GDC (Game Developer's Conference) 2013 is coming to a close, but before the lights go out, Bungie has decided to release new information regarding their new game 'Destiny'. The former 'Halo' development studio has been hard at work on their new IP, showing only scarce tidbits of information. At Bungie's March 28th press event, the team released all new video of Destiny's characters and some information about them. The four enemy types detailed were the Fallen, Cabal, Hive and Vex. The three playable classes listed were the Titan, a super soldier type class, the Warlock, a magic user, and the Hunter, a quick, stealthy character.
Also discussed during the presentation were seven Pillars that Bungie considered throughout the entire development process.
Pillar #1: "A World Players Want to Be In"
The game has to be one of a fully realized world that is unique and interesting that keeps players coming back for years to come.
Pillar #2: "A Bunch of Fun Things to Do."
Once they're in the game, players have to have something to accomplish. Bungie is seeking to make a myriad of awesome activities that a player can complete anytime they jump in.
Pillar #3: “Rewards Players Care About.”
For completing goals and objectives, players will receive upgrades and customization options for weapons, armor, vehicles and more.
Pillar #4: “A New Experience Every Night.”
For most game's, the death rattle of its online community is the monotony of "same shooter, different day". Bungie wants to offer players more than just Team Deathmatch for years on end.
Pillar #5: “Shared With Other People.”
Bungie doesn't just want people to play the game, they want them to play the game with people they like. Building this idea, Bungie is hard at work on making sure the connection and communication with friends is simple and fun.
Pillar #6: “Enjoyable by All Skill Levels.”
Players can feel alienated when playing with others who are of vastly different skill levels. Whether the player is too unskilled to help the team or too skilled so that the other team is ridiculously outgunned, Bungie wants to level the playing field so that no matter how much time or skill you have to offer, you will always feel like you are doing something worthwhile.
Pillar #7: “Enjoyable by the Tired, Impatient and Distracted.”
So many video games require hours of preparation and grinding to accomplish something that players can often lose drive or interest when they have other things on their mind. By accommodating these players, Bungie is trying to communicate that they want their game to be enjoyed at any place at any time, opening up new opportunities for play and discussion that may not have existed before.
Bonus: Longtime Halo composer Marty O'Donnell will return for Destiny's soundtrack, bringing with him a collaboration with former Beatle Paul McCartney.
Bungie wow'd the world when they developed a vast, interesting world in the 'Halo' universe, but now they're trying to move beyond that by creating a living, breathing entity that players will enjoy for the next decade.
Anime Matsuri is an Anime and Japanese Pop Culture convention held in downtown Houston at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Why three white guys that talk about video games have a panel there, I have no idea. But that doesn't matter! What matters is that if you're at the con and looking for something to do on Saturday March 30th, 2013 from 7-8 p.m., look no further than The Bancast Live. This is the Bancast's 3rd live show and, if the past is any indicator, things can get pretty crazy. I flipped a table once. Actually, twice. So there's that.
During the show, we'll also be revealing our super-secret Indie GoGo project that we've spent entire hours planning.
There are few games released in the past 20 years that hold a place in my gaming heart like Age Of Empires 2. In a rather surprising move, Microsoft announced today that Age of Empires 2 would be re-released on Steam, remastered for today's modern, HD screens. Boasting an enhanced visual engine and taking advantage of newer, larger screens, AGE 2 HD aims to capture the attention of a new generation of conquerors.
Another welcome addition to the AGE 2 repertoire is the addition of not only the use of Steam servers for matchmaking and multiplayer, but the compatibility of the Steam Workshop as well. This means that there will be one centralized hub for all custom creations and maps relating to AGE 2. If the mapping community is as active today as it was in it's heyday, there will be plenty of player driven content for years to come.
Age of Empires 2 HD is currently set for release on April 9, 2013 for $19.99 or $60.00 for a 4-pack. Pre-orders are now open.
It's no surprise that video games are a time suck the likes of which the world has never seen. We've established that (see: Why I Quit Part 1). You might, however, be surprised to learn that games are also a BILLION dollar commodity and an ever-growing market, heavily invested in finding new ways to separate gamers from their, or their parents', money. Then again, you might already know this. You might be aware that companies do their best to draw consumers to their products with the intention of squeezing every last cent out of their stupid, troglodytic pockets. If you already know this, Congratulations, you're ahead of the game. You know what those sneaks are up to. You'd never get suckered. "In fact," you probably wonder, "who in their right mind WOULD get reeled into such an obvious money vacuum?" Well...this guy.
Cost And Effect
(WARNING: This is about to get HEAVY with numbers. Like, numbers EVERYWHERE. And most of the time, the numbers are REALLY depressing.)
So last time on "Why I Quit", I calculated the time I sunk into some of my most played games. This time, I'll be taking a broader look at my game library and seeing what the grand total of my addiction hobby has cost me. For practicality's sake, I'll keep a running total of all expenditures, comparing it to some sort of real world expense. For instance: The unpaid portion of my student loans.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $0
This graph is in no way foreshadowing amounts to come.
Most of this seems like fairly standard information. Except...that can't be right. I own 266 games but have only played 99 of them? That seriously can't be right. There's 167 Steam games sitting in my library that I haven't even touched? If only there were a graph specifically showing me what percentage I have played and have never played.
Well, ok then. Showed me. Wow...I haven't played a sizable percentage of all these games that I paid for. This is going to be even worse than I imagined.
Delving deeper into the Steam Account Analysis tool, I find my itemized list of individual game prices. Uh oh...
(WARNING: Super Long and Convoluted Picture. Summary found below.)
WOW. That's actually a lot of information, but what does it mean? Well, mostly that depending on when I purchased a game, the price could have fluctuated higher or lower than its current price. Considering I obtained many, but not all, of these games during the infamous "Steam Sales", we'll use the current price as opposed to the maximum or minimum. So let's see that image condensed.
$2836?! Geez. This doesn't take into account in-game transactions or some of the smaller Downloadable Content (DLC) purchases. Throwing in just my Team Fortress 2 Backpack (174 items obtained through both purchase and gameplay), bumps this total to well above $3000. I spent $3000 on Steam games and didn't even bother to play them. Ouch.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $3000
Well...that took quite a jump.
Thinking Inside the Box
Next Up: My Xbox 360 Game Library.
I'm not proud of all these purchases.
Adding up everything seen here, there are over 100 Retail Release Xbox 360 games. (I'll use 100 since it's a nice, round number.) Factoring in games that I've purchased at discount, on release day, and games that exceed the average value (Collector's Editions), as well as applicable taxes of 8.25%, I'm putting my average purchase price for said games at $50. After intense calculations, I've determined that the total cost of this library of games is around $5000. Well...suck.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $8000
And that about covers it.
I'll be honest, that cuts deep. Having wasted that kind of money on a console that's only been around since 2006 (I purchased my first 360 in 2007) kinda sucks, but here's where it gets worse: I haven't even scratched the surface of Xbox Live and its built in Marketplace. On the Xbox Live Marketplace (XBLM), gamers can purchase a myriad of content straight from their Xbox 360. Much of this content is comprised of full, digital versions of retail releases, Downloadable Content (DLC), Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) Games, Indie Games, and even clothing and accessories for you digital avatar (Yes, I'm serious). Most major releases will eventually come out with some sort of add-on content that will inevitably make its way here. It could be anything from new levels and entire campaigns to something as minuscule as Horse Armor. Yes Oblivion, I AM still mad about that.
On XBLM, much like Steam, I can't even fathom how much DLC I've purchased, so I'll stick with XBLA games that I have installed. My current game count is 114 locally stored games, 16 of which are installed from discs (already counted). This leaves 98 games that I've purchased via the Marketplace. Games on this service are usually shorter and cheaper than those released at retail, and can range anywhere from 400 Microsoft Points (MSP) ($5) to 1600 MSP ($20). Over time Microsoft has sought to capitalize on this growing market and the cost of XBLA games has steadily risen over the last 7 years. On average, these games are in the $15 range. Taking our 98 games from earlier and pricing them at this $15 price point nets us a whopping $1470. Oh geez...that's $1470 worth of games that I can only use on one machine...that will probably be outdated in 6 months.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $9470
That's it for Xbox Live right? WRONG. Xbox Live is a subscription service. That means to access its content and services, you need to pay $50 per year. So how much did I drop on THAT? For me, it started with Halo 2. It was THE go to game for online multiplayer on the Xbox. That was 2004. I've been paying ever since.
$50 x 9 YEARS = $450.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $9920
COOL, XBOX. Got anything else for me? Oh that's right: the Failure Rate. Current estimate put the Failure Rate around 54.2%. That means that a little over half of all Xbox 360 users will, at some point, experience a general hardware failure. Me? I got lucky. I'm on my third.
1st Xbox 360: $300
2nd Xbox 360: $250 (not covered under warranty)
3rd Xbox 360: $200 (cost of newer model after trade-in)
Awesome. $750 just to keep making sure that I can still use the discs I've already paid for. Fantastic.
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $10670
Woo-hoo! Cleared $10,000!
And, everything else.
While the previous two platforms can be described as my main sources of gaming entertainment, they aren't the whole story. The following are the rest of my unfortunate spending decisions.
Extraneous PC Games not on Steam: ~$200
Nintendo DS Lite Console (x2) + 10 Games: ~$600
Playstation 3 Console + 10 Games: ~$700
Nintendo Wii Console + Extra Controllers + 14 Games: ~$700
COST: Loans - $6544, Games - $12870
Pew!Pew!Pew! Looks like a volcano made of debt...
So, I could have paid off my student loans twice by now, or made a hefty investment, or put some money towards a major project I've spent the last few years developing, or even bought a car that doesn't get me put on some sort of watchlist if I drive by a playground. Sure, all hobbies are going to cost some skrilla, but few rival gaming in its ability to tack on costs both before and after launch. For me, an unemployed college student, this cost just isn't feasible anymore. This is why I quit.
After a deluge of hype following it's original announcement, Sony's February 20th press conference, as many predicted, did officially confirm the production of the Playstation 4. Throughout the 2 hour conference, Sony revealed many of the upcoming features and specifications of the console, which is due for a "Holiday 2013" release. Even with this information, Sony chose to keep much of the console's more prominent details close to the chest. here's what we know so far.
The Specs
Words like "supercharged" and "enhanced"
let you know they're serious.
Though we don't exactly know what the console looks like, we do know what will be inside it when it releases later this year. Here's everything we know about its guts:
Main Processor
Single-chip custom processor
CPU : x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores
GPU : 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD next-generation Radeon™ based graphics engine
Memory
GDDR5 8GB
Hard Disk Drive
Built-in Optical Drive
BD 6xCAV
DVD 8xCAV
I/O
Super-Speed USB (USB 3.0) 、AUX
Communication
Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth® 2.1 (EDR)
AV output
HDMI
Analog-AV out
Digital Output (optical)
(via Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Press Release)
The Controller
Just as the PS3 controller was a holdover from the PS2, which was in turn a holdover from the PS1, the PS4 controller borrows its shape and form factor from its predecessors. This time however, they are many noticeable changes.
Front facing touch pad.
Top mounted light bar (for PS Move compatibility)
Concave analog sticks (Yes!)
Concave rear triggers (Double Yes!)
"Share" button for social connectivity
Add to this improved communication latency, better rumble capabilities and a headphone jack to top it all off, and the PS4 controller seems more of a giant leap over it's predecessor, rather than a tweaked rehash.
The Games
"The Witness", produced by Jonathan Blow.
Several studios also announced both original IP's as well as sequels for release on the PS4. Though a few were destined for multiplatform releases, several exclusives were also shown. Here's who showed their stuff:
"Knack" - Developed by Japan Studio.
"Killzone: Shadowfall" - Developed by Guerrilla Games.
"The Witness" - Developed by Johnathan Blow.
"Infamous: Second Son" - Developed by Sucker Punch.
"Driveclub" - Developed by Evolution Studios.
"Diablo 3" - Developed by Blizzard Entertainment.
"Watch Dogs" - Developed by Ubisoft Entertainment.
"Destiny" - Developed by Bungie
The Tech
Long story short, they made some faces and stuff. There was a puppeteering demo that was nothing short of cringe-worthy. Then it got even worse when the puppets started playing instruments for some reason. Look Sony, we get your tech is amazing, but this is just horrifying.
There were many more points covered, such as PS Vita integration and functionality, personalization and customization, and a more deeply focused social aspect, but those are all dumb. You can trot out functionality and interconnectivity all you want but you're ignoring the major demands of the gaming community. I want a video game console to play games. That's what I want. If the Playstation 4 delivers on this, then we've got a deal, Sony.
In the podcasting world, there are shows rise above the din and clatter of the everyday rabble to become something truly heartfelt and awe inspiring. Others are based entirely around fart jokes and also sometimes video games. The Bancast is the latter.
Each week, my colleagues and I pontificate for an hour about the state of the modern gaming industry, upcoming trends in technology, and whether or not we would rather have perpetual Cheeto dust fingers or a permanent popcorn kernal stuck in our throats, all while making fun of each other and the things we like. Seldom do we agree, but we've come to embrace it. I'm a little bit Call of Duty, they're a little bit Rock 'n Roll Racing. It's like the Osmonds without all the allegations of impropriety. Actually, on second thought, there's quite a bit of that.
We stream live every Monday a 11 est./ 10 cen. at The Bancast's Twitch.tv
All of our past episodes are archived at TheBancast.com.
and you can find us on iTunes by searching podcasts for 'The Bancast'.
Hi. My name is Levi Southerlan and I’m an addict. You may not perceive it right away, but it’s there, lying just beneath the surface. I may make a quip about it now and again, but hey, I’m just having fun. I can’t stop anytime I want to. Really, I can. I’m not hurting anyone. They’re just video games. Just Video Games. JUST VIDEO GAMES. JUST. VIDEO. GAMES. No, they’re not “just video games”. They’re my life. Well, they were my life. Then something happened. I hit a wall. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I picked up a controller and my mind reeled. It took every ounce of will I had to push one more button. I had lost it. How did I get there? Here’s how. (Full Discolsure: I don't believe Video Game Addiction is a real thing. Really, it's not.)
Background Check
First, some background. I am a middle class, American, white guy born in the mid-1980’s. It’s in my blood to play video games. I started young with the Nintendo Entertainment System and spiraled out of control from there. My brother soon purchased the Sega Genesis and I snuck every minute I could from it. I spiraled. I saved up my own precious kid dollars and bought a Super Nintendo. I spiraled. I worked my hands to the bone doing chores, saving up for that Nintendo 64. Again, I spiraled. Playstation, Gamecube, Playstation 2, XBOX all came and went. You better believe I spiraled. Sure, my childhood was filled with friends and fun, but there wasn’t a day where I didn’t slink down to my basement to grab a couple minutes of game time. That was fine, it always worked out. Then college hit me.
For legal reasons, I cannot discuss the terms of my expulsion from [REDACTED] University.
Pictured: Definitely NOT the University's Logo
Fast forward 6 years to (almost) present day. I have my degree in game design. I hang out with other people that also enjoy video games, I work at an ambitious start-up game company, and I generally get by pretty well. My gaming is excessive, but in check. I’m not addicted. I can quit any time I want.
The calendar rolls over. It's 2013. I fly out to spend a week with old friends from that old University I got booted from. We're in the middle of nowhere for a week, away from every form of communication and technology you can think of. It’s surreal. It’s freeing. It is perfect…and then, in the blink of an eye, I’m back; back to the grind, away from everyone I care about, or like, or can really even tolerate. I feel different, like I’ve learned something new about the world and how to interact with it. I didn't realize I could just talk to people. I didn't have to be the snarky nerd anymore. I could have a genuine conversation with other people without reverting back to this stereotype I had given myself. This time away from technology has given me perspective. I don’t know what it is (and still don’t), but gaming is dead to me. So, what do I do now?
The Stats
To figure out what comes next, I decided to first figure out how much time I would have to spend doing other things. After all, if I eliminate this one, small area of my life, how much time would I really get back? A few hours? Maybe a day? Let's find out. Here are 4 games from the past 4 years that most embody the time-sucking potential of modern video games.
Borderlands - October 20, 2009
In this hybrid Shooter/RPG, the character plays as one of 4 vault hunters in search of treasure on the Desert Planet of Pandora. Of the 4 characters, I played differing amounts of time with each of them. Here are the stats.
0 days :04 hours :42 minutes :47 seconds. Berserker
1 days :04 hours :21 minutes :47 seconds. Soldier
3 days :01 hours :14 minutes :47 seconds. Siren
3 days :02 hours :48 minutes :36 seconds. Hunter
Total: 179 Hours
Yes, you read those right. Some of those files are measured in DAYS. Add up just that and you have a week. An entire WEEK STRAIGHT would net you the same amount of play time I poured into this game.
Fallout: New Vegas - October 19, 2010
In this open-world RPG (Role Playing Game), you play as a courier shot in the head and left for dead in a shallow grave in the desert. Thankfully, with the help of a kindly robot friend, you find your way out to tread the Mojave and exact revenge on the mobsters that put you in that grave.
Save 1: 35 Hours
Save 2: 30 Hours
Save 3: 12 Hours
Save 4: 4 Hours
Save 5: 41 Hours
Save 6: 60 Hours
Total: 182 HOURS
You’re telling me I sank ANOTHER week into this game? Yup. All told, it comes out to around 7.5 days of playtime, just 3 hours over my previous total. I can’t believe I did this. There’s not even 4 characters in this one. It’s just one dude, over and over again. There will never be another open-world RPG that will make me this much of a sucker again.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - November 11, 2011
In this open-world RPG, you play as a blah blah blah blah we all saw this coming. This time, you’re ABOUT to be executed when a dragon attacks. Then, you go exact revenge on dragons by shouting at them or something. At least this time I only have 3 saves.
Bramblepelt: A Khajit hand to hand Specialist-73 hours
Brutalitops: A Dark Elf Mage-90 Hours
Leviticus: A Wood Elf Archer-101 Hours
Total: 264 Hours
Are you kidding me? One hundred and one hours on ONE SAVE?! 264 HOURS TOTAL?! 11 days. That’s 11 days of my life I will never get back. That’s 11 days spent crafting Iron Daggers to level up my blacksmithing skills so I could make armor out of dragon bones that I now have to go fight a dragon for, because he’s not giving them up willingly. That’s 11 days spent chasing butterflies around trying to pull their wings off so I could make some stupid potion for a quest that I genuinely did not remember who I was doing it for in the first place. That’s 11 days of getting launched into low Earth orbit by giants that freak out if you just wander into their camp. And guess what. I never actually BEAT THE GAME on ANY of those saves. Yea, I went gallivanting across the north and didn't even bother to do the main quest. That's a punch in the gut.
Can it get worse than this?
Borderlands 2 - September 18, 2012
Now with Dumb Pre-Order Bonuses!
IT’S THE SAME GAME. IT’S THE SAME GAME AS BEFORE ALL OVER AGAIN AND ALL THEY DID WAS STICK A ‘2’ ON THE END AND I FELL FOR IT.
0 days :08 hours :38 minutes :16 seconds Gunserker
1 days :12 hours :32 minutes :06 seconds Assassin
1 days :22 hours :21 minutes :32 seconds Mechromancer
2 days :14 hours :53 minutes :52 seconds Siren
2 days :20 hours :12 minutes :52 seconds Commando
Total: 220 Hours
This. This right here. I PERFECTED Borderlands 1. I got every single achievement. There was no corner of that forsaken wasteland that I didn’t explore, map, loot and blow up. What is the most logical next step? Do it all over again, sucker.
That's over a month, and these 4 games don’t even constitute a TENTH of what I’ve played over the last 4 years, much less my lifetime. I’ve beat every Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo: ODST, Halo Reach, and Halo 4) on Legendary. I’ve bested the Mass Effect Trilogy as all 6 classes. I’m on my tenth run-through of X-COM. I played World of Warcraft at launch. I went against my better judgment and got into League of Legends. I have sunk literally countless hours on Call Of Duty Multiplayer, including Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (Just looking at this list is depressing). Team Fortress 2? Three Hundred and Eighty Three Soul-Sucking hours. That’s over 2 weeks. I can’t even begin fathom what all those add up to.
Pictured: My Inventory a.k.a. virtual items that mean absolutely nothing.
Let's see this decision one more time in chart form.
Yup, sounds about right.
Into The Future
So this is where I am now. I’m slowly figuring out what video games have cost me. It may not be as severe as a physical addiction. I may not go through withdrawal, or lose the love of my family, or even hit rock bottom and have to do favors for unsavory characters, but it’s still costing me my life. Minute by minute, hour after hour, my time slips away, sucked through my TV, into my console, recorded as a number on a stat sheet. This is why I quit.
[In part 2, I'll discuss another area of my life that I have regained control over thanks to quitting video games: Money. Stay Tuned.]
