Two Days Off, A DSi, and a Whole Lot of Clean Up

It's been a very relaxing few days since the end of the Beacon summer session, and I've made it a priority to take advantage of the downtime, finally enjoying my vacation. Then again, vacation is a pretty relative term here coonsidering the amount of leisurly stuff I did while I was "working". The Beacon Summer Program went to the movies, visited the Academy of Science, walked the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and went on a pretty kick ass camping trip.

In fact, I really can't follow up that kind of experience with much of anything so far. The last few days have been alright but today was especially boring (filled with dastardly chores; the kind that haven't been done in weeks).

Still, I'll admit that the downtime was needed. No one likes to work year round, least of all me. Thursday we had an impromptu reunion of volunteer Beacon Staff at the Best Buy over on Harrison. A bunch of the cool kids (ATF!) invited me to go with them as they eagerly scouted the electronics giant for a worthwhile item to spend their prized $100 gift cards.

And I walked into Best Buy with my a mission of my own - to not buy a Nintendo DSi. And I failed miserably.

So, why wouldn't I want a Nintendo DSi, you ask? This is especially puzzling if you actually know me in real life, and know what a champion for the games industry I tend to be. The truth is, I wasn't interested in any of the little things: the smoother matte finish on the device, the smarter menu design, the bigger screens, and the (low quality) cameras were all wasted on me.

Instead, the purchase of my DSi came down to the potential of Nintendo's downloadable games. Say what you like about the format, but downloadable games are the future of the industry. Yes, they're smaller budget, and these games are no where as visually polished as currnet gen console stuff, but the focus in developing downloadable games tends to shift to just being fun and entertaining.

I did take pictures with the camera though, and there is something oddly fun to be said about manipulating photos on the device. I'd proabably have to pay to do this on my iPhone 3G, or try a series of different apps before settling on the right one.

So the greater question is, what will I do with my DS Lite? It still has a GBA slot for the old school great games of Gameboy's past. Someone I know even mentioned getting an R4 for it, but I haven't decided if I really want to take that route yet.

Besides becoming the proud owner of a DSi, nothing else really happened on my vacation so far besides a lot of cleaning. Oh, and I started re-playing a Japanese RPG called "The World Ends With You" on my new DSi; that and a downloadable Brain Age Math game have been keeping me pretty busy.

I can only hope the rest of my vacation turns out to be more interesting.

Game Diary - August 9, 2008

Shamefully, I haven't had a single entry in this game diary for weeks. And that isn't due to a lack of playing games. I've just been a little too burned out to write about them. I'd try and play catch up, but there really isn't a point to focusing on the games I've played in the past few weeks. Instead, I'll just focus on today.

So downloadable games have my undivided attention thin month. And I'm totally fine with that considering the quality level. Last week, mentioned how infuriating it was for me to play Geometry Wars 2. But instead of seeking out anger management classes, I just took some time off and played it today for the first time since. Kyle Orland, of Joystiq, is still beating the crap out of my scores, but I'll live. And I even came close to topping him today, twice.

The mode that did manage to mess with my blood pressure wa Pacisfism - the mode that everybody is talking about these days where your object to avoid the blue diamond-shaped enemies, and fly through gates that will blow them up when they get close.

While listening to an awesome 1UP Yours, I reached my new best of 35,000,000. Kyle's 44,000,000 is just within reach, an he's my only target since no one on my Xbox friends list has bought the game yet.

"Braid" is only other game keeping me busy, and it's worthy of incredible praise. This is truly a magnificent experience that draws from every traditional platformer I've played since my Super Mario Bros. days on the NES. The water colored art, the thematic play mechanics of each level, and the carefully crafted puzzles have helped me to really appreciate smart game design.

I finished it today, collecting all the puzzle pieces (and I feel quite sheepish that I had to cheat to get one of them). I don't know what I think of the ending yet, it was... not something I understand right now (it's 5 am on a Saturday) so I'll have to dissect it in my head tomorrow when I can be more coherent.

Next week: Signing up for a second semester at Bullworth Academy for Bully: Scholarship Edition.

The Summer Crop of Downloadable Games

In gaming circles, August is typically known for only one release, John Madden Football two-thuosand-and-whatever. Naturally the great gridiron simulator returns both new and improved, but this is usually the only big release we see in August, as the summer months come to an inevitable close and the rush of quality holiday titles begin to storm into the release calendar year.

Last year was more of the same, Madden was on the way. But one thing was different. 2K Boston (or Marin, whatever) and Take Two released Bioshock, a game that rocked the emotional storytelling boat like no other in the genre (or about as well as System Shock II did years prior). Wave of enthusiasm and praise swept across our industry, as more and more people the unprecedented depth of BioShock.

Both Madden and BioShock were the prelude of the incredible lineup that was released in the fall of 2007. That year will stand out as a remarkable year that included a list of marquee games including: The Orange Box, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted, and more.

But fast forward to August of 2008, and there is a much different picture in place. The release calendar for August might be missing a game as rich as BioShock, but there are a plethora of quality downladble games - a much different picture indeed from 2008's usual fare.

This month the downloadable games just keep coming, each presenting another unique take on the concept of smaller focused games with lighter financial risk. "Braid", "Bionic Commando: Rearmed", "Castle Crashers", "PixelJunk Eden", and "Geometry Wars 2" (along with Siren: Blood Curse) represent a new growing market in the game publishing buisness - the self-published downloadable games sector of the video game business. These are the projects that might not survive as a retail disc, or would become dismissed or bloated and unoriginal by the traditional standard of retail packaged games. They are lighter on content, but more focused entertainment experiences. They deserve your attention and your dollars because of their unique nature.

This year, you won't find a smarter platformer than "Braid", or a more soothing graphcal aesthetic than "PixelJunk Eden".

Ladies and Gentlemen, digitally distributed games are here, and their quality stock is only getting better.