May 2008 Archives
May 12, 2008
Easter Egg Hunt
Yes, I know, I've been gone a while. The lame excuse is that I have a job. The lamer excuse is that I bought a Wii and Mario Kart. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this site, I get an average of five emails a day from my comment filter telling me that xrhgbklafd has soma online pharmacy. But I digress. I'm here to once and for all make a bold claim, one that might be a little unpopular. If you're an opinionated gamer, you're going to hate me. If you're not, you're going to hate this article. I can't lose!
So, what is it that has my hackles up?
I hate unlockable content in videogames.
Yeah, I said it. I hate it. Not dislike. Hate. I understand the idea of it; it adds replay value, it's a little bit of extra reward for playing a lot, and you get to say "Hey, I got this little extra here. That's great!" But the problem is, it means that if you don't unlock those extra things, or you can't, then you tend to feel a little cheated.
I'm a casual gamer. My "games finished" to "games started" ratio isn't particularly high. Oh, sure, I have my games where I'll play nonstop until I beat them, and maybe play a few more times, but they're few and far between. I like to have fun, and that means the games should remain that way. I hate that if you're a casual gamer and you shell out full price for a game so you can play it with your casual gamer friends, you get half a game. If you want to take advantage of all the bits and bobs, you have to plunk yourself down on the couch (often by yourself) and curse your way through all the nooks and crannies of every level.
Secrets have been in video games forever, but it's only as they've become more integral to the game that they've become a problem. If I didn't open up the coin ship in Super Mario Bros. 3, it was okay; I could still play the game. But if, say, I had Mario Kart, and say, one of the coolest things was that you could use your own personalized Mii (your little avatar on the Wii console), but, say, you couldn't use it until you met certain criteria, you might feel...a little put out. Particularly if you're what the kids these days call a "noob", or if the game is...for the sake of argument...@#$%ing impossible.
In fairness, with all of these games, it is possible to play without the unlockable content. And some of them do set the bar somewhat low for some challenges. But I stand by my statement that if the content becomes so central to the game, then it becomes a problem. I feel cheated if I can't play a new level because I didn't score X number of points, or I didn't win a certain challenge. I prefer the old style of "Hey, you got through that last level, here, have another". And I can't ignore it either, because I know deep down that I paid for a game, but I'm only getting an engorged demo. If a golf game has 20 courses, I don't want to just play 12 of them. So I plunk myself down, alone, and clench my teeth. Why? Because suddenly the game stops being fun, and starts being work. I stop focusing on "gee, I'll have fun and just see what happens", and start focusing on winning at all costs. And from here, minor frustrations are amplified, and my patience thins. I just want to be able to play with friends and have fun, but this emphasis on single-player completist gameplay is going to be the death of me.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on May 12, 2008 7:36 PM Permalink
May 23, 2008
What it's going to take for green cars to catch on
There's a lot of buzz going on right now with cars and alternative fuel or electricity. Major car manufacturers are giving in and making cars (or promises of them) that use electric motors or experimental fuels to get us from point A to point B. They've gone from being made for environmentalists and people with dreadlocks and Birkenstocks to being for the sensible family that wants to do their part for the environment. And that might be just the problem.
Now, I'm not going to comment on the feasibility of the technology; I think we have a long way to go yet, but the progress we're making is encouraging. My issue is how to make environmental cars more appealing to the serious gearheads who are clutching to their V8 midlife crises. And you know? I think it CAN be done.
Right now, because of the type of people who buy hybrids and would want an electric car, they're all very sensible, very low key, very A to B. But the serious drivers, and even the 10 year old in all of us, don't WANT sensible. Every car lover, every driver who wants to drive around rather than drive somewhere, everyone who's ever gone to a car show or had a poster of a Lamborghini Countash on their wall wants something insane and vulgar.
Plenty of cars are considered cool for all kinds of reasons: they're fast, they're sexy, they have character, and more. Hybrids, however, are counting on being cool for saving money on gas, or saving the environment. But that's not quite cool in car terms.
Look at the poster child for hybrids: the Toyota Prius. It is, in my opinion, somewhere between ugly and bland. Not great. And particularly surprising, because I love the new styling on every other Toyota passenger car. They've proven that they can make fast cars with aggressive styling...and then they make a lump with a battery in the front. But this doesn't mean all enviro-cars need to be this way.
Take the Chevrolet Volt for example; still in development, this car is fully electrical, and according to one of the woman showing it at the auto show, they've got it up to 160-something horsepower already...and it looks like a serious muscle car! I would have one of those any day, no matter how many extension cords I would need. And that's the thing!
The biggest way to get green cars to catch on is to have them match or exceed the performance of gasoline or diesel; but I think we could speed things up a little if we could spice them up a bit. Even if it only hit 80 kph and I had to hook the battery up to an exercise bike every half hour, I'd buy an electric car if it looked as good as an Aston Martin.
We're still a ways off from totally clean, high performance cars...but I think we could do a little more to make them stylish. Because let's face it...green is cool, but green cars could be cooler.
Until next time,
JW
