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One Way Video Games Are Like Prison
Over at Grantland, the occasionally notorious but always thoughtful writer Tom Bissell has weighed in on The Witcher 2. He is… not impressed. In fact, after 6 hours with the game, he decided he’d seen enough. “What?” you may blurt, spitting gravy flecks all over your laptop keyboard. “Six hours?? That’s not nearly enough time…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012 -
Why Do Boss Fights Even Exist?
For this week’s Burning Questions, Kirk and Jason talk about one of the oldest traditions in video games: boss fights. Why do they exist? How do they reflect real life? Are they relics of a bygone era? What games shouldn’t have had them at all? My goodness! Those sure are some… Burning Questions Kirk: Why…
Kirk Hamilton & Jason Schreier Published May 2, 2012 -
Yet Another Game Developer Claims Used Games Kill Innovation
Rumors continue to swirl about the next iterations of the PlayStation and Xbox consoles. With nearly nothing actively confirmed by either Sony or Microsoft, one of the most popular recurring threads is that the consoles will in some way block the owners’ ability to play secondhand, used copies of physical games. Players and consumers tend…
By Kate Cox Published May 2, 2012 -
Satoru Iwata’s Wii U Launch Hype Is Refreshingly Realistic
Sometimes console makers like to promise the world for their new gaming systems, making lofty claims about how awesome their launch lineups will be. Those claims are never true. So it’s nice to see Nintendo president Satoru Iwata spitting some truth at a recent Nintendo investor Q&A, saying that while the company has certainly learned…
By Jason Schreier Published May 2, 2012 -
Nearly 1 Million Perfect Games Were Attempted for a Shot at $1 Million
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • Major League Baseball 2K12‘s preliminary round for its $1 Million Perfect Game Challenge is over, ending at midnight Pacific time on May 1. I’m told 2K Sports is still evaluating all of its data and verifying some late perfect games thrown, but it…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2012 -
Dirt Showdown‘s Commentary is the Audio Equivalent of a Smirnoff Ice and a Popped Collar
As a fraternity man, and as a guy whose gamertag is, literally, “dudemanbestbro1,” it pains me to say this but, yes, Dirt Showdown goes a little overboard with its woah-killer-brah commentary. Who the hell did they hire for this, the SAE rush chairman? Seriously, though it’s not in this video, the announcer will call you…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2012 -
The True Story Behind Scott Ratchman, the Little Bastard of Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Every main character needs a good nemesis. Seinfeld has Newman. McBain has Mendoza. And Tiger Woods has Scott Ratchman. Ratchman? Not Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh or some other golfer? Well, no. None of those guys played against Woods in his youth, which forms about half of the “Legacy Challenge” in Tiger Woods PGA Tour…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2012 -
Black Ops II Multiplayer Will Accomodate Great Players and Those of Us Who Suck
The people who are making the next Call of Duty will barely tell us anything about the new game’s multiplayer. Oliver North won’t, either But Mark Lamia, the head of the studio Treyarch that is making the game, says this in a press release heralding the new game today: “And in multiplayer, we’re embracing all…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 2, 2012 -
No Half-Life 3 At This Year’s E3
No new Portal or Left 4 Dead announcements either. Valve is attending the annual games conference, but won’t be showing any new games, the company confirmed today. [Valvetime, via Joystiq] Click here to visit our Half-Life 2: Episode Three timeline!
By Jason Schreier Published May 2, 2012 -
Microsoft Cancels “Inside Xbox” Video Series
In a post on his Major Nelson blog, Xbox Live’s Larry Hyrb announced that Inside Xbox—the internally-produced video show that delivered game news and previews directly to Xbox 360 owners over Xbox Live—will be ceasing production in the United States. That means that other English-speaking territories like Canada, Australia and New Zealand will no longer…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 2, 2012 -
The World Deserves A Perfect Strangers Video Game. Now, It Has One.
The wind and haze I’m bound for better days. It’s my life and my dream, Nothing’s gonna stop me now! You hear that, world? Nothing’s gonna stop me now! I think that Perfect Strangers‘ theme song embodies so many of the best things about people, a celebration of can-do spirit and optimism. It’s the kind…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 2, 2012 -
Dynamite Jack Might Be The Loudest Stealth Game Ever
Most games concerned with keeping their heroes undetected create a reliance on a few familiar mechanics. Sticking to shadows, staying out of sight and keeping quiet have staple stealth mechanics for as long as the genre’s been around. And Dynamite Jack uses all of those. But, given that the only weapon that the titular hero…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 2, 2012 -
The Spectacular Live Debut of Nvidia’s $999 Dual-GPU Video Card
Nvidia president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang took this stage this weekend at the GeForce LAN Shanghai to introduce the GeForce GTX 690, a dual-GPU monster designed from the ground up to be the most powerful video card in history. Are your nipples hard too? What, it’s a ridiculously powerful graphics card. When the news first…
By Mike Fahey Published May 2, 2012 -
2D Fighter Skullgirls Coming to PC
The game, recently launched on PSN and Xbox Live, will be available for digital purchase later in 2012. The PC version includes several game updates, which will be added to the console versions in free downloads later this year. [Gamasutra]
By Kate Cox Published May 2, 2012 -
A Nuclear PC Mod for a Post-Apocalyptic World
This gorgeous monstrosity was once an Antec Lanboy Air, which is lovely but hardly capable of surviving a nuclear holocaust. Mod Brothers Podcast host Kyle Van Der Mewre and Mnpctech‘s Bill Owen saw fit to fix that, and fix it they did. Bristling with switches and hoses, swathed in neon green, and fitted with a…
By Mike Fahey Published May 2, 2012 -
This Massive Monster Boss Fight is One of Many Reasons I Adore Tera
Late Sunday night I joined a party of level 37 and higher Tera players to take on Cultists’ Refuge, one of the challenging dungeons in En Masse Entertainment’s newly launched massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. That’s where I met Bhaozurbas, my new best friend. A perilous trek through a gothic cathedral leads players to a teleportal…
By Mike Fahey Published May 2, 2012