I’ve always had fun making up games in my head, sometimes simply as wish fulfilment: ‘if I were Ken Levine or Peter Molyneux and I could make any game I damn-well pleased, what would I do?’ And I have started to think recently if I should actually try writing them down in some form. (Not code, I don’t know code. Besides, these are triple A ideas and I would have no chance of making them myself). I wonder if the practise of writing down my ideas might not spark something within me to try and make one of them a reality. Of course it could all horribly backfire and I bring someone home one evening only for them to find my ‘super-cool nerd collection of made-up games’ and scarper. Well, only one way to tell. Let’s do it!
I like to try and improve myself. When I notice a flaw in my character, physical or otherwise, I try to correct it. I’m not sure that this is wholly a good thing but it’s usually done with the express interest of not putting others out. For instance, when someone once complained that my laugh was too loud I consciously toned it down. That sounds a little bit crazy, but my laugh isn’t so loud anymore so that person must be happy, wherever they are. What I’m trying to say is that I fear that by trying to please others I may be lessening my own personality, which, in this world of ‘original’ and ‘fresh’, is crucial to my not being disregarded as part of the crowd. I think.
Watch Dogs will incorporate a notoriety system, which has been featured in games before, but has its own little twists. Starting out, Aiden will be perceived as a nobody, with few paying him any mind, but as you progress and perform tasks your actions will change this. If you’re thug, care little about civilian casualties and steal from all and sundry, then you’ll be viewed as a bad guy. Help people, do good deeds and use non-lethal methods and you’ll bee seen as a hero by some. This will be reflected more than a simple bar graphs and a couple of crowd cheers though, and your experience will be very different depending on how you’re seen.
For example, in the demo Aiden is in a shop, and whilst he’s going about his business, a news broadcast appears on TV about Aiden’s wanted status. The shop owner, seeing Aiden as a criminal, calls the cops. This would play out differently if Aiden was perceived as a hero, and the shop keeper, and other civilians, may pay him no mind, even helping him if they like him enough. It’s interesting, and fits in very well with the game’s Orwellian-theme of big brother control.
This week I have mostly been playing Evil Genius, the last great entry in the ‘dungeon sim’ genre which is in desperate need of a new addition. I have played this game so many times it is silly, but what the game does right is to capture the essence of the 60’s and the clichés of spy movies so succinctly, so charmingly that you feel compelled to delve deeper. What it does wrong is slow progression, frustrating defensive mechanics and a lack of unpredictability. Every new game features the same island and the same, slow mission progression that only really gets going once you unlock several specialised minions. The research department, which allows you to build the most interesting stuff, doesn’t appear until much later, which makes space-management all the more difficult as you have to account for bulkier equipment which you don’t have yet.
And yet, rumours abound that a certain sequel (no names) may yet surface some time in the near future, and when it does I’ll be activating the amber alarm. You know, because…go play the game!
Accidentally typing in $1000 instead of $10 in the Humble Bundle donation box does two things: first, your eyes widen and you hurriedly pull your hands away from the keyboard lest they turn on you after all those years of fragile pact-making and click ‘confirm my bankruptcy please’ as you watch in horror(they warned you about making them scratch down there!). Then your eyebrows rise and your head cocks to one side as you read the congratulatory message informing you that you have become one of the highest contributors (a bit presumptuous) and asking if you would like to be publicly thanked. For a split second I felt like the 1%, those people who get stuff purely by merit of being rich, a trait that is ironically inversely proportionate to how much free stuff you would genuinely need and be thankful for. I was about to give someone a lot of money, and in return I would receive a public pat on the back. Then I realised that I’ve paid into every Bundle for PC so far, and I never received so much as a wink, and yet by giving away more of what I don’t have I might actually get a bigger reward. It’s for charity isn’t it? Why would I want rewards beyond the original incentive? I feel bad enough donating just because I want the games, let alone then wanting to donate more for the public recognition. Is it to much to ask to have someone from Humble ring me up and give me phone sex as thanks? I’d even settle for a picture of someone biting their lip in a coquettish manner.
I sometimes wonder if I should put all my eggs in one basket and just run as fast as I can towards the light. When I wake up at 5:45 for work and hit the snooze button, knowing that I’ll pay for it later, I often imagine what my life would be like if I were more adventurous and brave and just threw it all out the window and began afresh. I imagine I would very quickly lose my bottle and come crawling back to my parents, my job, and my laptop. But what if I had a ‘buddy’ to go with me?
I read recently about a guy who legally and genuinely disappears his clients as a service and I thought about, if it was me, where I would go and what I would do. The first thing I expect is that I’d get a train to France and see where the wind took me (the idea being that you have a bit of cash to see you through to your new digs). Of course, as exciting and romantic as that sounds I genuinely don’t feel like I have it in me to just get up and leave these home comforts I’ve come to begrudgingly embrace. And yet I’ve always wanted a spontaneous friend, someone who could do all that, but who liked me enough to drag me along with them. I’m not brave enough to do it for myself, but if someone else didn’t mind me hanging onto their coattails I’d very much like that.
