Written by Aaron Mitchell | Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:39
Dear Ruffian Games. Clearly we have common interests and I think we should socialise, maybe have a poker night or attend a fondue party together. I mean, I like Crackdown, and you clearly like Crackdown, probably even more than me. Before we spend time together I do need to clear something up. It’s great we have common interests but I think you love Crackdown too much... there I said it.
You love it so much that when commissioned to make a sequel after Real Time Studio dropped the ball, you went and made the same game instead, possibly thinking it was too good to be made better. Unfortunately it is at this point that our opinions go their separate ways.
Written by Aaron Mitchell | Wednesday, 28 July 2010 19:56
Many moons ago I wrote an article on this website lamenting the fact fighting games, a genre I grew up with, hadn't really grown up as well. The developers had decided to recycle the same ideas and concepts over and over again, making games for the arcade when most video game arcades had gone the way of the Dodo. Read it here to get an idea of my problems with the genre.
Street Fighter X Tekken, unveiled at Comic Con this week, is exactly the sort of thing I was bitching about. The fact cross overs have become the technique to get people interested in fighting games again makes me a very sad panda.
Written by Mick Brown | Tuesday, 27 July 2010 00:51
These days it seems the only safe place left for originality in videogames lies with the independent and downloadable ‘arcade’ market. A place where poor sales are acceptable, where a lower price tag invites a more relaxed and less scrutinizing audience and sleeper hits are far more common. Cheap, pick-up-and-play games like Braid and Flower are widely regarded as the best in their genre - a genre that, in its infant state, has become a melting pot of genres themselves - because they cleverly combine an expected level of gameplay with a little something more. Emotion.
Written by Aaron Mitchell | Sunday, 25 July 2010 11:32
What could possibly be cooler than the new Firefight mode in Reach that lets you play as either Elites or Spartan's and customise all elements of the game? How about a mode that lets you play as all the types of enemy. Gears of War 3 has Beast mode, basically Horde with you playing as the swarms of Locusts, taking control from everything from Tickers up to Berserkers. The more advanced Locusts need to be unlocked to be used in Beast mode.
I suddenly expect to be playing a ton of this mode when Gears of War 3 appears next year. Fun fact, Berserkers are female Drones, no wonder the Locust are always in such a bad mood.
Written by Aaron Mitchell | Saturday, 24 July 2010 19:33
San Diego Comic Con is currently happening (and I'm here in Australia DAMN IT!) and Bungie were in attendance on Friday dropping some pretty spectacular news about Firefight, a new Halo themed Xbox and a little piece of magic called Forge World.
Words don't do justice to how amazing Forge World looks. So watch the video below to get a clearer idea how amazing it looks.
Written by Aaron Mitchell | Friday, 23 July 2010 20:31
Downloadable arcade games are once again entering that sweet period every year when retail games start to slow down. Deathspank and Limbo have all ready proved to be essential purchases and next August (24 for PSN, 25 for Live Arcade) see’s the release of Shank, another title all the cool kids will be playing.
Check the trailer below to see the only game this year that comes with a huge pair of brass testicles (I imagine).
Written by Aaron Mitchell | Wednesday, 21 July 2010 21:58
The topic of violence in video games has been generating some great conversations on the web these last few days, coming largely by way of a thoughtful blog post by designer Steve Gaynor at his Fullbright site. I’d advise you to go there and read it before you read my response. Click here for a read of Steve Gaynor's excellent write up.
The general consensus seems to be that for games to mature, violence in video games needs to be given weight and meaning. The consequence should equal the act, which in the vast majority of games it certainly does not.
This is entirely true, but my two cents on the topic is tread very, very carefully.
