I posted the Tron Legacy Teaser a while back, but that was more of a visual effects test. Now we have an actual trailer to look at. I cannot wait to see this film. Hopefully it will go over better with audiences today then the first film did back in 1982. Also, I have to say that I like the direction Daft Punk is taking the music. It is a departure from the original’s music, but this movie looks darker and grittier, and the music reflects that well.

A game so legendary they just couldn’t stop remaking it.

On Proprietary Formats

Sony’s last huge format hit was a product called “Compact Disc”. You might have heard of it. Spinning plastic wheel with pits in the bottom? Read by lasers? Co-developed with Philips?

It took a couple of years for CDs to take hold, but once they did, Sony raked in the cash. Not only by selling players, but by manufacturing CDs for themselves and others. It’s a huge part of their business even today, as Sony DADC produces not just CDs, but DVDs, Blu-ray, and PlayStation discs in facilities around the world.

Sony became spoiled. For decades, a success in a new media format meant that Sony could expect to make money selling the media itself. Through the ’80s and ’90s, they became less inclined to share the market. Sony developed the 3.5-inch floppy disc drive for computers which found wide adoption as blank discs were available from a variety of manufacturers. MiniDisc followed, but with less success. In 1998 as the flash memory market started to warm up, Sony introduced Memory Stick, what eventually became an entire family of expensive flash memory formats that were not compatible with devices from any other manufacturers.

And don’t forget the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD war. Sony eventually won that one, but the battle continued for such a long time because neither consortium wanted to lose the market to produce media for consumers—consumers who were increasingly getting their content online.

See the problem? Time and again, Sony took an excellently engineered solution and held it tightly, the better to extract big profits. But every generation, every iteration, Sony’s need to control the format became more and more of a liability. Even loyal Sony customers could tell the proprietary formats were a screw job, eroding their happiness with their Sony product every time they had to shell out a premium to buy a Sony-authorized blank.

On Sony’s Arrogance:

There’s no better example of the arrogance of the modern Sony than the launch of the PlayStation 3. It was the last of the current generation of game consoles to market. It cost more than all its competitors. Kaz Hirai, then president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America and now the head of the entire ball of wax worldwide, said infamously, “The next generation doesn’t start until we say it does.”

People were rolling their eyes at Sony even as Hirai and his executive team made those lofty statements—but our eyes flipped all the way into the backs of our skulls after Sony spent the next three years struggling in a videogame market they once dominated.

Why Sony would present this cocky face to the world is impossible to understand, until you realize that it’s the sort of self-delusional bluster, pre-game trash talk, from a team that hasn’t won a championship in years.

It’s clear in their marketing and press relations, too. Sony is always quick to throw a big party, launch some laptop with a silly event like a fashion show, or hand press review units out to lifestyle magazines but not technical publications. Having had one accidental lifestyle product success with the Walkman, Sony mistakenly believes that its products are stylish—when in fact the Walkman became a style icon despite its often garish or pedestrian looks.

You got Tribes in my Halo! Bungie has released a new Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta trailer. This is not at all what I was expecting, but I am extremely pleased with the direction that it looks like they are taking the game. The jetpacks put a huge smile on my face, as did all of the various game modes that the trailer showed off. Some of the new weapons looked pretty sweet as well. I cannot wait until this May when the beta launches. Now I just have to practice hitting mid-air shots with the rocket launcher. Who is going to be there with me?

What was good

• As soon as I loaded it up, the Batman 75% off sale was right there on the man page in their banner rotation. This made finding the page to buy the game easy.
• You are offered the choice of paying for the game with Microsoft points, or directly using your credit card. I have been wanting to lower my Microsoft Points balance for a while now, so I was glad that I could use them here.
• Buying the game automatically adds the game to your download queue.

What was bad

• The UI doesn’t show download speeds, only percent complete.
• The download was extremely slow. Perhaps its because of the sale, or maybe buying games on here always takes this long. Either way it took hours to download the game. Of course I cant tell you exactly what speeds I was getting, because of my first issue.
• The GFWL client locked up at about 40% downloaded. This was well over an hour and a half into the download. After restarting the software, the download did not resume from where it left off. Instead, the download started over again. I have never heard of a download manager not caching or downloading in chucks to avoid this. This was pretty poor, and made worse by the slow download speeds.
• Once the download was finished, I clicked the install button. I was prompted with some of the usual stuff, such as language and the license agreement. However, I was never asked where to install it. This resulted in the game being installed on the wrong hard drive. I later found the setting hidden in the menus, and changed it to the right location.
• After uninstalling the game so I could reinstall to the right drive, I had to download the game for a 3rd time.
• I am still waiting for it to download for a 3rd time.

Hopefully I will actually be able to play this sometime tonight. Games on Demand does have some potential, but at this point I would never buy a game using that client over Steam unless Games on Demand had a significant price savings.

One of the most epic adventures in video game history.

[21:42] NeutralX2 asks a loaded question: “Seeing as GFWL is supported, was cross-platform play ever considered? If so, why not supported?”
[21:42] <@TGS-BrettN> Oh god yes.
[21:42] <@TGS-BrettN> That one comes up a lot.
[21:42] <@TGS-BrettN> We had a throwdown over that one internally for awhile.
[21:43] <@TGS-BrettN> In the end we felt that tying the two together added a lot of overhead without really making the player’s experience better.
[21:43] <@TGS-BrettN> The only way we felt it really made the player experience outright ‘better’ was if it made matchmaking or similiar elements smoother.
[21:43] <@TGS-BrettN> The truth is we got arrogant.
[21:43] <@TGS-BrettN> We were all like’ but there will be SOOO many people playing on both platforms’
[21:44] <@TGS-BrettN> we can afford two player bases!
[21:44] <@TGS-BrettN> In the end, merging your player bases is only worth it if you get something out of it.
[21:44] <@TGS-BrettN> And we’re banking on ‘there will be enough people playing S8 on both platforms for us not to worry about it’
[21:44] <@TGS-BrettN> and because of that, we got more time to do cooler stuff that made the game better.

So apparently they thought that they would have a strong enough player base across both platforms that the work needed to add cross-platform play would not be justified. Instead, they focused on other stuff to make the game “cooler”. They thought wrong. Currently, Section 8 is mostly a ghost town. There is occasionally a populated server or two, but most of the online games are simply filled with bots.

This issue is not exclusive to Section 8. There are a number of Xbox 360 games that literally have no one playing online. If you were one of the few to buy these games, your copy is essentially useless, as they are multilayer focused games without a community to play with. About a year ago I wrote in to the Official Xbox Magazine Podcast with a question as to why cross-platform gameplay isn’t supported in a lot of these games. In fact, I was hoping that they might end up passing the question along to a developer or two so I could get their take. My question to them was as follows:

Hey guys, this is Ryan, Gamertag NeutralX2, with a question regarding cross-platform play between PC and Xbox 360 games. While I was reading the article “Dead on Live” in the January 2009 issue, I started thinking about how cross-platform support could have potentially saved some of these games. For example, Unreal Tournament 3 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars are essentially dead on the Xbox 360, but their communities are still active on the PC. Had the developers included cross-platform support, 360 gamers would still have a community to play with. Shadowrun managed to do a pretty good job connecting PC and 360 players, and that game doesn’t have any major balance problems. So why don’t more developers support this feature?

Unfortunately they never took my question. I assume it was just overlooked, as the question could have started an interesting discussion. Anyway, the article that I referenced, “Dead on Live“, was an article in which the staff at OXM fired up some old Xbox 360 games to see what their online communities were like. Many of the games, such as Stranglehold, were empty. For these games it is not surprising, as their online components were clearly afterthoughts without any real lasting appeal. They were probably populated for a month or two after the game launched, but since then everyone has lost interest.

The games that they covered in the article that interested me the most were the games that were entirely online focused: Enemy Territory Quake Wars and Unreal Tournament 3. Both of these games are extremely well designed and fun to play, but they are clearly games developed with the PC community in mind. Of course not everyone could afford a PC to run these games, so console versions made sense. But clearly these versions were not that popular with the console gaming crowd, and it is now extremely difficult to find matches online. However, both of these games are still alive and kicking over on the PC. I can fire up either game right now and have zero issue finding players. That is not to say that they are extremely popular, just that there are enough still playing on the PC side to always have a few servers full.

Now to me, it seems as if both the PC and Xbox 360 players would have benefited greatly from cross-platform support. The benefits are obvious. First, the 360 players would actually be able to play their game for a change. Instead of being a waste of $60, those games would still have value instead of being completely useless. Second, while the PC side does have a decent amount of players, more would never hurt. People looking at both ETQW and UT3 on the 360 today have zero incentive to buy them (assuming they are aware of the current state of their online communities). The chance for future sales of those games are understandably poor. If they had the player base cross-platform support would have given them, perhaps they would still be selling copies today.

So, why don’t more developers add this feature to their games? Well, I think one of the reason has already been stated clearly by the Timegate Studios guys. They simply feel that they can afford having two separate player bases. I was actually surprised to hear them say that, it was as if they were totally unaware how much of a niche game Section 8 was. A science fiction online team based shooter with jetpacks and deployable objects. That sounds a lot like Starsiege Tribes to me, and you don’t see many people play that today. So reason one is that they don’t feel that the cost is justified in terms of getting a unified player base, no matter how wrong they often end up being in the end.

The second reason I find more legitimate. It has not been explicitly said by anyone, but it makes sense that balance issues would be a big concern. Some games have done a great job of balancing the two platforms. Shadowrun is a perfect example. The way the weapons and abilities are deigned (with a cone of fire for all the weapons that expands when moving and shooting), negates the extra precision that a mouse provides. Shadowrun is one of those games where tactics and teamwork matter just as much, if not more, then your ability to hold a targeting reticule over an opponent and hold down the fire button. I have played Shadowrun for a few years now, and I feel just as comfortable on a gamepad as I do with a keyboard and mouse.

So there are ways to design games in such as way as to keep them balanced, but it is true that there are some games where no matter what you do, keyboard and mouse will always be superior. Unreal Tournament 3 is a great example of this. In UT3, your most important assets are fast reflexes and pinpoint accuracy. I make no claim that this game could be balanced in such a way as to provide a level playing field between the two platforms. So the question then becomes: would you rather have no one to play with at all, or play with PC players at a bit of a disadvantage? For me, the answer to that question is obvious: I would rather be owned then play alone.

Now, what if the game supports cross-platform play, but there is enough of a player base there to support both communities individually. Obviously there would be Xbox 360 players who would not want to play with PC players if they didn’t have to. The solution here is simple, just add a toggle option to the matchmaking menu that either returns cross-platform enabled matches or platform exclusive ones. That way you have the option to play with those on the other platform if necessary, but are not required to if you don’t want to.

I think with that type of setup, everyone would win. Sure, there is the added development cost of supporting such features, and some games clearly don’t have to worry about player bases (Halo and Call of Duty for example). However, I would strongly suggest that every other developer out there seriously consider their audience for their game, how important multiplayer is for it, and if they can justify adding the feature.

CLARITY is STRIKE A POSE!!! Films first attempt at the mystery/thriller genre, and a more serious take in tone than what we usually offer. A unique head-scratcher with flavors of Lynch, Nolan, and our own brand of nuttiness.

In CLARITY, Sam Anderson plays the Detective, a man who is seeking for answers, and possibly a score to settle. Damien McCoy plays the Boy, a young man who is seeking his lost girlfriend, who disappeared without a trace just the night before. Lurking about in his memories is Whitney Arkin, in her first STRIKE A POSE!!! role, as the Girl: A victim caught in the manacles of a serial killer known only as the Venetian. In his stunning first performance since Ascension, Bob Novich returns to the digital screen as the killer, bringing terror to the scenes.

As the Boy tries to convince the Detective of his girlfriend’s existence, the Detective begins to submerge himself in his own memories of his lost love, a woman taken from him under unnervingly similar circumstances. Can they find the girl in time? Or is she just a figment of the boy’s imagination? Why doesn’t she appear in any phone book or database? What is the game the Venetian is playing?

You can watch Clarity here.

Fresh off the latest Halo: Reach media blast, Bungie’s team of genetically enhanced supersoldiers are ready to escort you on another vital mission. Set your sights on a darker tale featuring a new cast of iconic Spartan heroes. From the beginning, you know the end, but to start it all off the team tapped into a decade of creative experience building the Halo universe, focused on the best elements from Halo’s past, and supercharged every aspect using a rebuilt engine and some surprising new twists.

Halo: Reach is poised to become the definitive Halo and it’s Bungie’s most ambitious game yet. Get your early, inside look with this brand new ViDoc.

First up is Alan Wake. The long in development game finally has a release date: May 18th for North America. Apparently they have had the game in a playable state from start to finish since last May. So since then they have been in a sort of post-production phase, mostly working on making sure the pacing was absolutely perfect. Plans for a PC release of Alan Wake are still “up in the air”. For more information, check out the Alan Wake X10 Preview. The new trailer can be viewed here.

Next is Crackdown 2. They have released a new batch of screenshots, and I have to say that the game is looking really good. I enjoyed the first one a lot, and probably played it way more then I should have. For some reason there was just something I found extremely enjoyable despite some obvious design problems. They also announced a pre-order bonus: a virtual wardrobe boost in the shape of “four exclusive suits of Agency-Issue armor,” in stylish “Gold, Brushed, Red and Blue Metal” tones. Hopefully new developer Ruffian does a good job and I can get my agility orb fix. View the new screenshots here.

Perfect Dark finally has a release date. Well, sorta. Microsoft announced that it will be released for download on Xbox Live Arcade this March. Now I can finally stop checking every week for this thing. This version of Perfect Dark will have updated 1080p graphics running at a reported 60fps. It also has online multiplayer, leaderboards, and avatar rewards.

The Halo: Reach multiplayer beta begins May 3rd. According to Microsoft, the beta will provide “the opportunity to drive the latest advancements in multiplayer gameplay,”. Among those advancements is the addition of Call of Duty-style perks, with players unlocking new abilities as they gain experience. In addition to ODST, the Halo: Reach beta will require a hard drive and Gold membership.

Dead Rising 2 now has a release date. It is scheduled to hit PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on August 31 in North America and September 3 in Europe.

Xbox 360 will get an “downloadable prologue” dubbed “Dead Rising 2: CASE ZERO” that’s due to arrive “shortly before the title releases in August.” The “exclusive Game Add-on” is said to “allow Xbox 360 gamers to get their first glimpse into the Dead Rising 2 story with exclusive content that will not be featured in the full game.”

They also released some gameplay footage which can be viewed here. The game looks just like the original, and that is a very good thing. Lets just hope that the boss fights are more reasonable this time around.