Time Keeps On Slippin'

Sorry about last week -- kinda vanished after Tuesday. Long story short, I actually have some pseudo exciting news.

#1. I'm currently in talks with HowThingsWork, an educational software company, to do their lead-in/game over storyline. In other words, "why the hell am I going to play this game," followed by "I beat it. Why do I care?" Not going to be lucrative or long-term as far as I can tell, but at the very least, it looks good on my resume to be involved in a finished PC game.

#2. Also got picked up by insidepulse to do game reviews (which I will cross post in some way shape or form). Best part? I get free shit shipped to me. Nice.


Now on to getting a REAL jorb

The Real World

So, as you may have noticed from the written text at the bottom left corner of the blog (this is, of course, assuming that you can read. If you can, you've got a leg-up on a few people I know!), I'm trying to get a real job, here.
Ideally, a job in gaming, but I'll take any peripheral work I can get (that will push me towards my goal).

Here's the skinny so far:

#1. I established some great connections, including a designer from High-Voltage studios, and the recruiting agent for Electronic Arts Chicago.

#2. Applied for as many "shit-work" positions as I could, but unfortunately, Chicago doesn't really do beta-testing for some reason. Lots of programming, design, and marketing, but unfortunately for me, none of those are entry-level.

#3. Tried to take a side route by getting involved in game writing (hence this blog), and then making some more connections to move forward.

Here's what has happened in the last few weeks:

#1. Interviewed with WBBM/CBS radio (even the gamer guy has to pay the bills). I think it went well -- here's hoping.

#2. Applied to be a writer for HowThingsWork, an educational software group. Hey -- any software is good software, right? Haven't heard back from them yet :-(

#3. Just heard back from "another group involved in game writing" which is actually just getting started. We'll see how this turns out.

That's about it. Oh, and I'm going to push the "greatest games you've never played" segment to Wednesdays. It seemed like there was too much content in one small space. Besides -- now you can read inbetween the days!

Birth of a Franchise 3: Mortal Kombat

When you think of fighting games, what's the first thing that comes to mind? For me, I think of Street Fighter II, and Mortal Kombat. While Street Fighter changed the world with the "fireball" dynamic, I think that Mortal Kombat deserves some credit for a few other changes to the game...some you might not even have known (no, not Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero. That game sucked).

Let's have a look at the three most influential games:
#1. Mortal Kombat (Arcade, Genesis, SNES, 1992)

The series starts off my differentiating itself from any other game of its time. The first thing that people (especially Joe Lieberman) notice is the absurd quantities of blood that flow from every character. Every hit in this game drains the equivalent of 2 gallons of blood. The ability to do "fatalities," which essentially turned your opponent into a dismembered heap, were also well recieved.
Aside from the gore, though, MKI had a lot going for it. The "block" button was an interesting change from those of us that were used to holding "back" to block. That requitered some good dexterity to stay alive. The game used real actors, unlike the animated SFII, and looked much better than most games out there. Likewise, the special moves for each character were well thought out, and relatively well balanced (although I still think that Sub-Zero's freeze blast is the cheapest move to hit gaming).
The console releases of MKI were very close, but with one exception -- only the Genesis had blood. The Super Nintendo release could be Game Genied to turn the sweat red, but it just wasn't the same. In Mortal Kombat II, both console versions were given blood.
Speaking of MKII, it wasn't a huge leap over MKI. New characters, new moves, and an extra fatality for every character is hardly groundbreaking.


Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade, Genesis, SNES, PC, Sega Saturn 1995)

Now we're getting somewhere. The third incarnation of the Mortal Kombat series tried to change the formula, and really succeeded. There were the expected changes (graphical boost, new moves, more characters, new bosses), and then there were the brilliant changes that defined the fighting genre. And I'm not talking about the "Animalities," a move that was likely introduced when Midway just couldn't think of any other ways to kill someone.
For one, MKIII introduced the run button. Running wasn't really all that common in fighting games. The idea of "dashing" had just started to form, but running the entire screen was pretty new. Needless to say, players that relied on defensive tactics were in for a surprise. However, this isn't the biggest change to hit the series. What is?
Combos.
This is the first popularized game to feature a combo system. When you get in close and hammer on buttons, you actually have to think (only a little bit, though) as to which buttons to hammer on to inflict the most damage. This evolved into the same basic combo system that gets used in modern day fighters. Pay homage!

Mortal Kombat 4 (Arcade, PS1, N64, PC, 1997)

And this is where everything starts to go bad. Feeling pressure from successful 3D games of the time (Virtua Fighter, Tekken...etc), Mortal Kombat decided to venture into the third dimension. The result is that, well, it's the same damned game. The third dimension does almost nothing for the game. Rather, it seems to complicate things, especially when the computer can side-step attacks in an instant, and you can't figure out how.
Another noticeable change was the introduction of weapons. THESE GUYS SHOOT FIRE AND ICE OUT OF THEIR HANDS! What the hell do they need weapons for!? The weapons, while fun the first time around, actually complicated things from the "freeze you then uppercut you" gameplay that was needed to win.
MK 4 was the beginning of the end for the series, as future games have stayed in 3D, and not looked much better. While Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance did tinker with an interesting combo system, and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon looks fun, this is the game that pushed Midway in that direction to begin with.

Squabbling

I cannot believe what sort of stupidity is going on in the minds of the CEOs and VPs. Don't know what I'm talking about? Here are a few examples:

-- Bill Gates bashes Sony, and mentions how much better it is to be the 360 right now due to the "Silicon cost reduction curve"

-- Microsoft bashes Sony for not having the right "DNA" to do online gaming

-- Sony fires back by listing total Playstation sales figures and estimates as proof that they can

Enough already!

If the world CARED about how great YOU think your systems are, we would have bought a Zune, a PSP, and an Atari Jaguar just for the hell of it!

All this does is make Nintendo look better. Unfortunately for the big wigs at MS and Sony, Nintendo doesn't do PR battles. Not only that, but they look good because of it. No one goes out of the way to bash them, and in return, they mind their own business and eat up profits.

Yes, Microsoft, you sold more Xboxes than Sony sold PS3's. I'm proud of you, really. Yes, Sony, you did make a shitload of money selling the Playstation name. Does this mean that the universe is going to suddenly agree with itself? Never.

Can't we all just get along? And let Bill Gates do what he does best.






Sexual Harassment in the workplace.

The Greatest Games You've Never Played (Pt 2) + More

I technically "owe" the world another post. Got caught up in interviews yesterday, and missed my midnight deadline. As such, I'll take what I was going to post, and I'll give you something for today, too!

First of all, here are some more games that you may not have heard of, but you need to try them.


#1. Comix Zone (1995, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Wii)

It's funny -- I was just remarking on how no one ever played this game, and then it showed up on the UK's Wii Virtual Console release schedule! For those of you that have never played this, give it a shot. You play as this guy named Sketch (who I think was modeled after a Gamepro contest winner, but I'm not sure) who gets sucked into his own comic book. Long story short, you side scroll, kicking the shit out of anyone/anything that dares come near you. What I like about it is the style. It really DOES feel like a comic book, and I think it was the first game (way before Killer 7 and XIII) to implement such a style. You can break panel barriers, tear of some paper to fold it into a paper airplane, and so on. It's really kind of creative. My one major (and I do mean major) gripe about this game is the fact that there are no lives. None. You die, and then you're on the path to the bad ending. That's a bad thing in a game that has a few bottomless pits. Still, for the likely $5 it'll cost on Wii, it's definitely worth it. Don't bother with the GBA release, though.


#2. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy (2005, PS2, XBOX, PC)

So here's another game you can still play today. A fantastic art style (scenes within scenes), great music (original classic music done right! wow!), and multidimensional story really make this game stand out in my mind. You play as Lucas, the main character, but you also play as Carla and Tyler, two police officers out to stop a criminal. The way you play determines how depressed (?) your characters are...which can apparently kill them. As you progress through the game, you change how the story will end...90% of the time, it's because you died, and then Lucas chimes in with, "and that's how my story ends," along with an explanation. I actually had a lot of laughs with my old roommate about that: the game deliberately tries to kill you sometimes. See that milk in the fridge? You can drink it. Go on. (Button is pressed). "And that's how my story ends...I drank the milk, and suffocated due to my lactose intolerance..." what?! Needless to say, the game gets creative with you. Also, it incorporates a lot of things from Shenmue (miss those Quick Timer events? They're baaaaaaaaack), which is probably the only un-original thing about this game. Just goes to show that you can still have some innovation in the modern world.
Bonus: Indigo Prophecy was recently added to the XBOX 360 backwards compatibility list!


#3. Lucky & Wild (Arcade, 1993)
Unfortunately, the odds of you getting to play this game are slim to nil. With the death of the arcade, in addition to the death of arcade games that don't let you gamble, Lucky and Wild was never ported to home systems due to its unique gun play.
Basically, it was a combination of an on-rails shooter...except that your partner controlled the rails.
With player one driving the car to avoid obstacles, and player two John Woo-ing the two guns, the gameplay was unique and remarkably fun for its time. Also, player one could shoot the gun and drive, allowing player two to make more accurate shots. It really was a neat idea. Throw in the classic 80's hair and a cartoony feel, and it really was fun.

Here's one more picture, just because I like this game so damned much:















That's better. Also, I promised the universe that I would give fair time to today's post too, so here goes:

I popped Greendog into the Sega Genesis again, just to see if I could find a good quality in the game. Something to enjoy...some reason not to hate it like I do.
Then I realized what it is -- Greendog represents everything wrong in the world today.
EVERYTHING.
The fact that this game is terrible is only a cry against the things represented in this game. I know that sounds a little vague, so let me do a quick screenshot synopsis to help understand.

What's the first thing you see here? The man has no FACE. Look at the poor bastard! That man is a shirtless, faceless hobo that is forced to roam that jagged-rock island barefoot. That's just not right.

Also notice the can in the middle of the screen. That soft drink right there is your health. Also, you're supposed to eat as many hamburgers, hot dogs, donuts, and french fries as you possibly can to gain points. This teaches obesity in children! FOR SHAME.

Tie in the fact that he's clearly intruding on a rain forest (and the animals are letting him have it for it), and Greendog is really about pure unadulterated evil. He even wears bling! You know how much I hate bling, don't you!? I bet if he had a face, he'd have platinum teeth. Bet on it.

Notice also that Greendog possesses an old school alarm clock, and has seemingly sodomized that frog (which is now leaping in terror. Horny toad jokes unintended). I hate those alarm clocks -- they're really fucking loud.

Not pictured: Animals exploding after being hit with high-powered Frisbee blast.

Birth of a Franchise 2: Road Rash

I initially thought I was going to make this a Tuesday thing, but Mondays work just fine. Today's franchise is "Road Rash." Although the Road Rash series has taken a bit of a break lately (the last release was for the GBA in 2004), the influence that it has had on gaming cannot be ignored. So, without further ado, I give you the three most influential games for the Road Rash franchise.







Road Rash (Sega Genesis, 1991)
This is the game that started it all. Let me hop into the wayback machine and tell you all about it. Road Rash does a lot of things well: it is one of the first games to incorporate fighting into a functional racing engine (props to that), and is also one of the first racing games to feature traffic. Also, Road Rash is one of the few 16-bit games that manages to convey true speed. Try racing with some of the later bikes in this game, and you'll see what I mean: especially if you manage to survive getting wiped out long enough to really max out your speed. As for the fighting, you were limited to your fists (and kicking, but that really just pushes people away), or if you were good, you could steal a club away from one of the lead bikers (which let you do one-hit-knockdowns).
Also, this is the first game to feature music from Rob Hubbard that sounded like Japanese people struggling to play metal on a bass guitar with floppy strings (that was hooked up to a synth). You'll have to take my word for it, and know that it was awesome.
The main shortcoming of this game was the way that the difficulty played out -- in order to make you race well (and spend money on better bikes), the game upped the bikes of the competition at every level, and extended the length of the race. This works well for a few stages, but after the third level, when you're still poor because you could barely finish in 4th place to qualify, racing for 15 minutes without dying is a lot of work. And getting wrecked costs a LOT at that point. Needless to say, once you get mid-way through Road Rash, the novelty wears off, and the speed of the bikes (not to mention their flimsiness) make it impossible to finish races.

Road Rash II (Sega Genesis, 1992)
This, in my personal opinion, is the Road Rash game that showed the most promise. Building on the first game, almost every aspect of the formula was maintained or improved. The courses, complete with traffic and obstacles, were mostly the same (albeit with different textures and backgrounds), but without the music telling you what course you were on, the race probably would have felt the same. Speaking of the music, for some reason, the music sucks in this one. I just don't know what happened!
However, the biggest change to this game was the introduction of two players. TWO PLAYERS! IN A ROAD RASH GAME!!! That's a big deal, ladies and gentlemen. The problem is not in the mechanics, but rather, in the execution of the idea. See, in order to put all those gauges and numbers on the screen for both players, the screen needs to be pretty damned big to be able to see what both players are doing. Since I'm not Scrooge McDuck, I'll have to be happy with a normal TV...which means that two players is impossible. Other notable changes are the introduction of the chain (as a weapon to make the club less powerful, but conversely, makes you reliant on having a weapon at all times), and the introduction of the Turbo system, which allowed certain bikes (the Wild Thing especially) to max out at absurd speeds....which usually caused you to wipe out and lose the race.
Other issues, such as increased racing length and monotony, were not resolved in this game. Road Rash III, unfortunately, would not address any of these issues, and tried to change the formula for the worse...

Road Rash (3DO, 1994)
Who else remembers the 3DO? Thankfully, I can say I never spent money on one (or the Atari Jaguar), but this game almost made me do it. This version of Road Rash did a lot of things right, so many that I really thought that they were going to go even further with the franchise (this game predates the fecal failure that was Road Rash III...boy was I wrong). First of all, Road Rash incorporates a real soundtrack (Tony Hawk, you need to pay homage). We're talking Soundgarden, people! Also, the graphics finally allowed you to see what was ahead of you (no need to take blind hills anymore), and made the driving much easier. Finally, with prettier graphics (yay for 3D buildings), videos, and an all around grittier feel, this Road Rash is actually rebuilt five more times (PS1, PC, Sega CD...etc).

Sadly, Road Rash took a bad turn after the 3DO version. The next Genesis iteration, Road Rash III, was the beginning of EA's mentality of "let's add X Y and Z, fix nothing, and call it a new game!" In this instance, EA added 5 (!) new weapons, including a cattle prod (because that's how I race), and changed little else. Granted, the 2 player split screen was improved slightly, but the new camera angle of the bike made those "jump out at you" cars even more frustrating. Finally, the N64 version of Road Rash incorporated 4-player madness, but very little else.

It would seem that after Road Rash: Jailbreak, things were finished. Slow sales, and the fact that the game looked like a ripoff of Full Throttle didn't help matters either. Supposedly, EA has decided to revive the franchise for the next gen systems. Here's hoping that they do it justice this time.

Side Note: The spiritual successor to Road Rash is "Skitchin," a title from EA that came out in 1994. If you haven't played it yet, I would definitely recommend it. It's probably the last original thing that EA has done in a long while.

"It's In The Game"

Utah just put itself on the map again. Not because of the Mormons, or the olympics, but because of this.

Apparently, the Mahoney family had given their darling (and previously innocent) son a copy of Madden '07 for the holiday season. Unfortunately, upon putting the disc into his XBOX (I really wish it had been for the Wii so I could make some more lewd jokes), it turns out that the disc was rife with pornographic content.

After thanking his parents for buying the "Super Secret John Madden's Personal Collector's Edition" of Madden '07, the younger Mahoney's fantasies were ruined when his parents informed him that this was not the item that they had intended to purchase.

Worse still, there was no Madden on the disc -- just porn. So they took it away.

It's one thing to deprive a man of his football, but to take away his football and his porn? Well that's just the last straw!

Kidding aside, you've got to wonder how something like this could happen. The disc was a Madden '07 disc. It had the seal and everything. That means that the data contents were changed, and for how many discs? It's unknown. Also, those discs were shipped from the factory (in Cali somwhere), so where the rest of that shipment went is currently unknown.

Interestingly enough, the publicity of this story will determine what happens. If word of this gets around, EA may be forced to do a shelf recall. That would sting big in the wallets, especially since Madden is the heart and core of EA. However, if this story dies quietly (as I expect it will), look for a quick payoff/apology from EA, and some moron from LA getting fired from his job (although probably winning a bet that he had with the janitor).

All I have to say is, if you haven't opened your X-Mas Madden yet, you may get another present.