General gaming

General gaming

Skullgirls Review: Fluid, Competitive, and Full of Over-the-Top Fanservice

Posted: 12 Apr 2012 05:48 PM PDT

Any fan of fighting games knows that the genre offers a lot of options these days -- almost too many. With a new fighter poised to be the next competitive masterpiece coming out seemingly every month, each new contender needs to offer something to set it apart from the rest.

Skullgirls gives us plenty of reasons to pick it up, with Mike Z -- project lead, designer and long-time competitive fighting game player -- addressing many of the common problems that have plagued the genre for decades now. It's a very solid and fun fighter overall. At the same time, though, a few of the basic features we've come to expect in fighters are mysteriously absent, and the polarizing visual style can make it difficult to convince others to give the game a shot no matter how much you enjoy the game.

How Red Dead Redemption 2 Could Reinvent the Old West

Posted: 12 Apr 2012 05:38 PM PDT

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How Red Dead Redemption 2 Could Reinvent the Old West

In order to journey forward, Rockstar needs to look back.

By: Nickolai Adkins April 12, 2012

In the most classical Cowboys and Indians-kind of ways, the American frontier has been used as the canvas for literature and film since each has had breadth to embrace the era and its infinitely contested lands. But the dust-mottled landscape of violence, thieves, and legends that remain ever so familiar in other media has been implemented surprisingly little in the gaming medium. So when Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar's spur-saddled, 2010 magnum opus hit, it immediately impressed both the gaming press and consumers alike, garnering unanimous high praise and quickly becoming as viable in sales as Rockstar's flagship Grand Theft Auto series. RDR took the industry by storm with a well written, expertly paced, and massively open world. With such a high bar set by the first installment, how can a sequel possibly meet fans' expectations, let alone exceed them? Like the first game so cleverly ingested much of what has been utilized before, much can be gleaned from investigating the genre's storied past in celluloid, on page, and in real life.

John Ford and Caricatures of the Old West

OP-ED: Where Do Gamers Draw the Line Between Creator and Creation?

Posted: 12 Apr 2012 02:49 PM PDT

Nearly five years after its initial announcement, Polytron's Fez arrives on Xbox Live Arcade this week. It's a great game that delivers on its unique premise, proving well worth the wait. And yet, many gamers have expressed their intention to forego playing Fez despite having followed its development avidly for so long. Quality and anticipation be damned; to them, Fez is simply off the table.

OP-ED: Things Could Be Worse for THQ

Posted: 12 Apr 2012 02:41 PM PDT

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine

THQ is not in the greatest position it's ever found itself, what with it facing a potential NASDAQ delisting and its lowest stock prices since the mid-90s. Earlier this year there were rumors the publisher had canceled its entire slate of 2014 games, including its MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. This was quickly denied, although the company has laid off a large number of employees since then in an attempt to restructure its business.

Part of that restructuring includes changing Dark Millennium Online from an MMO into a more standard style of game. As described in the press release late last month, it will now be developed as an "immersive single player and online multiplayer experience with robust digital content, and engaging community features." That sounds nice and all, but the idea of converting your typical World of Warcraft-style MMO into a game that can be enjoyed by a single player is a tall order. According to the company's executive vice president of core games, Danny Bilson, it won't be a difficult conversion due to the innovations developer Vigil Games (which lost 79 full-time employees last month) had come up with.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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