Category: Rant
How Much Is Enough?
BREAKING NEWS! Recently unclassified development documents reveal astonishing details about our views on game length!
CONFIDENTIAL Unclassified Fire Hose Game Length Guidelines
1. A game should have a length that is reasonable given its price point and its genres. The pricier the game the more depth and game play it should have. It’s fine if a $1 iPhone game only has 10 minutes of game play, but a $60 PS3 game better be waaay longer. Games that rely heavily on multiplayer (like fighting and FPS games) can have much shorter campaigns, while JRPGs can have entirely unreasonable game lengths, to the point where you want to stop playing because they are so longwinded and boring. For example, Wind Waker [redacted]
2. It’s ok if an experimental/highly innovative game is a bit shorter, while well established genre titles should have more meat to them. Making generic Mario-like platformer #18? It better have some real depth to it.
3. Games should end around an hour before they lose my attention or when [redacted]. This usually occurs right around the time that game mechanics start getting reused wholesale.
4. Replayability is more important than game length. A short game that I want to play over and over again is better than a long, boring monstrosity I’ll never want to touch again.
5. There are a small, vocal minority of nuts on the internet are very sensitive about game length vs. price (see Limbo complaints). Generally they only complain about games that they like, so if you are a developer and they are complaining about your game then MAN UP AND MAKE THEM HAPPY! Add in hooks to make the game more replayable so they get their money’s worth. Don’t piss off your fans! I’m looking at you [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted].
6. You Have To Burn The Rope is hilarious, and way better than Don’t Shit Your Pants. Actually… I’m not so sure it’s better.
7. Games designed to waste your time suck and I have no intention of ever playing them or making them. See: Farmville.
Got something to say? THEN POP IN THE COMMENTS AND SAY IT ALREADY.
This is part of an industry wide day of talking about game length. Want to read more? Check out:
Jonathan Blow of Number None: http://the-witness.net/news
Ron Carmel of 2DBoy: http://2dboy.com/2010/08/17/too-short/
Chris DeLeonL: http://www.hobbygamedev.com/spx/short-videogame-design/
Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games: http://nygamedev.blogspot.com/2010/08/coming-up-short.html
Eitan Glinert of Fire Hose Games: http://www.firehosegames.com/2010/08/how-much-is-enough/
Mike Gilgenbach of 24 Caret Games: http://24caretgames.com/2010/08/16/does-game-length-matter/
Cliff Harris of Positech Games: www.cliffski.com
Chris Hecker of Spy Party: http://spyparty.com/2010/08/16/size-doesnt-matter-day/
Scott Macmillan of Macguffin Games: http://macguffingames.com/2010/if-size-doesnt-matter-where-do-you-get-the-virtual-goods
Noel Llopis: http://gamesfromwithin.com/size-matters
Peter Jones of Retro Affect: http://retroaffect.com/blog/160/Size_Doesn_t_Matter_Day/
Lau Korsgaard: http://www.copenhagengamecollective.org/2010/08/17/size-does-matter/
Martin Pichlmair of Broken Rules: http://brokenrul.es/blog
Greg Wohlwend of Intution Games: http://mile222.com/2010/08/a-haiku-about-game-length/
Jeffrey Rosen of Wolfire: http://blog.wolfire.com
August 17, 2010 | | Comments (14)
Category: Random, Rant
Tags: classified, don't shit your pants, farmville, game length, redacted, replayability, you have to burn the rope
What is Indie: A Manifesto
Last month at Boston Post Mortem, Eitan grilled the founders of Moonshot Games, Macguffin Games, and Dejobaan Games on the topics of game development and being indie. Attempts to define “indie” and questions about whether something or someone is “indie” strike a chord with a lot of folks, so Scott Macmillan (of Macguffin) followed up the talk by posting an interesting manifesto on his studio’s blog and Gamasutra. Check it out, it’s good stuff.
Bottom line:
1- Don’t ask if something is indie, it’s a waste of energy
2- “Indie is the aspiration to create something new, interesting, or different. Something you as an artist find worthwhile.”
Update
Eitan: Man, Scott is such a little bitch. Waaaaaaa, I don’t wanna define what indie is! Waaaaaa!
August 11, 2010 | | Comments (3)
Category: Events, News, Rant, Words of Wisdom
Tags: Boston Post Mortem, Dejobaan Games, fire hose games, Indie Games, Indie Manifesto, Macguffin Games, Moonshot Games, Scott Macmillan, Slam Bolt Scrappers
Why I love Boston
(inspired by Bill Reed’s post over at the Demiurge Blog)
An Open Letter to Curt Schilling (because I don’t have his e-mail address)
Dear Curt,
Dude, seriously? You’re leaving Boston for Rhode Island? This city MADE YOU. Before coming to here you were just some pitcher from Arizona, a state best known for their iced tea and cacti. You’ve upgraded! When people think of Curt Shilling now they think of the Red Sox, Fenway franks, and maybe your new video game push. Hell, your studio mascot is even a green monster!
Boston is a great city! We’ve got a growing, vibrant dev community full of brilliant and generally balanced people who are experts at making awesome games. We’ve got some of the best universities around pumping out students who are basically free slave labor *wink wink*. And we have a higher burrito joint/game developer ratio than any city east of the Rockies.
And what did you even leave Boston for? A mere… 75 million dollars? WHAT? You can get that much for moving to Rhode Island? I didn’t realize….
Hey Rhode Island, wanna cut us a piece of that action? We’re ready to move tomorrow!
ps. 38 Studios guys who don’t feel like moving, perhaps it’s time you considered an exciting switch to indie game development? We’re always looking 
July 27, 2010 | | Comments (1)
Category: Random, Rant
Tags: 38 studios, 75 million, Boston, Curt, Fenway, Massachusetts, Red Sox, Rhode Island, Schilling
E3 2010 Round Up
Alec and I spent the last week in sunny, sunny LA at E3, the video game press hoedown. And we got some press! Specifically, there is a kick ass article on Joystiq by one Alexander Sliwinski reviewing our game, and there is another awesome piece onSBS at PlayStation LifeStyle, courtesy of Josh Fernandes. Rock on!
But you already know about our game if you’re here, and this year had a heavy focus on new gaming hardware, so let’s talk about the stars of the show: the PlayStation Move, the Microsoft Kinect, and the Nintendo 3DS (by the way, how hilarious are the models pretending to use the systems in those links?). I’ve seen a lot of articles and comments around the interwebs claiming that Nintendo “won” the show (if such a thing is possible) with their 3DS, and that the Move and Kinect had a weaker showing. I personally don’t agree with this assessment, as I think that the unveiling of new hardware by Sony and Microsoft shows a shift in their marketing strategies.
Both the Kinect and Move are designed to compete with Nintendo, but in different ways. The XBox is currently a system for “hardcore” gamers, guys who have grown up playing games and still want to spend lots of time with new titles. This reputation may have caused it to do well with men but the system trails with women, especially behind the popular Wii. MS has recently been trying to broaden the scope of who the system appeals to with the addition of Netflix and Facebook to the system, and the Kinect will go even further in this direction. The games coming out on the Kinect aren’t designed for hardcore gamers, they’re designed for their girlfriends, wives, or non-gaming friends. These people think Halo and GTA4 look stupid but might be willing to give a dancing or fitness game a shot. And bridging the gap between gamer and non-gamer can be incredibly important in a home where there are such disparate views on gaming. So think of the Kinect as a “gateway controller” for older non-gamers living with hardcore gamers.
The Move, on the other hand, is designed to capture the hearts and minds of kids. It is a shiny, easily approachable controller for the PS3, complete with a beautiful colored light ball on top. Of the games I saw demoed at E3 a majority were aimed at small children and had child actors playing the games in the trailers. I think that Sony has a long term strategy in mind with the Move wherein they hook small children with the controller now and get them to be PlayStation gamers for life. Look at Nintendo – they have an insanely loyal customer base of fanatics who remembered and loved playing the NES and SNES as children. Sony wants to duplicate that loyalty with the next generation of gamers, and the Move is a salvo designed to hook these children. And with the cheap price point of the controller they just might be able to do it.
I curious how much of an impact the 3DS will ultimately have. There are a lot of DSes out there, and though the 3DS has some cool new features I wonder how quick fans will be to trade in their older version for a new one. Then again people regularly upgrade their iPods, and it doesn’t pay to bet against Nintendo so I’m going to guess that it will turn out to be a hit.
Ultimately I’m incredibly excited about all of these systems and can’t wait to play with them all. It’s going to be a good year for gamers, old and new alike.
June 21, 2010 | | Comments (1)
Category: News, Rant
Tags: 2010, 3DS, Alexander, E3, Fernandes, hardcore, hardware, josh, Joystiq, Kinect, LifeStyle, marketing, microsoft, Move, nintendo, playstation, Sliwinski, sony, strategy
The Fett Effect: Combat Evolved
So, Halo: Reach beta - I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I said it. After almost 10 years of evolved combat, the newest iteration of Halo still has enough gusto to grab my attention. But why is that? Two words: Jet Packs.
When Halo ODST came along, it seemed thoroughly mediocre. The inspiration behind the game seemed like a solid foundation. I liked the jazz score, the dark lighting, the general ambiance, the Firefly cameos, but the excitement was missing. So, when I booted up the Reach Beta, I was doing it out of a sense of obligation (sort of like how I need to watch the Lost finale, but I don’t want to). And to my surprise, there were jet packs!
Flying really changes (evolves?) the game’s combat to the point where everything feels fresh and new again. As with each new release, there are new weapons too, but they aren’t the game changers that will bring in new fans while exciting the old. Flying is.
More importantly, the Halo series has added a new mechanic to the tired FPS genre. People frequently lament that all FPS’s are essentially the same game, but players would be hard pressed to say that about Halo: Reach after a few play throughs.
So, congratulations Bungie; You created a cool new mechanic for a genre that hasn’t really changed in the last ten years.
May 18, 2010 | | Comments (2)
Category: Games, Rant
Tags: boba fett, flying, Halo, halo reach, jet packs
On voice acting in games
Anyone else here tend to hate video game cut scenes? I know I do. I usually skip right past them as quickly as possible, ignoring large portions of the plot and the characters because I find them unimpressive. My general feeling is that I’m playing a game, not watching a movie, and if I wanted the latter I’d pick up the remote.
However, good voice acting is one of the only things I’ve found that can get me to watch the cut scenes. Most video game characters are still stuck in the uncanny valley visually, but I can always suspend disbelief when characters sound good. Some of my favorite voice acted characters in past games have included Yangus from Dragon Quest VIII, the various worm teams in Worms Armageddon, the cast of Uncharted and Uncharted 2, and just about any Terran unit/hero in Starcraft.
Recently we’ve started playing Batman: Arkham Asylum at the office, and one of the things we immediately noticed was that the game uses all the voice actors from the old cartoon shows; Mark Hamil plays the Joker, and Kevin Conroy takes up his familiar mantle of Batman. As someone who watched the old cartoon shows in the 90’s I thought this was a terrific move, and for the first time in ages I found myself watching cut scenes and talking to characters just to hear what Batman (or the Joker) has to say. While there was a bit of a disconnect with animation styles (see above image) it was still immensely enjoyable listening to the characters, in a way I haven’t heard in quite some time.
Of course, voice acting can go the other way too. The voice acting and dialog of the radio chatter in Star Fox 64 was notoriously bad (especially Slippy) though I like to listen to it just because how else would I know to do a barrel roll? Final Fantasy tends to be pretty hit or miss with voices, with the balance being overall negative. In FF 12 (arguably my favorite of the series) the main character Vaan is a chore to listen to, and only Balthier and Fran have interesting voices.
Do you normally watch cut scenes? How important is voice acting for you in games? Let us know in the comments!
May 10, 2010 | | Comments (3)
Category: Random, Rant
Tags: acting, Arkham Asylum, Balthier, Batman, Cartoon, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Fran, Joker, Kevin Controy, Mark Hamil, Slippy, Star Fox, Starcraft, Terran, uncanny valley, Uncharted, Vaan, voice, Worms Armageddon, Yangus
Are Video Games Ert?
There has been a big debate lately between Roger Ebert and the video game community on whether or not video games are art. In short, Ebert is a troll and should be ignored. Rather than rehash the argument though, I thought I’d repost an insightful analysis from Magical Wasteland. Thanks to Zach Weiner (from smbc-comics) for the great comic and to Matthew Burns for the hilarious post.
The New Debate on Games as Ert
A raging war of words that never seems to disappear for long, the eternal question “are games ert?” has reared its many-spectacled head yet again. On the first side we find those who passionately believe in the idea that games are indeed ert, and wish them to be viewed as such. On the other, the stridently dubious, who feel that games are not ert, and either cannot ever be it, or at least have many steps to go in order to become it.
It is well understood that ert is important and a big deal. Many people pay respect to ert– and as such, if games became ert, then respect would be paid to games. This means we could talk about what we do in good company by saying “oh, I make video games,” and our interlocutors would respond “oh, yes, games– they are a kind of ert, aren’t they?” And we all know that this is certainly not the case right now.
To confuse matters further, there is also a contingent who have spearheaded a kind of backlash against the question itself– games, they counter, should be about something else– having “fon,” apparently, and thus it is lamentable that anything else (especially ert) would be the concern of those who make games, particularly because the quality of being “fon” interferes with, or somehow contradicts, the quality of being ert. Which begs another important question: can games be both ert and fon at the same time?
Many further symposiums, blog posts and ert-fon diagrams will be necessary to answer the question definitively.
April 26, 2010 | | Comments (1)
Category: Random, Rant
Tags: art, Burns, Ebert, ert, funny, Magical, Matthew, Roger, satire, troll, Wasteland, Weiner, Zach
Words of Wisdom: Advice on Starting an Indie Studio
One last PAX East related post! At the conference I was on two panels (Indies Will Shoot you in the Knees, and I Have a Great Idea for a Game), both of which had similar themes of giving aspiring indie developers some helpful info. Rather than rehash everything that was discussed (like Chris’ cat penis drawings) I’ll just go over some highlights.
Start up advice in no particular order:
- Don’t go it alone! Find other people to work with who complement your abilities. There are extraordinarily few people who can support themselves by making video games alone, and if you’re reading an advice blog post on starting up a video game studio you’re not one of them.
- Honestly look at your (or your team’s) abilities and assess what your weaknesses are in terms of game development. Once you’ve done that, fix those problems! Don’t just hope they’ll go away. Conversely focus on your strengths when making your game.
- If you are depending on the venture for a living then be sure to have a go-to-market plan that is better than “We’re gonna release it on the iPhone!” Marketing and distribution is really important, be sure to figure out a way that your game will be sold in a way that can actually make you money.
- Find smart people who have done this thing before and get advice from them on a regular basis. You can ask them to officially advise you if you’d like. These people should be local if possible since it’ll be easier to meet with them.
- Raise money! You need money! Without money, you can’t do anything. With money you won’t be going out of business. It’s ok to ask friends and family to give you some money to get started. Also, there is no shame in going to a publisher for funding! While it may not be “indie” according to some I would argue that making your original, innovative game is what is important, not where the money comes from.
- Be prepared to work really, really, REALLY hard. You’re probably going to be busting your ass for a while. This pretty much goes for any start up you might be thinking about, not just an indie studio.
- Take care of the legal stuff. If multiple people are founding the studio, draw up formal papers saying who owns what and how much. Form a company. A coding bug can cause you to lose a day or two of work; a legal bug can cause you to lose the company. Be careful!
- Try to strike out in a new direction with your game. If you are just copying another title out there you probably won’t be able to do it very well, and your chances of success will be small. Make something original! Think about all the successful indies you know – they ALL have some serious creativity and originality in their game, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have hit it big.
- Make your game! If you aren’t making a game, you’re not indie! Don’t just talk about it, do it!
Ok, that’s it for now. I know we talked about a lot more stuff than what I listed here but we can always do a follow up post if I missed a bunch of critical stuff. Other panelists (Darius, Chris, Ichiro, Scott), please feel free to jump in and remind me about anything good I might be missing here.
Of course, if I’m gonna have a post like this I have to open it to questions. Ask in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer!
April 4, 2010 | | Comments (2)
Category: Rant, Words of Wisdom
Tags: advice, Chris, Darius, development, east, Ichiro, indie, PAX, Scott
On the Relative Difficulty of the Mario Kart Titles
Abstract
The four console incarnations of Mario Kart (SNES, N64, GC, and Wii) are compared in terms of difficulty to complete 150cc races (the hardest setting) with a gold medal, that games’ highest honor. A team of game development ninjas were unleashed upon the game over a 36 hour period to determine comparative difficulty, playing single player races in every 150cc cup event for the four titles. Collected data indicate that the order of difficulty is
SNES SMK > GC MK:DD > N64 MK64 > Wii MKW
With the original Super Nintendo title being the most difficult, and the newest Wii title being the easiest. Readers are welcome to verify and corroborate our findings with their own experimentation.
Introduction
The Mario Kart franchise is one of the most beloved racing series in existence, boasting a title on every major Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo. While most users simple play the game in battle mode against inebriated comrades, the astute gamer will note that hidden away in the main menu there is also a “single player” mode in which users can race against the computer in a series of races. When played on the hardest “150cc” setting these races are infuriatingly challenging, and we therefore felt it was necessary to have an understanding of the relative difficulty of the four main console Mario Karts (the SNES original, Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and Mario Kart Wii).
Methodology
For the complete game completion marathon team Fire Hose decided to race each and every Grand Prix cup event and win the gold medal on the hardest 150cc setting, meaning 20 gold medals (4 SNES, 4 N64, 4 GC, and 8 Wii). Researchers/minions were locked in an airtight room at GAMBIT and not allowed to leave for food, water, or sanitary reasons until all 20 gold medals were earned. Difficulty was determined by listening for the amount of cursing emanating from the room, how long each medal took, and how often researchers swore they would “never play this fucking game again, for any reason”.
Results
Mario Kart Wii was first title tackled and the easiest of the bunch; an expert user can expect to win these races on a regular basis, and the various boost mechanics (popping wheelies, power sliding, midair tricks, and prolific booster pads) offer multiple opportunities to get ahead of the competition. Mario Kart 64 is only slightly more difficult, as the rubber banding mechanics aren’t so punishing as to prevent the first place racer from occasionally acquiring useful items. There is a large element of chance in this game though from environmental hazards, such as cars in Toad’s Turnpike and Bullet Bills in Rainbow Road.
Mario Kart: Double Dash is somewhat harder than the previously mentioned titles; rubber banding on items is more pronounced making it harder to keep a first place lead, blue shells are plentiful for racers towards the end of the pack, and the computerized opponents are adept at power sliding and stealing items from the unwary player. However, the hardest game of the bunch by far is the original Super Mario Kart. This game’s 150cc mode can be aptly described as “dickish”; computerized players have at-will abilities such as a feather jump and special attack that are severely damaging and often unavoidable, there is no rubber banding of items to help a player catch up from behind, computerized players that fall behind gain super human speed in order to catch up, and the coin mechanic (ditched in later games) adds an unnecessary level of complexity and another potential failure point.
Discussion
The original Super Mario Kart was likely so brutally difficult due to an inability to program especially smart AIs. Rather than spending lots of time trying to (most likely unsuccessfully) make smart AIs the programmers simply opted to create a set of advantages for computer players that just feel flat out unfair. Perhaps this helps to explain why the N64 version was easier, as maybe the developers wanted to create a more accessible sequel that would be less frustrating. With the advent of the Gamecube, a system designed to speak more to “hardcore” gamers, it seems that Nintendo made their greatest effort to create a truly balanced Mario Kart that would appeal to and work for a broader slice of audiences. Of course, with the Wii’s focus on a more casual audience it made sense to tone down the competitive nature of the game to make it easier for less frequent gamers to pick up and play (and play well).
Was this Nintendo’s actual thought process making these games? We don’t know, but after playing these games all weekend we’d like to think so.
References
Complete Game Completion Marathon Website (you can still donate!)
Fire Hose for Haiti’s games list
March 1, 2010 | | Comments Off
Category: Games, Rant
Tags: 150cc, Abe Stein, abstract, discussion, frustrating, GAMBIT, Gamecube, GC, gold, Kart, marathon, Mario, medal, methodology, N64, nintendo, Rainbow Board, research, SNES, Wii
Rhythm Heaven: Fun, but Hard as Hell
I got a copy of Rhythm Heaven at GDC, and I got around to spending some time with it recently. It’s fun, and does a great job of teaching rhythm in an innovative and fun way. There are a bunch of minigames you have to play, all of which involve tapping and flicking along with a changing beat. The minigames themselves have a lot of style and little touches that make them enjoyable – rather than trying to get your guy to sing in a choir, you have to get him to shut up (making noise is the easy part). You get to head up a fan club full of monkeys clapping along to a famous singer. And… you get to play ping pong.
And that’s where I stopped playing. The game was always difficult, but when you get to the ping pong level the game just starts sucking. The two big problems as I see it is the lack of useful feedback on how well you’re doing and the (very Japanese) habit of kicking you when you’re down and telling you that you suck when you fail. The feedback problem is the worst though, as you never know how well you have to do to beat a level, and if you fail early on in you have to wait until the end of the level to find out. I once made it through ping pong and only missed 5 or 6 volleys, but even that was enough to lose! UNACCEPTABLE.
So, give Rhythm Heaven a shot if you want a fun new game and are a glutton for punishment.