Master Lee's blog listings.

Lara Croft is back in the Guardian of Light, and she makes me weep with joy

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:12:34 -0500

It's hard to believe, but Lara Croft has been in our lives now for about 15 years. And I’ve been keeping a close eye on her maturation, because I feel like I have a vested interest. Tomb Raider was one of the first games I ever worked on when I broke into the industry. Her latest outing shakes things up quite a bit. Rather than go bigger, Lara has taken a turn to the DLC market, at $15 a pop. And while on the surface it may seem like she's now slipping into obscurity, in reality, this DLC is the best Tomb Raider game, well, since the very first one.[nextpage]

When I first broke into the industry, one of the first games I ever launched was Tomb Raider. I got to see Lara long before the public, and even then I was already high on the possibilities. I would sneak a copy of the game around to press people, without my boss even knowing, because I was convinced I could drum up more support for the game, which at the time did not show signs of the phenomenal heights it could climb.

And then when I left Eidos, they released the sequel. And then another. And right when the gaming series began exploding, someone slacked off in tending to the games, and along the way, Tomb Raider became a joke in the industry. Man, my heart sank. While attempts to revitalize Lara, thanks to Crystal Dynamics, were impressive, the magic wasn't there anymore.

That is, until Tomb Raider Guardian of Light came along. The trick all along wasn't to throw Lara into bigger and grander adventures. It was to simply make a damn fun game to play.

The game has been shrunk down to be DLC only. And along the way, the game has been locked into an isometric viewpoint. What makes this work is that it still retains the exploration, puzzle solving, platforming, and shooting that Tomb Raider is know for. And what makes the game so much fun is that you aren't spending time fighting the camera, or the wonky platforming, or other issues that seemed to plague the past 3D games. In fact, I found myself really addicted to the gameplay, going back to try the same levels just to collect all the goodies and such. And the more points you earn, the more you can upgrade your gear, and the cycle of exploring/upgrading turning into a cycle of Nirvana.

Best of all, the game's co-op mode really shines. It reminds me of the recent game Trine, and even the kids game Up! oddly enough. BUT.. there is a huge disclaimer here. The co-op ONLINE mode does not come with the game on day one. You have to wait til Sept 28th, when the PC and PSN versions are released. Why Eidos/Square/Crystal Dyanamics decided to do this, especially since this is one of the biggest selling points, is beyond me. It’s like how they always made decisions about Lara in the past . . . never giving the games enough time to fully bake before shipping it out.

But that’s a small price to pay. This game is beautiful. It’s fun. And it’s remarkable how it still feels like a Tomb Raider game. To think that a Tomb Raider game is back to its glory self - without the sexy upclose shots of Lara's arse, without the fancy cinematic 3D world, and without the elaborate storylines. Shoot, even without the title of Tomb Raider. All along it was the gameplay that turned us on to Lara Croft. I can finally say that I’m proud to have worked on the game series long ago. Again.

Sorry Angie. Love you and all, but darn if you didn't quite help the Tomb Raider brand.

[Edited By Moderator]

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Dead Space 2 control scheme for PS3 revealed

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:08:10 -0500

A couple of us got some good hands-on time with the Dead Space 2 at EA's press event. The game is a beauty. And by beauty I mean visceral, scary, and eat-you-alive intense. Like my last girlfriend. And best of all, the controls work really well, and the play is very fluid. We were able to sneak a pic of the control scheme for the game so you can see how it all works. There is one particular button of interest: STASIS.[nextpage]

Stasis is mapped to the triangle button so this feature plays a big part of the game. Activating Statis lets you slow down time, which is helpful in battles, and is also used in some clever puzzle solving when you interact with objects. In fact, there seems to be more environmental puzzle solving now.

Click the image to see a larger version.

Other interesting control changes include a tweak to Isaac's stomp attack. You can now stomp over and over, which allows you to fend off attacks and conserve ammo. And you know how hard it is to come by good ammo in space.

[Edited By Moderator]

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EA press event embargo dates - Stuff we can't talk about

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:24:26 -0500

Lots of really great games being showcased here at EA's big press event. Some new announcements, and lots of hands on. The rest of the team will be giving some deeper insight into the games. Me? I'll post up what we CAN'T cover.[nextpage]

So first off, there are some embargos, which I'll list here. I think technically it's OK to list embargos because I'm not talking about the games per se. Right? It'll at least let you know when to come back to the site and check up on when we will have new info about a game.

I always have a love/hate with embargos. Sometimes having them helps because it gives you more time to flesh out your story, and it gives all media outlets a fair chance at putting a story together. Other times, it's really a hinderance for obvious reasons. Either way, embargos exist, and we have to play by the rules.

Embargos

Reckoning was announced, the new game from Curt Schilling's studio, but no video was allowed.

New Medal of Honor trailers were shown, but no video was allowed.

Dead Space 2 and Dead Space Ignition: July 21, 2010.

NBA JAM: July 22, 2010

FIFA 11: July 23, 2010

FIFA 11 on Wii: July 26, 2010

Madden NFL 11: Impressions embargoed til Aug 2nd, and reviews til Aug 9th.

The Sims Medieval: Aug 3rd, 2010

NFL 11: Aug 4, 2010

Pop App (Mobile): Oct 1, 2010

[Edited By Moderator]

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Mark Rein vs Cliffski - Why neither side is right

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:57:36 -0500

The recent controversy regarding Mark Rein's "outburst" at a game developer conference sure turned into one big internet flame war. And despite all the raging fires, it seems like very little discussion is happen around the issue Mark was trying to raise. I'm not going to pick sides on who I think was the bigger prick (though I will admit that Mark can be a very outspoken dude, and that can really cut people the wrong way, but he has already apologized which I think is a worthy gesture.) I'd rather point out that neither side is entirely correct in their strategy on how to market an indie game. Here's my take on it.[nextpage]

This whole debacle surfaced because Cliffski decided to blog about Mark's outburst, pretty much summarizing it as "Mark is a jerk." The reason why Mark Rein, Vice President at Epic, got all excited and had to cut into a panel conversation is because he was trying to point out that if an indie developer shares any information on the game he's working on with a small group of people, ie, in the forums, or even 1-on-1, that this information then becomes public and not "scoop" worthy for the bigger gaming new sites. As a result, an indie dev could be shooting himself in the foot and lose bigger coverage by only telling a few people.

Mark has a very good point here. It's something every marketing arm of big publishers know, and it's why they spend so much time planning EXACTLY what information gets released at each stage of game development. It's a very detailed process, and it needs to be. Once info about a new feature for a game is released, good luck getting it featured in some prominent way in a magazine, or on a website. From my own experience, having worked in the game publishing side for over 15 years, I would say that the media industry has gotten even more competitive become of this reason, deliberately indicating that if you don't go to them first, they won't give you great coverage. It's just the reality of how things work.

However, here's where I disagree with Mark. His points work well if you got a game that people WANT to chat about, ie. AAA games. When it comes to indie games, the reality is, most big sites don't have the time or inclination to even bother picking up a news story about a wee little game.

Now you can't blame news sites and magazines in being selective in what they cover. Even the most post-active sites like Kotaku can only update 40 times a day (and that is a lot!) But there are well over 100 news announcements going on each day, and more and more are coming from smaller developers and indie games. Most big game sites want to cover things that people WANT to read, as it is less about showing them something new that they may not have heard about before. There are some indie game news sites, and indies can get great coverage that way, but most of these sites are still multiple times smaller than any of the biggies.

So Cliffski over at Positech games does raise one potential strategy that an indie dev can take: Engage fans in forums and in 1-on-1 conversations. However, I would argue that this is only a baby step. Ultimately, REACH become a critical component to any marketing campaign, and if a developer isn't able to get that core base he's been nurturing 1-on-1 to help spread the word, then the developer is going to have a game that only a handful of people will ever play. This tends to be the biggest problem with most indies, as they spend too much time preaching to the choir. The trick is to be aggressive in getting more people into the know, and to do that you really have to think far bigger than forums (even the best forums typically only reach several 1000 viewers.)

A better strategy in 1-on-1 outreach is to test out your messaging. Fine tune your message so that you are very clear why people like your game. Get that core fan base to help spread the word. Package up your message and game into something that is newsworthy so that when you do shop it around, you can build some momentum in interest, and grow it to a point where bigger sites will be interested in mentioning your game.

In other words, if word starts to spread of how cool your game is, then eventually news can trickle up to the big sites. As an example: We recently noticed a Facebook game for the movie Expendables, and did a story on it, as well as chatted about it in our forums. No other gaming site picked up it, because let's face it, gamers shun Facebook games. But the game was actually pretty cool, as it was a throwback to Contra in gameplay. After spreading the word around the net, our story got picked up by a couple of bigger sites, and then bigger sites still. Within a few days, I noticed a lot more people mentioning this little Facebook game and the number of people who "liked" the game jumped from several 1000 to over 100,000. This is a perfect example of how a little indie dev can increase chatter about his game by taking a small to big approach.

So there you have it. When you cut out all this ugly yelling back and forth with gaming fanboys either bashing Epic, or Mark, or the indie scene, you actually have an interesting debate going on here. Having been on both sides of game publishing and gaming media, and having worked on big AAA games and also on my own indie game, I can definitely say that the way you approach marketing an indie game is different than a AAA game because of the quickly changing media landscape.

An indie dev can create 1-on-1 dialogue to get the buzz out there for his game, but he's gotta make sure that he's packaging the information together in a way that still makes it interesting for the big gaming sites to want to pick up the story. The bigger challenge isn't whether a big gaming site will get the scoop, it's whether your game is simply cool enough that a media outlet is willing to mention your game instead of Gears of War 3. There's a reason why people are hungry for more Gears of War info. Make sure there's a reason why people want to check out your indie game.

[Edited By Moderator]

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Halo's Spartans dance their way to the top of America's Got Talent

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:23:38 -0500

Since I'm on an America's Got Talent bend lately, how fitting that I find this video. It's a lively dance act featuring multi-colored Spartans from the Halo universe. Why Spartans feel the need to dance is beyond me, but sometimes when that funky beat hits, you just can't stop the groove. The routine is called the Mummers Fancy Brigade, and well, you might as well watch, because trying to explain it defies words.[nextpage]

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Ubisoft using LOL cats and babies to pimp their games

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:55:21 -0500

I just started reading a book about online tactics to catch people's attention. And two of the things that work like a charm are: Babies, and animals. Ubisoft must be reading the same book, because in the last week, I got two email newsletters from them using babies and LOL cats to pimp their games.[nextpage]

I'm all for creative advertising, especially in today's world where people tune out anything that starts to sound or look like an ad (play my game: Ninjas vs Mafia RPG!) Typically, less than 1% of people ever click on an online ad due to banner blindness - we instintively look the other way when we sense something looks like a banner ad. But I wonder if Ubisoft is being creative, or being lazy.

The 3 ads in question were sent out via email, promoting various sales that are going on in the UBIShop, Ubisoft's own online storefront. The deals are pretty good, with saving nearly 70% in some cases.

As a comparison, there's been a number of people who were questioning why Evony uses sexy women in their ads to promote their games, when the women don't even show up in the game. Initially, the ads at least made the women look like they fit the medieval theme of the game. Now, it's just blatant that you got Hooters girls beckoning you to click on through, knowing full well that the girls aren't anywhere on the other side. Just so happens, as the book mentions, sexy women also get people's attention.

What's amusing about Ubisoft's ads is that it seems like they are deliberately trying to avoid the sexy approach to get your attention, by going the ultra cute route. But doesn't that make you wonder who they are trying to market to? If they are going for the easy clicks, why not just go Evony crazy, and include a couple of ample breasts? It is a French company, after all.

But I won't deny: The Ubi ads did catch my attention. And while the jokes are Reader Digest type of lame, at least they made an attempt. And you can be sure I'm waiting patiently for the next email to see where they take this (Chocolate Rain cameo? O Rly Owl?)

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Win a copy of Chime for XBLA, or buy it for charity

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:59:17 -0500

If you haven't heard, Chime is turning into one little indie game that could. It's a harmonious blend of puzzle gaming and music and it's out now on Xbox LIVE arcade. You can win a free copy by just leaving a comment below, or if you are feeling like a humanitarian, you can buy the game for just $3 (240 Microsoft Points), and the game publisher OneBigGame will donate all proceeds to charity for this week. Now that's music to my ears.[nextpage]

If you haven't heard of OneBigGame, they are a gaming industry charity initiative. They got several games in development, and this first one, created by Zoe Mode, is really quite impressive. In fact, it was chosen as a Critic's Choice on Xbox Live.

Here's how to enter:
Since this is musically themed, share with us your favorite song of all time, by leaving a comment in this blog. One entry per person. Offer good for anyone in North America. Promo ends on July 5th, Midnight PST.

Good luck! And if you buy the game, thanks for making the world a bit better:) BTW - if you are interested in knowing more about the charities that will receive your loving donation:

About charity partner Save the Children
Save the Children is the world's largest independent organization for children, making a difference to children's lives in more than120 countries. From emergency relief to long-term development, Save the Children helps children to achieve a happy, healthy and secure childhood. Save the Children listens to children, involves children and ensures their views are taken into account. Save the Children secures and protects children's rights - to food, shelter, healthcare, education and freedom from violence, abuse and exploitation. Save the Children’s current relief efforts include sending emergency response teams to Haiti and organizing the distribution of tents, medicine, toiletries and earthquake relief supplies to children and families in extreme need.

About charity partner Starlight Children’s Foundation
For 25 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has been dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight’s programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of chapters and offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

[Edited By Moderator]

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235 indie games in 10 minutes - Who's got that kind of time?

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:22:45 -0500

When I first saw the headline to this video, I actually thought "Who has time to sit through a 10 min video?" Has MTV and You-Tube turned me into such an ADD media sponges that I don't even have time to sit down for 10 minutes anymore? But I'm glad I did, because there are some really awesome indie games shown in this video that I would have never noticed before.[nextpage]

This video serves as a great way to find an indie game instantly. While the video plays, if you mouse over the bottom of the video, it will show you the title of the game. If something catches your impulse fancy, then you can click through to see a longer video of the game. Hopefully one day soon it will be 236 indie games in 10.05 minutes! You know, with my own indie game coming soon and all.

BTW - If you are fan of the indie scene, you definitely should check out the site PixelProspector. It's a mucho grando site that finds some of the best FREE indie games out there for you, as well as giving you a heads up on which potentially good ones are soon coming out as well.

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A pile of rocks is the most popular thing on Reddit today

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 03:33:00 -0500

What you are about to see is the most popular post on Reddit today. And it's just a picture of rocks. Rocks as seen in various video games. What's remarkable about it all is that an true gamer will instantly get it and take a trip down memory lane. Hit the jump for the full image.[nextpage]

Click on the image to see it full size!

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The Kartel's E3 2010 Awards: The Special Categories

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:41:49 -0500

E3 2010 has come and gone, and many of us are saddened that the biggest week in gaming was over so quickly. The Kartel Krew had its fair share of overwhelmingly awesome experiences, from checking out some of the hottest booth babes on the floor, witnessing world-exclusive videogame trailers, to attending the Best E3 Event Ever. However, we feel that it's still worth mentioning more of the things that you probably missed. Here's our award winners for our "special categories" during E3 2010.[nextpage]

Best acting performance by a videogame executive that isn't even real

Winner: Kevin Butler's speech during the Sony PlayStation Media Briefing

Our reasoning: If you haven't seen or heard Kevin Butler's speech during the Sony press briefing at E3, then might not be as hardcore of a gamer than you think. The famous personality for PlayStation's TV commercials, Butler became the "VP of awesome E3 speeches" when he interrupted PlayStation VP Peter Dille on stage and delivered a gamer call to arms presentation to the several thousand in attendance. Kevin seems to have singlehandedly made Sony cool again.

Most Active Cosplayer on the E3 Expo Floor:

Winner: Naughty Bear (from his own game)

Our reasoning: Sure, booths had some smokin' booth babes, but who can resist the apparently cute but deadly nature of Naughty Bear? With the game slated for next week, Naughty Bear did plenty to promote its own product, including riding motorcycles at the Dead Rising booth, playing Rock Band at the MTV booth and even wrestling at the Konami booth. Considering how random seeing an evil bear walk around with chainsaws, guitars and championship belts around its paws... well, let's just blame the culprit... E3.

Strangest game starring a character that never dies:

Winner: Man vs. Wild: The Game

Our reasoning: OK, so playing as Bear Grylls in a videogame might make sense, but Crave decided that they also wanted to protect the popular TV star from any harm. Apparently this reached out to the virtual world too. Bear Grylls can't die in the game; rather he's airlifted away from a scene if he fails a sequence. You won't be able to "kill" devastating animals either. They should've named the name Man taming Wild.

Oddly when we stopped by, a video of a bowling game was on display, because we all know that bowling is dangerous.

Best Free Swag that we'd be proud to wear:

Winner: Bethesda American Apparel Track Jacket

Our reasoning: Following our media appointment with Bethesda, company reps were able to give us company-branded track jacket by American Apparel. It sure wasn't cold in LA during E3, but this piece of expo swag was something we'd surely wear without feeling overly geeky or weird. Even better, we got the very last ones when KgHapa realized that there weren't any more jackets being given away. "Oops, sorry we found one stuck in between the cardboard at the bottom of the box." Achievement unlocked indeedy.

Worst swag that was actually contaminated:

Loser: Lucha Libre posters from Konami's wrestlers at their booth

Our reasoning: Lucha Libre is a bold title that hopes to introduce Americans to the sport and satisfy Lucha Libre fans as well. And these posters actually look pretty cool, so why do we have to get them with an abundance of sweat and stickiness to them? In all honesty, we actually would've preferred the ring girls signing these posters than increasing our chances for ringworm.

Worst way to showcase a new gaming peripheral:

Loser: Wearing "Space Ponchos" while watching Cirque De Soleil performances at Microsoft's Kinect Preview Event

Our reasoning: You knew it was coming. Not only did Microsoft drop the ball with some of its Kinect titles, but its preview event in conjunction with a Cirque De Soleil presentation was also completely random. Why were these ponchos important? It's because they lit up. Somewhere Gene Kelly is laughing .

Worst live demo of a high-profile AAA title:

Loser/Winner: Shigeru Miyamoto's demo of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword during the Nintendo Media Briefing

Our reasoning: The anticipated Zelda demo didn't go exactly as planned when wireless interference seemed to prevent Miyamoto's sword-swinging motions from translating perfectly to the screen. Granted, many journalists still played the game and confirmed that the demo wasn't a good indicator of controls. The game controls very well as it should.

Biggest surprise:

Winner: GoldenEye 007

Our reasoning: GoldenEye 007 exclusively for the Wii was the announcement that had everyone reminiscing of the once golden days of FPS. GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 raised the bar for the genre and the Wii exclusive shooter will allow purists to experience the nostalgia of the great game revamped. With the confirmation of classic modes like Slappers Only in Online Multiplayer, we can only imagine college dorms cheering with glee.

Most intriguing game that showed no gameplay:

Winner: Michael Jackson by Ubisoft

Our reasoning: When 'Beat It' started playing during the Ubisoft Media Briefing to signify that the publisher was turning the King of Pop's moves into a videogame releasing on major consoles, we couldn't help but moonwalk to the sweet, sweet music. Will people actually be able to dance like MJ himself with this? Probably, but you can expect plenty of ripped pants. And maybe... just maybe, you'll be able to be like Mike in these classic music videos.

Guaranteed to be the videogame of choice for druggies:

Winner: Child's Eden

Our reasoning: Ubisoft makes another title on the list for having the most intriguing game for the Microsoft Kinect, a title that'll allow you to shoot lasers at psychadelic creatures by simply moving your arms. It's a videogame that's sure to rot brains... we think.

Also, be sure to check out our E3 2010 Scavenger Hunt Thead for all of the other wacky things we did at E3. Just be sure to not do what Master Lee did to a booth babe. Shame on you!

[Edited By Moderator]

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