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Gaming 

Companions 

The digital shoulders 

we lean on 

Australia’s best gaming -zine 

FULLY INTERACTIVE magazine ISSUE 13 JANUARY 2011

looking forward to 

Marvel vs 

Capcom 3 

Capcom have done 

a great job building 

hype for this one with 

their gradual character 

reveals. I’m still holding 

out hope for Dead 

Rising’s Frank West, but 

either way this is going 

to consume the lives 

of fighting game fans 

come February. 

Developer Capcom 

Publisher Capcom 

Platform PS3 / 360 / PC 

Genre Fighter 

Release February 17 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE 

Letter from the editor 

Don’t Hold Your Breath 

My New Year’s Resolution To stop caring about getting an R18 for 

games in Australia. The SCAG meeting on 10 December 2010 felt like 

a now-or-never moment. Brendan O’Connor had stated that the Labor 

party were officially in support of the rating, Galaxy polls showed a vast 

majority of people in support of the rating. Even mainstream media 

outlets were being generally supportive. Everyone waited, everyone held 

their breath. But we were let down. No agreement was reached, except 

to consider guidelines of what the effect of an R18 rating might be on 

the MA and RC categories. In other words, more consultation and more 

delay. The next SCAG meeting will be in March. I expect that meeting 

to yield only further consultation, further delay, further inaction. I expect 

the same to occur again at the next meeting too. I hope I’m wrong, but 

won’t be in the least surprised if I’m right. As contributor Ken Lee predicted 

in PixelCast 29, don’t expect an R18 rating in 2011. 

And so I’ve decided to simply stop caring. My position will always 

be in absolute support of the rating, but the emotional investment 

and passion I once had in following the debate has dissipated. 

Others have responded with more optimism than I, saying that the 

December 10 meeting was a small but positive step. That we’ll get 

the rating eventually, it’s just taking a while. I have no doubt they’re 

right. But I feel sorry for those who have worked and campaigned 

so hard to promote and raise awareness of the issue, only to have 

it continually held up. I’ve come to accept that as much as we 

need this rating, gamers aren’t overly affected. It’s rare for a game 

to be refused classification, and even rarer for it to be a game 

anyone cares about. And when it does occur, importing is an easy 

option, as is making friends with a Kiwi. 

In the face of so much delay and inaction it’s hard to stay enthusiastic 

on the subject. The amount of articles I’ve read on the 

subject goes beyond saturation, and I’m sorry to contribute to that 

further with this editorial, but I promise it will be my last word on 

the matter. Until we actually get the rating that is. I’m thinking 2013 

looks pretty good. If we’re lucky. 

Michael Pincott | E-zine Editor 

2 www.pixelhunt.com.au 

JANUARY 2011

contents 

ISSUE 13 JANUARY 2011 

Publishing Editor Dylan Burns 

E-Zine Editor Michael Pincott 

Website Manager Matthew Williams 

E-Zine Production Aaron Sammut 

Advertising Contact the Editor if you 

would like to advertise with Pixel Hunt 

dylanb@pixelhunt.com.au 

Contributors Dylan Burns, Anthony 

Capone, Tim Henderson, Annika Howells, 

Brendan Keogh, Jahanzeb Khan, Patrick 

Lang, Ken Lee, James O’Connor, Michael 

Pincott, James Pinnell, Alex Walker 

COVER: Daniel Purvis 

Subscribe: at www.pixelhunt.com.au 

Follow: www.twitter.com/PixelHunt 

DONATE: If you’d like to show your 

appreciation for each issue, please 

donate via PayPal at www.pixelhunt.com. 

au. All proceeds will go back into making 

Pixel Hunt the most up-to-date, honest 

and (we hope) fun gaming zine available. 

NAVIGATING THIS -zine 

WHAT IS A PIXEL HUNT 

Pixel Hunt is actually a term that 

refers to video games that use 

a point and click interface like in so 

many adventure games. As such, Pixel 

Hunt the magazine is also interactive. 

Try clicking on items, such as the icons 

to the bottom of the page to turn to 

the next or previous page, the arrow 

to the top of each page will take you 

back to the contents page where each 

individual story is linked. Give it a go. 

FEATURE 

STEAM 

12 

KILL DEATH RATIO 

ASSASSIN’S CREED 

BROTHERHOOD 

22 

IN CASE YOU 

MISSED IT 

NIER 

6 

COVER 

FEATURE 

GAMING 

COMPANIONS 

8 

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 

WITH PROFESSOR PIXEL 

25 

WHAT WE’RE 

PLAYING 

WITH THE PIXEL 

HUNT STAFF 

26 

creative 

AN ALAN 

WAKE STORY 

28 

THE 

GAME 

DOCTOR 

16 

feature 

Wii Don’t Need No PS4 

18 

OPINION 

multiplayer 

levelling 

30 

OPINION 

WE GOT 

(TO MUCH) 

GAME 

32 

Australia’s best gaming 

-zine 

www.PIXELHUNT.com.AU 

3

PRESS START TO PLAY 

NOT THE 

NEWS 

The latest non-happenings in video games 

are brought to you by our intrepid reporters 

DYLAN BURNS and JAMES O’CONNOR. 

Rockstar Games Admits 

Bad Working Conditions 

In recent months it’s 

been uncovered that 

working at Rockstar is 

no walk in the park. In a 

frankly amazing admission, 

Rockstar big knobs have 

recently released a press 

statement admitting that 

times in the office can be 

tough. “There were days,” 

says an annonymous source, 

commenting on the release, 

“when you’d come into work, 

and that fat bastard Pierre 

from animation would have 

taken the last chocolate-iced 

donut. I mean… how were we 

meant to function” 

The release itself doesn’t 

name names, apart from 

listing possible bad things 

that future whistle blowers 

might whinge about on 

blogs. Here are some of the 

stand-out ones: 

The CEO would often 

come and stare over 

workers’ shoulders. 

Sometimes without saying 

anything and sniggering 

softly… or maybe playing 

with the employee’s hair. 

Brisbane Man Wins Prize for Saying “lol” 

Out Loud for the One Billionth Time 

Unbenownst to most of us, both Xbox 

Live and the PSN network have secretly 

been keeping track of vocal patterns 

during online multiplayer sessions. It 

seems that one of the keywords being 

looked for is ‘lol’, short for ‘I’m a complete 

dickhead’. Brisbane man Glen Jackson 

got the surprise of his life when a local 

TV news crew knocked on his door 

and informed him that he was the one 

billionth person to utter ‘lol’ online. 

“I say lol all the time,” gushed Glen 

in the televised interview, “even in place 

Double parking did 

happen, but only that one 

time on Tuesday and that 

was because the dump 

truck was in the way. 

Dress Like a Cowboy 

Fridays did get cancelled, 

but only because several 

programmers refused to 

shave or shower over the 

space of weeks, and the 

word ‘cocksucker’ started to 

get used too much in office 

banter. The male members 

of staff, on the other hand, 

behaved wonderfully. 

of actually laughing. I think that this 

particular time Josh had farted while 

eating corn chips and I said ‘lol’. Either 

that or it was when I was fragging some 

noob’s arse and he was screaming like a 

stuck pig! Totally lol-worthy.” 

Glen’s prize for being awesome was 

a framed LOL statue with his name 

engraved on it, and a lifetime membership 

to Xbox Live. Rumours are circulating of a 

possible film project to do with Glen’s rags 

to riches story. Mark Wahlberg has denied 

casting rumours. 


JANUARY 2011

Garbage 

Tips Around 

the World 

Appeal for 

People to 

Keep Plastic 

Drum Kits 

Only a couple of years after the 

emergence of plastic drum kits and 

guitars for Guitar Hero and Rock 

Band, garbage tips worldwide are 

experiencing a deluge of thrown 

away kits, as people grow tired of 

repeatedly hitting the multi-coloured 

pads for hours. 

“We just don’t know what to do 

with them,” says Jerry, manager for 

a major city tip shop. “They’re in fine 

working order but we can’t even give 

them away. We tried donating them 

to homeless people but they ended 

up having nightmares about Green 

Day. Then there are the problems 

of guitars getting stuck in truck 

hydraulics. The publishers need to do 

something.” 

Pixel Hunt encourages the 

responsible disposal of unwanted 

gaming paraphernalia. If you have a 

spare drum kit or three taking up too 

much space, why not make a social 

event of it Gather some friends, stoke 

a bonfire and offer your kits to the 

gaming gods. 

Games 

Journalist 

Accepts Honourable 

Plaque for His Super 

Original Article on the 

R18+ Situation 

Super games journalist and all round nice guy 

James O’Pincott-Burns was last week awarded 

with a commemorative plaque by the Federation of 

Awesome Australian Games Writing for his groundbreaking 

research into the R18+ situation. When 

asked about his inspiration, he had the following to 

say: “Basically, I realised that there was this huge 

void in games journalism, the 300 pound white 

elephant in the room. No one was tackling the R18+ 

issue and telling it how it is.” 

James’s piece, entitled ‘R18+ Gaming F***ing 

Rocks’, will be cast in gold and displayed at the 

National Museum of Literacy. His previous works 

include ‘Girls Play Games Too, You Know!’, ‘Why Indie 

Games Are Just Much Better Than All Other Games’, 

‘The Big Question: Are Games Art’ and ‘Guess What 

Everyone: Games Are Supposed To Be Fun!’ 



5

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT 

nIer 

enough 

is close 

enough 

TIM HENDERSON is so Nier and yet 

so far. 

You know, for all of 

the horrible X-Factor 

snippets and terrible R&B 

music videos that litter the 

world of YouTube, I still love 

the place. You see, if you 

enter the words ‘Nier OST’ 

into a search on YouTube, 

you will be greeted with a 

list of awesome, and really 

rather unique, music tracks. 

Mostly reworking a core 

theme in an amazingly varied 

number of ways, the music 

from Nier brings to mind 

sweeping adventure and lush 

green fields, ages of gentle 

Gods and towering temples 

made by men, water that 

sparkles like sand and sand 

that flows like water, battles 

as fierce as thunder and an 

embrace as soft as clouds, 

cliffs like wounds in the earth 

and bridges that cover them 

like bandages. It’s powerful 

stuff on its own, and it only 

becomes amplified in-game. 

Mixing a variety of 

instruments, stylistic 

inspiration, and sweetly 

sung lyrics of a fictional 

tongue, the music of Nier is 

a tightly-contained example 

of its host’s greater mission 

statement: to stack familiar 

ideas together in ways that 

nobody has thought of before. 

Nier’s soundtrack is far and 

away the greatest success 

born of this mentality. The 

only musical downside is 

that there’s not enough of it. 

Melodies blend and evolve 

beautifully, lyrics fading 

into the game’s hub town 

background music when Nier 

himself walks within earshot 

of a minstrel strumming the 

very same tune. 

But Nier is a game that 

has all the technical merit 

of a powered-up PS2 title. 

Any and all visual appeal 

can be attributed to the art. 

Stylistically, Nier’s sunscorched 

aesthetic borrows 

heavily from ICO, much of 

its world architecture from 

Panzer Dragoon, and the 

character designs appear as 

misfits from a Final Fantasy 

game – too restrained and 

imperfect in appearance 

to appease the tween 

demographic crossover. 

The limitations placed 

upon the engine are not 

just visual, either. Character 

movement and world 

interaction comes with 

familiar limitations; Nier’s is 

not a world where advanced 

physics are breaking open 

new gameplay boundaries. 

This is understandable: the 

aging father of a gravely ill 

daughter, Nier himself is 

hardly the most sprightly 

and youthful of videogame 


JANUARY 2011

NIER 

Developer Cavia 

Publisher Square Enix 

Platform 360 / PS3 

Genre Action/RPG 


While 

other games 

are happy to 

borrow ideas 

from outside 

genres, Nier 

is routinely 

bold enough to 

become them. 

protagonists. But let it not be 

said that you can’t teach an 

old dog new tricks. 

If there is one triumph to be 

found in the overall experience 

of playing Nier, then it must 

surely be the reminder that 

technology and innovation need 

not be exclusive bedfellows. 

Although it never fails to feel 

familiar, even dated, trying 

to pin Nier into a genre is 

troublesome. Predominantly 

a mixture of Zelda and roleplaying 

formulas, it nonetheless 

cherry-picks from multiple 

other genres, plucking and 

choosing as befits the mood 

of the narrative, to a point 

where it fundamentally defies 

classification. While other 

games are happy to borrow 

ideas from outside genres, 

Nier is routinely bold enough to 

become them. 

This is why you should 

check Nier out. Not because 

it was ever a realistic Game of 

the Year candidate for 2010, 

but because of its unfettered, 

almost flippant approach 

to experimentation: it sets 

out to provide an interactive 

adventure, and in order to do so 

it staples gameplay elements 

from bullet hell shooters, 

classic survival horror, isometric 

dungeon crawlers, and even 

text adventure games onto the 

core experience. The pacing 

flounders around at times, 

and the graphics, in particular, 

betray a modest development 

budget, but Nier is a game with 

a fierce heart – an imperfect 

yet ferocious experiment with 

Japanese role-playing concepts, 

complimented by a story and 

cast of characters stronger than 

many of its brethren. 

It’s a game that does 

remarkable things within the 

restraint of having one foot 

shackled in the past and, much 

like the recent Persona titles, 

radiates a conceptual beacon 

of light for what JRPGs may as 

yet become. It may not be a 

great game, but it is one of the 

most interesting ones of recent 

years. Better to be left only 

part-satisfied by something like 

that than by Final Fantasy. 

TIM HENDERSON 


-zine 


7

COVER feature 

A Player’s 

Best Friend 

BRENDAN KEOGH investigates the characters that accompany us in 

good times and bad, in sickness and in health, until death do you part: 

NPC companions. 

Superheroes have sidekicks, 

comedians have straight men, 

and videogame protagonists have 

companions. They have accompanied 

us in our adventures to save 

kingdoms/mankind/the universe and 

to slay monsters/demons/aliens for 

as long as video games have been 

around. Link had Navi, Donkey had 

Diddy (and Diddy had Dixie), Ico had 

Yorda, Mario had Yoshi (and Yoshi had 

Mario), Master Chief had Cortana, 

Gordon had Alyx, Jade had Pey’j, 

Wanda had Agro, Marcus had Dom. 

The list goes on and on. There are 

good reasons why so many games 

rely on companions, and it is no 

coincidence that some of the most 

memorable, most critically acclaimed 

games are those that rely heavily on an 

NPC following the player around. 

When implemented properly, a 

companion can immerse you deeper 

into the game world and give you 

something within the game to care 

about, such as your trusty canine in 

Fable II. Conversely, a bad companion 

is at best forgettable and useless, 

such as B-Company in Battlefield: 

Bad Company, and at worst has you 

double-guessing the game’s logic and 

yelling at the screen in frustration, like 

when your party medic in Final Fantasy 

XIII refuses to heal you. Simply put, 

companions are capable of making or 

breaking a game. 

A good story-focused game will 

hide the game’s rules behind a layer 

of fiction. The simplest example: an 

impassable mountain range is more 

immersive than an invisible wall at 

the end of the map with the on-screen 

message, ‘You cannot go this way’ 

(I’m looking at you, Bethesda). It is 

DIDDY KONG 

not so much about forgetting that 

you are playing a game as it is about 

participating in what feels like a 

complete, coherent world. Companions 

play a crucial role in forming this 

coherent fiction by tying the player to 

the world and giving them something 

to care about. 

Few seem to understand this as 

well as Fumito Ueda of Team Ico, 

responsible for the Playstation 2 

classics ICO and Shadow Of The 

Colossus as well as the upcoming 

Playstation 3 title The Last Guardian. 

Both ICO and Shadow Of The Colossus 

(and The Last Guardian if we can judge 

from the trailers) create minimalist 

worlds with little story and even less 

dialogue. Yet, Ueda’s titles are among 

the best-received and most critically 

acclaimed games of recent time. 

The critical success of Ueda’s 

NAVI 

LUIGI 

YOSHI 


JANUARY 2011

YORDA 

If the player is to 

care about Yorda, she 

must be convincing as 

an individual entity but 

must also do exactly 

what the player 

wants. 

games comes down largely to the 

central relationship between the 

player and a consistent, significant 

companion. In ICO, you control a 

boy trying to escape a large castle 

prison. The gameplay is relatively 

straightforward platforming and puzzlesolving 

with one unique addition. 

Almost immediately after the game 

starts, you encounter Yorda, a girl also 

imprisoned in the castle. You soon 

discover that Yorda is in danger and 

needs your help. On the flipside, you 

cannot hope to escape without Yorda’s 

mysterious door-opening powers. The 

relationship between player and Yorda 

is one of co-dependence. As the skills 

of the player and Yorda do not overlap, 

neither steps on the other’s toes. Yorda 

will not rush off and do something 

the player doesn’t want her to do, but 

neither will she rush forward and do 

something the player was about to do. 

The relationship between Ico and 

Yorda is pivotal to the entire game. 

This is a ballsy gamble by Ueda. If she 

glitches up and gets the player killed 

even once, the player will be furious. 

There is nothing players hate more 

than feeling cheated by the game. If 

the player is to care about Yorda, she 

must be convincing as an individual 

entity but must also do exactly what 

the player wants. 

For Yorda specifically and all gaming 

companions generally, she can’t be 

god-like and invincible, but neither 

can she be stupid and placid. Instead, 

she must be humanly flawed and 

humanly intelligent; she must be smart 

enough to make mistakes; she must 

be imperfect and ‘real’. Yet, she also 

has to do exactly what the player wants 

her to do. If she shows too much free 

will, the player will get frustrated that 

the game is not doing what they want it 

to do. But if she just follows the player 

mindlessly, the player won’t be able to 

care about her as a human being and, 

by extension, won’t be able to care 

about the game’s fiction. 

So many conflicting conditions! So 

how did Ueda manage to balance them 

all With one very simple addition to 

the controls: press R1 to hold Yorda’s 

hand when she is close enough or to 

call her when she is far away. When 

left to her own devices, Yorda will 

wander around the map, run after 

birds, look over edges, and sometimes, 

if you watch her for long enough, 

maybe even discover a solution to a 

puzzle. Yet the moment you press R1 

and call her, she will come back to you 

and hold your hand. 

Instead of mindlessly following 

you, then, Ico pulls Yorda along in 

a charming, enthusiastic run, like a 

younger brother eager to show his 

older sister the fortress he built in 

the lounge room. By tweaking her 

animations and behaviours just right, 

Ueda has managed to balance Yorda 

perfectly between free-minded and 

obedient. It’s hard not to care about 

her and her plight as you play ICO. 

After not too long, you find yourself not 

being concerned about Ico or Yorda, 

but about Ico and Yorda. 

Later in the game, when the two of 

you are separated, it is akin to having 

all your weapons removed halfway 

through a first-person shooter: you feel 

naked, exposed, vulnerable, and most 

crucially, alone. So many emotions 

evoked just by the absence of a NPC! 

This is how you know a companion has 

been done well: you don’t just notice 


-zine 


9

COVER feature 

Alyx Vance 

when they are beside you; you notice 

when they are not. 

A similar relationship also forms 

between Shadow Of The Colossus’s 

Wanda and his trusty horse, Agro. Just 

like in ICO, the player can call to Agro 

and he will come running, but he will 

wander off freely otherwise. Agro is 

a well-behaved steed, and the game 

can get away with making him more 

obedient as he is a tamed animal and 

not a free-willed human. But he still 

behaves convincingly, rearing when a 

colossus stomps nearby or refusing 

to leap over certain crevasses until 

pushed. The times that you must 

leave Agro behind, you really feel his 

absence. For me, it is in the echoing 

tap-tap of my feet compared to Agro’s 

hearty gallop that really rubs it in. 

A companion can still be convincing 

and meaningful without such detailed 

free-will, however. Alyx Vance in Half- 

Life 2 accompanies the player for 

much of the game. In Episodes One 

and Two, you could even argue that 

she is the main character and the 

player’s character, Gordon Freeman, is 

the companion. 

Alyx’s actions are more scripted 

than either Yorda or Agro. On every 

playthrough she will follow a practically 

identical path through the levels and 

will say the same things at the same 

times. Nonetheless, she is animated 

and written in a way that is both 

convincing and human. Instead of 

just following the player, Alyx has her 

own paths through the level, which 

means she will often be leading—a 

rare feat among gaming companions. 

That these paths are scripted hardly 

matter. Instead, they add to the game. 

Alyx can be shown to engage with her 

environment in a more convincing style. 

Instead of awkwardly running through 

a level like any old NPC, she will jump 

over guardrails and climb fences like a 

human being, making both her and the 

world more believable. 

Once the player cares for Alyx, her 

most important role is in justifying 

Gordon Freeman’s existence, and by 

extension the player’s. As Gordon is 

a silent protagonist, one of the main 

criticisms levelled at Half-Life was that 

he was practically a non-character—just 

a gun floating on the monitor. Alyx 

Vance changed this. By constantly 

acknowledging Gordon, making eyecontact, 

having discussions, remarking 

on his actions, Alyx makes Gordon 

more real. We still never see Gordon 

ourselves, but we see that Alyx sees him. 

The actions are miniscule, but they add 

a significant level of detail that makes 

Half-Life 2’s story and world more 

accessible that Half-Life’s ever was. 

Sadly, though, there are occasions 

where Alyx tips the wrong way and 

becomes a frustrating NPC instead of 

a friendly companion. One particular 

stage in Episode One frustrated me 

immensely and shows how even the 

best implemented companions can go 

wrong and nearly break a game. You 

are underground and trying to get to 

the surface. In a pitch-black room, you 

must fight swarms of zombies while 

you wait for an elevator to arrive. The 

player has no weapons save a torch 

and the gravity gun, but Alyx has her 

pistol. However, she will only shoot at 

zombies that the player is pointing the 

torch at or has lit flares nearby. 

I couldn’t help but feel Alyx wasn’t 

pulling her weight. Why couldn’t she 

pick up a flare herself Why did I have 

to stand dumbly with my torch pointed 

at a zombie for her to shoot it Clearly, 

Valve were trying to strengthen the 

relationship between Alyx and Gordon 

by forcing you to cooperate to survive, 

but the result was the opposite. Alyx 

couldn’t look after herself and she 

was holding me back. Instead of being 

a companion I could work with, she 

became a bit of programming that 

I had to second guess and exploit. 

While her actions in the rest of the 

game added so much, it was almost 

all destroyed for me in this one stage. 

Using companions truly is a precarious, 

dangerous thing. 

There are more interesting 

companions—both good and bad—than 

could be covered in any one article. 

The more-or-less invisible companions 


JANUARY 2011

like Cortana in Halo, the dependable, 

self-sacrificing buddies of Far Cry 

2, the bromance of Delta Squad in 

Gears of War. But where would a 

discussion of gaming companions be 

without a mention of Portal’s weighted 

companion cube 

Quite justifiably, many of you will be 

sick of hearing about Portal by now, 

but the amount of stuff that it just got 

so right can’t be denied. The weighted 

companion cube, while only a minor 

part of the entire game, works as the 

ultimate meta gaming companion. 

It does everything all good gaming 

companions must do. 

Firstly, the weighted companion 

cube’s abilities complement the 

player’s abilities, they don’t overlap 

and conflict. Just as Ico and Yorda 

rely on the other’s abilities, so do the 

player’s and the weighted companion 

cube. The weighted companion cube 

relies on the player’s portal gun, legs, 

and strong hands, and the player relies 

on the weighted companion cube’s 

stability as a stool, sturdiness to sit on 

buttons without flinching, and strength 

to withstand loose balls of energy that 

could vaporise the player on impact. 

Without the other, neither will get to 

the end of the level. 

Secondly, and more importantly, 

the weighted companion cube is 

a non-living object that the player 

knows is not alive yet is still able to 

have feelings for. Just like Yorda, Alyx, 

Agro, and all other companions, the 

weighted companion cube is just a 

bunch of 0s and 1s somewhere inside 

the game. But unlike these other 

companions, on the outside, too, the 

weighted companion cube is just an 

inanimate object. Yet, largely through 

the words of GLaDOS, the player still 

cares about the weighted companion 

cube. When GLaDOS congratulates you 

for destroying the weighted companion 

cube in the emergency intelligence 

incinerator faster than any other test 

subject, it is darkly funny, but some of 

the guilt you feel is legitimate and taps 

into the same part of your mind as all 

gaming companions. 

And that is the ultimate contribution 

all gaming companions make: a 

legitimate reason to care about the 

world. The player’s reward for helping 

Yorda is not ten achievement points, 

but helping Yorda. When Yorda holds 

your hand, she pulls you deep down into 

the game’s world where your actions 

are their own reward. But if they don’t 

act the way the player expects, any 

immersion in the game world could be 

ruined as the player is forced to double 

guess what they must do in order to 

tempt the companion to action how 

they want. Just as your companions can 

pull you in to the game, they can just as 

easily push you out. 

BRENDAN KEOGH 

...where would a discussion of gaming 

companions be without a mention of Portal’s 

weighted companion cube 

COMPANION CUBE 


-zine 


11

FEATURE 

Going 

Up In 

Steam 

When it comes to pricing on 

Steam, different publishers take 

different approaches. JAMES 

PINNELL brings us a rundown on 

which publishers are the friendliest 

to your wallet. 

The Steam Christmas sale has 

been and gone, and many of us 

are playing catch up with quite a few 

titles that we otherwise would never 

have bought. While digital distribution 

is building in popularity, Australians 

still face some hefty mark-ups on the 

Steam store, due in part to regulations 

that prevent publishers undercutting 

brick and mortar competition. In an 

attempt to solidify our frustrations, we 

decided to take a stroll through the 

Steam Store and critique publishers 

on their ability to charge fair and 

equitable prices to Australian users. 

All prices are correct at time of writing, 

although things can and do change 

quickly online. (All prices listed are 

$USD). 

STEAM Report Card 

Bethesda 

FALLOUT NEW VEGAS 

Comments: The guys behind Fallout 3 and 

Elder Scrolls have picked up their game as of 

late. While their original Fallout 3 pricing was 

a little silly, they have moved back towards 

the centre and matched price parity for most 

titles between the AU/US stores. The main 

exception is Fallout: New Vegas, which sits at 

a rather expensive $89.95. Of concern is that 

New Vegas initially appeared on Australia’s 

Steam store at $49.95, equal to the American 

pricing, only to receive a $40 bump close to 

release. Bethesda’s two main upcoming titles, 

Brink and Hunted: The Demon’s Forge, are 

both $49.99 to pre-order. If you’re interested 

in either we’d suggest you pre-order them 

now, as the same price bump is likely to occur 

closer to release. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


2K Games 

BIOSHOCK 2 

Comments: 2K is one of the bigger players 

on Steam and takes full advantage of its 

market position, with some significant price 

differences. While Americans can purchase 

Civ V for $49.99, Australians pay $79.99. 

While Americans pay $29.99 for Mafia 2, 

Australians pay $79.99. While Americans pay 

a paltry $19.99 for BioShock 2, Australians 

pay $49.99. Discounts are few and far 

between, except during Steam-instigated 

sales. Release date differences are also a 

cause for concern, with those who purchased 

Civ V at retail in Australia unable to play the 

game until it was unlocked for Australians 

the next day. 2K is easily one of the worst 

performers on Steam. This kind of pricing 

gives the consumer little reason to lay down 

their credit card. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


JANUARY 2011

TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON 


Activision 

Comments: Although nowhere near as 

bad as 2K Games, Activision won’t exactly 

have you running for your credit card. James 

Bond: Blood Stone sits at the same price as 

retail, whereas Modern Warfare 2 is still on 

$89.99, at least $20 above retail, more if 

you don’t mind buying second hand. Other 

titles like Transformers: War for Cybertron 

and Prototype thankfully match US store 

pricing. Despite being an unpopular player, 

Activision isn’t too bad. However, their 

offerings are slim, and they tend to hold 

onto higher prices for popular games. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Sony Online 

Comments: A Veteran MMORPG developer, 

Sony has released their entire set of still 

currently running MMORPG’s for download on 

Steam. Sony always group AU based accounts 

with their US counterparts, and as a result, 

there is no difference in price, or release date. 

Feel safe in your purchase of the upcoming DC 

Universe MMO, for you will not be ripped off. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Capcom 

Comments: Capcom have definitely improved 

their stock over the past year, dropping their 

pricing back to US standards, running fantastic 

periodic discounts and generally presenting as 

a poster child for a fair go. Almost all of their 

games match their US pricing, and are cheaper 

than retail – nothing in the store is more then 

$40, including games like Street Fighter IV, 

Resident Evil 5, Bionic Commando and Dark 

Void. Even the fairly recent Dead Rising 2 sits 

pretty at $39.99 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Lucasarts 

Comments: Lucasarts had a shaky 

start on Steam, with many of their games 

originally locked out to AU players. But, 

since a lot of publishers began re-evaluating 

their digital catalogue, all of their games 

have been released to users and price 

parity is spot on. They also offer some great 

periodical discounts and have some great 

packages available. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Codemasters 

Comments: A relatively large UK based 

publisher, Codemasters has a mixed record 

when it comes to fair pricing; F12010 is more 

expensive on the AU store, by about $20, but 

the majority of their popular back catalogue 

(GRID, Dirt Series, Overload, Op:FP2) are 

more fairly priced. Credit where credit is 

due, their AU levy is lower than most on new 

releases, but the fact it happens is still poor. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 



13

FEATURE 


Electronic 

Arts 

MASS EFFECT 2 

Comments: EA is one of the biggest 

games publishers in the world, and next 

to 2K and Activision, one of the worst 

performers when it comes to pricing. Almost 

every single major release is overpriced or 

has a significant AU levy sitting on top. For 

example, before the recent sales, Dragon 

Age, which came out almost a year ago, and 

Mass Effect 2, which came out in January, 

both included a $40US levy, same with 

C&C4 and Bad Company 2. Most of these 

games have dropped in price now, so it pays 

to be patient, but still, you shouldn’t have 

to wait so long to see depreciation seep 

through to the digital storefront. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Sega 

Comments: Almost all of Sega’s steam 

catalogue, from their console releases to 

their PC published fare, are subject to a price 

premium for AU. As with EA, there existed quite 

a few higher priced titles before the 2010 sale 

– Aliens Vs Predator smacked you with a $15 

levy, Napoleon: Total War a chunky $30, while 

the slew of old MegaDrive games had a small 

but still irritating 50c increase. Prices have 

dropped slightly in the new year, but the cycle 

is likely to repeat for their 2011 releases. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


NCSoft 

Comments: This MMORPG powerhouse, 

publishers of Guild Wars, Aion and 

City of Heroes, have always been very 

straightforward and upfront with their 

releases. Worldwide unlock dates, fair and 

equitable pricing, great pre-order incentives 

and regular discounts. If only a few other of 

the big boys followed their example. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Square Enix 

& Eidos 

Interactive 

Comments: Another publisher that has 

recently undergone some changes, this 

strange coalition has introduced price and 

catalogue parity across their AU and US 

stores. Let’s hope this stays in place with the 

upcoming release of the next Batman title. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Ubisoft 

Comments: Ubisoft’s case is surprisingly 

positive, considering the performance of the 

other major developers. Assassin’s Creed 

2,Prince of Persia: TFS, R.U.S.E, Settler’s 7, 

H.A.W.X 2, and Splinter Cell Conviction all 

carry price parity with the US store. They’ve 

been pretty good with lowering the price of 

older titles and tend to not separate release 

dates between regions. Well done for bucking 

the trend, Ubisoft. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


JANUARY 2011


Paradox 

Interactive 

Comments: A strategy behemoth, Paradox 

pumps out the deeply detailed software that 

their legions of fans crave. They also don’t 

discriminate on pricing, all of their titles have 

pricing parity, fair release dates and there are 

a number of well priced packages available. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Valve 

Comments: The company behind Steam 

has always, and probably will always, stick 

to pure price parity and worldwide releases. 

Shame about the whole Left 4 Dead 2 

censored thing, though. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 

LEFT4DEAD2 


THQ 

Comments: Another giant willing to finally drop 

some of its 2010 mark-ups. Darksiders, Metro 

2033, and the Dawn Of War II expansion pack 

all came with a $20-30 levy, but have fallen to 

quite acceptable price points now. Surprisingly, 

some games were LOWER in price than on the 

US store, such as Saints Row 2, Company of 

Heroes: Tales of Valor and Titan Quest Gold. 

These strange price discrepancies are pretty 

confusing, but it’s encouraging to see lower 

prices in any case. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 


Warner Bros. 

Comments: Our last candidate is one 

of the worst performers of the lot. Not 

only are almost all of their games more 

expensive, but by such a significant amount, 

considering their age. F.E.A.R. 2, Terminator 

Salvation and Wanted: Weapons of Fate all 

released over a year ago but sit at $44.99, 

$25 more than the US store. While the 

dollar levy figure isn’t significant, other 

developers are selling titles that old for 

almost half the price. 

Grade: 

A B C D E F 

... & The Rest 

1C Company, Big Fish Games, City Interactive, 

Epic Games, Focus Home Interactive, Her 

Interactive, Id Software, Interplay, iWin, JoWood/ 

Dreamcatcher, Kalipso, Majesco, Meridian 4, 

MumboJumbo, NovaLogic, Prima Games, Popcap, 

PlayFirst, RailSimulator.com, Sandlot Games, 

SouthPeak Games, Strategy First, Tilted Mill, 

Topware. While the companies listed here are 

generally casual, indie or back catalogue based (no 

new titles, just a depot of their Good Old Games), 

all of them share the same principles: price, 

release date and catalogue parity. Good prices, 

packages and extras provided by this bunch show 

that you don’t need to rip off a vulnerable section 

of the market to make money. 

Grade: A 

JAMES PINNELL 


-zine 


15

THE GAME DOCTOR 

One Man’s Quest to Earn A PhD By 

Wanking On About Games He Likes... 

The Doctor 

Is (Almost) In 

JAMES O’CONNOR takes a stethoscope 

wherever he goes. No, we haven’t had the heart 

to tell him yet… 

...the praise Enslaved attracted in 

2010 baffled and saddened me. 

‘ ou don’t propose to offer an 

Yanalysis of scholasticism, 

then, I take it’ 

The question illustrated exactly 

why Dixon felt he had to keep 

Michie out of his subject. Michie 

knew a lot, or seemed to, which 

was as bad. One of the things he 

knew, or seemed to, was what 

scholasticism was. Dixon read, 

heard, and even used the word a 

dozen times a day without knowing, 

though he seemed to. But he saw 

clearly that he wouldn’t be able to 

go on seeming to know the meaning 

of this and a hundred such words 

while Michie was there questioning, 

discussing and arguing about them. 

-Kingsley Amis, ‘Lucky Jim’. 

This is – at least, I hope it is – 

the beginner academic experience, 

boiled down into a single paragraph 

of comical frustration and seeming 

incompetence. All this year, I’ve used 

terms with definitions that terrify me. If 

I say ‘cognitive poetics’ I can more or 

less get away with admitting I need to 

do more research (because even my 

basic knowledge puts me well ahead 

of most people in this area, although 

potentially not you, my beloved reader), 

but other terms are a hassle. I can tell 

you the difference between narrative, 

story and plot, but two sentences in I’m 

out of words. For some people, higher 

research is an easy fit, but many of us 

spend our days dreading the moment 

when something clicks and the higherups 

realise that the smartest thing 

we’re able to do is convince other 

people that we’re smart. 

I recently had to justify my ‘PhDabout-games’ 

project, which I’m 

ostensibly ten months into, through 

a 5000 word document, a 20 minute 

presentation and a similarly long Q&A 

session. I got what is apparently the 

most common response: ‘things are 

going well, but it’s too big, you need to 

clarify stuff in your written proposal, 

etc.’, along with about 2000 words of 

notes on what to fix. It’s a terrifying 

process, and I’ve been drinking more 

than I usually do lately. 

I tend to write and discuss largely 

on instinct. Aside from the occasional 

misguided mention of Lacan’s ‘mirror 

phase’ or citing of proper literary 

theory, most of what I hypothesize 

comes from playing games and 

reacting to them. It’s the same when 

I digest literature and cinema. My 

Twitter and Facebook feeds abound 

with academics who are always linking 

to new research, and my e-mail inbox 

is filled with chain discussions on all 

sorts of crazy game-related topics, with 

familiar faces popping up and offering 

reading advice to anyone who will 

listen. The idea of backing everything I 

say up with meticulous research, not to 

mention absolute certainty, is difficult 

to comes to grips with. 

But you didn’t download Pixel Hunt 

to hear me whine about my First World 

Problems - I’d like to awkwardly segue 


JANUARY 2011

Always call 

‘shotgun’ in 

MAFIA II 

into some game discussion now. 

First up, let me just say as someone 

who loves great narrative and story 

in big blockbuster games, the praise 

Enslaved attracted in 2010 baffled 

and saddened me. Please, people 

– simply not hating characters 

doesn’t immediately make them good 

characters. Solid facial animation 

doesn’t equate to personality. The 

characters here manage to be both 

illogical and yet utterly predictable at 

the same time, and the three primary 

protagonists are as archetypal as they 

come. The Journey to the West riffing 

was weird and undercooked, beyond 

the initial ‘I see what they’re doing here’ 

phase. Enslaved is an awful example of 

‘OMG games CAN tell stories!!!!’, and 

I’m damn sick of reading half-baked 

arguments on the contrary. 

I’d also like to briefly discuss an 

interesting moment from Mafia II: 

a game with great ambition and 

design, but so-so (or bad) writing and 

incredibly awkward racial stereotyping 

(the game’s portrayal of the Chinese 

is flat-out disgusting). Mark Smith 

called it “the best and most immersive 

interactive cinematic experience (he’d) 

had in 25 years of gaming”, which 

is an insane statement that cannot 

possibly be true. There’s one moment 

in the game that really sticks out to 

me, though, in terms of awful narrative 

design. Mild spoilers follow, but I’ll 

avoid being specific. 

Late in the game, a character dies. 

That’s expected – mafia fiction, no 

matter how good it is, has a bad habit 

of never letting anyone live. The setup: 

your character, Vito, and his best friend 

Joe, are on their way to meet up with 

this character. When you reach them, 

you’ll presumably all get into the car 

and drive to a second location, such 

is the game’s structure. But from the 

moment you meet up with Joe and get 

into the car, you know the guy you’re 

about to meet won’t be coming with 

you – that his death is but a cutscene 

away. Why Because the mission gives 

you a two-seater car for the mission. 

There’s no room for your friend to 

come along – so obviously he’s about 

to die! What a terrible piece of scripting 

that was – and yet so obvious, and so 

easily avoidable! 

It’s shit like this that makes the 

road ahead of me both difficult and 

interesting. My studies are focusing 

on big blockbuster games – exploring 

narrative in a big-budget explosionfests 

seems to me far more worthwhile 

than explaining how games that are 

primarily narrative focused succeed. 

And yet these are the games people 

are going crazy over, while the games 

I’m interested in are dismissed as 

Michael Bay handjobs and constantly 

called ‘overrated’ because of this 

industry’s bizarre case of Tall Poppy 

Syndrome. 

And now, I need to go and replay 

Grand Theft Auto IV. 

JAMES O’CONNOR 


-zine 


17

FEATURE 

Wii Don’t Need No PS4 

DYLAN BURNS and MICHAEL PINCOTT look at the state of the seventh generation of video game 

consoles and why we don’t need an eighth generation any time soon. 

TIME OF THEIR LIVES 

SONY 

1994 Sony Playstation 

2000 Sony Playstation 2 

2006 Sony Playstation 3 

We live in an interesting gaming 

age. For so many years, the 

industry has been growing at an 

exponential rate. As more people 

came to gaming, demand has fuelled 

the development of new consoles, 

new technologies and has allowed 

new companies to try their hand at 

jumping into the development and 

publishing pool. 

Where once you could analyse 

the industry and chart specific 

development timeframes – 

particularly in relation to console 

life cycles – we face, with the 

360, PS3 and Wii, an era of 

elongated shelf life, with no side 

truly ready to invest in a new 

console. The reasons for these 

are varied: games are still selling 

well on these systems, graphics 

and the technologies behind them 

have reached a certain level of 

fidelity and stayed there, and, 

predominantly, the sheer cost of 

developing and marketing a new 

console in an established market 

is almost unimaginable. Indeed, 

Microsoft and Sony are still 

recouping the costs of developing 

and manufacturing the 360 and 

PS3. Only Nintendo can claim 

to be making a profit on every 

console unit sold. 

Then there’s the PC, once 

considered a lofty, exclusive peak 

of quality gaming, upon which PC 

gamers could look down at their 

console brethren like ants below 

and laugh heartily at the fact 

that their games looked better, 

ran faster and were generally 

superior. Undoubtedly, the PC 

is still considered the ultimate 

gaming platform by many, but 

the gap between PC and console 

has shortened considerably. 

The current generation of 

consoles have adapted to mimic 

the PC, sporting large hard 

drives, capable online play and 

robust communities. The online 

connectivity of consoles now 

easily facilitates updates, patches 

and extra content. Consoles are 

even attempting to match the PC 

as a media hub. What once was 

exclusively the realm of the PC 

is being hotly contested. Console 

gaming is still PC gaming’s little 

brother, but it’s growing up fast. 

The need for consoles to catch up 

is greatly reduced; some might 

even say negated completely. 


JANUARY 2011

Only Nintendo got it right, offering total 

compatibility for Gamecube titles and ensuring 

that the Wii had ports for both Gamecube 

controllers and memory cards. 

NO GAME LEFT BEHIND 

Does a new console generation 

mean that the current generation 

of games get left behind as those 

before them did The precedent 

is poor for both Microsoft and 

Sony, thoroughly botching their 

opportunities to support their 

strong back catalogue. The 360 

would play some Xbox titles with 

a patch, but eventually Microsoft 

simply stopped providing them, 

leaving plenty of games either 

unsupported or broken. They then 

started offering Xbox titles as 

downloads on the Marketplace 

but, due to high prices and low 

sales, this was short-lived. 

The Playstation 3 shipped 

with more substantial backwards 

compatibility, supporting most 

PS2 titles without issue, until 

Sony made the mind-boggling 

decision to no longer include the 

Emotion Engine chip that made 

backwards compatibility for PS2 

titles possible. We’re now seeing 

an interesting consequence of 

that, with Sony releasing a spate 

of HD collections of PS2 series 

like Prince of Persia and God of 

War. Only Nintendo got it right, 

offering total compatibility for 

Gamecube titles and ensuring 

that the Wii had ports for both 

Gamecube controllers and 

memory cards. 

FUTURE SHOCK 

Which brings us to the topic of 

the NEXT generation of consoles. 

The very cogent question being, do 

we even need them Simply put, 

developers, publishers and gamers 

all seem rather content exactly 

where they are. A level of mutual 


NINTENDO 

1983 Nintendo 

Entertainment 

System (NES) 

1990 Super Nintendo 

Entertainment 

System (SNES) 

1996 Nintendo 64 

2001 Nintendo 

GameCube 

2006 Nintendo Wii 


-zine 


19

FEATURE 

The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 still, it seems, 

have unexplored power left to tap. 


MICROSOFT 

2001 Xbox 

2005 Xbox 360 

satisfaction has been reached 

where everyone’s demands are 

being satisfactorily met. Incremental 

improvements in visuals have been 

gradual but consistent. Uncharted 

2 lifted the bar for console graphics 

in late 2009 and, arguably, no other 

developer has reached that bar 

since. The Playstation 3 and Xbox 

360 still, it seems, have unexplored 

power left to tap. Even the Wii is 

turning out some very pretty games, 

such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and 

Donkey Kong Country Returns. 

Developers are still playing catch-up, 

finding ways to squeeze more out of 

each console, while new technologies 

such as Euphoria and Digital 

Molecular Matter are still being 

explored and hesitantly implemented 

– the Force Unleashed titles didn’t 

exactly send a shock wave through 

the industry, although GTA IV’s use of 

Euphoria was much more impressive. 

Each consecutive console generation 

offers a bigger, deeper sandpit for 

developers to dig through. We haven’t 

hit the bottom of this generation’s 

just yet. 

With graphics somewhat levelled 

out (particularly in terms of a small 

number of engines such as Unreal 

Engine 3 being used across many/ 

most titles) and the upgradeable 

nature of online connectivity, the 

current console generation is in a 

position to extend their lifetimes 

far beyond what was previously 

possible. A rather encouraging trend 

has emerged of gameplay becoming 

a renewed focus. The video game 

industry has an unfortunate tendency 

to pay more heed to the prettiest 

games, but increasingly we’ve 

seen art direction take precedence 

over graphical power. With most 

developers on a level playing field 

in terms of visuals (see our Unreal 

Engine boxout) gameplay is again 

becoming king. The likes of Minecraft 

and Super Meat Boy have proven to 

be popular not because they look 

good but because they offer excellent 

gameplay. 

NOT TOO OLD FOR THIS SHIT 

The question of the successors to 

the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii 

has barely been raised, despite the 

fact that we have the 3DS coming 


JANUARY 2011

For our money, this console 

generation has plenty of life in it yet. 

Cell Shaded Masterpiece 

BORDERLANDS 

and, apparently, the PSP2 in the 

works. In a way, we’ve already got 

our new generation. Microsoft has 

treated Kinect as almost a console 

unto itself, while Sony to a lesser 

extent has looked to expand with 

Move. If the Wii can get hold of a 

magical HD chip we’ll be just about 

level again. 

We are also still engaged solidly 

with our console(s) of choice, and 

this generation of machines bring 

with them some features that give 

new meaning to the term ‘brand 

loyalty’. Microsoft and Sony are 

each invested in their meta-score 

game tracking, with Achievements 

and Trophies solidifying the social 

gaming space. Moving across to a 

new console in the future will require 

the maintaining of current gaming 

badges, lest they risk the ire of 

players the world over. 

There’s no doubt that come E3 

2011, pundits will speculate on the 

likelihood of a new major console 

release from one of the Almighty 

Three. For our money, this console 

generation has plenty of life in it 

yet. Back in 2006, Sony Computer 


SEGA 

1983 Sega SG-1000 

1985 Sega Master 

System 

1988 Sega Mega 

Drive/Genesis 

1994 Sega Saturn 

1998 Sega 

Dreamcast 

Entertainment America president 

Kaz Hirai predicted that the 

Playstation 3 would have a lifespan 

of ten years. So far he’s spot on, 

but we’re only halfway there. We 

can’t say for sure whether we’ll 

be playing Heavy Rain 3: Gentle 

Downpour on our not-yet-obsolete 

Playstation 3 in 2016, or whether 

we’ll be unwrapping a new Bluray 

drive Xbox, but whatever the 

case, we’ll continue to enjoy what 

has been a bountiful period for 

consoles and console gaming. 

DYLAN BURNS | MICHAEL PINCOTT 

Unreal Engine 3 

Roll Call 

Cliffy B must be dry 

washing his hands 

constantly, grinning 

nefariously as those millions 

in royalties roll in from 

every game and his dog 

using the Unreal Engine 3. 

Here are some of the more 

surprising ones: 

DC Universe Online 

Hail To The Chimp (:S) 

Alpha Protocol 

Mirror’s Edge 

Enslaved: Odyssey 

To The West 

Zumba Fitness 

Borderlands 

Lost Odyssey 

Shadow Complex 

Batman: Arkham Asylum 

Mass Effect (all titles) 


-zine 


21


BOYS IN 

THE hood 

KEN LEE and MICHAEL 

PINCOTT have been getting 

acquainted with stealth and 

stabbing in the multiplayer 

of Assassin’s Creed: 

Brotherhood. 

MP: Multiplayer games typically 

involve, but are not limited 

to, headshots, grenade spamming, 

teabagging, deathmatches, capture 

the flag, whiny pre-pubescents, and 

players abusing whatever the latest 

exploit happens to be. Though we can’t 

guarantee an absence of whiny prepubescents, 

the multiplayer of Assassin’s 

Creed: Brotherhood spares us the majority 

of that paradigm to offer something rather 

fresh and different. Bombast is replaced 

with subtlety and stealth. The satisfaction 

of a headshot replaced by that derived 

from an exquisitely stealthy kill. It’s a 

perpetually tense game of cat and mouse 

combined with the kinetic rush of rooftop 

parkour. Ultimately, I love Brotherhood’s 

multiplayer because it emphasises 

strategy over twitch skills. Where my FPS 

skills would best be described as average, 

Brotherhood is an avenue for me to 

(attempt to) employ cunning and stealth 

instead of twitch gameplay. Would you 

agree, Ken 

KL: The emphasis on strategy is 

definitely a high point for me. There is 

huge benefit to planning the perfect kill, 

and the game actively rewards that. I 

mean, I could choose to run wildly over 

roofs stabbing every target I get. But the 

meagre points awarded for those kills 

reflect the lack of thought and decision 

put into them. I can get far more points 


JANUARY 2011

ASSASSIN’S 

CREED 

BROTHERHOOD 

Developer Ubisoft Montreal 

Publisher Ubisoft 

Platform 360 / PS3 / PC 

Genre Action/Adventure 


You 

feel totally 

in sync 

with what’s 

going on and 

totally like 

the badass 

assassin 

the game 

wants you 

to feel like. 

if I take my time, approach my 

prey stealthily, and walk away 

calmly after sliding a knife 

into their backs. The rewards 

for that one quality kill greatly 

outweighs quantity. 

Your references to standard 

multiplayer games are right 

on the money. After several 

rounds into AC:B, those other 

multiplayer games almost feel 

somehow base and vulgar. The 

deliberate nature of AC:B, and 

the precision it requires make 

each session feel a little posh 

and gentlemanly. 

Another thing that I like very 

much is how the game prompts 

a sense of urgency into each 

kill, making the game move 

along at a quick pace. Despite 

being encouraged to plan each 

kill, the window of opportunity 

is constantly growing smaller 

as my prey gains more 

pursuers. As such, I can never 

just hang back and hope to 

get the one perfect kill to win 

the game, lest my target gets 

poached by others. 

MP: We should probably 

touch on some negatives 

as well. For one thing, the 

matchmaking leaves a lot to be 

desired. Though patches have 

improved things, getting into 

a match can be a frustrating 

affair. If it emerges that in 

a few months time nobody 

is playing Brotherhood’s 

multiplayer anymore, it won’t 

be because the multiplayer 

wasn’t good – it will be 

because too many people 

were turned away by the slow, 

broken matchmaking. 

Another thing that became 

apparent to me the more I 

played was how much luck 

plays a role in Brotherhood. 

Ten minute rounds would 

pass by with nary a kill on 

the scoreboard, but then 

everything turns to gold. 

Targets run straight towards 

your waiting blade. Your hunter 

gives themselves away and 

you net yourself some tidy stun 

bonuses. The points seem to 

rack up without even trying. 

You feel totally in sync with 

what’s going on and totally 

like the badass assassin the 

game wants you to feel like. 

Does it even out in the end 

Probably. Just don’t feel too 

bad if nothing’s going right. 

A lethal killing machine one 


-zine 


23


moment, guy wearing a dunce cap 

and running with knives the next – 

it’s the assassin way. 

Ken, Ubisoft have already said 

there’s going to be another full blown 

Assassin’s Creed title by the end of 

2011, and it’s likely that multiplayer 

will be a part of that game. What 

improvements would you like to see 

KL: Getting the matchmaking 

working would be great, of course. 

Like you, I spend as much time 

waiting for a game to start as I do 

playing it. I’d like more variety in 

maps and level design. I’d like to see 

more open maps, with multiple height 

levels. At the moment, the maps tend 

to closed in, and don’t have much 

verticality. The controls are identical 

to the single-player, so the camera 

and mobility are merely serviceable. 

If any changes to the map are to 

be made, the controls will need to 

be modified accordingly to allow for 

quicker tracking and chasing of prey. 

I’d also love to see less emphasis 

on character levelling. While levelling in 

Brotherhood hasn’t been too tedious, 

it is compounded by the difficulty of 

getting into a game in the first place. 

Plus, there are a few perks that have 

a substantial effect on gameplay 

that are awarded at widely differing 

levels. Getting a better balance 

between the levels and its associated 

rewards will help to keep dedicated 

gamers engaged while still remaining 

accessible to more casual players. 

Brotherhood has offered quite an 

innovative and refreshing take on 

multiplayer, and I hope that it’ll keep 

its unique identity. For a game in which 

I originally dismissed the potential of 

multiplayer, I’m now really eager to see 

what else it’ll offer in the future. 

KEN LEE | MICHAEL PINCOTT 

Five Ways To Not Suck At 

Brotherhood Multiplayer 

1Kill With Style: The points you earn 

comes down to the quality of your 

kills. You can go for the cheap and nasty 

kills that net you 100 or 150 points, 

or you can be patient and pick up 

anywhere from 400 to over 1000 points. 

Sometimes a messy kill is the best 

option if your target is being difficult 

and you just want to move onto the next 

contract, but where possible, it’s worth 

that bit of extra patience and time to 

pick up those Incognito bonuses. 

2Watch Your Back: It’s bloody 

difficult to track your target 

and evade your hunter at the 

same time, and basically 

impossible when you have 

multiple assassins on 

your case. Still, it’s 

wise to play defensively 

when you can. Escape 

and Stun bonuses are 

a good source of extra 

points. Hunters who give 

themselves away will be 

marked with a red icon 

above their heads. It’s a 

risky move to take them 

head on, but a well timed 

Mute or Smoke Bomb will 

give you the upper hand. 

3Time Is Of The 

Essence: You’ll 

always be on a timer in 

Brotherhood multiplayer, 

no matter the mode. Your target may 

well be on the opposite side of the 

map to you, so the subtle and stealthy 

approach isn’t exactly efficient. At the 

same time, running will make you a 

dead giveaway to anyone hunting you. 

The rooftops are quick, but they will 

leave you exposed. Pay attention to the 

hunter markers - if none are lit up, you 

can run around as much as you like (as 

long as you’re not spooking your target). 

4Know Your Loadouts: You can have 

up to five profiles with different 

loadouts. It’s helpful to customise 

these according to what mode you’re 

playing. Manhunt, for example, is 

split into a hunter stage and 

a prey stage - defensive 

abilities aren’t much use 

when you have nobody after 

you, and vice versa. 

5Play Manhunt: Of 

the three modes, 

Manhunt by far yields the 

most XP, for the simple 

reason that instead 

of chasing one target 

at a time as you do 

in Wanted, or two in 

Alliance, there can be 

up to four targets waiting for 

your blade. More targets 

means more chance of 

getting a kill, and more kills 

means more XP. 


JANUARY 2011

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 

PROFESSOR PIXEL 

We keep him well supplied in cocaine, virgins and donuts and in exchange Professor Pixel answers your most fiendish 

gaming questions. Got a question for Professor Pixel Fire it off to professorpixel@pixelhunt.com.au 

Dear Professor 

Q Most sequels have 

numbers in them, but some 

sequels have subtitles instead. 

Why do you think this is 

Regards, Percy The Second 

AProfessor Pixel 

Well Percy, this is a 

handy trick for when you 

want to pretend your game 

isn’t a sequel when it 

really is. For some reason, 

developers start to get a 

bit embarrassed when the 

numbers get too large, so 

they throw in a subtitle 

instead. See such titles as 

Fallout: New Vegas (Fallout 

5), Assassin’s Creed: 

Brotherhood (Assassin’s 

Creed 6) and Call Of Duty: 

Black Ops (Call Of Duty 7). I 

just don’t understand why 

they wouldn’t want to boast 

about how efficiently their 

prolific sequel machine is 

operating. Don’t they know 

that the ladies love the big 

numbers Why isn’t Guitar 

Hero: Warriors of Rock given 

its rightful title of Guitar 

Hero 12 The only series 

brave enough to show off 

its double digits has been 

Final Fantasy, but they’re 

holding back more than 

anyone - if you counted the 

spinoffs and remakes they’d 

be well into the hundreds. 

I’d like to see developers 

and publishers embrace the 

fact that they shamelessly 

churn out sequels to games 

every other day. I won’t be 

satisfied until I see Halo 21 

and Need For Speed 34 on 

the shelves. 

caLL OF DUTY 7 

Would this have been that bad 

QHey Professor P! 

What’s with these 

hardass dudes who can rip 

fools in two and eat them 

for breakfast but turn to jelly 

when it comes to walking 

across a wooden beam 

Kratos from God of War, 

Gabriel from Castlevania and 

the Prince of Persia all can 

run, jump, climb, swim and 

fight like it’s nothing, but 

whoooooaaa, it’s a wooden 

beam, I’m gonna fall, I better 

wobble about like a big girl, 

oh no I fell, better pull myself 

back up so I can act like a 

bitch some more. When will 

we get an action hero who 

can cross wooden beams 

without wetting themselves 

in the process 

Angry John 

AProfessor Pixel 

Thanks for your query, 

Angry John. I’ve never tried 

walking across a narrow 

plank of wood before so I 

can’t personally attest as to 

the difficulty of such a task. 

But I do acknowledge your 

point – the wooden beam 

seems to be of tremendous 

difficulty to the gaming 

heroes we so respect and 

adore. Perhaps they have 

inner-ear deficiencies 

Perhaps they wear narrow 

shoes Perhaps upon looking 

down they’ve noticed a stain 

on their outfit, distressing 

them to the point of losing 

their balance It’s hard to 

pinpoint the exact nature 

of their problem, but 

might I humbly suggest to 

video game villains of the 

future that they construct 

their lairs and dungeons 

entirely out of wooden 

beams, hoisted high above 

some fiery and unpleasant 

doom. The poor darlings 

won’t even make it to the 

front door. 

Gabriel 

castlevania 


-zine 


25

ON THE HUNT 

WHAT 

WE’RE 

PLAYING 

Believe it or 

not, the Pixel 

Hunt staff 

actually play 

some video 

games now and 

then. Here’s 

what has 

tickled their 

fancies of late. 

KEN LEE 

Dance 

Central 

I got the Kinect as a 

birthday present from 

my wife, and getting 

my dance on seemed 

the most natural and 

obvious thing to do. 

Dance Central is really 

quite impressive. There’s 

a huge list of songs, and 

a huge variety of dance 

moves to emulate. And 

the game’s Break It 

Down tutorials are very 

effective in teaching 

those moves to a 

beginning player. It’s not 

quite a killer app, but it’s 

a must-have if you’ve got 

a Kinect. 

JAHANZEB KHAN 

Final Fantasy 

XIII 

(International Edition) 

This is pretty much Final 

Fantasy XIII with an 

Easy difficulty option. 

I’m glad Square-Enix 

finally decided to release 

FFXIII for the Japanese 

Xbox 360 because 

after spending 15 

hours with it, I realise 

that this is truly the 

next-generation RPG I 

dreamed about back 

when the term ‘next-gen’ 

was still hip and the 

PlayStation 2’s Emotion 

Engine was considered 

to be godly. 

MICHAEL PINCOTT 

Donkey Kong 

Country 

Returns 

I’ve been super 

impressed by this game. 

It looks great, plays 

smooth as butter and 

sports some fantastic 

level design. It feels 

as though developers 

Retro Studios paid a lot 

of attention to Super 

Mario Galaxy in terms 

of constantly throwing 

fun, new things at the 

player. Even the motion 

controls, which have 

caused some people to 

gripe, work quite well. 

ANNIKA HOWELLS 

Assassin’s 

Creed: 

Brotherhood 

I was addicted to 

Assassin’s Creed II, and 

this one is pretty much 

exactly the same, so 

why am I not enjoying 

it Maybe it’s because 

it’s exactly the same. I’m 

looking at a massive map 

of icons, but instead of 

fun opportunities all I 

can see are chores to 

be repeated; complete 

special platform puzzle 

areas and find hidden 

hieroglyphs. Didn’t I 

already do all of this 

only a year ago Screw 

this, I’m going back to 

Minecraft. 

JAMES O’CONNOR 

999: 9 

Hours, 9 

Persons, 9 

Doors 

Easy puzzles, awful 

writing, hammy dialogue, 

messy cliches and 

enormous logic leaps all 

combine to create....a 

surprisingly compelling 

and enjoyable game, 

actually. The overarching 

ideas and story are good 

enough to elevate what 

should have been a bit 

of a mess into a real 

‘take it to the toilet with 

you because you don’t 

want to put it down’ DS 

affair. 


JANUARY 2011

ON THE HUNT 

PATRICK LANG 

Deadly 

Premonition 

(Import) 

An open world actionadventure 

thriller that 

appears to have escaped 

from the brain of David 

Lynch. PS2-era graphics, 

awful controls, yet 

utterly, utterly brilliant in 

its oddness. 

DYLAN BURNS 

Everything 

A lot of catch up. I’ve 

spent my holidays going 

back to BioShock 2, 

Dragon Age, The Witcher, 

Dante’s Inferno, Nier 

and heaps more. I’m 

loving Bad Company 2: 

Vietnam and I still have 

the urge to swan dive 

back into Assassin’s 

Creed: Brotherhood 

and get those last 

few secrets. But more 

than anything I’m just 

enjoying this small 

period of game release 

silence, a reprieve from 

the weekly avalanche of 

truly great games. 2011 

looks like it will be just 

as crazy, so get ready! 

ALEX WALKER 

World Of 

Warcraft: 

Cataclysm 

So far, I’ve enjoyed 

spending the last week 

exploring the changes 

that Deathwing has 

wreaked upon Azeroth. 

My first encounter with 

Armageddon involved 

me dying from his 

burning fury while selling 

items to a vendor inside 

a building. I enjoyed the 

surprise, but hopefully 

Blizzard won’t overuse 

their new trump card. 

BRENDAN KEOGH 

Just Cause 2 

I’m a bit late to the party, 

I know, but this game 

is incredible! It’s one of 

those rare games where 

you think “I wonder if 

I can do this...” and 9 

out of 10 times, you 

can! When I used my 

grappling hook to tie 

that first speeding jeep 

to the road and made it 

forward-flip and explode, 

I knew I would be playing 

this game for some time. 

TIM HENDERSON 

Darksiders 

I’m playing the PS3 

version, despite how 

insanely cheap this was 

in the Christmas Steam 

sales. It’s the sort of 

game that should be 

played on a larger TV 

while reclined on a sofa, 

even if it feels a bit flat in 

the visual department. 

That bit that rips off 

Shadow of the Colossus 

is awesome. Shameless, 

but awesome. 

AARON SAMMUT 

NBA 2K11 

I can not put this game 

down. After completing 

the amazing Michael 

Jordan career highlights 

mode, which you can 

play out the most lauded 

of his Airness’ defining 

moments on the court. 

I have moved on and 

started creating my own 

legacy: Aaron Sammut 

is a 5”8”, 220 pound 

shooting guard with a 

field goal average of 15% 

and is currently hired 

by the Orlando Magic to 

warm a seat for Dwight 

Howard. 


-zine 


27

creative 

Charlie Loses His Cool 

(An Alan Wake Story) 

I 

’d been lots of places to chase women over the 

years, but none of them had been quite like 

Bright Falls. Leaving the sunshine for something 

approaching the Canadian border was bad 

enough, but this place seemed to have escaped 

wholesale from a David Lynch movie, with people 

to match. Except for Rose, of course, who was 

responsible for bringing me to this shit heap in the 

first place. I got a letter from her one day – she’d 

read one of my books (one of the better ones) and 

wanted to meet me. “I’m your biggest fan,” the 

letter had read. “I know people say that all the 

time, but I really am!” 

Also enclosed was a Polaroid that I can’t 

adequately describe without breaking several of 

this hick state’s ‘decency’ laws. Needless to say, 


JANUARY 2011

it was enough to make me fling a hip 

flask into the car and coax it onto 

the highway. I hadn’t realised how 

long the trip was (a tip for anyone 

wanting to Kerouac across America: 

don’t) and I fell asleep at the wheel 

10 minutes out of town, hitting a 

goddamn deer in the process. 

I was quite a sight when I finally got 

to Bright Falls, bloody from a cut on 

my forehead, stinking of booze and 

slightly embarrassed that I’d killed 

the town’s favourite animal with a 

Volkswagen. It didn’t matter to Rose 

though, who took me back to her 

weird trailer-home-thing, bathed my 

cuts, found a fifth of whiskey and then 

bedded me like a wild animal. This girl 

was hot for writers, and I was suddenly 

seeing the appeal of being able to 

string a sentence together. 

The next morning she said I could 

go with her to work – after all, there 

was precious little else to do unless 

you wanted to join in the communal 

anticipation for the upcoming Deer 

Festival (I really, really didn’t). So I 

tagged along. The place was called 

(seriously) the Oh Deer Diner, and 

it didn’t belong in this or any other 

century. Still, it kept the autumn chill 

out, so I installed myself in a corner 

while Rose kept cups of thick, hot 

coffee coming my way, which I would 

generously top up with my hip flask. 

The people in the joint had to be 

seen to be believed. Two gnarled old 

metal heads sat in a corner, lording 

it over the jukebox, which they 

insisted on using to play Nilsson’s 

‘Coconut’ over and over again. 

Hmph, I thought, suits my mood 

– I do feel like going a bit Reservoir 

Dogs on the whole damn town. 

Every once in a while one of the 

hick locals would drop in to get their 

morning coffee and poke their nose 

around. Every single one of them 

fixed me with a look of distaste, and 

why shouldn’t they I had come up 

from less than nothing and made 

a living out of arranging words on 

paper, of course they hated me. Still, 

it was starting to feel a little too 

Deliverance meets Stephen King for 

my liking. 

The diner had only three other 

occupants. One was a local landlord, 

Carl Stucky, a world-class small-town 

asshole in a boiler suit who had 

thankfully hidden himself in the john 

for the better part of the morning. 

The second was a vacuous looking 

cop in a sheriff outfit who was clearly 

a parody of himself. The other made 

my blood boil – a cardboard cut-out 

of that sycophantic loser Alan Wake. 

A bigger, wealthier writer than I’d ever 

be, and a complete fuckwit to top it all 

off. I’d quizzed Rose about the cut-out 

when we came in, but she professed 

ignorance, claiming she’d never seen 

it before. A claim, I noticed, which 

made even the burnt out derelicts in 

the corner roll their eyes. 

Something was very fucking rotten 

in Bright Falls. 

I was busily topping up my 

coffee cup when one of those huge, 

ridiculous four wheel drives pulled 

up outside. You know the kind; urban 

Holy shit. It was Alan Wake – the real Alan 

Wake - and he was coming in the door. 

assault vehicles driven by edgy 

housewives on their third drink of the 

day. Someone emerged. I squinted 

through my mildly drunken haze. 

Holy shit. It was Alan Wake – the 

real Alan Wake - and he was coming 

in the door. 

I grabbed my coffee and quickly 

(though somewhat haphazardly) dove 

into the kitchen. I had no intention of 

encountering Alan goddamn Wake, 

and I didn’t trust myself not to land 

a punch (and no doubt an assault 

and battery charge) if I did. He was 

talking to Rose, mooching around 

with that ‘I’m such a tortured artist’ 

look on his face. Millions of dollars 

will do that to you. 

I couldn’t make out what he was 

saying, but I sure heard what Rose 

said to him. 

“Mr. Wake” she enthused. “Alan 

Wake Oh God! I am your biggest 

fan! I know people say that all the 

time, but I really am!” 

Bitch. 

I didn’t stick around to hear the 

rest of their discourse. Instead, I 

acted like the adult male that I am 

and snuck out through the back of 

the kitchen. I ended up in the rear of 

the diner, near the john. It was dark, 

and all the fuses seemed to have 

gone. A hand touched me on the 

wrist. I jumped in the air, dropping 

my hip flask in the process. Looking 

around I saw a creepy old woman, 

dressed in black with a veil on. 

Christ, I thought, if this is what Deer 

Fest is going to be like I’m glad to be 

getting out of town. 

“Jesus Christ, lady!” I exclaimed. 

“Just what the fu-“ 

“Carl couldn’t make it,” she 

interrupted, “he was taken ill-“ 

“Listen,” I said forcefully, “I don’t 

know who you are or what horror 

movie you escaped from, but you 

better back off.” 

She merged back into the 

shadows. I found the door and got 

the hell out of Bright Falls. 

Patrick Lang 


-zine 


29

OPINION 

BATTLEFIELD: 

BAD COMPANY 2 

Bar 

Fight 

KEN LEE on why 

multiplayer levelling 

unlevels the playing field. 

There’s a trend in online 

multiplayer games that I’m 

gradually getting tired of. I’m not 

sure how much longer I can deal with 

games that have persistent character 

progression and levelling. I’m not 

talking about MMOs, but rather 

games in the same vein as Call of 

Duty: Modern Warfare. 

When Modern Warfare was 

released in 2007, it felt like a breath 

of fresh air. It depicted war in a 

modern era. There were locales that 

mirrored current real-world places, 

and you could use current weapons. 

But the persistent character 

levelling in multiplayer was one of the 

most innovative things that Modern 

Warfare accomplished. It was one 

of the first games that combined 

an online shooter with character 

progression in an accessible manner. 

You could jump in any selection of 

game modes, and earn experience 

towards unlocking better weapons, 

gear and perks. 

There was nothing like this 

before. I was excited about this 

brand new way to play. Suddenly, all 

those deathmatch sessions meant 

something. There was something to 

achieve, something to strive for. It 

wasn’t just about your score or kill/ 

death ratio in inconsequential games 

that were forgotten once the timer 

ran out. You worked and earned 

your way upwards, and you had the 

trophies to prove your veteran status. 

But every innovative idea 

eventually gets co-opted by everyone 

else, regurgitating it over and over 

until it dies a million deaths. Or so it 

felt to me, when other games started 

to incorporate persistent character 

progression into their online 

multiplayer components. Games 

such as Medal of Honor, Battlefield: 

Bad Company 2, Transformers: War 

For Cybertron and Assassin’s Creed: 

Brotherhood all copied the Modern 

Warfare model. 

This trend of character 

progression normally wouldn’t be 

a problem. I’ve taken my fair share 

of enjoyment out of these games. 

I’ve spoken at length previously 

about the number of hours I’ve 

sunk into Battlefield: Bad Company 

2. I can also understand why game 

companies implement such features. 

The second-hand game market is one 

that publishers and developers never 

directly benefit from. Encouraging 

gamers to not only buy first-hand, 

and hold onto those games is in the 

best interests of the developers. 

But it does mean that each game 

demands a huge time investment 


JANUARY 2011

ASSASSIN’S CREED 

BROTHERHOOD 

MEDAL OF 

HONOR 

from gamers. It requires a loyalty that 

I believe many gamers won’t be able 

to commit to a single game. Sure, 

there are people who only play one 

game religiously. But for someone 

who loves all manner of games, 

there’s just no way that I’d be able to 

put that amount of time into a single 

game. I’ve spent close to 40 hours in 

Bad Company 2, and I’m only at Level 

22 (it goes up to 50). I’m an average 

gamer with average skills, and it’s 

likely to take me at least another 40 

hours before I get to the end. I’m at 

level 17 in Modern Warfare, and level 

7 in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. 

How many more hours do I need 

But what I find most frustrating 

is how these games commonly lock 

better weapons and gear until you 

hit the higher levels. I know these 

weapons are an incentive to stick with 

the game. It can be very rewarding 

to finally get that high-powered rifle 

after hours of sweat and toil. But the 

fact that the weapon was locked away 

means that people who are either 

jumping in brand new, or don’t have 

the time to commit those hours are 

penalised. I only just unlocked the 

smoke bombs on AC:Brotherhood, 

which substantially changes the game. 

It’ll be a long while before I can gain 

access to the second ability slot (level 

10), the throwing knives (level 19) 

and the poison blade (level 29). While 

most games try to maintain a balance 

between the higher and lower level 

unlocks, some games are woefully 

unbalanced. In Front Mission: Evolved, 

the higher level weapons grossly 

overpower the weapons you start 

with; some guns deal more damage 

in a single shot than I could with a full 

clip of ammunition. Needless to say, I 

didn’t stick with that game for long. 

I don’t have anything against 

persistent character levelling and 

progression. I understand the appeal, 

and I enjoy it myself most of the time. 

There have been a number of games 

that I’m willing to throw away hours 

I’ve spent close 

to 40 hours in Bad 

Company 2, and I’m 

only at Level 22... 

for. But with so many games now 

incorporating this same mechanic 

into their multiplayer, I’ll never be able 

to get round to ‘completing’ those 

games. I just don’t have the time or 

dedication. But most frustrating is that 

some of that content will be locked 

away from me forever. Ultimately, 

these games require a lot of loyalty 

and commitment, but when you’re 

somewhat of a gaming slut, it doesn’t 

feel good to miss out. 

KEN LEE 


-zine 


31

OPINION 

Make It Stop! 

DYLAN BURNS on the seemingly endless barrage of 

game releases. 

Even before going through a fairly 

comprehensive Wikipedia list of all 

the major game releases of the last ten 

years for one of our PixelCasts, I’d had 

in mind a rant on the subject of how 

many games are getting released each 

year. Perusing the list for 2001 through 

to 2004 or so didn’t take that long, but 

as I kept going, it was taking longer to 

process each year, with more and more 

great titles jumping out at me. 

By the time you read this, our 

debate will have already taken place 

on the podcast. I hope it was fun to 

listen to. I’ll leave my personal picks 

out of this and concentrate on the 

main topic of release volume. Actually, 

‘release volume’ sounds pretty 

dodgy… how about ‘game flood’ or 

‘title torrent’ You know what I mean, 

right The sheer amount of games 

that are getting released across 

all platforms is just crazy. So crazy 

that it’s actually getting stressful to 

try and keep up. You think being a 

games reviewer is fun when you’ve 

got multiple reviews due of multiple 

awesome games, each of which you’d 

rather take a long time to play Okay, 

it is still cool, but as far as first world 

problems go it’s right up there. 

I’m sitting here in a lovely holiday 

period of the New Year and my catch-up 

list extends back into 2009. In fact, I’m 

probably just going to have to write off 

some of the larger titles and reconnect 

with their impending sequels. 

Obviously, making more games 

makes sense. It’s a growing industry 

and there are big bucks to be made 

if you are a publisher of consistent 

quality. It’s strange that I would 

complain about there being too many 

good games, but as I look over 2011’s 

upcoming releases I just know that it’s 

going to be as bad this year as it was 

in 2010. Games are getting deeper, 

longer, more complicated and their 

tails stretch out vastly thanks to the 

implementation of steady streams of 

DLC content. My personal problem is 

that as soon as I finish a game, its first 

batch of DLC is already in my face. I’d 

much prefer a break, to move on to 

another game or three, but something 

within me feels compelled to continue 

the adventure if I really enjoyed the 

base game. 


JANUARY 2011

When I say that games are getting 

longer, I mean in an investment sense. 

We are faced less often with epic 60 

hour adventures, but there is still an 

8-10 hour expectance from full priced 

games. Add to that the time-sink 

possibilities of a well-implemented 

multiplayer mode and stand alone games 

have the potential to occupy you for 

weeks or even months at a time. 

But of course, we live in an age where 

nearly every week brings at least one 

new title, and for the most part they’re 

all worth getting. I know last year I was 

getting games and not even playing 

them. Or buying two or three games on 

a Thursday and having to choose which 

one to play first. It’s both awesome and 

crazy at the same time and my poor 

brain just can’t deal with it. 

Which brings me to my 2011 gaming 

resolution: to try and be more picky/ 

selective with the games that I play, 

and to try and push down those anxious 

feelings as titles slip by without being 

experienced. With hundreds of games 

clamouring for our attention, I only have 

time to enjoy the cream at the top. 

This will, of course, mean that I miss 

many very good games, but come the 

end of 2011 I’ll no doubt have a list in 

my mind of titles that I’d like to track 

down at a bargain price. Steam also 

seems to be turning its Christmas sales 

into a regular thing, so I’m sure I’ll pick 

up some savings there. 

There are rumblings in the industry 

about slowing down and releasing fewer 

titles. Late last year EA said as much, 

hinting that they may plan to reduce 

their yearly output but still concentrate 

on quality. Surely the flood of games 

must be impacting on sales; it may be a 

booming industry but even so, the main 

consumers who regularly buy games can 

only spend so much on it. The Guitar 

Hero series, once a billion dollar open 

cheque, has fizzled, a result of market 

saturation. 

With hundreds of 

games clamouring for 

our attention, I only have 

time to enjoy the cream 

at the top. 

I have no illusions as to my effect on 

the industry. Too many games will continue 

to get released around me, but perhaps if 

we all band together and start being more 

selective, that activity will show up as a blip 

on publishers’ mega-secret, sale-tracking 

underground lair computers. I’m going to 

do my best to stick to my resolution. I’ll 

let you know how I go. 

DYLAN BURNS 


-zine 


33

Issue 14 – Coming 

MARCH 2011 

IN THE NEXT ISSUE 

GDC: Game 

Developers 

Conference 

SO UNTIL THEN 

KEEP UP THE HUNT

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