Monday, September 13, 2010
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Starcraft - Why one of the hottest games of the late nineties is still a worth a few minerals.
I recently stumbled upon a beat-up copy of Blizzard’s old Starcraft while going through some boxes in the back of my closet. In a nostalgic mood and eager to remember a time of less responsibilities, I popped the disk in my computer. Within fifteen minutes, I fell back in love with my old friend. I jumped back and forth from Zerg to Terran to Protoss, greasing my rusty hinges, testing strategies and observing major changes in the gameplay style from a few short years ago. Twelve hours later, I emerged from my 14-year-old state of mind utterly exhausted, my thirst for Starcraft still unquenched. I haven’t been more preoccupied with a game since I swore off video games for good, angry at the outcome of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Considered by more credible experts to be one of the best strategy games of the late 1990’s, Starcraft mixes an original game concept with an intriguing cast of characters and endless possibilities. One can be entertained, for instance, by non-cheating campaign play. This consists mostly of defeating a computer opponent, which most gamers find to be a relatively simple task; the programmed small-time strategies make no use of mass armies and pay little attention to sky-high supply limits. Beating them is easy; with the cheats that all Starcraft players know and love, it becomes fun. The cheats allow map revelation, infinite cash, and even invincibility for your units/buildings. When I reminded one friend of this cheat, he chuckled and commented on the delightful challenge of sending one mining unit to destroy an entire enemy base. After attempting this, however, I would not recommend it.
Moving into multiplayer mode is a whole different ball game. Cruising around battle.net, the familiar hangout for ruthless Blizzard gamers, I noticed no major differences between this place and the immature, self-absorbed competitive community I knew as a child. I did, however, notice a pattern that intrigued me; when I hit the “join” button to join a game being formed, I found that 90% of Starcraft players preferred a map entitled “World’s Fastest Map Ever”. I was intent on understanding why this map was so wonderful; I dialed in and began a game. Accustomed to the “Big Game Hunters”-style, snail’s pace maps, I took my time building SCV’s and slowly gathering my defenses. Confident that I was progressing as quickly as was necessary, I was surprised when the allies assigned to me began throwing accusations my way, labeling me a “newb.” Little ones, I scoffed to myself, compared to an Old-school Starcraft master like myself, YOU are the inexperienced ones. Oh, my naiveté!
Within 10 minutes, the Protoss ally to my left was rushing his enforcements to my side to supplement my pitiful defenses against the flood of Hydralisks that had suddenly appeared at my doorstep. It seemed, as I discovered upon further investigation of the matter, that a clever enthusiast had somehow altered the physics of the original editor template, placing all players’ starting bases far closer to the mineral resources than was originally intended. As a result, a player’s cash flow increases far too rapidly; this pushes all players into a rush to mass-produce units and stockpile endless defenses; the game becomes less about strategy and more about who’s the fastest with their quick-keys and army production. Having played enough now to be a formidable opponent in a map of this style, I must admit that it can be quite enjoyable, even with the original strategy factor left out; it lends something to the Zerg race that makes them almost invincible. However, the moral caliber of the current frequenters of these games leaves much to be desired. I can speak to more than one occasion that proves this point. For example:
I entered the room for a potential game entitled “comp stomp fastest” (“fastest” being the abbreviation for the aforementioned speed-style map). After the game began, a number of allies intended to assist in the destruction of the weakling computer dropped out of the game. Eventually, I was left with one ally directly to my right. Fortunately, however, we were both well-accustomed enough to completely exhaust our supply limits. However, while I led campaign after campaign of decisive victory against the computer’s multiple fronts around the map, my ally simply sat idle, amassing units. “Why don’t you attack?” I pressed, “We could win if you help me out.” After one dismissive reply after another, I guessed at the treachery that lay ahead. But it was too late. My resources drained by repeated attacks on the real enemy, I had no means to even attampt to protect myself. My supposed ally led his hoard into the heart of my base BEFORE declaring to the computer that he was no longer my ally. As his Protoss Carriers swarmed like bees, crushing my stronghold from the inside out, I muttered to myself, “Starcraft isn’t cool anymore.” But it IS. It is because, despite such an experience, I still play. Next time, I’ll be prepared, and I’ll whomp that backsabber’s sorry ass.
Considered by more credible experts to be one of the best strategy games of the late 1990’s, Starcraft mixes an original game concept with an intriguing cast of characters and endless possibilities. One can be entertained, for instance, by non-cheating campaign play. This consists mostly of defeating a computer opponent, which most gamers find to be a relatively simple task; the programmed small-time strategies make no use of mass armies and pay little attention to sky-high supply limits. Beating them is easy; with the cheats that all Starcraft players know and love, it becomes fun. The cheats allow map revelation, infinite cash, and even invincibility for your units/buildings. When I reminded one friend of this cheat, he chuckled and commented on the delightful challenge of sending one mining unit to destroy an entire enemy base. After attempting this, however, I would not recommend it.
Moving into multiplayer mode is a whole different ball game. Cruising around battle.net, the familiar hangout for ruthless Blizzard gamers, I noticed no major differences between this place and the immature, self-absorbed competitive community I knew as a child. I did, however, notice a pattern that intrigued me; when I hit the “join” button to join a game being formed, I found that 90% of Starcraft players preferred a map entitled “World’s Fastest Map Ever”. I was intent on understanding why this map was so wonderful; I dialed in and began a game. Accustomed to the “Big Game Hunters”-style, snail’s pace maps, I took my time building SCV’s and slowly gathering my defenses. Confident that I was progressing as quickly as was necessary, I was surprised when the allies assigned to me began throwing accusations my way, labeling me a “newb.” Little ones, I scoffed to myself, compared to an Old-school Starcraft master like myself, YOU are the inexperienced ones. Oh, my naiveté!
Within 10 minutes, the Protoss ally to my left was rushing his enforcements to my side to supplement my pitiful defenses against the flood of Hydralisks that had suddenly appeared at my doorstep. It seemed, as I discovered upon further investigation of the matter, that a clever enthusiast had somehow altered the physics of the original editor template, placing all players’ starting bases far closer to the mineral resources than was originally intended. As a result, a player’s cash flow increases far too rapidly; this pushes all players into a rush to mass-produce units and stockpile endless defenses; the game becomes less about strategy and more about who’s the fastest with their quick-keys and army production. Having played enough now to be a formidable opponent in a map of this style, I must admit that it can be quite enjoyable, even with the original strategy factor left out; it lends something to the Zerg race that makes them almost invincible. However, the moral caliber of the current frequenters of these games leaves much to be desired. I can speak to more than one occasion that proves this point. For example:
I entered the room for a potential game entitled “comp stomp fastest” (“fastest” being the abbreviation for the aforementioned speed-style map). After the game began, a number of allies intended to assist in the destruction of the weakling computer dropped out of the game. Eventually, I was left with one ally directly to my right. Fortunately, however, we were both well-accustomed enough to completely exhaust our supply limits. However, while I led campaign after campaign of decisive victory against the computer’s multiple fronts around the map, my ally simply sat idle, amassing units. “Why don’t you attack?” I pressed, “We could win if you help me out.” After one dismissive reply after another, I guessed at the treachery that lay ahead. But it was too late. My resources drained by repeated attacks on the real enemy, I had no means to even attampt to protect myself. My supposed ally led his hoard into the heart of my base BEFORE declaring to the computer that he was no longer my ally. As his Protoss Carriers swarmed like bees, crushing my stronghold from the inside out, I muttered to myself, “Starcraft isn’t cool anymore.” But it IS. It is because, despite such an experience, I still play. Next time, I’ll be prepared, and I’ll whomp that backsabber’s sorry ass.
My Halo and Me
I remember fall of 2001 as if it was yesterday. I was fresh out of high school, in my first semester of college, and had not a single cent to my name. In short, life was great. I had never had to get a job (unless you count 3 days at Papa Murphy's) I hadn't picked a major yet (something I would later regret) and I spent more time playing video games then anything else. For graduation I had gotten a little over $1,000 from various relatives and like the dumb 19 year old I was I spent all that money on a play station 2 and other crap that I didn't need. I spent a hundred hours or more a months playing videogames, and for the most part, I was happy about my choice to buy a PS2, as I already had a Dreamcast and could not care less about the game cube.
The one thing that resembled anything like regret concerning my purchase was the mysterious Xbox. Microsoft had just released a new operating system, but like most people, I did not want to shell out $400 to pay for it, and I figured that the Xbox was just another marketing ploy for Microsoft. The only thing that made me start to doubt this was this game called Halo.
Halo is a First Person Shooter game, which at the time their where few to no good FPS games for console systems, and when I found out that the game was originally developed for the Mac I didn't pay much attention to it. The closer it got to the game's release date, the more I started to hear about it. When the game came out, it got great reviews, in fact I cannot remember reading anything bad about it, the critics loved it, and the message boards went crazy with buzz about it.
A few months after the release of the game, I was at Blockbuster with a friend of mine, and we thought it would be cool to rent an Xbox and try out a few games, Halo being one of them. Well for the next few days, I did nothing but play this great game. My friend and I had beaten it by the end of that night, and because blockbuster had given us four controllers, so through those days we had invited just about everyone in our circle of friends to play the game with us. The only time I think we ever stopped playing Halo was to try out the other games, only to find out how boring they where. To tell the truth I think I played a little too much, because when I returned it I want sad to see it go, in fact I hardly thought much more about the game as plenty of PS2 titles kept me busy for the next few years.
Three years after the release of the first Halo game, Halo 2 was on its way. At the time, I still had not bought an Xbox but many of my friends had. Xbox live was becoming popular and the price of the Xbox had dropped quite a bit. I had started working at the same place that I still do, but I still could not see myself buying one, so I did what any self-respecting American man would do – get my mom to get it for me for Christmas. Since that was the only thing I asked for, I got it, and the next day I got the Glorious sequel to a game that I still love to play.
I spent the next week playing, and in fact, I forgot all about new-years and missed the party I was supposed to go to because I was at home playing online, which was so much more fun then just playing with my friends. I played and played and when the map pack came out, I was inline to get it the first day. I played that game so much that I forgot that there were any other games for Xbox (and to this day I have only owned 3 other Xbox games) and I hardly touched my PS2.
Right now, I am trying to make a decision as to weather or not to buy an Xbox 360 just for this one game. I have loved them in the past, but what can they do that is all that new? I cannot say for sure, but to me it looks like the only place the series has to go is down. Halo Wars looks to be a good game, but I think it would be more fun on the PC, using a platform that would allow the player to play online with anyone at any time. On top of all this, I'm going into my last year of college, I'm running a website, working +40 hours a week, and have a girlfriend that takes up just about all the free time I have.
So does anyone have any suggestions? I'm a gamer at heart, but to be real I'm not sure if I should spend that kind of money for one game that I might not have that much time to play. I need some help, some suggestions, or somebody to just tell me what to do.
The one thing that resembled anything like regret concerning my purchase was the mysterious Xbox. Microsoft had just released a new operating system, but like most people, I did not want to shell out $400 to pay for it, and I figured that the Xbox was just another marketing ploy for Microsoft. The only thing that made me start to doubt this was this game called Halo.
Halo is a First Person Shooter game, which at the time their where few to no good FPS games for console systems, and when I found out that the game was originally developed for the Mac I didn't pay much attention to it. The closer it got to the game's release date, the more I started to hear about it. When the game came out, it got great reviews, in fact I cannot remember reading anything bad about it, the critics loved it, and the message boards went crazy with buzz about it.
A few months after the release of the game, I was at Blockbuster with a friend of mine, and we thought it would be cool to rent an Xbox and try out a few games, Halo being one of them. Well for the next few days, I did nothing but play this great game. My friend and I had beaten it by the end of that night, and because blockbuster had given us four controllers, so through those days we had invited just about everyone in our circle of friends to play the game with us. The only time I think we ever stopped playing Halo was to try out the other games, only to find out how boring they where. To tell the truth I think I played a little too much, because when I returned it I want sad to see it go, in fact I hardly thought much more about the game as plenty of PS2 titles kept me busy for the next few years.
Three years after the release of the first Halo game, Halo 2 was on its way. At the time, I still had not bought an Xbox but many of my friends had. Xbox live was becoming popular and the price of the Xbox had dropped quite a bit. I had started working at the same place that I still do, but I still could not see myself buying one, so I did what any self-respecting American man would do – get my mom to get it for me for Christmas. Since that was the only thing I asked for, I got it, and the next day I got the Glorious sequel to a game that I still love to play.
I spent the next week playing, and in fact, I forgot all about new-years and missed the party I was supposed to go to because I was at home playing online, which was so much more fun then just playing with my friends. I played and played and when the map pack came out, I was inline to get it the first day. I played that game so much that I forgot that there were any other games for Xbox (and to this day I have only owned 3 other Xbox games) and I hardly touched my PS2.
Right now, I am trying to make a decision as to weather or not to buy an Xbox 360 just for this one game. I have loved them in the past, but what can they do that is all that new? I cannot say for sure, but to me it looks like the only place the series has to go is down. Halo Wars looks to be a good game, but I think it would be more fun on the PC, using a platform that would allow the player to play online with anyone at any time. On top of all this, I'm going into my last year of college, I'm running a website, working +40 hours a week, and have a girlfriend that takes up just about all the free time I have.
So does anyone have any suggestions? I'm a gamer at heart, but to be real I'm not sure if I should spend that kind of money for one game that I might not have that much time to play. I need some help, some suggestions, or somebody to just tell me what to do.
$60 for a Game?
I wouldn’t pay $60 for monopoly, scrabble, sorry, or shoots and ladders, so why should I pay that much for a videogame? Game companies tell us that it is because of the rise in the cost to make these games, and the newer technology is costing them more money. To me it just gives them an excuse to take their time, use more people, and expand their own budget, knowing that the cost will more then be made up later on.
So what do I propose? Smaller games. I would rather play ten short, fun games, then one long one that starts out great, but after 40 hours of the same thing, I only play in hope of getting to the end. I know that good graphics add a lot to a game, along with a killer sound track, but I don’t think that it’s worth the price to have to pay for that extra 3d artist or two, and the quadrupled level design time because every little detail needs to be intractable. The best games ever made weren’t made in the last 5 years, game companies need to take a look at that before they start paying for their new product out of the pocket of the gamer.
So what do I propose? Smaller games. I would rather play ten short, fun games, then one long one that starts out great, but after 40 hours of the same thing, I only play in hope of getting to the end. I know that good graphics add a lot to a game, along with a killer sound track, but I don’t think that it’s worth the price to have to pay for that extra 3d artist or two, and the quadrupled level design time because every little detail needs to be intractable. The best games ever made weren’t made in the last 5 years, game companies need to take a look at that before they start paying for their new product out of the pocket of the gamer.
Adam Carolla interviews Francis Ford Coppola
I started listing to Adam Carolla about a year ago when his radio show was on a local station. I quickly found that he has an interviewing style like nobody else, asking questions that many people would never think to ask, but he often gets information from people that is very personal and very interesting, without the whole gossip rag slant to it. After his radio show was canceled, he was quick to start a podcast with a couple of his buddies, and is now one of the most popular podcasts on the net.
In this interview, Coppola talks about how hard it was to recover after the initial failure of Apocalypse now, and talks about his new movie TETRO.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Diary Of the Dead Trailer
I'm not 100% sure about this one. maybe georgie boy should quite while he is ahead. I will still go and see it, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
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