Using a huge sheet of drywall, some accelerometers, a .22-caliber pistol, and a bit of science, Waterloo Labs figured out how to play Half-Life with a real gun [via Geekologie]:
The only drawbacks we can think of: trying to get that drywall into our living rooms and all the dust that will create. What a mess! Otherwise, this seems like a perfectly sane idea.
Read more >>Game collectors are an odd bunch. Especially ones that feel the need to collect every version of a system. Like, say, the Nintendo 64 [via Unrealitymag]:
Why? Why god why? Who would do this? Besides this guy, of course. He did. And we're still shocked even though we've stared at this photo for a good 17 minutes now. Every single one? Really? Wow.
Then again, former EGMer Crispin Boyer owns two (yes, two) Game.Com's, so maybe it's not that strange.
Read more >>Editor's note: You wanna support Bitmob? Then support the community! And what better way to do that than to support the podcast that was built by the Bitmob community to support Bitmob...and, uh...the community. Ah, just read below. -Shoe
Last night we recorded the delayed episode of Pixel Revolt, but it's not too late to send us an audio response to the community question. If you submit a clip this weekend, Derek will be able to use his magical editing fingers to stick it in the podcast before it goes live on Tuesday.
The question: What setting (time/place) would you like to see in a video game?
Send us your responses via Houndbite.com. Just follow these easy steps:
1) Head over to Houndbite.com.
2) Sign up for an account.
3) Record your audio clip and upload it to Houndbite.
4) E-mail the link to the clip to PixelRevoltDL@gmail.com.
Look for the episode on iTunes or here on Bitmob Tuesday. Thanks!
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If you're a human, you may not like this Dust: An Elysian Tail trailer. But if you're into dressing up like furry animals, well, let's just stop right there...
Video Blips:
• Furries are going to yiff this one up. Dust: An Elysian Tail is probably the prettiest game we've seen featuring anthropomorphic animals. Sonic fans are going to have a fanart field day with this one (help!). [GameVideos]
Continue after the break for the making of Batman: Arkham Asylum, scary details about Dead Space: Extraction, and backwards gameplay in Madden NFL 10.
Read more >>Editor's note: Morality choices and systems are a hot topic on Bitmob (read more on the subject here). Aaron loves the concept, but argues that the implementation in most games -- a binary good/evil choice -- falls far short of the ideal. -Demian
So there I was, staring at an undetonated atomic weapon in the heart of the first bastion of humanity I found after leaving the safe confines of my childhood, Vault 101. The distant sounds of playing children reach my ears. Life finds a way.
Sure, Super Mutants have been known, on occasion, to raid this far from the downtown areas, but you wouldn't know it when you look at the residents of Megaton. Yeah, maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to build a town around the remains of a live bomb, yet I can't help but think that it signifies the strength of these proud survivors. This place could have just been another crater, but it isn't.
Now it's safe. Now it's a home. I try to clear my head. I've gotta focus. Mr. Burke is offering a good bit of bottle caps to see this place leveled and now is not the time to go soft. Sentimentality doesn't pay any bills. Hell, if I play my cards right maybe people will think this was all an accident. I just gotta slit a few throats before their tongues get a chance to start waggin' to the wrong kinds of folk....
Video game morality is a more recent development in game design that has come to permeate so many of our experiences, and is a key component in Fallout 3 (where the above story comes from). Instead of mindlessly following a predetermined path set before us, we can decide our own. Frankly, the prospect is staggering. This is something that other mediums cannot accomplish. Real choice, not Choose Your Own Adventure book-style, “you stumble into a pit of venomous spiders, you die, turn to page 1,” quasi-choice, but the ability to shape the narrative as we see fit.
Read more >>No, really. The cake? Yeah, yeah -- lies. We know it. Old news. But this homemade Portal Companion Cube that James White constructed? The real deal. We know because he put up a blog detailing the step-by-step process of his love-box creation. So it can't possibly be a lie.
Unless someone else made it and he's just taking credit. Sigh...is anything real nowadays?
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Editor's note: Evan's first point got me riled up. I've just about sworn off Capcom games after facing some bosses in Devil May Cry 4 three times! I nearly crushed the controller in my hands when I had to go through that last gauntlet of bosses that I've already killed! -Jason
Creators want to make their creations the best that they can be. But sometimes, whether due to limitations in time or resources or just plain laziness, they take shortcuts.
Most shortcuts aren't noticed in video games, and sometimes they even work out for the best, as in the case of Silent Hill’s iconic, draw-distance-concealing fog. But for every overwise teen trying to get home before his parents, there's an unscrupulous electrical engineer creating a recipe for disaster.
Here are three shortcuts game designers take that they really shouldn’t -- and what they might try instead.
Read more >>Boy do we love pinball. Such a fun game -- smack a metal ball with flippers. Brilliant! But we always felt something was missing from this classic co-op game. Then after reading crafty modder Benjamin Heckendorn's blog, it totally dawned on us. The one thing that pinball was missing to truly make it magical was slap-your-forehead obvious: American movie actor Bill Paxton.
Y'know, the dude from Aliens and True Lies and countless other movies you've probably seen but don't remember him being in. Think about it: Bill Paxton Pinball. Why, the combination is every bit as perfect as Halo Risk.
OK, maybe not. Actually, Bill Paxton pinball sounds utterly ridiculous. But that's why it's so awesome. Another reason why it's awesome? Benjamin Heckendorn is actually making it. Check out the work-in-progress pics from his blog:
We'd say this a waste of time, but that would be terrible lie. Hell, anything involving Bill Paxton and pinball is worth all the time in the world.
Read more >>Somebody's a little fixated on death. Or they're still upset about all those trips to the coffin courtesy of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
YouTube user moogrogue posted a montage of deaths in NES games. The video has 25 games in it. Go ahead -- relive the flashing screen of death from Zelda 2: The Legend of Link!
Read more >>Editor's note: Ewan argues, with a little help from game developer Jenova Chen, that it's not just games that need to evolve, but game reviewers. -Demian
Traditional video game reviews measure fairly limited criteria. How does the game look? How does it sound? Does the control system work? Many review outlets are so fixated on these standard qualities that they'll dedicate specific paragraphs or sections to cover and evaluate each one.
But games are more than just an amalgam of graphics, sound, and controls; increasingly often, they are much more.
Jenova Chen from Thatgamecompany ruffled a few feathers during his session on the making of Flow and Flower at this year's Develop conference -- he argued that games should appeal to a wider range of emotions, and that game reviewers are missing the point.
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Editor's note: Is gaming still dealing with the death of Aerith, and do we need a new "Aerith dies" moment? Nicholas grapples with those questions. -Jason
As a medium, video games offer a unique, participatory angle to the emotional experience of a narrative. Unfortunately, it seems that this potential was realized, and subsequently abandoned, in 1997 with the quintessential Japanese role-playing game, Final Fantasy 7.
I (briefly) considered including a spoiler warning at this point, but I'll assume that since you're capable of operating an Internet browser, you're probably aware of the following:
Aerith dies.
And no one has shut up about it since.
Read more >>Have you had any nightmares lately? No? Well, thank us later when this creepy monstrosity invades your dreams and asks you to perform the "blow test" on it. Ewwwwww! [via gameSniped]
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