I gave Dragon Age the nod for GOTY last year. The trailer for the follow-up looks spectacular (in typical Bioware fashion), but I’m disturbed at rumors of the combat and dialog systems becoming more like Mass Effect.

Anyway, give the trailer a look to see for yourself:

One of my 2010 goals has been to play more video games.

Yes. That’s right. I want to play more video games. I did a piss-poor job of it last year, and I missed out on some gaming goodness. Pursuant to that goal, I’ve been playing a more this year. While I’m deriving some enjoyment from my primary hobby, there are  several things that fill me with rage, decanting their liquid anger into my empty soul like the devil’s own urine. Here’s a random sample of items that get my goat:

Borderlands Expansion Pack

The first time I played it, Mad Moxxi was cute, boobalicious, and sarcastically witty. Now, every time I play the arena, her voice grates, her taunts wear on me, and the loot that she drops from her high tower makes me want to put Brick’s (the tank character, and my main toon) fist through her face. This was high concept with poor execution–the arenas provide replayability, the potential for loot is great, and you get enemies/bosses from the entire game. The bad news is that it is all recycled content, and the voice tracks are repeated way too often. Couple this to fact that this should have been patched content support and not a paid expansion pack, and my knuckles want to taste flesh. (But I still play it almost every night. Go figure.)

Battlefield Bad Company 2

If you’ve known me at all, you know that I am a Battlefield fanboy. I even played that atrocious “sequel” they called BF2142 (the fewest hours I’ve spent in any Battlefield game). Now, we get scraps from the console table (Battlefield Bad Company was never a PC game, and we only got the sequel because someone in their company decided to throw us a bone). The game officially releases on March 2nd, but you can play in a one-map beta test with a pre-order. Saddling up with the old Battlefield crew (*fist bump to TulsaLAN*), I downloaded what was supposed to be a beta game.

In reality, it is an alpha, because beta at least implies functionality out of the box. I currently cannot run the game through Steam, I cannot use Ventrilo (VoIP software) unless I key the transmit button during the load process so that my mic stays open all the time, the server browser crashes to desktop, and the friends/matchmaking system is broken. When I finally do get in the game (by finding the game executable buried in my Steam directory and right-clicking to “run as admin”), it’s pretty okay. It tries a little too hard to be Call of Duty (the damage model is terribly unforgiving, and the movement isn’t as fluid as other Battlefield games).

Sniper rifle and RPG zooms are toggles, while battle rifles and light machine guns require steady “holds” on the right mouse button to bring up iron sights. Crouching isn’t a toggle either, you must hold it down. There is no prone. That’s right, boys and girls, this is a war game, and you can’t lay down on the fucking ground and avoid enemy fire.  When I quit the game tonight (playing with the wonderful Kate) and reflected on my experience, I realized that I wanted to fly to Sweden and punch the lead developer of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in the face. Twice.

They’ve taken my beloved franchise, dumbed it down for the console retards, and then castrated what they didn’t break. I can only hope that someone in the mod community can fix these issues about four to six months down the line, or maybe even give the game something like Desert Combat was to the Battlefield 1942 series. If not, it may top Battlefield 2142 for fewest hours played in a Battlefield game.

Steam

Steam is the elephant in the room when it comes to digital distribution. I’ve been a retail box kind of guy, but recently I’m transitioning to steam. For example, I bought Borderlands and Dragon Age retail, but I’ve gotten Mass Effect (the first one), Torchlight, and now Battlefield: Bad Company 2 through Steam. It’s nice that my games and profile reside in the “cloud.” It’s a pity, though, that Steam still forces SecuROM copy protection/DRM on me when technically I don’t even own the content. I have to be connected to their authentication servers to even play the damned game, and they still saddle me with copy protection.

Are you kidding me?

Really?

I’m not going to pirate games; as a content creator myself, I fully believe that artists should be compensated for their time. Supporting a platform like Steam implicitly recognizes that I’m willing to put up with managing still another on-line account in exchange for content security and file management. That copy protection is a by-product of this should be a win for everyone. Instead, game companies have taken the opportunity to ram their DRM phallus into my mouth in an attempt to make me swallow their load of resource-hogging superfluous garbage. It’s like people are trying to kill PC gaming. I’ve refused to go the console route on general principles (no mouse and keyboard, auto-aim in first person shooters is lame beyond belief), but if I continue to have to wear an “Exit Only” sign on my ass when I buy and play PC Games, then I’ll be forced to turn my back on the platform. That sucks for everyone.

Reponse to Infinity Ward Petition

Infinity Ward is the maker of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I’ve boycotted the game (and encouraged others to do so, as well) due to the lack of dedicated server support, the ten dollar price tag increase over standard PC Games, the lack of mod/community support. After signing the petition, I received a mass email from a community manager that was basically a big “Dear Pete and everyone who signed this petition: Fuck you.”  They detailed their sales of the PC version, the number of players playing during peak times (via Xfire statistics), and the fact that they’re “on the cutting edge” and they’re “changing the way PC Gamers interact with online content.” If by cutting edge they mean “Xbox 360″ and they want to strip features that PC Gamers demand in their games by taking an intentional step backwards, then sure, I guess it’s a success. I felt more like they were rubbing the noses of the 125,694 signers of the petition in the fact that their opinions and money didn’t matter. (It would be interesting to know how many signers actually bought the game despite their “commitment” not to.) That alone earns the responsible cretin of this organization a punch in the nose.

Let’s play Infinity Ward’s game and do a little math here. Let’s assume that 20% of the signers followed through on their promise to not buy the game (Is that optimistic? Look at the Amazon review for it.) That’s 25, 140 people.

Multiply that by the $59.99 ($60 for convenience’s sake) premium for the game: $1,508,077 sales dollars are now left on the table. If you assume a 10% profit margin, they’re leaving about $150,000 of pure, bottom line, dividend-producing money untapped. That alone is more than enough for a business unit to spend the month that it would take a couple of programmers and a user interface specialist to put in those items.

Oh, and did I mention that it uses SecuROM, too?

Since they want to play the math game, I’ll chortle to myself every time I leave the game alone in Best Buy or the Steam store and say: “1.5 million dollars, haha!”

One of the things that a lot of people know about me (but maybe you don’t) is that my secret vice is video games. I don’t often talk about them, not because I’m a media elitist, but simply because there are so many video game trade publications and websites that do a much better job of it than I would. However, some recent time in virtual worlds has convinced me that I need to speak to you about a couple of experiences.

Have you been curious about the new Valve game, Left4Dead? Click here. That screen shot alone should tell you everything you need to know about the game. If you like zombie games, fast-paced shooters, co-op play, or blowing stuff up, this is the game for you. It is scary, fast-paced, and unbelievably intense. You can take a molotov cocktail, light it on fire, and then throw it into a horde of rushing former humans to make them all undead, screaming torches. This is the true stuff of nightmare here, but it’s one that you’ll want to experience again and again with your friends.

I recently acquired a Wii. I had been somewhat skeptical about the platform, believing it to be a one-trick pony platform, but I love my Nintendo DS. After a New Year’s Party in which I played one, I decided to give it a shot. First of all, the Wii Sports game is wicked fun. The bowling especially is a great party game, one that I can actually get my wife to play. I personally enjoy tennis, but that one doesn’t seem to be anyone else’s favorite.

Where the console truly excels, though, is the unique use of the Wii remote and nunchuk system. Super Mario Kart comes with a wheel accessory that you can snap the remote into so that you feel like you’re steering a car. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has you wield the Wii remote as if it were a lightsaber, hewing down enemies with the might of the dark side. Gestures with the nunchuck in your left hand enable you to use force powers, which will allow you to choke enemies with savage glee. In fact, these two games alone are worth the price of admission for the Wii.

I’ve also been playing the infamous World of Warcraft. In this outing, my time is pretty severely limited (at last count, I’m somewhat less than half the time played at current level of my closest cohorts), but I’m enjoying the casual play, the questing, and exploring the world. I’m not as obsessed with trade skills or gear this time (although I do love to min/max my character with the aid of a damage meter). This is what WoW was intended to be, I think. We have a small guild of pretty close friends that doesn’t bring the drama of the forty man raids of yesteryear (was that really two years ago?), so I’m fairly happy with it.

What I truly miss, though, is the friendship and teamwork of the Battlefield series of games. I saw recently that they’ve announced Battlefield 1943 (yay!), so I have hope that my desire for team-based combined arms combat will soon become a reality.

Sony’s abysmal attempt at the Star Wars universe in an MMORPG setting was a failure spectacular not only in its inability to implement a key mechanic (becoming a Jedi), but also in it’s ludicrous skill system that forced players to learn and unlearn skills to meet specific character objectives. Star Wars Galaxies has rightfully fallen into the bit bin, hopefully never to return.

Bioware, creators of the wonderful Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG, has recently announced their entry into the MMORPG market. Entitled Star Wars: The Old Republic (KOTOR), Bioware is poised to reap the benefits of one of the hottest intellectual properties in geekdom…if they can get the mechanics correct. KOTOR was designed roughly along the lines of D&D, with feats, skills, and random number “rolls” behind the scenes to determine hits, damage, and saves. The game could be paused and multiple actions queued such that the game took almost a turn-based feel. The story rivaled that of the first trilogy in both scope and originality. Player actions resulted in different dialog trees, different reactions from non player characters, and completely different endings. 

If someone has the intellectual capital to make a Star Wars based MMORPG, it is the folks at Bioware. The other items on their resume are the great Neverwinter Nights RPGs (based on D&D 3.5 edition rules) and Mass Effect, a console crossover along the same lines as KOTOR.

The Web site for the game is live; Blue over at Blue’s News has some concept art and screenshots for your perusal.

The really interesting question is whether this property translates into a similar huge marketing juggernaut that Blizzard’s World of Warcraft has become. Lord of the Rings, a property tailor made for the MMO market, has hardly made a dent in the WoW’s subscription base. Likewise for Age of Conan, the Funcom MMORPG featuring a decidedly adult theme.

• Quake 3 Arena versus Unreal Tournament.
• Starcraft/Warcraft versus Command & Conquer.
• Call of Duty versus Medal of Honor.
• The Battlefield franchise.
• Counterstrike.

All of these titles were etched so deeply within the gamer psyche–some for their polarizing nature, others for the sheer joy of playability and innovation. They all shared one common thread in that they were marketed toward the hardcore gamer. I would challenge you to name one genre bending game for the PC in the past two years that was steered toward the harcore. (Maybe Portal. Maybe.)

As PCs became more ubiqitous, the market has shifted to include the casual gamer. These are the people who play Myst, The Sims, and Sim City. With that market shift, publishers realized success beyond their wildest dreams. Similarly, the MMO market exploded with World of Warcraft, raking in even more gamers that don’t necessarily fit the hardcore mold.

Given the vast market segment opened up by soccer moms, teenage girls, and over-fifty baby boomers, we may never see a return to the glory days of PC Gaming. (Glory meaning an elite, enthusiast hobby peopled by those who would spend two hundred dollars for 10 fps.) Gone are the days of LAN parties, a vibrant mod scene, and a community of hundreds of thousands of people all playing the same shooter. 

Chris Morris at Forbes agrees with me. Do you?

You will be, too.

Verify the age, then watch the trailer.