Sunday, November 16, 2008
Team Fortress 2: Collect all … Ten?
11:00AM Owen Good | Sharp-eyed reader Sriker H. sent this in: More »
News
New ESRB Ratings Tread Into Spoiler Territory
10:00AM Owen Good | This week, when the ESRB reported new ratings guidelines, and two senators seem pleased, but if you’re curious how a game like Fallout 3 gets treated in the more descriptive write-ups, be warned, because they can be so specific they give away huge parts of the story. More »
News
Epic Games Wins Major Award
8:00AM Owen Good | News out of my home state: Epic Games has been recognised by the North Carolina Technology Association as the state’s “Top Industry Driven Technology Company of the Year.” I guess that means “the balls” in the industry-driven technology world. The award specifically cited the contribution Unreal Engine 3 has made to the gaming industry at large. More »
News
The Dangers of Fanaticism
7:30AM Maggie Greene | Well, it’s obvious than fandoms aren’t all fun and games, but Peter Parrish warns that fanaticism could be downright dangerous for the industry at large — just imagine a world where unchecked fandom desires dictate how future games are going to play out. Using the example of the apparently large and vociferous Sonic fandom, Parrish points towards what he sees as a devolving series based on the whims of the ‘fan-artist’ and ‘fan-author.’ Oh, but it doesn’t stop there: More »
News
OK, *This* is Definitely Video Game Piracy
7:00AM Owen Good | There’s an interminable semantics debate over whether copying and sharing games illegally is really “piracy” or if that’s just a propagandist term thrown around by the industry. But I’m sure everyone can agree, however, that when a bunch of heavily-armed badasses ride up in a boat to steal video games from another boat, that is definitely video game piracy. More »
Games as Language
6:30AM Maggie Greene | L.B. Jeffries has a nice essay up on the idea of ‘games as languages’ — a combination of coercing players to take certain actions and encouraging certain responses, creating a dialogue of sorts. As Jeffries says, “It’s not exactly talking to another person…but it’s not just rolling dice or pressing shoot either.” As games get more complex, so does the ‘language’ aspect — choices are expressive elements, and the more choices one has, the more opportunities for unique combinations. Even the simplest of games involves communication — ‘go here, do that.’ With the influx of more diverse and user-created building blocks, it seems reasonable that the ‘languages’ would begin to emerge more clearly: More »
No Arcade Street Fighter IV for U.S.
6:00AM Owen Good | Capcom won’t be releasing a Street Fighter IV arcade version in the United States, despite the franchise’s strong history as an arcade attraction and extensive ties to tournament gaming. Chris Kramer, Capcom’s senior director of communications and community, gave the word to Edge: “At this point, it does not look like Street Fighter IV arcade machines will officially hit the U.S. arcade market.” More »
‘The Video Games and Human Values Initiative’ Unveiled
5:30AM Maggie Greene | Jim Reilly forwarded news of the UConn interdisciplinary and interinstitutional initiative called < a href="http://vghvinet.ning.com/">The Video Games and Human Values Initiative, and I noted it on the Brainy Gamer blog as well. Spearheaded by the occasionally baffling Roger Travis, professor of classics at the University of Connecticut, it’s a pretty interesting idea — centering around discussion, courses, and bringing together a variety of us boring Ivory Tower types as well as any other interested parties to create a new forum for discussion: More »
Xbox Live Connectivity Issues Confirmed by Major Nelson
5:00AM Owen Good | We interrupt the fun and merriment to inform you that late last night, Major Nelson confirmed what a lot of people were reporting in message boards, forums (and to our tips) — there’s some spotty connectivity issues in Xbox Live. More »
