Once again it has been another interesting week in gaming, as some mainstream press outlets are starting to take notice of major events within the gaming world.
Laura Parker has a great piece up on the New York Times about Telltale Games, the “HBO” of the gaming world, as she puts it. We keep no secrets about our love of all things Telltale, and it is great to see them getting mainstream recognition for their narrative driven games. It is a constant push and pull towards videogames gaining acceptance as an artform, and to be held up in the same light that modern television shows are held in the eyes of the greater public opinion. Telltale hopes to cross the mainstream gap with Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series and ride the wave of popularity to bring new people into the gaming world. Laura’s piece is a great look behind the curtain of one of the best storytellers in gaming and we really think you should check it out for yourself.
It’s also been another week of Oculus Rift drama - who would have thought? This is shaping up to be a he-said-she-said tale that one day will no doubt be the subject of a best-selling book, possibly even turned into a movie with Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role. The Wall Street Journal ran piece on the growing Oculus bonfire. Brian Crecente at Polygon does his best to sort through this mudslinging mess between Oculus and ZeniMax, providing a good read on the unfolding drama.
In recent years it’s become quite popular of those within the gaming press to discuss the nature and existence of the first-person shooter genre, which exploded in popularity with the rise of the Call of Duty franchise. It has been just about two months since developer Respawn released Titanfall - giving an added shot of adrenaline into the Xbox One - and while the game is still fun, it seems that it’s shelf-life might be on the shorter side than originally expected. Why? Edge magazine published a great article comparing and contrasting Titanfall and the Call of Duty franchises in an attempt to understand the answer to an excitement fall-off. The article is an exploration of video games and power fantasy, and what happens when you give too much power to the players.
How does Titanfall relate to mainstream media attention to the video game world? Well, Xbox One is poised to be the first of the 3 big consoles to enter China this September, and Titanfall news is ultimately part of the grand strategy. China is lifting its 13-year ban on videogame consoles, and many economists are predicting a boost in sales for all three. Paul Tassi of Forbes discusses why it might not be the proverbial floodgates opening in China, but it is still important to each of the three companies. This news is even more interesting with all the reports of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft’s losses within the last year on the console market.
Mainstream press coverage is good for the gaming industry as it helps grow the industry in and reach a new audience, as Telltale hopes to do. However, as more and more of the economy realizes how large the industry is it could bring on radical changes, maybe not for the best. We’ve seen Facebook swoop in and buy up Oculus, which has raised a number of questions about the future of the tech as it relates to video games. Then there is troubling news that both Sony and Microsoft are whispering about a possible spin-off of the console branches of their companies into independent entities. As we’ve seen Nintendo go through some troubling times without the support of a larger parent company, what could happen to both consoles if they lose their safety nets?
Along side these articles we’ve included some great videos that we hope you find interesting, as well as some extra study material on the industry. We hope you find all of these interesting, and if there is ever anything you would like us to take a deeper look at let us know in the comments or on twitter.
As always, here’s to another good week. Cheers.
A Gaming Company Devoted to Narrative Tackles “Thrones”
“SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Behind closed doors and papered-over windows here, a half-dozen storytellers have been scrambling to conjure a fantasy world with compelling characters, fierce dialogue and an intricate plot. But this is no ordinary writers’ room: It’s Telltale Games, an independent video game studio that has developed an intense following by prizing nuance and narrative in an industry more often associated with clattering machine guns and screeching getaway cars.
Considered by some to be the “HBO of gaming,” Telltale has set itself apart by adapting popular books, movies and television shows — Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and The Walking Dead — into adventure games released as short, episodic chapters that can be downloaded for $5 each. This model taps the same slow-burning qualities that have made prestige television dramas so popular and allows Telltale to work on multiple projects for less money than some companies might spend on games that sell for $60 a copy.
The studio has recently turned considerable attention to the next big name on its roster, a video game version of the epic fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” now in Season 4 on HBO. The character development and sense for story that sold HBO on a deal with Telltale are time-tested qualities, no matter the format.”
Oculus Says ZeniMax canceled Doom 3 VR Support over equity demands
“ZeniMax canceled virtual reality support for Doom 3 BFG after Oculus VR refused to give the company a “non-dilutable equity stake in Oculus,” according to a statement released to Polygon from Oculus this morning.
Also according to the statement, the reason John Carmack left id Software was because ZeniMax prevented him from working on virtual reality and stopped investing in the tech across the company.
Last week, ZeniMax Media said that Carmack and “others” improperly provided key technology to virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR. Today, Oculus officials denied the claim.
“We are disappointed but not surprised by Zenimax’s actions and we will prove that all of its claims are false,” they said in a statement to Polygon.
According to ZeniMax’s statement last week, the company “recently sent formal notice of its legal rights to Oculus concerning its ownership of key technology used by Oculus to develop and market the Oculus Rift. ZeniMax’s technology may not be licensed, transferred or sold without ZeniMax Media’s approval. ZeniMax’s intellectual property rights arise by reason of extensive VR research and development works done over a number of years by John Carmack while a ZeniMax employee, and others. ZeniMax provided necessary VR technology and other valuable assistance to [Oculus VR founder] Palmer Luckey and other Oculus employees in 2012 and 2013 to make the Oculus Rift a viable VR product, superior to other VR market offerings.”
Still Playing: Titanfall – Why Endlessly Rewarding Players Is Not Endlessly Rewarding
“Shooters are the ultimate videogame power fantasy: a man and a gun fighting through a string of life-or-death encounters with the heart-in-mouth tension of war but none of the risk. Yet the online FPS’s sparse traditional framework – a winner, a loser and a scoreboard – naturally limits its own longevity. The object of the game never changes, its systems stay fixed in place, and you’re as powerful when you set foot on the battlefield as when you leave it. The thrill wears off.
Infinity Ward offered two solutions to that problem in Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Its persistent leveling system, which ensures players are always working towards something new, might be its greatest gift to the industry as a whole. What it gave to the FPS power fantasy, however, was the killstreak, which doles out rewards of increasing bombast to players who can rack up kills without getting caught in the crossfire.
We vividly remember lying prone under the stairway in the big house on the hill in Modern Warfare 2’s Estate map, our sights trained on the front door, waiting anxiously for our streak of ten kills to become 11. It felt like the whole enemy team must’ve known we were there, and a well-placed frag grenade, sniper round or shotgun shell would reduce all our good work to nothing. After what we imagined were several minutes, but was probably only a handful of seconds, an enemy walked in and made the fatal mistake of checking his corners before looking under the stairs. Two rifle bursts and he was gone, a message onscreen telling us a new killstreak was ours. We found a quiet corner, pressed right on the D-pad and were warped high into the sky to take the controls of an AC-130 gunship. Eleven kills quickly became 12, then 15, then 20. We’d earned our reward, and the payoff was enormous.”
Microsoft Will Beat Sony And Nintendo To China With September Xbox One Launch
“The 13 year ban on video game consoles in China has ended, but it’s taking a while for companies to be able to capitalize on the reversal. Things are especially tough for Microsoft…
The console will arrive this September, thanks to their partnership with BesTV which will take advantage of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone to make systems and games to sell to China. This news actually means the Xbox One could beat the PS4 and Wii U to China, making it the first foreign console to (legally) arrive in the country in over a decade.
Before Microsoft fans start celebrating that opening up the Xbox One to China will allow it to surge ahead of the PS4 with a billion new potential customers, things are likely to be far more complicated than that.”
Food for your eyes
Vsauce’s Michael explores why humans enjoy playing games.
How Does Blizzard do it?
So Shaq fu is back.
YouTube personality Pewdiepie is famous enough for people to make fun of him.
The Akira Project - a fan made trailer for Akira based off of the original movie, needless to say it looks amazing.
EXTRA STUDY MATERIAL
Paul Tassi discusses Dota 2 and its player base overtaking World of Warcraft. “Are MOBAs The New MMOs?”
Much like with Microsoft, Sony questions if they should spin off the PlayStation Brand. “Even As PS4 Breaks Records, Sony Expects Additional $200M Loss”
Noah Berlatsky of the Atlantic discusses the old Star Wars trilogy and notions of a grubby future. “Star Wars’ Original, Scum-Caked Brilliance”
Research firm predicts the future for the three big consoles. “PS4 to lead all consoles with 51 million sold by 2016 – IDC”
Nathan Grayson talks about Eve Online and their decision to stop releasing expansions, while announcing 10 new expansions. ”A New Frontier: EVE Online Doing Away With Expansions”
Nintendo was hit hard with losses over the last year with the Wii U. “Nintendo posts $456 million annual operating loss”
Matt Gerardi has a great interview with live action role-player Samantha Nelson. “Visiting the world of live action vampire role-playing”
Brian Kale
@brianwkale
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