The Return of the Return of Ostagar [Dlc]
Is BioWare actually letting Charlie Brown kick the DLC football? Looks like Return to Ostagar, the DLC pack for Dragon Age: Origins , came back sometime yesterday to Xbox Live Marketplace and for PC download. The DLC originally went live on Jan. 14 but had to be removed because a title update created a bug within it. That followed earlier bug-related delays in development. The pack is 400 Microsoft Points or $4.99 US. As of publication, it is still not on the PlayStation Network and is classified as “coming soon” on the BioWare page. Return to Ostagar [Bioware via Blue's News ] Go here to see the original: The Return of the Return of Ostagar [Dlc]
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The Return of the Return of Ostagar [Dlc]
Tacit Dissent: Why Great Characters Must Speak [Weekend Reader]
The issue of silence in Half-Life or Fallout 3 has a long discussion history, but one critic doesn’t consider it a virtue. Stripping the voice from a main character is “a pathway into madness and schlocky conceits,” he says. Sean Sands, writing for Gamers With Jobs, says the forced silence of a character like Gordon Freeman or Bioshock’s Jack Ryan, despite their starring roles in game-of-the-year honorees, “do more damage to my suspension of disbelief than having just avoided the whole problem in the first place.” And Sands alleges it comes from a misplaced belief that storytelling in video games requires the imposition of a player’s personality on the controlled character. One thing I find about games in which your character has no voice is how expository the dialogue becomes. This is a common enough problem in video game scripts anyway, but the show-don’t-tell ethos really goes out the window when a game character has to hold up both ends of the spoken conversation. Sands points out this problem in Half-Life. He instead praises BioWare for its commitment to voicing its RPGs. Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 are instant examples; unmentioned but also indicative of BioWare’s strong commitment to that production value is how Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a fully voiced MMO. And Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is another fine example of a well-acted, fully voiced game whose protagonist is still memorable and much beloved. Identification, Please [Gamers With Jobs, Jan. 28] I consider it audacious and unreasonable to think that video game story telling is so different that suddenly players will be unwilling to empathize with their character unless that character takes on their personality. I appreciate the potential of this new medium, but my experience has been that for now, the more we stick with good old fashioned story telling the better off everyone will be. When it comes right down to it, I think the problem is that game developers and writers worry far too much about how to make the player identify himself or herself within the character they take on in game. This is a pathway into madness and schlocky conceits that do more damage to my suspension of disbelief than having just avoided the whole problem in the first place. These days everyone is plugging complex and sophisticated worlds into even the most basic shooter. That’s not a bad thing, but if you do that then it seems to me that you have to accept the reality of your narrative. If everyone else in this world you’ve created has a personality, it seems like a damn shame that I’m not given one as well. Just telling me that I should assume their own identity as if it were my own and plug it into their avatar is a cop-out at best and a bungling mistake at worst. As I play through Mass Effect 2, I am grateful at the depths to which BioWare is willing to develop and explored the player’s character, even if that comes at the expense of sometimes removing the player from having uninterrupted authority. Obviously we are talking about a very different creature here, because there are complex dialogue trees and it would be impossible to imagine this game without a vocal hero, but I know that I will identify with Commander Shepherd long after I’ve stopped clicking that little .exe file. Apples and oranges, I suppose, but as I look back at games like Deus Ex, Dragon Age, Uncharted or Fallout, a fairly diverse cross-section of the past decade, I find that most stories are enhanced by a well developed hero or anti-hero. It is far better to my mind to be shown a professional crafted story than to be wedged into gimmicks designed to trick me into believing I am actually part of the story. I’m not. Who I am is not modular, and I can not at will divest myself from the limitation of my own experience and plug it into your world. I am a functioning adult, and no matter how deeply immersed I become, I still know that my character on screen is not me. – Sean Sands Weekend Reader is Kotaku’s look at the critical thinking in, and of video games. It appears Sundays at noon. Please take the time to read the full article cited before getting involved in the debate here. Excerpt from: Tacit Dissent: Why Great Characters Must Speak [Weekend Reader]
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Tacit Dissent: Why Great Characters Must Speak [Weekend Reader]
Halo: Reach Won’t Use Project Natal Controls
Halo: Reach (X360) Bungie sets the record straight. Read the original here: Halo: Reach Won’t Use Project Natal Controls
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Halo: Reach Won’t Use Project Natal Controls
The Secret World Kingsmouth Trailer
Welcome to Kingsmouth … welcome to Hell. See more here: The Secret World Kingsmouth Trailer
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The Secret World Kingsmouth Trailer
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: iSlate iPad Edition Winners [Photoshop]
Much better! Week two of Kotaku’s ‘Shop Contest went more smoothly than our debut, with several dozen entries conceiving of what games on the iPad would be like before we found out on Wednesday. Our alternate source image, of Pyramid Head and a vacuum cleaner, produced fewer entries. Here’s a gallery of the 20 best, in no particular order. Although (Zombie) Jölan’s Ten Commandments riff was particularly hilarious, and ellkell and aarnando both know my affection for Asshole Dog and Desert Bus, respectively. Tomorrow I’ll choose a new ’shop subject and everyone can get started on it. Until then, enjoy the ’shops. Skyline aarnando artisttheone One of several entries by c4pt_chunk ellkell FAHtastic fozbie GeneralissimoFurioso Jackson Cougar jtails kobun kyosen mentuss mikemantia orwelljames rymas sgraff87 vinnydakid wekilledbambi03 (Zombie) Jölan [Sponsored] NEC
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Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: iSlate iPad Edition Winners [Photoshop]
Bungie Definitively Shuts Down Halo: Reach/Natal Speculation [Rumor Smash]
Rumors that Halo: Reach might be Natal-enabled were close to flatlining of late , but the subject never got a flat-out “no.” Well, now it has. The studio says emphatically that it is not a Natal title. That’s the newsy news out of a fun-filled “mythbusters” post Bungie put up about Halo: Reach’s development. Natal rumors had been fueled by two things. One, studio head Harold Ryan’s comments over the summer that he “absolutely” thought Reach could be Natal-enabled. Two, a screenshot showing an off-center crosshair (above, annotation by Bungie), which some took to mean as evidence of motion-controlled shooting. Well, Bungie says the screen shot was a mistake and even provides the bug report to go along with it. (“Impact: This makes the Internet freak out.”) And then the studio says: “Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.” So there. They also clear up issues regarding the HUD color (and HUD color customization) and other topics, so check it out at the link. Bungie Weekly Update 01.29.10 [Bungie] [Sponsored] NEC
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Bungie Definitively Shuts Down Halo: Reach/Natal Speculation [Rumor Smash]
System Shock 2’s Surprise Ending — for Ken Levine, Anyway [Irrational Games]
Widely acclaimed when it released in 1999, System Shock 2 ’s cinematic conclusion nonetheless disappointed Irrational Games creative chief Ken Levine . The reason: The video that was shot wasn’t anything like what he had scripted. “Due to miscommunications or differing ideas, a different cinematic video was created from the one that I originally scripted,” Levine says in a behind-the-scenes story Irrational published on its Web site yesterday. “We didn’t have much to work with. It was like when you look in the cupboard and you’re trying to make soup, and you have a bag of salt and couple of pinto beans.” Levine says they bulled ahead anyway, having to rewrite parts of the game’s story to fit with the video they’d been given. “We completely ran out of time and that cut scene wasn’t the right ending for the game,” he says. System Shock 2 was developed by Irrational and Looking Glass Studios, which led to some tension during the project’s creation. I’m wondering if this wasn’t also a manifestation of that. The anecdote is one of several about the shooter’s development, what could have been in the game, why it was left out, and how they arrived at the finished product. Like, for example, they considered a zero-gravity level, but the technology they had in 1998 would have made its development prohibitively time-consuming, especially for something that wasn’t a core feature of the game. Although the game is more than 10 years old, it is a classic that some may wish to play, so, consider yourself spoiler alerted. What Might Have Been [Irrational Games] [Sponsored] NEC
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System Shock 2’s Surprise Ending — for Ken Levine, Anyway [Irrational Games]
Three New Screens for EA Sports MMA … Plus a Broadcast? [MMA]
Three new screens of EA Sports MMA show Bobby Lashley – fighting tonight at Strikeforce Miami – is another fighter signed to the title. In another development, EA Sports ‘ web site will stream one of tonight’s bouts live, for free. The live stream starts at 9 p.m. U.S. Eastern time (6 p.m. Pacific) and will feature Joe “Diesel” Riggs versus Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron in a welterweight tilt. You can see it on the EA Sports MMA web site. The stream will precede the live telecast of the event’s main fight card on Showtime. That begins at 10 p.m. Eastern, and will be delayed to 10 p.m. for viewers in the Pacific time zone. Strikeforce is an MMA circuit lesser known than the UFC, which appears in THQ’s Undisputed line of games. But it will be a featured league in EA Sports MMA, whose release date has yet to be announced. Both EA Sports and Strikeforce are trying to establish a greater visibility for Strikeforce to boost both the game and the league. EA Sports MMA [Official Web Site] [Sponsored] NEC
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Three New Screens for EA Sports MMA … Plus a Broadcast? [MMA]
GameStop: We Must Educate Customers About DLC [Dlc]
GameStop’s chief operating officer says the company must embrace downloadable content for the games it sells and educate its customers on its benefits, calling such a posture critical to the company’s survival. Speaking at the Game Business Law conference at Southern Methodist University, J. Paul Raines said the DLC market could see considerable growth immediately, but that one big challenge is a customer experience that doesn’t know what DLC is available or how to access it. That’s where his business can play a role. “The only way a company like ours survives is being dedicated to the category,” he said. “Downloadable content is a good thing because it enhances and extends games.” Sure, it might sound a little silly to informed, hardcore game consumers, but then again GameStop either already has our business or it doesn’t. Raines is talking about those who aren’t as attuned to the latest add-ons, map packs and what have you. But I’m sure his affection for DLC also is due in no small part to pre-order bonuses publishers line up for GameStop to drive sales there. GameStop to Educate Consumers on Digital Content [GamesIndustry.biz] [Sponsored] NEC
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GameStop: We Must Educate Customers About DLC [Dlc]
The Replacements, Still Replaced in Video Games [Stick Jockey]
Fifteen years ago, in the infancy of console sports simulations, 38 baseball players made a choice that would ensure they would never appear in a video game. Only five of them remain in the major leagues. They crossed a picket line, an act of war to organized labor, by signing replacement player contracts with Major League clubs as the infamous 1994 players’ strike dragged into the spring of 1995. Just five of them logged major league service in 2009 and they’re all 38 years old or older. But the continued absence of their names in games is one of the last persistent vestiges of the baseball strike of 1994 and 1995. Although these replacements later made full major league rosters , some of them contributing memorably, they are forever denied membership in the Major League Baseball Players Association, and thus their likenesses can never be used in any MLBPA licensed merchandise. The five: Brendan Donnelly, Matt Herges, Ron Mahay, Jamie Walker and Kevin Millar (pictured above), one of the emotional leaders of the 2004 Boston Red Sox, known for his “cowboy up” comment in 2003 that became a rallying cry. All of them are on their real-life teams under different names, uniform numbers and player images in any video game. Millar and Walker are free agents entering 2010. But Donnelly signed a one year deal with Pittsburgh on Jan. 10, Mahay is in Minnesota on the second year of a two-year deal, and Herges has been invited to spring training with Kansas City. So it’s likely this quirk of history will continue when MLB 2K10 and MLB 10 The Show release on March 2. Alternate player names and likenesses are not a new concept. Randall Cunningham appeared as QB Eagles in Tecmo Super Bowl, after all. And baseball free agents might be in good standing with the union, but their membership is conditional upon holding a signed major league contract . So, Sammy Sosa was “Stan Shackelford” in the free agent pool of MLB 2K9, because he was unsigned at the time the game released. Also, minor leaguers with no prior major league experience cannot be used, as they are likewise not MLBPA members. The most famous alternate-name case might be Barry Bonds, as “Joe Young” ( an homage to 49ers quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young ) in the MLB 2K series. But Bonds, like Cunningham and Jim Kelly in Tecmo Super Bowl, opted out of their union’s licensing agreements. MLBPA and the NFLPA divide the revenue from licensed products equally among its members. Bonds elected to cut his own deals and keep all money made off his likeness to himself. Ron Mahay, however, is probably not going to make more off official Ron Mahay-licensed memorabilia than he would drawing a full share of MLBPA money, whatever that is. But he’s permanently ineligible for it. Although replacement players receive pension benefits, are subject to the same rules of free agency and are given representation during salary arbitration, disciplinary hearings or other matters, they are barred from joining the union, cannot vote on its matters and, of course, can’t collect any licensing money. How can MLBPA unilaterally remove these players from a game? First, the union requires any company using likenesses of more than two Major League Baseball players in connection with a commercial product to sign a licensing agreement with the union . This is a pretty standard requirement. The online football sim Quick Hit Football, for example, was permitted to sign individual deals with five current NFL players but no more. Could 2K or SCEA cut individual deals with Donnelly, Millar and the other three to get their authentic names and likeness in a game? I’m not sure what the contracts say, whether they are specifically prohibited from doing so or if there’s some other legal proscription at work here. But even if they could, it simply wouldn’t be worth it to get five journeymen players into a game, considering the antagonism that would cause to an absolutely essential licensing partner in a realistic sports simulation. That said, the continued banishment of these players reflects poorly on the baseball players’ union. The subject’s come up before – when both were on the Red Sox, Johnny Damon as the team representative fought for Millar (and teammate Brian Daubach) to be voted into the union. A Boston Globe article from 2004 quoted an unnamed MLBPA member angrily calling the union’s policy “chickenshit.” “Talk about holding a grudge,” the player told the Globe. “Talk about thinking you’re high and mighty.” Scab labor is no joke, but the MLBPA is not the United Auto Workers. Its average salary is $2.9 million and the league minimum is $400,000. These are highly paid entertainers, although the rank and file wouldn’t be in the absence of collective bargaining, that’s for sure. Replacement players are scab labor by the literal definition, but there’s no way baseball ownership was going with them as a serious, sustainable cost control decision, like a manufacturer hiring cheaper labor. If Millar, Daubach, Cory Lidle, Benny Agbayani and others actually took a major leaguer’s job – that is, remained on a roster while an MLBPA member was released – I’m not aware of it. In most cases, these players were paid a modest severance, dismissed, and later earned their way back onto a major league roster. The issue involves more than just showing up in a video game, which is increasingly a mainstream “you’ve arrived” moment for top professional athletes. When Donnelly won a World Series ring with the Angels and Millar claimed his with the Red Sox, neither were allowed to appear on licensed memorabilia commemorating the titles. That kind of KGBing of history makes the MLBPA look petty and its posture needlessly punitive. I’m not holding my breath, but it would be nice if these five were at last granted union membership as a reconcilliatory gesture. Otherwise, their conspicuous absences only raise questions whose answers perpetuate reminders of one of the worst work stoppages in the history of North American sports, which to the average fan is as bad for the union’s reputation as it is for management. The MLBPA should be the bigger man here. It should cowboy up, and let these five into the games. Stick Jockey is Kotaku’s column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays at 10 a.m. U.S. Mountain time. Kevin Millar image via Wikipedia View post: The Replacements, Still Replaced in Video Games [Stick Jockey]
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The Replacements, Still Replaced in Video Games [Stick Jockey]