Sorry but DRM-free games are pretty much a thing of the past. Consoles are effectively DRM too.

Dunno, as this generation goes on I've been noticing my patience for storylines and other filler like that dropping steadily. The stories you find in games would feel inadequate even in a B-movie and it seems they're taking more and more time for cutscenes and stuff like that. I guess the devs felt like they've neglected the player with all their cutscenery and thus invented the QTE...

Doesn't help that most HD games have almost no color and look very unfriendly.

Well, HD by itself doesn't mean increased costs, the PC ports of N64 games usually support any resolution you throw at them and I doubt that cost extra...

I think min/maxing works better. What I mean with that is minimizing the absolute content while maximizing the effective content, i.e. producing as many different experiences for the customer as you can while keeping the actual data low. Earth Defense Force 2 has something like 70 missions, 200 weapons, etc but it does all that with only a handful of maps (I think 10 or so) and weapon models with the gameplay-relevant data altered (different enemy spawns and weapon stats) to create effective variety with little effort. The game sold at 2000 JPY. The 360 sequel had similar shortcutting. They had ONE set of voice samples for ALL the redshirts but the game pitch shifted them so each soldier still had a slightly different voice. The EDF games have a staggering amount of effective content with only a very small amount of actual content. Now I don't expect every game to get such a massive ratio done but there's a lot of optimization potential. Also IMO games don't have to end fast to be useful to someone with little time, they just have to be meaningfully playable in small increments.

Consoles are DRM, true. And I do sadly feel as if everything will probably move toward digital distribution. DRM-free games still have a chance however, as the PC port of Prince of Persia proved. Publishers, producers, and developers simply need to let go of their greed and realize that they are in fact the ones driving people toward piracy. Restrictive usage and inflated prices are not appealing features when looking at a simple piece of entertainment. I still play games like Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Diablo II. All of these had simple CD key checks which were later removed through an official update. This ensures that I can continue to play my games even longer, and even do so with my family across my home network without purchasing three more copies. That garners my respect and repeated business.

How are consoles effectively DRM?  That makes no sense.  A console is a fixed hardware platform (unlike the PC), but that isn't not an onerous restriction.  If my original NES breaks today, I can buy a new one, or even a third party knock-off that does a decent job of imitating an NES.  That is nothing Half-Life 2 (on the PC) in which the install files are encrypted and unplayable until Valve's server unlocks them.

There are a few worthwhile story lines and story presentations in games.  The ones that are brief, the ones that use few words and the few that are well scripted and acted.  Eternal Darkness was pretty good for example, while scenes in Metal Gear Solid 4 excessively long and can't hold a candle to the real movies they're trying so hard to live up to.

This is true, and I would appreciate it if even the Wii were presented in HD without any other bump in the graphics.  I'll go on record saying that the next Wii better have a massively upgraded controller if the graphics aren't going to be bumped to at least 360/PS3 quality.

Consoles are big DRM boxes.  Their software is locked to that hardware, how is that not DRM?

This is semantics really. The fact that is hardware and not software makes it Analog Rights Managment.

Sooooo...Are we happy or sad that Rize is parting?

A pity that you have to move on. Good luck and Godspeed to your real life endeavors.

As to your parting thoughts, I'm sorry that you are not too keen on Wii fare outside of the Nintendo 'Big Three'. I am a bit surprised that between the 'February Three + Madworld' none are interesting to you. I guess that much of the selection isn't catering to your tastes.

I agree that there is less time when you are older in life to finish long games. I prefer long games but I like it when they are broken up into manageable chunks. Metroid games take a bit for me to really get into them, I'll play them for a few days to a week in short bursts not really getting very far, but then something clicks and I tear through most the game in a day or two. A friend of mine said it well when he stated that Metroid games require a minimum play time of 30-minutes per 'gaming session'. When you are cramped for time you lose your ability to have those multi-hour/day gaming sessions and I think you begin to desire more succinct and satisfying content for your gaming dollar.

I also like where DS is right now as well and like you hope that great 2D games are able to remain viable projects long into the future. Games like Muramasa, Black Sigil, Warioland and a number of others are signs that the style can carry on.

I think that in some cases we will see games with a 2D gameplay using 3D models  similar to New Super Mario Brothers. This then begs the question; which matters more, 2D graphics or 2D gameplay?

The *really* bad DRM is the one where you have to go online to the companies server to validate your game which doesn't even have an online component (Half-Life 2 single player being the oldest notable example).  That sucks.  That's what I had in mind when I wrote that part of the blog.  If the company bites the dust, your game is now worthless.  You don't own it at all.  You own the right to play it as long as the company exists.

With an old nes game, you own the right to play it as long as you can find working hardware that is compatible.  That's a huge difference.

Thanks for the well wishes, you to pap... ;)

To be fair, I own Madworld but haven't tried it yet.  Naturally more and more acceptable games are going to come as time goes on.

For a game as awesome as Metroid Prime, I make the time.  Basically, I just forget about my social obligations and geek out for a few days.  But I'm not going to do that for mediocre games, or even "great" games that I don't personally find compelling (GTAIV).  The last two games I forced myself to play through where MGS4 and Dead Space.  I enjoyed Dead Space far more of the two (and far more than RE5 incidentally; the game doesn't hold a candle to 4 and I'm sick to death of third-world war-torn country settings since playing MGS4).

2D gameplay generally is what's really important, however there is always something a little floaty about 2D games with 3D graphics.  The increased detail of the animation forces the designers to add these realistic start-up phases to the animation.  Also, the 3D graphics make it harder to spot little details.  A great compromise is cell shaded 2D/3D as in Viewtiful Joe.  I'd like to see more like that.  What I'd really like to keep seeing is honest 2D artwork.  We will for now.

Rize is disgruntled. Lindy, make sure security escorts him out of the building.

i know how you feel rize!

I have to agree with Lindy - Consoles are, for the most part, a type of DRM.

If I buy a CD that prevents me from copying the CD and playing it on any music device of my choice, then we'd all agree that's DRM - So why is it we're okay with the idea of not being able to copy a Wii game over to our 360s to play?

Something that, realistically, prevents you from using your purchased media on any compatible devices made by any other
unapproved manufacturer is, effectively, what rights management is about.  "You can buy our stuff, but we get to determine how you use it."

The Wii is compatible with NES software (and SNES, N64, Genesis, etc...)  Yet, I can't play my NES games on the system.  Now, of course, I could hack the system and do this, but (aside from the legalities regarding this), isn't that true with pretty much any method of DRM - you can hack your way around it?

Consoles have been the same since they were invented in terms of "DRM" and the word and concept didn't even exist in the 70's.  I'm just not willing to consider a game that only works on a single console and can't be (easily) copied a form of DRM.  If that's DRM, then it's acceptable DRM.  In any case, let's not argue semantics.

The thing, which I'm calling DRM is any kind of system whereby you need the permission of an external server to play the game.  That is the DRM that I do not want to see.  But of course, it will eventually be pervasive.

I don't care what it's called honestly, I just care about the functionality.

I'm gonna agree with Rize on this one. Consoles are not any form of DRM. I can take my Wii games and play them on a friends system whenever I want. You can't do that with DRM games without some workaround. A game being console specific isn't some out of the way trick companies use to restrict use and restrict piracy (they wish). DRM is an extra step they take to limit product usage and abuse.

UncleBob, you can't compare Wii and 360 game copying in the same light as mp3s on your music player. They are programmed differently for different system architectures. That is why developers have to port their games to other systems.

I can't play NES games on my microwave?  WTF

Isn't "Rights Management" all about managing what rights the end user has with his/her media?

The thing is, there's no active management going on with the consoles (except the downloadable stuff).  I think of DRM as an "active" process.  The term came into existence to describe such processes, not to describe how you can't copy a GameCube or Wii disk.

Is MOPAR a form of DRM? discuss.

Considering that the alternative seems to be hidden drivers and back doors being installed without your knowledge or consent, I'll take online activation, thank you.  At least it's completely voluntary.

Voluntary in the sense "you can choose not to do it and instead sit there with a 50$ game you can't play or return".

Or not by the game.  That's not exactly my idea of voluntary either.

If companies are allowed to make people buy games, then they need to get on making people buy PTrace Memory and Hotel Dusk so we can get more of 'em.

Both of those would apply in any case.  I meant voluntary as in the opposite of involuntarily having a rootkit installed on your system with no option to remove it, even if you uninstall the game.  If the game merely phones home, you can opt out at any point with no lasting harm.  Of course, if it does both, you should go back to not buying the game.

It's all symptoms of the same problem however.  We're used to buying software that functions independently of a network, but eventually that will all change.  Eventually, everything will be networked.

Rize was always a good buddy of mine at the many E3s we attended.  I remember him looking at a brick wall and making comments about impossible it would be to actually make graphics that detailed.  We had a lot of fun laughing about the LithTech engine, which I only remember to be funny because I may have forgotten all about what exactly was humorous about it.

I totally agree with his misgivings about online activation and DLC stuff.  It's a pain in the ass to have to keep doing that, especially if you live in an area with only marginal broadband access like I do (just for the record, satellite internet sucks.  Go over their meager limit and BAMF, back to dialup, which makes working for a site such as this almost impossible.)  And worse yet is the odious practice of selling "DLC" that merely gives access to things already on the disk.  We need GameSharks just to access the material we've already purchased.  It's ridiculous.

Anyway, keep the faith, Rize.  Hope you come back soon.

haha, yeah.  Lithtech was like the gizmondo of game engines