Okay... E3's over, PSN's back up (even if my free PSP games are lost to the void because of a programming error a high school freshman studying BASIC would have picked up on) and the Rapture didn't happen. Now unless Battlefield 3 devs announce something like having one less texture in the PS3 version or something of equal earth-shattering importance, I should be able to make a post stay up on the front page for a couple hours.
Let's start by saying I love this game, for much the same reason I loved Heavy Rain. Something daring and different, even if not everything was new and not everything was perfect. We're going to focus on those imperfections, rather than do a full review, since anything good I have to say about the game (and I have a LOT of good to say) has been very well covered by other reviews.
--- Too much of Homicide ---
C'mon, the plot twist is obvious (even to Cole) after the second case. We didn't need another three, followed by a shark-jumping final case to wrap it up. Plus, pretty much every other detective game focuses on murder. It was actually cooler working traffic and arson, because they didn't fall into the same patterns, but I guess they decided to save most of THOSE cases for DLC. Fortunately, you do spend your time on Homicide with my personal favorite partner, not because he's a womanizing alcoholic, but because he's a womanizing alcoholic with a sense of humor.
--- The facial animation shows its strengths, and its weaknesses ---
Yes, the faces move really well and I was in legitimate awe at times. The technology behind it is fascinating, but its limitations became glaringly obvious very quickly.
- All men have perfect faces and short hair (even the "horribly burnt" veteran?) Makes sense, it WAS the 40's and we were all cleaning up after the depression.
- All women wear a necklace or scarf to separate their necks from their torsos? Okay, I'll believe that.
- Not all pedophiles have mustaches? Bulls***.
What I'm saying is don't expect this technology to flood the market. It works well here, but in an action/fantasy setting, or any setting where people might grow beards, traditional mo-cap may be the best route.
Now, if this were any other game, I'd have rather seen better looking... well, everything else, but LA Noire actually USES its the technology for its interrogation gameplay. Which brings me to my next point...
--- "Truth, Doubt, Lie" aren't always appropriate reactions ---
So many "answers" you're given are very vague, you can't really call them answers. It helps to think of "doubting" as "putting pressure on" but even that isn't consistent. Here are some exchanges that you MIGHT consider spoilers, but I wouldn't worry about:
1. "Was your husband wearing glasses when he left?"
"Yes, these new ones he had just bought."
This is one of your first interrogations and you're ready to lay the law down, because you found an obviously old pair of glasses at the scene of the crime! If you were Phoenix Wright, you'd use that evidence to object this bitch a new one... but probably not accuse her of the crime, since that's hardly damning evidence in and of itself. Cole... Cole isn't so smart. The correct response is "Truth," otherwise Cole flips out and accuses her.
2. "You seem to owe [so-and-so] quite a sum of money"
"Everybody owes somebody"
This seems like a time to doubt, since the suspect's acting like he owes someone for dinner when he's caught up in a drug ring. But no, the correct answer is "Truth." Again, true, but if I should pressure anyone I think it's a drug dealer.
3. "Tell us about [this guy]"
"I don't know any [this guy]"
Okay, I have no solid evidence here. He has this guy's lottery tickets, but that doesn't mean he deals directly with this guy. He is obviously lying though, so let's hit "Doubt?"... nope. Turns out you were supposed to hit "Lie" and present the statement of a man who just happens to deal with both this guy and the suspect, but doesn't claim they're connected. The tickets are a much more direct link, but you can't use those.
4. (this was edited in about a day after this article was approved, but is another good example from the Nicholson Electroplating DLC)
"What do you know about [lady]."
"Oh, that was [guy's] assistant. She came highly recommended."
Now, according to the logic in example 1, this guy is telling the truth. You've found evidence she was a corporate spy, but he doesn't know that. But now, we ARE in Phoenix Wright mode, and we need to call it a "lie" and present her camera. There's a big difference between the objective truth and the subjective truth, and the game can't really decide what the player is supposed to react to.
--- No Cole, I think this DOES pertain to the case ---
You often find what could be valuable evidence and should be presented to suspects, but Cole doesn't feel the need to actually record them in his handy dandy notebook. The result: In conversation #2 above, I accused him of running a drug ring, and was unable to present a CRATE OF MORPHINE twenty feet behind him.
--- All the leaps of logic ---
I didn't think anything could top "This tangentially related creepy guy has the business card of someone from the "Blue Lagoon" club, he MUST be related to the killer!" moment from Heavy Rain, but hoo boy, did LA Noire try sometimes. The stand-out moment is when you find movie tickets on guy's dead girlfriend and realize that MUST be where that guy is hiding out. But there's another great moment in "The Naked City" case. When you ask who a dead woman's boyfriend was, the suspect tells you that guy doesn't exist. I had figured the name was an alibi at that point, so "truth" was the natural response. That didn't work. Neither did doubt. When I clicked "Lie:"
"Do you remember your first heist? Do I need to spell this out for you?!"
"Pft, I dunno, I don't keep a list of these things"
Where the f*** did THAT come from? At that point it's obvious that you had to present the guy's rap sheet, and then Cole somehow pieces together that their first target was the boyfriend who then ended up running the burglary ring... WHAT?! There is ZERO way anybody could have pieced that together, and whether you get it right or not, the suspect immediately fesses up to the identity of the man in the following cutscene. So what's the point?!
Great Site to Earn From Home
Showing posts with label sports games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports games. Show all posts
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wii U a quick look.
So nintendo finally dropped the curtain on their new console the "Wii U" trying to ride on the back of the Wii's success with the naming which is very shrewd. although the unveiling of the console was probably one of the most confusing things ever, most people wasn't sure what they had seen at first as they only showed the controller. most people thought it was just a new controller for the Wii, but it was indeed a new console (which we didnt find out until after the conference, which is when they actually started giving info out about it.)
A bit of a messy start then, but on to the console itself it looks just like the Wii but a little chubbier. its reportedly more powerful than this generations consoles PS3/360 which are now getting on for 6 to 7 years into their respected life cycle's, but nobody really knows the power of it as that's something Ninty's keeping close to its chest for now.
But some devs have been talking it up such as Ubisoft (who showed their support by showing some games ghost re-con online and killer freaks from outer space) also they had a list of third party developers all committing to the cause, but admittedly all the stuff that was shown was from the PS3/360 counter parts as presumably they hadn't had time to prepare anything.
On to the controller which was star of their presentation, it has a 6.5 inch touch screen in the centre which has non capacitive features as opposed to capacitive (which means you can only touch it once to get working as with capacitive you can touch it with two fingers and it still responds.) it also has 2 slide pads instead of analogue sticks (similar too the 3DS one) which some people have said doesn't feel as accurate as analogue sticks. a cross pad, 4 buttons adorn the front, but it also has 2 top shoulder buttons and 2 trigger buttons on the back and a ridge to rest your middle fingers on and for comfort.
people who tried the pad said it was light to hold (so hopefully it wont get too uncomfortable to hold for long periods) but once the battery is in place it may be heavier.
More controversially Nintendo stated you would be only be able to use one touch screen controller per machine, at the time Nintendo said this was a cost issue and they didn't want to sell them separately, although its not official it is worrying seeing as the second player will have to use a Wii-mote (the console will be backwards compatible with the Wii games and peripherals).
On to the tech demos that were shown:
Battle Mii:
A game where one person controls a ship with the touch pad while another 2 people hunt them down with their Wii-motes, graphically it looked just like a Mii game with higher res graphics but it had a metroidy look to it.
Chase Mii:
A game where one person has the touch pad (again) and another 4 have to chase him through a maze and catch him, a bit like tag.it required team work from the 4 chasing but the player with the touch pad had the advantage of having a map of the area and seeing where the others were.
Shield Pose:
This was a Rhythm action game using the touch pads screen to look all around you in a 360 degree motion to stop arrows from hitting you. it was pirate themed and the pirate in the middle of the screen tells you which direction they were coming from, you could look left of the screen right and up and in each direction was a ship or the moon. it made good use of the area outside your TV as it brought your living room into the game. hopefully we will see more of this kind of thing in the future games.
They showed 2 HD videos one of a bird flying over a pond in glorious high def, you could also control the camera and move the pad 360 degree area around the screen.
Then there was Zelda HD which gave us a glimpse into what graphically we might expect from the Wii U, and boy did it look good, you were able to change the cameras and day and night cycle and also bring a map up on either the main screen or on the touch pad. the lighting looked amazing and the detail looked awesome. you could also put the action straight onto the touch pad which didn't suffer from much graphical degradation.
So it all looks like its going in the right direction for the WiiU, we just have to wait for the Tokyo game show where im sure we will see some actual game footage, console specs, and probably pricing.
As for me I cant wait to play one, I just hope they get the pricing right (300-350) and you can expect it to release
A bit of a messy start then, but on to the console itself it looks just like the Wii but a little chubbier. its reportedly more powerful than this generations consoles PS3/360 which are now getting on for 6 to 7 years into their respected life cycle's, but nobody really knows the power of it as that's something Ninty's keeping close to its chest for now.
But some devs have been talking it up such as Ubisoft (who showed their support by showing some games ghost re-con online and killer freaks from outer space) also they had a list of third party developers all committing to the cause, but admittedly all the stuff that was shown was from the PS3/360 counter parts as presumably they hadn't had time to prepare anything.
On to the controller which was star of their presentation, it has a 6.5 inch touch screen in the centre which has non capacitive features as opposed to capacitive (which means you can only touch it once to get working as with capacitive you can touch it with two fingers and it still responds.) it also has 2 slide pads instead of analogue sticks (similar too the 3DS one) which some people have said doesn't feel as accurate as analogue sticks. a cross pad, 4 buttons adorn the front, but it also has 2 top shoulder buttons and 2 trigger buttons on the back and a ridge to rest your middle fingers on and for comfort.
people who tried the pad said it was light to hold (so hopefully it wont get too uncomfortable to hold for long periods) but once the battery is in place it may be heavier.
More controversially Nintendo stated you would be only be able to use one touch screen controller per machine, at the time Nintendo said this was a cost issue and they didn't want to sell them separately, although its not official it is worrying seeing as the second player will have to use a Wii-mote (the console will be backwards compatible with the Wii games and peripherals).
On to the tech demos that were shown:
Battle Mii:
A game where one person controls a ship with the touch pad while another 2 people hunt them down with their Wii-motes, graphically it looked just like a Mii game with higher res graphics but it had a metroidy look to it.
Chase Mii:
A game where one person has the touch pad (again) and another 4 have to chase him through a maze and catch him, a bit like tag.it required team work from the 4 chasing but the player with the touch pad had the advantage of having a map of the area and seeing where the others were.
Shield Pose:
This was a Rhythm action game using the touch pads screen to look all around you in a 360 degree motion to stop arrows from hitting you. it was pirate themed and the pirate in the middle of the screen tells you which direction they were coming from, you could look left of the screen right and up and in each direction was a ship or the moon. it made good use of the area outside your TV as it brought your living room into the game. hopefully we will see more of this kind of thing in the future games.
They showed 2 HD videos one of a bird flying over a pond in glorious high def, you could also control the camera and move the pad 360 degree area around the screen.
Then there was Zelda HD which gave us a glimpse into what graphically we might expect from the Wii U, and boy did it look good, you were able to change the cameras and day and night cycle and also bring a map up on either the main screen or on the touch pad. the lighting looked amazing and the detail looked awesome. you could also put the action straight onto the touch pad which didn't suffer from much graphical degradation.
So it all looks like its going in the right direction for the WiiU, we just have to wait for the Tokyo game show where im sure we will see some actual game footage, console specs, and probably pricing.
As for me I cant wait to play one, I just hope they get the pricing right (300-350) and you can expect it to release
We don't talk about it.
Yes this is about piracy, in particular game piracy but it applies partially to movies (Movies can be rented though it is less convenient and has less a selection), though not so much to music.
Just to get it out of the way with first. So where do I stand on it? I'm on both sides so technically neutral.
As a little bit of a prologue; I have in the past been a prolific downloader of free entertainment. I know I'm a horrible person. My reasons where cheapness and tempting freebies. I was a PC gamer I am now a console gamer, and I'm going to poke the bear right now.
I don't know a PC gamer who doesn't pirate at least some of the games they play.
As long as there has been pc games there has been pirating of them. When the internet lit up warez sites came on the scene.
It's progressed through there into various p2p services. Which has resulted in a competing (and successful) market of digital games. Which some ex pirates have said has curbed their piracy. Many indie games do quite well and are small enough to fly below the radar of downloaders. Plus they release their games at fair prices, which obviously nets them more sales.
See I think the piracy doesn't stem from an urge to steal, or a need for free games. No I think it's a need for cheap games, there has never been a PC (or handheld console) equivalent of game rentals. Many games have no re-playability at all, but still ask the same sixty or so dollars as other better games do. This is a market where the quality of the product has nothing to do with the price.
Most of the games I downloaded I didn't play for more then a few hours. I just wanted to try them and see if they were any good. I remember buying a number of games, diablo and warcraft battle chests, strategy and star wars game packs, red alert 2, nox, kotor, oblivion, and more. There were some good times there that I spent money on. Most of them I got cheaply in the packs or after they'd been out a while. I think the only new pc game I ever purchased was oblivion.
Switching from pc to console gaming is largely what curbed my downloading.
When I first got a console again after many years I was able to go to a video store and rent games to play until I purchased some.
This was limiting however so after a time I began purchasing and trading in games. Which is almost the same as piracy, except the whole situation is changed. We're not the pirates now, gamestop or whatever store your trading at is the pirate. While we are just consumers of stolen goods. Accessories to thievery, plane and simple.
The way it is set up currently, purchasing a used game at a store is the same as downloading it off a torrent site. Except you pay 85 or 90 percent of full price.
What bothers developers and publishers is that when someone downloads their game (or movie, or music, or book for that matter) that person gets it and they get nothing in return. They created something which is meant to be duplicated and sold but at some point someone is duplicating it and releasing free copies in DIRECT COMPETITION with the original copies.The only difference with used games is that instead of free copies in direct competition it's cheaper copies. Only this time instead of no money being exchanged a third party that is essentially a pawn shop gets all of the profits. Sometimes multiple times on the same disk.
So to summarise pc gamers steal as a form of deformed game renting. Indie games, and digital content providers are good. Used games are bad, and console gamers steal less yet purchase more stolen goods.
Just to get it out of the way with first. So where do I stand on it? I'm on both sides so technically neutral.
As a little bit of a prologue; I have in the past been a prolific downloader of free entertainment. I know I'm a horrible person. My reasons where cheapness and tempting freebies. I was a PC gamer I am now a console gamer, and I'm going to poke the bear right now.
I don't know a PC gamer who doesn't pirate at least some of the games they play.
As long as there has been pc games there has been pirating of them. When the internet lit up warez sites came on the scene.
It's progressed through there into various p2p services. Which has resulted in a competing (and successful) market of digital games. Which some ex pirates have said has curbed their piracy. Many indie games do quite well and are small enough to fly below the radar of downloaders. Plus they release their games at fair prices, which obviously nets them more sales.
See I think the piracy doesn't stem from an urge to steal, or a need for free games. No I think it's a need for cheap games, there has never been a PC (or handheld console) equivalent of game rentals. Many games have no re-playability at all, but still ask the same sixty or so dollars as other better games do. This is a market where the quality of the product has nothing to do with the price.
Most of the games I downloaded I didn't play for more then a few hours. I just wanted to try them and see if they were any good. I remember buying a number of games, diablo and warcraft battle chests, strategy and star wars game packs, red alert 2, nox, kotor, oblivion, and more. There were some good times there that I spent money on. Most of them I got cheaply in the packs or after they'd been out a while. I think the only new pc game I ever purchased was oblivion.
Switching from pc to console gaming is largely what curbed my downloading.
When I first got a console again after many years I was able to go to a video store and rent games to play until I purchased some.
This was limiting however so after a time I began purchasing and trading in games. Which is almost the same as piracy, except the whole situation is changed. We're not the pirates now, gamestop or whatever store your trading at is the pirate. While we are just consumers of stolen goods. Accessories to thievery, plane and simple.
The way it is set up currently, purchasing a used game at a store is the same as downloading it off a torrent site. Except you pay 85 or 90 percent of full price.
What bothers developers and publishers is that when someone downloads their game (or movie, or music, or book for that matter) that person gets it and they get nothing in return. They created something which is meant to be duplicated and sold but at some point someone is duplicating it and releasing free copies in DIRECT COMPETITION with the original copies.The only difference with used games is that instead of free copies in direct competition it's cheaper copies. Only this time instead of no money being exchanged a third party that is essentially a pawn shop gets all of the profits. Sometimes multiple times on the same disk.
So to summarise pc gamers steal as a form of deformed game renting. Indie games, and digital content providers are good. Used games are bad, and console gamers steal less yet purchase more stolen goods.
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