July 2012
1 post
April 2012
1 post
1 tag
Mass Effect 3
This post is about two weeks late. I finished Mass Effect 3 just before leaving for PAX East earlier this month, and I meant to write this review when I got back, but I wanted to let my “gamer anger” regarding the ending die down a bit before passing a final judgement on the game, because overall, the experience is well worth it.
Let’s get one thing out of the way out the gate:...
March 2012
6 posts
Playing Catch Up: Mass Effect 2
In a trilogy, the middle story always has the hard task of telling a self contained story, with a strong beginning and strong climax, while still being relevant to the entire story. The real exposition happened in the first story, and the strong climax is obviously coming in the final one.
So how did Mass Effect 2 do? Honestly, it came off as being one really long side quest. A well crafted,...
Playing Catch Up: Mass Effect
Mass Effect was not a game that impressed me when I first experienced it five years ago. I watched a friend playing one of the vehicle missions and the experience seemed cringeworthy. He swore the game was good, though, so I gave it a shot.
I got about thirty minutes in and stopped. The controls on the 360 controller just didn’t feel right to me, and I ended up setting the game aside for...
Story in Video Games
I finished Bastion last night and it had me thinking about the nature of story telling in video games. As an interactive medium I’ve always thought games had the ability to tell stories in unique ways, but the majority of developers don’t utilize the tools available to them, opting instead to tell the story through elaborate, pre-rendered non-interactive cut scenes.
Now don’t...
Valve Working on a Console?
Rumors have been buzzing for the past week or so that Valve is working on a “console” of sorts. More specifically, it’s a PC box with a TV friendly interface. Supposedly it won’t be locked to just Steam games, allowing users to install other games, services (such as EA’s Origin), and emulators.
It really seems like a fantastic way for the console oriented gamer to...
Bastion: Post Apocalypse Done Differently
The term “post apocalypse” is so overused in media these days it has almost become a buzzword, especially in the gaming community. Zombie outbreaks and nuclear wastelands are a dime a dozen these days, and developers aren’t doing a whole lot to stand out from the crowd.
I’ve read that Naughty Dog is touting their upcoming release “The Last of Us” as a “new kind of apocalypse,” but, while it looks...
Regarding "Gamer Culture"
Over the past couple of days the story Giant Bomb broke about a leading voice in the fighting game community, Aris Bakhtanians, openly advocating sexual harassment has been a pretty big deal on the internet. Gamers on every site reporting on the issue have been flocking to comments sections to express their shock and horror that he could come out say such things.
But really, let’s stop and...
February 2012
1 post
7 tags
Pokemon Black/White 2
I’m going to be upfront here: I love Pokemon. Something about the minimalistic RPG design hooks me every single time. It probably has a lot to do with nostalgia. In the late 90’s Pokemon was our generation’s Ninja Turtles or Transformers. Cartoons, books, video games, collectible toys, you name it, there was Pokemon merchandise for it, and if you wanted to be a bad ass you had...
November 2011
1 post
Shit. Piss. Blood. Religion. The Binding of Isaac.
So you’re a little kid and you’re hanging out at home. You’re playing with your toys and your mother is watching fundie christian TV shows. You don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, but mom’s happy so you’re happy. Then all of a sudden your mother starts hearing voices that she believes are from God. Those voices tell her that she has to murder...
September 2011
7 posts
World of Warcraft Patch 4.3
Like it or not, WoW is a pretty big deal. It’s seven years old and still has around twelve million active subscribers. Hardcore guilds race for world first kills in new instances, hardcore PVP players play huge tournaments for money and prestige, and casual players log hours upon hours running dungeons, farming materials, and leveling characters.
Patch 4.3 is shaping up to be a fitting...
Nintendo 3DS Conference at TGS
During the Tokyo Game Show yesterday Nintendo showed off what the coming months have in store for 3DS owners.
First up, that atrocious looking slide pad add on is a real deal, and is slated to come out December 10th and is priced at ¥1,500, which is about $20 US, and it requires a AA battery to run. Not only is this thing ugly and clunky looking, but it’s overpriced and a possible money...
Sonic Generations "Rivals"
I bad mouth the Sonic series a lot, but I do have many fond memories of the Genesis games. I also really enjoyed last years Sonic 4 Episode 1 (speaking of this where the hell is episode 2? It seems Sega is taking a page out of Valve’s book when it comes to episodic gaming).
What it comes down to is 3D Sonic games aren’t all that good, but I really like 2D iterations. So I would be...
Minecraft 1.8 "leak"
Yesterday Minecraft developers Mojang “leaked” the upcoming Adventure Update. Notch said it’s cool to use it as long as users report bugs and feel slightly bad about using it. Sounds suspiciously like helping Mojang test the patch, but that’s fine with me. I pre-purchased the game to play through the alpha and beta testing process and 1.8 seems like it will be packed with...
First Impressions: Dead Island
Back in February we saw a trailer for a game called Dead Island. It stands as one of the best video game trailers I’ve ever seen. It set my expectations for the game, that before then I had never heard of, sky high. It’s probably one of the most glaring examples of really good marketing being a final product’s worst enemy.
When I saw the first gameplay trailer of Dead Island was...
Flyin' high with OwlBoy
I read an interview with Norwegian indie developer D-Pad in which they stated that their game, OwlBoy, draws inspiration from the Tanooki Suit (Super Mario Bros 3), Kid Icarus, and the Legend of Zelda, to which my immediate reaction was where do I sign up?
OwlBoy is, at its heart, a 2D platformer with 16bit-esque graphics, a la the SNES and Genesis era. The sprites are awesome, though the...
3 tags
Why, Nintendo? Why?
The first six months of the 3DS’ lifespan has been a pretty rough ride for Nintendo and early adopters alike. The biggest titles the handheld currently has are either ports or, using the term loosely, remakes. This limited line up, along with a high price tag of $250 kept many potential early adopters away from Nintendo’s new device.
Then E3 happened. Sony showed off their handheld,...
