Being a fan of games (well, stimulation in general) and being occasionally a little too stupid for my own good, I recently allowed my friends to convince me to try out a web-based game called Ogame. It’s a space strategy game that happens in a sort of psuedo-realtime where your issued orders take anywhere from minutes to days to complete. Now, the potentially devastating side-effects of this game are probably not immediately apparent from this description, much as I was unaware when I started. You see, since your various actions are completing throughout the day it behooves you to check in regularly, and since it’s web-based it means that I can play from work. Now, of course, the sinister possibilities begin to reveal themselves.

Gameplay-wise the game lies somewhere between a space 4X and an MMOG. Most of the 4X basics are there — building facilities on planets, researching new tech, colonizing planets, and assembling armadas to ruin someone elses day — but all of the enemies are other humans. There’s another interesting aspect that I almost didn’t notice at first: There’s no real graphical representation in the game. Everything you do from colonizing to perusing the galaxy is done via tables ‘n’ text.

Actually, the interface has some significant shortcomings BY DESIGN. For example, you can’t queue up buildings like you’d normally expect, unless you actually want to pay for an upgrade. The base game itself is free to play, but there are a number of special commanders who can be rented with “Dark Matter”, a substance whose accrual is tied directly to your wallet. Among the features these special commanders give you are faster resource gathering, bonuses to combat, and even an improved UI in certain screens. It’s an interesting business model, and since there’s basically nothing else to do than build ships and go fuck with other people it ties directly into the griefer’s need to get every possible advantage over their poor, unsuspecting targets.

Apparently the new 2.40 firmware for the PS3 is supposed to include support for in-game XMB and possibly gamercards, bringing it closer in line with the features my Xbox 360 had two and a half years ago. Somehow, I actually feel excitement… mixed in with disgust, of course. It’s an interesting position for me to be in. On the one hand, I spent $400 on a console with only one game I really want to play and lacking features I’d otherwise come to take for granted. On the other hand, Planet Earth looks fucking fantastic in HD.