Gears of War design director supports Xbox 720’s ‘Always Online’ requirement, the mind behind Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls expresses interest in the multiplayer genre, and Crytek considers graphics to be more than half of a game’s overall experience, THIS IS NICK’S GAMING VIEW!

Hello everyone and welcome to Nick’s Gaming View, you are here with your host, Nick McCandless. Cliff Bleszinksi, former design director at Epic Games known for two of the most successful video game franchises of all time, Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, has released his views on the entire Adam Orth situation via his personal blog titled, Clifford Unchained. Summarizing his long-winded statement, CliffyB expresses his belief that the idea of always being connected online is the future with ‘always online’ games such as Diablo III remaining successful. Relating the ‘always online’ scenario to that of Microsoft’s decision to only accept broadband on Xbox LIVE, Cliff stated, “Technology doesn’t advance by worrying about the edge case”. CliffyB also made it clear that the excitement by those who discovered Orth was no longer working with Microsoft is disturbing considering he lives a normal life consisting of bills as well. While I do agree with Cliff on a few of the statements made, the downright rude comments from Adam Orth regarding where people live and the idea of not owning a vacuum cleaner due to the power going out, went a bit far for me, but regardless, I am still hyped for the next Xbox and will surely have it joined by my PlayStation 4, this holiday season.

David Cage, the creative mind behind Heavy Rain, the upcoming Beyond: Two Souls, and previous releases, has spoken on his growing interest in the multiplayer genre despite previously focusing on solely single-player experiences. Stating “I’m not so much interested in how they can fight against each other, I’m interested in how they can interact socially together,” brings much anticipation to my eyes regarding Cage’s intentions after Beyond: Two Souls. With most multiplayer games offering similar experiences, what better man to turn the table than the guy who helped establish emotion within video games? While we likely won’t hear or see anything for awhile from Cage, with the PlayStation 4 launching this holiday season, I am looking forward to see Cage utilize the new hardware to its fullest and take a shot at delivering a multiplayer experience.

Wrapping up Nick’s Gaming View, Crytek’s very own CEO, Cevat Yerli, has expressed his belief that graphics are much more important to a video game experience than what most of the industry believes. Stating “The better the graphics, the better the physics, the better the sound design, the better the technical assets and production values are--paired with the art direction, making things look spectacular and stylistic is 60 per cent of the game,” I find myself somewhat torn between the statement as while graphics do pull the experience together, there are many games designed today such as Braid that deliver an enjoyable experience despite the lack of technical superiority.

Well that concludes today’s episode of Nick’s Gaming View but be sure to follow me on Twitter @NickMcCandless and check back daily for Nick’s Gaming View for your daily access pass to all things gaming.