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We won: On The Last Story and American release

A scant two days before its European release, us Western RPG players got the best news we could hope for: The Last Story is getting an American release. The forces of good have prevailed. We’ve now gone full circle on

/ 6 Comments

We won: On The Last Story and American release

A scant two days before its European release, us Western RPG players got the best news we could hope for: The Last Story is getting an American release. The forces of good have prevailed. We’ve now gone full circle on

/ 6 Comments

Could multiplayer be Mass Effect 3's saving grace?

I hate multiplayer. Unreal Tournament 2004 with my college buddies was the most recently I’ve enjoyed playing with other people. I tried games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead and didn’t particularly enjoy them. Borderlands was fun, but

/ 2 Comments

Could multiplayer be Mass Effect 3's saving grace?

I hate multiplayer. Unreal Tournament 2004 with my college buddies was the most recently I’ve enjoyed playing with other people. I tried games like Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead and didn’t particularly enjoy them. Borderlands was fun, but

/ 2 Comments

Obligatory: Mass Effect 3 Ex Machina, Michael Bay, a demo

I’ll preface this post immediately: I am not Aram, writer of our many lists about things wrong with Mass Effect 2. Of the forty five items on those lists, I probably disagree with about thirty five of them. That being

/ 6 Comments

Obligatory: Mass Effect 3 Ex Machina, Michael Bay, a demo

I’ll preface this post immediately: I am not Aram, writer of our many lists about things wrong with Mass Effect 2. Of the forty five items on those lists, I probably disagree with about thirty five of them. That being

/ 6 Comments

Has Double Fine resurrected the adventure genre?

Not twenty four hours ago the adventure game was as dead as its been for ten plus years. It was a Romero zombie, shambling but ineffably moving. Telltale’s Jurassic Park series has been a bullet in the leg, but that

/ 5 Comments

Has Double Fine resurrected the adventure genre?

Not twenty four hours ago the adventure game was as dead as its been for ten plus years. It was a Romero zombie, shambling but ineffably moving. Telltale’s Jurassic Park series has been a bullet in the leg, but that

/ 5 Comments

"Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning": Demo Impressions

I’ve been looking forward to the release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (KoA:R) since I first heard about it, not least of all because of the names associated with it’s production. There’s Ken Rolston, lead designer on two of the

/ Comments Off on "Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning": Demo Impressions

"Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning": Demo Impressions

I’ve been looking forward to the release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (KoA:R) since I first heard about it, not least of all because of the names associated with it’s production. There’s Ken Rolston, lead designer on two of the

/ Comments Off on "Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning": Demo Impressions

Fixing Reviews: The Lying Score

Review scores are tricky; they are not for everybody. For a scoring system to have any worth, it must have consistency. Not everybody is ready for that. You can’t call a game a master-piece only to call it a disappointment at the end of the year. Review scores must also be honest and, believe it or not, even less people are ready for that. Here, I’m not talking about the flawed notion some outlets have that the average between 0 and 10 is 8. That’s just being mathematically deprived. Instead, I’m talking about Metacritic, Amazon, App Stores and whatever other place that aggregates scores from users in order to present a single information: that the cosmos has voted and decided that game X is a 8.6 out of 10.

Guess what? They are all lying.

They are lying because they encourage users to lie in their reviews. Yes, that means the liar is ultimately you, Mr. User.

/ 2 Comments

Fixing Reviews: The Lying Score

Review scores are tricky; they are not for everybody. For a scoring system to have any worth, it must have consistency. Not everybody is ready for that. You can’t call a game a master-piece only to call it a disappointment at the end of the year. Review scores must also be honest and, believe it or not, even less people are ready for that. Here, I’m not talking about the flawed notion some outlets have that the average between 0 and 10 is 8. That’s just being mathematically deprived. Instead, I’m talking about Metacritic, Amazon, App Stores and whatever other place that aggregates scores from users in order to present a single information: that the cosmos has voted and decided that game X is a 8.6 out of 10.

Guess what? They are all lying.

They are lying because they encourage users to lie in their reviews. Yes, that means the liar is ultimately you, Mr. User.

/ 2 Comments

Killing Mario for coins in Super Mario 3D Land

I have a problem, an addiction really, and I hear admitting it is the first step to recovery. It wasn’t always a problem; back before Yoshi’s Island I was a hale and healthy chap without this crippling hunger. The real

/ 2 Comments

Killing Mario for coins in Super Mario 3D Land

I have a problem, an addiction really, and I hear admitting it is the first step to recovery. It wasn’t always a problem; back before Yoshi’s Island I was a hale and healthy chap without this crippling hunger. The real

/ 2 Comments

Faith in Final Fantasy

Let me tell you why the recently released soundtrack to Final Fantasy XIII-2, featuring an incredibly awkward not quite death metal cover of the Chocobo song and an even more awkward rap song than Iwatodai Station from Persona 3, worse

/ Comments Off on Faith in Final Fantasy

Faith in Final Fantasy

Let me tell you why the recently released soundtrack to Final Fantasy XIII-2, featuring an incredibly awkward not quite death metal cover of the Chocobo song and an even more awkward rap song than Iwatodai Station from Persona 3, worse

/ Comments Off on Faith in Final Fantasy

World Of Warcraft Turns Seven: A Hit In More Ways Than One

Blizzard is kicking off it’s seventh year celebrations by offering players who log in between the 20th of November and the 3rd of December a feat of strength and an item granting bonus to XP and reputations gains. There’s more!

/ 5 Comments

World Of Warcraft Turns Seven: A Hit In More Ways Than One

Blizzard is kicking off it’s seventh year celebrations by offering players who log in between the 20th of November and the 3rd of December a feat of strength and an item granting bonus to XP and reputations gains. There’s more!

/ 5 Comments

I ain't afraid of no Phantasmaburbia

It’s long been my opinion that indie developers should latch onto an obscure but happily received classic and run with its ideas. The indie platformer community has done this with Super Mario Brothers 2 (or Doki Doki Panic) and I’ve

/ One Comment

I ain't afraid of no Phantasmaburbia

It’s long been my opinion that indie developers should latch onto an obscure but happily received classic and run with its ideas. The indie platformer community has done this with Super Mario Brothers 2 (or Doki Doki Panic) and I’ve

/ One Comment