A STRONGER SYSTEM

A STRONGER SYSTEM!

( A PLEA FOR HELP FROM THE DESK OF HULKGAMECRIT)

HULK NOTICED SOMETHING A LITTLE STRANGE THAT HULK WAS HOPING TO FIND A PROPER ANSWER FOR BY NOW BUT HASN'T!

WHEN HULK'S FOLLOWSHIP GREW ALITTLE WHILE AGO... HULK STARTED A PODCAST! THE PODCAST WAS STARTED FOR THE FOLLOWERS! EACH WEEK HULK WOULD BRING IN DIFFERENT GUESTS TO TALK ABOUT GAMING NEWS AND WHERE THEY FIT INSIDE THIS CRAZY INDUSTRY OF OURS!

TWO OF HULK'S GUESTS ( CHIMMELY AND DOUBLEANNA) REVELEAED SOMETHING HULK FOUND TO BE FASCINATING! THEIR REPECTIVE AREAS ARE BOTH HEAVY INTO TWITTER AND TRY TO COMMUNICATE OFTEN ABOUT WHAT EVERYONE IS UP TO! CHIMMELY'S AREA EVEN SUPPORTS INDIE DEVS! HULK WAS EVEN GIVEN A FEW WORDS OF WISDOM TO BOOT! AFTER THAT PODCAST HULK BEGAN SEARCHING TO SEE IF ANYTHING LIKE THAT EXISTS IN BALTIMORE!

WITH THE INSANE AMOUNT OF STUDIOS INVOLVED WITH THE GAME INDUSTRY YOU'D THINK A SYSTEM WOULD ALREADY EXIST!....RIGHT?

WRONG!

FOR ONE THING.... HARDLY ANY DEVELOPERS ( OF THE THOUSANDS ON TWITTER) ARE ACTUALLY FROM BALTIMORE! OR ANNOUNCE IT FOR THAT MATTER!) ANOTHER UNSIGHTLY PROBLEM IS THAT UNLESS YOUR ALREADY A GAME DEVELOPER AND"IN THE KNOW ", THEN YOUR LIKELY NEVER GOING TO HEAR ABOUT AN EVENT WHERE THEY ARE ALL GETTING TOGETHER TO DO SOMETHING!

STUDENTS IN PARTICULAR FINDS THIS THE MOST FRUSTRATING! HULK CAN THINK OF AT LEAST 15 STUDENTS RIGHT NOW THAT CAN'T FIND WORK, HAVE NO ONE ( EXCEPT HULK) TO NETWORK WITH, AND NEVER HEAR A THING FROM A GAME STUDIO POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE AS TO WHY THEY DIDN'T GET AN INTERVIEW OR INTERNSHIP AT THEIR LOCAL GAME STUDIOS!

SO THESE STUDENTS BEGIN QUESTIONING EVERYTHING THEY 'VE DONE UP TO THIS POINT AND WONDERING WHAT IT IS THEY DID WRONG TO BEGIN WITH!

ALL BECAUSE THEIR WAS NO COMMUNICATION AND THEY HAVE NO ONE INSIDE THE INDUSTRY TO SPEAK WITH! HULK THINKS THIS NEEDS TO STOP RIGHT NOW! AT THE VERY LEAST WE CAN ADOPT A POLICY OF LETTING SOMEONE KNOW " YES" OR "NO" WHEN THEY SEND IN AN APPLICATION! ( EXTRA HULK POINTS IF YOU POINT OUT WHAT YOU LIKED OR DIDN'T LIKE).

SOME OF YOU AT THIS POINT MIGHT BE SAYING " JUST GO WITH THE IGDA".... NORMALLY HULK WOULD FULLY AGREE! HOWEVER THE IGDA MIGHT BE IN A STRANGE PLACE RIGHT NOW.. HULK NOT ENTIRELY SURE! BESIDE THE POINT UNLESS THE IGDA IS SOMEHOW ABLE TO HIRE THESE STUDENTS THEN HULK IS NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT THEY CAN DO TO HELP!

THIS PROBLEM IS MORE IN THE HANDS OF THE STUDIOS ANYWAY! AND MAYBE ALSO ALITTLE BLAME IN THE LOCAL COLLEGES AS WELL! HULK THINKS WE NEED SOME KIND OF SYSTEM!

AT THE VERY LEAST A WEBSITE GOING OVER WHAT GAME DEVS IN THE AREA MIGHT BE DOING ON A MONTHLY BASIS, WHAT THE NEXT IGDA MEETING WILL BE GOING OVER NEXT ( AND MAKING SURE NOT TO HAVE THE FIRST MEETING IN MONTHS BE CANCELLED), AND POSSIBLY SOME KIND OF MENTOR-SHIP PROGRAM! HULK IS NOT ASKING FOR ANYTHING TO FANCY! JUST A FEW KIND DEVELOPERS ANSWERING QUESTIONS THAT OUR COLLEGE PROGRAMS MISSED! STUFF THAT WE NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO GET HIRED!

IF ANY GAME DEVELOPERS ARE WILLING TO TALK WITH HULK MORE ON THIS ( A JOB WOULD BE BETTER) THEN HULK CAN BE CONTACTED RIGHT HERE!

THE HULKGAMECRIT PODCAST : PART 15

HULKS GOOD FRIEND NICOLAS SAVED THE DAY SINCE EVERYONE ELSE WAS SICK..... DYING..... OR STRAIGHT UP MISSING!

WE DISCUSS

WII / SONY COMPETITIVE FAILS!

EVERYTHING BEING DISCOUNTED!

MICROSOFT LIMPING IN JAPAN!

THE FURTHERED SUCCESS OF INDIE!

BETHESDA BEING STUPID!

EA BEING STUPID!

AND A BUNCH OF OTHER TRAIN WRECKS!

THIS WEEKS MUSIC IS FROM AO NO EXORCIST AND OKAMI!

GO BUY IT ALREADY!

SPORTS AND RACES

SPORTS AND RACES

( WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE DESK OF HULKGAMECRIT)

HULK IS GOING TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST WITH YOU..... THE LAST TIME HULK ENJOYED A RACING GAME FOR MORE THEN A WEEK WAS WITH THE BURNOUT SERIES BACK ON THE PS2! MOST OF THE RACING GAMES HULK HAS TRIED SINCE THEN HAVE BEEN FUN! ( ESPECIALLY SPLIT SECOND) BUT THEN STRANGE THINGS ALWAYS SEEM TO HAPPEN! EITHER THE SERVERS GET SHUTDOWN, CONTENT GOES MISSING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ANNOUNCEMENT AND RELEASE, SOMETIMES THEIRS A MASSIVE DELAY AND HULK'S INTEREST BEGINS TO FADE.... FOR MANY THESE PROBLEMS CAN RUIN THE EXPERIENCE!

FOR HULK HOWEVER,THE REPLAYABILITY OF THE GAMES HAS BEEN THE GREATER ISSUE! GAMES LIKE BLUR AND SPLIT SECOND WERE ABSOLUTELY BRILLANT TITLES THAT WERE AT LEAST WORTH A GLANCE OVER. SPLIT SECOND RECEIVED CRITICISMS FOR HAVING A SHORT AMOUNT OF ACTIVE TRACKS AVAILABLE( WHICH KIND OF KILLED THEM), WHERE AS BLUR'S LACK OF PROPER P.R. AND FAILURE TO KEEP THEIR SERVERS ONLINE ( THE ONLY WAY TO PLAY THE GAME) LED TO IT'S INEVITABLE DEMISE WITHIN HALF A YEAR OF IT'S INITIAL RELEASE!

THE OTHER RACING TITLES ARE USUALLY HEAVY INTO REALISM! INVOLVE GOING AROUND A TRACK FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG, HAVE BEEN DOING THE SAME EXACT BLOODY THING EVERY YEAR.... FOR YEARS!, AND CLEARLY THINK INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF CARS PLAYABLE WILL FIX THE PROBLEM!

HULK IS SADDENED BY THIS! WHILE CARS ARE FUN, WE ARE NOT NORMALLY PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS! WE DON'T GET A KICK OUT OF DOING 600 LAPS ALONE ON A COURSE! WHILE BURNOUT WAS LESS ABOUT RACING AND MORE ABOUT SMASHING THEY STILL EXPERIMENTED AND TRIED TO ADD DIFFERENT MODES WITH EVERY RELEASE! IF HULK HAD IT HIS WAY HULK WOULD HAVE A CRASH MODE, A RACING MODE, AND A MARIO KART MODE AVAILABLE IN EVERY RACING GAME! IT WOULD COVER REPLAYABILITY AND UNITE THE FANBASES!

SPORTS GAMES SEEM TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM EXCEPT IT'S FAR MORE WORSE! WITH VERY LITTLE COMPETITION, THE REGULAR SHUTTING DOWN OF SERVERS, AND ASIDE FROM ROSTER CHANGES DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SEPERATE THIS YEARS BASEBALL GAME FROM LAST YEARS BASEBALL GAME IS PATHETIC.

HERE'S WHAT A FRIEND OF HULK SAYS ON THE MATTER!

"Our family is heavy into multiplayer games so we buy all the new sport games every 2-3 years. But we're into this hardcore.... for the average gamer I'd say you don't need to upgrade ever. Just find a sports title with a really high score and you'll likely never need anything else during that particular console cycle.... unless you are really into management"

BACK BEFORE PUBLISHERS BEGAN BUYING RIGHTS WE WOULD HAVE TITLES RELEASED EVERY YEAR THAT DANCED ON THE WILD SIDE! HULK VAGUELY REMEMBERS SEEING TITLES THAT FEATURED ALL KINDS OF STRANGE POWER UPS! RANDOM BRAWLS STARTING IF SOMEONE WAS BEANED! A PITCHERS RAGE OCCASIONALLY ERUPTING INTO A BRUTAL FIRE THAT STRUCK FEAR IN THEIR OPONENTS EYES! THEN THE VERY NEXT YEAR THAT STUDIO WOULD BE FORCED TO DISBAND , TAKE 2 WOULD LITERALLY HAVE TO START NEW PROJECTS, AND EA BEGAN A STRIDE TOWARD REALISM AND POOR CONTROLS!

YOU GENERALLY NEVER SEE TITLES LIKE THAT ANYMORE! THE PUBLISHERS BASCIALLY HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THIS ONE SECTION OF THE GAME INDUSTRY ! THEY DON'T NEED TO EXPLORE! THEY DON'T NEED TO LISTEN TO THEIR AUDIENCE! BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES LEGALLY ALLOWED TO CATER TO THAT AUDIENCE! AND WHEN THE SERVERS ARE GONE AND THE LAN FUNCTION IS GONE YOU'LL BE FORCED TO BUY THE NEXT ONE!

ALL OF THIS CRAP NEEDS TO STOP! JUST LIKE INAFUNE HAS STATED BEFORE " TURNING GAME DESIGNERS INTO SALARYMEN IS MAKING THEM COMPLACENT" PUBLISHERS NEED OPEN COMPETITION AND A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE SERIOUS RISKS IN ORDER TO REPAIR SOME OF THE DAMAGE THAT LAST 6 YEARS HAVE CAUSED! AND EVEN IF A GAME SUDDENLY CANT AFFORD SERVERS ANYMORE.... THEN MAKE SURE WE ARE STILL ABLE TO FUNCTION AS A COMMUNITY!

ANOTHER GREAT IDEA IS TO DROP THOSE YEARLY PRODUCTION CYCLES AND TRY TO RELEASE FREE REGULAR UPDATES LIKE VALVE HAS DONE FOR TEAM FORTRESS 2! THEIRS NOTHING WRONG WITH A 2 YEAR CYCLE! JUST DON'T OVERDO IT!

IF WE SEE YOU MAKE AN EFFORT WITH YOUR RACING GAME THEN WE WILL IN TURN MAKE AN EFFORT TO BUY THINGS FROM YOU!

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!

HULK JUST WANTS THINGS TO GET BETTER...

ALSO... THIS GAME ON THE ANDROID IS FANTASTIC! <3

THE HULKGAMECRIT PODCAST! EVERYONE IS SICK AND DYING EDITION!

HULK COULDN'T FIND ANY GUESTS SO CLAYTON IS DOING THIS ONE SOLO!

.......THIS IS GONNA BE A ROUGH ONE......

MUSIC IS FROM TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN

AND FROM THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU ( CURRENTLY ON SALE)

GAMES AND MEDIA

HULK HEARD A FOLLOWER SAY THE OTHER DAY,

" old media is dead! Anyone that has guts, perseverance, a little luck, and a google account can do a better job reporting then the actual news!"

HULK WOULD TEND TO AGREE... EXCEPT HULK BELIEVES MEDIA IS A CONSTANTLY CHANGING THING! IT WAS ONCE WORD OF MOUTH ! THEN EXPANDED TO PAPER! THEN BOOKS! THEN RADIO! THEN TV! THEN THE INTERNET!

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS IS A LOWERING OF THE BARRIER OF ENTRY! ( AND MAYBE A LITTLE TOO MUCH DEMOGRAPHIC EXPANSION)

IN THE DARK AGES ONLY MONKS KNEW HOW TO READ AND WRITE! ( ROYALTY SORT OF DID BUT THEY DON'T COUNT!) IN FACT! AT ONE POINT WE ALMOST LOST ALL RECORDED ( link was a little vague... we lost almost 90% of all recorded knowledge during various wars back then...) KNOWLEDGE! ( IF SOME CRAZY MIDDLE EASTERN MONKS HADN'T DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!)

EVEN WHEN WE MADE THE PRINTING PRESS VERY FEW PEOPLE ACTUALLY KNEW HOW TO MAKE A BOOK! EVEN LESS WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE PRESSES!

(ONLY THINGS LIKE BIBLES OR HARRY POTTERS OF THE ERA WOULD GUARANTEE MONEY SO THEY WERE THE ONLY THINGS MADE!.... UNLESS YOU COUNT WANTED NOTICES OR NEW LAWS)

EVEN IN THE 80'S AND 90'S YOU STILL NEEDED A STRONG COLLEGE EDUCATION, YEARS OF STRONG WORK, AND AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF LUCK TO BE CONSIDERED A CONTENT PROVIDER!

BUT NOW IN 2011 ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PLACE SILLY WORDS ON SILLY BLOG SPOT ARTICLES AND WITH A LITTLE LUCK (AND POSSIBLY A STRONG TWITTER ENDORSEMENT) AND THAT SILLY ARTICLE COULD BE VIEWED IN 70 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OVER THE COURSE OF 72 HOURS! ( LIKE WHAT HAPPENED WITH THIS ONE)

ALTHOUGH THE AUDIENCE HAS CHANGED! THE TECH HAS CHANGED! AND THE MEDIA HAS CHANGED ( PAINFULLY) TO FIT NEWER FORMATS AND MEDIUMS ... SOME THINGS SHOULD NEVER CHANGE!

MEDIA ( JUST LIKE THE GAME INDUSTRY) SHOULD NEVER EXPAND BEYOND THEIR MEANS! IF NEW FORMS OF CONTENT MEANS SPENDING MONEY YOU DON'T HAVE THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T DO IT! ( IS IT REALLY TOO DIFFICULT TO WAIT A FEW MONTHS FOR THE ADDITIONAL INCOME?)

AND IF YOU DECIDE TO DO IT ANYWAY.... THEN MAKE SURE ALL OTHER STANDING DEBTS ARE PAID FOR FIRST! HULK FINDS IT INCREDIBLY DISTURBING THAT ONE PERSON AFTER ANOTHER ( scroll down) STATED HOW ESCAPIST NEVER PAID THEM, OR PAID THEM 80% OF WHAT THEY OWED, OR WERE SELLING SHIRTS BEHIND THEIR BACK, OR NEVER PAID THEM ONCE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!

ALL THE WHILE THEIR SITE WAS STILL UP! GROWING IN STRENGTH! YAHTZEE AND THE LRR CREW ALWAYS RELEASING FANTASTIC CONTENT! THERE'S EVEN A SHOW ABOUT HATS! HOW DID ALL OF THIS CONTENT COME INTO BEING IF NO ONE WAS BEING PAID? ARE THEY ALL JUST SO DEVOTED TO COMEDY THAT THEIR DOING THIS FOR KICKS? HULK DOESN'T THINK SO..

HULK THINKS THIS SUMMER WAS LOUSY! PEOPLE BEING FIRED LEFT AND RIGHT! GAME COMPANIES PROVING THEMSELVES TO BE TYRANNICAL MONSTERS THEN BRINGS IN MORE QUESTIONS OF THE GAME INDUSTRY UNIONIZING! AND NOW EVEN THE JOURNALISTS ARE APPARENTLY BEING TREATED POORLY!

MAYBE EVERYONE NEEDS TO SIT BACK... TAKE A DEEP BREATH.... AND LEARN HOW ECONOMIES WORK WITH THE DEMO VERSION OF TROPICO 4! JUST TRY RUNNING A COUNTRY WHEN YOU OWE MONEY!

.....DAMN IT

THE HULKGAMECRIT PODCAST : PART 13

THIS WEEK HULK IS JOINED BY JESSE AND WE DISCUSS...

A LOSS IN THE INDUSTRY....

SONY FAILS!

EA FAILS!

ACTIVISION FAILS!

BIOWARE FAILS! ( WHAT THE WHA)

BLIZZARD FAILS!

BETHESDA FAILS!

INDIE PROJECTS!

NOT SO INDIE PROJECTS ACTING LIKE INDIE PROJECTS!

AND END WITH FEM SHEP!

THIS WEEKS MUSIC IS FROM LUNAR 2 AND MASS EFFECT 2!

GO BUY THE MUSIC!

GO BUY BASTION!

HULK WONDERED AT FIRST WHY MS. SPLOSIONMAN WAS NOT A PART OF SUMMER OF ARCADE.....

THEN HULK FOUND OUT WHY!

• SINCE HULK CANT PLAY THE ENTIRE GAME HULK CAN'T DO A HULK REVIEW! :(

  
  

  SO HERE'S WHAT PEOPLE ON YOU TUBE THINK!

  
  

  "This music at the end is just immensely powerful. Kasavin did brilliantly with the story but music like this is what allows it to soar. I truly believe music is the key to the mind letting go of reality so that it can be lead to an entirely new one without reserve.

  My hat goes off to the Supergiant team for such an incredible achievement."

  
  

  
  

  "I've played a lot of games, but none of them were like Bastion. Before Bastion, I'm not sure anyone knew that a storybook art style could make way for such mature and powerful writing, accompanied by one of the most eclectic and sweeping soundtracks in all of gaming. I'll never forget you Bastion; I'm not sure anyone who's played it can"

  
  

  PEOPLES REACTION TO BASTION IS NOW EVEN STRONGER THEN THEY WERE TO BRAID!

  
  

  HULK THINKS THAT MAYBE BRAID REVEALED WHAT INDIE COULD DO AND BASTION IS SHOWING WHAT A MASTERY LOOKS LIKE!

BORED PROGRAMMER INDIE MOVEMENT!

GET TO WATCHIN'!

SINCE THE WORLD LOVED IT LAST TIME HULK ADDED ONTO EXISTING IDEAS.... HERE'S ROUND TWO!

HULK HAS STATED A FEW TIMES IN THE PAST THAT MAYBE HAVING MORE THEN ONE IN HOUSE PROJECT IN PRODUCTION MIGHT BE THE RIGHT WAY TO GO!

WHETHER IT BE A NEW I.P. OR JUST SOME OTHER TITLE IN THE PIPELINE IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER! WHAT DOES MATTER IS THAT YOU WON'T BE RELYING ON JUST ONE TITLE TO FIX ALL YOUR FINANCIAL WOES!

( HULK IS SHOCKED THAT PIXAR DOES SOMETHING SIMILAR!)

ANOTHER IDEA THAT HULK HAS NOT SEEN MUCH OF.... BUT WOULD LOVE TO SEE IS BORED PROGRAMMER INDIE MOVEMENT!

MUCH LIKE THE MANLY MEN OF DOUBLE FINE WHY DON'T THOSE BORED PROGRAMMERS START CREATING CONTENT THEY COULD SELL ON THEIR SITE'S STORE? BETTER YET! WHY NOT HAVE A BUNCH OF FREE FLASH GAMES OR CONCEPTS TO EXTEND THE BRANDING OF THEIR STUDIO?

HULK KNOWS THESE IDEAS COULD OR COULD NOT BRING IN LOTS OF MONEY! BUT IT WOULD ADD A BIT OF PERSONALITY TO THEIR COMPANY! MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE SOMETHING THAT DESERVES TO EXIST! WHILE MAKING A GAME IS FINE AND DANDY! AND MAKING A FRANCHISE WILL MAKE KOTICK HAPPY!

ESTABLISHING YOUR COMPANY AND MAKING A BRAND! A PEDIGREE OF GAMES IF YOU WILL! IS THE ONLY WAY A GAME COMPANY CAN SURVIVE!

PLUS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM HULK HEARS GAME DEVS TALK ABOUT IS HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE VISIT YOUR SITE AND NOT JUST PLAY YOUR GAME.... HAVING MORE THEN JUST A FRESH DOWNLOAD OF WALLPAPERS CAN GO A LONG WAY! MAKING A CHUNK OF IT FREE WILL GO EVEN FURTHER!

HULK ALSO LOVES IT WHEN GAME DEVS HAVE THEIR OWN LITTLE CHUNK OF A GAME WEBSITE TO WRITE RANDOM SH*T. IT MAKES HULK SMILE! AND SOLVES THAT WHOLE " THAT GAME COMPANY ACTS LIKE A ROBOT " THING!