More News from the PCGA

As you probably know by now, the PC Gaming Alliance has just let out some big information within the past couple of days. Capcom, one of the oldest companies in the game biz has joined forces with the PCGA. They have had an active roll bringing their console titles to PC, including Devil May Cry series, Lost Planet, and most recently the hotly anticipated Street Fighter 4.

To me this is a big deal. A large Japanese developer holding firm with the PC platform. I applaud the efforts of Capcom and associates for sanding behind the only true open platform. Good news for PC Gamers everywhere, even if you don’t seem to like their PC offerings. (Holding breath for Dead Rising PC)

In other tidbits, EA announced a new Battlefield: Bad Company and not BF3 like we had all hoped. It will be running on the same engine as the first game. Bullocks I say!

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?

WHOOMP! THERE IT IS!

I don't like to say 'I told you so,' but in this case: "I told you so!" Battlefield Heroes is delayed untill sometime in 2009. HA! This after going off on them for saying that the game was already out. BIG MISTAKE. Remember the perrills of Duke Nukem 4? We'll its almost 10 years later and still no game. Not sure who they are targeting with DN4? I'm hopeing they can pack it with fun gameplay instead of cashing in on the fanboys who buy the compolsory copy. DICE still owes for a BF2 patch by the way. They had a release a while back and still no sign of it.

Tonight is the eve of Left 4 Dead release. I think I am going to test it out at 12:01 AM. Hellz yeah! I got L4D to tide me over untill DICE can get thier game together. Thanks Valve!

Can You Tell Me How this can be true.

Ok, so I'm reading an article on Bigdownload and it just so happens to be an interview with one of the designers of Battlefield Heroes. It seems to be your standard interview. What gets me here is that once again, folks at EA are telling us that the game is "out" and "released." James Salt along with several other key EA execs feel that when a game is in beta stage and people in the public are playing it consitutes a release of a game.

Hold the presses!!!! Wait, what? OK, DICE project lead James Salt says that "So, basically, Heroes is already out and we are adding new players every day." So by randomly selecting players to play your video game is the same as a finished product ready for everyone to play? He says they are taking a similar approace to Gmail, where they add users little at a time for stress testing. Does that mean the game "out" and "being played."

Some how I think not.

I will not fault DICE and EA for trying to actually do some testing on their product. By no means do I want them to rush, and even when the game is released since it is free to play we may still see some bugs, but we gladly accept that risk. Just don't tell me it's out when the game still can't be freely downloaded. Stop telling half-truths!!!

Battlefield WTF

This post was originally from my 1up.com blog. Thought it would fit well here.

As a long time player of the Battlefield franchise from DICE, I've always wondered what has been going on behind closed doors.What kind of wacky people work there, and do they have drunk beta testers?

Before I dig in, let me tell a short story. Back in the day (1999), the LAN Party Crew and I would always partake in prolonged sessions of Codename: Eagle. For those of you who don't know, it was the grandfather of Battlefield 1942. It had all the cool features that BF does, planes (zeppelins), tanks, buggies, and crappy physics. It was always pretty awesome to jump in a zeppelin and ram it into your pal who was trying to ride his motorcycle through "No Man's Land," or try to load a tank into the back of it. After many, many hours of playing you discover that there are obvious flaws in the game. After a while, we all migrated to Counter-Strike, and Codename:Eagle slowly faded into distant memory.

Fast forward to 2002. We came back for a big helping of Battlefield 1942 when it appeared on the scene. Devoting hours to online play, driving the carriers, submarines, and tanks was pretty much all we did for a year or so. Desert Combat Mod took over our play list once that was released. BF1942 shared that same wacky game play style it inherited from Codename:Eagle. The game never took itself too seriously. Mixing the right amount of "arcadey-ness" with history/quasi-realism. So, we were able to over look its shortcomings. Some of the same physics glitches CE suffered from. If you parked your car, even on the slightest of hills, the car would slide down sideways like it was on rolling casters or ball bearings. Or the fact that If you tried to stand on a moving boat, you'd eventually shuffle off without even hitting W, A, S, or D. Apparently, relativity doesn't apply to this video game.

Some time in 2003 maybe early 2004, the news of Battlefield 2 hit the streets. Offering a new mix of modern combat weapons, squad warfare and RTS-like battlefield commanders. We were excited to say the least. A chance for nerdlets to exercise their M1-Abrams driving skills and fly choppers in the quasi-real middle east environment. BF2 was released into open arms, wholly accepting the game play changes. Again, we played hours of this shit. Running over pesky snipers with the FAV was our favorite thing to do. However, if you tried to shoot down a chopper while parked on a hill, Good luck! Your car would eventually slide down the hill out of cover until it reached flat ground. How obnoxious.

Now, for most games this would have been a happy "end-of-story." The game is released to a loving community. Waste hours flying, bombing, driving, and hiking around these maps. However it wasn't. Here comes my questions for DICE. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

I will admit, while DICE was still a separate entity, they were dedicated to patching the game, trying to make it better. Subsequent patches to the game tweaked game balance. As Shawn Elliot pointed out in his posting DICE had some trouble to say the least. This could be overlooked because of the fact that patches were out on a monthly basis. That is, until they were acquired by EA. Then BF2 became the red-headed stepchild, and was dropped like a rock. They took BF2, slapped some candy on it, and called it BF2142. In my opinion, this game was a mod sold at full price with their expansion-happy overlords pushing crap on gamers daily. Like any other BF fan, I bought into the propaganda and picked it up anyways.

I think DICE released one BF2 patch after 2142 came out, and pretty much let it die just about a year and a half after release. With 1942, the game's longevity came from its modding community. People played 1942 even past the launch of BF2. BF2 was left to rot in the online pit of hackers and cheaters, while 2142 suffered from "beta patches" and horrible testing problems.

Now, what the hell was DICE thinking? Why would you abandon one of the most popular online shooters in the world, almost over night. Why would you release patches for a game that break online play, that cause gamers to have to reinstall the entire game. What drugs do you have that we don't? I can't answer those questions. I can only speculate that EA's corporate culture contributed to the pollution. Pressing the devs to push out games to meet a quota of "cha-chang" and bilk gamers out of their hard earned money. But I really want to know is why, after almost 10 years, is there still the damn glitch from Codename:Eagle in BF2. Why can i park my car on a hill and it slides sideways? In my circle of friends, we always joke that DICE never actually made a new game engine. They just kept piecemealing shit over the top of C:E and slapped a new name on it. The physics always feel kind of clunky compared to other games. I can't back that up, but I would really like to know what is under the hood of BF2/2142.

I don't own an Xbox360, but I would guess that if you park a car on a hill in Bad Company, that it rolls sideways. I'm praying to a deity that DICE is actually making improvements to BF:Heroes while in beta phase. Hopefully, this isn't just some marketing strategy to show advertisers that they have a willing base of sheep players to subject to their new business model. Time will tell and lets hope history doesn't repeat in the Battlefield universe.

Battlefield Heroes Redux

Well folks, I seriously think that the ice is starting to thaw in my brain. That strong dislike for DICE for the BF2-shafting and 2142 debockle. This unrest permeated all that DICE and EA could brainstorm. So my first impressions of BF Heroes was that of a lackluster reception. That was before. Now, after seeing this gem on the official site, I see in a different light. Lets roll down to the basics here.

Battlefield Heroes is a free-to-play 3rd person action game from Swedish developer, Digital Illusions CE. This is the latest iteration of the Battlefield Series. Using a cartoon-like art style, similar to TF2, BFH looks to break ground with its free-to-play browser based game play. The game is slated to run on older machines, thus widening the market for gamers. As seen from the video above, character customization is going to be a big part of the game. Character customization and persistent character data are many of the MMO features DICE has incorporated into their shooters to make gaming addicting.

I think what DICE is trying to do here is bring a little levity to the gaming scene. If you have played an online Battlefield game in the last 4 years, you probably know that by the end of the map that the game has degraded into a redneck beer drinking 4x4 rally with jets and tanks. I think DICE wants to capture the best part of the "stunts" and goofing off element to make the game's cartoony graphics to really bring out the action.

What I liked about TF2 is the fact that the characters have life. Each class has a unique personality, and that quirkiness is used to bring a levity to the game while playing. No matter how awesome or shiteous you are playing, a character will always say something that catches you off guard and make you laugh. Online matches turn into cursing 12-year old homophobic racist shout-offs, it would be nice to see a change with a little less seriousness in games.

All in all, I'm most definately wanting to play this game. I mean after all, its free.

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.

TF2 Getting New Game Modes and Unlockable Weapons

Team Fortress 2 has been, to many, a suprise hit (maybe not). However, Valve's commitment to consistant improvement should be the talk of the community (talking to you Digital Illusions C.E.). The announcement made in late January via the PC Gamer blog, sheds some light as to what will be included with the new update due some time around the end of February. Starting with the Medic, Valve will gradually release unlockable "load-outs" after the player has completed a signifigant amount of new achievements. According to the blog, these unlocks will signifigantly change the way that the class is played. Read the blog for more details. Lets just say that these improvements will allow for a variety new techniques to be used in game.

Along with the unlocks, a new game type and 2 new maps will be included. The new game mode that will be similar to a VIP escort map in the original Counter-Strike. In a series of map fragments (ex. dustbowl and hydro), a team must escort a train car to the opposing teams base.

I don't know about you, but I'm foaming at the mouth over this. The possibilites are endless, adding more playability to an already awesome game.

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.
---------------------------------------

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!