In part 2 of this series we took a look at Creative Expression and Escapism, two significant motivators of the common gamer. The week before that, we covered Challenge and Competition. This week we have a look at Socialization and try to tie it all together.

Social interaction is a subject on which we gamers take a fair bit of static from our non-gaming peers. Sometimes this is because they mistake differing priorities for introversion. Wanting to talk about the relative merits of the Western Plaguelands against Winterspring as a post 55 grinding location isn’t really any different from wanting to talk about the strength of the Bill’s secondary, its just that one of them is relevant to a somewhat narrow audience (give it time.) Sometimes, however, the criticism is merited. We tend to be somewhat socially awkward folk, in part because the hobbies in which we invest a sizeable amount of our time have rigid rules governing most interactions, making them poor training for the free wheeling reality of human discourse. For some gamers, the Social Interaction found in the gaming experience is a primary motivator.

Social activity in gaming occurs on many levels. At a very low level, gaming can be a reinforcer for existing social groups. Think of a group of friends getting together to play a board game or some Half Life. The social activity found in modern online games can be much broader in scope. MMORPGs, to which discussion of the current state of gaming always seems to gravitate, are essentially groups of people that already share some primary common link. The friendships formed through online cooperation and friendly competition can be one of the biggest draws of such games. Anyone who has ever stayed up later than they should because their guild needed them or because someone asked them to has experienced this. These online relationships are no less real, no less significant than their offline analogues. They are, however, different.

The interaction that takes place within a game is structured and often, online gamers see only part of one another. It is difficult for a group formed around a particular activity to bond as deeply as a group of friends that exists solely for the purpose of supporting one another. To avoid turning to diatribe on not forgetting your real loved ones we’ll stop following that chain of thought. The important thing is that some game players are purely Socially Motivated. Such individuals thrive online, where other players can be met and interacted with. For these people, the heavier the social component of the game, the better. Interestingly, many games with a high degree of social complexity also have a large amount of the mathematical complexity that may drive away socially motivated gamers. In pure form, this type of gamer is seeking an experience that blurs the line between games and chat environment.

Challenge. Competition. Creation. Escape. Socialization. Five different motivators, all of which combine to make up the motivation of a particular gamer. We could add more, certainly, but these will do for now. So where do we go with this? I’m having to physically restrain myself from drawing a pentagonal map and plotting individual gamers on the five motivational axes. While it would look neat and might be an interesting topic for an esoteric role-playing text, it wouldn’t get us anywhere.

A more useful tack, perhaps, is to think about what motivates us individually. Knowing yourself and what drives you can help you figure out what sort of games you should be playing and, more importantly, which will never give you anything but frustration. Understanding the motivations of others can give us insight that will better help us relate. Many arguments over what to do in online games arise because the different party members are motivated differently. A Creative and a Challenger aren’t likely to crave the same activities from a night of dungeon delving. Nor are an Escapist and a Competitive going to even speak the same way about a game. For one, a game may be a world waiting for his immersion. For the other, a game is a matrix of numbers waiting to be solved and conquered. We all have a little of each in us and if we can understand what drives us we can both better interact with one another and increase the joy we find in gaming.

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The news is out: the PS3 games console is to be launched simultaneously around the globe in November 2006. But despite the grand global launch plan for the PS3 games console, there are doubts about its impact on the market. Even more, game analysts doubt if this global launch can help Sony regain lost market because of the earlier release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360. There are also many speculations why the new PS3’s launch keeps getting delayed.

Though Sony claims that the delays were due to digital rights management or DRM troubles, many analysts believe otherwise. Analysts pose more pressing issues as reasons for the PS3 games console’s launch delays. Eiichi Katayama, an analyst from Tokyo-based Nomura Securities’ Financial & Economic Research, suggests that the delays are probably caused by the slow progress of graphics chip development. Others offer reasons such as insufficiency of appropriate software titles. However, Sony is quick to dismiss these rumors and again reiterated the problem of DRM for their Blu-ray optical drive.

Blu-ray chips provide the new console with removable PS3 storage capacity that is five times bigger than the storage provided by DVDs of older consoles. Reports that PS3’s Blu-ray and DRM feature are almost finished make them unlikely causes of delays. According to Katayama, ROM mark and BD+ licensing have already started which make copy protection technology an implausible reason. Analysts believe that if DRM technology really cause the delay, the profit from PS3 games console would not suffer too much. However, if the reasons are as they believe — graphics chip development — the sales impact would probably be the worst in Sony’s history.

Sony contradicts the analysts’ measure of the situation and denies that the delays set the PS3 games console and the company at a disadvantage behind Microsoft and Xbox 360. Xbox 360 hit the stores last year and is still the top gaming console according to market trends. Jennie Kong, Sony’s European branch’s PR manager, defends the company’s strategy and claims that the company doesn’t allow itself to be dictated by their competitors’ moves. However, history supports the analysts’ views of the matter. It can be recalled that Microsoft and Sony had once faced the same situation, only this time, Sony has the advantage with the early release of their PS2 over the first Xbox. Current Analysis’ Steve Kovsky reminds that at that time, Microsoft suffered huge losses; clearly, Sony is slated for the same fate with PS3.

If Sony pushes for the November 2006 launch, it gives the Xbox 360 a full year sales advantage. However, the PS3 games franchise’s problem does not end with the launch’s delays. Rumors and news are circulating that even before its game console’s launch, Sony is planning to outlaw its resale. Different sources claim that Sony plans to sell the new consoles with their own individual licenses. This effectively prohibits second-hand sales in person or in online shops like http://Amazon.com and http://eBay.com. In essence, buyers are only purchasing the license to use the consoles; Sony still holds the proprietorship of the product. Game analysts comment that this is a logical move, if proven true. Sony would need all the push it can have to increase the sales of individual PS3 units.

The company refrains from making comments about the allegations no licensing. They maintain that all important announcements have been made during the E3 trade show and all other announcements would be made on the PS3 games console launch. This announcement, instead of putting a stop to the rumor mill only fuel the fire. But as it is, there is nothing gamers can do but just play their PS3 games and wait.

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Sega?s Megadrive 32X. Hands up if you remember it. Now hands up if you ever owned one. My condolences to the two of you.

The 32X came about at a time when Sega, after living upon a tower of extreme complacency for the past few years, found the Megadrive?s 16 bit rule was coming to an end with frightening announcements of Playstations, Jaguars and other 32 bit powered hardware.

A department of Sega Japan, in conjunction with Sega of America, were ordered to design a 32 bit add-on for the Megadrive, and this would become the 32X. Bizarrely, however, another section of Sega Japan were also working on what would eventually become the Saturn ? a superior 32-bit CD format. Interestingly, this was done in secret, completely unbeknownst to Sega of America while they beavered away on the 32X. This famously weird manoeuvre was completed in style by Sega?s somewhat suicidal decision to release both consoles at roughly the very same time.

The result? The 32X, with its old-fashioned cartridge format, rather laughable operating procedure (two power supplies, an extra video cable, and even some wacky anti-magnetic clips to keep it held snugly in the Megadrive cartridge slot) and poor software support from the get go, was dead before it started - losing to the Saturn, which in turn was obliterated by the Playstation and Nintendo 64. A sad tale at the time, but an excellent proposition for retro collectors with failing cash supplies; fairly cheap to pick up, and only about six good games before you can call your collection ?complete?!

Chaotix, then. The only existing 32 bit, two-dimensional Sonic game. But a Sonic game without Sonic. And a Sonic game sold on a gimmick. Initially panned at release ? generally because Sonic fans wanted more Sonic, and less Knuckles ? the game fell into quick obscurity helped in no small part by the short shelf life of the 32X. This is a shame because, once you look beyond its flaws, a tricky and intelligent platform adventure with a unique twist lies within.

Imagine a world in which you?re permanently attached to a companion by a mysterious elastic-like band of energy. When you move, they have to follow, when you jump, they jump. A nightmarish proposition and, indeed, the very core of Chaotix?s gameplay. So does it work? Hmm?sort of. When you get the hang of it, Chaotix is actually quite a wild ride.

Controlling the two characters simultaneously, bound together by one of Dr. Robotnik?s evil experiments, the player must learn to use this disaster to their advantage, namely by creating tension in the link to supply momentum to run faster, clear obstacles, and progress up platforms.

The physics engine that supplies this unique style of movement was a brave endeavour by Sega, and admittedly isn?t always one that pays off. The structure of the game?s levels is rather different to standard Sonic fare, with everything having to be far more spaced out to allow the bouncing, spinning (often out of control) twosome to rebound around the levels. Frustration will often come by becoming stuck either above or below where you want to be, mashing the buttons desperately to make the characters gain the movement necessary to progress. Then there?s the constant risk of smashing clumsily into enemies (of which there are, wisely, also a lot less than usual) and losing a large amount of rings unfairly. Careening around randomly is something you?ll be spending a lot of time doing, and it?s fun at first, until you actually become bent on getting somewhere and trying to collect all the Chaos Rings (this instalment?s replacement for the classic Chaos Emeralds). Progress can become slow and frustrating, but after a while, when perhaps no longer judged simply as a ?Sonic game?, Chaotix starts to get under your skin, and makes its subtleties known. I?d never promise you that true mastery of the crazy system is possible, but you?ll certainly begin to smile the first time you send your mammals speeding off in the right direction, clear a loop, kill an enemy, spin hectically through space and then make a neat, balletic landing at the level exit sign. That?s Sonic to the power of two, and then some!

And then, gameplay considerations put aside, as a 32X showcase title, Chaotix is a must for any collector. The 32X?s new range of colours is shown off fully, with every new level - chosen at random - taking place at a different time of day, resulting effectively in around four different colour palettes per stage (and there are about 30 of them!). This gives the game a real feeling of uniqueness on every play through. Sprite scaling is also used to hilarious effect - new powerups allow characters to shrink to a tiny size or grow into an enormous pixellated monstrosity. Then there?s the bonus stage?

Placed inside a fully 3D world, your character must collect blue spheres (a la Sonic 3), but this time, running up the walls causes the tunnel to rotate with the player, creating an immensely challenging, gravity-defying experience that often ends in falling - swearing and throwing your controller across the room - out of the bottom of the tunnel. Never has a Sonic special stage required such a devilish combination of planning and reflexes.

At the end of the day, Chaotix was a brave new idea, almost well executed but just missing that extra round of playtesting (probably due to being rushed out for the console?s ironically untimely release!) needed to make it a bona fide masterpiece. In addition to this failing, there were never enough people in possession of the hardware to play it, anyway.

Sega ? release Chaotix on the next Sonic Compilation so the whole world can enjoy the elasticated eccentricities of this flawed, forgotten classic!

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