Project Trico Reveal.

As a fan of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, I have been eagerly awaiting news of Team Ico's next game. And here it is courtesy of Playstation Lifestyle...



Unbelievable. The motion and behavior of the griffon, (I assume it is a griffon,) is so natural and lifelike... I am totally, completely, utterly, blown away. I have never seen an in game character exhibit that level of beliveability before. It is shocking.

It is going to be hard not to watch more footage as it gets released, but I am going to attempt to abstain as I want the experience to be fresh and full of surprises when I eventually play.

If they can hit level of quality across the rest of the characters, this will be a landmark achievement in game development. Heck, it might just be on the griffon alone.

The Passage (PC)

Recently, a friend at work recommended a game related podcast called "A Life Well Wasted." (It's pretty good actually. Very slick production, though at times it got a bit too "new game journalism-y for my tastes. Check it out though.) The main subject of the show was some hippie/indie developer from upstate New York, apparently known for a game called "Passage."

Let's have a look at some of the buzz regarding Passage shall we?

"But "Passage," a downloadable PC game released in late November, shows that a videogame can be considered mature for its artful design and emotional payoff."

"I didn't know a game (and such a tiny one at that) could be so poignant."

"Poetic Passage Provokes Heavy Thoughts on Life, Death"

"...one of the most clever, meaningful, affecting, and memorable games ever made."

You get the idea... So what is it? [SPOILER ALERT]

Well, calling it a game is a stretch. There's no real goal to achieve. I would say Passage is more an activity or a toy. You walk from left to right across the 100x10 pixel scrolling playfield, oh, and ooooooh! You can go down and enter a mazelike area. Apparently this is a major, meaningful revelation to Passage fans. Though when a designer hasn't properly communicated a major game play feature to the tune of half of the players miss 80% of the game play I call it questionable, if not poor, design.

So you make your way right, encountering a female character who joins you. Along the way you might encounter treasure chests, which are apparently good things to find; I'm not sure though, I did not feel especially rewarded for running over them. Sooner or later, your wife will turn into a tombstone and you can continue until your own avatar turns into a gravestone as well. The End.

And that is it. At this point you, the player, is supposed to go read the developer's statement, which apparently says that the game is an art piece intended to provoke thought about one's own mortality or something or other.

Sorry, but I did not get that at all. Hardpressed to come up with any kind of meaning, the only thing I managed to put together is that the developer probably hates his wife, hates the thought of being married, or both.

At the start of the game, your character is young and free. He can move about and explore anywhere he feels. (Woohoo! Bachelorhood!) Upon encountering the wife character, she locks onto him in a fixed position, leading the way with your avatar forced to trail behind. Due to her implementation, she blocks the player from entering the more interesting areas of the playfield and obstructing him from a good number of treasure chests. Once she finally dies and you are free again, your avatar is too old to move at a reasonable pace, and you bite the dust yourself a short time later. These issues, coupled with the developer's statement on the podcast that he is at the point where he now has to choose between sticking by his moral commitment to continuing to lead a life free of excess versus selling out and taking a regular job in order to improve the health of his wife and extend her life, and all of a sudden I am not feeling too good about Mrs. IndieGameDeveloper's odds.

Score: 1

Red Ring of Death II: Part 3

My (or more likely, somebody else's,) 360 is back. I assume it is functional, but honestly, I can't be arsed to bother with hooking it up at this point. Besides, it will just crap out again I am sure.