Whole Lotta Lovin' (of Game News)

Thanksgiving is over, we've had our fill of turkey and stuffing, so now its time to unload your wallet at your local Best Buy and come home with all these great gifts to save our economy. Well, for me not so much. I'm working. Anyways, there are a lot of things to cover today. Specifically GTA IV and the PC Gaming Alliance.

Well, a good six months after GTA IV for the console'rs was released, the PC folks are hotly anticipating their chance with Niko and Co. Well, maybe after the news drops, PC gamers might think twice. Rockstar games has decided to include SecuROM on their game. This is the same software that pissed off gamers with the launch of Mass Effect and moreso, Spore. With the bad also comes the good. Developers can choose what modules of the SecuROM they want to use with their game, and for GTA IV it looks like its going to be a one time internet activation and a required CD/DVD to play. All in all, its not too intrusive or obnoxious. It still is SecuROM, but at least its not taken to the rediculous extent that EA used in their games. Along with SecuROM, make sure you have room to install Games for Windows Live.

In other news, the PC Gaming Alliance President, Randy Stude was interviewed by PaperRockShotgun. He has some pretty good news as far as the PC platform is concerned. Definately a good read if you are a PC gamer. This tidbit somewhat quells that trembling in my stomach. At least I know that the PCGA is actually doing something rather than just looking for ways to sell hardware. Mr. Stude also said to expect a industry wide "minimum spec" to be released by GDC '09. In related news, Linux binaries have been found with the Left 4 Dead demo. Giving hope that PC Gaming doesn't just mean Windows gaming. I guess WoW on Mac counts too. Again, Valve is the savior of PC Gaming...I swear.

Also, news from Planet Battlefield about our favorite bastard shooter, BF2. Some news on the Battlefield 2 1.50 patch has surfaced. (It seems I was just bitching about that.) Anyways it looks like DICE is trying to implement some security features to prevent douche bags from stat padding and server exploitation. I'm gonna miss Gulf of Oman with Cartillery. HAH! More info as they get near release. Maybe Wired magizine should add the BF2 1.50 patch to their list of vaporware. While they are at it, BF: Heroes too?

Battlefield Noobfest? Another Battlefield Game in the Works

Yessiree you heard right. A new game from developer D.I.C.E is just around the corner. And I know how excited you are about new games in the Battlefield franchise. Lets count the wonder: Codename: Eagle, Battlefield 1942, Road to Rome, Secret Weapons of WWII, Battlefield: Vietnam, Battlefield 2, BF2: Special Forces, Euro Force, Armored Fury, BF2142, Norther Strike, Battlefield: Bad Company, and now Battlefield Heroes. Yes, the fine tradition of the Battlefield Series, EA and DICE have devised a quick and painless way to rid you of your spare cash laying on hand. It will be a free to download and play, supposedly running on older systems. Reports from PHL and other gaming sites report that it may be close to that of BF1942 hardware requirments. It will be a cartoon style shooter, with fully customizable players. "What's the catch" you say? I know you know that there are no free lunches. The new painless way to rid you of your cash would be micro-transactions. Like that of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox Live, you don't have to pay for the game, but if you want new shirts or faces or whatever crap they allow for consumption, you are going to have to shell out some micro-transaction credit cards.

So lets recap really quick: The game requires less processing power, it's free to play and download, quicker access to play, you can customize every aspect of your soldier. As if the Battlefield Series wasn't already riddled with douches and 10 year olds who scream for chocolate milk. I think what's going on here is an attempt by EA/DICE to bank on the new Myspace Generation of kids, who require instant gratification, can't be away from their top 8, need total customization and some sort of ranking system to show their EMO buddies how much they don't suck at something.

It seems like poor Team Fortress 2 rip off. I think what gets me the most is DICE's inability to actually support a product once it has launched. So, like the rest of the franchise, we will see a spike in game play, and then slowly sputter out once DICE has moved on to create Battlefield Heroes 2: The Money You Hid Under Your Mattress.

Just as a side note: Check out gamespy.com, somewhere on the right hand of the page, if you scroll down far enough you can see how many folks are playing what games. Battlefield had close to 14,000 players where as BF2142 (the superior game by DICE standards) had a whopping 300 players. This was on the weekend around 9pm PST. Certainly the BF2 player base should have been absorbed into other games by now.

It's Friday

Well, its Friday everyone. The week is just about over. You can commence party sequence now. There are a few tidbits I thought everyone might want to know.

First off, there is a BF: Bad Company petition going around. Only sign it if you want to bring abouts the end of the World. The dudes at the Battlefield podcast are starting this to get BF:BC ported to the PC. After my last post, I hope none of you will be signing it, except to get your digs on BF and DICE in the comments section.

Secondly...I added a Terror Alert button. Just in case...Hey, I didn't make it up, I'm just trying to do my part.

Thirdly...looks like there was a signifigant update to TF2 last night. Check out the official change log here.


Here is a partial listing.
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Source Engine

• Fixed a bug in networking that would cause long stalls (up to 10 seconds) when a split packet would not be reassembled properly, which forced a full update to all clients
  
• General optimization to tracelines
  
• Fix for broken .dem file playback
  
• Added backward compatibility code to allow demos recorded with protocol 12 to continue to be playable under protocol version 13
  
• When showing "WARNING: Connection Problem", now indicate the number of seconds remaining before an auto-disconnect will occur
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause NULLNAME to be shown as the player's name in the scoreboard for a short time
  

Team Fortress 2

• Fixed exploit where spectators could spawn into the world without actually joining a team
  

Hydro map changes

• Fixed an exploit that would allow players to jump out of the map
  

Granary map changes

Cover changes to the first capture points of both teams. Reduces some of the sight lines for defenders, and should make the area easier to capture

Battlefield: Remembered

Wow, has it really been over three years since Battlefield 2 was first released? Shit, I still vividly remember playing the demo. It's been a long standing fact that the Battlefield franchise is doomed. After the first installment of BF1942, things just started to go down-hill. I can talk until my heart explodes, or I'm blue in the face, but that still won't change the fact that our favorite game was abandoned in the middle , no, the PEAK of it's life cycle for another game exactly the same based in a future that is totally "stupid" for a lack of a better word.
Every time I think about this subject, It makes me mad. How a very popular game could have the rug pulled out from underneath. But when it boils down, one can only see the true reason why such an atrocity could occur. Money. We as consumers should know this by now. A company's main objective is to turn a buck, make money, collect mullah and please stock holders. Small developers can enjoy working on their own schedule, producing quality products, never having to sacrifice their vision.

As of March 2006, EA (Electronic Arts, of Redwood City, CA) acquired Digital Illusions CE (DICE) the makers of the Battlefield franchise. EA is known around the industry to strong-arm developers into their corner (I.E NBA Live series' exclusivity contract with the NBA, now more recently gobbling up Bioware and Pandemic Studios). Superficially, this isn't a bad idea for the independent guys. "Hey, lets get bought out by EA, they have resources, top notch development studios, and best of all we don't have to worry about money." However, I think Benjamin Franklin put it best: "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." Let us think about this. Independent developers create their OWN games. They live by their own rules, and are free to make whatever game they wish to make. Sacrificing their freedom by choosing to hide under the security blanket called EA only weakens what sovereignty they had. I know that sounds a little redundant, but here is the fall out after March 2006. DICE releases the "rumored" final patch to BF2 because EA is forcing them to produce another game to make a quick buck. So, now we have a game that is barely 2 years old, still riddled with bugs, that is now abandoned for another game, basically exactly the same with 1 or 2 minor changes to the game play mechanics.

Because EA so hastily released BF2142, the same bugs plaguing BF2 show up. Not to mention poor quality control with patches. Releasing half-baked patches, only to make gamers uninstall the entire game to re-patch with their new Beta patch. They are too lazy to hire professional beta testers that they must release Official Beta patches to the public to test, then come out with a Official Official patch. What a load of crap.

Now, with 2142 maturing at an unusually slow pace, most of the Battlefield community has moved on to other games. This quick-shifting business model totally destroyed the Mod community. It took almost 3 years for the first full figured mod to even be released. The mod scene for BF2 looked so bright, then 2142 came out and took away the player base, and by the time the next crap-tastic installment, Bad Company, is released gamers will be so jaded that only the console nubs will buy that garbage.

Maybe DICE and EA should stick the the console development cycle. Release a half baked game and you never have to worry about patching it. Plus, they can rip gamers off even more with the $60 dollar price tag attached to the next-gen games.

It's down to us. We are the ultimate decision makers. We have to tell these big publishers that we will not stand for this shit. Use your dollars, don't buy DICE or EA products. Support independent devs. like Valve or Blizzard. Don't fall for the sequalitis. Let them know that half-baked games are not ok, and that pulling support for games in mid-life doesn't do anything but hurt the end users.

Exercise a little more caution when mommy takes you to Wal-Mart to buy your M-rated games. Bah-Humbug!