tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8076993416632744052024-03-13T14:50:01.013-07:00The Game DungeonMarcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-60728099361919450092013-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:002013-05-06T11:00:01.180-07:00I've Started a New Site!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey folks, if you ever visit my site then you're likely aware that I don't post all that much. Between writing for work and school I have found that this isn't really a priority. Yes, I still love video games and all that stuff but end up writing more for other reasons. Despite this, I started my own website this weekend (registered a domain and everything)!<br />
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The site is called <a href="http://pixelpacas.com/">PixelPacas</a> and is one of the funniest domains I came up with while thinking about this. There were actually a lot of super cool domains out there but they were either in use or simply parked. Either way, this name was free so I decided to stop dreaming about having my own site and to just go for it! My girlfriend is also on board to write on the site as well and her focus is on games like Harvest Moon and dating sims.<br />
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Because I am paying for both the domain name registration as well as hosting I assume that will be enough of an impetus to keep me writing there. So far, I've only come up with a few reviews (set to be published in the coming weeks) but want to do other things with it as well. The reviews in queue are probably indicative of what the site is going to include a lot of (rhythm, puzzle, arcade, visual novel, and indie games) If all goes well, perhaps it could even inspire me to stream a bit more gameplay in the future.<br />
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Now I've got to wonder what that means for this site. Will I still publish here? At this time, I really don't know. It has already been a pretty slow site so most likely the future for my personal writing revolves around PixelPacas. This site is going to remain online, but I won't import the content to the other one.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-9176252263468491322013-04-02T21:07:00.002-07:002013-04-02T21:07:58.946-07:00Backlog Beatdown: March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello again! I've been trying to document games beaten this year (and hopefully beat more than last year). A month ago I posted my first update on this for <a href="http://vidyaboi.blogspot.com/2013/03/backlog-beatdown-january-and-february.html">January/February</a> and it was a pretty sizable chunk of games. This time around I'm making a post for one month because there were definitely enough games beaten during to warrant one.<br />
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Seven games were beaten in the month of March:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand</i></li>
<li><i>Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi</i></li>
<li><i>Tomb Raider</i></li>
<li><i>Richard & Alice</i></li>
<li><i>Jetpack Joyride</i></li>
<li><i>DLC Quest</i></li>
<li><i>Incredipede</i></li>
</ul>
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As is my new norm, almost all of the completed games are independent, although not entirely.<i> Tomb Raider </i>is of course the one released this year to much acclaim. I enjoyed it too, though it left me wrestling about how I felt about Lara's presentation in the game. <i>Hakuoki</i> was a really sad game as it isn't even a visual novel as the first was. Instead, it's a totally cheap cash grab of a game that, honestly, should have never been given the localization greenlight.</div>
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Although none of these are my new favorite, I did quite enjoy them. Incredipede in particular was visually stunning and I recommend it to people looking for a different sort of puzzle game. Nancy Drew games are also pretty awesome and it's a shame that more people don't take them seriously. I had pages of notes taken for the game and it was exciting to reference them to solve in-game puzzles. As I've not played all the Drew games I'm unaware if that difficulty continues, but hopefully so, as it really puts you in the young detective's shoes.</div>
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Right now I'm trying to work through <i>Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory</i> and <i>God of War: Ascension</i>. Hopefully they'll be beaten by the end of April!</div>
Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-33762177044830338482013-03-06T11:23:00.004-08:002013-03-06T11:23:27.850-08:00Backlog Beatdown: January and February<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey folks, long time no chat! This post was prompted by recalling the backlog adventure other bloggers are undertaking this year (in particular, <a href="http://chicpixel.blogspot.com/2013/03/beat-backlog-club-march-game.html">Chic Pixel's Anne</a>!). I used to think that reviewing games would be the most entertaining thing in the world, but it really just cuts back on your time to play other games without constraints. Well, so does any job, but at least with a job unconnected to games you can still use them as relaxation! Either way, despite being a busy beaver with reviewing tasks I've been trying to whittle away some uncompleted games in my library. Things have been going better than expected....<br />
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In January I seriously managed to beat 11 games:<br />
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<ul>
<li><i>My Ex-Boyfriend the Space Tyrant!</i></li>
<li><i>Zombies.</i></li>
<li><i>Thirty Flights of Loving</i></li>
<li><i>McPixel</i></li>
<li><i>VVVVVV</i></li>
<li><i>Wizorb</i></li>
<li><i>Slave of God</i></li>
<li><i>Kentucky Route Zero: Act One</i></li>
<li><i>Moonbase Alpha</i></li>
<li><i>The Journey Down: Chapter One</i></li>
<li><i>The Cave</i></li>
</ul>
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Okay, many of these were also reviewed by me but at least others like <i>Wizorb</i> and <i>VVVVVV</i> were finally taken down. As you can see, my preference in games is only continuing to trend toward all indie, all the time. It's not as if I planned it this way, but indie games tend to be shorter experiences. And honestly, most of them end up as fun as much more expensive games so why ignore them?</div>
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In February things became much busier and so I only beat <i>Oozi: Earth Adventure</i>, which is a pretty fluid platformer. A few days into March I manged to finish up a couple games, but those will be addressed in a later post. What games have you folks beaten in 2013 so far? Which has been your favorite or least favorite?</div>
Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-85226978421782582152013-01-18T11:26:00.002-08:002013-01-18T11:27:08.101-08:00Killer is Dead Trailer Made Me Have An Existential Crisis<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jXAejVR9PSQ" width="640"></iframe>
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Okay, it didn't <i>really</i> cause me to have a crisis, but the first trailer for Suda51's <i>Killer is Dead</i> game did get me thinking very critically about my gaming life. It made me remember how incredible an experience playing <i>Killer7</i> was back in 2005. It hooked, amazed, confused, and challenged my perceptions of games. I have rarely had such feelings with other games since. At the moment, I can't think of even one other time since, but I believe they are there.<br />
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Regardless, <i>Killer is Dead</i> is not a game I expect to bring back that spirit. It still seems closer to Suda's older works though (rather than his newer school "punk's not dead" credo stuff like <i>No More Heroes</i>, <i>Shadows of the Damned</i> and <i>Lollipop Chainsaw</i>). Granted, it looks to have a large dash of <i>NMH</i> anyway, but what can you do?<br />
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The trailer is a bit risque in both sexual and violent content so keep that in mind before giving it a watch.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-55443743733895263492013-01-10T08:54:00.000-08:002013-01-10T08:54:28.342-08:00I Beat 29 Games in 2012Last year was very interesting for me. Although I was writing reviews before, it really seemed that a new amount of responsibility was dropped on my shoulders in 2012. With that, I ended up <a href="http://vidyaboi.blogspot.com/">reviewing a lot of stuff</a>. So much, that it quickly became impossible to beat everything. Sure, I did my best to complete short adventure games or 10 hour adventures, but when things went on and on past 25 hours, my time became truly limited. Although I always made sure to have a grasp of at least 80% of the entire game before reviewing, it was just too much to be asked to complete each and every one.<br />
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Because of this sort of forced "gaming ADD", I beat far fewer games this year than last year. Still, any amount is sizeable to me. This is because, before joining Backloggery, I would barely finish any game unless it absolutely enthralled me. Only since I have been on that site have I been able to see my beat amounts per year sit in double digit territory. Still, my beat/unbeaten ratio on the site is quite paltry, but expected.<br />
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Regardless, here are the majority of games I beat this year. It's possible I may be forgetting a few, but my list will no longer be changed/updated. The reason no titles are included is because it would make the image too cluttered for my taste:<br />
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Here's hoping that 2013 is a year when I can beat this score!Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-33986574102806470372013-01-01T00:18:00.004-08:002013-01-01T00:33:10.151-08:002012 Reviews in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With 2013 beginning, it's hard not to reflect on the past year. 2012 was a very interesting year for me in regards to writing. It is probably obvious to see that my blog has been much quieter than it was at the start, and this is mostly due to the shift in reviewing habits. As the year went on, I reviewed more and more, and became more comfortable with it.<br />
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Although it is fun to review games, it did make me think about a few things. For one, with reviews very often on my plate, I felt that I was rarely able to enjoy games that I wanted to play "just because". Instead of flipping through my PS2 collection to find a new gem, I was usually forcing myself to play a game for review. Thankfully, most games I ever review are ones I'm interested in, but there is something to be said for free gaming time as opposed to gaming with a goal in mind. In this post I will share a couple charts which show off various stats for my year of reviewing and links to all my 68 reviews.<br />
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Some of these pie charts and bar graphs may not be interesting to you, but they sure are to me! First, I decided to see just how unevenly my review writing was divided up between sites. My main site, Game Podunk, obviously received the most reviews penned by me. It was 53 overall. GameSparked is a site I only recently began writing for and it had 9 reviews. Then there is Play Tribune, which was actually inactive for a while and as such only had 6 reviews.<br />
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Next up was finding out just how many reviews were written across a multitude of platforms. Now, this doesn't mean the platform each game is on, as many are multiplatform. Instead it means which platform I reviewed each title for. With that distinction made, here is the corresponding chart. Unfortunately, the PSP will probably drop out of the running completely with next year's reviews. Most surprising to me was the sizable chunk of Vita games.<br />
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After that, my mind wandered to ESRB ratings. Many games this year came out without any official ESRB rating. This is a big surprise to me as ratings used to be so important. Even before the ESRB came into being, the industry attempted to regulate itself with a vast amount of rating styles. Of course, after the advent of ESRB, every game that was expected to be sold at retail needed it. Now we're entering a digital age where games don't need them, and that is quite exciting. Here are the ESRB ratings of games I played, clustered all together. </div>
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What else can possibly be charted out? Similar to ratings, I had to know how much of each genre I reviewed. As expected, my gravitation to preferred genres is hugely apparent. Adventure (mostly of the point and click variety), horror, and RPG were highest with 8 titles each. A few genres had only a tiny showing, but mostly the genres were split evenly. </div>
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With all that out of the way, I looked into a bit more. However, there is no need to display them visually as they have a lot less information. For one, it was obvious that many of the games played this year were digital titles. As it turns out, 48 of my 68 reviews were based on games which are only available digitally. At the start of this generation, I would have never believed digital games would grow so prevalent so fast, but here we are. The last thing I checked was the average of my review scores. It ended up standing at a very favorable 7 out of 10. My lowest rated games were Amy and Warlords. My top rated were Lone Survivor, Persona 4 Golden, Waking Mars, and The Walking Dead. However, no game received a perfect score.</div>
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Finally I will link all my reviews. Ones without links are reviews still in queues to be posted. Links are alphabetical rather than chronological because that seems easier to sort through.<br />
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<ul>
<li>AirBuccaneers</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/amy-review-r31">Amy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/analogue-a-hate-story-review-r71">Analogue: A Hate Story</a></li>
<li>A New Beginning</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-anna-r1136">Anna</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/11/ftp-review-arcane-legends.html">Arcane Legends</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-assassins-creed-iii-liberation-r1571">Assassins Creed III: Liberation</a></li>
<li>Bientôt l'été</li>
<li>Big Sky Infinity</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/review-black-knight-sword-r1754">Black Knight Sword</a></li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/05/18/bloodforge-review/">Bloodforge</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-chaos-on-deponia-r1588">Chaos on Deponia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-cherry-tree-high-comedy-club-r1628">Cherry Tree High Comedy Club</a></li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/12/11/clan-of-champions-review/">Clan of Champions</a></li>
<li>Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller Episode 1 - The Hangman</li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/03/20/defenders-of-ardania-review/">Defenders of Ardania</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-deponia-r1177">Deponia</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/diablo-iii-review-r743">Diablo III</a></li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/05/03/disgaea-3-absence-of-detention-review/">Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-dokuro-r1509">Dokuro</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-edna-harvey-harveys-new-eyes-r1600">Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-eryis-action-r1359">Eryi's Action</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-ether-vapor-remaster-r1080">Ether Vapor Remaster</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-the-exceed-collection-r1276">The eXceed Collection</a></li>
<li>Forge</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/11/review-fray-reloaded-edition.html">Fray: Reloaded Edition</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-ftl-faster-than-light-r1315">FTL: Faster Than Light</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/ps3-reviews/review-six-gungho-psone-classic-imports-r1708">GungHo PS Classic Imports</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/hakuoki-demon-of-the-fleeting-blossom-review-r49">Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-half-minute-hero-super-mega-neo-climax-ultimate-boy-r1457">Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-home-r1299">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/ps3-reviews/hyperdimension-neptunia-mk2-review-r261">Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/12/03/jetpack-joyride-review/">Jetpack Joyride</a></li>
<li>Knytt Underground</li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-la-mulana-r1060">La-Mulana</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/ps3-reviews/review-la-pucelle-tactics-r1399">La Pucelle Tactics</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/ps3-reviews/review-legasista-r1207">Legasista</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/lone-survivor-review-r667">Lone Survivor</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/magic-the-gathering-duels-of-the-planeswalkers-2013-review-r915">Magic the Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-miasmata-r1666">Miasmata</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/review-need-for-speed-most-wanted-r1716">Need for Speed: Most Wanted</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-orcs-must-die-2-r1144">Orcs Must Die! 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-orgarhythm-r1517">Orgarhythm</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/12/review-persona-4-golden.html">Persona 4 Golden</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/11/review-pid.html">Pid</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/11/review-primal-carnage.html">Primal Carnage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/12/review-puddle.html">Puddle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-retro-city-rampage-r1486">Retro City Rampage</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/rhythm-party-review-r83">Rhythm Party</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-silent-hill-book-of-memories-r1540">Silent Hill: Book of Memories</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/silent-hill-downpour-review-r332">Silent Hill: Downpour</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/silent-hill-hd-collection-review-r494">Silent Hill HD Collection</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/xbox-360/sine-mora-review-r399">Sine Mora</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/the-simpsons-arcade-game-review-r76">The Simpsons Arcade Game</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/11/review-sugar-cube-bittersweet-factory.html">Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-super-monkey-ball-banana-splitz-r1552">Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-symphony-r1292">Symphony</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-they-bleed-pixels-r1265">They Bleed Pixels</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/tiny-and-big-grandpas-leftovers-review-r885">Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/ps3-reviews/review-tomba-r947">Tomba!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/12/review-triple-town.html">Triple Town</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/vita-psp-reviews/review-unchained-blades-r1001">Unchained Blades</a></li>
<li>Waking Mars</li>
<li><a href="http://playtribune.com/2012/05/17/the-walking-dead-review/">The Walking Dead Episode 1</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamesparked.com/2012/10/review-warlords.html">Warlords</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/review-worms-revolution-r1443">Worms Revolution</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/pc-reviews/yesterday-review-r359">Yesterday</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamepodunk.com/_/reviews/wii-u-reviews/review-zombiu-r1676">ZombiU</a></li>
</ul>
Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-50393572986079052042012-12-17T09:52:00.000-08:002012-12-17T09:53:38.500-08:00ERIE Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='640' height='360' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nTpmSSpm2ds?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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I wasn't sure what to expect upon starting up ERIE. Possibly because of that, it ended up being a very neat half hour gaming experience. The game is pretty simple overall. You begin in a pool of water with no idea of where you are. Quickly, you read papers scattered around which start to inform your understanding of the location and what happened.
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Unfortunately I'm still not completely sure as to the specifics, but it seems like a game best played when you are unaware of the story anyway. Without knowing anything you can enter the game with a fresh perspective! I would recommend that as it helps make everything a bit scarier and interesting as events unfold.
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In regards to gameplay, it is quite simple. There's little you ever have to do aside from marking your pathways as well as collecting a few key cards. Well, you don't have to read letters or mark your way, but it just seems something most players are going to do. Although you are not given explicit goals, it quickly becomes easy to understand what to do. Level design is also not bad. Even for someone like me who tends to get lost without looking at a map every second I was able to get a feel for my surroundings (eventually).
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The game is very eerie and contains a few "boo" moments. For a little while, I felt legitimately annoyed, until discovering things were not as hard as I was making them up to be. Overall, this is a great little gameplay experiment if you want to play something spooky.
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PS: The video up top is my first playthrough of the game, which took around 30 minutes. Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-85767745046915984632012-12-10T17:56:00.000-08:002012-12-10T17:56:09.375-08:00I Won a Copy of PlayStation All-Stars!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-68g8wg2UCWQ/UMaSeT9D-QI/AAAAAAAADlc/HQ6w6V_gVvY/s1600/ps-allstars-vita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-68g8wg2UCWQ/UMaSeT9D-QI/AAAAAAAADlc/HQ6w6V_gVvY/s200/ps-allstars-vita.jpg" width="156" /></a></div>
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If you are on my blog, then chances are you're well aware of Bryan over at <a href="http://www.thegaygamer.com/">The Gay Gamer</a>. If not, then I don't know how you found me but you should totally check his site out. A little bit ago, Bryan had a contest to win a copy of <i>PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale </i>for Vita. As I have been pretty interested in checking it out I threw my name into the pot. Someone else actually won but apparently never responded. He drew a new name and... it was me!<br />
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So here's a post to say thank you Bryan for hosting the cute little contest! I'm thinking of doing my own (for a less popular game) soon, but we'll see if that works out. In the meantime, I'll be fussing around with <i>PS All-Stars</i> and hopefully becoming good with one of the characters. Even if I do, I'll still probably be too scared to try hitting up an online match.<br />
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As a final note I will say that anyone who is still interested in getting a Vita should make sure they grab a high capacity memory card along with it. Although I only have a few digital titles on it, I'm now required to regularly uninstall them to make room. Of course, it doesn't help that <i>Persona 4 Golden</i> is one game that has taken residence on my card... It is over 3GBs by itself! Here's hoping that the prices for Vita memory come down drastically in the next year.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-50476162106297470612012-12-03T10:00:00.000-08:002012-12-03T10:00:06.398-08:00Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill REMASTERED Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xww9wYD9oYk/ULxTiWkKMWI/AAAAAAAADjs/hS1ibfy5IWo/s1600/nancydrew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xww9wYD9oYk/ULxTiWkKMWI/AAAAAAAADjs/hS1ibfy5IWo/s640/nancydrew.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When one attempts to come up with a list of good adventure games there are a few names that tend to come up. Series like Monkey Island are obvious choices, as are many other LucasArts and Sierra titles. But who out there who loves adventure games would think to try out something from the Nancy Drew catalog?<br />
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I gave Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill Remastered a shot and found it to be surprisingly great. The "Remastered" in the name comes from the fact that is a full on remake of the very first Nancy Drew adventure game released in 1998. This version arrived in 2010 and signaled the end of the original game. This is because, after the launch of the remake, the original was no longer available digitally from Her Interactive. However, as it will not run easily on modern machines, this was probably the only option they had left.<br />
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How is the game overall? The characters are more interesting than I expected. I have never read Nancy Drew books but they must do something right to have so many available. As such, I can't compare the characters to the fiction but they seemed fairly "real" and worth listening to. If anything, strangely Nancy Drew herself ended up being the most unrealistic of them all. I'm not sure what it was, but she seemed wholly unfazed by the fact that a murder totally occurred, and that someone was after her life as well. More than anything, she seemed haughty and above everything, including the awkward flirting from men in the game.<br />
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What really stole the show though were the puzzles. I had an expectation in my mind that the puzzles would be ridiculously easy. As such, I almost chose the harder difficulty of the two. Thank goodness I didn't though because a few puzzles ended up being fantastic and difficult. In fact, very few games I play manage to scratch that puzzle itch so creatively at any point. I would almost compare one of the puzzle ideas to things that Team Silent would put together. They worked on Silent Hill 1-3 primarily and those were the games which included the most creative and worthwhile puzzles of the series.<br />
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If there's one detriment to the game it is simply that it ends too quickly and with a silly twist. At least, it sure felt silly to me. Apparently this Remastered version features a different ending from the original and makes me wonder what the end for the first game had been before. I wonder if it was better, or somehow managed to be even worse. It's a shame, because as soon as the game starts to get into a great groove, it ends. Still, the two or so hours leading up to it are a blast.<br />
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Overall, Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill Remastered is a perfect introductory game for a "gamer" into the more casual world. Obviously the puzzles are not casual, which would appeal to them, but I assume they grow easier as the series goes on. Or perhaps these puzzles are actually much harder than the original game! I don't know as I haven't played the rest yet. Still, this is a fun, if brief adventure game.<br />
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PS: Pay attention to the little things in this game. There are a handful of Easter eggs (including one literal egg) which are quite cute.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-49352713479068960352012-11-30T07:27:00.000-08:002012-11-30T07:27:39.021-08:00All I Wanted to Do Was Play Nancy Drew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TmUBFg-MJiU/ULjPCk55tXI/AAAAAAAADi0/mUm79av2Zm0/s1600/deletebutts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TmUBFg-MJiU/ULjPCk55tXI/AAAAAAAADi0/mUm79av2Zm0/s1600/deletebutts.JPG" /></a></div>
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Yesterday, I wrote about how I have been putting my attention on "<a href="http://vidyaboi.blogspot.com/2012/11/i-think-im-turning-casual.html">casual</a>" games more and more lately. Excited by the post, I decided to start with the Nancy Drew series of games. There are some twenty (maybe even thirty now) titles in the series. It seemed a good idea to me to simply start with the first game! The very first Nancy Drew title is subtitled <i>Secrets Can Kill</i> and looked fairly promising. At least, if you listen to Nancy Drew game diehards, they seem to say the originals are the best.<br />
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The original game is not available on Steam (only the <i>Remastered</i> version). Thankfully, I already had it available to me so I went to work installing it. It didn't work, so my next step was to go to Her Interactive's website to see if they could help. Now, they did give tips for <a href="http://www.herinteractive.com/cms/faq/windows-vista-windows-7-installation">running their games on Windows 7</a> but it still wasn't working. What was my next step? Install a Windows 95 virtual machine!<br />
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The first two games are apparently the hardest to run on modern machines. As they were made for early Windows systems, it seemed to me that 95 was my best bet. It's actually harder than you might think to install an old operating system, though. I have a disc-based version of the OS, but it initially only sold as lots and lots of floppy discs. My current machine doesn't even have floppy drives but thankfully it's incredibly easy to create virtual discs and drives.<br />
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Either way, I'm not going to get too much into the installation process, but I did it, although certain features were unable to be installed. I put the game in and installed it perfectly. Unfortunately, when the time came to run it gave me the same error received from my modern Windows 7! The error is that the game cannot pump sound through my speakers. It seemed to me I could make it work on 95 because you can set up different audio methods and whatnot to better recreate the actual environment. However, I was unable to find out how to install them, even though Windows detected the old school sound option.<br />
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In the end, I was unable to get the game to run. Maybe later I'll try to learn how to properly install 95... Or I could just play the <i>Remastered</i> version.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-13682728943278204122012-11-29T15:15:00.000-08:002012-11-29T15:19:48.345-08:00I Think I'm Turning "Casual"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHMAXj5h7CA/ULfsQdOUy5I/AAAAAAAADik/qj7zKTY982k/s1600/screen3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHMAXj5h7CA/ULfsQdOUy5I/AAAAAAAADik/qj7zKTY982k/s640/screen3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Video games have been my go-to hobby for as long as I can remember. Basically all my earliest memories revolve not around school or family but playing Atari 2600 and Apple IIe games. I don't remember everything about them, but little moments like being mystified by the Apple command line being used to call up games are easy to visualize even now.<br />
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I never really classified myself "hardcore" in the typical sense as that makes people think of Call of Duty or whatever FPS is in vogue at the time. However, I definitely have felt very hardcore when reflecting on my gaming habits. If nothing else, I think anyone who manages to collect some 2,000 video games and maintain them must have some serious interest in the hobby. But lately I've really started to shift toward liking games I never would have cared much about before.<br />
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During the latest Steam sale I loaded up my wishlist with items that would make me really happy to buy. Obviously it was initially too much, so my actual cart of digital goodies was whittled down until only a few were left. The main things I struggled with purchasing/putting away were the Nancy Drew, Mumbo Jumbo, and Popcap bundles. Nancy Drew games are basically adventure games but for a certain type of crowd. As such, they're fairly easy experiences overall. My interest in Mumbo Jumbo came from wanting to play simple games like <i>Luxor</i> but also hidden object games like the Midnight Mysteries series. All of these games are decidedly "casual".<br />
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Even when playing <i>Persona 4 Golden</i> for Vita I've been taking a very simplified approach. Setting the easiest difficulty available and letting most battles play out automatically, I really have little to worry about in the game aside from listening to the story unfold. In a way, it makes me nervous to see my game play style as well as interests change, but on the other hand, does it really matter? As long as I'm happy with what I play then I don't think it does. It's a bit odd that titles like <i>Sleeping Dogs</i>, <i>Dishonored</i>, and others are no longer enticing me, but I'm sure I will still get around to them. Just for now, when I need something to play it will probably be much simpler fare.<br />
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This, too, I think has complicated my personal blogging. Between writing reviews of more (serious?) games for sites, I leave myself time for easy, casual titles. But who wants to hear about my time spent playing <i>Criminal Minds' </i>hidden object game? Perhaps seeking out such easy gaming experiences is a reaction to the forced nature of reviewing. Either way, I'm curious... Are "casual" games something that anyone really wants to hear about? If I were asked this question a year ago I'd say no, but you'd be surprised at how good some of them can be.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-52635073148326366082012-09-24T11:30:00.000-07:002012-09-24T20:11:21.803-07:00Indie Test Drive: 0 A.D.<i>Because I simply don't have enough games I decided it would be interesting to try playing more indie games. Sure, I actually play a fair bit of them once they come to Steam, Desura, and GOG but that's not quite indie enough. Why not try out other titles that have yet to find a publisher - or might not? So, yup, that's what this and future "Indie Test Drive" posts are about.</i><br />
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<i><a href="http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/">0 A.D.</a> </i>is a title being independently developed by a team of volunteers. It has apparently been worked on since 2001. Back then, it was a "total conversion mod" (meaning they took an existing game and overhauled it) but it changed later into a wholly new project. The game will probably appeal most to those who enjoy historical RTSes. If you love <i>Age of Empires </i>or <i>Empire Earth </i>then this is something worth looking into.<br />
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Initially, it didn't seem like there was much new brought to the table. You have your choice of various historical troops to choose from and then can go about growing your town into a society and going to war, or forging alliances. Apparently there is a multiplayer mode which would sounds like a lot of fun, but I was unable to test it out. There are multiple gameplay modes, but I was only gave one a shot and was a bit disappointed because the "AI controlled" enemies didn't actually do anything until I came and stormed their cities.<br />
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The version I played was a bit goofy. There were birds but they simply were stuck in place and didn't ever move across the screen. Upon killing a camel, it just stood there (upright) as my troops picked at it for food. Animals also did not have any walking animation and simply slid across the ground. However, in between me playing the game and looking up the <i>0 A.D. </i>website I found that a new beta was just released earlier this month. It appears to fix up a lot of stuff and even upgraded the graphics.<br />
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<i>0 A.D. </i>is completely free in beta stages and will be once it finally launches as well. The game runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. I enjoyed it but just wish there was some sort of story function instead of simply focusing on multiplayer.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-2093930569892797452012-09-10T16:00:00.000-07:002012-09-10T16:00:00.732-07:0068 - Chains <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Genre: </b>Puzzle<br /><b>Rating: </b>N/A<br />
<b>Developer: </b>2DEngine.com<br />
<b>Publisher:</b> Meridian4<br />
<b>Platform:</b> PC (Steam)<br />
<b>Release Year: </b>2008<br />
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<i>Chains </i>is one of those games I put off playing every time I saw it in my Steam collection. It just sounds so dull, the graphics didn't look very great, and overall I didn't know what it was. Out of boredom (and a bit of inspiration) I decided it was time to give the game that has sat in my library for 3 years a shot.<br />
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The game is fairly interesting, and full of various gameplay mechanics, despite having only twenty levels overall. Basically, the title is a match game where you must connect orbs of the same colors together. The basic amount is three, but you can often find yourself chaining many more if they're all touching. The mechanic itself isn't the creative part as there are many games like that.<br />
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What is interesting is how many gameplay modes can be created out of it. For example, there is one mode where the circles are situated on top of gates. You must manage to keep clearing circles well enough so that X amount don't fall through the gates as they open up every few seconds. Another mode gives you a small tube for the circles to fall through and asks to keep it flowing for five minutes. If you're not able to connect them fast enough they'll clog everything up. Most of these modes are a lot of fun and only a few annoyed me.<br />
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I haven't beaten the game yet and that's just because one of the modes is a fairly confusing. I'm hoping that's the only one like it because otherwise the game is much more fun than was anticipated. Those who are fans of matching puzzle games should give <i>Chains </i>a look especially since it's only $5.<br />
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<b>Would I play it again? </b>Sure.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-70400382151061350822012-08-27T09:14:00.000-07:002013-01-25T10:29:08.476-08:00Transitional Gaming: How Game Culture Changed as I Became a Man<div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6850918889977038" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember. At two, I was fussing with the secondhand Apple II e and Atari 7800s placed in front of me. Unlike many other parents, my mother was more than happy to let me play these games. There were times when it became an issue, such as me playing The Sims from morning to night, but otherwise it was viewed as a positive hobby. The friends I had in school, both male and female, all gamed as well. I never felt out of place due to gaming.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was only when I became a teenager that I realized that there was something flagged as odd if you were a female-bodied person interested in games. The hints came quickly. It probably had something to do with the fact that the internet was flourishing intensely around the time. When Kotaku launched I was drawn to it instantly. Sure, there were other sites but this one seemed to be perfect for me at that point in my life. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was 2004 and I was 14. Kotaku brought ridiculous web videos, scantily clad women, and also lots of gaming news to me day in and day out. Defining myself as a bisexual, I ate up the sexist depictions of pixelated women with no qualms. This was perfect. This was just what I needed in my young teenage life. However, when wishing to bring my joy and excitement to the comments was the time I realized that this wasn’t my home base. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through my previous web socialization on female-heavy sections of LiveJournal, I saw no issue in using an “obviously” female username. On Kotaku this counted as “whoring” out my gender, as something completely terrible to do. Although other members had terms like King or Man in their names they were not called out in the same way. Only the women who ever made passing reference to their genders were targeted. None of us were welcome. Not even I was though everything else felt so fun about the site. I stopped commenting.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still retaining some youthful ignorance, I then visited the one and only IGN Live convention in 2005. It was my first gaming-specific con and was my last for a long while. Although the convention was filled with new games that I would go on to enjoy it was also permeated with a strange atmosphere. It was like the Kotaku comments but in a physical space. Nobody said anything to me in particular but it was obvious that I was not welcome there. Men and boys took up all the kiosks and it felt like they were ignoring me in line. They probably were - assuming I was just there with a guy. Despite my massive interest in gaming this was still not something okay for me to do. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was confusing to grow up loving games but feeling ostracized. I was more hardcore than many frequenting the same sites and yet pushed away. I felt no different from anyone else who was “allowed” to be a part of these online worlds but that didn’t change anything. As I grew I became disgusted with the way these sites operated. It became clearer and clearer that they were obviously pandering to one specific audience. I quickly was phasing out of the audience I had once wanted so desperately into but it still made me angry.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around the time I was unpacking the sexist nature of gaming blogs I was also beginning to unpack the confusion I felt with my own gender. Around 16 came the realization that I was trans all along. However, it was hard to believe this truth so it was wrestled over internally for years. It almost felt as if I just so desperately wanted to be a part of the crowd for my hobbies. It seemed like I would be completely invalidating the strides I made in becoming a feminist to suddenly turn “into the enemy”. If I were to be male would I have been like the hordes of Kotaku commenters? Would anyone ever take me seriously as a feminist again? Would both communities shun me? It took a few more years to unpack it all and come to the conclusion that transitioning was something I had to do.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then, as soon as I did, the way the gaming populous interacted with me changed. No longer was I harassed or asked for photos of myself. No longer was I asked strangely probing questions. No longer was I tested as to how “real” a gamer I was. No longer did anyone question my credentials about games I made comments on or suggest that I was stupid for simply having opinions. Everything had changed by simply slipping into a male name. I realized quickly that this is what male privilege is and that it is 100% real in the gaming world, as well as everywhere else.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year I went to E3. No one batted an eye at me or anything else deemed odd. I was simply a face in the crowd of zillions of men there. I saw women on the show floor as well, although the majority were those working for booths. Those women were promoted by most booths as figures to take photos with and ogle (judging by their uniforms). Some of my peers may have not cared about it, but I know that others did take issue with it. Regardless, I felt entirely uncomfortable with booths like Atlus assuming I’d want to take a photo with them just because I grabbed one of the free shirts. “At least I didn’t turn into one of those guys”, I recall thinking, as an extremely pleased man jumped between two of the women for a photo.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing extraordinary happened to me at E3. Yet I heard the story of a woman who was trying to do her job and found the promoter taking the control out of her hands. Why? Because she was a woman? They would have not done that to anyone else - not to me either. Even if I had lived 20 years in the body of a female no one would now question me because... Because of what? Because now I had a flat chest and sideburns. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t want it. I don’t want this privilege but it has been thrust onto me. Almost as soon as I began hormone treatments the world began to treat me as male. Gamers will happily talk to me about games, rather than wondering about how many months I’ve been gaming, or if Dragon Age was my first game. Industry “professionals” will treat me with some degree of respect. The online gaming populous won’t find issue with me in a game when I speak in a mic. They’ll just get mad when I stink at a game. The readers of my work will generally take the time to read it before slinging insults instead of by default. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because I know what it was like before the world saw me as male I know that there is a difference. Other people in similar situations have probably seen it bluntly as well. There is a distinct difference between the way the gaming populace, and the rest of the world, will treat you based simply off your gendered appearance. Gaming is not a solely male activity and it never has been, but that doesn’t stop so many from acting like it’s their personal club. It doesn’t help that many developers, publishers, and journalists are more than happy to pretend that’s true. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If everyone had to grow up and then choose their gender then I think we’d be more able to see the obvious differences in how the genders are treated. If there were no “forced” gendering of people then things would be different, but our society seems stuck on the idea that we need men and women as separate entities, lest the whole world suddenly collapse into chaos. Gamers always argue that there’s no need for the term “girl gamer” but then many go on acting as if there’s some proof that women don’t game or are doomed to suck at it. This certainly isn’t relegated to the realm of teenage boy minds either, as FatUglyorSlutty has demonstrated in voice posts. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When people suggest that gaming is truly a hobby for everyone I will agree. Both women and men can enjoy any game they want, from Peggle to Mass Effect 3 to Bulletstorm. There is no gender that is “only” able to play shooters or flash games. However, if someone tries to say that the hobby as a whole is for everyone then I’m not so sure. Many reading this probably do not treat their gaming buddies differently because of gender. That’s great and how it should be. However, it doesn’t change the fact that advertising, character designs, and everything else are still squarely pushing for the idea of men playing games. Not all men either, but a certain kind of man. The man who loves guns and boobs is the one meant to play games. It’s insulting to everyone involved, but also ostracizes many.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can learn to deal with it. You can grow up entrenched in these ridiculous depictions of women and men in games and grow to almost accept it. You can learn to laugh at “trolls” who make rude comments about game journalists just because of their gender. But don’t ever say that the gaming hobby is open and accepting of all types. There are many types it is still largely uncomfortable with. I know because I’ve inhabited both sides. Things are getting better, but with every step forward, the stronger the push back becomes. You don’t have to call yourself a “feminist” but acknowledge that the gaming world is a tough place for a woman to be sometimes. Realize that, no, everything is not better and that more needs to be done. Becoming someone who advocates for change is a start.</span></b>Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-79526248517358408592012-07-17T18:04:00.001-07:002012-07-17T18:05:44.029-07:00Game Center CX DVD Up for Preorder<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhLgi6uxwsw/UAYLg4zwvVI/AAAAAAAADMo/2FNXCnZ-adU/s1600/81yPAbvWaIL._AA1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jhLgi6uxwsw/UAYLg4zwvVI/AAAAAAAADMo/2FNXCnZ-adU/s320/81yPAbvWaIL._AA1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a>Game Center CX is a Japanese television show which has spanned over 10 seasons so far, but with very little attention in the US. It only really had a "test run" with one season of episodes being translated and shown via Kotaku. However, they blew it by using shoddy translators and not really caring about the property at all after the first season was done with.<br />
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What's the show about? It focuses on this guy named Arino who plays video games week after week for the show. The goal of each show is typically to finish a video game (sometimes to get a certain end in a game). However, his main focus is on retro games so it's often very hard to get to the end. Because Arino is also a comedian, he manages to make the prospect of watching someone play video games a lot of fun.<br />
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I started watching it a couple months back and it definitely is a fun show for gamers. Most of the episodes are slowly being translated by fansub teams and are even on Youtube (although some have recently been taken down for copyright). If you watch an episode though and like it then maybe you'll want to grab the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087VCG2Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0087VCG2Y&linkCode=as2&tag=tinycart-20">upcoming DVD release</a> sometime.<br />
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Even though it's rather expensive at $41 for 14 episodes, that's not so bad in comparison to the prices I remember spending for anime. The main bulk of episodes included are the Kotaku ones, except translated by someone much more skilled, which is a big plus. Why mention the DVD? I'm just hoping that enough people will buy it that they might consider releasing more episodes officially over here. It's fun enough to watch online but there's something about owning things you enjoy.<br />
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PS: If you've played <i>Retro Game Challenge</i> for the DS then you already have experienced a bit of Game Center CX. The game was based off the TV show and Arino is the polygonal "king" in the game.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-43910569213577681052012-06-22T09:27:00.004-07:002012-06-22T09:27:58.966-07:003DS XL is Coming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You know, I'm not really sure how to feel about a 3DS redesign. I think it's safe to say we all knew that there would be some, like there have been for previous Nintendo handhelds, it was just a matter of when. What interests me the most about the 3DS XL is that it's not an attempt to streamline form factor in a more compact form. As the name implies, it makes it larger.<br />
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The DSi XL never seemed like a system I would want. I definitely saw its use for people who perhaps were not as mobile with their gaming, or needed a larger screen for sight purposes, but since those don't apply to me I wasn't interested much. I still only own my own "fat" DSes, though. Either way this new 3DS doesn't appeal to me much more as the screen is fine. One thing this might help with is my hand cramps on the system but that's not worth $200 to me.<br />
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What do you think of this updated system? Is there a reason that more people should pick it up over the original 3DS?Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-22064500576231279922012-06-14T10:54:00.000-07:002012-06-14T13:00:31.554-07:00What is Nintendo Land? Is It Any Good?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the most interesting things to come out of Nintendo during this E3 was Nintendo Land. Well, perhaps most "interesting" isn't the right word. If anything, it seems like Nintendo Land was unveiled and subsequently misunderstood by gamers. Basically, it is a bunch of minigames which showcase different functions of the Wii U GamePad. In principle, this is a lot like Wii Sports which debuted with Wii systems back in 2006. However, there's a lot more to it than that, as surprising as it may seem.<br />
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The idea behind the game is that it's an amusement park of sorts where each minigame is it's own attraction. There are twelve included in the package, although only five were playable on the E3 show floor. Four of the five on display were based off famous Nintendo franchises. From what I played though, it seems like the title is shaping up to be a really entertaining party game, with only a little bit to tide over single player gamers.<br />
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Animal Crossing: Sweet Day was the first attraction I tried out and my favorite multiplayer one of them all. The game is for five players (four on Wii Remote, one on Wii U GamePad). The players on Remote are tasked with running around a small Animal Crossing-themed map to collect candy from trees in their hats. Collecting all the candy is the key to victory but of course it's not that simple. The more candy you collect, the larger your character's hat gets, which slows them down more and more. This is where the GamePad player comes in. For the one with the tablet in their hands, they control two guards who can make players lose all their candy and lose a life. The victory condition for this player is to whittle away three lives from any of the candy collectors before they can grab everything.<br />
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In theory the game is incredibly simple. Most of the fun comes from trying to work out strategies as well as work with your teammates. Some trees require multiple players to be in the area before the candy can be procured. Standing around and hoping for another player to meander past simply isn't smart to do, so communicating with others is essential. Although I didn't know everyone on my team while playing Animal Crossing: Sweet Day, I quickly became friendly enough with them to exclaim when a guard was coming or to ask for someone to collect candy with me. The experience was incredibly easy to get into and I could have continued playing it for much longer.<br />
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Taking on the role of the guards was a very different experience. When you are the enemy you are meant to look at the GamePad's screen for the map. This view shows you the level map and zooms in and out as you walk around it. I expected this auto zoom function to mess with my play, but it actually worked very intuitively. If I had to move the camera myself I probably would have moved it in much the same way. Controlling two guards at once was less intuitive, but by the end of the round I had it figured out pretty well. Each guard is controlled by an analog stick and you run them around the map in hopes of stopping others from grabbing all the candies.<br />
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Next I took a shot at Luigi's Ghost Mansion which also is a five person game. You're given a similar kind of map and control as the Animal Crossing game, except this time you're in a haunted mansion. I initially worried that this would be an exact repeat of the other game, just with a different coat of paint. As it turned out though it was a different experience and still a pretty fun one.<br />
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Those with the Wii Remote must navigate around the mansion and eliminate the solo ghost haunting the halls. To do this, each player is equipped with a flashlight which depletes health points from the ghost. The one problem is that the ghost is invisible most of the time, so you can't hunt it out so easily. How do you know when a ghost is around? The Remote vibrates when it is in the vicinity and increases in intensity if you're really close. Because no player can just see the ghost, you're again required to call out to teammates when you feel the ghost nearby. If not, then he's apt to grab you before you can shine your light on him.<br />
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The GamePad player is the ghost and again is meant to look at their specific screen. The screen basically shows the same as the main TV except with the addition of the ghost as well as a circle around it. This circle lets you know at what point players will feel your vibrations. As the ghost, it's fun to try and dodge through rooms and sneak up on players who are looking the other way. If the ghost hunting team isn't communicating then expect your ghostly duties to be incredibly easy.<br />
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Both Sweet Day and Luigi's Ghost Mansion were fun, but didn't really showcase anything incredible to me about the GamePad. It just lets you know that you can play a game fully on that screen and it works pretty well. I did think it was neat to have a solution to keep players from screen peeking though. Technically those on a GamePad could still look at the TV if they wanted to cheat, but for the most part it served as a fun personal screen to play on.<br />
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Next was The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest. Unfortunately, despite having the Zelda name, this seems like one of the more uncreative attractions. I only played using the Wii Remote which means you're a character with a sword. Just like the previous games, there is room for four Remote users and one GamePad user. This time the GamePad wasn't for an enemy player, but as I didn't play it, I'm not sure what its functionality was like.<br />
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Anyway, you are a little character with a sword who is on a path to a castle. Enemies pop up along the way who you must slash at and defend yourself from. It's very simplistic gamewise and the only interesting thing really is slashing the Remote. That's certainly far from an inventive use of it though so the game wasn't particularly mind-blowing.<br />
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Donkey Kong's Crash Course was one of two single player experiences up for play and definitely fared as the better of the two in my opinion. The game is basically one big puzzle title which makes use of your reflexes. It also tests your patience. When starting a level you're greeted with a screen full of Donkey Kong-style grating. The whole thing is pretty overwhelming to look at, but you're not meant to look at the full TV screen anyway, but the Wii U GamePad. On the GamePad it shows you a smaller section of the course which you're currently on.<br />
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That's not the only feature of the controller you utilize with Crash Course. It also employs tilt control which isn't entirely new, but functions smoothly. For example, say you see a gap in the grating you're currently travelling on. Obviously you must jump over it! If you just slowly crawl over it though then expect to fall through it. So, to build up speed, you tilt the GamePad more heavily to the left or right (whichever way you're going) to fly over the gap and continue onward. Similarly, there are times when you must slow down and be precise with your tilting.<br />
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The game isn't purely dependant on tilting though. There are various platforms which you activate or move by using L, R, and analog sticks. I felt like this control method was both entirely inviting to newer games but also might repel them. Because it is so easy to control it wouldn't require much teaching, but then prospective players might get angry at how hard the game itself is. For me, I managed to progress smoothly through the first half of the map, only to continually lose life after life right after. Donkey Kong's Crash Course is a lot tougher than it looks and I found it completely addictive.<br />
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Finally, there was Takamaru's Ninja Castle. This is another single player experience and one that seems aimed toward casual gamers. It's basically an arcade-style game where you are transported through areas where ninjas will pop up and try to hurt you. As a ninja yourself, you must throw ninja stars at all of the enemies in your path and rack up a high score. Predicatbly, you use the GamePad to aim and fling your stars.<br />
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One thing that was new about this method of control was that it's not simply about sliding your finger on the touch screen, which I initially thought was the case. However, you must also aim the GamePad around the screen which designates where you're going to shoot. That's why I call it an arcade-like experience. It's akin to shooting games in the arcade, except that you're not using a big plastic gun. It's fine for what it is but I wouldn't play it very much on my own and bet other gamers would share this sentiment.<br />
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With what Nintendo showed in Nintendo Land was an interesting start to the world of Wii U gaming. Hopefully the system has a lot more to offer than these gameplay modes though, as certainly there must be a lot more the GamePad can do. Unfortunately, because there is a great focus on multiplayer (with human players) it remains to be seen if NintendoLand will cater much to single player fans beyond a game or two. If that's the case then many will probably skip out on this game, if it ends up not coming with the system. As it is a pretty solid demo and introduction to the Wii U GamePad though, I expect the game to be bundled with each system.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-29649788342164675712012-05-24T13:51:00.001-07:002012-05-24T13:51:15.827-07:00Watch Speedruns Live<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Video game speedruns are not everyone's cup of coffee. Most never attempt one themselves, and many don't even like that people can rush through their favorite games. For most of us though I think it's fair to say they're fun to watch from time to time. It's amazing to watch people blast through games since chances are we've never accomplished such a feat ourselves.<br />
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Anyway, I bring up speedruns because Speed Demos Archive is having their <a href="http://speeddemosarchive.com/">annual speedrunning marathon</a> right now. I've caught it for the past few years and it's a lot of fun to watch. It'll be live for a few days and they're accepting donations for charity (Organization for Autism Research). If you're interested in seeing what games they'll be playing <a href="http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/schedule/">here's a list</a>.<br />
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I know I'm going to be tuning in for some <i>Portal</i>, <i>Resident Evil</i>, and <i>Hitman: Blood Money</i>.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-63888643980973251982012-05-14T07:27:00.000-07:002012-05-14T07:27:00.026-07:0067 - 50 Cent: Bulletproof<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Genre: </b>Action<br />
<b>Rating: </b>M<br />
<b>Developer: </b>Genuine Games<br />
<b>Publisher: </b>VU Games<br />
<b>Platform: </b>PS2 (Also: Xbox, PSP)<br />
<b>Release Year: </b>2005<br />
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<i>50 Cent: Bulletproof</i> is an odd game. If there were any way to describe it it would probably be the sort of thing that musical artists 50 Cent dreams about. I don't know how much he contributed to the project, but it definitely seems like a kind of game made to fulfill some wishes.<br />
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In the game you're 50 Cent, of course, and are simply living your life out in your hood until one of your homies is gunned down. Except he's not gunned down by a rival game but some sort of super soldier guys. 50 deduces that there's someone more on his tail than usual, assembles his crew, and sets off to destroy all those involved.<br />
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Gameplay is probably where <i>50 Cent: Bulletproof</i> is the worst so many people have probably never even finished it. It's basically a very simple first/third person shooter but very little is thrown in to spice it up. That means you'll be awkwardly firing at hordes of racially stereotyped gangsters. The objectives, too, are a bit difficult to understand at times. You'll get them all posted to your cellphone but from there it's often hard to figure out where the trigger for them is.<br />
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If the gameplay is lacking then why would anyone other than an obsessive 50 Cent fan play? As odd as it sounds, the story is probably the best part of it. Although the first few minutes seem dull, after the catalyst of his homie getting killed, things quickly progress into stranger territory. There are some really odd characters in the cast and it was always interesting seeing what they were up to.<br />
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I wouldn't recommend the game to most people but there is something about it that kept me playing. Now I've got to get my hands on a copy of <i>50 Cent: Blood on the Sand</i> and see if it improves upon the foundation of <i>Bulletproof.</i><br />
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<b>Would I play again? </b>No. Beat it.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-16799306961255649112012-05-12T13:49:00.001-07:002012-05-12T13:49:07.243-07:00Yay, Thrift Stores!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I wasn't expecting much when I went into my closest thrift store yesterday. Basically the one incredible score I made there once was a PlayStation 1 development system. That was at least a year ago now and since then the shift has been toward the mundane. Recently, there was an X-Arcade controller but someone grabbed and purchased it about a minute before I could.<br />
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Anyway, there isn't typically much here. However, today there was a big garbage bin filled up with boxed (most new) PC games. They weren't exactly recent games for the most part but they were complete games all the same. Each title was a paltry 99 cents. It seemed like a bargain to me so I snapped up a boatload of 'em.<br />
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After coming home with my haul I immediately set off to PriceCharting and eBay to see what my sealed games were worth. Unfortunately, most of them aren't worth anything since nobody is interested. However, a handful of the games seem to fetch $15-$25 so that's good to know. Of interest, the one game I almost didn't even see/pick up is worth the most of them all. <i>The Movies: Stunts & Effects</i> <i>Expansion Pack</i> for some reason goes for $35-$45 on average. And yes, that's actual final bids, not just people's wacky Buy It Now prices. I'm quite happy with this and don't mind parting with the game to make back all that was spent on the PC games to begin with (plus some). Besides, <i>The Movies</i> doesn't even work on my computer anymore so there's really no need for me to hold onto the expansion.<br />
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Every once in a while there are some great deals to be found at stores. Sometimes I can search for months to no avail, but these moments reinvigorate me. Have you ever found a great score at a thrift store? What was it?Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-36418355433065169302012-04-04T09:05:00.000-07:002012-04-04T09:06:16.328-07:00Jane Jensen's Kickstarter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For those who aren't adventure gaming nuts you might not be aware of who Jane Jensen is. Well, she's one of the cooler names in the world of the genre with such titles under her belt as the Gabriel Knight series and <i>Gray Matter</i>. Gabriel Knight games are so intensely good, even all these years later so I recommend trying them out (at least the first two) if you're ever in the mood.<br />
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Anyway, a Kickstarter has popped up today. It's for <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg">Jane's Pinkerton Road</a> development studio. By donating you help fund the company, games, and even help choose the first game that will get worked on. It might not seem like a huge deal to many, but to me it's incredibly cool. Aside from <i>Gray Matter</i>, Jane has mostly been wrapped up in doing Women's Murder Club games. Now, that's fine and all but it's not a series where you have the creative ability to make any story you desire. To hear that she may be returning to making her own games is fantastic and I hope it happens.<br />
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With all these Kickstarter projects out I continue to worry they will fail. When I saw the Leisure Suit Larry one I was almost certain it would not make its $500,000 goal. I thought that only I and older gamers would still care about the series. However, it's already racking up mega money. Jane Jensen seems like an even more niche part of the adventure game world. Still, I'm hoping the goal is reached so I, as well as everyone else, can enjoy more stories from her.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-70702483033776264622012-03-30T09:37:00.000-07:002012-03-30T09:45:28.569-07:00Assassin's Creed III and Women<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This isn't going to be a long post but just a sort of mini rant based on something I stumbled upon yesterday. Earlier in the week I saw a handful of gaming posts that had something to do with <i>Assassin's Creed III</i> and women but I filtered it out. <i>ACIII </i>looks like a super cool game but that's not really something I'm a big fan of. Either way, I finally settled down and read a <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/29/no-country-for-young-women-assassins-creed-iii-is-a-manly-game/">Forbes article</a> about it and was rather surprised.<br />
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They discussed a bit of why a woman lead wouldn't jive with this game. In particular, creative director Alex Hutchinson said:<br />
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“In this period it’s been a bit of a pain. The history of the American Revolution is the history of men. There are a few people, like John Adams’ wife. They tried very hard in the TV series to not make it look like a bunch of dudes, but it really is a bunch of dudes.”<br />
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Just this would have been irksome enough but then the Forbes author added on:<br />
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"Of course, this applies to essentially all of history up until the very recent past. History is largely the story of a bunch of dudes, though this is hardly the point."<br />
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Okay, what? I can almost expect that developers aren't going to think outside the box. I have come to mostly accept that they will add in all sorts of unrealistic elements to a history (league of assassins spanning the globe and time periods, hello) but not allow women to take a leading role (you can be a woman assassin in multiplayer). This is expected even though it's a cop out. However, to see the Forbes writer suggest that women have played only a small role in "all of history" is incredible.<br />
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For some reason I thought Forbes was a smart people publication written by other smart people. Anyway, this barely has to do with games but I thought I'd point it out. Of course history we get in schools is full of men - who do you think is selecting topics to write about for the textbooks?! You'd think with women being, you know, half the population that they would <i>obviously</i> have a large contribution to the world around them. I guess people who accept their history classes as the complete history of everything worth knowing just assume women sat around doing nothing for centuries like they were supposed to and only started becoming autonomous lately.<br />
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It's just so incredible. Without any thoughts otherwise, both these men completely accept what they've been taught over the years. Sure, the things that do get taught are highly factual but what they leave out is telling. Gosh, I hope sometime people with different mindsets and life experiences will be given the chance to create triple A games. We need to see truly different stories told and dispersed to the gamer masses.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-53430264046851345382012-03-10T11:51:00.000-08:002012-03-10T11:51:13.759-08:00Dys4ia Deserves to be Played<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For a while I've been in love with the works of Anna Anthropy - known often as just "Auntie Pixelante". Lately she's been focused on making a lot of "mini" games but they're still pretty fun all the same. For a while now though she's been talking about work on a game about her trans experiences and that really interested me. Finally on Friday it arrived on Newgrounds so I thought I'd share a link to it now.<br />
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The game's called <a href="http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/591565"><i>dys4ia</i></a>. "Dysphoria" is often a term used in the trans community to describe someone having feelings of dysphoria with their own body. Dysphoria is the opposite of euphoria, which of course would be joyous emotions. One of the common labeling of "transgenderism" these days is "gender dysphoria". So that's where the title comes from.<br />
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While it is really just a bunch of small interactive vignettes, it stands as a very strong piece of work. It's certainly not a typical game but how could one be made over such subjects? The game travels through Anna's life pre-transition, attempting to transition, and where she is heading now. Although I'm not a transwoman I could certainly understand where she's coming from. Aside from woman-specific things I definitely have felt like she has, such as feeling like a spy in the bathroom or being so thankful to have someone with me along the way.<br />
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There's just so much about <i>dys4ia</i> even though it only lasts about 5 minutes. It brings up things that I'm sure most people have never even thought about, much less expected to be reality for certain people. It also leaves with a nice message for trans and non trans people. If you have a few minutes to spare I strongly urge you to try it out.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-64797793117184128722012-03-07T10:00:00.000-08:002012-03-07T10:58:37.732-08:00My Vita Impressions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The PlayStation Vita is a system that I knew I needed from the moment it was announced. The PSP never did me wrong even though it took a great deal of time to build up an excellent gaming library. Because of that past positive experience I was fully prepared for a more modern but equally wonderful affair with a Vita.<br />
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So, on launch day I picked up the Wi-Fi version. I grabbed a memory card and game (<i>Lumines</i>) a few days later. These are mostly the things I realized while messing with the system without having a game to really "enjoy" the system with. As such, I was able to focus much more on the hardware itself as well as the basic functionality.<br />
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<b>Negative:</b><br />
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<b>It's heavy.</b> Much heavier than I expected after reviews came in suggesting that it really wasn't as bad as you might expect. Sure, it's still not going to knock you over but it's strange to hold such bulky tech after getting accustomed to things like MP3 players, smartphones, and a PSP-3000.<br />
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<b>Holding it in the way my hands naturally want to is wrong.</b> I have no game to check this out with but when I rest my fingers in the way that seems the most comfortable they are all over the rear touch pad. You're meant to curl your fingers up onto the little pads near the edges of the unit, but that is so strange to do. It didn't hurt to move my fingers there initially, but I haven't spent any good amount of time with that position. I'm hoping it doesn't turn out like the 3DS where holding it cramps my hands up after a little bit.<br />
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<b>The system is too big!</b> Now, this seems odd because honestly it is quite a luxurious thing. The problem for me is though that the system is so wide that my fingers can't reach the center quadrants of the screen. I only noticed this when trying to use the on-screen keyboard for hammering out messages. Although I don't really like on-screen keyboards, at the moment, that's the only way to type on the system it seems. Either way, with the giant touch screen it should be no problem! Except when I tried I realized my fingers couldn't reach to the middle parts of the keyboard! It was quite a hindrance and I had to shift my holding of it to get there. By then it had killed my whole flow. Probably won't use this feature much at all then, although chatting with other Vita players in a party via text would be fun.<br />
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<b>What an awful camera. </b>Okay, the 3DS also has a pretty poopy camera. Still, why even bother when you're going to have such wimpy quality? Cell phones these days are coming out with fully HD cameras, as shocking as that may seem. Sony probably couldn't afford to splurge on the component though, and it still works well enough for augmented reality.<br />
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<b>I hate</b> <b>Content Manager Assistant</b>. For those without a Vita, the CMA is a program which you use whenever you want to transfer pictures, video, music, and whatnot between your system and computer. The reason it exists seems to be an attempt to curb piracy. PSPs were exploited via memory cards (as well as batteries - which is why the Vita has no removable battery). Anyway, I understand where they're coming from but it is cumbersome. Not to mention in order to use the program you have to set the Vita to not charge via USB. Charging via USB is convenient as well, so if you want to do that regularly you will have to constantly be switching the setting between charging and transferring. Beyond that annoyance though it just takes too many steps to work this program. You have to set libraries so you can't even just drag items on a whim to the Vita. CMA also requires an internet connection when transferring specific files (save data and games) so it may be able to update your Vita without you even knowing, or at least eventually possibly ban you from transferring certain files it marks as "bad". <a href="http://www.wololo.net/downloads/index.php/download/1252">Open CMA</a> exists to let Vita owners transfer content to and from their Vita without having an internet connection. Of course, that's not a program which was made or certified by Sony so use it at your own risk.<br />
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<b>It can barely handle any media file types.</b> I haven't used my PS3 for a while, but from what I recall it could handle all kinds of video files. I'm pretty sure it could tackle AVI and codecs like DIVX and possibly even WMV files if you enabled that. The Vita can handle a couple HD video formats. By a couple I literally mean a couple - two. They are MPEG-4 and H.264. I'm not a video fidelity snob so most of my VHS transfers are AVI files. Why can't you play the most prevalent video format, Vita? I was ready and excited to put some videos on for watching, but now I have to go the extra step of converting them before use. That, or waiting for a media server to be coded so I can stream content straight from it (although that won't work outside the house!).<br />
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<b>Vita updates itself.</b> It won't always do this, but the system is able to update system files and games in the background without prompting the user. So far it seems to be the case that we will always be asked for firmware updates, but beyond that Sony has no qualms updating other content on the fly. This is for the best, really, but sometimes game updates tend to bork games further. Beyond that, it worries me that Sony might accidentally flag or ban certain user accounts because they *think* the system is tampered with. For anyone who has Windows and has been flagged by "Windows Genuine Advantage" you're probably understanding my fear. For those unaware, WGA is a program which was included on a necessary Windows update which was meant to target only users who had pirated/unofficial Windows installations. Instead it harassed many legitimate users.<br />
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<b>Positive:</b><br />
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<b>This screen is incredible.</b> It's huge! I'm not used to seeing a screen this large on a portable device. It's so shiny and pretty and looks fabulous when I stream Netflix content to it. Sony really made an excellent choice for splurging on it. Just make sure to pick up a screen cover so you don't damage it.<br />
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<b>The styling is pretty nice. </b>The system might be a bit bulky, but it's still pretty gorgeous. It definitely looks like a fancy piece of technology. Somehow, it even manages to make the PSP look kiddy, although the system never really looked that way before. If there's one thing to dog the system about in looks it is for the awkward PS, Select, and Start button sizes and positions. As they don't stand out it is hard to just feel where they are, as well as to push your thumb down and toward your hand to trigger them. Also, they kind of remind me of the superfluous buttons on an original Xbox controller.<br />
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<b>Thank god they got rid of UMDs.</b> UMDs were always one of the strangest choices to me. Why would you have a spinning disc in a portable device? Do you remember CD players skipping? The same principle applies here so it seems a bit wild. Of course, the UMDs had a plastic casing around them to help with this, but still, disc based media in portable devices seems quite the dated concept. The SD card-like games are a big improvement. They should also help with loading times I think, although apparently there's still some slow loading going on.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-807699341663274405.post-11558030809447002972012-02-16T11:39:00.000-08:002012-02-16T13:53:06.234-08:00Oh Kotaku, I Thought You Changed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, no, I didn't think they really changed but it seemed that there were good changes going on as of late. Some of my friends and writers I admire have now written pieces for the site (or were even hired!). It seems a lot of good things will be coming to Kotaku in the future, although I still feel antsy keying in the URL.<br />
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Anyway, they posted "<a href="http://kotaku.com/5885546/a-salute-to-dani-bunten-a-transgender-video-gaming-pioneer/">A Salute to Dani Bunten, a Transgender Video Gaming Pioneer</a>" yesterday and I just about fell over. In case you don't know, Danielle Bunten Berry is most famous for having created <i>M.U.L.E</i>. She was such an important force in the industry that Will Wright even dedicated <i>The Sims</i> to her. Oh, she was also trans.<br />
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I think that would have been a fine way to talk about her. She was certainly not quiet about her transition (how could you be when you must have yourself out there with your gaming contemporaries?). But that doesn't mean you can make a gigantic production about the trans aspect and then barely discuss the impact of her life as a DEVELOPER/PROGRAMMER. This post is on a GAMING website after all, right? Oh, but this is Kotaku. Of course they're going to focus on the most "interesting" aspect of Dani - her transness.<br />
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The original post called Dani "he" up until discussion of her transitioning. Of course, APPARENTLY only having genital reassignment surgery (GRS) makes you a real man or woman. Although Stephen Totilo defended the use of "he" for pre-transition talk of Dani and "her" for post-transition, Luke Plunkett (the writer of the article) has since changed all instances of "he" into "she". I'm assuming Luke made this choice after seeing people blow up over the use of the wrong pronoun.<br />
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Dani passed away in the 90s and gaming lost a great visionary. And in a well-meaning post the headline image is Dani pre-transition. I would be happy to have people remember me after I am gone. I would also be happy to have people know that I was trans, because that helps show the world that we exist and are great people. But if someone posted a picture of me pre-transition, that wouldn't feel like I'm being honored. That would feel like drudging up the worst times of my life. Kotaku, you need to learn a thing or two before you post this stuff.<br />
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I may post a larger response to this for the site I write for. I'm not sure yet.<br />
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<b>Update: </b>Aside from changing all instances of the pronoun "he" to "she", Totilo is now searching for a "terrific 640x360 pic of Dani" for the headline image. Well, that's nice but a little too late. I find it surprising that like an hour after the Twitterverse was hammering him about this story, and he basically said it was all "valid word choice" that he is now changing his tune. He defended himself in that past hour all the way and never appeared to see the light of what people were trying to impart on him. Either someone else on his team made a choice, or he is just giving in because the side riled up against him is greater than he thought. His current statement is now "We never meant disrespect w/our Dani Bunten tribute. Tried to tell a clear story."<br />
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It wouldn't have been a hugely confusing story if you had female pronouns used to begin with. The title is still "transgender" pioneer after all, so people must have come into the article expecting it. That said, I still have an issue with a whole paragraph devoted to talk about her GRS. If Dani weren't trans, would there be a paragraph to talk about the genitals of any other game developer?<br />
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I hate how if someone is defined as trans that talk suddenly always MUST shift to the genitals. Trans people are still people. We are not some completely other or alien being. It is often considered disprespectful to ask questions about these private body parts with anyone, so why wouldn't it be the same with us? Dani did speak about her GRS before, yes, that's true, but I'm not sure if she would have wanted that to be the byline of her life.Marcushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04418938692413450900noreply@blogger.com4