I had forgotten this blog existed when someone on a forum mentioned the great Lesbian Stripper Ninja.
I should probably write something about games, huh?
I loaded up Oblivion on the PC, downloaded a dozen mods to 'fix' the game, and it was still barely tolerable. The game feels lifeless, soulless, and meaningless.
The landscape is good looking, I'll give it that. The people, the cities, the armor, the ruins, and the caves range from ugly to boring. Fallout 3 had lots of ugly but it also had some character.
Yet, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is on my 'to buy' list for 2011. Why? Morrowind.
I loved Morrowind. When I first got the game, it required too much RAM for my system to handle and I still managed to chug through the first part at about 2 FPS. I'd never played, or imagined, a game like that. The concept of open-world gameplay was completely new to me. I recall the first time it rained and I called my mother over to the computer to look at it. I'd never seen weather effects in a game before.
I played through the entire game and I enjoyed it. I played through parts of Fallout 3 and enjoyed them as well. This is all I ask. I believe Bethesda can do it again.
Speaking of Morrowind, the Morrowind 2011 Graphical Update has been released.
As soon as I saw it, I uninstalled Oblivion and downloaded it. I'll probably start with vanilla Morrowind as installing Tribunal means an assassin attacks you as soon as you sleep. I also need to find that 'less hostile creatures' mod. I'm don't want mudcrabs, rats, and raptors chasing me across Vvardenfell.
-------------------
For those of you who like casual, flash games, I have two:
Every Day The Same Dream - Very simple. Listen to the woman in the elevator. You only need to play it once but I played it three times. Also, a bit depressing.
Bloxorz - A puzzle game in 33 stages where you manipulate a rectangular cube and attempt to put it in a square hole. I am currently stuck on stage 11.
The landscape is good looking, I'll give it that. The people, the cities, the armor, the ruins, and the caves range from ugly to boring. Fallout 3 had lots of ugly but it also had some character.
Yet, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is on my 'to buy' list for 2011. Why? Morrowind.
I loved Morrowind. When I first got the game, it required too much RAM for my system to handle and I still managed to chug through the first part at about 2 FPS. I'd never played, or imagined, a game like that. The concept of open-world gameplay was completely new to me. I recall the first time it rained and I called my mother over to the computer to look at it. I'd never seen weather effects in a game before.
I played through the entire game and I enjoyed it. I played through parts of Fallout 3 and enjoyed them as well. This is all I ask. I believe Bethesda can do it again.
Speaking of Morrowind, the Morrowind 2011 Graphical Update has been released.
As soon as I saw it, I uninstalled Oblivion and downloaded it. I'll probably start with vanilla Morrowind as installing Tribunal means an assassin attacks you as soon as you sleep. I also need to find that 'less hostile creatures' mod. I'm don't want mudcrabs, rats, and raptors chasing me across Vvardenfell.
-------------------
For those of you who like casual, flash games, I have two:
Every Day The Same Dream - Very simple. Listen to the woman in the elevator. You only need to play it once but I played it three times. Also, a bit depressing.
Bloxorz - A puzzle game in 33 stages where you manipulate a rectangular cube and attempt to put it in a square hole. I am currently stuck on stage 11.
Happy holidays to whomever reads this blog. All two of you.
I've caught a bit of a cold and it's almost freezing in Las Vegas, which means I'm miserable, cold, and disinclined to game. However, it's hard not to be excited about the Christmas after Christmas when I opened my spreadsheet, list all the games I hope to buy this year, what date they're coming out, and how much this will cost me.
2011 looks to be a ridiculously awesome year for gaming. 15 games I want, 5 games I might be interested in, and who knows how many titles that I'm not aware of yet because they're not a sequel.
Want:
Q1 2011
Dead Space 2 (January)
Crysis 2 (March)
Dragon Age 2 (March)
Q2 2011
Portal 2 (April)
Witcher 2 (May)
Torchlight II (TBA)
Q3 2011
Batman: Arkham City (TBA)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (TBA)
Q4 2011
Elder Scrolls V (November)
Mass Effect 3 ("Holidays")
Dungeon Siege 3 (TBA)
Risen 2 (TBA)
Guild Wars 2 (TBA)
XCOM (TBA)
Diablo 3 (Maybe)
Interested in:
Rage (September)
I Am Alive (TBA)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (TBA)
Defense of the Ancients 2 <- Valve has made the popular Warcraft III mod into a game.
The Old Republic (Q2/Q3)
I've caught a bit of a cold and it's almost freezing in Las Vegas, which means I'm miserable, cold, and disinclined to game. However, it's hard not to be excited about the Christmas after Christmas when I opened my spreadsheet, list all the games I hope to buy this year, what date they're coming out, and how much this will cost me.
2011 looks to be a ridiculously awesome year for gaming. 15 games I want, 5 games I might be interested in, and who knows how many titles that I'm not aware of yet because they're not a sequel.
Want:
Q1 2011
Dead Space 2 (January)
Crysis 2 (March)
Dragon Age 2 (March)
Q2 2011
Portal 2 (April)
Witcher 2 (May)
Torchlight II (TBA)
Q3 2011
Batman: Arkham City (TBA)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (TBA)
Q4 2011
Elder Scrolls V (November)
Mass Effect 3 ("Holidays")
Dungeon Siege 3 (TBA)
Risen 2 (TBA)
Guild Wars 2 (TBA)
XCOM (TBA)
Diablo 3 (Maybe)
Interested in:
Rage (September)
I Am Alive (TBA)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm (TBA)
Defense of the Ancients 2 <- Valve has made the popular Warcraft III mod into a game.
The Old Republic (Q2/Q3)
R18+ Rating For Computer Games Close
The Gillard Government appears to be ready to embrace the notion of an R18+ rating for adult computer games, after a review found there was little evidence of a strong link between violent computer games and violent crime or aggressive behavior.
The Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Brendan O'Connor, released the review yesterday.
It comes shortly before a standing committee of attorneys-general from across Australia discuss the issue at a meeting in Canberra on Friday December 10.
Under consideration is a proposal to introduce the R18+ classification, restricting sales and viewing of adult games to people aged 18 and over. At present, since they are refused classification, such games cannot be sold in Australia.
O'Connor appeared to be amenable to the new category in his remarks yesterday.
"We need a classification system that protects young minds from any possible adverse affect, while also ensuring that adults are free to make their own decisions about what they play, within the bounds of the law," he said, adding: "I'm keen to proceed with making this important decision, based on solid and robust evidence."
The Gillard Government appears to be ready to embrace the notion of an R18+ rating for adult computer games, after a review found there was little evidence of a strong link between violent computer games and violent crime or aggressive behavior.
The Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Brendan O'Connor, released the review yesterday.
It comes shortly before a standing committee of attorneys-general from across Australia discuss the issue at a meeting in Canberra on Friday December 10.
Under consideration is a proposal to introduce the R18+ classification, restricting sales and viewing of adult games to people aged 18 and over. At present, since they are refused classification, such games cannot be sold in Australia.
O'Connor appeared to be amenable to the new category in his remarks yesterday.
"We need a classification system that protects young minds from any possible adverse affect, while also ensuring that adults are free to make their own decisions about what they play, within the bounds of the law," he said, adding: "I'm keen to proceed with making this important decision, based on solid and robust evidence."
From the linkosphere: An Extremely Interesting History of Game Packaging. That's the name of the article. I only found it somewhat interesting.
I've finished with Flame of Vengeance and ought to have the review up tomorrow.
I've finished with Flame of Vengeance and ought to have the review up tomorrow.
You may recall that last year I picked up Divinity 2: Ego Draconis and considered it 'one-third of an awesome game.' I was thrilled to read about the Flames of Vengeance expansion that would supposedly finish the story of the Dragon Knight.
Flame of Vengeance was to arrive in August but got pushed to November. It then came out as part of the Dragon Knight Saga, which is a graphically enhanced version of Ego Draconis and the expansion bundled together. As far as I can tell, there's no way for owners of the original game to simply buy the expansion pack, but Dragon Knight Saga is only $39.99.
After instillation, I attempted to load up my last save so I could jump into Flames of Vengeance, but the game says my old saves are all 'wrong version.' I can create a fresh, high-level character for FoV, but I might as well replay the original game. It's been almost a year but I do recall I wanted to try out something other than the basic melee build I originally used.
Unfortunately, the 'enhanced graphical engine' still gives me a black screen when I pick my PC's native 1680x1050 resolution and attempts to reset to 640x400. My video card doesn't even support that. Why in the world would a modern game even acknowledge the existence of such a screen resolution?
I do what I had to do in the first game and open: C:/Users/LSN/AppData/Local/Divinity2/Profile/graphicoptions.xml
And manually set my resolution.
The game doesn't support screen capture, so it's FRAPS time.
Despite my issues, I will say that the game itself is already faster. In the original, the main menu would appear and then I'd have to wait 15-30 seconds before I could interact with it. The time to load the character creation screen is also faster.
Dragon Age II Items
If you sign up for the BioWare/Dragon Age newsletter, BioWare will give you codes for two DLC items in Dragon Age II, the Staff of Parthalan and Hindsight, a magical belt. You need to have a BSN or EA account.
To get the Staff, click here and sign-up for the newsletter. They'll mail you a code but it's taking a month for some reason.
To get Hindsight, click here, click Get Your DAII Penny Arcade Belt, and sign up to the newsletter *again*. This item will automatically appear in your game promotions.
Comments: I signed up and immediately was sent 2 DA II newsletters + EA newletter. Others have not gotten any newsletters. I don't know why they didn't automatically add the Staff of Parthalan to your promotions. I guess Hindsight is 20/20?
The Hindsight belt promotion shows for the X-Box 360 and PC, but not the PS3. That does make me wonder if they're having problems with PS3 accounts.
BioWare Loot
It occurred to me while writing my Fallout: New Vegas review that BioWare sent my current video card. I won it in the community event they had in April, but it seems like something a game review should mention, yes?
Sadly, though I've only had it for five months, light grays have started to turn pink. Whites, blues, reds, yellows, blacks – fine. Light gray? Slightly pink. It's an ATI Radeon HD 5770.
Blog Update
You might have noticed, but I went incognito in the spring and have just resurfaced like a terrible sea creature rising from the irradiated depths to devour the scrumptious inhabitants of New Tokyo.
If you see this as a good thing, thank
1) swirlwind, a woman at the BSN who was kind enough to say she would like to read a review of New Vegas from me,
2) Monster Import, which I devoured an entire can of while I wrote the review, and
3) The Myst Series soundtrack.
If you sign up for the BioWare/Dragon Age newsletter, BioWare will give you codes for two DLC items in Dragon Age II, the Staff of Parthalan and Hindsight, a magical belt. You need to have a BSN or EA account.
To get the Staff, click here and sign-up for the newsletter. They'll mail you a code but it's taking a month for some reason.
To get Hindsight, click here, click Get Your DAII Penny Arcade Belt, and sign up to the newsletter *again*. This item will automatically appear in your game promotions.
Comments: I signed up and immediately was sent 2 DA II newsletters + EA newletter. Others have not gotten any newsletters. I don't know why they didn't automatically add the Staff of Parthalan to your promotions. I guess Hindsight is 20/20?
The Hindsight belt promotion shows for the X-Box 360 and PC, but not the PS3. That does make me wonder if they're having problems with PS3 accounts.
BioWare Loot
It occurred to me while writing my Fallout: New Vegas review that BioWare sent my current video card. I won it in the community event they had in April, but it seems like something a game review should mention, yes?
Sadly, though I've only had it for five months, light grays have started to turn pink. Whites, blues, reds, yellows, blacks – fine. Light gray? Slightly pink. It's an ATI Radeon HD 5770.
Blog Update
You might have noticed, but I went incognito in the spring and have just resurfaced like a terrible sea creature rising from the irradiated depths to devour the scrumptious inhabitants of New Tokyo.
If you see this as a good thing, thank
1) swirlwind, a woman at the BSN who was kind enough to say she would like to read a review of New Vegas from me,
2) Monster Import, which I devoured an entire can of while I wrote the review, and
3) The Myst Series soundtrack.
Preamble, the skipable part
In May of 2004, I learned that a new development studio, Obsidian, would develop the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic. Like Trokia, the developers at Obsidian were former Black Isle employees. Specifically, they were known for working on two respected games in the RPG field: Fallout and Planescape: Torment.
My perception of their games was as follows.
Fallout 1 and 2 – Never played them
Planescape: Torment – Excellent
Icewind Dale- I bought it when it came out, created a group, got one quest to kill goblins, killed those goblins, and then uninstalled the game. I never attempted to play it again because no gameplay element appealed to me.
Arcanum - Very good
Temple of Elemental Evil – It looked like another Icewind Dale, so I never picked it up
Vampire: Bloodlines – Very good
I looked forward to Knights of the Old Republic 2, got it the day it came out, called in sick to work, and played through in one 26 hour sitting. KotOR 2 was a great game… in places. It was fascinating, interesting, and stylish but some aspects of it were quite disappointing.
I was still a fan of Obsidian and looked forward to their next game. Unfortunately, I found Neverwinter Nights 2 to be more of a disappointment. I've heard praise for Mask of the Betrayer. I ought to play through it someday, but doubt I will do so. I own Alpha Protocol. I even installed it. I never played it and it's currently sitting in a plastic bin with a bunch of other games that I ought to organize.
I did eventually play Fallout 2. There was a great deal about it I liked, but I found the combat cumbersome. I played for 20 some hours before I hit one of the harder fights, and after several tries, and getting killed by my squadmates repeatedly, I set the game aside and didn't pick it back up.
I didn't panic when I heard Bethesda picked up Fallout 3 but I did adjust my expectations. I had played Morrowind and Oblivion, the first of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Bethesda can make good RPGs, they just can't make strong main plots or interesting NPCs. I never 'finished' Fallout 3, but that's because I abandoned the main plot as soon as I could and only rejoined it when I had to or I happened to stumble across the right NPC. I hear it had something to do with my Father and water.
That leads me to…
The Review
Fallout: New Vegas is a great RPG. It's the RPG that I've waited six years for Obsidian to create. I was prepared to like it, but I was not prepared to love it. It's the best open world RPG I've played. (Beats Morrowind) It's the best first person RPG I've played. (Beats Deus Ex) Is it the top of my RPG list? Possibly. Ask me in a year when the luster has worn off.
Two caveats to the above. One, I live in Las Vegas. I live a one block from the strip and there is a certain 'neat!' factor to roaming around a post-apocalyptic version of your own backyard. Two, I haven't played a good game in awhile. Assassin's Creed 2 in March would be my last one.
That's seven months without a good game. It's a bit like being abstinent for seven months and then having sex; I'm inclined to like it more than usual.
Fallout: New Vegas is not the type of RPG I like. In general, I prefer story-driven RPGs like Dragon Age or the Witcher. Open world RPGs are a bit more touchy. I want to explore, but if it's something like Oblivion where I feel I have to hike five miles from one place to the next, I quickly get bored.
New Vegas gives you with the feeling of a desolate wasteland, but packs it with stuff. It's a delicate balance. The only time walking distances managed to make me cranky was when the game kept me up passed 2 am, which is generally when any game element can make me cranky.
The graphics are rough. I am fine with this. If you're not, there are already a number of mods available already to tinker with them. Given the overall quality of the game, I was surprised at all the new art assets. Yes, many objects are the same, but when it comes to the environment, there's a great deal of new content.
There are several new Vaults and all but one is a treat. There's the Science Experiment Run Amuck Vault, the Sinister Moral Dilemma Vault, and the Zombies Attack! Vault.
Bizarrely, many Vaults are flooded with water. This makes no sense because the setting is *a desert*. Rainfall is rare, storms are incredibly rare, and while flooding happens, it rarely lasts more than a few days. It begs the imagination as to how one vault designed to withstand a nuclear bomb might suffer massive water damage underground and remain flooded for years, let alone three.
Combat is much like Fallout 3 though thankfully not every death is accompanied by a gory and slow-mo moment. You get companions early and the humans are well done though the AI can be horribly aggressive. I entered one Vault, stood near the enters and just waited to see what my companions would do. As I stood there, they cleaned out the first floor (even opening doors to do so) and started on the second before returning to me.
Fallout: NVneeds to place a marker on the local map for fallen companions because they frequently run off to battle something you hadn't notice and then die. Several times I would be running along only for the [Cass has fallen unconscious!] message to pop up. I'd backtrack and find her lying among a group of giant radscorpians that she'd taken on with only a 10mm pistol.
Oh, I gave her a shotgun, but earlier I'd used my sniper rifle to take out a large group of Fiends. Cass, bless her heart, had decided to charge them, firing round after round while she was still a half mile away. She possibly did no damage, but she easily ate through the 40 slugs I'd scavenged. After running out of ammo (though still not at their base), she then stood there furiously cocking and reloading her shotgun while going "Fuck! Out of ammo!" "Fuck! Out of ammo!" "Fuck! Out of ammo" (I somehow heard this clearly though she was nowhere near me) until a Fiend armed with an incinerator popped out and fried her.
Screen Note: [Cass has fallen unconscious!]
That said, the companions are likable, interesting and, when the AI works, incredibly useful. If your PC wants to focus on soft skills instead of combat, the companions level up with you and are all designed around combat so you can sit back while they kill shit.
Can I heap more praise on this game? Yes.
The plot is interesting. The sidequests are varied and the minor NPCs well done. I like the various factions, though the game needs to be clearer about the difference between Karma and Reputation. I killed a bunch of Powder Gangers, which lowered my Rep with them but increased my Karma. I then took their stuff, which lowered my Karma because apparently stealing from dead outlaws makes you a bad person.
Speech, Medicine, Barter, and Repair all make frequent appearances in the dialogue, but you'll also see Sneak, Survival, Charisma, and Intelligence on occasion. There's a perk called 'Terrifying Presence' which I've only seen once, and it didn't do anything. There's also something I call the 'I'm a lesbian' perk, which gives you +10% damage to female characters and extra speech options in regards to…being queer. They're not always flirtatious or romantic, and one wonders how liking women helps you do more damage to them. (You're intimately familiar with female anatomy?)
I like the music, though there seems to be less variety than Fallout 3 and I quickly turned off the radio. Mr. New Vegas isn't as interesting as Three Dog though Wayne Newton does a good job.
(On a side note, Mr. Newton agreed to come to an event my company sponsored but didn't show up. I *still* get the occasional angry e-mail from men who came simply to see Mr. Newton and say we lied about him coming.)
I've heaped praises on this game. Is there anything I'd change? Yah. The bug that won't let me finish after 50 hours of playing.
Oh Obsidian. I was waiting for this throughout the game. You've given me 50 hours of interesting, fun gameplay along with an enjoyable story and the feeling as though the world was really reacting to my decisions. Now, however, whenever I step onto the Strip, I'm attacked by a swarm of robots who have missiles and grenades. And my ally, the one I've worked with since the beginning, now will no longer speak with me, and the main questline is marked as FAILED.
Why? There are two possibilities. It seems the turrets of a random Vault are marked as part of the Strip's faction. Therefore, even though they automatically target you, if you destroy them, you're marked as hostile. In addition, it seems that if you tell a companion to return home, they're attacked for some reason when they try to enter the Strip where the home base is. When they defend themselves, again, the PC is marked as hostile.
I've done both of these things in the ten hours since I was last on the Strip. Yes, I have a save, but it's been *ten real time hours* since I went to the Strip last.
For now, I'm uninstalling and waiting for a patch. I know one has come out already. I tell myself that in a month, another will come out, I'll reinstall, and play through the entire thing without a hitch.
Flames of Vengeance
Hamburg/Germany, March 04th, 2010 – Aleroth, once a war-torn city, now holds the next challenges for computer role playing gamers. Rivellon, the world of Divinity II: Ego Draconis, is still not safe. In Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance, the game’s official add on, players must face the evil once more.
Soon they’ll recognize that many of the characters they met in the main game aren’t who they pretended to be. Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance continues where Divinity II: Ego Draconis left off. "In Flames of Vengeance, the player picks up the story of the Dragon knight and guides him to his ultimate destiny. Along the way several accounts are settled, and the answers to many questions in the Divinity universe revealed. We've also taken the opportunity to give the engine a solid overhaul, improving performance and graphics quality along the way", Swen Vincke, Creative Director and CEO of the development team Larian Studios, explains.
Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance, the official add on to Divinity II: Draconis, offers more than 30 questsand about 15 hours of gameplay.
Coming August 2010. Link to Announcement
LSN: (major spoilers for Divinity II)
Can I get a 'thank gawd?' The ending to Divinity II was pitiful - the entire game felt like 1/3 of an awesome game.
An example of this: When you become a Dragon Knight, your previous mentor, a Dragon Slayer, gives you a sword, tells you to kill yourself, and then orders three veteran Slayers to kill you if you can't do this. She leaves, supposedly because watching her previous protégée die is too hard for her. Instead, you kill the three Slayers. Later, she pops up again, furious at your betrayal and blaming her own weakness for the death of her men. You’re in a major city though and the Captain of the garrison orders her sent to a cell. She leaves, but vows she’ll find you again to avenge her fallen comrades.
Compelling stuff… and we never see her again. Divinity II is fun, but it has about a half-dozen plotlines that abruptly end with no closure.
Which leads to a question: Shouldn't this have been in the game to begin with?
I often think that I'm too easy with game companies. The ending to Divinity II made me unhappy. It's remarkable similar to the endings of the first two games in that 1) your hero's efforts are for naught, and 2) there's obviously more to the story. Moreover, the ending was abrupt. In the first two games, I felt like I’d gotten an entire story, abet one that didn’t end as I’d like.
As soon as I saw the ending to Divinity II, I knew that the next game would be a continuation, not a new story. I sat there wondering if the developer’s funding had just run out – and I still suspect that’s exactly what happened.
So, how do I feel about Flames of Vengeance? I want it. I want the closure the first game didn’t give me, but should have. This makes me an idiot. I should in no way, shape, or form encourage developers to rush a game out the door and then finish the story in an expansion. At the same time, I understand. Making a game is not cheap; it’s very expensive and it takes time. I would rather a developer release half a story with the time and money they have, than go into debt and possibly lose their business.
What *actually* bothers me the most about this is that one of the best elements of the game is now gone. I’m speaking about the Dragon Knight Talana who jumps into the PC’s head at the beginning of the game. She was a helpful companion who I never had to check the inventory of, control in combat, or give gifts to in order to increase her loyalty rating. I consider Talana up there with GLADoS in the acerbic running commentary department, but now she’s gone.
I might as well download the 1.03 Patch and play through with another character. I did a two-handed warrior my first play-though and want to explore the magic spells.
Oh, I could even take screen shots and do a review this time if I were so inclined.
From that other blog: A positive review of World War Z.
Hamburg/Germany, March 04th, 2010 – Aleroth, once a war-torn city, now holds the next challenges for computer role playing gamers. Rivellon, the world of Divinity II: Ego Draconis, is still not safe. In Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance, the game’s official add on, players must face the evil once more.
Soon they’ll recognize that many of the characters they met in the main game aren’t who they pretended to be. Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance continues where Divinity II: Ego Draconis left off. "In Flames of Vengeance, the player picks up the story of the Dragon knight and guides him to his ultimate destiny. Along the way several accounts are settled, and the answers to many questions in the Divinity universe revealed. We've also taken the opportunity to give the engine a solid overhaul, improving performance and graphics quality along the way", Swen Vincke, Creative Director and CEO of the development team Larian Studios, explains.
Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance, the official add on to Divinity II: Draconis, offers more than 30 questsand about 15 hours of gameplay.
Coming August 2010. Link to Announcement
LSN: (major spoilers for Divinity II)
Can I get a 'thank gawd?' The ending to Divinity II was pitiful - the entire game felt like 1/3 of an awesome game.
An example of this: When you become a Dragon Knight, your previous mentor, a Dragon Slayer, gives you a sword, tells you to kill yourself, and then orders three veteran Slayers to kill you if you can't do this. She leaves, supposedly because watching her previous protégée die is too hard for her. Instead, you kill the three Slayers. Later, she pops up again, furious at your betrayal and blaming her own weakness for the death of her men. You’re in a major city though and the Captain of the garrison orders her sent to a cell. She leaves, but vows she’ll find you again to avenge her fallen comrades.
Compelling stuff… and we never see her again. Divinity II is fun, but it has about a half-dozen plotlines that abruptly end with no closure.
Which leads to a question: Shouldn't this have been in the game to begin with?
I often think that I'm too easy with game companies. The ending to Divinity II made me unhappy. It's remarkable similar to the endings of the first two games in that 1) your hero's efforts are for naught, and 2) there's obviously more to the story. Moreover, the ending was abrupt. In the first two games, I felt like I’d gotten an entire story, abet one that didn’t end as I’d like.
As soon as I saw the ending to Divinity II, I knew that the next game would be a continuation, not a new story. I sat there wondering if the developer’s funding had just run out – and I still suspect that’s exactly what happened.
So, how do I feel about Flames of Vengeance? I want it. I want the closure the first game didn’t give me, but should have. This makes me an idiot. I should in no way, shape, or form encourage developers to rush a game out the door and then finish the story in an expansion. At the same time, I understand. Making a game is not cheap; it’s very expensive and it takes time. I would rather a developer release half a story with the time and money they have, than go into debt and possibly lose their business.
What *actually* bothers me the most about this is that one of the best elements of the game is now gone. I’m speaking about the Dragon Knight Talana who jumps into the PC’s head at the beginning of the game. She was a helpful companion who I never had to check the inventory of, control in combat, or give gifts to in order to increase her loyalty rating. I consider Talana up there with GLADoS in the acerbic running commentary department, but now she’s gone.
I might as well download the 1.03 Patch and play through with another character. I did a two-handed warrior my first play-though and want to explore the magic spells.
Oh, I could even take screen shots and do a review this time if I were so inclined.
From that other blog: A positive review of World War Z.
It’s the snowy season, which means LSN spends most of her time huddled under snowy tarps in the forest or running across ice covered lakes. It’s also the New Year despite the fact that it’s the DEAD OF WINTER, and it doesn’t feel as though anything new has begun at all. This is because about two-thousand years ago, the Roman consul assumed their position in January, then the eleventh month. The Romans originally celebrated New Year in the spring and that makes far more sense to me, but I’m not a Roman consul so my opinion on the matter is meaningless.
The best part about the New Year is sitting down and budgeting my expenses for the coming year. When it comes to video games, I like to think of this as listing all the cool stuff I look forward to getting this year! (It doesn’t work so good for utility, rent, and car insurance. )
My list so far looks like this:
January –
Mass Effect 2
Divinity 2: Ego Draconis
February –
BioShock 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
March –
Assassin’s Creed 2
May –
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Spring –
Alpha Protocol
Unknown –
Arcania: A Gothic Tale
Fallout: New Vegas
Star Craft II: Wings of Liberty
Star Wars: The Old Republic
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Mass Effect 2 is coming about twenty days! I just finished a paragon FemShep run to import into the game. I don’t know if I should do another run and try to get to level 60, or if I should dust off Splinter Cell: Double Agent and finish it.
What cool games are you looking forward to playing this year?
The best part about the New Year is sitting down and budgeting my expenses for the coming year. When it comes to video games, I like to think of this as listing all the cool stuff I look forward to getting this year! (It doesn’t work so good for utility, rent, and car insurance. )
My list so far looks like this:
January –
Mass Effect 2
Divinity 2: Ego Draconis
February –
BioShock 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
March –
Assassin’s Creed 2
May –
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Spring –
Alpha Protocol
Unknown –
Arcania: A Gothic Tale
Fallout: New Vegas
Star Craft II: Wings of Liberty
Star Wars: The Old Republic
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Mass Effect 2 is coming about twenty days! I just finished a paragon FemShep run to import into the game. I don’t know if I should do another run and try to get to level 60, or if I should dust off Splinter Cell: Double Agent and finish it.
What cool games are you looking forward to playing this year?
... ain't bad.
From a great tribute to E. Gary Gygax.
"Back before fangirls existed anywhere but our imagination"
Eh, I know fangirls in their early fifties who played the blue box dude.
From a great tribute to E. Gary Gygax.
"Back before fangirls existed anywhere but our imagination"
Eh, I know fangirls in their early fifties who played the blue box dude.
A new study led by Dmitri Williams, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, revealed that in some cases every male geek gamer's fantasy may be true -- some girls really are closet gaming freaks.
The study, published in the Journal of Communication, and available here (PDF), examined the gaming habits of females and males playing the popular Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG) EverQuest II.
The sample group was quite large, consisting of responses from 7,000 logged in players. There were many surprises in the results. First, the gaming wasn't dominated by kids -- in fact the average age was 31. More interestingly still, older gamers tended to spend more hours on the game per week.
And female gamers spent, on average, far more hours than their male counterparts. Top female players logged 57 hours a week, while top male players only logged 51 hours a week. And on average, girls logged 29 hours a week versus 25 hours for males.
Age isn't the only thing women tend to lie about, according to the survey. More women than men responded that they lied to their friends and loved ones about how much time they played.
Other dark elf slayers/professors and grad students that participated in the study included Mia Consalvo, Scott Caplan, and Nick Yee.
Original article
LSN: Not that anyone gives a damn about Everquest. But yah! Women can waste more time than men on the monotonous grinding that is MMORPGs.
Squeenix CEO Calls Out Japanese Gamers on Western Bias
The relationship of Japan and the West when it comes to video games is a strange one, and Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada has spoken at length on the subject more than once. Wada clearly admires the Western game industry, mentioning that he wants to see his native Japan follow suit with more games made for adults, and - like many other Japanese developers - has obviously been mulling over how Japanese game makers can market their titles to Western gamers more successfully instead of dealing with a relatively small, insulated market.
But for the moment, Wada isn't concerned with how to market his company's games in the West, but with the exact opposite: In an interview with Japanese TV posted to YouTube, Wada expressed frustration with Japanese gamers' resistance to Western titles, in part due to the country's collective "meh" to Modern Warfare 2, which Activision handed off to Square-Enix to publish in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Specifically, Wada has an issue with the Japanese term youge- (洋ゲー), the word used to refer to titles made in the West as opposed to Japanese-made games, or geimu (ゲーム - yeah, it's just the word "game"). By differentiating between the two, Japanese gamers are essentially saying that Western games aren't actually games, and the Square-Enix boss doesn't like it.
"Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (Western games) with a terribly discriminatory meaning," said Wada. "I'd like them to try it once. If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is."
There's no doubt that Wada has a bit of a personal investment in the matter considering that strong sales of MW2 would benefit his company's coffers, but considering his previous statements on the matter it's not hard to believe that the man genuinely wants Japan's gamers and game makers alike to broaden their borders in more ways than one.
The Escapist
LSN: And after this fair-minded and progressive message, the Escapist encourages people to play a Ching Chong Beautiful, a really damn racist browser game for the holidays.
The study, published in the Journal of Communication, and available here (PDF), examined the gaming habits of females and males playing the popular Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG) EverQuest II.
The sample group was quite large, consisting of responses from 7,000 logged in players. There were many surprises in the results. First, the gaming wasn't dominated by kids -- in fact the average age was 31. More interestingly still, older gamers tended to spend more hours on the game per week.
And female gamers spent, on average, far more hours than their male counterparts. Top female players logged 57 hours a week, while top male players only logged 51 hours a week. And on average, girls logged 29 hours a week versus 25 hours for males.
Age isn't the only thing women tend to lie about, according to the survey. More women than men responded that they lied to their friends and loved ones about how much time they played.
Other dark elf slayers/professors and grad students that participated in the study included Mia Consalvo, Scott Caplan, and Nick Yee.
Original article
LSN: Not that anyone gives a damn about Everquest. But yah! Women can waste more time than men on the monotonous grinding that is MMORPGs.
Squeenix CEO Calls Out Japanese Gamers on Western Bias
The relationship of Japan and the West when it comes to video games is a strange one, and Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada has spoken at length on the subject more than once. Wada clearly admires the Western game industry, mentioning that he wants to see his native Japan follow suit with more games made for adults, and - like many other Japanese developers - has obviously been mulling over how Japanese game makers can market their titles to Western gamers more successfully instead of dealing with a relatively small, insulated market.
But for the moment, Wada isn't concerned with how to market his company's games in the West, but with the exact opposite: In an interview with Japanese TV posted to YouTube, Wada expressed frustration with Japanese gamers' resistance to Western titles, in part due to the country's collective "meh" to Modern Warfare 2, which Activision handed off to Square-Enix to publish in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Specifically, Wada has an issue with the Japanese term youge- (洋ゲー), the word used to refer to titles made in the West as opposed to Japanese-made games, or geimu (ゲーム - yeah, it's just the word "game"). By differentiating between the two, Japanese gamers are essentially saying that Western games aren't actually games, and the Square-Enix boss doesn't like it.
"Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (Western games) with a terribly discriminatory meaning," said Wada. "I'd like them to try it once. If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is."
There's no doubt that Wada has a bit of a personal investment in the matter considering that strong sales of MW2 would benefit his company's coffers, but considering his previous statements on the matter it's not hard to believe that the man genuinely wants Japan's gamers and game makers alike to broaden their borders in more ways than one.
The Escapist
LSN: And after this fair-minded and progressive message, the Escapist encourages people to play a Ching Chong Beautiful, a really damn racist browser game for the holidays.
I picked the Void in response to a thread raving about it on a forum. It’s very much an ‘art house’ video game like the Path and Machinarium, and I’m less than an hour into it. Brief summary of the gameplay/story so far:
You are dead and in an afterlife that is desolate and surreal. A ‘Sister’ contacts you and tell you that to survive, you have to gain Color, otherwise you fall into Absolute Death. This realm was once full of Color, which the Sisters feed on, but it all withered and waned. Now is a series of chambers surrounded by the Void, which constantly sucks the color from you.
The guardians of this realm are the Brothers, and they are terrifying figures that will toss you into the Void. ‘You’ are a male soul called Doppleganger, and the first Sister wants you to make offerings of Color to the Sisters and protect them, which will convince the Brothers you’re one of them.
The Sisters hide in trees – at least the first one does. When you talk to them, they appear as naked women surrounded by sparkly bits and floating in water. I haven’t met any of the Brothers yet, but they all have names like ‘Ironside’ and ‘Wolfsbane.’ As you wander, you hear various whispers, and the masculine ones are ominous and difficult to make out. I picked up a glowing, gold plant and suddenly heard a man mutter, “You will find no safer place than this.”
It’s a first person view. You interact with the word by painting symbols on the screen with your Color. You have to give Color to dead trees and every turn they’ll give you a harvest of raw Color once a turn. You have to collect hearts that process raw lymphomia into Colors.
It *seems* as though originally the Brothers did the planting, harvesting, painting, and protecting while the Sisters consumed the harvest and… that seems to be it. Something bad happened, and now the Brothers appear to be corrupted and you’re a replacement.
The Sisters/Brothers seem locked into traditional gender roles, but this is a corrupted environment. I assume the male Guardians aren’t supposed to be threatening, so that the Sister seems bound to her Chamber and reliant on ‘you’ might also be a problem.
Have to say though: it’s a tough game. As much as I’m interested in exploring the story and game, the combination of unusual gameplay elements and the difficulty curve doesn’t inspire me to play on despite the very imaginative elements.
I tend to run hot and cold. I tend to obsessively do something until I cannot longer stand it and then I’m indifferent to it. And I don’t mean this in a mild, healthy way. I mean this in a ‘must force herself to stop and do something, anything else.’
This is what causes me to hop onto World of Warcraft every 3 to 5 months, start a new character, rush them to level 58/62/76 and then just drop them. This is how I read a 1,000+ book in a single sitting. This is why on the new BioWare Social Network, I’m the third most active poster with over 700 posts in 17 days.
My gaming happens in spurts and spikes. I played through Jade Empire and both Knights of the Old Republic in a single sitting. I played through Baldur’s Gate II in three days. It’s frightening how quickly I can transform into a creature whose only thoughts are ‘game, shower, game, sleep, game.’ I’m a consumer in the purest sense of the word; not the robotic, rational decision makers of economics, but a person that gorges themselves on a product.
But it doesn’t last. After hitting level 62 in two weeks, I’m worn to a nub. I could not force myself to log-on. After finishing with Risen, I’ve tried to get into Machinarium. It’s a good game. I want to finish it, take lots of pictures, and tell you all about it. Only every time I start the game, I look at the playful and artistic backgrounds, listen to the great music, and start thinking about the interesting puzzles, and somehow will be incredibly, unaccountably bored.
This might be hard to imagine, but if I try to force myself to play a game after I hit my saturation point, I experience physical discomfort. My insides ache. If I’m excited about a game, I crave it. I will find myself obsessively thinking about it while trying to read, write, work, or study.
You might be saying to yourself, “That sounds unhealthy.”
Yeah, that it is. As mentioned above, it’s not something that applies just to games. I once sat down and watched the first three seasons of Babylon 5 in one sitting (66 hours). I finally crashed, and when I woke up, I had no interest in the rest of the story. Two years later, the DVD collection still sits in the back of my cabinet gathering dust.
I desire stability; I’m not fond of obsession or mental exhaustion. I put limits on my gaming, mostly, and push myself to game more when I don’t want to.
As to what prompted this entry, look at the picture at the top. Dragon Age: Origins. I’m an administrator on the wiki. I’ve been on the forums for five years now. It’s my favorite gaming genre by my favorite company and it looks to be one of the best games this decade.
This is me, hands folded in my lap, saying that I’m not that excited about the game. Lies. To say I’m excited would be an understatement. To say I’m foaming at the mouth might be closer to the truth. A month ago, I learned that the game could last 120 hours and my gut churned so hard, I could have crapped butter.
I’ve worked out for about an hour and thirty minutes each day this week, gotten a full nights rest, and will stock up on raw vegetables and fruits to munch on. Thankfully, my cats will walk in front of the screen if they get hungry.
1 day, 19 hours, and 25 minutes. That’s the time it shows on my last save for Risen, it’s entitled ‘Final Boss Fight.’ During that time, I’ve managed to finish 250 quests, but not 2,000 monsters even though I searched the island up and down looking for more stuff to kill.
There’s no time indicator on my Batman: Arkham Asylum game, but on my final save I’ve gotten all the Riddler statues (240), upgrades (20), character bios (42), and am 78% complete. The game has non-story challenge modes where you try to get X score while beating up thugs or various achievements while sneaking around and picking them off, which I’m not that interested in.
Let’s skip back to Saturday night/Sunday morning. I’m playing Risen and have run all over the island twice making sure I have every teleport stone, have killed all the truly nasty creatures like thunder lizards, scorpions, and ashbeasts. I’ve managed to find the two broken swords of the game and repair them as well as search through every temple and ruin I could find. I have on the super-duper armor with the very awesome weapon and shield combo that only comes at the very end.
I have 124 minor healing potions, 73 healing potions, and 53 major healing potions. I have 10 scrolls of protection, 5 scrolls of ashbeast transformation, 10 scrolls of skeletal guardian summoning, and 10 of berserker strength. I also have the highest strength possible and the highest skill in my weapon possible. However, that’s not hard as my awesome weapon gives me +6 to weapon skill.
I am ready to rock.
I rush to where I know the final boss is waiting for me, and first meet the [spoiler], who I bat aside easily. And then I… fail a quest? A quest that I’m just about to complete? Okay, that sucks. You didn’t tell me there was a time limit to this quest, you douche. I’ve only failed two quests in this game, and both times it’s be because of a hidden time limit.
But whatever, eyes on the prize. It’s about 5:30 am, and the sun is rising behind me. I step pass the Great Gate to the fiery hall of the [spoiler].
And I die.
And I die.
And I die.
Why? Because my health potions, strength, weapon skill, and scrolls are utterly useless. The boss battle is basically a giant jumping puzzle in a tiny room against an opponent that is immune to regular attacks. If the player has the right skills, they could beat [spoiler] at level 1. If the player lacks the skills, they can’t win no matter how much time and energy they’ve poured into making the uber killing machine.
I close the game down in disgust, head to bed, sleep, and try again in the morning. Well-rested, my hand-eye coordination is good enough that I win on the first try after about two minutes.
As victories go, it’s not very satisfying.
Now, Risen is a combat centered RPG. The first Chapter has a large number of side-quests, Chapters 2 and 3 are 90% running around and killing things, while Chapter 4 is centered on dungeon delving and killing things. The combat is real time and you control each swing, step, and block.
Despite this, I found the game interesting enough that I finished it. The combat was frustrating at times, but the exploration and secondary skills (alchemy, smithing, and lock picking) all proved rewarding, and the dungeon delving was better than any other game I’ve played. Each dungeon felt like its own puzzle.
My experience playing Batman: AA was similar. I loved the exploration and searching for secrets. The stealth combat (‘predator mode’) was great fun. What did they do at the end? Trap me in a small room with dozens of opponents. No stealth take downs, no using my explosives, or my upgraded triple batarang.
Again, after dying many times, I gave up and started something else. I don’t feel compelled to beat a game, only to play it, and it’s obvious that I’d reached the end.
I think game developers try too hard to make the boss fight the most memorable part of the game, often by changing the nature of the gameplay, making previous skills and abilities useless, or by making the last battle far more difficult than any other.
One of the better end fights I’ve played this year was the one from Prince of Persia. The battle had you utilizing all the skills you’d learned, and was moderately harder than previous fights, but the boss battle was not the emotional climax. The climax came afterward when the Prince decides that there is something more important than defeating the bad guy.
There’s no time indicator on my Batman: Arkham Asylum game, but on my final save I’ve gotten all the Riddler statues (240), upgrades (20), character bios (42), and am 78% complete. The game has non-story challenge modes where you try to get X score while beating up thugs or various achievements while sneaking around and picking them off, which I’m not that interested in.
Let’s skip back to Saturday night/Sunday morning. I’m playing Risen and have run all over the island twice making sure I have every teleport stone, have killed all the truly nasty creatures like thunder lizards, scorpions, and ashbeasts. I’ve managed to find the two broken swords of the game and repair them as well as search through every temple and ruin I could find. I have on the super-duper armor with the very awesome weapon and shield combo that only comes at the very end.
I have 124 minor healing potions, 73 healing potions, and 53 major healing potions. I have 10 scrolls of protection, 5 scrolls of ashbeast transformation, 10 scrolls of skeletal guardian summoning, and 10 of berserker strength. I also have the highest strength possible and the highest skill in my weapon possible. However, that’s not hard as my awesome weapon gives me +6 to weapon skill.
I am ready to rock.
I rush to where I know the final boss is waiting for me, and first meet the [spoiler], who I bat aside easily. And then I… fail a quest? A quest that I’m just about to complete? Okay, that sucks. You didn’t tell me there was a time limit to this quest, you douche. I’ve only failed two quests in this game, and both times it’s be because of a hidden time limit.
But whatever, eyes on the prize. It’s about 5:30 am, and the sun is rising behind me. I step pass the Great Gate to the fiery hall of the [spoiler].
And I die.
And I die.
And I die.
Why? Because my health potions, strength, weapon skill, and scrolls are utterly useless. The boss battle is basically a giant jumping puzzle in a tiny room against an opponent that is immune to regular attacks. If the player has the right skills, they could beat [spoiler] at level 1. If the player lacks the skills, they can’t win no matter how much time and energy they’ve poured into making the uber killing machine.
I close the game down in disgust, head to bed, sleep, and try again in the morning. Well-rested, my hand-eye coordination is good enough that I win on the first try after about two minutes.
As victories go, it’s not very satisfying.
Now, Risen is a combat centered RPG. The first Chapter has a large number of side-quests, Chapters 2 and 3 are 90% running around and killing things, while Chapter 4 is centered on dungeon delving and killing things. The combat is real time and you control each swing, step, and block.
Despite this, I found the game interesting enough that I finished it. The combat was frustrating at times, but the exploration and secondary skills (alchemy, smithing, and lock picking) all proved rewarding, and the dungeon delving was better than any other game I’ve played. Each dungeon felt like its own puzzle.
My experience playing Batman: AA was similar. I loved the exploration and searching for secrets. The stealth combat (‘predator mode’) was great fun. What did they do at the end? Trap me in a small room with dozens of opponents. No stealth take downs, no using my explosives, or my upgraded triple batarang.
Again, after dying many times, I gave up and started something else. I don’t feel compelled to beat a game, only to play it, and it’s obvious that I’d reached the end.
I think game developers try too hard to make the boss fight the most memorable part of the game, often by changing the nature of the gameplay, making previous skills and abilities useless, or by making the last battle far more difficult than any other.
One of the better end fights I’ve played this year was the one from Prince of Persia. The battle had you utilizing all the skills you’d learned, and was moderately harder than previous fights, but the boss battle was not the emotional climax. The climax came afterward when the Prince decides that there is something more important than defeating the bad guy.
Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game about a little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend.
The demo is out and you can get it here. The game comes out sometime this fall.
The official website. Check out the trailer.
The demo is out and you can get it here. The game comes out sometime this fall.
The official website. Check out the trailer.
Number of staff employed: over 4,600
Number of computers to run: 20,000 with 75,000 CPU
Amount of memory storage: 1.3 petabytes (over 1 billion MBs)
Lines of code: 5.5 million
Bugs corrected: 180,000
Art assets: over 1.5 million
NPCs: 40,000
Quests: 7,650
Spells and abilities: 70,000
Wow's astounding numbers
Number of computers to run: 20,000 with 75,000 CPU
Amount of memory storage: 1.3 petabytes (over 1 billion MBs)
Lines of code: 5.5 million
Bugs corrected: 180,000
Art assets: over 1.5 million
NPCs: 40,000
Quests: 7,650
Spells and abilities: 70,000
Wow's astounding numbers
BioWare revealed a new character for Mass Effect 2: Subject Zero.
Subject Zero comes off as unattractive*, lewd, crude, and badass. And female.
As a feminist, I consider this a good thing. One of the biggest complaints I have about women in popular media is that they constantly have to conform to notions of attractiveness and sexiness. Here we have a woman with (almost) bald hair, tattoos (and I don’t mean butterfly in the small of her back or the kanji characters for ‘hope’ wrapped around her ankle), and some nasty scars. Excellent.
Another thing is that popular culture prefers ‘strong’ women who are completely non-threatening to the male audience. Again, Subject Zero does not fall into that trap.
I found her a breath of fresh air. And you know what’s just as good as the BioWare making a female character like this? The response on the BioBoards is very positive. Despite what many marketers believe, the average straight male can handle the horror of not being pandered to.
In other news, I thought Batman: Arkham Asylum wasn't out until the end of the month, but I was wrong. I grabbed it today and have played several hours of it so far. It's great stuff.
*Meaning, she does not fit conventional notions of beauty.
There I was, fooling around in World of Warcraft and decided to make a blood elf mage (?) with penis (??). Madness! But I did so and fooled around with him; I enjoyed the goofy ‘kill them before they even touch you’ combat and being able to make my food and water so I could spam spells without worry.
I decided to take a screen shot of my bizarrely masculine self when I realized something was missing.
“My dude has no dude bits!” I said to myself. This is something I’d never noticed before as I’d never played with a masculine avatar. It was a bit shadowy in the inn, so I went outside where it’s a bit lighter to verify, and it turned out I was right: Ken doll smooth. No wonder elves breed like pandas!
I decided to look at the other races, and it was true across the board.
As a comic book reader, I’m familiar with the habit of making female lumps prominent and male lumps non-existent. The idea is, I think, though Superman can fly and toss cars around, if he’s packing more kryptonite than they are, young, male readers might get an inferiority complex. Or something. Several comic fans actually complained about Alex Ross’ depiction of Citizen Steel , calling it ‘creepy’ and complaining about the ‘over-sexualization’ of the character. That’s an issue for someone else to blog about. My question is why this would spill over into video games, specifically RPGs where your avatar is ‘you.’
I’m only a lesbian, but I was rather disappointed to find my guy avatar had effectively been neutered. I mean, if I’m going to play a man in World of Warcraft, I want hulking muscles; cool, shiny armor (with spikes!); a weapon as long as my body (with flames!), and a dick could double as a baseball bat when hard.
I understand that they can’t give me the last one, but would at least a slight bulge hurt anyone?
With this in mind, I decided to go on my own epic quest for a package. First I opened up Morrowind, created a male dunmer, after the intro I stripped naked and – whoa! It’s the full monety. I’d forgotten I had loaded the ‘Better Bodies’ mod along with improved textures. After removing it, I loaded the game, and my dark elf still had a bulge in his underwear. Oh, and a woman walked by me and insulted me. Good work Bethesda!
Thief: Deadly Shadows: This was a hard one (little penis humor there) as Garret constantly crouches; even while standing pressed against the wall, his knees are slightly bent. I spent a little time fiddling with the camera but saw no sign of a bulge.
If not, Gerret, how about the Witcher, Geralt? I don’t have the game installed right now, but I remember that having sex was a fairly prominent gameplay element. As expect, Geralt had a prominent bulge under his leathers.
Guild Wars: one of the few games where the guys are attractive. After playing through the intro with my Dervish, I stripped him down and took a screen shot. The bulges are three for five against the smoothies. I cracked open the Neverwinter Nights Toolset. After looking at my Dervish, my eyes wanted to bleed as the models were worse than even Morrowind’s, but the men were suitably equipped
Batman AA: Bulge. The demo even begins with the camera slowly panning up Batman’s muscular legs and prominent package.
Dead Space: Bulge. Blink and you might miss it, but it’s there.
Mass Effect: No bulge. I have no saves as maleshep and figured the armor might be hiding something, so I played through Eden Prime. It was all for naught; he’s as smooth as a baby’s butt. Good thing asari mate via the Vulcan mind meld. Given that NWN had bulging, the question is: will the bulge make an appearance in Dragon Age?
Drakensang: No bulge. I hear the seduction skill is useless for men anyway.
Devil May Cry 4: Bulge. A shock I’m sure to those who hate pretty guy Japanese characters.
The result is that seven out of the eleven games I looked at had bulges, so I guess the package wins by an inch. Now I’m off to contemplate why I spent the time to find this out, but I’ll leave you with a lineup of the fellows from my survey.
I decided to take a screen shot of my bizarrely masculine self when I realized something was missing.
“My dude has no dude bits!” I said to myself. This is something I’d never noticed before as I’d never played with a masculine avatar. It was a bit shadowy in the inn, so I went outside where it’s a bit lighter to verify, and it turned out I was right: Ken doll smooth. No wonder elves breed like pandas!
I decided to look at the other races, and it was true across the board.
As a comic book reader, I’m familiar with the habit of making female lumps prominent and male lumps non-existent. The idea is, I think, though Superman can fly and toss cars around, if he’s packing more kryptonite than they are, young, male readers might get an inferiority complex. Or something. Several comic fans actually complained about Alex Ross’ depiction of Citizen Steel , calling it ‘creepy’ and complaining about the ‘over-sexualization’ of the character. That’s an issue for someone else to blog about. My question is why this would spill over into video games, specifically RPGs where your avatar is ‘you.’
I’m only a lesbian, but I was rather disappointed to find my guy avatar had effectively been neutered. I mean, if I’m going to play a man in World of Warcraft, I want hulking muscles; cool, shiny armor (with spikes!); a weapon as long as my body (with flames!), and a dick could double as a baseball bat when hard.
I understand that they can’t give me the last one, but would at least a slight bulge hurt anyone?
With this in mind, I decided to go on my own epic quest for a package. First I opened up Morrowind, created a male dunmer, after the intro I stripped naked and – whoa! It’s the full monety. I’d forgotten I had loaded the ‘Better Bodies’ mod along with improved textures. After removing it, I loaded the game, and my dark elf still had a bulge in his underwear. Oh, and a woman walked by me and insulted me. Good work Bethesda!
Thief: Deadly Shadows: This was a hard one (little penis humor there) as Garret constantly crouches; even while standing pressed against the wall, his knees are slightly bent. I spent a little time fiddling with the camera but saw no sign of a bulge.
If not, Gerret, how about the Witcher, Geralt? I don’t have the game installed right now, but I remember that having sex was a fairly prominent gameplay element. As expect, Geralt had a prominent bulge under his leathers.
Guild Wars: one of the few games where the guys are attractive. After playing through the intro with my Dervish, I stripped him down and took a screen shot. The bulges are three for five against the smoothies. I cracked open the Neverwinter Nights Toolset. After looking at my Dervish, my eyes wanted to bleed as the models were worse than even Morrowind’s, but the men were suitably equipped
Batman AA: Bulge. The demo even begins with the camera slowly panning up Batman’s muscular legs and prominent package.
Dead Space: Bulge. Blink and you might miss it, but it’s there.
Mass Effect: No bulge. I have no saves as maleshep and figured the armor might be hiding something, so I played through Eden Prime. It was all for naught; he’s as smooth as a baby’s butt. Good thing asari mate via the Vulcan mind meld. Given that NWN had bulging, the question is: will the bulge make an appearance in Dragon Age?
Drakensang: No bulge. I hear the seduction skill is useless for men anyway.
Devil May Cry 4: Bulge. A shock I’m sure to those who hate pretty guy Japanese characters.
The result is that seven out of the eleven games I looked at had bulges, so I guess the package wins by an inch. Now I’m off to contemplate why I spent the time to find this out, but I’ll leave you with a lineup of the fellows from my survey.
If I’ve been quiet lately, it’s because not much has happened on the game playing front. Batman: AA comes out at the end of this month, and then Alpha Protocol, and Dragon Age, two games I’m all aquiver with anticipation about.
In response, I’ve played a few of the older games I have: Galactic Civilization, Civilization IV, and Outpost are turn-based strategy games, while Civ City: Rome, Children of the Nile, and Startopia are all real-time ones.
I prefer turn-based strategy games as they tend to be more expansive in scope. I’d rather manage a dozen cities/planets and end the game by ruling the world/universe than manage a single city and win by shipping enough barley to Rome. Turn-based strategy games also have their draw back in the form of dead time: long stretches where you’re not doing much in particular save hitting the ‘end turn’ button and waiting for the next technological breakthrough. A large part of this is that I tend to go for cultural domination type victories and so avoid military conflicts.
There’s only one real time strategy game where I experienced real boredom: X3: Something Something. I followed a friend’s suggestion and traded in my original vehicle for a merchant ship so I could ferry cargo and make lots of money. Horrible idea. In the game, you control a single space ship and it took five minutes for my cargo ship to make it from one jump gate to the next.
Five minutes just sitting in front of the computer watching space go by. It was like playing that Microsoft star field screen saver.
Oh, and it had a ‘dynamic economy’ so it was very possible that by the time I left Space Station A traveled four maps to Space Factory B to spend all my credits on Cargo C and then traveled back to Space Station A, a AI cargo ship (all faster than mine) had sold them Cargo C in bulk, so they didn’t want it anymore.
But my favorite of all these games is Startopia. Why? Because it doesn’t take itself seriously. There’s a race of four-armed, purple skinned hippies that I please by planting flowers. High end establishments attract a race of slug people who poop the most valuable substance in the galaxy when they’re happy. If your space station gets dirty, you’ll find cute space kitten frolicking near the trash bins that the aliens love to pet. Each pet results in an egg being placed into them, and a few days later the infected burst open and some cross between a werewolf and the incredible hulk springs out and starts destroying everything.
This is far more fun than watching Egyptians gather clay, Romans cart bricks, or building another cathedral. Only raising your critter in Black and White is more fun.
Next, I’ll play Morrowind.
In response, I’ve played a few of the older games I have: Galactic Civilization, Civilization IV, and Outpost are turn-based strategy games, while Civ City: Rome, Children of the Nile, and Startopia are all real-time ones.
I prefer turn-based strategy games as they tend to be more expansive in scope. I’d rather manage a dozen cities/planets and end the game by ruling the world/universe than manage a single city and win by shipping enough barley to Rome. Turn-based strategy games also have their draw back in the form of dead time: long stretches where you’re not doing much in particular save hitting the ‘end turn’ button and waiting for the next technological breakthrough. A large part of this is that I tend to go for cultural domination type victories and so avoid military conflicts.
There’s only one real time strategy game where I experienced real boredom: X3: Something Something. I followed a friend’s suggestion and traded in my original vehicle for a merchant ship so I could ferry cargo and make lots of money. Horrible idea. In the game, you control a single space ship and it took five minutes for my cargo ship to make it from one jump gate to the next.
Five minutes just sitting in front of the computer watching space go by. It was like playing that Microsoft star field screen saver.
Oh, and it had a ‘dynamic economy’ so it was very possible that by the time I left Space Station A traveled four maps to Space Factory B to spend all my credits on Cargo C and then traveled back to Space Station A, a AI cargo ship (all faster than mine) had sold them Cargo C in bulk, so they didn’t want it anymore.
But my favorite of all these games is Startopia. Why? Because it doesn’t take itself seriously. There’s a race of four-armed, purple skinned hippies that I please by planting flowers. High end establishments attract a race of slug people who poop the most valuable substance in the galaxy when they’re happy. If your space station gets dirty, you’ll find cute space kitten frolicking near the trash bins that the aliens love to pet. Each pet results in an egg being placed into them, and a few days later the infected burst open and some cross between a werewolf and the incredible hulk springs out and starts destroying everything.
This is far more fun than watching Egyptians gather clay, Romans cart bricks, or building another cathedral. Only raising your critter in Black and White is more fun.
Next, I’ll play Morrowind.
