The end of 2011 brings with it an implicit deadline for those inescapable year-end wrap-ups. Yet, the Paper of Record doesn’t really pony up a traditional countdown-to-the-best list. More »
Oftentimes it feels as though my life has video game-like qualities. Mind you, it wouldn’t be a very interesting game, but I’d love to see my commute to the burrito shop or my time spent at a desk writing… about video games… rendered into a custom video game. Actually that might be a bit too meta, even for me. More »
This is a first. The New York Times has cleverly made a game out of solving the US financial crisis – it’s simultaneously the most important and the most boring game we’ve ever played. And we played through the first 20 hours of Final Fantasy XIII. More »
The most intriguing thing about Apple’s rumoured tablet isn’t its form factor or potential to reinvigorate print media, it’s the one piece of information no one seems to know: How will we interact with it. More »
This actually ran a month ago, but, forgive me, my subscription lapsed, for a lack of houseguests to impress with my reading material. (I also canceled my subscription to “Large Penis-Havers’ Quarterly” since I haven’t gone on a date lately.) More »
Chris Chike, whose 100 percent effort on “Through the Fire and the Flames” back in June earned him celebrity status and consultant to peripherals-maker Ant Commandos, is profiled in today’s New York Times.
Even if you know all about Chike — iamchris4life — put down your urge to dismiss his fame and read the story. It is a very, very positive portrayal of a young video gamer, something we rarely see in mainstream media, much less The New York Times. The best we usually get are condescending features on local news, read over by with-it reporters faking lingo. Writer Dave Itzkoff goes to Rochester, Minn. to get the full story, and then expands on the future and potential opportunities for super-expert or professional gamers.
Chris Chike is Guitar Hero’s Hero [The New York Times, thanks Yeliab]
We’ve chewed this topic to death, but it’s always interesting to know how others see you. And The New York Times’ Seth Schiesel comes up with a rather solid analogy to describe the backlash to the parade of dross we saw in Nintendo’s E3 presser (and, to a lesser extent, others).
Call it nerd rage. Like loyalists of a once-partisan politician who tacks toward the centre later in an election cycle, old-school gamers are coming to terms with the ramifications of their favourite’s newfound popularity. Though they have long craved mainstream respectability for video games, players sometimes resent the concessions their champion must make to attract mainstream adherents.
Wow, it hasn’t been a good week for the New York Times.
Turns out that New York Times story didn’t just mix up the DS and PSP’s features, oh and misspell Reggie’s name twice, it also screwed up what exactly was downloadable to the Wii as a full-blown game and what was just for demos.
That’s right, according to Nintendo, the Wii will NOT be able to transmit or download full DS games. Apparently the New York Times confused DS demos with WiiWare titles. So you can download full on Wii games (which we knew), but only wireless DS demo games (which we also knew).
From Nintendo:
When the New York Times’ Seth Schiesel delivered this year’s video game awards in the paper, they arrived on the back of his hand. While some of the awards, like best newcomer for BioShock and Best Adaptation of an Adored Intellectual Property for The Lord of the Rings Online, are pretty straight forward and complimentary, most of them come with more than a little slap down.
Take for instance the Best Unambitious Representations of the State of the Art, awarded to Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. While both receive an “award”, Schiesel uses it as an excuse to point out their flaws. Halo 3 is called a polished gem, but one that merely relies on the “time-tested Halo formula rather than a daring attempt to provide a new sort of experience.”
Super Mario Galaxy too gets a bit of a poke, with Schiesel calling it a “reinvention of classic play modes” and not something genuinely new.
Hit the jump for the full list of awards and the New York Times to read all of the “compliments.”
