo Reach and the game always shows the number of current players online for the whole of the game, and then it has a breakdown of the gaming population based on game types as well. With those numbers in mind, I thought back to the Xbox Live activity report the week after Halo Reach was released. The chart showed that Halo Reach was #1 in the list followed by Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 was #3. I decided to check population stats at bungie.net and the information there was quite comprehensive and easy to find and read.
Chasing my curiosity further I decided to navigate to www.callofduty.com to see if I could find any reported stats on that page. I wasn't able to find anything easily, but found myself flowing through the game pages and eventually landed myself here: http://www.infinityward.com/browse_blogs.php.
I landed on this page and to my shock I saw the following list of blogs on the front page.
This is not what I would have expected to see within the gaming community pages nor even Infinity Ward's (IW) community. I've been a gaming community user/reader for a while. Some of the biggest game forums I used to track and participate in were for Call of Duty 4 and Bad Company 2. I loved reading the posts, picking up tips, posting grumblings, and then just chatting it up on off-topic posts. I've never run across such hatred, anger, and just pure rage as these blog postings.
After seeing the IW blog pages there, I decided to roll back to the Bad Company 2 forums and then even to the Bungie forums. I've pasted images of their front pages for what I would consider the closest topic to what we see with IW here. These are not exactly the same format as what is presented through IW, but you can comparably see the difference in what is posted and how it is presented to the community.
My question here is, what kind of community plays MW2? Is this representative of all gamers and gaming communities? Has IW brought this on themselves? They have the highest grossing game of all time and still one of the most popularly played games in the world. Yes, their user base is much larger and spans further, but the reaction from these gamers is unseen in other communities. Take into consideration though that postings you view publicly may be policed by a forum admin or similar role, but I've revisited the IW blog page and they still have the same, if not more similar, topics posted on there.
Do any of the readers participate in gaming communities, whether locally or online forums? Do you have a comment to make on my observations or the online communities in general?
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Gamer focus: Campaign or Multiplayer?
As I've played online for the past 3 years I've built up quite a network of friends. I'm a bit of a pattern recognition and analysis guy so over time I took note of the behaviors of those people on my friends list. Tracking these individuals, I noticed patterns such as when people typically get online, how long they play, what games they play, and who they play with.
What really caught my attention though was tracking the gaming behavior of my brother (gamertag: Jaysus). He has some distinct behaviors which are very different from me, but I noticed one the most which is when Jaysus gets a new game, he will set that thing in the DVD tray, fire up the game, and immediately hit the matchmaking circuit. In fact, he may ONLY ever play the online multiplayer for that game. For me, I've always been a campaign guy. I will normally start my games by playing through the solo campaign, or coop if one exists. Once I complete the baseline story I will then check out the online experience. I've had many discussions with him asking why he doesn't play the main story?
For him, its all about the online experience. The interaction, the wins, the kill/death streaks. He wants to be sure to be on top and get the most out of what every other gamer online has to prove. To me, I sometimes find this appalling. Not for the fact that he plays online and enjoys it so much, its just that these game designers and developers spent likely 2 years of their lives creating and "perfecting" the campaign experience. This is what games have been based on forever and will hopefully continue to be.
I consider myself a gamer who will mix things up for both campaign and online. Some games excel in one space, others in both. My favorite online game Bad Company 2 has so much more to offer through its online gaming than I felt was available to me in the campaign. I do give credit though b/c the campaign was beautifully built, but it just doesn't give me the appeal to go back to it. It is sad that some media reviews called it a "throw away campaign," but I understand why. It is a shame though and I do wonder how game developers and their companies feel about remarks like this. Actions do speak louder than words though, so I'm sure people are analyzing data to figure out what their target users want in games based on the tracked behaviors.
On a closing note, there has been a significant growth in direct to download games. I've purchased a number of games through Xbox Marketplace and PSN. Some I get for simple campaign or puzzle style games I play solo, other games I buy simply b/c they are shared coop or vs experiences online and offer no campaign what so ever. There is a good mix available and gamers can easily find what they like. It is good that people are diverse in their preferences and the market tailors to that, and I'm curious to see how things will evolve in the next decade of gaming.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Playstation Home vs Xbox Live Avatars
If there was 1 wish I have for Xbox Live, and I guess PSN, it would be for spectator mode. If I could have a 2nd wish and use it solely on Xbox Live it would be to create a virtual world such as Sony's PlayStation Home. I will confess I'm a big Xbox and Xbox Live Fanboy, but I have to give it to Sony. They have not only provided a free network for their users but they have created a free virtual world for users to access.
PlayStation Home is exactly as I mentioned, built to look like a virtual world. For anyone who has experienced it, they should know what it is like to walk around in the public spaces like an open atrium at a mall or park. There are various Sony specific activities, live ads, and games. Sony has also gone and worked w/ popular game companies to build small interactive games that add additional content and experience for players outside of their normal disc or direct to download games. I found the entire experience quite impressive with new content most every time I visit.
On the flip side we have Xbox Live. This network is truly king in the realm of what is offered to console players. Xbox avatars are great, but they are limited to just their fashionable looks and a basic activity function if you pair your avatar w/ an accessory item. There are a few games such as Scene-It Box Office Smash and Xbox Arcade Room that offer Avatar compatibiltiy, but that is really a limited venue to utilize the avatar. A few side features are things like party chat and party movie watching where your avatar will sit w/ your group, but they really do not interact with each other, or in any way that you can control.
I think Microsoft could really put a big stake in the ground and nail down their online service/console dominance for good if they were to create their own virtual interactive world for Xbox users (hopefully free of charge). The Avatars, in their current form, are very cartoonish compared to Sony's Playstation home which has people built more like SIMs the game. With this thought in mind though, I'm just wondering if Microsoft wanted to build a virtual world for users to interact with, it would have to mimic the style of the avatars. A few suggestions for this new world would be to have open spaces or buildings we could visit. Each location could be focused on a topic or theme, such as game rooms, movie theaters, sound machines, mini games. Sony has all this already so it would be easy to view/mimic their theater, their EA sports location, the mall (where you can buy avatar items (clothing, furniture, accessories, etc). In world advertising can focus on marketing towards Microsoft products, Xbox products, or even real world items. I think Xbox users would really appreciate this option to further enhance their online experience. Microsoft could build this world for use w/ all users online (silver and gold) and would only allow gold users to unlock or user specific features. This would further push their marketing campaign to have people upgrade to gold status in the pay subscription model for features and other user interactions. There are numerous possibilities to this and I know people will want to visit and play here. I'm sure a business savvy person can create a revenue model on this if needed to help push it along.
For any gamers who know PlayStation home, or have imagined or wanted a virtual world to use their avatar for interacting and playing with, what would be on your wish list to Microsoft and Xbox Live? There are days when I turn on the console and don't want to play any games but wouldn't mind burning some time wandering around a 'public' space.
PlayStation Home is exactly as I mentioned, built to look like a virtual world. For anyone who has experienced it, they should know what it is like to walk around in the public spaces like an open atrium at a mall or park. There are various Sony specific activities, live ads, and games. Sony has also gone and worked w/ popular game companies to build small interactive games that add additional content and experience for players outside of their normal disc or direct to download games. I found the entire experience quite impressive with new content most every time I visit.
On the flip side we have Xbox Live. This network is truly king in the realm of what is offered to console players. Xbox avatars are great, but they are limited to just their fashionable looks and a basic activity function if you pair your avatar w/ an accessory item. There are a few games such as Scene-It Box Office Smash and Xbox Arcade Room that offer Avatar compatibiltiy, but that is really a limited venue to utilize the avatar. A few side features are things like party chat and party movie watching where your avatar will sit w/ your group, but they really do not interact with each other, or in any way that you can control.
I think Microsoft could really put a big stake in the ground and nail down their online service/console dominance for good if they were to create their own virtual interactive world for Xbox users (hopefully free of charge). The Avatars, in their current form, are very cartoonish compared to Sony's Playstation home which has people built more like SIMs the game. With this thought in mind though, I'm just wondering if Microsoft wanted to build a virtual world for users to interact with, it would have to mimic the style of the avatars. A few suggestions for this new world would be to have open spaces or buildings we could visit. Each location could be focused on a topic or theme, such as game rooms, movie theaters, sound machines, mini games. Sony has all this already so it would be easy to view/mimic their theater, their EA sports location, the mall (where you can buy avatar items (clothing, furniture, accessories, etc). In world advertising can focus on marketing towards Microsoft products, Xbox products, or even real world items. I think Xbox users would really appreciate this option to further enhance their online experience. Microsoft could build this world for use w/ all users online (silver and gold) and would only allow gold users to unlock or user specific features. This would further push their marketing campaign to have people upgrade to gold status in the pay subscription model for features and other user interactions. There are numerous possibilities to this and I know people will want to visit and play here. I'm sure a business savvy person can create a revenue model on this if needed to help push it along.
For any gamers who know PlayStation home, or have imagined or wanted a virtual world to use their avatar for interacting and playing with, what would be on your wish list to Microsoft and Xbox Live? There are days when I turn on the console and don't want to play any games but wouldn't mind burning some time wandering around a 'public' space.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Getting the Most For Your Money's Worth in Gaming
This topic works well as we round the bend of ending summer towards fall and the big "Holiday Season 2010." As I've mentioned in previous blogs, there are a plethora of games coming out this fall/winter that many people are eager to get their hands on. What I'm looking to do in this blog is list out all the ways I've used or know of for people to maximize their hard (or easy, I guess) earned $.
So, #1, pre-order bonuses. Yes, to be honest I fall for the gimmicky stuff at times, but since I play online I want to stand out when I can. Too bad; sometimes standing out is just dumb b/c then you're the primo target everyone see's when looking to make a quick kill (ie: flaming helmets or bright colored characters). But alas, gimmicks seem to work for increasing sales. The real winner though is the cash back deal. There are a number of retailers who want you to be visiting their store or their site to get that new game. I can guess that most any popular title coming out this season will be listed on www.amazon.com and will offer you a cash back bonus. For Amazon, they typically offer $10 or $20 credit towards a future gaming purchase. Walmart.com is doing the same and every so often you may hear of the same deal through buy.com or so. Just keep this in mind though, the credit you gain is not really cash you can spend anywhere. The credit may be only for specific products of the same type or may come in a gift card format, whether physical or in digital form.
To find deals though, you really need to empower yourself. Otherwise if you just "go with the flow", you may miss out on some great information. Friends are good, but they may only know about specific games they have interest in. For you, it is best you either subscribe to the alerts put out by popular retailers, add gaming companies and retail companies to your Facebook and Twitter feeds, or find a video game media company and frequent their site and articles frequently. Another thought is to find gaming sites or forums and join those. There are information Mavens all over the place who just want to share info and help people out.
Other options for you to save, or gain, money are to consider selling your old games, game trading, and buying used games. When I'm looking to make some money on games I've completed and likely won't play again I have a few routes I can take. First, I often go to www.amazon.com/tradeingames to get an assessment for what a retailer may be willing to pay to buy back my game. You can also launch into the Amazon marketplace for your game from that point to see what others are selling it for used. One thing to note with Amazon marketplace is that the site will take 20% off your sale total. Its a bit much, but I guess they deserve it for making the whole experience simple to set up and complete. I've sold a bunch of my games through their site. It does get a lot of traffic and has a more legit feel during the transaction knowing that Amazon will back you up if anything goes awry.
The other popular way to go is to go to Gamestop. I honestly don't care for their stores much mainly b/c they never discount game prices. They do offer nice bonuses ( like outfits and weapons in game), but other than that I never feel like I get a deal if buying through them. I did trade some games back to them a few months ago b/c there was a great bonus program going on at the time (trade in 3 games get 25% more value and $10 bonus). It is kinda sick though if you think about their used game market. They buy it back for nothing from you, then put it on the shelf for $10 less than a brand new game. It must be working for them b/c they've done it for years and haven't changed practices. I guess you can infer, that we gamers, are our own worst enemies for paying to play used games at that price.
My last comments on game sales and trades are my two least favorite, but still effective. If you don't want to pay for shipping and give 20% fees to Amazon you can elect to sell your game through Ebay. This is well known and popular, but its not my thing anymore. I used it years ago, but have since avoided it unless a last resort. The final option I can think of is to stick local and sell it through Craigslist. That is an easy platform and often has quick results. The only pain I found in that is working out the trade off location. Sometimes people have difficulty getting around, so it can be some work.
Besides all this, if you're patient and know the market you can take a chance and hold out on buying a game hoping for a discount down the road. To be honest, I want Medal of Honor this year...but I know the game is coming out a month ahead of COD Black Ops. I'm going to bank on the market here and guess that the game will sell well in the first week or two, but as the calendar approaches COD release, MOH will go on sale to compete. Even better for me, is that if MOHpre-ordered came down in price within a month. This told me not to buy games on pre-order anymore. I'm sure things will follow the same suit for Holiday Season 2010.
Game companies don't like this but you can form small trade groups with your friends for some games. Any games that are strictly single player or if you won't play it online, you can set up agreements among friends that each of you buy a different game then trade them off as you complete. I do this with a number of friends, and yes snail mail is involved (only $1.74 to mail a single game in a padded envelope). Great games I've traded around recently were: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Alan Wake, and Assassins Creed 2. If you all want to play online together, then you're each going to need a copy.
As I close out, don't forget we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up after thanksgiving. There are always deals, and lately retailers have been putting their super deals available online so you don't necessarily have to wait in line at odd hours (and in the cold).
Phew...that was a lot to drop on this blog and I know I didn't squeeze it all out. If anything new comes up or you have ideas throw them in the comments. I will make edits or comments as things come up!
Common sites for helpful information posts and internet deals:
www.slickdeals.net (my favorite)
www.techdeals.net
www.dealdetectives.com
www.fatwallet.com
www.woot.com
www.cheapassgamer.com
www.trueachievements.com (A gaming site, but they often put up deal information when it comes available)
So, #1, pre-order bonuses. Yes, to be honest I fall for the gimmicky stuff at times, but since I play online I want to stand out when I can. Too bad; sometimes standing out is just dumb b/c then you're the primo target everyone see's when looking to make a quick kill (ie: flaming helmets or bright colored characters). But alas, gimmicks seem to work for increasing sales. The real winner though is the cash back deal. There are a number of retailers who want you to be visiting their store or their site to get that new game. I can guess that most any popular title coming out this season will be listed on www.amazon.com and will offer you a cash back bonus. For Amazon, they typically offer $10 or $20 credit towards a future gaming purchase. Walmart.com is doing the same and every so often you may hear of the same deal through buy.com or so. Just keep this in mind though, the credit you gain is not really cash you can spend anywhere. The credit may be only for specific products of the same type or may come in a gift card format, whether physical or in digital form.
To find deals though, you really need to empower yourself. Otherwise if you just "go with the flow", you may miss out on some great information. Friends are good, but they may only know about specific games they have interest in. For you, it is best you either subscribe to the alerts put out by popular retailers, add gaming companies and retail companies to your Facebook and Twitter feeds, or find a video game media company and frequent their site and articles frequently. Another thought is to find gaming sites or forums and join those. There are information Mavens all over the place who just want to share info and help people out.
Other options for you to save, or gain, money are to consider selling your old games, game trading, and buying used games. When I'm looking to make some money on games I've completed and likely won't play again I have a few routes I can take. First, I often go to www.amazon.com/tradeingames to get an assessment for what a retailer may be willing to pay to buy back my game. You can also launch into the Amazon marketplace for your game from that point to see what others are selling it for used. One thing to note with Amazon marketplace is that the site will take 20% off your sale total. Its a bit much, but I guess they deserve it for making the whole experience simple to set up and complete. I've sold a bunch of my games through their site. It does get a lot of traffic and has a more legit feel during the transaction knowing that Amazon will back you up if anything goes awry.
The other popular way to go is to go to Gamestop. I honestly don't care for their stores much mainly b/c they never discount game prices. They do offer nice bonuses ( like outfits and weapons in game), but other than that I never feel like I get a deal if buying through them. I did trade some games back to them a few months ago b/c there was a great bonus program going on at the time (trade in 3 games get 25% more value and $10 bonus). It is kinda sick though if you think about their used game market. They buy it back for nothing from you, then put it on the shelf for $10 less than a brand new game. It must be working for them b/c they've done it for years and haven't changed practices. I guess you can infer, that we gamers, are our own worst enemies for paying to play used games at that price.
My last comments on game sales and trades are my two least favorite, but still effective. If you don't want to pay for shipping and give 20% fees to Amazon you can elect to sell your game through Ebay. This is well known and popular, but its not my thing anymore. I used it years ago, but have since avoided it unless a last resort. The final option I can think of is to stick local and sell it through Craigslist. That is an easy platform and often has quick results. The only pain I found in that is working out the trade off location. Sometimes people have difficulty getting around, so it can be some work.
Besides all this, if you're patient and know the market you can take a chance and hold out on buying a game hoping for a discount down the road. To be honest, I want Medal of Honor this year...but I know the game is coming out a month ahead of COD Black Ops. I'm going to bank on the market here and guess that the game will sell well in the first week or two, but as the calendar approaches COD release, MOH will go on sale to compete. Even better for me, is that if MOHpre-ordered came down in price within a month. This told me not to buy games on pre-order anymore. I'm sure things will follow the same suit for Holiday Season 2010.
Game companies don't like this but you can form small trade groups with your friends for some games. Any games that are strictly single player or if you won't play it online, you can set up agreements among friends that each of you buy a different game then trade them off as you complete. I do this with a number of friends, and yes snail mail is involved (only $1.74 to mail a single game in a padded envelope). Great games I've traded around recently were: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Alan Wake, and Assassins Creed 2. If you all want to play online together, then you're each going to need a copy.
As I close out, don't forget we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up after thanksgiving. There are always deals, and lately retailers have been putting their super deals available online so you don't necessarily have to wait in line at odd hours (and in the cold).
Phew...that was a lot to drop on this blog and I know I didn't squeeze it all out. If anything new comes up or you have ideas throw them in the comments. I will make edits or comments as things come up!
Common sites for helpful information posts and internet deals:
www.slickdeals.net (my favorite)
www.techdeals.net
www.dealdetectives.com
www.fatwallet.com
www.woot.com
www.cheapassgamer.com
www.trueachievements.com (A gaming site, but they often put up deal information when it comes available)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Zombies & Video Games
Is there anyone who isn't a fan of zombies? Apparently not! Zombies in movies, zombies now in TV shows (http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/), and of course zombies in our video games?
What is our appeal to zombies? Do humans have an innate attraction to the undead? We've had so many movies and games on the topic, twists, reinventions, and the just plain old updated remakes.
If you've been following games on any gaming platform you must have noticed by now the number of games that offer some flavor of a Zombiefest. Games I've personally played that included zombies are: Left 4 Dead (L4D), Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), COD World at War (WAW) Nazi Zombies, Zombie apocalypse, and Halo 3 "infected" playlists. Let's not forget the Dead Rising series and Resident Evil games.
So this fast approaching holiday season 2010 we see an assortment of new options for zombie lovers to get their game on. To Start out, Dead Rising Zero and Dead Rising 2 came out recently. There has been quite a following for Dead Rising since the first game was released a number of years ago. Next up, we have another Left 4 Dead DLC pack coming out that will help tie in the L4D and L4D2 stories. In November, COD Black Ops is said to be including a zombie game mode just like WAW did. I'm still unsure if they are just re-releasing the WAW maps or if they are updating the zombie experience to something totally new. And finally, those of you cowboy lovers will get the chance to take on zombies in a new Red Dead Redemption (RDR) campaign expansion pack.
I thought the Left 4 Dead series was genius, personally, with its director and unleashing mass hordes on you. It turned our normal slow going zombie games where players have the chance to scoot out of the way of slow limb dragging zombies while find new and creative ways to destroy everything in their path. It added an incredible coop experience to the game also. I say this is incredible b/c come on, when the zombie apocalypse happens in real life, nothing is more lonesome than surviving it all on your own. Time to get the band back together for a final show!!
I'm definitely getting "The Sacrifice" DLC coming out shortly for the L4D series. I may look to get the RDR Zombie expansion as well, but I'm not sold on the other games yet. Dead Rising has been an interesting game, but its mild critic reviews and old school graphics aren't appealing to me. Part of this opinion may just come from having such a great time in L4D and also the fact that there are just too many other games to play right now besides getting immersed in something new like this.
What is our appeal to zombies? Do humans have an innate attraction to the undead? We've had so many movies and games on the topic, twists, reinventions, and the just plain old updated remakes.
If you've been following games on any gaming platform you must have noticed by now the number of games that offer some flavor of a Zombiefest. Games I've personally played that included zombies are: Left 4 Dead (L4D), Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), COD World at War (WAW) Nazi Zombies, Zombie apocalypse, and Halo 3 "infected" playlists. Let's not forget the Dead Rising series and Resident Evil games.
So this fast approaching holiday season 2010 we see an assortment of new options for zombie lovers to get their game on. To Start out, Dead Rising Zero and Dead Rising 2 came out recently. There has been quite a following for Dead Rising since the first game was released a number of years ago. Next up, we have another Left 4 Dead DLC pack coming out that will help tie in the L4D and L4D2 stories. In November, COD Black Ops is said to be including a zombie game mode just like WAW did. I'm still unsure if they are just re-releasing the WAW maps or if they are updating the zombie experience to something totally new. And finally, those of you cowboy lovers will get the chance to take on zombies in a new Red Dead Redemption (RDR) campaign expansion pack.
I thought the Left 4 Dead series was genius, personally, with its director and unleashing mass hordes on you. It turned our normal slow going zombie games where players have the chance to scoot out of the way of slow limb dragging zombies while find new and creative ways to destroy everything in their path. It added an incredible coop experience to the game also. I say this is incredible b/c come on, when the zombie apocalypse happens in real life, nothing is more lonesome than surviving it all on your own. Time to get the band back together for a final show!!
I'm definitely getting "The Sacrifice" DLC coming out shortly for the L4D series. I may look to get the RDR Zombie expansion as well, but I'm not sold on the other games yet. Dead Rising has been an interesting game, but its mild critic reviews and old school graphics aren't appealing to me. Part of this opinion may just come from having such a great time in L4D and also the fact that there are just too many other games to play right now besides getting immersed in something new like this.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Medal of Honor ?
On October 12, 2010 EA will be releasing its new shooter Medal of Honor (MOH) to the mass market. Honestly, if you asked me about this game 4 months ago ago, I would have said "Hell No." At that point in time I was still nestled chin deep in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (BC2) and was in a pure love, and yes complete hate relationship w/ the game.
My love for the game should be obvious (if you've ever played it), it is amazing for a realistic shooter encompassing numerous fun and fascinating aspects.. My hate though...that was more directed towards EA itself. For one, EA hosts all their online games on their own servers. In this respect, BC2 had many online issues including massive lag problems and sometimes even ridiculous hit detection problems. From that experience I had vowed not pay anymore money to EA to support their games since they can hardly keep the ones they have out there running. Another example of an excellent game gone to S&*^ is Battlefield 1943. I probably have as many hours logged in that game online as I do BC2. Sadly when I go back to that game now and then for nostalgia or just want to do some dog fighting or tank busting, the game is still plagued w/ lag or has an extremely low population count active at the time.
Lag does deter players from playing, and people give up quite fast on games that do not perform to expectations. I wish EA would realize this. I think they've lost a significant # of gamers due to this who have MANY other options to play in the FPS or general shooter/war/action genres. I wouldn't be surprised if EA decided the population of players and cost to support BF1943 is too high, so they shut it down. They've done it quite swiftly in the past.
But, I digress. This topic is about MOH. So, when this game was announced, I was like "meh." A sour meh, like I don't care for this game the series died and good riddance it was getting lame anyway. However...once I started to check out the trailers tossed out in their marketing campaign, mainly through the Xbox Live dashboard channels, I was more like "Wow." One key marketing piece they put together is linked to a recent music track release from Linkin Park "Catalyst." This trailer is awesome and EVERY time I watch it I'm impressed w/ the game design and what looks to be an incredible campaign.
(edit: I'm terrible at attempting to embed the video, so here is a link to EA's site where you can look it up. www.medalofhonor.com/community)
I liked Call of Duty and its modern warfare stomping. However, MW2 was a real departure for a realistic gripping story. Once I completed that game I tried it online and was actually overwhelmed at the mass chaos that seemed to ensue. It may just be my playstyle and patience, but there is too much going on all the time everywhere in the multiplayer there. I expect the same for COD Black Ops and even for MOH too.
For me, I definitely want to hit up the MOH campaign. The real question is, should I get this game new on or before release date, or should I sit and wait for it to come out and see if there are sales on it a few weeks down the road? I can almost imagine that if the game does not sell enough in the first month release, it will be on sale at a nice discount not too long after in order to make up #'s and compete directly w/ Black Ops for their release.
Anyway...hurry up and release Battlefield 3 already DICE and EA. I want some real firepower landing on troops as I rush in for my MCOM station!
My love for the game should be obvious (if you've ever played it), it is amazing for a realistic shooter encompassing numerous fun and fascinating aspects.. My hate though...that was more directed towards EA itself. For one, EA hosts all their online games on their own servers. In this respect, BC2 had many online issues including massive lag problems and sometimes even ridiculous hit detection problems. From that experience I had vowed not pay anymore money to EA to support their games since they can hardly keep the ones they have out there running. Another example of an excellent game gone to S&*^ is Battlefield 1943. I probably have as many hours logged in that game online as I do BC2. Sadly when I go back to that game now and then for nostalgia or just want to do some dog fighting or tank busting, the game is still plagued w/ lag or has an extremely low population count active at the time.
Lag does deter players from playing, and people give up quite fast on games that do not perform to expectations. I wish EA would realize this. I think they've lost a significant # of gamers due to this who have MANY other options to play in the FPS or general shooter/war/action genres. I wouldn't be surprised if EA decided the population of players and cost to support BF1943 is too high, so they shut it down. They've done it quite swiftly in the past.
But, I digress. This topic is about MOH. So, when this game was announced, I was like "meh." A sour meh, like I don't care for this game the series died and good riddance it was getting lame anyway. However...once I started to check out the trailers tossed out in their marketing campaign, mainly through the Xbox Live dashboard channels, I was more like "Wow." One key marketing piece they put together is linked to a recent music track release from Linkin Park "Catalyst." This trailer is awesome and EVERY time I watch it I'm impressed w/ the game design and what looks to be an incredible campaign.
(edit: I'm terrible at attempting to embed the video, so here is a link to EA's site where you can look it up. www.medalofhonor.com/community)
I liked Call of Duty and its modern warfare stomping. However, MW2 was a real departure for a realistic gripping story. Once I completed that game I tried it online and was actually overwhelmed at the mass chaos that seemed to ensue. It may just be my playstyle and patience, but there is too much going on all the time everywhere in the multiplayer there. I expect the same for COD Black Ops and even for MOH too.
For me, I definitely want to hit up the MOH campaign. The real question is, should I get this game new on or before release date, or should I sit and wait for it to come out and see if there are sales on it a few weeks down the road? I can almost imagine that if the game does not sell enough in the first month release, it will be on sale at a nice discount not too long after in order to make up #'s and compete directly w/ Black Ops for their release.
Anyway...hurry up and release Battlefield 3 already DICE and EA. I want some real firepower landing on troops as I rush in for my MCOM station!
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