The Online Pass Problem
Jason Roberts over at Lens of Truth, wrote a great op-ed about the trend of game publishers forcing gamers to have to buy into online passes. I would highly recommend taking out the time to read the original piece, titled, The Online Pass Strikes Again, before continuing beyond this point.
I’ve been seeing this piece linked around quite a bit over the past 24 hours: saw several links for it shared on my Twitter feed, a couple shares for it on my Facebook wall, seen it show up at Reddit, among other places. The piece really seems to be striking a raw nerve with gamers everywhere. And it should, as quite frankly, the piece is spot on, and paints a pretty grim picture for the future of the hobby. Especially as costs associated with game development (currently between $30 million to $50 million for the average multi-platform game) are due to double, and potentially triple with the release of next-gen hardware right around the corner. (more…)
The Art of Interactive Fear
I was going to write the entire thing about Dead Space 2. And I was going to go on and on about how the original was awesome, and how part two was going to be even better. And I was going to go into an entire soliloquy about how outside of Alan Wake (a video game that everyone without exception should experience), the original Dead Space while flawed, was the closest thing to real, honest to God fear, you could experience in a video game, and how Dead Space 2 was going to build on that, repairing the faults found in the first game, and likely become one of the most frightening experiences any form of entertainment (film, novel, etc.) has ever managed to be. But then I decided there was really no point. Either you already know that Dead Space will make you pee your pants, or you do not. If you already know, then you already have Dead Space 2 pre-ordered and ready to go later this month. If you are in the category of people who had no clue . . . skip over the first game, rent or buy Dead Space 2, turn out the lights, turn up your home theater surround sound system, and either play it or have someone else play it for you as you watch on . . . and prepare to wet yourselves. Outside of that, and the trailer and some photos from the game (after the break), there is nothing else to say about this game. (more…)
What the Hell am I Doing? 