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Videogames and the Internet
12 years ago
Today my copy of the new 'Tomb Raider' arrived for the Playstation 3. Only I can't play it straight away because it needs to grab some updates from the internet. Usually whenever this happens I have to wait about 15-20 minutes before I can get playing with Lara again. In fact I'm typing this as I'm waiting for the update to finish!
Videogaming at home used to be so straightforward. My first games console was a Sony Playstation which I got for my 12th birthday. It was 1999 and the Dreamcast had only just launched too and there was talk of the internet being something that would enhance gaming experiences. But I didn't care. I just revered the fact that I could just plug in and play 'Tomb Raider II', 'Crash Bandicoot 2', 'Quake II' or 'Gran Turismo 2' to my hearts content without having to wait. My insatiable appetite for videogaming heaven was satiated within minutes and I would be immersed in videogaming ecstacy for hours at a time at an age where I would NOT be required to take a break every hour for the sake of my health.
Fast forward to the early 2010s. Today we have high definition and wireless controllers and all kinds of awesome features but I can't help but think we have taken a step backwards. Now, I adored 'Sim City 3000' and it's building architect bonus feature, but 'Sim City 4' was disappointing and the new 'Sim City' looked very, very promising. Instead it sadly has become a shining example of why playing videogames right off of internet servers does NOT work very well. The internet is something I have a love/hate relationship with - I love it for obvious reasons such as convenience and finding out loads of stuff and keeping in touch with the rest of the world more effectively than you could with a telephone. But I hate how so many things rely solely on the interweb such as videogames.
Two weeks ago my PS3's hard drive committed suicide and had to be rebooted to factory settings. So my PS3 is thankfully working again but I lost all my data. Rats. It used to be that I could save my important info on a memory card in the days of the original playstation and it's successor, the Playstation2. These days I am required to save my games on the PS3's hard drive. This is convenient, but what if I want to save a backup file? I don't know how to do that, and although Sony offers an online service that backs up your files, I am NOT paying £10 a month for something I should really have for free. Sorry guys.
Right, now 'Tomb Raider' has almost finished getting it's silly update data from cyberspace, I'm going to wrap this journal up now and get to playing as my favourite superheroine again! Well, at least I made some use of these 20 minutes I guess.
Videogaming at home used to be so straightforward. My first games console was a Sony Playstation which I got for my 12th birthday. It was 1999 and the Dreamcast had only just launched too and there was talk of the internet being something that would enhance gaming experiences. But I didn't care. I just revered the fact that I could just plug in and play 'Tomb Raider II', 'Crash Bandicoot 2', 'Quake II' or 'Gran Turismo 2' to my hearts content without having to wait. My insatiable appetite for videogaming heaven was satiated within minutes and I would be immersed in videogaming ecstacy for hours at a time at an age where I would NOT be required to take a break every hour for the sake of my health.
Fast forward to the early 2010s. Today we have high definition and wireless controllers and all kinds of awesome features but I can't help but think we have taken a step backwards. Now, I adored 'Sim City 3000' and it's building architect bonus feature, but 'Sim City 4' was disappointing and the new 'Sim City' looked very, very promising. Instead it sadly has become a shining example of why playing videogames right off of internet servers does NOT work very well. The internet is something I have a love/hate relationship with - I love it for obvious reasons such as convenience and finding out loads of stuff and keeping in touch with the rest of the world more effectively than you could with a telephone. But I hate how so many things rely solely on the interweb such as videogames.
Two weeks ago my PS3's hard drive committed suicide and had to be rebooted to factory settings. So my PS3 is thankfully working again but I lost all my data. Rats. It used to be that I could save my important info on a memory card in the days of the original playstation and it's successor, the Playstation2. These days I am required to save my games on the PS3's hard drive. This is convenient, but what if I want to save a backup file? I don't know how to do that, and although Sony offers an online service that backs up your files, I am NOT paying £10 a month for something I should really have for free. Sorry guys.
Right, now 'Tomb Raider' has almost finished getting it's silly update data from cyberspace, I'm going to wrap this journal up now and get to playing as my favourite superheroine again! Well, at least I made some use of these 20 minutes I guess.
I also dislike release date DLC content because that means they had extra game content ready, they just decided not to include it on the disc so you can pay extra for it!
They finish making a game months before release date and entire teams have nothing left to do while others bug-test and such, rather than let them go to waste or move them onto another project they use that time to work on the first piece(s) of the games DLC [some of which they may finish before release to such a degree they can include the files on the disk.]
*cough*Simcity*BIG COUGH*
Anyway, the future isn't all bad. Being able to play Ni No Kuni, a console game, on day 1 of release (a 22gig DL), in the space of an hour, without leaving my chair! If someone had told me that was the future while I was playing Dizzy on the Spectrum ZX back in 1988 praying the tape wouldn't chew up, or fucking around with boot disks on a 486 just to get it to load. I'd have said they were CRAZY!
Kids these days have no perspective! *Shakes stick*
I found the cover art for Thieves In Time somewhat lacklustre though. Just searching on DA for 5 minutes you can find absolutely stunning work based around that game. Why studio's still have in-house concept art teams when the diffence between amateur and professionals in terms of equipment is now practically non existent is beyond me? Surely hiring freelancers from places like DA would save money on development costs! Not to mention many of these artists already have a following which would boost interest in a game, it works that way for printed books!
Sega recently ran a art competition for Sonic CD
http://blogs.sega.com/2011/12/15/so.....ntest-winners/
I'm pretty sure I've never seen art as good as that on /any/ Sega product ;P
This is why I don't play games much anymore. Too much stress, I want simplicity, and not having to deal with some jackasses that are so disrespectful as to treat me like I'm a potential pirater.
PC gaming has actually improved massively from the internet, but as of the last 5 or 6 years, things are going kinda uh... complicated for no good fucking reason. Updates in most occasions are a god sent, they usually weight very little, fix big problems and install and download rather fast, exceptions come when it's an update that adds content, like new maps, 3d models and features. But still it's a rather fast process, thanks to programs like steam, updates can be downloaded as they are released, no need to open the game for it to be downloaded, unless you wanted to play as the same time the update was released, you'll just open the game with the update there. On the other side, most MMOs release like 3 updates per week and take too much to download, but those are the few exceptions.
The problem comes when, they try making the internet MANDATORY for the game itself, even on multiplayer (I know it sounds weird). Most companies are removing core features that made PC multiplayer gaming (and online gaming itself) the great thing it is, so they can keep getting money out of your pockets to paid for said features. It all started with Quake 1, that game CREATED actual multiplayer communities. It came with the chance to make maps, mods, skins, whole non centerd communities of various interests each, create a server yourself with custom content to play with your friends.
But now, LOADS of games require you to join and make an account to the main server of the game, instead of you hosting your own. Even if at the core of the game and they way it works is counter productive. And that comes with the thing that, you can't create your own content, and you have to rely on buying DLC to get 4 maps at 15$ which you could have hundreds of maps at your disposal for free at most games. Other problem comes that, when the multiplayer server is shut down, multiplayer dies entirely, and it's nonsence, as, the previous example, quake, still lives perfectly fine today, 17 years after it's creation, with online communities and custom content still being released.
One thing that people could do was, play on LAN, basically, have a bunch of PCs together, and connect em to each other, no need for internet, so you could play multiplayer without internet. Now, even for playing LAN, you need to be connected to the main server, unless you wanna play it pirated, then LAN is easier for some reason :T
Center servers for games have a kind of possitive thing, that is, leveling up and unlocking weapons and such. But instead of working like, TF2, a server for your account info and others for the gaming itself, they are the same thing and you can't play one without the other.
Things go even more ridiculous when, they make you have internet, EVEN FOR SINGLEPLAYER. Having RDM that requieres a constant internet connection, when most people don't have a stable one, causing em to restart stages and such because they lost their internet connection ON SINGLEPLAYER.
Multiplayer games were also much more fun when it was everyone in the same room. Me and my pals from school used to play games like Super Smash Bros Melee and Perfect Dark til our thumbs got sore. The only online game I played was 'NHL 10', and I didn't like that element because I didn't know who I was playing against and also many opponents were more interested in instigating hockey fights than actually playing a proper game of hockey! Quite amusing really, but annoying nonetheless.
And yeah, I am with you there on internet for single players being pointless.
The thing is, as they have to simplify how to play multilayer in consoles, they end up manipulating too much of em. Multiplayer gaming when it started and many of the years following it, was of, how you wanted to play it. Wanted to just play and have fun? Go to servers that are for that. Want to be competitive? Go to servers that are for that. Want to have an absolutely goofy experience full of silly mods? Go to a server that has that. The thing is, PC gaming has had custom Dedicated servers for a very long time, and, dedicated servers, where like hubs, to meet people, most people visit the same servers, and get to know the people there, is like going to a club, and having familiar faces there. Many times, communicates make servers for different games, so you can see the same people on the different games, as they are from the same community, I made quite some friends like that.
Now, games are being made to BE competitive, not to give you the OPTION. So they have all this rank systems and make you go to people of your rank and such, winch causes you to be filled with immature assholes calling each other racial slurs and getting angry instead of having fun.
There are many games I played on servers that, when I failed or made my team lose, we would laugh at that, I'm pretty bad at most games, but we were there for fun, not to compete, so losing or winning was fun either way. Now, I have to avoid most new games because I get fucking bashed as hell because I'm not good and get this weird ranks and numbers and I just don't give 2 damns of how good I am, I just wanna have fun, but now you only can have fun if you are good :T
I agree fully on your view on technology, we've gone forward in some ways but back in others. I think a lot of it comes down to what's cost effective and possible cost-wise to put in every home with a console. If you saw some of the tech shown at trade shows you'd be pissed we common gamers didn't have our hands on it now!
But I agree with you. Internet-linked games are terrible. The sole fact that if something like your modem or router takes a dive, you are completely unable to play some games. It completely takes away the idea of ownership, and more or less is a $60 disc that connects you to the server to let you play. Then there's the patches. When they came out, they were wonderful! Those few bugs that are overlooked and ruin your game were a thing of the past! Now, it's a reason to be lazy, to push out something that resembles a game on release day, except you go 5 steps anywhere in the game, you fall into Blue Hell. And now, you're waiting until the programmers can come up with a fix. It's lazy, it's terrible, and they probably fired their entire QA testing department.
Thinking about all this makes me sad. I think I'll go play my NES.
Speaking of playing old skool, I'll probably give Crash Bandicoot a whirl sometime soon ^^.
I'm starting to go back to things like OpenTTD and the older Sim City games, they all just seem to be more fun, with better gameplay, rather than relying on graphics.
Now I should get a PS3 as well.
And sorry about your console, man. :(
When I first bought the 360, it was only because a friend of mine offered a deal. They gave 3 free games that I liked if I bought their used system. I did, and have had no problems, until I got into the newer games, which required system updates, as previously mentioned. I actually had to buy a points card and give the card and the 360 and all its hardware to a friend so he could put the updates (and a DLC I wanted) on it. I was not very happy about this.
Lately, the gaming world is getting onto the "move your body so you don't get fat like a lazy couch potato", which is one reason why they made the Wii, the Kinnect for the 360, and whatever it was for the PS3. What ever happened to the good old days where you could just sit on a couch and zone out playing a game for hours on end? And let's add to the fact that some games these days will tell TELL YOU to "Why don't you stop and take a break?" or even "Go out and get some exercise for a while." WTF???
And then there's the new consoles coming out, with rumors of "No tangible games", and the ENTIRE GAME has to be downloaded to play. Imagine the cost of downloading these DVD/Blu-Ray sized games with people with limited bandwidth.
Then there's also the rumor of "No playing used games". If you think new games are pricey NOW, just imagine what you'll have to cough up up (close to $100) every time a new game comes out. No more waiting for a used copy, no more waiting for new game to come down in price. The companies will own the video game market, and will ultimately kill themselves.
Due to these factors, I have given up buying video games and consoles, as they are WAAYYYY too costly, (among the other reasons listed above) and gaming just isn't the same as it used to be.
I play games to be lazy and cool down, and that was one thing that put me off the Wii. That and the PS3 had the exclusives I wanted, and my bro already has an Xbox. Plus my 'loyalty' has always been with the Playstation. I'm not in any hurry for PS4, frankly that can come in a few years when I might actually care a little. By then I hope that these companies will understand what gamers really want rather than take what Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft might want to shove down our throats.