The Infinity Ward train wreck, sponsored by Activision.

The mainstream gaming media, indie bloggers, tweeps and forum trolls across the net have beat this Infinity Ward debacle to death. And rightly so, as it has proven to be a great drama to watch unfold. It’s been like a multi-car wreck on the interstate, people just can’t help but rubberneck and say their piece on it. I am not immune to this phenomena.

I haven’t said much about it until now due to the excessive coverage of it all, but I recently pondered how this might effect Activision’s primary cash cow Blizzard, and thought I’d get my 2 cents in. I’ve read very little to give me any impression that Blizzard is any danger of Bobby Kotick and gang running them into the ground in such a manner, aside from my sparkly pony prognotications of doom. One would think that you’d leave well enough alone when that company is making you more money than that of most small countries’ gross domestic product. Yet, they did just that with Infinity Ward and the Modern Warfare franchise.

The IW thing just gets worse and worse for Activision every day. By last count there were nearly 30 people that have jumped ship, and now a group has banded together for yet another lawsuit in addition to the one that West and Zampella filed. Very soon, the 3 remaining employees at Ininity Ward will have to give Activision the bad news by telling them that they won’t be able to crank out Modern Warfare 3 any time soon. Eventually Activision will have to admit defeat because of this train wreck and close down one of the most lucrative gaming studios of all time. This is a great lesson on how to shoot yourself in the corporate foot.

I think that Blizzard is precisely the reason that Activision was bold enough to go through with the sacking of West and Zampella. By all accounts things are just rosy at Blizzard HQ. Starcraft 2 is about to release and make more truckloads of cash, followed shortly by World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion. I think those 2 games might be poised to send Activision’s stock value up just a bit. Hopefully, this Infinity Ward disaster might help them to rethink any future conflict that could come about with Blizzard. You think the IW meltdown is bad? Imagine if Blizzard employees started leaving en masse. You could just about follow that up with an Activision chapter 13 filing, because Blizzard is what makes Activion worth a flip financially. It seems to me that with so much reliable cash flow coming from Blizzard, the Activision bozos felt froggy enough to leap at Infinity Ward. Wonder how froggy they feel now?

It just prooves to me that Activision has it’s collective head solidly up it’s rear end. These corporate robots clearly underestimated the loyalty that the IW staff had for the 2 studio heads they so boldly escorted out of the building that fateful day. So Infinity Ward is going to die a slow death despite what they say to the media or community. There’s no way that the remaining staff can be happy or trust the clowns they now work for. IW’s staff have either left, stayed to get all they can before leaving, and/or have updated their resumes and will be gone sooner or later. The talent level will dissipate to that of entry/junior level. Remaining staff may likely be people without the talent, vision and experience to make MW3 as great as the others have been. Infinity Ward is a dead man walking.

I hope EA is watching. Oh yeah, they are.

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with One comment on 04/28/2010.
Posted in: Analysis, Featured, Opinion Tags: Activision, Blizzard, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2, Respawn Entertainment

CC’s avatar takes a moment to tell us how BFBC2 is much better because this type of play is not as effective, given the vehicles and destructible buildings and all.

Check the video below for the full scoop:

Is CC gonna get a fine from the commissioner for blowing Sweetwater up with a Hellfire missle?

~br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 03/16/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Funny, News, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DICE, Electronic Arts, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2

In my first look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I stated that I thought this game was coming to kick Modern Warefare 2′s ass.  Today we have more video of the Port Valdez Demo to drive that point home, and apparently beta testing is now in full swing.  Retailers began selling pre-orders with beta access and all sorts of other goodies, and from what I’m hearing the beta servers have been getting pounded. Over twitter EA stated they were having trouble getting beta information out on their blog since it was also getting crushed. It appears that interest in BBC2 is hitting a fevered pitch, and I must say that after watching the Port Valdez Demo Gameplay Video below I couldn’t resist hitting the “buy now” button for my pre-order. Check out the action below:

That sealed the deal for me. I’ll be asking my wife’s forgiveness for buying this game since I just blew some change on Mass Effect 2, but I am weak and cannot resist explosions. I purchased via Steam (shocker, I know) and will be getting my beta access and pre-order goodies from Valve, but other retailers are offering some great pre-order deals as well.

I’ve played alot of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.  I’m nearly 1st prestige level 70, which means I have been to max level twice in that game.  I love much of the action in that game and have tolerated many bugs and exploits by many of the jackasses out there that love to get ahead that way.  However, I hate Infinity Ward’s lack of dedicated servers and their matchmaking system is craptastic, but I digress.

My point is to say that with all the things I like about MW2, I see so much more to like in BBC2.  Vehicles, medics, better audio and sound effects are all things that jump out at me in the videos I’ve seen.  Well, the pre-order is done, the beta is downloading, and I’ll gather recon and report back soon.

Wish me luck soldier, I’m goin’ in…

~br3ntbr0 (a.k.a Stimulus Package on Steam)

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 01/28/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DICE, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2

1.  PVP and PVE balance

Dismiss one play style or the other at your own peril.  There is a reason that games like Call of Duty have single player campaigns, and World of Warcraft has battlegrounds.  Both styles of game play provide a good mix of experiences for the player, and draw a wider range of gamers to a given title.  Having both in an online game seems just about mandatory for today’s games.

2. Apprentice/Sidekick System

For games with level based progression, this is vital.  This has more to do with traditional MMORPG style games than anything, but with a max level will ultimately have an end game to suit that level of player and probably some alternate method of progression to go with it.  For new players that come into a game where the player base is already mature, a sidekick/apprentice system is a godsend.  While you might still be largely left to toil away at your questing and mob killing anyway, you don’t always have to be left out of the fun your higher level friends are having.These systems aren’t perfect, but still very needed.  Even if your level and statistics are bumped up to your friend’s level, your gear or available skills are usually still that of the lowbie that you actually are.  In the end, you are usually a weaker version of those who are actually at the level you’ve been brought up to be.  There’s no developer that has pulled this off flawlessly (yet) but it is much better than not having the option to run that higher level content at all.

3.  Single Realm/World

While it is naive to think that these types of games are actually only supported by a single physical server, some games only offer one world/realm/shard selection.  They do this with with a complex configuration of servers, and it usually necessitates heavy use of instancing.  While some game developers pull it off better than others, there’s no mistaking that dealing with a bunch of instances or “zoning” is a headache for some players.

8. Integrated Voice chat, anti-cheat ware, update management, digital distribution, social networking and game play recording

These are all awesome features by themselves.  I’ve bundled them together here because there are already a few platforms out there that bring every single one of these to the table already.  Every game needs something to help manage player profiles, provide matchmaking capabilities (where applicable), manage their games, and to help players find and play with friends.  I can provide no better example of this than Valve’s Steam.  Blizzard plans to roll out a similar tool with their revamped Battle.net, and Xfire seems to be moving in this direction as well.  Having one place to log in and manage your games, your profile, groups you belong to (and much more) just brings so much value to the gaming experience that it is a must.

You also need tools to fight cheaters.  Blizzard has the controversial Warden.  Valve has VAC.  Others use Punkbuster, Hackshield, Gameguard or something similar.  Every online game needs a security measure built in, otherwise the cheating/hacking twirps of the world will begin running rampant in game.  Wall hacks, teleporting, speed hacks, currency and item duplication exploits are all things that will very quickly send the game into ruination if left unchecked.  Having the game’s launcher or other game management platform (think Steam) manage updates and patches to the game are also so very useful that they should be key parts of the game upon release, especially if you need to quickly distribute a patch to fix an exploit.

Recording game play from within the game is not a tried and true feature for online games.  However, the explosion of video sites and game related videos posted to them makes this something I’d personally like to see every online game provide.  New games like APB are setting themselves apart by adding the capability to record moments of the game and seamlessly add them to YouTube.  How cool is it to catch your guild downing a boss or capping that critical capture point for bragging rights?  Screenshots don’t do justice to the action in most games.

You need a platform to build and supply these services.  Basically, you need Steam or something like it associated with your game.  Not only are many MMO’s sold via Steam, but some new ones are Steam Powered, meaning the game itself is integrated with Steam’s features and benefit from all the platform brings to the table.

9. Game Integrated Web Site and Services and Apps

This probably has alot to do with the item above, as a full platform of tools like Steam would help with this, but not fully.  Features that should be offered like realm transfer (hopefully not necessary, see the single realm/shard paragraphs above), faction transfer, character customization change, name change, and other associated services should be available.  Character, guild, and item look ups should available along with zone, quest, skill/spell abilities, and bestiary.  See everquest2players.com and wowarmory.com for wonderful examples of how to extend an MMO to the web.  Consider a mobile phone app out there too, as Fallen Earth and World of Warcraft have done.

10. Variety of subscription/payment options

Last but certainly not least, flexible payment options are needed. Many people are tired of being tethered to a $15.00 a month subscription fee, as it may limit their ability to play multiple games.  Others like buffet style pricing and don’t want to feel “nickle-and-dimed” by item shops and constant sales pitches.  Modern games need to be flexible enough to provide both, lowering the barrier to entry to everyone yet still proving the stability of established subscription games.  I can find no better example of this than Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Do you agree or disagree with these items?  What features do you want to see in your games?

- br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 6 comments on 01/26/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Opinion Tags: All Points Bulletin, BioWare, Blizzard, Cataclysm, Global Agenda, Modern Warfare 2, Steam, Valve, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft

EA recently released a video of the single player campaign in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and I must say the trailer looks great. It seems to be heavily sprinkled with game play footage, wicked rock and roll music, and the ever cool quote of “It’s gonna get real ugly” to top off the cool meter:

However, I’m not much for trailers that may not give you the best idea as to how the game plays. Upon further investigation, I came upon this purely awesome developer walk through of how squad deathmatch games work. Check out the game play footage below:

For a final taste of awesome sauce, they’ve put together a few “battlefield moments” types of videos like the one below:

I really hope this game can capitalize on all the things MW2 did wrong. It’s due out March 2nd on PC, PS3 and Xbox. I’m really looking forward to this one.

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 01/22/2010.
Posted in: Featured, News, Opinion, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Electronic Arts, Modern Warfare 2

The 1st Annual 2009 Golden Noob Awards

In the same vein as every ceremony that awards a trophy to an actor or musician we bring you ITG’s 1st annual game awards: The Golden Noob Awards! The Golden Noob is a virtual trophy awarded by ITG staff every year as a way to bestow praise (or disdain) upon the games that have crossed our paths in the year that was. Getting a Golden Noob trophy is an honor (or disgrace, depending on why it is awarded) to receive because we are all gamers as well as writers.

Without further delay, here are the ITG staff picks for game of the year, as well as our picks in other categories that we formulated to cover our 2009 gaming experiences. Keep in mind that some of us own consoles, some don’t. Some of us have played certain titles, and some of us didn’t have it in our budgets to play everything out there. We all own PC’s, but please understand that there are many games we haven’t played. These picks cover the things we experienced, and some really good (or bad) games might be left out. Not all games were necessarily launched in 2009, but had an impact on us enough to warrant them finding an award in this post. That said, let’s begin!

Category: Let down of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Aion
Aion was so predictable to me. Flashy graphics with metro-sexual, emo-styled characters and an over abundance of grind. A few gimmicks were there to keep a few hundred thousand around for a while, but that will be crushed under Blizzard’s Cataclysm boot and be in the same boat as Warhammer. I knew it wasn’t the game for me, and that it was very likely to contain all the MMO things that Koreans like and Americans don’t. After reading story after story about boredom, grind fests, PVP problems and the like…no other game can claim this title. I’m glad I resisted the urge to buy this game, simply because it was the popular game to jump to in September. Honorable mentions go out to Warhammer Online, Fallout 3 and Champions Online.

Rackham – Warhammer Online
For me it was Warhammer Online. We all believed the hype and drooled at the IP, but at the end of the day, technical issues and lack of end game draw was enough for me to leave it. It was a gorgeous game and the PVP mechanics are unmatched, but it just was lacking that special something.

Oakstout – Champions Online
Champions Online was a fun and enjoyable game, but overall it felt like a game rushed out the door. It felt like City of Heroes 2, not that this is a bad thing, but it wasn’t going to pull people away from an already well established game, which would have been their core player. It had quest progression issues that left people grinding mobs just to level up without anything substantial for them to do at end game. It was pretty and there were nice effects, but if you don’t have the content to keep people interested your going to lose players. To be honest, it seemed more like a game to generate money while Cryptic worked on bringing Star Trek Online to the masses.

Kaldeem – Warhammer Online
I’d have to agree on this one, as I pre-ordered WAR only to play for 3 months and cancel my subscription. While yes War was fun and a bit different, I think there was more hype then potential in this game, and I hate to see something with so much potential go to such a waste.

Carlosjuero – Aion
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at how disappointed I was with Aion – it was truly over hyped for a game that already was released and doing ‘well’ in Asia. That said I did jump in hoping to be proved wrong – sadly, the anticipation I felt for the game for years died out within a few weeks into Beta. While some of the ideas are interesting (Flight), it just has this feel of… well.. mediocrity. Top it off with a community that can, at times, but ‘The Barrens Chat’ to shame – this game definitely is the Bomb of the Year. (Close second: Champions Online)

JoBildo – Champions Online
I wanted to love this game so badly. Part of me still does. The character creator is amazing, the combat can be a lot of fun, and the Crisis Zones are a good way to do story-driven content. But the bugs, the lack of documentation, the rubber-banding, the lack of content in the mid-levels, and of course the infamous launch day patch made this a game I’ll probably check in on from time to time, but never really dig into the way I’d once hoped to.

Genda – Aion
What can I say. Not really surprised here as this was obviously the Flavor of the Month from the get-go. I’m sure it has a lot to recommend it, but I stand by my original call on The Grouchy Gamer. The two biggest things going against it are the Asian influence (the grind) and the PVP-dependency. I still don’t think you can have a persistent world that is based around PVP because of balancing (classes and factions) and lack of actual content. Not hard to see this one coming, obviously if I did.

Winner: Aion.

Category: Surprise of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Dragon Age: Origins
There were a few things I didn’t think were all that great about dragon age, but let me stress the word few. I know its hard to believe that I was surprised by a game so highly hyped and advertised before its launch, but I was someone who wasn’t even really looking forward to playing the game. Maybe I was so surprised because I had never played a BioWare RPG game before, but I was really sucked into this game. I enjoyed the story lines and played through the entire campaign twice. I was really surprised at how much I liked the combat. It was very tactical, but didn’t make me feel like there was more going on than I could handle. It came very close to being my game of the year, and the only reason I didn’t make it my game of the year was that it was such a surprise that I liked it so much. So, I made the surprise of the year category and it fit here just perfect for me. Honorable mentions go out to Modern Warfare 2, Dungeons and Dragons Online (post f2p change), and Torchlight.

Rackham – Wizards 101
Yes, you heard me right! My son was getting bored of his “kids’ MMO”, Fusion Fall, when I decided to look into this game as a possible alternate. I found myself enjoying this game so much that I signed up for two accounts right away. One for my son, and one for me. After showing the game to my (very non-gamer) wife, she was immediately drawn in. Not long after, I found my current Wizards101 account hijacked by my wife and we ended up buying the family subscription to the game. Any MMO that has my ENTIRE family playing together online is something short of miraculous. For those enticed by that story, Wizards 101 is definitely a kids game, but works on a card-combat mechanic. If you’ve ever longingly looked at all those old Magic: the Gathering cards collecting dust on your shelf, then be sure to check this game out. You’ll be hooked during the first tutorial mission!

Oakstout – Torchlight
I can’t say enough about this little game. It is everything a Diablo successor should be and more. So many great innovative features from having a pet that will run to town and sell items out of your inventory to being able to have an account bank that lets you trade items among your different toons. The graphics are superb and don’t require a massive machine to run. It is a great hack and slash game that is easy to get into and out of without too much trouble and for $20.00 it’s a steal.

Kaldeem – Dungeons and Dragons Online:Eberron Unlimited
While I haven’t gotten far in DDO, this is by far the most fun I’ve had in a MMO in a while. The graphics are grade A even comparable to Wow/War. Huge player base from what I can tell and is just really well done. WELL DONE!

Carlosjuero – Torchlight
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by this game considering the development team (creative minds behind Mythos, and many Diablo development vets) – I was blown away at how fun it was to just dive into and go around chopping things up. Sure, long term-playability (vanilla) isn’t great – but it is an awesome game for a low budget indie title. With a toolset released that is the same as used to develop the game, this game has a ton of potential.

Jobildo – Batman: Arkham Asylum
So many comic book games are utter garbage. Batman has never had a hit, and the closest I’d say he’s come was the movie tie-in of Batman Returns back on the SNES. So I was admittedly skeptical that an unknown studio could make a stellar game based on the Caped Crusader. But the blend of stealth, action, puzzle solving, and story-telling (not to mention a really well done focus on Bruce Wayne’s gadgetry) made this one of my favorite games of this and recent years.

Genda – Torchlight
OK it’s not Diablo, and it’s kinda smallish. But for $20 you can’t find more bang for your gaming buck. Hack and slash your way to the bottom of the dungeon and collect your phat lewts. If this had multiplayer it would probably be my GOTY.

Winner: Torchlight

Category: Best game I didn’t play. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Borderlands
Borderlands looked like a unique game. Cooperative games like Left 4 Dead scratched my small group itch very well, and this game appeared to be in the same mold. I watched plenty of footage, read many articles and followed this game closely. Alas, my budget didn’t allow me to grab this one as it launched in a period when many games were coming to market. Honorable mention goes out to Fallen Earth, but my lack of enthusiasm for post apocalyptic games is very low. However, I have yet to hear any knowledgeable gamer say anything very bad about it.

Rackham – Dragon Age: Origins
I’m breaking from my standard mold by not being one of the millions out there playing this game. If that response sparks the “Aww man! You REALLY gotta try this game!” response in you, then fret not. I may give the game a go around Christmas. Nobody can top Bioware in storytelling, and eventually I’ll cave in and experience this game to the fullest.

Oakstout – Dawn of War 2
Dawn of War 2 is at heart a RTS game that is trying really hard to break into the RPG genre. You can level up your main character, adjust stats, load in and out different squad mates for specific missions and there lots of great loot to be shuffled around. But like all things, I purchased it at the beginning of the year right around the time I got back into World of Warcraft so its been sitting on the hard drive collecting virtual dust, but it is a great game and well worth picking up.

Kaldeem – Tie: Dragon Age/Torchlight/L4D2
Here are three titles that I really want but didn’t get to buy (so far) and have plans on picking them up in the next few months. Not much more to say about these titles but I can ogle a bit for visual effect?

Carlosjuero – Left 4 Dead 2
This iteration of Left 4 Dead seems to build on the promise that the first one just hinted at, with more ‘long term’ love available I think. With all of the hoopla about the ‘Boycott’ the gaming world certainly turned around quick and L4D2 is one of the top played games on Steam (at least in my friends list) from what I have noticed.

Jobilido – Borderlands
I didn’t completely avoid Borderlands. I own it, in fact. But I’ve yet to really dig into it, despite my friends’ begging and pleading that I do. It doesn’t take a lot of brain power to see why a game that blends the loot and leveling addiction of the Diablo series with the run and gun action of Gearbox’s other titles might make for one hell of a co-op experience. I’ll get around to enjoying this one in 2010… maybe.

Genda – Dragon Age: Origins
Just didn’t have time to play it right now. From the looks of the blogosphere and the outrageous amount of attention this got in my Twitter circle, this was an amazing release. I’ll probably give this a look down the line although single-player RPG’s haven’t ever really been my cup of tea. I’ve been able to avoid spoilers thanks to most of the bloggers being really good about posting spoiler alerts. Thanks guys!

Winner: Dragon Age: Origins

Category: 2009 overall game of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Left 4 Dead 2
I’m a huge fan of valve games. Team fortress 1 and 2 will make the top of my all time favorite games lists, and so will Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. Valve continued their great game making by taking a fantastic game and improving and expanding on it in some very good ways. The characters are funny and likeable (Coach’s “one man cheeseburger apocalypse” makes me laugh every time I hear it), the new game play modes add strategic twists to already fun game play, the weapons are just flat out better, and the new special infected shake things up in new, fun and challenging ways. The upcoming Midnight Riders DLC already gives more to look forward to in this game. There’s just not been anything better in 2009 than finding 3 strangers to battle zombie hordes with. If only more on the ITG staff played, we’d have our own regular squad! While some might argue against this game citing “more of the same” I’d just say to each his own. These are opinions we are each entitled to have, and this was – in my opinion – the best game I played in 2009.

Rackham – World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Any game that can keep me returning back to the running treadmills for 5 years must have something going for it. The game has grown to such a degree that it is the benchmark by which other MMOs are measured, whether they intend to or not. Eventually the ivory tower may crack as eventually others games with much more creative thinking behind it will eventually chip away at it. Either that or Blizzard employees will drown to death in their massive stacks of money.

Oakstout – Dragon Age: Origins
This game wasn’t even on my radar. Sure, Pete would blog about it every other day, but still, nothing I would really see myself playing. I’d tried Mass Effect and wasn’t into the whole dialog tree of gaming. If I wanted to read, I would pick up a good book, not play a video game. However, this game is awesome. The dialog is fun and helps propel the story forward as opposed to bogging it down. There are a number of different characters you can play and each story is unique. The best part of the story telling is that it is a doorway to the best part of the game, the fighting. The game is full of the best action I’ve seen in a game in a very long time and it gets pretty tense and hairy at times. Although the game is available for many console systems, I chose the PC version because it gives you the ability to pause the action anytime to reassign melee attacks and spell casting so you can best protect your little adventuring group. The game is full of surprise and it looks fantastic. They did a very good job on the graphics and sound for this game. I can’t think of any other game that I would even consider for game of the year.

Kaldeem- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Yeah, I would have to agree with Rackham here. I like Wow, and had HIGH hopes for Wotlk upon rushing to Walmart and spending my last $50 on this, I mean it was freaking great the first time I hit 80, and yeah…treadmills suck in real life, and that carries over in game also! Still my GOTY vote!

Carlosjuero – Dragon Age: Origins
I am a complete ‘fanboi’ when it comes to this game, and I am not afraid to admit it! I haven’t played an RPG in many years that drew me in as much as this one has – from the choices that have to be made (some of which may not be your particular cup of tea) to the in depth characters and story… Dragon Age delivers on all levels for me.

Jobildo – Dragon Age: Origins
BioWare has consistently made the best and most engaging role-playing experiences since 1990s and this trend doesn’t change with the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate. I’d even be bold enough to say that Dragon Age bests the classic Black Isle Studios series to the point where I won’t go back every couple years to play them, and instead I’ll be taking a trip down memory lane by diving into Ferelden once in a blue moon. BioWare’s at the top of their game these past few years, and if Mass Effect 2 is as good as Dragon Age is, I’ll be even more excited to see what the Canucks bring to the MMOG table with Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Genda – Borderlands
I haven’t played this as much as I’d like but the multiplayer is a freaking blast. Good story, good music, fun gameplay. All in all a good run at a console game. Truthfully, I’m looking forward to next year to see what rises up. Some really good games this year, but I’m hoping for greatness in 2010. Especially if Bioware comes through and if Cataclysm is as big an improvement over WOTLK as Wrath was over TBC.

Winner: Dragon Age: Origins

So there you have it. The gamers have spoken, and BioWare’s RPG comes out huge with 2 Golden Noob awards and positive mentions in other categories. Borderlands, Left 4 Dead 2, Torchlight and World of Warcraft come away with positive mentions as well.

What do you think? Agree or disagree with these nominations and the chosen winners? Let us know!

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 12/07/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Opinion Tags: All Points Bulletin, Awards, BioShock 2, Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins, Global Agenda, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, Star Wars: The Old Repbulic, Torchlight, World of Warcraft, WoW

Recently, Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling, announced that Modern Warfare 2 would not ship with any dedicated server support.  Instead, the game would be using their new IWNET matchmaking system.   Robert “FourZeroTwo” Bowling’s on his own blog, posted some of the benefits of this new system, which were most likely crafted to quell the lynch mob forming in the shadows.  Here are a few highlights that got lifted for clarification:

• Matchmaking & Smoother Game play: Bowling says IWNET matchmaking allows players to find and join games much easer than scrolling through lists of servers, each with their own rule and mod sets. This new IWNET infrastructure will “automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL.’

• Playlists and Private Matches: Bowling says the new playlist will allow for easier use to finding the type of game you want to play. “This now allows you to play custom games out of the box without the need to install mods, find a modded server with the rules you like, or worry about not being in control of the match,” Bowling explains.

• Party System and Friends list: IWNET’s friend list system allows players to see when your friends are online, and makes it easy to invite them into your party and move from game to game. Bowling highlights the fact this is great for Clan use.

• Cheat / Hack Free Games: “The biggest benefit of using IWnet by far is the fact that you don’t have to worry about joining a server full of aim-bots, wallhacks, or cheaters,” Bowling writes. He says this will allow them to control the quality of the game as well as utilizing the VAC (Valve-Anti-Cheat) system.

This has a large portion of the gaming community, especially those in favor of dedicated game servers in an uproar.  The short explanation is that this new matchmaking service basically turns their beloved PC into an Xbox or a PS3.  It eliminates or at the very least hampers the creation and implementation of mods for Modern War 2.  It takes a lot of control out of the gamers hands and places it firmly in the hands of the gaming company.  Why?  So  they can effectively control,  see and record everything thing the player does during their online play.

Sure that sounds very paranoid, but why else would they stifle creative control of the PC community in favor of a system that basically cuts players off at the knees?

-Oakstout

© Posted by Oakstout for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/30/2009.
Posted in: Commentary, Featured Tags: Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2