Jon Michael May's Blog, page 5
February 18, 2014
Irrational Games is no more,
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Bioshock series. The world just never grabbed me the way it seemed to everyone else. That being said, I have the utmost respect for what they have created, because it obviously resonated with a number of people. No doubt Bioshock will go down in the annuals as one of the current gen’s (PS3/360) greatest titles, a statement that it absolutely deserves. Whatever they do next, certainly will garner a great deal of attention, simply be name recognition. What that something is, remains to be seen.
Ken Levine, the driving force behind the Bioshock series, posted this message to the Irrational Games Website today.
A Message From Ken Levine
When Jon Chey, Rob Fermier and I founded Irrational Games seventeen years ago, our mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters.
We built Rapture and Columbia, the Von Braun and The Rickenbacker, the Freedom Fortress and some of the nastiest basements a SWAT team ever set foot into. We created Booker and Elizabeth, the Big Daddy and the Little Sister, MidWives and ManBot. In that time, Irrational has grown larger and more successful than we could have conceived when we began our three-person studio in a living room in Cambridge, MA. It’s been the defining project of my professional life.
Now Irrational Games is about to roll out the last DLC for BioShock Infinite and people are understandably asking: What’s next?
Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience.
I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it. I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.
Besides financial support, the staff will have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios. Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we’ll be hosting a recruiting day where we’ll be giving 3rd party studios and publishers a chance to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff.*
What’s next?
In time we will announce a new endeavor with a new goal: To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable. To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally.
When I first contemplated what I wanted to do, it became very clear to me that we were going to need a long period of design. Initially, I thought the only way to build this venture was with a classical startup model, a risk I was prepared to take. But when I talked to Take-Two about the idea, they convinced me that there was no better place to pursue this new chapter than within their walls. After all, they’re the ones who believed in and supported BioShock in the first place.
Thanks to Irrational and 2K’s passion in developing the games, and the fans who believe in it, BioShock has generated retail revenues of over a half billion dollars and secured an iconic place in gaming. I’m handing the reins of our creation, the BioShock universe, to 2K so our new venture can focus entirely on replayable narrative. If we’re lucky, we’ll build something half as memorable as BioShock.
We do our best to update an FAQ in this space as questions come in.
-Ken Levine
@iglevine
*If you’re a 3rd party interested in interviewing some of the best game developers in the world, please contact chris.bigelow@2k.com
February 15, 2014
Video Game Movies: The Next Generation
by Jon Michael May
A bitter and often vocal complaint among video game fans, is that films adapted from or inspired by Video Games, have always and will always be terrible. The opposite is said as well, in that movie tie in games are often poorly executed and rushed to market. The Forward Onto Dawn prequel film to Halo 4 and N64 Goldeneye adaptation of the Bond film can be sited as rare exceptions to the rule.
While both ‘rules’ can be argued ad nauseam, the former is ypically more lamented, or at least more common. As the film rights to Game IP’s are snatched up by Hollywood Studios that don’t fully understand what they’ve purchased or why it’s even profitable, the capitalization of a trend is set in motion. We see this in double dose films (Armageddon & Deep Impact) as well as the exploitation of viral videos, memes, and internet celebrities. They’ll even snatch up the rights to a Twitter account and make a show of it, Shit My Dad Says. The perception a new property or trend can make money based solely on its popularity, blinds those in the position of calling the shots, as to why the property is popular to begin with or what’s even worthwhile about their new acquisition.
My Dad says, “it’s good you got paid up front, cause this show sucked.”
Video game movies, when taken on their own, usually exist within the ‘so bad they’re good’ manner of appreciation. While I don’t mean to belittle the effort put into them and believe no sets out to make a terrible movie, for whatever reason, the end results speak for themselves. Where comic movies were once in this same grouping, we’re now in a generation of Comic inspired and adapted films that can stand toe to toe with other critically acclaimed films.
A new generation of writers, directors, and creative talent who grew up with comic books, now have the opportunity to pay justice to the source material they hold dear. Thirty years ago, few comic books movies existed of decent quality without Superman or Batman taking center stage. It took a new generation of comic book fans to transition into film makers, before comic book movies could mature into something respectable.
Video Games must make the same transition, but in a slightly different manner. The video game movie often fails because the video game experience doesn’t translate directly to film. It’s not possible to condense the story, if there even is one (Battleship) into a two hour film. The original experience is lost in translation and what results is a watered down version of story, inspired by a Video Game.
While still a relatively new art form, Video Games are in the same stage as those early comic book moves. Roughly around the Tim Burton Batman era. We’re just now getting into a generation where adaptations of games can be done correctly. Forward Unto Dawn may be one of the best examples so far of a game universe being properly transitioned onto film, though a number of fan efforts deserve credit as well. Portal: No Escape and Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, which led directly to Mortal Kombat: Legacy, merit mentioning as examples of Video Games source material translated into a well received film/series.
Forward Unto Dawn achieved what others couldn’t, because of the way it approached the story it told. In addition to treating the source material with the necessary care and respect it deserves, 343 Industries didn’t try to recreate any of the games. They took the material that previously existed and created a new story set in the established Halo Universe. That is where the future of video game movies can exist and prosper, not in trying to recreate the experience of a game on film, but to take the world the game created and to tell a new story set in that world.
It’s still a tricky endeavor and plenty of mistakes are left to be made, but with the right talent and depiction on the source material, it can be done. If you haven’t seen Forward Unto Dawn, I highly recommend it. Even if you’re not a video game/Halo fan, it’s worth checking out. It’s a fine piece of military sci-fi in its own right.
February 13, 2014
News from Nintendo…
A new character for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. on the 3DS/Wii U has been revealed. Little Mac will dust off his gloves after besting Tyson in Punch Out.
The news came today, during the Nintendo Direct announcement.
When I’m not writing or playing games, I like to draw. T...
When I’m not writing or playing games, I like to draw. This is what I’m working on right now. This is the Essex Class UNV Ticonderga, the second ship of her class, in active service as of 2164. This is the hero-ship that will be featured in the military sci-fi story I’m currently working on. The idea was to create something that might actually exist, which is why you see modules, solar panels, shuttles docked to extended docking collars, and radiation shields both forward and aft, in a time when the United Nations is at war with an Alliance of Corporations. There are no aliens, no FTL, and I try to stick as close to scientifically plausible as possible. Rules bend, but I try not to break them.
*Fair warning, the pic is rather large. This is also a work in progress.
Everything you NEED to know about the PS4
A great article about the PS4. Read up.
Originally posted on techgeekforever:
-Introduction The PS4 is part of the 8th generation of consoles. The other two 8th gen consoles are the xbox one and the wii u. The PS4 was officially unveiled on 20th February 2013, 8 years after the release of its predecessor , the PS3. But the world caught their first glimpse of the PS4 only at E3 (the annual gaming convention) The PS4 is a culmination of the legacy of the brand playstation, representing the company’s stand at a time when mobile gaming is at its prime. The PS4 was officially released in North America for 399$ on 15th November , 2013. It’s direct competitor , the Xbox One released for 499$, putting the PS4 at a price advantage.
The mighty PS4!
Sales and Reception The PS4 recieved extremely favourable reviews . 1 million units were sold in North America on launch date. The PS4 was given the title of the fastest selling console to date. However many customers complained of issues such as : Blue light of death, freezing, no tv output, etc.
February 11, 2014
Another order of COD please…
Another order of COD please…
By Jon Michael May
So Call of Duty is transitioning into a three year development cycle, with three separate studios taking on the mantle of pushing out a new COD each year. Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and now Sledgehammer will be giving you that award winning COD experience that has come to feel as if you played something similar last year. Each studio will now have three years, instead of the usual two to work on their titles and while more time certainly doesn’t hurt, I’m not sure it helps either.
All sarcasm aside, I’m not going to be that guy on the internet that hates on something before it ever comes out. I hate those people. Those guys are dicks and I really do hope this allows them to improve and innovate. I doubt it will, but I hold out hope. A pure, singular hope that knows no bounds.
What I will say instead, is that I wish they were going in another direction. What direction would I like them to take, you ask? Well I’ll tell you internet friend. For a long time now, anyone you might have asked would tell you the COD single story campaign is nothing. It might as well not even be there. Epic knew this way back before Gears of War 3, when they wanted to make the campaign easier because their numbers were showing that a large percentage of players weren’t even completing the single player portion of the game. Much like Gears and Halo, COD is has always been a solid multiplayer game. *note: I’m one of those rare people who liked Gears of War for the story and didn’t care about the multiplayer. I generally don’t play multiplayer games at all and much prefer a single player experience.
Respawn Entertainment knows this now and that’s likely why Titanfall is an entirely multiplayer game. Forget the single player, people, (other people who aren’t me) want multiplayer. So that’s what they’re giving them. It should be noted however that Respawn is comprised of former Infinity Ward employees and were responsible for the first Modern Warfare game, which contains one of the best single player COD campaigns in the franchise.
Now you have the modern COD’s that are variations of a short single player campaign, with most of the focus on multiplayer. So why not cut out the fat and give people what they want. Or if you’re going to employee three separate studios, task one of them with creating a longer single story focused game and let the other studios focus on multiplayer content. Sell the basic multiplayer client, as if you were buying and playing an MMO, that could be patched and updated as needed. Once the player base has the basic client, you can then update it and add content as needed without having to release an entire new game each year. And there in lies the catch.
This hypothetical model cuts out the revenue from releasing multiple COD titles and updates every year. The strategy isn’t about making the best game possible, it’s about making the most money possible. Granted, I doubt anyone at Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and now Sledgehammer wakes up in the morning, trying to think of ways to make bad games or make Activision more money. That’s not how they look at it, I would imagine. They make the best of what they can, with what they have available.
At any rate, nothing lasts forever. I believe the recent performance of Ghosts has proven that they can’t simply continue with the status quo any longer. Whether or not Activision truly shakes things up, or simply adds one more COD title into the mix with an added year to make the games look and perform better, remains to be seen. There has to be a tipping point though, that high water mark that proves they can’t stick with the same old tired formula forever.
Better off Dead, Island
Well, my replay through Dead Island didn’t last long. It quickly became boring and tedious. I like that I had the option of replaying the story with the saved progress I made the first time around, though that wasn’t enough to stick with the game for long. The weapon degradation was a big issue with me. I get that weapons break down with repeated use and I enjoy the mechanic of having to repair what you use, being able to upgrade those weapons, and even constructing new ones, but the break down from wear and tear is just far too high.
I understand that rotting human corpses will cause wear and tear and should be difficult to kill and I’m not suggesting that the take a Walking Dead approach where you can easily push any sharp object through a zombies skull. I just want a decent middle ground. Hard enough to kill that it prevents a challenge, but not so hard that it makes the repair mechanic tedious to use. In most instances, I simple knock most zombies down with a general kick and quickly stomp on their head to avoid using a weapon. This becomes tiresome as well however.
Oh well, such is life. I’m sure it won’t be the last zombie game I’m disappointed by.
February 7, 2014
Xbox Games with Gold: February
Dead Island is free this month on XBLA. I haven’t played the zombie face bashing game since its initial release and recall enjoying the experience for the most part, so it will be interesting to see if it holds up to a second play through. I do recall being disappointed that it didn’t offer a more serious story, given the dramatic tone the trailer presented. Still, mindless zombie killing is difficult to pass up, especially when it’s free.
Toy Soldiers: Cold War will be available February 16, a loss for me since I already own it. Cold War is fun tower defense game, with the interesting ability to take direct control of the turrets you’ve built as well as controlling a number of land and air vehicles. There’s also a bonus feature that allows for the limited use of special abilities, such as nuclear weapons, strategic bombing runs, and a Rambo-esque commando, straight out of an 80′s movie. The nostalgia factor is fun and if you enjoy tower defense games, you should give it a try.
February 4, 2014
The Walking Dead: All That Remains (Season Two)
The Walking Dead: All That Remains (Season Two)
by Jon Michael May
Season Two of the critically acclaimed TellTale adventure game, The Walking Dead begins several months after the end of Season One and finds Clem surviving with Omid and Christa. In an attempt to avoid spoilers, the extent to which I’ll discuss the plot is to say zombies attack and hijinks ensue. The game doesn’t drastically take a left turn into another genre, so if you’ve played season one, you’ll know what to expect in season two.
That being said, Season Two makes an important distinction of feeling like a different game. The gameplay is there, the voice acting is as top notch as it was in the first season, and the art style remains as engaging as ever. The difference is drawn from the shift in protagonists. In less capable hands, switching perspectives from Lee to Clementine could have easily been whitewashed with no discernible differences. That isn’t the case.
TellTale has created a benchmark in personality and emotional development that establishes the subtle differences between characters that exist in real people. Because of this, the game you play as Clementine, particularly how you play, is inherently different from the experience of playing as Lee.
In Season One, I came to the realization that playing The Walking Dead in the similar fashion as other games with a typical karma system, wasn’t possible. I couldn’t simply align myself with one side or another, or more likely, try and play nice with everyone. The choices I made as Lee while trying to keep everyone happy, not only affected me, but had a profound impact on the safety of Clem. To this extent, I soon realized that it didn’t matter how other characters interacted with Lee, so long as the actions resulted in Clem’s safety.
This time around, I can no longer play as Clem in the same manner in which I played as Lee. I have no idea who might be an ally and who is a threat. I can’t afford to trust anyone that comes along because even when having strength in numbers and someone to rely on, that trust could potentially be a liability.
That reckoning of gameplay is what makes The Walking Dead stand out from similar titles. Yes, the gameplay is engaging, the voice acting is top notch, and the story is moving. But what The Walking Dead does better than most, is make you question the fundamentals of survival and how to manage life altering decisions in a focused amount of time.
It’s more than just having a choice between right and wrong. It’s the choice between life and death and the decision to do what is necessary to survive, even if that means making the morally wrong choice. What can your conscience justify, if it means living to see tomorrow.
Those choices and the emotional turmoil that comes entangled with them, are what makes The Walking Dead a stand out title. In an industry populated with overly dramatic war themed shooters and fantasy driven epics, it seems almost ironic that one of the most outstanding titles of this generation, will be a game about protecting a little girl, not so much from zombies, but from the harsh nightmare presented by the other humans. Least we forget, the Walking Dead isn’t a reference to the zombie threat, but to those left behind, struggling to survive.
This season, I’m playing the episodes as they are released. I played season one after all five episodes were available, back to back, over the course of a few days. It remains to be seen if this will alter my opinion of the game, however I do feel waning interest that wasn’t present when I was able to move directly onto the next episode in season one.
The second season can never be what the first season was. That discovery and shock of how intense and emotional the game was, is no longer present for those of us coming returning for season two. We know what to expect and are prepared for it this time. In many ways this new season has more to prove in what it can accomplish on its own, even in a world that relies on previous installments as a foundation.
All That Remains is a worthy successor to an outstanding Season One.
January 30, 2014
Defense Grid: The Awakening
Defense Grid
by Jon Michael May
I downloaded Defense Grid: The Awakening on a whim, when offered free to Xbox Live Gold members and had few expectations. Ultimately it was a decision I’m glad I made. I’ve sunk well over a hundred hours into the tower defense game, purchased three map packs, (including the Portal inspired pack), and come right back to it when I need a good distraction.
I won’t bore you with the finer details, except to say Defense Grid follows the basic concept of placing towers while trying to halt an advancing alien threat. While it certainly doesn’t push the tower defense genre into any new or interesting areas, it doesn’t need to change what already works. Solid gameplay with a wide assortment of tower and enemy types, offer you the chance to play a number of ways and experiment with a variety of play styles. Combined with a variety of game modes and medals to achieve and it quickly becomes easy to replay favorite maps multiple times.
Defense Grid: The Awakening has a sliver of story woven through the initial twenty levels that come with the game, though it’s hardly a selling point. When you get down to brass tacks, if you’re playing a tower defense game, you’re in it for the strategic problem solving nature of the gameplay, not a deep and meaningful story. It would be nice to see a game that has both, but that isn’t the case here and shouldn’t dissuade you giving the game a try.
The game is no longer free on XBLA, so you’ll have to part with $9.99 for the chance to lose countless hours of your life destroying as many aliens as possible. If you enjoy tower defense games, Defense Grid: The Awakening is worth that price, because let’s be honest; those aliens have it coming.
