Bring my Girl Back!

I've been trying to actualy play Dead Space 2, which I purchased a couple weeks ago on sale at Amazon and, despite being quite good, I'm only about 2.5 hours in to it. I can't really tell you why except it really just hasn't grabbed me. Don't get me wrong, it really is a well made game. The graphics are fantastic, the pacing and level design are far superior to it's predecessor, I like that Issac (the protagonist and PC)is a person who speaks and has a face, and I really jumped at the morgue thing (you know what I mean if you played the game). It's also technologically functional, which is a lot more than other games released recently can say. Problem is there are, and have been so many good shooters released in the last few years it really takes a great shooter to suck me in (here's hoping!).

With that said I have been succumbing to one-more-term-itis this weekend, but I did think of an ancient franchise that really would make a fantastic, actually mature title and would sell very well on it's own license. That game would be a new, mature "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

Anyone who is around my age (28) spent plenty of time with the game as a child. Developed by long defunct Broderbund Software, I spent hours playing on my Apple IIc as a child. The game was great; it was new every round which added crazy replay, had a compelling and mysterious antagonist, and actually taught me a lot about the world without me even realizing it. The game also challenged you to think; which is a lot more than can be said about most titles these days. Also if you are older that 23 you immediately heard the theme song to the crappy quiz show in your head. You know that just happend (do it Rockapella)!

So how on Earth would a kids game, over 20 years old, be revived as a "mature" title? Well journey with me here. You have a concept based around chasing an arch criminal around the world and dismantling her international crime syndicate. You have just about any exotic setting you could want. You work for Interpol. The main demo for games (males and females 24 to 38) already know and probably have a favorable view of the franchise. There are also so many ways you can go plot wise.

Rat in Interpol? Foiling heists? Tracking associates around the world of course. Crazy action sequences and interrogation sequences, puzzle solving, etc.

There are also a couple different ways you could go gameplay mechanic wise too. I see it mostly as Elder Scrolls meets Uncharted. Definitely a lot of exploration and NPC interaction, but you definitely need the scripted action sequences. You can't have THAT open a world in the traditional GTA/TES tradition, but you have a lot of smaller levels based in 20 or 30 cities around the world.

Would you buy that? I definitely would!

What does Dead Space 2 say about Gamers?

EA’s Visceral Games has recently released the highly anticipated sequel to their 2008 space thriller (I wouldn’t go so far as to call it survival horror but that’s another rant) Dead Space to critical acclaim. Despite the pacing and atmosphere being more jumpy than scary I really enjoyed the first entry in the series. It was a very solid 3^rd person shooter, reasonably (but not remarkably) well written, and technically flawless. Bottom line it was a blast running around the Ishumura and blasting a bunch of weird alien like things limb’s off.

Like most people who enjoyed Dead Space I was very interested in playing the sequel. I enjoyed the full Isaac Clark costume they had to promote the game at last year’s PAX East, and in general appreciated the overall design philosophy that went into the game. I haven’t played it yet though because I have been struggling with the dilemma of supporting bad marketing and what Visceral and EA are doing and think about me through their marketing campaign.

The tag line for the game is “Your mom wouldn’t approve of this.” They have aired commercials on national television of crotchety looking old ladies going on about how it is so violent and disagreeable to them as an attempt to appeal to me, video games core audience of 24 to 38 year old males, to be more enticed to buy the game at full price.

I have 2 main issues with this campaign. The first being the obvious; I like my mom. She was kind enough to bring me in to this world and raise me with enough finesse for me not to require massive amount of therapy (debatable) or jail time. In my book that is a win. I would hope that enough professional 20 something’s like myself would have the same reaction. Second the commercial calls the game “violent, gory, and everything that you (I) would want in a game.” Now, like anyone who enjoys art and especially video games, I don’t mind violence one bit as long as there is a purpose. Violence for the sake of violence never makes a fun game. Ultimately, when done right where the violence is merely a result of the game world, mechanics, and writing, it is really a blast. Heck many of the best selling video games of all time, like Guitar Hero, the Sims, the Wii Sports games, and Tetris feature no gore or violence.

I think that Take 2 and Rockstar hit a home run marketing their GTA franchise and they have set the benchmark for marketing a violent video game to it's intended audience.

What does this marketing campaign really say about the attitude and perception of it’s consumer base for a game like Dead Space 2? Are we all just slobbering monsters who crave only the most graphic and depraved images? Are our escapist fantasies so enveloped in the act of gratuitous violence and not in the meaning and purpose behind it (being for noble or nefarious causes)? Do EA and Visceral think that this is the strongest selling point of their IP?

Now I have been wrestling with this dilemma. I know I will enjoy the game and it would probably, under normal circumstances, warrant a full price purchase for me. Can I, however, reward such a terrible view from the developer and publisher? It is not exactly Visceral Game’s first offense.