I won’t even encourage the foolish idiocy of a psychologist’s new theory that videogames are physically addictive, like heroin, alcohol, and cigarettes – i.e., quitting them once addicted causes physical withdrawal symptoms that can, in some cases, even lead to death. No, that guy’s a laughingstock without my help. But I must express my outrage over the rape of the English language we see every day. We all have pet peeves. One of mine is …
Shack and others are reporting on what may or may not be revered designer Warren Spector’s next effort, codenamed Epic Mickey. Since Spector’s Junction Point studio was acquired by Disney, everyone sort of assumed he’d be making a mouse-themed game (assumed, but hoped it wasn’t true), and now it’s semi-official. According to Shack, the game will be Wii-only, and tells the story of obsolete Disney characters seeking to destroy Mickey Mouse. I’m not sure about …
Review by MrLipid Three Cards to Midnight Developer Big Finish Games Publisher Big Finish Games Released May 2009 Available for PC Time Played Probably not as long as it seemed Verdict: 1/5 Roadkill “It’s later than anyone thought.” It’s been a long wait. A very long wait. But now, the waiting’s over. Which means we can go back. Back to what? Back to waiting.
With the all press that LucasArts has gotten for releasing Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and several of its classic adventures on Steam, it was really just a question of time before other publishers would follow. First to jump on the “everything old is new again” bandwagon: Activision with news that they’ve expanded their offerings on Steam to include the King’s Quest and Space Quest Collections, Aces of the Galaxy, Time Shift and 3D …
I can’t decide whether I was mad or overjoyed while making points in this barely readable piece of stream-of-consciousness thinking that tries to connect the dots between amateur anthropology, Japanese fighting games, career advancement tips and beating people up in real life. Since there are repeated mentions of a certain character trait that is for some reason associated with a certain part of a human body, click on the ‘continue’ button only if you’re not …
Well, this is a difficult one for me to write, if only because if I don’t choose my words carefully I could wind up on the receiving end of a very nasty email from a person who theoretically has the authority to destroy a significant portion of my career. At the same time, though, it bears reporting, and this is one of those rare instances where writing with pure journalistic impartiality would actually come off …
Fit the First I alighted on an ingenious idea when I first played Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. When I got stuck, I could simply write a letter to LucasArts describing my situation and, within about two weeks, they would write back, describing a solution.
Edge – and just about every other news source online – is reporting that Take-Two’s Bioshock 2 has been delayed until 2010, off from its earlier release date of November 2009. As some outlets note, November 2009 is already fiscal 2010 for the publisher, which means that this will not upset the balance sheets, and will probably ensure that Bioshock 2 doesn’t get lost in the holiday release madness.
The second Mario Marathon is up and running right now, to benefit Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play Charity. Three crazy people will play through the seven core Super Mario Bros. games on Wii Virtual Console in one weekend, nonstop, with limited sleep. Hilarity will ensue. Donations will be made, to buy games, toys, books, and other goodies for the kids in children’s hospitals across the world. These kids suffer plenty, and anything that the gaming community …
Those with Showtime can check out tonight’s episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! at 10:00pm Eastern/Pacific. In this one, the duo of corpulent and silent will go out of their way to ridicule anti-game activists (including the disbarred but not forgotten Jack Thompson) convinced that videogames cause violence. The clip above was snagged from GamePolitics, once (rightly) described as “one of the few sites you must visit every day if you consider yourself serious about …
Today, Google has announced its own operating system (Chrome OS) targeting netbooks. Links can be found: here, there, and everywhere.
Since our tiny fists first clutched the Atari 2600 controller, we’ve been taught that story-driven games need to have stories – stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. Maybe that was wrong all this time.
All during this past weekend, LucasArts has been teasing its Twitter followers with hints of a big announcement for fans of their back catalog. The wait is finally over. After years of pleading and begging from its dedicated fan-base LucasArts has answered the call and plans to re-release some of its back catalog. Partnering with Steam, LucasArts is releasing – in a first round – 10 games on July 8, 2009: Armed and Dangerous Indiana …
Review by Toger Jules Verne’s Return to Mysterious Island Developer Tetraedge Games, Inc. Publisher Chillingo Ltd. Released June 2009 Available for iPhone/iPod Touch Time Played Finished Verdict: 4/5 Thumb Up I’m not what you’d call a “good” camper. The thought of sleeping on the ground while all manner of critters crawl hither and yon over my body is not my idea of fun… and we won’t even mention the lack of decent bathroom facilities while …
Has anyone heard of Trine or tried out the demo? Developed by Frozenbyte, Trine is billed as a physics-based, action/puzzle platformer with three different swap-able player characters – Wizard, Thief, Knight – who each have specific abilities to help you solve puzzles and defeat the undead that populate the game world. The wizard can create objects out of thin air, the thief is agile and can latch onto solid objects and the knight is a …