Apologies from Afar in the Past, Brought to You from the Future, Currently in the Present.

So Conklederp and I were married 13 days ago and a honeymoon was followed shortly thereafter.  I also attempted my darndest to not fall behind on the schoolwork that I knew was due periodically throughout the last three weeks.  This is why there were intermittent posts the last couple of weeks as well as not having  the standard and MIDI Week Singles post for the last two weeks.  I promise that starting next week, everything will be back on track.

So in the spirit of our little Internet site and rather than subjugate everyone to pictures of the honeymoon, I will instead talk about games.  Specifically some game related gifts that Conklederp and I received because apparently publically declaring that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone means that people want to give you things; which is pretty awesome, by the way.

First off, coasters.  Yes coasters, but not just any coasters, these coasters.  I'm actually pretty good when it comes to using coasters, either at my own place or at the abode of another person who has them out and I hope that there will be at least a couple of people in the future who will, 1) Use coasters when we have them visibly put out, and 2) recognize that they're from Portal 2.  Part of me actually wants to see our friends fight over who gets their favorite coaster from the person who has never played/seen/experienced this masterpiece of a game.

If anyone else is interested, they can be acquired over at ThinkGeek.com.

Next we have a board game that until recently, neither Conklederp nor I had ever previously played.  Then we played with Chreekat and his mom, who told us that she played in a league with other people when she worked down in California with other fellow geeks.  I briefly talked about the experience back in July, but now Conklederp and I have no excuse to force our other friends to know the struggles of establishing a colony and society on an octogonal island with a finite amount of resources.

Even though the game says that it's designed for three to four players, I'm sure that there are rules somewhere that says how the game could be played with only two people.  Or Conklederp and I will have to break out of our proverbial gel capsules and play with other people, perhaps Salty Liver and her hubsband (yes, I intentionally spelled husband as "hubsband").

Next on the board game listing of greed is a game that I'm pretty sure I had seen played on Wil Wheaton's Table Top, but I might also be thinking of another game.  That game is Pandemic, a game that I have not played, but again, I love the concept.  Think of it like the film Contagion, but with less Matt Damon and Kate Winslet and more of your friend who only took that one biology class that one time, just because.  Although I will go on record to say that one of my friends, whom I'm sure I could convince to play, has a Ph.D. in immunology. On second thought, this might not be the best game to play with them as they might be tempted to talk about all the inaccuracies in the game.

Luckily, this game can be played with just two people so I think Conklederp and I could give this game a go before we unleash it upon our very suspecting, and potentially questioning friends.

Lastly is the newest expansion for Munchkin Apocalypse, the Sheep Impact collection of cards.  I was rather impressed when I read through some of the cards in this expansion and even more so with some of the Seal cards.  I won't say specifics, but there is one card that can eliminate all the cards in play.  Okay, I lied as that was very specific, but I won't say the name of that "singular" card as that would give some of the fun away.

Now all we have to do is convince our friends whom already play Munchkin that we need to play Munchkin Apocalypse even though the number of customization cards is limited to class as opposed to also including race.

In reality though, it's going to take a lot to go through all of these games and still go through Mansions of Madness, which I did have the pleasure of running a week-and-a-half ago with three other people.  Too many games and not enough time to play them all, but really, that's not a bad problem to have.

Oh, and I'll be factoring in my coursework somewhere in there as well.

Yes, we are those kinds of people with a lot of pretty awesome friends.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Would You Like To Buy A Carrot?

Games Hovering in the Background

Before Starseed Pilgrim infiltrated my brain, I was playing around with a few different games, never really committing to any of them.  My roommate likes to play video games and she's got a Playstation 3.  When I got here, we played a bunch of Hitman: Absolution.  After that, I picked up a copy of Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD collection, and now my roommate has started up Mass Effect Trilogy.  This is interesting to me, because I haven't really played a lot of AAA titles in the last five years or so.

Mass Effect:
This RPG/Shooter seems like a pretty cool game.  So far, it is a fantastic game for watching someone else play, or even just listening to the dialogue.  The story is interesting, the world seems fleshed out.  There are different alien species with different detailed cultures and challenges within the world of Mass Effect.  You can choose to learn about these details through conversation.

The game seems to be composed primarily of dialogue trees, making it kind of like an interactive storybook.  In addition, each game in the trilogy picks up from the previous game, and the character that you play in the previous game continues on, with all major plot choices and character status intact. I have to say: this is pretty dang cool.  I had asked the video game gods for something like this years ago, after becoming aware of the prevalence of sequels in the video game industry.  It's a little late in coming, but then again, perhaps it's never too late.

This is pretty much what Shadow of the Colossus looks like

Shadow of the Colossus/Ico:
These PS2 games were re-released as a single package for the PS3. The games were produced by team Ico and Directer/Auter Fumito Ueda.  Both games make dramatic use of long camera shots and huge spaces.  The effect is very beautiful, even if the graphics are a little dated.  The gameplay for Ico is a bit rough, and requires a lot of patience.  This could be due to it being released in 2001, early in the development of the PS2.  Shadow of the Colossus was released in 2006, and still plays very well- it appears to be timeless.  I recommend Shadow of the Colossus to anyone who loves video games or epic fantasy.  

Hitman:
The third PS3 game I've played lately is Hitman: Absolution.  It's a third-person stealth/action shooter game.  It is mostly generic, and not a game I would normally check out.  However, it has one interesting feature that I really enjoy.  It's called 'contract mode' wherein you can enter a given level, and design your own set of goals.  These goals are limited, but specific.  You choose up to three targets, and the game records what weapon you use, what costume you are wearing and the time it takes.  Each of these things are assigned a point value, and it can get pretty competitive.  The game is online, so you can trade challenges with other players.

La Mulana:
Moving over to the world of Steam:  La Mulana is a pretty tough Metroidvania game of roughly a 16-bit graphic design.  I've just touched on it, and it seems pretty deep. Lots of equipment to pick up and secrets to unlock.  In my first playthrough I was able to venture far outside my skill level, and got stuck and then killed.  I hadn't saved it in a while, so I lost a couple hours of play.  That was enough to make me quit, but I'll be back. 

-D


P.S. In further Steam news, Portal 2 c-op mode is tons of fun.  When I reviewed Portal 2 back when, I hadn't played the co-op mode.  I may have been harsh with that game, I think this feature pushes it back up to a perfect 10.

And this is pretty much what Portal 2 is like :)

2013 Year in Review

When reading over our mission statements, I do wonder if I have lost sight of anything.  Actually, I wonder that whenever I post, and I just used the mission statements to reinforce that belief.  Or something.  Anyhow, it is true that I originally spent more time reminiscing about my life and video games, and the influence games on my life.  However, posting at this blog has guided me to become more involved in the video game 'scene' as it were.  Really, the scene is made up of many different 'scenes' and I'm mostly interested in Art Games, Retro Games, free indie games, and higher production indie games available on Steam.  

This was a big year for non-game, games.  2012 might get a little mixed in here, since I don't really distinguish the two years very well, but I've played a few games that bend the rules about what video games are.  So far there's:  Proteus, Dear Esther and To the Moon.  And I'm also set to play Gone Home and The Stanley Parable.  Pretty excited about those two.  And about these high profile games that are so non-traditional.  

Because, let me tell you, when I returned to the gaming scene, I was appalled at how completely saturated it was with First Person Shooters.  I was never a huge fan of the genre, but to my understanding, there are so many generic shooters out there that even big fans of the genre are getting over-saturated.  I guess the good news is that the over-saturation of fps market has created a greater interest in non-traditional games like the ones I listed above, four out of five of which are from the first person perspective.

And then there's Portal.  Technically a shooter, but you don't shoot bullets, you don't shoot people, you shoot walls, and you create portals.  Beautiful and awesome, I still love this game, and had a great time playing through it again.  I also played Portal 2, which suffered a little by being, in my opinion, too long.  I also wasn't that into the whole 'gels' thing.  But I did just the other day get to play co-op mode with Jaconian for the very first time.  I had a great time and I can't wait to do it again.  

There is so much more depth in games than I am experiencing, and co-op mode reminded me of that.  We were just hanging out, playing video games (before we were rudely interrupted by a broken internet connection on my end).  It was nice.  I thought of my non-gaming friends who might not have such an easy time getting into hang-out mode with someone who lives hundreds of miles away.  

Okay, resolution time:   I resolve to play more online co-op (not hard, since my total games last year were 0).  I resolve to work harder on my more complex posts, rather than rushing them out at my self-imposed deadline.  As an amendment to that resolution, I'd like to actually finish the posts about the Console Wars and Graphics in games that I began over a year ago.  Also, to finish knitting the scarf I started, and one more too.  I also learned to knit this year - it's a excellent thing to do while watching TV or movies.  

Alright, acheivement unlocked:  New Years Ramble.

Happy New Year,

-Dr. Potts


P.S.  Here's some lists for the new year:

My Favorite gaming podcasts:  Experience Points, Brainy Gamer, A Life Well Wasted

My Favorite games I played this year:  Proteus, FEZ, SuperBrothers:  Sword and Sworcery EP

Top games I desperately want to play again, but don't have access to:  Journey, Barabari Ball, Nidhogg

Games I desperately want to play for the first time, but don't have access to:  Mario Galaxy 2, Zelda: Windwaker HD, Monster Hunter 3

My favorite posts I can't seem to finish:  Console Wars, What I mean when I talk about Graphics, Tecmo Bowl

My favorite Online video Programs relating to video games:  Extra Credits, PBS Ideas Channel, Hey Ash, Watcha Playin?

The consoles I am most nostalgiac for:  NES, SNES, Playstation 1

Consoles I would buy if, y'know, I had a TV and some extra spending cash:  Wii, Playstation 4 (it's backwards compatible, right?), Steam Box (just 'cause steam is awesome)

P.P.S.  Oh yeah, I lost my job in August, and proceeded to couch-surf for the next four months.  I guess that was a pretty big developement, huh?  Right.  Well, I discovered that even with a bunch of extra time to game, I don't play any more video games than before.  I guess I feel like I earn the time to play more when I'm paying rent.  But I'm going to pay rent at a house with a PS3 come January, so we'll see what develops!

It Looks To Be Another Update Of Sorts

I'm only kind of at a loss as to what to talk about today.  I wasn't able to post this last Friday (8/9/2013) as Conklederp and I had some friends (Vorlynx and Mills Co.) visiting from Nor*Cal all last week.  There was a robotics conference up here in Portland and there was some river floating and blackberry picking that had to be done as well.  We also started the process of making blackberry wine (adapted recipe to follow) and now our kitchen smells like fermenting fruit, which in turn brings me back to my time working for R.H. Phillips Winery during the 2006 harvest season.  It's the kind of smell that would make you think some fruit somewhere has done something it shouldn't have, if you didn't already know where it was coming from.  Goodtimes.

I've (still) been playing a lot of Infinite Space, (still) and have acquired some more "abilities" such as having a docking bay for individual fighters (a la Battlestar Galactica's Colonial Vipers) which cause minimal damage to the opposing fleets flagship while slowing down the rest of their fleet; realizing that icons above each of the ships in your fleet correspond to weapons and each have their own max and min range; melee battles are a pain-in-the-ass and play like a constant game of  roshambo; ship modules of a certain type (such as bridge/red modules) can fit in other areas of the ship as long as they don't say they have to be in a specific location in the description; "Grus" is a word used in the game that is substituted interchangeably for both "shit" and "fuck" and any other variation thereof; the game is pretty mature, considering it's Teen rating, such as the main character cutting off a bad guys arms to get information and a main character shooting a bad guy at point-blank range in the face out of frustration/fear/anger.  There's a lot going on in the game and a lot of space to do it in, sometimes almost too much space.

I also played a bit of Portal 2 co-op with Vorlynx, but only so much before I had to leave for work (which was also before he had finished the single player campaign).  I've also put roughly six more hours into Torchlight, 2 hours into Half-Life and maybe an hour into Penumbra: Black Plague.  Torchlight is more-or-less just dungeon crawling fun that I continue with after Half-Life becomes too frustrating with having/needing to save after every encounter with enemies and then reloading every time I feel I've wasted too much ammunition or taken too much damage.  I want to play more of Penumbra: Black Plague (partly so that I can write up my First Impressions, but also) because I really liked the first game in the series, I like the company (Frictional Games) and I want to see how the story will end.  And semi-most importantly, I want to play it in the dark for maximum un-nervingnous.

I also went through a couple of the demos that I have on my 3DS, most successfully were the two demos for Style Savvy which will make their way to Demo Time in the coming weeks.  Yes, stop laughing.

I haven't kept up with video games in the news and what's been going on in that world.  I haven't played enough "older" games to warrant another Emulator Hour.  I kind of feel like a bad person, except that I don't.  Boo hoo me, I know.

With all the PAX timbits floating around, I'm very sad that I will not be able to attend PAX Prime this year (as I haven't been able to since PAX2010) due to work scheduling problems.  It doesn't help either that I live 600 miles closer than I did when I was able to attend, but things are in the works (loosely) so that I will be able to attend in the future, although I vaguely recall making a similar statement last year around this same time.

Oh hey look, The Bridge is on sale.  Time to go and take care of that.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Wonders Need Time

Full Review: Portal 2

I just played through this game, so I suppose I should post about it.  Fun game.  Please play Portal 1 first.  In fact.  I am tempted to go back and play Portal 1, to compare the experience. But today I am talking about Portal 2, and in doing so, I will undoubtedly have some small *spoilers* that I am now alerting you to.   

Portal 2 spent a lot of time and effort on the quirky characters and storyline.  And I'll be honest with you:  I really liked Wheatley, right from the start.  The dramatic, destructive cinematics juxtaposed with his self depricating, uncertain humor were really entertaining.  I had thought he was Ricky Gervais based on the content of his humor, and I was close.  But not quite.

JK Simmons is always fantastic in everything he does.  However, I didn't particularly care for those sequences.  In fact, that section was exactly when I began to think the game was too long.  Like that last Batman movie.  But after a little while, I came to realize that the scope of the game was simply longer than I had anticipated, and then I got more comfortable with the length and forgave the designers for inspiring my earlier feelings of impatience.

To tell you the truth, Portal 2 is a game I wish would never end.  Portal 2 adds more features, but the core ideas are the same as the first.  And I wished it would never end either.  I have yet to explore any of the extra features, including the level editor.  Perhaps there is some good stuff there waiting for me.

GLaDOS is a great character.  In fact, part of why I want to play Portal 1 again is to compare her character.  I had originally thought her voice was entirely computer generated, but as it turns out, she was performed, in both games, by the same woman.  Her character growth in Portal 2 is most welcome, I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  And while there are plot-based expansions on her character, I mostly appreciate her character for the dialogue.

But, ultimately, I do almost feel a bit of 'lacking' in Portal 2.  One example I can share is the various game locations in which you can see outside of the chamber you're in.  Sometimes you can see the edges of walls and other chambers, and there are machines lined up in grids, or large chambers in the distance.  And there was one particular sequence I remember when I got to put a portal on a wall that was so far away, the portal was just a dot.  That was awesome.  

While this is all super-cool environment building, I felt like it wasn't quite enough.  The designers clearly worked hard and got very creative.  And exploring the Portal 2 world gave me the urge to jump outside the levels and look around, which is a feeling that 3D games gave me from the very beginning.  And I think that's the thing that I'm missing in Portal 2:  exploration.  The first game... okay, spoiler alert!  stop reading right now if you haven't played through Portal 1.  I will not forgive myself if I ruin that game for you.  In fact, you shouldn't even be reading this at all if you haven't played through Portal 1 - go play it!

Anyhow.  The ending of Portal 1, or should I say, the 'ending sequence' of Portal 1 was a real treat.  All this time spent in Aperture Labs, with the cold and unfeeling laboratory designs, to suddenly be traveling around underground, behind the walls, it was such a thrill.  That sequence of the game delivered on all of the work I had done to get to that point.

Portal 2 never does that.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are bunches of, sort of 'travel' sequences that take you out of the testing realm to travel around, in a way that is very similar to the end of Portal 1.  I would guess that you experience the gameplay of that sequence about three or four times throughout Portal 2.  But what is missing is the contrast, the Payoff that the end of Portal 1 had.

The gameplay grows steadily, with very good pacing, all through the game.  You learn about newer features of the game, including laser triggers and that gel stuff.  The plot and characterization also grows with the gameplay.   Wheatley is dangerous, but then ultimately moronic, GLaDOS goes through her own growth leading to forgiveness of a sort.  But there is no real point of surprise and eye-widening, grin spreading potential that I felt when finishing Portal 1.

I think what would have done the trick would have been some non-linear or sandbox sequences.  Think about it - what could you do in a sandbox game with a portal gun?  A freaking PORTAL GUN!  But no, Portal 2 follows this basic formula:  Linear story sequences, Series of Test, Linear Story Sequences, Series of tests, until you get to the end.  And it's got a lot of fun, but it did make me a little impatient at times.

Also:  Do they ever explain why your character was back at Aperture Labs?  I mean, you escape in Portal 1, right?  Why would you ever go back?

So, don't get me wrong, Portal 2 is a great game.  I was on Cloud 9 through the first half of the game, right up until Wheatley takes over. I think I would have preferred a shorter game, or even an episodic release - two games at half the price.  The game took me 13.6 hours to complete.

The Game wowed me at first, but by halfway through I had settled into a comfort zone.  Portal 1 wowed me because the game concept is so awesome, then as it progressed I stayed with it, and then it totally wowed me at the end, big time!   I feel like Portal 1 left with so much potential, and Portal 2 was just a little superficial.  But still a great game.   Portal 1 gets an A and Portal 2 gets a B+  ... I think.  Maybe A+ and B+.  Sequels always have more to prove.  But sometimes they are better than the original.  It does happen.  

And though I am not anticipating a third portal game.  If it does come, I really hope for some open world exploration-type stuff.  Weee, Portals!

-D


P.S. I also want to mention that I bought Portal 2 on Steam as part of a 75% off deal that included Portal 1.  Gotta love that Steam!

Bleep Bloop - Achievements Unlocked

Achievements, as they are currently known, began three years before I became aware of their existence with the already established terminology.  The fact that I've never been a big fan of "achievements" could in part be from the fact that I've never owned an Xbox or PS3.  I understand the concept of achievements just as well, but again, they're not really my thing.  My prepared rebuttal to the almost inevitable discussion that not liking achievements must mean that I suck at video games and that I should get back to sucking dick goes something like this, "Whatever."

When I first watched the Red vs Blue PSA "Small Rewards" back in 2008, I was introduced to the concept of Achievements in their present form.  I had mentioned in a previous post that I consider the cheats in Goldeneye 007 to be "functional achievements," but calling them as such is only as recent as the writing of that article.

With the acquisition of games via Steam, being my main source for PC gaming, I now have an avenue to acquire achievements.  What I sort of like about the achievements via Steam is that what you have earned is not posted on the front page of your profile.  Maybe they can be with a bit of tinkering in the profile settings, which is fine I guess, but it's not something that I'm going to actively look for.  Yes I can go and find out which achievements Dr. Potts has obtained/acquired/unlocked in LIMBO, but I've got to make at least 3 mouse clicks in order to find out.  To me, this says that the achievements on Steam are not as important to other people as they are on Xbox Live or the Playstation Network.  That you have to actively go looking for someone else's achievements says something about that system.  And whatever it's trying to say, I like it.

One other thing that somewhat disappointed me about the concept of earning achievements is the fact that you know about them before you even play the game.  In Portal 2, one of the achievements is titled "You Made Your Point" with the subtext "Refuse to solve the first test in Chapter 8."  It tells you how to earn the achievement.  Granted some other achievements aren't so easily accomplished or even tell you how to accomplish them as in the "Transmission Received" in the first Portal which lists the subtext as "..?".  I like the idea of achievements being totally ambiguous or just having no description at all.  I'd personally felt a sense of  pride when I figured out what that achievement entailed.  Do I have that particular achievement?  Nope, I've got 7 of 26, which is just fine with me as I know what to do to acquire the achievement, I just haven't done them all yet.

I like the idea that you would be playing a game and all of a sudden the game lets you know that you achieved something that you didn't know was there, that you did something cool that the programmers also had thought of, but again, that just might be me.  Or maybe in the case of multiple part achievements, trying to figure out what it was that you just did and have the game say that you need to do the same thing nine more times at other parts in the game.

The last thing, and I know a lot of games do this, is offering achievements for either passing a level or reaching a checkpoint in a level.  If it's something you're supposed to do like collecting fully powered portal gun, I don't see a reason for there to be an achievement for it.  I can almost imagine what achievements would have looked like in early NES games.  Get an achievement for beating the game on any difficulty level (if the game has difficulty levels)?  Sure, give out an achievement for Easy, Medium and Jedi level difficulties or for just beating the game in general.  Maybe they're around to show other players your progress through the game.

Someone who has a larger degree than I do might say that achievements are the product of a society that has become one based on instant gratification, that if there weren't achievements in games (except that most/all of Nintendo games don't have an achievement-type system) that people would feel that their progression in the game isn't worth anything.  But, I'm not that someone, so I won't say that.


~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
My Gamerscore is 0, If Anyone Wants To Know.



P.S.  I couldn't figure out where to put this in the main body of the article, so a post script will do just fine.  I get that some achievements are challenging to unlock, but some are just plain bitch-cake crazy (I'm looking at you True Form).  I have yet to come across a game on Steam that I feel compelled to unlock all of the achievements in order for me to feel like I played a game to its fullest.