The Obligatory Xbox One Post, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Tension

It's been nearly two weeks since Microsoft revealed their successor to the Xbox 360. For anyone not up to speed, I suggest you watch the reveal right here:


As you can see in the video above, the new console is the Xbox One. The reveal was certainly a talking point amongst game journalists in the week following the press conference, and for good reason. There was a lot of information to take in, and lot of questions left unanswered.

I watched the event and even took notes, not something I normally do. As someone who primarily games on the 360, I was taking note of this progression in the Xbox lineage. Like many people, I had a lot of mixed feelings about the whole thing. I had intended to write up my initial impressions, but all the noise after the event left me reeling. There were so many new developments emerging for days that either confirmed, denied or contradicted many talking points.

Now that the dust has settled quite a bit in anticipation of E3, which starts in just about a week and a half, I felt this was a good time to finally put my thoughts into words. I don't want to recap the whole press conference; I'd rather focus on my personal feelings on the new system. So, if you're not up to speed, watch the reveal video above, then join me in the deep end...

The Name
When I first heard the name, I didn't think much of it. In the aftermath since the reveal, I've found out just how many people were upset by it. And I just don't...get it. I don't really refer to the original XBox as "XBox 1," because the 360 is not the "XBox 2." Also, think about it a bit more: 360 was a reference to the number of degrees in a circle. The "One" of XBox One can be looked at as, "XBox has come full circle." Heck, the O in "One" is a damn circle. But, moreover, the simple fact is that Microsoft is putting a HUGE focus on the Xbox One being a media hub for the living room. They want it to be the "one" piece of equipment people will need, the single source for all home entertainment.

The Console's Look
Sure, it just looks like a box. In fact, it looks a helluva lot like a cable box (I'm thinking that was probably not an accident). I don't mind the look much, but it doesn't really attract me. Many bloggers and journalists were commenting on how big it looked. And, yeah, it does look pretty big. Then, there's this:

Burnie Burns at RoosterTeeth found this image on Twitter shared it in their gaming podcast. It really puts the size of the XBox One into perspective. And I have to say that it seems quite manageable and only slightly larger than the current slim-model 360s. The length of two standard pens, is not too bad.

The Controller

Personally, I think it's pretty sexy. Microsoft has really dominated controller design (at least since they updated the original "Duke" controller of the first Xbox) and that doesn't seem to be changing. For the most part, much of the main components seems to have been left intact. Microsoft quoted a total of 40 "innovations" to the controller and I like what I'm seeing so far. What's really fascinating is one of the new features being integrated into the guts of this thing: trigger feedback. There are servos that can add resistance to the triggers. The possibilities of this are awesome: feel pushback when pulling the trigger of a gun, a tick when cooking a grenade, the engine rumble when revving a car's engine, etc.  Honestly, this is one of the few things I've heard of since the Wii that sounds like it could actually add to my gaming experience. I see a lot of creative things developers could do with this.

The Kinect

Kinect has been updated and it sounds like it is going to be quite a bit more responsive. All of the updates seem pretty rad, truth be told. But, I'm still not sure how I feel about Kinect being required for the console to work. On a personal level, I just simply don't know where I'm going to put it. I recently had to hide my Kinect because my 15 month-old daughter found out she could reach it, and started slamming it into the entertainment center and the TV. It's unclear at this point if the Kinect can be covered up and still allow the Xbox to function, but this requirement has a lot of people slinging "Big Brother" accusations. And, indeed, they may be right. There is a lot of speculation on the intertubez that Kinect is going to be gathering data about you, your family, your home, hour habits, etc and Microsoft selling that to advertisers. I think this is a legitimate concern and I'd like to hear Microsoft address it at E3.

The Operating System(s) and Specs

XBox One is going to have three operating systems: an XBox OS, Windows, and a bridge to connect the two. To me, someone who knows very little about such things, this doesn't seem to mean much. But, it does seem like a lot to be running under the hood all at once. What kind of hardware will this thing need to run a triple-OS set up? Well, here's a breakdown and comparison to the PS4 specs. I know enough about hardware specs to look at these two and see that they are pretty much equivalent. I don't think we're going to see a drastic difference in processing power between the two consoles. Both of them increased their total RAM by a factor of 8 which is a massive improvement. XBox One may have 3GB reserved for the multitasking capabilities, but 5GB of RAM strictly for gaming is still pretty damn good, considering it and the PS3 each only had 512 MB. There's also a game DVR, that will allow capturing game video for easy editing on the console and sharing. 

Snap Mode and Multitasking

I don't know how much I care about this, really. I mainly just play games on my 360. Netflix is normally reserved for the PS3 in my house, mainly because of the interface and speed. I don't really care about Skype-ing with anyone when I'm gaming or watching a show/movie. If I want to Skype, I turn shit off and Skype. I like to give the person I'm talking to my undivided attention. I can see some benefit for some people, such as sports fans. I imaging being able to talk to your buddies in real-time while watching a football game would be pretty cool. I think social media is going to be the biggest draw with Snap Mode. No matter what you're doing on the TV, go into snap mode and catch up on your Facebook or Twitter feed. I think I like that.

Live TV

I'm kind of intrigued by this, and I want to know a lot more. Will XBox One just act as a navigation tool for a separate cable box? Will it have a traditional DVR (separate from the "gaming DVR" mentioned in the press conference)? I kind of like being able to change channels with my voice instead of having to mash on a remote in order to find the 13 channels I normally watch. But, again, how will DVR be handled? Will XBox One just play what it's given by a normal DVR through the HDMI input? So many questions.

Halo Series and Exclusive Games

Very commendable, Microsoft. You finally realized you have two exclusive IPs and you are expanding that to 15. You're still reaching for DLC-first rights, but I don't think anyone really cares. Not many games were shown off, but that's okay; it was a hardware reveal. The whole point was to get the hardware reveal out of the way so they can focus on games at E3. At least, I hope that's what they're doing. The Halo series, and the inclusion of Steven Spielberg, sounds great! I'm legitimately excited for this. I haven't watched Forward Unto Dawn just yet, but it's in my Netflix queue. Bring it on!

Gaming

Microsoft has swallowed their pride and included a BluRay player this time around, which I'm really glad to see as a consumer. But, really, this is more of a concern for watching movies on physical media. Games are required to be installed on the hard drive, and Microsoft's 300,000 servers are going to act as a cloud to source some aspects of the game, such as AI and persistent world data (which may indicate MMO possibilities). There hasn't been a solid confirmation whether the disc will need to be in the drive in order to play the game, though. One popular theory is that a physical game disc serves as basically a licensing vehicle. Reports have surfaced that say games will be licensed to individuals via an online connection and have to be deactivated when sold or given to others. This has led people to surmise the license-vehicle hunch regarding the game discs. At least Microsoft seems to be backing away from insinuating that there will be any sort of fee involved with used/traded games. Regardless, I wonder  how they are going to approach households with multiple gamers. In my case, my wife plays a lot of games, and both of our kids have shown an interest. Will all four of us need a license to play a game? If so, that very well may be a deal breaker. Honestly.

XBox Live and Achievements
XBL seems to be remaining pretty much the same. There hasn't been much of anything said about it, which leads me to believe that nothing's happening. It would be really great if Microsoft dropped the membership fee needed to play multiplayer games, but I doubt that's going to happen. Achievements will be transferred to the new console, which is pretty cool. There has also been talk about "dynamic achievements," but that has been pretty vague so far.

Compatibility and Indie Games
Simply put, the architecture of the XBox One makes backwards compatibility impossible. I can understand that, as crappy as it is. I guess I'll just be holding on to my 360 for a while, so I can finish up  my backlog of games. What makes this a bit worse, though, is that even downloadable games will not be compatible with the new hardware - at least at launch. I have a feeling many older games will be ported as downloadables, much like has been done for games from the first Xbox. It seems like this shouldn't be too hard. Unfortunately, though, indie developers will no longer be able to self-publish their games. They will be required to have a publisher and provide them a share of profits. Additionally,  the XBox One is no longer going to differentiate between full retail releases, Arcade releases, and indie projects. I worry about indie games getting swallowed up in a seemingly endless sea of games. This lack of differentiation may lead to a lack of visibility and could end up killing the indie market on Xbox. I think it's a nice intention for Microsoft wanting to put all games on equal ground...but they just aren't the same.

In the end, I feel like a lot of people had a knee-jerk reaction to the XBox One - and it was generally negative. I was not terribly impressed, personally. The overwhelming negativity online as well as Microsoft's apparent backpedaling on a lot of issues didn't help (particularly the used game fee issue). But, there were a few things that cut the negativity with some humor, especially how much Sony started to troll Microsoft. Before the Microsoft event, Sony began to send out notices that the PS4 console was going to be revealed the day before E3. Considering Microsoft will have the first major press conference at E3, it's like Sony's just goading them. There was also the fact that Sony's stock jumped after the XBox One reveal. That made me laugh just a little bit (read: I giggled like a school girl).

I still have mixed feelings about the XBox One, but I have warmed up to it just a bit. I think some of the really important information, such as pricing, final answers to the "always on" issue, etc will come at E3 and Gamescom in the next couple of months. I'm trying not to judge it too harshly until I know more concrete facts. At this point, a lot of what people are saying are facts are really just conjuncture based on what veiled information Microsoft has offered so far.

If you're interested in hearing some intelligent discussion about the XBox One, here are my recommendations:

• Adam Sessler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01divp3rkA&feature=youtu.be
• RoosterTeeth: http://roosterteeth.com/gamepodcast/episode.php?id=1
• GameInformer: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/podcasts/archive/2013/05/23/gi-show-158-xbox-one-reactions.aspx

Epic and Legendary Dynamic Controllers for Disabled Gamers

Confused by the title? Then I suggest checking out PressHeartToContinue on YouTube. Thanks, Dodger, for the titling scheme. It's fun. (I hope she doesn't think I'm ripping her off...)

Anywhoooooooo...

Lots of stuff going on. First and foremost, I hope everyone enjoyed by AC:R review. I'm playing through a lot of my older games that I haven't finished yet, and I hope to be reviewing more of them soon! I will probably be doing Dragon Age: Origins next, but keep your eyes peeled. I've also started playing SWTOR again. If you've played and dropped it, I suggest picking it back up. There have been a lot of improvements since launch, and I've found it fun again after my hiatus. You can go F2P with it, but I really recommend picking up a game time card, because F2P is nerfed pretty bad.

Let's break down some gaming news!

New Xbox Inbound!

Microsoft is going to be announcing their next console on May 21! Set your calendars, kiddos.
So, what can we expect from PS4's main rival (so far)? No one really knows, of course, but there are plenty of rumors: more Kinect, probably same controller, some sort of second screen (adding on to SmartGlass), blocking used games, and (now infamously) always-on internet connection. We'll just have to wait a few weeks to see how much of those rumors come to fruition. I, for one, was pleasantly surprised by the PS4...and might be leaning that way. Personally, I don't care too much about an always-on internet connection, but I do understand why some people are upset about it. My more pressing concerns are the continuation of a subscription model for XBL and the use of Microsoft Points. My god...make it stop. People spell it "Micro$oft" for a reason, guys.

The event starts on 5/21 at 10am PST, and can be streamed at xbox.com, on Xbox Live, and at spiketv.com.

Speaking of the PS4...

Sony released a developer video highlighting some features of the new controller. I thought it was kind of neat. Check it out!

And Speaking of Contollers...

A little-known or publicized issue in video games is accessibility for disabled persons. However, Josh Straub, a former GameInformer intern, is currently leading the fight to increase awareness of this issue. He's recently entered his organization, DAGERS, into a competition in order to win some funding. Though I am not disabled, I think this is a really important issue. To me, it feels like something that would be really easily addressed by developers and hardware manufacturers, but it just doesn't happen. Please vote for DAGERS and help further Josh's noble cause, or visit the DAGERS site to donate directly.

Flying Fluid Dynamics, Batman!

I know pretty much nothing about programming or physics. But, I do recognize when these things come together and make sweet, sweet technological love. Case in point: a couple of really smart people at Nvidia have found another way to simulate water. And it's a beautiful thing.

Skyrim goes LEGEN-wait for it-DARY.

The inevitable GOTY of Skyrim is on it's way. I haven't touched any of the DLC yet, so I'm thinking I want to trade up. Seems worth it.

PHAT LEWTZ, BRO!

There's a new PC title in the works at Ubisoft that has kind of piqued my interest. This little gem is called The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot. Check out the trailer. Just do it. I actually laughed out loud. I'm seeing a neat mix of humor, Diablo-style combat, and dungeon building with a social twist. And it's F2P, so you might as well try it. I'm guessing there will be micro-transactions, but the game's only in Alpha right now and such details haven't been released yet. Do you even dungeon crawl, bro?

That's all for now. Gnome, out.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Review - Ezio Shows His Age

I'm a long time fan of Assassin's Creed. I didn't have a 360 or PS3 when the original game released, but by the time the game became an Platinum Hit, I was able to pick it up.

I fell in love.

I now fully understand the that it's was a flawed glory. However, my first play sessions with AC1 were amazing. I literally stopped and just looked. It was one of the most beautifully rendered games I had seen.

This took my breath away in 2008.

This franchise is now four installments older and (generally) wiser. In fact, I recently completed my time with the fourth major installment, Assassin's Creed: Revelations. While I found the experience to be fun and fulfilled my AC itch, I came away with mixed feelings.

AC2 and AC:B focused on Ezio's vendetta with the Borgia family. That was a great story line filled with intrigue, betrayal, and other duplicity (not to mention incest!). AC:R fast-forwards to Ezio's later years, after spending decades as the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood. He has found himself deeply interested in Altaïr's connection to the Pieces of Eden. As someone who has played all the console entries of the series, this was interesting for me. Though the Altaïr segments seem fragmented with little to connect them, it was great to see the ways that he had influenced the order for the centuries to come. Additionally, the story concludes in a way that aligns both Altaïr and Ezio as peers and precursors who know they are ultimately meant to deliver a message to a man they know nothing about.

With that said, Revelations felt extremely short. It took me little over 20 hours to complete 1000G gamerscore worth of achievements, including multiplayer and excluding any DLC. Much of this time was spent achieving 100% sync within all missions, collecting MacGuffins (memoir pages, data fragments, treasures, etc), and managing my Assassin empire. Personally, I focused on the story missions up through Sequence 4, at which point I stopped to do all of my collecting and such. Once I decided to return to the main story, I completed the remaining sequences in about 2-3 hours. Stripping away all of the side missions and objectives, one could conceivably complete the main story in 5-7 hours. While I am not one to criticize the length of a game's main storyline, the length of this entry did not seem proportionate to those that came before. There are a few great twists involving Subject 16 and a wrongful death, but these come and go so quickly.

Bombs are an interesting addition to Ezio's arsenal, but really do very little to change his effectiveness.  Distracting guards is all well and good, but Splinter Cell this is not.

Despite the brevity of the main quest, Revelations is packed full of so much optional content that you will not be without something to do. Assassin missions and city district control metagames are expanded greatly, including the ability to install assassins in foreign cities, assign your more advanced recruits as den masters in Constantinople, and even defend your dens against Templar assaults. As fun as these are, I did run into some control issues. Many times, I found it difficult to know exactly which assassin I was installing in which place. The den defense minigame was also not without it's faults. Units did not feel very different from each other, and the difficulty spiked rather quickly, though it was not insurmountable.

Though the shock has worn off and I have acclimated to the current generation's graphical fidelity and capability, Revelations is still generally a good-looking game. From a distance, that is. When you get close to character models, such as Sulieman's hands when he is playing chess with his uncle, things get awfully...well...lumpy. It's the only word I can come up with. Facial animations are definitely not the best of the Ezio trilogy, either. Part of the issue is also the locations themselves. During the game, you spend time in Constantinople, Masyaf, and Cappadocia. All three of these places are generally monochromatic. There is so much brown in Constantinople, you'll think you're playing Borderlands 1.

Never thought I'd say this, but I miss the purple and green of Florence.

The voicework on display here is on par with the rest of the Ezio games. Ezio's grizzled and gravelly voice does much to show his age. Also, the inclusion of John de Lancie as Desmond's father was a great addition.

Desmond's dad, everyone. *brohoof*

Multiplayer went through some changes, as well. The biggest change is that there is a story to multiplayer. You take the role of an Abstergo agent using the Animus to train your combat skills in order to hunt down assassins. Messages from Vidic are unlocked along the way, giving you more insight into the minds at Abstergo.

Instead of unlocking abilities as you level up, there is now a currency system in place and new unlocks have to be purchased using this new currency. I have mixed feelings on this system, but it does allow you to have more control over what you get and what you don't. You can relegate less desirable abilities for later and focus on the more useful ones that fit your playstyle. Character personalization is back with some added features, such as taunts. There are a few new game modes, but they don't evolve the existing formula much beyond what it already was.

Overall, Revelations continues the tradition of each AC game creating it's own voice. That voice may be well worn with the ravages of time, but it is still unique. Though the setting harkens back to AC1 while the story and features feel more like AC2 and AC:B, Revelations uses this juxtaposition to bring Altaïr, Ezio and Desmond together in a more cohesive manner than has been done previously. The lauded "answers" that were promised in the AC:R marketing seem to be relatively minor, to be honest. More of my questions have been answered in the first hours of AC3 than they were in Revelations. I had a good time with this game, but I would not say it's a must play for all. If you're a big fan of the series, I'd say play it. But, it's not entirely necessary.

Final Score: 8/10

Logo!

Booyakasha!

Thanks to the wonderful talents of my good friend Anissa Bryant...I have a logo!

Please take the time to visit her art page to see her other work.
https://www.facebook.com/AnissaBryantArt

She's currently attempting to do one sketch or drawing every day. As far as I know, she's not missed a single one. If she did, she made up for it later.
http://anissabryant.tumblr.com/

She has some pieces available for sale as well! Check out her Etsy page here:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnissaBryant

Gnome, out.

Farewell and Thanks For All The Games

In case you've been in an ice cave with your feet frozen to the ceiling (watch out for the Wampa!), the gaming world experienced a great loss last week. Disney, who purchased LucasFilm in Oct. 2012, has decided to close LucasArts. Gamers my age and older fondly remember LucasArts for many things, especially point-and-click adventure games like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, and Grim Fandango. Aside from this, many other gamers will be more familiar with the myriad Star Wars games the studio developed and distributed: KOTOR, the Battlefront series, Rogue Squadron, Jedi Knight/Academy and many others.

I am personally devastated by this news. Granted, LucasArts has been struggling for years. Lagging game sales, mediocre reviews, and revolving leadership have been telltale signs that something has been amiss for some time. It seems that many of the people involved had a feeling something like this was coming, and were not terribly surprised. Regardless, gamers are generally quite upset about this course of action -- including myself.

Let's pause for a second.

I completely understand that Disney is a for-profit business. In fact, they are a business that has not had a good track record with video games. This business obtained a video game publisher. Publisher has not been performing well for a while and was not showing any signs that this was going to change. The business had to make a choice. Should they keep a failing developer/publisher open and risk hemorrhaging money, or close it and cut it's losses? The "business" decision is clear.

Am I upset? You bet you shiny metal ass.

Did Disney make a good, sound business decision? Sure.

Here's the official statement made by Disney about their decision:

"After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles."

Basically, LucasArts is dead and Disney is planning to licence third parties to make games for franchises that LucasArts had previously owned. The question now is: what's going to happen to all of these beloved franchises?

At first thought, and going by the fact that Disney has officially stated that the two current Star Wars games that were in development have been cancelled, things don't look good. It appears that many of the franchises which made LucasArts a gaming staple will be lost. Personally, I didn't grow up with most of the LucasArts adventure games. I played a revamped Monkey Island back on my PS2, but that was about it. Largely speaking, I was exposed to most of their later Star Wars games. Even at that, I'm incredibly sad about losing much of the studio's legacy.

Disney's track record with video games also fills me with dread. Even after two moderately successful Mickey Mouse games, they still closed Junction Point. Warren Spector be damned, apparently. Add in the reports that Disney never completed setting up LucasArts employees with benefits, it feels like Disney is dead set against in-house game development and publishing.

(See what I did there?)

...then I think about it more. And maybe this isn't the worst thing ever. Licensing old LucasArts franchises instead of in-house development might work out better in the long run. If you look at the history of the Star Wars franchise, at least, the best games were NOT developed by LucasArts; only published by them. Jedi Knight II was developed by Raven, Battlefront by Pandemic, KOTOR by BioWare, and X-Wing by Totally Games. These are arguably some of the best Star Wars games ever made. On the other hand, Force Unleashed was made in-house by LucasArts and got very mixed reviews. Star Wars Kinect was also developed in-house by LucasArts...and we all know how that turned out.

Though the official statement is that the current in-development games Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: Frontal Assault are canceled, perhaps there is a chance that someone else will pick them up. There certainly seem to be some conflicting reports about this. After all, it's not completely unheard of. Sleeping Dogs began development as True Crime: Hong Kong. At some point, Activision decided to cancel the game, but Square Enix picked up the rights to it and saw it through to completion and publication. The end product received generally positive reviews, but it was not exactly a stand-out. While this precedent is not exactly promising, it does point to a possible path for these canceled Star Wars games that were generating quite a bit of buzz.

As for the old-school LucasArts adventure game IPs, the road might be a bit rougher. As pointed out by some of the editors at GameInformer, the financial returns on the adventure game franchises like Monkey Island are not huge. So, the chances of these game seeing the light of day again are questionable. Maybe Disney will refuse to sell these or license them out to avoid losing money; but at the same time, Disney could sell them if they see no long-term value in them. We can hope for the latter.

...I'm so...nervous...
(and maybe a little constipated)

One way or another, the reality is that LucasArts is now only a legacy of the video game industry. Some people are now starting to guess (read: dream) what developers may try to license and develop some of the previous LucasArts properties. As far as Star Wars games go, I think this list is pretty well thought out. I love the idea of DICE taking on the Battlefront formula, but I think RockSteady would be a great fit for both Jedi Knight and Star Wars 1313. Since they are not doing the new Batman game...well, my mind wanders. As far as the adventure games go, I think Tell Tale and Double Fine are obvious choices for most of these. Perhaps Ron Gilbert will try to reclaim some of his babies, someday. Let's not forget that Kickstarter may turn out being an unexpected wrinkle in all of this, too.

Gnome, out.

The ESRB: Bringing Out the Big Guns, or Pandering to the Masses?

We all know violence in video games has been an issue for a long time. I won't bother linking any documents here, because you're a big boy/girl who can use Google for him/herself.

Through all of this, one of the things that seems to be forgotten by most people who are not as closely associated with the gaming industry as people like I am is the Entertainment Software Ratings Bureau. Just as films have a ratings board, so does the gaming industry. There is a clear rating system and reasons for why a given title got the rating it was given. Even Europe has PEGI, which fulfills the same function.

As a parent, I've always felt that we parents should be involved in the games we and our children play. Even parents who are not gamers, it is in your child's best interests that you at least somewhat understand what they are playing. The reason being that even though not true causal link has been observed between violent games and increased aggression in people, all media has an effect on us. These effects can be either positive (e.g. increased hand-eye coordination, problem solving, or even fighting dyslexia) or negative (increased levels of frustration mixed with adrenaline can lead to some lashing out -- ask any gamer and they have probably thrown a controller in frustration at some point). Regardless, there has been a ratings system in place for decades to provide parents and other consumers a guideline about the content of a game. But, most politicians are either unaware of this system or think it is ineffective.

As a result, the ESRB has decided to make a change to marketing requirements for games. To summarize, trailers for Mature-rated games will soon be required to provide a clear ratings statement at the beginning of said trailers. It is being likened to the green "this preview has been approved for all audiences" ribbon at the beginning of most movie trailers:

The general consensus I've noticed in comments on various sites is that this change is regarded as pointless. Personally, I really like this change. Making this disclaimer appear more like the MPAA rating screen will likely make the ESRB rating screen more accessible. More Americans are used to the MPAA rating system and making the ESRB rating resemble it as best as it can will somewhat equate the two in the minds of an audience. In these examples, though, there are not details or reasons for the rating like there are in the MPAA screen or as they appear on a game box. I hope to see that in here, too.

One of the possibly unintended side-effects of this is that game developers and distributors may start to do a gaming-version of a "red band" trailer. This hasn't appeared to have any effect on the movie industry, though with the emphasis on violent games in today's culture, the gaming industry better step carefully before doing something like that.

There are some other ramifications of these new rules, such as allowing game websites to now show ESRB ratings next to ratings by other ratings boards like PEGI. I can understand not wanting ratings that are not necessarily equivalent to be shown next to each in order to minimize confusion. However, as the article states, many websites weren't showing ratings at all. Lifting this regulation now allows websites to show all ratings, which is better than showing none whatsoever.

Glad to see that the ESRB is trying to change up their game. Kudos!

Gnome out.

Player? I hardly know her!

My wife and I got the collector's edition of Tomb Raider last week. I'm busy digging into AC3 (finally), but she's been having a blast with it. I can already tell, even without touching it, that I'm going to love it when I get around to playing it.

Lara Croft has always been an interesting character and gaming icon. She's had her ups and downs, certainly, and it seems that Crystal Dynamics has found a formula for her that works in the modern gaming market. Sure, it may borrow heavily from Assassin's Creed and 3rd Person shooters, but there is a reason those games work and are popular. I hope to see a bit more focus on tomb raiding in future games that is more along the lines of the original games, but that will have to be a balance CD will have to strike on their own.

As a character, though, I can still see a bit of Old Lara in New Lara. They do seem like very different people, though. At the end of the game, Lara expresses a motivation for her raiding of tombs that seems different than what is has been in the past. I'm still waiting for the coy and aloof Lara we came to know, but maybe that will never happen. I'd just hate for her to be stuck as a tragic heroine forever.

New Lara in all her gritty and bloody glory. This girl takes a serious beating and keeps on going.

I think the gaming world's eyes are on Lara right now, since she is one of the only widely-recognizable female protagonists in gaming, and her reinvented persona/image has everyone curious. It seems developers are already getting the third degree about female protagonists. OXM recently discussed a female protagonist with Epic Games. According to the interview, Epic doubts that they will be making a female protagonist the focus of any future Gears entries. For one, I think this is a shame. While I don't think a character has to be "butch" to counteract the stigma that they have to be sexy to be entertaining, I think GoW3 did a good job of providing an alternative to the traditional model.

A bikini and a belt? All the protection an adventurer needs!
Also, what is up with that right wrist!?

The issue of female characters in video games is not just about sexiness or clothing (or lack thereof), though. Their portrayal and personality is equally important, if not more so. A game could be chock full of women clad is reasonable clothing or armor, but if they remain weak, subservient, or otherwise less interesting than their male counterparts, the effort is wasted. For an example of this, we need to look no further than Metroid: Other M. Samus Aran is arguably runner-up in terms of popularity and notoriety (ignoring the fact that hardly anyone knew she was a woman in the first Metroid game, due to her armor). Due to the distinct lack of sexualization of her character, she has been one of the more respectable and empowered women in video games. The Metroid Prime trilogy is one of my favorite examples of how a female protagonist should be portrayed in a game. However, Other M got harangued by critics because the upgrade/progression "system" in the game undermined decades of her character development as a strong woman. Though she is outfitted with all the tools she needs to do her job from the first moment the player takes control of her, she is limited in their use by her male CO. Abbie Heppe from the now nearly-extinct G4TV explains:

In the world of Other M, Samus stumbles upon her old Galactic Federation squad mates while answering a distress call on a seemingly abandoned vessel. Among the people she encounters is her former captain, Adam Malkovich. In the most contrived manner possible, Samus loses her special abilities. How? She opts not to use them. Why? She wants to show Adam she can follow orders.
Yes, that’s right. The woman who in the first five minutes of the game gives the squad access to the ship by using her missiles is restricted from using her abilities -- some which could open a path or save her life in the future -- until a bland male character dictates it to her. She does this because she likes him, but only as a friend.
No matter what way you rationalize this mechanic, when you're 10 minutes into the lava sector and you can't use your Varia Suit yet, you will understand how painfully stupid this plot device is.

In short, you're asked to forget that Samus has spent the last 10-15 years on solitary missions ridding the galaxy of Space Pirates, saving the universe and surviving on her own as a bounty hunter. Instead, Other M expects you to accept her as a submissive, child-like and self-doubting little girl that cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man.  (http://www.g4tv.com/games/wii/61992/Metroid-Other-M/review/)

While I tend to believe this was not necessarily an intentional decision made developer Team Ninja, it does make me believe that developers sometimes do not fully consider the impact of their storytelling and design decisions.

That's it, Samus. A thumbs-down will show them you mean biz-nass.

Despite the debacle that was Metroid: Other M, the current gaming generation has produced many attempts at female protagonists. Games such as WET, Velvet Assassin, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, Heavy Rain, and Bayonetta have all attempted this with varying results. However, my favorites have been Mirror's Edge and Heavenly Sword. Faith and Nariko are both strong women who are only moderately sexualized, though Nariko is more sexualized than Faith. Previous generations also gave us Cate Archer of No One Lives Forever and Jade of Beyond Good and Evil. Again, two moderately sexualized characters with strong, independent, and commanding personalities. All four of these characters starred in good games, too. The formula can work. But, it's up to the developer to make it happen. This is all part of the reason I hope Remember Me can make it big, and why I'm happy Tomb Raider has turned out as good as it has.

Nilin will hack your brain while kicking your ass. Sure, she may be wearing really tight clothes, but she's no Bayonetta.

Case in point.

Besides often being over-sexualized and portrayed as weak, women also tend to get the crazy roles in video games. I was reminded of this when I came across an announced project by Keiji Inafune, wherein he has invented a fictional niece for himself. As his niece, you are forced to take part in a terrorist's twisted games in order to save your "uncle's" theme park. But, here's the kicker: It's an otome game, so there will be plenty of flirting and melodrama.

It's definitely not the weirdest otome game I've heard of, but it's up there.

That's all for now. Gnome, out.