Welcome to this week's The Gist List. As we head into the
heart of the summer, game releases will no doubt peter out (especially after public
corporations hit their June 30th end-of-quarter), but The Gist List is still ready to rock
and roll Here are this week's items:
3D Means Business
Even as recently as a few months ago there was a buzz around
the industry that publishers would have to be insane to ship a 3D accelerated only game.
Well, it looks like the tide is turning if The Phantom Menace and Episode I: Racer form
LucasArts are any indication of where the market is at. Sure, the games have a built in
audience of Star Wars fans, but the most interesting fact is this: The requirement of a 3D
card isn't hampering sales. (It could be argued the games would be even bigger hits with
software support, but the current sales numbers are still huge). Many in the
industry were worried that LucasArts was shooting themselves in the foot by making the
games 3D-only, but the sales (Phantom Menace has been on-and-off as the #1 game since
late-May) show that 3D-only games can be sustained top sellers. It's about time!
Accessibility, Where Are You?
Ok I admit it: I hate to read manuals. The only way you are
going to get me to read one is if I've played a game for hours, grown to love it, and then
want to figure out the intricacies of the interface. However, I'm constantly annoyed how
games require you to read manuals before you can even begin to understand the general game
mechanic – In part, that's why I loved the initial tutorials in Dungeon Keeper II.
I think the reason a lot of games are inaccessible without first reading the manual
is due to the fact interfaces aren't well designed. Far too many games (especially RTS
titles) give the player too many interface options from the get-go. What ever happened to
gradually introducing an interface to the player? Look at a game like Zelda on the N64
that stars off as simple as one can get and then adds layers onto the basic game mechanic.
Unfortunately, most PC games don't do this, or if they do, the game is laced with a hugely
complicated tutorial – by the time you come out of it, you feel like you've just
memorized the periodic table. Accessibility is king.
Worms Armageddon
Here's a little game from British-developer Team 17 that
really caught my eye. It sort of feels like the Shareware game Scorched Earth
cross-pollinated with Lemmings. Published by Microprose, the series has been around for a
few years, but this is the first one that has really caught my attention. Perhaps part of
the reason why I turned my eye to it has to do with the wonderful advertisement that's
been running in PC game magazines. It's clear, vibrant, and a testament to how game
advertising can be done the right way. Nevertheless, I urge you to at least check out the
demo of Worms Armageddon (it's on quite a few cover discs this month or you can download
it online here).
Installation Programs
Some of you will no doubt think this is a minor gripe, but I'm
sick and tired of poor install programs. Does anyone remember the incredibly rich and
immersive installation program for Command and Conquer under DOS? You almost felt a part
of the game as data was being copied to the hard drive. Sure, a lot of companies no doubt
have "super-duper installation program" way down on their priority list, but
it's an important part of the gaming experience, and most of all, a fantastic marketing
opportunity. Some companies have made the huge leap (insert strong sarcasm) and
included music in the background of the installation, while others have featured concept
artwork and pleas to fill in the registration card. Heck, I think Hexen II included a
CGI-introduction movie as part of the installation. But put simply, I think publishers and
developers undervalue the installation experience. It doesn't have to be a situation where
you click "Full Install" and go off to do other things. To the publisher, you
can have a captive audience for a few minutes if you make the installation compelling.
(For what it's worth, rumors have it that Westwood's introduction to Command and Conquer:
Tiberian Sun is going to blow your socks off).
Half-Life
and Jackie Chan
While I was on vacation I came across an advertisement in a
mainstream magazine for New Line Cinema's Rush Hour on videotape that had an interesting
promotional partner: Half-Life from Sierra Studios and Valve Software. Although this type
of cross-promotion often occurs in the console arena, it's rare that a PC game would have
such an impressive tie-in offer with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's hilarious 1998
action-comedy. Kudos to Sierra for thinking outside of the box and putting this
promotional deal together – These are the types of arrangements that will move PC
gaming more into the mainstream and further help a title like Half-Life reach a whole new
audience.
S3TC Compression
On the technology side of the fence, a few months ago I wrote
about my excitement for S3's new texture compression technology that allows for stunningly
detailed textured in games like Unreal. Unfortunately up until this point I've been
unimpressed by S3's ability to leverage this technology into a product consumers want to
buy. Although there are some S3 cards out there today with support for the technology,
they are, unfortunately, on the lower-end of the performance strata, whereas most gamers
who care about texture compression are on the high-end. (It also doesn't help that Unreal
Tournament, the first big game to support the technology, has been subject to delays). I
really thought S3 had an impressive piece of technology, but so far it appears they aren't
leveraging it into the right market spaces and before we know it another competing
technology is going to take precedence if S3 doesn't get their act together.
I'll be back next week with more news and views from the
gaming industry.
And that's the Gist of It.
Your Ideas?
Do you have a suggestion about something that should be added to next week's list?
Is there a game that gist doesn't cut it or one that does it gist
right? E-mail gistlist@gameslice.com
and we'll consider your suggestion.
Thanks for reading!
Geoff
Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice
