Video Commentary: The Attempt

Over on The Armchair Empire's official YouTube channel, Mr. Nash has been providing an assortment of commentary and video for the last few months but it's only recently I've tried my hand at doing the same thing.

I've done two videos so far, one for Prototype 2 and the one above for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. There's plenty of room for improvement on my part but it is quite fun though I don't think it will replace my written articles.

Prototype 2 Screens

The opening moments of P2.

Prototype 2 (PC): Turmoil

I will likely post a stream of Prototype 2 screens in the coming days. It launched yesterday for PC and I love the fact I can just hit F12 and produce a picture-perfect grab of whatever I'm looking at. Or using FRAPS or Bandicam and a button press automatically takes a pic after a set predetermined period.

The game finished downloading late last night -- early this morning, really -- so I haven't played anything beyond the main title screen. (I just wanted to be sure it booted up okay.) I'm not sure if I'll enjoy Prototype 2 as much this time around -- I reviewed the 360 version -- knowing that the studio is essentially closed.

This isn't a unique feeling to Prototype 2. I tried going back to TRON -- developed by the now-closed Propaganda Games -- and it's difficult for me to play more than a few minutes. I start thinking about the people that made the game that may have struggled mightily after the studio closure. Those with families to support; trying to make mortgage payments or car payments or rent. I'm sure some landed on their feet right away or got jobs in other areas of the tech sector or gaming. I want to go back and play L.A. Noire again, but after Team Bondi collapsed, it feels somehow wrong to be playing the game. This is obviously something tripping in my own brain; some intensive game therapy might be required.

It's always the last games as well. I've had no problem going back to the likes of Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction or Turok, but there's some kind of mental block when it comes to the last game a studio produced. I don't get physically ill or anything like that... I just don't feel good about it.

Deserves some additional thought....

"When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Hitler"

Another proper update from The Armchair Empire, which stars a cavalcade of Playstation 3 titles:

• Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3)
• Prototype 2 (PS3)
• SSX (PS3)
• Defenders of Ardania (PC)
• Hard Reset: Extended Edition (PC)
• Prototype 2 (360)

And as a result of a trip to the Seattle area, Axel has an extensive hands-on Preview of:

• Guild Wars 2 (PC)

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Radical Wants Me to Fund Their Next Title

Last night I was fooling around in Prototype 2 with the RADnet content and when I selected a "free" download option I was presented with this screen:

Wait. How many MS Points do they want? I had to write it down and count the digits.

4,294,967,295. Or about 4.3 billion MS Points.

I did some quick math to figure out the actual cost because who knows, the next piece of RADnet content may be worth it.

A single MS Point works out to be about $0.02 (CAN). More math. The total cost to grab that content is $66,571,993.00. So either that content will tear a hole in the space-time continuum because it's so awesome or Radical Entertainment wants me to personally fund their next project, which is so not happening!

Or that's just the method being used to make sure the content isn't available until a certain date. Or it's a technical glitch.

I like my first guess.

EDIT: 8:01PM, May 1, 2012 - Clarification from Radical and Activision (thanks, Steve!):  "Given that the DLC isn’t available for purchase yet but it is still listed when you use a VIP code, 66 billion is the default amount it tries to charge you to make sure no one can buy it." Basically, as part of the press, I'm special! To further clarify: "Regular gamers with the Radnet edition will not see this at all. Only you and a chosen few who were lucky enough to get VIP codes."

The Door Is Raised On The Embargo Garage

So, my review of Prototype 2 is now live -- right here! -- and after re-reading the text, I'm struck by something.

I love writing, but after about midnight my desire to write drops off considerably and I was still writing well after that. "Sleep!" replaces "Write!" quite easily but I pushed myself through to get the review finished (more or less) and uploaded before the embargo lifted at 6:00AM (Pacific) this morning. The embargo was originally scheduled to end on launch day, which would have afforded me a couple of days to write the review. And catch some more of the grammar and puctuation issues, such as the "it's" error in the opening paragraph.

Stuff like that bugs the hell out of me. The "it's" will weigh on my mind all day. Something so obvious should have been ironed out before I uploaded the review. But as my eyes droop and the minute hand has started to swoop upward once more and the hour hand is sliding toward the "2", my ability to see errors and or other problems wanes.

And with no editor, or even an extra set of alert eyes to scan through the review, I rely on my own skill with words to communicate how I feel about a game. But running against the clock...

Maybe coffee would have warded off the worst of it, but when I was done I wanted to just drop into bed and fall asleep. I didn't want to wrestle with caffeine. I do, after all, want to be able to function during daylight hours. (I'm at an age, where I can't easily brush off fatigue.)

At any rate, the review posted and I'm tired. But not too tired do some more editing on the review. (The score still stands.)

Prototype 2 - CRISIS!

Punch-Out!! was developed by
Vancouver-based Next Level Games

Well, it's not so much a "crisis" as it is a question of "ethics" as it pertains to reviewing Prototype 2.

I don't think it's ever been a secret that I'm a booster of game development in Vancouver (British Columbia). I'm glad that games get made here, and a lot of them are good or even very good. I don't think it has ever clouded my judgement when it comes to reviewing titles that get made here, but with Prototype 2 I've at least asked myself the question because of a recent multi-part feature I wrote that focused on the history of Radical Entertainment, the developers of Prototype 2.

I got to know some people that work there and made some casual acquaintances -- people I'd stop and chat with outside the context of visiting a game studio -- so is my judgement clouded by that? Having met some of the people that poured so much time and effort into Prototype 2 is my reaction to playing the game somehow being affected by that? That's a question that a full-time Managing Editor or Editor in Chief would be examining to see if I should be reviewing Prototype 2. But The Armchair Empire lacks those roles.

If anything, I fufill both those roles.

However, the question -- can I review this with any objectivity? -- has made me think seriously about what I think about when I'm playing games.

For the most part, I'm pretty good at blocking out anything approaching Real Life. I'm not thinking about the demands of my day job, my mortgage, and all those day-to-day horrors that tend to stalk a mind that thinks too much. I'm not thinking about Radical Entertainment or the fact my commute takes me passed their building every morning -- they really need to fix the lighting for the "RA" -- or the fact that maybe I should be getting to bed right about now. Video games don't help me forget the pressures and stresses I'm feeling, but they do a great job pausing them.

So, I'm reviewing Prototype 2 secure in the knowledge that I can give an honest evaluation of the title. When I'm playing games, I'm in the moment and my focus is on the game and not on much else.

"A Radical 20 Years" -- DONE

In case you missed it on The Armchair Empire, all four parts of the Radical Entertainment 20th anniversary feature have now been posted:

• Part I - Founding
• Part II - The Middle Years
• Part III - Trials & Tribulations
• Part IV - The Next 20 Years

I've noted this before, but overall I'm relatively happy with the way the feature turned out. I obviously would have loved input -- any input at all -- from co-founders Rory Armes and Ian Wilkinson. The latter in particular because he spent 16 years with the company. That's a whole line of untapped information and history that I just didn't get access to even though I fulfilled the requirements he laid out in our one and only chat. Never got a call back after repeated calls and even a letter that was mailed to his office. At least with Armes, I was gently told he wasn't interested.

Assistant: Rory will not be participating in interviews at this time.
Me: So, when will he be participating in interviews?
Assistant: (muffled words) Rory will, uh, not be participating in interviews.

Be that as it may, it's too much energy to hold a grudge. The article could have been much richer for their participation no doubt. I'm just thankful that at the very least Dave Davis was forthcoming enough to shed some light on the early days.

I'd also like to thank, in no particular order, Eric Holmes, Dave Fracchia, Matt Armstrong, Tom Legal, Ken Rosman, Kelly Zmak, Chris Ansell and Steve Cherrier for giving me some their valuable time and sharing their insight. Thanks!

Upcoming Feature Close to Flowering

One of my pet projects that has been germinating since E3 is finally starting to really grow.

It was after a demo of Prototype 2 that I fully realized that Radical Entertainment has been around for 20 years. I wanted to know a little more of the history of the place and the Wikipedia entry was woefully uninformative. About the same time I was reading Harold Goldberg's "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" which chronicles some really interesting gaming histories, like Trip Hawkin's bold moves with Electronic Arts and the crippling emotional problems that spun out behind the scenes of 11th Guest. I got to thinking about writing a comprehensive history of Radical Entertainment.

So, I started doing some digging, making calls, and sending probing emails. At least one of the key figures in Radical's history has been stand-offish -- waiting to see just who else would agree to be part of the story and offer some insight into the company's last 20 years. Suddenly in the last few days there's been a surge of progress. Things are in the works. It's not "finished" by any means but hopefully -- my fingers are crossed -- this feature will break right before the launch of Prototype 2, the company's 35th title to see release. (Past titles include "Mario's Time Machine" (1993), "Independence Day" (1997), "The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction" (2005), and "The Simpsons: Hit & Run" (2003).

Maybe the best part of this Feature is that I'll be seeking the help/advice/guidance of an actual Editor so the whole thing makes sense and comes together as a coherent story.