Romantic Robot » Gaming

On DRM

Mark — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:57:23 +0000

(Lest we forget – and I never get tired of this fact – the RIAA, in its case against LimeWire, originally estimated the losses caused by file sharers using the service as up to $75 trillion – that is, more money than exists in the world).

‘The Truth Is, It Doesn’t Work’ – CD Projekt On DRM

Tiny Wings

Mark — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:14:13 +0000

I finally got to Island 8.

You can’t fly that distance and not get there.

Island 9? No, I’ll pass on trying to get that.

EDGE – from good to garbage

Mark — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:44:57 +0000

I could rarely justify the price of the magazine given it’s multi-format nature and the information I didn’t care for about industry types. But I was always interested in their scores. Games had to work hard to please this mag and pre-metacritic I used it as one of the more trusted sources when I wasn’t sure about a purchase.

This is a paid review. Ridge Racer Unbounded review – Edge Magazine. Whoever wrote that has not played the game. Whoever wrote that has never played Ridge Racer. Whoever wrote that was too busy counting the backhander while copy-pasting the text they were sent.

I recall lots of EDGE reviews where they would call a game crap when others would call it okay. They would call warm when others said Hot. But I cannot recall a review where they said Excellent and everyone else scored it less. 14 reviews and they lead the pack with that score of 9. My memory serves me correctly (for once) – their stats pages show that in 84% of their 2,033 reviews they score harsher than the average critic. In fact “On average, this publication grades 9.5 points lower than other critics.”.

Metacritic has Ridge Racer Unbounded at 75 which is where I’d expect an arcade racer to be these days. They are less about racing and more about gimmicks now. But if ever there was a signal that the company behind this game needs a high metacritic score and are willing to pay this this is that signal. If you don’t play games and don’t realise the impact Metacritic has – check this post at ars technica on what a single point cost.

As for EDGE? No point reading that site any more and their reviews are now worthless.

Double Fine not so good

Mark — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:22:27 +0000

I was one of the (tens of thousands) backers for the new Double Fine game they punted on kickstarter. I got this email and I could not be more annoyed that I’d given them money. If I could I’d take it right back. The last 3 words are incredibly offensive and I say that as someone who you have to work hard hard to really offend me.

Be nice. Double Fine is a nice company. We only hire nice people. We try to make nice games. And I think we have the nicest fans anywhere. So be nice on the forums. Let the DFAF be an oasis of niceness in a mean, mean world. We encourage lively debate, but please don’t be rude, insulting, or make personal attacks. Treat each other with respect. We reserve the right to delete any malicious posts, or to just re-edit them to make the original author look like a moron, or a pedophile.

Money for lead

Mark — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:22:54 +0000

A future Battlefield would well launch with a subscription model, EA’s Patrick Söderlund has said; while nothing’s official, the company is investigating the possibility.

“Like all other companies, we’re looking at how we can maximise our investment in this and get the most out of our investment and get more people playing this product.

The last 5 words and ‘subscription’ don’t seem to fit. Why on earth would you pay to play that title? If you pay to play and get better guns, better levelling then why should I pay to play or even just play as a free user when you would be so much more advantaged over me? That’s nuts. That VideoGame Blog.

10

Mark — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:02:12 +0000

Mine is under the bed.

Kick Doubt

Mark — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:36:59 +0000

Playing SSX 3 again and it’s Gold all the way, no problems. Then I got to Kick Doubt. Couple of false starts as I worked out the route I’d last played and then I cracked it :)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Trickyplex

Mark — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:43:56 +0000

I had forgotten just how nuts Tokyo Megaplex was and how good it feels to get a decent run through all the air / rails / bumpers / tunnels and other obstacles. I had forgotten about Alaska. I was again surprised just how many shortcuts I remembered as I past them. But one restart in the final of Tokyo / Aloha and Alaska and all Golds are now got in races. Showoff awaits. I remember when it came out I completed every character, unlocked every board and outfit, beat every score and time. I may well do again just to see all the Uber Tricks.

It was called..

Mark — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:51:39 +0000

Pipedream. Going accidentally over the line just a few hundreds points shy of Gold was very annoying. Not because I couldn’t try again but because my thumbs hurt. I’ve played video games since 1980 and I still think that pressing the button harder will make her spin faster, hit the right jump, land perfectly and more. Still, Gold on this then I’ll have Untracked to noodle down on and then it’s this one …

Click here to view the embedded video.

Snowdream

Mark — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 00:19:54 +0000

Tricks mean boost and boost means speed
I had forgotten how unforgiving the original SSX was. And how hard it is to get Gold with Showoff on Snowdream. Gold in the races was fine – I was surprised just how much I remembered – but trick is tricky.
Call your momma into the room and show her how good you are