Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle 
The Last Moments Of GAME 
How Bad User Interfaces Are Ruining Video Games And Other Wonderful Things 
She Tried To Make Good Video Games For Girls, Whatever That Meant 
The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks Hidden the depths of EA’s financial report is this: A Nerf Wii-mote gun doohickey. It doubles as both an actual Nerf gun and a Wii-mote gun peripheral. Details are scant, but it looks like it’s connected to EA’s in-development title Nerf N-Strike, which we brought word of earlier. Would we buy this? Yes, yes we would. Nerf Wii-Mote [ShackBlog]
We’ve got soft spots all over for Crysis vids that show the game’s physics engine being messed around with. Normally, they just overwhelm you with numbers, but this one’s a little more creative. It’s every thing you can do with water. Water guns, water fights, water destroying houses, the North Korean synchronised swim team, the lot. [via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi and PaRappa the Rapper mastermind Masaya Matsuura are smart guys. They say smart things. This time, they’re chatting up music — so essential to their games. Dig this exchange: Mizuguchi: …What is music? Music has many elements, so how can we cut and separate and remake the parts in the process of game design? So then, game designers have to know what is fun, what is the essence of music?
Matsuura: Essence of music, I don’t know. I really don’t understand the essence of music. I’ve been composing music for thirty years, and I still don’t understand what music is. But I’m still looking for the certain shape of my music. Anybody who can define the existence of music, I really respect.
Mizuguchi: Yeah, I agree with you. Music is like a universe — many, many elements. Lyrics, chords, rhythm, beats, playing, listening. Emotionally, you feel something. When I was 11 years old, I listened to my first Beatles music. I couldn’t understand English, but I felt emotion or something, sort of… I want to love somebody! It’s the power of music, of chords… very physical things, very emotional things. Not logic — I don’t know, maybe logic. If I understand the lyrics, and it’s a new chemistry. Music, we have a long history with music, but new music is coming still. I don’t know why. It’s a universe. Amazing.Great stuff. The rest of the dialogue over at Game|Life is worth checking out as well. Do it, you won’t be sorry. Interview with Miz and Matsuura [Game|Life]
Wondering what that BioWare/Lucasarts project was going to be? Oh, come on. Like you couldn’t guess. During EA’s analyst report earlier today, it was revealed that in addition to working on more Mass Effect, Dragon Age and a “New MMO”, BioWare are also handling a new Knights of the Old Republic title. Which means it’s not their upcoming MMO. So, a new, straight-up RPG, then? Probably. Your excitement glands can’t repel joy of this magnitude. [Image]
Ever wanted to check out the most ancient consoles the electronic entertainment industry has to offer? Or perhaps peruse some original artwork by Mario man Shigeru Miyamoto?
Looks like the Australian Centre for Moving Images read your mind. Or, more likely, it’s a coincidence.
The dates you’ll want to ink in your unicorn journal are March 6 to July 13. That’s about 18 weeks of retro gaming paradise. Tickets will set you back $15, or $10 for concession. Families of two adults and two children can cheat the system by purchasing a special $44 ticket. Alternatively, you could keep an eye out for a very special ticket giveaway, coming to a gaming blog* near you.
(*SPOILER: IT’S THIS ONE!)
The only downer? It’s in Melbourne. For all you Mexicans out there, I know you’re wondering why you should care, but as a Sydneysider I have the right to cry like a big sissy.
Just try and stop me.
Game On [ACMI]
Best thing about the Wii: It has a GameCube in it! So players who busied themselves with the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox, have a chance to catch up and get to know the little Nintendo cube. Sure, the GC didn’t sell so well in its run, but that doesn’t mean the console didn’t have its fair share of strong titles. Over at blog Infendo, they have a nice round-up of GameCube exclusives you might’ve missed. Or hey, you might’ve totally not missed them! They are:
Not content with telling us how the PC version of Mass Effect will differ from the 360 one, BioWare are going to show us how they differ. They’ve released eight screens for the upcoming port, which showcase not only the tidier graphics, but also the welcome UI changes, including the Biotic hotkeys (above, top-left) and a re-jiggered menu/inventory system.
My aching sense of disappointment at the cancellation of EA’s Lord of the Rings Oblivion clone The White Council still lingers. To be replaced soon, however, with a renewed sense of hope, even if it is – pardon the quote – a fool’s hope: EA revealed in an analysts report today that they’ve set newly-acquired developers Pandemic to work on a Lord of the Rings game.
Earlier, I appeared on the Bionic Commando podcast and rambled on about pointless things and got in an argument with some Capcom dude. Good times. The official word from Capcom is that the podcast I appeared on is the second most downloaded BC podcast. The first is where the team discussed Bionic Commando Rearmed, the second was me droning on and on and the third was when Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune showed up. Hello craziness! That’s just makes no sense whatsoever. So please, do humanity a huge favor and go download the crap outta the Inafune podcast. That guy made Dead Rising and Onimusha, I sit at home in my underwear and misspell words all day. He has insight into the gaming industry and should be second! Not me, dammit! Do The World a Favor, Listen to Inafune [Bionic Commando][Pic]
Spore‘s certainly been a long time coming, but it seems that fans of just about every genre are overwhelmingly excited about it. It’s finally coming in September, thank God. Now we just want to know: what the hell took so long? Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal asked that very question of the game’s designer Will Wright who reveals that it wasn’t just frequent smoke breaks that led to the delay, but an ever increasingly complex set of features. And coolness.
