Category: Articles
In these sandbox times established by the likes of GTA, Carmageddon and Sim City, it seems to me like linearity has become a sin when it comes to game development. Unless you’re making a certain type of game, a linear style of gameplay and story progression seems to have certain fans screaming for blood.
Final Fantasy XIII in particular has had to endure a lot of flack for keeping the first 25 hours of the game strictly linear, while other games that used to be linear like the Prince of Persia series are going for something more akin to a sandbox title.
I’ve always upheld that linearity is far from a bad thing. I grew up playing linear games and some of my favourite games of all time are completely linear. So I ask you
- Why is linearity considered such a pet peeve of certain gamers?
- Is a sandbox title inherently better than a level based, linear game?
Easily one of the best part about having friends or coworkers who are also die hard gamers like yourself, is the fact that you can talk to this person about how the developers don’t know what they’re doing, how you would’ve done such and such game better, and ultimately, “back in my day…”
Personally, “back in my day” is the best part of any gaming-related conversation. Mainly for the sake of bringing back fond memories, but also because I always manage to realize something that I never noticed before as a kid, or simply couldn’t figure out.
Case in point: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Casino Night Zone. I spent years trying to get past that block that you simply couldn’t jump over. If you’ve played Sonic 2, you know what I’m talking about. I ended up giving up on the game completely, and declared it broken and unbeatable. Then, just two years ago, I learned while talking to a friend that you actually have to press down on your D-pad, as the platform you’re standing on is actually an elevator.
Silly realizations like this are one of the many reasons it’s always a good idea to take a trip down memory lane. Today’s trip will take us to the town of DoDonPachi. PEW PEW after the jump.
In some ways this is a follow up to my last Evening Topic where we discussed fanboyism. Everything from films to plays gets reviewed in some form or another and video games are, of course, no exception. But video game reviews have a tendency to stir up a lot of controversy, especially among fans of certain games.
Not only are reviews a source of fanboy rage, there’s also a strange eschewment of the review system in general. Certain sites and publications seem almost too soft on games, rarely giving out anything less than a 6/10 while other sites and publications are deemed too hard, rarely giving out their highest grade. So I ask:
- Do you consider certain sites/magazines’ reviews to be more professional than others’?
- Have you ever read a review you absolutely disagreed with, even if you respected the source of the review?
- How much playtime should go into a review?
- Does a game need to be finished in order to be reviewed properly?
Wow. Just…wow. Found this article over at Geekologie about blind gamer Jordan Verner and three very dedicated people who helped him not only play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but actually beat the game using a script of over 100,000 keystrokes describing in detail the entirety of the game move-by-move.
The Ace Attorney series proved to western shores in 2005 that a game in which you play as a lawyer could be not only fun, but downright awesome at times. Sure it had a tendency to be silly and extremely over the top, but snappy writing and simple and intuitive gameplay made the original game a joy to play. Sequels followed almost yearly, culminating in this year’s instalment: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.
THQ has been able to ship a good 1.2 million copies of Darksiders during the first four weeks after the game’s release.
At least, that’s what THQ told us via a press release. Said article also stated THQ itself has been able to make a good $356.7 million in net sales.
Being a new IP, you could say shipping 1.2 million copies is a pretty decent success for both THQ and developer Vigil Games. Shipping a lot of titles doesn’t automatically mean they’re close to selling just as much though, so let’s try and keep things in perspective.
THQ also mentioned we’ll be seeing both Metro 2033 and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 – Chaos Rising before the end of the current fiscal year. Both games were already confirmed for a March release, but hey, we’ve seen enough games get postponed in the past few months.
Games retailer EB Games is doing what it can to push for an R 18+ classification for video games in Australia, recently launching an online and in-store petition.
As of February 2nd, Australian gamers could visit any of the 350 EB Games stores across the country or head to the official EB Games website to sign.
A recently set up online poll asked gamers if they support an R 18+ rating, and over 50,000 people responded in a matter of 10 days. 84% of these stated “Yes, it’s time for change!”
“Our customers have sent us a message loud and clear that this is an issue that needs to be addressed and we only get one shot at this. Once this Government paper is closed, it could be many years before we get another chance to voice our opinion on this issue. The time to be heard is now,” EB Games Managing Director Steve Wilson stated.
“This is not a call for violent video games,” he continued, “but rather a call for a better classification system that brings Australia in line with the rest of the world and other Australian entertainment industries, such as films.”
It seems to me that a lot of gamers, not to mention game journalists, have gotten it into their heads that our chosen form of recreation won’t be taken seriously unless we recognise a landmark achievement within the history of gaming; the video game equivalent to Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
Being both a film student and a gamer this is a concept that really speaks to me, but before I go into the basic gist of things I’d like to take a moment to explain what I mean by the Citizen Kane of video games.
I’ve been playing a lot of Bayonetta lately, a game that’s freaking awesome by the way, and the ridiculously overpriced items available in the game store got me thinking about cheating in video games.
I think cheating is the kind of thing we’ve all done at least once in our gaming careers, but are a bit embarassed to talk about. It could be anything from a quick level skip, enganing noclip, pulling amazing weapons out of your ass to just plain old invulnerability.
So our topic for tonight is good old fashioned cheating.
- Do cheat codes, or cheating in general, make a game more or less fun?
- Have you ever cheated in a game? In what way?
- Is it cheating to exploit something within the game to, say, net you extra gold or lives?
Politicians. Don’t we just love all their various outbursts and opinions on things they know absolutely nothing about?
The latest person up on the soapbox is none other than Labour Party member Keith Vaz, who wants cigarette packet-style warnings on the front of all violent video games, stating that violent video games are worse than violent films.
“A film with inappropriate content is not interactive. The point about video games, which is backed up by research from America, is that the player is part of the process. Players shoot and stab people in a videogame, and that is different. I accept that inappropriate content is wrong, wherever it is found, but videogames are different.”
I love how he cites “research from America” without really specifying anything. Vaz used the current source of controvery, Modern Warfare 2’s “No Russian” level, as an example of violence in a video game.
“If a young person gets hold of Modern Warfare 2, for example, they will be asked to participate in a terrorist attack; they will be asked to shoot at civilians in Moscow airport as part of the game.”
Apart from the fact that the scene is completely optional and you can get through it without shooting anyone.
Vaz stated he wasn’t against censorship, but merely wants people to “please think of the children!!!” So maybe he should go after the people buying these games for their kids, instead of being mad at the game designers?
Once upon a time, adventure games were the proverbial kings of PC gaming, entertaining gamers everywhere with a heavy focus on well-written stories and trong, realistic characters. Adventure games had their best run during the late 80’s and early 90’s, before suddenly dying out. So what happened to the adventure games, and where are they now?
In this three part series we’ll be taking a look at the history of adventure games and possible try to predict a future for them as well.
In our third installment we take a look at the revival of adventure games, their current state and their various spin-off genres.
It was the third of December, and it was a Thursday. I could never get the hang of Thursdays – for me it is right in the middle of my work week, and thus a day I couldn’t hate or look forward to. Yet, here I was queuing in the wet on a Thursday, about to break from the norm.
I was in line to see Video Games Live at the Cardiff International Arena. Headed up by veteran composers Jack Wall (Myst, Mass Effect) and Tommy Tallarico (Metroid Prime, Earthworm Jim), the show brings forth the soundtracks of games new and old with an orchestra and choir taken from the chosen locale.
All of us here at TGV love us some Zero Wing, especially the amazingly humorous Engrish translation. My personal favourite is “someone set up us the bomb”, but most gamers are familiar with “All Your Base are Belong to Us”.
The guys at Too Much Spare Time Animation have made a hilarious mashup of Zero Wing’s opening scene and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The sheer amounts of awesome contained in this video can’t be described by words alone, so I’ll just let the video do the talking.
Left 4 Dead 2 has been out, what a few weeks, and already the sexually laced soundbites are popping out of the woodworks. The same thing happened with Left 4 Dead, resulting in the humorous, yet somehow a bit tasteless video, Left 4 Bed.
Now, we’re proud to bring you Left 4 Bed 2, starring Coach and Ellis.
Thanks to Sammy for the tip-off.
Guys, do you have girlfriends? Could it be you spend a wee bit too much time on your console rather than paying attention to your girlfriend? I would advise you to stop, put the controller down and give her more than a few minutes, or something like the following video just might happen to you.
Some girl decided that she was fed up with her boyfriends video game addiction and decided to take action. So she promptly smashed his Xbox 360 with a golf club, hoping this would send a clear enough message. But not only that, she decided to post it online, allowing all of us to enjoy her rather feeble and girly, but heartfelt(?), attempts at destroying an Xbox 360.
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