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James Ohlen hits back against critics, defends SWTOR's innovation
Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Director James Ohlen isn't surprised that the game's received the flak it has from a segment of reviews and fans. In a candid interview with Eurogamer, Ohlen addresses both the issues of being a "big target" for critics and the claims that SWTOR's lacking innovation. For the most part, players and critics have praised the game, Ohlen shares, and BioWare is seeing an "exceptionally high" desire among its playerbase for continued subscriptions. But was BioWare prepared for the backlash as well? Ohlen says it was: "We knew that there was going to be people who wanted us to fail. But that's just the nature of the game. If you're going to build a huge game and try to go out to a lot of people, you're going to have people who just react poorly." He does push back hard against claims that SWTOR failed on the innovation front, stating, "We wanted to take the lessons that have been developed in that genre over years and years and years and basically refine them, much like other companies do with other genres. So, I don't know, it's just the way it is, but I don't see us as not being innovative. We're actually a lot more innovative within the MMO space than comparable games in other spaces like the first-person genre, the action genre -- games like that."
Bury the Shovelware: Metal Slug 7
After seeing the ho-hum critical response to Metal Slug 7, I decided to give the title a look in the ol' shovelscope in order to further explore how critics' scores can heavily affect our perceptions of a game before we're ever able to form our own opinions. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to talk about it. Pedigree While the Metal Slug series doesn't have much mainstream recognition, it's generally regarded as a well-kept secret amongst 2D enthusiasts. Furthermore, it's near-gospel to fans of side-scrolling run and gun titles, such as Contra and Gunstar Heroes. The original title is interesting in that it served as a glorification of 2D gaming right at the exact time when 3D gaming was taking over. It looked and played like a 16-bit title on steroids. Its characters were cute, its colors were bright, but the game orchestrated sprites into an all-encompassing celebration of hand-drawn beauty and retro charm. And with great fandom comes great pressure. Let us not forget the support of all things SNK by the company's monomaniacal fans, a group arguably more devoted than Nintendo's fan club. Although SNK must greatly appreciate the support and instant-buzz generated by the fans, they are also subject to very high expectations.
Book critic plays BioShock, says it's not quite "art"
If you're anything like us, you're probably getting a little tired of the seemingly never-ending "games as art" debate. Well try and revive your interest for just one more moment -- the Washington Post took an interesting approach in expanding the debate this weekend with a short piece looking at the artistic merits of BioShock.For the piece, Post technology and games writer Mike Musgrove took an Xbox 360 and a copy of BioShock over to the home of the Post's 58-year-old, Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda, who played the game unassisted for a couple of weeks. As might be expected for a guy whose last game was Myst, Dirda had trouble getting past Neptune's Bounty. "I've got a first-aid kit, but I haven't figured out how to use it," Dirda said in a quote sure to draw guffaws from gamers who haven't won a Pulitzer Prize.But what about BioShock as art? While Dirda said the game obviously has artistic value and was easy to get lost in, he wouldn't quite go so far as to call it "art." The key threshold for games to become an art form, Dirda said, is the ability to make the player feel depressed. Apparently Dirda has never seen his rightfully-earned loot ninjaed after a five-hour World of Warcraft raid. Depressing indeed.But the final word on BioShock as art should probably go to head designer Ken Levine. "Is BioShock art? I don't know, and I guess I sort of don't care. All I care about is, does it work -- does it have an impact on an audience?" On that important score, we're going to have to answer with a resounding "Yes!"
Debunking a PSP myth: it has no good games
Anyone that has been around the Internet block or visited a game store lately may have heard someone claim the PSP has little to no good games on the platform. If you're anything like me, you like to wear your girlfriend's underwear and you also hate to hear bad words about the PSP. My personal PSP game collection is larger than my DS or Xbox 360 game libraries and after hearing about the lack of great games on the system so often, I began to wonder if perhaps I just had a terrible taste in games. While I can't prove that my gaming interests are worthwhile, I did dig up some info on the PSP library and whether or not there are many quality games on the system. It isn't just gaming fans who dis the PSP, critics do as well. Keeping that in mind, I wondered how the PSP game library critically stacked up against its competitor; the oft praised DS. What I found may be surprising. Data Collected from Metacritic Amount of US released PSP games rated 80 and above: 38 (not counting Advent Children since it isn't a game) Amount of US released DS games rated 80 and above: 28 (and 4 of those are versions of Nintendogs) So it seems that these same critics that praise PSP games, must have a short-term memory when they bash the system's lack of quality titles. I'm in no way trying to put down the DS with the example listed above, just attempting to prove that the PSP isn't devoid of quality like an episode of War at Home. Hopefully fellow PSP fanboys can use the above proof to dissuade negative words about your system of choice. In any case, it should make you feel good about owning the system.
Message board complaints ruin games
At Wired News, Lore Sjöberg complains about the complainers, dishing out amusing profiles of the MMORPG message-board posters. His eight personality sketches ruin the game for average players, sucking otherwise-satisfied gamers into the jaded world of the complainers. (Alas, we're all too familiar with that world.)We're critical about games because we expect a lot and see so many. You readers likely fall into a similar level of exposure and anticipation. We're often most critical about games that are near perfection; that level of quality amplifies minor issues. But this column reminds us -- at some point -- to overlook the problems and just have fun playing.
Metareview: Loco Roco
The last time PSP Fanboy did a Metareview, it covered another one of my most-wanted games: Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins. It didn't fare too well, with the critics bashing its much-too-high level of difficulty. Garnering only a 73 average, many felt a little disappointed, myself included. [Andrew's note: the game is pretty damn good, but then again, one of my favorite games last generation was Ikaruga.] The other game I've been obsessing over, Loco Roco, has just been released and although it got some poor initial reviews from Gamespot and a nine year old girl, the critics seem to be in agreement that Loco Roco will make you cucoo for Cocoa Puffs. Here are excerpts from the critics: IGN (90/100) - "You'll discover playing Loco Roco is a lot like eating candy, only without the stomachache after an overdose. That sounds absurd but it really gets the point across. It's vibrant, cheery and serves no other point than to make you smile. But, like candy, Loco Roco also ends sooner than you want it to end." The New York Times (90/100) - "With imaginative levels on snowy landscapes or inside whales, Loco Roco uses charm and simplicity of design to create something near perfection. But it's a small perfection, charming in its childlike whimsy but as insubstantial as a summer breeze." GamePro (60/100) - "So much of LocoRoco is so clever and original that it's almost perplexing when it stops being any fun. The fun does run out, though, long before the game is over -- in that sense, the experiment has to be called a failure." Well, it looks like the people of GamePro don't like candy. But, the rest of us can be proud of Loco Roco's impressive 84 average from the critics.