Contest (CAG Foreplay #62): Win Avalon Code (DS)

[shipwreck]

[IMG-L=5137]5522[/IMG-L]As detailed in CAG Foreplay Podcast #62, we have a copy of Avalon Code to give away courtesy of XSEED Games.

Listen to the show for details on how to win (or just copy the trend that you see forming of those that actually listened)! Winner will be announced on the next CAG Foreplay. A winner will be chosen at random.

Thanks again for the prize XSEED Games!

Good luck everyone!

[Mr. Mee]

I want Avalon Code :(

[KingCrow02]

Twitter is so dead.
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[TotallyEpic]

Great podcast, yet again!

I'm gonna have to say Doom probably redefined the first-person genre, will alot of that games gameplay aspects still remaining to this day.

[EdsHead]

Good podcast. Anyway, lens flare was so amazing when I first saw it, and when it caught on, every game did it. Specifically I remember in Ocarina of Time I would just stare at the sky towards the sun a lot. If I didn't waste so much time doing so I might actually have finished the game... I know, I know...

[Katra]

I think something that was innovative at the time was online multiplayer in addition to the single player storyline. Now it seems like the majority of shooter games have some multiplayer component to them.

[botticus]

... 3D space. Unfortunately I think it's still less-refined than 2D after more than a decade.

[mxpowar]

I would say maybe the "roadie cam" from Gears of War. It really gave that game and the others that copied it a more visceral feeling. A version of the roadie cam was actually used in Lost Odyssey and anything that can give a JRPG a more visceral feel is an amazing achievement, in my opinion.

[azurereaver]

subspace - 'massive' online multiplayer back in '95, could have 200 people logged in to the same 'zone' all killing each other. course they also innovated how to NOT make a profit on such a game and went under with the rest of Virgin.

[NateWhs152]

Upgrades of any kind. All games now a days allow you to upgrade in some way or another. I first saw it in Altred beast and loved the idea

[ElektroDragon]

I don't feel like listening... how do I enter?

[EchaniDrgn]

I think something truly innovative was the idea of Karma or dynamic storytelling that I first experienced in Fallout 1. (I'm sure there was prior art but this was my first real experience with it) I thought it was rather interesting that the game would respond to you differently based on your previous actions. In most games before that there was a certain script that was followed without regards to your previous conduct. I thought it was awesome that you could play the game a ton of times to see what certain conduct would yield.

[WhiteFlash420]

Innovative you say? Id go with FFX and voice acting in video games. I mean it really brings the games to life for me. Games haven't been quite the same since.

[RawrrSlayer]

NPC Artificial Intelligence - It's Nice when they take cover, instead of mindlessly rushing to their deaths...And Other Such Things...lol :D

[tredole]

the 3d environments and polygons of mario 64 blew my mind. i would just run around in circles jumping for hours.

[FinalD]

In spite of many promises that were never seen through, I believe Fable had a long list of features that changed the way WRPG developers looked at their games. Where every detail of your character would create a different response from NPCs, I think you've opened up a door to a whole new level of creativity for future games.

While the good/evil morality meter was relatively unsophisticated, it proved itself to be another gateway for artists in the gaming medium. It causes the gamers to often question themselves when they decide to set those little orphans on fire.
I'm going to close this before I ramble on for too long. To put it simply, while the team at Lionheard didn't quite deliver all of their promises their game managed to create quite a stir when it comes to traditional design for roleplaying games.

[blackjaw]

FF7 with all of the rendered cutscenes. That game completely transformed how RPG stories were told and got me stuck on the RPG genre.

[Masterkyo]

I heard this game is good but can't afford it :(

[able_to_think]

Gears of War was the first major game to put a major focus on the cover system.
I now HATE the cover system with every bone in my body. I miss the days of half life where you walk in a room and stand and shoot until every one is dead then move th the next room and do it again.

[MiNuN]

the 3d environments and polygons of mario 64 blew my mind. i would just run around in circles jumping for hours.

I agree with tredole, I was going to post the exact same message! Has to be Super Mario 64 for the first time on N64!

[Clarke]

My mind was blown when I found a Dreamcast controller rumble pack that required NO BATTERIES!

But PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox had it built in...

[gunm]

For me, it was Sony and EverQuest bringing 3D to MMO gaming. That was the start of a lot of long hours sitting in front of the computer that had nothing to do with work or Internet surfing. :p

[gregleg]

Showing how old I am -- the jump button.

[cyko]

Final Fantasy II/IV was innovative because of it's Active Time Battle System. Up to that point, RPGs seemed too boring and slow paced to be worth playing to me because of the turn based battle systems. However, with FFIV, you couldn't just sit there and think. If you took too long, the enemies would crush you while you thought about your next move.

[Prowl]

This is one we seem to take for granted now, but everyone was scratching their heads when the PS3 came out without this.... force feedback. I remember getting the dual shock 1 on my psx and it changed the way I played games. It added a whole new immersion level and who would have thought little motors in my controller would affect how I play my games!

[WhytePanther]

One thing that I think we've started to see getting taken for granted (and even passed over alot) is 8-way shooting in 2D games. Contra and Super Metroid, are great examples of games that by giving you that much extra freedom to attack are then allowed to crank up the craziness with more enemies coming at you from more angles.

[FluxDF]

I'm gonna go with four controller ports. N64 is the first I remember having it standard on the console. All consoles since have had four controller compatibility. This is the start of multiplayer coop imo. Great fun.

[macefield]

My vote goes for hand-held/home console connectivity. That keeps the Gamecube hooked up and the Gameboys charged up.

[Jrittmayer]

When I first got a N64 with Mario 64 I was stunned that for the first time you could go anywhere you wanted, thus introducing open worlds!

[strife18]

Ahh....the good old light gun.
How I wish I could shoot that damned dog though :P

[aminaha]

I'm gonna go with OOT and its innovations of auto jumping and z-targeting which made for a greater combat system.

[GanjasaurusRex]

Being able to save your game! Back in the NES days, you had to remember a password, anywhere from four or five characters to a huge block of text.

And don't get me started on S's that looked like 5's or the 0's that looked like O's.

I was writing passwords down into the 16-Bit era. Legend of the Mystical Ninja had short "level passwords," but if you wanted the game to remember all your items and equipment, you had to write down a half a page password and hope you got everything right.

All I can say is, thank goodness memory cards made saving economic for game publishers.

[tyhana]

I was just walking along, listening to a sorely missed CAG Foreplay, when Shipwreck says "Fish-hooking" and I laughed out loud, then tripped a couple steps... it was great!

Multiple endings - it's gotten much better as of late with Fallout and Fable where actions and your character truly affect the outcome.

[Majora2010]

First Person Shooters on consoles.

[Gillespee]

3 Dimensions!

Which doesn't mean I hate 2D, I'm quite a fan actually, but 3D gaming has opened up whole new realms of fun.

[firesage2000]

Pyhsics, I first saw it done badly in Driver 2 with my car seemingly trying to flip on every speed bump I went over and it seems that every game out on store shelves has it now.
It has progressed to the point where it is somewhat believable but I guess it will never feel truly real.

[kube00]

Unlocking content with other discs.

First thought mid-late 1990s
Monster Rancher, put in a regular cd and you get a monster, what a novel concept!

[KongaKing]

Checkpoints that autosave every few mins.

[Davram]

Class customization is something that's def. taken for granted now, but wasn't always around and is basically game breaking anymore. Think about a World of Warcraft or Fallout that wouldn't allow you to choose where you put your abilities or stats or whatever. RPGs today that don't let me customize my level in some way tend to piss me off. Some get away with it because of brilliance in other ways (Persona lets you customize your entire demon set for instance). For the most part though, customization has changed everything about how we level up, even in FPSs nowadays.

[Wolfkin]

z targeting from Ocarina of Time

[deftoast]

When i saw Doom running on a computer in my high school library... (with the librarian 15 ft away, unaware.)
I couldn't believe how smoothly it ran and that it was made just hours from where i lived. (TX)

[Link927]

I would have to say save points. Back in the day, the only "saves" you got were passcodes to get back into a certain part of the game or level (Anyone else remember writting down various scribbles of passwords in a notebook?) Many people take the "Start -> Save Game -> Save Slot 1" thing for granted these days.

[dddddddd]

Quick time events using button combinations, I loved them in GOW. The only problem was that everyone tried to copy GOW and could never get the Quick time events right i.e. replaying an entire sequence over again or in the extreme simply having a Game Over screen.

[Dr Mario Kart]

Halo pioneered the concept of regenerating health/shields. Before Halo, the traditional model was health restoring items or refill stations.

Now nearly all shooters use this model.

[daminion]

Save & Reload systems that make it easy to jump back to where you died quickly.

I've been playing Eternal Darkness and this is the most noticeable sign that this game is a product of the last generation. When you die you are taken back to the opening Title screens, and you have to wait for the Nintendo Logo to pass and all of the other credits to load until you can reload the game.

It's frustrating enough having just had your game end, but there's been times where I've just turned it off instead of reloading my last save because I didn't want to wait to get back to the load screen.

[bsesb2003]

I'm gonna go with four controller ports. N64 is the first I remember having it standard on the console. All consoles since have had four controller compatibility. This is the start of multiplayer coop imo. Great fun.

Some of the early Atari consoles had 4 controller capability -- the 5200 did, the 2800/Video Arcade II did, but the 2600 did not and IIRC the 7800 did not.

[Super_Cholo]

Definitely Wolfenstein 3d! I played this game on my parents old Mac Classic (Parents worked at Apple) It started the video game shooter craze. There was really nothing like it before hand. Look at it, First there was Wolfenstein, now we have pretty much every Call of Duty and Medal of Honor game out there. This was the beginning.

[AleetPanda]

Parallax, even after all these years I still appreciate it in 2D games.

[USB Cable]

Great show guys! I feel like my powers are unleashing or something.......

I tired lol.

[GAMERMASTERMAN]

My entry is the Joystick.
I remember watching a promo VHS about N64 that I got in the mail, and they were making a big deal about how Mario could run around in circles, and could move at different speeds everything from tip toeing to running. :)

[Syaieya]

Something innovative and taken for granted, that to the best of my knowledge debuted on the SNES, is the traditional diamond shaped button scheme on the right side of the controller.

The Snes and the ds have the abxy buttons in that layout which is the same as the ps1-ps3 and their triangle, square, circle, and x button. The 360 and Dreamcast have it too.

The genesis, Xbox original, and n64 had basically the same layouts with 2 extra face buttons

The Gamecube got flak for having the jelly bean buttons all through it's lifetime and the Wii's button layout just isn't right for quite a few traditional games.

I honestly think that button design is taken for granted.

[greatAuk]

I'll say Thief, which basically invented the first person sneaker.
That game along with system shock 2 convinced me that fp did't have to mean a mindless shooter.

[juvo]

A huge benefit as a family game, Lego Star Wars brought us ... (almost) zero consequence for dying. No game over screen, no counting of lives, no regressing back to a load screen ... just keep on playing.

[my2k2zx2]

Just being able to save. Dont know how many times I left the NES on while I was at school or other places so I didnt have to start my game back over from the beginning.

[Johnny2900]

I would have to say there would have to be an epic boss battle at the end of each game. A perfect example is how people complain that there isn't a final boss in the end of Fable II. To me, if that's the big complaint in a good game then it's obvious every game needs a final boss.

[JHawkZero]

My vote's for Duck Hunt. The idea of shooting a gun at your television and actually having to aim to hit targets was awesome, though we all know it eventually devolved into players scraping the muzzle of the zapper against the screen of their televisions in pursuit of the high scores.

Here's a short Duckhunt story to cap the post.

When my Dad brought home our NES (the week it came out no less!) he, for reasons incomprehensible to me, opted to trade in the Duck Hunt cartridge for Donkey Kong Jr. While I can't really harbor any animosity towards my father (he did by me an NES within days of it's release) I didn't realize what injustice had been done untill a visit to a friends home a few days later. Walking into his living room and seeing him wielding a gun...A FREAKING GUN!...and blasting virtual ducks (and the occasional skeet) from the sky blew my mindhole. Suffice to say a daily regimen of begging eventually chipped away at my parents seemingly iron wills and I did receive it as a gift a number of months later. Correction: the reality of that purchase probably had more to do with my fathers eventual personal discovery of Duckhunt than the spoiled cries of a six year old brat.

The lightgun game has become a staple of the endangered video arcade while living on in console form with current day on-rail shooters like House of the Dead Overkill and the upcoming Dead Space: Extraction. It's only fitting that the company that pioneered the home light gun game is still the best home for it's evolved descendants.

Thanks guys. Avalon Code has had my interest peeked since I read a preview for it months ago. Unfortunately with the current economy it has yet to make it's way into my collection. So, if I do happen to win you can bet it will be much appreciated and given a good home.

WOOPS: Props to strife18 for coming up with the lightgun before me. I hadn't read all the pages before posting.

[DQT]

I pick memory cards/ transferable saves. I like the idea of using my save for any copy of a game I play.

If you guys ever run out of ideas for a contest, I suggest you two ask the cags to list places that have fewer games than shipwreck's basement. It could my local gamestop, 1up offices in San Francisco, ign, E3, etc....

[rick1000]

the rocket luncher in games made so noobs could play

[louiedog]

Mods. Doom wads, Quakeworld, Quake 2, and some Half-Life. Those 4 games gave me thousands of hours of playtime from the content coming out of people's basements. Action Quake 2, Team Fortress, CS, Star Wars CTF for Quakeworkd, regular CTF, anything with grappling hooks in QW (remember those, oh man), Freeze Tag, etc. The fact that I could go online, download a free mod in 2 minutes (or 2 hours depending on my dial-up), and play it for months or even years is incredible. Some of them, like TF, were well supported and I don't have to tell you the rest of the history there.

And I don't know what you're talking about Rick1000, the Rocket Launcher is one of the greatest things ever in games. Of course it's not the same as it once was. Back in the days of quake it as a tool for reaching new heights even more than it was a weapon. I can still fondly remember map locations from Quake 1 only reachable by a skilled rocket jumper.

Now I'm feeling all nostalgic.

[FrEaKsHoW]

I'd have to say the AI in F.E.A.R was very innovative at the time because enemies would topple bookshelves, or work together like a squad in a multilayer match.

[xycury]

Network play, we had Descent 2 loaded on the computer lab and played while in class, the network play was easy and couldn't have been more fun. I think multiplayer games and co-op is a great addition to any game, and should be the basis of all games.

[iPhone]

Moral choices was a great idea at first when games had multiple endings depending on the choices you made. Nowadays, it amounts to little more than different quests you can partake in and even then you can switch between the two like a light switch. It has become the biggest gimmick to sell video games to consumers and it is a sham.