Everything is Working in Perfect Harmony

June 3rd, 2008

nintendo ds rainbow

I remember back a few years ago I read an article which talked about Hollywoodisation of the video games industry. The core idea was that as game development budgets rose across all platforms the quality of games would level out and more developers would take less risks in order to survive. This would in turn force developers to create more safe bets breeding a multitude of generic, samey games. Essentially this article forcasted the death for the video game industry.

At the time it definitely sounded realistic. I mean from where we sat we all knew that the cost of development would rise and that it would change the way that the industry operates. Looking at this theory now though it’s clear to see that no such thing exists. On second thoughts its not hard to argue that games are infact less like this now than before.

Balance and What Makes Balance

The idea of Hollywoodisation is very one dimensional, it had no choice but to be that way because back then we could have never predicted how games would evolve into what they are now. With the coming of the latest generation of games we have seen new outlets open up providing users with more selection rather than the idea of the one size fits all format that we have been walking for sometime. These many new evolutions have ensured that we are currently more balanced than ever in turn lowering the burden that Hollywoodisation has on our industry. Lets look at some of these avenues that have helped out industry evolve so much in such a short amount of time.
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Posted in Industry Issues | Comments (0)
Tags: casual gaming, ds, Hollywoodisation, mobile phone, playstation 2, wii

Play Impressions (29/4/08) – PSP Edition

April 28th, 2008

burnout metal gear jeanne darc psp impressions

Even though I have been raving and ranting about the PSP before the gaming blog even came to conception and while these gaming orientated articles were being posted on my personal blog, up to now, I still don’t even own a PSP myself. Thats right, the master of hypocrisy has struck again ! I have been interested in purchasing a PSP for some time now and still haven’t sealed the deal despite the release of the PSP Slim and the fruitation of an even more exciting library of games.

My reason for this is that I already have far too many games to play and should just wait until the console and it’s software is significantly cheaper. Fortunately my twin brother took me by surprise and picked up a PSP himself in a pack (PSP Media Manager + 4GB memory stick Pro Duo) as well as a few games. In the past 3 weeks we have been picking up a few games for the console and here are my impressions on some of my favourites.

Jeanne d’Arc

Jeanne d’Arc, what a fantastic little game. As an enormous fan of the original Final Fantasy Tactics I must say that I am throughly enjoying this (rather similar) little strategy RPG romp. If you have played FF Tactics before or in fact any SRPG game then you should immediately have some idea as to what to expect from this game. The basic; attack, defend, skill, wait options are all featured as well as the obligatory elemental triangle and the same weapon equiping system you’d expect. What makes this game such a fresh experience though are a few key factors; namely the gorgeously lush visuals, olde France thematic and the user friendly design. The last point shines in all its glory throughout this title and is a testament to Level 5’s role playing expertise.

jeanne darc psp

Now as mentioned at least three times already, I personally love anything that is or is heavily inspired from Final Fantasy Tactics (non inclusive of the GBA and NDS titles). So when I talk about this game, I will literally be gushing out the love. My apologies.

Cutting the fat though and attempting to stick with the gameplay for a moment, Jeanne d’Arc’s skill system works a little differently, each party member has 3 slots in which you can equip any skill to, this includes spells, concentrated attacks etc. With this you can equip various elemental attributes which align and add power of the respective element to your player. You gain these skills (as equipable items) through the spoils of battle.

What concerns me about this system is the lack of breathing space, there are only 3 slots for skills. Hopefully this will increase will leveling up or else I for see this system being highly restrictive. Especially considering how these slots are also used to assign yourself to various elements.

Marching onwards, the presentation in Jeanne d’Arc is simply magnificent. Everything in this game is lush and beautiful, each object has it’s own semi cell shaded look that developers; Level 5 are renowned for (see: Rogue Galaxy, Dark Chronicle). The colours literally burst out of the screen. There are plenty of subtle details too such as smog, dust and special effects. The whole graphical presentation reeks of polish and is visually stunning. Sound is equally as worked and used appropriately within the context of the game. I am listening very closely to the game’s music and attempting to gauge the difference between this and the gorgeous music from Final Fantasy Tactics. So far Jeanne d’Arc is holding it’s own in that respect.

Jeanne d’Arc is a bit of a sleeper hit unfortunately, much to my own misunderstanding. The PSP, in my eyes is the current console for SRPG gaming. With Jeanne d’Arc, Disgea and Final Fantasy Tactics leading the way. I have a lot to look forward to playing, that is once I finish obsessing over the next PSP game on the list: Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: burnout, final fantasty tactics, Jeanne d'Arc, metal gear solid, playstation 2, psp

Are Coloured and Transparent Consoles Dying in the Era of Modern Technological Sophistication?

April 23rd, 2008

multiple coloured playstation 2 consoles

Remember how awesome it was playing Pokemon Red or Blue on your old Transparent GameBoy Pocket? You could see right through the plastic into the guts of the machine. ^_^

It was a few years before the release of Pokemon though that Nintendo first introduced a range of coloured GameBoy Pocket consoles including my aforementioned transparent GameBoy Pocket. Actually I can’t quite remember if the GameBoy Pocket actually launched with the colours or not. In anycase this release was teamed with the equally awesome ‘Stick it in Your Pocket’ ad campaign.

This was historically a turning point for coloured consoles and was followed on by Nintendo with subsequent GameBoy Color and Nintendo 64 colour variations. Sony later jumped on board too with transparent PSone Memory cards. Since the release of the previous generation machines (Playstation 2, Gamecube and Xbox) it appears as though coloured and transparent consoles have been on a slow decline replaced by the idea of slick, sophisticated pieces of modern technology designed to outshine the DVD player and TV.

Coloured consoles are still around the place though, albeit severally withdrawn for the sake of tech. The three most popular colours of modern day consoles are jet black, pure white and metallic silver. See the problem? These colour variations fall into the 3 primary colours of consumer tech (household phones, kitchen electrical, home entertainment etc). There is as much variation here as there is between Sunbeam kettles. Even though they are pitched as colours, truth be told; they aren’t, they are just different shades of grey.

The portable scene appears to have faired much better with examples like the red and yellow PSPs and pastel coloured DS Lites. With the DS though once again we see a lack of anything truly colourful with the lightly hued pastels, demeans the point really.

Several brave attempts at coloured consoles have appeared in recent years namely they are:

Pink Playstation 2
Purple GameCube
Spice Orange and Mint Green GameCubes
Transparent Nintendo 64 Variations

Also in recent years coloured consoles have been released as part of special edition packs designed to suit the pack-in game or have often been limited to a Japanese only release.

So Why No Love for the Coloured Console?

I briefly touched on this before, the main reason for this move comes from a push by console manufacturers in favour of viewing video game consoles as tech devices instead of “toys”. Game consoles have been designed to sit next to the DVD player and TV so hence they should be designed to appear to belong in within that group of devices (again, the 3 primary colours of consumer tech). Since the inclusion of built in DVD players this has become even more apparent. multicoloured nintendo 64 consoles

With the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 offering numerous multimedia facilities, consoles are now in reality swallowing members of the same tech group, or at least attempting to. Sony and Microsoft want their video game console to be the multimedia hub of the household. As the generations have progressed and as this video of technological cannibalism has become has become more and more apparent, consoles are no longer allowed to look like toys.

Portable consoles are exempt from this classification as you ‘Stick them in Your Pocket’ and not underneath the TV. These products are now grouped with mobile phones and PDAs so it is okay for these consoles to change their colour slightly. Even so both the PSP and DS the coloured offerings have been disappointingly limited, the pastel coloured range of DS is as weak as water in my mind. As for the PSP the red and yellow colours are distinct and make for fantastic colours. But I can’t help but feel disappointed when I can reference at least 5 awesome colours which have not seen a western release.

The Future of Colourful Consoles?

I believe that coloured consoles will remain on the path it is currently on, tied to special editions and girly pink variants with the occasional console with a splash of saturation. There is still plenty of opportunity for coloured consoles, the Wii itself disproves the idea that consumers want a multimedia PC in their lounge room. But will that change as more consumers enter our medium?
pink playstation 2
There really are too many variables to toss around in both the video games, multimedia PC and home entertainment industries to accurately make a solid prediction as it would first require a firm idea on the future of home entertainment.

In anycase, colourful consoles are eye catching, unique and attractive, for it’s marketing impact (as well as the nutters like me) there will always be a spot for colourful consoles. I wonder though when will we see another transparent console?

Side Note: Xbox 360 Faceplates/Modded Consoles/Console Skins

As a final thought to ponder, how do you think the above console modification process affect the situation?

BTW we spell color as colour in Australia. Same with favour etc.

Posted in Industry Issues | Comments (1)
Tags: color, coloured consoles, game boy pocket, multimedia hubs, nintendo 64, playstation 2

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