A love-hate relationship

May 13, 2008 on 5:25 pm | In News | No Comments

There are times when I really do enjoy living in South Korea. The bars never close, the people are friendly and the kimchi (a kind of fermented cabbage) is always extra spicy. However, there are also moments when living in a foreign land brings distinct disadvantages. Take for example, Grand Theft Auto IV, my copy of which is still slowly crawling toward Korea. So, while every other U.S. citizen has been enjoying the game for more than a week, I’m stuck twiddling my thumbs in anticipation.

Luckily for me (and you) there has been plenty of industry news to keep me occupied. Let’s do a round shall we?

Item #1: Lights, camera, scuba gear!

According to a report by Gamasutra, major motion-picture giant Universal Studios has announced that it will partner with publisher 2K Games to produce a “Bioshock” movie. Known for its evocative storyline and engrossing cutscenes, the 2007 Xbox release seems like a good contender for a film adaptation, but the track record for this kind of thing is…disheartening.

Usually, the only thing worse than making a game into a movie is turning a movie into a game (except for you, “Chronicles of Riddick”), yet there might be hope for some good underwater drama after all. First, Universal Studios is one of Hollywood’s premier companies, so the resources to make a top-notch production are there. This is, of course, depends on how much of that they actually throw behind the film, which leads directly to sign-of-hope #2. Gore Verbinski of “Pirates of the Caribbean” fame is on track to direct and Academy Award-nominated writer John Logan (“Gladiator,” “Sweeney Todd) is in talks to write the screenplay. Given the number of eminently quotable lines in “Gladiator,” let’s hope they can hook Logan into this one. As they say in the biz, “More on that story as it develops…”

Item #2: The rock never stops.

I guess Activision is putting its nearly $3 billion in revenue from fiscal year 2008 to good use. They recently announced that the next iteration in the “Guitar Hero” franchise will be in stores this holiday season. Yes, it seems the industry’s biggest publisher is setting up the assembly line, and I would not be surprised to see a new GH every holiday season forever onwards. Personally, this makes me cringe, us such a rushed production schedule has never done much for overall quality, e.g. “Tomb Raider” and “Tony Hawk.”

This substantial haul also awarded them another important prize – the top spot among third-party publishers. With $397.8 million in profits from the first half of 2007, Activision (soon to be Activision-Blizzard) knocked off decades-old champ Electronic Arts to become the biggest name in the business. All this from pseudo cow creatures and fake plastic guitars…

Item #3: Grinding the Gears

Remember before “Call of Duty 4,” even before “Halo 3,” there was a game that gave the Xbox 360 a rousing next-generation start? Well, “Gears of War” is back and a sequel is slated for a fall release, giving Xbox fans something to thirst for amid a year overshadowed by PS3 exclusives. Until then, check out this clip (courtesy gamevideos.com) for some sweet footage of Marcus doing what he does best, chainsaw included.

Item #4: A little less Hazey.

“Haze” is one of those titles that always seems to be on the verge of completion. To help clear up some of the mystery surrounding this title, developer Free Radical released a short demo over the weekend, available for download on the Playstation Network.

The game promises to innovate the generic-filled landscape of FPS by adding a performance-enhancing drug called Nectar to the gameplay. By injecting the chemical into their character’s bloodstream, players are granted temporary a boost through increased damage, speed and range. Secondly, it features a four-player online campaign co-op mode in addition to the usual multiplayer fare.

I’ve played through the demo several times and find myself skeptical of Free Radical’s radical claims. The Nectar mechanic is fun (especially useful is the way it makes enemies glow bright orange) but doesn’t challenge the fundamental gameplay significantly. In fact, without it, you suddenly become a super-wimp. This results in Nectar simply becoming a tool that normalizes the difficulty to that of any other shooter. As this is only a demo, my critiques here are preliminary and I hope the full game makes better use of Nectar’s potential.

The real chance “Haze” has to make itself stand apart is the four-player co-op. This mode was included in the demo, but the brief level (a search-and-rescue set in a remote jungle) is too limited to fully assess this feature. Still, the ability to have intelligent, human squadmates in a campaign-style setting brought me back for a couple more playthroughs. But to make the step from fun to breakthrough, it will need some truly epic boss battles and dynamic set-pieces, which remains to be seen.

Salutations!

May 5, 2008 on 11:27 am | In Ramblings | 1 Comment

Rest soundly, all you weary Internet wanders, for you have reached the humble abode of Frank Anthony Johnson. If it is information on video game happenings you seek, then this blog is the destination to satiate your need for electronic stimulation.

Some may known the term (all too well, in fact) to which this blog title refers to. For those who haven’t joined the World of Warcraft phenomenon, the term “/played” (or Slash Played, as the case may be) stands for the total amount of time spent in Blizzard’s virtual world. As such, this blog will cover any and all things in the video game kingdom. Expect to find the latest news and updates, including all the needed info on your most expected games.

I’ll also throw my own opinions your way, with a column that adds my own dash of insight into the all the latest trends throughout the industry, as well as a few non-sequiturs about my experience as a life-long video game aficionado. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you might even do a B, BD, D, DF, F, P+K.

My current spot on the globe is home of the heart of gaming fandom – South Korea, nestled snugly among some of the world’s most avid joystick fans. In between my full-time gig as an English teacher for Korean youngsters, I’ll make sure to grab delectable morsels of all things video games for you hungry readers.