An excess of emptiness -
March 26, 2001 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot.
The cold stays in my bones for hours after a resurrection, maybe as a
balance to the fire that runs through my veins just after.
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Good golly gosh, love Ed or hate him, you gotta respect the way the guy
stirs up discussion. Which is supposed to be the job of a columnist, after
all, and now I get to reap the whirlwind that he sowed. Nifty.
Onward.
| Who's gonna build it
all? |
| "We certainly haven't seen increased length in games due to the DVD format, or even seen
many developers use it. So what exactly do you want out of the drastic increase in space?
Will mediums like Nintendo's 1.5 gigabyte GameCube discs be enough after all? Just how
many wacky extras does a ninja need, anyway?"
Using 1.5 GBs for "40-50 hours worth" of map data, character data, and so forth is possible...
but considering the time it takes to come up with gameplay ideas, it's not unrealistic to see
why current games are so short. (OoT was in development for a good 3 years by a very
experienced team, and its environments weren't nearly as graphically detailed as something in
a PS2 game; Majora's Mask had at least a year and a half and recycled the same engine.)
Considering that said games (Bouncer, Onimusha, and Z.O.E.) aren't RPGs, no one should
expect developers to sacrifice detail for pure length (alot of RPG story is filler; although I can't
say anything in particular about any of those games, I'm certain graphics and gameplay
received more attention than telling a long, long story).
Outside of RPGs, games usually last a few hours the first time through. It was true in the
NES days, and it's true now. I'm one of those freaks who enjoys playing through a game
again and again to perfect my playing style, just for the sake of it; with 50-hour games, that's
alot harder and forces alot of unnecessary repetition. You can say that RPGs aren't meant to
have replay value (that's why I don't play alot of RPGs), but you'd be hard-pressed to find
someone who considers that good design. (Believe it or not, there are people who can't afford
to buy every new game that comes out, even if they're living in their parents' basement and
have no life. We thrive off of those silly Players' Challenges from Ye Olde Nintendo Power and
dares from our like-minded, dirt-poor friends. Sucks to be us, eh?)
- Jabu-Jabu, who LIKES FF9's insane amount of subquests. Bless Sakaguchi. :)
|
That's not entirely correct. A lot of detail has more to do with rendering power than manpower - certainly it's much harder to render The Bouncer than the original Star Fox, but I don't think it would have been much harder to make Vagrant Story look a lot better than it did with more detailed texture maps, which mostly just require more memory than the PSX had available. The hard part comes in making objects manipulatable, and that's where the real manpower crunch comes in (and why it would have been a lot harder for The Bouncer to have weapons).
I agree with you about replay time tho - there's little point in putting multiple branches into a game that takes you 40+ hours to complete, because only the most obsessed people will find time to play through it. That's not necessarily bad, but it does seem a waste to hide the most potentially interesting parts of a game from the majority of the audience.
| A defense of MGS, if it
needs one |
| Many of the sequences in Metal Gear Solid saw you use a gameplay
mechanic once, then discard it completely. Could you imagine a version
of Zelda where you used the Bow once? Or the boomerang? It would
probably be 10 hours long and expect the player to be satisfied playing
through again and again so they could be assigned new animal names.
No way, nothing could be further from the truth. While it's true that
there are only a few situations where you're forced to use certain
weapons (e.g. the electrified floor), there isn't a single weapon that
doesn't have a wide variety of uses throughout the game. I think this is
in many ways more realistic than Zelda and most adventure games where
the environment and the puzzles are tailored exactly to your abilities.
Those who have had the unfortunate experience of playing Tomb Raider
will remember all of those jumps which are set up so that it's exactly
the maximum distance Lara can leap. Similarly, in Zelda the puzzles are
totally designed around the equipment you acquire. On the other hand,
I've played through MGS about five times now and I'm still finding new
uses for different weapons and equipment. While the humble SOCOM is
usually sufficient, other weapons will often do the job better.
As for the topic, I have only one, simple wish: full redbook audio in
Dolby 5.1.
-Arpad |
Trying to balance things out here, I'll say that while I do prefer Zelda's weapons, MGS has the advantage in disguising its item-dependant puzzles. It gets a bit frustrating to tear apart a dungeon to find one stinking item to get through one stinking room, whereas in MGS you generally already had the item you needed, you just needed to learn how to use it properly. And there was enough plot from point to point to keep things interesting in the cases where you did have to search.
And as for your wish: HELL YEAH!!
| 675+ |
| Just a quick note concerning yesterdays topic. Many
people seemed disgruntled with the current length of games and I for
one agree with them. Of course, when all you play are RPG's and strategy
games 2-15 hours makes for a pathetically short game. I can't help this view,
however, because as I mentioned I am used to playing games that award me
with 30+ hours of gameplay.
On the same topic, I began playing Phantasy Star Online...err...a long time
ago, I can't remember when though because PSO ruined my sense of time. I currently
have 675+ hours with 3 characters, no joke. 675+ hours. This number is just
shocking...I mean...675+?!? Sadly though, this game has begun ruining my
experience with other games. I just recently bought Record of Lodoss War and
beat the game in 35 hours. A respectable length of time by any account, but after
PSO I can't help but feel unsatisfied. Of course this is going to be made even worse
when the update disc arrives. What number will I hit next, 1075+?!? Think games
aren't long enough, try playing Phantasy Star Online, it's not a game, it's a way of life...
Justino-Sama
p.s. PSO is more addictive than crack, cigarettes and alcohol combined. I for one belivee that Sega should intiate a support group to help people ease themselves off the game and into more fulfilling activities...
|
I don't think I've ever spent 675+ hours in my life on any one thing, except maybe writing this column. And all that's since the game was released? Scary.
| One vote against Ed... |
| Dear Chris,
Actually I really wish I could tell Ed this - I was seriously offended by
his comments, in which he implied that I shouldn't be playing RPG's simply
because I have less time to complete them. Well, maybe I should made myself
more clear, but I still love playing RPG's - that's why I'm willing to
invest the time to complete them. However, I also play other kinds of games
(action, strategy, adventure, etc.), and if each one of them was as long as
Lunar 2 or FF7, no one could be an accomplished gamer and still be able to
have the time to maintain a living. As for Ed's comments regarding the
untapped potential of MGS's gameplay - well he should have played the MGS:
Virtual Training Missions game then. While he might complain that gameplay
should have been included in the original game, he would do well to remember
that Konami is a business, and if they can release two decent products
instead of one, why not?
-Fares
P.S. Yes Ed, you are more sarcastic and harsh than Drew or Seb. And Drew,
you have your work cut out for you. |
I think Mr. McGlothlin was being a wee bit sarcastic there, but you've got a right to respond. Moving on...
| ... and one vote for Ed |
| Hey Chris, great topic from Ed. Great letters column too, you've got to
invite that guy back.
On to it, I say first off that I'm probably biased towards Nintendo but
that's from the quality product they've delivered time and time again.
What we are going to see now is companies coming at game development from
two different directions. The first is from the attitude that the PSX
created, "We have all this space, let's use it." What followed then was
alot of fluff and stuff, some very good some very bad but all very
inefficient and bloated. Being an animator myself I'm not overly impressed
with Square's CGI, don't get me wrong, it's still the best but that's not
what I buy games for. Square finally topped out at 4 CDs per marquee
title.
Then there is the attitude from N64, say what you will about the system but
developers that took the time to learn it created some great stuff.
Resident Evil was able to be ported to a cartridge and while Capcom may not
compare to Square in terms of beauty the bottom line was they came out with
some great compression routine that made it possible to put CGI on very
limited space. Same with Nintendo, Rare, Left Field and Factor 5. I'm
hoping that these companies will continue to keep it efficient and produce
even better product and new inventions and inovations.
Now obviously game sizes have to get bigger. Models are more complex,
evironments are bigger, more and bigger image maps are being used but
there's no comparison between that and pre-rendered CGI. Imagine Killer
Instinct in real-time 3D! Wait, now we can get the whole game including
Rare's great CGI.
I see a new day dawning, and it looks pretty bright.
Y@ |
I don't think you're looking at FMV as it's actually used in games. In the PSX era, FMV wasn't this sop to the masses that many people keep seeing it as, rather, it was (when properly used) a tool to accentuate key moments of the game and draw the player further in. It's a technique that a lot of art uses in one way or another - show what really needs to be shown, and leave the rest to the audience's imagination.
On the PS2, however, there's not a huge difference between FMV and what the system's capable of - yes, you do occasionally have tricks like the scratched film reel on The Bouncer, but by and large I haven't noticed many instances where what I was seeing couldn't be done with the in-game engine. Because of that, gaming will probably shift more towards the N64's "all rendered, all the time" setup, but look like FMV. The best of both worlds, really.
| Extras, extras, extras |
| It seems to me that expecting a DVD's increased storage
capacity to provide greater game-length is largely pointless. RPGs on
the SNES are similar in length to RPGs on the PlayStation. Would the
Bouncer really be a better game if it were five times as long? Would
Final Fantasy IX be better if IT were five times as long?
So what to use that extra space for? They could do something like including
the anime version of Zone of the Enders along with the game, slap in a few interviews
with the creators of both, add a cool gallery with images of both, provide the
highest possible quality audio and widest variety of textures, things like that
(Cost issues might arise though...).
Or maybe interactive porn.
Mosquiton |
It should be noted that DQ7 really did take the increased length idea of the CD to heart and made a huge freaking game, but I can't judge if that was a good use of disc space until I get a chance to play it myself, if and when it comes out over here. Other than that, I fully agree - DVDs have much better picture and sound than VHS, but the real killer app as fair as they're concerned is extras, from bonus scenes to director's commentary. Heck, how cool would it be if after you finished MGS2, you got access to a mode where you got to hear Kojima himself (through an interpreter, of course) describe how and why he put things together the way he did? I'd pay more for that, no question.
| So you want to be a
video game journalist? |
| Well, if you really want to be a video game journalist,
then:
1) Study English or Journalism (and maybe get a second major as a backup
plan). Know your AP style.
2) Do a lot of writing for anyone you can find, be it webpage or local
newsletter or whatever, and include it in a portfolio when you apply for the
job. The bigger the name of the publication the better, but ANY writing
sample, even unpublished, is valuable
3) Get connections! In many cases, the best jobs go to people who know
other people
But of course, before you set out to accomplish getting a job in the
industry, keep in mind that the pay sucks, it takes a long time to play a
game, and only one person gets to play FFX. The rest of the staff has to
review games like Mary Kate and Ashley Olsens's Big Circus Adventure in
Wichita, Kansas.
The fact that in The Sims, the lowest-level job on the journalism track is
video game journalist, shows something. Who knows what, exactly, but
definetely something!
-AK |
Two notes: AP stands for Associated Press, not Advanced Placement, and real talent's a surer thing than connections in the long run, although both can't hurt. Other than that, well said, Mr. Kaufmann, sir.
| A bargain at twice the
price! |
| hi
this is in response to your story about the maya artbook. you say that the
program is thousands of dollars when in fact if you're a student you can get
the program for about $700.just thought i'd let those interested know.
The Gunslinger |
Well ok then.
Closing Comments:
Topic for tomorrow: anime stylings. As games go 3D, 2D anime character portraits and/or FMV are starting to vanish. Your thoughts?
Until tomorrow.
-Chris Jones, wants to hear Martin
Scorsese commenting on The Bouncer. Just because.
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