posts by christian
christian

Second verse same as the first?

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So hey, Peter Moore is leaving Microsoft for Electronic Arts. When have we seen this before? Dreamcast gamers will remember when the chump left Sega in the days of the console’s waning to go to MS, and that he was influential in the canceling of Shenmue 2 in favor of an Xbox port.

I remember reading a very angry IGN forum post years ago, in which an avid Sega fan went over all the stupid things that Moore was responsible for. While I don’t remember any of it, I do remember it being convincing enough to give me a permanently sour taste for the man. During his time with MS friends would try to convince me that Moore was actually a pretty good industry power, but even as he slapped crazy tattoos on his arm he still bugged the shit out of me. →  Katamari Damaread

A plea

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Yes, a bit of a plea in this semi-E3 season, which will quickly lead into the pre-holiday hype season. To all internet dwelling gamers and game journalists:

1) Please do not use the term SKU anymore. You aren’t retail managers or inventory workers. Did the words “Model” and “version” go stale or something? Or are you just trying to sound smart about an area of the industry you don’t know?

2) Please stop analyzing teaser trailers of games. You’ll get them in your hands sooner or later. Weren’t you all telling me that GTA was great for its sandbox gameplay? And now you’re analyzing every bit and piece of the new one to find out about the story and characters? Have we all just become bipolar or something? →  Read like G did.

Some more Gears to Grind

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So despite my bickering about a page in a game manual, Gears of War ain’t too shabby. Not mind numbingly, ballistically good, but if that was a requirement for every game what would we play? I have a couple thoughts about it though; maybe you would like to hear them.

– Greg Kasavin of Gamespot said some video clip I watched about Resident Evil 4 that it was an experience he expected not to see until the next generation. Now the next gen is the current gen, and it seems that RE4 certainly set the tone for the experiences we would see. Gears of War is very much in the same vein as Resident Evil 4, and not simply because they share the same perspective. →  Read, you fools!

What happened to competition? From arcades to gamerscores

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Remember high scores. You don’t see them around very much, though they still pop up in some of my favorite new games. But why exactly did they begin to disappear? We generally hear explanations involving the rise of story based games and other such nonsense, but when three of the most popular games of the decade are Halo, Madden and World of Warcraft, it is tough to accept this as an era of Single Player. There must be another reason.

Before we look for that reason, we should start from the beginning and look at the nature of the high score. There were surely hacks and exploits available in some classic games (as any Street Fighter fan will know), but I would like to think they weren’t commonplace, and that more often than not the list of high scores in an arcade cabinet was the honest work of skilled players. →  You reading at me?

What Call of Duty has taught me about the Wii

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I’m just about willing to say that Call of Duty 3 is the most important game on the Wii right now. I couldn’t even finish it, yet it showed me a lot about the console that I never thought about before (or simply disregarded as false).

For instance, we’ve all heard the complaints from lazy gamers who are afraid of being active when playing the Wii, thinking they will get tired after only a few short minutes. Even before launch this was often mocked, and once people started playing, it seemed even sillier. But it isn’t silly at all. True, most games will not tire you out – even Wii Sports won’t unless you play it like a workout. In fact I’d say the Wii makes things much less tiring by allowing you to hold the controller in a variety of positions. →  Mrs. Article, you’re trying to seduce me.

Rwise fwum my gwave!

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Hi folks, its me again. I know I’ve been absent for a little while (a week’s time on the ‘net is an eternity), but I’m posting to let you know I haven’t left. Last week I started an adventure that had me going to Maryland and looking for work.

Suffice to say it worked, and come 2-3 weeks from now I’ll have a place to stay and a full time job (the latter of which is already taken care of). Once that’s over, expect me to return with plenty of articles harassing the industry, myself, and you.

PS – I beat Gears of War. It got better as it went along!

Retail Woes

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In this post, I must air some grievances I have with certain retail companies. Someone call me a waaaaambulance, because I might need it.

– Why does Blockbuster suck so much when it comes to game rentals? Every store I’ve encountered always seems to be cleaned out of its new, and even 2-3 month old releases. It took me a good month or more to find God of War 2, and at a trip to my brother’s home, we couldn’t find any Wii games aside from the absolute dregs of the licensed pit. We couldn’t even try Chicken Little out if we wanted to.

The reason I find their game shortages so odd is that I can always find the same games without trouble at Hollywood Video, and for a few dollars cheaper on the rental. →  Mrs. Article, you’re trying to seduce me.

Pollen Sonata

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Pollen Sonata is an indie game project that one day hopes to get released on the Wii. For now, they simply have a gameplay trailer, background info and a tech demo (Half Life 2 and Steam required).

According to the website, the goal of Pollen Sonata is to “create a game that gives the player a unique experience that feels like a fresh breath of air from current games in the market. We are striving for innovation in gameplay and story. The feeling and mood of the game is [sic] poetic and serene, unfolding like a beautiful piece of music.” This seems to be the case when watching the trailer, which shows a charming background story, calming music and colorful visuals. →  Video games are bad for you? That’s what they said about huffing paint.

Twinkle Star Sprites

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A random Gametap update hit this Tuesday. I hit the list to see what they could have possibly put out on a non-update day.

What’s this? Twinkle Star Sprites? Twinkle Star Sprites?

Twinkle Star Sprites? Hooray!!

Wait a minute, why is it that I’m so excited about Twinkle Star Sprites? I have absolutely no clue. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it being mentioned a million times on various game sites and forums whenever the Neo Geo comes up. Somehow the name became ingrained in my mind, as if it was done by a secret government project and I’m the next Manchurian Candidate. I’m afraid if I don’t play it (or maybe if I do play it), I’m going to start sleepwalking and find myself as a presidential candidate in four months. →  Knock knock. Who’s there? This article.

Is your ego satisfied?

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I played DDR this weekend. My first DDR’ing in almost two years. My brother wanted to see me “in action”, the way I was in a darker part of my life, and I had to oblige.

The version was Supernova. New to me, but it all worked the same. Same Playstation-esque graphics. Same annoying announcer. Same high quality pad that still feels kind of innacurate at times.

And an absolute truckload of songs. A few I’ve seen before, many I haven’t. With just three songs at my disposal and an embarrassingly quiet arcade around me, I couldn’t cycle through them all. I don’t think I would have if I had the chance. It is one thing to have a lot of content. →  And so it games…