Soundscapes – The Future of Music

Have we perfected sound yet? No, not by a long shot. We imagine that graphics will be “done” when we can create anything we can imagine without hitting a hardware limit. Whether it’s a perfect recreation of reality or whatever

/ 2 Comments

Soundscapes – The Future of Music

Have we perfected sound yet? No, not by a long shot. We imagine that graphics will be “done” when we can create anything we can imagine without hitting a hardware limit. Whether it’s a perfect recreation of reality or whatever

/ 2 Comments

How Universities Are Helping Video Games Move Forward

In a recent interview with Electron Dance, Dr. Dan Pinchbeck explained how the development paradigm he works in actually finds values in failed games, “If you are a developer and you take a risk and it doesn’t pay off, you’re

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How Universities Are Helping Video Games Move Forward

In a recent interview with Electron Dance, Dr. Dan Pinchbeck explained how the development paradigm he works in actually finds values in failed games, “If you are a developer and you take a risk and it doesn’t pay off, you’re

/ Comments Off on How Universities Are Helping Video Games Move Forward

Ten tips for a better Dragon's Dogma experience.

It may be hiding under a few rough edges, but Dragon’s Dogma is one of the best fantasy experiences money can buy. As someone who is favors the adventure, over-the-top action and mystery that fantasy role-playing games often promise in the form of CGI trailers only to drop you into spreadsheet land, DD has already become my favorite game of this year, perhaps for all time. So allow me to enlighten you on the game’s most enticing features and some simple ways to get around a few minor flaws that seem to be driving people away.

/ 14 Comments

Ten tips for a better Dragon's Dogma experience.

It may be hiding under a few rough edges, but Dragon’s Dogma is one of the best fantasy experiences money can buy. As someone who is favors the adventure, over-the-top action and mystery that fantasy role-playing games often promise in the form of CGI trailers only to drop you into spreadsheet land, DD has already become my favorite game of this year, perhaps for all time. So allow me to enlighten you on the game’s most enticing features and some simple ways to get around a few minor flaws that seem to be driving people away.

/ 14 Comments

Owning Games Isn't What it Used to be, and That Needs to Change

Much of our lives are moving online. Last night, I ordered Chinese takeout through Grubhub in-between talking with friends over Gchat and Twitter, and then later played a few (fruitless) hours of Modern Warfare 3‘s multiplayer, before returning to my

/ 2 Comments

Owning Games Isn't What it Used to be, and That Needs to Change

Much of our lives are moving online. Last night, I ordered Chinese takeout through Grubhub in-between talking with friends over Gchat and Twitter, and then later played a few (fruitless) hours of Modern Warfare 3‘s multiplayer, before returning to my

/ 2 Comments

Steamroll: Splice Shuggy

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steamroll! Only 2 games for $10 or less were released this week, but both of them look like top-notch contenders. Which one will be the Best Steam Indie Game of the Week? Read

/ One Comment

Steamroll: Splice Shuggy

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steamroll! Only 2 games for $10 or less were released this week, but both of them look like top-notch contenders. Which one will be the Best Steam Indie Game of the Week? Read

/ One Comment

Resonance impresses with remarkable narrative, gameplay

In Resonance, developer Vince Twelve has created one of gaming’s more dazzling narratives. The game is a pleasure to play.

Resonance puts you in control of four characters thrown together in a science fiction setting to prevent world-wide disaster. A high-quality adventure game, Resonance has some of the best storytelling you’ll encounter on the PC. This is complemented by an interesting cast of characters, excellent 2D pixel work, great music and some unique game mechanics.

/ 2 Comments

Resonance impresses with remarkable narrative, gameplay

In Resonance, developer Vince Twelve has created one of gaming’s more dazzling narratives. The game is a pleasure to play.

Resonance puts you in control of four characters thrown together in a science fiction setting to prevent world-wide disaster. A high-quality adventure game, Resonance has some of the best storytelling you’ll encounter on the PC. This is complemented by an interesting cast of characters, excellent 2D pixel work, great music and some unique game mechanics.

/ 2 Comments

The new Amazing Spider-Man game is doing automated gameplay right.

We all hate quick time events. At least, we’re supposed to hate quick time events because, reasons? I never understood it myself. They can get overused like any other game mechanic, but well-integrated QTE’s let us do things that developers just haven’t quite figured out to turn into actual gameplay. I’d be happy to get rid of them once a sequence like the scorpion-water-horse-things fight in God of War 3 becomes feasible in real-time gameplay. Dragon’s Dogma has gotten pretty close since I can climb a hydra and sever one of its heads as I leap to the next one without a single “press x to not die” moment, but we still aren’t quite there. It’s all about at least having some control over your actions instead of being herded through a scripted sequence. Beenox seems to have gotten the right idea with its Web Rush system in The Amazing Spider-Man.

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The new Amazing Spider-Man game is doing automated gameplay right.

We all hate quick time events. At least, we’re supposed to hate quick time events because, reasons? I never understood it myself. They can get overused like any other game mechanic, but well-integrated QTE’s let us do things that developers just haven’t quite figured out to turn into actual gameplay. I’d be happy to get rid of them once a sequence like the scorpion-water-horse-things fight in God of War 3 becomes feasible in real-time gameplay. Dragon’s Dogma has gotten pretty close since I can climb a hydra and sever one of its heads as I leap to the next one without a single “press x to not die” moment, but we still aren’t quite there. It’s all about at least having some control over your actions instead of being herded through a scripted sequence. Beenox seems to have gotten the right idea with its Web Rush system in The Amazing Spider-Man.

/ Comments Off on The new Amazing Spider-Man game is doing automated gameplay right.

Blizzard and Bioware's MMOs: Telling Stories From Opposite Directions

There’s a lot of presumption out there that MMORPGs can’t or don’t tell stories like their single-player counterparts. Me, I think it’s nonsense. Maybe that was true in the past. It isn’t now.

In fact, I’ve been amazed at how much they’ve evolved from oldschool monster-clubbing. Somehow, some way, MMOs started telling stories. Final Fantasy XI has character-focused missions bound together into a grand narrative, Age of Conan has its early-game switches between single-player and multiplayer, and Guild Wars has its hub-and-instance structure. Dungeons and Dragons Online actually has a narrator. Storytelling’s gotten big, and storytelling choices has become key to differentiation within the genre.

Even World of Warcraft (WoW) has evolved into a story-focused game.

/ 3 Comments

Blizzard and Bioware's MMOs: Telling Stories From Opposite Directions

There’s a lot of presumption out there that MMORPGs can’t or don’t tell stories like their single-player counterparts. Me, I think it’s nonsense. Maybe that was true in the past. It isn’t now.

In fact, I’ve been amazed at how much they’ve evolved from oldschool monster-clubbing. Somehow, some way, MMOs started telling stories. Final Fantasy XI has character-focused missions bound together into a grand narrative, Age of Conan has its early-game switches between single-player and multiplayer, and Guild Wars has its hub-and-instance structure. Dungeons and Dragons Online actually has a narrator. Storytelling’s gotten big, and storytelling choices has become key to differentiation within the genre.

Even World of Warcraft (WoW) has evolved into a story-focused game.

/ 3 Comments

How do you Solve a Problem Like Max Payne?

The man is a high-functioning alcoholic. He spends his nights drinking himself into oblivion while the light of day finds him planting heavy metals deep into the flesh of his enemies with the biologically-ingrained certainty of a fifth generation lead

/ 3 Comments

How do you Solve a Problem Like Max Payne?

The man is a high-functioning alcoholic. He spends his nights drinking himself into oblivion while the light of day finds him planting heavy metals deep into the flesh of his enemies with the biologically-ingrained certainty of a fifth generation lead

/ 3 Comments

Soundscapes – The Future of Sound

Have we perfected sound yet? No, not by a long shot. We imagine that graphics will be “done” when we can create anything we can imagine without hitting a hardware limit. Whether it’s a perfect recreation of reality or whatever

/ 4 Comments

Soundscapes – The Future of Sound

Have we perfected sound yet? No, not by a long shot. We imagine that graphics will be “done” when we can create anything we can imagine without hitting a hardware limit. Whether it’s a perfect recreation of reality or whatever

/ 4 Comments