Play Like a Girl

Brotastic

2012-01-20T21:10:00.006-05:00

What would it take to coax this blog out of a three-month hiatus, you ask?

The announcement that Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield would be teaming up in the next official installment of the Resident Evil series.

Oh my God.

Honestly . . . I’m not totally sure I can handle Leon’s incredible one-liners and Chris’ magical triceps together. I sincerely hope at one point they piss each other off and engage in an epic battle of fisticuffs and that we’re treated to some more boulder-punching action. People are generally pretty split on how the Resident Evil series is developing; its certainly strayed away from traditional horror into more action but I certainly wouldn’t say its forgotten its roots. In the trailer we see Leon creeping down very familiar looking hallways, streets of the undead sauntering about and hints of a plot that is already way too ridiculous. However, instead of the tank controls and fixed angles of past games we’re now given more freedom. Hell, it even looks as though the ability to move and shoot will finally be included. Remember how awesome it was to be able to strafe in Resident Evil 5?

It’s the little things folks.

So yeah, I’m pretty damned excited about how this game looks so far. They’ve given Leon a more butch appearance but I was relieved to discover his jazz legs are still fully functional. My only real apprehension? I think that’s Ashley’s voice. In fact . . . I'm pretty damned certain. Instantly, I flashed back to “help me, Leon!” and “catch me, Leon!” and “Ahhhh! Leon!” and nooooo, don’t make me escort her through this game too! No, no, no! But wait a second, if that is her (it totally is) not only does she appear more independent but working with what appears to be a Wesker (Alex?). So . . . Ashley could be back and now working for the dark side. Interesting. I wonder if she goes off the deep end after Leon kills her zombie daddy?

I’m also curious if the “bitch” Chris’ is screaming about is Ada. I’d love to see more of her.

So thank you, Capcom. Good to know there will be something to look forward to after Bioshock: Infinite is released.

The Nerds Shall Inherit the Earth

2011-10-05T18:48:00.004-04:00

I've had some issues with Playstation commercials in the past.

This pretty much makes up for it:

Once Upon a Time

2011-09-03T20:33:00.005-04:00

I know you’ve probably heard by now.

Honestly, I’m surprised that it took my roommate telling me for me to find out: a writer from Gizmodo went on a blind date with someone she met on OkCupid who turned out to be Jon Finkel, current world champion of Magic: The Gathering. As it happens, Ms Gizmodo wasn’t too impressed by that. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

She’s rather annoyed. Seems “just like you’re obligated to mention you’re divorced or have a kid in your online profile” (are you?) someone should also be required to disclose any geeky world championship titles. Just like that, Jon had gone from being a charming, handsome professional to a geek. Just a geek. And that’s a bad thing, you know.

She then advises people to Google the hell out of their next on-line date.

Who would have thought that such a thing, posted on a technology blog, wouldn’t have gone over well.

We’ll ignore the was-it-right-for-her-to-call-him-out-by-name question and jump right to the next: should one disclose their geeky interests outright? Is it something to be ashamed of? Are you your hobby?

Here’s a confession: I’m single and I’m a geek. Furthermore, I’ve used on-line dating sites and on those sites I've made it pretty damn clear what my idea of a fun Friday night in entails. To me, since gaming is a big part of my life I feel that it is indeed fair to put that out in the open but this article got me thinking - if I were a man, would I be so transparent? Because women are still considered a minority within the gaming community I have found that letting my geek flag fly hasn’t really been a hindrance. At least, not when you consider the type of men I'm attracted to.

Men, on the other hand, still live with the stigma of “gamer”. It’s that image of the pale, overweight man sitting alone in his parents' basement playing World of Warcraft or the table full of nerds playing Magic drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cheetos. That’s an image that male gamers have been fighting for ages and it seems to be the one stereotype that has worked in favor of female gamers.

That certainly doesn’t make this any less of a shitty situation for Mr. Finkel and other gamers who find their dates running to the door when they find out they’d rather spend the evening at home with a game than at a bar.

That being said, should you read this Jon, I think you’re pretty badass.

Too Busy Gaming To Game?

2011-08-18T21:05:00.002-04:00

It’s been quiet around here lately.

I’m not really sure what’s been going on, whether it’s starting a new job and attempting to have more of a social life or a lack of games that have really been compelling me to dedicate more than a few hours to them, I just haven’t really been in the mood to play lately.

Which is why this article on why most players don’t finish games is rather perfectly timed.

Turns out, I’m not the only gamer who feels this way. In fact, it would appear that upwards of 90% of players who start a game never see the end of it. Considering how long some games are I suppose that’s not really a surprise but what I did find a little shocking is that it’s not always the quality of the title that stops people from playing. For example, “Red Dead Redemption” which was named “Game of the Year” by dozens of reviewers (including myself) only had about 10% of the people who started it complete the final mission.

The article goes on to list three main as to why gamers are having a tough time getting the digital credits to roll: other electronic distractions, a plethora of games to choose from, and a desire for more multiplayer.

The first two really stood out to me. For example, I remember playing Fallout: New Vegas and while the game would be loading I would be on my phone checking Facebook or Twitter; it was like I couldn’t not be actively doing something. Hell, as I type this I’ve got the Netflix streaming in the background. It’s as if we’ve gotten so accustomed to multitasking that we don’t know how to just focus on one thing anymore.

The second point I also found to be true (which is somewhat ironic considering I haven’t played a console game in a while) but it reminded me of how “Red Dead Redemption” and “Alan Wake” were released on the same day and how in the next few months Dead Island, Skyrim, and Arkham City are all coming out. Not to mention Tomb Raider, Silent Hill: Downpour, and Bioshock: Infinite will follow next year. With so many games to choose from, how can we possibly find time (not to mention money) for all of them?

Finally, there’s the issue of multiplayer and while at first I disregarded it since I’m generally a single-player gal I soon remembered that the last time I played a game it was a round of Left 4 Dead 2 with a friend and before that it was a replay of Resident Evil 5, again with a friend.

So what do you all think? Do you have a hard time finishing games? If so, why? Did this article ring true or are they missing the mark?

Someone Needs a Structurally Superfluous New Behind

2011-08-08T23:30:00.002-04:00

Super impressive Team Fortress 2 live-action skit is super impressive!

It won't come to that

2011-07-09T19:11:00.005-04:00

You guys all know I'm the first person on-board when I hear the word "Bioshock." I've been following the growth of Bioshock: Infinite very closely -- reading articles (one of which sparked a post by Cary) and watching gameplay as it releases. I have to be honest and say that I was obviously concerned when I heard about Bioshock: Infinite and the idea that it would be focused on using the Bioshock engine with a completely new story; the story of Bioshock changed the way video games are seen and understood. Almost immediately my worries were squashed and now with the E3 demo finally released in its entirety, I'm gonna be soooo annoying on this blog until this game hits shelves in 2012.

How you feelin', guys?

Knock It Off, Leonard.

2011-07-04T19:50:00.009-04:00

Who's ready for another video game movie adaptation pointlessly made in 3D?

The trailer for the upcoming Silent Hill: Revelation was recently released and it's pretty much exactly what you would expect. That being, not much:

A woman alone. Isolation. Quick cuts of implied creepiness.

Pretty standard horror movie fare.

To be fair though, I found the original Silent Hill movie enjoyable enough. Yeah, the plot was ridiculous and key elements of the games were changed for reasons I'll never know but if you turned your brain off and just watched it, the movie actually did a great job at bringing the world of Silent Hill to the big screen.

This new movie also seems to be trying to stay somewhat loyal to the series. In this trailer alone I saw more than a few direct references to Silent Hill 3 and 4 - including the use of the exact same audio clip of the man singing Happy Birthday. But despite that, I find myself more than relieved that this isn't a direct adaptation of Silent Hill 2 (which still remains my all-time favorite game) as was originally assumed.

Funny. Does anyone ever get excited when news comes out that a book or game they love is making the leap to the big screen or are we all just too jaded?

EDIT: So apparently the trailer is a fake. Funny that I'm not sure if I'm that disappointed or not. Either way, well done fan base.

This Dead Horse is Starting to Smell

2011-06-28T16:45:00.013-04:00

Since Duke Nukem Forever was released I’ve found myself doing a bit of thinking on it. I downloaded the demo, played it through, read some on-line reviews to get snippets of what I was missing by forgoing playing the entire game and at the end of it all I came to a conclusion that somewhat surprised me.

I don’t think the game is offensive. At least, not in the way you’d probably expect.

In the sense that it looks terrible, controls poorly and seems shockingly unpolished for a title that’s been in development for 12 years then hell yeah, Duke Nukem Forever is an offensive game. But in terms of its flat-out portrayal of women, I remain unconvinced. At least, in the more traditional sense.

Hear me out.

Duke Nukem Forever seems just as distasteful in its treatment of men as it does for women. In the moments I spent with Duke in the demo I watched him kick a field goal with an alien’s eyeball, piss in a urinal while making references to his penis size, and sat back while two women performed fellatio on him.

Sports. Penis. Sex.

Kinda sounds like a typical “all American” male prototype doesn’t it?

Just as the women in this game are reduced to their most stereotypical elements, Duke himself is nothing more than walking, talking testosterone. But I’ve discussed this here before. The question remains then, what’s the problem? If both genders are equally lampooned, why all the fuss?

Because the male typecast revolves around power, strength, and dominance while the female stereotype equates femininity with helplessness, weakness, and submission we aren’t as rattled when we come across a character like Duke. After all, ridiculous though he is, at the end of the day he’s still a red-blooded American man. Duke isn’t punished for his masculinity; where he gets to save the day, the women in the game are terrorized. This is why it's different.

Probably the most infamous are the alien rape scenes. Women in the game are abducted, forcibility impregnated, and then die “giving birth” (all the while moaning in pain) should Duke choose not to execute them himself.

But doesn’t that sound an awful lot like the Alien franchise? And I would dare anyone to call that series sexist.

And so, my friends, I think I’ve pinpointed exactly what it is about Duke Nukem Forever that’s pissing so many people off, myself included: it’s not funny.

Yeah, it’s not funny.

This game is obviously meant as a satire but in the hands of poor writing it comes off as heartless and cold.

Remember that scene from Seinfeld when Jerry’s dentist converts to Judaism so he can make Jewish jokes? Jerry, upset, goes to a Catholic confessional to vent. The priest concludes that Jerry is offended as a Jewish man but he responds that no, he’s offended as a comedian.

When jokes fail it’s never good but when we attempt to make light of serious issues and fail, it’s ten times worse. Duke Nukem Forever attempts to make fun of issues like rape and fails miserably.

Then again, I’ve never heard a joke about rape that’s made me laugh.

Long story short, this game is offensive for a plethora of reasons. It's immature, badly designed, and humorless. It's a bad game, folks. Does it piss me off? Yeah. Should it? Probably. But it's not like it's being hailed as game of the year:

Not That Kind of Croft

2011-06-19T15:03:00.004-04:00

Anyone alive out there?

It’s been a crazy month in terms of personal lives and whatnot so allow me to quell your fears of this blog fading into the void of the interwebz.

So what’s been happening? What’s been going on?

Oh! E3!

Right, that little thing.

I must confess that I actually didn’t pay too much attention while everything was going on. With Twitter getting flooded with updates I went into a sort of media blackout with the entire event and am only just now starting to seek out information I’m interested in. That being said, holy shit guys – I’m excited for the new Tomb Raider:

Honestly, I’ve been excited for this reboot since the new Lara was revealed but this trailer just blew my mind. As Nicole Tanner wrote in her recent article entitled “Female Characters Get Real”, past iterations of Lara were portrayed as utterly fearless, hardened, snarky heroines. While that may be a break from the norm, it’s not real. This Lara is scared, unsure, and knows when she needs help. She cries out in pain when bandaging her wounds – the old Lara would never have done that. Yet, despite that, I dare you to watch that trailer and tell me what you see isn’t a strong character. I absolutely cannot wait to play this game. I think this new Lara is going to make a terrific example how women in games can be strong and beautiful and still be real. Somewhat ironic when you consider Ms. Croft’s history, huh?

May I also point out before I move on that I find it delightful that while buzz is being created about this new perception of women in games, Duke Nukem Forever has finally been released and is tanking? I know, cheap shot. Sue me. Actually, maybe I shouldn’t say that. Jim Redner might hear.

The only other bit of news from E3 that really got a reaction from me (other than making fire engine noises in regard to Nintendo’s new console) was the trailer for Silent Hill: Downpour:

I’m not thrilled. Yeah, sure, the trailer itself doesn’t really look too bad until you get to the end and you go, “wait, this is Silent Hill?”. There is nothing in this trailer that reminds me of the games I love from this series. Maybe it will surprise me, but after Homecoming and Shattered Memories I’m probably just going to wait and see what the reviews say before and if I pick it up. I truly, truly hope I’m wrong and the game ends up being amazing but I’m not holding my breath.

And anyway, I’ve got Tomb Raider to look forward to.

This Isn't New York

2011-05-29T22:13:00.003-04:00

Last year, I proclaimed Rockstar’s action Western “Red Dead Redemption” to be the best game I’d played in 2010. Naturally, when Rockstar announced that their film noir style detective epic would be released this year I was eager to see how it would play out. On one hand, I wasn’t too enthused about the setting. Sure, I could see the appeal of a rich and dramatized Los Angeles set in the late 40s but how could 20 something hours of investigating crime scenes possibly hold my attention?

At PAX this year, Lynsey and I were treated to a 30-minute demo of the game, which certainly piqued my interest but still left the aforementioned question unanswered.

Having finished “LA Noire” last night I now know: yeah, I really can spend 20-something hours investigating crimes scenes and not get bored.

As detective Cole Phelps I began my career as a lowly street cop only to work my way up the food chain of the LAPD from traffic to homicide to vice and then finally arson. And yes, arson is the last division you’re assigned to thanks to some surprising plot twists. Then again, this is Rockstar isn’t it? Plot twists are what it’s all about.

As Phelps you spend your time driving from case to case – occasionally stopping to assist in 1 of 40 street crimes that randomly pop up – and trying to piece together what exactly happened and who you need to haul downtown to answer for the nefarious misdeeds. As you wander through a crime scene, your controller vibrates to let you know a clue is nearby. Well, sometimes it tells you nothing: Phelps often picks up items that turn out to be worthless but are still able to be fully examined. Let me tell you, I think the guy has a fetish for hairbrushes.

Following the crime scene investigates, you move on to the interrogation of suspects and this is where “L.A. Noire” really shines. Using an elaborate network of 32 cameras, the developers flawlessly recorded the actor’s faces as they spoke their lines. This may seem excessive to any outsider but when a large portion of your success in the game depends on your ability to read people’s expressions (are they not meeting your eyes? Is their mouth twitching? Are they blinking too much?) this is crucial and Rockstar pulled it off beautifully. Take a look at this video to get an idea of the effort that went into this technology and how marvelous it truly looks:

That being said though, the facial animations really are the star of the show here. Yes, the story is engaging but truthfully once you’ve played one Rockstar I feel as though you’ve played them all in some respect. I went into this game knowing that at some point I would be betrayed and that my character or someone I was close to wouldn’t make it to the end credits. I’m certainly not going to go into details on that here but let’s just say I wasn’t surprised by the game’s twists and ultimate conclusion.

I will say it again however, this predictability doesn’t make the story any less fun.

The other staples of the mechanics work wonderfully as well: the music, the background noises, shooting and cover systems, they all come together nicely with the exception of the repetition of the conversations NPCs would have around you. It wasn’t long before I found myself memorizing lines like “if olive oil comes from olives . . . where does baby oil come from?”.

This lack of variety did play a role in my disappoint with the overall level of interaction with the open world of this game. Yes, it looks beautiful but really, there just isn’t much to do in the streets of Los Angeles. I never felt the urge to explore like I did in “Red Dead Redemption” but I suppose it’s not really fair to compare the two and I will say that while Red Dead only had a handful of “random” encounters that were recycled in different areas of the world, all 40 of the street crimes in L.A. Noire are wholly unique.

That’s impressive.

Impressive. That’s really a good word all around for this game. It lived up perfectly to my expectations, neither falling below or above them. L.A. Noire is a fantastic game and is everything I’ve come to expect from Rockstar. In fact, I’m planning on starting another playthrough as soon as I finish this review. There has already been talk of a sequel and I can earnestly say I’d love to see more of this world, perhaps within a game where it’s a little easier to get yourself happily lost outside the main quest.

And She'll Scream, and She'll Shout, and She'll Pray

2011-05-26T16:13:00.005-04:00

Video games, like other forms of media, often comment on the nature of society. In fact one could argue that that is the very nature of media: to comment on society, the good, the bad, the ugly, the confusing and the complicated.

Kotaku recently published an article concerning the nature of the relationship between Elizabeth, a woman from the highly anticipated (read OMFG IS IT HERE YET?!) Bioshock: Infinite and Songbird, her mechanical captor. When she first appeared in the teaser trailer Elizabeth was shown as nothing more than a beautiful face, trapped high in a tower, being held against her will by something lurking and monstrous. She seemed to be a very real princess trapped in a very real tower waiting on a man to come to her rescue.

Needless to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed with her.

Then the 10-minute demo footage was released. Here, I saw this woman in the midst of the fight, more than holding her own. She didn’t seem to need any help or protection which in addition to giving her more of a unique personality put my fears of escort missions aside.

What also caught my attention was the fact that Elizabeth spent a fair amount of time in the demo struggling to breathe as she raced through the chaotic streets of Columbia in a corset. I know it may seem strange that such a thing really stuck with me but I think it speaks volumes in the developer’s quest to make her a real person. Society demands that she forcefully constrict her body to accentuate her hips and bust while making her waist seem impossibly small all in the name of what’s considered beautiful and appealing – never mind that it also compresses her lungs, ribs, and organs. Elizabeth is a woman restricted by her environment and is now being revealed as a woman fleeing an abusive relationship.

In the article, Kevin Levine describes how Elizabeth pleads to the protagonist – you – not to let Songbird take her back, implying she’d rather die than fall back into his mechanical hands. Yet, when the synthetic beast catches up with her she tearfully apologizes for running away and asks it to take her back home.

She is strong and clearly capable but still frightened, made weak by her fear and inability to keep the hopelessness of her situation out of her mind. She resigns herself back into captivity to save your life, as abused women often do for the sake of their children.

I find it brave of Irrational Games to explore this type of relationship. I truly do.

Elizabeth seems damaged, trapped, strong, intelligent, and real.

I can’t wait to get to know her better and find out how her story ends.

The Zed Word

2011-05-16T16:50:00.004-04:00

In-game screenshots from the upcoming zombie sandbox game "Dead Island" were released today.

You're welcome.

Here We Are Again. It's Always Such a Pleasure.

2011-04-23T21:52:00.006-04:00

This review was really difficult to write.

Also, a little startling.

After all, it’s not every day that a seasoned gamer gets that feeling of pure, unadulterated satisfaction upon seeing digital credits roll. It’s even more rare when that sated feeling starts translating into thoughts of, "that’s the best game I’ve played in a long time" and “that’s . . . that’s one of the best games I’ve ever played in my life.”

Yeah. It happened.

Like so many others I fell in love with the 2007 original game and was crazy excited for the sequel. However, part of me worried about how the simple (I use that word very loosely) idea of the 4-hour experiment would translate into a full-fledged game. Would I get tired of the same routine after 8 or so hours? Would all the puzzles manage to be unique from one another? Would the addition of an actual plot deter from the mechanics at all?

In short, the answers are no, yes, and absolutely not.

Waking up in a dilapidated sleep chamber, you are quickly introduced to perhaps the strongest element of the game: the incredible and hilarious writing coupled with some seriously impressive voice work. While I was thrilled beyond belief with knowing that Ellen McLain would be returning as GLaDOS (who is quickly becoming my favorite video game villain) I was floored at how good Stephen Merchant was as Wheatley – your spherical and astoundingly funny companion. It’s hard to remember him opening his mouth (so to speak) and me not laughing.

J.K. Simmons also does an incredible job as Cave Johnson, the CEO of Aperture Science who hates you almost as much as GLaDOS does and seems to have a firm belief in everyone around him being a loser who will do anything for $60.

In addition to the awesome writing and voice talent, the game’s designers deserve immense praise. Not only are the puzzles brilliantly designed but the game does a great job of switching up your surroundings to avoid repetition. Just when I would start to get sick of an area, I would be thrown into an entirely new one. Yes, I definitely got frustrated more than once and I’m not too proud to admit that a few puzzles took me over half and hour to solve.

But oh man, when I did. GLORIOUS.

I can’t even begin to fathom how the developers came up with all the puzzle designs but I’m pretty sure we’d find the origin of the universe in their collective brains should we be given the chance to dig around in there.

The single player campaign of Portal 2 really is, from start to finish, genius. Absolute genius. The co-op mode however, introduces something new to the franchise. You and a buddy play as Atlas and P-Body, two robots built by GLaDOS specifically to run her diabolical courses. Lynsey and I have run through the first course and had a blast.

Well, up until I accidently killed her.

GLaDOS seemed okay with it though.

Really folks, I don’t have too much more to say. This is really a game that has few, if any, flaws. In fact, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is that the scripted events can take awhile sometime and upon additional play-throughs it may be a chore to sit through them all again. But why would you want to skip them anyway?

. . .

Yeah, that’s all I’ve got. Really. That’s the only thing I can think of that could potentially be wrong with this game. I’m sayin’ it, Ladies and Gentlemen: Portal 2 is perfect. Perfect. It’s the kind of game that only comes around once in a blue moon and absolutely should not be missed by anyone. Also, it's rated “E” so you’ve got no excuse.

Get out there and get yourself a copy of what is bound to become the gold standard of puzzle games.

That Was A Joke. Ha Ha.

2011-04-15T16:15:00.005-04:00

If you're like me and anxiously awaiting the release of Portal 2 then you probably just about lost your mind when, hidden inside Valve's "Potato Sack" collection of indie games were hints pertaining to Portal 2, including the date 4/15/11 and the time 9:00 PST. Fans were eager to think that this suggested Portal 2 would be release at that time instead of the scheduled date of the 19th.

The fact that the game started to pre-load on Steam last night only added fuel to the fire.

Then, a mysterious countdown clock appeared.

We all waited with bated breath while the time ticked down to zero and then . . . nothing.

Well, no, not quite nothing.

It seems that GLaDOS did effectively hack into Steam but now she needs help re-booting so that Portal 2 can be released early. So how can you help? Buy buying and playing the 13 indie games from the Potato Sack. If enough people play these games, Portal 2 can in fact be released before Tuesday. The Aperture Science main page where the countdown was now displays a real-time meter showing the progress of this endeavor.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

On one hand, I'm kind of pissed that Valve is all, "Hey! Give us money now so that you can give us more money sooner!" but on the other hand, it is pretty cool to see them support independent games. Plus, can we really be upset about not getting something ahead of schedule?

Valve Time schedule, that is. Remember, the game was already delayed by a month.

Of course, being a console gamer none of this really matters to me but this has been . . . interesting regardless.

I'm already dead... to you

2011-04-12T20:23:00.008-04:00

Since I've made the switch over to PS3 from the 360, life has been very different. I wouldn't think of positives and negatives or bads and goods so much as just... different. I've finally added my PSN card to the side page of our blog and there you can see the games I've played and the trophies I've earned. But since I haven't really gone into much PlayStation stuff since the switch, I thought I'd talk a little about each game I've played thus far.

INFAMOUS: Really enjoyed the gameplay, and I thought the story was new and exciting. Honestly, have yet to finish the game so I can't say too much more on it.

DEAD RISING 2: Not much to say, honestly. I didn't play this game much because I found the beginning disappointing. I'm not going to give up on it, I just haven't gotten back to it yet. I dunno, maybe I take my zombie-killing more seriously.

FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS: I can't wait to finish this game. Truly, this game is certainly like a very large expansion pack but I bought it full price for my 360 before it died, then I went back and paid for it AGAIN for my PS3 -- I'm serious about this game.

UNCHARTED: This is another game I started and haven't finished (yes, I know, I know), but Drake is a truly refreshing character. And the gameplay is fun, but sometimes repetitive, to be honest. Don't worry, I'm going to finish this one when I can.

HEAVY RAIN: The first game I played (and immediately completed) on my PS3 -- one of my favorite games of all-time. I think this is the kind of game that shows what games are truly capable of being. It's easier to talk about what this game did right in so many ways and not so much on what could be improved.

DEAD SPACE 2: What hasn't been said about this game already by us? Cary and I have so much faith in the Dead Space franchise and this game was more than I could have expected. The gameplay was so much more rewarding, Isaac was a more worthy protagonist, and Ellen kicked some serious ass. For real.

MASS EFFECT 2: This is why I haven't finished so many other games, guys. THIS. I'm something like 15 hours into this game and I am not ready for it to end. I still have yet to pinpoint exactly what it is that has drawn me into this game -- the gameplay doesn't have much in the way of variety, to be honest, and the load screens still take a really long time, but my lady Shepard is a fucking badass. She head-butted a krogan. And she'll do it again.

Next up: Portal 2 (OMG DUH, GUYS) and L.A. Noire. The guys at Valve are bringin' it with this sequel, guys, and when Cary and I were sitting in that booth at PAX East with Chet Faliszek 5 feet away from us, we were stupid giddy. Valve fangirls to the end. Also: Rockstar's L.A. Noire looks utterly promising -- it looks to be going the way of Heavy Rain in terms of gameplay and story, and I'm really excited by that new direction in gaming.

As an aside, has anyone had issues connecting to the PlayStation Network at all? I wasn't having issues until the last month or so and its been intermittent connectivity. Forums haven't been the most helpful in isolating the issue.

One last aside: I had to actually call to cancel my Xbox Live Gold subscription and the experience was actually quite hilarious. When the representative asked me why I was canceling my service, I told him I didn't have my console anymore because it broke on me a third time. When he told me I could repair it OOW for $90, I didn't know and I told him I didn't know, to which he said, "Oh, so you just gave up on the situation?" And literally "tsk tsk"ed at me. Sorry, Xbox Live and Microsoft, this is an unacceptable method of saying goodbye to loyal customers who were forced elsewhere because of your faulty hardware and lack of clear technical support. Try harder next time.

Break Out Your Tiny Violin

2011-03-26T13:32:00.007-04:00

It’s certainly a regular thing for upset fanboys and girls to go on forums of their supposed favorite games and bitch and moan about certain aspects of the experience that they didn’t like. It seems that no matter how good a game is or how much someone claims to love it something always has to rub them so hard the wrong way that they feel the need to express their disapproval on the game’s official forums.

99% of the time I totally and completely ignore it. Haters gonna hate.

Truth be told, I would never have even known about forum poster Bastal’s complaint about the Dragon Age 2 romance options had lead writer David Gaider not taken the time to personally respond.

So what was so horrible about Dragon Age 2 that Mr. Bastal felt he needed to vent? In his own words, “Bioware neglected their main demographic: the straight male gamer”. He feels that because the majority of RPG gamers are straight and male and that the small amount of women who game stick to casual titles like The Sims the development team should have been much more concerned with making the straight men who play Dragon Age 2 happy. And how does one do this, you ask? Put in more hot, white, blonde, buxom chicks that want to rip your armor off it seems.

He feels that because Fenris and Anders can be romanced by both male and female Hawke that they were created specifically for female players and “the gays” which he estimates make up a staggering 5% of Bioware’s total fanbase. In addition, the two female romance options (which can also be pursued by both male and female Hawke) are “too exotic” and therefore were not created with the desires of the “straight, male gamer” in mind. I continue to be confused as to what he exactly meant by this. I guess Merrill’s tattoos and Isabela’s . . . erm, tan skin are intimidating? Honestly though, how anyone could think that Isabela wasn’t created purely to satisfy drooling adolescent boys is beyond me:

Whatever. I’m not going to say much in response to what is obviously a homophobic male teenager’s refusal (or lack of desire) to acknowledge the world around him. I did want to point out a few erroneous assumptions and hypocrisies in his argument however:

1.) His statistics. Yeah, it’s an easy one to go after but it’s just so damned irritating. The fact that this guy thinks the estimations he admittedly pulled out of his head are fact is just hilarious.

2.) He claims that the vast majority of women who game spend their time with pick up and go games like The Sims and yet he believes that Aveline was specifically created for women “given the lack of strong female characters in games”. If you think women don’t game, why would you possibly think this about Aveline? Also, why not mention Hawke as a strong woman that female players can identify with?

3.) He argues that there should be a “no homosexuality” option to prevent Anders and Fenris from making passes at male Hawke as that’s awkward. Somehow I have a feeling however that if he played as female Hawke and Isabela or Merrill hit on him he would not only not find it awkward but would probably peruse the relationship. After all, we as a society generally don’t have a problem with the idea of lesbianism so long as the chicks are hot and we can watch; it’s just the idea of dude’s kissing that’s offensive, right? Being a straight woman, I was not interested in pursuing a relationship with Isabela so guess what I did when she hit on me? I told her no thank you and we moved on. Shocking.

Urgh. Sorry. I know I just said I wasn’t going to spend too much time on a response to this doofus but my fingers got away from me. The level of entitlement and ignorance in this post infuriated me, especially the admission of being uncomfortable with a male character hitting on him while claiming he’s not homophobic. This was a recurring theme in the comments as well. Lots of players claiming, “I’m no homophobe but” and then proceeding to say something along the lines of it breaks Hawke’s badass persona to have him jumping into bed with Anders and/or Fenris. Gentlemen, once again, just like you would do in real life if a woman you weren’t interested in hit on you, just walk away. Don’t get all pissy that gay people can exist in your fantasy game and pretend it’s not your homophobia breaking your immersion.

Breaking your immersion. Oh yeah, this entire post is about a game. A GAME. A fantasy, role-playing game which is meant to allow people to explore and do things they never would in real life. Guys, it doesn’t make you any less butch to love on these fine assortments of pixels:

They’re not going to come out of the TV and change your orientation and as soon as you're done with Dragon Age 2 you can go back to ogling women in order to re-affirm your masculinity.

Okay, okay. I’m done now.

The entire reason I started this post was to share Mr. Gaider’s response to this guy. It’s a rather lengthy post so allow me to paraphrase here while pointing out my favorite points in bold:

"The romances in the game are not for 'the straight male gamer'. They're for everyone. We have a lot of fans, many of whom are neither straight nor male, and they deserve no less attention. We have good numbers, after all, on the number of people who actually used similar sorts of content in DAO and thus don't need to resort to anecdotal evidence to support our idea that their numbers are not insignificant... and that's ignoring the idea that they don't have just as much right to play the kind of game they wish as anyone else. The 'rights' of anyone with regards to a game are murky at best, but anyone who takes that stance must apply it equally to both the minority as well as the majority. The majority has no inherent 'right' to get more options than anyone else.

"More than that, I would question anyone deciding they speak for 'the straight male gamer' just as much as someone claiming they speak for 'all RPG fans', 'all female fans' or even 'all gay fans'. You don't. If you wish to express your personal desires, then do so. I have no doubt that any opinion expressed on these forums is shared by many others, but since none of them have elected a spokesperson you're better off not trying to be one. If your attempt is to convince BioWare developers, I can tell you that you do in fact make your opinion less convincing by doing so.  

"And if there is any doubt why such an opinion might be met with hostility, it has to do with privilege. You can write it off as 'political correctness' if you wish, but the truth is that privilege always lies with the majority. They're so used to being catered to that they see the lack of catering as an imbalance. They don't see anything wrong with having things set up to suit them, what's everyone's fuss all about? That's the way it should be, any everyone else should be used to not getting what they want”

Thank you, David Gaider.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to this absurdity while simultaneously renewing my faith in the gaming industry as an entertainment outlet that deserves to be taken seriously.

To Chew Gum and Slap Asses

2011-03-21T20:32:00.010-04:00

An interesting bit of news came out today regarding a previously unannounced multi-player mode for the upcoming (and long awaited) Duke Nukem Forever. It would appear that the developers have taken a new spin on the classic "capture the flag" and replaced it with "capture the babe".

Players will run around and attempt to capture a woman who "will sometimes freak out while you’re carrying her (somewhat understandable we’d say) at which point you have to hit a button to gently give her a reassuring slap.”

That didn't go over too well.

So the game's PR reps clarified toady that Duke wouldn't be slapping the women in the face. Oh, good. Rather, he'd be hitting them in the ass to get them to calm down, presumably as they're being carried over his shoulder. Now, when I first read this I literally rolled my eyes and said a few choice words outloud. Then I remembered what game I was reading about:

If any game on the face of this earth could get away with something like this, it's Duke Nukem. I've never played any of the games in the series but I know enough about the franchise to understand it was originally created as a satire to the action movie heros of the late 80s and early 90s. I also think it's incredibly obvious that it remains a gargantuan parody of hyper masculinity and machoism. Whether it's effective or not (read stupid) is a matter of personal opinion.

Does that make this any less in poor taste? No, not really.

To be honest, I'm really not sure how I feel about this. It reminded me of the Bioshock 2 multi-player "capture the sister" mode where you ran around trying to grab screaming little girls. More specifically, I remember thinking that it was funny but that an outsider would probably think I was playing a seriously sick and demented game.

Is that applicable with our buddy, Duke? Did the developers cross a line or is it all the name of parody? Just because a game like this can get away with it, should it?

Mages, Templars, and Kittens

2011-03-16T18:25:00.003-04:00

Well folks, after about 25 hours of gameplay I have finished my first playthrough of Dragon Age 2. After being thoroughly impressed with the demo I was crazy excited to finally sit down and play the sequel to what has since become of my favorite games of all time. Was I a tad nervous? Of course, but the overwhelmingly positive reviews of Bioware’s other big sequel – Mass Effect 2 – left me feeling more optimistic than anything else as I started the game.

Perhaps that was a mistake.

Not the kind of mistake that makes me wish I hadn’t played it – not at all – but the kind of mistake that makes me think I was a little blinded by expectations.

Dragon Age 2 is a great game. It really is. It improved on some of the weaker aspects of Origins like endless quests in never-ending areas (I’m looking at you Orzammar) and clunky controls and replaced them with (mostly) fresh and crisp surrounding and gameplay mechanics that shine on the 360. Playing as a mage in Origins could be little boring; I’d find myself just staring blankly as the Hero of Ferelden would pew pew her way through battles. Hawke the mage, however, was every bit the badass she deserved to be. I never, ever got sick of watching her slam her staff into the ground to send an enemy reeling. I also adore the re-design of the Qunari:

There is no arguing that Dragon Age 2 looks and feels better than its predecessor but does that make it a superior game?

For me, the biggest draw of Dragon Age Origins was the story. I completely fell in love with the lore of the world and the lives of characters I met. Even the companions that I didn’t spend too much time with like Sten and Zevran managed to endear themselves to me in the quiet moments of camp. Although it took me a few playthroughs before I truly grasped the depth of everything that was happening in Ferelden it only made me care about the place far more than I ever would have expected.

When all was said and done within Kirkwall I cannot say I felt the same, which is especially interesting considering you spend a decade within the city. This isn’t to suggest that I was apathetic to the problems facing me and the city, only that I never really got the feeling that the world around Hawke was really being influenced by her presence. In Orgins, you greatly impacted the lives of almost everyone you met while Dragon Age 2 kind of goes out with a whimper. It’s set up nicely for a sequel but I found the ending of the game to be very sudden especially considering that several key issues didn’t really seem to resolve themselves. Again, you could chalk that up to the preparation for Dragon Age 3 but I was really disappointed with how certain circumstances – including one very large one from Origins – never played out or hell, were even really mentioned. Considering the scale of your actions in the first game, I really expected the second to touch on it far more than it did.

That being said, Dragon Age 2 is littered with little references and cameos from the first game and I adored every single one of them. From a bartender telling me about the declining pigeon population in Ferelden to Anders talking about Ser Pounce-a-Lot and Merrill’s desire to mend the Eluvain, so many cool moments are dependent upon the player having completed Origins and Awakening before this. Which is really awesome but still leaves me scratching my head as to why larger events in the previous games were hardly referenced or brought up at all.

On the whole, Dragon Age 2 is much less complicated than the original. Party members cannot have their armor changed (though it can be upgraded), conversations with companions are limited to specific times and locations and you never spend too much time in one area though you will travel back numerous times. Funny how all the caves on the outskirts of Kirkwall look exactly the same inside, huh?

While I miss some aspects of the above overall I think the changes work well for the sequel and help the player stay focused on the actual game itself rather than getting caught up in the more menial tasks listed above.

To sum it up, Dragon Age 2 is a great game. It really is. I’m planning on starting my second playthrough as soon as I get this posted but I do feel that it was a step back from Origins; no amount of improved graphics and mechanics can make up for a weaker story.

PAX East, Day 3

2011-03-13T18:13:00.006-04:00

Well friends, after 3 long, glorious days PAX East 2011 has officially come to an end.

Learning from our experience with panels yesterday, Lynsey and I headed right to the theater for the “One of Us” panel that featured our fellow blog buddy Alex.

Check her out, folks. She's awesome.

After a few uncertain moments the ladies and gentlemen of the panel really got rolling on the issues facing minority gamers, specifically the differently-abled, non-heterosexual and female gaming population. Although the entire panel was very interesting there was one thing that really stood out to me. The panelist from gaygamer.net (who’s name escapes me, please forgive!) tackled exactly what it is that you should do when you come across the inevitable hostile player in the virtual world who aren’t too keen on the fact that you’re not as they are.

The answer: stand up for yourself.

It actually reminded me of a conversation held on a recent episode of Analog Hole Gaming where Christy talked about a young boy in World of Warcraft asking her to send him pictures of her tits. Instead of rolling her eyes and ignoring him, she called him out on the absurdity of his statement and shamed him into stopping. It made me think back to the times were I’ve been harassed on-line and how I blocked them and moved on without letting them know.

And it bothered me.

After all, how can we expect things to change if we remain passive when someone’s throws the word “fag” or “dyke” or “bitch” around on-line?

We can’t and we shouldn’t - complacency is not the answer.

It really was a great panel.

Afterwards, we headed back to the show floor but upon finding 2-hour plus waits for the other games we were curious about we opted to watch from the sidelines for a few minutes before heading out exhausted but satisfied. This was my first time at PAX East and I can certainly say that I plan to return next year. Yes, the lines were long, the food was expensive, and there was a lot of confusion that first day but overall it was a terrific, nerdy experience.

PAX East, Day 2

2011-03-12T22:14:00.007-05:00

So day two at PAX east ended up going a little differently than we intended.

We arrived back at the convention center a little before noon and after finding out that the wait time for L.A. Noire was about an hour and a half with the demonstration itself being 30 minutes we decided to kill some time in the freeplay areas since the “Females on Female Characters” panel was at 3. After an always-pleasing game of Left 4 Dead 2 we headed over to the theater only to find an enormous line waiting to get it.

I’m talking, HUGE.

While we were pretty bummed that we couldn’t get into the theater we were also pretty excited that such a topic would elicit the response it did. I’m curious to see if similar amounts of people show up for the “One of Us” panel tomorrow, which has a similar theme – gamers who break the gamer stereotype. Regardless, perhaps we’ll be treated to more “minority” panels at future conventions considering how well the one today did.

Slightly downtrodden, we headed back to Rockstar’s booth and got in line for the L.A. Noire demonstration. After waiting for 90 minutes we walked into their closed off booth and were treated to a fantastic preview of the game’s mechanics, plot devices, graphics and overall theme.

The level of detail in this game looks incredible. We watched the protagonist kneel over a dead body and meticulously examine it – from a head wound to broken fingernails to a cut on the arm – and the surrounding crime scene. A flick of the analog stick would cause you to turn the victim’s head to the side or even gently move a bloodied wrist. Every little action is put in control of the player.

We saw the main character interrogate suspects: asking them questions and judging the truth behind the answers from the way the character acted and spoke. I really enjoyed that in order to successfully accuse someone of something malicious you had to have hard evidence - not just a hunch - or things could go quite bad for your character.

Overall, the demo left the kind of impression that we’ve all come to expect from Rockstar: I went in knowing little about L.A. Noire and left thinking that I’m probably now going to pick it up day one.

Shortly after we left Rockstar’s booth (with two free posters and two t-shirts) we decided to head out to appease our growling stomachs but not before we caught a good long look at the Duke Nukem Forever booth and its rather interesting promotional tools:

Enter the booth babes.

What I find the most curious about this is that following PAX East last year the guys from Penny Arcade decided to enact a ban on scantily clad models at their conventions and that this ban was met with overwhelming support from the 6,313 attendees surveyed. It would appear as though a large amount of men as well as women didn’t really care for watching half-naked women who know nothing about the product their bodies are advertising prance around. However, it would also appear that despite the ban on these types of models being used to promote games, Gearbox got under the wire.

Which, yeah, on one hand it’s obnoxious and sexist. I mean, why not have a shirtless butch dude who resembles Duke standing there to take pictures with people?

But on the other hand, I saw plenty of female attendees cosplaying in less than what these women were wearing and those women were dressed the way they were because they were pulling from the female characters currently appearing in video games. Hell, I’ve put in about 10 hours so far with a Dragon Age 2 with a main character looks like this:

So while at first I was pretty annoyed with the Duke Nukem booth, I have to say that on reflection I find that the majority of my irritation stems from what has always bothered me about video games and that’s that female characters generally aren’t taken seriously and are hardly ever presented as a character first and an attractive, sexual woman second.

Man . . . I really wish I had been able to attend that panel.

PAX East, Day 1

2011-03-11T20:31:00.005-05:00

Today Lynsey and I woke up early, ate a quick breakfast and hopped on the T headed toward the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for the first day of PAX East 2011.

Now, the profuse rain certainly didn’t help but I have to say that our very first impressions weren’t great. The venue is huge and while it’s great for making me feel like there is room to breathe working your way around the place proved to be quite the challenge and no one working the event seemed very sure of where things were. However, seeing as how the “staff” is largely comprised of gamers volunteering I really can’t give them a hard time.

The first event of the day was the keynote speech by Jane McGonigal who, in addition to welcoming everyone and getting the crowd excited for the events to come, did a great summary of her book “Reality is Broken”. Having not read the book myself I can’t really critique her material too much but I will say that it certainly piqued my interest, even if it did seem a bit idealistic at times. McGonigal herself was energetic, comfortable, and confident and did a fantastic job getting everyone pumped up.

First up on the show floor for us was a look at Nintendo's 3DS. While I’m generally not a handheld gamer I was curious as to how the technology of the device works and I have to say I was pretty damned impressed with it. After a few seconds of letting my eyes adjust to the screen I found the 3D effect to be surprisingly clear, clean, and effective. It honestly looked and felt fantastic and though I’m still not convinced my life would be incomplete without one I found myself thinking about it the rest of the day.

Well, until we hit the Portal 2 booth.

After grabbing some free Aperture Science t-shirts we headed inside a wall-up room and saw new footage from the upcoming game including a PAX East exclusive look at the character Cave Johnson, creator and CEO of the aforementioned company. Sometimes I don’t know if I’m more excited for the actual game or the hilarious and smart dialogue that comes with it. Speaking of amazing writing, it was a pretty awesome moment when Lynsey looked at a man by the booth and said, “I know I’ve seen that guy before” and me going, “Dude! That’s Chet Faliszek!”.

Valve fangirls to the end, friends.

After the Valve presentation we went in search of food and after paying $12 for a small sandwich, chips, and a soda (expected but still annoying) it was back to the show floor for a quick look around before we headed to one of the many free play rooms for a relaxing game of Left 4 Dead.

Tomorrow’s plans include the panel “Females on Female Characters” as well as checking out Rockstar’s L.A. Noire and Projet Origin’s FEAR 3 as well as some others.

See you then!

Tell Me Of The Champion

2011-02-23T18:49:00.006-05:00

If you listened to our latest podcast wherein we recounted the best and the worst of last year you’ll also recall that Lynsey and I named our most anticipated games of 2011. Yesterday, the demo to my most anticipated game went live:

Aw yeah.

Now Andraste knows I’ve touted my love of Dragon Age: Origins on this blog many times before. It’s the best, most immersive RPG I’ve ever played and the one I’ve spent the most time with. That is, with the notable exception of World of Warcraft but I unlike WoW, it was the story of Dragon Age that kept me so wonderfully entertained and despite the fact that I’ve played through that game 4 complete times, I could sit down right now and start it all over again.

Having said that, I have a feeling that Dragon Age 2 is going to make me wonder why I loved Origins as much as I did.

Using vastly improved graphics, I was immediately thrown into battle and amazed at how good it felt. For my first play through I may actually have a difficult time deciding what class to play because although I love being a mage, the rogue is just so badass looking. The standard attacks are varied like they were in Origins and look incredible – it’s stunning to watch Hawke knock an enemy down with her shield and then rush at them before they can get back up.

All the action flows so seamlessly it’s mesmerizing.

The other drastic change is the dialogue system and while I enjoyed the lengthy options in Origins the shorter, voiced choices in Dragon Age 2 is pretty awesome. It has me really excited for the epic story that’s undoubtedly coming.

I could really just go on and on and on about the demo but I’ll save that for the full review once I complete the actual game.

March 8^th seriously cannot come fast enough.

Got Any Tango?

2011-02-18T21:58:00.003-05:00

You're talking about it. Your friends are talking about it. Your parents are talking about it. Your professor is talking about it. Your boss is talking about it. Your favorite barista is talking about it.

Now, we're talking about it:

Gorgeous, emotional, and effective.

What more can really be said except for if Dead Island turns out to be half as good as this trailer we're all in for a treat. Then again, is it really possible that an open-world, RPG zombie game could be bad?

Wait . . . what am I saying . . . no, it's fine, I'm sure I didn't just jinx it.

You Can't Push It Underground

2011-02-16T22:07:00.005-05:00

The time is almost upon us, friends. Time for masses of nerds to flock to Boston for the Penny Arcade Expo. A few days ago, the official schedule of events was released and since Lynsey and I are about to burst from excitement, we thought we'd post the info of the sessions we're definitely attending via the official PAX East site:

PAX East 2011 Keynote: Jane McGonigal

Main Theatre - Friday, 10:30am - 11:30am

You may know her work from the I Love Bees ARG that launched with a little game called Halo 2. You may also have seen her speech or read her book ("Reality is Broken") where she describes gamers as being uniquely equipped to save the world. She's super smart and has a lot of really interesting things to say about gaming, and we're super excited to have her here.

A Live Demonstration of RAGE

Wyvern Theatre - Friday, 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Join Design Director Matt Hooper and Senior Producer Jason Kim for a live demonstration of RAGE, the groundbreaking new first-person shooter from id. Set in the not-too-distant future after an asteroid impacts Earth, you emerge into a vast and ravaged wasteland to discover humanity struggling to survive the deadly threat of bandit gangs, mutants, and the Authority – an oppressive government regime that has a special interest in you in particular. Featuring intense first-person shooter action, breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore and jaw-dropping graphics powered by id’s revolution.

Interactive Drama: Dialogue as Gameplay

Cat Theatre - Friday, 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Do narrative games provide dialogue choices that enhance gameplay? Is it important to develop relationships through interactive choices between player and non-player characters? How are interactive conversation choices designed and how important is the user interface? What does it mean to experience Interactive Drama in a gameplay mechanic of dialogue choices?

FRAG Movie Screening

Naga Theatre - Friday, 9:30pm - 10:30pm

As a documentary covering the lives of pro-gamers, FRAG sheds light on the world of pro-gaming. Pro-gamers, referred to as cyber-athletes, face the same problems that professional athletes face, making decisions that can affect them for the rest of their lives. As gaming spreads not only as a hobby, but as a profession, FRAG reveals some of the secrets behind one of the biggest sports industries in the world that many know nothing about. Judd Saul plans to be on hand after the screening to sell videos/answer questions as well.

Females on Female Characters

Wyvern Theatre - Saturday, 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Join Susan Arendt, Senior Editor of The Escapist; Kathleen de Vere, star of LoadingReadyRun; AJ Glasser, News Editor of GamePro; and Lisa Foiles, star of Lisa Foiles Top 5; as they discuss what they embrace in female fictional characters and why these attributes are important. They will identify their favorite characters and how they would like more heroines with similar attributes integrated into Geek culture. This fresh, positive approach to female characters shouldn’t be missed.

The "Other" Us: If We're All Gamers, Does Our Gender Matter?

Naga Theatre - Saturday, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Abbie Heppe's review of Metroid: Other M prompted a wave of backlash across the gaming community. Words like "feminist" got thrown around in comments sections of popular gaming sites as if it were the new "f" word. But what is really feminist versus what is perceived as feminist by virtue of the fact that it comes from a woman’s perspective? Using these reactions as a jumping off point, a panel of gamers, journalists, and members of the industry will look at the ways gender is treated in gaming culture at large. In our debate and discussion of Abbie's review, we'll be looking at the larger question: "As our industry becomes more progressive and, arguably, gender-blind, is geek and gamer culture regressing?

One of Us

IGDA Dev Center - Sunday, 12:00pm - 12:50pm

Are people surprised to learn that you're a gamer? Do the clerks at the Local Generic Game Retailer ignore you when you shop? If they do talk to you, do they assume you're shopping for something with more pink on the box? Or worse, ask you if you're buying a game for your son or boyfriend? Gamers who do not fit the stereotypical image of the hardcore gamer often feel left out in the cold. Our panel of game writers and hardcore gamers discuss the obstacles to acceptance they've faced and their strategies for coping with them.

What'ca think, guys? Sound good? Are we missing something you're excited for?

We're All Gonna Burn

2011-02-04T21:15:00.005-05:00

Sequels are bound to bring about anxiety.

Fanboys and girls alike all know the feeling of sitting down to the next installment of something they greatly loved and far too often are then left with a feeling of disappointment. After all, for every “Aliens” and “Terminator 2” there are a dozen “Star Wars: Episode 1” and “Batman and Robin”.

It was understandably strange when I realized that all of the usual trepidations weren’t present when I thought about Dead Space 2.

The first game has been raved about enough on this site so I’ll spare you what you’re bound to already know. Yes, yes, Dead Space was a marvel of survival horror. What’s really awesome is that its sequel is also a spectacle to behold. Even – dare I say it – better than the original.

Before you gawk and vow to never read this site again allow me to explain. Let us consider the few flaws that Dead Space had: One, the errand boy, backtracking telling of the main story. Something breaks, you fix it, something else breaks, you fix it, something else breaks and you destroy it in a monotony-induced rage. Or, you fix it. It got old and Visceral got the message. Throughout all my time in The Sprawl I can only remember one instance when I had to go back to the same area to finish an objective. Aside from that one occurrence, every area both looked and felt different.

Two, the melee attacks. Yes, it may seem like a small detail to some but personally, I didn’t use Isaac’s punch and stomp to kill an enemy once in the original game. This tended to be a problem when a necromorph was quite literally breathing down your neck and a second to compose yourself or, say, quick heal, meant the difference between moving on or reloading from the last checkpoint. This time around, Isaac’s attacks are much more precise and almost worth letting a slasher try and slice your head off. Well, maybe not but it was still a vast improvement over the last game. Not to mention the ability to have our illustrious hero repeatedly stomp while muttering, “die you motherfucker!” was pretty fantastic.

Third, poorly planned events. Take, for instance, the infamous asteroid defense scene in the original. You got to take a break from shooting the horrific re-animated bodies of your former friends and colleagues to defend the ship against a ridiculous and unending wave of asteroids. To this day, I’ve never spoken to a single person who didn’t loathe that sequence. Now, is it fair to bring the game down because of one scene? In this case, I’d say so. Go on, talk to anyone you know who’s played Dead Space and I guarantee that after the praise the first thing they’ll mention is “that damned asteroid sequence”. There were also several scenes that involved you having to fumble around with the real-time menu to consume an air can before you asphyxiated. Dead Space 2 has no scenes requiring you to search around for an air can or shoot asteroids or anything even remotely similar. With the exception of one chain of events toward the very end of the game involving a particular enemy type that may have done its job a little too well, the game is very evenly paced.

Four, a silent hero. Unlike the original, Dead Space 2 gave Isaac a voice and personality. Whereas in the first game the most we got out of him was a shake of his head to convey emotion, this time we get full-on conversations with other protagonists, antagonists, and himself. Isaac is cocky, confident, troubled and quick to anger. The voice work is superb and it gave way to the unexpected joy of Ellie, another survivor on The Sprawl who is not only one of the best female characters I’ve seen in a game in a long, long time but who also provided Isaac with some much needed support and even a few laughs.

Love you, Ellie.

So when I take into consideration these facts plus the absolutely breathtaking graphics (even if it did require the Xbox version to be on two discs), the duel stories of The Marker and Isaac’s grief over Nicole, the amazing soundtrack and audio effects, the mixture of cheap and psychological scares including one very, very memorable trip down memory lane and some crazy smart AI, I stand by my declaration:

The original Dead Space was incredible.

The sequel is a freakin’ masterpiece.

What If Ellen Ripley Was My Mom?

2011-01-16T20:56:00.004-05:00

I love advertising.

No really, I love advertising.

In my time spent studying sociology in school I quickly learned just how fascinating advertisements could be. Beyond the obvious “what are they selling?” question there are multiple other factors to consider such as, “who are they trying to sell this to” and “what type of lifestyles and values are they promoting?”. All good advertising takes this into consideration when they try to sell a product and if you sit and both really listen to and watch the 30-second shtick flashing on your screen you’ll be surprised at what you find.

If you’ve ever studied film then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Now, I’ve brought up video game advertisements on this blog before but until now they’ve always been focused on Sony. I’m happy to say that as of today I’m shifting my critical eye to EA.

This ad for “Dead Space 2” was just released:

So, what exactly is this commercial suggesting?

One, moms hate violence. Moms especially hate violent video games. And two, children and adolescents are the primary consumers of video games.

No Now, while I do think the bulk of this commercial is playing into humanity’s desire for what is deemed verboten, there is a lot more to think about here in terms of how gamers and non-gamers are being represented.

First, there is the obvious: mothers – women – are repulsed by violence and are appalled that anyone would feel the urge to play such a violent game. Think that’s a stretch? Imagine that same commercial with a group of fathers reacting. It’s difficult to picture isn’t it? It’s not easy to imagine because a man who would disapprove of violence would then be failing to properly perform his gender. Think about the expression “be a man” and “man up” for a moment. You probably wouldn’t associate that with, “be a man and stop playing Dead Space 2!”.

Then, there is the idea that gamers are young people who are generally more apprehensive of their mother’s opinions. I love my mother but as a 25-year-old I’m really not terribly concerned if she knows I love Dead Space or Grand Theft Auto and my mother, likewise, knows I’m an adult woman. However, by saying “it’s violent, it’s repulsive, your mom’s gonna hate it” the advertisers are implying that there is no way your old, conservative mother would approve of this game but you, hip young fellow, are gonna love slicing off necromorpth limbs. You kids like violence right?”

Ironic considering this is an “M” rated game, huh?

All of this is despite the fact that as of 2008 60% of gamers were male and 40% were female with 72% percent of gamers ranging in age from 10 to 44 with the average player being in their mid 20s.

As for the violence of the game being a selling point well, yeah, we do love violence. But understand that when I say “we” I mean people, not gamers. Violent music, violent film and violent video games have always sold well and made their producers lots of money. Our love of violence is why we’ve had a new Saw movie out every year for the last 700 years (that seems around right). As such, it’s not really fair for me to critique this commercial for its enticing use of violence but I will anyway because, damn it, it’s cheap.

Come on, EA! Dead Space was a gem in the survival horror genre. It was horrifying and effective both in its clever use of sound and shadow and its systematic use of hostility. It got your spine tingling with its creepy use of lullabies and overwhelming sense of isolation. Now you’re telling me I’ll like the sequel because my mom won’t.

Cheap.

If the comments on this video are any indication though, it appears I’m not the only one who thinks so.

PLAG End of the Year Round-Up

2010-12-27T18:51:00.005-05:00

So it's been forever and a day, but Lynsey and I have just wrapped up another podcast detailing our selections for the best and the worst games of 2010. Listen below or check us out on iTunes!

Also, we bought our tickets to PAX East tonight - are you going?

Issac . . . Where Are You Going?

2010-12-21T14:34:00.005-05:00

So I just got my first taste of Sprawl.

The “Dead Space 2” demo has been released on Xbox Live and after closing the curtains, shutting off the lights and strapping on an adult diaper I summoned up my courage and dove in.

Oh man – let me tell you what.

The first thing I noticed about the controls were that they were exactly the same as the first game. Not that I expected them to be any different but it was really nice sliding right back into that control scheme. Anything that can help give you a sense of control in the world of “Dead Space” is a big bonus. There were some slight visual changes such as the electronic “bread crumbs” taking on a more curvy appearance in lieu of a rigid line and, of course, changes to Isaac’s RIG.

The second thing I noticed was how much more responsive the melee attacks were. In the previous game, Isaac’s punch and leg stomp seemed really sluggish and not very satisfying. That is not the case in “Dead Space 2” - the attacks are violent and precise with brutal results. Enemies even drop items now after you stomp on them, not after simply dying.

My favorite new gun is by far the spear gun that impales enemies and sends them sticking to a concrete surface behind them. It works seamlessly and can even aid in setting up traps. For instance, I had a lot of fun pinning those Necomorphs with the exploding arm sacks to the wall and then blowing them up as others approached.

Very, very, very satisfying.

The new levitation mechanic is crazy fun and very simple to use. By clicking the left stick you can easily push Isaac upwards, steer him with the right stick and then gently bring him back down with another click of the left. That is going to be great fun to use although I suspect it will get me lost more than a few times.

But what of the big question: is “Dead Space 2” scary?

Well folks, if I could share my sweaty palms and sore throat with you I would but go ahead and download the demo for yourself. Just . . . put a towel under you. The only thing that bothered me was that every time I got frightened in the game it was the result of a jump scare. However, it is only a demo and hopefully the atmosphere of the actual game will be more varied.

Regardless, I'm excited.

Cut Off The Limbs, Lara!

2010-12-06T20:58:00.005-05:00

Okay people, first and foremost: I promise this blog is still alive. Things have just been very, very busy for Lynsey and me these last few months but there will most certainly be an effort to update more in the near future. Please know that even though we may not always respond we very much appreciate every comment and reader we get.

Truly <3

Now, on to business.

There were two pieces of news that came out today that are definitely worth mentioning. First were two new videos posted by GameInformer showing new footage from the upcoming, "Dead Space 2". The first (and most interesting) shows the game's art developer, Ian Milham, explaining some footage from the multiplayer which I admit I was really indifferent toward and now, having seen it I'm . . . well, I'm still pretty apathetic. The original "Dead Space" was so intensely effective largely due to the overwhelming sense of isolation; I'm still really not sure what the purpose of "Dead Space" multiplayer is and I can't help but notice the pretty glaring similarities to "Left 4 Dead 2". I'm certainly not saying I won't give it a shot but I really just don't understand the appeal.

The second video is more footage of the Milham explaining what players can expect in terms of scares in the sequel. It's nothing we haven't heard before - less cheap, jump scares and more atmosphere - but it's still exciting to watch.

For me though, the biggest surprise today came from Crystal Dynamics and the surprise announcement of a re-boot to the Tomb Raider series:

Despite the series hit-or-miss history, I've always had a soft spot for Ms. Croft and considered "Tomb Raider: Underworld" to be the most overlooked game of last year. This re-boot of the series which promises a young and experienced Lara as she struggles to develop her sense of adventure - and self - has me really, really excited.

It may also seem like a superficial thing - mainly because it is - but this cover also has me more hopeful for a more realistic, gritty Lara. It's silly but I'm honestly dying to see a muscle flex in her arm as she pulls herself up a rock face.

That, and less jiggle-action.

I suppose time will tell.

Welcome a new member to the family

2010-11-04T15:51:00.008-04:00

Finally having finished a large chunk of homework that really needed to get done, I find myself finding the time to post to you lovely folks about some exciting video game things headed my way.

First of all, can we talk about the new Dead Space 2 Lullaby gameplay trailer? Let's.

Cary and I are really, really, really excited. I mean... really excited. This is a franchise that gets more and more awesome each month, it seems like. And the dudes at Visceral are all so great (I will never forget the panel at PAX East) who really have the fans of the games in mind.

Switching to another video game topic: my Xbox is, basically, sort of, no more. The other day, Cary and I were watching a video on it, the picture went funny (which it had done once before) so I turned it off, then turned it back on to an E74 error. Now, about a year ago, I had to take it somewhere for an overheating repair and I've decided that I'm not willing to throw another $100 into a piece of equipment with which I've already had so many issues. So I've decided it's time for...

No, you are not hallucinating. That is a PS3.

Now, let's be clear. Cary and I have never railed against the PS3. We believe it's a great system but Cary started out with an Xbox and when I got back into gaming, I wanted to play online with her. Things, since then, have changed.

I've spent a great deal of time weighing the pros and the cons of switching platforms and the pros heavily outweigh the cons. After trading in all my Xbox games and accessories, the money I'll put into a new PS3 won't be much at all. And let's talk about how Microsoft just jacked up the price of the Xbox Live Gold subscription... I can't even say how much it irritates me that you have to pay to watch Netflix (a service you already pay for, separately) on a console you've already paid for -- isn't paying for my own internet enough?

But I digress. Point being, I'm making some sacrifices in this move but another large reason for it is this blog/podcast/etc. Cary and I like the idea that we'll have two platforms on which we can game and have discussions. And if I ever want to play Left 4 Dead, I can always shark her Xbox for an hour or two... or maybe invest in it on my computer. Who knows.

This purchase, with a bit of luck and determination, will be happening tonight. So get ready. get excited. Better late than never, we'll be able to discuss Heavy Rain and other games we never thought we'd have a chance to play let along chat about on our blog. I hope this gets everyone else as excited as it has gotten me... Holy crap.

Jingle, Jangle, Jingle

2010-10-29T20:38:00.002-04:00

With high hopes of an open, exciting world, catchy music, intriguing quests and fun combat I picked up my copy of Fallout: New Vegas day one and eagerly jumped back into the irradiated wasteland I’d missed so much.

This game had a lot to live up to and let’s just say that I wasn’t terribly optimistic when it was revealed that Obsidian Entertainment (the developers behind the ultra glitchy Alpha Protocol) would be releasing it. Still, I remained very enthusiastic and optimistic about this game.

Now, approximately 15 hours in, I want to share my thoughts so far.

Fallout: New Vegas begins in a very different way than Fallout 3. Instead of beginning your life within the safety of a vault you are instead captured and shot in the head for a platinum chip you’ve been tasked with delivering to the New Vegas strip. When you recover, you set out to find your assailants and, wouldn’t you know it, an entire complicated world soon envelops you.

Well, maybe not “soon”.

While the plot to Fallout 3 gripped me from the very beginning, I would say it was a good 8 hours – when I finally reached The Strip - before I really started to get into the groove of New Vegas. I think before I got to The Strip I’d done maybe 6 mundane quests and found a few locations but once I made it to Sin City all of a sudden I had dozens of options. So many in fact that at times it was a bit overwhelming.

Who do I work with? How will this affect my relationship with the other bigwigs in New Vegas?

There are three major factions who you have the option of allying yourself with: Mr. House, Caesar’s Legion and The New California Republic. In a massive quest called “Wildcard” you pick your side and once you’ve completed 4 quests or so for that one side you’re considered enemies of the other. Unless of course you decided to do small missions for them all but never really align yourself with one.

And that’s one of the greatest things about New Vegas: your impact on the world.

This game takes the karma system from Fallout 3 and gives it a little oomph. No longer are you just “good” or “evil” but rather feared, hated, and honored. It’s certainly a great case for re-playing the game since you will literally get locked out of certain quests once you declare your allegiance.

Now, for the only bad remarks I have which all goes back to my initial concern with Obsidian taking this project over: Fallout: New Vegas is glitchy as hell.

In the first few hours I fell through the world, had my gun repeatedly pull itself out of its holster, had VATS target objects instead of enemies and several lock-ups. It was never enough to make me want to stop playing but it was certainly bad enough to irritate me at times. I feel that had this game been delayed it could have been noticeably more smooth.

There has however already been a patch for the 360 and the game does seem to be performing better. Or I could just be getting used to it.

Either way, I am very much enjoying my time in New Vegas and hope you all are too.

All Good Things Don't Always Flow Into The City

2010-10-13T20:28:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I received an automated call from Gamestop telling me that because I'd pre-ordered "Dead Space 2" I could stop in and pick up a code which would entitle me to a free download of a new arcade game called, "Dead Space: Ignition".

The mini-game based, comic book style DLC is meant to bridge the gap between "Dead Space" and "Dead Space 2" specifically by showing how the Necromorphs ended up in Sprawl.

Sounds really interesting.

Too bad the only way I'll find out about it is to read the story on-line.

You see, after sitting through the first poorly animated panel I was presented with a mini-game which consisted of me attempting to maneuver a red beam of light through a panel of obstacles faster than the blue beams of light trying to get ahead of me:

Not exactly as fun as strategically dismembering a Slasher with a line gun now, is it?

After failing the race twice, I said, "Nope. Dumb" and exited out to the dashboard.

It's really a shame that a neat idea like this had to be ruined with such an ill-thought out, elementary design. No one wants to sit through irritating mini-games but especially not those who are attempting to play it to feed their excitement for what's bound to be an incredible and exciting release come early next year.

Hurry up and get here, Isaac. I miss you.

Going Out Like a BAMF

2010-10-02T20:27:00.003-04:00

In three mere days Left 4 Dead players (ME ME ME!!) will have "The Sacrifice" - the DLC that details how the original survivors made it down South and how they lost one of their own. If you've been reading the comic (or played "The Passing") then you know which survivor will be one no longer but this DLC is still bound to be full of surprises.

In addition to both "The Sacrifice" and "No Mercy" coming with the Left 4 Dead 2 version, we'll also be getting 5 new mutations with this download. Including one where apparently in versus everyone on the infected side plays as a Tank.

I think part of me likes that - the part of me that hates life.

Anyway, for now, head on over to the official site for "The Sacrifice" and check out the new trailer!

Corsets Suck in Emergencies

2010-09-22T21:31:00.003-04:00

Yesterday GameTrailers released a 10-minute gameplay footage video of Bioshock: Infinite.

Oh my God, did they ever.

This is the type of video that you watch with your mouth open - gasping and squealing with joy – until it sadly ends. Then you sit there trying to gather your thoughts and contain your euphoria until the other side of your brain finally kicks in and you remember that this game isn’t coming out until 2012.

Then the crying starts.

The only negative to this video is that it’s bound to spoil your initial reaction to the game. You’ll never be able to un-see this footage so if you’d rather experience the game as a whole, I’d suggest ignoring it. However, if you’re insatiable like me, dig right in.

You may want to put a towel under you.

Just sayin’.

Left 4 Dead Gets Graphic

2010-09-15T20:57:00.005-04:00

Back when Valve first announced that they would be releasing a digital comic detailing the original survivors trek from the end of the Blood Harvest campaign and down to the South I wasn’t really sure if I cared. Of course, as the release date got closer I started to get more excited for new, official Left 4 Dead material and today I logged on to read the first installment of “The Sacrifice” comic.

As I should have anticipated, by the end of the first panel I was totally into it.

The art is wonderful, the colors are vibrant and the dialogue reads utterly loyal to the game.

And that dialogue is, without question, my favorite part of the comic. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed the conversations between the survivors - however slight they are - especially ones that illuminate their relationship to and dependence on one another. As Valve continues to release installments of the comic every Tuesday leading up to the release of the DLC, “The Sacrifice” I am greatly looking forward to learning more about the original survivors journey and how they all came to meet Ellis, Nick, Coach, and Rochelle.

Any and all fans of the game should really check the comic out here.

My Veins Are Useless

2010-09-08T23:02:00.003-04:00

While attempting to turn Lynsey on to the wonders of Dragon Age: Origins last night I came to two realizations: one, she’s probably not going to pick it up again. Two, I could totally play that game all the way through for a fifth time. So I snatched my game back and popped it in my 360 to start up a new character and I noticed something – the new DLC entitled, “Witch Hunt” had been released. Not only that, but another DLC that I hadn’t even heard of called “The Golems of Amgarrak” had been out almost a month.

Then something else hit me.

I’ve played a shit ton of downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins.

7 to be exact, which isn’t including the full-size expansion (which I enjoyed) “Awakening” and the above mentioned “The Golems of Amgarrak” which I have no interest in playing.

7 DLCs, 7 purchases at about 7 bucks a pop. Oh, and about 2 bucks for those feastday gifts/pranks.

When you add in the 40 bucks I spent on “Dragon Age: Awakening” and, of course, the 60 for the original game, I’m looking nearly $150 dollars on this one game. Now, I’ve also spent about 150 hours of time playing through the world of Ferelden so it’s hard for me to argue that I haven’t gotten my money’s worth but . . . I don’t know . . . something feels wrong here.

Maybe it’s because aside from “Leliana’s Song”, “The Stone Prisoner”, and “Return to Ostagar” which I really enjoyed, the other small DLCs were just . . . well, okay. Hang on, that’s not really true. “Darkspawn Chronicles” and “Witch Hunt” were pretty bad, even aggravating.

This is the first time I’ve spent so much money on downloadable content on a single game and really haven’t been that satisfied with most of it. Would I do it again? Probably not. But at the same time, I feel that because I loved the core game so much . . . I don’t know, I feel compelled to continue it?

You know . . . typing this out has made me think I have a slight issue with this game.

But I’m just gonna go ahead and blame Bioware and their microtransactions.

Save Me Some Sugar

2010-08-21T12:20:00.004-04:00

If there is one thing Valve is good at, it’s teasing.

Oh, and making fantastic, timeless games.

But my God, they are good at teasing.

Last night, as I eagerly waited for the promised GameTrailers special which would provide not only new details on Portal 2 but information on the upcoming Left 4 Dead DLC, I finally took notice of the fact that it would be airing at 12:30 AM pacific standard time. I guess I can throw in a third thing Valve is good at: hating the east coast.

Oh, how I jest . . . . and went to sleep.

But! Here we are the next day and I’ve seen this video in all its glory and I am freakin’ excited for everything happening with Left 4 Dead. First, there’s the digital comic book – a 150 page account of not only how the original survivors made it down South but also a look into their personal back stories and, of course, and explication for how Bill met his fate. The comic book will be released on-line in four separate installments and while I’m not crazy hyped about it, the artwork does look good and I am very curious about the story.

Now, as for this upcoming DLC entitled, “The Sacrifice”: it appears from the trailer that it will actually be a downloadable campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 using the characters from the original game. The video shows the first survivors in the second game’s engine – you see not only better graphics overall but things like Francis using the M60 and silenced sub-machine gun which are only found in the second game. Did I mention you also see a charger running at them? What’s really, really interesting though is that there is also a clip of a charger attacking the original survivors during the “No Mercy” campaign which, of course, was only in the first game.

Perhaps the DLC will be coming to Left 4 Dead 2 and Left 4 Dead will be updated to import the new special infected? I suppose only time will tell but either way, I’m excited!

The video really is a great watch, not only for the Left 4 Dead news but for Portal 2 and its co-op campaign. Give it a watch and help to remind yourself why Valve is the best game developer out there. < / fangirl devotion >

Bioshock times...

2010-08-12T22:50:00.002-04:00

Cary has taken over this site, hasn't she? Well, time for me to step in! ... Actually, Cary was the one who suggested I post about this. I'm just seizing the opportunity to post about something that Cary hasn't gotten to before me. Yeah, I went there.

Guys, GUYS! The Bioshock franchise will live long and prosper, and now we have visual proof from a debut trailer released by Irrational Games:

This has been in the works for several years, claims Irrational Games, and you can read more about the new game on Joystiq's website and find out how this game is going to blow. your. MIND.

Bioshock: Infinite isn't to be thought of as a sequel, but more of a renewed vision of the Bioshock series. Does that make sense? If you haven't watched the video yet, do it. All the elements that made Bioshock so refreshing, vibrant, and intoxicating are still there... but we're thrown into a whole new world.

What do you guys think? I was pretty clear on my views of Bioshock 2 before its release and I have to say, this is no different for me.

Follow the Signal about of Limbo. Watch out for Dragons.

2010-07-31T20:21:00.007-04:00

Ladies and Gentleman, my nerd cup hath runneth over. There’s been three big things I wanted to take a moment to talk about but life keeps distracting me. So! I’m going to throw together a post here commenting on these three very exciting things.

First comes some new information regarding Dragon Age 2 – more specifically, the protagonist of Hawke. Now, Dragon Age: Origins came as quite the surprise to me. At current, I’ve played through the game in its entirety 4 times, exhausting every possible ending and major decision point and yet I could still pop the game in for another play through. One of the reasons why I enjoyed the game so much were the origins stories themselves: your character’s past ended up playing a huge role in how certain events played out. Not to mention, it helped give your character an additional layer of distinctiveness.

It seems that Bioware has decided to take a different route with the sequel: your character will be a male or female human named Hawke who survived the destruction of Lothering by the Dawkspawn as detailed in the first game. On top of that, Hawke will also have a voice; instead of detailed dialogue options you will select a paraphrased option which Hawke will then speak a more specific version of. If it sounds familiar it’s because you played Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Now, while I’m personally pretty disappointed in the lack of real origin stories I am excited for my character to have a voice.

The other news about Dragon Age 2 which has me crazy excited is that the cover story in Game Informer confirmed the return of Morrigan and Flemeth. If you’ve played Dragon Age: Origins, you understand why this is so exciting.

Second, there’s Limbo. Ah yes, Limbo. You’ve probably heard of it by now: the XBLA platformer wherein you play a young boy in search of your sister who is lost somewhere in the eerie underworld. The thing about Limbo is that unless you know the story of the game beforehand, you would have no idea of the story; there is no narrative, no cut scenes, no dialogue at all. You begin the game as a shadow of a little boy and work your way through a series of puzzles to the game’s completion. During your journey you’ll encounter horrifying creatures, devious traps and vicious other children who all want nothing more than to end your life in a surprisingly gruesome manner.

In the background of this madness is a stunningly effective black and white world – Limbo is truly a powerful example of minimalist expression. Its simplicity (there are only 2 buttons, jump and action) is its strength; it effortlessly allows you to become totally immersed in this unique world. Even the lack of story, which you think you would off-putting, is a nonissue. The only negative about the game in fact is that it will cost you $15 bucks from the Xbox Marketplace – for just over 3 hours of gameplay. It’s up to you to decide if 3 hours of entertainment is worth that much but if you’re looking for a truly exceptional experience, I’d say it definitely is.

The final thing I wanted to discuss in this post was the release of the first DLC for Alan Wake, entitled “The Signal”. This downloadable episode picks up right where the game ended, following Mr. Wake on his journey to . . . well, you’ll have to play the game to find out. In fact, there isn’t much I can say about this episode without spoiling the original game but I can say that “The Signal” may very well be the best episode of the entire game. No kidding.

Something interesting about this DLC is that like the original game it uses adaptive technology. Only, unlike the game that adjusts itself based on how well you’re doing, the difficulty in this episode gradually gets harder: you being on normal mode and as Alan moves deeper and deeper into the content things get harder, eventually pitting you against a boss on nightmare difficulty. And let me say this, the game isn’t fuckin’ around. That boss is hard. Like, controller-throwing hard.

Still, it is super satisfying when you finally get him/her/it (I’M NOT SAYING) down and the journey there is truly extraordinary. If you enjoyed Alan Wake, which you better have, you’ll unquestioningly love this addition . . . even if you do have to sit through a horrible Verizon joke.

…

Now I want to go replay Dragon Age: Origins, Alan Wake, and Limbo.

Being a gamer is hard.

Behold, the Monolith.

2010-07-11T19:12:00.003-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am one happy gamer.

After weeks of waiting I finally got the a call from my local Gamestop letting me know that my new Xbox 360 had finally come in. As I mentioned in my top three things from E3 this year, the new Xbox definitely had me excited and after finding out that I could trade in my old Xbox and accessories toward the purchase of the new system I quickly reserved mine. Of course, I wasn’t the only one with that idea and as a result it was weeks before it finally arrived.

It was so worth the wait.

Why you ask? Well, let me tell you:

The New Design: Obviously, this is the first thing one would notice. Gone is the clunky, white brick-like structure in favor of a slimmer, sleeker, and black design. It’s clear that the people at Microsoft wanted to take the look of the Xbox 360 in an entirely new direction and they certainly have done that; the console is beautiful. It really is. The only downside to it is that the shiny, reflective surface is pretty prone to fingerprint smudges.

The Built-In WiFi: This, is probably my favorite aspect of the new design. Gone are the days of the $100 Internet adapters attached to the back of the system. Finally, the consoles come ready for WiFi. Really, my only question is why the hell did it take so long? The PS3 has come with integrated WiFi since its inception and it’s about time the 360 caught up.

The Touch Sensitive Power Button/Disc Tray: This feature seems to have been overlooked in all the hype but it’s a really cool feature. There is something very satisfying about brushing your finger over the new silver power button, hearing an affirmative chime, and having the system turn on. The same is true of the button to open the disc tray. Now, why the Xbox 360 still has a disc tray and not a front loader still eludes me but the fact remains that this small feature is a great touch to the new, more modern design of the console.

The Harddrive: It’s 250 GB. My old harddrive was 20 GB. You can guess how I feel about this upgrade.

The Heat: Unlike the old 360 that could generate a lot heat due to the inadequate fans in the system, the new fans keep the system much cooler. I am keeping the new console flat on its side and placing my hand on the top of it, I can feel a slight heat but nothing really noticeable. What’s really nice though is that the back of the system actually expels cool air. Again, it seems like a basic functionality and yet it was noticeably absent from the previous model.

The Noise: Remember dial-up Internet? It was fast, it was reliable, it was awesome. That is, until broadband arrived. Once that happened, many of us (if not all of us) realized that we would rather go without Internet access than to have to deal with dial-up. It’s the same with the lack of noise generated from the new Xbox 360. I never really realized how damned loud the older design was until I turned the new one on. Typing this now, I can only just hear a very faint humming emitting from it. This is certainly going to be nice for game immersion and Netflix viewing.

If you've just gotten yourself a new XBox 360, I can't honestly say if the new features are worth the purchase of another new system but if you've got an older console (perhaps one that's already gotten the RROD) and are keen on trading the new system in, I say go for it. I am certainly in love with mine.

No hard feelings, GLADos.

2010-06-28T20:57:00.001-04:00

This game is going to blow my mind.

And maybe break it.

Seriously, how amazing are the physics in this game? Damn.

Get off my Lawn, Natal. You too, Move.

2010-06-20T17:21:00.004-04:00

There seems to be a lot of talk these days about the future of gaming, namely, the emphasis on motion control. Following the fantastic success of the Wii, I suppose we all should have assumed that Sony and Microsoft would have followed suit eventually in one manner or another.

However, it still has surprised me just how much attention is being given to Xbox 360’s Natal and Playstation 3’s Move. My biggest concern over E3 this year was that the aforementioned motion controlled gaming systems were going to be the primary point of focus. Turns out, yeah, they pretty much were. Without a doubt, Microsoft and Sony put most of their energy into these projects but a big question still remains: is all that time, energy, and money going to be worth it?

If a new study concluded in June is any indication, the answer is a resounding “no”.

While the study found that a decent amount of gamers were aware of Natal and Move (and really, how could you not be?), only 8% of 360 owners and 6% of Playstation 3 owners planned on purchasing their respective devices. That is a shockingly low number considering you can hardly turn on your console these days without be bombarded with advertisements and proclamations about how motion control is going to change the way you game.

The problem is, what if you’re perfectly happy with the way you game?

Here’s the thing. I’ve always been content relaxing on my bed and moving my thumbs over a controller. You wanna know why? Because it allows me to play and enjoy the game. Yeah, crazy right? I can get into the story and the mechanics without having to worry about bumping into shit. I’m sure by now most of you have seen this somewhat infamous video but I mean . . . really, who the hell wants to play a game like that? Furthermore, who has such a giant, empty room in their house that will enable them to flail around like a moron?

That’s not a rhetorical question. The answer is Wii owners. And do you know what Wii owners are going to play those games on? Their Wiis.

I really do not understand this trend. Not one bit. I’m happy to find out that I’m not alone but I remain astounded that Sony and Microsoft seem to be appealing to casual gamers so much. I mean, they can’t really think their core audiences want this . . . can they?

Urgh. It boggles the mind.

Remember when we got this excited over games? I acknowledge the fact that Twilight Princess ended up being the launch title for the Wii, but what you have here is genuine excitement for a beloved title, directed at its core audience. We certainly had no moments like this at 2010’s E3. Maybe my next year, everyone will have come to their senses and we can get back to real gaming. Or is this wishful thinking? Are the days of controllers and thumbs really going the way of the dinosaurs or am I being overly dramatic?

It's Good to be a Gamer

2010-06-17T20:51:00.007-04:00

Once a year there comes a special time for a gamer where the real world seems to dissipate for three glorious days whilst copious amounts of geeky information spill out from Los Angeles and over teh interwebz.

If you're reading this however, you already know this. You probably also know just about everything that was revealed at E3 this year. So, in lieu of any type of real commentary or professional (ha!) critique, I thought I would just post the my personal top 3 reveals and announcements:

1.) The New XBox 360

While the redesign doesn't make the console as thin as I would have hoped, the console is much less brick-like and actually pretty sexy. Better than the sleek design however is the fact that the new system comes with built-in WI-FI (FINALLY), a much quieter fan, and a standard 250 GB drive. That, my friends is nice. Plus, at $299 it is the exact same price as the current system. The new model also comes Kinect ready if you care about that sort of thing. Which I don't. Moving on.

2.) Portal 2

Really . . . do I even have to say anything? It gave me goosebumps. I'm excited.

3.) The New Silent Hill

First and foremost, this is not a remake of Silent Hill 2 as had been rumored. Accordingly, I have not had to slit my wrists. What this looks like is an entirely new story with an entirely new character. It does look like it may borrow from the combat system of Silent Hill: Homecoming but hopefully after tweaking it a bit. Overall, I have to say I’m optimistic. Despite the fact that I don’t think the Silent Hill series has been great since the third installment, hopefully the eighth can recapture of some that good ol’ time sadism.

So there you are folks, my personal highlights of E3 - what were yours?

One Bullet at a Time

2010-06-07T20:34:00.007-04:00

The other day when I went to the movies I was surprised and then quickly disinterested when I heard Milla Jovovich’s voice narrating over a post-apocalyptic world. I didn’t hate the first two Resident Evil movies but I certainly didn’t like them and I never bothered with the third installment. Honestly, I thought the best things about those movies was the fact that Rammstein and ~~1/6th of Rammstein~~ Emigrate were on the soundtracks – but I digress.

Needless to say, I wasn’t too enthusiastic when the trailer for Resident Evil: Afterlife began. That is, until I saw a familiar face:

Oh.

Oh yeah.

And he's not the only surprise to be found from Resident Evil 5. But let's get the obvious out of the way here: I don't think this movie is going to be good. Not only is it the forth in a very mediocre series but the trailer can't shut up about the fact that it's in 3D - when 3D is the best thing you've got, I worry.

But check out the trailer below, friends. It could still be fun.

This is America

2010-06-05T15:04:00.004-04:00

Ironically (or perhaps not) the last time I remember signing onto Xbox Live and seeing practically my entire friends list engaged in the same game was Grand Theft Auto IV. That was, of course, until May 18th, 2010 when Red Dead Redemption came out. While I held off for about a week while I worked through Alan Wake, I have recently finished John Marston’s story and think it’s time I got my thoughts regarding this game down on paper . . . er, computer. Whatever, you know what I mean.

So the first thing that I noticed about Red Dead Redemption was that, yes, all the jokes about this being Grand Theft Cowboy seemed appropriate. The controls appeared to be practically identical to its spiritual predecessor. For a moment, it was downright confusing trying to figure out why Niko Bellic looked so strange but it wasn’t long before the streets of Liberty City were forgotten in favor of the dust-filled thoroughfares of New Austin.

It is New Austin itself that perhaps separates Red Dead Redemption from Grand Theft Auto IV more than anything else. Liberty City had beauty and certainly a grand scale but it doesn’t come close to being alive like New Austin; I found myself surprised by mini-missions and strangers requesting aid far, far more than I did in GTA IV. From the more in-depth quests that have you trekking all over the map for certain supplies to rushing to the aid of a man who is about to be unjustly hanged to helping a woman defend herself from a pack of coyotes. Not to mention the different challenges that will have you testing your skills as a hunter and horticulturist. To quote Lynsey, who knew that part of taming the wild west was collecting flowers?

It is these side quests that not only give the world of Red Dead Redemption a pulse but also make exploring much more exciting and fun, especially when you consider that the main story is a bit slow to begin. It isn’t long however before things really get rolling for Mr. John Marston.

Blackmailed by the federal government into hunting down the members of his old gang, John begins the long journey of locating these men – in America and Mexico, though deserts and snow-capped mountains – so that he may be reunited with his family. As you work your way through the world the main quests you complete and the random missions you finish will add to (or take away from) your honor and fame. Stop a man from stabbing a prostitute and gain honor, randomly shoot a passerby in the street and lose it as well as gain a personal bounty to be paid off at the nearest city.

Despite how you choose to play Mr. Marston there are certain things about him that you cannot change, most notably his loyalty to his wife. It seems strange to say this but when I found out that John wouldn't patronize the local whores I was surprised and oddly pleased. To find out that Rockstar would take away one of the more infamous aspects of their Grand Theft Auto series for the sake of character development was pretty damn cool to me. As a result, I genuinely came to like John Marston. I saw him as a good guy. I didn’t want anything to happen to him or his family. For someone who’s keen on character development, this was a big, big plus for me.

While the other characters you encounter aren’t always as memorable they certainly aren’t arbitrary; traveling salesmen, gravediggers, corrupt politicians, revolutionaries, and lawmen are abundant and all have their motivations and, of course, tasks that John can complete for their assistance. The “errand boy” feel of GTA IV is still very much alive in Red Dead Redemption and I would certainly caution anyone who quickly tires of being told what to do to consider that the bulk of your encounters play out this way.

Other than the slightly repetitive nature of the tasks, I find that there is little to be said in the way of faults with this game. The only other issue I can honestly think of is that riding around in the massive world can get a little tiresome but the use of fast travel which can be employed at any time via your campsite negates any real annoyance with it.

This is without question a game that you get your moneys worth out of. When you’ve wrapped up the main quest (which takes around 30 hours) there are still hours and hours and hours of multiplayer which has shocked me so far in it’s variety and downright enjoyment. It is, without question, leaps and bounds better than the sorry excuse for multiplayer that came with Grand Theft Auto IV.

So to wrap things up, I’m sure nothing I’ve said here comes as a shock. Red Dead Redemption has been incredibly well received by both gamers and critics. I suppose the point of this was just to toss my hat into the ring and express my adoration for this epic journey though the wild west.

Thank you kindly, Rockstar.

Yeehaw

2010-05-26T21:13:00.002-04:00

Came upon this last night whilst killin' some armadillos:

The West was crazy.

Play Like a Girl - Episode 6

2010-05-23T23:07:00.003-04:00

Hey all! Episode 6 is now live! You can listen below or subscribe to us on iTunes by searching for playlikeagirlblog. As always, thanks for the support and we hope you enjoy the show!

As an aside, please be aware that because Lynsey and I are poor gamers and cannot afford to put any actual money into our show I've had to delete previous episodes to make room for the new. So if for some reason you hadn't downloaded episode 1 . . . sorry, it's gone to the great beyond.

They Exist Outside of Logic

2010-05-21T16:46:00.002-04:00

Very shortly, Lynsey and I will be finishing our journey through Bright Falls. Soon after that we'll be recording a podcast to better and more fully express our thoughts on Alan Wake. In the meantime, please allow me to nudge you in the side: if you have not played this game, you need to.

Games this engaging, breathtaking, and downright poetic are few, far and in-between. I know a lot of you are probably causing havoc in the wild, wild west right now (as we both are as well) but this game deserves your attention.

Trust us.

See you soon!

This is a Triumph!

2010-05-12T23:37:00.005-04:00

If you've never played Portal, you officially have no excuse.

It's FREE until May 24th, on both the PC and Mac.

Get on that shit.

I Can't Wait To Set The World On Fire.

2010-05-09T18:25:00.004-04:00

So you’re a courier minding your own business, on your way to deliver a package, when suddenly an unknown assailant shoots you in the head. You awaken in a doctor’s office and, following your discharge, embark on a quest to find the one who gunned you down.

This has recently been revealed to be the first quest (and your introduction) to Fallout: New Vegas. That combined with a slew of new information released on the game has me foaming at the mouth.

Having finally completed my time with Dragon Age: Origins – by that I mean I have for the first time in my gaming career unlocked every single achievement for the game, including all the DLCs – I am eager to sink my teeth into a new RPG. Actually, until Dragon Age: Origins came along, Fallout 3 was without question my favorite RPG so I’m really eager to see if I still love the post-apocalyptic universe of Fallout in my post Dragon Age world.

Remember, Remember the . . . 18th of . . er, May.

2010-05-04T17:01:00.004-04:00

Some days everything just comes together, though maybe a little too much at times. May 18th, 2010 has officially become one of those days, my friends. We've known for awhile that the long-awaited Alan Wake is set to release that day and soon after we found out that Read Dead Redemption was pushed back to that same day. I am ridiculously excited for both games and not really thrilled that they have to compete for my time - well, okay, not really, Alan Wake all the way - but such is the life of a gamer *insert violin music here*.

Both of those combined really aren't too bad but now, it's just getting a tad ridiculous; a new Dragon Age: Origins DLC has been announced and confirmed for May 18th.

Pity me, people.

As I'm currently nearly done with my fourth play through (yes, sadly you read that right) of Dragon Age: Origins, knowing there is an upcoming DLC makes me incredibly happy. Knowing that it's coming the same exact day as Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption? Slightly less happy. Still, May 18th is bound to be an epic day. I should also mention that my little sister was born on that day. Thankfully, she's a big nerd too so her present can be a pot of coffee and and two of us talking each other's ears off about video games.

One more thing before I close this post, have you all seen the new Dead Space 2 trailer? Mmmm goodness, I'm a little excited for that too. They should totally push the release date up to May 18th:

To cave or not to cave

2010-05-02T19:33:00.006-04:00

It wasn't long after I'd fully given into my obsession with Left 4 Dead that I started thinking about what type of merchandise I'd like to see coming from The Valve Store. Foremost on my weird little mind was a plush of a Boomer. I mean, come on - how could you not want to cuddle with this:

It would seem that I'm not the only one who liked the idea of pouring some pepto bismol down his throat and snuggling up; Valve recently released a Boomer plush. A Witch, Hunter, Smoker, and Tank are forthcoming. I'm madly in love. With the plushies that is, not real crazy about the $50 price tag. . . he belches when you squeeze him though!

So . . . who wants to be my best friend?

Here's to you, William.

2010-04-23T16:15:00.004-04:00

So I could talk about the level design, the music, the fallen survivors, the golf club of WIN, the M60, the new midnight riders song, the zombie wedding, the footlockers, the weekly mutations or all the other things that make "The Passing" fun as hell, but I'd rather just show you a montage of the best reasons:

Francis hates haters.

2010-04-22T11:57:00.007-04:00

It's kind of a shame; they could have had the world's most hate-filled children.

We Gotta Get Tougher Friends

2010-04-20T20:36:00.007-04:00

Valve makes amazing games. This is true. They also generally have a hard time nailing down a time frame for the releases of said games. This is also true.

They also have quite a sense of humor.

As Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" is finally confirmed to be released this Thursday, I am eager to see exactly which one of the original survivors won't be making an appearance. We've known for awhile now that either Francis, Bill, Louis, or Zoey will be off fighting zombies in the Great Beyond and that an upcoming Left 4 Dead DLC will allow the player to choose which one of them sacrifices themselves for the greater good (the greater good) but that there will be a canon death detailed in both, "The Passing" and an upcoming comic book.

Though I'm relatively certain I know which survivor it will be, I would just like to point out the following collection of official posters for "The Passing". Click and look closely at the silhouettes in the background:

Yeah, Valve's got a sense of humor.

I hate waiting.

2010-04-16T20:17:00.004-04:00

Is the world really ready for this much awesome? We'll find out next week.

They Remember

2010-04-07T22:15:00.003-04:00

With an agonizing slowness the elevator works its way up and up before gently coming to a halt. Just as I’m about to step off, I see the tiny necromorph scamper down the hall.

“Pfft, do you think I’m stupid?”

Raising my plasma cutter, I navigate Isaac Clarke with deliberate precision down the narrow ramp waiting for the tiny monster I’m hunting to lash out at me when its comrade suddenly bursts through a panel of glass to my immediate right and rushes me.

Despite my wishes to cooly say, “clever girl” I’m instead screaming, “JESUS-FUCKING-CHRIST” at the top of my lungs while rushing for a corner before lurching around to face the demon that had (perhaps literally) scared the pee out of me.

Suffice to say, “Dead Space” is a horrifying game but it is not the most horrifying I’ve ever played. That honor is reserved for Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. While I will never, ever again pick up that romp through Hell I have recently embarked on another ill-fated journey through the USG Ishimura. Even though this time around I knew what to expect – to the point where I felt more comfortable exploring areas I hadn’t on my first play through – I felt my pulse quicken as I approached one of many accessible bathrooms onboard the doomed planet cracker.

Yup, a bathroom.

It’s the same with every video game I play. I hate going into bathrooms. Now, while I’m relatively sure this fear developed as a result of the unseen enemy that shrieked at me when I attempted to leave one in Silent Hill 2 (the first horror game I ever played) I’d like to believe it’s something deeper than that. Perhaps it’s knowing I’m enclosed in a small space with only one way in and out. Maybe it’s not knowing what craziness could be in the stall next to me. Maybe I’m terrified of poop, I don’t know. All I know is that I am terrified of bathrooms in video games.

So I’m curious . . . what scares you the most in horror games? Did a necromorph suddenly leaping from a vent scare you more in Dead Space than the unseen woman singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”? Was the infamous Oven Man in Resident Evil 4 harder for you to deal with than the first time you encountered the chanting at the castle? Is the scraping of Pyramid Head’s knife more frightening than actually seeing him?

What makes your digital blood run cold?

Episode 5 is Live!

2010-03-31T00:24:00.003-04:00

Episode 5 of the Play Like a Girl podcast is now live! Subscribe to us on iTunes (nudge, nudge) or click the link below. Even if you do not download via iTunes, please take the time to leave us a review there.

Thanks for the support everyone!

PAX East: (Dead Space) panel update

2010-03-27T19:06:00.017-04:00

One more day is left of PAX East and I'll be sad to see it go. But so far, I've attended two panels and I, honestly, don't plan to attend anymore. The first panel on girl gamers was interesting, but it was all Q&A and it felt like the same question kept being asked in different ways: "Why aren't there more female gamers, and why do they get treated as lesser-than?" Well, if we had that answer, we'd solve it.

Which leads me to the second panel I attended: the Dead Space panel. If you've been keeping up with my Twitter, you'd know that this panel blew my fucking mind. You guys know how much Valve impresses Cary and me on a daily basis, right? Well... Visceral Games is sneaking up there. Watch it, Valve. You better release "The Passing" soon to keep your status. But I digress.

The three speakers from Visceral were Steve Papoutsis (Executive Producer), Rich Briggs (Producer), and Ian Milhelm (Art Director). These three guys were a wonderfully dynamic group that started the panel off 15 minutes early because they were, admittedly, so excited to get started.

The panel started off with an informal Q&A, like I said, then went onto a presentation that explained a lot of the Dead Space backstory and universe -- things that maybe some of us missed out on because we were too busy shitting ourselves with terror to pay attention who was talking to us during gameplay and exactly what they were saying. (Who cared, right? Those necro-assholes were AFTER YOU.) What impressed me so much about this was the fine attention to detail within the story (they explained that in order to focus on the game, they had to create an ample amount of backstory to make this universe seem realistic to the gamer) and also the minute detail in the design. Every single moment of terror and horror are worked on step-by-step to provide the ultimately scary experience; the example they used was the first time the tentacle grabs Isaac in the original game. Yeah, you remember it. Mission accomplished, Visceral. (You can also watch me experiencing this moment for the first time.)

Waiting to get into the panel, they handed out free mini-posters and promised there were more goodies on the inside. Anybody who asked a question got a free hardback copy of their graphic novel. But don't worry, Cary, one of these posters is on its way to you:

The other one is already on my wall. :)

They streamed some of the Q&A live, as well, and in the middle, Papoutsis broke into the conversation with a "fuck it, we're showing you guys a clip from Dead Space 2. I don't care." Now, while this was assuredly planned, that satiated every single person in the audience. I think every person in that room fell in love a little bit right then. You can watch most of the Q&A in the video below, and the clip from DS2 is at the beginning of the video:

While they were pretty hush-hush on a lot of what's to come in Dead Space 2, a few tidbits came out:

Isaac, undoubtedly, was psychologically affected by the actions in DS1. So...?
If DS1 was a 10 on a scale of 1-10 based on how scary it was, DS2 will be a "5 billion."
There will be NO watering down of DS2. The metaphor used was, DS1 was more like a roller coaster that just has one big loop, DS2 will be like a normal roller coaster that goes up, down, around, upside down. There will be heightened moments, but moments to cool down and collect.
Isaac has a brand new suit, but still with upgrades? Not sure on this one. Sounds like new suits throughout, with similar ideas. (A guy came out dressed in the suit which was handmade and composed of all the elements that Isaac's actual suit will contain in the game.)
Yep, Isaac talks in DS2 and his role will be even larger, as well.
During the Q&A someone made the point that a lot of horror movies and the like always take place after-the-fact and the protagonist shows up and has to figure out what happened. This person asked if they ever considered the idea of the protagonist coming in when something was going down and being a part of it and consider the idea of a "last man standing" sort of thing. They all just kind of smiled and said, "that's a great idea!"

After all this, I had a brief moment where I thought, "I'd kind of like to play through Dead Space again, maybe." Which should just prove how impressive the panel was and how motherfuckin' excited I am for Dead Space 2.

The first rule of PAX East...

2010-03-25T22:57:00.002-04:00

I've mentioned this a few times on Twitter but never on the blog so, I'm going to PAX East, which kicks off tomorrow in downtown Boston. I have a three-day pass so I can almost go to any panel I'd like, with the exception of a few hours on Saturday. I plan on attending the following panels:

Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry

Manticore Theatre
Friday, 8:00pm

According to the ESA, more than 43% of video gamers are female, making women the single largest untapped market segment in the gaming industry. Look at the milestones crossed and the hurdles to come as developers and publishers reach out to this previously overlooked demographic. Are current strategies effective? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?

Panelists Include: Brittany Vincent [Editor-in-Chief, Spawn Kill], Julie Furman [Founder, SFX360], Jeff Kalles [Penny Arcade], Alexis Hebert [Community Relations Manager, Terminal Reality], Padma Fuller [Product Marketing Manager, Sanrio Digital], Kate Paiz [Senior Producer, Turbine]

The Dead Space Universe: Creating a World of Horror in Games and Beyond

Naga Theatre
Saturday, 1:00pm

In 2008, EA launched a new IP from Visceral Studios: Dead Space. The game delivered the ultimate in psychological thrills and gruesome action. A bold and bloody sci-fi survival horror game set 400 years in the future, Dead Space stunned and scared players, won critical acclaim, and spawned the 2009 prequel: Dead Space Extraction. The Dead Space universe runs deep, and as gamers find themselves clamoring for more, Dead Space comics, animated features and figures have been released. This talk will go behind the scenes on the making of Dead Space, bring players up to speed on the Dead Space universe, and prepare them for what’s to come in the recently announced Dead Space 2.

Panelists Include: Rich Briggs [Producer, EA], Ian Milham [Art Director, EA], Steve Papoutsis [Executive Producer, EA]

Anybody else going? Any other panels you find intriguing, or would love for me to attend so that I could write about it later? There are limits, obviously, but I'm open to suggestions. I want to be able to report back what everybody so longs to hear about in the gaming industry today.

Cary and I are hoping to do a podcast on PAX East once it's over (even though she's not attending which, believe me, is a topic of contention), but I'd also like to discuss individual panels, etc.

What I'm saying is: expect lots of PAX-related topics in the coming week.

In Valve We Trust

2010-03-22T21:10:00.003-04:00

Today I came across some news (read MASSIVE SPOILERS ZOMG) for the upcoming Left 4 Dead 2 DLC, "The Passing" that leaves me . . . uneasy. Obviously, if you want to remain surprised you'll want to stop reading now.

For real, yo.

Stop.

Bye now.

Oh, you can't wait either can you? Okay, well, the source of my hesitation comes from this little bit of information from Valve's Chet Faliszek who recently revealed the tagline to the new DLC: No One Lives Forever. Seems he's painfully correct as he also revealed that one of the four original survivors will not, um, survive. Seems one of them will scarifice themselves so that the other three can carry on.

I have to say . . . I'm pretty shocked at this sudden twist. I'm not sure if I like serious sauce in my Left 4 Dead sandwich. Though I do think it's funny that when I told Lynsey and a mutual gamer friend of ours both of their reactions were the same: "I hope it's Louis".

Sorry buddy, but you have no personality.

I suppose though, only the coming days will tell.

. . .

I hope it's Louis.

Chris should have a sawed-off shotgun. That shit is badass.

2010-03-17T17:23:00.010-04:00

It's a pretty well-known fact 'round these parts that Cary and I are in love with Resident Evil 5. Cary favors Leon, I favor Chris. We have our differences, sure, but we've played RE5 for more hours than I care to publicly admit. So you can guess that the news of two DLCs for RE5 set our little hearts adance. Well, we have now played both "Lost in Nightmares" and "Desperate Escape" DLC and we actually agreed to the same thing on both -- one was awesome and one we NEVER want to play again. Seriously.

"Lost in Nightmares" came out first and since its release, Cary and I have played through it twice. Three times? I can't remember now. Suffice it to say, we've played through it several times and each time was just as enjoyable as the first. "Lost in Nightmares" is a great combination of old and new Resident Evil. Walking through doorways was similar to the older games. There were long, dark hallways where you would hear dogs, but then bats would burst through the window. (Which, of course, didn't scare Cary at all. Ha.) But this DLC was full of those moments where you were just waiting for something else to scare you... which felt like something that was missing from the original RE5 and was lots of fun.

You can watch a couple guys play co-op through "Lost in Nightmares" in this video to get a sense of just exactly how fun this DLC can be:

Now, "Desperate Escape" is a completely different story. Cary and I finished this in just under an hour and, by the end, we were both exhausted. This DLC is a non-stop fuckfest of infinite missiles and the biggest, most annoying enemies in the original RE5. We thought we had played the DLC so horribly that, at the end, when we received an achievement for getting an S rank in the DLC, we were almost in physical shock. This DLC does NOT fuck around. It doesn't let you stop to catch your breath and I guess if that's your kind of thing... okay. But I wouldn't say I really enjoyed myself.

All of that being said, these DLCs were somewhere along the lines of 400 Microsoft points, which is a bargain and a half. At least for "Lost in Nightmares." I can't say I feel the same way about "Desperate Escape."

Think Francis Will Hate Nick's Suit?

2010-03-14T23:14:00.005-04:00

Today as Lynsey and I got ready to start up a game of Left 4 Dead 2 we noticed a new video on the XBox Live marketplace centered around the upcoming DLC entitled, "The Passing". I swear, every time I think the series couldn't be any more fun, Valve proves me wrong:

As if the additional maps (for both games), new mode, new weapons and new infected weren't enough, I am downright giddy with the thought of Ellis awkwardly making moves on Zoey or Francis haphazardly sticking his foot out to trip Nick.

This DLC could launch as soon as this week but no later than next. I'm sure you'll hear our squeals of joy no matter where you are.

Now I Want You To Reach Into That Bag and Find My Wallet

2010-03-13T19:52:00.002-05:00

Caught this on my way out of work today:

Don't even pretend you're not jealous.

An Experiment in Social Awareness

2010-03-10T16:52:00.006-05:00

Awhile back I posted my irritation at a certain Playstation 3 commercial playing off the stereotype of the hot, dumb girlfriend who can't tell the difference between a video game and a movie. Yes, yes, it's all fun and games (pun!) and not meant to be taken seriously. It was never the surface of that commercial that bothered me however, rather it was the the underlying messages it was projecting: men play lots of games and women probably can't figure out how to turn a gaming system on.

Well, that idea must have gotten some positive feedback (albeit not from me) because a similar type of ad has been released by Sony promoting "God of War 3":

Seems they've now replaced the hot, stupid girlfriend with the whiney, needy one. This ad bothers me just like the other one did but for different reasons; while we have the pouty girlfriend who just can't get attention from her boyfriend while he plays his big, butch (i.e. repetitive, button mashing, snorefest. Yeah, I said it) game, you've got the boyfriend himself who is so consumed with his game he fails to notice those around him.

I'm honestly a little more offended for the male gamers here. What this commercial is feeding off of is the idea that men are in fact video game addicts. Not just any games either - graphically violent ones. Even the Sony representative can't tear himself away from the carnage to acknowledge the woman who doesn't know anything about God of War except for that "Kratos guy".

Wait, wait, wait - come back over here and sit down. No rolling your eyes either! I saw that.

Don't take this as me being a crazy, uber liberal feminazi. My actual operational definition of feminism is one of total egalitarianism. I do not think men are above women and I do not think women are above men. I'm not going to go into more of that here but I feel that's important to stress in this situation.

This ad is playing off both gender stereotypes. It is absolutely not meant to be taken seriously but I'm asking you to think about why this ad is funny. What exactly makes the joke come together?

Now, is this all of this a bad thing? I think so, yes. Not "evil" bad, however, but rather a "bad" in that I believe it prevents people from discovering their true potential at times for fear of violating perceived gender normalcy. If I have any one diabolical plan behind this blog it's that I want people to be more aware of ads like this. Really look at your games and gaming media and ask yourself what these things are saying about you and your gender.

You may be surprised to find out how far down the blue and pink rabbit holes go.

For you? Maybe. But it'd have to be a pretty dress.

2010-03-04T20:32:00.002-05:00

I didn’t like Mass Effect.

I also didn’t like Elder Scrolls IV/Oblivion.

I know, I know. Me and this one other dude who didn’t like those games either will sit in the corner over here with the lights off.

Still, I really wanted to like both of those games. I was intrigued with the storytelling in Mass Effect and really liked the world of Oblivion. However, with both games, something just didn’t click. The thing about me and RPGs is that if I’m going to commit a minimum of 40 hours to a game it needs to grab me right away. I can’t be bothered with complicated and messy game mechanics or quests that take 10 minutes of real time to navigate. I need an RPG to let me hit the ground running.

So, after some thought and reading of reviews, I decided to check out Dragon Age: Origins. Here I’ve got a game made by the folk behind Mass Effect in a setting like Oblivion. Considering what I’ve said above, that sounds like a no win situation. Still, I created my human mage and gave it a shot. When I turned the system off, 5 hours had gone by when I, in all seriousness, thought I had been playing for maybe 2.

This was a bad sign but in a totally different way.

Much in the same way that Fallout 3 has compelled me to dedicate 130+ hours to it’s immense and complicated world, Dragon Age: Origins has sucked me in and refuses to let go.

Selecting from 1 of 6 origin stories (I’ve only completed two at present) you find yourself going about your everyday routine when something unprecedented happens. Be it helping a friend with a terrible secret escape his would be captors or defending yourself and your friends from sexual and mental abuse, today just isn’t your day and you’re left wondering if the sudden arrival of Duncan, the Grey Warden, is going to make it any better.

You’ll soon find yourself on your way and I defy anyone to say that the impending journey is anything short of amazing and, more importantly, engaging.

For me, the mark of a truly good RPG is it’s characters. The setting, the tasks asked of you, none of it does a damn bit of good unless you care about those it’s impacting. Having said that, there were several times during the game where I felt at a total loss. I just didn’t know what to do. I knew what was best for the country, or what was best for my party, but it conflicted with a character I felt close to.

Dragon Age: Origins is incredible at bringing these moments about.

At one point, toward the end of the main quest, I nearly cried I got so upset that a decision I had made ended up messing things up for my character and her love interest. I really couldn’t believe that Bioware had created a character that I honestly liked so much that it hurt me to see him upset. I was upset over pixels, people!

And that’s pretty damn cool.

If I had to find a flaw with this game it’s that at times there are long stretches of combat to get through but the detail at which you can control all the members of your party makes it a geeky joy to take on. For example, you can say, program your mage to automatically stun every single enemy in a room giving your team time to analyze and prepare. Even though you can only physically control one character at a time, you constantly feel as though you know exactly what’s going on with everyone.

As I type this I’m giddy at the thought of downloading the available DLC. Not to mention playing through the entire game again to play with different options. Oh man, and don’t even get me going on the expansion pack, The Awakening, coming out in a few weeks. I’ve got lots of playtime to get in before then.

I Found Myself in a Dark Forest

2010-02-21T23:16:00.003-05:00

One of the most vivid pieces of literature I've ever read is Dante’s Divine Comedy. Despite the poem’s age, the descriptions are so colorful and vibrant that I actually felt a little sick upon reading about the drool dripping down the side of someone’s face from the person chewing on their head, both of them trapped in ice, for all eternity.

When I found out that Visceral was making a game out of this masterpiece I was both excited and very skeptical. I figured the visuals would more than likely be striking but that certain liberties would have to be taken in order to create a story. Having finished the game tonight (a mere 6.5 hours after I started it) I can say that my predictions were pretty much correct.

The designs of the levels of hell are absolutely incredible looking with details taken directly from the source material. Even my biggest fear – that the center of hell would be changed to a pit of lava rather than the frozen tundra Dante described – turned out to be unfounded. I know it’s sad but it made my fan girl heart sequel to see Lucifer fanning the winds of hell while being stuck in the ice himself. It does strike me as odd that the developers wouldn’t include the fact that The Fallen Angel has three mouths that chew the greatest traitors of all time . . . but I’m going to stop right there or I’ll gone on for hours. And I really don’t want to do that because the visuals really are amazing and worth taking note of.

Not to mention that the cutscenes are, without a doubt, the best I have ever – ever – seen in a video game. Check out the final cutscene of the game for some pure beauty (and Steven Blum as Lucifer!). Obviously though, spoilers abound:

Sadly though, it wasn’t all fun and games. While all of the levels of the Inferno are gorgeous, some of the level design was downright bad. I’m actually convinced that an intern must have designed the Greed circle. That level was unforgivably bad. The biggest flaw with this game isn’t its similarities to the God of War series (which are abundant) but rather it’s pathetically poor platforming. When it was all said and done, I think the minions of hell managed to kill me once. Maybe twice. The camera and environments however managed to kill me more times than I can count. Several of the puzzles, for example, give you precisely 2 seconds to respond and if you take 2.00001 seconds you’ll be rewarded with an instant death.

The combat was pretty tight and satisfying but, unfairly, Bayonetta has ruined action games for me forever as I now expect all games of the genre to handle as well as it did. Of course, it’s doubtful another game ever will. Again though, it’s not right to compare this game to another and the combat is far from bad just not as good as it could be.

Overall, “Dante’s Inferno” is a fun, gory romp. If you can handle some moments of frustration and repetition, it’s worth a rental but I can’t say the 7-hour game is worth 60 dollars.

A Breast is a Breast is a Breast

2010-02-18T20:00:00.003-05:00

There are a couple of aspects about society that will, from time to time, confuse the hell out of me. People cramming together to walk in the door of a building when there is another perfectly good door right next to it. The need people feel to make small talk to avoid a perceived uncomfortable silence. Our ability to forget about catastrophic disasters a month after the entire world rallies around those effected. My favorite however, is our obsession and simultaneous repulsion with nudity and sex – mostly the former.

I’ve recently gotten wind of something interesting going on over at Justin.tv. It seems that those who stream video of themselves playing the recently released “Dante’s Inferno” have been permanently banned without any type of warning. The reason? They violated the terms of service. Which terms you ask? No nudity is allowed on the site even if the specific page has placed a mature content warning on the feed. There is, however, nothing in Justin.tv’s terms of service which define what exactly nudity is. It is a bare backside? A bare female chest? Exposed breasts with the nipples covered? There is no way to know.

What we do know however is that the image of nude bodies – both male and female – appear quite frequently in Dante’s Inferno. I myself have not played the game yet but I certainly saw my share of pixilated breasts in the demo, which is what ties in nicely to one of my points: are animated breasts really as “offensive” as real ones?

I, of course, use those quotation marks with intense sarcasm. Call me a crazy, liberal hippe but I do not, in any way, shape, or form, find the naked human body even remotely offensive. I’m not referring here to explicit sexual imagery or pornography here, but rather the naked human form as designed by nature. Plain and simple.

Now, Dante’s Inferno does provide a unique problem because again, while I have not played it, I have read the poem and have very vivid memories of the fun to be found within the lust circle which I’m sure Visceral has taken advantage of. Basically, the images within Dante’s Inferno certainly have the potential to be offensive. It is not the content found offensive by Justin.tv though – it’s the nudity. What’s interesting to me are two underlying issues: one, that the naked human body is automatically offensive and two, that this nudity is far more damaging than the brutal and graphic violence so often found in games today.

To me, Justin.tv might as well come out and say, “yeah, play your Modern Warware and Bioshock and have fun graphically gunning down enemies and boring holes into them with giant drills but don’t you dare show a woman’s breast.” The reason for this fear of female nudity is of course the result of years and years of society taking an essential body part for which nearly all of use owe our lives and reducing it to a sexual object.

My more relevant musings (this is a video game blog after all) come from the backlash again nudity in general in video games, such as the fiasco over the Mass Effect “nude” scene. Is nudity in video games “worse” than nudity in film or in paintings? Personally, I tend to think that it is perceived as such not because it is, of course, any worse but rather because non-gamers remain increasingly hesitant to regard video games as art forms which they without question can be. Not all of them certainly (just like not all other forms of media are art) and for sure in a less traditional sense but I will absolutely argue that Dead Space was one of the most beautiful and artful games to come out in recent years. Is it beautiful like Michelangelo’s “David”? No. But is it any less of an art form? I don’t think so.

You know . . . when I started this post I had a goal in mind. I fear it’s gone into a potentially pointless ramble. I suppose I’ll just end with this question: do you think video games are judged more harshly for nudity than the average show or film? If so, why is this?

Episode 4 is Live!

2010-02-11T00:32:00.002-05:00

The 4th episode of the Play Like a Girl podcast is now available! You can listen below or check us out on iTunes by clicking the link on the right.

Thanks for your continued support everyone! Hope you enjoy our thoughts on Bioshock 2!

War. War Never Changes.

2010-02-04T18:01:00.004-05:00

Precious little is known thus far about "Fallout: New Vegas". From slight details (if you even want to call them that) that have been leaked I've read that it will take place in the former Las Vegas (shock!) , you will be able to use vehicles early on in the game, and your chosen character will have a backstory that will play directly into their skill set.

Today though, something pretty cool - and official - was released:

I've never been so excited to hear Ron Perlman's voice, even if it is just a clip from "Fallout 3". I think this game is going to be incredible - and faithful to the style and feel of "Fallout 3" - and this short trailer just gets me more excited for Fall.

Like all I have done, this is an act of love

2010-02-02T19:59:00.010-05:00

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that Bioshock 2 comes out a week from today. And if you have any brain at all (or at least taste), you're about to pee yourself with excitement like me.

Last year, Bioshock 2 was slated for a November 2009 release and then in July, 2K announced that it was being pushed back to the fiscal year of 2010. All I'm saying is, I'M SO GLAD THEY ONLY PUSHED IT BACK TO FEBRUARY. I'm dying over here.

Here are some things about the sequel: you play as a Big Daddy in Rapture, seven years after you last visited. And if that last sentence doesn't make any sense, you need to go rent Bioshock and play it right now. I'm not kidding.

Last year, Cary and I each talked about our favorite video games and, well, Bioshock was my choice, which I shouted at the top of my nerdy lungs. I'm not the only one who sang at the top of rooftops about this game -- it received astounding 10/10 reviews all over the gaming world and, guess what? I've been informed that Playstation 3 Magazine has come out and said that Bioshock 2 is better than the original. As Cary said to me in a text: "Them's fightin' words." I'm not so much concerned about the game being better -- I just want it to be good. And I have faith.

This post isn't necessarily to say anything special or new about the impending release of Bioshock 2, but more of an all-points bulletin to gamers. I know no better way of saying how anxious I am for this game but to tell you that I requested that day off from work so I could spend the entire day playing this game... and they gave it to me. See you there?

Alms for the Geeky

2010-02-02T16:35:00.001-05:00

Now that Lynsey and I are wicked famous and all, we feel as though we need to make some updates to the blog. Mainly, we’d like to start doing some more advertising both on-line and in reality but before we do we need a logo. Nothing fancy or even that special, just something we can use which would be a unique connection to Play Like a Girl.

The reason I’m posting about this however is that I have no creative juices flowing in that direction and Lynsey is wicked busy finishing her silly graduate degree. Basically, I’m saying we’re useless and in need of handouts.

If some kind, geeky soul out there would be willing to work with us on creating a logo for this blog s/he would have our undying gratitude which is totally worth way more than money - of which we have none unless you count a few Canadian pennies we get on accident.

So if you’re interested in being awesome and amazing, please contact us at playlikeagirlblog@gmail.com

Thanks, everyone!

A Most Humble Thank You

2010-02-01T16:53:00.003-05:00

I am beyond thrilled to announce that thanks to everyone's support and votes, this blog is among the winners of the first annual Golden Retrevo Award in the gaming category! Lynsey and I are truly grateful for each and every reader we get and hope to keep you all coming back and leaving satisfied.

That's what she said.

So, once again, thank you all so very, very much.

What? It's kinda-sorta-almost Valentine's Day.

It Was The Hot Coffee, Wasn't It?

2010-01-21T19:58:00.003-05:00

There’s no question that we are a generation of technological obsession. When was the last time you left your house without your cell phone? How about the last time you went 24-hours without logging on to the Internet? You’d probably have to struggle to imagine such a time and, yet, a decade ago, most of us didn’t even have either of the two pieces of wonder above.

Now, we worry about overexposure. How much is too much? According to a new study media usage (television, Internet, video games) among 8 -18 year olds has increased to an average of seven hours and thirty-eight minutes per day. That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is just about the same as having a full-time job.

That’s a lot.

No one is questioning that and no one is saying that's okay.

What I am questioning however, is the unfair spin I feel that video games receive. While watching HLN report on these findings tonight I repeatedly heard the host single out video games as the Great Destroyer of Young Minds. Furthermore, even though the host would occasionally mention television and Internet usage as part of the sphere of “media”, all the images in the background were of children playing video games.

I think an underlying issue that bothers me more than anything is the idea that video games are an isolating experience. More than the phone or e-mail, I use Xbox Live to keep in touch with friends these days. Together we’ll shoot zombies, venture through Africa, or play trivia – sometimes for hours – but certainly not alone in our rooms. Yes, I know that I am not the demographic being referred to in this study but I find myself becoming increasingly frustrated by this idea that video games are the worst of the worst of entertainment.

Here’s an example I heard from the folks over at Analog Hole Gaming: imagine telling a friend that your partner spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday watching baseball. More than likely, your friend who say something along the lines of, “wow, that’s a lot of baseball”. However, if you told that same friend that your partner spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday playing video games, chances are that they would be appalled.

You know it’s true.

I’m just trying to figure out why that is; when did video games really get such a bad rap?

Time to Let Your Hair Down

2010-01-10T18:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I finished a very anticipated and somewhat controversial game. Well, for me anyway. After about 14 hours of game play I wrapped up by first run through of Bayonetta. Now, I’ve mentioned this game quite a few times on this blog, mostly because of my skepticism on the titular character. And yes, I very deliberately picked that word.

Bayonetta is sex. From the looks of the trailers and print advertisements as well as the emphasis on the fact that Bayonetta looses the vast majority of her clothing when she casts her “climax” spells, I was pretty convinced that this game was just going to be a mindless romp. Then however, reviews starting coming in. Very, very good reviews including an incredible 10/10 from Edge magazine. This coupled with the enthusiasm from the guys over at Fourplayerpodcast really got me curious about this action/adventure game.

Having now completed the main story I can say that Bayonetta is far from a mindless romp and is rather a vibrant, energetic, non-stop, ridiculous, and fun experience. I cannot believe how much fun I had playing this game. At first - as I was getting my ass handed to be over and over again - I had my doubts. The more I progressed however, the more techniques I purchased and the more weapons I obtained I started to enjoy the hell out of this game. It got to the point where I was waiting for Bayonetta to strip down and finish off the boss I had spent 15 minutes fighting. She always did and it was always immensely satisfying and often pretty funny:

Which brings me to the main point of this post. My concerns over the sexuality of the game were mostly laid to rest. There were certainly moments that were totally unnecessary but for the most part Bayonetta fit right in to the world of the game. Witches with guns on their feet, fights with angels on skyrocketing missiles, spells that conjure iron maidens, chainsaws, and guillotines, and hair that turns into various beasts which when devour enemies – oh yeah, over-the-top sexuality? What’s over-the-top anymore?

Everything about this game from the backdrops to the supporting characters to combos and the loading screens that let you practice your moves fit right into this world. It's a world I plan on playing through again soon.

Thoughts and a Question

2010-01-04T21:28:00.002-05:00

I currently taste cement, grass, and gravel. I suppose I got off pretty light considering how far into my mouth I’ve had to shove my foot. Around the time that Left 4 Dead 2 came out Lynsey and I couldn’t understand the hype surrounding Assassin’s Creed 2. After all, the first game got such mixed reviews and Left 4 Dead 2 was going to be so fantastic. Well, Left 4 Dead 2 is fantastic but after playing through it I can say with the upmost confidence that Assassin’s Creed 2 is fantastic as well.

I was honestly shocked at how much I loved this game. The story, the setting, the dialogue, the freedom, the side quests (most of them), I loved it all. In fact, I knew fairly early into the game that I was going to regret saying that it wasn’t worth my time.

Getting used to the controls took quite some time and was very frustrating at first. I can’t tell you the number of times I was attempting to run from a group of enemies and instead of scaling a wall to safety I ended up going up and jumping back off the wall and right into the center of the group. This caused an incredible amount of yelling and thrown pillows. This frustration actually played quite a bit into my one (and perhaps only) big problem with Assassin’s Creed 2, which is that the game punishes you for not being perfect.

If you take one misstep, jump this way instead of that, or pull this weapon instead of that one you’re going to royally fuck yourself. Several times I fell or darted the wrong way during a timed event and I just gave up and waited for the clock to reset. Still when you succeeded, it was oh so sweet. Not to mentioned exciting to be racing over the rooftops of old Italy.

Since I have not played the original Assassin’s Creed, I have nothing to compare this game to. I’ve heard from many different people that this game is superior to the original but I would love to hear it from you all: is Assassin’s Creed 2 really that much better than the original? If I enjoyed this game so much should I check out the first one or will I just be disappointed?

Do tell!

Words . . . er,Instructions of Wisdom

2010-01-02T20:30:00.006-05:00

This past week I spent a delightful couple of days with Lynsey in her temporary, non-graduate school residence and watched her press on like the brave little toaster she is in Dead Space. The visit was full of lots of laughs, games, beer, and inappropriate jokes. In fact, the only crappy thing about it was the 12 hours it took me to drive to her. So, on my journey back I decided to cut my trip in half and stay at a hotel. Thankfully, I had my Xbox 360 with me for entertainment, right?

Well, yes. But I was thinking having the console with me was going to do dick until I found an incredibly helpful forum post.

Now, I had heard the stories of hotel televisions not having video input/output (see video below) which is supposed to encourage the consumer to purchase entertainment from the hotel but really just ends up pissing people off. Well, this hotel I'm staying in indeed has a video input but no auxiliary button on the remote or television. I call down at the front desk to check and sure enough, they say there is no way for me to view my "DVD player" on their TV.

I'm irritated.

So I do some web surfing and come across this forum posting. It would behoove any gamer who travels to check it out. It worked like a charm and I am getting ready to spend the night playing some serious Assassin's Creed 2 thanks to it.

Enjoy, children! And buonanotte!

End of the Year Roundup

2010-01-01T15:50:00.004-05:00

Last night, we rang in 2010 with good food, good drink, and good games. When the night was over, Lynsey and I were left thinking of all the great (and not so great) games we played this year. So we've collected our thoughts and come up with this list of our favorite games of 2009 (for the XBox 360, only). So without further ado, here is our list:

Best Game of the Year

Cary Resident Evil 5

Lynsey Resident Evil 5

Honorable Mentions Left 4 Dead 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Best Story

Cary Batman: Arkham Asylum

Lynsey Shadow Complex

Best/Most Impressive Graphics

Cary Resident Evil 5

Lynsey Resident Evil 5

Honorable Mention Modern Warfare 2

Best Hero

Cary Eddie Riggs (Brütal Legend)

Lynsey Jason Fleming (Shadow Complex)

Best Villain

Cary The Joker (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

Lynsey The Joker (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

Honorable Mention Albert Wesker (Resident Evil 5)

Best Soundtrack

Cary Brütal Legend

Lynsey Shadow Complex

Best Arcade Game or DLC

Cary Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Lynsey Shadow Complex

Best Multi-Player Experience

Cary Left 4 Dead 2

Lynsey Left 4 Dead 2

Honorable Mention Resident Evil 5

Best Single-Player Experience

Cary Assassin's Creed 2

Lynsey X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Biggest Disappointment

Cary WET

Lynsey Ghostbusters

Best Voice Acting

Cary Batman: Arkham Asylum

Lynsey Ghostbusters

Games We Wished We Hadn't Missed

Cary Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC

Lynsey Borderlands

Honorable Mention Halo: ODST

Most Anticipated Game of 2010

Cary Bayonetta

Lynsey Bioshock 2

Honorable Mentions Alan Wake, Fallout 3: New Vegas, Resident Evil 5 DLC

Best Discovery in 2009

Cary Fallout 3

Lynsey Bioshock

Honorable Mention Dead Space

There you have it, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Thanks for the memories, 2009!

Fill in the blanks

2009-12-24T22:13:00.004-05:00

There's a lot Cary and I know about in terms of gaming. Surely. But there are definitely a lot of things we don't know. In fact, I'll show you one thing I'm relatively clueless about:

Yep. The Nintendo Wii is a console that, admittedly, I have a hard time calling a console. Seriously. When I was just typing that, it felt strange. It's not meant to sound egotistical, but it completely does. Sort of like when my mom asks me how to do something on her PC and I complain about Windows Vista and not knowing what I'm doing, then she gets all up-in-arms and mutters something along the lines of "whatever, Apple dude."

Yes, I have an Apple MacBook. Yes, I'm quite infatuated with it. And, yes, I have a lower tolerance for non-Apple computers. But I wouldn't begin to say that PCs don't offer something to certain people that Apple's don't. I wouldn't begin to say PCs are not computers, because they are. What I will say is: I certainly have a preference. And I certainly have my reasons.

But what this post is really supposed to be is a question. Say someone you know is away on holiday and the only console they have at their disposal is a Nintendo Wii. This person would love to spend some downtime with a good video game on the Wii but has no idea where to begin. She's played all the basics on the system, but what's new? What's absurd? What would impress or interest this person who otherwise spends her time on a 360 or a PS3?

I just, ya know, have a hard time thinking I can devote my attention to an entire blog post reviewing "Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree." I'd love to be able to pay attention to that Wii world of gaming Cary and I miss altogether. At least until my holiday is over.

The Golden Retrevo Awards

2009-12-24T20:33:00.012-05:00

Today, Lynsey and I found out that we've been nominated in the "gaming" category for the first annual Golden Retrevo Awards. According to its website, The Golden Retrevo Award, "nominees are independent bloggers expressing fascination and enthusiasm for gadgets and gear. They should also exhibit expertise in their area of interest. These are the best and brightest of the gadget blogosphere writing about the coolest new electronics products and how they benefit the lives of people who use them"

Needless to say, we are pretty excited. Not to mention, incredibly humbled. We're not sure if we were nominated by someone at Retrevo or by a reader but either way we are thrilled. You can vote once a day, every day until January 25th and if you're a fan of our blog we would encourage you to please do so.

Not that it isn't amazing that we were nominated but it would be even more incredible if we won our category: vote for us by clicking HERE!

Thank you so very much everyone! Happy Holidays!

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here . . .

2009-12-24T19:41:00.005-05:00

There are many types of geeks in the world. There's video game geeks, D&D geeks, warcraft geeks, Baldwin geeks *cough*, Star Wars geeks, Trekkies and, least we forget, literary geeks. Lynsey and I actually met when we were both undergraduates majoring in English at a small college in Florida. Whilst taking our "great works of western literature" class we were required to read the entire "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri. I don't want to speak for her, but I'm pretty sure we were in near total agreement: Purgatorio and Paradiso were . . . slow but the Inferno was incredibly riveting. And vivid. Holy God (see what I did there?), was it vivid.

Naturally, when we found out that a video game was being made based on this epic poem were were intrigued but skeptical. Was such an amazing piece of literature really appropriate for a hack n’ slash video game? Well, having played the demo now I can honestly say . . . I’m not totally sure yet.

At its core, “Dante’s Inferno” handles just like a typical adventure/action game. Nothing about it makes it unique, at least, nothing from the demo. Waves of demons come at you. You kill them. You move on. What is interesting and distinctive about it is the story and the backdrop. While it no doubt resembles the “God of War” series, it’s still pretty cool bitch-slapping demons with a giant cross. Was that a part of the “Inferno”, no, but artistic and entertainment license was going to be taken if this game was going to be a success. I mean, who wants to play a game where you follow Virgil around the nine circles of Hell inhaling rivers of excrement and watching people gnaw on other people’s heads. Well, who other than Lynsey and I?

No, we’d rather play a butch Dante who runs around and shows the demons of Hell what’s what. And you know, that works. I was honestly so happy to hear the opening line of the “Inferno” and that the game was actually sticking to Alighieri’s visuals that the inaccuracies didn’t really both me.

If anything, this game will suffer being a standard action/adventure game. At best, it will be a remarkably visual one with a unique story and an amazing score. Only February will tell.

Lock Up Your Virtual Daughters!

2009-12-23T17:06:00.005-05:00

This little gem of a downloadable title has been available on XBox Live for a little while now, but I've only just now mustered up the courage to give it a go: Don't Be Nervous Talking 2 Girls.

Yup, a sim guaranteed to help to talk to scary, intimidating womenfolk. Ahh, I love the smell of gamer-stereotype in the evening! I shot a small video of myself playing through two levels of the demo for your enjoyment. I shot it freehand with my iPhone so you may wanna have some Dramamine on hand but you'll still get the point.

Well, balls.

2009-12-16T20:46:00.002-05:00

The other night I officially wrapped up my final semester in graduate school. Not only had my final paper been turned in but I completed the rest of the work required of me as a graduate teaching assistant. Smiling like an idiot, I practically skipped to the fridge, grabbed a beer, switched on my Xbox 360, bent down to get “Left 4 Dead 2”, looked back up and jumped back like a snake had bitten me:

Yup, after a year of no issues my system finally suffered the dreaded Red Ring of Death. I was not pleased.

Thankfully though, my sister has a friend who has a spare console (perhaps for just this reason?) and she was kind enough to let me borrow it until my console comes back from Microsoft. While this was the first time my system had malfunctioned, it certainly wasn’t my first personal experience with it: nearly every 360 owner I know has had their console shit itself without provocation at least once, with one friend having his system get the RROD three separate times. Lynsey herself has had it happen twice: once with one ring for a hard drive failure and once with two rings for overheating. She’ll probably murder me for saying it but it’s probably only a matter of time before she gets the dreaded RROD as well.

My question to you fine people is, why the hell do we put up with it?

Now, Lynsey and I have never been big fans of Microsoft but a recent survey by GameInformer found that our feelings are pretty justified: 52% of all Xbox 360s fail. While you can argue the logistics of the survey (e.g. disgruntled gamers are more likely to respond) considering at least my own personal experiences I do not find that number irrational. Not only are the harddrive malfunctions numerous, but the 2-3 week time frame it takes for Microsoft to fix the problem is double to triple that of how long it takes for Nintendo to repair the Wii.

So what’s the deal? Do we all just keep putting up with it because we truly think it’s the best console out there? How many of you have had a 360 fail? Have any of you been so badly burned that you’ll never buy another Xbox? Let us know!

I could not make this up.

2009-12-14T15:20:00.007-05:00

I'm having one of those existential crisis moments, I think. Where I question everything that I've ever known about gaming, and everything I've ever known about Cary. These two things are intertwined, in this case, and also just as important as the other.

Last night, while playing 1 v. 100 Extended Play, Cary randomly said, "Ya know, when they do Left 4 Dead 3, they should have the new survivors meet up with the old survivors. I wanna see Nick and Francis meet." First of all, I was thinking "Left 4 Dead THREE, woman?! Impatient, much?" and then I think I answered, "In your dreams, Cary." Well...

Valve has released information on the first DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 and, guess what, the new survivors are going to be meeting up with the previous survivors. Nick, Coach, Rochelle, Ellis... meet Bill, Francis, Zoey, and Louis. No, no. There's no need to explain the situation to them. The phrase 'been there, done that' comes to mind.

This new DLC is called "The Passing" and Valve is calling it “the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story.” It's taking place down south in Georgia, there's going to be some new weapons, and also some new uncommon infected. You can read more about it here at GameInformer.

In the meantime, prepare thyselves. I'm headin' South this Spring. And I'm bringing Cary with me: her clairvoyance could keep us out of a lot of trouble when we're knee-deep in Georgian zombie blood.

There was a hole here - it's gone now.

2009-12-13T20:45:00.003-05:00

Today is a somber one for me. The time has come, I believe, to officially lay to rest my favorite game series of all time: Silent Hill.

My first indicator came with the news that Akira Yamaoka was leaving Konami. From the release of the first Silent Hill in 1993 to the latest installment “Shattered Memories”, Yamaoka has been the man behind the music. More than anything else, even the foggy streets, his music always set the tone and atmosphere for me, taking seemingly simple melodies and turning them into something hauntingly beautiful such as “The Promise” from Silent Hill 2. The series simply will not be the same without him. The second reason for my mourning comes from the reviews for the abovementioned “Silent Hill: Shattered Memories”.

A scathing 6.5 from GameInformer magazine just about broke my heart. While I wasn’t particularly hopeful about the game, I had hoped it would be better received than Silent Hill: Homecoming but instead it seems to suffer from the same problems. Basically, it’s become mundane – always the same, dull story, controls, and objectives over and over again. Over the years, Silent Hill has lost its physiological edge and become a run-of-the-mill horror franchise. Now, all that being said, I will probably still check out “Shattered Memories” when the PS2 port is released in January . . . but I also may not.

Either way, here’s looking at you Henry, James, and Heather – you’ll be missed.

On a brief side note, Lynsey and I have our gamertags listed on our blog for a reason: we would love for you all add and play with us but please either send us an e-mail or a message on Xbox Live letting us know you’re from the blog and not spam. Thanks!

Isaac, what have you been up to?

2009-12-09T16:36:00.005-05:00

Oh, GameInformer - how you do tease.

A few days ago, the popular gaming magazine GameInformer announced on their website that their January issue would elaborate on the few details presently offered on the subject of this sequel to one of the best survival horror games I have ever played. I certainly wasn't the only person who enjoyed this white-knuckle misadventure through the doomed USG Ishimura so let's be frank, a sequel was bound to happen and let's be even more frank, this game could very well be a disaster. Still, at this point there certainly is no need to be anything but excited. Dead Space was such a credit to the genre that it would be lucky to have an installment half as good but hopefully EA and Visceral will be able to recapture the horror, grace, and beauty of the first.

Hmm . . . thinking about it is making me want to play it again. If only I didn’t sweat just thinking about it.

I was going to give this post a title but I just can't stop twirling my hair.

2009-12-01T23:29:00.014-05:00

If there's anything Lynsey loves more than "30 Rock" it's an angry, late-night call from me. Well, she'd probably like a late-night call from Alec Baldwin more but damn it, my rage is almost as good!

So I'm working on a research proposal for my urban society class in which I've decided to look at households with and without next-generation consoles to see if they consistently use more energy than homes which do not have such consoles. That's right, kids. You can totally write papers about video games in graduate school. Anyway, so I'm looking up commercials for Sony's "Playstation 3: It Only Does Everything" to talk about how using the Blu-Ray player on the PS3 uses 5 times the amount of energy of a stand-alone Blu-Ray player when I came across this little gem:

That poor, poor confused girlfriend. She's been watching her "good

boyfriend" play "Uncharted 2" for two days and, silly little thing,

she thinks it's a movie. I mean, she'd had to, right? She couldn't

possibly be interested in watching him play or, heaven forbid, play

herself. What I especially like about this commercial is how once the

rep guy sees what she looks like he shrugs it all off. If she's hot, who

cares if she's stupid, right?

Seriously, Sony? Could it not have been the guy's little brother or

even, dare I suggest it, a man who doesn't play video games. I know,

I know - it's crazy to suggest such a thing but maybe you should lay off

the whole "stupid-women-are-okay-as-long-as-they're-hot-and-will-allow-me-to-play-my-video-games" thing in the future, mmmk?

I mean, no, this is not the most horrible commercial in the world but it

is an enforcement of some very strong and very persistent stereotypes.

All I'm saying is, life's good outside of the mold.