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A recent foray into PC gaming has reignited my frustrations with survival-horror and convinced me that stagnation has crept its way into the sub-genre.

You see, a few weeks back, I came upon the YouTube channel of one MarbleHornets, the creator of a fake reality web series (ignore the oxymoron) based around the Slender Man legend. I have always found the concept of a faceless, malevolent entity stalking mankind since time immemorial to be a genuinely unnerving concept.

After spending far too much time watching and reading about the Slender Man, I learned of Slender: The Eight Pages, a game based around the entity.

Parsec Productions’ indie hit is nothing short of amazing considering the minute budget it was created on. The premise is brilliantly simple: You are placed in a deserted and eerie forest and are tasked with collecting eight randomly placed pages from landmarks scattered throughout the area with nothing but a flashlight. It sounds rather bland until you discover that you are being constantly watched and followed by the game’s titular character (who can literally appear right in front of your eyes or directly behind you at any given moment). With nothing to defend yourself with, the possibility of being caught behind any sharp corner or dimly lit narrow tunnel genuinely creates a tense atmosphere.

Now, it would be too easy for me to say that Slender has singlehandedly restored the survival-horror genre in terms of being able to evoke the emotion of fear and anxiety in the medium of video games, but it has reminded me of how much the genre has changed in recent years.

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I've seen a lot of Team Fortress 2 movies that made me laugh, but Story of a Sentry is the first to make me feel just tiny bit forlorn. Well, maybe it was more like sad. OK, fine! I cried! I said it! Are you happy now?

What, you think I'm less of a man? Well, watch the video yourself (posted after the break), and let's see how much of tough guy you are.

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I fear I am getting too old to be getting into arguments in video game stores. When I was 8 years old, a clerk and I engaged in a comical debate about who was better: Link or Gordon Freeman. I hadn't played Half-Life yet, and really, I was probably too young to even enjoy the masterpiece that it is. I also assumed that Gordon was related to Cathy Freeman, a famous Australian athlete and, consequently, could not see the appeal. The whole encounter was actually quite endearing. 

Fast forward 13 years. Location: EB Games, Stone Road Mall. Situation: A gentleman, ironically wearing a faded Call of Duty T-shirt, is complaining about the "lame difficulty" of new-school games and the need for a return to more "classical" role-playing games. Response: complete over-reaction.

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Borderlands 2 is a game I have a hard time judging, even now, two months after it came out. While I enjoyed the game, some clear issues constantly nagged at me. I really enjoyed the writing of Borderlands 2, for example, but I don't know if I can say the same about the game's actual narrative.

The individual elements of that storyline: the characters, dialogue, mission text, echo recorders, and even the title's overall concept are all generally really funny and/or interesting. Yet, the way you experience them as you play the game leaves a lot to be desired.

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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page. This week, we compare super-difficult RPG Dark Souls to an old-school classic, search for diversity in player protagonists, and more.

Dark Souls is the new Simon's Quest
By Bryant "B" Chambers

I've had a spotty relationship with Dark Souls myself, but every week I seem to read another article praising it. Here, B says that Dark Souls is what the Castlevania series should have evolved into. He lists a surprising number of correlations between the two. Insightful stuff.

Diversity in video games: Where did everyone go?
By Brielle Wesley

Brielle analyzes the characters and content of Max Payne 3, examining the racial makeup of the game's cast. She also looks at how many of those characters end up dead (and their respective races). Her findings are perhaps not surprising, especially for a Max Payne game, but they're interesting nonetheless.

A boy's world: Video games need more strong female protagonists
By Javy Gwaltney

In a similar vein, Javy is disappointed at the recent reveal that Grand Theft Auto V will feature three playable characters...and none of them are female. He says heroines like Jade from Beyond Good and Evil are far too rare. "We need those kinds of protagonists. ASAP. Not just for the sake of diversity but for storytelling," he writes.

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In the video game industry, many of the leading developers will shoot for an annual sequel and put out a new game at the same time every year.

Franchises working on this schedule are often the dominant ones, topping the sales charts year after year. However, this order of operations often has an expiration date, and eventually the games that follow it will hit a dead end.

Why is that? Well, it’s the same reason that they were once so successful: their annual release date.

So what’s the problem here, exactly? The primary and most prominent issue with franchises putting out a new title every year has much to do with their development cycle. Having to work to a certain deadline leaves very little room for advancements and innovation, often rendering sequels barely distinguishable from one another.

On one hand, a series of games should have a sturdy system to hold it together between installments. But on the other hand, if that system is too cut and dry, it may simply leave its players bored overall and send them searching elsewhere for new and improved ideas.

We are always hoping for improvements to our favorite series. Not just new levels, characters, and weapons (which are all fine and dandy, of course), but new concepts to bring these elements into a different light.

Unfortunately, this is not always what we end up with. In fact, you may be more than familiar with a few franchises that suffer from this unfortunate fate.

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Halo 4 is fun, but did you know you could enjoy the new Xbox 360 shooter without, well, shooting anyone? Rooster Teeth, best known for the Red vs. Blue series, shows us how with a little game called Mongoose Jumping. The goal? Blast one of the game's vehicles as far as away as possible. Simple? Yes. Hilariously amusing? Double yes.

You can see the explosive action for yourself after the break.

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I, along with many of you (I imagine), have sunk endless hours into XCOM: Enemy Unknown since its release, desperately trying save the world from an ever intensifying alien invasion. And, as much as I try and stay true to the desperate nature of that struggle, I have a confession to make: I've been save-scumming.

Several times after a mission where I incurred losses that I simply could not stand, I've gone back to a previous save to try again. Every time I load my game to continue the fight, I am shamed by the saves I've left behind -- total squad wipes, deaths of beloved (and well-trained) soldiers, and countries broken out in panic -- all reloaded so that I might continue in the quest for a more successful game.

But I haven't cheated every death. I've experienced losses that I was willing to accept. At least as many times as I've reloaded to spare soldier or save a nation, I've saved over an old file making a death permanent. The interesting question is why. What are the parameters of acceptable loss?

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Welcome to another Bitmob Wants You collection! We're a little late in publishing these, but a couple of them have already hit the front page, anyway. Check them out, along with a few others, below.

How Assassin's Creed III made talking to people fun
By Samuel Durling

Conversations in modern games can be a frustrating experience (or the whole experience, in some cases). But they're probably not the first thing you think of in Assassin's Creed. Samuel, however, says his chats with the settlers at his Homestead were the most rewarding part of the game.

Assassin's Creed III isn't shy about its tutorial
By Daniel Castro

Developers these days face the challenge of teaching their game's controls while keeping things entertaining. Daniel examines whether or not AC3's lengthy tutorial achieved this balance. (Hey, at least it's not as long as Final Fantasy XIII's.)

Assassin's Creed 3: Not quite as graceful
By Reggie Carolipio

Reggie's review of AC3 focuses on the integration of its story and gameplay. His verdict? Mixed: "AC3 can occasionally glide through the trees like an Assassin. I only wish it didn't have as much trouble on the landings." He points to a host of glitches and other inconsistencies that hold the game back from greatness.

Assassin's Creed III gives players a new connection to history
By Mark Purcell

Previous games in the AC series have focused on historical periods that may be unfamiliar to American gamers. But AC3's Revolutionary War setting touches a lot of chords for Yanks. Mark lauds the game for this achievement: "By no means am I saying that this piece of digital fiction should be taken seriously from a historical point of view, but ACIII puts players in a position to experience something authentic."

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This article contains spoilers for Diablo III, Halo 4, and The Walking Dead: Episode 4 -- Around Every Corner.

This year, we’ve seen a surprising increase in the number of “chosen one” storylines in games. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Diablo III, and The Secret World (among others) all have you playing as characters who are somehow more important than everyone else in their respective worlds.

To tell you the truth, I’m kinda getting tired of it.

How cliché is the chosen-one concept by now? It’s been used in countless forms of media, especially since The Matrix became such a popular film. It just feels lazy to keep using it at this point. An idea as pervasive as this has trouble making an impact since it is so common. I often roll my eyes whenever the concept pops up in a narrative.

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Why are all of the performers in this video dressed like little Marios? I don't really know, but who cares when they're playing a medley this awesome?

This song, arranged and performed by composer Diwa de Leon, features some of the best music from role-playing games, including (in order or appearance in the medley) Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Xenogears, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, Legend of Mana, Mass Effect, Dragon Quest, and Grandia.

You can hear it for yourself after the break.

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One of the most uncanny moments of my young life was wandering through a dollar store and stumbling upon a rack of action figures with the most boring packaging imaginable. Each toy sat in its bubble pack on a red card that was completely blank except for the word "SPACE" written in bizarre cartoon letters.

It was pretty much the kind of thing one would expect to see in a dollar store, except that I immediately recognized the figures themselves as Zitz, Rash, and Pimple, the stars of the infamously difficult 8-bit classic Battletoads.

I never understood how those figures got there, or what was up with that packaging. My point, though, is that these Battletoads sculptures, courtesy of artist and toy designer Sam De Jesus, are cooler than those other ones in every possible way.

De Jesus crafted the Toads out of Super Sculpey modeling clay for a commission. You can see more of the making of these statues in this image gallery, and you can check out more cool gaming artwork at his website.

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