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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Over at Grantland, the occasionally notorious but always thoughtful writer Tom Bissell has weighed in on The Witcher 2. He is… not impressed. In fact, after six hours with the game, he decided he’d seen enough.
It can be a challenge to buy a gift for your brainy, science-obsessed friend. What kind of games might he or she like? The science brains among us can be so intimidating, partly because it’s always scary buying things for smart people, but partly because who knows what those science people even like? Do they want beakers? A scale perhaps? Maybe some sort of assistance in covering up their secret meth-cooking operation?
Editor’s Note: What follows is an open letter from author Tom Bissell regarding the response to a joke he made in his review of Skyrim for the website Grantland. The joke in question: “If you have no idea what the Elder Scrolls franchise is, you are probably either (a) an adult woman, or (b) the sort of person who once beat up the sort of person who likes the Elder Scrolls franchise.”
He said he meant it as a joke. Just a silly line. But when critic Tom Bissell wrote that adult women probably haven’t heard of The Elder Scrolls, he struck a nerve.
I can’t quite grasp how to explain this – but L.A. Noire is easily the most frustrating video game that I have continued to play. On some level I think I play in a bizarre attempt to find its redeeming feature – a reason to love it. My plan was to finish the game, then write something that covers my experience – but after reading Tom Bissell’s extensive piece about L.A. Noire, which addresses practically every concern and issue I have with the game, I don’t think I need to. Thanks for that Tom!
In the run up to christmas, we’ll be highlighting some of the more interesting, quirky gaming style gifts. Today we’re recommending Extra Lives, one of our favourite books about video games.
