Something I’m excited about

Actually, I lied, there are really two things (games) that I’m waiting for with a high amount of day-dreaming anticipation. First, is a title from Ubisoft. For me, they represent a company with a long personal history of failing to deliver on titles they relentlessly build up, most recently “Assassins Creed” and before that “Heroes of Might and Magic V.” While I’m on the subject, I should mention that the first three incarnations of the latter are among the greatest PC strategy games of all time, check them out if you never have. Again, Ubisoft has been feeding me videos and screen shots that seem to be the pieces of a truly enjoyable overall experience. I’ve been doing my best to keep my standards low, but they seem to be trying hard to make that a nigh impossible task.

The game in question is the new “Prince of Persia.” A venerable franchise if there ever was one, it’s got roots sunk deep in the ancient era of the late 1980s. Back then, the game was renowned for its remarkable fluidity and imagination, contributed in part by the developer’s passion to get the Prince’s movements just right. This next-gen incarnation doesn’t look like it’s gunning to beat “God of War 2″ or “Grand Theft Auto IV” in the pixels department and that’s not such a bad thing. There’s already enough pretenders to that particular throne and those who choose graphics as a shortcut to gameplay usually fail at both. What the new Prince seems to lack in raw power he makes up in grace and style. The drawn-and-painted feel of the art direction lends the game something that all the normal-mapping and HDR Lighting of “Crysis” can’t: individualism.

The video game market is big and serious enough now that it has entered the same push-and-pull that it’s respective comrades in the music and move industries feel. The tension between creating a product that sells and furthering the form sometimes intersect and sometimes seem so remote as to make one cynical. Is the new “Prince of Persia” garb just a flashy distraction or will it add feeling and spirit to the experience? As I brought up earlier, the gameplay must come first and, for my part, I’m hoping the Persian royal’s new duds are a product of an overall design philosophy.

In the end, I must admit, I’m a sucker for cell-shaded, painstakingly animated 2D graphics (see “Odin Sphere” if you think 2D is outmoded), or anything else with a drawn or artsy feel. This brings me to exciting thing #2, the JPRG soon to reach American shores “Valkyrie Chronicle.” In addition to its animated nature, it also falls into the strategy genre, another of my favorite things. Some games you know you will enjoy despite their quality because they just have too many things you like for it to be possible to wholly disown them. “Valkyrie” seems such a game and leaves me with a tranquil, patient anxiety in juxtaposition to the my nervous fretting about whether or not Ubisoft will spoil a promising premise.

Blizzard has a con and Sony signs a deal

And I’m back!

I apologize for my extended absence, but sadly, life demands responsibilities from me other than just playing video games and that pressure has been rather strong of late. Still, I have managed to snatch a spare moment from its chaotic midst and will now put forth some news and opinion.

Item #1: Lingering Questions
This weekend, Blizzard paraded its immense wealth and popularity in front of the video game industry during Blizzcon 2008. The company showcased new and upcoming content in all three of its massive franchises and still found time to coyly dodge questions about a yet-to-be-announced fourth project. My interest centered on new “Diablo III” information in particular. I have high hopes for the title, but I can’t help but wonder what place such a game has in an RPG world-made anew by MMOs. It was essentially a proto-MMO in its time, driven primarily by the desire for the best lootz and the most uber buildz. I’ll be interested to see if Blizzard can breathe new life back into the action-adventure genre without creating a dumbed-down WoW clone.

Item #2: A Big Idea for the Black Box
Sony recently forged a partnership with the ubiquitous video-sharing service YouTube to create an exclusive Playstation 3 channel on the ‘Tube’s site. Visitors can browse through videos and trailers for Sony’s latest offerings as well as developer interviews and the like. This in and of itself is not so exciting as one can already find such things online. The interesting tidbit is where Sony hopes to take the service, with PS3 users able to capture their own videos and upload them directly to the site. The first implementation of this is planned for “LittleBigPlanet,” combining custom-created levels with homemade videos.

The success of the endeavor will show itself in due time, but it’s good to see Sony is looking for more ways to enhance the online experience of their console, which of course still pales in comparison to the robustness of Live. Well, as long as the service isn’t down or your Xbox 360 bricked from the red ring of death, that is. However, it also strikes me as just another piecemeal attempt that fails to offer anything truly unique. Sony needs to stop adding an update here or there and go ahead and get Home out the door. Without a cohesive online support structure for the titles, they will allows stand a little bit behind the Xbox 360.