Sacred 2: Offline Coop - Nearly A Fail

The Girl and I were big fans of the Baldur's Gate and Norrath games (and their clones like Justice League) because they offered a good method of couch coop. The best implementations made it easy to create a new character, start a game, and join in and out of current games.

Sacred 2 just recently released for the PS3 and I was pretty excited to get something like the above for the new system. It's a shame that the offline coop nearly wrecked the whole thing.

So for people in our position, there's a trick to doing offline coop right. You won't find it in the manual and the game is of now help. Not sure who figured this out online, but hats off to them.

To play two characters on the PS3 and be able to save them:
- Make sure you have two users on the PlayStation 3 system. That's right, get out of the game, go to the system menu and create a new user. Just for this game.

- Log in as one user, create a character.

- Log in as the second user, create another character. You can now start a campaign and when the second controller hits start, select the first user.

- Now you can select the first character, play and save together.

There's a few odd things that still hang around offline coop - like not being able to trade with the other player. But at least with the above you can play together.

Overall opinion on the game forthcoming, but the above is just a terrible concept.

Update: Review up now.

Update: With the latest patch, you can do offline trading. When two players are close to each other, "Trade" will appear above (like "Use" or "Talk"). It's a bit unfriendly when you're in the heat of a battle, and both users need PSN accounts and be signed and it seems buggy and will flake out on detecting a signed in user ... but it does work. Mostly.

More Signs Nintendo Is Demented

Reggie "Terminator" Fils-Aime, interviewed by CNet:

With their announced new motion-sensitive control systems, Sony and Microsoft seem to be planning to aggressively go after the elusive mainstream audience. But perception-wise, at least, Nintendo maybe has the opposite problem: You've got the mainstream. How do you reach that core gamer?

Fils-Aime: We have near-term, mid-term and long-term opportunities. The near-term opportunity is the consumer who owns an PS3 or an Xbox 360 and has been bad-mouthing Wii to their friends. We can reach that consumer with games like The Conduit or Tiger Woods with Wii Motion Plus. The mid-term opportunity is the more mainstream consumer who saw Wii at a friend's house but just needs a little extra incentive to get into our game. That's what Wii Motion Plus and Wii Fit Plus and new Super Mario Bros. Wii will hopefully achieve. And the long-term opportunity is that person who currently says, "I don't play video games and I have no interest in playing video games."

The problem Nintendo has is that if that is seriously their near and mid-term strategies - they're pretty fscked. I don't care how impressive previews of the The Conduit may be - you can count the number of Halo fans who are getting a Wii to play it on your right hand. Especially when any gamer compares Nintendo's networking with Xbox Live.

And this fascination with Tiger Woods, a long running EA Sports franchise which sells will on every platform as some kind of Wii Motion Plus catch is just fascinating. Perhaps for the hardcore golfers who just loves to actually practice their swings ... maybe.

Honestly, I think you can sum up Nintendo's philosophy with this: "That's what Wii Motion Plus and Wii Fit Plus and new Super Mario Bros. Wii will hopefully achieve."

Hardware, hardware and more Mario. That's their plan. Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft have technically competent motion sensing solutions coming down the pipe and all the high def glory that gamers do (sorry Reggie) care about. In particular, Microsoft's lower price points will be able to put pressure on the Wii marketshare. Just wait for the Xbox 360 Arcade + Natal + 360 Sports package.

That's really the Wii's best hope - that Sony and Microsoft charge too much for their solutions.

Interview continues:

Can you talk about what you saw from Microsoft and Sony when it comes to the motion-sensitive controllers. It will be a sort of a new arms race.

Fils-Aime: The only thing I'll say is a rhetorical question. Is it fun? If it's fun, then I tip my hat and say, "Well done." But what's happening sounds to me a lot like, "Who's got the prettiest picture. Who's got high-definition. Who has the best processing power?" It sounds like technology, when the consumer wants to be entertained. Our focus is how do we take active play and make it entertainment. And that's what we're going to continue to focus on. And I think we've done a great job with Wii Motion Plus, and the Balance Board. And we're going to continue to push the envelope in ways to make it more fun.

When this gen of consoles took off, the Wii was innovative. A year from now, or maybe less, it will just look inexpensive. Which isn't nearly as brand friendly (though it doesn't hurt). Nintendo got here by pushing the envelope - but now they think pushing the envelope is measuring your heart beat and painting the Wii black.

Nintendo needs a better answer - and here's a tip: it is not more hardware.

Armchair Analysis: E3 2009 Keynotes

I will probably never attend E3, as I am unlikely to shell out for it myself and don't foresee an employer willing to do the same.

Should not stop one from reaching from afar and being highly critical.

Nintendo (Joystiq Coverage)
Let's play a game. Let's strip everything from Nintendo's keynote which is not either a) a rehash of an existing Nintendo icon or b) requires a new piece of hardware to play.

We get:

• Dead Space: Extraction
  
• Conduit
  
• Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
  
• Flipnotes Studio (DS)
  
• Style Savvy (DS)
  
• Cop: The Recruit (DS)
  
• Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion (DS)
  
• Golden Sun DS (DS)
  
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
  
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
  

Now, a magic trick. Stare at that for a bit and then mentally remove DS games, light gun games and sequels to other well known franchises. It's like those 3D things at the mall, but in reverse. Ok, so that last one might not be entirely fair - the industry is pretty franchise driven all in all, but we're talking about Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Tiger Woods for fsck's sake. It's not like a sequel to Crackdown on the 360 - there's already what, like 50 Resident Evil games for the Wii?? And Tiger Woods? You actually show Tiger Woods during a keynote? Let me guess - it looked like a damn golf game.

For me, the message from Nintendo is - love our hardware and love our characters. Or piss off.

Microsoft (Engadget Coverage)
Microsoft had Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney? Wow. If only it was a game I cared about.

Oooo, look - Felicia Day...

OK, so would it be fair to play the same game here with Microsoft? Depends on your level excitement over, say, a new Halo game versus a new Metroid game. If I went by number of sales, I'd say a lot more people are excited by a new Halo game, and a new Crackdown game, and a new Left 4 Dead game, etc., than a new Metroid. Maybe Mario is a bigger draw, I don't know. I didn't finish Galaxy.

And that's accounting for the Wii outselling everyone by what, like 2 to 1 every month? Plus, Microsoft had goodies to add to Xbox Live, and Xbox Live Arcade. Did Nintendo announce a new buddy system? Better networking? Better lobbying? No. They did not.

And of course, Microsoft has this Natal announcement. Motion sensing by camera, no other hardware required. There's some impressive videos and as mentioned before on Cathode, early opinions are pretty high. I think Natal's microphone seals it for me as a show stealer for E3 - even if Nintendo had it with Wii Talk first. Sony needs to step up there.

I'm not a 360 user, and I still thought Microsoft had a pretty good showing.

Sony (Joystiq Coverage)
Sony's done an excellent job of shoring up their software glut - even if they haven't been able to stave off Microsoft's exclusivity attacks completely. Again, if we play the same game here - Sony still showed off some interesting new titles like ModNation, MAG and Agent. The big franchises are going more cross-platform and what exclusive Sony shows seem pretty darn good.

Sony's pushing the PSP Go pretty hard, and I'm just not that interested. Seems like a good evolution, even if it is a bit late and still about $50 too expensive. The Motion Controller might look a bit like a sex toy, but I can't deny their argument that some games just need buttons. I still think they need an EyeToy update that includes a microphone, however (I'm an idiot).

PSN has been good to Sony and I'm glad to see them pushing it - but there are some key developments, like Netflix integration, missing from the deck. And we can all agree Home needs some serious work. Added involvement is nice and all, but some structural changes (like not having 50 people and bubble machines crowd a Silent Hill lobby) would have been nice.

No slim PS3 announcement, interestingly enough.

All in all, a decent showing - but a bit mixed for me.

Signs Nintendo Might Be Losing It

Microsoft showed off Project Natal to the press at E3 and the opinions seem to run from the positive to the wildly optimistic. Camera-based, Microsoft's motion solution doesn't require waving any hardware around. While products for the device (as well as the device itself) aren't expected until around 2010, it is reported to be quite functional and user friendly already.

Rumors abound that Sony has a motion trick up its sleeve as well, either an adaption of the Sixaxis (a more Wii like solution), or camera based like Natal. However, it looks like it might be a no show for E3.

Nintendo, on the other hand, has announced Wii Vitality. This is a heart rate monitor that hooks into your wiimote.

Let me say that again: it is a heart rate monitor. For your wiimote.

Microsoft has a potential Wii-killer (or at least a Wii-beater-upper) and Nintendo has a heart rate monitor. For your wiimote. OK, so technically they also have Wii Motion Plus with exactly zero titles I can think of that would really make me want to buy it.

Gamers are begging Nintendo for a better software library. While some gems, like Boom Blox (review pending), might be going unnoticed - the amount of shovelware on the Wii is rather embarrasing. Aside from Nintendo's own first party titles, which often ship with some new hardware gimmick, the Wii has some pretty slim pickings. While titles like Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party make excellent use of the Wii Fit Board, there are precious few developers looking to go outside the nunchuk as an accessory.

So why does Nintendo insist on making more of them? And then... even more?

They're still making money hand over fist, but Wii Fit can only sell for so long - and I don't think a heart rate monitor (for your wiimote) will help that. If Microsoft delivers a decent Wii Play clone in early 2010, Nintendo might be picking some Wii Teeth off the floor.

Update: Sony just showed their motion solution - a wand combined with EyeToy to deliver "1:1" sensing.

For Sunday: Zero Punctuation Reviews Duke Nukem Forever

DNF is one of those things I feel like I should have a comment on - but seriously, I can't even muster the time to act surprised/shocked/involved/caring.

Potential Buffy Film ... Sans Whedon

What with vampires and franchise relaunches suddenly all the rage, plans for a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie have inevitably come to pass, with the rights holders of the franchise announcing plans for a new Sunnydale-set film.

But there is a catch.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film, which will neither be a sequel nor prequel but a relaunch, is moving ahead with absolutely no involvement from film and series mastermind Joss Whedon. It will also fail to feature TV's Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and will in fact have no connection to the long-running series—meaning Angel, Willow, Xander and Spike will also be MIA.

-- Buffy Relaunching Without Whedon, Gellar...Regard for Fans?

Trying to think of a better recipe for disaster, but oddly none comes to mind.

Get Brutal With Tim Schafer

EA is holding a Twitter event with Tim Schafer, the man behind the potentially most awesomest game Brutal Legend (if not the most awesome, most likely to have the biggest hair at least).

The event coincides with E3 and EA has a site online (http://e3.brutallegend.com) with details on how to get in the action.

Urban Retro's 8-Bit Wallet

Urban Retro sends word of this product, The 8-Bit Wallet, which is I guess more or less what is advertised...

Game Play: Flashback (iPhone)

I remember the original Flashback on the Amiga, and I remember it fondly.

I don't remember it so fondly when the game has horrible touch controls tossed on top of it. Honestly, by the time I had a) fallen to spot and b) spent ten minutes struggling to get to the right place to handle the flashy cube thing ... I was ready to delete app from the phone.

Total fail for me.

Game Play: MadWorld

As the Wii's substantial user base becomes even more substantial, publishers and developers are trying to figure out how to best get their games on the system. Many seems to making fairly generic franchise decisions (in other words, can we make a light gun game out of this). So hat goes off to Sega and Platinum Games for making a fresh title with a unique look and feel.

MadWorld is rendered in sharply contrasted black and white with splashes of red (for the large amounts of blood) and a few other choice colors. You play Jack, an ultraviolent kind of guy with a fancy chainsaw in his arm, in an ultraviolent part of town where such fancy chainsaw really comes in handy. The gameplay is a mix of Smash TV (Jack's grim cityview is the backdrop for such a television program) and God of War, where combos earn you cash and eventually you'll get a boss fight with a pretty decent handle of how quick time events should work (i.e. I didn't want to throw the controller).

I've made it through a few bosses now and the only real complaint I have is that the game can get repetitive despite many attempts by the developers to avoid it. I'm not sure if it is because once the visual style settles in, there's less eye candy about on a level by level or what - but the distractions made out of mini games (such as man darts - toss enemies into a massive dartboard), cutscenes and boss fights only marginally makes up for the fact that 90% of the residents in the game seem to just be waiting to be chopped to bits.

Recommended, but probably only as a rental.

Peter Asaro And The Terminator

H+ sat down with robot genius philosopher Peter Asaro:

I think we are now starting to see robots that are capable of taking morally significant actions, and we're beginning to see the design of systems that choose these actions based on moral reasoning. In this sense, they are moral, but not really autonomous because they are not coming up with the morality themselves... or for themselves.

They are a long way from being Kantian moral agents –- like some humans –- who are asserting and engaging their moral autonomy through their moral deliberations and choices. [Philosopher Immanuel Kant's “categorical imperative” is the standard of rationality from which moral requirements are derived.]

We might be able to design robotic soldiers that could be more ethical than human soldiers.

Robots might be better at distinguishing civilians from combatants; or at choosing targets with lower risk of collateral damage, or understanding the implications of their actions. Or they might even be programmed with cultural or linguistic knowledge that is impractical to train every human soldier to understand.

-- Can "Terminators" Actually be our Salvation?

Peter is my pledgefather and just one of the most insanely smartest people I've ever known. Last I saw him he was secretly wondering how to apply military AI software to video games, but I'm pretty certain he's contractually obligated to try and rule the world with giant robots now. Congrats Pete, great article.

Movie Watch: Seven Pounds

I would best call this movie a "Will Smith Oscar attempt". Seven Pounds follows an IRS agent who is not actually an IRS agent trying to help the lives of others he finds mildly attractive or good, preferrably with some kind of failing organ. The premise is a bit half baked, but worse is that it broadcasts itself so clearly at the beginning of the movie. You just know Smith isn't really who says he is, but worse you can quickly guess who he actually is, which makes a lot of scenes later in movie lose its strength. Especially since some of the moments the movie builds up towards seem to get very little attention towards the end.

The movie was advertised as something of a mystery, but the structure provides little mystery except to the completely obvlivious viewer. What's left is a kind of awkward romance plot whose only saving grace is Rosario Dawson as an attractive woman with a failing heart.

And rest assured, the movie mines that metaphor for much, much more than it is worth.

Not recommended, unless you're just a serious Will Smith fan.

Movie Watch: The Spirit

The Spirit is a completely ridiculous comic movie, shot in a similar vein as Sin City. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. Where Sin City forces you into a cruel and harsh landscape, The Spirit feels downright cartoonish at times.

I can only imagine what moviegoers thought when they saw this film, which was heavily advertised as a Sin City follow up, complete with Frank "Dark Knight" Miller on board. It's easy to write the film off as simply bad, with the hackey and often forced dialogue, but I think any movie that goes out of its way to point out that hitting someone with a toilet is funny knew it wasn't hitting from the same ball park.

Instead, the film is one of those destined to be cult offerings - too campy for its own good and too buried in its own campiness to do anything else with it. But when a guy gets hit with a kitchen sink, you're supposed to laugh. The movie is easily more comedy than action.

Miller's directing works well on a visual level, but it does feel like he was struggling with his actors at times (who may have been having a similar cognitive dissonance as the audience). Even at a cult level, the movie stumbles from time to time.

I can't say I recommend it, but The Girl and I laughed through most of it. If you watch it, just know what you're getting into.

TV Watch: Dollhouse, Season 1 Finale

We finally got all caught up on Dollhouse - and for the watchful eyes we did it by forking over $3 per episode, so don't blame any financial issues on us (though, more on that to the bottom).

What follows is spoiler free, but comments may contain them.

Dollhouse has been pretty great, riding a line for me in between early Angel and Firefly (as in better than, but not as good as...). As I've said before, Whedon's team is mining the premise early and well, better perhaps than in previous shows. They waste no time getting to core questions and issues posed by the Dollhouse - what makes us who we are and what if we could easily be something else?

One of the things that is odd, in a likeable way, is that I'm actually that fond of Caroline, our erstwhile college econut - but I do like Echo ... who isn't really a character in the classic sense. This is in part, I think, because Echo is what was done to Caroline, not Caroline - and there lies the more interesting story.

I don't know if Whedon fans could have asked for much more out of the finale, except perhaps if Hannigan had somehow been "Wendy" (seriously, though, my brain might have exploded). It sounds like rumors of the show's death were previously exaggerated, though, as it appears season two is a go with 13 episodes contracted. This is the same number of episodes this season, but it sounds like Fox is holding the 13th from this season, 'Epiteth', for the DVD release.

Movie Watch: S. Darko, A Donnie Darko Tale

Beware of a movie that so wants you to realize it is a sequel that it practically repeats the title.

So, obviously, S. Darko is the direct to video sequel to Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko - without Richard Kelly's involvement. The film did manage to have Daveigh Chase reprise her role as Samantha, and you'll see Elizabeth Berkely pop in as a minor character as well.

While visually interesting at times, the film is more or less a poor study of the first film and overburdened by that movie's themes and imagery. You'll get quite tired of the forcibly induced bunny scenes by the end and the apocalyptic time travel plot has a stitched together from crib notes kind of feel.

It's not that the movie is bad - the writing itself is competent, the acting is solid and the scenes generally look fairly good. The problem is that there is little here to satisfy Darko fans. The movie's big steps to expand any explanation of the first movie's events feel awkward and disconnected. There's no development of known characters outside of Samantha, and mostly she simply plays up the sullen teen routine. As the sign in the movie goes, this film is Frank's Echo.

So not bad outright, but very hard to recommend - even to the desired audience of Darko viewers.