Anytime someone asks me what my favorite or most memorable experience is, I share this story. I wrote and posted it to Bitmob (Now VentureBeat), who then featured it on their front page. The number of people that came out of the woodwork to share similar stories helped to solidify my belief that we are all amazing people who care deeply about video games. ____________________________________ Wh...
Depending on how you use it Twitter can be a fantastic tool. Some people use it to talk with friends, others use it for business. I use it to find and communicate with people who share the same interests. Those people might be real life friends, people I've met in multiplayer games, or developers and journalists I found via the service. Over the last three years I've learned a few things about...
Dear Esther is an experience. There's no semblance of a game to be found. I do not “play” the experience and I cannot affect the space around me. I am, quite literally, along for the ride. There are no enemies, switches, levers, doors to open, or crates to smash. I am a lens into a ghost world. The island is riddles, metaphors, euphemisms and an experience I won't soon forget. But how to define...
This is a weekly writeup of things I find funny, informative, enlightening or just awesome. I don't have a definition for awesome. It's purely subjective. Maybe a trend will develop and I can then determine what I find awesome. I'm going to lead off with a quote by Gabe Newell of Valve Software. This is taken from the interview Ben Kuchera conducted, and is linked below. Discussing DRM: "You kn...
I was originally going to write an open letter to Bioware, but I'm a nobody and they would never have seen it. Instead, I'm going to write a piece about why putting the likeness of Jessica Chobot in Mass Effect 3 is a terrible idea. I know they can't change it now, and I don't expect them to. But, man, what the fudge pop. Okay, if you haven't seen it Bioware released a new video starring the re...
I sometimes wonder if anyone writing for game related websites stops to think about the shit they post before they post it. For example, some people seem to think that Sony or Microsoft may release a new console this year, or at least mention it. In reality, anyone who pays attention to what the two companies say would know the answer right away. Sony and Microsoft have both said they want thei...
It goes without saying, but I'm going to anyway. Valve employs some of the best talent in the games industry. They have an incredible knack for timing, and the fiction they create draws me in like a moth to light. But why? What about the Portal universe has that effect on me? During a recent discussion with friends I realized what it is that I find so appealing about the series. The games are t...
" xplay : Tonight 6:30PM ET on Xplay : EA drops EXCLUSIVE gameplay of masseffect 3 armor in action from ReckoningGame ." What you see above is a tweet from xplay. I can't help but ask myself why in-game armor warrants an EXCLUSIVE look. Shit like this is what puts me off of most game related entertainment. First of all, and let's make sure we're on the same page, this is in reference to in-game...
Dishonored Bioshock Infinite Metro: Last Light Mass Effect 3 Guild Wars II Tomb Raider I am alive The Witness Not listed here are indie games that may not have been announced as of yet.
In one of Jeff's recent Jar videos he mentioned that football games weren't as fun as they used to be. That in the 90's you had access to football games that didn't require an intimate knowledge of the sport to have fun. Games these days are so intricate in their systems that a player could easily become overwhelmed and discouraged from continuing. After listening to this I tried to apply it to...
Unless I am misunderstanding the quote, it seems as though Mr. Antoniades is stating that keeping his people paid requires accepting any offer the publisher throws at him; including rehashes of older AAA titles. I guess my question is why can't the studio develop a new, innovative idea and pitch that? I know publishers are less likely to pay for the development of a game if it isn't a well esta...
It was announced today that Ryan Payton, previously of Kojima productions and 343 industries started his own indie studio. He did so after realizing that Halo 4 development wasn't progressing as he had hoped. So he did what any self respecting game developer would do when the project you are Creative Director on goes south, he left. I applaud him for that. I think I like older, more schooled in...
I had to take Deus Ex back to the redbox kiosk today. I was at the point where I could no longer justify paying $2 a night to rent a game. It was hard to return it. I was really enjoying myself. I did, however, have a few issues. Something I hadn’t noticed for the first few hours was the way people move during conversations. For one thing they stand in place. Why aren’t we walking around when w...
The title says it all. The game is a mix of simplistic game play and fantastic, if not misleading music all wrapped up in a seemingly simple game. You play as a block cautiously hurdling triangles and other menacing blocks to the end of each level. It sounds simple enough, and you would be wrong to think so. Within the first 30 seconds the game teaches you to bounce (tap A) to the beat in order...
Of late I’ve been thinking about violence in games and why so many of them put a player right in the middle of conflict. I don’t know what spurred this on, maybe my getting older has something to do with it. Not only the violence, but the immaturity. The notion that flexing to best your opponent feels tired and quite frankly, childish. I think as a society and (mostly) grown adults, we should f...
Is it me, or does Bastion hearken back to the day's of unrelentingly difficult games? I don't mean to say that the game is hard, only that there are no perks and / or hints to help you along the way. Turning on all of the idles might be the most anger inducing thing since...well since a long time ago. I can't remember the last game that was difficult because there were no hints or perks to help...
This is meant to spark a discussion. I know, or hope that most of you here have played the game or are at least familiar with it. Thanks to Giant Bomb for the "Building the Bastion" videos. They were great. There's something to be said about a game that employs simple mechanics, but delivers a rich, rewarding experience. Upon completing the game I felt as though I'd played through my own Audibl...
I know, expressing concerns about a game that hasn't released seems like a waste of time. But I felt compelled to express my thoughts going into the game. These may turn out to be ludicrous, but I am expressing them anyway. L.A Noire utilizes a new technology called MotionScan. This technology uses 32 high definition cameras to capture an actor's facial performance and voice. The entire process...
I don't know who Nintendo are anymore. In the early to mid 90's they were my platform of choice. At some point they decided they were a casual consumer based company. Thankfully Microsoft and Sony stepped up and filled the void left by Nintendo. I would love to return to the days of hardcore Zelda with my strategy guide and notepad. I long for it. Nintendo has announced that they will be reveal...
NOTE: This is spoiler free It goes without saying, but the writers at Valve are gifted. They have an incredible knack for timing, and the fiction they create draws me in like a moth to light. But why? What about the Portal universe has that effect on me? On the most recent episode of The Danger Zone Podcast my co-hosts and I spent nearly an hour discussing the single player campaigns. While lis...
The fact that Sony held out on PSN members for so long about the breach of security worries me. If there was even a remote possibility that our card information was at risk, they should have mentioned it. This brings up trust issues. Who will ever be able to trust them again? What are they going to have to do or offer in order to win people over? A free year of PSN+? Is there anything that coul...
After 25 years and some hard lessons, I've learned that I need to make it my own way. The long and the short of it is that I need to be in the games industry. Be it on the journalism side, the development side, doesn't matter, I need to be in. I feel like I have a lot to add and I have lots of that passion goo required. In order to make my way into the industry I've started my own podcast, lear...