Category: Uncategorized

As much is it hurts me to say, I have yet to play Valve’s Portal, that puzzle FPS that everybody is talking about. In fact, I probably won’t play it for at least six months, possibly longer, though I won’t let that get in the way of my talking about it.

So the popular word is that Portal‘s a fantastic game, but it’s short. The discussion of it reminds me a lot of Rez, another short but sweet game, and makes me wonder if compacted, succinct experiences might be a worthwhile direction for the industry to work toward.

You see, games like Rez and Portal are in opposition to the intentional bloating of modern RPGs, which is often done as a justification of value. A lot of games these days seem to be judged by their length, which is problematic because a 60-hour story isn’t necessarily a good story, and the only thing worse than a bad story is a bad story that’s incredibly long.

Indeed, the main criticism of Portal seems to be that it’s too short, but I wonder if maybe that’s because we as critics and gamers aren’t used to intentionally short experiences. The desire to want more isn’t a bad feeling to leave players with. What’s worse is leaving players feeling tired, and ready to move on. The best films end too soon; the best songs are too short — so why, in games, if the experience ends and leaves us wanting more, do we mark that as a negative?

I say that Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Wii Ware are terrific opportunities for “short and sweet” games to thrive. Give me 4 hours of great game over 30 hours of “alright.” Give me something I want to re-play over something I’d rather not bother with (I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to replay Twilight Princess; it just wasn’t enjoyable enough from end to end — and don’t get me started on Okami).

Hey, virtually nonexistent readership! Any other “short and sweet” games I should be aware of?

My Off the Grid column at Joystiq is back from its unofficial, unannounced hiatus. This week, it’s about good games to play on international flights. Not to spoil it or anything, but the answer is “None. I don’t want to play any games. Why am I not there already? More wine, s’il vous plaît.”

I passed my flight to France watching Dexter with Bonnie, replaying Metroid: Zero Mission, replaying Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and playing the same three or four Neutral Milk Hotel songs on Jam Sessions over and over again. I was going to do some design work, but… yeah right.

Next week is a very special Off the Grid. It’s special because it’s about video games.

I’ve been super-negligent with this blog, but I’m hoping that’ll change starting now. I just made the difficult move to our lovely French apartment, and I’m currently trying to get back on a normal schedule of blogging, working, designing, etcetera.

I’ve very nearly caught up with everything, so hopefully things will get back to normal soon (well, normal in the sense that I’m living in France, but posting here regularly like a good little blogger).

In Scott news, both Officeball and Arrowgamé have been published at the Escapist. Check them out. What’s coming out at the end of this month? I’m not telling (because I’m not sure yet, but I’m also not telling).

It’s true. In less than twelve hours I’m leaving the country, and not coming back for six months. Bonnie and I will be living in Grasse, a small, beautiful city in the south of France. It’s incredibly exciting.

My American cellphone will be disconnected for the six months I’m in France, but those wanting to contact me can still do so via e-mail. (scott¹numberless²net).

We’ll have regular internet access in our apartment, and we’ll be posting plenty of photos to our joint Flickr account, as well as updating our brand new travel blog with stories and more.

Okay. Back to packing.

Like, an old-school arcade. It’s called “Chinatown Fair”

9 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
J/M/Z to Chambers Street, 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall

They have Para Para Paradise. I am so there.

Special thanks go out to Kevin Cancienne for cluing me in, and to New York City Geekdom for the additional info.

I know, I know. That’s no excuse for negligent blogging. But it’s kinda been a busy time for Scott Jon Siegel (and here I thought I’d have the whole summer to work on Scottypedia). Here’s a brief update on stuff I’ve been doing:

I’ve been interning at area/code: They recently launched a unique online game for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, called Sharkrunners. I did a lot of playtesting and bug-testing for Sharkrunners, but I also wrote a sizable amount of the in-game creative copy. It still makes me giggle whenever I receive an “important message” from The Dreyfus Foundation or FIN (Friends of the Ichthyological Nation). The game is also incredibly fun. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you haven’t done so already.

area/code has a few other projects in the works right now, but nothing I can really talk about. It’s all pretty exciting stuff, though. a/c has become a serious think-tank for game design and general tech know-how.

I’ve been designing games for The Escapist: I’m pretty excited about this latest venture. I’m working with Escapist Magazine to deliver monthly non-digital game designs for their website. My first design is a dice game called Magic Numbers, and I’m really happy with how it came out. I’m currently working on future designs, but in general I’m psyched to be pioneering a unique venture between online publications and games.

I’m going to France! It’s true! I’m headed to the French city of Grasse for six months, starting in late September. What will I be doing there? Well, not much. I’ll be doing a lot of online writing, hopefully teaching myself a few Flash skills, and designing a whole lot of games. Mostly, I’ll be relaxing in our beautiful apartment, enjoying the ocean view and sipping sirop. I’m currently embroiled in visa nonsense, but with any luck I’ll have it all resolved by the time I get on the plane.

So, yay! Busy! Back to work!

Maybe that’s an obvious statement, or maybe not. I get the impression from the Joystiq readership that they feel being a professional blogger is easy as pie.

Truth is, even I’m a little surprised as to how hard it is to do the full-time blogging thing. For anyone out of the loop, I started as a full-time blogger for Joystiq a few weeks ago, and it’s been, well, hard! I’ll get into the swing of it soon, I’m sure. But it’s no cakewalk, I’ll tell you that.

On top of all my new coverage, I’m still doing the Off the Grid thing. This past week was Diceland, a very clever strategy game from James Ernest which uses paper dice. I like it, but even after reviewing it I know I need to go back and play more of it to build a solid, game-design-y opinion. We’ll have to revisit it later.

Scottypedia is going well so far. I’m not ready to hand out the link (although you can probably guess the URL); I’m still trying to get a certain number of starter articles set up before going public. In the longer term, I’d love to get random article excerpts appearing in the sidebar here. As if I’m starved for things to do.

Hey watch this!

No, I’m not getting one. But gosh, are they cool! Thanks, Olde English!

It’s not exactly a runaway feedback loop, but it’s close. As I explain in my Off the Grid review, players earn points in Cheapass Games’ Enemy Chocolatier by owning neighborhoods. Once a player is earning points, he does so every round, with no guaranteed way for other players to stop him. The points end up snowballing (especially as that player continues to purchase new properties as his points steadily increase), and often the game’s outcome is apparent two-to-three rounds before it actually ends. As much as I like the game, I have to admit that it’s not fun to know you’re going to lose. There are definitely ways to hack and tweak the gameplay, but I’ve been a bit too busy to think them up myself.

I’m in Georgia this week, no doubt lying out on a floating dock, dreaming about Scottypedia (which is now technically possible thanks to my awesome hosts!). In recent news, Bonnie was on national television, and I’m starting as a full-time Joystiq blogger next Monday. We’re also moving to the city, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl take everything I adored about the original Game Boy games… and keep it exactly the same. Same simple visual aesthetic; same synthesized battle cries; same basic battle system; same super-cute creatures and the motivation to “catch them all.”

Nothing’s changed in the latest franchise titles. Instead, more has been added on top of the already-perfect formula. Your pokemans can do more than just battle; they breed, dance, and compete in beauty competitions. The trading is made easier by local wireless connection, and the super-amazing Craigslist-esque Global Trading Station. You’re still out to catch all of them, but now there are more to catch. What’s most amazing, is that all these additions to the formula actually work. I love these games.

The logical next step for the series seems to be a massively multiplayer experience. A lot of people agree on this point. But how would a PokéMMO work? Here’s what I’m seeing:

• The Lo-Fi MMO aesthetic. We don’t need high-poly-counts! Eschew complicated graphics for quick-loading, low-bandwidth, stylized simplicity, similar to the graphics already present in Pokémon games.
• Turn-based battles. In an MMO? Well, yeah. Pokémon’s never been about who can click faster, so why change that now? We’ve limited ourselves to the standards set by WoW and those that preceded it for far too long. But how would turn-based battle work in a Massive game? Well, for starters…
• Battles occur outside of normal game-space. Anytime a player enters a battle, that player is taken to a separate screen, outside of the overworld of the game. The player’s avatar remains in the game-space, but indicates that the player is in battle.
• The first random-encounter MMO. Players walking in particular areas can randomly encounter wild Pokemon, and enter battles. Sensing a pattern here? A lot of these details keep PokéMMO in much the same realm as its single-player ancestors. If it isn’t broke, why fix it? And why go out of our way to make PokéMMO like every other Massive out there?
• Entirely PVP. Every player in the PokéMMO world is a trainer. Players can talk to other trainers, and request battles in 1v1, or 2v2 flavor. Battles are necessary for leveling up pokemans, but players must all consent before fighting. Trainer battles, like all battles, occur outside of the game-space. The avatars of the trainers in battle indicate that those trainers are battling each other.
• Players can watch other players battle. If two or more trainers are battling, other players can see their avatars in the overworld, and have the option to enter a spectator mode to watch the battle in progress. Spectating players can cheer for particular trainers in battles, and this encouragement can have an effect on the match.

Like the Pokémon games, the PokéMMO should practice a clear-cut delineation between the simple world of the characters, and the fantastic battles of the Pokémon. This has always been a conscious separation in the design of the Pokémon games. The simple, squat sprites give way to more stylized representations of both pocket monsters and trainers when a battle commences. This same division should be practiced in the MMO. It encourages players to use their imaginations, and Pokémon has always been about imagination.

The final element of a successful PokéMMO should be an open-endedness in the world and narrative design. “Make your own Pokémon adventure!” the box would say. Allow players to tell their own stories, develop their own teams of devoted Pokémon, and take on the world at their own pace.

Well, it’s a start, anyway. Any other ideas? Am I wrong about this being the first turn-based MMO? The first with random encounters? Am I wrong about everything?