It’s that time of year again.
Brace yourselves.
BioWare's Two Founding Doctors Retire From Video Games
I wish them luck on whatever they decide to pursue next!
Alan Wake
I just finished Alan Wake. Phew. Oh, man.
The credits are rolling right now— I like Major Tom, by the way —and I’m having a hard time processing what just happened. The only thing I can think about (other than I really want a cup of tea right now) is “Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2.”. I really want to keep playing.
If you happen to be my neighbor, that last sentence might strike you as odd seeing as you just experienced a few solid hours of extreme vulgarity coming from the apartment across the hall. I found this game really, really frustrating and I’m having a hard time pinning down exactly why. Part of me wishes I could write it off as the game being too freaking hard, but I know that’s not right. It’s a combination of my own ineptitude and complete inability to master the controls/flow of combat. I kind of just suck at it. I died a lot.
Dying so much was extremely frustrating because I got hooked on the story. I’m somewhat of a narrative junkie. My opinion on narrative in games will be a discussion for another time, but for now just know that when I get sucked in to a book I read it like a drill-press; I plow straight through from cover to cover. So, while I was playing Alan Wake, being mercilessly bludgeoned to death repeatedly was supremely annoying. The more difficult sections of the game were like a massive roadblock that kept me from getting to the end of the story.
Two things about the story…One: was it just me who didn’t really care at all about Alice? I cared way more about how Alan was going to defeat the evil darkness than I did about saving his wife. Sorry, Alan. Number Two is linked here, because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone!
Anyway, Alan Wake was awesome and I definitely recommend playing it if you haven’t. It’s more freaky than scary. I definitely jumped a lot when things would pop out at me (or when I discovered there was a Taken directly behind me that I hadn’t noticed before), and I definitely shouted at the game for that. But, on a scale from one to Amnesia it ranks about a 4. Not mentally scarring in anyway, nor did it induce nightmares or make me actually afraid of the dark. So for those hesitant to play because they are scared of scary things like me, you’ll be okay. Just be prepared for things to jump out at you and catch you unawares.
Sidenote: I was terrified of picking up pages of the manuscript. The whole game I was convinced that I was going to be screwed every time I picked up & read a page. Hah!
So, check the game out if you get a chance. And to Remedy Studios… Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Alan Wake 2. Please?
Okay, so this little nugget of awesome is the trailer for a three-part web series titled Fistful of Rupees. It’s Legend of Zelda done up Western-style, so if you have some time definitely go watch it.
I’m a fan of Westerns, so this was right up my alley. I think my favorite part of it was the music. All of the iconic Zelda music has a very western twist, but I absolutely love it and if I could get it soundtrack-form I would. If you go watch it make sure to leave a nice comment/like because it’s awesome and I would love to see more mash-ups in the future.
Source: youtube.com
Wasteland 2 is Kickstart-ed Into The Millions
Whoever said Steam sales would completely empty pockets was massively misinformed – there’s something else that’s taking all the money, and for good reason. A sequel is finally being made to a game that can boast about its mention in countless ‘Top 25 PC Games Ever’ charts, and the development has been entirely funded by Kickstart. Almost 3 million dollars has been raised by just over 60,000 backers for inXile Entertainment to finish the development of Wasteland 2.
I think one of the incredible things behind this project is that after DoubleFine’s project broke the $3,000,000 mark, people said it was a one-time thing. They tried to write it off: it was a fluke, it only raised the money because of Tim Schafer, it would be extremely hard to repeat this kind of success, etc.
Sure, a no-name college student (like me!) would probably wouldn’t reach this kind of success. But, it’s entirely possible if I presented a project with potential and a team to follow through.
That’s what we have here. It’s a team gamers have confidence it and a project they want to see completed, so gamers are digging into their own pockets to dish out the cash. Kickstarter is changing the the developer-publisher dynamic slowly but surely. And with the internet as a distribution platform, it’s so easy to get a game out there and on the market.
There’s no reason not to be making a game right now. Damnit, I need to get on that.
(via alanahpearce)
I hear there’s a little Slenderman game out.
Let’s do it. Tonight.
So, Mass Effect movie.
Welp. There’s a good chance that I’ll go seeing as it’s gonna be the first game. I’m not too bothered that it’s going to be Male Shepard in the role, but I would have been twice as excited (not to mention extremely impressed) if they had gone for FemShep. Ah, well.
I hope they use the same voice actors for, like, Garus and Tali. Otherwise that’d be kind of weird… Then again, no matter what they do it’s probably not going to be as awesome as when I first played through that game and felt like to coolest, baddest, most awesome space-heroine ever, so. Good luck to ‘em, and I’ll be looking forward to it.
Okay, I don’t think I’ve seen a card game zombified yet, so if you’ve got cash to spare this looks pretty cool. ”Magic: The Gathering meets The Walking Dead” is the pitch for this unique card game that will be released as both a physical card game & a digital card game on Steam, iOS, and many more platforms. They’ve got 4 days to make this happen, so find some quarters between your couch cushions and help ‘em out!
Oh, and did I mention if you pledge at least $15 you get a Tim Schafer survivor card? Yeah. Awesome.
(via meagan-marie)
The End of Us
Click the link and play this short game created by Chelsea Howe & Michael Molinari. I recommend doing so without reading the description at the bottom of the page. Try the game first and read it afterwards to see how the description affects your feelings towards this game. It’s a really neat little project that I think does its job exceptionally well.
Lolwhat?
This is an ad I saw in the local newspaper. It was asking for donations to help needy families in my area. But why video games? …I feel like “I don’t want to watch Spongebob” would have given the same effect. Thoughts?
