Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 6:09 PM
Sun Nov 8
18 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us: tips@kotaku.com
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
Email | AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
Email | AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
Email | AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
@Twanzio: #timschafer
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
this is not a bad thing.
10/21/09
Brutal Legend is a flawed game but nowhere near mediocre. It's creative, legimitely different, and has damn solid gameplay.
The RTS elements are also nowhere near as bad as people say. They're awkward and can be frustrating as hell sometimes, but it's another element to a really solid game.
A game critic I love said that his favorite games of all time are the ones that aren't perfect, but try something different. I'm the same way. #timschafer
10/21/09
I'd say its a little above average, nowhere near the hype level deliverance I expected but meh, its not ass. #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
I do, however, have to admit to loving the "OMG YOU AREN'T LOVING THE GAME I LOVE" people that come out of the woodworks :D #timschafer
10/22/09
10/22/09
Also, it has a fucking awesome soundtrack. #timschafer
10/21/09
I need to get around to opening my copy of Madworld. Also, I hope Valkyria 2 doesn't suck. #timschafer
10/21/09
Is it OK to not be enthused by Chinatown Wars due to the camera placement? I am well aware of the praise -- from both critics and consumers -- that the game has received, but I cannot shake the feeling that the camera would impede my enjoyment of the game.
After all, I am the type of person who bought Twilight Princess for the GameCube specifically for the camera control even though I ended up playing it on my Wii.
Sorry, fellow DS owners! At least you PSP and iPhone/Touch folks are going to get a fair crack at the game (though I imagine that timed exclusivity was the plan all along due to sales figures for LCS and VCS).
(Oh, and I have Lock's Quest, Trauma Center, all three Castlevania's, SIE, TWEWY, and DQH: Rocket Slime. Is my gamer cred intact?)
10/21/09
10/21/09
Here's hoping the original comes to XBLA....or Microsoft patches PSRF to fix the slowdown issues (not likely).
And as always, if you ignored Okami at retail, you are the reason why game companies don't let us have nice things. This is fact. #timschafer
10/21/09
Are people who bought the Wii version excused? #timschafer
10/21/09
@potatojenkins: the hardcore gamer crowd didn't actually go all out for Okami either. That's what makes the story so tragic. #timschafer
10/21/09
Looking back, Space Station Silicon Valley, The Last Express, and Okami are the only three I didn't buy. I am deeply regretful of the Armed & Dangerous purchase I must admit... #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
@PossibleCabbage: I did not have a PS2. When Okami was released for the Wii, I bought a copy (new, in the first week or two after release). #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
/._.'\ That Sue must be hongury… #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
Best game ending ever, too! #timschafer
10/21/09
no spoilers, but am i missing out by not finishing it? #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
Because I just checked the specs, and they're for Win9 (Read: DOS) computers… #timschafer
10/22/09
Here;s hoping for Steam rerelease. #timschafer
10/21/09
I just don't get game and music fans. Having more than a few people like the same things that they do causes their sense of self to jettison into the sun. #timschafer
10/21/09
Yeah, that's right. You two both helped popularize music that I once enjoyed having all to myself. : / #timschafer
10/21/09
This music...these 70s bands, these rock stars of old...I love it because I listened to it in my dad's truck when I was 5! I don't really LIKE it, it's just become engrained into my life...but...it's important to me! MINE!
And...and when those people like it...it's like they're...they're taking away daddy's love ;____; #timschafer
10/21/09
I have no clue what you mean?
Taking a crack at:
I love "indie" things for the sake of being "indie"?
Right?
Good games are good games. It matters not if they sell well.
Successful games are not all good games. It matters not if they play well. #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
That's how it is...you feel 'special' loving a niche or hidden game. The thing is, that can turn on a dime.
I personally don't care if a game becomes popular...to me, it's just more people to talk about the game with. But some people NEED to feel special, they NEED the 'exclusive club' pass of Beyond Good and Evil, Okami or insert whatever Schafer game.
The "I was there first or I was into it BEFORE it got cool" mentality... #timschafer
10/21/09
It's like how popcorn chicken wasn't all that big until a few years ago. But I didn't stop eating it just because it got popular. #timschafer
10/21/09
You might like something earnestly while some people get into it BECAUSE it gains popularity, or because they think being into it makes them special.
Example: The Nightmare Before Chrsitmas. I was 3 when it came out. It has been my favorite since. I don't care that other people like it- but god damnit those 12 year olds wearing Jack skellington hot topic merchandise piss me the hell off. :| #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
@Rachel Fogg: Reminds me of this.
www.xkcd.com/460/
10/21/09
But have you ever thought that MAYBE they like it too? It's not always because it's 'trendy'...it's easy for anyone to throw it off and say those 12 year old bastards are wearing what I like.
But you know what....if you were young and they had Jack Skellington merchandise as prominent as they do now. Would you wear it?
We can't be greedy and covet everything that's special to us and deny other people the same feeling if it gives them the same pleasure. It's unfair.
I liked anime WAY before it got popular (y'know before you could buy anime at Target and Walmart...), I go to conventions and see the kids with their parents buying the shit that I would BEG my parents to buy for me at their age. It gets me...I don't deny it but I was that age once long ago and you know what...my dad brought me that Sailor Moon wallscroll and that kick ass Devilman VHS tape (oh Devilman...).
Times change... #timschafer
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
10/21/09
It's a bit like the popularity of the internet, but on a smaller scale. I'm sure most of us tech savvy individuals have been using the web long enough to remember when making profile/social networking pages meant you were a nerd with too much time on their hands to code a page yourself.
As one of those people, I don't really feel a loss at the popularity of the web and that it's become the quintessential place for today's youth to socialize. Now we have so many more tools and functions at our disposal and no longer have to resort to such means to achieve the same results.
Same with games. The bigger they are, the better it is for all of us. Will we see more shovelware and cash ins? Sure. But we'll also see the core titles reap the benefits as well. As I posted above, I own over 1/2 the games on that list, and most of them are lost in obscurity.
It's cool to feel like I'm "in the know" with these smaller titles, but I'd much rather have playable sequels to them than saying, "I know about this game and you didn't! Hah!" #timschafer
10/21/09
And they DID have merchandise, and no, I didn't wear it. The extent of my merchandise is a remake of a special edition Sally doll that pulls apart, fingerless gloves with a stylized jack face sewn right in, and a jack skull cover thingy for my key.
The people who deck themselves out...no. You can just tell. #timschafer
10/21/09
No you can't, not really, they're fans...it's like seeing a kid wearing nothing but Naruto merchandise or the colour blue...doesn't make them any less in love with the show or color then the other guy. Some people just like showing off what they love.
Now I WONT deny that a good percentage of people who might wear the stuff are wearing it because its fashionable...kinda like the Che shirts I see people wearing. And they know jack shit who the guy is...
And yes, you did WEAR something related to the Nightmare series, you said you wore a Jack skull cover thing for your key. That's wearing the merchandise. Whether big or small. It's kinda hypocritical to rage against the young heads for wearing Jack stuff when you wore or possessed something Jack long ago or currently.
Not railing on you or anything, my point is at one time we were ALL introduced or were curious to something we didn't know before. Some people went in softly while other went it full speed ahead. No one was BORN in the know...
That's all. #timschafer
10/21/09
LOL! I figure that was true for alot of folks about the internet.
And I won't deny the sense of liking or knowing something before everyone else did. It's in our nature to strive and discover and when we find something we generally have a small sense of accomplishment or 'teh awesomes'.
That's what's going on with gaming now, everyone is clamoring about the casuals ruining everything when it's not the case entirely...it's opening alot of eyes to the possibilities of games and making them less 'forbidden and ashamed' to people who thought otherwise.
Hell I feel that way about being a girl gamer...I've been gaming most of my life, I don't want to catered to and I have the sense that I'm 'better' then the bejeweled/Iphone girl gamers out there. But in truth, I got my first game on with Pacman...which has had a shit load of clones and successors. The kind of games that girls are playing to an extent.
So...yeah...LOL! ^-^ #timschafer
10/21/09
Never heard it applied to games really. I'm personally never less than tickled when something I enjoy sells well and is enjoyed by many- it bodes well for my collection.
At any rate, keep in mind these are often kids or very young adults we're talking about here with the attitude problem you mentioned. They are at a critical point in which they're beginning to define their place in the world. At the same time they are often too immature (for the most part) to do it in any way other than defining themselves in opposition to others. It'll pass. Most of us go through it in one way or another.
10/15/09
10/16/09
10/15/09
But they don't like RTS games. That doesn't mean they don't like extremely extremely extremely simplified versions. I can't stand shooters but I love Fur Fighters, because it's simpler and easier to pick up. That's what the RTS part of Brutal Legend sounds like, and the rest of the game and concept make that sound just fine to me. #brutallegend
10/15/09
Imagine finding a handful of cherries in your strawberry pie.
Just a small handful.
Some people go 'hey, thats pretty cool actually, it gives it a bit of a different flavour once in a while that I wasn't expecting, tastes pretty good together actually!'.
But then theres others, who justifiably go 'I bought a strawberry pie, dammit, wtf are with these cherries' or 'If I wanted cherries, I would have gotten a cherry pie'.
I can sympathize with those people, the game was clearly marketed as a hack and slash. Instead, it turned out to be open world hack and slash, with minigames and sidequests. With a squad command side game that takes place once in a blue moon when its critically important to the story that a big fucking battle has to take place.
I guess the other option would have been no army control in these battles, and honestly, there would be no multiplayer worth investing time into and the game would be a 'I've played it, I've beaten it, theres no need to get better at it' experience. #brutallegend
10/15/09
10/15/09
10/15/09
10/15/09
Holy crap on a cracker I beat the game on the hardest diff and had no idea of that.
I wondered why I couldn't get the powerslide to work either. Wow. Duhr duhr duhr kayce duhr #brutallegend
10/15/09
This is the first time ever that someone pointed out a sprint function I was unaware of.
Lifechanging. #brutallegend
10/15/09
Not your fault, I had no idea either. There is absolutely no tutorial for the game. I had to go online to figure out how to unbind all the damn serpents, which is actually as easy as just holding down X (360 version). Yeah, it feels like there is such a steep learning curve because you have to figure out everything yourself. Some stuff should be explained. Like, why is there a yellow 'Y' icon whenever you can interact with something, but not a blue 'X' button for the serpents? Or a L3 button while running to sprint? It seems like parts of it were explained just fine, but other parts left players completely in the dark. Thanks a million, Ace, for the tip. #brutallegend
10/15/09
10/15/09
just saying..... #brutallegend
10/15/09
-Gamers
-Manuals
i lol'd #brutallegend
10/15/09
10/15/09
10/15/09