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GameSlice Daily Editorial

The Week Ending October 17, 1999

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continued...

Xena: Warrior Princess
Another new game recently released for the Playstation is Xena: Warrior Princess. Despite some great production values from the team at Universal Interactive, there's nothing more disappointing than a game that has bad camera and character movement control.   You can spend all the money in the world on great music, sound effects, and graphics, but if the game doesn't control right, the CD is as good as a beverage coaster. Unfortunately, this is the case with Xena. First of all, the walk mode is completely useless and far too slow, meaning you always have to hit the "run" button. And although the sword combat is well choreographed and fun, the camera in the game isn't intelligent enough to zoom out during battles, often causing Xena to get lost in the melee of fighting. Unless you’re a die-hard Xena-phile, this one's a certified miss.
A Game Designer's Editorial
It's seldom that we see game designers take a stand in this industry, but last week I was delighted to see an editorial from Gabriel Knight designer Jane Jensen posted on the Adrenaline Vault that frankly discussed the state of gaming from her perspective. Addressing issues such as the supposed death of the adventure game and the influx of Doom-like action games, Jensen clearly articulates just how the industry has changed over the past few years.   The editorial is particularly timely considering Sierra is on the heels of releasing Gabriel Knight 3 in time for Halloween, a game which Jensen admits is probably Sierra's last traditional adventure. At the end of the day it's troubling to see a talented designer like Jensen questioning her place in an industry that is far too myopic for its own good.   If you get a chance, I highly recommended reading her eloquent essay, posted here. Let's hope more designers follow Jensen's lead and tell us what they really think about the direction of our cherished industry..
Planetdeerhunter.com?
Finally, I ask you this: Just what has happened to the world of gaming? Last week brought the launch of planetdeerhunter.com from the company that brought you planetquake.com. Is planetbarbiemakeover.com much further behind? Still, deer hunting games keep selling – Witness the announcement last week that ASC is hard at work on TNN Outdoor Pro Hunter 2.   We can only hope the sequel to Pro Hunter will implement a scalable level of detail (LOD) for the 3D deer models <rolls eyes>
The Matrix Game?
Last week news broke that Hideo Kojima, director of the Metal Gear Solid team at Konami had a meeting with Wachowski brothers, directors of The Matrix. The rumor mill said the brothers were discussing the idea of doing a Matrix videogame with Konami. However, reports later surfaced on the web to suggest we shouldn't read too much into the meeting. Nevertheless, I can't help but imagine how cool it would be to have a Matrix game from the team that brought you Metal Gear Solid. Truth be told, we've never seen a major movie game attempted by a talented Japanese development team – One has to wonder what the results would be? With companies like SouthPeak Interactive doing games like Wild Wild West (the 50 meg demo came out last week if you feel compelled to download it), I have a hunch that a Matrix game would be something special…Let's hope there's an announcement soon!

Your Comments?
Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your opinions.
Next Week:
I look at the latest game advertisements.
Thanks for reading! That's the Gist of It.

Geoff Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice