I love Dragon Age Origins. I really do. And Mass Effect too. They are slick, engaging games that hold my attention, more or less through to the ending sequence. BioWare has delivered the goods recently, ladling out Mass Effect 2 and threatening to release a followup expansion to Dragon Age. What is there not to like? Well, a lot of things. The silly dialogue with its stilted choice system. And the story. Snort. Right. But …
My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and are searching for me. I’m not actually sure where this specific fear comes from, but so far Penumbra: Overture is ticking two out of three…
I hadn’t heard of Hot Blooded Gaming until this morning, when GP linked to this piece by Kreyg, the site’s founder. A thoughtful, melancholy article about how videogames acted as a guiding force in his life – a protector during dark times and a limitless resource of joy whenever it was needed. I’ve always felt that it takes real courage to write articles like this one, to wear your heart on your sleeve the way …
The prognosis is dire, I’m afraid. It’s time for PC gaming to start a heavy drinking and smoking habit and to make a list of “Things I Want to Do Before The End.” It’s terminal cancer, and not the good kind either. It’s the kind that will most certainly kill it, but slowly and only after putting it through a protracted and agonizing battle with false cures, hopes, and pain. The cancer might even go into remission once or twice, but it will triumph in the end.
We’ve heard this prediction before, of course, and as a passionate PC gamer, I was always quick to dismiss it. PCs offered prettier and deeper games than their console brethren. After a month with my new PS3, however, I’ve decided that the end of the PC age finally approacheth, and right soon.
Speaking at DICE (thanks Kotaku), Activision/Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick apologized for said he didn’t mean it when he advocated “taking all the fun out of making videogames,” and that “an atmosphere of skepticism, pessimism, and fear represented ‘mission accomplished’” for his developers. Words are cheap; you’re gonna have to do better than that, Bobby. Also: salad, motherfucker. It’s what’s for dinner.
For those who don’t follow such things, a bring-you-up-to-speed: the land of Australia, which I will never visit on account of the Huntsman Spider, does not have a rating classification for “mature” games – what we in the States would call M-rated games, or what our PEGI-using friends in Grand Europa would call 18-rated, or what Australia would call R-18+ if it had such a rating, which it does not. Why not? South Australian Attorney …
According to Apples latest annual report, 20.7 million phones were sold during 2009, representing an increase of 78% compared to 2008, and generating a total revenue of $6.8 billion dollars. Net sales of other products and services increased to $696 million dollars predominantly, according to their report, because of an increase to net sales of third party digital content and applications…
A while ago, porn star Ron Jeremy talked some smack about videogames during a debate at the CES show in Vegas. So there was some uproar about that. Now Kotaku hosts a short guest editorial from Jeremy, in which he says, “I am not trying to knock the the video game industry, I am just standing up for the porn industry.” That would be fine, Ron, if it weren’t for the fact that you’re knocking …
After playing Bioshock 2 for several hours, a day before its launch, my friend decided to write a review for it (which was very good I might add). Subsequently, an argument ensued between both of us today where I suggested that the review of a game should not be written until it has been entirely completed…
I’m a hypocrite. I’ll freely admit it, and Gregg will merrily testify to it. However, I like to think of it as willing to change ones mind, as and when new evidence comes to light, so to speak. Still, contrary to my hatred for the Wii and its gimmick-gameplay(tm) I’ve actually started to like the little bugger. Now don’t get all giggly at the thought of me in a darkened room waving my magic wand …
Got this from GamePolitics: in the ongoing battle between those who favor DRM and copy protection and those who don’t, we’ve received another truly excellent comment from Starforce executive Dmitry Guseff: …basically AAA titles hold around a month, less important titles much longer. I have to add that if we hadn’t implemented some consumer friendly features those titles would have been held much longer. By “holding,” señor Guseff means how long a game protected by …
. . Having played through the opening five hours of Mass Effect 2 and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, two hot off the presses sequels to relatively popular franchise starters I was alternately in tears and in fits of laughter. Something is wrong here. Something is wrong with the media of games and I am not sure it will be fixed unless we take a critical view followed by a stand. Do we still …
Has it ever occurred to you that you can use you hands for an infinite number of activities? I mean, really think about it, anything you can imagine using your hands for, you most likely can. I know that may sound pretty silly but consider that a moment. For years we have been playing computer games with “a hand” that can only do one thing. Think I’m crazy? Well think about it. If you want …
The MMO market is a very strange beast, and one that analysts don’t fully understand yet. Why not? Because there are still mysterious depths to be plumbed. Years ago I wrote an article about virtual worlds in which I expressed shock at the fact that Lineage had four million subscribers. Now the gorilla is World of Warcraft, and all the big companies are trying to cash in on what they perceive as the MMO money …
It’s a sad day in the Briggs-Burnell household. The time has come to finally hang up my MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) boots. It’s been a rocky road, and with over ten years experience under my belt and wishing that such an achievement could be placed on my C.V., there isn’t one commercial MMOG on the market I haven’t played. Some less than others, and some with eye watering /played times. But, I have come …