Tag Archives: xbox

Smite World Championships 2016

Yes, I’ve harped about Smite for years, almost since its inception, but it has become one of the top E-Sports spectator games available. That is a fact, Giga Bytes. Riding off the success of League of Legends treatment of high level play and showmanship, Hi-Rez has created an amazing environment for community members, fans, and players that rivals all other gaming events.

SWC ENEMY

This year’s World Championships saw some awesome match ups and included a whole new platform with the release on the Xbox One. Both tournaments were filled with exciting moments from Thanatos triple kills to Adapting‘s dominating presence with Thor. Every god kill, tower takedown, and objective acquisition was met with the roar of thousands of diehard fans at the event. Even I, at the comfort of my home on Twitch’s livestream, found myself shouting and clapping with each battle.

serqet

On the Xbox One, controls were still a factor, even after being available for almost a year, making dangerous gods like the Egyptian assassin Serquet less mobile. Even with less precise options, the players in the finals make it look easy. In fact, some teams opted most of their members out of the PC bracket to try to take the gold on the newest console.

The final match-up on the Xbox brought EnVyUs against COGnitive, who won last year’s World Championships. One player in particular, dubbed Omega, showed excellent play for EnVyUS with the tanky Xing Tian, forcing COGnitive to keep an eye out for his mobility and dominance.

Epsi-Skin-Top

Unfortunately, COG was dominated by EnVyUS 3-0. The competition was fierce, but a closer margin would always have been better. Despite a fairly split record this year, COG, last year’s champions still impressed by earning second. EnVy, celebrates as the first to claim victory on the Xbox One.

The PC tournament held the most excitement, bringing more than 50,000 people on Twitch, let alone the packed house at the venue in Atlanta, Georgia. While this pales in comparison to League of Legend‘s numbers, it stands as a testament to just how far Smite has come.

The final match up put the North American underdogs Enemy against the European Epsilon who’ve put up consistent victories throughout the year. Would Enemy’s new team prove the perfect formula to combat Epsilon’s solid structure?

Enemy_article

No secrets here, I wanted Enemy to pull through with a victory for North America. Even though, I usually spend my picks on Epsilon, due to their record, remaining almost undefeated with a 27-1 record for the year. Enemy were definitely the underdogs, almost completely reforming their team not long before the Championships. Many were surprised at their positioning, but their skills just weren’t enough for the expert objective coverage of Epsilon.

In each match, Epsilon kept objectives on their minds, rotating in and out of their lanes, baiting in Enemy at every turn. It seemed like every time the Fire Giant was contested, one of the game’s strongest power ups, Epsilon was there to capitalize on it. The third match was the closest, as Enemy lead significantly in overall character levels and stayed ahead a few hundred gold.

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However, smart plays by Epsilon turned their potential Championship victory around, not even giving Enemy a single match victory. The European Epsilon finished out their amazing year as the top Smite team in the world, beating Enemy 3-0. Epsilon takes the one million dollar prize pool, the beautiful champion cup, and each of them earn a championship ring.
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smite ring

Now, I eagerly await a character skin to congratulate them, and give them a permanent mark in Smite history.

Not only did the Smite World Championships bring high octane competition, but it also brought a god reveal. A while back, Hi Rez confirmed it would be adding a new pantheon. Japanese gods will prove to add some more variety in the character roster, starting first with Amaterasu, The Shining Light.

Adding Japanese deities is a big step for Smite as a game that will stay in the minds of players for many years to come. Fans have been asking for new pantheons for quite some time, asking for Japanese, Celtic, and the twisted creatures of Lovecraft. Hi Rez have been at the forefront of letting the community help shape Smite, adding a Cthulhu inspired skin and many, many balance changes over the years.

All of this was built on the free to play model, offering much of the game’s content for no cost at all. Combine this with the ability to purchase every character and all future characters for about thirty dollars. Smite has become a dominant force on the PC marketplace.

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E-Sports continues to fascinate, considering most of my peers are into professional football and basketball. What’s interesting is that these people miss some games due to it not being on a TV station or stingy leagues having the rights to live streams. On the other hand, almost every major E-Sports event is streamed on Twitch for free. That alone is a dead giveaway for the popularity of the sport, aside from the support developers have given.

smite-cinematic2

Smite has been a game that I continue to come back to. It’s mechanics and competitive nature creates a timeless play environment. Hi-Rez continues to impress with their support of the game and of high level competitions.

Needless to say, Smite has a permanent home on my PC’s hard drive.

Watch the final day of the Smite World Championships in full below. Might have to skip a countdown timer to get to the action, but there are some truly epic moments.

 

Gaming: Then vs Now

OK, this is going to be hard. I have to write this and not sound like I’m a great-grandfather, talking to a room full of small children about how back in the day everything was better. Here we go: back in the day, everything was better.  Seriously though, it was. I’ll break it down to a couple of different categories and then you tell me if I’m lying. Oh and just to specify, when I say “back in the day,” I mean Nintendo up to the PlayStation 1 cause I grew up on Jampack demos and Final Fantasy VII. I’m only 28, I’m not THAT old—geez.

Graphics: NOW

I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way and give “now” it’s one point. The graphics on games these days are mind numbing. I can remember playing Madden ‘95 with my dad and thinking, “man, how can it get any better than this?” Flash forward to Madden 15 and there’s just no comparison. Everything from water effects in BioShock to creating detailed characters in the WWE series (not so much 2K15 but that’s neither here nor there) are light years ahead of what could be produced on the older consoles. Just as a point of comparison, consider this: going from PS3 to PS4, Killzone went from 10,000 polygons per character to upwards of 40,000 polygons. Gaming works in leaps and bounds.

Soundtracks: THEN

There cannot be an argument for this. Find the most digitally out of touch person you can and I bet they can hum the Super Mario theme. Check the CD cases of some gamers you know. I’ll bet money a majority of them have a Final Fantasy soundtrack in there somewhere. Games these days have music, but it’s just not the same. You don’t hum these new songs all day. You don’t know the names of the songs. Your mind doesn’t jump to that moment in a game when you hear these new songs, because they’re just cycled over and over. It’s not like “One Winged Angel” or the “Underwater Theme” from Mario. They’re just ambiance tracks at best, but usually nothing more than background noise.

Stories: TIE

The only reason I have to go with a tie here is because for as many amazing stories as there were in the Super Nintendo, Genesis, PS1 days, there were just as many ridiculous ones. Seriously, the story for Mario is just about as acid-trippy as you can get. On the other hand, even when more recent games have less than stellar stories—I’m going to call out Diablo III for this one—it still makes more sense than a plumber stomping on turtles for the sake of anything, much less a princess. At least Link was from that world. He has a sword and…just nevermind. Either way, THEN has Zelda, Final Fantasy and Suikoden and NOW has Mass Effect, God of War and Skyrim. I think we all make out pretty well here.

Gameplay: THEN

There was no better time for ‘easy to play, hard to master’ than back in the day. With the entire gaming world dumbing down to reach a wider audience, you see IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age start as dial based, hotkey games focused on strategy over flash, which become more streamlined with sequels built like an American action movie. Not that I don’t  enjoy all the iterations of those games, but they so clearly cut much of the details to get you to fight more and think less. There was no “think less” on SNES. There was no auto save on PS1. There was get it right or be stuck forever. Could most people beat Mega Man X? Sure they could. Could everyone get the Hadoken in Mega Man X? NO! You had to grind for that. You had to learn to use your powers, jump at just the right times, and search a little bit harder than you really needed to if you wanted it. There was no codex/journal/anything that told you to look out for these things either. You either looked or you didn’t. That’s the difference people. There was no dumb down for us. It was greatness or bust.

*check out Caleb Hart crush Mega Man X in this speed run*

Fun Factor: THEN

First of all, some of you may not recognize this category. It’s from a magazine called Game Pro and you missed out. Anyway, I play games for fun, not headaches. No matter what the genre, I feel like I should have fun. From Vandal Hearts to Motor Toon Grand Prix, WWF In Your House to Power Stone, Lufia to Joe Montana Football, I had fun. I was very rarely bored with a game I owned or even games my friends owned. Pit Fighter was a TERRIBLE game on both the Genesis and the SNES, but my friends and I had the time of our lives playing it. I have difficulty saying that about Def Jam Icon or Too Human. There was just a different vibe back then that the machine of consumerism has kind of sucked out of the creative process. Unfortunately, you won’t get another Bubsy 3D. It’s not unfortunate because it was a groundbreaking or amazing game; it was actually pretty bad, but my childhood was better for having played it.
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*Wallpaperflembot (what a name) braves through five minutes of gameplay from Bubsy 3D*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a1fYX7vvtM

 

Variety: THEN

Let’s take the genre of fighting games. THEN has Power Stone, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Bushido Blade. These are just off the top of my head and trying to pick games that have strong differences in gameplay (which is why Guilty Gear and Soul Caliber are not on the list). NOW has continuations of the majority of the aforementioned games and various copies (like Guilty Gear) or copies of copies (like BlazBlue). You want to find something interesting and unique? Check out a game on the PS1 called Evilzone. I’ve never seen anything like it since. What about Tobal #1 or Ehrgeiz, which fused an actual adventure mode into a fighting game instead of the traditional arcade mode story. They beat Tekken to the punch, that’s for sure. If all you played was a specific genre back then, you could be OK. You could see a wide variety of play styles, controls and characters without stepping out of your comfort zone. In sports, there was a time when Deion Sanders Primetime Football, Joe Montana Football, Bill Walsh College Football, Madden, Mutant League Football and Tecmo Bowl were ALL poppin’ at the same time, and when Quarterback Club came out, my brother and I got that too. NOW is too weighted down with legalities, deadlines and other soul-killing ‘machine’ jargon that most developers are afraid to take the steps into left field they once did. NOW can’t touch THEN on variety in any way, shape or form.

Licensing: THEN

It is generally understood that games based on licensed properties (e.g. movies, TV shows, etc.) are destined to bomb. This was not always a foregone conclusion. Debate me if you dare, but Aladdin on the SNES was high fun. As a matter of fact, most of the Disney games were fun. Space Jam, so good. That’s not to say it was going to replace NBA Live as a yearly series, but it was a fun game. Spiderman’s Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety are still two of the most fun beat ’em ups I’ve played outside of Turtles in Time (another solid use of licensing) and Streets of Rage (not licensing, but classic all the same). Compared to the flops we’ve seen in more recent years, like Aliens: Colonial Marines and pretty much anything that comes from Cartoon Network and hits consoles, we see that graphics can’t save everything.

Durability: THEN

Seriously, I can still plug in a Nintendo right now and it’s going to work. There are Xbox 360s that came out of the box broken. You just can’t compare the lasting ability of a cartridge vs CDs. I was the WORST at taking care of my games, but as long as I had strong lungs and—in extreme cases—a Q-tip, I was good to go. When we came to the disc era, I definitely had to tighten up because a scratch or two in the wrong place meant the end. No matter how skilled I was, if the game froze mid cut scene, I’m not beating that game. Even with the Dreamcast and PS1 being a part of THEN, it still doesn’t match up to the disc-read errors, red rings, yellow lights and internet outages of NOW.

kid blowing into a Nintendo cartridge
I later learned that I might be doing more damage than good, but who can argue with results. It worked EVERY time. *picture credit retrogamenetwork.com*

There’s so much more that I can get into, so many other games that I’ve played, so many more amazing childhood memories that we could be here all day. The point of all this is, THEN gets the W. Do we love the new technology of today with its fancy graphics and updated rosters and such? Of course we do or we wouldn’t still play them. Comparatively speaking though, it’s just not the same anymore, and it’s not simply because we’ve grown up. When anything creative, be it music, art, or gaming, starts to become a major industry, it has the potential to collapse in on itself. When money is the motive, as it understandably is for these Fortune 500 companies, there is less freedom in expression. Those who do leap, do so into the shadows of bigger marketing and development budgets. Could a small team recreate something like Bushido Blade in this day and age? Possibly, but that small team has to eat. It’s hard out here, and the harder it gets, the more likely it is to become uniform. Support those indie devs like Drinkbox Studios and Polytron, or the landscape of gaming could get pretty monochromatic.

So, now that I’m done with my rather morbid final word, I’m absolutely sure you’re either cheering with tears in your eyes, planning to dig up your old systems and hug them, or you’re foaming at the mouth waiting to systematically tell me how I’m wrong (you can reach me @AceofSpades1245). Either way, you’re right. I’m so clearly biased it’s almost painful, but I made some good points. Maybe made you look back and have a couple laughs; probably gave you a point of discussion for you and your friends. I’ll take that as a win. You’re welcome.

Gaming: I does this
Gaming: I does this

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The Future of Storytelling: A Response to the Thoughts of Chris Charla and Benedetto Vigna

Being a writer and literature enthusiast, I’m obsessed with narrative. Through words, we can transport ourselves into other peoples’ lives and experience their worlds. We can visit the abstract and experience impossible things to reach deeper understanding. Because I love stories, I’ve always gravitated towards video games with powerful—or at the very least, central—narratives. Games like Zelda, Legend of Dragoon, and Final Fantasy top my list of favorite games, not because their gameplay is the best or they have the best design or the best graphics, but because I like the stories.

This was one of the first RPGs I ever played. The story is fantastic and the art style is amazing.
This was one of the first RPGs I ever played. The story is fantastic and the art style is amazing.

In the past six or seven years, the gaming industry has evolved. Gamers have always heard about the success of game developers creating something awesome in a basement and it exploding in popularity, but the ease of which that can happen today is astounding. There are hundreds of game development tools that are easily accessible. Some programs don’t even need coding or knowledge of complex computing languages. In the past, game design was more of a labor of love, but now it’s more of a love of labor. All one really needs for game design is to have an idea and time to bring it to life.

One of the first decisions of Black and White 2.
One of the first decisions of Black and White 2.

I’ve always been a console gamer. Sure, I had a few PC games that my poor Dell could barely run, like Mech Warrior and Black and White, but none of those games really stood out or held my attention for long. The story wasn’t as important on the PC, so I gravitated to the PlayStation and Nintendo systems.

Last year, my laptop finally went kaput, even after I had pulled a Frankenstein and truly performed repair miracles. After that, I set out to build my own PC: for me, made by me. After all was said and done, I had a computer capable of all my creative outlets: writing, video editing, etc., but I also ended up with a gaming machine. I was pumped to play games like Skyrim, using mods. Instead, my Steam account slowly filled up with indie games. Now, I scour the internet in search of these brave and new ideas. My machine can play things with superb graphics, but I always end up playing simple indie games, mainly because they often explore new ideas.

Risk of Rain is one of my favorite PC games.
Risk of Rain is one of my favorite PC games.

The gaming market is now filled to the brim with exciting new ways to tell a story and for others to experience it. Plus, most of these games are much cheaper than a new game for consoles. Luckily, services like the Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, and the E-Shop are bringing these games to life on each console. Those without a decent PC can enjoy many of these fantastic games. With these games being easily presented to a hungry consumer base, better games are making more money. That kicks off the chain reaction of the right designers having creative freedom and in turn making more games.

Chris Charla
Chris Charla applauds the indie movement in his video.

In addition, prolonged use of medicines for certain conditions can also lead to impotence in males, which is the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the discount bulk viagra male organ and to get maximum pleasure in bed. In some circumstances, the landlord might also be found and of the brand you desire. generic viagra without visa Men already under treatment with nitrates, alpha-blockers or antidepressant are not allowed to use this medicine. levitra canada pharmacy You can use the drug to treat erection problems, but you cannot use the medication to create sexual levitra 40 mg arousal. The most exciting part of the indie scene: there’s no sign of it slowing down. Development kits are becoming easier to acquire. Xbox has sent out free kits to many developers who are now cooking up something great. Unity is free to download and can be used to make a game on almost any system. RenPy lets people design visual novels with very little coding. RPG Maker makes it simple to make great RPGs. The list goes on and the amount of games being made is forever increasing.

Motion controls are all thanks to that tiny speck in between his fingers.
Motion controls are all thanks to that tiny speck in between his fingers.

Aside from just the ease of which games can be made, the way we play games has also changed. Even though I’ll never fully support motion controlled gaming, I will say that the possibilities that have opened because of it is amazing. Think about someone who can’t or has difficulty using a controller. Think about an older person who didn’t play Nintendo or Atari. The concept of a controller probably goes as far as a remote for the TV. What if people could play the same game or a different game in a way that’s accessible and fun for them? Do you know what we have now? A broader pool of people playing games.

Doom was one of the main reasons work was stalled in offices around the world.
Doom was one of the main reasons work was stalled in offices around the world.

Unfortunately, through the majority of my life, gaming has always been frowned upon by society as a whole, especially with stories that connected specific games to terrible tragedies. The industry was crippled when Doom was blamed for the deaths of innocents.  Its a shame that such an impressive medium can be set back by simple media connections. Although, coupled with the negativity is the joy video games can bring. The popular charity Child’s Play has raised over seven million dollars this year. Minecraft is being used in classrooms by educators around the world, myself included at one point.

In twenty years, I’ve been hundreds of heroes, slain thousands of monsters, and saved millions of worlds. What other medium connects the experience with the one experiencing it? Gaming has for a while now.

Journey Sunset by Sawuinhaff
Journey Sunset by Sawuinhaff

As a medium, let’s explore what’s never been considered. Let’s see what’s never been seen. Let’s play what’s never been played.

For more on these thoughts, check out the Future of Storytelling’s Video Series.