teh teh teh

Now, E.A has put out some shit, don’t get me wrong. Catwoman was so bad it actually gave some people herpes, and The Simpsons Skateboarding caused Hiroshi Yamauchi to cry for the first time in 300 years. However, they have also put out some good things, and more importantly, they have come on board with dare. As we near our climax, huffing and puffing like Mario at the Olympics, it is time to talk about the good things rather than the bad things.

All those external speakers, the introversion guy (and gal) who showed us that good game design can still exist, even when money is scarce, Ste Curran’s absurdly awesome presentation about his mum (and his rather silly views about Halo's Library level) Mark Stacey’s ability to find cat gifs of truly epic proportions were all stand out highlights... These people and many others all gave up their time to come down and help us. In the short time that Dare has been a part of our lives, I’ve met some pretty incredible people, and not mindless, no-faced drones, covered in ‘property of E.A’ stickers like I expected.

It’s made me love the industry even more. The very fact that E.A has got on board with dare is a finger up to the typical internet forum fanboy who moans on about Fifa Street and the black death of franchise rape. They have actually opened their doors, let us in (at considerable risk) and spent many, many man hours setting things up. Dyack can moan on all he likes about bringing in creativity to the industry, but its things like Dare which really offer a glimpse at what fresh blood can produce. It’s maybe why I get so frustrated sometimes when I look at what other teams are producing. The chance to break away from the typical conventions of gameplay is never going to be greater than now. Why have a bathtub as your environment and fail to utilize it? Why can’t I hit the tap with a shot from my cannon, spinning it and turning it on, changing the game in an instant as the water’s surface goes from calm to violent, throwing the boats around, up to the sides of the bath? Why can’t I slide up the sides of the bath like a half pipe, teetering on the edge of falling out, but being able to get respite from enemy fire? Why can’t I shoot out the plug and cause the game to go into frantic meltdown as everyone scrambles from the resulting whirlpool? Why can’t I use that environment, instead of it being yet another, non-interactive stack of polygons?

But I digress

I
<3
E.A (and Dare)


p.s Alex Ward is coming down on Monday, and I’m scared of what I may say if he comments on his like of Crackdown… I’m sorry in advance if I make him cry.

anyway