Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium
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Calling it, Valve teams with Google to make the Steambox. It makes so much sense. Plus, it’s symmetrical. Between Nintensony, Segapple, and Goovalve, you have a Japanese electronics giant teamed with a Japanese game developer, an American electronics giant teamed with a Japanese game developer, and an American electronics giant teamed with a American game developer. Now, all we need is a Japanese electronics giant teamed with an American game developer. No candidate really stands out, but, if we cast a little wider, to Asian electronics makers in general...Maybe Samsung could buy out Microsoft’s gaming division and complete the square?
The "halfway handhelds" that were released in 2002 (and continued to be updated and released throughout the decade)? I mean, IOTL the closest thing to it would something like what Dropmix was, but obviously a lot less technologically capable, at least as of TTL 2002. We'd be getting closer to that in 2010, I could see stuff like an interactive Thrillseekers board game, or something akin to an enhanced playmat for TCGs like Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering that plays animations accompanying the cards that get played.
Speaking of Magic: The Gathering...
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Inez Delgado: Hi! It's time for Turn The Tables, where two girls talk about board games! I'm Inez Delgado, heiress to the Silver Sail fortune...
Regan Hardwick: And I'm Regan Hardwick, the nerd princess!
Inez: And today, we're not talking about a board game! Instead, Regan and I have gone out and dropped some serious money on these!
*In front of them are two Magic: The Gathering booster boxes with "Forbidden Masters" printed on them.*
Regan: These are boxes of the Magic: The Gathering set Forbidden Masters, and the MSRP of these boxes is $399.99, which is really crazy!
Inez: But these supposedly have some really crazy cards inside of them because this is the first special set printed after Wizards of the Coast ended the Reserved List.
Regan: ...what's the Reserved List, Inez?
Inez: I don't know, but judging from all the angry yelling on Twitter it must've been something really important! Now let's crack these boxes and see if we can't pull a Black Lotus.
Regan: What's a Black Lotus? *Inez glares at her, Regan laughs* I'm just kidding, I know what a Black Lotus is. Let's get crackin'! *tears off the shrink wrap*
-from Episode #46 of the Nerdist and Youtube-based web show Turn The Tables, originally uploaded on September 15, 2017 (Nerdist) and on September 22, 2017 (Youtube)
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Mmmm... can't confirm or deny that just yet. We'll see though!
One, I'm glad those are still produced, but I wonder if people with autism would be interested with the interactive mini-televisions in particular.
Two, I think that any and all collaborations between Inez and Regan ITTL should be praised for their charm.
Deleted member 100251
I mean, who wouldn’t? They’d p sweet imo. (I’m not really getting how you are connecting people with autism and interactive mini-TVs in general...)
Well, I have autism, and from experience, I think the ability to have the character(s) in one TV interact with the one(s) in another would result in some interesting machinima, assuming machinima still happens ITTL.
Roosterteeth, which created Red v. Blue was butterflied away.. So, I think so will the Machinima.
I think someone ITTL will come up with the idea of using gameplay to make movies especially if an equivalent to GMod or Source Filmaker exists.
Winter 2010 (Part 6) - Protecting Civilians On The iTwin
Guardian
Guardian is a third person shooter for the Apple iTwin that features a series of missions in which the protagonist, an agent with a secret peacekeeping organization, is tasked with protecting different VIPs, each of whom plays a role in keeping world peace and preventing an evil terrorist group from causing chaos and destruction. There are six VIPs in all to protect, each of whom has their own story, set of skills, and character traits, and each of whom the player character gets to know quite well over the course of the story. The game gives the player two options of control schemes: a traditional scheme utilizing a normal controller, or a motion control scheme which features a wide variety of different actions to perform and a finely-tuned aiming system. While playing the game with traditional controls is quite fun and good enough, the motion controls make Guardian one of the most immersive experiences to date on a home console, with dozens of different actions able to be performed both in combat and outside of it. The protection missions themselves, which do take the form of escort missions (with each protected person having a lifebar and ending the game immediately if they're killed), are much less frustrating than they might seem at first, due to all of the escorted characters having extremely sophisticated AI. Some will help fight back against the enemy, some are quite good about hiding, and still others know intricacies about the various locales that can directly help the player in combat. In addition, not all of the VIPs are targeted with lethal force: in some cases, the enemy will attempt to capture them, and they can actually be rescued if the player is quick enough, though again, it does cause a game over if the enemies manage to get that character taken away completely. The player has some options in how they wish to interact with the VIPs, from professional to friendly to downright hostile, which can sometimes affect the VIPs behavior. Each of the VIPs is designed to be a complex character and oftentimes endearing to the player, so that the player actively cares about protecting them. There are few if any cases where a VIP will act in such a way that will get them killed, though in a few cases they sometimes take unnecessary risks. The VIPs include a scientist responsible for curing a deadly plague, an ex-soldier who holds valuable military secrets, a highly intelligent polyglot diplomat, an accused war criminal who might be able to help catch an even worse war criminal, a celebrity popstar who has become embroiled in an international incident, and finally, the President of the United States himself in the game's final mission. Each of the missions is connected to each other, all of them related to a much more important mission, with each of the six VIPs ultimately playing a role in how the game's storyline will ultimately wrap up. The ex-soldier is actually one of the game's primary antagonists, though this is only revealed quite late into the game, and even this soldier has a sympathetic backstory and a reason for assisting the game's ultimate villain, a terrorist warlord who seeks to prevent a peace conference because he believes it will cause a nation accused of genocide to get away scot-free. This nation is connected to the war criminal from the fourth mission, while the celebrity popstar has been working to expose this nation's crimes because one of her friends was kidnapped and executed by the nation's government. Each of the game's characters and missions is weaved into an intricate web of stories and secrets, while the protagonist himself, while having a distinct personality as well, has no personal ties to any of the game's events besides just trying to do his job as best he can. He's a sympathetic character who forms bonds with everyone he protects, but is also sort of an "everyman" with no emotional attachment to the plot, only the characters.
Guardian is released on March 2, 2010, and gets excellent reviews upon its release. It features good (but not great) graphics, but the game's voice acting, storyline, and motion controls get high praise, and it ends up being one of the biggest new iTwin IP launches of the year. Sales are good at release and hold quite steadily, with the game's excellent reception ensuring a sequel.
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The Conduit 2: Aliens Among Us
The Conduit 2 is an FPS published by Apple and is the sequel to 2008's hit title The Conduit. Continuing directly from the events of the first game, The Conduit 2 sees Secret Service agent Alan Rickard returning as the primary protagonist, teaming up with terrorist-turned-secret agent Elayna to battle an alien horde that's invaded Earth. This alien invasion is much more subtle than the ones presented in games such as Encounter or The Covenant: the aliens don't turn their weapons on humans right away, but instead seek to ingratiate themselves to humanity while infiltrating its institutions, and the game plays out much like the classic mini-series V meets The X-Files, with Rickard and Elayna mostly spending their time taking out aliens who are serving in capacities such as business or government leaders. Like its predecessor, The Conduit 2 features plenty of puzzles, and also has some stealth elements, while incorporating the motion-controlled dual wielding of the previous game. It features improved graphics over its predecessor, and some faster paced gun battles, with the added ability to team up with partner Elayna to cover each other's backs or pull off some slick gunplay moves. Most of the game's missions (which total 17 in all), have two primary objectives, one of which usually involves installing something or reaching a certain point, while the other usually involves killing a target. Sometimes the game mixes this formula up, but for the most part, each of the missions has fairly similar goals, but the circumstances surrounding those goals can change dramatically, making most of the game's missions seem fairly fresh despite their at times formulaic nature. Despite the player not being able to control Elayna, she's every bit Rickard's equal, and is better than him in some aspects, including sneaking and hacking. The player never has to worry about rescuing her, and even if she gets "killed" in combat, she'll usually get back up immediately after the current firefight is over. Sometimes Elayna will separate from the player and go off to do her own thing, and Rickard will be required to coordinate his activities with hers, or wait for her to trigger a switch or open up an area. Other times, it'll be the other way around: Elayna will take a more hands-on role while the player as Rickard must flip switches or find something and bring it back to her. The game's primary antagonist is an alien diplomat who was in charge of the previous truce between humans and aliens: while the diplomat at first seems to have good intentions, as it turns out he was merely hoping to lure humanity into complacency so it could be conquered and harvested later. After Elayna and the resistance, with Rickard's help, foiled his plans, he attempted another subtle invasion of Earth, and Elayna and Rickard spend most of the game trying to track him down and prove his duplicitousness. The game's final mission does see an overt war launched against humanity by the aliens, and the two agents must infiltrate the alien mothership and destroy it. After the aliens are foiled, they return to their home planet, and Earth seems safe, with the game ending as Earth is invited into a galactic confederation. However, subtle clues throughout the game hint that this confederation may not be what it seems, leaving a slight sequel hook for a third game.
The Conduit 2 is launched on March 23, 2010. As a big tentpole shooter with escort features, the game is compared in many ways to Guardian. In some aspects, including graphically, it's better, but the gameplay and storyline aren't quite as well received, and overall, review scores come in good but not quite as good as those for Guardian. It is considered to be better than the original by most critics and fans, and sales in the first week are quite good, making it the biggest iTwin launch of 2010 thus far. The success of both Guardian and The Conduit, which are both Teen-rated shooters that push the edge of that rating, continue to establish the iTwin as a system for all kinds of players, young and old, with a wide variety of games and a focus on gameplay. The success of the games, both of which have traditional control schemes but feature better motion controls, also helps to establish that motion controls are the preferred way to play most iTwin games, and while it's too late in the iTwin's lifespan for Jobs to consider scrapping his rule that all iTwin games are required to include a traditional control option, it does come into consideration that the iTwin's successor needs to continue with motion controls and require them for certain games.
Guardian is a third person shooter for the Apple iTwin that features a series of missions in which the protagonist, an agent with a secret peacekeeping organization, is tasked with protecting different VIPs, each of whom plays a role in keeping world peace and preventing an evil terrorist group from causing chaos and destruction. There are six VIPs in all to protect, each of whom has their own story, set of skills, and character traits, and each of whom the player character gets to know quite well over the course of the story. The game gives the player two options of control schemes: a traditional scheme utilizing a normal controller, or a motion control scheme which features a wide variety of different actions to perform and a finely-tuned aiming system. While playing the game with traditional controls is quite fun and good enough, the motion controls make Guardian one of the most immersive experiences to date on a home console, with dozens of different actions able to be performed both in combat and outside of it. The protection missions themselves, which do take the form of escort missions (with each protected person having a lifebar and ending the game immediately if they're killed), are much less frustrating than they might seem at first, due to all of the escorted characters having extremely sophisticated AI. Some will help fight back against the enemy, some are quite good about hiding, and still others know intricacies about the various locales that can directly help the player in combat. In addition, not all of the VIPs are targeted with lethal force: in some cases, the enemy will attempt to capture them, and they can actually be rescued if the player is quick enough, though again, it does cause a game over if the enemies manage to get that character taken away completely. The player has some options in how they wish to interact with the VIPs, from professional to friendly to downright hostile, which can sometimes affect the VIPs behavior. Each of the VIPs is designed to be a complex character and oftentimes endearing to the player, so that the player actively cares about protecting them. There are few if any cases where a VIP will act in such a way that will get them killed, though in a few cases they sometimes take unnecessary risks. The VIPs include a scientist responsible for curing a deadly plague, an ex-soldier who holds valuable military secrets, a highly intelligent polyglot diplomat, an accused war criminal who might be able to help catch an even worse war criminal, a celebrity popstar who has become embroiled in an international incident, and finally, the President of the United States himself in the game's final mission. Each of the missions is connected to each other, all of them related to a much more important mission, with each of the six VIPs ultimately playing a role in how the game's storyline will ultimately wrap up. The ex-soldier is actually one of the game's primary antagonists, though this is only revealed quite late into the game, and even this soldier has a sympathetic backstory and a reason for assisting the game's ultimate villain, a terrorist warlord who seeks to prevent a peace conference because he believes it will cause a nation accused of genocide to get away scot-free. This nation is connected to the war criminal from the fourth mission, while the celebrity popstar has been working to expose this nation's crimes because one of her friends was kidnapped and executed by the nation's government. Each of the game's characters and missions is weaved into an intricate web of stories and secrets, while the protagonist himself, while having a distinct personality as well, has no personal ties to any of the game's events besides just trying to do his job as best he can. He's a sympathetic character who forms bonds with everyone he protects, but is also sort of an "everyman" with no emotional attachment to the plot, only the characters.
Guardian is released on March 2, 2010, and gets excellent reviews upon its release. It features good (but not great) graphics, but the game's voice acting, storyline, and motion controls get high praise, and it ends up being one of the biggest new iTwin IP launches of the year. Sales are good at release and hold quite steadily, with the game's excellent reception ensuring a sequel.
-
The Conduit 2: Aliens Among Us
The Conduit 2 is an FPS published by Apple and is the sequel to 2008's hit title The Conduit. Continuing directly from the events of the first game, The Conduit 2 sees Secret Service agent Alan Rickard returning as the primary protagonist, teaming up with terrorist-turned-secret agent Elayna to battle an alien horde that's invaded Earth. This alien invasion is much more subtle than the ones presented in games such as Encounter or The Covenant: the aliens don't turn their weapons on humans right away, but instead seek to ingratiate themselves to humanity while infiltrating its institutions, and the game plays out much like the classic mini-series V meets The X-Files, with Rickard and Elayna mostly spending their time taking out aliens who are serving in capacities such as business or government leaders. Like its predecessor, The Conduit 2 features plenty of puzzles, and also has some stealth elements, while incorporating the motion-controlled dual wielding of the previous game. It features improved graphics over its predecessor, and some faster paced gun battles, with the added ability to team up with partner Elayna to cover each other's backs or pull off some slick gunplay moves. Most of the game's missions (which total 17 in all), have two primary objectives, one of which usually involves installing something or reaching a certain point, while the other usually involves killing a target. Sometimes the game mixes this formula up, but for the most part, each of the missions has fairly similar goals, but the circumstances surrounding those goals can change dramatically, making most of the game's missions seem fairly fresh despite their at times formulaic nature. Despite the player not being able to control Elayna, she's every bit Rickard's equal, and is better than him in some aspects, including sneaking and hacking. The player never has to worry about rescuing her, and even if she gets "killed" in combat, she'll usually get back up immediately after the current firefight is over. Sometimes Elayna will separate from the player and go off to do her own thing, and Rickard will be required to coordinate his activities with hers, or wait for her to trigger a switch or open up an area. Other times, it'll be the other way around: Elayna will take a more hands-on role while the player as Rickard must flip switches or find something and bring it back to her. The game's primary antagonist is an alien diplomat who was in charge of the previous truce between humans and aliens: while the diplomat at first seems to have good intentions, as it turns out he was merely hoping to lure humanity into complacency so it could be conquered and harvested later. After Elayna and the resistance, with Rickard's help, foiled his plans, he attempted another subtle invasion of Earth, and Elayna and Rickard spend most of the game trying to track him down and prove his duplicitousness. The game's final mission does see an overt war launched against humanity by the aliens, and the two agents must infiltrate the alien mothership and destroy it. After the aliens are foiled, they return to their home planet, and Earth seems safe, with the game ending as Earth is invited into a galactic confederation. However, subtle clues throughout the game hint that this confederation may not be what it seems, leaving a slight sequel hook for a third game.
The Conduit 2 is launched on March 23, 2010. As a big tentpole shooter with escort features, the game is compared in many ways to Guardian. In some aspects, including graphically, it's better, but the gameplay and storyline aren't quite as well received, and overall, review scores come in good but not quite as good as those for Guardian. It is considered to be better than the original by most critics and fans, and sales in the first week are quite good, making it the biggest iTwin launch of 2010 thus far. The success of both Guardian and The Conduit, which are both Teen-rated shooters that push the edge of that rating, continue to establish the iTwin as a system for all kinds of players, young and old, with a wide variety of games and a focus on gameplay. The success of the games, both of which have traditional control schemes but feature better motion controls, also helps to establish that motion controls are the preferred way to play most iTwin games, and while it's too late in the iTwin's lifespan for Jobs to consider scrapping his rule that all iTwin games are required to include a traditional control option, it does come into consideration that the iTwin's successor needs to continue with motion controls and require them for certain games.
No, they can't, although that might change for the sequel...
Hey, @RySenkari, have you had a chance to check out my ideas for the Disney Parks ITTL in PM? (I only ask again because I'm worried that the last one got lost in a sea of comments.)
Great update by the way. Loving how motion controls are being handled ITTL.
Great update by the way. Loving how motion controls are being handled ITTL.
The Conduit without it's most (in)famous feature, our former Presidents in mech suits?
Not sure how I feel about that.
Not sure how I feel about that.
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