61 Frames Per Second : activision

Whatcha Reading: Racing the Beam

Joe Keiser — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:00:00 GMT

There are a lot ways to think about games—as cultural artifacts, works of art, works of programming craft. Racing the Beam asks you to think about games in a way that is rarely considered: as a negotiation between game developer and hardware platform, between an artist with vision and the constrained tool that must be used to bring that vision to life. It’s a particularly apt metaphor for the platform in question, the Atari 2600, as almost all of that console’s games were made by one-man programmer/artist/designers. The result is a video game history unlike any I’ve ever read.

Racing the Beam is full to the brim with interesting tidbits about the nature of the Atari’s hardware. Cost-cutting measures on the system meant it was designed in a very specific way, to play games like Pong and Combat but little else. That meant that nearly everything that was actually done with the console was an elaborate hack. Getting more than two characters on screen, a la Space Invaders? That was a hack. Getting cars to drive onto screen from the left and off the screen from the right? The Atari was never designed to do anything like that, so that’s a hack too. That beam of brightly colored safety in Yar’s Revenge? That’s an absolutely ingenious hack.

Told in this way the story of the Atari 2600 becomes a story of brilliant renaissance men, twisting to their whims a piece of hardware that turned out to be far more versatile than its creators could heave dreamed. It’s also supposed to be a story about how this weak system with almost no memory tempered the ideas of developers, but this comes off much less well. The way the book is written, even the system’s abominable port of Pac-Man looks like a miraculous work of laudable engineering. By the end, it almost makes you think that the Atari 2600 could run, well, anything, if only you put the right genius in front of it.

Still, maybe this is the best way to look at that time period. The people involved in the programming of the 2600 were wizards. All too often they were tasked with impossible projects, like converting a graphically rich arcade game to a console that couldn’t even hold an entire screen’s worth of data at once. The stories of how they succeeded and failed paint an important historical picture about the relationship between the system and the people who made art come alive on it.

Racing the Beam paints that picture well, but it’s still in many ways a book about a computer and some programmers. It will occasionally become dense with technical speak and it even sometimes boxes out esoteric machine code, so if you don’t have any technical knowledge you can expect to re-read some pages many times before your understanding becomes complete. It’s still worth it to try, though. Watching Atari's wheezing beast get tamed by the intellect of this industry’s forefathers is a great and necessary journey for anyone who cares about games.

Pick it up here: Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System (Platform Studies)

Related Links:

Whatcha Reading: 20 Years of Nintendo Power
The Videogame Ages, part 1
Death of the Gamer, Redefinition of the Audience

Returning to the Return of the Castle Wolfenstein Returned: This Time It’s Just Plain Ol’ Wolfenstein

John Constantine — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 02:30:00 GMT

Guest contributor Adam Rosenberg covers games from his secret lair in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, typing, reading and playing the days away as his dog Loki looks on in bewilderment. In addition to the noble pursuit of video games, Adam enjoys spending time with fine film, finer food and his fine fiancée Bekah.

There must be a considerable amount of tension around Raven Software’s offices as they prepare Wolfenstein, the latest sequel to the id Software’s grand-pappy of all first-person shooters. After all, the once-cool practice of gunning down Nazis with a beefy chain gun isn’t the uncommon gaming experience it once was. Then there’s Raven, whose talent is eclipsed not only by their recent history of releasing numerous interchangeable genre titles, but also living in the shadow of id themselves. That isn’t necessarily bad news for Wolfenstein, but it does have the effect of keeping expectations firmly in check. Seeing it at Activision’s New York City preview party certainly didn’t raise those expectations. A few minutes of watching Wolfenstein gave a bad impression: another generic World War II shooter with less-than-stellar graphics and straightforward action.

It’s when I stuck around for a few more minutes that things started to get odd. For example, there were suddenly Nazis flying through the air in slow motion. Turned out to be anti-gravity. That’s kind of weird. Then there was B.J. Blazkowicz using a magical amulet to “see” Nazis on the other side of a wall. And then shoot them. Not so conventional anymore. And that’s when the Veil descended. Apparently, B.J.’s fancy new amulet — picked up early in the game — allows BJ to slip into an “otherworld” at will, a place/state-of-being called the Veil. The makeup of the world remains roughly the same within the Veil, though everything is cast in aqua-green hues and spectral bee-like insects fly around lazily, gathering energy. The Veil is ethereal. Other. (Think Tron.) When inside the Veil, weak points are highlighted on enemies, an essential feature when dealing with larger, armored soldiers. The single heavy I saw during the demo was a sort Brotherhood of Steel/Imperial Stormtrooper amalgam armed with a weapon shooting blasts of the green energy blanketing the Veil. BJ will also need to slip into the Veil to access the amulet’s magical abilities; a time-slowing power was shown, but the on-screen amulet’s four slots suggest more Nazi-killin’ powers.

Put aside BJ’s supernatural powers and you’re still left with rote Nazi-killin’, right? Wrong. Wolfenstein is set in the city of Eisenstadt, an open environment situated around a central hub, with new areas opening as the game progresses. What’s more, there are three non-Nazi factions populating the city: Nazi resistance fighters, scholars who harbor an interest in the amulet and a shadowy black market. Players will be able to pick up optional missions to earn money, which can then be spent on the black market to upgrade or buy weapons. But the open world and non-linear play is not enough to justify the game’s existence. There needs to be an immersive experience attached to it, one that leaves room for player-tailoring to co-exist with a scripted storyline. This is what made Far Cry 2 stand-out from the over-crowded FPS field. It is, however, encouraging to see Raven stepping away from the generic corridor shooter towards the faux-RPG trappings of their Jedi Knight series. Time – and additional previews and hands-on sessions – will tell, but first impressions at least point to a new direction for the Wolfenstein series. That’s saying something for a series that created its genre.

Related links:

Bringing Sexy Back: John Carmack
Whatcha Playing: Far Cry 2
John’s Games of 2008: Year of the Open World

New Year’s Resolutions For a Few Of Our Favorite Publishers

John Constantine — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Now, to close out the first full week of 2009, we will do for videogame publishers what we did for console makers: we will tell them how to live their sordid, godforsaken lives! You’d think developers would make the list, but no. No, I tend to trust them, so they will be left to their own devices, free from the crushing logic of advice from 61 Frames Per Second.

In 2009, the following folks should resolve to do the following things:

EA – Stick to your guns and keep investing in new IP. 2008 was good stuff, Riccitello. Keep promoting Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space, they will find their audience. And EA Sports? How about SSX4 already.

Capcom – Resolve to support Dark Void with an aggressive marketing campaign and release it during the summer. Do not let this one die during the holiday rush. Also, Street Fighter III HD Remix. You know it would be sweet.

Atari – Do not release Ghosbusters until it is perfect.

Namco – Push Klonoa like you have never pushed a game in your entire lives. Tell people it will make them lose weight, tell them it will make them smarter. And knock it off with the nickel-and-dime DLC already, what is this, 2006?

Square-Enix – S-E, I want you to go out tomorrow, hop on a train, and pay Jupiter Games a visit. You cut them a check, and you tell them to make whatever they can imagine. The people who made The World Ends With You should be allowed to make whatever they like.

Konami – Release a press statement claiming you were forced to make Rock Revolution at gun point.

Midway – Um. Hang in there?

Activision – Give Neversoft the vacation they so desperately need and deserve.

Atlus – More PS1 reprints!

Take-Two – If Bioshock 2 looks stupid, don’t be afraid to cancel it.

Ubisoft – Release Beyond Good & Evil 2 by the end of the year. Please. PLEASE!

XSEED – Keep on keepin’ on, you guys. Can’t believe you actually localized Retro Game Master. Just awesome.

Tecmo-Koei – No Dynasty Warriors: Dead or Alive games. Just don’t. I know you're thinking about it.

SEGA – Disband Sonic Team. It’s over. Enough.

And that about covers it. Happy New Year, everyone.

Related links:

Microsoft’s New Year’s Resolution
Nintendo’s New Year’s Resolution
Sony’s New Year’s Resolution
Virtual Console New Year's Resolutions

Music Game Shark Jumpin’: Activision Possibly Too Legit to Quit, Working with MC Hammer

John Constantine — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

There’s been some talk around the gaming campfire about the possible decline of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band-styled music game. The reasons are pretty much what you’d expect: severe market saturation thanks to Guitar Hero having three very successful years across multiple consoles and games, consumer confusion over available product (what do you mean I can’t use this guitar with Rock Band on Wii?), and just could ol’ fashion fad passing. Of course, November’s NPD report showed that people aren’t quite sick of music games. They just aren’t buying them all on one system any longer. Whether or not music games are still profitable is besides the point though! What really matters is whether or not they’re still entertaining, still fresh, and whether or not there are still opportunities to add-on to the house built by Harmonix. What more can they do? Build a mic as versatile as the one included with Microsoft’s Lips? Create a procedural song generator so any song in existence can be used with the games? Stagnation is the enemy here for sure. Here’s a thought: how about trying to make a decent hip-hop game? It’s been attempted, but never successfully. Maybe that’s the next band game evolution!

But not like this, Activision. Not like this.

It’s only a rumor right now, but if the man himself is telling the truth through his Twitter, it sounds like MC Hammer is working on a project with Activision. The man who popularized Skids for one hazy summer back in 1991 said (Twitted?), “"I got one day to recover, then it's LA to Activision to get a glance of a top secrete project." And then later, "Activision was fantastic ... action!" Secrete action with Activision, eh Hammer? I am horrified.

Look, Guitar Hero the 80s was stupid enough, Activision. Don’t let Hammer back into out lives. He explicitly said we could not touch this and after almost twenty years, I’m inclined to take his advice.

If it does happen, I say Harmonix turns around and makes a Wu-Tang Rock Band. Have an unlockable mode that’s a sequel to Shaolin Style!

Hmmm. Proper.

(Link: The Escapist via Joystiq)

Related links:

Everyone Will be Able to Rock
"Games are about Wanking", Says Limey DJ
Surprise! Nickelback Misunderstands Guitar Hero
Rock Band: My Anti-Music
GWI: Gaming While Intoxicated

Wet is All… Oh, Nevermind

John Constantine — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:00:00 GMT

While it was certainly distressing that promising games like Ghostbusters: The Videogame and The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena fell into no-publisher limbo following Activision’s axing of Sierra Games’ line-up, we knew it wouldn’t be long before some intrepid business would give those wayward titles a home. (Of course, Sierra’s most promising game, Brutal Legend, is still homeless. Boo.) Some games lost in the fire sale, however, should probably stay lost. Take, for example, A2M’s ludicrously named Wet. Wet trades in the same bombastic violence and stars the same sort of big breasted protagonist as Hideki Kamiya’s Bayonetta, but has, from the looks of this game footage, none of that game’s humor or eccentricity. The game actually looks very similar to the John Woo and Midway collaboration Stranglehold, with an almost identical slow motion trick-shooting system. The difference? A Quentin Tarantino-style soundtrack and grainy film filter! Oh yeah, and Chow Yun Fat has been replaced by a lady in impossibly tight clothing.

Word is A2M is still hoping Wet finds a new publishing home. Either they need to spend a whole lot more time polishing this game up or they should go back to making Lizzie McGuire DS games.

Such a shame. The original trailer for Wet was pretty sweet.

(Link: NextGenPlayer via NeoGAF)

Related links:

Face-Off: Bayonetta and the Merits of Exploitation
Ghostbusters. Peter Venkman. Walter Peck. The World is Just.

Ceci N'Est Pas Une 1-Up: The Surrealist Future of Postpunk Gaming

John Constantine — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:30:00 GMT

While reading Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds’ sharp history of postpunk, I started thinking about videogames. I’m nothing if not predictable, I know. There’s a slight corollary between the gaming zeitgeist and punk rock. Not politically, of course. Videogames are, at least popularly, more conservative today than they’ve ever been. Just look at Bobby Kotick’s reasoning for dropping Brutal Legend and Ghostbusters from Activision’s release schedule: "[Those games] don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises.” I realize that Activision is in the business of making money and not artifacts to inspire the human soul, but publicly stating that your publishing ethos is assembly-line-production makes it difficult to assess the creative merits of Guitar Hero: Buy This One Too, Just ‘Cause.

No, videogames in 2008 are, like punk rock in 1974, taking a medium that’s become marked by excess and stripping it back to its most basic. Even beyond Capcom’s retro efforts and traditional two-dimensional, genre exercises (Braid, Castle Crashers) on Xbox Live, designers like DICE are trying to keep games simple and raw. Mirror’s Edge, for all of its visual polish, uses only three buttons for the bulk of its action and the game’s goals are uncomplicated (run to, run away.) Games are also trying to put the power of creation back into the audience’s hands. Halo 3’s Forge, LittleBigPlanet, and Maxis’ Spore might not be putting players into the guts of design, but they are inlets for everyone to make their own games. You don’t need to know how to play guitar to rock, and you don’t need to know C++, or draw, or write to make a game. Add these mainstream juggernauts to the booming independent dev scene, the confrontational tedium of games like No More Heroes (as Goichi Suda says, punk’s not dead,) and we may look back on the 2010s as gaming’s punk rock era. But how does punk lead to postpunk, the rebellion of aestheticism through the surreal and the futurist against the simplistic and traditional? What would that game even look like?

Modern gaming’s genesis came during postpunk’s six year lifespan and the two, strangely enough, shared many of the same audio/visual tics. But where postpunk’s visual tendency toward angular, primary colored geometry and aural predilection for jittery electronics and propulsive bass lines were born of artistic statement, videogames came to them out of necessity. This is why envisioning a surrealist gaming experience is problematic; the hallmarks of surreal a/v media are traditionalist hallmarks in games. While a game like Deus Ex Machina, Mel Croucher’s 1984 Spectrum title – a game that could very well have been a Fast Product Records release a few years before – look like ready examples of surrealist design, but were it released today, it would look like little more than retro fetishism. In order for a game to be successfully surrealist, its mode of expression will have to be tied directly to play and not traditional presentation. The game has to subvert expectation based on established mechanical tropes to garner the desired subconscious effect. The seeds for this are out there, in places you might not expect. Mario tends to be associated with childlike psychedelia, but the manipulation of perspective and gravity in Super Mario Galaxy are a larval form of potential surrealist play; for twenty years, Mario would die if he jumped into a void, and here the void propels him to new heights.

A game can be most anything the designer wants it to be. In the coming years, the most difficult task for both designers and players will be looking backward, seeing what games are and have been, and figuring how they can break them to create something brand new for the future. Punk play to postpunk to whatever comes next. Now if only we could figure out how to get the vital social commentary in there…

(Thanks to 1UP for the Bobby Kotick quote and Edge Online for the Deus Ex Machina retrospective)

Related links:

Yeah, But Is It Art?: It Will Never Be the Same
Kenji Eno Is a Mule of Epic Proportions
Far Out, Man
Easy Access

Where is Prototype?

John Constantine — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:30:00 GMT

The open world game, or sandbox if you prefer, isn’t a genre any longer. At this point, it’s just another method of structuring other genres in a way that gives you more freedom in how to play the game. Open world games aren’t GTA clones anymore; they’re just games with a modern version of the ol’ Mega Man boss select screen. It’s been neat over the past couple of years to watch the open world platform branch out. Crackdown, Assassin’s Creed, Burnout Paradise, Far Cry 2, hell, Spider-Man; all very different games that let you do whatever the hell you please in their world (to a degree) on your way to completion.

One of 2008’s more promising games, Radical Entertainment’s Prototype, is a violent action game with a nice open world foundation. It looks gruesome and brutish but it also has some neat ideas behind it, particularly its brand of character customization. Alex Mercer, the genetically altered amnesiac protagonist with a spooky past, eats his felled foes and gains all of their characteristics, abilities, and memories. This lets you come up with all sorts of horrific, bombastic ways to destroy things but it also lets you blend in with crowds, a nice twist on the open world formula of manipulating hordes of NPCs. Sounds cool, no? As of last April, Prototype was all but done, ready to ship after one more coat of polish. Then, days after it was last previewed, Sierra announced that it was getting delayed until 2009. Then Activision killed almost all of Sierra’s upcoming line-up after their merger with Vivendi. Activision did decide to keep Prototype, but no one’s seen hide nor hair of it since.

Shane Bettenhausen has intimated on the 1UP Yours podcast that the game’s being dramatically altered in order to score a Teen rating from the ESRB. Of course, Activision laid off close to one-hundred Radical Entertainment employees back in August. Losing half your work force makes it hard to finish a game that’s undergoing a last minute redesign. Activison’s homepage for Prototype says it came out on September 15th. It didn’t. So where the hell is Prototype? Who knows!

More Where Is?:

Where is Shuichi Sakurazaki, Creator of Ninja Gaiden?
Yasunori Mitsuda
Landstalker PSP
Joe Madureira
Wii’s Disaster: Day of Crisis
Yu Suzuki
The City of Metronome
New Indiana Jones
Doug TenNapel
Victor Ireland

You Got Your Waggle In My Touch Screen Portable!

Derrick Sanskrit — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:00:00 GMT

You may remember back in May when Activision CEO Mike Griffith stated that the next Tony Hawk game would be a Nintendo DS exclusive and "utilizes new technology not yet seen on the DS." According to a press release sent yesterday by Activision, that game is Tony Hawk's Motion, which proudly announces it will use the Motion Pack for accelerometer-based game control. That's great and all, but why is this the first we've heard of the "Motion Pack"? The press release casually mentions it as if it were some peripheral we were all already familiar with. All we can gather about it from the press release is that it adds an accelerometer - the same kind of gyroscope that's in the Wii remote and iPhone - to the DS.

Obviously, the Motion Pack is the big selling feature, what with "Motion" right there in the game's title, but the package promises variety as well with an all new Todd Richards Pro Snowboarder mode and a whole 'nother game packed in as Hue Pixel Painter: an "action-oriented puzzler" "uncovering sources of paint below the ground’s surface" and "bringing color back to a dreary environment and defending against the Drabs who have set out to leave the world gray and bland." So it's de Blob?

The two games are set to come packed together this November for the MSRP of $39.99, a bit steeper than your average AAA DS title, but hey, it's two games and we can only assume the Motion Pack comes packed in as well. We can only assume, of course, because we haven't heard anything else about it yet.

The idea of motion-control on the DS has been widely discussed ever since the Wii first waggled onto the scene, so I'm not surprised to see someone doing something about it, but I can't help but wonder is this a worthwhile gimmick? The DS has seen plenty of innovation already. The variety of input methods and controls in games like The World Ends With You, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Electroplankton are astounding, far greater than many gamers believed possible on a handheld. Playing through each of those surprised me and made me begin to wonder what else was possible on the DS that I just hadn't seen yet. How well will the game play when you are constantly tilting the whole system, including the screens you're supposed to look at? Who knows? It's only slightly awkward with WarioWare Twisted, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Other good news is that Tony Hawk Motion/Hue Pixel Painter is not being developed by Neversoft, the company responsible for the distillation and monotony of past Tony Hawk and Spider-Man games, as well as the recent Guitar Heroes, but rather by CREAT Studios, bringers of Insecticide for the DS and Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Pro-Am for the PS2... so yeah, there's that.

Related articles:
Whatcha Playing: The New Adventures of the Nintendo DS
The Revolution WILL Be Colorized
Ain't No Party Like A Motion-Control Party!

Everyone Will be Able to Rock

John Constantine — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

At the end of June, my concerns for the future of videogames' burgeoning rock star genre were growing by the hour. Activision was waving their new drum kit in EA’s face while Konami tried to get people to like their music games outside of Japan. The big problem? None of those companies appeared to give a damn that they were flooding a market and audience already drowning under a torrent of plastic instruments. Not to mention that none of those instruments were guaranteed to be compatible with games that didn’t come packaged with alongside them. Yeah, Guitar Hero 3 and its electronic axe might be one of the ten best selling games in the history of games but that doesn’t mean the genre bubble can’t burst. Today, another faceless company has helped to allay my fears.

And, would you believe it, it’s Sony doing the allaying.

The once haughty Japanese giant stated on their Playstation blog that they have reached an agreement with Activision, EA/MTV, and Konami to allow every single publisher’s rock & roll instruments will work with every publisher’s games on the Playstation 3. Bought Rock Revolution but want to get in on Rock Band 2’s killer track list? Go for it. Feel like using that gorgeous new Guitar Hero World Tour drum kit with Konami’s new opus? Fine, have fun. Not only that, but SCEA also said that, though it isn’t happening just yet, they’re working on a fix for the original Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3 as well.

This is the first step on the road to peripheral-based music games finally coming into their own. Guitar Hero made them an institution but this agreement will help cement the instrument set as an expandable platform that doesn’t necessitate annual hardware revisions. What else needs to happen to guarantee this glorious, melodious future? Microsoft and Nintendo need to step up to the plate and make the same arrangements on their respective consoles. It’s likely Microsoft has already got this in the bag, but Nintendo? They enjoy screwing over their customers a little too much, methinks. All that would remain after that would be a centralized music store that supported every game and hosted a library akin to iTunes that offered procedurally generated tracks based on the engines developed by Harmonix, Neversoft, and whomever else gets in on the action.

The future, she is bright this day.

(Link: via Joystiq)

Related links:

Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Why Dontcha Cry About it, Saddle Bags: Konami Sues Viacom Over Rock Band
Warner Music Wants More Royalties

Sierra Popularizes Digital Adventure (also Roberta Williams n00dz)

Cole Stryker — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

Did you know that Stanford University has a gaming blog?

Well they do, and it's pretty great. It's called How They Got Game (ugh), and it's dedicated to exploring the history and culture of New Media.

They've recently posted a fascinating history of the tremendously important Sierra, whom I've developed a newfound love for in my recent foray into interactive fiction. HTGG chronicles the early history of the company, with a few images of the studio's first three games. If you can squint for long enough without getting a headache, check out the highly entertaining Winning Strategies for Adventures.

In Part 2, we discover Cannonball Castle, a Revolutionary War-themed Donkey Kong ripoff, and the birth of one of my favorite franchises, King's Quest. Get ready for face melting box art.

Sierra went on to move into sci-fi and police work in the "Quest" model, got dirty with Leisure Suit Larry, and spooky with Gabriel Knight. Sierra's future is looking pretty grim, what with the Blizzard-Activision merger. It looks as though the division could get lost in the shuffle.

Oh, and I promised hot Roberta Williams (Sierra's co-founder and designer) pr0nz, so here you go:

Sorry to steal your traffic from Part 3, homies. This game sold 20K copies when Apple had only sold 100K Apple II's, the computer capable of running the game Think about that.

(via GameSetWatch, which has been digging up some excellent stories lately. If they're not in your RSS feed, then you need to GET SERIOUS)

Related Links:

Films to Games: Ghostbusters Really is Ghostbusters 3!
You Are A Baby and Games Don't Wanna Make You Cry
Interactive Fiction Explosion!

Why Dontcha Cry About It, Saddle Bags: Konami Sues Viacom Over Rock Band

John Constantine — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:00:00 GMT

It seems that Rock Revolution isn’t the only way Konami is responding to Harmonix’s meteoric rise to music-videogame power. The house of Castlevania announced that they are suing Viacom, MTV Games’ parent company, and Harmonix specifically because Rock Band and its instrument peripherals violate Konami patents. According to Bloomberg.com, the patents in question detail, “simulated musical instruments, a music-game system and a ‘musical-rhythm matching game.’” They are not, however, suing Activision or Red Octane, makers of the current incarnation of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero and its original guitar peripheral were themselves designed by Harmonix, so it seems peculiar that Konami wouldn’t direct their hissy-fit at them as well.

What do you think FPSers? Does Konami have a leg to stand on or are they just being babies because no one likes their music games anymore?

Our thanks to Bloomberg and NeoGAFer TheOddOne for alerting us to the breaking news.

Related links:

You Got Served: Zubo Puts Music in Your Combat
Everyone Should Be Able to Rock
Whatcha Playing: A Little Singin’, A Little Dancin’

Help Activision Choose Box Art for Spidey

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:33:00 GMT

Activision is letting gamers vote on which cover art they prefer for the Xbox 360's upcoming Spider-Man: Web Of Shadows.

The choice will doubtlessly keep you up all night. It's between "generic" and "stupid."

The cover art vote is part of Activison's "Seize Control" theme, which I guess is some push to make gamers think they're in control of the content for a big-name license. In addition, anyone who pre-orders (all three dozen of you) gets to choose one of three pre-order bonuses: a T-shirt, a poster or a figurine.

Do not choose...poorly.

No, really, don't. It's not hard to see that the T-shirt is the way to go, unless Gamestop is planning to pass judgement on people based on what they pick. Sort of like Moses with the gold and hot coals.

Going back to the cover art, both the choices are pretty bad. Option uno makes it look like Spidey is holding New York in a snow globe. It took a few minutes for my brain to unscramble option two; I seriously thought Spider-Man is holding Venom and Wolverine by the scruffs of their necks. Naughty Wolvy, I saw you pee on the rug. Into the Bad Box for a time out.

What's actually going on is that Spider-Man is crossing his arms and the two characters are reflected in his forearms fooooor some crazy reason. I admit I'm not up-to-date on which heroes can do what nowadays, but I don't think Spidey totes arm-mirrors for those bad hair days.

(What hair?)

Anyway, you've exercised your right to vote. You've done your bit for Democracy. Activision salutes you. Just one more thing: It probably won't matter.

Activision shall not be bond by the outcome of the community vote and Activisions decision(s) and selection(s) shall be final and binding.

To be fair, they don't have the courtesy to put that on an actual US election ballot. This way, you can skip the false feelings of hope and voter's pride and sink straight into the apathy. Enjoy!

Everyone Should Be Able to Rock

John Constantine — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:00:00 GMT

When Konami announced Rock Revolution back in May, their re-entry into the rock and roll videogame arena, you could practically hear the gaming world’s exasperation, eyes rolling, sighs exhaled in unison. No one wants stagnation, obviously. Guitar Hero’s fresh approach to music games revolutionized the industry three years ago, a feat Konami’s GuitarFreaks hadn’t managed in the better part of a decade. But no one wants clutter. Yet another band game hitting the public means yet another set of proprietary instrument controllers. Problematic, considering the precedent set by Activision last fall. They made it abundantly clear that they’re not interested in having their instruments completely compatible with another publisher’s software, a point they’ve reiterated by developing brand new drum, guitar, and microphone peripherals (with different functions than those made by MTV Games for Rock Band) for the upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour. It seems that Konami’s chosen a more reasonable approach. Konami associate producer Keith Matejka told MTV News’ Patrick Klepek, "Compatibility is a big issue for music games. Peripherals are expensive for the user and they are expensive to produce. The existing peripherals all deliver only a slightly different gameplay experience. Different teams have varying perspectives on what should be compatible with each game. I think all guitar- and drum-based games need to be compatible with each other to some level."

He’s absolutely right, and not just from a consumer friendliness perspective. While they’ve sold millions of $90 guitar-and-game sets over the past few years, it’s impossible for Activision to continue monopolizing the market as competition continues to grow. Every publisher making an instrument based game is going to have to contend with the market saturation born out of their own success; people simply won’t buy new instruments every year. For the music game genre to be successful going forward, Activision, MTV Games, Konami, and whoever else joins the fray will need to swallow the same bitter pill hardware manufacturers have choked on for years. The money’s in better software, not gear.

Related links:

Whatcha Playing: A Little Singin', A Little Dancin'
The Magical Mystery Tour is Coming to Take You Away

The Magical Mystery Tour is Coming to Take You Away

John Constantine — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Finally. The Beatles’ slow arrival to digital media has been pretty torturous for us fans. I mean, my CD of Revolver will barely play thanks to all the scratches earned through years of travel and love, and it’s not like I can listen to vinyl on the go. Why go out and buy another disc? It’s 2008, I should be able to legally download the damn thing by now. My newfound love of Rock Band has made things even worse. It seems downright perverse that I can sit down with friends and play Paramore’s “CrushCrushCrush” but I can’t belt out my scintillating rendition of “Happiness is a Warm Gun”. While I doubt that the “talks” EMI and Apple Corps are having with Activision and MTV Games are going to end in time for Abbey Road to hit Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Band 2 this fall, it’s still reassuring to know they’re happening.

Even beyond The Beatles, I’m anxious for Activison and MTV’s games to have iTunes-like access to music. Is it possible to build the software so it procedurally generates the game interface instead of having to hand craft it for each song?

Thanks to Next-Gen for spotting this story.

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