Thoughts on E3 (Part I)

Now that E3 is over and my wasn’t-able-to-get-there ass has had ample time to go over all the news about it I could find, I wanted to share some of my favorite things from the show.

First off, I’ll just get the Bungie announcements out of the way. Everyone knows I’m a huge HALO freak, so I was stoked on hearing all the new info about Bungie’s upcoming game, Halo 3: ODST (click on that link to go to the project page). The gameplay they showed was awesome, seeming to perfectly blend new elements into the traditional HALO gameplay – since you don’t play a “super soldier” in this game, you don’t have regenerating shields, the big enemies are now much larger than you, and there is a greater emphasis on “stealth” over running and gunning. The best looking part of the game, however, was the new co-op mode – Firefight. Think of it like Horde mode for Gears of War 2, but longer and more extensive. Players jump into levels where they face off cooperatively against wave after increasingly difficult wave of enemies. This just sounds awesome, especially since it will be over Xbox Live, and with split screen (so my brother and I can play together on my set up!).

What really came as a surprise – and I mean REALLY – was Bungie’s announcement of a whole separate game, due out next year! It’s called Halo: Reach, and unlike ODST, it has you playing as Spartans (the super soldiers akin to the main character in the HALO trilogy). Not much is known about the gameplay for this game, except that a code that will allow access into the beta testing for its multiplayer will be included on the disc for ODST. As for the story of the game, it is based on the novel The Fall of Reach, by Eric Nylund. It is a pretty darn cool book, and it tells the story that leads directly up to the events of the first HALO game. Here’s a link to the project page where you can watch the announce trailer!

It’s a good time to be a HALO fan …

- Goodchild

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Blomkamp (Part III)

www.d-9.com

(continued from part II)

And while we’re on the subject, is the idea of a HALO movie even a good one? To be honest, fan of the series though I may be, I don’t believe that it is a smart move. Counting only the 3 original Bungie-made HALO games (HALO: Combat Evolved, HALO 2, and HALO 3), which all follow the same central characters and story, there is a wealth of plot there that could not possibly be transferred to a 2 or 2.5 hour movie. Wouldn’t a better idea be something along the lines of a mature animated series on HBO? Think back to HBO’s SPAWN animated series and you’ll see where I’m going with this.

With an animated series, all the original voice talent could reprise their roles in order to keep the “authenticity” fans would be looking for. It would also keep costs down from a huge budget film, and more of the story could be left intact – for example, a single movie probably wouldn’t “humanize” our alien enemy as the story in HALO 2 did, taking time to show the fall of a once proud warrior, his one chance at redemption, and or the way his entire race was betrayed and excommunicated from their religion. An animated series, on the other hand, would be able to go into these details.

Of course, another question still remains: Do people really want to watch something that they’ve already watched AND played through? Video game movies don’t always do so well at the box office – sure, one of the main reasons is because they’re never any good, but maybe there’s more to it …

In any case, District 9 and its odd marketing has me interested as hell, and I can’t wait to get more information on it. And if anyone figures out everything on the website, drop a line and let me know! goodchild@highlark.com

Next Big Viral: Neil Blomkamp's District 9 [FirstShowing.net]

- Goodchild

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Blomkamp (Part II)

(continued from Part I)

So, fans everywhere thought this proof positive that a HALO movie was in the works. And, of course, deals were being made … eventually, a writer was hired to pen the script, and the Jackson producing / Blomkamp directing / WETA engineering team was signed on. But no one could agree on anything, funding fell through, and the project remains in limbo.

So, what have this team been up to since they aren’t working on this? We’re all about to find out. Blomkamp’s feature length debut, District 9, is on track to release later this year (scheduled for August 14th, 2009). A viral marketing campaign by Sony, who is putting the film out, has already begun – check out http://www.d-9.com. Remember, if you’re a human, only click where you’re supposed to!

Now, I’m very interested in this project. The HALO shorts were cool enough that I’d be willing to plunk my money down to see Blomkamp’s film. And with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Dead Alive, and Heavenly Creatures under his belt, I’ll trust Peter Jackson enough that if he says “Blomkamp’s my man for this”, well then how can it go wrong?

Thing is, people are already saying that this film is merely a means of getting a big budget sci-fi movie under Blomkamp’s belt so that studios won’t be so nervous about giving him the money he needs to do HALO. And, if this is simply a “Look, I can do it!” type deal, will it truly live up to the hype, or be a rush job?

(to be continued)

Peter Jackson to Produce District 9 [About.com]

- Goodchild

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Blomkamp (Part I)

Did you see that?

So, around the time that HALO 3 was coming out, we (the ever-consuming public) were practically assaulted at almost every turn by advertising for the game, and also by its many tie-ins in other media. Some of these tie-ins were pretty poor, and nothing but the horrid byproduct of a marketing meeting conducted by the foulest of all creatures, the faceless, soulless suits of ad agency executives (I’m looking at you, HALO themed slurpee at 7-11). Others, however, had some real merit.

Something called HALO: ARMS RACE popped up on the internet, and on Xbox Live for download. It was a very short “film”, not even 5 minutes long. It was a live action gear-up for the war humanity had to look forward to with the alien race of the Covenant in the upcoming game. It showed a large human battle (space)ship moving through the atmosphere of our planet as it left dock. Soldiers were having their heads shaved, warthog jeeps were on the assembly line, thousands of battle rifles and pistols were being produced, all in preparation of “finishing the fight” in the third game of the successful trilogy.

What was this short, and who had made it? A quick answer would be that it is, like everybody’s favorite folk duo Flight Of The Conchords, from New Zealand. The short was directed by a man named Neil Blomkamp, was produced by Peter Jackson, and Jackson’s WETA studios had done the special effects. Wow. That’s a lot of firepower behind such a short piece …

But wait, there was more! Soon after, an actual short film (more than the first, which was ostensibly an ad), broken up into 2 parts, was released. For the first time, fans of the series got a glimpse of some real action in the HALO universe as it might look like in a movie, with a “story” that helped bridge the gap up to the beginning of the new game.

The film was pretty damn cool – while the sets were minimal, the cast small, and the actual substance of the project slight, it was totally amazing to see the power of the Brute hammer, the speed of the warthog, and Covenant banshees screaming past overhead. Oh, and the fact that a Brute got blown up by a rocket launcher didn’t hurt it.

(to be continued)

Halo's Arms Race, or when live-action is more dead than CGI [Joystiq]

- Goodchild

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Obsession is a Dangerous Thing (Part III)

photo by VGBoxArt.com

(continued from Part II)

On March 3rd, 2009, Microsoft Game Studios will release the final Ensemble Studios game – HALO WARS. After making a huge name for themselves with the AGE OF EMPIRES and AGE OF MYTHOLOGY games, Ensemble Studios (ES) was purchased by Microsoft Game Studios (MGS) and tasked with the first farmed out game in the HALO universe. As Bungie LLC, creators and makers of all things HALO related, had previously been owned by MGS, MGS owns the HALO name outright. With Bungie’s blessing, Ensemble was brought on to make a real time strategy game (what they were excellent at) with the HALO brand. I say “were” excellent at because MGS has recently decided to close ES after the release of HALO WARS, claiming that ES doesn’t fit in with their plans for the future. This is not too surprising if one notices that Microsoft has recently announced it will soon lay off thousands of employees (no one is safe in this economy), and that some will certainly be coming out of the entertainment division.

As I stated earlier, I am a huge fan of the HALO series. I thoroughly enjoy a good first person shooter, I extremely liked the story and campaign modes in the 3 games by Bungie, and the multiplayer is obviously incredible. But what I love even more is how the games were lovingly and artistically engineered by Bungie. The art direction, the level design, a flat out awesome physics engine, the music … everything about the games screams “professional grade”.

What I’m NOT a big fan of is RTS games. I’ve tried a few of them; ones that I’ve heard are accessible to the general public. Still, I’ve never found one that I’ve been able to get my head around and enjoy the way I know I should – not even the bare bones joke of an RTS in SOUL CALIBUR 3. I understand that many, many other people flat out love these games – I see that the joy is there. I just can’t seem to find it.

But still … it says HALO on the box.

I will be pre-ordering the special edition of HALO WARS, and picking it up the day it comes out. Am I excited for it? Kind of, I suppose. It is going to be a really big deal, and it looks really good – Ensemble, before being disbanded by MGS, did what appears to be an amazing job. They got the HALO feel down perfect – from the squeal of the engines as the warthog fishtails, to the sounds of the plasma pistols firing wildly as grunts gasp their last breaths. From some of the footage I’ve seen on the how the game works, it even looks as though the control scheme will be very intuitive and possible for someone of my RTS skills (re: anyone at all) to use.


But do I really need it the day it comes out? And do I really need to spend extra money on something that is in a genre I inherently dislike, meaning there is a large possibility that I may be disappointed that I spent all the money on something I don’t enjoy playing? Damn right I do.

The special edition of the game is the only way to get the Mythic Map Pack of 3 new HALO 3 multiplayer maps, made by Bungie, early. And gods damn it, I’m obsessed.

[official Halo Wars Community site]
Halo Wars [IGN]

- Goodchild

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Obsession is a Dangerous Thing (Part II)

(continued from Part I)

In Ohio, the story is entirely different. The teen involved here was obviously deranged, and fatally obsessive. Reports had it that, when the game originally came out and he was allowed to play, the youth played HALO 3 for up to 18 hours a day. This, if you ask me – and I am a huge fan of the HALO series, having even gone so far to take (paid) time off on the release of HALO 3 in order to play for a few days straight – is ridiculous. The good in this story is that his parents realized his obsession and moved to control it by taking the game away from him. The bad is that they didn’t take the situation seriously enough, or understand the extreme depths to which their son’s obsession had sunk.

Having planned his actions out carefully, the youth waited until his parents were together in their room. He stole the key to the family lock box, retrieved a pistol from it, then went to his parent’s room and told them to close their eyes because he “had a surprise for them.” When they complied, he shot them both in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. He then took only one thing from the house – his copy of HALO 3 – placed the gun in his father’s hand to make it look like a murder / suicide, and fled the scene.

video from CBSNEWS.com
Now, I see this story and part of me immediately wants to rant and yell at “the media” for their unfair and unjust portrayal of gaming. But, when looking at the facts as presented before me, I can only realize that – in this specific case – obsession with gaming actually did lead to murder. Now, saying that “gaming leads to murder” is obviously a gigantic leap. This child was certainly out of touch with reality, and that, therein, seemed to be the problem.

What is important here is that parents need to take an active role in their children’s activities – if not to participate, then to moderate and monitor. They need to make sure their children understand the line between reality and the fantasy worlds of games, and they need to constantly watch their children to ensure that there is no confusion about this. Obsession can, as we see here, be a VERY dangerous thing. My parents did this with me, and I have no problems differentiating fantasy from reality. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean I don’t have my own stupid problems with obsession.

While I myself am not about to commit any horrible and senseless acts of violence, obsession with gaming has, does, and will continue to lead me to do things I know full well I shouldn’t.

(to be continued)

Ohio Teen Killed Mom Over Video Game [AOL News]
Video Game Addiction: A Medical Disorder? [CBS News]

- Goodchild

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Obession is a Dangerous Thing (Part I)

It should be noted, dear reader, that obsession is a dangerous thing.

Also, that patience is a virtue. Bear with me here.

Recently, two stories in the news jumped out at me. So far in the month of January of 2009, two American teenagers were convicted of killing family members in cases that both mention that dastardly devilish device demoralizing us all – video games. In one of the stories, from Maryland, the nefarious “video games” are merely mentioned amongst the other, more important facts. In the other story, out of Ohio, a game – HALO 3, specifically – is listed as the reason for the crime.

Immediately, I found this odd. Not the story from Ohio – before I’d read full articles about it, I was convinced that it was just another opportunistic story for “the media” to jump all over gaming and tell the public how terrible and detrimental it is for our youth. What seemed odd was the story from Maryland – it basically stated that the youth shot and killed both of his parents, and both of his brothers, and then left the scene to go “play video games” with his friends. Aside from this brief mention in the story, games and the influence of gaming was not mentioned at all. Was “the media” slipping in my old age?

Video Game Addiction?
In the story out of Maryland, the attack perpetrated by the youth was horribly disturbing, and apparently may have been the result of a psychotic break brought on by a lifetime of abuse imparted upon him by his parents. At the sentencing, the youths extended family, including aunts, uncles and grandparents, all stood by him to show him their support and claimed that they had no doubt in their minds that he had been abused. This seeming to be the case, the press thankfully didn’t latch on to the small part of the story where he left to go play games.

Let’s take a look at this case for a moment. If the claims of abuse are true, then, from a psychological standpoint, one can draw certain conclusions. If we assume that past abuse caused the teen to “snap” from normal reasoning and was the major contributing factor in his actions, then we can extrapolate that leaving the scene to play games might have actually been somewhat therapeutic for him, providing that lost sense of normalcy after such a (though self induced) traumatic event. And so, while I usually get mad at “the media” for the way they portray gaming as evil every chance they get, I actually applaud them for their coverage here.

(to be continued)

Md. teen who killed family gets 4 life sentences [Associated Press]

- Goodchild

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