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In A Game About Riots, Which Side Do You Pick—Cop Or Rioter?
The world is in no shortage of riots: it was only a matter of time before someone made a game on the subject, right? Enter RIOT, for iOS and Android. According to the game’s Indiegogo page, RIOT is a “detailed and polished simulator based on the actions of real riots happening around the world.” As…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 18, 2013 -
What Happens When You Accuse Someone Of Attempting Date Rape In Guild Wars 2
Just because it’s a video game doesn’t mean scenes won’t play out like they do in real life. In a post over at Keep It Up, a curious role-playing scenario from Guild Wars 2 is detailed: one where a character named Sylvia saw a human male giving a single drink to a female character—only to…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 18, 2013 -
All These Animals Scream Like Humans. It’s Freaky, Man.
I had no idea all these animals could make these sounds. Some aren’t so surprising—goats screaming videos have been floating around the web this week. And some, like the frogs—the frogs!! What the heck!? The screams. So many screams. “Thanks” for the video, CompilarizTV. Okay, that’s a weird send-off to the weekend in this open…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 15, 2013 -
Oh, So THAT’S How Magikarp Became The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Um, I Mean Sinnoh.
Magikarp may be useless, but that doesn’t mean the poor Pokémon-fish can’t be funny. Look no further than the great Magikarp web comics below, which chronicle Magikarp’s misadventures—this one in particular riffs off of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Click for full size. Pretty great, right? The creator—mysterious “Chris S.”—has a whole Tumblr full of…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 15, 2013 -
Another Excuse To Boot Up Skyrim: So You Can Kiss Everyone
Forget about compulsively collecting every useless bauble, or heck, even normal adventuring in Skyrim. That’s not worth going back for. This is. Check out this strange but hilarious mod by rsv_rsv. It gives you the ability to kiss everyone in Skyrim. Well, almost everyone. You can’t kiss creatures, mannequins or corpses—which is bullshit, because I…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 15, 2013 -
It’s Too Bad Epic Games Considers Female Protagonists Tough To Justify In Gears of War [UPDATE]
Because seriously, how badass would a female protagonist be? Recently, OXM published excerpts of an upcoming interview with Epic Game’s Chris Perna where they talked about Gears of War: Judgement and female characters in the Gears universe. It got me thinking. When Gears of War 3 debuted playable female characters, I realized first-hand just how…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 15, 2013 -
If Something Awful Happens, Someone Will Make An Awful Game About It. Chris Dorner Is Just The Latest.
When a tragedy or major event occurs, you can bet on a few key things happening. People will grieve. The newsreel will spin. Twitter will blow up. The Onion will satirize. The blogosphere will write. And of course, thanks to the blessings of accessible game development: someone will make a game. Unfortunately, recent happenings with…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 14, 2013 -
In Defense Of That Aliens: Colonial Marines GIF Everyone Keeps Making Fun Of
By now, if you’ve been keeping up with Aliens: Colonial Marines, you’ve probably come across a certain GIF of an alien waddling through a sewer level. See above. I know, I know. It looks silly, it looks ridiculous. And I’m here to defend that level. The GIF doesn’t inspire confidence in the game, no. Just…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 14, 2013 -
Nintendo Keeps Trying To Be My Mom. It’s Weird, But Maybe More Developers Should Try It, Too.
It’s 4am. I’m lying down in bed, barely holding up my 3DS. By that point, I’ve been playing Fire Emblem: Awakening all night—long enough that I wouldn’t blame anyone for wondering if I’m sharp enough to keep pretending I’m still a competent tactician. But, I don’t care. The game has me wired; it’s that good.…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 14, 2013 -
Pokémon Has A New Eevee Evolution. How Many Eevees Do We Even Need?
That Pokémon above? That’d be Sylveon, the latest and likely most cutesy Eevee evolution to date. It’s debuting in Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, bringing our Eevee evolution options up to eight Pokémon. These include: Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon. That’s a lot of options. I’d like to imagine a future where…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 14, 2013 -
Crysis 3 Makes The End Of The World Look Fantastic
Damn, Crysis 3. You lookin’ gooood. No but seriously though: while the point of the game is to have the protagonist—Prophet—prevent the ‘end of days,’ when the end of the world looks as great as it does in this trailer, would you even want to, really? Can’t we just… marvel at the scenery? No? Well,…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 13, 2013 -
Forget The Most Powerful Characters. Use The Ones You Like.
Don’t let the wallpaper fool you. Underneath every game is an endless matrix of numbers that rule each and every possible action. These numbers dictate everything from how well you can swing your sword to how effectively you can shoot a gun. Numbers don’t lie: some actions are better than others. Some characters are better…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 13, 2013 -
In This Mind-Bending Game, You Fix Other People’s Memories
Imagine a future where memory loss and mental illness could be cured. Sounds a little crazy, right? But that’s the premise behind upcoming adventure game, Ether One. You are what they call a “restorer,” someone who has the ability to enter people’s memories and fix them. A little like To The Moon in that way,…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 13, 2013 -
Maybe Aliens: Colonial Marines Would Have Been Better As A Musical
No, really. Check out this hilarious video by grizzl360 that showcases the incredibly deadly, ultra fearsome alien threat in Aliens: Colonial Marines. I think the The Hello! Ma Baby song makes a strong case for why the AI in the game would have been better suited for a musical, don’t you? Now the question is,…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 12, 2013 -
Soldiers Used Games To Escape From The Hell That Was Afghanistan
“Every soldier needed an escape.” Steven Beynon, a cavalry scout in the Army, said that starkly to me in an interview—but many of us know exactly what he’s talking about. It’s the relief that comes when we kick off our shoes after a long day, grab a controller, and then forget about the world. Just…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 12, 2013 -
The Aliens In Colonial Marines Are So Stupid, You Don’t Even Need To Shoot Them
Last night, my review briefly touched on the disappointing enemy AI in Aliens: Colonial Marines—often, Xenos would run straight at you. According to this video by PCGamesN, it gets worse. You can straight up run through the aliens, who forget about you once you’re far enough (and by “far enough” I mean “once you’re behind…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 12, 2013 -
ReviewsAliens: Colonial Marines: The Kotaku Review
A game based on existing media has three options. It can strive to be faithful to the original work, privileging authenticity above all else. It can try to do its own thing, using the original work as merely a jumping off point for something else. Or, it can try to find a balance between authenticity…
By Patricia Hernandez Published February 12, 2013
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