At Worst Frustrating. At Best Boring

Sums up my current feelings of demigod. There is not enough skill in playing a hero to make a difference, and there is not enough strategy to make it interesting. Everything moves like slug, unless you purely want movespeed. Level design remains shitty-rubbish. Reinforcements are bafflingly pointless unless you save up like 15,000. And all the heroes get played the exact same way nowadays. The game has been meta'd with little point to skills that are not at peak efficiency. And there are standard item sets that  you just get. no question. The good stuff is far too expensive, and the cheap stuff is beyond worthless. Most citadel upgrades follow the same pattern. Must-have or dont even bother. It would be nice if you bought all the little upgrades they were as effective as later upgrades. But they are not. The problem is hurt even further because money is a huge problem. Simply put kills pay the bills. No kills, no money, no items, no nothing. Matches turn into a test of patience rather than skill, with the first person who decides to tower dive ultimately deciding the fate of the battle.  
In essence after 5-10 minutes of play you largely know who is going to win.
In my opinion it stems from the lack of control you have over your hero. Sure he can walk around and such. But all units have noclip on. They cant interact with each other. They walk through each other. You cant block units, you just go through them.

Meanwhile DotA lays down a massive patch that greatly switches up the game, adding multiple ways to further diversify your hero and build your own little strategies. Bugs and exploits were smashed to pieces; mainly the backdooring issue which if the patch works should end it in its entirety. Further the emergence of stat-tracking auto-hosting services gives you stats. Something Demigod still can't get done properly in a retail product. 

To summarize

Demigod continues to disappoint. DotA continues to delight. 
I'll give demigod credit that they've really tried to fix it. But they are only working on the networking/servers debacle while the core issues that plague the game remained unaddressed. But then those are my concerns with the game. And thats that. The publisher steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the core game is broken so I doubt GPG will bother to address it. I'll try another match of demigod in a coupla weeks. But as DotA gets better and better demigod appears worse and worse in contrast. Pity. Oh well.  

Shhhhh. Be Verrrrrrry Quiet.

So, got into this beta. The game's beta had an NDA. I didnt read it, but I have heard that means I cant talk about the game. So I wont, technically. Because if I dont tell you the name of said game then I am at liberty to tell that it sorta works. But the pvp is a watered down version a genre that works better. And the other genre it is set in is better represented. So basically if you like watered down shooters, and water down MMOs, well this game is for you. Of course it was just the beta. So who knows, maybe they'll make the weapons, setting, enemies, map design, and story all compelling before the full game comes out. It looked moderately decent. So there is always that. 

The thing that really irks me however is that when you join they tell you go and read 3 excellent topics in their forums that explain the game. Too bad that you cannot view those threads in their forums until blah blah techno babble authorizes your account. No. You dont make the user wait to get a damn account authorized, you get them to see the stuff so they can understand the game you made. If that means making a pdf file attached to the file they just downloaded so be it. If it means putting the information on a website great. But do not say that it is all there in a forum that you'll just have a wait 24 hours to get access to. In 24 hours I could be playing another game completely and guess what? I am. So there you have it. 
Of course a twitch based MMO-shooter never did sit right. Planetside failed. And it seems that, oh boy, now I cant even remember the name, but whatever the name is, it does not seem compelling. 
Oh yea. Huxley. 
Whoops my bad.
Beta though. I'm sure they can fix everything. Well except the art style and enemies that's pretty hard to change this far along. 

Ciao tho.

P.S. Crimson Gem Saga is awesomely old school. and the World Ends With You finished greatly.

Winner Is You!

So I've thought about it. The E3 that has come and gone and decided that ultimately, the winners are us. Not immediately of course, but the sheer quality of titles that are coming out that seem so bright with promise and hope makes the gamers the winners of E3. The individuals companies may have done what they set out to do. But they almost all ended up looking like a tool in the pursuit of 'x' objective and will be scourned by some segment of the gaming populace for such a response. No the only way to survive E3 is to simply not attend, glance at the coverage and beam with optimism over it all. 
I've seen a lot of coverage online and most of it good. (the content, not the coverage itself who gives a fuck if IGN has bias or Gamespot cares more about looking at titties) 
The established franchises (Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, etc...) are bringing predictable extensions of their franchises, while upcoming developers like Platinum Games bring the creativity and originality that will form the new bedrock for future franchises to be milked. 
The casual crap will come, and then will get some more, and then more. Because they sell, but once you're actually into gaming such games have no purpose, they lack depth to continue playing them and they only earn rage from the dedicated crowd who will push greater games upon the masses with every attempt.

Speaking of rage I'd like to address an issue that touched me very personally as E3 went on. The Left 4 Dead 2 announcement. Initially I felt it was too soon, I wasnt enraged, rather I simply felt it was too soon, I mean I still put a good 3-5 hours into the game a week because the content released is that compelling to me. I simply saw no reason for a full fledged sequel so fast. Games that have rapid cyclical release schedules are frequently games that I completely avoid, Jak, Ratchet & Clank, Splinter Cell, and so on. But then I read about L4D2 and saw that basically the game is introducing many new things that I find incredibly compelling. Melee weapons are not them. Daylight levels are. More story is. The removal of the corner strategy is tantamount to my side switching. Simply put, cornering (when all 4 survivors jump into each other in a corner and spam bash/shoot) is effective but stupid as shit. New characters are meh. New campaigns are neat, assuming they are good. So, Left 4 Dead 2 should be good and I bear it no ill will. But damn it better deliver or my wrath shall be, well non-existent.

And now a quick list of things that have me Hopeful:
L4D2; Scribblenauts; AvP; Bayonetta; Alpha Protocol; Assassin's Creed 2; Mass Effect 2; Old Republic; Dragon's Age: Origins; Metroid: Other M; Alan Wake; CoD:MW2; God of War III; Uncharted 2; Golden Sun DS; League of Legends; Batman: Arkham Asylum; Dissidia Final Fantasy; White Knight Chronicles; Sin & Punishment 2; Final Fantasy XIII

That'll do. God knows how the hell one is suppose to play all those games. At least they arent all out at the same time. I'mma go and try to finish some of the portable games I've been getting of late.
Some Robot Tensei OG, with Crimson Gem Saga,  and Knights in the Nightmare due to hit my house very soon.
Ciao. 

Figured I Should Digest These Ones A Bit

Ubisoft:

Stuff looks good. Funny Host. Presenters were gawdawful boring. Do not show talk about your game/movie and then leave without having shown anything. Because Now I'm likely to actively avoid your game just to spite your existence. Red Steel 2 has a gret art style, and Splinter Cell is... well its splinter cell, never liked them, so I dont care what they do. Sam Fisher is a character who hold no heft in my world. Is he suppose to be an American James Bond who feasts upon the shadows. I suppose my main problem is I loathe games with night. I always question why is this at night? So I specifically cannot see the shitty graphics/textures/character models you were too lazy make look nice in Sunlight? Yea, thats what I thought. Assassin's Creed 2 looks great, but no news if they've actually made some interesting stuff to do in their vibrant city-scapes. The Thing about Imagine games however killed the conference. Please. Do you honestly think we give a flying fuck that you can sell shitty games to tweens. I mean honestly, Oh look all the Mario games are sold out and all thats left on the shelf is this Imagine Dresses game, whatever will I get. When such an event occurs I tell the customer this. "You are better off going to another store that has games worth your Child's time, just do not buy that trash." 
Do not brag that you swindle small children out of their allowance. Sounds like a fucking cigarette company. I'm sure Ubisoft is listening to this so they really should heed my advice and simply focus on games, and try not to brag. Seriously, gamers hate bragging. We love to do it ourselves but hate it when someone lords it over us. Although snagging No More Heroes 2, thats a lil better.

Nintendo Conference:

Apparently Nintendo felt that rollercoaster is the best ride to model your system after. And what a ride it was, from random jerking the Casual audience into a climax, to crushing our hope to dreams, to some really great anouncements. After its over you feel like you just had sex, and then find out she took your wallet, and your computer, but hey it was a good time. So new Mario games. Galaxy 2 should be interesting. New Metroid game seems like some kind of fan-dream team project pulled from the minds of crazy die-hard Nintendo fans. The Vitality doo-hickey is well. It is not for me. A balance board I can sorta understand, but a scanner? Yea, suckle that casual tit until its dry Nintendo. Nintendo, I just dont know what to make of you. You sort of try to convince that you care about the hardcore. Meh, at least your games are cheaper than the other ones. 

Sony Conference:

Um. Games, lots of games. A new PSP, without a UMD slot. Should be good, too bad I already got a PSP and am not really interesting in another at this point. Good to have options I suppose. Games, like God of War III, now with more killing! some Agent game that we know nothing about but it'll be BIG. Speaking of big, how about MAG, the game with 256 multiplayer sessions. Yea, I know, spray and pray becomes a legitimate strategy again, I mean you're bound to hit somebody. There was other stuff too, Like FFXIII which seems nice.

But by this point there is so much information about so many games that it is easy to get lost, I could talk about any of them for paragraphs and on. I simply do not know what to do with all of it. It is too much and I just wanna play some games. Man, I really feel sorry for those people who are down at the actual E3, that must be bad. Yet good.

Oh Uncharted 2 beta = great fun. Kinda burned out on it now though. Deathmatch to 25 points is super short. The Capture the treasure (Plunder as its called) is wicked though. Wish people would how to throw the treasure though. Seriously 4 people gather around and watch as one guy fails to throw it. The entire enemy team rolls in and drops us all. Co-Op though... little buggy, fun though, not when you fall through the ground though. But thats why it is a beta right? I may have said too much. Egads! Its all good stuff though! The game is very good. And is on my must buy list now!   

EA's Conference

Okay, So I think I get why I didn't like Microsoft's conference so much. Watching the EA conference was all about the GAMES. Microsoft pushed their games to be sure. But then they ramble on about stuff that is on the periphery. Stuff that is not playing games, and thats what I want to play games. 
EA being a mere publisher is only concerned with their games and so thats all they showed. Bringing in the devs, and pushing their partner plan.
The games they showed look nice. 

The Old Republic's cinematic was amazing, and definitely raised the hype for the game itself.

Brutal Legend looks good.
Just glad to get a look at the games. Trying to sell your system is completely outside of my concerns. The games are why I game, not because it plays music/movies/TV/lets me blog on my TV... 

Apparently Ubisoft has a conference later today. What could they show?

Microsoft Press Conference Impressions

Some nice looking games. And then a buttload of frivalous stuff that doesnt interest me whatsoever. I use my PC more than my 360 because it is easier to type stuff in and use a mouse than to use a  gamepad. 
Lots of stuff to pull non-gamers, but still tech-centric individuals in. Facebook/Twitter/last.fm
The new Project Natal stuff seems interesting. But showing it at a press conference is one thing. Getting it to actually work is another. There is potential, but then The moon has potential to smash into the Earth at some point so Potential doesnt exactly mean much. Hell DNF had potential.

The Lionhead demo of Milo is incredibly interesting, but Then Lionhead tends to exaggerate their projects.
Also, it may inadvertently destroy mankind. Good job Molyneux. I do think that some of the facial recognition stuff would have great applications for gaming.

Side Note; Business Type People with patting themselves on the bat makes me squirm. Maybe it is expected but regardless I dont like it. 

Overall I think Microsoft is all right. They've got a bunch of interesting stuff that is not gonna a damn thing for gaming, and is unlikely to pull any new consumers in. The Natal stuff will at best raise eyebrows, of skepticism. It did in me.

One other thing. Apparently Microsoft has completely abandoned the Windows platform for gaming, because I did not see anything about it. So Microsoft can piss off, PC Gamers are sick of this bullshit from them. Either try or don't but dont half-ass it. You can't say you're committed to the PC platform and then not even bother to put in a Sizzle reel, let alone an actual segment on PC gaming, for your E3 Press Conference.