Back in September, I mentioned that I was adding EA to my boycott list because of their stance on intrusive DRM.
The latest development on this is the recent announcement that The Sims 3 will only have basic DRM. Despite the title of the article and the way that all the gaming sites are reporting this, the reality is that The Sims 3 does have DRM (it will require a disc check and the input of a serial code upon installation). However, my position all along has been that I will accept DRM provided that it isn't intrusive. In my opinion, a serial code and disc check is acceptable.
Having said that, I'm not removing EA from my boycott list yet. I intend to keep an eye out on their future releases to see if The Sims 3 is an exception or if it is a general trend.
If it is a general trend from EA, then this is great news for anti-DRM proponents and I would definitely take EA off my boycott list.
Update: EA have released a de-authorisation tool. This allows you to manage the number of installations yourself so that, at least, you no longer have to contact EA in order to play your games. Although this is a step in the right direction, it will be even better if (when?) EA drop Securom and installation limits completely.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Braid
I've been spending a lot of time playing casual/indie games recently, mainly as its hard to play "hardcore" games when you can only game in 10-15 minute increments. The first of these games I've been playing is Braid which was on sale on Xbox live recently.
Braid is a casual 2D platform puzzler developed by Jonathon Blow. In Braid, you play the role of Tim who is searching for his princess. Tim's relationship with the princess is never fully explained - all you really know is that Tim made a mistake which resulted in the princess being snatched.
In some ways, the game is reminiscent of Mario Bros. Enemies are comprised of goombas which you can kill by jumping on their heads, man eating plants which rise from sewer tunnels, deadly traps which you need to jump over and even the infamous "the princess is in another castle" line at the end of each world. However, the key differentiator and key gameplay element in this game is the ability to control time. At any stage in the game, you can rewind time so death isn't much of an impediment in this game. Which isn't to say the game is easy.
Navigating your way through the various levels is not hard. In fact, most of the time, you can skip all the puzzles and run straight through to the exit. However, if you want to complete the game (and trust me, you will want to see the incredible yet bittersweet final level), you will need to collect all the jigsaw pieces by solving all the puzzles. And, boy oh boy, are the puzzles hard!
The words "fiendishly difficult" don't even begin to describe how challenging the puzzles are. Each of the worlds has a different take on the time mechanic and trying to solve all the puzzles seems near impossible without the help of youtube and game FAQs. But despite the difficulty of the puzzles, once you work out the solution, you can't help but be amazed by the creativity of the designer.
The game doesn't boast much in the way of replayability. Despite this, the game was well worth the $80 I spent on it. A definite recommend if you are looking for something to stretch the old gray matter.
Braid is a casual 2D platform puzzler developed by Jonathon Blow. In Braid, you play the role of Tim who is searching for his princess. Tim's relationship with the princess is never fully explained - all you really know is that Tim made a mistake which resulted in the princess being snatched.
In some ways, the game is reminiscent of Mario Bros. Enemies are comprised of goombas which you can kill by jumping on their heads, man eating plants which rise from sewer tunnels, deadly traps which you need to jump over and even the infamous "the princess is in another castle" line at the end of each world. However, the key differentiator and key gameplay element in this game is the ability to control time. At any stage in the game, you can rewind time so death isn't much of an impediment in this game. Which isn't to say the game is easy.
Navigating your way through the various levels is not hard. In fact, most of the time, you can skip all the puzzles and run straight through to the exit. However, if you want to complete the game (and trust me, you will want to see the incredible yet bittersweet final level), you will need to collect all the jigsaw pieces by solving all the puzzles. And, boy oh boy, are the puzzles hard!
The words "fiendishly difficult" don't even begin to describe how challenging the puzzles are. Each of the worlds has a different take on the time mechanic and trying to solve all the puzzles seems near impossible without the help of youtube and game FAQs. But despite the difficulty of the puzzles, once you work out the solution, you can't help but be amazed by the creativity of the designer.
The game doesn't boast much in the way of replayability. Despite this, the game was well worth the $80 I spent on it. A definite recommend if you are looking for something to stretch the old gray matter.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Resident evil 5 demo
Another month passes and another blockbuster title is released on the X360. The Resident Evil series finally made its debut on Microsofts console in the form of Resident Evil 5.
The Resident Evil series has long been lauded as one of the premier survival horror games and is probably responsible for the launch of the genre. Although I've never been a fan of the series, I downloaded the demo on Xbox Live to give it a trial run. And unfortunately for RE5, this doesn't look like its going to be the game that will convert me into a fan of the franchise.
If you know anything about the RE franchise, then you can probably already guess what the problem is - the clunky control scheme. The control scheme is quite frankly ridiculously bad. At this point, I should mention that I don't mind the fact that you can't run and gun (in case you didn't know, you have to stop and aim before you can fire your weapon in this game).
What does bother me is that your character moves in a clumsy manner. Unlike almost every other FPS (or TPS for that matter), the left stick is used to move forwards and backwards and to turn left or right. Yup, that's right - no strafe. To avoid an onrushing zombie, you have to turn left or right and turn run forwards. At this point in time, I just can't understand why anyone would make a game using such a clumsy control scheme considering almost every other game in existence has switched. Even Doom, which was released a millenia ago, had a better control scheme!
And then there's the knife melee attack. To use the knife melee, you have to move within range of the zombie, press 2 buttons in order to equip the knife and then press a third button in order to slash the zombie. Oh, and if you are out of range, then you have to put your knife away, move forward and then repeat the process. In a game where ammo is in short supply, this is just stupid.
The thing is, even fans of the RE franchise all seem to either implicitly or explicitly agree that the control scheme is bad. However, the most common reply from fans when faced with this complaint is that the game is still great despite the poor control scheme.
For example, Tom Russo said (when he was on the Bonus Round) that the complaints against the control scheme are unfounded because the game's difficulty is tailored to the control scheme. All this means is that even the developers agree the control scheme is poor and had to lower the difficulty of the game so that players could still play the game.
The sad thing is that I can really see the potential behind this game. It's got great graphics, some great cinematics, oodles of atmosphere, an interesting story and what looks like a pretty cool co-op mode. And the fact that the franchise has so many fans, despite the control scheme, is a testament to how good the game is once you get past the control scheme.
The problem is that, as I've said before, I suffer from having too many great games to play and nowhere near enough time to play them all. If you put a barrier to entry (such as a clunky control scheme), then my response is simply - Adios, there are other awesome games which I can, and will, play before I have to put up with "adapting" to the shitty controls.
The Resident Evil series has long been lauded as one of the premier survival horror games and is probably responsible for the launch of the genre. Although I've never been a fan of the series, I downloaded the demo on Xbox Live to give it a trial run. And unfortunately for RE5, this doesn't look like its going to be the game that will convert me into a fan of the franchise.
If you know anything about the RE franchise, then you can probably already guess what the problem is - the clunky control scheme. The control scheme is quite frankly ridiculously bad. At this point, I should mention that I don't mind the fact that you can't run and gun (in case you didn't know, you have to stop and aim before you can fire your weapon in this game).
What does bother me is that your character moves in a clumsy manner. Unlike almost every other FPS (or TPS for that matter), the left stick is used to move forwards and backwards and to turn left or right. Yup, that's right - no strafe. To avoid an onrushing zombie, you have to turn left or right and turn run forwards. At this point in time, I just can't understand why anyone would make a game using such a clumsy control scheme considering almost every other game in existence has switched. Even Doom, which was released a millenia ago, had a better control scheme!
And then there's the knife melee attack. To use the knife melee, you have to move within range of the zombie, press 2 buttons in order to equip the knife and then press a third button in order to slash the zombie. Oh, and if you are out of range, then you have to put your knife away, move forward and then repeat the process. In a game where ammo is in short supply, this is just stupid.
The thing is, even fans of the RE franchise all seem to either implicitly or explicitly agree that the control scheme is bad. However, the most common reply from fans when faced with this complaint is that the game is still great despite the poor control scheme.
For example, Tom Russo said (when he was on the Bonus Round) that the complaints against the control scheme are unfounded because the game's difficulty is tailored to the control scheme. All this means is that even the developers agree the control scheme is poor and had to lower the difficulty of the game so that players could still play the game.
The sad thing is that I can really see the potential behind this game. It's got great graphics, some great cinematics, oodles of atmosphere, an interesting story and what looks like a pretty cool co-op mode. And the fact that the franchise has so many fans, despite the control scheme, is a testament to how good the game is once you get past the control scheme.
The problem is that, as I've said before, I suffer from having too many great games to play and nowhere near enough time to play them all. If you put a barrier to entry (such as a clunky control scheme), then my response is simply - Adios, there are other awesome games which I can, and will, play before I have to put up with "adapting" to the shitty controls.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Halo Wars demo
The Halo Wars demo on Xbox live came out a couple of weeks ago. Halo Wars is an RTS set in the Halo universe. It was developed primarily for the Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios. Being a big Halo fan and a small RTS fan, I immediately downloaded the demo to try it out.
First off, credit where credit is due. Ensemble Studios have done a fantastic job in capturing the feel of the Halo universe. From the initial menu screens to the intro movie and the look and sound of the various units -everything screams Halo. Particularly important considering that the Halo FPS crowd is going to be one of the big demographics for this game.
Unfortunately, that's the last good thing have to say about the demo.
The problem is that RTS's just don't work on consoles (or at least, I've never played an RTS that has worked). The issue is that you are using a gamepad instead of a mouse and the lack of fine control isn't something that can be overcome using software. Ensemble have done a relatively fine job in mapping the controls to the gamepad and also in designing the game so that it can be played using a gamepad. However, I can't help but think how much better the control scheme would be if I were using a mouse.
So why is the lack of fine control an issue?
In any RTS, the key thing when you engage in combat is to get the right type of units to attack. For example, you want your anti-infantry units to be attacking infantry instead of attacking tanks. Similarly, you want your tanks to be taking out enemy armour instead of wasting its high caliber cannon on infantry. Managing this tactical element of RTS games is key to winning.
However, in Halo Wars, all you can really do is send your entire army into the fray and hope that the AI of your units is sufficiently good enough to target the right enemies. And if you think that doesn't sound like fun, then you are absolutely correct - it isn't. And this is where the gamepad just fails as a controller for RTS games.
Using a mouse, I can quickly and easily select the anti-infantry units and tell them to attack the enemy infantry. Using a gamepad, I have to move the cursor over to my unit to select it, then move the cursor over to the enemy unit to tell my unit to attack. Repeat this several times for different units in each battle and you quickly get frigging tired of the whole thing!
Whether you like Halo Wars will really depend on whether you have played an RTS on the PC. If you haven't, then there is probably enough in Halo Wars for you to have a good time. However, if you have, then the flaws and shortcomings of using a gamepad will rear their ugly head and you will have a hard time accepting it. Ultimately, this game doesn't even come close to comparing with Company of Heroes.
First off, credit where credit is due. Ensemble Studios have done a fantastic job in capturing the feel of the Halo universe. From the initial menu screens to the intro movie and the look and sound of the various units -everything screams Halo. Particularly important considering that the Halo FPS crowd is going to be one of the big demographics for this game.
Unfortunately, that's the last good thing have to say about the demo.
The problem is that RTS's just don't work on consoles (or at least, I've never played an RTS that has worked). The issue is that you are using a gamepad instead of a mouse and the lack of fine control isn't something that can be overcome using software. Ensemble have done a relatively fine job in mapping the controls to the gamepad and also in designing the game so that it can be played using a gamepad. However, I can't help but think how much better the control scheme would be if I were using a mouse.
So why is the lack of fine control an issue?
In any RTS, the key thing when you engage in combat is to get the right type of units to attack. For example, you want your anti-infantry units to be attacking infantry instead of attacking tanks. Similarly, you want your tanks to be taking out enemy armour instead of wasting its high caliber cannon on infantry. Managing this tactical element of RTS games is key to winning.
However, in Halo Wars, all you can really do is send your entire army into the fray and hope that the AI of your units is sufficiently good enough to target the right enemies. And if you think that doesn't sound like fun, then you are absolutely correct - it isn't. And this is where the gamepad just fails as a controller for RTS games.
Using a mouse, I can quickly and easily select the anti-infantry units and tell them to attack the enemy infantry. Using a gamepad, I have to move the cursor over to my unit to select it, then move the cursor over to the enemy unit to tell my unit to attack. Repeat this several times for different units in each battle and you quickly get frigging tired of the whole thing!
Whether you like Halo Wars will really depend on whether you have played an RTS on the PC. If you haven't, then there is probably enough in Halo Wars for you to have a good time. However, if you have, then the flaws and shortcomings of using a gamepad will rear their ugly head and you will have a hard time accepting it. Ultimately, this game doesn't even come close to comparing with Company of Heroes.
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