Are Difficulty Settings Necessary?

The pursuit of a challenge can be a driving force in life. The accomplishment of something thought to be unobtainable has a certain allure which some find irresistible. Game designers tend to play off of this concept, creating challenges that

Backlash

Human beings have an interesting reaction to Things That Are Good. Instead of loving them and appreciating them for what they are, we tend towards finding flaws, looking at the things that don’t stick. We say we want something brilliant,

Valve swearing off single player?

Well this is the saddest thing I’ve heard all day. Apparently Gabe Newell, in Geoff Keighley’s Final Days of Portal 2 app, says that “Portal 2 will probably be Valve’s last game with an isolated single-player experience.” Which would be

Portal 2 and Imagination

For those of you keeping score, Valve have not released a narrative based game since October 10th, 2007. That’s four years. Four years of co-op multiplayer shooters and hats and no Half Life. This has been a great disservice to

Portal 2 box art emphasizes co-op

I remain skeptical about the prospects of a game that was brilliant as a brief downloadable title (and Orange Box pack-in) extended into a full $60 retail release. Valve is obviously not known for releasing bad games, so I feel