Posts Tagged ‘Capcom’

Sometimes you need to reset the bar. As an informed gamer I find more and more that my definition of what constitutes average is slowly creeping upwards. Then Capcom’s Dark Void was thrust into my lap, and I found my equilibrium.

Conceptually Dark Void looked like a solid game. It threw me into a dramatic story, set in a beautiful world with interesting opponents. Add to this cover based combat with the ability to take flight at any time, courtesy of a jetpack, and developer Airtight Games should have been on to a winner. But these elements all combined to make and experience that define the term pedestrian.

See it looks fun, but the soul is missing.

Strangely nothing in the execution of Dark Void is wrong. There are no technical problems, mechanically or graphically, but it contains none of the magic that I seem to have begun taking for granted in my games.

I look to games with similar third person combat, such as Gears of War, and feel none of the spark that made them special. Like a gifted young musician copying their idol, the performance of Dark Void is solid in its execution, but lacks any of the soul that makes the original feel special.

Dark Void looked so promising in previews, but all the final product did for me was establish that good games really do possess a spark that raise them above the masses; a spark that no amount of technical talent or focus testing can substitute for.

Read more about Dark Void here.

Welcome one and all to your fortnightly bit of gaming audio delight from the DoFuss (Darren and I). With the stale whiff of the weekend’s alcohol still lingering on our breath Darren and myself embark on a quick foray into the world of gaming news and issues to see what we can find.

Gaming news and talk of what we have been playing sits as ever at the front of the show, but this time the feature topping our metaphorical cake is whether playing online games could make us better people. This is an idea put forward by Jane McGonigal, a designer at the Institute for the Future, during her talk at TED in February. While it may seem like a bizarre idea, much of what she said got me thinking that there maybe something to it, as did looking at her online games (including Evoke, pictured) that have been designed to harness the power of the game playing public for good.

Regular listeners may notice the lack of Darren’s Old Games, feel free to let him know your displeasure in the comments below (he does promise it will be back next time).

Enjoy the show!

The DoFuss Show – Productively Doing Nothing. [ 1:03:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Darren and I are back again, and just in the nick of time to fulfil our twice-monthly commitment, although we both still seem dead set on declaring that the show is weekly. We aren’t, and I will leave it for you to decide if that is a good or a bad thing.

This show’s unintentional theme is cultural divides. With me returning to the UK later this year Darren decided to prepare me for re-entry with terrifying snippets from the British tabloid ‘The Sun’. While this is an apt reintroduction to the state of my home nation, I cannot help but feel there is a veiled message from Darren to stay in the land of sushi and fun that is Japan, rather than heading back to the doom and bombed out Woolworths that now seems to be the hallmark of my home nation.

Beyond this new ‘scare Alex off coming back to the UK’ segment we hit all of our usual topics. Heaven and Hell see Android phones and Word Press taking pride of place in discussion. This is swiftly followed by some games we have been playing (Jump Ultimate All Stars, Final Fight and Super Street Fighter 4) and a few highlights of news from the last two weeks. To top off all this game discussion we visit the topic of game design and how Japanese and Western methods inform each other, or not, and the results of such collaborations.

Also of course there is Darren’s Old Games, which I am determined to rebrand as ‘Darren’s Good Old Games’. This week he imparts his vast array of Mario knowledge.

If you enjoy the show, have an idea for features, or just want to scare me off my return to England, please let us know. See you in two weeks.

The DoFuss Show – Trying To Bridge Cultural Divides. [ 1:14:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Darren is back just in time for a semi-festive show. We spend most of our time catching up on the last few months events and our respective holiday breaks but in the process we do touch on lots of games in-between our stories.

As I said last show do not expect Dans wonderfully detailed show notes every week, and this week serves only to reaffirm that declaration. I can tell you that you can expect us to talk about all the games we played recently, Red Dwarf, bad commercials, me pissing myself, me being taunted by hordes of nerds, the upcoming 2010 releases and our vacations. Unfortunately even with Darren back there is no Frakkers this show, but we do have some music and the return of Darrens Old Games.

Hopefully 2010 will mark a more regular schedule for The DoFuss Show as we stream line the formula, but we make no promises. Enjoy the show and keep an eye on the site this month for some gaming memories of the last ten years.

I am trying to get back in to oil painting, Darren insists on Twitpic updates so keep an eye on that if you care.

Craig Charles had far too much to do with it. [ 1:11:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download