Danimal, Modern Booty: Pirates Destroying Their Platform

By: Dan Wise aka Danimal

There was a time long ago, when developers could make PC games without worrying too much about piracy. In today’s age of high end PCs, the owners of these computers are seemingly killing their own platform. The PC market is still alive, but publishers are feeling threatened for releasing hotly anticipated titles for the platform. Gamers will buy systems that cost anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000+ and they have the know-how for pirating games. Console gamers are much more numerous and the consoles cost hundreds less, so they feel no need to pirate games. Some console gamers have the ability to pirate software, but it’s a much more complicated process than for PC software.

The ramifications of these actions are being felt all throughout the game industry as Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games claimed in an interview with Total Video Games, “The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know [BitTorrent] to know all the elements so they can pirate software.” His method for combating the piracy issue is to completely cut off PC development. He stated in the interview that they will not develop Gears of War 2 for PC. This makes sense, if the cost for developing the game (even if it is a port) does not meet with the profit goals, then the only option left is to cut the losses.

Crytek felt the effects of rampant pirating earlier this year when the released Crysis exclusively on the PC. While the game sold a respectable one million copies, the game’s business manager Harald Steeley stated in an Edge-Online article that “the level of piracy was the highest of any I’ve experienced on a project.” Crytek’s president Cevat Yerli could not reveal any specific numbers, but he made a comparison between console sales and PC sales. “Similar games on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more,” he said in an interview with PC Play. 

The PC market seems like an oddball market at times. The gamer base of the market is one of the most loyal in the industry. Ask any PC gamer where their loyalties lie, and they will tell you PC any day of the week. They will often scoff at console gamers, holding themselves on a pedestal claiming that their games are the pinnacle of excellence. At the same time, these gamers are very intelligent and they know that if there is a work-around for attaining a game, they will take it. Piracy was rampant in the late 1990′s with the release of CD-RWs and PC developers fought this with CD keys. That strategy worked for a time, but the Internet has turned to be both a great ally and an insidious foe. With the introduction of P2P and Bit Torrent in the 2000s, there is no stopping the pirates.

I miss the day when my economy class computer could run the titles that were popular, but today it seems as though the companies only care about pushing the graphical envelop. The tech industry is obsessed with one-upping everything that is released. Games from major studios are always lauded as a “halo killer” which scares me somewhat. Why are companies striving to one-up each other instead of making quality titles? What happened to the days where games could be great without a ton of visual flair? Star Craft is nearing the decade mark in its life span, and yet I still pop in the game because I think it is fun. I will admit that I am not innocent when it comes to this matter, but I will say that I have bought nearly every game I have ever owned. I buy games either because I like the developer, or that it meets my preferences for what a good game is. I will not claim to have an answer to solve this problem, but I can only suggest that more attention should be directed towards game play than graphics. If they can do this, then they could cover the cost of the titles that do get pirated. If more people are able to play your game, then you are bound to sell more titles. Piracy will always be a problem, but there are ways to avert disaster.

Danimal: Feature Game: Dead Space

By: Daniel Wise

In this week’s episode of the Cherry Chocolate Podcast, I told about the upcoming release of EA’s Dead Space. The title is currently being developed by EA Redwood Shores, in California. It is expected to be released on October 14 in the US, and October 24th in Europe. The lead protagonist of Dead Space is Isaac Clarke, an engineer who is assigned to investigate the Ishimura, an interstellar mining ship that has lost all forms of communication. Once on board the ship, Clarke discovers that he is in more danger than he can possibly imagine.

In terms of game play, Dead Space appears to play very similarly to Resident Evil 4, which was released for the Nintendo Game Cube in 2005. The game was lauded as a masterpiece for its reinvention of the platitudinous franchise. Dead Space is hoping to follow in the tracks of Resident Evil 4 by giving the same 3rd person, behind-the-back camera angle, rancid environments and nightmare inducing enemies. It would be easy to assume that the game is just merely trying to repackage the RE 4 experience in an intergalactic environment, but EA has been trying to fit enough innovation into the game to make it an experience all its own.

Electronic Gaming Monthly Editor, Shane Bettenhausen viewed the game with the same insipid skepticism that most gamers have when they approach a clear rip-off of a successful franchise. Before E3 2008 he commented, “Early demonstrations of Dead Space made it seem like a gimmicky, piecemeal affair that liberally borrowed even gimmickier concepts from competing titles.” The game featured everything that has been tried before in video games from bullet-time to getting rid of the on-screen HUD.

Even with all the borrowed gaming clichés, there has to be something that EA could do to make the game stand out besides having the EA pedigree. In an E3 2008 demo, Shane was shown a level that is featured later in the game and he came away completely impressed. “This area provides an excellent showpiece for the game’s diverse enemy roster, creative weaponry, and clever antigravity jumping-puzzle bits.”

One of the features that EA is banking heavily on is the concept of interactive cut scenes. These are not typical Simon says button-timed sequences, nor are they simply cut scenes where the player really has no part in at all (ex. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater). The player is actually performing in a cut scene, and based on how well they do in that scene, they will either live or die. I will admit that at first glance these seem like button-timed sequences, but 1up.com interviewed senior producer, Chuck Beaver to elaborate on the interactive cut-scenes.

1UP: Back at E3, you showed a scene where the player is getting pulled through a tunnel — it was an interactive cut-scene. How many of those are we going to see, besides that one?

Chuck Beaver: That’s kind of a complicated scene where it looks like it’s going to be a movie, but you’ve actually got control of the gameplay, and you’re actually playing through that whole sequence. And then, depending on how poorly you do at the end, you have this small moment where you get this spectacular death. As far as those types of sequences go — where you end up with a small, spectacular death — there’s actually a lot. Isaac can die in a practically infinite number of ways because he can be dismembered almost everywhere, just like the enemies can. So, depending on what’s happening to you, you can have a lot of that happening.

Upgrading is paramount to Isaac’s survival in Dead Space. Nearly everything from his arsenal, to his health can be upgraded. Isaac has a choice on whether or not to upgrade, but Mr. Beaver goes on to explain, “It’s entirely your choice. If you don’t upgrade anything, toward the end of the game, it’s going to be hard because the enemies get harder. But there are no awful path blockers that are based on upgrades.”

Another feature of Dead Space is Gravity. At certain points in the game, Isaac will have to leave the Ishimura and space walk. His space suit is equipped with magnetic soles on his boots, but if a player misses their mark while jumping from platform to platform, they can essentially fall into the depths of space. The weaponry is standard for survival horror games, but every weapon seems to have some unique twist. In a preview for Game Spy, Gabe Graziani describes a machine gun with three barrels that spins laterally. “When held over his head, Isaac can use the spinning barrels to unleash a hail of lead in 360 degrees.” The weapons also display ammo capacity as a holograph just over the barrel. This serves to limit the on-screen HUD to further immerse the player.

Combat in Dead Space is not typical for a survival horror game or any shooter. The enemies will adapt to how you play. Depending on what body parts you shoot off of the creatures, they will switch their stance or even sprout new body parts. Glen Schofield, executive producer states, “The primary theme of Dead Space is dismemberment.” The creatures that Isaac will face in Dead Space are grotesqueries known as necromorphs. Necromorphs are humans who have fallen victim to a disease that mutates them into horrible creatures. The characteristics of this disease are different from anything that science has discovered. In a preview on IGN.com by Jeff Haynes, he explains that the disease can only infect those that are already dead and the transformation is disturbing to say the least.

Dead Space is one of the most hotly anticipated titles for the Fall and it is coming up to some serious competition in Guitar Hero: World Tour and Gears of War 2. For those that need their horror fix, this is the game to check out.

Before I end this article, I will leave you with a video that shows exactly what this game is all about.

To live without “that”

Who could ever think of it? Who could ever suggest that it would happen? Who could ever think that I, the one and only dech2410 could do it? But even worse, who could ever know that I haven’t done it for over 3 months? And no, I’m not talking about THAT, you dirty-minded person. What I am talking about is the thing that a lot of people worship the most.

All happened after the summer vacation. After 10 weeks of non-stop working and gaming, working and gaming, and repeating that a lot of times, my new study called “bachelor of organic synthesis and microbiology” kicked off. Finally, no more frustrating teachers, no more history, geography and all that crap. Just the things I like. And of course, a study costs money, so I maintained my job as vegetable-salesman in a supermarket to fund everything. My hobbies like music and sports fill the evening, and Sunday is of course the time to spend with my beloved family. So, and of course in that time one of my biggest hobbies kind of got lost in time. Being a busier person, gaming dropped from hobby #4 to hobby #76. At this point, my Wii stands dusty and non-attached next to my even dustier television in my dusty mess which we call a bedroom. The only two things that I use in that room are my computer and my bed. And why? Because there is absolutely no time for anything else. But Dennis, can’t you do the other things in your holidays? Uhm, unfortunately, then I have to work, since I can’t pay all the other things just by my study funds. A decent student from Leiden needs money for clothing, food, Saturday nights off, presents for birthdays, my website, vacations, music, drinks, family, school supplies, study communities and so on. All with all, that kind of leaves me with 20 euro a month, not even enough to buy a MMORPG-subscription for a month. Still wanting to buy a game that gives my bank account a nice red color. Which proves that time is money. Unfortunately…

is money, money is time, that’s the way life is, that’s the way the cookie crumbles and that’s the way my spare time is gone. So I’m not gaming anymore at all. I’m not even having time to write this column, but hey, I’m in the train to home, coming back from school anyway. Notebooks, what an invention. From one point of view, it saddens me not to hear the great music from the games, not to play the most addictive games alive, and not to satisfy my need to grab a controller and having to play. On the other hand, it isn’t a problem at all. In return, I got so much nice hobbies that I don’t even think about gaming anymore. But every time I’m in my room, looking at that poor console, I miss it too. But hey, what’s the point; I don’t have money for that stupid thing. But still, I miss it. What to do?

At this point, there is nothing to do about it at all. We’ll just wait for that moment, that my spare time will come back to me again. Embrace your spare time while you have it, enjoy it, and use it wisely. And if you don’t have money, why spending it? Gaming isn’t fitting in my life at this moment. We’ll just wait, wait really long for it.

To live without it… I never thought it would be this hard…

Gameholic: Addicted for life?

When I’m with my friends drinking in a pub or at home we talk about lots of things. Of course one of the most spoken subjects are games. But that might not surprise you, because you are reading a column on gaming site. Sometimes my friends laugh and tell me I’m too obsessed with gaming. They tell me I can’t talk about anything else. And that’s my subject for this week here at Nisute; addiction.

When are you addicted to gaming? At first, I think it’s pretty difficult to admit we are actually addicted. But if I analyse myself I can make an conclusion I’m an serious addict, unfortunately.
Lets analyse the behaviour of a addicted gamer, in this case, myself:

- Owning all consoles that are on the market (and let’s not forget retro stuff)
- Playing games more than 4 hours a day;
- Staying at home in the weekends to meet up with your digital friends on Xbox Live (or other online consoles), instead of drinking beers with your mates downtown;
- Sporadically watching TV or movies;
- Checking the internet several times a day for groundbreaking game news and forums;
- Spending at least 300 euros (average) a month on games, limited/special edition consoles, handhelds and other gaming related stuff;
- Finishing games and getting better high scores are more important than your daily school work;
- Being at work or school and thinking of strategies I can use in a game;
- Having consoles in every room of your house, which results in a lack of space;
- Going on vacation and always take a console or handheld with me;
- Playing Super Monkey Ball with your girlfriend instead of playing with something else;
- Writing for game sites in your spare time.

That last one was of course a little joke, as writing about games is a nice excuse I can use if people say I game too much. I quote: “I have to play all these games because I have to develop my knowledge about gaming in order to write some decent articles, ok?!” Sounds good eh?

Sometimes I wonder were this addiction is leading to. Will I be a complete loser in my further adult life because I played too much games? Or will I get huge debts because I spent too much money on consoles? I really don’t know. As a matter in fact, I really don’t care. It’s better to be addicted to games than other stuff like smoking, drinking or even drugs. Am I not right? The troubles are starting when your getting isolated of the outer world.

Fortunately, I can say gaming doesn’t affect my social life in a bad way. I still have my friends, parties and other social and business meetings. Life goes on, you know! But sometimes it worries me a little bit because my life is all about gaming. That’s not a bad thing, but there’s more to explore in the world. But gaming is something that made me the person I am today, and I think I can be proud of that (really I’m serious!)

I hope that you as a reader can find yourself in this story. You don’t need to take it too serious, though, but just think of yourself. Can you say you are addicted? I know I am after making the above mentioned analysis. But as long our hobby doesn’t affect others I think it’s a harmless way of life.
So in the meantime I can still honour my gamerstag; Gameholic.

Maarten de Koning

Capz: So you want to be a Game Designer?

So you are a gamer, and you are looking for something that seems fun to do for a living. You have to go to school anyhow! Obviously, like most ‘core’ gamers you like the idea of making games a lot, and now you are here, reading my article on this exact subject. Hi there!

Let me first start off with this: making games is HARD. I kid you not! I often compare videogames with Formula 1. Formula 1 is one of the top, if not THE top of racing sports. To be the best, a huge team of designers and engineers, a whole range of specialists, work an entire year on a single car’s design, to optimize it, tune it, innovate it with new technologies in the engine and aerodynamics, using durable, strong, and light materials, and what not. These are the pioneers of the very latest car technologies. For this reason, a lot of regular card brands have their own teams, or are part of a team. The technology that pushes the Formula 1 cars forward from what we had yesterday is also very applicable to regular cars. Most regular car technology, in some way, shape or form comes from the racing world.

To be part of such a team of specialists that work with these huge budgets on these special cars, it would only make sense that you are VERY good in what you do. I mean, if they could pick between you, and 2000 other people, then you better make sure you can do things that none of the other people can do.

The exact same can be said of the gaming industry. Games are what pushes the computer industry to make and sell better hardware. If there were no games, then why would you upgrade your computer if it still runs pretty decent? Windows Vista and Apple Mac OS X use Direct X and OpenGL respectively for their graphics, which used to be used only for scientific and professional 3D renderings like visualisations, GC movies, and videogames. The PS3 Cell processor is being used in more and more general purpose devices like television sets (yes really), supercomputers, and linux servers, clusters, and what not. So videogames really have become the single driving factor of a large chunk of the PC industry.

Pushing technology is obviously a great thing, but it is also something very hard. You are doing things that nobody has done before, and are pretty complicated. You can see this increasing complexity very well if you look at the evolution of videogames up until the point where we are today.

take Metal Gear for example:

That is a HUGE difference, both in looks, and in how the game code works

Because of the complexity of the systems of even a simple game these days, a team of specialists to make it is needed, each member the best that the industry has to offer. But notice one thing; i did not say IT industry. This is because a lot of game creators didn’t start out with games in mind at all. They simply had the required skills from another field of expertise. Take Mr. Miyamoto and Will Wright for example. Miyamoto was originally an industrial designer, employed at a little toy company. His practical design skills came in handy when designing some of the very first videogames as we know them today. Will Wright, creator of Simcity, the Sims, and more recently, Spore, is originally an architectural designer, something you can very well see in his games. So as you can see, there are some pretty big names, if not the biggest names, in the gaming industry who are creating todays games, most coming from very specialistic backgrounds.

This brings me to the next point. Most gamers do not have a clear idea what being a game designer actually means. Similar to how most gamers are totally clueless on what a game engine is and does (even though they think they know). Game Designer is one of the least available jobs in the entire gaming world. There are a LOT (read: thousands) of people wanting to be a game designer, and only a couple positions open up every year. The game designer is responsible for coming up with new and exciting game concepts, game ideas if you will. It is their job to set up a game idea, document it to the tiniest detail, research if it’s marketable and make sure everything is consistent and provides a solid experience for the player. They find out if players would like to play the game idea, and create a simple playable board-style game so people can test the idea themselves for a bit. They also keep a close watch on the game as it is being developed, making sure everything works as originally intended. This is a job with great responsibility, since you are ‘given’ millions of euros/dollars, and the publisher and developer need to get that money back and make a nice profit on it. With the continuously rising development costs of each generation, this means there’s a lot of pressure to deliver something that sells. Which is why you see so many similar games these days. It takes guts to come up with something new, and if you do, and it doesn’t sell, then you can kiss your job goodbye.

Next to the game designer, there are more jobs for people creating games, like programmers for various systems, parts, networking, gameplay, etc of the game. Artists, who create all of the game’s visuals, concept artwork, the user interface, menus and screens, sound engineers, play-testers, managers, marketeers, and so on.

As a programmer, as listed above, there are a variety of things that you can do, from shader programming, gameplay programming (actually programming the gameplay, usually with an engine), engine/systems programming, networking, so the game client, and server software, a website, visual effects programming, and various tool-programmers (those level editors and such have to come from somewhere).

Now I can’t go into detail on all of these positions because I only know so much, but each of these jobs requires a certain kind of person, with a certain kind of skills, and if it were up to the company, more years of experience than years of age. However, you CAN find out if you like any of the programming jobs. Simply look online, apply for an online course, or buy a book, and learn programming in the C language. If you like it then you can start looking at which kind of direction you would like to go. Things like network and systems programming, as well as tools programming can be learned at most schools that offer programming courses. But the other programming directions also require you do do a general programming education before going into deeper into the specific stuff. On thing is key, though. You have to be good at mathematics, or be willing to put time and effort into becoming very good at mathematics. Either way, you need to be good at math by the time you leave school, period. Since game programmers are working some of the most complicated and advanced software on the market today, this is a VERY demanding job that requires you to make extra hours on almost every project you work on. (remember those pesky deadlines?)

As an artist, you are also facing steep competition, there is big money going round in the artwork of videogames, and players, publishers, and developers alike, only want the very best they can get. Like in programming, there are a number of standard positions; 2d concept artist, user interface artist, level/environment designer, character and vehicle modelers, and most likely a couple that i don’t know, or forgot (hey i am only a programmer, eh ). But one thing is certain; if you have a passion for art, drawing, and you are really good. then you can apply for a job at any games company, and they will simply hire you. even if there are no positions available. this is because really super good people are hard to get. Out of every 500 people who go to an interview for a game company, maybe one or two are interesting, and often, nobody is hired at all.
If you want to be a game artist, then regular art educations are mostly the best route. After that, like with the programmers, you can specialize in a certain direction, say 3D character modeling.

Most artists already are doing artwork in their free time, but if you are unsure, try drawing some things that interest you about games, like the characters of a random game, or vehicles, or weapons. Then get your hands on a 3D modeling application, and try to get familiar with it. Most game companies use either Maya or 3D Studio Max, so I can strongly suggest picking one of those. Once you understand how 3D modeling works, picking up another application shouldn’t be too hard. Personally i know some 3D Studio Max, and I know that at my new school they teach Maya. Maya is very similar to a LOT of the other 3D modeling tools though (maybe the other way around), and 3Ds Max is somewhat of an oddball in a sense that it doesn’t resemble any other 3D modeling app in they way you use it.

The last kind of job I will talk about is the game tester, or play-tester. Their job is to play a small section of the game at hand, and try out how it plays, and try to break it. This is a way to get into a games company, but personally it’s not something I would pick. I am not too fond of spending a full working week on a single level in a game, trying to find things that need to be improved. But I have heard from people who ended up at a ‘normal’ position in a game company after being a tester for a long time.

I am very much aware of the ‘game schools’ that are popping up everywhere in the past few years. I have gone though one, and am currently in another one. But in general, it’s better to avoid them completely. Just focus on being amazingly good in one specific area, and wait for a position to open up, or start your own company.

Most of these game jobs, you can already try out yourself at home. It might not be fancy, but it works, and it is realistic. One of the main requirements is also simply loving games. but i think you already have that at this point

Side-effects of making games.

Yes, there ARE side-effects of making videogames. for example, you start seeing errors and glitches, both in graphics and code/logic a LOT more than before. And since you spend your day analyzing your own games, you will start analyzing other peoples games as well. Also be prepared to lose a lot of free time, do a chuck of extra time to meet a deadline. And finally, playing games will never be as much fun as before, and it will never play the same either. You become much more critical about your expectations of videogames. However, the other side of the story is that almost everyone in this industry is a nice person, you all have a similar area of interests. And the atmosphere is generally very casual and friendly, sometimes a bit random and geeky, but it’s all good fun. Which is what a good job should be like!

GekiritZ: Games and parenting

“Have they all gone batshit insane?”

Working in a store selling computers, notebooks and consumer electronics (including games and associated gear), I see your average John/Jane Doe coming in and asking me about and/or buying their whining, nagging children a new videogame or Nintendo DS. Nothing special, am I right?

Let’s roll back a decade or two.

It was around my sixth birthday that I’d been fooling around on my father’s computer for around two years then, playing games such as Alleycat, StarGoose and the classical Tetris. That’s when I saw it… The awesome Nintendo Entertainment System. It worked with a plastic cartridge, like, a huge, sturdy floppydisk of shiny goodness and joy, that you jammed into this grey, black and red monstrosity that swallowed the damn thing whole, and lo and behold, it magically portrayed interactive moving characters on your TV! In full color!

Being the little computerjunkie that I was (and still am, mind you), I begged and pleaded my daddy to get me one for my birthday. The answer was a resolute ‘YES! My son!”, followed by a less pleasing; “IF… you turn in your life savings, wash cars around the block for a week or two and do some extra chores around the house!”,. A NES cost around 250 guilders back in the day, a solid 100 euros in today’s standards. I had 50 guilders in my piggy bank which I gladly handed over, and a total of 12 cars and two weeks doing the dishes, which I, not so gladly, took care of.

The sweat on my brow and the sorrowfull black hole that now stared me back in the eye from the bottom of my piggybank were a reminder that if you want something good in life, you have to get up and earn it.

Back to the present day.

I asked if it were anything special that a parent buys his kid a Nintendo DS, right? Here’s the thing… it’s not, anymore. Just out of curiosity and aiming at selling a little bit extra on the side, I inquired on what occasion the little youngster was getting a shiny new DS. The answer was; “He passed his swimming exam…”,. I smiled, wrapped the little box up in giftwrapping along with Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for DS and handed it over to the young mother, I’m guessing she had to be in her early 30′s.

That’s when my gears started grinding. I remembered passing my swimming exam and getting five guilders so I could go and buy myself icecream, or a big bag of sweets! Awesome! Icecream!!! Sweets! And what do they get now? A Nintendo DS? 5 guilders (2 euros) worth of candy is 150 euros worth of gaming goodness today?

Another nice example, again concerning the immensely popular Nintendo DS. Again, I’m faced with a young couple, begin 30′s, perhaps even late 20′s. They were walking around the store, looking around for a new digital camera. With them were two children. One around 3 years old, the other clearly around 10 years of age, both boys. The older of the two got tired of the cameras real quick and wandered off to the games. The younger brother, however, sticked around his parents, obviously shy and introverted. A few minutes later, the older kid came running to his parents, in his hands the latest Pokémon Mystery Dungeon for DS.

A barrage of sobbing and whining unfolded. I mean, seriously, take The Escapist’s Zero Punctuation, add a cartload of whine and rinse it down with a familypack of crocodile tears. And… get this… the parents cracked after a mere two (!) minutes, inspecting the game’s case in an uninterested glance and walked up to the counter. “Could you ring this up? Gotta do something to keep him quiet, right?”,. Of course, the younger brother picked up on what was going on, pointed at the game and broke into tears mid-sentence, yelling out; “Me toooo-hooohooooooohoooooo”,

Yes, the parents broke, AGAIN, rolled their eyes, and kindly asked me if I could point out a nice game for a boy his age. I quickly pointed out a kiddy-friendly game, hell if I can remember which, and added it to their receipt. The parents sighed in relief, said they’ll return without the kids for a camera, and left.

The second they were gone, I thought to myself; “Have parents gone batshit INSANE?”.

Not only do they exaggerate any little accomplishment to an epic achievement of a lifetime of anguish and willpower, they also make it clear to their kids that if they ever want anything, all they have to is whine and cry. Kid crying like no tomorrow? Easy! Give the little tyke a DS, jam in a Pokémon game and go back to watching TV or driving to granny. It’s a sad, sad development.

As gaming evolves, it seems that parenting has DEvolved. Let’s hope the current, digital, generation will treat their offspring otherwise.

Author: Stijn van den Corput / GekiritZ

GekiritZ: FallOut 3, War… War never changes… or does it?

Author: Stijn van den Corput / GekiritZ

Fallout 3, the newest game in the franchise that started with the immensely popular isometric perspective turnbased-combat action RPG, Fallout. A game based on a world bathed in the glow of a nuclear fallout, distinguished by it’s retro, art-deco feel in a modern day setting and gritty, dark themes. Looking through some previews from Bethesda’s throw at continuing the legacy left behind by the now defunct Black Isle Studios (the original creators of Fallout), the first thing anyone who has played the first two canonical installments will say is; “OMFG IT’S AN FPS NOW!”,. Based on what I’ve seen I can only say two things… Yes, and no.

If you’ve ever played Fallout or Fallout 2, you’d remember that it was difficult to actually brand it with a genre. It had the intense combat seen in turnbased action games, it brought along a compelling and nonlinear storyline seen in RPG’s, it offered a large playing area which you were free to roam at whim, it had elements of a sim-game and touches of adult games. It also incorporated a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck) system of character creation and advancement, with perks, traits, tag skills and stats. Perks were added benefits gained when reaching a certain level, and they influenced ways you could interact, your combat effectiveness or other skills. Traits were quirks associated with your persona, most of them having both a positive and negative effect, like the “Jinxed” trait, which would make your, but also your enemies’ weapons and attacks fail on them more often, jamming and exploding a lot, or tripping over when delivering that final punch. Tag skills were skills you excelled in, and they leveled up all the faster than other skills (which were aplenty in the game).

Fallout was, when it was released, an entirely new game and genre on it’s own, with so many distinct things that stood out from other games, most of all, it all just ‘felt’ right. Everything seemed to fall into place. The isometric perspective gave the game just that right feel. The characters were rounded and solid pieces of work, even those with little dialogue seeped personality. The world you roamed really breathed that whole post-nuclear fifties’ art-deco atmosphere through the 640×480 window you played in.

Looking at Fallout 3, however, it seems the genreblend has gone a little astray. Using an adaptation of their very own Oblivion-engine, Bethesda has turned from an isometric perspective, to a first- or thirdperson view. Footage showing combat reveal a more shooter-oriented approach at Fallout’s RPG-like roots. Turnbased combat has given way for realtime shootouts. So yes, in a sense, when it all boils down to what Fallout made Fallout, it’s become an FPS. Or has it?

Where we might have lost the isometric perspective and the turnbased combat that so distinctly gave Fallout it’s feel, we’ve gained a whole lot more, and perhaps some of it has been gained for the better. But first, let’s look at what’s left from the original Fallout before Bethesda got it’s hands on it.

First off, the S.P.E.C.I.A.L.-system makes a comeback, along with perks, traits and (tag) skills. Using Oblivion’s own RPG-engine, modified to work and react like the original Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L.-system, it seems they might have made combat realtime, but retain that authentic Fallout-way of offing your opponents. To add up to that fun, the much-loved V.A.T.S (Vault Assisted Targeting System) also returns, enabling you to pause combat, and take aim at specific bodyparts or weakspots to inflict either massive, critical damage, or to incapacitate opponents. Another nice new addition is that nuclear-wasteland-survival is taken to a new level, as the player is presented with the oppurtunity to combine and transform seemingly useless trash into new items and weapons. Combining a lunchbox with bottlecaps, a radio transmitter and a dismantled grenade will get you a remote controlled shrapnell bomb.

Also, Fallout’s ‘graphic’ depictions of an enemy dying has also been preserved, or even enhanced, if you take the ragdoll-physics in account. Decapacitations, dismemberment, wounds and broken bones, it’s all there. So is it merely an FPS? No… Not really… it’s more an FPS than it used to be an allround genrebender, but it’s still a genrebender at heart, incorporating a lot of good things from many good genres and giving it it’s own greasy post-nuclear coating.

The gameplay footage also shows the game’s environment and UI, including the improved PIPBOY interface, a handy wristmounted computer that serves as your all-in-one-wonder solution for character development, quest logging, environment mapping, inventory management, health monitoring and various other functions. But I digress… If you were to take the classic isometric perspective view of the original Fallout, make it full-3D, a lot sunnier, a flair of Morrowind/Oblivion and polish it up with HD graphics, you wouldn’t be far off from an allround description. Although many old players would have to get used to the way the world is depicted, many agree that it still breathes the same atmosphere it did back when the minimal system requirements were a Pentium 100MHz. The characters still come across as stereotypical yet charismatic individuals, and the vault, the towns and the wastelands look like a direct transition from the isometric original to an enhanced theedimensional translation. Hats off to Bethesda for pulling that one clean off the bat.

What remains to be said, however, is how the final product will live up to it’s legendary predecessors. Bethesda has quite a challenge revitalizing such an old franchise. They’re both burdened by the prominent fanbase of the series, who want Fallout 3 to be better than 1 and 2, but they also have to appeal to the gamer that didn’t have the chance to ever play the previous Fallout titles. This is where a preview cuts short in terms of actual gaming experience. For the fans, Fallout 3 is an answer to a cry that has been echoing since Fallout 2, for the newcomers, it’ll be a rollercoaster ride through an environment that might not feel all that friendly to the casual, or generic RPG-player.

It’s a relief they’ve pinned down the atmosphere and setting, as well as the art-deco style and the immediately appealing characters and their distinct attitudes, because without them, you wouldn’t have much of a Fallout. They also have every part that made Fallout the game it was, from stat-system up to targetting body areas. But then again, when the final product hits the shelves, it’ll all come down to how well Bethesda has put those loose parts together into a solid whole, compelling to both newcomers to the Fallout-universe, and to longtime fans who’ve gotten tired of speedrunning Fallout 2 in 15 minutes. The loose bits and pieces seen in the recently released gameplay footage just isn’t enough to go on. Only time will tell if Fallout ever changes…

My personal thoughts on Fallout 3 are that it’ll probably end up a game for fans of the Fallout universe. Despite the buzz surrounding the game, many casual gamers will find the game’s complex mechanics and storyline confusing and a little awkward, seeing as they’ve never been properly introduced by the first two Fallout titles that fans have come to love since their release. Let’s hope Bethesda proves me wrong without losing the touch and passion for the franchise they’ve been showing us up untill now…

Patrick: Interview with Kevin Kolack

By: Patrick J. Traynor

If you’re curious about Kevin or his wacky and eclectic modern-day Renaissance man background as a voice actor for videogames and anime’s. Then you’re in the right place.I interviewed Kevin Kolack, the voice actor of Tokkori from Kirby Right Back At Ya! And Peppers from the One Piece Anime and Game.

Me: How long have you been working in the industry?
Kevin: I worked since 1998 in this industry.

Me: What was your favourite show or movie to work on?
Kevin: Tokkori from Kirby was probably my favourite, I had a lot of freedom with his voice.

Me: Who or what influenced you to become a voice actor?
Kevin: I came to New york to be a regular actor and people really liked my voice and encouraged me to do some voice acting.

Me: What is your favourite band and song?
Kevin: In High school, during the 80′s, I listened to most of the songs popular at the time.

Me: Were you a big gamer as a child?
Kevin: the first game we had was pong, then I got one of the newest computers at the time. Then I got the Atari 2600 and played that.

Me: What do you think of the current game consoles?
Kevin: I have not played the Wii, but that seems like the direction gaming is going.

Me: Do you have any actors who dislike you?
Kevin: Actors don’t really tell you if they dislike you, they just say “Nice job you did great” and they don’t really talk to you after that.

Me: Do you like being a voice actor?
Kevin: I love being a voice actor, it is really fun, but I don’t suggest it to everyone.

Me: Is it easier than being a regular actor?
Kevin: I disagree, voice acting is one of the hardest thing to do, you need to get your voice across, there is no emotion or eye contact to get across with.

Me: Who is your idol?
Kevin: I love Robin Williams, Daniel Day Lewis, RIchard Dreyfuss, Billy Bob Thornton and my favourite, Bill Murray

Me:Do you like voice acting for anime and games?
Kevin: Yes, I love it, Can’t believe I get paid to do it.

Me: What do you think of 4Kids?
Kevin: They make the animes suitable for kids, they in no way intentionally ruin the script. I have no say in which way they edit it, I just voice act for it.

Me: If you had to work on any movie or TV show or movie, which one?
Kevin: The Simpsons.

Me: What other movie or TV Shows will you be working on in the near future?
Kevin: I applied for a voice on the upcoming show Yu-Gi-Oh 4d or 5d, I forgot which one it is called.

Me:Are you getting nuts from all your friends and family asking everything about your job all the time?
Kevin: I love talking about my job, but I don’t really like doing the voices all the time.

Me: Who has the most talent when you voice act? (leaving yourself out of course.)
Kevin: Hank Azaria, he does a load of voices on the Simpsons,

Me: What do you suggest to people who want to voice act?
Kevin: You need to really want to do it to be come one.

Me: You make a lot of money voice acting?
Kevin: You can, if you do a union commercial, you could make $20,000 to $100,000 from just that one commercial, I once got payed $2,000 just to throw voices out and do the commercial.

Me: How did you get the part of Tokkori
Kevin: For Tokkori, his current voice was actually the 7th one I threw out. They sent all my voice ideas over to Japan to Hal and they picked which one suited him, I am not even sure if they spoke any english.

Me: what is your favourite anime or cartoon?
Kevin: I love The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park.

Me: Well thank you for that interview, I really enjoyed it.
Kevin: Me too, have a great weekend!

It was a really fun interview, he was very nice and I enjoyed the time we chatted, be sure to check out all his work at http://kevinkolack.com/.

Geeklife, When gaming seeps into modern day life…

Have you ever wondered why you see so many people into gaming these days? Ever wonder why there are so many people walking around in gamershirts? And even better, howcome hardcore gamers were considered recluses at first, but are now the life of any party? It’s hard to pin it down exactly, and perhaps it more than it apparantly seems on the outside.

Back in the late 80′s, early 90′s, gaming started to take serious steps towards becoming a more mainstream and more accepted pastime. With the European release of Nintendo’s immensely popular 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1986 and it’s increasing popularity up untill the beginning of the so called 16-bit era, videogaming started seeping through into modern day life and culture, pouring from the cracks from the basements where many gaming enthusiasts were already driven to gaming by their early-day personal computers or mystical second generation hardware like ColecoVision, the Vectrex or the Arcadia.

Back then, gaming as a hobby was kind of like branding yourself the ‘neighbourhood geek’ or ‘basement dweller’, as computers and their general use at that time were not limited to, but mostly associated with men in labcoats doing complex mathematic algorhytms and scientists running diagnostics on special material.

Nowadays, gamers walk in broad daylight, proudly showing off their gamershirts, talking WoW-character builds at parties and waving around their XBOX-live achievements and PS3 trophies on their online profiles. During a period so minimal when measured on a scale tracking the developments of the past century, there’s never been a subculture which started out stigmatized and obscure and ending up being popular or mainstream. When compared to other subcultures, especially those rooted in musical tastes or fashion, the gaming subculture seems to have been there all the time, and prominently growing on a yearly basis. Better still, other subcultures are being actively influenced and altered through gaming.

Some examples are the XBOX and the X360, which make a regular appearance in rap and hiphop musicvideos. Bands like Enter Shikari and Dracula Battle are gaining popularity by incorporating videogame themes or covering a specific videogame’s soundtrack. Retrogaming apparel is steadily becoming the latest hot fashion item. Nintendo, which keeps innovating their products to become appealing to more and more people from all ages and backgrounds, like the DS for the young and the elderly, and WiiFit, aiming at healthconscious teenagers and saggy mid-life crisis bellies. Sponsorship deals lining the barriers at various sportsevents and the fans in turn, owning most of said sport’s franchised videogames.

This change, this gaming subculture seeping into every aspect of our daily lives, has been gradual yet constant through the last 20 years. Where videogameshirts were a rarity and a prized possession back then, today they are widespread and come in every size, color and bearing any videogame-imagery imaginable. Not only has it affected our present lives, but it’s striving to influence our future lives as well. Most next-gen consoles out on the market right now come with hardware and software that far surpass the run-of-the-mill desktop computer and have a projected lifespan of about four to eight years. In computing terms, and definately in economic lifespan for a consumer electronics product, we’re talking about ages. These machines are already the building blocks for tomorrow’s entertainment industry.

Surely, you’d think that gaming on it’s own will never be more than a hobby or a pastime, but as the times change, I can only predict this cultureseep to continue, becoming a lifestyle on it’s own, much like the hardcore gamers that roam the streets today. Even now I see little children nagging their parents for a Super Mario shirt and teens turning over their life savings to get a PSP or a Nintendo DS, just to fit in. Back when I was a teen, carrying a GameBoy around immediately identified you as a nerd. How will this all look in another 20 years? Will life start to revolve around digital entertainment or will digital entertainment revolve around life? It’s almost impossible to fathom what developers cook up next, and it’s even harder for marketing departments to pin a finger on the actual impact of tomorrow’s next product. The cultural significance of videogaming is already immense, and seen all around us. Most major movies are either influenced by, or based on, a videogame. Most box-office hits spawn a videogame based on that blockbuster. Almost everyone is hooked up to the internet or owns at least one console or handheld.

To many of us here at NiSuTe, gaming could be considered our life, our ‘geeklife’. We are, what the current commoner today would label as a ‘nerd’, a ‘geek’ or, in the most positive case, a ‘hardcore gamer’ or ‘specialist’. I wouldn’t be all that surprised that you’d be called a ‘geek’ living the ‘geeklife’ in a couple of years just because you resort to pen and paper…

Author: Stijn van den Corput / GekiritZ

1974 Gaming New Gen Next Gen Trouble

High powered rendering computers are almost overheating the render network room. In the meeting room people are talking about problems and solutions of the game that they are developing. In the artists room several artists are looking at the new level design of one of their colleagues. This is all in a day’s work of the next gen game developer. While the Publisher is pulling their strings more and more the budget developers get for games is also increasing by the year and so does the personnel of the developers. And every time the console manufacturers think of a new console to set on the market, the developers have to educate their personnel to the new programs and also need to get familiar with the hardware.

At this same time 3 friends came together after building their game from their own houses for 3 years, to work on the final touches. It’s a simple 2D fun build on a standard game engine. While one guy is working on rocks and other environmental architecture in Photoshop and illustrator. The other is composing music on his synthesizer. The third is on the phone, while programming and taking a sip of his coffee to swallow the tension away while trying to find a publisher for their game. This game has taken up 3 years to make on a budget of cups of coffee, slices of pizza and no funds but their own bank account.

One year later the big developer with it’s 200 man team and high end games is still struggling to regain the losses they made by making the million Euro’s costing game. Not because the game was not good, but it was released at the wrong time, for Halo to steal their shine. The small Indy developer (the three friends) finally found a publisher who was willing to publish it on WiiWare and Steam, with all the costs deducted (and the unexpected, yet hoped profit of the Wii version sales helped), they thankfully still had enough to left to start their own studio.

Yes, I know being a small Indy developer isn’t as easy as it sounds, for they will be doing things in their spare time and this often ends up in half made games or the team breaks up due to someone’s personal problems or a conflict within the team. It’s more like night nine percent of the Indy developers die a premature death because of these circumstances and other similar ones. While many dream of creating their own game, many will never see their dreams come true.

What is the biggest risk? Losing millions of Euro’s or throwing away a great idea?