True story: since playing Heavy Rain I have heard the name “Jason” so many times that it has lost all meaning. It now registers simply as a blurred noise in my head, like the distant ringing of somebody else’s telephone or a car alarm down the street. Now, I loved Heavy Rain, but some of …
I should probably start this piece by laying my cards on the table right away. I am a self-certified, unashamed Apple fanboy. One who will make no apologies for being so. I have bricked up all of the windows on my house in an effort to rid myself completely of the dirty “W” word, I …
Mortal Online, currently in Open Beta, is a new massively multiplayer online RPG by the Swedish video game developer Star Vault. Inspired by Ultima Online, the game places significant emphasis on sandbox-style game design. Unlike other MMOGs, MO proposes to offer the player a level of freedom yet to be experienced in the current generation …
In an odd and eerie parallel to the recent Activision/Blizzard-fueled enema of Infinity Ward, Gamasutra reports that Quest Online, developer and publisher of the MMO Alganon, fired President/Founder Dave Allen for “insubordination” and now has new leadership. In the form of Derek Smart.
Beautiful, gripping and powerful. These are all words you wouldn’t associate with Stephen ‘increpare’ Lavelle’s Starfeld, a strange, miniaturised space oddity. I played this a few weeks ago and had a good giggle but after all the talk of RPGs, freedom and linearity here recently it seems only fitting that I throw this one out …
So in the wake of their bosses getting fired under increasingly suspicious circumstances, analysts ranging from me to Michael Pachter have predicted mass departures from Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. Yet no one has left. A guy I know who’s in a position to be the bearer of such news tells me that the reason no one …
Mat and I were talking about this just the other day, but the poor fellow had work then a soccer game, which doubtless delayed him. I’m hoping to see his first impressions of Square’s latest epic soon, but you know how those football fans are…
There comes a time in the life of every gaming girl and boy when we just hit a wall within a video game. It may be an individual game or an entire franchise, and it may even be something we’ve enjoyed playing immensely for several weeks, months or years. It might not even happen within …
JRPGs were one of my key food groups growing up. As a console lad, RPGs (they hadn’t sprouted the J prefix yet) were my favorite play format, chiefly during the sunlit days of my SEGA Genesis-owning period. The first three Phantasy Stars, Sword of Vermilion, Shining Force, and, later, Lunar: The Silver Star, Vay, and …
Info is slowly trickling out about the recent bang-up between Activision/Blizzard and Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward. Terminated studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have filed suit against their former corporate masters, alleging wrongful termination, meanness, and stealing of royalties, and asserting that they own the rights to the Modern Warfare IP. My buddy …