Day 109 2021

April 19, Monday

News:

• PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita Will Continue Operations
• Netflix’s edgy adult animated anthology is back with more love, death, and robots

I haven’t comment on most of the headlines I post on here, but I will say that seeing the Sony fanbase force Sony to reverse their decision to close the PS Store for PS3/Vita(psp is still getting axed). Sony hasn’t been putting out much good news for the fans as of late. Beyond the Store walk-back, there’s still the issue of PS5 scalpers and most recently the revelation that players’ PS4 could become completely useless at some point.

Work asset finally came in, so no begins the process of getting it setup. After work, I didn’t do much other than play Apex. I had managed to clear King’s Canyon of the three invitation holosprays I needed. I was up way later than I should’ve been to get the remaining 3 from Olympus. Admittedly, I had to look up locations for the last one I needed, but got it in my last match of the night. The payoff was pretty cool and kind of intense. After I completed the challenge, I was told to go to the firing range alone. Once loaded in, a waypoint took me to a landing pad with a console that called in a dropship. I boarded the dropship and it took me to a cliffside with an opening in a cave. In the cave was a service elevator that started a slow crawl up the way. The whole time up I heard gun shoots and the voice from the invite commanding the fight(no music because I forgot to turn that vol. up). When I reached the top, There were a few death boxes and a hologram of the women who sent the invite. She had this white mask that was cracked all over. Staring at it, she said something to me along the lines of, “You made it this far, but let’s see if you can impress me.”

After that, the screen faded and took me back to the lobby. I was awarded the “Impress Me” badge for my banners and 10+CP total. I don’t know what they have planed for season 9, but I’m hype for it.

Tip of the day: If you play as Fuse in Apex, spam grenades all day!

Day 56, 2021

Feb 25

Working from memory because I have been sputtering out. Got the all the dallies but Melodics(I think). Sony had their State of Play event today. It lasted 30mins and could’ve been done in an email. To say that the SoP was an event would be like calling a toddler jumping a curb on a tricycle the daredevil feat of the year. It was an underwhelming affair that featured mostly indie titles with little to no updates on their major franchises.

Here’s the breakdown:

• 0:00 – Crash Bandicoot 4
• 3:09 – Returnal
• 6:21 – Knockout City
• 8:58 – Sifu
• 10:22 – Solar Ash
• 13:25 – Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach
• 15:38 – Oddwold Soulstrom
• 19:21 – Kena Bridge of spirits
• 22:29 – Deathloop
• 25:45 – Final Fantasy. VII
• 28:53 – PS4 vs PS5

Ten titles featured aren’t bad(because it’s way to early to tell), but it wasn’t exactly heat either. I’m very interested in Deathloop. Sifu looks like Absolver grounded in reality. And Oddworld Soulstorm makes me feel bad I haven’t played any of the other games in the series.

Tip of the day: Use ‘Ctrl + F’ to bring up a search bar in web browsers and most word processing/pdf/database programs

Still Spicy: PS Vita

So I’m vibin to lo-fi while trying to wrinkle my brain when I realized another way Sony had dropped the ball with the PlayStation Vita. The Vita offered remote play, cross-save, and cross-play. But I feel they missed an opportunity to really push what cross play meant.

There are a few games I can think of that support(ed) cross-play/save. eg: Retro City Rampage, Minecraft, Hotline Miami(I think). The thing is, that cross-play in these instances meant playing the same game on a different device(so more cross-save). That’s cool if you think about how far we’ve come from a tech standpoint, but why not the same game but completely different way to play? Nintendo has experience with this sort of thing. One such, case is with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker & Legend of Zelda(GBA title I forgot)*. You could link a Gameboy Advanced running(whatever that Zelda was called, or maybe you just needed the GBA) to a GameCube that was playing a copy of Wind Waker and could activate a support role as Tingle on the GameCube using your GBA to guide Link to treasure and secrets. While the games that(maybe) are involved are two different games, they share a universe and have two different experiences to the other. Provided other examples in the Nintendo library are similarly more or less like a move to push peripherals and work synergy among franchises, we can address that later.

For now let’s take a quick look at Ernest Cline(Ready Player One)’s book, “Armada”. The dirty rundown of the book is; The Last Starfighter went MMO and has two versions. One for people who play RealTimeStratgey base builder/defenders and pilots. The game that everyone has been playing has actually been really and everyone was piloting drones fighting an alien threat.

Without going to deep into that(because you should read it for yourself), Think about the shared universe of that game. You have two completely different playstyles/types/genres who’s actions affect the other. I’m sure that implementing that across to hardware platforms in the same family of products is not impossible, but could be challenging. So how would I make it work?

First step is look at IPs. I imagine it be easier to see what Sony and on deck that could open itself up to a wider player base while not positioned to terminate its storyline anytime soon. With Armada in mind I’d probably use something like Killzone or M.A.G.(which should’ve got more love than it did). Since miltary/combat are at its core of those IPs, the play can be different between systems. The PS4(could’ve been 5 too!) would be your standard shooter, but the Vita could be a an RTS that has an online mode that could actually determine allied forces to to place in their online battles over console.

What about the story?

Look at how Free-To-Play games like Apex, Warzone, and Fortnite handle story each season. I’d suggest for the current design in question, that if any player(s) have a significant, organic, effect on the meta, that they’re mentioned in future season’s story. Not up for constant war? No Worries, virtually anything that requires a team is ripe for cross-play. Racing fans behind the wheel on one system and part of of the pit crew on the other(I actually have some ideas on this). How about Overcooked with specialist add to the kitchen via Vita who are focusing on specific dishes? Harder difficulty but higher bonus in team play.

Second, look at the hardware. The Vita added a second analog stick as well as, rear/front facing cameras, rear touch pad, touch screen, and microphone. Imagine playing a stealth game where your guy-n-the-chair is whomever is using the Vita and you could actually see them(if they wanted). ‘GNTC’ rapid firing WarioWare style through a series of puzzles to hack things in the agent’s environment. And if either fucks up in their role the other could be setback or sabotaged because of it. This could beyond the similarities of the Zelda game mentioned earlier. The Vita’s version of the game is focused on puzzles and information. Playing through the campaign and/or completing challenges unlocks secret actions or events when playing with an ‘Agent’. Likewise, playing the ‘Agent’ on the home console unlocks things for the ‘GNTC’. Because of things like the rear touch pad and screen, this means that the puzzles you solve can have special spatial attributes that you can only explore on Vita(don’t even get me started on ARG!). Say the ‘Agent’ was tasked with stealing an artifact. Depending on how the agent gets it or conditions of the mission/object, when its sent to the lab(because there’s always a lab), the ‘GNTC’ will be able to examine it and see things only viewable on Vita. You give Vita players a completely different game set in a shared universe with equal engagement. Which brings up the third point to making this work, Synergy(told you we talk about it)!**

I’m not up to date on my Excue-Speak, but ‘synergy is a word I throw out a lot(in the contest of Enter the Gungeon). Here the synergy is gaming between the Vita and PS console. The previous game example promotes a title in the franchise on the other to get more out of they game. Using established IPs that have room to explore other facets or stories in the world helps by pulling in grass roots fans of a series. It strengths exclusivity of IPs to Sony, and possibly generates more sales of either unit.

The Vita got cut to soon for a lot of reasons. I know this can’t be one of them, but the wasted potential here kills me.

*You didn’t need a game in the GBA

**Technically Sony had stealth game series that linked between the PSP and PS2. I t was MGS: AC!D 2 $ MGS 3: Substance respectively. But it was more like taking pictures in Ac!d 2*** and uploading them into MGS3:S.

***Can we take a second to acknowledge that there was a cardboard box in Ac!d2 that turned the PSP into a 3D view finder and the PS Vita had nothing that was trying to do that despite being ale to connect to a PS4?! Like how the fuck did you make all these improvements, but never though to try some thing like that since that one game Sony?!

Hear Me Out: Pit Crew

This was thought up as a game for the PS Vita

One the important aspects of racing is the pit crew. We comer for the racers, but with out the gearheads in the pit, there’s a chance the driver isn’t winning any cups. A group of eight to five people trained at servicing a race care as fast and efficiently as possible. Change the tires, refuel, check replace any parts, all in a matter of seconds. Now, picture it as a stand alone Vita(slash/ extension to a racing game on PlayStation consoles). Teams of five busting out cars as fast as they can. Going through a solo campaign getting a feel for each station. Their time averages would be used to match them adaptively* to other teams/crew to find their best fit. Carrere teams could go on to do real time pit work for a racer on the console.

To give more substance to the game, you could manage a race team. From sponsors to drivers, ect., you’ d be in control of your teams legacy. The racing game that this would be tided to could have some of the mechanics of the Vita version of management, but wouldn’t be able to unlock or manage finer details and bonuses. Like if you’re playing the racing game you are getting a set amount of prize money per cup. But if you are using/working with team management, your winnings could be grater or less depending on what the manager use the money for or deals made with sponsors. So playing alone is fine but working with and building a team could get you more. People more a custom to a pick-up & play style could fill in for other casual players in a crew/race team. Career players, become career through playing with the same group of players over a certain amount of time and victories.

When players hit Career status that can participate in ranked races and event that have live divers in online races. The crew would watch their racer until they pull in(or called) to the pit. Once the driver pulls in the crew gets to work. The biggest hurdle here is internet connection, but for the sake of the concept let’s say the best case scenario applies and everyone’s connection is rock solid. After the crew does their thing they go back to watching the race(maybe options for team managers to deal with during the race). Races with with the crew getting pay-outs based on individual/team performance, and any bonuses management may have worked out with sponsors. And to take the competition level up a notch, the league’s top team would be flown out to an F1 race and see what they’ve been playing at happen in real time.

Idk, was just something I thought would make good use of the Vita’s functionality.

R.I.P. PA Vita

I’ve had my generation one/3g PS Vita since it’s first week of launch.  Since that time I’ve loved and guarded it like a mother hippo.  It for this reason I’m heart broken to say that I maybe laying it to rest this evening.   While I am normally careful with my electronics,  a powerful desire to wash my bed linen provoked me to throw my sheets into the wash thinking all non essential elements had wriggled free.  As I would later find by placing the sheets in the dryer, the stray black sock at the bottom of the wash was not a sock, but my poor vita.  A cooled panic came over me as I tried to wipe of the remaining water and check the electrical out for plug safety. While there was no response, I have since placed the device in a bag of rice as a last ditch effort to save my digital baby.  I did have the foresight to purchase the protection plan, but this was when I bought it (roughly 2 or 3 years ago) so I’m not sure if still valid.

Even if it is I’m more concerned about some of the files I lost, like the pictures I took of my grandparents wedding anniversary (made that much more precious as my grandfather passed away a few months ago).  While the system, game saves, themes, and settings can be recovered,  the special memories made and saved

cannot.

We saved many universes, beat countless enemies, explored countless worlds, made great friends, and had lots happy times together.   Thanks for getting me trough the rough times, I hope I can get you through this one, and if not.

Rest in peace Vita.

Games I Have To Review Within A Month….

• The Binding Of Issac*
• Blue Estate
• Grand Theft Auto V on PS4
• Luftrausers
• PlayStation Experience Event**

*  Also a good post in there about game design & tangential learning***

**More of a post event breakdown

***So I actually gave a lecture/presentation on game design and learning a few months ago.  I should write about that.

MTV: Something In Your Past Could Save your Future

If you talk to anyone close to me or have seen some of my Twitter posts, then you may be aware that I don’t view MTV in the same lens as I did around the 90’s or early 2000s.  Why, because MTV stands for “Music Television”.  Launched in 81′, with the first song aired being “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. While video killed the radio star, reality programming killed music based programming; e.g. “The Real World“.  But I’m starting into a rant and that’s not what this post is about.

Because nothing says, “Real” like seven incompatible strangers living, working, and partying together while a crew films them.

What this is about is that MTV, at three separate points in time, did something so well that other attempts have either faded from memory or never been acknowledged.  I’m typing (because I’m aware you’re reading) about MTV Music Generator.  Released in ’99, MTV Music Generator gave many, myself included, the opportunity to be producers using only their PlayStation (or their pc).  This wasn’t just one game, but three (the other two stuck to PS2 and XBox).  The average score for all three games is that of above average or in my opinion, excellences! And why is that?  Because MTV knew what they were! Excuse me.  The series featured and easy to use interface with a large library of samples, both auditory and visual to work with, essentially making the artist, director, and VJ of your own music videos.  While I can not attest fully to the virtues of the program as my last crack at it was the second title of the series which was run off a demo disc for the PS2.  I can tell you that I played the breaks off that demo.  Honestly, these games set off a dormant creative spark  in terms of both my interest in music and video production.  I can neither confirm nor deny that any of what I did on the software was noteworthy, but what is, is the fact that I had fun with a key to the kingdom approach Codemasters and Jester Interactive saw fit to give me as a player.

Seriously, how did this game not get more press?

Players had complete creative control over (or as much as you can have on a console) over the production of material.  After MTV:MG3, MTV’s format change to reality television may be the reason the network never bothered to push out a sequel.  But what if they did?  MTV’s current music block is designated to the early mornings when the club kids are just getting home and the stiffs are getting ready for the 9 to 5 grind, after that it’s unfortunate pregnancies, italian american stereotypes, teenage lycanthropes and comedy shows.  But I’ll let SuperNews! breakdown the fall more accurately, if only so I can pitch the rebirth. MAN, I GOTTA STOP DOING THAT!

Twilight can kiss our ass!

With all the advancements made in music in relation to consumer tech and software, there is absolutely no reason MTV can’t bring back the Music Generator series with full force.  Picture it, USB MIDI controllers hooked up to consoles and PCs with ease of use and features that exceed its predecessors.  Expanded and customizable libraries for samples means improved sound and bigger videos.   Imagine, MTV making a straight out of left field move that would slowly pull them back to their former glory.  Who know’s, enough inspiration from a game could promote them to run 10 to 15 minute spots with tips, tricks, and tools to help an aspiring generation of musicians step to the plate and go big.  Televised contest (worked for Joe Budden), user-created songs and videos, audience interaction, in the form of them voting for their favorite user (TRL style).

Sure, there are other music and rhythm based games on the market.  Rocksmith can actually teach you guitar.  The DJ Hero and Guitar Hero gave you an idea on set building and how to keep rhythm.  Hell, Dance Dance Revolution (in a very loose sense) taught me how to dance to a beat.  Actually it wouldn’t be a bad idea if that did games like those to.  If they expand the operation and reach to teach other inspiring musicians there is no reason the aforementioned programming schedule, not only would you have a ton of new series to test and/or add, but you would be changing the music scene on a grander scale.  Consider the (un)likelihood that the new wave of creative music based shows pushes back the reality tv, the potential amount of amazing talent that comes up would be amazing.  MySpace launched as a way to get artist names out there and counties to change to that market. If MTV were to at least twelve hours of show (varied of course) running user-created content they would not only reclaim their name, they would make/save more money then they could think of, dominate the music game market, and (because I like to think on a global level) become the epicenter of music (television at least) once again!

Just a few more days till I can finally play Through the Fire & Flames on expert in Guitar Hero.

So yeah, I feel MTV should put out another Music Generator title and see where it goes from there.  There is not a doubt in my mind that if you put together a passionate talented team of musicians and developers, they can be legend.

Aside:

I want to take a moment and point out a few things.

1. At one point during MTV 2003 – 2006 run.  They aired a music video block were hit songs were paired with a video game and its characters to make a new video. I give you Video Mods
2. Fox, ABC, and NBC, has more music based shows than MTV.
3. MTV was [adult swim], before [adult swim] was [adult swim]. With shows like Cartoon Sushi, Aon Flux, Beavis & Butthead, The Maxx, Liquid TV,  Celebrity Deathmatch, Clone High, Daria Undergrad, (I have a VHS somewhere with a episodes of this old spy show the use to run),  (one cartoon that was set in New York, it was like Hey Arnold meets How To Make It In America), Tom Green Show, you get the point.
4. The current (2013) audience will never now how good it feels to vote on your favorite music vote and feel hype when it’s picked . Nevermind, American Idol, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, local/national government.

Capcom: The Big Oil Of Video Games (NSFW) [lang]

Let me start by saying that I love MEGAMAN! If my wallet allowed it, I would buy up every piece of MEGAMAN related materiel and give it its own special venue to be enjoyed by those who can really appreciate it.  Despite my passion for the Blue Bomber, the reason I choose such a harsh title is because of the choices Capcom has made in terms of some of its titles.  I’m talking Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter IV, and Strider.  Before you flip a table, break whatever device you’re using to read this, and replace it, just so you can rake me over the coals, hear me out.

MEGAMAN rolls deep.

I am a huge fan of the MvC series.  My little brother and I have been on since the first  seeing Spider-Man throw Gambit through the wall of E.Honda’s bath house[1], but I have a major problem with the latest version.  No Power Stone characters!  I mean, are you messing with me?! For those of you who aren’t familiar with the name, Power Stone plays like Super Smash Bros., if SSB decided it wanted to grow a pair and went free range mode on the ass whooping.  The story is center around magical stones of power that would grant you greatest desire and I just figured out were the name came from. *Puts face to palm* Anyway, the ever changing environments and the addition of a weapon creation system[2] in the second game made this a ridiculously fun game with an awesome arcade feel.  The characters represented different cutlers and styles.  Standard fair for most fighting titles, but then again I don’t remember a lot of other titles making really work at going aggro[3].  Actually, not true, SSB introduced the Smash Ball. The characters from the Power Stone Series are perfect for a game like Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, yet they give us Phoenix Wright. Really?  While it’s safe to argue character parallels with She-Hulk(technically an attorney) and his relevance, you could do the same for, I don’t know; Ben Grim [4] Vs Gunrock, Falcon Vs. Falcon, Pete Vs. Ultron [5].  That’s right off the top of my head.

♪Jack & Jill go up a hill to throw down right-n-proper…♪

Let’s move on to a different fighter.  Ahh, the Street Fighter series, great memories and fights to this name for sure.  Hell, my bro and I still run 3^rd Strike.  I’ve even uploaded fights from my PS3 to YouTube.  I cannot however, continue to support a franchise that puts out three of the same game with some changes.  I mean, sure it’s their modus operandi, but nobody has the money for this shit.  I pre-ordered &  bought the collector’s edition of SFIV vanilla.  Capcom later dropped Super SFIV, Super SFIV Arcade Ed(free to PlayStation Plus users). and a 25^th anniversary set of the series featuring four different versions of the game and a plethora of swag. Now I hear they’re dropping Ultra?!  I’m not buying any of this shit till they drop V.  No one else feels like they’re being taken advantage of here?  Being a diehard fan of this series can be comparable to an Apple early adopter, willing to pay whatever, for a crack at the latest unfinished product.  Don’t even get me started on the DLC.  It’s like when you meet that really cute girl that seems into you especially after you take her out to a nice place, but starts to loose interest when you can’t dote on her by buying the latest spring(?) fashion.  I’m not saying Capcom’s a gold digger, but clearly they aren’t associating themselves with people of low income.

http://www.alvinleeart.com/2009/05/street-fighter-street-jam/ Also Blanka should’ve been in MvC3

Then there’s Strider. Actually, this game looks great!  A nice fast paced side-scrolling, hack-n-slash, platformer is the change up my library needs. BUT WHERE THE CHOCOLATE COVERED CHRIST IS POWER STONE[6]!  We are at the dawning in a new age of console gaming and you pull a side-scroller?!  Why the hell would you even bother putting that out on the next gen?  At least with Power Stone you have an open space, a huge array of objects and enough crazy in your story to justify pretty much whatever you’d like.  For fucksake, the mega buster was a weapon in the game!  The level potential is insane, and the character power modes?!  Wang-Tang dragon mode all day son!  Sure Strider is relevant thanks to his edition to MVC3, but why his game?  Why not Ghosts’ N Goblins?  Arthur was brand new to the series as a fighter.  Strider’s last appearance not counting a fighter was a mobile phone game released in 2010(in Japan), which was basically a port of the original.  Power Stones 1 & 2 was released together for the PlayStation Portable, the same time Strider was packed in the Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed for the PSP and PS2 (2006).    In fact why didn’t you bother to port Power Stone to PS3?

Also featured on Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed. Probably still has a better chance of coming out than Power Stone 3.

If you were to ask me the first five series to come to mind, I’d say,

“Easy, MEGAMAN, Power Stone, Street Fighter, Dead Rising, Resident Evil.”, the three most prevalent being, Street Fighter, Resident Evil, and Dead Rising.  I use the word prevalent, because those are the series Capcom turns out the most.  You might have thought of those three plus; Devil May Cry, Monster Hunter, or Lost Planet. Yet, how many of you are aware Capcom turned out a fighting game called Battle Fantasia?  Set in a fantasy universe, with characters ranging from seriously badass, to sickeningly adorable, this is a fighter with a lengthy story mode for each of its twelve characters, but I didn’t find out about this till last year.  The game hit PlayStation Network in December of ’09. So clearly, Capcom is about taking a chance on an IP and promoting the hell out of it.  [7]  So one might argue that if you were going to pick a series or franchises that bordered on obscurity, why not Rival Schools, JoJo’s Bizzarre Adventure, or even The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, seeing as how that particular game sells for bank on eBay.

Then again, if I had a game that let me enjoy these little guys for hours, I’d probably drop a half a grand.

 

The point I’m trying to make is Capcom is at that too big to fail level in the industry.  We have developed a dependence on two of their major fighting series and they know it.  They listen to their community enough to update and tweak their games, but it feels like after that they just kick back and let the revenue from DLC and merchandising run auto-pilot on the company.   I have a small sliver of hope that the series will comeback.  I plan to fore feed Capcom emails till it happens, are try and get a job with them (which totally an option after posting this) and make it happen from the inside.  At this point, the one game I want from them more than anything, other than a new MEGAMAN Legends, is Power Stone 3: The Flawless Eternity Gem (feel free to take that one).  So I challenge you Capcom.  Play through those games again, take a poll on it, put it out for free to PS+ members, have a side competition at the next EVO event.  Just take a good hard look and this series, then look me dead in the eyes and tell me that there is absolutely no, zero, so finite that the impossibility gains density and becomes a black hole that sucks up even the outside chance of  being a potential hit.

Tell me none of these characters have no place in the market today.

[1]If you throw an opponent into a wall at least two times, you’ll move to another room. That’s right, secret stage, wooooh!

[2] The weapon creation system in Power Stone 2 required you to play through adventure mode collecting weapons and recourse in order to make new weapons.

[3] The key to the fights are the power stones that would pop out throughout the stage. Collecting three stones transforms the fighter into a stylized power house with amped up base attacks and two super attacks.

[4] Grimm got a hammer during the Fear Itself storyline and he’s played poker with fucking She-Hulk.

[5] In light of the Marvel Comic Con news.

[6] While was looking up a video to demo both games I found this. I had know idea this was a series!  I am currently watching through all of them!

[7] Since this has been originally posted, this piece can also be viewed on Put That Back.  It has been pointed out to me that Arc System Works is responsible for this title.  I have no idea why I kept picturing the Capcom logo. Sorry for the confusion.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Was re-watching the trailer for Destiny, when I had an idea.  If you’ve ever played online with a headset then you’re familiar with the general ease of use in rambling to whom ever it may concern.  The fact you can be miles away in a game space and the person you’re playing with can hear you clearer than the grease stained wrapper of a Fives Guys burger, is nothing short of a technological marvel. But, with the tagline out of most of the developers’ mouths being “emotion”, you figured they’d cut the speech functionality.

Just look at that emotion! LOOK AT IT!!!

Hear me out.  Journey was a game who’s online multiplayer was devoid of any verbal communication. Opting instead for in-game cues and visual contact of your traveling companion(great, now I just reminded myself that the next season of Doctor Who doesn’t start till November).   This was done on purpose to aid the player in becoming more immersed in the game.  What I’m getting at, is why not cut the range to which you can hear your friends or foes relative to your location?

Hey man, where are we going? Or you can just keep wandering this desert not saying shit, that’s cool too.

Picture this:

The game you’re playing has you on a team with one or more of your buddies.  Your party is confined to a larger map, say a mansion or cave.  Due to story constraints, you nor your team have means of contacting each other immediately. e.g. radio, telepathy, neuro-implants, tin cans & string, and so on.  So if you were a distance away from the group or vice verse, you would need to literally shout for them to here you.  Or lets say you do have the aforementioned chat system in place.  The actions the communicators are involved in would effect the level of interference experienced by the person on the other end of the line.  Storming the trenches and calling for an  airstrike from command?  Make sure you say it loud enough so they can hear you over the gun fire.  EMP was tossed? Hope you weren’t in the middle of relaying important information.  There have been so many innovations in tech, that it feels like people are forgetting to take a step back and empathize with the characters they want to play/be.

“I can see you heading back there.” “WHAT’D YOU SAY?”

When Manhunt was released, the game allowed for use of the headset in the single-player.  While playing through you would hear “The Director” goading you into killing your would be hunters.  If you respond or made a sound when close enough to a target, they would hear you.  Playing through a game like that with that feature, ramped of the experience tenfold (at least for me anyway). I don’t think any game has pulled that since, and if someone did, I’m checking it out ASAP!  That particular bit of interaction wasn’t forced on the player, just optional.   But to choose the option demeaned a bit more of you mentally, physically, and emotionally.

You’d be surprised how much a fart can make an already bad situation worst.

Having the player actually have to take more active roll in communication, means that players feels more involved, and theoretically, will start communicating more clearly and effectively in other online games.  To be honest I have a mic (somewhere around here), but when I have it on, I rarely say anything.  This isn’t especially helpful we you feel the urge to command a platoon of 32 or an army of 128.  I just don’t feel compelled to.  The usual banter is either trash talk at lethargic/empathetic replays to instruction.  I feel a bit of pressure for the need to  response to the situation could help change that.

My childhood has Sony guts!

As you may have infrared from the title, I’m a big fan of Adam Sandler’s “You Don’t Mess With The Zohan!”. Coincidently enough, I’m also a pretty big fan of Sony products.

Specifically speaking, Sony Computer Entertainment is my favorite. I got my first PlayStation when I was seven and almost avoid the second in favor of Sega’s Dreamcast. My father saved me from that one, but still hurt to see Sega fail.

Fast forward past the nostalgia to present day and here we are at the dawning of the “PlayStation 4”! Sure, the name is a bit repetitive the fourth time around, but at least it shows natural progression. As opposed to Microsoft’s “Xbox One”, which decided to take a number on the system suggesting the previous two systems were prequels. Maybe the reason they went with “One” was because it will be the first cable box marketed as a game system.

Went off on a tangent there. Back to the program…

Been following the PS4 since it was called “Orbius” ( or that odd teaser, which was first). The hype for this coming console war started strong when Sony made a statment saying Microsoft could make there announcement first. The community response was nothing short of hilarious . The specs were out on full display sans the actual console. In lieu of the unit, the controller, launch line-up, and other features were on display.

Side note: When you embed links in WordPress on your phone, it looks like you’ve typed a paragraph. Just sayin.

With June 10th being right around the corner, the hype is similar to that of a tempest. I mean, Sony knows how to develop, market, and promote* their products and satisfy their consumers. The Playstation 4 has mentioned cross control/play being more prevalent between the system and PlayStation Vita. A feature that Nintendo’s WiiU is using for, I believe, all there games, which is really great and convenient. the PS4’s line up of games like Killzone: Shadow Fall, Destiny, The Witness, and Knack show graphically, what the system can do as well as some of its potential. Looking at all of that however, made me wonder how this controller could change how we’ll interact with games. The Vita uses its touchscreen for everything you may have grown accustom to from any sort of tablet or smartphone device and its rear touchpad hear and there. So what does this mean for the PS4? I thinking easier on screen inputs for messages, which isn’t far off if Sony was willing to drop this. Base, I know, especially given all the features, but I can’t even begin to imagine how to get the most out of it! I hope that someone can and that the ideas stick, because normally the some of the options fall by the waste side becoming forgotten. Honestly, how many of you still rock the motion control on purpose? I still try every now and then on Warhawk and Wipeout 2048, but when I want to change up play. Competitively speaking, not worth it, but I guess stuff like depends on the gamer. With enough practice and the right conditions in place, features like the six-axis, motion control, augmented reality, and so on can be made a standard if we start treating them like one. So for all the amazing things the PS4 has the potential to do, wether or not it lives up to it relies on the developers implication and greatly on the consumers acceptance of innovation.

So this post was supposed to be on the PS4 and why it’s already won a war with hardly any battles. Now, it’s more like a gush piece casting a shadow of doubt on its success based on its demographic. Which is where we’ll pick up the next post. If I ever feel like it.