Monthly Archives: January 2010

I’ve spent the better part of the past weekend playing through Borderlands, a new first person shooter with RPG elements from 2K. I had fun playing so here are my thoughts on the game.

What was interesting: I liked the Diablo similarities where you get procedurally generated loot for killing enemies. While it can be cumbersome at times to sort through all the drops it did certainly feel satisfying when you found the rapid-fire-rocket-launcher-of-lighting-your-enemy’s-face-on-fire. The tech tree part was fun too, I played as a Berserker and leveled up my ability to punch people to death instead of the tried and true shooting method. The missions that you picked up, while mostly formulaic, kept me engaged enough to want to keep playing to see what happened next. Finally, I really enjoyed the voice acting for a couple of the characters, especially the hillbilly who offers you vehicles (“Get you one!”)

What was ok: The vehicle sections were about as mediocre as I expected, and felt very reminiscent of Halo Warthog Jeep (alas, no flying motorcycle or tank). The plot was entirely throw away as far as I was concerned (I’m searching for some secret treasure vault? Who gives a shit?) but luckily the game didn’t really shove it down my throat too much. The game had a nice visual aesthetic with some cartoony/serious graphics, but after a while things started to blend together and I got tired of the whole junkyard look and feel. It’s too bad they didn’t explore different environments with different colors more! The boss fights were generally good, with some memorable tangles, but there were too few bosses to break up the game play.

What sucked: After a while things started to get a little bit repetitive, especially in the enemy department. By the end I was just playing for the sake of playing, not because I wanted to see the next exciting thing. Some of the fetch quests were kind of annoying too, especially when it clearly felt like a fetch quest.

What I missed: The multiplayer! Everyone tells me this is one of the best features of the game, but I only played through single player. After I find my gold trial I’ll give the co-op and death match modes a shot and see how they play out, I’m sure they’re a ton of fun.

Overall I think Borderlands was a lot of fun, and it appeals to me even though I’m not usually into FPS-es. I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot, especially if you like playing with friends. Accept its flaws and you’ll have a good time.

Attention anime nerds: Ever want to hear a academic reconstruct your obsession with all things Japanese related? Well you’re in luck! In this talk Mia Consalvo, noted game academic and all around kick-ass individual, delves into why we love Japan when it comes to games. It’s a long talk but pretty interesting and definitely worth watching. Thanks to Gene and CMS for the recording.

Here’s the talk description:

From Nintendo’s first Famicom system, Japanese consoles and videogames have played a central role in the development and expansion of the digital game industry. Players globally have consumed and enjoyed Japanese games for many reasons, and in a variety of contexts. This study examines one particular subset of videogame players, for whom the consumption of Japanese videogames in particular is of great value, in addition to their related activities consuming anime and manga from Japan. Through in-depth interviews with such players, this study investigates how transnational fandom operates in the realm of videogame culture, and how a particular group of videogame players interprets their gameplay experience in terms of a global, if hybrid, industry.

Enjoy!

If you can’t get enough of Eitan’s talks, you’re in luck! On January 27 at 12pm, Eitan will be presenting an IGDA Webinar on Rapid, Iterative Prototyping.

What do you do if you have no artist, no funding, and the design isn’t even complete? Prototype! In this webinar, Eitan will share some ideas for rapid, iterative prototyping, including how we used it in the development of Slam Bolt Scrappers. You’ll even get to see some of the super early builds we developed using this process. And of course there will be plenty of dinosaurs as well.

Unfortunately, Eitan will not be completing a Super Metroid speed run while giving this talk – but we promise to give you plenty of notice when that does happen.

The 2010 IGF Finalists have been announced! Sadly, Slam Bolt Scrappers was not among the finalists, but there’s always next year (when we’ll be further along with development, and with any luck will have finished the game). There is good news though! Boston had a strong showing, and three of the finalists are made by locals!

Club Rochiro made AAAAAAAAAAA, the awesome base jumping game in which you get to flip off protesters, kiss buildings, and listen to Ichiro’s sweet, soothing voice while you meditate. Marc Ten Bosch made Miegakure, a mind blowing 4-D (yes, 4-D) puzzle platformer in which you navigate a Zen Garden and try to keep your brain from exploding. It’s a lot of fun! Finally, Rob Jagnow made Cogs, a fun sliding puzzle game with an awesome steampunk style. Yeah, Rob lives in San Francisco and made the game out there, but screw that, he’s an MIT guy and was making games in Boston until recently, I’m claiming this one for our side.

Congrats to all the finalists, these games are all really spectacular! We’ll give next years contestants more of a run for their money