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MICHAEL ROUGEAU

COMMUNITY WRITER

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Following (14)

LOCATION

Orange County

Praise the sun!

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PSN RogueCheddar

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FEATURED POST

Is Mass Effect 3 not a work of art?

Whether you think Mass Effect 3's ending is good or not, the real issue is that 50,000 gamers apparently no longer consider it a work of art.

Friday, March 23, 2012 | Comments (9)

POST BY THIS AUTHOR (12)

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Brainstorming possible storylines for Halo 4

Despite Halo 3's satisfactory ending, Master Chief has plenty of other places to (potentially) go. Such as....

Thursday, July 07, 2011 | Comments (4)

Gaming in a Foreign Land

Alright, so it's just the UK, but still. I'm only here for a few months, but I've run into my fair share of difficulties trying to keep up on my gaming habit. It's strange to say, given that gaming is a habit some people struggle to break, but the less games are a part of my life, the less I feel like myself.

Monday, February 07, 2011 | Comments (2)

Morrowind vs. Oblivion, and why I'm (probably) skipping Skyrim

With the announcement of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and some gentle prodding from Bitmob staffer Jeff Grubb, I decided now was a good time to put down in words something I've felt strongly about for a number of years. I enjoyed Oblivion upon its release, but my memory of it has since soured. I can't say the same for Morrowind, and here's why.

Monday, December 20, 2010 | Comments (17)

The Great Used Game Debate

Why do game publishers think their commodity is different from every single other product in the world? Do they think I owe Warner Bros. 30% when I sell my VHS of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for a buck at a garage sale? Should I send my plumber another check every time I take a shit? Fie!

Friday, November 12, 2010 | Comments (3)

This Is My Condom. There Are Many Like It, But This One Is Mine

Entering a cartoony vagina with a machine gun may seem at odds with the idea of sexual education, but Privates is intended to raise awareness while holding gamers' interest, something that most educational games simply can't do. I spoke with Zombie Cow's Dan Marshall about the game's message.

Friday, October 08, 2010 | Comments (0)

Why I Couldn't Care Less About Duke Nukem Forever

Many of you already know this, or your subconscious knows it, but I thought why not spell it out in the simplest terms possible. No long winded argument or impassioned diatribe. Just my opinion, presented as fact: Duke Nukem, as both a game and a character, is obsolete.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | Comments (4)

There Is No Such Thing as an Overrated Game

Halo is overrated. Ocarina of Time is overrated. There is a reason why some games draw attention: They do something new. It's these games that occasion the most hype, homage, and hyperbole, and they're the ones most often written off as "overrated" by those who simply fail to understand their significance, often years later.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010 | Comments (25)

How Balance (Almost) Ruined the Halo Series

The Halo: Reach multiplayer beta is well underway, and it's a far cry from those halcyon days of the original Halo. Even discounting the heady influence of nostalgia, the franchise's detractors have a point -- but can Bungie ever again achieve the same level of magic that Halo: Combat Evolved held for so many?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Comments (19)

In Defense of FarmVille

Yeah, FarmVille does a lot of things wrong. It's what it does right, though, that should have gamers excited.

Monday, April 12, 2010 | Comments (10)

Pre-PAX East: How to get into the games industry, with Major Nelson

Xbox Live's Director of Programming, known by legions of gamers as Major Nelson, spoke to a conference room packed with eager college students last Thursday at the Microsoft New England Research and Development center (aptly named NERD) near Kendall Square.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | Comments (0)

PAX East: print finds its niche at "The Death of Print" panel

"Is Print Dead?" A panel of game journalists with experience including both print and online tackled the subject Saturday during a PAX East panel aptly titled "The Death of Print."

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | Comments (6)

COMMENTS BY THIS AUTHOR (66)

On Michael Rougeau's Is Mass Effect 3 not a work of art?

"It influenced my article. I read as much as possible before writing this."

Sunday, March 25, 2012

On Michael Rougeau's Is Mass Effect 3 not a work of art?

"I read your article, it influenced my thinking on this."

Sunday, March 25, 2012

On Michael Rougeau's Is Mass Effect 3 not a work of art?

"It has nothing to do with interactive vs. non-interactive media. That's a very different discussion. I'm comparing art to other art. That's the issue at hand. Read the title and then re-read the argument, then write a coherent response that actually addresses the correct topic please.

I agree with everything Danny said. When you read a choose-your-own adventure book, are you suddenly an author? Is that "your story"? The entire argument makes absolutely no sense."

Sunday, March 25, 2012

On Michael Rougeau's Is Mass Effect 3 not a work of art?

If you're not an idiot for your honest opinion, then how can I be an idiot for mine? That's blatantly inconsistent. It's my opinion that anyone who demands that BioWare change the ending is an idiot. That's several steps beyond simply disliking it, which makes you a person with an opinion, not an idiot. As far as the games as art question, I don't think that's up for debate anymore. Every game is art to someone. Asteroids is art to some people. As is Gears of War. The fact is that it's subjective. But anyone who's demanding BioWare alter ME 3 to suit their personal taste has got to admit that it's NOT a work of art, otherwise they'd have to surrender to the whims of its auteurs (BioWare). Hence the question in the title."

Sunday, March 25, 2012

On Patrick O'Rourke's The Mass Effect series embodies narrative perfection

"You misunderstand. Your comment suggests that an ending "where the weapon is actually a weapon that they can actually just shoot at the reapers" isn't deus ex machina. It is, though. As soon as the Reapers attack, Liara happens to find a gun big enough to shoot them with. Whether the weapon has a valid backstory is irrelevant; it's the weapon's appearance in the first place that constitutes a DEM. The fact that that weapon has unforeseen consequences (i.e., killing all the geth as well, whom, in my playthrough, had become BFFs with te quarians) makes it if anything less DEM-ish. As in, it's not as easy as it was initially proposed to be."

Monday, March 19, 2012

On Patrick O'Rourke's The Mass Effect series embodies narrative perfection

"But... that's exactly what deus ex machina is..."

Monday, March 19, 2012

On Christian Higley's Giving up on professional games writing

"Hi Joey!"

Monday, March 19, 2012

On Christian Higley's Giving up on professional games writing

"Yeah, take a break, but you don't have to give up. You're a good writer. If you're not having fun doing industry stuff, make different friends and re-focus what you do—you don't have trudge through E3 to make money doing this."

Monday, March 19, 2012

On Dan "Shoe" Hsu's Aww...people really like us!

"My pleasure to put you on the list, Dan! I didn't see this post until just now, so I'll reiterate that Bitmob is awesome."

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

On Danny Concepcion's Sorry, Dark Souls: I want more hand-holding

"I feel like part of the reason's Dark Souls sidequests, covenants, etc. can be so obtuse and inaccessible—that "little window" of opportunity—is that you're meant to feel like the world doesn't revolve around you. The reason you have to talk to so-and-so before you defeat this boss or access that area is that they need to move on to the next section of their own quests. They don't just hang around the first bonfire forever waiting for you to walk up to them so they can tell you where the next sidequest is.

The new game plus model is the perfect complement to this—you're encouraged to play again once you've reached the end, and if you play it slightly differently, do the bosses in a different order or backtrack a little before you move on, you'll always discover some new NPC interaction, a new item, a new covenant, or whatever.

Your Darkmoon Blade example—not everyone is meant to discover everything. It's as simple as that. Some people will wear that ring for the extra attunement slot and happen to go to that bonfire. That fraction of players will join that covenant and start enacting revenge on the players who are still just invading people. It's meant to be an online eco system, and when it works, it's really amazing."

Saturday, January 07, 2012

On Michael Rougeau's Morrowind vs. Oblivion, and why I'm (probably) skipping Skyrim

"I've played it for about 20 hours, and so far I like it a hell of a lot more than I liked Oblivion. On the other hand, I liked Oblivion for the first few dozen hours as well. So I'm probably going to play it for another few weeks before I write anything on it. At this point, though, I honestly recommend you give it a chance like I am. I wasn't sold on that until I saw the E3 demo—it's just so much slicker than Oblivion. Maybe that's why whatever shortcomings may crop up later haven't reared their ugly heads yet. The shiny new paint might be obscuring them pretty well (I especially LOVE LOVE LOVE the menus and the favorites system).

I love the perks system, and so far I think I like the removal of attributes. One thing that's frustrated me is I find my destruction spells don't scale very well—they get really weak eventually, and tougher ones are sort of hard to come by. So at that point I begin to miss my intelligence stat.

Anyway, I'll get back to you again when I decide to follow up on this article. Thanks for reading and commenting!"

Sunday, November 20, 2011

On Michael Rougeau's Morrowind vs. Oblivion, and why I'm (probably) skipping Skyrim

"I wrote this last year, before any real info/gameplay on Skyrim had come out. At the time I was expressing my disdain for Bethesda as a developer and the choices they made when creating Oblivion, as well as my lack of faith that they would choose to do things differently with Skyrim, due to Oblivion's incredible critical and financial success. After seeing Skyrim in action at E3, I can gladly admit that it now seems I was wrong to write them off at this point. Still remains to be seen. But for the record, I have it preordered :)"

Sunday, October 23, 2011