Tech Model Gaming Club

Metal Gear Solid 4 arrives, intimidates

Metal Gear Solid is probably the biggest franchise I've never really got involved with. I skipped MGS on PlayStation (the console was Japanese and refused to run the game, even using the Blu-Tak trick), I played a bit of MGS2 and 3 but never completed them, yet here I am, really excited about the fourth instalment.

Wikipedia and Game's pre-order DVD have helped me catch up with the story, but my interest in the game really comes from seeing one of the precious few PlayStation 3-exclusive games pushing the hardware - just like all the lowest-common-denominator Xbox 360 ports are destined never to do.

In terms of content, themes and design, MGS is an eccentric folly. For the hardcore gamer, this trait is a dream come true, but how much hardware will this triple-A oddity shift to say, Wii-only households?

The non-monetary barriers to entry are so high, that it's hard to imagine many non-MGS fans tackling this really intimidating piece of software. And I feel stuck somewhere in the middle, with the false, drunk confidence that I might be able to locate and appreciate an underlying genius within it, but also nursing a nagging doubt that I won't really treasure it as much as I feel I ought to.

Pre-work gaming - just wrong?

Ever-insightful reader j2s75 (his Gamertag) asked me if I played games before work, and apart from Super Mario Bros too many years ago, I never have done. Like watching a movie as soon as you get up, it just feels grubby and weird.

j2s75 suggests the following reasons for why you would perform such an act before the day's work has been tackled:

• Is it a sneaky treat before going to school/college/work?
• A nice alternative to GMTV for killing 15mins before running for the bus?
• A step too far, feeding an unhealthy obsession and leading to a path of ruin and despair?

He suspects "all of the above".

I can only play games when (most) of the chores have been done though, so it feels like a treat (unless you're trying to finish that race mission in GTA IV anyway). Early morning escapism just makes me feel, uncomfortable.

Are you morning gamer?

How do you manage to fit gaming into a busy schedule?

Whatever happened to Gamerscore obsession?

During the Xbox 360's next generation exclusivity window (made possible by rushing extraordinarily unreliable hardware to market) Achievements, Gamerscore and Gamercards seemed like a revolution. We talked of the way we play games begin changed forever, and firmly expected Sony and Nintendo to emulate this peer-observable skill tracking system in the yet-to-be-released PlayStation 3 and Wii.

Two and a half years on though (and three failed Xbox 360s later) there is now little noise made about 'the highest Gamerscore in the world' or 'the easiest way to 10,000 GS'.

Sony's half-hearted and patchy implementation of their vague and essentially unbranded version of an Achievement-like system is an irrelevance until Home's Trophy Room arrives, and unsurprisingly, Nintendo have ignored the concept completely.

The volume of Xbox 360 games now available means that Gamerscore's significance and value as a measure of skill is all but eroded. Enduring King Kong, Fuzion Frenzy 2, TMNT and 2K's early sports titles to get the lead on friends now (happily) seems like a lifetime ago.

For me, Achievements and Gamerscore are becoming increasingly less significant: playing a game on reliable (and quiet-running) hardware is a priority, which leaves Microsoft with just two strengths: their online infrastructure (and the active, interacting community that encourages) and the fact that most games are still built for Xbox 360, leaving the PS3 versions unoptimised and (with too few exceptions) about as socially active as a rainy graveyard.

Do Achievements play a part in whether you buy the Xbox 360 or PS3 version of a game?

How has your relationship with Achievements and Gamerscore changed since the launch of Xbox 360?

Powers of Spore

This short film is brilliant, and not unsurprisingly has inspired many tributes and spoofs over the years - Men in Black, Contact and The Simpsons have all borrowed the concept.

Most significant to us gamers though is that (beyond the IBM sponsorship and cool '70s CGI) Will Wright cites it as inspiration for Spore.

The Spore Creature Creator is out on June 17th, with a cut down demo also being made available for free via spore.com. The full game is due in Europe on 5th September and 7th in the US for Mac and PC..

Game of the year? I don't see why not.

Whachoo been playing?

Whether you're a regular visitor to this blog, or just popping by via Google image search (you know who you are) let us know what you're playing at the moment in the comments section below. And if we should try it out, too.

Also, how far through GTA IV is everyone?

New Resident Evil 5 trailer: more than an HD African RE4?

This brand new trailer for Resident Evil 5 shows plenty of tantalising new gameplay footage, a new partner for Chris Redfield and a previously unseen selection of parasite-powered locals. Bon appetit.

with the exception of a new zombie-busting uppercut though, the game mechanics look strikingly similar to Resident Evil 4. That's no bad thing, but hopefully Capcom will have more than HD visuals and an inadvertently controversial location to ensure this game is a worthy successor to its brilliant predecessor.

Capcom announce all-time sales figures: gaming memories activated

Finding Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts in a grubby local game shop days after it came out in Japan, playing as Zangief on Worthing Pier and still seeing off bigger boys' challenges, being blown away by the Mode 7 runway in Area 88, falling off my chair after hearing the infamous 'Jill sandwich' line for the first time - Capcom games tend to play significant parts in most people's gaming history.

Capcom have released some interesting and satisfyingly comprehensive (essentially promotional) stats detailing their best selling franchises, and one message is clear: their comittment to milking their IPs is extraordinary (Fifty Resident Evil games?) but they do it so well (let's pretend not to notice Dino Crisis) that it's hard to begrudge their success.

Resident Evil Series (50 titles, 34,500,000 units)
Mega Man Series (120 titles, 28,000,000 units)
Street Fighter Series (59 titles, 25,000,000 units)
Disney Series (33 titles, 13,200,000 units)
Devil May Cry Series (10 titles, 9,500,000 units)
Onimusha Series (12 titles, 7,800,000 units)
Monster Hunter Series (10 titles, 6,300,000 units)
Dino Crisis Series (13 titles, 4,400,000 units)
Ghosts ‘n Goblins Series (15 titles, 4,300,000 units)
Final Fight Series (10 titles, 3,200,000 units)

Let's hope that Resident Evil 5 and Street Fighter IV appear later this year to boost those sequel stats even more.

Data from gamesindustry.biz.

Star Solider R (WiiWare) reviewed!

Star Soldier R is one of the first batch of WiiWare games, and as a traditional vertically scrolling shoot 'em up, is welcome. But there's a catch: it only has two (very short) levels and is the price of a fully featured game.

The theory is that the online global leaderboard will motivate you to replay the tiny amount of game provided to perfect your technique and continuously improve your score. Problem is, the game is average in every way and lacks the depth, style and character of other score-based shooters like Ikaruga, Geometry Wars and Space Giraffe - games that inspire the desire to master them rather than enforce it.

As a curiosity Star Soldier R has merit, and it seems right to support Irem as they try to modernise and make relevant this classic game type, but the lack of content and experimental structure means this is for hardcore fans only.

5/10

The Digital Gamer turns into Tech Model Gaming Club

This blog has been around for nearly two years (so many memories) but the title was beginning to bug me. So, bam, it's gone. It's outta here.

thedigitalgamer.com URL will still point here for a while but techmodelgamingclub.com is the best way to navigate here. Or, better still, you might like to subscribe to the site's RSS feed.

Welcome to WiiWare, plus the crazy retail pricing of Boom Blox

WiiWare is up and running, meaning that all three current gen consoles can now be used to download original, online-exclusive content, more or less, worldwide. Despite various DRM and storage issues, this is an amazing thing. Hunting around for the best price for a disc in a box now seems increasingly mad.

On a not-unrelated note, I've been looking round for a copy of Boom Blox on Wii. I've found it in just a couple of shops, but for an extraordinary £39.99. I'm not imagining an unspoken precedent for puzzle games usually being a good bit cheaper than 'regular' games am I?

If Boom Blox was made available online, and sold for the equivalent of £39.99 in Wii Points (5800ish) or Microsoft Points (4800ish) there would be mass (well, forum-based) outrage. And no sales.

With the exception of a few EA microtransaction scams ( and not forgetting horse armour) the world of DLC on consoles is a pretty reasonably priced place, with charges realistically reflecting the value and volume of content provided. So why does retail still feel able to charge unjustifiably high prices? Because we pay up of course, and that's why you can see TMNT on Xbox 360 for £50 in Zavvi.

Back to Boom Blox - even with the great reviews in mind and Spielberg's name on the box, I'm out. Until the already-reported poor sales transform the title into a £19.99 must have in about six weeks anyway.