I am a healthy person. Regardless, I can't play Burnout for more than around half an hour at a time: I can't keep gas (RT) and nitro (A) down all the time without my right hand aching. I have often wondered how much my life would change if I was no longer able to hold a joypad or use a keyboard and mouse. (It's pretty scary, actually: people break their hands all the time.)
Everyone is not as lucky as I am. I find the people's dickheadedness in this post's comments section astonishing. The guy is just saying that it would be nice if there were consistent options to adjust the Wiimote's sensitivity to accommodate people who can't move their hands that well, and people are crying "cheat!" and "tough luck, disabled guy, live with it!". This being the internet, many are drawing ridiculous parallels like "well, the guy with no hands can't play either, next we'll have to help him!".
I've ranted about usability issues before. Microsoft has pushed the developers into conforming to their standards on the usage of the 360 joypad's buttons, on respecting customized soundtracks and incorporating Live. They even have a setting for console-specific "preferred controls" to avoid having to set your invert, gearbox and viewpoint preferences in every FPS and driving game you play.
Is it possible that they haven't even thought about demanding customizable controls while at it? What about all the people who prefer "southpaw" layout, with movement on the right stick? Like many left-handers? There are no technical reasons to limit the user's customization of controls, yet it's extremely rare to see that an option.
I imagine there are a lot of people with minor hand problems, like missing fingers, aching joints and whatever, who could be helped just by giving them the option of, say, using RB instead of A for the majority of gameplay.
Even very common disabilities like hard of hearing and colorblindness are usually not taken into account. This could be remedied with simple rules on user interface design. I understand that these options can be the last thing to finetune before shipping and thus being very barebones, but we're talking about the overall quality of not just the one game, but the industry. If accessibility (to a sensible point...) was taken into account in the planning and design stage, these would be non-issues.
Since developers don't seem to take this up and publishers won't make them to, some industry entity should take up the accessibility flag. There's a lot of cheap, good PR on the offer, if you need an incentive beyond being as good as you can be.
I find this especially depressing because playing videogames can be one of the few ways a disabled or bed-ridden person can communicate with her peers on an equal level. To limit their options for no good reason is a shame.
Update: A couple of links to complement the post. First, there's One Switch, which is a campaign for greater accessibility in games. Then it appears that the International Game Developers' Association, or IGDA, has already taken accessibility into account in a special interest group's blog.
Showing posts with label annoyance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annoyance. Show all posts
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
XSATA
With Microsoft's outright weird decision to bundle the 360 with a 20GB hard drive (with a mere 12GB free for use!), this Datel product may soon become a common item among the gamer hardcore. I know I'm tempted. It isn't strictly necessary yet, but with TV and movie downloads on the horizon, an easy solution to the storage problem is needed.
There are also relatively straightforward guides to exchanging the 360's HD to a bigger capacity one, but those would all void my warranty.
There are also relatively straightforward guides to exchanging the 360's HD to a bigger capacity one, but those would all void my warranty.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Phantasy Star Universe beta, Lumines Live outrage
Phantasy Star Universe
So I played one night in the PSU beta on Live. I loved the character creation. I made a chick robot. I like the setting a lot - it's so unpretentious: you have a dedicated shopping mall/lobby, you select a mission and get to it. The unplausible yet aesthetically pleasing mix of fantasy and science fiction appeals to me.
The graphics are lame. They do the job and the design is very good, but you really do expect more on a next-gen console. The visuals are basically Dreamcast era graphics moving smoothly and somewhat smoothed over with anti-aliasing. Textures are poor and the models have nothing going for them... but on the whole, it's a pleasing sight.
Based on that one evening's play, I'm not going to pay the separate online fee Sega is asking for the privilege. There isn't enough variety of stuff to do and for me, the social elements wouldn't be enough, since I definitely wouldn't be hanging online every day.
Lumines Live
Lumines finally came on Live. It caused an uproar. First there was the price of 1200 points (around 14€) and then it turned out that the so-called full game is anything but. There are mere samples of most game modes, with only the time attack and online versus modes completely unlocked for your 1200 points. I could stomach that, if the basic "challenge" mode featured more than seven skins (levels), which is really pushing it. They're going to release a lot more skins for a further 600 points, with individual game mode packs coming later, too.
I can see what they're trying to accomplish here (besides money), and I applaud it. However, the decision to ask for a record-breaking 1200 points for the demo version ("Base") is an unwelcome move. I'd buy the bits and pieces happily if the base pack was a lot cheaper or indeed free.
The game does seem worth of 14€, I really like the demo, but they should never have called it a "full game". Obviously Live Marketplace is a still evolving thing, but incidents like this don't really help people's willingness to indulge in micropayments. And, well, 14€ isn't exactly "micro" in any fashion.
So I played one night in the PSU beta on Live. I loved the character creation. I made a chick robot. I like the setting a lot - it's so unpretentious: you have a dedicated shopping mall/lobby, you select a mission and get to it. The unplausible yet aesthetically pleasing mix of fantasy and science fiction appeals to me.
The graphics are lame. They do the job and the design is very good, but you really do expect more on a next-gen console. The visuals are basically Dreamcast era graphics moving smoothly and somewhat smoothed over with anti-aliasing. Textures are poor and the models have nothing going for them... but on the whole, it's a pleasing sight.
Based on that one evening's play, I'm not going to pay the separate online fee Sega is asking for the privilege. There isn't enough variety of stuff to do and for me, the social elements wouldn't be enough, since I definitely wouldn't be hanging online every day.
Lumines Live
Lumines finally came on Live. It caused an uproar. First there was the price of 1200 points (around 14€) and then it turned out that the so-called full game is anything but. There are mere samples of most game modes, with only the time attack and online versus modes completely unlocked for your 1200 points. I could stomach that, if the basic "challenge" mode featured more than seven skins (levels), which is really pushing it. They're going to release a lot more skins for a further 600 points, with individual game mode packs coming later, too.
I can see what they're trying to accomplish here (besides money), and I applaud it. However, the decision to ask for a record-breaking 1200 points for the demo version ("Base") is an unwelcome move. I'd buy the bits and pieces happily if the base pack was a lot cheaper or indeed free.
The game does seem worth of 14€, I really like the demo, but they should never have called it a "full game". Obviously Live Marketplace is a still evolving thing, but incidents like this don't really help people's willingness to indulge in micropayments. And, well, 14€ isn't exactly "micro" in any fashion.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Online leaderboards (feat. Doom), 3D platformers (feat. Sonic), Defcon
Doom
I purchased the 360 version of classic Doom at 800 MS points (roughly 9€). It's a no-frills conversion, exactly what I wanted - no tricks done to the original graphics or sounds, all four episodes, controls work very well. It's a great game. I have one thing to complain about: the map is utterly worthless on a non-HDTV. Really, you need to take the massmarket (like all of Europe) into account when designing your game views.
A couple of things came up during playing the first episode through in one sitting.
First and foremost are the online leaderboards, viewable per level. All games need this feature. It plays straight to my competitive spirit. It feels so good to be the best player among your friends and to, say, finally break the global top-1000.
Leaderboards are what keeps me playing Geometry Wars, too. It bugs me that I'm sitting right on the average level (according to MyGamerCard.net). I need to break that half a million to get above the crowd!
Then there are Doom's controls. As per the original version, there is no Y-axis; you don't aim up and down. The character automatically targets monsters above and below you, provided that they line up with your gun. I'd really like to see a modern shooter do the same. Sure it needs some clever level design (Doom's essentially flat), but it would keep things much more free-flowing and immediate.
I recall the makers of the original Unreal Tournament's Xbox version attempting something in this vain, via level design. I don't know how that worked out, though.
I didn't buy Doom merely because I loved it as a kid. I imagined that it would be a great game, period. And it is. If anything, provided you can look past the low-res graphics, it's even better today. It absolutely wipes the floor with so many modern shooters, despite being released in 1993. The lighting is very effective, the level design is engaging, the overall aesthetic design hasn't aged at all.
Oh, and like reviewer Kristan Reed on Eurogamer put it, this game features bodies which do not disappear. Thirteen years ago. Get with the times, shooter designers.
Sonic: The Hedgehog next-gen
I've said it before and this latest offering only enforces my position: platform games should never have made the jump to 3D presentation. It doesn't work! I tried and tried and tried and simply could not hit the lines of rings with any confidence. The automatically aimed spinning attack does work, but as usual, the camera is worthless (you wouldn't believe how slowly it spins).
There's been a single instance of 3D platforming working well - Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time - but even that one stellar example of the genre had some problems with the camera.
So in a nutshell: kill 3D platformers, kpls.
Allegedly the original Sega Megadrive/Genesis Sonic is coming to XBLA in the near future. That's an almost guaranteed sale right there and I imagine it will work much better than this entirely competent, but by its nature, awkward offering.
Defcon
I've liked Introversion ever since I found Uplink, the awesome hacker game they released in 2001. Their latest release Defcon has generated a lot of hype. The game was released a few days ago and the demo is now out, too, go get it.
I had trouble imagining how the game would play out in practice, but having played through the tutorial, it's all clear now. I've yet to try a full-fledged game, but it's pretty safe to say at this point that it's a sure sale for me (PC hardware permitting, my home machine's ancient). At 14€ for a brand new game, I really can't complain. Although I might go for the boxed copy, which is priced a little higher, but even that's a ridiculous 21€! And it feels good to know that you're paying straight to the developers themselves.
It's also interesting how cool and distinctive Introversion's games look, despite the authors claiming that it's all "programmer art". Their soundscapes are thoughtful, too. I hear that Defcon sports "situation room ambient" consisting of cigarettes lighted, coughs and so on, which is really a magnificent idea. Can't be witness to that myself, yet, because I didn't have audio on the laptop I tried it on.
Update: Defcon runs just fine on my 900 MHZ/512 MB RAM home system. I've taken a beating from the computer twice, now. Well, at least it runs fine with only two players, that is.
I purchased the 360 version of classic Doom at 800 MS points (roughly 9€). It's a no-frills conversion, exactly what I wanted - no tricks done to the original graphics or sounds, all four episodes, controls work very well. It's a great game. I have one thing to complain about: the map is utterly worthless on a non-HDTV. Really, you need to take the massmarket (like all of Europe) into account when designing your game views.
A couple of things came up during playing the first episode through in one sitting.
First and foremost are the online leaderboards, viewable per level. All games need this feature. It plays straight to my competitive spirit. It feels so good to be the best player among your friends and to, say, finally break the global top-1000.
Leaderboards are what keeps me playing Geometry Wars, too. It bugs me that I'm sitting right on the average level (according to MyGamerCard.net). I need to break that half a million to get above the crowd!
Then there are Doom's controls. As per the original version, there is no Y-axis; you don't aim up and down. The character automatically targets monsters above and below you, provided that they line up with your gun. I'd really like to see a modern shooter do the same. Sure it needs some clever level design (Doom's essentially flat), but it would keep things much more free-flowing and immediate.
I recall the makers of the original Unreal Tournament's Xbox version attempting something in this vain, via level design. I don't know how that worked out, though.
I didn't buy Doom merely because I loved it as a kid. I imagined that it would be a great game, period. And it is. If anything, provided you can look past the low-res graphics, it's even better today. It absolutely wipes the floor with so many modern shooters, despite being released in 1993. The lighting is very effective, the level design is engaging, the overall aesthetic design hasn't aged at all.
Oh, and like reviewer Kristan Reed on Eurogamer put it, this game features bodies which do not disappear. Thirteen years ago. Get with the times, shooter designers.
Sonic: The Hedgehog next-gen
I've said it before and this latest offering only enforces my position: platform games should never have made the jump to 3D presentation. It doesn't work! I tried and tried and tried and simply could not hit the lines of rings with any confidence. The automatically aimed spinning attack does work, but as usual, the camera is worthless (you wouldn't believe how slowly it spins).
There's been a single instance of 3D platforming working well - Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time - but even that one stellar example of the genre had some problems with the camera.
So in a nutshell: kill 3D platformers, kpls.
Allegedly the original Sega Megadrive/Genesis Sonic is coming to XBLA in the near future. That's an almost guaranteed sale right there and I imagine it will work much better than this entirely competent, but by its nature, awkward offering.
Defcon
I've liked Introversion ever since I found Uplink, the awesome hacker game they released in 2001. Their latest release Defcon has generated a lot of hype. The game was released a few days ago and the demo is now out, too, go get it.
I had trouble imagining how the game would play out in practice, but having played through the tutorial, it's all clear now. I've yet to try a full-fledged game, but it's pretty safe to say at this point that it's a sure sale for me (PC hardware permitting, my home machine's ancient). At 14€ for a brand new game, I really can't complain. Although I might go for the boxed copy, which is priced a little higher, but even that's a ridiculous 21€! And it feels good to know that you're paying straight to the developers themselves.
It's also interesting how cool and distinctive Introversion's games look, despite the authors claiming that it's all "programmer art". Their soundscapes are thoughtful, too. I hear that Defcon sports "situation room ambient" consisting of cigarettes lighted, coughs and so on, which is really a magnificent idea. Can't be witness to that myself, yet, because I didn't have audio on the laptop I tried it on.
Update: Defcon runs just fine on my 900 MHZ/512 MB RAM home system. I've taken a beating from the computer twice, now. Well, at least it runs fine with only two players, that is.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
On fearsome controls
While I understand that development time is limited and you have to make sacrifices, your game's controls simply cannot be at stake.
I've waited for FEAR's 360 demo with baited breath. Granted, I've only yet played it for fifteen minutes, but they have some polishing to do with the controls. There are two big problems.
One: you need to hold the left stick in to crouch. Never do this. It has to be a toggle: crouch/stand up. Even if it's intentional because they don't want you to move while crouched (I doubt), it's a pain.
Two: unless tweaking the sensitivity of the sticks alleviates the problem, the movement and aiming feel horribly off. I tried upping the sensitivity a lot, which didn't help at all. It feels to me like they've copied the PC original's control scheme directly - movement doesn't feel analogue, which it really has to be on a twin-stick setup, and aiming feels like you're using a mouse. Which doesn't work at all. You need to factor in a little auto-aim, you need to make the smallest movement of the stick to register, you need to fine-tune the acceleration until it's natural. I spent many a frustrating second trying to move my aim a head's or a limb's width to get a shot at a stationary target. I didn't have a hope landing shots without the use of the - incredibly nifty - slow-motion power.
Halo did the twin-stick console FPS control scheme so well that each and every FPS designer needs to study it. If you can't make it any better, just copy it. There have been examples of working alternatives; for instance, I never cringed at Battlefield 2's controls. You can look past spotty graphics, but if you don't feel like you're in control, you just can't enjoy the game.
All that said, I remain enthusiastic about the game. Maybe I can learn to live with the controls, but that's really the wrong way around.
Regardless of controls, there were also quite a few graphical glitches, but I'm willing to look past that to bask in the glory of the supremely satisfying bullet-trails, particle effects and chunks blown off the environment. We'll see how it all hangs together after a couple of play-throughs of the demo.
Edit: All right, taking the sensitivity down a lot helped with the aiming. The movement still feels clunky, but I believe I can live with it, now.
Come to think of it, I shouldn't be surprised. Monolith's games have always felt weird to control, all the way back from Shogo and No One Lives Forever. Regardless, those two titles are among my all-time favorite games, which just proves that a game is more than the sum of its parts.
I've waited for FEAR's 360 demo with baited breath. Granted, I've only yet played it for fifteen minutes, but they have some polishing to do with the controls. There are two big problems.
One: you need to hold the left stick in to crouch. Never do this. It has to be a toggle: crouch/stand up. Even if it's intentional because they don't want you to move while crouched (I doubt), it's a pain.
Two: unless tweaking the sensitivity of the sticks alleviates the problem, the movement and aiming feel horribly off. I tried upping the sensitivity a lot, which didn't help at all. It feels to me like they've copied the PC original's control scheme directly - movement doesn't feel analogue, which it really has to be on a twin-stick setup, and aiming feels like you're using a mouse. Which doesn't work at all. You need to factor in a little auto-aim, you need to make the smallest movement of the stick to register, you need to fine-tune the acceleration until it's natural. I spent many a frustrating second trying to move my aim a head's or a limb's width to get a shot at a stationary target. I didn't have a hope landing shots without the use of the - incredibly nifty - slow-motion power.
Halo did the twin-stick console FPS control scheme so well that each and every FPS designer needs to study it. If you can't make it any better, just copy it. There have been examples of working alternatives; for instance, I never cringed at Battlefield 2's controls. You can look past spotty graphics, but if you don't feel like you're in control, you just can't enjoy the game.
All that said, I remain enthusiastic about the game. Maybe I can learn to live with the controls, but that's really the wrong way around.
Regardless of controls, there were also quite a few graphical glitches, but I'm willing to look past that to bask in the glory of the supremely satisfying bullet-trails, particle effects and chunks blown off the environment. We'll see how it all hangs together after a couple of play-throughs of the demo.
Edit: All right, taking the sensitivity down a lot helped with the aiming. The movement still feels clunky, but I believe I can live with it, now.
Come to think of it, I shouldn't be surprised. Monolith's games have always felt weird to control, all the way back from Shogo and No One Lives Forever. Regardless, those two titles are among my all-time favorite games, which just proves that a game is more than the sum of its parts.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Tokyo Game Show and X06
TGS & X06
I really do love Xbox Live. I like the ease of playing online games. I like the community system. I like to download demos and videos. I like the way it allows publishers to patch the games I've bought from them bugged.
Now I'm all excited about Live bringing the Tokyo Game Show and X06 to my home. No more relying on blogs and news sites to cover the press releases. No more waiting one to two months to get magazine coverage on the events. These events generate excitement on Live mainly because of their exclusivity: much of the content is for Live users only, only available through the 360 dashboard and only available for about a week.
Many new demos are expected. Personally I can't wait for FEAR. (Edit: Oh! And Gundam: Operation Troy! As I've said before.) There will also be new videos, video coverage of press events, interviews and whatnot. A great way to get ready for the coming game season!
Microsoft is yet again demonstraring that it understands the internet. This is refreshing when compared to recent events with some other monoliths of gaming.
Battlefield 2
In game journal type of things, I've played Battlefield 2 lots more. Now that I've seen some of the other maps (a total of five, I think, of the game's 16!), I understand why BridgeTooFar and Backstab are so popular. Still, I'm left wondering whether there are some more gems among the rest of the maps. I'm not convinced I'll ever find out, though, because it feels like a good four fifths of all games are played on these two maps.
There is just so much to do in BF. I love driving a tank and flying a chopper. And who wouldn't love being a gunner? And the feel of taking a flag together with a good crew is just priceless, especially if there's heavy opposition.
The game's totally worthless manual disgusts me, though. I still don't know what the "PPH" in my game stats means. (Edit: well okay, I googled it. Points Per Hour. Logical, really.)
There's also been one annoying problem: sometimes the game just won't display a friend or foe marker on some guy and when in doubt, I tend to blast away. I've killed three mates because of this. It sucks to be voted to be kicked from the server!
I really do love Xbox Live. I like the ease of playing online games. I like the community system. I like to download demos and videos. I like the way it allows publishers to patch the games I've bought from them bugged.
Now I'm all excited about Live bringing the Tokyo Game Show and X06 to my home. No more relying on blogs and news sites to cover the press releases. No more waiting one to two months to get magazine coverage on the events. These events generate excitement on Live mainly because of their exclusivity: much of the content is for Live users only, only available through the 360 dashboard and only available for about a week.
Many new demos are expected. Personally I can't wait for FEAR. (Edit: Oh! And Gundam: Operation Troy! As I've said before.) There will also be new videos, video coverage of press events, interviews and whatnot. A great way to get ready for the coming game season!
Microsoft is yet again demonstraring that it understands the internet. This is refreshing when compared to recent events with some other monoliths of gaming.
Battlefield 2
In game journal type of things, I've played Battlefield 2 lots more. Now that I've seen some of the other maps (a total of five, I think, of the game's 16!), I understand why BridgeTooFar and Backstab are so popular. Still, I'm left wondering whether there are some more gems among the rest of the maps. I'm not convinced I'll ever find out, though, because it feels like a good four fifths of all games are played on these two maps.
There is just so much to do in BF. I love driving a tank and flying a chopper. And who wouldn't love being a gunner? And the feel of taking a flag together with a good crew is just priceless, especially if there's heavy opposition.
The game's totally worthless manual disgusts me, though. I still don't know what the "PPH" in my game stats means. (Edit: well okay, I googled it. Points Per Hour. Logical, really.)
There's also been one annoying problem: sometimes the game just won't display a friend or foe marker on some guy and when in doubt, I tend to blast away. I've killed three mates because of this. It sucks to be voted to be kicked from the server!
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