This week’s podcast features a Gaming Flashback of Halo: Combat Evolved, one of the longest such game segments in the podcast’s history, encompassing a third of the podcast.
This week’s news items includes:
Blizzard decides against rolling back Diablo III servers following gold exploit
Defiance to get 5 major DLC packs in the next year
Report: Next-gen Xbox console called “Xbox Infinity”
Obsidian expresses desire to develop Star Wars RPG
EA to stop licensing with weapons manufacturers, will keep using branded guns
There’s only one reader response, but there is a Question of the Week: “What videogame genre are you completely burned out on?”
0 thoughts on “Episode 310: Halo Makes You Feel Old”
Jonah,
I have to say I am a bit offended at your blanket statement about The Sims fans all being a bunch of 14 year old girl Bieber fans. I’ll have you know we are 30 something old bieber fans, j/k. There really are a wide age range of Sims fans. While the game as Paul said was made to be easier and accessible to a broader range of fans doesn’t mean the game is simple. People have made Machinama’s, Legacy families, build challenges, etc. Proof is also in some sites catering to the more Adult things you can do with the Sims, I won’t list the sites to keep this clean but Google around and I’m sure you’ll find what I mean.
I’d like to answer both this week’s question and last weeks since they both interest me:
This Weeks: I was going to first say Facebook Games but they seem to be dying nicely on their own. Instead I wouldn’t mind to see all FPS games die in a fire, I wouldn’t miss any of them. The last one I really played was Doom I. After that they all pretty much seem the same and very boring. Listening to you guys talk about Halo and MasterChef I couldn’t see what was the appeal about the game or MC as a Iconic character. When I play a game I want to be Indiana Jones or Bond, I don’t want to be me in the game.
Last Week’s: For me the golden age would be like Paul’s with the SNES and it’s plethora of RPG games. Jordan is in for a real treat playing CT for the first time, I wish I could do that as well. The SNES was a time when I felt that I belonged to the gaming community. I loved CT, FF4 and FF6 games. After release of N64 I felt like FPS was taking over and becoming the game genre to make. Adventure seemed to die after that era. I later felt solace with the PS1 and DS games for my adventure and RPG needs.
To sum up I feel like FPS has displaced me as market for games because I am too old and slow to “get” FPS games and Adventure/RPG doesn’t make enough money by comparison.
I missed last week’s QOTW so maybe I’ll give my answer as Alphasard did.
Golden era of games: It’s so hard to choose. I’ve been playing games on and off for the most part of my life. I played a lot of Atari, C64, then (S)NES but I think I became aware of what I was really playing and I started actively looking for particular games in the late 90’s, earliy 2000’s. I already mentioned my love of adventure games and that’s when I found Broken Sword, the Monkey Island series, Jack Orlando, Syberia, etc. I also loved Heroes of Might and Magic III and I played a lot of NFS: Hot Pursuit. Somewhere around 2002 I stopped upgrading my PC and I didn’t really play any new stuff… Until I bought a PS3 3 years ago and I can play all the new releases without having to worry about hardware which is great. This is my gaming renaissance, so to speak.
Genre I’m burnt out on: I would have to say sports games. I’m an NHL fan and I played the EA Sports games since 1998. I bought NHL11 for my PS3, I played a while but I found many better games to play. I think I haven’t played a single game in over a year. I enjoyed FIFA and NBA games back in the day as well but I’m not drawn to them anymore.
Question from the reader: Do you think that the E3 this year is going to be a big event? Could it be too damn big with the new generation consoles playing a huge part in it? (Sorry Jonah, couldn’t resist 😉 )
As Jonah and T.J. chide Scott for going into an F-bomb rage over the iPhone’s price, the holiday season looms, and T.J. talks about his renewed relationship with League of Legends.
This week’s news items include:
All Battlefield 4 expansions are free until next week
Sony confirms layoffs at London, San Diego Studios
Bad economic times mingled with company acquisition spells disaster for many game titles but the story ends well, we hope, for Ghostbusters. The game was slated for a Holloween release, last year, but was given the boot by Vivendi when they merged Activision and Blizzard. There is only so much room for projects and management when two companies combine, Ghostbusters was given boot.
Atari picked up the franchise once it was slammed to the cutting room floor and the team has since been given a second chance. Not only did Atari give them access to a channel for publishing, they asked the developers for a wish-list of things they could have done different. They then granted all the changes, in effect, giving the developers a second chance to update the title and make the story telling and game better than it would have been if they hit their original date.
Being picked up by a developer and being given the chance to update the game in ways you really only had dreamed means we, as gamers, will be getting the real title. The biggest factor for a crappy game is the time and money to get the job done. Unfortunately time and money are in constant battle with money usually arriving as victor.
Now, developers are being given the time to do it right at the expense of a little more money in the investment. A once in a lifetime change that could put a “would be” dead franchise in the top spots.
This article was published on January 19th, 2009 by me, about an MMO that never came to be.
With Ultima Online heading into its 12th year, and Richard Garriott declaring he wants to make a new fantasy MMORPG, its time to examine the MMO that never was: Ultima X: Odyssey.
Before any discussion of Ultima X can be made, one must examine Ultima IX: Ascension, a 1999 disaster that basically doomed the Ultima franchise, and ultimately, Origin Systems, Garriott’s development company that was purchased by Electronic Arts in 1992. Ultima IX was an ambitious, completely 3D game that promised to be revolutionary. For instance, when you shot an enemy with an arrow, the arrow would persistantly remain in the enemy; it didn’t help that enemies could withstand a ton of damage, so they often resembled chia pets with dozens of arrows sticking out of them. The attempt came at a price, however. The graphics engine was so demanding, large cities were villages. There were numerous bugs and glitches. Worse yet, the game was so divorced from the previous Ultima titles in terms of story and characterization that devoted fans were annoyed and turned off from it.
Ultima Online was released in 1997, and when it began to be overshadowed by graphically superior games that utilized 3D engines like Everquest, they began develop of a 3D Ultima MMO called Ultima Worlds Online: Origin. Aside from the new engine, UWOO promised to have parties of 20-30, presaging the online raids that World of Warcraft would perfect. However, the sequel to Ultima Online was doomed by its predecessor – Electronic Arts feared UWOO would steal subscribers from the still profitable UO and canned the development group, sending Garriott packing. Sony, on the other hand, had no such qualms about a sequel and released Everquest 2 in 2004, which was successful in eventually transitioning fans from the first to the second game.
By the time 2003 rolled around, an host of new 3D MMOs had been released, including Dark Age of Camelot in 2001, and Ultima Online‘s subscribership was dwindling quickly. It was clear Ultima Online was now a dinosaur in the MMO world, and it needed to be updated. At E3 2003, Electronic Arts announced their second attempt at an MMO, Ultima X: Odyssey. The reaction to it was immediately positive, as you can tell from the above video.
One of the deliberate challenges by the designers of the announced MMO was the name itself. Unlike Ultima Online and the aborted Ultima Online Worlds: Origin, Ultima X was putting itself in the canon of the series as a numbered Ultima; when rumors of Ultima X began, people initially thought it was to be the first of a new trilogy. The use of the “X” was seen as a bold declaration in another way: it was following the disastrous Ultima IX, putting the game in the same position that Star Trek VI did, having to follow the footsteps of a franchise-killer. Furthermore, this was being done without Garriott, the lifeblood of the Ultima franchise, for the first time.
In being the “next Ultima RPG”, the developers stressed that it would be more like Ultima than Ultima Online was. Lead designer Jonathan Hanna explained in an interview at E3:
UXO is also more heavily based on the previous Ultima single-player games than UO is or Origin (UWOO) was going to be. The Ultima RPG series is considered by many to be one of the best RPG series ever. Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatarâ„¢ and Ultima 7: The Black Gateâ„¢ are often listed in best games of all time lists in gaming polls. It is no accident that the franchise has continued for over 20 years now. UXO will hearken back to the legendary world first brought to life in those classic games as well as creating new twists that will appeal to both old time fans and those who have never played an Ultima game. (GameZone)
Even more appealing was the way characters would develop. The player would pick from six races – elf, orc, pixie, phoda, gargoyle and human – and use one of four Paths, each of which would allow players to buy skills from four different subclasses – a system later adopted by Tabula Rasa.
For example, the Path of the Blade includes Fighters, Knights, and Barbarians. Players who choose the Path of the Blade can select abilities (skills) from any of these Disciplines. In most class-based games you have to choose either a Fighter (a primary class) or a Barbarian (a hybrid class). UXO’s character advancement allows you to either focus on one Discipline or create your own hybrid class.
Player characters would further be affected by the eight Virtues that were found in every Ultima game since IV. Every mission would increase a player’s rating in one of eight Virtue, and gaining in Virtues would allow you to buy Virtue-specific equipment. Even more off the beaten path, a player would create additional characters, and if each of their PCs achieved the maximum in a Virtue, the original PC would become an Avatar.
Another interesting aspect in trying to create a more player-centric experience was that rather than players seeking out missions, the missions would come to the player.
The people of Alucinor will need your help and they aren’t shy about asking for it. Once you accept a quest, you’ll have the opportunity to make choices that will change the direction of the quest, the reactions of the NPCs and monsters, and the reward you get. So you don’t have to follow a predetermined story in order to succeed; you can actually role-play the various situations and create your own unique adventure. The choices you get to make are based on the Ultima Virtues, so there are no wrong choices. Just decide how your character would react.
So, the gamers who tried it out at E3 2003 loved it, and the developers had unique MMO experiences prepared, and a proven MMO license backing it. What went wrong?
On June 30, 2004, the following message appeared on the UXO website:
This isn’t an easy decision, but it’s the right move for the future of all things Ultima, including the community and the team. We look forward to sharing our plans for the future of Ultima Online very soon.
I would like to thank all of the Ultima X: Odyssey supporters who have been with us from the beginning. I hope you will continue to support the Ultima franchise and the development team as they transition to new projects.
Once again, Electronic Arts balked at starting a new Ultima MMO and chose to support the aged Ultima Online with new expansions. But why?
The chief reason was the sheer glut of MMOs being developed and released at the time – Ultima X: Odyssey would have to compete against fellow E3 2003 showcases World of Warcraft, Everquest II and City of Heroes. At the time, EA balked at losing their older property with a chancy new product that had different gameplay from its predecessor. An odd decision, as mentioned earlier, since Sony had no compunctions about replacing Everquest with a sequel – with more demanding graphics.
One must wonder what the MMO landscape might have been had UXO been released to compete with World of Warcraft and the other MMOs. What do you think?
Bad economic times mingled with company acquisition spells disaster for many game titles but the story ends well, we hope, for Ghostbusters. The game was slated for a Holloween release, last year, but was given the boot by 
Jonah,
I have to say I am a bit offended at your blanket statement about The Sims fans all being a bunch of 14 year old girl Bieber fans. I’ll have you know we are 30 something old bieber fans, j/k. There really are a wide age range of Sims fans. While the game as Paul said was made to be easier and accessible to a broader range of fans doesn’t mean the game is simple. People have made Machinama’s, Legacy families, build challenges, etc. Proof is also in some sites catering to the more Adult things you can do with the Sims, I won’t list the sites to keep this clean but Google around and I’m sure you’ll find what I mean.
I’d like to answer both this week’s question and last weeks since they both interest me:
This Weeks: I was going to first say Facebook Games but they seem to be dying nicely on their own. Instead I wouldn’t mind to see all FPS games die in a fire, I wouldn’t miss any of them. The last one I really played was Doom I. After that they all pretty much seem the same and very boring. Listening to you guys talk about Halo and MasterChef I couldn’t see what was the appeal about the game or MC as a Iconic character. When I play a game I want to be Indiana Jones or Bond, I don’t want to be me in the game.
Last Week’s: For me the golden age would be like Paul’s with the SNES and it’s plethora of RPG games. Jordan is in for a real treat playing CT for the first time, I wish I could do that as well. The SNES was a time when I felt that I belonged to the gaming community. I loved CT, FF4 and FF6 games. After release of N64 I felt like FPS was taking over and becoming the game genre to make. Adventure seemed to die after that era. I later felt solace with the PS1 and DS games for my adventure and RPG needs.
To sum up I feel like FPS has displaced me as market for games because I am too old and slow to “get” FPS games and Adventure/RPG doesn’t make enough money by comparison.
Re: Blizzard not rolling back Diablo III game data.
I like that they have chosen not to punish everyone who didn’t use the exploit. It makes me think that Blizzard actually cares about its customers.
Re: Obsidian desires to make Star Wars Rpg.
The question is will they be allowed to and can they afford the price that EA will probably charge for the rights to make it?
Hey guys,
I missed last week’s QOTW so maybe I’ll give my answer as Alphasard did.
Golden era of games: It’s so hard to choose. I’ve been playing games on and off for the most part of my life. I played a lot of Atari, C64, then (S)NES but I think I became aware of what I was really playing and I started actively looking for particular games in the late 90’s, earliy 2000’s. I already mentioned my love of adventure games and that’s when I found Broken Sword, the Monkey Island series, Jack Orlando, Syberia, etc. I also loved Heroes of Might and Magic III and I played a lot of NFS: Hot Pursuit. Somewhere around 2002 I stopped upgrading my PC and I didn’t really play any new stuff… Until I bought a PS3 3 years ago and I can play all the new releases without having to worry about hardware which is great. This is my gaming renaissance, so to speak.
Genre I’m burnt out on: I would have to say sports games. I’m an NHL fan and I played the EA Sports games since 1998. I bought NHL11 for my PS3, I played a while but I found many better games to play. I think I haven’t played a single game in over a year. I enjoyed FIFA and NBA games back in the day as well but I’m not drawn to them anymore.
Question from the reader: Do you think that the E3 this year is going to be a big event? Could it be too damn big with the new generation consoles playing a huge part in it? (Sorry Jonah, couldn’t resist 😉 )