Polish Developer Demonstrates Exemplary Videogame Design, Distribution, and Support.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, December 11th, 2009

Online multiplayer games like Diablo 2 and Team Fortress 2 get all the press. Years after release, their developers, Blizzard and Valve, still support the titles – adding patch after patch of ooey gooey delicious fixes and new content. The companies do this despite the diminishing financial returns yielded by improving a progressively dated title. Together, patches and discounts can reinvigorate sales numbers, even rocket them far above the initial push, but at some point the return on investment skews towards unfavorable.  Next, a sequel or an expansion’s announced. This is the natural lifecycle of titles not built upon a subscription, and/or microtransaction, based foundation.

Other developers do this with their titles -applying equivalent love and support long after their little babies depart for new lives at market, but, like I said, Diablo 2 and Team Fortress 2 get all the press (especially recently). They’re media darlings. And rightly so. The former cemented itself as the definitive isometric, single and multiplayer role-playing, loot-obsessed king, and the latter masterfully balances nine radically different player classes across an ever-growing list of diverse maps and modes. Even without the irresistible visuals and sound design, both would’ve probably succeeded.

But this isn’t about those two multi-million selling champions of industry. This is about a developer and publisher from Poland showering a title from a bruised and used property with constant love and attention.

CD Projekt first released The Witcher in the U.S. on October 30, 2007, four days after the European release, and six after the Russian. Critics lauded the title’s dark tone, professional dialog, and consequence-ridden choice system, but criticized the “bulky” interface, stiff character animations, long loading times, and general title instability. Technical issues became the biggest complaint. Still, PC Gamer US called it “…an amazing achievement for first-time Polish developer CD Projekt.” and even awarded the game their prestigious “RPG Game of the Year” award. The title earned similar honors from other sites and publications, and so did its composers and the visual effects team behind the phenomenal pre-rendered seven minute long opening video.

Critics loved The Witcher, and so did gamers. In three months, 600,000 copies of the game were sold worldwide. Nine months later, a full year after release, total copies sold jumped to one million. To some developers, that’s a fraction of their twelve month sales. And to others much more fortunate, one million’s achieved in just a few hours. 24 hours after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched on November 10, 2009, 4.7 million units of the game were sold, according to publisher Activision. Three weeks later, on December 1, publisher and developer Valve announced consumers purchased more than two million retailed copies of Left 4 Dead 2 in its two weeks at market.

Unlike the aforementioned mass market titans, The Witcher didn’t ride off an established base set by a prequel from the year before, or two years before, it didn’t have the backing of a 25 million dollar ad campaign, and the title only appeared on what the uninformed call “a dying platform,” the PC. Michael Kicinski, co-founder of CD Projekt, told Edge one million units “was a very ambitious goal.” “We were not sure if we could make it in the first 12 months,” he continued. “Actually, that was less than a goal, but more of a dream, I would say.”

But wait, if the title cost $11 million, one million more than the gruff, tough, and all that stuff Gears of War (which made oogles and oogles of greenbacks), did Kicinski anticipate losing money on the project? Did he expect to make it back in the long run? Or was there some kind of strange Uwe Boll hole in Polish tax law that he hoped to exploit? AH! My head hurts. For the purpose of this article, let’s just believe everything a high-ranking business official says, and that Santa and the Easter Bunny share a pint of hot chocolate and a plate of crumpets at the holiday bar during their respective offseasons.

Also in the aforementioned article, Kicinski also attributed the game’s success to the established bond between developer and consumer. “We tried to treat people well, and they’ve treated us well,” he claimed, shortly after championing consumer loyalty and the power and importance of word of mouth.

CD Projekt first treated people well by speaking to their intended audience. Instead of hitting multiple platforms and possibly cutting aspects of the game, they aimed to appease a very specific audience of PC gamers. “Some companies make a game for everyone. We decided to stick to a specific audience,” Kicinski said.

As Yahtzee stated in his “first impressions” video, The Witcher’s definitely a PC game. Menus, character sheets, stat pages, and various in-battle stances must all be figured out and mastered if the player desires any form of relevant title competence. The mastermind Zero Punctuation heavily criticized many of these elements and, in a startling show of admittance to guilt, CD Projekt listened.

Six months after The Witcher released worldwide, the developer announced a new and improved version lie baking in the oven, waiting for its September 2008 release. CD Projekt promised to fix everything with The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, and they almost delivered.

Despite addressing most of the major complaints not made in an overcritical fanboy/nerdrage vacuum - adding over 200 new animations for new and old characters, re-recording hours of dialog, improving stability, redesigning the inventory system, etc. – critics from G4 and 1UP complained the new version still suffered from a few spotty points of voice acting and pacing issues.

As a bond-building “thank you” to existing customers, CD Projekt compiled the Enhanced Edition fixes and additions into a downloadable file. Anyone with a copy of the original could grab the patch and apply at will, turning vanilla Witcher into new and fancy Witcher. Those who picked up the Enhanced Edition in stores received a startling amount of extras for no additional cost. (Take note, Capcom. We’re all tired of your Street Fighter shenanigans.)

The package included a “making of DVD, a CD with 29 in-game soundtracks, another CD with “Inspired by” music, the short story The Witcher from the book The Last Wish, a map of Temeria printed on high quality paper, and the official strategy guide.” What can be downloaded was also made available to owners of the original through the official site.

Despite trouncing most of the titles on U.S. shelves in quality, value, and bonus content, our version still didn’t compare to the one CD Projekt released in their native Poland. Those gamers received an additional artbook, bestiary, medallion, t-shirt, card game, posters, stickers, and a fancy leather bag in which to hold it all. Best of all, their version, like all others except the one released in North America, didn’t undergo careful  editing to censor many of the game’s sexual themes. But on July 31, nearly two years after the title’s initial release, the developer finally released a “Director’s Cut” patch for North America. When installed, this update makes the title “equal to Enhanced Editions available to the rest of the world.” Nudity was restored and the people were happy. Ironically, the director’s cut patch is currently only available online. Is CD Projekt circumventing a problem with their North American publisher, Atari? Or are they sneaking around the ESRB and other organizations? I’m guessing the latter, because anyone who publishes a Ghostbusters game written by and starring the original cast can’t possibly be against nudity in games.

Is there any end in sight to CD Projekt’s support? Let’s hope not. And let’s hope for new tweaks and adventures leading directly up to the day of the sequel’s release.

But while all this support is delightfully entertaining, and makes us feel nice and taken care of, it could possibly harm initial sales of the sequel. Gamers scorned by the buggy initial release of the previous title, and anyone preferring the “complete” experience might hold off until another Enhanced Edition hits market. CD Projekt needs to meet these concerns head-on, even if they’re held by a small portion of the market. As they know, word of mouth’s a powerful tool.

I don’t see a future with more companies adopting this support strategy. Many of the most successful developers and publishers currently focus on bread-crumbing consumers into incentivized microtransactions rather than offer loyalty-based, or loyalty-building, free updates. But I can dream, and as long as Valve’s out there supporting us like a caped crusader, and CD Projekt’s doing what they can from Poland, this dream holds some footing in reality.

Tags: CD Projekt, PC gaming, videogames, Witcher
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Games of the Year: A Review of Left 4 Dead 2

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, November 20th, 2009

We  didn’t ask for this, but developer, publisher, and multi-faceted industry pioneer Valve software delivered Left 4 Dead 2 barely one year after the first anyway. And company chose to do so despite the passionate and sometimes ludicrous objections from fanatics clinging to an all but bygone way of industry distribution (Valve typically spends years perfecting each iteration of a property while maintaining consumer interest in those at market with free updates and downloadable content).

Months ago, the loudest protesters received an invitation to play the title they so strongly opposed at Valve’s own headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Shortly after, the community-driven petitions received fewer signatures and boycott groups disbanded. Valve won, but did gamers as well?

After months of waiting, and Valve playing coy drug pusher with a brilliantly concise and addictive demo, the game’s out now on both the Xbox 360 and PC. The explanation behind the death of the defying few’s doubts  is obvious now. Valve destroyed them with better game design.

The first Left 4 Dead now plays like a developer trial run. The linearity of its levels rarely encouraged exploration and/or alternative pathing – telling survivors to always find the optimal straight line in their A to B journeys and stick with it. Nothing good could ever warrant deviation. 2’s levels remain linear by design, but traveling in these expansive environments feels more organic and diverse. Repeatedly during each campaign, players must take note of their current health and inventory and decide whether or not distancing themselves from the vaguely beaten path is worth an unidentified reward that may or may not exist. Sometimes it is, and the group can move forward with greater confidence and efficiency, and sometimes people die. This risk/reward system’s present in nearly every videogame ever created (I’m aware of many exceptions, thanks), but implementation here is strikingly vital to player perceived enjoyment.

In a single-player game of Left 4 Dead 2, a risk/reward thought procedure includes few factors involving the group’s efficiency. Computer-controlled allies don’t carry throwable items like the Boomer bile, pipe bomb, and molotov cocktail, but they will find and use a chainsaw or a grenade launcher regardless of your own personal preference and capability. These teammates are stupid, too – sometimes falling from a vital location or ignoring others incapacitated by the zombie pack. Out of necessity, players must think only of themselves when playing alone. “All that matters is if I can reach the end,” they likely think.

Add a few more flesh-and-blood teammates to the mix and more factors get thrown into the risk/reward situational blender. Emotion, the bittersweet spice, inevitably slips its way in as well. Groups filled with equally capable players are rare, and at one point or another, everyone eventually debates whether or not it’s a good idea to use a healing item on the fool with a constantly dropping health bar. “Perhaps it would be a better idea to save the invaluable first aid kit and use it on someone else, someone with more kills and a greater sense of what it takes to survive,” we wonder. “Or maybe we should check in that dark corner behind the motel. I once saw a health pack there during a different playthrough.”

Undoubtedly the best campaign.

Situations like these present themselves at the end of every bleak corridor and inside each brightly outdoor environment in Left 4 Dead 2. From the small, “this zombie will hit me in maybe three seconds, but one might hit me from behind in two…what should I do?,” to the big, “I’m at the end of the level and all of my friends are lying on the ground getting attacked by everything. Do I save them or leave?” Valve’s successes in inserting these moments dictate the game’s unexpected achievements in playability. Don’t be fooled, the zombie apocalypse is just pretty packaging.

As I stated earlier, the title’s levels are brilliantly crafted environments that allow the intended gameplay design to work exceedingly well. The craftsmen themselves deserve substantial credit, but will probably receive very little from those outside their field. It’s okay, guys and gals, few realize the visual splendor of films like Brokeback Mountain and 25th Hour are due to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto’s involvement.

Making the level designers look even better (or is it the other way around?), is the Director, an in-game artificial intelligence capable of shaping level pacing on-the-fly. Here’s a great description from Wikipedia:

“Instead of fixed spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies and items in varying positions and quantities based upon each player’s current situation, status, skill and location, creating a new experience for each playthrough.[6] The Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues, such as visual effects, dynamic music, and character communication.”

As far as I know on the subject of artificial intelligence (not a whole lot), the Director’s cutting-edge technology, or design, in videogames.

Click the video above to learn more about the Director.

In this sequel, the Director received massive upgrades to its toolsets in the form of three new special zombies: the Charger, Spitter, and Jockey, additional monster spawn points per level, and tweaks to its fundamental design – ensuring more than ever that no two games are alike. The Director’s involvement and competence really can’t be overstated.

To help players battle the unseen puppeteer and its relentless undead horde, Valve significantly expanded the weapon and item arsenal. In the first title, firearms almost dictated players fill particular roles or classes defined by the positive and negative characteristics of a weapon. Shotgunners handled close-quarters combat, snipers dealt with anything far away, and those with automatic rifles and submachine guns handled everything in-between. Proper group configuration wasn’t key to reaching each campaign’s end, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

In 2, choosing a weapon is a gratifying personal preference. Instead of expanding the effectiveness with a new tiering of items, Valve decided to fill in the gaps with a silenced submachine gun, an assault rifle with a three round burst firing mode, melee weapons, etc. Experimentation’s encouraged here, and fun, too. I once dropped my beloved Katana to pick up the obviously inferior electric guitar. Hearing and seeing zombie heads explode with the simultaneous sound of off-key notes from my guitar may seem inconsequential, but it was beautiful at the time. I think Tallahassee of Zombieland would agree.

But no matter who you are, or what you prefer, eventually everyone asks “Should I drop this katana for the chainsaw or maybe a magnum pistol?”  In a game where, in just one hour, players are bombarded by hundreds of zombies waiting to face dismemberment, this is a welcome dilemma.

Quite possibly the meatiest-sounding chainsaw in a videogame.

Now Valve faces one. It’s been two years and we have two Left 4 Dead titles to play.  The last was a strong game of the year contender, and so is this one. In regards to sales, the second will probably move more units than the multi-million selling first. Will the company drop another on us next year, making it three titles in three years? How will we feel about that kind of a move?

Title release annuity bears deadly association. Madden and Guitar Hero continually teach consumers minor gameplay improvements, roster updates, and new songs equate to a premium retail price. That’s bad. But Valve’s efforts here in further elaborating upon a basic idea with many tonal notes, while addressing prior issues, demonstrate a positive possible counterweight to the fundamental idea and purpose of publishing annual titles. This isn’t just one of the best titles this year, it’s a necessary revolution.

Tags: Left 4 Dead 2, videogames
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Forza 3’s Community Defies Online Gamer Stereotypes

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, November 13th, 2009

I typically don’t spend any measurable time inhabiting online game communities and conversing with the residents , especially those with console houses. They’re often a mean sort, drunk off the anonymity afforded by the internet. Pitchforks, or rather, controllers in hand, they rally against anyone who doesn’t meet a predetermined set of standards. Their dialect  – slangs and slurs that would get any pre-teen a mouth full of soap should he utter but one. Well, you’d think so anyway. Join a multiplayer game of Halo or Call of Duty and you’ll inevitably hear a plethora of vulgarities from some uncouth young boy who has yet to experience puberty. Other, more civilized folk, live here too, but their pleasantries are muted against the blowhorn-wielding neighbors.

The infamous “gayboy” video.

But make no mistake, this type of behavior’s not limited to online shooters or even videogame consoles. It’s all over – favoring almost no genre. These people are ready to pounce as you build bases in real-time strategy titles and stab you in the back as you hone your skills with a fire-ball tossing hero in fighting games. They’re even ready to sink their teeth into your neck when you are at your most vulnerable – reclining back in your favorite chair, feet on an old familiar ottoman, and playing a simple, relaxing game of Uno. Sometimes, when I’m feeling energetic and sassy, I make it my mission to give these people a hard time. I rebel against the rebels, and grief the griefers. It’s a great time, and one I’ll be digging into much deeper in an upcoming post.

People are people almost wherever you go. Some qualities are universal across all cultures, but this one, this is mostly American. In one of the final episodes of videogame website 1UP’s now-defunct “1UP Yours” podcast, host Garnett Lee and guest Mark McDonald, a former editor for 1UP and former director of Gamevideos.com, discuss the behavior of Japanese gamers in online gaming environments. Mark, a Tokyo resident since leaving 1UP two years ago, explains to Garnett that online gamers in Japan are patient and polite people, when they actually speak. It’s customary to politely greet someone when they join your game, and it’s customary to politely say “goodbye” when they leave. Even more different from American gamers, if a teammate’s comparatively not doing well, the rest don’t get on his or her case, shout names, and belittle the gamer. Instead, the Japanese offer tips and encouragement.

Supporting Mark’s claim are many pieces of information coming from the top Street Fighter players from the U.S, such as Justin Wong and Gootecks. When they travel abroad, they notice the Japanese competition’s unified – helping each other overcome flaws to achieve greater individual, and group, mastery. But, for the most part, Street Fighter players in the United States remain divided and selfish – unwilling to divulge information for fear of aiding the competition and potentially triggering their own demise. With this in mind, there’s no wondering why Japan remains dominant in the fighting game scene to this day.

I know less about the European online scene, but according to a recent news item from CVG, Valve Software’s Chet Faliszek said British gamers are “notorious non-talkers on both 360 and PC.” He added, “Americans are just chattering away, working together as a team,” before offering some advice: “If you want to work together as a team you’ve got to talk!”

Last night, I experienced a fluke. At least, I think it was a fluke. While finishing lap two of a multiplayer race in Microsoft’s new driving simulator, Forza Motorsport 3,  I noticed my fellow enthusiasts communicating without the use of hate speech. The realization was jarring, and I became so preoccupied with observing their interactions I periodically swerved off the road, applied my breaks too hard, or didn’t apply the brakes hard enough and nudged a wall or two…or three. These other drivers were trading real life and in-game tuning tips, discussing real life careers, and even critiquing each other’s form! How strange! When the opportunity surfaced, one would politely inform another that he was going to try and pass on the left or right on the next turn.

In Project Gotham Racing 3, another racing title released four years earlier as an Xbox 360 launch title, most players intentionally nudged the side of another racer’s back bumper to cause a spinout. I know this because I was often the victim. When the opposition couldn’t reach me, they’d frequently call me names and leave me bad feedback on my Xbox LIVE Gamercard. Apparently I “disrupted” the game with unsporting tactics, used “excessive foul language,” and essentially made playing with me a poor experience for all. People didn’t like me because I exhibited a higher level of mastery. Shortly before I moved on to another title, I noticed the Project Gotham Community sent my approval rating to a personal low of 60% negative. To this day, my feedback sits at 65% negative.

Back to my Forza 3 multiplayer night. I enjoyed playing with these people, despite the childishness of their chosen Gamertags (which I will not repeat here).  They held a genuine enthusiasm for the title and its community. And most surprisingly of all, this is the first time they had all met.

After a few hours of racing, tuning, and chatting, we each departed our ways. I wanted to play the free-to-play title League of Legends with a former editor, someone else had to go to bed so he could get up early for work, and another had to tend to his newborn. We didn’t exchange friend requests, but we hoped to see each other online in the future.

Flabbergasted by the interaction, I visited the Forza 3 forums, and immediately realized this positive experience with a group of mature individuals was no fluke. This is the Forza 3 community – a web of real-life and wishful gearheads of all ages who come together via this game and celebrate car culture. There’s little flaming on the forum, and even less trolling. People can be a little obsessive, and a little eccentric, but they mean well, unlike the kid yelling in your ear on Call of Duty to “eff off you gay homo terrorist.”

Looking towards the future and what pieces of entertainment I plan on utilizing to waste my life away, I grow increasingly excited for another night like this one. I love cars, but I know little about them and the science behind racing. But I want to learn, and, hopefully, they still want to teach.

You can go into a random 360 game on US servers and it’s crazy talk. It’s fun. I think a lot of people knock that community but again and again I’m surprised by how fun that is. I’ve played expert campaigns where by the end of it we’re best buddies. ~ Valve’s Chet Faliszek, speaking to CVG.

Tags: Forza Motorsport 3, videogames
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PC Version of Batman: Arkham Asylum Offers Significantly Greater Immersion Than Console Counterparts.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

“This isn’t one of those in-game pre-rendered movies, is it?” As Batman: Arkham Asylum played on the screen, a Game Night attendee demanded answers. I couldn’t fault him for questioning the graphics’ validity. Videogame companies notoriously employ smoke, mirrors, and feature film-quality 3D animation to mislead consumers into buying a product that can, in no way, live up to such a high visual precedent. In truth, it’s my fault I was caught off guard by the question. I should’ve expected the interrogator’s response. I often ask the same exact question (Thanks, Killzone 2!).

Batman doesn’t need in-game movies. The title immerses the player in the Bat-experience without them. The cinematic encounters aren’t observed, like in some “Final” titles, they’re played. Developer Rocksteady shows players this almost immediately during the lengthy introduction of escorting the Joker into the depths of Arkham.  As many of us know, this kind of medium interactivity isn’t new.

Cutting to a computer-generated or, heaven forbid, full motion video clip during an interactive game can segment the experience. In the world the player inhabits, he or she can move the protagonist around and interact with various objects and people. The boundaries are known, if only somewhat, here, and the objects are, in a way, tangible. But the world the clip inhabits might be entirely different, and potentially occupied by a similar, but bizarro-ish protagonist who possesses the capability to make decisions contradicting, or slightly off, from those made by the player. We assume they’re the same, because continuity and what games have taught us throughout years tell us, but we really don’t know. Think of it this way, you know the properties of an orange when holding it – the pleasant smell of the citrus flavors, the round and sometimes ovular shape, and the smooth but bumpy texture – but if all you know of an orange is what you’ve seen in a picture, then you can only assume. The power of a first-hand experience must never be underestimated.

Since this is a licensed title, it’s more vital than normal that the player feels like Batman (we all expect certain things from the Dark Knight). Through smart, and extremely well-designed gameplay mechanics, Rocksteady achieves this. Next, it’s up to the visuals to do their part (no sense in creating elaborate mechanics for Batsy Watsy if he looks and moves like a black tin can wearing a cape). Spoiler: The art department proved themselves as capable as the gameplay guys (and gals?). Arkham Asylum can hang with the biggest of visual baddies (not including the great emperor Crysis), in lighting, shadows, and raw pixel count. It’s really a beautiful game, and even better looking on the PC, provided you have the necessary setup.

As I said in my other Arkham Asylum-related article, the game includes added support for NVIDIA’s PhysX technology (“a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware software development kit). Since I possess a capable computer, I figured I’d bite, and see what kind of improvements this flaunted technology offered.

The difference is staggering. As the HardOCP folks say in their review of the title, “… there is absolutely a graphical effects payoff in Batman: Arkham Asylum.”

There’s more stuff occupying the floors, shelves, and hallways of the asylum and its outlying grounds when PhysX are cranked up to 11. Depending on where you are in the game, this can include more papers, tin cans, rubble, and fog. At normal and low physics settings, these materials are less present, or sometimes, not even included. Adding an additional dozen cans to an inconspicuous corner might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Think of it as the best way out of the environmental uncanny valley – the more realistic things the greater the possibility for the little things to make something seem unreal.

But there’s a cost to this, literally. PhysX support isn’t exactly cheap. As HardOCP notes:

“NVIDIA has told us a number of times that the best “bang for the buck” for a dedicated video card for PhysX is the GeForce 9800 GTX+, also known as G92, also known as 8800 GTS 512, also known as GTS 250.”

NVIDIA’s essentially saying “get two graphics cards” to run PhysX. While this isn’t necessary, the alternative, one really good card, is almost as expensive. If you want full support for these advanced features, and additional graphics capabilities such as anti-aliasing, get ready to spend around $300.

Before you console kids point and laugh at the price, remember how much you paid for your PS3 at launch. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Oh, and even without these fancy doohickies, Arkham still looks better on the PC. And to make that happen, you don’t need a $300 card. Once again, check HardOCP’s excellent breakdown for more details.

If you have a capable computer, a PlayStation 3, and/or Xbox 360, there’s no reason to pick up either console version. Arkham on the PC looks better, can be played using a controller, can be modded, includes Xbox LIVE support, and is $10 cheaper. This is undoubtedly one of the best titles of the year. Play it the best way. Play it on the PC.

Tags: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Game Night, Joker, Killzone 2, pc, Physix, playstation 3, videogames, Xbox Live, xbox-360
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Five Delicate and Mood-Melting Videogames. Maybe Relaxing, Too.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

To anyone not residing within the videogame industry bubble, the interactivity comprising this medium might appear violent, immature, and singly playful. In truth, most of it is. The industry’s own roots lie buried deep under miles of competitive high score soil, and Hollywood schlock like Call of Duty and the perennially limp Guitar Hero, two of the biggest profit-leading franchises in the industry, annually resist change. They deliver basic, but polished, rudimentary genre entries.

Elsewhere, designers of all kinds strive to explore the medium’s infinite possibilities – melding, molding, and folding a multitude of genres and ideas in and on top of each other. Now we can play dancing-themed MMOs, fight for loot in World of Warcraft using the Plinko-esque Peggle, and massage our cerebral cortexes with a steady stream of “brain training” software. If you want it, you can probably get it in some form, as long as you’re willing to look.

But can we find videogames possessing the power to melt away our moods and offer peace? Up until the fall of 2005, I’d say “maybe,” without offering any examples. I had faith in industry developers and the possibility that they could also be yearning for something undiscovered. Little did I know Jenova Chen was ten steps ahead of me. That fall, as a student at the University of Southern California, the revolutionary designer, along with a team of students and faculty, released Cloud. Shortly after, my perception of what a videogame can offer changed forever.

As I played Cloud, the youthful innocence of just being returned to me. Stress? It was gone. Sadness? That too. I didn’t even feel happy; just at ease, and peaceful.

Care to see what I mean? Here are five other titles providing users with similar experiences.

Disclaimer:

Since these are videogames, the intended experience hinges, variably so, on an individual player’s skill and ability to adapt. If you start feeling lost or incapable, it’s important you fight off frustration and seek help and better instructions. Otherwise, don’t bother.

Flower

“Life in balance.”

The latest title from Jenova Chen’s studio, That Game Company, continues the airy aesthetics and sparse audio presented in Cloud, but significantly increases their quality and involvement in the narrative. As a flower petal, players utilize the wind in a journey to gather other petals from flowers. As each is plucked, a predefined note triggers and, sometimes, the aesthetics are variably altered.

In his review, Russ Fischer, of the Onion’s A.V. Club, said “Visually potent and occasionally beautiful, Flower fulfills its premise with enviable grace.” I’m inclined to agree.

Osmos

The food chain, microscopically represented, with Loscil, Gas/High Skies, Julien Neto, and Biosphere providing the soundtrack.

Osmos can be frustrating, if you’re not gentle with your tiny and gelatinous blue blob. Movement comes with a cost – part of your creature (or vessel?) returns to the environment. So just chill and you’ll be fine.

For added fun, put a hyperactive child in the driver’s seat.

Electroplankton

Few have heard of Toshio Iwai’s interactive music and visual art masterpiece. Fewer have probably played it, thanks to Nintendo limiting sales to online retailers and the Nintendo World store.

It’s a shame. Electroplankton’s built on the premise of using visual art and design to make music. Move a plant leaf in one event, and the reflection sound of creatures bouncing off changes.  Alter the movement path of triangular amoeba-like fish and the effects change accordingly.

Click here for a video of DJ David Hollands creating a song live on stage using only the software.

Eufloria

Skip Eufloria, formerly known as Dyson, unless you consider yourself skilled at RTS titles. The beautiful interaction between the reserved light beige backdrop and colorful needle-thin spores isn’t powerful enough to combat any sort of frustrations you might derive from continually failing one or all of the title’s levels.

Eufloria’s not an “art” game in the same respect as the others in this list, but it’s an alternative way of tackling the RTS genre. If you’re good, you might find peace in the title. If not, I’m sorry.

the Graveyard

If creativity hatin’ Activision ever had an antithesis, it would be the Graveyard developer Tale of Tales. Calling the company’s titles “games” isn’t entirely accurate. They’re interactive, sure, but you don’t always “win” in the traditional sense.

In the Graveyard, players control an old woman who can barely walk. The “goal” is to move her to the center of the yard so she can sit down. After that, a song plays and the player can either leave her sitting or move her out of the yard. That’s it. The entire experience lasts under ten minutes and costs nothing. Pay $5 and the old gal might die at some point.

Some people call it the worst game ever. I call it a soothing art piece that maturely addresses the eventuality of death and the beauty of life.

Did I not include your favorite? Feel free to make a recommendation or two, or twenty, in the comments section below.

Tags: call of duty, Elektroplankton, Eufloria, Flower, Graveyard, Jenova Chen, Osmos, pc, playstation 3, Plinko, relaxing, ThatGameCompany, videogames, World of Warcraft, xbox-360
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Smell the Cheese? Brogamers Hail New Call of Dooooooooodie Modern Warfare 2 Trailer

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Monday, October 5th, 2009

“‘Sup brogamers! The new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 trailer aired last night during the Sunday night FOOOOOOTBALLLL(!!) match between the Steelers and the Chargers. It was AWESOME! There were explosions, and people running around in military stuff, and like Bible references, and OMG the music! It had power chords! ROCK ONNNN! Like, words that can accurately describe this monumental achievement in interactive entertainment don’t even exist. I’d make one or two up, but my mind’s still trying to process how AWESOME it was. Ya know what I mean, dawgs? Of course you do! You’ll be standing by bros like me outside of GameStops everywhere on November 10, waiting to slam down s 150 greenbacks for the totally mindblowing Prestige Edition! Recession? Psh. I need my CALL OF DOOOOOOOODIE!”

The paragraph above didn’t seep through the mouth or fingers of another oil-sucking American. I made it up, and snagged the pic from my favorite industry webcomic, VGCats. But modify a few words, swap out brogamers for some hip term tossed around by the white baseball cap-wearing collar-popped social “elite,” and it’s the same dribble splattered across dozens, if not hundreds, of message boards and forums. The beautifully awful gamer prose even rears its worn out mug in news items by game “journalists.” Check out the snippet below from Kombo.com:

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is big. Really big. So big that a new trailer for the game can’t just debut on the internet or on a videogame-oriented program like GameTrailers TV or XPlay. No, only one entity is big enough to hold the awesomeness of Modern Warfare 2 – the National Football League.”

Here’s another from Kotaku Australia:

“Interrupting a football game between the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers is enough reason to cause some sports fans to want to shoot someone, so slipping the new Modern Warfare 2 trailer in between plays is nothing short of marketing genius.”

And one more from Pwn or Die.com:

“This trailer is much different than others and may hit a bit close to home for Americans.  As you watch it, you can see an assuming American soldiers’ convoys hit by an RPG as they patrol through a town in the Middle East.  Then taking a page from Fallout 3, Washington DC has come under attack and landmarks are in ruins.  It is clear that the storyline in MW2 has just gotten “personal” and “real”.”

In regards to the last article… Fallout 3 doesn’t deserve any more credit for originating the idea of “DC in ruins” as Bad Boys 2 for inventing the buddy cop flick. And how do we even know Fallout inspired Modern Warfare 2? You better have a good answer, Pwn or Die writer NICKSMITH, because that’s what you’re saying.

Using the original Modern Warfare from Infinity Ward as a yardstick, Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t deserve the hype it’s receiving. Its predecessor limped through single-player on simple and dated shooter mechanics (enemies respawn until you advance past a designated checkpoint?!), a contrived story that repeatedly tried (and failed) to sell players on the “reality” of unbelievable situations, and a squadmate with a moustache containing more character than half the supporting cast combined. The game was loud and flashy, and it sold millions. And made millions in revenue, too. Calling it the Transformers 2 of the videogame industry isn’t necessarily wrong, just don’t expect to find giant robots in a title with the “Call of Duty” prefix…yet.

For most, the root of hype probably lies in Modern Warfare’s “revolutionary” multiplayer component. Borrowing leveling systems from RPGs, and forcing players to “earn” weapons and abilities, Infinity Ward found a design that incentivized extended play. Even players without skill refrained from feelings of discouragement. Experience points conquer all, apparently, including any realization that most titles didn’t force players to unlock this type of multiplayer content.

But the gameplay was basic. Unlike number one competitor Halo 3 and its famous guns, grenades, and melee gameplay pillars, Modern Warfare afforded players few options for escape or retaliation when sighted by an enemy. The “spray and pray” methodology, if you can call it that, held too much power. But casual gamers didn’t care. They felt strong, useful, and effective. They felt like capable military men.

And that’s okay, to a degree. I’m fine with videogames eliciting such a feeling. I just don’t like its frequency, and from so little variation. The situation’s disconcerting, at best.

Is this what the American gamer has become? A brogamer hailing contrived military shooters? Please, public, prove me wrong. Go ahead and make Flower the number one selling game this year.

Tags: brogamers, call of duty, fallout 3, halo, infamy, kombo.com, kotaku, modern warfare, modern warfare 2, pc, playstation 3, trailer, videogames, xbox-360
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Five additional enlightening videos on videogame audio design and one text-based interview.

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Friday, September 25th, 2009

As I’ve very strongly implied in Five Enlightening Videogame Sound Design Videos, and Five More Enlightening Videos on Videogame Music and Sound Design, not only is the audio in this industry wildly varied, so is the way it’s implemented. But if you’re still not convinced, or are as hungry for industry info as me, here are five more videos and one interview with an award-winning indie audio team.

Oh, and about retail sound banks… They might as well not exist. The audio artists shown in the videos below prefer capturing and creating their own aural delights over dragging and dropping the same shlop used by first quarter animation students. Students, you have been warned.

One of my favorite pieces of audio-related advice comes from Randy Thom. In the article “Designing a Movie for Sound,” on FilmSound.org, the Academy Award winning  sound designer and mixer wrote “The biggest myth about composing and designing is that they are about creating great sounds. Not true, or at least not true enough.” The article’s one of the most useful pieces a budding post production professional can read – filled with dozens of quotes like the one above and this one: “…sound began to shape the picture sometimes as much as the picture shaped the sound.”

When Randy Thom talks, you need to listen. In the video above, the legend explains his involvement with the Scarface videogame, the main difference between videogame sound and movie sound, and what the former can learn from the latter. Here’s a quote from his response to the last topic:

“…the point of view of the characters, which has been explored very thoroughly in movies, I think is gonna be explored maybe even further in videogames.”

Starbreeze designs crisp and meaty audio for the Riddick series. For a reference point, think Rocky fight scenes in a Star Wars cantina near closing time. Here, audio director Carl Vikman and company discuss and display how they designed the audio for Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena . Pay attention near the end to see how boosting the sound quality in the original Riddick improves immersion.

Battlefield: Bad Company didn’t revolutionize audio for military shooters, but developer DICE did raise their personal bar of quality. In this video, the in-house sound guys and gal are shown doing the “fire real weapons to get ‘real’ sounds” bit. Sure, it’s typical, but I like their reasoning: “Making audio for Bad Company began with a single question: ‘What can we do better this time around compared to our previous Battlefield games?’ For the sound designers here at DICE, the answer was simple: “Get out more.”

Okay, if the military shooter’s your type of thing and you really want to work on one, here’s a video from Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising. Just like the Bad Company video, the developers at Codemasters went running and crawling around some countryside firing guns, tanks, and who knows what else, all to capture a few realistic sounds. Like I said earlier, it’s typical stuff but the team here explains the process more thoroughly than most.

Now, for something different.

Calling Shatter “Breakout for a new generation” is too shallow and overly simple. The PSN title’s so much more than just a cheap rehash of a retro title. Thanks to composer Jeremiah Ross, a.k.a. Module and his “musical paintings” perspective, the title’s another videogame gateway to synesthesia, and probably one of the best. Oh, and apparently critics like it too. The title currently has a metascore of 86.

If you want something more text-based, here are a few quotes from an interview with Rich Carlson, co-founder of indie development group Digital Eel. Along with his colleagues at Eel, the team won three excellence in audio awards in the last six years at the Independent Games Festival.

” Sound and music are integral and integrated with design from the first moment we have something happening on the screen.  We feel it must be, and not just sfx but music, especially music which so often sounds like something….like dressing, something painted on, like makeup or apartment paint to help cover up the picture holes on the walls.”

” When we make a game, music and sound are in right away.  From the first couple of hours, the basic prototype is on the screen, so they began to shape the sonic style of the game immediately.

Because sound and music are growing up at the same time as the art and programming is, all these elements influence each other pretty equally, so you don’t get music and sound that sound “separate” or tacked-on.  You get sound you can’t turn off, and you don’t want to, because it’s actually part of the game.

Sounds can also influence and inspire and change things.  You might be after a certain sound effect, but then you stumble across something else that’s much cooler, so the animation of a visual effect is changed to match the sound.”

And for you audio geeks, Carlson explains how the sound design was assembled:

” Basically what you’re hearing is a series of loops.  Most of them are 16-second loops.

I knew right away that “music” with beats wasn’t the way to go.  The music had to create a soundscape, something that supports a mindscape, really — pun intended — rather than making you want to tap your foot.  It had to smoothly transition just as the “art” on the pipe wall and the speed of traveling through the pipe smoothly transition in the game.

I also knew that the music had to have a kind of primal power and evoke a sense of mystery about what is supposed to be going on and what is being revealed.  Bill was very much into this too.

At the same time, we wanted it to reflect the random thoughts floating through and bouncing around inside your brain.  One of the best ways to accomplish this was to leave conventional music behind, which is what Bill and I ended up doing.

It was important that the loops be seamless.  If you’re working with beats and grooves, that’s a very easy thing to do — it starts on one and ends on four.  You simply loop that, attaching the end to the beginning and it sounds fine because, for the most part, that’s how a bass/drums/guitar combo plays.”

Check out the full article at Create Digital Music.

Tags: audio, behind the scenes, brainpipe, breakout, chronicles of riddick, codemasters, independent games festival, module, Music, operation flashpoint 2, randy thom, scarface, shatter, sound design, starbreeze, video diary, videogames
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 2 Comments »

Forget Facebook and the iPhone, the future of apps lies in…World of Warcraft?

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell once told his new bosses at Warner Communications that the company’s newest console, the VCS,  is “over” immediately following its release. Understanding nothing of the videogame industry, the suits yelled “What?!” and demanded an answer. “You have to think of it that way,” he insisted. Bushnell, in a way, created the industry, so he knew better than any of technology’s accelerated evolution (see also: Moore’s Law), and possibly even more of the consumer’s desire for new hardware. Shortly after his well-intentioned explanation, Bushnell was fired from the company he founded and built with an investment of $500.

Founder of Atari and avid pipe smoker.

Taking a note from the book of Bushnell, I’d like to go on record saying that Facebook and the iPhone’s application heydays might soon be over. Activision Blizzard, through MMOs like World of Warcraft and the other unnanounced one, will one day wear the DIY app crown while CEO Bobby Kotick bathes in a shower of $100 bills in a diamond-plated bathtub made of gold bullion. Dude’s got a keener sense for money than a pig for truffles (maybe it’s the physical resemblance).  Drop $20 in a landfill and Bobbo would find it. Just don’t expect to get the money back.

This weekend thousands will flock to Blizzcon – the big convention celebrating everything Blizzard. Lavish, but tacky, costumes will be worn, Ozzy will perform, and hopeful job-seekers will hand out hundreds, if not thousands, of business cards. That’s all given. And as terrifying as it all may seem, combined they are not nearly as scary, and potentially good, as the prospect of an MMO app store.

I play WoW roughly every other day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. My character, a level 80 Dranei Shaman, might not be decked out in the latest and greatest tier nine gear, but he can hold his own in most player versus player and player versus enemies battles, especially after the class received a buff in patch 3.2. As I’ve expressed many times before, my time spent in Azeroth, the game’s landmass equivalent of Earth, can largely be attributed to the social element. Many of my family and friends are members in the small guild I lead. In some cases, chatting and/or questing in WoW remains the only time when particular members communicate.

Some people prefer adhering solely to one particular social service (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter). For some of us, reaching certain friends and family through WoW became the preferred method of contact. especially when they became involved in mentally straining raiding session where the success and survival of an entire group of 40 people depends on the very precise gameplay of each participant (some studies compare it to participating in an active firefight for hours on end). Before we all started using Vent, a third-party program designed for group voice communication, I used to open up WoW dozens of times each day just to see who was online or to ask someone a question. I eventually just started leaving it on in the background while I surfed the internet, listened to music, or played a game on my Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. In a way, WoW was my Facebook for that particular group.

Moving forward to today, WoW players can now play Peggle inside of their WoW client. If you haven’t played this pachinko/plinko-inspired title, I couldn’t recommend it more, regardless of your personal interest in interactive entertainment. The “press one button and watch the ball fall” simplicity makes anything offered on the Wii look like an unintuitive 40 button mech simulator. Anyway, back to the present issue…er…topic.

Peggle’s on WoW, and this ain’t no jerry-rigged knockoff made by an unemployed copycat with too much time on his hands. This is the real deal straight from developer/publisher PopCap. Casual gaming connoisseurs know it’s not the first time the company adapted an existing title into a downloadable app for the world’s biggest MMO (the subscriber base is now estimated at 12 million) and most profitable title (last year, Activision Blizzard reported earnings from WoW alone topped over $1 billion). PopCap previously compacted Bejeweled into a 2mb file and offered it for free. Granted, it’s just a taste of the deluxe version, but it’s a “complete” app nonetheless. I don’t know how, or if, sales of the full version were affected by its inclusion in WoW, but I’m guessing they skew heavily to the positive side.

Meanwhile, developers are still struggling to find the success they were promised from creating applications in Facebook, and your grandmother has just created her 17^th tower defense rip-off for the iphone. The old bird’s planning to submit it to Apple for approval as soon as they give her half-assed version of Worms the “ok.”, which will inevitably happen because the house that Jobs built will greenlight almost anything these days. You would too if you were making 30% of the revenue from each app sale.

ipod explosion – the result of downloading too much app store crap..

The natural byproduct of the iPhone gold rush is oversaturation – the very same type of product onslaught that nearly the destroyed this neat little medium in the early 80s. Savvy developers should begin their slow exodus to another platform, while remaining present at the former, as long as profits exceed costs, of course.

One very minor brick wall the gamma-injected Hulk of progress needs to bust down before the do-it-yourself crew can flood through is Blizzard’s own policies regarding paid addons or modifications.

Back in March the company announced their policy would undergo some extremely radical changes, most significant being”add-ons must be free of charge.” Paid addons, such as the exceptional Carbonite, switched to a free “but please pay what you can” business model.

Here’s the offical policy change announcement from the “game industry veterans” developers:

“In response to the announced User Interface Add-On Policy we are no longer selling a subscription to Carbonite. We will continue to release new Carbonite versions. Donations are gladly accepted to help with further development.

We would like to thank all our customers for their support and hope we can continue to deliver the product and service that you have come to expect.”

Carbonite’s the best and most complete addon out there for a reason. The developers busted their buns creating useful modications to the vanilla WoW interface. I’m not a programmer, but it looks like a lot of time was spent building this product and it looks like just as much time is spent maintaining it for each game update/patch.

In this free and democratic society that rewards such hard work, shouldn’t these people somehow be compensated for their efforts? Or at least allowed the the option to build some kind of compensation method? Apparently not. Blizzard didn’t say exactly why they modified the terms of use, but their reasoning’s obvious. The money-grubbers noticed their absence from a third-party revenue stream deriving from WoW and killed it. When paid apps return, and they will, the system will exist under Blizzard’s terms. They’ll want a cut, and maybe an approval process. But that’s not so bad.

Look at the history of Apple’s app store. Despite the slick company devouring 30% of the revenue each app generates, people continue to develop new content and people continue to buy it. Provided Blizzard makes the platform universal to all of their future MMOs, this market could explode. And once this happens, what would stop them from implementing microtransactions?

I know I’d pay a couple of bucks for better addon support and a special mount or two. I’m just a little terrified that Blizzard knows I would.

Tags: Activision, apps, Atari, Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, Facebook, MySpace, Nolan Bushnell, Peggle, PopCap, twitter, videogames, World of Warcraft
Posted in Gaming, Multimedia | 6 Comments »

E3, Back, Front and Sideways, for Starters

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Monday, June 1st, 2009

Journalists, developers, publishers, celebrities, and individuals with job titles too long for most 3.5″ x 2″ business cards (and some with none), descend upon the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week to slather one another with the frothiest luster the. videogame industry can muster. Again. Maybe.

“E3’s back,” you might hear a journalist say or write in an article. Or maybe “this is the REAL E3.” Their elevated expectations make perfect sense. In 2006, attendance at the convention hit a record high of 60,000. Shortly after, the organizers themselves criticized the event’s commercialization and decided to whittle it down to its most basic essence: an opportunity for two sides of the industry, press and development, to communicate, face-to-face. As a result, 2,000 to 5,000 people attended 2007 and 2008’s invite-only incarnations.

The changes drew mixed responses from attendees. Most developers and PR-folks preferred the new format, lauding the intimacy and personable experience. Journalists and the like, on the other hand, almost universally panned the absence of glitz, glam, free stuff, and booth babes (scantily clad women hired to promote product/s).

As last year marked my first pilgrimage to the gaming Mecca, I can’t really say which version I prefer. But if E3 really is “back,” expect a full comparison sometime next week, complete with unfiltered observations of my “journo” peers, as well as accounts of how my own fanboy excitement manifests when and if a few key titles are revealed. (My armor’s strong, but not impenetrable.) Meanwhile, interested parties enjoy all kinds of real-time (or close) coverage options. If I couldn’t go, I’d be tracking the ones below.

“alright, I’m starting to turn in . 22 hours live starts tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. PST. If I wasn’t working, i’d be watching…me work…” wrote Adam Sessler on his twitter account. The host of G4TV’s daily videogame program also dedicated his latest soapbox video rant to the convention, saying at one point that he’s busting his buns trying to get everyone at home the best coverage. Dude’s a nice guy, and his sincerity shone through. When he reiterates that if he wasn’t hosting the program, he’d be at home watching, you believe him not because he’s egotistical, but because he has genuine passion for the industry and the people and products who populate it.

X-Play’s a quality program. One of the best of its kind, in fact, despite the broadcast cheese that invariably seeps through. If you have cable TV and the channel, just leave it on all day every day during E3. Walking to your blank television or remote to turn the device “on” might result in missed content. Although most of it will inevitably appear on G4tv.com, there’s no guaranteed timeframe.

Spike TV and Gametrailers.com are the Starsky and Hutch of videogame coverage. Individually alone, they’re effective and undeniably some of the best at what they do, but together they’re absurdly efficient at reeling in the coverage and exclusives not found anywhere else (on top of all that, their current cheeseball corporate attitude rivals even Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller’s take on the classic series). I’m not sure what kind of coverage Spike will have, but most of the videos and trailers shown only to the press will more than likely appear minutes later on Gametrailers.com.

“The Kurt Loder of videogames,” Geoff Keighley, hosts most of the prominent programming on the site and network, including the always entertaining Bonus Round, where industry icons discuss any and all topics.

Additional video coverage
G4’s live video feed on Justin.tv.

Press conferences:
Microsoft
Nintendo
Sony

For news, I admit, with great reluctance, that everyone should keep a close eye on Kotaku. The news blog sometimes posts rumors as fact, and doesn’t feature standout writing, but excels at getting breaking news up fast.

Other notable sites include:
Gamasutra
Gamesindustry.biz
1up
G4

And of course twitter.

Journalists:
Kyle Stallock – ME!
Brendon Lindsey – Chief Editor of the MMO Life Network
Robert Ashley – Host of A Life Well Wasted
Patrick Klepek – Former reporter for MTV Multiplayer, MTV News, 1up.com, now at G4
Phillip Kollar – Online Producer for www.current.com/gaming
Garnett Lee – Show host and executive producer at 1up
John Davison – Former EIC of 1up.com. Founder of What They Play
Eddie Inzauto – Gamernode.com Director and TheGameReviews Editorial and Features Director

Development side:
David Jaffe – One of the lead designers behind Twisted Metal, God of War, and Calling All Cars
Nick Suttner – Former reviews editor at 1up. Now at Sony

Other:
Alex Albrecht – Co-host of Totally Rad Show and Diggnation
Tommy Tallarico – Composer and co-creator of Video Games Live
Chris Paladino – Ex-Xbox Community Team member

Tags: E3, Electronic Entertainment Expo, Gaming, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, twitter, videogames
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A Velvet Assassin interview with Aubrey Norris from SouthPeak Games

Posted by Kyle Stallock on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Long before Ian Fleming’s launched James Bond’s espionage career in the pages of 1953’s very slightly semi-autobiographical Casino Royale, another British secret agent crept across Europe, sabotaging the roads and communications of the Third Reich and sending crucial wireless reports on munitions factory locations back to 64 Baker Street. Her name? Violette Szabó.

The courageous young war widow’s four years of subterfuge in the service of king and country came to a violent end on June 10, 1944 when a German patrol ambushed both her and Jacques Dufour, a member of the French Reiststance. After running out of ammo, she was captured, tortured, and sent to Ravensbrück, a women-only concentration camp.

On February 5, 1945, the 23 year old Szabó was executed.

At the launch of Young Brave and Beautiful, a partial biography written by her daughter, the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey said “She’s an inspiration to those young people today doing the same work with the risk of the same dangers.”

For better or worse, her heroic story has remained untouched by the videogame industry–until now. On April 28, SouthPeak Interactive drops Velvet Assassin, a stealth-based title that puts the player in the role of Violette Summer, a beautiful but deadly British spy modeled after Szabó.

Germany-based Replay Studios is handling development duties, and so far, apparently remain unfettered by their country’s tendency to over-censor  videogame violence. Summer executes her nation’s enemies with alarming efficiency and in ways Fox news will almost undoubtedly call “grotesque.” Take a gander at the video walkthrough below for a few examples. Oh, and it’s okay to laugh at the very German-sounding accent from lead designer Sascha Jungnickel as he guides viewers through some of the basic gameplay elements. You’re an American, you’ve been conditioned to laugh at this kind of thing, right?!

Aubrey Norris, product manager at SouthPeak Games, took time out of her (presumably) busy schedule to answer a few of my questions pertaining to this semi-factually-based World War II title.

IPR: What do you say to someone who plays this game using a run and gun playstyle then complains that it’s too hard and/or doesn’t contain enough shooter elements?

Aubrey Norris: I’d say its definitely problematic to judge a stealth game as if it were a shooter. Yes, Velvet Assassin does have guns in it, but it’s a pretty hardcore stealth game. I think its just a matter of expectations being aligned with reality—if you’re playing a stealth game like a shooter and running and gunning everywhere, well, then yeah it’s going to be harder than if you played it like a stealth game.

IPR: Did you ever feel pressured by the gaming culture to turn Violette into a curvier femme fatale in skimpy duds?

AN: It’s a touchy situation, because if you make a character too curvy and scantily clad, some people will automatically try to label you as trying to sell the game based on sex (which is definitely not the case with Velvet Assassin.) On the other hand, if you don’t make women curvy and dress them provocatively, people will criticize the character for not being “hot” enough for their tastes. So, the pressure is always there from both sides. In our case, we understood that you can never please everybody and it is more important for us to stay true to the kind of character that Replay imagined rather than cater to one side or the other. Thus, Violette was designed to reflect a real woman from 1940s Europe. Her hair is designed in a popular style of the time, her proportions are reminiscent of a normal woman, and her costumes were all designed off of actual things that a field operative might have worn at the time.

IPR: Peter Chung’s a pretty high profile dude. How did you get him to create a graphic novel based on the title? Wheelbarrow’s full of cash?

AN: The story of Velvet Assassin fits in pretty well with the types of stories that Peter usually likes to tackle, with strong, kicka** female heroines. Luckily, because the story and concept of VA appealed to him, he agreed to work with us on bringing it to life!

IPR: Is this title built as a franchise with multiple sequels?

AN: It could be. Only time will tell!

IPR: Given your druthers, who’d play Violette in a film adaptation?

AN: For the voiceover work in Velvet Assassin, we cast a terrific actress who is bilingual in English and German—Melinda Cohen. She was perfect for this title. She was also the real-life model for Violette’s appearance in-game, so if anything,  I’m sure we would love to continue her legacy of bringing Violette to life.

IPR: Is SouthPeak actively looking to publish more content from overseas developers? I hear there’s some fantastic stuff coming out of Russia…

AN: I think the biggest thing for us is looking for good, unique content with a lot of potential to be fun and successful. Overseas or not, those things come first to us.

Speaking of overseas, when I asked Aubrey whether or not Velvet Assassin would see a German release, she replied “Absolutely.” Is this an indication of the country’s historically stringent censorship board loosening their creativity-stifling grip, or is the title being allowed to hit retail only after substantial changes are made? If it ends up being the former, a big ol’ smile will creep across my face. But if it’s the former, the German censorship board will find one of these lying on their steps.

Tags: espionage, execution, melinda-cohen, sabotage, spy, stealth, velvet-assassin, videogames, violette-szab?, world-war-ii, xbox-360
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