GameSlice: Behind the Scenes of the Computer and Video Game Industry

March 7, 2000

Page 2 of 3

Daily editorial
on trends in the gaming
industry and
hot topics.
HERE

Interested in the process of game development? Sound, graphics, code, and design are all covered
in our game design section.
HERE

Back to Index
HERE

Crimson Skies
Developer Zipper Interactive is a company you're probably not very familiar with, but they have been building some really great games over the past few years, including MechWarrior 3 and the under appreciated tank-shooter Recoil. I think its next game, Crimson Skies, is the one that is really going to put Zipper on the map. Amid all the talk about adding story, emotion, character, and interaction to games, Zipper is doing something simple yet brilliant: Taking a flight simulator and making it fun. If you're like me, you love the idea of flying a plane, but hate having to hit numerous Ctrl-Alt-Shift key combinations to even get a plane off the ground. The solution is Crimson Skies, a game that is more action-movie than flight simulator…and that's a good thing! Set in 1937, this game is Red Baron meets Half-Life: Rich fighter pilot characters in a dynamic story that happens to play out in the air with interesting twists. For instance, one mission demonstrated at GameStock has you actually high jacking a fighter plane in mid-air, and lets not forget to mention that all the planes are souped-up jets with tons of firepower. Scheduled for release this fall, Crimson Skies is easily one of games I'm most anticipating in Microsoft's lineup. (Also make sure to keep an eye on MechCommander 2).
Microsoft Strategic Commander
Although Microsoft has never stooped as low as some other peripheral manufacturers (anyone remember Logitech's Cyberman?) who have built peripherals with very limited applications, I'm a little puzzled by their new product called the Strategic Commander. It's basically a peripheral that can be trained to automate certain tasks or key combinations in a strategy game. With a total of 72 different programmable key mappings, Microsoft was demonstrating it with Age of Empires II and there's no question it speeds up and makes gameplay more efficient. However, my problem with the concept of this hardware is simple: It makes the game unfair. Strategy games like Command and Conquer used to be about players mastering strategies, but the Strategic Commander is like having Big Blue with you when you play Chess – It makes the playing field uneven. Unless both players in an online game have the product, someone is automatically going to be at an advantage with a Strategic Commander.
Next, the verdict on Digital Anvil's upcoming games >>>