Gamasutra looks at 20 difficult games

Filed under: Arcade, Retro, Action, Adventure

Believe it or not, building difficulty into games isn't just about making them more impossible. John Harris over at Gamasutra takes the long route to prove this in an extended look into difficulty in game design. The majority of the feature is spent looking at specific cases of legitimately difficult games, dissecting their design and coming away with lessons learned from each.

Harris concedes that most intelligently difficult games are much older, and typically don't have a "lose" condition. The list includes hair-pulling classics like Defender, Sinistar, and Lode Runner, as well as a few more recent titles like Super Monkey Ball. It's a good read for anyone interested in game design.

John Harris also writes the excellent @Play column for GameSetWatch, which focuses on a long history of games classified as "roguelikes."

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[via] Joystiq

Joystiq interviews FarCry 2's Clint Hocking

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters, Interviews

Ubisoft's Clint Hocking made a special trip to PAX this year to show off his latest project: FarCry 2. But this isn't your run-of-the-mill FPS sequel, as our liveblog of the demo details, but an ambitious open-world shooter set in the exotic locale of the African Savannah. We were lucky to grab a couple minutes of Clint's time following the demo for an interview where we asked about the FarCry brand, the possibility of console ports, and how long they think this open-ended game will take to finish.

Why use the FarCry brand to make this game?

Well, I think that's kind of a business question for Ubisoft but my answer to that is, Ubisoft started with FarCry, published it and obviously started making the console games. The same time they were doing that - keep in mind I started conception before FarCry Instincts even shipped. They were in production when I started conception. And Ubisoft knew at that time that they wanted a top tier PC sequel. At the same time they knew about FarCry; at that time Boiling Point was announced; we didn't know about Just Cause; they knew they were going to make at least two sequels on the console; LOST was on TV. Literally they said, "We're worried that we're going to dry up this brand."

Gallery: FarCry 2

Continue reading Joystiq interviews FarCry 2's Clint Hocking

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Confirmed: LocoRoco PS3 is a screensaver

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action, Adventure, Online

Rumor has it LocoRoco Cocoreccho is not a game, but a downloadable PS3 screensaver. Now Sony says it true, according to IGN. But the pseudo-sequel isn't characterized by passive voyeurism, rather it's a fully-interactive, uh, 'game' -- complete with objectives and an online leaderboard. Contrary to previous observation, SixAxis tilts will be used to manipulate the gameworld and guide up to 200 on-screen blobs, and Cocoreccho, the butterfly, is actually an automated guide (not the player's character). The real mystery now is what makes LocoRoco a screensaver. Will it launch automatically when the PS3 is idle; when a game or movie is paused? Could this be the start of a new initiative to knit PSN games into a seamless PS3 experience in which taking a "casual" break doesn't mean quitting to the XMB? We certainly hope so.

LocoRoco will be available on Japan's PSN September 21st. North American and European release dates have yet to be assigned.

Update: MTV's Stephen Totilo has gotten his hands on LocoRoco, and, while he's equally puzzled about the screensaver functionality (and even unsure it's true -- his demo launched from the XMB), he is able to clarify the core gameplay controls: Players do control the fluttering Cocoreccho and use the left analog stick to guide the butterfly -- titling the gameworld with SixAxis motions was not possible during Totilo's playtest. However, shaking the SixAxis when hovering above a key object does trigger certain gameworld alterations.

According to Totilo, LocoRoco is almost "an old-school point-and-click adventure game. We used the butterfly as a mouse pointer and utilized shakes of the Sixaxis controller in place of probing mouse clicks."

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[via] Joystiq

Take-Two warns Jack Thompson to back down ... again

Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii

And the Jack came back, the very next day. Yes, the Jack came back, they thought he was a goner, but the Jack came back -- he just couldn't stay away. In April, Jack Thompson entered into an agreement with Take-Two to essentially back down from his constant harassment of them, in exchange they would not continue their legal actions which could get him jailed or disbarred. In late June, the signs were already there that the agreement was starting to fall apart. Now GamePolitics has an exchange between Take-Two and Thompson, which Thompson made public, showing how the original agreement meant nothing.

If you've never witnessed a Thompson email exchange, you should definitely head over to GP and soak in the madness and try to hold back saying aloud, "You must be kidding me?" The exchange is between Thompson and Gena Feist, Take-Two's VP and Associate General Counsel. Thompson says some inflammatory things, Feist responds -- eventually getting to the point where she knows she can't reason with him. Feist writes, "We entered into the settlement agreement because we did not want to engage in unnecessary litigation with you, but I assure you that we will enforce the terms of the agreement if necessary and that any suit will include a claim for our legal fees under paragraph 11." That's legal talk for "sit down and shut up." Maybe with all the BioShock money Take-Two is making they can afford to finally end this legal bout once and for all.

Oh, and in case you have no idea where the image comes from, we've placed the video after the break. We find it appropriate.

Continue reading Take-Two warns Jack Thompson to back down ... again

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[via] Joystiq

PS3 version of Haze is 'currently' the only one in development

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

There's been some confusion surrounding the exclusivity status of Free Radical's upcoming shooter, Haze. First, the publisher announced it would be leading on PS3, though the developer confirmed that the game was being built with all platforms in mind. The following month, an Ubisoft release list showed the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Haze following the PS3 version by just one week ... but they later pulled both of those versions from the list entirely stating that the PlayStation 3 was "the only confirmed platform."

Of course, this all sounds a little too much like the mess surrounding Assassin's Creed's exclusivity (also courtesy of Ubisoft). Adding to the mystery today, GameSpot UK writes, "Ubisoft said that currently no other versions [are] in development, and although it was still leaving the door open in the future for 'new partnerships,' currently the game is indeed only planned for the PS3." So, what about the previously planned for Xbox 360 and PC versions? Ubisoft says, "The official statement on PC and Xbox 360 is that these platforms are not confirmed." If they're not confirmed, and not being "currently" developed for (despite what Free Radical may have been doing previously) then it sounds like Haze may be skipping Microsoft's one-two punch for now. How about a straight answer, Ubi?

Gallery: Haze

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[via] Joystiq

HDMI Xbox 360 Pro missing audio adapter, what to do?

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

If you or a loved one have been thinking of trading that glitchy Xbox 360 console for one of the newer HDMI-equipped models with the (thus far) more reliable Zephyr motherboard, you should be aware of what isn't included in this offering. While the premium experience of the Xbox 360 Elite nets you that 120GB hard drive and "elite" black casing, it also buys you an HDMI cable and an "audio adapter connector" that extracts either stereo or digital audio out of the box, if you're not into the whole HDMI audio thing.

There are two solutions for those of you with external stereo systems that don't support HDMI: 1) Buy the $50 HDMI cable with adapter or 2) switch your HDTV's audio setting to reroute audio from the internal speakers out to the stereo, as described by Joe Hutsko. If your setup requires the $50 adapter (with HDMI cable!), you can either consider the Elite and its massive hard drive for only $50 more or just hit eBay for someone else's leftovers. Just sayin'.

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[via] Joystiq

Stranglehold slips again on PC, PS3

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Guy with two guns epic Stranglehold is still struggling to get a grip on the PS3 and PC, with both versions facing delays just as the Xbox 360 version sees completion. Inspector Tequila's seething vendetta against neatly stacked grocery stands begins on the Xbox 360 September 5th (September 14th in Europe), with the PC version now following on September 18th in the US and the 21st in Europe.

Shacknews reports that the PS3 version of the bullet bonanza is now scheduled for release on September 25th, which translates to an imprecise "October" for Europe.

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[via] Joystiq