In our previous episode, a stalwart hero named Steerpike (actually his name is Ste, because it’s really irritating entering letters into the PS3 with thumbsticks) died 133 times while accomplishing essentially nothing at all. That installment took me to about October 12, so an even week of play since Dark Souls released. I’ve been writing these silly diaries in an email chain to friends who literally couldn’t care less, so what you’re reading here is the edited, tidied up, improvified versions.
I’ve got this trudging, bloviating, pedagogical article about the Souls games cooking, one that includes references to Kierkegaard and “Non-Campbellian Heroism,” but I figured I’d start with a series you guys might actually find fun to read.
I have a bit of a thing for Demon’s Souls, and for Dark Souls, and I’ve been keeping my (utterly disinterested) friends in the loop with the latest via a series of emails that do not include any mechanism for them to unsubscribe. This here, after the short preamble, is an edited and improved version of that.
It’s only Part One, though, there’s more to come! I wanted to get far enough ahead that I could actually have some backlog to work with. I’m at death 700-something, so my adventures scarcely begin here!
For the last eighteen months, one game has dominated my thoughts and industry interests more than any other. That game was Batman: Arkham City, follow up to 2009’s roaring success Arkham Asylum. Praised for its tight Metroidvania design and original plot penned by long time Batman writer Paul Dini, Arkham Asylum placed us into the world of Batman like no super hero game has before or since. Appearing from seemingly nowhere in the gaming landscape, …
I haven’t written anything about Guild Wars 2 in a while. Which makes a change. But, its been relatively quiet on the news front. Thankfully ArenaNet havn’t disapointed and today they have officially revealed the final class; the mesmer! Unfortunately for ArenaNet, Gamereactor.dk decided to jump the gun yesterday and release the mesmer skill videos before the big day (resulting in an instant withdrawal on their part) but sadly the damage was done and the mistakenly (or intentially) …
In the second of our Tap vs. Tap, Mat C and Lewis B put the world of journalism to rights and dissect what has become of a bustling industry worth billions of dollars. But has riding this piggy bank come at a cost to journalistic integrity?
Sports Interactive Studio Director and football gaming man-God Miles Jacobson has revealed that his studio are “looking to hire six to ten engineers” to work on “next generation tech,” but has ruled out a return to consoles with the NextBox and PlayStation 4. The studio will instead work with cloud and mobile based services, with some particularly curious thoughts on the future of tablet devices such as the iPad or that drawing tablet near me.
GSC Game World is closed, officially. 1C’s Sergey Galyonkin offers more info here, if you can stand the piteous Google translation. Truly a sad day. Good luck to all of GSC’s former employees.
I’m an omnivorous gamer. When I’m not behind the computer screen, you might find me behind the “DM’s screen,” running a game of Dungeons & Dragons. And as a Dungeon Master, I’m familiar with a lot of the tricks that DMs use to keep a Dungeons & Dragons game exciting. A prolific source of roleplaying-game-related and other unrelated writing, Robin Laws, wrote a book many years ago that was required reading in my friends’ circles for anyone …
So it turns out Nintendo consoles are rather popular. I know, pretty wacky right? After all, almost 90 million Wii consoles have been sold around the world and despite a troubled debut year the 3DS has shifted more units within eight months than the DS did in twelve. But enough of those sales figures. Who are we, Nintendo shareholders? The real news is how many Miis are living on all those waggle and three dimensional consoles. …
Welcome to our latest new feature! in My Idea of Fun, Tap-Repeatedly staff will wax poetic about the beloved underdogs – games that we care for but never got the props and attention they deserved. Some you’ll know; some you might hate (but you’re wrong if you do); some will, hopefully, convince you to give them a try. Read on to discover what Helmut, Steerpike, Dix, and AJ consider their idea of fun.
In the first of our new permanent feature we’re calling Tap vs. Tap, Mat C and Lewis B have decided that their finest conversational moments are during the day when they’re idling away at their keyboards. Recording them sounded like a good idea. This could be very random, but sometimes the best things are. Our first topic? VILLAINS! Pow!
It’s strange watching the rise of player versus player (PvP) prominence within massively multiplayer games. First exposed to the concept in Ultima Online when out in the wilds of Britannia, I’ve watched it evolve from what was a seemingly a recreational activity when not questing or exploring, to it taking pride of place as a must have within the genre…
Falling into the category of “he makes more money than me but still hasn’t given me any” comes this announcement: Steerpike’s older and more successful brother Marcus is hosting a new show called Hidden City on the Travel Channel. It premieres December 6, so set your Tivos!
Fellow Tappers, how time flies! Turkeys do not fly. Like chickens and ostriches they are flightless birds. And they will be slaughtered, engorged with bread and spices, overcooked, and consumed en masse this Thursday, as Americans celebrate “Thanksgiving,” which when you think about it doesn’t make sense as a word. Before we continue, I feel compelled to announce that Steerpike – whoever that guy is – might take advantage of the slow week to make …
Telltale’s second series this year to extend a classic sci-fi film is a dino-tranq-size shot of nostalgia for when sci-fi movies were still awesome. Also, dilophosaurs. Though Jurassic Park: The Game is separated into four episodes, as near as I can tell they have all released at once, which I doubt was the original intent, but hey, I’m not complaining; Telltale would have to make a pretty big misstep to prevent me from being in …