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Uncharted 2 single-player footage is rad, spoiler-filled
If your unslakable hunger for video content from Naughty Dog's upcoming treasure hunting sim Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has led you to doff your aversion to spoilers, you should probably click past the jump. 1UP recently got their hands on an excerpt from the game's single-player campaign -- a segment titled "War Escape," which, as one might imagine, shows Nathan, Chloe, Elena and ... Jeff, escaping from a hostile warzone.As we've said before, it's posted after the jump -- but there's a couple things in the video you might want to remain in the dark about until you actually get your hands on the game. If you really don't mind spoilers, 1UP also posted a version of the video in which two of their Uncharted experts deconstruct it, revealing story elements we don't even think Naughty Dog knows about yet. Caveat Emptor!
MMOGology: Phasing phwns the phuture
It's been fascinating to watch MMOGs evolve over the past fifteen years I've been playing them. They started out as text based worlds populated by a few hundred people with over-active imaginations. Today they're a mainstream hobby endorsed by celebrities like Mr. T and William Shatner. Whoulda thunk? As the genre has matured so have the parameters of what defines an MMOG. One of my biggest gripes with them has always been that the worlds we play in are too often static and unchanging. You feel as though your character and his actions never have any real or lasting effect on the world around him. Thankfully that has begun to change with the recent advent of a technology dubbed as "phasing". For those of you that haven't played Blizard's Wrath of the Lich King, phasing allows players to view a changed version of their world based on triggering events like the completion of quests. It's amazing that it isn't more talked about because phasing has and will continue to change the way we experience dynamic storytelling in MMOGs.
Diablo 3 information overload
After several days of conjecture, an evolving series of load screens, and more fanboy arguments than you can shake a mouse at, word has finally come down from on high that the newest Blizzard property will be Diablo III. With the announcement this morning, Blizzard has thrown open the floodgates with screen shots, concept art, video and more. If you're wondering about what this upcoming title has in store, check out coverage from around the network and beyond, or wander through the eye-candy goodness of the galleries! Liveblogging the Worldwide Invitational opening ceremony Splash page changes as WWI opening ceremony begins, announces Diablo 3 Watch Diablo 3 teaser and gameplay footage First Diablo 3 screenshots Highlights from the Diablo 3 FAQ Diablo 3 shipping simultaneously on Mac Who's Jay Wilson? WWI streaming reliability disappoints %Gallery-26340% %Gallery-26348%
Guild Wars: The best solo quasi-MMOG out there?
Three glorious years, over five million boxes sold. Guild Wars has come along way in that time, and it's no surprise that NCsoft's darling is still managing to stake out new players. Shamus from over on Twenty-Sided is one latest victim, in his post: Guild Wars: Massively Single Player, Shamus delves into Guild Wars with fresh eyes and posits about why it's a great single player experience. Of course, solo players use their own henchmen and heroes to help unfold that epic story. When EverQuest reigned king long before WoW, soloist proponents were booed away with a common message: "Go play a single player game, MMORPGs focus around grouping and solo content has no place here." Today, most MMOGs offer solo play but in such a way that progression is meaningful, but grouping is still encouraged for the best rewards.
DS Daily: Alone, or not alone?
That is the question.We know whether or not you have friends to play with locally, and of course, WFC gaming is always an option. Yet, on the DS, do you generally prefer single player or multiplayer titles? We appreciate when games give us the best of both worlds, but which mode is more important to you?
World of Warcraft in two dimensions
With all the hullabaloo over the last several months speculating about the elimination or possible convergence of traditional single player experiences into the new massively multiplayer model, the last thing we expected to turn up in our daily lap around the web is one of the most beloved MMOs to date transmogrified into a single player platformer/RPG. While it's hardly the robust single player experience of a commercial product, the aptly named WTF?! takes a look at what would happen if World of Warcraft were condensed into two dimensions.You can play either a Blood Elf Priest or a Gnome Rogue, both of which play slightly differently even within the confines of two dimensions. The game is a little buggy (make sure you get the trinket from Hegemon before you try and take down Mary Daly!) and slightly misogynistic, but it's got a certain flare that is hard to not find endearing. Maybe it's the humor or maybe it's the Mario sound effects, it's hard to pin down. In any case, if you're bored at work this week but don't have the machine for WoW, check it out.[Via Broken Toys]
Age of Conan on single player mode
Age of Conan has gotten an intense amount of exposure lately on virtually every site that covers games. You might have noticed. The influence of AoC is ever-present, burned into the retinas of most of the Massively team as they slash their way through Hyboria. The title seems to have breathed new life into massively multiplayer spheres, with people everywhere either talking about it, reading about it, or playing it. While the AoC launch went smoothly, this is not to say that the game itself is perfect. Psychochild takes Age of Conan to task in his latest Weekend Design Challenge, for what he perceives to be a potential flaw in the game's design: much of the low-level experience, despite being a massively multiplayer title, is essentially a single-player game. He contends that the point of online games is to interact with people in one way or another, but the difference between instances in AoC is literally night and day. Night quests give personal instances that are wholly isolated from other players. This creates a split where daytime quests are multiplayer; night quests are single player. While a benefit is that players can opt for the night quests to take on their own spawns unchallenged by competitors, doesn't this defeat the purpose of AoC even being an MMO title?
The Daily Grind: Are MMOs the future of gaming?
Raph Koster certainly thinks so. He feels that single-player gaming is a phase we all went through, and that online, interconnected gaming is simply the next evolutionary step -- or, possibly, a return to form. 'People always play games together. All of you learned to play games with each other,' he said, citing a reason for shared gaming's return to prominence. The problem is, however, that MMOs don't exactly scratch the same itch that single-player games do, and ironically, that's an itch engendered by the mere existence of single-player games, a kind of weird self-fulfilling prophecy. We learned to like single-player games because we were offered single-player games. So how does this affect the MMO experience? With a sophisticated enough platform, there's no reason to think that a fully-immersive single-player experience couldn't exist cheek-by-jowl with an MMO experience. People talk about soloing, but that's just a concession, a way around the issue. What if, for example, while playing Bioshock, you arrived at endgame and left Rapture, only to discover a world filled with other players who've gone through the same experience? Is the future of gaming synthesis, rather than exchanging one form of gameplay for another?
Are MMOs killing single player RPGs?
With MMOs springing up like weeds in every corner of the game industry, some are beginning to wonder if this recent trend isn't spelling the end for old-fashioned single-player RPGs. Just a decade ago, turn-based Japanese RPGs reigned supreme on consoles, and Western-style RPGs in the vein of Baldur's Gate were the big sellers on PCs. Nowadays, these titles are becoming few and far between. Sure, you've got your occasional Mass Effect and your Final Fantasy XIII, but for some, the writing is already on the wall.At Massively, we think the landscape is considerably more complicated than that. For our part, we've noticed how MMOs are increasingly focusing on single player content, allowing the casual player to solo his way through entire games in some cases, if he so chooses. Instead of single-player games dying in the face of their multiplayer counterparts, it looks to us like the two are just learning from each other and moving towards some of homogeneous hybrid. There's room for debate (when isn't there, really), but we don't think it's time for doom and gloom just yet.
Hellgate: London solo players get huge patch
Hellgate: London players who've had their copy of the game sitting all alone on a shelf somewhere may want to dust off their discs, because the 1.2 patch for non-subscribers is heading their way. The big reason this matters is mostly because the last patch that single (re: non-subscribing) players got was the 0.6 patch back in December. Well, that's not the only reason, the other is that this patch will bring with it a metric ton of updates, including lots of bug fixes. We're glad to hear it, because the game looks like it could be pretty enjoyable -- if not for the amount of fun-ending issues.Flagship Studios have the patch in their final Q&A state and are readying a beta version of it for players to try out sometime this week. The patch itself contains all the content and updates that the multiplayer version of the patch had -- so essentially it's the same patch as the one released on March 17th.We sincerely hope these patches keep on coming, because with every improvement the game receives we're finding it harder to resist a summertime purchase out of sheer curiosity.
Wii Warm Up: One-man Brawl
The single-player game in Super Smash Bros. Brawl is pretty enjoyable. The Subspace Emissary is a decent side-scrolling brawler, and there's a ton to do offline outside of that. You can pass hours building stages, breaking targets, launching coins, clearing events, and taking on the Multi-Man Brawl. There are characters, trophies, stickers, and songs to collect. But the truth is that Brawl is really about competition. It's about fighting with other people, just like every other fighting game.But what if you're, say, not competitive? Or you're, uh, not good at the game? If you don't have a lot of time to play, there's not too much chance of success online, in Game Night or any other setting. Do you think it's possible to have a satisfactory experience with a multiplayer-oriented game like Brawl without taking part in too much multiplayer? Is it possible to enjoy a fighting game without being competitive?
Would You Rather ... Just Testing Edition
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?While we sit and wait for the Condemned 2: Bloodshot demo to hit Xbox Live (yeah, we know the game is out) and we boot up our beta version of Battlefield: Bad Company we got to thinking - do we prefer single player or multiplayer demos? It seems that ever since the Halo 3 beta, most online games are allowing players to play test their upcoming releases in multiplayer form rather than traditional single player demos. Shooters like Call of Duty 4 to fighting games like Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, it looks like developers would rather put us to work to test their upcoming releases. There's always the rub with a beta that it could be a buggy mess and developers are able to throw their hands in the air and say "Oh, you knew it was a test so don't cry Sally." Traditional demos on the other hand are usually very polished, and game tested clips from a final game in order to showcase what makes it special. Considering devs have claimed single player demos can chew-up development time it appears multiplayer betas are becoming the new norm. So, we ask you in this week's WUR - which do you prefer a single demo or multiplayer beta (demo)?Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... quick test out these sweet links!
Are MMOs killing the single-player game?
Listening to the Penny Arcade podcast, Downloadable Content, as I am wont to do when playing something, the topic of discussion turned to how World of Warcraft has ruined Mike for playing single-player-only games because no matter what treasure is received, or secret unlocked, it's an offering on display only for himself; it cannot be shared, and therefore lacks the proper cachet. At least, that was my understanding; I may be mistaken. Check it out yourself.Regardless, the concept is sound. The rarity of your epic loot is rendered almost meaningless in a single-player venue. And perhaps the heady thrill of true PvP combat makes solo play less appealing. Being a Soloist myself, this is not too much of an issue to me, but what do you all think? Do single-player games have to work harder, innovate more, to deserve your dollar? Is the future of gaming, as Raph Koster seems to think, MMOs?
Is single-player content hurting MMORPGs?
The term "solo friendly" is commonly cited as a virtue of newer MMO titles. Many MMO related forums have threads such as this one over at MMORPG.com which discuss the "soloability" of player classes within an MMORPG. In fact many of the elements of games such as Everquest which players have complained about over the years such as "forced grouping," "camping spawns," or "racing for non-instanced content" have all but been removed from the most recent MMORPG releases.When was the last time you saw two guilds racing to kill the same mob in World of Warcraft? How many of you have spent more than 30 minutes on a corpse recovery in City of Heroes? (That is a trick question, since there is no need to recover your corpse in that game.)
Single player gaming doomed, say execs [UPDATE 1]
At the Churchill Club in California yesterday, Peter Moore wasn't the only one gazing into his crystal ball. Raph Koster of Sony Online Entertainment and Lars Butler, formerly of EA, were cheerfully predicting the downfall of single-player gaming, with Koster going so far as to say that the last 21 years of gaming history are an aberration.Drawing from the fundamental principle that "people play games together", Koster and Butler predict a huge shift in the games industry as the impact of online gaming starts to really hit home. Butler's claim that "linear entertainment in single-player is to media what masturbation is to sex" is eerily similar to David Jaffe's comparison between games and porn. Experiences are enriched by the presence of other people, and perhaps the depth of multiplayer gaming and the online social interaction embodied in these games can provide the emotional content that Jaffe finds so lacking.[Via Raph's Weblog][Update: Raph has written a much more detailed explanation behind his statement.]
Single player games get competitive again
Many gamers' favourite moments include racking up high scores at the local arcade and boasting about them to friends--that's about as competitive as single-player games could get. Multiplayer games, with their inherent replayability, are dominating the sales charts; has the humble high score died a death?No, says this article from competitive gaming site MLG Pro. Instead, single player games have moved into a new era of competitiveness via the likes of Xbox Live. With achievements and gamerscores that are influenced by your single-player prowess as much as your multiplayer muscle, we have incentives to do well at single player games again; we have our friends' scores to beat, and the world records to challenge.It's an interesting observation. Given the number of fiercely competitive FPS gamers who have been spending more time in the Live Arcade, racking up score after score, it seems to be spot-on, too. The next step? More obscure achievements, perhaps -- games that award points just for finishing the game don't really carry the feeling of competitive triumph that gamers seem to be lusting after these days.[via /.]
