Author Archives: Shane

Netflix on an NES

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I just absolutely love this kind of stuff.

Netflix engineers have gotten their service running, in limited fashion, on an unmodified Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The original Polygon post is here.

A tidbit: “Netflix engineers Guy Cirino, Alex Wolfe and Carenina Motion hacked together a semi-working version of the service for the NES during the company’s winter hack day.”

YouTube video showing things in action:

MMORPGs Don’t Really Scratch My Itch, Man

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MMORPGs: An Itch I Have... Where Is Thy Scratch?

Right there, wait not quite, up a bit… over to the left, yep, that’s it!

After years of being enthusiastic about these games and jumping into one after another like a kid cannonballing into the swimming pool on the first day of Summer vacation, I’ve come to the belated and somewhat sad realization that Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs*) just don’t really do it for me.

*For the sake of brevity / readability / flow I’m going to refer to them as MMOs rather than MMORPGs for the rest of the post, even though technically there is a difference between the two game types.

I feel I should establish a bit of credibility on the subject so that even if some disagree with me (which I am sure some shall), perhaps there will at least be a sense that I have enough experience over the years to have earned an informed opinion. With that in mind:

MMOs I have played from 2000-2015:

Note that this list doesn’t include various MUDs, MUSHes and MOOs that I played via telnet before MMOs proper came along. Those text-based multiplayer games were great, but looking back I think a lot of the attraction for me was the still new social experience of the Internet (remember kids, 20 years ago Teh Interwebz were just barely coming into public awareness) rather than the games themselves. Having said that,  Dark Metal will always have a special place in my heart from the mid-90s.

I digress.

After having played all of these games I can say that although I enjoyed them all on a certain level (and have even had some really great gaming moments playing them) none of them scratched my gaming itch the way they do other folks.

Or, in corporate speak… they’re not providing an engaging, immersive entertainment experience that encourages me to consume that entertainment on a recurring basis (and fess up that recurring cash).

LOTRO Screenshot

OK, it looks tasty… but does it truly satisfy?

I’ve thought about this many times over the years, especially since some of my friends are just crazy about the genre (is it a genre, or a type of game with multiple genres, hm). With all this pondering, I think I’ve narrowed it down to some reasons why.

1. First, and most important, you don’t really feel unique in an MMO.

In most single player games, it’s all about you… or rather, all about your character. The whole game, the universe your character inhabits, is focused on them. It was literally created purely for them.

With an MMO however, no matter how much you customize your character’s appearance, no matter what name you choose, no matter what cosmetic title you have over your name, no matter the other options you select… you’re basically a penguin among penguins with all the other characters out there that do what you do and that are on the same quests that you are.

It’s kind of hard to feel you’re doing something really special when you know thousands of people are doing the same thing at pretty much the same time.

Group of penguins

Whaddya mean we all look alike???

There really is nothing that truly sets you apart. Bioware’s Star Wars The Old Republic has probably done the best at keeping the willing suspension of disbelief going with your character’s overall class quest, but it still falls far short of what I would personally like to experience.

I also need to give a tip of the hat to EVE Online in this area, because the players literally shape what is happening in the game world and the economy and etc. But I still don’t feel like I am unique, I just feel like I have the opportunity to get big and throw my weight around.

2. Some of my MMO experiences have been with buds that are fans of certain games that asked me to play because it’s SO GREAT, so I finally give it a shot and then I’m never given a chance to enjoy the steak dinner I’m promised.

Instead I’m treated to a rushed, fast food experience because I’m getting drug along at light speed by my friends who want to level me up as quickly as possible or else just want to show me everything all at once.

Steak and Fast Food Burger This or This?

I know what *I’m* ordering

I’m asked to pick this up, run over here, kill this thing, talk to this NPC, now move halfway across the world map and do more of the same. Okay, wait, now that you’ve run all the way here, we’re changing our mind and doing this instance instead because a friend of a friend sent a message. All without having a clue why my character is really doing this. Fast food. Or maybe connect the dots with a really fancy graphics engine.

Calgon, take me away.

3. I really dislike getting pressured to play my character a certain way, or to wear certain armor / use a certain weapon / equip a certain item and if I don’t I am “not playing my character right.”

If I am going to invest the time into a game and a character, I don’t want to be a clone of yours. I come from a table top RPG background and I want to play and experiment, not just max my DPS so your group will succeed in running that instance for the thirtieth time by being a square peg in your square hole.

4. MMOs are looking for that recurring cash which leads them to dilute game play / game balance with craziness like selling character levels / boosts.

Total fail.

Yeah, I understand the company needs to make a profit, but if you’re selling character levels… your MMO has either jumped the shark or is getting really close to doing so. It may be making money and adding subscribers, but trust me the actual game experience is catching air over the fin.

To draw this to a close, I guess the best knuckle chewing, immersive experiences I’ve had in an MMO were in EverQuest, and that was mainly due to the significant in game penalties for dying.

No minor annoyance there, it could be a major pain that would leave you with that sinking feeling when your character died in certain circumstances. What you earned, you earned and could easily lose.

Everquest screenshot with feet sticking out of a wall

In Everquest, sometimes you would hit a wall

Wait, maybe I’m just a masochist. Hm, now that I think about it… carry on, nothing to see here.

Penguins image used via creative commons attribution 2.0 generic license – flickr user son_gismo 
Steak image used via creative commons attribution 2.0 generic license – flickr user Jazz Guy 
Hamburger image used via creative commons attribution 2.0 generic license – flickr user Calgary Reviews

Zing! Kickstarter as a Game

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Is there something more to the Kickstarter / gamer relationship than just funding cool games?

It's all the rage at family game night

It’s all the rage at family game night

There’s no doubt in my mind that Kickstarter is a raging success, and that successful games are being brought to us directly because of it.

If by some wild chance, you are not aware of Kickstarter, it’s a website that allows you to crowdfund your project.

In other words, ask folks for money and hopefully lots of those folks will give you money and it will all add up and hopefully match or exceed your goal. If you don’t hit your goal, nobody’s money is taken and the project dies, at least on Kickstarter.

Over the past couple of years more and more games are getting funded through Kickstarter and released to an eager gaming public. It seems like it’s a perfect match, especially since conventional wisdom* among gamers is that there are a ton of games out there going into limbo (read: being beaten into a bloody unrecoverable pulp) because executives at big companies kill ’em before they get made. Yet now, lo, we are starting to see these games thanks to Kickstarter.

*Conventional wisdom which may or may not be accurate, but it sure comes up in a lot of gamer kvetching. If there’s one group of folks that can rant like fringe political animals, it’s gamers, baby.

Yet is that all there is to it? Is there something more to this relationship between Kickstarter and gamers than just the chance to get a cool, shiny new game that the “big boys” wouldn’t develop and publish?

I’ve been pondering this for a while and I think there is more to it.

I think that, ironically, Kickstarter is a sort of game in and of itself.

And gamers like, well, games. Fact.

Am I running a dog that won’t hunt? Perhaps. But consider:

First, there’s the overall, exciting aspect of “can we make this happen”? There’s a goal, there’s some tension, there’s some drama. Just offering to plunk down some cash doesn’t guarantee success. Will our heroes succeed? Zing to the brain.

Then there are (usually) levels of support (how much money you pledge) that offer increasing rewards in addition to the basic product as the support level goes up. There’s a feeling of how high can I go here? How high up the ladder can I get? Do I support at a lower level that I can definitely afford or do I let. them. entice. me. that. next. level. with. that. cool. goody?

Like any good game, Kickstarter projects often offer playability beyond the initial goal. Raise the $100,000 we were asking for? No problem, we’re not done yet. Here’s some stretch goals that will add extras if we hit them. $110,000… $150,000… $200,000… ding! and ding! More features! More coolness! Little zings to the brain.

Kickstarter projects involves people. Lots of people. A total multiplayer experience. Grab your friends and get them to play together. Cheer together as the needle keeps moving. Little zings to the brain.

Let’s not forget the updates on Twitter and right in your very inbox. “We’re so close!” “Only 24 hours to go!” “We did it!” “Stretch goal achieved, now on to the next one!” … ding! and ding! Little zings to the brain.

There’s a reason I keep mentioning zings. It involves the study of games and how to make them more involving, dare I say even addictive?

Some are aware of a theory (perhaps science?) of game design where the concept is when you get a reward, or some kind of feedback (an event, a sound, an animation, a flash on the screen, what have you) that your brain gets a little zing that it likes, which in turn makes you want to keep playing and get more of those zings.

Remember this episode of Star Trek: TNG?

Remember this episode of Star Trek: TNG?

So what happens is that at first the rewards come quickly and easily, and then they start coming a little farther apart (or randomly) and are a little harder to accomplish, and then there you are, halfway through the game and by goodness you’re not gonna stop now. Even if there’s not as many zings, you’re invested, baby. And you want more zings.

Now, I’m not saying Kickstarter follows that exact pattern but I will say that supporting a game’s Kickstarter project sure as heck does seem to come with a lot of a little brain zings as things unfold.

Which is maybe why we gamers, with our zing-seeky brains, flock in ravenous hordes to Kickstarter and make those games happen (in addition to just the obvious crowdfunding aspect).

Or maybe I’m just completely off base and playing mind games with myself. Either way, thanks for reading and indulging me with a few minutes of your life. Maybe you got a zing out of it.

 

Heart rate and dice

Heart Rate Moments! or, Why I Love Games

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I recently had a moment while gaming that reminded me why I love games so much.

Heart rate and dice

It’s not an emergency, it’s just great gaming

We were playing the Age of Mythology board game (first time for me, haven’t played it since)  and my armies got into a scrap with my buddy’s armies.

Now here’s the deal. The way things looked I had a small chance of winning but the other army had the advantage. Sometimes I just get stubborn during a game even if it doesn’t make strategic sense and this was one of those times.

I kept going for the attack. After some interesting build up, we had some tense dice rolls, things went back and forth, and ultimately I lost the battle.

I don’t care that I lost, however, and let me tell you why.

A minute or two later I looked over and my friend was staring intently at his phone while holding some fingers on his wrist.

I asked what he was doing and he said, I am not making this up, he said he was checking his heart rate after the battle because it got him so worked up.

YES.

PERFECT. GAMING. MOMENT.

It is exactly for moments like that that I want to game, whether it’s a tabletop RPG or board game or computer / video game or whatever.

At a point like that, the experience transcends the dice, the papers, the minis, the tokens, the game board, the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, the phone, the tablet… whatever the elements of the game itself are.

It becomes visceral and we are, at that moment, completely all in and just holding on for the ride. The win or lose or ultimate goal falls away as we experience what is happening on a completely different level. It’s moments like that that hook us on gaming, and make it so hard to describe to non-gamers why we love it so much.

Moments like this used to be more common when I was younger, but thank goodness they’re still there.

Here’s to heart rate moments in my games and yours.

 

 

 

Akalabeth: World of Doom free on GOG

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Beyond old school

Beyond old school

BEWARE FOOLISH MORTAL, YOU TRESPASS IN AKALABETH, WORLD OF DOOM!!

Richard Garriot’s (of Ultima fame) first game is considered the precursor to the Ultima series, one of the first computer role playing games and historically significant in general.

And now, thanks to GOG.com, you can get it for free. Yes, that’s right, free.

This ain’t your namby pamby fancy dancy everything is spoon-fed game, baby. This is an old school dungeon crawl that helped lay the foundation for CRPGs for decades to come.

From the game’s GOG.com page:

  • Developed in 1979, Akalabeth is the first game made by the legendary creator of the Ultima Series, Richard Garriot.
  • Designed by the teenage Garriot in Applesoft BASIC for the Apple II, Akalabeth is one of the earliest known examples of a computer role-playing game, and is considered by many to be “Ultima 0.”
  • Featuring 10 different monsters, procedurally generated dungeon crawling, and wire frame 3D graphics, Akalabeth was highly advanced for its time and is still widely regarded as one of the most historically significant RPGs ever created.

Wikipedia also has an interesting page on Alkalabeth: World of Doom. Here’s a tidbit:

In creating Akalabeth, Garriott was primarily inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, for which he held weekly sessions in his parents’ house while in high school; and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, which he received from an in-law of his brother. The name derives from Tolkien’s Akallabêth, part of The Silmarillion; though the game is not based on Tolkien’s story. In the original game, the last monster on the need-to-kill list is called “Balrog”, like the demonic monsters from The Lord of the Rings, and unlike the later name for the monster in the Ultima games, Balron. Read more.

If you’re into nostalgia, or if you’re just up to a challenge, what are you waiting for? Get your hands on this classic via GOG.com.

Classic bones

Classic bones

 

 

Star Trek New Voyages: Mind-Sifter

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There are a lot of fan-made Star Trek series and movies out there. They’re of varying quality, of course, but I tend to like them all on a certain level because they’re labors of love.

Two of the better efforts are Star Trek: New Voyages (now becoming Star Trek: Phase II) and Star Trek Continues. I recommend checking either of them out if you are a Star Trek nerd, especially if you really like The Original Series with Kirk and Co.

Star Trek New Voyages just released a new episode called “Mind-Sifter,” a joyful little romp through amnesia, torture and time travel that further spotlights Kirk and Spock’s relationship.

It’s interesting to note that this episode is based on a piece of fan fiction from 1975 (read more) that was later officially published by Bantam Books.