MobyGames: News | 
07 31st, 2007| 
Games often strife to mimic real life, but treat death very loosely. Some World of Warcraft players would probably crawl up in a corner and weep for days if their character was stolen, but do they care if their level 70 warlock falls in battle? Unlike life, death in games is rarely final, merely an inconvenience. PC gamers often expect to save at any time and are irritated by the infamous checkpoints of certain console games. You can only imagine the march of pitchforks if a game like Sub Mission was released nowadays, giving you just a single chance to succeed or lose your character forever.
A column in Guardian Unlimited takes a look at the acceptance of death in games and ponders the importance of a meaningful death, with quotes from developers and gamers. Does it affect you if a character dies in a game or do you quickload like there's no tomorrow?
Jul
31
We all knew it would happen someday, and it finally has. The New York times reports that CBS (read: non-gaming channel) will be airing competitive gaming events every Sunday at noon. Events will range from Guitar Hero tournaments to WoW matches and Wii boxing bouts. We can probably also expect some FPS as well as RTS matches in there too.
We've talked about this a lot at MG, and I guess now its finally going to happen. But unfortunately, like we mentioned before, there are still many hurdles that the broadcasters have to jump. For one, most people are completely unaware of how these games work, so similar to a play by play cut-away, the show will also have to explain spells and game mechanics. Also, they say that adding a health bar will be necessary for viewers to be able to follow along with gameplay.
I am actually pretty excited about the prospect of this. Granted, I am mostly excited about the potential this type of set up has. There are lots of outrageously competitive games spanning all systems, so seeing which games get featured and which ones don't should be interesting.
Rob Carerra, senior vice president for programming at CBS Sports, has something interesting to day: ?Who knows, in 10 years we could be looking back on this as a very significant moment.? Will this be the one revolutionizing moment in gaming culture that will bring competitive gaming to the masses? Will we look back and praise CBS for its innovation to the gaming industry? Who knows. Maybe this show will bomb and it won't do anything at all.
We've talked about this a lot at MG, and I guess now its finally going to happen. But unfortunately, like we mentioned before, there are still many hurdles that the broadcasters have to jump. For one, most people are completely unaware of how these games work, so similar to a play by play cut-away, the show will also have to explain spells and game mechanics. Also, they say that adding a health bar will be necessary for viewers to be able to follow along with gameplay.
I am actually pretty excited about the prospect of this. Granted, I am mostly excited about the potential this type of set up has. There are lots of outrageously competitive games spanning all systems, so seeing which games get featured and which ones don't should be interesting.
Rob Carerra, senior vice president for programming at CBS Sports, has something interesting to day: ?Who knows, in 10 years we could be looking back on this as a very significant moment.? Will this be the one revolutionizing moment in gaming culture that will bring competitive gaming to the masses? Will we look back and praise CBS for its innovation to the gaming industry? Who knows. Maybe this show will bomb and it won't do anything at all.
Jul
25
News from the Playstation Premier event has trickled its way down to us on this side of the Pacific. Apparently Final Fantasy 13 is only 13% complete and Versus 13 is only 1.3% complete.
What does this really mean? Nothing. Obviously the 13% and 1.3% numbers are a joke, given the title of the game is FF13. I imagine that Square merely thinks that these titles still have a long way to go. I do predict that we'll see these games launched on more than just the Playstation 3. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Square's next big Final Fantasy come out on the 360. Thats right, the Xbox 360.
What does this really mean? Nothing. Obviously the 13% and 1.3% numbers are a joke, given the title of the game is FF13. I imagine that Square merely thinks that these titles still have a long way to go. I do predict that we'll see these games launched on more than just the Playstation 3. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Square's next big Final Fantasy come out on the 360. Thats right, the Xbox 360.
Jul
20
I'm sure some of you have noticed that we've had some downtime today. The company we host our computers with has been having problems today which in turn is causing outages for MobyGames. This isn't the first time it's happened and I can't be optimistic that it will be the last. I've been trying to contact them all day, but none of my messages have been returned and the "Customer Care" number doesn't answer ... the one exception is where the voice attendant says "Thank You for calling XO, Goodbye".... dial-tone.
Anyway, don't worry, we're not going anywhere and these problems are not because of anything on our end. I am going to look into moving somewhere else, but it's a monumental process. If we do move providers, I can honestly say I hope XO suffers a horrible horrible well deserved death. Right now I want that to happen, but our equipment is with them ;)
Anyway, don't worry, we're not going anywhere and these problems are not because of anything on our end. I am going to look into moving somewhere else, but it's a monumental process. If we do move providers, I can honestly say I hope XO suffers a horrible horrible well deserved death. Right now I want that to happen, but our equipment is with them ;)
Jul
17
From E3, new details of the "Wings of the Goddess" Final Fantasy XI expansion have been released.
The expansion will include 30 new areas, new monsters and jobs. Most of the content will be aimed at experienced players.
The expansion offers a view into the Crystal Wars- 20 years into the game's past. Also things that happen while in the past could affect the games present such as monsters could become extinct.
This expansion will be made available across all three FFXI platforms.
The expansion will include 30 new areas, new monsters and jobs. Most of the content will be aimed at experienced players.
The expansion offers a view into the Crystal Wars- 20 years into the game's past. Also things that happen while in the past could affect the games present such as monsters could become extinct.
This expansion will be made available across all three FFXI platforms.
Jul
6
Tetsuya Nomura seems to be getting a lot of coverage these days. Heres another interview with him. This time its the Fabula Nova Crystallis project.
"In Versus XIII we want to elaborate more on the world and the human side of the characters, their way of thinking and how and why they behave like they do. This might take the game conception to a darker level than the other games in the FF series"
"How Versus XIII
"In Versus XIII we want to elaborate more on the world and the human side of the characters, their way of thinking and how and why they behave like they do. This might take the game conception to a darker level than the other games in the FF series"
"How Versus XIII