Hells jeah!: More Oddworld games

And then came the good news. Apparently Just Add Water is working, not just one one, but "working on multiple projects, across multiple platforms", in the Oddworld universe, featuring "all of your favourite Oddworld characters". Apparently, this has been in the works for some time now. So, we should be seeing announcements soon.

This really is exciting news. Though I seemed to be in the minority, I really enjoyed both of JAW's Oddworld installments on the original Xbox. I liked the faux RTS and platforming elements of Munch's Oddysee and found Stranger's Wrath to be a fun bounty hunting-style game, in the first half. Then, an interesting twist on FPS games, in the second. Both had excellent stories, filled with fun humor and endearing characters. I'm really looking forward to what they have to show.

While you're waiting, apparently you can follow good ol' Abe on Twitter, why doncha?

Via Kotaku

Aw, maaaannn....

Just found out on Kotaku that groundbreaking, massively multiplayer/multiviewer game-show 1vs100 has been cancelled after two seasons. This really bums me out. For it's two seasons, I ended up playing with some regularity. In my home life, I've sworn off watching broadcast television. This is largely due to me hating having to maintain a tv-watching schedule. 1vs100 was the first thing in a long time I actually made it a point to be home for, when I could remember it. There are some allegations that it's cancellation is due to mismanagement, but who knows? It would be nice to know that the game was cancelled for a reason, other than poor "ratings". There is some speculation that Microsoft will push forward with different projects, using 1vs100's framework. So, there's hope. However, I have to worry that it'll come with it's own price tag to go alongside it's commercial advertising.

So long, Chris Cashman, we hardly knew ye.

Meanwhile: Back on the USG Ishimura...

Dead Space still has one of the best opening sequences for a game I've experienced. Just a heads up.

Red Dead Endurance.

I'm not saying I dislike the game. Quite the opposite, for the most part. The setting has been fun and Marsten has made for a compelling lead, somewhat unconventional compared to usual Rockstar fare. I've also been finding a lot of enjoyment in the arena of multiplayer. Something Grits and I have dug into and, generally speaking, found to be refreshing and fun (with the exception of the occasional griefer). What I am saying is that the game is wearing me down a bit. Particularly in the theater of Mexico, which I am currently bogged down in. Worn me down to the point that I've begun to take breathers from it and go back to older games I never finished. Though I am enjoying the game, I'm troubled that, most nights, I can't even look at it.

This is one of the first times in a game I'm enjoying that I've experienced doldrums. The problem really seems to be that there's just SO much to do that ends up amounting to very little. Those of you whom are playing know Marsten's motivations. He's looking for members of his old gang to bring to justice. Obviously, he has to establish leads. Unfortunately, each lead ends up having a list of chores that would put my old Mamaburn to shame. Honestly, in light of Marsten's badass persona, it kind of takes you out of the story when he's always acquiescing humbly and kicking his feet in frustration every time a lead tells him they just need "one more favor", from him, before they give up his quarries location. This has been particularly frustrating in Mexico, which seems to have no end in sight.

In future games in this genre, I'd like to see Rockstar concentrate on making multi-task missions that further the story in bigger chunks, rather than peppering the landscape with one-offs you're forced to run back and forth to. It's okay if they're not great feasts of content, but I would prefer a nice lunch spread to the widely scattered Bagel Bites we end up having.