I cannot get the spacing right on that last post no matter what I do.
I enter the paragraph breaks over and over again... even exaggerating the hell out of them, putting four or so in where on should do and it STILL will not format the way I want it to.
Forgive me for that last entry being so hard to read. Fuckshithelldamn.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Price of Power
Chikyuu Boueigun 2 
Chikyuu Boueigun 3
In the world of film, there is a continual discussion of sorts as to whether visuals can make a movie, a movie quite apart from the sort of art film where the imagery IS the story or the language of the story. I’m talking about the ‘it was all special effects and no story’ versus ‘it was a great popcorn movie’ debate. More serious film buffs (read that ‘hardcore’, I guess) universally appreciate good special effects and visuals but don’t hinge their enjoyment on them. They are quite happy with modest or even broken effects if other aspects of the film are engaging. Casual viewers may not know, care, or have enough experience to see past the whizzing ships, and roaring dinosaurs to find out a movie blows.
There is an analogous video game debate. The graphically awesome/fucked up gameplay discussion. Usually the issue of who puts a lot of stock in graphics divides down between hardcore and casual (see a later entry for my opinon on this schism, a real can of worms) fans the same way it does with movies. Harcore fans appreciate amazing visuals but don't require them to give a game a chance.
The point of this entry is two games and their respective developers, smaller houses with limited budgets, who had to drop content in order to ramp up the graphics. I’m specifically picking two franchises with very similar games in both the current generation of consoles and the previous generation so there's no question of comparing apples to oranges. They are so similar in fact, that they would better be considered remakes than sequels. But what was gained and what was lost in the remaking?
The Chikyuu Boueigun 3. Over in Japan, the ‘Simple Series’ is a long-running string of games that are budget priced and usually feature uncomplicated gameplay or graphics. They don’t cost much because they don’t have a lot of cash plunked into development. They don’t qualify in the opinion of some marketing department as full-priced games. But they were worth making… or something like that. So there’s a lot of simple puzzle games, or cheapish-looking fighters in the series, but overall it is diverse. Occasionally there’s a breakout title where everything just comes together in spite of the low budget to produce a game that could easily run with the big dogs. The Chikyuu Boueigun is probably the most well-known example… though well-known is kind of overstating things, its still a very niche/cult game. Oneechanbara (Bikini Samura Squad in the USA) is another. The first two volumes of Chikyuu Boueigun were published for the PS2. They got releases in Europe as Monster Attack and Earth Defence Force (yes, with a ‘c’ in ‘defense’) for each chapter respectively. The third installment was released for the Xbox 360 not long after the console first came out. The western title released in Europe and also in the USA was called Earth Defense Force 2017.
As would be expected in a so-called ‘simple’ title, the premise and gameplay are pretty straightforward. You are a member of an elite science/military organization bent on eliminating an alien threat. The version this particular science fiction action staple takes is pretty much lifted whole from all the Ultraman tokusatu shows…where some form of ‘science patrol’ is the human defense against aliens and giant monsters. In these shows they have cool vehicles, and lots of beyond-present-day weapons technology. See also the more recent Godzilla films for the inspiration behind the military chatter and squad tactics. Godzilla Final Wars in particular lends a lot of its aesthetic to the Xbox 360 game—the alien ships in the film are dead ringers. While running around fighting kaiju (giant monsters) and aliens (even in a tank or plane) would usually be suicide (see almost any Godzilla movie) Final Wars equipped its foot soldiers with wicked enough guns to actually take the fight to the monsters and stand a chance. Chikyuu Boueigun gives you THOSE guns.
So you are an 'infantryman' (you can drive a tank, hoverbike, helicopter or walker, but I don’t recommend it typically) with a couple of big-ass weapons blowing the hell out of the aliens and their minions in all three games. That’s all you do. Blow up all the giant bugs, robots, ships, kaiju, flyers, and motherships. There is variety in tactics and terrain, but essentially your job, no matter the mission, is to kill every living thing not natural to this earth. And it is really gosh-damn fun. Repetitive to a degree, but so well done it is hard not to get engrossed. The missions move along quickly, and you cannot employ exactly the same approach, or use the same weapons to get through all of them. As you progress through the game you will get better, more powerful weapons as the enemies get stronger, faster, and more numerous. The viewpoint is third-person, and there is a little reticle in the center of the screen showing where your onscreen self is pointing. The action rarely slows down until the screen is just clogged with enemies, their fire, and explosions.
I’ve not had the opportunity to place the first episode, but my understanding is that the second episode basically retreads the same ground but with a lot of improvements. That's what the hop from second to third game was supposed to do as well.
I have a lot of play time in on Chikyuu Boueigun 2. A remake would have to be pretty badass to top that game. Seeing the trailers for said remake, one could tell the play specifics were pretty much the same… and that the graphics were amazing! Trailers can, of course, be misleading, but what was shown was really encouraging. If you’d played the PS2 one you knew what you were in for… only bigger and more shiny!
Alas, all was not as hoped. The trailers concentrated on the images that were absolutely awesome—the newly designed alien ships and walkers, and the new monster. These things are pretty intricate and have a new red-glow-and-chrome scheme quite different from the 50’s B-movie aliens from episode 2. A new aesthetic for the Xbox/PS3 generation, sure. Once you actually play the game though, it is pretty apparent the new chrome aliens are where almost all the money went. The rest of the game looks pretty much like the PS2 chapter, apart from better resolving textures and buildings that collapse with a few more polygons. The ants and spiders, the most common enemies, are almost exactly the same. I wasn’t really expecting the polygon count to go through the roof. There are tons of enemies and shit on the screen at once and I can understand simplifying the objects as much as possible to keep the speed up… it was kind of a miracle that the PS2 was even playable at times, though it stuttered like a fat man at a strip club during the most hectic moments. Generally the game does look better. It feels like there’s more variety and detail in the Xbox version and it doesn’t really matter that the game is more crude in places than the trailer let on, if the gameplay is up to snuff.
I didn’t really play the PS2 version using the second available character, the girl with the flight pack, Pale Wing. That’s not even an option in Chikyuu Boeigun 3. She got cut… or replaced with the big bulky (and nearly useless) walker vehicle, depending on how you look at it. The flying ants/wasps also got cut. Now THAT is a drag. The missions in the Xbox 360 game are largely the same as chapter 2, but one of my favorite levels in the earlier game was the one in which the ants had constructed a large hive, rising up out of the ground in the middle of a city that towered over everything around it. Seen in the hazy distance when you first start the mission, you almost can’t believe it… the scale of it. Complete with tiny (from so far away) flying ants circling the upper reaches, and wingless ants crawling up and down the sides. Simply awesome. And your job is to bring that huge bastard down! Xbox 360? No flying ants as I said, and no hive.
There is an analogous video game debate. The graphically awesome/fucked up gameplay discussion. Usually the issue of who puts a lot of stock in graphics divides down between hardcore and casual (see a later entry for my opinon on this schism, a real can of worms) fans the same way it does with movies. Harcore fans appreciate amazing visuals but don't require them to give a game a chance.
The point of this entry is two games and their respective developers, smaller houses with limited budgets, who had to drop content in order to ramp up the graphics. I’m specifically picking two franchises with very similar games in both the current generation of consoles and the previous generation so there's no question of comparing apples to oranges. They are so similar in fact, that they would better be considered remakes than sequels. But what was gained and what was lost in the remaking?
The Chikyuu Boueigun 3. Over in Japan, the ‘Simple Series’ is a long-running string of games that are budget priced and usually feature uncomplicated gameplay or graphics. They don’t cost much because they don’t have a lot of cash plunked into development. They don’t qualify in the opinion of some marketing department as full-priced games. But they were worth making… or something like that. So there’s a lot of simple puzzle games, or cheapish-looking fighters in the series, but overall it is diverse. Occasionally there’s a breakout title where everything just comes together in spite of the low budget to produce a game that could easily run with the big dogs. The Chikyuu Boueigun is probably the most well-known example… though well-known is kind of overstating things, its still a very niche/cult game. Oneechanbara (Bikini Samura Squad in the USA) is another. The first two volumes of Chikyuu Boueigun were published for the PS2. They got releases in Europe as Monster Attack and Earth Defence Force (yes, with a ‘c’ in ‘defense’) for each chapter respectively. The third installment was released for the Xbox 360 not long after the console first came out. The western title released in Europe and also in the USA was called Earth Defense Force 2017.
As would be expected in a so-called ‘simple’ title, the premise and gameplay are pretty straightforward. You are a member of an elite science/military organization bent on eliminating an alien threat. The version this particular science fiction action staple takes is pretty much lifted whole from all the Ultraman tokusatu shows…where some form of ‘science patrol’ is the human defense against aliens and giant monsters. In these shows they have cool vehicles, and lots of beyond-present-day weapons technology. See also the more recent Godzilla films for the inspiration behind the military chatter and squad tactics. Godzilla Final Wars in particular lends a lot of its aesthetic to the Xbox 360 game—the alien ships in the film are dead ringers. While running around fighting kaiju (giant monsters) and aliens (even in a tank or plane) would usually be suicide (see almost any Godzilla movie) Final Wars equipped its foot soldiers with wicked enough guns to actually take the fight to the monsters and stand a chance. Chikyuu Boueigun gives you THOSE guns.
So you are an 'infantryman' (you can drive a tank, hoverbike, helicopter or walker, but I don’t recommend it typically) with a couple of big-ass weapons blowing the hell out of the aliens and their minions in all three games. That’s all you do. Blow up all the giant bugs, robots, ships, kaiju, flyers, and motherships. There is variety in tactics and terrain, but essentially your job, no matter the mission, is to kill every living thing not natural to this earth. And it is really gosh-damn fun. Repetitive to a degree, but so well done it is hard not to get engrossed. The missions move along quickly, and you cannot employ exactly the same approach, or use the same weapons to get through all of them. As you progress through the game you will get better, more powerful weapons as the enemies get stronger, faster, and more numerous. The viewpoint is third-person, and there is a little reticle in the center of the screen showing where your onscreen self is pointing. The action rarely slows down until the screen is just clogged with enemies, their fire, and explosions.
I’ve not had the opportunity to place the first episode, but my understanding is that the second episode basically retreads the same ground but with a lot of improvements. That's what the hop from second to third game was supposed to do as well.
I have a lot of play time in on Chikyuu Boueigun 2. A remake would have to be pretty badass to top that game. Seeing the trailers for said remake, one could tell the play specifics were pretty much the same… and that the graphics were amazing! Trailers can, of course, be misleading, but what was shown was really encouraging. If you’d played the PS2 one you knew what you were in for… only bigger and more shiny!
Alas, all was not as hoped. The trailers concentrated on the images that were absolutely awesome—the newly designed alien ships and walkers, and the new monster. These things are pretty intricate and have a new red-glow-and-chrome scheme quite different from the 50’s B-movie aliens from episode 2. A new aesthetic for the Xbox/PS3 generation, sure. Once you actually play the game though, it is pretty apparent the new chrome aliens are where almost all the money went. The rest of the game looks pretty much like the PS2 chapter, apart from better resolving textures and buildings that collapse with a few more polygons. The ants and spiders, the most common enemies, are almost exactly the same. I wasn’t really expecting the polygon count to go through the roof. There are tons of enemies and shit on the screen at once and I can understand simplifying the objects as much as possible to keep the speed up… it was kind of a miracle that the PS2 was even playable at times, though it stuttered like a fat man at a strip club during the most hectic moments. Generally the game does look better. It feels like there’s more variety and detail in the Xbox version and it doesn’t really matter that the game is more crude in places than the trailer let on, if the gameplay is up to snuff.
I didn’t really play the PS2 version using the second available character, the girl with the flight pack, Pale Wing. That’s not even an option in Chikyuu Boeigun 3. She got cut… or replaced with the big bulky (and nearly useless) walker vehicle, depending on how you look at it. The flying ants/wasps also got cut. Now THAT is a drag. The missions in the Xbox 360 game are largely the same as chapter 2, but one of my favorite levels in the earlier game was the one in which the ants had constructed a large hive, rising up out of the ground in the middle of a city that towered over everything around it. Seen in the hazy distance when you first start the mission, you almost can’t believe it… the scale of it. Complete with tiny (from so far away) flying ants circling the upper reaches, and wingless ants crawling up and down the sides. Simply awesome. And your job is to bring that huge bastard down! Xbox 360? No flying ants as I said, and no hive.
The newer game also short shrifts the kaiju in my opinion. In the PS2 game you had a regular-sized dinosaur-ish monster early in the game. Later you fight two little ones and when they die, in the same mission their mother, a beast much MUCH bigger (and spinier-looking, not just a resized object), comes out full of wrath to feed you your delicates. In the new game, you get a level with one 'improved' dinosaur-ish kaiju, then later a level with two of the same. And finally you get a level with one that is the same size, but was upgraded by teh aliens by chopping off its arms and attaching two mega-guns. There's no surprise and no drama to that compared to the first game. The Xbox one has a great sense of scale, as in what it actually shows you... but a lot of the awe is lost. The PS2 one had a great habit of letting you think you've settled in and seen the limit and then hitting you with something even more awesome to throw you for a loop. I have rarely said 'holy shit!' while playing this game. I said that a lot on the PS2 version... and it isn't just because the earlier chapter has me numb and jaded. The Xbox 360 one just doesn't REACH like the PS2 one did. With the little alien ships, the Chikyuu Boueigun 3 has two types, chrome ones and the much sturdier red ones. But they are just 'pallet swaps' really. Same ship two different colors. In Chikyuu Boueigun 2 the harder ships were actually a different design.
The money or time or motivation just wasn't into putting more into other elements apart from the graphics. The game has less, sometimes glaringly so. I don't know if these things were actually CUT, like the elements were planned and then dropped as opposed to never considered. I suspect they WERE dropped. Why wouldn't you have at least the same amount of variety if you could?
They wanted to get the game out early in the Xbox 360's shelf life, maybe because they knew the unsophisticated graphic elements, such as there are, would wear less well as time went on, but this game plays great (and uniquely) and the graphics are the least of your concerns during most of the game, when you are trying to run away and destroy hundreds of enemies at the same time. Looking beyond the polish of those shiny ships, the PS2 version just has more GAME to it, and for me, is the definitive version up to this point. I hope the Xbox 360 version sold well enough for there to be a number four that will improve this game in the same way I understand episode two upgraded the first game.
Shutokou Battle X. Another Xbox 360 'improvement on an older game'. Genki has been making Shutokou Battle (Tokyo Xtreme Racer in the USA) games for ages. See earlier posts about my ongoing love affair with the series. Just about every game console has seen a version of Shutokou Battle. Most more than one. I have most of these, though my collection goes back only as far as the PS1/Saturn era. Apparently there were NES or SNES ones as well. At any rate, the usual pattern for Genki seems to follow getting a new Shutokou Battle game out soon after a console launches, and then make an improved episode later in the console's life. The improvements can be quite radical. The differences between the two Dreamcast episodes or the two PS2 episodes are extreme. The Xbox 360 version in the US lacks the Tokyo Xtreme moniker and goes by the name Import Tuner Challenge.
I don't need to go into quite as much detail about this franchise as I did the Chikyuu Boueigun above. I have not yet bought the Xbox iteration, but I already know from 'net info and trailers what the issue for me will be. Dropped cars.
It almost doesn't matter how whiz-bang the graphics are. Shutokou Battle has never had the slickest visuals in a racer. They would normally be best described as serviceable. And what they usually provide in service is speed. The cars and environments aren't as pretty as the Gran Turismos and Forzas but they have a way more exhilirating sense of tearing down the streets. The games are immersive because of the atmosphere, real-world locations, and rival system, and the graphics are good enough to keep you into the experience. So graphically the Xbox 360 chapter should be the best yet... the bits of it I 've seen certainly live up to that. Even if the visuals aren't the most important aspect, if a system can render more realistic images while keeping the speed up, that can only be a good thing, yeah? Icing on the gameplay cake.
Another aspect the Shutokou Battle games are known for is variety. The DO rival some of the big franchises for sheer number of cars, and outdo most of them for customisation options. Early chapters not so much, though they had quite a few for their day... but the later Dreamcast chapter and the PS2 episodes had well over a hundred car models available.
Is the Xbox 360 version you get less than twenty.
WTF?
This doesn't just have a dampening effect on what you drive. Typically in a Shutokou Battle game ALL the car models of the rivals eventually become available to drive. If the game only has eighteen or so car models TOTAL how much variety can you possible give to the hundreds of rivals in the game? One of the series selling points is the 'real-life' variety of all your opponents. This will cut the variety down to a fraction of its former glory. How many rivals will be driving the same car... I don't care how many aftermarket parts they have to choose from. Ugh.
I think... rather I HOPE.. this is just the typical Genki thing of first game on a console being relatively weak, later game being the real deal. That happened on the PS1, the Dreamcast and the PS2. The later games for each console were monumental improvements. Trouble is, its been a long time since Shutokou Battle X came out, and I don't think there is a sequel on the horizon.
Being a Shutokou Battle completist I'm going to get Shutokou Battle X. But this may be the first time in my life I'll be playing one of these games with an arms-folded attitude of 'impress me motherfucker'. Something's going to have to be impressive to make up for the loss. If it does surprise me somehow, I'll post it and apologise for doubting.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Double Shot of Double Oh Seven.
I've finally watched the two most recent James Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
As many Bond films as I've seen (though I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan) I couldn't help but enter into viewing these with certain expectations. Expectations to be met by these being Bond films-- the traditions I guess-- and expectations about what this 'reboot' would contain considering the modern penchant for turning series' grim and gritty. Casting Daniel Craig as the new Bond only cemented my prognostication since Craig is NOT the go-to guy for a debonaire, classically handsome, gentleman-spy type. And leave it to trailers to even further establish these expectations. I had been expecting basically the English equivalent to the Bourne films that starred Matt Damon.
And none of that was too far off, now that I've seen them.
Now don't get me wrong. I like the Bourne films just fine. The first one was understandably influential in how the suspense/spy genre was going to be depicted from that point on. Almost revolutionary. The Bond films are not the only ones in the genre to wear the Bourne influence.
The Daniel Craig version's movies basically wind the clock back all the way to Bond's early adventures after just getting his double-oh license, the license to kill. The films have separate characters but essentially describe one large arc and I found the first film a lot stronger as a companion piece to the second. I actually felt the presence of the character of Vesper (Bond's girlfriend) to be quite strong in the second film despite Vesper not actually appearing there.
Negatives out of the way first: It was COMPLETELY what I expected. In addition to that, the big dramatic moment at the end was boldly telegraphed and was in fact a virtual blueprint for how love interests in spy films-- and Bond in particular-- are handled. The only thing that suprised me in the film was that they DID go to the cliched 'betrayal/she had to' plot device. I also found the editing and some of the dialogue left me confused. This is not a huge problem watching the films on DVD, but I had a few too many WTF moments that required a rewind to see what I missed. I'm thinking in a theatrical screening this would be problematic. And this is coming from a guy who watches all kinds of movies with weird accents and dialogue and is a veteran of Hong Kong's most spastic scene cutting practices. On a second viewing I'm sure it would all fall into place, but these films are pretty fast paced and even I found my focused attention missed some stuff. Probably the only plot detail I found totally unconvincing in a 'that's Hollywood' kind of way, was Bond's treatment and recovery from being poisoned in the first film.
Positives: Bond probably need a reboot. While I find it becoming tiresome that almost all 're-imagings' (and film adaptations in general) feel the need to go all grim and gritty, I think in Bond's case it was probably necessary. The series' was absolutely becoming formulaic. And Daniel Craig DOES do a passable job in the various elegant sections when necessary. That shit just doesn't last very long. It is only five minutes work to be playing cards or sipping Dom before he has to bury an elbow in some cronie's eye socket. And that's another positive. More even than the Bourne movies these two films have a hyperkinetic pace. Most movies with that pace really push the believability envelope even for their fantastic premises (Indiana in a fridge, anyone?). Bond only really did it (for me) with the poisoning scene mentioned above. While I want to complain about the fact that Bond has almost no 'regular' adventures so soon after getting his license to kill-- the movies have an intense sort of plot most series wouldn't get to for a few episodes-- it is still true that Bond as an idea really needs no introductions or setups. It struck me as odd that he is already at odds with M and having a serious love interest/betrayal plot in what amounts to his first double-oh adventure, but after viewing them both, I think it was probably the way to go. The movies cram a lot into the running times, but still manage to have some long almost Jackie-chan style chase setpieces. And I liked how Craig's Bond is more physical/visceral but no attempt was made to make him some kind of kung-fu acrobat fighter guy. The films show him calculate the quickest way to cut off his more nimble quarry, and when he gets to them, he just plows through them Krav Maga style with lots of locks, disarms, and short sharp blows to the vitals. Bond has always been on the ruthless side, but Craig's is pretty realistically cold. I was actually moved when he himself finally finds reasons to be emotional himself. This owes a lot to Craig's performance. I don't think any of it was much of a stretch, but he was nuanced in a way that former Bond actors have not been.
Would I recommend them? Yes. If you are a hardcore Bond fan it may be necessary to put some of your fanboy expectations on the back burner and be open-minded. I am not so married to a particular concept of Bond that this was difficult for me, but others might have some work there. The films are a pretty good example of really fast-pacing that is not exhausting in the same way as the Indiana Jones movies or anything starring Vin Diesel or Brendan Frasier.
As many Bond films as I've seen (though I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan) I couldn't help but enter into viewing these with certain expectations. Expectations to be met by these being Bond films-- the traditions I guess-- and expectations about what this 'reboot' would contain considering the modern penchant for turning series' grim and gritty. Casting Daniel Craig as the new Bond only cemented my prognostication since Craig is NOT the go-to guy for a debonaire, classically handsome, gentleman-spy type. And leave it to trailers to even further establish these expectations. I had been expecting basically the English equivalent to the Bourne films that starred Matt Damon.
And none of that was too far off, now that I've seen them.
Now don't get me wrong. I like the Bourne films just fine. The first one was understandably influential in how the suspense/spy genre was going to be depicted from that point on. Almost revolutionary. The Bond films are not the only ones in the genre to wear the Bourne influence.
The Daniel Craig version's movies basically wind the clock back all the way to Bond's early adventures after just getting his double-oh license, the license to kill. The films have separate characters but essentially describe one large arc and I found the first film a lot stronger as a companion piece to the second. I actually felt the presence of the character of Vesper (Bond's girlfriend) to be quite strong in the second film despite Vesper not actually appearing there.
Negatives out of the way first: It was COMPLETELY what I expected. In addition to that, the big dramatic moment at the end was boldly telegraphed and was in fact a virtual blueprint for how love interests in spy films-- and Bond in particular-- are handled. The only thing that suprised me in the film was that they DID go to the cliched 'betrayal/she had to' plot device. I also found the editing and some of the dialogue left me confused. This is not a huge problem watching the films on DVD, but I had a few too many WTF moments that required a rewind to see what I missed. I'm thinking in a theatrical screening this would be problematic. And this is coming from a guy who watches all kinds of movies with weird accents and dialogue and is a veteran of Hong Kong's most spastic scene cutting practices. On a second viewing I'm sure it would all fall into place, but these films are pretty fast paced and even I found my focused attention missed some stuff. Probably the only plot detail I found totally unconvincing in a 'that's Hollywood' kind of way, was Bond's treatment and recovery from being poisoned in the first film.
Positives: Bond probably need a reboot. While I find it becoming tiresome that almost all 're-imagings' (and film adaptations in general) feel the need to go all grim and gritty, I think in Bond's case it was probably necessary. The series' was absolutely becoming formulaic. And Daniel Craig DOES do a passable job in the various elegant sections when necessary. That shit just doesn't last very long. It is only five minutes work to be playing cards or sipping Dom before he has to bury an elbow in some cronie's eye socket. And that's another positive. More even than the Bourne movies these two films have a hyperkinetic pace. Most movies with that pace really push the believability envelope even for their fantastic premises (Indiana in a fridge, anyone?). Bond only really did it (for me) with the poisoning scene mentioned above. While I want to complain about the fact that Bond has almost no 'regular' adventures so soon after getting his license to kill-- the movies have an intense sort of plot most series wouldn't get to for a few episodes-- it is still true that Bond as an idea really needs no introductions or setups. It struck me as odd that he is already at odds with M and having a serious love interest/betrayal plot in what amounts to his first double-oh adventure, but after viewing them both, I think it was probably the way to go. The movies cram a lot into the running times, but still manage to have some long almost Jackie-chan style chase setpieces. And I liked how Craig's Bond is more physical/visceral but no attempt was made to make him some kind of kung-fu acrobat fighter guy. The films show him calculate the quickest way to cut off his more nimble quarry, and when he gets to them, he just plows through them Krav Maga style with lots of locks, disarms, and short sharp blows to the vitals. Bond has always been on the ruthless side, but Craig's is pretty realistically cold. I was actually moved when he himself finally finds reasons to be emotional himself. This owes a lot to Craig's performance. I don't think any of it was much of a stretch, but he was nuanced in a way that former Bond actors have not been.
Would I recommend them? Yes. If you are a hardcore Bond fan it may be necessary to put some of your fanboy expectations on the back burner and be open-minded. I am not so married to a particular concept of Bond that this was difficult for me, but others might have some work there. The films are a pretty good example of really fast-pacing that is not exhausting in the same way as the Indiana Jones movies or anything starring Vin Diesel or Brendan Frasier.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Monthly Fix
Here's a look at the periodicals I read every month (or when published) and why:
Modified. Car magazine leaning towards the import tuner segment. I go for this one because I myself tend towards Japanese or European street car tuning as opposed to American muscle cars or exotics, it isn't so yo-boy with excessive hip-hop and girl coverage, and it covers more real racing and tuning for racing than the other magazines do. There IS a whole culture associated with import tuning and I'm not suggesting it be ignored, I just find most magazines to focus way too much on that stuff. I used to buy Racer magazine (not available where I live now) and I tune into the Speed Channel quite a bit for non-NASCAR races, this is one of the few periodicals that aims at THAT sort of thing with more than just a cursory glance. There are better magazines at what they do than Modified (like the UK's EVO magazine) but they are too focused on specific cars or nationalities. I really only want to spend on one car rag a month.
Masters Magazine. Martial arts magazine heavy on interviews and skewing towards traditional arts as opposed to more recent stuff like MMA. The other newstand offerings are full on non-traditonal stuff and loads of ads for charlatans and bullshit. Black Belt and its ilk are so scattered and whorish that a reader has no idea what to believe. Masters magazine is incredibly repetitive issue to issue. The practitioners they interview espouse almost the exact same philosophies so you aren't learning a lot of new practical ideas. Instead you get a lot of insight into personalities and history. And the repeated themes that come up rather tend to reinforce that much of what is taught in traditional martial arts are universal, core values. There are even more informative periodicals available on the internet, but I don't have time to really hunt that stuff down every time there is a new issue. Masters only comes out quarterly, so interviews don't get so repetitive I can't stand it. And the DVD that comes with each one really helps you see what these guys are all about. Nothing shows you a 'master' like watching him do his stuff.
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Heavy metal and hard rock magazine. Okay. As important as music is to me, I've been through A LOT of music magazines. Occasionally I'll buy another title if it looks like it has something to offer, even if it isn't metal-focused. I actually miss Industrial Nation A LOT. But BWBK has an unbelievable amount of info in each issue, even to having to use full-length sidebars on many of the pages. I prefer it because it doesn't focus on the more flamboyant aspects of the metal scene. I mean that shit is fun in its way, but bad boy behavior, trash talk, and controversy can still all be dealt with in a way that at least resembles journalism rather than out-and-out reveling in it. There are actually decent articles on the subject in a lot of metal mags, but since I buy only one, this one gets the nod for being somewhat above the grue despite the book's title. I actually find it worth chasing down and subscribing too, since no local bookstore carries it here, though we do have a Barnes & Noble and I know that shop carries it in some locales. This one comes with a music disc too.
Play. Video game magazine. The whys and wherefores of buying this one probably need their own entry. The short answer is that there are a lot of video game rags but most of them are absolute crap... driven like no other reporting media by their advertisers. Many of the biggest best-produced magazines (I'm looking at you, Edge and other UK periodicals) get totally bogged down in developer bullshit and a lot of high-minded programmer-speak. It is almost impossible to tell if anything is actually any fun. Play, at least comes closest to my personal mindset on games and while thin on its amount of coverage, at least tends to emphasize the kind of stuff I like.
Gentlemen's Quarterly. That's right, fucking GQ. Ugh. This is my sin that I must hide from those who actually know me. Although I have a rather specific personal style, I find a lot of the ideas about style and fashion to be pretty useful especially for situations where being a rocker-type needs to be toned down. There's articles covering a lot of other lifestyle and news issues, which I usually find entertaining (largely because of the sarcastic slightly upper-class view) even if I don't always agree with the writers. Living where I do, it is amazing anyone here even buys this thing-- my town knows nothing about 'style' whatever you'd apply that to. This mag is pretty much another tool I use to carve out a bit of civilization in my backwater burg.
Since I don't like to just stand around in the magazine aisles at Barnes & Noble browsing, I do occasionally buy other periodicals just to see if any are good, or if any old attempts have improved. But the above list is my regular set for now.
Modified. Car magazine leaning towards the import tuner segment. I go for this one because I myself tend towards Japanese or European street car tuning as opposed to American muscle cars or exotics, it isn't so yo-boy with excessive hip-hop and girl coverage, and it covers more real racing and tuning for racing than the other magazines do. There IS a whole culture associated with import tuning and I'm not suggesting it be ignored, I just find most magazines to focus way too much on that stuff. I used to buy Racer magazine (not available where I live now) and I tune into the Speed Channel quite a bit for non-NASCAR races, this is one of the few periodicals that aims at THAT sort of thing with more than just a cursory glance. There are better magazines at what they do than Modified (like the UK's EVO magazine) but they are too focused on specific cars or nationalities. I really only want to spend on one car rag a month.
Masters Magazine. Martial arts magazine heavy on interviews and skewing towards traditional arts as opposed to more recent stuff like MMA. The other newstand offerings are full on non-traditonal stuff and loads of ads for charlatans and bullshit. Black Belt and its ilk are so scattered and whorish that a reader has no idea what to believe. Masters magazine is incredibly repetitive issue to issue. The practitioners they interview espouse almost the exact same philosophies so you aren't learning a lot of new practical ideas. Instead you get a lot of insight into personalities and history. And the repeated themes that come up rather tend to reinforce that much of what is taught in traditional martial arts are universal, core values. There are even more informative periodicals available on the internet, but I don't have time to really hunt that stuff down every time there is a new issue. Masters only comes out quarterly, so interviews don't get so repetitive I can't stand it. And the DVD that comes with each one really helps you see what these guys are all about. Nothing shows you a 'master' like watching him do his stuff.
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Heavy metal and hard rock magazine. Okay. As important as music is to me, I've been through A LOT of music magazines. Occasionally I'll buy another title if it looks like it has something to offer, even if it isn't metal-focused. I actually miss Industrial Nation A LOT. But BWBK has an unbelievable amount of info in each issue, even to having to use full-length sidebars on many of the pages. I prefer it because it doesn't focus on the more flamboyant aspects of the metal scene. I mean that shit is fun in its way, but bad boy behavior, trash talk, and controversy can still all be dealt with in a way that at least resembles journalism rather than out-and-out reveling in it. There are actually decent articles on the subject in a lot of metal mags, but since I buy only one, this one gets the nod for being somewhat above the grue despite the book's title. I actually find it worth chasing down and subscribing too, since no local bookstore carries it here, though we do have a Barnes & Noble and I know that shop carries it in some locales. This one comes with a music disc too.
Play. Video game magazine. The whys and wherefores of buying this one probably need their own entry. The short answer is that there are a lot of video game rags but most of them are absolute crap... driven like no other reporting media by their advertisers. Many of the biggest best-produced magazines (I'm looking at you, Edge and other UK periodicals) get totally bogged down in developer bullshit and a lot of high-minded programmer-speak. It is almost impossible to tell if anything is actually any fun. Play, at least comes closest to my personal mindset on games and while thin on its amount of coverage, at least tends to emphasize the kind of stuff I like.
Gentlemen's Quarterly. That's right, fucking GQ. Ugh. This is my sin that I must hide from those who actually know me. Although I have a rather specific personal style, I find a lot of the ideas about style and fashion to be pretty useful especially for situations where being a rocker-type needs to be toned down. There's articles covering a lot of other lifestyle and news issues, which I usually find entertaining (largely because of the sarcastic slightly upper-class view) even if I don't always agree with the writers. Living where I do, it is amazing anyone here even buys this thing-- my town knows nothing about 'style' whatever you'd apply that to. This mag is pretty much another tool I use to carve out a bit of civilization in my backwater burg.
Since I don't like to just stand around in the magazine aisles at Barnes & Noble browsing, I do occasionally buy other periodicals just to see if any are good, or if any old attempts have improved. But the above list is my regular set for now.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Left Hand Feels Different
I have recently read Ursula K. LeGuin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Kind of a spooky title considering the actual subject matter in the book. The story is about a (normal) human’s adventures as an ambassador to a planet peopled by beings who are part of the human family (a genetically engineered subbranch), but are all of neutral/changeable gender. The ‘left hand’ of the title is part of a quote in the literature of the planet’s take on the philosophy of dualism similar to our concept of yin/yang.
While this book was written in 1969 it manages to still be largely relevant (I think) to the 21st century reader, in theme and subject as well as avoiding anachronism. LeGuin isn’t really concerned with technology or, given the subject matter, really technical aspects of genetic engineering. She lays down the hard science and hard science fiction bits down with somewhat broad strokes so there’s not a lot of fuel for nitpicking, and the ‘science’ isn’t the point of the story anyway. Where she packs in details is the world building aspect, especially the society and history of the Gethenian (planet Gethen or Winter) peoples. She has a pretty clever seamless knack for alternating between present narrative, and relevant myth and history chapters.
LeGuin is known for a feminist slant to her stories and a distaste for violence. Both of these traits are on display in LHOD but they aren’t particularly heavy handed or preachy. In fact, the feminism aspects might be surprisingly level and almost understated for readers whose concept of the term is more strident or who are able to place the story in its real-world historical context. LeGuin speculates on both male and female aspects contributing to social constructs, positing the usual ‘men equal aggression’ trope (Gethenians lacking male identities most of their lives have no war), but also finding that the Gethenians are rather lifeless and stagnant without this male dynamic. Gethenians are shown to be a socially concerned, nurturing society… stereotypically feminine traits, but it was never clear to me why a neutral-gender population would default to this feminine standard… probably the only glaring question I really had reading the book. Probably LeGuin didn’t intend it to come off as feminine specifically—more as ‘neutral’ and that if the Gethenians had instead been feminine-dominant there’d have been some other societal imbalance indicated. Obviously I have to view this as a male reader seeing this with a mindset forty years after it was written!
Her handling of violence was also done well. The (main) protagonist comes from an ‘enlightened’ galactic confederation, and in time-honored SF tradition that means violence-disinclined, more Picard than Kirk as it were. But the ambassador is also cognizant of more primitive society’s need to grow up and through their violent tendencies. Gethen, lacking male aggressiveness and hindered in warfare possibilities by the bitter, lethal nature of their planet’s climate, keep their own violence frequent but relatively low-level… on the nature of raids into rival territory or as aspects of politics, assassinations and the like. LeGuin manages to somehow make violence (and punishment in general) futile and distasteful, without avoiding or ignoring it unrealistically or going with the ‘but sometimes it is necessary’ that most peace-espousing good guys seem to need to fall back on in American-fictive conflict resolution/rationalization.
(This actually brings up an interesting reminder to me about Lukyanenko’s Night Watch novels that I’m also reading. It is a horror adventure series set in Russia written by a Russian author, and half of what makes it so interesting is the completely different moral stance from which it is written. No attempt has been made by the translators to Americanize the books, which is all the better. But Wow! Russians sure don’t think like we do. Not that I expected them to, but it is still quite a nail in the forehead some of the conclusions the Russian heroes come to, or the decisions they make. As a white Euro-descended male, the typical Russian doesn’t look that far off from myself or most people I see every day, but it is easy to forget the EASTERN European/Asian history and context that is SO different from our anglo/gallic/latin bedrock. Lukyanenko is considered quite popular as a street-wise, every-man author too… so I’m going to assume his views are NOT atypical of modern Russians. I could be wrong about that, of course.)
I think one of the greatest things about this book is that it is one of the many examples that packs a lot of story in a spare space. I think this shit is a lost art. Authors like Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and LeGuin here could world-build complete with myth and history in a fraction of the page count of more modern authors. And I don’t feel like I’m lacking anything after I finish one of their books either. I’m not saying I don’t want to know more about the worlds, or that thick books are all beneath consideration. I just find the ‘old ways’ admirable. Spare plotting, picking up the details along the way, minimal exposition… all demanded by the minimal page counts demanded by paperback marketing of the day. LeGuin has some pretty big books out there now, as does Moorcock, whose ‘plot is everything’ philosophy really scores points with me. But those fat-ass novels still really move. Its not really about putting your characters through a breakneck pace series of events. Hell, Tanith Lee is the queen of purple prose and she still got the work done in sliver-sized paperbacks. It more about focused, concise writing that doesn’t wallow in indulgent bullshit. If someone was just learning the basics of writing and their chosen genre was SF, fantasy, or horror (hell, any genre maybe) I think they’d do better looking to this style than to the Tolkiens or Eddings. Not only will these old authors show how to get to the nuts and bolts of the craft, but if one is breaking in by contributing shorter work to fanzines or webzines one needs to know how to get the job done with space to spare.
LeGuin won just about every SF award you can get for this work, and it holds up. In a time where we like to bloat just about everything we touch; books, movies, serving sizes for food, it was quite a refreshing turn. Too bad you have to reach back so far for this kind of workmanship, but good there are so many examples to be had.
While this book was written in 1969 it manages to still be largely relevant (I think) to the 21st century reader, in theme and subject as well as avoiding anachronism. LeGuin isn’t really concerned with technology or, given the subject matter, really technical aspects of genetic engineering. She lays down the hard science and hard science fiction bits down with somewhat broad strokes so there’s not a lot of fuel for nitpicking, and the ‘science’ isn’t the point of the story anyway. Where she packs in details is the world building aspect, especially the society and history of the Gethenian (planet Gethen or Winter) peoples. She has a pretty clever seamless knack for alternating between present narrative, and relevant myth and history chapters.
LeGuin is known for a feminist slant to her stories and a distaste for violence. Both of these traits are on display in LHOD but they aren’t particularly heavy handed or preachy. In fact, the feminism aspects might be surprisingly level and almost understated for readers whose concept of the term is more strident or who are able to place the story in its real-world historical context. LeGuin speculates on both male and female aspects contributing to social constructs, positing the usual ‘men equal aggression’ trope (Gethenians lacking male identities most of their lives have no war), but also finding that the Gethenians are rather lifeless and stagnant without this male dynamic. Gethenians are shown to be a socially concerned, nurturing society… stereotypically feminine traits, but it was never clear to me why a neutral-gender population would default to this feminine standard… probably the only glaring question I really had reading the book. Probably LeGuin didn’t intend it to come off as feminine specifically—more as ‘neutral’ and that if the Gethenians had instead been feminine-dominant there’d have been some other societal imbalance indicated. Obviously I have to view this as a male reader seeing this with a mindset forty years after it was written!
Her handling of violence was also done well. The (main) protagonist comes from an ‘enlightened’ galactic confederation, and in time-honored SF tradition that means violence-disinclined, more Picard than Kirk as it were. But the ambassador is also cognizant of more primitive society’s need to grow up and through their violent tendencies. Gethen, lacking male aggressiveness and hindered in warfare possibilities by the bitter, lethal nature of their planet’s climate, keep their own violence frequent but relatively low-level… on the nature of raids into rival territory or as aspects of politics, assassinations and the like. LeGuin manages to somehow make violence (and punishment in general) futile and distasteful, without avoiding or ignoring it unrealistically or going with the ‘but sometimes it is necessary’ that most peace-espousing good guys seem to need to fall back on in American-fictive conflict resolution/rationalization.
(This actually brings up an interesting reminder to me about Lukyanenko’s Night Watch novels that I’m also reading. It is a horror adventure series set in Russia written by a Russian author, and half of what makes it so interesting is the completely different moral stance from which it is written. No attempt has been made by the translators to Americanize the books, which is all the better. But Wow! Russians sure don’t think like we do. Not that I expected them to, but it is still quite a nail in the forehead some of the conclusions the Russian heroes come to, or the decisions they make. As a white Euro-descended male, the typical Russian doesn’t look that far off from myself or most people I see every day, but it is easy to forget the EASTERN European/Asian history and context that is SO different from our anglo/gallic/latin bedrock. Lukyanenko is considered quite popular as a street-wise, every-man author too… so I’m going to assume his views are NOT atypical of modern Russians. I could be wrong about that, of course.)
I think one of the greatest things about this book is that it is one of the many examples that packs a lot of story in a spare space. I think this shit is a lost art. Authors like Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and LeGuin here could world-build complete with myth and history in a fraction of the page count of more modern authors. And I don’t feel like I’m lacking anything after I finish one of their books either. I’m not saying I don’t want to know more about the worlds, or that thick books are all beneath consideration. I just find the ‘old ways’ admirable. Spare plotting, picking up the details along the way, minimal exposition… all demanded by the minimal page counts demanded by paperback marketing of the day. LeGuin has some pretty big books out there now, as does Moorcock, whose ‘plot is everything’ philosophy really scores points with me. But those fat-ass novels still really move. Its not really about putting your characters through a breakneck pace series of events. Hell, Tanith Lee is the queen of purple prose and she still got the work done in sliver-sized paperbacks. It more about focused, concise writing that doesn’t wallow in indulgent bullshit. If someone was just learning the basics of writing and their chosen genre was SF, fantasy, or horror (hell, any genre maybe) I think they’d do better looking to this style than to the Tolkiens or Eddings. Not only will these old authors show how to get to the nuts and bolts of the craft, but if one is breaking in by contributing shorter work to fanzines or webzines one needs to know how to get the job done with space to spare.
LeGuin won just about every SF award you can get for this work, and it holds up. In a time where we like to bloat just about everything we touch; books, movies, serving sizes for food, it was quite a refreshing turn. Too bad you have to reach back so far for this kind of workmanship, but good there are so many examples to be had.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Past Blast Continued
More video games from the past I’ve dug up from storage:
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the Sega Saturn. 2d platformer. Everything they say about this game is true. I’m not a huge fan of the Castlevania series (blasphemy!), though I can understand the greatness. THIS is the Castlevania game to own if you had to buy just one. So… uh, that’s why I own it. Just the one. I will probably fork some dough over for Rondo of Blood at some point, so I can play through this game’s nearly-as-good prequel. Still pics might make it look like ‘just a platform game’ but that doesn’t begin to describe all the cool items, amazing music, dark atmosphere, and intimidating boss battles. It’s the usual ‘versus Dracula and his minions’ plot, but its pulled off about as well as it ever has been and maybe ever will be.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for the Sega Saturn. 2d platformer. Everything they say about this game is true. I’m not a huge fan of the Castlevania series (blasphemy!), though I can understand the greatness. THIS is the Castlevania game to own if you had to buy just one. So… uh, that’s why I own it. Just the one. I will probably fork some dough over for Rondo of Blood at some point, so I can play through this game’s nearly-as-good prequel. Still pics might make it look like ‘just a platform game’ but that doesn’t begin to describe all the cool items, amazing music, dark atmosphere, and intimidating boss battles. It’s the usual ‘versus Dracula and his minions’ plot, but its pulled off about as well as it ever has been and maybe ever will be.
Panzer Dragoon
Mars Matrix
Mars Matrix for the Sega Dreamcast. 2d vertical shooter. Your go-to game if you want an STG that is so difficult you will want to throw yourself off a building. Perhaps only exceeded by Gigawing 2, Dodonpachi Daioujou, and Mushihimesama Futari. Graphics are pre-rendered sprites that simulate 3d objects but are kind of crude-looking, thought they move and animate smoothly. The more you play the more ships, credits, and power you can earn, but if you are a nutter for getting the 1CC you better be prepared to put an inordinate amount of time in on this. A manic shooter with unholy amounts of enemy fire, the gameplay system centers around a shield used to deflect whatever bullets you cannot (or don’t wish to for scoring purposes) dodge. With proper memorization, there is a rhythm to using the shield, and getting the enemies to drop the most ‘gold’ to max out your firepower and bonuses. This game is very fun, but the tenacity to keep playing enough to learn this rhythm… ehn, I probably don’t have that in me. This is one I will just have to admire superplayers on and never try to get the 1CC. I find Cave shooters (generally speaking) to be more involving, so my manic shooter mastery practice will mostly go there.
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master. 2d platformer on the Genesis/Mega Drive. Wow, is this a good game. I’d kind of forgot how good the Shinobi games could get. Much of the gameplay, the controls, Joe Mushashi’s abilities, etc. have all been done a million times, but they all just come together really well here. Joe controls so well and so intuitively that you will be negotiating even the most complex screens with ease. The only tricky part, and I was brutally reminded of this at the first boss during a recent go, is that to use the double jump you have to time the second press of the jump button right at the apex… and this can be hella-tough when you are being pressured. However, if someone wants straight up ninja action without all the sneaky complexity of Tenchu or the frustrating difficulty of (old) Ninja Gaiden, this is your game.
Chu Chu Rocket for the Sega Dreamcast. 2d action puzzle game. You must lead your mice onto an escape ship while avoiding the cats. This incredibly addictive game has two major modes. One is a frantic move-or-lose action game similar in intensity and speed to the Bomberman games. The other is more akin to the Adventures of Lolo on the NES where you have a pre-set board with cats and other obstacles already placed. You must use the tools given, then activate the board to see if the mice escape safely. Graphically very simple, but distinctive. This game is a really good example of Sega’s vision for a cute and family-friendly party game, as distinct from the many examples we have from Nintendo. Sega really did have some great innovative games, even if that seems to have fallen away from the company in recent years. Segagaga, Space Channel Five, Virtual On… they weren’t just Sonic and Shinobi. Chu Chu Rocket really worked well online too, years before all the online console stuff we get from the Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade.
Alien Front Online
Alien Front Online for the Sega Dreamcast, 3d third person polygonal shooter. A vehicle based shooter really from a third person perspective behind your tank or walker. An arcade game ported to the DC, this thing was a real showpiece for the Dreamcast’s graphics and it is still pretty impressive today. The objects themselves aren’t incredibly detailed, but the action is so fast, and so BIG. Tons of vehicles driving around, shit blowing up everywhere, and all kinds of cool weapons both human and alien. They even have an honest-to-goodness usable nuke in the game, and I can’t say there are many more satisfying video game moments than when you get to pop one of these off effectively. The gameplay, as is typical with arcade games, is kinda shallow, at least for home video game expectations. But the arenas are varied and interesting, and you can choose to play either as the invading aliens or the defending humans. This game also had online play. For the most part it worked pretty well, especially considering the pioneering role the Dreamcast had in actually forging this concept for consoles. Remember, the standard at this time was dialup. DIAL-UP. And I still remember decent lag-free games. The game also came with a microphone that allowed you a short segment of voice input every time you activated it. There was one evening of play I will never forget. Everyone on my team was saying the usual stuff, ‘go here’, ‘get that guy’, ‘don’t shoot at me’, etc. But one guy used his voice interval to just babble or shout incoherent stuff into the microphone. He was so weird, and he made some really hilarious noises, but he knew it was funny, and he’d keep doing it. That made most of the voices that followed him nothing but laughter. I could barely see what I was doing half the time from laughing so much. I hope that guy is still out there having a good time.
Guardian Heroes
Guardian Heroes for the Sega Saturn. 2d beat ‘em up. You don’t have to play this game to see how incredibly over-the-top it is. Just dig up a YouTube video and gape in awe at the madness. It is this kind of game that has fomented Treasure’s reputation for good play mechanics buried under impossible visuals. At base level, this game is akin to Double Dragon, Final Fight, or even Golden Axe. You walk along sidescrolling screens (generally headed right) beating up enemies as they appear. Most beat ‘em ups let you work in a few throws or combos to break up the monotony of just hitting the punch button. This genre has all but disappeared nowadays, but in its heyday it was huge. Mostly owing to their popularity in arcades. They are a great cooperative play experience, rather like playing a fighting game where you are partners with someone as opposed to being their enemy. In Guardian Heroes, the setting is a medieval fantasy (with some technology) world. The game has command-motion inputs like many fighting games, and multiplane movement like Fatal Fury, but these things weren’t unheard of in beat ‘em ups. Not being an actual arcade game with their hustle-the-quarters-quickly time constraints, Treasure also added in extensive dialogue scenes, choosable branching story paths, and RPG-like leveling up and character management. Now the game starts to look pretty ambitious next to a typical beat ‘em up, but where Guardian Heroes really sets itself apart is in the execution. The sprites for the characters and enemies are simply-colored anime drawings. But this simplicity allows for dozens of them to be onscreen at once, and for some really huge shapes to move quickly about the screen wreaking havoc. It is common in the game for you (and your buddies) to frequently be attacked by six or ten henchmen, one ‘captain’ with special abilities, and some giant robot with a screen-filling laser ALL AT THE SAME TIME. The chaos is unbelievable. With all of this, of course some visibility, and therefore control, is going to be sacrificed. You can’t always see where your character is and what they are doing underneath all the layers of explosions, bodies, and mayhem. But that’s part of learning the game. You have to learn to deal with it. And positioning yourself so that you can do what you need to is half the game. Simply awesome.
Elemental Master for the Genesis/Mega Drive. 2d vertical STG. A really unique vertical shooter from Technosoft, the folks behind the Thunder Force games. Although your ship is actually a little sorcerer dude walking through the backgrounds, the scrolling is still forced and constant. So the game looks something like Gain Ground in still pictures but is really more akin to the plane/spaceship/flying person sort of shmup. You have a button that fires forward and back, along with a weapon change button akin to Thunder Force. Unlike most of that series’ chapters you don’t lose whatever weapon you have equipped when you get hit. In fact, you have a lifebar as opposed to three lives. This game just rocks. It is perhaps a bit too easy, but it has cool weapons, decent visuals for the 16-bit era, and an awesome soundtrack. In fact, the soundtrack is part of what elevates this game, for me, into the favorites tier. There are good tunes all the way ‘round, but when you first get to the bosses that transform from human to monstrous, the music and sound effects will raise the hair on your neck.
Cyberbots for the Sega Saturn. 2d fighting game. A flashy, if somewhat simple mech fighter from Capcom. Gameplay is a variant of Capcom’s standard six-button system, like Street Fighter or Darkstalkers. The robots are varied, and the artwork is decent… again pretty reminiscent of Capcom’s other fighting games. Although more serious than Darkstalkers, the robots can pull off the same sort of ‘impossible’ special moves, blasting or slicing with weapons their mechanical bodies couldn’t possibly contain. But it is all done very well, with lots of trash talking between the rounds. Looking at this, I’m guessing it was kind of the blueprint for higher profile mech fighters that came along like the Gundam Battle Assault series. The way damage, weapons, and movement are represented all look very similar. The hero/Ryu character in the game made his way to being an unlockable in the later polygonal fighter Techromancer (Kikaioh). A decent game, but it probably doesn’t compel anyone but Capcom fighting game completists or fans of mech-on-mech violence.
Zero Wing
Zero Wing for the Genesis/Mega Drive. 2d horizontal STG. This game is kind of odd compared to most shooters, but pretty typical of games from the developer, Toaplan. Famous for the bad Engrish that gave us, ‘All your base are belong to us’, this game plays in a slow-paced (R-type speed as opposed to Thunder Force speed) fashion with a conventional power up system. But like most Toaplan games it is solidly designed with a gradually ramping difficulty level, widely varying levels and enemies, and an weird, rough art style that makes for some strange and memorable bosses. The music is actually really good too. I kind of got hooked on this in an arcade, in some town I was visiting. I never got to play it to completion. So when I saw there was a Genesis version I jumped on it. The port is pretty good. It isn’t as detailed as the arcade version and it doesn’t have as many layers of background scrolling, but all the enemies and timing seem right (compared to what I remember), and the soundtrack is actually better… same tunes but less tinny arrangement and ‘instruments’. This game won’t win any awards for originality (apart from the ‘Weird Boss Award’) but it is a good example of an almost relaxing STG experience. Not easy per se… but not stressful either, even in the difficult sections of the later levels.
(as usual images stolen from HG101 and a few other sources)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Crashing Through the Mirror
I 'beat' the story mode in Mirror's Edge for the Xbox 360 last night.
Man, I have really mixed feelings about the game.
It isn't a really recent game for the console, but when I first started thinking about getting a 360 for playing import STGs, this was one American game I was pretty sure I wanted.
The good: The premise is that you are a female anti-hero(ine) who basically moves through this first-person game like Jackie Chan, combining acrobatics and martial arts. It is very unique and although it looks like it might be a typical FPS, the de-emphasising of guns (for you) changes all the rules. The graphics and stage design are phenomenal. Incredibly lifelike movement and all of it aided by unsurpassed audio. The music is REALLY good, and the sounds of your movement and efforts really put you into her shoes. The enemy AI is pretty good. They don't do unbelievably stupid things if you are armed.
The bad: The plot is incredibly cliched and unambitious. Typical corrupt cops and city officials with betrayal by friends and all that. There wasn't one plot point I didn't see a mile away. It could be argued that the plot in an action game like this is secondary, but when a title shoots to be this immersive (and is successful during the actual gameplay) this is a real letdown. With all the cash that must've gone into the visuals and audio they couldn't hire a real writer. All kinds of contrived plot convolutions and none of it surprising... just sort of confusing at times.
The ugly: The cutscenes. If you read anything on the 'net about this game, this is where everyone agrees. The flat animated cutscenes are the height of gross suckage. Again, looks like the money ran out before they got to these. At least the most dramatic moments in the game are actually done in-game with the polygonal models you interact with as a player. This is incredibly important to the ending which would have been an absolute catastrophe with the shitty cutscene style.
Probably the worst thing for me though, are the controls. This needs a little more explanation though:
As cool as this game looks and moves, it may be that that the concept of an agility-based hero (like Spiderman or Strider) played through a first person perspective just cannot be realised effectively with available technologies. In a 2d game, the player's distanced perspective allows an objective view. If the programmers and designers are doing their job, there may be routes to figure out, and controls to master, but all the tools and clues will be there for you to master the game. It isn't as immersive as 3d but there isn't as much guess work. No hurrying to look behind you, no struggling to see what's ahead. It may not be as realistic, but 2d is simpler to control.
In the 3d gaming world, F(irst)P(erson)S(hooter) games typically just need move (maybe with multiple speeds), look, shoot, jump, duck/crouch, change weapon, and 'fiddle with object'. As long as the needs of the characters in the game don't jump much beyond that simple list it is pretty easy to manage getting around. The move and look controls are the rather obvious toggles that almost every controller these days sports. Shoot is usually a trigger. Jump is usually the other side's 'upper' trigger with duck/crouch the lower trigger. So this is all fairly intuitive. But when you start adding in all the physicality of a 'ninja' game it becomes problematic.
Now any set of controls no matter how complex can be memorised. If gamers can learn and fluidly play Virtual On or Senko No Ronde in superfast competitive play, then the controls of Mirror's Edge can be mastered. It is just not that intuitive. It takes A LOT longer to learn competently than an FPS because you WILL need to jump up, bounce off a wall, and grab a ledge... and that's just a lot of shit compared to blowing junk up in Wolfenstein. Couple this with the the timing necessary to pull off the complex moves, the fact that two critical buttons are analog, so your hitting them has to be firm in addition to quick, and that missing usually leads to death. There's a lot of frustration there just based on using the controls. In any 3d action game, whether first or third person, precision jumping is THE BANE. Up that factor in Mirror's Edge exponentially. You die a fucking lot!
It is a game about leaping along rooftops, over gaps between buildings, and tightrope walking along beams and cranes. When you aren't involved in some death-defying archictectural stunt you are ducking for cover and dodging automatic weapons fire. To their credit, the designers DID simplify certain things. Grabs when you are flying through the air, whether ledge or pipe are automatic. Just get into the vicinity and you latch on. But for every simplification there is another complexity. Yeah, I can grab that plank sticking out, but if I'm off to one side by even six virtual inches she will not grab it. And you will be off by that six inches... frequently. Because the Xbox 360 analog stick is a slippery little fucker. It takes a master just to run in a goshdamn straight line with it. In real life, the heroine Faith, wouldn't fail to compensate for slight misalignments like that. But that shit isn't just the fault of the controller:
In point of fact, there is a lot of lack of real-world intuition that just makes this a really difficult world to adapt to. Almost all of it is game limitation stuff. Even with the best steering wheel and pedals money can buy, driving games cannot convey the feel of the road under your seat, or the vibration through the tires for which your brain and body are constantly adjusting. You don't slew in your seat as you make a turn. There's all this feedback that aids us in driving a car that you can't simulate without a massive, expensive simulator. It is the same in Mirror's Edge. I can't tell you how many times I ran off the edge of a platform or walkway after having jumped down on it because I lacked the actual feedback your body would give me in a similar situation. In real-life you could make that jump tighter and backpedal or shift your body back to stay on the platform. In the game, Faith just walks right the fuck off. It often seems like this game is a scenario that really requires full human peripheral vision too... but none of us have the ability to simulate THAT no matter how wide our HDTVs are. So there's all this shit that you should see, guys shooting at you, a little lip to grab onto, whatever but you don't. Or let's say its a lot of effort to see it. Its the same complication all FPS games have but it is almost crippling to the fun in Mirror's Edge. I'm not an unsubtle game player but sometimes I felt like MY version of Faith should've been riding the short bus.
The game also attempts to de-emphasize physical combat compared to an ordinary FPS too. Faith's moves are real-world martial arts based and implemented pretty well in my opinion, but many of the limitations mentioned above have an analog in the combat sequences. Being able to disarm a cop and take his gun is of paramount importance, yet it can be really difficult to judge the correct distance, let alone work out the timing. Watch in horror as Faith misses the grab for the gun and gets pistol-whipped into unconsciousness over and over and over again. The game and the manual actually tell you 'avoid combat whenever possible', and yet there are key sequences where you must get a cop's gun and literally kill your way through a situation. Because Faith is so outmatched in combat you will double your own body weight in violently-received lead before you know THIS is just such a sequence.
So maybe an acrobatic 3d action game is kind of too far ahead of its time. We don't have the controllers and screens to simulate this well enough. But here's the real reason I don't think Mirror's Edge works so well. The game is largely a puzzle game. Action oriented, but a puzzle game. Most of your time will be spent on figuring out where to go. The game helps you to some degree by indicating in red what objects can be grabbed onto or jumped from. But that's really artificial. Faith would know her own abilities and be able to determine whether she could make a jump. She can look around and see what poles, pipes and ledges can be scaled without them turning red to show her. Oddly, as the game progresses it puts you into rooms to escape and DOESN'T turn usable topography red. These can be really frustrating. I must've looked at a walkthrough five times in these situations through the course of the game. I realise the room is the puzzle and that if they indicated the exact objects in red, there'd be little challenge. But it is still predicated on the player not understanding what Faith can and can't do, which is contrived. Of course Faith would know what she can and can't do. It just seems weird to be dodging machine gun bullets, leaping over alleys, and kicking in doors only to be stuck figuring out how to scale the various objects in a room to get to the artifically reddened vent near the ceiling. In real life she WOULD have to figure it out, but she wouldn't get stuck on the fact she didn't know she could hang onto that tiny lip up on the wall. Or stymied not knowing that she could, in fact, leap that odd-looking gap. As players we don't have all the practice and experience that the character supposedly does. So how does a game give that to a player to overcome his making Faith look like a complete doofus. Well, it doesn't.
I don't know if this is really making any sense. Its a lot of blah-blah-blah, but I'm just DISAPPOINTED in the game failing the incredible potential of its premise. I want to like it. I think some parts of it are incredible and it may be the best use of movement and sound I've yet seen in a 3d game. I just think the IDEA of a ninja-like hero or heroine might be yet beyond the scope of our 'affordable' video game technology. I'm not expecting any game system to simulate EXACTLY what its like to be Jackie Chan. I'm perfectly happy with many racing games even though they don't transmit accurate reproductions of the physical forces at work in a moving car. I think if they DID compensate for all these frustrations, either the challenge would disappear, or all Faith's movements would consist of canned sequences that would devolve the game into a game you watch more than play. I've been reading some articles lately talking about the balance between realism and fun/playability. This game has a very fine line to have to tread in presenting the hair-raising thrill of jumping from building to building with your life at stake, and still give you a game you can actually play.
There were times, even after I'd fallen a hundred times in previous chapters, that my heart was in my mouth as the game leads you through another vertigo-inducing setpiece. On the flip side, I just felt so often like my controller or my lack of understanding were what drove me to look at online hints. I'd come up against a hurdle and just COULD NOT see where Faith could go because it just wasn't apparent, even through the game up to that point, just what she could do. For some people this sort of figuring out and learning-- trial and error and a lot of death-- would make for a fun game, it just wasn't really what I'd signed on for.
My own misgivings about what can be simulated or not, some clever git can probably come up with a way to represent this sort of first person ninja game that is more intuitive. It'll be awesome, especially if lighting strikes twice and they manage the same sense of movement and fantastic audio.
Man, I have really mixed feelings about the game.
It isn't a really recent game for the console, but when I first started thinking about getting a 360 for playing import STGs, this was one American game I was pretty sure I wanted.
The good: The premise is that you are a female anti-hero(ine) who basically moves through this first-person game like Jackie Chan, combining acrobatics and martial arts. It is very unique and although it looks like it might be a typical FPS, the de-emphasising of guns (for you) changes all the rules. The graphics and stage design are phenomenal. Incredibly lifelike movement and all of it aided by unsurpassed audio. The music is REALLY good, and the sounds of your movement and efforts really put you into her shoes. The enemy AI is pretty good. They don't do unbelievably stupid things if you are armed.
The bad: The plot is incredibly cliched and unambitious. Typical corrupt cops and city officials with betrayal by friends and all that. There wasn't one plot point I didn't see a mile away. It could be argued that the plot in an action game like this is secondary, but when a title shoots to be this immersive (and is successful during the actual gameplay) this is a real letdown. With all the cash that must've gone into the visuals and audio they couldn't hire a real writer. All kinds of contrived plot convolutions and none of it surprising... just sort of confusing at times.
The ugly: The cutscenes. If you read anything on the 'net about this game, this is where everyone agrees. The flat animated cutscenes are the height of gross suckage. Again, looks like the money ran out before they got to these. At least the most dramatic moments in the game are actually done in-game with the polygonal models you interact with as a player. This is incredibly important to the ending which would have been an absolute catastrophe with the shitty cutscene style.
Probably the worst thing for me though, are the controls. This needs a little more explanation though:
As cool as this game looks and moves, it may be that that the concept of an agility-based hero (like Spiderman or Strider) played through a first person perspective just cannot be realised effectively with available technologies. In a 2d game, the player's distanced perspective allows an objective view. If the programmers and designers are doing their job, there may be routes to figure out, and controls to master, but all the tools and clues will be there for you to master the game. It isn't as immersive as 3d but there isn't as much guess work. No hurrying to look behind you, no struggling to see what's ahead. It may not be as realistic, but 2d is simpler to control.
In the 3d gaming world, F(irst)P(erson)S(hooter) games typically just need move (maybe with multiple speeds), look, shoot, jump, duck/crouch, change weapon, and 'fiddle with object'. As long as the needs of the characters in the game don't jump much beyond that simple list it is pretty easy to manage getting around. The move and look controls are the rather obvious toggles that almost every controller these days sports. Shoot is usually a trigger. Jump is usually the other side's 'upper' trigger with duck/crouch the lower trigger. So this is all fairly intuitive. But when you start adding in all the physicality of a 'ninja' game it becomes problematic.
Now any set of controls no matter how complex can be memorised. If gamers can learn and fluidly play Virtual On or Senko No Ronde in superfast competitive play, then the controls of Mirror's Edge can be mastered. It is just not that intuitive. It takes A LOT longer to learn competently than an FPS because you WILL need to jump up, bounce off a wall, and grab a ledge... and that's just a lot of shit compared to blowing junk up in Wolfenstein. Couple this with the the timing necessary to pull off the complex moves, the fact that two critical buttons are analog, so your hitting them has to be firm in addition to quick, and that missing usually leads to death. There's a lot of frustration there just based on using the controls. In any 3d action game, whether first or third person, precision jumping is THE BANE. Up that factor in Mirror's Edge exponentially. You die a fucking lot!
It is a game about leaping along rooftops, over gaps between buildings, and tightrope walking along beams and cranes. When you aren't involved in some death-defying archictectural stunt you are ducking for cover and dodging automatic weapons fire. To their credit, the designers DID simplify certain things. Grabs when you are flying through the air, whether ledge or pipe are automatic. Just get into the vicinity and you latch on. But for every simplification there is another complexity. Yeah, I can grab that plank sticking out, but if I'm off to one side by even six virtual inches she will not grab it. And you will be off by that six inches... frequently. Because the Xbox 360 analog stick is a slippery little fucker. It takes a master just to run in a goshdamn straight line with it. In real life, the heroine Faith, wouldn't fail to compensate for slight misalignments like that. But that shit isn't just the fault of the controller:
In point of fact, there is a lot of lack of real-world intuition that just makes this a really difficult world to adapt to. Almost all of it is game limitation stuff. Even with the best steering wheel and pedals money can buy, driving games cannot convey the feel of the road under your seat, or the vibration through the tires for which your brain and body are constantly adjusting. You don't slew in your seat as you make a turn. There's all this feedback that aids us in driving a car that you can't simulate without a massive, expensive simulator. It is the same in Mirror's Edge. I can't tell you how many times I ran off the edge of a platform or walkway after having jumped down on it because I lacked the actual feedback your body would give me in a similar situation. In real-life you could make that jump tighter and backpedal or shift your body back to stay on the platform. In the game, Faith just walks right the fuck off. It often seems like this game is a scenario that really requires full human peripheral vision too... but none of us have the ability to simulate THAT no matter how wide our HDTVs are. So there's all this shit that you should see, guys shooting at you, a little lip to grab onto, whatever but you don't. Or let's say its a lot of effort to see it. Its the same complication all FPS games have but it is almost crippling to the fun in Mirror's Edge. I'm not an unsubtle game player but sometimes I felt like MY version of Faith should've been riding the short bus.
The game also attempts to de-emphasize physical combat compared to an ordinary FPS too. Faith's moves are real-world martial arts based and implemented pretty well in my opinion, but many of the limitations mentioned above have an analog in the combat sequences. Being able to disarm a cop and take his gun is of paramount importance, yet it can be really difficult to judge the correct distance, let alone work out the timing. Watch in horror as Faith misses the grab for the gun and gets pistol-whipped into unconsciousness over and over and over again. The game and the manual actually tell you 'avoid combat whenever possible', and yet there are key sequences where you must get a cop's gun and literally kill your way through a situation. Because Faith is so outmatched in combat you will double your own body weight in violently-received lead before you know THIS is just such a sequence.
So maybe an acrobatic 3d action game is kind of too far ahead of its time. We don't have the controllers and screens to simulate this well enough. But here's the real reason I don't think Mirror's Edge works so well. The game is largely a puzzle game. Action oriented, but a puzzle game. Most of your time will be spent on figuring out where to go. The game helps you to some degree by indicating in red what objects can be grabbed onto or jumped from. But that's really artificial. Faith would know her own abilities and be able to determine whether she could make a jump. She can look around and see what poles, pipes and ledges can be scaled without them turning red to show her. Oddly, as the game progresses it puts you into rooms to escape and DOESN'T turn usable topography red. These can be really frustrating. I must've looked at a walkthrough five times in these situations through the course of the game. I realise the room is the puzzle and that if they indicated the exact objects in red, there'd be little challenge. But it is still predicated on the player not understanding what Faith can and can't do, which is contrived. Of course Faith would know what she can and can't do. It just seems weird to be dodging machine gun bullets, leaping over alleys, and kicking in doors only to be stuck figuring out how to scale the various objects in a room to get to the artifically reddened vent near the ceiling. In real life she WOULD have to figure it out, but she wouldn't get stuck on the fact she didn't know she could hang onto that tiny lip up on the wall. Or stymied not knowing that she could, in fact, leap that odd-looking gap. As players we don't have all the practice and experience that the character supposedly does. So how does a game give that to a player to overcome his making Faith look like a complete doofus. Well, it doesn't.
I don't know if this is really making any sense. Its a lot of blah-blah-blah, but I'm just DISAPPOINTED in the game failing the incredible potential of its premise. I want to like it. I think some parts of it are incredible and it may be the best use of movement and sound I've yet seen in a 3d game. I just think the IDEA of a ninja-like hero or heroine might be yet beyond the scope of our 'affordable' video game technology. I'm not expecting any game system to simulate EXACTLY what its like to be Jackie Chan. I'm perfectly happy with many racing games even though they don't transmit accurate reproductions of the physical forces at work in a moving car. I think if they DID compensate for all these frustrations, either the challenge would disappear, or all Faith's movements would consist of canned sequences that would devolve the game into a game you watch more than play. I've been reading some articles lately talking about the balance between realism and fun/playability. This game has a very fine line to have to tread in presenting the hair-raising thrill of jumping from building to building with your life at stake, and still give you a game you can actually play.
There were times, even after I'd fallen a hundred times in previous chapters, that my heart was in my mouth as the game leads you through another vertigo-inducing setpiece. On the flip side, I just felt so often like my controller or my lack of understanding were what drove me to look at online hints. I'd come up against a hurdle and just COULD NOT see where Faith could go because it just wasn't apparent, even through the game up to that point, just what she could do. For some people this sort of figuring out and learning-- trial and error and a lot of death-- would make for a fun game, it just wasn't really what I'd signed on for.
My own misgivings about what can be simulated or not, some clever git can probably come up with a way to represent this sort of first person ninja game that is more intuitive. It'll be awesome, especially if lighting strikes twice and they manage the same sense of movement and fantastic audio.
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