Two Can Play

Neuschwanstein 2011

2011-12-19T01:16:00.003-08:00

Neuschwanstein 2011, a set on Flickr.

Munich 2011

2011-12-19T01:16:00.001-08:00

Munich 2011, a set on Flickr.

Hinz Honeymoon - part 1

2011-12-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Guten tag!

Not sure how often I will get to blog as the app I chose has a pesky iOS 5 bug, but here is the latest update on the Hinz Honeymoon.

The flight overseas was fine and upon arrival we spent the night in Amsterdam. While wandering the city, we actually made two discoveries; a Christmas market in the Rembrandt Plein district and Guerilla Studios, makers of Killzone.

The next morning we took a train to Cologne or Koln to you native Germans. There we visited a number of Christmas markets, churches, and museums. My favorite spot was probably the chocolate museum, but the Dom was most impressive.

For our last night in Koln we met up with Andrej a staff writer for ScrewAttack, sharing dinner and beers in a local brew hall. We actually had such a great time that we forgot to take any pictures, but based on all the Kolsch consumed, that's not really a surprise. Now we are boarding the train to Munich and should get there the evening of the 16th. We will be sure to keep you updated, but enjoy these galleries below until then!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Cologne 2011

2011-12-16T16:00:00.003-08:00

Cologne 2011, a set on Flickr.

Amsterdam 2011

2011-12-16T16:00:00.001-08:00

Amsterdam 2011, a set on Flickr.

Portal 2 - The Fall

2011-05-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Portal 2 - The Fall from Sean Hinz on Vimeo.

Just a little promotional video I did for Portal 2. I was trying to channel a Mamoru Oshii vibe.

*All footage recorded using an HDPVR; using PS3 and PC versions of the game.

The Thousandth Tweet Giveaway!!

2011-05-05T09:43:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the The Thousandth Tweet Giveaway!!

Rules:

Must be active user on Twitter/Facebook and follower or friend of SpeedracerUNT/Sean Hinz.

To get one entry in the drawing on Twitter, simply retweet any tweet I have with the following link in it - http://bit.ly/1000twts.

To gain one entry in the drawing on Facebook, you must like any wall post that has the following link in it - http://bit.ly/1000twts.
At the 999th tweet the contest will end and I will tally up all the entries.

2 winners will be chosen at random, using the sequence generator from http://www.random.org/.

I will announce the winners in my Thousandth Tweet, first person to contact me via Twitter/Facebook, gets first pick from the collection.

If you have questions DM me on Twitter/Facebook, so I don't run up my tweets too quickly!

Click through the Google Doc link below to see your choice of prizes.

My Game Collection

Bob-omb on a wall: Exploring counterculture through game-themed graffiti

2011-05-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

On a sidewalk outside my apartment, there is a piece of graffiti on a breaker box that takes inspiration from the classic Mario character Bob-omb. He sports some interesting additions, such as arms and a spliff, but still, the resemblance is uncanny. The golf course across the street used to have a larger version, but I suppose the country club didn't appreciate it. Now all that remains is an unobtrusive white square on the side of a small dam.

Still, this Bob-omb guy gets around the greater Dallas area, popping up in various alleyways and warehouses in the metroplex. I've seen him so many times and in so many different places that it's piqued my interest about gaming graffiti. Has anyone ever tried to catalog this little piece of gaming art?
I turned to the Internet and found out some interesting facts. Apparently, the little guy has also shown up in Austin as well! You can actually look through this list of Reddit comments to see some of the various sightings between the two cities.
The drive from Dallas to Austin is a trek down Interstate 35, and it's a trip I have taken numerous times. But even though I've traveled on I-35 numerous times, I've never noticed the 10 Bob-ombs that guide my way -- five in each direction. It seems the artist has made the same trip I have at least once before. The graffiti has also popped up in various locations around Austin. Austin is well known for being a bit antiestablishment, with mottos like "keep Austin weird," and I would assume that a graffiti artist could find an audience in that city. That might explain why he or she has left his or her mark in both cities, as well as between them.

I can't help but draw a bit of a connection between this graffiti and actually playing video games. It reminds me of a time when gaming was a little bit antiestablishment. The public viewed it as an unhealthy counterculture made up of basement-dwelling hermits and antisocial geeks. In the early '90s, I can remember going to the local bowling alley and watching the older kids perform fatalities in Mortal Kombat, one of the first titles to draw fire because of its violent content. A few years later, armed with a 486 system, I would be tipping strippers and blasting Pig Cops in Duke Nukem 3D. Pixilated boobs on a 15-inch CRT monitor never looked so good.

Over time, people saw the potential for success that the medium had in the mass market. Soon after, long-held prejudices and stereotypes began to subside. Now games are on par with movies and music, capable of generating billions of dollars in sales. We have huge marketing campaigns aimed at every demographic imaginable.
Despite this, we still cling to the antiestablishment culture of our roots. We hear news of hackers combating corporate goliaths and fans celebrating countercultural icons like Mortal Kombat and Duke Nukem. I still enjoy both these franchises as much as the next fan, if only for nostalgia's sake. They seem kind of quaint now. Regardless, you can't argue that in their day, these franchises were the "bad boys" of the industry, and we loved them for it. Whether or not we still do has yet to be seen, but developers seem to think it's worth a shot.
In the end, it leaves me to wonder what other graffiti the hobby has inspired around the world. I have myself have seen one other piece that reminds me of a famous gaming icon. It was on the John Lennon Peace Wall in Prague. You might recognize him.

If you have any other examples of game-themed graffiti, post 'em in the comments!

Republished from Bitmob.com

SOCOM 4 and teamwork: An interview with Zipper Interactive's Mark Rogers

2011-04-22T18:42:00.000-07:00

While at the Major League Gaming event in Dallas earlier this month, I stopped by the Sony booth and ran into Mark Rogers, one of SOCOM 4's developers. I asked him for an interview, and he obliged.

Why don’t you introduce yourself, Mark?

Mark Rogers: My name is Mark Rogers. I am a senior producer attached to Sony, and I work with Zipper Interactive.

And what do you do at Zipper?

MR: My role is basically to help Zipper make great games. My mandate is to basically support them in every way that I can and to help them do what they do.

How has your experience been so far at the Major League of Gaming?

MR: It’s been amazing! It’s actually one of my first times here and just to see the excitement people have around competitive gaming is really incredible. The response that we have had over SOCOM 4 has been great! People have been really enjoying playing it. We have been showing off the Sharp Shooter [PlayStation Move bundle], co-op implementation, single-player 3D, and competitive multiplayer.

So would you say -- in an industry saturated by first-person shooters and competitive multiplayer -- that the co-op is going to be the thing that sets SOCOM 4 apart from the Call of Dutys and Killzones?

MR: I think that is actually just one part of an overall package. SOCOM is about team play. That really permeates all parts of the game. With the single player, you get to control a five-man team. In our co-op, you have a five-man co-op and our 32-man competitive multiplayer. We have team-based objectives. Teamwork is very important. When people are playing by themselves, they have a single narrative, but when you are part of a team, that story expands and lengthens. It has to do with the way you approach a particular problem -- how you overcome it --that expands the depth of the narrative and the experience itself.

So it’s that shared experiences with others that makes the experience of SOCOM 4 unique?

MR: Yes, and you can see that here [MLG], as well. I am not saying this concept is unique to SOCOM itself. There are people here that play as a team, going up against the best of the best and trying to beat them, but it is that shared experience that they can talk about. For example, in SOCOM 4’s co-op mode you can become incapacitated. Your friends can come revive you. Of course, they have to be careful, as whatever targeted you may be still hanging around, but it is to everyone’s benefit for everyone to succeed and prosper in SOCOM 4. It’s not like "I did really well, but you didn’t," and we were on the same team. It’s a shared goal, where you lift everybody up and move forward.

Talking about the shared experience and how that relates to the competitors in the MLG, do you think SOCOM 4 has a future here as a game on the circuit roster?

MR: SOCOM 4 uses a centralized-server technology, which makes it amazing for home use, and allows us to have 32-player competitive multiplayer. So we don’t use a LAN based system, which the games here require. Unless MLG was to change their technology or we changed our technology, they are a little incompatible.
Beyond that, the actual game itself is highly competitive. We have a very strong user base, internal tournaments, and leaderboards. People can play thousands of hours. Our community is an essential part of what makes SOCOM what it is. We do is supply the framework: environments, characters, gear, and game modes.
The other half is the community and the way they behave and interact -- like in Classic SOCOM Mode. There are no respawns, so once you are incapacitated, that’s it. You’re out for the round, and it is up to your teammates to go through and achieve what you couldn’t. That changes the game remarkably.

I suppose it’s the level of risk one is willing to take when you know that there are no respawns?

MR: Knowing that you can respawn, you are more risky, but knowing if you get shot you're out for this round means you are covering all the points, making sure you are covered and your friends are covered. Mics are used to really communicate effectively. Communication is a big part of SOCOM. In addition to a standard mic, we use a system called a proximity voice chat. Your voice is actually propagated in the world from your position. If we are on the same team talking, the enemy can actually over hear us if they are close. You have to be careful about what you say.

That is very cool. Just to backtrack a little bit and discuss the single player, how is the campaign being fleshed out and will there be plenty of content for people who avoid multiplayer?

MR: Yes, SOCOM 4 itself has a really comprehensive single player mode. We have 14 missions, character development and progression. You scavenge weapons as you go along. The overarching story is that you are assigned to a NATO peacekeeping force based in a city in Southeast Asia. That city comes under attack by an insurgent force, and the NATO naval fleet is crippled and being bombarded in a bay. You have to take care of the artillery that are shelling the NATO peacekeeping force, and move on to try and restore order out of the chaos. There is no extraction. You are in the field for a full six days.

Will you be able to customize your loadouts in the single-player campaign?

MR: SOCOM 4 is a very weapon-centric game. You don’t take on a particular role, like a sniper, that restricts the weapons you can use. Your role is really defined by the gear that you carry, and you have a lot of flexibility in that. It really depends on the play style of the individual. Some people like to go through using sniper rifles and pick their way methodically through the level. Others like to do submachine guns -- run and gun and blast to see how far they can get.

Funny you should mention that, because I was looking through the Trophy list for SOCOM 4, and I saw that you had a trophy for stealth-based combat. How does that exactly work?

MR: OpsCom commands a five-man team. Part of that team are two soldiers from the Korean 707. The Korean 707 allows active female operatives. So we have an active female operative called Forty-Five, who is used for stealth missions within the game.

Bitmob is actually running a community article this month called The Real Girls in Gaming, celebrating strong female characters. Since you are introducing a playable female character into the SOCOM universe -- if this game had been out in time -- do you think Forty-Five would have been one of those characters?

MR: Absolutely! She is extremely competent at what she does, and you know she is fully fleshed out as a character. We have a lot of narrative scenes within the game, and we spend a lot of time on creating those scenes. All of our narrative scenes are real-time rendered. That actually helps us because we have a very innovative 3D system within the game. It is second-generation 3D, which allows full resolution with no drop in performance.

So it's not like rendering the same image side by side anymore?

MR: You still have to render two images to get 3D. There has to be a divergence of the images which simulates the distance between the eyes. It is just the technique we use to display those images essentially allows us to have full resolution with no drop in performance. So it’s the technique we are very pleased with, and we have a lot of developers asking about it. This is fine. We are more than happy to share with them. Since we are Sony first party, part of our mandate is to develop new technology and support other Sony developers.

Excellent. Well, thank you. I really appreciate your time, Mark.

SOCOM 4 will release on the PlayStation 3 on April 19.

Republished from Bitomb.com

Dead Money: An Insufferable Heist

2011-04-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Some Glorified Kills and Snazzy Music

A dilapidated Villa consumed by green eyed monsters and greedy holograms is your welcome mat to the Sierra Madre Casino. Once the bombs dropped, a toxic cloud crept into the villa, sealing it away from the wasteland. The trap laden streets now lead wandering tourists to unpleasant deaths, and you may share their fate. Finding this place is rather easy, but getting back to the wasteland is the hard part.

A quick aside, if after this review you chose purchase the DLC, know that you must also have a save before the end of the game. Also, you can take nothing with you from the main game when you enter the DLC. A full review after the bump.

After downloading and installing the DLC, you receive a radio signal from the Sierra Madre. It leads you to an abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker, where you are subsequently gassed and taken to the Villa Square. Father Elijah, your captor, has been kind enough to outfit you with an explosive collar that is tethered to three companions within the Villa. He tasks you with finding and convincing them to join you in pulling the greatest casino heist of all time. This may sound like Ocean’s Eleven, but it is more of a survival horror game with vending machines. Yes, some fans may experience “rapture” when they notice Dead Money’s similarity to a certain underwater utopia. The vending machines add an interesting mechanic though; as they use a local currency (sierra madre chips) that you can counterfeit, given you ask the right questions. This becomes very useful once you find certain vending machine unlocks; like stimpaks, ammo and a few surprises. The vending machine also introduces a reimbursement system; where if you collect perishables, clothing or cigarettes, they can be returned for more chips. Combine these systems with some old fashioned scrounging and the machines create a dynamic way to replenish your inventory, as well as your coffers. There are no ways to earn caps though, since this place exists outside the wasteland. Eventually you begin to have to sell items for pre-war money or just drop them altogether.

The ghosts of the Sierra Madre have their ways of making you feel cozy. The Villa is littered with bear traps, trip wires, and explosives; thanks to the abominations that reside there. They hide in pockets of toxic cloud and teleport around the villa to confuse victims. Clearly, they have no intention of letting you leave. Combat is like most other encounters in Fallout, but with a twist. The ghosts must be dismembered or they will only be knocked unconscious. You can always headshot them while they are napping, a personal favorite. The holograms, on the other hand, do not take damage. Yup, time to patiently watch patrols as you stealth in and out of hallways while hacking terminals. You will spend a lot of time crouching in this DLC, or risk losing life and limb to get anywhere. These stealth activities are further complicated by the collar around your neck exploding when you come close to specific speakers. Some you can destroy, others have to be disabled, but all create this nagging tension that your head can pop off at any minute. Because of those factors, the DLC clocked in at a solid 8 hours. It is essential that you achieve a high level character when going into the DLC. Many of the terminals, locks, and holograms require skill levels above 75. Consider developing your melee and stealth skills as well, based on the combat scenarios you will run. The last, but most important skill is speech, because much of the story is centered on you and your companions, who need someone to talk to.

Father Elijah wouldn’t want you to bear the burden of the Sierra Madre alone, so he has a few other surviving ‘tourists’ to help. There is the slightly disturbed Super Mutant Dog/God. His name is an anagram, due to the multiple personality disorder he experiences in your travels together. Christine, a mute companion from the Brotherhood of Steel, is found in the hospital district. That district has the most distinct ambient sounds of the DLC, love it or hate it, you will know it when you hear it. Your final cohort, Dean Domino, is a two hundred year old ghoul who has been waiting for his chance to sing in the Tampico Lounge of the Sierra Madre once again. The quest structure is similar throughout the entirety of the DLC and each quest rotates in one of your 3 companions. Still, the dialogue is very well written, and the companions all have interesting stories. Their tales of trial and tribulation will allude to future installments of the DLC as well as unlock new perks, so be sure to ask all the questions you can before you break into the casino. After that, everything twists just a little more until you raid the vault.
The difficulty will spike from here, as the vault ends up being the deadliest place of all. The path to the vault door contains a ton of speakers, additional traps and a platforming element that does not lend itself well to the Fallout series. You will feel the full force of this when trying to escape the vault. It is not so difficult that you would quit playing, but it is a kick in the balls after all the hard work you have done. The reward can be exploited to get you an insane amount of caps, but it’s a complicated endeavor. Most of you will settle with what little you can carry and be off, free of the Sierra Madre, back into the wasteland. To close, Dead Money is not for the light hearted. It has a heavy emphasis on survival and stealth. You will get a decent amount of experience, a bump in the level cap and even some sweet loot. Still, the frustration level is too high to recommend this for all Fallout players. Dead Money gets a rating of 3.5 Sierra Madre Chips out of 5.

Please Note: Review code was provided via Bitmob, during the #bitmobgiveaway on Twitter. I was level 26 when I started the DLC and completed it as a level 31. Earned all trophies and saw all endings.

Republished from Bitmob.com

Killzone 3 - Uprising

2011-04-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Hey Bitmob Community,
Although I am still a fledgling in the writing community here, I wanted to share with you another passion of mine. I really enjoy directing/video editing, to try an capture an idea and share it with the world.

Guerrilla Games, makers of the Killzone franchise, are holding a community competition on their blog to create a promotional video for Killzone 3. Entries are due by March 31st, so you could still submit your own video if you felt so inclined. More details as to the contest rules and prizes can be found here.

My video is done, so I just wanted to share it with you guys and get some feedback. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Please to enjoy, Killzone 3 Uprising.

Republished from Bitmob.com

Join the Indie Crowd and Fund Success!

2011-03-17T03:14:00.000-07:00

The business side of video game development tends to be viewed in a negative light at times. Industry professionals and fans acknowledge that some decisions made in game development sacrifice a developer’s vision in order to make an IP more profitable. The reality is most publishers are multi-million dollar corporations, whose stock holders invest a great deal of money into ideas and expect an equitable return on that investment. Independent developers who choose to forgo the harsh realities of working with publishers don’t have to worry about this pressure of appeasing stock holders. Instead, they are challenged with the task of finding a private investor to keep the development team running until the game is complete. Sometimes it is someone personally invested in the developer, other times it can be a local bank or credit union, and other times it is the developer themselves. In this quickly evolving industry there is a new channel for developers to find this funding using the Internet, through a process called crowdfunding.

My Major Company (MMC), a UK based online record label built around the process of crowdfunding was recently featured in Time as being extremely successful. The way is works is:

“MMC posts demos and videos of 10 artists on its website, and users are invited to invest anywhere from £10 to £1,000 ($16 to $1,600) in the ones they most enjoy or think are most likely to score a hit. Once an act reaches £100,000, the financing is locked in, and the money is used to pay for recording and possibly a tour. Net revenue from resulting music sales, concerts and merchandise is split three ways: investors get to divide 40%; another 40% goes to MMC; the artist pockets 20%.”

This concept isn’t so new to the Music industry, but MMC has upped the ante by providing more than just funding. They also provide artists with production and management support, like most publishers would. Music and games are both forms of entertainment, so there is some parody between business models. Upon further investigation, there is a burgeoning community of crowdfunding sites that are supporting these indie developers right now. Sites like IndieGoGo and Kickstarter have already hosted a number of campaigns related to gaming and some have been a success as far as reaching funding goals are concerned. Kickstarter operates in a similar fashion to MMC, holding the funds until a goal is met. If the goal is not met, then no funds are distributed to the campaigning party. Indiegogo on the other hand, makes all donations final and it is the responsibility of the contributor to reach out to the campaigner should they fall short of meeting a goal. Both sites offer rewards or perks, but not really any royalties associated to the project. There are a few campaigns at certain contribution levels that offer introductions and even development credit on titles, which is cool, but lacks the impact of cold hard cash.

Another thing missing in the current models available to Indie developers is the support after the funding. Having a person running the business side of things for a developer can be beneficial, because it lets the studio focus on making a great game. In the meantime, a good publisher will work the PR/Marketing side of development so that when the game is finished, there is a fan base waiting to get a copy day one! An exception to this might be the www.indie-fund.com, which is a private investment group made up of indie veterans like Jonathan Blow, Ron Carmel, and Kyle Gabler. They are open to submissions from any developer and will most likely help support the games they choose. After a submission is approved, the game is funded on a month by month basis, so the investors can monitor the development. Since there are no milestones, the costs can evolve over time, much like the game. Once the game is released, its profits go to pay back the investors with a small return on investment. The faster the fund is repaid, the sooner the contract ends and the developer can begin collecting all profits. If for some reason the game is unable to generate enough revenue, any unpaid debts are wiped out after 3 years. Since going live, the indie fund has 3 investments and is still taking applicants. It appears crowdfunding is one way to help developers make their games a reality. Maybe one day a site will come along that not only offers crowdfunding to struggling developers, but also offers the support to make sure the world sees these games. All games should find the funding they need to achieve great success!

Note: All logos are courtesy of a Google Image Search and www.indie-fund.com

Repeblished from Bitmob.com

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Review of Destiny

2011-03-05T17:03:00.000-08:00

Marvel versus Capcom 3 is the eighth entry in “Versus” franchise and the second entry for this generation of home consoles. It oozes with style, capturing a comic book aesthetic in everything from fonts to stage designs. Small touches of fan service permeate MvC3 with character theme songs, scenario specific commentary before fights, and signature moves. Still, coming off SSF4 and seeing the scope of Capcom’s vision for next generation fighting games, not everything is perfect. Read on for my review of MvC3 or watch the video review. Hell, do both!

Not to split hairs over character count or quality, it is worth noting some veterans like Mega Man and Juggernaut are not coming back as playable characters. Sure, we all have our favorites, but with MvC3’s roster of 36 characters, it is time to make some new friends. I instantly loved Deadpool, his 4^th wall wackiness and moonwalk animation sold me after the first fight. Phoenix and Dante are also notable favorites.

In offline mode there is the usual Arcade, Verses and Training modes. There is also a mission mode, but that is basically the challenge mode from SF4. Combat is more a reflection of the most recent Wii title, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, trading kicks and punches for simple attacks. Light, medium, heavy and special are the four attack types; with special being more of a launch/exchange button for air combos. Exchange is when an opponent is being pummeled by an air combo, and you would simply tap special attack + any direction to exchange partners and keep the combo going. As with most “Versus” titles, you are on a team of three, so you have two more assist buttons for switching in and out partners. While the button count remains the same as other Capcom fighting games, the basic combat system is much simpler than it has been in the past. The basic combo is low -> medium -> high and although the animations will vary, the result is always a combo. It makes the offense based combo system more approachable to casual fighting fans.

Defensively, there are a number of new systems in place, such as the Advanced Guard. Blocking an attack and tapping two attack buttons will have your character pushing their opponent and creating space between their attacks. The snapback system returns from MvC2, where a player can force their opponent to switch characters at the cost of a hyper combo bar. You can also use the bar for a crossover counter, exchanging a partner and effectively nullifying your opponent’s combo. Similarly to the crossover counter, you have an aerial exchange counter. It has the added cheese factor of requiring you to tap the special attack and + same direction as your opponent during an air combo. It is pretty much a one in three chance of you choosing the right direction (left and right are interchangeable). It all works and feels as simple as it sounds. The crossover combinations cover the screen with awesome sauce, hyper combos are devastating to opponents and add that sense of complete chaos you could only find in MvC.

For the fighting game purist migrating from SSF4, expectations for an equally as robust online component should be reasonable. Capcom though makes no promises and delivers something less than it is capable of providing. The features clearly lacking are the replay theater and spectator modes, something that should be an established feature by now. Surely, it will be patched in time, but the community would rather wait for a completed game than get something earlier, loosing interest before that patch drops. Still the netcode is solid, there is a lobby system which is reminiscent of tournament mode and player/ranked matching. Your player data is stored in a license card, basically a passport showing other players all the content you have explored in the game. The license also has some personalization options, letting you list your top 3 teams and various aesthetics. To really open up the gallery, you need to complete the game with each character. The reward is various bits of media; i.e. BGM, dossiers, 3D models, art, etc. The biggest thing that was missing was some sort of teaching system; a series of videos or in-game scenarios explaining when and why particular techniques are appropriate. This training system could bridge the gap between casual players and fighting game fans.

There are sites that can provide such knowledge like www.shoryuken.com or www.eventhubs.com, but if this was in-game, players would never have to leave the couch. The “Versus” franchise from Capcom has always been popular. While Marvel versus Capcom 3 is a fantastic romp, it’s not pushing to evolve the brand or genre, leaving us a little disheartened. The combat is fun, visuals stunning, and the music may even “take you for a ride”. Casual gamers will likely find little meaning behind all that flash. The hardcore on the other hand, are feverishly awaiting the next patch.

Note: all pictures and video were captured in-game using an HD PVR

Republished from Bitmob.com

I Have a Fling with my iPad

2011-02-17T18:21:00.000-08:00

Many iPad users have fallen victim to purchasing a game which uses an on-screen d-pad or thumbstick, and finding the controls taxing. The practice of creating digital inputs based on analog counterparts has been scrutinized universally by both the gaming industry and its community. Sensing an opportunity, Ten One Design developed the Fling in response to the Internet’s loathing of such game design. Keep reading on for my review of the Fling peripheral for iPad.

First and foremost, the Fling is described by Ten One Design as:

"[A]…tactile joystick for iPad. It gives you ultimate control over any game that has an on-screen joystick. Fling's patent pending design provides auto-centering and force feedback."*

A game’s HUD (if elaborate enough) will display through the Fling’s clear polymer, providing the illusion that it isn’t even there. The shape of the Fling is cut in a way that provides a good amount of resistance, while not impeding on performance. From the onset, this appears to be the perfect answer to your touchscreen gaming woes, but the Fling has issues too. The first limitation is the Fling does not work well with screen protectors! I personally had a ZAGG Screen Protector on my iPad, but the contact point of the nub was really sluggish and did nothing to improve performance. Once the screen protector was removed however; it began to work as expected.

First I tried NOVA – Gameloft’s Halo clone, was the exact type of game Fling was designed to improve. In the game settings, I could move the virtual thumbstick anywhere on the screen that was comfortable for me and then stick the Fling right on top. It worked like a charm, not only were the movement controls more responsive, but holding the iPad felt a little easier since I could rest my thumb on the nub. While on a roll, I tried two other Gameloft games: Gangstar: West Coast Hustle & Dungeon Hunter. Gangstar: West Coast Hustle was equally as good, but Dungeon Hunter is where Fling began to stumble. If there was one problem with the Fling, it would be that its design is limited to how the virtual joystick is implemented in a game. The shape of the Fling keeps the range of motion of the nub limited to the circumference of it. So if the onscreen D-pad is larger than the Fling, the game won’t register you moving up when you press up. I also saw this issue return when testing out a few iPhone games, like say Dark Void Zero. If I run the game in 2x, the onscreen thumbstick becomes too large, but if I run it in iPhone mode it fits. Although it greatly improves the control of Dark Void Zero, you are basically stuck playing it in iPhone resolution, on the iPad screen. Not really the experience I was hoping for with how many iPhone games I have.

In many ways, ensuring the Fling is compatible with a particular game is kind of a crapshoot. Ten One Design’s website FAQ, has an editable list of games already tested (about 117) in a Google Doc. You can access it here and I would recommend doing so before purchase. As more people use the Fling and update this list, it will increase the viability of the peripheral. Still, with thousands of games going untested and new titles like Infinity Blade changing the standards for capacitive touchscreen controls, the virtual thumbstick is becoming less relevant. Therefore, I can really only recommend this to anyone who views the iPad as a gaming platform first and everything else second. If you are one of those gamers, pick up your Fling by clicking the link below. Thanks for reading!

http://www.tenonedesign.com/checkout.php?product=Fling

*Quoted from http://tenonedesign.com/fling

Note: all images come from Ten One Design website

Republished from Bitmob.com

Does Sony Have Your Head in the Cloud?

2011-02-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Sony has been busy lately; combating hackers, releasing AAA titles, and even announcing new portables. So, it should come as no surprise that the rumor mill is buzzing. One rumor has peaked my interest, The Playstation Cloud. The service is to be released for Playstation Plus subscribers in the near future, and was recently featured on Kotaku. The Cloud, an online database where users on the PSN will be able to back up their PS3 saves, aims to be the first of its kind for console gamers. It has the potential to be so much more, as it could be the lynch pin in changing the consumer’s definition of a portable console.

Where the iOS devices have put pressure on Nintendo and Sony to evolve in the portable market, the NGP has emerged, jammed full of technology. Unlike the portables of the past, there are few limitations to the method in which you control games. The NGP has just as many options for control, if not more (touch vs. Move support) than the PS3 does. It comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi, meaning you can always be connected to the PSN, much like the PS3. Of course, a 5-inch OLED will provide you the illusion that the NGP is a near equal to that of the PS3 in graphical fidelity. But is it a PS3? Or more specifically, can I take a PS3 game with me and play it on the NGP? The most prominent obstacle in my mind is one of cross-platform compatibility for user content; i.e. game saves, trophy support and anything tied to your PSN ID. If I were to start a game on PS3 and move to the NGP version, my game save would be the most important piece of content in making the entire feature worthwhile. Otherwise the point that you have a PS3 in your pocket is mute since it isn’t an extension of “your PS3”.

That very obstacle could be addressed through utilization of the Cloud. To PC Gamers, this technology is old hat, since Steam Cloud has been active since 2008. For me; however, it is the implication of what all these features can do together on Playstation Hardware that makes me excited. If a single PSN ID can be used on multiple platforms and thus, all your Trophies and Game Saves can exist in the Cloud. At this point, all you need is a game that is cross compatible between platforms and bam - Portable PS3! Now, trophy hunters are no longer limited to their living room couch, they can hunt in the wild. You can start grinding at home after work and continue throughout the next day during train rides, lunch breaks or whatever downtime a gamer has outside of their home. Sure, there will be new trophies for platform-specific NGP titles, but if Sony wants to boast about how close the NGP is to performing like a PS3, I say prove it. Treat them as equals, and the concept of the NGP being a Portable PS3 will come to fruition organically. Publishers should release each disc-based copy with a digital NGP copy (kind of like Blu-Ray), maybe charge a little more, but make the process as easy as possible. Feel free to let me know in the comments how many of you gamers would be interested in this feature and whether or not you would be willing to pay for it. If Sony is considering this feature, they are also considering how to monetize it, so speak your mind.
*Note: Images courtesy of Google Image Search and Photoshop

PSN ID

2011-02-06T11:15:00.001-08:00

Get your Portable ID!

Podcast 12

2010-09-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

So we do this show, it’s about video games. You should listen to it and then go rate us on iTunes.
That is all…

note: warning this Podcast is explicit

download here or listen below

Podcast 11

2010-08-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

Another podcast in the books where we talk up games like Alan Wake and some Lara Croft. Tim also has a run in with the law and of course Borga pushes my buttons. Leading to a discussion about news from some recent conventions.

warning this podcast is explicit

Download it here or listen right now!

Change is in the wind...

2010-08-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Readers,

The site is going through some changes again, time is becoming a factor and I need to slow down. I have some obligations in my personal life that need attending, so I am going to take some time off. A couple posts won't be coming back either.

For example; No more Blog Posts and No more AOM, I want the content to be generated by the site.

Also, you can see on the top of the side bar we finally have a Logo. It is at least a start.

Also the Podcast is now on iTunes, so please, give it a positive rating if you like it.

Thanks for reading and I will see you in a couple of weeks.

My "Final" Fantasy?

2010-08-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

There are moments in life when people make bad decisions; decisions where every ounce of our being screams “STOP” and yet we continue. Like ordering the Double Down from KFC or having the hiccups while practicing sword swallowing. Sure, I know it is bad for me and that there is little reward waiting for me at the end of the challenge, but I have to persevere. So I went through with playing Final Fantasy 13 and came out wondering what Square Enix was thinking.

This game is gorgeous, full of interesting environments and fantastic wildlife. It is by far one of the best looking games of our generation. Combat is fast paced and complex, despite a simple interface. The new system makes the standard JRPG turn-based combat feel a little “old hat”. Even the narrative is approachable, being fully voice acted and having a straight forward story. Somehow, despite all this, it ends up being one of the laziest and frankly most boring RPGs Square has ever made. The pacing is its biggest shortcoming, where the player spends the first 15+ hours in what seems like the tutorial from hell. You run through straight corridors, in parties of 1 or 2 people, for hours. This makes the Paradigm system seem rather bland (Paradigms are mixes of various classes like a Commando and Medic), despite how great it is later on. Game Mechanics are introduced hours apart and Square almost doesn’t give the player enough credit. The way players are spoon fed information, it is like we haven’t been playing RPGs for the past 20 years.

The main stint of this “tutorial” is spent on Cocoon, a moon orbiting the planet Pulse. After that, a kind of world changing event takes place and you move from one locale to another, opening up the game to some extent. Up until this point, there has been no need to use the inventory system really. Sure you can swap out weapons or accessories, but the entire craft system and all its loot has been completely unnecessary. So, with almost no explanation, you begin to realize that there is this underlying meta-game of trying to level up and craft new items through transformation. The catch, there is no system of measurement to explain the most efficient way of doing this. Without seeking out a FAQ online or trial and error, you pretty much are pissing in the wind. So, what could have been a fresh approach to inventory management quickly turns into one of the most cumbersome systems in an RPG. It just does not make sense to spend so much time stream lining the game, to turn around and shoe horn a complex crafting system in.

The story itself is very Japanese; I enjoyed it, but was not thrilled by any of the voice work or hidden messages. If you enjoy JRPG’s, then you would most likely enjoy Final Fantasy 13’s story. Do I regret spending 55 hours of my life in this game? No. The masochist inside me who has already spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours playing JRPGs just considers this one a least favorite. The only problem is how many westerners are going to be as patient as me? With companies like BioWare and Bethesda I think the standard for RPGs is changing and Final Fantasy is lagging behind. This is really a shame, since historically JRPGs had always been some of my favorite games. Let’s hope the next one is a hit.

Podcast 10

2010-08-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

We are back! Due to some technical difficulties, last weeks Podcast has been sent to oblivion. Now the usual suspects return, with a guest, Mr. Blake Meyer! We will talk about the games we’ve been playing, news and our topic this week: Price Points. Then to finish it off, a 30 minute Starcraft 2 explosion! Podcast is GO!

Download it here or on iTunes.

And if you are really dedicated, listen to it right now!

warning this podcast is explicit

A Walk in the Woods

2010-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

What starts as an overdue vacation for Alan Wake and his wife Alice, quickly evolves into a psychological thriller from the mind of Mr. Wake himself. The town of Bright Falls, located in a sleepy part of the Pacific Northwest, is anything but tired. Within their first night, in a cabin on Cauldron Lake, Alice is abducted by a dark presence. It is up to Alan to get her back. Certainly not the most original of plots, the universe that Remedy begins to develop around the characters is fascinating. This makes Alan Wake one of the most original games I have played in the past few years.

I think the most interesting aspect about the entire experience is the presentation. It is as if the game itself were a television series, each episode is presented with a summary of its predecessor at each start and ends on a well realized piece of licensed music. The music competently captures the tone of each episode. I only wish they ran credits as well and the guise of this actually being a TV show would be complete. There are also a number of side characters that help flesh out the story, most notably the Anderson Brothers, Odin and Tor, whose geriatric antics and spooky wisdom bring a little more personality to the town. There are also two antagonists, one human and one not, but I suppose the best part of the story as a whole, are all the questions that are indirectly answered or never answered. These questions in turn, create an air of speculation which is open to interpretation.

The gameplay itself is solid, if not a little repetitive. Its mechanic is built around the idea of light penetrating through darkness. The enemies are shadowy figures, local townsfolk and birds, all protected by the darkness. Light is your salvation, as you move from street lamp to generator, trying to stay out of the dark. Light will also be your weapon, as aiming the flashlight at an enemy will cause the darkness that protects them to disperse, making them vulnerable to a variety of weapons. Items like flares & flash bangs also turn light into a more dangerous weapon, making enemies explode when they come in contact with one. Certainly combat is limited to this rule set and although there are variations, like the occasionally possessed bull dozer or a spotlight which is used as a turret, it is not a game about the combat. It is a game about the narrative, where watching the series of events unfold is interesting enough to drive the game. The DLC actually adds some more original combat ideas and with an 8th episode in the works, I hope Remedy continues to bring new twists to the in game mechanics.

One last thing that I have to mention is the collectables. There are lots of them and many serve very little purpose, though I love the in-game TV show Night Springs. Think of it as Remedy’s version of the Twilight Zone. The manuscript pages on the other hand are incredible, because they are a risky idea and succeed where others may have failed. The pages are pieces of the story, spread throughout the game, which in many cases foreshadows events that will happen. Some may run to the hills screaming spoilers, but Remedy seems to describe these situations in such a way that it builds tension. You will read something on a page and spend the next half-hour tiptoeing around every corner to avoid be caught off guard. It really was quite genius and a new spin on what has now become a sort of standard video game implementation for games with strong narratives (see Bioshock audio diaries). I could go on for hours, but instead will close on this: with so many sequels and annualized installments of games, Alan Wake is a breath of fresh air. Sure there are flaws, no game can truly be perfect, but to all those with complaints about content not being original anymore, pick up Alan Wake and play it now.

Note: all images courtesy of Google Image Search

Alan Wake in your City

2010-08-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Alan Wake, one of the best new IPs to come out in the past couple of years, has been met with underwhelming sales. Enthusiasts are quick to blame Microsoft and their marketing campaign, but there are doubts if that is the underlying issue. Two campaigns which have captured the Internet’s attention are the billboard ads and the “machinima-esque” webisodes called ‘Bright Falls’.

Now, the billboards were very clever, but region locked. The only reported sightings were in the Toronto area and although the Internet can share, it isn’t the same as seeing one on the street. I would like to think that if these were spread to 5 major U.S. cities, it would have helped to bring in a little more buzz. Especially the giant night light, which was strange enough to draw ones attention during the day and had an awesome visual effect at night. It is a shame that for whatever reason these billboards were not brought stateside. Maybe they didn’t test well, but if that was the case, then there should have been some sort of marquee ads used (billboards, buses, train stations, etc.).

Next you have the mini-series ‘Bright Falls’, a prequel to Alan Wake, which does a good job creating the eerie atmosphere for the town in-game. Not machinima in the traditional sense, as the episodes are all live-action. The set pieces and characters do reprise their role in- game, including Mr. Alan Wake himself. At first, it had a very erratic story arc, revolving around a reporter who arrived in Bright Falls to interview someone and instead experiences a series of haunting events. I watched the series a second time after playing the game, and this allowed me to utilize my knowledge about the fictional universe that is Alan Wake. I almost immediately new what the protagonist was experiencing.

*SPOILERS* The protagonist is being consumed by the darkness over the course of the series and essentially he becomes one of the “Taken”. It is more than just a marketing campaign. The content is actually cannon to the story arc and provides an interesting perspective on what it must be like for the people of Bright Falls.

Combined with some major banner time on numerous gaming sites, it appears that Alan Wake will be achieve acceptable returns. It has combined worldwide sales of over 600,000 at this point, and should reach 1 million by the holiday season. If Microsoft is smart, they will try to bundle it with new 360’s in 2011 and make a cut off the episodic DLC Remedy is releasing. And if they are even smarter, Microsoft will release this on Xbox Live using the Fable 2 model. Play the first episode for free and then $10 for each additional episode. With 5 more disc episodes and 2 DLC, that $70! If you have yet to play Alan Wake, I highly recommend it and my impressions are forth coming. I only hope that the game sales long-term reflect the praise it deserved.

Note: All videos and images are courtesy of Super Punch and YouTube

Watch the episodes of Bright Falls yourself, after the jump!

Podcast

2010-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

No Podcast this week due to some technical difficulties. i.e. I didn't hit the record button apparently!

Sorry....

Blog Report

2010-07-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just playing Some Alan Wake, when all this news happened. Enjoy!

Is It Legal to Jailbreak and Unlock Your Cellphone? Copyright Office Officially Says, "Yes" [IPhone]
Take A Visual Tour Of Tron: Legacy's New 'Flynn's Arcade' [Comic-Con 2010]
Darth Vader and Boba Fett class up the joint [Cosplay]
Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken X Street Fighter Revealed At Comic-Con [Comic-Con 2010]
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition Announced At Comic-Con [Comic-Con 2010]
LittleBigPlanet 2 Takes November With Adorable Collectors Edition [Release Date]
About The Time Darth Vader Robbed A Bank [Screengrab]
Konami Launching Retail Shop [Japan]
Meet The Guys Who Make Gaming's Fancy Editions [Packaging]
Kevin Butler and New Zealand
What Is Daigo's Day Job? [The Beast]
Rumor: Microsoft Killed Plans For "PC vs Xbox 360" Online Play [Microsoft]
PlayStation 3's 3D Games Could Get 3DS-Style Slider [3D]
Blizzard Does 180 on Real Names
Google Invests $100+ Million In FarmVille Company, Prepares Google Games [Rumor]
Dead Space 2's Miner Upgrades, Including A Solution To A Lack Of Bullets [Preview]
Six New Games Unveiled By EA Today [Electronic Arts]
Fight Night Champion Announced for 2011
Microsoft's Take On The Cost of Motion Gaming [Kinect]

Sony Style Store

2010-07-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sony, like so many other manufacturers, has begun setting up show room floors across the USA. These experience centers are called 'Sony Style' stores. When I was in Japan a few years back, hitting up the Sony showroom in Ginza was a must. Now, Sony has come to my front door, setting up a Sony Style store in the Dallas Galleria. Once I found out, I dragged my fiancée there to try some of the latest Sony tech. With all the new technology emerging, it is actually one of the best ways for Sony to market all their new hardware. Showrooms like these are built around the idea of “try before you buy” and with so many choices this almost seems necessary. Take for example 3D TV’s; they come in all forms of size, shape and technologies. They are something so complex and expensive that I had no intention of buying day one, but here, they can be experienced for free. Better yet, they can be experienced while playing a Playstation 3, which is the first console outside of a PC that can do this. It may not be worth the $2000+, but having played some MLB the Show and Motorstorm I can say in confidence, it works. If you can combine this with “the Move” and a 7.1 sound system in a creative way, it may be the closest thing to Virtual Reality in your living room we have seen yet.

Speaking of “the Move”, this is another technology that I am not probably going to be adopting day one, but was happy to hear Sony will be having an event in the next month. Thereby, Sony is providing me another opportunity to “try before I buy”, in a retail space more comfortable than the local Wal-Mart or Best Buy. There are numerous other products, ranging from laptops to PSP’s, but I wouldn’t recommend actually buying anything there. I was looking through the shelf of games they had for sale and Lair was priced at almost $60!!! You look on Amazon.com and you can buy a new copy for $17, which is still overpriced since the game is shit. Other than that, I think as a marketing vehicle, this could be very profitable for Sony in the long run. Hey, it works for Apple!

Expect to see another post from the Sony Style Store @ the Playstation Move Event in early September.

Podcast 09

2010-07-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

We are down one seat, but the Podcast must go on. Tim and Borga share the time they spend with Hothead’s new IP Deathspank, while I chat up Alan Wake. Then we hit some highlights in the news and discuss Blizzard’s recent brain fart with their forums. Ending with a new decree to all you listeners. PRIZES!

warning this podcast is explicit

Download Here, or listen below

Blog Report

2010-07-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here is some news!

The Man Who Will Bring Us To The Fourth Dimension [Feature]
Dragon Age II's New Look, Now In Screen Shots [Bioware]
This Chun-Li Has Tiny Thighs [Gameface]
Which Version Of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Should You Buy? [Deus Ex: Human Revolution]
The Dumb Reasons Publishers Passed On PS3 Hit Joe Danger [PS3]
Large Kinect Kiosk Sets Up Shop In Mall [Xbox 360]
Does The Gears Of Warring Of Harry Potter Go Too Far? [Ea]
Help Defend Gaming: Sign the Gamer Petition
God Of War Movie Trailer Is...Unexpectedly Brilliant [Clips]
Amazon As Market Research (For The Lonely Gamer) [Nsfw]
How to Hack Your Nintendo DS for Easy Backups and Single-Cartridge Playback [Gaming]
Questions And Answers About Blizzard's Real ID Plans [Blizzard]
A Guide To Building The 'Perfect Arcade' From Scratch [D.i.y.]
Kmart's Peer Game Reviews Gives Power To the People [Well Played]
Sony Explores Alternative to Split-Screen Multiplayer [Patent]
Scandal May Have 'Permanently Damaged' Tiger Woods PGA Tour [Golf]
Rumor: Namco vs Capcom, Capcom vs Namco In Development [Rumor]
Sony Commercial Ripped Off [Top]
Infants Found Wandering Streets While Father Plays PC Puzzler [Crime]
Learn The StarCraft Storyline In A Hurry [Blizzard]

Amazon Gold Box Day for Xbox 360

2010-07-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

If your reading this and have not already heard, there appears to be a Gold Box sale today for Xbox 360 games at Amazon.com! You can reach it here.

Transformers: War for Cybertron will be on sale for the Gold Box Price: $42.98 all day.

Then every couple of hours another game will drop in, limited stock, at a ridiculous price point. Right now, you can get Singularity for $39.99 (33% off).

The hints for the rest of the day, with my predictions on what the game is, are as follows:

0900 - Go West, young man. = Red Dead Redemption
1100 - Journey to a land of legendary combat. = Deadliest Warrior
1200 - Street Fighter IV button mashing. = Probably some Madcatz Fightpads or Arcade Sticks
1500 - The first modern day spy role-playing game. = Alpha Protocol
1600 - Hone your stealth skills. = Splinter Cell Conviction
1800 - Life 23 years from now. = Metro 2033
2100 - Explore the deadly, shadowed world of an Assassin. = Assassin's Creed 2

So get out there and buy some Xbox games, while they are still on sale.

To Hell and Back with Dante's Inferno

2010-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in the depths of Hell, a crusader travels in search of redemption for his lost love. It is only with the help of Death’s Scythe, his lover’s cross, and some magic that he finally finds the redemption he seeks.

This is a bit of a departure from the Epic Poem that the game’s story attempts to emulate. By creating a new universe, Visceral Games attempts to solidify their standing within the action genre. Instead, they find themselves somewhere between Heaven and Hell, a terrible limbo where success is rarely achieved. I have played everything from God of War to Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry to Bayonetta, and even some Onimusha. I am no stranger to action games. With Dante, the issue I have is not with the story or graphics. It has great visuals with strong presentation, despite the gratuitous nudity. What I take issue with is the level design. Somehow the idea of descending these nine circles of Hell led to a rather simplified level design. What should be a challenge; however, becomes a frustration.

Argh! Not in the Face!

The transitions from one circle to the next are all repeating descents along corpses and wall runs across fleshy firetraps. Combat takes place in tight arenas, allowing the enemies no room to escape your reach. Ultimately, the obsession with the literary source turns the last 90 minutes into an uninspired challenge mode, with poor platform tricks and more small arenas. There were other issues with platforming and puzzle solving, but those are a result of the layout of the level or the camera angle provided, in my opinion. Sure, the presentation is outstanding, with moaning walls and pools of lost souls, but art/style does not solely define an experience.

Absolved!

Combat is a positive for me, probably because I enjoy the simplicity of the modifiers. Unlike a Ninja Gaiden, which possesses almost a fighting game level of complexity, most moves execute by holding down a shoulder button or holding and releasing a standard attack. Since there are only two weapons throughout the course of the game, you can only increase Dante’s abilities by utilizing experience earned through absolving or punishing your enemies. A good verse evil tech tree, a la Infamous, Visceral introduces some unique attacks and magic spells, some of which are devastating to your enemies. There is also utilization of accessories, which modify Dante’s abilities. These tie to the level of good or evil your character possesses. This limits the ways in which Dante can use them, though with 30 or so accessories, that hardly seems to matter. With numerous DLC expanding on the challenge mode and online play, it packs in content. Although, with so many more action games at your disposal, it seems like you would really have to be a fan to utilize it.

I would recommend that action fans should check it out, but maybe wait for the $30 price point.

Podcast 08

2010-07-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

Borga pushes my buttons as we talk about Deathspank, Sin and Punishment, THQ games and Dante's Inferno. After that its more news with fresh NPD numbers and Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. Then just when we were supposed to settle down the podcast explodes over the changes in future RPGs.

*warning: this podcast is explicit

Download it here or listen to it below

blog report

2010-07-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Trying to burn through Dante's Inferno before the weekend, because then I am going camping!!! In the mean time, here is all the news you have been pining over.

GameStop's One-Hour Red Dead Redemption Sale Falls Flat [Doh]
Zangief Vs. The Universe [Clip]
Dragon Age II Seems Like It Will Be Very Different [UPDATE] [Bioware]
Here's What Inspired Vanquish [Shinji Mikami]
May NPD: Free Is Not Free
Summer of Arcade Titles Dated
Blizzard's Real Name Forum Policy Has Fans In An Uproar [Blizzard]
The 25 Least-Loved Wii Games, Maybe [Wii]
When Arcades Die [Arcade]
Hulu Plus For PS3 Doesn't Require PlayStation Plus After All [Hulu]
Microsoft Takes Third Stab At Showcasing Xbox Live Arcade [Xbox 360]
Bobby Kotick: Frustrated by Xbox Live Biz Model
Street Fighter High Enrolls Some New Students [Humor]
Average Reviews Mean No Second Helping Of Alpha Protocol [Sega]
Report: Here Are Kinect's Technical Specs [Xbox 360]
Square Enix Honcho Calls World Cup Interview "Deplorable" [Yoichi Wada]
Weighing Morality in Gaming [Morality]
When Britney Spears Meets Japanese Hack-And-Slash [From Software]
Hey Ebert, Play This Game [Art]
It's Better To Deathspank With A Friend [Clips]
After Nearly Four Years, The PS3 Finally Turns A Profit [Sony]

Geeking Out in NYC - Part 2

2010-07-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Now for the exciting part: one of the most impressive arcades is waiting for you in the belly of Chinatown.

Packed into an L-shaped room, barely wide enough for a cabinet on each side, Chinatown Fair Arcade is a reminder of times past. It is a place where competitive gamers gather around arcade cabinets, place tokens on the glass and await their chance for glory. It holds at least 20 cabinets all sporting classic Capcom and SNK fighting games like Street Fighter 3, Marvel Vs Capcom, and King of Fighters. In addition, Super Street Fighter 4 is available running on a console, but still manages to capture the arcade feel through custom sit-down cabinets and some MadCatz Tournament Sticks. The cabinets work on a timer and depositing a token will buy you about 3 minutes of playtime. Not a bad idea considering the next best option is to import a cabinet from Japan. Throw in a few DDR machines, DJ Max Technika, Initial D and a Red Bull vending machine, and you are looking at a few late nights in this dank Chinatown arcade. It makes me happy to no end to know that in some corners of the world, places like this can still exist. We had to keep moving, but I left my friend Q a handful of tokens in hope that the next time we come to NYC; Chinatown Fair Arcade will remain perfectly preserved.

Another retail outlet, still a relative infant in the gaming space, is the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. Sure, it does not hold the influence Nintendo does, but it is still the most impressive Apple store I have witnessed. A large glass cube with a hovering apple at its core, you descend a staircase into the space below this “architecture as art” as it opens into a collection of iPads, iPhones and general iLife electronics. We walked down at about 11pm and it was busy, explaining why this outlet can afford to be open 24/7, 365 year after year. Playing an iPad for the second time, I really believe that Apple has an opportunity to become a competitor in the video game industry. Something that is holding them back though is the lack of the Gamecenter App, which I thought was suppose to release with iOS4. Nobody has mentioned it though and the operating system is currently running on my iPhone, with no Gamecenter.

There are some spots I missed, like the Sony Style Store or Toy Tokyo, but hey, just more reasons to go back to NYC. So remember, next time you are in the Big Apple, take some time to enjoy the culture of video games.

Photos by Lauren Doster, Sean Hinz and the Google image search

Site Update

2010-07-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Stand by as the site is being updated, some things may be moving around, disappearing, reappearing, etc. Hopefully the transition will be smooth and everything will be in working order, with a fresh new look!

Geeking Out in NYC - Part 1

2010-07-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Seeing Rockstar advertise Red Dead Redemption on one of the largest billboards in Times Square it became clear how much video games have integrated with modern culture. Most would think that video games would be last on one's mind in New York, surrounded by an incredible mix of culture, food, and spirits. Should that be the case, you might miss a couple of gaming gems hidden throughout the big apple.

Let us start with an experience that is unique, the Nintendo World Store. A one of a kind retail outlet for all things Nintendo, I imagined it as a front for overpriced plushes and cheap collectables (i.e. Squeenix Store Tokyo). Happily proven wrong, much of the merchandise was affordable and not the focus of the store. Instead, there were about 20 DS stations and at least a dozen Wii’s across two floors, with many of the most recent games available today for demo. I personally had the pleasure of demoing three games that I had not had the fortunate to play until then. They were Sin and Punishment – Star Successor, Monster Hunter Tri and Capcom Vs Tatsunoko. On the DS, I helped Lauren to create a fighter in Photo Dojo and play through a level. You can see the results in the video at the end of the post. In addition to the bins of $10 plushes and $20 T-shirts, there was an entire library of games for purchase. It was much more than I expected and the surprise continued with a small collection of memorabilia. Including a melted Gameboy, that was still working (or at least the screen was). Check out the video page for additional videos of the Nintendo World Store.

Next, head over to Williamsburg in Brooklyn where you find one of the largest collections of retro games in the country. Barcade is a place that seems almost out a time warp, sporting micro brewed beers on tap and arcade games like Gauntlet, Zaxxon, Moon Patrol and even Paperboy. Everything is are typically a quarter and the cabinets are in great shape. The bar and furniture has a rustic look, with planks lining the bar and tables, making the overall ambience ooze with hipster appeal. My fiancée and I went over there with some friends and had a good time drinking some local “witbier” and playing Contra. If you are looking for more information head over to the link below and for a visual treat, watch “The Making of Barcade: a Visual Chronicle”. Stay tuned for part two of “Geeking Out in NYC”!

Photos by Lauren Doster, Sean Hinz and the Barcade Flickr Page

I am Engaged!

2010-07-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

On July 4th 2010, Lauren and I went with some friends up to the Empire State Building. While we were on top of the world in NYC, I asked Lauren if she would marry me and she said yes! For your viewing pleasure, watch the video of the event unfolding. Cheers!

Josh and Fallon's Wedding

2010-07-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Josh and Fallon! Thank You for inviting Lauren and I to share in this wonderful evening with you two. It was a fantastic experience and I am still hurt from the chicken cordon blue poppers and open bar. We wish you the best of luck in your new life together. There is a video bar after the jump of some of the highlights from the wedding.

Nintendo Rewards their Fans

2010-07-03T05:14:00.000-07:00

So Nintendo has a service online where you can go register Nintendo Products called, Club Nintendo. This service is pretty common for publishers and even crosses into other industries. By doing so, Nintendo provides its fans the opportunities to earn points, which can be redeemed for unique products which you cannot buy in stores, as well as providing you a sort of "status level" in the program. At the end of June every year those points are reset and you have to start all over. Luckily, I reached the highest level (platinum status) before the reset and have thus earned myself the following trophy

Not too shabby Nintendo! Gold members received a calender, but that really seems like the type of thing I would throw away after 2011. While, this little statue is a keeper. Anyway, the new year has started, so if you have a whole stack of unregistered Nintendo products maybe it is time to join Club Nintendo. Stay tuned later this week as I post my experience from the Nintendo World Store in NYC!

AOM - July

2010-07-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

There is something special about Patrick Brown's art. It has a very stylistic interpretation on many of todays video game heroes, but he also has a professional level of quality to each piece. Whatever he does to bring this together, I like it and if you do too, you can visit him here.

Vacation Time!!

2010-06-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Heading to New York for a family wedding, plus a long over due vacation . Updates will be sporadic at best, but I will try to keep you all informed. See you on East Coast time!!

Podcast 07

2010-06-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

We have survived the wave of news coming out of E3 and return to our regularly scheduled program. Sam and Max, Alpha Protocol and Blur await your ears, as we discuss our highs and lows of gaming this past week. In addition, we will get all philosophical on your ass and discuss how games affect your brain. BOOM!

You can download it here, or listen to it below

Play it NOW! - Red Dead Redemption

2010-06-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

John Marston is single-handedly the greatest protagonist that Rockstar has ever created. The game's ability to capture his personality and simultaneously recreate the picturesque Wild West setting, makes for a compelling narrative rarely accomplished in games. Much of this has to do with the excellent voice acting and animation, making the scenes very cinematic. There are also the usual Rockstar tropes of dialog containing social commentary on American life, but Redemption executes these without disrupting the narrative.

With solid gameplay mechanics, ambient challenges, and believable characters, there is incentive to go beyond the main storyline. Rockstar develops this in a variety of ways; from the hunting of animals, to the picking of flowers, to the various random NPCs the user may find himself either helping or hurting. No decision you make can truly affect the outcome of the story, but instead your actions affect how NPC’s treat you. Sure, John is an honorable outlaw in personality, but Rockstar allows you to play the game anyway you would like. Therefore, if you want to go around being a generally unsavory fellow in the Wild West, the choice is yours. In the grand scheme of the storyline, the outcome does not have the same impact if you play the game as a villain. That said, this is the Wild West, and ultimately you are going to kill many people. Luckily, the combat mechanics have improved significantly over at GTA 4. Marston is able to utilize cover and execute a series of attacks sequentially, using a slow motion targeting system called Dead Eye. Dead Eye comes in handy when riding horse back and trying to shoot at the same time.

Weapon variety is fantastic for the period, offering up everything from bolt-action rifles to high-powered pistols. Even mini-guns make an appearance on occasion, increasing the blood shed in some missions significantly. There is also an open world component to the online play, where up to 16 people enter a free-roam session. In the multiplayer one can posse up to run gang hideouts, complete a new set of ambient challenges, or even run through some of the free co-op DLC. There are also some competitive modes online like deathmatch, capture the flag, and various objective-based matches. Really, the only thing missing are some of the mini-games from the single player like blackjack or poker. I do not understand what limitations are in place, but the option of gambling amongst your friends after running through town causing a ruckus would fit this game perfectly. I hope that they can release a patch, but if not, it is still one of the must own games of 2010. Play it NOW!

Note: All images are the result of a Google image search

Get Blur for $20!!

2010-06-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

Best Buy has Blur marked down to $39.99 from June 20 to June 26. Combine with the $20 off manufacturer's coupon ([www.blurgamepromotion.com]) for a $19.99 copy of Blur. I personally took advantage of this if you saw my tweet. You should too!

Thanks to the guys at http://www.cheapassgamer.com/ for the heads up.

note: image courtesy of Google image search

Blog Report

2010-06-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

Just picked up a subscription to the new Sam and Max Penal Zone. So far I am enjoying the new psychic powers Max brings to the franchise. It really help to have a party member that can see the future in a adventure game. Too bad you don't have them too, otherwise you wouldn't have to read all this news. Enjoy!

Hello Kitty motor oil
New Xbox 360 Warns You Of Possible Doom [Xbox 360]
Def Jam Rapstar's Online 'Data Porn' Rolls Deep [E3]
Brink Delayed Until 2011 [Bethesda]
37% of the internet is porn [Dubious Conclusions]
How To Trade-Up To The New Xbox 360 For $90 [GameStop]
You Could Use A DualShock Instead Of The Nav Controller...
Cross-Section Of A Castlevania Castle [Xbox 360]
How To Control The Next Zelda Game [E3]
Lovely Alan Wake ads
Mario's Creator On The Mystery Of Women (And Cats) [Pullquote]
The New Mortal Kombat Cuts Deeper Than Ever Before [E3]
Star Wars lightsaber replica causes blindness, cancer [Lasers]
The Shirts of Pac-Man [Screengrab]
How To Troll The Xbox 360 Kinect Users You Know And Love [Kinect]
Fallout MMO Now Accepting Beta Sign-Ups [Fallout]
Final Fantasy Designer Would Like To Make A First Person Shooter [Tetsuya Nomura]
Premium "PlayStation Plus" Subscriptions Coming to PSN [E32010]
The Definitive Guide To The Nintendo 3DS [Top]
Gaming as Performance [Arcades]

Mommy, Where Do Dead Pixels Come From?

2010-06-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Just laughed my ass off when I read this web comic and wanted to share it with you.

as seen on Dueling Analogs

Podcast 06

2010-06-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

It is time for the Super E3 podcast with the usual suspects; Sean, Tim, Brian and Steve! We will go over most of the press conferences and games we are excited for in 2011.

You can download it here, or listen to it below.

Powered by Podbean.com

E3 Wrap Up

2010-06-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Click the jump for my impressions of E3 and what the "big three" had to offer.

Microsoft

Focusing primarily on the Kinect, the official name for project Natal, Microsoft announced the new hardware along with 15 software titles coming to the platform. First impressions say the Kinect is less interesting for gamers like me, with most titles targeted towards a more casual demographic. The titles that appeared lacked any sort of depth I typically look for in games, which was disappointing. There were some exceptions to this, as Harmonix’s new IP Dance Central seemed promising. The user interface appeared very easy to understand, as flashcards displayed the type of dance move you were required to execute and your motions are captured on Kinect. It could be a reason to get off my couch. In addition, many games incorporated a feature where the Kinect would take pictures of you in action, like a theme park ride. These can be sent to your friends online, bringing a community aspect to the device. Other examples of the tech in action included the current OS for the Xbox being much more interactive with controller free navigation and voice recognition. They also announced sequels to a number of titles we were already aware of, i.e. Halo Reach, GOW 3, Fable 3, etc. Microsoft finished with the new Xbox 360, which comes with a 250 GB hard drive and Wireless N packed in. All of the press who attended was lucky enough to receive one free!

Nintendo

Had a very impressive showing at the press conference this year, primarily because they focused on what is the most important part of gaming… games! They announced the release of every piece of software people have been pining over for the past three years as well as a new piece of hardware, the 3DS. Some of the games included Zelda, Donkey Kong Country, Kirby, and even Kid Icarus! The biggest surprise was the new Kirby, which is a departure from the traditional franchise. Kirby has always been about consuming your opponents and integrating them into your combat mechanics. This new iteration utilizes a very interesting artistic style and gameplay mechanic involving a piece of yarn, which interacts with environments and enemies. It also appears to be a co-op experience, which should be a perfect fit. The highlight of the show for many was the release of the new 3DS, as even the skeptics were impressed at how well the 3D worked. The smartest move by Nintendo was adding the capability of the 3D being adjustable via a slider bar. Since not everyone’s eyes are the same, it makes the 3D accessible to everyone. Other upgrades in the 3DS include an analog stick, a larger screen, a 3D camera and more processing power. Along with the hardware, Nintendo announced a plethora of software titles and movies, specifically for the 3DS.

Sony

Many will disagree with me, but I thought this press conference was exciting. It was rather long with all the content Sony covered, but it was all official announcements and no statistics. They started with 3D, announcing that 41 titles will support it by the end of 2011. I do not feel like spending a couple thousand dollars to wear glasses in the living room, so we will skip over that part. Then the Playstation Move was featured, as well as games supported and designed for the Move. This excites me because I am more interested in games that are triple-‘A’ titles, not necessarily Wii ports. For example, in Little Big Planet 2, the Move could be very useful in designing levels. In addition, Sony plans to bring the optional Move support to games like Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, Killzone 3 and Socom 4, all triple-‘A’ shooters. There are also some rail-shooters included, like Time Crisis, Deadspace: Extraction and The Shoot. Next, Sony announced a wealth of PSN exclusive content for various third party titles, as well as the announcement of the Playstation Plus program. The Playstation Plus is the PSN paid subscription and I will probably talk about it further as details arise. Sony also announced some new game titles like Portal 2, Twisted Metal, Heroes on the Move, and Sorcery. Finally, I have to mention Kevin Butler - VP of all things Playstation came out and gave a riveting monologue. It was a way for Sony to appease the fans and introduce a new ad campaign for the PSP. I happen to be most excited about my PS3 in 2011, right now.

Game I am most excited for - Red Faction: Armageddon

The story is centered on Darius, the grandson of RF: Guerilla’s two protagonists, who is some how involved in releasing an alien menace from deep within Mars. The game will be returning to its roots, primarily taking place underground, but not loosing any of the things that made the game great. Destruction is still prevalent in the game world and the weapons seem to continue to complement that. The Magnet Gun is something to be excited for, as you attach two different nodes to two different objects and the first object accelerates towards the second object, SMASH! In addition, the Nano-forge returns to become a tool of creation as well as destruction, allowing users to rebuild their rubble. That function, if used strategically, will allow the user create cover in combat situations and even funnel enemies into corridors. Most importantly, the hammer will also be making a return. I really cannot wait to see if THQ/Volition can make this a game of the year contender for 2011. Check out the stage demo below.

Note: all images courtesy of Google Image search and video courtesy of Gamespot in collaberation with YouTube

VR - Pixel Junk: Shooter

2010-06-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently you cannot upload a video over 10 minutes in length. Not sure how I missed that, but therefore in the interest of time, I simply split the latest video into two parts. So watch below if you are interested in seeing Lauren and me’s experience playing Pixel Junk Shooter.

Blog Report

2010-06-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

In the final act of Red Dead Redemption and it is building to be some of Rockstar's best work. But E3 is here so I guess the finale will have to wait. News!

The Giant Video Game Banners E3 Didn't Want You To See [E3]
Creative Boss is Said to Walk Out on Assassin's Creed [Rumor]
This Tuesday: PlayStation Move at Best Buy stores throughout Los Angeles!
iPhone 4 in Tokyo
Playing Rock Band 3's New Keyboard, 102 Button Guitar Controller [Mtv Games]
Metal Gear Solid: Raiden Has Changed [Cover Story]from Kotaku by Luke Plunkett
Play Zelda II As A First-Person Shooter [Zelda]
The Disappearance Of SimCity [Simcity]
The Dreamcast Returns! (As Digital Content) [E3]
New Mortal Kombat Coming, Will Be Most Gory Ever [Fighting Games]
Old Lady Complains To Google About Pac-Man [Humor]
Sony Shows Its Faith In 3D [Playstation]
Is this elementary school secretly the Starship Enterprise? [Star Trek]
My Four-Year-Old Son Plays Grand Theft Auto [Grand Theft Auto San Andreas]
"You Gonna Read This, Fisher?" The Art of Enemy Taunts [Republished]
My Own Private Architecture [Republished]
Watch The Entire Red Dead Redemption "Short Film" [Clips]
Pissed-Off Parents Find Math Game Too Violent for School [Education]

Podcast 05

2010-06-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

While I am still playing Red Dead and FF13, Tim and Steve start a new journey with Alpha Protocol. As E3 draws closer, news is slowly trickling in about upcoming titles. Brian and I get hyped about the prospect of a new Mortal Kombat movie and of course, Steve says something funny at the end of the show.

Download it here or listen to it below:

Marketing 101 - Blur Ad Campaign

2010-06-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

With the latest generation of video game consoles reaching full stride, popular culture has created a menagerie of different gamers. This results in more mainstream ad campaigns for video games, and the opportunity for creativity. Bizarre Creations’ newest IP, “Blur”, is an arcade racer, heavy on vehicular combat and multiplayer. The latest ad campaign features a foodstuff named “Brock Lee”, who is tired of driving in kart races for babies and marvels at the “big boy” racing in Blur. It is all very tongue-in-cheek and clearly a shot at the traditional kart racing genre and its current leader, Mario Kart Wii. Despite any qualms you have with the “sharing” of ideas across IPs, I feel the marketing is effective and succinctly explains the games overall theme. After seeing this, a post appeared on Kotaku showing the French ad campaign behind Blur. The approach towards the ad campaign is significantly different, taking the more “traditional” approach to advertising a product. Let's look at the two ads after the jump and go from there:

I wanted to understand why Activision/Blizzard would toss a creative commercial based on the old tenants that sex sells anything. It made me want to further explore cross-cultural advertising in video games and understand whether or not a character like Brock Lee would have found success in France.

A Point of Reference

Something important to American marketing campaigns is a historical point of reference that many new demographics in gaming may not have. It indirectly tugs on the heartstrings of nostalgia and reminds us of what many kart racers are at their core: arcade racers with super deformed characters and light combat. If you had not played a kart racer or never heard of one, then the commercial would seem confusing and insignificant. Therefore, I did my best to pull some statistics on the Mario Kart Wii as it related the U.S. and France. From here, we can draw a few inferences:

The first point is that the number of Wii owners in the USA is statistically higher than in France, when compared against the population. Therefore, the number of people who are aware of a game like Mario Kart Wii is much higher in the U.S. Secondly, this trend continues with how many Wii owners actually purchased Mario Kart Wii in their respective regions, about 1 in 3 for America and 1 in 7 for France. These are all estimations, since we cannot account for how many people may have purchased two copies or how many people may have borrowed a copy from a friend, etc. I think it paints a clearer picture of why France may have chosen a more “traditional” ad campaign.

Another Activision/Blizzard Game Tried It

Many games today release worldwide to various cultures, of which the European region is one of the most diverse. If an international publisher develops an ad campaign for a specific game, financially speaking, it is more cost effective to use the same campaign across multiple regions. Sure the commercial may need some slight cultural adjustments (language being the most important), but the overall vision remains the same. Take for example the WOW ad campaign featuring celebrities as characters in the MMO. Stylistically, both France and the U.S. shared the same ad campaign, as you can see below, with slight adjustments to the actors and language people could identify with. Ironically, Americans all know who Jean Claude Van Damme is, and vice-versa for William Shatner, but the important point is the marketing message of the commercials are the same. I would suppose that celebrity power enhances the message, since demographics can immediately identify with a person they are familiar with, but I do not believe that is the only way to bridge that gap. Maybe that was what was missing, since Brock Lee was a parody of the common kart-racing protagonist.

A Campaign which Strikes the Same Chord

There is another ad campaign, which tries to appeal to the same gamer nostalgia as the Blur campaign. Gamestop’s recent parody of familiar video game tropes has been a successful ad campaign in the U.S. over the past year. My personal favorite was their first, with the bunny protagonist stumbling upon a treasure trove of coins and exclaiming “Holy Shit!” It captures a feeling any gamer has had at one time or another in the most simplest of ways. This continued with other iterations showing examples; like the variety of obstacles one may experience trying to get a single coin or the simplicity of beating a boss, if you have the right weapon. Say what you want about Gamestop’s effect on the industry on a whole, but this advertising is smart and it appears to be working. In 2009, gross profit increased by $164 million or about 7%. Sales also increased at about 3% and COGS only increased at about 1.6%, explaining the increase in profit. There are a number of factors influencing an increase like this, but since the campaign has now influenced buyer behavior for 18 months. As GameStop intends on taking over the retail used game business worldwide, they have recently purchased MicroMania, the leading retailer in France. I do not speak French so I have no idea what this MicroMania Commercial is trying to say, but I wonder if Gamestop would be willing to bring the bunny campaign overseas in the future.

What did we learn today? Cross-cultural ad campaigns are difficult to implement, because no two cultures are the same. Some commercials can be tweaked, others are completely different, but if you cannot come up with a creative commercial, just show some skin. That will move units just about anywhere. Still, I bet Brock Lee could be popular anywhere.

Sources:

Google Image Search for the pictures

http://www.digital-digest.com/blog/DVDGuy/2009/05/18/game-consoles-april-2009-npd-sales-figure-analysis/

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lsa-conso.fr%2Fexclusif-lsa-la-ps3-a-talonne-la-wii-en-2009-en-france%2C110946&sl=fr&tl=en

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=130125&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1403658&highlight

http://www.vgchartz.com/game.php?id=6968

World Bank, World Development Indicators

U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division

Play it NOW! - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

2010-06-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

Run, jump, and climb your way through Ubisoft’s latest iteration in the Prince of Persia franchise: The Forgotten Sands. Anyone familiar with the franchise and its recent reboot will immediately notice this is not the Nolan North prince. Instead, we return to the Sands of Time era, as Ubisoft attempts to bridge the gap between the first game and its sequel, The Warrior Within. Why the departure? In my opinion, this was done to act as a companion to the recent live action summer movie, which is set in the same universe. After the first hour of play, it will be clear this is the Prince of Persia we all remember, but the game quickly evolves into a unique experience.

To get all the hate out, this game feels slightly unfinished. Built in the Assassin’s Creed 2 engine, expectations would be that this game should look better, but it falls short. Animations are stifled and over exaggerated, especially in combat. Textures and environmental effects are missing a certain level of polish fans would hope for. Also, the combat is rather boorish, where enemy attacks are telegraphed for such a long time, it is rare to take damage. Looking past the faults; however, there is a really creative entry in the Prince of Persia universe waiting for you. With your brother’s kingdom in peril as Solomon’s Army lays waste to his people, a Djinn tasks the prince with restoring the balance and saving the day. In order to do this, you will be granted elemental powers to help you on your journey.

In combat; however, some variety is added to the lackluster gameplay, as you command fire, ice, wind, and stone. Despite these additions to the combat, it is in the platforming where the new mechanics really shine. As you progress through the story, you will be granted additional powers of traversal to help the prince overcome various obstacles. As expected, the rewind feature is the first of these, but later you will have the ability to freeze water. Picture a waterfall between two fountains which look like poles the prince would traditionally swing on. To grab the first fountain you must freeze the water, but to reach the second fountain, you must unfreeze, pass through the waterfall and then freeze again to grab the second fountain. The complexity of these puzzles increases over the course of the game, and you can begin to see how this is not your typical Prince of Persia. Additionally, you gain two abilities: to recall broken sections of the palace one at a time, and a sort of air dash you can use on your enemies. Soon you will be jumping and dashing through waterfalls to get across crumbling bridges and balconies. Ultimately the end goal is to use these abilities to defeat Solomon’s Army and its leader, the Ifirit.

The story is a little cliché, but when you can run through a hallway, jumping across spikes, rolling past traps and sliding down banners unscathed, the experience is there. Although it will not win any awards, this is a fun addition to the Prince of Persia franchise. Play it NOW if you are looking for some old-school platforming with a new-school twist.

*note: all images are the result of a Google Image Search

Blog Report

2010-06-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Why is it that John Marston always a sucker for scumbags and philanderers?

I just made it to Blackwater and I already hate the new mission characters more than the ones in Mexico or Armadillo.

That's saying alot since Armadillo was home to slimey, nun-robbing, necrophiliacs...

NEWS!

Tetsuya Ishida's surrealist self-portraits
Red Faction: Armageddon "Emergency Transmission"
The War Game Where Nobody Gets Shot [Politics]
Microsoft Changing Xbox 360 Box Art [Coverstory]
Results are in on PAX's Booth Babe Ban Poll [Pax]
Kim Kardashian As Lara Croft? That Can't Be Right, Can It? [Rumor]
Porn Empire Can't Penetrate the PS3 [PS3]
Radiohead Has Good Taste In Video Games [Music]
Contra Returns Without The Contra Name [Konami]
First Batch Of BlizzCon 2010 Tickets Hit eBay [Blizzard]
Enjoy Your Massage! No, Really. Enjoy It! [Wii]
Oh, BTW, EA Sports Confirms NBA Live's Name Change [Sports]
PlayStation Move Gets Another Supporter [Playstation 3]
Man Accused Of Killing Kitten For Unplugging Game Console [Crime]
Foxconn Employee Dies After 34-Hour Shift [Foxconn]
Hulu Coming To Xbox 360? [Rumor]
Sony Remembers The PS3 Is A HD System [Hd]
Rockstar Won't Be At E3; Game Reveal Purportedly On Hold
Surprise! No Portal 2 Party at E3 [E3]

Hitting it off - Pixel Junk: Shooter

2010-06-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

For our latest edition of "Hitting It Off", join Lauren and I, as we spelunk through the "Depth's of Disaster" in Q games latest IP, PixelJunk Shooter.

S: I am a fan of Q games and everything they bring to the PS3. Whether or not their PixelJunk franchise is a system seller, it still offers some of the best downloadable titles on the Playstation Network (PSN). Previous games in the PixelJunk series fell into familiar genres like racing, tower-defense and platforming, but their art, music and sense of style make the experiences seem fresh. Therefore, when they announced their new game was a shooter, I was curious as to how "qualified" that statement would be. Lauren, from the time when I first described this game, to after we completed it, was it the experience you expected?

L: When you said "space shooter", I initially imagined more of a Space Invader format. Shooter pleasantly surprised me, which was much more interactive than the name implies. You carefully navigate through this underground expanse, interacting with various elements to save both people and mine diamonds. My favorite part of the game was your interaction with the elements: water, ice, fire, smoke, and oil.

S: Yeah, "space" shooter could not have been further from the truth, probably needed to work on those description skills... Your identification of how we would "carefully navigate" a level is an important distinction from a traditional Shoot 'em Up (Shmup). Most Shmups are fast-paced and riddled with bullets, but PJ Shooter on the other hand is a slower paced, strategic exploration game. From the mission objectives listed above, you mentioned the elements being your favorite component of the game. Was that impression due to how the elements affected those objectives or more simply, how the elements affected the environments in the level?

L: Well, to your credit "space shooter" makes a lot more sense to me than Shmup. I would have probably given you a weird look and made up an excuse to do something in the other room. ;)

The elements played a key role in the levels from early on. Initially, you learned that water is your friend; not only could you fully submerge yourself, but you could also "cool" your engines and revive health after overheating. In other levels, you are introduced to not so friendly elements - specifically the lava. While you cannot manipulate the lava on your own, the purpose of the game is to learn how to mix the elements in order to progress through the level. All while trying to avoid opening up a lava flow on poor unsuspecting miners!

S: Ammo was also tied to the overheat function, so if you were blasting away at a rock face or enemy, it was best to do it submerged in water. Keeping your ship cool, avoiding the chance you would spontaneously combust and fall to your doom. I felt the physics is what made these elements so striking and dangerous: lava flows with gravity and collects in empty pools, as water encounters this lava it changes to form rock. Water could also flow into the magnetic oil, creating an ignitable gas, which rises to fill ceilings and chambers. Then the magnetic oil was even dangerous by itself, as a ship passing over a pool of it would see the oil reach up to pull the ship into its depths. To balance your ships abilities against the elements, Q Games added the ship "suits", bringing another layer to the gameplay. I happened to think this was the best way for the user to experience those physics first hand. Do you agree?

L: Overall, the suits were an awesome addition to the game. Your normal ship was equipped with both firing and grabbing functions, allowing you to save miners and collect diamonds. The suits would modify these abilities, for example with the Lava Suit would allow you to shoot lava and thus melt ice. The water suit would allow you to grab chunks of ice and pull them down. Finally, the anti-magnet suit allows you to repeal the magnetic oil. The major downside to the suits is within the 2-player function. While the lava cannon is fun if you have the suit, it is difficult to avoid melting your teammate. Same with the oil, it was very hard to stay within the sphere of influence of your teammate's suit. Although frustrating, you have many lives, which help ease the pain.

S: Well I am glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. I know there are moments in Co-op where sharing the experience can be frustrating if we are not working together. There is a lot to appreciate from this games unique art, to chill music and tailored physics, making it another most own for PS3 owners. There is one last topic to wrap this little discussion up and I cannot let it go. After playing this game from beginning to end, do you think “Shooter” was the right name for this entry in the Pixel Junk series?

L: I don't think the name perturbed me as much as it did you. Sure it could have been a bit more descriptive, but the short name goes with the overall simplicity of the series.

Podcast 04

2010-06-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

Sean, Tim, and Steve return; with special guest Mike Poole to talk more video games. We will spill our guts over Red Dead Redemption and POP: Sands of Time. Then, move into a little topic on Marketing video games to consumers and whether or not those Marketers should be gamers.

Download it here or

Listen to it now

VR - Super Street Fighter IV

2010-06-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

Bitmob - "Fog of War" Homework

2010-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Bitmob contributor Michael Rousseau issued a challenge to the Bitmob Community for the month of May to improve the readability of our posts. Using a series of algorithms, we could either write a new article or improve an existing one. I chose to improve upon the first editorial I ever wrote on my blog, which you can find here. The readability results are below and the re-written post with my conclusion, is after the jump.

Readability Results for original post:

Flesch Reading Ease – 54.8

Flesch – Kincaid Grade Level – 11.4

Gunning Fog Index – 14.16

State of the Industry: Video Game Violence

I am a gamer, using this blog to share my opinions on games and other aspects of the industry. Therefore, running a monthly post titled "State of the Industry" is a good focus point for analyzing a hot industry topic of my choosing. For the first post, I chose to forego the frying pan and jump straight into the fire by tackling everyone's favorite subject, ‘Violence in Video Games’.

I suppose it started with an article I read a couple of days ago on Games Radar, here. The article examines video games’ recent obsession with dismemberment, perhaps a reflection of humanities’ sub-conscientious fear of such a fate. As this trend continues to proliferate within the industry, I took his article to heart, but felt it lacked causality. Examples provided examined multiple theaters, from the human psyche, war, and economics, to literature, such as Faust or the Divine Comedy. The article is right; we all subconsciously exert our fears and desires through games at times, as we do most forms of media. Whether we know it or not, there could be an inherent desire (or lack thereof) to dismember something. The issue I take with this article is the other factors that go unmentioned. The article uses some six games as examples, I will deconstruct the two which emphasized the concept of dismemberment the most, in my opinion.

The Rise of the Sequel

Fallout 3 is a sequel of a long-standing series of PC games by the same name. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where you are the wanderer who must make decisions to help save humanity or not. Really, the change from its predecessors is in the combat system. VATS, a turn based targeting system, is based on the original AP system allows you to target someone’s body part in hopes of scoring a critical hit. However, you will not dismember a limb without a “kill” shot. The "Bloody Mess" perk will amplify this, which makes most opponents explode upon death. Part of the reason Fallout 3 is getting so much attention, is because how vivid the graphics are. I mean, it is slightly disturbing by how depressing the Wasteland is. The entire concept of "dismemberment" is a derivative of Bethesda's attempt to replicate the feel of past Fallout games.

Which brings me to my first point: perhaps the reason we see more emphasis on violence to this degree has to do with the “fact”* that we are seeing more sequels to some of our favorite violent games. I count around 15 (depends on the definition of violence) sequels in 2007, but 30 in 2008. It would seem to me that any game that starts out violent would have to find creative ways of being more violent in the coming sequels. Not only to outdo their predecessors, but also to keep up with new IPs who may be creating new ways to be violent. Differentiation is the key to staying competitive.

Shoot the Limbs

Dead Space, being a new IP, is a good example of my previous point of differentiation. Reading over numerous press releases and interviews, Dead Space focuses on dismemberment as the defining combat element in this game. This third person, survival horror game requires you to dismember monster’s appendages to kill them. I personally found it entertaining, but for a game accused of borrowing concepts from so many other games, it does a very good job with its unique combat mechanic. Combined with its intense atmosphere and unique inventory system, Dead Space has a lot going for it as new franchise.

In conclusion, I think it is important to note the volume of games released in this generation. For every violent video game released, we see another wave of simulation, sports, and party games that have almost no violence at all. It may just be that the industry is growing rapidly and like any medium (music, movies, television) we as society will continue to push the envelope of what is acceptable. Conceivably, it is something in our subconscious that's creates a desire for violence. Game design in Fallout 3 has become about choice. You may have to kill your enemy, but how you kill them is up to you. The game is smart enough to recognize your behavior and affect the way the NPC's in the game react to your presence. The impact of these decisions may give us a deeper, more intimate look into human nature.

All images courtesy of Google Image search, and http://www.penny-arcade.com/

*Source: Wikipedia lists for Notable Games in 2007 and 2008.

Readability Results:
Flesch Reading Ease – 53.7
Flesch – Kincaid Grade Level – 10.3
Gunning Fog Index – 11.5

My Observations

I was pretty close to having my article meet Michael's recommended readability results. The improvements though were marginal, despite correcting a number of grammatical errors and passive sentences. I feel like I have come a long way in my ability to write a competent article. One thing I notice is, my business education works against the readability of my posts. The audience I have been trained to write for include executives and clients, who like big words and business jargon (think Synergy, Productize or Preactive). I am learning though and will continue to improve my ability to write and understand who I am writing for.

Blog Report

2010-06-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

How about the Microsoft "Wave"?

No, then maybe Playstation "Move"?

Alright Mr. Pickey, try the Nintendo "Waggle"?

Yeah, that'll do. Check out the rest of the news from this week.

New Promotions for PSP this June!
Remote Control Mario Kart Has Shells, Bananas [Nintendo]
It's Ghostbusters, Like You've Never Seen Them Before [Pachinko]
Tropical storm Agatha opens up massive, horrifying sinkholes in Guatemala City [Disaster]
Coming Soon to PSN Store: Joe Danger for PS3
Whose Car Is This? [Yours]
Man Spends Six Months Plotting Murder Of Counter-Strike Rival [Crime]
Left 4 Dead 2 Mutates Into Single-player Game [Valve]
Teen Werewolves Do Not Like The Xbox 360 [Nsfw]
Dear Apple, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft [Open Letter]
PAX Surveys Alternatives to Its Booth Babe Ban [Pax]
Should You Be a Gamer if You’re Marketing a Video Game?
Marvel vs Capcom 3 Screenshots Will Kick Your Canon In The Face [MvC3]
Don't Cheat In Guild Wars, You Will Be Killed [Mmo]
Red Dead Redemption "Short Film" Looks A Lot Like A "Trailer" [Clips]
THQ Announces Partners Division
Sonic Colors Streaks To The Wii And DS [Game On]
Kung-Fu Live for PS3: You Are the Controller
The Real Halo Rifle That Shoots Nerf Darts [Halo]
J Allard's Parting Advice To Microsoft [Microsoft]
Insomniac's Next Franchise Will Be Multiplatform
Father of the Xbox, Head of Gadgets and Fun Leave Microsoft [Update] [Xbox Shakeup 2010]
Do We Need Fair Trade Games? [Republished]

AOM - June

2010-06-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sesame Street Fighter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My head just exploded! Made by a most deviantartist who goes by the moniker, gavacho13. You can find more of his work here. Shoryuken!

Podcast 03

2010-05-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

We have a special guest on today's show, ScrewAttack.com's own Brian Baker. He will be here to guide us through a number of games, like Red Dead Redemption, FFXIII, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Backbreaker?! Also, our topic this week is the issue of Save systems in modern gaming, and whether or not it is acceptable that some save systems can still ruin games.

Download it here.

or listen below.

Personal Gaming Metrics

2010-05-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Being a recent MBA graduate and working in corporate America, statistics are what I do. Most employers like meaurable objectives, customers love them. It is our ability to display progress that can mean the life or death of a project. With this in mind, I was always curious what trends exist in my gaming habits and whether or not it was something I could "easily" measure.

As luck would have it, there's an app for that, if you have an iPhone. Developed by Hooked in Motion, titled "My Games", the app helps you categorize your video game collection. You can input all the information in manually, or you can use the camera and scan the barcode (much easier). Sure some data still needs to be filled in manually, but it is an easy way collect all that data. Afterwhich you can back up the data to a text file, import it into Excel, text to columns, and wa la! Columns and columns of data regarding my gaming collection habits. For more information about the app, go here. For more information about my addiction to games, hit the jump!

Is it sad that I only have beaten half of the 102 games in my collection? >_<

Blog Report

2010-05-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Went on a video game bender since the girlfriend was out of town this weekend. Played for about 36 hours and put a major dent in FF13. Also hit up Red Dead for some good times online, but the world didn't stop for my gaming addiction, so here is the news!

Mass Effect: The Movie Is Really Happening [Hollywood]
Here's Your Special Launch-Day Halo: Reach Hat [Microsoft]
First Killzone 3 Screens, Official Details [Playstation 3]
Little Girls Writes A Letter To Nintendo, Gets A Free DS? [Ds]
Ubisoft Ruins Prince Of Persia Box Art [Ubisoft]
Maybe The Greatest Baseball Pitch You'll See Today [Japan]
D ead Skate: Code Unlocks Isaac and Board [Unlockable]
I'm your huckleberry
The Sony Situation: SCEA's Rob Dyer Speaks
Blur Punches Mario Kart In The Balls [Clips]
Watch the Dallas Cowboys football stadium implode - from inside [Explosions]
From The Wayback Machine
Walmart Unveils Shiny New Online Gamecenter [Retail]
No More Heroes 2 Inspires The First Video Game Lingerie Collection [No More Clothing]
World Of Warcraft Remote Auction House Is Free To Browse, Pay To Bid [Blizzard]
Code Required for UFC Undisputed Online Play [Dlc]
Unlockable Celebs Will Return to NBA Jam [Wii]
Exclusive Showdown Reveals...Pointlessness Of Exclusives [Xbox 360]
Beware This Ruinous Prince of Persia Glitch [Spoilers] [Glitches]
PixelJunk Shooter 2 in Full Production!

Play it NOW! - Super Street Fighter IV

2010-05-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Street Fighter IV was the fighting game for a new generation. Not only has it fleshed out the idea of what a 2.5D fighter can be, but it has sparked a revival of the genre. It is only suitable that Capcom, the father of 2D fighters, be the one to lead such an ambitious journey. Much like their previous installments, SSFIV is an expansion on the foundations laid in Street Fighter 4. Some gamers may be taken aback by the idea that they have to procure another disc. Let me assure you: this is a new game.

First and foremost, the character selection screen is initially completely unlocked, and a few new characters are available. Some are from the original Super (Dee Jay & T-Hawk), others from the Alpha series (Guy, Cody, Adon), and still others from Third Strike (Dudley, Ibuki, Makoto). Rounding out the 10 are some new faces with Hakan and Juri. This article will focus on the new characters, since the existing are similar to their predecessors.

Juri - Is primarily an offensively oriented character, with few defensive moves. Most of her attacks are kicks and her fireball technique can be charged. If you choose to charge, she does a high kick first and can unleash her fireball at any time after that by releasing the button. She has a counter move in which she taunts her enemy into hitting her. If she is hit; she can move backwards, jump into the air, or appear behind her opponent. Combined with her aerial dive kick, this counter is especially painful for her opponents. Her super unleashes a flurry of fireballs and juggles the opponent, ending with a fireball that hits the opponent as they are falling. The first Ultra is the Feng Shui Engine, which is a timing move that allows her to do combos at ease. The second Ultra is the Kaisen Dankairaku, a devastating attack in which she kicks her opponent up, then down where the opponent lands on her foot. She taunts them before slamming them into the ground.

Hakan – An oil wrestler whose technique revolves around the application of oil to his body. The primary move is called the Oil Shower, but the overall move set remains the same regardless of the presence of oil. The difference made by applying oil shows in the strength and agility of the character. Moves like the slide attack, will reach further with oil applied. Since he is more of a grappler, his throws are also more powerful with oil. Applying the oil also makes him "glow" for a short amount of time, acting as a timer of sorts for his current oiling. His super involves grabbing his opponent, sliding back and forth across the floor of the stage. The first Ultra is the Oil Coaster, which is like a more powerful version of his Oil Rocket move. He grabs, then pops the opponent up into the air, and slides them into a wall. The second Ultra is the Oil Combination, where Hakan lays down on the floor and waits for his opponent to fall into him. Once an opponent does, calamity ensues and they will wish they had not executed that last jump.

Additionally, all characters have been given a second Ultra. You choose which Ultra to use before the round begins, much like Third Strike. The game also features a few additional online modes: Team Battle (up to 8 players), and Endless Battle (winner plays against a rotating group of up to 8 players).

Another great feature is the Replay Channel, which allows players to save and view replays from around the world. It provides users some excellent footage, despite the lack of any character specific filters, which would help in finding a match up you may be struggling with. Fans of the series will notice the return of the car and barrels bonus stages. I found these to be fun bits of nostalgia to remind people of Capcom’s roots. Rival battles are still prominent from the previous game, which feature a unique dialogue sequence whenever a certain pair of characters face-off against each other.

A downloadable Tournament Mode is scheduled to be released on June 25, 2010. This will allow people to create their own tournaments, with victory belts. This will be cool if only for bragging rights and Capcom has mentioned sanctioning a few tournaments of their own DLC is limited to a number of costume packs for the various characters. These are not essential, but certainly add some variety to the already numerous costumes and color combinations. The game itself is at a price point of $40. If you don’t already own a fighting game, it makes Super Street Fighter 4 essential for any console owner.

*note: all pictures are coutesy of a Google Image search

The timeline for the costume packs is listed below and if you haven’t bought any, you may want to wait until August and just buy them as one package.

• Available in pre-order: Super Classic Pack (Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen, Fei Long)

• Now available: Super Challengers Pack 1 (Hakan, Makoto, Guy, Dudley, Dee Jay)

• Now available: Super Shoryuken Pack (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken, Dan)

• May 25: Super Beauty Pack (Chun-Li, C. Viper, Sakura, Rose, Cammy)

• June 8: Super Challengers Pack 2 (Juri, Ibuki, Cody, Adon, T. Hawk)

• June 15: Super Brawlers Pack (Zangief, E. Honda, Rufus, Abel, El Fuerte)

• June 22: Super Shadaloo Pack (Vega, Sagat, Balrog, M. Bison, Seth)

• June 29: Super Classic Pack (Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen, Fei Long)

• July 27: Super Complete Pack (All 35 costumes)

Podcast 02

2010-05-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Another Podcast is complete, and this one is on a new mixer. Tim, Steve and I discuss things like Bioshock 2, Red Dead Redemption, Japanese perversion and E3 dreams. Oh and this one is a little more explicit than the previous one....

You can download Episode 2 here or listen below.

Video Recommendations are live!

2010-05-20T18:16:00.001-07:00

Video has come to Two.Can Play thanks to YouTube and you should be able to start watching some of it now.

Sure it isn't production quality, but hey with the budget of about the cost of a Subway sandwich and my trusty Flip cam, it is as good as it can be for now. As for my "on camera" demeanor, it will improve with practice.

The YouTube username is TwoCanPlayBlog, but you can also go to the video page on http://www.twocanplayblog.com/ to find all the videos currently uploaded.

And since you are already here, click the jump for my VR of Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Blog Report

2010-05-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Red Dead Redemption night. ALL NIGHT! But you can take a break for some news, right?

Bionic Commando, Dark Void Last Straws For Capcom [Capcom]
Rumor: 'Premium' Version Of PlayStation Network Unveiled At E3 [PS3]
PlayCast Announces HD Upgrade To Cloud Gaming Service
Too Big and Too Hard [Republished]
A Look Inside The Arcade Scene Of Kuwait [The World]
Privates, The First Twin Stick Shooter Set In A Vagina [Xbox 360]
Brink: No Girls Allowed [Republished]
First Assassin's Creed Brotherhood Details Slip From The Shadows [Ubisoft]
GameStop Employee Loses His Job Over Rape Game? [Update] [Sex And Violence]
The World United As I Played Mass Effect 2 [Photos]
EA's Fight Against Used Game Sales Passes To Tiger Woods [EA Sports]
BlazBlue, The Art Exhibition [Art]
Pokemon World Championships Coming To A Metropolis Near You [Pokemon]
LittleBigPlanet 2 for PS3 Officially Announced for Winter 2010!
America, You Spend A LOT Of Money On Video Games [Research]
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Four New Challengers Enter [Capcom]
Kotaku 'Shop Contest: Merit Badge Edition Winners [Photoshop]
Why APB Uses Your Phone's Pricing Plan Instead of World of Warcraft's [PC]
Final Fantasy IX Coming Soon To North American PSN [Playstation Network]

Red Dead Redemption Posse

2010-05-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you guys might be picking up a copy of Red Dead Redemption today and are interested in joining a posse. Well you might be in luck, as this ol’ four-flusher is looking for recruits. There is a problem though, we don’t have a name.

Boy, we’re gonna need a name, because if any yellow livered blowhard doesn’t pay through the nose when the come across us vandals, they at least better spread the word. So quit beatin’ the devil around a stump and help decide already, by posting in the comments. Then you can worry about putting on your best bib and tucker, before we set out to lay claim to our corner of the Wild West.

You can find examples of registered posses in the wiki below. Oh, and PS3 only for this posse.

http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Posses

New Domain Names

2010-05-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

For everyone out there who has had trouble with the Blogger web address, there is good news.

We here at Two.Can Play have bought up a few domain names to make it easier to find us.

Next time you get online to head to Two.Can Play, try typing: http://www.twocanplayblog.com/ or http://www.twocanplayblog.info/. Then, Bam! You will be redirected right here to the homepage.

These domains were registered through http://www.godaddy.com/ and if you listen to the Cheap Ass Gamer's Cagcast, you can get some discounts for your next web domain through Go Daddy. Just like me.

*note: all images courtesy of Google image search

Bitmob: Guides

2010-05-14T00:36:00.000-07:00

Guides, walkthroughs, and FAQs are all tools which have helped gamers across generations of consoles overcome obstacles in their gaming experience. These can be applied to almost any type of game for any purpose, but their intent is to provide the reader complete transparency into a games’ world. Normally, I will try to avoid the use of these tools, because in some ways, I feel it can ruin my experience. For every rule there is an exception; however, and Bethesda Games Studios (makers of the Elder Scrolls series and Fallout 3) have become that exception.

When I first picked up Oblivion, I couldn’t handle it. There was just too much to do and see. So after the first week, I ran out to my local gaming store and picked up the guide. I used it religiously and before 100 hours had past, the guide was tattered and had served its purpose. Going into Fallout 3, I was sure the guide was going to be a necessity and bought it day one. For me, it has become one of my favorite non-video game purchases I have ever made. Remember how the Oblivion guide was trashed? Well this led me to buy the Hard Cover Fallout 3 guide, because I knew what would happen. This thing is the first guide I have ever read front to back. Don’t be fooled, it is a 496 page text book! The format worked extremely well for completing side quests, developing your character, and finding all those pesky bobble heads. They even have flow charts at the start of each quest, so you can see the results of your decisions and try to plan the best course of action for your story or character. Just looking at the table of contents, you can imagine how complex this game was.

I am spoiling some of the surprises, but experiencing those events is much more important to me. For example, finding the Deathclaw Sanctuary or the crashed Alien Spaceship would probably not have happened, save the chance I happened to be running through the wasteland one day and came across them. This is the justification for using a guide in my case: limited time. I have very little time to play games these days and when I do play, I don’t want to spend 30 minutes running through the desert hoping to find something cool. I go into a game session expecting to see something cool and to make some progress. If that means every once and a while I need to pull up a guide, I am ok with that. Plus, I have this sweet Fallout 3 textbook for my coffee table.

Podcast is Live!

2010-05-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Thats right. We have a Podcast! Join myself, Steve Borga, and Tim Hinz for a riveting discussion of video games. You can download it here. Or you can just listen right here in your browser. Show notes after the jump. Enjoy!

Hosts:

Steve Borga
Sean Hinz
Tim Hinz

Segments:
- What have you been playing?

- iPhone game of the week

- News from last week (in no particular order)

- Topic of the week

- Plugs

Bitmob: Gamer Tourism

2010-05-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

When people reference Texas’ video game industry, Austin is typically touted as the ‘toast of the town’. Rarely do you hear publishers touting the importance of Dallas, or hear them refer to it as being a “Mecca” for gaming culture. They might be right when you compare it to LA or the Bay Area, but I feel Dallas is becoming more “gamer friendly” everyday. Below is a list of why Dallas is great for people who love to design games and those who love to play them.

For the ‘up and coming’ game designers:

If you are looking to get into the field of developing video games, there a few different paths to break into the industry in Dallas. Higher education is a great starting point for aspiring designers. The greater Dallas area is home 3 universities which offer some sort of video game design degree: UTD, UNT, and the most famous GuildHall @ SMU.

There is also a chapter of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) in Dallas. Here is their mission statement for those who are not aware of the IGDA:

"The Dallas IGDA is a non-profit society committed to enhancing the careers and lives of game developers by connecting them with peers, advocating issues that affect the community, and strengthening the Dallas game industry."

Lastly and most importantly, Dallas is home to a few famous developers in the industry.

3D Realms – still around… I think. Duke Nukem anyone?
id Software – invented the FPS and will be releasing RAGE soon
Gearbox Software – Borderlands, Brothers in Arms and possibly Aliens: Colonial Marines
MumboJumbo – makers of casual games like Zuma
Robot Entertainment & Bonfire Studios– rose from ashes of Ensemble Studio closure (Age of Empires & Halo Wars)
Terminal Reality – BloodRayne, Ghostbusters and are working with 4mm Games on Def Jam Rapstar
And there are more popping up everyday…

Some of these studios even hold focus testing sessions, which are open to the public. Although I am not in game design, I have attended these sessions and admit it is pretty cool getting to play some games months before release. So, if you have a penchant for game design, Dallas is certainly a viable destination.

For the Gamer in search of a Community:

Arcades are all but dead in the USA. I hate to admit it, because I was raised in these things and they were a big part of discovering my love for video games. Like most cities, Dallas has the Dave & Busters, Gameworks, and even a Nickel Mania or two. These corporate conglomerates aside, the one true shining gem is Tornado Terry’s. Located about 30 minutes from downtown Dallas, there is a field in between Keller and Fort Worth. In this field is a warehouse with over 70 of the games that you used to love to play: Smash TV, TMNT, Darkstalkers, Pacman, Iron Eagle, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, and many others. No quarters needed here; however, as the machines are set to unlimited play at a price of only $12.50! I used to love going there for hours back in high school and will be making a repeat visit very soon. It is truly the last of its kind.

For the more hipster youth culture, head over to Barcadia and play some games in their vintage arcade. They have over a dozen games ranging from Defender to Joust and a line up of skee-ball machines. Doesn’t quite have the same vibe as the musky old arcades of my youth, but it is cool to see such classic machines out for public consumption.

We also were recently blessed with our own Game Convention hosted by the guys over at ScrewAttack. I attended last year and you can find my thoughts on it here. If you are going to be in Dallas over July 4th weekend, they will be back and you can get details at http://www.sgconvention.com/.

One last note, there are communities online to find gamers locally. One great example is Meetup.com’s Texas Gamers. Who are based out of Richardson (North Dallas), they are over 300 strong and host Tournaments and outings for gamers in the community. You can join up here.

And remember, Austin is less than 4 hours away for those that live in Dallas. They have an even larger community of developers, gaming conventions, and the best damn Japanese Arcade you can find stateside, in my humble opinion.

New E-mail for the Site

2010-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Two.Can Play has a new e-mail address, so please send all your requests to twocanplay.blogspot@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Halo Reach Beta Stats after Week 1

2010-05-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

Week one of the Halo Reach Beta has ended and here are my stats so far. Expect to get some impressions on the overall experience from me, after the Beta has closed. Stats after the jump!

*note: all pics are courtesy of Bungie.net and a Google Image Search

Blog Report

2010-05-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

I am doing my best to keep my head low and work on this final paper. Then Bungie had to go a release the Halo Reach Beta... Anyway, here is the news.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Announced for PSP!
Spider-Man, Jedi Thwart Real-Life Comic Book Villain [Update] [Comics]
This Could Be The Best Street Fighter Film Ever Created [Movies]
Free Comics Eveywhere!
Well, No Wonder Game Crazy Went Out of Business [Screengrab]
Sony Registers 'Infamous2TheGame.com' Whatever Could That Mean? [Infamous 2 The Game Dot Com]
Real Life Modern Warfare: Soldiers vs Pirates, With Helmet Cameras [Clips]
Fallout: New Vegas Adds Hardcore Mode, Weapon Mods & More [Obsidian Entertainment]
Rumor: Castlevania HD Whips Up Six Player Vampire Slaying [Konami]
BlazBlue Gets Its Own Tournament Edition Joysticks [Accessorizing]
New Treyarch Developed Call of Duty Hits Nov. 9 With Likely Modern Setting [Call Of Duty: Black Ops]
We Have A Hostage Situation [Screengrab]
Video Games and the Philosophy of Art [Guest Editorial]
Halo Developer Joins Forces With Activision [Breaking]
Miyamoto On Wii Star Controller Prototype: "No one liked that one." [Wii]
The Perils Of Localisation [Screengrab]
The Cub Scouts Get Video Game Badges [Scouts]
Red Faction's Made For TV Movie May Spawn A Series [Syfy]
The Kuril Islands dispute
This Guy Is A Fighting Game Superstar [Super Street Fighter IV]
Kotaku Japan Confronted by Famitsu and Konami [Top]

AOM - May

2010-05-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

David Stonecipher over at The Examiner has some pretty hilarious art. Basically he took classic game characters and provided them with some stylin' beards. You can find more here.

Graduation Approaches

2010-04-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

With graduation quickly approaching, I am going to have to take some time off from the Blog. But no worries, I should be back in a week or two. More content to come.

Bitmob - Red Faction: Guerilla Vs. Just Cause 2

2010-04-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

Red Faction: Guerilla had to be the biggest surprise of 2009 for me. I had played previous incarnations on PC and while I remembered them, they don't come up in conversation too often. Guerilla, on the other hand, had quite the opposite impression on me. So much so, that when Christmas rolled around I bought a few copies for my friends! It was just one of those games that was full of "oh shit" moments and glorious explosions, that it’s memories have stayed with me to this day. So when I started to hear about Just Cause 2, I was really excited. It sounded a lot like Guerilla; where you are a stranger in a foreign land, leading its people to freedom from the hands of an oppressive military force. Furthermore, it has an open world environment with unique vehicles, weapons, and explosions. After putting about 10 hours into JC2 and beating Guerilla, I feel I can weigh in on their similarities and differences.

JC2 has a slightly more interesting combat system, mostly because of the incredibly satisfying way I can shame my enemies using the grappling hook. Attaching an enemy to a car driving by is hilarious. Try attaching someone to an explosive tank and watching him rocket into the atmosphere, its AWESOME! Trust me. The guns; however, are based a little more in reality. Guerilla had its hooks though, and it would be a shame to forget how great the various hammers are in JC2. The other weapons are also fantastic (especially the nano-rifle), but for the majority of the campaign I exclusively used explosive charges and the hammer.

Terrain traversal is infinitely better in JC2. Whether it’s driving a motorcycle off a cliff, free falling 500 meters and pulling my parachute, or getting into a fighter jet and going Mach 1, there is nothing this fun. Also, all vehicle weapons have unlimited ammo, UNLIMITED! Not only can my Apache Helicopter can take out an entire base in a manner of seconds, it can get me from one corner of the map to another. Guerilla, on the other hand, had some cool mechs and various cars/trucks, but no planes or choppers. Plus, the grappling hook parachute combination covers more ground faster than Guerilla’s jet pack. Environments in JC2 are striking and diverse, which make the various vehicles almost necessary due to the extent of the map size. Guerilla is less impressive, but this is due mostly to the context of the environment. The story takes place on Mars early in the terra forming operation, so much of the environments are rust red and pretty bland.

While the stories themselves are pretty much the same, the voice acting in JC2 is simply terrible. Though Guerilla is not much better, it is certainly less distracting than JC2. The true differentiator at this point comes down to mission structure. Open world games are critiqued for their mission structure time and time again, most notably for their variety. JC2 at 10 hours in has already begun to repeat itself. Most mission objectives seem to be limited to 3 or 4 types and revolve around destroying a specific object, activating something, or kidnapping a politician. There is some variation to these, as well as side missions and collectables. This makes playing through the story campaign very dry without you taking it upon yourself to spice it up. Guerilla; however, has some of the best missions in an open world scenario that I have ever played. Part of this is due to how effective Volition’s physics tech is. Take, for example, the destruction missions. Here the game provides you a building and a set number of weapons, forcing you to find a creative way in bringing down the entire structure. Furthermore, the hostage missions are more satisfying than most missions, because everything in the environment is destructible. So if I can see which side of the building they are being held in, I would simply drive a truck through the other side and load them up before the EDF would even know what happened. Not every mission was great though, some hijackings of vehicles required you to drive halfway across a map to complete and are timed. If a mistake is made, then it starts all over.

Outside the campaigns JC2 has nothing else to offer. You just get the open world with this one, which is kind of disappointing. Guerilla on the other hand has a number of additional modes. Those destruction missions are also available in a time challenge mode, so gamers can pass the controller around with friends and see who can destroy a building the fastest. Also, Guerilla offers a robust multiplayer component which was awesome and never got its due recognition. The main component that made the multiplayer so different was that there were various jetpacks which provided the player a unique ability, making the experience unique. In conclusion, I love Just Cause 2 and will see it through to the story’s conclusion. Although, it won’t be enough to dethrone Red Faction: Guerilla from being the destruction game of my dreams. Maybe next time one of these games will add co-op and set the bar even higher for open-world games everywhere. Red Faction: Guerilla FTW!

*note: all images courtesy of Google image search

Play it NOW! - Battlefield: Bad Company 2

2010-04-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

The boys of bad company are back, and they are ‘in it to win it’ in this high octane sequel from DICE. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 comes from a long line of first person shooters. Like its predecessor, it changes the Battlefield formula by creating a story with memorable characters. Having not played the first Battlefield (shame on me), I was not familiar with the returning cast members. Perhaps this was a good thing. Haggard, Sweetwater, Sergeant Redford, join you (Marlowe) on a crazy adventure around the world, trying to keep the impending Russian threat at bay. Many reviews promoted the impression that Bad Company’s latest incarnation lacked the same depth in the character development and story as its predecessor. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the story and down time between fights. The squad’s camaraderie led to conversations on topics ranging from the best scenes in the movie Predator, to names common in the continent of Africa. After a long stint of playing more serious FPS’ like Modern Warfare 2 and Bioshock 2, it was refreshing to see my squad having as much fun as I was.

Speaking of fun, the other great thing about this Battlefield, much like Battlefield 1943, DICE’s implementation of the Frostbite engine makes for some “explosive” situations. Frostbite is a development engine that makes much of the environment in Bad Company 2 fully destructible. Sure, it has its limitations, since buildings require key points to be destroyed before they topple. Not everything in the environment is an object, and those are not destructible in a real world sense. But when a sniper has you pinned down from a tower and he is perched up there just right, I would typically opt to destroy the whole tower. The combat scenarios built around this destructibility favor the game, allowing the user to commandeer jeeps, tanks and various drones to level whole villages. As usual, the Battlefield vehicles are fun to drive and are typically responsive, save for a little collision detection hiccup. Jumping in a tank and blasting out the sides of buildings is a romp, doing justice to how beautiful the engine was designed.

Weapons are another high point in Bad Company 2, for more reasons than one. Variety is the key component; since many weapons have been featured in other FPS’, and we all have our old standbys. How many times in a level have you really needed a sniper rifle, but couldn’t bear to part with the shotgun? You would be SOL. In Bad Company; however, story checkpoints are populated with supply drops pretty regularly, which allow you to cycle through all the weapons you have currently collected. That is the second part that is genius about this game, a well-developed collecting system. Most FPS’ have very little collecting elements outside of some weird story driven object, say audiophiles or laptops. With Bad Company 2, there are over 40 guns to collect in the story mode. Doing so not only earns you an achievement, but opens up a number of ways to kill your opponents. There are also a set of secondary mission objects which involves you destroying communication relays.

Multiplayer; this is where people’s opinions of the game begin to split. With so many FPS’ out there offering some form of multiplayer, why would Battlefield 2 stand out? I feel it is a matter of taste. Modern Warfare 2 is the game to beat this year, obviously. Although Modern Warfare 2 is a better shooter from a technical aspect (in my opinion), it lacks the variety Battlefield has created. First off, Battlefield is class based and you level within each class, unlocking new abilities and weapons which are unique to those classes. Combined with diverse maps, vehicles, and all the destructible environments, I personally think the multiplayer can be more fun and less frustrating. Sure Call of Duty fans would disagree, and that’s why it’s a matter of taste. So, if you like intense combat, explosive environments and some good old boy humor, you better play it NOW!

*note: all photos are the result of a Google image search

Blog Report

2010-04-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

As the world turns, I am getting slammed with homework trying to finish out the semester. Hopefully I can finish Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Dragon Age: Origins - Awakenings. In the mean time, NEWS!

Tony Hawk's Tony Hawk: Shred Outed By Tony Hawk [Activision]
Star Fox Dog Needs To Do A Barrel Roll [Screengrab]
Nolan Bushnell Rejoins the Atari Force [Atari]
The Best (Kotaku) WarioWare Games You'll Ever Play [Nintendo]
Do Video Games Shape Who We Are? [Well Played]
Call of Duty Series to "Broaden" Its Audience [Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2]
This Is A Nice, Nice Xbox 360 [Microsoft]
No Star Fox? Nintendo, You Have A Volunteer [Hideki Kamiya]
What Gets You Banned From Xbox Live Until The Year 9999? [Uno]
Why Is Japan So Behind? [Japan]
Splinter Cell Stunt Almost Gets Someone Shot [Ruh Roh]
Roger Ebert Asks a Good Question [Debate]
Brit Woman Needs Sex Constantly After Mishap on Balance Board [Oh Boy]
You Got Lost Planet 2 all over my city
FIFA Promotion Doesn't Get More Bizarre Than This [Japan]
Final Fantasy XIII PS3 'Nearly Doubles' Xbox 360 Version In U.S. Sales [Square Enix]
The Modern Warfare Fight: Your Guide to Activision Vs. Infinity Ward [Explainer]
Teenage Boy Charged With Killing His Father With Sledgehammer [PC]
Microsoft Supplier Factory Treats Workers Like "Prisoners" [China]
Game Changers: Sequels That Scared The True Fans [Genre Benders]
A Place To Drink Coffee With Gundam [Gundam]
Super Mario and Japan's National Pride [Japan]
The Winner Of The Tester Explains Why He Wanted To Win Work [Playstation Network]
Modern Warfare Developer Sees More Key Departures Today [Modern Warfare]
The Life of Game: Why I Live In Japan [Column]

Gaming Outdoors - Screw Attack Gaming Convention

2010-04-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

That's right! ScrewAttack is hosting another convention here in Dallas, TX on July 4th weekend. So bring the pain and compete in the Iron Man Contest. Or come to the Uwe Boll panel and ask him how it feels to be a total douche bag! More details to come when the schedule is up, but for now you can register here. General Information after jump:

Location: Westin Dallas/Fort Worth Airport

4545 West John Carpenter Freeway
Irving, TX 75063
(972) 929-4500

www.starwoodhotels.com‎

Date: July 2-4, 2010

Time: Once it starts, it doesn't stop! Full schedule of events will be released closer to event.

*note: photo is result of Google image search

Bitmob: Anticipated Game of 2010

2010-04-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Every so often Bitmob.com issues a community topic and since I am taking a more active role in their site, here is my post. This months topic was over our most anticipated game of 2010.

Yeah Yeah, I am sure half you out there think I am nucking futz and the rest won't even read the article, but Puzzle Quest 2 has become my most anticipated game of 2010. It wasn't always like this, Mass Effect 2 easily held the reigns for sometime, but I desperately need more Puzzle Quest! Sure, there are a slew of games coming out in 2010 and I plan to play them all, but there is one that looks to scratch a personal itch. It is something I honestly never thought I would find myself saying with triple A titles like Fable 3, Red Dead Redemption and a new Halo only months away; but Puzzle Quest 2 will keep me busy for hours on end if it is anything like its predecessor. Sure, there have been various imitators and the less than stellar Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, but those are NOT Puzzle Quest. Hopefully the sequel will be an expansion of everything that was great about the first game. Leading me to grind level after level, through Bejeweled-esque combat. Some announced changes include a graphical upgrade of the over world map, new classes, mana gems, loot etc.

I am sure some readers would wonder why I did not simply just restart the original campaign with a new character, but it just wouldn’t be the same for me. I had played through the campaign in its entirety, and hit my level cap. To me, that means I put that game down and concentrate on something else. With a new installment in the franchise, I can easily justify spending another 40 hours of my life training mounts, laying siege to cities and becoming a overall bad ass. Also, since I played the first installment on iPhone and it is not being released (initially) on that platform, I will get to change up the Puzzle Quest experience for myself as well. Since many of you readers have probably played this on one of the other various platforms, I pose this question – Xbox Live or Nintendo DS?

Note: all pics are courtesy of D3

Blog Report

2010-04-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

Games Games Games Games Games Games Games!

ModNation Racers Artist Spotlights: Ratchet & Clank Get Girlfriends!
Shooter Shooter Shooter Shooter
Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot Preview: The 80s Strikes Back [Preview]
Let's Round Up Gears of War 3 Stuff [Xbox 360]
There's A Ghost Recon Prize In Every Box Of Splinter Cell: Conviction [Ubisoft]
Well this iPhone game doesn’t in any way relate to the...
The Biggest Break Up In Video Game History [News]
A Japanese Game With Goddesses About...The Game Industry? [Japan]
Grand Theft Auto Used To Steer Children Away From Violence? That's New [Video Game Violence]
What's With The Nuns, Japan? [Religion Week]
Giant Bomb Has A Rat Problem
Rumor: Gears Of War 3 Adds Underwater Combat, Mech Suits & More [Xbox 360]
12-Year-Old Runs Up $1,300 FarmVille Debt [A Cautionary Tale]
They Grow Up So Fast: EA's Website, Circa 1997 [Internet]
Why We Call Him Dude Huge [Explainer]
Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Pricing Doesn't Bother 2.5 Million Xbox 360 Owners [Xbox 360]
Good Advice From One Nintendo Creator To Another [Blockquote]
iPad Wizardry: Jim Lee Sketches Wonder Woman [Comics]
The Thoughts Behind Miranda's Behind in Mass Effect 2 [Republished]
White Stripes Guitarist's Recommendation: "Quit Video Games" [Music]
EA Forms Real-World Racing Team [Ea]
Metal Gear Solid? More Like Metal Gear Solid Advertising, Your Billboard Here [Konami]
Rumor: Grand Theft Auto Developers Pressure Magazine, Writer Sacked [Journalism]

Marketing 101: Giant Bomb Quests

2010-04-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

I love all press in video games journalism, Bitmob.com especially. I read everything from everywhere and rarely go flaunting the content of one journalism outlet verse another, but Giant Bomb has done something that may have raised the bar for press outlets across the industry. Dare I say, all web sites across the Internet. The implementation of a Quest system for their users. See a synopsis of my most recent online addiction after the jump...

Games journalism is changing. Year after year, new advents in technology have evolved the landscape for press and readers alike. Now after years of waiting, reading about video games and playing video games may found harmony thanks to one media outlet, Giant Bomb.com. Their recent implementation of a Quest system has become my new Internet addiction. Like most platforms and many new games, achievements/trophies have become the new standard for increasing replay value and driving competitive gaming everywhere. Now, it has migrated to the way we learn about games. This lends itself extremely well to a site like Giant Bomb specifically, for a few different reasons.

First and foremost, the site itself has much more to offer than your average journalistic outlet and the way the quest system is designed, it encourages exploration of all the content the site offers. Sure they have your usual article posts like: reviews, previews, features, news and various editorials. The x-factor though comes from their database and user-managed wikis, which basically is looking to catalog the video game industry in its entirety. If any person, place, or thing may have had something to do with a video game, there is a place for it here. Many people who frequent Giant Bomb may not have been utilizing this, so the quest system has quests designed to have users scourer the various pages for that one piece of information the quest was hinting at. Which brings us to the second point; the hints behind each quest only help so much. A lot is trial and error and from my own experience, I have spent more time crawling through Giant Bombs database over the past few weeks, than I have in the past 2 years. It is incredibly smart and also incredibly annoying of those guys, but I have to give them credit. This may be the single smartest marketing effort of 2010 by any website. It drives people to not only interact with the site, but to build the site by; adding reviews, posting blogs, updating wikis, communicating with other users, etc.

Last, I feel that this has potential to do a lot for the community on Giant Bomb. First off Quest Sets like Vanity Smurf or Sonny Listn’ require users to fill out their personal information, connect their profile to external sources of social media and add some individuality to their profiles. Quests have caused me no end of frustration, but thanks to the forums and the community that makes them great, I was able to get a few more hints and complete a couple quests that were giving me a hard time. Again, another example of increasing the communication among users. Limited Edition quests add to the pressure by being time sensitive or limited to a certain number of people before the quests are no longer available. Lending a sense of urgency to some quests. So far, I have made it to level 11 and am doing pretty well, but with new quests coming out every week, the possibilities are endless.

If you are interested in participating in this meta-game, go to www.giantbomb.com

"The Tester" Plays It Safe

2010-04-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

After subjecting myself to 3+ hours of reality TV, Sony has a new QA Tester and his name is Cyrus, or more specifically, Will Powers. As an experiment in whether or not consoles could be a device for exclusive television programming, was Sony’s new PS3 exclusive reality TV program a success? From my perspective… no, but in the long-term, should Sony choose to revisit this model for delivering entertainment to the PSN, then it may be a yes.

Why do I say no? Well, in my opinion, Sony did not take enough chances for me to grant them a second chance. Before reality TV became the norm and even washed up celebrities were finding work, we all watched it. Therefore, we are all aware of the formula behind this, pseudo game-show meets “Big Brother” monster, oozing with unnecessary drama. Instead of Sony straying from this formula and letting gamers compete on a familiar playing field, it became a serious of ridiculous challenges and follies.

How many of you remember Nick Arcade? It was a delightful little game show from my youth where opposing teams would compete in time trials occasionally using such games as Act Raiser or Super Ghouls and Ghosts. That is what I was look for, a rebirth of that silliness, with a little bit of CPL. Instead The Tester brings us, LARPing in the woods, slinging footballs at people and self defense classes. I truly wanted to see these people compete using PS3’s and create an opportunity for Sony to show off a variety of their games.

How about a challenge to design a level in Little Big Planet, then have the other team compete in it to see who could score more points? Or maybe a little bit of Uncharted 2: Co-op, and run it as a time trial? Or even and old fashioned Madden tourney? These are all ways Sony could be marketing their games, using the show. In doing so, it would make the show unique and gear it more towards the audience who would actually take time to download this. The evaluation on their skill as gamers seemed less important and though the end result was a college graduate, degree in Japanese (why the fuck was this kid on here again?); I felt like I had just spent 3 hours watching the same reality TV show bullshit I could find on cable. Product placement was nice, as typically the winners of each episode were given products on behalf of Sony and some of them were highly valued. Also, some competitions made a little more sense, like the picture puzzles and the Playstation Trivia. Although, from a marketing perspective, those competitions still do nothing to help Sony sell games. It just seems to me, this was a missed opportunity.

Another thing, why are these contestants crying after they lose?! Don’t they understand that if they moved to California and have a high school education, they too can be a video game tester? Overall production quality was really good and the panel of judges was fine, not overly elaborate or outrageous. Simply did what they were there to do and were out. Even David Jaffe behaved! Episodes were at least short and had almost no commercials, save Dr. Dre’s Dr. Pepper ad at the start of each episode. After that it was a clean 20 ~ minutes through to the end. Would I recommend this? Nope. I mean, it was a free product and after using it I felt ripped off. How could I recommend it? Better luck next time Sony.

Some of you may wonder why I even watched this at all. Well, I am getting an MBA in Marketing and this stuff interests me. Since I might be able to have some influence over campaigns similar to these in the future, I felt I should have an informed opinion.

*note: all pictures are courtesy of Google image search