Virtual economies

When facing a rough problem it is common to study similar environments, looking for potential solutions. Virtual worlds, being all the rage, should have been the first place academics turned to, looking for advice, but they didn't, so I have the honour to publish my findings first. What can we learn from videogame worlds that would help us get out of this supposed crisis? After carefull study I've found that, apart from "beating the bad guys with the biggest sword you can find", there's nothing for us in here.

Really, videogame worlds have it much worse than us. Capitalism's main flaw is in its reliance and dependence on inflation to prosper, but worlds like Hyrule, Hillys or Final Fantasy Land are burdened with the much, much worse phantom of hyperinflation, and each tries to decrease its effect the best they can.

Origins of the inflation

One common issue in RPG worlds is the recurrent monster invasion, which brings chaos and suffering. It happened in each of the Phantasy Star games, in Hyrule, the Mana world... everywhere. But its direct effects are not that bad. I can't remember many towns destroyed by the monsters in any of those games, but what I remember is that all monsters, from cacti to dragons, drop legal tender, be it Gil, Rupees or Meseta, in generous quantities.
The direct impact of this simple fact is staggering: in whole worlds, when travelling from empire to empire, or even between planets of the Algo System, you'll use the same currency everywhere. Monsters provide the common ground for a planetary economic system that the UN can only dream of, with almost free manufacturing costs and little rewards for forgers.
The catch is that there is always new currency being coined, at an uncontroleed rate. If you want to eat roast vegetables, you just need to go out, kill a Giant Onion or Carrot, pick the loot and use it to buy the roasted version of whatever you killed. And the same happens every morning, in every house, in every town. And the amount of coins in circulation increases constantly, maybe not too fast, but in a year you might find that it takes killing two Giant Onions to buy one roast onion. And in a hundred years, when the next monster invasion starts, the value of the currency will drop so fast that it won't be even funny.

So how do you control inflation in a chaotic system like this?

Review: Beyond Good & Evil (Ubisoft, 2003)

Platform: PC, GameCube, PS2, Xbox, X360 (XBLA), PS3 (PSN, pending release)
Website: Wikipedia

With the re-release of Beyond Good & Evil on current gen consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3), reviewes of this modern classic have appeared everywhere. Apparently the new version features increased resolution (1080p), improved textures, the dreaded achievements/trophies and, most notably, a revamped soundtrack with some new tracks and better audio quality. The original music was great, but word is the updated version kicks even more ass.
Otherwise, the game remains the same. Same mechanics, art direction, level design and sense of humour. And that's good, because I don't care much about graphics and can review the original while saving the money.

There is no point in repeating what every other site out there has already posted, so I'll focus on what sites have not mentioned so much and, in a form of meta-review, about the reviewes themselves.

About reviewes

Before jumping into the game, I'll make a reference to the reviewes I've read lately about this game. All praise Beyond Good & Evil, of course, being one of the points usually featured its originality: in an industry dominated by copy-cats and sequels, it was an inspiring change, innovating old formulas and exploring new areas, unconstrained by the weight of an intellectual property (partly).
Everyone agrees that re-releasing this game was a no brainier. A great experience, beloved by all the critic, which sold poorly, but can easily pay for itself now. Also, any chance it gets to gather attention is welcome.

However, the very same people that admire its uniqueness always end asking everyone to buy the remake, so a sequel is finally released. What? What about that anti-sequels, pro-originality speech? Forgotten in two paragraphs?
Well, I don't want a sequel to Jade's adventures and I didn't like the cliffhanger ending. I'd love to see Ancel direct new games, not rehashes of old ones, because he's shown he can do great things. Rayman was really good, but by the second installment I was already sick of it. I don't want Jade to suffer at the hands of her very own Raving Rabbids.

Review: The Legend of Zelda series

Link: one of the longest lasting and most beloved icons in the interactive media world. An almost eternal boy, constantly saving the world at the last moment from Ganondorf's evil schemes, in which Princess Zelda is always involved, to a varying extent. Most often, she is the recipient of some form of legendary power and the key to controlling the TriState Area Triforce.

We've heard this story six times already (counting only Nintendo home console versions), with different variations. However, in terms of gameplay, evolution was limited to the first four games. Zelda II was a significant departure from the original, Super Zelda improved Zelda's top-down exploration almost to perfection, and Zelda 64 changed the way 3D adventure games were built. However, from Zelda 64 on, little has changed. Each game in the series would get its defining characteristic/mechanic, but general story, controls, menus or items remained pretty much the same.

Late Beginnings

I love A Link to the Past as much as anyone, even though I never finished it. It had good puzzles, tricky dungeons and awesome dungeon bosses. What made boss fights so good was the fact that they were difficult, until you learnt the method. After attacking the enemy three or four times, each with a little higher difficulty, the game acknowledged you as the winner. No five minutes battles, no constant die and retry, no rinse and repeat. This, for me, is the defining mark in the Zelda genre, and its greatest gift to computer game design. It is recognizable in every Zelda game afterwards, but also in the Metroid saga, Soul Reaver or Beyond Good & Evil.

The Light World

In other aspects, the game always felt quick, even when you were stuck. The moment you entered a room you easily identified every relevant item in seconds. Killed some minions, activated a switch and moved to the next area. Opened a chest, saw a 2 seconds description and moved on. Killed a boss, collected a heart and an object, got out of the dungeon in seconds and moved on. Every action was snappy and the game was constantly pushing you forward, with short conversations and a very streamlined interface.

Basically, Super Zelda kept the obstacles between the player and the actual Hyrulean struggle to a minimum.