Kevin-v's profile on TV.com

I Owe Johnny Yong Bosch and Nolan North an Apology by Kevin-V

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:03:07 PST

OK, my bad, my bad: In today's Prince of Persia marathon, I said that Johnny Yong Bosch is the voice of the Prince, but I had Persona 4 in my head--a game in which Mr. Bosch does lend his talents. Rather, the Prince is voiced by Nolan North, well known for his work in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

So make a note of it: I got all mixed up. Both are talented actors, but I wanted to make sure I gave credit to the right one!

I Don't Often Wear Ties in Actuality by Kevin-V

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:17:19 PST

My new avatar says "Hi!"

Thank You for Playing, and Don't Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out. by Kevin-V

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:22:42 PST

Soon, I will post a lengthy blog wrapping up my experiences in Japan, offering a variety of gaming observations, and unloading other random tidbits. For now, I offer up these unrelated thoughts:

1. Bugged XBL achievements are a pain. I just finished Legendary, and while I received the achievement for finishing the final chapter, I did not receive the achievement for finishing the game, even though I let the credits roll. I'm annoyed.

2. I blame Mass Effect. I played two games within a week of each other that mask loading times by making you endure seemingly endless elevator rides. This is an odd new trend that doesn't seem to benefit the game in any way. Loading screen, elevator ride, either way, I am taken out of the game experience.

3. Gears of War 2's music is underrated. Actually, you can include the original on that list. You know that up-and-down motif that serves as the franchise's calling card? It's just two notes, a major third apart, and man, do those notes pack a punch. The animations are also terrific. I love that in multiplayer, everybody's avatar behaves authentically, rather than in that awkward, floaty way they do in almost every other shooter.

4. Fable 2's co-op sucks. Yup. But at least you get the host's achievements if he unlocks any while the two of you are playing.

5. Resistance 2 co-op is hella fun. Yup, that too.

These are the mild rants born of being awake at 1 AM after shooting at werewolves all evening. Perhaps had I been shooting kittens or komodo dragons, the result would have been different. In any case, look for reviews of Mirror's Edge and Legendary early this week, and Red Alert 3 (X360) and Valkyria Chronicles later in the week. Peace to all that love games.

TGS Post-Show Impressions: Thoughts on the Games by Kevin-V

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:54:14 PDT

I will be doing one last blog entry about the sights of Tokyo after I have returned to the States. However, some thoughts are fresh on my mind regarding the games themselves, and I wanted to share them with you. Mind you, these are my own opinions and not those of the crew, necessarily. But these are the games that I personally saw that made the right impressions.

Most Surprisingly Attractive Game:

Monster Hunter 3 (Wii)

When I first saw Monster Hunter 3 in action on the show floor, I actually thought it was a 360 or PS3 game. I didn't get any hands-on time with it (I wasn't scheduled to cover it, and on the open days, the Japanese public mobbed Capcom's booth, which was inconveniently right next to Square's). But let me tell you--from a visual perspective, this game is impressive. You'll be doing a lot of underwater battles, and both the water and the monster models are fantastic. Quality animations are just icing on the cake, or in this case, on the dorsal fin. I am thrilled that Monster Hunter 3 may finally be doing what few games have done: actually use the full potential of the Wii hardware.

Best Trailer:

Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3)

Oh, good old Square Enix and their constant teasers. Of the three games in the FF XIII series, however, Versus has me most intrigued. I like the idea of a FF game set in an alternate version of our own world; I like how lonely the trailer made the world look; and I like the look of the hero, and the way he interacts with his buddies. The trailer makes the game look like the ultimate post-apocalyptic road trip. Of course, this is all conjecture, and we have yet to see gameplay. But at least the trailer did its job: I want to see more.

Machine You Most Want to Own, if TGS is any Indication:

Tie: Sony PSP / Nintendo DS

If the games I saw were any indication, you're gonna want one--or both. Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Resistance: Retribution, and many others hold incredible potential, while the DS is still a quality home for developers doing something different. I am admittedly annoyed at some developers for avoiding the touchscreen, most notable Square: Valkyrie Profile and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days disappointed me, because they don't need to be on the DS as opposed to any other platform, and fail to use its strengths. In my mind, the touchscreen is more than just a minimap or stats screen; if that's all you can come up with, then put your game on another machine, and stop pretending that the touchscreen doesn't exist.

Thankfully, a number of developers are creating terrific-looking things for the DS, and games like Tales of Hearts and Gardening Mama keep the spirit of the machine alive. Oh, and my favorite DS game at TGS? Riz-Zoawd, an anime take on the Wizard of Oz. It looks fantastic, and like most games that end up being superb (and like many that don't), it seems ready to take a chance.

Most Fun I Had with Any Game:

Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP)

I had zero expectation for this fan-service fighting title. I thought, "Great: Square's version of Smash Brothers, only with limited two-player combat, and with spiked hair." So color me surprised: it was fun and flashy, and its attack system has surprising depth, which means that two talented players can keep going for a good bit of time. "Floaty" is rarely a compliment, but I like the semi-weightless feel of the combat, and while the jury is out on just how much value this package will have, it's loaded with potential. Oh--and it's also really, really pretty.

Personal Game of the Show:

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

The developers of Odin Sphere know what they do best: create fun action games with exquisite hand-drawn backgrounds. Theoretically, Muramasa is an action RPG, but I didn't see Odin Sphere as an RPG (just as I never saw Folklore as one, and am flabbergasted when it's called one). We didn't really see any of Muramasa's RPG elements anyway, but we definitely saw some amazing side-scrolling action, and it is fun and absolutely beautiful. Take Odin Sphere, mix in some Okami, and pour on the demonic madness, and you get Muramasa, my personal game of TGS 2008. I mean, how can you not want to play this?

Of course, my opinions are all colored by the limitations of what I saw. Other editors saw equally fantastic stuff, and I didn't even approach most of the Western-developed games, since titles like Fable 2, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, and others are not only really close to release, but are easily found at various preview events in the USA. This is Tokyo, and some of these games may not even make it to North America. Why would I spend time looking at Mirror's Edge, for which we already have a good amount of coverage, when this might be my only chance to see Gomibako in action?

So tell me: what game did we see at TGS 2008 has you the most excited?

Yen Don't Grow on Trees by Kevin-V

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:25:10 PDT

I am not doing a very good job of conserving money here in Tokyo. My day was relatively light in advance of the big days ahead, so I took advantage of the quiet by shopping until I was blue in the face. I am equally enamored by the food I've had. Dinner last night was ramen--the real thing, not the crap we add water to and wait for the noodles to soften. It was delicious, not to mention the lunch we had at Pepper Lunch today. The meat comes to you raw but sizzling on a piping hot platter, and it is up to you to turn and cook the meat as you like it. I added a bit of curry sauce, mixed in some rice, and I then entered heaven for about 15 minutes.

I eventually returned to earth, only to further explore Cloud 9 at Super Potato, a used game store. It is floor after floor of old systems and old games. Want a Mega Drive? This is your place.

On the top floor, I met an old friend... though he didn't seem as pleased to see me.

A trip to Japan isn't complete without the sight of Godzilla. Or in my case, hundreds of Godzillas. I snapped this pic just before a disturbed proprietor stormed at me with his arms waving, upset that I would take a photograph of his acrylic and fiberglass collectibles. This isn't unusual: Japanese retailers and other citizens seem relatively uneasy about photography in general, and if anyone has any inside knowledge of the cultural force behind it, I'd be interested in knowing.

I could go on and on. I have taken many pics and many videos, and over time, I will share as much as I can without overloading you with information and media. But I end with a shot of my purchases. Here's my most recent roundup of goodies: A Dragon Quest slime paperweight; Japanese strategy guides for Persona 3, Radiata Stories, and Biohazard (aka, Resident Evil); the soundtracks to ICO and Kingdom Hearts; Indiana Jones figurines; Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest figurines; a Kingdom Hearts "key"chain (get it??); and a Japanese copy of Final Fantasy VIII. I am also hoping to pick up a copy of Persona 4 while I am here, and the soundtrack to Eternal Sonata (aka, Trusty Bell). I'll be posting all of my photos in a GameSpot photo album if you want to catch some more sights!

Akihabara, and Japanese Night Life by Kevin-V

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:19:49 PDT

I am having a simply grand old time here in Tokyo. TGS has yet to officially begin, but I am writing from Namco Bandai headquarters, where I'm slated to do a few interviews and previews. We'll get you more on games soon enough--but I thought I'd share a few pics I snapped. I wish I could bring you all with me, because Tokyo must simply be seen to be believed: it's busy, bright, and bustling. After a long and mostly uneventful flight, we settled in at the REMM hotel and went to eat in the Chomp Chomp building. I don't know the name of the restaurant, but we took off our shoes, locked them up in lockers, and chowed down on the most exquisite food.

Afterwards, we checked out some of the local culture, which included a trip to 7-11 and McDonalds--not exactly Japanese classics, but definitely brimming with a flair you don't see in the US of A. They have the McRib here still! I mean, that's class all the way. My favorite part of the evening was a visit to the nearby Sega arcade, which was filled to the brim with all the fighting games you'd expect: Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, and so on. My favorite game, however, was a real-time strategy game with an Eye of Judgment twist, in which you maneuvered some cards across a tabletop and engaged in battle. I'd never seen a strategy game in an arcade, and it looked fast and furious, with the players whipping about their cards at top speed and cool battles playing out on screen. Here's a glimpse of that... and a few other odds and ends.

Chris Watters enters the self-titled Fun Theater!

Camera jostling produced the blur, but it still made for a fun pic.

And a glimpse of the Taito arcade.

Where do MMOs go from here? by Kevin-V

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:29:32 PDT

Well, I had intended to post periodic updates of the Warhammer Online experience, but honestly, my schedule has been so hectic, it's impossible to keep up. The fall season is upon us, and I will be part of the TGS crew, so I haven't been able to focus on the small things as much as I would have liked.

The Warhammer Online review goes up tonight, but playing that game--and a lot of other MMOs over the years--has made me question (again) where the genre goes from here, particularly when a juggernaut like World of Warcraft totally dominates the market. To add an ironic aside: WoW doesn't really do much that hadn't already been done in other games, and it's always interesting that Warhammer Online--and other games--get accused of being WoW clones, when in actuality, Blizzard's own awesome game used already-existing standards, polished them to a degree previously unseen in MMOs, and made them accessible to almost everyone.

Regardless, Blizzard has proven you don't need to massively retool gameplay conventions that work well to make a highly successful game. You could argue the same in almost any genre, really; most first-person shooters and real-time strategy games simply play with proven concepts. And I certainly don't believe a game has to be innovative to be good--but I do have a personal MMO wishlist that may tell you what conventions I think are worth sticking with, and which ones need to be rethought.

1) Play with combat.

Age of Conan is the newest example of a game that revamps traditional MMOG combat, but other games have played with the standards. Vanguard lets bards create their own buffs by attaching song pieces together; Everquest II had heroic opportunities; and of course, games like Neocron and Planetside went the FPS route but had other significant problems that held them back. I don't want to see AoC's system copied, but I do want developers to think about how they can breathe life into combat. How about rare but effective cinematic quicktime events? (Think about how awesome it would be to trigger an event like this; other players would watch as you launched onto a dragon like an acrobat and brought it to the ground.) Whatever it is, it should keep us engaged and active, and should entail more than just clicking on icons or pounding on hotkeys.

2) Play with crafting.

Vanguard sets the standard for MMO crafting--but its relative lack of success means few of its original features are bound to be copied. All too often, this aspect is either tacked on (oh Warhammer, how I wish it wasn't true), or unbalanced (all too often in an MMO, the items you make aren't even as good as you can get at a regular vendor; what's the point?) Crafting should be about more than just the end product--it should match that product with an activity engaging enough to make crafting an item enjoyable. Make a good system (Vanguard, because the act of crafting is cool; Pirates of the Burning Sea, because it ties in with a giant economic web), or leave it out and create another gameplay mechanic to keep us busy in the downtime (gambling minigames, anyone?)

3) Play with AI.

Rooting, pulling, and so on are standard acts in an MMO, and they require predictable NPC behavior. Here's what you usually see: a monster that has a radius that, if you cross it, will draw aggro--and the monster will then attack you. What happens if we make monsters with real artifical intelligence? What if they were less predictable, acting on their own devices, rather than in a highly strict manner? The concept means a lot of other mechanics would need to be rethought (class roles, escape opportunities, and so on)--but perhaps that's a good thing. Make entire monster societies, and let them battle each other independently of players, and do it in a non-scripted way. City of Heroes and Tabula Rasa made some progress with genre AI. Let's see more of it.

4) Play with location.

I'm an explorer. I want to see something new. After all, this is a virtual world. A developer should ask: why would players want to live in our universe? It isn't just about how much there is to do, but how much there is to see. I'm not just talking about graphics (though art design is inextricably tied to this suggestion); I am talking about surprises. World of Warcraft hides a lot of cool things in the nooks and crannies, for example. Give me awesome places to stumble upon, reasons to leave the beaten path. I recognize that most developers want their world to have visual consistency. But the real world doesn't have that, and I'd like to wander about another world that has secrets to share. If I wander into an alley in San Francisco, I'm bound to find something weird. Why shouldn't the same happen when I wander into one in an MMO? And don't just make it a visual thing--hide a vendor there that sells unique items; stick an NPC there that has a story to tell. Fill your world with unpredictability, and it gives us a reason to return.

5) Play with story.

Some developers are headed in the right direction. Turbine (Asheron's Call; Dungeons & Dragons Online; LOTR Online) is consistently good at delivering story, as is Funcom (Anarchy Online; Age of Conan); and Everquest II's abundance of voice acting makes quests more involving and fleshes out the lore better as a result. But even the most expertly written quest is pointless if the player ignores the dialogue, or if it has no character. Make voice acting a standard (but allow people to turn it off if they want); improve animations and design NPCs so that they look different from each other (I don't look like my coworker Lark Anderson in the least, so I certainly don't see why every goblin has to look alike). These may not seem directly related to story, but they give the world's inhabitants personality, which goes a long way towards making you care about their tales. Guild Wars, Asheron's Call 2 and others gave us cutscenes. Give us more--and make them good. And--God forbid--give us branching paths, a single-player standby, and one that would be difficult to implement well in an MMO environment. But do it.

Or scrap it all and do something crazy. Of course, this is my own personal wishlist; a good business plan doesn't always include a lot of chances and innovations. What would you like to see in an MMOG? What things are you happy with, and what needs improvement?

Clear Skies and Inevitability by Kevin-V

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:05:28 PDT

I'd like to be able to blog more often, I swear. I will be doing so soon, but recently, an inundation of games has meant I spend most of my awake hours playing and writing, and most of my non-awake hours... um... sleeping. Even so, I'm working to get you reviews of two important PC games.

Firstly, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. I will be updating Under Review, the reviews blog, with screens and exploits prior to the review, and you should look for similar posts from Justin Calvert there, as well as in his personal blog. As with all MMOs, Warhammer Online is a big, sprawling game, and we always take a lot of time before posting a review. While our policy is to play a minimum of 35 hours before posting a review, I logged close to 90 hours in Age of Conan and plan to get in similar playtime with Warhammer. We'll also be posting a first impressions article and video tomorrow, hopefully. Fortunately, at least four GameSpot staffers are playing with me, so we'll have plenty of experience under our belts. Here's a peek at the wondrous Inevitable City, where my Chaos Magus and I went floating with my guildies. What's great is that I was running FRAPS to take periodic screenshots, so this wasn't a planned piece of beauty.

The other game I'm immersed in right now is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. The review code provided an unusual circumstance, however, because the Starforce copy protection kept it from running on my home PC. As a result, my playtime was severely limited before the game's release and I needed to wait for the Steam release. Now, I am able to play via the Steam download at home and a disc installation at work, so I am carting my saved games back and forth. It doesn't strike me that Clear Sky is long in the traditional sense, but there are some frustrating design elements that bottleneck the experience, keeping it from being a breezy playthrough. Additionally, Crysis Warhead and the remaining versions of Force Unleashed (and, of course, Warhammer Online) made focusing exclusively on Clear Sky practically impossible.

In any case, I hope to have a review of Clear Sky to you by Monday or Tuesday. When you read it, do so with a Russian accent. Thanks for your patience, and I hope this gives some folks some perspective on perhaps why not every review can be posted right on release date. While I'd like to clone myself (which reminds me, I decided not to send Richard Garriott my DNA, for those wondering), it seems that for now, I must be content to live with 24-hour days. Oh, but allow me to offer a screenshot of some clear skies in Clear Sky:

Off to bed. Sorry if the snoring keeps you up.

The Steam Servers are Too Busy to Handle your Request by Kevin-V

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:55:27 PDT

Valve doesn't want me to have S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, apparently.

I promise that soon I will blog something of more substance. For now, I just wanted to vent!

Spore S'more by Kevin-V

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:10:04 PDT

So with a review posting soon, I thought I would bring you a bit more of Spore before that time comes. Take a look at a bit from the Space Stage: