Arguing over which console has the most exclusive titles has almost become a game of its own for fans of the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 (a game on the PC and one of the consoles still counts as an "exclusive" to that console). But the fact of the matter is that which console has the most exclusives was settled a long time ago (hint: the Wii won, in a landslide). But keeping track of which games are exclusive to which console is still an interesting topic for discussion and so, The Exclusive Games Report was born.
PlayStation 3
The only exclusive title released for the PlayStation 3 in the month of April is the next-gen driving simulator Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Dubbed "a taste" of Gran Turismo 5 by Sony (the full version isn't coming until 2009 at the earliest), many gamers that are not already fans of the series have balked at the game's $40 price tag. But that hasn't stopped critics from keeping the game's score in the low 80s on MetaCritic.
It looks like Namco Bandai is trying to replicate the success Ubisoft had with the Xbox 360-exclusive Naruto: Rise of a Ninja as they announced that Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm would be a PS3 exclusive this month. The Ultimate Ninja series has garnered quite the reputation among Naruto fans, so the first game in the series on the PS3 might just turn a few heads.
Speaking of Ubisoft, it appears the company has finally locked down a release date for the on-again, off-again PS3 exclusive Haze. The game will be released on May 20 with a multiplayer demo hitting the PlayStation Network a few weeks earlier. It's an old joke, but now the question it whether Haze will stay exclusive or not. And since it's being published by Ubisoft, my money would be on no.
Wii
The Wii received the biggest crop of new exclusive titles in April with the latest iteration of Mario Kart, Mario Kart Wii, leading the way (and it's only four days away!). The other six titles range from Majesco's answer to Afrika in Wild Earth: African Safari to another music game in Battle of the Bands to Little League World Series 2008 (which is pretty self-explanatory) to a budget flying game in MiniCopter: Adventure Flight to a light gun shooter from Konami in Target: Terror to Emergency Mayhem, a game that probably could have been called Crazy Ambulance.
Four new exclusive games will eventually be making their way to the Wii in the future and none have made a certain subset of gamers happier than Sam & Max: Season One. Somebody will make the point-and-click adventure work on the Wii and if the reaction to the PC release is any indication the people at TellTale Games might be the ones to do it.
Short confirmations that two sequels are on the way to the Wii were also revealed this month. Mario Super Sluggers (at a Nintendo press event) and Elebits 2 (in a British video game magazine) were announced with few other details.
But one game that did make a big splash with lots of details is High Voltage Software's The Conduit. High Voltage is not exactly known for their stellar development reputation, but the company has been quietly working on the Quantum 3 engine for quite a while now. The Quantum 3 purports to bring PS3/Xbox 360-level graphics to the Wii and after it was revealed in an IGN special feature, publishers have been beating a path to High Voltage's door. The company also plans to license their engine to other developers who want to do more with the Wii.
Finally, it looks like some progress is being made on the Wii's long-in-development noirish action game Sadness. Nibris, the developer, has announced that they have licensed the Gamebryo engine for use in the game's development and even released what they swear is an in-game screenshot. While it's not much, the race to see which one will be released first between Sadness and Duke Nukem Forever just got a little more interesting.
Xbox 360
Little news on the exclusive front was revealed on the Xbox 360 side of the console war in April. While it's not official yet, BioWare has very strongly hinted that Mass Effect 2 is only in development on the Xbox 360 and PC. While that does not completely rule out a PS3 release, it effectively makes it Xbox 360-exclusive for right now.
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Exclusive Games Report: April 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
NY Times Says Wii Game Sales are Weak
An article in yesterday's New York Times reveals the shocking truth that the Wii is suffering from poor sales... of software that is. Except software on the Wii is selling spectacularly and the article stretches the truth past the breaking point to come up with a conclusion that is not supported by the numbers or the reality of the current game market.
Their first data point to support this claim is that sales of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (the Wii's biggest hit not named Wii Play) have dropped off considerably since it was first released. They go on to say that online retailers have begun bundling the game with the Wii system out of desperation because it won't sell. Needless to say, both of these claims are ridiculous. SSBB sold more that 2.7 million copies in the US in April 2008, meaning more than a quarter of all Wii owners in America now own the game. Of course sales will drop off after that kind of a sales rush. They have no place to go but down. And forced bundling of the Wii system and at least one game in online sales has been going on since the Wii was launched in November 2006. It's not desperation, it's a retailer trying to squeeze more money out of an item that is guaranteed to sell out as soon as it arrives.
The article goes on to cite incorrect sales data as an explanation for the Wii's woes, which I will go into at the "Read Full Post" link.
The article then goes on to cite NPD sales data (after using VG Chartz sales data in the beginning of the article) to show that only three Wii titles have been in the list of top ten bestselling games for the first three months of the year. This is all well and good, but actually, four Wii titles have been listed in the NPD top ten for the first three months of the year (the author omitted SSBB, which incidentally is the bestselling game of the year across all systems). The fact that the PS3 has actually only had three games in the NPD top ten in 2008 (and none with the kind of sales SSBB has had) was not mentioned.
In the same paragraph the author would go on to compare the sales of Guitar Hero III on the Wii to the sales of the game on the Xbox 360 and PS3 to show the Wii lagging behind yet again. But this is actually not the case at all. The only way the author could get the numbers he was looking for was to combine the sales of Guitar Hero III on the PS2 and PS3 to push it past the Wii. In reality, the game has sold more than twice as many copies on the Wii as it has sold on the PS3 (per VG Chartz). Sales of the game on the Xbox 360 and Wii are almost neck and neck.
Finally, the author quotes Wedbush Morgan video game analyst, Michael Pachter. Pachter is legendary among game players for his ability to just not get it when it comes to anything game related and he continues that streak with his quote in this article:"The average Wii owner buys only 3.7 games a year, compared with 4.7 for Xbox 360 owners and 4.6 for PlayStation 3 owners. It reflects the broadening of the demographic. Nintendo’s market doesn’t feel the same sense of urgency to buy every game that’s coming out."
Sounds bad for the Wii right? Wrong.
Looking at hardware sales, the Wii has outsold the PS3 10 million to 4 million (again, per VG Chartz) and is only slightly trailing the Xbox 360 (which has sold 11 million) even though it was released a year later. A little quick and dirty math shows that if those game buying numbers hold, 37 million games will be sold for the Wii in 2008 while only 18.8 million games will be sold for the PS3. The Xbox 360 is, of course, in a class by itself when it comes to game sales.
If anything, these numbers show that the PS3 is the system that is suffering from weak game sales, not the Wii. The idea that games don't sell on the Wii is one that has been pushed by news outlets (and fanboys of all stripes) since the system launched in 2006, but it just doesn't have any basis in reality, as these numbers attest to.
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Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Don't Panic! Consoles Are Not Dying Out
Last Friday, Sandy Duncan, the former head of Xbox Europe was interviewed by the site That VideoGame Blog. In the interview Duncan is quoted as saying that game consoles will disappear in 5-10 years and that everything will be piped into your TV as "web services." Here's the full quote:
"I think dedicated games devices i.e. consoles (and handhelds) will die [out] in the next 5 to 10 years. The business model is very risky and the costs associated with creating new hardware are incredibly high. There is a definite “convergence” of other devices such as set top boxes. There’s hardly any technology difference between some hard disc video recorders and a an Xbox 360 for example. In fact in 5 to 10 years I don’t think you’ll have any box at all under your TV, most of this stuff will be “virtualized” as web services by your content provider."But don't worry, the idea is absurd on its face and I'll tell you why. Consoles aren't going anywhere, and you'd think a former Microsoft bigwig would know that. But then, you'd think the current bigwig of Sony would know that too.
About two years ago, Sony CEO Phil Harrison told Wired that "I’d be amazed if the PlayStation 4 has a physical disc drive." This is very similar to what Duncan said, but only slightly less absurd (at least Phil assumes there'll be a box). The fact of the matter is that it is impossible to deliver every game to every gamer without most of the games appearing on a physical medium. Technical limitations make a mockery of the 5-10 year claim while also making it likely it will never be possible in my lifetime.
The Bandwidth Problem
The biggest problem that would be created by removing the disc drive is without a doubt the bandwidth problem. There’s just not enough of it to go around. But first, a few numbers if you please.
In America, most DSL/Cable services have stated download speeds between five and ten mbps. In should be noted that these speeds are theoretical and are never reached in the real world. This will run your average user between 25 and 40 dollars a month. Verizon and other companies have begun experimenting with a new broadband service called Fiber To The Premises (FTTP) that features download speeds between 30 and 100 mbps for a much higher price. Between these services, broadband penetration in America among Internet users has reached about 75%. This number does not include the millions of people who either don't have a computer or don't have an Internet connection.
Let's use a major recent release as an example. Super Smash Bros. Brawl sold 1.4 million copies in its first week. The game comes on a double-layer DVD, meaning it takes up five to nine GB on the disc. The average "arcade" title on the Xbox Live Arcade, Virtual Console or PlayStation Network is in the 50 to 250 MB range, so a full sized game is a much larger drain on bandwidth resources. Also consider that the launch of Brawl caused Nintendo's online network to buckle under the weight of all the new players. Adding full game downloads for a title like Brawl would increase network load to a crippling level. And that's only one game, game sales routinely reach ten to fifteen million copies a month.
Mr. Duncan's "no box scenario" also doesn't take into account controllers. Without a box, the controller inputs would have to be read by the device that is supplying the game, namely, the television. The signal would then have to be sent to the computer serving the game and interpreted there before being sent back to the screen. This would cause considerable lag and create many frustrated gamers. Not to mention that current TVs are not built for that kind of two-way communication. It is currently handled by, wait for it, a cable box.
On top of all this, a download-only game system does not exist in a vacuum. Add in all of the of the "extras" that game companies have added to these networks including HD video and CD-quality music and the MySpaces and YouTubes that make up the rest of the Internet and you'll have one very clogged Information Superhighway. Bandwidth capacity is just not there yet and with ever growing file sizes of games, it may never be. This leads directly into our second problem...
The Library Problem
Navigating the current iteration of the Xbox Live Marketplace can be considered frustrating at best. For a system that only includes 122 arcade games and over 100 retail game demos it is already difficult to browse. Between the use of abbreviations and non-standardized titles, it would make any librarian wince at the lack of an ordered system. But what happens when the download library grows to the size of the current Xbox library (which Wikipedia pegs at 573 games)? It will be even more difficult to quickly navigate all of the titles and impossible to browse through them all the way someone can quickly scan boxes at the local game store.
But let's say someone solves the browsing problem and the XBLM is flooded with hundreds of quality titles. If you're a publisher, how do you make gamers aware of your product over someone else's? The current static ads of the XBLM would quickly make way for something more elaborate as publishers tried to gain a little bit of an edge over a rival. It would be a nightmare for smaller games as they would be steamrolled by a new crop of must-haves every week. And without the money to advertise, their little corner of the XBLM database would sit lonely and ignored for years.
Fianlly, let's assume Mr. Duncan's "no box scenario" is a ridiculous pipe dream. So you have a box, a box with a hard drive, a hard drive where space is not infinite. The 20GB Xbox 360 HD can hold three to five retail 360 games while the 60GB PS3 HD can hold around fifteen to twenty (using current average file sizes). And neither HD would have room for demos, videos, music or other "microtransactions". There would be a constant need to upgrade the hard drive to bigger and bigger sizes. I think the average gamer would not stand for such a practice.
And then worse yet, what happens when one of those drives decides to stop working?...
So don't worry, consoles aren't going anywhere for a very long time and any prediction of their death is
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VGL Classic: Choosing a Next-Generation Format
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on December 21, 2007.
The PlayStation 2, the current platform of choice for any library that focuses their game collection on a single console, will turn eight years old in 2008 and is likely at the end of its useful life. Sure, it’ll get a few more years of annual EA Sports updates, various bits of bargain software and games based on Saturday morning cartoons, but the days of games like God of War II coming to the PS2 are over.
So what’s a librarian to do if they want to keep their collection current? Why, move up to the next-generation of course. As a Media Librarian myself, this can be a tough choice, but with this guide we hope we can help any librarians out there make the right choice. The three consoles have been organized from best to worst, with the pros and cons listed for each so that the console that best fills your library’s personal needs can be chosen.
#1: Xbox 360
Pros:
Cons:
More Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in America than either of the other two next-gen systems. For many, this might be reason enough to justify carrying Xbox 360 games. But the types of games the Xbox 360 has also place it squarely in the frontrunner’s spot. The Xbox 360 has games in a much wider variety of genres than the Wii or the PS3. A lack of games from Japanese developers hurt the original Xbox, but Microsoft has remedied this with the Xbox 360 and developers from all over the world put the majority of their best stuff on the Xbox 360.
Speaking of the best stuff, all of the aggregate review sites (including Game Rankings and Metacritic, the two most popular) routinely list more Xbox 360 titles in the top tier of best reviewed games than any other system. And due to the Xbox 360’s one year head start over the competition, many of these well reviewed have dropped to budget prices, allowing you to build a collection of great games very quickly.
#2: Wii
Pros:
Cons:
There is no bigger console in the world right now than the Wii. Between Christmas sellouts and pent up demand from its release last year, everyone wants a piece of the Wii. So building a Wii collection would be beneficial to a lot of your patrons. The Wii is as popular as it is because of its groundbreaking control system and because it is the cheapest next-generation console by far. It also sports the cheapest games and the most exclusive games of any next-generation platform. More “family friendly” games are made for the Wii than any other console as well.
But all of these “mosts” have a dark side. Many of the Wii’s exclusive titles and family friendly games have not been well reviewed. While it’s possible to build a huge collection of Wii games for very little money, they won’t all be classics like Super Mario Galaxy. Instead, most will be forgettable titles that many people have no interest in playing. But Nintendo has made sure all GameCube games work in the Wii, so if you already have a GameCube collection, they can be linked together.
The Wii is also the weakest console from a technical point of view and a Wii 2 will probably be released before the next Xbox or PlayStation system. Nintendo has a history of offering backwards compatibility on their systems and any Wii 2 would almost assuredly work with regular Wii games.
Finally, the Wii has two of the biggest upcoming games in the pipeline for early 2008 (Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii) and requests for those games will no doubt come from all sorts of different gamers.
#3: PlayStation 3
Pros:
Cons:
It pains me to say it, but the PlayStation 3 is not ready for primetime when it comes to building a library collection. The system is too expensive. The games are too expensive. It is owned by less than half the number of people that own an Xbox 360 or a Wii. It has the fewest exclusive games out of the three next-gen consoles and it has the fewest games period. There are also few family friendly games and there are no titles rated Everyone that aren’t sports or racing games.
The PS3 is backwards compatible with all PS2 and PSone games (except for the new 40 GB model), so there is that link. And the power of the PS3 will mean that it will likely outlive the other two next-gen consoles by a considerable margin. It’s time will come, but a PS3 game collection does not make much sense for a library right now.
Choosing a Console For Library Programming
As Library Game Days become more popular, the sweet sounds of Guitar Hero, Dance Dance Revolution and Halo are like a siren song to that hard-to-reach group known as teenagers. But as with collection development, choosing which next-generation console to have available for library programming will go a long way towards determining the success of those programs.
It’s important to note that it’s almost impossible to go wrong with any of the three next-generation systems. All of them have dozens of solid titles that would work well in a group setting with the Wii being designed around the idea of group interaction. But while the PS3 has several great games that big groups would enjoy (most notably Rock Band & Guitar Hero III), the Xbox 360 has those games as well and the PS3 does not yet have a version of Dance Dance Revolution. So while the PS3 will eventually be a good choice for programming, it’s not quite there yet.
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VGL Classic: 2006 Year in Review
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on January 29, 2007.
2006 has come to a close and with it, year two of having PlayStation 2 games available is in the books. After twenty-four months and 170 games (the collection was able to more than double in 2006), video games have become business as usual with the staff and the patrons.
But "busines as usual" does not mean the games have lost any of their popularity. It's actually the opposite. They still occupy their small shelf in the video section but every game, no matter how old, still circulates constantly and even though the collection has grown considerably since the initial handful of titles, no more than five games are ever in at a time.
As more people have become aware of the collection, the more the games have circulated. In fact, twenty games were checked out 30 or more times in 2006. This is a huge increase over 2005, when no game was able to circulate over 30 times. Here is the full list:
1. Hulk (37)
1. Treasure Planet (37)
3. Mega Man Anniversary Collection (33)
3. Fantastic Four (33)
5. Ape Escape: Pumped and Primed (32)
5. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (32)
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (32)
5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (32)
5. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (32)
10. Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando (31)
10. Rayman 3 (31)
10. Mega Man X8 (31)
10. Scaler (31)
14. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (30)
14. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (30)
14. Jak 3 (30)
14. Katmari Damacy (30)
14. Star Wars Battlefront (30)
14. ESPN NBA 2K5 (30)
14. Destroy All Humans! (30)
As you can see, no genre or age-specific games overrun the list. Stuff for kids is just as popular as stuff for all ages, which is also just as popular as the games designed for teens and adults. And while patrons seem to be interested in trying anything, tried and true franchises definitely dominate the list. Sadly, last year's most popular games, the ones based on the Harry Potters books/movies, have gone to that big GameStop in the sky. Of course, I have plans to replace them in 2007.
Other libraries throughout the county show the same results. Everything is designed for the "all ages" or "teens and adults" crowds. While there's obviously no official decree, everyone seems to have decided independently of the others that the time isn't right for Mature-rated games yet. The PlayStation 2 is also the system of choice among every other library as no one carries GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360 or Wii titles.
But what about the PlayStation 3? With the PS3 now available, the PS2 has officially become obsolete, even though game makers plan to push at least a hundred more titles on last generation's console leader in the next few years.
The original plan was to eventually add PS3 games in the future because of backwards compatibility and the "consistency" of the PlayStation name. But right now, that idea is on the backburner and we plan to stick with the "obsolete" PS2 as long as possible.
There's also the possibility that the PS3 would be pushed aside because we want to stock games for as many patrons as we can. And if the PS3 becomes a niche system due to its high price tag, libraries will decide to follow the market leader.
But all of that is a debate for the future. And the hear and now says the PS2 can be more than just a games collection on the shelf. It can also be a way to create interesting new programs that may get people into the library who haven't come in for a while. And to that end, my library started 2007 by purchasing a copy of Dance Dance Revolution Supernova to go with our newly donated PS2 system. I imagine the first "dance off" program will be a lot of fun, and my uncoordinated self will fall... a lot. Trust me, there will be no pictures.
There are no other concrete plans for 2007. I'd like to start adding Mature-rated games because I think the collection is big enough that they won't stand out anymore and I'd like to at least think about adding games from the Xbox 360, Wii or PS3 soon. I know that won't happen this year, but now that games are "business as usual", wild ideas don't seem so wild anymore.
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VGL Classic: John Scalzi and the Old Man's War
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on May 26, 2006.
I first came across John Scalzi's name in Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. I nearly did a spit take when I was thumbing through the Spin section of the magazine and saw what I initially thought was my own name listed as the author of the DVD and music reviews. I did a little digging (who was this man who almost had my name after all?) and found his Whatever weblog and became a fan.
Fast forward a few years and I see Old Man's War sitting on the shelf at the library. It has been in my pile of books to read almost since it was released. But when my fiancee showed me that the sequel (The Ghost Brigades) had just come out, I figured it was time to get cracking on the original.
While I'll be the first to admit that the name thing was part of the reason why I first picked up Old Man's War, I also thought the premise of the book was different. You see in the future, humanity has colonized the stars. But colonies will always need soldiers to protect them from native people who may not want to be colonized and from other worlds that might want to challenge your claim to a specific piece of land. That's where the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) comes in. The CDF knows the value of an experienced soldier. So if you so choose, on your 75th birthday you can join up and the CDF will give you a new body and send you to the stars to fight for the colonies.
What follows is a fast paced and humorous sci-fi yarn through old age, new life, action, adventure, boot camp, bug hunting and just plain fun. But I don't want to oversell it. What I want to do is mention that in addition to thinking it's an amazing book, I also noticed that Old Man's War has the potential to be a huge video game. Now if you had plans to read the book, I suggest you hit the Back button on your browser right now because I'm going to be diving pretty deep into the plot here.
Still with me? Good, let's move on.
While sending senior citizens on an interstellar bug hunt might make for some high comedy, it would make a very short sci-fi adventure. So Scalzi needed a way to make the old folks young again and to do that he puts them in modified humanoid bodies that feature the full superhuman options package. And these options would make any Old Man’s War video game a very fun place indeed.
Starting at the most basic level, all soldiers in the CDF have enhanced strength, speed, stamina and sex appeal. The modifications mean these recruits no longer have blood coursing through their veins; they have SmartBlood, a chemical compound that instantly clots wounds to keep up battlefield readiness and carries twice as much oxygen to the brain compared to a normal human for extended underwater tours of duty.
When on the battlefield, their weaponry is standard hero star soldier stuff along with one awesome gun. Each soldier is equipped with a nanobot-mesh suit that absorbs enemy fire so they can take a licking and keep on ticking. But while body armor is standard fare for most sci-fi, the MP-35, the standard issue rifle of the CDF, is in a class by itself.
Most gamers will tell you that the big problem with any first person shooter is that the main character can carry eight different guns and still move like he only had one. Even if you’re blasting the denizens of hell or Covenant soldiers, that’s just plain unrealistic. The MP-35 solves this problem by using an “ammo block” of nanobots that can turn the MP-35 into a rifle, shotgun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, flamethrower or a Microwave Laser on the fly. Scalzi even includes a conversion chart in the book to show how the ammo block can be distributed between the six weapons. But how do you control such a weapon? That’s where the BrainPal comes in.
The BrainPal is an organic computer implanted into every soldier’s brain that places a Heads-Up Display (HUD) in front of each soldier that includes an aiming reticule, highlighted targets, distance markers and mission information. It’s mapped almost perfectly to every FPS HUD out there. It is also a mini-computer, a communications device between you and your squadmates and an alien translation device. It and the MP-35 are almost every gamemaker’s dream for an explanation of why things work the way they do in a game.
But it’s not all small details and similarities that make Old Man’s War a great book for an adaptation. Like most military novels, the narrative moves forward in a video-game like way. First you have your Basic Training/wargames, then you have your early battles where you're just a cog in the machine and then comes the ultimate test of a soldier's resolve and training. These battles take place against a variety of slimy (and not so slimy) aliens that would make George Lucas proud.
There’s the Consu, humanoid aliens with two arms, two legs and actual shoulder blades that extend out of their necks like a scropion's tail. The Salong look like humanized deer that fight against humanity because they think we taste good in hamburger form. The Rraey are birdlike aliens that also have a penchant for human meat. The Vindi are giant spiderlike creatures and the Gandalians have big guns, big wings and big fangs… for eating humans.
If all the human eating didn’t clue you in, Old Man’s War also has a pretty wicked sense of humor, one of the things that I think is greatly missing from video games. Perry himself is a pretty funny guy and he even named his BrainPal "Asshole". While it might take an M rating to get most of the humor into the game, it would be worth it.
So between all of the action, the aliens and the humor there’s a base for a pretty good game here. I recently talked with John Scalzi about his thoughts on Old Man’s War and how it might work as a game, among other topics.
Video Game Librarian: A lot of reviews (and your own acknowledgements) have mentioned the influence Heinlen had on Old Man's War. But did you also find any inspiration in your video game collection?
John Scalzi: Not directly -- which is to say that there's no particular video game that I "borrowed" from for the story or for the action. However, one place where video games inspired me was in their kineticism -- the idea of a whole bunch of things happening all at once and the soldiers in the stories having to adapt to the changing situations on the fly. Anyone who has played a first person shooter (with any success) understands what it is like to draw down information from the entire environment and react it instantly -- my wife has seen me play Unreal Tournament Team Deathmatch and finds it (no pun intended) unreal that I will target an opposing team member who is only a few pixels on the screen and move on to the next target in rapid order while she's still trying to figure out what's going on.
This video game analog of combat is not necessarily what happens in real combat, of course. But when is trying to create a fast-paced action scene for readers, it's one model of combat orchestration among many to draw on.
VGL: The MP-35, body armor and BrainPal all seem to be patterned after some common game concepts. Was this a concious choice?
Scalzi: No; their direct antecedents were from literary science fiction rather than video games. Body armor, for example, has been a staple of science fiction since Starship Troopers and John Steakley's novel Armor, and video games took those ideas from there (as well as from other sources, most notably anime and film) and made them staple metaphors. So it's not surprising there are similarities. One thing I did try to do, in fact, is not to have the analogs in the books exactly like what we're used to in video games. The BrainPal doesn't map precisely to a HUD, for example, and the unitards of the CDF soldiers look nothing like the body armor of Master Chief.
I will say that the MP-35 was in a small way inspired by video games, in that it's my solution to the video game improbability of one player lugging around a rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, flame thrower and BFG and still being able to move. There are some games that address this by limiting your weapons, but it's still a common thing in FPS' even in ones that are otherwise reasonably realistic (Half-Life 2 comes to mind here).
VGL: Has anyone ever approached you (or your agent) about the possibility of optioning the rights to Old Man's War for a video game?
Scalzi: Not yet, but that's not too surprising. The book has done pretty well for a debut science fiction novel -- it's hit a few best-seller lists and it's been nominated for some awards -- but it's still a debut science fiction novel. We're still in the process of people discovering that it's out there. There are other SF authors out there with best-selling military SF books which have not been made into games; if I were a game developer looking to license a game I probably start with people like Orson Scott Card, John Ringo, David Drake, before getting back to me.
Anecdotally, SF books don't seem like a really prime resource for game developers; I've seen a couple over the years (starting with the Infocom version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) but in all not a whole lot. The ones that *do* get turned into video games tend to be so only if there's a movie version somewhere; a good example of that is the Starship Troopers game, and that's based rather more on the movie than the book. This is a shame because there are a lot of excellent universes out there in the book world, which would make really excellent video games.
That said, I would be more than happy to entertain offers.
VGL: Is there any developer out there that you'd prefer to try their hand at an adaptation?
Scalzi: I have no particular preference toward developers other than to note that the shop I would think has arguably the best grasp on what it would be like to adapt a science fiction book to a game may be Valve, because Half-Life and Half-Life 2 were written by a science fiction author (Marc Laidlaw), and both games have a story and detail density that shows that pedigree. I'm fond of saying to people that I go back and "re-read" the Half-Life games quite a lot. But there's no reason another shop couldn't do the same thing.
VGL: Do you have any thoughts on what you'd like an Old Man's War game to be like?
Scalzi: I'd want it to be a first person shooter, because I think that's a natural fit. I'd also like it to reflect something that I note in the book, which is that because so many of the alien species the soldiers fight are so different from each other, they need a whole range of skills to fight them all, and the techniques that work against on species wouldn't work against others. I think that'd offer a lot of variety in game play and would help make the game stand out from other FPS games.
VGL: You've contributed three books to the Rough Guides series. Have you ever thought about penning The Rough Guide to Video Games?
Scalzi: Not recently. One of the challenges to a book like that is the platform-dependent nature of games; unlike old movies or old music albums, a lot of old video games are now practically inaccessible to the average player (not everyone knows how to open up game ROMs through MAME, etc, or has an old 3DO system moldering in the closet). And of course given book publishing deadlines, a book focusing on current games would be outdated almost immediately. I think there's a way to write a guidebook to video games so that it's useful, but at the moment I haven't spent much time thinking about it myself.
VGL: You always seem to be working on eight things at once. What's on your plate right now?
Scalzi: Yes, it looks like I'm working on eight things at once, but I'm actually working on ten! At the moment I'm writing the third book in the "Old Man" series, researching the novel I'm writing after that, prepping two non-fiction books (the writing is done, but there's still editing), writing up an article on LEGOs for a magazine I freelance for, putting the finishing touches on a science fiction magazine I'm guest-editing, writing up columns for Official US PlayStation Magazine and for my local newspaper, serving as the "mayor" of AOL's blogging initiative AOL Journals and writing for my own site, The Whatever. The reason to do all these things is that as a freelance writer, one has to be doing a whole lot of things at once or the mortgage won't get paid. That's marvelously motivating.
VGL: Did you see anything come out of this year's E3 that really amazed you?
Scalzi: I'm really interested to see how taken people are with Nintendo's Wii. I think a lot of folks are suffering from PS3 sticker shock, and suddenly the cuter, cheaper Wii looks like a whole lot of fun. Ironically, I take the currently minority position that Sony is right that $600 is not too much to spend for what it is offering (a game system and a next-generation DVD player), and I'm interested to see how Sony positions this between now and November. As for games: Look, I just want to get me some of that Unreal Tournament 2007 action.
VGL: Finally, are there any books you've read recently that you think could be turned into great games?
Scalzi: Ironically, I'm not reading a whole lot of military SF at the moment (I tend not to read it when I'm writing one of my own books in the genre), which is the segment of SF I think most easily maps to video gaming. Having said that, one book I've read recently which I think might make a cool 3rd person RPG would be Paragaea by Chris Roberson. It takes places on a world that looks back to the worlds imagined by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which means there's a lot of opportunity for game designers to go nuts building the world. That would be cool.
VGL: So there you have it. John Scalzi is a man among geeks and I want to thank him for his time and encourage everyone that’s reading this to go out and buy all of his books. You won’t be disappointed. Unless you are. But remember to yell at him (Scalzi with an I) and not me (Scalzo with an O). The third novel in the Old Man’s series, The Last Colony, will be released next year.
More on the M-Rated Barrier
In the last Video Game Librarian, I remarked that while libraries in my area weren't buying Mature-rated games yet, someone was going to buy 24: The Game because they would never guess it was M-rated. Well, a week after the article was posted, another library did just that. So now that the M-Rated Barrier has been, inadvertantly, broken, is anyone up for some GTA?
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VGL Classic: Breaking the M-Rated Barrier
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on April 13, 2006.
Grand Theft Auto… The Suffering… Manhunt… State of Emergency… Postal… Mortal Kombat…
The number of games that are considered “unacceptable” due to their content grows all the time. Every day some misinformed politician will trot out the latest “murder simulator” and cry out “Won’t someone please think of the children.”
Meanwhile we gamers sit back and shake our heads at people who get all worked up over games that are not designed for children. They are not meant for children, they are not advertised to children and they are not purchased for children by anyone with half a brain.
But sadly, video gaming is still seen as a children’s toy by many. Its this reasoning that has caused the ban of Mature rated games at my library and many other libraries across the country. But eventually, there will come a time when you want to cross that line. When the people in charge realize that their friends and neighbors are playing these M-rated games because they’re adults and because they think the premise is exciting.
So with the recent release of 24: The Game, I started thinking about what games would be best to make the break from the limits of E, E10+ and T. Obviously, Jack Bauer’s digital adventures is near the top, but as I combed through the list of PS2 games, many more popped up as well. Through their connections to other bits of pop culture (and in one case, a piece of Literature with a capital L), these games would be seen as more acceptable than most. And maybe that’s all we can ask for as a first step.
24: The Game
To say 24 requires a time commitment is an understatement. If you miss one episode you could be out of the loop for “hours” at a time. So it’s really no surprise that the show is such a hit on DVD. It gives fans a chance to see everything and in order. It’s also ridiculously popular with library patrons of all ages.
I’m not entirely sure why 24: The Game is rated Mature. Yes, it has all the same killing and shooting and torture the show is known for, but that’s my point. It’s just like the show. A show on American broadcast television. I almost doubt that most people realize the game is rated Mature.
If you need to slip one past someone who wants to censor everything, 24: The Game is your game.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4 is everything that a barrier breaker should be. It won an armful of awards and accolades from critics everywhere. It’s based, loosely, on the world of Romero’s Living Dead series and no one can deny the importance of Romero’s films on the horror genre. It has spawned a series of novels and two movies. While the novels may be harder to find in any given library, any good DVD collection will likely have at least one of the movies.
And did I mention that RE4 is one of the finest games ever created? That alone should be enough to create an M-rated exception.
The Godfather
The Godfather: The Game is based on the Academy Award winning movie, which was in turn based on Mario Puzo's bestselling novel has quite the pedigree behind it. The Godfather is an American story that has been embraced by the public almost completely. Everyone knows about the five families, sleeping with the fishes and making someone an offer they can't refuse.
While it more or less follows the crime story of Grand Theft Auto, the fact that it's based on The Godfather should lend a little weight to its case. To lend further credence to the game, nearly the entire cast reprised their roles for The Godfather: The Game. Marlon Brando is considered one of the greatest actors of his generation and The Godfather is beloved by everyone. The game would be easily accepted.
Evil Dead: Regeneration
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick
Believe it or not, The Evil Dead trilogy has quite the following among librarians. Maybe, it's the anti-censorship bent that some librarians love to exercise but it's a fact that libraries have helped grow the cult of The Evil Dead. Or maybe it's Bruce Campbell's movie star chin. Whatever the reason, DVDs of the Evil Dead trilogy can be found in libraries across the country.
The games have several things going for them that make them ideal candidates to crack the M-Rated barrier. First, they’re budget titles, so if someone complains you’d only be out $20 (or less) per title. Two, Bruce Campbell voices Ash and gives the games the exact feel of the movie. And three, the movies are much more violent than the games could ever dream of being.
While the games haven’t lit up the GameRankings database, they’re solid little actioners that fans of the movies will love.
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4: The Room
When I started this project one of the first things I was told by my manager was "Keep an eye out for games based on new movies because I'd think they'd be popular." And what's coming out in theaters very soon? Silent Hill.
The Silent Hill movie is getting praised from every corner as the movie that finally gets the game-to-movie conversion right. And if it’s even half as good as some people are saying then there’s going to be a lot of folks out there who’ll want to give the games a try. And the games have all been critical favorites as well as bestsellers.
Are the games ridiculously violent? Yes, of course they are. But as soon as it gets turned into a movie something becomes a lot more acceptable.
In Conclusion...
It will be a while before R-Rated movies (which we carry a lot of) and M-Rated games (which we carry none of) are considered equal in the eyes of patrons and parents. And don’t even get me started on some of the depraved violence and graphic sexual situations that appear in many books that populate (and are popular) in the library. It’s a sad double standard, but it requires baby steps to change. Hopefully this handful of games will be a step in the right direction for the continued acceptance of games.
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VGL Classic: It's The End of the Year As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on January 25, 2006.
It has been one year since the "Great Video Game Experiment" was started at the public library where I work. And in those twelve months I'd have to say it has gone as good as anyone could have hoped. In the end, the numbers don't lie, and a success is all this experiment can be called.
Seventy-seven PlayStation 2 titles have been added to the collection so far with at least a dozen still awaiting processing. Sadly, Culdcept, one of the games purchased in the initial batch of games at the end of 2004, is still on that list. It's a little short of the 100 game target I had thought was reasonable back when I started, but 77 seems like a pretty respectable number.
Jak II was the first game to come back broken at the end of July. We had a pretty good run before that. Seven months and not a single problem to be investigated. And then Jak II comes back with a complaint that it won't start after 8 circs. I pop it in my PS2 at home (because we can't afford a test unit to sit in the library at all times) and sure enough, the game wouldn't advance past the Dolby Surround logo. It looks much less scratched up than some of the titles, but it just won't play.
This has seemed to be a trend as the year moved on. Many younger kids brought back certain titles and say "they're too scratched to play". But when I test them on my regularly cleaned PS2 at home they work fine. So back on the shelf they go. But it wouldn't be unexpected if they didn't work. Library materials get beaten up regularly. It happens. However, a theft ring is something nobody expects.
Late in the year a DVD theft ring managed to run off with several PS2 titles as well including the very popular titles Gran Turismo 4, WWE Smackdown Vs Raw, Lego Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. Lego Star Wars and LOTR were able to be repurchased. Of course the joke's on them because PS2 games are kept behind the desk until someone wants to check them out so the only way to "steal" a game is to check it out on your library card and never bring it back. So we have their names, addresses and phone numbers on file. I hope you enjoy that bill for replacement.
We only found out about these because someone tried to sell some of DVDs to a local GameStop. An intrepid clerk noticed the library stickers on the boxes (they couldn't even be bothered to remove the stickers!) and called the police. A few other titles weren't stolen per se, just regularly checked out and never brought back. These "lost" titles included NFL 2K5, Van Helsing, Alias and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. But all of this is dwelling on the negative. Most of the games have no problems and circulate regularly. In fact, the results of the ten most circulated games shouldn't be that surprising as library favorite Harry Potter takes the crown:
1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2 (tie). Spider-Man 2
2 (tie). Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
2 (tie). Scaler
5. Men in Black II: Alien Escape
6 (tie). Viewtiful Joe
6 (tie). Tony Hawk's Underground 2
6 (tie). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9 (tie). Katamari Damacy
9 (tie). Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Licensed games, sports titles and franchise titles rule the day. It's what people know and want. But I have also found that it doesn't really matter what we have on the shelf. If it's there, someone will check it out. Perennial unknown classic Beyond Good & Evil and side scrolling shooter Gradius V are numbers 11 and 12 on that list. When all you see is roughly three to seven games on the shelf at any one time building a "quality" collection takes a back seat to building a bigger collection. But the added bonus is that people may play something that they never would have before. Neer underestimate the lure of the word FREE.
And that's why when it came time to add more games I stayed mostly with budget titles in the 20-30 dollar range. This meant that many new releases were not added, but having a game for everyone is more important right now than having the newest (and ergo, the most expensive) games. And besides, today's $50 games are tomorrow's budget titles. Hello post-Christmas price drops.
Other libraries in the county system took a different approach to collection building. Some did go for the latest and the greatest. Others focused much more on sports games than I think is particularly fair. Anime-based titles made up a large portion of many other collections. Throughout the whole county, 161 titles are available at four libraries. No library has branched out into Xbox, GameCube or Xbox 360 titles yet and no library has attempted to break the M for Mature barrier.
I've tried to push games with a "tame M" like Neo Contra and games that spawned R-rated movies (which we do own) like Resident Evil 4, but no dice. The M is the roadblock, not the content descriptors. Yet, R-rated movies are everywhere. In fact, many patrons are requesting the new Unrated Director's Cut (read: NC-17) DVDs that have become all the rage these days and they are being added as fast as they can be purchased. It's a strange double standard, but one that almost has to be respected at this point. The collection is too small to fill it with games that can only be appreciated by a small percentage of our patrons.
Looking ahead to this year I have high hopes the collection can grow even larger and to fill in some of the holes. With over 1000 PS2 games available, 77 games, even 161 games, is only a drop in the bucket. I still plan to stick with the budget games mentality. Of course, a budget crunch has foisted this mentality on me this year, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't change. But at the very least, I can stick with my original plan of providing games that fit into three distinct categories: things the public wants, critically acclaimed titles and family-friendly titles. If some games fit into more than one, all the better.
Looking further ahead, the PS3 is a huge question mark. With prices of next-gen games hovering around $60, it will be very pricey to support the PS3 as well as the PS2. Then there's the assumed small install base in this first year of a console that may cost upwards of $500. How many of our patrons will even own one? Also, if you remember, I was told that the PS3 would be our next-gen system of choice mainly because of the backwards compatibility issue. And while everyone in the gaming industry assumes the PS3 will be backwards compatible with the PS2, it is sill unconfirmed speculation at this point. That could cause another wrinkle in the plan.
More complications arise because libraries love a single unified format. It's why you won't see HD-DVD or Blu-Ray movies at your local library for a very long time. No one wants to get stuck holding the bag if the studios stop supporting one or the other. On top of all this the release date is constantly shipping and no one is even vaguely sure when the thing will even hit store shelves.
So at the end of the first year, having games in a library has been a complete success. They are popular with adults, children and teens and I've only heard the faintest of grumblings (mostly from older patrons) questioning why a library would carry, scoff, games. They are an accepted part of the collection now and it's hard to ask for anything more than that.
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VGL Classic: A Librarian's Look at the Xbox 360 Launch
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on November 16, 2005.
New formats. They are the bane of media librarians everywhere. Which do you support? Do you support the nwe format and the old format in an attempt to please everybody? When do you drop the old format entirely? When do you start a massive discard project to clear shelf space for the growing collection of the new format?
With the Xbox 360 launching any day now it's time to give a look at how building a game collection from start with this new format would work. Like what are the strongest launch titles? What will be replaced with a more "next-gen" product in the future? And, like any video game launch, which titles will be relegated to the dustbin of history?
You've also got to look at the numbers when it comes to the Xbox 360. Microsoft has confirmed that there will not be enough consoles for everyone who wants one for a very long time (some estimates place it around March for real regular shipments to begin). So you might want to ask yourself, will there by enough patrons walking through my front door to warrant adding 360 games to the collection? There's also the fact that, aside from sports titles, every one of the 360's launch titles will be rated Teen or Mature. There are no family friendly options at this point in the system's life. Although general interest titles, like sport games and racers, are on the launch slate. So let's look at those games.
Sports, Sports, Sports, Sports. Da na na! Sports!
Of the 18 confirmed launch titles, seven fall in the sports category. Madden NFL 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, NBA Live 06 and FIFA 06 from EA Sports and Amped 3, NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6 from 2K Sports. Except for Amped 3, all seven of these titles have already been released for current-gen consoles to rave reviews. So what's the point to the 360 versions? Prettier graphics mainly. Amped 3 is in because of its uniqueness and FIFA 06 gets a pass because EA has said it is trying to build a different FIFA game for the 360. But if you need prettier sports titles, I guess these games are an important, but by no means must have, of any collection. Pick and choose to your heart's content I say.
The fairest one of them all
Prettier games are not just for the sports arena though as Tony Hawk's American Wasteland and Gun from Activision and King Kong from Ubisoft will also be virtually identical to their PS2, Xbox and GameCube brethren, just with a new coat of paint. All of these titles have a little more appeal and next-generation cred than most of the sports titles, except for Gun, which is said to have almost no differences between the Xbox and Xbox 360 editions. King Kong is said to be a lot prettier (but articles in Nintendo Power show the GameCube version running at a considerably pretty graphical clip) and Tony Hawk is said to get more mileage out of its "no load times" gimmick on the 360. With Activision already talking Gun II, I'd say take Tony Hawk and the mighty Kong and move on to the next one.
Off to the Races
The other half of the general interest genre falls to the racing games with the three must have titles Ridge Racer 6, Need For Speed: Most Wanted and Project Gotham Racing 3. All three are considered required playing by serious race fans everywhere with Project Gotham getting a huge push in the Xbox Live arena. And with only three other racers even on the drawing board for the next year and a half, Test Drive Unlimited, Burnout Revenge and MotoGP 2006, these three would be a good place to start a collection, with Project Gotham being the early standout (if it makes the launch).
Shooting for the big dogs
Here we go, the closest thing to a sure thing the Xbox 360 has. A trio of high class shooters that are at the top of everyone's list: Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4. Call of Duty 2 is looking to be the most realistic World War II shooter ever and the public still can't seem to get enough of WWII shooters. Quake 4 takes the PC series into the next-gen with a game that is already garnering some decent attention on the PC. Some of it is disappointment but a lot of it is excitement for the first new single-player Quake game in a long time.
And then we have Perfect Dark Zero. A game that seems to have been in development for ages and the sequel to one of the great console first person shooters ever. It too has had it's share of early complaints. With a development jump from the GameCube to the Xbox to the 360 it's already being called "not next-gen enough." Also, because of the original's birth on the N64, not many people know what Perfect Dark is all about. Finally, the "it's not Halo" crowd is making itself known and PDZ is their target. But then, what was Halo before it became Halo?
Anyway you slice it, all three are definite additions to any collection.
The dark horses
Of course, what would be a console launch without a few hidden gems. And word around the Mountain Dew cooler is that Kameo and Condemned will fit that bill nicely. Kameo will fit the bright, cheery action RPG mold that you always see Zelda pigeonholed into and even with its T rating will probably be the closest thing to a family title the 360 will have. Condemned on the other hand will fill a completely different niche. A dark and gritty first person game that features a troubled special agent tracking serial killers, it won't be for everybody. But a year from now (if Perfect Dark Zero tanks), it just might be the most talked about Xbox 360 game there is.
So where does that leave us? The breakdown of the eighteen launch titles looks like this:
Essentials
Call of Duty 2
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Kameo: Elements of Power
King Kong
Perfect Dark Zero
Project Gotham Racing 3
Quake 4
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Second Tier
Amped 3
FIFA 06
Gun
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Ridge Racer 6
If Money is No Object
Madden NFL 06
NBA 2K6
NBA Live 2K6
NHL 2K6
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
We got next
After the launch, owners of the 360 might be in for a long famine after gorging on their launch feast. Dead or Alive 4 and Full Auto will be making an appearance in stores by the end of the year. Both should be enough to keep the fighting and vehicle combat fans happy. I'd look to add them both.
Uncertainty litters the rest of the 360's lineup as after this we really don't know when anything is coming. Gears of War? A must-have action game coming out sometime in the spring. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? A must-have RPG coming out sometime in the spring. Saint's Row? A must-have Grand Theft Auto-clone coming out sometime in the summer. Halo 3? If I knew when Halo 3 was coming out and told anyone, mafia goons would kill me in my sleep. The fact is buying the big titles in the Xbox 360 launch will keep your collection up to date for a good long while. But...
(Xbox) One is the loneliest number
There's also the question of backwards compatibility. The PS2 had it and was one of the system's "three component" selling points (playing DVDs and future PS2 games were the others). With Microsoft's decision to go with ATI for the 360's innards, backwards compatibility has always been a sore spot for X-fans. And in this next generation backwards compatibility will be much more important because the 360 is not a quantum leap graphically from it predecessor. Halo 3 will look better than Halo 2, but not the way Mario Sunshine looks better than Mario 64.
With the switch in graphics makers, one hundred percent compatibility was never an option. The Xbox 360 will require "emulation profiles" to be downloaded for every Xbox title you want to play on your 360. And that downloading requires owning a hard drive with your Xbox. This scheme means that even if you want to play your old Xbox games on your 360 you might not be able to if you own a Core System or if you don't have broadband internet access. On top of that, every title will not be supported with an emulation profile to download. We've seen the list of confirmed backwards compatible titles and it isn't pretty. A lot of big name releases (including most of this fall's biggest Xbox titles) are missing. Many of Microsoft's own games are also missing from the list.
What about next year? Well the Xbox will have a surprisingly full lineup in 2006, just no support from Microsoft. They have said they expect third party titles to continue to appear on the console through 2007. These include major titles from EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Midway, THQ, Rockstar and VU Games. So if you're mildly interested in playing Hitman: Blood Money, NFL Head Coach, Bully, The Godfather, Spy Hunter 3 and Splinter Cell 4 or if you think your patrons will be, there's still a lot of life left in ye olde Xbox.
To add or not to add? That is the question
With a handful of great titles ready for launch and a ton more in the pipeline, the Xbox 360 will not be an also-ran in this generation of video games. It'll be a contender in the library ring too, but I would say that right now its just not there yet. Wait a year for more systems to be sold, more games to be released, and prices to drop on both. I'd say it'll be ready right around fall 2006, when we'll be having this conversation all over again about the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution.
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VGL Classic: The Bloomington Public Library and GameFest
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on August 26, 2005.
Kelly Czarnecki is the Teen Services Librarian at the Bloomington Public Library in Illinois and she has a dream. She wants to put on the greatest video game presentation in a library ever!
OK, maybe not, but Kelly is no stranger to teens, video games and making one amazing program out of it at the library. With the help of Matt Gullett from the library's Information Tech Services department, Kelly created GameFest, a quarterly program where teens get together and play games, chat and eat pizza. The last GameFest was held on July 15th with a trio of game tournaments: Battlefield 1942, Mario Kart Double Dash and Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix. I had a chance to talk with Kelly and Matt about what makes GameFest tick and how libraries and games can co-exist for a long, long time.
If you would be so kind, could you introduce yourselves for my readers?
Kelly: I’m Kelly Czarnecki, Young Adult Librarian at the Bloomington Public Library in Illinois. I’ve been here for 3.5 years. I always get last place in Mario Kart Double Dash when playing with my friends.
Matt: Oh, I'm Matt Gullett, the Information Technology Services Manager/Librarian at the Bloomington Public Library in Illinois. I've been here for over seven years now. I've always played games of all sorts: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Tennis, Atari's Pong, Coleman's basketball and football, (I'm a bit of a Dinosaur), etc. Currently, I'm a big Katamari Damacy player. Occasionally I'll play Grand Turismo or Need For Speed Underground with my son.
How did you first get the idea for GameFest and when was the first one held?
Matt: I had been interested in interactive media within libraries ever since graduate school, but it wasn't until I had a few staff on board that were avid computer/video game players that I thought we might be able to create a program in the library about it.
Kelly: The first time Matt mentioned having a gaming program for teens, I knew I wanted to be a part of the event. Most of my previous programs had low turnouts and I thought this would definitely attract more young adults to the library. I was right. The first fest was held in October 2004 which was during a day off of school-we had one in the morning and one in the evening. For our first one it was a good set up since it attracted teens that just walked into the library and didn’t know about it and many came back that same evening. We have had them quarterly and our fifth one is coming up this October.
What made you choose the games Mario Kart Double Dash, Battlefield 1942 and Dance Dance Revolution? Where other games considered and if so, what were they? I'd think Super Smash Bros. would be a natural pick for something like this.
Matt: We started with Battlefield 1942 because it was relatively inexpensive to put in a lab setting of 17 computers, plus it was a first person shooter with a Teen rating that we could turn off the blood and graphic violence too. DDR was chosen because we knew that females may not be all that interested in playing a World War II oriented game, plus it is also a nice social and much more physically active game. Mario Kart Double Dash was chosen because of its ability to have play with 8 simultaneous players. It is also relatively inexpensive now to put together if you can find the systems and pieces that are needed. We found out about Mario Kart from the Ann Arbor District Library in Michigan who also runs a rather successful program. Yes, we've thought of Super Smash Bros. We just like things that can keep over 50 kids active while they are playing or waiting to play, so the more players at once the better.
How did you obtain all of the gaming equipment? Were there any technological problems setting it all up?
Matt: First off we had the 17 computers located in our Technology Room that was part of a grant project that constructed the room and equipped it with technology. We then purchased the DDR stuff and the Nintendo Game Cubes with left over grant money. We also received some assistance and discounted merchandise and prizes from various vendors (EB Games, Acme Comics & Best Buy) that has helped.
How did parents respond to the program?
Kelly: So far it’s been very positive. One mom regularly brings her son that lives over 30 miles away because he enjoys the event so much. Last game fest, a parent brought their teen from Chicago suburbs which is about 150 miles away. He did win first place in DDR! Other parents have expressed relief that their teens can be out of the house AND get fed dinner on a Friday evening (and at the library!!)! We did have one parent express that her son felt other teens were taking up too much time on DDR and it wasn’t very fair. Fortunately he did come back (and won second place on DDR). I haven’t heard any parents question the types of games we’re playing or the relevancy of them at the library (knock on wood).
How have the teens who attended responded to the program?
Kelly: Wonderful-numbers keep increasing each time and especially new people-one’s that I haven’t seen at the library before. Competition is friendly though intense at times. We’ve gotten helpful feedback too such as ‘these DDR mats stink’ (we have the RedOctane one’s now), or ‘more pizza’. (we’re thinking about that one). Some teens have responded that there are too many young kids there (which means middle schoolers)-so we’ve tried to be more strict about the ages (12-17) and make sure no one younger is coming in-and working on opportunities for younger/older to have their own fests. We haven’t had any discipline issues (save for the bathroom incident which won’t be mentioned) since the teens are so focused on the spirit of playing and just hanging out and having a good time. We’ve found the more we can structure it to give all a maximum amount of playing time-the better for all.
Was the local media at Gamefest? How did they report on it?
Kelly: Not yet! A lot of librarian’s blogs have picked up on the event though. We also had a presentation for local librarians on how they can set up their own game fest and that attracted people from around the U.S. since we had the software to set this up. The presentation is at: www.bloomingtonlibrary.org/gamefest. We’ve been able to establish great partnerships with local stores including Acme Comics, EB Games, and Best Buy that have been very helpful in promoting our fests and donating prizes.
Matt: We actually just had the local media in yesterday and they are going to try to make it sometime in the next month or two.
Do you have any plans for the next GameFest? Any radical changes or will it follow the same basic game plan?
Kelly: Of course! We’ve organized the games into tournaments-before we just did all open play but we wanted to increase the competition a bit and recognize the good players. We have a few more GameCubes and might bring in D&D for the first time. The radical part is that our library will be going through an expansion process during our game fests that are scheduled for the spring. This might be a great opportunity for us to partner with a place in the community (movie theatre, community college, etc).
I noticed that GameFest is a strictly teens-only program? Why isn't the GameFest for all ages? Do you have plans for an all ages program?
Kelly: We do have our first family game fest scheduled for the beginning of November. This will be open to children 11 and younger with parents/guardians. We would like to eventually have an adult only program as well. We haven’t had an all ages program yet since the skill levels, social skills, and appropriateness of games is so varied with kids/teens/adults. We want to design a program that will fit each of their needs in the best way possible.
Do you have a circulating game collection? If so what consoles and games have you added and which games do you plan to add?
Kelly: We don’t but we will very soon. We plan to add games that are E and T rated probably for all the consoles. If we carry M rated games, which there is no plan too, children and young adults would not be able to check them out. (Library policy and Governor Blagojevich’s law). We plan to take the teen gamers shopping with us on our first trek to EB Games for our circulating collection.
Also if so, do you have certain criteria for which games you want to add?
Kelly: The rating (E and T), popularity, and cost. Our biggest support will come from the teen gamers-what they recommend that we purchase and want to play. We’ll secure them in the same cases that we use for DVDs.
Does the current political backlash over GTA: San Andreas worry you about introducing games into the library?
Kelly: Not at all-I think it’s a great opportunity to educate people on the positives of video games and the importance of parents monitoring what their children are reading/viewing if they can. I’m more worried about the games walking out the door and never coming back!
Are you gamers yourselves? If so, what do you play?
Matt: I'm not a big gamer. I have staff that are, and I tend to get involved either by playing, watching or learning with my kids as they play anything from Sims to Star Wars to Katamari Damacy.
Kelly: I’m not an avid one-yet.
How do you think libraries should introduce video gaming to their patrons?
Kelly: Wow-there’s so many ways! I think it depends on the climate of the community and support from administration on where to start. If there is opposition or uncertainty from the community, perhaps planning some educational discussions on the benefits of gaming would be a good start. If there is uncertainty from library admin, start out small and work to establish the support of the participants to keep returning.
If there’s unfamiliarity or hesitation with coworkers, hold an in-service day to watch the most curmudgeon worker participate in DDR. Game cheat guides and books about gaming (fiction and nonfiction) are also a good way to start within the collection. Listening to what patrons are asking for in relation to gaming-or if they’re not-survey a group. I’ve talked to many teens that want to research gaming as a career and have put together a guide for that.
If support from community or admin isn’t too much of an issue-the sky is the limit! Invite a representative from a college that offers a program in Game Design, 3D animation, etc. Don’t forget seniors-if you already teach a computer class to this group, video games are a great way to engage them (and their grandchildren). Getting the support of local organizations including schools, community centers or even movie theaters to hold an event, demo DDR, etc. Tie events in with school breaks for kids. Create opportunities for adults too-tied into the sporting events or book clubs for example. Check out libgaming.blogspot.com for librarians wanting news and information on gaming at the library-it’s a great resource.
What place do you see games having in the library of the future?
Kelly: I think video games can be an activity that bridges gaps between age, gender, and ethnicity. Since libraries strive to be a place for equal access, games fit into this standard. The library has always been more than just a place that houses books. I anticipate that more teachers will find the worth in having students create projects that require interactivity and the multiple readings of texts, visual media, etc. I am hopeful that the skills gained from playing video games (social, strategy, identity, etc.) will be more valued as useful and intelligent and therefore libraries need to provide those resources.
Matt: For me it is a medium of interactivity and storytelling that we need to be a part of. We as a library profession need to look seriously at how this changes readers, listeners, culture and service to our communities. It is something that is capturing the attention and disposable income of millions of people, so it should mean something to us. The academic community is starting to come around to the fact that this is definitely something that needs to be paid attention to. The entertainment industry most certainly has been paying attention to it as well. We need to insert ourselves as the collectors and facilitators of culture that we are.
Finally, do you sneak in a few games of Pogo.com during work hours? We're all librarians here, you can tell me.
Kelly: I can’t tell, my supervisor will be reading this!
My sincere thanks go out to Kelly and Matt and if you live in the Bloomington, IL area (or are anywhere within 100 miles), the next GameFest will be held on October 7. Anyone interested in dropping Kelly a line about anything can get a hold of her at kellyc@bloomingtonlibrary.org
If you'll recall, last month I talked about a few books that should be on every gamer's reading list. Obviously I forgot a few as a few suggestions trickled into my email box.
Our own Adam Wolcott suggested Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss. Lucky Wander Boy tells the story of Adam Pennyman, a twentysomething slacker (been there) who dreams of the favorite games of his youth while bored at work (so been there). He works through this boredom by writing a book about those favorite games (are we sure I'm not Adam Pennyman?).
Finally, my favorite video game librarian, Beth Gallaway, has suggested Gamers: Writers, Artists, and Programmers on the Pleasures of Pixels edited by Shanna Compton. Gamers offers up 24 essays by 24 people on their love of video games 24 hours a day. Personally, I was sold by the description from the book's website: "witty, widescreen views of how video games have become part of the cultural landscape." Awesome.
Needless to say, both of these books have been added to my reading list. Now, I just have to find them...
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VGL Classic: The Novel Approach
This article is from the original batch of Video Game Librarian articles I wrote for Gaming Target between 2005 and 2007. It was originally written on September 26, 2005.
During this past summer and all throughout the fall, an unprecedented number of licensed games based on television, film and comic properties will be released. And not a one high-profile title can be said to trace it’s source to a book. Although the case could be made that Shattered Union was inspired partly by Harry Turtledove’s alternate history series of Civil War novels. And I'm sure there's a smaller publisher or two that's putting out something.
And who can blame the publishers that decided this? Books do not have a good history of being turned into good games. Just look at the Fellowship of the Ring game from a few years ago, the Dragonriders of Pern game that appeared on the Dreamcast and Harlan Ellison’s PC misstep I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (great title for a game though). But have no fear, a real time strategy title based on the Left Behind series is in the works for the PC. Scratch that, maybe you should be afraid.
But if publishers took a trip down to their local library they could find hundreds of titles that would translate into great games. However, at this point I should mention out that the great Guardian Gamesblog tackled the idea of literary games a few weeks back while this article was sitting half done on my hard drive. While our tastes in books and games differs slightly, feel free to check out their picks in addition to mine.
Stephen King’s The Stand is a modern American epic which has the makings of the ultimate battle between good and evil and enough symbolism to make an English teacher squeal with maniacal glee. It also has a huge cast that creates many opportunities for memorable characters.
The most obvious link The Stand has to video games is the very popular Fallout series. Fallout 1 & 2 were released to critical acclaim and extremely poor sales. But through word-of-mouth, constant awards and accolades in the enthusiast press and a cheap ten dollar two-pack that included both games, many gamers have been sucked into the world of Fallout. Personally, I think The Stand can go beyond this and create it's own apocalyptic RPG style.
First of all, you have the two factions. Right there that doubles the size of your game to include both a “good” story and a “bad” story. The Stand also features many great moments that seem destined to become classic game scenes. While nothing could make the Lincoln Tunnel section scarier than it was in the book, done right, say like Torque's visions in The Suffering, it could be suitably unnerving. The long walk to Las Vegas could also take on the feeling of a true survival test as the player would have to guide four men over several hundred miles of harsh terrain.
And who says that story only has to follow one character, be it Stu or the Walkin’ Dude or even the Trashcan Man? The Stand could jump from character to character filling in the chapters of the story all the while expanding the world of The Stand. 99.9% of the world’s population was decimated, but that still leaves millions of possible characters. Why, you could even take a trip halfway around the world and see what the Captain Tripps did to the rest of the world when the infection started.
My second pick is not quite as well known, but could easily fit into the “stealth action” movement that Splinter Cell is leading. Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz stars Christopher Snow as a man in his mid 20s who has a rare skin disease known as xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). XP is the “vampire disease” that makes the afflicted person allergic to sunlight. With the next generation of games promising ever more realistic lighting effects, this kind of character trait could have a huge impact on how you play the game. “Hugging the shadows” wouldn’t just be important, it would be necessary to your character’s health.
Going deeper into the story reveals a government conspiracy, genetic engineering, plans for chemical warfare, attempts at creating a race of super soldiers and friends who are a little more than meets the eye. Oh, and just for good measure, a virus that mutates each infected person’s body and mind in a different way. What can I say? I’ve got a thing for a good plague story.
But at it's heart, Fear Nothing is also a pretty decent detective story and Chris and his friends follow the clues left by the conspiracy back to it's source to discover the truth. That sounds not unlike The X-Files (which truly bombed as a survival horror game, but the detective sections were alright). It also sounds not unlike the recently released Indigo Prophecy, which is causing a small furor over it's resurrection of the adventure genre. Detective games don't have to be the linear graphical adventures they used to be and I really think there's some untapped potential in creating a third person detective game where the focus is on the detecting.
And if nothing else, a game adaptation might spur Koontz on to finish the Christopher Snow trilogy that he has working on since the publication of the second Snow book, Seize the Night. It even has a title, Ride the Storm. A game could help further flesh out this world. The fans of the series (and there are a lot of us) would snap this game up in an instant.
These two (or three depending on if you count Seize the Night too) titles only scratch the surface of what some possible book-to-game ideas could look like. And with new consoles on the horizon it's time to expand ga