Street Fighter IV: Championship Mode

While there wasn’t too much in terms of character balance changes (that feature will almost undoubtedly be reserved for the next incarnation of the game), the new Championship Mode introduced in the latest Street Fighter IV patch is phenomenal.  The mode is divided up into multiple grades and it mimics the conditions of actual SFIV tournaments – blind character select, multiple rounds, and a payout at the end for winning the tournament.  The entry-level tournament tier you’re placed into is Grade 3 (G3) with the opponent challenge is more or less analogous to normal ranked matches – meaning Sagats and Flowchart Kens aplenty.  With each successful win, you’re awarded Championship Points (CP) which contribute to your overall Grade Points (GP).   When you accumulate enough GP, you eventually progress through the classes of each Grade till a certain threshold when you are then promoted to the next Grade – and that’s where the fun really begins.  When eventually reach G2 (and reaching G2 is an inevitability – there is no point degradation in G3), the first thing you notice is the sad fact truth you are no longer winning anymore; in fact, you’d be lucky to be winning half as much as you were in the previous Grade.  Competition is tremendously disparate and the players are noticeably better: I considered myself competant and played maybe ten games before I was able to squeak out a victory.  Currently I’m at about 2750 GP, most of which was fueled by second and third round butt kickings, but I’m still having a ton of fun running with the tournament folks and their 8000+ GPs.  And even though I still lose a lot, I do feel that I’m adapting to the heightened level of competition.

WoW Patch 3.1 and Ulduar Raiding

The other majority of my gaming time has been spent playing World of Warcraft (of course) and raiding Ulduar with my guild on Gorefiend.  So far, we’re doing pretty well and we’re currently working on the final boss in the instance before we start working on the hard modes and Algalon the Observer (coined by Blizzard as the Destroyer of Raids).  Most importantly however is the fact that I’ve been working hard on the video footage for our first successful kills for the guild, going so far as to even make a YouTube Channel comprising of most of the video work I’ve done.  I intend on editing the hard-mode footage when we get there so there’s certainly still a lot work that needs to be done and there’s plenty of room for improvement.  Stuff to look forward to!

Blizzcon 2009

This year I was again fortunate enough to be able to attain tickets to this year’s Blizzcon convention in Anaheim, California.  As with last year, we booked the hotel and flight months in advance, even before we even knew of when tickets were going on sale.  Thankfully with some dilligence and a new and improved ticket purchasing system, we were able to get tickets to the show floor.  It’s still astounding that even though the convention tickets are 25% more expensive this year (due to the extra convention hall for exhibits), the first batch of tickets still managed to sell out in a mere thirty-three minutes.  Then again, maybe it’s not so surprising with tickets on eBay already going at 300% markup.  Still, I look forward to spending time with my fellow Blizzard fans, regardless of how rabid (and possibly unkempt) they are.

And that’s it for now.  E3 Predictions forthcoming!

Seamless online

Representative Games: Burnout Paradise

What is it?

Smooth transitioning from offline to online multiplayer gaming without the use of lobbies or other virtual spaces.

Why is it important?

Online multiplayer gaming has long conformed to the idea of sitting in a public or private lobby with prospective players and then launching a new instance of that game from within that space.  While this is a very straight forward solution to being able to play with people, a lot of players want instant gratification rather than spending an unspecified amount of time waiting for players to join.  Burnout Paradise’s solution to this problem was to create an online-enabled semipersistent world.  That is, once an instance of the game is started a player can enable and disable it for online play with other players with a simple press of a button.  End result?  The player can continue to play the game while waiting for others and is never removed from the gaming experience in the same way a gaming lobby does.

Digital Distribution

Representative Games:  Warhawk, Geometry Wars, Bionic Commando Rearmed

What is it?

Selling a digital copy of a game instead of a physical copy.

Why is it important?

Digital distribution offers several advantages for both the producer and the consumer.  The producer can reduce production costs since they don’t have to make a physical copy of the game.  Nor do they have to worry about stores making secondary profits from selling their used games.  Digital distribution also acts as another channel for the indie development community to get their game: Because there is less risk involved than with a creating a physical game, more games can see the light of day.

As for the consumer?  They get to see different, outside-the-box gaming experiences like Braid and Everyday Shooter at a reduced cost as well as a savings on gas money by not having to visit a brick and mortar store.

Microtransactions

Representative Games: Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Maple Story

What is it?

Selling additional game content at bite-sized cost

Why is it important?

Music used to be a very expensive hobby. The iTunes model of selling music at 99 cents made that an afterthought: Instead of thinking to yourself “Oh jee, 17 dollars for a CD, I can’t afford that!” you think “Oh jee, only a dollar for a song? That’s like nothing!“

Gaming is similar in that regard so it isn’t surprising that the iTunes model was applied similarly with the rise of downloadable content (DLC).  This provides two distinct advantages.  The original game is kept up to date with new content, keeping buzz for the game high (and by extension keeping the game in circulation).  In addition, another revenue stream is also created by charging for that bonus content.  The fact of the matter is that the consumer is much more willing to be nickeled and dimed for smaller pieces of combat than paying sixty dollars for a full sized expansion.  This idea of microtransactions became a compelling enough idea that some companies have based their games entirely around the business model.  Maple Story by Nexon is one such game that makes all of its revenue selling items and completely forgoing the need for monthly subscription.

User-generated Content

Representative Games: Halo 3 (Forge), LittleBigPlanet

What is it?

Media generated by the end-user.  In the case of games, user created assets, maps, and levels.

Why is it important?

User generated content represents a remarkable transition in the gaming industry.  By empowering the user with the ability to contribute to a console game similar to how PC game modders were able to many years before, the floodgates are opened for the millions of untapped ideas floating in the heads of gamers.  Sure, some of those ideas might wind up being complete crap.  But every now and then a true gem might emerge from that crap.  The fact that each and every one of us has the ability to create that gem broadens the definition of ‘video game’ and moves it one step closer to being truly mainstream.