eBooks – interesting, but ugly

Got the loot from the $20 Haiti donation,  so started downloading and trying out the goods.    And although I’m reasonably happy with this transaction – it really is a ridiculously good bargain if you’re interested in a couple of the items in the pack – it really does cement why eBooks are second-class citizens in my book.

The biggest gripe I’ve got is that the PDFs I’ve seen so far are embarassingly low quality.  Text, of course, renders fine,  but most of the images I’ve seen are noticeably pixelated.  A good example of this is the Serenity RPG – it’s probably a very fine looking print book full of beautiful captures from the TV series,  but in electronic format,  it looks like the effect of bad compression and screen caps from a cameraphone.  The resolution you get is probably good enough for something like the size of a PDA or a eReader,  but onscreen,  you can easily see every pixel.  It sure does keep the file size down, but I wouldn’t have minded the option for a pretty version.  Maybe it’s a hold-over from they old dark days of the small-bandwidth Internet – I don’t expect publishers to go back and update old product (although they really should!) – and I would be more noticeably upset if I had paid full price,  given the going rate on RPG books.  The higher sticker shock for them is really due to the pretty bits and bobs (as the quality of the editing is pretty spotty).

Donate to Charity, Get Free eBooks

Expanding my electronic purchases beyond videogames – but this is also for a good cause! This seems like the most natural evolution of the “donate to charity and we’ll give you this free thingamabob” that is the usual pitch.  If you’ve got these electronic bits that are basically not moving,  why not slap a couple of them together and offer to donate the proceeds to charity?   Your cost is bandwidth and infrastructure that you should already have,  and what you get in trade is a free advertising campaign.

DriveThruRPG has a crazy bundle pack where you donate $20 towards Haiti and get metric ton of roleplaying game PDFs. Lots of little scenarios and countersheets, but mixed in are a couple good full-on RPGs – there’s some older RPGs like Classic Spycraft/Shadowforce Archer and I’ve personally got my eye on on Apocalypse Prevention Inc and 3:16 – Carnage Amongst the Stars. Only catch is that you won’t get the actual goods for a couple days as they’re trying to space out the downloads – although adding a few days puts us into the weekend,  which can’t possibly be a better plan…

I’m a little torn about this – I’m a big proponent to reading on dead tree.  Mostly, this is because I haven’t found the killer tech replacement for paper in terms of ease of readability and use.   Laptop screens are a pain – widescreen simply means MORE scrolling down then scrolling up (as you move between columns on a page),  and adding page flips sums to a huge pain. Ideally,  there should be some auto-repaginate,  but given that many things have multi-column layouts,  it’s far from a trivial problem…

Digital Distribution – Bargains Galore

Although not yet a convert to iTunes,  I have gone to digital distribution for most of my PC applications (and particularly gaming) needs.  This transition was a bit surprising,  given my predilection to collecting physical media and considering the electronic bits themselves ephemeral.  However,  as time goes on, substantial chunks of my life have “gone digital” – I now consider for example my hard copy documents to be the ephemeral transition versions,  and the digital/online version to be the definitive one.  The industry is meeting me halfway – a large proportion of software is now available digitally (good) and what with continually patching the physical media version is now almost certainly out-of-date before it is even opened.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back, however, is the fact that online shopping is ridiculously convenient.  There’s a bit of time saved, making your way to the store and back.  But the biggest boon is that when you’re shopping on the Internet,  you have (by definition) the Internet at your disposal.  It’s a simple browser window away to comparison shop or google for reviews and impressions.

These days,  I’ve got accounts on three of the major digital distribution sites – Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse.  Which brings me to what is probably the key factor in my conversion to digital distribution – the deals in incredible.  In my mind,  I think to myself “I’d only by digital distribution if it was a lot cheaper”.  Well,  the deals on these sites are often far better than the bargain bins of most stores or the second-hand resale software. I used to consider (not too many months ago) 50% off as a good discount, nicely steep discount – nowadays,  50% off is probably the top end of what I consider the a “sale”.  A good discount now has to bring the price below $10,  and you get some big name titles sometimes dipping into the $5 and down bin.  There’s usually something new,  on sale (temporarily or permanently marked down) every couple of days,  with Steam being pretty regular about having a mid-week sale and a weekend sale.

And brand-new software isn’t immune – I’ve now promised myself not to buy the “hot new thing”  at full price.  Steam will usually have it for pre-order at 10% off,  and if you wait a month or two,  you’ll often find easily find flash deals of 25%-33% off.  Holidays?  Special Occasions?  Usually accompanied by a whole stack of sales.

As a safety measure,  I’ve intentionally avoided any of the “one-click”  automation with the payment – I need the extra passwords to prevent impulse purchases.  No thank you, please do NOT authenticate my payment credentials (I tend to use Paypal) automatically – I need the time while reviewing my payment options (I pay by credit card to get the extra rebate from the CC company) to slow me down me ol’ trigger finger.

Digital Distribution a.k.a. Bargain hunting has never been so easy – or convenient.

Keeping on the Pulse of PC gaming

There’s a couple of usual hangouts I seem to gravitate towards to get up-to-date on what’s new and what’s fun to play.  There’s Rock, Paper, Shotgun who are some pretty funny guys which write on a whole slew of topics,  and actually think (out loud) on what makes a game tick,  why it’s fun – great for finding out what I might enjoy, and exploring what makes these games fun.  The quarter to three game forums have lots of pretty relaxed folk who write about games (and game related things) that they enjoy – it’s a bit no holds barred light moderation,  but everyone behaves mostly and you see a whole spectrum of interests.  There’s a particularly good Bargain Thread (currently up to 320 pages!) – the tail end of that tracks all sorts of deals (PC and console-related).  We’re talking popular games,  often over 50% off.  My new bar is the $5-$10 bracket – it’s like getting a movie rental online.

Oh,  and I shouldn’t forget the funny folks at Penny Arcade – their comics are hilarious,  and they have some interesting insight into gaming and the industry,  although they sometimes wander off into the realm of console gaming (which I’m currently avoiding due to already wasting too much time PC gaming…)

Of course,  the old standby Bluesnews is the standard stop to hear about new releases,  but it’s straight news – nowadays,  I like the commentary I get at those two other sites almost as much as actually playing games sometimes.

Last Day: Crayon Physics Deluxe

It’s the last day for the Crayon Physics Deluxe Birthday sale – this one’s also a “Pay What You Want” sale,  although if their overhead is around what a World of Goo is,  you’d need to pitch them more than $0.60 or so for them to actually make any money (PayPal fees and such get the first cut).  It’s a cute little game,  definitely worth about $5,  although it’s short enough that you could blast through all the levels in an evening or two – not quite enough content I feel for the full $20.

Being able to draw anything and have it instantly turn into an object on screen is definitely neat,  but it feels like there could be a bit more variety in the things you can draw (actually, I wouldn’t mind getting the standard circle/rectangle/etc drawing tools – my freestyle stuff is UGLY!) while at the same time you’re given a bit too much freedom – a lot of the puzzles are a bit too easy.  I’m guessing the challenge comes in completing the levels using only one object, or without using certain objects.   And I have to say that the crayon art didn’t do anything to draw me in (actually,  wasn’t all that thrilled with it to start),  but it grew on me as I played.

…but it’s Batman!

Probably the least realistic game I’ve played recently – but Batman: Arkham Asylum gets away with it all just because you play Batman,  and for the first time,  you really feel like you’re in the boots of the caped crusader,  rather than some other game with a quick Batman paintjob.  In some sense,  I think the game got cut a lot of slack just because it wasn’t the usual terrible licensed game.  The story is good – it’s a nice, solid episode of superhero story,  but it’s not world-changing.  The combat is solid and visceral,  but there really isn’t all that much variety since there are really only a handful of enemy types.  There’s a nice, solid stealth system,  but in the end in the same vein as Sam Fisher.  But having everything come together without any rough edges is what really put this over the top – there’s something to be said for a properly polished game that is just plain fun.  It’s B grade material,  all the way through,  but made into B++++++.  Not world changing/genre-bending,  but good solid fun.  It’s like a well-done summer blockbuster – no real surprises,  but leaves you high and happy.

Oh,  and I am now ambivalently hating Games for Windows Live – what’s the use of backing up my stuff online if you’re going to corrupt it just as I get 100% ?!  Still,  the game is good enough to warrant playing through again…or maybe I’ll continue on the hard playthrough.  In the end,  it felt a bit on the short side…but then again,  all good things are never long enough…

Do…Not…Run…

The Awesome Long Cinematic Moment of the Year Award goes to Mirror’s Edge,  which is really just one huge chase scene.  Sure, you can take it a bit slower at parts,  but really you’re told to go-go-go.  Picked this up for $5 at one of the many holiday sales – looks like EA has internally pretty much given up on this for the PC.  Not that I’m complaining,  as it’s probably one of the prettiest games I run at lowest graphics settings.

Plus,  for a game all about running,  I love the booming helicopter loudspeakers shouting “Do. Not. Run.”  The instinctive response – run for it.  What really sets this apart is the incredible feeling of being there,  running, sliding,  climbing.  It really captures the feel that you can go anywhere with a little creativity.   After playing this for a while,  it becomes second nature to regard everything as something you can step on or climb over.  Especially important is no more being thwarted by knee-high boxes and small hedges made of solid steel – or even worse,  the invisible walls of doom!

Swing Dancin’ at UBC

For the penny pincher in me – a free dance by the UBC Swing Kids at the UBC SUB Ballroom from 5-9PM this Thursday!  Plus,  a quick lesson @ 5pm (Lindy Hop)  and 7pm (West Coast) – I’ll be a bit late,  but I plan to catch up for lost time once I’m there!   Now a long-time convert to swing dancing – it’s casual partner dancing,  so you can feel free to dance with anyone/everyone and no need to really worry about adhering strictly to dance forms.

The Bane of DLC – Steam Sales

Probably the thing that changed my look at digital distribution the most is Steam – and notably, Steam sales. iTunes doesn’t sound terribly exciting, even though I can understand that the content there is reasonably priced. Steam, on the other hand, regularly has content that is unreasonably underpriced – for example, the current “mid-week sale” is 75% off the King’s Bounty Games. This includes the King’s Bounty Gold bundle, which is already on sale – $11.25 for both King’s Bounty games. That’s $5 for an older one, and $6.25 for the brand new one. When I’m thinking about whether to plunk down $5 to $10 to $15 for game DLC, it gets difficult when I see full games (and good games!) on sale at Steam for the same price point.

Fear the Cutout!

Interstellar Marines:  Bullseye – An incredible use of the Unity 3D web applet – this player basically puts a full-featured 3D engine as a browser plugin.  This is pretty much the epitome of your “police trainer shooting gallery”,  although not quite since apparently there might be an update on Friday.   With the added bonus of the voice of Terri Brosius,  better known as lady behind SHODAN,  the evil AI from System Shock.  Here she’s the calm voice of the AI training facility,  saying calming things like “Increasing Difficulty”.  Strangely enough,  since the game is a training simulator,  none of the targets actually shoot back,  but you’re still firing wildly into the huge horde of cutout men marching towards your position with adrenaline pumping full blast.  Tons of surprising moments when you think you’re done,  only to have a huge wave of targets to go. I never really thought training sims could be this much fun – after all, wouldn’t it be simpler to simulate say an actual “save the VIP!” scenario with actual hostages/enemies rather than playing a game of the simulator where the enemies are cutouts.  But the combination of the excellently visceral feel of the guns with some rather inventive scenarios makes this noticeably fresher than your run-of-the-mill first person shooter.

One interesting thing is whether part of the reason why the experience is so compelling is the feel of progression.  There’s a bit of mini-levelling up in this game – you collect experience points and level-up,  getting faster reloads,  more stability and such.  I’m wondering if maybe part of the reason why you slowly feel more powerful is because of these subtle improvements,  rather than actual skill increases.  Perhaps this is a nice way to provide a hidden crutch to the player – you never feel like you’re “stuck”,  since it only takes a couple rounds before you’ve unlocked something new or gained an improved ability.