An Alien Druid.

I love pixel art. I love the SNES era of games. I love Scotland and its rich history and the mysterious Druids and I love aliens. So boom here ya go.

Rock Band 3 and Capitalism (in a Managed economy that disguises itself as a Free Market)

Ryan's Rant: Rock Band 3 and Capitalism* (in a Managed economy*** that disguises itself as a Free Market**)
Here is some background.

Rock Band releases downloadable tracks every Tuesday at a price of about $2.00. About a year ago they released a set of Queen tracks.

Queen being one of the greatest bands of all time, warranted some of my hard earned cash.

Rock Band 3 has recently hit the stage and has added a whole new level of play. (Keyboard, duel microphones, and come March an actual real guitar.)

End of the background. Here is where the Rant steps in.

Here is where Capitalism (in a Managed economy that disguises itself as a Free Market) shines. With the new levels of play the previous rock band downloadable tracks need to be upgraded ... for a price.

Release these upgrades as free downloads to those who have already purchased the songs? Of course not.

Release them as discounted upgrades to those who have already purchased the songs? Are you crazy.

Release them as full priced songs, with no regard to those who have already purchased the songs. Now you get it.

AND will these upgraded songs be ready for the new guitar that comes out in March? No. Another upgrade will be required.

Three total purchases of the same songs.****

I am not forced to buy any of this. My livelihood does not depend on it. So charging for it three times should only effect me if I want to purchase them. (Check out Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for some insight on how marketing can change your perception of what you need versus what you want. (so maybe I do need these songs))

The similarities between this issue and what the US is currently facing with Health Care, Tax Breaks, Irish debt, etc, makes me want to ask the question. Do I want the government to regulate the price of Rock Band 3 downloadable tracks?

Do I want to lift the veil of the free market and live fully in a managed economy that pours into every aspect of my life which includes VIDEO GAMES?

Perception of the economy is just as powerful as the actual production and consumption of its goods and services.

Do you do business in a free market or a managed economy? How far does the macro effect your micro?

Would you pay three times for the same music tracks?



*Capitalism - an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

**Free market - an economic system that allows supply and demand to regulate prices, wages, etc, rather than government policy.

***Managed economy - economy directed by government: an economy in which the government owns large parts of industry and sets prices for goods and services

****For this Rant I am ignoring the price of the game, and the cost of the additional plastic instruments required to play.

Spawning Weapons

Ryans Rant: I am sick of playing multiplayer fps levels that have weapons spawning at certain locations around the map.

Let's say you are going into war and the Man-at-Arms asks you, "Do you want this Assault rocket launcher before you head out?" Your response, "no I am good. There are some on the ground outside and I would rather risk dying while running for it.."

Game programmers reasoning - That way it makes it fair for all players involved. Nobody starts with an advantage. What??!!!!

First off screw the advantage this is a war and the object is to destroy the other team, so if I feel safer carrying a sniper rifle instead of a stupid gun with a chainsaw into a massive battle against an alien force that is hell bent on destroying me then give me the rifle. Maybe I will last long enough to save the planet.

Secondly, most of the gamers who play these games nonstop, know exactly where the spawn points are. At the beginning of the match they sprint to get the weapon right off the bat.

So what does it matter if everybody starts out with their gun of choice? The good players are going to have the rocket launcher by the time the new players or casual players have a chance to get their bearings. (or gawk at the amazing graphical vista that is the battlefield)

So to recap the rant. Starting out with your gun of choice is more realistic, more fair, and doesn't piss me off.

Game company name

3-player co-op

Spider-man Shattered Dimensions Trailer

New Spidy game coming out late this year. Basically its going to be told in 4 different dimensions, each with a different type of Spidy, gameplay, and graphics style... I am going to reserve judgement until I know more, but please don't suck.

I am having flash backs to the last episode of Spiderman the Animated Series,... and I am thinking the other dimensions concept only works in that "cheezy saturday morning cartoon" setting, not in a "gritty we need to make this bigger and better then Arkham Asylum" sort of way.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner

Beyond the bounds of mech games, there is one that stands above them all. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. If you have not played it yet. Now is that time.

This is one instance in my life where it sucks to live in NTSC.

The "Special Edition" PAL and NTSC-J versions of the game featured a variety of additions and extras to the game, including new VR Training options, added scenarios, more difficulties, a music video featuring a remixed "Beyond the Bounds" theme, improved anti-aliasing and graphical optimizations, and new Orbital Frames for Versus Mode, among other improvements to the game.

Which means we here in NTSC get hosed.

Their is an awesome group of people who have made the music video available for all of us to watch.
Check it out.

http://www.zoneoftheenders.org/game/zoe2/index.php?content=special

Perfection

Perfect Song on RockBand. 450 Note Streak!

Yes I realize in the grand scheme of Rock Band this is not that impressive. But it was my first perfect, and so it will forever remain.

Batman VG overload

So I have been forming an idea for the greatest Batman Video Game ever. Espically since most Batman games are sub-par.

The game will have a free roaming Gotham City where crimes are being commited and the player will traverse the city via, rooftop, batmobile, batplane, etc..

One of the main dynamics of the game will be how the player plays Batman.

The Dark Knight vs The World's Greatest Detective.

The player can lean towards either (or both) of these two titles.

The Detective will search the crime scenes for clues and deduce where the villain’s hideout is located. Will also figure out who committed the crime for the smaller side quests. These will include all of the Batman "minor villains." (I.e. discovering an animal skin at the crime scene, taking it back to the bat cave and finding out possible matches. Man-Bat, Killer Croc, etc..) Also will be able to switch to the "Matches" Persona to find out more clues, by visiting bars and thug hangouts and listening in to conversations.

The Dark Knight will be more "scourer the city" until the player finds the villains. Maybe interrogate some low level thugs to find the information (possibly by holding them off a building until they talk). Instead of switching into "Matches" the Dark Knight player will crash into the bar and start beating up people until he gets the information.

VG Sci Fi Overload

so I have been dreaming of the greatest movie-scifi game ever......Imagine a metropolitan city in the present time... now imagine a game engine that has a sandbox enviorment. Now imagine all the sci worlds merge into a nexus of alternate realities right into this city.

Now you play the main character living a ordinary life in this city (you happen to be ex black ops and are a weapons expert of all kinds, plus a skilled fighter piolit).

The world is free form so you can do whatever you want. The first part of the game you run around the world and learn to play and explore. There is an air force base, office building etc. At one point you are approached by the men in black. (Now I don't want to use any main characters from any of these universes so it wouldn't be K and J, maybe S and T or something) They tell you that you we are not alone in the universe. And you can start doing missions for them. As the game progress the sci fi worlds start merging more and more into your world.

Aliens invade the streets, good thing you killed a predator and took some of his weapons. You find a warehouse full of face huggers..

The Independence day aliens mothership hovers over the city. You drive to the Air Force Base in a MIB car that you have now cause you did lots of missions for them. Hijack(borrow) an F-22 and take out the mother ship)

Enterprise E is in orbit around the planet. The borg are attacking.. Do enough quests for the away team and you can beam up to the ship and help defeat the borg. Maybe you have to take the Defiant and attack a cube.

Dr. Who steps out of the T.A.R.D.I.S. on the city streets, because the Darleks are invading.-- This would be the last mission since the Darleks are probably the biggest threat of any sci fi alien ever.

Light sabers heck yeah. Maybe a bunch of stormtroopers need to be taken care of. Grab an X-wing and see if you can't see whats going on in space. Take out some Tie Fighters.

Then the rest of the game would have little extras from other scifi worlds. The monolith from 2001 would be up somewhere... The Dune sand worms might come out from under the streets. Maybe you pick up a ghostbuster proton pack and trap. War of the World aliens are annoying so you need to make sure to have some biological warfare weapons. A T-1000 comes out and is trying to kill you. You find some of the planet of the apes in the local zoo. Godzilla comes out of the water.

-Good stuff. Greatest Sci Fi game ever.

Ultimate Spider-man

Welcome Heroes,
Have you played Ultimate Spider-man VG yet? If not than what are you waiting for? By far the
one of the best Superhero games out there.
-R

Spidy Week

Welcome Heroes,
For those who don't know this week is Spidy week! Possibly the greatest superhero game of all time comes out this Thursday. Ultimate Spider-man! If you find a lack of posts in the following weeks, you know why.
-R