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Have Some Cake, Atlus. Catherine Sold Quite Well.
We get game news in some pretty strange ways. Today, Atlus USA’s twitter feed posted a picture of a cake, upon which was the news that their groovy/odd sex-puzzler Catherine sold 200,000 copies in its first week. So while that number is unconfirmed, it seems worth taking Atlus at their word. Or taking them at…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 4, 2011 -
The Most Mythologically Epic Pile-Drive in the History of YouTube
There are fan videos, and there are fan videos. And then there’s “The Ballad of Mike Haggar.” Posted by YouTube user Hortyort (whose real name is Glorbus Finn), the video shares an epic poem recounting the journey of Final Fight‘s ass-kicking mayor as he fights his way to the end of the the game and……
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 3, 2011 -
The Video Game That Got Jazz so, so Right
For some reason or other, jazz soundtracks are a rarity among video games. Plenty of games feature heroic chiptune anthems, Hollywoodesque orchestral scores, and evocative sci-fi themes, but jazz, one of America’s oldest art forms, remains surprisingly underrepresented. Though they may be few and far between, there are a handful of games that have used…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 3, 2011 -
An Argument For Video Games That Don’t Waste Our Time
In a very real way, games play us. We may hold the controller, but often it feels as though the games—through their systems, design, and pacing—hold most of the cards. And as game developers cotton to the specific design elements that compel us to play (and keep playing), many of them are reaping financial gains…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 3, 2011 -
The Many Faces of Commander Shepard, Kickass Space-Lady
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about the process by which BioWare is choosing an official female Commander Shepard for Mass Effect. In this piece, I went on a flight of fancy about an imagined commercial that would feature a constantly shifting montage of various Shepards, highlighting the customizability that makes Mass Effect so cool. As…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 2, 2011 -
Why Would Anyone Watch YouTube Videos of Leaked Gears 3 Footage?
It’s something I’ve wondered about. When a game like Gears of War 3 is leaked ahead of its release date, I can understand wanting to play it, but why on earth would someone go out of his or her way to spoil themselves by watching videos of it on YouTube? In a lengthy interview with…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 2, 2011 -
Fans Picked the Blonde in a Controversial Video Game Beauty Contest, But That’s Not a Bad Thing
Commander Shepard, the hero of the popular Sci-Fi franchise Mass Effect, can be a man or a woman; the player chooses. That kind of customization is one of the most appealing aspects of the series, which is preparing to launch its third installment in early 2012. Since the series debuted in 2007, Mass Effect‘s boxart…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 1, 2011
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