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Do We Need Fair Trade Games?
Red Dead Redemption came out last week and while I know I’m going to buy it, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat hesitant to do so. It seems the controversy is now mostly forgotten, but in January, the spouses of a number of Rockstar San Diego developers penned an open letter decrying…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 25, 2010 -
Anticipation
It starts with the preorder. After reading about the concept, seeing some screenshots, and watching the gameplay video, I know I want this game. I will pay the $60 and it will be glorious. Then I stop thinking about it. Oh I might read a developer interview, or make sure the release date hasn’t changed,…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 24, 2010 -
How Jon Favreau Gets Ready to Shoot
As seen on Jon Favreau’s Twitter
By Lauren Orsini Published May 24, 2010 -
5 Crazy Controllers That Never Should Have Seen the Light of Day
This article is reprinted with the permission of Bitmob.com Since the advent of the NES gamepad, console controller design has stayed pretty static. Sure, buttons have proliferated, analog sticks have been added, and even a bit of waggle incorporated here and there, but the tried-and-true gamepad remains the de-facto means for making Mario jump, Nathan…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 21, 2010 -
The Absurdity of Video Game Speech
On page 141 of Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s (excellent) Expressive Processing, there’s discussion of a citation of from Jesper Juul: Unlike most literary fictions, however, the worlds of many games are, in Juul’s terminology, “incoherent” (which is one of the things that limits Juul’s interest in discussing games in terms of narrative, as opposed to fiction). These…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 21, 2010 -
Guilt and Gaming the Morning After
The sun rises around 6 am and that’s when it starts to come full force. Something about the hazy pink morning light strikes the perfect chord of misery. The mouse in my hand is a palmful of guilt, guilt, guilt, and my fingers clatter on the keys like the legs of a spider. It’s Final…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 20, 2010 -
Fanboy! How an Innocuous Word Turned Abrasive
Technology, in case you hadn’t noticed, is a topic that inspires passion. When people like stuff, they tend to really like it. And many tech enthusiasts have trouble dealing with people whose tastes differ from theirs. Praise a product or company online, and you run the risk of being accused of being a sycophant who…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 20, 2010 -
Mario Music of Golden Proportions
You could say that video game music is becoming much more epic as the years go by. A growing number of MIDI possibilities are at the disposal of game composers, and the number of streaming, fully orchestrated soundtracks is continually increasing. There are those that say newer game soundtracks are less memorable, because soundtracks for…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 19, 2010 -
Game Design as Make-Believe: Participation
Based upon part five of the Mimesis as Make-Believe serial. See part four here When my wife and I played the Resident Evil remake (pictured left) and its sequels in the early 2000s, we did so by pad-passing. My wife would take control during the ominously-quiet exploration sequences, poking in the corners for green herbs…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 19, 2010 -
The Importance Of Writing
It was recently announced that God of War writer Marianne Krawczyk will be lending her talents to the upcoming game Shank. I thought the God of War games were above-average in the video game narrative department and Shank looks like a well-done update to one of my favorite games, Metal Slug. However, instead of making…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 18, 2010 -
Distilled To A Purer Substance
Have you ever played a game where the minigames or secondary goals were more exciting and compelling than the rest of the entire game? It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. Through extensive research (asking my friends), I’ve found that this varies in a highly personal way. I had a friend in high school who…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 18, 2010 -
Bionic Commando, Dark Void Last Straws For Capcom
After not one, but two Western-developed sales blunders, Capcom is planning to stick with its home turf. Capcom’s president, Haruhiro Tsujimoto, tells the Financial Times that the company is giving up on developing new franchise titles in the West after the catastrophic sales of two of its attempts, Bionic Commando and Dark Void. Predicted to…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 17, 2010 -
Score!
Video games. High literature. They have nothing in common. True or False? False. Last August, I wrote about Gaming and Literature, citing the pervasive influence of JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth on fantasy gaming online and off, just for starters. For those who think Tolkien is just genre trash, I hauled out EA’s then-in-development game Dante’s…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 17, 2010 -
Love Monster Hunter 3? You’re Not Alone.
If you’re enjoying a riveting adventure in Monster Hunter 3, don’t keep it to yourself! On Kotaku, you can share your exploits with fellow MH3 fans. How? Just use the #mh3lounge tag and hang with your fellow gamers. And remember, you can create a new tag to discuss any game that’s currently occupying your console…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 15, 2010 -
Top Nine Videogame Reporters and Journalists
Journalists in video games are as diverse and wide ranging as journalists in the real world. Some are action reporters, others prefer to sit down with their subjects and chat. The common thread that ties them all together is their search for the truth. This truth depends on their skills as an observer and actions…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 14, 2010 -
Pokémon’s ‘Smugleaf’: A Meme In The Making
It’s been a couple days since the new starter Pokémon for the upcoming Black/White were leaked in a Japanese magazine, CoroCoro. But already, we may have a new meme. The grass starter Pokémon, whose Japanese name is Tsutaja, has risen above the others and become an overnight internet sensation, inspiring conversation and not a small…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 13, 2010 -
Game Design as Make-Believe: Fictional Worlds
Based upon part four of the Mimesis as Make-Believe serial. When one plays most videogames there is a tacit understanding that one is entering into a fictional world – the term virtual world, is often deployed to mean exactly this. It is self-evident that this also happens when one plays a tabletop role-playing game, the…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 13, 2010 -
Street Fighter Legacy Is Great, But It’s No Bison’s Tuesday
Is Legacy really the best piece of footage based on the illustrious Street Fighter name? Guest writer Sinan Kubba explores. OK, after three straight posts of ranting, it’s time to shower a bit of love. And nothing released last week is more deserving of a love shower than the excellent fan-made production Street Fighter: Legacy.…
By Lauren Orsini Published May 13, 2010
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