Street Stories: The Unique Narrative of Cart Life

This reminds me of an old Commodore 64 game called Rags to Riches.  You started as a homeless person and worked your way up, at first you just pick up money on the street and return bottles for money.  Later you get a haircut, find a job , start getting educated at different levels and getting better jobs, moving to better part of town, etc.  Managing your time becomes difficult, for example you may have to work/live in one part of town while furthering your education in another.

Throughout all this, you have to stay alive by controlling your rest and food levels, and there's an interesting twist in that you also have an alcohol level that can sustain you as well.  The problem is that while alcohol can sustain you, you cannot go to work or school drunk, but sometimes it's your only hope to stay alive especially when it's late and your trying to make it home but there's no stores open that sell food, just alcohol.

To top it all off, there's no save system, it's brutal.  You can spend a lot of time progressing and then lose it all on one mistake, and the game throws random events at you that can totally screw you over.  I never actually finished the game, but maybe I will try to now.

If this sounds cool track it down and run in an emulator, and emulators have save states so you could use that as your save system to make the game less frustrating.

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Steam, Next Gen Consoles, and The Importance of a Good Story: Predictions for 2013

Will we finally see Half-Life 3? What will the next Xbox be called? Red Robot Labs' John Davison tells us what to expect in the coming year for gaming.

The forces that make the business of videogames so exciting have always been chaotic. We're not only in the middle of a platform and business, but also an upheaval of audience expectations, and game distribution. The entire space has seen a huge power shift, with the audience more empowered than ever to affect the future of its entertainment. Making accurate predictions for 2013 is probably harder to do than in any prior year, so here are some conversation starters for you.

Steam Box To Make Life Difficult for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo

The battle for living room dominance is going to get freaky in 2013, and while Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are certainly in the fight, they're no longer assured victory. While rumors persist of some kind of Apple TV box that will spit increasingly impressive iOS titles like Real Racing 3 or Arc Squadron onto your TV, and a variety of Android derivatives like the $99 indie darling Ouya, and the recently Kickstarted GameStick will make gaming cheaper and potentially more accessible, the 800-pound-gorilla that stands to disrupt everything is the long-rumored and recently confirmed Steam Box. Previewed as Steam's "Big Picture" TV interface mode, and described by Valve boss Gabe Newell as "a very controlled environment," the platform could bring the kind of discipline and structure to the PC games space that Microsoft has so frequently failed to bring with its numerous half-assed attempts at supporting Games for Windows.

While cynics may dismiss the concept as little more than a 21st century variant of Trip Hawkins' ill-conceived 3DO dream, the difference with the Steam Box concept is that it's fundamentally an open platform. Any PC manufacturer can get in on the act, but the infrastructure that Steam provides will bind everything together. It has the potential to change the whole games market, and most importantly, studios will be able to put games onto your TV without having to jump through the typical platform-holder hoops imposed by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. To many, "Steam" and "PC gaming" are already interchangeable terms, and with the launch of this next initiative, Valve will further seize control of the platform.

Skipping The Middleman and the Rise of the Super Indie

2012 saw a marked shift toward game creators having a much more direct relationship with their audience, and that trend will continue in 2013. As the fruits of last year's Kickstarter binge start to see the light of day, we'll finally have proof that serving audience desires directly is the way ahead. For years, studios have sat on ideas that they believe in but which big publishers weren't prepared to take a risk on. Conversely, gamers have been decrying the shift away from some of the genres that they love dearly. By connecting directly and moving away from the model that relies on the conservatism of traditional publishers, marketers, and retailers, we'll see more and more creative risks being taken.

Kickstarter isn't the be-all, end-all solution, though. Emboldened by successes like Riot Games' League of Legends, Adhesive Games' Hawken, and Mojang's Minecraft,a new development space will emerge. As the "B-level" (for want of a better term) goes away, it will be fully replaced by a far healthier and more audience-focused alternative; the "super indie." Rather than being driven by the need to bang out more and more $60 packaged products to achieve their business needs, this new type of studio is more directly tied to audience appetites, and is able to build strong fan cultures and strong business cases around fewer, deeply appreciated experiences. Digitally distributed, tightly focused, driven by in-game transaction economies, and iterated on regularly, the new games created by these studios will complement the continued resurgence of the PC platform, the Steam Box, and tablet gaming.

Source 2 and Half-Life 3, Maybe

After so long, it almost seems ridiculous to even mention Half-Life 3 in a predictions piece, but what the hell--let's think this one all the way through. We know that Steam Box is coming, and Valve needs a symbolic game to lead the charge for its new world order. We also know that a next-generation variant of the Source engine has been in development for a while, and is nearing a point where its ready to be unleashed on the world. What better combination than Half-Life 3 as a showcase for both the Steam hardware initiative and Valve's new engine tech? Yes, it's idealistic wishful thinking, and yes, you're probably right if your immediate reaction is "that would be very nice, but it seems unlikely," but if 2013 is really going to be Valve's big year as it would appear, the timing is better than it ever has been. Valve marches to the beat of its own drum, so file this one under "it's nice to want things."

Next Xbox is Called…Xbox

Remember when "Xbox 720" was just a silly joke that we all used as a way to refer to the next-generation platform? Over the past few years it has become the most popular search term associated with Microsoft's next console, yet it's also the last thing that the company is likely to call it. The term "360" was a way to represent the holistic nature of the platform and its ability to surround the player with entertainment, so using "720" would just be dumb. It surrounds you, what…twice? Microsoft has been keen to establish "Xbox" as the umbrella brand for its overall gaming service of late (letting "Live" take a back seat), integrating the brand into both the Windows 8 and Windows Mobile ecosystems. For the next-generation, expect Microsoft to continue with this behavior and see "Xbox" as a similar brand to "Surface" - a tag that represents a purpose more than a single product.

In the past, Microsoft's Xbox group has used its E3 press conferences as its primary global announcement platform. This year expect it to behave differently. Surface got its own Apple-style show-and-tell event last October, and it's safe to assume that the new Xbox get a similar treatment in the first half of this year. Expect a reveal ahead of E3, with hints at games that will later be shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.

Xbox Surface By The Summer

Last year's predictions proclaimed that the next Xbox would be tablet-based. "The core of the new platform will be akin to a tablet PC that wirelessly connects to a base station, which in turn plugs into your TV. If this is the case, a premium Xbox Next setup could feasibly include a base station, a tablet, a conventional controller of some kind, and the recently discussed high-def evolution of the Kinect," we said. That very well may still be the case for the next-generation Xbox (above), but it seems highly likely that Microsoft will also push the existing Xbox 360 technology into tablet territory. An "Xbox Tablet" was rumored back in November, and sources seem fairly convinced of its viability. With "Xbox" as the name for the overall games strategy at Microsoft rather than the name of a specific box, an "Xbox" variant of Surface makes a lot of sense as a gaming-focused device. Given the age of the 360 technology, something capable of replicating the capabilities of a 3.2GHz tri-core Xenon processor, along with its 500MHz ATI Xenos graphics chip, is well within the realms of possibility for a mobile device.

There are already chipsets that could be squeezed into a tablet that are more than up to the task. A $400 Xbox Surface would prolong the life of the existing 360 base, and provide an interesting and unique approach to a mobile strategy for Microsoft. If would necessitate providing sufficient on-board storage for games that clock in at multiple gigabytes, and a willingness to push digital distribution of 360 games much more aggressively. To fully establish such a device as the ultimate gaming tablet, this would need to be much more than a casual game box with an Xbox sticker on it. If Microsoft really wants to shake up the market, it needs to replicate full 360 functionality in a 10-inch tablet, and support wireless controllers so that we can play Halo 4 with sticks and triggers just as effectively as we can play Bejeweled Blitz by touching the screen.

Tablets Come of Age 

On the same subject, this will be the year that we see the capabilities of both Android and iOS tablets match current generation consoles in a far more obvious way, too. We'll also see prices continue to drop for both 7" and 10" devices. Consequently, we'll see more games developed that offer experiences that compare favorably to PC and console games across a wide variety of genres. With easy ways to connect industry standard controllers, plus the bonus capability of plugging into an HDTV either wirelessly or through HDMI, we'll no doubt look back on 2013 as the year we were able to take console-caliber games anywhere we want.

Next PlayStation is Called…PlayStation 4

There was a time where we were led to believe that it would be called PlayStation Orbis, and there was a rumor circulating at the tail end of last year that this might be changed to the thoroughly bland Omni, dropping the PlayStation prefix all together. While sources have been increasingly insistent that the company is intent on dropping the numbered nomenclature for the next iteration, let's stick our necks out right now and predict that the PlayStation 4 will actually be called PlayStation 4. As it should be.

Current (believable) speculation suggests that the next PlayStation's capabilities are comparable to the hardware powering the tech demos we've seen of Unreal Engine 4 and Frostbite 2 over the past year, but there are also zanier rumors of Google Glass-like head-mounted displays designed to bring 3D visuals to any screen, and augmented-reality experiences that are supplemented by a Dual Shock/Move hybrid controller. Regardless, expect Sony to go big on the new box at E3, with a spectacular unveil on the morning of June 11.

Vita Repackaged, Price Reduced. Sanity Prevails

The interesting thing about the Vita is that it inspires such passion from the few that have chosen to buy one. Forums are full of comments that start "I know it's fashionable to bash the Vita, but…" followed by effusive defense of its purity and excellence. There's no denying that on paper it's exactly what gamers should be clamoring for. Unfortunately, in reality it's overpriced, and ably demonstrates many of the ways in which Sony has lost touch with its audience. As a result, very few studios are choosing to take the expensive risk of developing for it, and it's suffering as a result.

Here's what should happen: At some point in the first half of 2013 Sony should repackage the device, and bundle the WiFi version with a game voucher and a 16GB stick for $199. This will put it on more of an equal footing in terms of value with the likes of a Nexus 7 tablet. At the same time, it should double down on its digital distribution strategy and renew its commitment to fill the PSN store with back-catalog titles that will run on Vita.

Here's what probably will happen: Sony will keep banging out bundles with different games and a 4GB stick for prices between $249 and $299, claiming that each represents "huge savings." Sales numbers will slow to even more of a crawl, and by the end of 2013, the only studios still considering developing new titles are those owned by Sony, and even they will openly complain about it.

The Return of Good Stories

Narrative is hot again, and the episodic format has finally proven itself thanks to Telltale's The Walking Dead. In 2013 we'll see renewed confidence in placing much-needed investment in good writing and engaging with talent that understands how to move the audience. Gone are the days of just hiring someone who once wrote the 27th draft of the dialog for some crappy C-level action movie, and instead we'll see more writers that fully appreciate the medium and understand what gamers crave. A year from now we'll be talking about truly great narrative moments and have trouble picking which one we loved the most.

The MOBA Influence Goes Nuts

The huge power and influence of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre is now well past the point where any sane individual can deny it. League of Legends continues to blow our minds with its crazy gameplay stats, and Dota 2 just keeps on getting better and better. People love this stuff, and throughout 2013 we're going to see more and more studios "borrow" ideas from MOBA games and mash them into other genres. We've already seen the idea blended nicely with a 2D platformer in Awesomenauts, and in March we'll see how it can reshape the shooter with the new multi-lane OverRun mode in Gears of War Judgment. Like it or not, multiplayer games are changing, and this is what will be at the heart of it.

League of Legends on More Platforms

On the subject of MOBAs, 2013 will be the year that League of Legends breaks out of being a PC-only title and finds its way to other platforms. A Mac version has been teased forever (to the point that it's pretty much a joke in the game's community), but should finally arrive in the first half of the year. It's if and when the game moves to consoles and tablets, however, that things will get really interesting. Gameloft has already proven the genre can work well on a tablet with the great LoL-wannabe Heroes of Order & Chaos, but fans want the real thing, and if they can have it with them at all times, that certainly wouldn't be bad. Expect some big moves this year, and for the already huge audience for the game to get even…hugerer.

eSports, eSports, eSports

First of all, someone will come up with an all-encompassing term for eSports that everyone concerned will actually accept and not complain about. The term "eSports" is sniggered at by many, and "Competitive Gaming" is too dry… there needs to be something that adequately describes the space to everyone's satisfaction. Before that, though, we can expect the whole space to blow up in popularity even more than we saw in 2012. Not only will viewership numbers continue to increase, but we'll see more games created with the eSports space in mind. Structured tournament modes and integrated league rankings profiles will make organization of competitive play easier, but we'll also see a big push around broadcast systems, smarter in-game camera systems, and easier livestreaming that will allow players to push footage right from the game. We'll also see more collaboration between leagues, and greater celebrity status for the big name players.

Square-Enix Finally Will Do Something With Final Fantasy VII

Let's get really wild and crazy to bring this thing home. Here we go… 2013 will be the year that Square-Enix finally stops messing around with Final Fantasy VII teases, and actually does something significant with it. At the very least, we'll see a mobile and tablet port of the game this year, no doubt exorbitantly priced compared to other similar titles. Don't hold your breath for the reboot, but the time has come for the original to be re-released.

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The Most Unlikely Fighter You've Never Heard Of

The fans who became developers share the surprising story of Fighting Is Magic, a My Little Pony-inspired fighting game.

This game should not exist. The concept is just too absurd: ponies, in a fighting game? And not just any ponies, but cartoon ponies whose sole purpose is looking cute and teaching viewers about cooperation and friendship? Making them fight is a blatant contradiction that completely undermines the spirit of the show. It must be the work of an overactive fan base with too much free time.

Perhaps there is some truth to those sentiments. But the crazy thing is that against all odds, reason, and expectation, the game does exist. Fighting Is Magic, an independently developed fighting game inspired by the cartoon series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, is the real deal, and through the sheer determination of its development team, it is getting better every day.

It is also an easy game to pass up if you, like me, are distracted by the all-pony cast. I remember walking the floor at last year's Evolution Championship Series and spying Fighting Is Magic for the first time. Through my facial expressions alone, you could have charted my reactions all the way from "What!?" to "They can't be serious." But I was wrong. MANE6, the team behind Fighting Is Magic, was very serious: about ponies, and about building a quality game.

Pinkie Pie (left) readies her party cannon to counter Rainbow Dash's (right) hoof dive.

A few months later, after a second (and more open-minded) viewing, it all clicked. Each fighter had her own distinct fighting style. The animations were smooth and full of personality. And…did that pony just bust out an off-the-ground combo? In one and a half years, MANE6 has managed to execute a level of quality far exceeding any reasonable expectations.

Of course, reaching that level has not been easy. This was a group of fans first, and creators second. Between them they had precious little experience developing a game of any sort. Add in the fact that some of them were balancing full-time jobs, and all of them were paying for this out of pocket, and it becomes a wonder this game made it past a week. How did they do it, and what can this most unlikely of fighting games tell us about the genre? That story begins with a few silly pictures.

Well, technically, it begins with the cartoon. In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic series, six talking ponies work together to discover the true meaning of friendship. They sing, throw parties, and explore the peaceful, pony-filled countryside of Ponyville. With their bright smiles, and brighter attitudes, the last thing you would expect is for these ponies to start throwing punches. However, it seems that fighting, much like friendship, holds a little magic of its own.

That magic manifested as some mock screens, shown above, for Marevel vs. Clopcom (get it?), the forerunner to Fighting Is Magic. According to their creator and future MANE6 team member, Anukan, "I never intended those screenshots to be taken seriously. I invested a total of 15 minutes and 16 seconds between getting the idea of making them from a comment on Ponibooru to the actual first execution. I look back at the horrible, tutti-frutti combo of a GUI I made for that and wonder who spiked my punch."

"When we started messing with physics and making things bounce off walls," recalled Nappy, "that's when my face exploded." If MANE6 could manipulate the engine to bounce a pony off a wall, they could take on the world.These images, along with several others, were posted to the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic image board, Ponychan, in a thread discussing the finer points of fighting ponies. For a select few, the idea became more than just a passing joke. One user in particular--Nappy--recognized the potential in this idea and in the creativity of the pony community. His determination to see Fighting Is Magic realized would be instrumental in the formation of MANE6.

During the summer of 2011, the group's six founding members met for the first time on Skype to discuss how two cartoon ponies would beat each other up. Alongside Nappy were Jay Wright, Lucas Ellinghaus, Anukan, James Workman, and Prominence. Together, they had lots of enthusiasm and big ideas, but only an amateur knowledge of game development and the fighting genre. Some had a few game mods and high school projects under their belt, but nothing on the scale of Fighting Is Magic.

They also had zero knowledge of their chosen game engine: 2D Fighter Maker 2002. Therefore, the first two weeks of development were spent reading tutorials (which were scarce) and experimenting. It was slow, methodical work, but gradually the pieces began to fall into place. One pony could slap another, and some health would go away. This was a good start, and it demonstrated that MANE6 could--at the very least--make a really boring fighting game. The challenge then became making it a good game, and that began with wall bounces.

"When we started messing with physics and making things bounce off of walls," recalled Nappy, "that's when my face exploded." If MANE6 could manipulate the engine to bounce a pony off a wall, they could take on the world. Fighting Is Magic could become more than just an imitation fighting game; it could actually be fun. "Having wall bounces really showed us the potential for both the game and the team," Ellinghaus said. "It was a very exciting time."

In the whirlwind weeks between the start of development and the release of the first trailer, Fighting Is Magic went through dozens of changes, revisions, and overhauls. The rigid limitations of the 2D Fighter Maker 2002 engine gave the young team plenty of headaches, but ultimately those restrictions--and their solutions--shaped the game into the smooth 2D fighter it is today.

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GS News - The War Z servers attacked by hackers

I agree. But for some of these gamers, they have no choice, really. They already bought the game, and Hammerpoint don't do refunds. So unless they are well-off or just don't care, they have to commit, if just to squeeze out "some" value out of their ill-spent cash.

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GameStop shares tumble following Sony patent application

GameStop shares dipped Thursday by more than 5 percent following the publication of Sony's patent application for technology that could block used games for a future system. The company closed trading today at $24.36, down $1.30 (or 5.07 percent) from the day's start.

The technology would make it so only the original purchasers of a game could play the title. Thus, retailers that buy and sell second-hand games like GameStop would be negatively impacted.

A GameStop representative was not immediately available to comment.

Analysts--speaking to Bloomberg Businessweek--said blocking used games, previously rumored to be a feature of the PlayStation 4, would be detrimental to Sony's overall business. It would put the platform at a competitive disadvantage, nullify revenue from game rentals, and elicit consumer backlash, these analysts said.

Janney Capital analyst Tony Wible told Bloomberg news of a similar technology surfaced in 2005 prior to the arrival of the PlayStation 3 and sent GameStop shares into a downward spiral. This technology, of course, never came to be.

In after-hours trading, GameStop shares have rebounded slightly, up $0.04 to $24.40.

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GS News - Same-sex romance confirmed for SWTOR

Put it in.

Don't put it in.

Most people don't care either way--in fact, the only reason I care is because I have had to constantly hear about it since this game's announcements.

No one cares. Stop pandering to minorities, whether it's people who feel they're left out, people who sympathize with people who perceive to be left out, or bigots and haters who are gonna hate.

Stop talking about it. Maybe they should focus on making a game that isn't mediocre for a change. TOR wasn't as successful as hoped because of game design, not because of same sex romances.

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Ragnarok Online 2 beta IP locked to Asia

January 2, 2013 5:56PM PST

English language open beta for MMO sequel launches on January 3; IP locked to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Ragnarok Online 2: The Legend of the Second's open beta is finally here, but only if you happen to be living in Southeast Asia.

The beta, which was originally scheduled to go live on December 27, 2012, has been pushed back, and is now set to launch on January 3. The delay was apparently due to high traffic and server congestion experienced on the original beta date, which forced the South East Asian distributor of Ragnarok Online 2--Asiasoft--to delay the launch. All character data accumulated between December 27 and January 3 will also be wiped when the official open beta begins.

And while the beta goes live today, it will only be available to Asiasoft's target countries in Southeast Asia. According to a post on the game's Facebook page, only gamers from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam will be able to access the game due to Asiasoft's "licence agreement with the game's developer, Gravity Co."

Asiasoft's launch of the game is the first English-language version of the MMO sequel to be released worldwide. For more information on Ragnarok Online 2, check out our Now Playing of the closed beta below.

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GameSpot Versus: Beat the Pros Edition Winter 2012 MVP's

December 31, 2012 1:51PM PST

GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros Edition MVP's announced! See who got a chance to play against gaming super starts and earned both swag and gaming glory!

GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros Edition is a way for GameSpot members to test their skills against super star pro gamers. From FPS to RTS GameSpot is dedicated to giving gamers a chance to shine against those living the dream.

Halo 4 with TSquared

On November 9th GameSpot users came in masses to take on Tom "Tsquared" Taylor and Naded in Halo 4. After two hours of going against members of the community, XBL members PerfectionOwns, Pizilized, Genocidal, and xxOneshotDropxx were victorious.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 with Mrs Violence

On November 16th Kelly "Mrs.Violence" Kelley joined the GameSpot crew to up her K/D in a bit of multiplayer with the Community. And despite her snark Alex R, Jorge E, Angelo H, and Stephanie P managed to strut their stuff well enough to win some sweet swag.

League of Legends with Team SoloMid

Team SoloMid came to the GameSpot office on December 21st to play against the community. Hundreds of people flocked to the chat rooms and message boards in hopes of getting to take on these BayLifers. In the end though it was Christian F, Kyle L, Eric T, and Curtis B who managed to impress the famed Pro League players.

For more ways to play and for your chance to compete in up and coming GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros events be sure to check in with the GameSpot Players Network.

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Black Ops II - When the script goes AWOL

60 euros for a few campaigns is not worth the money. Besides, the campaigns are not that great to play for several times, for you get really bored.

Also, playing its multiplayer is also boring, because it is the same stuff you find in free fps games out there, in fact, there are many free fps games that are way better in multiplayer mode, for instance, planetside 2.

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GameSpot Versus: Beat the Pros Edition Winter 2012 MVP's

December 31, 2012 1:51PM PST

GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros Edition MVP's announced! See who got a chance to play against gaming super starts and earned both swag and gaming glory!

GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros Edition is a way for GameSpot members to test their skills against super star pro gamers. From FPS to RTS GameSpot is dedicated to giving gamers a chance to shine against those living the dream.

Halo 4 with TSquared

On November 9th GameSpot users came in masses to take on Tom "Tsquared" Taylor and Naded in Halo 4. After two hours of going against members of the community, XBL members PerfectionOwns, Pizilized, Genocidal, and xxOneshotDropxx were victorious.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 with Mrs Violence

On November 16th Kelly "Mrs.Violence" Kelley joined the GameSpot crew to up her K/D in a bit of multiplayer with the Community. And despite her snark Alex R, Jorge E, Angelo H, and Stephanie P managed to strut their stuff well enough to win some sweet swag.

League of Legends with Team SoloMid

Team SoloMid came to the GameSpot office on December 21st to play against the community. Hundreds of people flocked to the chat rooms and message boards in hopes of getting to take on these BayLifers. In the end though it was Christian F, Kyle L, Eric T, and Curtis B who managed to impress the famed Pro League players.

For more ways to play and for your chance to compete in up and coming GameSpot Versus Beat the Pros events be sure to check in with the GameSpot Players Network.

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