...and really enjoyed it. Probably the first PS3 title that I could actually recommend to someone without reservation. It's only the second PS3 title I've finished (the first being Resistance), and I have to say it was good fun.

The game isn't super-original - in fact, it's basically a Tomb Raider / Gears of War mash-up (albeit a very polished one). Visually the game looks great - Naughty Dog pulled off some really iconic scenes throughout the game and exploring them really brought me back to that old-school joy I felt with the first Tomb Raider. Although the story isn't terribly strong (feels a bit contrived at times), it's good enough to keep pulling you along... but make no mistake, the primary joy of the game is around exploration. There is a bit of puzzle solving, but they're pretty darn easy. Combat is a lot of fun, too - AI is good enough to keep you on your toes and the controls are smooth and tight.

On the negative side, combat gets a bit trying as you get further into the game. Your primary opponents are pirates (at least up until the last section of game), and it's astounding just how many there are on the island. Seriously - they're pirates, not a third-world country army, yet somehow you run across them over and over and over (and over) again to the point of tediousness. The game also has quasi-Achievements you can earn (mirroring Xbox 360's Achievements to the point that you have 1000 points you can earn), but without a meta-game that those points apply to, you don't really have a lot of reason to go hunting them down.

Overall, if you're a fan of Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones style adventures, Drake's Fortune is worth checking out. Sales are surprisingly poor right now - can't figure it out, to tell the truth. Don't let that stop you if you already have a PS3.

On a side note, a co-worker of mine will occasionally be posting thoughts on the game industry here going forward. He and I tend to discuss a ton of the stuff I've written about in the past, and I'm sure he'll have some interesting insights you might enjoy. Not sure whether he wants his real name used at this point, so we'll just call him Krotus for now. I think I may ask him to grade my 2007 game industry predications I made a while ago - could be a fun excercise. :)
 

Interesting Gamasutra article out today on a study from research group Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) that shows better achievements can drive better sales. Achievements have been a bit of a phenomenon, and it's been pretty obvious that other platforms would be following Xbox LIVE's lead soon enough. (To be clear, I'm not saying that the idea of awards or badges for achieving certain tasks is new; however, LIVE enabled the concept seamlessly for all games on the platform. There was lots of initial skepticism from partners, but I think folks are pretty well bought in now.)

Here's an interesting snippet from the article:

Can you break down the different types of accomplishments you've identified?

GZ: We broke them down into 16 different types, and we've got very specific definitions about what each one is. They go from action accomplishments which reward you for doing an action to something as specific as one related to user generated content, or games that do unlocks, time based or score based accomplishments, initiation, elimination, customization, collection, community, challenges, advancement. They really track to different player types.

We've found that games that incorporate a wider diversity of accomplishments, they hit more people with the things that they really like, and they tend to do better, they tend to get reviewed better, which isn't necessarily terribly surprising. The same goes for quantity.

It's interesting -- we actually have time graphs over the years since the release of the Xbox 360, showing that while it didn't start out that way, it's definitely that way now. As people learned what the accomplishments do, it's actually rather striking. When you look at sales figures for the first five or six months, it really didn't matter as much, but as the consumers have got used to them, they now really seem to be focusing on games that [have more and diverse accomplishments].

I've been on a bit of a "we need to really go enable asynchronous gaming" kick, and you'll see more in that vein going forward. The main thing I wanted to point out here was that achievements are, in many ways, nothing more than another form of async gaming. It's a game where you compete across games to collect Gamerscore, and within games to collect achievements - in many cases, challenging friends to get the same achievements. You don't have to be online at the same time to play, and you can play at any time, and from multiple platforms. Today those platforms include the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows - LIVE... tomorrow, who knows?

Oh - since I know my bringing up G4WL is going to cause some reaction from people who aren't thrilled with our early implementations (in Shadowrun and Halo 2), it's worth saying that I'm still personally excited to where we're going with it. Microsoft is (for better or worse) known for iterating and improving products continually. The old joke is that it takes three versions to deliver what people are happy with - frankly, I think we did pretty darn well with v1 and v2 of LIVE (for Xbox and Xbox 360), and I know folks will be very pleased with what's coming down the pipe for both LIVE and G4WL. Can't talk details for obvious reasons, but let's just say that we fully know things that we need to deliver. Time and space, my friends... time and space.

It's been a while since I've written about Sony... mostly because there hasn't been anything really of interest to write about. The corporate puppy has been thoroughly kicked, and it appears the consumer message is finally getting through.

Next-gen just put up an interview with Eric Lempel, the Director of Playstation Network operations. Lots of interesting quotes in here. They're not terribly surprising (at least to those who have been reading this blog for a while), but interesting nonetheless.

“Microsoft had a year jump on us for the launch and essentially we’re offering a lot of the same stuff. I don’t think there’s a big difference in exactly what we’re offering when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of what’s actually there for the consumer… We’re not charging money for our service. That’s a key differentiating factor.”

Obviously I'd disagree here. Right now Sony is trying to follow a "checkbox strategy." If you looked at a list of network features side-by-side, it's quite obvious Sony is trying to go down the list and check off missing items. Friends list? Check. Presence? Check. Online Marketplace? Check. What's not said here is that there's no integration among those features... I wrote about this a long time ago, but simply put, the online network wasn't even being designed when the console came together and there are fundamental holes in the experience that are either very difficult or impossible to fix.

More interesting is that you're beginning to see the cracks in the "free is better" mantra we've been hearing for the past five years. Believe me, I get that free is good... but you've all seen that you get what you pay for when it comes to an online service. As Next-gen says, however:

...that could be open to change in the future.

“Right now that’s our model. In time anything can change but right now we’re happy with it.”

I've got to swing over to NeoGAF later and see the tizzy that's spun up from this. The reality shoe is finally dropping.

[Edit: added a link to the NeoGAF forum post - it's already started.]

There's also a quote highlighting the, shall we say, "inspired emulation" of Xbox Live features:

Lempel did concede that Sony was working to replicate a number of Xbox Live’s most successful features including cross-game invites, the ability to access the cross-media bar in-game, and an achievements system.

“I like how their marketplace is integrated directly into their user interface….Talking across games is fantastic. That definitely builds momentum for games and actually migrate users to other games and keeps you in touch with your gaming community.

Again, due to the lack of planning and huge amounts of memory the system UI takes, much of what he's talking about will be difficult to impossible to do well on the PS3. But it's good to hear some steps will be taken in this direction, and it lays the groundwork for a better online framework next generation. I'm not kidding when I say I really want the PS3 experience to be better. I'm a gamer, too, and I know there will be some first-party games out of Sony that I can only play on the PS3... and I'd like to not suffer while doing so. More importantly, you can never understate the importance of competition to driving this industry forward.

Finally, an Achievements clone is coming... most of folks here have known the likelihood of this for a long time, but it's good to hear a commitment:

“We’re working on an achievements system... I can’t say if it’s definitely tied to a gamerscore or something like Xbox does but that is an important feature.

I'll be curious to see if there's any innovation here. Not a snide remark, just honestly curious if there will be more than a "here's a 3D trophy instead of a bitmap" achievement. Time will tell!

Just saw this over on Kotaku - a flashback to the Atari 2600 days when you'd have to document your video game successes with a camera (film, no less!) and send off a picture to prove it. Activision used to send out patches as a reward. Obviously different than Achievements today as it's not integrated into the gameplay experience or system, but pretty cool nonetheless!

Just had to share, especially as a co-worker forward it along with the following embedded image:

My favorite quote?

Each Achievement earns you a little icon and a number of points to add to your Gamerscore, which is visible to everyone on Xbox Live.

So, in essence, a Gamerscore is a numeric indicator of how you've squandered your life. When you're on your deathbed, instead of having to agonize over each poor choice and missed opportunity in your life, you can just check your Gamerscore. "199,970 points," you'll scream, gripping the bed frame with the last of your strength. "I lived a hollow pastiche of an existence!"

Of course, at the same time you'll be wishing you'd fixed 50 zippers in Sewing Cop 4023, because then you'd have an even 200 grand. Such is the honeyed agony of Gamerscore.

Sony is threatening to go one further with the game awards on the PlayStation 3. The awards will take the form of virtual trophies you can put on your shelves in your online 3-D gamer home.

So, follow along here: There's going to be an imaginary world in which I have an imaginary house where I will put the imaginary awards I won performing imaginary tasks as an imaginary person in a completely different imaginary world. So if you're wondering what separates a hobby from psychosis, the answer is "about 600 bucks."

Saw a post over on Joystiq that's talking about power leveling, or the ability pay someone real money to buff up your Gamerscore. To quote:

For years now, companies have offered to level your Everquest and World of Warcraft characters for a fee. By catering to the whims of players who want that level 60 mount but don't really have the time to obtain it on their own, firms that farm rake it in.

Therefore, 'twas only a matter of time before farmers that specialize in taking the grind out of virtual gruntwork made the leap over to the Xbox 360. A site called "Level My 360" has jumped in (har) and now offers 3,000 XBL gamer points for the low, low price of $300.

The thing that struck me as most interesting about this is that Achievements (and the Gamerscore associated with them) have become a currency... one just as valuable as virtual currency in MMOs, and one some people might be willing to pay real dollars for. I certainly don't condone it, but it does support my belief that competitors will need to have their own Achievements/Gamerscore system in the future as it's definitely a tipping aspect for some folks. (For the record, I now believe the rumor of PS3 "Entitlements" to be false; however, I fully expect a similar solution within the next year or so once the online service has launched.)

For what it's worth, I'm not too worried about this sort of thing damaging the Achievement "market." Since games each decide how/when to give out Achievements, there's plenty of slack in the system to help iron out spikes. On top of that, we're seeing developers getting more and more invested in Achievements and thinking harder about how to give them out. With every passing month we have more and more titles with Achievements and Gamerscore to deepen the ocean. Over time I honestly doubt we'll see this as anything more than noise across the entire system.

Somehow I'm not surprised.

According to a post over on Evil Avatar, the latest EGM podcast says Sony will have an Achievement clone called "Entitlements" for the Playstation 3. Bit of a strange name in my opinion. I like the term "Achievements" because it describes awards you earn for doing things in the game. "Entitlements" somehow sounds like something you're, well, entitled to... perhaps even without having to play. <shrug>

Anyway, guess I was right on the prediction, wrong on the name. Time to get cracking on those domain registrations!

Been meaning to write some thoughts about Live Anywhere, the initiative we announced at E3 this year to bring the Xbox Live online gaming service to Windows and other devices such as cell phones. Several sites had articles on the topic, including Arstechnica who I’ll quote as they had a good summary:

"In a presentation at E3, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates talked up the Xbox 360's success while unveiling an extension of the company's increasingly popular Xbox Live service. "Live Anywhere" will allow gamers to take their tags, stats, and online profiles with them wherever they go online, whether it's on the Xbox, a PC, or even a Pocket PC or mobile phone. Microsoft is expecting to have over 6 million gamers signed on to Xbox Live by this time next year. When combined with the 25 million "casual gamers" on MSN Messenger and MSN Games, Microsoft believes this represents a huge opportunity.

Gamers will be able to log onto Live Anywhere from their PCs and go head-to-head with Xbox 360 gamers on cross-platform titles. Want some multiplayer Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter action from your PC against an Xbox-owning friend? You've got it.

Microsoft is also extending the service to mobile devices. While you won't be able to play a Halo 3 deathmatch on your mobile phone while riding the bus home from work, you will be able to access your Live Anywhere user data, send messages to friends on your Live friends list, and download "exclusive" mobile gaming content along with favorites such as Bejeweled. The mobile version of Live Anywhere will run on any Java-based, BREW-based, or Windows Mobile phones and Pocket PCs."

One thing that struck me from the E3 press at the time was that there wasn’t as much excitement around the announcement as I might have expected. I can only assume that’s because this is one of those things that’s bigger than people can easily wrap their heads around, so I thought I’d talk about some of the aspects that excite me personally.

One of the first is simply that this is the first step in expanding the “Xbox Live” community to a much wider world of platforms and people. (I put “Xbox Live” in quotes only because the Live Anywhere team is doing a lot of great work to take into account the differences of the PC as a gaming platform, and not just doing a straight port.) You’ll be able to keep your Gamertag and login to either your Xbox 360 or Windows machine, and that in turn will enable you to access all of the goodness you associate with your account: presence, viewing Achievements, Gamerscore, people’s Gamercards, sending and receiving messages, etc.

So far so good. Now let’s add in mobile devices. We also announced that Live Anywhere will be available on mobile devices such as your cell phone. And in a telling indication of how serious Microsoft is about this, we’ll be doing work to bring Live Anywhere to non-Microsoft cell phone platforms including Java and Brew-based devices. As this Engadget article shows, you’ll be able to try out (and purchase) casual games, download content for other devices (for example, to your Xbox 360 at home while you’re on the road), see rankings, Gamercards, and presence of friends, and of course communicate with them as well. So now we’re at a total universe (at least as currently announced) of millions of potential devices you’ll be able to sign into (between Xbox 360s, Windows machines, and cell phones). The potential network effect of the community growing is super-exciting to me here.

So let’s think about the cross-platform ramifications of all this. With Live Anywhere, I’ll be able to log into any of these platforms and be connected to my friends, community, and gaming world no matter where I am. With all due respect to Penny Arcade’s strip (warning, language may offend), there are aspects of the community that I want to stay in touch with whenever possible. While I doubt I’d be all that worried about a friend’s Gamerscore while at the store, I’d sure love to be able to drop him or her a message if I saw them online. And remember, “online” could include being signed in on their cell phone, or being logged into MSN Messenger, or just being on their Xbox. Now it gets interesting... what if I can send a text or voice message from my 360 to my friend who’s working on his PC? What if he can respond right back in real-time with text, voice, or even video? What if they see a third friend is showing as available on their cell phone? What if we’re able to have a three-way conversation to coordinate a game later? Heck, what if we're all able to start playing an ad-hoc game right then, in spite of the fact we're on different platforms?

One of the really cool scenarios described at E3 was the ability to continue a game no matter where you are. Let’s say you download a trial of Zuma on your 360 at home, play it, and decide to purchase it. Later on you have to go to work, and find yourself on the bus with a half-hour to kill. Remembering Zuma, you log into Live Anywhere with your cell phone and download it – but since you’ve already purchased it with your Live Anywhere account, the service recognizes this and allows you to download the unlocked version. You play for a while and receive an Achievement. You see your stop coming up, so you quickly save your game. That game save (and the fact that you unlocked the Achievement) is stored on the Live Anywhere service, so that when you get to your desk and log in to My Xbox (god forbid you do any real work, after all) you can see your new Achievement (and maybe even continue playing on a Windows version of Zuma). Seeing a friend online, you might select that Achievement you just got and send him or her a challenge to beat it. The really interesting thing? Although you can find out if you wish, you don’t even need to know what platform your friend is logged in on – it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you know his or her Gamertag, which allows you to quickly pop off a message to them.

Now some folks might not want to be always connected, and that’s understandable. So there will be features to allow you to control your online presence just as we have on the Xbox 360 and MSN Messenger today (where you can show yourself as being Available, Busy, Offline, etc.) (This might also help address Penny Arcade’s concerns on the subject.

A final aspect of Live Anywhere that has me excited is the potential for making online gaming on the PC dramatically easier. Although I’d be the first to highlight that online gaming originated on the PC, the overall quality of the online gaming experience hasn’t evolved or improved all that much since then. Xbox Live was actually designed with the goal of solving a lot of the issues that plague online gaming. Those solutions were brought to Xbox and Xbox 360, and now, Live Anywhere is bringing it to Windows (and of course, other platforms).

Think about the challenges you often face when trying to get a PC game online session going. First you need to make sure your game is up to date, and often have to hunt down patches and apply them. Sometimes you need to upgrade video or sound drivers. Your router can block connections, forcing you to open ports and occasionally sacrifice a chicken (be really afraid if you want to try and host a game!) Once you’re in the game, you might want to communicate with other players – but everyone’s using a different voice solution. It’s hard to find people of the appropriate level to play against, and even when you find people on a server you don’t have any context to see what sort of player they are, or what sort of reputation they have. The list goes on and on, but the point I’m trying to make is it’s not as simple as the “tray and play” model Xbox Live has been able to enable. Live Anywhere aims to solve all of the above, and enable cross-platform gaming and communication to boot. All this across what could be the largest online gaming community in the world. Pretty amazing, no?

For the record, I recognize this all probably comes off as very pro-Microsoft and as a bit of a “yay us!” post. But I did want to try and share my opinions, and why I’m so passionate about Live Anywhere. Simply put, I truely believe Live Anywhere has potential to change the gaming industry in huge and positive ways in the years ahead. How? Well, here's just one (probably controversial) thought:

What if Live Anywhere did take off, and became the place to be because one of your preferred platforms (be it cell phone, Xbox 360, or PC) happened to be where you spent all your gaming time? This is all my opinion, of course, but it’s not hard for me to squint ahead at the future and imagine a time where Live Anywhere might be the online service for platforms from Sony, or Nintendo, or others. After all, running this sort of service takes a massive investment of time and money, and at the end of the day all these companies really want is a way to communicate with their customers and make money from selling games. We’ve been able to enable that desire for publishers on Xbox Live today; why not these hardware providers tomorrow?

Gotta give full props to Joystiq for picking up on this, but it's pretty cool:

"Gastronaut, the studio behind the upcoming XBLA game, Small Arms, have created the first viral achievement. Four of Gastronaut's employees will start being the only ones with the achievement. Anybody who plays against one of these four will get the achievement. In turn, anybody who plays against those people will get the achievement and so on and so forth until the whole world is...er...infected with success."

I wonder how long it'll be before Sony and Nintendo come up with their own versions of achievements? There were some rumors a while back that Sony was looking at doing "accomplishments," but that they got cut on the rush to launch their online service. I have to think that in a world where the majority of titles will be available across multiple platforms (and features and capabilities of those platforms being roughly equal), it just doesn't make sense for those guys to not have their own answer for achievements.

Prediction: we'll see announcements from at least one of these guys (my guess is Sony) before next E3 around an achievement clone. Time to go lock up those "ps3accomplishments.com" domains! ;)

Edit: Never mind - looks like someone already grabbed the domain and has it parked. ;)