Since the last entry…
**I played more “MGS4” but can say no more until 12:01 tonight and I played more “The World Ends With You,” reaching “The Last Day.” Yeah, right.
**I also attended a four-company showcase in Manhattan, sampling hands-on and hands-off demos from Capcom (played “Bionic Commando“), Sierra (watched “50 Cent: Blood On The Sand“), D3 (played and stank at the impressive “Bangai-O Spirits” on the DS) and Codemasters (watched “Damnation“ and “Rise Of The Argonauts.“) Lots of interesting stuff there. “Bangai-O” was a highlight because it looks like development studio Treasure is just about melting the processors on the DS with its frenzied top-down 2D shooter — a game that has new content for the U.S., all importers should note.
Shaping a game around how a character moves has long seemed to be a lost art. |
“Bionic Commando” gets a commendation for something I also wrote about “Dark Void” today: it’s a game for which character movement is a prominent selling point. Shaping a game around how a character moves — a staple of much SNES and Genesis design — has long seemed to be a lost art. “BC” and “Dark Void” help bring that back. What you shoot or who you’re fighting doesn’t always have to be the selling point of an action game, does it? It wasn’t that way back in the day.
Next: I felt terrible when I told two “Bourne Conspiracy” developers that I had received their game but ignored it in order to play “MGS4.” I’m not sure I can make amends tonight. We’ll see. I hear the “Bourne” game’s quite good.