Double Touch

With Fox News recently adding to its catalog of "games are corrupting our children", one has to ask when will this systematic demonising of the industry cease?

For a taster of Fox News' latest pitchforking please follow the above "BURN THEM!!!" link. If you are outraged then return here for comment....



... ah good your back. Not exactly unbiased one could say.

Of course it's not all bad news. The gaming industry is now seen more than ever as a serious entertainment business, and games are seen as a legitimate hobby in many households. Gaming sections are materializing in more an more main stream publications and advertising for games is now far more common across all mediums. A good example of this recently was the cover mount of World of Warcraft on The Times newspaper.

Obviously one could make the argument that history is simply repeating itself. Comic books, Rock and Roll, Clubbing and the internet are all good examples of a new form of entertainment that was demonised in its youth due to the ignorance of the public and media. Games are merely the latest in a long line of scapegoats for societies ills. Indeed one does occasionally wonder why the odd gamer hasn't been tied to a stake and burnt alive due to a bad harvest.

So if the cries of "BURN THEM!"are dieing, why be worried? Well it all depends on what position the industry is left in; the final resting place of the public perception of games could have massive repercussions theoretically.

On one hand games could be left in the minds of the public, due to both media involvement and industry led demographic targeting,as an entertainment medium for ages 8 - 18. Instead of an industry of deep, compelling and adult entertainment which is pushing boundaries, an industry that produced Bioshock; people will think of Disney Princess Classics and Rocom Socom Robots!

On the other hand the industry could be accepted as a medium that delivers entertainment to all ages.

Percentage wise one could argue that at the moment public perception is 70% in the former and 30% in the latter.

At this point in time one would hope that these percentages will change over the next five years or so for the better, but with media outlets such as Fox News peddling an outdated conception of the industry, it will be both an uphill and unpredictable battle.

Will the force be unleashed? No really... will it? Can SW:TFU actually match the dizzy levels of Jedi Knight?

I'm not so sure.

After the latest in a long string of "our game is ace" PR stunts from the TFU development team; including two gentlemen who have the (cough) esteemed title of "Head of Q & A", my initial cynical optimism has descended into just plain cynicism. Why? Physics.

All the development team have talked about and shown us is ruddy physics!

My cynicism I will now argue is well founded also. I'm tired of physics you see and no more so than in TFU. I'm tired of that great wow factor that adorns thousands of game boxes; I'm tired of it ruining games. An imaginary example for instance:

Game Title: Captain Physix: The Return of Physixor!

Blurb: In the latest EPIC production from John Romero's MONUMENTAL PRODUCTIONS the limits of FREEDOM and IMMERSION will be tested to the EXTREME... THE PHYSICS EXTREME! Throw stuff into stuff! Why? Because you can! WOOO! Throw people into stuff! Throw yourself into stuff! Shoot things... maybe the evil Physixor's minions! WOOO! Use the latest NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGY in HIGH DEFINITION to experience a new FIDELITY in PHYSICS led, GENRE BENDING GAMEPLAY!!! Now with the new QUANTOMION PHYSXIXIXIX ENGINE the IMPOSSIBLE just became POSSIBLE!!!!

Picture: (Freeze frame of and FMV video from the game, completely modified and touched up in photshop - the picture shows one shot with every single thing on screen either blowing up or flying through the air.)

Cost: £60

Quote on box: "...the best game we have ever seen..." - PCGAMER



Ok and now the subtext:

Game Title: This is meaningless woffle. I'm stereotypical and cliched.

Blurb: We spent so much money on the buggy, work on one machine engine, we had nothing left to actually make a game. We thought we might be able to spend a fiver on the narrative but John spent it on a really big piece of cheesecake. This game is broken beyond belief!!!

Picture: Ha ha ha! We tricked you real good didn't we! It doesn't look like that even on our £10000 dream machine!!!

Cost: 60 quid!!! You idiot!

Quote on box: Actual quote: "This is so far from the best game we have ever seen we had to stick pins in our eyes to make sure we weren't having a nightmare." - PCGAMER



While of course the latter piece of fancy is far fetched, these are the problems that this new fad with physics is causing. A fad one believes that will heavily jeopardise SW:TFU. Unfortunately the problems aforementioned are only for us the consumer as, unsurprisingly, physics sells games; even it is selling the soul of the industry with it.


I'm tired.

With the acclaimed releases of Mass Effect from Bioware and Bioshock from Take 2, a long forgotten staple of game design appears to have re-emerged. Narrative. Although in no way could this be seen as a resurgence of the art.

Back in the days of yore games often lived and died by the story they took you on. They had nothing else after all did they? Crysis graphics? No. Reams and reams of music from the Moscow Symphony Orchestra? No (one must concede on this point though to that brilliant anomaly Outcast however). Serious hype across multiple multi-media mediums? No. Gameplay? Yes - but in very few cases. Room for thousands of Mbs worth of A-lister audio? No. The list goes on; and what did that leave you with? Narrative.

After all narrative was cheap and an effective way of "covering up" the lack of development/ finance the title had received. It gave the game a grounding point, gave you purpose, made the characters and worlds you were engaging with that more tangible; made everything that bit more engrossing. More importantly though it made you care for the characters.

Gladiator is one of the best films to be released in my generation and will help me prove the aforementioned point. When Russell Crowe, mortally wounded by Joaquin Phoenix while incapacitated, faces him one on one and kills him in gladiatorial combat against the odds, how did you feel? Good I bet! But why? Because you had been taken on his journey, seen his trials and tribulations, seen his wife and child murdered; you had been told a story and you were made to care for him. After all a film is escapism no? Just as a book is escapism and just as a game is escapism.

Of course escapism can be achieved without narrative but to what degree is debatable. With a good narrative your already half-way there. Equally take a narrative away from a game and in almost all respects you have only half a game. Take Bioshock's story away and what are you left with? A 75% fps! Not the 95%, contender for best game of 2007, title we received last year. Equally the same could be said for the 9/10 Mass Effect.

Both these titles currently fly in the face of the ever growing trend of less narrative, more bump-mapping. A trend that more than anything else is been driven by the console market.

Of course Bioware have always delivered a good story but with Mass Effect, one might argue that while they have delivered maybe not their best story, they have certainly delivered their most important.

Here is the first ever podcast on the Double Touch blog. Enjoy!

(Click on "Mass Effect Podcast" and then the blue, 15.7mb MPEG4 link to listen.)

With the latest and biggest disappointment so far of the synergy between the gaming and film industry presenting itself in the pre-pubescent mess that is Hitman, one must ask the question: Is the film of the game such a good thing?

With the gaming industry progressing out of childhood and into a more mature, and culturally accepted medium of entertainment, surely the like of Uwe Bull et al are doing more harm than good. Gaming and gamers are now, thanks to the corporisation of all things geek (Ugly Betty demonstrating this in the TV medium astutely), seen not just as the sweaty, lazy, drugged up creatures of the night that they once were. Gone is the day of spotty male encrusted in front of his computer or "baby", pizza in one hand, redbull in the other and donning an XL T-Shirt with "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" on it. Now gamers are almost actual "people".

Of course the influx of the all powerful Hollywood dollar into the industry is good for the coffers but if Hitman is anything to go by, it's not good for anything else. Hitman Blood Money was without doubt the sleeper hit of 2007, a beautiful culmination of the previous games rolled into one witty, shocking, brutal and polished title. The film didn't even do shocking! How can a film about a genetically engineered mercenary, who will kill ANYONE for the right price, not even manage that? Seriously, the Hitman games have always not just done that but also made you aware of the fact. In addition the marks you are commissioned to take out often weren't just the black and white evil, generic, terrorist bastards you find in most other games/films. Sure they often have a HUMAN flaw, but who doesn't? You are fighting fire with fire. Because how else could you garrote the innocent daughter of a crooked businessman just to complete your mission?

The saddest thing is that unlike previous titles this one really had the potential to do well. Uwe Bull wasn't directing for a start! Of course the biggest problem the film really had was that it was neutered from the start; how can you make a film about a Hitman who kills people through: lethal injection, garrote, knife, electrocution ect with a 15 certificate? Aliens Vs. Predator anyone?

Still looking forward to the Grim Fandango movie?

Still looking forward to the Halo movie?

Still looking forward to the World of Warcraft movie?

Bad films such as Hitman will only cause the perception of the industry and we the gamers to revert right back to where it started, in the gutter.

After all, there is no place like 127.0.0.1.

Freedom in games, it's a good thing isn't it? Surely the idea of being funneled down corridors, with a freedom akin to that which gravity grants you, is all but moribund? Well I'm not so sure. Ever since titles such as Doom 3, Quake 4 and Painkiller (and their subsequent iffy reviews due to their corridor mentality) "freedom" has become the buzz word to adorn game boxes worldwide. Games that promise "unparalleled levels of freedom" or an "unprecedented level of freedom" are now ten-a-penny and with the latest rebirth, like a phoenix from the ashes, of the Co-Op, it feels like we shall be reveling in our unprecedented and co-operative freedom for all eternity. Why would we bother with the lonely experience of a never-ending funnel, when we can drink with many others from the fountain of eternal freedom?

Because there is always to much of a good thing. Case in point: Just Cause. Just Cause offered freedom to such an extent that one would find themselves lost and bewildered by the sheer scope of the playground you were placed in; and more crucially gave you so little focus or direction that you were never compelled to actually explore it. Miles and miles of virtual miles that never once were embraced by my virtual feet. It took hours to travel from one side of the group of islands to the other! And why? To complete a cliched task which echoed many missions you had already completed. That's not freedom! It's just being forced to commute further!

That said at least there was no Co-Op!

Ahhhhhhh beautiful, lonely, depressing freedom.