Mickey?

Months ago, Warren Spector spoke of a Disney Game he was working on within Junction Point Studios. There was talk of something grand, something unique; perhaps even dipping into the fantasy realm of Steam-punk.

On the second week of October, Epic Mickey was revealed...on the Nintendo Wii.

And now this.

Truly, I feel troubled that something epic may find its way exclusively on this console. Especially in light that the original plan was to make it, as it is said in circles dark and deep withing the industry, "Current Gen". Already, Vanillaware's Muramasa: The Demon Blade and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom have found a home solely on the Big N's platform, and this seems to be happening for financial reasons. The Wii has been the number one console on the market for a while now (besides Nintendo's other cashcow, the DS), and it is a sound business plan on the part of developpers and Nintendo to keep some titles exclusive. Yeah, I can roll with that.

But why go from one vision on Xbox 360, PC and PS3, for a total design change on Wii? A design which Spector originally said impossible on the latter.

Money talks, and Nintendo have the big stick of the industry.

However, with the information now flooding the gates, the fiction behind the game may be one of the most original game concept for a Disney game ever. Let alone a Disney product! If Kingdom Hearts made Disney edgy and cool with the game crowd, this Epic Mickey may produce some sombre and more sinister plotlines.

Still I am not convinced. Spector may be a great idealist, an extra-ordinary game theorist, but some of the more recent projects he has worked on have not been at the forefront of revolution in gaming. Whatever our opinion is of Deus Ex and the follow up, and Thief Deadly Shadows, they have not shown the full impact of his brilliance. Perhaps Epic Mickey can be as revolutionary as he sees it, or perhaps this will end up like most other Disney games...in the 20$ bin.

Heroes and Villains: Who Would Rather Win

I've just realized Heroes don't really wish to win. They are not in it for the glory or for the First place prize. I'm talking about real heroes here. Superman and Batman type stuff. The guys and girls that don't take a bow after saving a kid, and the kind of people that feel even villains should have their little piece of paradise.

That rather small epiphany comes as I am trying to write next week's radio show. We already did one about villains, in which Jim, Schmoo and I discussed how great bad guys make games worth playing; and how they have evolved over the years, becoming more complex and allowing game narrative to grow into Novel-league size. The natural thing was to proceed to the other end of the spectrum. Although don't take this literally...villains and heroes are RARELY at the ultimate opposing end of one simple spectrum: the grey zone is where awesomeness in "Good Guys Vs. Bad Guys" relationship really lives.

All of this has very little to do with game systems and such, but complex storylines and storyarchs are now so important in gaming that it can not be neglected. The whole discourse of Video-Games-As-Art is pretty much done with and has transformed into an affirmation: Yes, games are artistic. Storytelling has done a lot to help games become more than just bleeps and bloops. Evolution of technology has a lot to do with the freedoms developers now have, and the paintbrush they wield is almost imbued with the power of dieties. Narrative and imagery, game play and mechanics meld together to birth an interactive medium that keeps growing with every year. Heroes and Villains are perhaps one slight part of the whole primordial ooze seeping through the cracks, but they've help forge countless memorable moments for players. From Link fighting off Ganon, to Mario quite literally pulling the rug under Bowser's feet, to Chris and Sheva ripping Wesker a new one: The Good and the Bad make for very pretty stories.

And so, as I sit here thinking about how heroes don't really want to win and how they prefer to "fix everything" that is wrong with the world, it hits me: a hero is so very close to becoming a really great villain (which is someone who wants to make the world better, but just goes about it in a demented way).

...I fear what a real Superman might do.

We will be discussing this and more on the next show. The guys have a lot to say about protagonists and heroes in game, and my only fear is that we won't have time to go through everything we wish to say. Perhaps this would be a great opportunity to have a two-part show then?


Rocket boots do not yet exist. Why?

The Time of Your Life...

Hiya folks,

Welcome to this deserted landscape, where blog posts are like tumbleweeds: rare and pretty much without fanfare.

It may very soon change however, seeing I'm spending more time writing now than I ever did in the last 6 months. Changes are good, and so is the end of the Summer Game Crunch (well, for me and my team anyway...). More time can be devoted to chatter of this kind right here. Of course, I also have to help keep other things running, so there might not be a slew of new logs coming in every week, but at least there will be some.

Most of my close friends know that I am a big fan of Penny-Arcade, and especially of Jerry Holkins. His writings have been at some point instrumental, if not orchestral, in the evolution of my jive. And everybody knows that there is no jive without the much needed horn section!

Say that I mimic, say that I am unoriginal. I don't really care, for I am within the part of the blogosphere that is furthest from the Sun and closest to the Void. Betwixt the Whatnot and the Whereto, the Ludogistic Blog is found. If you are here, then you may have reached the End of the Internets.

So in all, expect updates but perhaps very unoriginal ones; or even some based on things you have read that are so 2 weeks ago.

Thanks for reading and have fun playing.



My ramblings are quite the twine.

The End of the Year

The last stretch before rocking the Holiday season is upon us, and the game industry is feeling the rush. To make sure all those pretty and expensive games come out on time to make money, and benefit from the American Thanksgiving sales boost, production and support are being run to the ground with overtime, fatty foods and soda.

Very soon, we'll be able to taste all that semi-servitude by playing the latest and bested ludo-softwares of the year. The cream of the crop. The top of heap. The multi-million dollar projects. The big companies are all lining up their sled with the most precious jewels of the interactive entertainment world. And they're all for you...for the right price, of course.

What will you be playing come November? Modern Warfare 2, perhaps? Forza 3? Borderlands? Assassins 2?

But this holiday season, think of ther little guys too, won't you? Think about Double Fine Studio and Brutal Legend; make some place in your heart for Alpha Protocol and Tropico 3. Ok sure, Brutal Legend is distributed by the #2 Mother of All Big Companies, Electronic Arts, but it is a small matter. It's still Tim Schafer, and it's still Jack Black and a World entirely built from the essence of Heavy Metal.

So get your big titles, and play your sports games like NHL 10 and Multiplayer shoot-fest like Left 4 Dead 2. But don't forget to also save your money for what comes after the big ball falls down flat on Broadway; for after the calender swings a liner down into 2010. From Dante's Inferno, to Mass Effect 2, by way of Alan Wake and Elemental: War of Magic; from No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, to A Golden Sun remake on DS and FEZ on XBLA: it's going to be another expensive year.

So keep in mind all those people working to make so many beautiful games, and choose wisely. I'm not saying buy only indie games...I'm just asking you to make the best choices, for you and the industry you support.

Play safe.

The Summer Rush

It has once again started : the dreaded production rush of the summer.

We need to get these games out for October and November. A late release in the video games industry often means 50% less sales. It's imperative. Overtime and lots of pressure on the horizon.

And so here we are (and here I am), with very little time to play, and very little time to blog. There has been a drought here at the Ludogistic page, and its about to get worst. First off, I have very little to talk about, and I usually save all my stuff for the Multi-Joueurs Radio show. It's just like that, you know?

Then again, there's World of Warcraft. Yes it's good. Yes, it's accessible. Yes, it's addictive. Just getting started, by the way, and already I'm feeling it's heavy pull. Like back when we were kids and we would say ''Yeah, just one more hour of gaming...I'll go to bed right after, promise.'' Personnaly, the game has the same attractiveness all my old school RPGs had. But it's way more than that.

All and all, less time to talk about games and game systems. Less time to spend on trying to convince others that Mass Effect is FUCKAWESOME!. I'd rather play games right now than write about them.

What am I doing then? Am I not just writing this blog right now?

...

Oh well. Back to my games.

Too Much Info

There is literally too much going on this week to even mention the gems among the abject, turbulent noise of the E3 circus. If you want to know what's cool, and what's not, go check out the conferences, the Info-blogs like Joystiq and Kotaku, and watch the next episode of CO-OP. I just don't have the time to give you an account of things to come.

It still is an awesome week. There are things showing up on radar now that just make gaming so much worth the time we put in it. Although the Console maker's keynotes were more often than not weak and embarrassing, this year's E3 has created memorable memes and great expectations.

Alright...I have games to play now. You know? Current games that are actually OUT, like InFamous. So, stop waiting and stop reading. Go play something, will ya?

The Madness of King June

Yeah, it's that time of the year again. E3.

The gaming giants are about to reveal their big steaming pile of marketing fecal matter onto the unsuspecting gaming community. Let the bullshit begin! The trumpets are a-flaring and the standards are in the wind. Can you smell what Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are cooking? Well, it certainly ain't ratatouille.

Am I being too harsh and virulent without justifiable reason? Perhaps. After many years as gamer, this writer has become somewhat jaded, and very much cynical in his expectations. Why hope when you can despair and spread negativity within the community? It's just fun and games after all. Nothing serious. Right? I know this kind of post would actually look at its place amongst the lowest of the dirtiest forum pits, where flame wars are started because of more trivial matters, but this is just me venting of some of the rancid steam that's been filling up the pipes outo an unsuspecting populace; like Smilex on Gotham City.

A few hours ago, Microsoft got its time on the soap box, spewing yet again a slew of fantastical imagery and technophile-friendly peripherals and add-on services of the future. As the executives on stage were spinning their tall tale, I had a vague impression of deja vu. I was half expecting someone to talk about the Lucid Dream...and jacking into the Matrix. Seems I'm not really the audience for the sort of product the Big Microsoft wants to sell.

Netflix? I don't need it. Last.fm? I can listen to my fucking Internet Radio, since I'm at fucking home.

I won't go into any deep analysis of what I saw and heard today, since I'm still trying to re-establish myself within Microsoft's target market, and I have to admit I'm a bit lost. Let's just say that the whole Project Natal feels like a boondoggle. Note however that my first reaction to the device was possibly influenced somewhat by its association with Kudo Tsuneda. I just don't like the guy. I thought that was Mitch Hedberg for a second, but then I realized : "Oh Shit! It's the dude from Fight Night". And sure, Kudo: I've always wondered what the bottom of an Avatar's shoe looked like...

Not only does the concept not agree with my gamer bones, but the whole presentation was weak, dialed-in and total marketing bull. I have seen sample ladies with better selling skills than that. Oh the Milo sequence is total crock. I don't care what Peter Molineux says about inviting a select few to a private booth so they can really see that's it's not fake or scripted: select few and private booth usually go hand in hand with Non-Disclosure Agreements, and it will be 6 months before anyone who DID see it for real are allowed to say it was shit.

The whole last half of the Microsoft Conference was therefore sad, pathetic, and just pitiful. And if those three adjective mean the same thing, then I can't wait until the Xbox 360 comes equiped with access to a fucking thesaurus.

I will say that Alan Wake looks great. It's way possible that an upcoming Multi-Joueurs show will focuse on this year's E3. Expect rage, bile and the occasional pat on the back.