Sunday, November 25, 2007
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters
11:00AM Flynn De Marco | Today’s Arcade Flyer Art Saturday is special because not only does it have great flyer art, but I played this game just this afternoon in my friends basement. And not on some MAME emulation, but on the honest to goodness stand up machine. Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters was produced in 1994 by Konami as a follow up to, what else, Lethal Enforcers. The original game had you playing a police officer out to clean up the city where criminals are off on a crime spree. For the follow up, they went back in time to the old west where you played a sheriff out to kill outlaws off on a crime spree. Hmm… sounds familiar. More »
The Master Chief Cake
9:00AM Flynn De Marco | Kotakuite Brandi sends in this snap of a Master Chief helmet cake made for her husband Aaron’s birthday. The cake was made by a local caterer and reportedly looked so good they didn’t want to eat it. Once they dug in though, it was discovered that Master Chief actually has Rice Krispie treats for brains. Given his rather bland personality, this should come as a surprise to no one. Brandi sent this along in an email saying “We thought we’d send some pictures to you guys, if you still like cake photos”. Yes Brandi, we still like cake photos, but we like actual cake even more. Next time, please send cake. And no, this cake is not a lie. (Just thought I would get that in there before someone else did.) More »
Steam Offering BioShock, Quake Wars at 20% Off
7:00AM Flynn De Marco | Steam is providing a little treat for it’s users this holiday weekend. Currently, Steam users can download the completely awesome BioShock form steam for 20% off making the price $US 39.95 instead of the regular $US 50. Also available on discount is Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for $US 39.95. Offer is good until Monday the 26th (that’s this Monday) so if you missed out on either of these games, be sure to get over there and start downloading now. [via: Joystiq] More »
The “Secret Ingredient” of Game Design – Game Feel
6:00AM Maggie Greene | While the rest of us were lounging off our Thanksgiving dinners, the people over at Gamasutra were busy putting up some interesting articles – including one on the “secret ingredient” of games – the feel of a game. It’s an attempt at quantifying that part of game play that is harder to put your finger on than flashy graphics or a killer soundtrack, or even a great control scheme. It’s a nice change from a lot of the game design chatter that goes on – it’s to the point, a breezy read, and is grounded in more than ‘wouldn’t it be neat if …’ thinking: However you describe it, it’s hard to deny that the sensation of controlling a digital object is one of the most powerful — and overlooked — phenomena ever to emerge from the intersection of people and computers. There are lots reasons for this, but the main one is that game feel is slippery. It’s mostly subconscious, a combination of sights, sounds, and instant response to action. It’s one of those ‘know it when you feel it’ kinds of things. If it’s off by just a little bit, a game’s goose is cooked. If it’s “responsive”, “tight”, and “deep”, it can be magical. It’s a pretty quick and interesting little read, though nothing world shattering – although it brought to mind a number of those incredible games I’ve fallen in love with over the years (or not), and precisely why that may have been. Game Feel: The Secret Ingredient [Gamasutra] More »
The Legend of Zelda 2008 Website
5:00AM Flynn De Marco | Now before you get all excited, let me tell you one thing. Don’t get too excited. This “website” is really only a teaser page and in all likelihood, has nothing to do with Nintendo. A quick whois lookup reveals that the domain was registered through GoDaddy and seeing as Nintendo generally registers their domains through Network Solutions, the probability of this being an actual licensed project is slim to none. More probable is that this is some fan project that may or may not ever come to fruition. Anyone care to make further speculations? The Legend of Zelda (2008) [zelda2008.com] [Thanks, Karl] More »
Call For Papers: Eludamos
4:00AM Maggie Greene | I’m always interested to see what’s going on in the world of academic journals for subjects near and dear to my heart, especially if they’re located well away from my corner of the subscription journals part of the internet, which would be JSTOR – I nosed around the first issue of Eludamos last night, and liked what I saw. If you happen to be sitting on paper that deals with gaming culture, you’re in luck – they’re currently accepting submissions for the February ‘08 issue: The call for papers for the new, international, peer-reviewed online journal “Eludamos. Journal for Computer Game Culture” is now open. Submissions are expected to be in English and to include full papers plus abstracts. Please note that we can only consider papers which have not been previously published and which are not under consideration for another journal (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor). For further specificiation of submission guidelines please consult http://www.eludamos.org The next issue is due to appear in February 2008. Submissions can be made throughout the year, however, articles for the February edition must be submitted by Dec. 15th 2007. Submissions that reach us after that date will be considered for the summer issue. Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the About the Journal page for the journal’s section policies. Authors need to register with the journal prior to submitting, or if already registered can simply log in and begin the 5 step process. The full first issue is up on their website, and is well worth a looksee if that’s your sort of thing. Eludamos: Journal For Computer Game Culture [via GrandTextAuto] More »No More Heroes Video Trio
3:00AM Flynn De Marco | Marvelous Entertainment brings us a trio of No More Heroes videos. They are short and sweet but really give you a feel for the style and humor of the game. I’m really digging the 8-bit style elements like the pulsing heart and markers. The fist one has a little gameplay with some fighting, while the second shows how you power your weapons and yourself up. My favourite though, is the third clip featuring a look into lead character Travis’ room which features some Japanese robot and figure collectibles, a short stint with a kitten and trip to the can with an amazingly weird and hilarious put-your-pants-back-on dance. Make the jump for the other two videos. More »
The9 On Making WoW Free to Play: Just Kidding!
2:00AM Maggie Greene | Last week, Chinese WoW operator The9’s CEO dropped the news that The9 and Blizzard were discussing the possibility of making WoW free to play in China. Zhu Jun, the CEO, said they were hoping to expand into new markets (last I checked, WoW wasn’t hurting for subscribers in China, so I’m not sure what market they’re looking at). Of course, as soon as the news was published in the Tianjin Daily, The9’s PR people swooped in and back-peddled like mad: Zhao Yurun, deputy director of The9’s marketing and public relations department, told Interfax that reports of any free-to-play plans for WoW were “speculation” and “rumour” on the part of media and gamers, despite the quotes from The9’s CEO. Zhao declined to comment further. Rumors were fuelled after Giant Interactive, another Chinese company, went public in the US. Gamers’ responses were mixed, with many expressing concern over a potential micro-transaction model, fearing it would wind up being more expensive than a straight up subscription pricing scheme. Whatever the actual motivation behind The9’s contradictory comments, I’d be pretty surprised if WoW went for a free to play model – at least, until player numbers start dropping. The9 denies WoW free-to-play plans, contradicts CEO’s comments [Interfax China] More »
