The Zeitgeist GOTY part 2

Anand Ramachandran and Videep Vijay Kumar wrap-up the first ever GOTY in the mainstream press in India - for Zeitgeist in The New Indian Express. Of course, you'll see more details and other awards in a slightly different format on Bossfight in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Click on the image for a larger version.

Bossfight GOTY 2008 : Special award for delayed gratification - Braid

Few games, from any generation, on any platform, have ever appeared as simple yet worked on as many different levels as Braid does. For instance, my favourite Braid moment didn’t even happen when I was playing, or have anything to do with what was happening in the game itself. Watching someone else play for the first time, I found myself gently chuckling as he went through his repertoire of standard gaming responses - time that jump just a bit better, take a longer run, explore a different area of the screen, look for power ups – before it slowly dawned on him that maybe, just maybe, that rewind mechanic in the game was there as something more than a fancy replacement for a save/retry option. From there, it was a few short steps before he started to understand why the story was written as it was, the correlation between the intro screens and the game mechanic. As I watched, I was reflecting on how so many of our responses as we go about our lives are so conditioned, so predetermined.

That’s right, watching someone else play, I was thinking about how I go about my life. That’s the kind of experience that Braid is. Or isn’t. Take your pick. It’s a challenging puzzle-platformer, a ground breaking experiment in videogame mechanics, a beautiful work of art, a brilliantly written story of unrequited love, a commentary on the creation of the atomic bomb, and a thought provoking documentation of a young man’s journey through life. Braid can be any or all of the above, all delivered through lovingly crafted visuals set against haunting, melodic music, liberally sprinkled with subtle, reverent nods to classics of platforming like Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong. And all of this is capped off by probably the best ending level ever, with an honest to goodness twist ending – which in itself, tales a little time to really sink in. It really has something to reward anyone who has even an iota of the patience needed to absorb it. With no “tutorial”, and the largely respected plea from the developers not to put walkthroughs up on the net, you will need patience. And will be well rewarded for it.

Play through from start to finish before challenging yourself with the speed runs and maxing out your achievements, sit back and gaze upon the paintings you create by finishing each level, or trawl the internet figuring out what it all means. It doesn’t really matter how you experience Braid, but experience it, you must. In the twitch dependent, photorealism craving, mega budget marketing dominated world of videogames, Braid is a simple, purely movement and jump control driven, independently developed game that requires, no, demands, that you put down your controller every so often and think, reflect and contemplate. And in today’s world of instant gratification, that certainly deserves an award.

Bossfight GOTY 2008 : Mobile Game of The Year

The mobile platform continues to grow in relevance as a true-blue option for great gaming, and 2008 saw some great leaps forward.

Earlier on Bossfight, we took a look at certain aspects of the mobile gaming scenario. Here's the post.

THE CONTENDERS

Assassin's Creed HD

Gameloft managed to drop our jaws with the mobile iteration of Assassin's Creed. Featuring the wall-scaling, rooftop-leaping, swashbuckling gameplay of its console cousin, Assassin's Creed HD is great news for gamers looking for a fuller, more hardcore experience on mobile phones.

Boom Blox

Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox was a surprise hit on the Wii in 2009, wowing everyone with it's accessible and devilishly addictive puzzle based gameplay. The mobile version was also great, with separate versions for Java and N-gage. You had to launch a ball to knock over different kinds of blocks (exploding blocks time-bombs, chemical blocks) to score points. This is way more fun than it sounds, trust me. The short, addictive puzzles made Boom Blox ideal for on-the-go gaming, and the level editing tools in the N-gage version were also a good step towards UGC on the mobile platform.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile (N-Gage)

The first truly heavyweight license (other than the disappointing FIFA 09) to make its way to the N-gage, Snake's first outing on NOKIA's platform was an exceptional game in every way. Featuring the best graphics on the N-Gage yet, the trademark MGS gameplay translated surprisingly well to the miniscule screen and controls of the mobile phone. It also featured some neat uses of the mobile phone camera – where you could point the camera at any real-world object to choose a texture for Snake's camo-suit. Let's hope the success of MGS mobile encourages other publishers to bring great franchises to N-gage. GTA mobile? We can hope.

Spore Origins (iPhone)

Basically just the cell stage from Will Wright's PC hit Spore, Spore Origins was an engaging mobile game that also added a feature where you could upload your creations from the mobile version and then download them for use in the PC game – a cool idea which shows how integration between platforms can be implemented in interesting and relevant ways. The iPhone version featured the best controls – you guided your creature by simply tilting your phone, and the coolest feature, where you could click any photo and use it as a texture for your creature's skin.

BOSSFIGHT MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR 2008

Reset Generation (N-Gage)

Reset Generation energized the N-Gage platform with its insane multiplayer gameplay, crazy power-ups and weaponry, and cast of colourful characters – perhaps the funniest and most challenging multiplayer strategy game since Worms. It was a lovingly crafted parody and homage to the cult of gaming, featuring caricatured versions of videogame superstars such as Mario, Master Chief, Lara Croft and Sonic spewing ridiculous lines such as “I plumber! I fix toilet, I save princess!”.

All this would be of no use if Reset Generation wasn't a good game – but it is just that, and much more – it's a genuinely great game. Featuring a host of game mechanics that were completely original, this is a strategy game that is challenging, fun and truly hardcore, belying its cutesy-pie graphics. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Reset Generation is that we can't quite say “It reminds us of X game or Y game”. In an age of me-too game designs, that's praise of the highest order.

Importantly, you could play on your mobile against a friend who was playing on a web browser – the cross-platform multiplayer gameplay making sure that the game wasn't limited to people who owned an N-Gage compatible phone – a farsighted and laudable move from NOKIA. Reset Generation released in August. We're still playing it. Word.

Here's our original review of Reset Generation – where we tell you in detail why it's so special.

Bossfight GOTY 2008 : Best Indian Game That Was Never Made - Chili Con Carnage, Rajnikanth Edition

It's a match made in heaven - the insanely funny, over-the-top stunt action of Chili Con Carnage combined with da mean skillz of the greatest Indian action-hero of all time, Rajnikanth. The mere thought of controlling 'thalaivar' as he twirls through the air, defying physics and kicking villain-butt has us in a tizzy! 'Airilayae suththi suththi adippendaa!'

Imagine Rajnikanth doing this shite :



Runner Up : Mortal Kombat vs. Tamil Movie Universe.

Bossfight GOTY 2008: Most Tedious Installation Award - Grand Theft Auto IV (PC)

I don't remember the last time a PC game tortured me like this one did. Yes, I knew the game was buggy as hell, and yes, I knew that the damn thing would eat up more system resources than Crysis . For some reason, I didn't come across any bitching online about the game's preposterous installation process. The game takes about forty-five minutes to install, provided you dedicate that time to clicking on the million "next" and "I agree" buttons screen, and change the DVD (yes, it's a double-DVD game) promptly. So don't expect this game to install itself if you decide to "achieve other things" during said process.

During the installation, you are informed that GTA IV requires, not just GTA IV to be installed in order to work, but other things as well, as you can see (above) and (below). It saddens me to see that Rockstar is in cahoots with M$. It needs meaningful things like GFW, SP3, and er... IE. There's more fun to be had in setting up your GFW Live account and your Rockstar Games Social Club account. Yes, you need both of them if you want play online.

A few thousand clicks, a couple of registrations and a few updates later, you'll be good to go! Yay! Just two hours after inserting the first disc into your drive! Of course, you can choose to bypass the setting-up-of-accounts process if you're going to play offline. Of course, then you'd be a n00b.

So, there you have it, the prestigious "Most Tedious Installation" Award goes to GTA IV, not just for pwning the end-user, but also for making EA look like Mother Teresa.

Bossfight GOTY 2008 : King of Swing Award - Steven Spielberg.

Who says the movie industry is full of pretentious, ignorant n00bs who will gladly faff about videogames without even playing a single one? We do, that's who. Like Roger Ebert and Rashid Irani.

But, unlike these morons, Steven Spielberg showed us that he's teh_2347 d34l. By creating the wonderfully refreshing and addictive Boom Blox, for the Wii and mobile platforms. Boom Blox proved to be one of the best uses of the Wiimote ever. It's intuitive, imaginative gameplay showed the way to attract more audiences to gaming - by creating accessible, original and fun games as opposed to lazy adaptations of board games or drab me-too clones of Bejewelled.

Boom Blox, besides being a great game in its own right, is more important than is immediately obvious. Its game mechanics and control scheme lend themselves to cloning in a very basic way, in that these can be used to vastly improve the way we interact with many different kinds of games. True, several games have attempted this in the past, but never before has using the Wiimote to interact with 3-D objects with plausible physics felt as absolutely natural as it does when grabbing, throwing, pushing and pulling the Blox in this marvellous game.

So take a bow, Mr.Spielberg. For showing us that when it comes to understanding how to entertain people in ANY medium, you're the man.

Here's a gameplay video :

The Bossfight Game of The Year Awards 2008

At-em, hearties! Listen up, Delta! Waaaaaaaaaaagh!

Whatever your battle-cry, there's no doubt that December is here. And you all know what that means! No, not Rajnikanth's birthday, you fanboys, it's time to celebrate the year's best in gaming! That's right, Bossfight kicks off our very first GOTY awards.

While we will be looking at the usual suspects with a keen microscope..er...eye...er...lens, we'll also be giving a whole bunch of India specific awards.

And, since we're indisciplined assholes, we'll freewheel as long as the format is concerned. There will be platform specific awards, but apart from that we'll just hand out whatever we feel like. There, that's settled.

And, to get you warmed up for a taste of things to come, Bossfight's very own Anand Ramachandran and Videep Vijay Kumar are proud to present the very first GOTY in the Indian mainstream press - kudos to Aditya Sinha and his mates at the New Indian Express for supporting gaming like no other Indian daily newspaper. Hit the image for a larger screenie.

The genius of Popcap

This article first appeared on my weekly 'Game Invader' column for The New Indian Express.

Popcap games makes the world's most addictive, insanely fun games. Sorry Maxis. Sorry Blizzard. I'm afraid these guys are numero uno.

The cause of this rant is Peggle. A devilishly simple looking game, in which you drop a small ball into a playing board that consists of coloured pegs arranged in various patterns, sort of like a pachinko board. The aim of the game is to drop the ball in such a way that you clear all the pegs of a particular colour. It sounds simple. It is simple. But I challenge you to stop playing.

Within minutes, you'll be figuring out angles, using power ups, biting your nails, and fervently 'willing' the ball to drop in a favourable way. You'll be humming the tunes, ogling the cutesy-pie graphics, and cursing the evil geniuses who designed this mind-virus.

This isn't the first time popcap has done this to me. I've been, at various points in time, addicted to Zuma, Insaniquarium, and Bejewelled. I hate these people. It's all Popcap's fault.

Insaniquarium is actually a game where Popcap has managed to make fish-feeding a fun activity! The whole game revolves around the rather goofy and silly premise of keeping all the fish in your aquarium well-fed and happy. By clicking. That's it. Clicking, Like Diablo. Only crazier. You'll have to manage carnivorous fish that eat the herbivorous fish, you'll have to manage resources by allowing the fish themselves to generate pearls – which convert to cash to buy more food. And of course, you'll have to defend your fish from aliens that sudddenly appear in the tank. You heard me right. Aliens.

Many of you may have played a clone of Bejewelled – the classic match-3-gems-in-a-row puzzle. If so, you'll understand how Popcap games are – simple to learn, impossible to stop playing. It's a formula they seem to have mastered better than any other developer. In fact, in the midst of typing this article, I briefly went over to popcap's web site for 'just a few' rounds of Peggle! The masterly design, superb, pleasing production values, and finely-tuned gameplay makes their games unique, even in the highly competitive world of casual gaming. They're like the Pixar of casual gaming – showing repeated successes and spawning countless inferior imitators.

Popcap also makes these games available free to play on popcap.com. You'll need to install a small plug-in, and you're all set to play some of the finest games ever made. Just don't blame me for the loss in productivity!

In a world where the heavyweight and 'hardcore' games get all the fancy media coverage, the contribution of casual games is often overlooked. Tetris continues to be among the world's most played games. In fact, often people have said to me “Nah – I don't play games. Just Tetris.” Just Tetris? Think about that.

Companies like Popcap continue to draw millions of new users, and generate huge dollars for the industry. By making their games available on almost every available platform – Bejewelled and Zuma are available on PC, web browser, mobile, and even XBOX live arcade – they ensure that huge numbers of casual users become fans of gaming. A significant number of these will then experiment with hardcore titles, and who knows, they may even end up being chainsaw addicts on Gears of War.

But it would all have started with Peggle. Or Zuma. And it would all be Popcap's fault.

Why my gamerscore looks bad.

This article first appeared in my weekly Game Invader column for The New Indian Express.

Ok – this one's a rant against those of you who mock my puny XBOX live gamerscore. Don't laugh. You know who you are ;)

I admit, I myself often feel a bit, how do i put this, inadequate when I look at my rather modest points and achievements tally, when compared to the mighty achievements of those on my friends list. It isn't a happy feeling. It slowly, mockingly, goads me to play more XBOX games. It implores me to spend more time on Forza Motorsport 2. It pleads with me to explore every corner of GTA 4. It makes me want to complete every time trial in Braid. But even that isn't enough.

Because, you see, that is the sorry plight of the multi-platform gamer.

Thanks to my line of work, combined with personal inclinations, of course, I game on a wide variety of platforms. All the current gen (or is it still next-gen? I'm confused) consoles – XBOX 360, PS3 and Wii. The PC is also a regular – being so close to me throughout the day that games (namely, Peggle. Curses) is only a click away. Add to this a gaggle of handhelds – the PSP, DS, and my N-Gage compatible mobile phone that also plays Java games. And I haven't even begun on the emulated retro classics I dog from time to time.

While this no doubt makes it sound like I am a super-fortunate guy who spends every waking minute playing games on every conceivable platform, sadly it isn't true. I spend about the same amount of time (even less, I would hazard), as any mid-core gamer does. It's just that my time is divided across so many platforms. Leading, naturally, to a puny looking list of completed games on each individual one. Which is no doubt the cause of much merriment and amusement to my fellow gamers on XBOX live, or on N-Gage arena. But never mind them, I say.

So here I am, with gaming experience that is impressive in breadth but perhaps lacking in depth when compared to the guys who have played every single C and C game. Or every character in every instalment of Mortal Kombat. Or guys who have played Counter-Strike longer than some people have lived. Which means I get pwned more often than not when pitting my skills against them.

But I love this. And wouldn't have it any other way.

For me, the sheer wonder of discovering new gameplay ideas, characters and worlds is the draw. Sure, I enjoy the challenge of playing a testing, exciting game, but I'm not a completionist. When faced with an insurmountable difficulty spike in a game, I'll try once, twice, thrice. And then, I'll probably switch my attention to something else. In the past couple of years, the only games I've actually really finished are Bioshock, Halo 3, God of War (PSP) and Mass Effect. But I've played more than half the major releases on every platform in the same period.

Do I regret it? Actually, a bit. It would have been nice to have finished more games. But the truth is, given the kind of time on my hands, I'm glad I get to play and experience the joy of so many different kinds of games across platforms – which gives me a great bird's eye of where the industry is heading creatively.

The Best WTF Film Scripts of All Time

You want teh_pWnage? You've got it.

The below are scans of an actual pitch that was circulated to buyers at a recent film market in India - where leading international film companies came to identify and buy Indian films to produce, market and distribute.

I won't demean the awesomeness of the pitches by dwelling on specific points or highlights. That would be disrespectful - like looking at the Taj Mahal and then dwelling on the merits of a specific dome or column.

I just so badly wish that one of these gets made into a film. That would be the most kvlt thing ever.

Click the images for a larger image - trust me, you don't want to miss a single detail.

[Note - I have deleted the name of the writer, which explains the odd white / black rectangles]