Kirk Hamilton

Rest In Peace, Dave Brubeck

Today, the world lost one of the greats: Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died at the age of 91. Among his many musical achievements, Brubeck was the man behind the iconic jazz record Time Out, a collection of odd-meter compositions best known for the famous tune “Take Five.” Time Out experimented with song-form, meter,…

Does Far Cry 3 Make A Reference to Dragon Age II‘s Dorkiest Town?

Darktown. It’s long been my favorite area in Dragon Age II, a stupid name that embodies the worst in fantasy game lore-writing. My friends and I have taken to calling it “dorktown,” and I can still quote the codex entry by heart. “The foul miasma known as chokedamp clogs and swells in every corner of…

God Help Me, I Love Assassin’s Creed III‘s Lockpicking Minigame

I’ve picked so many locks in so many video games. In sewers beneath medieval castles, in cyberpunk prisons, in futuristic alleyways and warehouses, in banks and embassies and spaceships. I’ve seen so many video game lockpicking minigames I could spit. I’ve balanced tumblers and teased open locks. I’ve broken thousands of precious lockpicks, which are…

These People Don’t Deserve Their Awesome Video Game Twitter Accounts

Ever wonder what @Mario is up to on Twitter? How about @Sonic? Or maybe @Wario, @MarcusFenix or @MasterChief? You can visit those accounts if you like, but be warned: They’re all pretty awful. You might think that someone lucky enough to have snagged @Link or @PrincessPeach would be goofing it up with all sorts of…

This Game Is Like An iPhone Gears Of War, With Snowballs

‘Tis the season for snowball fights, at least if you’re lucky enough to live in a part of the world that gets below freezing. Grab some friends, put on your snow-pants, ball up some icy white residue from the sidewalk, and let it fly. Video games have a history of great snowball fights, and Uppercut…

Knock Knock. Who’s There? Animatronic T-Rex Costume.

It’s fun enough to walk down the street, but you know what’s probably more fun? Walking down the street in a huge animatronic T-Rex costume, as demonstrated in this video from Roman Atwood Aw, look at the doggies run. This looks to be the same costume we caught at New York Comic-Con, made by KHA…

Yep. McLovin Is In Far Cry 3. Here’s How To Find Him.

It’s cool that Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse is in Far Cry 3, though perhaps funnier that the poor kid is doomed to be called “McLovin” for the rest of his life. I mean I still call Sean William Scott “Stifler” even all these years later. (Side note: Did you know that Stifler’s insult for Finch in…

The Perilous Process Of Reinventing Lara Croft

Lately, it seems everyone’s been talking about Lara Croft. The iconic star of the Tomb Raider franchise is getting a makeover in next year’s Tomb Raider reboot—or rather, a makeunder. The new game is a combination reboot and origin story, focusing on a young Lara’s fight for survival on a terrifying island lousy with hostile…

If Everyone In Metallica Got Killed Fighting Aliens In XCOM

Everyone thinks that Metallica fell from grace, sold out, became corporate shills. But what if they’d gone out a different way? What if they suited up for battle, XCOM style, and went down in a blaze of glory while fighting off chryssalids? Gus Mastrapa, metal-head games writer extraordinare, has imagined this exact scenario, renaming his…

Leigh Alexander went to Toys ‘R Us in NYC and came away with some interesting conclusions about video game retail.

Epic Games President Mike Capps Retires

Epic Games president Mike Capps is stepping down from from his role as company president to take on a more advisory role, he announced today in a blog post on the Epic site. Capps cited his coming baby boy as a primary reason for the move. This is the latest change in what looks to…

Dragonborn Adds Skyrim‘s Toughest Enemy Yet. He’ll Wreck You.

If you’ve hit Skyrim‘s level-cap and are kind of feeling like the game has no challenges left to offer you, the new Dragonborn DLC has something for you: The Ebony Warrior. According to a thread at the Bethesda forums, the Ebony Warrior is an extreme B.A. who tracks you down if you’ve hit level 81.…

Before You Start: Tips For Playing Far Cry 3 The Best Way

Ubisoft’s tropical action game Far Cry 3 comes out today. It’s massive, it’s open-world, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun. And while it ain’t exactly as deep as Skyrim (despite Ubisoft’s hilarious marketing slogan: “Like Skyrim with guns!”), it is big enough to warrant some tips. The game does a good job…

It’s A Desperate Fight For Survival In The Opening Hours Of Tomb Raider

You’re a young woman, crash-landed on an uncharted island in the south pacific. You’re wounded, it’s pouring rain; there are wolves everywhere. Your shipmates are scattered to the wind, and you’re starving to death. There are scores of people already inhabiting the island, evil men who are hunting you and your friends for some unknown,…

This Insanely Intense Mod Makes Skyrim Denser, Tougher, And More Old-School

Are you a fan of hardcore old-school computer role-playing games? Did you feel that Skyrim was oversimplified, dumbed down, and not intense enough? Well, have I got the mod for you. It’s called “Requiem: The Oldschool Roleplaying Overhaul”, and from the sound of it, it is INTENSE, baby. It was crafted by Skyrim Nexus user…

Why Ubisoft’s Two Big Holiday Games Are Better On PC (Hint: It’s Not Uplay)

The last couple of weeks have given us two of the biggest games of the fall, both from Ubisoft. Assassin’s Creed III continues the historically focused swashbuckling adventure series, and Far Cry 3 lets players loose on a violent South Pacific island paradise. Both games feature the number “3” and both games have a second…

A More Immersive Way To Run Around Assassin’s Creed III

I love open-world games, and I’m always looking for ways to change up how they look and feel, to pull myself into the world more fully. I have a whole involved way of playing GTA IV that involves killing the HUD and pulling in the camera. I love how it draws me into Liberty City.…

What Does A Marine Think Of Spec Ops: The Line‘s Criticism of War?

It’s coming up on the end of the year, which means it’s time to start looking back. And amid the Kickstarter campaigns and DRM-debates that kept 2012 so interesting, one game keeps coming back up: The brutal Spec Ops: The Line. It was a clever game that despite its hum-drum 3rd person shooter trappings was…

The Hard-Luck Story Of A Cat Who Wanted To Be A DJ

In honor of Tina, who is on vacation today, I will post this video in the off-topic slot. What is it? Why, it is a “trailer” for a “movie” called 8 to Go, which is about a cat who wants to be a DJ. Because he wants to do a show with Deadmaus. Because he…

Save Me From Assassin’s Creed III‘s Nightmarish Hell-Children

The Assassin’s Creed series has always been full of weird ambient dialogue. People on the street mutter the same few lines, and the mix never sounds quite right. Most of us have less-than-fond memories of the “Mah-ney mah-ney mah-ney!!” guy from earlier games in the series, and those accursed bums who bump and bug us…