Arnaldo Licea

New Web Site

2009-03-21T15:31:00.002-04:00

http://arnaldolicea.squarespace.com/

I am going to stop using Blogger. Head to my new web site for the latest!

-Arnaldo

New trailer for Pixar's Up.

2009-03-09T21:49:00.002-04:00

It's amazing just how a simple caricature can make a seemingly awful gag into a hysterical gag. Is Pixar going 10 for 10? Looks like it.

-Arnaldo

Finally finished Fallout 3.

2009-02-28T15:36:00.017-05:00

Finally finished Fallout 3 after 40+ hours. I do not remember the last time I played a game for so long; it reminds me of my countless hours on the Final Fantasy games. So what do I think about it? I thought it was brilliant. It was truly the type of game that you could play again and again and never pay the same thing twice. I was playing it with a couple of people at the same time and every time we'd talk about a specific area we'd have completely different stories about it.

The world was enormous and detailed and so interesting. You would "lose" a couple of hours by just walking around the wasteland and see what you'd find. You would find a house with unusual characters with unusual situations that were just hilarious, or situations that affected whole villages and religious beliefs. Sometimes the side-stories were more interesting than the plot itself! Especially when you influence the course of the narrative. To me, this is as advanced as story based games have come. You have a single, authored story as the backbone of the whole world, that gives the player something to focus on from the beginning, and then you have these mini-stories (sometimes mini-epics!) that their fate is completely entrusted to the player. In fact, the player can bypass whole chunks of the main story without losing narrative coherence.

Gameplay was a little dry. It felt like a regular RPG to me but it doesn't mean its a bad thing. The VATS system was a very unique and interesting thing to implement on a shooter type game. It made the game feel more tactical and gave the me time to breathe when overwhelmed. But it only worked well at a high level; when I could do more damage. When VATS was useless you'd have to play it like a shooter and this game falls flat on its face as one. Controls were okay for exploring and doing 'RPG things' but it was mediocre for shooting because of how the game was tuned when aiming.

The game as a whole was very complete but it has some faults. Animations were forgettable, though on a project of this scale its understandable. The characters were also forgettable. I didn't care for any characters but my father, and that was because Liam Neeson is an excellent actor that can deliver lines the way they're meant to be delivered. Even though character animations were horrific, his dialogue just redeemed his character. I really think the industry should focus on characters more because they are such an important part of the experience. And I mean, REALLY focusing on perfecting them. I don't know how a lot of studios handle characters but I would hire animators to just focus on the faces. When modeling a character, I'd put so much emphasis on the face and rig it so that we can make that character deliver dialogue with the authenticity of a performance like Liam Neeson's. That would really amplify the story and empathy for the characters. If we continue to make half-ass characters then how can we really expect the gamer to empathize and like them?

Though the game is not about warfare, the wasteland was pretty uneventful till the end. Everything seemed to be contained in little sections and everything was done in a small scale except, of course, for the end. It should've had some instances with like that but who knows, maybe there are and I just haven't seen them. Again, that's what makes it so good and makes me forget about the little details because its more about the big picture. As technology and studios mature, I'm sure all these little details will be fixed but right now, with this scale, this is the best we're going to get. Bethesda did an amazing job with this one and I'm really anticipating next projects because they're only going to get better.

-Arnaldo

Mass Effect 2: THIS is how you do a teaser.

2009-02-20T20:39:00.006-05:00

BioWare is one of my favorite companies. Their goal is to create the best story-driven games; something I also want to tackle in my career. Mass Effect was a game that raised the bar in interactive storytelling and nobody has been able to top it. It's unique conversation system, familiar squad-team mechanics, and its original take on a space opera really made it shine.

This new trailer shows NOTHING. When I mean 'nothing', I mean absolutely nothing. So what makes it such a good teaser? The teaser has a twist. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but its quite a twist...especially delivering it in the teaser. I don't know what BioWare is planning but my guess is that it has to do with BioWare being purchased by EA and probably not being able to release the first one on PS3. So maybe its just a way to bring PS3 owners to the universe without missing out on the first game's events.

I'm very excited to see what BioWare can do with a second installment. All they have to do is improve a bit on the established concepts of the first and they'll have a bigger hit. Maybe they'll show something closer to GDC.

Speaking of GDC, I'm not able to go this year. Wish I could, though; Kojima is going to be there to talk about MGS4 and there are a lot of interesting panels. Just talking about it gets me bummed that I'm not going. Oh well, there's always GDC '10.

-Arnaldo

You got Indy on my Wii!

2009-01-24T10:05:00.006-05:00

...that sounds horrible. You know what doesn't sound horrible? An Indiana Jones game on the Wii. Check out the teaser:

I am so excited that a high-quality Indy title is going to come out. Originally, I was looking forward to playing it on PS3 or Xbox 360 because of Lucasart's new tech, used in The Force Unleashed. Now that I see it on Wii, I can imagine a barrage or cool things you can do with the Wiimote (the whip, DUH!). The only downside to all of this is that the game is not going to be a looker. One of the reasons I love Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is because its very much like Indiana Jones. Going from those gorgeous graphics to Wii graphics is going to suck but the gameplay might make me forget about all that.

I just hope they don't screw this up--this could be a very interesting and fun game in the Indy universe.

-Arnaldo

Have I mentioned that I love Pixar?

2009-01-09T21:40:00.002-05:00

Can't wait!

-Arnaldo

Holiday Gaming

2008-12-27T09:21:00.010-05:00

...not doing much of it. Why? Well, the fact the I've been busy at work, then working on stuff when I get home, then still grinding through Fallout 3, then devouring The Dark Knight and Wall-E Blu-rays has left me with little time to play anything new. Wait, that's not true. As I type this I've realized that I have been playing a lot of games this holiday, but they all come from a very unexpected source: my phone.

I gotta say that I've been playing more games on my phone than on any other console I have. They range from free, addicting, arcade titles to full-blown, highly-sophisticated, experiences like the current game I'm playing: Rolando.

Rolando is what LocoRoco for the PSP should have been. In both Rolando and LocoRoco you tilt the world to make your ball-like characters move around the environment. But unlike LocoRoco on the PSP, you actually tilt the iPhone to tilt the world. Not only that, but Rolando has some of the best-looking graphics on the phone; it can be easily mistaken for PSP graphics. And yes, the game is fun to play. This game should be a full-blown $29.99 PSP title, yet it's $9.99 on the App Store. Amazing deal.

Hope more titles like this keep coming from ngmoco and I'm going to go back and play some more. Woo!

-Arnaldo

Curse you, Economy!

2008-12-07T20:27:00.003-05:00

Yeah, I said it. The economy is working against me getting a job in the industry while I get my own stuff up and running. And it sucks not only because I can't get a job, but because a lot of talented people are losing their jobs and studios are closing their doors. It is unacceptable. It is creating the ultimate catch-22 for new developers to get their foot in and the only thing left to do, in my case, is to just focus on the games I want to make and try to make them happen. Who knows, maybe that will be the key to everything. I just hope that everything will stabilize and that the people that have lost their jobs will find better ones that will make them happy.

On a lighter note, merry Christmas! It's the season to be jolly but not for a lot of people; a lot of crazy stuff has been going on around the world that is just devastating. I REALLY hope 2009 will be a better year for everyone.

Speaking of next year, I might be going to GDC again! I went this year and it was a blast. I met so many people and learned so much. Next year I hope to land a job one way or another. I'm going to be like a ninja; they won't see me coming!

Happy Holidays!

-Arnaldo

Oscar Buzz

2008-11-22T21:47:00.004-05:00

Saw these over at Slashfilm.com. I know, I'm a bit biased but I completely agree: These films have to be at least recognized by the academy. Though I'm a bit pissed off that they disqualified The Dark Knight score.

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/walleawardsad.jpg

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/darkknightawards.jpg

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/fycheath.jpg

I believe that both these films pushed the medium and were so unique that a lot of studios will try to mimic their success very soon. USPS is late with my Wall-E Blu-Ray but I know that it'll be worth it when it gets here. I've also pre-ordered The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray as well.

-Arnaldo

Shades of Ghrey Official Blog

2008-11-11T16:01:00.002-05:00

Yup, we're back and working at the speed of light on this awesome game. We've done more these past couple of days then what we've done in months; It's really exciting. We've opened a blog where we will chronicle the development of the game from the phase that it is in now to when we have the final build. Think of it as a sort of making-of but using the new media. The whole team will be making blog posts, video blogs, podcasts, twitter posts--anything that will give a peek into our process and how everything is going.

Make sure you check it out and tell us what you think!

Shades of Ghrey Official Blog

-Arnaldo

Up - Teaser #2

2008-11-08T11:53:00.002-05:00

Another awesome Pixar movie? Looks like it. This one seems more "out there" than previous films...though a rat cooking in a french restaurant is pretty "out there". Obviously I can't wait to see this!

-Arnaldo

Beautiful Hand-drawn Animation

2008-10-22T21:56:00.003-04:00

It really takes an incredible amount of talent to create animation that looks as effortless as this. Amazing.

-Arnaldo

Shades of Ghrey Reel

2008-10-11T19:09:00.002-04:00

Here it is! The first peek of our game, Shades of Ghrey!

Shades of Ghrey - Reel from Arnaldo Licea on Vimeo.

-Arnaldo

What if Hayao Miyazaki made The Legend of Zelda?

2008-09-30T18:02:00.017-04:00

Mind-blowing thought, isn't it? To be a bit more specific, what if Hayao Miyazaki and Shigeru Miyamoto worked together to revive the Zelda franchise? Not that it needs reviving but it certainly needs something new; there's only so much you can do with over 20 years of the same design.

Its like when another artist draws his/her version of something and gives it a unique flavor but its still recognizable and still has the essence of the original author's vision.

Since subscribing to Netflix, I've been watching all of Miyazaki's movies and they have such a sense of wonder, discovery and amazement that I wish games would have (and will have once I get my hands on them!). If you take Mayazki's unique expertise in visuals and storytelling and Miyamoto's expertise in fun game design, you will, surely, get one of the best games ever made. Guaranteed.

Imagination is something that really motivates me and gets me excited about stuff. You see a good movie or play a great game and if you feel completely transported to another world, its thanks to some very imaginative work. If you put together two of the most creative minds in entertainment today, there's no telling what they can come up with.

Its really hard to explain what they might do. But as a life-long Zelda fan and as a new fan of Miyazaki, I can see the similarities in their work and what the can achieve together is beyond anyone.

Ironically, a few days after I thought of that impossible idea, Level 5 announced that they were working with Studio Ghibli (Miyazaki's company) on a Nintendo DS game. MIND-OFFICIALLY-BLOWN. Its not Zelda, but knowing Studio Ghibli's work and Level 5's work, its going to be VERY good. I can't wait to see more.

-Arnaldo

Busy Little Bee

2008-09-13T11:09:00.003-04:00

Busy, busy, busy... I'm finally graduating college and I'm wrapping up all of my school projects and looking for a job! My game company is going to have wait a bit since I need to pay my bills. I got a couple of leads right now (some exciting, some that'll do) but not for certain at the moment.

Work on Ghrey has been going at a snail's pace thanks to most of the core team graduating as well. There's a lot going on that's exciting! I mean, even if one thing doesn't happen another surely will.

So what have I been up to besides work and looking for work? Well, I bought Spore though I haven't played much of it. I feel the game is going to be one of those games you simply have because of the innovation and not necessarily because its so much fun. The game is fun but it gets old quick...and the whole creature creator thing doesn't really do anything for me, I do 3D models for real!

Been seeing a lot of movies I haven't seen thanks to Netflix (its awesome!). But apart from that I've been pretty busy.

I'll update more soon!

-Arnaldo

Going from Cool to Unnecessary

2008-08-19T13:56:00.003-04:00

Watch this clip: She's not real.

Incredible, isn't it? They've imitated real life in such a way that very few could tell the difference (unless you look closely). We've been able to create images and 3D that is so lifelike that people confuse it for real life, but nailing the animation, in order for it to be believable, has never been done. This is as close as we've gotten and its pretty damn close. They used motion-capture for EVERY little motion/expression you see in the clip. Meaning that that woman, probably the same model, was talking normally, like in that video, and the 3D model mimicked her every move. That's cool, but is it necessary?

Beyond a tech demo, looking at actually using this technology for entertainment (movies/games) is unnecessary. Why would you go so far to mimic real life, when real life is always available? Yeah, you could use this to animate other, more stylized, characters but then why be stylized? Where is the artistry in this? This will take animation from an artistic endeavor to a computerized automatization...I don't think I like that.

-Arnaldo

Eric Tan's 'Up' Poster

2008-08-10T17:46:00.003-04:00

I love the posters Eric Tan makes for Pixar's films. They feel so classy and artistic...I love it!

From Upcoming Pixar.

Here are a couple of his posters from The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Wall-E. He also did one for Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Cool stuff!

-Arnaldo

So this is the guy thats going to direct TR2N...

2008-08-09T16:29:00.002-04:00

VERY interesting!

-Arnaldo

Rage + Doom 4 + Apple Gaming

2008-08-04T17:04:00.007-04:00

Everybody knows the Unreal engine. It powers most of the current-gen games out and is being licensed by most major development houses including BioWare, Square Enix and EA. I haven't personally played around much with the new engine, but in what I've dabbled in, it isn't much different from Unreal Engine 2. I have a love/hate relashionship with UE2. Its unstable, hard to use, overly picky with file formats but it makes games...and I love games. But a lot of people are using it, so it must be good. But then again, they aren't being challenged. In the days of the whole Half-Life 2 versus Doom 3 fiasco, where everyone was arguing which looked better, the Source engine or the Doom 3 engine, I was on the Doom 3 side. While the game was unoriginal and only mildly fun, I thought Doom 3 looked amazing; and to some degree it still looks nice. I loved how all the models looked smooth, how the lighting was real-time and how everything looked so good without a lot of polygons. Since then I've been waiting for the day when John Carmack (programming genius and co-founder of id software) would create a brand-spanking-new engine built of today's bleeding edge technologies.

Rage will be the first game from id software that uses their new id Tech 5 engine. Whats even more exciting is that Rage is a completely new IP from the guys that invented the first-person perspective in games. Not only does the game look amazing, graphics-wise, but the actual gameplay sounds interesting. They want to avoid all the things that gamers complained about their previous games: Lots of corridors, lots of monster closets, mediocre story and unimaginative gameplay. Not only does this game mean starting from scratch, but it also means that the team isn't tied down to any franchise conventions or feels; they can create something completely unique (you can visit gamevideos.com or gametrailers.com for all the interesting interviews).

The cool part of id Tech 5 is that they want to compete with Epic and their Unreal Engine. Not only that, but they've also hired people to make the editor extremely user-friendly, compatible with most of the applications used by artists and coders, and probably the biggest feature of all: being able to compile for PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Mac from one code and asset base. That's right, instead of hiring people to port the game to other platforms, the engine is able to compile to those specific platforms without much effort. Epic must be worried about this.

The other cool part about id Tech 5 is that it will also power the next Doom, which will be developed in-house at id software. So why should we be excited about a sequel to an at-best mediocre game? Well, because they've learned from their mistakes and because Rage will certainly inspire some creative thought for the gameplay. Not only that, but Carmack also said that the game will be running at 30 frames per second instead of Rage's 60fps. According to him, the game will look like it was made with another engine because they can add three times the amount of detail thanks to lower framerates. If Rage looks that good, I can't possibly imagine how good Doom 4 will look. I can't wait. Carmack also said that by the time Doom 4 comes out, the PC will surpass the consoles, graphics-wise. He said that the PC version of Doom 4 will look even better and will have a "new graphical advancement" that the consoles won't have.

So this brings me to yet another discussion: Apple Gaming. With id Tech 5 supporting Macs and id saying that Macs are an important platform, I have to wonder why Apple hasn't begun a gaming renaissance on the Mac. Macs are obviously gaining popularity thanks to the iPod and iPhone. Plus, the only reason a lot of people don't switch to Mac (like me) is because of the lack of game support from Apple and publishers. Apple needs to do something about this quickly because if Windows regains momentum with Windows 7 then there isn't much they can do to entice users to jump ship. Come on Apple! You can do it!

-Arnaldo

P.S.- UP and TR2N!

E3 + The Dark Knight

2008-07-20T11:19:00.011-04:00

The week is finally over and it was a hell of a week! E3 was rockin' in Los Angeles and the week ended with The Dark Knight.

E3 was huge: lots of games, lots of announcements. Microsoft had a nice showing with demos for Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 and Fable II. They showed the a completely new Dashboard for 360, which is a mix between the PS3's media cross-bar and Apple's CoverFlow. Nothing too exciting but a welcome change since the current dashboard is so cluttered. They also announced the Miis-erm-Avatars. The avatars are a cross between Sony's Home and Nintendo's Miis and they're not very impressive. It kinda felt like Microsoft was trying to catch some of that Wii momentum but, to me, they made them look even more important. The big reveal for Microsoft was that Final Fantasy XIII was also coming to Xbox 360 (previously exclusive to the PlayStation 3). That was huge news and I really believe that it hurt Sony in some way.

Nintendo, on the other hand, completely disappointed. Their keynote consisted of a new Animal Crossing, WiiMusic and WiiSports Resort. Thats it. Oh, they also said that the Mario and Zelda teams were working...but thats pretty much it.

Sony showed most of the already announced games and finally teased God of War III but didn't reveal who's directing it. Sony's was also a bit dry and didn't really have any surprises. I still think they have a strong software and digital line-up (probably the best digital line-up out of all). Flower, from That Game Company, looks very impressive and I can see that its going to be this "mindless" game, like Geometry Wars. Its going to be awesome.

Other noticible games shown were id's Rage (which looks phenomenal), SPORE (I can't wait to get my hands on this), Resident Evil 5 (looking good, but it feels too familiar), Geometry Wars 2 (YES, finally!), and many more. Overall, E3 was pretty good though most of the stuff shown we've seen previous demos for.

Yes, I have finally seen The Dark Knight. I've been waiting to see this movie since I watched Begins a few years back and they showed the Joker's card at the end. To make this short: The movie is amazing; this is the definitive Batman experience and the definitive comic book movie. Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is brilliant; I got chills every time you started to hear his theme creep out of nowhere. It actually made you nervous and you couldn't fathom what the Joker was about to do next or where he was about to pop up. Nolan has created a good movie, not a good comic book movie, and that is what makes these movies special. If you take the same movie and replace the fantastic characters, it still holds up. Its going to be hard to follow up on this one but I'm sure that if someone can do it, its Nolan. GO.SEE.IT.NOW (preferably on IMAX).

-Arnaldo

Wall-E

2008-06-30T15:58:00.011-04:00

Wow. Wow, wow, wow! Its been a while since I've left the theater with such a sense of amazement and wonder. The last time I remember leaving the theater like this was with Toy Story and Jurassic Park; I could have had that feeling at another film but I can't really remember. From the first frame to the last I was hooked; I was attached to the characters, the world, the emotions...everything! What amazed me the most is that I really didn't notice that there was no dialogue at all. To me, they were talking all the time with how they moved and reacted. This must have been the animator's dream to do a movie where they solely carry the characters on-screen.

The story is more adult than a usual Pixar film. It deals with love, nature, life's programming, technology making us lazy, the environment, etc. I have never seen a film with so much to say. By the end of the movie I was conscious about the messages I'd just been presented with. For example, when I was going to watch it again I noticed how everyone, waiting in their seats for the movie to start, had their phones or PSP's or DS's up in their face doing or playing something. They became detached from the very thing they went there for: watch a movie with people. It doesn't mean that I will completely stop what I've been doing; my life still revolves around a computer (games, the internet, movies, communication) but it made me more conscious and made me appreciate the humanity that we have left that has not yet been taken over by technology.

To me, this is one of the most impressive Pixar movies out there. It wasn't just that it was the latest (Stanton said that they didn't develop any new techniques for the film), but it was the first Pixar movie where they simulated the camera like there was an cinematographer behind it. There were steady-cams, crane shots, dolly shots, camera focuses, zoom-in, zoom-out, etc. It made the whole movie feel more realistic. The first third of the movie I thought that it was live action and it wasn't ti'll I saw the first human on-screen that it quickly became clear that this was an animated film.

Wall-E is the cutest robot that has ever been conceived and is one of my favorite characters. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie; its easily one of the best films of the year (as of right now). If the academy doesn't recognize how special Wall-E is with a nomination for best picture then I will truly be upset. This film is easily Pixar's best effort and solidifies Andrew Stanton as one of the best directors at Pixar.

GO SEE IT NOW!

-Arnaldo

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

2008-06-19T22:43:00.002-04:00

I remember the first time I played Metal Gear Solid on the original PlayStation. My brother and I were at his uncle's house (we're step-brothers) and our cousin was showing off this new game called Metal Gear Solid. We had a PlayStation at home, but the games we played were Battle Arena Toshinden, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot or Gex...not something that had a cool storyline, military mechanics or even voice overs! Our cousin was usually the first to discover the cool games or buy the latest ones. When I saw MGS running, I wasn't at all surprised; to me, Super Mario 64 looked better. He started showing us around the first part of Shadow Moses and how we had to play differently because the guards patrolling outside and the cameras that could spot you and alert everyone.

I got to say I was a little intimidated by it all. The game looked cool enough for me to buy it, so I decided not to play it at his house and instead I would watch the briefing videos. That alone got me so pumped for the game that I really couldn't wait to play it. Not going to go into the details of my whole experience with the MGS games (I could write a whole book about them) but I will say that MGS changed how I thought about what games could be, how they could be played and, most important of all, how they could be experienced. The Metal Gear games are about the experience of the story, its characters and its gameplay...its what a good game should be.

Now the MGS saga is coming to a close with MGS4 and I got my hands on it and finished it. I will not include spoilers because, as I've said before, MGS is about the experience not the enjoyment of its individual pieces.

Story

Liquid (in Ocelot's body) is still on the loose and is wrecking havoc all over the world to fulfill Big Boss's dream of Outer Heaven. Snake has learned that he's been preparing an army to battle the Patriots directly and take over the world. Snake, on the other hand, has been aging rapidly and can't find the cause of it. He then sets off, on his final mission, to finally stop Liquid.

Kojima was serious when he said that he would answer all the questions from the past games. MGS4 is the most detailed story I've ever seen with a video game that ties up 5 games and has coherent and interesting events. The game definitely has its twists and turns and is true to the whole series.

Gameplay

Gameplay has taken a huge turn with this one. The game mechanics still feel like Metal Gear but Kojima and his team have added better aiming controls (RE4 style, FPS view, MGS view), camera controls (from Subsistance), and levels that don't feel linear (although, in the end, they still are). They've also added so many weapons that easily rival the amount of weapons in Call of Duty 4 or any other military shooter. All the weapons can be modified (scopes, silencers, etc) and you can even buy ammo from the start screen with Drebin points (points you get by selling extra items/weapons).

Camouflage from the third game returns albeit in an easier way to use. OctoCamo, Snake's new sneaking suit, takes the texture from the thing closest to him whenever he stands still. In the previous game, you had to manually set the camouflage for certain environments. The simplification of this mechanic is god-sent because it was annoying as hell in Snake Eater.

Snake also has a little robot called the Metal Gear Mk. II that can be used for reconnaissance and to scout locales. I found it pretty much useless since there wasn't a single moment I really needed to use it. I'll probably use it more in my second play thru.

Graphics

If there's something about the MGS series is that its always been a stunner. MGS4 is no different. I can say, without hesitation that MGS4 is the best looking game I've ever seen. Kojima Productions has proven that the PS3 is one fine piece of hardware that, if taken seriously, can have the most stunning games out there. And its not just about how technically impressive the game is, its also about the attention to detail. All the "sets" in the game are incredibly detail and all the locations feel like they could exist (some actually do).

Kojima Productions has gone all out on production values with the game. It has set a bar so high that even GTA4 doesn't have this kind of quality throughout the whole experience. The game even looks good on a crappy SDTV I have back home; that's saying something. The game runs smoothly even when all hell breaks lose and you have dozens of characters on-screen, bullets hitting everywhere, dust kicking up, sparks flying, real-time shadows for everything, all the game's superb animations, HDR lighting, the environment reacting realistically and the uncompressed 5.1 surround sound...all running in HD.

Oh, the sound. MGS4 sounds FANTASTIC, even coming out of my crappy TV speakers. I want to buy 5.1 speakers to enjoy this game better, seriously. The voice acting is superb, the environment sounds are amazing and the firefights make you cringe.

Final Thoughts

THIS is the MGS to end all MGS. Without a doubt it has become my favorite in the series because of its diverse locations, characters, gameplay variations and story. This, to me, is as perfect as a game will get...and I didn't even talk about the multiplayer (yes, it has multiplayer and its pretty good). Sad to see Snake's story end, but I'm even more excited to see what other games Kojima can do with this amount of quality and care. GO BUY THIS GAME.

Rating: LOVE IT!

Pros: It's everything you love about MGS and more.

Cons: Long cut-scenes -- installs after every act -- it ends.

-Arnaldo

The iPhone Wait

2008-06-07T19:10:00.008-04:00

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love my iPhone, it's the single most-awesome product I have ever bought. Now Apple is set to introduce the new iPhone (3G) at the Worldwide Developer's Conference this Monday. While the software will be the same as the firmware 2.0 that's coming to the current iPhone, rumors state that it will have a couple of hardware enhancements including 3G, GPS, better battery life, and a front-face camera (for video conferencing).

I'm dying to see what Apple has in store for the new iPhone and the wait is not doing well with me. In anticipation of the almost certain awesomeness of the device, I've already lined up a potential buyer for my iPhone. But what gets me even more anxious about the reveal is the fake images going all around the web of the "new iPhone". For example, today I woke up to a "pamphlet leak" that showed the new iPhone with video conferencing and detailing that you could chat with other iPhones AND iChat users (also confirming iChat for Windows).

This got me even more excited about the phone...then it was proved a fake. Hell, Apple hasn't even ordered to take it down. It needs to be Monday...NOW

-Arnaldo

Here we go again: Windows 7

2008-05-28T13:16:00.014-04:00

I'm a huge fan of technology; it makes our lives better, makes us more efficient, and it looks damn cool (I'm talking about you, my precious iPhone). I'm not a big fan of Windows, as I've stated here in past posts, but I still use it because its comfortable (I've been using Windows since 3.1) and because it has everything I really need. Vista (my current OS) has been the most frustrating out of all because of its sluggish performance on a medium-range PC (Top-of-the-line 2 years ago), its software-hardware incompatibility and its constant crashes (I get a blue screen of death twice a week).

There is no operating system out there more flashy and cool-looking than Mac OS X. I've been using OSX, when I get the chance, since 10.0. I've always liked the flashiness and the futuristic look and feel but it wasn't very attractive to me because, me being a game designer, it didn't have a good gaming culture. Not that there aren't games on the Mac; they usually arrive 6-12 months after its PC counterpart, if they arrive at all.

So now there's, of course, another version of Windows coming that will change how we interact with computers...but we've all heard that before and they still haven't changed much. Windows needs something entirely new; much like the jump from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. They need to completely change the UI and the kernel has to be completely rock solid so there are no hardware mishaps. I've always said, since buying the iPhone, that the future of PC's is touch and that the inevitable step forward is something like in Minority Report.

I also believe that the future of operating systems is the seamless integration of the internet with your desktop. For example, web-based applications that run like native applications on your desktop. All your data is kept on the cloud (the internet), ready to be accessed from any location on any device (PCs, laptops, mobile phones, etc.).

Last night Microsoft showed a glimpse of Windows 7 at a tech conference and they have incorporated what I wanted to see: multi-touch and a new UI. The UI, as of that build, still looks like Vista but its still around 16 months away from launching, so expect it all to change by then. Here's a demo of the multi-touch running on Windows 7:

Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

What is surprising is that they are aiming to integrate multi-touch to the whole OS, instead of having it as a secondary feature like in Vista (though Vista isn't multi-touch). While the video looks promising there's little to get excited about. Microsoft has always showed cool technologies that never make it to the final product; and if they did, it would be a watered-down version.

I still believe that Apple will get there first and and will make it better than what Microsoft will end up shipping. My next computer purchase will still be a Mac, unless Windows 7 truly impressed before then. I just hope they don't screw up 7 as badly as they did Vista...but we're talking about Microsoft.

-Arnaldo

Edit: Found a new video where they talk more in-depth about the OS.

Thoughts on Indy 4

2008-05-25T15:33:00.009-04:00

Okay, so I've seen Indy 4 twice and I gotta say that I really liked it. I mean, the script is a mess, there are plot-holes everywhere, its filled with CG (which Spielberg said they'd barely use but I guess Lucas changed his mind for him), dumb dialogue and even worse "Lucas antics" (Shia being tarzan...REALLY?). But you know what? I still liked it for some reason; even with all its faults its still an Indiana Jones film and, above all, a Spielberg film...or is it?

Maybe I'm being too much of a fan...maybe its because I didn't want it to suck and I still don't want it to suck after actually watching it. I had this same experience, ironically, with Star Wars: Episode I when it came out. When Episode I hit, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. My dad would tell me that it was a horrible movie and that I shouldn't give George Lucas any more money by going to see it again. I, of course, ignored him and went a couple of times. Years later I realized that the movie really was garbage and it insulted fans for what he put on-screen.

Is this what is going to happen with this movie? Maybe. I may very well see it a few years later, when I'm not hyped about it, and see that its a terrible movie. But right now I don't feel that way. I see good reviews and I agree with them; I see bad reviews...and I agree with them.

-Arnaldo

LostWinds + Indy

2008-05-21T16:24:00.006-04:00

Finally beat LostWinds today and I gotta say that I'm enjoying these small type of games with narrative. It kinda makes it feel like watching TV episodes; which I think is the point with LostWinds since it didn't even conclude with a proper ending. The game itself is very enjoyable and is a twist of old school 2D platformers with the Wiimote as the main input device.

I gotta admit that I'm a bit jealous. The way the game was handled by the developers is the same way I wanted to approach my titles. They have a cohesive art style that appeals to a younger audience as well as an adult audience, the art style makes the game look good with few assets/details thus making it perfect for Wii, they use an old school gameplay mechanic with a twist (non pun intended), the characters are likable, and they story never gets in the way of the game. To me they nailed it. $10 for a small game of this quality? That's perfect for a small development house that is just starting; though Frontier has been around for a while.

I hate rating the games I play with numbers, so I'm going for something different. I either "Love", "Like", "Don't like" or "Hate" a game. I LOVE LostWinds and I highly recommend it to anyone who has a Wii...hey, its only $10!

I'm having a pretty crappy day since my car is in the shop (AGAIN), and its going to cost me more than I have, but its a time to rejoice: I'm going to watch the new Indiana Jones film tonight! I already bought the ticket and everything...can't wait ti'll midnight!

Hell yeah!

-Arnaldo

Updates + Indy!

2008-05-18T17:18:00.005-04:00

Whoa, a lot of stuff happening at once and I've completely neglected the blog (not that a lot of people actually read it). So here's what I've been up to (in no particular order):

-Found the awesomeness that is Twitter. I know, I know...its pretty dumb but I find it interesting how so many people connect and like to share what they're up to at all moments. The cool thing is that it might create interesting situations; for example, I could post that I'm headed to see Indy at so and so theater. People connected will be able to see and come meet me by surprise! I find that that outweighs the negatives (stalkers, weird people, etc. Who the hell wants to stalk me?).

-Been playing a hell of a lot of Grand Theft Auto IV. For me not being a GTA fan, I'm surprised that I've played 20+ hours of the single-player and a bit of the multi-player. I can say that I like it but I can't see where the perfect scores come from. There really isn't anything revolutionary about the game...its just that its so well made. I don't think that warrants a perfect score, let alone considering it a more revolutionary achievement than Ocarina of Time. The game is almost the exact same as previous titles; the only difference being the scale and details of the city. The story is superb and probably the best story ever told on games (quality-wise). I might write a review when I finish it...if I ever get to.

-The blockbuster summer season has started! I went to see Iron Man and it was insane. I think its my favorite Marvel movie so far (no one can dethrone the Bat). If Iron Man is a sign of things to come from Marvel Studios, then color me excited for their next movies!

-A lot of surprising things have been coming up in my professional life that I really can't tell to a lot of people. Something bigger than I ever anticipated is going to happen this year that will change my life and the life of everyone that is involved with me. Let's just say that that plan was always in the cards but I never dreamed it would happen so quickly.

-I feel so lucky to be living in the times that we are living in. 2008 is going to be the best year ever--bar none! We're in May and I already consider it the best year of my life, but looking ahead to whats coming and what I don't know is coming makes me even more excited. I mean I went to GDC, had my 21st birthday, I graduate, I will get a job in the industry...and those are personal stuff. We also have the new Batman flick, a new (ground-breaking) Pixar film, a new Indiana Jones film, all these superhero movies that look awesome, GTA IV, MGS4, Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2, etc. Its simply amazing. I'm so lucky to be alive.

-I don't know if its me getting old or something, but I have developed a very deep love for my family recently. Its another one of those things that I feel so lucky to have...I can't really explain it. I sure as hell wouldn't trade my life for any other. I have dreams that I will reach, I am in good health, I still don't have a girlfriend but that will be amended soon, and family and friends that love me and support everything I do. ...so damn lucky.

-Its Indy week! This Wednesday I'm going to catch the midnight premier of the new Indiana Jones film with a couple of family and friends. I wish I could see it with my dad (he and I are huge fans) but time, money, and circumstances won't allow it. But I'll be talking to him about it, in detail, once I finish school for the quarter.

Thats it for now! I've added, at the right side of the blog, my game IDs and my twitter so you can add me. Ti'll next time!

-Arnaldo

Fully functional Wall-E at Disney + one for sale!

2008-05-02T17:35:00.003-04:00

The images are tiny but you can see a full-sized, fully-featured, Wall-E. He's going to be one of characters running around the new Pixar lot they're making at Disney MGM Studios.

But thats not all; They're making a "mass production" version of Wall-E (not the old, rusted, Wall-E) for sale!

-Was designed in "close collaboration" with Pixar animators
-Ships with a remote control (used for programming)
-Features an "innovative touch programming system"
-Capable of "several emotional states" and "thousands of combinations" of movements
-Has infrared, sonic, and touch sensors
-MP3 compatible with built-in speakers
-Will be sold starting this fall through ToysRUs and DisneyShopping.com

Thats it, I'm getting one!

-Arnaldo

Holy new Dark Knight poster Batman!

2008-04-24T23:31:00.003-04:00

I only have three movies I wanna see this year: Indiana Jones, Wall-E, and The Dark Knight. If I had to choose only one? The Dark Knight. Chris Nolan realized Batman in Batman Begins EXACTLY how I imagined it as a kid and at the end of the movie, when they mentioned The Joker, I squealed like a little girl. The Joker I've always wanted to see was the pure definition of a "sick serial-killer clown". I wanted his twisted smile to actually be a cut (similar to the Nip Tuck psycho); I wanted him to be genuinely scary instead of funny or comic-like. When the character was revealed through a viral campaign, I was delighted to find out that his smile was indeed a nasty and twisted scar and that he would truly be a scary man. Seems like Chris Nolan and me are on the same wavelengths.

I cannot wait to see this movie. The new trailer is supposed to arrive in four days!

-Arnaldo

NOW I'm ready for MGS4!

2008-04-23T20:36:00.002-04:00

Just finished MGS3 and I'm as pumped as ever! After playing all of them in a row, my favorite, by far, is MGS3 followed by MGS1 and then MGS2. I can't wait to see how it all wraps-up in June!

Bring it!

-Arnaldo

The Wii Phenomenon + WiiFit

2008-04-18T17:51:00.005-04:00

What is it about Nintendo this generation that is making them such a success? I mean, the Wii is barely more powerful than the GameCube, they lack a proper online service (friends codes can suck it), they release the same titles over and over, and their list of upcoming games is lacking. Yet they're the most successful platform this generation. How? They steer in a direction that is not familiar to the industry, or that is condemned by it, and still they come out on top.

Now Nintendo is famous for their "non-games", which is a silly label because a game is game regardless of its objective. Wii Sport was a HUGE success with EVERYBODY. I played it with my family...my family! With it, they expanded the gaming audience. We should be thanking Nintendo for what they've done: They've created a completely new market for us to make products for. It's not something I'm particularly interested in right now, but who knows? When I get old, like Miyamoto, I start making these kind of games.

Now there's a new phenomenon in the making: WiiFit, Miyamoto's new pet-project. According to Miyamoto its a game to "make you aware of you body". It has a new peripheral, called the Balance Board. You can read more about it here: Wii Fit Out-of-Box Preview.

This game combines a bit of exercise with a bit of fun, Nintendo's specialty. I try to exercise often but I find it so boring, even though I feel good afterward. In essence this is a fitness version of Brain Age. I don't like math, but I played Brain Age for a few months straight, thanks to the fun and competitive aspects of the game. The same thing will happen with WiiFit. I'm sure that if I buy it, I will play it regularly to track my stats and exercise.

Now imagine the casual crowd, the people that bought the Wii for WiiSports and don't have a clue what else there it. They're going to see WiiFit on Good Morning America (it already aired!) and are going to be intrigued to the point that they'll get it because its not just a game. And Moms will buy it for their children, even though they won't use it as much as her. Another success for Nintendo! If its still hard to find a Wii, it'll be impossible when WiiFit lands next month.

I find myself blogging a lot about Nintendo platforms even though I haven't touched my Wii in a while (I've even stopped playing Smash Bros.!). Its just something that boggles my mind and I need to know how! Like I posted a while ago, Nintendo has the potential to rule the gaming industry; and even though they have with Wii, they've only captured the new audience. I don't know, maybe its for the best. I'm very happy with my PlayStation 3 and my Xbox 360 games and the slate of games coming out soon (GTA IV and MGS4!!). I'll be making a post about two games pretty soon.

-Arnaldo

Lazy Sundays

2008-04-13T15:19:00.002-04:00

Ahhh, lazy Sundays. Its the type of Sundays where its raining outside (though its clear right now :( ), you put on a movie and just do nothing the entire day. I know I have stuff to work on but I don't really feel like doing it. I have the last Indiana Jones movie playing and I'm in bed surfing the net on my trusty laptop.

I see those icons on the desktop, reminding me of the things I need to be doing, and I ignore them completely. The funny thing is that I'm all set up to work: I'm in bed with my laptop, my sketchpad with all my notes and drawings, and my phone is in reach. Should I work? Yes. Do I want to work? Yes. Will the day let me work? No. I'll probably do what I always do: End up getting hooked watching the movie and just lie down and relax.

I really need to work, but its so comfy and quiet! One of the lazy-person's law is "Don't do today what you can do tomorrow."...I'm tempted to follow it.

-Arnaldo

Pixar release schedule!

2008-04-09T10:08:00.006-04:00

For those who don't know, I'm a Pixar nut. I love everything about all of their movies and the studio (my studio will be modeled after them). So the trend is that you go to see the latest Pixar movie, once a year, and you'd find out what movie is coming next with a preview before the show. Well now that they've merged with Disney we can throw all that secrecy out the window and know what they have planned from this year through 2012 (!). So, after Wall-e let's see whats up (no pun intended):

2009:

UP (Domestic Release Date: May 29th, 2009, Disney Digital 3-D(TM))
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Pete Docter
Co-Director: Bob Peterson
Producer: Jonas Rivera
Writer: Bob Peterson

Voice Talent: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Jordan Nagai

From the Academy Award®-nominated team of director Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc.") and co-director Bob Peterson comes "Up," a comedic adventure taking off (and lifting spirits) in summer 2009. Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. "Up" takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures. When seeking adventure next summer -- look "Up."

Up sounds pretty cool. From the concept art I've seen and Pete Docter directing, this film is going to be excellent...maybe not as huge as Wall-e but Pixar AAA quality. This is also the first Pixar movie, to be released, made from the ground-up for 3-D.

TOY STORY in 3-D (Domestic Release Date: October 2nd, 2009)
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: John Lasseter
Producers: Ralph Guggenheim, Bonnie Arnold
Composer: Randy Newman

Voice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger

Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, "Toy Story" was the first feature film from Pixar Animation Studios and director John Lasseter. The film went on to receive Oscar® nominations for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Original Screenplay, and earned Lasseter a Special Achievement Award (Oscar®) "for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film." The 3-D version of this landmark film is being personally overseen by Lasseter with his acclaimed team of technical wizards handling all the necessary steps in the conversion process.

2010:

TOY STORY 2 in 3-D (Domestic Release Date: February 12th, 2010)
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: John Lasseter
Co-Directors: Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon
Producers: Helene Plotkin, Karen Robert Jackson
Composer: Randy Newman

Voice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger

Originally released in 1999, "Toy Story 2" went on to become one of the most popular animated features of all time. The film picks up as Andy is heading off to Cowboy Camp and the toys are left to their own devices. When an obsessive toy collector named Al McWhiggin (owner of Al's Toy Barn) kidnaps Woody, and Woody learns that he's a highly valued collectable from a 1950s TV show called "Woody's Roundup," the stage is set for a daring rescue attempt by the gang from Andy's room. The film introduced such other memorable characters from "Woody's Roundup" as Jessie the cowgirl, Bullseye the horse, and the Prospector.

I was blown away when I went to see my first 3-D computer animated movie, Beowulf. Now imagine the quality or Pixar movies: the tech, the animations, the story...And now to relive Pixar's best movies in 3-D is going to be incredible.

TOY STORY 3 (Domestic Release Date: June 18th, 2010, Disney Digital 3-D(TM))
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Lee Unkrich
Producer: Darla K. Anderson
Writer: Michael Arndt
Composer: Randy Newman

Voice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Ned Beatty

The creators of the beloved "Toy Story" films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in "Toy Story 3." Lee Unkrich (co-director of "Toy Story 2" and "Finding Nemo") directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award®-winning screenwriter of "Little Miss Sunshine," brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings.

It's not John Lasseter directing but Lee has been with Pixar since the beginning and I now he'll do an awesome job with his directorial debut.

2011:

NEWT (Domestic Release Date: Summer 2011, Disney Digital 3-D(TM))
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Gary Rydstrom
Producer: Richard Hollander
Writers: Gary Rydstrom, Leslie Caveny

What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can't stand each other? That's the problem facing Newt and Brooke, heroes of "newt," the Pixar film by seven-time Academy Award® winner for sound Gary Rydstrom, and director of Pixar's Oscar-nominated short, "Lifted." Newt and Brooke embark on a perilous, unpredictable adventure and discover that finding a mate never goes as planned, even when you only have one choice. Love, it turns out, is not a science.

This one sounds really cool, though I'm still a bit skeptical of Pixar's sound guy directing a feature. Oh well, I trust Pixar and Lifted was one of the best shorts in a while...

THE BEAR AND THE BOW (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2011, Disney Digital 3-D(TM))
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Brenda Chapman
Producer: Katherine Sarafian
Voice Talent: Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson

A rugged and mythic Scotland is the setting for Pixar's action-adventure "The Bear and the Bow." The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father's kingdom and her mother's life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right. Director Brenda Chapman ("The Prince of Egypt," "The Lion King") and the storytelling wizards of Pixar conjure humor, fantasy and excitement in this rich Highland tale.

Now this one is the one I'm a bit skeptical of. First, it sounds like a movie Disney would make. And second, it's directed by a Pixar newbie. The only thing she has directed is DreamWorks SKG's The Prince of Egypt (which did win a couple of awards and was pretty good.). She also wrote Cars, which is one the worst Pixar flick (though its better than most animated movies out there). I don't know about this one. I need to see more.

2012:

CARS 2 (Domestic Release Date: Summer 2012, Disney Digital 3-D(TM))
Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Brad Lewis

All the world's a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe's fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the "Cars" saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe. "Cars 2" is being directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar®- winning film "Ratatouille."

This was the WTF?! moment. Cars 2? Really? Thats the best sequel Pixar can do? Cars was ok but was, by far, the worst Pixar could offer. I hope they can do better the second time around.

So there we go! A lot of Pixar films! MMMmmmm! The funny thing is that 'newt' and 'Bear' are coming in the same year, a first for Pixar. They haven't failed me yet and I doubt they will. Can't wait to see all of 'em, but my most anticipated Pixar film is definitely Wall-e. It's going to be Oscar-worthy.

-Arnaldo

What the hell is wrong with designers?

2008-03-25T12:09:00.009-04:00

Its funny how Nintendo gives us a gateway to so many different types of play with the Wii and DS, and yet designers don't come up with new ways to play...even Nintendo is guilty of this. The majority of the games released on both platforms are either gimmicky or use the platform logically (i.e.- Pointing a gun with the Wiimote).

I've been playing a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass lately and have noticed how incredible games can be on DS and how no one is doing anything about it except a select few, who have yet to deliver. PH uses every single feature of the DS combined with Zelda's age-old gameplay mechanics and makes it feel new again. Above all it makes playing Zelda even more fun than with a regular control scheme.

So why aren't designers taking such an advantage with their games? Why aren't they thinking out-of-the-box? If there's a difference between the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii, is that the Wii's main outlet of innovation is the play while the PS3 and the 360 is the tech. I would rather play games like PH, that challenge my perceptions of how a game is played. When I had to close my DS to make an imprint on a map, or when I had to scream/blow on the microphone to startle an enemy, or when I had to shoot myself on the top screen in order to hit a boss, or drawing a path for my boomerang... Those are the types of things that make games so enjoyable. Now that I think of it, there's only one game that comes to mind that has done something like this; and its Metal Gear Solid for the PSone. The boss fight with Psycho Mantis where he reads your memory card, your save points, when he moves the controller on the floor using his "power" (controller's rumble), or even when you had to plug the controller to the second port in order for him to not read your mind...

MGS goes to show that you don't really need platforms like Wii and DS to do things like that. So even encouraging designers to do these types of things with Wii and DS has been kinda useless.

Its breaking the fourth wall, isn't it? Its using things outside the in-game mechanics to expand gameplay. How awesome would it be to get voice messages or emails from your characters reminding you that you haven't finished a certain area? Maybe Cortana leaves you a voice message on LIVE asking you to remember to save her. Its those small touches that amplify the experience. It's those kind of things that I want designers to do more frequently and in more creative ways. Believe me, I'm trying to achieve the same thing with the games I design.

THAT is the power of a video game over any other medium and we really have to take advantage of it.

-Arnaldo

Super Smash Bros. BRAWL (Quickie post)

2008-03-16T11:42:00.003-04:00

Been playing too much Smash Bros. the last week, including a huge get-together at a friend of mine's house. Love the game right now; feels balanced, the characters are awesome, lots of stuff to do, online play with friends or worldwide players, etc.

We've officially classified the game as a "party game" because of its random tripping, smash balls and many other items/features that force balance in matches. Hey, I'm all for balancing because it makes the game fun but the majority of my friends have already been accustomed to using all the exploits/glitches in Melee to abuse with other players.

Oh well, BRAWL is awesome and I'm going to be playing it for a LONG time.

-Arnaldo

iPhone SDK announced (finally!!)

2008-03-07T01:06:00.005-05:00

Today was a very big day for software developers. Actually, it was yesterday since its 1:08am but I'm so excited I still don't feel tired from my full work day at school. Yesterday Apple publicly presented the official SDK for iPhone software development (finally!!). I LOVE my iPhone. I've had it since day one and since it was first revealed, more than a year ago, at the January Macworld 2007 keynote, I've been excited about seeing games for the platform since it has the mayor properties of a kick-ass portable: Multi-touch (the DS only has a regular touch screen), an accelerometer (just like the PS3's SIXAXIS), WiFi (for online play) and a very stable and elegant OS with multimedia features...and, oh yes, its a phone.

The development tools look nice (and useful) and all of the apps I've wanted are finally coming (native AIM says hi) but what excited me the most is that Apple is also focusing on game development. What? Apple focusing on games? NO! You lie! Yeah, they are in fact supporting game development on iPhone...my dream come true. Hell, even when demonstrating the tools they specifically stated why its awesome for game development. So after geeking out a bit they upped the ante by actually showing some games running on the iPhone.

Apple made, in two days none the less, a space shooter that uses the accelerometer to move around and tapping the anywhere on the screen to fire. Brilliant. But the one that got me jumping in my seat was when EA showed a version of Spore for the phone and it looks amazing. They only had two weeks in development and the game looked almost final. Who knows what they can do with more development time. Sega also made a Super Monkey Ball demo that was all 3D and even had some amazing shaders for the water.

This is an exciting time for an Apple/iPhone fan. I've always wanted to design a game for the iPhone and now Apple has made it possible by releasing all the tools FOR FREE. As soon as I get up in the morning I'm going to work on a HydraNode variant and some new concepts for games on the iPhone. AWESOME! Now if only Apple would give this kind of support to the Mac platform we'd all be set.

-Arnaldo

First media exposure!

2008-03-02T19:10:00.003-05:00

I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago about Shades of Ghrey, one of the many games I'm directing and designing with a group of very talented friends. The article is about the rising of the games industry and how its 'more than a game'. Here's the online version, which includes the article on the newspaper and a short video interviewing me and a couple of the guys (plus a peek at Shades of Ghrey!).

Gaming is a serious business

Besides that I've been working very hard on a couple of projects, including HydraNode, and getting my shit together for graduation. I still haven't even started on my demo reel...eek! I'm also sending my resumes and cover letters to see if I can get a cool job at a cool company. As of now, I've been contacted by 2K Boston and Insomniac Games...much more than what I was expecting, so I'm very excited.

I'll leave you with a sneak peek at one of the 'Ghrey' cut scenes.

-Arnaldo

Can you hear me now?

2008-02-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to my first ever recording studio to record dialog and scratch voices for two of the games I'm making, Shades of Ghrey and HydraNode. We got to use the studio for as long as we wanted for whatever we wanted without charge thanks to a buddy of ours.

We were using Pro Tools HD for Mac to record and process all of the voices we recorded. That "little" app works like magic and it has so many little nobs and settings that you could spend the whole day playing around with it.

While we were there the Sun Sentinel (South Florida newspaper) was there to take pictures for a game development article that is going to be published pretty soon. The article includes interviews with several game dev students, including myself.

All in all it was a pretty cool day in the studio. Time flew by like it was nobody's business and we found ourselves there ti'll 7pm (from 1pm). We got to record what we needed and we were very satisfied with the results, especially when we nailed A.S.T.R.O.'s voice (main character of HydraNode). Now its on to implement all those recordings to their respected games!

-Arnaldo

Macworld 2008

2008-01-15T17:52:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, I'm a huge Apple fan but I've never really owned a Mac because my need of Windows applications. I've been following Macs since they unveiled the lamp-shaped iMac but have been using them way back in my uncle's print shop where I learned graphic design and print setups. I've owned 4 iPods and my awesome iPhone but never a Mac. Last year I had the chance to buy my first Mac, since I was going to be traveling and needed a notebook to work, but money was tight and I didn't have enough to buy the MacBook Pro I wanted with everything I needed (including Parallels to run Windows apps). But I think the time has come and I may be selling my Sony VAIO for a brand-spankin'-new MacBook Pro or the new MacBook Air unveiled today at Macworld.

The new MacBook Air is the definition of 'sexy' for laptop computers. Just when you thought Apple couldn't possibly improve notebook computers, because of the lack of MacBook redesigns, they surprised us with this impossible machine. The largest part of this computer is 0.78-inches thick and weighs around 3 pounds. Insane! Of course the bummer is that its not a very fast machine; it has a 1.6Ghz (1.8 available) Intel Core 2 Duo, which is decent but might chug while running multiple apps. The notebook also doesn't have an optical drive. You will have to buy a Superdrive adapter or "borrow" a drive wirelessly from another Mac or PC (software installation required though). It also has a multi-touch trackpad where you can do all those cool 'pinching' gestures that you do with the iPhone on regular apps. Cool stuff. (All the details can be found at Apple)

So is this computer really worth it? Its nice, it looks good and it super portable. You may have to get used to not having some things like FireWire, an optical drive or Ethernet port, but I think its quite a good machine for something so thin and lightweight. I really don't know what to make of it until I get my hands on it.

Steve Jobs update the iPhone software with features that really left me wanting more, but I really can't complain the iPhone is fucking awesome as is. They also updated the AppleTV; now its something that people might consider buying since now it doesn't require a computer and you can download movies, music, podcasts, etc and now you can rent movies...in HD! Sounds awesome to me. Then they showed a wireless storage/router (for MacBook Air since it doesn't have an ethernet port) which is pretty sweet, and pretty big (500GB - 1TB). But that was it, nothing really surprising, since everything was leaked about a week before.

Coolness all around...I have to get a Mac, I'm really pissed with Vista. I know you can't do much gaming, but I don't game much on my PC so...yeah. Oh well, we'll see how I can find an excuse to get one. :)

-Arnaldo

How Far We've Come

2008-01-09T16:30:00.000-05:00

Tech moves so fast, one day we're playing on flat, 2d, surfaces and now we're recreating life and what we see to the smallest detail. Tech is all good and fun...I love tech, I love my super advanced iPhone, my 3D applications, chatting with people back home through my webcam...its awesome! But how much of this is really necessary with gaming? A lot and not so much. A lot because its in ourselves to always come up with something better-looking, something high-tech, that makes our games stand-out from the endless sea of games in development and not so much because tech is not the single pillar in making a good game. Tech, to me, inspires the fun or the entertainment in a game. They go hand in hand...hell, without tech there would be no interactivity and so on.

But as developers, how much do we concentrate on tech? There needs to be this sweet balance between good game design and good tech to bring an idea to life. I just saw new pictures of Quantum Dream's Heavy Rain which is supposed to revolutionize interactive drama with its realism. The images are amazing; it could easily fool you into thinking they're real. This gets the tech junkie/graphics whore in me all excited because if QD is able to get this level of detail in-game and if they can pull off good, realistic, animation then the performances of the characters are going to leave an impression on the player.

That's the cool thing about games, we can do anything we want. We can have bare bone fun games like Wii Sports, addicting and challenging games like Geometry Wars, educational games (Brain Age), movie-inspired games like Call of Duty, social games like Halo 3, art-house-y games like Portal, abstract games like flOw...we can do anything with our medium. I'm guessing QD is going for decent gameplay - maximum content with their title which is completely fine by me. Hell, Uncharted is one of my favorite games of the last year and it really didn't do anything different. Its content, story, characters and environments was what really got me hooked into it.

I like tech; I like a good image that helps my game do better both in-game and in the stores. The key here is what you want your product to be, I guess. If you really don't want your game to be fun, but just entertaining, then you take the steps necessary to have decent gameplay and awesome content, or whatever formula. Video games can be so many things...I get excited about the possibilities. Can't wait for some developer to surprise me or surprise the industry myself. ;)

-Arnaldo

2008: The year of change.

2008-01-01T22:14:00.001-05:00

Well we're finally in the new year: 2008. This year is set to hold a lot cool things for me, personally, including my 21st birthday, going to GDC for the first time, graduating, getting a job in the industry, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Indiana Jones, Metal Gear Solid 4, Spore, Little Big Planet, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the list goes on and on. Life isn't how one plans it, but with what I have planned right now, its going to be a huge year for me...I just hope that whatever is not on schedule only makes the year better.

I've been thinking about how I've worked on the blog and I've come to the conclusion that this is not the way to go. Gaming and the development of games is much more than just games and analyzing games, its about what is outside of games: inspiration, life, imagination, creativity and anything related. So I've decided to write about anything and everything that I feel is worth writing about because one way or the other its going to affect how I make games, play games and view games; and since this is my blog I do whatever I want! LOL.

And going on that new train of though I REALLY have to talk about my biggest inspiration ever (and its not what you might think): PIXAR. Yes, most of my inspiration comes from the company that reinvented animation and introduced full-length 3D animated features to the world.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about my future and now that I'm developing games on my own and eventually plan to open a studio, someday in the future, and there is no company that I admire more than Pixar. Their philosophy of movie-making also fits very well to game-making; and its a philosophy that I agree with. Their aim to to make quality features with no compromises to anything that might affect the core of their medium: Story. To them, story is king like gameplay is king to us. If something doesn't feel right to them they scrap it and start from scratch or go to another idea. They have an amazing team for different backgrounds, ethnicity, cultures, etc. that really gives everything they do a distinct and recognizable flavor. Hell, even their credits are entertaining and bursting with quality.

And look at their 8 features and all their shorts...THEY'RE ALL GOOD! And when you see the trailers for the next one (in this case Andrew Stanton's Wall-E) you keep thinking 'how the hell do they come up with so many cool ideas that become hits?', its incredible (no pun intended). Not only that, but they are also leaders in the development of 3D technology; Pixar's Renderman is used by everyone who is serious about rendering, and their proprietary tools for animation and modeling are so good that they don't release them.

I'm sure that doing something like this in the game industry is impossible but I don't plan to quit or compromise. I want my products to reach the quality of work and the passion that people pour into Pixar movies. Its a crazy and impossible dream to reach, but that doesn't bother me. It will happen.

-Arnaldo

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- The Review

2007-11-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

Story

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a tale about a treasure hunter, named Nathan Drake, who is following in the footsteps of his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, in order to find the lost treasure of El Dorado. As Nathan follows clues left by his ancestor, he races against a group of pirates also seeking the treasure. But what he uncovers changes what he knows about Drake and the treasure.

Uncharted feels like a movie you'd rent and enjoy so much that you wish you'd seen it in the theaters. Its one of those pulp-adventure/treasure-hunting stories that are so classic to the film industry but so unique in the video game world that you're immediately hooked. The game's story is mostly presented through cut-scenes but the voice-overs and the overall presentation are so good they're worth watching. The dialog is creative, witty, and fits perfectly within the theme of the game. The characters have their own distinct personalities and motivations, and continue to evolve throughout the game; you care about these characters once the game is over.

Gameplay

The game reminds me a lot of God of War because of its design philosophy. Naughty Dog didn't set out to redefine the action-adventure genre, they just wanted to make the best game they could possibly make. Simply put, Uncharted is Gears of War's cover and shooting, Tomb Raider's climbing, Indiana Jones-esque situations with a little bit of ND's take on melee attacks. The cool thing is that they pulled it off and the game is very fun to play. There are challenging sections where I got frustrated (like in God of War) but once I beat it it felt very satisfying (like in God of War :p).

My only complaint about the gameplay is the climbing; and its all because I was playing Assassin's Creed at the same time. Like I wrote in my AC review, Assassin's set the bar when it comes to environment interaction and Uncharted felt dated when I played it. In Uncharted, climbing consists of finding a entry point and jumping from marked spot to marked spot. It got to a point where I was thinking with AC's mechanics in mind and I would get frustrated at the fact that it just wasn't possible in this game.

Graphics

Uncharted is one of the best looking console game I have ever played. Its the prettiest PS3 game and it comes quite close to the best Xbox 360 has to offer (BioShock, Assassin's, Mass Effect, Halo 3). The jungle areas are only second to Crysis renderings and the game's lighting is the best in the biz. There's a part in the game where you're in a tomb and you have a flashlight on and each shadow cast created real-time shadows that distorted when moved around and overlapped objects. This game is all about detail, and it shows with all the high-res textures and even the characters. Nathan actually looks wet when he gets wet and slowly dries off. Water looks good though not better than other games I've seen. It all has a set quality that doesn't diminish as you go through the game.

Final Thoughts

Uncharted is one of those games that doesn't change much but everything it has is pure gold. Its fun, its entertaining and it has cool characters and story. Apart from the difficulty settings the game has achievements, different costumes, challenges, treasures to collect and so much bonus content that it rivals God of War's. This game is an awesome package and its a must own for PS3 owners and hardcore gamers.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- 9.0 / 10

Pros: Awesome story, interesting characters, varied and engaging gameplay, bonus content.

Cons: Climbing feels dated thanks to Assassin's Creed, its pretty short.

-Arnaldo

Assassin's Creed: The Review

2007-11-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

This is the first of four reviews I'm going to do for the massive Fall releases. I just beat Assassins, I'm still running through Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and I'm getting Mass Effect as soon as I can so I got a lot to play. Its funny cause I've played more games this weekend alone than what I've played in months. Here we go:

Story

No spoilers here for people who haven't played it yet, but I'll just say that its interesting and its most definitely what you were thinking it was...with a twist. The straightforward summary is that you play an Assassin, named Altair, who is seeking to regain his honor after not following the 'creed'. Altair is tasked with assassinating 9 key members who are plotting something and are key participants in the third crusade. That is as much as I can say without spoiling anything.

I really wasn't expecting much story for this game but I was pleasantly surprised that its quite cool. The voice acting is decent, the characters are distinct and it all blends quite nicely to the whole scheme of the game. And the cool part is that the ending of the game is very satisfying and it leaves it wide open for the sequel. Some reviewers complained that the game had an abrupt ending but I really didn't feel that way. To me the game had to end there because they'd be pushing it too much to add more to the story. The cut-scenes throughout the game are boring because its basically in-game and doesn't really use cinematic techniques to deliver story bits thus undermining what is being presented to the player.

Gameplay

This is where the game really shines for me. This is basically a sandbox game where you have a couple of incredibly HUGE cities and you can explore it, do side-quests, collect flags, fight templars, etc. There is a lot you can do but the real hook for the game is the climbing. Climbing doesn't sound like much and its definitely nothing new in the game space but the way AC does it makes it feel new and sets a bar for what climbing should be in the action-adventure genre. Every single structure in this game is climbable...everything. I think the developers said that if it sticks out a couple of centimeters you can grab it and they didn't lie at all. There is so much you can do with climbing that it becomes an integral part of the experience.

Combat is also very satisfying. Its very similar to combat on Prince of Persia but taken to another level. It is the most authentic representation of sword play I have ever seen on a game. This is not a button-masher, you need to block if you want to survive. And not only that but the counter system is incredibly satisfying; you feel like a total bad ass when you're against 6-8 soldiers and you're in total control. When played correctly: offensive moves, defensive moves, and counters flow so beautifully that you really feel like an expert sword fighter. Its cool stuff.

Assassinations are the core of the game and its very straightforward: kill this guy. Thats it, but its how you kill him that makes the game so cool. You can go stealthy and kill him with your hidden blade, go like a bad ass and kill him with your sword like a man (I did this a couple of times), or kill him from afar by throwing knives. The circumstances in which you have to kill those people is very different each time and there is some challenge in each one of them. The game is not overly difficult but its not a breeze either.

But the game is not without its faults. The game is immensely repetitive: You're going to do the same tasks 9 times in a row (for each guy you have to assassinate). For some people this is a game-breaker but since this is a sandbox game and there are so many different ways to do things that I really wasn't bothered with it. There is very little I can complain about the gameplay, its very solid.

Graphics

There's no denying, this game is a looker. It is not the best graphics you're going to see out of the games coming out this fall, but when you see the scale of it all you can't help but be amazed of the accomplishment of Ubisoft Montreal. It all plays at a steady framerate with all the technical jazz you'd expect from a next-gen game. Sometimes it does slow down because of the streaming and loading of all the characters when you enter each section but that is quickly resolved. Not the best-looking game out, but still very impressive.

Final Thoughts

This is a solid and fun game. To me its a natural evolution of action-adventure titles but it doesn't really revolutionizes it. While the climbing system stands out by setting a standard, the rest of the game is simply decent. Its a good game with an original concept and cool story but it will not make an impact like BioShock and/or, by the sound of it, Mass Effect. Once you finish the game there is no reason to go back except to goof around the cities and collect the flags and get the achievements.

Assassin's Creed: 8.0

Pros: Climbing is fun, combat is bad ass, awesome concept.

Cons: Incredibly repetitive, cut-scenes aren't very engaging.

-Arnaldo

What makes Geometry Wars so addicting?

2007-11-12T14:35:00.001-05:00

I consider myself a "hardcore" gamer, but I really am a casual gamer. I don't play as much as I used to anymore but I still play a decent amount. I'm a gamer by mood; if I feel like playing something that tests my skills I'll put on something like Halo or any other multiplayer game. If I feel like playing through a story and want to be entertained, but not necessarily challenged, I'll put on God of War or Metal Gear Solid. But recently I've been in a mood where I want to play a certain type of game but none of the games I have fit the bill. So what I do is play something from Xbox LIVE Arcade; short, bit-sized games that deliver instant gratification.

The one I always play is Geometry Wars (pictured above). Geometry Wars was the first game I purchased over LIVE when I bought my Xbox 360 almost two years ago, but it still the one I play the most. Why? There are so many games out there that have so much more than Geometry Wars. Geometry Wars is an old-school arcade game in which you control, what looks to be, a spaceship and the sole objective of the game is to shoot as many geometric shapes without any of them hitting you. Thats it, nothing else to do but shoot shapes and try to evade them. Its one of those games where simple things like that are so fun to play and even though its challenging, you really don't feel it. And even when you die, you simply don't care...you feel that you accomplished something with your score, and even if you didn't score well you come out with a positive feeling that in the next round you're going to do better.

Something like that is very hard to achieve, especially with such a simple game. Which makes me wonder what makes a game addictive like that. I'm currently developing a small arcade game a bit more developed than Geometry Wars and its one of the things I think about most. One of the things I found with GW is that the most important thing is to make losing acceptable to the player. In other words, not make it so the player feels cheated when he loses. If you have that, you have 50% of an enjoyable game. The other 50% is the game itself. The controls for GW are as simple as they come: Use the left analog stick to move the ship around the plane, use the right analog to shoot to the desired direction and the right trigger uses a bomb to clear the plane. Thats it.

Having comfortable controls makes getting in the game easy. The visuals help as well, as its very satisfying to "pop" every geometric shape and see particles explode as they do. Also, having different shapes have different movement patterns makes the game a lot more interesting and challenging while not being frustrating. Then when a lot of them show up, you're away of the type of movements and you react accordingly.

So those are the things that make Geometry Wars such an addicting game (at least for me). These are principles I definitely want to apply to HydraNode in order to make it the best game it can possibly be and have people play it even after two years of release. We are 50% done with our first prototype so I'm definitely going do my best to make it the best.

-Arnaldo

Gaming as a Business

2007-11-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

This is something I rarely do because, to me, gaming is a passion I've had since as long as I remember. But recently I've been thinking a lot about the business side of it, specially since one day I will open a studio of my own. I got to admit, one of the main reasons I'm thinking about it is because of a show on HBO called Entourage. I recently bought the first three seasons on DVD and since then I've been hooked on it. It tells the story about a young actor making it big in Hollywood and all the adventures he has with his entourage. The writers of the show have written it in a way that mirrors real life. A lot of people you see in the series actually exist, and events have actually happened in one way or another. While watching the series, I've been comparing it a lot with the Games Industry and seeing a lot interesting things.

Gaming and film are both a multi-billion dollar industry, but if you look at the numbers most decently budgeted film brake even and even earn a little extra. Games, on the other hand, are a different story. You would have to be a franchise like Halo, Grand Theft Auto or Mario to brake even and MAYBE profit. Why is this? Games every year become more expensive to make, take longer to make, and don't make half of what they should. Then look at salaries, game developer salaries are decent for an average job but if you compare it to ANY of the other salaries in the entertainment industry (Movies, Music, TV) its far less.

The gaming industry is still in its infancy; We haven't yet discovered how to best utilize interactivity and technology, and its going to be a while before we do. Gaming is the best form of entertainment ever created. Is that a bold statement? Yes, but it is also true. Video games are a combination of visual and auditory entertainment and cutting-edge technology. Not only are we the best, we are the most cutting-edge. You can do so much with games that you simply cannot do with any other form of entertainment. We can make games that feel like movies, games that feel like board games, games that challenge your hand-eye coordination, games you can play with your friends, games that make you laugh, games that make you think, games that feel like you're playing with building blocks, games that make you feel good, and (coming soon) games that evoke emotion. I'm sure I left out more than a couple but you get my idea. Then why is it that we're getting the short end of the stick? If we can do everything the other industries can do, why aren't we profiting? Why aren't developers getting paid like movie directors, producers, or special effect artists? We work more than three times what they work, specially for big productions, and we still get the short end for some reason.

I'm not an expert on economics, but there has to be something wrong with the business model the industry has; in some way its hindering the financial growth. One of the solutions I can possibly think of is the one console platform (look at my previous post for details). It is the only way I can think of that can truly change the industry for the better in all categories. There's so much possibility in this industry that its not even funny.

-Arnaldo

One Gaming Platform

2007-10-20T21:48:00.000-04:00

Yeah, yeah, I know I've talked about this before, and so have others, but its something that needs to be seriously talked about. One platform; one gaming platform that will play games from any developer/publisher. This isn't the first time people have talked about this and it won't be the last. From David Jaffe (President, Eat Sleep Play), to Denis Dyack (President, Silicon Knights), and now EA. Yes, EA, the biggest game publisher in the world. Now this is something that the industry will pay attention to. People never pay much attention to the designers or directors, but they do to money people.

In an interview with BBC, Senior Executive Gerhard Florin said "an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible." This is true. Why? Because it ridiculous the amount of money that is wasted in making ports for different platforms and the very low amount of profits that come in. I've talked about this before (look at my older posts) but EA may be on to something.

Here's my theory which may be true for all we know. EA, the biggest game publisher in the world, wants an open platform. How can they easily get an open platform? By making one themselves. Why make a console when there are so many out there? Pressure. If EA makes a open platform and makes all EA games exclusive to open platforms, it'll put so much pressure on the current platform makers that they'll have to go open platform to profit. Imagine that open platforms are the only places where you can play Madden, BioWare games, Pandemic games and any other games published by EA. That is huge.

Not only will this get EA what they want, they will also make a ton of money. With the focus on one platform, development costs will decrease, making software prices decrease, making profits increase. Its a win-win for both gamers and the game makers. When developers see how much they would benefit from the open platform they will most certainly jump at the chance. EA's push for the open platform will eat away the development support from the closed platforms, thus decreasing market share and consumer interest.

So EA introducing the first open platform, in my opinion, is the best thing that they can do for the industry. As I've said before (and Denis Dyack), this is the only way the industry will move forward. It is inevitable and it will benefit everyone. Can't wait when it finally happens.

-Arnaldo

Halo 3: The Review

2007-09-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

So I finally got to play, and beat, Halo 3's single-player and play a few hours of its multi-player. I think I've played enough of the game to give it a fair review. I'm going to review both single-player and multi-player separately since I'm going to be writing a lot. So here we go:

Single-Player:

Story

The Halo games have never been about story to me...until I read the novels. The novels to me are the benchmark to where the games need to be. Sadly, it wasn't accomplished in Halo 2...nor in Halo 3. If you see all the marketing campaign, read the novels, the comics and all the other supplemental material for the game, you'll notice how different (and shallow) the game is compared to them. Yeah yeah, games are about having fun...blah, blah, blah... But to me story is just as important as gameplay and tech. Story is what motivates the player to continue with Bungie's "30-seconds of fun" throughout the whole 6-7 hour game. With all the game's hype, and all of the novels/comics, the story falls on its ass.

The dialog for the game is laughable, the story is feels like a cheap original sci-fi movie with a budget. We didn't get to see the remaining Spartans (and some of them are on earth!), the Covenant come to an abrupt stop after the Flood is re-introduced (I hate the Flood, by the way). There is so much more to what was presented that throws the game to the bottom of the barrel of Halo fiction. Remember the 'Believe' ads? Yeah, the one with the huge battle and Master Chief 'captured'? Well, that event NEVER happened in the game. As epic as it may have felt on the ad, it never happened.

Gameplay

Halo is Halo, there is no way to fuck this up. But what makes Halo 3 a true "next-gen" Halo? We've all played Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 so...we've all played Halo 3 then. Halo 3 is definitely Halo with more weapons, new scenarios, new items. The game pretty much feels like Halo 2 HD. Thats not bad, really. But if you have the biggest franchise in gaming history and you're making a new one for a new platform, you'd at least expect something different, something that sets it apart from its predecessors. They added four-player online co-op, which is huge.

But biggest change (at least for me) is the control scheme. They changed the reload/pickup/action button and replaced it with the Equipments, which are items what you can throw when needed like: Bubble shield, portable grav-lift, etc. Equipments are useless if you're playing on Normal (which is the level I beat it in). In Heroic and Legendary its basically required. They're useful little things when you find yourself in a bind and they add to the Halo formula in a pretty cool way but not as much to make it a significant "Can only be done on next-gen hardware" feature. I like the new weapon selection too, but the funny thing is that I still preferred the Assault Rifle and Battle Rifle combo. But my favorite new weapon is the Brute Spiker. These monstrosities pack a punch and every Brute has one, so it won't run out of ammo on you. There are a couple of new things in the game, but again, nothing that couldn't be done on Halo 2. The game had big battles, but not in the scale it was being hyped about. The levels were cool and varied, which I appreciated. And there were things going on the in the background (Like banshees shooting Pelicans) which made it feel bigger.

Graphics

Halo and Halo 2 had the best graphics on Xbox and any other console. Halo 3's graphics are one of the best, but I've seen more than 5 games that look better. They still used the same art style for the game (I was hoping for a change for next-gen) the same modeling techniques and the mediocre animations (even in cinematics!). The only thing that stands out graphically is the water. Halo 3 has one of the best looking water in the industry....after BioShock's of course. The humans are the ugliest in the game. In the cutscenes everything looked so good I sometimes thought it was pre-rendered, but the humans were so ugly I just snapped out of the scene. The effects for the game were cool, but again it seems like Bungie used last-gen techniques for everything. So it basically made the game look like a souped-up Halo 2.

Sound / Music

This sounds like a next-gen Halo. The guns don't have the game sound as previous games. Weapons sound more threatening, they sound different if you're shooting it, up close or far away. It really gives a lot of depth to the world and the people in it. I'm sure that if I had a 5.1 surround sound setup I'd be drooling at how good it sounds. Even with the speakers on the TV it sounds good.

For music, Marty O'Donnell has done it again. The music is phenomenal, though he did remake most of the previous game's tracks....again. This doesn't bother me as much since there were more than a couple of new pieces that made the game seem more epic than it really was. Can't wait to get my hands on the soundtrack.

Final Thoughts

So is the game really that bad? No. Its a very solid and well made game. The thing that bothers me is that its Halo, one of the biggest franchises in gaming history and this is what we're getting. It seems, again, that Bungie focused more on multi-player than on single-player. Multi-player has all the innovations that all other FPSs are going to be looking at and adding to their games. While I love Halo and have fun with it, Halo 3's campaign left me wanting so much more. It was all empty promises.

Halo 3's Single-Player: 8.5/10

Pros: Much better than Halo 2.

Cons: ...but not that much.

-Arnaldo

ITS ALMOST UPON US!

2007-09-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

Halo 3. Probably the biggest game to ever release on any console in the world. Halo has really become something unique and has elevated video games to the level of film and any other media. Hell, Halo outsells any film with pre-orders ONLY. Its truly incredible how much Halo has evolved video games. When Halo came out it set a standard for how FPSs would play on consoles and to this day all FPSs use the Halo control scheme and even some features...but NO ONE has been able to make a "Halo Killer". In fact, every FPS that is on its way to a console that looks like is going to be good is labeled a "Halo Killer" but it never is.

I remember the first time I played Halo. I didn't have ANY interest at all in playing it...didn't look like my type of game. I wanted to buy an Xbox for Jet Set Radio Future and other cool titles but not for Halo. But then one day I sold my Compaq computer to a good friend of mine from high school and went to his house to install it for him. He asked me if I wanted to play Xbox cause the just bought it the day before. The first thing I ask him is: "What games did you get?", and he tells me "JSRF and Halo." I immediately told him that I wanted to play JSRF. I played it for a couple of minutes and loved it but I needed to go home. I decided to use the money from the computer to buy an Xbox and JSRF. Just before leaving he says to me: "Dude, I'm not going to let you leave until you play Halo." "What is so special about Halo?", I asked. "You'll see." he replied with a grin.

So I agreed to play but only if it was in Co-op. So we started playing and I didn't care very much for the intro movie so we skipped it. We played the whole Pillar of Autumn intro level and I was blown away. The game was so much fun and it felt so different. The last time I played a good console FPS was Goldeneye on the N64. I left his house and went straight to the mall to get my Xbox with JSRF and Halo. From then on Halo was my portal to other shooters. I guess that is why I'm such a fan of Halo; it reintroduced my to FPSs when I was primarily a Japanese RPG whore.

2004. I was graduating from high school and heading to Florida to fulfill my dreams of being a Game Designer. But apart from starting my journey towards the Games Industry there was something else happening in Fall 2004, Halo 2. Yes, the sequel to one of my favorite games of all time was finally going to come out. The thing about Halo 2, for me and for many, was that what really shone was the multiplayer. The single-player ended in a sour note thanks to the abrupt ending. So once you were finished with it you were going to spend the rest of your time with it on multiplayer...and that we did. Apart from Smash Bros. Melee and Goldeneye, Halo 2 is my most played game EVER. Dorm life consisted mostly of Smash or Halo 2 games and I lived there for 3 years...quite a lot of playing. I can't say I'm the best gamer is the world but I could defend myself (still can). While I mostly finished last in all the games, I had fun.

2007. Halo 3 is almost upon us to "FINISH THE FIGHT". While Bungie promises that the single-player will satisfy all of those who were turned off by Halo 2's mediocrity, the true gem, again, is going to be multiplayer. Why? Not going to go into details but Bungie has added Saved Films (Single and multiplayer) and a Forge editor to customize ALL of the multiplayer maps. Not only that but you can share it with everyone on the net! Those features ALONE will give Halo 3 a near infinite replay value. Its funny cause Halo 3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl are the two games this Fall that will have the most content and the ones I will play most till they make sequels for them.

I know in my previous post I said "BioShock: GAME OF THE YEAR" but its really going to be tough to pick just one out of the many excellent titles coming out this fall. I'm just lucky that I will be able to play them and I;m sure that more than one of them will be among my favorites of all time...BioShock already is.

-Arnaldo

Welcome to Rapture

2007-08-28T23:08:00.001-04:00

Yes, the barrage of excellent games has started to hit my wallet without any mercy. The first one to hit might just be my favorite game of all time...no bullshit. This game...is one of the best experiences in gaming EVER.

BIOSHOCK

I got to be honest. When I first heard of BioShock I didn't pay too much attention. I was busy drooling over games like God of War II, Halo 3, Gears of War and so on. Natural evolutions to previously established games, gameplay mechanics and settings. Nothing new, nothing thrillingly original. Then Irrational Games, now 2K Boston, began to release more media to demonstrate what they were doing with game and I began to get interested, but not in an "OH MY GOD I NEEDS THIS GAME!". It was just a game to watch out for.

As time when on and I learned more about the story (fucking amazing!), the gameplay and the rest of what makes BioShock truly special, I started to get hyped. Now I NEEDED this game, I needed to experience what the press was raving about and all the promises made by the developer. I went to the local GameStop and pre-ordered the Limited Edition.

The day arrived where I could play the much-talked about "Game of the Year shoe-in". So what did I think about it? Well, now that I've played it its going to be VERY hard for another game to receive the GOTY award. Personally? This is one of my favorite games of all time. Why? I can't tell you everything, but I will say that its THE best written game I have every played. The story alone rivals most cinematic masterpieces. The twist rivals what I considered the best twist in gaming history (the Knights of the Old Republic reveal) and goes two steps further.

The level design. This game has beautiful and functional level design, which is hard to come by. Everything in Rapture feels like it was functional before the whole mess occurred. Things in the environment actually tell a story. Its kinda like a story within the story...told indirectly through the environment. Its pretty awesome stuff. Plus Unreal Engine 3 really helps to set the mood. Lighting is moody and the water effects are the best in the biz...you can't help just simply stare at everything and see what else you can find (hell, I found a little Pac Man in one room).

The citizens of Rapture are one of the most interesting things about the whole game. Each character is place a hierarchy. There are these protectors (the Big Daddies) and gatherers (the Little Sisters) to don't even interact with you unless you provoke the Big Daddy, which will then go about kicking your ass. Then you have the rest of the community, the Splicers, which stay away from them too but betray each other as well. And the scary thing is that all the interactions with everyone occurs randomly.

So yeah...I'm excited about BioShock...so excited that I have doubts that there will be a better game coming out this year.

Thats it for the BioShock lovin'. Next time I'll dwelve into Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (which I've only played 2 hours of) and maybe Warhawk.

-Arnaldo

-DESIGN MODE-

2007-08-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

Its on! I'm in FULL design mode...HARDCORE design mode. First I was working on one project full time and another part-time. Now I'm working on THREE projects FULL TIME. One for school (team project for graduation), HydraNode and an official game (under NDA so I can't say what it is!).

I'm going to be director of the first two projects and a designer (working under the lead designer) for the 'official' project. This is awesome cause its a lot of practice and I'll build up experience for when I graduate.

This post is short cause...I gotta get back to work! Lots to do!

-Arnaldo

RESIDENT EVIL 5

2007-07-26T19:13:00.000-04:00

Oh my God. I thought it couldn't be done. How the hell could a game look better than Uncharted and MGS4? Its impossible...at least for a couple of years. But no, Capcom proved me, and everyone else, wrong by releasing an extended version of the trailer shown at E3 a couple of weeks ago. Resident Evil 5 is the best looking game I have ever seen...and that is an understatement.

The graphics are borderline photo-realistic CG. The animations are smooth and responsive and there doesn't seem to be any significant drops in framerate. The facial expressions of Chris (Yes, he's back!) and all of the villagers, in what seems to be a small African village, are almost movie-quality. The lighting is the best I've been in a game period because it is all natural light. The only light-source is the sun and Capcom is using all the techniques known to man to create on-screen the effects of the sun in your eyes. Everything from that hot, blinding, sun to the effects of entering a dark room outside. And it uses this all to create an atmosphere of desperation and entrapment.

The gameplay seems to be an evolution of Resident Evil 4...so what? RE4 is being copied by almost every third-person shooter out there. Its good enough; but Capcom has already said that it only looks that way on the surface and that they have made some changes to it. This game is going to keep everyone on their toes with all the things happening around them. The villagers are aggressive and they run! And I dont mean that slow jog that the villagers from RE4 has, these guys sprint and tackle you to the ground. Pretty scary shit.

If you haven't seen the trailer yet, do me a favor. Stop reading, log on to Xbox LIVE or the PSN and download this trailer in the highest resolution your TV can possibly support. This game is, officially, my most anticipated game. Now I feel like playing a little RE4 to ease the pain of waiting ti'll next year for RE5.

-Arnaldo

BEST. YEAR. EVER.

2007-07-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

This is it, this is going to be the best year ever for the video game industry. I have never seen so many A.A.A. games coming out at once since 2004. Here's a list of the titles I'm interested in for the remainder of the year:

Xbox 360:

September 25, 2007 Halo 3 Legendary Edition Microsoft Shooter
November 2007 Assassin's Creed (Limited Edition) Ubisoft Action
November 2007 Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway Ubisoft Shooter
November 2007 Mass Effect Microsoft RPG
TBA 2007 Soulcalibur IV Namco Bandai Fighting

PC:

August 21, 2007 BioShock 2K Games Action RPG
September 3, 2007 Unreal Tournament 3 Midway Games Shooter
Q3 2007 Half-Life 2: Episode Two Valve Shooter
October 9, 2007 Portal Valve Shooter
October 9, 2007 Team Fortress 2 Valve Shooter
November 6, 2007 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Activision Shooter
Q4 2007 Left 4 Dead Action

PlayStation 3:

August 14, 2007 Lair Sony Computer Entertainment Action
August 20, 2007 John Woo Presents Stranglehold: Collector's Edition Midway Games Action
Adventure
August 28, 2007 Warhawk Sony Computer Entertainment Flight Action
September 4, 2007 Heavenly Sword Sony Computer Entertainment Action
October 2, 2007 Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction Sony Computer Entertainment Action
November 2007 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Sony Computer Entertainment Action Adventure

PSP:

October 2, 2007 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike Sony Computer Entertainment Action Simulation
Q1 2008 God of War: Chains of Olympus Sony Computer Entertainment Action

Wii:

August 27, 2007 Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Nintendo Shooter
October 29, 2007 Battalion Wars 2 Nintendo Action
November 2007 NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams SEGA Action
November 2007 Super Mario Galaxy Nintendo Platformer
December 3, 2007 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Nintendo Fighting

Nintendo DS:

October 1, 2007 Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, The Nintendo Action Adventure
October 17, 2007 Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword Tecmo Action

...and I'm sure I'm missing a couple of those that weren't listed in the IGN Release Date list. Too many game, too little money.

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Metal Gear and Konami hosted a event in Japan where they shows a 15-minute playable demo of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots which will now be released in early 2008. They also showed for the first time Metal Gear Online which will be included in MGS4. The game looks amazing and a very nice improvement from previous games in the series while maintaining the feel on an MGS game. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

E3 was a couple of weeks ago as well and it was, by far, one of the worst E3s ever. Most of the companies focused on 2007 titles and announced VERY few 2008 titles. Everything was basically new trailers of announced games and firm release date announcements.

Sony finally showed Killzone 2 after two straight years of absence and while the title looks very good graphically (its very close to the target render they showed a couple of years ago) it looks to have the same monotonous gameplay of every other FPS and doesn't do anything to make the genre feel fresh. I think Bioshock will set a bar of how FPS's should be designed from now on. Mark my words: Bioshock will be GAME OF THE YEAR.

Call of Duty 4 stole the show. While Killzone, Uncharted, Halo 3 and all those other games look good...they don't look Call of Duty 4 good. CoD4 was running at 60 frames per second in 720p and it looks AMAZING. You see shit blowing up everywhere gun fire, fellow soldiers shooting, taking cover bullets whizzing by and all sorts of craziness. This would've been game of the year if it weren't for the same old gameplay design. Overall it still another Call of Duty game, which mean that it'll be intense and fun...but the relatively the same game.

But the true stunner of the show was the sequel to last generation's best game: Resident Evil 5. OH. MY. GOD. I can't believe how good this game looks. According to Microsoft the trailer was captured from the Xbox 360 version and it looks INSANE! The full trailer should be up in a couple of days and I can't wait to see what changes Capcom made to the almost perfect design of Resident Evil 4. This is definitely one to watch.

Well...gotta go save up for the onslaught this Fall...

Chekit,

-Arnaldo

Fogive me Gaming Gods!

2007-06-26T19:13:00.000-04:00

Wow, I think this is the longest time I've ever not played a game before. Its been like a week since I've touched a video game. The last one was when I installed Half-Life 2 to test my new Vaio laptop (which runs at an awesome framerate with high settings) and even that didn't last more than 15mins. So why haven't I been playing video games for the past week? Well...

1) I'm on vacation -- yeah I know thats no excuse just because its the perfect excuse to be lazy and just play games all summer, but I took a trip back home to Puerto Rico to visit and for some reason I haven't touched a video game.

2)The game -- working on a game is no joke...especially if you're the one in charge. If something goes wrong...its your fault. If the game sucks...its your fault. If the modeler doesn't get the latest concept sketches...its your fault. Not to mention my own duties and the ones that no one can do (or knows how to do) and I have to take over and get it done.

3) My PS3 not working -- For some reason my damn PS3 doesn't wanna work on my old school SDTV...maybe its some cable setting (since I use component back home and this only has composite). I brought a ton of games to play over the summer that I have to finish if I wanna call myself a dedicated gamer.

So...yeah, I have good reasons for why I haven't been playing much lately but I still feel like I'm betraying an ideal....or a tradition or something. I think I'm going to boot-up Half-Life 2 when I finish this write-up.

Recently I've been having these cravings for Halo 3 Multiplayer. UNBELIEVABLE cravings like the ones I had for Counter-Strike or the first Halo. And the funny thing is that don't wanna play Halo 2 because Halo 3 is such an improvement that I can't bare to play without all of its features. BUNGIE I NEEDS MY HALO 3!!!!

No HydraNode update right now since there's really not much to talk about. Hopefully by the time I write my next post I'll have something cool to talk about it. I've also been working on other game concepts that I like to see made, including ones that I don't think I'll get to make until I have like 10 years in the industry. Oh well, at least I have a career plan.

Till next time.

-Arnaldo

Its been a long time...

2007-06-02T11:24:00.000-04:00

...time to update this thing. Well, I've been doing quite a lot in past couple of weeks including playing Betas for Halo 3 Multiplayer and Warhawk. I was with my uncle who was visiting this week for a couple of days so that was kinda my break from it all. Now I'm back on track with finals in two weeks and enough time to get them done. I'm actually very comfortable right now, cause I don't have a job and I have all this free time to work on my stuff. Long post coming up. I got a lot to talk about and enough time to talk.

The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta. My god have I waited to play this game for a long time. Halo 3 is easily one of my most anticipated games of the year and any of my friends can tell you that I'm a Halo freak. I know Halo has always been a mediocre FPS, but you know what? I don't care. The game is fun, the lore is awesome (read the books if you ever get a chance) and the characters are awesome. A good game doesn't have to be the best in the lot to be liked. Well I wasn't expecting much because its a Beta version and the gameplay hasn't changed, but the addition to the whole mechanics makes it a very noticeable improvement over Halo 2. I'm not going to go into specifics of all the upgrades and tweaks that they made for the game but everything really does change how you play the game. The three levels included for the beta are some of the best designed levels I have seen for a multiplayer game. They are balanced and they is no area of distinct advantage that an experienced player can take and just pwn other players. The weapons have been balanced to a degree that you don't have to run and get another one immediately when you spawn. And the new Equipments balance the game even further. For example, if someone's shooting you from behind you can just hit 'X' (if you have that specific equipment) and throw a bubble shield to the ground that will protect you and give you enough time to recharge your shield. Graphics for the game aren't out of this world or even comparable with games like Gears of War but, as I said before, its just a beta and its indicative of the final version. So we can expects improvements once Bungie releases it September 25 of this year. The picture above is one I found yesterday about new customization features in Halo 3. Now you have different helmets and armors that you can put on your character to fully customize him and set him apart from the rest of the players. The change is purely aesthetics but it still looks cool.

Warhawk on the other hand is a game that is just not for me. While I love the whole flight combat aspect of it (and its very fun) the on-foot segments of the game are very boring to me. Why? Because when you start on-foot you have to run for a couple of minutes to find someone to shoot at. And when you find someone to shoot at and kill him, now you have to run another couple of minutes to find another one. This game takes a lot from games like Battlefield and I don't like those games a lot for the same reason. When I get in a game I don't want to waste time, I want to have fun as soon as possible. These type of games don't let me do that. And even more frustrating are the amount of game crashes that occur throughout every single play session I have. I know its beta and, hell, the game might be even better when its released but I don't think its my kinda game. I might keep playing it just because its free for now. The graphics are very impressive considering the amount of things going on screen and the amount of detail. The art style isn't the best in the world but it looks good.

A couple of weeks ago, during Sony's Gamers Day, Naughty Dog finally unveiled Uncharted: Drake's Fortune with a real gameplay demo. The game, officially, is my most anticipated game for the PS3 this year. The game looks phenomenal graphically and the gameplay looks fun. The best way to describe the game is "a blend between Indiana Jones, Die Hard and a Pixar movie." What excites me most about this game is that its a type of game I've always wanted to do. Plus, this game has, bar none, the best animation I have ever seen for a game. It really, almost, is of Pixar quality. Everything in the game looks and feels so well designed and everything in the game is a priority, which is how devs should make games. Naughty Dog has really been a source of inspiration for me and how I see my company functioning in the future. I really can't wait to get my hands on this.

Insomniac Games also showed off a playable demo of Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction and it also looks phenomenal. Insomniac Games is another huge source of inspiration because they work similarly to how Naughty Dog works and all of their games are excellent. This one looks no different. Looks like Ratchet, feels like Ratchet...but everything in HD and with the latest tech. I can't wait to see the goofy things that Insomniac will put in this game.

...and the new game that everyone has been waiting for over 9 years is: StarCraft II. Its been a long time since the first one came out and like the Terran soldier says at the end of the cinematic trailer: "Hell, its about time." While I haven't been a fan of StarCraft (mainly because I haven't played it) there's no ignoring the fact that SC is huge in a lot of places and if considered, to this day, one of the best RTS every made. My only disappointment with this game is that they're not changing anything gameplay-wise. Blizzard is not out to reinvent or revolutionize the RTS genre and is merely making this for the hardcore fans. But it doesn't matter, the game is going to be awesome (hey, its Blizzard) and the improvements over the first one are quite a few. While I haven't played the first one (and can't play it because it doesn't work on Vista) I really want to get my hands on this one. Should be fun.

HydraNode UPDATE: A lot of things happening with HydraNode right now. One of them being that we have a new programmer to work on the game. He's a graduate from Virginia Tech and he has mad skillz. We have an engine in place that all that needs is a few modifications to fit the design of the game. The main character has been finalized and its being modeled as we speak. The design doc arrived at a phase where I can't edit it much because I have to playtest what is written to see if it really works or if I have to change it. Everything is going smoothly and I'm very happy everything is coming along. More on the game soon!

-Arnaldo

Spidey, you made my day.

2007-05-04T15:38:00.000-04:00

Last night I watched the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 with a couple of my friends and even more showing up unexpectedly, which made it a pleasant surprise. We got there almost two hours before the movie started and it was packed! Luckily we weren't far back and got good seats. Everybody was pumped; there were even people dressed as the movie's characters.

I'm not going to go much into the story of the movie (you should go see it for yourself!) but let me say that the story wasn't as good as the first two movies. The problem with it is that they tried to cram in too many plots and thus the pacing of the movie was thrown out of the window. But the movie was entertaining which is the point. The funny parts had me laughing so hard my stomach started hurting. So apart from the rushed storylines....it was good.

The thing that had me more pumped was, of course, the action sequences. WOW! Sony Imageworks out did themselves in this one...and they had a lot of work to do. Sandman, Spidey, New Goblin....VENOM! Venom was far the best thing in the whole movie because it was basically fan service. Yes they could have done better to flesh the character out and they never did the whole dual personality ("We are Venom!") but it was good. The last fight sequence was AWESOME. Best comic book action sequence EVER!

So overall the movie was great but not as good as the first two. Raimi confirmed that there was going to be a fourth one but, in my opinion, they should let Spider-Man rest for a couple of years before going back. Batman Begins still holds the crown of best comic book movie...until The Dark Knight arrives next year.

HydraNode UPDATE: Everything is coming along very slowly because we're still in the phase of what the game really is, how it will look, and how it will play. I'm knee-deep into the design doc and its incredible how its taking shape into the game we want to make. Hopefully next week we'll have some progress on the programming side to test out.

-Arnaldo

I got my Pokemans!

2007-04-22T22:24:00.000-04:00

Yes, its that time again...Pokemon time! I skipped the whole Ruby and Sapphire games but I'm back on track with the new Diamond and Pearl for DS! Last one I played was the remake of Red for GBA and it was fun. I remember when Pokemans where all the rage and you were not cool if you didn't know the name Pikachu or...well maybe it didn't make you cool...but it was fun.

The funniest thing is that Pokemon games have not changed in 9 years but it still breaks sales records everytime a new one comes out. Old school RPG to the core with the same old turn based battles...it was addicting back then but now that 9 years have passed I kinda wished they'd mix it up a bit and do something different. Hell, I wanted them to do cool things with the touch screen but instead I got the same old thing with new characters, locales and pokemons.

So I booted up this version and it had the same intro that all the games have...even the your town looks exactly the same as Pallet Town in the original game but once you got your pokemon the fun begins. Even though the battles are repetive I find myself hooked on leveling up my little creature of the wild. I've only played for 2 hours and I've only been training and leveling my catches but its still fun after 9 years. Ofcourse it hasn't changed much design-wise over the last 9 years but Game Freak has incorporated some cool things like the Pokewatch, which sits on the bottom screen and has little apps like the time of day, your pokeman's health, a calculator, pokemoney amount, etc. Its nothing revolutionary but it adds to the game in a way that hasn't been approached before.

The graphics are colorful and sharp and believe it or not..3D. And while the game looks a bit better, the battle scenarios are still 2D and NOT ANIMATED! What the hell game freak? I know there are almost 400 pokemans to animate, but jeez! If you can animate them all for the Wii game, why can't you do it for the DS game...the proper sequel?

A HUGE update to this version is the ability to challenge the world in Pokemon battle through Nintendo's online network. While this isn't the Pokemon MMO every pokemon fan has dreamed of, its a step in the right direction. You can exchange Pokemons, battle, and even voice chat, you can even post listing of trades you'd want to make...awesome stuff.

I'm not even near the first Gym and I'm having a blast from the past with this one. need to get back to playing...

HydraNode UPDATE: Pre-production of our first game is coming along a bit slower than expected thanks to the suckiness of our programmer's laptop power adapter but hopefully next-week I'll post a signficant update on the progress of the game.

Happy Pokeman week!

-Arnaldo

The Beginning of Exciting Times

2007-04-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, exciting times. I'm just getting ready to delve into my very first game! The game is right now in pre-production we have our artists doing concept art and our programmer working on tools to make it easy for us designers that don't have much experience with programming to make the game. We think we have something special here and once you get your hands on it you'll love it.

Its surprising to me that I've been coming up with ideas for big games for so long and my first game, coincidentally, is a small arcade-type game. Oh well, guess you have to start small. One of the main goals for the game is to be addictive like the Rubik's Cube. Its going to be challenging but I'm sure it will be fun and it'll be a new experience.

I'm going to blog about developing the game, problems we encounter, things we do right...and wrong, and how it will all come together. Once I have a separate site up and running for the game we'll show it to everyone and start getting people excited about it. Hell, if everything goes right...we might woo some publishers and actually make this an arcade game for Sony eDI, XBLA or Nintendo VC.

The machines of game-making should start this weekend if everything goes according to plan. Very excited about this; it'll take months to finish it (hell we're still college students that need to do homework and projects) but we think it will be worth the work and the wait.

-Arnaldo

Ah Nintendo...You could've ruled the universe...

2007-03-30T22:09:00.000-04:00

Nintendo back in the day was synonymous with video games; Super Mario Bros single-handedly revitalized an industry on the brink of extinction. Why is it now, that the industry is more mature, that Nintendo is viewed as the worst of platforms and doesn't receive as much respect as Sony or Microsoft?

If there is someone I admire the most in this industry, its the one who shaped it to what it is today: Shigeru Miyamoto. His work as Game Designer has reinvigorated the industry when it was about to fall apart back in the 80s. It was his games that every other company looked at to model their games after. It was thanks to his games that made me love video games and become a designer. But for all of the good things that he and Nintendo have done for the industry there are things that have made them unpopular as well.

Everything began to fall apart with the N64. While the platform was home to home genre-defining titles like Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye, Nintendo was starting to loose third-party developers on the count of the new PlayStation console. Reasons being: CD were cheaper than cartridges to manufacture, and Nintendo first-party dominating and cannibalizing third-party offerings.

GameCube was a colossal failure for them and its where they lost their only chances of fighting back at Sony: Factor 5 and Silicon Knights. They're reasons for leaving are the reason Nintendo is failing: Their visions are not the same. Nintendo thinks that tech is not important when it clearly is to most, if not all, developers. They want to think outside the box and do something new, but when they try something new they fail miserably because they don't have a safety net with things that gamers actually want.

DS is, by far, their most successful hardware because they tried something new but at the same time they're evolving past hardware along with their innovations. If Wii would've had the capabilities of a souped-up Xbox, it would've gotten more developers on it than what they have at the moment. Developers don't develop on Wii because what they have imagined and designed is more more than what a GameCube can handle (which is the tech of the Wii as well). Devs had 6-7 years to play with last-gen hardware and come up with new concepts and max out hardware capabilities. God of War 2 is the most we can out of that genre of games on that type of hardware. If devs wanna innovate with their genre they need more power to have better AI, better physics and better framerates.

Nintendo is one stubborn company and when they have an idea, they stick with it even if it leads to their doom. its Nintendo's fault that they're behind the curve and not getting people to develop for Wii. I can imagine Nintendo trying to persuade devs to make games for Wii and them saying that the games are too big for Wii, but Nintendo insisting on making smaller games. The truth is that gamers expectations get higher and higher and they want more than before, that is why devs focus a lot of the aesthetics.

But then again there is a purity that is lost when having too much power. Gameplay is not as important to most developers as the aesthetics. This is something that Miyamoto was talking about in his GDC 07 keynote and even David Jaffe (God of War) agrees with this. Games are games. What happened to the times where you just played a game for the fun of it and didn't focus on the tech behind it? Sometimes developers lose focus and Wii is a way to force developers to create with limitations in technology so that gameplay shines above it. But then again that doesn't give Nintendo the right to limit the imagination of the designer to think big, epic and state of the art.

If Nintendo would've played it right after the N64 and listened to what devs and gamers wanted and actually delivered, they could've ruled the the gaming universe. While Wii and DS are good attempts to retaining their crown it is not enough.

Lets look at Pixar for a second. Pixar's motto is "Story is King." and when they don't have a good story they don't make it. Why are all of Pixar's movies successful? Because they're good, entertaining, movies. Not because they used the latest RenderMan software but because their stories hold up and captivate the viewers. But what if the visuals were not good enough and you had awful animation and pixelated characters running on screen? The suspension of disbelieve would be shot down and the audience will not focus on the story as much as it would with standard Pixar quality. The same can be said about games. While gameplay is King, a game is the sum of its parts (graphics, gameplay, sound, etc.) and is just one doesn't hold up it will take away from the immersion that the developer intended. Nintendo does not offer that steady range of quality...PS3 and Xbox 360 do for the most part.

That is why developers don't focus on Wii as much as the other platforms. If Nintendo would've listened more, there's no telling the amount of original and worth-while titles that we would've been playing exclusively on Nintendo platforms.

-Arnaldo

Xbox 360 Elite

2007-03-28T01:22:00.000-04:00

UH OH! .....uh oh! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE MICROSOFT!!?? ARRGG!! Thanks for totally screwing me over with the new Elite version and making me think that my Premium version WAS the elite version. So what does this one have that mine doesn't? Well...

1) Black...jet black to be exact. I LOVE black consoles and while the white finish of the 360 grew on me, this one looks SO much better.

2) HDMI -- Ok so this is a feature I will not use for a while because the only HD input I have is component.

3) 120GB HDD -- That's 100GB more than what I have on my "Premium" system! ...and get this: the stand-alone HDD is $179! OUCH!

...so that's it. Nothing drastic, but it still fucks the early adopter who wanted the best and now gets screwed with this bullshit. Thank God that Microsoft said that 360 was future-proof.

So in theory I have two options...ok three: Sell my premium and get an elite, just upgrade my HDD, or just don't bother with it and try and manage with the 20GB HDD. The biggest deal here is the HDD because I've filled those 20GB countless of times and now that the Video Marketplace is picking up speed and betas are starting to appear, space is becoming a very rare commodity. So I can either spend $179 on the HDD, or for a $100 more (and selling my premium system) I can upgrade to the elite.

I fucking hate these type of decisions. Doubt I'm going to do it...but you never know.

...I'm such a sucker for marketing fluff.

-Arnaldo

The End Begins

2007-03-21T13:21:00.000-04:00

...actually it already began like two weeks ago. But yes, GOD OF WAR II is finally here and let me just say right now: its fucking amazing! Cory Barlog (Director) and his team at Sony Santa Monica did an outstanding job on making the sequel to IGN's Best PS2 Game EVER...and one of my favorites of all time.

This is going to be brief as I have to work on finals. GOW2 is very similar to the first one. If you've played GOW1 its going to be a breeze to jump in and just crush everything in your sight. GOW2 feels like a HUGE refinement from the first one and doesn't really bring anything new to the table, as is expected with most sequels. The sequel is always made to perfect the gameplay and its features and to put in things that were cut out of the first one. The story so far is cool, but not that mind-numbing. The scale of the game is so BIG! More characters, bigger set-pieces, more enemies...again its GOW1 x2. To me its one of those games that you play for hours and hours and never feel the time go by. its that good. But one of the most impressive things about the game is the graphics. We're knee-deep in next-generation platforms and games and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this game easily competes graphically with most of the next-gen offerings. Sony Santa Monica has used the PS2's capabilities like non-other and has given the console a glorious exit game.

Cory and David Jaffe (Creator of God of War) have stated that they're planning on making a sequel for PS3 and I can't begin to fathom how awesome the game would look and play on the PS3. GOW3 isn't the only game coming, Cory also revealed recently that a God of War PSP game was in the works by Daxter developer Ready At Dawn with Cory himself overseeing the project. Looks like I have to get myself a PSP now...

I'm almost 11 hours in GoW2 and I feel the end approaching. I can't wait to play it some more but right now I have to get to finishing my finals!

-Arnaldo

GDC has come and gone...

2007-03-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

What a week for gaming! GDC is not as big as E3 for announcements, but the cool thing is that its developer-centric. So most of the announcements affect developers, more than gamers, in one way or another. There were a couple of cool stuff shown that really get me excited, as both a gamer and a designer, for next-gen games. Now that I think about it...there is nothing that was announced at GDC that really disappointed me. I don't thing that's ever happened before.

LittleBigPlanet was one of the biggest announcements to come out of GDC. Its a little game that lets you make games. Its pretty difficult to explain...but basically you can put things in your level and everything governed by physics so you can create some unique gameplay. The other cool thing is that up to three other players can help you build the level at the same time...awesome stuff.

Home is the other big announcement coming from the Sony camp as a counter-attack to Nintendo's Mii's and Xbox LIVE. Imagine a virtual world where you can meet with friends in private or public spaces, set multiplayer games...and who knows what else. Basically its a 3D Xbox LIVE. I think its really cool (the concept), but I don't know if its going to actually get me to spend a lot of time in it. Lets face it, I've never been a fan of the Sims or Second Life, so I can't see myself using this a lot. But I do see some of my friends and people I know using this so much...they'll spend $600 for this. Its going to be annoying of load the app just to check my trophies or set-up multiplayer matches with my friends. I think they should've had a 2D version (kinda like Xbox LIVE is right now) and the 3D version they announced. We'll see how it shapes up. I'm signing up for the beta as soon as its available.

CryEngine2...WOW! This is, officially, the most impressive game engine I have seen EVER! I though it couldn't get better than Unreal 3 (for at least a while) but Crytek has seriously left Unreal 3 in the dirt. Do yourself a favor: Go to gamevideos.com and download the "Special Effects" trailer from GDC. The game showcased was, of course, Crysis and it looks unbelievable. Physics, lighting, textures, draw distances, animations, motion blur, all the shaders known to mankind...amazing. The editor looks...interesting. The cool thing is that you don't need to render everything before playing and that you can actually test everything in the viewport. I haven't seen much more besides that but I will do some research on it.

But the biggest surprise for me at GDC was from the Peter Molyneux session on Fable 2. In this session he unveiled one of the biggest secret features of Fable 2 and its...a dog. "What the fuck is he smoking?" I told myself when reading the headline. All I could get out of the previews was the fact that love was going to be a very integral part of Fable 2 and that he wanted to create emotional responses to the story. So I downloaded the session from GameSpot and after watching it....fucking brilliant! Its one of those features that people won't get until they get their hands on it. Fable 2 will not have a mini map, your dog will be your guide throughout the world and warn you of dangers and be there for you...always. The dog will love you unconditionally, no matter how you treat him. He will evolve with you and kinda act like you. You can play with him, buy him stuff, and maybe train him to do cool stuff. The other cool thing is that the AI is designed to not bother the player. You don't have to feed him...he will feed himself. I think its really interesting design choice but its not fully realized so I need to wait and see how it turns out. ...really interesting though.

Other little announcements are Peter Jackson's Halo Project being episodic (might be a good thing...it might not), CliffyB officially saying that Gears of War 2 is in the works, and one of Spore's devs saying that "Wii is a piece of shit!" (I'm going to write a full post dedicated to that comment). A lot of interesting panels that I would've attended if I was there...that's it...I'm going next year for sure! So I already marked my calendar for next year's GDC (Feb 05) and I'm ready to register as soon as it opens.

-Arnaldo

Vista...sucking?

2007-03-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

Its been a week since I upgraded my PC to Windows Vista and I have to say that I'm used to it...not that there's anything to get used to because, as I said before, its the same Windows. I find myself using Vista as I would use XP and not really taking advantage of any Vista-specific features.

I mean the sidebar is nice and all (though I like the Dashboard in Mac OS X better), but some of the widgets are pretty useless. The clock? Why have it? Its in the taskbar and so is the date. Sticky notes? They are too small to right anything specific (after 8 words it leaves the rest out of sight), and the weather gadget are plain useless and inaccurate. I don't use RSS (though I should since I check sites very often to see whats new) and I don't need a search bar cause I have it built-in on Firefox.

Windows Calendar? Windows Mail? Nope, I use Outlook 2007 (which is XP compatible) for both. I don't use Media Center nor The Photo Gallery, it just doesn't feel as unified as Mac OS X's. So Vista exclusive apps are pretty useless to me because I don't use them and more importantly: I don't need 'em.

What about performance? Vista is a resource hog. I run a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 7200RPM HDD, and a 256MB GeForce 7800 GTX. By regular standards my computer is top-of-the-line and Vista sometimes feels sluggish. I know, i know, its the fact that they switched from 2D UI to 3D but still... Unreal Editor runs smoothly (though its bound to run into problems under workload), Photoshop runs a bit choppy (and it affects my brush strokes), and 3D Studio Max since flawlessly. All of these programs are running in backwards compatability mode and I'm sure that when they run natively on Vista the performance will skyrocket. But right now it just isn't there yet.

A major problem I'm having with Vista is Neverwinter Nights not working at all. I'm using it to learn how to script using C and be able to play the game, since I've never played it before. I hope Bioware releases a patch or something for it and fixes this a soon as possible.

I've been contemplating for a while on getting a laptop, since I'm going to be traveling more often than I used to, and I've been wondering if its finally time to switch to Mac OS X. Its VERY tempting that a MacBook Pro can run Vista (and all other OSes) but I'm going to wait to see how Leopard turns out to make my final decision.

-Arnaldo

GDC!

2007-03-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

GDC is starting next week and it promises to be VERY interesting for developers and gamers. I'm anxious to hear devs talking about their work flow and techniques on creating kick ass games (when its available for download or something).

The keynote I REALLY want to listen to is the one from Shigeru Miyamoto. He's such an inspiration to me and a lot of devs and it feels like this is going to be a very rare pleasure. (Damn why didn't I go this year!?)

Lets see what happens. I'm going to go next year for sure!

-Arnaldo

OneNote

2007-02-28T14:37:00.000-05:00

This program came out of nowhere and almost instantly became my number one app for design and note taking. Yesterday I installed Office 2007 because of my need to use MS Word and continue working on my ideas and then I saw something different: OneNote. What the hell is OneNote? Basically its a glorified MS Word, mostly used for taking notes and organizing things. Ryan recommended that I use the app for designs so I tried it out. BEST.OFFICE.APP.EVER.

Everything is so organized, so easy to use, so compliant. Working with OneNote is so much easier than working with all the pages in MS Word that I write. You can create tabs for different topics and then have different pages for subtopics and have it all in a virtual notebook. Its kinda like a Wiki site on your computer with better, and easier, tools than MS Word.

I was going to write my full GDD on Word but now I'm kinda changing my mind. Afterall you can export anything you do to Word anyways (though to be honest I couldn't get it working when I tested it out). I'm going to play with it some more and see if its really worth jumping in from Word, but from what I've used it so far it really is.

-Arnaldo

I'm officially Vistafied!

2007-02-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

For the longest time my computer has been sluggish running games and 3D apps so I decided to reformat. Since I was going to reformat I decided to jump ship from XP and go Vista.

I've been using it for 3 days now and its pretty nice. I love the feel of the UI and its a pretty seamless transition from XP to Vista. The funny thing is that I wasn't lost with it. If I needed to go and change something I could find it quickly, installs are the same, everything works the same way, everything....is.....the same.

While Microsoft spent more than 4 years making Vista, it feels like they just threw in a fresh coat of paint and rearranged a couple of things. Like I told a friend of mine, who work at an Apple Store but is really impressed with Vista, Vista feels like Microsoft was playing catch-up to Mac OS X. Meaning that nothing that Vista has cannot be done in XP with first-party and third-party software.

The funny thing is that Microsoft spent so much work on catching up and Apple is going to release Mac OS X Leopard soon and trump Vista. So I don't know yet...

I'm going to spend A LOT more time with Vista and see if it grows on me. Right now Vista is cool, but its nothing special.

-Arnaldo

flOw

2007-02-23T00:31:00.000-05:00

Today I was surprised to find out that flOw was released for the PS3's eDI. I downloaded a copy to try it and I was quickly sucked into the oh so relaxing world of flOw.

flOw is a game (or is it?) about wandering the "depths", eating little orbs and evolving the creature that you're controlling. There isn't much to the game but, as simple as it may sound, its incredibly addictive. I started playing with my roommate with two creatures. The game is played entirely with the SIXAXIS (apart from the ocassional 'X' boost). We were both kinda skeptical about liking it but before we knew it we were sucked into it. We decended, ascended, ate orbs, evolved, cannibalized off each other and while at it spent more than an hour playing it. The only reason I stopped playing was because I forced myself since I needed to work on some things.

I'm sure the fun won't last with this one because, really, there isn't a lot to do in it. Tomorrow I'll give it another spin to see if it'll have a long-lasting effect like Geometry Wars but I doubt it because Geometry Wars fucking rules.

-Arnaldo

The Future of Console Gaming

2007-02-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

Console Wars, its the most stupid thing on the face of the planet...so is the fanboy-ism that it creates. I, first and foremost, am a gamer and I love to play fun games. I cannot understand people who can only have want one console just because its so and so's console (apart from people who don't have money to buy all of 'em). There are awesome games on all platforms, which is why I try to get all of them to enjoy them.

So here's the problem with this (apart from creating jackasses trolling on forums): How can we, as an industry, grow if games are divided by platforms? How can gamers know of the variety and pure "awesomeness" of games being released if they only have one console to play it on? Yes, I know that multi platform games are one possible solution for this but I am of the belief that if a developers concentrate on making a game for a single platform their game will be better than if developing for multiple platforms. This way developers don't have to worry if "this feature" will work on X console or if they can have certain effects or not. Anyways, there is a solution to this problem that will benefit most of the industry: One "format".

A few weeks ago David Jaffe (Creative Director of Sony Santa Monica) told 1up that he sees one console platform in the next 10 years. This sparked a lot of controversy among gamers and industry analysts. Today Next Generation posted a feature on how the industry could do a universal console and concluded that it would be very hard to decide a standard without forming a video game standards commission, where developers can get together and decide what needs to be done. While Next Generation has a point I don't think that it would be that hard to create a universal console. Everyone just needs to cooperate to make this happen.

Here's how I see it. Imagine video games as a movie format; if you buy a DVD movie from any store, by any major studio, and it can play on ANYTHING that can play DVDs. What we have to do, as Next Generation clearly indicated, is decide how to standardize the hardware and its requirements to play games (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.). Once that is decided the current console manufacturers can make their on versions of the "Video Game Player" with the minimum requirements (that it plays games, has online and a buddy list). So how are manufacturers going to make money off the same thing? Software and Features. Take, for example, Microsoft and their LIVE service. Microsoft can make a "Video Game Player" model that includes everything that you need to enjoy games and play online, but it also has a User Interface that is easy to use and Media features that can connect your player to a Windows Vista machine and do all sorts of stuff. Not only that, but they can also have LIVE subscriptions (for an added cost) and build upon the required features to make it an even more attractive and desired player. Then Nintendo can make a bare bones player that only plays games and is the cheapest of all. Sony can then also make their version to satisfy their customers likes and dislikes and add it to the Sony brand of products like their DVD players. One game disc, multiple consoles to play it on.

Do you like Sony's controller better over Microsoft's, but you have the Microsoft player? No worries! Controllers can be connected to any console just like a universal remote. The benefits to this are endless. You give the customer more choices but they can still enjoy all games released no matter what player they buy. There will be better experiences with games because of this as well. Developers need only to concentrate on the required specs to develop their games. The rest of the time they're dreaming up and perfecting new and fascinating concepts. This also deflates the rising costs of developing multi platform games plus the developers and publishers have 3 times the amount of gamers buying the game because of the universal player.

This may seem like a crazy dream but it can happen. The Games Industry can benefit so much from doing this. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo must realize that this is a necessary evolution if we want to expand even more. Its good for business, developers, publishers, and especially gamers.

-Arnaldo

Edit: My good friend Ryan McCabe had an interesting quote to add: "Play games, not consoles."

To Blu-Ray or not to Blu-Ray

2007-02-18T08:50:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I bought a PS3 mainly to play games on because I use my Xbox 360 as my main DVD player. But a few days ago I started to wonder if I should start buying Blu-Ray movies instead since they're of higher quality and my TV can do 720p. Yeah yeah, I know that "True HD" is 1080p but everything still looks pretty fucking good in 720p. Hell, I downloaded HD trailers from the PSN Store and compared it to a DVD I had on (King Kong) and the difference in quality was clear.

But then here's the thing that bothers me: The fucking format wars. HD-DVD VS Blu-Ray and they both have their own exclusive titles and we don't know which one's going to win. I heard Blu-Ray was getting was outselling HD-DVD by a ton which is telling that I should stick to it. But then again I went yesterday to buy The Departed on Blu-Ray and it was $35.00; that's $15.00 more than the regular DVD edition. So they're more expensive but of higher qulity...just like the PS3 and I didn't have a problem buying it. I'm sure down the road the prices will drop and we'll be seeing more support as HD-DVD fazes out.

I'm guessing I'll start buying major releases when I get a decent sound system to get the most out of the functionality. And then I'd have to re-buy my whole movie collection...that's gonna suck.

-Arnaldo

New Blog

2007-02-17T21:35:00.000-05:00

Starting a new blog...again. I don't know why I do this so much but it feels good to have a fresh start. In this blog I will talk about anything I want, but it will mostly be about video games, design and comments/rants about the industry or whatever I feel like talking about.

Busy with some stuff right now but I will make my first official post soon.

-Arnaldo