General gaming

General gaming

Distressing Glimpses of Gaming's Future

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 04:45 PM PDT

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Generally speaking, the future of gaming is digital and online-connected. I, for one, am largely in support of much of this, as I quite enjoy the benefit of, say, being able to easily bring all of my handheld games with me wherever I go or easily download my collection of PC games without ever looking for a disc or CD key. The rare instance when I'm without Internet or the long wait for the My Games section of the Xbox 360 dashboard to load aside, I'm a fan of all this digital business. However, on occasion there are things which cause me to wonder if it's all worth it and make me hesitant to debate anyone who is averse to becoming excited about the direction the industry is headed.

Take Dragon Quest X, for instance. Unlike previous games in the series, it is an MMORPG and, as such, it requires an online connection (and carries a subscription fee, at least in Japan) for all but a few hours. The decision to take a previously single-player-centric series into the MMO space -- a move Final Fantasy has made twice, first with XI and then with XIV -- will continue to be talked about. Personally I'm indifferent to the move as I don't have any particular affection for the series beyond being a casual fan.

Disassembling Masahiro Sakurai

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:12 PM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Disassembling Masahiro Sakurai

Cover Story: Dive into the Kirby and Smash Bros. creator's development philosophy and find out how he's one of Nintendo's most daring creators.

"W

hat exactly is your 'style'?" Nintendo President Satoru Iwata asked longtime Nintendo developer Masahiro Sakurai in an Iwata Asks interview for Sakurai's most recent game, Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Sakurai's response wasn't concise and easy to pick out, but that might be the best representation of his development style. His works are very familiar, often using characters and concepts that we've seen many times before, but they can veer so far from normal gaming conventions that some gamers are turned off. Sakurai's works are best experienced by patient players willing to see through occasionally awkward controls to uncover the unbridled genius.

Kazuma Kujo Interview: Keeping Irem's Spirit Alive

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Kazuma Kujo Interview: Keeping Irem's Spirit Alive

Cover Story: We speak to the creator of Disaster Report about earthquakes, cancellation, and Irem's demise.

Y

ou probably don't know the name Kazuma Kujo. You may not even be familiar with his works. But over the previous decade, he headed up some of gaming's most inventive and ambitious projects under the banner of Irem, the venerable arcade developer that made a splash in the '80s with super-technical shooter R-Type. Kujo's best-known venture is likely the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series, the first two chapters of which came to the U.S. under the names Disaster Report and Raw Danger! As simulation adventures set in the wake of massive earthquakes, the ZZT titles stood out from other games of the PlayStation era for their emphasis on survival: Man versus the elements rather than the more common video game cliché of man versus man (or robot, or zombies, or aliens).

Unfortunately, ZZT most recently made the news last spring when Irem cancelled the series' fourth chapter and the series at large in the wake of the real-life Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, which made ZZT's theoretical scenario unpleasantly real for millions of people. Shortly after Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4's cancellation, Irem scuttled its other core gaming projects (including the long delayed Steambot Chronicles 2) and retreated into the pachinko machine business -- an unfortunate ending to the company's brilliant quarter-century of creating great video games.

Cover Story: Daring Games and Designers

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:55 AM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Cover Story: Daring Games and Designers

All this week, join 1UP as we examine the people and experiences that challenge our notions of gaming.

Though they're typically sold as being chock-full of thumb-blistering, edge-of-your-seat excitement, more often than not, video games act as comfort food, delivering the familiar in a fun-to-play package. And that's not necessarily a terrible thing; the greatest gaming series proactively celebrate their pasts, and set out to improve the qualities that made us love them in the first place. It's doubtful that popular mainstays like The Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid would remain so renowned if playing them didn't amount to wrapping yourself in a warm blanket of gaming memories.

Sometimes, though, certain games and designers emerge that challenge our love of the familiar, and in doing so, either create genres unto themselves, or wither and die horribly in the world of retail. Given the general fickleness and unpredictability of consumers, what does and doesn't strike gold often seems left entirely to chance. But what's important is the fact that some of the greatest games -- regardless of their financial success -- take great risks, ignore safe trends and known quantities, and leave us talking about them long after they've been retired to our shelves.

Falls from Grace: How Four Creative Game Companies Went Astray

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT

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Falls from Grace: How Four Creative Game Companies Went Astray

Cover Story: Tragic examples of groundbreaking game creators missing the magic.

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any game developers live and die without making a mark on the industry, and others suffer a crueler fate. They peak with brilliant games and then fade away for one reason or another. Markets shift, talent departs, and sometimes, the magically summoned lightning just doesn't strike again. From there, it's a slow descent into mediocrity, accompanied by the laments of former fans and the sense that something potentially brilliant was lost. It's never a pretty sight, and we've dug up some game companies, large and small, that slipped from their high ground.

QUINTET: AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
Posted by Shri Krishna

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