Europe loves Buzz! Loves SingStar, too. In fact, if it involves getting people together in the living room for some good times, Europe are generally all over it. America, though, not so much. Lots of hate for SingStar, and Buzz! has only just been released in the US (despite having been available in PAL territories for nearly two years). Why the disparity? David Amor, bos of Buzz! Developer Relentless, has an idea: I have a feeling that games in America are more in the hands of the core gamer than in Europe. I think gaming has probably spread a bit more widely in Europe, compared with America, and maybe the gaming system in America is still more in the den then in the living room.
Think he’s right, Americans? Are you trailing in Europe’s cultural wake? Or has Amor gone and overlooked that Wii thing everyone seems to be talking about these days. America’s Ready to Buzz!, says Relentless Boss [Next-Gen]
This ad for Ubisoft’s word game My Word Count teaches more than words. It teaches naughty baseball idioms, too! Just read:
Jim liked Sara. Sara liked Jim. Jim was saying all the right things and if he kept it up, it was turning out to be one ___________ night indeed.
Best part? This was in Nintendo Power. Promotion [DS Fanboy via Infendo]
It’s not “weighted”. Sorry. But it is as heart-warming as the source material, will no doubt provide just as much (if not more) companionship owing to its cuddlier exterior and smaller stature and, most importantly of all, will burn up real nice. Plushie Companion Cube [4Chan, thanks Kenneth!]
Boy, that Keita Takahashi is plum nutty! At Nottingham’s GameCity, the always delightful Alice introduced him for a keynote he gave. Barefoot. Here are the highlights:
It would be impossible for us to be here… if the world was not peaceful. If there was heavy fighting or pollution in the cities could we talk about videogames like this? If you’re suffering from poverty and disease could you worry about collecting coins? I don’t think so.
Durr.
I don’t know about the future but we will see more of the darker side of reality on the Earth. I’m not trying to be the next Al Gore but I’m not sure if we could afford to have videogames in ten or twenty year’s time. I’m not saying that we don’t need game events or games themselves, but in order to enjoy these events we should recycle rubbish… be friendly to your neighbors.
You are so trying to be the next Al Gore.
I might be being idealistic but I truly think so. Videogaming is good but it’s also a luxury. You can’t play videogames unless you are financially well off.
And go to a good school. Study ballet, too. Don’t forget that! Continuing kooky quotes from Takahashi’s word hole as the Nobi Nobi Boy publicity machine continues ramping up.
Keynote [GamesIndustry]
Over at The New York Times, Seth Schiesel has a great thought piece up. Not sure if it’s intended to be a thought piece — it goes over the Manhunt 2 brouhaha and has a few quotes from Rockstar on it. That’s not what makes the piece interesting. This is:
Just look at coverage of Halo, the top-selling science-fiction series that is akin to “Star Wars” in its level of made-up mayhem. In the mainstream media Halo is often described as a “violent space epic” or a “violent shoot-’em-up game.” But when was the last time “Star Wars” was described as George Lucas’s “violent space movie”? For that matter, when was the last time anyone referred to “The Sopranos” as a “shoot-’em-up television show,” which at some level it was?
The answer to both questions is basically never, and that is because American culture has become so inured to violence in linear media that even the most heinous depictions of brutality go almost without comment.
So true, and for gamers, so sad. Under Glare of Scruntiny [NY Times]
Impressed with the Ace Combat 6 contest finalists, Bandai Namco would like to give all finalist prizes. Yep! Every finalists gets something — plus, this semi-finalist who had several write-ins. Bandai Namco is sending us one more autograph picture, five faceplates and four hats. Everyone else gets nothing. We don’t do this often, so don’t ask next time unless you want to get up close and personal with the Ban Hammer. So, all you finalists and one semi-finalist, listen up: We need you to count up all the votes, plus the write-in votes. Send those to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Those with the highest number of votes will get first dibs. And yes, we’ll be comparing your calculations to ours. Congrats!
Man, those BAFTA awards were nutty. Games in the wrong category, games nominated that weren’t even out yet…what a mess. Were the Golden Joysticks any better? We’d love to say “yes”, but are going to instead bust out a resounding “no”. Why? Because of the award’s scheduling, the winners list reads exactly like a list of…the best games of 2006. Full list of winners after the jump, but know Gears of War and Guitar Hero II feature prominently.
Granted, dressing up in funny costumes by yourself is fun. But it’s so lonely and bittersweet. But cosplaying in a group, now that’s almost as fun as a tickle party (and tickle parties are totally fun). Above the Team Fortress 2 Halloween cosplay. It’s an orgy of amazing costumes! We’re in awe. Costumes this Halloween [Steam via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Are gamers today being denied the social love of good-old pen and paper role-playing games?
Maybe.
I only recently got back into the swing of things (and took some matters into my own hands), and I’m currently running a D&D 3.5 Edition game with a few mates every third Saturday or so.
Okay, that’s a lie. We’ve had one session. But enthusiasm is super high.
There was the temptation, for a moment, to craft the campaign in something like NWN or NWN2, and do the whole thing online. And yes, it’s social, but not the sort of social I, and indeed my mates, were looking for. There’s something about scrawling hit points and gold piece counts on a slip of paper that no keyboard or mouse can replicate.
Of course, computers can keep track of all that annoying number stuff, like weapon bonuses and esoteric modifiers to saving throws. With the complicated mechanics hidden away, there’s the potential to focus more on the story and characters.
Both have their pros and cons. I was once pretty sold on CRPGs, and I think there will be a point in the future where it can truly compete with PnP, but for now, the pen is mightier than the DWORD. I hope someone got that.
Now, I put the question to you: PnP RPG or computer RPG? Which do you think is superior and why?
PS. And yes, that is Firefly‘s Nathan Fillion with dice in hand, about to engage his warp drive into a nebula of hardcore nerdism.
Rock Band’s going to be taking up a lot of room on a lot of people’s living room floors. It’s also going to be taking up a lot of USB ports on your console of choice. The PS3, it should be OK, it’s got four USB ports already, but what about the 360? It’s only got two, so if you’re packing two guitars and a drum kit you’re staring into the eyes of a problem. Enter ViPowER’s USB adapter, which will ship with all 360 Rock Band bundles. Looks…functional. Bit of a pain that it’s not powered through the 360, though. Also a shame it’s not black and adorned with flaming skulls. Check Out Rock Band’s USB Hub [1UP]
