I hear from the President of Miami U. that they don’t want to throw anyone under the bus for this incident as they may have not known better. I hear from Michael Irvin that 18-19 year old kids don’t have that sense of how wrong what they did was….

I call bull.

How in your right mind can anyone consider a full-on gang fight in college football something you DON’T DO? Where is there precedent that this is what is “ok”, or acceptable!? Where is this case for the need for some “education”?

Oh, it must be in a Video Game! Right! If all “bad behavior” that kids exhibit in the real world can be attributed to a wasted youth in front of a video game, then this kind of behavior must be baked into the games itself!

I launched up my Madden and my NCAA football games to find the “Gang-Fighting-Mini-Game”. Nothing. I couldn’t even find a PG version of a “fight” mini game. Nonplussed, I look up faqs, cheat codes…tried the up, down, up down, left, right, left, right, A, B, A, B and….nothing. I even looked for the gang-rape and ultra-violence mini games.

In fact…it seemed to me that the games were actually showing us what sorts of behavior is almost expected of athletes…what a strange feeling. These games are actually giving us a solid foundation for what is RIGHT and what is NOT ACCEPTABLE! I couldn’t believe it!

Maybe Video Games are good role models. Maybe we should take a lesson from the games out there and know that when you play football, or basketball…that fighting isn’t something that is acceptable. Maybe we should learn that when you pimp out your girls and shoot cops, that cops will come after you via a star-rating system. Maybe we should all just grow up a little and pay some more attention to those life-learn lessons found in Video Games.

-Socratic Processor

Well, that's mostly true, but here's the problem. It's an orgy with old people and some people that don't have the functioning body parts to actually partake. Sorry for the visual, but let's get down to the nuts of it.

I first tried to load up Myst, as it was a game I used to have on my Old Mac II back in the day, and there is no real way to get a version of it now. First, you actually wait as it downloads the entire game to your machine, and then when it's done, you can start playing. And of course it doesn't work. Not even close to working. Quicktime version 2.5 or some such doesn't exist anymore and there really is no way that it was going to fly. Thus, we have an integral body part missing...or is it broken?

Now, I could also play 'Asteroids' or 'Joust', but really, I could probably find freeware or even a Javascript implementation of either of those games on the internet for free...and just as good. Hell, I can probalby get those games on my phone for crying out loud. Old...old and not attractive really (and free).

Then there's the middle ground. The NES or SuperNES games. These have some nastalgic qualities to them...the good 'ol days. However the really "good ones" are invariably already in a "Collection" of sorts on your up-to-date console. And Live Arcade is going to quickly catch up and curtail any of your desire for that type of...er...Tail.

I'm not trying to "K" someone's "B" here...I'm sure there is a great big 'ol market for GameTap'ers, just not me...I've had too much experience with the "High Class" stuff, to feel good about going into a room full of old, dirty, whore-ish games.

Now, there are other RPG or card-based games in which a card battling system may be appropos, but you have to admit that there are times where it's just a litte too wonky. Can you imagine a GTA in which our young hero opens a car door and throws down the "Get out Car with a +10 neck grab and twist" and all the poor driver can do is throw out the "fight back with kick in groin" card in which there are only 2 in a 100 card deck? That actually probably describes the basic game mechanics of that entire ordeal, but yet, I don't have to see it, or bother having my world view interrupted by floating playing cards.

That's all i'm saying...I respect the game theory and game play that cards bring to the table. It's a great tangible abstraction to the basic game rules being tossed about in bits and bytes in the game code...but I don't like it when it interferes with my emersion in the game world.

But card games in general? Love 'em. In fact, Vastish has introduced a card game to me many a year ago that I hunger to play again. In fact, I hunger to play a video game of it. Maybe even write one. But we won't have Ryu in it, nor will we have Tiger Woods...we may have a small Anime characters here and there...(and if we get the nintendo license...well....you get the idea)

Some titles for you to ponder before we go on. Baten Kaitos a card-based RPG of some acclaim. Metal Gear Acid helped sell the world Sony PSPs as a launch title in March 2005. For me, this was the first game that broke through my out-of-hand dismissal of the admittedly silly sounding card based action game. But let me assure you it's not just me who appreciates the genius at work here, and perhaps it would help if you read the opinions of someone more respected in the industry. Be my guest. I'll wait.

What I find interesting about those who cannot tolerate these games because of the cards is that the card system is really just an arbitrary metaphor for how to interact with the game. Final Fantasy's collection of weapons, spells, and potions are just a collection of things that do things within the rules of the game. The manifestation of the these objects could have been anything. It just so happened that Square went with the most obvious choice at the time, owing largely to (in order) fantasy fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, and Dragon Quest I.

But cards are no less apt a choice. They are the ultimate expression of what should be the heart and soul of any good game -- luck and skill. Indeed the use of cards as a gameplay mechanic is the quintessential evolution of how far games themselves have evolved. Game design has matured to the point that it has begun to eat its own tail.

We find ourselves, then, back at the beginning. And this is not a bad thing. If hip-hop as taught us anything, it is that wonderful things can emerge when we remix old ideas. And if that wasn't too much of a stretch for you, then you should be getting very excited at the prospects of re-imagining the mechanics of play when Nintendo adds how you move into this heady mix.

-Vastish

Yes, I’m starting with a haiku. One of the greatest books ever written started with haikus, and while I don’t presume to think that this will be the greatest blog ever, it grounds me in my wherewithal to write to the general public.

But yes, I’m proud of my two word middle sentence.

I picked up Saint's Row the other day. I should start out by saying that I’m a fairly competent Grand Theft Auto (pick a version) player. Check that...I’m actually quite good. Now, you might ask what makes a good GTA player, and I’ll say one that can make the game play out like a movie. A movie in which our hero drives at break neck speeds and doesn't hit anything; kills with one shot; jumps out of flaming cars and uses them as weapons...and when I play GTA with my 'Rage Against The Machine' soundtrack in the background, it is INDEED like watching Jerry Bruckheimer orgasm’ing all over film.

So, you can imagine my excitement to try out a next-gen GTA wannabe. It would be a little too simple to say that Saint’s Row is a wannabe…it has a lot of improvements that I certainly see Rockstar making in the next installment of the GTA series. It’s also inaccurate to say that Saint’s Row is the next-gen GTA (as I’ve just done) because it’s focus seems more integrated with the “gang life” vs. GTA dealing with a living, breathing environment for you to reek havoc. All in all, I believe there is a place for both GTA and Saint’s Row on my shelf…neigh, the game boxes are actually touching at this moment as I just completed a run through of San Andreas on the 360, and the box was just sequestered under Saint’s Row. But this post is not a review, my point is that I like this kind of game, and I’m excited that I don’t have to play SA for the fourth time.

As a “post of introduction”, I do like other games. Action/Adventure such as the Zelda series, Ninja Gaiden, and God of War are among my favorites. I do like a good RPG…of the D&D rules variety, such as Neverwinter Nights, but I have had occasion to play the “action” RPG as well as some of the “deviant” ones such as Oblivion, which I loved. As for sports games, the only ones I enjoy are of the driving and golf variety. Not that either of them are a sport of course (but that’s another post), but PGR, Burnout and Tiger Woods are always good time killers. Last but not least, I do like the occasional FPS. That basically leaves out Real Time Strategy and “real” sports games. I also have a hard time with card based action games…what’s with that? Cards as weapons? Give me a break. I know I need to try it out as I’m a fan of any sort of game theory/strategy…but I can’t get into a game where I throw out cards to destroy my card wielding adversary.

In any event, It’s a pleasure to post here, and I’m hoping I can stay on top of it and post more than that Vastish Slurry character who seems to come out with something rather thought provoking each FRIGGIN QUARTER.

-Socratic Processor

Microsoft, as part of their fantastic Express program, is releasing a very interesting sounding toolbox for the aspiring developer to create his or her own games called XNA Game Studio Express. Initially, you'll be able to play 'em and trade 'em on Windows. Next you'll be able to run them on your Xbox 360. And somewhere, just over the horizon, you may get to fully distribute the bits on Xbox Live.

Are you rejoicing? Good. Now, stop it.

Be you a C# developer, a graphic artist, or a game designer there is still a vast and lonely chasm between your aspiration and delivering a reasonably high quality product. Very few people will individually posses enough skill and talent to make a polished game. In these modern times, even garage games need teams.

True, packages like the Torque tools from Garage Games will help, but I think the community will need to got even farther to fully enable the diverse talent nodes (i.e. people) to get together and rock some indie game goodness.

Proposal #1

Create a "personals" site for gaming talent. Artists looking to attach themselves to a project could announce their availability and demo what they can do. Designers looking for development resources could browse the listings looking for some talent. If this all sounds a bit like Match.com for game talent, then we are on the same wavelength.

Add to this the ability for past project team members to comment on your performance, similar to LinkedIn.com and viola - you have a community.

Proposal #2

For smaller ad-hoc requests, create a marketplace for game-related work requests. I'm thinking something along the lines of Google Answers where you can describe something you need help with, or some creative work that you need, then assign a monetary value to the result. Prospects can find and reserve work items, then post the results when they are done. A mutual rating system would be in place to rate both sides of the transaction eBay style.

The payment system? Regular money might work, though the amounts may not be large enough to make economic sense. If only there were some micropayment system that gamers could love... hmmm... and double hmmm...

In short, if anyone wants to make a truly profound impact on the gaming industry, before you go off and write that "Gradius meets Grand Theft Auto" masterpiece you've been kicking around in your head, try starting up one of these communities instead. Remember that in the California gold rush of 1849 that is wasn't the hordes of gold miners who were successful - it was the shopkeepers and tavern owners who created the community infrastructure.

In short, get used to Wii's unorthodox control scheme, it'll be here to stay.

For the most part, games all share the same general control scheme and have done so for years. You get some kind of directional control, some buttons, and you're good to go. Because of this commonality, it has been possible to port games across platforms, and even resurrect games from older platforms through emulation.

With the arrival of the Wii, two things happened at once to change the status quo.

First, and most obvious, is the shift in the fundamental way in which games are controlled. I'm sure this will be all kinds of fun in practice, but fast forward 3 or 4 years to the point when the PC emulation scene would normally begin to see the first sign of games booting fully outside of the console. So now these hypothetical Wii emulation scenesters are going to need USB adapters, special input algorithms, and still need original controllers. What a hassle! I predict that very few will bother to overcome all this. Nintendo, in a stroke of pure genius, has created the most fun-focused anti-piracy dongle in the world.

Second, Nintendo has ushered in the true commoditization of legacy video game intellectual property. Nintendo's online sales channel along with Microsoft's Live Arcade will create a persistent and accessible marketplace free from logistical issues of physical media pressings. In doing this, Nintendo created value out of long forgotten IP (is anyone else looking forward to the chance to play Kid Icarus again?), and that's great. But what is more interesting is the precedent this sets.

No longer can games just be written for the consoles of today if next generation systems will posses enough processing horsepower to emulate - and they clearly will. Write an amazing transcendent game today and there is now a very real possibility that it will be kept alive forever in these emergent emulation marketplaces.

In combining the new control scheme with the new marketplace the gravity of Nintendo's decision begins to become apparent. Being one of the pioneers in creating this intellectual property marketplace, Nintendo must be clearly aware of this long-term consequence and opportunity. So when Nintendo bets the farm on this odd control scheme today, they are doing so with the confidence that this will be THE way to control games in the future. If they're right, then they stand to profit from you not only n November 2006 when you purchase Super Mario Galaxy, but again in 2016 when you pay $9.99 to download on the next-next-generation Nintendo console which will still use motion-based control in some way.

You heard it here first. :-)

Of course you do.

Many point to this as the reason the music industry is in trouble. I say that even at 99 cents for a 4 minute song from the iTunes Music store, the music industry has a bit of explaining to do.

Unfortunately, we're going to need to do a little math.

Don't think of a CD as a collection of tracks pressed between wafers of plastic. Instead think of a CD as 72 minutes of original entertainment. And with a suggested retail price of just under 20 bucks it works out to about 26 cents per minute for those good times. Assuming the average length of a song is 4 minutes, what seemed like a good idea from Apple is actually on parity with full retail pricing at just under a quarter a minute.

So are DVDs a better value? Yes, either by a bit or a whole lot depending on which parts of the DVD you consider entertainment.

Figure $20 for the DVD and 100 minutes for the average movie yielding a cost per entertainment minute of 20 cents. If you're the kind of person who is into the extras, watches the movie again with the commentary, watch the deleted scenes, marvel at the making-of documentary, and watch the original theatrical trailer (which must be one of the most shameful ways to spend 2 minutes of you life) you wind up with something like 3 extra hours of entertainments. Allegedly, at least. This brings your price per entertainment minute down to about 6 cents. Not too shabby!

But none of these can hold a candle the obscene entertainment value of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I just wrapped up getting all 1000 achievement points which, arguably, marks the conclusion of the game. Reaching this point took me a full 101 hours. Time well spent? Subjective. Good entertainment value? Unquestionably!

The retail price of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is $59.99 for the Xbox 360 version. Do a little math whilst whistling an appropriate tune and you get an entertainment price per minute that could stand up to depression-era economics - a mere penny.

Be careful though. This concept is a dangerous one because very little else on this earth can compete with Elder Scrolls or a good MMO in terms of value. Should you begin to apply the same entertainment value principals to a night out with your mates at the pub, well, let's just say that friends shouldn't let friends do math in their vicinity.

In fact, I bet a well-timed memo would have done the trick.

(contains spoilers)

MEMORANDUM

From: Imperial Chancellor Ocato
To: Emperor Uriel Septim

Re: Alternatives To Monarchy

Most Esteemed Emperor,

I am writing to discuss a most contentious topic, and I hope that you will understand that I bear no ill will to either yourself nor the Septim lineage. Indeed, it is because of the Septim family's wise stewardship that Tamriel has flourished.

However, it is at the height of this success that the fragility of a hereditary monarchy system become most apparent. Intelligence reports that we are being shadowed by a hidden enemy - one that no doubt wishes to destabilize the empire. It is not inconceivable that a coordinated attack could decapitate the whole system of government, leaving no clear line of succession, and create a power vacuum that would plunge the whole of Tamriel into chaos. Is it truly wise for all direct and implied power to be concentrated in a large jewel which hangs around the Most Esteemed Emperor's neck? I must also humbly submit that your secret illegitimate son born from an immensely unwise tryst with that chambermaid is not an acceptable backup plan.

Is this really the best Tamriel can do?

What, then, should we do instead?

I have attached a document that described in detail an initial proposal for a new system of government. The crux of the system is that the power to govern should be derived from a mandate from the masses. This mandate would be tallied in some manual form every few years and those chosen would represent the very people who designated them. These representatives could then choose a single leader for the empire but would be essential in creating laws. Furthermore, it would establish a tiered system of representation for all the kingdoms in the empire as well as lay out rules of succession that would be impervious to anything short of the entire world exploding.

Of course, there would be nothing stopping the Most Esteemed Emperor from running for a post himself!

Naturally, this system is not perfect. Immediate downsides you would be correct in pointing out include:

• Most of the people in Tamriel are idiots - if one were to wave a sword in the air, a Tamriel resident would surely attempt to jump onto it.
• The population has little interest in conversing about anything other than food or shopping. Discussions about more important matters to the empire are terminated immediately.
• Without significant incentive, no one will break with their routine to vote in this new system, preferring instead to further beat a rut in their well-traveled daily routes.

It is my opinion that these pitfalls are far outweighed by profound freedom of self-determination. I believe that with this system Tamriel could usher in a new era. The Fourth Era, in fact, in which power comes from people not jewels or dragon fires, or any of that rubbish.

Your humble servant,

Chancellor Ocato