Negotiation and the Video Game Industry

Image courtesy of StrategicPartnerships

Deal-making is a key aspect of every business. In the video game industry, the situations and issues that require negotiation may be different than in other forms of entertainment, but the techniques used remain the same. Below are summaries of three videos that discuss various negotiation techniques as well as how the techniques they discuss apply to the world of video games.

Margaret Neale - Negotiation: Getting What You Want [Link]

Mrs. Neale, who is a professor of management at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, discusses the four steps she believes will help anyone succeed in any negotiation scenario. The steps are as follows:

1. Assess - Gain a thorough understanding of the situation. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
2. Prepare - Research every side of the issue before starting. Understand your own interests as well as the interests of your opponent.
3. Ask - Engage with your opposition (politely, of course) and ask meaningful questions.
4. Package - Bundle up all of the issues of the negotiation as well as your desires in order to make it more appealing to your opponent.

Of those four steps, the second is perhaps the most important. One of the most important rules to follow in negotiating is to be able to separate the people from the problem. In preparing for your negotiation, you not only have to understand what the issue at hand is, but also know where your opponent is coming from and what they want out of the deal. That is key if you want to keep the discussion on the issue and not on demands.

When a developer makes a game, it is very common that they seek out a publishing partner in order to get their product to make it to market. Negotiations between developer and publisher usually revolve around money, as most negotiations do. In situations like that, the publisher needs to understand where the developer is coming from. A video game developer usually does not have enough internal funding to release the game by themselves, which is why they seek a publishing partner in the first place. The games they make are their lifeblood, and if they fail to find a way into gamer's hands, the studio will likely shut down. Publishers (like EA, UbiSoft, Activision, and Warner Bros., among others) are large corporations with lots of money and can usually withstand a few financial failures, so they have less at stake in this kind of negotiations. Luckily, today there are multiple ways to get a video game released (for better or worse) and negotiations like that do not even have to take place.

Stan Christensen - The Art of Negotiation [Link]

As an investment banker, Mr. Christensen has done his fair share of negotiating. He states that negotiation is all about effective relationship management, meaning that all good negotiators are able to maintain some sort of relationship with the person they are discussing terms with. Communication is key to develop meaningful relationships, and he stresses the fact that no negotiation can ever reach a successful end without both sides knowing who they are, what they want, and how the other thinks, acts, and feels. He also mentions the role objective criteria plays in negotiation. He stressed the importance of basing decisions on industry standards or well-known information rather than what you want or what the other party wants. To me, he is not saying to ignore your opponent's desires or demands completely, but to use outside sources to help guide your final decision to a mutually beneficial end. You cannot misinterpret demands as fact.

The wonderful thing about the video game industry is that there is a wealth of information on just about every aspect of it. Say a game studio is entering talks with a major gaming company (like Microsoft) about potentially being bought by them and made a first-party, in-house developer. A small developer being bought by a major company is something that happens all the time, and the outcomes vary greatly. Some times the developer is broken up and absorbed into other studios, and some times the developer remains intact. Depending on what the developer wants out of the negotiation, they have a lot of information to help ground the discussion in truth and help their cause.

The video game industry is all about relationships, primarily those between developers and gamers and between developers and publishers. For a developer to sell their game, either to a publisher or a gamer, they have to be able to explain why their product is important and worth playing. Gaming, in a sense, is all about trust. Gamers are a finicky crowd, and without trust and communication, no developer can stay alive for very long.

Negotiating Strategies and Tactics [Link]

The speaker in this video, Brian Tracy, talks about the various skills a person must have in order to be able to become a good negotiator. Without actually using the term, he discusses the importance of BATNAs in a negotiation (he refers to them simply as "options"). He states that a good negotiator develops many options for themselves, as that gives them more power. Preparation plays an important part in developing a BATNA since you have to think of every possible angle you can take in regards to the issue you are discussing and the solution you want. It is important to have more than one alternative to fall back on in case a negotiation falls apart.

In the video game industry, there are many options to choose from when it comes to releasing a game and playing one. As a developer, if negotiation with a potential publisher fails, the developer could use Kickstarter or IndieGoGo to raise funds. Another option would be to use the Steam Greenlight program, a platform where gamers vote for the games they want to see receive a full retail or digital release. Today, there are more ways than ever for a game to see release. So if negotiations with publishers fall apart, the fate of game developers is not entirely sealed.

Best of 2014 - Number 1

Sunset Overdrive

Insomniac Games
Xbox One

- - -

If you read my review, you would know that I absolutely loved Insomniac Games' post-apocalyptic shoot-em-up Sunset Overdrive. It's a game that doesn't apologize for what it is, nor does it pretend like it's anything less than a big, dumb action game where stuff blows up a lot. And that's exactly what you'll spend 90% or so of your time doing in Sunset Overdrive: going from Point A to Point B blowing stuff up. With cool guns, no less! But it's how you get from Point A to Point B that makes Sunset Overdrive so special. Remember as a kid when you'd jump around the living room furniture pretending that the floor was lava? Well, that's what Sunset Overdrive evokes those memories as you grind, zip-line, and wall run your way across the expansive Sunset City, blasting every last mutant, human scavenger, and robot in sight. Oh, and it also has a killer soundtrack. But what I love most about Sunset Overdrive is the fact that it's just plain fun. And it never, ever stops being fun, even after the credits roll.

There was never any doubt in my mind that Sunset Overdrive would land on the top of my "Best Of" list for 2014. It's the kind of experience that represents everything I love about video games. Sure, its in your face humor could definitely be a turn-off for some people, but it's unapologetic attitude and punk rock aesthetic were right up my ally. In a gaming year that felt empty and broken, Sunset Overdrive kicked down the door and reminded everyone why we play video games: to have fun. There was never a single second during the nearly 15 hours I spent saving Sunset City from disaster that I wasn't having fun. I wore a big, dumb smile the entire time. And for that, I can proudly and confidently name Sunset Overdrive the best game I played in 2014.

Best of 2014 - Number 2

Transistor

Supergiant Games

PS4, PC

- - -

Transistor is a game that has yet to leave me. That speaks to just how tight and remarkable an experience it provides, and a testament to the talents of developer Supergiant Games. It's the best gaming narrative of 2014, as it weaves a beautifully realized and emotional story throughout its moderately short six hour running time. But fear not, Transistor makes great use of those six hours, as it is the most complete games of the year. Transistor takes place in a strange and beautiful land called Cloudbank, which may or may not be the inside of a computer. The city is under siege by an evil robot force controlled by the Camerada, a group who's intention is to completely remake the world they live in. The main protagonist, a singer named Red, has had her voice stolen, and her (and the player's) only guide is the sword she wields (the titular Transistor) which contains the soul of a mysterious stranger. The narrative unravels so perfectly, as the Transistor acts as both the game's narrator and connection to the world around you. For a game rooted in science fiction, Transistor has a beautiful human element. You feel for Red and the plight of Cloudbank.

The combat in Transistor strikes a nice balance of strategy and action. You collect different abilities (called Sparks) throughout your journey and can only assign four of them to the Transistor at a time. When facing enemies, you can tackle them head-on in real-time or slow things down and attack them in turn-based fashion. When your life bar runs out, you lose one of those four abilities, and when you lose all four, it's game over. In addition to the Sparks, there are also numerous additions (called Functions) that you can add to your attacks that change them up or make them more powerful. There's so much strategy and choice when it comes to combat and it was something that I was really able to sink my teeth into. Perhaps the best thing about Transistor is that it doesn't hold your hand. The game is yours to discover and understand, and I applaud Supergiant Games for that. Transistor, despite its length, is a really meaty experience. The minute you finish it, you can turn right around and run through it again, complete with all of the powers and abilities you gained the first time around. I simply cannot say enough about this game, as it truly is beautifully crafted and thoroughly enjoyable. Transistor is a fantastic game, and all gamers owe it to themselves to play it.

Best of 2014 - Number 3

Dragon Age Inquisition

BioWare
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC

- - -

I went into Dragon Age Inquisition totally blind. I played a few hours of the first game but never got very far, as life and other games got in the way (I never played the second game at all, and based on what I've heard from fans, that's a good thing). I'm not much of a RPG fan, either, but I do enjoy some hard fantasy now and again. But man, did Inquisition absolutely floor me. It's a MASSIVE game where you can spend endless hours doing side missions and never touch the main story. Like most BioWare games, the player customization options are top-notch, offering you near endless choices ranging from character appearance to weapons and items to skills. The way combat flows is up to you, as you can choose between a real-time, action oriented combat system and a top-down, more strategic combat system. It's visceral and challenging, but also extremely rewarding.

The story is your basic fantasy fare; a giant portal opens in the sky, flooding the world with all sorts of demons and evil creatures. While the main plot line isn't anything to write home about, what makes Inquisition so special are the characters and the stories you craft with them. This is a BioWare game, after all, so that means every choice you make, however big or small, will affect the outcome of the story and the relationships you form with others. Perhaps most of all, kudos to BioWare for crafting a massive gaming world filled with endless quests and places to explore that actually runs without a hitch. We've had too many games this year that just plain didn't work, so it's nice to see that a game with such ambition can stand confidently under its own weight. With its brilliantly realized world, engaging combat, and near-endless content, Dragon Age Inquisition is a game that I will be playing for a very, very long time.

Best of 2014 - Number 4

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Monolith

Xbox One, PS4, PC

- - -

As a lover of all things Tolkien, Shadow of Mordor grabbed my attention the minute it was announced. As I mentioned in a previous post, Shadow of Mordor kind of came out of nowhere when it was released to become one of the best games of the year, as well as the first, true next-gen gaming experience. Steeped in the lore of Tolkien's Middle-earth, Shadow of Mordor spins a classic revenge yarn that takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and fits in perfectly. The gameplay is a blend of the open-world exploration and mission structure of the Assassin's Creed series and the combo-heavy, smooth flowing combat of the Batman Arkham games. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel in anyway, Shadow of Mordor's gameplay does its job and provides a fun and challenging experience.

But what makes Shadow of Mordor really special is its Nemesis System, which allows the player to craft their own story within the game. Every so often you will run into an orc who holds high rank among the horde, and if you challenge him to a fight and lose, his power will rise and he will continue to hunt you until you kill him. Later in the game you gain the power to control orcs and convert them to your cause, where you can capture a lowly orc and help guide him up the orc ranks and become chieftain. There's an incredible strategy to the Nemesis System, but the real draw is how it makes each game experience different, giving you your very own villain to battle. Filled with tons to explore and do, Shadow of Mordor is a meaty experience, as well as an incredible well-crafted one. It's a very special game and one of the year's very best.

Best of 2014 - Number 5

Child of Light

UbiSoft Montreal

Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, PC

- - -

Child of Light is like a children's storybook come to vivid life. It's striking visual stye is the first thing you notice about it, and how everything pops off the screen. It's quite possibly the most beautiful game of 2014. But UbiSoft's JRPG-lite isn't just all good looks; there's a very deep and enjoyable game here that matches it's visual splendor. Featuring one of the best soundtracks of the year, Child of Light is just brimming with pure joy and love. Cast as Aurora, a small girl cast into a strange, new world alone, you must team up with a colorful cast of characters and battle strange and frightening enemies to find your way back home. At 15 hours, it never outstays its welcome, but still manages to provide a completely engrossing RPG experience.

Child of Light just oozes charms, as its light but enjoyable story is told entirely in rhyme. The turn-based combat balances simplicity and challenge really well, so that RPG newbies (like myself) and veterans alike can find something to admire. There are just enough collectibles and side-quests to keep you away from the main story, and I never felt as if the game was pushing me towards the finish line. Child of Light is a very relaxing game, in all honesty. It's beautiful to look at, lovely to listen to, and a blast to play and explore. Much like Valiant Hearts (which also used the UbiArt Framework), Child of Light is a game where you can see and feel all of the love and passion poured into it. It's one of the most beautiful and stunning gaming experiences I've ever had.

Best of 2014 - Number 6

Alien: Isolation

Creative Assembly

Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC

- - -

A heart-stopping exercise in sheer dread, Alien: Isolation does what no other video game has been able to do with the Alien franchise. This is the Alien game fans have been dreaming of for so long. Not being a fan of horror games, Isolation wasn't on my radar that much, even though I love the Alien franchise. I decided to give it a shot, and after nearly 15 hours of almost unbearable tension, I can safely say that Alien: Isolation delivers on its promise. The Alien is a constant menace, searching everywhere for you with every intention of tearing your face off. It learns from each encounter, forcing you to change up your tactics if you want to survive. If the Alien wasn't bad enough, you also have to deal with rogue androids, frightened (and armed) humans, and the space station itself. The entire game is one giant game of hide and seek, but it's the most horrifying version of it that you've ever experienced.

My biggest gripe with Isolation is that it runs way too long. The tension the game creates during its opening hours becomes less and less terrifying as the game goes on, and the encounters with the Alien or Working Joes become more cumbersome than scary. The story doesn't add anything new as it hits all of the typical Alien franchise beats. Regardless, Isolation is the best Alien game ever made because it understands what makes the franchise so endearing. It's visually stunning, capturing the essence of the original film's retro-future aesthetic. Isolation stayed with mean long after the credits rolled. It's a fantastic and thrilling experience that should not be missed.

Best of 2014 - Number 7

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

UbiSoft Montpellier

Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC, iOS

- - -

Mesmerizing in its art style and heart-wrenching in its storytelling, Valiant Hearts is a beautiful tale of World War I told by those who lived it. At first glance, you may mistake Valiant Hearts for a light-hearted, fun romp through war-torn Europe, and the game's art style sure backs up those assumptions. However, the gorgeous hand drawn visuals actually emphasize the horror and darkness of war that much more. Valiant Hearts is an adventure game filled with inventive puzzles and tons of collectibles (many of which serve as history lessons, giving the player a deeper look into WWI). To say that it's a fun game would be a stretch, but even with the heaviness of its subject matter, Valiant Hearts is a very moving and enjoyable experience.

Valiant Hearts is a very special game, one that doesn't come around very often. In a gaming landscape filed to the brim with shooters, it's nice to see a video game about war where you don't even fire a single bullet. Valiant Hearts is all about characters and the events that shaped them. It shows how war tears families and loved ones apart, and reminds us of the power of bravery and camaraderie. I've given UbiSoft a ton of criticism this year (looking straight at you, Assassin's Creed Unity) but I applaud them and their Montpellier studio for taking a chance on Valiant Hearts. It's a beautiful experience that shouldn't be missed.

Best of 2014 - Number 8

The Wolf Among Us

Telltale Games
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, PC, iOS

- - -

Telltale Games has become the master of the classic, story-driven adventure game, and I feel that they have reached a new peak with The Wolf Among Us, a stunning adaptation of Bill Willingham's Fables comic. Having never read the comics (I plan to change that soon) and not really a fan of point-and-click adventure games, The Wolf Among Us was never really on my radar. I did enjoy the first season of Telltale's The Walking Dead game (though I use the term "enjoy" lightly), and heard that The Wolf Among Us was a tighter, better experience, both in the story and gameplay departments. And you know what? The Wolf Among Us is a better game and a better story, at least in my eyes.

The dark, noir murder mystery that The Wolf Among Us is built around is perfectly paced and keeps you on the edge during it's intense six hour running time. Things kind of drag a bit during the fourth episode (that seems to be a trend among Telltale games) but there's not a single moment wasted here. The choices you make along the way shape the story, so no two play-throughs are the same. The art style is incredible, deftly mixing the dark violence with bright, vibrant colors. Even if you aren't a fan of comics or adventure games, you owe it to yourself to give The Wolf Among Us a try. It'll grab you and not let you go. It's a gripping and intense tale that pulls you in from the very first frame and refuses to leave you long after the credits roll.

Best of 2014 - Number 9

Titanfall

Respawn Entertainment
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

- - -

No other shooter this year gave me the same amount of sheer thrill and joy as Titanfall did. I came into it late as I didn't own a Xbox One until a few months ago (October, actually), but I made sure that Titanfall was the first game I experienced on it. For this year, there probably wasn't a more rewarding and awesome experience as hearing the words "Standby for Titanfall", witnessing your hulking metal Titan scorch through the sky and crash into the earth. I can't help but stand still and watch my Titan arrive each time I call it in, even if that sometimes (alright, all the time) gets me killed. I rarely get into online shooters much, but Titanfall proved to be one of the most addictive and fun gaming experiences of the year.

As awesome and intuitive as the Titans are, I really dug the traversal mechanics in the game. Being able to double jump and run along walls added an entirely new element to the game and changes the way I (and many other gamers) think about shooters. Tight controls and smooth shooting only make an already awesome game better. It may be a bit lacking in the content department (though the recently added Frontier Defense mode gave the game some much needed variety), but Titanfall is still a very tight, cohesive package. And it's ridiculously fun. And it has robots. 'Nuff said.

Best of 2014 - Number 10

Destiny

Bungie
Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3

- - -

Here we are nearly two months after Destiny first launched, and I'm still playing it. Even when I have other responsibilities or other, newer games to play, I find myself back in The Tower collecting bounties and grinding for new gear. Destiny has been extremely divisive ever since it released, but even with its glaring flaws, I still have had a fantastic time with it. Bungie knows how to build a tight shooter, and Destiny represents their culmination of the many years they spent on the Halo franchise. Running around planets, blasting everything in sight is fantastically entertaining and never gets old, even when the missions and bounties do.

My biggest gripe with the game lies with the fact that the story is poorly told. It's not that there isn't any story at all, it's just not presented at all in the game and is buried deep away in what the game calls "Grimoire Cards"; they act like a codex, filled with tons of information regarding the past, present, and future of Destiny's world. However, despite that gripe (among others), I still find myself heeding Destiny's call. It's a great game that is experiencing some growing pains, but I hope that the upcoming expansions will inject some new life into the game and make it worth playing for a long time. It makes my "Best Of" for two reasons: it's incredibly fun and has a ton of potential. Now go make good on the potential, Bungie!

Roguelike Boss Best of 2014 Begins This Wednesday!

It's the final month of 2014 and you know what that means! Time to give out arbitrary awards that have no value whatsoever to my favorite video games released this year!

After playing more video games this year than I probably should, I've narrowed down my list of my favorites to just TEN. I'll begin revealing my list (starting with Number Ten) this Wednesday, December 3rd, and continuing until I reach the hallowed Number One spot on Friday, December 12th.

Who will be Number One? Who will be left out? That's for me to know, and you to find out!

The Game Awards: The Nominees Are...

Image courtesy of VentureBeat

Gamers everywhere have been clamoring for a real award show to honor their favorite games each year, and though the Spike VGAs did a somewhat decent job, there has never truly been a large-scale show dedicated to honoring the best the gaming industry has to offer every year. That's all hoping to change with the premiere of The Game Awards on December 5th, brought to you by producer Geoff Keighley. It's being held in the AXIS Theater in Las Vegas and will feature a much more professional atmosphere than the VGAs. Each winner will be chosen by a jury of well-respected industry individuals, all of which you can see here. Though it's not being broadcast on television, you can stream the show live online or on any device you can think of.

The VGAs were OK for what they were, but they had a really over-the-top, "dude-bro" attitude that really pushed me and many other gamers away. Last year's show got a complete rebranding and tried to change things up a bit, but failed miserably (I quit watching after about 15 minutes). The only real draw to the VGAs were the game reveals, but The Game Awards is (rightfully) putting more focus on the accomplishments of games that came out this year and the developers behind them. 2014 hasn't been the greatest year for gaming (especially compared to last year), but there have been a handful of great titles released that deserve recognition.

After the jump, you can see the nominees and who I personally think should win.

Enough with the Broken Games Already!

Image courtesy of brightsideofnews.com

Now that we're getting into the holiday season and the gaming release schedule is reaching its apex, there are a huge number of AAA games that are all battling for the cash in gamers' wallets. This past Tuesday (November 11th) saw the release of two of this fall's biggest games: Assassin's Creed Unity and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Both games had considerable hype behind them; Unity promised to be the biggest and most engrossing Assassin's Creed game yet, and The Master Chief Collection, a huge exclusive for the Xbox One that boasts all four Halo games on one disc, complete with every multiplayer map and mode ever released for the series.

Sounds great, right? Now that the current generation of consoles has had a full year to become assured of itself, we should finally be able to see what these powerful new machines can do!

Except, that's not happening. Assassin's Creed Unity is littered with glitches, bugs, frame rate stuttering, and a litany of other problems that are basically rendering the game unplayable (though I must admit, the glitches are pretty hilarious). Matchmaking for the online portion of The Master Chief Collection, arguably the most anticipated aspect of that game, simply doesn't work.

And those aren't the only two games that have been crippled with problems. One of the PlayStation 4's few exclusives this fall was the much-delayed racing simulator Driveclub. Even after a full year of delay to improve performance, Driveclub has been facing serious server problems which have been plaguing it ever since its release in October; it is essentially unplayable. Sony was even going to release a free version of the game for PS Plus subscribers, but the game's ongoing problems have forced them to put it on hold "indefinitely". Last year's Battlefield 4 faced similar problems, as both the single player and multiplayer modes were crippled by problems for months and months after release.

Sure, a game being released with problems is nothing new, but my issue lies with the fact that companies are essentially releasing unfinished games, more so now that ever. Developers are rushing their games to meet release dates, caring more about sales than quality. Assassin's Creed is a perfect example of this, as it's an annualized series (as it has been for some time), causing UbiSoft to put itself under pressure to release a new Assassin's Creed game every year. Unity had been in development for four years, and despite that time, it was released as a buggy, broken mess. UbiSoft does have a number of studios developing Assassin's Creed games all the time, which helps to ease the load of development so that no one studio is cranking out a game every year. But somehow, even with a long development cycle and an extra team on hand to help, Unity released unfinished; it's obvious now that it game needed some more time in development to iron out its problems.

To be perfectly honest, I could have been just fine with waiting an extra year for Unity in order to ensure that it turned out as the game it was meant to be. In fact, I am fine with games delays in general, even if that means having to wait a much longer time for a game that I am feverishly anticipating (I'm looking at you, Bloodbourne). As Shigeru Miyamoto once said, "A delayed game is eventually good, while a rushed game is forever bad."

Speaking of Nintendo, a lot of people give flack to the Wii U due to its lack of games. While that may be true, I can't remember the last time that I played a game from Nintendo that had major problems. They may not release games that often, but when they do, they perform and play perfectly, free of any major technical issues.

Now I know that server problems are not tied directly to a game itself, but it shouldn't take a long time to iron out performance issues on that side of things. What's going on with Driveclub is insane, as I have never seen a game suffer from such a massive problem for so long. I feel the worst for the game's developer, Evolution Studios, as they worked for years on this game, only to have it face multiple delays and a disastrous launch. The Master Chief Collection is a bit baffling to me, however, as this marks the first time that I have had any sort of connection issues in regards to Halo multiplayer. I understand that there are thousands upon thousands of Halo fans eagerly trying to play online, but the fact that matchmaking is just flat broken is a mystery to me. Every other aspect of the game works fine (though there are a few minor issues, nothing to take away from the experience) but Halo has always been about multiplayer, and to have that part of the game essentially shut down is a massive disappointment.

As far as I'm concerned, 2014 has been the year of disappointments and broken promises. Too many games this year have either failed to meet expectations or failed to even work at all. To a certain extent, this can be forgiven, as the new console generation is still in its infancy, but problems like this can't continue for much longer. Games cost, on average, $60, and those who pay that amount of money for something rightfully expect and deserve to get a working product. Developers need to take notice now, and realize that if they want gamers to still play their games, they need to be able to at least deliver one that works, even if that means delaying it.

Sunset Overdrive Review: Awesomepocalypse Now

Image Courtesy of Insomniac Games

From the minute I started playing, I knew that Sunset Overdrive was going to be one of those games. You know the kind: one so delightfully insane and boundlessly entertaining that you just sit there with a big, stupid grin on your face.

During the countless hours I spent in the game's fictional Sunset City, one thought continuously raced through my mind: "My 10 year-old self would have absolutely LOVED this". Sunset Overdrive's got everything a 90s kid on a sugar-high could possibly want:

Bright colors.
A punk rock aesthetic.
Millions of mutant monsters.
Rapid-fire humor.
A gun that shoots teddy bears.
Oh, and explosions. Lots and lots of explosions.

Coming from Ratchet and Clank developer Insomniac Games, Sunset Overdrive is something that the Xbox One and the new gaming generation desperately needed: a fresh new idea. Video games have been bogged down by realistic shooters and HD remasters so much lately that gamers needed a reminder of just how much fun a video game could be. Sunset Overdrive does exactly that.

The plot is one of the wackiest I've seen in a game in years. It's 2027, and mega-corporation FizzCo has released its new energy drink - OverCharge Delirium XL -  to huge success. Problem is, OverCharge has a nasty habit of turning everyone who drinks it into a bloodthirsty mutant. As a result, Sunset City is thrown into chaos, and it's up to your (fully customizable) hero to save the day and the city! Armed with the kind of insane arsenal you'd come to expect from an Insomniac title, you grind, bounce, and wall-ride around Sunset City, obliterating everything that gets in your way.

It would be fair to call Sunset Overdrive the "anti-apocalypse" game, as it offers a wackier, more cartoonish version of the end of the world. Even in the face of certain death, all of the characters constantly crack jokes and break the fourth wall, and have a deep love for murdering countless mutants, human ravagers, and FizzCo robots. Sunset City itself is bursting with color, so much so that it literally pops off of the screen. The design of everything in the game, from the characters to the world itself, is like a Saturday morning cartoon come to life. The animation is superb (especially the hilarious respawn animations) and everything moves along at a smooth clip. When enemies explode (and they almost always do), a giant onomatopoeia bursts onto the screen; "POP" and "SQUISH" and "BOOM" cover the screen constantly. Everything is moving so quickly that it's hard to keep up at times; your eyes are going to get a serious workout.

Sunset Overdrive's sense of humor is completely off-the-wall, and I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. It takes a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" mentality when it comes to its jokes, and though not all of them hit, it's still one of the funniest games I've played in a while. There's also a ton of fourth-wall breaking; Sunset Overdrive isn't afraid to poke fun at itself and the video game industry in general. Humor is incredibly hard to pull off, especially in a video game, but the game strikes a nice balance corny and genuinely hilarious. I can see how Sunset Overdrive's loud aesthetic could turn some people off, but it never got on my nerves. I enjoyed the humor in Insomniac's other games, and their goofy charm carries over here effortlessly.

Sunset Overdrive's gameplay borrows from a lot of different games, namely Dead Rising, inFamous, and, strangely enough, the Tony Hawk series. In true Insomniac Games fashion, you are outfitted with a ton of over-the-top weapons, as well as a few defensive traps to keep the mutants at bay. In order to stay alive, you need to constantly be on the move, whether that be by grinding on rooftops and power lines, bouncing off of cars, wall running, or, if you're really good, chaining them all together into once awesome display of parkour. While you can move and shoot on the ground, you move incredibly slow and probably won't last very long; this is done intentionally to encourage constant movement. If you chain together different traversal moves with kills, you build up your style meter, which in turn makes you more powerful. You can also assign "amps" (the game's equivalent of power-ups) to your character that alter the power of your weapons and the way you traverse the world.

Missions are structured like most open-world games, meaning you go from point A to point B, shooting things along the way. There are a wealth of side quests, but they mostly involve finding a bunch of hidden items, though some of them deviate from the norm and offer some cool ideas. There's also a ton of collectables scattered around the map for you to find, which all go towards the creation of new amps for you to use. In addition to the single player story, there's an online 8-player co-op mode called Chaos Squad, which tasks you and up to seven friends to complete various missions, all culminating in a horde/tower defense sequence at the end of the night. On paper, the game structure sounds like every other open-world shooter you can think of, but Sunset Overdrive's shooting and traversal mechanics, as well as its crazy humor and colorful aesthetic, make it stand out. Everything about Sunset Overdrive's gameplay - control, shooting, and traversal - gel perfectly, creating a very cohesive, smooth, and insanely addictive gaming experience.

When it comes down to it, Sunset Overdrive is not only the best game available on the Xbox One right now, it's also one of the best games I've played all year. From start to finish, there was not a single thing in it that I didn't enjoy. I can't remember the last time I played a game as rewarding and entertaining as this. I commend Insomniac Games for making the game that they wanted; it has a style and humor that is uniquely its own.

My adoration for Sunset Overdrive comes from the fact that it that reminds me of my days playing games as a kid. It brought me back to a time when games weren't about gritty realism or deep storytelling or innovative gameplay mechanics. Not that those things are bad, but every once in a while, it's nice to give your brain a little vacation and just have fun. And that's what Sunset Overdrive is all about: pure, unadulterated fun. And that's what video games should be all about, right?

Can the Wii U Build Steam?

Image courtesy of Amazon

Recently, Nintendo revealed that its current-generation home video game console, the Wii U, sold over 600,000 units in the first half of its 2015 fiscal year. This is a very positive number for the company as the Wii U has been struggling to keep pace with its competitors, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Nintendo says that the increase in sales for the system are due to the "steady sales" of Mario Kart 8, which released back in May of this year to both critical and commercial success. According to the company's recent earnings release, Nintendo revealed that they received over $7.6 billion in revenue, a 14.2% increase over last year. Nintendo also revealed that they earned $132 million in net revenue over the last six months, due mostly to a weakened Yen. Regardless, this is all fantastic news for Nintendo, whose Wii U has yet to break through to mainstream success.

Nintendo has been in the shadow of Microsoft and Sony ever since the new generation of gaming consoles began a few years ago. The Wii U's struggles are mainly due to the fact that, even after two years on the market, there simply are not many games available for the system. 2014 has been the best year for the system yet, with releases like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and the upcoming Super Smash Bros. boosting interest in the Wii U. The Super Smash Bros. series has always been a major seller for Nintendo, as previous entries in the series all rank as one of the top three best selling games for their respective consoles. The new game in the series, simply called Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, has been in development for over four years and fans are waiting with feverish anticipation for its release on November 21st of this year. Nintendo is hoping that Super Smash Bros. will boost interest in the Wii U and move more units.

In my opinion, a new Super Smash Bros. will definitely help Nintendo sell more Wii U systems, but I feel that they are too far behind to truly be able to compete with the Xbox One and PS4. To date, the Wii U has sold 7.3 units worldwide, while the Xbox One and PS4 have sold a combined 17 million units. Keep in mind that the Wii U had a year-long head start over the Xbox One and PS4 and has yet to break over the 10 million mark for units sold; the PS4 managed to reach that number in just its first 8 months of release. Nintendo has a long road ahead of them, but the news of increased system sales and boosted revenue are promising. Interest in the Wii U has never been higher, and the slate of games set to be released on the system in the coming months and years shows that developer support for the system is increasing as well. Nintendo is a major innovator and cornerstone of the gaming market, and I am certain that they will set themselves on a winning path once again.

For the Love of Gaming

Image courtesy of Xbox

So a funny thing happened last week - I bought an Xbox One. I have been a proud owner of a PlayStation 4 since it launched last year and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with it (and that trend will most definitely continue). The PS4 is a fantastic system, and I chose it over the Xbox One last November because it was cheaper and had more games I wanted to play on it. My opinion on the Xbox One at the time was rather low, and stayed that way for a while. It was not a system I wanted to spend my hard earned cash on; I really did not understand or agree with the course Microsoft had set its new system on.

That all changed back in May, when Microsoft drastically changed its business model and began selling the Xbox One without the Kinect camera for $399 ($100 less than the original Xbox One system and the same price as the PS4). Then in June Microsoft gave a very impressive press conference at E3, filled to the brim with fantastic exclusives. Two of the games shown- Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection - sold me on the system. I really wanted to play those games. Despite my original trepidations about the system, I always kind of knew that I would get a Xbox One eventually, and now that there were some games coming for it that I had genuine interest in, I knew that time was approaching quickly.

I was very cautious about buying a Xbox One, as I already owned a next-generation gaming system that I played regularly. Most of the games I wanted to play were available on both systems, and I prefer the DualShock 4 to the Xbox One controller. It was also quite a large investment - $399 for the system, not including games or a Xbox Live Gold membership. For all intents and purposes, I really did not need to buy a Xbox One.

But I bought it anyway.

When it comes down to it, there are two reasons why I decided to buy one:

1. I wanted it.
2. I really love video games.

That second point is really the biggest reason why I just became a proud, new owner of a Xbox One. Gaming is my hobby, and if there is a game that I really want to play, I will play it regardless of what system it is on. I wanted to play Titanfall (which I bought with the system alongside Forza Horizon 2). I want to play Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, Quantum Break, and a variety of indie games that will only be available on the Xbox One when they come out.

Despite some hiccups (I ran into some rather nasty installation problems, and I still have not set up the TV stuff because I do not have an IR emitter cable), my experience with the Xbox One has been really great. I can tell that the Xbox One has improved tremendously since launch, and will only continue to get better. I kept trying to think which system - the Xbox One or the PS4 - that I preferred, now that I own both of them. But in the end, I realized that it really does not matter. There are games on both systems that I will play and enjoy, and it would be incredibly dumb for me to pick one over the other. That sentiment goes should be echoed by every other gamer as well; if you only own one system, just know that it is really, really pointless and immature to berate and degrade the other or anyone who owns one. You are lucky enough to own a video game console. Enjoy your system and let every one else enjoy theirs. Gaming is about having fun, remember that.

Immediately after purchasing my Xbox One I felt rather uneasy. After setting it up, spending time with it, and looking at all of the games coming out for it, that uneasiness was quickly replaced with excitement. I have been asking myself why I would even want a Xbox One for a while, and now that I have one the answer is simple: I love video games. And for me, that is reason enough.

PlayStation Gets Some 'Powers'

Image Courtesy of IMDB

Announced this past June at E3, Sony is currently in the midst of production on their first live-action series that will be released exclusively on the PlayStation's online platform, the PlayStation Network (or PSN for short). Based on the Image Comics book of the same name by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, 'Powers' is the first original programming developed for PSN. The story revolves around two homicide police detectives as they investigate cases involving people with superhuman powers. Starring Sharlto Copley and Sheena Hayward in the title roles, Powers aims to be a more adult take on the superhero genre; think of it as the anti-comic book, more in line with Watchmen than Spider-man. The first episode, which debuts sometime in December, will be available for free to everyone (regardless if you have a PlayStation device or not) but the remainder of the series will be available only to those with a PlayStation device and a PS Plus membership.

This is a very interesting experiment for Sony. Microsoft is already dipping their hands in the world of television with the Ridley Scott produced series based on Halo called 'Nightfall', so it was only a matter of time before Sony threw their hat into the ring as well. Of course we all know that Sony is no stranger to television and film, but developing a series exclusively for PlayStation is a really cool concept, though one that is becoming more and more common. Series like 'Orange is the New Black' and 'House of Cards' that are only available on streaming services like Netfilx have proven to be a very successful business model; the only difference is that a full season's worth of episodes is available at once, and it is yet to be announced if 'Powers' will be released episodically or all at once.

When it was announced at E3 this year, I paid no mind to it (mainly because of Bendis' maddeningly long and boring speech), but as more and more information of it was revealed, my interest picked up. Hearing that Sharlto Copley was involved really piqued my interest, as his work in 'District 9' and 'Elysium' were excellent, and I know that he will bring a stellar performance to 'Powers'. Perhaps it was the fact that 'Powers' is a television series being made for a gaming system that made me think less of it, but based on the first trailer for it, 'Powers' has rocketed into my radar, and I cannot wait to see how the show pans out.

You can watch the trailer for Powers right here.

Alien Isolation Review: No One Can Hear You Scream

Image courtesy of GamingCypher.com

Lately, it seems as if survival horror games are finally putting more emphasis on the whole surviving bit. Games like Outlast and Amnesia take all means of offense away from the player, making them rely on stealth and their wits to make it out of increasingly deadly situations alive.

Now, Creative Assembly is hoping to strike major horror gold with of their new survival simulator Alien Isolation. Taking on the role of Amanda Ripley (daughter of franchise hero Ellen Ripley), you are tasked to survive aboard the desolate space station Sevastopol. Amanda was lured there with the promise of finally finding out what happened to her mother (Isolation takes place 15 years after the original Ridley Scott film), but in true science fiction fashion, something goes terribly wrong, and Amanda is forced to escape alive, all the while being hunted by killer androids, paranoid humans, and, of course, the infamous xenomorph.

There is a lot riding on the back of Alien Isolation, as many are hoping it will be the one game that finally gets the Alien franchise right.

And you know what? It does.

The Alien is a constant menace, nearly every moment is a heart-pounding exercise in pure terror, and the sounds, sights, and visuals all make you feel as if you are living inside the 1979 film. Isolation, for all intents and purposes, is a perfect addition to the Alien lore and can proudly stand side-by-side with Ridley Scott's masterpiece. This is a very solidly designed game and you can see that the developers have a very deep love for Alien lore.

The core of the game goes like this: you move from objective to objective, all the while avoiding threats in the form of creepy androids, armed humans, and the Alien itself. Creative Assembly has frequently brought up the fact that the Alien's A.I. is incredibly advanced, as it will show up at random and continuously search for you, all in the hopes of eating your face off. I can attest to this; I always had to be on edge as the Alien could come out of nowhere at any moment, and I always had to be aware of my surroundings if I wanted to survive.

Trial and error is the name of the game here. I died so many times on one stretch of gameplay that I nearly threw the controller at my television screen. The Alien is so menacing and smart that you cannot afford to make even the smallest mistake. To help you stay alive, you have a trusty motion tracker to let you know where threats are at all times (just be aware that it makes noise that can attract your foes) and numerous hiding places to stay out of harm's way. You can also collect scrap and building materials to craft items to use as distractions. As the game goes on you gain access to more helpful tools (like a shotgun and the oh-so-helpful flamethrower) that makes enemy encounters a bit more manageable.

Alien Isolation builds tension and atmosphere perfectly. The pace is incredible and you rarely get a chance to catch your breath. As the game goes on however, that sense of tension wears off a bit. Once you get the aforementioned flamethrower, you can shoo off the Alien every time it gets close to you making it more of an annoyance than real threat. The game does not entirely let up, though, as androids and humans still pose a threat (especially those insanely creepy and seemingly indestructible androids). There is an incredible little break in the middle of the game that is 100% pure fan service and provides a much needed change of pace.

As great as Isolation is, I would hardly call it a fun game. It is nearly 20 hours long (even longer when played at higher difficulties) and its incredibly intense nature keeps it from being your normal, everyday video game burst of entertainment and joy. There was rarely a moment when I could rest easy and truly enjoy my time with the game. That is not to say that Isolation is a bad game - it is very good, great in fact - but it does have a few missteps that hold it back from being a true masterpiece. My two biggest problems with Alien: Isolation are as follows:

1. Encounters with the Alien tend to be way more frustrating than scary. Whenever I entered a situation where the Alien was hunting me, I got legitimately terrified. After 10 or so deaths, however, I became more angered than scared. And thanks to the manual save system, tension turns into frustration rather quickly when you have to replay the same section of game over and over again.
2. The game drags on way too long. I felt like there were four or five spots where the game was going to wrap up, only to keep adding more and more for me to do. Amanda does end up finding out about her mother's fate, which would be a perfect place to end, but the game rolls on for another four hours after that. It feels overstuffed, again taking away the tension that worked so well in the first 10 or so hours of the game. Encounters with enemies at the beginning were absolutely terrifying, but once you run into the Alien for the 167th time, it becomes less of "OH MY GOD he's back!" and more of "Oh great, him again."

That is not to say that I disliked Alien Isolation. Despite being a major test of patience and temper, Isolation is a very well-designed game and is most definitely the best Alien game in a very long time. It is also one of my favorite games of the year so far.

If you love the Alien franchise and/or love horror games, you definitely owe it to yourself to check out Isolation. It is filled with many absolutely harrowing moments that will keep you up at night, as well as many moments of controller-throwing fury. Either way, Alien: Isolation is worth your attention.

Just try to stay alive.

Your Brain on Video Games

Image courtesy of Intel

If you were to ask any random person what they think about the impact of video games on a person, the answer most would give would likely be about how bad they are for your brain, vision, attention span, attitude, and general well-being. While that has most definitely been the major opinion on video games for as long as they have been on the market, cognitive neuroscientist Daphne Bavelier begs to differ.

In her talk on TED.com, Bavelier states that in reasonable doses, playing action-oriented video games can produce some very positive cognitive changes. For example, Bavelier and her colleagues performed a test that measured the brain's ability to recognize three-dimensional shapes from different perspectives. Bavelier and her team had non gamers take the test and then retake it after playing action games in small bursts over a period of two weeks. After playing video games, test subjects' testing performance improved, and stayed improved for five months afterwards. So what does this all mean? It means that playing video games in appropriate doses can actually improve memory, recognition, problem solving, and reaction time. It also means that if used correctly, video games could also be used for education or rehabilitation.

One of the first things video game detractors are quick to assume is that prolonged play can cause bad vision. According to Bavelier, those who play video games for 10 to 15 hours a week have vision exceedingly better than those who do not. Gamers tend to be able to observe small details in cluttered spaces, meaning that they have greater focus and can make things out clearer than others (like reading the small print on a medicine bottle for example).

Bavelier compared the use of video games to the consumption of wine. Used in moderation, video games, like wine, can have very positive effects on the body. In the same way that there are molecules in red wine that help increase life expectancy, there are numerous aspects in video games that help increase brain elasticity, learning, attention, and visual comprehension. Personally, as much as I love playing video games, I cannot play them for more than one hour at a time. I try to balance my time playing games with my other responsibilities and activities; I have always had a difficult time staying in one place for a long period of time, regardless of the situation.

For a life-long gamer like myself, it is very refreshing to hear Daphne's perspective on the effects of video games on a person. Her research reaffirmed my own personal feelings towards video games, in that I always felt they were no more dangerous than candy or television. I personally believe my experience with driving/racing games helped me be a better driver in real life; I had been playing racing games long before I got my license, and I feel I had better response time and vision as a result of playing them for so long.

At the same time, this does not mean people should just sit around and play video games all day long. Moderation is key; marathoning games can have some very dire consequences. Sitting in one spot for long periods of time or blinking less can have damaging effects on your body. In appropriate doses, however, video games are not nearly as toxic as some would lead you to believe; in fact, they might just make you smarter.

To listen to Daphne Bavelier's entire presentation - Your Brain on Video Games - click here.

Brand Storytelling and the PlayStation 4

Image courtesy of The Inspiration Room

I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember, and though I have owned and played systems and games from just about every gaming company, Sony's PlayStation systems have always been the ones I gravitate to. Turning on the original PlayStation as a kid, seeing the SCEA logo come up on screen, and hearing that iconic boot-up sound will always be engrained in my mind. I have always admired the marketing campaigns Sony uses to promote their PlayStation systems, as I felt like the majority of them perfectly captured what made the PlayStation the premier place to play games. PlayStation has had some highs and lows over the years, but in its over 15 years of existence, Sony's gaming machine has stayed true to its identity - a gaming system by gamers, for gamers.

In the marketing world, in order to really hit your point home, you need to develop a brand story. A brand story is not just a bunch of facts thrown out at consumers, it is the culmination of feelings, passion, and emotion. There is a narrative at play, with a beginning, middle, and end. A great brand story makes the consumer feel involved in the product's campaign; it talks directly to them, making them feel as if they are the most important person in the world, and that nothing else matters.

One of my personal favorite brand stories comes from the current PlayStation campaign. The release of the PlayStation 4 last November marked a huge shift in branding for the PlayStation. Sony had been going through a rather rough time, namely due to the struggles of the PlayStation 3, which was suffering from somewhat of an identity crisis. The marketing campaign for the PS3 was rather strange, and never managed to strike a chord with Sony's key demographic. Most gamers gravitated towards the Xbox 360, and the Wii owned (and basically created) the casual gaming market. With the upcoming release of the PlayStation 4, Sony knew that they had to turn things around. The PlayStation 4's success hinged on learning from past mistakes, and putting the focus back on the gamer.

Reminding gamers why PlayStation is a leader in the gaming market was key, but they also needed to show that their new, more powerful machine was the best place to play games. The slogan they used to promote the PS4 was one that I felt perfectly summed up what Sony wanted to accomplish, and gave gamers everywhere a clear picture of what their new system was all about:

Greatness Awaits

It is still being used in promotional material for the PS4 to this day (though in Europe, the slogan "This Is For The Players" is being used more prominently), and has been instrumental in making the PS4 the current leader in the current console race.

When I first saw the Greatness Awaits campaign in action (in one of my favorite commercials ever, period), I knew exactly what the PlayStation 4 was going to offer me. The gamer was the focus of that campaign. It works perfectly because it automatically produces incredible images of conquest, courage, and victory in your head. It was like a rallying cry, an invitation to a new incredible world. It shows you everything that is possible with a PlayStation 4.

The Greatness Awaits campaign was the perfect way to reinvigorate the PlayStation brand because it works on so many levels: it built excitement for the system before it launched, and it still being used now to help build excitement for prospective buyers and continuously remind current owners why they bought it in the first place.

When the PS4 launched, it became the first home video game console in the world to sell 1 million units in 24 hours. Needless to say, there was a considerable amount of excitement surrounding it (and still is). Its success is due in part to the excellent marketing effort Sony produced. Behind all of its grandeur and production budget was a simple message: all of the power and technical advancement of the PS4 took a backseat to the gamer. You were the star of the show with a DualShock 4 in your hands. It was your duty to answer the call.

Besides, who are you not to be great?

Digital Heart and Soul

Image courtesy of UbiSoft

One of the most intriguing games released this year was Child of Light, a downloadable RPG with stunning storybook visuals, solid turn-based combat, and a mesmerizing soundtrack. I usually shy away from RPGs, as I never feel like I have the time or patience to properly play them. But Child of Light won me over not just because of its aesthetics, but because it was presented a very focused narrative and gameplay experience. Child of Light is only 10 or so hours long (much shorter than most modern RPGs) but was deep enough for even the most hardcore gamer find plenty to love about it. Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Child of Light is that it was developed and released by UbiSoft, one of the biggest game companies in the world, best known for the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and the Splinter Cell series. Here was one of the most powerful gaming developers releasing a tiny little download-only RPG, which features a female protagonist and dialogue told exclusively in rhyme. Sounds like a recipe for failure, but Child of Light proved to be anything but, becoming a smash success both critically and commercially.

Child of Light is a fantastic game, but I believe that its mass appeal is due in part to that fact that it both contains and exudes genuine heart, two things that are sorely missing in today's gaming landscape.

UbiSoft recently announced that the development team behind the game had become a "core part" of the company. UbiSoft Montreal's VP of Creative, Lionel Reynald, said that the team behind the game wants to work together again and create more titles in the same vein of Child of Light. If the success of Child of Light has proven anything, it is that gamers are not always looking for the next huge blockbuster experience.

I personally rank Child of Light among the three best games of the year so far, a list that also includes Supergiant Games' fantastic Transistor, and Valiant Hearts: The Great War, another stellar title from UbiSoft. All three are download-only titles that last under 10 hours, and all garnered major acclaim among the gaming masses.

In comparison, three of the year's biggest games - Titanfall, Watch Dogs, and Destiny - were all considered disappointments by gamers. This is rather shocking, especially considering the amount of promise and hype each title had. All three have sold extremely well, but sales numbers mean nothing when the game is not received well by gamers.

I guess what I am saying is this: I will take a shorter, more focused game over a massive, open-world epic any day. Cramming every type of gameplay mechanic into one title does not always guarantee a better, more varied gameplay experience. A game like Child of Light succeeds because it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to be; it knows its identity and does not try to shy away from it.

I know it is hard to see it some times (especially in an industry filled to the brim with sequels, massively-multiplayer social experiences, and thrilling spectacle), but games do not need to be big and shiny all of the time. Some of the best games are made by small teams with limited resources; they have to rely on their talent and unwavering love of gaming in order to deliver a great experience. Development teams like The Fullbright Company and Galactic Cafe, creators of Gone Home and The Stanley Parable, respectively, did not have massive budgets or state-of-the-art resources to work with, and yet they both still managed to create two of the most stunning gaming experiences of the last few years. Heart and soul trumps massive amounts of money every time.

So remember this gaming industry: bigger is not always better.

Can the Xbox One Survive in Japan?

Image courtesy of Kotaku

The Xbox One recently launched in Japan, and things have not gone very well. In its first four days on the market, the Xbox One sold just over 25,000 units. While that may seem like a strong number for the first few days, things only got worse. In its second week, the Xbox One sold a mere 3,015 units, and then a measly 1,314 units the following week. In comparison, Sony sold about 300,000 PS4s in the same timespan. So in just three weeks, the Xbox One has sold under 30,000 units and it does not seem like things are going to be looking up anytime soon. Compare that to China, where the Xbox One has sold over 100,000 units in just a few days. Console sales in Japan have been slowing down considerably as of late, with both the PS4 and Wii U selling about 9,000 units a piece. Still, it is hard to have any kind of optimism in the Xbox One's current sales performance.

Microsoft's Xbox brand has famously struggled in Japan, and tends to place less emphasis on that market as a result (their biggest markets are the Americas and Europe). According to a recent article from Kotaku, the Xbox One does not seem like it is getting adequate promotion in Japan, despite the fact that Microsoft's booth at the Tokyo Game Show attracted a large crowd. Still, without a strong marketing strategy, the Xbox One is a very hard sell in Japan. Many of the system's non-gaming features are difficult for Japanese consumers to understand (or even care about) and are more tailored to a Western audience. At face value, it seems like Microsoft has just given up on Japan, and is showing no effort to appeal to Japanese gamers.

So how can Microsoft turn things around? Video game website Dualshockers suggests that Microsoft purchase or form a first party studio in Japan with hopes that making more games tailored for a Japanese audience will turn things around. There have been rumors that such a deal was taking place, but Microsoft's Phil Spencer has denied those reports. If Microsoft was to establish a game studio in Japan, there is a good chance that the entire Japanese game market will receive a boost, as the combination of Microsoft's technical know-how with Japan's style of game development could lead to some very interesting things.

The bottom line is Microsoft needs to change things, and quickly. They cannot just pull out of Japan all together, as that would be a tremendous waste of time and money. Microsoft needs to readjust its strategy if they want to become a major force in the Japanese gaming market. This is a wake-up call Microsoft cannot afford to ignore.

No Hype is Good Hype

Image courtesy of MoviePilot

The action/adventure game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was released this week to surprisingly high praise from critics and gamers alike. Despite strong word of mouth from games media, the game has been flying rather low in every gamers' radar, mostly due to the fact that it was released on the cusp of the holiday gaming season. Most games released during the late-September/early-October time period get buried under the sheer amount of games released in the fall, not to mention fall victim to more high-profile games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed. Not to say that there was no excitement for the game; it is the first game to use the Lord of the Rings license in over three years, and features a game mechanic (called the Nemesis System) than many believe is the first true example of next-generation gaming. But the moderate hype behind Shadow of Mordor cannot even compare to that of Destiny, Call of Duty, or Titanfall, all games that had massive marketing budgets behind them and major coverage from gaming media outlets.

Shadow of Mordor is a really good game. I have been thoroughly enjoying my time with it and can find very little things to gripe about. I have been looking forward to it ever since its announcement, and I always felt like it had the potential to be a game I would really enjoy. But I never built any hype up for it; Shadow of Mordor kind of floated around in the back of my mind.

On the flip-side, I road the hype-trains for both Watch Dogs and Destiny all the way to the last stop. Those were two games I feverishly anticipated. While I enjoyed Destiny, it definitely did not live up to my expectations; Watch Dogs, on the other hand, was a massive letdown in my eyes. Before I even got my hands on those games, I had already put them up on a pedestal, convincing myself that they would be everything I could possibly want and more.

Hype killed those games for me.

So here is Shadow of Mordor, reemerging from the back of my mind to end up being one of the best games I have played all year. But I wonder: what if I placed the same amount of hype and expectation on it as I did Destiny and Watch Dogs? Would I still enjoy it even if it looked and played the same as it does? Is it a better game because it did not have my own lofty expectations to weigh it down? Maybe.

Having essentially no hype whatsoever has worked in Shadow of Mordor's favor, as it has with other games in the past (Spec Ops: The Line, Dragon's Dogma, and Just Cause 2 are all examples of games that received little to no hype but ended up being hugely popular among critics and gamers). Shadow of Mordor is being called this year's sleeper hit. It is also one of the best-reviewed games of 2014. Everybody is talking about it now, even though no one really gave it a second glance a few months back.

When you think about it, no amount of hype is going to change how good or bad a game turns out. Your expectations for a game have no direct influence on its outcome whatsoever. A game is going to be the end result of the work its development team put into it, and nothing more. So do yourself a favor and get off of that hype train before it even leaves the station.

The Agony of Cancellation

Image courtesy of Blizzard 

Last week, news broke that Titan, Blizzard's long in development MMO, was finally cancelled. Many fans of the developer were disappointed at the news, though not entirely shocked, as very little was revealed about the game following its unveiling back in 2007. Perhaps the most striking news to come out of Titan's cancellation was the fact that it will end up costing Blizzard over $50 million, a result of the company halting development so late into its development cycle.

For most development companies, canceling a major project as far along as Titan would spell certain doom, but Blizzard is a large and profitable enough company that a $50 million loss will barely leave a dent. Canceling a major game is nothing new to the industry; in fact, it has happened at Blizzard before. It was obvious that Blizzard was putting a lot of faith and resources into Titan, and to have it see this end is a major letdown for the company and its gaming faithful. Titan was poised to be the next big MMO from Blizzard, following in the hugely successful shoes of World of Warcraft. There is no doubt in my mind that Blizzard will eventually try its hand at making a new MMO in the future, but for now, they should take a step back and start over.

According to Blizzard co-founder and President Mike Morhaime, the company set out to create an incredibly ambitious game, and after years of development felt that nothing came together the way the team intended, thus prompting its cancellation. I totally can agree with the decision to cancel a game if it does not match the developer's ambitions and goals, no matter how much money and time was put into it. I just cannot believe that it took seven years for Blizzard to realize that the game they were making was not up to their standards. Perhaps they started over numerous times or tweaked aspects of it multiple times to try to salvage it, but they should have seen the signs much sooner. I feel the worst for the development team behind the game, as it must feel awfully terrible to have all of hours upon hours of hard work they put into a game be wasted. I am sure that they will lick their wounds and start over again, but the sting of a failed project is something that will stick with them for awhile.

Chris Metzen, Blizzard's Senior VP of Story and Franchise Development, said that the team "lost perspective" and had to allow themselves to take a step back and reassess why they were making the game in the first place. Metzen added that canceling a game is never easy, but that all of their failed projects resulted in the team learning from mistakes and delivering higher-quality on the next go-around. Even in the wake of Titan's cancellation, there are signs that Blizzard is putting things into perspective. Their free-to-play collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has been received extremely well and serves as a prime example that Blizzard can make great games on a smaller scale, and that they do not have to swing for the fences every time.

Blizzard thought that they had to make a game comparable to World of Warcraft, but ended up biting off more than they could chew. This is a lesson all game development studios should take note of: ambition is always great, but never let it get in the way of making a great game. If you know deep down that the game you are making is not good, please do not hesitate to cancel it. Releasing a bad or unfinished game is much, much worse than not releasing one at all.