Over the weekend, I started playing Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the much anticipated next chapter in the Ace Attorney series. All in all, the game is similar to past titles except in these four ways:

1. You play as a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney
2. There are no courtroom battles and all debates occur in the field
3. You physically move around each area to investigate
4. You must physically connect the clues with logic

While the storyline is interesting (it involves a smuggling plot and international intrigue), the actual gameplay is quite disappointing. That’s not to say AAI is a bad game. I was simply dumbfounded that all of the new features simply draw out existing gameplay rather than offer something truly new and exciting.

For example, the difference between playing as a prosecutor and a defense attorney is nonexistent. While it’s true that Detective Gumshoe is more afraid of you and Franziska whips you a bit less, the gameplay still consists of visiting locations, finding evidence, and asking witnesses questions.

The removal of the iconic courtroom battles makes the game more snappy and was long overdue. But despite the absence of a judge, the system of pressing witnesses and presenting evidence is exactly the same!

One of the things that excited me about the game when I first saw it in Famitsu magazine was that you could walk around and physically explore the different areas in the style of an old LucasArts adventure game. Once again, my expectations proved to be too high. In the actual game, you’re lucky if you get more than two areas to explore per chapter. And of the few areas you can actually walk around in, nothing much has changed. Whereas in the earlier games, you could just tap a location with your stylus and obtain evidence; it now takes twice the amount of time because you have to physically walk to the object and examine it.

Finally, much has been said about the logic system, which replaces the past games’ psyche-locks and is supposed to allow you to connect Edgeworth’s observations and draw conclusions. While this system is interesting in theory, and completely in line with Edgeworth’s character as portrayed in previous games, it falls flat in execution. In the game, you’re rarely given more than four choices to connect at any time. You could theoretically guess and get the right answer. Also, many of the logical connections are so simple to deduce that it makes you wonder why you have to go through the exercise at all. You’re basically drawing the same conclusions as in previous games; but instead of doing it in your head, the game now holds your hand through the entire process.

Again, I’m not saying AAI is a bad game. It’s a perfectly average game that had a lot of potential and squandered it. After I watched Edgeworth running through a bunch of interesting locations in the trailer, I jumped to the conclusion that the game would play a certain way. I’m sure many others did as well. Had I possessed the logic of a flamboyant Japanese prosecutor, perhaps things would have been different.

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Depending on who you ask, The Hurt Locker winning the Oscar for Best Picture over James Cameron’s Avatar was either a huuuuuuge upset or a sign that the academy finally came to its senses.

Having seen both films, I’m glad The Hurt Locker took home the award.

There’s no doubt that Avatar is a visual spectacle. The film completely immerses audiences in the alien world of Pandora, a remarkable feat. Its global appeal and box office gross are unrivaled. Everyone involved with the production of thiss film should feel proud of what they accomplished. That being said, Avatar had some nagging flaws as well — including some all-too-transparent social commentary, audience manipulation, and unoriginal white-guilt storyline.

On the other hand, The Hurt Locker doesn’t have a massive global appeal nor the ability to boost toy sales. But what it does really well is convey a heart-pounding, gritty, and realistic story about war, without all the typical war movie tropes. I walked away with a much greater appreciation of the hardships of the people of Iraq as well as the men and women deployed there, charged with turning around a really bad situation while struggling to stay sane.

The Hurt Locker didn’t make it on my Top 5 in 2009 list, but only because I didn’t watch it until January. All in all, I’m solidly in the camp that approves the academy’s decision. Kathryn Bigelow’s movie was fantastic.

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Well, we didn’t think it could be possible. But it has happened. Tonight, America’s sweetheart Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for Best Actress in The Blind Side in the same year that she won Worst Actress in All About Steve. Boy, I wonder if those statues will end up in the same trophy case.

All kidding aside, I watched The Blind Side a few months ago and thought she did a tremendous job. But one might posit that she had an advantage because her other performance was so atrocious that it revealed to academy members the full range of her acting ability.

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Game demos are generally designed to let players try a tiny part of a game and lock out everything remotely interesting about the actual experience. Occasionally, it will even reset itself to prevent players from having too much fun. Great experience for gamers, right?

Sony has filed a patent for a ‘degradable’ demo that allows players to enjoy the full version of a game, but with features disappearing over time. For example, a racing game might start losing stages or customizations after 4-5 hours. Alternatively, a player might invest 10 hours into an RPG and discover all their weapons and armor nerfed. The concept hinges on the theory that if a player has significant investment in a game already, they’re more likely to pay money to unlock the full game.

While it’s a nifty concept that might drive new sales if implemented, it could also be easily abused by software pirates who have seen similar models in the PC software market for years. Presumably, if someone has a degradable demo, it means the full content of the game is already on the disc or within the installer. The mechanism simply locks down the game using an internal game clock. All it would take is for someone to find a way to remove these locks or dupe the game into thinking it has been paid for and you’d end up with the full game for free. It would be similar to how hackers can replace a file to trick trial software that expires after 90-days into thinking there’s a valid license.

Another thing to consider is that degradable demos would impact the business of game rental services like Blockbuster or GameFly by taking away gamers’ need to ‘rent’ a game in order to assess its worthiness for purchase. Then again, with the move toward digital downloads already threatening the secondary games market, this is likely just another step toward the inevitable.

Finally, patents don’t necessarily always lead to actual products. Sony designers might just be brainstorming and wanted to cover their bases.

So what do you think — good idea or bad idea?

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Suprise, surprise. Bass has been revealed as the mysterious third character in Mega Man 10. Graphical downgrade aside, Bass has retained a lot of his abilities from Rockman & Forte. He can dash, fuse with his robotic dog Treble, and shoot in multiple directions. You’ll be able to unlock this character on April 5 for 200 Wii points, which converts to $2.

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Last weekend, I finally biked across the Golden Gate Bridge with some friends. I’ve been living in the Bay Area for over 3 years now and have always wanted to give it a go. But various circumstances always prevented me from doing it until now.

We rented bikes at Blazing Saddles outside Pier 39 and cycled along the bike trail toward The Presidio, hugging the coast. The whole route was nice and scenic. But right before we got onto the bridge, there was a brutal uphill section that almost nearly knocked us out. However, at the top of the hill, we got a wonderful shot on the bridge (see above).

The Golden Gate itself was an amazing feat of engineering. But it was also a bit frightening as the cars zoom past with barely anything to protect cyclists from a potentially drunk or deranged motorist. The howling wind added to the tension, threatening to knock you right off the seat of your bike. Finally, the single lane meant much better cyclists would tailgate and berate you should you not pedal at speeds to their liking.

If you walk on the pedestrian side, there’s a yellow phone on the bridge tower, intended to discourage people from committing suicide. The phones connect potential jumpers to a counselor.

Apparently, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most popular places to commit suicide in the world! Over 30 people meet end their lives there annually, and the bridge has claimed over 1,200 since its construction. There have been calls to erect a barrier to prevent people from jumping but a lack of funding has stalled the assembly of any walls or nets.

Once we crossed the bridge, we continued down the path to Sausalito. Unfortunately, we missed the ferry to Pier 39 and had to take a detour to Pier 1 instead. Luckily, this didn’t take as long as I had feared. Riding on the Embarcadero to go back to Fisherman’s Wharf took less than 20 minutes.

The following day, my legs were completely sore. So let it be a lesson to anyone attempting to bike the Golden Gate: If you haven’t ridden a bike for a year, I recommend going to the gym in the week leading up to the big day.

These pictures were taken with my Nexus One.

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NOTE: Below are some stream of consciousness ramblings.

Complex simplicity. That’s an oxymoron, I know.

Despite being 17 years old, DOOM has remained one of my favorite PC games by being simultaneously complex and simple. Allow me to explain. The game is complex in the sense that the developers were able to create amazingly unique levels using different combinations of what are essentially basic building blocks.

At the same time, the premise of running around and shooting everything that moves is inherently simple — at least simple enough that by today’s standards the game would be considered a casual game to play in 15 minute intervals.

Compare this to subsequent shooter games, which incorporate extra layers of complexity like mission objectives, sniper rifles, sneaking, reloading, and navigating in darkness. DOOM appears absolutely cro-magnon by comparison.

I recently read an extremely well-written article by DOOM level designer Jean-Paul LeBreton that encapsulates many of the same thoughts I have about the game’s setup. LeBreton identifies something elusive but true about the game which had me nodding in nodding in agreement. That is, DOOM is a fundamentally different animal than what we deem ‘modern FPS games.’ Putting aside the 3D perspective, DOOM is unique in that players are rewarded with their memorization of enemy placement and skillful dodging.

Read the rest of this entry »

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