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Storyboard: Sadface
I have, on occasion, joked that all of my roleplaying characters are either looking for a tragedy or recovering from one. It's not an intentional thing, but for whatever reason, an awful lot of my characters tend to have a whole lot of pain and sorrow wrapped up in their heads. My attempts at making a joke character usually derail to the point that said character is even more depressing, like the mage I played who was supposed to be eccentric and wound up being desperately lonely due to her horrendous inability to focus on any one thing for too long. While it's very easy to go into the depressingly morbid side with a tragic character, we're not going into that this week. (Another week -- you know how I roll by now.) No, this week's problem is much simpler. If you're playing a character who's beset on all sides by misfortune, eventually you're just going to wind up with sadness-induced apathy. You're going to get tired of the fact that your character always fails and never wins and that things get worse every time he or she tries to fix problems. In short, you're going to not want to play the character because said character is just plain depressing.
Raph Koster: Immersion is not a core game virtue
Yeah, you read that right, virtual world fans. One of the more celebrated sandbox MMORPG developers is apparently throwing in the towel when it comes to immersion. Raph Koster wrote what can only be termed a lament on his personal blog today, saying that "immersion does not make a lot of sense in a mobile, interruptable world." Koster characterizes immersion as a style whose time has come and gone, and he concludes that games are no longer for dreamers due to their far-reaching popularity. "I mourn the gradual loss of deep immersion and the trappings of geekery that I love," Koster writes. "I see the ways in which the worlds I once dove into headlong have become incredibly expensive endeavors, movies-with-button-presses far more invested in telling me their story, rather than letting me tell my own." Whether you agree with him or not, it's a sobering read coming from one of the chief creative forces behind Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online.
The Daily Grind: What big reward was a big disappointment?
It's taken months of farming in City of Heroes, carefully storing up Alignment Merits and Merit Rewards and Mission Architect Tickets and that all-important Influence. You've had to get into annoying price wars on the auction house, you've had to use up a couple of Veteran respecs, but you've finally done it. You've fully slotted your powers with the best of the best, the most spectacular Invention sets possible. And after all that work, you feel... well... just bored. As it turns out, reaching the apex of power was actually kind of a hollow goal after all. We've all spent a bunch of time climbing toward something only to find out at the end that it really wasn't worth it. Maybe it was assembling a full set of best-in-slot gear in World of Warcraft, or maybe it was just trying to get the perfect cosmetic armor set for your Warden in Lord of the Rings Online. When have you earned a big reward that felt like a massive letdown? When has all that hard work felt like it was in service to a goal you no longer cared about? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Link, the later (and depressing) years
If you've ever wondered what Link's life would be if he were real (and a pathetic middle-aged man), you may enjoy Link, the later years (watch it after the break). If you're a fan of uproarious laughter and entertainment, you won't be a fan of Link, the later years. It has its moments, but Link's pathetic (and monotone) state drags on as a nearly six-and-a-half minute bummer. Seriously, we're so depressed about it we're going to go polish off a whole tub of Chunky Monkey.[Via GoNintendo]
The Ouendan experience
With only a week to go before its release in Japan, Nintendo has put up a suite of videos for Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2. In addition to the traditional commercial spot and gameplay trailer, there are five "experience" clips showing people tapping and singing along with the rhythm title's songs. We would post videos of our own experiences with Ouendan, but they'd consist of us sobbing in a corner as we played through "Over the Distance," a heart-rending ghost love story that calls for you to reunite a restless spirit with his grieving girlfriend for one last goodbye. We haven't cried that much since the last time we saw Grave of the Fireflies. Oh the humanity! Bring a tissue when you saunter past the post break for the melancholic scene from the original Ouendan game.
First screenshots of MySims DS lack fun
Though EA announced MySims for both the Nintendo DS and the Wii, we haven't spotted many previews for the handheld version like we have with the console's. Looking at the screenshots Jeux-France posted earlier today for MySims DS, we're a little worried about where EA plans to take the game.We understand that MySims will have to be pared down for its portable adaptation, but the limited character customization options on the DS seem bare-bones compared to what we've seen on the Wii. Also, the media released for the Wii's MySims features the cartoonish characters in a range of activities -- hosting parties, playing in fountains, and eating spaghetti dinners at the neighborhood restaurant. These DS screenshots show the Sims strolling through empty streets and exploring lonesome piers. How depressing!We're hoping that EA won't wait too long to reveal screenshots of MySims DS that better resemble the Wii version's cheerful attitude. As it stands now, the handheld game looks like it has more in common with REM's music video for Everybody Hurts. Jump past the post break for a preview of the bleak neighborhood.
