David Cater

I'm going to buck the trend here. I actually like it. Admittedly, I haven't played Assassin's Creed, so I can't comment on whether it's actually "new". But in most games like this the melee does seem to require that you focus on this person, then shift to focus on that person.


There is usually a definite feel of fighting one-on-one with whoever you're fighting against, with other guys pounding on your back and waiting for you to turn around and fight them. I like the concept that you could actually start to think of it as you against 2 or 3 people at a time, dodging their attacks and then punching/kicking opportunistically at whichever one you think is most open/vulnerable.


Regardless of the specific fighting animations, color palette, and graphics in this snippet, I definitely like the concept. If they pull it off well I can see it being a real plus.

I'm slowly starting to consider the possibility of getting a PS3. I have plenty of games left unplayed for my 360, because I simply don't have enough time to play everything I buy to the end.

But there are starting to be a couple of PS3 exclusives I wouldn't mind having. This is one of them. MAG (Massive Action Game) also sounds very intriguing to me. I love the idea of an FPS with more structure and a command and control hierarchy.

I suspect it will still take more games to push me over the edge. Or perhaps I primarily need to get done renovating my house so I get through the backlog of 360 games...

I think offline play is definitely an issue. I could see two mitigating factors, however:

1) To some extent you get a trade-off benefit by losing offline play: portability. This is the same trade-off you get when using a Netbook and online-only applications (like Google Docs) vs. having your applications stored locally on your laptop. You would easily take your OnLive setup anywhere there is a high-speed internet and get the same gaming experience you would have at home.

2) High-speed internet is steadily becoming more ubiquitous and stable. We're not yet at the point where you can access the internet everywhere at high speed all the time, but we're making progress. There's a cycle going on here. The more applications there are that require a constant high-speed connection, the more people will demand that those connections be always-available and always-on. At the same time, as high-speed connectivity becomes more available and more consistent, more applications will be offered. We're at a good point in that cycle now, because there are already many application out there that are useless without the internet, and people are starting to depend on them.

I agree that I wouldn't replace my console (or PC) with something like this if it were offered to me right now. Within a short number of years, however (assuming they can pull it off from a technological standpoint), I could see us getting to the point where being "offline" and unable to play games is so rare and catastrophic that it won't be an issue anymore.

Hopefully there will be some way to create a true simulator for golf enthusiasts willing to fork over the cash. If you could attach the MotionPlus to an actual golf club and hit an actual ball whose position exactly corresponded to the ball in the game, THAT would be an amazing combination. I might even try that.

Ideally (from a marketing point of view), the game will be really fun and challenging without a complete simulation experience, but absolutely incredible and more true-to-life if you're willing to upgrade. Create a great experience for the novice, get them enthusiastic and addicted, and then provide an extremely tempting upgrade path.

@anthonyjh
That was fucking cold, dude. Was that seriously necessary?

@RIP
I don't pay attention to the users on here to know who you are, but I can certainly feel your pain. I'm so sorry for your loss. Cancer is a bitch, and a painful bitch too. Just remember that as bad as it was, her pain is over now. Hang in there.

I would say that is incorrect. Kodu provides you with a programming language. So you can take a particular object in the world and give it arbitrary behavior that is new and unexpected based on how you program it.

I saw this demoed at the PDC (Professional Developer's Conference) this year in Los Angeles. I thought it was absolutely amazing. As others have said, it is most definitely a tool for introducing people to programming concepts rather than a level editor or LBP competitor.

I would not say that it's just for kids. I would push it on anyone who had an interest in learning something about the basics of programming (loops, if/then constructs, the concept of variables, etc.). It also has strong object-oriented concepts.

I mentor some budding programmers at a Montessori school, and I can't wait to show this to them. They all want to make games, of course, except for one inspired kid that wants to do robotic/AI programming. I think they would all benefit from playing around with Kodu.

(For the record, I've been a professional programmer since 1990.)

ROFL

That was awesome. I didn't just type LOL, I actually LOL'd. Beautiful.

That book is f**king awesome. I assume you've read Snow Crash as well, then. Great books, great author.

I was at the PDC this past week and saw the unveiling. Boku is not intended in any way to be a competitor to LBP. Boku's goal is to teach core programming concepts visually via a game. LBP's goal is to create arbitrary game content.

Nor is Boku intended as a way to create content for the XNA Creators Club. It doesn't generate standalone XNA games; the games only run within the Boku environment.

It is actually amazing to see it in action. They have obviously put a great deal of thought into how you can express object-oriented programming concepts via a visual interface that requires no keyboard input whatsoever.

I am mentoring some students at a Montessori school in doing some introductory programming, and I can't wait to get my hands on this. It certainly doesn't replace other forms of instruction in how to create "real" programs, but I think it will be a fantastic supplement. I plan on playing around with it and introducing the kids to it. Then when I want to explain a concept in C#, I am much more likely to be able to say "a class that implements an interface is just like doing XYZ in Boku" and they'll immediately grasp it.