Here it is, GDC Week and Steerpike’s not there. Why is Steerpike not there? Because his press pass didn’t come through until the very last second and flights were like $1,500, so he said screw it. Steerpike’s not made of money, people. Steerpike’s gotta count his pennies just like the rest of us. His absence has not stopped every PR Agency IN THE WORLD from emailing Steerpike constantly, inviting him to learn all about their …
This must be Steerpike’s Week of Obscure and Creepy Games, since I’ve gotten roped into playing another one as well, that I’ll be writing about later. Anyway. Tale of Tales is a Belgian studio with the pretty-much-explicitly-stated goal of making games that aren’t fun. What can I say, they’re Belgian. The Path has been on the radar for a while now; by far T of T’s most ambitious game, billed as a “short horror” experience. …
I’m easily distracted by all things bright and shiny. So instead of working on the review for a game I finished two weeks ago (shhhh!), I’ve been playing Xseed’s newest game for the Nintendo DS – Avalon Code. I’ve only put in about three hours (well, really four but I restarted after playing the first hour) and I’m having a blast!
The print version of Game Informer, Game Informer Magazine, has just published a “world exclusive” preview of Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams, the follow up to the 2007 mega-hit by Ken Levine, Bioshock. It’s the feature article for their April, 2009 issue and gives us the first close up look, nicely covering the high points of the gameplay and story.
I just wanted to share this video in which the presenter speaks to the importance of play in youth continuing on into adulthood. The link to the original video location (with more information) is here. Be careful, it’s easy to lose a week at the TED site, but then again, that’s play for you.
Fear is our most primal, basic instincts; encouraging us to flee the unfamiliar or dangerous. In entertainment we call it horror. Fear is an emotion; horror is a genre, with clichés, conventions, and innovations.
Back in 1998, my friends introduced me to the survival horror genre in the form of Resident Evil 2. I remember the hallway, screaming when the horde of bats breaks the glass. I remember the first encounter with the Licker on the ceiling, his sightless face locking onto yours, drool slavering from his jaws. I screamed, panicked, and was promptly eviscerated. These encounters and others carved themselves into my memory, making them pinnacle horror game moments. I still remember pausing the game to wipe sweat from the controllers.
Ever wonder what made those crop circles you read about in the news? Capcom’s upcoming title, Flock!, may just have the answer. The Flock! universe is inhabited entirely by stuffed toys living in a quilted world. Players will control an other-worldly UFO sent to this comfy world to herd the animals onto a Mothership for purposes… of an undetermined nature. I’m not sure I want to know why these aliens require the plushies. Maybe they …
I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while, but it took some time for me to get my thoughts in order.
For those of you who don’t know, an indepedent merchant on Amazon Marketplace recently offered for sale a Japanese game called RapeLay. Reported first by GamePolitics, Amazon quickly pulled the game and apparently banned the merchant (who charmingly called himself “Hentaiguy”)… but not quickly enough. British MP Keith Vaz got wind of it, and from there the story ballooned rapidly out of control. We’re honestly lucky that it wasn’t picked up by more of the mainstream media.
Here in the United States we are obsessed with firsts. First train robber (1873 – Jesse James), first policewoman (1910 – Alice Wells), first man on the moon (1969 – Neil Armstrong) , first black president (2009 – Barack Obama). That’s all well and good and no doubt as it should be. After all there’s no record book for second place. The first computer game ever is commonly attributed to OXO or Naughts and Crosses, …
My best time for this installment is down to 7:15.563. At this stage it takes far longer to get a faster lap than before. The days of just going out and learning to do some section a bit better and setting a new faster lap are over.
Boots of Moon Binds When Equipped Plastic Armor: No Level Requirement + 500 Dexterity + 425 Agility + 100% Confidence Equip: Allows User to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound Equip: Insta-jump any Gap at a Keystroke
Several days ago, this game wasn’t even on my radar. Now, having played the absolutely delightful demo, I’m ready to predict this European adventure will be one of the best we’ll experience in 2009. Indeed, see Adventure-Archiv for very positive German reviews.
In April of 2000 I installed an adventure game called the The Longest Journey on my puny little Widows 98 laptop and began to play. Almost immediately I was swept into a fully imagined classic fantasy world. Well, two worlds actually. Stark, a futuristic totalitarian place where the few lord it over the many and where magic does not exist. And Arcadia, a sprawling magical land crammed with impossible races and dream-like settings. The Longest …
Scout, you’re our resident expert. Are our young people ready for what’s to come? I feel adequately prepared, but I’ve got Adult Experience. Sometimes I truly worry that our children aren’t getting the education they need.
Has it really been nine years? My, we’ve missed you, Alice. One of my favorite games after the turn of this new century was American McGee’s Alice. His bizzare interpretation of the classic tale was colorful, inventive and frightening! I still have a little Alice doll, with cat “friend,” sometimes used to scare the grandkids. One of the key lines from McGee’s Alice: “How do you know I’m mad?,” was felt by some to be …