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Entries from March 2008

Screw Steam

March 18th, 2008 · 3 Comments

As a service for content distrubution, it’s a wonderful thing.
But it seems that at least once a week it is directly in the way of my enjoyment of playing my games.  Tonight’s issue?  Steam servers being updated, so my “Steam Ticket” was in a constant state of being “invalid.”
How many years has this service been [...]

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Tags: business

I’m Getting Too Old for this Shit…

March 16th, 2008 · 5 Comments

Seriously, Riggs.  Like the elderly ignoring the internet and cellular methods of communication, I feel as if I’m hitting a wall when it comes to “new” games and their control schemes.
I tried playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl (SSBB) at work last Friday, and while I recognize the appeal and the quality, I had a hard [...]

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Tags: combat · control · user interface

Keeping it Simple

March 13th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Awhile back, when Super Street fighter II Turbo HD Remix (ST HD for short) announced and started showing their newly drawn sprites, I had two reactions, in this order:

Holy shit!
How are they going to animate that?

Evidently I wasn’t the only one wondering, because they’ve just announced that their outsourcers couldn’t handle the 6 tones per [...]

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Tags: art

How to Debate the Uneducated

March 10th, 2008 · No Comments

Clint demonstrates how it’s done with style:  Mr. Hocking challenges the head of the Canadian Teacher’s Federation (who wishes to ban Bully) to actually play Bully with him, and he’ll even buy her a 360 or Wii and a copy of the game.
Will she take him up on his offer?  I seriously hope so.  This [...]

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Tags: general

User Created…Ingame Advertising?

March 9th, 2008 · 3 Comments

So, last week folks were pissed about the whole kerfluffle of Blizzard announcing there might be some in-game advertising (was rumored in-game, now verified that it isn’t in-game) in the new StarCraft II.
While many gamers registered their distain for in-game ads on their internet locales of choice, something else has been going on in the [...]

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Tags: business

Pro vs. Pro

March 7th, 2008 · No Comments

I’m sure smarter people than me have already broken down comparisons of Professional Gaming to Professional Sports, but since this is my design journal, I figured I’d capture some of my own feelings on the matter.*
Now that I’ve had an opportunity to play some in my first real game tournament (one against game development peers, [...]

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Tags: general

Marketing Controversy

March 4th, 2008 · No Comments

I’m pretty sure everyone’s on board with this, but maybe not:  Why is it every time Rockstar or Take 2 publishes a game, the media or “concerned citizens” get their panties in a bunch and leagues of people come forward to condemn the game?
I’ve come to the conclusion that Take 2 has come to depend [...]

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Tags: business

Creed Critique: Glitch vs. Pretty

March 2nd, 2008 · 5 Comments

One of the things I’m noticing in my playthrough of Assassin’s Creed (although they aren’t the only ones doing this) that is bugging me a lot lately is this mis-placed idea that the character animations always have to “line up” with what he’s really doing in the world.  Somehow “next-gen” has come to mean “more [...]

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Tags: combat · critique · design · uncategorized

Nitpicking Creed, Mass Effect

March 1st, 2008 · 2 Comments

I managed to finally get my mitts on Assassin’s Creed and began a playthrough of it today, and a buddy of mine brought over Mass Effect just so I could look at it.
I’ll have some larger notes as to what each one’s getting right and wrong later, maybe some full critiques, but for now there’s [...]

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Tags: combat · design · nitpicking