I cleared a huge hurdle. I managed to produce a second episode of my video-game-culture webshow, One Million Hit Points. Actually, this is the premiere since the last one (with the senior citizens playing Wii Sports bowling) was technically the pilot. I’m confident that episode one is at least seven times better than episode zero. Wait….
Read more >>I have to admit that I haven't played Pokemon since Red/Blue on the original Game Boy, but I do have experience with franchises that refuse to change with the times.
Pokemon means a lot of things to different people. For those of us who broke into the RPG genre playing Pokemon, we're always looking for more. Perhaps it's time for a change.
The Pokemon franchise has been going strong for close to 15 years, and in that time, has never dipped in popularity -- despite the fact that the intellectual property was marked as nothing more than a shiny marketing ploy. From the fires of the first Pokemon titles, consumers have seen card games, television shows, toys of various sizes, and even pocket-monster-shaped food.
I wholeheartedly believe that the franchise is due for some changes in order to stay fresh and survive.
Read more >>I support the trend of open-world first-person shooters. In fact, I just plain like it when games take risks and incorporate aspects from different genres. So for that reason, Far Cry 3 is definitely on my list of intriguing holiday releases.
From awe-inspiring graphics that blur the lines between real and virtual to a psychotic new villain named Vaas, Far Cry 3 is shaping up to deliver an experience that might shake the very core of the first-person-shooter world.
When you look at typical FPS experiences, they are glorified Michael Bay movies with over-the-top, end-of-the-world storylines. They have steered clear from realism in favor of a linear, in-your-face focus with characters you couldn't care less about.
The fuel for Far Cry 3 is its new hero, Jason Brody, a modern man you can actually relate to. He's grown up in our technology-driven world. You, playing as Brody, have washed up on a mysterious island that is hiding a dark secret, your boat has been destroyed, and your girlfriend is missing. Even worse, everyone on the island is insane. This lush and seemingly serene location is brutal and lawless.
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Warning: The following contains major and minor spoilers for Resident Evil: Damnation.
Resident Evil: Damnation is extremely faithful to the famed survival-horror franchise. And that’s the problem: It’s too similar. And the reflection in the mirror isn’t very flattering.
The movie’s slavish devotion to the games manifests itself in cringe-worthy dialogue, contrived situations, and characters that behave like teenagers in a slasher flick. This is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Resident Evil.
Ever since #4, Resident Evil has slowly morphed from a campy throwback to classic horror films into a formulaic third-person shooter, more akin to Gears of War than Alone in the Dark.
Read more >>Get ready for the Halloween season with these five recommendations. Do you have any favorite horror games missing from this list?
So we now have about a week and a half to go until Halloween, and if you’re a fan of horror games, chances are that you will be spending a lot of your time on the couch or at the computer, with the lights off and volume cranked up, playing some of your favorites.
Gamers have to be thankful for the fair amount of contributions to the horror genre available to them, but of course, like everything else, a few of those titles always manage to stand out from the rest due to their originality and innovation. Even those that are years -- even decades -- old still manage to just plain scare the living Hell out of us.
So, if you’re one of those longtime horror fans or if you’re looking to try your hand at the genre for the fist time, here’s a short list of 5 games that are most commonly considered among the best and why you should play them.
Read more >>I think the repetitive structure of The Legend of Zelda series is actually characteristic of Nintendo's design philosophy. Most of its beloved franchises are built on simple protagonists and backstories. After all, how many times has Link saved Zelda, Mario saved Princess Peach, and Samus run out of a self-destructing zone?
Before you roll your eyes at me, thinking that I’m going to bash Nintendo’s acclaimed franchise, I want to make it clear; I’ve been a fan of The Legend of Zelda since the original Nintendo Entertainment System release. I had the gold cartridge, the instruction booklet with the flip-out-map poster. you name it.
But here I am today, more than 20 years later, about to challenge the almighty Nintendo -- and its most loyal Zelda fans.
I can’t help but feel that Zelda needs to move on. Like Bitmob staffer Jasmine Rea stated in her recent Resident Evil article, I think it’s time for a reboot.
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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page. This week, we express frustration at Syndicate, wage war on the ending of 999, tell a silent story in Kairo, and explain why multiplayer doesn't always work. Read on!
My biggest gaming disappointment of 2012, or: How Starbreeze Studios broke my little black heart
By Javy Gwaltney
Based on his time with developer Starbreeze's prior projects The Darkness and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Javy expected to adore Syndicate. That...didn't happen. Javy explains why, and why he feels his complaints went unheard.
My war against the ending of 999
By Nathaniel Ray
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a Japanese adventure game with a really long title. Apparently, it also has a hell of a twist ending, one that Nathaniel feels didn't fit the rest of the game. "I'm no professional game writer, of course," he writes, "but I do take issue when a writer creates a plot point that isn't supported with his previous writing."
Telling a story with no words: An interview with Richard Perrin, creator of Kairo
By Rory McCarty
Haven't heard of Kairo? Neither had I. But after reading Rory's interview with the man behind the game, I'm pretty curious. If you're into the indie adventure-puzzle genre, you'll want to read up on the designer's interesting philosophy.
Multiplayer doesn't work in every game genre
By Alexander Kraus
Seems like single-player-only titles are getting rarer and rarer, as publishers try to shoehorn in unnecessary multiplayer modes. Alexander's had enough of that. He writes: "Stapling some network code to games that were primarily single-player tend to harm both campaigns instead of enhance both experiences."
Read more >>If Sony developed an Android-based smartphone that doubled as a true handheld gaming device, I would get it immediately. Heck, I’d even stand in line for one on launch day. You hear that, Sony?
PlayStation Vita should be a phone. After all, we now have the ability to provide the same visual quality on a device meant primarily for calling people, and the Sony Xperia Play smartphone and PSP Go have both given good blueprints of how buttons could be added to a device without compromising its other functions.
So why didn’t the Vita phone happen? I believe Sony still plans to make it happen. It simply makes too much sense. The realities of the video game industry led to the Vita serving as a necessary steppingstone on the path toward a phone/portable console, however. Let me explain.
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Japanese artist Makaon has a knack for turning unusual items into stunning 3D art.Most recently, Makaon has been using soda and beer cans to make models of popular video game and cartoon characters.
Besides Mario, Makaon also made a fantastic Pikachu and a whole family of first generation Pokémon. None of the figures are for sale, but you can check out the full gallery here.
Just imagine the kind of work that goes into precisely cutting and molding aluminum cans. The Mario pictured above has at least four different products, and if the blue is the Japanese beer Asahi Blue Label, those cans feel indestructible compared to an American beer or soda container.
Read more >>When I question my place in this wacky business, I turn inward. Steven has a more, ahem, comical source of inspiration.
The other night, a friend and colleague, a game writer I admire and follow, considered giving up.
Like Batman turning to Robin saying, "I don't feel like fighting crime tonight."
Ouch, that's my soul you're stepping on.
I labor in obscurity, looking to the horizon as my hero lists respected video game website after respected video game website he's written for, and then says, "What's the point?"
"What's the point??"
I would kill (not actually) to have written the thoughtful pieces you've written! I'd lie, cheat, and steal (probably not) to be as well-known and highly thought of as this guy, and he considers giving up.
If he doesn't see the point, what chance do I have?
Last month, I asked the community to examine the controls of their games and their effectiveness for the Total Control Bitmob Writing Challenge. Four writers submitted their takes on both classic and modern titles, and all of these pieces made the front page of the website. This is the final prompt I'm hosting for now, so put down your gamepads and check out these great entries.
The perfect controls of Assassins Creed
By Jonathon Oyama
I can’t think of anyone other than myself who has participated in more writing challenges than Jonathon, so it makes sense to start this farewell off with him. While modern action games like Bayonetta feel like you need a cheat sheet to remember all the combos, Assassins Creed’s simple scheme felt just right.
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Once again, it's time to get the spin from our unelected representatives!
Obama vs. Romney -- Fight! Now that almost all of us can watch the presidential debates live on Xbox live, it's our duty as carbon-based lifeforms to do so. Unless you're poor and don't have a Gold membership. Or an internet connection. Or an Xbox. Those people aren't supposed to vote, anyway.
Never mind that their first presidential debate turned out to be a snoozer. We live in a world where Vice President Joe Biden and Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan spent 90 minutes beating each other with rakes. That put us one-all in terms of debates wins so far (Romney: 1, Biden: 1), and that makes tonight's town-hall-format match the official tiebreaker!
So, panel of experts ... what can we expect from tonight's slugfest?
- Isaac Clarke, Dead Space 3
- M. Bison, Street Fighter X Tekken
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