2008 Prediction Results, Plus 10 New 2009 Predictions!
Last year we made 10 predictions for the next 12 months It's time to evaluate our progress and make 10 more predictions for 2009-1010 . First, the results from last year. Not too shabby. Some of the more "out there" ones(Atari and Bushnell, Sierra and the Williams) actually proved to be closer than I thought, while some of the easier ones (Wii, 360) were just dead wrong.
10. Mac gaming will rise to new heights. Publishers will convert PC games to the Mac using next-generation Intel hardware conversion utilities. They will find that testing games for the relatively small number of Mac hardware variations makes their job much easier. IGN will re-launch mac.ign.com. Also, bucking the recent trends, a Mac- gaming-centric print magazine will launch...and the initial issues will sell very well.
OK, we were 1/2 right. Many games are being released as PC/Mac at the same time (Spore, Sims 3). However IGN and most other big sites have
ignored it. Also, game magazines in general in the toilet so there is not a new Mac magazine. Ooops.
9. FMAME (the Flash version of MAME) will be embraced by many unscrupulous game portals. Other Flash-based emulators will follow.
Small Flash game developers will have their games squeezed out of portals and will have to work much harder to make games that will get published. At the same time, an I.P. incident similar to the Facebook "Scrabulous" issue will rock the viral, Flash game world. It will force many domestic U.S./Europe portals to screen games more closely, and start licensing classic game ROMs for use on their sites, further squeezing indie game developers.
We were mostly right on this one. We see what appear to be either ROMs or ports of existing games all over the place, but it has not stemmed the tide of new games. At the same time, the overall quality of Flash games is increasing as well. It is certainly harder to devs to make games that get sponsored these days. Also, the overall quality of games is much higher these days..
8. The kids-based, casual MMOW/MMOG market will face a shakeout. 95% of new offerings will make no money, while the already established properties will fight for a ever shrinking piece of the pie. Two or three major winners will emerge, and developers will look for, and find, their next casual MMOG goldmine: Seniors and retirees who want to relive their lost past in detailed game universes that simulate childhood/teenage/college years gone by. Japanese "dating" simulators will be the model.
Wrong on the first part. Reports state that this area is still exploding. However, seniors and retirees are flocking to Facebook where, indeed they do get to relive their "childhood", but it's their actual childhood, not a virtual one.
7. Chris Crawford's brilliant interactive story telling engine Storytron will come out of beta with a new, perfected version of "Balance Of Power". Even though it offers a very compelling retro- casual game experience, it will be criminally overlooked because it lacks a pretty interface.
OK, I teed this one up for myself so I was bound to get one right. Crawford released a version of Balance Of Power for Storytron...and no one noticed.
6. Playstation Home will finally be "released". It will be a surprising hit among families who desire an MMO-style experience, but don't want to pay monthly fees. Along with a higher adoption-rate for Blu-Ray, the PS3 will catapult to a solid #2 position in the console wars. Microsoft will attempt to gain a more casual audience with a re- vamped and re-priced Xbox360, but the effort will not be enough to get them out of 3rd place. Hardcore gamers will gather around the PC and 360 with Live as their last stand against the casual gaming zombie hordes.
Completely wrong. the 360 is still taking off, and Playstation Home, while a fine product, is not really any kind of destination. Furthermore I now own a 360. The addition of Netflix downloads to the 360 changed everything.
5. Spore will be a fine, fun game that satisfies the midcore/casual market. However, it will disappoint and alienate the hardcore gamer segment, and the backlash will last for months. The game will still sell bucket loads and will prompt several big-cost, high profile imitators...that will all fail. The only successful imitation will be a free, advertising based game created by a team of college students using Flash.
Again, part right, part wrong (I should just go with my gut and not add anything extra to these). Spore was hit, but it was also a disappointment to hardcore gamers. There are have been noticeable knock offs because the game was just not that good.
4. Activision will abandon the Sierra label once and for all. A reinvigorated Ken and Roberta Williams will buy the name at a fire- sale price, and re-launch Sierra as a casual game company. They will take the classic Sierra adventure game style, and create new, 2D/3D adventure games for the cell phones, the web (Flash viral) and as downloadable games for Wiiware, Xbox Live and Playstation Home. They will launch with a new version of King's Quest, followed by a unique new Al Lowe game, plus new entries for Police Quest and Space Quest.
All of this is just staging for their grand-plan: a re-launch of the The Sierra Network, as a new smash-hit Sims-like MMOG that allows all players to create their own adventure games (and other games) within the game playing universe.
Activision is still looking to sell Sierra, so this was mostly correct. At any rate, they don't respect the Sierra name at all any longer. Sierra.com does not exists any more...but sierragamers.com does exists and it is run by...Ken and Roberta Williams! Hmm. The blog says that they are very sad at the demise of Sierra. Could a purchase come next? This one is also still highly in-play.
3. While indie, viral Flash Game services like Mochiads, FlashGameLicense, GameJacket, Kongregate, etc. continue to increase their professionalism and service offerings, most large publishers houses and ad agencies will continue to ignore them, opting instead to focus on aging online ad services and the already saturated "Facebook"
market.
True, these services are still got mostly unnnoticed. What I missed was the "shakeout" that brought-down Game Jacket, and the subsequent flurry of activity around microtransactions.
2. Nolan Bushnell's Uwink Media Bistro will finally expand to several new markets. However, a lawsuit will force the company to change their name. Luckily, at the same time Infogrames will finally decided to drop the "Atari" moniker and go back their real roots (i.e. as a French game company mining their past for inspiration. Their first release will the Civil War themed Blue And Grey 2010). Bushnell, flush with cash from selling his life-story for the upcoming Atari movie, will swoop in and buy the name back from Infogrames. Uwink will change their name to "Atari Family Game Centers", and among their new game offerings, will feature classic Atari games in a new retro/casual/ midcore multi-player setting.
UWink has started to morph itself away from a restaurant company and into a technology company. They have spun off the technology into Tapcode, and now offer it for the service industry in general. So did change their name, but not because of a lawsuit. Also, Infogrames did decide to drop the Atari name in some markets. At the same time Midway and Time Warner Interactive are merging. Much of this idea is still in-play, so there is still a chance for this one too.
1. Wii Too: 2009 will bring the launch of Nintendo's new "Wii Too", a revamped and repackaged version of the Wii console. While the base hardware will remain similar to the current Wii, new production efficiencies will allow for much cheaper parts and the addition of new features. The console design will feature greatly expanded internal memory, HDMI output, DVD playback, the ability to download and play 480p movies via a new movie service, and expand the number if Wiimotes that can connect to a single console from 4 to 16. The console will come packed with a new Wiimote that combines the features of the the standard Wiimote, Wii -Motion, and an added microphone for further game-play possibilities. The new console will be packed with Wii Sports Resort to take advantage of Wii-Motion.
I, honestly, do not understand why this one has not occurred yet. all of the parts are in-place, but Nintendo has simply not made new version of the Wii. I check the news every day for an announcement. I was wrong, but I still think this one is imminent.
OK, now for our 2009-2010 predictions. I'm going to try to keep these simple this year:
10. Microtransactions In Flash Games Will Struggle. Too many games, too few people willing to pay. The most successful service will be Mochicoins, but it will still struggle with quality vs. what people are willing to pay for. However, a few very well made and successful games will point towards the future.
9. Adobe will announce a new version of Flash that makes AS3 much more accessible for artists and designers. Also, real 3D support will be finally added to Flash. At the same time, Silverlight 3 will start making in-roads, but mostly for corporate applications, on the 360, and on Sharepoint web sites.
8. Atari will officially do something on the web in regards to their classic game library. It will be too little too late.
7. Web Surfing on the 360. Microsoft will open-up the 360 to web browsing...but without Flash support (just like the iPhone). however, Silverlight will be supported. Silverlight web games will become a new "home brew" dev platform for 360 games.
6. Even though it has robust Flash and HTML 5 support, the Palm Pre will be a dud (at least in the USA into the foreseeable future). Sprint is is the only carrier right now, plus the CrackBerry is killing in corporate market, while the iPhone has a lock on consumers mind share and handheld phone gaming. That leaves early adopters and Sprint customers.
5. Also, even though there was nerd backlash, Diablo 3 will be released and it will generate a huge, massive, amazing ocean of cash for Blizzard. A new "Ultima" branded single player Diablo-like game will be announced by Electronic Arts. Sadly, Richard Garriott will not be involved.
4. A new console from a MAJOR company will be announced. It will be download-only and will support games from multiple platforms (Flash, PC, emulated, etc.). This could also come in the form of set-top box that "rents" games ala Netflix directly over the internet.
3. The PC will fall even further away as a platform for AAA game titles, but indie and web games using Flash, Unity and and Instant Action will pick-up much of the slack.
2. The Atari/Bushnell Movie will take a drastic turn in tone when Will Farrell replaces Leonardo Decaprio in the lead role, and Seth Rogan is cast as Al Alcorn. However, it It will nothing compared the switch in tone for the "Asteroids" movie when Universal casts Jack Black as "Medium Sized Rock".
1. A great new book on AS3 Flash Game Development will be published. You will all will love it and will buy a copy. Also, that "How To Create Blog Posts That Hypnotize And Influence Your Readers" e-book I bought last year will finally pay off.
One Of The Best Mainstream Game Articles In A Long Time: The Magic of Wii Sports Resort @ IGN
Michael Thomsen @ wii.ign.com has written what I believe is one of the best gaming articles I have ever read. His piece, The Magic of Wii Sports Resort is notable not just for it's structure and style, but also for its sentiment and passion.
Thomson writes about about game narrative, or in Wii sports Resort, the lack of narrative. However, his views on this are similar to mine: great games don't need to force a story on the player, especially if they are designed so the player can make their own story through the act of actually interacting with the game.
Here is an excerpt:
"Wii Sports Resort,
like its predecessor, is one of the greatest games ever made. In every
aspect, it offers an experience that could only happen in game. Its
systems are carefully balanced, fantastically sensitive, and take place
in a narrative web that rewards continued play. While it lacks a clear
plot, dramatic scripting, characterization, and impassioned acting,
those are all artifacts from older media. None are intrinsic to the art
of expression through interaction."
Even if you don't agree, it's great to see this kind of old-school print-magazine-style writing starting to appear on-line from major sources. Bravo!
Wii Motion Plus/Wii Sports Resort : First Impressions
I picked-up my reserved copy of Wii-Motion Plus/Wii Sports Resort yesterday at Target. My first impression is this:
No Need To Reserve It.
There were many many copies, and not too many buyers. I also noticed that Target was giving away a free game with every Wii sold. Wow, what a difference a year makes.
Since we were preparing for my wife's birthday today, I did not get much of chance to play last night. However, after everyone finally fell asleep at about 10:30 last night, I slipped downstairs and turned on the Wii for this first time in about a month.
Inside the box is an actual game-box for Wii sports Resort (Cool. Unlike Wii sports that had no box so we all had to download a fake one a create it ourselves..oops, I maybe only uber-nerds like me did that, but so what?), and new rubber "enclosure" for the Wiimote and Wii-motion-Plus combo.
My next impression was this:
The Wiimote Is Now Huge!
Honestly, it feels very substantial now. There are obvious anatomy jokes to be made here, but forget those. Think Star Wars Lightsaber instead. Yes. It feels like one now. If you are an uber-geek, imagine that the Wii-Motion Plus is the Adegan crystal that you need to fuse into your lightsaber handle (Wiimote) to give it color and power...oops, I've gone too far again, haven't I?
Honestly though, the promise of the Wiimote for me has always been a decent Star Wars game using a lightsaber. The original Wiimote was just not "aligned with The Force" enough to pull it off. However. Wii-motion appears to promise something better.
Upon booting Wii Sports Resort for the first time (and after going through the some what amusing Sky-Diving title sequence) you are dropped into the game select screen. From here. I instantly picked "Sword fighting" and I was off to do battle.
To get Wii-motion Plus to work properly, you need to first place the device on a flat surface to it can calibrate. Then, you will also need to point it directly at the screen and press [B] at the start of each battle. This may sound annoying, but you get used to it.
So, how is the sword fighting?
It is awesome.
Yes, I've said it. Awesome. You will notice that the new Wii-motion Plus "crystal" seems to work as promised. The sword really seems to move at a 1:1 ratio with your own movements. Swing right, left, upper-cut, or crash down from the top. It all seems to just work. It helps that the first few opponents don't fight back. Dispatching them is like the Jedi fighting those stupid robots in Episode II. Sure, the setting is fencing arena at beach resort, but that doesn't stop it from feeling like Star Wars anyway. You grab the Wii-Mote+Wii Motion Plus with two hands, and swing it around like every kid since 1977 has grabbed and swung a wrapping paper-role on Christmas morning. But this time, instead of getting in trouble for whacking your brother on the back of the neck and sending him crashing across the living room, you get to fight Mii's (albeit new versions, with legs) whacking them until they fall into the Sarlacc pit...err I mean, off the raised platform and into the ocean.
Search your feelings Luke...
I played some of the other games, and they were fine, but the Sword Fighting was all I cared about. Honestly, it felt like it was 1979, playing Asteroids and imagining I was flying an X-Wing shooting Tie-Fighters instead of space rocks. Just that experience is worth the $49.99. Tonight I'll try it with two players, and go in-depth with some of the other games, but really none of that will matter much.
I'm sold.
This is what I've been waiting for almost 3 years.
E3: Gaming Cameras For Motion Control: Have They Really Thought This Through?
Both Microsoft and Sony announced camera-based game control solutions at E3 2009. At the same time, Nintendo has said they rejected this kind of technology years ago in favor of the Wii-mote. Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President said recently:
"Until they say when they're releasing it, how much it costs and what software it comes with, we won't know whether that is the route we should have taken. However... I think they couldn't choose to release exactly the same thing." (link)
I have to say, that while the demos for Project Natal were neat, I tend to think that Nintendo is on to something.
Here is a question for you: Have you ever played a game that uses a camera as the control mechanism? I have owned both the Eye-Toy for the PS2 and the camera for the XBox 360. While I like them both, but they both have some major problems. While these are not exactly what Microsoft and Sony have announced (but in part, they are the same too), there are some fundamental problems with camera control that go beyond any kind of new tech:
Take a look at this Microsoft demo before we begin.
OK, this looks pretty neat. The body movement tracking looks amazing. The "Richochet" game, especially, looks really cool. The full-body control is a dream-come-true for someone like me, who would love a full-movement soccer game to play in my living room the likes of which the Wii could never handle in it's current state. However, watch segment with "Abbie" and "Richochet" closely again, and you will notice some things that make "Natal" seem less promising than it looks at first.
1. Distance
Look how far Abbie is from the screen. It looks like about 20 feet. From my experience with these types of cameras (Eye toy, 360 Camera) this is not an insignificant detail. In many instances, you need to be an almost exact distance from the camera to play a game correctly. I realize that a 3D camera is involved too, but so is standard camera. This could mean that something like this might only work in giant space. (20' x 20'?) Also, the "3D" camera means that depth is factor, and again, that means that an unspecified large, clear space is needed. At least with the Wiimote you can simulate space by moving your arm. With Natal, you have no choice but to have a large, clear, open area.
2. Background
Notice that you don't see the any of the "background" in either demo. The "background" meaning what the people are standing in-front of. That is because it is nearly impossible to use one of these cameras in a regular person's living room. They software tries very hard, but eliminating the "background noise" to get a good view of just the player is very difficult. Even if this does work, it opens another issue. Where do other players sit? How can someone watch you play?. If you are playing in front of the TV, between you and the couch, no one can effectively sit behind you. They either mess-up the camera with their movement, or they can't see because you are jumping around in front of them. The idea that this is a device for social play in the living room kind-of goes out the window.
3. Gamer Height
This one is huge for me. The problem with camera in the past has been that they need to optimized for the current player. This is fine if, say, two 5 year olds are playing, or two 39 year olds. They are relatively the same height, and adjustments should be minuscule. However, try to play an "Eye Toy" game with a 39 year old AND a 5 year old. One of you, honestly, gets screwed. Either the camera gets the 39 year old's top 1/2 and just the head or the 5 year old, or all of the 5 year old, and just the legs of the 39 year old. It may seem like Natal is great for family gaming, but in my experience it only leads to frustration. You can try to fix this problem by adjusting the camera, and it's placement, but that is also very difficult. Finding the right position for the camera is a daunting task. With Natal there will be TWO camera. Oh lord. You can probably alleviate the issue with a large room, but then we are back to #1. How much space is required to make this kind of play control useful?
4. Multiple Players
Trying to get multiple players to play a game at the same time in-front of a camera is not a task for the faint of heart. Microsoft touts Natal as being able to discern multiple players, but that is not the main issue. The main issue is "camera time". If a person get in front of the camera and hogs the view, it really doesn't matter if the system can tell who it is. It won't be able to see the other person very well. Add to this the fact that actual injuries from ramming into other people are common (at least in my house) as were fights about who was a camera hog. Wiimotes suffer from some of this too, but the advantage is that the system does not have to actually see you in line-of-sight, which means you simple have more options for how you play with another person. The 3D camera might make this problem moot, but if there is still a regular camera involved (as Microsoft has stated) I can't see how it will not be a factor.
So am I just a complainer? Maybe. This article refutes some of these complaints (by pointing out how Natal uses Infrared to track players) but not all of them. we won't really know until we see more actual games in action.
Look, in all honesty, I love the idea of Natal and camera-based control mechanisms. I WANT to play that full-body soccer game (and no, I won't settle for only playing goal tender) However, I've already been suckered into buying two camera-based systems in the past, and even though they promise the world in their demos, I've been mostly frustrated when trying to play with them in my living room.
PC Gamer Subscription Chronicles 2: Into The Black Hole
PC Gamer Subscription Chronicles 2: Into The Black Hole
In the first entry of this series, I relayed a mildly amusing story of how PC Gamer has inexplicably lost my new subscription, The event is seemingly suspect as it came directly after I published an article that was mildly critical of their magazine.
If you recall, when we left off, I had written this message to the PC Gamer subscription service:
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionExcuse me. but you are mistaken.
My subscription STARTED with the January 2009 issue.
I received just two issues. You still owe me 10 issues.Please send me the two issues that I missed, plus the next 8 issues.
Thanks,
Steve Fulton
Here was the response:
To: Steve Fulton
From: PC Gamer
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionThank you for contacting PC Gamer.
We are unable to locate your payment.
Please provide any additional information about your payment, so we
may correct your subscription. Due to security reasons, please do
not include credit card or account numbers in your reply. Should you
need to provide that information, please contact us at the address below or call us.PC Gamer
So, as I expected. since I bought the subscription through a magazine drive and not through PC Gamer directly, they do not have a record of the payment. That is understandable. I decided to give them as much information as I had available in the hope that they could locate something about my mysteriously missing subscription.
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionI purchased the subscription through a magazine drive, either through
Girl's Scouts or at my daughter's school. All payments were made by
check, and it was for a whole set of magazines (not just PC Gamer). I
received a subscription card with a code that I had to type-in on-line
to get the subscription started.After I typed in the code, I received the January 2009 issue (In
December), and the February 2009 issue (in January) and then the
subscription ceased arriving in my mail box.I'm not sure what else to say. I've NEVER had a subscription cease 2
issues into a year, and then have the company claim that I never had a
subscription in the first place. Why did I get the first 2 issues of
this year if my subscription ended in December 2008?If, for some bizarre reason, I only bought a "2-issue" subscription,
why would your system say that I did not renew in December 2008?One question: Is there any history of school magazine drive companies
not making the payments to you, and you guys stopping subscriptions?Here is the full # from my first shipping label (if that helps)
#xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks,
Steve Fulton
So now I suspect the magazine drive company. They seem to prey on small schools. They have all these 'cool' young adults come in and make a presentation to little kids to make it seem 'cool' to basically become annoying door-to-door solicitors selling stuff that people really could live without want or could easily find if they really wanted it in the first place. I recall both my school age daughters both very excited about the drive and about the crap-tastic prizes they could win ("a free can of green slime dad, if we sell 100 subscriptions!. "). It seemed underhanded at the time, as did the process to claim your subscriptions when they arrived, which involved a certificate that came in the mail several codes that had to be entered via the web. It was almost as if they hoped people forgot to to use it, kind of like a gift card. As well, there was no cancelled check or receipt, and I have lost the original certificates (there seemed to be no reason to save them at the time duh!).
Anyway, Here was what PC Gamer found.
To: Steve Fulton
From: PC Gamer
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionThank you for contacting PC Gamer.
We are unable to locate your order placed through an independent sales agency.
You will need to contact the agency using the information provided to you.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. To ensure your future concerns are handled in a timely fashion, please include all previous e-mail correspondence
Sincerely,
xxxxxx (cs rep #1)
So they found nothing.
Was I completely nuts? I bought a subscription, issues arrived in the mail, and then that subscription just disappeared.
However, I was still not willing to let them off the hook. I sent this in response.
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionWhy did I receive 2 issues of 12 issues subscription if my subscription never existed?!?!?
Was it magic?
Was it a coincidence that I bought a subscription and then for some odd reason issues started to arrive in my mail box, but for some reason OTHER THAN the fact that I bought a subscription?
Where would the account information go?
Does any of this make sense?
Does this happen often?Thanks,
Steve Fulton
You see, there was NO REASON for me to get any issues of PC Gamer in the mail unless I had purchased a subscription, and likewise, there was NO REASON for that subscription to cease arriving. I had started to see that this was going no where. I was not willing to buy a new subscription. I figured all hope was lost. then I received this in the email.
To: Steve Fulton
From: PC Gamer
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionThank you for contacting PC Gamer.
We have located a subscription for the person whose name and address appears below. Please verify if this is your subscription.
If not, please provide the information exactly as it appears on your address label, including the account number located above your name. Upon receipt, we will process the necessary adjustments.
STEVE FULTON
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxx
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. To ensure your future concerns are handled in a timely fashion, please include all previous e-mail correspondence.
Sincerely,
(cs rep #2)
My God! They had done it. They found it! My subscription did exist. I was not crazy. There WAS a logical a reason why I was receiving issues of a PC Gamer in the mail, and it had to do with the SUBSCRIPTION I PURCHASED. This was sent by a second customer service rep (they were now naming themselves instead of just putting PC Gamer at the bottom of the message).
In my excitement, I sent this message:
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionYes! That is me.
I am that person.Will I get any more issues?
-Steve Fulton
A couple days layer, I received this response.
To: Steve Fulton
From: PC Gamer
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionThank you for contacting PC Gamer.
Our records indicate your subscription expired with the December 2008 issue. Would you like us to renew your subscription and send an invoice for the amount due?
The additional issues you are receiving are complimentary. If you prefer, please pass them on to a friend, school, or library.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. To ensure your future concerns are handled in a timely fashion, please include all previous e-mail correspondence.
Sincerely,
xxxxx (cs rep #3)
????
A 3rd customer service rep has basically taken this whole thing right back to the beginning.
And what was this about:
The additional issues you are receiving are complimentary. If you prefer, please pass them on to a friend, school, or library.
Huh? What additional issues? I BOUGHT A #@$! SUBSCRIPTION. Since this is yet another customer service rep, I get the feeling they keep passing my emails around the office, trying to come up with more and more humorous excuses as to why they lost my subscription!
In a way understand them. Their job must totally suck, and if they can get some mild enjoyment out of my lost subscription, then a salute them.
However, Instead of actually getting some place, I had entered the PC Gamer subscription black hole. I checked the PC Gamer customer service site, and indeed, my record said that my subscription started November 2007, and ended Dec. 2008. It also said I filed a "Change Of Address" in November 2008. Of course, none of this was accurate at all. It was either fat-fingered (likely), or (unlikely) changed on purpose. Still not ready to give-up, I launched this final query:
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue QuestionNo!!!
This was the whole point of my original email.
I bought a NEW subscription in November 2008.
I have not had a subscription for a few years prior to November 2008.
I received 2 issues, one in December, one in January.
Then my issues stopped arriving.The issues WERE NOT complimentary. They were the FIRST issues of my NEW subscription.
There is NO REASON I would have started getting issues again, unless I had a NEW subscription. the subscription I purchased in November 2008.Again, to summarize, I have not had a subscription to PC Gamer for several years. I bought a new subscription in November 2008. I only received 2 issues. I want the rest of my subscription.
Thanks,
Steve Fulton
No matter, I believe all hope is lost. It is no wonder these types magazines are failing. People who legitimately buy them can't even get them or read them. I've subscribed to magazines my entire life. I've probably had 100+ subscriptions of both large and small publications. In all that time, something like this has only ever happened once: right now. I'm not sure who is at fault, but it doesn't really matter. To me, game magazines are teetering over their edge of their own grave, and they themselves will give the final, necessary nudge to end it all.
Game Magazine Subscriptions Cancelled? Credit/Refund might Be Waiting For You.
Have you lost out on a game magazine subscription (or any other subscription) in the past couple years because the publication has ceased operations?
Well, if you bought the subscription through any kind of "magazine drive" (Girl Scouts, School promotion, door-to-door, etc.) you probably actually bought (unknown to you) it through QSP. (Quality School Plan).
I have been having trouble with my subscription to PC Gamer, and finally after many emails, PC Gamer customer Service gave me the phone number of QSP.
QSP took my zip-code and full name, and they were able to see nearly every subscription that I had ordered in the past few years. Not only that, but two of them (a failed PC Gamer subscription from 2007, and a recent subscription to EGM that halted after they stopped publishing) qualified for a FULL CREDIT.
I ordered a couple different subscriptions (Rolling Stone, Nickelodeon), but the point is, had I *not* called QSP, I would have had no idea that I could get a credit/refund or other magazines from past failed subscriptions. The publisher sure did not inform me of this when the magazines stopped coming. Anyway, if you have had a recent subscription cancelled/falied/ceased publication magazine that have not followed-up on, it might be wise to call them and ask about the status.
Here is the contact info:
QUALITY SCHOOL PLAN
PO BOX 10203
DES MOINES State: IA
50336
800-678-2673
By the way, this call to QSP has still not cleared-up my bizarre missing subscription to PC Gamer from 2008,but I feel a bit better now about other game mag subscriptions (especially EGM)that I have lost in recent time.
PC Gamer Subscription Chronicles #1: Where Are My #$@! Magazines?
Some of you who have been paying close attention may have seen this story from back in December. Back then I thought it would be fun to do a review of PC Gamer Magazine. I had just started a new subscription through my daughter's Girl Scout magazine drive. Since it is the last domestic USA computer game magazine left in publication, I figured it might be enjoyable to take a close look at what computer game magazines have become in the 21st century.
Soon after this story was published, my issues of PC Gamer stopped arriving in my mail box. Since I was only 2 issues into my 12 month subscription, I thought it was kind of odd. I have still not received any new issues since January.
While I do not seriously think that PC Gamer would halt my subscription because of a silly blog (one that gave them a score of 81%), I have been having a lot of trouble getting PC Gamer to realize that my subscription was halted after only 2 issues.
Anyway, I have decided that it might be fun to document my correspondence with the PC Gamer subscription service, because so far it has been maddening. I realize that this process could amount to nothing, or it could be pure comedy gold. We'll have to wait and see which way it goes.
Below are the first 3 messages we have traded:
To:PC Gamer customer Service
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: Missing Issues
Dear PC Gamer,
I have not received the
March 2009 Issue
April 2009 Issue
Please send them to me.
Thanks,
Steve Fulton
Simple and to the point. Right? Well, apparently not to PC Gamer.
To: Steve Fulton
From: PC Gamer
Subject: re: Missing Issue Question
Thank you for contacting PC Gamer.
We have not received a renewal order; therefore, your subscription
expired with the December 2008 issue.
If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. To ensure your
future concerns are handled in a timely fashion, please include all
previous e-mail correspondence.
Sincerely,
xxxx
OK, that was bizarre. I never mentioned a renewal. I never even mentioned anything about December 2008, because I have not had a subscription to PC Gamer for several years. In fact, that date seemed to have been pulled from no where. Odd.
Here is my response:
To: PC Gamer
From: Steve Fulton
Subject: re: Missing Issue Question
Excuse me. but you are mistaken.
My subscription STARTED with the January 2009 issue.
I received just two issues. You still owe me 10 issues.
Please send me the two issues that I missed, plus the next 8 issues.
Thanks,
Steve Fulton
Again, short and to the point. I'm very interested in seeing where this will go. I really just wish they would restart my subscription, but something tells me that it won't be that easy...
Steve's List Of The Top-10 Most Insanely Addictive Mid-Core Game Ever Created
OK, this is kind of "time-out" from other content. While I'm working on some Silverlight entries, new Flash games, etc, I thought I would go back a bit and name my Top-10 "Insanely Addictive" games of all time. These are not necessarily the "best" games of all time, just the ones that stole a good chunk of my life! Most of these games are also perfect for the so-called "Mid-Core" Gamer.
10. Tetris
Arguably the first great "casual" game, Tetris is still amazingly addictive. Fitting those little 4-square shapes into one another has never grown old. Better games have emerged since its release, but this one had to make the list.
9. Bejeweled
Who knew that swapping gems to get three in a row (or more) could be so compelling? I never played this one until I had it on my AT&T phone about 6 years ago. This was the game that proved to me that gaming would soon move away from traditional consoles and PCs and to other platforms.
8. Arkanoid
Breakout might be one of my favorite games, but Arkanoid was the game that put Breakout back on the map in the 80's. With power-ups, multiple balls, well-crafted levels, this was one amazing update to an already addictive game. I've never counted, but this might be the game that "restarted" the most times in row. I believe I once sat and played for 5 hours, with an average game time of 2 minutes.
7. Crash Bandicoot
I know other people love Mario, but my first "Platform" love was Crash Bandicoot on the PSX. This was the first game I bought in 1996 for the console (the first console I had since the Atari 7800 in 1986). My wife and I stayed up all night to play through the amazingly gorgeous and intriguing levels of this game. Sadly, Later Crash games were never able to the pure joy of this title.
6. Bookworm Deluxe/Adventures
Making words from a grid of blocks was never this much fun (unless you count Boggle). Who knew that coming-up with longer and longer words would be so rewarding? The modern "Adventure" version only added to the addictiveness by giving players a reason to make all those words. However, I'm still waiting for a Mac version.
5. Pinball Hall Of Fame" Williams Collection (Wii)
Yes, you read that right. This is the finest pinball simulation ever made. The "Williams Challenge" in which you try to score a certain amount points on successive tables until you have played all of the ones in the game might be the most diabolically addictive challenge ever created. I've tried to complete it for 12 months, and I still have not done it. Still, I'm compelled to try again and again.
4. Roller Coaster Tycoon
The original Roller Coaster Tycoon not only started the "Tycoon" genre, but was also a true "play all night long" kind of game. Sure, it was in 2D and you could not "ride" the rides, but it was also an amazingly detailed and compelling simulation that was never played the same way. Later sequels could never capture the true beauty and ease of the use of this first game.
3. Pac-Man Championship Edition
Pac-Man? Yes Pac-Man. You must play this one to understand. This game made me realize that the arcade games of the 80's did not die-off because people got tired of simple arcade challenges, but because no one thought to make anything as awesome as this game. In a sense, it is simply Pac-Man. The rules are nearly the same and so are the mechanics to the game: the difference is the way the levels, power-up, dots, walls, and prizes are presented. I can't think of a better or more addictive arcade game old or new.
2. Dune II
Forget that rare Genesis game that no one played but everyone tries to convince themselves they discovered, this one was the true father of the RTS. Every RTS that followed basically remade this game (even if it made no sense: i.e. mining resources and building factories on the WWII battlefront). Building little armies and guiding them to win little real-time battles was insanely addictive. The first time I conquered an enemy base in this game was a transcendental experience. No RTS game I played afterwards could match that feeling.
1. Puzzle Quest
This deep and detailed game with seemingly 100's of hours of play value is the culmination of every game written about above. I don't think there are enough histrionic adjectives in the dictionary to fairly describe just how awesome (and awesomely mid-core) this game really is. As a combination match-3/adventure/RPG, Puzzle Quest seems like an odd combination at first, but by the time you actually understand the rules (maybe 10-20 hours of play) it becomes abundantly clear just how much care and design went into this experience. I firmly believe that this game and its recent sequel will go down as some of the finest games ever created.
Everybody's doing it, so why not do it too…
Everybody's doing it, so why not do it too...
Getting an Xbox 360 that is.
I have been on a "vacation" for the last 2 weeks from my day job. This "vacation" hasn't equated into much game programming time (although I have started work on a Mac game using TntBasic). While I have been spending much of that time running errands for Christmas and my son's birthday, etc, one other thing that has taken most of my time: TRAFFIC SCHOOL! I got a speeding ticket in November and to keep from having to pay too much extra on my insurance I am able to clear the "point" off my driving record by taking an online traffic school.
The school I chose took me through 16 long boring chapters filled with technical details on driving rules, regulations, and jargon - did you know the a green light that has been green for quite some time and might turn yellow soon is called a "stale" green light? I haven't taken a written test in years, and the culmination of the 16 eye gouging chapters was a 25 question test based off the reading material. I'm not going to tell you the name of the school (unless you email me to ask), but it was advertised as "Comedy, fun, easy, cartoons" - it was ANYTHING BUT. I learned that AFTER paying my tuition.
It not being comedy, etc wouldn't have been so bad if the material had not been written by some insane mad man, hell bent on making sure each and every one of his 10,000 horribly dry words on California safe driving were emplanted in my brain for future regurgatation. Sprinkled throughout each chapter were 3-4 random non-sequetors that had to be memorized because they would show up on end of the chapter test. For example, while reading the 500 deeply technical words on the subject of street sign and curb colors, a sentence like this would show up:
"Some colors are not colors at all. The author likes grey and silver best. His shoes are leather, but the soft kind".
Needless to say, late at night, when I was skimming the legal wording, looking for the point of each paragraph I would have to write down each of these inane scribblings to ensure that I would be able to pass the chapter test to move on. Maddeningly, the test questions at the end of each chapter seemed to have been written at random. For example after a chapter on safety equipment there was a question on seat belt usage laws. The law is pretty clear that the driver is responsible for everyone under the age of 16 to wear a belt of some kind, and everyone over that age is responsible for themselves. Only, when I got to the question on the law it was not about this at all. It looked something like this"
"Which one of the following is NOT true about seat belt restraints and minors"?
1. It is your moral responsibility to ensure that everyone over the age of 16 is belted in.
2. It is your moral responsibility to ensure that everone under of the of 16 is belted in.
3. Legally you cannot smoke in the car with a minor (WTF?)
4. Infants can ride in the front seat as long as they don't play with the radio
5. All of the above
Nothing in the LAW says anything about morality and seat belts! But #1 was the correct answer. After re-reading the text a few times I figured out why, but still, the questions should have been about the actual material, not based on the opinions on the author. For the final, there some provided sample tests and most of the questions were again worded based on the feelings of the author, not on the laws. I guess they do this to make sure I read all of the chapters and didn't just go read the DMV manual, but boy was it difficult to figure out what answer they wanted for at least 1/2 of the questions.
Luckily I was able to do 5 or 6 practice tests and in doing so I encountered about 75% of the questions that showed up on the final. So, I needed 80% to pass, 75% were in the bag because I did so much preparation. The final 25%, while not easy, were still easier once I figured out the assinine conventions that author used to word his questions. I figure that I probably got 22 out of 25. Anyway, I don't recommend anyone use the company I did, so if you are in need of a California Traffic school (online version), send an email and I'll tell you one NOT to use.
I mentioned to my wife that I want a 360 for my birthday (late January) but today when we were hitting the Costco for some jumbo-sized bargains we came across a pallet of Xbox 360 Holiday Packs (Xbox + extra controller, 2 games, charger, and 3 downloadable arcade titles). She (unbelievably) said,
"Why don't we get one right now, you finished your traffic school today!"
"SCORE!!!!!", was how I replied.
Earlier in the day I had explained to her that I need to keep up my gamer street cred and that I was falling behind the times without a 360. I don't think that impressed her as much as Steve showing her the 10,000 Netfix DVDs on demand that he has, the way he has set up his 360 as a media hub (all the kids photos and videos are her finger tips..), or the way all of his iMac media files are available right on the network through the TV. Actually, she saw how much time I wasted on that awful traffic school test and decided that I would be less angry if I got a new toy. Nice move! She knows me too well.
Anyway, I haven't had time to even break open the box yet, but I will tomorrow. I don't have any ethernet cable near my TV, so I either need to buy one of those adapters that turn my electrical outlets into a network jack, or I need to break down and get the official Xbox360 wireless adapter (score I point for the Wii having one built in).
I will be gamer tag Jeff8bitrocket when I finally get the whole deal going. I can't wait to play the latest Jeff Minter zarjaz...
So now, Zyglot, Cutler, 8bitsteve, Squize, nGfx, and Weird Dreams ... there is one more l8mr newbie out there whose ass is ready to be kicked..
Xbox 360 Adventures #1: Netflix
A few months ago I wrote a prediction that the Xbox 360 would soon die an untimely death. Since then the machine has systematically proved me wrong. It has outsold the PS3, and has done very well against the Wii. Microsoft has cut the price and added features that have made their magic box look more an more attractive. However, a few weeks back they announced one feature that made the Xbox a necessary product for me: Netflix streaming. I've been waiting for an easy way to chuck my DVD collection and access movies and TV programs from an online collection for years now. The on-demand portion of FIOS is just OK, but does not include enough content to really be interesting. iTunes charges far too much for old TV programs and movies, and even though you "own" them, you really don't. You can't transfer them, if you lose them you can't re-download them. It's all very user-unfriendly. However, Netflix streaming is quite different. You have a library of 12,000 or so movies and DVDs at your fingertips, all you have to do is select them and start viewing on your PC. However, viewing on a PC/Mac sucks. The holy grail is to be able to select from a huge library and watch them on my HD plasma TV and Bose speaker set-up.
The Xbox 360 now has this feature, and it is awesome.
Setting it up requires a very simple, manual code exchange between your Netflix account and your Xbox. Once that is complete, you select movies on your PC to put into your "On Demand Queue". Once something is in your queue, you can find the movies and TV programs by going to "Video Market Place" on your Xbox 360 and selecting the Netflix "tab". At that point, it's pure magic. Every movie and TV program you have placed in your queue is available for instant viewing. You flip through the box images with the XBox controller, and select the one you would like to view. If it is a TV program, you can also select the episode you would like to see. After that, depending on the speed of your internet connection, the movie/TV program will start in a couple seconds. Since I have a 20 mbps down/ 5 mbps up FIOS connection, it works amazingly well. The picture quality is near-perfect, as is the frame-rate. In fact, I can detect no difference in quality between Netflix/Xbox 360 and my FIOS On Demand...or a DVD for that matter.
OK, so the quality is good, but what are the drawbacks? Well, there are a couple. First, you cannot browse Netflix from the Xbox 360 and add movies/TV programs. You have to do that from a computer. Second, there are not many "new" movies or TV shows available. Most of the content is from prior to 1990, indie, or of dubious quality (read: those DVDs you find at the 99 cent store). Netflix had much more content, but when the studios is found out about the agreement with Microsoft, they pull some of it out. Also, some of the TV shows do not include all the episodes. Some just say something like "this episode only available on DVD". The good news it that Microsoft is planning to use the Netflix agreement to sell Xbox 360s, so you can be damned sure they will use some of their clout ($$$) to loosen up the archives of major studios.
So why do I like it? Well, it all comes down to cheesy classic TV from the 70's and 80's. As a kid I was a huge fan of shows like Emergency, Adam 12 and Battlestar Galactica. The entirety of those series are readily available. Also, available are "kids" (geared to 13 year old boys at the time) adventure series' from the 80's like Knight Rider, the A-Team, Magnum P.I., Miami Vice, Airwolf and a couple season of McGyver. In fact, the only shows I would like to have but are not currently streaming are CHiPs and the Dukes Of Hazzard.
The other type of content in great supply on Netflix streaming are documentaries. You can find most indie and well known docs from the past few years. My current favorites are Supersize Me and King Of Kong, both of which are currently available. As well, some of the content is available in HD. From my tests, the HS streaming worked fairly well. At one point the stream of The Office stopped to "re-adjust", but afterward I saw no loss in quality.
Before i make it sound like this is treasure trove of old movies and TV only, there are a few new things. The Office is there (both US and British), some newer Disney movies and TV shows (for how long who knows?) and many others. Interestingly, many of the new movies available are the same ones that exist on On Demand versions of Showtime and Starz. (It looks like Netflix has agreements with both services).
My suggestion to Microsoft, Netflix, and all the studios who are holding out on this : run a simple commercial tag at the beginning of each movie/TV show that can ne monetized and rev shared between Netflix and the studios. We already have to sit through those on DVDs and at the movie theater anyway. If it means more content will become available, I'm willing to sit through it. Anyway, (except for a couple Wii games) the TV has not been on anything but the 360 since Christmas day. Netflix streaming is all we have been watching and there have been no complaints from anyone in the family. Now I hear that Microsoft might make a deal with Hulu.com to provide more recent TV episodes to the Xbox 360. If that happens, I will have to seriously reconsider my FIOS TV.