So, I walked into my apartment yesterday. What did I spy? An Easter basket, replete with plastic grass, candy, and disgusting Cadbury Eggs? No, no that’s not what was there. You know what was there? A brand new copy of Tomb Raider: Legend, snugly wrapped in lovely cellophane. I love my fiance (Annie). I haven’t received an Easter gift this cool since my Mom got me a stuffed rabbit that turned into an Easter egg, and, let me assure you, that thing kicked ass.
Amidst recent–and quickly debunked—rumors that PS3 will be “hella” expensive, Kotaku is reporting that PS3’s innards are much too big for its…um…outerds. To wit:
“…currently, the innards of a Playstation 3 are too large to functionally fit in the case. Although fat people can suck in their massive guts or cram fists fulls of cellulite down into a slimming girdle, no such option exists for the PS3, meaning that either the sleek and empty cases they’ve been showing off will have to grow larger to accommodate the electronic bulk or the components themselves will have to shrink… and soon.”
There’s a rumor floating around on Kotaku that SEGA may introduce a new handheld. The image at right is purportedly a design for the device—code named Hedgehog *shudder*. It would support many connectivity features and a touchscreen as well. Supposedly it will be compatible with the entire SEGA library from the Master System all the way up to the Dreamcast. While I certainly hope this is true, it’s almost certainly bunk. It’s nice to dream though.
–via Game Politics. Image from Kotaku.
UPDATE: Consider the dream officially debunked. Richard am cry :(
Condemned genuinely scared me last night. More than once. I’m not just talking about addicts jumping out of the closet either—which did happen, by the way. If you’ve ever watched pseudo-paranormal crime dramas, you’re familiar with the detective who has ESP. Basically, Agent Thomas—the main character of Condemned—has a supernatural ability to see what happened at a crime scene. For intance, you’ll walk into a room and see a brief scene that gives you clues on where to search.
Sometimes, however, this ability tends to ”act up”. It’s a good reflection of Thomas’ mental state. You’ll wind up seeing things that aren’t there—a torrent of dead birds falling from the sky for example. Imaginary enemies pop up, too. You’ll see them disappear around a corner and never show up again. It really messes with your head.
Oh, and elements of the environment can also change instantly. The only bit of information I’ll give away on this topic: “mannequins”. Have fun in the department store level.
I found a nifty article on Gamasutra’s new sister site Serious Games Source. It compares video games to the early days of television: flooded with advertisements and valueless dreck, a “vast wasteland,” if you will. From the article:
Unlike television, the meteoric rise of computer and video games over the past decade has gone largely unnoticed except by the digiteratti and cultural anthropologists cruising web zines and blogs. This may be because games are not a technology per se, but applications that slip into our lives on the backs of existing technologies, from computers, to televisions and cell phones. They are less hardware and more software. Like many mass culture phenomena, games are understood more on the basis of prevailing myths than reality. Few people realize that the average gamer is 30 years old, that over 40 percent are female, and that most adult gamers have been playing games for 12 years.
One reason myths shape public perceptions is because few universities have seen computer games as worthy of serious academic study, robbing the discourse around games of robust data on their use characteristics, effects, and potential value. There is, of course, the annual Congressional attack on the game world and its denizens, calling for more control of violent games and, like our TV-addicted forebearers, warning of dire consequences to mind and family. Politicians have conveniently made computer games a target of derision rather than a pedagogical ally or tool for public engagement.
Should there be a Corporation for Public Gaming, akin to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? The article is a great read. go check it out.
I may have been a little premature in my bountiful praise for Oblivion. As highlighted by Ctrl-Alt-Del, the AI for your allies is pretty wonky.
Scenario 1: I’m leading a couple of characters to my next quest location. We’re all on horseback, it’s great. Off in the distance I spy a wolf. Being an assassin, my first response is to dismount and sneak within shooting distance. Martin, though, his first response is to dismount and charge the wolf. Now, Martin is much stronger than me, no doubt designed to help less experienced players. So, I can risk shooting Martin in the back, or just let him kill the damned wolf. Still, I’m trying to gain XP, right? How am I supposed to do that if the computer kills everything for me?
Scenario 2: Same quest, leading characters to the next quest location via horse. Hearing the gentle clip-clop of my allies, I’m virtually certain their behind me. After a minute or two I spy an imp. I dismount and kill him. Notice anything strange? That’s right, no AI buddies tried to kill the imp first. So, I turn around and, sure enough, my companions are nowhere to be seen. I backtrack to a wooden bridge. One of my buddies is lodged within the bridge, his horse frozen in a freakish merry-go-round pose. The other guy is gone completely. It was about that time I decided to insta-travel, and I think I might just do that more often if I have to play escort.
Scenario 3: This is the one that really kills me. Seriously, it actually killed my character. Martin and I have just killed off a roguish bandit. Job well done, we walk back to our horses. Now, by mistake, I mount Martin’s horse. Naturally this pisses him off. Instead of asking me–his friend mind you–to get off his horse, he decides to effing smite me. Realizing my mistake, I get off his horse pronto. Does that appease Martin, my plot-centric character/friend? Nope, he just carries on slaying me. I don’t even fight back. I tried to talk to him. No go. So, he just kills me. And now I begin to remember the old paranoia of having to save constantly or be ruined by a fucking glitch.
I’m still going to keep playing it though.
-via Evil Avatar. Image from Wikipedia
Daily Game has some new shots of Dino Master for the DS. I’ve never actually heard of the game, but it sounds interesting. Players dig up fossils and re-assemble them to create dinosaurs. So, what do you do with live dinosaurs? Have them battle to the death of course! Sounds fun.
Game Brink has a posted a review of the Japanese version of Contact for the DS. This looks to be a good game. Little detail is discussed of the much vaunted online component but the review is very positive. Basically it’s a quirky Japanese RPG with a good story, good music, and lots of style. The review does state that combat is a little stale. The review also notes that people who want to enjoy the story should wait for the US release. My Japanese is somewhat lacking, so I guess I’m stuck waiting.
–Box art image credit to Game Brink.
Game Politics has referenced an interesting piece about a Virginia bill that would require three by three inch boxes for video game ratings information. The image avove is taken from the article, comparing the current differences between how ratings are displayed on games and on DVD movies. The game on the left is San Andreas. On the right is Shaun of the Dead. Interesting difference, no? The Virginia bill would require that the space reserved for ratings be even larger. As far as I know, no language in the bill asks to make movie ratings more prevalent.
Image taken from the original article, which you can find here.
