Archive for category gamespot
Brighton Games Developers – Relentless and Black Rock
Posted by guycocker in gamespot, video games on September 16, 2008
Today, I headed to Brighton to visit two development houses that were born in the city. Relentless Software are probably best known for the Buzz! series, of which I’m a huge fan, while Black Rock Studio is behind Pure, which is looking like it could be the sleeper hit of the winter.
We managed to see how the Buzz! team is currently expanding on the first PS3 game with PlayStation Eye features, allowing people to take photos as they beat people around the world. Then it was 100m down the road to Black Rock, with their very impressive new racing game Pure. As a fan of stunt-based racers like Motorcross Madness, I can’t wait to play more of this incredibly polished racer.
Aside from the seeing the games, it was great to spend the day hanging out in a game-making environment. Relentless and Black Rock may be close enough to see into each other’s windows, but they’re very different companies too. Relentless has enjoyed massive success making casual games, and perhaps reflecting this emerging market, the studio imposes a strict 9-5 working day for its employees. Black Rock, personally selected by Disney head Robert Iger to push the company further into the videogame market, has a more traditional feel but still retains an element of fun. There’s free ice cream on hand, toys in the meeting rooms, and Black Rock-branded sweets in the form of…well, black sticks of rock. They are in Brighton, after all.
What both teams had in common though was a genuine sense of passion and energy for their respective titles–these are definitely places we could have spent longer at. Finally, it was great to see GameSpot user WillMorkai join us for the Relentless visit, who won after entering a competition on our forums. Relentless spent time explaining game development to Will, and they seemed to be genuinely interested in discovering his opinions about the games market. As a potential games programmer, I wouldn’t be surprised if young Will finds himself at Relentless Software again sometime in the future.
In short, it’s days like these that make you glad you’re working in the games industry. Our Brighton special edition of Start/Select will be up on Friday, so stay tuned for our full interviews with these two leading studios. In the meantime, here are some photos I took of the day.
Wipeout HD Videos
Posted by guycocker in gamespot, video games on September 15, 2008
I spent a good majority of my day today playing through Wipeout HD on the PlayStation 3. The game plays really well, with improved handling since I encountered it earlier in the year. I’d say I made it about halfway through the single-player campaign during the day, the highlight of which was becoming the number one ranked player in the world in a number of races. Sadly, I doubt that will last even ten minutes once the game is released later this month.
Anyway, I took a number of videos as I was playing, so ahead of the review, gorge yourself on some of these rather fine videos for a taste of the finished game.
New GameSpot Videos
Posted by guycocker in gamespot, video games on August 24, 2008
It’s been a big week for me, with trips to see Codemasters followed by Leipzig in Germany. Here are a couple of videos from my experience.
Swapping bloodshed for psychological violence
Posted by guycocker in gamespot, video games on August 11, 2008
When life-like virtual reality is finally invented, we’ll all just plug ourselves in, feed through a straw and forget the real world ever existed. Until that glorious da though, we still have the thorny issue of game censorship to contend with. Here’s an article I wrote for The Telegraph, just as Rule of Rose was hitting the front pages. I also went on Sky News to defend a game I didn’t even like against the tirade of an ill-informed Italian government official. Strange times indeed.
Originally printed in The Telegraph, 25th November 2006.
A controversial game is trying to break new ground, says Guy Cocker
Last week, the issues surrounding violent video games were raised again thanks to PlayStation 2′s Rule of Rose, the pretty revolting Japanese survival horror title that sees a 19-year-old girl tortured and humiliated by a group of children.
Within the first hour, players will see a victim bound and gagged while a rat is thrust into her face, while sexual undertones run throughout.
On paper, it’s easy to see why there have been calls for the game to be banned and following negative publicity, the developer, 505 Games, has abandoned plans for its UK release. However, it’s readily available on non-UK-based retail websites for anyone to buy. It raises questions concerning the classification of games with mature content. While the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) body makes age recommendations for interactive software, submittal is voluntary and the results aren’t legally binding. Although Rule of Rose was presented with a PEGI 16+ rating, there’s nothing to stop children from buying the game.
Of course, the same child could also buy an album filled with profanity, or a book containing sexually explicit material. While I’d hope that a responsible sales assistant would refuse to sell any of those items to a minor, the current system needs to be updated to classify games with mature subject matter properly.
Part of this responsibility lies with the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Its rating system legally prevents under-age people from buying restricted material, but the BBFC currently only assesses video games that are voluntarily submitted to it. Even then, the classification guidelines only cover games with “human sexual activity, human genital organs or gross acts of violence”.
Rule of Rose wasn’t submitted to the BBFC, but as it only contains implied sexuality and psychological violence, it’s unlikely that it would have received a rating. The irony is that most explicit video games wear their “18″ BBFC rating like a badge of honour – a way of attracting violence-obsessed gamers to a mediocre title.
Critics derided games such as The Punisher and Postal, but their brutality helped them to sell millions of copies. The Punisher allowed players to use guns, knives and animals to torture foes, while Postal offers the chance to use a stun gun on victims to the point where they urinate themselves.
As with the Grand Theft Auto series, the controversy surrounding Rule of Rose will only help it to gain more sales. Unlike Grand Theft Auto, though, Rule of Rose is undeserving of its imminent success: if players dig into the game, they will find it is nearly as boring as it is annoying to play.
What Rule of Rose is noteworthy for is proving that video games are moving beyond simple brutality and experimenting with more challenging themes. Despite preconceptions, video gamers aren’t teenage boys any more: the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association says their average age is 23. While the blood and gore of The Punisher will satisfy many, it’s the same disposable cartoon violence found in a Hollywood action film. I look forward to seeing a talented game developer take on a project with David Lynch sensibilities.
When games start to use atmosphere and threat instead of snipers and chainsaws, it will be more memorable than any number of high-definition exploding head-shots.
Start/Select 20: Cooking Guide, Red Alert 3 and Crysis Warhead
Posted by guycocker in gamespot, video games on August 9, 2008
In this brand new edition of Start/Select, me and Alex put the new Nintendo Cooking Guide through its paces, and we head over to EA to speak to the developers of Red Alert 3 and Crysis Warhead.We love getting feedback about the show, so head over to the Start/Select homepage to tell us what you think.
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