Left Oblique

Call the waambulance!

Dave — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:03:06 -0500

I feel bad saying it, because it's my former employer and I like them a lot, but Volition's Jameson Durall is dead wrong when he says that banning used game sales is a good thing.

Let me explain. At some point, I want to play a game that maybe isn't in print anymore. My options are (a) buy a used copy, or (b) download the ROM and try to emulate it. My choice is almost entirely dependent on what hardware the game requires. Yeah, I "steal" lots of old games that I don't have the system for and that you can't buy new anyway. I don't feel bad about it. I also buy used games when I can't get them new. I don't feel bad about that either. I never buy used games when I can get them new, though, so I'm not the person the publishers are worried about.

For computer games, I think Durall is 100% on. Because of services like Steam, you can now buy computer games from almost any era - stuff you can't find in stores - and download it directly to your machine. And that's great. The consumer gets an old game at a reasonable price (or a new indie title that you can't buy anywhere else) and the publisher makes a few bucks.

But for consoles... it's great that I can still go back and play the old Metroid and Mario games. They're part of our history as a gaming culture. But you know what? So is Assassin's Creed. So is Uncharted. Imagine if Super Mario Brothers would only play on the first console you plugged it into? Imagine if Metroid required an internet connection to a server that had been shut down ten years ago? We'd have completely lost that part of our heritage as computer gamers. And that would be a tragedy. And it will be a tragedy in another ten years when nobody can get the full Arkham City or Skyrim experience because they're locked out of some first-sale DLC (and for that matter, can't run anything by Ubisoft at all).

Except it really won't be, because pirates will do what pirates do, which is to crack the stuff and distribute it on back channels. And you know what? I'll download it and play it because, hey, what are you going to do about it?

Encourage it, evidently. Good job, Durall.

Nerve regeneration

Dave — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:04:45 -0500

Evidently, some scientists figured out how to put mammalian nerves back together, so full or nearly full function is restored in a few weeks after serious damage. The article is light on details, and it's not clear if the severing of the nerve needs to be clean for it to work (or what the window for repairing it is), but this is pretty cool stuff nonetheless.

Sorry, Pats.

Dave — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:02:34 -0500

Giants are the rock to your scissors. Hope we play someone else next year.

5E, continued.

Dave — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:57:10 -0500

Adding to my previous post, it seems Monte Cook isn't the only one at Wizards who is saying the right things.

At least he bothered to learn the theory.

Dave — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:05:34 -0500

So Monte Cook is talking about the design for the upcoming D&D 5th Edition. And so far, he's managed to do an analysis of the first four (really five) editions of the game using something like GNS theory. His take, as far as I can tell, is that the early editions were more narrativist, 3E was simulationist, and 4E was gamist.

That's not a bad breakdown. He also adds two additional axes: level of complexity and level of player payout. In other words, in addition to story, immersion, and challenge, do players and GMs want something that's easy to run? How often do they need to feel awesome?