This week on Bad Gamers Episode 87, I decide to finally write another breakdown as our fearless host Lord Commander @Dan Oravasaari and the less-meaningful host @Chandler Wood aim for Pluto and hit Uranus. Also, there may or may not be a segue about Segways. You can listen here!
Guerilla Games new IP Rumor?
Alleged new IP images show a different direction from Killzone, but still look Guerilla, gorilla, or dinosaur-like. Chandler demands dinosaurs and Dan wants zombie dinosaurs. I hope that Guerilla does something with dinosaurs and talking animals. I would like to see what it is that they could do outside of the threshold of Killzone.
I hope this is real.
Microsoft Bought Mojang for $2.5 Billion
With the announcement from Microsoft that they have acquired Mojang, Dan thinks the purchase of a company post-boom is not exactly smart, and I agree. Not only do you run the risk of losing investor confidence with a larger company trying to change the complete direction of a studio (anyone remember Rare?), but you also run the risk of losing touch with the fanbase. There are a lot of vocal Minecraft fans on the Internet trying to have Notch crucified, but that's really why this is happening. Notch did not mean for Minecraft to get so big, and then it got bigger than he could handle. Let's just hope that they do not decide to milk it to death with sequels.
EA's CEO Mentioned Balance of Innovation and Polish
Andrew Wilson had some common sense to throw out there at EA's GamesBeat 2014 Conference, saying that the highest rated games get the balance of innovation and polish right. Grand Theft Auto V, for example, had the innovation of making the game run fluid with 3 characters who had their own stories being done simultaneously, but it kept similar gameplay to past entries with several improvements as well. Wonderbook could have been a great example, but the marketing was not properly polished to make up for how awesome it was, much like the Vita.
Releasing half-baked games like Battlefield 4 and Basement Crawl has become a problem that stops potentially good games from reaching their greatness, and only rarely reaps an apology. They cause the buyers to question whether or not it is necessary to buy a game on the first day of launch, thus making pre-order customers lose confidence, along with investors.
Best reference of the podcast!!
Murasaki Baby
Dan's review of Murasaki Baby is up, and his reaction was not at all what I was expecting to hear. "It wasn't bad. It just wasn't good," Dan explained. While the game looks really cool and fun, the touchscreen-only gameplay really puts off those who would normally play using only hardware buttons. Because of the fancy tapping, pushing, and holding antics required, or "finger ballet," this game might be best suited for someone who has a Vita dock, rather than for someone taking the train to work.
Not as cool as it looks, but still interesting for the art alone.
Destiny
Chandler's Destiny review is available now. During the podcast, he explains that the story is mostly avoidable if you don't care about it. The loading screen shows the story segments, but the Grimoire Cards really expand on it for those who care.
While playing the game Tuesday night (for only the second time like the Bad Gamer I've been lately) with a friend, my friend was leading my pitiful level 4 character around through some things and telling me the lore behind all of the enemies. While his super badass level 27 character was immolating everything in sight, he kept telling me the subtle differences in enemies, like why the Dregs only have 2 arms as opposed to having 4 like most other enemies. I asked him if that was all from story spoilers, and he explained that it was in the Grimoire Cards, which is where a huge bulk of the story is contained. I thought that was pretty badass!
That is a sword in space.
Dan and Chandler clarify that review scores are not a measure of fun. They are a critical look at all aspects of the game. PSLS has a review policy that details exactly what the criteria should be for each score, and a game being super fun and addictive does not elevate it to a 10/10. As an incredibly objective person, I appreciate it when reviewers take the time to actually weigh in and go, "Okay, this game is really awesome, but those load screens and that shoehorned story cannot let this game be rated as high as The Last of Us."
Timed events are fucking awesome! While it is not a PlayStation game (shame on me), the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask comes to mind when I think of these instances. I loved walking around for a while and finding something new and temporary back in the good ole Nintendo 64 days, but Destiny makes it even more surprising by allowing this to happen in a very less predictable way. I would really like to invest more time in the game to see all of these types of things happen.
Some of these guys show up at the worst times.
Bad Destiny Tips
- Play the game to get to level 20. Do your quests and keep going.
- At level 20, keep playing The Crucible to earn better gear. The stat bonuses in your armor boosts your level past the soft-cap, but it can be reduced back to 20 if you have lesser gear.
- Keep walking around and finding missions from patrols if you want to earn Vanguard Reputation.
- If you're adamant about staying away from the Crucible, you can farm items really hard.
- Don't give up if you don't get what you want immediately from The Crucible. The drops seem to be completely random.
- If you are a noob and suck at The Crucible, do not play with Dan and Chandler.
Guerilla Games new IP Rumor?
Alleged new IP images show a different direction from Killzone, but still look Guerilla, gorilla, or dinosaur-like. Chandler demands dinosaurs and Dan wants zombie dinosaurs. I hope that Guerilla does something with dinosaurs and talking animals. I would like to see what it is that they could do outside of the threshold of Killzone.
I hope this is real.
Microsoft Bought Mojang for $2.5 Billion
With the announcement from Microsoft that they have acquired Mojang, Dan thinks the purchase of a company post-boom is not exactly smart, and I agree. Not only do you run the risk of losing investor confidence with a larger company trying to change the complete direction of a studio (anyone remember Rare?), but you also run the risk of losing touch with the fanbase. There are a lot of vocal Minecraft fans on the Internet trying to have Notch crucified, but that's really why this is happening. Notch did not mean for Minecraft to get so big, and then it got bigger than he could handle. Let's just hope that they do not decide to milk it to death with sequels.
EA's CEO Mentioned Balance of Innovation and Polish
Andrew Wilson had some common sense to throw out there at EA's GamesBeat 2014 Conference, saying that the highest rated games get the balance of innovation and polish right. Grand Theft Auto V, for example, had the innovation of making the game run fluid with 3 characters who had their own stories being done simultaneously, but it kept similar gameplay to past entries with several improvements as well. Wonderbook could have been a great example, but the marketing was not properly polished to make up for how awesome it was, much like the Vita.
Releasing half-baked games like Battlefield 4 and Basement Crawl has become a problem that stops potentially good games from reaching their greatness, and only rarely reaps an apology. They cause the buyers to question whether or not it is necessary to buy a game on the first day of launch, thus making pre-order customers lose confidence, along with investors.
Best reference of the podcast!!
Murasaki Baby
Dan's review of Murasaki Baby is up, and his reaction was not at all what I was expecting to hear. "It wasn't bad. It just wasn't good," Dan explained. While the game looks really cool and fun, the touchscreen-only gameplay really puts off those who would normally play using only hardware buttons. Because of the fancy tapping, pushing, and holding antics required, or "finger ballet," this game might be best suited for someone who has a Vita dock, rather than for someone taking the train to work.
Not as cool as it looks, but still interesting for the art alone.
Destiny
Chandler's Destiny review is available now. During the podcast, he explains that the story is mostly avoidable if you don't care about it. The loading screen shows the story segments, but the Grimoire Cards really expand on it for those who care.
While playing the game Tuesday night (for only the second time like the Bad Gamer I've been lately) with a friend, my friend was leading my pitiful level 4 character around through some things and telling me the lore behind all of the enemies. While his super badass level 27 character was immolating everything in sight, he kept telling me the subtle differences in enemies, like why the Dregs only have 2 arms as opposed to having 4 like most other enemies. I asked him if that was all from story spoilers, and he explained that it was in the Grimoire Cards, which is where a huge bulk of the story is contained. I thought that was pretty badass!
That is a sword in space.
Dan and Chandler clarify that review scores are not a measure of fun. They are a critical look at all aspects of the game. PSLS has a review policy that details exactly what the criteria should be for each score, and a game being super fun and addictive does not elevate it to a 10/10. As an incredibly objective person, I appreciate it when reviewers take the time to actually weigh in and go, "Okay, this game is really awesome, but those load screens and that shoehorned story cannot let this game be rated as high as The Last of Us."
Timed events are fucking awesome! While it is not a PlayStation game (shame on me), the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask comes to mind when I think of these instances. I loved walking around for a while and finding something new and temporary back in the good ole Nintendo 64 days, but Destiny makes it even more surprising by allowing this to happen in a very less predictable way. I would really like to invest more time in the game to see all of these types of things happen.
Some of these guys show up at the worst times.
Bad Destiny Tips
- Play the game to get to level 20. Do your quests and keep going.
- At level 20, keep playing The Crucible to earn better gear. The stat bonuses in your armor boosts your level past the soft-cap, but it can be reduced back to 20 if you have lesser gear.
- Keep walking around and finding missions from patrols if you want to earn Vanguard Reputation.
- If you're adamant about staying away from the Crucible, you can farm items really hard.
- Don't give up if you don't get what you want immediately from The Crucible. The drops seem to be completely random.
- If you are a noob and suck at The Crucible, do not play with Dan and Chandler.
