Coffee Talk #264: Game Developers vs. Game Journalists

I have the utmost respect for game developers. I’m amazed by how hard many of them work and how much they put into their games. With that in mind, I hate when developers…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the beauty of Buddha Bar, the Red Sox owning the MLB winter meetings, or why Winona Ryder isn’t bigger, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I have the utmost respect for game developers. I’m amazed by how hard many of them work and how much they put into their games. With that in mind, I hate when developers accuse reviewers of “not getting it”? I understand that developers get attached to their products and it’s sometimes hard for them to take criticism, but it’s ridiculous when they think it’s some sort of disrespectful conspiracy.

Silicon Knights’ Dennis Dyack immediately comes to mind when thinking about this whole deal. More than any other developer, he has been extremely critical of game reviewers. (In some cases he’s absolutely right. In others, he sounds a little crazy.) When Too Human was met with mediocre to poor reviews, Dyack accused journalists of not getting it.

More recently, Warren Spector felt that game reviewers didn’t understand the camera in Epic Mickey. He told MTV:

This is a game that takes platforming elements and adventure game elements and role-playing elements and merges them. So we couldn’t tune the camera perfectly for platforming or for action adventure. It’s a very different camera style. What we did is try to find the best compromise in the moment and give the player as much manual control as we could. So we took the hardest problem in third-person gaming and made it harder by trying to accommodate two different playing styles.

And I will go to my grave, imperfect as it is, proud as hell of my camera team. If reviewers want to give us a hard time about it because they’re misunderstanding the game we made, it’s not for me to tell them that they’re wrong, absolutely not.

The thing is, I don’t think reviewers should give a damn that the camera tried to accommodate a variety of genres. They should give a damn that the camera takes away from the game’s fun and should convey that to their readers. At the end of the day, reviewers are gamers. They are responsible for telling their fellow gamers whether a game is enjoyable enough to purchase.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue. Should reviewers care about the developers’ technical goals when judging a game? Do developers have a point when they say that reviewers don’t get it? Lastly, can you please take away my nasty hangover?

Get Psyched for thatgamecompany’s Journey

Here are some screenshots and a video of thatgamecompany’s upcoming PlayStation 3 title, Journey. As some of you will recall, I was incredibly bummed that I didn’t get the opportunity to see it at E3 2010. Like Flower, the game looks incredibly stylish and elicits emotion in a unique way. While Flower left gamers with a sense of joy, Journey has a desolate feel. Also, between this game and Uncharted 3, my PlayStation 3 will become a virtual sandbox in 2011 ( the year of sand?).

Anyway, check out the goodies and let me know what you think (please)! I’m so, So, SO psyched for this game and hope that some of you are too.

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I started the weekend off playing lots of Liar’s Dice. That is to say that I played too many games for far too long because the competition sucked (the loser buys drinks where I play…and one guy lost at least five rounds). To help me recover from last night’s bourbon, I’ll play a bunch of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Besides, that’s the only game I brought with me this trip. Ha!

How about you? What’s on you weekend playlist?

Will Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Make You Buy a 3DTV?

You go on an airplane to San Francisco and Sony unveils a teaser video for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Hmph. This will surely be one of the biggest games for the PlayStation 3, but I think it might be a game changer. I’ll get to that later. First, here are some details from Naughty Dog community strategist Arne Meyer:

Drake’s Deception features the return of famed fortune hunter Nathan Drake and follows him through a gripping, action-packed storyline that will take you all over the world. In his search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands,” Nathan Drake and longtime friend and mentor Victor Sullivan set off on a daring trek into the heart of the Arabian Desert. But when terrible secrets of this lost city are uncovered, their journey becomes a desperate bid for survival that will force Drake to confront his deepest fears.

Throughout Uncharted 3, you’ll be taken to spectacular new locations around the globe that will showcase all of the work we’ve taken on to take acclaimed physics, particle and visual effects to a new level.

What’s interesting is the initial reaction from many videogame journalists I know. A few of them have said that this is the game that might make them buy a 3D television. What do you think? Will Uncharted 3 help Sony push its 3D TV agenda? Or will it “just” be another awesome game from Naughty Dog?

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Internet Atheists vs. Internet Christians

I’m off to the airport shortly so I thought I’d write a really loaded post to encourage discussion. Ha! Seriously though, I’ve always wondered why Internet atheists usually run circles around Internet Christians. I was reminded of this when reading a recent post on FakeSteveJobs that started with an explanation on why a Christian and homophobic app was removed from iTunes and evolved into a pro-atheism rant. Naturally, it got a ton of attention, generating the most comments FSJ has seen in a long time. Before I continue, let me state for the record that I’m neither atheist or Christian, so I have no horse in this race.

As I sifted through the comments, I saw what I usually see in these kinds of arguments. The atheists offer logical arguments that are sometimes infused with dickish snark. The Christians offer passionate arguments that are sometimes pretentiously dismissive. Keep in mind that I’m speaking in general terms. I’ve also seen atheists that are just senseless pricks and Christians that offer fair explanations, but in general I usually see atheists making Christians look silly.

A lot of it has to do with logic vs. faith. It’s easier to explain logic because it’s…well, logical. Trying to explain faith to someone that doesn’t share the same beliefs is extremely difficult. I often see Internet Christians lose patience with atheists; initially they try to explain and preach peacefully, but they quickly become rattled and very un-Christian. Hmmm, perhaps the various churches need to deploy Internet missionaries. That could be shockingly effective….

Anyway, I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter. Hopefully nobody is offended and we can have a civil discussion on the topic. In your experience, what have you observed when Internet Christians and Internet atheists go at it?

Send Voicemail From Santa Claus With Google Voice

Here’s a cute use for the excellent Google Voice service: you can send loved ones a voice message from Santa Claus! I’m sure parents and kids will get a kick out of this. I’m also sure that some people are going to use it to create perverted voicemails from Santa. Will those of you that are kids give it a shot by creating a nice message? Will you deviants out there give it a shot by creating a naughty message? Ha!

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Coffee Talk #263: Are Single Player Only Games Doomed?

In a recent interview with Develop EA Games president Frank Gibeau said, “Fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you’re out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at.”

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Carl Crawford on the Red Sox, congressional democrats turning on President Obama, or where the hell Eliza Dushku is, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

In a recent interview with Develop, EA Games president Frank Gibeau said, “Fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you’re out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at.” It certainly seems like most games have multiplayer or cooperative features — even games that don’t necessarily need them — but are pure single-player games doomed as Gibeau suggests?

While I don’t see pure single-player games being “finished”, I can see them becoming the minority. That would be kind of weird for me; I grew up playing loads of single-player games and my favorite genre, RPGs, is (mostly) a solitary experience. That said, there are a lot of younger gamers that grew up playing mostly multiplayer games. Perhaps the notion of a pure single-player game is dated.

What are you thoughts on the matter? Are single-player games finished? Will everything have a multiplayer or cooperative facet? Or will there be a robust single-player space in the future? Anyone else remember 2009 as being the year of games with unnecessary cooperative modes?

Remembering John Lennon Oct-9 1940 – Dec-8 1980

I remembering hearing about John Lennon’s death the day after it happened. I was still a small boy, so I was fast asleep when he was murdered on December 8, 1980. It was all over the news the next day. I remember watching NBC news as I was eating dinner with my family. We had a small black-and-white television in the kitchen. Of course I didn’t really have a concept of mortality at that age, but I loved The Beatles from the numerous times my dad would play Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour on the record player. I just wondered why anyone would shoot this wonderful man.

Although I’ve come to love Lennon’s song writing and music, I was more inspired by what he did socially. He took his fame and used it to make powerful anti-war statements. Similar to how Muhammad Ali — one of my other favorite people that ever existed — leveraged his fame in the sports world, Lennon made people think whether you agreed with him or not. He was an amazing man on so many levels.

Let’s talk about what John Lennon meant to you. Did you he influence your taste in music or your social stances?

X-Men Arcade Hitting XBLA in December, PSN in February

According to Eurogamer, X-Men Arcade will hit Xbox Live Arcade on December 15, 2010 and PlayStation Network in February 2011. X-Men Arcade is a port of the classic Konami coin-op arcade game. I pumped tons of quarters into it during college and am excited to play it online. Anyone interested in playing with me? It would be cool to get some four-player cooperative games going…but one of you has to agree to be Dazzler. *snicker*

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