The Games Industry Is Riven!

I was considering digging out Riven this morning, to play it again after a considerable period since I first played it. If you haven't any idea what Riven is, then I shall tell you. It was the sequel to the highly successful Myst game. The game was a sort of point-and-click RPG adventure, but that description doesn't do it justice at all. They eventually made 5 games, all of which loosely followed on from the previous, however for me, Riven was the best. It just looked so damn good.

I've been having some gaming nostalgia this week. My son acquired Final Fantasy XII for his birthday last week and it's reminded me of just how good Final Fantasy VII was. That period (around 1997) must surely have been the pinaccle of games production, because all my favourites came out around then, not forgetting Tomb Raider II especially, with it's fantastic Venice levels. The best levels Lara ever traversed.

What's happened to games since then? I think it's the Internet that's to blame. The gaming industry have been pushing online gaming to the detriment of the games themselves. The three games I've mentioned above gave tremendous value for money. The gameplay lasted literally months (certainly if you had other stuff like work to fit in also). My son has finished many newer games in 2 or 3 hours and because he isn't going to be playing them online, it strikes me that he's being cheated out of valuable gametime, since so much of the disc is now devoted to that end.

Perhaps the new HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs will allow game creators to fully develop both elements, solo gameplay and online play without sacrificing either, although I just can't see it myself. I think the day of the massively long-lasting game is well and truly over. They will have gotten lazy now. Games used to take years in the making, but now they want quick releases with the result that the games need to be kept short and more emphasis placed on graphics and controls. It's npt too late though, let the thinking man back in so we can enjoy the beautiful looking, long lasting, intelligently created game, once again.

Italy or bust !

Here's a photo I took last year on holiday at Lloret de Mar in Spain (the location reminded me of a scene from the game "Riven"). This year the whole family have their hearts set on Italia. I have been to Italy before, went their around age 10. I recall it quite well though, despite the passage of time (25 years ago). We went to Florence and Pisa (up the tower), the weather was fantastic and the food unlike anything I've known before or since. My last trip abroad, prior to Spain, was a working trip to Azerbaijian. That was a real eye-opener. As we travelled back and forth in the Capital Baku, we saw areas that were clearly Muslim, areas that were completely Westernised and others which were remnants of Communist Russian occupation. Of course there were other Scots working there already, there's no place we haven't infiltrated. When the first Mars mission lands, they'll find Scots guys already hard at work, probably drilling test-wells or something!