1. PlayStation 2 Online - Initially Sony announced that they would have their network adaptor for the PS2 out in late 2001, but they missed that date. Then it was spring of 2002. Didn't happen then either. And, so, right on time they launched it in August of 2002. I can live with a little delay, really I can. But now, here we are, fifteen months after the launch and there still isn't a coherent online experience. Nor is there a truly compelling library of online games. Cheating has ruined games like SOCOM: Navy Seals. Sports games like Madden have had to deal with "quitters" and "pausers". Given the response, it appears that Sony was relatively unprepared for these contingencies. By all accounts Xbox Live beats the pants off of Sony's stuff, and the main complaint against Live is the yearly fee. Well, just remember that from Sony you're getting what you pay for.
2. The Sims Online from Electronic Arts (PC) - The PC sales charts have been dominated by games in EA's The Sims series for years, and it's not uncommon for several Sims titles to appear in the top ten in a given month. So, when Electronic Arts predicted that their license-to-print money franchise would sign up 200,000 online subscribers between the Christmas 2002 launch and 1 April 2003, it didn't seem so crazy. However, the latest announcement, in April 2003, reported only 97,000 subscribers, and this widely accepted analysis predicts that active subscriptions may have actually have dropped since then. Whoops. How about you guys and Konami get together about the perils of changing a formula that works? (See below.)
3. Nokia's N-Gage - Nokia has developed a novel strategy for establishing a successful mobile phone gaming platform. First, design it so you have to remove the battery to change games. (Even if it's not hard, it sounds awful.) Also, make it notoriously embarrassing to use as a phone. (See image, left.) Next, assemble launch titles from the lineup of hit games from six years ago like Tomb Raider and Pandemonium. Finally, give it the kind of outrageously high price for a phone (say $299) that is guaranteed to attract attention, especially in a market where the leading platform costs less much less ($70 for the plain GameBoy Advance and $100 for the SP model). Here we are, a couple months after launch, and the game selection is still paltry, with fewer than twenty insipid titles available compared to the 400 or more available for the GBA (out of pity for the N-Gage I won't mention all the GameBoy and GameBoy Color games that the GBA can play). Sure, Nokia's plan is a little more elaborate than the classic plan of the underpants gnomes, but at least as successful.
4. Half-life 2 from Valve Software (Xbox, PC) - Easily one of the most anticipated games of the year, details about Half-life 2 were kept a closely guarded secret for years. Then, after a stunning public showing at E3, Valve Software ran into a tiny snag when they were hacked with a targetted exploit which gave an intruder access to the entire Half-life 2 codebase and data files. The stolen source and data were released to the public, and subsequently almost nothing has been heard from Valve, except a couple of updates on the hack itself and a soft whimpering sound. The latest information points to a release in April 2004, but one wonders at how reasonable that date really is. After all, it isn't just the game itself that has been set back: Steam may also have been compromised. Steam is Valve's software delivery system, designed to handle game sales, software updates, and more, all of this securely over the Internet. Even if Valve says there are no back doors in the system after they've reviewed the code, can they guarantee that they purged all the evil code without a fresh start, one that doesn't use any of the old codebase? Perhaps more importantly, will the public be ready to trust Valve with sensitive information, including credit card numbers, when Valve wasn't able to keep their own network secure?
5. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness from Core Design (PS2, PC) - With the long-delayed release of the latest Tomb Raider this summer, Eidos have proved once and for all that they can't let a game develop into a good product without stepping in and screwing it up. And Core have proved that they really have lost the Lara Croft magic. After the initial release of Tomb Raider in 1996, Eidos flogged Core to put out a new game each year just in time for the holiday season. Finally, in the year 2000, after four rushed-to-market releases, Core was granted a sabbatical to redesign their game on the PlayStation 2. During the intervening years they put together a grand vision for Lara's future: a cutting-edge graphics engine, a real symphonic score, and a branching storyline within a vast three-game epic. However, delay followed delay, and in Spring 2003 Eidos decided to push the unfinished product out the door rather than grant yet another six month extension. Delivered into the eager hands of the faithful fans was a game of greatly reduced level sizes, unpolished branching gameplay, a horribly unoptimized graphics engine, and a slew of bugs that earned it a terrible reputation. Thankfully, Lara's breasts were retained intact and rounder than ever. (For reference, I enjoyed Angel of Darkness, and felt the story was worth overlooking the flaws. Yes, I'm a fanboy. Move along.) Now Core has been told they're off the job completely, which means those several years of investment in story and technology may be thrown away completely and as a bonus the series now has a huge black eye from the Angel of Darkness debacle.
6. TransGaming & Aspyr Partnership - TransGaming claims to be devoted to bringing the best in Windows games to Linux via their WINE-derived product, WineX. This year they announced a partnership with Aspyr, noted Mac game porting house, to bring console games to the Mac and PC. Only, when they say PC, they really mean "Windows". That's some real dedication to the community you've been courting for the past couple of years, TransGaming. Good job, guys. Hope all you suckers paying your monthly dues to TransGaming are happy with where your money is going.
7. No Loki Successor - While we're on the topic of Linux gaming, Ruffin felt compelled to point out that I hadn't pointed out that the market has still failed to produce a true and worthy successor to Loki, the software porting house that put Linux gaming on the map. For those of us who remember, Loki was all about being an integral part of the Linux community, investing in the Linux infrastructure (like pushing SDL and kicking DRI to get better 3D support), and most of all putting out games people had actually heard of. Sorry, Linux Game Publishing, but it just ain't the same. Even Ryan Gordon is putting out more big-name games all by his lonesome. Currently, the only real hope for Linux gaming is the handful of native ports done in-house, like Savage and the promised DooM 3, and Unreal Tournament 2004.
8. Rare's Xbox Debut - As PainKilleR noted in his first impressions, Grabbed by the Ghoulies just ain't the kind of stuff that's going to make Microsoft's purchase of Rare worthwhile. Clearly, the Bungie buy has been profitable for Microsoft, but one wonders if they feel similarly about Rare. Will Rare have to give back the hats of money if Perfect Dark Zero turns out to be a dud?
9. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence from Konami (PS2) - Here's another venerable franchise that the creators seem intent on flushing down the toilet. Ever since my first impressions I've been struck by the depressing fact that I'd rather be playing Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse on the NES. It doesn't help that Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for the lowly GameBoy Advance is a far better game, and cheaper to boot. Konami has now had three tries to take this series of games into 3D (two on the N64 and now Lament), and they apparently still have no idea how to do so successfully. Hey, Konami, how about we give up this idea that every great 2D game should be updated to 3D? I bet that even Spock would admit that the bizarro multi-tiered chess they play on Star Trek ain't better than regular chess, so let's stick with what works.
10. A year of downsizing - Let's round this out at an even ten with the observation that the game developer world is contracting, as evidenced by the many closures in the past year. Here are a few headlines: Atari closes Microprose, Strategy First closes Ottawa (SirTech) studio, Mucky Foot shuts doors, Trecision closes down, Rage Software closes, 3DO files for bankruptcy, and finally Data East delcares bankruptcy. I'm confident that that's not an exhaustive list of closures, but it's enough. While I'm at it, I'll mention that Interplay seems on the verge of collapse, with the closing of Black Isle Studios. Even the media are holding onto each other for support, as evidenced by the recent IGN and GameSpy merger.
11. The Originality Vacuum - Ok, I lied. This list goes to eleven. For our final disappointing development, I point to a primary effect of market consolidation: less originality, more rehashed franchises, and safe bets instead of break-out game ideas. Pick any month from the last year, and look at the top PC game sales chart: you're likely to find at least two games with the word "Sims" in the title, at least one with the arabic or roman numeral 3 in the title (and even a few with the numeral 4), and even more that fall under the category "sequel by title colon-ization" (like "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" or "Command & Conquer: Generals"). The console market isn't really that much better: Sony's top titles this fall are SOCOM II, Jak II, and Ratchet & Clank 2. I even dubbed the poor little GameBoy Advance a creativity wasteland, earlier this year and compiled the data into pretty tables and graphs to prove my point.
Gaming Gaffes of 2003
Originally Posted by voltz
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