Thursday, July 29th, 2010
MMORPGs: What Would It Take To Tempt You?
I’ve never played World of Warcraft. If I’m honest, I didn’t even know what it was until long after everyone else was a level 55 arch mage. But I’m curious as to what it would take to convince YOU to upload yourself to a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)
This is pure speculation, but I think the online gaming world would be a different shape had the sequels to The Matrix (somehow) lived up to all their hype and The Matrix Online would have been the perfect opportunity to bring new audiences into Neo’s medium. Regardless, The Matrix Online still went ahead, expanding the story-world for the die-hards and the sci-curious, But it could have been bigger.
But are potential audiences just waiting for their favourite franchise to expand into the internet? As the launch of the DC Universe Online draws close, I’m finding myself deeply considering coughing up and crossing the line into online gaming. What’s tempted me? Not just that you can create your own character to then be mentored by the DC Hero or Villain of your choice, but the stories have also been written by some of DC’s top writers and features voice talent from the DCU cartoons (Mark Hamill as the Joker included).
Sounds a lot like Batman: Arkham Asylum really. So if you played and enjoyed Arkham Asylum, why won’t you be signing up for DC Universe Online? Seriously.
‘cos as cool as that video looks (from my POV, anyway), these MMORPGs seem different, don’t they.
In learning about writing for games, I was taught that describing your game as a list of adjectives is a good way to describe the experience (ie - run, shoot, duck, fly, hide, find etc) Is what’s keeping you offline that they aren’t developing the MMORPG with the right adjectives to suit you? If so, what’s missing? Is it a genre thing? Is the fact that the main examples I’ve mentioned feature flying around and probably thumping people what kept you positively unintrigued? (but there are others)
MMORPGs seem to have it all - serial storytelling, stand-alone missions, social networking and an independent gaming experience. So why are they still a niche thing? What’s keeping you offline?
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
‘The Dark Knight’
With ‘The Dark Knight’ and its marketing serving as such an inspiration for this project since 2007, it felt weird to actually sit down and watch this tonight.
While I try and be as mellow as possible these days, ‘Cinema Rage’ is the easiest way to make my blood boil. Generally, I try and go at quiet times so as not to end up being arrested for trying to smother noisy cinema patrons to death with their own seat. So it was with some apprehension that Heather and I went to the cinema tonight. Granted, we had paid to see a preview screening before the film comes out on general release this friday, but that meant that the cinema tonight was sold out long ago.
I held my breath as the credits rolled, waiting for the first irritating sweet paper rustle or mobile phone bleep. But so did the rest of the audience. It soon became clear that the entire crowd were all petrified that some git was going to ruin the film for them. But no one did. Even the poor lad next to us who clearly had a rotten cold was visibly waiting for things to noisily explode on screen before he dared blow his nose. Bless ‘im.
Anyone who knows me can probably guess that I really enjoyed this film. I was desperately worried that it had been overhyped but it was worth the wait and I still think Gary Oldman is the unsung hero of these films. But anyway, knowing that the film has already broken box-office records in the USA, I wonder if Warner Bros. were able to attribute any of their millions of dollars - even if only in part - to the brilliant viral marketing campaign for the movie!
