I have an interesting question for you. Let's say you found the greatest gun ever in Borderlands 2, but it produced the most annoying noise imaginable when you fired it. Would you still use it?
Before you answer, watch the video below to see exactly what I'm talking about.
Yeah, I couldn't put up with that. I don't care how good the gun's stats are.
Read more >>William argues that you should drop the sword-and-shield act and pick up a firearm in Borderlands 2. Are you convinced?
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Every year at every convention, seemingly every member of the press reminds his small percentage of the community that this has been a great year for gaming, with many anticipated titles on the horizon.
They're not lying. But that's because the video game industry is a great one that pumps out certifiable masterpieces with all the regularity of other mediums. Sure, it's rare that any of them are actually new ideas, but now with Kickstarter crowdfunding the fifth Broken Sword and the possibility of tax relief looking slightly more feasible, it seems that we're in no danger of not hearing about how swimmingly everything's going in the world of games development (apart from the continued existence of Electronic Arts and paid downloadable content) for some time.
But something, somewhere in the dark recesses of my caffeine-soaked mind, has clicked, and now I don't care ... not about Assassin's Creed 3, the bulked up PC port of Dark Souls, nor even the concept of The World Ends With You coming to iOS (and I've wanted that game since I realized everything about Japan is awesome and/or clinically batshit).
I can't seem to care. Because I am entranced by the prospect of Gunzerkin' Super Badass Skags and backstabbing PWR Loaders.
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Hey, Vault Hunters! We know you're probably busy blasting bullymongs, looting corpses, and ogling that new assault rifle with +10 accuracy and corrosive bullets. We get that.
But every Vault Hunter needs a break, and we've got the perfect activity for yours: writing about your adventures in Borderlands 2 as part of our latest Bitmob Wants You challenge.
The usual rules apply: You're welcome to write up a simple review if you like, but we'd love to see you tap into that famous Bitmob creativity, too. It doesn't have to be long or fancy...anything that tells us how you feel about the game is fine by us.
If you do need a few story ideas, check these out:
Now that you're prepared, here's how to participate:
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October is coming.
No, that's not a line from my terrible A Song of Ice and Fire spin-off fan fiction, "A Shitload of Shields." It's basically just a fact. October will bring with it tiny candy bars, "sexy" versions of characters for which such costumes should not exist (I'm looking at you, Sexy SpongeBob Squarepants), and the Extra Life 24-hour charity gaming marathon.
Gaming-fan blog Sarcastic Gamer founded Extra Life back in 2008, and the event has gotten bigger every year. Last year alone, the event raised $1.2 million dollars for Children's Miracle Network (CMN) hospitals all over the country. How it works is that on October 20, participants will play video games for 24 hours straight. Between now and then -- or even during the event, if they're feeling ambitious -- they will ask their friends, family, co-workers, or complete strangers* to sponsor their marathons with cash moneys.
Because the CMN has partner hospitals all over the world, participating gamers can decide where the money they raise will go. Every dollar people donate will go to support these institutions and help them to continue providing life-saving care for children all over the world and fund research to cure diseases like cancer and diabetes.
Bitmob has had teams the past couple of years, but we have a new home at GamesBeat, and we're setting up shop under the GB banner this time. If you'd like to see how things went for the group last year, check out this post.
If you've heard enough, and you want to know how to get in on this, here's what you do:
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Oh, Sony. Must you?
Here we all are, excitement building around the incoming 8th generation video-game consoles -- the PlayStation 4, the Xbox 720 (and that will never be its official name) -- possibly unveiling as soon as next summer. So you introduce a new version of the PlayStation 3 right at the eleventh hour. Why, Sony?
It already took three years and six different SKUs to nail a commercially competitive PS3. I'd written it off as the distant third, the "me-too" console, but you did it, Sony, you really did. The PS3 "Slim" dropped with the right form factor at the right price, and it took a while, but that Hail Mary pass narrowed a huge gap to come within a few million units of the Xbox 360's sales numbers. That's astounding...and now you're messing with success. You're throwing down an all-new SKU that's half the size and $20 more expensive. Why, Sony? Why?
Well, I have a theory about the why. Several, in fact. And they're all really bad news for Sony's competition.
I’m quite happy that the Public Broadcasting System’s group of YouTube partners caters to my nerdy interests. This week, Mike Rugnetta of the PBS Idea Channel touches on what role the sale of digital items in Diablo III and other video games plays in real-world economies. Fun stuff, right?
I actually wish he went into greater detail about the impact these emerging economies have in the marketplace instead of just glancing over the subject. I'm also not a fan of Rugnetta using leading questions as titles for his videos. Nevertheless, I find it fantastic that PBS is promoting these kinds of digital, 21st century ideas and discourse.
Rugnetta has another video that explores the cross section of the pixelated, Lego-style game Minecraft, a 3D printer, and a post-scarcity economy. Essentially, he imagines a world where people could create an unlimited number of physical objects. He also believes that Super Mario Bros. is the ultimate piece of surrealist art.
For more PBS-supported video game content, check out the Off Book channel. It features a couple of mini-documentaries on glitch art and the nostalgic aesthetics of 8-bit graphics.
Obviously, these topics are all pretty niche and not very marketable to mainstream audiences, but isn't that what the spirit of public broadcasting is all about? Documenting and dissecting video game and Internet culture is tremendously important since everything moves so quickly. So kudos, PBS. Keep up the great work.
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I recently attended a preview event for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and played two matches of the game's one-vs.-one multiplayer mode. I lost both of them.
So here I am, still stewing over the embarrassing beat-downs with no chance for redemption anytime soon because the final retail release of this strategy game (based on 1994's fan-favorite X-COM: UFO Defense) is still a few weeks away (October 9).
So I decided to enlist the help of Jake Solomon, lead designer of Enemy Unknown at developer Firaxis. If he can't help me put together the perfect squad of customizable soldiers and aliens (who are invasive foes in the normal single-player campaign but mixed-team allies in multiplayer), then no one can.
Read more >>I've really lost my taste for competitive multiplayer action on consoles largely because of the phenomenon shown in the video below. It's really no fun to have someone half your age call you horrible names. Of course, it's hilarious watching it happen to someone else.
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Indie developer Keith Burgun (100 Rouges, Auro) convinced me that false choices are bad for video game storytelling, but Ben has instead framed the issue as the illusion of choice, giving us a new, insightful perspective to consider.
This article may contain spoilers for developer Telltale's The Walking Dead, episodes 1 though 3.
Choice systems, generally found in games as the "moral" variety, are a tricky beast. Their inclusion in a series can add to the narrative and make the player feel involved or important within the game universe, giving a sense that his actions have meaning and the story is personalized to him.
It's undoubtedly the reason behind the success of the Mass Effect series, which otherwise would've been considered a fairly standard third-person shooter with relatively high production values.
Just a quick update: We're up to three episodes now in our new BYOT podcast (which is our old Mobcast, rebooted on GamesBeat). Every other week, we have a different theme, and the guests dictate how we discuss it. Please check them out!
Thank you for listening (if in fact, that's what you're doing)!
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At the beginning of developer Vigil Games' first installment of its Darksiders series, War arrives on Earth to find it ending. He is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, after all, so this makes perfect sense. In a very brief sequence, players see helicopters falling out of the sky, buildings collapsing, people running for their lives, and, in the middle of it all, angels and demons waging their final battle for the planet.
It's a pretty badass opening, and the rest of the game picks up a century later with the world laid to ruin and the two sides of the cosmic war still duking it out. Rampant plant life chokes out the few buildings still standing, and highways lie in pieces. Every human is either dead or a zombie, and still that final battle continues.
"Hang on," says every other version of the End Times we've heard. "What about the eternal souls of mankind? Aren't they at stake? Isn't the human race what all of this is about?"
"Nope," says Darksiders. "Get over yourself."
Read more >>Developers should focus on creating experiences with simple, intuitive gameplay, eliminating the need for lengthy tutorials or guesswork. Smart design separates mindboggling experiences from mind-blowing ones.
The most important thing about a video game’s control scheme is not the controls themselves, it’s the player's relationship to them. If people don't understand how to play a title, they will never get far enough to care.
Upon its release, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings’ inconsistent difficulty received criticism, specifically for the fact that the most challenging fight in the entire experience happens to be the first one. Popular Internet comic Penny Arcade highlights this issue well, "You just have to use abilities they won't discuss and techniques they haven't entirely taught you via controls they never quite explain."
The action role-playing game’s controls are not bad. In fact, I would argue that they are quite good, and they can eventually allow combat to be dynamic, challenging, and enjoyable. As a player, however, I didn't know that I could parry, and I didn't know that I could lock on to an enemy. I didn't even know how to block, and I died more times than I'd like to admit while I slowly discovered what I should have known all along. If a player is set loose into a world without guidance, then the player must have some prior understanding of his capabilities.
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