A Green Mushroom

If you are looking for some Sunday reading I would highly recommend checking out Klelith's analysis of the MMO leveling conundrum.  It dives deep into the problem that occurs when friends out-level each other.  Klelith does a great job of explaining the different models currently in place in the MMO world.  If you've ever wondered about solutions to this problem make sure to check out the post .

The app store for the ipod touch (and iphone I suppose) is so quick and easy to use that sometimes I have trouble not buying games. Today I saw that Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II released for the ipod with updated graphics.  I ended up buying them without really seeing the price.  I remember they were under $10 each, but I honestly couldn't tell you the actual price that I paid.  I did the same thing with Plants vs Zombies the other day.  I think that one was more reasonably priced but I still don't remember the specific price point. The ipod isn't the only place where I've seen fast buying of digital goods.  Amazon has one-click buying on almost every page of their site.  Steam constantly updates me on sales, specials, and current releases.  Kindle makes buying books online a breeze.  As more content goes digital I think we will continue to see more one-click buying. I think the selection and fast downloads are great for consumers, but...

As Klelith over at  Lost in Neurons points out, some games stand the test of time.  I like to call these my fallback games.  They are the games I turn to when I beat a new game and have nothing else to play.  Or when I need to break up the monotony of playing just one game. These games change over time for everyone.  For me, my fallbacks used to be StarCraft, Warcraft 3, and Counter-Strike.  They are still fun games to visit occasionally but they have all become dated. My current fallback games are Team Fortress 2 and Modern Warfare 2.  They are such solid skill based games that I cannot recommend them enough.  If you haven't played these two games you are doing yourself a disservice. I'm extremely excited for StarCraft 2.  Starcraft has always been like a futuristic complex game of chess... in video game form.  I'm pretty sure that once SC2 releases it will join TF2 and MW2 in my list of fallback games. What are your fallback g...

Achievements are awesome.  Last night I beat Mass Effect 2 and today I'm starting over not only for a new story experience but also for the achievements I missed.  I looked through the achievements and I'm only missing 5 of them.  It makes me want to get them all. I love achievements.  For me, anything that makes a game's appeal last longer is a good thing.  Something that makes you play a game in a new way helps extend the life of the game.  Achievements can also push you out of the boundaries in which you were playing the game, or teach you new techniques that you would otherwise miss. Achievements are here to stay and I like it that way.

There are many ways in which games try to tell a story.  Most MMOs use text and quest logs to tell their story.  I think this is a disservice to players.  MMOs are almost all MMORPGs but many have had the RPG elements taken out.  Without the concentration on storytelling there is simply the leveling game left over.  Text is becoming antiquated in video games as the medium grows up.  We should move beyond this A step up from using text is the use of cutscenes.  Older RPGs would use text for most of the story and then reward players with the occasional cutscene.  Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX are all good examples of this trend.  MMOs are finally adding cutscenes, but they aren't widely used.  They usually show up at the very beginning to introduce the world and your character's place in it.  With Wrath of the Lich King Blizzard also injected a cutscene half way through Northrend. Moving up to a higher level of storytelling lea...

I'm having a strong tendency lately to lean toward single player RPGs.  MMOs simply don't tell a story as well as single player games which have been created around a story.  MMOs feel like the leveling system is central and the story is tacked on.  Single player RPGs feel like the story is center and the leveling system is tacked on. The secondary aspect (whatever has been tacked on) isn't necessarily bad .  But, it is secondary and I can definitely tell while playing the different types of games. It makes sense from a business standpoint for MMO devs to concentrate on the leveling, since this is what will determine how long it takes before a player reaches endgame.  Unfortunately for them, I am sick of the grind without any reason.  Reading text and hitting the accept quest button is no longer enough for me.  I am burned out on it. Compare that to Mass Effect 2.  I am absolutely in love with this game at the moment.  I haven't had as...

The StarCraft 2 Beta is finally out.  It seems that there is no NDA, so information can actually be found about the game.  Check out some live streams of SC2 being played or read the impressions from Joystiq. Hopefully more beta keys will become available soon.