Monday, September 24, 2007

2K7 Game-a-week Week#39: But not really...

I have to admit that my "Game-a-Week" plan has fallen apart. Not only am I not working on a title a week, but the posts aren't even always a weekly event or directed toward a single game. Well, better to get something out then nothing.

I wanted to mention something that happened about a month ago. Our merry band of FFXI characters have been given a timeout. The three of us decided to halt our subscriptions as the game was getting to be too much - too much "work" to get up in levels after 71, too much time to get anything done, too much risk in getting killed, too much trouble to get a group of people together to do things we couldn't do ourselves. So, we walked away and by the end of November we have to decide if it's worth re-upping to keep our characters alive. It's quite possible they will be kept on the servers, but there are no guarantees. In the meantime, we have gotten into Dungeon Runners, a sort of Dungeon Siege meets WoW-lite. Lots of fun, but not a lot of depth. We all have copies of Guild Wars and Neverwinter Nights 2 that will probably see action soon.

Halo 3 comes out tomorrow and, like many recent video game events, I'm on the shoulder of the road, watching it go by. While I do have two current gen systems (the Wii and DS), they aren't what you would call gaming powerhouses on the order of the 360 or PS3. But I find myself still digging in, content in my trenches with last gen games that I am continuing to buy.

I really don't feel like I need the new systems. They cost too much, the games are too expensive, and unless you have an HD TV, they don't look that good. I got the Wii because I liked the motion control idea and the online aspect, even if I only get a few of the offered titles. Is the Wii contributing to the diluting of the hardcore game industry? Probably. Does that make me complicit? In a small way, yes. Does that bother me? No, as this movement will continue as long as the money trail is there to follow.

I've been in a similar position in the past, namely when the N64 came out, and then later when the PS2/Xbox/Cube era started. However, I think this time is different (famous last words) because the technology of the past is still very good, at least by my standards. There's also the fact that I have amassed a library of hundreds of titles that I haven't played. I don't need to go buy a new game; just pick one off the shelf without a dot on it (or one that hasn't been opened lol). The Wii and DS give me some connection to newly marketed games (can't resist all the advertising) but even those are in the affordable range.

So, Halo 3, go save the universe without me. Maybe I'll finally finish Halo 1 or even open Halo 2!

Monday, September 17, 2007

2K7 Game-a-Week Week# 37: Game Retreat #2

For the second time this year, my brother came to visit and it was a week long GameFest! We got him hooked on the Wii via Wii Sports and were even able to find one at a Circuit City that he could take back with him. Our game for the trip was Rayman's Raving Rabbids which actually only lasted about 3 or 4 days. The mini-games were very funny, but they reused some too much and others, that looked interesting, were just quick one offs. A very enjoyable game, but not one with much replayability and, I'm sorry to say, had a pretty lame ending. (Did the programmers just get tired at the end or did they run out of time?) We are planning on putting it up on eBay soon. Tiger Woods '07 for the Wii got quite a bit of play too, but I didn't do very well until I got some tips from my "golf pro" brother. We also got into some paper games like Lost Cities, Dungeon Quest (which I want to make a computer version of), and a cash-less version of Monopoly. Add in a fantastic Indian cuisine dinner and it was a great vacation!