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Attention BioWare: Mid-Fantasy Is Still Fantasy

During last week's GDC extravaganza, I listened to quite a few podcasts; on a few of these shows, I heard the BioWare guys touting their upcoming RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. My first reaction to this title way back when it was announced was nothing more than ambivalence. While I'm sure the folks at BioWare are capable of making fantastic games, if there's one setting I'm sick of, it's traditional fantasy--and we Westerners tend to make it as ponderous and needlessly epic as possible. But it's important to note that we're not the only ones with this problem; the Japanese also abuse and overuse the fantasy setting in their RPGs as well, which is why games like Earthbound and the Persona series stand out so much from the crowd.

For whiners like me who are sick of swords, dwarves, and dragons, BioWare does have an answer, but it really only pays lip service to the problem of fantasy RPG oversaturation.

Posted Apr 02 2009, 06:15 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: bioware, bob mackey, jrpgs, gdc 2009, dragon age, fantasy

Roundtable Discussion: Genre Design Evolution

Roundtable Discussion takes the intrepid 61FPS blogging team and pits it against itself in the search for deeper truth. The moderator for today is Derrick Sanskrit.

Hey kids, I think it's time for another roundtable chat. I've actually been wanting to ask this of you guys for a few weeks now, because I've noticed that lately I've been playing a lot of games I never would have even considered playing as a kid. Am I alone in this or are we all doing it?

What sorts of games are you playing now that you didn't play during what I assume was the glorious childhood heyday of gaming we all experienced? What sorts of games did you play then that you don't now? Have our tastes changed or have we merely opened/closed ourselves to certain experiences? What is fundamentally different about how these games are made now and how has overall design changed over time, affecting us as game consumers?

I know that's a bit of a loaded series of questions, so I'll kick things off.

I pretty much never played racing games as a kid. As a lifelong urban New Yorker, I never romanticized the concept of driving a car and have veered away from it for as long as I've been able. My college roommates pressured me into playing Gran Turismo, but it was Need For Speed Underground that made me a convert.

Posted Mar 09 2009, 09:00 AM by Derrick Sanskrit with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: derrick sanskrit, need for speed, shmup, cole stryker, bioware, burnout paradise, joe keiser, guilty gear, roundtable discussion, design, genre

Videogames: Star Wars' Last Hope

Around the time 61 Frames Per Second launched, George Lucas’ media empire started amassing its evil forces for a hype onslaught the likes of which hadn’t been seen since 2005. No free thinking nerd would escape its wrath across the summer of 2008. Everywhere you looked online, on television, or in print, there it was, assaulting your eyes with Harrison Ford’s dilapidated visage to hock Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or choking your brain with the impossible geometry of The Clone Wars’ computer animated caricatures. It was a harrowing time for all.

The third-leg of the Lucas media tripod of destruction was Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a brand coating a veritable canyon of products, from books to Pez dispensers. Of course, the Force Unleashed flagship was a videogame. It was literally everywhere. Of the many things written and said about Force Unleashed during this period, the most intriguing and lamentable came from Nerve’s own Peter Smith. After reading one of the countless articles on the multiple physics engines running Force Unleashed, Pete said, “This game is so cool looking that I actually wish it wasn’t Star Wars.” He was saying that Star Wars was so sullied, so diluted by oversaturation and truly, inescapably terrible movies, that the mere presence of the universe could tarnish otherwise good entertainment. Star Wars, as a foundation for story, as anything, sucked. It was no longer cool. And I was terrified to find myself agreeing with the man.

Of course I came to my senses, shortly thereafter. No matter what, Star Wars will always, in some small way, be cool. Simplistic morality plays, idiotically fleshed out science fiction universes, and over-fetishized metallic swimwear may all be lame as hell. But humming swords made of light will always be awesome. And it’s mostly videogames that have kept Star Wars cool in recent years.

Posted Jan 15 2009, 06:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: john constantine, star wars, indiana jones, factor 5, free radical, bioware, george lucas, rogue squadron, knights of the old republic, kingdom of the crystal skull, clone wars, battlefront, Harrison ford, battlefront 3

Whatcha Playing: Persona, Fallout, and the Trans-Pacific RPG Ideal

Somewhere, probably not too far from Hawaii, the perfect role-playing game is waiting to be discovered. A volatile, volcanic outcropping boiling over with an expert blend of relatable, colorful characters, deep, directed narrative, and open, exploration-rich adventuring, alongside intimidatingly deep avatar customization. Its game world is both fantastic and hyper-real, vast yet structured enough to inexplicitly guide the player along scaling challenges.

Alright, I’m kidding. I know this game isn’t real. Of course it isn’t. But after the past couple of weeks, I sincerely wish it was.

Posted Jan 05 2009, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: john constantine, whatcha playing, star wars, fallout 3, bioware, peter molyneux, mass effect, fable, jrpg, quest for glory ii, persona 4, wrpg, knights of the old republic, fable ii, quest for glory III

Trailer Review: Star Wars: The Old Republic

It's a double shot of Trailer Review from me today, this time with the first in a series of video documentaries from the folks at Bioware and Lucasarts. Star Wars: The Old Republic is an upcoming MMORPG based in the universe that we know and love from the Star Wars films. All the action takes place 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic and roughly 3,500 before Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker went toe to toe.

Check out the video, after the jump:

Posted Dec 15 2008, 10:00 AM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: trailer review, lucasarts, cole stryker, bioware, star wars: the old republic

Sonic: Nope, Still Not Into You

A while back, I blogged about how my personal problems with Sonic the Hedgehog were keeping me from enjoying his supposedly "good" games. I didn't have time to play much over my admittedly short and action-packed Thanksgiving break, but I was able to test out my Sonic Hatred Hypothesis on what's supposed to be one of the best installments the series has seen in years: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. This game held quite a bit of promise for the simple reason that it was an RPG that Sonic Team didn't touch with their dirty, dirty hands. And 1UP.com's review even gave it an A!

But still, that fundamental hatred for Sonic and His Shitty Friends goes a long, looong way.

Posted Dec 01 2008, 07:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: ds, sonic the hedgehog, bioware, bob mackey, sonic chronicles

Star Wars, Lucasarts, Bioware: You’re Doing It Wrong.

Come October 21st, the inevitable will finally happen. After years of hemming, hawing, clamoring, and speculating, Bioware and Lucasarts are going to announce an MMO based on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This is not a guess. Bioware’s leash-holder, EA, already spoiled the surprise in July when chief executive John Riccitello flat-out admitted it existed. I couldn’t be more disappointed.

Posted Oct 08 2008, 06:30 PM by John Constantine with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: john constantine, star wars, ea, lucasarts, bioware, mmo

Trailer Review: Sonic Chronicles – The Dark Brotherhood

May 2008. San Francisco, CA. Sega of America, Office of VP Marketing.

“Got that trailer for the Sonic RPG almost put together. Just needs voiceover.”

"Look, whatever you do, don't say, 'Sonic and his friends.'"

"Why not?"

"Just don't."

Posted Jun 05 2008, 10:00 AM by John Constantine with | with no comments

Filed under: john constantine, trailer review, sonic, bioware

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.