Well, this has been coming for some time. I haven't been exactly thrilled with jamming all these different kinds of content into a single blog, and I've felt a little pressed to make Discount Thoughts into only a blog exclusively about video games, which is not what I ever meant for it to be. So, I've decided to end Discount Thoughts in its present form and move to independent hosting, where I can have some freedom to experiment and branch out. That means leaving Blogger. This site will remain active in purely archival form for some time, but there will be no further updates, and comments will be closed. If you're seeing this in your RSS reader, it's only because I didn't quite switch the feed over correctly.
So what of the new blogs? Well, there are now three!
Discount Thoughts will be the home of my personal posts and everything that doesn't fit into the two subject blogs.
Conformational Flux will be the home of my posts on scientific articles and commentaries on science.
Ludonarratology will be the home of my videogame-related writing.
I hope you'll come along and enjoy the future at my new websites!
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September 6, 2011
Farewell, Discount Thoughts. Hello, Discount Thoughts!
August 19, 2011
Brief Thoughts, week of August 19
From Dust's PC port has always-online DRM, is crap: Really, who didn't see this coming? Ubisoft has a richly-deserved reputation for hating on the PC, and From Dust's DRM and terrible port can hardly be a surprise in light of the company's past actions. Ubisoft's upcoming Driver: San Francisco will probably also have this asinine DRM — Ubisoft claims it will not, but a similar claim was made for From Dust. As the man said: "Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me... won't get fooled again". Fortunately, a cracked version is already available, so you can still play it on PC without Ubi's hateful DRM (but don't be a dick, guys — buy a legit copy and run the cracked one). Or, you can just play PC games from companies other than Ubisoft. That is, after all, what they clearly want.
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August 17, 2011
Capsule: Trauma
Status: Complete, all endings and pictures obtained.
Most intriguing idea: Using hidden-object gameplay as an analogy for self-examination.
Best design decision: The "ghost photo" navigation system.
Worst design decision: Describing the possible endings under the "Discoveries" tab. These are telegraphed enough as is.
Most intriguing idea: Using hidden-object gameplay as an analogy for self-examination.
Best design decision: The "ghost photo" navigation system.
Worst design decision: Describing the possible endings under the "Discoveries" tab. These are telegraphed enough as is.
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August 16, 2011
Capsule: Child of Eden
Status: Completed all levels (final level in "Feel Eden" mode)
Most Intriguing Idea: Gameplay as synaesthesia.
Best design decision: The "Feel Eden" mode
Worst design decision: Having modes that are not "Feel Eden"
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August 12, 2011
Brief thoughts, week of August 12
Rage to require 22 GB install on XBox 360: The game is also shipping on three discs: two for the main game +1 for multiplayer. My understanding is that Rage will still be playable from disc, albeit with a notable performance hit. It's a little silly to be outraged by this (no pun intended), despite Microsoft's ludicrous price-gouging on hard drives. The existence of the hard drives always made this sort of requirement a temptation, and PS3 owners have already "enjoyed" mandatory installs for some games. The next generation of consoles will all have hard drives, because we're reaching an era where the performance hit due to streaming data from disc is becoming noticeable. Given the increasing penetration of broadband and wi-fi, and the growing (publisher-side) popularity of "always on" DRM, as well as their desire to squelch sales of used games, the total abandonment of optical media may be nearer than we think.
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August 5, 2011
Roundup: Week of August 5, 2011
This was a big week for fans of loot-whoring RPGs, yeah?
Diablo III to have always-on DRM, no modding, real-money transactions: Let's not beat around the bush here or buy in to Blizzard's frankly insulting rationalizations for the always-online requirement. These are not choices in favor of optimization, they represent DRM that can only make the single-player experience worse. The no-modding choice in particular takes a dump on one of the great advantages of the PC. I can't say I care one way or another about paying real money for digital swords, nor would it matter: that ship has sailed, returned to harbor laden with riches from distant lands, and sailed again. This is a case where I can vote with my dollars, though, so Runic Games probably owes Activision-Blizzard a thank-you note. The story's amusing coda is presented by Blizzard's Robert Bridenbecker, whose bewildered response to the outcry is so larded with PR-speak it barely seems like a communication from a human being.
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August 2, 2011
Scenario and story in Bastion
Bastion is a game with marvelous art, a wonderful soundtrack, and solid mechanics, but it was not sold to the public on the strength of these aspects. Rather, it was sold on its storytelling system, in which a narrator responds to what the main character (called only the Kid) is doing. In the game, however, the narrator actually does relatively little of this, and Bastion's plot is thinly realized, offering little insight into its characters and their motivations. Rather, the game's storytelling system primarily delivers background information on the city of Caelondia and the Calamity that has caused the destruction of the city and its environs. Bastion's narrative puts scenario first and story second, in a way that both supports and weakens its central themes.
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July 28, 2011
Brief thoughts from July
Nintendo drops 3DS price by $80: It had to be done, given the below-expectations sales numbers and widespread hyperventilation over them. The DS also had a slow start, in terms of both sales and software, but that was before mobile phones were the most widespread handheld platform. As such, a price cut may not be enough to save the 3DS. The new price certainly doesn't do much for me: my only experience with the handheld gave me a splitting headache, and the lineup of games includes exactly one thing I want to play (and even then, I'm satisfied with OoT's original graphics). As for early adopters, the free virtual console games they'll get should take away a bit of the sting, but they probably feel a bit betrayed. While the price drop may shore up 3DS sales, it may adversely affect the Wii U launch. It would only make sense to hold off on buying a new home console, after all, given Nintendo's demonstrated willingness to burn its most loyal fans. Speaking of which...
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July 11, 2011
Actor, Director, Producer: The player role in RPG battles
I have more to say about Final Fantasy XIII, but that post is so depressing to write I thought I'd hold off for now and elaborate on a point I made in my post discussing its combat mechanics. Role-playing games tend to get broadly divided into "turn-based" and "action" categories, distinctions that are not particularly informative, often get used inaccurately, and don't usefully elaborate the relationship between the player and the system. The battle systems in RPGs can be described in a variety of orthogonal ways, each of which has some value for describing the game's engagement with the player. Here I want to focus on the role of the player in dictating the course of the battle. Traditionally the player has either been an "actor" or a "director", but in the past decade or so, "producer"-style play has also become common. Depending on context, any of these player roles can be used to generate a compelling play experience, but an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses is essential.
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July 6, 2011
Final Fantasy XIII: A series of tubes
The worst reason to hate Final Fantasy XIII is because of its linearity. Non-linearity doesn't necessarily improve a game, and following a constrained path doesn't necessarily make it worse. All Final Fantasy games, including the most highly praised ones, have been essentially linear in both story and world design, and FFXIII is not even unique in degree, given FFX. A player's desire to break out of a constrained experience is usually not a result of linearity per se, but instead reflects a failure of the game's story to engage that player. "Failure" is a reasonably good description of FFXIII's story, which is surprising because Square-Enix had done so much of this stuff before.
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July 5, 2011
Final Fantasy XIII: The best part
Despite respectable review scores and reasonably good sales, Final Fantasy XIII is widely derided, for many good reasons and a few bad ones. Defenders of the game often point to the battle system as the game's saving grace. I found myself sharing the sentiment when I played through the game recently. That might be seen as damning by faint praise, given that so much of the game was attacked, but the combat system really is quite strong, and manages to incorporate principles that are familiar from hard-core RPGs in a dynamic and accessible way. While it probably won't satisfy players who cut their teeth on those older systems, FFXIII represents an interesting fusion of principles.
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June 27, 2011
The Road Course
This past weekend marked an interesting turn in the NASCAR racing season, by which I mean a right turn. Both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Tour visited road courses, a rare departure for a racing brand built on ovals. The weight, center of gravity, and wheelbase of a stock car can make even the ovals difficult to drive at racing speeds, so even though the road courses make use of the same basic skills, they pose a unique and difficult challenge, so much so that it was once typical to see "ringers" with road racing expertise make an appearance at the two annual road races. The change-up can result in some uniquely exciting racing, or, as happened this weekend in both races, bruising wrecks. Video games that try to change up their gameplay midstream face similar risks. To understand this, we need look no further than the shmups appearing in Goichi Suda's third-person action games No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned.
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