I recently started playing League of Legends, and I have to say, it's just about one of the funnest games I've played in a long while. If you're interested in playing, check it out here.
Players of DoTA will be very familiar with the game genre that LoL follows, and will especially be happy to know that the original developer of DoTA, Guinsoo. What I love about LoL, though, is that there are several improvements it has over DoTA, especially because it isn't being built off of Warcraft III anymore.
Don't get me wrong. I have always been really impressed at what the DoTA developers were able to accomplish using the Warcraft III editor, but there were a lot of shortcomings that really bothered me. LoL improves on these, keeping your hero selected at all times, but still allowing you to see stats of allies and enemies is a big one for me. There is a revamped hotkey system that makes using skills and keeping track of your hero much easier, and some of the common items you had to buy in DoTA like Town Portal are now built into every hero by default, allowing you to more fluidly manage your hero's inventory.
One thing I hated about DoTA was that, when a game was over, it felt like I really made no real progress. My hero was gone, I really had no major stat tracking going on (I was never very hardcore), and I was a little frustrated with having to start with a wimpy level 1 hero every new game. With League of Legends there is a system called the Summoner System. In LoL, you play a Summoner, one who summons Champions and brings them to the battlefield to defend them. So, in other words, you as the person clicking around on the screen are the summoner, and after each game you gain experience that allows you to unlock spells to cast, build up skill trees that give your characters stat bonuses, and a few other things as well. This keeps the game interesting across all matches, which is really refreshing to say the least.
The downsides to many DoTA players is that the game no longer has secret shops and doesn't allow denying. The LoL team explains themselves on the denying issue, stating:
"I heard that League of Legends doesn't have denying, is that true?
It’s true, even though League of Legends is based on DotA we’ve intentionally decided to remove denying from the game. We know this is a huge change for some people, but we have some really good reasons for removing it!
* It enlarges the early game imbalance between ranged and melee Champions, and we think it is more fun for all Champions to be at least somewhat competitive at all phases of the game.
* It leads to passive play, and slows down the game. We feel that high-activity; high-action faster games are more fun. By not having denying, there’s a stronger incentive to push. Additionally, it prevents strong lane control which is ultimately about passive play. Team fights more than anything else are what make this genre fun, and faster games mean more team fights.
* It is weird. Killing your own guys?"
For more details on the differences between DoTA and LoL, check out this link.
So, LoL is crazy fun, faster paced, and pretty well banaced. Definitely worth checking out.
Try it.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
League of Legends
Monday, November 2, 2009
Holiday Console Rant!: Sony's PS3
It's been a while since I've post, so I thought it was due time I ranted about the PS3. This is more or less a follow-up from my previous post on the PS3, so you may want to check that one out before getting to far into my comments.
First off, I have to say, I have been really confused about Sony and how they've approached the PS3. It seems like the system was on the right path with the release of the slim and the price cuts, but I was really baffled how Sony let the whole Netflix thing pass by. In my mind, Netflix was the only thing missing that would turn the system into the perfect media solution for users. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out Sony and Netflix found a solution, specifically to skirt around the whole "console exclusivity" issue with Microsoft and their XBox 360. Granted, neither Sony or Netflix are saying the disc solution they've come up with was specifically to circumvent the agreement Netflix and Microsoft have, but they come pretty dang close.
I must say, though, that I'm really sad about the backwards compatibility issue with the PS3. Sony may feel they don't need backwards compatibility, but their reasoning is not sound to me at all. They say that they've been asking consumers who buy the PS3 if PS3 games are their main reason for buying the system, and an overwhelming majority have said yes. In my mind, though, those numbers mean nothing, because people buying the PS3 now already know the PS2 isn't supported on the system. In my last post, I talked about what I felt Sony's approach would need to be during the Holiday Season to do well, and I'm surprised at how well my comments have held out. Here's the one thing that still gets me:"In May, 2009, NPD (we will miss them) reported that the PS2's sales were almost as good as the PS3's (117,000 PS2s and 131,000 PS3s). What's more, while I'm not sure how accurate these numbers are, it would appear the NPD is reporting that there have been a total of 44.1 million PS2's sold worldwide, while there are only 7.7 million PS3s sold worldwide."
While I'm sure those numbers have changed quite a bit with the price changes and all the other things going on, it is very sad to me that, during 2009, the PS2 was still selling almost as well as the PS3. This, to me, means that Sony needs to start addressing this issue, instead of hiding their heads in the sand and saying something along the lines of, "Durrr, PS3 users buy PS3 games." If Sony gave their users a way to keep playing their games on the PS3, then they'd have a much better chance of bringing over their PS2 base to their new system. As it is right now, most people will likely be considering the 360 just as much, if not more, than the PS3.
The XBox 360, despite its mess of attachments, is a very solid system. It's hard for me to see Sony ever catching up to Microsoft's system, especially because Microsoft has proven it has the ability to take a beating and not blink an eye. I personally cannot blame anybody for not even considering a PS3 this holiday season, as a friend of mine came up to me last week and said, "Dude, I've found a promotional price on an XBox 360 Pro that lets me buy it for the same price as a Wii!" With promotions like that, it's really hard to imagine people will be willing to go for the PS3.
So, what's the future going to be like for the PS3? I was actually reminded of the staying power the PS3 really has this weekend after finding out more about the development process that went into Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I watched their sixth "Behind the Scenes" video, and was very impressed about how they approached development for their title. Naughty Dog seems to have leaned very heavily upon Assembly Code for the cell processor to take a brunt of the graphics processing away from the PS3's sad little GPU, and the results have shown exactly what the PS3 is eventually going to be capable of. Now, as a person who's had to deal with Assembly code before, I have to say, no wonder developers never want to optimize their games for the PS3. Sony needs to approach Naughty Dog and a few other companies and try and create a more robust set of developer tools for their console. I could see the PS3 eventually having better-looking titles than the 360 if the cell processor is made more accessible to all developers, despite the PS3's GPU inferiority.
To conclude, earlier this year I was excited about this holiday season being the time for the PS3 to rise up and establish itself, but I'm afraid that it simply isn't the right time. The PS3 may be catching up in titles, may be a solid media machine, and may even show promise to be a much better system in the future, but the lack of backwards compatibility and the fact that it's still just a little pricey are going to leave it still feeling left out while the 360 and Wii continue to sell well. I don't mean that it's going to be terrible, it will certainly sell more this year than ever before, but all things considered, that's not saying a lot...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Crackdown Devs Sales Estimates Make No Sense
So, I was reading joystiq when I stumbled upon this article. It speaks of how Realtime Worlds, the developers of Crackdown, only broke even after selling 1.5 million copies of their game.
The part that gets me, though, is when the CEO of the company says,
"we know 1.5 million new copies were sold, but it's likely there were 2.5, three million sold when you include used."
That's when I had an interesting realization.
...
...
What?! No wonder the company only broke even, their math sucks! Either that or they admit that their game wasn't such a great hit with people who purchased it, because if the game had up to 3 million sales including used copy sales, that means EVERY PERSON who bought the game SOLD IT.
Now, if I were a company, I would be less stressed about the fact that GameStop is sapping sales and more stressed about the fact that nearly everybody who bought your game didn't feel it was worth holding onto.
I'm going to continue my rant here and just say that, to me, the mark of a great game is when people want to hold onto it. When people plan on playing it again in future years just to relive the game's great moments, or even to hold onto it for future generations. Now that, to me, is the mark of a good game. Apparently, Crackdown wasn't so great.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
MechWarrior reboot and MWLL
A year ago I was convinced that the Mechwarrior franchise was dead. I've always been a Mechwarrior fan. I played all their games, regularly went to Virtual World to play the Battletech version, and even collected the Battletech toys.
I every once in a while will install my old copy of Mechwarrior 4 and play with some friends, and I was convinced that was the end of it. And that's when I saw MechWarrior: Living Legends. And more recently the teasers for the new Mechwarrior reboot.
When I found Mechwarrior: Living Legends (henceforth referred to as MWLL), it was like a dream come true. MWLL is a full conversion mod for Crysis, and is looking very impressive. Apparently the mod group has received permission from Microsoft to utilize content from the Mechwarrior franchise without fear of being shut down. Just one little problem: Mechwarrior is coming back.
IGN covers a lot of the details of the new Mechwarrior game here. So, with the release of a new Mechwarrior game, what does this mean for the MWLL group?
In response to a question as to whether or not MechWarrior's new game will ruin MWLL's chances to do well, MWLL dev team member Defender said:
"I don't feel any of our hard work is spoiled at all. We're in a different ballpark than that game. They haven't mentioned anything about combined arms, and they're also set in a much different time-period than us, which means we have more units, equipment and mechs at our disposal. There game is also cross-platform, ours is not, which gives us the option for another layer of depth and complexity that cannot be converted to the Xbox."
What it seems to boil down to is how the new MechWarrior game will turn out, especially in regard to in-game features.
And now a preview of the upcoming new MechWarrior title:
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Add Wireless to an XBox 360 Using a Laptop (even with Windows 7!)
One of the things I hear people complain about in regards to the XBox 360 is how it doesn't have a wireless adapter built in. Now, there are a number of workarounds, including buying an expensive wireless adapter, or you could use a laptop to do the exact same thing.
Just a note here before I begin. I know that this information is widely used already, and that there are likely several guides that exist out there. I am big on cross-platform solutions, and wanted to write a guide that covered several operating systems and explained the process step by step in plain English. Hope I have succeeded in this :D
Getting Started:
OK, first things first. You can do this with any computer that has the following:
-A Wireless Adapter (USB wireless adapter, built-in, PCI, etc)
-An ethernet port, like this one:
-An ethernet cable, this this one:
If you have these things, they are working properly, and you have a wireless network you can connect to, you should be good to go. Just take the steps necessary for your operating system to share your wireless connection.
Windows XP:
-Click on the Start button and select Control Panel
-In the control panel, open Network Connections
-In Network Connections, identify your Wireless connection as well as your ethernet port's connection, which will usually be called Local Area Connection.
-Select both networks by holding down the CTRL button and clicking on them
-Right click on one of the networks and select "Bridge Connections"
-Your Wireless network will now be shared across your ethernet port
Windows Vista:
In Windows Vista, the way to bridge your wireless connection is almost identical to Windows XP. As stated at Microsoft's Vista Help and How-to pages:
"1. Open Network Connections by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Network and Internet, clicking Network and Sharing Center, and then clicking Manage network connections.
2. Hold down CTRL and select each network connection that you want to add to the bridge.
3. Right-click one of the selected network connections, and then click Bridge Connections. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation."
Your connections are now bridged, and you should be able to use your wireless connection through your ethernet port now.
Windows 7:
Despite what many people have been saying, Network Bridging has NOT been removed from Windows 7. In fact, it's almost identical in how it is setup in XP and Vista, it's just a bit more hidden. Here's how you set it up:
-Click on the Start (windows logo) button.
-Select "Control Panel"
-If your control Panel is arranged by Category, click "View network status and tasks" under "Network and Internet"
-If you are viewing your control panel by icons, click on "Network and Sharing Center"
-On the left hand side of the Network and Sharing Center screen, click on "Change adapter settings"
-From here, it's just like the pictures for Windows XP. Hold down CTRL and select "Wireless Network Connection" and "Local Area Connection"
-Right click on one of the networks and select "Bridge Connections"
-Windows will now create a network bridge, allowing you to share your wireless connection across your ethernet port.
Mac OS X (Leopard):
I've never done this on one of my Macs before, so I've basically created my guide using what I found here
-Open System Preferences
-Select Sharing
-On the left hand pane, where the sharing services are listed, select "Internet Sharing"
-In the "Share your connection from:" drop down menu, select AirPort
-Then, in the "To computers using:" box, select Ethernet
-Now, make sure Internet Sharing is checked on the service pane on the left side of the window, and you should be good to go.
I have yet to test this, but from what I can tell it should work great. I'll test it later when I get the chance.
Linux:
There are a TON of ways to get this done through Linux, but the easiest way is to make sure your wireless drivers are working and install FireStarter, DHCP, and use Firestarter to share your wireless internet connection. If you are using Ubuntu, you can install FireStarter through the Add/Remove Applications program.
-Install Firestarter from here or through your distro's precompiled binary distribution method (such as Ubuntu's Add/Remove Applications or Synaptic Package Manager, terminal commands, etc).
-Install DHCP, likely using the same method you installed firestarter. The package you need will vary depending on what distro you use.
-Once you have Firestarter installed, start it up
-You will be presented with a wizard to configure Firestarter. Don't close this wizard, it's actually a useful one.
-The first thing to set up is what connection you want to be Firestarter's main connection. In the Network Device Setup, select your wireless card. In my case, I am using an atheros wireless card, which was identified as an Unknown Device (ath0)
-Keep the "Start Firewall on dial-out" box unchecked
-If you don't have a static IP on your laptop (which most people won't), make sure the "IP Address is assigned via DHCP" box is checked.
-Click Forward
-In the "Internet Connection Sharing Setup" dialog, make sure "Enable Internet Connection Sharing" is checked.
-In the "Local area network device" drop down menu, select Ethernet device (usually eth0).
-If you have installed DCHP, you will be able to dynamically assign IP addresses to the machine you attach to your ethernet port (You want this). In other words, Enable DHCP for local network will be checked.
-If you weren't able to install DHCP, I don't believe Firestarter will successfully be able to share your connection, or at least won't be able to without a lot more configuration
-Click forward, and go ahead and check the "Start Firewall Now" box and then click save.
-Your computer is now ready to share its wireless connection.
Finishing Up:
Once you have configured your operating system to share your wireless connection, you should be able to simply plug a ethernet cable between the ethernet port on your laptop and the ethernet port on your XBox 360. Now, as long as your laptop maintains its wireless connection, your XBox 360 will be able to connect to the Internet and your XBox Live account.
The best part about this is that you can leave your laptop configured to share its wireless connection and use the laptop to connect to the internet as well. Configuring your laptop to share its Wireless connection doesn't ruin its ability to access the Web wirelessly at all. So, if you ever need to grab your laptop to surf the net, just unplug the ethernet cable and use it as always (or even leave the cable plugged in if you'd like). On the other hand, if you need to use the ethernet port to access the internet, you'll likely have to disable the bridge you set up to share the wireless connection.
Hope this guide helps! It can obviously be used to connect any device with only an ethernet port to a wireless network, so use as needed.
Machinarium Pre Orders Started!
Machinarium is an amazing looking game. With the resurgence of Adventure titles coming out these days, like the Tales of Monkey Island, Machinarium's timing couldn't be better. Well, at least as far as Adventure game visibility goes. Machinarium Preview from Amanita Design on Vimeo. Machinarium Preview 02 from Amanita Design on Vimeo.
Machinarium is a game about a cool little robot guy and his adventure through a land full of robots. All I have to say is, watch the trailer (or see the trailer after the jump), and you'll likely be drawn in as much as I have. It's slated to come out October 2009, and will cost $20, but if you pre-order you'll save $3. Awesome.
