July 2011
35 posts
The psychology of the reticle and the feeling of...
notch:
This blog post contains extensive spoilers about a new mob in the adventure update. Don’t click “read more” unless you want spoilers!
Read More
Assuming you’ve read this, it’s absolutely brilliant.
Way to go, Notch. I’m really, really excited for this.
2 tags
Favorite Game Developer
I think Mojang is my favorite game developer. Even though (right now) I want to try and break into the AAA industry for a career, Mojang is a huge inspiration for me.
Because they’re an indie developer, they really prove how much one idea can take off. Minecraft is insanely popular, and it was only a small team who created/is creating it. I also really liked how they did their PR. Notch...
4 tags
Epic.
I’m going to edit this day’s topic slightly, because epic-ness doesn’t always necessarily have to be an awesome moment. You can have an epically shocking, horrifying moment in games. Something that makes you scream “WTF” at the TV repeatedly, as if the game can hear you.
My most epic moment in gaming, was in Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you haven’t played the...
2 tags
Final Fantasy, please.
I have always wanted to play the Final Fantasy games. One day, I will.
I’ve never owned a PlayStation system, so my knowledge of those games are severely limited. I wish I did, there are so many awesome games that I should explore. But until my money isn’t being sucked into a black hole (known fondly as SCAD), I’ll have to wait to play these games.
Day 25, Game I Plan On...
5 tags
2 tags
Best Classic?
And the winner is…Tetris. Hands-down.
Tetris, in a word, is amazing. It’s endlessly addicting, with a song that simply refuses to get out of your head the more you play. Although I do have a version of Tetris on my iPhone that I play on occasion, they butchered the classic tune with some jazzed-up, “funky” remix that sucks. Clearly, it is terrible. (I link the game to my...
2 tags
3 tags
3 tags
Best Story
This took me ages to figure out (and took quite a toll on my plan to catch up with these) since my favorite stories haven’t been finished yet. Mass Effect & Assassin’s Creed were both killer, but until both series are wrapped up I can’t say for sure that either story takes the cake. And I think I’ve talked about Portal way too much to pick that.
But..I honestly...
4 tags
Modern RPGs
One of my all-time favorite hobbies (aside from gaming) is reading. I love a good story. The best ones get you addicted, sometimes to the point where you can’t put the book down. Translating my passion for books into video-game terms, I adore a game with a killer narrative. If it’s got an amazing story, it’s (usually) worth suffering through crappy gameplay.
Games open up new...
2 tags
3 tags
3 tags
3 tags
Cutscenes
For all that I think cutscenes can be gorgeous to look at, I almost feel as though I liked Portal 2’s lack of cutscenes better. All of the gameplay & narrative were melded together seamlessly. Things just flowed. There was no interruption of gameplay to have a cutscene explain the next bit of narrative. Everything happened to the player as the player was engaged in the game. I think...
3 tags
3 tags
3 tags
4 tags
A Game Everyone Should Play →
This game is called This Is The Only Level. It’s an amazingly clever title for an amazingly clever game. Many types of puzzles claim to make you “think outside the box”, but what is “thinking outside of the box” other than following a set of instructions that just tells you how to solve longer and longer puzzles? Well, what we have here is a game that truly makes you...
“Call of Duty is just the videogame adaptation of squirt guns. It makes sense...”
– Jonathan Holmes in the “Why do kids love Call of Duty” article (via fycod)
5 tags
5 tags
LA Noire
I definitely woke up a little late today, but that’s okay…gave me some more time to think about this next one. “Best Gameplay” seems like a very opinionated category. For example, say you like RPGs and are a big Diablo fan. Well, Dragon Age II is also an RPG, but it has a completely different style of gameplay. You might end up loving it or hating it. So, instead of...
4 tags
Saddest Game Scene
Dear Gamers—
If you have not played Infinite Undiscovery and would like to, please don’t read this post as it spoils a major plot point. However, if you don’t really care…read on.
The saddest scene I’ve ever seen in a video game is the death of Faina in Infinite Undiscovery.
Faina is an NPC who is very much in love with the game’s protagonist—...
6 tags
4 tags
Mario and Princess Peach
For all that Princess Peach would be the most irritating spouse ever for constantly getting herself in trouble, there is no question about Mario’s loyalty to his princess.
Since the original Super Mario Bros. was released in 1985, this man has been faithful to finding and rescuing his darling Peach from various evildoers. Normal men might have given up after the third try, figuring it was...
3 tags
3 tags
6 tags
My Guilty Pleasure
The only reason I used to play The Sims when I was younger was because I liked to build houses. I would fill my neighborhoods with luxurious, fully-furnished houses with beautiful yards…and all of them remain unoccupied. The whole “living” part of The Sims just seemed a lot less appealing.
So, why did I love Animal Crossing so much when it was essentially The Sims without what...
5 tags
The Underrated Game
When I first picked up Infinite Undiscovery, a JRPG by Square Enix, I thought it was supposed to be a cheesy Final Fantasy ripoff. I’ve always wanted to play the Final Fantasy games, but since I’ve never owned a Playstation I figured this was better than nothing.
Infinite Undiscovery is not a perfect game. Though the gameplay is decent enough, many areas are large enough to get...
3 tags
Steam's "Summer Camp" Sale!
Sorry this is a bit late…but from June 30th until July 10th is Steam’s Summer Camp sale! I apologize to your wallets in advance.
However, I just picked up Bioshock and Bioshock 2 for $10 ($4.99 a piece). Here’s hoping I can score Mass Effect 1 and 2 with a major discount!
6 tags
5 tags
My First Video Game
My first video game was StarCraft, the science fiction real-time strategy game developed by Blizzard Entertainment.
I was 5 years old when StarCraft was first released. I remember my father coming home from work and telling me about this game a friend of his was playing. He thought it was the coolest thing that you could connect two computers in the same room and play against each other. He...
