The Difference Between Scary and Horror
Comment by: Gouki4u
Nominated by: 天
H.P. Lovecraft famously stated, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the old and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
Games I find creepy place more emphasis on dread of the unknown than jump out scares. Fatal Frame, Penumbra, Silent Hill 2, the mentioned level from Thief: Deadly Shadows, and FEAR (I disagree with the author of this article slightly) top my list.
These games made me dread what I was going to find, and tapped into one of the most basic phobias - fear of the dark.
The tech demo for Penumbra, which featured no monsters at all, was particularly tense for me because light was a resource in that game, and every shadow seemed to hold something unpleasant. I knew as I played that something was terribly wrong, but I didn't know exactly what, and was afraid of what I might find.
I include FEAR on my list because the supernatural frightens me more than the natural, and though the execution might not have been the most sophisticated Alma from that game was unpredictable, and impossible to fight back against. Sure you began to expect her to show up in places, but she made me jump out of my chair in ways nothing from Doom 3 ever could because there was a more oppressive sense of dread.
Obviously milage varies, but I agree with the article's main point. Horror is a sense of forbidding. Too many games (and movies) ruin that suspense by showing the monster too quickly.
Prince Of Persia LEGO Playsets: Chesty Jake Wears A Shirt
Comment by: Jouen
Nominated by: Whizkid103
With a couple of modern Lego pieces you can recreate all the explosive fun of modern day Afghanistan.
Mass Effect 2 Carried Over 700 Plot "Hooks" From Original Game Saves
Comment by: Komrade Kayce
Nominated by: puresewas1de
This is why I told people above all else to have finished the first game before playing the second.
Hell, even the DLC plot aspects carried over... I overheard a report on the planet I saved from the asteroid having a victory celebration in my honour on the anniversary. And I got an email from one of them.
I noticed all this stuff because I had a 100 percent completion Mass Effect 1 savegame... like, every planet, every mineral, every mission completed.
I mean, whether or not you decide to save the council is by far the biggest game changer, but yeah. I totally noticed that there were hundreds of little connections and references directly to stuff my character had done in the first game.
I'm glad its like this though. It means people can't just jump into the second game and high five me for being a Mass Effect player. I can snub my elitist more plot fulfilled nose at them. :P
The Next Wii Will Innovate, Nintendo Would Be "Embarrassed" If It Was Sony, Microsoft
Comment by: Twyst3d
Nominated by: phisheep
I see a lot of people making presumptions about Nintendo's business strategy. So do you have numbers and graphs to back up your opinions? You did market research? Determined the difference between old markets and new. Customer loyalty. All this stuff. And your numbers reach a significantly different conclusion?
Or are you making emotional arguments based on what YOU want instead of what will reach the greatest audience and generate the most profit.
Well allow me to assure you. There are people who work at Nintendo who are smarter than you. And pissing you off was a calculated - and accepted risk.
The pay off? For Christmas, I gave my Wii to my 58 year old neighbor. He absolutely loved the tennis. And one day I realized, the only time I played it anymore was with him. So I figured why not.
And something kind of amazing happened. What was once the quiet apartment I walked by everyday on my way in from work. Became the hip place to hang out. My neighbor has Wii parties almost every day now. One time he insisted I come over while all these strangers were there so he could introduce them to the guy that just gave this thing away.
My one act of kindness, inspired 4 couples, to buy their own system. And Nintendo still made about a grand off me (or maybe I should say their distributors made a grand off me). Not to mention my neighbor is now buying newer games and trying them out.
And worse yet, Im actually thinking of getting a new one cuz Im getting the shakes not having played Smash Brothers in so long.
All in all I dont think they are sweating too hard about a percentage of hard core gamers being whiny little girls about no HD.
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Comment by: doubtful
Nominated by: Kobun
Ever get the feeling Sony just doesn't want us around anymore?
First the Go.
Now the Move.
What next? The Sony GTFO?
Yakuza 3 Players Say A Lot More Was Cut Than Hostess Bars
Comment by: AchromaticMagus
Nominated by: puresewas1de
I think any gamer would be angry about things being cut. And I'm fairly certain a vast majority of people like Yakuza for the game, not the japanese stuff in it. The japanese stuff is just a PART of the game, and a lot of the charm of the game,the removal of which is both unecessary and inexcusable, as well as a big issue- since it takes away from the game as a whole.
The issue isn't "They took away the japanese stuff! Where will I get my fix?!" but rather "They damaged the authenticness of the game world, and in the process damaged the scope and variety of the gameplay itself".
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