Player Two

It Lives! -- Is A "Second Life" Story A Reason To Break My Month-Long Blog Silence?

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:42:49 GMT

I know you've all already done a Peter Moore and tattooed my new blog URL to your favorite limb. That's multiplayer.mtv.com, in case you have trouble reading it upside down or in the mirror.

But that doesn't mean stephentotilo.com can't host some of the fun. See, occasionally they let me dabble in the non-MTV world. Sometimes. Like a year and a half ago when I checked with my editor to see if I could write a story about journalism in the virtual world for the Columbia Journalism Review.

They said yes!

And after a long bout of reporting (always tough to recover from), I managed to write a big feature for CJR about the history of reporting on and in Second Life. The piece is an intimidating length. You'd think it was a letter for Vs. Mode. So let me whet the appetite with an excerpt. This is Second Life Herald founder Peter Ludlow talking:

“I think when we’re at our best is when we’re right on the edge, when people aren’t really sure if we’re playing a reporter or if we’re being serious reporters. And people hate that. They want to know. ‘What are you doing? Are you being serious or pretending? Let us know.’ The answer is we’re not going to let you know. We’re trying to transcend that boundary.”

Do you want to read about someone who used to role-play reporter for two different virtual publications? Or see what "Second Life"'s most fervent reporters have to say about the backlash against their virtual world? Maybe you want to know how well virtual reporting pays? Check the piece. I'm proud of it.

And with that, this blog may go quiet for another month. Sorry folks!

me@mynewblog: A video tour of Richard Garriott's amazing house -- running all week

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:20:00 GMT

While I'd love for you all to check out the latest Title Hunt post at my still-new MTV blog, the main thing I want to draw your attention to is the multi-part video series I'm running all week of our tour of Richard Garriott's house. Never did I think that anyone who makes games for a living lived like this. This is one you're going to want to watch.

Part One

Part Two

I'll publish two or three more clips of the tour over the course of the rest of the week. You'll want to watch the one in the dungeon, which I think I'll publish on Wednesday.

me@mynewblog: Manhunt 2's most extreme moment

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:28:00 GMT

Google still picks up this blog better than my brand new one, so I'm posting another update about my and N'Gai Croal's ongoing e-mail exchange about "Manhunt 2." Today's installment includes a description of the wildest moment we saw in the game, something that may adjust your impressions of what this game is all about and what the appropriate reaction to it should/could be. Please take a look.

meVsngai: "Manhunt 2" Vs Mode (we played 6 levels of the world's most dangerous game)

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:28:00 GMT

Today's a good day to check out my new Multiplayer blog. I launched the first round of an in-depth e-mail debate with N'Gai Croal about "Manhunt 2." If you've heard about the game and want a well-informed take on what's actually in it and what it's like to experience if for a full afternoon, head over to Multiplayer.

Your Scavenging Is Desired -- Over At My New Blog...

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:19:56 GMT

ST.com readers,

I haven't decided what to do with this site, but I would like to tell you about a post that I'm pretty excited about over on my new blog. I've started what I hope will be a weekly feature called Title Hunt. It's my attempt to enlist the gaming community to help spot welcome innovations in game development, both major and minor. For example, in this first one I'm looking for evidence of biographical video games, games that rip off non-boulder parts of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and a few other things.

The key to making this work is to build up a roster of people who will help spot these things and add comments. If you're up for it, please head to the link above. I'd love for you to also post suggestions of new things to add to the list. Thanks!

me@MTV: 200th Post Extravaganza -- Honeymoon Pictures! New Blogging! A Request For You to Leave!

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:54:00 GMT

How better to celebrate the 200th post of this blog than to ask you to never come back. Oh, I could never write such a thing and actually mean it, but I think I can make all of your lives just a little simpler:

As of today I've got a fully functioning blog over at MTV!

Over the coming days and weeks I will shape it up into my new main base of MTV journalistic operations. It will be a one-stop-shopping repository for all my MTV work, sort of like this blog has been, but with most of the content actually on the page (meaning it will present readers with far fewer tease posts and far more posts with the content I want you to read).

For example, if you go to multiplayer.mtv.com you'll find two posts: one introducing the revised blog and one chronicling my Week Without Video Games (my honeymoon), replete with photos of zip-lining adventure travel and a view fit for "Star Wars." The blog also includes all of my old Multiplayer entries from when I was a single man and writing them as standalone articles.

I will launch quite a few new article concepts that I think you'll find interesting. I'll also use the new blog to link to all of my MTV News reported articles (meaning stuff that isn't just me talking about what I think about games). And -- get this 22nd-century innovation -- you can RSS the blog.

All of which might make you wonder why you should ever come to this site again. Well, I'm not sure. It will chronicle my non-MTV work, such as there is any. And... what else? Does it make sense to keep mentioning my MTV work here? Should I shift the focus of this blog to something else? Do you want me to start recommending good comics and talk about my colorful Karate class? I don't know, and I'm happy to field any suggestions.

In the meantime, please check out the new Multiplayer blog. Bear in mind that we're considering it in Beta until we get everything running. It will evolve.

me@NYC: Not at full strength yet. Blame Belize. Blame Odin Sphere. Blame MTV

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:51:16 GMT

Patient readers, I am back from my honeymoon but not ready to go back into full updating mode just yet. Blame Odin Sphere which has been occupying my PS3 playtime for the last 24 hours (yes, it's a PS2 game, but I'm not playing it on that -- and speaking of playing PS2 games on PS3, does anyone know how to transfer a PS2 save off of a PS3 onto a memory card? I can only go from memory cards to PS3 and not the other way around).

More accurately, you can blame MTV for the delay in my return to form. That's because my promised "significant changes" (see previous post) are brewing faster than expected: I may have an actual, functioning blog on MTV's site in just a matter of weeks -- maybe even days -- and I've got some grand plans about how to kick it off.

While I focus on that, this blog's going to be in a little bit of flux. In fact, I'm not sure what type of content I'm going to continue to post on this one, and I'll be turning to you fine folk for suggestions on how/if you'd like me to continue things here.

So stay tuned for the next version of my MTV News work, which I'll be able to explain more clearly in just a few days, I hope. It'll all be good, I'm sure of it!

me@Belize: No blog updates until June 14

Stephen Totilo — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:50:00 GMT

If you read this blog regularly, you know why I won't be around for the next week or so. I'm heading to the jungles of Belize with a special someone, but will be back writing about video games on June 14th.

Expect new updates then as well as some positive, significant changes to the coverage I provide all of you. Now go do something fun. Rest assured I will!

me@matrimony: I asked You helped. Our video game wedding tables have been named -- the official list! (embargoed until June 2)

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 31 May 2007 21:11:08 GMT

About a week ago I turned to you, the video-game-minded readers of my blog, for help. I told you I was getting married and wanted to name the tables at my wedding after video game characters. And I said I was open to suggestions... as long as those suggestions weren't too nerdy.

Readers of this blog and of Kotaku (they of "Stephen Totilo's Big Nerd Wedding" headlines) provided a pile of names.

Some people had splendid suggestions, while others suggested names from "Final Fantasy" games.

Some offered helpful tips (One Kotaku reader: "Dude.. don't do it. This will just be a card in her rolodex of guilt."). Others advised me to make Miis of every guest or include a sound chip of video game music at every table. I'm guessing those people haven't planned a wedding recently.

One man e-mailed me from London to see if I'd be interested in having my wedding filmed for a documentary. I said no, because, we're not having a video-game-themed wedding! This table thing will be just about the only video game touch.

OK. So what table names did we pick?

Some were no-brainers. Hyrule works because it's "Zelda" and I like those games. City 17 had to be in, especially when I decided it would be funny to sit several of our elderly guests there. They'll have no idea! Nor will my and my future wife's parents have a clue the significance of their sitting at Raccoon City. Oh, the comedy.

I thought Omaha Beach was a funny suggestion. (ST.com reader: "Every WW2 game has it. Why not your wedding?"). But I didn't want to give some guests flashbacks. I had floated Sim City in my initial post, but I decided it was too well known. It would give away the gimmick in a way that less famous place names like Melee Island and Outer Heaven would not.

I liked the idea of having game place names that made a mild joke at the expense of the people at the table (or at the game their table was inspired by). For instance, one Kotaku reader wrote this of a Hotel Dusk table: "it can be the table where everyone falls asleep after reading a lot of text and doing next to nothing for 15 hours." Good thinking!

Kind of along those lines, we're going to have a table called San Andreas, and, boy am I tempted to serve a certain warm beverage there. I guarantee no one there would get the joke, which, in my world, makes it funnier. "Would anyone care for some dessert? Some hot coffee?" I'm chortling already.

I actually did a full list of 21 table names without consulting my future wife (her name protected from you folks). And yes, eagle eyed readers, that's 21 tables, one more than the 20 I thought we needed. I guess some people in town invited themselves along or something. So I made this list of 21. Then I showed them to my future wife. She laughed at some, asked if there were any good names from the few games she really likes, like "SSX" and "Prince of Persia" and then -- shock! -- told me some of the names I picked were too tame. She didn't like Daventry (too British), Hyllis (not funny enough), or Hogan's Alley (too flat). I overruled her on the last one, but we did dig back to find some new names. Credit her, ladies and gentleman, for pushing me to approve such gems as Castle Wolfenstein and Oblongata Islaind.

All right then. Here are the 21:

1 - Hyrule
2 - Hotel Dusk
3 - San Andreas
4 - Raccoon City
5 - The Library ("Halo")
6 - City 17
7 - 8-4
8 - Rubacava
9 - Bullworth
10 - Green Hill Zone
11 - Hogan's Alley
12 - Vault 13
13 - Rainbow Road
14 - Melee Island
15 - Big Shell
16 - Pillar of Autumn
17 - Castle Wolfenstein
18 - Outer Heaven
19 - River City
20 - Brinstar
21 - Lake Oblongata

Thank you, one and all, for your suggestions!

me-vs.-n'gai: The "Halo 3" debate (part three -- the final one -- in which I kill a fly and learn the true spirit of "Halo")

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:46:00 GMT

I'm supposed to be on vacation now, but I couldn't leave people hanging. So here is the third and final round of my "Halo 3" exchange with N'Gai Croal.

This one was my favorite, because I was able to work in extended references to "Perfect Dark", "God Hand", and the fly I killed while writing the piece. Enjoy!

me-vs.-n'gai: The "Halo 3" debate (part two)

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:48:57 GMT

Readers, I'm running out to catch a plane. Part two of my "Halo 3" Vs Mode with N'Gai Croal is live. Part 3, the final round, hits tomorrow. I think this one got better and better as it went on. By the last one I was killing an animal while writing it. Literally. Read about it tomorrow.

me@MTV Exclusive: The other shoe drops -- arcade legend Billy Mitchell speaks out on "The King of Kong," the documentary that has earned him widepsread scorn

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:15:03 GMT

I hope you got a chance to check out my first story on "The King of Kong" and the heated controversy surrounding that documentary.

Today, the other shoe drops, as arcade legend and former "Donkey Kong" champ Billy Mitchell speaks for the first time in public about the movie, about whether he really did order a break-in of current "DK" champion Steve Wiebe's garage, about whether he's been ducking Wiebe, and about what happened the one time he and Wiebe actually played "Donkey Kong" in the same venue -- a scene not included in the documentary.

All that and more is in the article, including this from Mitchell: "I'm unhappy that so many good people were portrayed in such a negative light and it will be interesting what large law firm may step forward and offer to assist us in our quest for the truth."

Like I said yesterday, this is the most contentious article I've reported in quite some time. Read these accounts and tell me, what do you think really happened?

me@MTV: The "Donkey Kong" High Score Controversy: Which Side Do You Believe? (The first of two exclusive reports based on the lauded "King of Kong")

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 29 May 2007 15:47:05 GMT

Today and tomorrow I'm going to tell you about the most contentious story I've reported at MTV News. It's about "Donkey Kong" and the lengths people will go to get world records.

Since January the documentary "King of Kong" has gotten a lot of press. It pits the underdog challenger Steve Wiebe who aims for "Donkey Kong" arcade glory against the world's top arcade player, Billy Mitchell, and the record-keeping body Twin Galaxies that appears to tip the playing field in Mitchell's favor, time and again.

I saw the film and sensed that there was a lot that didn't make it in. I guessed, correctly, that there's another side to the story.

Over the last couple of weeks I spoke to the film's major players, including Billy Mitchell, who had shunned all other press about the film. I was inundated with calls, e-mails, documents. There are a lot of hurt feelings about this film and some strong accusations about who really messed with whom.

Start this saga today with my first of two reports. Which side do you believe?

me-vs.-n'gai: The "Halo 3" debate (part one)

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 29 May 2007 06:34:00 GMT

When last I printed an online argument with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal we were debating the merits of "God of War II. Now we're exchanging harsh language (or harsh analysis, at least) about "Halo 3." The back-and-forth will appear as a series of e-mails published throughout the week both at MTVNews.com and N'Gai's Newsweek blog Level Up.

The first installment is posted right here. Give it a read and I expect you'll agree that I win this first round...easily.

And maybe you'll be able to answer a question I unfold throughout my letter to him: "Is 'Halo 3' baseball, basketball or 'Survivor'?" In other words: how pure and unchanging should this game's rules be?

MTV Multiplayer: If "Puzzle Quest" Is Hardcore Gaming Gone Pop, Should I Tune It Out?

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:10:32 GMT

Is there a place in the hardcore gamer's life for games that make us feel like our mothers?

So I wondered in yesterday's MTV Multiplayer item on "Puzzle Quest". Here's the quandary a "Bejeweled"-"Final Fantasy" poses me, as presented in my article:

Isn't "Bejeweled" a game for people with simple gaming tastes? Isn't it a game for moms? Shouldn't I be playing more complex stuff?

What I sense I'm experiencing is a conflict between my perceived refined gamer self and the reality of a pop-friendly style of game I had previously avoided. It's kind of like being a music snob and then having a favorite band cover a catchy pop song. Should I resist or accept?

I'm known to over-think a thing or two. I may be doing that again. Maybe I'm not.

How's that for a sophisticated conclusion?

MTV Multiplayer: The Nintendo Wii Mini-Game Total So Far -- 401! -- And That's Before Mario Party

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 24 May 2007 07:10:00 GMT

Are you a Wii owner? Do you own more than one Wii game that is chock-full of mini-gamers? Do you find it hard to generate any enthusiasm for any upcoming Wii mini-game collections?

If any of the above is true, I'd like to share one stat with you: 401. To the best of my arithmetic abilities that is the total of mini-games that have appeared in Wii mini-game compilations so far. I wrote as much in my MTV Multiplayer piece on "Mario Party 8" on Tuesday.

Read it and.... weep? Cheer?

me@matrimony: Help me plan the video game portion of my wedding...

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 22 May 2007 10:15:22 GMT

No. There will not be any video game consoles set up at my upcoming wedding.

No. There will not be a figurine of Link and Zelda atop the wedding cake.

No. The Xbox Live Marketplace is not included on my wedding registry.

But there will be a video game connection to my and my fiancee's wedding. Our idea -- and I am sure you will think I came up with this, but it was actually her idea -- is to subtly name each of the tables in our wedding reception after something video-game-related. We've considered naming the tables based on video game characters or even video games. But naming tables Kratos and Master Chief just sound weird. And asking anyone to sit at a "Galaga" table or a "Full Spectrum Warrior" table involves crossing a nerd threshold I just won't transgress.

So we're thinking of naming the tables based on video game locales.

Here's our starter list:

1 - Hyrule
2 - Zebes
3 - The Mushroom Kingdom
4 - Rainbow Road
5 - Zanzibar Land
6 - Liberty City
7 - San Andreas
8 - Azeroth
9 - City 17
10 - Myst Island
11 - Sim City
12 - Raccoon City
13 - Silent Hill
14 - New Mombasa

Now we need at least six more, because we're going to have 20 or so tables. I've fielded a couple of new suggestions already -- Sera, Rubacava, Midgar, Hyllis, Daventry, Rapture, and Dracula's Castle.

Here's the thing: as I brainstorm names and get suggestions from others I realize that I prefer less obviously game-nerd-sounding ones. I prefer names like Raccoon City and Silent Hill. I could be wrong. I could get overruled by a certain someone. And, sure, we've got to have Hyrule in there, because it's just funny enough.

It's just that, while I expect most of these names to go over the heads of most of the folks there, I want our guests to be able to pronounce them and think they're funny more than they think they just look and sound weird (which is why Zebes is probably a bad choice).

The floor is now open, dear readers. Please suggest some names and tell me what you think we should do. My wedding, and therefore the rest of my life, depends on this.

me@MTV: I ask. Sony answers. "Is PS3 bowling a Wii rip-off?" "Why are screenshots in game ads so tiny?" "When will sports games end?" and more

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 22 May 2007 09:25:00 GMT

Get a bunch of gaming people in one room and what do you do? Listen to them hype their products, for sure. I did that at the San Diego Sony Gamer's Day and I wrote lots about that over the last few days.

But when you have those people in the room, why not ask them some questions they may not expect?

That's what I tried to do. You can read -- and watch -- the results in my GameFile column at MTVNews.com.

Among the questions answered in the piece:

-To the guy who oversees Sony's baseball and basketball games: Can there really be improvements in sports games every year or is there an end in sight to meaningful changes?

-To the top marketing man at Sony: Video game graphics have gotten so good, but in video game print ads, the screen shots are always so tiny. Why is that?

-To the person overseeing Sony's motion-sensitive "High Velocity Bowling": What do you say to people who say they just saw this before on another platform? Are you guys just copying the Nintendo Wii?

(Ever see someone directly respond to an accusation they just copied another company's game? The answer is on video right here.... and you can watch a video of the game -- sans the motion-control stuff -- at this link to help you judge for yourself)

There's more in the column. Hit the link above.

me@MTV: Proud of the pain -- Cory Barlog on making Kratos violent and on the time the “God of War” team went too far

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:22:00 GMT

Going through my notes about Sony's San Diego Gamer's Day during my flight back to New York last week, I noticed two unusual things that may have been a coincidence but may also have been a sign in a changing attitude among game-makers about violent video games: they're proud of them and willing to talk about how that violence impacts the people who do and don't like such games.

Yes, the makers of "Postal" have been pretty frank about the friends and foes of violent video games before. And "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty Stories" was released with a promotional website that took shots at the best-known critic of violent video games.

But I don't recall commentary about the backlash against violent games being part of the promotion of a video game at a console manufacturer's E3-style promotional event. And I've certainly never had such level-headed, on-the-record discussions about the merits of video game ultra-violence like I did with "God of War: Chains of Olympus" Cory Barlog and Ru Weerasuriya.

To see what I'm talking about check out the piece I wrote at MTVNews.com.

Here's a tease of Barlog from the making of "God of War II":

"There was a moment with the Cyclops really early on. You rip the eye out of the Cyclops and then one of the animators actually went even further beyond and [allowed Kratos to punch the Cyclops'] head down and shove the eye in his mouth and [stomp] him with the eyeball [in the mouth] and it exploded. And that was a perfect example of going too far. You pop the eye out and that's a visceral, brutal exciting movement. And then when you kind of go to the popping the eye in the mouth sort of stuff, it gets to the place -- maybe some place 'Devil May Cry' would go -- but not necessarily where we're going to go."

More at the link above.

MTV Multiplayer: Impressions of "Home" and "LittleBigPlanet" on PS3 -- one good, one more of a wait-and-see

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:13:00 GMT

What did I think of "Home" on the PS3? It felt smaller than expected. What do I mean by that? Please check out MTV Multiplayer and you'll see.

At that link you'll find my take from Sony's San Diego Gamer's Day. The article starts with my impressions of "LittleBigPlanet" and an explanation of who really virtually slapped who when Brian Crecente shared a session of the game.

Don't deny the truth, Crecente!