Tag Archives: Games

Myst Online: Uru Lives

Posted by BlackWidower on

Regular readers, of which there are probably one, will remember about a year ago, when I wrote about Myst Online: Uru Live. An MMO centred around the Myst Universe, which failed and was released as a single player game called Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, before being resurrected as an online game by GameTap for about a year before dying again. The online version was a game I never got around to playing, but I wrote about how, as someone who only played the single player version, it didn’t surprise me it never took off and how it was a flawed idea from the beginning.

That post received a record amount of feedback, nearly 30 comments, which is incredible, considering I rarely get any comments that aren’t spam. Of course the feedback was from those who were fans of Myst, including some who were major players in the Myst fan community. So of course they told me why I was wrong, some a little more crusader-like than others. One of them posted a link on the official Myst Online forums, and you know I just realized, he said I called Myst Online a “flop”, in quotes, which I didn’t, you can check, and one of the commenters said I used the word “facts”, in quotes, which I didn’t, you can check, although the leader of the crusade did. I believe that is called a straw man fallacy. He even called my blog “contemporary game review journalism” which is kind of embarrassing, primarily because it’s not…it’s a blog, it’s one asshole’s small-time blog.

Anyway, when people made me aware of the concept of instancing in Myst Online, politely, I retracted a lot of what I said while explaining that it doesn’t make sense in-universe…or in-cavern as they call it.

Of course, just to boast my own ego, I’d like to mention that most of the feedback I got was actually positive. Saying they agreed with most of my points but I missed the point of instancing.

So since then, Cyan got their shit together and brought Myst Online back, under their own servers and free. I would have liked it if they said free to those who already bought the original Uru, but whatever, it would have been difficult to coordinate and this is more open anyways, so it’s all good.

The first few days were apparently insane, with thousands signing up for the game. THOUSANDS! I know we are all excited it’s back, but seriously, I didn’t even know there were a thousand Myst fans who still gave a shit about the franchise, much less paying close enough attention to sign up on opening day. Continue reading →

In Defense of PCs

Posted by BlackWidower on

Don’t worry, this is not another post bashing Apple. Those are just too easy. No, this has to do with games.

There has been this recent view that PC gaming has gone the way of the Dodo bird, and I am not sure why.

I’ve heard this directly from two sources, actually three. Two are colleagues from a newspaper I used to work for, all of which shall remain nameless.

When I called them out on it they gave a good argument: Piracy. On the PC it is rampant, and difficult to control. However consoles are virtually pirate-proof, because any sign of piracy, Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo can brick your console remotely.

It’s a good argument…for the developers. But it’s not such a good argument for the consumers, in fact it’s the opposite of an argument. Especially if you become the victim of a false positive. Where they think you pirated, but you really didn’t, you tell them that, and they don’t believe you. So if you’re spending $300 on something, it’s probably not a good idea to get a product the manufacturers can disable at a moments notice. What else would we allow this on? Oh, Apple products, right. Continue reading →

Portal 2: Portal Harder

Posted by BlackWidower on

Hype is one of those things you can’t get away from. There is always that movie, or TV show that one cannot wait to see begin or continue for whatever reason.

When it comes to hype, I like to refer to the infallible logic of Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw.

It makes the logical sense to be pessimistic

Any questions? Now it may be presumptuous to take the word of an Anglo-Australian prick just because he has a yellow background and a sweet hat, but I honestly can’t see how he’s wrong. But in spite of this, I can’t help but be caught up in the hype virus. Continue reading →

Men and the Mindless Series of Ones and Zeros That They Love

Posted by BlackWidower on

You know, today I wanted to write a follow up to the iPhone post I made recently, commenting on the remarks Steve Jobs made at a recent press conference. BUT THE FATES WOULD NOT ALLOW IT!

I found something much more interesting. Apparently, some Japanese women, half to be precise, think they can’t compete with virtual girlfriends. Virtual girlfriends would be the dating simulation games that appear to be quite popular in Japan. They simulate a girl who flirts with you, goes out on dates with you in the in-game world, and even let you put it in, which as gameplay features go is pretty awesome. However when I say “put it in” I mean have your own in-game avatar put it in…and by “put it in” I mean “sex”. Just so there’s no confusion. Continue reading →

Im A Riter

Posted by BlackWidower on

It’s funny, I have always had ideas for stories but only recently have my ideas been not based on something else. I had many ideas about stupid fan-fictions for my favourite books and TV shows (and in one case a movie) all based on my desire to reach into the page and bitch-slap the characters so they stop acting like idiots. I guess they weren’t bad ideas per say, but they were self-indulgent ideas that held little interest to anyone other than myself. Thank god I didn’t waste my time writing them. Well I did write a Stargate/Harry Potter crossover but I never published it because the computer I wrote it on was stolen.

Anyway, now, for pretty much the first time, I have ideas that are original…sort of. I mentioned before the sitcom idea based around teen pregnancy. Most TV shows devote “a very special episode” to the topic of teen pregnancy, I want to revolve a whole show around it, that’s awesome. But I have more ideas, like a serial drama about six people working for a newspaper all trying to solve the murder of a colleague and in the process discover a string of massively epic corruption in city hall. So epic the only appropriate word to describe it would be conspiracy. Continue reading →

Left 2 Spend Eternity In Development Hell

Posted by BlackWidower on

So in a little more than a week Left 4 Dead 2 is being released. Left 4 Dead 2 is a sequel to Left 4 Dead, a game developed by Valve that was released a year ago next week. So assuming Valve immediately saw how successful the first Left 4 Dead was and started development of Left 4 Dead almost immediately, Left 4 Dead 2 took one year to design, develop, test and tweak before it’s final release. So keeping that in mind lets look at Valves other major franchise, oh who am I kidding, their only major franchise, Half-Life.

A while ago…I can’t remember when exactly, probably about a year ago, I bought The Orange Box and for the first time got a chance to play through Half-Life 2 and it’s two episodic follow ups, as well as Portal and all three games are fun and worth the $50 I spent. Oh and Team Fortress 2 is in that set but who gives a shit especially when the sniper gets you before you can take two steps? Continue reading →

The Future of D’ni

Posted by BlackWidower on

So my Myst Online piece got a record amount of feedback, mostly positive, thanks to a fanboy who hated it and decided to post it on the Myst Online forums. So thank you DerCerbr…wait, is that right…Cerberus?

Anyway, because of this I learned if I insult something sufficiently enough it will get more hits then normal, so I will begin by saying World of Warcraft is a complete load of crap and deserves to die! Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about the Myst franchise. Continue reading →

So I am Wrong

Posted by BlackWidower on

Ah, succinct and to the point.

With my recent post saying the basic theory of Myst Online was a bad idea, I got a lot of traffic and a lot of corresponding feedback, and all I have to say is they are right.

Apparently in Myst Online, for many ages when you visit them you are the only one there. You visit your own instance of that age. So in that case, Myst Online: Uru Live is a good idea. Now here is where people will get to hate me. Continue reading →