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The argument for legitimacy of video games isn't hard to make, so why are so many of us still hesitant to put Far Cry or Hitman on our Christmas lists?
Thursday, November 29, 2012 |
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POST BY THIS AUTHOR (10)
Perhaps the biggest fans of Darksiders were simply Microsoft's loyal who hadn't touched God of War, but this game just wasn't doing it for me.
Thursday, November 01, 2012 |
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The gaming community is no stranger to brawlers - how will we react to Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 |
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Atari made some great strides pushing Warlords into modern gaming, but I'm not sure it's going to shake the world a second time around.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012 |
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The Wii U is a step up from its predecessor, but is that enough to keep pace with the market?
Monday, September 17, 2012 |
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The party game genre has what seems to be an endless selection of titles, and Lights, Camera, Party is doing its best to stand out in the crowd.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 |
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Papo & Yo had a lot of hype, and it lives up to the hype. But it's not a great game.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012 |
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Video games have the potential to be much more effective than books or films could ever be.
Sunday, August 12, 2012 |
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The Tetris effect occurs when one devotes an excessive amount of time to an activity or game, and it begins to overtake the sufferer’s thoughts and dreams.
Sunday, August 05, 2012 |
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How can publishers keep studios from shuttering in the wake of an evolving landscape? I have a few ideas.
Wednesday, August 01, 2012 |
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COMMENTS BY THIS AUTHOR (17)
"I also have very positive things to say about the demo. I hope this game doesn't fly too under the radar when it comes to release day."
Friday, December 07, 2012
"Dishonored had wicked good sales, and Bethesda has already recognized that it is here to stay as a full franchise.
Assassin's Creed didn't warrant a sequel, but early in a console cycle and being from a big publisher, there was some leeway. Singularity was terrible. The FEAR series got worse as it went on.
But to the point of your article - this is a common theme in console cycles. New IP is much easier to sell with new hardware, and late in the cycle it becomes very risky. Despite that, however, you might turn an eye to next year. While Bioshock has the pedigree, Infinite is practically new IP. South Park as well. Then Capcom is releasing "Remember Me", Studio Ghibli will release "Ni No Kuni" and Tomb Raider is getting a facelift. Quantic Dream has "Beyond: Two Souls" coming down the pipe as well. I'm actually very excited about the face of new IP this spring, though your perceptions usually reign true at this point in the cycle.
This is without mentioning the growing indie market - Journey, the Unfinished Swan, Super Meat Boy and many others are proving that small titles can make a big impact.
And some games just don't need sequels. Too often I think a sequel is just a means to an end - money in pocket - as opposed to a contribution to a game's universe or a worthwhile expansion of story."
Monday, December 03, 2012
"Unfortunately, it all has to do with AAA production costs. The original Resident Evil was significantly lower in budget than what we see today. Every once in a while you have to take a risk on new IP, and we got Dead Space. But when money is on the line, you have to appeal to the lowest common denomenator, and that starves the horror genre, which appeals to a niche market.
I find everything about Dead Space 3 to be disappointing. I'm sure it will be fun, but it won't be Dead Space."
I find everything about Dead Space 3 to be disappointing. I'm sure it will be fun, but it won't be Dead Space."
Sunday, November 25, 2012
"You say perhaps they "aren't trying to appeal to new audiences", but at the same time, isn't an overly-long tutorial not giving credit to long-time fans, either? The idea of a tutorial you can skip through makes a lot of sense, but you hit the nail on the head when noting how the story is woven into it.
I'm a little behind, just now playing Brotherhood, but noticing a similar thing. The title implies a "brotherhood" of assassins, but you don't even begin to assemble them until the fourth memory sequence.
There are a massive number of things to do in the Assassin's Creed games, and even after tutorials, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, as you mentioned. Perhaps the games are simply TOO big?
Of course not. When new players grab a deep RPG or RTS, it's not rare to be tossed to the wolves and really dig to find everything the game offers on your own time. Maybe Ubisoft should start taking that approach."
I'm a little behind, just now playing Brotherhood, but noticing a similar thing. The title implies a "brotherhood" of assassins, but you don't even begin to assemble them until the fourth memory sequence.
There are a massive number of things to do in the Assassin's Creed games, and even after tutorials, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, as you mentioned. Perhaps the games are simply TOO big?
Of course not. When new players grab a deep RPG or RTS, it's not rare to be tossed to the wolves and really dig to find everything the game offers on your own time. Maybe Ubisoft should start taking that approach."
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
"I'm surprised more people like this. Games journalists get uppity when you call them out on it, but any intro ethics course in journalism will have these scenarios outlined in black and white - it's not professional, it's not ethical and it's not justifiable.
There was a comment on getting backlash from publishers/developers, and I'm surprised people have experienced that. An IGN editor did an AMA on Reddit once where he addressed that very question, saying that people in the industry are generally very tight-knit and backlash like that is rare. Additionally, I've done a couple of reviews of content that was provided to me, and truth be told, they were low-production titles that got mostly overlooked on the Playstation Store because they weren't very good, and I reviewed them that way. I've received nothing but warm thanks from the PR company that has worked with me on these for the publicity at all."
There was a comment on getting backlash from publishers/developers, and I'm surprised people have experienced that. An IGN editor did an AMA on Reddit once where he addressed that very question, saying that people in the industry are generally very tight-knit and backlash like that is rare. Additionally, I've done a couple of reviews of content that was provided to me, and truth be told, they were low-production titles that got mostly overlooked on the Playstation Store because they weren't very good, and I reviewed them that way. I've received nothing but warm thanks from the PR company that has worked with me on these for the publicity at all."
Thursday, November 01, 2012
"Great thoughts here. The HM one seems a bit trivial, but everything else would be exciting to see from this franchise. I long ago bailed on it when I realized the only reason I had a DS was to play Pokemon, and it wasn't worth keeping around. This makes me want to get back in. Temptations..."
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
"Impressive list here! If we cut out things that appeared on other consoles (or on their way, such as Okami getting an HD remake for PSN), we're down to thirty, but that's still more than I expected, not including those that Kenneth mentioned.
You have to admit that some of these are a niche market however - it reflects the maturatity of a selection of the Nintendo audience to play both Call of Duty and Kirby's Epic Yarn (which probably also should have had a comment about how you enjoyed it even though it was pretty poorly received - your comment on Other M made me laugh). I often see that that maturity doesn't reflect when it comes to 14-year-olds with Xboxs playing COD and Gears exclusively.
So like I said, the Nintendo faithful, like you, are going to be stoked about getting third-party titles in addition to what you have, but it's not going to draw over the PS3/Xbox crowd. Most businesses (as unethical as it seems) don't gauge success based on how much money they're making. They gauge it on how much money out of the total possible money they are making. If Nintendo isn't concerned about being the big name in consoles, then good for them and I hope they continue to do what they do, pleasing the audience they wish. But I doubt that's the case, and the WiiU isn't going to replace the Xbox name drawing drools from every adolescent boy in America."
You have to admit that some of these are a niche market however - it reflects the maturatity of a selection of the Nintendo audience to play both Call of Duty and Kirby's Epic Yarn (which probably also should have had a comment about how you enjoyed it even though it was pretty poorly received - your comment on Other M made me laugh). I often see that that maturity doesn't reflect when it comes to 14-year-olds with Xboxs playing COD and Gears exclusively.
So like I said, the Nintendo faithful, like you, are going to be stoked about getting third-party titles in addition to what you have, but it's not going to draw over the PS3/Xbox crowd. Most businesses (as unethical as it seems) don't gauge success based on how much money they're making. They gauge it on how much money out of the total possible money they are making. If Nintendo isn't concerned about being the big name in consoles, then good for them and I hope they continue to do what they do, pleasing the audience they wish. But I doubt that's the case, and the WiiU isn't going to replace the Xbox name drawing drools from every adolescent boy in America."
Friday, September 21, 2012
"Angry Birds is actually coming to pretty much all consoles, which is an interesting development, but doesn't maintain mobility.
And the soccer kids with moms in big vans may not have their own smartphone yet, but the family probably has an iPad in circulation."
And the soccer kids with moms in big vans may not have their own smartphone yet, but the family probably has an iPad in circulation."
Friday, September 21, 2012
"The thing to remember here is that we haven't seen Microsoft or Sony's hand for this generation. RROD and an expensive console really set both companies back, regardless of how superior their hardware may have been on a performance level. But Nintendo is telling us that they haven't learned anything from the Wii (or that they aren't concerned with increasing market share). We'll have to see if Microsoft and Sony follow suit, which seems unlikely.
Unrelated - what 40 games are you bringing from your Wii? Not that great games don't exist on Wii, but 40 has to be an exaggeration."
Unrelated - what 40 games are you bringing from your Wii? Not that great games don't exist on Wii, but 40 has to be an exaggeration."
Thursday, September 20, 2012
"The article was edited a bit - I did address this. We've always been able to supplement Wii memory with SD cards, and external harddrives are great, but that's one more thing to buy. And now there's an external harddrive hanging off your system like a tumor.
Some people won't jump on a large enough storage drive to start with and may find themselves juggling around data like we did our memory cards on the Gamecube (which of these has my Timesplitters profile again...?)"
Some people won't jump on a large enough storage drive to start with and may find themselves juggling around data like we did our memory cards on the Gamecube (which of these has my Timesplitters profile again...?)"
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
"Don't get me wrong, Kenneth - it's not that I don't see a potential for the WiiU. I just don't see it as a way for Nintendo to increase market share. Most people who want to play these great third-party titles have an Xbox or PS3. For people like you who haven't but have an interest, the WiiU is perfect. I simply don't see people making the jump to Nintendo from somewhere else."
Monday, September 17, 2012
"I love to hear stories like this. It renews my faith that video games, like other forms of entertainment have evolved to do, can serve a greater purpose than whiling away a few hours.
Thanks for the post!"
Saturday, September 15, 2012
