Advertising Gone Tits Up

I n the light of the new Hitman Trailer it seems that the industry might of breached in to a new and unwelcome area of fetishism . For those of you avoiding the PR nightmare that is the jaw droppingly outrageous Hitman trailer here is a short synopsis; Agent 47 brutally beats the Bejesus out of some sexy nuns in a very unstealthy manner. Yeah I know, sexy nuns does sounds appealing but the out right barbaric nature and break from the norm on 47’s behalf has been met with a lukewarm response.

Did you hear games objectify woman?

This only one example of the backlash, gaming and misogyny almost walk hand in hand in many advertisements.  Cast your mind back to very origins of the Xbox (the big black box). Do you remember the phrase “she kicks high” because I certainly do. Sex has always been used as a selling point to anyone and everyone in the budding world of games. A more recent campaign for SoulCalibur 5 had more than our chests swelling with excitement due to a raunchy poster that rose up on the web. This kind of advertisement caters to a specific crowd and most of the time fades into the background when the “real” trailers and advertisements surface and apologise for the bodacious barrage of boobs and bodices that were thrust towards us in a more than suggestive manner, leaving the customer rather confused and sometimes enraged by such a display.

In short advertising something that might be taboo is a great way to get the masses talking, remember “No Russian”. No it wasn’t exactly an advertisement but the political maelstrom that followed was. CoD had reached the masses and continued to gain infamy as more and more people chucked in there tuppence worth on the topic and in turn generated great publicity for this decade’s biggest franchise. 


The question here is, where the fuck do you do your market research? Yes I have frequented porn and love boobs but when I want to see my favourite bald assassin makes his return to form I don’t want him bludgeoning the nearest scantily clad woman to show me a cool new move he learned while on hiatus. 


As of late gaming has come under fire for being almost devoid of woman and those that do choose to join in the fun are ogled and perved over by many. This type of advert canonises the issues that arose on Capcom’s Cross Assault  stream in which a female competitor was harassed to the point of quitting after another member of the show made sexual remarks live about her bra size and continued to objectify her.

The abused and accused

It seems that every time a female is presented in game there is a large amount of controversy attached to how she was designed, nobody wants to see a frumpy specky and spotty female protagonist but if her boobs are too big and her waist isn’t accurate to a “true female figure” there is an outcry that the character is not realistic enough.

Gaming seems to shoot itself in the foot at almost every corner when it comes to representing females and it can be hard to point the finger at the man responsible (yes a man). Although it would seem that this time Hitman is not another splash in the gaming pond. The tsunami of criticism that has followed suit after the trailer was released has been an ugly one. The level of criticism has also amassed much attention generating more opinions and even more publicity for the game. Although some may say that there is no such thing as bad publicity the sexism and games debate is surely the counter to the argument, this fiasco may have cost Hitman more than a few bruised knuckles and shameful looks.

That's right beat that sexy nun...

With many trailer misrepresenting the quality and gameplay of their gaming counterparts I hope that Hitman will find his feet and break a few necks in the process. This trailer has served a great injustice to such a wonderful series and has highlighted a lot of issues that needed addressed in the industry but will we learn from our mistakes this time?

Resident Evil: Operation Left for Dead

Operation Raccoon City is the latest instalment in the Resident Evil universe. Many of us have grown up with the original clunky stop and shoot controls of the survival horror genre that Resident Evil built its foundations on. Many players have grown to expect a certain standard from the series, although over the years many people like the core games have strayed from the mainstream into their own territory and this title is no different. Operation Raccoon City is the first and hopefully the last squad based shooter in the franchise.

The game takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and 3 with you operating on the other side of the story. The game starts with you being tasked to prevent the spread of the T-Virus and exterminate Dr. Birkin, the majority of Resident Evil enthusiasts know where this leads so I’ll spare you the details. In short, zombie apocalypse once again ensues. As part of the Umbrella Secret Service you need to cover up any involvement of the ludicrously evil organisation and attempt to calm a rogue tyrant. Unfortunately the story is rather short and lacks any real depth or character development but there are some points where you get to see what happened on the other side of things when the outbreak occurred in the old games.

I don’t quite understand how metallic shades of blue can quite constitute an art style but Capcom appear to be really pushing this envelope in ORC. The art is hard to make out amongst the poor lighting and overbearing shades of black, even the whole team are kitted out as some sort of fetish group’s big day out. Every character has their own wonderfully Matrix-esque gas masked ensemble that seems highly inappropriate for a covert mission as amongst a city of survivors and zombies they stick out like gimps in the apocalypse. The series brings very little ingenuity to the already established characters of the Resident Evil series and the extent of the monster design is rather bland.

The gameplay should be where this game flourishes Can you see “should” carefully placed in that sentence? Good. The game itself isn’t particularly bad but feels like a very weak rendition of Left 4 Dead crossed with Clive Barker’s Jericho (there’s another bondage based game we would all rather forget). You play as 1 of four members in a team and fight your way through several levels in an attempt to kill zombies. As for controls the game plays very similar to nearly every other 3rd person shooter with a few twists for each character’s specific power. These powers are special to each class of character and tend to be rather generic with armour, detection and invisibility type traits.

The worst part about the game is the computer AI for your teammates. They bring a new definition to dead weight as on many occasions they joined the ranks of the living dead and proceeded to slabber intently as they lumbered after me and then they got infected. On several occasions they could be found rubbing up and down against door frames or blocking the only exit to the room in an attempt to act as some form of edible zombie blockade. This difficult hurdle can be overcome with the addition of friends online but without a full team of 4 you will have to be accompanied by the wonderfully stupid AI. The best analogy for them I have managed to concoct was that of comparing them to a bunch of children juiced up on red bull and blue smarties, they constantly run around you each individually begging for your attention before they crash in the middle of a rather crowded street and proceed to cry for the next 10 minutes about how they need help.

The online modes are very similar to different deathmatch and capture the virus type scenarios. This tends to be on a 4v4 with one side playing as the USS and the other as Spec Op forces. There is a lot of fun to be had online but it can drag at some point when the lag results in floating guns and what appears to be some odd sort of stasis mode for some players in which although they do not appear active but are actually present somewhere on the map and are continuously on the attack. My personal favourite was the Biohazard mode in which the player had to capture vials in a capture the flag based game mode. On the whole the multiplayer did feel rather bare and lacked that special something that made left you begging for more.

If only the game was this colourful.

Resident Evil:Operation Raccoon City is barely worthy of it’s name. An awfully short campaign and bare bones online leaves you feeling cheated at the end. The game could have been great but with so many issues and lacks of modes coupled with the abysmally short story you will honestly question if you even want to buy RE6 in the future. Long gone are the days when Resident Evil spin-offs had the complexity or the storyline of outbreak or the atmosphere and panic of the survivor series. Instead we are presented with a lackluster attempt to keep up with the times.

3 dribbling AI out of 10 wonderfully similar zombies.

Street Fighter X Tekken: Battle of the Best

 

It’s the answer to the question that has been playing on every-one's mind since the 90’s. It’s 2D X 3D, Shotos X Mishimas. It’s Street Fighter X Tekken (SFxT) and it’s here to blow your mind. Street Fighter first hit the scene way back in 1987 but it wasn’t until 1991 with the release of the first true 2D fighter, Street Fighter 2 sprung in to action. Hot on its heels was the first king of the 3D fighters Tekken and so the debate ensued, which was better? This question would not be answered to over a decade later and now because of the rivalry we have the first in the “cross” series. Only time will tell in the 2v2 showdown and the victor will claim the crown of best fighter.

 

Aside from the obvious bid to bring two behemoths of the fighting genre together there is something of a story peppered ever so slightly around the edges. This “story” is based on a box the eerily resembles the cosmic cube descending from space and landing in the antarctic. This box is dubbed “Pandora” and all hell ensues as those who come in to contact find the urge to bludgeon the very last breath out of each others overtly muscular physique. As fighters amass around said box they become imbued with the strange fluorescent liquid that resides within the box bestowing power on all of those it consumes.

This story is the front to the first of the offline modes on offer and lies within arcade mode, the endings in the arcade mode are abysmal and struggle to reach beyond the generic black screen with scrolling text and label it a suitable ending. That being said many of those who chose to play fighting games are not gravitated towards its wondrous arcade mode but it’s abilities to enable locally with friends as well as the ability to train and guide the player towards bettering their play. The offline modes are extensive and allow up to 4players in a standard tag match or the increasingly fun scramble mode. In scramble mode all the players fight at once in a smash bros/Street Fighter type game mode where each player has ability to bound about the screen and beat the living tar out of the competition. This game mode allows for countless hours of fun and has to be one of the highlights of the game. There is also a tutorial mode for those just picking up the game and a set of challenges and missions for each character to help them learn new combos and show them other possibilities.

 

The online has sparked somewhat of a debate in the gaming world as there has been several issues with sound drops and issues with playing with a friend locally online (or lack there of) on the xbox 360. Out with that the game boasts a rather extensive online system with an online training mode to practice with your partner, an endless lobby system to invite friends to, ranked matches and a replay channel to boot. The online does have a few issues and can be a deal breaker on some fronts but if you are able to see past the issues you will find a rather robust and rather smooth online gameplay that does a lot to handle lag to prevent the online play suffering. The aforementioned replay channel is some what spectacular in the sense that it allows you t follow your favourite players and create your own channel to view lots of different videos and updates you when there are new replays to be watched.

The system feels like a cross between the tag combos of Tekken Tag and the fighting mechanics and style of Street Fighter with a whole load of extras mixed in to try generate the hype of the marvel series. The buttons are that of the 6 button layout with 3 punches and 3 kicks and combinations of these buttons can tag, cross assault and cross rush. Each of these different combos can deal a devastating amount of damage if used correctly and have flashy explosions to add that extra punch. There is also a juggle system in the game that allows the player to cancel moves with tags and continue combos that  previously would not of worked. Finally there is also 4 button based combos for the Tekken players that act like links in the street fighter series as well as the already present chains in SFxT that allow players to tag in new characters.

 

Out with the in game mechanics there is the gem system that allows a degree of customisation to each character. Every player has 3 gem slots per player in their team. These gems can add extra damage, defense health regeneration and several other attribute bonuses that are activated under specific criteria. On top of that there are also different types of assist gems that aid the newer people to the series tech throws, auto block and have easier inputs at the cost of damage or meter. Other ways of customising your character is through the colour palette which is rather bare at the moment but you can change colours of all your favourite characters from the massive 38 player cast. These colour swaps are rather lack luster as your struggle to go beyond the colours used in the alt colour for 2 player and black/white incarnations that are available through customisation.

 

As previously mentioned the roster is massive and manages to hit most of the right spots if not all. There are many favourite spanning across all the Tekken games and many faces from both SF3, SF2 and other from the large back catalogue of Street Fighter games including an appearance from Poison of the Final Fight series. Personally I can’t stop playing with Law/Rolento and struggle to pick between such a diverse cast.

Capcom plan to keep their game in the spotlight for years to come and have an extensive list of post-release content on the horizon ranging from more colours for the customisation, different gems, more quick combos and alternate costumes. There is also a collection of 12 characters to be released when the game makes an appearance on the PS Vita. These characters have sparked quite some debate as they have already been found nearly completed on the disc and videos were uploaded online, they have since been released but many consumers are disgruntled by the fact that these characters were not playable on release. That being said Capcom plan to support the game in to the distant future and hopefully we will be able to see the roster continually expand and evolve as the year progresses.

Overall SFxT boasts the 2D fighting style of the Street Fighter series with the flare of the Tekken series. With a whole host of mechanics to boast and a character roster to match you will find plenty of combinations and possibilities to immerse yourself in. All in all the game has both its ups and downs and it can occasionally be pretty frustrating but you get over the issues and as you learn find new and interesting combos.

7 deadly blows to the face out of 10.

Is The Games Industry Becoming Stagnant?

As I sit here looking at both last years titles, and those to come, I can’t help but ask myself, is the game industry becoming stagnant ?


Take a look at your favourite publishers, games companies and producers and think about their back catalogue. In the early 90’s the industry was frothing at the mouth with new ideas, we had finally entered a plausible 3D world in which every industry designers dreams were that one step closer to reality. Fast forward to the 00’s and our current generation:Since the introduction of these next-gen consoles should we not expect the same enthusiasm for the life cycle of the hardware itself ?

When confronted with nearly an identical “top sellers” list every year I find it disheartening to see less and less breakthrough in ingenuity. That’s not to say I am against sequels or franchises, in fact it’s quite the opposite. I used to be a massive fan of the “Final Fantasy” series and continue to support Capcom and their range of fighting games.

What I am sick of however, is the large amount of drivel pushed in to our stores year in year. Yes, I’m talking about Call of Duty (CoD) and the way Activision are treating the market. They are not the only guilty party but I for one feel that I have been wronged by this company. Year in year out they regurgitate practically the same franchise, yes there are minor changes but with each iteration I can’t help but having and overwhelming sense of déjá vu and extremely underwhelmed by the lack of changes in the single player.

Some games do need to be treated as franchises, here I’m talking about your sports game. I say this only because sports teams in general tend to change every year and so do the players. One year many can retire and the next new teams could graduate to a higher division. These are the type of factors that need to be integrated in to game play to keep it relevant.

I am using (almost picking on) CoD. this is a game that I feel could be balanced through possible updates. With each iteration they have boasted better online performance and a more balanced set of weapons. Surely some of these changes are minuscule, to the point that it could factor just the tweaking of variables. It’s not like they have a problem supporting games after release, hell look at the number of map packs they are promising to bankrupt each and every fan with. Is it too much to ask for them to maybe for a brief second think about supporting the community as opposed to supporting their bankroll?

There are other companies that also fall short of meeting expectation in my book and we will get round to that. But first I want to try and analyse why is it companies continue to release practically the same game on almost a yearly basis ?

Is it because of a struggling economy? Maybe they are struggling to break even. But that can’t be true, again in the case of Activision, last year they broke records and saw what could be their most profitable year in a long time. This doesn’t solely come from the CoD but if you weren’t aware they have been reaching astronomical figures with their new Skylanders franchise. With each figure retailing at roughly £6/7 and a multi-pack going for just under £20 these small figures are a new revelation in marketing towards today’s youth. These figures have taken off so drastically that they have became almost unobtainable. So how does Activision treat this behemoth? The only way they know how, just recently they announced that not only do they plan to release a sequel but they intend to introduce a set of up to 16 new characters to it’s already large roster of 37. With the game itself retailing at about £50 with 3 Skylanders coming, parents are expected to purchase the remaining 34. And I do mean expected, we were all young at one point and some fell prey to the “Pokemon” phenomenon. This would be a potential £280 just to have the full collection in the original game, now with a further 16 characters and another £40ish game it could climax to a whopping £432 just for one game. Although these figures are based on simply buying the toys separately.

I’m sure if you are an avid fan of either series at this point you may be contemplating a heinous crime or formulating your counter argument against my blatant attack on Activsion. Maybe some of you have even started to compile a list of games that have revolutionised the gaming world that have flown straight out of the doors of Activision or their subsidiary companies. Although if you even look at their back catalogue they have been doing this for years;the Cabela franchise, Guitar Hero, Spiderman, Tony Hawk, X-men and countless others have all been driven in to the ground one way or another. Some of which may have had overhauls on mechanics or slight tweaks in direction but for the majority of them have remained the same and some of which were bled dry to the point that they no longer exist.

There are other companies guilty of this and another big offender is Capcom. They have offended some of their loyal fans to the point they have been renamed “Cashcom”, “Crapcom” and many other names. All because of their money grabbing tendencies.

To add insult to injury most of these companies are now opting for what has to be the cheapest get out ever. I am talking about none other than the HD remakes. Never before have their been HD remakes (yes I know it hasn’t been possible until recently) but come on, £50 for some titles that many still have. It seems to be a fad that has swept across many companies ranging from Capcom to Insomniac. These games are churned out fast and retail for full priced games. Sometimes there aren't even extras like the terminals in “Halo Anniversary”, these are the same games with upgraded graphics. How long will it be until our next set of favourites are upgraded, with rumours of FFX being redone and a lot more in the pipeline.

Why is the industry so devoid of ideas that we rely on reboots, rehashed and ridiculously unnecessary HD remakes. As a games designer in training I find it extremely disheartening to see that there is such a lack of creativity in what could potentially be what was once the job of a lifetime. That being said there is still hope for the games industry as there are still absolute gems to be discovered amongst the hordes of sequels, prequels and HD remixes. Although you only need to take a look at last years online list of most played games to see that some of these games are not receiving the attention they deserve.