Okay, ENOUGH. Do you know how many games I’m currently playing that have me in charge of determining the fate of the world? A lot! I am just one man! Whether bending it to my will a la Civ V or saving it from aliens a la… basically every game ever, the world and its fate is all up in my business. And along comes Red Redemption Games (no word on whether Langdell will encourage …
Ironic to see this given our recent debates over Fallout: New Vegas, and worthy of discussion: The Escapist’s Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts has written an open letter to the makers of games, asking them to stop making broken ones. I quote: How many of you know your history? How many of you know that the videogame industry, often considered “recession proof” once suffered a major crash, in the 1980s during the last great economic recession? How many …
Alex Trebek: “65,000.” Contestant: “What is the approximate number of lines of spoken dialogue in Fallout: New Vegas?” Trebek: “Correct.” Words, words, words. You might say there are a lot of them in Obsidian Entertainment’s latest opinion divider. I might agree with you for saying as much. But so far I’m enjoying them, and I hope you can too.
Ah, the age old question. FIFA vs PES. For some of us, it really does feel like an age that we’ve comparing and contrasting the two games. As an avid fan and follower of the sport both in its real and virtual iterations, I have personally stuck with and purchased every FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer instalment for more than a decade. Before Pro Evolution Soccer was even known as Pro Evolution Soccer. Throughout EA’s drought between the years 2000 to 2006, and through Konami’s between 2007 and 2010 equally. It hasn’t always been an easy ride to look at both games objectively or impartially, either. Try comparing the mighty PES 5 to the lacklustre FIFA 05, or the current title holder FIFA 10 to the whimpering efforts from Konami last year. There is no comparison.
This however is 2011, at least in video game release terms, and things have changed. Take a look at Metacritic and you’ll see a clear winner; an almost unified agreement of who is this years king. But I don’t agree that things are quite that straight forward. Rather than review both games separately or try and justify a score with a quick “X is just better than X” quote at the bottom of a clichéd summary, I’m going to try and look at the two games in direct competition. It’s a bit of a departure from how games are normally reviewed on Tap, but I’ll give it a go anyway.
Most people agree that Microsoft’s original Games for Windows Live initiative was a bust: pushy, buggy, intel-grabby, hard to navigate, intrusive. It demanded information people didn’t want to give, it often simply didn’t work, and it seemed like a very sad attempt to glue online console functionality to the rip-roaring freedom of a PC. It did not go over well. Well, next month they’re relaunching it – the online store side, for the most part …
There really isn’t much to say on this news piece, besides Eurogamer scoring Just Dance 2 8/10 in their recent review. I’ve spent months trolling the original game, only to find the sequel isn’t half bad. I’m actually in shock. You can find the review here. Read it and weep (I know I am) Email the author of this post at lewisb@tap-repeatedly.com
All right, calm down, people. We all knew this was coming. Fallout: New Vegas arrives today, and the news is that it’s… well… it’s from Obsidian.
My parents named me “Matthew.” It’s a good name, a reasonable name that places no undue burden on me. If I was a girl I was going to be “Christine.” Also good. What if my parents had named me “Deathwing,” though? If my name were Deathwing Sakey and I turned out as I have – as a mild-mannered games industry consultant and user of unnecessarily long sentences – would I be… complete? Shouldn’t I be …
I didn’t see this coming, but I’m proud and happy that it happened. For those of you who’ve been following the ongoing saga of Tim Langdell, the man whose single claim to fame is that he once owned the word “edge,” you’ll see this as the end of the line. Which is sort of like an edge itself. After recently losing all U.S. rights to his trademark on the word “edge,” and caught falsifying evidence …
This is a true story. It really happened this way.
Review by Gregg B Developer Frictional Games Publisher Frictional Games Released February 12, 2008 Available for Windows (version played), Mac OS X, Linux Time Played Completed in 10-11 hours Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star “Penumbra: Black Plague punches well above its weight and while the progression of the story may not be to everybody’s liking, it’s such an unpredictable, frightening and exuberant thrill ride that I’d be hard pressed not to give my heartiest recommendation.”
This will probably come as a surprise but I kind of like Demon’s Souls. “Kind of like” in the sense of a genuine epic man-love involving dirty sex and lots of touching. I wish Demon’s Souls could bear my children. I wish Demon’s Souls could love me as I love it, but it doesn’t. But this month it might! To celebrate the game’s one-year birthday and the fact that it just made it into the …
Review by Steerpike Developer Square-Enix Publisher Square-Enix Released March 9, 2010 Available for PS3 (version played), 360 Time Played 91 hours, 17 minutes, 38 seconds Verdict: 4/5 Thumbs Up “Final Fantasy XIII’s real triumph is its incredibly nuanced, sophisticated battle system. The rest is comparatively standard JRPG fare – not bad, but not to everyone’s taste.”
Here’s a name we haven’t heard in a while: Tim Langdell, owner of the word “edge,” is in the news again. GamesIndustry reports that a US district court has tossed out Langdell’s injuction against publisher EA, and suggested that the perennial trademark-lawsuiter may face criminal charges for “earlier actions.” In legalese, and in this case, “earlier actions” translates into “falsifying evidence.” Langdell’s efforts against EA game Mirror’s Edge and other EA titles with the word …
If you haven’t been following the latest news from the Team Fortress 2 (TF2) blog, you might not be aware of Valve’s latest venture into micro-transactions. Coinciding with the release of the Steam Wallet, Valve have finally released the Poly Count community winners into the game (also known as ‘The Man-conomy update’). These item sets (alongside every other weapon and hat in the game) can now be purchased, while wearing full item sets grants the …