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We can score a winning goal in the World Cup final, save the world as James Bond, or even steal a motorbike and speed down a stretch of road, doing a wheelie whilst shooting at pedestrians...but what CAN'T we do? What is gaming missing at the moment? Well, here's a fair few things:
RUGBY GAMES - apart from an admirable and honest if a bit rubbish effort from EA, there hasn't ever really been a decent rugby sim. Across the pond, the NFL and Madden series' battle it out every year to be the best American 'football' title...so why doesn't anyone make a game of the PROPER running and tackling sport? With popularity growing, and the World Cup approaching, surely it would be a great time to really go for a rugby game. Sure there's lots of rules, but you could say the same of American Football. Why won't anybody seize the opportunity?
CRAZY FIGHT SCENES - recently, with the Mark of Kri and Lord of the Rings we've been seeing more games that stack the odds against you. The feeling of being surrounded by a dozen no-goods brandishing shields and swords and all you have is a spear just can't be beat...why isn't this fantastic experience recreated more often? Getting to spin around, chop off heads and thrust through ribcages in a frantic orgy of blood just doesn't happen as much as it should!
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW - we've had Police 24/7, and The Getaway will let you play as a rozzer, but will there ever be a fully fledged copper sim? Running round, kicking down doors and busting drug deals, handcuffing criminals and foiling bank robberies would be ace, especially in a living breathing world, ala GTA. It'd be nice to play the good guy for a change.
DVD EXTRAS - DVD has revolutionized home cinema with documentaries, deleted scenes and full commentary. A few games like SSX Tricky and Stuntman have taken the initiative, but why can't more developers record a little piece and slap it on. I'd love to know how some of the levels of Halo were created, for instance, or a quick commentary on all the hidden little extras in GTA:VC from someone who helped put them in.
REMAKES - Resident Evil has started a trend, and with Defender coming out for the PS2 soon, the whiff of nostalgia is smothering the industry. What about a 3D sequel to Jet-Pac, for instance? A huge flying Rogue Leader-style Space Invaders? The oldies were often very goodies, and to not take advantage of current technology to realise brilliant ideas is stupid.
DECENT REPLAYS - I don't just mean PES2 (although I do wish Konami would pull their finger out), but in other games, like Mafia and Metal Gear Solid. Imagine you've just knocked out a guard, and placed him in a particularly humorous position - wouldn't you like to save the moment for posterity and cheap laughs when your mates come over? You don't have to be a sports game to have replays, you know.
INTERESTING MENUS - look at 007: Nightfire. Dancing Bond ladies, just like the opening sequences have. Look at Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth; a video of all your favourite superstars playing in the background. Why can't we have more stuff like this, rather than bog standard scrolling and selecting?
MORE MULTIPLAYER - Metroid Prime is out in the States and really, when you've seen all three endings, there's nothing left to do. As games like Conker's Bad Fur Day have shown, multiplayer games outside of racers, shooters and sports simulations can be fun. Why not add in a few little games to add some real depth to your titles? And MOH:Frontline, don't get me started on you...
LESS BANDWAGON JUMPING - do they get it yet? Cel-shading is no longer cutting edge. So why must you insist on making more games like it? Auto Modellista and XIII can just about get away with it because those genres were still untouched, but if something's successful, once there's twenty plus clones it gets stale. Ditto for Pokemon-esque trading card games, and free roaming crime sims.
MORE HIDDEN CHALLENGES - two shining examples are Perfect Dark's cheese and GTA's hidden packages. Just leave a little something to find, something to challenge the die-hards. It doesn't have to unlock a super duper cheat, but the extra objective can add a whole extra month to a game's lifespan.
LESS GENRE SWAPPING - Haven shows why genres should be left apart. Ratchet and Clank is a platformer, not a hoverboard racer. Grand Theft Auto is...well, it's not a racer. Et cetera, et cetera. Stick to what you said you would, don't try and branch out into another new and exciting area - you'll invariably fail, and inevitably annoy.
MORE ALTERNATE ENDINGS - branching paths give you a feeling of control, like your actions are significant, rather than mere prompts for the game to move along to the next bit. Deus Ex was brilliant, always capturing your character's personality perfectly, and dealing up one of about 12 different end sequences. Again, it'll keep the gamers much busier, and make them feel far more important.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to add more, or comment on mine.
-El Blokey
RUGBY GAMES - apart from an admirable and honest if a bit rubbish effort from EA, there hasn't ever really been a decent rugby sim. Across the pond, the NFL and Madden series' battle it out every year to be the best American 'football' title...so why doesn't anyone make a game of the PROPER running and tackling sport? With popularity growing, and the World Cup approaching, surely it would be a great time to really go for a rugby game. Sure there's lots of rules, but you could say the same of American Football. Why won't anybody seize the opportunity?
CRAZY FIGHT SCENES - recently, with the Mark of Kri and Lord of the Rings we've been seeing more games that stack the odds against you. The feeling of being surrounded by a dozen no-goods brandishing shields and swords and all you have is a spear just can't be beat...why isn't this fantastic experience recreated more often? Getting to spin around, chop off heads and thrust through ribcages in a frantic orgy of blood just doesn't happen as much as it should!
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW - we've had Police 24/7, and The Getaway will let you play as a rozzer, but will there ever be a fully fledged copper sim? Running round, kicking down doors and busting drug deals, handcuffing criminals and foiling bank robberies would be ace, especially in a living breathing world, ala GTA. It'd be nice to play the good guy for a change.
DVD EXTRAS - DVD has revolutionized home cinema with documentaries, deleted scenes and full commentary. A few games like SSX Tricky and Stuntman have taken the initiative, but why can't more developers record a little piece and slap it on. I'd love to know how some of the levels of Halo were created, for instance, or a quick commentary on all the hidden little extras in GTA:VC from someone who helped put them in.
REMAKES - Resident Evil has started a trend, and with Defender coming out for the PS2 soon, the whiff of nostalgia is smothering the industry. What about a 3D sequel to Jet-Pac, for instance? A huge flying Rogue Leader-style Space Invaders? The oldies were often very goodies, and to not take advantage of current technology to realise brilliant ideas is stupid.
DECENT REPLAYS - I don't just mean PES2 (although I do wish Konami would pull their finger out), but in other games, like Mafia and Metal Gear Solid. Imagine you've just knocked out a guard, and placed him in a particularly humorous position - wouldn't you like to save the moment for posterity and cheap laughs when your mates come over? You don't have to be a sports game to have replays, you know.
INTERESTING MENUS - look at 007: Nightfire. Dancing Bond ladies, just like the opening sequences have. Look at Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth; a video of all your favourite superstars playing in the background. Why can't we have more stuff like this, rather than bog standard scrolling and selecting?
MORE MULTIPLAYER - Metroid Prime is out in the States and really, when you've seen all three endings, there's nothing left to do. As games like Conker's Bad Fur Day have shown, multiplayer games outside of racers, shooters and sports simulations can be fun. Why not add in a few little games to add some real depth to your titles? And MOH:Frontline, don't get me started on you...
LESS BANDWAGON JUMPING - do they get it yet? Cel-shading is no longer cutting edge. So why must you insist on making more games like it? Auto Modellista and XIII can just about get away with it because those genres were still untouched, but if something's successful, once there's twenty plus clones it gets stale. Ditto for Pokemon-esque trading card games, and free roaming crime sims.
MORE HIDDEN CHALLENGES - two shining examples are Perfect Dark's cheese and GTA's hidden packages. Just leave a little something to find, something to challenge the die-hards. It doesn't have to unlock a super duper cheat, but the extra objective can add a whole extra month to a game's lifespan.
LESS GENRE SWAPPING - Haven shows why genres should be left apart. Ratchet and Clank is a platformer, not a hoverboard racer. Grand Theft Auto is...well, it's not a racer. Et cetera, et cetera. Stick to what you said you would, don't try and branch out into another new and exciting area - you'll invariably fail, and inevitably annoy.
MORE ALTERNATE ENDINGS - branching paths give you a feeling of control, like your actions are significant, rather than mere prompts for the game to move along to the next bit. Deus Ex was brilliant, always capturing your character's personality perfectly, and dealing up one of about 12 different end sequences. Again, it'll keep the gamers much busier, and make them feel far more important.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to add more, or comment on mine.
-El Blokey
GAD? If you're right, I promise I'll post "VICTOLY!". Honest.
A winnar is yuo!
We can score a winning goal in the World Cup final, save the world as James Bond, or even steal a motorbike and speed down a stretch of road, doing a wheelie whilst shooting at pedestrians...but what CAN'T we do? What is gaming missing at the moment? Well, here's a fair few things:
RUGBY GAMES - apart from an admirable and honest if a bit rubbish effort from EA, there hasn't ever really been a decent rugby sim. Across the pond, the NFL and Madden series' battle it out every year to be the best American 'football' title...so why doesn't anyone make a game of the PROPER running and tackling sport? With popularity growing, and the World Cup approaching, surely it would be a great time to really go for a rugby game. Sure there's lots of rules, but you could say the same of American Football. Why won't anybody seize the opportunity?
CRAZY FIGHT SCENES - recently, with the Mark of Kri and Lord of the Rings we've been seeing more games that stack the odds against you. The feeling of being surrounded by a dozen no-goods brandishing shields and swords and all you have is a spear just can't be beat...why isn't this fantastic experience recreated more often? Getting to spin around, chop off heads and thrust through ribcages in a frantic orgy of blood just doesn't happen as much as it should!
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW - we've had Police 24/7, and The Getaway will let you play as a rozzer, but will there ever be a fully fledged copper sim? Running round, kicking down doors and busting drug deals, handcuffing criminals and foiling bank robberies would be ace, especially in a living breathing world, ala GTA. It'd be nice to play the good guy for a change.
DVD EXTRAS - DVD has revolutionized home cinema with documentaries, deleted scenes and full commentary. A few games like SSX Tricky and Stuntman have taken the initiative, but why can't more developers record a little piece and slap it on. I'd love to know how some of the levels of Halo were created, for instance, or a quick commentary on all the hidden little extras in GTA:VC from someone who helped put them in.
REMAKES - Resident Evil has started a trend, and with Defender coming out for the PS2 soon, the whiff of nostalgia is smothering the industry. What about a 3D sequel to Jet-Pac, for instance? A huge flying Rogue Leader-style Space Invaders? The oldies were often very goodies, and to not take advantage of current technology to realise brilliant ideas is stupid.
DECENT REPLAYS - I don't just mean PES2 (although I do wish Konami would pull their finger out), but in other games, like Mafia and Metal Gear Solid. Imagine you've just knocked out a guard, and placed him in a particularly humorous position - wouldn't you like to save the moment for posterity and cheap laughs when your mates come over? You don't have to be a sports game to have replays, you know.
INTERESTING MENUS - look at 007: Nightfire. Dancing Bond ladies, just like the opening sequences have. Look at Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth; a video of all your favourite superstars playing in the background. Why can't we have more stuff like this, rather than bog standard scrolling and selecting?
MORE MULTIPLAYER - Metroid Prime is out in the States and really, when you've seen all three endings, there's nothing left to do. As games like Conker's Bad Fur Day have shown, multiplayer games outside of racers, shooters and sports simulations can be fun. Why not add in a few little games to add some real depth to your titles? And MOH:Frontline, don't get me started on you...
LESS BANDWAGON JUMPING - do they get it yet? Cel-shading is no longer cutting edge. So why must you insist on making more games like it? Auto Modellista and XIII can just about get away with it because those genres were still untouched, but if something's successful, once there's twenty plus clones it gets stale. Ditto for Pokemon-esque trading card games, and free roaming crime sims.
MORE HIDDEN CHALLENGES - two shining examples are Perfect Dark's cheese and GTA's hidden packages. Just leave a little something to find, something to challenge the die-hards. It doesn't have to unlock a super duper cheat, but the extra objective can add a whole extra month to a game's lifespan.
LESS GENRE SWAPPING - Haven shows why genres should be left apart. Ratchet and Clank is a platformer, not a hoverboard racer. Grand Theft Auto is...well, it's not a racer. Et cetera, et cetera. Stick to what you said you would, don't try and branch out into another new and exciting area - you'll invariably fail, and inevitably annoy.
MORE ALTERNATE ENDINGS - branching paths give you a feeling of control, like your actions are significant, rather than mere prompts for the game to move along to the next bit. Deus Ex was brilliant, always capturing your character's personality perfectly, and dealing up one of about 12 different end sequences. Again, it'll keep the gamers much busier, and make them feel far more important.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to add more, or comment on mine.
-El Blokey
RUGBY GAMES - apart from an admirable and honest if a bit rubbish effort from EA, there hasn't ever really been a decent rugby sim. Across the pond, the NFL and Madden series' battle it out every year to be the best American 'football' title...so why doesn't anyone make a game of the PROPER running and tackling sport? With popularity growing, and the World Cup approaching, surely it would be a great time to really go for a rugby game. Sure there's lots of rules, but you could say the same of American Football. Why won't anybody seize the opportunity?
CRAZY FIGHT SCENES - recently, with the Mark of Kri and Lord of the Rings we've been seeing more games that stack the odds against you. The feeling of being surrounded by a dozen no-goods brandishing shields and swords and all you have is a spear just can't be beat...why isn't this fantastic experience recreated more often? Getting to spin around, chop off heads and thrust through ribcages in a frantic orgy of blood just doesn't happen as much as it should!
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW - we've had Police 24/7, and The Getaway will let you play as a rozzer, but will there ever be a fully fledged copper sim? Running round, kicking down doors and busting drug deals, handcuffing criminals and foiling bank robberies would be ace, especially in a living breathing world, ala GTA. It'd be nice to play the good guy for a change.
DVD EXTRAS - DVD has revolutionized home cinema with documentaries, deleted scenes and full commentary. A few games like SSX Tricky and Stuntman have taken the initiative, but why can't more developers record a little piece and slap it on. I'd love to know how some of the levels of Halo were created, for instance, or a quick commentary on all the hidden little extras in GTA:VC from someone who helped put them in.
REMAKES - Resident Evil has started a trend, and with Defender coming out for the PS2 soon, the whiff of nostalgia is smothering the industry. What about a 3D sequel to Jet-Pac, for instance? A huge flying Rogue Leader-style Space Invaders? The oldies were often very goodies, and to not take advantage of current technology to realise brilliant ideas is stupid.
DECENT REPLAYS - I don't just mean PES2 (although I do wish Konami would pull their finger out), but in other games, like Mafia and Metal Gear Solid. Imagine you've just knocked out a guard, and placed him in a particularly humorous position - wouldn't you like to save the moment for posterity and cheap laughs when your mates come over? You don't have to be a sports game to have replays, you know.
INTERESTING MENUS - look at 007: Nightfire. Dancing Bond ladies, just like the opening sequences have. Look at Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth; a video of all your favourite superstars playing in the background. Why can't we have more stuff like this, rather than bog standard scrolling and selecting?
MORE MULTIPLAYER - Metroid Prime is out in the States and really, when you've seen all three endings, there's nothing left to do. As games like Conker's Bad Fur Day have shown, multiplayer games outside of racers, shooters and sports simulations can be fun. Why not add in a few little games to add some real depth to your titles? And MOH:Frontline, don't get me started on you...
LESS BANDWAGON JUMPING - do they get it yet? Cel-shading is no longer cutting edge. So why must you insist on making more games like it? Auto Modellista and XIII can just about get away with it because those genres were still untouched, but if something's successful, once there's twenty plus clones it gets stale. Ditto for Pokemon-esque trading card games, and free roaming crime sims.
MORE HIDDEN CHALLENGES - two shining examples are Perfect Dark's cheese and GTA's hidden packages. Just leave a little something to find, something to challenge the die-hards. It doesn't have to unlock a super duper cheat, but the extra objective can add a whole extra month to a game's lifespan.
LESS GENRE SWAPPING - Haven shows why genres should be left apart. Ratchet and Clank is a platformer, not a hoverboard racer. Grand Theft Auto is...well, it's not a racer. Et cetera, et cetera. Stick to what you said you would, don't try and branch out into another new and exciting area - you'll invariably fail, and inevitably annoy.
MORE ALTERNATE ENDINGS - branching paths give you a feeling of control, like your actions are significant, rather than mere prompts for the game to move along to the next bit. Deus Ex was brilliant, always capturing your character's personality perfectly, and dealing up one of about 12 different end sequences. Again, it'll keep the gamers much busier, and make them feel far more important.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to add more, or comment on mine.
-El Blokey