“The State of the Casual Games Industry in 2008″ at Gamasutra
Here’s an article highlighting interviews with three “leading lights” of the casual games industry from PlayFirst, PopCap and Reflexive Entertainment. “Match-3 [a term for Bejeweled-like games] will never die” is a choice quote, whether or not it’s true, but far more interesting is when they agree that more “immersive experiences” are doing better and better, as opposed to “amusing momentary distractions.”

“Mikami and Suda Talk EA Partnership” at 1UP
This is the best of the interviews with Shinji Mikami and Suda51 after their unveiling of the partnership with Electronic Arts for their upcoming action / horror game. Most of the right questions are asked, and Suda51 even reveals how involved EA are with the project (“a production team for EA Partners will come to our office once a month“), and Mikami saying that what EA brings to the table is “money” is priceless. The one thing I’m surprised nobody asked was how involved Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment is with the title.

“THE ACTION BUTTON DOT NET MANIFESTO: A LIST OF THE TWENTY-FIVE BEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME” at Action Button
Updating with numbers 16 through 11 this week, it’s more of Action Button at its best though. The Outrun 2 review is lovely, lovely stuff (hey, much like the game), and Ario Barzan’s review of Shadow of the Colossus is maybe the best the list has seen so far, which is surprising because his Metroid Prime review a week prior was the worst. I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks bring; as the list goes on, things have only come together more and more.

Space Siege occupies an unfortunate middle ground between much superior games. On the action RPG side, there are dozens of titles, most notably Dungeon Siege 2 and the exceptional and apparently rampantly pirated Titan Quest. On the just plain old action side sits Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor, two excellent low budget isometric shooters that are both very good ways to kill a weekend. Space Siege does its best to balance the two sub-genres, with RPG-like character customization minus all that pesky ‘looking at stats three menus deep into a cumbersome UI.’ The tragedy here is that it is this tightrope act that keeps the game from being any more than clichéd and average. One step toward Diablo-ness would add in actual equipment instead of identical upgrade parts that are little more than currency to buy stat bonuses and abilities, thus removing all the excitement of stumbling upon a new weapon. Falling off towards full on action would at the very least allow moving while shooting, adding strategy to combat that, as it sits, is a simple contest of firepower. Space Siege is either an extremely streamlined action RPG or an average top down shooter with control issues; neither of which is very appealing.

There are some attempts at character customization that work marginally well. The player is given the option throughout the game to install cybernetic parts at the expense of his humanity. I saw no reason to cling to my fragile flesh, and went all out cyber, suffering no penalties for it; the choice has a very positive effect on the combat and no noticeable negative impact on the story, but at least there was the option to be a prude for no good reason. The same is true for special abilities: ability points are handed out after story events, and not as a part of a leveling system. There are quite a few choices to be made along two different ability trees and the best powers cannot be reached without planning ahead. The loot/currency system does not fare as well, and actually ends up interfering; there was more than enough loot available to completely power up both my character and my robot sidekick, overcompensating for any mistakes I made choosing powers. I took a very balanced approach, which I realized half way through was not the best idea, but it didn’t matter. By the end, I was a cybernetic killing machine with a mute robot badass lackey, suffering no real bonuses or hindrances from past decisions.

Space Siege fails because it cannibalizes better games in a half-hearted way. If it had chosen a single genre to rip off, it would have fared better. The game isn’t terrible, there are just easily obtainable, much better alternatives. As much as I hate boiling game choice down to simple economics, here is the formula: Space Siege is currently $50. For that price, you could get Titan Quest Gold, Shadowgrounds Survivor and a six pack of Guinness. I’m no financial genius, but 40-plus hours of better game play on top of several pints of stout sounds much better than the eight hours of so-so genre straddling I just endured, minus the benefits of alcohol.

Soul Calibur IV is at least “good.” This is mainly due to the incredible depth the game contains. In fact, the amount of modes and features it contains is enough to overwhelm a beginner to the series. Like its previous iterations, Soul Calibur IV separates itself from its competitors by featuring combatants with unique weapons and abilities. This adds more strategy to the game, since you can choose which abilities you think will give you an edge in the fight, as well as participate in the fight itself. This is a lot more complicated than it sounds. I personally have found that most of the abilities don’t have much of an effect on the fight, and instead are just small added perks that can sometimes help you out. The real depth and strategy is found in the actual fighting engine. Each character and his/her weapon has a multitude of moves, enough so that it’s near impossible for the layman to memorize even half of them. Through this, Soul Calibur IV puts a heavy emphasis on spending a lot of time with a character to truly learn and play well with them.

But of course this has to be the game’s biggest problem. A casual player like me will have a tough time fully learning the move-set of even one character. Deciding when to use each individual move is an even bigger problem. I had a lot of trouble with a lot of the more difficult challenges the game throws at you, especially in the Tower of Souls mode. But this isn’t too much of a problem, since it’s the only challenge the game provides. Both the Story and Arcade modes are quite easy, and I was able to beat Story mode on Hard difficulty by simple button mashing or using one move over and over again. I suppose Namco did this on purpose, because the reward for beating either Story or Arcade mode is well in line with the amount of effort put in. Beating either mode results in short clip (usually under a minute) that is either incomprehensible or indecipherable unless you’re a diehard follower of the series’ storyline. Why both modes offer different endings is also baffling, yet somehow a good thing (why else would you play one over the other?)

As mentioned, the lack of challenge in the Arcade and Story modes is more than made up for by the very frustrating Tower of Souls mode. In this mode you must ascend or descend a seemingly unending number of floors with one or more characters in tag-team like fashion. Although the difficulty being high is a good thing compared to the other modes, it’s also annoying since a lot of it seems cheap. For example, opponents in this mode are frequently made more difficult by having more than 100% health or being immune to throws. This is especially frustrating to me, because I cannot stand artificial difficulty in video games.

Aside from that, the Tower of Souls is by far the best fighting mode in the game and offers a good platform for players to really hone their skills. I say best fighting mode, because I found the best actual mode to be Create-A-Character. In this mode, you can create your very own character with the plethora of clothing and accessories items available. You can even create custom outfits of the already existing characters. More items to accessorize your character can be obtained in the Tower of Souls mode, a clever way of forcing someone to play the most challenging mode in the game. Unfortunately, the Star Wars characters are not customizable, and since brand new characters need to be based on already existing ones, any custom character you make cannot use a lightsaber. This might actually be the most disappointing aspect of the game for me.

Speaking of the Star Wars tie-in, the characters from said universe (and their given storylines) do look a little awkward and out of place in the game. However, Namco has admittedly done a good job of making the characters work in the actual gameplay, and they fit in quite well in the regard (still, the lightsaber should be able to cut through everyone and everything). The effort put forth by Namco here is especially positive, since the tie-in seemed only to be about money ever since it was announced.

I guess another big addition to the series in IV is online play. Fighting games have always had a large focus on multiplayer, and online play lets you play versus mode any time you want. But online play is a double edged sword (best pun ever?) because the net code required may interfere with the intricate mechanics of the game’s fighting engine. Regardless, I did not notice such disturbances in the matches I played, and any lag present was manageable. There are reports of severe lag during online play from several sources, however.

Soul Calibur IV does what it needs to, but not much else. This isn’t a bad thing. It’s not revolutionary or innovative, but it offers a solid fighting experience. Its biggest flaw is that it is too deep. The storyline is also a bit unwelcoming to those new to it, but let’s face it, so is every other fighting game storyline. Soul Calibur IV will give returning players a “next-gen” quality title that surpasses its predecessors in a variety of ways, particularly in the field of replayability. Those new to the series will have a tough time at first, but if they put enough time into it, they will be rewarded with a great experience and finally understand why this series matters. If not, there’s always the large breasts.

After writing several pieces for this XBLAh column, I began to feel a little annoyed. Even though the column was my idea, I couldn’t help but feel it was very limiting. I had pigeon-holed myself into writing what are essentially weekly previews for downloadable games, most of which hardly have any sort of impact on anything. I look at other people’s columns, specifically Mike Ireland’s Mightier Pen and realize that is what I want to be doing; discussing the more artistic qualities of video games and their influences on society. Something that’s actually interesting to read and write about.

Braid released on August 6th, 2008 and offered me exactly that. A chance to talk about how video games have evolved, how they can be profound, how they need not sacrifice gameplay, but honor it to create something inspiring. More importantly, it gave me a chance to share my personal feelings on the future of video games. And I feel almost ashamed to tell you that I squandered this chance by not even purchasing the game. Why, you ask? It’s the same reason why the game is getting half of its press, the same reason why forum users are arguing about it, the same reason why Penny Arcade had to write a column about it. The price.

I am not one of those fools who are arguing that the game is not worth $15. Such an argument is based on completely subjective thought and debates on production value and development time are absurd. I have no doubt that to those singing their praises towards Braid, quite vocally I might add, the game is well worth the money obtained from working less than a day at a minimum wage job. I also don’t feel that debuting Braid at $15 is part of some evil plan by Microsoft to eventually raise the standard price of XBLA games, as if there was such a thing. Sure, most original titles tend to be $10, but $15 games have been on the service since launch and I didn’t see this theory being thrown around when the Penny Arcade game was announced for $20.

My reason is far less biased and far more confusing. If Braid was priced at $10, I probably would have beaten it already and would be in line to write a second opinion for James Shield’s excellent review for it. But at $15, I feel very hesitant. This is not unlike the feeling I had for Aces of the Galaxy, a game I praised earlier but also didn’t end up buying. That game was priced at $10 and I probably would have purchased it if was $5. What is it about $5 that makes us so unwilling to part with it? I remember spending about that much on lunch every day when I was in high school. And yet, as I’m writing this, I still feel cautious about spending it to buy Braid.

The situation is made all the worse by the quality of Braid. Unlike Aces of the Galaxy, Braid looks like a game that I most definitely should fork over the extra money for. This is not to say that Aces of the Galaxy is not worth the money, but rather that Braid shouldn’t be about the money. The game is a masterpiece.

How should I know? I’ve only played the sliver of the game found in the demo. But during the sliver, there were some very special moments. In the first world, there is a level with two puzzle pieces that I had no idea how to get. I scratched my head in frustration and being the impatient gamer that I am, I decided to consult youtube for a walkthrough. After watching, it became clear to me that you had to progress through the entire first world and only then could you go back and get the two seemingly impossible pieces. That may not seem very special, but I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just tell you that the way it’s handled is absolutely brilliant. So much so that I’ve played the game three times through now and I still have so much fun with that part.

Another special moment came when I played it in front of my parents. I’ve played a number of games in front of them, and they are indifferent to nearly all of them (except for any shooter, which they cannot stand). Within seconds of turning on Braid and walking through the title screen, my dad immediately asked, “Is this like Mario?” I replied with a simple “yes” even though the answer to that is amazingly complex. After several minutes of playing, I was amazed. My parents had become engrossed in the game, by its music, presentation, and mechanics. My mom enthusiastically said, “I like this game. It’s so… adventurous.” I spent some time showing them some of the more intricate puzzles and the time control ability and they were very impressed. I was impressed too. Braid somehow found a way to connect to people who had never really shown interest in video games. And it didn’t do it through cheap and gimmicky tricks. It did it through intelligent and intricate thought.

Profound, intelligent, unique, inspiring, special, masterpiece, art. These words have all been thrown around during the last week or so to describe Braid. I have played but a tiny percentage of the game and I am not afraid to say that I agree with those words. What I am afraid to do still is press A on “Confirm Purchase.” Therefore, I am going to have to be hypocritical here and urge those of you who are in the same position as me to buy this game, no matter how conflicted you are about it. I am telling myself the same thing. Hype happens for a reason, and sometimes it is dead on. The significant thing here is not that the GAMES R ART crowd is more vocal than ever, but that this is one of the few times where they actually have a strong case.

It’s hard to transition from the grandiose thought that Braid invokes to the relatively simple retro Capcom action-platformer Bionic Commando. But there is a connection. There were quite a number of people who argued against Braid’s price point by pointing out that Bionic Commando is only priced at $10. While this is true, it does not have anything to do with the price of Braid and the argument makes very little sense.

Regardless, the $10 price tag for Bionic Commando does seem to be very generous of Capcom. The game looks like it’s jam packed with content and the presentation is like what you would find in a retail game. The game also has plenty of humor, both added by the developers in the re-make or the unintentional humor that was present in the first one that the developers decided to keep. Other than that, there’s not much else to say. The difficulty seemed to be about average, and the only significant problem I had were the controls. While they are quite smooth, considering the circumstances, it’s still annoying to not be able to jump over simple obstacles. The high definition graphics look very nice, but do create a conflict with the retro game mechanics.

At $10, the game is hard not to recommend. I haven’t bought this yet, because I honestly did not have that much fun with it. I think this has more to do with the level in the demo rather than the full game. The bionic arm mechanic has the potential to be wonderful, and I will not doubt that it does fulfill this potential in later levels. The only thing I want to make clear is that you shouldn’t purchase this game over Braid just because it costs less. Play both games, judge them on their own merits, and only you can decide which game is worth its price.

Rounding out this week is Fable 2: Pub Games. Nobody should have any interest in this game unless they’re planning on buying Fable 2. The game consists of several casino-like mini-games, and money earned from them is tied to the money you have in Fable. Again, if you don’t have Fable, there’s nothing all that engaging here, although I was surprised to see that many of the games have a good amount of depth to them. The demo lets you play every game available at low stakes, where not much money is earned. I ended up losing a total of about 100 gold, but the leaderboards show that people have already made millions. At $10, I would definitely not have recommended this before I played it. It seemed like a way to make users spend real money to make fake money, but after seeing the games have some depth, challenge, and strategy to them, I can safely say that the games are fun to play and those buying Fable should consider trying the demo.

Next week’s release is Galaga Legions and it will be the pen-ultimate release for the excellent month XBLA is having. It’s made by the same developers of Pac-Man: Championship Edition, who are now looking to revitalize the ancient classic Galaga. The videos released look phenomenal, but early reports say that the game is too easy and lacks the charm of Pac-Man: CE. We’ll let you know next week. Until then, you should play some Braid. Even if it’s the demo, a few more times.

Braid wants you to understand its world, which is an interesting process; Braid will never hold your hand, and it will never patronize you. That’s not to say its puzzles are difficult because of a lack of direction, but that Braid rewards tactile learners. It wants you to play around with the mechanics it offers, so instead of explaining how different tools it presents work, an act that would only demystify them, a simple puzzle is offered to start, as a brief acquaintance, and you move on from there. The further you progress in levels, the more uses you will find for different tools, and the deeper mechanics become. Like any good puzzle, Braid becomes more interesting the longer you play with it and the more you think about it.

Braid leaves a lot to a player’s interpretation, from puzzles with multiple solutions, to its story and what it means. Without divulging too much, Tim’s story, like The Prince’s, is bittersweet, but it only becomes more beautiful for it, adding layers to its meaning. And maybe that’s what makes Braid so interesting; it’s never gimmicky, it’s never bland, and nothing is unintentional. It’s dense in such a way that will spark thought and conversation in the minds of people who read into it.

In the end, Braid takes a medium and creates something profound. And unlike so many games that present themselves in an artful way, yet fall short of offering anything truly deep, Braid delivers an experience gamers will be hard-pressed to forget.

Beautifully scripted are the background stories for many of its organizations, but the intent is never to completely inform the player, but open up further questions. The Morag Tong, a guild of legally sanctioned assassins, split in half many years ago, resulting in an offshoot group, the Dark Brotherhood, after the latter clan’s killings became less reliant on legality and more on funding. The Dark Brotherhood, later a faction able to be joined in the sequel, Oblivion, is headed by the Night Mother. In Morrowind, the final question is left unsolved; who is she? What is she? The closer you get to information about the Morag Tong and Dark Brotherhood’s past together and subsequent falling out, the more wild the speculation becomes about the true explanation behind the present state of the guilds.

And so it was for the majority of the game. How did Nerevar really die? What actually happened that made the Dwarves disappear? Are the living gods really gods at all? Where did all these fucking cliff racers come from? The first time my cousin warned me about swimming too far, lest the Dreugh come after me, I thought he was making it up. There was no way this game was that crazy. A man with the lower body of an octopus and claws for hands? One moment it was unbelievable, and the next I was swimming for shore for all I was worth. Half the game is spent like that, uncovering new questions to answer, and the other half is spent rifling through the multitude of tomes in a personal quest to discern the truth behind the mysteries of Vvardenfell.

The game as a whole is so intricately foreign that it made for a better world to explore and experience than any I’ve ever seen since. The developers cited Egyptian, early Japanese, and Middle Eastern cultures as influence, and it really shows not just in all of the architecture, but the very civilization and all of its issues. The antagonist’s main goal is actually just to rule Morrowind, free of Imperial rule, as it was long ago. The process of stopping him involves interfering in regional politics, winning the hearts and minds of the most foreign groups, the nomadic tribesmen of Vvardenfell, and uniting the island under your leadership in the role of Nerevarine, hero reborn.

Arena, Daggerfall, and Oblivion all took place in the traditional RPG setting, with knights and green grass and dragons, and Morrowind is the place nobody from those other lands ever wants to visit. Its largest landmass is a volcanic island covered in ash, and its dark elf denizens hate foreign influence as much as the foreigners hate them. Where the dungeons of earlier Elder Scrolls titles were randomly generated, every hole in Morrowind was laid out according to carefully detailed plans. The intricacy of the world was more real than any other, and the depth only served to make Vvardenfell a more believable setting than Oblivion’s. If you want to know how deep the game actually went, here’s a good example: in Morrowind, there were over 300 books for the player to read, not including scrolls, letters, notes, and things of that nature. On standard sized paper, a collection of the books in this game spans over 1,200 pages. Damn.

The game starts small at the very tip of the iceberg - the shallow end of the pool - but from the very beginning, you’re free to wander absolutely anywhere with no guide whatsoever. Get involved in those regional politics, join one of the many guilds, gather wild ingredients and mix potions, explore dark caves, ruins and dungeons full of creatures beyond your wildest imagination, and get to know the people and problems of Morrowind. Before you realize it, you’re in a deeper world than any you’ve ever known. That complete freedom and depth is the true beauty of the game, and it’s largely due to fantastic design and more extensive in-game writing than I’ve ever come across. Once you’ve come to appreciate the world in Morrowind, you can return to that central storyline from so very long ago. You are free to ignore it, sure, but I found that the longer I spent away from it, the more I found motivation to return, knowing that my actions there would save the land I’d fallen in love with. That is actually the most fantastic thing about the game; there is nothing forcing you to defend the island of Vvardenfell except for your own conscience, and the wonderfully developed world away from that main quest only aids the development of your feelings toward it.

Many fantastic role-playing games have come out over the years, but Morrowind really helped pull itself head and shoulders above the crowd by developing a realistically complicated world in such an unfamiliar setting that its players can’t help but explore every nook and cranny, finding new reasons to love it every time they play. If you’ve never experienced the land of Vvardenfell, do yourself a favor and get with the times. Two weeks from now, I’ll be writing a follow-up piece on Oblivion, so come back on the Tuesday to read about that mainstream betrayal.

“Things to Make and Do in LittleBigPlanet” at Edge
The best non-video preview I’ve seen of this game. There’s little new information, but the quotes from Media Molecule employees are priceless (the last paragraph is perfect, and respect for Nintendo brought up multiple times, who would have guessed?), and it does go into the game’s possible cultural significance. More previews need to do that.

“Braid [REVIEW]” at Joystick Division
I’ll admit it, I haven’t played this game yet, but this would be a great review even if I disagreed with it. It’s just personal enough, just descriptive enough, and just spoiler-laden enough (with warning, of course). The cheap shot at people spending $60 for sports games and mediocre shooters is unnecessary (really not the same audience as Braid), but I agree that the backlash against its $15 price point has been ridiculous.

“THE ACTION BUTTON DOT NET MANIFESTO: A LIST OF THE TWENTY-FIVE BEST GAMES OF ALL-TIME” at Action Button
Updated this week with numbers 22 through 17. It’s a lot of reading, but I can assure you that it is totally worth it. Tim Rogers is at his near-best here; these reviews are inspired, enlightening, and entertaining. I also love that he’s writing the list as if it’s one big piece (there’s constant mentions of spear thrusting and God Hand). It’s quite an undertaking - one of the biggest projects I’ve seen in gaming journalism - but it seems he’s up to the task.

My point is that PC gaming has come a long way since then. Nowadays, we are inundated with all kinds of concepts that my younger self would find mind boggling – digital rights, subscriptions, torrents. On-line distribution. PC gaming back then just seemed more authentic. More honest.

What challenges is the PC market facing as the evolution of the media and distribution reaches and unprecedented pace? Is PC gaming dying or is it simply changing? What role does Impulse play in the future of the platform?

Distribution is Different

Well firstly, it clearly is not dying, but its perception has changed. The platform itself is in a perpetual liquid state of technological change and the games are mirroring this. Times change, and for an ever-increasing amount of PC gamers, buying a game in this age is nothing more than a singular mouse click. A single tap of a button and the entire game is streamed directly to you via the wonders of the Internet. Unfortunately, stealing a game is also as effortless, as it no longer requires ski masks and a crowbar.

And yet with the technological advances this method of distribution has received, the marketplace is still young and developing. Other than direct-from-publisher, there are few methods of buying games digitally. This is about to change, with the launch of several new high profile networks for PC games.

Valve Software’s Steam platform is the most popular service currently around, boasting that it has over ten million customers, drawn in by Valve’s own high quality games, but also by the selection of 300+ titles from most major publishers, such as Activision, Ubisoft and Take Two. It also offers competitive prices for its product, constant deals and plenty of free weekends to entice users. Steam is very conducive to impulse purchases, as my steam account will attest – I mean how many copies of Peggle do I need?

Apparently five.

But while Steam is widely considered a technological success, it has received some criticism for the store aspect of the service. Other than minor patching issues with some games, the network is robust, comprehensive, and most importantly, free. However, games are sometimes overpriced, and the selection, while large, is missing some huge areas of the market. It mirrors high-street prices too, which is unusual for an online service. Because of this, other companies are beginning to enter the digital marketplace, offering other methods for you to buy PC games online. Other, more effortless ways to take your money.

Enter, stage right, Impulse. Stardock Games’ alternative to Steam. A digital store for PC games that will have over 3 million users when it launches in the near future. Stardock is the publisher and developer behind the hugely successful WindowBlinds range of customization tools and the Galactic Civilization series of PC games. Impulse consolidates Stardock’s existing infrastructure that primarily consists of TotalGaming.net, a long-running and successful distribution hub for their products. Now they aim to compete on a grander stage, hoping to become a real and viable alternative to the Steam platform.

Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock Games, in an interview with Next-Gen.biz, indicated that he “expects rough parity with Steam and Direct2Drive by the end of 2008.” A bold claim indeed, considering the time scale. Interestingly enough, Stardock also hopes to publish a wide variety of non-games on Impulse, catering to the business user. Already signed up are their huge range of desktop utilities and windows customisation tools, which they already sell on-line, but also a number of other utility suites such as anti-virus protection software and firewalls, all from third parties.

“First Annual Game Makin’ Shindig WINNERS ANNOUNCED HOORAY” at Eegra
This is the best link this week if you want to kill a couple hours. After three months, the Shindig is over, and here’s the Eegra staff’s ranking of the games they received. Each has a description by the creator and short reviews from both Patrick and Dan, as well as a free download link. The top few are definitely worth playing.

“Zero Punctuation: The E3 Trailer Park” at The Escapist
I disagree with Yahtzee’s overall sentiments here (we aren’t that hopeless), but his review of each trailer is fantastic. I’ve been wishing he’d do more stuff like this since he did the Resident Evil 5 trailer way back when. I don’t get why he’s just now complaining about sequel-itis though as if it’s a new problem. Things have been this way for years.

“E3 2008: Can’t we all just get along?” at Destructoid
This article comes down to “fanboys are dumb,” essentially, which is a pretty pointless thing to say, but I like its description of the fallout and post-fallout of Nintendo’s press conference. Extremists on both sides of the argument are guilty of being stupid, and they do deserve to be called out.

The original Geometry Wars was the best thing on the 360 for several months after release. After I turned off Perfect Dark Zero for being terrible and finished Condemned in five hours, I turned to Project Gotham 3. It was a good enough racing game, but I am willing to bet that the XBLA game it demoed ate up more hours of playtime than the game itself, and I am far from alone in that line of thought. Geometry Wars was the first big arcade hit; it resurrected the two stick shooter, and is still among the best of its kind several years later. There have been sequels in the intervening years (on systems I don’t own, jerks) but the series has finally come back home with Geometry Wars 2. Not much has changed, gameplay wise, and this is most certainly not a complaint. You move, you shoot things before they kill you, repeat until your eyes fall out of your head. It still works, only it looks much more polished now and has better music.

What has been changed is excellent news for both new players and old fans alike: the removal of a penalty for dying. In the original, dying reset the score multiplier, which usually led to me resetting the game and yelling at the TV. Now, the multiplier is based not on how many enemies are killed but on how many of their shattered husks you collect. This rewards aggressiveness, forgives the occasional bone headed mistake, and makes the game much more playable for extended periods of time. Add to that six game modes that require vastly different play strategies, and the doubling of the price feels like a pretty sweet deal. It’s $10, so go buy it and add me to your friends list so I can crush your pathetic high score.

No other arcade games released this week, but one demo is of definite note: Madden 2009. Is the game any better than last year? I have no idea; the yearly demos of Madden have provided me with all the football gaming that I need. A few games of some random team, and I am set for twelve months. It looks better than last year, but I don’t know nearly enough about football to tell you if it is any better than it has been in the past. Play the demo, and then go back to selling blood for cash. Geometry Wars 2 was just the first in what will be four excellent arcade offerings in a row.