Our top man who predicts everything under the sun when it comes to the games industry can’t quite figure out why people aren’t still rushing out to spend lots of money on the newest and brightest games coming out this month. He’s stumped and put it down as a “fluke.” Hell, even Nostradamus got it wrong every once in a while.

Allow me to hazard a guess then, your humble writer who doesn’t have any psychic skills (as yet). Perhaps it could be the most simple thing of all; we’ve all ran out of money! The constant surge of games this first quarter has bled the consumer dry as they attempt to budget and buy the top games they’re interested in. Even i’ve had to be picky about what games to pick up, knowing perfectly well that I might be missing a true gem out there in the consumer ether. To put it bluntly, we’re out of money, doc.

Surely this is a risk the industry must have realised would happen when everyone decided to shift there game into either the 1st or 2nd quarter of this year? First of all, the 1st quarter isn’t Christmas, and since our game stores don’t believe in giving sales for the newest games coming out we have to pay full price. Doing this week after week is extremely expensive; this week for instance saw Alan Wake come out, next week it’ll be Red Dead Redemption, the week after that it’s Alpha Protocol! That’s in folding money £120 spent in 1 month. Now take said month and add in the months that a similar rate of games have been coming out and it probably equals around £500 spent this 1st quarter, and that’s only considering top games in the 360/PS3 market. Are you getting the picture yet Pachter?

Second of all, in case nobody has noticed (and the way the games industry is acting when it comes to money it looks like nobody has noticed. Yes, i’m talking about you Bungie) we’re in a recession, a time of economic strife that hits all of us, including the avid gamer. We may have got away with spending for our favourites game earlier this year, but things are becoming more difficult now. All our government’s are talking about cuts, savings and budgets, and this can effect the psychology of even your humble player of games. We can’t afford to rush out and spend friviously on the newest games (stay tuned next week and the week after for an Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption review!!).

Third of all, April was a slow month. Splinter Cell Conviction was the top game that came out during that period, so there wasn’t much gaming out there. Those who have been spending to try keep up with the games coming out prior months may have decided to take a breather this month to get ready for the conferences and the future choices of entertainment coming in the Summer and Autumn periods. The gamer has simply slowed down. That and Splinter Cell Conviction isn’t in everybodies tastes despite being a drastically changed game (see our review).

So is it a fluke? No, more of a period of rest. This month will likely see things back to normal slightly as more top games come out, but if anything I wouldn’t write the April sales figures off. These figures are a sign of the consumers starting to come under pressure when it comes to trying to spend while maintaining a budget. Publishers who are going to be releasing games in the summer period should perhaps start to worry about this, as it could be a sign of things going sour later on.

As for Pachter, you’re supposed to be an analyst man! Why I gotta do your work?

Tits. The only real reason for the classic RPG nowadays.

You may have noticed your RPG has changed. Gone are the confusing stats, the rolling dice, the numerous equipment and armour values. No longer do you need to worry about equipping for damage or defence; these things are almost a thing of the past. Nowadays the RPG means decision rather than choice. Mass Effect 2 is a prime example of this. Streamlined and smooth, it plays now like a shooter with roll playing elements attached. It’s not the only one: Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII. These games take the attitude of less complicated customisation, more action packed fun.

There’s a name for it; action RPG. I sometimes wonder if the traditional RPG player – the Dungeons & Dragons fan – shudders at such a term. Truth is though, the average gamer just isn’t interested in making statistical decisions. This isn’t helped by the fact that these decisions were always complicated in the first place. It took me two attempts to realise that if I ever wanted to be a good mage in Baldur’s Gate 2 i’d need to put lots of points into intelligence and forfeit other areas. My usual response to stats was to place them equally in each area, effectively making me a jack of all trades and a master of dying alot…

Unforgiving games like Baldur’s Gate are becoming a thing of the past. The action RPG is king now. All you need to worry about is choosing the conversation arc you like and installing the equipment you enjoy the most! Sit back and let us worry about the complicated stuff for you! Need to choose a stat? Don’t worry, it’s really really simple. The exception to the argument is Dragon Age: Origins, but even Dragon Age attempts to streamline certain areas. If you, for instance, compare Dragon Age to older tactical RPG’s like Neverwinter Nights or Baldur’s Gate, alot of stats, options and classes have been removed. The most notable aspect of DA:O is that there’s only 3 classes available in the game.

But William, you cry, Dragon Age Origins is using Bioware’s own ruleset!

My answer to that is that Bioware is using its own ruleset for the very reasons I’m pointing out. Bioware knows the days of using Dungeon’s & Dragons are gone. It has to cater to a larger world; one that has absolutely no idea the difference between a Mage and Warlock (magic basically). By overdoing the amount of stats, choices and complex classes in the RPG, the player gets confused and runs off to an easier game, like Modern Warfare 2. Am I saying that gamers have low attention spans? You bet I am!

Gaming nowadays is 10% decision and 90% action. Would you rather set up a complicated array of skills and stats to get that extra edge in a fight, or would you just prefer to pick up a rocket launcher of extra rocket launching +18, and blast the opposition away in a blaze of glory? The gamer on the sofa – the gamer that currently dominates the market – would choose the latter. Until that gamer wishes for a bit more exploration into customising there character, that’s how it will remain.

Your tactical RPG’er has been relegated to the online communities such as World of Warcraft. Thankfully however they’re enjoying it there, and why not? Constant updates, customisations, helpful guilds. It’s all fun and games. Sadly though if RPG’er were to look for a single player tactical RPG, they’d find at the moment things are a bit empty. Could Diablo III fill that void? Who knows.

The truth is the trusty dice roll is the thing of the past for the single player RPG. Without community, or indeed to be more blunt, without the ability to shout on chat “How can I opens locked chest?” the tactical RPG will die. There’s just no place for it nowadays. Towns are boring, who needs them? Side quests? Pffft; never do them. I prefer to hack and slash my way to the end, and maybe do one of the hot girls while doing so!

Here’s a final thought; Square Enix recently said that they tried to make Final Fantasy XIII based on the action packed aspect of Modern Warfare. They stripped the towns and freedom away because they felt that the player preferred linearity and action. The gamer prefers to be told what to do instead of having freedom of choice. Take that as you will, but I sense that this is the true death knell of stat-dice-customisation-tactical-RPG.

Don’t expect Baldur’s Gate 3 anytime soon.

Apple have dissapointed me! This is no great cause for alarm however; I have an iPod like most of the population, but i’ve never been a mega fan of Apple, my roots firm in the PC section, where I know how things work, and enjoy the comfort of a right mouse click (an old joke, yes I know). Despite that I do think Apple are a neccessary factor of the tech industry; their shiny toys and powerful operating systems are not only tantalising to those who can afford it, but they force improvement within the industry when it comes to MP3 players, operating systems and the like.

So it’s not surprising that Apple decided to turn its attention toward the tablet PC, a section of the industry that is dogmired with clunky design issues, poor interfaces and hardware problems. Recent designs have seen the tablet PC change into a somewhat clunky mix of laptop and tablet put together in order to improve the market, but problems with the tablet PC are as bad as ever. They sit in a peculiar corner of the market; artists can use them for digital drawing, but why buy expensive when a digital board can do the same? Business groups can use them for the jotting down of information on the move, but why use a tablet PC when sometimes a pen and paper, or the cheaper PDA, can suffice?

So the poorly kept secret of Apple developing a tablet PC sent the industry into an excited frenzy (one it apparently is still in despite the results of the show). Could Apple solve all our problems? Could they develop something that not only breathes new life into the tablet PC sector of the market, but also revolutionises how we see the modern PC?

The answer seems to be mixed, but personally I feel it’s a no. Apple instead presented what I feel is a slap in the face; one though that we’ll take because we love Apple tech so much. The iPad is odd; design wise it will be the sleekest tablet PC on the market. Software wise it has all the power of an iPhone on a larger screen. Instead of developing an operating system more in tune with Apple OS, they’ve decided instead to go with the more recognised iPhone OS.

Will it sell? Most definitely. Even if Apple’s first steps into the tablet PC business is on rather shaky grounds, the iPad will still be an enticing offer. A browser, ebook reader, music player, video player and the full app store all in one stylish design? You can hear the roar of excitement already. It’s rather dissapointing though if you consider that the iPad leaves a lot to be desired. Its hardware is not capable of digital drawing and gaming wise don’t expect to be playing Mass Effect 2 on it any time soon. Battery wise it’s an improvement from most Apple technology, but is still rather mediocre. By and large its first outing is poor, but you can bet Apple won’t care when the money starts to roll in.

It’s all rather underwhelming. Apple’s outing into the tablet PC neither revolutionises the PC, nor does it particularly breathe new life into the tablet PC market. Comparisons between it and competitors are stark, almost to the point that the iPad barely could be considered a tablet PC in the conventional sense (other than similar size). It’s ability is lacking, but the app store will no doubt improve this. Rumours that the browser does not use Adobe Flash are proving true, which is a rather bemusing situation considering how much of the Net uses Flash technology. Continued competition between Google and Apple may see Google Maps dissapearing from iPhones and the iPad sooner than you think.

There is hope however; this is after all Apple’s first steps into the tablet PC sector, and just like the MP3 player it will no doubt take a while for them to get into the full swing of things. The naysayers who complain that the iPad is nothing but a large iPhone are correct, but the potential is still in Apple’s court. It will be up to the competitors to get organised if they want to beat it, and that will mean drastic changes in developing tablet PC’. Despite being probably the most underwhelming presentation of Apple’s newest tech, Steve Job’s will still be smiling. We’ll just have to wait and see how well the iPad does.

Such profit results for Modern Warfare 2 show that the gamer is no longer in charge. The forum dweller or the blog poster (yes, that would include me too!) have no place in this games industry. You see, things have changed. You can have an opinion if you want, and you’re welcome to it, but the industry isn’t going to take your opinion and add it to there game anymore. They’ve figured out what you like; customization, guns, girls, awesome battle scenes, satisfying enough stories to pad out the reason why you’re shooting someone in the face.

Such delicious irony! The devil will be pleased!

The industry is no longer about the geek, it’s no longer about the dark corners of a mall where arcades sit waiting for you to touch them. Instead, somewhere along the line, games became cool. They became the norm. You can blame whoever you like; Nintendo for making the Wii, Sony for continuing to make their consoles an entertainment format, or Microsoft for making the fun filled Xbox, but the truth is that nowadays everyone plays games. Not everyone though complains if a feature is missing, or the PC version is shite. Or they’ve forgot this, or that, and so on.

So when Activision was been bullish now you know why. They knew perfectly well the complainers and so called boycotters would make no difference. Hell, even the Steam boycott community give in to the urge to  play the newest shiny Modern Warfare. The first one was good, so why not the second? Just one little playthrough wouldn’t hurt! Before you know it you’re playing again and again, and enjoying it, and suddenly that boycott seemed like a totally daft idea, and who came up with it anyway? Oh there he is! Shooting you with an AK-47…

You should be glad really that its only Activision that’s taken up the mantle of being the “bad guy” of the games industry. Electronic Arts could just as easily do it as well, and may well do so given that there shareholders are complaining about losing money due to all the new IPs EA have been attempting at its expense for the last couple of years. Tiger Woods Golf 11, 12 and 13 here we come (despite the man becoming a Cheetah, ho ho! I’ll show myself out…)

So remember that when your putting up your protest against another sequel just a year after the last game, or a lack of features, or no dedicated servers, or no PC option settings (a nightmare situation to some, that may come true), there’s a thousand other people, and in some cases a MILLION other people, who don’t care and just want to shoot there friends in multiplayer. It’s no longer about you!

I don't recall this in the book.

Some background. The video game is an “adapted” take on Dante Alighieri’s work. Note that for the Google description they have “In Dante’s Inferno, battle through the 9 circles of Hell facing fierce and hideous monsters, your own sins, and a dark past of unforgivable war crimes.” Fantastic. We’ve even got a set amount of levels for you traverse through. Thank you Dante for making the game development so easy! It get’s worse as you read the website, or play the demo on the playstation network. The tale for the game is that you’re Dante (well at least they kept that part of the story correct) returning home to find his beloved Beatrice has been murdered (oh dear…), and is being seduced by Lucifer in the underworld (oh dear oh dear). Proceed to pick up your extremely large sword, axe and armour then and head into the gates of Hell to try save her. The levels do match the sins of the book; greed, lust, etc. That’s about it.

And breathe….

I do wonder who came up with this idea, or whether indeed said person had even read the book before deciding to turn it into a God of War alternative. No doubt the developers may have flicked through it quickly, or read the Wikipedia page. Perhaps that’s rather rude of me, but then again perhaps i’m invoking the spirit of Dante by spitting on Visceral Games for even creating the game.

Their were other alternatives that may have redeemed the result of what this game is, but I sense those alternatives were probably thrown out by Electronic Art’s wishes to make a God of War franchise for itself. Movies have done the Dante business for a while now; the most famous example being Se7en, which manages to use Dante’s writings without reducing it to a poorer form.

It's very...God of War...

So why hasn’t Electronic Arts picked up their writing books and tried something similar? Simple really; it’s cheaper to build a hack and slash adventure game with a poor narrative basis and stolen plot background, than it is to toally develop a new more innovative gaming experience with a plot that uses the Divine Comedy more effectively. When the gaming majority you are selling Dante’s Inferno too probably don’t know who Alighieri is without thinking it’s some sort of Italian cheese, you’re in a no hope situation. Electronic Arts ironically sit quite happily in the level of hell that involves Greed, as indeed do all other game publishers. Recent news about EA making losses despite making quite rich game experiences such as Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space (which amusingly is made by the same developer as Dante’s Inferno) and others have not helped EA in the slightest, so now the publisher is going back to their evil ways. What better way to start than a trip into the nine levels of hell?

Games like Dante’s Inferno though are not doing the games industry any favours in attempting to improve their reputation as a mature entertainment industry to the rest of the world. Though we’re out of the dark ages (for now) of constant attacks and accusations that the games industry is developing games that make our children violent, the industry may yet slip into another pot hole; one that sneers at the industry and accuses it and the players of games of being uneducated. No doubt if Dante’s Inferno is successful we can expect sequels, or games of similar ilk to it. Homer’s The Odyssey turned into a third person swash buckling game may not be far off. Romeo and Juliet? Perhaps that will be a first person shooter as Romeo destroys the houses of Montague and Capulet for stealing his love from her.

Dante never swung about a huge axe!

At the end of the day, Electronic Arts will argue that they don’t force people to play their games. It’s up to the player to decide whether they will try Dante’s Inferno. The irony is sweet as EA will tantalise the lust of gamers for a new experience, and greed shall be their undoing (I’m sure there’s a canto somewhere in here that says that). What worries me is that such games will create ignorance on what the actual story is about. It’ll make players believe that EA came up with Dante’s Inferno, as opposed to Dante Alighieri (although in fairness they have said who they are adapting it from, loosely or not).

As for me, i’m just going to sit here and flick through The Divine Comedy, just to check to see whether it dissapears from my hands altogether, or parts of it miracously change to warn any future adapters of his literature that they’ll go to a special level of hell; where child molesters go, and people who talk in theatre.

Dante’s Inferno will be reviewed when it’s released in the new year, God help our souls!