Daddy Gamer

Spy Hunter was one of my favorites games in the early 80’s. This commercial brings back a lot of memories.

There’s nothing that disgust me more than hearing a mouse-peep voice of a child playing online against grown adults. Profanity, bodily functions and other homo-erotic expletives abound in most online multiplayer war games such as Call of Duty 4. Of course, the “adults” in the online room gang-up on the child who, beyond the cuss-words, found it hard to put together a complete sentence to retaliate against the verbal attacks. I tried to make the others aware that they’re talking to a child. I asked, “Are you in eight grade?” The kid replied, “No. I’m in seventh.” Next thing you hear, “Go to school little boy!” I wondered where his parents were at 11 in the morning on a Tuesday.

Chris Kramer from Capcom asked me to check out this new trailer for their upcoming Street Fighter IV video game. He said the theme is water color and showcases the battle between Chun-Li and, the new Street Fighter character, Crimson Viper.

Message to Chris:

The visuals are stunning. Why not make a movie using this water color technique? Forget the actors and actresses for the movie. I’d be first in line to watch it. Guaranteed!

[Word on the street]

Some of the forums are already being critical about the game’s graphics as being two-dimensional. I beg to differ. From the gameplay I’ve seen, Street Fighter IV is far from being a 2D game. On the contrary, the animation and graphic style makes it less intimidating and more inviting to a majority of gamers like myself. I’d be more inclined to pick this game up because of it’s beauty and simplicity. I’m just hoping that the gameplay is up to par to the Street Fighter versions I’ve played in the past.

[Street Fighter IV gameplay]

$3.89 per gallon is killing me. My car gets 30 miles/gallon but that doesn’t help me. I’m just glad that I didn’t get the V8 Mustang that I was eyeing. That would have hurt even more. The traffic on interstate 680 or 580 or 880 won’t help either. I remember when gas prices were 75 cents a gallon back in the 80’s. I miss those days. My buddies and I would jump in my lawn-green hooptie, Datsun 510, drive around town, cruise on Castro Valley Boulevard, and let the car idle in the parking lot. I don’t think we’d be doing that today with these gas prices.

Then again, we didn’t have online gaming like we do today. Hours of World of Warcraft or Call of Duty 4 matches should wee away the time effectively. Less time cruising and driving to the malls means less money spent on fuel AND no CO2 emissions to our very delicate ozone layer. Dang it. I just gave WoW and multiplayer fan-boys another excuse to stay indoors. And this one is pretty good.

It’s not enough to make billions of dollars selling video games. PC and video game companies are also looking into creative ways to get the most out of their titles. I’m seeing a lot of revenue models being tested and I’m not really sure how they’re going to pan out.
[Out of left field]

Kwari, based out of Gibraltar, plans to make money buy selling ammo to players of their online first-person shooter, Kwari. The plan is to hook gamers into making cash as they takedown other players and acquire items in the mayhem. The concept is very intriguing from a technical standpoint but I’m not intrigued enough to jump in as a gamer. Plus, Kwari is not available to U.S. gamers at this time.

Cheating will always be a factor when you start throwing money in the mix. Kwari states that their Big World game engine and security test framework should weed out this issue. Hmmmm… impregnable cheat blocker? *thinking* Let’s not forget the gambling implications. Players are not only shooting for points and rankings but are also forking out the ante by buying ammo in the hopes of acquiring cash and the big pot.

[Freemium games]

Ahhh… here comes the buzz words! IGA, Id’s advergaming partner actually coined this term to say free-to-play premium games. I CAP’ed (cut-and-pasted) this from Id’s press release:

QUAKE LIVE offers game players of all skill levels a totally free and easily accessible multiplayer game and community through a single website at quakelive.com. Every element of the experience, including friends lists and communication, sponsored events and tournaments, matchmaking, stats tracking, and even the game itself is accessed and delivered free of charge through the web browser.

Quake via a web browser powered by advertising? I think this is a viable, more acceptable revenue model. We do this now with TV shows. Why not video games? And as long as I’m not firing Pepsi bottle caps at my opponents or peppering them with Burger King french fries, I think I can live with advertising in my free premium games.