In the video game world in general, what are you SICK of????

[briskbc]

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet but I'm going to have to say DDR games. Man I hate DDR games.

[Trellisaze]

I have heard he is working on a new version of Balance of Power.

That would be awesome. I still bust out BoP: 1990 Edition for my Amiga on rare occasion, and I can only imagine how he could enhance the gameplay with today's PCs.

-- Z.

I was under the impression that he was developing the new Balance of Power to show off the Erasmatron. I know that there's a PC version of the Erasmatron reader, but I'm not sure how well it's supported, since Chris Crawford got rid of the Windows version of the development kit.

All of this is probably a moot poit now anyway, since last I checked, the Erasmatron was still very much a work-in-progress.

[calthaer]

I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, as any game that tells a decent story does indeed provide background and immersion, and I can't recall a single game that casts players in a minor supporting role. The difference you seem to suggest depends on a storyline's quality, and not its focus.

If the game has a plot that is completely unalterable in any significant way, I would argue that you are always in a minor supporting role. The whole idea behind games is that they are supposed to be interactive. Pressing a few buttons to make the train-track-linear-story go forward is really no more interactive than flipping a page to read a normal book. I think the point being made is that people want a Choose Your Own Adventure book and not a long-winded and melodramatic Jane Eyre or Tess of the D'Urbervilles (sp?). I would agree with that sentiment - if I want a static story, then lots of movies and books do it far better than most games ever have.

Contrast Chronotrigger or Maniac Mansion, each of which had 4+ endings, with almost all recent story-based games. The last game I remember playing with good multiple endings was Deus Ex. And no - I do not consider a slightly different picture of Samus wearing less clothing the faster you beat the game a different ending.

[bargora]

I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, as any game that tells a decent story does indeed provide background and immersion, and I can't recall a single game that casts players in a minor supporting role. The difference you seem to suggest depends on a storyline's quality, and not its focus.

If the game has a plot that is completely unalterable in any significant way, I would argue that you are always in a minor supporting role. The whole idea behind games is that they are supposed to be interactive. Pressing a few buttons to make the train-track-linear-story go forward is really no more interactive than flipping a page to read a normal book. I think the point being made is that people want a Choose Your Own Adventure book and not a long-winded and melodramatic Jane Eyre or Tess of the D'Urbervilles (sp?). I would agree with that sentiment - if I want a static story, then lots of movies and books do it far better than most games ever have.

Contrast Chronotrigger or Maniac Mansion, each of which had 4+ endings, with almost all recent story-based games. The last game I remember playing with good multiple endings was Deus Ex. And no - I do not consider a slightly different picture of Samus wearing less clothing the faster you beat the game a different ending.

This was a major reason that I loved Colony Wars (the first one, for Playstation). While the plot outline itself (rebels from the colonies oppose the evil empire; sound familiar?) may be derivative, the execution was very cool. Your success or failure in each mission affected both the next mission you were given and the overall course of the game, with a CG cutscene coming every three to four missions to flesh out the course of the conflict. If you get a copy of the game and want to see the overall mission tree, enter the following password:

Commander*Jeffer

The scope of the game and the effort Psygnosis put into the backstory is unlike any other console action game I've ever seen.

And while the branches in the plot are based on your ability to meet mission objectives rather than arbitrary choices you make (excepting a choice to tank a mission), I still thnk that this type of branching plot tree is a great way to make a game hugely replayable and give a player true incentive to seek the best ending. It's too bad that it takes enough effort by the game designer that I've never seen it done to the same degree in another console release. Colony Wars: Vengeance (the second one) had a drastically reduced mission tree, and Coloy Wars: Red Sun (or 3) had you pick missions out of a list, as you were a mercenary type in that one.

The actual in-mission gameplay of Colony Wars may seem a bit shallow these days, but I guess the Playstation just couldn't animate the quantity of ships that you see in a game like Starfighter. And speaking of Starfighter, I greatly prefer the branching plotline of Colony Wars to the "play a mission over repeatedly until you can do it perfectly and maybe we'll unlock something for you" mechanism of Starfighter.

So actually, I can say that I don't care for that sort of mechanism where you play a mission over and over to achieve arbitrary benchmarks and thereby unlock new missions and ships. (Although I didn't mind facing opponents repeatedly in Puzzle Fighter to win things like Sakura's song and alternate Morrigan costumes, but those were simple win/lose propositions, and anyway a foolish consitency is a hobgoblin of small minds.)

[autobotracing]

I cant stand a ton of game sequals that all have the same ending boss



example


almost every mario game the end boss is bowser I mean come on how many times does the beast need his ass to be kicked before he dies


all crash games have dr neo cortex


All sonic games have robotnik



I also hate games that are rushed out because of a movie or whathave you .


I also think that there are way too many garbage games being releaced just because they can IE $10 psx games

[tynstar]

I am sick of cheaters and hack discs.

Any game that is GTA like.

Games with unlockable stuff if you beat it 200 times.

People thinking the PS2 has the best graphics.

People how copy games and play them on there modded system.

[Kid Fenris]

I'm not sure what you're trying to imply here, as any game that tells a decent story does indeed provide background and immersion, and I can't recall a single game that casts players in a minor supporting role. The difference you seem to suggest depends on a storyline's quality, and not its focus.

If the game has a plot that is completely unalterable in any significant way, I would argue that you are always in a minor supporting role. The whole idea behind games is that they are supposed to be interactive. Pressing a few buttons to make the train-track-linear-story go forward is really no more interactive than flipping a page to read a normal book. I think the point being made is that people want a Choose Your Own Adventure book and not a long-winded and melodramatic Jane Eyre or Tess of the D'Urbervilles (sp?). I would agree with that sentiment - if I want a static story, then lots of movies and books do it far better than most games ever have.

Among video games, however, only digital comics present the sort of truly linear, page-flipping story that you're describing. Anything that involves actual gameplay is not a passive, text-scrolling experience, since it requires you to defeat that boss, navigate that dungeon, or dodge exploding beer cans and escape that burning building in order to advance the storyline.

Story-driven games are interactive, and even if a plot is unalterable, a well-crafted one can still enhance its accompanying gameplay by fostering a connection between the player and the characters they're controlling. After all, the best measure of a video game's success is the extent to which you can lose yourself within its fictional world. Some titles do this with simple and addictive concepts. Others present intense challenges that require pure reflexes. And others offer storylines and settings that create a convincing alternate reality for you to take in. Books and movies (good ones, anyway) may have better storytelling, but they'll never have that vital symbiosis that can arise between player and game. And a solid storyline, no matter how linear, makes that bond all the stronger for many players.

I also think you're confusing the player's role in the story with the influence that said player has over the plot. If you control the main character who often proves to be a catalyst for the game's events, that's not a supporting part by any measure. To be honest, I'd like to see a game where you control a minor character in a much larger drama, experiencing world-shaking events from the perspective of an average joe.

Contrast Chronotrigger or Maniac Mansion, each of which had 4+ endings, with almost all recent story-based games. The last game I remember playing with good multiple endings was Deus Ex. And no - I do not consider a slightly different picture of Samus wearing less clothing the faster you beat the game a different ending.

Off the top of my head, Chrono Cross, Valkyrie Profile, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, and Eternal Darkness all featured both multiple endings and extensive stories. They're also pretty good games.