Monkey-Shines

Okay for real this time.  Arkanoid is coming to XBLA.  A brick busting classic, and as S. can help verify, I am a brick busting fiend.  Peggle was big, but for me, this is slightly bigger.

R-Type, Peggle, and now Arkanoid?  All is right in in the world.

I recently started trying to finish up Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (CotW) in anticipation of the release of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix.  I’ve been looking forward to Galactrix (Galactrix) since they announced it, but now I’m not so sure it’s as highly anticipated as it was.  In finishing up CotW, I remembered why I stopped playing in the first place.  The fact that upper level characters always seemed to get exactly what they needed, long cascades , and extra turns.

It seems that in creating a difficulty curve for CotW, Infinite Interactive decided to give the computer the advantage by allowing it to influence the outcome of the AI moves.  In essence, the computer cheats.  Instead of giving higher level NPC’s enhanced stats to compensate for the player improving, they allow the game to cheat.  All but the final boss do the same amount of damage as the first rat you encounter.  The final boss however has the benefit of improved stats, much higher hit points, AND it still cheats.

This has some battles coming down to luck, and leaves the player feeling frustrated when the computer gets turn after turn of good moves and then they are left with turns that don’t give them anything they can actually use.

I’m disappointed that more time wasn’t spent in designing the NPC’s so that cheating isn’t necessary.  I’ve heard that the PC version of Galactrix suffers from the same problems although the game has been designed to alleviate it a bit.  It doesn’t remove the cheating but allows the players more tools to combat it.  That’s not much better, and now I’m not sure if I want to give my money to a company that feels it is okay to cheat the customer.

Microsoft hates me.  Here I am trying to run through some of my backlog of games and they pick now to release a game I’ve been waiting months for.  This week on XBLA Peggle will be released.  Guess I’ll have to get some points since the new Maw level will also be released this week.

I’ve played both Peggles on the PC so I already know I love the game.  Sigh.  I was able to resist R-Type (due in part to the overpricing), but Peggle is coming in at 800 points so it’s going to get me.

Source: MajorNelson

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to pad my XBox 360 GamerScore.  I targeted a goal several thousand above where I was currently, and chose a date a couple of months down the road.  I thought I was going to have a decent challenge ahead of me.  I didn’t think it would be ‘easy’, but it wasn’t an unreasonable task.

I succeeded and 2 years later I’m still feeling the repercussions of that decision.  It nearly destroyed my desire to play games.  I felt like I had to be playing during all my spare time.  I love to play, but I don’t like feeling like I have to play.  I was playing for the GamerScore, not the fun of playing.

For months afterward I didn’t want to think about playing.  Even today I don’t play like I want to.  I play an hour or two of a game and I’m done. I always find something else to do when I have time to play.  (Usually that involves sitting in front of the computer refreshing my browser on my favorite sites to see if any have updated.  Soooo much fun. :- )

I think I’m ready to play again and have decided to go back and play through some games that I skimmed the beginnings of during that period.  I have a decent stockpile for incomplete games, so I’m declaring 2009 the year that I complete games.

I’m throwing achievements to the wayside for the time being.  If I can pick some up easily on my way to completing the game, I will, but I’m not chasing them anymore.  I’m just focusing on playing the games and enjoying them for what they are.  Games.  I used to play for fun before the invention of Achievements.  Why shouldn’t I play for fun again?