Persona 4's one of my all-time favorite games. This really bums me out.
Kotaku Core readers will see previews, reviews, trailers and all the stuff that will keep them informed about which games to play and which to avoid.
Is there a way to filter that stuff out? That's the most boring part of Kotaku. Not reviews, necessarily, but I'd much rather see the site's original content than posts with a trailer and a brief, sardonic piece about the content of it.
It's sad that it had to come to this. Ars' Ben Kuchera pointed out that this feels like the Wire's Hamsterdam experiment, but for Kotaku commenters. I'm inclined to agree.
Agreed. I've said time and again that gamers suck.
I dunno. I love me some pinball, and love playing on actual tables whenever I get the chance, as I think it's a pretty awesome piece of gaming history, but I'm not sure I'd call it a sport. Not really sure it matters, though. Pinball's awesome.
Milk and Pepsi, Laverne and Shirley-style. Gross, but not unheard of.
Yes, I understand Catcher, and it's a fine book- it's just vastly overrated by wangsty high-schoolers that want to mope around and think that Holden embodies their personal struggle. And it frustrates me when those same kids directly compare it to Gatsby, and call the Great Gatsby crap.
Catcher's a vastly overrated book beloved by teenagers. The Great Gatsby is probably the defining example of contemporary American literature.
Man, you missed out. Brotherhood was even better than 2.
An Idiot Abroad (originally on UK's Sky HD, currently airing in America on the Science Channel) is a brilliant, brilliant show. Hunt it down and watch it.
It's not that they're trying something new, that's fine. It's the premise and setting that I find really offensive, and a lot of that stems from the fact that I have zero faith that they will treat the setting and the massive amounts of bloodshed they're couching this new game in with any respect.
Note: I'm one of about three people in the world that loved the very first Call of Juarez. Never played Bound in Blood.
Honestly, I'm pretty disgusted by this game's concept, and have little-to-no faith that it will be good. The actual violence on the border caused by drug cartels overpowering the Mexican military and slaughtering civilians wholesale is an extremely grim topic, and an especially grim setting for a videogame. While I think that, say, Rockstar could potentially pull off a game in that setting, that treats the current situation there appropriately, with respect toward the actual violence decimating the population, I don't see Ubisoft's Call of Juarez team doing that.
"The game will bring the best elements of the Wild West into modern times with a very gritty and relevant plot."
No, I really don't think it will. I think it will be terrible, offensive, and crass.
Honestly, I'm pretty disgusted by this game's concept, and have little-to-no faith that it will be good. The actual violence on the border caused by drug cartels overpowering the Mexican military and slaughtering civilians wholesale is an extremely grim topic, and an especially grim setting for a videogame. While I think that, say, Rockstar could potentially pull off a game in that setting, that treats the current situation there appropriately, with respect toward the actual violence decimating the population, I don't see Ubisoft's Call of Juarez team doing that.
"The game will bring the best elements of the Wild West into modern times with a very gritty and relevant plot."
No, I really don't think it will. I think it will be terrible, offensive, and crass.
@JCDenton: You should read my... emphatic thread I made regarding that trailer elsewhere in this post.
[kotaku.com]
[kotaku.com]
@dmcshinobi: It was that and Assassin's Creed 1 for me. I just waxed poetic about that game's trailer in another thread. Man, what a good game, and good pre-release stuff.
@Mr.Wake: Yeah, the series is one of my current favorite IPs in gaming, and I love it to death. And the Brotherhood one was a pretty good trailer. But that Lonely Soul video came out in spring of 07, and had me more excited for the first game than any other game on the horizon, except for maybe GTA4. It showed actual in-engine movement and combat for the first time, and it was all so goddamned fresh and new and exciting, and it made a huge impact on me. Hearing a contemporary song set to footage of that remarkably fresh setting- an open-world Crusade game? With novel movement and combat? I was hooked on it. The music was so weird at first, super-anachronistic. No one knew at the time that the game was going to have the crazy sci-fi bent that it does, but that trailer... Man. If you can't tell, I fucking love that trailer. And Assassin's Creed.
Also, this is a fucking GREAT trailer. One of my favorite ones ever.
Rockstar released 4 or 5 cinematic trailers before GTA4 launched. I watched each of those dozens of times.
I'm currently hammering away at Dead Space 1 so I can open this wrapped copy of DS2 I have here, and there's a text log that pretty explicitly states how Unitology works.
"Unitology boasts a following of millions, counts powerful CEOs and officials in the ranks, claims $78 billion of stock in multiglobal companies, and owns two of Earth's largest financial institutions (GSPG Financial and Unitas Energy Investments). From its beginnings as a cult of personality, Unitology has become a respected, established religion. Most people know the basics. Two hundred years ago Michael Altman, a professor of anthropology, blew the whistle on what he claimed was the biggest cover-up ever instituted by Earth Government- the discovery of an artifact, or "Marker", which proved beyond any doubt there is alien life in the Universe. The Government labelled Altman a kook, but his claims struck a chord with some, and his mysterious death soon afterwards fueled that interest."
That's all well and good. It then talks about what they believe about eternal life, in pretty nebulous terms. Then this:
"But, like any cult, there's a dark side. Unitologists are "ranked" in the Church. Nobody ever talks about it, but most of its critics believe there are at least three ranks above the average believer, or "Initiate." With each new rank, more of the Church's inner workings and research is revealed to a follower. And these ranks are achieved by one simple criteria- giving money and power to the Church."
Sounds pretty much exactly like Scientology.
"Unitology boasts a following of millions, counts powerful CEOs and officials in the ranks, claims $78 billion of stock in multiglobal companies, and owns two of Earth's largest financial institutions (GSPG Financial and Unitas Energy Investments). From its beginnings as a cult of personality, Unitology has become a respected, established religion. Most people know the basics. Two hundred years ago Michael Altman, a professor of anthropology, blew the whistle on what he claimed was the biggest cover-up ever instituted by Earth Government- the discovery of an artifact, or "Marker", which proved beyond any doubt there is alien life in the Universe. The Government labelled Altman a kook, but his claims struck a chord with some, and his mysterious death soon afterwards fueled that interest."
That's all well and good. It then talks about what they believe about eternal life, in pretty nebulous terms. Then this:
"But, like any cult, there's a dark side. Unitologists are "ranked" in the Church. Nobody ever talks about it, but most of its critics believe there are at least three ranks above the average believer, or "Initiate." With each new rank, more of the Church's inner workings and research is revealed to a follower. And these ranks are achieved by one simple criteria- giving money and power to the Church."
Sounds pretty much exactly like Scientology.
@Scazza: Hey, yeah, join KITES.
@Sinfwho: It's an online-only release in the States. I think there's one website that's gonna have hard copies, but go with iTunes.
Talib Kweli's new album, Gutter Rainbows. Good stuff.
