Posts by Furyo

It is true, there is no DRM in Prince of Persia PC Retail or Steam (Steam has its own form of DRM, but you get the idea...no piece of shit Securom)

For a console that sold 2 million units in November, outselling its closest competitor over 2 for 1, you'd think everyone with an interest to the industry would pay more attention....

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":afwqxvdo]

the suits man! Those god damn suits... when will they learn!?

The so called suits are way too often described as the perfect scapegoat. In this case, it never was the suits, much more the job titles and lack of communication from department to department. Many were very keen on getting feedback and working hand in hand with the rest, but the opposite was also true in certain cases with certain suggestions just being thrown to the dumpster or simply never heard because they came from someone or a department whose trade isn't to handle these things. Or from lack of time, redoing certain things would have impacted a lot more than just that one thing.

This is where the Cabal system shines to me, you playtest early and frequently, and everyone participates and is encouraged to provide solutions. The thing is, while it works for Valve, there aren't too many companies that would thrive using this method too. It takes a lot of time to change the mentality of a workplace, and hiring the right people at the right time is a key part in that, something larger companies simply cannot afford.

This criticism can be made across the board in many different companies and industries. It's nothing new under the sun at all.

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Was PoP really aimed at being a family game? Because the Prince kinda looks like a hobo. Or at least, a dirty pirate.

Of course the game is meant to be family friendly. Except for the odd animation, there is rarely a sense of violence in the game, no blood, the two main characters are written so young boys and girls can directly relate to them, and the game as a whole is designed so parents don't fear letting their children play it, and may enjoy it themselves too.

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Least favorite was the Ruined Citadel. Long plate sequences that had flying in it ruined it for me. I hate the flying... Speaking of which, the princes cape hangs straight down during flying sequences... no flapping in the wind.. No sense of speed.. Kinda

Totally agree with you there, I think the powers in general are totally failed, except for the dash sequences. The flying gives nothing except frustration, and grapple and rebound are two exactly identical purposes with different animations. Utter failing there, which believe it or not all level designers pointed out.

There are many ways publishers get to know who plays their game, and what sorts of things they do in it. Microsoft at least will send publishers all sorts of info about the game, kinda like what Steam does, only I believe even more detailed.

What I meant though is that if you were to compare both companies latest games, I have a feeling both targeted global customers, but with very different selection criteria. I couldn't say that Left 4 Dead is targeting "anyone aged X to Y in a family household, as a family game". I'm not even saying this is what we implicitly were targeting for this game, but there is no denying PoP is the family friendly of these two games. As such I think the target was just a lot broader than that of L4D, or Valve games in general.

yeah there's also this interesting piece on TGR

http://www.thegamereviews.com/article-9 ... Wrong.html

Shows you that you really can't please everyone. And I agree with your statement that Ubi and Valve have very different ways to approach the subject, but you need to realize how different each company's target consumer really is....

All valid points too. You seem to be among the 5-6/10 peeps, which we all knew we'd get. As a player, I agree with many of your points, and you have no idea how some of us fought hard to try and counter balance that. As a designer though, the "casual highway" Ubisoft imposes on all its games is a challenge. Finding interesting things to do for a hardcore gamer in a "everyone should be able to play and finish the game" game is challenging. (And by everyone, I mean your grandmother while drinking tea with her other hand)

I'm sure some will say I'm just too cynical, but I'm seeing a completely biased politically tainted video of youngsters being either stressed or downright depressed playing many games they never even should set their hands on. I've heard GTAIV sounds, CoD ones, Halo, etc...all of which are rated M

I'm expecting huge hordes of X360 fanboys telling us it means they're going multiplatform

I'm working on a smaller project right now, for a few months, then we'll see what other AAA I can work on.

It's so insane no word can describe exactly how totally unreal this all is.

I have a theory about how societies will sooner or later react towards these acts, this one being the most insanely pointless and stupid of a long list of "consequential uncivilities". You can see in certain countries a resurgence in politics of the need to educate people better, specifically on how to act in a society in a respectful way. Certain countries are thinking of implementing an obligatory civil service to your nation (in case you don't join the army).

Well here's my theory. This won't be enough, and after all is said and done and this is put in place and such events still occur, the outcry from the large majority of the population will force politicians to vote laws that will temporarily or permanently revoke any of your civil rights as a citizen.

One of the main argument in the "vote now" campaigns is that voting is a right and a duty, this kinda message is getting across, and when it's finally sunk in that your entire citizenship in any country means you have rights as well as duties, societies will willingly take away your former if you don't respect your latter. People right now all too often expect to be given things without thinking twice about their own role in society. That's individualism for you. The backlash as always will go too far the other direction, but it will come.

So has anyone picked it up yet?

It's indeed very well edited. The gameplay scenes were few and far between, so no one can really tell how much of the actual game is playable and done right now, but it's certainly an impressive first look.

It's coming out on PC and Steam Dec. 10th, the consoles get it a week earlier, next tuesday in the US and thursday in Europe.

IGN UK gave it a 9.4, and OPM gives it an 8/10 and "action/adventure game of the year"

I designed 5 different maps in the Ruined Citadel region, the one mostly shown with the Hunter boss and E3 demo. Scripted 3 maps too.

..and the first reviews roll in, with IGN giving the game a 9.3 today:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/934/934014p1.html

The game will be hitting store shelves next week

Max Payne 1, yes, was incredibly fun and innovative. Max Payne 2 however, was more of the same action without the story telling and felt way too short.

I'm surprised there are still people in the industry surprised by this kinda business protocols...embargos on reviews and previews (unless the score is high) have always been around it seems to me....It doesn't make the practice any more right or wrong (except to the eyes of the shareholders) but surprising? Hardly...

I've played the demo for 20 hours since it was released to pre ordering customers. Now I don't know about you guys, but that's the very best re playability value I've ever seen in a demo. Hands down. I keep going back to it with some friends and we spend hours on end on just two maps. I think it's a brilliant game already, and the rest of the content will easily push it above 9/10 for me.

Added you Thiago Congrats again