It comes to us all eventually. Most of us. Some. Ok, look, do it if you want to, alright?
Babies. I had to be convinced that they were a good idea. It took a long time, but now the baby is fab. Wish that I'd had one sooner. If only for the reason I'm going to be in a wheelchair when they're running around wanting to do stuff and all the kid's friends will be like, 'Why does your grandpa always pick you up from school?'
Like. Another pet hate, but a verbal habit I can't shake.
I often wonder what I did with all my time before the babe came along and suspect this is a pretty common feeling. Gaming is naturally bottom of the list of priorities. It's a hobby. I think I had come to believe that it was almost a right. A necessity, like electricity. Try telling my wife that - after she's finished laughing, her face will go all serious in the blink of an eye. 'No.'
Be told.
It took me a while to get used to it (not having infinite time for games, not the little one). I don't begrudge it (the time lost, not the little one), in fact. It has actually forced me to rationalise my gaming habit. Only to play what's important to me. To focus on one game rather than chopping and changing, never fully experiencing the game to it's full, wasting money on buying games that I play for an hour - and so on. Has stopped me from spending willfully on Steam sales 'just because it's cheap'. That's a real positive. It goes without saying of course that the main upside is that I have a small, fully functioning autonomous human being to look after and love, a superb replacement.
Pre-baby, I could feel the 'game library dilemma' getting close to a situation that I experienced with my PS1. Before my PS1 was chipped, I invested money (at the time the cost of a game a real consideration), time and enjoyment in a game. Post-chippage, I had a stack of 10 games for cheap (around £3 each) all at once, would play each one for half an hour and then move on, not really enjoying any of them, It was more related to volume of games and time, I think. It's at that point that I stopped bothering to play copied titles and considered which ones I could afford to buy and had much more fun out of them in the long run.
Whilst a baby has really stopped me, I noticed that Steam sales were leading to exactly the same situation. Why buy another game just because it's so cheap when I still have a few others on the go? One only needs to look at common comments about Steam libraries and 'back-catalogues', or use Steam APIs to stalk your friends to see that 2/3 of titles are often unplayed. Not cracked games - just the sheer volume and time required has relegated them to never even being downloaded. Not that Valve cares, of course. Their money trucks just keep rolling in and also includes a nice little piece about why Half-Life 3 will never be made, and once I heard it, I tend to agree with them. Incidentally, a new article about HL3 with an interview from a Valve staffer (allegedly) can be found here. There will be no HL3.
I recently bought Last of Us. Had been wanting to for a loooong time, ever since first hearing about it, but never got around to it. Last of Us 2 was announced just before Christmas, so thought I really ought to make the effort, so I dusted off my PS3, plugged a network cable in and had a look. It was 20 quid for what seemed like everything, DLC and what not. Turns out that I had not logged into PSN for 2 years or so. Slack, eh?
Downloaded LoU and began an install. Apparently, I didn't have enough disk space, so I deleted the 'big' game on my disk, Wipeout HD/Fury - still no space. Ok, deleted all games. Still not enough space. Right. Seeing as I'd not been online for a while, I deleted all save games, game info, the lot. Turns out I was still 700Mb short, as the firmware takes up *just enough* space to stop me installing my new game. Arse.
A short bit of investigation later reminded me that I was still running the HD that the PS3 came with on launch day in 2008 - a (useable) 37Gb. Great. Being somewhat of a geek, I at least didn't have to order a disk, so had a rummage and found a 2" 350Gb drive lying around that merely needed a format. Then the USB drive I put the firmware onto didn't work, so had to find another... aaaaaannd it finally booted. I had a fully updated PS3 and could check out my new game.
Well. Last of Us - what a treat! Not a massive fan of these type of games, as I tend to get bored by them, but in this case, the story was good enough to keep me interested. Better than good actually, it was excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed the play through (although sometimes the clunky movement got up my nose), and, am not ashamed to say it, teared up once or twice. Not many games can claim that. I wondered whether it was because I now had a child of my own that some scenes affected me and suspect so.
Of course, this revitalised PS3 playing has made me look at PS4s. Le sigh. They are ridiculously cheap now for what they are, but still - as I get older I'm starting to feel that 'this one hasn't packed up yet, so I don't need a new one'. But y'know. Western shopping instincts.
I really enjoyed the time on Last of Us, and it was a game that felt like it rewarded the focus, actually gave you a story back with all it's hopes (or lack thereof) and dreams of Ellie & Joel. Pausing to think that this world was all that she knew, not the world that we're all familiar with. What would my child be like in this situation? Would they become infected? How would I deal with it? Could I actually, look them in the eyes and shoot them in the head? Clearly nonsense, but an illustration of the power of the game's environment and story that you find yourself idly thinking about these things whilst making your way around a quieter section of a level. It allows you brain space, isn't a constant shoot and stress factory. In fact, one of my favourite parts of the game comes near the end - and I probably won't be giving anything away here since it's two years old - but as you get to Salt Lake City and see the small Giraffe family, calmly walking around having a graze. Beautiful. You can see the effort that the devs went to with this game - not to belittle the efforts that all developers give in crunch-time - and it really does show. The game timer showed around 20 hours, maybe a little less, spread over 6 weeks or so, and that was the only game that I played. Loved it.
Little ones sure do reduce your game time, but if I'm brutally honest, I think it's actually made me appreciate games more. That and having an hilarious little person running around doing funny shit.
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Monday, 9 January 2017
Philistines
Lists. We humans love lists. Particularly journalists, and to sub-divide and specialise further, games journalists. If I was being uncharitable, I would say because it's easy copy. But hey, it's generating copy here too and probably worse writing to boot (and they at least have the excuse of people reading it). Self pity and whining kids, don't do it.
ANYWAY to move on; it's frustrating, as I'd like to read some interesting content in this otherwise moribund period that isn't simply looking back - even RPS succumbed (although I think they went off the boil about 12-18 months ago).
So on top of all the past year's lists are the ones dealing with the 12 months ahead. The gift that keeps on giving - as you have to bookend the year, right?
What seems conspicuously absent from all of these (ok, almost all. I confess I haven't looked at everything) is Thimbleweed Park. A simple, point & click adventure game, exactly like all the ones we used to love from yesteryear - but with all the crucial lessons that we've learned (for example not killing the player at every opportunity - I'm looking at you, Ken & Roberta) along with a strong story backbone.
Thimbleweed Park is being headed by none other than Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick. Ron bloody Gilbert! Fresh out of Double Fine, he put together a team and started knocking one out. Then he got down to writing some code.
For those that aren't aware (and if you play games what on earth have you been doing?), Ron & Gary wrote Maniac Mansion for Lucasfilm Games (latterly Lucasarts). The framework Gilbert created to actually make MM was called SCUMM - Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion - and went on to be used for nearly every later Lucasarts adventure game title. These are some of the best loved games in the genre - Monkey Island et al.
Thimbleweed Park started life as a kickstarter and did well itself, possibly given life by the huge success of Tim Schafer's Broken Age - although not to Broken Age's levels - and is due for release this year. I don't support many games via kickstarter, as it is after all a gamble, with the only few that come to mind that I have backed (mainly via Early Access) being Prison Architect, Satellite Reign, Dirt Rally and Formula Fusion. (If you want an investment with potential return, head over to Gambitious or Schafer's own Fig. Value of your shares can go down as well as up yada yada yada). Thimbleweed Park, though! I had to. I just had to. Even if the early support came to naught, I could deal with it. It's one of the few blogs that I visit regularly, and of late, it's been a weekly click. The game is getting close now, has apparently reached the stage where features, puzzles and content are all largely locked and they're all working feverishly to de-bug and finalise it. May I? Yes, I think I may. SQUEEEEEE! Apologies. Release date roughly Feb/March.
What is it? It's an old-fashioned adventure game that looks really pixel-y. So what, huh? The best thing about this format is that you can't hide behind flashy graphics - the story has to be strong. The game will stand or fall on the quality of the narrative (barring some glaring design faults). Messrs Gilbert and Kinnick have great form. Hmm? The art? Get with the program, pixel art is all the rage.
The game opens with a murder in the small town of Thimbleweed Park, and 2 detectives have been given the case. Outside town, a family are gathering to hear a will from a rich uncle. Meanwhile, a clown has been cursed and can't remove his makeup whilst another character wakes up and realises that he's dead.
Whether you give a shit about this game will depend strongly if you're of a certain age, I suppose. When Monkey Island came out (I never had a computer that could run Maniac) it was on a number of 1.44Mb HD floppies, I forget how many, although I want to say 4. Monkey Island 2 was 8 maybe? 10? Whatever. Breathlessly, I awaited the delivery and put each diskette into my dad's 12MHz 286 (1Mb RAM! 30Mb HDD!) and booted the game. The copy protection was a typically inventive dial-a-pirate code wheel. The game delivered! [For an interesting series on copy protection in game, head on over to The Digital Antiquarian - great blog. Read it all if you have any interest in the history of computer games & games in general. Set aside a few weeks.]
The game was funny, involving, hard (to 15 year old me) and exciting. I'd never seen anything like it, all my previous 'interactive fiction' needs being serviced by Infocom. I was hooked. MI2, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam & Max, DotT, Fandango (along with other outfits' efforts, Space Quest, Kings Quest, Gabriel Knight) - etc.
Then there was the drought. Around the mid-nineties, the genre appeared to die a death, and not without reason. Graphics processing was coming on apace, storytelling was advancing and action games were deemed to be more exciting. What are these games that helped in the decline? Well, that would be Doom and Half-Life. No introduction needed (if they do, hand in your gaming card right naow.) As the millennium turned, the main stalwart of the genre, Lucasarts, threw in the towel. Some developers kept on producing, but there were no breakout hits; as the 2000s marched along, digital distribution appeared and saw an upswing in episodic content. Telltale Games was formed by ex-Lucasartisans, bought some rights from Steve Purcell and released Sam & Max Save The World, which did respectably well as an episodic series. Telltale worked hard, and released a number of adventure games until there was a market again! Re-mastered versions of the Lucasarts' classics did reasonably well and then Gilbert clearly thought it was time to re-enter the fray. Am I glad he did.
So that little background story was nowhere near as short as I wanted it to be, but it will hopefully give some indication with the enthusiasm with which I am awaiting Thimbleweed Park.
And it wasn't mentioned in a single list. Tchoh.
ANYWAY to move on; it's frustrating, as I'd like to read some interesting content in this otherwise moribund period that isn't simply looking back - even RPS succumbed (although I think they went off the boil about 12-18 months ago).
So on top of all the past year's lists are the ones dealing with the 12 months ahead. The gift that keeps on giving - as you have to bookend the year, right?
What seems conspicuously absent from all of these (ok, almost all. I confess I haven't looked at everything) is Thimbleweed Park. A simple, point & click adventure game, exactly like all the ones we used to love from yesteryear - but with all the crucial lessons that we've learned (for example not killing the player at every opportunity - I'm looking at you, Ken & Roberta) along with a strong story backbone.
Thimbleweed Park is being headed by none other than Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick. Ron bloody Gilbert! Fresh out of Double Fine, he put together a team and started knocking one out. Then he got down to writing some code.
For those that aren't aware (and if you play games what on earth have you been doing?), Ron & Gary wrote Maniac Mansion for Lucasfilm Games (latterly Lucasarts). The framework Gilbert created to actually make MM was called SCUMM - Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion - and went on to be used for nearly every later Lucasarts adventure game title. These are some of the best loved games in the genre - Monkey Island et al.
Thimbleweed Park started life as a kickstarter and did well itself, possibly given life by the huge success of Tim Schafer's Broken Age - although not to Broken Age's levels - and is due for release this year. I don't support many games via kickstarter, as it is after all a gamble, with the only few that come to mind that I have backed (mainly via Early Access) being Prison Architect, Satellite Reign, Dirt Rally and Formula Fusion. (If you want an investment with potential return, head over to Gambitious or Schafer's own Fig. Value of your shares can go down as well as up yada yada yada). Thimbleweed Park, though! I had to. I just had to. Even if the early support came to naught, I could deal with it. It's one of the few blogs that I visit regularly, and of late, it's been a weekly click. The game is getting close now, has apparently reached the stage where features, puzzles and content are all largely locked and they're all working feverishly to de-bug and finalise it. May I? Yes, I think I may. SQUEEEEEE! Apologies. Release date roughly Feb/March.
What is it? It's an old-fashioned adventure game that looks really pixel-y. So what, huh? The best thing about this format is that you can't hide behind flashy graphics - the story has to be strong. The game will stand or fall on the quality of the narrative (barring some glaring design faults). Messrs Gilbert and Kinnick have great form. Hmm? The art? Get with the program, pixel art is all the rage.
The game opens with a murder in the small town of Thimbleweed Park, and 2 detectives have been given the case. Outside town, a family are gathering to hear a will from a rich uncle. Meanwhile, a clown has been cursed and can't remove his makeup whilst another character wakes up and realises that he's dead.
Whether you give a shit about this game will depend strongly if you're of a certain age, I suppose. When Monkey Island came out (I never had a computer that could run Maniac) it was on a number of 1.44Mb HD floppies, I forget how many, although I want to say 4. Monkey Island 2 was 8 maybe? 10? Whatever. Breathlessly, I awaited the delivery and put each diskette into my dad's 12MHz 286 (1Mb RAM! 30Mb HDD!) and booted the game. The copy protection was a typically inventive dial-a-pirate code wheel. The game delivered! [For an interesting series on copy protection in game, head on over to The Digital Antiquarian - great blog. Read it all if you have any interest in the history of computer games & games in general. Set aside a few weeks.]
The game was funny, involving, hard (to 15 year old me) and exciting. I'd never seen anything like it, all my previous 'interactive fiction' needs being serviced by Infocom. I was hooked. MI2, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam & Max, DotT, Fandango (along with other outfits' efforts, Space Quest, Kings Quest, Gabriel Knight) - etc.
Then there was the drought. Around the mid-nineties, the genre appeared to die a death, and not without reason. Graphics processing was coming on apace, storytelling was advancing and action games were deemed to be more exciting. What are these games that helped in the decline? Well, that would be Doom and Half-Life. No introduction needed (if they do, hand in your gaming card right naow.) As the millennium turned, the main stalwart of the genre, Lucasarts, threw in the towel. Some developers kept on producing, but there were no breakout hits; as the 2000s marched along, digital distribution appeared and saw an upswing in episodic content. Telltale Games was formed by ex-Lucasartisans, bought some rights from Steve Purcell and released Sam & Max Save The World, which did respectably well as an episodic series. Telltale worked hard, and released a number of adventure games until there was a market again! Re-mastered versions of the Lucasarts' classics did reasonably well and then Gilbert clearly thought it was time to re-enter the fray. Am I glad he did.
So that little background story was nowhere near as short as I wanted it to be, but it will hopefully give some indication with the enthusiasm with which I am awaiting Thimbleweed Park.
And it wasn't mentioned in a single list. Tchoh.
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