NoAddedSugar.ie- Now Open
I’ve just more or less completed the move from this hosted WordPress blog to a new domain, with a new layout, host and address:
http://noaddedsugar.ie
See you there.
Just a quick update to let you all know that after a couple of weeks establishing the blog on wordpress.com, I’ve decided to take No Added Sugar to the next level by getting fixed up with a ‘proper’ hosting setup. The site’s design will also see some nips and tucks- and I hope to be able to have it live very shortly.
More soon.
E3 2009: Xbox 360′s ‘Project Natal’: Some Thoughts
E3 2009 kicked off in earnest today with a strong performance from Microsoft in their press conference. Alongside a bevy of new game announcements came the first look at their long-awaited answer to Nintendo’s Wii motion-control technology, a camera-based add-on to the Xbox 360 tentatively dubbed Natal. While I’ll be offering my tuppence worth on the performance of all three platform holders later on in the week, I offer below a few scattered, initial thoughts on the implications new device, details of which are available here courtesy of Eurogamer.
- Firstly, assuming that the promo video isn’t enormously exaggerating the abilities of the motion-tracking tech, then I think its fair to say that this is pretty impressive stuff. Full-body 1:1 motion tracking of individual limbs is a major step forward in itself, but if Microsoft have brought voice control to an acceptable level of accuracy and reliability- and thats a very big if- then that could be pretty revolutionary in itself.
- It reaffirms Microsoft’s committment to prolonging this console generation. This device could easily have been incorporated into a new next-gen system. Given that it presumably won’t see release until next year, this could significantly extend the Xbox 360′s lifespan.
- Natal is obviously an effort to grab some of Nintendo’s lucrative casual market, a segment which has eluded Microsoft so far. Nintendo will be worried- and there’s a significant chance it may cause them to bring their plans forward for the Wii’s successor. The inherent limitations of the Wii’s internal OS can’t be refreshed and revamped the way Microsoft and Sony are able to constantly update the capabilities of their consoles. Nintendo may decide that MotionPlus isn’t quite enough to give the Wii a few more years of market dominance.
- I would however question the usefulness of the Natal tech for the Xbox’s hardcore contingent (which is Microsoft’s bread and butter). Call of Duty, Gears of War and Halo aren’t going to ditch the controller entirely- and unless they do, gamers can’t do a whole lot of useful interacting with the Natal system with their hands full of Xbox controller. Unless sticking out your tongue to reloads your gun counts as useful (oh, and I’m patenting that idea).
- Jettisoning the controller entirely represents a considerably greater break from gaming tradition than Nintendo’s Wii Remote. While the Remote uses buttons in conjunction with motions, Natal is motion-only. No matter how good the underlying tech is, this strongly suggests that it is casual and party games that will be the focus of Natal-compatible software.
- Oh, and Don Mattrick’s smugness is seriously irritating.
Review: Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii)
Showing a canny understanding of the Wii market, where the cheapest looking titles, usually party games, tend to sell the most copies, Electronic Arts’ Boom Blox Bash Party not only has a naff title, but also sports appropriately cheap-looking boxart. EA hope this will be a winning combination at retail, and given what they’ve managed to do with just over a year’s development time, this title is more than deserving of success.
For the uninitiated, Boom Blox Bash Party is the sequel to a Wii-exclusive action puzzler released last summer that won wide praise for its unique gameplay that straddled the boundary between hardcore and casual more successfully than just about any other title since Peggle. It was the game’s unadulterated simplicity that really impressed. Tapping into the brain’s hardwired affinity for blowing stuff up, the core gameplay involves toppling towers of blocks by throwing balls at the screen. Like Jenga in reverse, but with explosives. Similarly, the control scheme is simplicity itself- you just point at the spot you want to throw the ball at, lock with the A button, make a throwing motion (your throwing speed determines the power) and release. Its a remarkably elegant and intuitive system that requires no learning, practice, or tutorials.
But what can the sequel deliver that the original couldn’t?
Under the Radar: Scribblenauts
(Public service announcement: Apologies for the infrequent updates over the last week- normal, much more regular, service will resume very shortly)
After a relatively quiet start to 2009, the videogame release lists are starting to look a lot rosier- and with E3 just around the corner, there’s going to be a veritable avalanche of new software and hardware thrown in our faces- and that’s just the booth babes. We all have our favourite sources of breaking news and hands-on impression from around the web- be it Eurogamer, 1UP, Gamespot or heaven forbid, IGN- and like you, that’s where I’m going to have my eyes trained on come E3. But what about the games that are going to get smothered in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles? That’s where No Added Sugar Comes in. Under the Radar is an occasional series that puts the most promising upcoming games under the microscope- not the likes of BioShock 2 or Final Fantasy XIII, but games that wouldn’t otherwise get much of an airing, because of any number of reasons- for example the game might come from a small scale or indie development studio, might fall victim to inadequate marketing, or simply lack a big-name licence to gain the attention of the ADHD-afflicted media.
In the first of this series, beginning right now, I’m going to cast an eye over 5th Cell’s upcoming Scribblenauts on DS.
More after the break. Read more…
World of Goo fan video might just blow your mind
Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that I quite like 2D Boy’s astonishing indie game, World of Goo (as evidenced by the goo blob in my banner). Well, Gametrailers.com recently ran a video-creation contest in order to drum up some publicity for the title. Some of the entries take the unique spirit of the game and run with it, resulting in some amazing creations. The video below, ‘The Painter’s Sign’, could easily serve as an intro video to the game itself, as it leads right up to the first level. It’s a worthy winner.
I think that World of Goo, developed by two people on a shoestring budget, was possibly the biggest achievement in game development in 2008. A full-featured demo including the game’s first world is available for PC, Mac and Linux right here.
I kid you not: I remember, back in my primary school days, trying in vain to convince my fellow classmates that a game can be cute and colourful but still mature. While I was trying to extol the virtues of Super Mario 64, they scoffed at the game’s bright primary colours and went back to their PlayStations.
Fast forward to 2009, and one of the things that really grinds my gears about this current gaming generation is the increasingly pervasive myth that the Wii has no good games- and it’s partially rooted in the same blinkered attitude that frustrated me so much in the past.
This myth, I believe, is partly borne from a sense that Nintendo has left their core audience behind, instead focusing on casual-friendly lifestyle games, cooking simulators and other hardcore-baiting titles like Wii Music. It’s also due to a proliferation of third-party shovelware- cheaply produced, poorly made throwaway software- that has flooded the Wii’s software catalogue. You know, all those mini-game collections and babysitting titles. Putting two and two together, the received wisdom on the Wii is that Nintendo has ‘sold out’ and it’s now just a console for girls and children who don’t know any better. The goodwill amongst the hardcore gaming community that greeted the Wii has definitely been ebbing away. But is this fair? In the first of an occasional series about issues in gaming that just plain upset me, I’m going to try and get to the bottom of this myth- and show it up for what it is, in a (hopefully) systematic and evidence-based way.
Capcom: Multiplayer is no longer an optional extra
We all play games for slightly different reasons.
Some of us only play Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid, allowing ourselves to become engrossed in complex and lengthy single-player experiences, with deep storylines, intriguing mythology and endless levelling-up (in the former case) or interminable cut-scenes (in the latter case). I jest.
Others love the simple thrills of beating our friends in a photo-finish race in Mario Kart. Others still love nothing better than hopping online on PC,Xbox or PlayStation and trash-talking the opposition in Call of Duty 4.
Speaking about their upcoming Dead Rising 2, Capcom bigwig Keiji Inafune said a month ago that “single-player alone is not going to cut it,” noting “we’re at a point in game history that you need to have some form of multiplayer component in a game.” (via Shacknews)
The specialist gaming press reported Inafune’s comment, but failed to analyse the wider implications of his statement, which are in my view significant.
Surely, there are few greater sins in game development than shoe-horning a multiplayer mode into a game that doesn’t need it. Unless a game is built around it, developing a multiplayer component usually diverts development resources and substantially increases the cost of making a game. Of course, its often well worth the effort- where would Halo be without its multiplayer mode? Read more…
Why I Do It With Ubuntu
Evangelism is annoying at the best of times. And computer users are guiltier than most of trying to convert other people to their cause. The various Mac and PC adverts which poke fun at each other have been the source of much heated online debate about the relative merits of each operating system. This suits both companies. The ‘Im a Mac’ / ‘I’m a PC’ dichotomy is presented to consumers as their only choice. It excludes alternatives. But together they’ve succeeded in utterly marginalising the very thought of an alternative from people’s collective mindset. So when people see my computer screen and see my desktop, they often comment on its prettyness, but when they’re informed its actually Linux, the response is either ‘huh?’ or ‘oh, you’re one of those!’. Just as people who make special efforts to be environmentally friendly can be ridiculed by their peers (I unfortunately can’t claim to be particularly green), using open source and genuinely free software is pretty damn uncool, compared to the uber-trendy Mac user.
Apple’s marketing is genius in this respect: they’ve managed to conjure an alternative to Windows based on notions of style and finesse- creating a cult-like fan-base that will do all their advertising for them. I’m not denying that Mac OS is a great operating system, but listening to the Mac kids talk about it you’d think its somehow subversive. Using a Mac is about as subversive as liking Coldplay. Linux, on the other hand, threatens a fundamental tenet of capitalism- that is, you get what you pay for. Because unlike the fiercely propietary operating systems of Microsoft and Apple, Linux is free, not just in terms of financial cost, but in terms of freedom to tinker around, freedom to customise, to share, and to improve. The idea that something can be free in this way- without a catch- is something that capitalism teaches us to be wary of. This partially explains why being a Linux user feels a bit like being on the lunatic fringe- I half expect to be called a communist any day now.
But rather than tell you, dear readers, that you’re in thrall to the Microsoft/Apple duopoly and you really must cop on and switch to Linux today, I’m just going to tell you why I use it. It’s not for everyone, but it is for me.
Henry Hatsworth is one small step for platforming, one giant leap backwards for representations of Britishness.
EA’s new DS property is the brainchild of Karl Gray (who hangs out with 2D Boy’s Kyle Gabler- of World of Goo fame- so you know he’s good). Hatsworth is two games at once: tough-as-nails platformer on top screen, stylus-based matching block puzzle on the bottom. Both screens interact with each other. Sounds mad and it is, but it works a treat. Level design is only so-so but dual-screen gameplay and entertaining humour win the day for Hatsworth.
Bad for kids with ADHD. Good for people who love match-3 puzzlers, good ol’fashioned SNES-style platforming, and pompous Brit stereotypes.
Jolly good show.
