Videogames Archives - Page 52 of 178

Ken Levine Talks Occupy Wall Street and BioShock Infinite

The Washington Post has a great interview with Irrational Games creative director and co-founder Ken Levine. Similarities between BioShock Infinite and the Occupy Wall Street movement are discussed. I highly recommend giving it a full read; it’s a fantastic interview with one of the sharpest minds in game development…

The Washington Post has a great interview with Irrational Games creative director and co-founder Ken Levine. Similarities between BioShock Infinite and the Occupy Wall Street movement are discussed. I highly recommend giving it a full read; it’s a fantastic interview with one of the sharpest minds in game development.

One curious aside in the interview is Levine talking about BioShock Infinite getting heat from leftists and white supremacists alike. Check it out:

The games tend to be a Rorschach for people, and I’ve heard both sides of reaction [to the demo]. I had the displeasure of going to a white supremacist site that made a point of saying this game by “the Jew” Ken Levine was about killing white people. But then I went to this leftist site that said this is about discrediting leftists movements. Games, as I said, are a Rorschach, and I don’t want to be making games that are expressing a political or philosophical view.

For some reason, in my head I hear a white supremacist calling him “the Jew Ken Levine” similar to how South Park’s Eric Cartman says “that damn Jew Kyle”. Though perhaps that’s just me….

Anyway, head on over to The Washington Post, enjoy the interview, and let me know what you think (please).

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures continues to be fun for me. In my head, I know that all the characters are already in the game, but it’s fun imagining that you’re bringing action figures to life through the game’s Portal of Power (which for some reason reminds me of WWE’s Nation of Domination). I definitely want to give The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus more time…well, the first half anyway. I really liked Shadow, but I loved ICO. Lastly, I think I’ll give X-Men: Destiny a whirl. I know that the game got bad reviews, but I’m a fan of Silicon Knights and want to check out the company’s work.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Coffee Talk #417: Developers Setting Their Own Game Pricing

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Steve Jobs creating the iPad out of spite, Lindsay Lohan in Playboy, or your favorite streaming television app, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said, “Right now we’re not even allowed to change the prices of virtual content. We’re not even allowed to set the prices. I just don’t think this protectionist approach is going to be successful in a world where the price of virtual items changes on a day-to-day basis. Double-A games will never come back unless we get rid of this notion of a game being $60 or not released. The console manufacturers need to let this happen.”

It’s an excellent idea that could be fantastic…or terrible. Certainly it’s ridiculous that some crap motion game has the same price as Gears of War 3. One argument is that price should reflect a game’s budget and/or quality. The counter to that argument is the movie business. A ticket to a small-budget indie-film costs the same as one to a mega-million Michael Bay monstrosity.

Then there’s the fact that some developers would find a way to screw up game pricing. Certainly larger companies with a lot of experience or smaller companies with savvy executives would find a way to get the most out of flexible game pricing. However, I expect there would be just as many cases of developers setting unreasonable or unrealistic prices because they’re too attached to their creations. Gaming is still a relatively young business and I think that its immaturity would show up if developers could price their on wares. Publishers are often viewed (sometimes unfairly) as an evil force in the gaming business, but the suits have their uses.

What do you think of Capps’ idea? Can you envision a world where game developers price their own software? Would you prefer flexible game pricing over a rigid system? What benefits and perils do you see with having developers price their own games?

Watch 10 Minutes of Final Fantasy Type-0!

Here’s a lengthy clip of the upcoming Final Fantasy Type-0 for PlayStation Portable. Some of you will remember the game as Final Fantasy Agito XIII. I’m super looking forward to Type-0 for its battle system (purported to be similar to the one in Crisis Core: FFVII) and music by Takeharu Ishimoto.

I was a little disturbed by the bloody chocobo. They’re such cute animals and it saddened me to see one injured…but then it made me think of a band name. My Bloody Chocobo will be the name of my next band!

Anyway, check out the clip and let me know what you think (please!).

Coffee Talk #416: Video Games vs. Videogames

Do you prefer the term “video game” or “videogame”? Game journalists, writers, developers, publishers, and verbal entertainers argue about this issue all the time. It seems like a silly semantics war — and it mostly is — but I’ve heard people debate…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, awesome infographics, switching to a new mobile carrier, or waiting until 11AM hits so you can download new comics, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Some people feel that it should be “video game” similar to how the term “PC game” is used. Others feel that “videogame” has grown into its own unique term and champion its use as a single world. Most dictionaries and search engines favor “video game”. What say you?

As for me, I like the word “videogame”, but I don’t defend it with the fervor that some of my colleagues do. To me it just reflects what the medium has become. I’m sure part of it has to do with my hate of search engine optimization (SEO has tarnished Internet writing for an entire generation…at least), but it’s mostly just a nebulous personal preference. I just like one term better than the other.

And you? Do you prefer “video game” or “videogame”?

Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar Games’ web site is currently taken over by a large graphics that officially announced Grand Theft Auto V. Being the useful sort, Rockstar also let its fans know that a trailer is coming on November 2, 2011 and that the Roman numeral “V” stands for the number five. Thanks for that. This whole time I thought the movie was called Rocky “Vee”.

Anyway, are you psyched for the announcement and trailer? What do you expect? Leave your Grand Theft Auto V thoughts in the comments section (please!).

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Sony Registers Boatload of URLs for Assassin’s Creed Movie

There has been buzz of Sony Pictures working with Ubisoft on an Assassin’s Creed movie. If Sony’s domain name registration activity is any indication then it looks like the movie is a done deal. On October 20, 2011, the company registered more than 15 URLs related to an Assassin’s Creed movie. Check out the list Fusible unearthed:

assassins-creed-movie.com
assassins-creed.net
assassins-creedmovie.com
assassinscreed-film.com
assassinscreed-film.net
assassinscreed-movie.com
assassinscreed-movie.net
assassinscreed-thefilm.com
assassinscreed-thefilm.net
assassinscreed-themovie.com
assassinscreed-themovie.net
assassinscreedfilm.com
assassinscreedfilm.net
assassinscreedthefilm.com
assassinscreedthefilm.net
assassinscreedthemovie.net

Yeah, I’d say Sony is preparing for something. It could be that the deal is done or close to be finalized as rumored. Or it could be that Sony is just being proactive. With all the money that stands to be made with an Assassin’s Creed film, I’m leaning towards the former.

What do you think? Is an Assassin’s Creed movie a few years away? What would you like to see in the flick? You think things will start with Altair or will they jump right into Ezio? Any casting ideas for an Assassin’s Creed movie?

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This Week’s Videogame Releases (Battlefield 3!!!)

Battlefield 3 hits stores this week and millions of gamers are psyched to get their hands on this military shooter. On the other end of the spectrum, which is decidedly pink, is Kirby’s Return to Dream Land. Continuing with Nintendo’s cutesy theme is Pokémon Rumble Blast. If you’re look for action that doesn’t involve wars or pink creatures with incredible suction powers then you might want to give The House of Dead: Overkill and Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi. Lastly, if motion floats your ocean then perhaps Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports: Season Two are for you.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

Skylanders Action Figures Video

Please, please, please check out this video of some of the 30+ action figures that can be used in Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures. The action figures themselves have some cool designs and the marketing copy is hilarious. Most of the action figures have tag-lines that are so silly that you have to laugh at them.

I’ve actually started my second run of the game and the main reason I’m playing it again is because it’s fun to use the action figures to swap characters. I’m positive that the game and the toys will sell like crazy this holiday season. Well played Activision. Well played.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Lots of goodies are supposed to come my way this weekend. My copy of The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection should come today. My friend from Sony is supposed to drop off Disgaea 4 on Saturday. I’m super psyched to play them both. I also have to play more Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures for Machinima.com. I’m enjoying that game way more than I thought I would…but the toys take up way too much space.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?