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 …
Meet our new mascot. This Snork is now officially owned and branded by Tap-Repeatedly, and will represent us at several major functions in the coming months. It was a rigorous interview process, but ultimately this Snork – Edgar – won out over Zombie #14 from Deadly Shadows’ Shalebridge Cradle mission. None of the above is true. Actually, this Snork graces our front page because today is a day of days, my friends: it is STALKER: …
Hear ye! Hear ye! Spencer Halpin’s 2007 documentary Moral Kombat is currently viewable for free over at Babelgum for a limited period. It highlights the issues surrounding videogame violence from the first amendment and the industry’s freedom of expression through to the implications that it may have on the next generation. I spotted this over at GamePolitics.com and although it covers a lot of familiar ground it’s definitely worth a look if you’ve not seen …
So I feel badly about implying this, and am fully cognizant of (and in agreement with) our Meho’s postulations regarding this sequel. In fact, years ago a friend of mine ruined the original Mass Effect for me – I’d been absolutely loving it until he deconstructed the entire game before my eyes, embarking on a litany of completely valid complaints ranging from the miniscule to the monumental. I still blame him for shattering my illusions. …
. . 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 …
Developer Frictional Games Publisher Frictional Games Released March, 2007 Available for Windows Verdict: 5/5 Gold Star. “If you enjoy adventure games and have a penchant for horror, especially from a first person perspective, I urge you to play this. Overture is a testament to Frictional Games’ understanding of horror and while it has a few flaws, it’s a spine-tingling experience unlike any other. Just make sure you play it alone with the volume up and …
It’s easiest to let the clip do the talking; besides, Mass Effect 2 just decrypted on Steam (speaking of Steam – Psychonauts! $2!) I am a great fan of the Video Games Live concert. I’ve seen it three times and would cheerfully see it another ten, and I’m always recommending that people go and check it out. While I think the cosplay contest is probably ill-advised given that we’re trying to attract a non-Otaku audience …
I think this could be one of the most important games I’ve ever played and it took me completely by surprise. Developed by Paolo Pedercini in six days for the Experimental Gameplay Project, Every Day the Same Dream demonstrates beautifully how interactivity can communicate certain concepts every bit as effectively as linear media, perhaps even more so. I noticed it a few weeks ago but haven’t really had a chance to post about it. So …
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 …
It may be a matter of public record that I harbor a certain degree of dislike for Activision/Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, but really only in the sense that I wish him an eternity of pain and suffering at the claws of specially-trained torture demons, that his blighted genescape be eradicated from this earth as one might eradicate smallpox or plague. But I only feel this way because his pompous bean-counting has already damaged a creative industry, and he’s intent on turning that creativity into something that can be quantified on a spreadsheet. Still, reading my latest Game Informer, I could hardly blame Kotick for the remark that he wouldn’t have paid seven million dollars for Blizzard in 1995. Of course, he later paid something like 18 billion dollars for the company, but that was later.
As we all know, a terrible earthquake struck Haiti early this week, and there’s been an outpouring of support for the beleaguered country. Gamers have done their part too, with PopCap games donating 100% of all sales to aid in Haiti on Saturday 1/16. Other companies are also helping: Bungie is selling a limited t-shirt, all profits going to Haitian relief. Other developers and publishers, large and small, are trying to help as well. Kotaku …
Information designer Michael Niggel has a great eye and a lot of time on his hands. He took Journey Under the Sea, the second in the classic and long-running Choose Your Own Adventure book series that those of us who grew up in the eighties loved so much, and mapped out all the possibilities. Turns out that dying horribly is a lot easier than saving the universe. Check it out!
A couple of days ago I posted up a link to Life is Hard, a short satirical flash platformer that had me chuckling away for a good few minutes. My girlfriend was at work when I spotted it so she didn’t get a chance to give it a whirl. Anyway, yesterday while I was at work Hazy popped up on Gmail and I pointed her over here to check out the game (and my first …