General gaming |
- Musings from the Public Domain
- The Nintendo Play Station: A Retrospective
- Diablo III Sales Bode Well for PC Games, Poorly for Always-Online Haters
- What If Shigeru Miyamoto Had Become a Manga Artist?
| Musings from the Public Domain Posted: 23 May 2012 03:47 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 21 | WHAT IF? Musings from the Public DomainCover Story: A view from a world where the "Mickey Mouse" copyright extension act never became law.T he spring release season is now fully upon us, and with it comes the usual trickle of new IPs and a torrent of sequels to comparatively recent franchises. The biggest deal of the season, however, has to be the absolute flood of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King games and films. A&E's blockbuster LotR miniseries is finally moving on to its conclusion, and It's pretty much impossible to visit a flash game portal without tripping over a Minas Tirith tower defense game. Meanwhile, Rockstar's open world take on Rebel Without a Cause has emerged as the definitive reimagining of the flick even against all the major studio remakes, to say nothing of the glut of halfassed student films. Finally, Edmund McMillan's deeply unsettling take on Lolita as a dungeon crawler played from the point of view of the title character is still looking for a bold enough publisher despite sweeping this year's IGF awards. That's just a small sample of a motley assemblage of games that all have one thing in common: They're all based on properties that entered the public domain this year. The yearly rollout of old properties, both celebrated and obscure, has long since become something we've taken for granted. We even make a point of taking a annual look at what will be emerging from the copyright cage once we're done breaking all our new year's resolutions, and we barely bat an eye when we're treated to a glut of weird furry Lady and the Tramp dating sims. Geeks around the world are already anticipating next year's Superman revival, or dreading his inevitable crossover appearance in every other comic in existence. It's so much a part of the culture at this point that it's easy to overlook the fact that it can all be traced back to a single momentous decision. |
| The Nintendo Play Station: A Retrospective Posted: 23 May 2012 02:52 PM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 21 | WHAT IF? The Nintendo Play Station: A RetrospectiveCover Story: As Nintendo and Sony prepare to announce the Play Station 4 at E3, we remember the console that set the stage for modern gaming.A s we gear up for E3 2012, the biggest announcement expected to come out of the L.A. Convention Center this year is the latest generation of gaming's console goliath, the Play Station 4. Based on early reports from trusted third-party developers and info leaks from Chinese parts suppliers, the PS4 seems a given -- and with its arrival, the continued dominance of the games industry by joint Sony/Nintendo venture Taido should be a lock as well. With the PS4 right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to look back at the history of the Play Station family and how two Japanese giants teamed up to put an entire medium in a 20-year hammerlock. |
| Diablo III Sales Bode Well for PC Games, Poorly for Always-Online Haters Posted: 23 May 2012 02:31 PM PDT Diablo III was expected to do well, but with so many factors to take into account -- competition from Torchlight II, an always-online requirement, and complaints about a supposedly dumbed-down skill system and colorful art style -- it was hard to say for sure exactly how well it would do. It turns out it did tremendously well; Blizzard has announced the long-awaited sequel has already broken sales records, something the folks over at Activision are pretty accustomed to thanks to Call of Duty. However, Diablo's success may have more far-reaching effects than simply ensuring Blizzard and company are flush with cash. More than 3.5 million copies of the game were sold in its first 24 hours of availability, according to Blizzard. This figure does not include the freebie digital versions handed out to those who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Over 1.2 million people took advantage of that offer, bringing the total number of gamers with a copy of the game on launch day up to 4.7 million, good enough to make it the "biggest PC game launch in history." After the first week, that figure now sits at 6.3 million. |
| What If Shigeru Miyamoto Had Become a Manga Artist? Posted: 23 May 2012 08:29 AM PDT
Feature 1UP COVER STORY  1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 21 | WHAT IF? What If Shigeru Miyamoto Had Become a Manga Artist?Cover Story: A timeline from an alternative universe where gaming lacks input from one of its most prolific creators.I t's kind of a fascinating story really. Shigeru Miyamoto, maybe the most influential designer ever, had little interest in videogames until the late 1970s, when he played Space Invaders. Up until that point, he had wanted to be a manga artist. Well, what if he had followed his original dream and done just that? What would have happened to Nintendo? Or videogames in general? Here's one possible timeline. 1979 -- Miyamoto the Manga Artist: Shigeru Miyamoto graduates from the Kanazawa Munici College of Industrial Arts and Crafts. Because Miyamoto's father is a friend of Hiroshi Yamauchi, he soon receives an offer to work for Nintendo. But Miyamoto is something of a free spirit, and he has little interest in videogames. He decides instead to pursue a career as as manga artist.  |
We certainly wouldn't be seeing so many films and TV shows based on Sherlock Holmes if the character were still the IP of a single publisher, and we sure as hell wouldn't be seeing him fight Dracula quite so often. 
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