Friday afternoon tidbits

I'm hoping to get to some more Left 4 Dead this weekend, but first I have to face some other mindless, ravenous hordes when I go Christmas shopping. Just need a tree, really, since I do most of my shopping online, but what's worse than crowds of people who all want something? These days you can get trampled just for getting too close to the door at Wal Mart. Onto the links!

-Garrett Martin has written a pro-Mirror's Edge post, partly in response to what I said about it earlier in the week. He makes some good points, and while I wouldn't argue with the legitimacy of what he says, it still doesn't match up at all with my experience with the game. Meanwhile, Daniel Purvis also points out that the time trials may as well be a different game altogether, which is again true and which again doesn't match up with my experience. I will say this: the time trials are significantly more successful than the story mode as far as accomplishing what I thought ME was trying to achieve.

-Gary Hodges does a good job of negatively reviewing LittleBigPlanet without condescending or diminishing it. You could very well read that piece and know that LBP is the game for you. I also instinctively shy away from the kinds of proclamations that Gary quotes John Davison as making, that LBP "could be one of the most important game releases of the year." Or it could not be. Who knows? Not me, not you, and not anybody -- not for a couple of years, at least.

-Mike Walbridge accepted Shawn Elliott's challenge. Mike's perspective is interesting because he's looking at it from the point of view of an editor, as well as a writer. I'm lucky because I don't really need to worry about maintaining a consistent editorial tone with other people, or even worrying about how my scores mesh with that of the other Phoenix writers. That sounds like it would be a real challenge.

-Hey, Hardcasual is back. Sweet. And it gives me a chance to tenuously segue into talking about my favorite subject: myself. Apparently Chris Plante has been writing for UGO's Games Blog, alongside UGO editor Russ Frushtick. Russ and I lived in the same dorm at college, and although I knew at the time that he wrote for UGO, I didn't realize he made a career out of it. That's the second time this has happened, the first time being when I realized that Leigh and I were high-school classmates. Small world. (Oh man, and after writing this, I see a post on the Games Blog that mentions Qore host Veronica Belmont -- yep, another college classmate! Sheesh.)

Sackboy's lament

Above: That's the power of love

I haven't devoted much space to discussing LittleBigPlanet here in the blog, and if you click over to read my LBP review in the Phoenix, you'll probably see why. I couldn't muster much excitement for the level editor, which is the game's main appeal. User levels can be impressive, but most often even the neat-looking ones still don't seem like that much fun to play. Even messing around with Sackboy's facial expressions and arm movements seemed hilarious at first, and then -- so what? "So what" sums up my whole reaction, in fact.

Again: dead inside.

I will say that I've been troubled by reports of the zealous moderation of user-created levels. I can understand Sony's position regarding copyrighted material, but at the same time, what the hell did they think would happen when they gave people the tools? And when the level editor is the one and only reason for people to keep playing this past last week, making people afraid to put time and effort into their works is foolish. I mean, when the Azure Palace went offline briefly, people must have been considering a boycott. That was absurd.

LittleBigPlanet confounds the taxonomy

Above: The cuddliest lil' fellas to mince down the pike since Bubsy the Bobcat

In the New Taxonomy of Gamers series, I argued that two basic motivations drive players. One is the desire to experience a game world, and the other is the desire to master it. (Read more about Skill Players vs. Tourists.) The idea was less than perfect, but nothing I've played since then has convinced me that those classifications are fundamentally wrong.

That includes LittleBigPlanet, whose cutesy aesthetic and ostensibly old-school platforming belie its status as a game aimed squarely at both types of skill player. For completionists, each level is stuffed with hidden collectables that you can use to customize your character's appearance and "Pod" (essentially his apartment). For perfectionists, there's the map editor, which we'll talk about shortly. For tourists, well, the neat things you can see and do are betrayed by piss-poor play control and an inane storyline. It's just not that fun to run through LittleBigPlanet in single-player mode.

Which isn't the point, of course. This game is concerned with a different axis of player entirely, one that's been around on the PC for decades, but is relatively new to the console scene: content producers versus content consumers. That level editor is no joke -- I'm sure I don't need to tell you. Ever since the beta test, LBP users have been running wild, and they've turned out some pretty impressive creations. One of the first user-created maps I tried out, basically at random, was an escape from Alcatraz that nailed the look and feel of the place. There are some real gems out there.

There's also some garbage, which is neither a surprise nor a strike against the game. Rather, it just goes to show how small the percentage is going to be of players who create something of worth to the LBP community. First of all, the number of people who will even publish a level has got to be miniscule compared to the number of people who will play one, while the number of people who will create genuinely good stuff is that much lower again. (I'm basing this on well-known "Web 2.0" formulas.) Still, in absolute terms, the amount of solid levels being built by LBP users seems impressive.

What I wonder is why the game's biggest draw is aimed at such a small proportion of its players. Building a good level has got to take a combination of inborn skill and serious dedication. The question is, was Media Molecule gambling by assuming that a relatively small number of users would become the engine that will power their game? Certainly it seems like the game is a commercial success, so even if they gambled it sounds like it was a good bet. I just wonder that vast majority of people who can't or won't put in the effort to make levels will stick around to see what others end up doing.

Granted, I'm not this game's target audience. Things like customizing my character have always baffled and annoyed me. The way I see it, I spent sixty bucks on your game -- the least you could do is a design a character for me. The whole idea of user-created content is strange to me. It's not my job to make the game for you, it's your job to make the game for me!

I don't want to go on a rant here [background fades to black], but this whole trend toward user choice in games is misguided in some ways. I was just reading a post about Fallout 3, in which the author wondered why doing things like jumping up on tables in the middle of crowded taverns never seemed to bother anyone in the game world, and I thought, well, why would the game give you the option to do that if there weren't going to be consequences? If everything is possible, why do anything? Am I a character who would jump on tables? It's fine if a designer wants to give me that option, but then it's his job to think through the consequences.

Say what you will about Far Cry 2, at least that game was consistent. Everybody started shooting at you, no matter what you were doing. And the other thing they did right is not to give you a choice to do good missions or bad ones. Personally, when someone tells me to go blow up a crate of medicine, my first thought is, no, I don't want to blow up that crate of medicine. You'd have to be a real dick to go and do a thing like that. But that's exactly it: In Far Cry 2, you are playing the role of a real dick! And while the game gives you a ton of latitude in exactly how you can go about being a dick, one choice it doesn't give you is not to act like a dick. If you could go through Far Cry 2 being Mr. Good Samaritan, it would be a worse game for it. Games are at their best when giving you the illusion of choice, while playing you like a fiddle.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, stay out of my booze.

Quiz: The Year in Swooning

Match each of these games with the breathless excerpt from its review.

1. Grand Theft Auto IV
2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
3. Dead Space
4. Far Cry 2
5. LittleBigPlanet
6. Fable 2
7. Fallout 3
8. Resistance 2

A. "Is it possible to give a game an 11? If so, this would be the game that would merit that score."

B. "I now know how film critics felt after screening "The Godfather." ...doesn't just raise the bar for the storied franchise; it completely changes the landscape of gaming."

C. "It is not hyperbole... an achievement that rivals greats like Half-Life 2 and BioShock. Its nuanced and labyrinthine plot, fully-realized characters and devastating attention to minute graphical details are beyond reproach."

D. "...a staggering, genre-defining achievement - marrying an utterly immersive world, memorable characters, incredible production values, some of the most inspired ... mechanics ever devised and so much heart ... Stands so far ahead of the majority of the games ... that it would be a crime against gaming not to laud this title as anything other than a masterpiece."

E. "...a landmark title that fundamentally changes the genre. Better than the original in every way, it is an amazingly rich adventure packed with anything and everything from exploration to fierce gun battles to harrowing car chases. It's incredibly polished, enormous in scope, and one of the best games of 2008."

F. "While the single-player experience is a great tale with an epic scope, it is equaled, and perhaps surpassed, by the multiplayer modes, which are perhaps some of the best I've ever played, and I'm particularly picky about my multiplayer."

G. "...one of the most important games to be released this decade. A tall order with the hype machine running overtime for the game but the way it reinvents how video games are played is sure to have lasting effects indefinitely."

H. "One of the greatest RPG’s ever made, a must own game for fans of the genre and anyone who wants to experience something truly unique."

Answers:

1. B (Game Informer)
2. A (IGN)
3. C (GameSpy)
4. E (GameShark)
5. G (Kombo)
6. H (WonderwallWeb)
7. D (Xbox World 360)
8. F (IGN)

Collecting scalps

Friday, October 17, 2008 -- 3:47 P.M.

ETpwnhome: d00d i got far cry 2

doobyscoo420: what!! it doesnt even come out 4 like another week

ETpwnhome: haha i no they totally broke street date at my best buy

doobyscoo420: i gotta go check mine

ETpwnhome: good luck man im gonna go SHOOT THE FUCK OUTA AFRICA

doobyscoo420: k have fun

doobyscoo420: guess ill just play dead space or some shit :(

Friday, October 17, 2008 -- 11:10 P.M.

ETpwnhome: OMG U HAVE 2 PLAY THIS GAME

ETpwnhome: OMG OMG OMG

doobyscoo420: they didnt have it at my best buy :(

ETpwnhome: IT SO AWESOME

doobyscoo420: and i tried gamespot and even target

doobyscoo420: :(

ETpwnhome: GAME OF TEH YEAR

ETpwnhome: GAEM OF EVAR

doobyscoo420: well i got to the last boss of dead space and its pretty cool

ETpwnhome: dude.

ETpwnhome: srsly?

doobyscoo420: it has big tentaculs and stuff

ETpwnhome: who cares about dead sapce lol

doobyscoo420: did u ever get past that asteroid shooting part

ETpwnhome: my guy has MALARAIA

ETpwnhome: fuck u

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 -- 7:37 P.M.

doobyscoo420: DUDE I GOT FAR CRY

doobyscoo420: i havent even started it yet but im so siked

ETpwnhome: lol good luck with that pos

doobyscoo420: we should play mulitplayer

doobyscoo420: wiat what

ETpwnhome: its so dumb

ETpwnhome: like it doesnt make sense. theres all these dudes who keep making u do dumb stuff for no reason, and like u drive around 4 an hour and dont do anything

doobyscoo420: what about the malaria

ETpwnhome: its GAY

doobyscoo420: so do u want to play multiplayer or no???

ETpwnhome: haha no dude i got littlebigplanet an im about 2 play the FUCK out of it

doobyscoo420: what i thought that got delayed 2 next week!!

ETpwnhome: lol ya i got mine from gamestop cuz i no the manager n they have tons of copies in the back

doobyscoo420: oh shit i gotta check my gamesotp

doobyscoo420: guess ill just play far cry or some shit :(