Straight Up Gaming Interviews: Bungie's Dan Miller

Straight Up Gaming (S.U.G) : Hi Dan, Please share with the group your name and position at Bungie, not necessarily in that order. I'm all about choices…

Dan Miller: Hey there, I'm Dan Miller, I'm a mission designer at Bungie. A mission designer basically focuses on the gameplay aspect of a level, starting from paper/whiteboard concepts to scripting AI, placing game objects and bug fixing.

It's my job to work with art, engineering, sound, effects and QA and bring them together to make a level that fits an overall story arc, has a gameplay flow, makes sense and most importantly is fun to play.

S.U.G : What aspect of mission designing are you the most passionate about? Where do you see your role in game development evolving too in the future?

Dan Miller: I've been in the industry for over seven years now. Five of those years have been in design. My role hasn't changed too much over that time. I've never been much of an artist, and my brain isn't fully set-up for programming. I'm most passionate about the overall scope of a game and can see myself moving into a producer or lead role someday. I've found that my interest lies much more with the 'macro' of a project. For the moment, I'm very happy where I'm at though.

S.U.G : Here at S.U.G we feel that co-op implementation into the single player component, especially via the internet, is an extremely important feature in the future of gaming. How important is co-op gaming to you, as well as to the development community?

Dan Miller: I love co-op- it's one of the most enjoyable ways to play a game. It's also part of the reason why I took the gig at Bungie. With Halo at least, they've brought co-op into the spotlight and I feel are mostly responsible for it's increasing acceptance. I loved playing System Shock 2 co-op. I also have very fond memories playing Contra 3: The Alien Wars and Secret of Mana with my brother in co-op mode. There is something irresistible about working together as a team to take down a common opponent.

S.U.G : We've noticed a trend of first party Microsoft titles supporting co-op via Xbox Live, do you believe this is intentional?

Dan Miller: Co-op isn't easy to implement from a technical or a game design perspective. Most games with co-op are built from the ground up with this in mind. It costs a lot of money to implement the feature in a polished manner. I just hope that the trend continues.

S.U.G : Xbox Live marketplace has pioneered additional content via the web, does this option change or enrich your role as a Mission Designer? What opportunity does it provide from your end of the spectrum?

Dan Miller: I really like the way the guys at Ubisoft provided additional co-op scenarios for Ghost Recon- unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to playing with these yet. Maybe if I get some time soon I'll take the plunge. I'm pretty busy right now though!

S.U.G: With increasing developmental costs coupled with the push for even more interactivity within the game environments, has this added any additional complexity to your position?

Dan Miller: Game scripting has definitely increased its complexity, but in terms of design, the increased interactivity in the environments really hasn't affected me as much as it has affected art and engineering. Maybe I'm just fortunate that I have an awesome set of tools that allows me to implement and iterate faster than I used to.

S.U.G: Describe your favorite Halo or Halo 2 moment. If possible tie in the word bacon.

Dan MIller: Playing co-op with a friend for the first time in Halo 2 was incredibly fun. I've never laughed and yelled so much playing a game in my life. My current project is better than bacon.

S.U.G:Thanks for your time Dan!

New Team Fortress 2 Trailer

Hahahaha! You MUST watch this! Greatness...

Straight Up Podcasting!

Check out our very first podcast! We are still tweaking thing's so stay tuned next week for our next edition!

Host: Ian White
Sound Editor: Nick Murphy

John Madden Knows Where You Live!

Gamerswithjobs has a very interesting article up concerning EA's EULA policy for using their games over Xbox Live, check it out:

If you sign up to play EA games through Microsoft’s Xbox Live Service, Microsoft will provide your Xbox Live user account information to EA so that we can establish an EA Online account for you. You need an EA Online account to play EA’s Xbox Live titles. By signing up to play EA's Xbox Live titles, you agree that Microsoft can transfer your user account information to EA.

Information collected will vary depending upon the activity and may include your name, e-mail address, phone number, mobile number, home address, birth date and credit card information. In addition, we may collect demographic information such as gender, zip code, information about your computer, hardware, software, platform, media, Internet IP address and connection, information about online activity such as feature usage, game play statistics and scores, user rankings and click paths and other data that you may provide in surveys or online profiles, for instance. We may combine demographic information with personal information.

Enjoy Madden 07!!!

The Future of Xbox Live's Marketplace

1up has an interesting write up discussing the eventual evolution of the Xbox Live Marketplace. Although the article is littered with nuggets, many people have keyed in on the following statement:
Microsoft mentioned a new kind of microtransaction at the session, as well, which they are calling "consumables." These purchases would be re-purchasable items i.e. if a game was selling 100 gold pieces, you would be able to rebuy 100 gold pieces when you needed them. The "consumables" tech will be included in this fall's release of the SDK.

Another thing Microsoft intends to add to the Marketplace is the ability for vendors placed in videogames to allow gamers to buy from the Marketplace. Say, there is a vendor in an RPG selling a rare sword and that sword is available on the Marketplace, players will be able to put the sword in a checkout cart and then return to the Marketplace later to complete the download. For now, the in-game Marketplace will bring the Marketplace experience into the gameplay, but the transactions, for now, will still need to be completed on the Marketplace and not in-game.

Knee jerk reactions aside, as long as this type of content remains optional, I really can't balk at being presented with more choices. Let's not forget that although a hobby, gaming is still a very large business machine. In business, it's never made any sense to give away what people would gladly (in some cases) pay money for. Gamers tend to have the nasty habit of thinking they are somehow entitled to free additional content, this would be an incorrect assumption. Most business's do not operate that way at all, I'll use the Car industry as an example. Say you wan't to buy a new car, so you walk into the dealership and buy a standard economy car. There are additional features that you would really enjoy such as leather seats, a sun roof, perhaps a bigger spoiler. All of which are essentially enhancements to the car, not functionality additions. Each of these enhancements is assigned a value, the only question left to answer here is, how much is it worth to you?

I'm not dead...yet

Hola, sorry for the lack updates. First the bad news, I have an extremely hectic schedule this week and will be fairly tied up with real life stuff most of the week. The good news is, I've got some killer content lined up for you next week including an interview with one of all my favorite developers. Can you guess who?

Look for the interview to drop on Monday, as well as some scattered news posts throughout the remainder of this week.

Halo Director Interview

Check out this interesting, albiet short interview with Neil Blomkamp.

Quint: What's the overall tone you want to strike with the movie? Escapist, big budget action fun? Gritty, realistic future war? Neither? Both?

Neill Blomkamp: Well, I don’t want to give away exactly how I want to be, but, big budget action can certainly look very similar to 100 other films which are big budget action, so my goal is to make something that is honestly unique and a radical departure from stuff we are used to.

I’ve been given the resources and the source material to make something awesome, so I have to really invest myself 100% in a film that I love every frame of, and for me to love every frame means it has to have something that sets it apart.

Fans of the game should love this film, people who don’t know the game should be transported to a place that blows them away for two hours.

Official Playstation Magazine Editor Chooses 360

Contrary to popular belief, editors of the Official PlayStation Magazine don't get free hardware for their own personal use. So I've been having an ongoing debate with myself about the PS3 since E3. After Kaz announced that the price would be $600, I found my enthusiasm sagging.

It's not that I find the concept of a $600 console insulting. Inflation happens, and it's natural that eventually inital prices will be higher than they used to be. But when I know that a console's direct competitors cost two-thirds or half of that price, it becomes harder for me to justify shelling out that kind of money--especially when I can probably get the Wii and the 360 combined for the cost of a PS3.

$600 might be worth it if there were several huge titles on the near horizon that were PS3-exclusive. But for the first year at least, there are very few big titles that are PS3 exclusive. GTA4 and Assassins will be available for the 360 at the same time. And most of the big guns--FFXIII, MGS4--won't be hitting for quite some time after the launch.

More after the jump.

Dead Rising Woes

There are two major gripes out there, it makes one wonder just how in depth Microsoft's certification process really is.

1.) Evidently if you have a standard definition television, you will not be able to read any of the mission text in Dead Rising.

2.) Is Dead Rising killing Xbox 360's? My guess is no, everytime a new game comes out it supposedly contributes to the death of consoles. It's more likely a end product of an already dying machine, your shiny new game just happened to be an expensive nail in the coffin.

Weekly Wrap Up

So early word on dead rising has been a mixed affair with most of the complaints stemming from an uncompromising difficultly setting and some minor save issues. Pacman was released without much fanfare this week as well. What does everyone have planned for the weekend?

• New Turock Screens
• Jack Thompson is at it again
• Halo movie director is announced, and says the armor might change for the movie
• Rockstar's latest game, Bully, get's a trailer
• Interesting interview ith the developer of the game, Cell Factor
• New sabotage Screens

That's a wrap folks, Enjoy your weekend and don't forget to bookmark our RSS feed.

My 2 cents

I’m proud to introduce to you, a brand new reviewing system that will be put in place for future reviews. I believe this system will enable us to bring you the single most unbiased game reviews out there. The system consists of a team of four reviewers per game, although this might slowdown the pace at which we are able to process a review, we believe the system will allow for a more genuine and thorough review. Using these four reviewers, an open discussion will be presented initially in printed form, and eventually in time, we hope to provide them in podcast and or a video format. The review score will be based on the United States coinage system. Each reviewer will be able to assign the game any combination of U.S. coinage he desires, i.e. a penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter to make up a maximum of 25 cents per reviewer. Each individual reviewer will make up ¼ of the total review score, the highest review possible being a grand total of $1.00.

We believe this system will enable our reviews to remain fair, balanced, and ultimately more objective than other gaming websites. This system was born out of the extremely sad state of videogame reviews currently in circulation. Both in print as well as the online realm, reviews have become saturated with inflated reviews, unnecessary praise, and what I believe to be gross corruption. Year after year, games that merely receive a face lift are repeatedly billed as triple A quality material, though they are but mere copies of previous versions. On the opposite side of the spectrum, many reviews seek to address the own errors the writer made in his previous assessment of the game in the preview stage, which brings me to my next point.

The process in which videogames are previewed blurs the now virtually non-existent lines between marketing and journalism. The current system allows for very little realistic approaches to the content displayed. I do not personally believe that any game journalist should ever have to water down his initial impressions of a pre-released game to placate his audience. In doing so, he is effectively doing the job of a marketing professional, not the work of a videogame journalist. Marketing professionals have at their disposal a wide distribution network we of course know as, the internet. If they would like to release screenshots and trailers of their product, they can do so at any time without any assistance from videogame journalist. It is unnecessary to preview unfinished and unplayable work to journalists, allowing room for speculative articles covering how the game “might” work in the future, or what the gameplay mechanics the game “could” potentially achieve. It is deceptive and misleading to the customer, and ultimately it results in lost sales once the reader finds out he or she was lied too.

I believe game journalists have a responsibility to report accurately what they really see and hear, unfortunately this accuracy has been corrupted by the everlasting and almighty dollar. Feature covers of games that could never be anything but disastrous continue to grace the covers of our industries most prolific magazines and online media, while hidden gems of creativity dismally fade into the oblivion of apathy. Although many journalists and gamers alike loathe the bland repetition of content that exists in future releases, it is a cycle that journalists have helped create. It is a cycle, which I believe we can change. It is a cycle that we here at Straight Up gaming intend to help stop. If videogames are to truly to evolve to the next level, to become art, to become appreciated on a worldwide main stream scale; then I believe it is a cycle that we must end today, for tomorrow to truly come.

-Ian White

Halo Movie Director Announced!

I'm so happy I could cry, more after the jump;

Are you busy in the summer of 2008? Because someone, somewhere, is getting in line right now to buy a ticket to the motion picture adaptation of Halo®. This exciting project, which will be produced by geek gods and Academy Award® winners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh under their WingNut Films banner for Universal Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox, has finally announced a director.

The Halo motion picture will be helmed by Neill Blomkamp, making his feature film debut. Blomkamp is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and original artists currently working in short films and commercial advertising. Halo will be distributed domestically by Universal and internationally by Fox. Visual effects, miniatures, and creature design and creation will all be handled by Jackson's award-winning Weta Digital Ltd. and Weta Workshop, Ltd., most recently known for their Oscar-worthy work on The Lord of the Rings films.

A native of South Africa, Blomkamp directed the acclaimed 2005 short film, Alive in Joburg, that depicted a future in which extraterrestrials have become refugees. Last year, Blomkamp also received three Clio Awards and a Visual Effects Society Award for his television commercial Citroen-Alive with Technology. In 2004, Blomkamp was recognized as "One of the Top Five Directors to Watch" at the First Boards Awards and was a featured artist at the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at Cannes. He has also been nominated for an Emmy award for his work on an episode of James Cameron's Dark Angel.

Yet Another Cliffy B Interview

This one has a bit more meat to it, plus the interview is conducted by his brother. Check it out, here.

Gearheads: How much focus are you putting on the multiplayer portion of the game versus the single player campaign?

Cliff: I'd say our resources are split at roughly 70-30 on single player versus multiplayer. That doesn't mean versus is not a priority for us, it just means that we're building this enormous rollercoaster ride of a cinematic single player experience which requires a lot of hands on and polish!

Gearheads: Does the statistics that reveal 60 percent of the people on 360 are on XBL influence your decision-making process on that at all?

Cliff: People come for the single player and stay for the multiplayer and co-op. It's as simple as that and a similar thing could be said about graphics. They come for the graphics but they stay for the gameplay.

Gearheads: Epic is well known for its multiplayer online gaming, can we expect any innovations in Gears when it comes to multiplayer?

Cliff: I believe that our cover system, pacing of the combat, arsenal and Active Reload really add up to make something that feels familiar... yet completely unique. We just had a gaggle of press in NYC beating on the latest version of the multiplayer and they were having a blast. This was in the rainy versus map which takes place in and around an old, decrepit mansion... the wind is blowing the trees around, you can see the mist of the rain around the lamps, the sheen of the water on the cobblestone. When you go inside you're almost more vulnerable as the interior is filled with destroyable cover...sofas, drawers, chairs all explode in a splintery mess underneath a hail of bullets. It's good fun!

Xbox Live Arcade Release List Update

Here's what you can expect in the coming months, thanks Joystiq:

• Aug. 16: Texas Hold ‘em
• Aug. 23: Time Pilot
• Aug. 30: Scramble
• Sept 6: Lumines Live!

PS3 to be PS2 and PS1 Backwards Compatible

This is a very good move on Sony's part. One of my many irks with backwards compatibility on the 360 is the fact that I could not take my save games with me. Yeah, I really am not in the mood to replay all of Halo 2 or Ninja Gaiden.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night coming to Xbox Live Arcade

1up has the gritty details.

Splinter Cell Double Agent gets a Release Date

According to this post by one of the frag dolls, the next Splinter Cell will be released on October 19th, 2006. Heck Yes folks...heck yes.

Dead Rising Demo Impressions

Shawn over at Gaming Next has some great impressions of the demo for Dead Rising, available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Check it out here.

Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting Review

I’m pretty sure I’ve single-handedly funded a few of Capcom’s founding father’s children through college. I along with the rest of the world dropped way too many quarters into Street Fighter II when it debuted in arcades. For my close circle of friends, it replaced the coin toss, choosing instead to duke it out as martial arts god’s for the timeless argument of who would win in a fight of Mario versus sonic the hedgehog. Although the game was delayed multiple times, the fervor pitch surrounding it’s release could not have been louder as the game has already sold a staggering amount out of the gate. The question that begs to be asked of course is whether or not the game still has any fight left in it?

Street Fighter’s strong point has always been it’s multiplayer component, and this trend continues with the Xbox Live Arcade version of Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting (SFII: HF). Versus friends online, my experience has been rock solid net code while in game with a few connection issues when re-connecting to the lobby. It seems the host needs a very big pipe to host this game, otherwise thing’s can take a nose dive and people will get dropped from the game. I host on a FIOS connection and thus far, I’ve not experienced most of these problems when hosting the game myself. I’ve only encountered it when playing on other people’s connection.

As far as game play is concerned, it’s really the same great game it always has been with no glaring omissions if any. The cries of cheapness are back with the same intensity as before, but really that only makes defeating certain characters all the more worthwhile. Although the game does carry a stark contrast between novices and pro’s as this is not a particularly newbie friendly game. Don’t expect to hand out any serious punishment until each characters move set is crisply ingrained in your mind. Despite the learning curve, most players should adept quite easily.

The single player affair suffers from an extremely aggressive AI that takes counters flawlessly every move you attempt to throw. Whenever I win I never feel like I deserved too, instead I either got lucky or spammed a cheap move to death. It’s really the opposite of fun and only serves a minor distraction to the multiplayer component.

This port is a faithful adaptation of a wonderful classic, easily worth the $10 entry fee. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed throwing fireballs at my friends. Hadouken!!!

Two Thumbs Straight Up!

Monday Happenings

I'm back! That was an exciting trip to Austin. Fun was had, people were killed, good times all around. One thing I just realized is, I didn't see a single Gamestop while I was down there, curious and curious-er. I got my filthy paws on the Dead Rising demo, that is quite an experience. You should know that I HATE zombies with all my heart. They creep me out and I despise fighting them, however this game is differnt. It's sort of a campy take on an old genere, which lends itself to some truly hilarious situations and neat gameplay momments. Blinding a zombie by throwing a pie in his face is genius, even I can appreciate that.

It's going to take me a while to catch up on the weekend news, but expect some scattered posting today and back to our normal scheduled programming tommrow. I'm trying to line up a few interviews for later on this week as well as few more guest writers. Stay frosty folks, and try not to turn into the undead and eat each other. That's considered rude in most countries.

New Releases for the week :

• Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
• Seawolves: Silent Hunter III Expansion (PC)
• Backyard Baseball 2007 (PC)
• D1 Grand Prix (PS2)
• Pirates: Legend of the Black Buccaneer (PS2)
• Games Explosion! (GBA)
• Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots (GBA)
• Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation (GBA)
• Pac-Man (XBLA)

Weekly Wrap Up

Hey folks, typically I will be posting a weekly wrap up on Friday’s, however I am going out of town tomorrow. Chew on this….

· New Stranglehold Images (Editors note: The developers have mentioned that this will have adversial multiplayer)

· Crackdown Gameplay Trailer

· Army of two images (Editors note: Co-op baby yeah!)

· E3 Expo drastically changes

· Short Cliffy B interview

· Oh and Hey Street Fighter II was released on Xbox Live, we’ll have a review up next week.

Enjoy your weekend guys and gals, try not to miss me too awfully much. :P

Gears of War Release Date Revealed

Microsoft® today announced what anxious players have been eagerly awaiting: Emergence Day 2006. Available exclusively for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the highly anticipated title Gears of War® will be available in North America on November 12, 2006.

As good as it gets (Part 2)

Friends with benefits?

Despite the gloom and doom, all is not lost. Our savior comes in the form of the Xbox Live Friends List. Although limited to 100 people, this list serves as your go to guide to good people, great times, and magnificent games. The ease at which you can effortlessly widely distribute voice messages, organize custom games, and distribute clan messages is unparalleled. Turning on your Xbox 360 becomes comparable to opening up a surprise package from Fed Ex, you never know who or what it has in store for you. It is a genuine thrill to see 10-16 of your good buddies online, and organize an impromptu custom match of Halo 2 or Project Gotham Racing. 24/7 you have the opportunity of having your own LAN party with your pal’s at the click of a button, now that is service.

In many ways’s the experience can be even better than a LAN party. I personally am finding myself extraordinarily spoiled by the ability to stream music from my PC to my Xbox 360 and fight my friends in Dead or Alive 4 to the beat of my own custom soundtracks. There really is nothing like performing an epic reversal for the win while rocking to Pearl Jam(insert favorite group here). Add in the ability to send and receive text messages, voice messages, private chat requests, and game invites while in a multiplayer or single player game, and you’ve got one huge enchilada’s with sour cream and guacamole on top. In the eternal words of Penny Arcade , the meal served here is simply exuberant.

Pacman’s Grave

To add to this delicious ice cream sundae, we turn to Xbox Live’s own Supermall, the Xbox Live Marketplace and it’s little brother, the Xbox Live Arcade. I will be the first to admit, nostalgia can be a cruel mistress. Often times it hoodwinks your brain into faulty logic about the quality of certain unnamed titles. On the other hand it can serve as an enjoyable snack of delectable treats. Xbox Live Arcade offers a wide array of card games (multiplayer!), puzzle games, action games (some featuring co-op I might add), and a smattering of other classics. On the whole they are very well produced affairs, and provide a welcomed break from some of the more involved and complicated games offered on the market today.

However if complexity is your cup of tea, the market place is the place to be. I can’t say enough about how much I’ve enjoyed viewing game trailers, game previews, demo’s, movie trailers, and music videos on my television as opposed to my computer screen. The single best part about this feature is the ability to show my friends easily what the heck it is I’m excited about, without waiting for the computer to boot up and find which website it was that had the particular content I wanted. None of that foolishness here, it’s simply turn on the box and click on videos. Love it, want more of it. The demo’s are especially of note here. On the last generation Xbox I played a grand total of two demos, one of which was Ninja Gaiden which I specifically paid money for (Magazine package), and the other was Star Wars Battlefront which came with my Star Wars boxed set. Guess what, I bought those games solely based on the fact that I really enjoyed their demo’s. In fact Ninja Gaiden wasn’t particularly on my radar, but when the demo dropped I spent and ungodly amount of time laboriously learning every trick and maneuver that the game could provide. At some point, I lost track of things and thought I was a ninja, but that is besides the point. Demo’s are an excellent resource for putting you on the fence of a game you might not have cared much about, or pushing you off the fence of those you were excited about. Game trailers, music videos, and the like are really just icing an already impressive cake.

Multiplayer Evolved?

If one were to take a casual stroll in to the future, you can see a few trends developing that are for lack of a better term…Liquid Awesome.

-Online Co-op for the entirety of the Single Player Experience (Crackdown, Gears of War, Too Human)

-The ability to join your friends in said games at any time, i.e in the middle of the level perhaps. I wish I could say that twice. The ability to join your friends in said games AT ANY TIME…there I did it. Great Scott!!!!

-Massively Multiplayer Online RPG’s and FPS’s . This will add a nice dynamic and change of pace to the sometimes over to quick experience of many multiplayer games.

-Coin op classics with multiplayer. Seriously people, Golden Axe with co-op? Need I say anymore?

Peanut butter and Jelly time

At the end of the day, Microsoft has built an extrodinary service with a few bugs to work out of it’s system. The community has exited it’s infancy stage and is experiencing the accompanying growing pains. I believe the future of connected consoles remains bright with it’s leader firmly positioned way in the front of the pack. Like a peanut butter sandwich Xbox Live is a curious blend of delicious sweetness and sweaty nuts.

Point & Counter-Point

There is a nice rebuttal article up at Dead Man’s Hand regarding the “As good as it gets (Part 1)” write-up, check it out.

As good as it gets (Part 1)

As a heavy Xbox Live player, I find myself interacting with the scum of society much more frequently than I would like. It would seem that giving random opponents on the internet a voice as it were, is comparable to giving a monkey poop to fling at your face. Yes, my face has been sullied by this poop, caked in it. I am the poop king. I’m sorry, I went off on a tangent there, it won’t happen again…What I am trying to say here is that multiplayer gaming has entered a new era, what was once an exploratory new world filled with useful and helpful people has been transformed into a veritable cave filled with orc’s and goblins, where is Legolas when you need him. This two part article will attempt to point out some of the up’s as well as the down’s of Xbox Live multiplayer gaming, and how I believe it can be improved.

I want my chocolate milk!

Something is wrong with parents these days. I can’t even begin to blame the children. I would love to do a study on the effects of bad parenting. Something is really wrong with society when I can encounter a healthy sampling of young people aged between 8-18, sitting in their homes, calling everyone within earshot racial epithets, lewd cursing, and sexual vulgarities. I wouldn’t be so concerned if this was somewhat of a random occurrence. Unfortunately in my 3 years of gaming on Xbox Live I have only met a handful of people in this age group that do not follow the formula aforementioned. Forget Guantanamo Bay, subject terrorists to a 48 hour session of Xbox Live and I dare say you might unlock the secrets of the world! Of course there are solutions provided by Microsoft, unfortunately for you none of them work.

There is an option to enable voice chat to be limited to people on your friends list only, or blocked entirely. This feature is horrifically buggy and most times I can not hear anyone on my friends list and I have to disable to feature, just to hear my friends. Silly me, how dare I try to only hear my friends! There is also the option of unplugging the microphone, right? Wrong, the sound defaults to your TV speakers if no microphone is inserted in the controller. Who’s bright idea was that? When I click the option to have voice only come out of my headset, that does not mean I want you to instead route the idiocy through my TV speakers! Voice chat is not all around a bad idea it can be very enjoyable with a group of friends, but why not put in a filtering system, perhaps to limit the levels of volume in which people can scream “I WANT MY CHOCLATE MILK!”

I am Jack’s increased Rank

One of the widely touted feature of Xbox Live is Ranking systems in place for many of their multiplayer games. Ideally this will allow you to only play with people within your own skill level, ideally… The side effect to encouraging ranked games is the dissolution of casual gaming. Players have become so obsessed with ranking that many times if you don’t have a certain rank you will be kicked from the game, or as is the case in Ghost Recon the teams will be stacked in such a way that all the supposed newbie’s are on one team. This makes pick up and play an extremely frustrating affair. The other unwanted side effect of ranking is a lowered pool of opponents once you reach a certain level. It can take an eternity to find opponents once you reach a certain rank, and which point I’m not challenging everything, I am challenging no one!

Due to the highly competitive spirit that ranking’s foster, I believe this has also contributed to a surge of quitters. People are afraid to lose. The majority of my time spent in Halo 2, Fight Night 3, and Ghost Recon is spent staring at the disconnect screen, as people rapidly quit out of the game once the balance of power has shifted into your favor. Rarely do games go to the finish line, instead midway through the match everyone simply leaves. One way in which this could be countered is by creating a system that enables players to join and play in games which are already in progress ala pc games. This would serve as an effective counter balance to the inevitable quitters.

In the next article we will discuss some of the positives of Xbox Live gaming, and where we believe the future of multiplayer games is headed. Stay tuned, same bat channel, same bat time.