The Asian Power Hour

I had an interesting discussion with student fellow Harris today about the meaning of "hardcore" as it applies to games and gamers. This is what it really boiled down into:

1. The "hardcore" level of games are born from the investment of the players not the game itself, for instance a casual game can become a hardcore game not from a change in the mechanics of the game itself, but from the inherent energy invested in the game by the player. For instance, something as simple as Tetris can be both a "casual" and "hardcore" game depending on the investment of the player.

2. Games should be classified by complexity of their systems, again, a game like Smash Brothers can be classified as a casual game by some players, but a hardcore game by another group, because of their extended time and investment in the mechanics of the game.

So what this really boils down to is that games are only really made hardcore by the investment of the players, but not the mechanics and system itself. On the flipside of the argument, there are games that are so complex that players have to invest so much time learning these systems that they become hardcore by default.

With this in mind, I think the end-goal for designers now is to create games that offer the ability to participate and enjoy through various levels of investment. While this is nothing new, I think it should be one of the elements at the fore-front of their minds at all times.

When I was a wee little lad, I remember breaking my Nintendo controller in anger and frustration at one of the games I rented from the local video store. Two months later, after I had scraped together enough funds to buy another controller and plaster up the dent in the wall of the living room, the first thing I did after getting that controller was go out and rent that game again. That game was Bionic Commando.

Nearly two decades later, I am thrilled to be able to pick up the new re-imagining of this classic Capcom game and say with enthusiasm that this is probably one of my favorite DLC games out there (Pixeljunk monsters being the other one). As usual for one of the design overview posts, thoughts follow below.....after short trailer that really gives a nice overview of the feel of the game. Hit the jump for the full design overview, enjoy!

Things I like about Bionic Commando Rearmed:
1. A strong re-imagining of the original aesthetics.
2. A new update to the gameplay, while still maintaining a "classic" feel.
3. Clever and accessible level design.
4. Co-Op multiplayer gameplay mechanics.
5. Bionic Commando (new game) tie-in.

Things I hate about Bionic Commando Rearmed:
1. Gameplay mechanics are sometimes difficult and temperamental.
2. Co-Op multiplayer mechanics.
3. Sudden "Nintendo-hard" shifts in gameplay balance.

Another RFID post, this time in regards to the company "Verayo" claiming to have build the world's first unclonable RFID chip. This is done by imprinting each chip with it's own unique "DNA" while retaining the core function of the chip. If this is true, then in a few years, the tech that powers this would be cheap enough to mass produce on an affordable scale.

A diagram of how the chip is supposed to work:

I'm extremely excited by this because of all the arcade RFID CCG games (Sangokushi Taisen, Quest of D, etc.) that could be brought to the home market because of this. In the arcades, authentication is done by the extremely expensive and bulky cabinet, but if each card had the ability to self-regulate copyright, then it would take out the work of the arcade tech and the home version (digital playmat/board perhaps?) would be much cheaper to make sans expensive counterfeit reader. This will definitely be an avenue to watch in the coming years.

Original Story from net-security.org
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