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Jumping the Shark Podcast #115

By on March 19, 2012 with 3 Comments

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Image: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In Jumping the Shark #115 it’s round two of Cackowski-Schnell versus Brakke and the great Mass Effect debacle!

Just kidding.

We do talk up some more Mass Effect 3 this week, more about the game, some clarification of how War Assets and Galactic Readiness actually work, but this week’s JTS is a potpourri of topics. We’ve got thoughts on Diablo 3 and whether or not Din’s Curse changed the bar for what it needs to offer. We’ve got opinions on the need for a new edition of the original Baldur’s Gate Games. We’ve got words for Obsidian’s one-point Metacritic miss on their bonus. And we’ve got more impressions on Rayman: Origins (Vita) than you can shake a stick at. Plus, Bill makes his first ever venture into the depths of Resident Evil, with RE4 on the Xbox. It’s all here this week on Jumping the Shark!

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A Different Kind of Digital Warfare

By on March 16, 2012 with 15 Comments

Combat Mission Shock Force real-time tactics game

If you read my column on board wargames this time last week, you may have been struck by something I glossed over completely. Namely, if the focus of the wargaming community is so squarely on simulations that it results in games so long and complex that they verge on the unplayable, why don’t they play more computer simulations where the processor can do the heavy lifting? To which the simple answer is that I have no idea.

I can see why a board game may be more appealing than a computer one: you have a face-to-face opponent to interact with and a complete grasp of the game state so you can develop a mechanical approach to the strategy. But those things are, surely, anathema to the idea of making the game into a simulation of something that’s real-time, chaotic and in which no one person ever has a total understanding of the situation? Furthermore if you want to model something that requires complex rules, isn’t it a better idea to program all those rules into a computer and let it handle the detail rather than spend hours internalising rulebooks? These things seem obvious to me and that’s why I like my board wargames to be relatively light and quick-playing and why I like to play my conflict simulations on the computer instead.

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Total War Battles: Shogun Screenshots

By on March 14, 2012 with 2 Comments

Sega and The Creative Assembly released some info and screenshots for the upcoming iOS version of Shogun Total War dubbed Total War Battles: Shogun. (Confused?) This entire idea sounds a bit ludicrous but I said the same thing about Snuggie and look how that turned out.  In fact, the screens look pretty good and this sounds, on paper, like a neat implementation.It supports 2-player multiplayer on the same tablet and also packs a full 10 hour campaign mode as well. Being a sucker for Shogun Total War I’m going to have to check this out.

PR time and screens ahead:

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Playdek to Bring Commands & Colors: Ancients to iOS

By on March 13, 2012 with 12 Comments

Playdek is quickly becoming one of my favorite companies.  Ascension, the upcoming Nightfall, Summoner Wars, hell even Agricola, a game I don’t even like. Taking these games to iOS is great for the hobby I love.

But today? Today Playdek leaped to hugs and kisses status as the company has inked a deal with GMT Games to bring forth one of the best 2-player wargames of all time to an iPad near you.

Time to get your Hannibal on as Commands & Colors: Ancients will be ported to the iPad, iPhone and “other devices”. Finally, it appears that boardgame companies are waking up to the fact that there’s this technology out there that could help them sell more games.

And this one? This one’s a keeper. Someone wake up Barnes. I’m sure he just passed out. PR Ahead.

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Jumping the Shark Podcast #114

By on March 12, 2012 with 28 Comments

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Image: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

March Madness strikes early in Jumping the Shark#114. We don’t talk hoops much, but Brandon and I go about eight rounds over whether or not it’s appropriate for Mass Effect to tie its multiplayer component into the single player end game results. It’s a vicious battle of wills that sees at least one of us forever changed! Also in this episode, Brandon goes looking for a free pass out of SSX’s deadly descents. Bill reflects on his Binary Domain experience and finds its culmination lacking. He also spends some time with MLB: The Show and wonders, not for the first time, if his days of playing these games for review need to be behind them. Finally, it’s not all about Mass Effect 3 multiplayer as I talk about my early steps into the main game. It’s all here in another jam-packed episode!

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Playdek Interview Part 2

By on March 9, 2012 with 1 Comment

Welcome to part two of our talk with George Rothrock, Playdek’s Director of Product and Busines Development and Gary Weis, Playdek’s Chief Technology Officer. We chat about Nightfall and Summoner Wars, how to get new players up to speed quickly and whether or not we’ll ever get a third AI level in Ascension. If you haven’t read it already, check out Part 1 of the interview.

When you look at these properties, does the number of expansions factor in as well, in terms of trying to pick properties with a long tail or is it simply the initial concept and how well that would appeal to players.

George: Certainly games that have deeper product in terms of expansions is always interesting but primarily we like to work with companies and designers that have a vision for their games, for their IP and are on the prolific side. We like to get partnerships, work with these folks over a period of time. So it is always intriguing from a “let’s make and sell games” point of view and that’s balanced against us really enjoying the games ourselves, liking to work with the properties and seeing something in it that really excites us.

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Mass Effect: Infiltrator is Terrible and I Hate It

By on March 8, 2012 with 10 Comments

Before I get into why Mass Effect: Infiltrator is terrible, I want to make sure people understand exactly where I’m coming from.

I have absolutely no problem with increasing your level of galactic readiness through a variety of means in Mass Effect 3. Given the scope of the game, I think that it makes thematic sense to let you obtain allies through your single player efforts as Shepard or by killing dudes in c0-op as an N7 Special Ops squad or by finding intel in Mass Effect: Infiltrator. As long as the single player experience allows you to obtain full galactic readiness without taking part in these other things, which is my understanding, then I’m good.

My problem with Mass Effect: Infiltrator is that it is a terrible game with awful controls, an extremely thin story and a protagonist that you can’t care about because the games hasn’t given you a reason to care.

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Playdek Interview, Part 1

By on March 7, 2012 with 1 Comment

In part one of our interview, George Rothrock, Playdek’s Director of Product and Busines Development and Gary Weis, Playdek’s Chief Technology Officer talk about what was behind bringing Ascension and Food Fight to iOS, the joys of asynchronous play and why Agricola is so appealing. Come back on Friday for part two where we talk more about Nightfall and Summoner Wars, the importance of good tutorials and what’s up with the missing third AI notch in Ascension.

What’s the background on Playdek. You’re in Carlsbad, CA, correct?

George: Yes, we are in Carlsbad, CA near San Diego. We began life in 2005 as a console development studio with THQ and after a number of very successful titles, high quality titles for Xbox 360, PlayStation, Wii, went independent and now we’ve become a publisher. We do all our own development in house and we have transitioned to this space where we bring the best in hobby and table games to digital platforms.
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5 Indie Games to Watch in 2012

By on March 6, 2012 with 6 Comments

Contending with the likes of The Binding of Isaac, Frozen Synapse, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP, 2012 has a tough act to follow. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but it does represent some of the most promising indie games to keep on your radar this year.
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Jumping the Shark Podcast #113

By on March 5, 2012 with 8 Comments

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Image: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jumping the Shark #113 is all about the calm before the storm. As we gather in anticipation over a release calendar chock full of March gaming goodness, we pause to contemplate the implications of Assassin’s Creed 3 steeping itself in revolutionary Americana. Just what exactly will our new protagonist be taking those ginormous leaps of faith from? And what impact pray tell will this setting change have on the the gameplay? Will it revitalize a series that’s fast becoming stale? Then Brandon and I hit the links with a little Fairway Solitaire on the iPad. Gopher season is officially open and we aim to pull out our trusty 9-iron and clonk that troublesome rodent right on the nogg’n. Brandon shows us some SSX love and wonders to what extent a game’s difficulty should be reflected in the criticism for said game. Finally, Bill unwraps Binary Domain and finds it a delightful surprise. It’s our pre-Mass Effect 3 show, so enjoy the quiet contemplation while you can. Next week Shepherd starts curb-stomping reapers. 

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