N’Gai Croal has a dissection of a fisking of a rebuttal that kicks up the “are video games art” question with more of the usual round and round. In a strange twist I happen to respect all three of the principals in this little drama, but reading all this spilled ink as we dig deeper into metaphor, hyperbole and concept definition a single thought rises above the rest until everything is but a hum:
What difference does it make?
The beginning of August, which marks the first month of the $60 a Month experiment, is nigh. That means it’s time to evaluate some forthcoming titles and get a basic plan of attack going for the month ahead. Normally this post would also include a recap of how I did with the previous month’s budget, but since we haven’t begun yet, that will start next time. Meanwhile, hit the jump for what’s in store over the next four weeks.
I’ve had an eclectic weekend, gaming-wise. I picked up a couple of new DS games, finished off a 360 title, tried some demos, started an old classic I never quite made it all the way through and revisited an XBLA game I had nearly forgotten about. I also found out who my next Warhammer opponent is going to be and started thinking about a new role-playing mini-campaign I’d like to write up so hit the jump for all-over-the-map fun.
This weekend was marked by a lot of catch-up sleeping, some social interaction, a bit of physical activity (ie exercise) and some long-neglected household projects. Essentially, all those things I typically push aside in favor of playing games. But fortunately all was not lost and despite the yawning emergence of a rough, sketchy life like a bear from a hybernation I did manage to squeeze in a bit of geek.
Back before she was a media empire unto her own, I used to watch this weird little show on Food Network called “$40 a Day” in which an insanely perky woman named Rachael Ray visited various towns and tried to dine out for a whole day with just forty bucks. Eventually Ms. Ray became a household name with something obscene like sixteen different shows on the air, books, magazines and so forth and really wore out her welcome on my TV at least.
But this is not about Rachael Ray.
Granted, the premise of $40 a Day was kind of arbitrary: Obviously she was filming a TV show and we can safely assume she didn’t pay for her airfare around the country out of her own pocket so why she was limited to a couple of twenties was never adequately explained. But the idea of working within strict parameters and trying to make the most of limited resources appeals to me.
Enter gaming. I play a lot of games. When you boil it right down, every single one of my hobbies and pastimes is in some way or another related to playing games. But the one universal truth about games of all varieties is that they are expensive. When you consider my interest in video games, board games, role-playing games, tabletop wargames, collectible card games and even social games like darts and pool, it’s easy to see how quickly my paychecks can vanish when left unbridled.
So beginning next month (August 2007), I’m starting an experiment in the spirit of Rachael Ray’s show about dining out: I’ll call it $60 a Month, and I invite you to join me on my little quest.
I must begin by apologizing for the silence on Tunnels of Doom this past week; a family emergency pulled me away from my normal activities for a time (inconveniently right as E3 began). But I didn’t spend the entire week or so in a bubble and I did play quite a few games during that time, and I also was able to somewhat follow the E3 brouhaha so expect an E3 impression post later and for now let’s talk about my week of sporadic gaming.
Because of the strange circumstances, it was actually easier for me to do my gaming portable-style so you’ll note a remarkable increase in DS titles mentioned here as opposed to the usual XBox 360 onslaught. I got some XBox action in there, too, but primarily it was all about the stylus in this supersized, seven-day Gaming Weekend.
Finally some tabletop gaming to write about, as well as more video games, a discussion on “girly” games and a Gamerscore milestone. Hit the jump!
The original name was “Revolution.” Perhaps it seemed a bit too bold, maybe a little too hyperbolic for their taste. But for the system that eventually became known as the Wii, the idea seems to have been pervasive from the very beginning: Do something new and different. Do something that is innovative; create a new framework for games.
It didn’t start with the Revolution, of course. Nintendo has been thinking about this for some time now. They’ve been talking this kind of new and unique experience thing since before the DS was little more than a gleam in their collective eye. Certainly from a completely functional and feature set perspective, this is exactly what they’ve done: Two screens on a handheld, one of them stylus-driven touch sensitive; included microphone on a handheld; a console with wireless, TV remote-style controllers using motion sensitivity and a separate attachment for a basic analog stick; a controller with a speaker in it. The list goes on. From a hardware design perspective, no one can argue that Nintendo is thinking outside the box.
Clearly Nintendo desires that these products be thought of as wildly creative, paradigm-shifting advancements in the world of video games. The conceptual push behind them is a desire to tap new corners of the market and appeal to people who don’t think of themselves as gamers, to broaden their user base to folks who would never consider playing—much less purchasing—a PSP or an XBox 360. In the meantime their words to the devoted hard core gamer amounts to “Plus, we’re offering you experiences you can’t get anywhere else.” Obviously Nintendo thinks they’re being as inclusive as possible and—oh, while they’re at it—revolutionizing video games.
Oh really?
Before I expound on my gaming activities over the past three days, I should preface it by saying that the amount of diversity depicted here comes courtesy of GameZnFlix. I posted a while back that GameFly’s rate changes and shipping issues were causing me to sour on their otherwise stellar service. Ultimately my concerns fell on deaf ears and they showed no desire to try and reach out to me so I reluctantly canceled my account. I also mentioned that the alternatives weren’t ideal but eventually I decided to try GameZnFlix because they seemed to have the least online vitriol pointed at them and I was able to find a coupon code (EMMYS, in case you’re curious) that made the three game package significantly cheaper than even the one-game deal at GameFly (about $13 versus $17).
I had some initial trouble with the registration process: They use an address verification system that spit cryptic error messages at me about my credit card’s billing address not matching what I entered. Eventually I used my wife’s card and for whatever reason that went through. Also, just to get the down sides out of the way up front, I found that their site isn’t very feature-complete nor is it particularly easy to navigate and their selection of games (well, at least their 360 games) is kind of limited. Still, there are enough games in there that are worth the small fee to fill a queue with twenty games plus another half dozen that are listed as being “on order” so even if I only hang on to the service for a few months, I should get some good money’s worth out of it. What has so far impressed the heck out of me is that I confirmed the order Wednesday night and by Friday afternoon I already had my games in the mailbox. So whatever GameFly is doing, it seems clear to me now that they could be doing it better.
It’s too early to call this a recommendation but in the short time I’ve been a customer, I’ve been pretty happy with what matters the most: Getting some new games to play. Now if they could just do something about their name: Shouldn’t the spelling be GamezNFlix? What significance does the capital Z have?
Read on for talk about the actual games.