Game on

About Technology –

It is time for a little more innovation in the games industry, says David Jenkins

2009 has not been a good year for video games. Like any other industry gaming has been hit hard by the recession, but at the same time it has struggled to offer the usual quantity and quality of new releases.

Sequels to previously dominant franchises are beginning to show signs of exhaustion – and games publishers are struggling to rejuvenate or replace them.

In America, the only major market where figures are released on a regular basis, September’s sales were the first for six months that did not decline compared to 2008.

Industry analysts fear that total revenues for the US market this year could be down by more then one billion dollars, compared to 2008′s final tally of $21.3bn (£13bn).

However, since most video games take at least a year to create the recession alone cannot be blamed for the suddenly emaciated release schedules. Nor the fact that they are devoid of almost anything that is not a direct sequel or spin-off from another title.

Sequel syndrome

Underwhelmed by Halo 3: ODST?

The sequel is the mainstay of any creative industry but the problem is that this year’s crop of video game follow-ups appears to be underperforming.

Halo 3: ODST is a spin-off rather than a true sequel but its critical and commercial success has, by the series’ usual standards, been underwhelming – with only a single week at the UK number one spot.

Guitar Hero 5 never even fared that well in the individual format charts, while rival The Beatles: Rock Band was something close to a genuine flop.

The latest Need For Speed, which once saw the Christmas top spot as a given, has also failed to set the charts alight – despite a high profile makeover.

Only forthcoming first person shoot ‘em-up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – the reason for many other games’ craven retreat into next year – is expected to shine undiminished.

None of these other games have been sales disasters, but where previously a new entry in a beloved franchise was a keenly anticipated event, that occurred only every two or three years, new games are now appearing at least once every 12 months.

"There are few games that people really want to buy every year," says Michael Pachter, research analyst at Wedbush Securities. "So annual franchises probably have a user base of two or three times annual sales, with most people buying the game every other year."

"When a recession hits, it’s easy to pass up a game that the consumer knows is coming out again the next year.

"This was the undoing of Tony Hawk, probably contributed to declining Guitar Hero sales, and most certainly explains the lack of growth for many EA sports franchises," adds Mr Pachter.

Development drivers

It is not simple greed which is leading some of these franchises to be overexploited though; the risk of releasing a wholly original product has now become almost untenable for many publishers.

Although the graphical fidelity of video games increases with each generation of new games console, it takes increasingly more people and resources to utilise the power of the new machines.

Truly creative games that don’t rely on shock value or riding some other successful title’s coattails can be innovative and successful Jeremiah Slaczka, 5TH Cell

In this current generation a tipping point has been reached where some games development has become almost prohibitively expensive.

"The higher cost of game development dictates that risky projects be abandoned," says Mr Pachter.

"That means fewer new titles, and many more sequels. In their zeal to recapture their development investment, publishers have tended to over-exploit sequels."

Increasingly original titles are only being seen on formats with lower overheads, such as download services (which cut out the percentage of the revenue pie usually given to retailers) and lower tech devices such as the Nintendo DS.

"It’s very hard to get publishers interested in original products", says Jeremiah Slaczka, creative director at US developer 5TH Cell.

Self-funding

"For us it’s getting easier, because publishers look at our track record of producing hit original games. But for the industry as a whole, it’s very difficult, especially for new companies or companies with no background in original games."

"The biggest impact due to the rising cost of game development is self-funding, we self-funded Scribblenauts, we’re self-funding our Xbox Live Arcade title," he adds.

Words influence pictures in 5TH Cell’s Scribblenauts

"It’s impossible for us at this stage to fully self-fund a full retail console game, so we’re slowly building up to that."

It’s a plan that seems to be working with Scribblenauts – a DS game in which you can instantly conjure any object you can think of into the game world simply by writing its name – being picked up by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

"We want to show that sequels and especially clones of popular games like Halo or Grand Theft Auto aren’t the only avenue for success," says Mr Slaczka.

"Truly creative games that don’t rely on shock value or riding some other successful title’s coattails can be innovative and successful. If we prove the model, then others are sure to follow."

Perhaps 2010 will prove him right, especially as Michael Pachter also seems confident that this year’s output will prove an exception rather than a new rule.

"So long as there is a profit to be had, there will be new intellectual properties", he says. "I don’t see any danger to new games, especially if they can spawn sequels."

About Technology – Game on

About Technology –

Marc Cieslak takes a look at some of the latest games around, from a chilling 18 rate to a gravity defying one.

‘Cerebral’ military aircraft game

This military aircraft game is the sort that usually falls into one of two camps.

It is either a sober flight simulator, which require Chuck Yeager’s piloting skills to master, or totally unrealistic supersonic shoot them ups.

Tom Clancy’s HAWX game wades into the danger zone currently occupied by the likes of the Ace Combat series.

In order for the player to prove they have “The Right Stuff”, they must perform a variety of missions and take out naval, ground and aerial targets. The game unlocks more advanced aircraft as you progress through the missions.

This visually stunning title allows the player to direct computer-controlled wingmen in the midst of combat.

This ability can add a slightly more cerebral edge to what can be frantic sessions of selecting targets, launching missiles, and performing blackout-inducing manoeuvres.

Plus, there is a chance generally to re-live the best bits of Top Gun, without an 80s soundtrack.

The dazzling number of controls and onscreen prompts – including such important sounding things as intercept vectors – can sometimes be a tad confusing.

But after a few missions, it all comes together with the precision of a radar-guided missile.

As this game is stamped with author Tom Clancy’s moniker, the missions are strung together by a story involving private military contractors, invasions, and corporate greed.

But no need to go into all that because the game’s story is, quite frankly, silly.

Online multiplayer and a massive number of unlockable aircraft combine to create a superior airborne shooter.

Even more chilling than before

Resident Evil 5 carries a hard 18 rating, which means it is not suitable for younger gamers. But to be honest, it is so scary that it is not really suitable for older gamers either.

The plot revolves around a virus outbreak in an African village which turns infected people into flesh-eating crazies who chase the game’s lead characters Chris and Sheva.

Plus, the bad guys in this version of the long-running franchise can run 200 meters faster than Usain Bolt at the last Olympics.

But Chris and Sheva acquire an arsenal of weapons to defend themselves, as they run, jump, roll, and attempt to solve the mystery of how this outbreak started.

For a single player, Sheva is just tagging along for the ride. But in multiplayer mode, the character provides much needed backup.

This fifth offering is more action-packed than previous Resident Evil titles, and is capable of providing a few chills along with the spills.

A puzzle game that relies on gravity

This Nintendo Wii games does not feature a single bullet or bad guy.

Gravity is a puzzle game that relies on, unsurprisingly, gravity.

The player rolls balls through a succession of levels, with the simple goal of navigating increasingly difficult platform style levels.

It really is as simple as that.

One for fans of history and strategy

Empire: Total War harks back to a bygone age when hats had three points and a horse was considered cutting edge technology.

Real-time strategy games allow players to command vast armies across huge battlefields.

Empire follows this template, with the player controlling 18th century armies, building resources, managing populations and of course picking scraps with rival nations.

The developers have also added nautical combat into the mix, so fights are no longer confined to land.

The game can also be set to “auto govern” so the player is left to deal with military strategy and combat.

This game has a massive scope which means the player can govern any country they like and fight campaigns that last for decades.

Empire is big and bold; for fans of history and strategy, it is brilliant.

About Technology – Game on

About Technology –

Disney World has been drawing tourists to Florida since 1971

Once upon a time the rides in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom provided thrills aplenty, promising tales of pirates and the chance to dive 20,000 leagues under the sea.

But today’s children, weaned on the Wii, Second Life and DVD “Easter eggs”, look for more than the roller coasters and jerky automatons that entertained the youth of the 1970s.

“The emerging generation expects more immersive, personal and interactive experiences in every facet of their lives,” says Bruce Vaughn, chief creative executive of Walt Disney Imagineering.

It’s a fact Disney had to face when it created its newest attractions for the Florida theme park.

To demonstrate how the company is adapting to the era of interactivity I was shown around two new rides: Kim Possible (currently in testing) and Toy Story Mania, which opened last year.

Toy Story Mania is basically a giant 3D video game. Riders board a car and are driven through and parked in front of a series of video screens. The task: to shoot objects as they fall or fly out of the screen.

The 3D glasses mean objects do seem to come right out at you, and are sometimes accompanied by a fourth dimension: a blast of wind in your face or, in the case of water balloons, riders actually get wet. Take a look…

Many elements of a traditional video game have been deliberately incorporated – particularly incentives to try again – although the hour-long queue might put visitors off. There is also a highest score board so people can compete through the day against everyone in the park.

It is also designed so no two games are the same – firing at certain spots on the screen causes different scenarios to play out.

Just like Super Mario, in Bo Peep’s Balloon Pop you can set off a whole raft of new high scoring targets by hitting specific spots in the sky. This opens the door for players to trade secrets as they do for other games.

Kim Possible is an even more personal experience.

Designed for “tweens” and early teens, it is based on the Disney Channel’s Emmy award-winning cartoon about th eponymous crime-fighting teenager.

Players report to a booth and are handed a fake mobile phone. When they switch it on characters from the cartoon appear to tell them they have been recruited for Kim’s latest mission.

As they navigate through, prompts tell visitors to go to certain spots in the park where the signal from the phone makes messages appear to help them with the quest. At one point a stuffed parrot comes to life to give players the latest clue. The idea is to have different missions to play in seven of the countries of Disney’s Epcot Center.

Kim Possible is due to launch early 2009 and more interactivity will follow – the next addition will be an American Idol-type karaoke attraction.

They have definitely come a long way since Disneyland’s first rides; there were gas-powered cars that all broke by the end of the first day and donkey rides through Frontierland.

Animation action

This adaptation is impressive and perhaps does herald a significant change.

Disney led the way in animation for decades giving it the material to fill its parks with fantastic characters but with the dawn of computers the company lagged behind.

But in 2006 the old stalwart bought hot digital imaging studio Pixar, creators of Toy Story.

Walt Disney was the first to introduce colour to his cartoons

So is the young technology-savvy upstart dragging the old classic into the new world? The new rides at Disney World would suggest so.

When Walt Disney pioneered the way to colour animation he did it because he wanted to make cartoons more real. Now with the company increasing production of 3D films, it seems that is the way forward in that quest.

Bolt was the first film to be made from the start for 3D and a deal has been signed with Imax for a Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge which is scheduled for release at the end of this year.

3D versions of Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story 1 and 2 are in the pipeline as well.

As for the theme parks, the imagineers are well known for saying that by the time we see a technology in their rides, they have already taken it even further behind the scenes in development.

Maybe the next decade will see total immersion Disney.

For the meantime I just hope someone comes up with an alternative to those less than stylish 3D glasses…

About Technology – Game on

About Technology –

Click reporter Marc Cieslak takes a look at some of the big games that could be dominating the shelves in the run-up to the end of the year.

The closing credits of every Bond movie promise that “James Bond will return” and he does here in the brutal shape of a digitised Daniel Craig, who has a penchant for punching and shooting bad guys into the middle of next week.

Bond is fast, furious and feverish

Bond is back in a first-person globetrotting adventure that repeats the storyline from the Quantum of Solace movie. It also includes flashback levels recreating the action from Daniels Craig’s first outing as 007 in Casino Royale.

The good news is that the game’s pace is furious – a satisfying shooter that lets a player adopt a stealthy approach to missions, avoiding unnecessary shoot outs.

However, if the quiet life does not appeal, unscrew the silencer from Bond’s pistol and unleash noisy havoc on the game’s assorted henchman.

This is not a straight run-and-gun title though; Bond must make adequate use of cover if he wants to die another day.

As you would expect from a spy, Bond has to perform the odd bit of espionage, involving simple puzzle challenges.

Away from armed combat, 007 can perform takedown moves and engage foes in hand-to-hand combat. These elements are perhaps the weakest part of the game, feeling tacked on and a bit button-bashy.

After the story mode is completed, online multiplayer helps fuel suave spying fantasies. It is not surprising that the shooting parts of Quantum of Solace are good, as this game has the engine from the excellent Call of Duty 4 at its heart.

The Quantum of Solace game does not live up to the feverish heights of the best Bond video game of all time – 1997′s Goldeneye on the N64 – but then few games could. This title makes a decent whack at continuing 007′s legacy – a whack followed by a nasty finishing move.

Fallout 3 takes place in a world devastated by a nuclear apocalypse, which predictably has left the irradiated survivors and mutants encountered in the game in a pretty bad mood.

Crimes against fashion in Fallout 3

Survivors hide out in a 1950s style underground bunker. The lead character’s dad, voiced by Liam Neeson, goes Awol.

So our intrepid hero ventures outside the safety of the bunker, to track down his dear daddy in the ashen ruins of Washington, DC.

Fallout 3 is built on a grand scale, with the game mechanics of an action title and the scope of a massively multiplayer role-playing game.

As you would expect in a nuclear wasteland, a lot of the characters encountered are on the anti-social side, which is where the game’s combat system comes in handy.

It allows players to build up action points that can be used to slow time to a standstill allowing a player to choose the most appropriate method of dispatching post-apocalyptic fashion criminals.

Many recent games have been accused of a single player campaign that is far too short. That cannot be said of Fallout 3. There is a vast environment to explore with something like 100 hours of game play. That is a long time in front of an Xbox.

Apart from an enormous city to explore, hordes of bad guys to take out and a host of in-game characters to interact with, this game crackles with a level of immersion and polish that few titles can match.

One of the few decent launch titles for the PS3 came from developer Evolution Studios – well known for its work on the World Rally Championship games.

Driving mayhem in Motorstorm 2

This time the result is the high octane racing sequel Motorstorm 2: Pacific Rift.

Cars, truck, ATVs and motorbikes all collide on and off the 16 tracks in this racer.

Like the first Motorstorm, all of the tracks allow the player to complete them many different ways, each route having its own pitfalls and hazards.

Online multiplayer is still in the mix and four players can tackle the game in split screen mode. More of the same then, but with new tracks.

Mirror’s Edge is a stunner – the visuals are amazing. And the game play just about matches the graphics.

Mirror’s Edge is visually impressive

The central character is a free running courier who must deliver packages by treating the city’s rooftops like a playground.

It involves running, jumping, dangling from a zip line and looking flash from nosebleed-inducing altitudes while attempting to deliver packages and avoiding trigger happy cops.

Free running, or Parkour, mixes urban gymnastics and vertigo inducing manoeuvres, and the game does a good job of reflecting its real-life fluidity and speed.

The game does have a story, a tissue-thin mystery, and the less said about that the better.

The free running portions of the game are impressive and players will be quickly tempted into trying ever more daring jumps and spins.

On the downside the combat system is not great. The player can shoot guns but only after taking them from other game characters and the supply of bullets runs out all too fast.

Emphasis is placed on avoiding combat, which is ok, but the lack of satisfying online multiplayer lets this visually impressive title down.