"Dragon Age is great but..."

There are a few of these, many having to do with this being an old-school RPG in some ways. Whether the game works for you has a lot to do with whether you can see past these "buts".

After the jump are Dragon Age's biggest buts.

In case you were underwhelmed by the two new missions offered up for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising as yesterday's official downloadable content, keep your eye out here*. The site should be filling up quickly with missions, because Codemasters and Intel are sponsoring a mission design contest with a fancy new PC as the prize.

Players have until November 29th to submit the mission using the Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising mission editor. The community will then rate each submission, with the 12 top rated submissions sent to a panel of judges for final review. These judges, composed of staff from Codemasters, Intel, Games Fed and Turtle Entertainment, will then test and rate the missions to determine the contest winners by January 4, 2010.

* Ooh, look, a zombie mission (pictured)!

Remember all that Pepsi product placement in Uncharted 2? Me neither. But it looks like we barely dodged a bullet. Nathan Drake has thrown his lot in with Pepsi. Sony is "partnering" with Pepsi to promote Uncharted 2. Also check out the Toyota 4-Runner ads plastered on the Uncharted 2 page on the Playstation Network.

It's interesting to note from the details of the Pepsi contest that this clearly isn't aimed at folks like you and me who've already played the game. The 20 first-prize winners get a PS3 along with copies of both Uncharteds. The 200 runners-up just get a copy of the game. We've already got those things.

Instead, this is a way for Sony to advertise the game in supermarkets to people who might not know about the game. Because it's so cinematic, and because it has such vividly presented characters, this is the kind of game I'm happy to see muscling into places you don't normally see games. Uncharted 2 and the soft drink aisle of my local supermarket are a fine fit.

The contest is also promoting the Uncharted "motion comic", Eye of Indra. A motion comic is like an animated short but without actual animation. Instead, the camera pans around still artwork while actors do voiceover. Sometimes someone's arm moves or something. The first episode is available on the Playstation Network for free, although you get to sit through advertising. You get a Toyota ad, in which Elena drives up in a bright red 4-Runner to rescue Nate. They drive off in a scene with a big Toyota logo at the bottom of the screen. "You in?" the tagline asks.

But it seems like Sony intends to charge for the later episodes. Either that, or the 100,000 second place runners-up in the Pepsi contest who win episodes one and two aren't getting much of a prize.

According to the 2009 International Survey conducted by Today's Gamers, the percentage of Americans who play videogames is higher than any other nationality. Not only that, but we spend way more time playing videogames than other countries. Of all the respondents to the online survey of dudes over 8-years-old, 87% said they "played computer games*", spending an average of 11.5 hours a week. Second place in terms of population percentage was Britain, where only 74% of dudes said the played computer games. Second place in terms of time spent was France, where the dudes who said they played computer games spent an average of 7.1 hours a week.

Ha, not even close. USA! USA! USA!

There are more charts from the survey here.

* Note this terminology flings the door wide-open for people who play Minesweeper, Wii Fit, and that farming thing on Facebook.

There's a lot of text in Dragon Age. As with previous Bioware games, as you play, you fill a codex with entries, divided into categories. There are sections for politics, history, characters, special items, and so forth. I'm like a lot of gamers in that I tend to skip this stuff. But that wasn't quite how it worked out in Dragon Age.

Read about the reading after the jump.

No, not those kind of birthday suits. Those are already in the game. Unlike Dragon Age, your little naked sackboy doesn't have silly underwear on under his or her clothes. Little Big Planet is one of the few games to sneak full nudity past the ESRB. Subversive!

Anyway, it's Little Big Planet's one-year birthday, so for a limited time you can download a free birthday cake suit and a free limited edition astronaut suit that was only available for a limited time when the game came out. So it's still limited, just not as limited.

The game formerly known as Fragile has a new name, perhaps to avoid confusion with Nine Inch Nails albums. It now has what I think is my favorite videogame name: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. When you read it you progress from "huh?" to "hmm" to "well..." to "okay, that's totally weird and cool and it makes me want to know more about the game". For instance, what happens if you don't handle the dreams with care? Why are there ruins on the moon? Are you saying farewell to the ruins, in which case where are you going? Where is there to go once you've gone to the moon? Or are these some sort of special farewell ruins?

All that aside, this is a Japanese adventure/RPG based on using the Wiimote as a flashlight to explore a haunted world. Not Ju-On haunted, but Miyazaki haunted. Dig this bullet point from the feature list.

Emotional Story about Abandonment, Loneliness and Redemption - The game's focus is on human drama as a boy wanders a post-apocalyptic world in search of answers and companionship.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon was created by tri-Crescendo, the studio that did Baten Kaitos on the Gamecube, a sadly overlooked RPG with an effective card collecting gimmick. More recently, they made Eternal Sonata which was about -- no joke -- Frederic Chopin on his deathbed. Fragile Dreams was released earlier this year in Japan and will be published in North America next spring by Xseed. And just because I love the name so, let me type it again: Fragile Dream: Farewell Ruins of the Moon.

One of the things missing in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, a pretty decent tactical shooter, is some way to play other than the canned campaign missions. For instance, its more ambitious and considerably messier cousin, ArmA II, gives you all sorts of options to jump into dynamically generated scenarios to just kill randomly spawned guys. It's a great way to flex these kinds of shooters. Kind of like skirmish modes in real time strategy games. Just let me get in there and fight without all this scripted storyline guff!

So I was elated to discover the new "Skirmish" downloadable content for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. It's available today for free on the PC, for a handful of space bucks on the Xbox 360, and for some indeterminate future date on the Playstation 3. Finally, a skirmish mode!

Let's check the press release for details:

The 'Skirmish' DLC features four new multiplayer maps and two new Fire Team Engagement (FTE) missions...

Halo Waypoint is a new part of Xbox Live featuring all sorts of Halo-oriented trailers, videos, and stat tracking. Think of it as Microsoft's publicly displayed love letter to Halo. It also provides the option to earn a full set of Orbital Drop Shock Trooper armor in which to encase your Xbox Live avatar so you no longer have to look at the creepy little guy.

In addition, Halo Waypoint includes an innovative career system that tracks players' accomplishments across multiple "Halo" games and gives them new ways to show off their heroic gameplay feats. By downloading and "enlisting" in Halo Waypoint, players will be rewarded with a variety of Bungie-created "Halo 3: ODST" Avatar Awardables for attaining specific Achievements in the game.

If you're ever out and about with one of the characters from Dragon Age, maybe going shopping or to a party or meeting some friends for a drink, don't trust him to tell you if you have food in your teeth or if your fly is open or if the tag on the back of your shirt is sticking out. Because after a battle, these people carry on with each other with nary a word about the spots of blood on their faces.

I'd be all, like, "You know what, Alistair, I want to hear what you think about Logain, I really do, but you have something there, on your face. Right there. No, lower. Also, there. To the left. You know what? Here. Let me get you a towel." In Bioware's fantasy world, personal grooming does not require wiping fluids off your face when you interact with people. So these people certainly aren't going to say anything if you have a piece of spinach in your teeth from the salad you had at lunch.

Although maybe that sort of social propriety doesn't kick in until a character likes you enough. Maybe you have to get that "how much I like you" bar really high before someone tells you that you have a spot of blood on your cheek. But it's hard to make close friends in Dragon Age. Yeah, sure, teaming up to save the world from darkspawn brings you close, but not as close as exchanging gifts. Every day is Christmas in Dragon Age.

So, here, Alistair, have this veal bone. I was going to give it to the dog, but his "how much I like you bar" is already maxed out, so you can have it since you've been whining a lot lately.

By the way, I shelled out nearly eight gold sovereigns for some doo-dad I figured Leliana would like. What thanks do I get? +1. Spoiled little hussy. She can just carry on with flecks of blood all around her mouth, nose, and eyes for all I care.

Tomorrow: Is this going to be on the final?

(Click here for the previous Dragon Age game diary.)

Ideally, you should just wait until Left 4 Dead 2 comes out on November 17th. But if you can't do that -- and I know how tough it is -- then you can use Saul's plug-in/hack to unlock the special infected in the Left 4 Dead 2 demo. This will give you an early taste of the jockey, charger, and spitter (pictured, ewww!). Of course, no guarantees that you won't break everything entirely. Just have a look through the comments section to get a sense of what you're in for.

If I'd known Gratuitous Space Battles was going live this week, I would have adjusted the wallet threat level upwards. You know how the space combat scenes in Battlestar Galactica were terrible and epic and oddly serene, all at once? This game is like that. It has lovely graphics, a lot of depth, an alarming amount of replayability, and a great sense of humor, to boot. Plus, it's universal. Who wouldn't want to build spaceships and then throw them into massive battles so you can sit back and watch them pound the snot out of other spaceships? Isn't that the point of all science fiction? Isn't that why Wrath of Khan is the only good Star Trek movie?

After a lengthy beta period that incorporated lots of user feedback and lots of gratuitous improvements, Gratuitous Space Battles is now officially released. Not to say it's final. Developer Cliff Harris clarifies the announcement of the "release version":

Does this mean the game is finished?
It means the game is in a finished state, playable and is properly for sale, yes. It means people can review the game without thinking it's still in beta. It means that Positech (Me!) consider this to be a finished game, rather than an on-going beta test.

Is this the end of new features?
No. Definitely not. I already have stuff (like the converging lasers thing) in the pipeline to add in later updates. There is a ton of stuff I'd love to add (if the game sells!). It *does* mean that updates will be less frequent, but probably be more feature-related rather than focusing on bug fixing, and possibly bigger in scope.

While addressing investors in Japan at a briefing on Nintendo's financials, Shigeru Miyamoto was asked what he's been doing lately. Since he has a way of translating his hobbies into videogames, the question was intended as some insight into his next project. After some corporate "no comment" style comments, Miyamoto joked (?) that he's been into cats lately. At which point Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata joked (?) that's a hint as to their next game.

If they are indeed working on a cat game (ha ha!), Nintendo has their work cut out for them. The above video is footage of what must be the ultimate cat game. You do foolish things while your cat looks on and silently judges you. I can think of no more accurate cat simulator than that. Also, I don't read Japanese, but I'm pretty sure the words "Toonces, no!" appear during the driving segments.

(Thanks 1up, Andriasang, and Mr. Rex DX.)

Dragon Age is out as of today. Since you're just starting to play, maybe I can help you out with a few tips I wish someone had shared with me when I was where you are now.

After the jump are seven things -- spoiler free! -- I wish I'd known earlier.

I got to sit down and talk to Tim Schafer, one of the creators of Brutal Legend. He reveals why there's no nudity in the game (it's not the reason you think), the songs you should have heard but didn't, what Lemmy from Motorhead refused to say during his voiceover session, and how I've got it all backwards when I wonder how they managed to stealth a real time strategy game - that isn't even a real time strategy game! - into their open world.

All that and more in the interview after the jump.

In case you don't quite have the hardware to play the latest zombie-killing games on your PC, such as Left 4 Dead 2 or Resident Evil 5, there are alternatives other than having to stomach Fort Zombie. For instance, the Out of Hell mod for Unreal Tournament 2004 just went live. You do still have your Unreal Tournament 2004 disks somewhere, don't you?

This project was created almost solely by a fellow named Long Nguyen, who presents it as follows:

Players can look forward to exploring huge levels while choosing to avoid or bludgeon hordes of up to 30+ zombies! Those who are keen on backstory will be able to unravel clues hidden inside logs and files as they progress through the game!

Left 4 Dead 2 had a tough time of it with the Australian ratings board. So Valve made a toned down version down under. Have a look at the side-by-side comparisons to see what the Aussies are missing.

On the bright side, Australia still gets to enjoy all the scenery from those Lord of the Rings movies. It must be great to be able to see Mt. Doom from the capital city of Sidney. I'd much rather have that than several hundred zombie dismemberments*.

* Not really.

I'd like to thank lead systems designer Georg Zoeller for taking the time to post the following comment in response to my complaint about additional inventory space being part of the DLC for sale for Dragon Age.

Hey Tom,

For what it's worth, 'EA' has nothing to do with this (apart from being the parent company of BioWare).

The game was designed with limited inventory for a number of reasons, the least of which being to limit savegame size and therefore loadtimes.

Originally there was a small storage chest in the party camp, until we realized that due to the fact that there are several versions of the camp area (for reasons evident in the story) and that people were losing their items (as they were stored in the area).

By the time this problem was discovered, we had not enough time to fix the problem, plus, we decided that it was not really necessary anyway since the item limitation was rather generous compared to the initial designs at least.

The game was finalized tested without a storage chest. The item limit was never questioned or brought up during the QA phase, after all, it was part of the design.

The 'storage chest' in Warden's Keep DLC was added by the DLC team as part of their 'hey, what would be a cool feature for your own keep' brainstorming.

I'm fine with you being upset about the item limit design in the game - and fine with you being upset about the chest being included in the DLC, but I must protest the 'Oh, EA is pushing the limit for more money' tagline, because that's just not what has happened.

I categorically reject that any features or game systems in this game were designed or removed to 'bilk users for more money'

-- Georg
Lead Systems Designer
Dragon Age
georg@bioware.com

However, I still have questions. If the inventory space limitation is an intentional design feature to reduce saved game sizes and load times, why can't the solution applied to the DLC also be applied to those of us who don't buy the DLC? And if it's an intentional design feature to force hard choices about what to keep and what to sell, why is that feature being subverted only for people who buy the DLC?

Furthermore, Mr. Zoeller says it was part of the design team brainstorming about cool features, but Bioware producer Derek French has publicly said it was a response to press feedback about the lack of inventory space. I'm surprised the QA folks didn't offer similar feedback.

The bottom line is that I really really like Dragon Age. It's a smart RPG system, a rich and imaginative game world, and a triumph of storytelling. I hate to make a big deal out of a relatively minor issue when I'd much rather be talking about the things I love in the game (stay tuned for more of that). But for whatever reason Bioware is doing it, selling additional inventory space for real-world money stinks.

Like any gear-based RPG, you're going to be collecting a lot of stuff in Dragon Age. A lot. Some of it you'll be equipping, but most of it will just accumulate until you need it. The developers know this. They intend to make more money from you because of it.

Read about it the Dragon Age inventory scam after the jump.

I opted out of The Lost and Damned, the first round of Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content exclusive to the Xbox 360. I won't be doing that for Ballad of Gay Tony, the second round of DLC. So far, it looks classy, refined, and over the top, shrewdly built around its nightclub theme and populated with interesting and mostly likable characters. I instantly want to know what's going to happen to these people. This is what DLC should be.

Early on in The Ballad of Gay Tony, you get the sort of gun you don't normally get until the end of a game. Then you're thrown into a helicopter with rockets and machines guns and not so much as a polite reminder about how you're supposed to pilot the damn thing, much less shoot a bunch of fast moving little boats while you fly. Spectacular destruction -- and mostly likely failure -- ensues. Gay Tony isn't going to hold your hand as you re-learn Grand Theft Auto IV. This bit is from the press materials included with the game:

Like The Lost and Damned, the entire city is open from the beginning, and Luis, being a man of action, doesn't need any tutorials or missions to learn how to use his news [sic] instruments of mayhem.