Crowdfunding and games

I am a big fan of crowd funding and thankfully been lucky in that all projects i have backed have not fallen down.

I do think it is a good way to get the type of games i enjoy but really have not much chance of coming out any other way

There have been games that i thought would do ok but have done really well and others that i really thought would do amazingly well but barely get funded or not at all.

I think in the end it boils down to these points

Genre you get that right and you will do well for example kingdom come was a skyrim type of rpg but without the magic and dragons and it really hit a chord for a lot of people. I love fighting games and skullgirls did well but there were others i really wish did better

The people involved.If you have the right people involved with the game it makes a huge difference the biggest examples are double fine and the game broken age and the mighty no 9 with Keiji Inafune. the history really helps

Do a really good intro vid ideally with gameplay footage or at the least perhaps test footage

Set a sensible budget and break down how much it will cost to make the game and research it


Now for things i really hate in crowd funding

Stretch goals. Not a fan of these reason being i want the game the best it can be. Goals for 3ds version or a original sound track cd are nice but if it takes away from making the game better that i do not like. And the fact is i do not like it if there is a stretch goal i really want and the game does not make it.

It is a risk i would always say look up the people involved see there track record use a site like http://cliqist.com/ which would often highlight some potentially risky projects

Do not start a project where the game you will get is only a demo or beta version and not a full game i have seen a few projects start off like that and they really struggled

Now this is a personal thing but i see a game and the idea looks amazing and promising but then i see the words "for android/ios" and my heart just sinks i always feel those games are going to be simplified and cut down to a huge extreme to work on mobile

Is the retro look getting.....retro ?

Now i will say graphics do not make the game but over the past few years there have been many many games going for that retro pixel style.Now as a design aesthetic it can work i really liked shovel knights for example as it really looked and felt like a homage to the NES.

But for quite a few games it just seems as a way to make it cheaper to make and the fact is quite a few games do not look as good as games made in the 8 and 16 bit era. But they just do not really have there own style as such. I think it is just getting overloaded with that type of look and really i just want to see games the best they can be. If the pixel look is just purely because that is the in thing and is not a homage i see that as really downgrading i would love to see the games with hires art with awesome animation as well

Are season passes and dlc going to far?

If you want to view this blog please send me $5 or if you want access to all future blogs season pass is $20

Seriously though many games now you will get the option of season passes or preorder on the day dlc. And often different retailers will each have there own dlc so you always get that feeling of the game being complete

For me dlc has to have plenty of content decent price and well after the game has been released (and does not feel like it was cut out of the game)i think borderlands 2 did it right to a degree with its first batch though i was not a fan of the headhunters 

The idea of season passes though i am not a fan off just purely on the basis that unlike preordering the full game with season passes the quality could vary quite a lot you might just end up paying for a few multiplayer maps rather then any significant content.

Played The Sims 4 and it really felt like stuff was cut out or left out with planned dlc coming up to fill the gap later 

It is really annoying but i fear it will get worse but i would say champion the company's that do it well 

Why i think killer instinct for the xbox one could be the best fighting game ever

I need to clarify two points though first i have not played it yet so just from what i have seen and heard and second i am saying it COULD be not that it will be.

So things i do hate in fighting games while i love combos many games have huge combos and deal a lot of damage (in marvel vs capcom 3 you get hit you can lose a character) and you can do nothing about it. Also in fighting games you find what works and stick with me so there is not much variety and with some characters you find something that works to well and there is not way around it. And finally characters. Some games just have characters that are not fun to play and you always have tiers

So from what i can gather with killer instinct there is always options. With huge combos you can break them and the mind games with counter breakers looks insane.

It also appears there is always a way to break through a opponents spamming certain moves there is a way to break through them  

As far as characters go i do often see a mix of characters played on channels i think having the smaller roster is to there advantage as it makes it easier to alter and balance.

So it looks all promising so far and i cannot wait to play it i just hope they continue with the balances and improvements 

The only things i would ask for are more epic ultras i would like them more over the top and more destruction to the backgrounds and effects especially if you did a double ultra. And i would like to see a 5th hidden ender for each character perhaps after a counter breaker and to make them a little bit special perhaps instead of having just one trait it could have two like for example a juggle and battery at the same time.   

What got me back into fighting games

Fighting games are one of my fav genres and had gone off them for a while but i have to say there were a few things that brought me back into them and i will list them out

Maximilian: his videos were so hype and i love the assist me vids they really brought me back into fighting games

Evo :These tournaments have just been getting better and better to begin with they were fairly small but now they have got to a epic scale and always have great moments

Acidglow. Came across his channel when i was looking for killer instinct guides. Loves his fighting games and does a lot of content

Vesper arcade. Would do a lot of videos especially when it comes to mission modes for the games but what i like was he would show footage of his hands on the controller so you can see it

@ImKnomad@RealHKsmash @MrGrimmmmz  i put these three together because i came across them recently around the same time and they all really love killer instinct and do great vids 

If anyone has got any other shoutouts let me know ?

Life and youtube

So been doing a you tube channel only really started it properly late last year finding time to do it was hard as holding down a fulltime job. Now the company announced redundancy's for end of November so after that i plan to give youtube more attention and get the stuff i need to make better and longer videos.

It is still going to be just a hobby if anything can come from it great but i will still be job hunting. But i think i need to focus on what my channel will be about at the moment it really comes across as fairly random as has games/pc hardware/music and various other things.

Reviewing pc hardware is very difficult because of the expense involved and the fact for example if i get a new graphics card the only thing i can compare it to is my old one.

Games should be alot more straightforward though can only do pc stuff will need additional hardware for the consoles

So if anyone has any tips and what hardware i would need to make better vids i would be greatful

www.youtube.com/eastyy

Does anyone really care about resolution in games ?

For me it would not make a huge difference as i care more about frame rates then resolution.

Since my pc monitor packed in i have been using a old 1280 x 1024 and i have been finding it pretty good. Games look  good enough as i need and of course getting decent frame rates of course i will get a better monitor at some point as the screen quality and refresh rate are not as good as i like

But i think the resolution comparison between xbox one and ps4 games i really do not think i would notice a huge difference

Being a casual hardcore gamer

What i mean by that is i play hardcore games such as diablo 3/ultimate marvel vs capcom 3/blazblue devil may cry/king of fighters series etc but only casually .I rarely ever put the time into the games to get really good such as competition level in fighting games. now one reason is time but the bigger reason is my skill level i always reach a point where i can not get any further no matter how much i try.


Best way i can describe it in many fighting games there are challenges where you have to do certain combos and i can do usually around 60% of them and even then it would take me ages

Now in a few months i will be out of a job so will then see if i can improve my gaming skills as i have a youtube channel and really want to make a go of it

4k pc gaming needs to evolve a lot quicker

I have been pc gaming for years and only in the past few years went into 1080p now my system is not to bad and only a few games would struggle at full detail.But at 4k my system would not have a chance and the price of the hardware needed to run would be huge.

Rumors of the next batch of graphics cards are coming in but i think they will just be a incremental increase as they usually are no matter how much new technology phrases they may spout 

For me the hardware needs to get a lot faster and cheaper otherwise i fear it will be left behind.If  you have a titan or a 295x2 it may run stuff at 4k but most people will not want to spend over a grand on just a graphics card 

Will we ever have the PERFECT console launch in the next 20 years

Since the 32/64bit era every console launch seems to be a bit of a damp squib with some issue of sorts so for my perfect launch this is what i would like

1.Be a reasonable price current consoles at 400+ euro at launch that is a bit to much especially when you do not get games with it.

2.Well made reliable good looking  hardware. So consoles that have small enough form factor does not get to hot and make much noise. I would also like the choice for discs as either tray loading or top loading, And of course the joypad being comfortable and well designed

3. GAMES possible the most important thing now many consoles have perhaps 2 or 3 good games but i do not want just that i want 10 or more i would much rather be spoilt for choice and also for varying genres so it covers all tastes

4.Backwards compatibility it would have been really nice to have xbox one to play 360 or even original xbox games and the ps4 to play ps1/2/3 games would have made things a lot neater but what irks me more is i believe they did not do it so they can sell you the games later on. Have to say kudos for nintendo for the wii-u running wii games (would have been nice if it could play game cube though)

There are just a few things i would like to see

Microsoft buying mojang....a good idea yes the price nooo

Ok over 2 billion that is a lot of money with that they could created several gaming studios and create some great triple A games and god knows how many lower budget games.

But to buy a studio that while has created one of the successful games ever does not have a track record yet and the rumor that the creator markus persson will not stay after is not a really good sign.

Thing is for the xbox one microsoft need the exclusives (as do the other consoles) and i believe they need to spend there money wisely

I always thought they would have bought double helix and iron galaxy that while more niche would have just been part setting up there own studios the rumor was that amazon probably spent less then 100 million on double helix

For both the xbox one, ps4 and slightly less so the wii u there is a bit of a gaming drought each company has a stack load of IP's but just not the games released.

The way i see it they should hire the right people and set up studios and get them stuck into developing the games. Buying studios is well and good but make sure they have a track record first

Why i hardly play multi player

I do play the odd game now and then but usually i do not. The last big multiplayer i did put a lot of time into was world of warcraft

Which i did enjoy but thinking about it the actual game play is not that good. If you took the game play mechanics and put it into a single player game it would not be that fun at all. As it rely's and has been designed on the multiplayer component. Also the enjoyment is based on the connection you have and the people you play with (taking the mick out newer people calling them noob's etc does not help)

But i think with a lot of games such as the call of duty series/Destiny and many others they concentrate so much on the online aspect that it takes away from the single player. Now EVERYONE can play single player and only a certain percentage can play multiplayer so i would have always thought get the single player done to a high level and then do the multiplayer

Now granted no matter how good the single player system is the multiplayer will last longer but i just do not want the single player as a after thought.

You know when you are playing games to much when in real life......

1. You look at the ground and think great textures there

2. Seeing a lamp post and think the lighting effects are good

3. See a shadowed area and think "stealth"

4. See the corner of a building and think cover and peeking around the corner

5. Watching boxing/UFC and when they land series of punches your mind pops up COMBO

6. Temptation to break a vase or a box as you think LOOT

Does always online for games affect you ?

I have been a gamer for many years and till about  early 2005 i was still stuck in the 56k era with the joys of trying to install half life 2 (which took many hours to download from steam) but then praise be i finally got broadband it was not perfect but i could play games like world of warcraft and play other games online.

But in the past few years i have noticed a trend with games having to be online even for single player. Now my problem is while  having to have a reliable stable constant connection which mine is not so some games are unplayable for a period of time but also you have to rely on another company's servers being reliable and often you will get downtime

I will always say single player games should be given the offline option even if meant perhaps just logging in once a week as "drm" but you will get people who do not have the broadband connection so games they can never play.

Will retro gaming die out ?

So i can pick up a snes or a megadrive and any game and play it . Now though not only do you have physical but also digital release and even in the previous gen it had caused problems for example on xbox live doom was removed (though added later on) but the game outrun was permanently removed due to licensing. And it got me thinking some games may never become retro servers will eventually be switched off and games will be removed.

But it is not only digital only games but physical media as well  let us for example say in 10 years i fancy playing skyrim on the xbox 360 i can put in the disc and play the game but it had a lot of major bugs but if the servers are down i cannot patch it so while i can play it is not the best it could be
.
With games becoming more and more reliant on being online (such as diablo 3) even for single player there is a danger that in many years some of the games i play now i would not be able to play then.

i really hope they come up with ways so i can always play the games i love and at there best