While Sony has made several blunders in the current gen console war one of the biggest was allowing Call of Duty 4 to go multi-platform. The game has become such a runaway success that it could have single-handedly changed the face of the war as we know it. Perhaps equally as big was allowing Grand Theft Auto 4 to go multi-platform. Although the game sold about 45/55%  on the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively, there are rumblings that the next installment in the GTA series may become a Playstation exclusive by default.

Wait, what the hell are you talking about?

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My first video review. More to come.

EDIT: Redid the audio, so it’s 10x better now.

Long ago, there was a web game called Neopets.  It was basically a collection of minigames, combined with Pokemon-like cockfighting.  When I was about 13 or 14, EVERYONE was into it:  Male, female, kids, pederasts… It was a sensation.

If you’re unfamiliar, I’ll give you a quick rundown.  There are a bunch of cute little animals you could adopt in a variety of colours and designs, with whom you can play games (Which are more often than not cutely redecorated clones of Apple IIe 5 1/4in floppy titles reprogrammed in Flash), train at various schools to raise their stats, and of course, have the viciously beat the hell out of each other.

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As a product of an oddly eclectic Christian upbringing, I’ve encountered quite a bit of radical stuff during my Sunday school classes.  One of the things I’ve always had problems with, however, is the principle of turning the other cheek.

Not that it made  sense to me at the time. For me, not retaliating was the ultimate excuse for being a doormat. Turn the other cheek? Yeah, right. I’d rather do the eye for an eye thingy–even in an MMORPG. (continue reading…)

Bioshock, now infamous amongst gamers of all seasoning, shook the industry by proving singleplayer gaming was NOT dead. It proved Co-op was not necessary to be interesting, that multiplayer modes were not mandatory in an FPS, and that stupid plot lines and outrageous characters would not feel out of place in a serious tone. For lots of reasons, Bioshock was a great game, but for one, it killed the experience for me. Right now, I’m going to warn you, if you have not played the game, I cannot assure you I won’t spoil it. I’m going to talk as if you have finished it, so spoilers potentially start HERE.====================== (continue reading…)

Quest for Glory, the brainchild series of a couple who I assume were wiccan or something, was published by Sierra as part of their Sierra Adventures line. They’re essentially adventure games with RPG elements.  Or maybe RPGs with adventure game elements, it’s hard to say.

The story begins with the main character, the avatar, the Ego as it were, referred to as Devon Aidendale in the official strategy guide, having just graduated from the famous Adventurer’s Correspondence School for (Fighters/Wizards/Thieves).  He sees a bulletin posted that the town of Spielburg needs a hero ASAP, no experience required.  Looking to become a hero, he sets off on a quest which will eventually send him on a journey all over the world, righting wrongs, slaying beasts, and possibly robbing the houses of some innocent folk.

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I’ve been playing MMORPGs for a long time. I started the year Everquest came out, and save for the occassional break between games, I’ve pretty much always been active on one or another.

In all of these years, I’ve never once hit the level cap.

Oh sure, I came close on World of Warcraft (67 priest I think) and I often wonder why I’ve never once accomplished this dubious honor. Well, after much meditation on this subject (minutes and minutes, in fact) I think I came to the conclusion. Instead of blaming my own resolve, I think I’ll do instead what comes instinctively to humans as a species: I’ll blame someone else. MMORPG developers, all of you, pull the old bait and switch on your consumers. At first you mask grinding with quests and other shit but by the time you’re painfully close to the level cap all pretext of distraction is removed. Fuck you, you’re grinding. I suspect the reason they do this is because they reason they already have you paying, and you’re already that close, so you’ll surely endure those last few levels of pain because the glory of a maxed character is forever.
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Everybody is dead. Your family, neighbors, and co workers are gone forever. All you have left is your gun and three other survivors to fight for survival in the endless horde of zombies and the best part is; it is fun. Left 4 Dead, the newest game from Valve, puts you and three friends in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and makes you rely on each other to survive. The attributes that makes the game what it is, is the AI and music “director” who control where the zombies are, how many there are, what kind of zombie are spawned and what kind of music and sound effects each player will hear.

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What is this you ask? This is Crayon Physics. You’ve probably played games that involved physics before, but like this? I think not. Crayon Physics (not a really smooth name), takes a normal physics game and add a nice childish twist onto it, and I’m absolutely fond of it.

In another article I stated that my personal game of the year was World of Goo, and there’s a reason for that, I’m a sucker for games involving thinking and physics, and those are the two things that CP Crayon Physics have a lot of. If you go into this game doing random stuff then you’ll find yourself lost and probably frustrated. The reason being is now you have the freedom to do whatever the hell you want with your situation. You wanna draw a penis bridge? Do it, you can draw anything you want as long as it doesn’t exceed the amount of lines you are allowed to have in the game, and that amount is pretty high.

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Sometime ago, there was this fast pace game with absolutely no need for story and the game was just pure action – you jump in, kick ass, and come back another time. It was the time for Quake III, this frag fest was all about the game play and action, and it still is with a new incarnation – Quake Live. Quake III was one of my favorite games of all times and getting into the Quake Live beta, I creamed my pants. But the closed beta is over, and the game is in open beta to all the public to play and for free.
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