Independent games fuel our gaming futures

I really and truly love to support independent game developers. Without them, where would we get such classics like Braid or World of Goo? Those are two examples of indie games released just last year, with many more still to come in the months and even years ahead. Most gamers at some point in their lives wanted to get into the industry; I was one of them! I considered so many career options, but thought to myself “why not just do something that involves what I love?” Now? I’m an English major who wants to simply write about games instead of designing them. But there are plenty of young developers out there, some of whom could have the next big idea.

Juarez calls ahead (and a quick note on Battlefield 1943)

I went against my better judgment recently and bought Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Keep in mind, I hated the original. The game just felt clunky, had unnecessary stealth sections, and it all just looked kind of ugly. The story was the best part, but it fell flat near the end, and overall never felt like a true western experience. To me, while flawed, a game like Gun was the best game to capture the look and feel of that time in history. Red Dead Revolver did a decent job of it as well. But with all of the positive reviews, is Bound in Blood a superior game?

Summer: The annual gaming drought PART TWO

Oh my! A second part to a post that went absolutely nowhere! Yeah, so this month is still looking like we won’t be seeing much of anything in terms of video game news and game releases, aside from a select few games. But I do have stuff planned for this month, including new posts that I will probably have finished over the weekend! But first, some sad news.

The blogcast, something I have been planning for a while now, is pretty much dead at this point. I’ve tried a lot of different things, but nothing that really works the way I want it to. It doesn’t help that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing. I do have to thank StingX2 for the help, because he gave me some pretty nice pointers and some ideas of how to continue it. But I’m no expert, and I’ve got too much going on right now to worry about a silly podcast that nobody will really listen to anyway. The first one is still available, but just know it’s probably going to be the only one.

As for what’s planned this month? I have a nice post planned that will discuss the future of game controls. It’s kind of stealing a little from Gametrailers’ online show, Bonus Round, but I feel like I should throw my own opinion into it as well. It was mainly inspired by a podcast I listen to every week, Invisible Walls (also presented by Gametrailers). They had a question about the future of motion control in games, and it did spark my interest to write about it.

What else is there? I will probably have a few posts planned on game impressions and game demo impressions. First, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and the demo of Battlefield 1943. Soon I’ll be talking about the Monkey Island updates (both the remake of the original, and the new series by Telltale). And of course, Little King’s Story will most likely be getting a post as well. I also plan on getting Point Lookout, the fourth Fallout 3 expansion, so lookout for impressions of that as well.

That’s about it really, I’ll have a good few posts for the month, but daily updates will most likely just resume in August. And thanks again to everyone who helped out with the blogcast, and to those who did listen to the first episode and put up with all the bullshit problems I was having. It wasn’t perfect, but I did have fun with it. There’s always another chance, but for now, I’ll focus on writing.

Summer: The annual gaming drought

Summer is both a great and terrible time to be a gamer. Great because most people are off from school and have more time to enjoy games, but terrible because the game releases are so few and far between, it’s hard to even care. So let me first start off by saying: daily updates are pretty much going to be nonexistant until August. I’ll have a post here and there about certain games, and the blogcast will continue as usual, but nothing new will be coming from me this month. August may turn out the same, so don’t be surprised if things don’t really pick back up until September.

And yeah, blogcast #2 is going to be recorded on Monday, and will hopefully be up for everyone by Tuesday the latest. I’ll be using the Podomatic website again. It’s easy to listen right from the blog post itself, and they even offer a direct download option. Hopefully I can keep the sound quality decent enough so people can hear me better the second time around. Note to those who want to listen easily from the blog post they are attached to and have Firefox: try out the Foxytunes extension. See the blogcast page for more details.

Other than that, there isn’t much more to say. I’ll try to update when I can, but I’m really struggling to find things to discuss in such a strange time in the gaming world. All I can say is stay cool and keep checking back, I’ll have new posts sporadically throughout the month.

A Look Back #14: The Sega Channel

PS3 troubles!

There really is nothing going on in the world of gaming right now. Sure, we had a couple of cool mergers, but news has been pretty much dry in terms of any big stories. And game releases? We won’t be seeing anything big for the next couple of months. I do plan on getting Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood because I hear it is much improved over the first, and then BlazBlue looks like a fun game as well, but there really aren’t many big games coming out. The next huge release is Arkham Asylum, but we have to wait until the end of August to get that one. So onto some pointless post!

I rarely, if ever, hear about any PS3 problems. I’ve already had to send my Wii back, and I’m on my third Xbox 360, but the PS3 is the system I thought would be the most reliable. I had some freezing problems when playing Uncharted back in December, but aside from that, it’s been doing great! I played Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Valkyria Chronicles, Street Fighter IV, and plenty of Killzone 2 on it without a single hitch. And then I buy inFamous, and it freezes within the first hour.

After the game locked up on me for the tenth or so time, I realized that there may be something wrong with my system. I play Killzone 2 online for a bit without a problem, and then go back to inFamous before the same thing happens. I manage to get through the game though (and I would have finished it twice in the same amount of time if not for my PS3), and I do so playing two hours straight without a problem. Hooray, maybe my system is okay after all. Pop in Killzone 2, it begins to freeze within the first five or ten minutes of me playing.

Now I can’t even play anything without it freezing after ten minutes of play. I still hear audio, but the actual gameplay is frozen completely, and I can’t access the PS3 XMB to exit the game. So I try every possible “solution” on Sony’s site, but then come to the realization that I will have to send it back, since nothing is working. But hey, the warranty is good for a year, so I can send it back and get it repaired for free! Then I look at the date: June 12th, 2009. Exactly one year after I purchases my PS3 (the MGS4 bundle). Now what do I have to pay? Oh, only $150.

So yeah, my PS3 is now collecting dust while I try to gather up the money. I’m really in no hurry to fix it, like I would be if it were my Xbox 360 (since I pretty much get every multiplatform title for it), but it’s still fucking stupid. This both puts a complete hold on my Insomniac Games marathon, once I get around to the first Resistance that is. Luckily, there isn’t a PS3 game I want to play until Uncharted 2, so I have time.

In short: My PS3 is having problems, need to get it repaired, I’m pissed but not as pissed as I thought I would be. Now I’m really out of things to rant about. We’ll see what I come up with tomorrow!

Head to head – Ghostbusters: The Video Game vs. Other movie based games

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is one of those rare movie based games that is actually good. Rarely do you see a game based on a film from twenty five years ago be as well received as Ghostbusters was. But just how good is it? Oh, it’s very good. Let’s say you’re a fan of the Ghostbusters films, there is no reason you won’t like this game. It’s not a game version of either of the two movies, but it acts as a third film in the original story and completely new script. It also retains the same humor we come to expect from the Ghostbusters.

Month in review #3: June 2009

June was a pretty eventful month. Well, the first week of June was anyway, with the rest of the month being slow with a few great game releases but no huge news. I expect the next couple of months will be exactly the same, as I will also struggle to find things to write about within the next two months. With so few games coming out, it’s always time to revisit old games I never had a chance to finish! But also, what does that mean for the blog? I’m unsure yet, but hopefully I will find enough things to talk about to keep this blog updated daily. But for now, June is the most eventful month out of the three, so let’s look at my favorite moments from the month.

The invasion of downloadable games

Downloadable games, they aren’t anything new, but they are certainly here to stay. One company in particular, Sony, seems determined to support and rely on downloadable games. They are releasing an entire portable system based around the entire concept of downloading games to store on the system, the PSP Go. There is no doubt that downloadable games will go away any time soon, even if the PSP Go fails. With a soon to be released PSP game becoming a PSN only title, and the download only release of Patapon 2, it’s clear that Sony is testing out the waters before jumping in.

Classic post: MadWorld. Just MadWorld.

I wrote this up the week of MadWorld’s release, which is the over the top and ultra violent action game released back in March for the Wii. I was incredibly excited about it, and did multiple posts on this blog and on Press X to Win hyping it. I expected it to be one of the best, if not the best Wii game of the year. These impressions from back in March generally reflect my final opinions on the game, and although it’s no longer my favorite Wii game of the year (Punch-Out!! holds that title right now), it’s definitely very high up there as one of my favorite Wii titles.