By Head881 , 24th February 12:28 pm
Portal.
No other game released in 2007 was quite the sensation that Portal was. Portal is a unique, puzzle-focused first-person shooter that clocks in at about three hours of length and, if my thorough reading of the internet is any indication, everyone and their mother has played it.
Portal has spawned a number of internet sensations since its debut. Probably the most significant, in terms of pop-culture, would be the wonderful end-credits song by Jonathan Coulton “Still Alive.” If you haven’t heard the song, you should find it and listen to it…now…and after you do, you should wait feverishly for the track to be released for Rock Band.
Another internet sensation created by Portal is the character of GLaDOS. GLaDOS is your malevolent benefactor-slash-tour-guide-slash-tormentor. She/it is a brilliantly personified, homicidal computer system that… conducts science… for those who are still alive. Also, she/it has cake. Which is another internet sensation… and a lie.
» Read all of “Dear Weighted Companion Cube, It’s not you; it’s me. “…
By Vermouth , 29th December 3:25 pm
It’s the time of year for the industry’s Game of the Year awards and all the usual suspects will be coming out with their usual honors and demerits for the best and worst of 2007. But I don’t have the editorial following of a big magazine or website so I thought a “i’m right and you’re wrong tone” wouldn’t be the right one to strike with my game of the year. So I enlisted the aid of my good friend Head881 to discuss the games and trends of 2007 in an email debate inspired by Slate’s Gaming club, which talked about the games of the year, rather than choosing one. What follows is our discussion.
» Read all of “Games of 2007: A Debate by Mail“…
By Cyrris , 2nd December 1:54 pm
The latest controversy over on GameSpot is simply the most recent example of why I no longer visit large all-encompassing game media sites. Back in the day I was a frequent visitor of GameSpy and GameSpot - so much so that I’d often end up typing “gamespoy.com” in to my address bar in a subconcious attempt to go to both at the same time.
I’ve thought about writing this piece for a long time, because I have a lot to say about the current state of the gaming sites I used to love. I didn’t, however, want to drag this site down in to an out-and-out bitch fest. Given the latest happenings on GameSpot, however, I can’t help but let everyone know what happens to a gaming site when the establishment goes from being passionate to being corporate.
» Read all of “Gaming Media: The Suits March On“…
By Head881 , 23rd November 5:17 pm
The title of the article is overly dramatic, and has probably been used before to boot.
Also, it isn’t a very accurate title. I’m not referring to all war games across all genres. The games I’m referring to are the historically-themed First-Person Shooters that have been choking the video game market for years.
One doesn’t have to look too far or too long to find examples of the games I’m talking about: the “Medal of Honor” series; the “Call of Duty” series; the “Battlefield: X” series, just to name a few. Make no mistake, I do not have a problem with any of these games in terms of their actual gameplay. My problem is with their content.
» Read all of “War (Games). What are they Good for? Absolutely Nothing.“…
By Cyrris , 28th October 1:30 pm
I have been playing a lot of Team Fortress 2 lately, and it’s been fun. Despite being based on the same engine as Half-Life 2 and CS:Source (which my PC runs flawlessly), TF2 has been pushing my computer over the edge, with low framerates during the more intense firefights. On top of this, the performance of the Unreal Tournament 3 demo and the Crysis singleplayer demo has made it all rather obvious: my PC can’t hack it anymore.
On the one hand, I am loathe to spend so much on what will now only be used on a handful of games - unlike before, I now tend to just stick to a few treasured series. It will also be less of an upgrade and more of a… complete replacement. Most of the technologies inside my current box (AMD Socket 939, DDR memory, AGP graphics) are all well and truly out of date, and aren’t going to catch up to the demands of modern games with a simple component upgrade here and there. I’ve never had to buy a whole new box up straight before.
» Read all of “It’s Getting to That Time Again“…
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