Game Play: Monopoly (iPhone)

It should be noted before going to far into this - I've played a lot of Monopoly in my day. We played it as kids with our parents, The Girl's family plays it, I've played multiple digital versions of the game and so on. Monopoly occupies an interesting space for people who finally dive headfirst into being true board game geeks (probably best quantified as when you purchase a game most people have never heard of). That space is usually one near the intersection of derision and scorn.

This mostly because it is an incredibly popular game with, honestly, subpar mechanics. Most of the game is luck, a little bit of strategy and a great deal of abusing players who haven't played as much. Don't even get them started about the free parking or rent related rules.

While I agree with most board game geeks on this - the game also works because it doesn't take long to learn, the strategies are easily understood and people like playing with fake money.

Most digital versions of the game have been a mixed bag. Some have lacked AI, some have had such bad AI that it might as well not have had AI in the first place. This is something of a big deal because if you have three other humans to play with - you might as well play the board game version.

Monopoly for the iPhone picks up the "Here and Now" edition, which ups the dollar value so the game doesn't feel so quaint, uses cities instead of streets (which, oddly, makes a couple million seem like a bargain for Rome) and updates some of the random chance cards. It offers a decent number of house rules and the AI can occasionally give you a run for your money.

In short - it actually kinda rocks. The interface is very well designed, easy to play and the graphics and sounds work very well for the game. It has managed to take over Lux for my favorite game to play on the bus at this point.

My only real complaint is that the AI is a bit mechanical. There's no attempt to put in fuzzy logic or quirks that I can see - like having one player be stingy and protective while another risks and builds more. It's rather easy to make deals, even if you want to make an "inside monopoly" when you have only one card of a set, for instance. This goes for the AI dealing with itself, too, so you can bet that monopolies start cropping up rather quickly during the midgame.

Still, this is better than a totally stingy AI and a game that never produces monopolies. Some varation would be nice, but what they have is pretty solid.

The game also sports WiFi, spouts statistics and gives you a variety of backdrops to play in. If they'd stop trying to upsell EA games every time a game ends, I'd be even happier.

Solidly recommend, at least until someone ports Settlers of Catan to the iPhone.

For Sunday: FEAR 2 EPA Trailer

I love the commercial spot angle:

Heavy Coffee Use Leads To Hallucinations

A bit dubious about this:

People who drink at least 330 milligrams of the stimulant a day were three times as likely to have hallucinations as those who consumed less than 10 milligrams a day, Durham University researchers found in a study of 219 college students published today in Personality and Individual Differences.

The study, the first to link caffeine and hallucinations, explored the relationship between high caffeine consumption and an increased release of cortisol, a stress hormone believed to contribute to delusions, lead researcher Simon Jones said. It forms the first step toward examining nutrition as a factor in the occurrence of hallucinations, he said.

[...]

Nine of the 22 people in the highest-caffeine group reported hearing disembodied voices, compared with three of the 22 people in the lowest-caffeine group, Jones said. Participants also reported seeing things that weren’t there and sensing the presence of dead people.

-- Seven Cups of Coffee a Day May Lead to Hallucinations (Update1)

OK, seven cups is pretty heavy use, all in all - but I can easily down five in a day and find the idea of seeing ghosts from the caffiene alone a bit of a stretch.

But it does sound like an interesting weekend experiment...

Dollhouse begins Friday the 13th

Fans of the Joss man got a mixed blessing. His new show Dollhouse will be airing on Fox, it's set to air Feb. 13th, Friday the 13th to be exact.

Superstition aside, Friday isn't really a great time slot for television. It hasn't been uncommon to dump genre shows there from time to time (X-Files, for instance), and I'm sure there's a large subsection of Joss followers with Tivo on their side.

Still, this is Fox and their track record isn't always the greatest with handling new shows (*cough* Firefly( *cough*), so we'll see...

Stealing From The Little Guy

I'm trying to think of just how cheap of a jackass you have to be to crack a 99 cent iPhone app from a husband and wife development team, but I'm pretty certain it isn't measurable by the scientific tools I have around the household.

Worse, to be such a jackass about the whole deal as to try and act like you have some kind of moral high ground on the matter. Hey, I think Apple should implement a more sensible demo setup as much as the next guy, but blackmailing developers into your beliefs isn't exactly civilized behavior. It's what my grandmother would call, um, being a damn jackass. If you think a developer should be offering a demo version and they don't - then don't buy the app. Stealing from them isn't any kind of solution, it's just stealing.

It's crackers like Most_uniQue that make companies abuse their users with DRM in the first place.

Urban Retro Offers Sculpture of Love Child Between Mario and Mickey

Some things, dear reader, I couldn't make up if I tried. Such is it with the limited edition Akashi, a sculpture which answers the often unasked question of what a creature might look like if it were a genetic splice of Mario and Mickey Mouse. To Urban Retro's credit, they mention that if this is too freakish, they have a more normal Mario selection as well.

Game Play: Metal Gear Online (Demo)

I don't have a full version of the game (yet), so I downloaded the demo.

OK, technically I downloaded it twice, because once you download the first time, you "update" the demo which somehow seemed to take twice as long and doesn't use the normal PSN update method, but rather forces you to use an ingame one. The ingame one has a BitTorrent option, which is technically fascinating, but will still force you to pack a lunch before you can try the game out which is 100% annoying.

Once in, though, I was kinda surprised at how much fun it was to play. I expected some control frustration since I haven't played either any version of the full game (which, to the demo's credit, you are warned against) but that didn't really last very long. For the most part, it's crouch, sneak and shoot.

And it works really, really well. Many games have tried to slow down the normal frantic pace of online shooters, which has evolved into a kind of ADD with sugar frenzy after years of iterations, but MGO takes the slow pace pretty seriously. And it adds the proper kind of tension to the game.

Where Unreal Tournament feels more like a high paced action movie, MGO feels more like going out and playing paintball with friends. And that's not a slight, as paintball can be a pretty good adrenaline rush on its own.

I don't know if the demo separates the audience from the full version - but my only real complaint was not having enough opponents. It took a while to get a match going, and then it was only 3v3.

Solidly (har har) recommend, hopefully can see some bigger matches down the road.

Game Play: Lord of the Rings Conquest Demo

There's so much I want to like about this game. Reading between the lines, it looks like it could have 2 player couch coop in a Middle Earth scenario playing against a hoards of enemies - basically a Tolkien version of Dynasty Warriors. Which would be pretty much all I'd need to know to make a buy, considering the particular corner of gaming and fiction that would reside on.

The online portion is something of a win for me, although these old Battlefield mechanics can kinda wear on a person. Since the days of Counter-Strike I've been wondering who would figure out really balanced play between two teams and well, I'm still waiting. Most of the games of LOTR:C I played were almost hilariously one sided, however, often with one team having nearly ten times the other team's score.

My real complaint, though, and I can only hope this is where the demo is not indicative of the final product, is with the network setup in general. Firstly, it is wildly unstable and hard to get into a server. Even servers with room and what seemed like good ping (although another point - who can tell what good ping is between just a couple of glowing colors). Getting dropped was not uncommon at all. The server browser is a pain and lacks simple filters like "don't show me those 100 empty servers".

This is the PS3 version, but I've never had this kind of problem with EA Nation on any platform. Bad Company was actually some of the best online setup I've used and a stark contrast to this demo.

So, we'll probably get it for the offline alone - but online is clearly where this game wants to be. If so, it has a long way to walk.

The Thing Is, Sony Has A Point

Sony recently put out a press release about value versus cost when it comes to the big three and naturally it's turned into a source of fanboy napalm and some blog snarkdom. Course, we've seen how well the blogs handle Sony at times.

And the other factor is quite simply - Sony's right.

I know 360 owners probably don't want to hear this - but $99 for a wifi adaptor is just this side of highway robbery. Especially for a console that relies on the network for so much value. The hard drive is sort of a take or leave it affair. Depending on what you want from the console, you might not really care about - but if you do care, Microsoft is again raking over the coals here. In this day and age, if you're paying $100 for a $120GB - you're getting robbed. And with the Pro, you get a lousy 60Gb for the same price.

And that the Elite goes for $399 and still doesn't manage to drop in wifi is just baffling.

Sony's hard drive setup really should be commended. It's dead easy to upgrade and it won't void your warranty.

That the Wii has wifi and no hard drive is a testament to Nintendo's concept - give them only what they really need for a simple plug and play experience. The lack of a HDD has hobbled the console somewhat, limiting what can and can't be done with WiiWare, for instance. But this is sort of a moot point - the Wii doesn't have a hard drive. It has no hard drive upgrade, it's never going to have a hard drive upgrade. The Wii isn't going to be downloading movies - where the PS3 and 360 have clearly gotten into the game. Sony and Microsoft want to be your digital hub, Nintendo just wants to sell you games.

As a digital hub, I think the PlayStation 3 is pretty top notch. I wish they'd get a Netflix deal going, because the Mini won't do streaming (Intel only) so we have to hook a laptop up to get that done. Since both console have downloadable content and upscale DVD's - the deciding factor is Blu-Ray.

Which is Sony's real problem. The PlayStation brand doesn't have an identity crisis, Blu-Ray does. For $399, you are really getting a great deal from Sony ... if you include Blu-Ray into the formula. Otherwise, even quibbling over wifi adaptors becomes somewhat academic. Without adding Blu-Ray into the equation, the question of value gets lost in the fog of debating between Microsoft's game library, Red Rings of Death and (*sigh*) the cost of cables (seriously people, I got my HDMI cable for $6 off Amazon. Get over it.), the cost of going online, etc.

Personally, I love Blu-Ray. Yes, I download movies - have from nearly every possible source. There's something to be said, though, for being able to put in a disc and have a high quality picture with no worries about compression, when is it going to be done downloading, etc. And the picture and sound is hands down the best you are going to get on the fancy HD set you paid so much for...

So I think Sony's right. I just don't think, especially in the middle of a recession, that it matters a lot. The Wii is outselling everyone for being neat and cheap. The 360 is doing well because Microsoft took the effort to score a good game library. If Sony wants to sell people on their console, they'll need to sell them on Blu-Ray first.

It was the cost of tying the two technologies together.

My suggestion to Sony? Play nice with Netflix. Get the streaming service on the console, and get it in HD. Get Blu-Ray prominently displayed as a rental option and get Netflix to clean up any oddness with putting Blu-Ray titles into your queue.

The chart is nice and all, but value is perception.

Game Play: Animal Crossing, City Folk

The latest iteration of Animal Crossing, which has migrated from the GameCube, to the DS and now to the Wii, is more or less an epitome of what is right and wrong with Nintendo right now.

On one hand, the game is fun and lighthearted little romp. You care for your town, do your chores, talk to your animal buds and wait for the in-game events. As with the previous versions, you basically have a kid friendly version of the grind mechanic at the heart of every MMO on the planet.

On the other - it's a wasted opportunity for networking with other Wii players. Biggest case in point? There's an auction house in the game. I feel pretty confident in suggesting that if this was a Sony or Microsoft title, the auction house would be networked so that nearly any other player could bid on some other player's fossil or rare piece of furniture. This would, among other things, make the auction house actually functional. Instead, Nintendo assumes you personally know enough people who play the game to make it functional, as the auction only works for people on your friend list. The game does, apparently, use the system's list for a change - which is something of an improvement.

So much in City Folk is exactly the same as the rest of the series, that it makes these half-hearted attempts at innovation even more glaring. Would have killed Nintendo to spend a little time figuring out a safe way to network villages? Or to at least allow strangers trade with each easily? Early rumors of a MMO style game, dedicated Wii channels and the like had a lot of people very, very excited. City Folk sticks to a strategy Nintendo knows far to well, though: play it safe.

Don't get me wrong, we're still happy citizens of our cartoonish town, but the lost potential here is just glaring.

FEAR 2 Screenshots

I've got some posts backlogged, but probably won't get them out. Thankfully, I was handed a secret file with something spooky scrawled on it containing some screens from the upcoming FEAR sequel. Here's a few choice ones:

2009 Gaming Resolutions

Because like Thomas, they're the only ones I'm likely to follow.

Finish up any remaining PS2 games
Because if I don't finish them by the end of next year, it is probably a safe bet I never will.

Be Wii Fitter
We've got the darn thing, and hopefully I can maintain using it 3-5 times a week through most of the year. I'm not going to say "every day" because that's already failed...

Play online more often with friends
One of my working assumptions about consoles is that they would be more friend oriented online and less often just a group of random strangers. That hasn't worked out so much, but part of that is my own fault for not trying to organize more games.

Find some way to properly store, play or sell old consoles
I've got the Dreamcast, Sega CD, Intellivision, Atari, etc. They were fun to trot out last year, and they might be again - but if I can't find a decent way to box them up, they might need a home on eBay.

Finish a follow up to Randolph Carter
I still get the occasional email about The Case Of Randolph Carter, and I'd like to make something similar. I've been toying with some things off and on, I don't know if I'll do something for AIR or the iPhone right now. (Or both).

Wishlist, 2009 Edition

What would I like from a broken turkey bone this year? In some ways this is follow up to the 2008 in review post, but that is kinda the idea, right?

Nintendo to get a real friends service
I defended Nintendo's "friend code" for some time, having played some successful games with Metroid Hunters without too much peril - but you know what? No more. I've seen how Sony handles it. I've seen how Microsoft handles it. Nintendo handles it like an inbred stepchild and says it does it to protect the children.

I don't, honestly, care about the children. Especially when the children are perfectly capable of writing down the pervert's friend code off an email just as I can, so really the defense defies logic. The children are a front for Nintendo's laziness here. I played Battlefield: Bad Company with a friend without even trying. Yet as The Girl and I play Animal Crossing: City Folk the game keeps telling us how we should visit other people's places, invite people into our home and generally network the hell out the thing. Which would be fine if we knew who we knew had a Wii, had the game and might actually be online. Same goes with Civilization Revolution for the DS and Mario Kart. I'd love to jump into game with friends, but the overhead of find non-random opponents is just overbearing.

Sony to acquire better exclusive deals and DLC
The most painful part of choosing to play games like GTA IV and Fallout 3 on the PS3 is knowing that the 360 owners can look forward to proper DLC when they're done. Back in the days when DLC was largely horse armor, that wasn't so bad. Now they're adding new missions and storylines - it sucks a bit more.

From the exclusive front, I think there's a slim sliver of light. Resistance 2 has been well reviewed and Little Big Planet is just insane. It's barely a foothold for 2009, though.

Microsoft to beat the Red Rings Of Death
'Nuff said.

Revivals or sequels to the following games

X-Com: I say it every year, but this a turn-based combat's fan dream. Don't make the now continous mistake of adding any kind of real-time nonsense, just revamp the core.

Zork: Yeah, I know, every revival of Zork from old days of text adventures has been a bit of a sore. While I'd love to see an interactive fiction version, I wouldn't mind seeing Uncharted: The Great Underground Empire either.

Ultima: While Ultima Online keeps the flame lit, I'd love to see something using the console Baldur's Gate engine. In a pinch, I'll take a proper Norrath sequel as well.

Populous: A god game with next gen graphics? The whole game probably needs an overhaul, mechanic wise, but still...


Games based on the following franchises

Stargate: I know the MMO is coming out, but my hopes are slim there. I'll take a combo of Stargate and X-Com, if you will.

Princess Mononoke: Warring factions, a nature god and a ninja wolf girl? If that's not a backdrop for an excellent sandbox title, I don't know what is...

Nausicaa: Yeah, so maybe I was catching up on my Miyazaki lately. Still, this would be a flight sim I could get behind...

It's Never Too Late For Child's Play

Just a quick reminder before the year runs out, Child's Play does not close its door just because Christmas hit. I completely blanked on the charity (which provides games off a wishlist for children's hospitals around the nation) until just now, so I tossed in a set of Wii controllers, some journals and a few games for the kids. I mean, what kid should be without Uno? C'mon ... it's freakin' Uno.

Movie Watch: Southland Tales

As a rather big Donnie Darko fan, I was pretty interested in Southland Tales when I first heard about it, but then it fell off my radar. We got around to it this weekend, and the end result is almost sadly what I would have expected.

For the unfamiliar, Donnie Darko is the story about a high school kid who mysteriously survives the destruction of his house through a rift in time. Or at least that would be one interpretation of the plot. The wildly surreal movie never quite puts its finger on what is going on (although the new director's cut adds more context), but that is part of the movie's charm. Darko works for me because while the plot is woven around this really odd premise - the core is still about one kid's conflict with the rest of the world, fitting in school, dealing with his family and pretty much a lot of human stuff we to which we can all relate.

Southland Tales uses a lot of the same concepts but transports it to a national level and paints a surrealistic version of a biblical apocalypse onto southern California. It is basically Donnie Darko with a bigger budget and larger scale. And while, like Darko, it isn't for everyone, there is actually a lot of culture commentary and Lynch-esque sequences to entertain your eyes and brain for a decent portion of the movie.

But with its size and dept, Tales finds it harder to shrug off the feeling of being overwrought and slightly pretentious. Fans of a Mulholland Drive kind of thing should probably give it a try - but in a lot of ways the movie is a pretty hard sell. I recommend it, because I think its fun and unique, but even I felt the two and a half hour length droned on a bit too long without giving much satisfaction in the end.

Watch Darko first, and if you like it - rent Tales for an afternoon viewing sometime.