It would be an understatement to say that information regarding Doom 4 has been tightly guarded. So you can imagine my excitement when during one of my id Software stalking episodes, I came across the new logo for Doom 4 on their job opportunities page. Discreet, but delicious.

And I must say, I like it. I love the way the logo honours its lineage, while maintaining a character of its own. Although this doesn’t relieve the intense deprivation I’ve been burdened with since id Software first announced that Doom 4 was in production, it certainly wet my lips.

I’m also beginning to think, that if you want the latest and exclusive news on id Software’s projects, their job opportunities page is where it’s at. As far as I recall, the first announcement of Doom 4 came from the very same place, when they were looking to hire new talent to work on the game.

Taking the logo reveal as an omen of news, I scrubbed a little further and came across Doom 4’s page on Wikipedia, informing me that a writer by the name of Graham Joyce has been penned “to help develop the storyline potential”. Something that Computer and Video Games reported that I apparently missed. It’s good news, as id Software has always been in need of a good writer. However, their games have always excelled at delivering an amazing experience, which fills in the gaps of a under-worked storyline. In fact, to add an overly embellished storyline would actually become a detractor to the overall experience.

Gosh, I really do hope the new Doom is more like the original. Which is the impression I’m given by the new logo. The fact that the texture on the lettering appears to be concrete, with a little earth thrown in on the bottom half. Although to be fair, it equally if not more so, depicts a Hell-ish type theme; but let me elaborate on my first assumption, a man has to dream. The setting and style exhibited in the first two episodes of the original Doom (Knee Deep in the Dead and The Shores of Hell) is very hard to rationalize. Almost inexplicable. The architecture consisted of large, monolithic, concrete structures with technology embedded here and there. It reminds me of mall designs back in the 70’s and 80’s. Lots of concrete and open spaces. I guess what makes it so confusing is that it’s like present day buildings, but with highly advanced technology mixed in. It had a unique feel; and while I loved Doom 3’s futuristic, cold steel, hydraulic theme (which I think id Software nailed), I do miss the oft vacant and sparse facilities, that haunted moons.

Unless you’re wandering the vibrant forests of Pandora, devoid of Human contact, you’ve by now heard of and seen James Cameron’s long awaited and incredibly publicised movie, Avatar. The film has been met with almost unanimous applause from critics and audiences alike. But it seems, what people failed to predict, was that the exotic fantasy would become a double-edged sword, leaving many of its fans depressed in its wake.

I was made aware of this when I came across an interesting article at CNN.com that has been doing its rounds on the internet; receiving much commentary. Jo Piazza of CNN writes,

“James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.”

Why is this so interesting to me? Because I get to say this to the disillusioned Avatar fans: Welcome to the club, movie-going masses, you’re experiencing what many gamers have been experiencing for years. Only feeling now what I felt 9 years ago after completing Final Fantasy VIII. It’s significant, because only today is there a massive scale of people — who don’t play games — that can relate to the level of immersion gamers experience from playing video games. Albeit, such experiences do not necessarily result in suicidal thoughts. Personally however, I can totally empathize with such thoughts, and can see how they may become self destructive.

Obviously, some people are more susceptible to being sucked in than others, and not all games are capable of captivating their players in this way. In fact, a games ability to keep me in a state of immersion, is how I gauge how good a game is.¹ Whether or not I can lose myself in it. Finely crafted games that successfully create and maintain the illusion of an alternate reality I dub, “experiences”, because the word “game” does not fully honour what they provide. Titles such as Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy VII, Half-Life, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Dino Crisis and Silent Hill; transcended from being “just-a-game”, they blurred the lines between the real and surreal. Their consuming atmosphere was tangible. And in Final Fantasy VIII’s case, the emptiness that followed in its absence, real.

I would just like to emphasize that, although there are quite a few games out there that are immersive, Final Fantasy VIII specifically left me feeling depressed. I was like, “What do I do now?”. When I finished the game, I couldn’t believe it was over. That it was done, finished, no more. That that would be the last time I saw Rinoa and friends. The last time I would enter a world I was tremendously attached to.

When I was a kid, the original DOOM showed me that I could experience fear while playing a video game. Final Fantasy VIII however, made me come to the dawning realization that a whole cornucopia of emotions could be evoked. I experienced love and strong emotional bonds between the characters. I lived a second life, in the midst of an elegantly beautiful world that I was in no hurry to leave. Like Final Fantasy VIII, Avatar had a love interest; and it’s that element specifically that leaves people with that empty feeling. An overall happy overtone that contrasts real life. You come from doing the spectacular, back to the ordinary and dull. You realize life doesn’t quite play out as magical as in a game or movie. There are no “moments”.

Having played games for many years, I’ve learnt to deal with this. I’ve become hardened to it. But as disheartening as it may be, there’s a positive flip-side. It’s an awesome thing knowing that there’s more out there. Personally, I crave and seek out games that can offer this experience to me. That I can buy a ticket to a different place. It’s like buying a dream. One of the best things ever is purchasing a good video game. On that note, Dr. Stephan Quentzel, a psychiatrist and Medical Director said in that CNN article:

“Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far”

He obviously has never played video games. Which are interactive, as opposed to passive viewing. Not to take away from Avatar, the CG was freaking insane. The facial expressions, perfect. I would go so far as to say, that Avatar was one of the only movies where I truly experienced video game-like immersion.² Watching it in 3D certainly helped. It really did feel like it physically took you along for the ride. The setup was perfect. You experience Pandora and the Na’vi with Jake Sully (the main protagonist). Every time he went to sleep and his conscience possessed his Na’vi body, you were seeing things for the first time as he did. You learnt and discovered with him. When he woke in shock, to a cold reality, it hit you as well. I was actually quite jarred and confused after seeing Avatar, as straight after watching the evening show, and because it was a long movie, by the time I got home I immediately went to bed. As I laid on my bed, I thought I was Jake, about to sleep and wake-up in an alien body. It was pretty bizarre but exciting too.

Somehow James Cameron has also managed to make it possible, for a person to find a blue female alien attractive. Moving on.

Immersion is one of the key pillars of why I deem video games a superior form of entertainment, and it’s quite interesting to finally see it emerging within the world of cinema. Immersion is a vitally important topic to me, and I’ve contended at length to retain its integrity.

Neytiri is hot.

1. Certain exceptions apply. Realism and immersion isn’t necessarily every games goal. Puzzle games for example. ↩
2. The only other movie I can think of — as of this writing — where I really felt incredibly immersed, was Cloverfield. ↩

In keeping with Microsoft’s tradition of trying to garner as much hate as corporately possible, an announcement from Remedy stated that in all likelihood, Alan Wake would not be released on the PC simultaneously with the Xbox 360, and that ultimately, Microsoft was responsible.

I’m amazed that Microsoft’s efforts to trounce their name can still surprise me. It usually happens when I have a profound love for a product that they have somehow twistedly involved themselves with. In this case, Alan Wake. Further cementing the harrowing reality that PC’s, which were once the father, is now the red-headed stepchild of gaming platforms, and it’s getting out of hand. The fact that some random commenter on BrightFalls, used the very same words to describe PC gaming as it stands today, is indicative of a very sad consensus.

It’s no surprising why the PC market is dwindling, or why Gears of War received poor reception on the platform. By the time they (Microsoft and Epic Games) release the game on the system, it was old hat, most likely played at a friends place while in parallel, being completely deprecated by online media. Then the suits at Microsoft and Epic perceive PC’s as a “poor platform”. Retards, the lot of them. The game industry wouldn’t be where it is today without computer games. That goes for their companies too. It’s astounding that developers can discard a user base that has brought them success and riches through loyal support, without even flinching. Shame on you Remedy, you can suck my balls in bullet-time.

I guess the source of my immense resentment is the fact that, I believe noobs are responsible for this turn in the industry. PC’s simply don’t have the buffer of a couple million casual gamer masses like consoles do. And this bothers me to my core. It’s these “people” that are causing the votes to swing the opposite way. It’s like having the jocks win at the end of a movie. They save the world and get the girl, while the nerd gets to sleep in a pile of his own shit. The passionate, loyal and true gamer is being replaced by the spontaneous, unappreciative casual gamer. Persuading me that the world, is indeed, unfair. The thought of starting an online petition actually crossed my mind, even though it’s frowned upon. News that you find disarming will have that effect. But upon giving it more thought, I came to a reasonable and possibly more effective way to voice my concern. Make your opinion heard in places that matter, such as community forums and websites based around the specific game, where developers will most likely have their ear to the ground. Regarding Alan Wake, BrightFalls might be a good first step.

I was so deeply excited for Alan Wake, simply because I believed it would be better on my PC. Oh, forgive me for loving anti-aliasing, and that I can use resolutions that are so high, they border on divine. I had aspirations of taking part in something that harkened back to my experience with the original Alone in the Dark. So silly of me.

Rage, unknowingly a powerful metaphor for PC gaming, a sign of life in a previously thriving world.

Amidst the despair in the barren landscape that is PC gaming, there are the few glimmers of hope, whose light provides the most comforting warmth. Id Software have begun teasing us with crumbs off of their royal table. Providing tidbits of media for their upcoming post-apocalyptic title, Rage, on their new teaser site After the Impact. As of this writing and checking the website, I see they’ve updated it, so do check it out. The website itself oozes with atmosphere, one can only imagine how consuming the actual game will be. From an artistic and design perspective, Rage is looking hot. Subtle touches are even evident on the website, such as the ship named Apophis. Signs of Id’s focus in creating not only high-tech graphics, but great content and design as well. I guess they thought one way to break the ice with their parent company, was to shame them.

Thank goodness for FPS games, RTS games and World of Warcraft to help keep the dream alive.

For those of you that don’t know; John Carmack is my favourite game developer. I’ve always looked up to him and found him as a source of inspiration. I’ve listened to his talks countless times, and have been following his company, Id Software, for many years. From Commander Keen to Doom, I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed Id’s hard work. But now, it seems, that my worst fear has materialized, so terrible, I couldn’t have even imagined.

Upon taking a quick gander at Kotaku before going to bed, I read the headline, “id Software Bought By Bethesda Parent Company, ZeniMax,” followed by, “id: Why We Sold To ZeniMax.” I sat there, stunned and refusing to believe my eyes. I took a moment so that the headlines would sink in, and then decided to read the further. Scurrying for any excuse I could find, I was hoping the headlines were some clever play with words. To my dismay, the headlines were dead on.

Some of you might be wondering, why is this such a shock for me? Well, I’ve always admired Id Software’s self direction. Being an independent developer, they’ve never really needed to answer to anyone. I’ve always accredited this fact, as a strength to Id Software. Being a fan of the company, this was a point of pride for me. Id Software were around since the beginning of the golden era of game development. Let me clarify. I’m not suggesting they made the first video game, but they helped boost the entire video game industry as a medium. I loved the fact that they’ve run their own ship since the heydays, where so many other companies have been bought out, only to be the small print in some corporate take-over. Lets not forget, they created the first person shooter genre!

This calamity is exacerbated by the fact that Id Software and Bethesda Softworks are poles apart. Chalk and cheese if you will. John Carmack and his team create polished products, which may not necessarily be incredibly original, but the experience is always sublime. Bethesda on the other hand, if it were not for Fallout 3, I would still completely loathe and despise. Bethesda’s ham handed, stale and lifeless approach to creating worlds has always rubbed me the wrong way. Excessive repetition of areas and the complete overuse of art assets in their titles, leads me to believe that their aim in life is to unlock some sort of achievement for using copy and paste more than anyone else on planet earth. Characters and non-player characters that remain perfectly prostate and stiff when conversing with the player, concluding with them walking away like they have a carrot stuck up their arse. Terrible scripts made worse with even more terrible voice acting. The technology used in their games is always sub-par, and continuously reskinned and labelled as new titles. Their outdoor lighting is bland and almost non-existent. Rudimentary aspects such as fire casting light and ambient sound effects are usually forgotten or omitted. Not to mention their engines run poorly, and that their games crash often. How Bethesda has managed to make, what should be a beautifully crafted single player experience feel like an MMO is completely appalling.

Legendary game developer and icon of the industry, John Carmack.

I realize I have, when in comparison to the gaming masses, a fairly unique opinion of Bethesda Softworks. Partly because I believe I’m one of the last, sane and critical thinking people left on earth that play games, alongside Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw. It’s nice to know that none other than John Romero himself, shared somewhat similar feelings. Even Penny-Arcade’s Jerry Holkins had something to say, which adequately described my fear. I foresee Bethesda Softworks benefiting a lot out of this acquisition. I assume they’ll get their hands on John Carmack’s amazing technology, Id Tech 5, and future feats born out of his genius. As far as Id Software is concerned, I pray that Bethesda have zero influence on their projects. I’m just glad to read that Id Software, as noted in the press releases, is going to run as it always has and I sincerely hope that’s true.  If anything, as much as this is a turn from my initial attitude towards this acquisition, I should give John Carmack the benefit of the doubt.