Archive for July, 2010

If you live in Brooklyn and love games as much as we do, you may have heard about Game Play, a two-week festival devoted to video game performance art. Unfortunately, the festivities concluded this past weekend, but I was able to attend two of the shows before the end of their runs. Its “Off Off Broadway” roots definitely showed a bit, but it was nice to see some local enthusiasm for our industry in the heart of Hipsterville.

The shows at the Brick Theater included “Kewl-Aid Man in Second Life,” a guided tour of the virtual world starring the famous pitcher monster; “A Short Lecture of a Different Time,”a history lesson told through 8-bit graphics; and “Theater of the Arcade,” which took several simple game narratives and adapted them for the stage. I attended “Grand Theft Ovid” and “Modal Kombat,” both of which I’ll discuss after the jump. The $15 ticket price is a bit steep for amateur theater, but I think the show could develop into something special in a few years time. Be sure to at least keep your eyes peeled next year if you’re a fellow Brooklynite.

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If you own a DS and love RPGs, I hope you picked up a copy of Dragon Quest IX this weekend. While there’s no way it’s going to become the cultural phenomenon over here like it is in Japan, the fact that Nintendo’s publishing it stateside - and appointing Seth Green as its official celebrity spokesguy - is promising. Perhaps a modest following is not out of the question. The only problem is that most of us won’t be playing it “correctly.”

 Though the Toriyama art and turn-based battles might suggest another traditional outing, IX‘s multiplayer emphasis is a significant departure. Not only does the game feature four-player cooperative dungeon crawling, but there’s also a tag mode that automatically shares data and treasure maps with other players. This mode is inconveniently tucked away in a specific inn, but the potential benefits are huge. However, we’re all well aware that American gamers just aren’t geared to this kind of play, so too bad, right?

Or at least that’s the standard line. I, for one, am going to try a little experiment for the next month. During my daily commutes throughout New York City, I’m going to “canvas” for like-minded DQIX players in the hopes that we can become accidental buddies. I suggest that everyone reading this should do the same. Let’s keep our minds open and check back in 30 days.

I’m not sure how Square Enix did it, but somehow the storied Japanese developer managed to spend five years developing Final Fantasy XIII and still leave it unfinished. The game contains gorgeous environments, state-of-the-art CG animation and a deep battle system, but what struck me during my 46-hour play-through was how hollow the experience felt. It’s clear that FFXIII enjoyed the same lavish production values as its predecessors, but the world building and characters were short changed.

This was apparent from the very first chapter. After a stirring assault along the Cocoon highway, we are introduced to some of the thinnest characters I’ve seen in a modern RPG. Sazh just wants to get his son back,* Hope wants to avenge his mother, Lightning and Snow want to help Serah and Vanille just wants to annoy the hell out of me. I kept hoping for more character development, but most of the cast remained paper-thin. Only Vanille (yeah…) and Fang ever received some kind of pathos.

*”Waaaalt!”

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