Imperfect Pixel - Latest Comments

Re: Free As In Mistake

Japh — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:11:33 -0000

The main thing I'd like say here is... FRIENDS TELL FRIENDS WHEN GAMES ARE FREE!!!!

Re: Free As In Mistake

Jason — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:11:23 -0000

"So, Ubisoft store, let’s admit we’re all taking advantage of each other when the opportunity arises, shall we?"
Well said. I too picked up some freebies, H.A.W.X. 2, R.U.S.E (Why so many acronyms, Ubisoft?) and Settlers 7.

It's good to see that Ubi are honoring the sales. Bank error in our favour, I guess?

Re: Guest Post – Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent Review

Mike — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:43:20 -0000

Thanks for the heads up about playing with your kids! I bought this to play through with my 7 year old, but have been holding off. I guess I'll have to find something else now.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Review

Japh — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:49:12 -0000

Nice, thanks :)

I thoroughly enjoyed the multi-player experience, and plan to play it a lot more soon. I'm surprised you had trouble finding games actually, as I found it pretty quick to get a game going on the PS3.

I guess that means we can't assassinate each other either ;)

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Review

Jason Imms — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:15:59 -0000

The long and the short of the multiplayer review was that it was going to take quite a bit of time to complete. I don't feel that I can accurately review a multiplayer component of a game until I've played a reasonable amount of it. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, finding a game on Xbox Live was all but impossible.

I did jump in for a few sessions during my time with the game and generally enjoyed myself. Here's a quick account:

It's a pretty steep learning curve if you're not already familiar with games like The Ship which AC:B clearly riffs on. It doesn't take too much practice to become familiar with the basic mechanics, but getting used to the fact that you will die a lot during a single session can cause frustration for new players.

The basic idea is that every player has one other player that is their target. Your goal is to assassinate that target without being assassinated yourself. The maps are populated with AI controlled copies of the character models selected by each of the players in the round. This means that in order to stay inconspicuous, players must attempt to act like their AI counterparts, staying close to them in order to confuse their pursuers. As you near your target, a guiding compass will narrow to show that you've found your quarry. At this point, the target needs to flee if they've noticed their approaching killer, or attempt to kill them first to stay alive. Fleeing is helped by the inclusion of chase-brakers, iron gates that swing shut automatically as a player passes through them, or single-use lifts which can hoist a fleeing player onto the rooftops for a quick escape. Giving chase can often net you a kill, but the point reward will be lower than if you successfully stealthily assassinated your target. Also, running at full pace, climbing buildings and leaping from rooftops will very quickly give you away to the person hunting you.

All of this makes for a very tense experience that would be in high rotation for me, if it weren't for the fact that actually finding a games-worth of players can often assassinate your free time silently, for full points.

Re: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Review

Japh — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:16:37 -0000

Great review of single-player! I got this for Christmas and have only in the last few days gotten a proper go at it. I played a little multi-player too, which was actually quite fun. Would like to hear what you have to say about that if you get a chance to give that a go too.

Re: Of Mechs And Monkeys

Droyd — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:45:25 -0000

It seems they like red heads..... :P

Re: An Awkward Moment

Jason Imms — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:44:20 -0000

Yeah, I think I must have been doing something fundamentally wrong to be receiving such a thorough beating during the third mission of the game. Unless of course it was only 4 missions long.

Although Chris to be fair, Bice tells me that you are the guy that would regularly win RTS matches on your own versus 7 of your fellow lan-goers.

Re: An Awkward Moment

RAOF — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:02:56 -0000

Man up. I don't remember as much from Homeworld 2 as the original, but it wasn't that hard!

Homeworld: Cataclysm was also a fun romp. Everyone loves motherships with attached siege cannon!

Re: When Men Were Men

bice — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:11:21 -0000

From the review:

"restricted from using her abilities -- some which could open a path or save her life in the future -- until a bland male character dictates it to her"

"little girl that cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man."

These are statements that not only, quite rightly, rail against the change in character of Samus but clearly comment on the sexist nature of that change (I'm not arguing that the sexism isn't there, to clarify).

With regards to Master Chief, does he do anything admirable that isn't stereotypical male action hero? No, he kills anything that moves and leaves Cortana (female, for what little it matters) to take care of the thinking. Or maybe that's just negatively stereotyping women in the role of caregiver (yes I'm being snarky). As for strong, independent nonsexualised female protagonists let's see: Beyond Good and Evil, The Longest Journey, Portal, and No-one Lives Forever spring to mind. Other games with female protagonists: Tomb Raider, Bayonetta, and, um, that's about all I can think of. The lack of heroines is a related but separate issue, but off the top of my head the ratio looks pretty good between negative and positive portrayal.

Yes, all the male characters I've listed are strong, capable, confident and powerful, in the same way that the new Samus has a respect for command structures and has a conscience with regards to the beings she kills, it's all about degree. The male characters are capable only in the sphere strength and violence, their strength and confidence is steroid-enhanced to absurdity and arrogance, and their power comes solely from their ability to destroy. There is no humanity in them and they display all of the negative stereotypes of the brutish male.

Historically and culturally negative female stereotypes are a significant problem that should be dealt with in any sphere, including games. I agree that some stereotypes are more negative than others. However, to discuss female stereotyping in games without the discussion taking part in a broader debate about poor characterisation in games falsely inflates the degree and impact of the sexism.

Re: When Men Were Men

Jason Imms — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:36:16 -0000

Also - food for thought:
Other M was developed by Project M, a team made up of a large number of ex Team Ninja staffers.

I wonder whether we should be thanking our lucky stars that they haven't put time and money into coming up with boob-manipulation techniques to suit the new crop of motion controllers?

Re: When Men Were Men

Jonathan Lange — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:05:20 -0000

Yes, video games have unfair gender stereotypes of both men and women. However, not all stereotypes are created equal, some are more negative than others.

I would disagree in your reading of the article. It seems to be about the sudden changing in nature of Samus's character, heightened by the fact that she is "one of the most iconic (and nonsexualized) female characters in gaming history".

It's not like, say, making Mario a Spanish electrician. It's moving a well known character towards a negative stereotype.

In this context, male and female characters ought to be thought of differently. It doesn't take much thinking to come up with an strong, independent, non-sexualized male hero who is actually admirable (unlike the two GoW's you cited). If we are particularly going for someone to compare with Samus, I would suggest the Master Chief. It takes much more time to come up with the same for female characters.

Finally, even though God of War and Gears of War both have shallow, stereotyped depictions of men, they are stereotypes oriented toward men. Contrast Kratos with Twilight's Edward. And they are strong, capable, confident and powerful.

In conclusion, I agree that both male and female gender stereotypes in video games could withstand more scrutiny, but I disagree in that I think there is a very good case for sometimes treating female stereotypes separately.

Re: The List: The Other Type of Keyboard

Jonathan Lange — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:55:54 -0000

"Don't Stop Me Now" is a must. Glad we're all agreed on "Underground". Surprised there's no mention of Jerry Lee Lewis.

Re: An Awkward Moment

bice — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:13:42 -0000

Hooray! I'm always happy to find someone else who appreciates how totally awesome Sacrifice is.

Re: An Awkward Moment

bice — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:12:44 -0000

Deus Ex wasn't a bad game, but I don't rank it anywhere near as highly as most gamers seem to. My main issue was the overall presentation of the game. The graphics and physics engine, even for the time, looked and felt like everything in the world was made of empty cardboard boxes. There were a wide variety of gameplay mechanics, but none of them were implemented better or even as well as most shooters of the time. A lot of people talk about how great the story is, but even the best game stories struggle to rise above the level of late night TV, so it's hardly a draw card to me.

In summary, the game did a lot of things in a interesting way, but I don't think it did anything well enough to lift it above the level of competent cyberpunk shooter.

Re: Buying Preowned = Piracy?

Dexter — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:11:13 -0000

The way I see it, the second hand game trade works to increase the number of people gaming, ultimately resulting in higher sales in the long run.

More people buy new (me included), knowing they can recover at least some of the cost later when they've finished playing.. and this payback is often reinvested in the next new game.

Similarity, people who can't afford or aren't interested in paying $100 for a brand new game are given a cheaper entry point and remain captured by the industry - the industry should spend their time motivating those people to want to buy at launch when the price is highest and there isn't second hand stock, instead of complaining that people play their games.

Re: An Awkward Moment

Jason Imms — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:44:05 -0000

Homeworld made me very very happy.
Homeworld 2 made me happy, right up until the third mission which I brutalised me and left me for dead in a space gutter.

Re: An Awkward Moment

Mikey Lynch — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:41:30 -0000

Nice site guys!

I don't play many games, but I did do Deus Ex at jml's suggestion and was very impressed. What didn't you like about it?

Re: Buying Preowned = Piracy?

Jason Imms — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:32:59 -0000

I personally don't think legislation needs to change at all. The controversy surrounding the issue is surprisingly fervent considering the fact that the question is one of personal choice.

If you want to support the developers, buy games new.
If you don't particularly care, then go ahead an buy preowned or borrow the game from a friend.

A practical example: A good friend of mine (and yours, jml) once expressed interest in playing "this Half Life 2 that everybody is talking about". He wanted to be aware of a game that is not only a big part of geek culture, but was starting to creep into the mainstream, into circles that he moves in.
I don't really think it would have been fair for me to ask him to go and spend the ~$100 necessary for him to buy the game at the time. He's not into gaming, he doesn't have a personal stake in the industry, nor does he have any current desire to see the company that produced the game succeed.
He did however enjoy the game and has since not played any games since (as far as I'm aware). If he were interested in picking up Episodes 1 and 2, I would suggest that he grab them from Steam and support Valve. Or perhaps I could buy them and gift them to him seeing as I'm the one with the actual interest in the industry?

Re: Buying Preowned = Piracy?

Jonathan Lange — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:44:01 -0000

I think analogies with theft are dangerous. When discussing IP, it's better to avoid analogies altogether and focus on the particular attributes under discussion.

Analogies with piracy are worse. Copyright infringement has nothing to do with the high seas. The Australian Copyright Act doesn't use the words "piracy" or "pirate", and even media industry bodies prefer to reserve the word for people who make a profit by infringing copyright.

From a legal standpoint, you are right: copying a game is against the law, moving a game is not.

Perhaps a more interesting question is, "what should the law be?". I suggest that question is equivalent to, "to what extent should the law enforce the business models of gaming companies?", but could perhaps be persuaded otherwise.

At a personal level, I would say that the issue around purchasing second-hand copies of games is roughly ethically equivalent to the following:
* reading books at the library
* renting DVDs
* purchasing second-hand books
* borrowing a game from a friend

I'm not arguing that any of these are right or wrong, simply that they are equivalent.

Re: An Awkward Moment

Oli — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:16:37 -0000

Sacrifice is awesome. Ten years on it's one of the few games i still have the box and cd for, as ive played it through many times just to get different combinations of units/spells, and sacrificing little dudes on a giant alter never gets old :p

Re: The List: The Other Type of Keyboard

duncan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:20:52 -0000

Your kneecaps are forfeit!

Re: Impressions: Tekken 6

Jason Imms — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:01:34 -0000

I have a Namco brand pressure cooker.
Just sayin'.