comics, games, technology, books

I’ve been intrigued by online comics, webcomics, but sometimes, they don’t seem to read well online. Zuda is one of those sites. When I first tried it, shortly after it started, I didn’t like the format, which was often hard to read. I had to expand most comics to full-screen to be able to read them.

But I’ve been giving it another pass of late. Several have intriguing hooks, like The Erebus Effect and Action, Ohio, but they fall short for one reason or another. [And neither of these are bad . . . but the storytelling is off.] Some winners, like Melody, have a nice story, but I’m not hooked and wonder how they won. But others are good enough that I want more, like Celadore and Bayou.

In all zuda is good because it is limited and has a monthly competition, which makes it somewhat interactive. sites like web comics nation and keenspot are overwhelming with the number of comics, and you’re never sure if a comic you like will continue. But being a competition where only the winners get to continue their comic on zuda and where submitters are limited to 8 pages, it seems that comics with potential stop prematurely.

As I’ve seen with the DS homebrew games, you have to sift through a lot of novice or bad stuff to get some gold or even something that glitters with potential and is worthwhile. The question is how much time do people have to sift through it all to find it? Even with web comic review sites like comixtalk, webcomics examiner, webcomiker, and webcomic overlook, the choices are numerous. It’s a blessing and a curse to have the web for self-publishing creators, but mostly, it’s a blessing.

It’s all free for the most part, too.

Our family saw the wonderful Wall-E on Friday. I’m sure the wingnuts will be ranting about its environmental theme, but my biggest laugh came after the movie ended.

Even after seeing a movie about consumerism and its trash production, people left their trash in the aisles and seats for someone else to clean up.

Some people can’t even apply a theme five seconds after a movie ends.

With the release of the movie Wanted, I was reminded of the comic that inspired it. I had succumbed to reading the comic after hearing how good it was, but unfortunately, I thought this ‘Watchmen for villians’ aspired to less than what it could have been. I think its flaws are more visible when compared to a book of seeming similarity, A Clockwork Orange. Both have been questionably translated to film.

[I admit I’m a huge fan of Anthony Burgess, and I have read several of his books, my favorite probably being the Enderby series.]

What makes both works difficult is that both involve wanton violence, with characters who have no regard for human life. To like such violent stories would seem to endorse that violence, which is a separate issue, but I’m going to assume this interpretation is not valid and it’s not a reason to criticize works: it’s like Emperor Joseph II saying “Too much violence.”

The problem is that with Millar’s Wanted, I think that the violence is all that there is. Certainly, there is a plot, and there are intriguing characters. And we can talk about how well done those are, but if we’re going to compare it as a Watchmen-like comics, then the point of the story is significant. Sure, we can appreciate the story-telling, transitions, and references in Watchmen, but it was the purpose to which it was all applied that captures us and makes that comic transcend its brethern and become almost literary.

Likewise, A Clockwork Orange has the impressively creative Nadsat language, about which a lot of criticism has been written, but in the end, this is a bit of creativity and genius that flavors the novel but is not the meat. The book’s themes are hardly hidden–it is clearly a story that calls us to question at what price do we value order and lawfulness? At a time when B.F. Skinner was writing and proposing behavioral technology, Burgess was examining the implications of such thinking. Given Burgess’s [lapsed] Catholicism, A Clockwork Orange could be considered a rephrasing of Matthew 12:26:

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain goodness, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

When Alex is reformed, he loses his ability to choose good as well as an ability to enjoy Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

I’m not going to rehash an intepretation of A Clockwork Orange , but I want to recall its themes, so that we can remember that the violence has a context. Even in Kubrick’s adaptation, which seemed to revel in the violence even moreso than the novel, the violence is not celebrated [although the rape scene is especially difficult to watch], even though Alex and his droogs seem a bit clownish. The movie’s violence makes us despise Alex and his gang all the more, giving Kubrick quite a challenge in making us feel some level of sympathy for Alex eventually.

To couch this theme in Christian and Biblical terms, God could have easily created clockwork people who are created and forced to goodness. But what would that mean? What would be the point? People are not basically good nor basically evil but both. And, while I have many criticisms of it, the Bible teaches again and again is that goodness is a labor and a choice. [Burgess has referred to Pelagianism elsewhere, but its theme is alive and well in A Clockwork Orange.]

Perhaps it seems unfair to compare Wanted to A Clockwork Orange, but I don’t think so. Maybe it’s my middle aged self, but reading about fucked up characters for the purpose of seeing just how fucked up they are is not entertaining and certainly isn’t worth my time. Millar has the opportunity with Wanted to offer us a challenging story, which he has done in other comics such as Superman: Red Son. [And actually, Red Son’s point about self-determinism and freedom to choose is similar to A Clockwork Orange.] With Wanted, Millar had an opportunity to explore the idea of determinism via heredity and of choice. Instead, Millar drove us by that opportunity, pointed at it with disinterest, and went straight to the horrorshow violence. Just as the American version of A Clockwork Orange didn’t have 21st chapter in which Alex became good of his will but went back to his violent ways, a story doesn’t have to have redeemed characters or a happy ending for it to be meaningful. But Millar didn’t even give an interesting story of how Wesley changes.

Instead, we are told how Wesley’s father left him to be raised a pacifist until Wesley’s ‘true nature’ came out. Then, Wesley breaks the fourth wall to address the audience directly, ‘This is my face while I’m fucking you in the ass.’

How asinine.

I’m not saying that Wanted should be A Clockwork Orange, but the gulf between the two needn’t be so wide.

Unfortunately, when the focus of a story is on its reveal or surprise ending, then I think silly stories like Wanted are to be expected. But when the focus is to tell a good story that develops themes along the way, we get A Clockwork Orange or even Watchmen and Red Son.

When Millar and Hitch were announced to write and draw the Fantastic Four, I was somewhat excited because while I don’t like everything they do, I often enjoy it. Unfortunately, the first issues of their stint didn’t do that much for me. But issue 558 is a marked improvement because it’s the kind of story I think make for good adventure stories, the story that pushes several questions and situations to the reader.

The cover starts it off: ‘Death of the Invisible Woman Part 1.’ And from the previous issue, we start off asking why is Doctor Doom coming to Reed for help? Then we get a host of other questions–who are his attackers? What’s going on with Johnny’s girlfriend? And with Ben Grimm’s? And who is the Richards’ new nanny?

But it’s not just about raising questions like some frustrating episode of Lost. There has to be a story, some progress of the story. It was the first comic in a long while that I want to reread immediately. I thought they could have stretched out one of the main questions out a little more, but considering all the questions this issue raises. I have more to look forward to. I would like to see this sort of writing continue to some extent, with the intention of perhaps not resolving them for several issues. [I wish I could quickly and succinctly contrast this FF story with the very lackluster Ultimate FF of late.]

The previous story arc was more focused in my opinion on the characters of Reed and Sue and their relationship. In this issue, the characters are more secondary to the plot. I like this change, although I’m intrigued by Millar’s women. I’m waiting to comment on them because I think Millar isn’t easy to pidgeonhole. I’ve found some of his depictions  women disconcerting, but to be fair, I’m not sure his men are any better.

One thing I want to comment on is Bryan Hitch’s art. While I really appreciate, sometimes, it baffles me. Too frequently, i think, action scenes come across as still life drawings. For example, consider the first two panels on this page. For one the timing between the action and the dialogue is awful: when he announces himself, a lot has to happen before that second panel. But rather show the action, it’s before and after. I’m not asking for Kirby shots and speed lines, but what a thoroughly undramatic scene. For example, imagine panel 1 as is. Panel 2 shows Ben slamming the machinery down amidst a blur of debris. Panel 3 shows the group unharmed. I know I’m not a professional artist, but sometimes, Hitch’s art is beautifully detailed but boring.

And regarding that same scene, I have a few questions:

• So, in order to save Doom, Ben is willing to hit him as well with the machinery? A forgivable action since he is, after all, Doctor Doom.
• We’ve seen the hallway in which this fight occurs, and there’s no way Ben could have swung that equipment without shredding the wall or ceiling. Yet, somehow, he gets a clean swing.
• I love how Ben is willing to grab something, anything, presumably from Reed’s stash and then use it as a weapon. Who knows what the equipment does,, something worse that could injure the kids or other innocents but hey, Ben doesn’t care.
• In general, I don’t know why, but Hitch’s thing looks okay, but something about the mouth really bugs me.

All in all, this was a fun comic that I look forward to reading more of.

This neogaf thread is intriguing: how could comic-based games be better? David Jaffe says that the sandbox Spider-Man games are the same missions over and over.

I LOVE Marvel Comics and I LOVE the promise of games based on Marvel Comics. But why can’t you guys make a game that feels like a comic? I don’t mean art style wise; I don’t mean like Comix Zone with panels and cliche stuff like that. I mean feels like a comic in a story based, narrative way: a game that shows off the OTHER aspect that makes Marvel Comics so special: The characters/story. It’s not JUST about the powers, you know. But your games are always ONLY about the powers.

Jaffe makes a later excellent point, which is that storytelling is achieved by more than just cutscenes but with the missions and gameplay. Jaffe’s note that Marvel games focus on power rather than story is a good one. One of the most appealing things about X-Men Legends was that it had a better story than we expected from a comic book game, which often haven’t had stories or bad ones.

What makes Marvel comics so different than DC comics isn’t really the character focus: it’s that we see ordinary people become empowered, but those powers are mixed blessings, even curses.

• Peter Parker has spider powers, but they are making his personal life worse: his school performance isn’t up to his potential, his alter-ego interferes with his love life, he’s supporting a newspaper that depicts his alter ego as criminal.
• Bruce Banner is the Hulk, but is he just misunderstood? It doesn’t matter because he doesn’t want to be the Hulk. He can’t have a normal life and is hunted down by the government.
• Tony Stark has his armor, but, especially in the early days, it was always a risky situation because of the risk to his heart.

And there are others, like Ben Grimm, Dr. Blake [Thor], Silver Surfer, and Namor, but probably no one better exemplified this theme than the Inhumans and the X-Men because it went from an individual’s conflicts with powers to persecution. Unlike DC characters who either seemed compelled to become heroes or accepted the role almost unquestioningly, many Marvel characters were very aware of what their powers meant, and their conflicts gave rise to choices–choices to stop being the hero, to lose their powers.

Yet we get very, very little of this conflict of the blessings and curses of super-powers in comic book games. I believe that incorporating this theme and focusing on the story is best served by elements of role-playing and adventure games, elements that focus on choices of character, not just action.

• Start the game as the person, not as the powered hero. Introduce a personal situation for the character. I think this could mean a split storyline, which is very common in Marvel comics. Peter Parker has a conflict to resolve with Aunt May, but Spider-Man is having to deal with a new villian.
• Use the idea of alignment from RPGs, which is affected by what missions they use their powers for, or how well they use their powers. Spider-Man might chase criminals, but if he’s inefficient and allows a lot damage, his perception as a villian or vigilante increases. This affects, even limits, choices in other scenes. If the perception as a vigilante is too high, this could affect the personal storyline and its choices.[I think it would be interesting to explore even complex relationships between the powers and the personal. We could have the effects of the vigilante perception problem, but we can maybe see circumstances in which positive perceptions as Spider-Man could make his personal life complicated, too, so that it’s not all a 1-for-1 correspondence. Also consider that overcoming personal problems could improve hero stats.]
• Make the personal story compelling to the point that players not only feel something but that they even think about it in the superhero storyline. For example, if Aunt May is very ill and the game puts the player as Spider-Man fighting Electro, having something in the fight evoke in the player’s mind Aunt May’s illness. It doesn’t have to be cut scene.[This is probably too gimmicky, but imagine something like the blinding ink in Mario Kart. Spider-Man can encounter Electro in 3-4 possible areas, but in one, there’s a billboard with the picture of an older woman and a hospital. If you engage Electro in that area, the billboard comes into view and the image of Aunt May appears which gives Electro an advantage. Or if you want to be more RPG-like, perhaps the billboard could cause something like a spell that lowers Spider-Man’s stats.]
• Allow the player to make meaningful decisions, even if it might not be consistent with a particular Marvel universe. If Peter has a choice of pursuing Betty, Mary Jane, Felicia, or Gwen, let it happen, and don’t have the game counter the decision so that it wasn’t real. Allow the possibility that characters could die [which, even though we knew wouldn’t happen in the stories, were real possibilities to the characters].
• Focus the game with its intertwining stories on the conflict of the powers. By the end of the game, the player should have made choices that further the stories and that lead to some resolution of that conflict, at least for the instance provided in the game.

I understand a lot of gamers just want the action, but many, including myself, are drawn to good stories and interesting characters. I think David Freeman’s emotioneering is important in game development because of the emphasis it puts on character, story, and player satisfaction and involvement. Some of my ideas and examples draw on his methods. While I think his methods can lead to formulaic gameplay, I think the idea in all of this is to make the game mechanics and such be subordinate to give the player more than just a game experience but a creative, emotional one.

A lot of games are providing players way to be creative and thus more immersed in the game, and I think it’s a shame that comic book games aren’t offering more of this experience.

Wii owners, you’re frustrating.

Everyone whines how third party games for the Wii are no good, yet you fail to pick up the excellent third-party games like Zak & Wiki and Boom Blox, which have sold 380,000 and 210,000 worldwide respectively. [No, I don’t believe that Blox has met EA’s expectations. Nor do I think, like Prachter does, that the title ‘boom blox’ doesn’t tell what the game is about, which has to rank as one of the sillier excuses.]

I don’t buy the excuse of a lack of advertising: Boom Blox has had tv ads as well as a video on Nintendo Channel, not to mention magazine ads.The initial price for both was perhaps a bit too high. Something like US$40 might have helped, although the continuing price cuts for Zak & Wiki hasn’t done much. Maybe Blox looked like just a limited game of Jenga.

What’s common to both is their cuteness level which is pretty high. I guess unless it’s more of the same Nintendo cuteness, Wii owners don’t care. Just give them another game with the tired lineup of Nintendo characters and slap ‘Mario’ in the title. They could make Mario’s Vomitorium and it would probably sell a million copies. Just give Wii owners more regurgitated goodness of established franchises.

• Although I am still very positive about goozex.com for trading games, I am flush with game points. The problem I’m now seeing is that it’s hard to get games that I want. I’ve received one, but 3 of my requested games have 95 or more others ahead of me for the likes of Okami and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. I thought it was just new games with this problem, but I think any decent game with depth or high replay just doesn’t get traded a lot. FWIW, it seems that newer 360 games are easier to come by than Wii or DS games.
• Battalion Wars 2 is a Wii game that I recently picked up, mainly for multiplayer. I’ve been playing the single player a bit lately, and it’s an enjoyable game, moreso than I expected. It seems a little slow to build up to different units: 25% through the game, and I’m just now getting battleships and frigates for sea fighting. The key I’m finding is to check the map prior to any engagement to see what types of units are waiting and then, after telling all my units to follow me, to have a unit or one of its individuals pre-selected and ready for assigning to a particular enemy unit. Also, making use of environmental resources like gun nest is important. It’s realtime, so responding quickly is a little tricky, which is where I wish I could assign a button on the dpad for a particular unit instead of cycling through. [You select an individual within a unit type by pressing up on the d pad.] I’m still not doing well mainly because I’m slow. [The game rates you in three areas: your losses, your speed, and technique.] I’m high for having minimal to no losses and for technique, but I’m not moving fast enough. But that’s how I play chess, too.
• The DS homebrew scene has been filled with a lot of silence lately. The good news is that there have been a handful of updates and new items over the weekend, so I should have a new review of DS homebrew.
• Wiiware appeal has slacked off for me. I have Lostwinds, FF: My Life as King, and Defend Your Castle, all early releases. [I could be tempted to get Toki Tori, but there’s no rush.] Not predicting great Wiiware games, I am interested in seeing how they turn out: LIT, Butterfly Garden, Aero Guitar, and Raid Over the River. But I’m most interested in getting Pirates: The Key of Dreams.
• Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a good interview with Steven Peeler, the indie game developer that brought us the great RPG Depths of Peril with his wife. I met Steve and Delilah recently at a game party, and they’re interesting folks. Steven also says that they have another game far along in development but don’t want to talk about it just yet. I think the interview gives some insight into independent game development.

As I was reading Ex Machina 37, something became much more obvious in the above page with books like it, Kick Ass, the Twelve, Marvel 1985, and Astro City.

The idea of situating superheroes in a more realistic world has always been a kind of petry dish, to see how superheroes would react to real situations or, much more frequently, to see what kind of person it would take to put on a mask and fight crime. Yet, another perspective is that these comics are asserting the importance and relevance of comics to the real world.

Comics have shared with their pulp cousins an escapist entertainment. At its most simple core, it is the ongoing story of right and wrong, with right and justice winning out. But it could be argued [and has been] that we don’t believe in that anymore. It’s not a relevant message. It’s fine for kids but adults move on to deal with the unfairness. Then came those efforts in the 80s to make comics ‘real.’ I’m not going to rehash the likes of Watchmen and Dark Knight, but our superheroes were some messed up people.

Yet, mature themes have frankly not made comics all that relevant. [Argue about the movies being relevant, but that is something different in my opinion.] I don’t talk about comics with anyone except my brother and the folks at the comic book shop. Well, sometimes with my wife. Yet, I can talk about a book or novel that friends haven’t read, and they’re intrigued. But if I start up with “I just read the Death of the New Gods . . .” I’ve lost before I’ve begun.

Yet, in these ‘realistic’ comics, something else is happening. A kid sees an evil thought to be just fictional. An older kid is inspired to do something to make at least a small part of the world right. A superhero becomes mayor of one of the world’s greatest cities.

When Leto says, “Could I really fly?” he’s focused on the powers, on the fantastical element of superheroes. Arguably, this is not what defines superheroes. A hero is someone who has the courage to act, most often to save a life. The super in superhero can mean two things:

• someone who has superhuman abilities
• someone who acts in the face of even greater power or opposition, an extraordinary hero

Stories of super-powered people is frankly silliness, as enjoyable as it might be. But perhaps I’m slow to this realization, but I’m seeing some of these ‘realistic’ comics emphasizing the latter point. On a superficial level, you see ‘real’ people talking about comics and supers seriously.

I might sound trite, but in days of cynicism and suspicions of those who would do good, it takes even more courage to act. When the currency of our beliefs are that people can be better and that people can make a difference, it might seem reasonable that acting heroically is easier. Or at least more tempting. But in the days when we are certain that homeless people could work but choose their lifestyles, when spiritual leaders prey on children or behave hypocritically, when we see evidence that peoples are basically fucked up, acting is more difficult, requiring more of an extraordinary effort.

You have stories in these comics that show comics and superheroes as relevant, not just how messed up the heroes are, how they would be thugs themselves. ‘Dark’ comics don’t make them more adult or significant. Otherwise, Saw III might be a great film.

What made the first Spider-Man movie so appealing to non-comic fans [at least based on my discussions with them] is seeing a kid deal with having an ability and doing something with it at a personal cost. When acting heroically or rightly is easy, well, that’s not a very interesting story. But when it’s difficult, you don’t get just action but character.

I’m very intrigued by Nintendo’s fix for the Twilight Hack and the forthcoming hack-fix hack. [They’ve not actually released a workaround for the 3.3 firmware update but they’ve found a way to create one.] Specifically, I’m interested in what the 3.3 fix says about Nintendo. Keep in mind that what the Twilight hack does is create a string that is too long and causes a crash, which is then exploited.

In a nutshell, here’s what Nintendo did:

• They check only one game’s save files–Zelda: Twilight Princess.
• They check 6 strings in each save file, including player name and horse name.
  
• If the strings are the incorrect length, the save file is deleted.

Here’s what they didn’t do:

• Check all save game files [which might be tedious on their part but it’s a more preventive fix].
• Block unauthorized channels.
• Implement any sort of blacklisting.
• Change the way game crashes are handled [much, much more risky to do possibly].

In a way, it’s somewhat shcoking that Nintendo developers didn’t take a more aggressive, preventive fix rather than a very limited reactive one. Does this mean that their firmware developers aren’t very bright and should give us pause about the features Nintendo is giving us gamers? Certainly, it’s possible, but I have a hard time believing that they weren’t smart enough to create a more extensive fix.

Reading intentions, especially corporate ones, can be tricky. I think they could have done more but didn’t for a couple of reasons, the main one being that, if they introduced more aggressive fucntions, they could potentially introduce other exploits or cause unexpected problems. So we have these possibilities for this seemingly limited fix:

• Nintendo developers are stupid.
• Nintendo is being overly cautious to avoid introducing problems.
• Nintendo knows that hackers will hack, so rather than do it in one fix, they’re going to provide several fixes.
• Nintendo is just giving a warning. They don’t want to brick Wiis, but they want to let homebrew developers know they know what they’re doing.
• Similar to the above, they’re trying to scare off the casual homebrew user who’s not a programmer.
• We don’t effing know.

Well, things are not looking good for Alone in the Dark. Multiple game forums [where people have somehow gotten hold of the game early] are echoing the two European reviews of the game: the controls are awful. So awful, in fact, they ruin a game that doesn’t follow the all too conventional puzzles, that has excellent graphics, and that tells a good story while making an exciting game. We’ve seen Lair meet a similar fate thanks to poor controls.

It’s possible that the Wii version could be the one to get since it uses a different control scheme. However, i wouldn’t hold my breath. When I saw the video demos of the Wii controls, I thought they were somewhat hokey and not necessarily friendly. Plus, the problems might not be solved with the Wii controls. As one gamer explained:

it’s incredibly difficult to do even the most menial of tasks that require the characters hands. Even going into your inventory can be an exercise in frustration. First you have to drop any objects you are carrying, then with the left stick you’re forced to highlight the item you want, which can be tricky if what your’re trying to get at is on the bottom left or right of your jacket.

Other gamers and reviewers tell similar control misfortunes. Fighting appears to be even worse.

I confess that bad controls baffle me as to how they are released. Problematic AI, pacing, bad storyline, cliched puzzles, repetition, camera problems–these problems I can understand. But controls are so fundamental to even playing the game that you cannot get beyond them if they are bad. Is it possible that developers actually have a higher threshold of pain in that regard? Or do they perceive that gamers can learn difficult controls?

I’m afraid this game could be the darkened deadend of a franchise that began so grandly.

[Update]

The inevitable happened: Nintendo released a firmware update that nerfs the Twilight Hack:

Bacause unauthorized modifications to save files may impair game play or the Wii console, updating to Wii Menu version 3.3 will also check for and automatically remove such save files.

If you have the Homebrew Channel already installed, that is not affected. If you have the modified Zelda: Twilight Princess save file on your system, it is removed. And you will not be alble to copy it back after upgrading to 3.3.

Without a doubt, the Homebrew Channel has meant a very easy access to homebrew applications and games. While the firmware doesn’t affect current owners who have installed it, the firmware update does mean that the party is now limited with no new players. While the homebrew development will certainly continue, I think homebrew developers are now taking a step back, wondering if the other foot is inevitably dropping as well . . . the removal of unathorized channels. This is potentially more tricky, unless Nintendo has already included some authorization ID for channels. The fact that the homebrew channel wasn’t nerfed as well indicates that noting unathorized channels isn’t so straightforward.

Of course, at this time, you do not have to update to 3.3.

I thought the day was coming, and it’s understandable. In fact, I think the homebrew channel itself poses a greater potential threat to Nintendo’s claims of security. While I don’t think anyone has used the homebrew channel for malicious purposes, it is possible. Imagine a virus that is loaded via the homebrew channel and propogates itself using the friends list. In fact, that isn’t just possible but should be regarded as inevitable.

So, just as Wii homebrew took a significant step forward, it definitely was staggered today. Short of another incredible piece of research, it is likely we’ve seen the last opportunity to add files to the Wii system itself and to be able to modify its functionalty through software only.

This is why we have not seen the ability to launch games from the SD card or from a USB storage device. The idea that the Wii has enough storage space for most owners is ridiculously untrue. Unless similar precautions are taken, launching games from alternative storage is another potential exploit, just as the Twilight saved game hack was.

If there is a silver lining in this nerf, it might be that Nintendo is close to figuring out to how to prevent ‘unauthorized’ games launching from the SD card or a USB device. But this is just my speculation.

Update: Wiibrew is reporting that Bushing has come up with a workaround, just 6 hours after the update. But he has not made the workaround public. [Link to hackmii details is down right now.] It appears that the nerf has functions that check for the string length in a Twilight save file. I’m not a programmer, but that is something that could suggest workarounds, once you know how they are checking for invalid save files. Given that Nintendo has been testing this nerf since March 6, I’m surprised that they didn’t include more deterrents for possible workarounds. I doubt that Bushing will detail the workaround.

A couple of days ago, I downloaded the spore creature creator before its 6/17 release. If the rest of the game keeps pace with this, it will be a fun addictive game. One of the neat things is how the creatures have a personality, a fun one at that.

Consider this Maxis creature as it does three different dances and a tah-dah action at the end.

Here’s my creature doing the same dance moves and tah-dah.

Same predefined actions, but there are some subtle differences between the two that help define some personality. The type of hand makes the point gesture somewhat different, while the backbone curvature makes a little difference in their spin moves. Maybe I’m seeing what I want to see, but regardless the creature creator is a fun tool and gives us something to do until September 7.

“Where has the horse gone?
Where the young warrior?
Where is the giver of treasure?
What has become of the feasting seats?
Where are the joys of the hall?”
–’The Wanderer’

Consoles have had some very good multiplayer action RPGs: Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance [1 & 2], Champions of Norrath, Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes, Gaunlet [and its sequels], Gladius, even the awful The Legend of Alon D’ar, not to mention the mmos Everquest Online Adventures , Final Fantasy XI and Phantasy Star.

Yet, what is suprising is the lack of good multiplayer RPGs, especially with online play, for the next gen. The 360 has a handful of multiplayer action RPGs:

• Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom [local & online coop]
• Eternal Sonata [local coop only]
• Two Worlds [online coop, 8 max]

I had a lot of hope for Two Worlds, which turned out to be an awful game. Kingdom is at best mediocre while Eternal Sonata is above average. There may be others that I have missed [especially because I don’t keep up with the PS3 these days]. But with all the excellent FPS online multiplayer games, where is the online multiplayer RPG? Certainly, we have some to look forward to, like Fable 2. You can search for them yourself.

I guess after successes like Diablo and World of Warcraft [though an RPG], where are the really good RPGs that have online multiplayer features that compete with any of the next gen FPS?

Where is the online console RPG that lets you create a party with different classes?

Where is the online console RPG with dynamic or player-made maps?

Where is the online console RPG that lets you play first or third person?

Where is the online console RPG that isn’t linear?

I believe that such games have to be coming. At least I want to. I guess I’m just surprised we’re seen seeing them. I’d like to have a good RPG that would let me and three of my friend play together. Until then I guess we have to pick up our controllers and play games like Call of Duty 4.

Update: I completely missed Sacred 2 for the 360, which is due September 2008. Sacred was a pretty good Diablo-clone with some gameplay for the PC. Sacred 2 will support up to 16 players for the PC and 4 for the 360, so we are getting something rather soon to slake our hacking thirst.

The Wii homebrews keep a-comin’.

• FTPii–A hokey name but a great app. It’s an FTP server for your Wii. Use an ftp client [like filezilla] to connect to your Wii server and transfer files from your PC to the SD card. ‘course, I think ejecting the SD card and walking back to the PC would be faster, but it’s nice to have that option, especially I’m distrustful of those slots after too many uses.
• Sudoku–No cute name here. It has difficulty settings and a hint system. The online Sudoku game, Wiidoku, has a nice interface, allowing you to click the number you want to enter in the square, whereas Sudoku v0.1a requires you to increment and decrement through the numbers. But Wiidoku has only one puzzle per day, not to mention the highly annoying ads. Sudoku v0.1a generates different puzzles and even allows you to save games to your SD card.
• Scrogger–I reviewed this as a DS game, but now we can play it on the Wii. This is a great little game: there are 100 different levels, but each time you play, you get a random 10 of those 100. You know, there a number of DS homebrew games I’d love to see ported to the Wii. And this is a very good start.

Needless to say, there’s a Pong port there for your Wii. Can Lemmings be far behind?

This Forbes article argues that gaming on the iPhone could ‘kill’ the DS. The so-called argument amounts to a] the iPhone and iPod Touch have touch and motion-sensing controls and b] it’s Apple. That’s it. Sure, spore will release for the iPhone  . . . as well as every other bleeding platform. Before we talking about the iPhone ‘killing’ the DS, let’s at least see an argument that it will even be competitive and not another N-Gage.

I see a couple of problems with this prediction:

• The DS is well established, to the tune of 73+ million units worldwide, 23 million in the U.S. No publisher or developer is going to turn their back on that at this time.
• The iPod Touch is US$299. I know iPods sell well, but I don’t see that at that price, it gaining the kind of market dominance to overtake the DS. More to the point, Apple has a history of short hardware release cycles and obsoleting its previous models.
• Specs are failed indicators of market dominance.

The iPhone and iPod Touch will be nice for gaming. They will probably have some success, but as we have seen with the PSP, it takes more than great graphics and multimedia abilities to outsell the DS. The DS has an end-of-life: it’s not the last handheld game device we’ll need. But I don’t think it’s on its deathbed just because the media-darling Apple is in play. I guess I was expecting an argument a little more savvy about the market from Forbes.

For what it’s worth, the Nintendo DS was originally released in 2004, which makes this its 4th year. The GBA was released in 2001, replaced by the DS in its 4th year. So, I think it’s reasonable to expect a new Nintendo handheld console in the next 1-2 years, with backward compatibility more than likely. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised [though not expecting] an announcement at E3.