[GAME OVER]

Combien d’entre nous sont-ils déjà tombés sur ce message qui annonçait une fatalité ou la fin d’un jeu!?

Des millions!

Mais le monde du jeu vidéo à changé et devient trop facile…

Toutefois, de vrais gamers se rebellent (… ouais… comme dans Star Wars… xD)!!!

En effet, tout est devenu plus simple, plus (trop?) accessible et proposant souvent parfois moins de challenge! Beaucoup de développeurs ont diminués le niveau de difficulté de leurs jeux… Avant, on n’avait pas 90 vies et on ne passait pas un Super Mario en une traite!

Bien pour les casuals gamers, moins bien pour les vrais gamers des salles d’arcades et de consoles hardcores… (Neo Geo, NES, Pc Engine, …)

Heureusement, depuis quelques temps, et grâce à l’âme de vrais gamers qui se sont fait entendrent, le retrogaming revient sur le devant de la scène! Alors, on est à même à se demander “pourquoi”?

Manque d’imagination des développeurs? Besoin de revenir à des jeux qui n’utilisent que 2 ou 4 boutons? Ou juste de la nostalgie?

Pas facile de répondre à ça, car c’est peut-être tout à la fois en fait.

En effet, pour le moment, et grâce, notamment, à des alternatives comme le Xbox Live Arcade, le Playstation Store ou encore le WiiWare, le retrogaming fait parler de lui!

Bien sûr, [mode vieux crouton "ON"] les jeunos d’aujourd’hui trouvent ces jeux moches et sans intérêts!!! On ne jure plus que par la Wii et ses cours de cuisines… (cette phrase a été citée avec la voix d’Abraham Simpson…). Et donc, c’est pour cela que certains développeurs ont pondus des versions HD de leurs anciens hits… Bonne initiative, mais le soucis c’est que cette version est, la plupart du temps, “inferior” à la version originale! Je m’explique: prennons Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (puf… puf…). Les graphs sont en HD, ok, mais pour les joueurs de l’original, ce n’est plus du tout le même… Vitesse d’exécution des persos plus lente, graphismes en HD mais moins fouillés que les beaux pixels de la Super NES, combattants moins charismatiques, … Bref, décevant pour ceux qui l’attendait… Tout ça, c’est surtout pour attiré un plus large public. Cependant, d’autres jeux remis au goûts du jour comme Marvel VS Capcom 2 par exemple, et qui respect totalement l’oeuvre d’époque en ajoutant quelques améliorations comme le mode online, ont cartonnés bien plus, à l’étonnement de Capcom… Les seuls étonnés!?

Personnellement, ça me fait plaisir de revoir quand même certaines suites comme Punch Out, New Super Mario, Excite Bike et j’en passe… Car même si ce sont de nouveaux jeux, les développeurs s’arrangent pour garder le même esprit et taper quelques clins d’oeil à leurs ancêtres sur NES. Merci à Nintendo pour ça quand même… Car malgré certains jeux totalement pourris sur Wii et DS, soyons franc, les productions Nintendo, elles, restent fidèles à elles mêmes sauf pour leurs difficultés. Mario est devenu trop facile!!!

Par contre, Capcom nous a sorti un vrai bon jeu d’époque: Megaman 9! Et là, c’est du gros, du trèèès gros morceaux… La difficulté est énorme, les graphismes du 8-bits et ça se joue avec 2 boutons! Un vrai jeu NES sur consoles New-Gen! Et ça fait plaisir de revoir ça! Dommage que ça ne sort pas en support physique mais bon… Ne soyons pas trop gourmants! ^^

Ce qui est super aussi, ce sont les compiles sur PSP ou Ps2, le plus souvent (même si il y en a sur à peu près toutes les consoles), avec les hits de jeux Capcom, SNK, SEGA ou encore Namco! Ca nous fait revivre de bons moments avec, parfois, certains jeux qui deviennent introuvables même sur le net (ex: Street Fighter premier du nom). J’encourage des initiatives de ce genre!

Ce qui est sympa, c’est de voir que certains n’oublient pas les origines du jeux vidéo. On commence à retrouver du retrogaming un peu partout. On retrouve pas mal d’images “photoshopées’ avec des persos pixelisés dans un monde réel, on y retrouve des clips musicaux tout en 8-bits, des albums de chiptunes, des goodies, des expositions et musées comme ceux des gars de l’association Mo5.com, des retro-tests par beaucoup de sites ou même des membres sur Dailymotion (voir page Dailymotion: Retro-Gaming sur Otageek), des rétrospectives dans des magazines (IG mag) ou émissions (merci à Marcus surtout!), des collectionneurs (comme moi! ^^), des remakes sur iPhone ou encore sur les services en lignes des consoles nouvelles générations, des boutiques spécialisées en retrogaming, et j’en passe… Le jeu vidéo d’antan réinspire, si je puis dire, les joueurs et développeurs de maintenant!

En conclusion, j’ai envie de dire:

LE RETROGAMING N’EST PAS MORT!!!

…

Et c’est tant mieux! ^^

On en parle sur le forum Otaku Daisuki… Venez nombreux!

Dopiero co potwierdziły się informacje o tym, że Cody, Guy i Adon dołączą do stawki zawodników w Super Street Fighterze 4, a pojawił się już zwiastun gry z gameplay’em wszystkich sześciu nowych postaci (jeszcze Juri, DeeJay i T. Hawk). Zapraszam do obejrzenia go poniżej.

źródło: The Fighter’s Generation

So this is a follow up to my last post about Super Street Fighter IV, which you can find here.

They just confirmed 3 more characters in Super Street Fighter IV and I gotta be honest, although these characters don’t really appeal to me (I only had some experience with them in Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max) I’m loving their designs:

1. Cody

2. Guy

3. Adon

But honestly? The following video just seals the deal. This game is going to be so much more than just a re-release of Street Fighter IV. I think this is going to be WELL worth whatever they ask for, as long as the max is the cost of a normal game:

I’ve heard through the grape vine that it’s going to be around $40, which again, is AMAZING for the stuff they are doing. New stories, new ultras for old characters, new characters, new online modes… wow.

I’m starting to get hype for this game, pretty hard.

Supposedly, through the grape vine again, there is going to be a new game mechanic, along the lines of the focus attack (sort of like Juri’s counter move, I’ve heard) but things can obviously change, as Abel’s Super and Ultra did, as can be sort of seen here:

But either way, the stuff they have up is looking good, and I’m really excited for this. I’m not onboard with the new announcer buuuut, can’t have everything we want now can we?

New Characters – Featuring Adon, Cody, Dee-Jay, Guy, T-Hawk & Juri

New Game Modes – Team Battle, Endless Battle, Replay Channel, & Bonus Stages

Il 1UP, ossia il locale che ci ha ospitato per diversi mesi nelle nostre ranbat e nelle numerose smazzate infrasettimanali ha inaspettatamente chiuso i battenti per problemi finanziari. PEM, un duro colpo.
Con poco più di una settimana abbiamo dovuto traslocare la ranbat romana #2.5 –è stato un miracolo che la data non è slittata– in un altro locale del circuito ESC Italia, con tutte le dovute conseguenze: avvertire i giocatori, testare la location, assicurarsi che tutto sia ok et cetera. Da questo scenario tutt’altro che promettente ci siamo ritrovati con i consueti giocatori che hanno superato le 30 unità, e non ce l’aspettavamo davvero questa volta.
La nuova location, ovvero il Next Generation promette davvero bene. La lontananza invece per il momento si sta rivelando un problema, ma un compromesso in questo senso deve essere trovato.

Lontananza a parte ci siamo trovati bene, ma è un peccato perchè il 1UP era diventato l’epicentro della scena picchiante romana dove ormai i giocatori si riunivano diverse volte la settimana per giocare e confrontarsi insieme.
Il vecchio quartier generale crolla ma la Scena non si ferma, ed il Fato può anche metterci i bastoni tra le ruota ma deve tener conto che le difficoltà sono il nostro pane quotidiano.

La siempre confiable y “renombrada” revista japonesa, Famitsu hoy nos ha revelado información nueva la cual tiene que ver con Super Street Figther IV del cual esperamos su salida por febrero o marzo. La información al respecto son unos scans bastante comprometedores donde conocemos a 3 nuevos peleadores: Cody, Guy y Adon seran los encargados de unirse a los ya anunciados T. Hawk, Juri y D. Jay.

Además otra pequeña imagen nos revela a otro personaje mas del cual no se puede asegurar su aparición pero se trata de Ibuki de SF3 como sabrán el tiene un kunai, que es el arma de Ibuki, si recuerdan SF3, ¿no? Como sea, estas adiciones se agradecen para los que no nos dejamos robar compramos el juego y el hecho de que todos los personajes estén disponibles desde el principio se agradece.
Con esto solo podemos decir que Capcom se precipito al sacar el juego y volver a vender una versión mejorada pro la cual bien pudimos esperar mas tiempo.
[Fuente: Joystiq]

So I’ve decided to start giving love to all you AMV creators….yeah you guys who sit at home and spend countless hours trying to create the next Dead Fantasy…..let’s see if you can make my top ten list coming out next year…..TO start it off I wanna highlight ACJALISCO!!!!!!!!!  Click on his name for the link…..He is one of the best and to prove it here is one of his vids that even I had to favorite on youtube.

And there they are.

I won’t comment on what these characters may have for this game since in my previous SSF4 post I was wrong thinking Up Kicks to Ultra was going to be Dee Jay’s go-to Ultra set-up, and predicting new Ultras long before multiple Ultras were even announced is not that smart.  I’m not the one making the game here.

It will be interesting to see how players treat Guy and Cody once the game is released: Both Final Fight characters are fan favorites and have fighting styles that sound great on paper, but neither are as beginner-friendly as those already in Super Street Fighter IV.

As for Adon he may look a little bland at first but his Starscream complex makes the character.  He’s the character in a sci-fi anime that  fights the heroes repeatedly and gets trashed every time.  When he is winning he’s the cockiest person in the world, making his inevitable defeat even sweeter.  People root for these types of characters, those who would rule the world if it wasn’t for the Sagats and Ryus that are just better than him.  The SF4 art style also does a great job keeping his ugly gnome face.

Adon is somewhat of an anti-fireball character, and with him and Guy in the game it seems like Capcom is both pleasing fans and adding some speed into the game  to counter the complaint that SF4 favors defensive play too much.  Whether this succeeds or not depends on how good both characters end up.

Meanwhile once again the leaked list of additions for Super Street Fighter IV was correct.  So shall it be written, so shall it be done.  It has to frustrate Capcom that the new stuff for both SSF4 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom were compromised, but it’s still exciting when these rumors come to life.  Also, not every person scours Web sites for information, or treats rumors like the Mayan calander.

UPDATE: IGN Video Added

-Adon wins the most-painful Ultra contest. KNEE TO THE THROAT!

-T. Hawk’s English voice is awkward to hear coming from a large character, but T. Hawk is an awkward character anyway.  There are certainly worse directions the VA crew could have gone with the character.  The voice during the Raging Typhoon sounds a lot like Ichigo from Bleach or Lelouch from Code Geass, so maybe Johnny Yong Bosch is doing vocal duties.  The other voices are all right.

por Ryunoken

Não era quem eu estava esperando, mas já vale pelo Guy! O ninja, seu amigo do Village People presidiário e o campeão chato de Muay Tay estão de volta as batalhas de Street Fighter (aliás, que nome simples é Street Fighter não?). Eu esperava que Dudley fosse anunciado, e eles chegam com três personagens de uma vez. Mas ainda faltam umas gostosas lutadoras aí. Cabe mais, Capcom, bem mais. Já que vamos ter que pagar, faça bem feito!

Potwierdziły się plotki, które krążyły po Internecie od kilku tygodni – w Super Street Fighterze 4 znajdą się trzy postaci znane fanom SFA: Guy, Cody oraz Adon. Wygląda więc na to, że do najnowszej odsłony trafią m.in. jeszcze jeden nowy zawodnik (Hakan) oraz Dudley.

źródło: forum PSX Extreme

Add Sagat clone, Adon; and Final Fight’s Cody and Guy to the never ending list of fighters returning for Super Street Fighter IV. Is Capcom missing anyone else?

Hello again all you guys, girls, and ghouls! Good news for Street Fighter 4 fans! More characters have been announced. I’m gonna breakdown my likes and dislike of each character.

CODY - I loved Cody in SFA3, I loved his story and how it connected with the Final Fight game. So I’m happy he is in another Street Fighter game. Now with that said, I think they should have redesigned his prison outfit. It looks a bit too tight on him. It is one of those things where it looks good in 2-D but in 3-D looks awkward. I can only hope his fighting style stays the same in SSF4.

GUY – Again, loved Guy in the Alpha series and Final Fight. Happy that he is in the game with Cody cause I always thought they were a pair like Ken and Ryu. Nothing really to dislike. I hope he doesnt have a crappy 2nd outfit thou.

ADON - Adon is a character I loved to fight but not liked to play so much. I thought he is a good contrast to Sagat because Adon is a lot faster and looks like a tradition Thai fighter. However, originally his character was in the first SF game. Alpha was SF1.5 so I understand why they bring him back. In SSF4 I think he is out-of-place much like Gen.

(rumored)IBUKI - Finally!! A SF3 character! I couldn’t be any more happier. I loved the character and played as her in SF3 3rd Strike. It good and it may seem like there will be a rivalry between Guy and Ibuki which makes sense cause both are ninja’s. But Ibuki was like in high school in 3rd Strike right? So she would be like a kid in SF2…hmmm this makes me wonder if it is her or not. If it is Ill just take it for what it is and be happy a SF3 character is in SF4.

So according to my count thats 8 character which is what was announced before. I love Cody and Guy are back but not Thrilled for Adon while happy and puzzled that Ibuki was or might have been picked. One thing that bugs me more than anything in SF4 is the timeline.  I know it comes after SF2 but before SF3. However, If I remember my SF timeline corecttly before SF2 Adon, Gen, Gouken as well as others died. This is why SF3 only a few characters came back. Some SF2 characters must have died or retired so in story why would all SF2 characters come back? They all survived? Bison is still terrorizing the world ? Oh well, I will just accept the fact Ono-san and crew pissed all over the cannon of SF just to please pissy whinny fans.

¿Quien de ustedes opinan que la Leyenda de Chun Li ha sido la mayor desgracia para Capcom?. Tal vez no se vea claro, pero la compañía detrás de Street Fighter siempre ha apoyado el mal cine digan lo que digan.

En 1993, salió la cinta de City Hunter de Jackie Chan (City Hunter era un manga y serie de anime bastante popular por aquella época) y Capcom aceptó poner su logo en los créditos así como estas escenas que rayan en lo rídiculo y que a pesar de ser tan raras y graciosas, si se discuten con las locuras que salieron después en la película de VanDamme o la de Chun Li.

No porque en los últimos años hayan salido películas que ni al caso (te estamos viendo a tí Goku) quiere decir que en el pasado, no hayamos tenido que ver escenas tan malas que son buenas.

PS: El soldado (Guile) ha sido lo más creepy que he visto en este tipo de parodias. Es como una combinación de parodía entre “El hombre que nunca estuvo ahí” y el tipo que siempre se peinaba en Vaselina.Ahora, para cintas bien locas y que contienen a los personajes de Street Fighter, nada como “Future Cops” el cual muestra a Ryu, Ken, vega, Honda, Blanka (que te sacará una carcajada al menos una vez) y que por alguna razón pelean vs Bison corriendo por las calles a diestra y siniestra. La verdad es que con lo que van a ver, si uno no se pregunta “¿Que demonios estaba pensando cuando pagué para ver esto?” es porque entonces, las películas de ahora, son más que aceptables dentro de la lógica del buen gusto e historia.

Sé que muchos dirán que tiempos pasados fueron mejores, pero en mi opinión personal, no hay a quien irle.

W miniony weekend w mieście Brooklyn w USA odbyła się już ósma edycja turnieju Battlefield Arcadia, w trakcie której rozegrano turnieje w Tekkena 6 (BR) oraz Street Fightera 4. Poniżej przedstawiamy Wam wyniki obu rozgrywek:

Street Fighter 4 (2na2):
1. Jeron and Sanford (Empire)
2. Andre and Rahsaan (Empire)
3. Chris Hu and Rico
4. Aqua and Damdai
5. Noel and Flash Metroid (Empire)
5. Mike and Eric (Empire: $yndicate/DeadCell)
7. Dieminion and Kreymore (Empire)
7. IFC Yipes and Lincoln (Empire)

Tekken 6 BR:
1. FightingGM (Empire)
2. Blood Hawk
3. Naclam
4. Fernando “The Game” Febles (Empire)
5. Blood Red (Empire)
5. Gangster of Luv
7. Devil Himself
7. Aqua

źródło: forum TekkenZaibatsu

Pretty mundane Sunday…  Been crafting for, like, five hours straight now.  My entire kinah savings fund is under critical attack as I near the 400 mark with Weaponsmithing.  After browsing through the weapon listing on Aion Armory though, I know it’ll be worth it.  Tuned in to the live feed of the NorCal Regionals a lil’ bit ago, just as John Choi an’ Alex Valle were getting ready for R1, lol, perfect timing!  North have taken the HDR crown thanks to Choi, gg peoples.  SFIV matches are gonna be starting up, if anyone’s interested you check it out live here.  Been watching the matches as I craft, lol, helps me get through this crafting hell!

Added some new screenshots to the gallery earlier today too!

[Edit] Bwahahah, SoCal SFIV team ftw!
[Edit] Went to go eat dinner with family, so I missed the singles completely.  According to the live chat Ricky O took the win, an’ here is iplaywinner’s listing to back up the claim.  An’ in other news I’m on my 4-5th attempt to get that stinkin’ Noble Durable Adamantium Greatsword to proc for the expert WPNsmith quest.  Luckily enough, the mats on the broker are selling cheap enough for me to break even with each attempt.  So I can keep trying so long as the supply is there an’ the prices remain low.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

- Microsoft Windows XP or Vista (with latest service pack)
- Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology or AMD Athlon 64 or higher
- at least 1GB RAM
- DirectX 9.0c / Shader3.0 compatible, VRAM256MB Video Card
- NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series or ATI Radeon X1600 or higher
- DirectX 9.0c compatible sound cards
- 800×600 (SVGA) monitor or higher
- 10GB hard disk space

Minimum System Requirements:
OS:XP/Vista
Processor: 2.8GHZ or higher
Memory: 1GB RAM or higher
Hard Drive: 7GB Free harddrive space
Video Memory: 7900GT or higher
Sound Card: N/A
DirectX: DX9
Keyboard & Mouse: N/A
CD/DVD Rom Drive: CD ROM

Recommended System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP/Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2 GHz
Memory: 2 GB
Hard Drive: 10 GB Free
Video Memory: 512 MB (nVidia GeForce 8600/ATI Radeon X1900)
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c or 10
Keyboard & Mouse
DVD Rom Drive
Release Name: Street.Fighter.IV-RELOADED

Size: ( 4.36 Gb )
Password: ( kosovadc )

Download Now:

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During my family leave, I’ve gotten some time during 2.0’s sporadic sleep schedule to play a ton of games. The majority of those games features a common, popular gameplay element – set collection.  You know what I’m talking about, right?  It’s that optional gameplay element in which you’re invited (usually unsuccessfully) to “collect them all” or “find them all”.  A few examples:  Okami’s stray beads, Gears of War’s COG tags, Fallout 3’s bobbleheads, Ratchet & Clank’s golden bolts, Super Smash Bros.’s trophies, Pokemon’s… pokemon.  There are also other, more subtle forms of set collection that you may not have thought about: multiplayer titles, skill sets, armor sets, crafting recipes, beastiaries, codexes (I’m looking at you, Bioware) – even Xbox/PS3 achievements/trophies can fall into this category.  Since I’m a bit OCD and somewhat of a collection nut, I spot these collection opportunities rather quickly.  I also tend to determine rather quickly that the vast majority of such opportunites are not worth my time investment.  And I’m sure many of you have done the same thing – shelved a game without even giving a second thought to those things you left uncollected in that bygone world.  There’s a reason for that – it’s because most games implement set collection badly.  In this series of articles, I’d like to use personal experience from playing various games to examine how other games could improve the quality of these collection mechanics and give players more incentive to participate in these peripheral activities.

First, let’s define what comprises a “set collection mechanic” to restrict the scope of this article:

• Players must be able to complete the set: this rules out procedurally generated things (eg. Diablo/Torchlight loot) or a continually growing set of user-generated content (eg. Spore creatures or Second Life sets).
• Completion of the set should be a peripheral activity and NOT be required to progress through the game: otherwise, our examination of the player’s motivation to complete a set overlaps with other motivating factors; so this restriction prevents applying our study to things like the various mandatory devices in Zelda games – technically, it’s a set of devices that can be collected in its entirety, but (excepting upgrades to bag sizes, etc.) it MUST be completed to progress through the game; heart pieces, however, qualify as a valid set.
• The set must have some easily accessible, manifested representation in the game: in other words, the set must be an intentional collection placed by the designer; this rules out user-defined meta-sets.  Such sets are contrived by individual players who have clearly already conjured up the necessary motivation to attempt collecting the set.  For instance, in Animal Crossing: Wild World, I attempted to find and purchase all of the instruments in the game to make a music room – nothing in the game actually lists the set of instruments; neither are they denoted by some special icon.  It’s an arbitrary set I made up for which I had already mustered the necessary motivation to collect.

Now that we’ve defined the bounding conditions, I’d like to start this series with an examination of a game I only recently had the opportunity to play: the original Assassin’s Creed (and just in time for part II!).  As much as I enjoyed playing the game, I ran into a rather irksome collection mechanic – the city flags.  Of all the collect-them-all mechanics I’ve experienced in games thus far, the city flags are probably the worst of the bunch (at least as far as I can remember).  It didn’t take long after leaving the confines of Masyaf for me to swear off the entire collection altogether.  Here’s why:

• There don’t appear to be any gameplay or narrative rewards for procuring flags except for meta-rewards (i.e. Achievements and 100% completion with the filled “Additional Memories” DNA bar).  Even if such a tangible reward existed at the end of the tunnel, it’s so elusive that it doesn’t really factor into the typical player’s drive to collect the flags.
• Aside from their location, flags are indistinguishable from one another, making the experience of finding one identical each time.  This was exacerbated by the fact that there are 420 of those indistinguishable things!  So finding one was an altogether insignificant and homogenous (read: boring) experience.
• Flags are not particularly challenging to acquire.  Reaching them is simply a matter of hidden knowledge rather than a test of skill or logic.

I’m going to take a look at each of these three points and examine how other games have remedied the problems with Assassin’s Creed’s flag-collection gameplay.

Collection Rewards

One could argue that completing an in-game collection is reward enough.  That may very well be true.  I think that such collections generally fall into the category in which each individual item in the set is distinct enough to provide sufficient player motivation (see the Collection Distinction section below).  But in any case, it doesn’t hurt to provide some extra incentive to the player to collect a set of things.  These extra incentives can typically be categorized as either a gameplay reward or a narrative reward.

Gameplay rewards consist of additional skills or abilities (or some currency toward the purchase of skills or abilities) that expand and augment the player’s gameplay experience.  The most recent example that comes to mind is Brutal Legend’s bound serpents, which, when found, each provide a small amount of fire tributes that can be used to purchase upgrades at the motor forge.  Furthermore, for every ten bound serpents that are freed, the player character Eddie Riggs gets an upgrade to some element of his stats.

Alternatively, collections can grant narrative rewards in several different forms. Again, Brutal Legend provides a convenient example of such a collection: the “legends” scattered across the landscape.  For each one the player finds, another cutscene detailing the Brutal Legend mythos is revealed.  Coincidentally, I also discovered that Halo 3: ODST contains an identical mechanic in the form of the audio logs that follow a story indirectly related to the main plotline.  Yet another example of a narrative collection reward is BioShock’s audio diaries, narrated by multiple characters related to the main story.  However, ODST and Brutal Legend’s narrative collections differ in that each piece of the collection is not associated with a specific piece of the narrative reward.  In other words, whether you find piece A before or after piece B, you’re always going to get story reward A before story reward B.  This is not true for BioShock’s narrative collection, in which specific audio logs are found in specific locations.  This is an important distinction that we’ll revisit in the next section.

There is, of course, no reason why a particular collection can’t give both narrative and gameplay rewards, as is evident in Brutal Legend’s “legend” collection (which I neglected to mention also gives fire tributes for each legend discovered).  Another game I’ve played recently (after putting it off long enough) is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, in which every five pieces of treasure nets the player medal points that are used to unlock various metagame rewards (tweakable game modifiers like infinite ammo, faster run, and weapon select) and bonus content such as concept art and development videos.  I’ve lumped extra-game content into the category of “narrative rewards” in that they don’t actually augment the game experience.  In all of these examples, I think it’s safe to say that these various rewards can often be an effective incentive to the player to collect the entire set.

Collection Distinction

There is an important element of set collection that seems to be a no-show in many of its incarnations: distinction.  Each element of a set should be easy distinguishable from each other, via its textual, iconic, or geometric representation and/or some titular or numeric label.  As I’ve already observed, all of the flags in a particular area in Assassin’s Creed are identical except for where they are located.  This makes collecting each and every one the exact same experience.  There’s no sense of novelty in finding another one.

As I mentioned earlier, collecting a set of objects can be reward in itself – but this is generally a strong enough motivation to the player only when a distinction is made between the elements of the set.  The word “collecting” carries the connotation of collecting distinct elements.  How often do stamp collectors attempt to find every copy of only one type of stamp?  Or how often do card collectors try to acquire every copy of one particularly rare card?  While these real-world examples present collection goals that are obviously marred by real-world obstacles and impossibilities that don’t exist in the virtual space, art reflects life.  And in life, the appeal of set collection is in the diversity of the set’s various elements and in how those elements complement each other.  The set is a puzzle whose pieces, as they come together, become a clearer and more magnificent picture (even if that picture’s got a few missing spots).

I’ve always liked Nintendo’s first-party approach to collections.  I’m specifically referring to the trophies of the Super Smash Bros. series.  Each trophy is fan-service at its best – each with a unique, nostalgic 3D model of some Nintendo character, object, or setting and a short description of the subject.  All of the player’s trophies are displayed together in one place, literally becoming that magnificent picture I described.  It’s like looking at that Edge Magazine cover with all of the video game shoutouts.  I also played The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker recently (picked it up on the cheap a long time ago and only got around to playing it a few weeks ago).  In that game is a similar collection that the player can complete by using a camera to take pictures of the game’s enemies and NPC’s and showing them to a particular sculptor, who crafts figurines of the photographs’ subjects that are put on display throughout various trophy rooms.  Each figurine can be viewed in three dimensions and contains a short description of the subject’s place in the game universe.

And then, of course, we come back to Pokemon.  While each captured Pokemon simultaneously serves as a gameplay reward (with the new pokemon’s abilities at the player’s disposal), I would argue that the vast majority of pokemon are caught for the sake of completing a player’s Pokedex.  After all, the catchphrase (at least in America… not sure if it’s translated from Japanese) is “Gotta catch ‘em all!”, right?  And since the distinction between each pokemon is both visual and interactive, the drive to collect each one is that much more powerful.

Which reminds me of Endless Ocean (which I’m not ashamed to admit is one of my favorite games on the Wii).  At some point in the game, the player is allowed to populate a personal aquarium with creatures that he or she had already discovered.  It’s yet another fantastic Nintendo example of an interactive collection.

In fact, it appears that the common factor between these Nintendo games’ collections is the extent to which the player is allowed to appreciate his or her collection.  3D models that can be viewed from all angles, textual info and categorization, and in some cases, interactivity all contribute to the player’s connection to the collection and his or her drive to complete it.  It sure beats a little check mark or a line in a book or even a little icon.  And that is why, when Sony announced Playstation Home, something inside me grew giddy at the thought of 3D trophy displays.  Too bad it didn’t turn out that way…

There’s also one oft overlooked property that distinction imparts to a collectible set – it allows each element in the set to be described individually.  The reason this is so important is this: FAQ’s – of the GameFAQs type.  Not everyone can be expected to find every single element of the set on their own.  For those collectors that don’t wish to invest the required time, they should at least be able to look up the locations of the missing pieces.  This is impossible to do when the individual pieces are indistinguishable from one another.  This is especially problematic in Assassin’s Creed because in order to use a guide, you must use it for every single flag.  Otherwise, unless you have picture-perfect memory or you’re using a video guide (which I imagine would be ridiculously lengthy), you cannot possibly know whether you’ve already found a particular flag or you’re just looking at a slightly incorrect location on a flag map because there’s no way of knowing whether you already found “flag 53″ on the map – you only know that you’ve found 178 total flags, one of which may be the anonymous “flag 53″ in question.  I know this isn’t a purely ludological reason for set element distinction, but it’s a valid one nonetheless.  I’m rather confident that all but the most hardcore purists fall back on external sources (strategy guides, FAQ’s) to complete a collection.  I do it all the time.  So even if the “distinction” in a collectible set is just a numeric label or a dull identifier (like Okami’s stray beads), it’s still an important thing to have for the sake of simplifying the collection process itself.

Collection Gameplay

It’s important to ensure that the gameplay surrounding the collecting of objects is as solid as the elements of the collection itself.  I can group collection gameplay into at least three broad categories: steady-stream, challenge, and exploratory.

• Steady-stream collection: these are the sets of the type where the player gets a relatively steady stream of random elements of the set, and completing the collection becomes all about either trading for the missing elements or just investing enough into the game.  Examples: Smash Bros. trophies, Culdcept Saga’s cards (or any CCG’s cards, for that matter), Treasure World’s treasures, Animal Crossing’s fossils, a good number of Free Realms’ collection components.
• Challenge collection: these are the sets whose elements take actual gameplay skill to acquire.  Examples: Street Fighter IV’s multiplayer titles, Modern Warfare 2’s Spec-Ops mode stars, Braid’s stars (yeah, you might not have known about them; I sure as heck didn’t), Xbox 360 achievements and PS3 trophies.
• Exploratory collection: these are the types of sets whose elements are found by exploring the game space.  Typically, you’ll find these kinds of collections in shooters and action games.  Examples (there are tons of them but I’ll just name a few): Gears of War’s COG tags, Modern Warfare’s intel, ODST and Bioshock’s audio logs/diaries, Fallout 3’s bobbleheads, just about everything in Brutal Legend.

Assassin’s Creed’s flag collection can basically be classified as an exploratory collection.  It is this class of collection that I believe is most often (and most disappointingly) implemented.  The big problem that I’ve experienced with these collections is this: they break immersion by forcing the player to think not as the protagonist or the player character but rather as a designer.

For most of these exploratory collections, the elements are often placed with little to no narrative sense.  They’re usually either strewn about randomly or hidden in obscure corners of the map that oftentimes don’t even seem accessible.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, completing such a collection is an excercise in hidden knowledge more than anything else.

When searching for elements of such collections, I almost always find myself thinking things like, This corridor doesn’t lead to anywhere meaningful – there must be something there, or, This ledge is out-of-the-way, but it’s accessible – there must be something there.  The only logic behind these thought processes comes from putting myself in the designers’ shoes rather than doing what makes sense in the context of the game and the narrative.  My wife can even attest to this fact as she watched me play Uncharted, exclaiming, “I smell treashuz!” whenever my designer sense started tingling.  And it netted me 50 out of 60 treasures on my first run-through.  I had similar moments in ODST.  When a path led indoors and to some seemingly irrelevant balcony, I could usually count on finding an audio log.  And there’s no reason to think this Sophie character was actually at any of those audio log locations.

Brutal Legend, however, contains a great example of an exploratory collection with at least some measure of contextual sense – the landmark viewers.  They’re around landmarks!  If I saw something in the world that looked like a landmark, I knew there was a landmark viewer nearby.  I didn’t have to go probing the mind of some sadistic designer.  Another simple way of limiting the breaking of immersion would be to give the player character some in-game way of “sensing” nearby elements of a collection – some blinking UI element or controller rumble feedback to indicate the proximity of the element.  I can’t immediately think of any games that have really done this, although I’m absolutely sure someone must have.  The closest example I can think of is Ocarina of Time’s use of the rumble pak to signal to the player that something was hidden nearby.

Application

So how could Assassin’s Creed have improved its flag collection gameplay?  Personally, I think the most unintrusive way would have been to tie flags to labeled chunks or chapters of historical info (fictional or otherwise) about the city.  Such a change wouldn’t involve adding abilities or tweaking/rebalancing character progression to accommodate gameplay rewards – and the change would fit well with the game’s prominent narrative delivery and historical setting.  Of course, this would probably involve cutting the number of flags down significantly – a most welcome change.  In fact, why not change the flags altogether and instead make them distinctly crafted relics in the vein of Uncharted’s treasures?  They would probably fit into the world a little better that way.   (Really – why are there random flags all over the place, anyway?)  Along those lines, the seeding of these “relics” could be in more logical locations: at the top of notable landmarks or inside obvious places of importance rather than in the shadows of some inconspicuous alley or atop a nondescript rooftop.  Furthermore, the designers can spread clues regarding the locations of those relics throughout lesser “eavesdropping” opportunities in the game.  I found the eavesdropping mechanic to be rather contrived, as the player can only eavesdrop for an investigative mission.  It would have been much more interesting if there were other groups of conversations on which the player could eavesdrop to get clues – much in the same way that pickpocketing is used for both investigations and for acquiring throwing knives.  And, being the valuable relics that they are, some of them can be guarded by hostile templars who must be circumvented or defeated, while others can be locked away in trap-laden rooms requiring a touch of finesse and dexterity to traverse.

And for the record, I have not yet touched the second title in the series.  So now someone who’s finished playing Assassin’s Creed II can tell me whether Ubisoft did, in fact, add a more compelling collection mechanic.

So that covers the shortfalls I noticed in Assassin’s Creed’s flag collection and how one might possibly improve that segment of gameplay. In my next post, I’ll be exploring the importance of community and recognition and how those things have strengthened the player’s drive to collect – especially with the most recent console generation’s emphasis on online play.

Dei meus primeiros passos na minha versão XNA do Street Fighter. Por enquanto a missão é colocar os personagens Ryu e Ken p/ lutarem ( quem sabe não expando para os outros personagens também ). Implementei 4 (quatro) “chutões” do Ryu e a posição de descanso do mesmo (gingando), definindo assim a arquitetura geral do game. Ainda falta outros golpes (hadouken!) e definir como dar um comportamento inteligente ao oponente do lutador controlado pelo jogador.

Código fonte:

http://github.com/lucassimao/XNA-Street-Fighter

Alguns screenshots:

Ohhhh will Capcom ever learn. Goes to show you that games are never really complete.  Well good news to SF4 fans! Capcom will be releasing next year SUPER Street Fighter 2 Alpha..I mean .. Super Street Fighter 4.  Will the game be worth fans money ?

Lets talk about what will be new. First off two characters that were left out (possible purposely) are back. Dee Jay and T. Hawk are coming as well as an all new female Korean character Junri. Now DJ and T.Hawk look the same as they did before. As for out new female character…I feel were still getting characters designs that just dont feel right with the rest.  Capcom has announced more characters will be added and I only can hope more new characters. I also like a few Street Fighter 3 characters to come into this game.

There was also some discussion from developers on tweaks to the gameplay mechanics. How much changes is the question but Im sure it wont be anything major. There is also going to be some re-balances to many of the characters. Remember the developers talking about how much time was spent on balancing for the original game? Why they need to re-balanced gameplay and characters ?

For now thats about all, but since I skipped the original title and the other promising fighter games were duds I might just pick this title up.

Almost everyone has heard of the early 90s phenomenon that was Street fighter II, and those in the know have all seen just how embarrassing the Jean Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue live action film of it was. Us faithful fans determined to put the film in the forgotten area at the back of our minds, alongside most of Guy Ritchie’s works.

Feature length adaptations of video games has always been a bit of a balls-up. The difficulty of transfering a video-gaming audience to the big screen has proven to be immensely tricky as video games have a very personal feel about them, something that makes you want to sit and play regardless of what is going on around you. In many ways they have a private relationship with the gamer, a relationship which doesn’t transfer over to a wider audience no matter how widespread the success of the game was. Just look at Van Damme’s live action Street Fighter movie.. or worse yet Dwanye Johnson’s DOOM.

Luckily the other day my housemate dug up his old copy of Gisaburo Sugii’s 1994 animated movie Street Fighter II.

Now imagine this DVD cover with 3D glasses on...

The beauty of this adaptation is that it doesn’t try to be anything other than an on-screen representation of the video game. What it offers is the dream match ups that you want to see (Ken-Ryu, Chun li-Vega, Bison-Ryu), but not only that, it gives you tremendously in-depth fighting sequences littered with all the trademark moves from the game that will have the fanboys (such as myself) squeaming in their seats.

Animé vs live action (Round 1: Fight!)

Ok, admitably the whole film is strung together by a just about bearable storyline, but in a strange way that’s why it is such a stand out reworking of the idea. We didn’t play the video game for its complex storylines and sense of fulfilment after flying to Thailand to have a three-round battle with M. Bison that mostly involved jump kicking him to death whilst pinned in the corner. This is the problem that the live action version of Street Fighter fell down, and why an animated adaptation of it is the only true way to do the game and its fan base justice.

What I found most surprising was just how violent the movie was. Don’t get me wrong, I was under no illusion that I was going to watch a film that centres around violence (the title gives it away somewhat), but with the ability of computers to leave out blood if required, I was a little shocked. I also caught myself laughing out loud at the swearing on the English-dubbed track.. genuinely surprised to hear Guile calling Bison a “b*****d”, but it just makes this film more endearing. I think the film is quite rightly given a 15 rating in UK and a PG-13 in the US.

The film also has an absolutely rocking soundtrack that accompanies the animation in a brilliantly stereotypical way. Every shot of Ryu training in solitude up in the mountains (and yes, there are alot of them) is accompanied with a traditional Japanese sounding pan flute. While in contrast every scene in America is backed with blaring rock music.

Verdict

This movie is everything that Street Fighter should be.

O programa “A Fazenda” sempre me chamou a atenção por seus participantes que já rodaram a banca no universo televisivo, mas foi só nessa edição que percebi conhecer um dos convidados…

Com vocês, André Sagat:

Segundo Théo Becker:

Andressa jamais ficará com ele por ele ter sido um mau caráter com ela. Pelo visto, Théo deverá entrar no ringue novamente, só que agora o adversário é do nível Thailândia de dificuldade!

Próxima fase já é Raul Julia.

E aí galera, estou um tempinho sem postar (sou um lerdão mesmo XD), bom, desta vez é uma rapidinha, mas das boas huaa huaa…Bom galerinha, este video meu irmão me mandou por e-mail e achei fantástico. É um video em Pixelation (vertente do Stop Motion) que é feito com Lego. O barato é que tanto a música quanto a animação é baseada no 8 bits do nintendinho. Bem legal. Para ver um post relacionado, clique aqui.

Espero que curtam o vídeo. Até mais XD